Tonight I got to see the "Soul of Shaolin" show at the Marquis Theater on Broadway. It's an amazing spectacle of shaolin-style kung fu and acrobatics, with twenty-some martial artists displaying near superhuman feats. It's inspiring just seeing what the human body is capable of with discipline and years of training. I particularly enjoyed the…
Tweet of the Day: Global Kids wins the Linden Prize!
The spoof posts by Twitter user "Second Lie" are consistently hilarious and spot on (at least if you are a Second Life resident.) Today Global Kids got a very funny mention in the "Second Lie" Twitter feed, referring to the "Linden Prize" being offered by Linden Labs for the most innovative new application of Second…
Microsoft Songsmith: so wonderfully bad it hurts
You know when you something goes bad in the fridge and you just HAVE to have someone else smell it? Oh this is terrible, get a whiff. It's in that same spirit that I am compelled, I tell you, compelled to share with you this wonderfully craptastic advertisement for the Microsoft Songsmith. Now it is…
Teen Grid registration STILL borked for non-US residents for over a year!
I am just shocked to learn that registration on the Second Life Teen Grid for teens outside of the US and Canada has not been working for more than a year, according to renowned teen Second Life developer Katherine Berry. Katherine you might recall is the creator of the SL-to-web tool Ajaxlife and vocal gadfly…
Heading to DC for Inauguration!
Despite (or because of) the 2-4 million Americans expected, I am planning on being in Washington DC to catch what I can of the Presidential Inauguration festivities from January 19-20. My somewhat sketchy plan is to head up on the bus on Sunday, crash at a friend's place, catch some pre-inaugural events on Martin Luther…
Bronx Rhymes: Documenting the history of hip-hop using new media
"Bronx Rhymes" is a project to preserve and present the history of hip-hop culture from its roots in the South Bronx. It combines several forms of new media in ways that honor the culture: Bronx Rhymes uncovers the history of Hip Hop in the borough by tagging historically important locations with rhymes. These rhymes illuminate…
“Pray for Me, You Wrote” (poem)
Another old poem of mine has been springing to my mind, as of late. From one of my doubting, wandering phases, called "Pray for Me, You Wrote." [CC-licensed image by Steven Fernandez] Pray for Me, You Wrote Pray for me, you wroteUnawareOf my broken beads and lipsThat now only spit and chewSchmooze and curse
Virtual worlds and civic engagement: Obama’s health care policy discussed in Second Life
Draxtor Despres's latest dispatch from the virtual world examines how people are using Second Life to speak this country's health care policy, as part of Obama's online policy dialogues. Here's organizer Siri Vita (sp?) describing why a Second Life consultation works: One of the most amazing things was how people were willing to open up…
My promotion: Assistant Director of Global Kids’ Online Leadership Program!
After a year at the Online Leadership Program at Global Kids, I'm excited to announce that I have been promoted to Assistant Director of OLP! Functionally, I will still be doing a good amount of "Second Life producing," but also doing more programmatic and staff oversight. We've got an awesome bunch of geeks and educators…
Chosen One (a poem)
Thinking about nontheist Quakers has brought to mind some of my older writings during my spiritual meanderings over the years. Here's a poem I wrote in 1997 called "Chosen One" that questions the belief in an interventionist, personal god. In a related now, it's nice to see my piece on Quathiests was republished on the…