Just got back from a sneak preview of "Speed Racer" the movie courtesy of a friend of mine (thanks, Amira!). As the first film directed by the Wachowski brothers since the "Matrix" series, "Speed Racer" has had big expectations riding with it. Is "Speed Racer" an evolutionary leap in filmmaking? I don’t know. Is it…
Article in Poughkeepsie Journal on virtual world real estate
My friend Amy has a neat article in the Poughkeepsie Journal about the real estate market in Second Life that I have a couple of quotes in. It’s a good summary of how real estate works in virtual worlds from a variety of perspectives — land owner, home owner, university, and non-profit. And she managed…
Atlanta-based hip-hop band AFAR at Jazz at Lincoln Center yesterday!
I got to catch the Atlanta-based hip-hop band AFAR at Jazz at Lincoln Center yesterday afternoon, which was as amazing as I’d hoped it would be. They were performing the tail end of their world tour sponsored by the US State Department and Lincoln Center called "The Rhythm Road." I got some cool shots of…
Happy Birthday, Frankyboy!
Frank Originally uploaded by ./Eli Happy birthday to one of my dearest friends and partner at Yehoodi.com, Frank "Frankyboy" Dellario. He’s an great team leader, devoted friend, awesome machinimator, and uber-geek. Oh and he’s the head of the legendary Machinima crew the Ill Clan. Happiest of Days, Frankyboy!
Whyville and virtual world elitism
As an active resident of Second Life, with only passing experience with other virtual worlds, I’m as guilty as others of "home town" boosterism. I.e. looking at There.com, ActiveWorlds, Habbo Hotel, etc as lesser locales in comparison to Second Life. It’s as natural as my tendencies to feel like New York is the center of…
Avatars of the world unite! Union Island launches in Second Life
Union Island organizer Uniglobalunion Oh and me on Union Island Happy May Day, everyone! Apropos, I got the news of the launch of Union Island in Second Life today (click here to teleport): Union Island plans to use Second Life to create a community for trade unionists, which will let activists from around the world…
Compare McCain, Clinton and Obama on global issues at “08 or Bust!” website
Just a reminder that my friends at Citizens for Global Solutions have created a cool website called "08 or Bust" that tracks the positions of each of the major candidates for the US presidency on a range of international issues. The heart of the website is an interactive comparison chart that allows you to pull…
Leveraging virtual worlds for civic action
One of the main reasons we created the International Justice Center in Second Life was to explore the challenge posed by MacArthur President Jonathan Fanton last year, who asked, "Might not there be a group in Second Life that could come together to educate itself about the ICC and organize a campaign to persuade public…
Video: Sweet Machinima Intro to Second Life for US Congressional Hearing
Those of you who watched the Congressional hearing on virtual worlds last month will recall a short machinima video that was shown at the beginning of the hearing. I just got work that the video is available online at the Silver and Goldie website. Really amazing work by machinimators Silver and Goldie (with additional footage…
Defining virtual worlds – help!
I am working on a short definition of virtual worlds for an educational audience. Here’s what I have so far: In a nutshell, virtual worlds are computer-generated, persistent, three-dimensional, multi-user spaces, where people interact with each other and the environment through their "avatars." Some examples of virtual worlds are Second Life, Whyville, World of Warcraft…