Like millions of others, I am shocked and horrified with what is happening in Burma / Myanmar. The nearly complete isolation of the small country makes it virtually impervious to outside public pressure, short of military invasion. I have long been an admirer of dissident Burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi, back in 1999 when…
Handspring Visor Cell Phone and iPhone: old skool versus bleeding edge
In the midst of packing for my big move to Brooklyn, I ran into some interesting legacy technology that I’ve been lugging around with me everywhere — cassette tapes of 80s music, movies on VHS, film point-and-shoot cameras, and this blast from the past: the Handspring Visor with the cell phone attachment! Man, I loved…
Update on “Pink for Life” mixed-reality breast cancer charity event
Wow, there is like a ton of in-world activity going on around cancer lately. Here’s yet another cancer-related benefit coming up in October. Yogi Huldschinsky, the organizer of an upcoming charity event entitled "Pink for Life," contacted me regarding some changes to their mixed-reality event, which I have blogged about previously. "Pink for Life" is…
Is the new Newt the great uniter? (Thoughts on Gingrich’s first foray into Second Life)
This afternoon, former Speaker of the House and head of the group American Solutions for Winning the Future, Newt Gingrich spoke briefly and answered questions from an audience of 50-some avatars in Second Life. Located appropriately enough on the steps of the virtual Capitol Hill (teleport SLURL), Gingrich spoke about a number of issues, including…
1 million Flip video cameras to be given to non-profits around the world
Pure Digital Technologies has announced at the Clinton Global Initiative meeting today that they plan on giving away 1 million of their ultracompact Flip videocameras to non-profits and NGOs around the world to assist their work. “We believe video can help change the world,” said Jonathan Kaplan, Chairperson and CEO of Pure Digital Technologies in…
Conference at Univ. of London on Indian Media and Social Change October 13
Just got the info about this fascinating conference on "Indian Mass Media and the Politics of Change" happening on October 13 at the University of London. Co-sponsored by the awesomely-named "Sacred Media Cow" postgrad student collective and the Center for Film and Media Studies at UoL, it sounds like a great event for people interested…
Shava Nerad: “My purpose is to educate, evangelize, and occasionally blow someone’s mind”
Shava Nerad, Development Director of the TOR Project, is my new hero. Shava posted a couple of cogent and eloquent email responses in the midst of a debate on the SL non-profits listserv. Listserv members were arguing about whether or not activist groups were being co-opted by investing time and energy in a world dominated…
UK cancer support group Macmillan launches Second Life fundraiser campaign on Friday
This Friday, September 28, the UK-based Macmillan Cancer Support charity will be launching a Second Life version of their "World’s Biggest Coffee Morning" fundraiser, that has to date raised more than $13.5 million to support people affected by cancer. The newly opened Macmillan cancer information centre (teleport SLURL) will be equally about fundraising and awareness-raising. …
Curry Combo platter at New Malaysia Restaurant
For $5.50, you get this delicious combo of chicken and beef curries with a generous mound of rice seperating the two at the New Malaysia Restaurant in Manhattan’s Chinatown. Although not much of a "secret," going to New Malaysia is fun because its in the middle of a dark tunnel that runs from Bowery to…
Time for a Second Life non-profit job fair?
I just found this event notice on Eventful about the Dutch bank ABN-AMRO recruiting new employees on their Second Life island tomorrow. Several other tech firms like Microsoft and T-mobile have done similar in-world job fairs, which makes sense if they are looking for a particular brand of creative geek. Which makes me think that…