Just a reminder that today at 1:30PM EST there will be discussion on legal and constitutional issues surrounding the Guantanamo Bay Detention Center. Sponsored by the USC Institute for Media Literacy and the Seton Hall School of Law, the event marks the launch of the "Virtual Guantanamo" build, designed to dramatically focus attention on public…
“Virtual Gitmo” to focus on legal and political issues of US detention of alleged terrorists
At the Non-profit Commons meeting this morning, avatars Ping Rao and Nonny Writer talked about a new project to stimulate dialogue about America’s "War on Terror." USC Institute for Media Literacy and the Seton Hall School of Law will be launching on Monday a "Virtual Guantanamo" to focus on public policy issues surrounding the Guantanamo…
French humanitarian group Première Urgence sets up shop in Second Life
I just got a press release from the French humanitarian aid group Premiere Urgence. According to their mission statement, they "engage in concrete and direct actions to assist victims put in danger, marginalized and excluded by the effects of natural catastrophes, war, civil actions, and conflicts based on economic collapse due to political changes internationally…
New APC book argues that WSIS was costly and irrelevant
Closing Ceremony of WSIS Summit in Tunis, 2005 My friends at the Association for Progressive Communications have published a new book on the lessons learned from the UN World Summit on the Information Society, particularly for developing countries and civil society organizations/NGOs. Entitled, Whose Summit, Whose Information Society, the book is available as a free…
Video story on “Interdependence Day” event: Okay, Ben Barber is an idiot
Draxtor Despres of Life4U News sent me a link to a great summary he did of the "Interdependence Day" mixed-reality event featuring Ben Barber and Gilberto Gil that I wrote about a couple of days ago. Draxtor pulls out a salient quote of Dr. Barber’s where he really slams Second Life as a medium for…
Pump manufacturer Grundfos creates virtual island on environmental issues
International pump manufacturer Grundfos announces that they are opening an island in Second Life focused on sustainable development. Thomas Kodbaek of their e-business unit comments, "The natural way to enter [Second Life] for us is to focus on sustainable development, and so we have built up our island with environmental issues and energy consumption as…
Gather.com creates “People’s Press Corps” to cover 2008 Elections
The "social media site for adults" Gather.com announces that they are launching a search for six bloggers to be their "People’s Press Corps" to cover the 2008 US elections. The winning bloggers (2 Dems, 2 Reps, and 2 Independents) will report on the 2008 presidential election, receiving "exclusive access to candidates, experts, and events." The…
To prove the Islamic fundamentalist wrong, we must agree on what matters: bacon
Salman Rushdie, Step Across the Line, 2002: The fundamentalist seeks to bring down a great deal more than buildings. Such people are against, to offer just a brief list, freedom of speech, a multi-party political system, universal adult sufferage, accountable government, Jews, homosexuals, women’s rights, pluralism, secularism, short skirts, dancing, beardlessness, evolution theory, sex… The…
Are there “best practices” for non-profits in the virtual world?
As I have blogged about previously, I am working on a report for the youth technology group Global Kids on "best practices" for non-profits in Second Life. Having spoken with dozens of non-profit organizers and activists and read through several panels, reports, and web discussions on the subject, I am slowly starting to suspect that…
Ben Barber slams Second Life, Brazilian Minister Gilberto Gil argues that it connects diasporas
I caught just the tail end of a mixed-reality panel discussion today on "From Global to Local: Virtual Worlds, Immigration, and Linguistic Diaspora," taking place both at USC Annenberg Island in Second Life (teleport SLURL) and the Tecnológico de Monterrey Campus Santa Fe, in Mexico City. The panel was to discuss how "the interdependence of…