My program on Media and Democracy at the Social Science Research Council has publicly launched the Media Research Hub, a new online resource for researchers, advocates, practitioners, and policymakers working for a more democratic and participatory public sphere. Through the Hub, activists and researchers can find out about funding opportunities for research work, get access…
NORML launching virtual headshop, I mean, headquarters on September 6
On September 6, at HIGH NOON (get it!) PST, the Second Life headquarters of the marijuana reform group NORML will be publicly launched at Lorax Island Resort (teleport SLURL). From their announcement: Experience the freedom of marijuana law reform at the grand opening celebration of NORML’s Second Life Office. The National Organization for the Reform…
More details about Brazilian “City of Knowledge” conference today in Second Life
Gilson Schwartz send me more details on the "Cidade do Conhecimento" / "City of Knowledge" conference happening in Brazil today, which I had blogged about earlier: The City of Knowledge is a research group at the Dept. of Film, Radio and TV of the University of São Paulo, Brazil. We´ve been into web-related research since…
TVP, LLC recreates “Bourne Ultimatum” trailer in Second Life
I read in the Metaverse Messenger that Virtual consulting firm TVP LLC had recreated the "Bourne Ultimatum" movie trailer completely within Second Life. The machinima was an entry in a contest sponsored by Machinima.com challenging contestants to create a movie trailer of the action film using machinima technology. The winner gets $500. Having seen and…
Global Voices gallery of national blockpages
Blog aggregator and blogger defender Global Voices recently summarized the bagillion things that they do to fight for the rights of freedom of expression for bloggers around the world. I was tickled by their new "Gallery of National Blockpages" that they have launched with the help of Citizen Lab’s technical research director, Nart Villeneuve. What…
SLCC Day 2: So Long and Thanks for All the Swag!
The Second Life Community Convention finished this afternoon at 5pm. I’m headed home with a bad full of tee-shirts, mugs, various Second Life publications, a compass, screen cleaner, porn, and lots of fond memories. Today I continued my coverage of the non-profit / philanthropy thread, which continued conversations that were begun in several panels yesterday. …
SLCC Day 1: “Second Life has the killer app, which is community”
What a crazy, whirlwind first day of the Second Life Community Convention. It’s been great just being with 800 other SL fanatics all doing interesting things in-world, and connecting with people I have only known through their avatars. I’ve been impressed so far with how friendly people are. If you sit down next to a…
Swag at SLCC 2007
Here’s some of the swag you can get at SLCC this year. Oh yeah, and a really cool compass / carbiner from Involve Media. Ok, not as good as SouthbySouthwest, but pretty decent for Second Life.
Building the International Criminal Court, One Email at a Time
Me with Bill Pace, head of the Coalition for an ICC As I think more deeply about how non-profits can meaningful translate their work into virtual environments, I am reminded of when I as a young activist began using the internet and the web in the early 1990s. I was working for the World Federalist…
Thinking about the Non-profit Sector at SLCC
So I’m finally in Chicago (after an excruciating 3 hour delay in Newark), gearing up for the 2007 Second Life Community Convention. The whole idea of a physical gathering of people who have only met via their digital representations is intriguing in itself. How do you react when confronted with the mundane corporality of someone…