Pink Tentacle blogs about a cool and somewhat creepy new technology created by Japanese company Motion Portrait that takes any photo and converts it into an animated image that blinks, makes facial expressions, and even speaks. Supposedly lightweight enough for portable devices like phones and PDAs, the technology is apparently already being used for animating…
YearlyKos Convention Day Two: Presidential candidates step up to the mic
Just checking in on what’s going on at YearlyKos Convention today in SL. I rezzed into a breakout session being run by Hilary Clinton. She’s talking a good talk right now about the need for stronger infrastructure in the US, including our mass transit system and broadband internet. Hurray for mass transit and broadband! There’s…
Billie Holiday: Distorted & Re-appropriated
I love Billie Holiday, I love electronic music. I should love, "Billie Holiday: Re-mixed and Re-imagined," right? Well, not exactly. I met some lindy hop friends at the South Street Seaport last night to catch a performance by some of the DJs and musicians featured on the new Billie Holiday album. It was a pretty…
A Brief Interview with the YearlyKos Organizers
The YearlyKos Convention has started in Chicago and in Second Life (teleport SLURL) It’s amazing seeing the parallel tracks being broadcast in the different meeting areas they have set up in-world, and the avatars gathered to participate virtually. Unlike real conferences, you can instantly teleport around to the different sessions, checking in on a panel…
Many Eyes: Cool community-based data visualization tool
A few weeks ago a colleague sent me a link to IBM’s data visualization project called "Many Eyes." Basically its a community-based website that enables anyone to upload data, examine existing datasets,…
New Castronova book examines how virtual worlds impact our real lives
University of Indiana professor Edward Castronova has a new book examining the real life impacts of our increasing involvement in virtual worlds, such as World of Warcraft and Second Life. Entitled Exodus to the Virtual World: How Online Fun is Changing Reality , it looks like an interesting read. From the book description: Virtual worlds…
Opening Keynote tonight for YearlyKos featuring Dean and Durbin
Dire Lobo, one of the organizers of Second Life section of the YearlyKos Convention, reminds folks that tonight at 5PM SLT Senator Dick Durbin and Governor Howard Dean will be speaking at the opening keynote (teleport SLURL.) I asked Dire how preparations for the convention were going. He reported that they are wrestling with some…
Rik Panganiban, the Redshirt
I got an email about a month ago from my friend and novelist David Mack, informing me that (1) I was a character in his latest Star Trek novel and that (2) I died in a particularly gruesome fashion. Thus fulfilling a fond wish of mine to be a redshirt in Star Trek. I rushed…
I’m headed to SLCC in Chicago!
"I’m going to Chicago, I’m sorry but I can’t take you…." I got a call on Tuesday from Barry at Global Kids asking me if I wanted to help out with the non-profit / philanthropy theme at the Second Life Community Convention. Oh, would I! SLCC is happening this year from August 24-26 in the…
TakingITGlobal moving to the virtual world
Catching up on old emails, I found a press release about the new virtual home of the youth-oriented international non-profit TakingITGlobal. It seems that the Starwood owners of the Aloft Hotel in Second Life have decided to donate their sim, which has outlived its usefulness to Starwood. So instead of letting it lie fallow like…