I started a new flickr group called "You and Your Avatar." Feel free to join and add pictures of yourself in real life besides your lovely avatar(s). I was inspired by this great slideshow in the New Scientist of people with their avatars, and my dabbling with Cyberextruder a few days ago. Enjoy.
Video, pics and notes from MacArthur Foundation event today
Jonathan Fanton, President of the MacArthur Foundation, and Philip Rosendale, CEO of Linden Labs, appeared in-world this morning in a packed-to-the-gills sim to talk about the future role of philanthropy in virtual worlds. Truthfully, I didn’t learn much that I didn’t know before, but it was an important event nonetheless. Here is a short…
The 25th Annual Mermaid Parade is this Saturday!
This Saturday is the 25th annual Mermaid Parade at Coney Island, my all-time favorite New York event of the year. The Mermaid Parade is a celebration of all things bizarre, silly and fringey about New York, ostensibly to fete the opening of Coney Island for the summer season, but really just an excuse to dress…
First pic of MacArthur President Jonathan Fanton’s avatar
Here’s a reminder that tomorrow, June 22, at 9AM PST, Jonathan Fanton, the president of the MacArthur Foundation, and Philip Rosedale, CEO of Linden Labs, will come in-world for a conversation on the role of philanthropy in virtual worlds. I just got another message about the event with a new location and dropped in to…
9/11 3D “fly-through” and how media contextualizes experience
I just finished watching the fascinating video of a 3D representation of the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center created by a bunch of researchers at Purdue. The goal was to create a visual representation to illustrate how the planes managed to destroy the buildings primary support structures, even though the architects had…
Yehoodi Talk Show #417: Evita talks about being on “So You Think You Can Dance”
Evita Arce fromSo You Think You Can Dance The latest episode of my lindy hop podcast the "Yehoodi Talk Show" has been posted by my partner Spuds today. We chatted with our pal Evita Arce about her experiences competing on the Fox TV show "So You Think You Can Dance." We are so proud of…
“Real Lives”: Learning about world cultures, one life at a time
My name is Manal. I am a six year old girl in Syria. I have an older brother and three older sisters. My mother and father are salespeople. We are sunni muslims. Tomorrow I begin school… So begins the life of my new character in the game "Real Lives" put out by Educational Simulations. A…
CyberExtruder: bringing your ugly mug into the metaverse
I recently read in the blog Metaversed about a new avatar customization service offered by the awkwardly named company "CyberExtruder" on their sim Avatar Island (teleport SLURL). The word was that you just drop them a good picture of your face and they create a 3D version of it that you can apply to your…
Gamers unite for Net Neutrality!
I forgot to mention last week that at the Games for Change Festival in New York Moveon.org and Games for Change announced a new joint initiative called "Gamers for Net Neutrality." The goal is to leverage the enormous energy and creativity of the digital gamers communities to push for freer, more open internet public policy….
Looking for a roommate(s) for the summer
My awesome roommate Paul is sadly moving off to the Great White North to seek his fame and fortune with a game developer up in Canada. So I am looking for a short-term roommate to share my fabulous, spacious two-bedroom apartment from July 1 to August 31. It’s located on Ann St in the Financial…