Image by Swifty Every once in awhile I get a bit discouraged about the lindy hop scene in New York. As the fertile ground where swing jazz and swing dance was innovated and developed during the 1930s and 40s, today the modern swing musician and dancer has few places where they can get their groove…
I gave in to the hype: me and my new iPhone
I’ve been waiting for this bad boy for six months, saving my pennies and counting the days. I was unfortunately tied up all of June 29, so I couldn’t get in on the fun macgeek love-fest outside of Apple stores everywhere. But just as well. I got up at the crack of noon, cycled down…
Measuring Avatar Engagement: the $100 million question
The Playboy Sim Everywhere I go in virtual world circles, I seem to encounter folks wrestling with the question: how do you measure avatar engagement? (Check the new Meta Metaverse blog and the eSheep blog for interesting commentary on this.) For companies looking to use virtual worlds for marketing, avatar engagement is the Holy Grail….
Coney Island Mermaid Parade 2007 Winners: The Brooklyn Bombshells!
=Well, the powers that be at Coney Island’s official website seem to be taking their sweet time posting the official results on the main Mermaid Parade page. But one of the moderators managed to get this onto their discussion boards, so I’m assuming these results are official. I’m going to repost them here, in case…
iStun: personal defense peripheral for your iPhone
I have read a number of concerns on Gizmodo, Engadget and Slashdot about the possible safety risk for those few early adopters who manage to get the iPhone on July 29. After all, this easily identifiable luxury gadget may make you the target of a savvy mugger or just a desperate geek. Luckily the folks…
A summer of transitions
I’ve been thinking about how this is turning into the summer of transitions for me. My awesome roommate Paul Marino is heading off for the Great White North to seek his machinima fame and fortune. And I’m leaving my cool Financial District apartment at the end of August, after more than three years there. Most…
Rikomatic gets assimilated
Embracing my inner android, tonight I purchased a new cyborg avatar called the "HAV-2", created by the talented designer Hydrogen Excelsior. What’s awesome about it is that you can keep whatever "normal" human parts you want on your standard avatar and add various cyborg appendages as you wish. I was playing around with Photoshop and…
“Good Copy Bad Copy”: New documentary about copyright and culture available for download
Click To Play I just got word about a new documentary about copyright and culture called “Good Copy Bad Copy”, directed by Andreas Johnsen, Ralf Christensen and Henrik Moltke. The movie features a number of prominent academics (Benkler, Lessig) , artists (i.e. Girl Talk, Danger Mouse) and recording label representatives talking about intellectual property and…
Rep Jerry Nadler appears in Second Life to talk about Habeas Corpus
US Congressman Jerry Nadler (D-NY) appeared in-world this afternoon to talk to SL residents about his stance on habeas corpus and civil liberties in light of the "War on Terrorism." This was during a mixed-reality demonstration organized by the ACLU entitled "Day of Action to Restore Law and Justice" held both in the real world…
Habeas Corpus Rally today at 12 noon EST in DC and Second Life!
I just got word that the American Civil Liberties Union is sponsoring a rally in Washington DC today to call for the restoration of habeas corpus and and end to torture in Guantanamo Bay. For those who can’t make it there, you can still participate by teleporting into the Second Life Capitol Hill and join…