I had a beautiful day at the New York Comic Con hanging with my buddy Frank and thousands of other comic lovers. Despite the teeming hordes, I actually ended up running into several people I knew, which was fun, including scifi author David Mack, who had a couple of his books for sale at the…
Off to ComicCon New York!
So I’m off to New York Comic Con in just a few minutes! Zillions of comic, manga, graphic novel, action figure, and gaming exhibitors crammed into the Jacob Javitz Cetner. I’m so excited about all the nerdy goodness! W00T!
Easy Skanking: learning literacy through reggae music and computer gaming in Jamaica
Speaking of games to educate about the UN Millennium Development Goals, here’s an example of a Jamaican game that relates to Goal 2 "Achieve Universal Primary School Education." UNESCO sends out news about an innovative computer program in Jamaica called "Easy Skanking" that combines computer gaming and reggae music to teach literacy to young people…
Don’t stand so close to me: Thoughts on gendered behavior in virtual worlds
I just finished reading the fascinating study "The Unbearable Likeness of Being Digital: The Persistence of Nonverbal Social Norms in Online Virtual Environments" led by Nick Yee of Stanford University, with Jeremy N. Bailenson, Mark Urbanek, Francis Chang, and Dan Merget. Yee et al. were interested in examining if norms about social space in the…
The Millennium Development Games
I got an interesting email the other day from Amil Husain of the UN Millennium Campaign regarding a new series of educational games they wish to produce to run on Negroponte’s $100 laptop: My agency at the United Nations is entering into a partnership with the NGO, One Laptop Per Child who have produced a…
Second Life Protest against US intervention in Iran
Just popped into SL to catch a possibly spontaneous protest against any US military action against Iran. There are twenty-some avatars gathered at the Capitol Hill sim holding signs and shouting slogans at each other. Apparently this protest was a reaction to Iran’s defiance of the Security Council resolution calling on them to stop their…
Video tour of Roma (ancient Roman Second Life sim)
In January, I posted some comments about and pictures of the impressive "Roma" ancient Rome build created by Torin Golding (teleport SLURL). Since then, I've received a request to create a video showing the historic sim for those who aren't in Second Life. I threw this video together over the weekend. (The video might take…
The 13 most beautiful avatars and Einstein’s critique
Last night I dropped by the opening of the 13 Most Beautiful Avatars exhibition at The Postmasters Gallery in Manhattan. It was the typical hip arty crowd standing around with plastic cups of white wine. It was worth venturing out on an ass cold winter’s night just to chat with Mark Wallace (who tipped me…
Frankie & Dawn: Last day!
Today Frankie and Dawn went back to the pet adoption center. Hopefully they go off to a good permanent home shortly. Here’s some of my last pics of the cute lil buggers.
The THON: the Dance Marathon to end all marathons
The kids at Penn State every year throw an amazing dance marathon called simply "The THON" to benefit pediatric cancer care at at the Penn State Children’s Hospital. They have raised $41 million over the past 31 years! This year, the benefit has gone virtual, with a host of in-world concerts to raise funds taking…