I just got a notice from Kathryn Parsons about a cool virtual fundraiser for the UK charity Save the Children called the "Yak Shack." The idea is that they are selling, of all things, virtual yaks for L$ 1,000 each (about 3 bucks) which go toward helping real children living in poverty around the world. …
Too old for breakin?
I went to my first breakdance class last night at PMT Dance Studios in the Village, taught by the patient and talented Pavan Thimmaiah. Mostly it was just an experiment to see what a 37-year old me could manage in this most physical of dances. I actually did pretty good with the basic uprock, basic…
My friend Mensajero, the virtual panhandler
After reading about a homeless avatar begging in Second Life (Thanks, Hamlet Au , SL Insider, and my friend Tony) I decided to pop into SL to check it out. I tracked down the resident named "MensajeroDeLaPaz Jubilee" and got a TP to his location, appropriately enough, right in front of one of the NBC-sponsored…
Second Life: The Official Guidebook? What is this “book” you speak of?
Color me curious about the new book Second Life: The Official Guide, written by a number of notable bloggers and developers in SL, including Michael Rymaszewski, Wagner James Au, Mark Wallace, Catherine Winters, Cory Ondrejka, and Benjamin Batstone-Cunningham. While a dead trees static guide to a dynamic, constantly-in-beta virtual world sounds like a strange idea,…
FOREX /WCE shareholder meeting on Friday Dec 8
Attention, all virtual currency speculators! I just saw on the SL calendar that on Friday December 8 at 12PM SLT there will be a meeting for potential shareholders in the FOREX World Currency Exchange, that I blogged about last week. The CEO of the World Currency Exchange is listed as an "Adam Constantineau" in case…
Merry Mex-mas from El Vez!
You know, nothing says the holidays quite like El Vez, the Mexican Elvis. El Vez signifies everything that is Christmas in America : glitter, excess, frenetic action, and joyful noise. He is not to be missed. I caught El Vez’s holiday show this weekend at the Mercury Lounge with Cindy and our friend Amy, who…
Bye-bye, Yosemite Sam: John Bolton to leave as US Ambassador to UN!
Just saw this on the news wire, John Bolton is stepping down as US Ambassador to the UN, in the wake of strong bi-partisan Congressional opposition. Woo hoo! Last week I had blogged that Bush was re-nominating the UN-bashing "diplomatic" to the top ambassador slot. With the incumbent Democrat-dominated Senate, Bolton was going to face…
Global Poverty Death Counter: good cause, shitty implementation
Let me start by saying that I am all for advocacy groups using virtual worlds to promote their causes. Virtual environments like Second Life are the newest forms of "new media" and as such should be certainly considered for use in political and awareness-raising campaigns. That said, I HATE the big billboard that the World…
The “Gadgets for Good” Gift Guide (G4)
Perhaps you have been asking yourself, what do I get my activist-geek boyfriend / girlfriend / life partner for Christmas / Kwanzaa/Hannukah? Well, just in time for the holidays, here is rikomatic’s Gadgets for Good Gift Guide (or G4, if you like). Enjoy all the eco-friendly, social justice-y goodness after the jump… UPDATE 2PM 11/30/06:…
There Film Festival announces winners… wait, they make machinima in There?
Mark at 3pointd.com sent along the news that the There Film Festival just announced the winners of their machinima contest. I was just "meh" about the winner, Wild Griefer, and most of the other entrants. But I really enjoyed the humor and clever set-ups in Machinima in There by Rick Slick. You can see all…