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…
Bush renominates abrasive nationalist John Bolton for UN top slot
In a brazen display of partisanship, President Bush recently renominated the abrasive, staunch nationalist neo-conservative John Bolton to the post of US Ambassador to the United Nations. The Economist and The New Yorker both reported on Bolton’s tenchy relationship with the rest of the diplomatic community. As Hendrik Hertzberg at The New Yorker reports: At…
“Global Kids Guide to SL Presentations”: Thumbs Up!
Barry Joseph of Global Kids just sent out a link to their new "Guide to SL Presenting" that I think is enormously useful for non-profits and really anyone else thinking of holding a mixed real world / Second Life event. I’ve already added it to the "Best Practices for organizing SL/RW events" wiki. They cover…
Forex: New SL Currency Exchange Opens Dec 1
Starting at noon SLT on Friday December 1 there’s a new currency exchange in town: the Forex comes to Second Life. The main ways that residents convert between real currency and Second Life Linden Dollars has been through the official SL Lindex market and the SLexchange site. The difference with the Forex is that it…
Hot Japanese hoofer / drummer girls: Go COBU!
Cobu is one of the most entertaining dance companies I know. The group specializes in a strange and electrifying blend of Japanese taiko drumming and funk tap. They have a show coming up from December 15-24 in Manhattan at the Flanmboyan Theater. If you have a chance to catch them, don’t miss it!
Giving Thanks
Things to be thankful for: My Beautiful Girlfriend: So supportive of all my nerdy pursuits and so good at making me happy. My Health. I realized this summer that I needed to get over my aversion to gyms and force myself to go at least a couple of times a week. Surprisingly, I don’t hate…
Apple Store coming to SL!?!
I got a tip from a posting by Dedric Mauriac on BlogHUD that a new Apple Store was opening in SL. I TPed over this morning to investigate. And sure enough, there was all the plywood prims laying about that indicate a store in development on Skegemog (Teleport SLURL). An Apple employee aptly named "Apple…