I just ran across a fun remix video created by In Kenzo called “Everything is Transformable”. The short video piece is based on the remixed art event I participated in last week, sponsored by Free Culture and Creative Commons. There’s some cool footage of my avatar wearing the Net Neutrality shirt I designed, not to…
GAM3R 7H30RY and the future of the book
Just got sent a link to a new book called GAM3R 7H30RY by Mackenzie Wark, the author of the "Hacker Manifesto." The book is exciting for a number of reasons. First, it’s a fanciful and erudite set of musings on two basic questions about computer and online gaming: can we explore games as allegories for…
SL Spaceflight Museum, Part II: creating wonder in 3D
I returned last night to check out the rest of the Spaceflight Museum in Second Life. In my first visit, I remarked that this sim showed the enormous potential of Second Life for education. What I didn’t mention was the power of Second Life to inspire and evoke powerful feelings. Last night, my friend Beckto…
SL Spaceflight Museum, Part I
I began checking out the new Spaceflight Museum in Second Life this weekend, and I have to say that I am totally blown away. For an old space-nerd like me, it’s a dream come true. (For perspective, the teeny-tiny purple dot on the orange staging platform is my avatar.) Just opened this Sunday, The Spaceflight…
1 Million Americans urge Congress to save the Internet
The Save the Internet coalition has collected more than 1 million American signatures to their petition urging Congress to "preserve a free and open internet." Mmmmm, freedom. The coalition held an event in DC to officially deliver the petition to the Senate. According to Free Press campaign director Timothy Karr: Our real grassroots Coalition called…
Rik’s re-mixed art on display in SL
So this evening I happened to be checking into Second Life when I get an instant message from a Genevieve Junot, asking me if I’m going to show up to “introduce my art.” I replied that I had no idea what she was talking about. Genevieve then reminded me that tonight was the official showing…
Virtual Net Neutrality Tees available
As my extremely modest contribution to the Save the Internet cause, I just created a “Support Net Neutrality!” tee-shirt in Second Life, which I am giving away to all who desire them. So whether you are a cyborg, flying monkey or fairy princess, you can now proudly show your support for a free and open…
Tell the US Government to democratize the Internet
Milton Mueller of the Internet Governance Project has sent out an alert to internet activists that the US Government’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has recently asked for public comments about its supervision of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). In response, the IGP has launched a call for emails to…
Organizational Democracy: Linden Labs listens
e-Democracy guru Steven Clift passed along a very helpful set of recommendations for non-profits on how to respond to online criticm, written by Jayne Cravens at Coyote Communications. In a nutshell, what she says is, respond respectfully and promptly to online criticism. I couldn’t agree more. Giving someone with a complaint more than a fortnight…
Splogs: improving the noise-to-signal ratio
Just got an email from an ad rep for a company called Point of Impact Inc. an “e-business company, focused on the promotion and development of internet properties.” Which I guess is another euphemism for for “disseminator of spam.” The rep wanted to pay me up front to put up some text ads on my…