My man Hamlet served up some juicy political drama this morning on New World Notes. Cristiano Midnight, the owner of the Second Life photo hosting service "Snapzilla" as well as its parent site SL Universe, has just taken down his websites in protest of Linden Lab‘s new registration procedures that he says opens the floodgates…
Happy Birthday, Second Life!
Tomorrow marks the third anniversary of the virtual world Second Life, which is celebrating in high style with a host of events over the next few days from live DJed dances to parades to keynote addresses by Philip and Robin Linden (the CEO and VP of Linden Labs, respectively.) Today my pal Illbixby of Ill…
American < yawn > Apparel in Second Life: virtual boredom on your desktop!
Apparently the blogorati are abuzz about clothing retailer American Apparel opening a virtual store in Second Life. Even CNET is reporting on the store opening. Designed by the talented Aimee Weber, the new store will feature, well, clothes and other store stuff. Like a cash register. Woo hoo! A CASH REGISTER! All in a…
Browncoats + feminists = Whedonesque Heaven
What do you get when you cross feminist activism and scifi nerdom? Apparently the perfect Friday night entertainment. The fan club the “Browncoats of NYC” have put together a benefit showing of the brilliant 2005 scifi flick “Serenity” at the Cinema Village theater in the East Village this Friday night. But this isn’t just pure…
New Net Neutrality Video: This Land is Your Land
I just a tip from the Media Policy Blog about a new video on Net Neutrality called "This Land is Your Land" created by Robert Oschler. It’s based on the Woody Guthrie song of the same name, and uses video from a CC-licenced CGI animated short called "Elephant Dreams". Robert’s revised lyrics are hysterical: They’ll…
Video re-mix of re-mixed art event in SL
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…