It has been a long time coming, but I have finally decided to launch the new website Betterverse.org, dedicated to chronicling the burgeoning nonprofit and public good sector in the virtual world. I have been involved in various nonprofit experiments in the virtual world since 2006, and have been astounded by the incredible diversity, creativity…
Tag: second life
I Dig Zambia Wrap-up: teaching about Africa and science using virtual worlds
Last Friday was the conclusion of the “I Dig Zambia” virtual summer camp, co-organized by the Field Museum and Global Kids. I Dig Zambia was a two-week camp that brought together 19 teens from Chicago and New York to learn about paleontology, biology, and Zambian culture and politics in the virtual world of Teen Second…
White House Deputy CTO Beth Noveck speaks in Second Life about wikifying government
Global Kids, in association with the Markle Foundation, organized a very successful simulcast of a talk by Beth Noveck, Deputy Chief Technology Officer in the White House, into Second Life today. The event exemplified some of what I love most about Second Life: how diverse communities across distances can collaborate, engage in rich discussions, and…
2009 Second Life Relay for Life raises a quarter million dollars (and climbing)!
The organizers of the Second Life Relay for Life report that they have successfully raised more than a quarter million US dollars for the American Cancer Society during this year's virtual fundraiser! Here's what they sent out this morning: WE ARE MAKING HUGE, FAST, GAINS! Relay is now at 258,036.00 USD and climbing! 260,000.00 USD…
Second Life Relay for Life raises $240K for cancer research BEFORE official start!
I have been crazy busy, so just noticed that the fifth annual Second Life Relay for Life is this weekend! For those that don't know, for the past several years, Second Life residents have been organizing a virtual walkathon fundraiser for the American Cancer Society that raises hundreds of thousands of real world dollars for…
Do virtual worlds support or hold back marginalized youth?
Today was the last day of the "I Dig Zambia" virtual summer camp, and I have been reflecting on how our Global Kids teens participated in the program. For the past two weeks, eleven of our Global Kids teens have been going through a virtual summer camp in Teen Second Life with eight other teens…
Beth Noveck, White House Deputy CTO, talks about “Wiki Government” in Second Life on July 20th!
Please join a Second Life simulcast, from the Markle Foundation, of Beth Simone Noveck, now the deputy Chief Technology Officer at the White House responsible for Open Government, presenting her new book, WIKI GOVERNMENT: How Technology Can Make Government Better, Democracy Stronger, and Citizens More Powerful. The presentation will be followed by a Q&A, in…
Draxtor’s report on Obama’s speech in Ghana streamed into Second Life
Here's another great machinima report by citizen journalist Draxtor Despres on the simulcast of President Obama's speech in Ghana last Saturday into Second Life. This is a much better report than my own raw footage of the simulcast I posted a few days ago. Drax does a great job contextualizing the larger political and societal…
Change.org features Global Kids’ machinima on child sex trafficking!
The activism site Change.org a few days ago featured a story about Discovered, the machinima movie created by our teen filmmakers in our Virtual Video Project at Global Kids. As a reminder, Discovered is a digital "machinima" film produced in Second Life that explores the powerful issue of child sex trafficking through the fictional story…
Virtual premiere of “A Soldier’s Peace” in Second Life today at 8pm EST
I just got word that Netroots Nation and Virtually Speaking are hosting this evening the virtual premiere of A Soldier's Peace, the inspiring documentary about Iraq veteran Marshall Thompson's peace walk across the state of Utah. The premiere will happen today, Saturday July 11, at 5pm PST / 8pm EST. Following the film, Daily Kos's…