Looking Farther for the Prelude to Digital Media

In Dr. Sherry Mayo's article, "The Prelude to the Millennium: The Backstory of Digital Aesthetics" on the early influences and foundations of digital culture, I was surprised to read that she traced the foundations to the 1960's. Living as we do in the age of Digital Convergence, perhaps some researchers choose to look no farther than mid-20th century or to narrowly define the underpinnings of digital culture to that which was "born digital". This approach omits Joseph Cornell, an self-taught artist who was working in the area of mixed media, visual cross referencing, film, and image appropriation, and who began showing his work at New York galleries and museums in the 1930's. Any serious discussion of image repurposing, visual metaphor in multimedia, or an art historical context for digital media would have to include Cornell. He was both a visual poet, and the artist as "a type of Merlin- a trickster magician" figure that she alludes to. The link provided is to an online exhibit presented by the Peabody Essex Museum and the Smithsonian Institute from the exquisite 2007 exhibition called "Joseph Cornell: Navigating The Imagination." I will never forget it.

Untitled (Cockatoo with Watch Faces), c. 1949
Box construction with inoperative music box
16 1/4 x 17 x 4 7/16 inches (41.3 x 43.2 x 11.3 cm)
The Lindy and Edwin Bergman Collection
Photograph by Michael Tropea, Chicago
© The Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation/Licensed by VAGA, New York, New York

Bro, can you spare a cell?

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

You lookin' to me?

The Maps of Our Time

In 1748, Giambattista Nolli, made one of the most accurate ichnographic (ground plan) maps of Rome, the Pianta Grande di Roma commonly known as the Nolli Map.

Pope Benedict XIV commissioned the map in order to survey Rome, and ever since then this map has been used for government planning as recently as 1970!

You can see an "interactive" Nolli map here.

“…And then came the grandest idea of all! We actually made a map of the country, on the scale of a mile to the mile!”
“Have you used it much?” I inquired.
“It has never been spread out, yet,” said Mein Herr: “the farmers objected: they said it would cover the whole country, and shut out the sunlight! So we now use the country itself, as its own map, and I assure you it does nearly as well…”

— Lewis Carroll. The complete Sylvie and Bruno. 1893. San Francisco: Mercury House, c1991. pg. 265

In 2006, the SENSEable city lab at MIT created many Real-Time Rome maps as its contribution to the Venice Biennale

The map below shows the movement and concentration of mobile phone users during important events in the city of Rome. In this case the events happen to be the controversial Madonna concert and the World Cup final between Italy and France.

See a big version of this movie here where you can actually see the timeline.

Concept car comercial

The Creator Short Cut

Si se puede!

This is just a random example: a whooping 11 miles per gallon!

I think it is a well deserved if unwelcome disaster the one that "great American auto companies" are suffering at the present time for their unwilligness to do the right thing and resist the lobby that has destroyed every possibility of doing what is right : the OIL cartel. 

In their case (I am referring of course to the management and the "shareholders" who "share" the responsibility as well) greed in disregard for life on earth was mainly the motive and excuse. (not to get us the users off the hook)

A case in point for comparison of philosophy/action: (and I quote from Wikipedia for expediency)

Throughout his life, (Buckminster)Fuller was concerned with the question "Does humanity have a chance to survive lastingly and successfully on planet Earth, and if so, how?" Considering himself an average individual without special monetary means or academic degree, he chose to devote his life to this question, trying to identify what he, as an individual, could do to improve humanity's condition, which large organizations, governments, and private enterprises inherently could not do.

Among the many inventions of his extraordinary mind his Dymaxion car is particularly relevant today. Remember that this is 1933! 

The car had a fuel efficiency of 30 miles per US gallon (7.8 L/100 km/36 mpg-imp). It could transport eleven passengers. While Fuller claimed it could reach speeds of 120 miles per hour (190 km/h), the fastest documented speed was 90 miles per hour (140 km/h.) Isn't that enough?

I believe that if this particular invention of his had been adopted (and evolve from there) we would not even know the phrase "global warming". Many other inventions of his have of course been so widely adopted that we are not even aware of them since they are so common in our daily life. But that is material for another post.

On a recent trip to NY I was able to see a comprehensive exhibition of Bucky's work at the Whitman. Although it was forbidden to take any pictures (what??? would he agree with that stupid rule? a man who wanted to give the world a better life for EVERYONE?) I was able to snap this shot with a tiny keyholder camera (so go ahead, sue me!)

Another interesting aspect of his work was of course the interdisciplinarian aspect of it. Even though he himself was a superb designer he collaborated with no other than Isamu Noguchi

on the design of the Dymaxion car. Noguchi designed a wind tunnel which was a factor in determining the aerodinamic tearshape  car.

This is a good site to see more Bucky stuff

So the point is that Si se Puede!, Yes, we can.

My SFX Work

These are some sample scenes of film, special effects, miniature work and computer animation work I have done in the past few years.

The Power of Drill Baby, Drill!

If games and virtual environments were not critically influential in "educating" people by drilling into their brain and responsive system whatever message we wish to convey, then we would not spend so much money, time, research etc. in such medium. But the fact is that...

"Manhunt 2" is a video game in which characters kill
and torture using items such as a fuse box and a toilet.

Photo Credit:

Rockstar Games Via Associated Press
Related Article:
Study Links Violent Video Games, Hostility

The Critical Mass

The Voice of Reason

Abu Ghraib, Fallujah, Haditha and Mahmudiyah, and on and on.

It was Goya, who living in the convulsive time of the Spanish Independence War, tried to give us a feeling for the monsters created by what he called the Sleep of Reason. His images, terrible as they are, pale in comparison to our daily diet of the atrocities committed against humanity, not by savage tribes, but by well fed and trained soldiers and mercenaries that follow the orders of those whose reason is not asleep but simply denied.

Last night, out of the darkness of our time, millions of hearts and minds were lit up by the hope that perhaps this once we can overcome the tide of fear that war, imposed on our brothers and sisters across the world by the weapon merchants and their servants, voted into power by people like you and me, who decide that our own comfort and way of life is more important than the life of others, that become obese while others starve because of our refusal to share the "wealth" that we assume belongs to us, the conquistadores.

"I am only following orders..."

To awaken from the nightmare where we have been trapped for so long requires an effort that seems beyond our strength, or so we are constantly told, and now that we are half awake we must, like the previous writer says, fight, but we must choose our fight guided by our reason and recognizing that fighting some times requires sacrificing that which in our dream state seemed like worthy of living the lie.

Freedom!

On this election day, I wanted to take a few moments to talk about things that are, to me, very important.

I want to talk about freedom. To me, freedom is not freedom to do what I want, when I want. That is anarchy. Instead, freedom is the ability to act responsibly and morally. This means having the social, economic, and moral freedom to raise my family, pursue a career, and worship any god I choose. It is NOT allowing myself to be led by those who consider themselves as more intelligent and better than myself. It is NOT permitting these self-proclaimed good samaritans to decide what to do with the income that I have worked hard to earn. Freedom is having the ability to decide whom I want to donate money to, instead of having the government remove it from me and make that decision for me.

In short, freedom is a fight against slavery. Whether it be economic, social, or moral slavery, we must fight against it. We must fight those who think they know better than us what we should do with our time, our families, our money, and our worship. I do not pretend to legislate these things to others, and in return do not expect them to legislate them to me.

But let me make one point very clearly - it is my responsibility as a citizen of this country to fight for freedom. I will not be led down a primrose path by those who think that a new world order means taking of the fruits of my labor and giving it to people that they think deserve it. I will also not be led in the direction of supporting unjustified wars for the sake of profit.

I want my freedom! The ability to act responsibly and morally is one that I will not give up without a fight.

The day the world changed

When 9/11 happened the vultures that ruled our country went into a rampage of destruction and deception under the cover of fear. That fateful day the world indeed changed for ever. Change in that case meant that everything that was a promise of compassion, understanding and peace would be sacrificed at the altar of greed and intolerance. Thousands of young impressionable American kids have and continue to be slaughtered in the name of geopolitical dominance.

Hundreds of thousands of people have been and continue to be killed for the sin of living in an oil rich region which happens to be at the strategic center of the Muslim world, a very convenient situation that allowed the Bush cartel to portray them as dangerous because of their beliefs in a "wrong" god (as if there was a "right" one), for dressing differently, for having a different shade of brown in their skin. That was portrayed over and over as a threat to be eliminated, and the masses went for it, giving away their sons and daughters and their economic future to fund the slaughter

But today, the world has changed again, in a reaction so powerful that it might, it just might, restore the balance that we have surely lost. Perhaps it is too late and the damage to our world and to our own humanity is beyond rescue, but there is hope, all around the world, in that world largely ignored by the American people as if it did not exist or matter, that the crumbling empire that is the US might allow the birth of an entirely new world citizenship, that might, just might help guide the world into a hopefully brighter future.

And like Obama said, it is OUR task, that of all of us, not the US, but us, the world, to come together and become what we are supposed to be, the stewards of our only ailing planet.

The connection

Nothing else to say

Drill Baby, Kill!

I have been wanting to write this post for weeks now, but I simply had such a bad feeling that I kept putting it off, like a brain operation.
But a few moments ago I heard a snippet of news on the local channel about some assassination plot on Obama. Is this a surprise? Not exactly. The barrage of images and video of Paling shooting high power rifles with a telescopic sight, alongside invective abuse of power and misinformation are very suggestive to the inbred, broad redneck base that finds her so appealing under her disguise. After all don't they say it is our right to bear arms as if this was the wild West? And what would they be for but to enforce our ideas? Vietnam, Irak..., a black man, a dog, our teachers, our neighbors?

The majority is not silent anymore, it feels threatened and shouts kill! kill! at the least prompting, and there is plenty of that. Who orchestrates this aspect of the campaign? who is in charge of the not so subliminal massaging of weak, ignorant and impressionable brains? Who is the new Cheney? the new Rumsfeld? have they ever gone away? Will they?

Television is a powerful medium, producing a mild seizure effect that we have grown accustomed to, but which comes very handy when in the hands of advertisers and marketeers of every bent.

Unfortunately at this point in time with inmmeasurable stakes at play there is no need to resort to mafia connections or intelligence operators (although the knowledge of subliminal control is their domain), but simply to seed the minds of halfwits to execute random and irrational acts of violence, hoping that one of those hits the target, never mind the catastrophic global consequences of such power grab by those who think of nothing else but their own glory under their abominable god.

The ugly american god

According to vice-president candidate Palin, the war in Irak is god's will and plan. We should be grateful for it:

"Pray for our military men and women who are striving to do what is right. Also, for this country, that our leaders, our national leaders, are sending [U.S. soldiers] out on a task that is from God. That's what we have to make sure that we're praying for, that there is a plan and that plan is God's will."

God is also apparently a shareholder on big-oil and is very keen on pumping up whatever is left so that total destruction can be assured in time for his glorious second coming. Make sure you have your camera loaded and please post the event on YouTube.

"I think God's will has to be done in unifying people and companies to get the gas line built, so pray for that."

Like they say, this strategic candidate has an excellent record on both energy and the environment, issues that are intricately related. And, proverbially, two birds can be killed at once. Since it is her stated belief that human activity has no impact whatsoever on global warming (use the internet to check this outrageous if not plain stupid statement) then it is OK to "drill, drill, drill", "kill, kill, kill" so that we get rid of that inconvenient wilderness full of animals that deserve to be killed, not to mention the rest of humanity. That way we can all enjoy front seats at the Apocalypse. Excellent strategy.

Palin's favorite hobby

It is a sad thing to see the pathetic crowds pumped up by such shows of indifference to life, coming from someone who claims to be on god's side in everything she does. With that consultant who needs Kissinger?

It used to be that the "ugly american" usually referred to some individuals that exemplified the worst arrogance that this country exported abroad. But as of today the global perception has shifted to the "ugly country" which I guess plays very well with the political campaign slogan of "country first". After all our exports were suffering, now we have a true product that we are supposed to be proud of.

Made in America.

God, Guns and Country: The American Way

Harry S Truman, August 8, 195033rd president of US (1884 - 1972)

After hearing and seeing in the transmission of the Republican Convention the insanity of those who believe that the world was created in 6 days and therefore feel proud of "packing a pistol", killing for fun (or sport!) and sending their naive sons and daughters to war as cannon fodder to defend the black blood of comfort and greed, I think I will share a couple of quotes that coming from minds much bigger than my own are better able to summarize the dangerous situation being manufactured by the political machinery of the "righteous majority".

He who joyfully marches to music in rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him, the spinal cord would fully suffice. This disgrace to civilization should be done away with at once. Heroism at command, senseless brutality, deplorable love-of-country stance, how violently I hate all this, how despicable an ignoble war is; I would rather be torn to shreds than be a part of so base an action! It is my conviction that killing under the cloak of war is nothing but an act of murder. - Albert Einstein

Beware of the leader who bangs the drums of war in order to whip the citizenry into patriotic fervor, for patriotism is indeed a double-edged sword. It both emboldens the blood, just as it narrows the mind. And when the drums of war have reached a fever pitch … the citizenry … will offer up all of their rights unto the leader and gladly so. How will I know? For this I have done. And I am Julius Caesar.

Patriotism is the willingness to kill and be killed for trivial reasons. - Bertrand Russell

So I believe

What is a hero?

“In the name of the best within you, do not sacrifice this world to those who are its worst. In the name of the values that keep you alive, do not let your vision of man be distorted by the ugly, the cowardly, the mindless in those who have never achieved his title. Do not lose your knowledge that man's proper estate is an upright posture, an intransigent mind and a step that travels unlimited roads. Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark, in the hopeless swamps of the approximate, the not-quite, the not-yet, the not-at-all. Do not let the hero in your soul perish, in lonely frustration for the life you deserved, but have never been able to reach. Check your road and the nature of your battle. The world you desired can be won, it exists, it is real, it is possible, it's yours.” Ayn Rand

I think this quote above aptly describes what a hero is. Is it someone who is captured in a war? Perhaps, but perhaps not. Is it a political or sports figure? Once again, perhaps.... or perhaps not. Then what is it that makes a hero? I think that it's mostly what a person does in the midst of the unfortunate circumstances in which they find themselves. We may never know the full details of McCain's time as a wartime captive, so we probably can't say anything intelligently about it -- good or bad. No judgment is warranted because of lack of evidence. All we know is that he had the good fortune to somehow get through it alive. For that, I am grateful (otherwise I would be wishing him harm).

Many people want to be a hero, but few desire the hard life that comes with being one. And most heroes I know don't trumpet their accomplishments to the world. Instead, they desire to live a quiet life, free from the difficult circumstances that helped mold them into the heroes that they are.

The Bottom of the Pit

As I watch and listen in disgust to the body language and the hypocritical language of McCain, trying to present himself as a hero because he was unlucky or stupid enough to be captured by those whom he was trying to destroy, I am reminded of Bertolt Brecht's "Fear and Misery of the Third Reich":

One Big Family

Two SS Officers talk about "United Nation" and then start shooting.

A Case of Betrayal

A couple have "given away their neighbour" to the SS because they heard foreign broadcasts coming from his house.

Occupational disease

An injured man comes to a hospital. The surgeon explains before doing treatment a doctor must ask questions concerning the patient’s private life to check if he deserves treatment.

The motto

A Hitler Youth meeting, one boy hasn't learnt the motto "beat stab shoot them till they fall…" He is accused of learning "something different at home."

These are some of the scenes, do they sound familiar? The mere idea that a warmongering, angry and revengeful old man could be elected by the ignorant majority of "god fearing" and so easily swayed "voters" of the conservative persuasion should ring alarm bells in any human that has evolved beyond their reptilian stage.

At a moment when our planet, our "mother earth" is being raped and destroyed by the military-industrial-entertainment complex instead of pulling together as a species to try to survive the catastrophe that is upon us, greedy politicians will go to the depths of their bottomless pit to dig even more oily and bloody dirt to give themselves a beauty bath, to appeal to a public that cannot see beyond the soundbite, who are not able to recognize in the tone of voice, in the look of the eyes that show the darkness of their sick mind.

Like war-criminal Bush said in his "televised" and puppeteered appearance at the Republican Convention, McCain is "ready". He is for sure. Who in their right mind would want to shake the economy even further by disrupting the flow of billions to the war machine? the life and blood of this country?

SL made it into Computer World

More SL media exposure

Small Worlds

Anyone trying out Small Worlds yet? It's just gone into public beta.

http://www.smallworlds.com

I'm Sebastien Knoller in there as well.

Keith

MTV

Any one out there what this.... SL is on MTV. I am working to get a copy of this for distro to people.

http://www.mtv.com/overdrive/?id=1586148&vid=236311

• MTV
• Music Videos
• MTV Shows
• Entertainment News

Avatar's carbon footprint

We did not really go into this discussion in our class, except by bringing up the fact that Google's use of a white screen contributes substantially to global warming. Google itself acknowledged it by turning their screen black for a day to save energy.

But on to avatars. An article published in the Near Future Laboratory blog mentions some interesting numbers that gave me pause:

According to professor Julian Bleecker Ph.D of USC and cofounder of design think tank the Near Future Laboratory, "a Second Life avatar produces 1,685 pounds of CO2 and an acre of real estate in Second Life produces 99 tons of CO2.

Power Consumption Per Avatar Per Year (Second Life Servers): 153 kWH
Power Consumption Per Avatar Per Year (Home User’s PC): 1,095 kWH
Total Power Consumption Per Avatar Per Year: 1,248 kWH CO2 Emissions Per Avatar Per Year (Second Life Servers): 207 lbs (94 kilos)
CO2 Emissions Per Avatar Per Year (Home User’s PC): 1,478 lbs (670 kilos)
Total CO2 Emissions Per Avatar Per Year: 1,685 lbs (764 kilos)

...Some equivalence for perspective:In 2003, the per-capita power consumption in the United States: 13,242 kWH
In 2001, the per-capita power consumption in Iceland: 26,947 kWH
In 2001, the per-capita power consumption in Keyna: 118 kWH
(World Resource Institute, EarthTrends — )

...Every year, every Avatar in Second Life produces CO2 emissions equivalent to a typical, honking, bloated, arrogant SUV driving 1,293 miles, based on the assumption that this kind of SUV generates 1 lbs of CO2 per mile".

We all know that we will have to make substantial changes to our lifestyle if we want to do our part in saving this "spaceship earth" like Bucky called it. If we don't we will leave the planet to our avatars instead of our grandchildren...

Professor Avator & Second Thoughts About Second Life

I'm not sure if anyone is still checking this blog with the end of class, but I thought I'd share a couple articles from a recent issue of the Education Digest (available through UF Libraries). Two articles regarding VEs and SL were found in the January 2008 issue (Vol. 73, No. 5).

Professor Avatar by Andrea L. Foster looks at some different uses of SL in education by different universities including the exploration of Dante's Inferno and the re-creation of the Sistine Chapel.

Second Thoughts About Second Life by Michael J. Bugeja compliments our class topic regarding SL and the law. Specifically, the question of liability is raised. Particularly is a student required by a course to go onto SL is exposed to griefers, who is held responsible? The professor? University? Student? Linden Labs?

Bugeja also follows up in the February 2008 issue with an article Second Life, Revisited, in which it appears he received communication from Linden Labs. I have yet to read the article.

Anyways, much like the scribblings in the high school year book by fifty of your closest friends, "have a good summer."

The new top Linden

Well, the new head guy is in at Linden Labs. I wish the guy luck ... but I worry about two things:

1) his new avatar name is "M" Linden ... one worries that creativity is not his strong suit.

2) although his background includes time at organic, I'm wondering if he's the guy who will take the lead in fixing the grid, which is really the biggest problem right now.

At the very least, the company now has two top guys to work on the problems facing the company. Like I said, I wish the guy luck.

Stereotypes

As is often the case lately, this weekend I found myself explaining Second Life to someone unfamiliar with the concept of VWEs. Their immediate response was... "I never thought YOU'D be a gamer!" Hmmmmm... a gamer... (not unlike the mother who upon learning what I did for a living then responded with "OH! You're in PR?!? Used to like you!)

Follow that up with a discussion in SL about virtual identities that claim that the virtual world erases stereotypes (NOT)... We can create alternative identities... but even these are judged. In the discussion, someone posted the link attached above in the title of the post. It's the trailer for http://www.secondskinfilm.com/home.html. All this made me very interested to see the outcomes of the Masks group!

Again, I also find myself contemplating some comments made on this blog... that people in SL have no RL. I beg your pardon. My RL is awesome... and I'm enjoying SL too. BUT... how does that change the way people look at me? Yet another opportunity to put me in some category.... middle-aged, mom, white, female, American, student, gamer...

Education & Capitalism

Why do we have schools? To educate! Of course. That must be it, but if you peel back a couple of the layers and discover that Columbus really didn't discover 'America.'

We assume many things we are taught to be true. Columbus is only the outer layer of half-truths we are indoctrinated with. More information can be found by clicking on the title OR just google, education capitalism. This is not always the case, but seems to be pretty prevalent at the University of Florida.

The reason I say all this is because this class seems more like job training than a educational experience. Just like many other classes, we are supposed to fulfill a certain amount of requirements to get a certain grade. That seems to be the main focus and it is up to the student to make it something more.

Sure we are learning, but why do we need to learn how to complete a business proposal? I was excited about this course based on James C. Oliverio introduction to Digital Worlds, but my experience has turned sour. Maybe virtual environments just isn't the thing for me...

Anyone know much about modern-day train hopping? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQcxnKC5V4Y&feature=related)

HiPiHi: China's Answer to SL

Just thought I'd post this little tid bit about China's SL clone that just came into beta. In some ways it looks more detailed than SL, but the animations don't look as smooth to me. Either way I thought it was interesting that there is a thought that HiPiHi could be the answer to go create standards for virtual worlds and take them from being a simulation separate from the Internet to becoming mainstream internet as the 3D internet.

http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/04/21/hipihi-opens-its-doors-to-the-public/

BTW Anyone understand Mandarin?

Tired of Reality?

Stanford University is announcing a 2 week intensive training institute on immersive virtual reality. From September 8 to September 19 they will train you in the design and programming of virtual reality worlds.

The faculty is composed, among others by researcher Jeremy Bailenson, currently the director of Stanford's Virtual Human Interaction Lab, whose work in the field of cognitive psychology, telepresence and virtual environments, (funded by the National Science Foundation) is highly recognized.

In the The Avatar's Influence, The Chronicle of Higher Education
- What people do in virtual reality doesn't always stay in virtual reality he argues, and makes an excellent and compelling case that virtual representations of professors can be more effective than the real thing.

In Transformed Social Interaction in Immersive Virtual Reality Jeremy Bailenson discusses VHIL research projects in an extraordinary and fast paced Metaverse U presentation . I will try to show this in class because I think it will open (or close, there is always that possibility) a few eyes and raise awareness of what we have already discussed earlier in the class, that being as we are in the midst of a paradigm shift, it is difficult, sometimes impossible to perceive what is right in front of our eyes. Sometimes because it is very skilfully disguised.

Bailenson's main area of interest is the phenomenon of digital human representation, especially in the context of immersive virtual reality. He explores the manner in which people are able to represent themselves when the physical constraints of body and veridically-rendered behaviors are removed. Furthermore, he designs and studies collaborative virtual reality systems that allow physically remote individuals to meet in virtual space, and explores the manner in which these systems change the nature of verbal and nonverbal interaction.

You can apply at http://vhil.stanford.edu

The Oneiric Universes

Among the chatter about these issues, an article by Séverine Fiévet published last month in the French magazine LE MONDE talks about the virtual approach to treat children with difficulties.

The psychoanalyst Michael Stora will open a private clinic (this month) in Paris (I wonder what the cost will be) where the therapy happens via a video game. He contends that by playing a better communication is established with the therapist.

With three full-time people, including one child psychiatrist, and fifteen psychologists, trained with the video game, the clinic will treat children and teenagers with psychological difficulties, with family or school problems or situations. The young patients will be received in a different kind of environment, with a giant screen, access to the Internet and to all the game consoles available on the market.

Stora says: "The unconscious is becoming visible. We are now close to the oneiric universes."

SL posts strong economic growth on dwindling enrollments

A recent report showed that second life is continuing to experience economic growth. Although fewer new users are signing up for Second Life, the faithful are spending more time and money than ever before. Second Life's in-world economy is growing at a rate of 15 percent annually. User hours, concurrency, and economic transactions all showed robust growth.

Less positive statistics include total avatar population growth of 3.2 percent, the slowest month-to-month growth on record. Also, Linden's premium subscriber base declined for the fourth consecutive month in March. Interestingly, Second Life achieved a gross domestic product of US$300 million, a larger total economy than real-world nations Dominica and Micronesia.

These numbers may show some positive signs currently for Second Life, as the world is continuing to grow amid a tough virtually competitive environment. However, I believe that the new user numbers are still the most important. This is due to the fact that the virtual world is not large enough or proven enough to sustain itself without continuing to attract new users. Hopefully SL will make this a priority sooner rather than later.

Disabilities and Second Life

I recently came across an article describing some of the ways in which SL is helping people with disabilities and abused children. In one example there was a woman who was helping abused children who were all the way in portugal reconnect with social skills. She said that "They easily get in touch with people that they don't personally know, this means we seem to break a barrier of socializing."

In another example, a program called live2give was taken on with 9 adults who suffered from cerebal palsy. The program allowed them to connect with people from all over the world to help them cope with their everyday problems.

I think SL is a great resource for people who may not be able to get out everyday whether they are scared socially such as the abused children, or just arent physicaly able to. I think that SL also helps them to dream and be someone in world that they are not capable of in real life.

Schilling

Ancient Avatars

Costumes of Slaves or Serfs, from the Sixth to the Twelfth Centuries.
Did they have a life then?

Just for fun

 

What to do

Well after 3 hours of trying to work in SL I am calling quits for the night. 5-10 crashes this evening make me want to bail on this software as soon as the class is over. I hope to make my way into game building and development and SL will be an example of what not to create. A good idea in theory, it just annoyes me to no end that now my floors move on touch and refuse to line up, and when everything is right the viewer crashes. I hope SL gets fixed soon or I am afraid UF should look else where for virtual technology.

Maybe open source with mono is the way.....

http://opensimulator.org/wiki/Main_Page