online communities

I love TED!

2008-05-16T23:02:09+01:00

I love watching the TED Talks. it's great they publish the videos as it's REALLY expensive to attend the conference. tonight I've watched a few :

Sir Ken Robinson : Creativity and Education
his talk was very entertaining - he's quite funny!, and he raised some good points and examples of how modern education system is designed towards getting people jobs, since it was formed since the introduction of industrialisation. as we don't know what will happen in the future, how can we educate children correctly to prepare for the future. and how creativity has a lesser importance in the education system of today. I liked a couple of comments he raised - listed below. the full transcript is on the TED blog page

"creativity now is as important in education as literacy, and we should treat it with the same status"

...

kids will take a chance. If they don't know, they'll have a go. Am I right? They're not frightened of being wrong.

Now, I don't mean to say that being wrong is the same thing as being creative. What we do know is, if you're not prepared to be wrong, you'll never come up with anything original. If you're not prepared to be wrong. And by the time they get to be adults, most kids have lost that capacity. They have become frightened of being wrong.

And we run our companies like this, by the way, we stigmatize mistakes. And we're now running national education systems where mistakes are the worst thing you can make.

And the result is, we are educating people out of their creative capacities.

...

Now our education system is predicated on the idea of academic ability. And there's a reason. The whole system was invented round the world there were no public systems of education really before the 19th century. They all came into being to meet the needs of industrialism.

So the hierarchy is rooted on two ideas: Number one, that the most useful subjects for work are at the top. So you were probably steered benignly away from things at school when you were a kid, things you liked, on the grounds that you would never get a job doing that. Is that right? Don't do music, you're not going to be a musician; don't do art, you're not going to be an artist. Benign advice -- now, profoundly mistaken. The whole world is engulfed in a revolution.

And the second is, academic ability, which has really come to dominate our view of intelligence because the universities designed the system in their image. If you think of it, the whole system of public education around the world is a protracted process of university entrance. And the consequence is that many highly talented, brilliant, creative people think they're not, because the thing they were good at at school wasn't valued, or was actually stigmatized. And I think we can't afford to go on that way.

he's written a book called "Out of Our Minds: Learning to be Creative" and is writing another now called "Epiphanies" which is about how people discovered their talents.

===============================================================

Paul Stamets : 6 ways mushrooms can save the world

Paul Stamets talked about mushrooms - mycelium and how they are nature's internet and the present day internet is a similar model based on nature's creation. also about different uses for mycelium eg regenerating soil, solving oil accidents, medical uses and renewable energy solutions.

===============================================================

Al Gore : New thinking on the climate crisis

Al Gore gave a new presentation speaking about democracy and how people have to help the climate crisis at home, but also in larger scales by forcing their government and media to raise more awareness to assist with the consciousness change required in helping to save the planet

MOBILE LIFE CONFERENCES and EXHIBITIONS : calls for submissions

2008-05-12T21:16:05+01:00

MOBILE LIFE CONFERENCES and EXHIBITIONS

New Submission Deadline: 2 June 2008

-- mSOCIETY 2008 -- The 1st International Conference on Mobile Society
-- EURO mGOV 2008 -- The 3rd European Conference on Mobile Government

15 -19 September 2008, Sheraton Voyager, Antalya, Turkey
http://www.mgovernment.org/events/index.html
mlife@mgovernment.org

mLife Events Organization decided to extended the submission deadline
to June 2nd, both to respond to various requests for extension and to
organize the special sessions better.

Electronic submissions are open and can be accessed via
http://www.mgovernment.org/confadmin/

Please see the confenence brief below and more information on the
conferences, program highlights, topics, organisers and supporters can
be found at the http://www.mgovernment.org/events/

Cheers
Kushchu, General Chair

---- Please feel free to forward

MOBILE LIFE CONFERENCES and EXHIBITIONS

-- mSOCIETY 2008 -- The 1st International Conference on Mobile Society
-- EURO mGOV 2008 -- The 3rd European Conference on Mobile Government
15 -19 September 2008, Sheraton Voyager, Antalya, Turkey

http://www.mgovernment.org/events/index.html mlife@mgovernment.org

SPONSORS, ORGANIZERS and SUPPORTERS:
--- TURKCELL (Diamond Sponsor), TurkSat (Gold Sponsor)
--- CISCO, Mobile Government Consortium International, AykeyNet,
Dept. of Computer Engineering TOBB Uni. of Economics and Technology
The Center for Information & Society at the University of Washington
TUBITAK

mLife conference and exhibitions are prime events for all
organizations and professionals who would like to monitor, take part
in and shape the development of the social aspects of the mobile
revolution. They provide opportunities to businesses, public sector
organizations and researchers to explore the frontiers of the social
mobile revolution and be informed in order to reach their goals.

-----
EURO mGOV 2008 - The 3rd European Conference on Mobile Government
15-16 September 2008, Sheraton Voyager, Antalya, Turkey
-----

Mobile Government involves revolutionary approaches to eGovernment and
the modernization of public sector via the utilization of networked mobile
technologies in local or central government organizations. It aims to
enhance public sector business by creating new opportunities to
provide services to society. mGovernment is now a recognized field of
practice and research, and constitutes the next evolutionary step of
progress in eGovernment.

The EURO mGOV 2008 aims to be a platform for presenting, exchanging
and disseminating the newest developments, ideas, applications and
services in the field of mGovernment among three essential
constituents: public and private sector professionals and the
researchers.

Netaudio'08: call for entries

2008-05-11T22:22:59+01:00

Netaudio, the Offline Festival for Online Music comes back to London after a great festival in Berlin in 2007
Netaudio'08 will take place from 22nd to 25th October 2008 at Shunt, a extensive labyrinth of tunnels underneath London Bridge Station.
Over four nights we will celebrate the creative output of networked musicians and online communities with talks, workshops, showcases and performances. Parts of Netaudio'08 will be programmed through an open call for entries. With this call we would like to give you the chance to put our attention to your creative activities related to the festival theme.
Call for entries runs in 3 strands: performance, installation and conference. For more information and to download the entry forms please visit: http://www.netaudiolondon.cc/blog/137/call-for-entries

AVATAR ORCHESTRA METAVERSE mixed reality composition performances

2008-05-01T22:31:39+01:00

Saturday May 10, 2008
2 PM PDT, 5 PM EDT, 11 PM CEDT

As part of the 4th Annual Open Space Victoria Voice++ Festival
the AVATAR ORCHESTRA METAVERSE will perform two new mixed reality compositions: XAANADRuuL by Canadian composer Jeremy Owen Turner, and The Heart of Tones (mixed reality version) by American composer Pauline Oliveros.

The performance will take place on Second Life, on site at Open
Space in Victoria, BC, Canada, and will be audio streamed live on the web. For
updates and listening urls, go to http://avatarorchestra.blogspot.com/
or see web stream urls at the bottom of this post.

Audio Web Stream urls:

Shoutcast server 1
http://d-oo-b.cc:8034
Listening url server 1
http://d-oo-b.cc:8034/listen.pls

Shoutcast server 2
http://d-oo-b.cc:8036
Listening url server 2
http://d-oo-b.cc:8036/listen.pls

Shoutcast server 3 (reserve)
http://d-oo-b.cc:8038
Listening url server 3
http://d-oo-b.cc:8038/listen.pls

PROGRAM

AVATAR ORCHESTRA METAVERSE
Virtual Reality Performance and Audio Web Stream

Jeremy Owen Turner (Vancouver, BC)
XAANADRuuL
dedicated to the memory of Karlheinz Stockhausen

Pauline Oliveros (Kingston New York)
The Heart of Tones (mixed reality version)
dedicated to the memory of Toyoji Tomita

May 10 2 PM PDT, 5 PM EDT, 11 PM CEDT

XAANADRuuL by Jeremy Owen Turner (Wirxli Flimflam)
Stockhausen's Pleasuredome 4 Sirius Business" (2007/2008)

XANADRuuL is a Second Life composition in 3 sections created for the Avatar Orchestra Metaverse. One can see this composition as an official elegy/tribute to the Modernist music pioneer, Karlheinz Stockhausen. XANADRuuL was created from samples that were solely derived from the Composer's (Wirxli's) own digitally manipulated voice. This composition was inspired by Stockhausen's claim of being an alien from Sirius and so the 3 sections of this composition correspond to Sirius A, B and C stars. In addition, there are also many references to Xanadu (including the movie with Olivia Newton John). The Opening Ceremonies take place on Sirius A where angels sing along with the selected voice samples from heavenly heights on the ceiling of a pentagonal geodesic dome and also on Sirius B where meandering avatars vainly attempt to communicate with these alien angelic muses using only pre-recorded samples. Sirius C is a "meta-composition" and is performed by the public throughout Second Life.

Set Design and Construction by Dethomas Dibou (Detlef Thomas), Regensburg, Germany
Instruments and Halos by Bingo Onomatopoeia (Andreas Mueller), Regensburg,Germany
___

The Heart of Tones (mixed reality version) by Pauline Oliveros (Free Noyes)

This piece was originally composed for trombone and two oscillators, and commissioned by Abbie Conant and her Wired Goddess Project during her residency at Mills College in the Fall of 1999. This is an ensemble version of the piece adapted for the mixed realities of Second Life and Real Life, combining virtual instruments with live trombones and voices.
The Heart of Tones: A tone, in this instance D4, is minutely explored in the smallest possible increments on, above and below the prescribed pitch, through the smallest timbre variations and spatial locations by performers on virtual and RL instruments. The pitch variations are never more than a half step away from the given pitch. The resultant beats, timbral shifts and audio illusions create rhythms, transformations and textures of depth. The focus is on listening to the beat frequencies and the overtones that result. The musicians decide independently and intuitively on the variations.

Virtual Instruments and Cloaks / Receivers by Bingo Onomatopoeia (Andreas Mueller), Regensburg, Germany
___

Avatar Orchestra Metaverse is a group of composers, performers, and
media artists living in Europe, East Asian and North America who
explore together the interactive possibilities of the Second Life
online virtual reality platform to create works with open, interactive
and possibly "infinite" elements. The Orchestra works with ideas
that challenge conventional practices of creating and performing
music, and finds new ways to conceive of and erase notions of
identity, place, social, cultural and sexual identity, and the roles
of composer, performer and listener.

For this special performance, dedicated to the memory of two
exceptional human beings and musicians, the Orchestra is joined by
guest vocalists, trombonists and instrumentalists from Canada and the
United States, whose avatars will appear on Second Life with their
streamed instrumental sound joining the virtual AOM instruments.

Guest vocalists:
Aurel Miles (Stephanie Farrington), Ottawa, Canada
Chris Reiche (Bowlerhat Trenchcoat), Victoria, Canada

Guest Trombonists (Heart of Tones)
Sum Noyes (Monique Buzzarte),
Trombonejen Wigglesworth (Jen Baker)
Weave Noyes (Sarah Weaver)
And in spirit,
Toyoji MacDonnell (Toyoji Tomita)

with a special appearance by The Seattle Toyoji Band appearing as avatar StuArtnoise Sass (Heart of Tones):
Thomasa Eckert, voice
Janice Giteck, cello
Roger Nelson, piano
Paul Taub, flute
Renko Ishida Dempster, koto
Stuart Dempster, trombone

Avatar Orchestra Performers:

AOM virtual instruments:
Bingo Onomatopoeia (Andreas Mueller), Regensburg, Germany
Blaise delaFrance (Biagio Fracia), Italy
Free Noyse (Pauline Oliveros), Kingston, New York, USA
Goodwind Seiling (Sachiko Hayashi), Stockholm, Sweden
Gumnosophistai Nurmi (Leif Inge), Oslo, Norway
Ida Aabye (Nathalie Fougeras), Brussels, France
Miulew Takahe (Bjorn Eriksson), Solleftea, Sweden
Paco Mariani (Chris Wittkowsky), Regensburg, Germany
Wirxli Flimflam (Jeremy Owen Turner, Vancouver, Canada)

Voices and AOM virtual instruments:
Fernsing Llewelyn (Cathy Lewis), Victoria, Canada
Humming Pera (Tina Pearson), Victoria, Canada
Liz Solo (Liz Solo), St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada
Zonzo Spyker (Viv Corringham), Minneapolis, USA, London, UK

Streaming by Loop Luo (Loopland), Regensburg, Germany)
Streaming host: Eifach Films, Basel, Switzerland

May 10 2 PM PDT, 5 PM EDT, 11 PM CEDT

--~--~---------~--~----~------------~--
Avatar Orchestra Metaverse -
************************************
http://avatarorchestra.com
-~----------~----~----~----~------~----

Audio Foundation and funding link

2008-02-19T08:58:41+00:00

I was checking out the NZ Audio Foundation website again today and came across a link from an email on the AF-l about funding from Damian from Frey. it's an interesting argument. I think Australia is similar to New Zealand in this way, but also at a glance I think New Zealanders have the creative support advantage over the Australians, or so it seemed to me at least, as they have MANY! support organisations helping the artists. will have to do some more research to see if my assumptions are founded.

The SALA-MANCA GROUP

2008-01-26T22:37:51+00:00

The SALA-MANCA GROUP is a group of independent Jerusalem-based artists that creates in different fields: performance, video, installation & new media since 2000. Sala-manca's works deal with poetics of translation (cultural, mediatic and social), with textual, urban and net contexts and with the tensions between low tech and high tech aesthetics, as well as social and political issues.

ACTV

2008-01-26T21:59:39+00:00

ACTV is an independent Internet television channel that aims to provide a platform for voices, perspectives, and opinions unrepresented by the commercial media; to keep abreast of environmental and social issues; and to broadcast independent cultural events, music, and arts to audiences in Israel and around the world.

ACTV broadcasts video films on demand (VOD). It currently hosts hundreds of films and short features.

ACTV does not simply stand on the sidelines and observe reality: It consciously aspires to deal with a range of social and environmental issues from a system of values that seeks to express what is of benefit to local people, regardless of their race, gender, and religion.

ACTV was constructed and is supported by Media ACTV - which aims to achieve social change through the media - by other NGOs and grass roots organizations, and through the generosity of private donors and supporters who wish for these voices to be heard.

The Israeli Center for Digital Art (Digital Art Lab)

2008-01-26T21:50:24+00:00

The Israeli Center for Digital Art (Digital Art Lab) was established in order to promote and exhibit New Media and video art and undertakes to reflect the cultural and technological influences on the visual art. In the center, changing exhibitions are held by Israeli as well as international artists, that give current approach to net.art, video art, photography, animation and interactive sound. For those involved in the contemporary artistic field, the Center is used for research, creation and projects’ counseling.

no-org.net

2008-01-26T19:51:50+00:00

no-org.net is a Jerusalem art network, launched in December 2003. It serves a platform for experimental projects in the area of netbased and digital art and for the exchange of independent information on contemporary art.

The site is housing an active archive of Hearat Shulaym (Independent Journal for Contemporary Art) and Heara events.

Since May 2005, no-org hosts the Upgrade! Tel Aviv-Jerusalem.

Artists and cultural mediators are welcome to participate in the no-org.net undertaking — publish articles, essays, art projects or links to them, reviews or announcements for independent art events as well as comments and reacts.

Though English is the interface language of no-org.net, it is not necessarily the dominant one. Artworks, projects, articles, and texts in other languages can be submitted and will be published.

Please send us any suggested materials to review@no-org.net

Messy.Boat.Bitch.On.Yacht

2008-01-25T23:03:52+00:00

Art, Music, Culture in Jerusalem today - event listings and what's happening around Jerusalem

explorative research links

2008-01-13T14:45:49+00:00

TechGnosis maillist website
“Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away."
-Philip K. Dick-
VISIT TECHGNOSIS AT: http://techgnosis.info
SUBSCRIBE to TechGnosis List: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TechGnosis/join
http://www.maybelogic.org
http://www.maybelogic.net
http://edge.org/
http://www.techgnosis.com - Erik Davis' site
http://www.undergrowth.org
http://www.barrelfullofmonkeys.org
http://www.entheo.net/ - entheogenesis Australia 2007 conference
http://www.docquan.com/lib_dead.html - an online collection / library of interesting books

Semanal project - create & post a video once a week in 2008

2008-01-02T23:58:03+00:00

Last November I took part in NaVloPoMo - videoblog posting month. it was a lot of fun and was a good way to remember to do something creative in between working. I know a lot of people can't help but be creative all the time, but I find sometimes I get so tired from work that I become passive and tend to watch more than do. so this was a good reminder to get into the habit.

in 2008, Semanal is happening - similar to NaVloPoMo but posting one video a week instead of one each day. this is much more manageable for me at least as I can usually make one on the weekend. the hardest part then becomes finding time to watch everyone else's videos!

http://semanal.ning.com/ is the Semanal site - a worpress blog is also being setup (I'll post the link here also once available). usually people post their videos to their usual video hosting site (eg blip.tv, youtube, archive.org etc) and their blog if they have one, and also post a link / embedded version to the Semanal site. this time you can post to the wordpress site blog also, which will have an RSS feed so you can easily watch the other contributors videos (or watch them directly on the blog site as I tend to do)

I'd love to see more Australian videos there from friends and creative people I know / know of! they can be any type of videos - personal, talking to the camera, gig videos, shows, interviews, arty & experimental, generative, computer generated, Second Life video - whatever you'd like to do. there's a mixture of beginners and more established video producers, so everyone is welcome. sometimes someone picks a theme and people use that, other times they do what they like. you can use your phone camera, happy snap portable camera, webcam, HD / professional camera, or even do remixes of archive.org or other existing footage - whatever suits you. it's a good way to practice different techniques and see what is in the imagination of others too, and even just a good way to learn a new skill such as web video and/or software / video editing techniques. the community for the project is great too - very supportive!

from http://semanal.ning.com/ :
"Every week in 2008, we're posting videos. 52 videos by the end of the year. Post on your blog, on Seesmic, Facebook, YouTube, whatever, wherever and however. You can do anything you want. As long as it moves."

Rupert explains the term Semanal chosen for the project :
"Semanal is Spanish and Portuguese for 'weekly'. And I think it has a nice echo of the English word Seminal, defined here as:
"Highly influential in an original way; constituting or providing a basis for further development: a seminal idea in the creation of a new theory."
and at Wikipedia as: "a work from which other works grow... an intellectual or artistic achievement whose ideas and techniques have been adopted or responded to in later works by other people"

hope to see your videos there!

moos and lost notebooks from 1995

2007-06-18T15:33:55+01:00

back in the mid 90s or so I used to hang out on a couple of moos with some of the outlook crowd. I found one of my old notebooks on the bookshelf during this trip home and it has some of my notes on how to connect and lists the urls etc also. I used to use the name Alia back then though the name became too popular so a few years later I added the K for Kath/Kathy and became AliaK. one of the pages has my notes on how to request my name.

here's some of the notebook pages. I used to make the notebooks out of old 5.25" floppy disks and recycled paper from work - these disks weren't being used as often by this stage.. amazing how times change!!

I remember making a hammock that swung softly when someone sat in it and a room called blacony - nothing too flash compared to what the others were doing but it all worked ok! one day I'll have to go through some old disks and see if I can find any files from back then, that's if the disks even spin up at all..

more notebooks photos (including notes on other little projects I used to work on) @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/aliak_com/tags/notebooks/

The Long Now Foundation

2007-06-17T09:34:23+01:00

"In the early 90s a group of people were attracted to each other because of their shared interest in the idea of time, and in the idea of responsibility for the future. This group of people came to call themselves the Long Now Foundation."
"We felt that there was a need to create some new form of human thinking about Time. We were all aware that everything was getting faster."
"We were also aware as we looked around that most of the ambitions and objectives of people in corporations and in government, even in education had become closer and closer in terms of time so corporations were living in fear of their quarterly results and politicians were living in fear of the next opinion poll. There seemed to be an ever - decreasing horizon into the future and very little encouragement from people in any direction to lay long term plans. No politician wants to start on a plan that doesn't yield results pretty quickly at least within his or her term of office. The worst thing of all is if it yields results in the opposition's term of office and of course the media don't help this by always focusing on things that seem like blue sky projects and criticising them as being stupidly idealistic and pointless."
"We thought that there was first of all the need for an organisation that would celebrate that kind of thinking, that would ally with it, that would support it, that would encourage it and in fact would try to do it itself."
-- Brian Eno from Brian Eno Seminar on The Long Now

US Congressional Future of Video Hearing - videos on youtube

2007-05-12T14:30:29+01:00

YouTube CEO Chad Hurley is being questioned at the US Congressional Future of Video Hearing - Box Elder has posted videos from the Hearing on The 463 - Inside Tech Policy blog.. let's see what the outcome will be..
There's also videos about Net Neutrality also

Alexandra Fletcher

2007-04-01T09:12:16+01:00

artist / project name:
Alexandra Fletcher

bio:
promotions & events co-ordinator at myspace australia

myspace page:
http://www.myspace.com

website:
http://www.myspace.com

city:
sydney

Australian artist / DJ / project?:
Yes

can AliaK contact you for more info?:
yes

are you a currently active artist / DJ / project?:
yes

nomadology

2006-11-04T06:37:46+00:00

I've been reading the Nomadology book and blog posts lately. it's an interesting concept. I've found myself travelling more in the last few years but I'm not sure that my mode of travel could be classed as nomadic.
eg from Encyclopedia Britannica - searching on nomad / nomadism
http://www.britannica.com/ebc/article-9373574
[quote]
"Way of life of peoples who do not live continually in the same place but move cyclically or periodically."
"It is based on temporary centres whose stability depends on the available food supply and the technology for exploiting it. A hunting and gathering society is a type of nomadic group. Pastoral nomads, who depend on domestic livestock, migrate in an established territory to find pasture for their animals. Tinker or trader nomads, such as the Roma (Gypsies; see Rom) and the Irish and Scottish Travellers, are associated with a larger society but maintain their mobile way of life. Nomadism declined in the 20th century as urban centres expanded and governments sought to regulate or eliminate it."
[/quote]
or nomadism on wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nomadism
[quote]
"Communities of nomadic people move from place to place, rather than settling down in one location. Many cultures have been traditionally nomadic, but nomadic behaviour is increasingly rare in industrialised countries. There are three kinds of nomads, hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads, and peripatetic nomads. Nomadic hunter-gatherers have by far the longest-lived subsistence method in human history, following seasonally available wild plants and game. Pastoralists raise herds and move with them so as not to deplete pasture beyond recovery in any one area. Peripatetic nomads are more common in industrialised nations travelling from place to place offering a trade wherever they go."
[/quote]
currently I'm a cross between Perpetual Traveller, expat or perhaps even a touch technomad. for the moment I have given up the sedentary lifestyle. living in different place whilst on work projects gives you a great opportunity to see how other people live and to realise how little you actually need to be happy and to live a good life yourself. it definitely makes you appreciate the life we lead in Australia.
there's a whole other world out there and some people are taking advantage of it. in doing a couple of quick html hops whilst googling nomadism, I came across microship.com the website of Steven Roberts who left suburbia behind to travel in teched up vehicles such as Winnebiko and BEHEMOTH. Now he's decking out a catamaran to do some more leisurely and comfortable sailing. but wow! what an adventure. his site mentions he's had help from numerous people on places to stay and go. there'd be a few books worth of stories to tell!

Pixelpress

2006-08-15T05:28:10+01:00

PixelPress' intent is to encourage documentary photographers, writers, filmmakers, artists, human rights workers and students to explore the world in ways that take advantage of the new possibilities provided by digital media. They seek a new paradigm of journalism, one that encourages an active dialogue between the author and reader and, also, the subject.

The PixelPress online magazine features projects that use a variety of linear and non-linear strategies, attempting to articulate visions of human possibility even while confirming human frailty. For them, the digital revolution is a revolution in consciousness, not in commerce.

PixelPress works with organizations such as Crimes of War, Human Rights Watch, World Health Organization and UNICEF to create Web sites that deal directly with contemporary issues in complex and innovative ways that circumvent media sensationalism and simplification. They also try to factor in ways that the viewer can help remedy social problems, rather than remain a spectator. Recently we completed a site focusing on how to end polio worldwide; another trying to aid an orphanage in Rwanda; one trying to reclaim the Brazilian forest; and a site featuring the images of photographers from the Vietnam War. And they also create books with photographers such as Machiel Botman, Kent Klich and Sebastião Salgado on social themes, as well as traveling exhibitions using both digital and conventional processes.

from http://www.pixelpress.org/whoarewe.html

second life

2006-05-20T08:27:29+01:00

I'm getting into Second Life. I tried to use it a couple of years ago when I first heard of it but my old laptop graphics card wasn't up to spec so I couldn't actually logon :( since getting the macbook I no longer have this problem! so my second life name is Alia Kiama, I haven't bought any land yet but I'm going to try make some objects.. once I work out all the new terminology. it's similar to the old compuserve worlds away and active worlds avatar based systems but seem to be more popular. the main difference is that when you build something you are allowed to keep your IP. people are making their living in RL (real life) creating objects in the world. you can buy and sell Linden $ (the inworld currency) on websites, and for US$.

some links whilst researching second life stuff :

(I'll post SL articles using my second life name, Alia Kiama)

main second life site
http://secondlife.com

A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace by John Perry Barlow
http://homes.eff.org/~barlow/Declaration-Final.html

Trade & Services directory
http://trade.secondserver.net/

Anshe Chung studios
successful real estate broker in world who's making a living in RL from second life real estate
http://www.anshechung.com/

IT Conversations podcast about second life with Cory Ondrejka from Linden Labs
http://www.itconversations.com/shows/detail369.html

yahoogroups list for second life
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/slfuture

Second Life developers
http://sldevelopers.com/

uni subjects / courses :

http://trumpy.cs.elon.edu/metaverse/wiki/index.php/Second_Life - Second Life - Metaverse (taken from the Neal Stephenson book 'Snow Crash')

http://beyondbroadcast.net/wiki/index.php?title=Virtual_Worlds - Beyond Broadcast wiki - Virtual Worlds

second life blogs :

http://slfuturesalon.blogs.com/ - Second Life Future Salon

http://www.3pointd.com/index.php?tag=second-life - 3D Point D

http://secondtense.blogspot.com - Second Tense

http://nwn.blogs.com/ - New World Notes

http://terranova.blogs.com/ - Terranova

http://www.shaviro.com/Othertexts/MMOs.pdf - online copy of the paper "Money for Nothing : Virtual Worlds and Virtual Economies" by Steven Shaviro : http://www.shaviro.com

& the references from Money for Nothing :

References

Castronova, Edward. "Virtual Worlds: A First-Hand Account of Market and Society on the Cyberian Frontier". CESifo Working Paper 618, 2001.

Deleuze, Gilles and Guattari, Felix. Anti-Oedipus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia. Trans. Robert Hurley, Mark Seem, and Helen R. Lane.Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1983.

Dibbell, Julian. My Tiny Life: Crime and Passion in a Virtual World. New York: Henry Holt, 1999.

Dibbell, Julian. Play Money: Or, How I Quit My Day Job and Made Millions Trading Virtual Loot. New York: Basic Books, 2006.

Foucault, Michel. Aesthetics, Method, and Epistemology, vol. 2 of Essential Works of Foucault. Trans. Robert Hurley and others. New York: The New Press, 1998.

Hayek, F. A. The Fatal Conceit: The Errors of Socialism. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1991.

Howe, Jeff. "The Rise of Crowdsourcing". Wired, 14:6, June, 2006.
LiPuma, Edward and Lee, Benjamin. Financial Derivatives and the Globalization of Risk. Durham: Duke University Press, 2004.

Llewelyn, Gwyneth. "Crowdsourcing in Second Life". http://gwynethllewelyn.net/article76visual1layout1.html, July 22, 2006.

McRae, Shannon. "Coming Apart at the Seams: Sex, Text, and the Virtual Body". In Lynn Cherny and Elizabeth Reba Weise, eds., "Wired Women: Gender and New Realities in Cyberspace", Seattle: Seal Press, 1996.

Spinoza, Baruch. Theological-Political Treatise. Trans. Samuel Shirley. Indianapolis: Hackett, 1998.

Thrift, Nigel. Knowing Capitalism. London: Sage, 2005.

Walker, Rob. "The Hidden (in Plain Sight) Persuaders". The New York Times Magazine, December 5, 2004.

Wark, McKenzie. GAM3R 7H30RY. Institute for the Future of the Book (http://www.futureofthebook.org/gamertheory/), 2006.

Zizek, Slavoj. The Sublime Object of Ideology. New York: Verso, 1989.

Second Life developers site

2006-05-20T08:09:39+01:00

Second Life devleopers community resource site. visit http://sldevelopers.com/ for more details