Archives for July 2009

1. Associated Content (USA) – Tron Legacy Coming Soon in 2010. “Some test footage from Tron Legacy, the sequel to the 1982 cult classic Tron, was shown at Comic Con 2009. The Tron Legacy footage depicted a battle between a blue and yellow “light cycle”, familiar to those who recall the first film.
Tron was the first film to make heavy use of computer generated images (CGI). Tron depicted the adventures of Flynn, played by Jeff Bridges, a computer programmer who had been literally sucked into a virtual, computer world and forced to fight in deadly arcade like games, such as the light cycle battle, by the Master Control Program, played by David Warner. Flynn was aided by two computer generated characters, Tron, played by Bruce Boxleitner and Yori, played by Cindy Morgan. Tron and Yori had real world counterparts, Alan and Lora, who were Flynn’s friends and also computer programmers.”

2. The Economic Times (India) – Could virtual gaming contribute to medical research? “If twitter is the tech-story turned mainstream media darling of 2009, then San Francisco-based Linden Lab’s virtual reality world “Second Life” (SL) was clearly the fancied one in 2008. There was a bizarre SL related story – virtual rape/murder/suicide – every other day in the papers , CNN and Reuters had news bureaus within SL and journalists were getting invites to attend virtual press conferences in SL from gimmicksavvy tech companies. In 2009, while the limelight has gone and its user base has remained stagnant at about 800,000, Second Life has made that allimportant leap: converting hype into REAL money. Some analysts estimate that it will make a 100 million dollars this year and turn a net profit of about 35 million dollars within two years. The main source of revenue of course is the “real money” users pay to acquire real … err virtual estate in the SL universe. ”

3. The Telegraph (UK) – Addiction therapists signing up to World of Warcraft. “Experts have said that some massively multiplayer online games, in which players battle enemies for weapons and rewards, are as addictive as crack cocaine.
Dr Richard Graham, a consultant psychiatrist at the Tavistock Centre in London, is so concerned that he plans to provide online therapy for youngsters who are spending so much time playing these games that they have lost touch with the real world. A recent report by Sweden’s Youth Care Foundation described World of Warcraft as “more addictive than crack cocaine”. The game, which attracts almost 12 million players every month, is set in a fantasy environment, with users taking on the characters of dwarves, elves and wizards, interacting with other players throughout the virtual world.”

4. Computerworld (USA) – Faux pas at virtual world discussion highlight continuing ‘transitional phase’. “Virtual worlds are growing in colleges and universities despite significant problems in using them to teach courses and communicate, a panel of experts said during a virtual discussion sponsored by Cisco Systems Inc. The problems range from giving students and educators access to networks to reach the online virtual worlds to ease-of-use with the applications and tools inside of the virtual worlds, panelists and audience members said. “There’s a long way to go with this technology to make it easy for everybody to do,” said Sarah Smith-Robbins, director of emerging technology for Kelley Executive Partners at the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University. She has taught and written about virtual worlds for six years, and specializes in creating learning experiences that build on virtual worlds and alternative and augmented realities.”

5. The Age (Australia) – ‘Risk illiteracy’ among the young and reckless. “”THE only thing that shakes us is when one of our friends dies,” admits 19-year-old Hamad Al Mazmi in Prahran on a Friday night he has spent riding around in a high-powered Holden ute. The international student’s words are the last thing that police, the Transport Accident Commission and parents of young drivers want to hear. They know they are true. It’s a terrible irony that the deaths of nine young drivers and their passengers in the past month may have done more to teach inexperienced drivers about the fragility of life than could any government-funded campaign or parental tirade.”

6. ZNet – Elites and power. “The following text develops an argument that leads up to the vision of its last paragraph – which, to some, might seem enigmatic or disappointing in its implications. It is all about the concept of planning – of participatory or democratic or, as I would prefer to call it, scientific (interdisciplinary) planning. It is about the multitude of experts, scientists and professionals that are involved in the incredibly complicated planning processes of today. How to move from ‘here’ (private ownership of the means of production, corporate divisions of labor, plutocracy, the specter of markets, autocratic planning) to ‘there’ (a socialism based on science, knowledge, reason) is the central question. And you can’t move without movers. Writing about a strategy for the future cannot compel a European of my generation to dismiss the lessons of 20th century’s Left Project, which started out under the banner of ‘scientific socialism’ – and dismally failed. But do we refrain from returning to classical art and thought just because the project of classical antiquity ‘failed’? To Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels and to thousand other thinkers the concept of scientific socialism was essential. And many think, that advances in the soft and hard sciences are such that this concept finally has a chance. ”

7. Top Tech News (USA) – Collaboration Tools Can Cut Costs, Boost Productivity. “At a time when enterprise software investments are trending town, companies may not be looking to invest in unified communications and collaboration tools. But with the boost to business productivity, the contained costs, and the chance to be a good corporate citizen by reducing your company’s carbon footprint, it may be time to look at how collaboration tools — both enterprise-level and low-cost open-source solutions — can benefit your company. “Providing employees with collaboration tools that enable them to work together effectively, no matter where they may be located, is no longer a wish-list or nice-to-have item — it’s a requirement,” said Kent Erickson, senior vice president and general manager of Workgroup Solutions for Novell.”

8. North Shore Times (NZ) – Study out of this world. “Virtual worlds and computer games aren’t only for teen cyberjunkies, says Massey University associate professor Erik Champion. He says computer games have enormous potential and tools to explore and interact with ancient cultures, distant places and inaccessible environments. The new media lecturer at the design school on the Albany campus is seeking designers to create more New Zealand-themed virtual worlds. “The challenge is to find new interactive ways to experience things through digital media,” he says. Dr Champion says those worlds will soon become more popular than travelling and book learning and the like.”

9. The Economist (USA) – Online playgrounds. “REMEMBER Second Life, the virtual world that was supposed to become almost as important as the first one? Now populated by no more than 84,000 avatars at a time, it has turned out to be a prime example of how short-lived internet fads can be. Yet if many adults seem to have given up on virtual worlds, those that cater to children and teenagers are thriving. Several have even found a way to make money. In America, nearly 10m children and teenagers visit virtual worlds regularly, estimates eMarketer, a market researcher—a number the firm expects to increase to 15m by 2013. As of January, there were 112 virtual worlds designed for under-18s with another 81 in development, according to Engage Digital Media, a market research firm. All cater to different age groups and tastes. In Club Penguin, the market leader, which was bought by Disney in 2007 for a whopping $700m, primary-school children can take on a penguin persona, fit out their own igloo and play games. Habbo Hotel, a service run from Finland, is a global hangout for teenagers who want to customise their own rooms and meet in public places to attend events. Gaia Online, based in Silicon Valley, offers similar activities, but is visited mostly by older teens who are into Manga comics.”

10. VentureBeat (USA) – Do you have the right to socialize on multiplayer games? ““Erik Estavillo is suing Sony over being banned from PlayStation Network, claiming that the company violated his right to free speech and has caused him pain by removing his only form of socialization, as he suffers from agoraphobia.” When I first read about this lawsuit, I wondered if the plaintiff in the case filed his suit pro se — representing himself. My thought was that any attorney who represented him might be subject to professional discipline for bringing a meritless claim. A suit that blatantly lacks jurisdiction would probably fall under that category. On second review though, I thought that there might be a colorable basis for this suit, enough jurisdiction for the lawyer to avoid censure at least. The plaintiff’s complaint doesn’t specify exactly how Sony’s Resistance: The Fall of Man (RFoM) game platform qualifies as a “public forum”, but this point will determine whether the court can even entertain the case.”