1. Knight Poderous Second Life
2. Digital Eyes Dance Fans
3. Haunted House: Report
Archives for 2008
6 reasons not to mess with children
November 8, 2008 by Leave a Comment
(1)
A  little girl was talking to her teacher about whales. The teacher said it was physically impossible for a whale to swallow a human because  even though it was a very large mammal, its throat was very small.
The little girl stated that Jonah was swallowed by a whale. Irritated, the teacher reiterated that a whale could not swallow a human; it was physically  impossible. The  little girl said, ‘When I get to heaven, I will ask Jonah.’ The teacher asked, ‘What if Jonah went to  hell?’
The little  girl replied, ‘Then you ask him.’
(2)
A  Kindergarten teacher was observing her classroom of children while they were drawing. She would occasionally walk around to see each child’s work. As she got  to one little girl who was working diligently, she asked what the drawing was.
The girl replied, ‘I’m drawing  God.’
The teacher paused and said, ‘But no one  knows what God looks like.’
Without missing a beat, or looking up from her drawing, the girl replied, ‘They will in a minute.’
(3)
A Sunday school teacher was discussing the Ten Commandments with her five and six year olds.
After explaining the  commandment to ‘honor’ thy Father and thy Mother, she asked, ‘Is there a commandment that teaches us how to treat our brothers and sisters?’
Without missing a beat one little boy, the oldest of a family, answered, ‘Thou shall not  kill.’
(4)
The  children had all been photographed, and the teacher was trying to persuade them each to buy a copy of the group picture.
‘Just think how nice it will be to look at it when you are all grown up and say, ‘There’s  Jennifer, she’s a lawyer,’ or ‘That’s Michael, He’s a doctor’.’
A Â small voice at the back of the room rang out, ‘And there’s the teacher, she’s dead.’
(5)
A teacher was giving a lesson on the circulation of the blood. Trying to  make the matter clearer, she said, ‘Now, class, if I stood on my head, the blood, as you know, would run into it, and I would turn red in the  face.’
‘Yes,’ the class  said.
‘Then why is it that while I am standing upright in the ordinary position, the blood doesn’t run into my feet?’
A little  fellow shouted, ‘Cause your feet ain’t empty.’
(6)
The children were lined up in the cafeteria of a Catholic elementary school for lunch. At the head of the table was a large pile of apples. The nun made a note, and posted on the apple tray:
‘Take only ONE. God is watching.’
Moving further along the lunch line, at the other end of the table was a large pile of chocolate chip cookies.
A child had written a note, ‘Take all you want. God is watching the apples.’
10 days left to save humanity
November 7, 2008 by Leave a Comment
Superstruct runs for only 10 more days.
Due to the nature of the game, it’s still not too late to join in, though some may find the task even more daunting than when the game began. Superstruct is difficult to navigate. Though several superstructs have been put together for this express purpose, there is no single, compact point from which to view the game, no easy and comprehensive way to search the collection. Additionally, there’s either quite a bit of duplication of effort, or people have not been sufficiently able to explain how their superstruct differs from other very similar efforts – this makes researching the results doubly difficult.
6452 players. 488 superstructures. Sounds good, considering the nature of the game.
Score: 8196. Current Survival Horizon: 2051. Ouch. Looks like we haven’t significantly impacted our survival horizon. Still, 10 days to go!
Here’s a random selection of superstructures, intended to give an overview of the types of superstructures that have been created thus far.
“Large-scale problems do not require large-scale solutions. They require small-scale solutions within a large-scale framework.”
This superstruct is working to reduce carbon emissions from energy production while still keeping everyone fed and keeping necessary technologies running. An open-source online carbon/energy monitoring system is being combined with national systems of Tradable Energy Quotas (see www.teqs.net). Energy usage by homes and businesses will be closely monitored to ensure that a minimum of energy is being used to reduce carbon emissions.
Badge Winner! Longbroading
The Rooftop Cultivation Association
“Feeding ourselves, one apartment block at a time.”
This superstructure relies on the concept of using rooftops, balconies and other small areas for gardening, along with the idea of vertical farming, in order to produce food within cities. They are looking for marketing folk to assist with the push to get people interested and active, as there has been quite some interest in the past with little activity.
Badge Winner! Cooperation Radar
EDUCYCLE
“Changing the world one student at a time!”
Educycle is all about giving and getting a free education. Groups are set up online through yahoogroups; then there are local groups, moderated by local volunteers, set up in participating towns. Each person shares what knowledge they have in an accessible way, and has access to the knowledge of the rest of the superstructure.
Badge Winner! Multi-Capitalism
Foundation of Hope
“Every mission needs a foundation.”
This superstructure is primarily about the delivery of hope to other SEHIs and other people across the planet. Additionally, hope is transmitted not only just by being hopeful, but by telling stories of hope, helping by talking to other people one-on-one, and by providing help in other forms – there is a section in which people can ask for help, and in which offers of help can be made.
Badge Winner! Influency
Outposts of One
“Together we are no longer alone.”
This superstructure is all about connecting people, especially those who are geographically or physically unable to connect with others. People are invited both to connect through this superstructure and to contribute ideas as to how to connect people so that no-one is left out.
Badge Winner! Mobbability
Everyday Heroes
“Everyday people saving the world.”
Join Everyday Heroes and become an everyday hero! Take a form of transport that produces fewer carbon emissions, help out a neighbour, give to someone in your area who is in need, tell stories of hope for the future, and have dinners for 12 people (12 is the limit for the number of people meeting in ReDS (Respiratory Distress Syndrome) areas).
Badge Winner! Signal/Noise Management
Assembly12
“Making casual social contact safe again — 12 bodies at a time.”
On the recommendation of the World Health Organisation to reduce the number of people meeting in any given space to 12, this superstructure is focussing its efforts on ways to implement this idea. City planners, health specialists, and people to come up with alternative ways to meet, educate and socialise are asked to join.
“Casual social contact in the time of ReDS is no different than casual sex last century during the initial outbreaks of AIDSâ€.
Badge Winner! Mobbability
“Straddling the global/local divide.”
The idea here is that people have more interest in and are more invested in people that they care for – and that immediate families and blood-relations need not be the limit of those we care for. We need to connect with people beyond our immediate surroundings and local areas, to interact with and care for people across the globe.
Badge Winner! Longbroading
Portable Energy
“Produce your own Power.”
People are encouraged to find personal ways to produce energy for running their homes, if not to produce energy for the wider grid. Solar cells, wind-farming, and human power efforts are all encouraged.
Badge Winner! Longbroading
Ancient Knowledge
“Preserving the past, connecting the present, and safeguarding the future—by conserving, respecting, and sharing the knowledge of the ancients.”
This superstructure has been put together in the expectation that there will be failures in our energy supply and/or global information systems, and that we will lose access to the knowledge we possess now. We need to prepare for disaster, and keep information, especially that concerning basic survival techniques, alive and available.
Badge Winner! Longbroading
Geocaching: 2019
“I swear! I left it right there!”
The idea behind this superstruct is to take the concept of geocaching, placing caches of goods – emergency supplies, medkits, food, batteries, information and reports – around in a distributed fashion, so that people can have access to necessary supplies without needing to have face-to-face contact. Older technologies can be used for this, so that GPSes need not be used.
The New Modesty
“Changing fashion and customs to prevent the spread of ReDS.”
Loose-flowing clothing covering the body to reduce the incidence of insect bites, face masks to reduce air-based transmission of disease and other changes to dress are promoted here. It is recommended that customs such as handshakes be replaced with the bow. All this is to reduce the spread of ReDS.
Badge Winner! Longbroading
Bright Green
“Bright Green Tech, education, and community meals.”
Bright Green technologies embrace solutions that are environmentally sensitive, but technologically sophisticated. Sustainability, literacy and connectivity are key.
Badge Winner! Cooperation Radar
Superstruct Classifieds
“Who needs what?”
We provide a classifieds system, so anyone with a specific need can easily find help within the superstructure structure.
Badge Winner! Open Authorship
These superstructures are overflowing with wondrous ideas that could – and perhaps should – be implemented now, rather than in 10 years time. However, when that time comes, hopefully exercises like this will have taught us how to cooperate and collaborate far better than we do now.
Virtual worlds are big: market research
November 7, 2008 by 2 Comments
US-based market research firm In-Stat have released a research paper entitled ‘Virtual Worlds and Web 3.0: Examined, Compared, Analyzed‘.
To see the 58-page report in full you’ll need to pay US $2,995 (that’s only $51.64 per page folks!), but the overview is:
Ten criteria were used to rate virtual worlds, with the social networking aspect coming out as the strongest hook. On the face of it, none of the findings seem earth-shattering for virtual worlds observers. For more traditional businesses, the revenue projections would certainly draw some interest. Market research on virtual worlds in becoming more and more frequent as business sees the potential opportunities – market research businesses in particular.
The projections put forward by In-Stat don’t seem that unrealistic given the current revenue and registration numbers – what do you think?
SLACTIONS 2009: Call for Australian involvement
November 7, 2008 by Leave a Comment
Last week I received an email from the organisers of SLACTIONS 09, an academic research conference to be held in Second Life. The focus is wider than Second Life though – OpenSim, Open Croquet, Activeworlds, Open Source Metaverse and Project Wonderland are also on the agenda.
The real-world aspect of SLACTION involves local chapters – currently those include Brasil, Hong Kong, USA and Europe. The organisers have invited Australian academic institutions or private research institutions from Australia and New Zealand to hold local physical chapters.
If you’re interested, email the organisers: info AT slactions.org or check out the detail on their website.
Gatheryn – MMO / casual world hybrid
November 5, 2008 by Leave a Comment
A potential new MMO kid on the block for 2009 is Gatheryn, the first title under development by San Francisco based MindFuse Games. They state that genre-wise, Gatheryn is “very steampunk-ish, with a deep story and setting reminiscent of the Victorian period.”
Although it’s an immersive MMO, MindFuse see Gatheryn’s key difference as its casual gaming focus rather than long-term grinding through levels. There’s some real cross-over with casual worlds – each player receives their own virtual space (apartment) which can be customised along with their avatar. There’s also a number of payment tiers – from casual play options right through to “extended community building and exploration”. There’s also the usual MMO features like a marketplace for trading goods and skill mastery challenges.
Graphically, it’s certainly competitive:
We’ll follow Gatheryn’s development over coming months. You can register for news updates and future beta invites here.
The Big Spaceship lands
November 4, 2008 by Leave a Comment
If you’ve been following Second Life, you’ll know usability issues have been key. As we’ve repeatedly rehashed here, 2008 was cited by Linden Lab as the year for improving the Second Life experience. There’s quite rightly been criticism of the number of issues outstanding with the user experience.
The tide may be turning on that front, with Linden Lab announcing the engagement of ‘interactive design agency’ Big Spaceship to improve Second Life’s ‘first hour’ experience.
Big Spaceship do have some form in the sphere, having played a pivotal role with the 30 Days of Night immersive game. There’s no firm timeframes for when we’ll see the improvements. Like any user interface changes, the challenge will be the get a balance between simplicity for new users and the more complex needs of longer term Second Life residents. Hopefully they’ve already had a browse of some great innovations already created by Second Life residents.
If you’ve got your own suggestions – add them on the Second Life forum thread devoted to the topic.
Two Kiwis
November 4, 2008 by Leave a Comment
Two Kiwis, Ian and Craig, are walking down a street in Bondi. Ian happens to look in one of the shop windows and sees a sign that catches his eye.
The sign said ‘Suits $10.00 each, Shirts $4.00 each, Trousers $5.00 per pair’
Ian says to his pal, ‘Craig, look! We could buy a whole lot of those, and whin we get beck to InZid, we could make a fortune. Now whin we go unto the shop, you be quiet, okay? Just lit me do all the talking cause uf they hear our accint, they might not be nice to us. I’ll speak in my bist Aussie
Accint.’
‘No worries’, smiled Craig, ‘I’ll keep my mouth shut.’
They go in and Ian says, ‘I’ll take fufty suits et $10.00 each, 100 shirts et $4.00 each,and fufty pairs of trousers et $5.00 each. I’ll beck up my truck end . . . ‘
The owner of the shop interrupts, ‘You’re from New Zealand, aren’t you!
‘Well… yis,’ says a surprised Ian. ‘How the hill dud you know thet?’
The owner says, ‘This is a dry cleaners’.
Rezzable scale back Second Life presence
November 4, 2008 by 2 Comments
Rezzable are arguably one of the most dynamic and innovative content creators in Second Life – a reason we’ve covered their new builds over the past 18 months. Today on the Rezzable blog, CEO Jonathan Himoff (SL: RightAsRain Rimbaud) announced a scaling back of Rezzable’s presence due to the OpenSpace pricing issue. Himoff is quite emphatic on the specifics:
We are very concerned that the Second Life economy from our perspective (not the 67% of growth part that CEO Mark Kingdon sees) is flat and this “void crisis” will have a very negative effect on non-land and non-porno sales inworld. We further, are not convinced, that Linden Lab is doing anything constructive to 1) keep people inworld or 2) market/promote SL to attract new users. Recent announcement from LInden Lab indicate that the company is focusing on enterprise and government markets were it sees better potential.
The Rezzable creations about to be deleted are The Cannery and The Dump – so check them out while you can. Losses like this are nearly always a shame, particularly builds of this quality.
Picture courtesy of Rezzable’s Flickr Group and thanks to Pavig Lok for the heads-up.
When girls don’t put out!!
November 4, 2008 by Leave a Comment
I never quite figured out why the sexual urge of men and women differ so much. And I never have figured out the whole Venus and Mars thing. I have never figured out why men think with their head and women with their heart.
FOR EXAMPLE:
One evening last week, my girlfriend and I were getting into bed. Â Well, the passion starts to heat up, and she eventually says, ‘I don’t feel like it, I just want you to hold me.’
I said, ‘WHAT??!! What was that?!’
So she says the words that every boyfriend on the planet dreads to hear…
‘You’re just not in touch with my emotional needs as a woman enough for me to satisfy your physical needs as a man.’
She responded to my puzzled look by saying, ‘Can’t you just love me for who I am and not what I do for you in the bedroom?’
Realizing that nothing was going to happen that night, I went to sleep.
The very next day I opted to take the day off work to spend time with her. We went out to a nice lunch and then went shopping at a big, big unnamed department store. I walked around with her while she tried on several different very expensive outfits. She couldn’t decide which one to take, so I told her we’d just buy them all. She wanted new shoes to compliment her new clothes, so I said, ‘Lets get a pair for each outfit.’
We went on to the jewelry department where she picked out a pair of diamond earrings. Let me tell you… she was so excited. She must have thought I was one wave short of a shipwreck. I started to think she was testing me because she asked for a tennis bracelet when she doesn’t even know how to play tennis.
I think I threw her for a loop when I said, ‘That’s fine, honey.’ She was almost nearing sexual satisfaction from all of the excitement. Smiling with excited anticipation, she finally said, ‘I think this is all dear, let’s go to the cashier.’
I could hardly contain myself when I blurted out, ‘No honey, I don’t feel like it.’
Her face just went completely blank as her jaw dropped with a baffled, ‘WHAT?’
I then said, ‘Honey! I just want you to HOLD this stuff for a while. You’re just not in touch with my financial needs as a man enough for me to satisfy your shopping needs as a woman.’
And just when she had this look like she was going to kill me, I added, ‘Why can’t you just love me for who I am and not for the things I buy you?’
Apparently I’m not having sex tonight either….but at least that bitch knows I’m smarter than her
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