The program features an exciting preview of NASA’s Constellation Program – America’s return to the Moon and beyond.
http://www.nasa.gov/50th/future_forums/s
NASA's Future Forum will be held RL at The Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose, CA (http://www.thetech.org/) and attendance is by invitation only.
HOWEVER...for the first time ever you can participate in Second Life! If you have not already done so, please join the Welcome to NASA group in SL to participate via group chat and to receive future notices about this event.
We are identifying a number of locations where the event will be streamed into SL and where NASA volunteers will be present to assist. Please contact Universa Vanalten by IM inworld if you are interested in hosting this event on your sim or if you are interested in related volunteer opportunities.
The keynote address given by NASA Deputy Administrator Shana Dale (SL Xena Dahl) will be broadcast live on NASA TV.
You can also view agendas and keynote addresses given at Future Forums held earlier this year in Seattle WA, Columbus OH, St. Louis MO, and Miami FL at http://www.nasa.gov/50th/future_forums/i
Events will be hosted at Explorer Island, NASA CoLab, the International Spaceflight Museum, and in Extropia Core.
Yes, that's $L66,420 that I'm going to be paying out at the Extropia Solstice Party on December 22 - go win your share!
Here's how it works:
- Go to the contest blog: The FreeRice Contest. All the rules are there, and that's where you need to play.
- But, here's the basics: there's a vocabulary game called, well, Free Rice. We're not affiliated with them in any way. As you play, through that game you earn rice to be donated to the United Nations. But - if you can score a 48, 49 or 50 in their game, you can win cash from me and earn a donation to Second Life Africa as well! Just follow the directions on my contest blog!
If anybody else would like to co-sponsor the contest, we'll be able to give out more prizes, including a $L250 donation to Second Life Africa for everyone's personal best score, something I'd like to be able to add. We can give co-sponsors an HTML or Java sidebar ad on the blog site in recognition of their contribution. To co-sponsor, just post a comment here or IM me inworld.
If people want to play, and if there's interest in co-sponsoring, we might do a bigger version next year. But for now, this is what we've got.
So, what are you waiting for? Go show your smarts, fight world hunger, earn some cash for yourself and Second Life Africa!
Our spotlight guest will be Alanagh Recreant, founder of SL Africa, to discuss drawing Africans into synthetic worlds, synthetic world outreach and charity to African communities, and African culture in SL!
On behalf of Alanagh, please take note of this press release, and do what you can to help SL Africa!
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Alanagh Recreant
a.recreant@gmail.com
Virtual Africa raises funds for real world project in Second Life with African bicycles.
[CAPE TOWN, November 12, 2007] The developers of Virtual Africa in Second Life are raising money through the [e]bizikile fundraising drive for an Opportunity Centre in a Cape Town community for unemployed job seekers. From 15 November through the upcoming festive season, residents can purchase virtual African bicycles designed by Shukran Fahid of !BooPeRFunK! for L$250 and next year, participate in a grid-wide virtual bike-a-thon.
“The Opportunity Centre is a revamped cow shed that we need to equip with computers, office resources and mentors to assist job seekers, small entrepreneurs and community members in making their own way out of poverty by actively pursuing their dreams,” said Dorette Steenkamp, co-executive director of Uthango Social Investments, a South African charity working with more than 12,000 people living in poverty. “The [e]bizikile fundraising event is meant to bring attention to how bicycles fit into the economy in African cities and rural towns.”
Second Life residents will also have the option to donate funds to purchase a real life bicycle that will then be bought by the Uthango for a school learner in rural Africa. Photos and interviews of the beneficiary will be streamed back into SL during 2008.
Steenkamp, whose avatar is Alanagh Recreant in Second Life, is working with co-executive director Erna Sittig who is Enakai Ultsch in the popular 3-dimensional virtual world. Through their NGO Uthango Social Investments, they are building Virtual Africa in Second Life as an orientation 'island' to serve as an entry point for Africans to participate in virtual worlds as well to build international awareness of Africa and the issues faced by the continent's people.
“We are encouraging African stakeholders to participate in virtual worlds for networking and commerce as well as educational and fundraising initiatives,” said Ultsch. “Virtual Africa is only one of a number of initiatives we are implementing to help generate economic development and growth at a local level, but it is the first African nonprofit initiative in Second Life.”
The [e]bizikile fundraising event is supported by Charitable Hearts, one of the largest charity groups in Second Life advocating for the work of a few selected charities. The e]bizikile African bicycles will be available from Uthango’s office in Second Life or from dedicated affiliated businesses. Web-enabled vendors donated by Hippo Technologies will dispense the bicycles. Free vendors are still available to interested companies, organizations or individual landowners in Second Life.
For more information about distributing or obtaining a unique African bicycle, contact Enakai Ultsch. Second Life residents can also join the [e]bizikile group or IM Alanagh Recreant for further details. To visit the Uthango offices in Second Life, go to http://slurl.com/secondlife/Sunset%20Commerce/60/82/22/.
ABOUT UTHANGO™
Uthango Social Investments is a registered charity located in Cape Town, South Africa. It is the first African-based company and NGO officially in Second Life, where it will launch VIRTUAL AFRICA in 2008. Uthango Social Investments is an investment and development company specialising in sustainable poverty eradication. It focuses on the digital divide, micro-enterprise development, intercultural dialogue, crime prevention, community mental health, and infrastructure development.
http://www.uthango.org/
Aemilius Cloetens (Michel Manen) gave us deep background on the history and culture of the original Al-Andalus, which has inspired his recreation of the community in SL through the Al-Andalus Project, then cheerfully joined in a spirited, direct and always respectful discussion of Islamic law and culture, the separation of church and state, cultural imperialism and authenticity, and much more.
I've never been prouder or more impressed by our wonderful Salon audiences - the quality of the discussion, the mutual respect, the breadth of knowledge is just unmatched anywhere in SL. We drew 33 people, more than a third first-timers, and everyone including Aemilius had a terrific experience.
Except for our griefer, DameJuday Dench, who was swiftly evicted by our fearless Chair,
![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
galatea_gynoid!The text of Michel's introductory remarks is available on my Extropia blog! Now that we have a place to house them on the Extropia website, we're going to start making full transcripts of the Salons available as well.
Saeya Nyanda of kyoot army was omg brilliant. She played well off Torley Linden, whom I'd never encountered before. Celebrity Trollop was the third, very thoughtful and interesting, panelist.
Here are some highlights, first from Sayea and then from Torley:
A number of people in the audience took exception to all this, changing their tags to "Not A Brand," and expressing horror over Sayea and Celebrity's remarks about professionalism. Which seemed to be missing the point: they weren't saying that avatar=brand, by any stretch of the terms, but if you're selling a product, and you've personalized that product by identifying yourself with it, then, yes, in public, you're working, and people will regard you as working and representing the brand whether *you* want some time off or not.( smart stuff )
This isn't news, and it isn't part of synthetic worlds as a new medium: *every* celebrity learns this lesson fast (and/or badly). Hollywood was built on the managed persona. It's just that in smaller communities, we're closer to our celebrities, and more of us have the experience of *being* a celebrity than in a mass culture.
In other news, Gartner, Inc. released a report earlier this week that predicted that persona will become more important to marketing than person, with synthetic worlds in the forefront of the transformation. There are two excellent articles following up on this at Virtual World news, here and here. Principal Analyst Adam Sarner observes that purchasing decisions aren't a reflection of who we are (as revealed by the demographic data that marketing thrives on now) but on who we think we are or want to be; those Boomers might need Geritol and Depends, but they're buying Viagra and sports cars.
Sarner has some *very* interesting comments on the tension between identity play and the push for identity verification:
"The idea of the persona is taking back this idea of privacy," he explained. "When you build personas, you're creating filters of what you want to project rather than projecting the whole thing. Rather than saying your name, address, number of children, and W-2, you're only leaving little crumbs of yourself to get what's relevant to that area. Now, if there's a value proposition and a win-win to give out more of yourself to get something, that's okay. What people hate is giving up part of their privacy with no payoff. If there's a payoff, I give out these aspects of myself to get something, I think that helps. The old adage is 'Privacy is dead, get over it.' Mine is 'Privacy is alive, get over it.'"Meanwhile, Raph Koster tosses out this question about the growth of mobile phones as networking/gaming/synthetic worlds platforms:
Some trends like Open ID and standard identification for avatars could change the way those personas operate, but Sarner believes users will almost always want to keep certain aspects separate. Instead of simply worrying about how to identify a person, he believes virtual worlds developers and companies interested in using virtual worlds need to determine where they stand in relation to personas' needs. The drive to satisfy our goals online isn't going away.
There’s also the fact that the Net is shifting strongly away from pesudonymity and towards real identity. Mobile is strongly titled towards this side of the equation, in a way that the Internet isn’t. What does that means for virtual worlds, which so strongly reward identity exploration?
I don't understand the whole "transparency" thing: it seems some people in SL have seized on this as some kind of business essential, and get their underwear in a bundle when dealing with Digital People or anyone who doesn't link directly to a full atomic-world identity.
I have to wonder what their atomic lives are like - buying only fresh produce from the local greengrocer whose kids they know, banking with the guy from "It's a Wonderful Life" - and never dealing with anonymous corporations whose stock is owned by investment funds who're owned in turn by insurance companies that are publicly held by millions of individual investors. I mean, really!
Anyhoo.
This was my first encounter with Orange Island. I'm interested and mostly impressed, and very much looking forward to future events there.
Things they did right: It's a pretty build, and they not only have a group signup device by the stage, they *very thoughtfully* have an option for those of us whose groups are filled: one click on the sign friends an av that sends out their group notices. Brilliant! And their choices of panelists couldn't have been better - very impressive!
Things to work on: The teleport point is right before what *looks* like extensive bleacher seating, but is just a ginormous staircase. Which is unfortunate, as there are only about 20, 25 cushions spread around in front of the stage. This led to a bit of chaos and milling around, not to mention people (quite reasonably!) trying over and over again to sit on the stairs. They'd be better off with either enough seating for the 60+ turnout they had, or none at all.
Also, the event was a good explanation of why I said in an earlier post that the best events encourage audience participation. The moderator of the first panel *literally* spent more time trying to get the audience to shut up than talking with the guests. One, it didn't work, and two, the questions and comments were very intelligent and respectful, and showed how engaged the audience was. In other words, happy customers. Telling your customers to sit down, shut up and be unhappy? Not so good for brand management, mm?
The organizers' solution to the audience participation issue was to leave an hour between the first two panels as open chat. They didn't really make that clear to the panelists or the audience, so there was a lot of "when's the next event starting? what are we waiting around for?" Also, without moderation or direction, the audience got rowdy, with people vying for attention and saying increasingly outrageous and annoying things - which peaked *right* as the next panel started, setting it up to be not another closed discussion but a chaotic mess. Throw in not-their-fault technical difficulties and - I wasn't the only one who left.
Trust the audience, shape the experience. Things keep moving, and everyone goes away happy. Distrust the audience, vacillate between lockdown and hands-off, and they get resentful, and people go away annoyed.
I'm not saying this because I think I'm some incredible expert or genius - I've just been to a lot of SL events, good and bad, and *paid attention.*
I think the Orange Island team has a *lot* of promise, and I'm sure that experience will result in even better events to come. I look forward to attending them!
CMP’s John Zhaoying and Rissa Maidstone are two of the people I respect the most, who I’m not sleeping with (and, you guys, that’s curable! come on over sometime!). I love their events, and they are terrifyingly smart and effective interviewers. But, their occasional host Ziggy Figaro really didn’t deliver for them today.
Stross’s novel
I’ve got to confess to being part of the problem: I didn’t participate today. Here’s why.
One, Ziggy insists on moderated questions.
Here’s something I’ve noticed. The less skilled a host is, the more control they want. When John and Rissa run events, they’re glorious, enlightening free for alls. They trust the wisdom of the network, and are rewarded with absolutely stellar events. Ziggy, and Byers Sellers of the Metanomics series, don’t ask very penetrating questions, don’t really play off their guests well – and don’t trust their audiences at all. Maybe they sense that most of the people on the other side of the dais could do a better job, and clamp down to prevent that from being blatantly obvious. I don’t know. But, especially with a group as bright and capable as the CMP audiences? It seriously puts me off.
Two, what do you do when you have 10 or 15 questions that have gone unasked? I didn’t want to look like I was trying to hijack the interview, though goddess knows it was tempting. So, I just let it be what it was going to be. Nobody died and made me Queen of Fixing Off Track Events, anyway.
Three… True facts? The Stenvaag CPU is in Standby at best till 10 am SLT. 8 am? I try not to drool on myself too much, but thinking? Is right out.
And, I dunno. Maybe the audience was satisfied with Ziggy’s superficial questions about the gadgetry in the book, and his ignorance of even today’s off-the-shelf systems. Maybe my focus on culture and society would have been off-point for a more technically-minded crowd.
But – here’s what I would have asked, so judge for yourself:
- Stross wrote the book before this summer’s Russian DoS attack on
- He pretty much predicts the death of passive entertainment, with *everybody* LARPing, in MMOs and so on – what would he see as the biggest social change from people trading in their TVs for active roles in their own stories?
- When that happens, you’re going to see people commonly having really arcane skills – one of the protagonists is an expert in an obscure fencing style. Combine that with social networking and data mining, and you can match people and jobs amazingly well – also a plot point in the story. Is that going to mark the end of sucky jobs, or give employers even more control, if we can only be considered a fit for two or three micro-niche jobs at any time?
- Part of the story involves several traditional functions of government being turned into RPGs, basically – and people have been predicting Ender’s Game scenarios forever: is the whole world going to fall in the magic circle?
- Stross’s vision is one where privacy is as dead as Scott McNealy says – but identity fraud, and identity play in game spaces, is alive and well. How can we prevent governments from shutting down identity experimentation?
- One of the characters has a shameful secret: they were convicted of a behavior that’s been criminalized in the time of the story, which was once considered a social norm. He’s on to something there: what does that criminalization of everything, combined with zero tolerance policies and constant surveillance, say about our attitude towards the law? If we’re all guilty of something that’s been caught on record, are we a world of criminals?
Okay, that’s just the stuff off the top of my head, and a lot less than what I’d have come up with if my *job* was to interview a major writer about an important new book for an audience of 50 or so *very* sophisticated people.
But, I wouldn’t have asked if Stross thought VR goggles were far-fetched, or what software he likes. To each their own, huh?
Spotlight Guest Michel Manen of The Al-Andalus Caliphate Project will discuss his efforts to build an inclusive Islamic community in Second Life.
"The Al-Andalus Caliphate Project is an attempt to reconstruct 13th
Century Moor Alhambra and build around this virtual space a community
of individuals willing to explore the modalities of interaction
between different languages, nationalities, religions and cultures
shaped by authentic Islamic principles.
Those principles include political participation, separation of
powers, justice and the rule of law. Membership in the community is
open to all, regardless of sim land ownership, SL premium status,
species of avatar, gender, religion, national origin, sexual
orientation or other traditionally separatist classification, either
real or apparent. The plan is to create a system of political and
legal governance, based on notions of community self-governance,
active citizen participation, equality, dignity, social justice,
democracy and human rights. Idealistic? Absolutely. Possible? Let's
find out."
Michel Manen - Biographical Details
Languages spoken: English, French, German, Spanish, Romanian
RL Qualifications: BA (hons) Politics and Languages; LL.B; work on
LL.M(International Legal Studies)
RL Occupation: Teaches business law courses to undergraduate and
MBA university students; works with a law firm; founded and runs an RL
nonprofit organization whose aim is to re-think what it means to be an
active citizen in the 21st Century, in Canada , USA , and the EU
actively involved in community work through his membership in his
city's Board of Trade; writes books and articles on law and politics;
appears regularly as a television political commentator on the
Multicultural Channel of his home city.
Sophrosyne's Saturday Salon is:
- a weekly discussion event held in the community of Extropia, in which all are encouraged to join in discussion with the Spotlight Guest on a topic of broad interest.
- All views are welcome, while tolerance and civility are strictly enforced.
Extropia is an:
- exemplar of the future we want, *today,* where technology is used exuberantly in the service of beauty and fun,
- exaltation of exquisite design, where exotic experimentation is ever expected,
- exhilarating haven for creative expression – in architecture, social relations, sexuality, artistic and technological media,
- exclusive shelter from the mass and the crass, with the best technical and social protections from griefing, harassment and vulgarity,
- execration of extinct ideas and aesthetics, exemplified by consumerism, control and post-apocalyptic nihilism, and an
- experiential community of collaboration and cooperation, with events and exhibitions to expand our social networks and explore the power of creative synthesis.
- SLURL: Extropia Core
Featured quote from Nobody, on being asked for his top bit of financial advice:
"I would tell people to invest in themselves first. People never get rich investing in other people."
Upcoming Spotlight Guests:
11/17: Michel Manen, Islamic Law in SL
11/24: Alanagh Recreant, SL and Africa
12/1: Grace McDunnogh: Virtual Worlds Development and Live Concert
The Diversionarium
Sophrosyne's Saturday Salon: Banking in SL - Is It Safe?
Spotlight Guest Nobody Fugazi, blogger at Your2ndPlace.com, will join us in a discussion of banking and finance in synthetic worlds!
Sunday, 12 noon-3pm SLT
The Nexus, Extropia Core
The Board of Directors of Extropia and the Founding Citizens of The Independent Technocratic City-State of Extropia welcome friends to a groundbreaking and flag raising ceremony, to be followed by a hot bayside party, as DJ Nicki Petrichor of Reactor Radio spins the best in electronica! Come salute the flag, get your swag bag, and dance with the new citizens of Extropia!
The Second Life banking industry has been rocked with scandals - is it safe? How do banks and stock exchanges work in synthetic worlds? Can we have an honest banking system without outside regulation?
Join us Saturday, November 10 from 1 to 3:30 PM SLT at the Diversionarium along with Spotlight Guest Nobody Fugazi (Taran Rampersad) of Your2ndPlace.com, journalist and commentator on the SL financial industry for a primer on virtual finance and an investigation of the state of SL banking and investment!
About Nobody Fugazi (Taran Rampersad)
Taran Rampersad is a 36 year old man with a fairly varied background. He has been in contact with almost every level of society. At age 11, he started working in the family printery. At age 16, he graduated secondary school, at age 17 he landed his first job as a contract computer programmer. After some wandering and holding a variety of different jobs which ranged from pumping gas to programming, he ended up in the United States Navy. He enlisted as a Sonar Technician, became a Nuclear Field Electronics Technician, and then became a Hospital Corpsman where he worked in an emergency room and with the United States Marines.
He has been active in ICT circles within the Caribbean and Latin America and has worked on projects such as CARDICIS and MISTICA. He's a firm believer in self-sustaining ICT as a tool and mechanism for bridging the digital divide. Generally speaking, he believes technology should be used sensibly to improve the quality of life of all human beings. He's a firm advocate of Free Software and Open Source, but leans more toward the GPL. He's a firm advocate of Open Content.
Somewhere between all of this he managed to become a published poet, an amateur photographer who has had some of his work published in book and magazine formats, and a person who gets asked to do more pro bono work than he can afford to do. He balances all of this by legal use of caffeine and feeding birds as well as exploring things by traveling, reading, and experimenting.
Taran is also a Second Life Consultant, and runs Your2ndPlace.com, a site dedicated to Second Life.
The Diversionarium is a non-commercial spot for social games, creative play, and miscellaneous horsing around. It's located in beautiful Pandora's Peace Park, with a mer-friendly lagoon, and includes some well-known games, like chess and Othello, as well as exclusive games you won't find anywhere else: word games, building games, and more.
SLURL: The Diversionarium in Pandori
Profile
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