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law
Virtual Property Disputes Landing in Real Courts
Ok, so virtual property disputes aren't exactly new, but there's a little wrap up on some of the current issues over at a Canadian website. Most of the issues discussed revolve around Second Life, but the questions of virtual property and other virtual issues are getting increasing attention: More »
virtual worlds
NASA Wants Second Life On The Moon
A sense of community is important to NASA. That's why they opened a NASA mansion for parties and just hanging out, hacking software and making Uranus jokes. But the NASA mansion was only good during the night. NASA's Andrew Hoppin explains how Second Life allowed connections during the day....we got employees from all around NASA - the 10 geographies around the country - showing up at these Tuesday afternoon meetings. We formed a community of NASA and non-NASA, started coworking in Second Life. Cultural change started to take place at the agency...But Hoppin would like to see this cultural change happen far, far outside the agency: More »
education
Second Life and ESL Instruction
A while back, we mentioned a journal article on using MMOs to aid second language acquisition. Now Forbes has a piece discussing the same issue, only with Second Life. The author spoke with several teachers about their approaches to using SL to educate:
Another popular way to teach English in "Second Life," says Boahn, involves role-playing and quests. "I once dressed up as a pirate, had a ship and everything. I was kind of rough on the students," he admits. "I put some of them in cages, and had them confront language in a shock-and-awe kind of way. They seemed to like it, and they learned all sorts of new words, like 'loot' and 'booty.'"Boahn's approach may appear nontraditional, but he feels a new medium calls for a new way of teaching language. Even using the game's English interface gives students a chance to practice what they've learned. "We like to encourage teachers to see 'Second Life' itself as a classroom," he says.
Well, certainly sounds slightly more engaging than my go 'rounds with intensive language instruction, even if it is only Second Life. The whole 'implement technology in the classroom' push is frequently lost on me, but I can certainly see the utility of using virtual worlds or MMOs in some applications.
How To Spark Remote Learning [Forbes via Worlds In Motion]
second life
Second Life's Got Some Vulnerabilities
Dean Takahashi of the San Jose Mercury News revealed that people can take advantage of a known QuickTime problem and become virtual pickpockets in Linden Lab's Second Life. Steve over at PlayNoEvil points out that "anything can that actually affect the integrity of the game or business application should be completely independent of these services to ensure that a breach in 'the other guy's stuff' doesn't affect the security of your business - especially casual applications and services that do not see themselves as having security functionality." Linden Lab confirmed the vulnerability, but the researchers who exploited the flaw were quick to note the issue can be resolved with a simple patch. Still - I think Steve's got a point: More »
tv
'The Office' Gets Second Lifed
After having some fun at Call of Duty's expense (in a way that I thought was both funny and not playing off Hollywood stereotypes), NBC's The Office is taking on Second Life later tonight. It looks like Dwight K. Schrute will be exploring the virtual world, hopefully without any encounters with snap-on genitalia. I have high hopes, so this had better be really funny. Or really really funny.
On a semi-related note, I take back anything bad that I may have once said about Pam. She does deserve Jim and I hope they are very happy together. Click the picture for a mega version.
The Office Takes Out a "Local Ad" [via joystiq]
virtual worlds
Could Preserving Second Life Create Big Brother?
Believe if or not, I cut a little out of the massive novella/feature on the Library of Congress preserving video games that ran yesterday. I know, I know. If that were in a newspaper, the world's oxygen supply would be suffering from the distinct lack of trees. Anyway, one of the matters that we didn't delve very deeply into was that of preserving Second Life. From project affiliate Jerry McDonough:
One of the big problems with second life when they talk about preserving it is this interactive experience. Linden doesn't do things like keep careful track of what users are saying, they're not filling their disks with years and years of transaction logs - I'm sure the users are very happy about that - but it means that if I took everything on SL's servers at the moment, what I've got is the neutron bomb version of second life - a bunch of very beautiful buildings with nobody in them.But the topic raises a ton of ethical questions... More »
feature
The Library of Congress Loves Video Games
When we usually talk about libraries and video games, it's generally a very formulaic story in which Small Town Library A is battling Parent Group B or Religious Group C to offer [fill in M rated game of choice] for the public to play. The conclusion is often that video games are probably suitable for libraries but there's controversy...yada yada yada.
But today we have a different story for you with a very different ending. The fact of the matter is, according to The Library of Congress, video games are just as important to our historical past as literature, movies and music. And at the moment, the LoC is teaming up with major universities across the country to begin a 2-year initiative with the sole intent of figuring out just how institutions can preserve video games for years to come, while making the content accessible for use and study.
So our story today doesn't present some artificial controversy ending in a sad, bleak future of debate and wasted efforts. Our story today is about the very real victory for game developers, enthusiasts and scholars, in which the top library in the nation has said they're part of this video game fad for the count.
12:00 PM on Mon Oct 22 2007
By Mark Wilson
10,308 views,
55 comments
japan
Japan Industrial Design Promotional Organization (JIDPO) has announced this year's Good Design Award or the so-called "G-Mark." Design-wise, this is a pretty big deal. Almost 3,000 products were screened, and this year a total 1,043 products were given the coveted G-Mark. Out of those, there is a Good Design Award Best 15. Think of it as the cream of the crop, best of the best. The Nintendo Wii (and Wii-mote and Nunchuk) snagged a spot in that 15. The Wii wasn't the only gaming entry as Second Life also made it into the Best 15. Congrats Nintendo and Linden Lab!
G-Mark Best 15 [Official Site via Jean Snow]
Wii, Second Life Win Good Design Awards
Japan Industrial Design Promotional Organization (JIDPO) has announced this year's Good Design Award or the so-called "G-Mark." Design-wise, this is a pretty big deal. Almost 3,000 products were screened, and this year a total 1,043 products were given the coveted G-Mark. Out of those, there is a Good Design Award Best 15. Think of it as the cream of the crop, best of the best. The Nintendo Wii (and Wii-mote and Nunchuk) snagged a spot in that 15. The Wii wasn't the only gaming entry as Second Life also made it into the Best 15. Congrats Nintendo and Linden Lab!G-Mark Best 15 [Official Site via Jean Snow]
