Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Stealing Music: Is It Wrong Or Isn’t It?

Stealing Music: Is It Wrong Or Isn’t It?
by Michael Arrington on March 31, 2009

"...But over the last few years the line has blurred to the point where there really isn’t any line any more. We can listen to free, on demand streaming music at MySpace Music and lots of other sites. It’s ok to do it at MySpace, but it’s wrong to do it at Project Playlist, just because the right contracts aren’t in place? Just a couple of years ago anyone listening to free streaming music anywhere on the Internet was violating copyright and subject to being labeled unethical. Today, its no problem. And you don’t even have to listen to audio ads..."

read more | digg story

Above is an excerpt. Be sure to read his full article and opinion.

First Annual Resident Choice Awards


Second Life Residents’ Choice Awards

As the creators of the vast and varied world of Second Life, the Residents are the final authority on what is the coolest, cleverest, weirdest, fun-est, and most inspiring. We know it. You know it. And here's your chance to show it. Recommend exceptional people, places, and things inworld. Reward innovation, interactivity, heart and style. Your World. Your Imagination. Your Award.

How does it work?

All active Residents of Second Life are welcome to participate. Voting is easy, and no purchase is necessary. Just click the Vote Now button to cast your ballot on all 35 fantabulous questions during the voting period (March 31 through April 7, 2009).

Make sure when you vote to provide a SLurl or avatar name for each award question. That’s how we can check to be sure we know exactly who or what you’re voting for. Want to learn how to locate a SLurl? Check out the SLurl builder. Want to learn more about what a SLurl is and how they work? Check out our SLurl information page.

When you vote you’ll need to provide your Second Life account name (that’s your avatar name, silly) so we can be sure you have an active account. You’ll also be asked to select your language from the options of English, German, French and Japanese. That will allow us to share the winners for each language community.

Second Life Residents’ Choice Award Winners will be posted here on April 17th, 2009 and will be represented inworld too! Your favorite things to do and see in Second Life will help newbie’s and long-time Residents alike explore the world available to them.

What Are We Voting On?

You’ll be voting on a little bit of everything! The questions are asking about 35 of your favorite places, things and people in Second Life.

Only one ballot per Resident will count in the results, and there’s no going back and changing your votes or resubmitting your ballot after you vote once. So allow yourself some time to look over the questions below and think about how you’d like to vote. And have fun

  1. My favorite place to groove on Live Music

  2. My favorite place to Buy Stuff inworld

  3. My favorite place to Dance my prim toes off

  4. My favorite place to RP or Play Games with friends

  5. My favorite fabulous Fashion Designer

  6. My favorite house-rockin’ DJ

  7. My favorite massively talented Musician

  8. My favorite visionary Machinimist

  9. My favorite awesome Architect/Builder

  10. My favorite wizard-like Scripter

  11. My favorite cuddly Linden Bear Museum

  12. Best place to buy a Virtual Pet

  13. My favorite place to take you Back in Time

  14. My favorite place for Intellectual Conversation

  15. Best place to Learn Another Language

  16. My favorite culturally consequential Museum/Art Gallery

  17. My favorite brainy Science Experiment/Exhibit

  18. My favorite source for Second Life News

  19. My favorite finger-on-the-pulse Resident Blogger

  20. My favorite unforgettable Memorial

  21. My favorite place to take a First Date

  22. My favorite place to bring Business Colleagues

  23. My favorite place to Chill With My Friends

  24. My favorite place to get down and Get Furry

  25. My favorite place to get your AO on and Be Tiny

  26. My favorite place to Victorianize and get Steam Punky

  27. My favorite place to be all helpful and Help Newbies

  28. My favorite place to plan for the Robot Rebellion

  29. My favorite romantic place to have your First Avatar Kiss

  30. My favorite depressing place to Be Emo

  31. My favorite trashed landscape in which to enjoy the Post Apocalypse

  32. My favorite place to put the hammer down and Drive

  33. My favorite creepy place to Be Goth

  34. My favorite meshtastic Sculpty Artist

  35. My favorite nom-nom-y Prim Food Artist
FOR ALL INFO AND TO CAST YOUR VOTE:
http://secondlife.com/resident-choice-awards/

Get your music on the top of the IndieSpectrum playlist






From Fox Reinsch of IndieSpectrum Radio

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IndieSpectrum Radio is the top SL radio station according to the Shoutcast listings for last month. Over 21,000 tune ins and in the top half of all the radio stations on those web listings. The web page, with your links, had over 99,000 hits last month!

We would like to help those artists that help us to support and promote live music in SL. Do any of the following and get bumped to the top of our playlist.

**Give out our free radios at your shows (boxed with 9 radios, iPods, antique, audio rack and surround receiver; with now playing signs or not).
https://www.xstreetsl.com/modules.php?name=Marketplace&file=item&ItemID=1227654

**Get your favorite live music venue or any SL sim or business to play our stream and you will get bumped and that business will get free 30 second spots on the station, if you arrange it with announcements of your gigs.

**Send us music! Any new song gets all your songs bumped to the top.
http://www.indiespectrum.com/music_upload.html

**Do bumpers, voice recordings, intros or outros to your songs. You can do a generic one or one for each song. Just say "This is (your name) and your are about to hear my song (song name) on IndieSpectrum Radio" or do a just heard, whatever you like around 10 seconds.

**Have ISR simulcast your live shows. We need your stream URL and dates and times. Don't have this automated yet so someone has to be around. All tips that come in from the ISR radios that come in during a simulcasted show will go to you, unless you would like to split them.

BTW ISR is all SL artists now, I have taken off all the music and links to artists that did not have SL names. If you're missing from the playlist let me know what your SL name is!! http://www.indiespectrum.com/playlistA.html

Thanks for all the great music!

Fox Reinsch
fox@indiespectrum.com
IndieSpectrum Radio.
http://www.Indiespectrum.com

****Music makes Second Life a better place****

BeatsDigital.com Upgrades to 2.0 with Improved Search


From BeatsDigital: Yes, we've listened to your feedback and rebuilt the search engine, so we can now deliver you super-fast and clearly displayed search results. We know that many of you found searching a drag at BeatsDigital, but you'll now be able to locate the tracks, labels and artists in an instant. The new search results page is clean and functional, with all results categories displayed on the same page.

Check it out now and feel the difference!

Monday, March 30, 2009

Promotions, Promotional Events, Music, Audio, and The Music Biz in Second Life - Three Articles


Three interesting articles popped out today and were brought to my attention by Mal Burns
I find these posts very important. Bookmark the articles; they may come in handy for you some day.

Everything written in each article is worth the read, however, if I were to add my personal note for the reader, I would say that generally, articles about "how to run a successful event" or "how to run a successful promotion" explain the basics of how to technically and logistically create a basic event. For me, what is most effective about an event I create is the creativity, the guts, and the people involved. Finding ways to NOT fit the mold is what I feel works best in Second Life.

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Overview of Music and Audio in Second Life
"Second Life is a great place for people who enjoy listening to or creating music. People who like to listen to music will find a wide range of styles and unique venues to explore. Musicians can share their work with a global audience by performing live concerts in Second Life. It's also a unique opportunity for artists to directly connect with fans around the world, taking requests and communicating with them in a live environment. Just like playing a gig in Real Life, but without the hassle of carrying your gear around and traveling!
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The art and science of promotional events
Written by Rika Watanabe on Through the Broken Looking Glass

"...Repeat after me: Promotional events exist to promote sales and increase exposure. They don’t exist to promote hate and increase lag, which is what you’re doing! How exactly promotional events and most importantly, promotional giveaways promote sales?..."

READ THE FULL STORY HERE

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Promotions and the music business in Second Life
Written by Thinkerer Melville of http://rezzable.com/blog

"Music is a business? It is to people who want to make a living at it. An important part of that business is promotion. I have been developing some ideas about how musicians can promote their acts in Second Life. When I get the ideas well developed, I will put them into the Hobo Starter Kit, but I think I have enough useful material to share some of it here.
Musical acts in SL might want to promote to these four target markets:
  • Venues and event managers (get a gig)
  • Inworld audience (fill the house)
  • Out-there audience (Sell your music for now. Future: sell your performances.)
  • Advertisers/ Sponsors (Get paid for ad placements and commercials)..."
READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE

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How Vocal are you about Second Life Issues, Policy, and News

Saturday, March 28, 2009

RIAA, MPAA Copyright Warnings: Facts and Fiction

RIAA, MPAA Copyright Warnings: Facts and Fiction

Written by Ernesto on March 28, 2009


This week several scary stories surfaced about how the MPAA and RIAA are negotiating with ISPs on how to deal with copyright infringers. Even though it was often presented as news, those who look deeper will realize that this is nothing new at all, just the same old threats dressed up in a new jacket.
It’s has been a good week for the entertainment industry lobbyists. Hundreds of news outlets wrote in detail about how the RIAA and MPAA are negotiating with Internet service providers to warn alleged copyright infringers. No one seemed to notice that this isn’t really news as they’ve been working together for years, with ISPs passing on warnings to their customers on behalf of the studios.
It all started with rumors about two US ISPs, Comcast and AT&T, who were said to be doing a three-strikes deal with the RIAA. It soon became known that this rumor was completely fabricated, but not before hundreds of other news oulets reproduced the story. At the end of the week it turned out that there was no news at all.
Yes, the RIAA, MPAA and other outfits do plan to send copyright infringement warnings to ISPs, but they’ve been doing so for at least half a decade. Every other month these Hollywood lobbyists pitch their anti-piracy efforts to the public, and that’s exactly what they are paid for. This doesn’t mean, however, that something is about to change.
The anti-piracy outfits are happy with all the free publicity of course, that is exactly what they are after. Their purpose is to scare people. In this post we hope to clear up some of the misunderstandings, as we show that the scary stories published this week have no substance at all.

Copyright infringement warnings?

For years, content owners such as record labels or movie studios have been sending copyright infringement notices to ISPs, who are legally obliged to forward these to their customers. Some ISPs simply ignore them, while others faithfully forward the emails to the customer account associated with the infringing IP-address. Many ISPs don’t keep records of these events.

So, is my ISP spying on me?

No. This is a common misunderstanding. ISPs don’t look into your specific downloading behavior, they never have and there is no indication that this will change anytime in the near future. All the ‘evidence’ comes from organizations that work for the copyright holders.

What do they know about me?

If you receive a warning, all copyright holders know about you at this stage is your IP-address and what files were (partially) shared via your account, or more accurately - the bill payer’s account. The MPAA, RIAA and others don’t know your name and they never will unless they get a court order forcing your ISP to hand over the information. In the bigger picture, this is very rare.

How did they track me down?

The copyright holders hire companies such as BayTSP and DtecNet to track down people who share certain titles on BitTorrent and other file-sharing networks. They join the swarm and request files from others. When someone shares a piece of the file with them they log the IP-address, look up the ISP and send out a copyright infringement notice automatically. Unlike the file-sharers, these companies are authorized to download these files, so they are not infringing copyright themselves.

Will I get sued if I receive a warning through my ISP?

No. These copyright infringement warnings are not related to any legal action. Copyright holders do go after people who share their work on file-sharing networks, but this has nothing to do with the warnings they send out via ISPs.

Will they take my Internet away?

No. Although there is a lot of talk about “three strikes” policies, no ISP has agreed (or was forced) to disconnect users after they receive their third warning. In New Zealand they came close to implementing a law that would require ISPs to do this, but this proposal was pulled.
In France they are also considering three strikes legislation, but this has not passed into action yet. In Ireland the largest ISP Eircom said it would disconnect repeated infringers only if they receive a court order.
It is worth mentioning though that ISPs may cut off people whenever they think it’s necessary. Cox does this in the US for example, without an agreement with the MPAA or RIAA. ISPs have terms and conditions and most forbid copyright infringement, but really this is just to cover their own backs under the law.

Do I have to be worried?

Receiving a regular infringement notice is nothing to be worried about. However, if you download copyrighted files without authorization from the copyright holder you are breaking the law in some countries. If you receive a warning without having shared anything yourself (which happens quite often) then there’s nothing to worry about.

Can I protect (hide) myself?

If you don’t want to be spied on when using BitTorrent the best option is to hide your IP-address. You can do so by subscribing to a VPN service or by using software such as TorrentPrivacy. Blocklist software such as PeerGuardian is often recommended, but it is also highly ineffective as the lists are never fully up-to date or accurate.

What’s the point in all this?

The MPAA and RIAA don’t want their products on file-sharing networks and they use these warning emails to deter people from sharing these files with others. Since it’s much cheaper (and effective) than suing people, this is now their strategy of choice. Using news outlets to spread their doom and gloom scenarios is just part of their operation.
In the future the amount of warnings they send out to alleged infringers will increase and the studios and ISPs will work together to keep the associated operating costs down, if that’s not what they’ve already been doing in their recent meetings. It’s just the old model, scaled up with a rumor or two on top.
Let’s move on already.
read more | digg story

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Doubledown's Note: To me, this all rings true in relation to the gray area involving live music streaming into Second Life and the licenses we may or may not need.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

THRU YOU | Kutiman mixes YouTube

Israeli funk musician by the name of Kutiman created a new Youtube remix EP called THRU YOU. Kutiman creates an amazing audio-visual experience by cutting and mashing other Youtube videos together to make his own funky soul video tunes.



ABOUT:

Check out all of the videos on the site: http://thru-you.com/#/videos

read more | digg story

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Music Matters Magazine - Issue 3


Music Matters Magazine Issue 3

An in world publication focused on the Live Music scene in Second Life. Interest entertainment and resource. You are a musician new to SL? Be sure to checkout the Open Mic directory!

Check out the issue here: http://mattersofmusic.com/musicmatters.html

About Matters of Music

The purpose of Matters of Music is to provide a central hub of communication for musicians, music groups, land, venue and open source grid owners. As the open source grids begin to come to fruition, new opportunities can be realized by all parties, these are more quickly and fully realized, by strong communications across the board. So Matters Of Music was born. We welcome you to bring to this site, news of your conducive ventures and complimentary interests, so that your virtual contributions may be represented.

Not Possible IRL: Land Art in Second Life – A historical perspective and an introduction to virtual artist Comet Morigi

Land Art in Second Life – A historical perspective of land art in real life and an introduction to virtual artist Comet Morigi, a land artist in Second Life. Posted by Bettina Tizzy of Not Possible in Real Life.

Here is an excerpt from the article. Check out the full story HERE.
Bettina Tizzy writes:

..."While economies of scale in Land Art are paramount in Real Life, creating art on a very grand scale is nowhere near as problematic in virtual worlds. In Second Life® and on OpenSim grids, residents are magically empowered with land-altering – though quite indelicate - tools that enable them to instantly raise, lower, and sculpt the ground up to ± 100 meters, depending on the estate.

Terraforming, the ability to intentionally transform surface topography, atmosphere, temperature or ecology, is not unique to science fiction or even science (where it is primarily called planetary engineering).

In Second Life®, terraforming land is a skill that looks easy to do, but frequently results in unrealistic and poor duplicates of mountains, lakes and canyons. In this video tutorial by Second Life’s Resident Enlightenment Manager, Torley Linden instructs us on how to work the user interface to "terra":




Introducing Comet Morigi – A Terra Painter in Second Life

Japanese artist Comet Morigi became known to me when I came across one of her works quite by accident: an immense curtain-like particle effect that is driven by the sim’s wind (teleport directly from here)...."

read more | digg story

Saturday, March 21, 2009

Second Life Blog Roll - March 2009 - (Who's The Biggest - Redux)


Over at Second Effects, ArminasX Saiman has been investing time putting together an amazing list of Second Life centered blogs. He is developing a ranking system to try to put the blogs in order starting with the most visited, but it is proving to be tough. Here's ArminasX's redux list:


# 1 Massively# 2 Official Second Life Blog# 3 iheartsl.com Second Life's largest community blog# 4 New World Notes# 5 VintFalken.com# 6 Torley Lives# 7 Not Possible IRL# 8 Fabulously Free in SL# 9 Free*Style# 10 Ana Lutetia inSL# 11 Dusan Writer's Metaverse# 12 Rezzable# 13 Prokofy Neva# 14 Second Style Fashionista# 15 Shopping Cart Disco# 16 Gwyn's Home# 17 UgoTrade# 18 Kzero# 19 SL iReports: Your news of a virtual world - Blogs from CNN.com# 20 Achariya.net# 21 Virtually Blind Virtual Law# 22 Alphaville Herald# 23 The Click Heard Round the World# 24 What Is This Crap?# 25 Fashion Victim# 26 Slmen# 27 The Metaverse Journal - Australia# 28 Mermaid Diaries: Natalia Zelmanov's Second Life Adventures# 29 Aviatrix :: Zoe Connolly# 30 El Opinador Compulsivo# 31 Living in the Metaverse# 32 Second Effects# 33 The Electric Sheep Company: Blogs# 34 The ARCH# 35 Corduroy# 36 Men's Second Style# 37 DIP's Dispatches from the Imagination Age# 38 It's Only Fashion# 39 maitreya# 40 Your2ndPlace - Comments# 41 Closet Crisis# 42 casa del shai# 43 CodeBastardRedgrave.Com# 44 Ewing Fashion Agency# 45 Botgirl's Second Life Diary# 46 Ch'know?# 47 Are we not men?# 48 Alliance Virtual Library# 49 Verbal Stew# 50 Hibernia on the Skids# 51 Designing Nicky Ree# 52 3pointD.com# 53 Prim Perfect# 54 The Heliograph# 55 FUTURE-MAKING SERIOUS GAMES# 56 Geta# 57 Be Less Stupid!# 58 Tuli's blog# 59 Girl Wonder Speaks...about Second Life# 60 Soign# 61 Second Arts# 62 Ivalde`s Heim# 63 Kitty Witchin# 64 SL Fashion Notes# 65 SL Fashion Police# 66 Fleur Skins# 67 'Kota's Knickers# 68 :: Dutch Touch :: Outlet - Second Life# 69 M is for Myg# 70 caLLie cLine# 71 An Engine Fit For My Proceeding# 72 Ophelia Drowns# 73 Second Stindberg# 74 CeN's Two Cents# 75 My SLife on the D List# 76 GION PROJECT# 77 CommonSensible# 78 Canimal.# 79 APLINK - itsReal# 80 artilleri# 81 Uma's Style Diary# 82 MindBlizzard blog# 83 Clyde# 84 The News from BardHaven# 85 Ryker Beck dot COM# 86 Reading Radar# 87 Kyoot# 88 Ambling in Second Life# 89 chignon - a Virtual Style Blog# 90 Fashion Consolidated# 91 Second Life of Dreams# 92 Phasing Grace Social Architecture and Virtual Worlds# 93 SL Fashion Avengers# 94 More Than Meets the Eye# 95 SLOG# 96 -Ana Lutetia-# 97 GoSpeed Racer a Second Life Avatar# 98 Brooklyn is Watching# 99 GoSpeed Racer a Second Life Avatar# 100 Through my eyes..# 101 ~silentsparrow~# 102 Long Awkward Pose# 103 Around the Grid# 104 Half Arsed# 105 Tenth Life# 106 SL FASHION DIVA# 107 Dedric Mauriac# 108 Philotic Energy# 109 Fashion Labyrinth# 110 Another blog!# 111 Digital Image# 112 Carissa's Closet# 113 Discursos do Outro Mundo# 114 Dwell On It# 115 Eladrienne's Other Life!# 116 Grid Expectations# 117 Nexeus Fatale# 118 Aspire Model Management# 119 Mui Mukerji# 120 Draconic Kiss# 121 r u n w a y + k i d z# 122 The Realm of the Red Rose# 123 SiniStyle Decapitated# 124 cognitive dissonance# 125 My Second Closet# 126 Radio Riel# 127 Ingmann Design Group# 128 GuRL 6# 129 *ICING* Second Life Vintage inspired Fashions by Miko Omegamu# 130 Koreshan Pointe# 131 SugarCube;Memoirs of Second Life# 132 Veyron's Adventures in Second Life# 133 Looker Lumet# 134 { Zaara }# 135 SLimply the Best# 136 JUICYBOMB All the Juiciest in Second Life!# 137 A Stroll Through Caledon# 138 All Ears in Second Life# 139 Alysha's Second Life# 140 Architecture +# 141 Lucas Lameth (luc) Fashion Jewelry# 142 On Your Toes# 143 starley.com# 144 MONTA# 145 PERSONA's Blog# 146 Business Communicators of Second Life# 147 adam n eve# 148 Fallobst# 149 *AnnaH*# 150 LaBicyclette# 151 Muse Fine Jewelry# 152 Ravishal Ramblings# 153 bijouaholic# 154 Cylindrian's Grace Notes# 155 CronoCloud Creeggan, Virtual Fashionista# 156 Rheta# 157 Studio Wikitecture: Opening Architecture# 158 SLShop-a-holic# 159 Songs from The Nightingale# 160 ~flirt~# 161 Pandora's box# 162 Less Than 3# 163 Whole Lotta Rosie!# 164 Rebel Hope Designs, Inc.# 165 My Digital Double# 166 She's So Unusual# 167 セカンドな日常 - livedoor Blog(ブログ)# 168 SySy's# 169 Tres Blah# 170 UberNoggin# 171 What *IS* Willis Talking About?# 172 Timothy's Second Life Experience# 173 Muism# 174 The Minor Mishaps and Adventures of Skusting Dagger# 175 DARK EDEN PLAZA# 176 Mischief# 177 Second Tense# 178 Royal Blue# 179 Shoshana's Musings# 180 Punch Drunk# 181 What's New ?# 182 Red-Headed Step-Child# 183 Just me, dinee# 184 Alienbear Jewelry Design# 185 MG fashion# 186 Exiled in SL# 187 Mimikri hot couture# 188 Chey's Second Life Blog# 189 Metaversal Arts# 190 Unique Needs!# 191 Aenea's Second Life# 192 Harajuku Box# 193 Refuge# 194 Hey Girlfriend# 195 BEWITCHED HAIR# 196 Virtual Silks and Fantasy Review# 197 All Things Tiessa# 198 Fashionality# 199 How's your world?# 200 PixelDolls...# 201 Second Life Male Style and Fashion# 202 Tori's Blog# 203 Wrath Paine# 204 The Journal of Dr. Darien Mason# 205 House of Nyla# 206 Sascha's Designs - Elegant Ballroom Gowns# 207 Diversity Hair# 208 Lady Adventuress# 209 Loki's musings on first and second life# 210 amiko*amikino# 211 Evans Avenue Exit# 212 The Winged Girl Blog# 213 ShopArmidi.com# 214 Tao's Thoughts on Second Life# 215 glamourazzi# 216 The New Observer# 217 Dot in Second Life# 218 GRIDSTYLE.COM# 219 My Virtual World# 220 Content Confessional# 221 -Analise-# 222 Best of Both Worlds# 223 Poid Mahovlich# 224 Bitter Thorns Blog# 225 First Impressions# 226 KessKreations# 227 Berry's Blog# 228 Designing Insanity# 229 Truth# 230 Virtually Dressed# 231 Diamonds and Rust Podcast# 232 Honour's Post Menopausal View# 233 Alienbear Gupte Virtual Life# 234 *AC Aphrodite Creations*# 235 Inspired - Kawaii Fashion in Second Life# 236 It's A Scaggs Life!# 237 Sin Trenton# 238 Ramblings of a Red Headed Kitten# 239 Second Life: Music, DJs, Nightlife, Art and Creativity# 240 http://snatch-sl.blogspot.com/# 241 Vanity Universe# 242 Virtual Neko in Second Life# 243 Willowing Wisps# 244 iCandy# 245 SLink# 246 STELLAR by Lexi Morgan# 247 The Rummage Box# 248 The Connolly Telegraph# 249 A Second Look# 250 Bliss Beningborough Couture# 251 Experiments with Avatars# 252 Avenue Models# 253 avocatio virtualis# 254 #NAME?# 255 PXL Creations# 256 Ambergris Deadly Fashions# 257 Imperial Elegance# 258 Oh, hush!# 259 Passionate Neko Dreams# 260 ArtsPlace SL# 261 Charity Dogsbody's Booke of Sensible Advice# 262 CONNIE in a SEC# 263 secondguru# 264 The Life of Abigail Raymaker# 265 Fallobst# 266 Zippora's life# 267 Nyte'N'Day Official Blog# 268 The ramblings of Violet# 269 The Winter Market# 270 Y Me digitally encoded genetic machismo# 271 YABU SIM# 272 Proceedings of the Royal Society# 273 Free Speerit# 274 Genevieve Lutetia# 275 Nimil# 276 Second Wave Fashion# 277 Punk Shack# 278 La Sylphide# 279 Emery# 280 Phantom's Republic# 281 Second Life Shopping Sherpa# 282 Beth's Second Life# 283 Decoy# 284 Lo Lo# 285 overcooked# 286 Popfuzz# 287 Shep Korvin - Blog is the new Black# 288 everyday second life# 289 Miss Cornelia Rothschild# 290 Moonshine Clothing# 291 The Lady and The Tramp# 292 Woo's!# 293 Lick, Don't Bite# 294 CREAMSHOP# 295 LF Fashions# 296 Pedro Meya Marty - Agentur f# 297 Second Life Stylewatch# 298 The Dressing Up Box# 299 Vitamin Ci# 300 Crimson Flow# 301 Omega Point A blog by Catherine Winters# 302 Sunn's World# 303 Moggs - a second life# 304 Glamorpuss# 305 Blunt Fashion Sense# 306 L o s t A n g e l . H e a d q u a r t e r s# 307 ma vie d'avatar: ma vie sur second life# 308 SLC# 309 Novocaine# 310 Beta Technologies# 311 IYan Writer in virtual worlds# 312 Little Gems from My Second Life# 313 ::eLDee::# 314 Curious Kitties Island Update Blog# 315 LaynieWear# 316 ::ANA_Mations::# 317 DEVILISH CUPCAKE# 318 Digital Dragon Designs# 319 Digital Eyes# 320 imagendivine.com# 321 Kathar.in# 322 Meet the Petermans# 323 Pix3lizeD Th0ughTs# 324 The Diary of a Caledonian Baroness# 325 500 Year Diary# 326 Accessories by Eolande# 327 Honey Wendt in Second Life# 328 Ingenue# 329 Kabalyero# 330 Solange! Fashions# 331 A Piece of Candy# 332 DragonFly Designs, Inc.# 333 Alphamale# 334 Kryptonia's Weblog# 335 Ai Baroque on Wordpress# 336 DrFran Does SL# 337 I Make HUDDLES# 338 The Fashionable Heart# 339 Eyana Yohkoh's Blog# 340 Metaverse Law# 341 Sensual Designs# 342 Digital Knickers# 343 Mela's# 344 Posh Pride# 345 Ravenwear: The Anti-Trend# 346 Scripter Syndrome# 347 Sio's Second Life# 348 The Cindy Kesey Show# 349 Eloise's thoughts and fancies# 350 Second Life's a Drag!# 351 The Virtual Version# 352 Trudeau Classic Sailing Yachts# 353 Winter Moon# 354 Eclipse# 355 Hairapy# 356 theshadow's Alternative Second Life Fashions# 357 VictoriaV Fashion# 358 Vidal's Dolly Realm# 359 World of IBIZARRE# 360 Aether Chronicles# 361 EarthStones# 362 DollyRock: Second Life Clothes# 363 I'm a Gracie Girl!!# 364 Freda's Fine Fashion Magix# 365 :The Cute Institute# 366 The Bon Mots of Phineas Matova# 367 BijouxOr Gold Jewelry# 368 =^.^= Neko Gear =^.^=# 369 The Excellent Second Life of Chartreuse Muni# 370 [CRAP] Fashion# 371 Awesome Designs# 372 Catt's Creations# 373 Gwendolyn Cassini Creations and Scripts 'r Us# 374 Illuminati Designs Updates# 375 Just fine# 376 MAU's# 377 Niki's Notes# 378 Rustica# 379 SubliminaLuminations# 380 Argent Eyes# 381 CTK# 382 Fashion Predator# 383 Frequency's Oscillations# 384 Jolie's Boutique# 385 Material Squirrel# 386 Ookami Ningen# 387 Ribbons Learns to Swim# 388 Serenity Mercier# 389 comme il faut - by Moire Georgette - virtual fashion# 390 Hexed (Formerly Escape)# 391 Second Life - Notizie e Commenti su Second Life# 392 Second Life Games# 393 Subtle Submission# 394 The Antiquity Gazette# 395 The Chilbo Road Press# 396 Viva La Glam.# 397 Comments for Yxes Muses# 398 Glass Earth# 399 Izzyisms# 400 Livin# 401 Not Your Typical Lady# 402 Project Q/Gematria# 403 SinSkins# 404 SlCoolMag# 405 Soda - Bubbly Fashions# 406 Cala - Transgender in Second Life# 407 2nd Lifer# 408 Mascha Boa's Fashion# 409 Prissy Pixels# 410 Reaction - a Surfers Revolution# 411 *~*HopScotch*~*# 412 Bewitched Designs# 413 Cailyn's - Classic Jewelry# 414 Dings Digital's Diary# 415 First Flower# 416 good deeds of a sailor to be# 417 JetDoll# 418 Kyra's Kloset# 419 Mashooka Designs# 420 pixie dust and tantrums...# 421 Rich Desoto# 422 Second Life at hand# 423 Second Mirage# 424 Selling in Secondlife# 425 Calico Ingmann Creations# 426 enkythings - Virtual High Heels# 427 Larue# 428 Machinations of an Evil Tiny Kitty# 429 Newbe's Steam Powered Blog# 430 Steamjunk# 431 Studio Sidhe# 432 Taunt# 433 TimeForce 10# 434 Tuli's Favorites# 435 !TM Hair Styles by Tami McCoy# 436 Daikon Forge# 437 Liquid Velvet Studio Designs# 438 rosemary galbraith# 439 Second Life Conceptual Creations# 440 The Velvet Room# 441 Torrid Tales of a Compulsive Swooner# 442 AMACCI# 443 FETISH FASHIONISTA# 444 Beq's adventures in second life# 445 Fortunate Productions# 446 A2NZ : When creativity goes global# 447 deadaswe's weblog# 448 Interests of Isolde Flamand# 449 Vignette# 450 ~Serenity Style~# 451 Beats n' Pieces# 452 Burroughs Jewellery and Eyes# 453 Caledon Early Bird Social Club# 454 Dreambits# 455 E.Laval Fine Clothing# 456 Fetch Alternative Blog# 457 Forceme Silverspar's adventures in Second Life# 458 House Of RFyre# 459 INDIRA BEKKERS - Second Life Fashion# 460 Samantha Speaks# 461 sf design - avatar clothing by swaffette Firefly# 462 **THE CLOSET**# 463 Explorations of the White Foxx# 464 Gideon Television Superstar# 465 Iron Raptor# 466 Nicola Escher - Journal# 467 Sparkle-Skye# 468 Tamed Frustration# 469 The Family Jewels# 470 Virtual World Business.com# 471 Warm Winter Nights# 472 Woolly Wildcat Writings# 473 Angie Mornington# 474 For All Your Household Needs# 475 From the Flames# 476 Jana's Classic Designs# 477 Make Money Online With Richard Palace# 478 Marion in Wonderland# 479 Mirrorlabs: Skin Studio Blog# 480 Quarter Life Crisis# 481 Soliel Snook# 482 The Llama's Den# 483 The Second Life Great Expedition# 484 Veronique's Second Life# 485 Wild Thing - Male Clothing# 486 Meta.Live.Nu# 487 Skidz Partz On Secondlife# 488 Contest Central by Impressione# 489 powers of creation# 490 Hair Solutions# 491 MRO SHOW ** LIVE **# 492 secondfluid# 493 :!:Lavish Style:!: by Katy Angel# 494 [Poptart]# 495 Acedia Diary# 496 Asri Falcone Originals# 497 Derek# 498 Diary of an avatar# 499 Elegance Hats# 500 Goto Desoto# 501 LDinSTL says:# 502 Mael's Mindforge# 503 Oh no Crippy Oh# 504 Ordinal's Cabinet of Ephemera# 505 Rave Nation Blog# 506 .: Na# 507 ~KorvinKreations~# 508 A NEKO's LIFE in SL# 509 AudSLife# 510 Balderdash- Bagatelle and Trinketry# 511 Baronial Notations# 512 Diva Designs# 513 Eye Candy Designs# 514 Fae Designs# 515 Fashionably Dead# 516 From The Eye Of The Storm# 517 Frontier's Horizon# 518 Fuel# 519 Ki-Squared# 520 Makeda Cole# 521 Mal Burns Annex# 522 Moriash Moreau: My Second Life# 523 My Second Life is the New First# 524 Paw Prints# 525 RaceSL# 526 sezmra.com# 527 Something Different# 528 SYD: Style Your Destiny# 529 Taffy Apple Designs# 530 Tea Monster# 531 Through the filter of a Victorian Aesthetic# 532 TorridWear# 533 trash palace - electronic music club# 534 Treasured Visions# 535 Tully in Second Life# 536 Tweaktocracy# 537 Violet Voltaire# 538 Wildefire Walcott's Mistressy Musings# 539 Your Godless Goddess# 540 Anti Cute Clothing Second Life# 541 BiancaF# 542 Brigid Ashwood Fantasy Artist# 543 Caliburn Susanto# 544 Essentia# 545 Handbags# 546 Mannon's Fashion# 547 Mircat# 548 Mollster's# 549 OOpS# 550 Random Acts of Style# 551 Return to Secondlife# 552 Ships of the Line# 553 Khaos Klub Information Website# 554 Blog of House of Lu; Paper Couture# 555 Caliente Express# 556 celtgrrl# 557 Ephemeral Creations# 558 Flower and Willow# 559 ICoN# 560 Inside Second Life# 561 Life by Proxy# 562 Made for No Reason# 563 Metaverse Week in Review# 564 Miriel in the Metaverse# 565 newly born# 566 NPSL: Nonprofits in Second Life# 567 Riven's Nest# 568 Savoir Hair# 569 Second Life Blogosphere# 570 Second Life Fashion Addict# 571 Second Spice# 572 ShenS Blog# 573 Skin Within# 574 Stella's Mall on Stella Isle# 575 Sweetest Sin# 576 Technopaideia# 577 The Agile Mind# 578 the Artists' tea party# 579 The Source of Power# 580 Trin's Tantrums# 581 Voodoo Style# 582 Welcome to the Train-Wreck Love Life# 583 Women of Second Life# 584 Yoshino's Second life blog# 585 Zagoskin Haute Couture

Yeah, that's A LOT of Second Life blog action, and a lot of work done by ArminasX Saiman

Thursday, March 19, 2009

The KAAOS Effect - The Game within Second Life - Created and Produced by MadPea and Orange - Official Public Opening - Friday March 20th, 2009



The Kaaos Effect at Orange Island (SLURL link).
Officially open to the public on Friday March 20th.

http://www.orange-island.com/?p=1505

The Kaaos Effect is an original game sponsored by Orange, as part of an ongoing effort to encourage and sustain innovative content creation on the Second Life platform, via its Orange Island Community.

The Game

An unusual building has landed on Orange Island. Are you curious enough to discover what has happened and where it came from? Using various communications devices scattered across time, the player will embark on a remarkable journey, an adventure that takes Second Life gaming steps further. Be careful when touching those buttons though... you never know when you might end up...

The Kaaos Effect is intended to be a unique, individual experience. It is different for each player.
There are hidden clues and bonus items in the game. To make sure that you have found everything there is to find, check out your progress at www.madpea.com/statistics. You may also want to look at a few initial guidelines to help you get the most of the Kaaos experience.

Please note: The story is fictional and you can teleport out at any moment if the game gets too exciting...

About MadPea & Orange Island

MadPea Productions is a games development company based in the virtual world of Second Life. Makers of acclaimed puzzle games 'Within', 'Firefly', 'The Zodiac Killer' and more... MadPea are an international team of talented content creators, who aim at taking games in Second Life to a new level. Find out more about MadPea's vision in our interview with their lead game designer Kiana Writer.

The France Telecom Group is one of the world’s largest and most successful integrated communications companies. The Group offers enhanced mobile, fixed line, television and internet services to customers through the Orange brand.

At the heart of the Orange brand lies the belief that together we can do more. By contributing to peoples’ lives, by helping them to build stronger communities, sharing their experiences and make more meaningful connections. Through the Orange Island project, we hope to not only learn more about virtual communities but also collaborate and innovate with them, as we are doing with our content partner MadPea Productions.

For more information about Orange and France Telecom please visit http://www.orange.com/

The Kaaos Effect / Credits

Orange Team
Fab Outlander - Producer
Sarn Aska - Executive Producer
Special thanks to extralab (Yesterday Demain / Nick Rhodes / Natty Foggarty)
Orange Island Website
Teleport to Orange Island (SLURL)

MadPea Crew
Kiana Writer - storyline, game design
Waghorne Truss - graphics, building, audio/video
Smiley Dyrssen - scripting, HUD design
Aria Dragonash - building & scripting
SweetDevil Magic - scripting
Rocksea Renegade - video, graphics
MadPea website
Teleport to MadPea Headquarters (SLURL)


Should you require additional information or request interviews with the MadPea crew, please IM ( Imno Loon) or email on imno.loon@gmail.com *Many thanks :)

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Tech Shifts Cultural Boundaries | BBC News - Technology

Before I get to BBC's article, I want to congratulate Vector76 who built sim, along side Pixel Palace, a digital project of Tyneside Cinema, the live DJs, the staff, and of course NewcastleGateshead in SL. This collective put together a truly amazing event. Plus congrats to SL's Dubstep warrior DJ CaptainBuck Rogers. As I recall, CaptainBuck was the first dubstep DJ to enter Second Life.

Here is the event footage, below the video is the BBC article



-----

Tech shifts cultural boundaries
Digital technologies challenge the cultural industries, says Bill Thompson.

I had one of the strangest experiences of my online life last Friday evening in the bar of the Tyneside Cinema in Newcastle, and while I'm still not sure what it means I enjoyed it, in a odd sort of way.

It came at the end of a conference on the future of cinemas and other artistic venues in a digital world, while we were enjoying a DJ set from CaptainBuck Rogers. The music we were listening to was being streamed live into the virtual world of Second Life, and being played out in replica of the renowned Baltic Mill gallery, situated on a newly-opened virtual Tyneside island developed by a local company, Vector 76.

Avatars from around the world were dancing to the music we could hear, while we watched them projected onto the wall of the cinema bar, so I got out my laptop, logged in to Second Life and made my way to the virtual Baltic, where I joined in the dancing.

I could see my avatar moving around on the screen of my computer, but I was also clearly visible among the crowd projected onto the wall, dancing like every teenager's embarrassing dad in cyberspace while drinking a deliciously cold beer in the real world.

It was profoundly disquieting to find myself in three places at once, but it helped me reflect on how new technologies are shifting the boundaries of the arts and culture, and it was a very appropriate end to a day which had been spent considering how arts venues are being challenged by digital technologies.

Offline galleries

Bill Thompson
The network could be about to unleash a wave of creative cultural destruction as great in its impact on all cultural activism as the rise of modernism was in the last century.
Bill Thompson

The conference was called 'Clicks or Mortar?' in reference to the question facing many retailers who are struggling to decide whether to put effort into online or shop-based sales and marketing, and was part of a programme of debate and discussion I've been helping to lead at Tyneside since it reopened last year after extensive - and expensive - rebuilding work.

As you might expect, it was a day with many more questions than answers, although by the time we headed to the bar there were lots of plans for exploration and innovation being hatched between the theatre directors, curators, cinema managers and social media experts who had spent the day together.

There might even have been a sense of optimism about the future, since nobody had tried to argue that everyone would abandon their desire to share space and art with other people even if high speed networks, home cinema systems and social tools meant the quality of the home experience continued to improve.

Immersive environments

But there was also great concern that venues such as cinemas and theatres may not survive in their current form.

Of course it is far too easy to frame any debate about the future development of the arts in terms of a 'crisis', and theatre, opera, cinema, the novel and even the very idea of the author have all been through more crises than most of us care to recall.

David Hockney in front of his Grand Canyon painting
Can art galleries survive in the digital age?
Yet there is a strong case to be made that the combined effect of the collapse of the current iteration of globalised capitalism and the social changes wrought by digital technologies really do merit the use of the term this time around, and that it might sensibly be applied to the whole cultural scene rather than just one aspect of it.

New technologies offer new ways to create and experience art of all types, but they also offer new conceptual frameworks within which art can be created, from the immersive environments of video games like Grand Theft Auto IV to the complex mathematical modelling that underpinned My Secret Heart, one of the works shown at the conference as an example of current practice, and this could have significant consequences for current cultural practice.

Anyone who has heard me talk about the impact of technology will know that I am a great admirer of Joseph Schumpeter, the twentieth century economist whose described the way that new production methods often destroy successful companies when they leave it too late to adopt innovations because they are wedded to currently profitable practices.

He named the process 'creative destruction', and his work still provides a useful framework for understanding how Microsoft challenged IBM, Amazon challenged the booksellers and Google destroyed Yahoo!

It can also be applied to cultural production, but whereas in the past it has largely been driven by artistic innovations such as the invention of the first person narrative or atonal music, with technology secondary, the rapid rate of technological change may mean that those artists, artforms and venues that make the best use of the capabilities of the new technologies will sweep away those who fail to innovate.

The network could be about to unleash a wave of creative cultural destruction as great in its impact on all cultural activism as the rise of modernism was in the last century.

In the new digital world I suspect that artforms, artists and cultural organisations will succeed by occupying the liminal space between offline and online, building a compelling presence in both that allows something unexpected to emerge where they meet and blur together.

Rather like dancing in Second Life while drinking a beer in the the first one.

Bill Thompson is an independent journalist and regular commentator on the BBC World Service program Digital Planet.

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Adobe in Second Life: Moderne Interactive Builds Immersive Learning Center for Adobe

Adobe in Second Life: Moderne Interactive Builds Immersive Learning Center for Adobe

Published in SL Entrepreneur Magazine, SLentrepreneur Magazine Feature Articles

by Richard Hackathorn and Emmett Burnett

One of the commercial applications for Second Life is immersive learning. And this is not only for universities and colleges. High-tech firms like Adobe Systems and Microsoft are using SL as a unique learning environment.

read more | digg story

(In case you're wondering, Adobe is the company that makes Photoshop among other programs. Photoshop is the #1 used tool for creating textures for SL. Premier is an excellent program for live online video.)

PBS Frontline - digital_nation - Share Stories from YOUR Digital Nation - Submission Deadline March 24th, 2009

Share Stories from YOUR Digital Nation

FRONTLINE wants to hear stories from your Digital Nation. We invite you to tell us about a friendship developed on the internet, share your insights about how technology is impacting the way you live and work, or show us a furious session of multitasking with whatever digital tools you use. Give us a glimpse of your Facebook life or your online avatar, interview someone else about their most memorable online experience, or just tell us what you think all this technology is adding up to.

What's "Digital Nation?"

It's a FRONTLINE documentary and interactive website exploring how technology is affecting every aspect of our lives -- from parenting to dating, the classroom to the military, free time to free speech.

The website will launch eight months before the film airs. As we're reporting, shooting and editing the film, we'll be posting footage on the web and blogging about our process. YOU have a chance to join in by contributing, commenting and reacting.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
1. Check out the list of ideas & suggestions on what to submit.
2. Be creative: make a submission using video, photo collage, audio, animation.
3. Upload your creation to a file-sharing site of your choice (Flickr, YouTube, etc.). Tag your submission & be sure to include the tag "dig_nat".
4. Send the link to YourDigitalNation@gmail.com
See examples of other submissions by searching for the "dig_nat" tag on YouTube.
The official launch of Digital Nation online is March 24, 2009.
Submissions are ongoing, but to be featured in the launch, send us the link to your story before March 14th.
To help you get started, here is a list of possible questions to consider:

Did you start an important relationship online? Or has the internet brought people back into your life that you'd prefer to forget?
Have you been e-snooped on? Have you e-snooped on someone else? Tell us the story.
Have you ever sent a text or email that you then regretted? Tell us about the new social etiquette of digital life.
Do you have a hard time not checking your email every few minutes? Tell or show us how digital tools are affecting your attention span.
How do you parent in the age of the internet? What are the challenges?
Has your identity ever been stolen or compromised? What happened? How did it feel?

Your Opinion:
Is technology increasing our productivity? Is this a good thing?
When does technology go too far in compromising our privacy? Where do you draw the line, and why?
Do we need more technology or less in America's classrooms?
Does technology make us closer or more distant?
Is there a gap between those of us who grew up with technology and those of us who didn't? Where do you notice it?

Challenge: Document it!
Are you constantly texting? Grab a camera and read aloud all of the texts you send back and forth in a day.
Google yourself. Tell us what you find. Does it surprise you?
Unplug for a day (or a few hours!). Document yourself (or a friend) living the low-tech life.
Show us your “technology rituals”. What are your routines?
Show us your online identity/avatar. What makes it special? Is it different from the “real” you?
Show us how your baby interacts with technology.
Are you a 'digital immigrant' struggling to catch up with the digital age? Set yourself a goal, and document your battles with technology.

Here are some more tips:

1. If you want to share a story but don't know where to start, try looking through our list of questions. Think of your daily life and how technology plays a part in it. What are your happiest/saddest/most embarrassing moments in digital life? Once you have figured out what you want to say, it's time to create your submission.

2. Be creative, create a submission using video, photos or audio. You may already have photos or footage you want to use. Otherwise, this can be as simple or as fancy as you want it to be. If you've never worked a video camera before, try using your camera or cellphone (many have video recording settings now) and get a friend to record you. Or if your computer has a camera, just talk into it! If you want to learn more about video production, there are lots of great resources online. The YouTube help page has lots of great "how to" videos on making, editing, and uploading work.

3. Upload your submission to a file sharing site (Flickr, YouTube, etc…) Once you've made your submission, you have to make it public. The easiest way to do this is though file sharing sites that let you post your work online for free. Sites like Flickr (http://www.flickr.com/) are great for photographs, and YouTube (http://www.YouTube.com/) is great for videos. They also have easy instructions on how to set up an account and how to post material. Tag your submission! Be sure to also include the tag dig_nat. For example, if in your submission you are talking about trying to keep your kids safe online and monitoring their internet usage, you would tag your content "dig_nat, online safety, parenting, kids"

4. Once your material is online, send the link to it to YourDigitalNation@gmail.com
If you're still stumped, but want to submit, email any questions to YourDigitalNation@gmail.com