Tuesday, June 30, 2009

The Future of Virtual Electronica - Doubledown Tandino performs at the Koinup SL6B Gallery - June 30th, 2009 - 1pm-3pm (slt)

The Future of Virtual Electronica with Doubledown Tandino at Koinup SL6B gallery

Doubledown Tandino
will perform this Tuesday June 30th, 1pm-3pm (SLT)
at the Koinup SL6B Art Gallery. The music styles will include beat-layered landscapes, technologically induced rhythms, brain music, & space techno.

Doubledown Tandino DJ Event Or...

The show is called: The future of Virtual Electronica and Doubledown Tandino will entertain all the audience in the virtual scenery of VirtuoCity in front of the 3D Logo of Koinup, built by Talia Tokugawa

Visit the gallery now

Image above by Rhysackmann

Monday, June 29, 2009

Doubledown Tandino's Diggs of the Week - Australia Gaming and Net Censorship? - June 2009

Australia to Begin Filtering Online Games incl Second Life

escapistmagazine.com — Australia plans to filter internet sites offering games and online gaming content that exceed the MA15+ age rating, including downloadable and Flash games as well as sites that sell retail games online.


Australia to Ban Second Life? | Dusan Writer’s Metaverse

dusanwriter.com — According to the Inquisitr, new laws in Australia will mean that Second Life is banned on that continent. Thoughts, comments, discussions with Dusan and members of the virtual worlds.


Australia Govt to block websites offering banned games.

gamespot.com —
Australian gamers are probably well aware of their country's strict games classification system, with the lack of an R18+ rating meaning any title not fitting under the MA15+ rating is automatically banned from sale down under. This means it is illegal to sell a game which has been refused classification in Australia.


Australia to Block Online Access to Games with 15+ Content

gamepolitics.com —
Australia's federal government said yesterday that it plans to block access to websites which host and sell games with content edgier than what is allowable under an MA-15+ rating. The unprecedented censorship policy will apply to Australians of all ages.


Australian network filtering promises to block Online Games

massively.com —
Australian Communications Minister, Senator Stephen Conroy, has promised to extend Australia's proposed network-level content filtering regime to block games, online games, downloadable games, and websites that sell or allow download of games that are deemed not to be suitable for a 15-year-old audience.


Australia: Bans, Filters and Government 2.0 Taskforce

laurelpapworth.com —
with regards to online games, some are boxed (closed systems such as Grand Theft Auto), some are box and server (multiplayer such as World of Warcraft) and some are downloadable clients or simply web based clients to a hosted server (Second Life, Habbo).


Who is Responsible for Assuring Freedoms in Virtual Worlds

metanomics.net —
Recent developments in a discussion regarding human rights on the web are forcing the consideration of a complex set of issues related to virtual worlds.


Net filtering and virtual worlds: reactions

metaversejournal.com — After last night’s story on the Australian Government’s internet content filtering legislation and its potential impact on virtual worlds, the response has been astounding. Today has seen the largest ever traffic on The Metaverse Journal. Like any issue, there are a few camps of thought:


** NO CLEAN FEED | Stop Internet Censorship in Australia

nocleanfeed.com — The Australian Federal Government is pushing forward with a plan to force Internet Service Providers [ISPs] to censor the Internet for all Australians. This plan will waste tens of millions of taxpayer dollars and slow down Internet access.


Rumors of Australian Second Life Censorship Seem Rumurish

nwn.blogs.com — Over the last 24 hours I've been peppered with links as here and here which seem to suggest the Australian government is imminently planning to block access to Second Life from that country. It has to do with a recent Aussie Communication Ministry proposal to filter the online distribution of computer games not rated acceptable for teen play.


Second Life Banned in Australia? Not So Fast...

gamepolitics.com — As GamePolitics reported last week, the Australian government is moving to block online access to games containing content which would exceed the country's MA-15+ rating. The proposed filtering scheme would affect online retailers selling such games as well as games played online such as MMOs.

Rocking The Metaverse Wave 1 - Machinima by Joanna

The first wave (4 shows in May/June 2009) of the Rocking the Metaverse took place, and Joanna presents the machinima covering the Second Life, OpenSim and Metaplace stops of the Rocking The Metaverse 1st ever Cross World Metaverse Live Music Tour!
This groundbreaking concert tour across multiple virtual worlds is presented by Koinup.



Featuring Live Musicians:
Dizzy Banjo
Grace McDunnough
Slim Warrior
Doubledown Tandino

Virtual Worlds Visited So Far by the Tour:
- Second Life
- Open Sim Reaction Grid
- Metaplace
- Twinity

The song featured is Bolly Good by Slim Warrior.

Machinima by Joanna Robinson
http://www.J0anna.com/
http://twitter.com/J0anna

-----

Wave 2 of Rocking the Metaverse is about to blast off. Visit Koinup to stay informed:
http://www.koinup.com/group/virtual-world-music/

Thursday, June 25, 2009

A Tribute to Michael Jackson's "Thriller" in Second Life

I am writing this literally the moment that Michael Jackson has been confirmed dead.
You will hear the real life news I am sure. For Second Life residents, we can remember him through his machinima appearances.



Virtual World Documentary "Another Perfect World" Premiers

Another Perfect World

Jorien van Nes and Femke Wolting's fascinating insight into online virtual worlds where the user can create their own paradise, far removed from real life.

spacestation
UPDATE: Video on Youtube now posted:



True Stories presents: Jorien van Nes and Femke Wolting's fascinating insight into online virtual worlds. Second Life, World of Warcraft, Metaplace, U World - all virtual worlds where the user can create their own paradise, far removed from real life. People can create societies that range from the democratic to the dictatorial, have avatars that resemble their ideal and can engage in actions that their real life personality would never dream of doing, from cyber-sex to virtual crime. But who creates these worlds and are they the right people to be crafting idealized societies that pretend to address and solve the inadequacies of the real world?

DIGG IT

Monday, June 22, 2009

Doubledown Tandino's Diggs of the Week - Iran Election & Social Media - June 2009-3

This past week's news was filled with Iran election & revolution coverage (or lack there of). We also witnessed a revolution in social media.

I pulled several interesting article links from the past week. These articles are about the massive role social media played rather than news about Iran:

#IranElection Crisis: A Social Media Timeline - One of the striking aspects of the #IranElection crisis has been the heavy use of social media. Iranians have relied on it to spread information on protests and to communicate their situation to millions of concerned people worldwide.

How (Twitter and) I* Crashed Iran's Propaganda Web Sites - A top new-media activist looks back on his role in the Twitterati's rise to power this week — and why it didn't stop Ahmadinejad's. *"I" is Josh Koster , Raph Koster's brother.

What the World Didn't See in Tehran - Iranian state television yesterday broadcast the soap operas and covered the news about Rafael Nadal's withdrawal from Wimbledon and Pakistani operations against the Taliban as if they were the most important stories of the day...

Tools to Undo Censorship in Iran and China. USE THEM - Web censorship has once again become a huge issue, due to two unrelated events: China’s Internet blockade due to the anniversary of the Tiananmen massacre, and more recently, the controversial Iran elections which have resulted in new oppressive measures, implemented by the current country leaders, to shut down free speech in the country.

Iran, Twitter, and The American Information Elite - Over the weekend, Iran hurtled into political upheaval, and America's 24-hour cable news networks hardly noticed. Mark Ambinder explains the role Twitter played in Iran.




Thursday, June 18, 2009

House Music Lives at Scoutlounge in Second Life [video]



Update: version 1.3

Video by: SpyvSpy
More info on Scoutlounge at www.Scoutlounge.net
Scoutlounge, winner of the 2008 Ravelong Award for Best DJ Club in Second Life

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Man vs. Second Life - Hilarious Machinima


By Hugity

DIGG IT

Second Life Music can Equal Success and Profit - Part 2: The Organization

In part 2 of "Second Life Music can Equal Success and Profit" - I want to discuss the organization of people that come together to create a successful music event inworld.

I discussed the possible goals of a live music show in Part 1. Now I will help formulate the individual roles and planning elements involved in creating a larger scale event with a high expectation, quality performer, and support team... the organization. By the time Part 3 rolls around ("How to create a profitable SL music venue and music event"), we'll have a good sense about the roles people play in a successful functioning music venue as well as the goals of each person involved.

(draft. updated 6/17)

The Potential Positions to Combined Show
The people pieces of organizing a SL music event:

(Let me preface this by saying that each crew member of a venue/performer/event production team usually takes on multiple roles, and sometimes ALL of the roles. As an inworld music organization grows, more people will jump on board to support. At the same time, keep in mind that a successful music production & event can also be as small as one person, performing shows, on their land, and handling any responsibilities on their own.)

Venue Owner - The venue owner (the one that owns the land the music venue is located) in SL usually plays one of four roles. The responsibilities are vast depending on how much the land owner(s) want to be involved. The land of a music venue owner types are:

1) not involved) A silent business partner that simply owns the land. This person or company would hire the main venue creator and producer to make the venues and events happen.
1b) not involved but supportive) This is the friendly land owner who has no involvement in the development of the show, but enjoys supporting the music venue and comes to shows & helps.
2) involved) A land owner or a company that owns land who's primary focus is the business, and an aspect of that being music venue(s). The company representative would be considered the land/venue owner, and plays a moderate management role in the events and shows.
3) highly involved) equally involved with a producer or general management.
4) highest level of involvement) lead producer and head manager (CEO) of their entire venue and project including the land.

Venue General Manager and/or Event Producer - If the owner of the land isn't producing the shows, then there is the role of the main GM & event producer for the venue. This person generally has all the responsibility and also delegates responsibilities. In most smaller venue operations, the GM is the owner.

Venue Talent Booker/Scheduler/Manager - If the venue owner or venue GM choose, they may decide to divide up the responsibilities of scheduling the performers and scheduling the venue staff. For larger scale events and team effort venues/clubs, usually the person that books and handles the artistic talent (the musician, dj, act) is a different job position than the person that manages and schedules the staff (hosts, dancers, security). The Venue Talent Manager maintains the roster of performers and plays a large role as producer & promoter of the show and event.

Venue Manager/Host Manager - As mentioned above, because the talent manager of a venue has many high-expectation responsibilities, usually there is the job position of a Venue Manager. This is someone that maintains the staff roster, schedules and coordinates with the planning of events, and also usually maintains the day to day running of a venue. If a venue isn't highly staffed, sometimes the venue manager can play the role of a promoter, host, or event security.

Venue Host - (which includes all venue staff and volunteers, dancers, security, etc) This is a crucial role. Although the job position is not overlooked in SL (every venue has hosts) the quality of a host can make or break an event. A professional host is the key to an event's success. They operate as a promoter, wrangler, info distributor, group adder, pitchman, performer support, and so much more. It is imperative to have quality host(s) working any live music event. There are many times where the role of host is handled by the management.

Venue Sponsor - The person, company, or brand that pitches in money, advertising support, or in-kind trade to the venue. In exchange the sponsor receives posted signage, branding, and representation at the venue. This is a great source & option for any venue that needs help covering the costs (more on this in Part 3).

Performer - This person or group is "the show", "the performance." Sometimes they could be considered "the event", but not always. A great performer in SL never limits themselves to just this role. They may also help with the venue, or even be the venue management. The performer can be their own promoter, or manager of the promotion team.

Performer's Agent / Manager - The agent/manager will work with the performer to help create more opportunities, and also guide the performer's career. This role could be a company agency that has a roster of performers as well as a roster of venues, talent buyers, and clients. This role could also be one person, who operates to assist the performer with whatever needs come up. A good agent or manager will do promotion & networking for the performer as well.

Performer's Street Team - This is a collective of people, usually volunteers and fans that want to help and support the performer. They don't get paid, nor have any obligations, but their continued help bringing people to events and spreading the word for the performer is monumental.

Performer Sponsor - This is a company that pays the performer (either in money or trade) to represent the company during events. This is a great way that a venue can book an expensive performer. If the performer's sponsor pays the performer's rate to play, then the venue can run events and book shows with a lesser budget.

I am still working on elements I would like to add to this post. Please add input in the comments and I will be sure to add new ideas to the article.

Thank you Zak Claxton of Frothy Music for your input.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

5 Things Every Band Should Know About Twitter (via TwtTip)

You'll notice I'm talking about Twitter a lot. Well, so is everyone else. You'll find a new great use for Twitter article written easily by visiting sites like mashable, techcrunch, and problogger's twttip. Here's a great gem just posted:

5 Things Every Band Should Know About Twitter
via TwtTip

By Owen Kelly of The Indie Digest. Follow him @ojkelly.

Image Credit: marfis75Twitter provides a unique opportunity to everyone that has never really existed before. Not only do you have the ability to follow every minute detail of your favorite band, but you can also have a conversation with them.

It’s often been said that twitter is like a bar full of people. You can listen or jump in with any conversation at the bar. Keep this in mind when you tweet.

If you just blurt out “Click here to see my new video!” Then you closely resemble the people handing out crappy pamphlets at the train station, that end up in the bin seconds later.

Anyone attempting to promote a product, be it a song, CD, or even a book, needs to be aware the usual rules do not apply on Twitter. It has evolved with its own set of rules and etiquette. To successfully promote your product you need to be aware of a few things.

CONTINUE READING THE FULL ARTICLE HERE | DIGG IT

Monday, June 15, 2009

5 Ridiculous Goofy Ways I like to use Twitter (and why Twitter stirs up the same excitement as gambling)

5 Ridiculous Goofy Ways I like to use Twitter

and why Twitter stirs up the same excitement as gambling

Everyone's talkin' Twitter these days. Twitter this, Are you on Twitter?, Twitter helped my company!, We saved the world with Twitter!, yada yada yada... well I say, Twitter is always fun to be ridiculous on. Get goofy. Be yourself. Don't listen to anyone else telling you how Twitter should be done. Twitter is whatever you make it, so make it a good one.

I also write this article in the face of the "marketing experts" that have the keys to Twitter. Well, I grind your keys to Twitter down to the nub and then I poop all over your little ring of nub-keys. The proof is in the pudding my friends, and the pudding is that Twitter is an endless residual semi-nonsensical brain-scramble melting pot. You can be the random individual self that you are in real life on Twitter as well, or you can be the person you want to be. But don't be the person you think you're supposed to be. There's no need to be nervous or hesitant on Twitter, because no one will remember what you tweeted if your tweet is stupid. Once you hear the voice in your head say "hey wait, maybe I shouldn't tweet that because some marketing twitter blogger said I shouldn't" then that's when you're in a little Twitter egg shell, not tweeting what you want, but tweeting only what you think you aught to. ... why? Sure I understand if your twitter account is a company, then remain professional and represent the company that's paying you. However, if your twitter account is the personal you, the real you...then BE YOU! ALWAYS!

Here are my 5 crazy reasons why I like to use Twitter

1) Make up insane breaking news update tweets & then watch your followers retweet it -
"This just in Donald Trump buys Microsoft from Bill Gates"... obviously not true, nor will it ever be, but if there is a headline story that either sounds real or sounds really rediculous, someone will find interest in it and retweet it. Sometimes you want to go a little overboard, plus add a #hashtag too: "Bill Gates buys Donald Trump's toupee on Ebay auction for $20,000! #EbayToupee #fakenews " ...why do this? No idea, but I like doing it. ... I enjoy tweeting to @nasa at least once a day telling them where to stick their rockets.

to go along with making up news... and basically, making up whatever:
2) Make up goofy #hashtags -
I love doing this. On twitter from time to time a trending topic will be a twitter word game. Enough people are adding examples, it propels the topic to trend further. Examples have been
#beatlesporn "When I'm Sixty-Nine"
#iremember "I remember when I had money for pants"
#3drunkwords "Hold my hair"
#3turnoffwords "It's your baby"
etc. etc. etc. The trending hashtag word game can be anything. Well, I say, make up #hashtag games too, and see if they catch on. There's always satisfaction if you can get your funny hashtag to trend and retweet around for a little while:

--------=========---------
*) Special Section Sidenote: The personal Twitter goal game - Twitter is like a free-play loose slot machine in an active exciting casino...

Let me digress - Whatever people may say about the purpose of Twitter, if they say its to gain number of followers, they are wrong. The purpose of Twitter is to have someone retweet what you've tweeted.
1) you'll get followers this way.
2) You'll find the most ideal people to follow this way.
3) You'll feel that little satisfaction proud-of-yourself Twitter sensation in your stomach.

Let me digress further.... and compare Twitter to a slot machine in a casino
Twitter tends to cause "the feeling" for some... you know.. that feeling... when there's "action"... and when you're on Twitter you're "in the action"... It's the buzz... you're in the now and in the know...
It's the feeling you get similar to when you're gambling at the slot machines in a casino. That fantasy that perhaps the next pull is a winner... or a Jackpot.

Twitter is the casino. The lights are flashing, different buzzers, noises, and alarms are going off in every direction, people are all around you talking, laughing, having a great time. You see people all around you winning (being retweeted)... and every pull of the slot machine lever is another potential payday.... on Twitter, you get to play for free! and so you play;

you tweet.... 1...2....3 "i ate oatmeal for breakfast"
... no payday... you lost 2 followers... play again?
tweet again... 1...2...3 "You suck Fox News!"
... winner.. one cherry comes up... gained a follower... play again?
tweet again... 1...2...3 "Man gives birth to lizard on film #dudebirth #lizardbaby" JACKPOT...Retweeted 20 times gained 50 followers.

I think subconsciously, there's the buzz of action felt every time one makes a tweet. Is every tweet in a potential internet meme? You have a 1 in a million shot in hitting the jackpot, but many people hit smaller amounts.
Here's the payout chart:

-The tweet sucks - you lose followers - lost money
-The tweet is of indifference - nothing happens - one cherry, got your money back
-The tweet was retweeted - 2 cherries - make a coin
-The tweet was retweeted by multiple followers - 3 cherries - 5 coins
-The tweet was retweeted by some of their followers - some are following you now because of those retweets - three oranges - 10 coins
-The tweet was retweeted by a lot of their followers - you're gaining lots of followers because of the retweets - three single -BAR- - 20 coins
-The tweet is being retweeted all over the place - you're gaining many many followers and people may remember your name around Twitter for awhile - three double -BAR- - 50 coins
-Your hashtag is in trending topics - everyone knows you now as Scobleizer or Mashable or the dude that posted the footage of the monkey that sniffs his finger after it's been in his butt.... triple -BAR- - 100 coins

-They're calling for keyboard cat to come and play you off of Twitter (IE your internet meme is now hobknobbing with other successful internet memes.. ) - JACKPOT!

--------=========---------
That's my take on how Twitter parallels to a casino, let me get back to more crazy reasons I use twitter:

part of that "twitter gambling action excitement comes from the fact that...
3) Celebrities might reply back if you tweet them right
- That's right, if you say the right thing, you can make a celebrity respond to you. What I recommend is to simply be yourself and reply or retweet a celeb tastefully, and then hopefully eventually perhaps maybe one celeb may reply to you with a nod. However, if you want to ensure that a celebrity responds back to you on Twitter, and since you only have 140 characters, this is my method to make a celebrity correspond back to you. It takes a combination of all of these 3 things in your one tweet in order to get a celebrity to reply: (I used Brent Spiner as an example, he played Data on Star Trek the Next Generation and he's also an active tweeter.)

1) compliment them
"Hey @BrentSpiner I loved you in Star Trek"
It probably won't get a reply, but stars enjoy fan's chirping at em.

2) act confused
"Hey @BrentSpiner, I loved you in Star Trek, what do you have planned next?"
Giving the celeb a question means they'll potentially respond and answer if they see your tweet, so, play dumb, and lob them a softball question so they reply to you with their own promotion.

3) Add a Scathing Wit
"Hey @BrentSpiner, I loved you in Star Wars, what do you have planned next? Perhaps a Perfect Strangers reunion?"
Now, how could Brent Spiner not respond to that? Not only did I show ignorance regarding his career as Data on Star Trek, but I also confused him with the actor Bronson Pinchot who played Balkie in Perfect Strangers. If a celeb sees your confused scathing tweet, they'll usually reply to correct you.

4) Role-Play a character - You can be lazy about this and still be good at it. People will follow the image of the role you take on and the tweets your character tweets. You can be anyone you want to be (as long as you say you're fake in your twitter description), and people on twitter follow dedicated committed role-play accounts. Check out Charles Darwin or God or Susan Boyle's Cat. Twitter is a lot of fun, and you get a big quick loyal following if you play your character correctly. Of course, you could extend your personality and acting talents into a persona if you have the drive for it. Check out TheExpert.

5) Yell something at someone you feel deserves it, and the block them - At first you may think this is stupid, however, this actually can help your life and your stress levels. Yell at an idiot and then block em. You'll feel a tension release, plus your followers will be like "yeah, you got balls Whoa diss burnt! RT RT #pwnage"

How do you use
your twitter? Do you abide by the twettequite or do you break the rules? Do you even feel twitter has it's own community social standards? Comments are open.

Rocking the Metaverse - Round 4 - Twinity - Tuesday, June 16th, 2009 - 22:00 (CET)

Via Twinity News & Koinup Blog

Come Rock the Metaverse - and Win!

Twinity is super excited to be co-hosting the 1st cross-world music tour - Rocking the Metaverse. The event is organized by Koinup.

The final stop on the whirlwind tour is Twinity. Come party to live performances from the likes of Dizzy Banjo, Slim Warrior, Grace Mcdunnough, and Doubledown Tandino.

Date: Tuesday, 16 June 2009
Time: 22:00 CET
Place: Brandenburg Gate in Berlin


Competition: Take a screenshot of the live concert using Twinity's handy SEND POSTCARD button and send it to your Koinup email address or andreasw.159dc1@post.koinup.com to be uploaded to the Twinity group on Koinup.com - and for you to have a chance to win 250 globals.

Twinity is now a part of Koinup.com, a social network with a twist, where users of many different virtual worlds come together. Check out our Twinity webpage on koinup!

Koinup.com is the place to meet like-minded people from all kinds of virtual worlds and share what you like about your world.

Signing up for a Koinup account is quick and easy. It gives you a personal webpage and lets you add content, comment on what you see, post photos and machinimas, send postcards, and enjoy a lively social life - even outside of Twinity.

Guy Starts Massive Dance Mob at A Concert

I love moments like this, especially when they're captured on film. Much like Techno Viking, this guy sets out with nothing planned, and amasses a large spontaneous following! Bring on the Massive!

13 Favorite Sexy Electronica Classics [with Videos] of all Time (#musicmonday)

Sure, I could list 1000s of tunes here, but, I narrowed it down to my 13 favorite classic sexy electronica tunes of all time. For me, each of these tracks has a very special moment and memory in my life. Please comment if you have electronic music tunes from your past that tickle your skin and turn you on every time you hear them again. Here it is, DJ Doubledown Tandino's 13 best sexy electronica tunes of all time.

1 - Air - Talisman


2 - Bedrock - Heaven Scent


3 - Sneaker Pimps - Spin Spin Sugar


4 - The Chemical Brothers - Star Guitar


5 - Blue Six - Music and Wine


6 - Portishead - Wandering Star


7 - Orbital - Halcyon (On and On)


8 - Moby - Porcelain
Audio:

Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1Fcaro25Ek
(embedding disabled)

9 - Sonique - It Feels so Good


10 - Underworld - Born Slippy


11 - Tricky - Christiansands
Audio:

Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukvR7_9_6_8
(embedding disabled)

12 - Benny Benassi - Satisfaction


13 - Darude - Sandstorm



Doubledown Tandino's Diggs of the Week - June 2009-1

Doubledown Tandino's Digg It Favorites of the Week:

20+ best sites to submit your news | INDEZINER - Every webmaster knows that site promotion is vital on the internet. There are many ways to do that. One viral marketing technique is also public news promotion. We searched for you and find out some great websites that are featuring community news.

Metaverse Week in Review | Live Show about Virtual Worlds - Metaverse Week In Review airs live right here every Sunday, starting at 12 pm SL time/8pm UK time. Archives of past shows are available by clicking the “On Demand” button.

Avatars United | www.AvatarsUnited.com | world MMO community - Welcome to the world’s open community for MMOs! Register today, hook up with your friends and improve your virtual life… one application at a time! " It's like Facebook for your virtual personas.

LIVE. Music electronic on USTREAM, most-popular Live Streams - Electronic Music Ustream Shows Broadcasting Live including electronic music DJs mixing live online.

ARhrrrr - An augmented reality shooter - ARhrrrr is an augmented reality shooter for mobile camera-phones, created at Georgia Tech Augmented Environments Lab and the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD-Atlanta). The phone provides a window into a 3d town overrun with zombies. Point the camera at our special game map to mix virtual and real world content.

Case Studies Real Organizations Find Success in Second Life - Real Organizations Find Success in the Virtual World There are hundreds of organizations currently in Second Life, including many Fortune 1000 companies and government institutions.

Marketing and Networking in the Second Life Art Scene - In this article, we’re going to explore some ways you’ll be able to hit the ground running with marketing yourself in SL’s virtual art scene. There are many similarities to real life when it comes to presenting yourself to the inworld audiences of curators, collectors and other artists.

RJDJ Scripting reality – music is everywhere… Dizzy Banjo - RjDj is an amazing iPhone application which creates mind twisting hearing sensations by weaving your environment into reactive music. Voices, cars, your walking speed.. these and many other things can be used to shape your experience. If you have an iPhone or iPod Touch, try it!

SelfControl - Program to block internet distractions - Is email a distraction? SelfControl is an OS X application which blocks access to incoming and/or outgoing mail servers and websites for a predetermined period of time. For example, you could block access to your email, facebook, and twitter for 90 minutes, but still have access to the rest of the web. Hope you enjoy my selections.

- Each week I hope to bring you some interesting stuff for my Doubledown Tandino's Digg It Favorites. Make sure to DIGG the articles that interest you and make sure to connect with me on Digg & on Twitter : @Doubledown_inSL @Ravelong

---

Doubledown's Note about Digg: I have been heavily using Digg (http://digg.com) for my daily website surfing and bookmarking. It's been useful to me in three ways:

1) Any website I come across that interests me, I want to save & share, I'm now using Digg to bookmark the site instead of saving the link to my web browser's bookmarks. Going to my own profile to see an easy access list of links I wanted saved has been working well.

2) Digg has a great community of site sharing people. I can go to Digg, without having something specific I'm looking for, and find interesting news and articles just by parusing the digg site.

3) Digg and Twitter combo with these tools: http://twiggit.com and http://twitterfeed.com
my Digg submission feed is: http://digg.com/users/BradReason/history/submissions.rss
(You are more than welcome to set your twitterfeed to send my digg links through your twitter if you enjoy my selections.)

See ya around Digg: http://digg.com/users/BradReason

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Metaverse Week in Review - Live Show about Second Life and Virtual Worlds - Sundays 12pm (slt)

All you avatar heads and metaverse hoppers, on Sundays, the thing to do is
Metaverse Week in Review - http://www.metaverseweekinreview.com/
The Live internet Show about Second Life & Virtual Worlds
Sundays 12pm (slt)

Metaverse Week in Review is a live videocast co-hosted by Mal Burns and Tara Yeats every Sunday. Presented at Livestream, this live show looks at events and news from the week in Second Life and other developing virtual worlds. Mal & Tara are joined by an assortment of guests from the metaverse.
Bios of Mal & Tara, plus info about semi-regular guests will appear here whenever we get around to writing it.

NEED A SHOW REMINDER?

We have a “Subscribe-o-matic” notices option! List of our current Second Life kiosk locations to subscribe plus RSS feed info - details here!

SHOWTIME

Metaverse Week In Review airs live right here every Sunday, starting at 12 noon SL time/8pm UK time. Archives of past shows are available by clicking the “On Demand” button on the Mogulus viewer below.

NOTE ABOUT VIEWING PREVIOUS SHOWS:

Prior to our permanent move to Mogulus in March 2009, we broadcast from Blogstar, and prior to that from Operator11. While there are imbeds in the archives here for pre-March shows, changes in Blogstar’s server organization has trashed these links. You may be able access pre-March shows in the Blogstar show archive. Regretfully, our older Operator11 show archives from Fall 2007 thru Fall 2008 have become completely inaccessible.

CURRENT SHOW @ Livestream

You can access shows since the end of March 2009 by clicking the “On Demand” button on the Mogulus viewer below. This includes archives of extra “Metaworld Live” shows.
Email: info(at)metaverseweekinreview(dot)com
Other Important Links:
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Saturday, June 13, 2009

The Music Industry -- Real Music for a Virtual World - J@pan Inc Magazine

The Music Industry -- Real Music for a Virtual World
By Jean-Julien Aucouturier of J@pan Inc Magazine

The virtual landscape of Second Life (SL).

The virtual landscape of Second Life (SL).

By Jean-Julien Aucouturier

With nearly 1.5 million members, could concerts in Second Life be the future of music?

The two artists, both professional musicians, couldn’t be more different.

One is a live-show powerhouse, playing more than 20 sell-out gigs per month. His fans travel from all over the world just to see him, and many have been following him since the early days. In between concerts, they blog about the shows. During the concerts, they tip so fervently that money literally piles up on the stage.

The other is not reaching the audience he deserves. Embroiled in a disproportionate network of industrial interests, his artistic freedom is jeopardized and his music denied radio airplay. His tour manager is fixing abusive ticket prices, which are beyond his control. His current contract rips off more than 70 percent of his potential revenue. Like many of his fellow artists in the same scene, he is incredibly tempted to simply give his music away for free, craving for a way to just reach his audience without all the hassle.

Musicians can reach people they wouldn’t have been able to previously.

Musicians can reach people they wouldn’t have been able to previously.

The second of these two musicians is the recipient of 19 Grammy Awards, Bruce “The Boss” Springsteen. The first is Komuso Tokugawa, a robot-like 3D avatar who sings the blues in the virtual world of Second Life. Many will resent comparing the author of “Born In The USA” with what is essentially a creature of pixels and bytes. Introduced in 2003 by California-based Linden Labs Inc., Second Life (SL) is a computer-based recreation of the real-world, entirely built by its users—now a thriving community of over 1,400,000 people. Like in a video game, real-life users of SL appear in virtual reality as 3D characters—or avatars—and they can interact with other users’ avatars and their environment. Certainly, there is an irreducible difference between singing in front of the 98.7 million viewers of Super Bowl XLIII, and singing into one’s computer to a virtual audience of a few tens of 3D characters. But the question here is not whether virtual worlds like SL offer conditions for music that are better or worse than, say, the radio or the mp3 before them. The key question is whether the emerging micro-economy of music in SL is a fad or a trend, something so strong maybe as to shape the future of the music industry. Something that technology will have to follow, rather than create.

Playing one’s own music for a virtual audience doesn’t require a lot of technical know-how. With a microphone and an audio interface, one can capture sound live in a computer at home or in a studio, and set up this computer as an internet radio server to broadcast the audio stream to the computers of your audience. If at the same time, the performer is present in virtual reality as his/her avatar, and the audience is too, you’ll get a complete virtual recreation of a gig. This relative simplicity explains in part the formidable popularity of live music events organized in SL. A survey in September 2007 showed that 58 percent of the events advertised on a typical SL day are live concerts and another 38 percent are DJ/Club events.

Interestingly, music in SL is nearly never recorded music; what matters is the live performance. In a sense, this jumpstarts a trend that the real-world recording industry has been resisting for years now: its, well, death.

Interestingly, music in SL is nearly never recorded music; what matters is the live performance. In a sense, this jumpstarts a trend that the real-world recording industry has been resisting for years now: its, well, death. According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) CD shipments in the United States were down 20 percent in 2006, and again down 17.5 percent in 2007—something the RIAA readily attributes to illegal file-sharing on the Internet, but academic research rather identifies as the end of an age. What is under question here is the very value of fixing music on a medium. Leonie Smith, a jazz singer in real-world and a SL TV host by the name of Paisley Beebe, puts it in a deceptively simple way: “In the real world, you might never get to see your favorite musician live. This is why you buy CDs. In SL however, you can teleport out anytime if you want to catch that musician maybe once a week, maybe eight times a week.” If seeing a given artist live becomes a commodity, who needs to acquire a recording? Many real-world musicians have stepped in this direction already: Trent Reznor and his band Nine Inch Nails made the news recently for sharing with their fans more than 400 Gigabytes of unedited, raw concert videos in HD format via their Website. What SL brings beyond this is that in the same time it takes to play an iPod, one can actually be in the concert and experience it as part of the crowd.

The new face of an audience for artists?

The new face of an audience for artists?

If you’re like me, you’ll probably feel skeptical at this point. Experiencing a virtual concert conjures up visions of uninspiring 3D polygons, awkward navigation with a mouse and keyboard and avatars mistakenly rendered half-way through a pillar or a wall. All of this is true. But what is also true is that, despite all the glitches, the feeling of being there is absolutely astonishing. Watching a concert with your screen flushed with a constant flow of text comments from the audience, hearing the sound of clapping and fans calling out to the band with their real voice (if it works for Skype, it does here too) as well as seeing the performer obviously reacting to all this, addressing people by their names, taking song requests—all this leaves one wondering if there is actually anything missing from the real-life experience of music. Technology is constantly improving, and we will soon be able to teleport at will in the middle of an ongoing music video of perfect HD quality. Already, in June 2008, hit UK pop star Kirsty Hawkshaw had the video of her song “Hypoheretic” shot in a virtual world, in “real-time 3D.”

The experience is good for the artist too, it seems. Doubledown Tandino, a well-known DJ in SL, says it’s even better than the real thing “because all the people that are listening love what they’re hearing— else they’d just step out and teleport to the place that does have the DJ they want to hear. The crowd is always much more appreciative and respectful than in RL [Real Life].” How about the audience lacking body language and real-life responses? “It’s replaced by a different sort of energy. It’s about the shared musical experience, blasting the tunes and being locked in great conversation that fills up the night with a great experience for everyone. There is a way to read a virtual crowd by the way it texts or tips.”

An example of an SL venue.

An example of an SL venue.

And that is the crux: connecting with the fans creates revenue. SL has its own currency, the Linden dollar $L, and it has an exchange rate with the U.S. Dollar. In other words, the money one makes in SL is real money. In our study of the 57 Djs in the SL Club Vortex, we found that most people tip at least 50$L per DJ set, with an average of 100$L (c. 100 yen). The average tip jar earned per set by a DJ is 1000$L (c. 1000 yen), with peaks at 5000$L (c. 5000 yen). These amounts are smaller than their real-life equivalent, but then nothing prevents you from playing tens of performances every month, as potential venues are just one “teleport” away. “Performing virtually has a number of advantages over RL,” says Paul Cohen, the Tokyo-based brain behind Komuso Tokugawa the BluesBorg, “instant setup, no travel from home studio to gig, and less wear and tear on gear.” Over the past 3 years, Paul/Komuso has played over 800 concerts in SL, topping at more than 40 a month. Even with only a few tens of dedicated fans at each concert who are ready to tip (about 60-70 percent of my gig audiences are regulars), this is clearly not a bad business to get into—one that is reminiscent of Kevin Kelly’s vision of an independent artist needing only 1,000 “true fans” (that will buy anything he/she produces) to reach sustainability.

All this SL activity is starting to reach out too. Real-life companies increasingly hire SL musicians to advertise their brand into the virtual world (for instance, DJ Tandino was contracted by Playboy in 2007). The recording industry itself is said to scout SL for new talents. In August 2008, SL bluesman Von Johin signed what is believed to be the first record deal offered to an avatar, with the independent label Reality Entertainment. Not surprising, says Sho Iwase, music industry expert in Gerson Lehrman Group. “Japan has many examples of artists receiving massive The majority of the money made is made from live performances.

While record stores exist, the majority of the money made in the virtual music industry is made from live performances.

popularity online through websites like Niko Niko Douga [the Japanese YouTube] and eventually managing to earn themselves a record label contract. Rapbit and Kurikinton Fox are two prime examples.” You start by uploading a video of yourself rapping to an anime theme song and you end up signed to EMI. The transition might be difficult, though, warns Iwase: “Virtual music fans like the musician because he/she is unknown and is “close” to them. Once he/she becomes popular, fans no longer feel needed and tend to move on.” Von Johin’s weekly concerts in SL remain free for now, but his debut album is planned to reach iTunes and Amazon at the end of this year and some compromises may be needed on the way.

This shows that eventually virtual worlds like SL cannot stand alone as a replacement for the current system. “It’s just a tool, and I’m just connecting worlds,” says Paul Cohen/ Komuso Tokugawa. But in the process, blues-singing robots like Komuso are also showing that there are still ways to make a living doing just what music should be about: playing and getting heard. And this is good news, especially for Bruce Springsteen. JI

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JJ Aucouturier is an assistant professor of Computer Science at Temple University, Japan Campus. He is an expert in audio technology and artificial intelligence, with a background in the music industry. More on jj-aucouturier.info

The article above came from HERE

http://www.japaninc.com/mgz86/real-music-for-virtual-world

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Friday, June 12, 2009

Second Life 6th Birthday - The Future of Virtual Worlds - Teaser Trailer Video



http://www.youtube.com/user/toxicmenges

Update: This in from the Linden Lab blog:
https://blogs.secondlife.com/community/community/events/blog/2009/06/12/sl6b-applications-re-open-for-three-days

Why Bands Should Avoid the Myth of the Rockstar

Why Bands Should Avoid the Myth of the Rockstar
by Nick Fitzsimons from Penny Distribution

Nick Fitzsimons founded Penny Distribution in 2007. Originally a physical and digital distributor, Penny has since evolved to include booking, promotion and marketing services for its artists and labels. Nick also helped organize UnConvention Belfast and the NI Music Industry Meetup
series.

Peers, Friends & Fans

It’s one of the most memorable scenes from “This Is Spinal Tap” and marvelously summed up the prima donna cock-rock superstar. Tap’s guitar player, Nigel Tuffnell, draws his managers attention to the buffet plate back stage, complaining about the size of the bread, and that he can’t make a sandwich with tiny bread – “It’s a disaster!” he squeals like a 5-year-old.

Rightly or wrongly, the mythos exists that being in a “successful” band means being waited on hand and foot, being lord over all you survey (labels, partners, peers and fans) and that hissy-fits and difficult behavior can be excused because you’re an “artist” – some would even say that being difficult is a pre-requisite of being a true artist.

The truth is that working in music is essential working with people. Despite the appearance that a musician has single-handedly conquered his particular domain, there is a subtle and intricate network, usually numbering into the hundreds of people, who’ve all played their part in propping up this particular house of cards.

If you operate under the assumption that success in this industry can be achieved by you alone, you’ll probably last as long as one of Spinal Tap’s drummers.

And this applies to music businesses, too. Working as a label or promoter is such intensive work that it can be far too easy to become absorbed with your work, never looking up or taking time to see if there’re other businesses or individuals involved in similar or possibly complimentary activities.

With that in mind, I think we can divide the types of people that really matter into 3 groups.

Peers:

These include artists, songwriters and other music businesses. The myth exists most strongly here – other businesses are the “competition”. (for the sake of this piece I’ll call all artists & music enterprises “businesses”). They might steal your ideas.

In today’s music business, I think we need to blow this thought out of the water. Ideas are so numerous people are giving them away. Whatever the idea, it’s the execution, not the idea , that matters most.

Not only that but interaction with other businesses is begun in the spirit of co-operation with the goal of mutual benefit or the achievement of common goals.

Of course you need to work with people you trust, with companies who share your outlook and ethos – but pulling down your shutters to the outside world because the chance exists that things may not turn out well is a sure path to failure.

Get out to networking events or start your own. Anything that gets your peers into a room together, talking to as many people as possible is of benefit. That was a main motivating factor behind UnConvention Belfast (and, I believe, Un-Convention in general) as well as the now-monthly Northern Ireland Music Industry Meetups in Belfast that followed on from UnConvention.

It’s not a question of competition or stealing ideas. It’s simply a question of optimism (think of what we could achieve together!) versus pessimism (they’ll abuse my trust and betray me somehow). Where do you stand?

Friends:

These include bloggers, interviewers or radio – anyone who, for whatever reason, is interested in your music and is taking the time to talk to you about it.

Research the company behind the interview, find out who listens or comments on the content but above all else be enthusiastic.

I’ve heard so many stories from people in radio where the rock ‘n’roll ethos is so prevalent (among established and emerging acts alike) that the band or songwriter treats the interviewer with indifference, or worse, with “don’t-you-know-who-I-am?”-style contempt.

The truth is, no matter how successful you are, every person you interact with as a business has the potential to change the game for you and your endeavors. The problem is that there’s no way to tell who that’ll be – by acting like a Rockstar you’re basically destroying any chance that one of these people will help you in the future.

Fans:

I’ve talked quite a bit about how to treat your fans, but the basic tenet to understand is that they have as much control over your success as any writer from Pitchfork or WOXY.

The amount of times I’ve seen bands treat their audiences with contempt is beyond count and, although disasters like Wavve’s recent meltdown in front of an audience of potential fans at Primavera are rare, there’re plenty of other missed opportunities.

Most bands will say “thanks for listening” after a show, but are they really thankful? If they are, how are they showing it? How about writing an email the day AFTER the show to thank attendees, including a demo of the new track you just wrote? Or making sure fans leave with some music as a tangible “thank you”?

The goal in all of this is that the next time you’re working on a new business idea / have a tour to promote / playing a show in someone’s town, you’ve earned the loyalty of people you interacted with the last time you were there.

Do you think you’ll have that loyalty if you run step-by-step through the Rockstar playbook?

I’d say if you toss aside the Rockstar shit, if you act with genuine enthusiasm, humility and with a sincere recognition that it’s a privilege to work in music, you’re much more likely to have that loyalty.

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(Doubledown Note: I found this article to be spot-on, quite interesting, especially because I think it completely holds true in Second Life and virtual worlds as well as the real world.)

Thursday, June 11, 2009

The Artist's Guide to Marketing Yourself and Networking in Second Life


By Jeffrey Lipsky from ArtCalendar (The business magazine for visual artists)

In this article, we’re going to explore some ways you’ll be able to hit the ground running with marketing yourself in SL’s virtual art scene. There are many similarities to real life when it comes to presenting yourself to the inworld audiences of curators, collectors and other artists. For instance, there’s no better way to get your art in front of the right people than through word-of-mouth and networking. Incorporating both virtual and real world sensibilities into your marketing plan can be a powerful combination.

READ MORE | DIGG IT

More on Jeffrey Lipsky a.k.a. Flithy Fluno

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

I'm in the Funnies - Dwell On It Comic: The Bot-Spot by Tateru Nino

Haha, I made the funny e-papers! I'm confused as to what "Doubledown Tandino Mode" is, but I think I need to buy one! Do you think you know what Doubledown Tandino mode is? Post a comment @ Tateru's blog HERE

New comic: The Bot-Spot

By: Tateru Nino Via: http://dwellonit.taterunino.net

A brand new comic (#73) for your pleasure. Enjoy.

Or click the banner to begin at the first one:

RJDJ - Dizzy Banjo Explores the Reactive Music Application for the iPhone & IPod Touch

I discovered RJDJ via Robert Thomas a.k.a. Dizzy Banjo, currently working as a reactive music composer.


From his blog article:
Scripting reality – music is everywhere…
Dizzy Banjo writes:

"RjDj is an amazing iPhone application which creates mind twisting hearing sensations by weaving your environment into reactive music. Voices, cars, your walking speed.. these and many other things can be used to shape your experience. If you have an iPhone or iPod Touch, try it!

I had been interested in RjDj from the moment I heard about it, and helped test during its beta phase. It’s come a long way since then with loads of new scenes added. Scenes are reactive musical programs within RjDj, which respond to your environment and movements in different ways. Here are some videos of various RjDj scenes:"

(I urge you to go to his blog for the full scoop. Here's a teaser to wet your appetite.)






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Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Top 30 Failed Technology Predictions

Top 30 Failed Technology Predictions
(I would like to give credit, but cannot find the original source or compiler)

Throughout history man has been making predictions of the future. With the advent of technology, the predictions moved away from religious topics to scientific and technological. Unfortunately for the speakers, many of these failed predictions have been recorded for all future generations to laugh at. Here is a selection of the 30 best.

Predictions 1 – 10

Main Farnsworth

1. “There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home.” — Ken Olson, president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corp. (DEC), maker of big business mainframe computers, arguing against the PC in 1977.

2. “We will never make a 32 bit operating system.” — Bill Gates

3. “Lee DeForest has said in many newspapers and over his signature that it would be possible to transmit the human voice across the Atlantic before many years. Based on these absurd and deliberately misleading statements, the misguided public … has been persuaded to purchase stock in his company …” — a U.S. District Attorney, prosecuting American inventor Lee DeForest for selling stock fraudulently through the mail for his Radio Telephone Company in 1913.

4. “There is practically no chance communications space satellites will be used to provide better telephone, telegraph, television, or radio service inside the United States.” — T. Craven, FCC Commissioner, in 1961 (the first commercial communications satellite went into service in 1965).

5. “To place a man in a multi-stage rocket and project him into the controlling gravitational field of the moon where the passengers can make scientific observations, perhaps land alive, and then return to earth – all that constitutes a wild dream worthy of Jules Verne. I am bold enough to say that such a man-made voyage will never occur regardless of all future advances.” — Lee DeForest, American radio pioneer and inventor of the vacuum tube, in 1926

6. “A rocket will never be able to leave the Earth’s atmosphere.” — New York Times, 1936.

7. “Flight by machines heavier than air is unpractical (sic) and insignificant, if not utterly impossible.” – Simon Newcomb; The Wright Brothers flew at Kittyhawk 18 months later.

8. “Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible.” — Lord Kelvin, British mathematician and physicist, president of the British Royal Society, 1895.

9. “There will never be a bigger plane built.” — A Boeing engineer, after the first flight of the 247, a twin engine plane that holds ten people

10. “Nuclear-powered vacuum cleaners will probably be a reality in 10 years.” -– Alex Lewyt, president of vacuum cleaner company Lewyt Corp., in the New York Times in 1955.

Predictions 11 – 20

3292 Train 1020

11. “This is the biggest fool thing we have ever done. The bomb will never go off, and I speak as an expert in explosives.” — Admiral William D. Leahy, Chief of Staff to the Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy during World War II, advising President Truman on the atomic bomb, 1945.[6] Leahy admitted the error five years later in his memoirs

12. “The energy produced by the breaking down of the atom is a very poor kind of thing. Anyone who expects a source of power from the transformation of these atoms is talking moonshine.” — Ernest Rutherford, shortly after splitting the atom for the first time.

13. “There is not the slightest indication that nuclear energy will ever be obtainable. It would mean that the atom would have to be shattered at will.” — Albert Einstein, 1932

14. “The cinema is little more than a fad. It’s canned drama. What audiences really want to see is flesh and blood on the stage.” -– Charlie Chaplin, actor, producer, director, and studio founder, 1916

15. “The horse is here to stay but the automobile is only a novelty – a fad.” — The president of the Michigan Savings Bank advising Henry Ford’s lawyer, Horace Rackham, not to invest in the Ford Motor Co., 1903

16. “The Americans have need of the telephone, but we do not. We have plenty of messenger boys.” — Sir William Preece, Chief Engineer, British Post Office, 1878.

17. “This ‘telephone’ has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us.” — A memo at Western Union, 1878 (or 1876).

18. “The world potential market for copying machines is 5000 at most.” — IBM, to the eventual founders of Xerox, saying the photocopier had no market large enough to justify production, 1959.

19. “I must confess that my imagination refuses to see any sort of submarine doing anything but suffocating its crew and floundering at sea.” — HG Wells, British novelist, in 1901.

20. “X-rays will prove to be a hoax.” — Lord Kelvin, President of the Royal Society, 1883.

Predictions 21 – 30

Light

21. “The idea that cavalry will be replaced by these iron coaches is absurd. It is little short of treasonous.” — Comment of Aide-de-camp to Field Marshal Haig, at tank demonstration, 1916.

22. “How, sir, would you make a ship sail against the wind and currents by lighting a bonfire under her deck? I pray you, excuse me, I have not the time to listen to such nonsense.” — Napoleon Bonaparte, when told of Robert Fulton’s steamboat, 1800s.

23. “Fooling around with alternating current is just a waste of time. Nobody will use it, ever.” — Thomas Edison, American inventor, 1889 (Edison often ridiculed the arguments of competitor George Westinghouse for AC power).

24. “Home Taping Is Killing Music” — A 1980s campaign by the BPI, claiming that people recording music off the radio onto cassette would destroy the music industry.

25. “Television won’t last. It’s a flash in the pan.” — Mary Somerville, pioneer of radio educational broadcasts, 1948.

26. “[Television] won’t be able to hold on to any market it captures after the first six months. People will soon get tired of staring at a plywood box every night.” — Darryl Zanuck, movie producer, 20th Century Fox, 1946.

27. “When the Paris Exhibition [of 1878] closes, electric light will close with it and no more will be heard of it.” – Oxford professor Erasmus Wilson

28. “Dear Mr. President: The canal system of this country is being threatened by a new form of transportation known as ‘railroads’ … As you may well know, Mr. President, ‘railroad’ carriages are pulled at the enormous speed of 15 miles per hour by ‘engines’ which, in addition to endangering life and limb of passengers, roar and snort their way through the countryside, setting fire to crops, scaring the livestock and frightening women and children. The Almighty certainly never intended that people should travel at such breakneck speed.” — Martin Van Buren, Governor of New York, 1830(?).

29. “Rail travel at high speed is not possible because passengers, unable to breathe, would die of asphyxia.” — Dr Dionysys Larder (1793-1859), professor of Natural Philosophy and Astronomy, University College London.

30. “The wireless music box has no imaginable commercial value. Who would pay for a message sent to no one in particular?” — Associates of David Sarnoff responding to the latter’s call for investment in the radio in 1921.

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