Would you like your link to appear on the right hand side of this blog? All you have to do is ask. A few minor rules to getting your link onto my blog:
1) You must put my link http://djdoubledown.blogspot.com onto your site.
2) Your site or blog must be about one of the following:
Second Life
Virtual Worlds but not relating to one specific other virtual world
DJing
Music in relation to Second Life or online performing (Internet Broadcasting)
Web Culture and/or Cyberculture
3) If your website is specifically your business, or your products, then I may or may not be interested. We would need to discuss.
The main thing is that I want more links to share, and I want this blog's link on relevant sites as well.
Step 1: Post a message in comments telling me that you have added http://djdoubledown.blogspot.com to your site and link to your site where it is placed.
Step 2: I will check out your site and if it's appropriate, I will add your link & title to this blog.
Contact me with any questions by posting a reply in comments, or by sending me an email.
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Friday, December 4, 2009
Police are Now Confiscating DJ Laptops as “Evidence’ for Illegal Parties
Police are Now Confiscating DJ Laptops as “Evidence’ for Illegal Parties-What’s next?
via Davey D of HipHopPolitics & via Joshua Emerson Smith of The San Fransisco Bay Guardian
I wanna make sure that every DJ reading this pays close attention and doesn’t dismiss this. Its all about setting legal precedent so police can take things a step further. This is pointed out in the article.
Every DJ reading this needs to realize that this so-called collection of evidence will eventually start happening when the RIAA and the organizations it backs (I.e. Music First Coalition, Sound Exchange etc) began tracking down DJs who aren’t paying licensing fees for their music, especially if they are rocking at these ‘underground’ parties. This will really happen if they manage to push John Conyers bill HR 848 and make that into law.
For those who don’t know, HR 848 is a performance tax they want to charge radio. Play a song on the air and the artist (translation really the label using the artists as fronts) should get some money. This talk about playing songs for promotional purposes has fallen on def ears as far as the labels are concerned. Once this bill passes they will then use this argument of ’precedent’ and make the case that since radio is paying a performance license so should deejays and club venues. This argument of ‘precendence‘ is the same scurrilous tactic they are using now to try and pass HR 848, except they are pointing to the highly contested bill that made internet and satellite radio pay similar fees as justification. They are likely to argue that the DJ is making living off the backs of hardworking artists and that there would be no career if it wasn’t for the artist thus an artist should share in a percentage of the revenues. Keep your eyes open..
Lastly I will remind people if you recall when the RIAA started cracking down on mixtapes being sold in open markets they were able to do something that almost every business I know of has not and can not. They been able to come along with law enforcement on those RAIDS as if they were the police themselves. I also want folks to check to see if some sort of tracking devices or software are not being added to the laptops when they are returned.
-Davey D-
Controversial tactic of taking laptops even when DJs not charged with crime reportedly condoned by San Francisco’s new chief of police. EEF attorney steps in to help protect DJs privacy, get computers back.
San Francisco Bay Guardian
Police seize DJs’ laptops
New police chief apparently condones policy that critics call illegal and punitive
By Joshua Emerson Smith
news@sfbg.com
San Francisco Police Department officers have added a controversial tactic to their aggressive raids on house parties (see “Fun under siege,” 4/22/09): they’re seizing laptop computers from DJs at the events.
While SFPD officials deny the laptop seizures is a new policy, they admit it has been condoned by Police Chief George Gascón, who took over in August and last month told the Guardian’s editorial board he wants to make the SFPD more transparent and accountable to the public (see “New coach, new approach,” 10/14/09).
“The police chief is aware that officers are being proactive in gathering evidence,” Sgt. Lyn Tomioka told the Guardian when asked about a string of laptop seizures by undercover cops over the last 10 months, most of them in cases in which the DJs weren’t even charged with a crime.
Many of the raids have occurred in SoMa, and were spearheaded by undercover officers who penetrated the parties and were followed by uniformed officers. San Francisco Entertainment Commission member Terrance Alan called the crackdown a “disappointing and dangerous trend.”
Tomioka said it’s a judgment call for officers to seize laptops as evidence of an illegal party, but Alan said the tactic is a punitive measure that proves nothing: “Taking laptops [is] not necessary to prove the underlying crime, and in many cases damages people’s ability to earn a living.”
One of the most recent raids happened on Halloween. It was about 2:30 a.m. and music was pumping out of a warehouse party on Sixth Street. The people throwing the party had hired a doorman, and attendee Eric Dunn was standing in line waiting to get in.
“We were right at the front of the line,” Dunn told the Guardian, when, he said, two plainclothes officers drove up on the sidewalk, jumped out of an unmarked car, and rushed up to the doorman. “[The officers] pretty much started demanding entry right away. The doorman was really polite. He basically told them that you have to know somebody to get into the party.”
Dunn said the officers waited until an exiting guest opened the door from the inside and then made their move. “One guy barged in, and the other guy followed. They never asked permission or received permission to enter the building,” Dunn said.
Inside, the two undercover officers immediately shut down the event. Justin Miller, a DJ at the event, said she remembers it very clearly. “The cops at that point were telling everybody to leave the party, telling me to turn the music off. I turned the music off. Everyone was quietly leaving.”
But Miller said it didn’t stop there. One of the undercover officers approached her and asked if she had a laptop. She said she did. “I was a little confused at this point because I didn’t know what my laptop had to do with anything. I was playing CDs.” She said she pulled her computer out from underneath a table and unzipped it from a case. The officer then “grabbed it from me.”
The undercover police officer — later identified by witnesses and the evidence receipt as Larry Bertrand — instructed Miller to follow him down to the street to get a property receipt for her laptop.
At this point there were uniformed officers on the scene as well. Miller started to cry. “I begged him. I said, ‘This is my livelihood. You’re talking my laptop. This is my livelihood. I hope you realize that.’ He said, ‘This is how you’re going to learn then, I guess.’”
Miller said Bertrand (who did not return Guardian calls for comment) then told her he was “going to take it upon himself to shut down every illegal party in San Francisco.”
She said he then opened the trunk of his car, revealing several other laptops. A person at the party pointed out that one of the laptops belonged to a friend of his, and asked if he could get the property receipt for the laptop. Miller said Bertrand turned to the inquiring person and said, “You will never see this laptop again.”
She continued: “He then looked at me and said, ‘I’m going to make sure your paperwork gets so tied up that maybe you won’t see this laptop until December, January, February, who knows when.’ I felt so violated.”
Miller has been working as a DJ in the Bay Area, under the name DJ Justincredible, for more than 10 years. She says she’s never had any of her equipment confiscated by the police before. But at that party, three DJs had their laptops confiscated, even though none were charged with a crime.
Shortly after the Halloween incident, Miller and the two other DJs who were at the party contacted the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit advocacy group specializing in technology and privacy issues. Jennifer Granick, a civil liberties lawyer with EFF, said most people haven’t heard about this because few of these DJs, if any, ever get convicted of a crime.
“DJs and the police department know that sound equipment and laptops are being unlawfully seized. But the public and the courts haven’t heard much about it because every time a DJ asks for a hearing, the cops just give them their property back rather than show up and defend the practice in open court before a judge,” she said.
Sean Evans has been working as a DJ in San Francisco, under the name DJ 7, for more than 10 years. He said that over the summer he had his laptop seized by police during an after-hours party in SoMa. He was given no property receipt, and his case was dismissed. But it took him three months to get his computer back.
“To lose our sole means of income, it’s a huge setback. It puts us out of work. In this recession, we’re struggling, and we need our laptops to get by,” he said. Evans grew up in the Bay Area and he said has never had anything like this happen to him before.
Granick argued it is illegal for police to seize property without issuing citations or arrests. She also said there are serious privacy issues at stake. “If we were to find out that the police were doing something else with the laptops, like searching through them or copying the data, we would definitely go to court,” she said.
SFPD Sgt. Wilfred Williams said he could not say what was currently being done with the laptops. In general, he said, private events that emit “extraordinary amounts of sound” need permits. And if they don’t have the proper permits, he said, property can be seized as evidence, “be it the speakers, be it the laptops, be it a mixer.”
Both Tomioka and Williams say the seizures aren’t a new policy. “If you look back in time, laptops haven’t been used for music,” Williams said. “There used to be old types of equipment that was taken in the past. But now laptops are being used. So yes, today, laptops [are] being seized.”
Entertainment advocates have called on Mayor Gavin Newsom and Gascón to come forward with an explicit policy concerning these raids and seizures. The Mayor’s Office did not respond to Guardian inquiries. Critics of the policy say it’s having a chilling effect on nightlife in San Francisco.
via Davey D of HipHopPolitics & via Joshua Emerson Smith of The San Fransisco Bay Guardian
I wanna make sure that every DJ reading this pays close attention and doesn’t dismiss this. Its all about setting legal precedent so police can take things a step further. This is pointed out in the article.
Every DJ reading this needs to realize that this so-called collection of evidence will eventually start happening when the RIAA and the organizations it backs (I.e. Music First Coalition, Sound Exchange etc) began tracking down DJs who aren’t paying licensing fees for their music, especially if they are rocking at these ‘underground’ parties. This will really happen if they manage to push John Conyers bill HR 848 and make that into law.
For those who don’t know, HR 848 is a performance tax they want to charge radio. Play a song on the air and the artist (translation really the label using the artists as fronts) should get some money. This talk about playing songs for promotional purposes has fallen on def ears as far as the labels are concerned. Once this bill passes they will then use this argument of ’precedent’ and make the case that since radio is paying a performance license so should deejays and club venues. This argument of ‘precendence‘ is the same scurrilous tactic they are using now to try and pass HR 848, except they are pointing to the highly contested bill that made internet and satellite radio pay similar fees as justification. They are likely to argue that the DJ is making living off the backs of hardworking artists and that there would be no career if it wasn’t for the artist thus an artist should share in a percentage of the revenues. Keep your eyes open..
Lastly I will remind people if you recall when the RIAA started cracking down on mixtapes being sold in open markets they were able to do something that almost every business I know of has not and can not. They been able to come along with law enforcement on those RAIDS as if they were the police themselves. I also want folks to check to see if some sort of tracking devices or software are not being added to the laptops when they are returned.
-Davey D-
Controversial tactic of taking laptops even when DJs not charged with crime reportedly condoned by San Francisco’s new chief of police. EEF attorney steps in to help protect DJs privacy, get computers back.
San Francisco Bay Guardian
Police seize DJs’ laptops
New police chief apparently condones policy that critics call illegal and punitive
By Joshua Emerson Smith
news@sfbg.com
San Francisco Police Department officers have added a controversial tactic to their aggressive raids on house parties (see “Fun under siege,” 4/22/09): they’re seizing laptop computers from DJs at the events.
While SFPD officials deny the laptop seizures is a new policy, they admit it has been condoned by Police Chief George Gascón, who took over in August and last month told the Guardian’s editorial board he wants to make the SFPD more transparent and accountable to the public (see “New coach, new approach,” 10/14/09).
“The police chief is aware that officers are being proactive in gathering evidence,” Sgt. Lyn Tomioka told the Guardian when asked about a string of laptop seizures by undercover cops over the last 10 months, most of them in cases in which the DJs weren’t even charged with a crime.
Many of the raids have occurred in SoMa, and were spearheaded by undercover officers who penetrated the parties and were followed by uniformed officers. San Francisco Entertainment Commission member Terrance Alan called the crackdown a “disappointing and dangerous trend.”
Tomioka said it’s a judgment call for officers to seize laptops as evidence of an illegal party, but Alan said the tactic is a punitive measure that proves nothing: “Taking laptops [is] not necessary to prove the underlying crime, and in many cases damages people’s ability to earn a living.”
One of the most recent raids happened on Halloween. It was about 2:30 a.m. and music was pumping out of a warehouse party on Sixth Street. The people throwing the party had hired a doorman, and attendee Eric Dunn was standing in line waiting to get in.
“We were right at the front of the line,” Dunn told the Guardian, when, he said, two plainclothes officers drove up on the sidewalk, jumped out of an unmarked car, and rushed up to the doorman. “[The officers] pretty much started demanding entry right away. The doorman was really polite. He basically told them that you have to know somebody to get into the party.”
Dunn said the officers waited until an exiting guest opened the door from the inside and then made their move. “One guy barged in, and the other guy followed. They never asked permission or received permission to enter the building,” Dunn said.
Inside, the two undercover officers immediately shut down the event. Justin Miller, a DJ at the event, said she remembers it very clearly. “The cops at that point were telling everybody to leave the party, telling me to turn the music off. I turned the music off. Everyone was quietly leaving.”
But Miller said it didn’t stop there. One of the undercover officers approached her and asked if she had a laptop. She said she did. “I was a little confused at this point because I didn’t know what my laptop had to do with anything. I was playing CDs.” She said she pulled her computer out from underneath a table and unzipped it from a case. The officer then “grabbed it from me.”
The undercover police officer — later identified by witnesses and the evidence receipt as Larry Bertrand — instructed Miller to follow him down to the street to get a property receipt for her laptop.
At this point there were uniformed officers on the scene as well. Miller started to cry. “I begged him. I said, ‘This is my livelihood. You’re talking my laptop. This is my livelihood. I hope you realize that.’ He said, ‘This is how you’re going to learn then, I guess.’”
Miller said Bertrand (who did not return Guardian calls for comment) then told her he was “going to take it upon himself to shut down every illegal party in San Francisco.”
She said he then opened the trunk of his car, revealing several other laptops. A person at the party pointed out that one of the laptops belonged to a friend of his, and asked if he could get the property receipt for the laptop. Miller said Bertrand turned to the inquiring person and said, “You will never see this laptop again.”
She continued: “He then looked at me and said, ‘I’m going to make sure your paperwork gets so tied up that maybe you won’t see this laptop until December, January, February, who knows when.’ I felt so violated.”
Miller has been working as a DJ in the Bay Area, under the name DJ Justincredible, for more than 10 years. She says she’s never had any of her equipment confiscated by the police before. But at that party, three DJs had their laptops confiscated, even though none were charged with a crime.
Shortly after the Halloween incident, Miller and the two other DJs who were at the party contacted the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit advocacy group specializing in technology and privacy issues. Jennifer Granick, a civil liberties lawyer with EFF, said most people haven’t heard about this because few of these DJs, if any, ever get convicted of a crime.
“DJs and the police department know that sound equipment and laptops are being unlawfully seized. But the public and the courts haven’t heard much about it because every time a DJ asks for a hearing, the cops just give them their property back rather than show up and defend the practice in open court before a judge,” she said.
Sean Evans has been working as a DJ in San Francisco, under the name DJ 7, for more than 10 years. He said that over the summer he had his laptop seized by police during an after-hours party in SoMa. He was given no property receipt, and his case was dismissed. But it took him three months to get his computer back.
“To lose our sole means of income, it’s a huge setback. It puts us out of work. In this recession, we’re struggling, and we need our laptops to get by,” he said. Evans grew up in the Bay Area and he said has never had anything like this happen to him before.
Granick argued it is illegal for police to seize property without issuing citations or arrests. She also said there are serious privacy issues at stake. “If we were to find out that the police were doing something else with the laptops, like searching through them or copying the data, we would definitely go to court,” she said.
SFPD Sgt. Wilfred Williams said he could not say what was currently being done with the laptops. In general, he said, private events that emit “extraordinary amounts of sound” need permits. And if they don’t have the proper permits, he said, property can be seized as evidence, “be it the speakers, be it the laptops, be it a mixer.”
Both Tomioka and Williams say the seizures aren’t a new policy. “If you look back in time, laptops haven’t been used for music,” Williams said. “There used to be old types of equipment that was taken in the past. But now laptops are being used. So yes, today, laptops [are] being seized.”
Entertainment advocates have called on Mayor Gavin Newsom and Gascón to come forward with an explicit policy concerning these raids and seizures. The Mayor’s Office did not respond to Guardian inquiries. Critics of the policy say it’s having a chilling effect on nightlife in San Francisco.
Labels:
DJ,
Electronic Frontier Foundation,
HR 848,
Law,
Music,
News,
Partying,
Performance,
Performance Tax,
RIAA
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Applications for the 2010 Linden Prize are now open : Win $10,000usd for an Innovative Inworld Project in Second Life
Applications for the 2010 Linden Prize are now open!
Via Blondin Linden on Linden Lab/Second Life Blogs
Last November, we announced and launched the inaugural Linden Prize. You can find the original blog HERE. From that initial post:
I am happy to announce that applications for the 2010 Linden Prize are now open! Applications will be open starting today and will close at 5pm PST on January 15, 2010. Tentatively, a winner will be announced during the first week of May.
More Information
Still not sure whether or not you should apply? Read more about the Linden Prize at these helpful links.
Linden Prize Site
Linden Prize FAQ
2009 Linden Prize Finalist/Special Mentions
2009 Linden Prize Co-Winners Project Websites
Virtual Ability Island
Studio Wikitecture
Localized:

Last November, we announced and launched the inaugural Linden Prize. You can find the original blog HERE. From that initial post:
"The Linden Prize will award one Second Life Resident or team with $10,000 USD for an innovative inworld project that improves the way people work, learn and communicate in their daily lives outside of the virtual world. The award is intended to align with Linden Lab’s company mission, which is to connect all people to an online world that advances the human condition. Many projects inside of Second Life have already enhanced and changed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people around the world, and the company wants to recognize the users’ accomplishments."
We invite all Residents to consider applying for the award. Finalists will be chosen based on the below criteria.
- Work in Second Life that also achieves tangible, compelling results outside of Second Life.
- Distinctive, original work using Second Life that clearly demonstrates high quality, execution, function, aesthetics and technical sophistication.
- Work that has the capacity for inspiring and influencing future development, knowledge, creativity, and collaboration both inside and outside of Second Life.
More Information
Still not sure whether or not you should apply? Read more about the Linden Prize at these helpful links.
Linden Prize Site
Linden Prize FAQ
2009 Linden Prize Finalist/Special Mentions
2009 Linden Prize Co-Winners Project Websites
Virtual Ability Island
Studio Wikitecture
Localized:
- French Page and FAQ
- German Page and FAQ
- Japanese Page and FAQ
Friday, November 27, 2009
Snowscape - 1st Annual Winterfest Tree Rezzing with Live Music - Saturday November 28th, 2009 - 4pm-8pm (slt)
SnowScape ~ A Midwest Winter Wonderland
Join us on Saturday Nov 28th, 2009 - for our 1st Annual Winterfest Tree Rezzing Gathering. Join The Muse Crew as we welcome the holiday season and winter festivities at SnowScape!
4pm - 6pm PST - Doubledown Tandino of Ravelong Productions with a special swing, big band, retro jazz, and remixing of winter classics in a live DJ mix + Ice Skating
6pm PST - Official Tree rez & Special Fun Extras
7PM PST - Avatar Quinzet - Live Musician - American Mountain Dulcimer & Guitar
skiing , skating , sledding , sleigh rides , horses you can ride !
Full sim size - but up in the sky at 2000 meters - inside the biggest snowball in the known universe! Contact JenzZa Misfit with inquiries
Sponsored by : The one and only AMAZING - RENDEZVOUS Couples 3.0 - so cool over 10000 have sold in 2 years on the market !! EVERYONE loves RENDEZVOUS !!
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
The SLOODLE Game Show - Run/Host your Own Game Show in Second Life
The SLOODLE Game Show is an opensource game that gets connected to your MOODLE website using the SLOODLE platform. Once connected, you can be a game show host, and your students - contestants. Includes a Rezzer, Auto-Color-coding Game Chairs, Audience Landmarks, Game Buzzer, Game Timer, and a Scoreboard. Students sit on game chairs, which automatically connect with MOODLE, detect the group the student is in, and then move the student to the audience where the rest of their team members are sitting. You click on the chairs to "bring the students up to the front" and the students chair will zoom alien-vehicle style to their group's booth. You can then ask a question - and students click the buzzer to indicate that they'd like to answer. You can then get the students to answer and award the ones who answer correctly. The team's scores will then be updated on the Scoreboard, and on your Moodle Website.
From
Hi great educators!
I have recently released an opensource gameshow for Second Life, where YOU, yes YOU can be a virtual game show host for your students, in your Distance education classes. The Game Show is GPL 3.0 - which means it's totally free! What's more, is it connects to your MOODLE Learning Management Website, and feeds directly into the Gradebook.
Here is a video detailing how it works -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRVVrAp_64U
Let me know what you think!
Also, I am proposing a new tool for educators in Second Life, but I need some grant funding to create it - check out - SMART Chairs here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yODca6J6iNI
If you are interested in the smart chairs, I'd love your input - please see the discussion on the SLOODLE forums here:
http://www.sloodle.org/moodle/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=2835
Additionally, if you need help setting up Second Life to work with your MOODLE website, please contact fire@b3dMultitech.com
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Positive Reviews of the new Tune Multiple Worlds are Flying in!!
Recently Slim Girl Fat (Slim Warrior inSL) and Brad Reason (Doubledown Tandino inSL) released a collaboration track entitled "Multiple Worlds." The track has receive a phenomenal warm response filled with comments and praise.
"I like the keys at the top, they lend to a certain mystery that the track creates. I like how the song develops and keeps me interested. Good melodies, good loops, good sounds, good mix. Well done."
"I like the use of the synthesizer, I think this brings a unique qualtiy to the track. Additionally, the rhythm used is very choppy and bouncy and works to enhance the track by giving it an intricate extra layer. As a dance track I feel that this builds up gradually and works really well."
"Quite cool intro the music was very pretty with the musical instruments played very perfectly. The drum beat was good also."
"This is quite nice and relaxing- very ambient. It is a well arranged piece of music, and it sounds like a complete track."
"great song. Nice and chilled, making the perfect background music. Buildups and general structure are well done. Seriously reminds of beaches, summer and good times. Love it."
....There were over 60 comments and reviews on the tune received within just 48 hours of releasing the song!! Thank you to everyone who has offered the support, feedback, and responses.
-Doubledown & Slimmie
PS: Music Video coming soon!!! Details will be announced soon.
"Multiple Worlds"
- A New Collaboration Song by Slim Girl Fat and Brad Reason
"I like the keys at the top, they lend to a certain mystery that the track creates. I like how the song develops and keeps me interested. Good melodies, good loops, good sounds, good mix. Well done."
"I like the use of the synthesizer, I think this brings a unique qualtiy to the track. Additionally, the rhythm used is very choppy and bouncy and works to enhance the track by giving it an intricate extra layer. As a dance track I feel that this builds up gradually and works really well."
"Quite cool intro the music was very pretty with the musical instruments played very perfectly. The drum beat was good also."
"This is quite nice and relaxing- very ambient. It is a well arranged piece of music, and it sounds like a complete track."
"great song. Nice and chilled, making the perfect background music. Buildups and general structure are well done. Seriously reminds of beaches, summer and good times. Love it."
....There were over 60 comments and reviews on the tune received within just 48 hours of releasing the song!! Thank you to everyone who has offered the support, feedback, and responses.
-Doubledown & Slimmie
PS: Music Video coming soon!!! Details will be announced soon.
"Multiple Worlds"
- A New Collaboration Song by Slim Girl Fat and Brad Reason
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Complete list of all known "Lindens"
The Linden Family
Complete list of all known "Lindens", ordered by birth date.
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