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Culture
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Written by Enniv Zarf
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Thursday, 21 June 2007 |
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Sponsored by:  LONDON, June 21 /PRNewswire/ --
- Q&A with Director Michael Bay, Producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura and the Cast From TRANSFORMERS Launches "Sector 7" TRANSFORMERS Experience Within Virtual World Second Life In anticipation of the worldwide release of TRANSFORMERS, Paramount Pictures International will be launching "Sector 7", an immersive 3-D experience within the fast-growing online community known as Second Life. READ IT ALL HERE: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles...
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Written by Enniv Zarf
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Wednesday, 20 June 2007 |
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Sponsored by: The world's finest pop/dance/social commentators are performing a concert in Second Life at the end of the month, according to accidental internet revelations. READ IT ALL HERE: http://techdigest.tv/2007...
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Wednesday, 20 June 2007 |
By Clive Thompson
Recently I logged into World of Warcraft and I wound up questing alongside a mage and two dwarf warriors. I was the lowest-level newbie in the group, and the mage was the de-facto leader. He coached me on the details of each new quest, took the point position in dangerous fights and suggested tactics. He seemed like your classic virtual-world group leader: Confident, bold and streetsmart.
But after a few hours he said he was getting tired of using text chat -- and asked me to switch over to Ventrilo, an app that lets gamers chat using microphones and voice. I downloaded Ventrilo, logged in, dialed him up and ...
... realized he was an 11-year-old boy, complete with squeaky, prepubescent vocal chords. When he laughed, his voice shot up abruptly into an octave range that induced headaches and probably killed any dogs within earshot. Oh, and he used "motherfucker" about four times a sentence, except when his mother came into his bedroom to check on him.
I still enjoyed questing with him -- he was a terrific World of Warcraft player. But there's no doubt that hearing each other's voices abruptly changed our social milieu. He seemed equally weirded out by me -- a 38-year-old guy who undoubtedly sounds more like his father than anyone he recognizes as a "gamer." After an hour of this, we all politely logged off and never hooked up again.
I had just experienced the latest culture-shock in online worlds: The advent of voice. Games that were governed by text are now being governed by chat, and it is subtly changing the feel of our virtual universe.
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http://www.wired.com/...
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Monday, 18 June 2007 |
Enlarge Second Life
Visit virtual Chichen-Itza: Mexico's tourism board launched
By Jayne Clark,
The Mexican Tourism Board threw a party Sunday at Chichen-Itza, the magnificent Mayan archaeological site in the Yucatan jungle. The thousands of guests, many of whom donned complimentary Mayan warrior get-ups and salsa-danced to live music, were an international mix.
But nobody checked into a hotel when the festivities ended.
Instead, they simply logged out of Second Life, the virtual world populated by 7.2 million registered users. To enter the online realm, participants register on the free site (secondlife.com), create an alter ego called an avatar and navigate the character via their computer keyboard, interacting with other users.
Many of the locales within Second Life are simulations of generic places — restaurants, beaches and stadiums, for instance. But as this cyber world grows (it now boasts about 1 million regular users), real-world tourism entities, including tourist boards, hotels and travel agencies, are setting up virtual re-creations there to heighten awareness of their real-world existence.
READ IT ALL HERE:
http://www.usatoday.com/travel/news/2007-06-14-second-life_N.htm?csp=34...
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Monday, 18 June 2007 |
When Will Nickelson and his daughter want to spend some quality time together, they fire up Nintendo Co.'s Wii and play a few rounds of "Wii Sports" or "Mario Party 8."
He's certainly not alone.
The generation that grew up with "Pac-Man" and "Pong" are now having children of their own. And across the nation, fathers and their kids are finding the virtual worlds of video games a popular place to bond.
READ IT ALL HERE:
http://edition.cnn.com/2007/TECH/fun.games/06/15/gaming.parents.ap/index.html...
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Sunday, 17 June 2007 |
By Melanie Reid
It’s a new kind of literary magic. Across thousands of miles of Atlantic Ocean, and without leaving the comfort of their own homes, Alice Munro and Norman Mailer will do book signings at the Edinburgh International Book Festival.
Enter the LongPen, remote book signing technology. This intriguing mix of technology and creative imagination is the vision of the author Margaret Atwood.
“I invented the LongPen out of technological stupidity,” she told The Times. “I thought those signing tablets package deliverers bring to your door were causing the signature to whisk through the air and come out in the form of pen and ink.” So how exactly does it work? The author, who may be too elderly to travel (as in Mr Mailer’s case) or reluctant to fly long distances (Ms Munro), is linked to his or her fan by video conferencing. They can smile and talk to each other.
Then the author writes a dedication and signature on a small touch-pad computer screen. Thousands of miles away, a book sits on a little plinth, its front cover open. The author presses “send” and a pen on a remote electronic arm traces their words on the page of their book.
READ IT ALL HERE:
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk...
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Last Updated ( Sunday, 17 June 2007 )
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