Ouch. Get a good look at the power falling into the hands of the average person. There was a time when people would make toys like this Mark Foley action figure and at most their township might have become aware of it through the town paper. But now, with the power of the net and inherently social websites like eBay, on which this one-of-a-kind toy is being auctioned (Link), the simplicity of something like this cuts through every editorial, every lengthy blog post, and every television news special report to distill the situation to it’s most basic element; the thing that will remain with the voters.

For anyone who wonders why people like Henry Jenkins pay attention to “funny books” (aka comics… aka graphic novels), I’d submit that it’s this kind of clarity. Toys and comics are media. Powerful media. I’ve already forgotten most if not all the news stories I’ve read about the Foley Mess. I’ll not forget this and I suspect not many will. Imagine what would happen if the urban vinyl creators started getting political.

{Image Copyright © 2006 spectrstudios}

After posting the entry regarding GM’s move into Second Life (reLink), I found hits coming from a Techmeme link associated with Joi Ito’s post (Link) which was a response to something Lawrence Lessig has written (Link). I’m not sure why Techmeme associated those posts with mine other than that Ito’s post contained a mention of Second Life and I’ve exchanged comments with Cory Doctorow (reLink) on the topic of “sharing” which is what Lessig is discussing. Anyway, because Ito’s blog seems to be having issues, I thought I’d post the comment I posted there – a response to both his and Lessig’s entry – on here as well. Continue reading →

Just happened across a short video on C|Net (Link) concerning the Aloft hotel being replicated in Second Life. I posted about it back when the project was first mentioned (reLink) so it’s nothing new, but what is worth calling out are comments regarding the feedback from SL residents and how it might be used in the real hotel. That too is not news, but for some reason hearing the words is more compelling than reading them – so you might want to give the video a look.

{Image Copyright © 2006 CNET Networks, Inc.}

Well, the publicity is working. It looks more and more like a snowball going down a hill every day. The music acts are moving in with their labels. The clothing manufacturers are setting up shop. And it now appears that GM is going to follow Toyota into Second Life, according to their press release (Link). There are some interesting differences in how they intend to garner attention, and those methods are getting some SL residents upset it seems; especially the real estate people. From the press release:

Pontiac is getting into real estate – but not in the way most would expect. It’s joining a small group of trendsetting companies buying virtual real estate in Second Life, an online, 3-D world entirely built and owned by the residents that inhabit it. Pontiac’s Second Life presence will launch with a six-region land mass called Motorati Island. But, Pontiac’s arrival will come with a twist: an offer of free “land” for Second Lifers to create a vibrant car culture within the community.

Continue reading →

When I first read over on Raph Koster’s blog (Link) about Terra Novan and virtual world economics-meister Edward Castranova’s effort to create a virtual world based on Shakespeare’s work, something seemed… odd. I caught a few other stories on the topic; the original C|Net article (Link) to which Koster linked, mention of it on a few blogs, and now an update on Reuters (Link). It took a bit of thinking to realize something: if Castronova is using Multiverse – a virtual world kit, if you will – to build his world, and if Multiverse’s licensing fees are based on each particular world’s real world income, and if this is an academic effort that I assume will not generate any income (either from advertising or subscriptions), then why does it require a grant of $240,000 for the year? Why does he need three or four employees at all? He already expects plenty of volunteers. Shouldn’t this be an open source effort free of any and all financial ties such that the world is properly framed for whatever social and economic experiments he wishes to conduct? As someone who is against secondary markets for virtual worlds/videogames, isn’t he creating the very first link to real world money by merely accepting a grant that he arguably doesn’t really need?

I don’t know. Maybe I’m asking too much. As someone working on a virtual property, I certainly understand the costs and the effort, but it still just seems to me as if this project and this person – more than anyone – would want to use Multiverse in the same way modders use videogames: all volunteer with no real money entanglements of any kind.