Virtual Homeland Security

Response Sim

Considering the appalling lack of progress in securing the U.S. against terrorist attack (wasn’t there yet another story last week about how some other national security issue deadline has come and gone without so much as a national blink?), I found this entry over on the New World Notes blog of interest. It’s a nice little recreation of a New England town inside Second Life (heck, it looks like some towns near me) intended to be used to aid in security response preparation (hence the name of the sim: Response). But I couldn’t find a door that would open or a finished interior, so that was a little disappointing. And the prim usage seemed a bit extreme for details that could probably have been foregone to allow for some of the additional functionality that an interior space might provide. But then again, I don’t know the specifications so what’s there might serve its intended purpose. I certainly hope so. But maybe there should at least be a sign in that sim, listing all the real world deadlines that are being missed. A sense of urgency would certainly seem in order in both worlds. Oh well, it’s still interesting to see virtual constructs used for real world purposes.