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NPSL on MSNBC

Submitted by matthew on Fri, 2008-01-11 00:48.
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NPSL on MSNBC. Cool.

Aggregators

Submitted by matthew on Thu, 2007-06-07 02:53.
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Aggregators are tools that allow you to access the RSS (Real Simple Syndication) feeds from different sites.  You can tell that a site has a feed if you see this icon on the page.  Aggregators allow you to mix the feeds from many sites into a single place.  In other words, no need to surf when an aggregator can deliver the content to your desktop.

Some of my favourite aggregators include:

  1. Drupal has its own built in aggregator.  I'm including it because of the overall utility of Drupal as a content management tool
  2. Netvibes is a truly fabulous aggregation site allowing for all kinds of mixing and matching of information
  3. NewsLife is an OSX 10.4 only aggregator that tries to simplify the interface and make reading feeds more intuitive.
  4. Bloglines is a great aggregator/organizer of feeds.
  5. Feeddemon is a desktop application that costs a little money (about $30), but is one of the most powerful and sophisticated readers out there.

If you spend much time reading news sites, blogs, and wikis and want to save some time, a reader is an invaluable tool.

The Second Life Non Profit Presence Getting Closer

Submitted by matthew on Sat, 2007-04-14 03:16.
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Offices are being allocated to the tenants and it looks like we might start furnishing very soon. If you are interested in who is being housed where, check out the Flickr page below and mouse over the image.

NPSL (Thanks Missouri Humanities Council!)

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WESTAF and Second Life

Submitted by matthew on Wed, 2007-02-14 04:21.
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I have been intersecting with the Second Life Non Profits group for a few months now.  It looks like WESTAF will be a tenant in the office space once the sim has been completed.

This group has put together a Google Group which has been very helpful in keeping the group informed with one another.

A Drupal site has been started that will keep the group informed and also act as a public face for the participants.

Sweden to Open Embassy in Second Life

Submitted by matthew on Tue, 2007-01-30 18:49.
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Second Life continually evolves.  When Reuters opened up a news office, the playground took on a level sophistication that it hadn't enjoyed before.  Other companies and services began to enter into the mix.  We began to see galleries and clothing sellers.  The economy of Second Life began to grow and now it boasts an GDP larger than some small companies.

It was inevitable that countries would start to eyeball it.  Sweden is the first--they are opening a virtual embassy. I am willing to bet that it will start out simply as an informational resource--but imagine, by linking it to the real world via the Web, they could set things up for application requests for passports.  The office could become a real tool to encourage young tourists to visit the scandanavian country.  After all, those who take part in Second Life are flush enough to own a computer and probably come from an affluent family.

An Update on the Second Life/Congress Post

Submitted by matthew on Sun, 2007-01-07 17:50.
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I got a note from Kiwini Oe on my other blog. He cleared up some mis-information that I had/have posted. I thought I would repost his information here.

Hi, Matthew -

The Democratic party did not spend $60,000 or any money for that matter on the Captiol Hill in Second Life. That was the estimated value that Clear Ink gave for the hours they spent creating the virtual Capitol Hill and managing the event. Some additional underwriting was provided by Sun Microsystems, without any condition of sponsorship.

The Democrats didn't create the space - that was also done entirely by Clear Ink. Conversations between Rep. Miller and John Gage of Sun were the original impetus for doing this, but after that Clear Ink picked it up and ran with it (plus a pair of scissors).

The opening event featured the Democratic representative because it coincided with the opening of the 110th Congress under new control of the Democrats. It all came together very quickly, and Clear Ink decided to keep the virtual Capitol Hill area open indefinitely for ongoing, bipartisan participation and debate. All involved, including the Democrats, thought that was a good idea.

Given the practical nature of the schedules, experience, and so on, I think you'll see more staffers visiting the space on an ongoing and regular basis, but as their own avatars, not ghosting their Representative. But I would also expect the occasional visit from an avatar managed by the actual members of congress.

Will this be used heavily, then fade (apart from whether that will happen to Second Life, too)? I don't know - it's an experiment. I've already chatted with an avatar at the virtual Capitol who was with a federal agency that was trying to do serious demonstration and education using Second Life as a platform. He said that getting any traction or support was difficult because people had never heard of or didn't understand what it was about. He said this one event will open doors for more use of Second Life as an educational platform.

I think we all have a lot to learn from this start.

Some Thoughts on Second Life

Submitted by matthew on Fri, 2007-01-05 19:21.
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Second Life reminds me a lot of LambdaMOO, where I met my wife.  While Lambda is entirely text based, Second Life is a sort of strange hybrid of LambdaMOO and the Sims wrapped into one.  Lambda's appeal was, and still is, the immediacy of the experience.  I am fortunate enough to have made some pretty terrific friends there but it did prove to be a tremendous time suck.  I still visit occasionally and it is nice to note that t

Second Life and Congress

Submitted by matthew on Thu, 2007-01-04 23:19.
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The Democratic Party has taken an interesting tact with the 110th Congress. They have spent in the neighborhood of $60,000 creating a Second Life version of the Capitol Buildings. It will open to the public tomorrow. It is supposed to have been set up as a bi-partisan space for sharing of information and ideas. I, for one, will be interested to see:

1) How many members of Congress use the space

2) Truly, how many will be tech saavy enough to actually capitalise on it--will it be the Interns who "ghost" as members of Congress?

3) Whether it starts out being used heavily and then drifts.

My friend Beth Kanter has shared her thoughts on the new space.

This could be a brilliant move on the part of the Democrats. While they say it is intended to be bi-partisan, the hype behind the Dems CREATING the space will surely colour the perception of it. This could well reach the 20-somethings who have never voted before. With all studies indicating that the younger you vote, for the first time, the more likely you are to vote for the party you started with in subsequent elections.

It seems like the Dems are set on making themselves relevant to the upcoming generation.

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