Clipmarks | kidora's '"second life"' clips

Torley's awesome Clipmarks review

Sat, 04 Nov 2006 14:52:19 GMT

clipped by: invictus
clipper's remarks: Our new fellow clipper Torley wrote an excellent review of Clipmarks. Congrats Torley, and welcome to Clipmarks!

Clip Source: torley.com

It’s Saturday morning. Wee hours, past 2 AM PST. I’m feeling mellow and relaxed. I just started using my Clipmarks account actively. Just let me say, I’m amazed time-after-time with how easily I got into it: not only does it have rounded corners in all the right places (and certainly not gratuitously), it just about always works as I expect it to.

Me, I just feel great that it’s so social. Like I’ve said about Second Life, “I’m not alone.” Maybe I’m stretching it in 2006, but I believe Clipmarks can be a useful educational tool: when I was a kid, I grew up reading the bite-sized, punchy writing in The National Enquirer. Every now and then, they’d run an article detailing how Enquirer was useful to an ESL teacher, helping communicate English to students while informing them of topics of relevance. In a similar vein, Clipmarks, with its magnificent potpourri of “100% User Powered” content, could really get students going in classrooms, having them aware of what’s happening in a very wet and memorable way.

Even more than that, in today’s world, we need information management skills. There’s no shortage to dataglut! I haven’t stepped inside a school in years, and correct me if I’m wrong, but I get the impression these skills aren’t being taught enough. By far. It goes beyond basic computer usage and adding bookmarks, to being able to make sense and retrieve the info, and share it with your fellow human beings for extended discourse, learning, and fun — creating feedback loops and reactions, and increased knowledge for all involved. This is what I’m seeing in Clipmarks as a form of participatory media (hey, what would Howard Rheingold think?). And I’ve added it to my existing pantheon of how I manage daily info.

Tags: clipmarks, review, reviews, torley

Gender-bending avatars inspire less trust

Sat, 07 Jul 2007 16:05:26 GMT

clipped by: wildcat
clipper's remarks: interesting, can we test this theory on clipmarks?

Clip Source: www.newscientisttech.com

In his 1970's gender-bending phase, David Bowie would have made a pretty dubious computer avatar, a new study suggests.

The study reveals that androgynous digital personas (avatars) are perceived as less trustworthy than ones that are clearly either male or female.

It also seems that people typically extend this impression to the person behind the avatar too. The results hint that avatar design and behaviour may have a range of unforeseen psychological influences and that such virtual personas need to be carefully designed to make the right impression, the researchers argue.

As people increasingly interact through 3D virtual worlds like Second Life, meeting with friends, building communities and even shopping, they spend more time controlling an avatar – a computerised representation that stands for them.

They also spend more time interacting with the other avatars that people have chosen to represent themselves virtually.

Tags: internet, communities, avatar, gender, trust online, virtual personae

Invictus's Clipmarks Shirt in Second Life...

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 07:50:33 GMT

clipped by: einbar

Clip Source: www.flickr.com

Do virtual brothels really exist?

Sun, 08 Jun 2008 15:48:34 GMT

clipped by: Silkweaver
clipper's remarks: She would better spend her time and tax payer's money, dealing with Israel's acute woman trafficking problem which is not virtual at all.

Clip Source: www.techradar.com

It was the question of the week for Israeli legislator Zahava Gal-On. She reckons so. She’s proposing mandatory five-year jail sentences for online brothel operators who advertise virtual women for sale.

Rather than cracking down on sites like Craigslist and The Eros Guide, where real sex is advertised for hire, Gal-On is instead opting to log-on to hunt down online brothel owners.

It seems a strange move, given that while a Second Life brothel owner might make around $50k per year in real money by selling virtual sex, Eros Guide reportedly nets around $500,000 annually.

The proposal has also met resistance in the form of the Justice Ministry, who opposes the proposal on the grounds that there is no such thing as a ‘virtual brothel’.

"Legally, the internet is not the place where prostitution takes place," wrote Anat Hulta of the State Attorney's office.

Tags: virtual reality

Virtual Unreality (Part 1)

Sun, 22 Jun 2008 17:24:10 GMT

clipped by: Silkweaver
clipper's remarks: This speculation about virtual worlds, besides being fun, reflects on the very deep question of Freedom, freedom of the mind, that is. What is freedom? How much freedom can we really take? How are we going to be if and when we become free. Continue to the second part of this clip...

Clip Source: superconcepts.blogspot.com

In the future, we may decide that a virtual existence, a life inside a fully immersive computer game where our every desire is fulfilled, is a more appealing option than the real world we currently inhabit.

Since the early 21st century, the residents of the virtual world Second Life have been working hard to recreate real life as accurately as possible.

But virtual worlds are created by us – so why limit ourselves to reality? We could create entirely new realities.

By realising that we are free of the rules of real life, the doors are open to incredible new possibilities.

Virtual Concepts

Immortality

In Second Life, you cannot die.

Perfect History

It is entirely possible to record every action you perform in your virtual life

All of your memories can be put into the virtual world by means of screen grabs, videos and saved conversations.

Teleportation

Distance is not a real concept in virtual worlds, so can easily be circumvented.

Nanotechnology and the non-existence of the laws of thermodynamics

Tags: virtual reality

Obesity in the virtual world

Sat, 09 Aug 2008 01:12:33 GMT

clipped by: zululu
clipper's remarks: An interesting example of bluring the virtual-real life...
maybe one day there will be no way to tell them apart.

Clip Source: www.sciencedaily.com

Healthy Diet Study Will Take Place Entirely In Virtual World Of Second Life

The University of Houston department of health and human performance is launching an international effort to recruit 500 participants for a study promoting healthy dietary habits and physical activity.

The study will take place entirely in the virtual world of Second Life (SL).

The TORC International Health Challenge in Second Life will provide opportunities for avatars to earn Lindens—the currency of Second Life—for walking on treadmills, riding bikes and trying new fruits and vegetables in Second Life.

Participants compete to earn "Challenge Points" for their healthy behaviors. The country team that earns the most Challenge Points will win the International Health Challenge.

TORC will develop space in Second Life, create games and interactive learning opportunities and reward avatars when they join the International Health Challenge and participate in health behaviors in Second Life.

Tags: diet, virtual

Web friends as important as real-world counterparts

Fri, 01 Dec 2006 05:10:05 GMT

clipped by: haraya
clipper's remarks: And Clipmarks is as important as your real life.

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

A survey found 43% of online networkers from the US felt "as strongly" about their web community as they did about their real-world friends.

It also revealed net-users had made an average of 4.6 virtual pals this year.

The survey, from the US-based Center for the Digital Future, of 2,000 individuals forms part of a six-year study into attitudes to the web.

Each year, the University of Southern California researchers publish data tracking the changing opinions of the same American households to the internet.

On the results of their sixth report, Jeffrey Cole, director of the centre, said: "More than a decade after the portals of the worldwide web opened to the public, we are now witnessing the true emergence of the internet as the powerful personal and social phenomenon we knew it would become."

Social interaction on the web has become a phenomenon in recent years, with the rise of sites like MySpace and Bebo, and the development of virtual worlds such as Second Life.

However, the report also discovered virtual friendship is not confined to the PC - those surveyed had met an average of 1.6 of the friends they had made online in person.

Keeping in touch

It also found 40% of net-users were using the web to stay in contact with people, and 37.7% believed the internet was enabling them to communicate more with friends and family.

The survey also revealed 7.4% of those surveyed kept a blog, double the figure in 2003; and in that period, the number of people posting pictures online grew from 11% to 23.6%.

Mr Cole added: "The internet has become an essential source of entertainment, information and communication... However, in 2006, we are beginning to measure real growth and discover new directions for the internet as a comprehensive tool that Americans are using to touch the world."

Tags: web, internet, community, study, survey, technology, blogs, friends, interaction, virtual, reality, world, computer, communication

Build an animated GIF online instantly

Mon, 06 Nov 2006 05:13:01 GMT

clipped by: enbar
clipper's remarks: Upload images or pull them off Flickr to make an animated GIF instantaneously. Very cool.

Clip Source: gickr.com

Create an Animated Gif from Your Flickr photos

GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) is an 8-bit-per-pixel bitmap image format using a palette of up to 256 distinct colors from the 24-bit RGB color space. ... It also supports animations ... As it remains the only natively-supported animation format for most web browsers, GIF is frequently used to make small animations and short, low-resolution films for web pages. (from Wikipedia)

Now Animated Gifs get a second life as you create them online in seconds

Canada's Coolest Community!

The community of Inglewood in Calgary, Alberta, Canada was recently voted the coolest place to live in Canada. See what's happening at www.icacalgary.com

Tags: image, video, tools, free, cool

The science of sex

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 15:26:15 GMT

clipped by: Beholder

Clip Source: www.scienceandsex.com

Tags: sex, second life, genetic design

Paralysed man takes a walk in virtual world

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 19:21:18 GMT

clipped by: Mohir
clipper's remarks: It is the first time a paralysis patient has succeeded in meeting a person and having a conversation in an Internet virtual world, they added.

Researchers are now studying a system that would let patients create text messages by mentally selecting certain letters, said Junichi Ushiba, associate professor at the biosciences and informatics department of Keio Universty's Faculty of Science and Technology.

"In the near future, they would be able to stroll through Second Life shopping malls with their brain waves... and click to make a purchase," Ushiba said.

Clip Source: www.physorg.com

A 41-year-old paralysed man uses brain waves to control his character in 'Second Life'.

A paralysed man using only his brain waves has been able to manipulate a virtual Internet character, Japanese researchers said Monday, calling it a world first.

The 41-year-old patient used his imagination to make his character take a walk and chat to another virtual person on the popular Second Life website.

The patient, who has suffered paralysis for more than 30 years, can barely bend his fingers due to a progressive muscle disease so cannot use a mouse or keyboard in the traditional way.

In the experiment, he wore headgear with three electrodes monitoring brain waves related to his hands and legs. Even though he cannot move his legs, he imagined that his character was walking.

He was then able to have a conversation with the other character using an attached microphone, said the researchers at Japan's Keio University.

Tags: computers, second life, brain, virtual

5 worst websites

Sun, 15 Jul 2007 02:41:32 GMT

clipped by: clipette

Clip Source: www.time.com

Our main beef with this online dating site is its power to cause utter despair.

Clip Source: www.time.com

We're only mad at Evite because we need it so much, and we know it could be so much better.

Clip Source: www.time.com

we're not just talking about poor page design. It seems the community has become infested with marketers and other opportunists who create false profiles and essentially spam other users,

Clip Source: www.time.com

Visually, this vast virtual world can be quite impressive, but it's notoriously slow to load (it runs on free software you have to download) and difficult to navigate,

Tags: websites, web, myspace, eharmony, second life

Google ventures into virtual reality with 'Lively'

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 01:24:22 GMT

clipped by: Silkweaver
clipper's remarks: Looks really cool. Google will soon become the grand architect of the Matrix...

Clip Source: www.youtube.com

[Video]

Clip Source: www.physorg.com

In the latest expansion beyond its main mission of organizing the world's information, Internet search leader Google Inc. hopes to orchestrate more virtual socializing on the Web.

Google debuted a free service Tuesday in which three-dimensional software enables people to congregate in fantasy rooms and other computer-manufactured versions of real life. The service, called "Lively," represents Google's answer to an already well-established site, "Second Life," where people deploy animated alter egos known as avatars to navigate virtual reality.

Google thinks "Lively" will encourage even more people to dive into alternate realities because it isn't tethered to one Web site like Second Life, and it doesn't cost anything to use.

Lively's users will be able to sculpt an avatar that can be male, female or even a different species. An avatar can assume a new identity, change clothes or convey emotions with a few clicks of the mouse.

Tags: google, virtual reality

Clipmarks Group in Second Life

Wed, 13 Dec 2006 16:42:30 GMT

clipped by: invictus
clipper's remarks: Yes, our community is now expanding its boundaries in this virtual world Clipmarks User Group was founded yesterday and it has 4 members by now (one of our first members was the most loved person of SL and our fellow clipper, Linden Lab's SL Community Executive Torley.) If you are a SL resident as well as being an active clipper, make a search in "groups" and join. You'll not only have a cool "Clipmarker" tag just above your head, but you'll get your free Clipmarks t-shirts and a steamy Clipmarks mug as well. The group was founded for communication between CM users in SL, as well as organizing special events (like "Mojito Nights" ) and many other activities.... And there may also come new surprises of course

Clip Source: secondlife.com

Community: Search

Groups

Clipmarks Users Group

Number of members: 4

Tags: clipmarks, community, second life

11 ways to browse through Flickr

Fri, 03 Aug 2007 08:42:09 GMT

clipped by: haraya

Clip Source: mashable.com

Give people an API and they start inventing crazy stuff all of a sudden. Case in point: Flickr. There are so many ways to browse through Flickr photos that it’s hard to keep track; since there aren’t many that are actually useful, we’ve chosen another route and brought you 11 very, very weird ones.

Browse by drawing

Retrievr

Browse through RSS

FlickrFling

Browse by spelling

Spell with Flickr

Browse by lyrics

Depictr

Browse through weird swirl

Tagnautica

Browse by color

ColorPickr

Browse by Sudoku

FlickrSudoku

Browse through combat

Flickr Combat

Browse by numbers

Flickr numbers

Browse by saving your screen

Flickr Screensaver

Browse in Second Life

Second Life Flickr

Tags: flickr, photos, internet, list, sudoku, tags, second life, lyrics, screensaver, links

Virtual climate change

Wed, 13 Feb 2008 22:38:22 GMT

clipped by: shunyax
clipper's remarks: More in this link :
http://tv.oneworld.net/mediamanage/play/4601//

Clip Source: blogs.guardian.co.uk

Whilst delegates and activists from 180 nations - estimated to be in the region of around 10,000 people and causing as much pollution as 20,000 cars in one year - have jetted out to Bali to participate in the UN climate change conference, you can actually take part from the comfort of your own chair.

OneWorld.net, the civil society portal, has set up a Virtual Bali on Second Life, for residents of the cyber world to come together and grill representatives from the different countries and organisations attending the main event.

"A virtual world offers far more participation than passively watching something being streamed. And it includes a strangely human sense of meeting and being present at an event. You can even wander off to have side meetings with people you meet there - whether new people or people you already know