Archive - 2008
April 10th
The Daily Show Takes a Serious Look at Second Life
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Thu, 04/10/2008 - 14:20(Originally posted at SLNN.COM)
Following the Congressional hearings about Second Life, Jon Stewart delved into the underlying issues as part of his news broadcast, The Daily Show.
Updates
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Thu, 04/10/2008 - 14:17For a brief moment, earlier today, it felt like I was catching up. Sure there were over 1,000 unread emails in my inbox, but I had gotten done the tasks that needed to get done and I could sit down and start looking through the pile of emails that have piled up and select the next tasks to tackle.
One of those emails, however, was from the lawyer for the foreclosure, so I felt I needed to write a little bit about that. Then, I got an IM in Second Life about the film shoot folks from TechSoup were doing in response to the Daily Show episode, Avatar Heroes. I’ve already written up my article about Avatar Heroes for SLNN.COM. I figured I should go and join the TechSoup folks. I participated in a dolphin avatar shape, and it strikes me that I need to form an organization, Dolphin Shaped Reporters of Second Life. Right now, I think it is just me and Rob Riggle. If there are any other Dolphin Shaped Reporters in Second Life, please let me know.
(You can see a few pictures I took at Avatar Heroes on Flickr.)
In other things, I’ve spent a bit of time working on a Drupal 6 installation. It has been fun mixing together pieces of the VotingAPI and Fivestar module, with the profile module and attempting to add Views into the mix. Unfortunately, Views doesn’t work well with VotingAPI in Drupal 6, so I had to roll a couple blocks of my own.
Soon, I will ran off to pick up our Community Supported Agriculture box and then take Fiona to her swimming lesson. When I get back, I need to do an interview or two in Second Life, so I guess the queue of unread emails will just have to grow a little more before I can dig into it.
Foreclosure Redux
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Thu, 04/10/2008 - 14:01Several months ago, I spoke informally with a friend of mine that is a lawyer about our financial situation. At this point, we had already moved out of the house being sold in foreclosure and had started putting our lives together for whatever the next phase would be.
The information she provided was extremely valuable, particularly as it applied to the legal aspects. However, she also spoke about the emotional aspects. Seeing a house you have lived in for years, that you’ve raised your family in, sold on the auction block can be emotionally draining. She warned about it being an emotional roller coaster. Unexpected turns will leave you reeling. Today, I received an email that is the latest of the unexpected turns.
I have three competing interests in the foreclosure drama. I want to see the house bought by someone that will love the house as much as I did, and that will be able to do restorations which I could never afford. I would love to see the sale address as much of the financial debt that I have as possible. Finally, I would like to see this brought to an end, so I can get on with the rest of my life.
As things stand right now, as I understand things, I remain the owner of the house until such as point when the court approves the Motion for Approval of Committee Sale and then the bank closes on the sale. Until that point, I could delay the process by filing bankruptcy, by raising objections to how the foreclosure has proceeded, or perhaps on other procedural grounds. Until that point, if I can work out a deal that will meet my desires as well as the desires of the lien holders on the property, I can proceed with such a deal. After that, it goes to the bank to handle the marketing and subsequent sale of the property.
Today, one of the registered bidders contacted the lawyer for the committee to sell 247 Old Long Ridge Road suggesting that the information distributed by members of the historical commission may not have been accurate, may have dissuaded potential bidders from bidding, and might be grounds to conduct a new auction.
My understanding is that the information presented by the historical society was correct and that the reason people did not bid had nothing to do with that information. Instead, the primary concern seemed to be about the ability to meet the requirement of finding funding within thirty days. Given the current credit crunch such funding would be extremely difficult and would constitute a significant risk to any bidder.
That said, numerous people have expressed an interest in bidding, if a new auction were arranged. So, while I’m seeking closure and moving on, if you have thoughts or ideas about trying to arrange a second auction, let me know.
The Best of Virtual Worlds 2008
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Thu, 04/10/2008 - 10:57(Originally published at SLNN.COM)
There were many high points to Virtual Worlds 2008; new ideas, new worlds, and new tools.
April 9th
Bong Hits 4 the Dalai Lama
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Wed, 04/09/2008 - 16:42The social media coverage of the torching of San Francisco cannot pass without comment; there is so much to talk about. Over on Twitter, Ruby tweeted, “Social media tipping point: there is so much micro-coverage of the SF protests that the media will have less leeway to get it wrong.”
This gets to a common talking point about social media. As more and more people can snap pictures or stream video from their cellphones directly to the web, the whole world starts watching in a whole new way. Perhaps the revolution will be televised afterall.
Andy Carvin has been providing great play by play on Twitter about the torch, pointing to qik videos of the protest, posing interesting questions and retweeting other fun comments from the microblogosphere. “Anyone wanna place bets when the first Free Mumia sign will be spotted at the SF torch protest?… retweeting @sacca: Ha! The Pro-China folks are being Rickrolled at high volume from an office window above Embarcadero!… retweeting @rockbandit: "I'll be honest. Its weird being at a protest in SF and not hearing 'no blood for oil'"
Andy wondered if he was “the only one who feels bad for the torch runners who may have dreamed a lifetime for the opportunity to run.” There is so much tied up in all of this. When Kim was a teenager, she had opportunity to either ride with the U.S. Olympic Equestrian Team or go to college. She chose college, but has a special place in her heart for those going to the Olympics, and I suspect for the torchbearers.
Yet the torch bearing ceremony has always been a lightning rod for protests. The famous Bong Hits 4 Jesus case was about students who unfurled that banner during the passing of an Olympic torch. Now, I’m reading in various reports that the modern Olympics didn’t have a torch ceremony until 1936. The Associated Press puts it this way.
The Olympic flame wasn’t part of the ancient games, and the torch relay didn’t become a fixture in the modern Olympics until the 1936 Berlin Games, when it was part of the Nazi pageantry that promoted Hitler’s beliefs of Aryan supremacy in the world of sports.
So, I wonder, will the bridge will be carried by Dustin Hoffman the wrong way across the upper level of the Bay Bridge; “And here's to you, Mrs. Robinson, Jesus loves you more than you will know.”
