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it is located on 156.155.44 on the belgique sim
I am at this exhibit in Second Life about reflexive architecture and I am thinking that real locations in Second Life should go beyond description of reality and follow some of these recommendations :
Winston Churchill’s statement, “We shape our buildings and afterwards, our buildings shape us,” illustrates the static nature of real life architecture. It is a rigid and immovable artifact, and the occupants are passive observers.
Generally, the first generation of architecture in Second Life has been an attempt to import the same monolithic state into a virtual enviornment. Bringing this baggage into Second Life is a logical phase of transition, given that we learn to organize our environment based on visual cues we learn from early childhood. It makes sense that we import those familiar patterns as a first instinct.
However, we quickly learn that avatars and their cameras flow through virtual architecture more like a liquid than an artifact. No amount of implied rigitity can prevent or restrict this freedom. The architecture is either artistic sculpture or pure interface.
The experiments and installations in this exhibit are an attempt to create a 'reflexive architecture', one that is as fluid and dynamic as the community it hopes to serve. The occupant can now transcend the role of passive observer, and become an active part of the architectural and musical composition. The architecture knows you're there, and reacts to your presence.
We need a new language of virtual architecture, based on the inherent opportunities and characteristics of this virtual fabric. Reflexive architecture is one step toward this new language.
Installation architecture and conceptual development by Keystone Bouchard
Scripted by Fumon Kubo
A policeman and a policewoman would be on duty around the clock on Beijing's gateway websites starting from Saturday, accepting complaints mainly about the cyber world.
A Beijing netizen need only click the two cartoon police if he or she wants to report malicious information or pornographic websites. Then the netizen shall fill in a form to end the whole reporting processing, Beijing police said Tuesday at a press conference.
Police would offer a feedback in 30 minutes after they received valid calls, said Zhao Hongzhi, deputy director of the Internet department of the Beijing police bureau.
The cartoon policeman and policewoman would pop up on web pages every 30 minutes. They would patrol Beijing's gateway websites as of September 1 and all websites and forums in Beijing since December.
Police would only take action on disputes on virtual assets and Internet accounts, which are common in China at present, if the accused people had breached the law, and also handle calls of emergencies in real world.
Police shall safeguard the virtual world as it has a growing impact on the real world, Zhao said.
Beijing police have closed 224 pornographic websites so far this year and deleted nearly 130,000 pieces of malicious information on the Internet.
In 1987, China recorded its first e-mail, signaling its entry into the Internet era. The number of Internet users in China hit an estimated 162 million by the end of June, with nearly 100 people a minute going online, according to the China Internet Network Information Centre.
Beijing has 5.46 million Internet users while more than 300,000 Chinese websites are registered in the capital city.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2007-08/29/content_6066310.htm
The Netherlands Board Of Tourism & Conventions announces the launch of http://us.holland.com, a fully Web2.0 based site, as well as the official launch of the world's first National Tourism Board in Second Life, www.hollandsecondlife.com
Holland.com
Consumers now have a terrific new website at their disposal. The new Holland.com is a fully web2.0 based website. It offers not just a quick and easy way to find information about travel to Holland, but also invites you to be part of an interactive Dutch travel community. Registered users are a valuable piece of this mutually beneficial community and permit you to share first-hand information about your past trips, contribute articles, videos and images, allowing the site to evolve and strengthen on a continuous basis. Not only do users contribute content, but this Holland.com site automates content collection through XML and RSS feeds, such as Google news, Yahoo Travel, Flickr and YouTube. Furthermore, by rating and commenting on virtually everything throughout the site, users force the most informative content to become prominent and useful for everyone.
Special features for registered users include: * My Suitcase, a personal archive of your favorite content on Holland.com saved by a simple click of the mouse. * Print a Brochure, allowing you to convert the items from your suitcase into a printable format to take with you on your travels. * Tagging, by tagging entities you participate in the Tag Cloud system of navigation. Your tagging will reveal what types of entities on the site our users favor and it will encourage more detailed information about these subjects to be revealed. * The best Travel Deals, try our Deals page for the latest Holland vacation packages and when you are searching for the best fare, try our Kayak.com fare locator. * Subscriptions, bookmark your favorite users to be alerted when they have posted new content. * Messaging, send messages to other users through the website as a safe method of communication without revealing your personal email. * Customizable Profiles, including profile images. * Access to any features that Holland.com releases in the future.
Registering is fast and easy, it only takes seconds.
The world's first virtual National Tourism Board: www.hollandsecondlife.com
Holland is proud to announce the establishment of "New Holland," an island in Second Life, a 3-D virtual world entirely built and owned by its residents, showcasing the best of Holland. The island has the look and feel of the city of Amsterdam, with a large canal crossing the entire island. It features cobblestone streets, bicycles, boats, typical Dutch and contemporary architecture, bridges crossing the canals, Dutch flags, and tulip fields near a Dutch windmill. Party at "Club Gogh Gogh" or discover the ambiance of a typical brown cafe, marvel in front of Dutch masterpiece paintings at the museum or, simply, visit the island to obtain tourism information, located throughout "New Holland." Maps can be located on the walls of the Canal houses "Het Gele Huis" and the Student Lounge. Billboards describe Holland's Highlights. All information links directly to Holland.com. Sample itineraries can be found on walls near Club Gogh Gogh. Soon students can pick up the newspaper at the Student Lounge, which will lead you to www.trippist.com. And for that budget conscience traveler? Free postcards and tulips are given away to each visitor, enjoy a free bike ride, a free canal boat tour and free drinks at the club.
"Both Holland2.0 and www.hollandsecondlife.com are delivering consumers the next generation of travel research on the web and the Netherlands Board of Tourism & Conventions is proud to be part of that," said Director North America, Conrad van Tiggelen. "We invite travelers to join our New Holland virtual opening party on Friday, September 14th in Second Life."
CONTACT: Netherlands Board Of Tourism & Conventions Brigitta Kroon-Fiorita (212) 370-7360, X. 18 bkroon-fiorita@holland.com www.holland.com
Estonia will join Sweden in the virtual world of Second Life when it becomes the second country to have its own embassy there, website postimees.ee reported on Wednesday. The Foreign Ministry of this small Baltic country plans to open a diplomatic mission in Second Life on November 11.
"Second Life is a fast-developing virtual reality where we saw an opportunity to represent Estonia," said Marten Kokk, vice chancellor of the ministry.
An EU and NATO member since 2004, Estonia has developed itself into a technologically-savvy post-Soviet country. The nation of 1.3 million residents allowed citizens to vote electronically in local elections in 2005 and in parliamentary elections earlier this year.
The government plans to spend at least 6,400 euros (8,700 dollars) on the Second Life embassy and its staff will undergo training how to represent the country in the virtual world. The government purchased an island in Second Life where users are not yet allowed.
"We considered the possibility of offering electronic services there, however we have decided to postpone that project. The embassy's function will be similar that of a portal. It will provide information about Estonia," Kokk told the website.
The virtual embassy also plans to host press conferences, concerts, and exhibitions.
Earlier this year, Sweden became the first country in the world to open a virtual diplomatic mission in Second Life, an online virtual world with more than 9 million users.
Close your eyes and imagine this dream of the future: a place where you can stand in line to pay parking tickets, visit an auditorium where the mayor is giving a speech, or drop in on a meeting where planning officials are wrestling with development plans.
You might be forgiven if you think that doesn't sound like a very exciting dream. Or if you think the place already exists, in a concrete building at Government Center.But Boston officials aren't talking about the real City Hall. They want to build a new, virtual one in the animated online world of Second Life, where users create digital images of themselves and live alternate lives, working virtual jobs, attending virtual nightclubs, and chatting with other virtual people.
Captivated by the promotional possibilities and the potential for providing services in Second Life's cyberscape of some 8 million digital people, Boston 's technological gurus are laying plans to reconstruct parts of the city online. They hope the Second Life city will eventually include features such as the Hatch Shell, where online concerts could take place, and an online subway that would transport people to all the familiar stops. A version of the Freedom Trail could be made to look as it did during historical events such as the Boston Massacre of 1770.
At the virtual City Hall, they envision, digital images of city councilors would hold office hours, and neigh borhood meetings would take place in virtual conference rooms.
City officials working on the project concede that paying city bills or visiting with officials at a virtual City Hall in Second Life may not strike everyone as more effective than more conventional interactions, like paying through the city's website or sending e-mail to city councilors. But they say the novelty of Second Life could entice more people to participate in real civic life. The virtual city could be used to promote tourism, or to gauge public reaction to proposed new developments, they said.
Whatever the ultimate uses turn out to be, commercial and government entities of all kinds are already experimenting on Second Life, the officials said.
"We want to be part of this innovation that's out there," said Bill Oates, the city's chief information officer.
"We think this is a real opportunity to do some interesting things."
Oates and other city officials, working with Emerson College , are hoping to have a prototype within the next six months that would be designed with the help of students taking an Emerson course called Hub2. A version of the course will be also offered to nonstudents. The students are to meet with community organizers, school teachers, and residents to develop a design proposal that they will build in Second Life.
Students will be encouraged to reimagine parts of the city, for instance adding more parks or finding ways to make Downtown Crossing more lively.
"Through the playful activity of creating things, we hope to get people thinking about the spaces they occupy, and how those can be used in a better way," said Eric Gordon, an assistant professor at Emerson College who is teaching the course with Gene Koo, a fellow at Harvard Law School's Berkman Center for Internet and Society.
Ultimately, Boston officials say they are hoping that Second Life will be a key in re engaging young people, a demographic that city officials say has been increasingly difficult for them to reach
"We hope this opens us up to a different constituency, to people who are using these things," said Oates, who was hired last year and is also working on ways to improve more traditional city services, such as city responses to phone calls and complaints.
Boston 's venture into Second Life comes amid a fever of enthusiasm for the virtual world, with presidential campaigns to countries trying to tap into the rapidly growing population of digital images, called avatars. Sweden opened a virtual embassy to promote the country's culture and history. The Second Life Catholic Church includes confessionals and has collected nearly $8,000 in donations. John Edwards set up a Second Life campaign headquarters, though it was attacked by virtual vandals who spray painted obscenities and plastered it with Marxist posters
Vermont tourism officials have been deciding whether to set up a virtual version of their state, trying to entice potential real world tourists by displaying digital versions of rolling hills, the gold domed State House in Montpellier, and a portion of the 270-mile Long Tail footpath, complete with deer, moose, and bears roaming around.
"We want to give them a taste of what Vermont and New England has to offer, and create some interest in actually visiting our state," said Steve Cook, Vermont 's deputy commissioner of tourism and marketing. Boston's plans have generated excitement at City Hall, and also raised some eyebrows.
"It's exciting, but in some ways it's concerning," said City Councilor John Tobin, who has backed technology proposals in the past. "Whatever happened to the good old days of meeting someone in a bar, or at a Red Sox game?"
Many questions remain about details of Boston 's Second Life project, officials said, but at least one crucial matter has been decided.
"There would not be an avatar of the mayor," said Nigel Jacob, a special assistant to Menino who has been working on the project.
Matt Viser can be reached at maviser@globe.com.
