dear listeners, if you want to go straight to german high school teacher mirek hancl explaining how he uses minecraft to engage 6th to 12th graders, skip to 35:00 in the show.
for those who want to know everything about the recent drama regarding second life journalism – please listen straight from the top:
after your listening pleasure = read on for context as per usual?
– the atlas obscura article that started it all
– hamlet’s post in response & honour mcmillan’s rebuttal of the response
![cica ghost's balloons - art without deviant sex [by ziki quesit]](https://draxfiles.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/cica-ghosts-balloons-art-without-deviant-sex-by-ziki-quesit.png)
– last week’s show also had to do with journalism…just saying…
– our musical guest slimmie
– mirek hancl teaches minecraft [he appears in “virtualize it!” from spiegel tv]
– binnen differenzierung aka “differentiated instruction” anyone?
– mirek will be at “science on stage” in june [his brandnew trailer for that is HERE!]
– minecraft edu version [as used by barry joseph at american museum of natural history]
– barry joseph on drax files episode #5 on mc vs sl [when teen sl was still around]
![ss galaxy [pic by inara pey]](https://draxfiles.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/ss-galaxy-pic-by-inara-pey.jpg)
– sl12b music fest = auditions are happening very soon = get your butt off the virtual couch!
the drax files radio hour [with jo yardley] is a weekly production of basicdrax entertainment.
the show is supported by leap motion, stitcher, fatewear by damien fate, gizza creations, aeros avatars, maven homes, madpea productions, botgirl’s identity circus, ison, kahruvel design, vika creations, humanoid animations, loki eliot, botanical, death row designs, fallen gods incorporated, {what’s next}, abranimations, blue moon enterprises, avacon and landscapes unlimited!
special thanks to justin esparza for the show thumbnail!
music by slim warrior.
contact the show via skype draxfiles, avatar draxfiles or email radio@draxfiles.com.
the drax files radio hour 
Reblogged this on ZZ Bottom misadventures in Virtual Worlds!.
Reblogged this on Jo Yardley's Second Life and commented:
New Drax Files Radio Hour episode with an interview with Hamlet Au regarding the Atlas Obscura article and a wonderful story about using Minecraft in schools, not to be missed!
I used to read Hamlets blog every day when I joined SL in 2007, but at some point his interesting articles shifted towards click bait and negativity. It felt to me that he was the big shot SL blogger who wanted to cover the next big thing and when SL at some point plateaued, he became very sad and frustrated. I still have his blog in my Feedly, but probably read less than 1% of the articles, because they are just superficial and not interesting to me at all. I think he is one of those Silicon Valley groupies that follow every trend, sign up for every new website and buy every new gadget, but do not have real passion for what they do.
Second Life is as diverse as First Life, so why should an article cover each facet? If the author enjoyed SL, why should’t he share that with his readers? If somebody wants the complete picture, they can read Wikipedia, or even better, visit themself and explore the world first hand.
I like to add one more thing since many Lindens listen to this podcast. PLEASE DO NOT STOP SUPPORTING THE LINUX VIEWER. Most Linux users will never switch to Windows because of Second Life and the latest viewer currently is not working at all, it crashes right on start up. At least leave the viewer in a state that works and stop implementing new features, so we can at least bridge the time till Project Sansar or High Fidelity go live. Why would LL kick out Linux users just weeks before the alpha of the new world starts???
Another great show Drax! Loved it from start to finish. I found the whole debate over whether or not the sex side of SL needs to be brought up every time and I am with you. I am not about hiding the facets of SL that exist, but like many users I focus on what is of interest to me. Positive articles about SL that do not include the dark underside of our beloved virtual world (and I don’t mean all sex sims are, there are many things in SL that are undesirable to many, just like in RL) are not a crime. I don’t agree that when focusing on what we enjoy about SL that we MUST toss in what we don’t enjoy just to be balanced.
I enjoyed the Minecraft segment as well and was laughing out loud when you likened the “flat land with a fence to prevent students from escaping” as a prison! Too funny! This next school year I will be teaching 4th grade at my tech limited school. We just recently got a second computer lab and I already have clearance to start an after-school tech club. Minecraft will likely be a much easier sell than Second Life (as much as I disagree with that) so I will likely be using it as well as exploring other virtual worlds and tech tools available to upper elementary aged students (10-12 years old). I will try to avoid building a prison for them Drax. 😉
Thx for listening Silly. I hope Mirek’s great Minecraft story does not get drowned out by all the SL drama. You have to connect with him and share ideas > maybe a teacher meet-up in SL 🙂
I agree with Erik about New World Notes / Hamlet.
The fact that Hamlet *used to be* a semiofficial LL blogger, or that he was just talking to someone else who *used to* work for LL does not make him relevant to SL as it is now.
Repeatedly highlighting that many (if not most) of the most popular regions are rated Adult leaves a false impression. A true reporter would visit those areas, at least casually to see if there is actual adult content where the casual visitor would stumble across it. In my experience most are really very modest.
I stopped reading NWN years ago as it became increasingly irrelevant to my Second Life. The less attention paid to this SL poser the better.
Thanks for asking me to comment on this Bernhard, though I do like to emphisize that I’m not in favor of growing a platform for people who like to play the echo box riding on any other channel that could generate clicks for their own glory.
Second Life is a nishe market, wether the users like it or not and for very good reasons.
For one, Sl hasn’t been for everyone due to the simple fact that it has had a high learning curve from the start for many people, not to mention the hardware and bandwidth you needed to show it properly.
Secondly, the businessmodel requires users to pay a reasonably big sum of money to get going beyond the social part of it all.
This means that in order to get a platform like Second Life going, you need above average intelligent people that have money or people with enough money to support them.
I think it’s kind of short sighted to say the xxx industry is a bad thing inside SL.
If it were, the lab would have closed them down years ago. The truth of the matter is, they bring in enough money to keep them inside.
Lot’s of people are drawn to SL because of it, usually around springtime when drifts are at it’s high point. I don’t have the data, but I’m sure a peak in it will be noticable.
I’ve lived and worked in Amsterdam for years, so Jo Yardley knows what I’m talking about.
When family’s visit Amsterdam, they go to the Van Gogh Museum, Anne Franks House and other socially correct venues. During fairs, when men (and women) travel alone or with their colleages, the first things they visit are the red light district and coffeshops.
The bottomline here is perception, not about Second Life, but life in general.
Second Life might be a virtual world, but it is no different from real life.
All you see in real life, will be reflected inside Second Life. People have a choice to go where they want. Don’t blame the xxx industry for the lab’s incapabillity to direct new users in a proper way.
I know lots of people here in Amsterdam will agree with me when I say I’m getting sick of the selfrightiousness of American journalism.
Being accurate and full reporting on anything doesn’t have anything to do with balance.
When a young kid’s live gets saved by it’s teacher by doing the heimlich manouvre, does a reporter need to include in the same article that in the same town there have been 5 people shot dead by triggerhappy cops that feel like Dirty Harry all day long? You can fill in the blanks yourself (pun intended).
Seeing hamlet reacting on a positive article about Second Life in the way he did, told me about his perception on life and himself. As he stated in your interview, he formed an opinion based on his own perception of quality journalism by saying the article was not complete of even biased. So feeling superior he decided to enforce his opinion upon it to show his following and underline his superiority. He did this in such a narcissistic way that he forgot he wasn’t telling anything new by doing so.
So I’m asking, where’s the news in this?
There is sex in Second Life? Type in ‘sex in minecraft’ on Google.
Sex is a part of Second Life as it is in real life, no news there.
The possible news here is that Hamlet is either feeling he’s losing relevancy with his following, or he just likes to type weiner and chuckles as the clicks pile up to it.
If I weren’t connected to you Bernhard Drax, I would not have heard of hamlet (notice I’m not using a Capitol as I think it would be an insult to Shakespear).
Do your following good and neglect posts like this, they will get irrelevant by doing so.
Stop giving these people a platform and focus on FB liking, Google +’ing and resharing all the sites, sims, people, machinima, art and good articles about the things you’re passionate about (there’s no doubt you are).
Ori
Great treatment of the controversy, guys. I agree with you; it’s counterproductive to constantly rehash the point that there is sex in SL. The claim that failing to do so somehow is sloppy journalism is akin to saying that any restaurant review that doesn’t include a discussion of the perils of alcoholism somehow falls short of the ethical standards of the profession.
via a IM reminder to me from Xiola Linden: SS Galaxy did not “go down” because of tier but other issues as hinted at on their blog http://ssgalaxynews.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/update-on-ss-galaxy.html
Hamlet may have wanted clicks in his truth in journalism position but perhaps his goal is to act as the TMZ of what we have known in all topics. If fitted mesh allows a faster undress than rigged .. do I have to know this vital information.
If the opportunity to report on any of the wonderful builds in SL has to waste language on SL’s sexual content the reader is the loser..
The rickshaw ride through The Japanese Garden needs no Hamlet truth spin.
I commented on the youtube video and was directed here, and boy, am I glad I was. By the other comments, I can see that clearly others are upset with what Hamlet said in the debate. I got to be doubly insulted when he so crassly pinned the “sex problem” on furries. Twice. Even most trolls find us old hat, so hearing it felt like I was listening to something from 2007. However, it gives me a wonderful chance to point out the public image problems that Second Life and the furry fandom have in common. Both have been painted with a broad brush by the media as sexual deviants and generally weirdos. However, things started turning around for furries a few years ago when Dr. Samuel Conway (known as Uncle Kage) got involved. He is the chairman for Anthrocon, the world’s largest furry convention. He made sure the local media focused on the positive aspects of the convention like how much money they were bringing in to the local economy, charitable contributions, and so on. And really, that’s the ideal for Second Life coverage in the mainstream media, too, isn’t it? A bit about the creativity and interests that people have, and for the people watching who still aren’t convinced there’d be a bit about how much money is raised for charity. Uncle Kage also has great ways of downplaying the sexual aspects of the fandom which could probably be used for SL as well. Anyway, his talks are entertaining, and I think there’s a lot to be learned from his Furries and the Media panel. https://youtu.be/KHZX0IvavEo
Med vinteren kommer en ekstra utfordring som gjør at det blir lettere å for
innbruddstyven å avsløre at du ikke er hjemme: snø.