show #133: sansar anxiety [getting stronger…]

  what do you fear about sansar, the next gen virtual world they are cooking up over at linden lab? and what are yout hopes? and why on earth do we host this show on a day where most people [especially americans] have enough anxiety about the future of the REAL world? enjoy this recording of our…

show #122: sl13b [and then we on vacation!]

[****news flash: jo and drax are on podcast vacation until 10/15 > please enjoy the archives & thx for your support***]   our last show before the summer break = we were LIVE celebrating 13 years of our wonderful, gigantic, mad, creative, frustrating, beautiful world… great guests, great exhibits, still up for you to check…

show #121: leftovers (svvr 2016 part2)

so much fabulous “tape” was found two months after visiting svvr 2016 in san jose: a woman who was married in vr in the 90ties, a 360 video documentarian who went to chernobyl and a lot more. this is the last show before the summer break so here is a full dose of deep thought…

show #120: sex and virtuality

and here is the topic we avoided for 119 shows = sex in virtual worlds and vr! great guests from sl and REAL life: an interview with psychic reader and sex connosieur monavie voight starts at 9:41 & the conversation with vr porn star ela darling at 25:15. i highly recommend listening to the entire show though…

show #119: money money money

finally drax gets educated on money – be it virtual or real! and oh yes: we start with lindex troubles and end with gloebit solutions = an hour full of monetary theory [and solutions!]. enjoy: and links: lindex in trouble [but possibly out of trouble as we go to air!] our guest christopher colosi [formerly…

show #117: project alice, ginsu + kent

a shorter show because you guys got a longer one last week. sorry… but awesome “tape” from svvr 2016 = vr with haptics from noitom, ginsu yoon former linden with strong positive words on the future and vr philosopher kent bye offers even more insights than last time he was on the show. enjoy: more…

show #116: hifi revisited

fresh off of announcing public beta at svvr 2016 we discuss philip rosedale’s new world high fidelity vis-a-vis project sansar. that and the usual banter and 1920’s berlin subliminal ads… enjoy: and find below additional audio/visual linkage for further reading/marveling at: svvr 2016 keynotes: drax fave at svvr = noitom’s project alice [which he experienced…

show #115: lab chat numero three

and here is the lab chat audio from just an hour ago = the live show was very well attended to say the least. listen to ebbe, oz and troy spill beans on what is happening at linden: more info on the topics discussed: project bento project sansar and so much more f.e. elastic marketplace search…

show #113: fantasy faire 2016

we all know it: second life has a lot of impact, be it for the creative individual that thrives making things or for large institutions which use the world to fundraise. today on the show: all about fantasy faire 2016 and how fantastic virtual creations can help battle cancer in the physical world! more info on…

show #111: the state of vr = ready for primetime? [pt1]

our guests josh farkas and rob crasco discuss – when they get a word in edge-wise – what the state of consumer vr is in april 2016 vis-a-vis sl. enjoy: linkage below: our guests josh farkas from cubicle ninjas and roblem vr aka rob crasco fb will spy on you [when you wear oculus] and…

show #109: wainbrave bernal

a show about how vr was hyped in 1989, a show with a sl pioneer and his idea on learning in virtual environments, a show that is great and pretty much an hour long. take a listen [and sorry for the mediocre audio – was a noisy recording venue]: reading material below: our guest wainbrave…

show #106: the full monty drax

we are going into serious over-time today with an edited version of drax appearance on “the real virtual show” hosted by malia probst, talking sl and how sl is important for the advent of consumer vr… …and we address the recent bans of prominent content creators in sl, with more in depth discussion to follow…

show #105: gamer motivation demystified

fascinating talk this week with nick yee, psychologist and researcher  of why gamers [and slers] do what they do! you want to know why you are in sl? jump to the main interview at 26min to get the answer or get the whole awesome hour from the top: and below for the people who like…

show #104: got vision?

again a show with some perspective [if we may claim so ourselves]: tony walsh, game designer and vw pioneer, and jacki morie, the original gangsta goddess of vr! enjoy: and don’t forget to read and comment: our guests tony walsh from phantom compass [& his sl centric blog clickable culture] + below: how we met…

show #101: lab chat returns

and here we are in 2016 with a brand new lab chat, co-moderated by our own jo yardley: enjoy and comment aplenty. we will be back in full force and non-stopping attitude with fresh programming on february 5th [yes i will bring back many many interviews from sundance 2016 but we won’t ignore second life…

show #97: lab chat response

a brief show in response to the emotionally charged comment threads which started after the first lab chat broadcast…who would have expected that a few were of the nasty kind? enjoy out post mortem analysis: and just handful of links this week as we are out the door already: ciaran laval is writing on the…

show #94: what happened in dublin…

back from the dublin web summit, where vr was just one tiny portion of this gigantic and [for exhibitors] pricey pitch-fest. while many “solutions” of the alpha crowd seem anachronistic and in the worst case bizarre, there were fabulous panels, great guinness and free wifi on the public bus. there was also, ebbe linden, a…

show #93: the vr crossroads

are you gleaning from the title that today we have a show where two concerned parents spend 30+ minutes complaining about “the kids today with their hmds…”? you gleaned wrong: we talk saturated media environments and the pros and cons of vr with reuben steiger, who was right there even way before sl even started….

show #91: celia pearce on everything!!

celia pearce teaches game design and game history, she is a pirate in second life, wrote books on play and digital communities & of course co-founded the indiecade festival which is going on in los angeles right as we are posting this very show. enjoy a candid conversation with an important thinker in the space of…

show #89: vr kids

today a look at how vr can help kids with physical disabilities or temporary impairments. fascinating. and more of course. and high fidelity and more…of course: reading desired? here we go: havok engine bought by microsoft hololens dev kit for 3k [us$ not l$ ! ! ! ] tony parisi has a new job and…

show #86: curious george

back in the glorious days of ’08 the scilands archipelago of sims was home to MICA which stands for meta-institute for computational astrophysics. among many thriving exhibits run by a number of other institutions, MICA held public lectures and was focused on communicating with the enthusiastic science “amateur”. our guest today is curious george aka caltech professor…

show #83: perspective

show #83 today with our guest roblemVR we ponder the state of vr in the context of sl plus interviews with castAR founders jeri elsworth & rick johnson. and more [of course!]: read on fellow enthusiast, read on now: sponsor bright canopy is ready to open doors super giveaway [UPDATE: it is GONE = only white/black…

show #81: sansar anxiety

season 3 of the podcast is here and the next generation virtual world linden lab is building [working title “project sansar”] may or may not cause anxiety in second life users. our panel discusses emotions and speculates about the future of the metaverse. enjoy: sponsor spotlight: cube republic makes fabulous thingies the [infamous?] qz article that…

show 80: minecraft [rerun]

a great conversation with teacher mirek hancl who uses minecraft in the classroom. that success could have belonged to sl we think, but why is mc so successful in edu circles? enjoy this last rerun before season 3 hits the aggregators: – mirek hancl teaches minecraft [he appears in “virtualize it!” from spiegel tv] – binnen…

show 79: harry potter in sl vr [rerun]

last rerun before season 3 hits the drax files radio hour & jo yardley will be back. today a conversation with about mischief managed, a harry potter roleplaying operation in second life. enjoy: – our new sponsors from avazines – they also have  brightmetallic and toxic candy in their portfolio… – our featured guests corwin lacourte…

show #72: talkin’ bout virtual money with chris [rerun]

while drax is digesting his experiences at augmented world expo and jo enjoys the 6th anniversary of 1920’s berlin, let’s listen to christopher colosi [formerly of linden lab under the colossus name] explain his take on virtual currency world domination via his new startup gloebit: this interview first aired on show #40, good discussion going on in…

show #70: all about vw therapy [rerun]

our guest [licensed marriage and family therapist]tammy fletcher aka avalon birke in sl dispels some myths about providing counseling services in virtual worlds. fascinating: we hope you enjoyed the show, more on tammy’s rl operation is here. while drax files radio is on summer mode – make sure to read the relevant blogs linked here to…

show #69: the young person’s guide to svvr 2015

two days of goggle [NOT just google by any meands] madness in san jose: svvr2015 aka the vrexpo on 40k square meters at the san jose convention center wrapped tuesday night. drax & assistant were there for one day & got a good sense of the state of vr in 2015: if you have the…

show #65: brooke makes marketplace

brooke linden is a senior producer at linden lab and oversees all things marketplace, the amazon/etsy of virtual goods & services for second life. a website that delivers items to the tune of several million US$ into the hands of avatars all over the grid every day. enjoy the show: and now read on if you…

show #64: pathfinder

john “pathfinder” lester formerly linden was creating communities for people with disabilities at harvard medical school when 3d persistent virtual worlds and vr headsets were still a dream and/or simply way to expensive to ever get into the hands of the average user. in the early days at the lab he was instrumental in explaining a concept…

show #63: sl go = sl gone…

the amazing cloud streaming tech developed by onlive is now part of the sony family and today for the hour we have former senior product manager at onlive, dennis harper [also known as game geezer in sl], on what happened and what might happen: [aside: we debated to name this show “it’s dead jim” because we…

show #61: ranting with niran

everyone can create an sl viewer and niran actually did it: a young self-taught german furry and tinkerer sprung into action indeed. so behold, because today: the man behind black dragon! want to read? below please: – ready player one to be directed by steven spielberg – but when checked today = no more ready…

show #60: oz + ebbe = full steam ahead

today on the show = linden ceo ebbe altberg reveals next gen vw secrets & director of sl engineering oz linden [at 35:25] confidently addresses educators at vwbpe. exciting times: detailed reading linkage below as per usual: – daniel voyager summarizes the main points of ebbe linden’s keynote – inara pey transcribes ebbe’s speech [how…

show #59: gdc post mortem [with karl krantz]

the game developer conference in sf is over & the winner is: #vr [of course]! we have karl krantz give us the definitive overview –  what matters and what doesn’t. enjoy: more reading you like? of course: – our new sponsor fatewear is giving drax some shoes: – black dragon viewer now available to download…

show #58: beau hindman has seen it all!

game journalist beau hindman has been in second life since 2004 and knows what he is talking about. that is why we have him, finally! also = gdc is full of head mounted displays and free render engines. good or bad or neutral news for sl/ll? you be the judge: read, watch, listen: – our…

show #57: teaching in sl = dancing with the power points?

today’s show title is [obviously!] a play on the [most common?] educational use of second life & yes, while we are painting with a broad brush again, let us be honest – have you not been invited to a dance party where folks ran through a power point at the same time? jo and i sure…

show 55: one billion rising…

a live show today – with a rather large audience and all – minimally edited for the full authentic glory: if you caught this show before saturday 2/14th – head on over to the one billion rising sims in sl now and participate to end violence against women! and of course you can read on…

show #53: kaya’s passion

kaya angel is a well-known and respected content creator in second life. his recent video where he shares his passion for creation and community is a great testament for the uniqueness of a user-empowering virtual world. jo is not in the house today so i was able to talk with kaya for 40+ minutes about…

show #52: sl looks good today!

a fab reaffirming show with some second life enthusiasts from madpea games. that is it! enjoy: and now read on to get the gist: – our new sponsor maven homes – get a leap motion by telling us a bad marketing idea from sl [and read all about dragonfly on roadtovr] – news from daily…

show #50: dmca

our 50th anniversary has tracy redangel and kitty o’toole discussing legal matters with us & fatima mekkaoui tells us her stories imvu. fascinating: now on to more reading if you will: – firestorm is on sl go and sl go can enter multiple grids – congrats to rob [who are you though?] for winning a leap…

show #46: unter den lindens

drax went to linden lab hq in san francisco [because you know they are still the s*** in virtual worlds] and saw the light. or did he? what does the above sentence even mean? take a listen and hear straight from lindens, passionate lindens, who love to make the [digital] world a better place: and…

show #41: confessions of a lifer

on the show today we have a well-known and smart 10 year old: salazar jack aka justin esparza has been active in second life for a decade now and he knows a thing or two about what worked and what did not in a user-centric vw. lindens – are you listening? plus: dennis harper from…

show #40: chris, the money guy!

christopher colosi was once the ben bernanke of the virtual universe second life, setting policy, dealing with land barons and guiding a team that handles a 500 million us$ annual economy. now he is back with gloebit, a digital currency platform, ready to facilitate any [virtual] goods and services transaction. a fascinating conversation about “real” vs….

show #38: nothing but oculus!

sorry folks but we will talk second life and dk2 today & then we move on to oculus connect and crescent bay. that is it. oh wait: no, we also talk how to tackle sl messaging in the age of vr resurgence and teleporting in 4d. intrigued? well then, have a listen: good show? we…

show #33: tony parisi…again [because he is that good!] [rerun]

just as i finished putting the show together, guest tony parisi informed us that he has joined philip rosedale’s high fidelity virtual world venture as advisor. indeed perfect timing to replay the interview with tony from episode 26! enjoy & let us know in comments =  who should control the metaverse of the future? philip, tony…

show #32: what about opensim? [rerun with maria korolov]

another rerun folks, a good one though: maria korolov from the hypergrid business blog talking about how open virtual worlds will fit in with the metaverse of the future. enjoy: some linkage below: – maria’s open letter to the lindens – raph koster at wikimania on online communities: – visit frau jo’s new hotel adlon…

show #31: esteban [rerun]

esteban winsmore [aka charliezzz] owns most of second life [according to himself that is] & henceforth claims the right to crash any event, live in every house and/or repossess every business in our beloved virtual world. today: rerun of a conversation with the controversial man/figure/entity. enjoy & discuss: more linkage to explore below: – esteban’s youtube…

show #28: lunch with a lifer [part 1: stefan weiss]

muenchen is a popular tourist spot in real life and in second life it too has been thriving albeit only since 2007 and not 1158. the capital of bavaria in the virtual world is a lovingly put together group of sims. it recreates not only the landmark buildings around the historic marienplatz center but through events…

show #23: emily short [for the love of text, AI & IF]

folks, we are thrilled that emily short and her team have successfully negotiated with linden lab to keep great interactive fiction coming our way under the name versu. just out yesterday: “blood and laurels”, written by our guest, who delves deeply into all sorts of issues in this extensive interview: i press her on promising me…