show #148: hifi is happening

today we are checking in with high fidelity >>> what is happening, where they at, etc? we learn that there is a feature where you can clone yourself multiple times and play back a recording of yourself and drive people quite mad. please enjoy this slightly avantgarde programming [and if you want to skip ahead…

show 143: vr in germany [part 4:zdf digital]

a team of second life/sansar folks were in frankfurt while the american colleagues partied at svvr 2017 and our sl friends mingled in-world at vwbpe over discussions about education in vws…were we jealous that we could not be at these other events? no because it was super interesting to be here in germany, where things…

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 #132: marc canter

happy 2017 dear listeners and we start the year after our winter break with a heavy-hitter of a show: silicon valley guru and enfant terrible of the tech world marc canter is our guest, we talk sansar media blitz and we look at second life pages. enjoy! and now your obligatory reading material regarding the…

show #128: vr in germany [part2: mirek hancl]

dear listeners: as we are struggling to unplug from a world where trump is president-elect enjoy great food for thought from an inspiring educator who is not afraid of tech in the classroom: read on now: this is not a vr simulation: trump really is president and it is not palmer luckey’s fault [alone] This isn't…

show #126: space [the final frontier?]

a podcast accompanied by a video of a virtual non sl drax walking around a desert for 40 minutes – we know: you been waiting for this one so enjoy! and now for some reading material from the context department: black mirror on netflix = required viewing! below only a non-spoiler excerpt [and no: it…

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 #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 #112: the state of vr = ready for primetime? [pt2]

…and we continue taking stock of the vr “movement” as it stands today, of course from a sl vantage point. and that means: old grumpy pioneers complaining about new kids on the block. or not. judge for yourself: we discussed a lot of things and were generally all over the place [what’s new?] so here…

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 #99: a young reporter’s tale of vr

possibly the shortest show ever [due to holiday madness], nonetheless a killer exclusive = a next gen reporter talking with vr luminaries about next gen tech and all that in bite sized chunks for very low attention span consumers of the program [still longer than your average vine i am sorry…]: read on dear listener: everything…

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 #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 #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 #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 #75: hifi

you may have guessed it [from the title i am sure] = we are in a different virtual world this week and as such we have on the show today a gaggle of special guests indeed including one philip rosedale in a sit-down interview conducted at an actual physical location. enjoy an overview of high…

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 #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 #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 #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 #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 #37 virtual therapy?

is a virtual world able to provide help in the event of a crises, a psychological crises? can psychotherapy work in second life, with all the anonymity and lack of “face-to-face” communication? we discuss today with our guest dr. tammy fletcher the possibilities and pitfalls of virtual therapy. she ran the “wellness island”  in-world between…

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 #29: terms, terms, terms AGAIN [rerun]

linden lab has updated its controversial terms of service while we are on summer break and therefore we are running again an extensive interview with artist and activist richard a. goldberg. enjoy and join the discussion: for the most current news on the tos issue [until we are back with weekly live-to-tape shows] please check…

show #19: back to the future of the metaverse

you know that old joke: a trans-humanist walks into second life and… well: in the case of our [slightly botched] taping yesterday a bunch of really nice trans-humanists wanted to discuss various aspects of the metaverse and subsequently crashed the sim. however some stuff we caught via google hangout audio stream so enjoy the leftovers……

show #18: lindens are people too! [part 3]

you wanted more linden interviews and what are we going to present this week? yes exactly: a conversation with a linden who enjoys quality tv shows like “macgyver”! plus race-car driving sl pioneers…. ….and of course karl krantz who is tirelessly educating vr youngsters about a little known [albeit vast] digital universe: more reading material to deepen…

show #17: lindens are people too! [part 2]

yes there was more raw interviews with linden lab engineers and we are airing it all. plus: vr news as usual and the beauty of fantasy faire explained. listen up [preferably on stitcher]: …and read/watch some more for context: – leap motion giveaway: watch the new TDF episode, find the answer and let us know…

show #14: philip > there thou art!

you guessed it: this show is all about mr.rosedale aka philip [formerly] linden and what he has been up to since going back to creating worlds. there is indeed a LOT of new shiny stuff to talk about. listen and learn: and now read some more: – leap motion giveaway [leave us a message on skype draxfiles…

show #13: terms, terms, terms….

we are tackling two big challenging things this week: recording the show with our oculi on while trying not to bump into physical objects AND we are discussing the linden lab terms of service. brace yourself and listen to the full hour before commenting, deal? and additional reading material as per usual below: – sl…

show #10: oculus!!!

friends: time for oculus rift demo roller-coasters and tiny little tuscany replicas to move aside coz….. “they may have the goggles but WE got the world!” [i am printing a shirt with that slogan RIGHT now while waiting for my loaner oculus to be shipped from maine!] yes it is true: oculus integration into sl is…