The Click Heard Round the World

Presenting at the International Criminal Court!

Barry Joseph and I just finished a couple of, we think, fairly successful presentations to staff at the International Criminal Court on our plans to launch the International Justice Center in Second Life next month.  The ICC is a huge institution, occupying two gleaming towers that were formerly the headquarters of a major Dutch television network. We were lucky enough to have the chance to present to the different branches of the ICC, and have some useful conversations about the ICC and virtual worlds.

I think Barry and I did a good job representing the project and the larger context -- using images and machinima to punctuate our points. A number of important questions that got raised by the audience. But at the end, I would typify their reaction as guarded enthusiasm. Which for a large bureaucracy like the ICC is a huge win.

By chance, a local Dutch paper featured a story about the "dangers" of virtual worlds today. The article apparently reported in a somewhat tongue-in-cheek manner that the CIA was looking at Second Life as a possible venue for the transfer of funds anonymously to terrorist groups. I like that the story features a picture of some World of Warcraft avatars with the caption "Who is the terrorist?". Not the best timing, but didn't seem to affect our presentation in any way.

Now Barry and I are off to Amsterdam to meet up with my friend Maria and Frans Charming for some much deserved downtime.  Can't wait to get some Indonesian food. Mmmm, lekker!

Global Kids in The Hague!

Barry Joseph and I had a remarkable first day running around the city of The Hague in the Netherlands, spreading the Global Kids love to groups around here.  The Hague has an incredibly rich history as a center for diplomatic, international law, and peace activities, with over 150 international organisations based here, including the International Criminal Court (ICC), the International Court of Justice (ICJ), and the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia.  So it's a great place for Global Kids to make connections with groups doing work on global issues that we care about.

Barry and I met with a couple of NGOs based in the Hague to talk specifically about the International Justice Center we are launching on March 20 in Second Life.  We were impressed by their enthusiasm for the medium of Second Life, and creativity in thinking of ways to leverage the technology for education and awareness raising in different communities around the world.

The Hague is a modern and beautiful city, full of parks and monuments.  After Barry's and my meetings this afternoon, we retired to the Centrum district, a lively shopping and dining neighborhood. I introduced Barry to "broodje hering," a traditional sandwich of raw herring with onions on some dark bread.  Really delicious, but perhaps the worst thing you could eat before a date. 

It was an exhausting and fulfilling first day in The Netherlands.  Tomorrow: the International Criminal Court!

Off to The Hague to meet with the ICC!

Barry Joseph and I are getting ready to board a plane headed to the city of the Hague in the Netherlands to meet with some folks at the International Criminal Court.  We are going to bring them up to speed on our plans to launch the International Justice Center in Second Life on March 20, and our hope that we can work in close cooperation with the ICC and its various organs.

Finally coming to the ICC, after having worked for the coalition that was instrumental in the Court coming into being ten years ago, is not without emotion for me.  I know that the experience is likely to be somewhat of a letdown once we get into the bureaucratic processes and legalese that comes with a complex judicial body such as this one.  Still, it's very exciting!

Cool machinima to promote Hamlet Au's new book on Second Life

The Making of Second Life from TheMakingOfSecondLife on Vimeo.

I totally digging this sweet machinima created to promote my buddy Hamlet Au's upcoming book The Making of Second Life. From the synopsis:

Wagner James Au explores the long, implausible road behind [Second Life's] success, and looks at the road ahead, where many believe that user-created worlds like Second Life will become the Net's next generation and the fulcrum for a revolution in the way we shop, work, and interact. Au's story is narrated from both within the corporate offices of Linden Lab, Second Life's creator, and from within Second Life itself, revealing all the fascinating, outrageous, brilliant, and aggravating personalities who make Second Life a very real place ­— and an illuminating mirror on the real (physical) world. Au writes about the wars they fought (sometimes literally), the transformations they underwent, the empires of land and commerce they developed, and above all, the collaborative creativity that makes their society an imperfect utopia, better in some ways than the one beyond their computer screens.

I hear that my copy is in the mail -- can't wait!

If it's Thursday, this must be Chicago

[CC-licensed photo by benchilada ]

The last few weeks have been filled with a somewhat ridiculous amount of travel for Global Kids, including two trips to Chicago, a hop over to Los Angeles, and culminating in a transatlantic flight to the Netherlands at the end of this month.  The purpose of all these trips has generally been to solidify relationships with key partners of Global Kids and firm up respective responsibilities and next steps. As one of the new kids on the staff, these trips have been invaluable ways for me to get up to speed quickly on the larger nexus of institutions and individuals that Global Kids is a part of.

It's somewhat ironic that Global Kids Online Leadership Program works in the virtual world, but accomplishes much of its relationship building and partnerships up close with people not avatars.  The reality is that nothing beats the "high speed socio-emotional bandwidth" that comes with face-to-face encounters.

Here are some random musings rolling around my brain from all of these meetings...

Encyclopedia of Life to Launch on February 28 at TED Conference!

While I was in Chicago this week, I met up with some nice folks at the incredible Field Museum (you will recall my previous adventures with their flesh eating beetles.) I learned that they are working with several other research and academic institutions to launch very soon something called the "Encyclopedia of Life."

The Encyclopedia of Life is basically a massive database of information about every living species on the planet. Each species has its own page of information, including rich textual descriptions, images, video, and links to other species that it interacts with and depends upon.  This is very much a work-in-progress, a moderated wiki -- so everyone can play a part by contributing photos, videos, and GPS data.

On Thursday, February 28, the first version of the EOL will be formally launched at the TED conference in Monterrey.  The initial EOL will contain a massive 1.8 million stub pages with basic information about the various species, and 35,000 full species pages of information, mostly focused on fish.

I'm super excited about the EOL, which I think is going to be a powerful tool to help people understand the rich diversity of life around them.

I like how you can dial up and down the level of detail about each species, from very basic information to the most up-to-date research data and scientific studies of that species.  So for a 5th grade class, you might have students look at the more basic species pages to write a report of the animals they saw at their local zoo, or insects they found in a neighborhood park.  Or a bird enthusiast might find out which ornithologists are studying the blue-billed wood thrush, and even help with the research. 

Young hoofer taps with funky bass & drums (video)

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This kid just kills it, performing rhythm tap with a funky bass and drums at the American Museum of Natural History today. This was part of an all-day program on African american music and dance. (Sorry, I didn't catch his name.)

Rhythm Hoofer Maurice Chestnut at Natural History Museum (video)

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Here's some neat footage I took of rhythm hoofer Maurice performing with a drummer and bass today at the American Museum of Natural History.  This was part of an all-day program on African american music and dance.

MacArthur & HASTAC fund 17 badass digital civic engagement and education projects

Picture of Sustainable South Bronx FabLab

Last Thursday, I had the pleasure of being among an energetic group of educators, tech developers, activists, and researchers representing 17 new digital media and learning projects funded by the MacArthur Foundation and the HASTAC consortium.  I'm extremely proud of Global Kid's own winning project -- RezEd -- a social networking platform and podcast for educators who use virtual worlds and MMORPGs in the classroom.  But I'm also blown away by the bleeding edge, diverse initiatives that the other winners are launching -- from an environmental ARG to a conflict resolution computer game to a news/social activism mash-up.

After the jump I discuss some of my favorites...

NetSquared offering $100K for Mash-ups for Social Change

My buddy Glitteractica sends out a cool challenge being promoted by the NetSquared conference for technology mash-ups for social change. If you have a cool idea combining different web, mobile or other tech that meets some need in your community, draft it up and send it in to NetSquared by March 14.  Here's some examples:

• Maplight.org displays the link between money and politics by bringing together information about campaign contributions and legislative votes.
• ChicagoCrimes.org is a browsable database of crimes in Chicago that lets users see information displayed on a map.
• ActiveTrails shows visitors a list of active hiking and biking trails across the United States. Users play a big role in supplying information.
• Tunisian Prison Map pulls from a variety of sources to locate the prisons on a map and links to videos and other information relating to the prisons.

On March 24 the top 20 mashups will be announced, and the winners will be invited to attend this year’s NetSquared Conference (N2Y3) in San Jose, CA from May 27-28. At the Conference, project teams will have an opportunity to display and discuss their mashups, and attendees will vote to select the top three. All twenty projects at the Conference will receive a share of $100,000 in prize money.

To submit your project and for more info, go to http://www.netsquared.org/mashup.