Cartoon of The Day: TV Gone To One's Head

 

 Taken at the Fantasy Faire. Why this dragon had a head resembling a TV set, well, who knows.

 

By Bixyl Shuftan

 

 

This Saturday at The Science Circle

 

  Saturday November 18

    ~*~

    

    At 10 AM PST   

    Human Migration: What Can It Tell Us About Our Past And Future

    By Linday Kelley and Merrill Johnson

    https://www.sciencecircle.org/event/human-migration/

 

    The Science Circle (72,129,30)

      

    ~*~

 

    At 9 PM PST   

    World Television Day

    Jes Stannard

    https://www.sciencecircle.org/event/world-television-day/

    

    The Science Circle (72,129,30)

 

 

    ~*~

    

    NOTE: Non-members required to register once

    IM Jes Cobalt or Nymf Hathaway

╚══════════════════════════════ The Science Circle (72,129,30) ═╝

 

Sci-fi Actor Yee Jee Tso Interview At Spooky Strides

 

Last month's Spooky Strides event had a number of events. Among them was an interview with a movie and TV actor whom had come onto Second Life. This was Yee Jee Tso. He answered a number of questions concerning his career. And he had a question of his own, about how to donate to the nearby kiosk.
 
Read the interview in People.
 

EOTB: Lab Announces "Casting Call" For Romance Stories For "Major TV Network"

 

For those of you who are willing to talk about your romances inworld, a recent announcement by Linden Lab may be for you. On Thursday July 15, The Lab announced on the official blog that "a major US network" was looking for Second Life romance stories for a show of theirs.

Here’s your chance to share the story of your romance or intimate relationship to a national audience as part of an all-new show in development for a major U.S. network!

An established NYC-based production company is now casting Second Life community members for an all-new unscripted series that will follow people who have met online and are ideally in a romantic relationship, but have never actually met in person. As part of the show, you’ll have a chance to meet in person for the very first time!

Other than the network being from New York City, there's no information as which one it is.  Those interested are asked to send an email to longdistancetvcasting@gmail.com. The offer is limited to US citizens 18 and over, and are asked not to share information that's sensitive and too personal.

To read the blog post in full: Click Here.

Cartoon of the Day

Taken at Natoma

By Bixyl Shuftan

Second Life Featured on Dr. Phil

Second Life isn't featured in mainstream media as much as it used to be. So when it is, it's news. And when The virtual world was going to be mentioned on the "Dr. Phil" talk show, Linden Lab mentioned in on their blog.

Mark your calendars and set your DVRs: an upcoming episode of the popular daytime talk show, Dr. Phil will feature Second Life and some comments from Linden Lab CEO Ebbe Altberg (Ebbe Linden in SL). The episode is slated to air on Tuesday, July 14, and you can find your local listings through the Dr. Phil website. Be sure to catch the very beginning of the show - you won’t want to miss Dr. Phil controlling his avatar live on what’s very likely the largest monitor Second Life has ever run on (40 feet wide!).

And in the first few minutes of the show, Dr. Phil used "the very popular Second Life" as an example of how far computer entertainment has gone from the early days of Pong and Pac Man, "I can literally create an entire world for myself and meet other people, or at least their avatars." The audience chuckled as they saw his avatar somersault in the air and fly, "Let me see you do *that*!" He showed clips of his avatar flying around, with and without a plane, riding a "Tron" lightcycle, walking the streets of 1920s Berlin, and shop in a virtual store.

But the show wasn't mainly about Second Life, but rather, the story about one 23 year old young man whom had a severe gaming addiction.

The episode is focused on helping a young man who is sadly struggling with a number of problems, including an addiction to playing an online game. He’s not a Second Life user, nor is Second Life presented on the show as a negative experience. Instead, it’s shown as an example of how far digital experiences have come from the days of Pac-Man and Pong, and Ebbe briefly speaks with Dr. Phil about some of the incredibly positive ways Second Life is being used by people around the world - from education to entrepreneurship, creative self-expression, and more.

In addition to a number of Lindens who helped make it possible for Second Life to be included in the program, we’d like to give special thanks to Naughty Mole, Abnor Mole, Ancient Mole, Bat Mole, and Draxtor Despres for their help in creating Dr. Phil’s avatar and filming some inworld footage showing his explorations of Second Life.

Dr. Phil emphasized early on he wasn't slamming computer gaming in general, "I think they can be very good." But that it was the abuse of them that he was concerned about. Later in the show, he invited Ebbe Altberg (known inworld as Ebbe Linden), Linden Lab's CEO, whom was in the TV audience, a few moments to explain.

In her blog, Jo Yardley mentioned she had met the Dr. Phil avatar, concluding it was either him or someone from his TV show team. With the show not yet having been played, she had mixed feelings about Second Life being mentioned on his show, "I soon learned that Ebbe Altberg (AKA Ebbe Linden, CEO of Linden Lab) was also interviewed by Dr. Phil and Ebbe knows how to handle himself when talking to the media. ... And with its several million users, it could be a nice bit of PR for SL.The first videos the Dr. Phil show has put online so far seem to share with the world that not all games are bad and Second Life seems to get some positive attention, being described as the good side of gaming. Still, I can’t help but be a little worried about how our virtual world is going to be portrayed to the media, will we be part of the problem, or part of the solution?"

Strawberry Singh described in her own blog about how she, Draxtor Despress, and Marianne McCann helped out Dr, Phil in his flying. She would later watch the episode in question, an update her entry

I watched the show and live plurked it all at this link. Dr. Phil didn’t say anything negative about gaming, virtual worlds or Second Life. He just said that it’s the ‘abuse’ not the ‘use’ of gaming that is dangerous. He also had some other gamers on, after Ebbe, that talked about how they have full, successful real lives but still balance a healthy gaming lifestyle along with their real lives.

So it appears Second Life's portrayal was short but positive. Hopefully there will be more and longer exposures in the larger media soon.

Bixyl Shuftan

Eye On the Blog: "Production Company Seeking UK Residents for TV Documentary"

In the official Second Life blog a few days ago, Linden Lab announced that there was a chance for a British Second Life couple to appear on television.

We were recently contacted by Back2back Productions, a production company in the UK, about a documentary series they’re working on, one episode of which will feature stories of couples that first met online. For the episode, they are currently looking to speak with UK-based Second Life users “who have solid relationships/marriages as a result of meeting in these online communities, but also couples who are together online but not yet in real life.”

The show is described as “an entirely positive exploration of these relationships and plans to overturn people’s misconceptions through honest storytelling – it’s very much about ‘love conquering all.’”Although international couples are okay, at least one partner should be British to qualify. Those interested can contact the producers at jamie.stratton@back2back.tv, "All initial conversations will be strictly confidentia."

Return to “The 1st Question”

Ever want to be on TV? Well, Second Life offers opportunities to appear there. This even includes game shows. On Tuesday the 29th, I was invited to appear on “The 1st Question,” a show that’s both funny and entertaining, with it’s creative use of science trivia questions.

Read the story in People.