Tuesday, August 21, 2007
John Seely Brown
John Seely Brown last night in a "fireside chat" (more like a lion-side chat, as it was before the Singapore Zoo night safari), in discussion with Doug Thomas of USC. Fascinating conversation about the nature of education and virtual worlds. "It's not about creativity, it's about imagination".
Also posited that the "gaming disposition" may be the most useful thing in the twentyfirst century world of work, helping people use the skills they learn in-game (or in-guild) to work with a diverse group in another organisational setting.
Also posited that the "gaming disposition" may be the most useful thing in the twentyfirst century world of work, helping people use the skills they learn in-game (or in-guild) to work with a diverse group in another organisational setting.
Xu Hui, HiPiHi founder
HiPiHi Press Conference (August 19th)
HiPiHi, a Beijing-based new virtual world, announced its plans yesterday at State of Play V conference in Singapore, at the Marina Mandarin hotel.
HiPiHi™ is China’s Virtual World platform creator and believes that virtual worlds are the next phase of the internet and is looking to become one of the global leaders, along with early participants such as Linden Lab (Second Life), and has kicked off limited beta testing and is expanding.
HiPiHi looks pretty much like Second Life; users create their own stuff and own their own IP, and sees its vision as pioneering an online virtual world in China. They also announced that they are interested in devleoping standards for virtual worlds, that they may well collaborate with Mixi, Japan's largest social networking site, with whom they share an investor (NGI, lead investor in the consortium).
The demo is just in Chinese, and I asked about other languages. Founder Xu Hui (nominated as one of the Top Ten China Internet Heroes in 1999)stated that this is a promotional launch, and with the full launch, the product will be multi-lingual, and this will be automatic, based on the users'operating system and information. I presume this means IP address: useful, but I do get annoyed when google sends me to google.co.uk rather than google.com. But less annoying, as I don't speak Chinese.
HiPiHi, a Beijing-based new virtual world, announced its plans yesterday at State of Play V conference in Singapore, at the Marina Mandarin hotel.
HiPiHi™ is China’s Virtual World platform creator and believes that virtual worlds are the next phase of the internet and is looking to become one of the global leaders, along with early participants such as Linden Lab (Second Life), and has kicked off limited beta testing and is expanding.
HiPiHi looks pretty much like Second Life; users create their own stuff and own their own IP, and sees its vision as pioneering an online virtual world in China. They also announced that they are interested in devleoping standards for virtual worlds, that they may well collaborate with Mixi, Japan's largest social networking site, with whom they share an investor (NGI, lead investor in the consortium).
The demo is just in Chinese, and I asked about other languages. Founder Xu Hui (nominated as one of the Top Ten China Internet Heroes in 1999)stated that this is a promotional launch, and with the full launch, the product will be multi-lingual, and this will be automatic, based on the users'operating system and information. I presume this means IP address: useful, but I do get annoyed when google sends me to google.co.uk rather than google.com. But less annoying, as I don't speak Chinese.
Monday, August 20, 2007
Jerry Paffendorf in the middle of the "building businesses" panel, talking about webphibians (who live online and off), and building a meta layer to the web, which encapsulates the transformative aspects of virtual worlds and helps you develop a persistent profile of who you are.
Personally, while I'm online-online and stalkers can find out pretty much anything, I'm still a little uncomfortable about the persistent profile. What if you want, like, a holiday.
Personally, while I'm online-online and stalkers can find out pretty much anything, I'm still a little uncomfortable about the persistent profile. What if you want, like, a holiday.
I can't believe it's nearly a year since I planned to come to Singapore for State of Play, originally scheduled for January. And I'm here.
It's a fascinating mix of academics, developers, sociologists, virtual worlds and associated hangers on. Debates so far have ranged from building businesses in virtual worlds, regulation and I'm currently listening to the education panel.
Connie Yowell from the MacArthur Foundation just said that "we need to shift from teaching to learning" and half the people in the room picked up a pen to make a note about it.
It's a fascinating mix of academics, developers, sociologists, virtual worlds and associated hangers on. Debates so far have ranged from building businesses in virtual worlds, regulation and I'm currently listening to the education panel.
Connie Yowell from the MacArthur Foundation just said that "we need to shift from teaching to learning" and half the people in the room picked up a pen to make a note about it.
Saturday, August 18, 2007
mooncakes
The mooncake festival isn't till September, but just like Christmas, it starts pretty early, and all the hotels and restaurants (and even Costbux) get in on the act.
Had a lovely lunch yesterday with J and J, talking about Singapore and food and travel, and they treated me to mooncakes, made of lotus paste, and the second from the left (cream, not yellow), were baileys flavour. Slightly untraditional, I grant you, but to die for.
Had a lovely lunch yesterday with J and J, talking about Singapore and food and travel, and they treated me to mooncakes, made of lotus paste, and the second from the left (cream, not yellow), were baileys flavour. Slightly untraditional, I grant you, but to die for.
durian
Durian is the local - acquired taste/smell - speciality, a fruit that tastes good but smells... well, odd. Behind, great lychees.
This in the fruit market behind Bugis, round the corner from where I used to live on Queen Street. Talk about memory lane: in some ways, not changed at all, but loads of building work, and in fact my old building is a building site. But everything is... renovated, neater, more perfect.
This in the fruit market behind Bugis, round the corner from where I used to live on Queen Street. Talk about memory lane: in some ways, not changed at all, but loads of building work, and in fact my old building is a building site. But everything is... renovated, neater, more perfect.
New York New York
This from a fastish food place in Marina Square shopping centre called New York New York (although I suspect a chain). Queue a mile long, so clearly popular. Wonder if they know that in New York people eat neither crispy fish pasta or mushroom cuppucino.
Classifieds
This morning's classifieds in the Singapore Straits Times - snake charmer for hire. We have a call for those in Kilburn, too.
DSC03002
In Costbux - buttery croissant, rather than butter. And about 85p, you might be interested to know.
reduce
This is a sale ad in a retail clothes store. I love how it sounds like it's exhorting you to diet rather than buy reduced clothes.
DSC03004
There' something interesting about copywriting here in Singapore. I know that Singlish (as locals call it) is... well, I guess a dialect of English, so the rules that I know don't apply. So some of the things that I see are local usage. But what's interesting is that there's a slightly... flowery language, I think perhaps reflective of customer service and attention to detail. Interesting, is all.
This one, I just don't get. Hook you in? Local variant?
This one, I just don't get. Hook you in? Local variant?
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Facebook is the word I hear in every bar, coffee shop, at every airport and train station I'm at.
All pervasive, sure.
But something weird's happened. THere is no way in the world that I would sign up the the Questions API and ask people stupid stuff, but now Facebook has seemingly asked everyone I know "if they kiss on the first day", like, I'd really ask people that. I am annoyed, hassled, and don't really have the tech skills to unpick why facebook is making me look like I need a prom date, or I'm in John Hughes movie or I'm twelve. P-u-lease.
All pervasive, sure.
But something weird's happened. THere is no way in the world that I would sign up the the Questions API and ask people stupid stuff, but now Facebook has seemingly asked everyone I know "if they kiss on the first day", like, I'd really ask people that. I am annoyed, hassled, and don't really have the tech skills to unpick why facebook is making me look like I need a prom date, or I'm in John Hughes movie or I'm twelve. P-u-lease.
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Starbucks, Singapore
Like I said, Costbux everywhere, and not a drop to drink. I mean, even the chairs are the same.
Sometimes, with travel - aside from the eco-guilt - when you get there, it's just like home. Globalisation. Gah.
Sometimes, with travel - aside from the eco-guilt - when you get there, it's just like home. Globalisation. Gah.
Singapore, marina area
Singapore is really built up now. Shiny, pointed, humid, neat, perfect. And boy, are people polite. I'd forgotten the lovely way people treat business cards with respect: holding it with both hands as it's presented to you, as if it's some kind of lovely gift, rather than a business development opportunity.
I'm in Singapore.
It's actually over ten years since I was here, properly. I lived/worked here (like a downtown live/work space), as well as Hong Kong, Bangkok and Jakarta, a few years back. And of course I've travelled in South East Asia more recently.
But I'd forgotten about the peculiarities (in a good way) of Asian culture. And also, how damned humid it is. L'havdil, but when I go in the Costbux in Golders Green, which has something of an unresolved damp problem, I always think, I'm immediately transported back. You know how smells/tastes can trigger a memory? So that damp, hot feeling, kinda like an overwarm swimming pool, and certainly like a sauna? That's what makes me think of the intense humidity of Singapore.
And I'm back. Boy, is it different. When I lived here, I was like a local, living in a rented apartment in Victoria Street, the only white person for miles (so taxi drivers would regularly tell me), so I had a much more... local experience. Now I'm all high rise hotels, shopping centres, aircon (my first apartment had no aircon, but I soon resolved that with my then-MD).
Guess what? They have Starbucks, and Betty Barclay and "James Tyrwhitt of London England" shirts. There used to be (still is?) The Economist Big Mac index, benchmarking local costs market by market. Personally, I used to go on contact lense solution. Although that was before the bad-for-the-planet, good-for-your-eyes daily disposables. Now, it's the price of a tall skinny caramel machiato - $5.80- Sing dollar, about £1.90. So a better deal.
It's actually over ten years since I was here, properly. I lived/worked here (like a downtown live/work space), as well as Hong Kong, Bangkok and Jakarta, a few years back. And of course I've travelled in South East Asia more recently.
But I'd forgotten about the peculiarities (in a good way) of Asian culture. And also, how damned humid it is. L'havdil, but when I go in the Costbux in Golders Green, which has something of an unresolved damp problem, I always think, I'm immediately transported back. You know how smells/tastes can trigger a memory? So that damp, hot feeling, kinda like an overwarm swimming pool, and certainly like a sauna? That's what makes me think of the intense humidity of Singapore.
And I'm back. Boy, is it different. When I lived here, I was like a local, living in a rented apartment in Victoria Street, the only white person for miles (so taxi drivers would regularly tell me), so I had a much more... local experience. Now I'm all high rise hotels, shopping centres, aircon (my first apartment had no aircon, but I soon resolved that with my then-MD).
Guess what? They have Starbucks, and Betty Barclay and "James Tyrwhitt of London England" shirts. There used to be (still is?) The Economist Big Mac index, benchmarking local costs market by market. Personally, I used to go on contact lense solution. Although that was before the bad-for-the-planet, good-for-your-eyes daily disposables. Now, it's the price of a tall skinny caramel machiato - $5.80- Sing dollar, about £1.90. So a better deal.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
stormy weather...
Cue song. This picture reminds me of that film, The Sheltering Sky. You remember? Lots of moody blues and greys, even the clothes.
Brighton on a sunny day...
Now that it's raning like the end of the earth, I can't quite believe the hot, sunny, relaxed weekend I had in Brighton (Hove, actually).
Sunday, August 12, 2007
Friday, August 10, 2007
Because I lived through the tail-end of the Hacienda generation (Madchester, anyone), and could even see the joins in 24 Hour Party People, I feel sad to hear that "Mr Manchester", aka Tony Wilson, died today. And he was only 57. I even remember Granada Reports. I have a slight... uncomfortableness with some of the political views of some Factory Record bands, but I have tremendous admiration for someone who just had an idea, and made it happen.
40+ speakers at the Virtual Worlds Forum Europe in October...
We're still working on the conference programme, and we've got over 40 (and counting... speakers) signed up to our two day conference, and three optional pre- and post-conference workshops. Check them out...
Keynotes from:
Lord Puttnam of Queensgate, CBE
Dr Colin Parris, VP, Digital Convergence, IBM Research
And our international speakers include:
Delé Atanda, Global Digital Marketing Business Partner , Diageo
Professor Richard Bartle, University of Essex
Thomas Bidaux, Director of Product Development, NCSoft Europe
Mark Boyd, Creative Director, BBH
Betsy Book, Product Development Director, Makena Technologies/ There.com
Justin Bovington, CEO, Rivers Run Red
Johann Brenner, Partner, Benchmark Capital
Corey Bridges, Co-founder,The Multiverse Network
Nic Brisbourne, Partner, Esprit Capital
Mike Butcher, Editor, Tbites
Stefan Crosta, Cisco
David Erixon, Vodafone Global Marketing
Robert Gehorsam, President, Forterra Systems Inc
Ian Hughes, Metaverse Evangelist, IBM
Paul Hemp, Senior Editor, Harvard Business Review
Ben Holmes, Principal, Index Ventures
Professor Michael Hulme, Centre for Study of Media, Technology & Culture
Aleks Krotoski, Journalist, The Guardian and virtual worlds researcher
Raph Koster, President, AreaE
Joe Little, Chief Technology Office, BP
Jess Mulligan, Executive Producer, Sunflowers GmbH
David Naylor, Partner, Field Fisher Waterhouse
Greg Nuyens, CEO, QWAQ
David Orban, CEO, Questar
Mike Parsons, Site Director, Cnet.co.uk
Adam Pasick, Reuters
Jerry Paffendorf, Co-Founder, Wello Horld; Co-Author, Metaverse Roadmap
Steve Prentice, Group Vice President and Chief of Research, Gartner
Meg Pickard, Head of Communities, The Guardian
Ren Reynolds, writer and philosopher
Michael Smith, CEO, MindCandy
Timo Soininen, CEO, Sulake / Habbo Hotel
Reuben Steiger, CEO and Founder, Millions of Us
Alice Taylor, VP Digital Content, BBC
Marco van Veen, Heineken
Steve Victorino, President and COO, Makena Technologies
Susan Wu, Charles River Ventures
Wanna be there? Easy to register here. It's gonna be pretty cool...
We're still working on the conference programme, and we've got over 40 (and counting... speakers) signed up to our two day conference, and three optional pre- and post-conference workshops. Check them out...
Keynotes from:
Lord Puttnam of Queensgate, CBE
Dr Colin Parris, VP, Digital Convergence, IBM Research
And our international speakers include:
Delé Atanda, Global Digital Marketing Business Partner , Diageo
Professor Richard Bartle, University of Essex
Thomas Bidaux, Director of Product Development, NCSoft Europe
Mark Boyd, Creative Director, BBH
Betsy Book, Product Development Director, Makena Technologies/ There.com
Justin Bovington, CEO, Rivers Run Red
Johann Brenner, Partner, Benchmark Capital
Corey Bridges, Co-founder,The Multiverse Network
Nic Brisbourne, Partner, Esprit Capital
Mike Butcher, Editor, Tbites
Stefan Crosta, Cisco
David Erixon, Vodafone Global Marketing
Robert Gehorsam, President, Forterra Systems Inc
Ian Hughes, Metaverse Evangelist, IBM
Paul Hemp, Senior Editor, Harvard Business Review
Ben Holmes, Principal, Index Ventures
Professor Michael Hulme, Centre for Study of Media, Technology & Culture
Aleks Krotoski, Journalist, The Guardian and virtual worlds researcher
Raph Koster, President, AreaE
Joe Little, Chief Technology Office, BP
Jess Mulligan, Executive Producer, Sunflowers GmbH
David Naylor, Partner, Field Fisher Waterhouse
Greg Nuyens, CEO, QWAQ
David Orban, CEO, Questar
Mike Parsons, Site Director, Cnet.co.uk
Adam Pasick, Reuters
Jerry Paffendorf, Co-Founder, Wello Horld; Co-Author, Metaverse Roadmap
Steve Prentice, Group Vice President and Chief of Research, Gartner
Meg Pickard, Head of Communities, The Guardian
Ren Reynolds, writer and philosopher
Michael Smith, CEO, MindCandy
Timo Soininen, CEO, Sulake / Habbo Hotel
Reuben Steiger, CEO and Founder, Millions of Us
Alice Taylor, VP Digital Content, BBC
Marco van Veen, Heineken
Steve Victorino, President and COO, Makena Technologies
Susan Wu, Charles River Ventures
Wanna be there? Easy to register here. It's gonna be pretty cool...
Thursday, August 09, 2007
I know this is silly, and stuff happens. But I only just bought a new PC from Evesham, and now they've gone bust. I am (was) a returning customer. I hope it wasn't the hefty discount I negotiated that sent them over the edge. But then, I did pay extra for a three year onsite warranty. My bad.
I'm going to Singapore Tuesday. I actually used to live there, but it's been a while and most of the people I knew when I was there have moved on. But doing interesting stuff, and slightly looking forward to that hot/sweaty/humid SE Asia feeling. It rained very intensely yesterday, and that .. damp smell reminded me of not-eating durian on a hot Singapore day.
I couldn't remember about power plugs. Are they the same/different/what? But, joy of the internet, it's easy. Look. Someone has taken pictures. Singapore is like the UK. I knew that, really.
I couldn't remember about power plugs. Are they the same/different/what? But, joy of the internet, it's easy. Look. Someone has taken pictures. Singapore is like the UK. I knew that, really.
Claire Morgan's art is both relaxing and inspiring. Thanks for the heads-up, Z.
Tuesday, August 07, 2007
If you're interested in the history of virtual worlds and the social implications, check out the latest (well, first) Virtual Worlds Forum Europe podcast.
It's the Guardian's Jonathan Freedland in conversation with Professor Richard Bartle - click here to hear it on your PC. Jonathan's latest Sam Bourne novel is set partly in Second Life (one of quite a few virtual worlds, but quite a big one).
And you can hear the Guardian canteen in the background.
It's the Guardian's Jonathan Freedland in conversation with Professor Richard Bartle - click here to hear it on your PC. Jonathan's latest Sam Bourne novel is set partly in Second Life (one of quite a few virtual worlds, but quite a big one).
And you can hear the Guardian canteen in the background.
Friday, August 03, 2007
It's like buses, right? Nothing for weeks, then three at once.
I've been doing a lot of thinking about a lot of stuff. I've been on Facebook a lot. I don't know why. It's slightly addictive, but in a stupid way. I love the friends wheel app: I'm mesmerised by all the Jewish people in one section pratically solid with connectivity, and then the randomers, people I wasn't so sure I knew but I'm basically polite (and working on the benign non-stalker reality theory) so said yes to their friend requests. To friend. Who knew it was a verb.
People still send me Linked In requests, and I file them, aka do nothing. LinkedIn is basically Facebook in a suit with a two drink maximum, and I like to party. I'm informal. It doesn't do it for me.
The other thing I got into is the zero-inbox thing. It's one of those internet cults like the hipster PDA execpt this works. I took over 2000 emails and filed them in a file called archive. I now have 32 emails and I deal with them immediately, and move all the crap I didn't know what to do with into the archive file. And I use follow up flags for priorities (and purple for personal).
Writing. Yes, good question. I'm working on two things. One, "virtual worlds and the Jewish question" because there's always a Jewish question. Short answer (elevator pitch) community. Long answer: wait.
Also... I've been thinking about this. I'm basically from the film generation. I grew up at the tail end of the John Hughes heyday, and people like me, and a little older or younger, if they work in advertising, secretly, they have a film script. And all the books people I know write? They're filmic. It's not that they've got their eye on the film rights - except they have - it's just we grew up on that: old fashioned literary structures feel... old fashioned.
But younger people: twenties, teens. It's the game generation. Gameplay is where it's at.
What I've noticed, since I last had a real job (Industry Standard, 2001), is that work has got very informal. Gameish. Coffee-like. Like, you have a lot of coffee nowadays. Time was, coffee was for people on bikes. Now, everyone's meeting rooms look like Pret a Manger, and meeting is a dirty word and informality is it. I've been into a few offices recently (media companies, sure) where frankly they're nicer than my house. Of course you'd spend a long time in the office is there are nice sofas, good coffee and a party vibe.
Other thing on my mind: what drives virtual worlds, both social and gameplay, it seems, is the inherent desire for narrative. Olden days, narrative was bible stories, then shakespeare... the ageold desire to engage with the story, any story, it doesnt' go away. People don't really have religion, and they may not have literature, but the basic human desire: it's there.
I'm rambling. Semi-formed thoughts, late nights, washing to do.
Hello, I'm back.
I've been doing a lot of thinking about a lot of stuff. I've been on Facebook a lot. I don't know why. It's slightly addictive, but in a stupid way. I love the friends wheel app: I'm mesmerised by all the Jewish people in one section pratically solid with connectivity, and then the randomers, people I wasn't so sure I knew but I'm basically polite (and working on the benign non-stalker reality theory) so said yes to their friend requests. To friend. Who knew it was a verb.
People still send me Linked In requests, and I file them, aka do nothing. LinkedIn is basically Facebook in a suit with a two drink maximum, and I like to party. I'm informal. It doesn't do it for me.
The other thing I got into is the zero-inbox thing. It's one of those internet cults like the hipster PDA execpt this works. I took over 2000 emails and filed them in a file called archive. I now have 32 emails and I deal with them immediately, and move all the crap I didn't know what to do with into the archive file. And I use follow up flags for priorities (and purple for personal).
Writing. Yes, good question. I'm working on two things. One, "virtual worlds and the Jewish question" because there's always a Jewish question. Short answer (elevator pitch) community. Long answer: wait.
Also... I've been thinking about this. I'm basically from the film generation. I grew up at the tail end of the John Hughes heyday, and people like me, and a little older or younger, if they work in advertising, secretly, they have a film script. And all the books people I know write? They're filmic. It's not that they've got their eye on the film rights - except they have - it's just we grew up on that: old fashioned literary structures feel... old fashioned.
But younger people: twenties, teens. It's the game generation. Gameplay is where it's at.
What I've noticed, since I last had a real job (Industry Standard, 2001), is that work has got very informal. Gameish. Coffee-like. Like, you have a lot of coffee nowadays. Time was, coffee was for people on bikes. Now, everyone's meeting rooms look like Pret a Manger, and meeting is a dirty word and informality is it. I've been into a few offices recently (media companies, sure) where frankly they're nicer than my house. Of course you'd spend a long time in the office is there are nice sofas, good coffee and a party vibe.
Other thing on my mind: what drives virtual worlds, both social and gameplay, it seems, is the inherent desire for narrative. Olden days, narrative was bible stories, then shakespeare... the ageold desire to engage with the story, any story, it doesnt' go away. People don't really have religion, and they may not have literature, but the basic human desire: it's there.
I'm rambling. Semi-formed thoughts, late nights, washing to do.
Hello, I'm back.
Just got off the phone with Clay Shirky and then Yoz pointed me to this great video of him talking about Love, Internet Style. Sample quote: "they didn't care that they'd seen it work in practice, they knew it didn't work in theory."
Love it.
Love it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
