Cory Doctorow - For The Win & Copyright Issues

Managed to see Cory Doctorow twice during a book tour promoting his latest novel, For The Win (of which I now have a signed copy), about gold farmers in a virtual MMORPG organizing as a union. The first was at a Baltimore book store where he gave a reading and then a Q&A with the audience that was highly entertaining.











The second was at the New American Foundation for a lecture on copyright and another long Q&A.

Video embed below.



Although often introduced as a prolific blogger (from Boing Boing) and novelist, his public speaking is extremely engaging. His energy when discussing issues around science fiction, copyright issues, creative commons, and corporate control of creativity is impressive.

Almost politic.

Cory for Prime Minister?

P.S. He mentioned that Fred Lohmann from EFF had moved to Google? I remember Fred's lecture on copyright issues at the 2006 New York Machinima Festival.

Now all I have to see is author Neal Stephenson and I will have seen a quartet of cool scribblers.

Where Can I Watch Eve Online TV?

The stuff that happens in this game is almost better than real life.

The head of a in-game banking institution has run off with about 200 billion ISK, converted it to $5K real world dollars, and used part of it for a payment on a house and for some medical bills. The news caused a run on the bank which deflated it's holding so much that it needed to be propped up by an inflow of capital.

Sound familiar?

BBC.
Massively.

It's not Madoff worthy, but it is ground breaking for virtual world economics.

But seriously, why are there not embedded cameras every where broadcasting the goings on to the world. We need real time embedded journalistic machinima (with decent procedural editing).

I'd buy that for a dollar.

The Flow Of Capital

Away from keyboard. 

But this seems far too important to let pass. Machinima.com announces that it has secured $3.85 million in investment from MK Capital and other investors. No matter what you think of the situation, this is far too important to ignore.

While some people worry about infringement of intellectual property and lack of control, an aggregation site has shoved itself to the forefront of the entire situation and managed to capitalize on this movement not simply by leveraging themselves into the 800 pound gorilla position, but with the seeming nod of approval from multiple game companies, if not explicitly, then at least implicitly. Check out the advertisers and the board members.

Money talks. 

The Virtual Continues To Wrap Its Slimy Fingers Around The Real

Two news articles:

A Japanese woman is reported to have been jailed for either 'murdering' or 'divorcing' her virtual avatar's husband in a virtual world (the game Maple Story?). Although when you read the story it appears that she was really jailed for illegal computer access by logging in with her 'virtual' husband's identity.

Two Dutch teens were convicted of theft of virtual property after coercing a younger teen to 'part ways' with some virtual loot. Basically, griefers get community service. Half of the net's population shudders as they realize they could be next.

Speaking of the virtual impacting the real, Charlie Kaufman's Synedoche opens this weekend (his directing debut - Review) .

Machinima Info Barf #7

Been busy and have not done one of these in awhile, so the links accumulated.

Time to purge.

Welcome to the future. Grab some popcorn, this one is long.

Previous Info Barfs (#1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6).

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Robots:

There seemed to be a lot of news about robots recently.
Artificial boy built.
According to defensetech.org, the first armed drone in Iraq has killed (the MQ-9 "Reaper").
More ED209 news from Iraq.
Is Iraq to be the playground for the military industrial complex R&D divisions?

eSports:

Shocking news, the WSVG is cancelled. I guess they could not compete with CGS.
CGS to give out $1 million in prizes.

Contests:

Amazon and Microsoft team up to allow up to 1000 indie film developers the ability to get their film pressed on to HD-DVD and available from Amazon.

Machinima news:

Oxhorn talks about advertising.
Anthony Bailey posts about the origins of the word machinima.
Adobe is entering real time 3D animation at least as a research project (and ray-tracing). I always wondered when some of the big players would start to enter this turf.
Shaping Youth talks about machinima.
Casual WoW lists some machinima guides.

Machinima/Video Clips:

Thes two clips mentioned at Frames Per Second magazine from the 2006 Japan Media Arts Festival are fascinating. The first is Oh Hisse is by Hikaru Yamakawa and is either a celebration of rigidity, conformity, and the human machine, or is maybe a rejection of it, I haven't decided yet. Very Japanese. The second is Mix a Miniascape by Tomonori Hayase which has a cityscape constantly disassembling and reassembling as the viewer passes through it. Very cool (and must have taken a lot of work).
Speaking of lockstep, this human powered animation video is impressive.
Rubberdada episode #2 is released (rubberdada.com). This is just BIZARRE and sure to cause controversy. Juvenile, violent, immature, and yet strangely fascinating as it deals with topics like racism (episode #1 mentioned here). Think of South Park. They definitely seem to hate clowns.
More from the CRC Machinima Collection shot in SL. #1, #2.
This video of a system that allows users to create shadow puppets wherein extra animations are added in real time is very cool.
More Shadow Puppets.
Basho is a very impressive thirteen minute Japanese machinima (with English subtitles) made in Second Life with classic ninjas, shoguns, and the fate of a kingdom in hand at SL-machinima.com. Nice to see some hand-to-hand combat (English translated site; Metacafe trailer).
Someone liked the new GTAIV trailer so much, they remade it using GTAIII San Andreas (too bad the game is delayed till next year).
There's an epic machinima made in Halo called Trinity. I have not watched all of it.
Does what happen in Facebook stay in Facebook? Beware your personal bitstream and who's reading it.
Hallow3en is back with another musical machinima using U2's Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me.
OneJovialSim's Bjork based machinima Akin.
Someone's trying to escape their world. Do they succeed? Infiltrator.
Afonso Cuaron and Naomi Klein's trailer for The Shock Doctrine.
Animation Ramblings lists some iClone examples.
List of Siggraph shorts.

Video Games:

Remember when the specs for Microsoft's Xbox360, Sony's PS3, and the Nintendo Wii were released. Remember how everyone said Nintendo didn't know what it was doing and that it obviously couldn't compete in the high tech arena. Guess who's laughing now as the Wii outsells both the Xbox360 and the PS3, even after being released a year after the Xbox360. Never underestimate the company behind the plumber power Mario.
Neuromatrix is an educational video game where you enter a neuroscience facility and track down the nanobots invading the brains of the scientists within. Made by Morphonix. Check out the video introduction.
There was a report from the Eve Online economist and an interview on Slashdot. It would be nice to see reports from Second Life, WoW, and other MMOGs.
Artificial worlds to be artificial intelligence incubators. Now if only they can obey directions like "no, say it with more emotion".
Artificial worlds are the future of commerce.
The marines are using virtual worlds as training simulators.
VastPark is a virtual world content creation system. Site.
Next week, virtual worlds will do my laundry and wash the windows.

Digital Online Video/Cinema/Imaging:

Steam is a digital content delivery platform developed by Valve. Not only are a wide variety of games available, but apparently steammovies.com has been registered by Valve. If you've seen the recent videos Valve has made for Team Fortress 2 you will realize that high quality video can be delivered via Steam, either for free or after paying (via credit card).
Overman lists some free filmmaking tools. Other freeware/shareware lists specifically for Mac and more general tools here. More DIY list from The Workbook Project.
Revver has paid out $1 million to content creators to at least 25 000 people (the winners are the Diet Coke and Mentos people at $50 000). It may not be MySpace, which just seems to keep picking up new shows, but it is definitely a site to consider.
Speaking of which, NewTeeVee discusses what makes an online hit.
Brand Worlds 3D production for Flash and the web.
3D holographic display developed. Now when can I play Tank War Europa on it.
More 3D image creation using plasma balls.
SciVee brings science to the world of internet video.
IndyMogul talks about Reverse Shot, a film quarterly that goes into detail about film and cinema. Check out this extensive article on "the cut".

Summer Begins

Well, not really (it started awhile ago) but why not throw out a few things to celebrate. Will be busy for the next two weeks or so.

Music video of Evanescence's My Immortal using Half Life by Ray Koefoed.

An 18 minute long machinima made in F.E.A.R. that I suppose is some sort of take on Run Lola Run in a video game by students at the Utrecht School of Arts.

Some film techniques used by Alfred Hitchcock. I really have to watch more of his films.

South Korea will start charging taxes on RMT above a certain level and require a licence at an even higher level (via Slashdot).

The report from The Metaverse Roadmap is out (via OpenTheFuture). I have not read the whole 28 pages. Maybe when I get some free time.

Talks from the recent TED conference are available.

Tuesday Titillations

Eve Online gets TV show? This post (albeit referring to events two years old) suggests there needs to be a movie made (Eve TV - seems to require micropayments?).

Ubisoft Assassin's Creed film contest. Grand prize winner gets $10 K.

RvB Episode 100 coming tomorrow. When is the movie getting made?

ESRB will rate game trailers?

An entire issue of The Escapist devoted MMOGs. Julian Dibbel wrote an article in NYT on gold farming in WoW.

All I know is I am addicted to Desktop Tower Defense like everyone else.

A Few More Things

A few minor things to post on Saturday:

Info:

1. Interview with Rooster Teeth from The Globe and Mail.
2. Did anyone catch the BBC show "Virtual World, Real Millions" last week? Supposedly also shown in Second Life (via GamePolitics).

Clips:

1. I do not get this one at all: Pupino's Day: Bertha, girls, Hollywood and dance! I like it though.
2. Adventures of Mandy. Second Life to Third Life? Amusing, with some inside jokes.
3. Strange and not very well done student film using UT2004 and MovieSandBox. Player One.
4. From the maker of "Jimmy: The World of Warcraft Story" comes Time Gnomes (via MMORPG.blog).
5. G4TV Splinter Cell Co-op Theater 1.
6. I also don't get this film, which appears to be another student film: Machinima Oatmeal.
7. A recurring trend, another student film, which is more entertaining, but unfortunately I believe they get some of the physics wrong: xXxMeatloafxXx's Physics Project, Machinima Style.
8. Singing...Orcs...in...space (via Wow Insider). From Oxhorn who did ROFLMAO! (see previous post).

Real life dollars for virtual pixels

Lots of coverage this week about the Second Life land baron Anshe Chung. Mainstream press article in Business Week (and cover image), with blog posts at Terra Nova, and We-Make-Money-Not-Art. Nothing too terribly exciting about this, although greater mainstream coverage is always a good thing. If I were a grad student in economics I would seriously consider studying SL as it grows.

I'm waiting for the day when we have an Enron or MCI type scandal in a virtual economy that wipes out people's pension plans, 401Ks, and results in a trial (in the real world or the virtual?), and somebody makes a movie about it. Then the government steps in and regulates the entire thing so that it grinds to a halt.

Get on board now before that happens!