As I hinted last week, a few people are already offering commercial video services with video capture from virtual-reality.  Here is an interview with AWM Mars, who has been doing that for years.  His web site is at  WBA-Advertizing.

This interview was done entirely in Second Life, on the modern equivalent of paper (notecards).  I gave AWM a set of questions and he supplied written responses.  I have only made cuts to focus on the current topic and to avoid subjects that cannot adequately be handled in one article.   I may get back to him in a follow-up interview on some of these topics later.    

Virtual Ability reaches into the real world.  Well, I guess a prize of $10,000 in real USD is real world.  But I was really referring to real disabilities and how Virtual Ability is reaching out of the virtual world of Second Life to help people replace some lost abilities with virtual abilities.

The Linden Prize is awarded “for an innovative inworld project that improves the way people work, learn and communicate in their daily lives outside of the virtual world.”    Virtual Ability “helps people with real-world disabilities get acclimated and start using Second Life.”

Gentle Heron, the leader of Virtual Ability, says, “We wanted the island to serve as an example of what building for people with disabilities can look like.” 

Virtual Ability Island

The Avatar Repertory Theater held the first of its weekly playshop events this past Friday.  These regular Friday events, officially called “ART Plays Around,” start at 5 pm, Second Life time.  They are held at the Archon Theater on Cookie and are open to the public.  

The events will consist of performances by the talented company of ART players.  There will be readings of parts of plays being considered for performance by the troupe.  Some will be recognized plays like "Anthony and Cleopatra", "The Seagull", and "Lysistrata."  Others will be plays written by people in Second Life specifically for performance in Second Life, as described in a recent blog Playreading Workshops join Writers and Actors

The Hobo Block Party as entertainment for export 

The Hobos had a great party this past weekend.   It was entertainment.  Exported to  a modest number of people. The sim had around 50 people most of the time.  Ok, Frogg Marlow and Jaycatt drove us over 70 for a while, but that is just what you expect them to do   And there was a little money in it.  The performers were all playing for tips, but I could see that some of them were getting about $20/hr (USD) out of that.   

No, we're not in World of Warcraft anymore.   And this is not your father's old website, either.

Here, in this picture, we are at the Visitor Welcome Center at Cookie Writers and Performers Hub.  That's one of the hobo outposts, as you can tell by the hobo flag on my left.  That flag, by the way, means "good place for a handout."  Not just for hobos.  For people in Second Life, too.  Especially new people.

The Visitor Center is a service of the SecondLife Hobos and of the Hobo Helpers.  There is another visitor center at the Hobo Railroad Infohub and we are building one at Hobo Island in the Rezzable territory.   Almost everything in our Visitor Center is available to anyone who wants it.  The hobos will also provide a free update service for those who request it.  (Details on this: TBD)