Being in Second Life - on empyre August 2007

Join us at -empyre- http://www.subtle.net/empyre in August 2007 for:

*The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: Being in Second Life *

when hostess Melinda Rackham is joined by special guests: Annabeth Robinson, Patrick Lichty, Stephan Doesinger, Dr Ricardo Peach Christy Dena, Kathy Cleland, Adam Nash and Dr Fabio Zambetta

Neal Stephenson's Metaverse reigns supreme. One of it's current incarnations- the multi-user virtual universe Second Life claims a population of 8 million avatars. SL is embraced by many as an innovative and safe fantasy scape - enabling play, creativity, education, companionship, love and lust. It is reviled by some as a cesspit of antisocial isolationist addictive behavior; and SL is dismissed by others as simply an over-inflated hype driven commercial venture expounding the values of property acquisition and commodity exchange. Whatever your perspective, SL is serious business with an exchange rate which fluctuates against the $US and an estimated Second Life avatar electricity consumption equivalent to the average citizen of Brazil. In this seemingly infinitely expandable universe aesthetic endeavors, creative constructions and artistic performances are enacted daily.