NPR’s Science Friday, live, in Second Life
Drop by today at 11AM PT to Science School in Second Life to be part of the live studio audience of Science Friday. If you don’t have a Second Life account… make one! A basic account is free!
This is one of the really cool things that happens in Second Life. NPR’s Science Friday has been part of it’s Talk of the Nation show forever. For the last couple of months, they’ve had a live studio audience in-world. What this means is that between 40 and 100 Second Life avatars (usually including Prospero Linden) show up to listen to the show. The audio stream attached to the land is Nashville’s WPLN (I had nothing to do with that, but appreciate it!) . There is an avatar in-world, Ira Flatley, to represent Ira Flatow… although since the real Ira is broadcasting live on the radio, it’s actually a member of his staff running the avatar. Those of us sitting around have a lively conversation in text chat about what we’re hearing on the radio. (Sometimes the conversation wanders a bit from there.) Basically, it’s sitting around with a bunch of fellow science fans all together listening to this national science broadcast. (Well, really, it’s international, since the stream works anywhere, and many of the people who show up aren’t ‘from the USA.) Also, Ira Flatley is listening to the comments and questions we ask, and occasionally one will be read by Ira Flatow on the radio. There was a week when he said “Prospero Linden in Second Life asks….”
December 7th, 2007 at 9:42 am
I made a fun little music video about Science Friday in Second Life at http://www.troymcconaghy.com/blog/2007/11/30/science-friday-in-second-life.html
December 15th, 2007 at 8:44 pm
I gave in and created a Second Life account. The program ran for about a minute before freezing and having to be force quit … as suspected, I don’t think my poor computer can take it.
December 15th, 2007 at 10:08 pm
mollishka — what sort of computer do you have?
December 16th, 2007 at 1:22 pm
Powerbook running OSX 10.3.9. Though now that I’m looking at it more closely, it seems my good-for-most-everything-else 256M of RAM isn’t enough. It was a good idea while it lasted