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Guide"},"link":[{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#feed","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/blog.koinup.com\/feeds\/posts\/default"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/2695915210961513245\/posts\/default\/-\/%22rocking+the+metaverse%22?alt=json-in-script\u0026max-results=3"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/blog.koinup.com\/search\/label\/%22rocking%20the%20metaverse%22"},{"rel":"hub","href":"http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/"},{"rel":"next","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/2695915210961513245\/posts\/default\/-\/%22rocking+the+metaverse%22\/-\/%22rocking+the+metaverse%22?alt=json-in-script\u0026start-index=4\u0026max-results=3"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Editor"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/01693024610091206894"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"16","height":"16","src":"https:\/\/img1.blogblog.com\/img\/b16-rounded.gif"}}],"generator":{"version":"7.00","uri":"http://www.blogger.com","$t":"Blogger"},"openSearch$totalResults":{"$t":"8"},"openSearch$startIndex":{"$t":"1"},"openSearch$itemsPerPage":{"$t":"3"},"entry":[{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2695915210961513245.post-2905454275978341738"},"published":{"$t":"2010-02-04T14:18:00.000+01:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2010-02-04T20:33:24.109+01:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"\"rocking the metaverse\""},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Grace McDunnough"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"grace's liner notes"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"koinup"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Live Music"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"music"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"tips"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"twinity"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"virtual art"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"virtual london"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"virtual worlds"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Virtual World Twinity Celebrates Even More Virtual London"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.koinup.com\/SeredWoollahra\/work\/226219\/\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/storage.koinup.com\/100203x235450\/235450-6.jpg\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ci\u003E(Westminster Abbey photo courtesy Kionup contributor \u003Cb\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.koinup.com\/SeredWoollahra\/work\/226219\/\"\u003ESeredWollahra\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E)\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ERocking the Metaverse partner and mirror virtual world \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.twinity.com\/\"\u003E\u003Cb\u003ETwinity\u003C\/b\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E is celebrating the growth of Virtual London this week by showcasing creative expression from art exhibits to live music gigs.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; New sites include the Big Ben, the London Eye and many other historical builds, extending what was the city central to the east and south.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca name='more'\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EYesterday Londoner\u0026nbsp;\u003Cb\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.acousticjim.co.uk\/Index.html\"\u003EAcoustic Jim\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E performed live to kick off the festivities but Twinity has \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.twinity.com\/en\/events\"\u003E\u003Cb\u003Eseveral events planned\u003C\/b\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E throughout the week. \u0026nbsp; If you would like to explore beyond London, hop over to Berlin on February 5th and have a chat with Twinity Sexpert Dra Sommer.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EYes, Twinity has both live music \u003Cb\u003Eand\u003C\/b\u003E a sexpert.\u0026nbsp; Now that just may be a \u003Ci\u003Ekiller app\u003C\/i\u003E.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EBut I digress.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"color: black; font-size: 10pt;\"\u003E\u003C!--\u003Cspan\u003Emore\u003C\/span\u003E--\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIf you want to join the fun and share your talent: display pictures, put up photographs, host an event, broadcast your film, share your poetry, just send the good folks at Twinity an email to London@twinity.com, and they’ll help you on the road to community stardom.\u0026nbsp; \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ETwinity celebrates this launch with a special offer: 5 residents and entrepreneurs based in and around the new London areas can win a virtual apartment, office or store at the same address in Virtual London! These spaces will be given away, for free for the next one year, just send your name and real address to London@twinity.com and they’ll handle the rest!\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EOver the next few months, Twinity will continue to add more buildings, spaces, features and options to Virtual London. You can join the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/virtual.london\"\u003EVirtual London fan page on Facebook\u003C\/a\u003E for the latest updates and news.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe virtual world Twinity is currently in public beta. \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.twinity.com\/\"\u003ERegister for free membership\u003C\/a\u003E and start exploring the world today."},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/blog.koinup.com\/feeds\/2905454275978341738\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/blog.koinup.com\/2010\/02\/virtual-world-twinity-celebrates-even.html#comment-form","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/2695915210961513245\/posts\/default\/2905454275978341738"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/2695915210961513245\/posts\/default\/2905454275978341738"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/blog.koinup.com\/2010\/02\/virtual-world-twinity-celebrates-even.html","title":"Virtual World Twinity Celebrates Even More Virtual London"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Unknown"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"16","height":"16","src":"https:\/\/img1.blogblog.com\/img\/b16-rounded.gif"}}],"thr$total":{"$t":"0"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2695915210961513245.post-5618489349363825088"},"published":{"$t":"2009-12-08T20:27:00.000+01:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2009-12-14T18:29:23.010+01:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"\"rocking the metaverse\""},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Grace McDunnough"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"grace's liner notes"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"music"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"SecretBuilders"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"tips"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Rocking the Metaverse in SecretBuilders"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Ca onblur=\"try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}\" href=\"http:\/\/storage.koinup.com\/091204x216264\/216264-6.jpg\"\u003E\u003Cimg style=\"margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 600px; height: 516px;\" src=\"http:\/\/storage.koinup.com\/091204x216264\/216264-6.jpg\" alt=\"\" border=\"0\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EWhen I was in elementary school, we had to take a music class. (\u003Cspan style=\"font-style: italic;\"\u003EYes, that was a long time ago: let's move along\u003C\/span\u003E)\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EToday, our children are lucky if they are afforded access to an after-school music program as public education continues to fight wars of overcrowding, underfunding and the like.  It's a complicated mess that too often gets boiled down to something like \"\u003Cspan style=\"font-style: italic;\"\u003Emath is mandatory, music is optional\u003C\/span\u003E\".\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ESo now what?  Well, this may be a place where virtual worlds can preserve if not reinvigorate the arts for kids.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.secretbuilders.com\/\" onclick=\"linkClick( this.href );\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"SecretBuilders\"\u003ESecretBuilders\u003C\/a\u003E, a virtual world that immerses children in the creative arts, and \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.sfopera.com\/\"\u003ESan Francisco Opera\u003C\/a\u003E, the second largest opera company in North America, have joined hands to bring Mozart, classical music, and opera to young adults.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca name='more'\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.secretbuilders.com\/\" onclick=\"linkClick( this.href );\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"SecretBuilders\"\u003ESecretBuilders\u003C\/a\u003E officially launched in December 2008 as a virtual world for children from 5-14 years of age.   The world is packed with everything you might expect in a kids virtual world including quests, game, homes and pets and social gatherings.  But unlike other popular worlds, \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.secretbuilders.com\/\" onclick=\"linkClick( this.href );\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"SecretBuilders\"\u003ESecretBuilders\u003C\/a\u003E weaves awareness, education,  creativity and cultural literacy into the world activities and events.  SecretBuilders residents live and play among fictional and historical characters such as Shakespeare, Galileo, Mozart, Oliver Twist, Plato, Van Gogh and Amelia Earhart, and while doing so, learn concepts from the arts and humanities. They go on quests, publish artwork and writings, play casual games, enter contests and participate in an extensive virtual economy and social life. Residents are also given the tools to build out this virtual world with their own ideas, activities and actions.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ESecretBuilders extends this learning experience from the virtual world to the real world.  They achieve this through a variety of outlets that encourage kids to participate (from the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.secretbuilders.com\/about_sb.html?v#vision\"\u003Esite\u003C\/a\u003E):\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size:85%;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: bold;\"\u003EMagazine\u003C\/span\u003E:  The Crooked Pencil, our online\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size:85%;\"\u003E magazine allows children to publish their writings and comment on what others have written.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size:85%;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: bold;\"\u003ECharity and Fundraising\u003C\/span\u003E: One For All allo\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size:85%;\"\u003Ews students to raise money for their schools by answering questions (Math, English, Geography, etc).  Correct answers generate cash for their school or charity and improve their own skills.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size:85%;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.secretbuilders.com\/buildit.html\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: bold;\"\u003EBuildIt!\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E:  This is a unique SecretBuilders feature which allows kids to help build out this world with their ideas and perspectives.  Much of what you see on SecretBuilders today was generated by a child’s imagination (and a little development help from us!). \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size:85%;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: bold;\"\u003EContests\u003C\/span\u003E:  Creativity, challenge and great prizes are the hallmarks of our contests.  We have just launched the following contests:  \"Dear President Obama”  where kids send a picture message to President Obama; the Kid Inventor Challenge where kids design a toy that will become a “real” toy in SecretBuilders; “Help the Kelp” in partnership with the Monterey Bay Aquarium to restore life to the Kelp Forest; and the Frank 'n Stein  an Art Color\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size:85%;\"\u003Eing Contest. \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003EIt sounds great, but does this work?  The National Parent Publications Awards (NAPPA) seems to think so.  This year SecretBuilders was a 2009 NAPPA honors winner in the Children’s Products competition.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca onblur=\"try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}\" href=\"http:\/\/storage.koinup.com\/091208x217462\/217462-6.jpg\"\u003E\u003Cimg style=\"margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 600px; height: 496px;\" src=\"http:\/\/storage.koinup.com\/091208x217462\/217462-6.jpg\" alt=\"\" border=\"0\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThanks to this recent partnership with the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.sfopera.com\/\"\u003ESan Francisco Opera\u003C\/a\u003E,  \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.secretbuilders.com\/\" onclick=\"linkClick( this.href );\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"SecretBuilders\"\u003ESecretBuilders\u003C\/a\u003E residents can meet and chat with Mozart in \"Mellow Drama\" the virtual amphitheater and talk directly to David Gockley, General Director of San Francisco Opera, whose virtual avatar will be alongside Mozart welcoming kids to the online contest.  But that's just the tip of the experience.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThere is also an “Art for Mozart” Contest that challenges residents to design a poster for Mozart’s “\u003Cspan style=\"font-style: italic;\"\u003EThe Magic Flute\u003C\/span\u003E” telling the story of how Prince Tamino rescues Princess Pamina from an evil magician.  Audio and video clips of the opera are provided by San Francisco Opera and the “Art for Mozart” contest is also supported by KidZui, Art in Action, and Stone Soup Magazine.  The contest ends January 31st, 2010 and winners will receive a variety of prizes including SecretBuilders memberships and tickets to an opera.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EBut if Mozart is not your thing, don't fret (get it? don't \u003Cspan style=\"font-style: italic;\"\u003Efret\u003C\/span\u003E haha)  because SecretBuilders is looking for Boy and Girl bands to rock the metaverse!  From the blog:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cblockquote\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-style: italic;\"\u003EDo you have your own band and want to strut your stuff? Want thousands of people to come to your gig? Now's your chance to show us what you've got! Send us a demo clip of you and your band giving us details of each member and a little description of each. Solo artists are welcome to submit their entries as well! The winner will be the performing band on our New Year Party on SecretBuilders! \u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: bold;\"\u003ESubmission deadline is December 15th\u003C\/span\u003E.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-style: italic;\"\u003EEmail us your submissions at:\u003C\/span\u003E bandswanted@secretbuilders.com\u003C\/blockquote\u003EAnd while you are basking in the warm glow of your favorite boy\/girl band, allow me to leave you with this machinima - shot in SecretBuilders. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cobject width=\"600\" height=\"500\"\u003E\u003Cparam name=\"movie\" value=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/USLbLYTLCVM\u0026amp;hl=en_US\u0026amp;fs=1\u0026amp;color1=0x3a3a3a\u0026amp;color2=0x999999\u0026amp;border=1\"\u003E\u003Cparam name=\"allowFullScreen\" value=\"true\"\u003E\u003Cparam name=\"allowscriptaccess\" value=\"always\"\u003E\u003Cembed src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/USLbLYTLCVM\u0026amp;hl=en_US\u0026amp;fs=1\u0026amp;color1=0x3a3a3a\u0026amp;color2=0x999999\u0026amp;border=1\" type=\"application\/x-shockwave-flash\" allowscriptaccess=\"always\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" width=\"600\" height=\"500\"\u003E\u003C\/embed\u003E\u003C\/object\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EPeace, art and music ~ Grace\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EGrace McDunnough on \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.koinup.com\/GraceMcDunnough\/\"\u003EKoinup\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/phasinggrace.blogspot.com\/\"\u003EPhasing Grace\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EFollow Grace on \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/GraceMcDunnough\"\u003Etwitter\u003C\/a\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/blog.koinup.com\/feeds\/5618489349363825088\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/blog.koinup.com\/2009\/12\/rocking-metaverse-in-secretbuilders.html#comment-form","title":"1 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/2695915210961513245\/posts\/default\/5618489349363825088"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/2695915210961513245\/posts\/default\/5618489349363825088"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/blog.koinup.com\/2009\/12\/rocking-metaverse-in-secretbuilders.html","title":"Rocking the Metaverse in SecretBuilders"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Unknown"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"16","height":"16","src":"https:\/\/img1.blogblog.com\/img\/b16-rounded.gif"}}],"thr$total":{"$t":"1"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2695915210961513245.post-6245925259639184478"},"published":{"$t":"2009-11-21T13:32:00.000+01:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2009-11-26T17:05:21.972+01:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"\"rocking the metaverse\""},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Grace McDunnough"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"grace's liner notes"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"metaplace"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"music"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"musician"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"raph koster"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"virtual worlds"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Meet Fellow Musician and Metaplace Founder Raph Koster"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"If you are a musician looking for your first virtual world experience, think about starting in\u003Ca style=\"font-weight: bold;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.metaplace.com\/\"\u003E Metaplace\u003C\/a\u003E.  Metaplace is the brain child of \u003Ca style=\"font-weight: bold;\" href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Raph_Koster\"\u003ERaph Koster\u003C\/a\u003E - a blend of passionate visionary, thoughtful scholar, pragmatic developer and best of all, a soulful \u003Ca style=\"font-weight: bold;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.raphkoster.com\/art\/index.shtml\"\u003Eartist\u003C\/a\u003E, \u003Ca style=\"font-weight: bold;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.theoryoffun.com\/\"\u003Ewriter \u003C\/a\u003Eand \u003Ca style=\"font-weight: bold;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.raphkoster.com\/music\/index.shtml\"\u003Emusician\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EUPDATE:  Raph is playing a \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.raphkoster.com\/2009\/11\/26\/playing-live-web-concert-tomorrow\/\"\u003Especial Metaplace concert\u003C\/a\u003E tomorrow, Friday Nov 29th 2PM PST.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca onblur=\"try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}\" href=\"http:\/\/storage.koinup.com\/091121x212366\/212366-6.jpg\"\u003E\u003Cimg style=\"margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 600px; height: 551px;\" src=\"http:\/\/storage.koinup.com\/091121x212366\/212366-6.jpg\" alt=\"\" border=\"0\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EI met Raph in person in 2007 to talk about Metaplace (then Areae). It was an informal business discussion and I watched over his shoulder as he flew through the basic tenants of Metaplace, talking at speeds normally reserved for livestock auctions.  We talked more over lunch (slower this time, there was chewing involved) about the future of virtual worlds, the collision of the social web and gaming, music, guitars and poetry. I won't bore you with our excursions of thought and speculation, but if I boiled down the conversation one thing predominated - the \u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: bold;\"\u003Epower of virtual worlds is unlocked when people can create, connect, and have fun pervasively\u003C\/span\u003E.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EImagine what that means for a musician.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca name='more'\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: bold;\"\u003EWhat's a Metaplace?\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EWe could wander off and read the Mahalo text on \"\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.mahalo.com\/metaplace\"\u003EWhat is Metaplace?\u003C\/a\u003E\" but for me it's easier to think about it like this: if metadata is data about data, then \u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: bold;\"\u003Emetaplace is a place of places\u003C\/span\u003E.  Okay, maybe that's not easier, but you sort of get the idea.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EMetaplace allows you to create your own space or world that is embeddable so that it's accessible from anywhere on the web, without a client application to download (if you don't count flash) or a walled garden to navigate.  It's based on the premise that \u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: bold;\"\u003Eyou don't have to be a software developer, 3D artist or game developer to create a compelling and entertaining virtual world on your own\u003C\/span\u003E, or in this case, on your own with a help if you need it from an engaged and collaborative community.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EPerhaps it's just easier if you watch the welcome video developed by Metaplace Community Maven extraordinaire \u003Ca style=\"font-weight: bold;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.metaplace.com\/user\/Cuppycake\"\u003ECuppycake\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cobject height=\"405\" width=\"500\"\u003E\u003Cparam name=\"movie\" value=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/ZWvSB9OddjM\u0026amp;hl=en_US\u0026amp;fs=1\u0026amp;color1=0x3a3a3a\u0026amp;color2=0x999999\u0026amp;border=1\"\u003E\u003Cparam name=\"allowFullScreen\" value=\"true\"\u003E\u003Cparam name=\"allowscriptaccess\" value=\"always\"\u003E\u003Cembed src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/ZWvSB9OddjM\u0026amp;hl=en_US\u0026amp;fs=1\u0026amp;color1=0x3a3a3a\u0026amp;color2=0x999999\u0026amp;border=1\" type=\"application\/x-shockwave-flash\" allowscriptaccess=\"always\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" height=\"405\" width=\"500\"\u003E\u003C\/embed\u003E\u003C\/object\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: bold;\"\u003EWho is Raph?\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EYou can read scores about Raph's work in the development of virtual worlds, dating back to early MUD days. One thing I've learned about Raph is that despite his insane schedule as a start-up founder, he still somehow finds time to work and play and share. He was kind enough to answer a few questions about being a musician and the collision of music in virtual worlds.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cblockquote\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: bold;\"\u003EQ: It's relatively easy for a musician to perform live in Metaplace. Was live music always a part of the MP road map?   What are the most important elements for a good performance?\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-style: italic;\"\u003EA: I got started doing virtual worlds back in 1992 – text muds at first, and then Ultima Online work began in 1995, and I did big MMORPGs until I started Metaplace in 2006. But I have been doing singer-songwriter stuff slightly longer, getting going by teaching myself guitar in 1990 or so. Scary to think that I have been playing for 19 years now! I was led there in part by a growing up with folk music around me, by being a huge Paul Simon fan, and then discovering the contemporary folk scene in the late 80s in high school – at the time, that was Tracy Chapman, Indigo Girls, and thence a few years later to Bill Morrissey, Greg Brown, John Gorka, and so on.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EPerformance was not always part of the roadmap, but early on we did kick around an idea called “Stages” a lot, which was essentially a stripped down Metaplace that ONLY did online performance venues. Eventually we realized that what we had made accommodated it just fine after all!\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EI think that a good performance online is in some ways very different than one in a venue. I really feel the “absence” of the chatter and the crowd while playing – it’s more intimate and more distanced at the same time. You can focus on the music without distractions, but you can’t feel the crowd in the same way. Also, there’s more reverb… seems like you have to drown the signal in it to sound OK online.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cblockquote\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: bold;\"\u003EQ: How do you see live performance shaping the future of Metaplace, or virtual worlds overall?  Would you encourage fellow musicians to add virtual worlds to their tour schedule?\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-style: italic;\"\u003EA: I don’t know what the future of live performance is in virtual worlds. I have come to realize that the challenge is getting people to show up, regardless of venue. A virtual venue is only marginally easier to get to, depending on circumstances!\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EI don’t any reason why musicians shouldn’t include virtual worlds on their tours. It may not bring in as much revenue as a well-attended show, but on the other hand, there’s no travel costs. So yeah, it’s totally worth adding to the schedule.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cblockquote\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: bold;\"\u003EQ: You mention on your blog that you attend Kerville Folk Festivals have met a lot of professional singer-songwriters.  Can you share one of your favorite or most memorable encounters? \u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-style: italic;\"\u003EA: Gosh, memorable encounters with singer-songwriters… Michael Lille, a huge guy, holding our nine-day-old daughter. Dana Cooper staying at our house while on tour, playing my 62 Gibson acoustic, while I introduced him to the music of Peter Mulvey. Telling Sonia of Disappear Fear that we couldn’t make her show because we had Indigo Girls tickets, and her answering she wished she could skip her show and go to that one too! So many chats with Tom Kimmel or Don Conoscenti, under the stars in Austin. Watching Diana Jones, whom we knew on the circuit in Austin, go on to great success. Walking with Rob Laurens in the dark at Kerrville, and both of us having a fanboy moment when we realized Latty Larkin was walking in front of us (“It’s Patty! It’s Patty!”). I could go on. J One of the nicest things about the folk community is that it really does feel very much like an extended family, and it is a group of peaceful, thoughtful, caring people, very welcoming…\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EYou could take that last Raph quote and change \"folk community\" to \"metaplace community\".  Like every virtual world, there are people behind most of those avatars and while you can't avoid a few miscreants, Metaplace has a great feel of community about it that starts with Raph who spends time in world on a regular basis and extend to the Metaplace staff and cast of resident volunteer helpers.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: bold;\"\u003EWhat about music in Metaplace?\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EOne of the first people I met in Metaplace was Swedish musician \u003Ca style=\"font-weight: bold;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.metaplace.com\/user\/Fredriksson\"\u003EFredriksson \u003C\/a\u003Eat his \u003Ca style=\"font-weight: bold;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.metaplace.com\/FolknCoffee\"\u003EFolk N Coffee Cafe\u003C\/a\u003E. Fredriksson, now a Metaplace \"guru\" was then working with Raph on ways to stream live music into Metaplace and reached out to see if I could help. They already had all the pieces in place, all I really had to do was show up, connect my stream to Raph's Metaplace guitar and viola, that night we were \u003Ca style=\"font-weight: bold;\" href=\"http:\/\/phasinggrace.blogspot.com\/2009_03_01_archive.html\"\u003Edual streaming in both Second Life and Metaplace\u003C\/a\u003E. This was a perfect example of Raph's vision to make experiential worlds accessible and entertaining.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EOverall, the music scene in Metaplace is still nascent but the community itself is active and engaged thanks to some amazing community leaders like \u003Ca style=\"font-weight: bold;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.metaplace.com\/user\/Cuppycake\"\u003ECuppycake \u003C\/a\u003Eand \u003Ca style=\"font-weight: bold;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.metaplace.com\/user\/Amethyst\"\u003EAmethyst\u003C\/a\u003E. Metaplace was one of the first virtual worlds to host Koinup's \u003Ca style=\"font-weight: bold;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.koinup.com\/group\/virtual-world-music\/\"\u003ERocking the Metaverse Tour\u003C\/a\u003E where Cuppy and team pulled out all the stops by developing The Lotus Room as a premiere performance venue.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ERaph has played live concerts himself and recently delivered an amazing two hour set in world for Halloween, you can listen to it here.  Several other well-known Second Life musicians have found their way to Metaplace including \u003Ca style=\"font-weight: bold;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.metaplace.com\/user\/j9scarborough\"\u003Ej9scarborough\u003C\/a\u003E, \u003Ca style=\"font-weight: bold;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.metaplace.com\/user\/Onehempcat\"\u003EOnehempcat \u003C\/a\u003Eand \u003Ca style=\"font-weight: bold;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.metaplace.com\/user\/Al-Hofmann\"\u003EAl-Hofmann\u003C\/a\u003E but the world is vast and you can develop your own venue and be playing live in very little time.  You can check out some of the \u003Ca style=\"font-weight: bold;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.metaplace.com\/go\/category_list\/11\"\u003EMetaplace music venues\u003C\/a\u003E here to give you some ideas.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: bold;\"\u003EWhat about the technical set-up?\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIf you need help with the technical set-up, there is no better reference that the \"\u003Ca style=\"font-weight: bold;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.raphkoster.com\/2009\/06\/13\/doing-live-music-in-metaplace\/\"\u003EDoing Live Music in Metaplace\u003C\/a\u003E\" post on Raph's blog. Metaplace also has an entire \u003Ca style=\"font-weight: bold;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.metaplace.com\/forums\/topics\/listing\/23\"\u003Eforum dedicated to sound and music\u003C\/a\u003E where you can get help just by asking.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EWhen you are ready to schedule your event, be sure to post your live concert to the \u003Ca style=\"font-weight: bold;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.metaplace.com\/calendar\/plan\"\u003Eevent calendar\u003C\/a\u003E so people know where and when to find you.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIf you are hoping to make a few dollars, listeners can pay you in either Metaplace coins or there is also a \u003Ca style=\"font-weight: bold;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.metaplace.com\/module\/PaypalTipJar\"\u003Etip jar in the marketplace\u003C\/a\u003E that allows you to take Paypal contributions.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ESo give Metaplace a try, it's free, easy and you'll learn a lot about performing in front of a live audience and when you get there, \u003Ca style=\"font-weight: bold;\" href=\"http:\/\/beta.metaplace.com\/GracesLiveMusicLounge\"\u003Elook me up\u003C\/a\u003E and say hello. You can hop in right from here and get started.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ciframe src=\"https:\/\/www.metaplace.com\/remote\/embedsimple\/MPCentralLive\" style=\"border: 0pt none ; margin: 0pt; padding: 0pt; overflow: hidden;\" scrollbar=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"500\" scrolling=\"no\" width=\"600\"\u003E\u003C\/iframe\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EPeace, art and music ~ Grace\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EGrace McDunnough on \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.koinup.com\/GraceMcDunnough\/\"\u003EKoinup\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/phasinggrace.blogspot.com\/\"\u003EPhasing Grace\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EFollow Grace on \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/GraceMcDunnough\"\u003Etwitter\u003C\/a\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/blog.koinup.com\/feeds\/6245925259639184478\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/blog.koinup.com\/2009\/11\/meet-fellow-musician-and-metaplace.html#comment-form","title":"3 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/2695915210961513245\/posts\/default\/6245925259639184478"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/2695915210961513245\/posts\/default\/6245925259639184478"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/blog.koinup.com\/2009\/11\/meet-fellow-musician-and-metaplace.html","title":"Meet Fellow Musician and Metaplace Founder Raph Koster"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Unknown"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"16","height":"16","src":"https:\/\/img1.blogblog.com\/img\/b16-rounded.gif"}}],"thr$total":{"$t":"3"}}]}});