Herald Celebrates Self, Book Publication, With Party November 3
by Alphaville Herald on 24/10/07 at 10:05 am
We at the Herald always argue that there’s nothing virtual at all about virtual worlds, and now we have proof: Neatly bookended by two book covers and sitting on my desk here at the Herald’s Silicon Ghetto offices is a very physical early copy of the book the metaverse has been waiting for, The Second Life Herald: The Virtual Tabloid That Witnessed the Dawn of the Metaverse. Painstakingly penned by virtual muckrakers Urizenus Sklar and Walker Spaight (aka Peter Ludlow and Mark Wallace), and featuring a cast of virtual characters from Second Life, The Sims Online, World of Warcraft, EVE Online and *all* of the internets, The Second Life Herald chronicles not just the rise and rise of the virtual world’s first and favorite tabloid, but looks as well at the increasingly important role that virtual spaces play in our everyday lives, and articulates the issues we’ll be facing as the societies now emerging in the metaverse grow in reach and influence.
To mark this august event, we’re planning an evening of real-world celebration, on Saturday, November 3. More details after the jump.
Join us deep in ghetto-industrial East Williamsburg, for a night of measured discussions (yeah, right), virtual-to-real confusions, griefing, pr0n, and who knows, maybe even a bit of reading and/or speechifying, as we mark the publication of the official-as-it-gets story of the most kick-ass virtual newspaper you’ve ever read.
Party time: Saturday, November 3, 8-11pm
Location: 3rd Ward, corner of Morgan
Avenue and Stagg Street
Subway: L train to Grand Street (then walk down Bushwick to Stagg, then down Stagg to Morgan)
Books will be available to purchase, or you can buy the sucker online.
Refreshments will be served. (Though feel free to contribute a six pack, as we have no idea how many refreshees are going to show.)
See you there,
Urizenus Sklar and Walker Spaight
aka Peter Ludlow and Mark Wallace
Toronto, Brooklyn, and Second Life
Jack Mason
Oct 24th, 2007
Mark, Peter:
Would love to celebrate your success with the new book. Is ther somewhere you want people to rsvp or just show up?
Lewis Nerd
Oct 24th, 2007
How many mentions do I get in this book?
Urizenus
Oct 24th, 2007
Jack, I think it’s just a show-up deal.
Lewis, if memory serves, AJ gets a mention in the context of SARP (Sims Against Ridiculous Payouts). But that may have dropped out in late revisions. I don’t have a copy in front of me. You should have spent more time in Alphaville!
Lewis Nerd
Oct 24th, 2007
Home was, and always will be, Jolly Pines … until we get Borgified into the new “EA-Land” without consent.
But I spend most of my time in SL now anyway, just crashed out for the second time in an hour of being unimpressed with the CSI sims.
Lewis Nerd
Oct 24th, 2007
I’d buy a copy… but I’ve looked it up on Amazon UK and $40 is a bit steep.
urizenus
Oct 24th, 2007
yeah, that’s twice as much as in the US. Go figure.
Lars Vilks
Oct 24th, 2007
Just don’t tell anybody you saw me here, okay?
Walker Spaight
Oct 24th, 2007
Jack, you can RSVP in person at the party
craig cleghorn
Oct 24th, 2007
hey, it’s not every day you can buy virtual cartoon child-porn in hard cover form!!!
i personally will be boycotting the book alone for the copyright violation on the cover of sasami from “tenchi muyo” engaging in a sexual act, (psst, where’d you get geneon’s, or funimation’s, permission to publish a likeness of their character?)
personally, i can SMELL the litigation about to swallow not just the book, but also this website whole!!! i mean, copyright violation of a likeness of a character is one thing, but child porn, even if reported as “age play” is another, that’s where you get the fed’s involved. lord i hope they don’t render you to albania to be tortured…
Walker Spaight
Oct 24th, 2007
@craig: the excerpts and images in the book are used under pretty well established “fair use” guidelines that are in place specifically to protect use cases such as this one, in which an excerpt is included as illustrative of some point that’s directly relevant to the material involved. That’s not the only thing fair use protects, but it’s one of the things, and everything in the book falls pretty squarely in an area that’s nowhere near copyright infringement. Which means you’re free to buy the book, yay!
craig cleghorn
Oct 24th, 2007
so i’m happy to see you’ve addressed a “fair use” act, but unfortunately you fail to see that the character itself was created in japan, which has stringent “intellectual property” laws, and since you have i doubt gone as far as to contact the creator of the character, let alone the owner of the character copyright, i fail to see where “fair use” comes into play, since fan sites have repeatedly been shut down by the company in question, however i digress…
i still fail to see how promoting “virtual childporn” on the book cover will entice me to buy it, since i agree 100% with ll’s opinion to close and suspend “age play” accounts. you however, are truly taking this over the top, Second Life Herald condemned the act, as i did, but is now using it as a selling point of this compendium itself, i hope you realize, that while addressing the “fair use” bit, you failed to address the fact you you are in fact pandering to an unseemly audience, in promoting “age play” as “virtual child porn in second life” an act you condemned, you are using as a selling point. surely you see the hypocrisy here. it’d be like prokofy neva writing a compendium on how be tolerant to other’s views, and not being a bigoted, ego-maniacal person. please assure me that you aren’t promoting child rape. please assure me that you aren’t actually giving a how-to guide to enable this behavior in sl.
Artemis Fate
Oct 25th, 2007
Heh Sasami, probably the first public outcry of Ageplay in Second Life. I also recognize Katja (I think that’s her name?) who was accused of being a nazi I think? And the guy at the bottom being some e-thug whose name I don’t care to remember, ballermo or something like that.
Artemis Fate
Oct 25th, 2007
Probably won’t buy the book, but I might go to a book store with the specific intent to page through it!
Prokofy Neva
Oct 25th, 2007
Hehe bet you dropped the chapter you had on me originally ROFL.
Walker Spaight
Oct 25th, 2007
@craig: No, we aren’t promoting child rape. As to fan sites, it’s a different use case.
@prok: you’re a featured character, no doubt about it. Saying how featured, of course, would be giving the game away
Lewis Nerd
Oct 25th, 2007
Ok then I added it to my Amazon US wishlist in the chance that one of my friends might get it for me and ship it over much cheaper.
Urizenus
Oct 25th, 2007
I wanted to put the fully armed flying mechanical moose on the cover.
But yes Art, you get three stars for correctly identifying a shot from the Sasami Wishbringer incident, Katja Eisenberg and her SS camp, and BallerMoMo King.
FlipperPA Peregrine
Oct 25th, 2007
So, where can we get autographed copies, is what I want to know? How about shipping 10 autographed copies to OnRez for purchase by L$? Do it!
Artemis Fate
Oct 25th, 2007
“But yes Art, you get three stars for correctly identifying a shot from the Sasami Wishbringer incident, Katja Eisenberg and her SS camp, and BallerMoMo King.”
Excellent, where can I redeem these stars for fabulous prizes?
Tenshi Vielle
Oct 26th, 2007
Hey guys, congrats!! Wish I could attend
Does anyone besides me actually wonder if Prok is really Rolling On The Floor Laughing? And if she is, why is she actually doing that? I mean, it seems to me that’s a bit excessive…
Maria Leveaux
Oct 27th, 2007
I’ll be happy as long as they spelled my (SL) name right.
Maria.
Jerry Paffendorf
Oct 27th, 2007
Uri, I think an old college student or two of yours from MSU will be there too.
How big is your game? indeed.
Urizenus
Oct 27th, 2007
Maria, I’m sure we got your name right, but I think you only come up in the tso part.
Jerry, MSU? As in Michigan State University? Please, I taught at the University of Michigan. The nerve!
Jerry Paffendorf
Oct 28th, 2007
> Jerry, MSU? As in Michigan State University? Please, I taught at the University of Michigan. The nerve!
lol Well I don’t who all what where shot who in the what, but at least they *think* they know you :p
Maria Leveaux
Oct 29th, 2007
Well, that’s something Uri. In SL i’ve retired mostly to private life, i don’t take part in the communities much anymore, other than occasionally Dropping in to visit friends. I’m Content to practice my Art quietly at home, and occasionally take in a few students when the Mood strikes.
Maybe i should Apply to write for the herald (After promising to use Spell Check, My habit of odd capping still seems to Distract some people Lol).
Maria.
Prokofy Neva
Oct 29th, 2007
>@prok: you’re a featured character, no doubt about it. Saying how featured, of course, would be giving the game away
When my book comes out, you’ll find you’re featured in a footnote, Walker, with that lame-ass email you sent me, but you won’t be a character, you’ll be a real-live boy : )
California Condor
Oct 29th, 2007
I have eagerly been waiting for Barnes and Noble or Amazon to sell the book online. It can only be pre-ordered right now. As for the party November 3rd, I am look forward to it. Congrats to Peter, Mark, Prok and all the Second Life Herald.
Curious Rousselot
Oct 29th, 2007
> Toronto, Brooklyn, and Second Life
As in Brooklyn NY? Darn too far away.
Neal Stewart
Nov 4th, 2007
I think this book looks like some sort of half-aborted travesty of family values and common decency. I am shocked and appalled at… how… how appalling this shocking piece of appalling filth is. I think the blue Pokemon girl on the cover is crying maybe because she read an advance copy of the book. Only Hitler would write a book like this.
Hope you’re all doing well. Sorry I couldn’t make it to the party
– Neal