The Alphaville Herald

Ludlow Joins Shirkeyjerk

Hotspur, Glendower, Mortimer and Worcester arguing over the future division of the kingdom at Bangor, in ‘Henry IV’. Painting by Henry Fuseli. Let’s see if we can reconstruct what happened. First, there was all the fluff and hyperventilation about Second life having 100k then 1 million then 2 million “residents”, followed by much ridicule in [...]

Chilling Effect? SL Hockey League Skates Over NHL IP

by Fiend Ludwig [Editor's note: When we sent Fiend Ludwig to cover the SL Hockey League, he found the gameplay impressive, though it looks like their merchanidising scheme could use some help from a virtual zamboni.--Walker Spaight] I have watched hockey for as long as I can remember. In the winter when it is cold [...]

Plywood #67: Lost in Translation

Bearded Eggheads Talk about Virtual Journalism and Stuff

Henry Jenkins just posted part one of a two-part interview with our own Nutty Professor — Peter Ludlow. In it Ludlow has some not very nice things to say about the Avastar, and some marginally interesting things to say about civic responsibility and virtual journalism, and also where the Herald fits in the magic circle [...]

Back in the Saddle: Motorcycling With the Idiot

by Jimbo Quality [Editor's note: Readers will recall the mishaps of idiotic correspondent Jimbo Quality in his Traveling With the Idiot quest for two-wheeled ecstasy on the Grid. Below, finally, Jimbo gets back on track. Sort of.--Walker Spaight] Jimbo Quality mounts his . . . well, never mind Eureka, I found the damned motorcycles! Turns [...]

Fashion Show Makes Us Feel Orange

Girl’s Night Out Fashion Show — Exclusive Photos! by Tenshi Vielle, Fabulous Fashionista Exhilarating and exhausting! Fun and surreal!” These are Callie Cline’s words, fresh off of a fashion high after the Ivillage Girl’s Night Out Fashion Show. Despite a few hiccups, the ingenius build spanned the crux of four sims and handled about 150 [...]

Fear and Loathing in Second Life, Part 7: The Sordid History of the Big Brother Fiasco, Day 1

[Readers of the Herald will recall our earlier reports on the disaster that was Big Brother in Second Life. Perhaps you *didn't* know that our faithful correspondent, Gideon Television was there, as a contestant! Well it is so. Today Gideon begins retelling (in day-by-day "blow"-by-"blow" fashion) the whole sordid tale. Sorry we didn't publish this [...]

Lock and Load: SL Combat Expo Gets All Fired Up

What sounds like a truly ambitious combat expo is coming to Second Life, March 24 to April 2 in the »Armory Island« sim. The first three days will include workshops and roundtable discussions on combat-related issues within Second Life, according to a press release from Apollo Case, who’s running the show. Weapons vendors will also [...]

Interview With the Agoraphobic: Fighting the Fear in Second Life

by Aidan Aquacade Meet Roberto, quite an eye-catching avatar who is one of the more interesting characters that can be found frequenting random areas of the Second Life world that we explore from day to day. Above Roberto’s head is a floating, spinning, square picture of his real-life self. This floating image of himself is [...]

Plywood Returns!

The Herald is proud to present the return of Plywood, the Web Comic! After its first smash run ended last year, Moriash Moreau (my neighbor in Louise, wouldn’t you know) has brought back our favorite Second Life comic strip (well, my favorite, anyway), which we’re delighted to feature in a nearly exclusive run in the [...]