LCMedia: Pioneering the New Public Media

Second Life Takes on Darfur Conflict

By Robert Holden
TheStreet.com Virtual Reporter
1/10/2007 5:18 PM EST

A virtual world rally against the Darfur conflict was held in Second Life Tuesday, with actress Mia Farrow speaking on the importance of educating residents about the struggle in Sudan and what could be done to end the crisis.

Cambridge, Mass.-based Lichtenstein Creative Media, an independent media production company, organized a Second Life exhibit entitled "Our Walls Bear Witness -- Darfur: Who Will Survive Today?"

The exhibit was unveiled by Farrow, who works as a UNICEF goodwill ambassador; John Heffernan, director of the Genocide Prevention Initiative for the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum's Committee on Conscience; and Ron Haviv, the award-winning photojournalist whose images of Darfur were on display.

"The mantra of our family is that with knowledge comes responsibility," says Farrow. "I've been to the region three times, but I don't go just for me to understand. The whole idea is that I've had the privilege to pass on the knowledge."

Farrow says Second Life is a perfect forum for disseminating what's she learned, because the virtual world extends around the globe.

Tech_Space: Daily Notes on Science and Silicone

by Angela Gunn

Darfur on your radar

While I continue to smite the computer that won't turn loose of a longer item I mean to post here, perhaps this is a good time for you to try out Second Life. If you drop in at 2pm ET, you can catch Mia Farrow and folks from the US Holocaust Memorial Museum talking about the godawful situation in Darfur. There's a Ron Haviv photo exhibit to view, too -- a virtual version of the "Darfur: Who Will Survive Today?" project projected on the museum's exterior wall back in November. Once you're in SL you can teleport to either The Infinite Mind or Second Life: Camp Darfur, or you could take the easy way out and follow the handy link right here. Second Life Teen folk get a simulcast of the event at Global Kids.

Posted 1/7/2007

Link: http://blogs.usatoday.com/techspace/2007/01/darfur_on_your_.html

Reality Enters Virtual World

By Robert Holden
TheStreet.com Virtual Reporter
12/8/2006 4:23 PM EST

A virtual-world rally against the Darfur conflict had to be rescheduled Friday as the impact of a life-threatening event in the real world was felt in Second Life.

Cambridge, Mass.-based Lichtenstein Creative Media, an independent media-production company that organized a Second Life exhibit titled, "Our Walls Bear Witness -- Darfur: Who Will Survive Today?" had to be evacuated following an electrical fire that left some of the building's workers trapped on a rooftop.

The Boston Globe was reporting that an NStar employee was killed and close to 100 people were being treated for smoke inhalation. It was also reported that the MBTA's railway line between Park Street in Boston and Central Square in Cambridge was temporarily shut down.

Darfur Genocide Photo Exhibit in Second Life

from

Real or virtual - indelible

Actress and activist Mia Farrow, a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, will on Friday discuss and answer questions about the worsening situation in Darfur and neighboring Chad at a virtual event in Second Life.

The Darfur program, to be held Friday, Dec. 8, 12 Noon to 1 p.m. (Eastern Time), will feature a virtual replica of the "Our Walls Bear Witness - Darfur: Who Will Survive Today?" - a photography exhibit of Darfur images that were projected onto the exterior of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.

The Infinite Mind Second Life Concert with Suzanne Vega featured on Good Morning America (November 15, 2006)

Click to watch the segment.

November 15, 2006

Why Savvy CEOs Hang Out in Second Life

Some of business's top guns create their own avatars to explore firsthand the potential of the online virtual marketplace

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Bill Lichtenstein, President and CEO
Lichtenstein Creative Media

Award-winning former producer for 20/20, World News Tonight, and Nightline, Bill Lichtenstein oversaw the first ever Second Life concert series in August when his independent production company invited singer Suzanne Vega to perform and author Kurt Vonnegut to sit down for an interview -- in avatar form. “This is a new medium where you are able to convey an experience, rather than just transmit images and information,” he says.

Link to Business Week article "Savvy CEO's Who Hang Out in Second Life" and Slideshow

LCMedia and The Infinite Mind sim design team build technology and education site for Dell, Inc. in Second Life

Dell, Inc. launches Second Life site designed and built by Lichtenstein Creative Media and IVM developers that brought you The Infinite Mind virtual broadcast complex.

(November 14, 2006)

Dell Inhabits Second Life
By Brian Morrissey

NEW YORK Dell has joined the rush of advertisers to set up outposts in Second Life, the increasingly popular 3-D virtual world.

The computer maker took the wraps off Dell Island, a Second Life expanse that features a "factory" where visitors can customize computers that will be delivered to their real-life doorsteps. The island also has a computer museum, a conference room setup Dell plans to use for focus groups and executive meetings, and a virtual replica of the dorm room where Michael Dell began piecing together computers. 

Dell joins brands like American Apparel, Toyota and Starwood Hotels to set up shop in Second Life. The lure, said Ro Parra, senior vice president and general manager of the home and business group at Dell, is to connect consumers' virtual lives with their real-world needs.

"It connects virtual reality with real-world commerce," he said.       

San Francisco Bay Guardian

Mall of the Metaverse

Rock shows, retail, and rebellion — Second Life brings virtual gaming down to the everyday level
by K. TIGHE (Sept. 19th, 2006)

Suzanne Vega is waddling across the screen. Well, not the real Suzanne Vega but the quiet folk singer's digital avatar on SecondLife.com. On Aug. 3, she — or it — claimed the proud position of being the first digital representation of a major-label pop star to give a concert in cyberspace. After an interview with public radio host John Hockenberry, she sings an a cappella version of her ’80s hit “Tom's Diner,” then awkwardly straps on a guitar and plays a set for attending Second Lifers, members of the popular online virtual world.

The Virtual Show Must Go On

Online Concerts Link Fans, Musicians (And Musicians' Alter Egos)

September 7, 2006

By SARA KEHAULANI GOO, Washington Post

from the Hartford Courant

Musician Suzanne Vega got her start in the New York folk scene, but now the 1980s star has found a following in cyberspace.

With the help of some programmers, Vega created a 3-D animated image of herself, called an avatar, and she recently performed inside a world accessible only through a website, where other people represented by avatars attended the concert, streamed live to computers all over the globe.

Welcome to the Surreal World

September 7, 2006
By Marc Anderson

. . ."It’s a medium that transmits experience," said Bill Lichtenstein of Lichtenstein Creative Media, which produced a recent Suzanne Vega concert on the site. "When you have these spaces on Second Life where people perform, if it’s a small club or the back deck of a hotel at sunset, the brain processes it as that experience. And you feel it. You get that sense…that you are really there." . . .

Download PDF of Rolling Stone article

Hear the Music, Avoid the Mosh Pit

 

 

Hear the Music, Avoid the Mosh Pit
Artists Find Their Audience Online

"There's a quality that doesn't exist in any other medium," said Bill Lichtenstein, president of the company that produces "The Infinite Mind," the radio show that put on the Vega performance.

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By Sara Kehaulani Goo
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, August 21, 2006; Page A01

Musician Suzanne Vega got her start in the New York folk scene, but now the 1980s star has found a following in cyberspace.

With the help of some programmers, Vega created a 3D animated image of herself, called an avatar, and she recently performed inside a world accessible only through a Web site, where other people represented by avatars attended the concert, streamed live to computers all over the globe.

Move over, MySpace! - Wired (August 15, 2006)

"Move over, MySpace . . . on Aug. 3, singer Suzanne Vega became the first major artist to play a live gig in Second Life. The performance was simultaneously broadcast on public radio..." 
(Click video below to see Suzanne Vega perform "The Queen and the Soldier" on The Infinite Mind in Second Life.)

The Infinite Mind launch in Second Life

The launch of The Infinte Mind into 3D virtual cyberspace in August - October 2006 garnered a great deal of attention from many different sources. (see links below)

Videos

• Suzanne Vega perfoms "The Queen and the Soldier" live in Second Life for public radio's The Infinite Mind.
• Kurt Vonnegut interviewed by John Hockenberry live in Second Life for public radio's The Infinite Mind.   
• Robbie Dingo's "Machinima" animated video of the virtual creation of Suzanne Vega's virtual guitar

Published News Items

• Hear the Music, Avoid the Mosh Pit: Artists Find Their Audience Online - Washington Post (page one) August 21, 2006
• Metaverse Messenger article (July 18, 2006)  (August 15, 2006)
• Right-click to learn: Second Life offers students a virtually real education - (Boston) Phoenix, August 18, 2006
• "Move over, Myspace!" - Wired, August 17, 2006
• The Boston Globe
• Current newspaper
• Globe and Mail newpaper

Photos

• Opening tour of The Infinite Mind virtual studios and complex photos from Pathfinder Linden/ John Lester
• Tour of The Infinite Mind cyberspace studios photos from Torley Linden
• The Infinite Mind Press Kit photos
• Vega and Hockenberry broadcasting in SL (studio photos)
• Hockenberry and Vonnegut virtual interview in SL

Blogs

• The Berkman Blog by the Berkman Center at Harvard Law School
• The Infinite Vision Media blog
• New World Notes blog (1) (2)
• Ericrice.com

Other Mentions

• The Wire
• Gamespot.com
• Edge-online

For a complete listing of articles, blogs and links...

The Infinite Mind launch in Second Life

The launch of The Infinte Mind into 3D virtual cyberspace in August - October 2006 garnered a great deal of attention from many different sources. (see links below)

Videos

• Suzanne Vega perfoms "The Queen and the Soldier" live in Second Life for public radio's The Infinite Mind.
• Kurt Vonnegut interviewed by John Hockenberry live in Second Life for public radio's The Infinite Mind.   
• Robbie Dingo's "Machinima" animated video of the virtual creation of Suzanne Vega's virtual guitar

Published News Items

• Hear the Music, Avoid the Mosh Pit: Artists Find Their Audience Online - Washington Post (page one) August 21, 2006
• Metaverse Messenger article (July 18, 2006)  (August 15, 2006)
• Right-click to learn: Second Life offers students a virtually real education - (Boston) Phoenix, August 18, 2006
• "Move over, Myspace!" - Wired, August 17, 2006
• The Boston Globe
• Current newspaper
• Globe and Mail newpaper

Photos

• Opening tour of The Infinite Mind virtual studios and complex photos from Pathfinder Linden/ John Lester
• Tour of The Infinite Mind cyberspace studios photos from Torley Linden
• The Infinite Mind Press Kit photos
• Vega and Hockenberry broadcasting in SL (studio photos)
• Hockenberry and Vonnegut virtual interview in SL

Blogs

• The Berkman Blog by the Berkman Center at Harvard Law School
• The Infinite Vision Media blog
• New World Notes blog (1) (2)
• Ericrice.com

Other Mentions

• The Wire
• Gamespot.com
• Edge-online

For a complete listing of articles, blogs and links...

Vega makes Second Life debut

The Metaverse Messenger

By KATT KONGO Staff writer

August 18th, 2006

An event for the Second Life (SL) history books occurred a few weeks ago when singer/songwriter Suzanne Vega performed in front of SL residents as part of the Infinite Mind radio show, produced by Lichtenstein Creative Media (LCM).

Vega may be best known for the song “Luka,” which climbed the pop charts to number three in 1987, earning her three Grammy nominations, including one for Record of the Year.

In an exclusive interview with the Messenger, Vega said she had done things with Infinite Mind in the past, so when Infinite Mind Executive Producer June Peoples (Quirky McArdle in-world) approached her about performing in SL, she was happy to agree.  She added, "Though I had only a hazy idea of what would be expected of me or Second Life was."

Right-click to learn:
Second Life offers students a virtually real education
By Kate Cohen
August 16, 2006

Harvard University in Second Life

...In-world, there are offerings that are open to the public, from lectures with NASA engineers to presentations hosted by The Infinite Mind public-radio show, which was the first live-broadcast program to have a presence in Second Life...

Living it up in a parallel world

(Tornoto) Globe and Mail July 28, 2006

By Alexadra Shimo

[Excerpt]

The U.S. public-radio show The Infinite Mind is even building a virtual headquarters in Second Life, housing a broadcast studio with glassed-in viewing gallery, lecture facility, archive library, and amphitheatre to seat 100 avatars. The new facility is scheduled to open in August.

---------------------------------------------------------------

Broadcasts about the mind originate in shared illusion

Originally published in Current, July 31, 2006
By Steve Behrens

Though it's built entirely with pixels, the jazzy new headquarters of the weekly psychology program The Infinite Mind may still qualify as a place for doing, listening to and discussing radio.

Link to original news item here.