Tools for being embedded in SL

The thing I like the most about being in Second Life is the air. The constant, but gradual transformation of light & texture creates an atmosphere –a tangible, omni-present, local quality that colors the territory and gives the many different places that compose SL its identity and scale. I like being ensconced in its different environments, using them to work or write, much as I do here, in Paris, going between different cafés where I’ll go to write or draw, absorbing their unique atmospheres. I’m a virtual world flâneur.

To absorb the diverse atmospheres of SL and in turn, have their influence emerge through my work, I’m using a great new tool, Bloghud. It allows blogging from within SL, to either the Bloghud message board or directly to a CMS frontend (like Wordpress). Beyond being a great tool, it is also an awesome idea that has found a excellent execution through a well designed heads-up display.

At the same time I started to use Bloghud, I stumbled upon another Web2.0 mashup called MappedUp. Although MappedUp, at first glance, has ostensibly nothing in common with either SL or Bloghud, it is also a cool idea that has found an elegant interface and is in search of innovative usages. MappedUp takes Rss feeds and tags, placing them on a graphically appropriate map of the world.

It is a convergence of geolocation [del.icio.us/tag/geolocation]with real-time breaking news. Bloghud’s web interface attempts the same type of mashup, layering the Bloghud messages onto a map of the SL world. It relies on the SL map api, which I think is a bit cumbersome for this application. Bloghud could be an effective realtime window to locating dense activity nodes based on messaging. Staying ensconced.

posted by Kliger Dinkin on Huchu using a blogHUD : [blogHUD permalink]