Just have to say something about the launch of One World Wallet. It's the first social media art work and it's pretty original. Jon Coffelt artist creates duct-tape wallets that are really quire beautiful. He also creates art works from the wallets and from members contributions to the oneworldwallet site.
The site is launching with five downloadable and printable art works in with the price of a wallet. Anyone looking for affordable art should join up.
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Meeting and Dating Virtually
I was intrigued to read that a recent Harvard Business School study showed that virtual dating created favorable impressions of the other person and easier first meetings in the real world.
Omnidate is an advocate of virtual dating: "Virtual dating is a terrific icebreaker and a fun way to get to know each other," says their CEO Igor Kotlyar.
So we've transitioned from seeing online dating services as an odd way to do the personal side of life to it becoming a desirable piece of dating foreplay.
OmniDate utilizes virtual technology to create dating scenarios to introduce people to each other. "The setting may be a lounge, a restaurant or a resort, with games to help further the mission of getting to know someone new."
I didn't try it out yet but the sample on the home page shows pretty realistic, lifelike avatars, realistic in the sense that they look pretty much the same as the real life counterparts. There are clearly some integrity issues here but looking beyond that Omnidate might well be setting the pace for what can be done in business or in galleries.
Omnidate is an advocate of virtual dating: "Virtual dating is a terrific icebreaker and a fun way to get to know each other," says their CEO Igor Kotlyar.
So we've transitioned from seeing online dating services as an odd way to do the personal side of life to it becoming a desirable piece of dating foreplay.
OmniDate utilizes virtual technology to create dating scenarios to introduce people to each other. "The setting may be a lounge, a restaurant or a resort, with games to help further the mission of getting to know someone new."
I didn't try it out yet but the sample on the home page shows pretty realistic, lifelike avatars, realistic in the sense that they look pretty much the same as the real life counterparts. There are clearly some integrity issues here but looking beyond that Omnidate might well be setting the pace for what can be done in business or in galleries.
Monday, March 17, 2008
The end of the office in virtual meetings world
This is a quote from a computer world interview with Xerox and one of two interesting pieces this week that foretell the future of online meetings and virtual meetings..
"How will the office be different five to 10 years from now? Just the notion of having an office might not exist in the future. Everything will be connected, so it doesn't matter if you are physically in an office or around the world. It will be easy to communicate and collaborate and connect to the right experts and the right partners."
Yes, Xerox are deeply into Second Life exploring what the virtual office means for their document business.
And this is from statesman.com reporting a talk given at SWSX by Jane McGonigal a researcher at the Institute for the Future..
"McGonigal showed a game designed to motivate and reward people to do ordinary household chores. Another, called "Seriosity," is designed to make work more like a game. It involves using virtual currency to motivate employees to do certain tasks. So if you're someone who hates meetings, you would demand a certain amount of this virtual currency before attending a meeting. I started to see the logic behind designing life more like a game."
Both these pieces point up the fact that as online and virtual meetings become more a part of the mainstream we may have to rethink moral systems and reward systems. The latter particularly alerts us to the fact that many people are growing up with a world-view forged by gaming and their reward systems - the workforce of the future will inevitably be influenced by that. What we curently lack is a knowledge of how to plan that into HR systems.
"How will the office be different five to 10 years from now? Just the notion of having an office might not exist in the future. Everything will be connected, so it doesn't matter if you are physically in an office or around the world. It will be easy to communicate and collaborate and connect to the right experts and the right partners."
Yes, Xerox are deeply into Second Life exploring what the virtual office means for their document business.
And this is from statesman.com reporting a talk given at SWSX by Jane McGonigal a researcher at the Institute for the Future..
"McGonigal showed a game designed to motivate and reward people to do ordinary household chores. Another, called "Seriosity," is designed to make work more like a game. It involves using virtual currency to motivate employees to do certain tasks. So if you're someone who hates meetings, you would demand a certain amount of this virtual currency before attending a meeting. I started to see the logic behind designing life more like a game."
Both these pieces point up the fact that as online and virtual meetings become more a part of the mainstream we may have to rethink moral systems and reward systems. The latter particularly alerts us to the fact that many people are growing up with a world-view forged by gaming and their reward systems - the workforce of the future will inevitably be influenced by that. What we curently lack is a knowledge of how to plan that into HR systems.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Beam Your Screen
This found its way into the world yesterday courtesy of PR Web. We haven't had a chance yet to trial the software but it is indicative of where the market is going. Virtual meeting spaces are virtually free and give high quality interaction. How long can remote collaboration solutions survive this competition? The answer is: for as long as it takes Second Life to get its act together.
"Award winning web collaboration company, BeamYourScreen announces its new Internet solution Mikogo (http://www.mikogo.com), the free online meeting tool for users to share their desktop with no associated costs involved."
Co- founder Mr. Mark Zondler, announced, “We created Mikogo due to the direct demand for a free BeamYourScreen product. With the technology ready at hand, we decided to launch Mikogo as a free online meeting tool for personal use. Now many private users can benefit at no cost from online meeting technology for small personal needs, such as PC assistance, sharing recent photos, or live online collaboration”.
"Award winning web collaboration company, BeamYourScreen announces its new Internet solution Mikogo (http://www.mikogo.com), the free online meeting tool for users to share their desktop with no associated costs involved."
Co- founder Mr. Mark Zondler, announced, “We created Mikogo due to the direct demand for a free BeamYourScreen product. With the technology ready at hand, we decided to launch Mikogo as a free online meeting tool for personal use. Now many private users can benefit at no cost from online meeting technology for small personal needs, such as PC assistance, sharing recent photos, or live online collaboration”.
Monday, March 3, 2008
Collaboration Tools
This comes courtesy of Robin Good's masternewmedia. Robin has reviewed 8 wiki-type tools eaech of which promise collaborataive productivity. These are the ones he reviews:
- Yuuguu: Free downloadable software lets you share your desktop and remote control PCs
- ScribbleWiki: Online collaboration service allows you to create wikis for you and your team
- Wikidot: Create free wikis for unlimited people with 100MB of storage space
- Nexdo: Free service allows teams to create pages, exchange links and share files
- Jagbox: Upload any file, set the expiration time and share the link with anyone
- Retroshare: Open-source P2P software enables you to chat and share files with your friends
- IMhaha Access all of your IM accounts from one place, right from your browser
- Coccinella: Connect to major instant messaging services from any operating system
Voxwire vs Webex and Placeware
I attend an online meeting at least once a week - I find I can do it pretty well in Second Life with a headset and because I know the avatars around me. Leave that to one side. Although SL is growing in popularity as an online meeting space (driven by the likes of IBM) it's the regular, PC-PC, phone-to-phone market that represents the core of the market.
Voxwire is making a pitch as the logical, reasonably priced contender in this market providing its customers with an integrated package.
People report positive experiences with Webex, the market leader in online meeting services but my own experience with them has been patchy. I've even had to reschedule when New York interviewees have been unable to connect with me just on a one-to-one (so why use Webex? - For them to show me their website's beta). I mention it solely to underline the benefits of integration.
When online meetings start to go wrong - when I can't access a secure area, when I can't see that beta site, everybody begins to look and feel a little stupid.
The problem with online meeting software is they can be highly functional but dependent on chance. I've rarely found it to work well though other people report total satisfaction. My instinct is that Voxwire would improve its position if it migrated some of its offer to a virtual environment.
Strange though it may seem, when I can see the avatar of the people I am meeting, I at least know they are there and that they are attentive. There is reduced uncertainty.
For now Voxwire's offer is web based and at under $6 per person for a three person room, under $4 for a 10 person room. I can think how to beat those prices for anyone with an SL Island but for me dealing with NY, unless I want to go Skype these are very good prices. Be interested in other viewpoints on this.
Voxwire is making a pitch as the logical, reasonably priced contender in this market providing its customers with an integrated package.
People report positive experiences with Webex, the market leader in online meeting services but my own experience with them has been patchy. I've even had to reschedule when New York interviewees have been unable to connect with me just on a one-to-one (so why use Webex? - For them to show me their website's beta). I mention it solely to underline the benefits of integration.
When online meetings start to go wrong - when I can't access a secure area, when I can't see that beta site, everybody begins to look and feel a little stupid.
The problem with online meeting software is they can be highly functional but dependent on chance. I've rarely found it to work well though other people report total satisfaction. My instinct is that Voxwire would improve its position if it migrated some of its offer to a virtual environment.
Strange though it may seem, when I can see the avatar of the people I am meeting, I at least know they are there and that they are attentive. There is reduced uncertainty.
For now Voxwire's offer is web based and at under $6 per person for a three person room, under $4 for a 10 person room. I can think how to beat those prices for anyone with an SL Island but for me dealing with NY, unless I want to go Skype these are very good prices. Be interested in other viewpoints on this.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Online Meeting tools
A roundup from just this week's news in the area of online meetings shows up just how diverse the online meetings space is becoming.
Packatel's Turbo meeting was picked out by TMC as a stand out solution for small businesses that want to meet online, coming in at less than $25.00 per month for a three user system.
"designed for users who have basic desktop computer and Web browsing skills, but do not have the time to engage in specialty training to gain more complex knowledge in order to participate in online meetings."
Meanwhile French construction company Bouygues has announced its adoption of Saba Centra and Jet Multimedia hosting services for its online meetings and training subsidiary, Structis.
Structis uses web conferencing and e-learning platform to conduct more effective meetings and reduce training and meeting related travel costs.
Saba people management solutions are used by more than 1,200 organizations and over 17 million end users worldwide and the company has over 50% of the Fortune 100 as clients.
Jet Management - what a great name - is a European hosting service. It began life as Jet Lag, not a name they necessarily want to be reminded of.
Meantime we know the big players in FMCG are also in this space. Diageo and Unilever are both working with IBM on online meeting spaces in Second Life.
And pressure grows on companies to go virtual with their meetings. In Toronto Tuesday a new city-backed product that allows companies to calculate their carbon footprint.... its use?
"The site will feature links to environmental meetings and activities, like Earth Hour, and places where people can sign up for car pools." And no doubt find those online meeting products that will help bring the carbon down.
Packatel's Turbo meeting was picked out by TMC as a stand out solution for small businesses that want to meet online, coming in at less than $25.00 per month for a three user system.
"designed for users who have basic desktop computer and Web browsing skills, but do not have the time to engage in specialty training to gain more complex knowledge in order to participate in online meetings."
Meanwhile French construction company Bouygues has announced its adoption of Saba Centra and Jet Multimedia hosting services for its online meetings and training subsidiary, Structis.
Structis uses web conferencing and e-learning platform to conduct more effective meetings and reduce training and meeting related travel costs.
Saba people management solutions are used by more than 1,200 organizations and over 17 million end users worldwide and the company has over 50% of the Fortune 100 as clients.
Jet Management - what a great name - is a European hosting service. It began life as Jet Lag, not a name they necessarily want to be reminded of.
Meantime we know the big players in FMCG are also in this space. Diageo and Unilever are both working with IBM on online meeting spaces in Second Life.
And pressure grows on companies to go virtual with their meetings. In Toronto Tuesday a new city-backed product that allows companies to calculate their carbon footprint.... its use?
"The site will feature links to environmental meetings and activities, like Earth Hour, and places where people can sign up for car pools." And no doubt find those online meeting products that will help bring the carbon down.
Welcome to online meetings
There's no question in the near future more and more meetings will be held online. Online meetings come in a variety of guises: the webinar, the virtual meeting, the net meeting, webex etc. There's enough variety to assume that online meetings are now well and truly establishd. But change is also a constant.
We've heard scepticism about how deeply into the virtual you have to go to be effective. There are fans of Webex and its competitors, like gotomeeting, who won't venture into Second Life. There are Second Life advocates who are already progressing into virtual events.
At the same time the webinar format has been generally accepted. So the world of online meeetings, net meetings, web conferencing, call it what you will, is at the same time well established and in a period of transformation.
As the web evolves from web 1.0 to web 3.0 - the 3D internet - we anticipate more attention to virtual meeting spaces and virtual events. How the domain shakes down - between high cost video conferencing and ultra low cost virtual meetings, we have yet to see. But the purpose of online meetignsis to track those developments and provide a source of continuous news.
We've heard scepticism about how deeply into the virtual you have to go to be effective. There are fans of Webex and its competitors, like gotomeeting, who won't venture into Second Life. There are Second Life advocates who are already progressing into virtual events.
At the same time the webinar format has been generally accepted. So the world of online meeetings, net meetings, web conferencing, call it what you will, is at the same time well established and in a period of transformation.
As the web evolves from web 1.0 to web 3.0 - the 3D internet - we anticipate more attention to virtual meeting spaces and virtual events. How the domain shakes down - between high cost video conferencing and ultra low cost virtual meetings, we have yet to see. But the purpose of online meetignsis to track those developments and provide a source of continuous news.
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