http://stadium.open.ac.uk/webcast-ou/ The ReLIVE08 Conference will be of interest to anyone researching learning and teaching in virtual world environments such as Second Life. An exciting conference programme, including presentations from notable keynote speakers. The conference programme will encourage active participation, reflection, debate and discussion through a variety of workshops, individual and panel presentations, posters and symposium sessions. ReLIVE08 promises to be thought-provoking as well as entertaining and an excellent opportunity for networking in the field. Related links: ReLIVE 08 Full Programme Select programme of webcast presentations from Day 1: The Open University 2008en-gb Fri, 21 Nov 2008 09:37:24 +0000 KMi Stadium http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss http://stadium.open.ac.uk/webcast-ou/images/rss_default.jpg http://stadium.open.ac.uk/webcast-ou/ I study synthetic worlds: online environments where thousands or even millions of users share a persistent, fabricated geographic space at the same time. These places, billed and sold as games, actually seem to be offering something more than mere entertainment. They act as a fantastical alternative to ordinary life, and as such they pose a significant challenge to business-as-usual in ordinary society: markets, public policy, politics, law, romance. In the area of economics, for example, one pressing issue involves the extent to which people are paying real money to buy items for their game characters, thus blurring the distinction between the game economy and the real one. And this is not the only way in which synthetic worlds threaten the lines we have drawn between fantasy and reality. As a parent and a gamer, I am both excited and concerned about these developments. The objective of my work is to increase our understanding of this technology. http://stadium.open.ac.uk//stadia/preview.php?s=31&whichevent=1247 http://stadium.open.ac.uk/stadia/preview.php?s=31&whichevent=1247&scheduleid=1462 Thu, 20 Nov 2008 10:15:00 +0000 Edward Castronova