Tech Stream
Archive for the ‘ Uncategorized’ Category
Virtual Concerns in China and Australia
3 July 2009
Listen and download: MP3
Inhabitants of Second Life, spending time on ABC Island. Image from Flickr by Gary Hayes.
We were augmenting our realities last week, adding layers of virtual information and computer generated objects to the real world around us. But this week we’re digging deeper on a couple of stories involving online virtual worlds – places like Second Life – and games like World of Warcraft.
It seemed that Australia’s proposed ISP-level internet filtering regime could impact upon “unclassified” virtual spaces and internet games. And some new laws were introduced in China this week aimed at stopping the flow of virtual money into the real world economy. Initial reports suggested that it might effect the practice of gold-farming in games like WoW, but it seems that’s not quite the case.
For more on both of these issues I spoke with David Holloway, editor of Metaverse Journal, a virtual worlds news site. He kicked off with his thoughts on China’s new policy toward virtual currency and you can hear our entire conversation from the MP3 link at the top of this story. There’s also more after the jump…
CeBIT: Cool Toys
14 May 2009
Its time to get into the nitty gritty of what attracted me to CeBIT Australia 2009 in the first place: cool toys! Well, thats not exactly true. I’ve enjoyed the ideas, debates and innovation on show as well, but who can resist pocket sized projectors, 3D televisions, headphones that conduct sound through your bones instead of your ears (see photo above) and technology that lets you move a mouse on the screen with your eye! Woah.
The main parts of the conference are winding up, so I’m heading back out into it now, join me again with all these cool gadgets in the Tech Stream radio program, tomorrow afternoon across Asia and the Pacific on Radio Australia.
CeBIT at the end of Day 2
14 May 2009
Day two has wrapped at CeBIT Australia 2009 and you get the feeling that there’ll be less talking and more wheeling and dealing going on tomorrow.
