Sunday, April 5, the Copper Robot interviews three of the cast members of the Web sitcom The Guild, which tells the story of the real lives — such as they are — of a group of players in a medieval online game. Our guests will be Felicia Day, who also starred on Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, as well as actors Sandeep Parikh and Jeff Lewis.

The Guild gleefully plays with every stereotype about online gamers: Anti-social, obsessive — one of them is actually a grown man who lives with his mother (I can’t remember if he lives in her... read more

We had a great time talking with Paul Jannicola and Kerria Seabrooke, two of the creative forces behind animators The Ill Clan. We talked to them about the kind of animation they do -- called "machinima" -- their work for CSI: New York, their new movie, Tiny Nation, their process, how you, too, can become a machinimist, and more. Warning: This podcast may be offensive to the Electric Sheep Company, shepherds, Cleveland, New Zealand, people who get riled up about Second Life not being a game, vegetarians, vegans, fans of Bob Newhart (who will be offended... read more

Over on New World Notes, "BadMove" comments on discussion about merging the Teen Grid and adult Second Life. He thinks it's a bad move -- there'll be no way to protect kids from adult content, adults will have to watch out who they speak to, and the whole thing will erupt into a scandal.

BadMove is dead wrong on this issue.

Minors can already get access to the adult grid. All they have to do is tell a little fib and say they're an adult. This is no obstacle to a healthy teen-age boy from getting at porn. When I... read more

Listen to our conversation with P.W. Singer, author of Wired for War: The Robotics Revolution and Conflict in the 21st Century, a look at robots and how they're being used on real-world battlefields in Iraq and Afghanistan. Singer discusses how science fiction is becoming reality and robots are changing the rules of war right now. We talked about the rapid proliferation of robot warfighters, and who takes responsibility when things go wrong -- as they inevitably do. Singer's previous books looked at corporate warriors, and children being conscripted as soldiers.

Read more about Singer and his book in my InformationWeek... read more

Join us Sunday for an hour of madcap conversation with Kerria Seabrooke and Paul Jannicola, two animators with the Ill Clan, a company that produces movies in Second Life. Ill Clan's latest production, Tiny Nation, tells the story of a group of gentle backyard creatures and their plot to kill the human residents of the suburban home they live behind. Ill Clan also did the animation for last year’s Second Life-based episode of the TV show CSI: New York.

The type of animation that Ill Clan practices is called "machinima." It's computer animation produced in games and virtual worlds... read more

Great insight by Wagner James Au: Linden Lab's attempt to clean up its reputation by creating a "red light district" for adult content -- and forbidding it on the rest of the grid -- might backfire. It might simply call attention to the adult content, and cement Second Life's undeserved reputation as porn-world.

That's what happened to Amsterdam in real life, he says.

Red Light Lessons: Creating a Second Life Amsterdam of Adult Content Will Likely Create Even More Controversies

When I tell people I visited Amsterdam, most of them immediately ask if I went to a hash bar, or caught a... read more

Join us Sunday for a conversation with P.W. Singer, author of Wired for War: The Robotics Revolution and Conflict in the 21st Century, a look at real-world robots and how they’re defending America — and killing people — on the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan. Singer argues that, as a society, we need to start taking the moral and political issues of robots on the battlefield seriously. It’s a fascinating book, I’m reading it now. I interviewed Singer for InformationWeek.

Join us at 6 pm Pacific/Second Life Time Sunday, March 8, at the Seaside Theater on World2Worlds Island, or... read more