Virtual Property Revisited

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eBay launches the era of Virtual Property

Posted by JonKatz on Wednesday May 05, @10:12AM EDT
from the There-Goes-The-Neighborhood,-literally dept.
On eBay, people are shelling out thousands of dollars for gaming characters, symbols, armor, magical potions of trinkets. The media has missed the real story as usual: it isn't online violence, it's digital property. eBay may be even more significant than Mp3's. As the middle-class plunges into gaming, the Net is facing real world problems like housing costs and congestion. The result is another landmark in Net evolution: the owning of virtual property, something that may change the nature of Net economics and knock the gaming world for a loop.

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Hope In The Hellmouth: Looking Ahead

Posted by JonKatz on Monday May 03, @10:00AM EDT
from the best-of-times,-worst-of-times dept.
The bad news was that countless geeks and nerds were hassled, "counseled" and sent home from school last week for looking odd or saying what they thought. Geek Profiling was epidemic. The good news was that there was an extraordinary sense of community on the Net and Web last week, and that the word got out, big time. The "Voices From The Hellmouth" were heard and quoted on some of the country's most influential mainstream media, just as many of you had hoped for. You did good. And a whole new stream of messages came in, many hopeful, positive and looking ahead Beyond the Hellmouth. They ranged from starting a Geek Church to offers of help from kids, parents, and teachers.

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The Price of Being Different

Posted by JonKatz on Thursday April 29, @12:15PM EDT
from the the-rights-of-geeks dept.
Since Littleton, the cost of being different has gone up. Thousands of powerful e-mail messages have chronicled an educational system that glorifies the traditional and the normal, and brutalizes and alienates people who are or who are perceived as different under various names -- geeks, freaks, nerds, Goths and oddballs. One of the powerful messages coming out of Colorado is that so many of these "different" kids say they find school boring, oppressive, and utterly hostile, feelings echoed by educational survivors, many of whom are now parents. The hysteria over Littleton has only made things worse. It's time geeks defined and lobbied for some new rights. From their own messages, here are some places to start.

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Catching a breath...

Posted by JonKatz on Wednesday April 28, @10:21AM EDT
from the The-Hellmouth dept.
Rob/Jeff and the hardware need a rest, Slashdotters need to be able to log on, and I have thousands of e-mails to read and sort through. These messages are a river of pain, and we could all use a breather. I'll be back tomorrow with "The Rights Of Geeks."

Heads Up. This is in the Be Careful What You Wish For Dept: A bunch of reporters and producers are trawling the site looking for geek kids to put on TV and radio, and to interview for newspaper stories. Journalism has suddenly discovered that this story is a little more complicated than violent video games and geek monsters.

Be careful, especially those of you who are younger. Some of these reporters get it, some don't. Some will worry about your best interests, and others won't. I've declined to give any e-mail addresses of kids relaying the realities of life in High School to reporters, since in some cases, radio and TV exposure would make their lives worse, not better.

It's an individual choice, but think about it. If you need guidance, please feel free to e-mail me, as I worked in newspapers and for a TV network before becoming a cyber-gasbag and writer.Update: 04/28 02:03 by H: Doug has also put up ListenToUs. This is a gathering place for us to communicate with each on social issues, especially in light of Littleton.

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