Reading books that applause your industry is good – reading ones that vilify it is even better. “The Cult of the Amateur” by Andrew Keen is a self-styled polemic about web 2.0 technologies and social medias. I read it closely over the weekend - it’s more hellfire and brimstone sermon than evenhanded discussion, but I’m still glad I bought it. Keen is an articulate naysayer and the book’s exaggeration is entertaining, causing me to chuckle every now and then, which is a good thing.

I can’t state strongly enough that I believe we are living in a true artistic and cultural Renaissance that spans linear and interactive media. The films of the 2000s match those of the 70s in their depth and originality. The visual opulence of user-generated content in Second Life is astounding. Social media enhances real-time communication in ways impossible to fathom before. With respect to social virtual reality and the semantic web, I see the benefits far outweighing the negatives.

I‘ve stated before and will stand by this time and time again: democratization of authoring tools benefits everyone including those schooled in traditional media.

-Dimitri

Any exposure of virtual reality on the silver screen or DVD is a good thing. Indeed there’s word that Hollywood is exploring the world of the avatar. Though no “Matrix”, “Videodrome”, or “Tron”, Gamebox1.0 is low budget, but the general idea is cool. A distraught video gamer gets trapped in several virtual worlds and has to fight his way out. We’ve seen this conceit before - i.e. you die in the dream or video game, you die in real life. With blue screen and a little imagination, the simulation works. Apparently the film won an award for machinima technique. The screenplay is predictable, but shows some heart.

-Dimitri