View source for Blogs and Social Networks

Remember, '''none''' of this content has been reviewed by anyone.  It is, however, a way to see different points of view on current events.


== Blogs ==

[http://motherjones.com Mother Jones] Magazine [http://motherjones.com/blue-marble digests a couple other blogs] (and links to a bunch of green ones).

[http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/top_35_environmental_blogs.php Top 35] Green blogs, according to Read/Write/Web.

[http://e360.yale.edu/ Yale's Environment 360]

[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/green/ HuffPo Green] (videos).

[http://scienceblogs.com/channel/environment/ ScienceBlogs on the environment]

[http://www.climatecentral.org/what-we-do/people/ Climate Central] is very comprehensive.

[http://www.treehugger.com/ Treehugger], orientation [http://www.waywire.com/v/796ef273918349806176519d9e1910b4 interview] with Chris Tackett. [http://jobs.treehugger.com/ Green jobs] and [http://www.treehugger.com/transportation/ transportation] and [http://www.treehugger.com/design/ design].

[http://airhugger.wordpress.com/ Airhugger] features important grass roots monitoring by [http://www.gcmonitor.org/ Global Community Monitor], their citizen science Bucket Brigades have gathered data on the [http://www.gcmonitor.org/section.php?id=268 East Bay], including [http://www.gcmonitor.org/article.php?id=1577 Chevron Richmond refinery fire].  Also [http://gcmonitor.org/downloads/RecyclerReport_Final.pdf metal recyclers] and [http://www.gcmonitor.org/downloads/gassedreport.pdf Fracking].

[http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/ Planet Money blog] tracks global economics.  They authored the award winning [http://www.thisamericanlife.org/search?keys=giant%20pool%20of%20money Global Pool of Money] NPR radio series on This American Life.

[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rebecca-solnit Rebecca Solnit] is a fine and inspiring Bay Area writer.

[http://climateprogress.org/ Climateprogress.org] top rated by Time Magazine

[http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/ Dot Earth], NYT reporter Andrew C. Revkin examines efforts to balance human affairs with the planet’s limits.

[http://thegreenwombat.com/ Green Wombat] has good coverage of energy and California

[http://earthfirst.com/ Earthfirst] (not to be confused with Earthfirst!, the direct action group) recently [http://earthfirst.com/green-college-spotlight-university-of-california-at-santa-cruz/ recognized UCSC's green leadership].

[http://www.onearth.org/blog OnEarth] from NRDC.

[http://blog.markhertsgaard.com/ Mark Hertsgaard].

[http://www.senseandsustainability.net/ Sense and Sustainability]

[http://earth2tech.com/ earth2tech.com] tracks emerging green technology, as does [http://www.ecogeek.org/ ecogeek.org]

[http://energyfoodenvironment.blogspot.com/ Energy, Food, Environment] by Dustin Mulvaney, College 8 instructor.

[http://dir.blogflux.com/cat/environment.html Eco-Blog Index]

[http://www.blogcatalog.com/directory/environment another Eco-Blog Index]

[http://gristmill.grist.org/ GristMill]  You can comment on stories here.

[http://www.nerdybooks.com/blogs/wendys_blog.html Wendy's Blog]

[http://www.theenvironmentalblog.org/ The Environmental Blog]

[http://www.enviroblog.org/ by Environmental Working Group], with links to other sites/blogs

[http://outside-blog.away.com/blog/green_issues/index.html Outside Magazine] blog.

[http://www.worldchanging.com/ Worldchanging] is inspiring

== Social Networks ==

Some of the most interesting green social networking recently regards sharing stuff to reduce [http://www.ic.ucsc.edu/college8core/c8wiki/index.php/Category:Consumption#Websites consumption] for example: [http://www.yerdle.com/ Yerdle.com], a site where friends can share and swap items (see audio).  Got stuff to get rid of? Need free stuff? [http://www.freecycle.org/ Freecycle.org].  also [http://www.swap.com/ Swap.com] allows you to trade books, clothes, music etc, even locally.

[http://waywire.com/ Waywire, a new social media site] backed by Booker and Google's executive chairman, Eric Schmidt, a social video site for do-gooders from the millennial generation.

[http://www.sciencefriday.com/program/archives/200909255 Audio interview] with Nicholas Christakis and James Fowler, two researchers exploring social networks and how they affect our health and behavior. In their new book [http://www.connectedthebook.com/ 'Connected,'] the pair describe research into how social networks tie into obesity, smoking, voting behavior, happiness, and more.

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLlGopyXT_g Brilliant video] explaining Web 2.0 issues such as tagging ****

[http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/216 Howard Rheingold] talks about the coming world of collaboration, participatory media and collective action -- and how Wikipedia is really an outgrowth of our natural human instinct to work as a group. As he points out, humans have been banding together to work collectively since our days of hunting mastodons. TEDtalk video.


== Tagged Content ==

'''Del.icio.us''' [http://del.icio.us/tag/environment http://del.icio.us/tag/environment ]

[http://del.icio.us/tag/green http://del.icio.us/tag/green]

[http://del.icio.us/tag/sustainability http://del.icio.us/tag/sustainability]

[http://del.icio.us/tag/sustainableliving http://del.icio.us/tag/sustainableliving]

[http://del.icio.us/tag/ecodesign http://del.icio.us/tag/ecodesign]

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digg '''Digg'''] [http://digg.com/environment http://digg.com/environment]

'''Hugg''' is like Digg for the environment [http://www.hugg.com http://www.hugg.com/]

[http://www.hugg.com/tagadelic tag cloud http://www.hugg.com/Tagadelic Tag cloud]

== Virtual Reality/Gaming ==

[http://games.soe.ucsc.edu/ UCSC Game program] wins [http://news.ucsc.edu/2012/03/princeton-review.html award].  [http://games.soe.ucsc.edu/project/what-if-im-bad-guy Augmented Reality], [http://games.soe.ucsc.edu/project/spyfeet another example]. [http://www.santacruztechbeat.com/2014/04/15/garden-of-gaming-in-santa-cruz/ 2014 update], more awards. [http://www.ted.com/talks/brenda_brathwaite_gaming_for_understanding Brenda Romero's TEDtalk] on games for learning. [http://news.ucsc.edu/2015/08/gaming-ama.html Ask Them Anything] 8/15. [http://news.ucsc.edu/2016/02/questions-humanities-series.html Gamification] with Kimberly Lau (Literature) and Noah Wardrip-Fruin (Computational Media)and History professor Nathaniel Deutsch, director of the Institute for Humanities Research 2/16. UCSC library has [http://library.ucsc.edu/video-games collection] and a [http://games.soe.ucsc.edu/degree program]. 

[https://howwegettonext.com/serious-games-finally-find-their-fun-f1fa6b39b1e7#.upn7ksjkc  Eco, a global survival simulator] presents you with a tricky challenge: Develop a civilization capable of tackling a meteor strike, drought, or rising sea levels, but don’t destroy the environment. 11/16

[http://news.ucsc.edu/2016/04/danm-mfa-exhibition.html Digital Arts and New Media M.F.A. Program (DANM) at UCSC "Blind Spot" exhibition]: Adrian Phillips’s "No Frontier" addresses notions of frontier fantasies through a digital game for two players in which one player takes the role of a native population, while the other takes the role of a newly-arrived foreigner.  Zach Corse’s "Encodings in Space and Time" is an immersive large-scale installation influenced by physics, information theory, and the course of Japanese glass fishing floats known to cross the North Pacific gyre. 4/16.

[http://www.globalpossibilities.org/climate-hope-city-the-ideal-green-city/ Climate Hope City: The Guardian unveils the ideal green city in Minecraft] 6/15. 

[http://janemcgonigal.com/ Jane McGonigal] “[http://www.ted.com/talks/jane_mcgonigal_gaming_can_make_a_better_world Gaming can make a better world]” TEDtalk.

[http://ecowatch.com/2014/07/02/video-games-climate-change/ Could Video Games Help People Understand Climate Change?] 7/14.

'''Spore''' (see below) is in some ways the ultimate green game, but Will Wright is also [http://mashable.com/2012/03/07/simcity-5-2013-launch/ updating SimCity] to learn about green design and global warming. [http://grist.org/news/the-new-simcity-green-urbanist-dream-gamer-nightmare/ review]12/12

Will Wright, creator of SimCity ([http://boingboing.net/2012/03/21/the-engine-that-will-drive-the.html new version] 3/12) created the mind-blowing Spore, a game for investigating evolution & complexity [http://www.ted.com/speakers/view/id/128 TEDtalk video]. ****  [http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-775656482294094003# Hour long demo] talk (video). [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WU3eOWJ519I 2011 talk] sponsored by [http://games.soe.ucsc.edu/ UCSC game design program]. [http://www.amazon.com/Smartbomb-Quest-Entertainment-Videogame-Revolution/dp/1565123468/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top/192-7152076-0207156#reader_1565123468 interesting chapter on him in Smartbomb]:  McH Stacks HD9993.E452 C43 2005.

[http://grist.org/list/this-game-about-the-tar-sands-is-like-a-choose-your-own-adventure-documentary/ This game about the tar sands is like a choose-your-own-adventure documentary] 11/13.

[http://www.globalpossibilities.org/sustainable-living-app-offers-bite-sized-actionable-green-ideas-and-challenges/ Sustainable living app offers bite-sized, actionable, green ideas and challenges] The app essentially ‘gamifies’ each person’s journey to going greener, and makes it easy to share specific actions and ideas with their friends via social media, including uploading pictures of sustainability actions they’ve adopted and completed. 8/14.

[http://mssv.net/about/ Adrian Hon], CEO and founder at Six to Start, co-creators of the most successful smartphone fitness game in the world, Zombies, Run! He's won plenty of awards for our game-like stories and storylike games, and our work’s been displayed at the MOMA and Design Museum. [http://www.ahistoryofthefuture.org/ A History of the Future in 100 Objects]

[http://click.lists.propublica.net/?qs=49676455e4259c503fe525e418bf9439fe4d6d011ab22e665ef1efa671ac14da  What Are Intelligence Agencies Doing in Virtual Worlds?] 12/13.

[http://science.kqed.org/quest/2013/06/19/video-game-turns-players-into-biofuel-farmers/ Gamers Going Green: New Video Game Turns Players Into Biofuel Farmers].

[http://www.climateinteractive.org/about/writing/jones Climate change simulation] 10/13.

[http://www.propublica.org/nerds/item/four-games-that-tackle-serious-issues Serious Games conf 2013] on security, street vender women etc. 

[http://grist.org/news/canadian-officials-in-uproar-over-pipeline-video-game-not-over-actual-pipelines/ Pipeline videogame] from Canada, the people who are bringing us the tarsands Keystone XL "carbon bomb" that NASA's [http://grist.org/news/james-hansen-to-quit-nasa-become-full-time-climate-activist/Jim Hansen] says will be "game over for the planet." 4/13.

[http://grist.org/news/energy-conservation-gets-gamified/ Energy-saving games] 12/12.

[http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2013/05/19/185164635/can-losing-weight-in-your-second-life-help-in-your-first Second Life VR helps lose weight] 5/13.

[http://grist.org/list/virtual-reality-experiment-shows-meat-eaters-what-its-like-to-be-a-cow/ Stanford’s Jeremy Bailenson's latest experiment is a whacked-out version of Farmville], in which participants are made to feel like cows, even prodded like cattle. 7/13.

[http://www.zygotebody.com/ Zygote Body] 3D visualization tool.

[http://grist.org/climate-energy/power-play-can-utilities-make-energy-efficiency-fun/ Power play: Can utilities turn energy efficiency into fun and games?] 7.12

[http://grist.org/list/#item-waking-mars Waking Mars] is a game about gardening, botany, and ecology.

[http://www.amazon.com/gp/mpd/permalink/m19XSQ26DCG7FB/ref=ent_fb_link Gamestorming:] A Playbook for Innovators, Rulebreakers, and Changemakers. I am a strong advocate of serious play. Play and school—as well as play and work—are often treated as contradictory ideas, yet it is though play—and games—that we explore, discover, and learn. The authors of Gamestorming get that. There are 83 games introduced in the book that are explained clearly and simply. You can choose the games to fit your needs and your situation.

Create or run online simulations [http://forio.com/simulate/showcase/ examples] and a [http://www.iseesystems.com/community/WebSeminars/CreatingOnlineSimulations.aspx video on how to make] them.

[http://yeslab.org/project/phone-story  "Phone Story]" the iPhone app from Molleindustria (with some help from the Yes Lab), contains a mini-game exploring a different problem in the consumer electronics supply chain.  How would you like to force children to mine precious metals, save suicidal workers from jumping to their deaths so they can labor another day, or find the cheapest way to dispose of mountains of e-waste—all while keeping productivity up so you can toss shiny trinkets to adoring consumers?

A number of new books out, including [http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0307378705/kqedorg-20 Extra Lives: Why Video Games Matter] and [http://www.amazon.com/Persuasive-Games-Expressive-Power-Videogames/dp/0262514885/ref=pd_sim_b_7 Persuasive Games: The Expressive Power of Videogames]

Seth Priebatsch looks at the next layer in progress: the "game layer," a pervasive net of behavior-steering game dynamics that will reshape education and commerce. [http://www.ted.com/talks/seth_priebatsch_the_game_layer_on_top_of_the_world.html TEDtalk video]

Games are invading the real world -- and the runaway popularity of Farmville and Guitar Hero is just the beginning, says Jesse Schell. [http://www.ted.com/talks/jesse_schell_when_games_invade_real_life.html TEDtalk video]

[http://www.hazardcards.com/play.php Hazard Cards] tests your knowledge of eco-disasters.

[http://itp.nyu.edu/RepresentingEarth/ Representing Earth] is an NYU course that investigates the potential of recreating the earth in images, VR etc.

[http://secondlife.com/ Second Life] is a virtual world that allows people to build almost anything and invite the world in to experience it.  It has its own economy, and some people have built worlds that include working [http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/03/070308-second-life.html model ecosystems].  Because it includes community, an economy, and ecosystems, it present interesting possibilities to explore the interaction between the three. [http://slurl.com/secondlife/Commonwealth%20Island/136/93/25 Envirolink] has an SL community.   [http://www.thepeoplescube.com/red/viewtopic.php?t=1096 Interview with creator of Virtual Reality eco-village] in Second Life, Etopia, and one with [http://nwn.blogs.com/nwn/2006/05/god_game.html creator of Svarga] and a [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbC-izqQIT0 video tour].  Some of these virtual worlds are already having real world effects, such as this one for the [http://www.secondlifeinsider.com/2007/07/09/from-virtual-to-real-a-powerful-call-to-environmental-action/ rain forest.]  Adding technology such as the Wii to interact with rich virtual worlds give them [http://www.wired.com/gadgets/miscellaneous/news/2007/07/wiimote additional potential, including training.]
'''New''': [http://virtualworlds.nmc.org/portfolio/virtual-polluted-ithaca-cornell-university/ Polluted Ithaca]. 11/7  [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONt1RBrDy7A&feature=relmfu New CEO] speaks at [http://games.soe.ucsc.edu/ UCSC].  Also Green design [http://secondlife.com/destination/the-frontier-project Frontier] (LEED) and [http://secondlife.com/destination/archi21 Archi21].

[http://fora.tv/2011/01/24/Jane_McGonigal_How_Games_Can_Make_a_Better_World 2011 talk] [http://www.newyorker.com/online/video/conference/2008/mcgonigal "Saving the World Through Game Design"] (video)
[http://www.avantgame.com/ Jane McGonigal] talks with Daniel Zalewski about alternate-reality gaming. From “Stories from the Near Future,” the 2008 New Yorker Conference. You can play future forecasting game, [http://www.superstructgame.org/ Superstruct] from Institute for the Future, which has the potential to affect the real world.  Earlier game project, [http://www.worldwithoutoil.org/ World Without Oil]

[http://seriousgamesportal.blogspot.com/search/label/Ecology%20Games Serious Games blog] environment.

[http://www.wbur.org/npr/175911265/bioshock-infinite-a-first-person-shooter-a-tragic-play Bio-Shock Infinity is based on Aristotelian philosophy], the beginning of a new art form? (audio 4/13.)

[http://www.gamesforchange.org/main/GameList Games for Change]

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gn1p22E8QnM Green games] and Second Life video

[http://www.mefeedia.com/news/24366708 Mannahatta Project].  Eric Sanderson pictures New York -- before the City.
400 years after Hudson found New York harbor,  Sanderson shares how he made a 3D map of Mannahatta's fascinating pre-city ecology of hills, rivers, wildlife -- accurate down to the block -- when Times Square was a wetland and you couldn't get delivery. TEDtalk video.

Nuclear plant [http://esa21.kennesaw.edu/activities/nukeenergy/nuke.htm simulator game] (no earthquake mode).

[http://www.maryflanagan.com UCSC's Mary Flanagan] has achieved international acclaim for her novel interdisciplinary games, artwork, and theoretical writing, her commitment to theory/practice research, and contributions to social justice design arenas. She is particularly interested in issues of equity and authorship in technological environments, and reworking commonly understood paradigms to provide collective strategies for social change. [http://ihr.ucsc.edu/archives/mary-flanagan-propositions-from-a-critical-play-perspective Her 11/1/11 talk] draws primarily on her work in the Values at Play project and in her 2009 book, Critical Play (MIT Press). [http://www.tiltfactor.org/ link]

[http://highrise.nfb.ca/ Highrise] "What does citizenship mean in a transnational, globalised context? One Millionth Tower, the latest strand of the multi-media, multi- award-winning HIGHRISE project teams a group of highrise residents in Toronto with architects and animators to re-imagine their surroundings and transform their dilapidated highrise neighborhood into a vibrant, resident-led community. "Using cutting-edge open-source technology, this interactive documentary enables a 3D storytelling environment within a web browser, incorporating the magic of cinema, architecture and animation. A hyper-local story with a global resonance in its vision for a more human-friendly urban planet – and world wide web." 

[http://www.ted.com/speakers/gabe_zichermann.html Gabe Zichermann] is an entrepreneur and author whose work centers on gamification--and the power of games to help engage people and build strong organizations and communities. "How games make kids smarter" TEDtalk video 11/11.

[http://www.agentsheets.com/research/agentcubes/index.html Build your own 3D games]

[http://fold.it/portal/ Fold It] solve puzzles for science.

[http://boingboing.net/2012/03/28/online-game-to-cultivate-ideas.html Online game:] contribute your ideas to fight global poverty!

[http://www.ted.com/talks/marco_tempest_a_magical_tale_with_augmented_reality.html Augmented Reality] used for storytelling (TEDtalk video). [http://games.soe.ucsc.edu/project/what-if-im-bad-guy UCSC example], [http://games.soe.ucsc.edu/project/spyfeet another example].

[http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1318318905/a-las-barricadas-a-boardgame-of-social-conflict A board game about protests].

[http://www.ecotopia.org/ehof/thoreau/index.html Thoreau], at last, [http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/apr/26/walden-woods-game-world-thoreau video game!]

Let me know if you find other green [http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/003711.html "serious games"] pmmckerc@ucsc.edu


[[Category:Sustainability]]
[[Category:Virtual Reality]]