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
Mother Jones Magazine digests a couple other blogs (and links to a bunch of green ones).
Top 35 Green blogs, according to Read/Write/Web
Climateprogress.org top rated by Time Magazine
Dot Earth, NYT reporter Andrew C. Revkin examines efforts to balance human affairs with the planet’s limits.
Green Wombat has good coverage of energy and California
Earthfirst (not to be confused with Earthfirst!, the direct action group) recently recognized UCSC's green leadership.
earth2tech.com tracks emerging green technology, as does ecogeek.org
Energy, Food, Environment by Dustin Mulvaney, College 8 instructor.
GristMill You can comment on stories here.
by Environmental Working Group, with links to other sites/blogs
Outside Magazine blog
Worldchanging is inspiring
Social Networks
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 'Connected,' the pair describe research into how social networks tie into obesity, smoking, voting behavior, happiness, and more.
Brilliant video explaining Web 2.0 issues such as tagging ****
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.
Del.icio.us http://del.icio.us/tag/environment
http://del.icio.us/tag/sustainability
http://del.icio.us/tag/sustainableliving
http://del.icio.us/tag/ecodesign
Digg http://digg.com/environment
Hugg is like Digg for the environment http://www.hugg.com/
tag cloud http://www.hugg.com/Tagadelic Tag cloud
Virtual Reality/Gaming
A number of new books out, including Extra Lives: Why Video Games Matter and 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. TEDtalk video
Games are invading the real world -- and the runaway popularity of Farmville and Guitar Hero is just the beginning, says Jesse Schell. TEDtalk video
Hazard Cards tests your knowledge of eco-disasters.
Representing Earth is an NYU course that investigates the potential of recreating the earth in images, VR etc.
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 model ecosystems. Because it includes community, an economy, and ecosystems, it present interesting possibilities to explore the interaction between the three. Envirolink has an SL community. Interview with creator of Virtual Reality eco-village in Second Life, Etopia, and one with creator of Svarga and a video tour. Some of these virtual worlds are already having real world effects, such as this one for the rain forest. Adding technology such as the Wii to interact with rich virtual worlds give them additional potential, including training.
Will Wright, creator of SimCity created the mind-blowing Spore, a game for investigating evolution & complexity TEDtalk video. **** Hour long demo talk (video).
"Saving the World Through Game Design" (video) 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, Superstruct from Institute for the Future, which has the potential to affect the real world. Earlier game project, World Without Oil
Serious Games blog environment
Green games and Second Life video
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.
Let me know if you find other green "serious games" pmmckerc@ucsc.edu
