Yay!: Two positive notes today; my graduation speech was approved and Spielberg has made a game! Two wonderful things that make me every so happy. Now about this game, Steven Spielberg has partnered with EA Games (Electronic Arts) to create the first in a triple threat of Wii games. The first game is entitled Boom Blox, and harkens back to the pre-video game time. The game involves large towers of stones. Players then use their Wii remotes to zero in on weak points in the towers and then toss various objects at the stones to topple the tower. Players can throw all kinds of objects, from baseballs to bowling balls and will see a response similar to what would happen in real life. This realism is thanks to the minds at EA who made sure each object had the same digital physics that it would have in real life. While the game sounds dull from text description, the graphics are explosive and almost 300 levels keep you entertained.

Sigh: I have never hidden by feelings about Second Life, and this will be yet another expression of displeasure (so Second Lifers can leave now). Second Life has been increasingly incorporated into our corporate lives. When there was a Congressional subcommittee meeting in Second Life, I shook my head but kept my peace. Now it is really starting to trouble me. IBM, one of Second Life’s most connected companies, has begun hosting private sections of Second Life. These private sections will be places where IBM employees can go to attend meetings and discuss work without worrying about leaking company secrets onto a third party server. More than 6,000 IBM employees are reported to have Second Life avatars.

Ugh: I understand that IBM would have some Second Life geeks among their ranks (and plenty of D&D fans too), but isn’t this taking it to an extreme? We have webcams and teleconferencing, why do we need to sit in virtual boardrooms? Please, Please, Please, let’s conduct our business in the real world, not your Second Life. Satisfaction in Second Life doesn’t mean satisfaction in this life.