Updated to correct company name

The private, nonprofit International Spaceflight Museum makes public access to space exploration a virtual reality, bringing space to people instead of taking people out to space, and hosting exhibits and events about real-world spacecraft, rockets and space travel.

So, now if Linden Lab will send a letter to the committee, asking to have a correction inserted into the Congressional Record, we will call the score even on this matter.

First, I should not have made it sound as if I thought Linden Lab’s misattribution by allusion of images from the International Spaceflight Museum (ISM) to NASA was NASA’s fault. I do not believe that at all, although obviously I have had some issues with NASA in the past, but that’s a different story.

This evening a comment was posted to the original article by Catherine Smith, Director of Marketing at Linden Lab, apologizing for the mixup and saying that the video with the misattribution has been taken down and will not be distributed until the error has been corrected. As I replied to her by email, that is a good first step, but it does not adequately address the matter of the machinima that is now part of the Congressional Record. I want Linden Lab to write a letter to the Telecommunications and Internet Subcommittee explaining the mistake, and asking to have the explanation inserted into the Congressional Record.

Meanwhile, thank you to everyone who commented on this story, and thanks for the kind words about the ISM. No, we will probably not remove the museum from Second Life as some have thought we might (although we probably will attempt to replicate at least some part of it in other VWs). It would be easier to justify staying in SL if we were able to get what I believe it has deserved all along, the discount given to educational and other organizations. We do have a non-profit corporation, but as yet don’t have IRS recognition as a tax-exempt company. Getting 501(c)(3) status is a long and difficult process, which has certainly not been advanced by the need to scramble for funding to pay full price for the museum’s land every month. You’d think that Linden Lab’s own repeated approbation as “the best Second Life has to offer” and their frequent use of images of the museum in marketing materials would be testimony enough to its worthiness, but so far we have not been able to convince anyone there of that. Perhaps we are still not talking to the right people?

Many thanks to ISM Planning Group member Paradox Olbers for the info about and link to Markey’s hearing. Be sure to check out his blog for more details and his followup interview with Markey’s staff.

Find more videos like this on Association of Virtual Worlds

Yes, yes, I’ll get around to learning the application myself soon (it’s pretty easy to get started with) and will write my own sterling prose about it, but for now this is a good placeholder.

Export Formats
• bmp
  • 24 bit
  • 32 bit
• jpg
  • sliding scale 0-100% quality
• tga
  • 24 bit
  • 32 bit
• gif
  • transparency

Obviously, these are 2D formats, not 3D. Maybe for 3D I need to look at 3DXchange2 instead? iClone is really intended for creating machinima rather than 3D models for virtual worlds, after all. The right tool for the job…