I didn't realize this URL was still live, but the blog has moved to:

Please make a note of it :) 

Xeni Jardin points us to a radio and IM interview about instant message "privacy" and which IM clients are safer for your clandestine chats.

And lest you think everyone already knows all that, I had dinner with a very tech- and media-savvy friend last night who did not realize that IM clients not only can log everything, they default to log everything, rather than default to not logging anything. My friend thought IM just kind of went "poof" into the ether.

The only reason I don't have chat logs from 10 years ago is that I've gone through several computers since then and haven't always moved everything to the new machine. Thinking of my current network ... I'd say I could probably look at the history of all my IMing since, oh, 2002/2003. 

That's right, instance upon instance of exchanges like: 

Me: Hey, has the column dropped to copy desk?

Wired: Yup! Why, did you need to make a change?

Me: No, just wondering if I needed to be 'on call' for any questions. Thanks!

Wired: np

and

Me: wow bummer

Friend: yeah tht xsu

Me: oh well

Friend: mabye next time

Me: k

It really gets the juices flowing, doesn't it?

I use Trillian, but here's a screenshot of GAIM, a client recommended by Peter Eckersley, a staff technologist at the nonprofit Electronic Frontier Foundation:

I got a note from the Jewel of Indra folks inviting me to watch their play this weekend, in-world.

From the press release:

The play will be performed in Jewel of Indra's (JOI) Theater in the Round (a virtual reality rendition of the Elizabethan styled theater of the late 1500's). <cite>The Love Clinic</cite>, although adult in nature, is a culmination of weeks of rehearsals, casting calls, and try outs. Produced by Tony, (JOI resident and Theater Manager), the play is set in the offices of a dating agency. The play is a light hearted comedy on the theme of love in the 21st century.

theater in the round

"The two biggest challenges in directing a Virtual Reality play is blocking the scenes, and getting the actors to rehearsal on time", Tony says. The production will be complete with set, props, playbills, binoculars, and elaborate lighting.

during the play, click the bincos for close-up

When asked if she felt the adult nature of the play would diminish its impact, badgirl (CEO of The Project) who prefers to use her online handle replied, "I probably feel no different than Sophocles would have in 428 BC with his Greek tragedy, Oedipus Rex, except JOI is a bit more restrictive in that JOI does not allow content regarding incest."

"It will be interesting to see if the attendees get the same physical rush one gets at the start of a play, when the JOI theater goes dark, the spot light hits center stage, and the curtains open for the first time", Loanwolffe (Community Architect) says.

standing on the balcony looking down at the stage

 

The basic idea of The Experience Project, a new social networking site, is that instead of identifying yourself by name, you identify yourself by an experience you've had or something you are. "I love horses" is one experience; I had a threesome with my wife" is another.

When you sign up, you look for experiences that you have had or plan to have, and you click Me too! to join that experience group and be able to share your story. Or Plan to! if you want to have the experience. And so on.

The service defalts to filter out mature content, but mature content* is definitely allowed. "I had a threesome with my wife" has several stories already, and as I'm blogging, it has five people declaring "I plan to!"

Many of the most active groups, at this moment, revolve around sex and love. (As one friend said recently, what else is worth writing about? He was referring to novels, but still, what an excellent point! LOL) "I remember my first kiss," "I loved someone who didn't love me" and "I am bisexual" are popular; but so are "I sang karaoke" and "I battle depression."

Dreams, secrets, experiences ... but no names. How much you want to bet people are going to meet and fall in love here, just like we do anywhere else? I'm fascinated, and plan to (click!) explore this more deeply when I have a moment. 

*The Terms of Service prohibits nudity, and allows children between the ages of 13 and 18 if they have a parent or guardian's permission. (It doesn't even prevent children 12 and under from joining, but says "You should be aware that this Site is not intended or designed to attract children under the age of 13. We do not collect personally identifiable information from any person we actually know is a child under the age of 13.")

Also, he project reserves the right to use your material and your username in its marketing and other activities, although not exclusively so you can still use it for whatever you want too. They do promise not to associate any identifying information about you; it's your responsibility to keep your username private. But if you're sharing secrets (oxymoron alert!), you should keep this in mind.

In a study released today, Nielson Entertainment says that 64 percent of online gamers are women. That's no surprise, considering that the "expansion of next-generation hardware and technology in the marketplace is simultaneously delivering new ecosystems of social exchange, interactive entertainment, media experiences and advertising models."

Well, that's how a senior vice president of Nielsen Interactive Entertainment explains it, in a statement issued with the study. [The San Jose Mercury News blogged the full press release.]

Me, I'm liable to stick with the generality that lots of women like to interact with other people in a shared experience that exercises the logical mind and the creative imagination.

Also, despite the stereotype of "addicted" online gamers spending 23 hours a day in virtual worlds, the average of five hours a week is easily attained -- if you give up television.

I think this is excellent news for all those developers working on erotic worlds, most of whom have put women smack dab in the center of their marketing efforts. Right now, the standard is "bring the girls and the boys will follow," and don't forget to include a space for alternate orientations and experimentation while you're at it. (Last night at a party, a cute guy caught me flirting with a beautiful woman in halting Spanish, telling her I would gladly salsa with her later; he asked "Are you lesbian?" and I said "No" and he said "Damn" and I said "Why, are you?" but I really should have said "Only on the internet...")

Who knows, in a year or two, maybe they'll have to change their marketing targets to attract enough men for the women to play with. You know as well as I do that something about online communication brings out the flirt in us, even if we have no interest in cybersex or virtual nudity.

A quick look at the adults-only virtual world population:

Ray Schwartz, president of erotic world Red Light Center, says that 40 percent of its members are female.

Jewel of Indra, which celebrates the sacred sexy feminine while also providing a platform for as naughty as you wanna be, also runs about 40 to 45 percent female.

Annalee Newitz reports that there are as many women in Second Life as men, which surprises me; I'd rather expected we'd be in the majority, there. (There seems to be some confusion as to how big the world really is. Her article says the world has 300,000 residents; the Christian Science Monitor article I blogged earlier says 880,000. At the moment, Second Life's website claims 355,000, give or take a few hundred. That's still several times the population of my hometown.)

(Images: Top - Blu's, in Red Light Center. Bottom - Party in Jewel of Indra) 

The Christian Science Monitor has a good piece about universities and organizations like National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration using Second Life as an extension campus. And several colleges let you sit in for free, although if you're enrolled and getting credits you have to pay.

Real learning in a virtual world

The closest the piece comes to acknowledging sex-tech is one quote from a Pepperdine professor noting how holding class in a giant hot tub can encourage a more free-form discussion than formal classroom settings. And the only thing sexual about that is that I have carefully trained my brain to find innuendo in everything.

However, what a wonderful place to offer workshops on all kinds of sexual topics so that people who don't live near sex-positive venues like Good Vibrations and Babeland can still participate.

Second Life would be an excellent classroom for teaching the basics of online flirting, internet relationship management and cybersex.

I've seen a number of workshops listed for those curious about dominance and submission, human ponies and sado-masochism, classes which you're not going to find in the virtual Harvard campus. But I see no reason you couldn't get in there and learn about "vanilla" sex either. Obviously it's time to do a column on sex-ed in Second Life. I'll add that to the list.

More information about classes: Second Life: Education

(image: lounging, listening to music, not studying at all) 

The Fifth Annual Blogger Boobie-Thon is going strong, and it's already halfway over. If you're been intending to donate and haven't yet, here's a direct link:

Yes, okay, I'm ready to make a tax-deductible donation to breast cancer research and incidentally get access to see all the wonderful boobies 

 And no, that picture right there is not of me. But it's a taste of what's awaiting you in the wonderful collection of photos that men and women have submitted for the event, clothed and decorated and nude.

If your submit your work and it gets accepted, let me know (ginalynn at g mail dot com). How awesome would that be, a Sex Drive reader with art in the Kinsey Institute Gallery?

About.com Sexuality guide Cory Silverberg says, "As a sex research geek walking through the library and seeing just a portion of the gallery collections was a dream come true. If there was a version of 100 Places to Visit Before You Die for sex, the Institute would have to be in the top 5."

I'm contacting him right now to ask about the other four. Meanwhile, the art information:

Juried Erotic Art Show 2007

From Rick:

On the CNN homepage a few minutes ago...
 
Bush: Dems shouldn't be trusted to run Congress
Report: Foley cybersex interrupted vote

From Science Daily:

A new McGill University study that used thermal imaging technology for the first time ever to measure sexual arousal rates has turned the conventional wisdom that women become aroused more slowly than men on its head.

"Comparing sexual arousal between men and women, we see that there is no difference in the amount of time it takes healthy young men and women to reach peak arousal," said Dr. Irv Binik, psychology professor and founder and director of the Sex and Couple Therapy Service of Royal Victoria Hospital, which is part of the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC).

This doesn't surprise me a bit. This is what Viagra is all about, and why it works on women too: when all you need to do is get blood to the genitals so they're hard (men) or full and flushed (women), I don't see why blood would flow any faster or slower based on your sex.

However.

For me, there's a lot more to sexual arousal than whether my parts are ready, in a practical sense. By which I mean, if I actually want to have sex, I have to get my mind into it, too.

I could be light-headed because all the blood has rushed to my vulva and still not want to have sex with the mailman. Or I can be not the least bit physically aroused but emotionally or mentally want to get intimate, knowing that the physical stuff will follow after enough nuzzling and nudging my partner.

I know the scientists were just measuring physical arousal, not whether the subjects were ready to hop into bed or in the mood to take any action. They say that knowing the blood flow to genitals is about the same for men and women will help them treat female arousal problems.

I'm going to have faith that researchers will remember that it's not just about the body parts. But how cool if they can help sluggish body parts match the mental/emotional desire.