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Scott Carlson has written a really outstanding article about lifelogging in the February 9 issue of the Chronicle of Higher Education. Not only does he go around wearing recording equipment around his neck like a lifelogging freak (3pointD’s favorite kind of freak, to be sure; see pic at left), but he also talks to people with a variety of different views on lifelogging, investigates its historical roots, and takes the time to illustrate the things that would be lost in the lifelogging age. This is possibly the best single take on lifelogging I’ve yet encountered. Highly recommended reading as we move into increasingly connected days.

Interactive online community site Fox Atomic is launching a machinima and photography contest in the virtual world of Second Life, with an eight-day trip to Costa Rica for two as the grand prize. Yes, that’s the real Costa Rica, not the virtual version. The news comes from a blog entry from Millions of Us, which built out Fox Atomic’s in-world presence on »Fox Atomic island« (billed as “the first movie studio in Second Life”). Your machinima entry can be filmed anywhere in Second Life, a long as it uses at least one of the free Fox Atomic avatars that are being given out on the island. You can also get machinima assistance there, and on the Web site. There’s not a lot of real information available yet. The rules, for instance, have yet to be posted to the contest Web site, and there’s no deadline given in the blog post, for instance, nor does it say what the clips might be used for by Fox. But if you’re interested in heading down to Costa Rica, start shooting. There are a few great machinimists in Second Life, but beyond that top tier the competition drops off pretty swiftly, so if you can cut together even a brief piece of entertainment, you just might stand a chance.

Watch out, Second Life, there’s no doubt an invasion on the way. That’s the only conclusion to come to after reading the latest Reuters column by graphic novel author Warren Ellis, who investigates Second Life’s weaponry scene today, and find nerve gas on the Grid, among other things. “Is there a case to be made for Second Life as the lawless digital Wild West, where sometimes a man has to slap leather to defend his person and his homestead from the badmen and the road agents?” Ellis asks. There sure is: I made it almost two years ago in the Second Life Herald. Ellis’s column today is recommended reading. But leave your push guns at the door.

It’s fashion week in New York this week, season of hot designers and tent shows at Bryant Park. And, thanks to iVillage, it’s fashion week in the virtual world of Second Life as well. Three of SL’s top deigners — Callie Cline, Simone Stern and Paper Couture — will be featured in an iVillage fashion show this evening at 6pm SL time (9pm Eastern) at the iVillage Loft on »Sheep Island«. (That’s the Electric Sheep, of course, sponsors of this blog.) NBC Universal, which owns iVillage, rather optimistically announces in their press release that “Unlike New York Fashion Week, where tickets are as unattainable as the dress code, anyone can have a front row seat at the show in Second Life.” In fact, you can probably get more people into a Bryant Park tent show (I’ve been to a couple) than you can into a Second Life sim. Still, it should be a cool event. Second Life residents have deep experience putting together virtual fashion shows, and while I’m not sure whether it’s the Sheep or someone else producing it, this seems like just the type of event that should be able to leverage the enhanced reality of the virtual world quite well. Just try not to trip, girls, while you’re headed down the runway.

Vodafone’s island in the virtual world of Second Life has now opened to the public, according to Justin Bovington, head of Rivers Run Red, the virtual-world services company that produced the mobile phone company’s in-world presence. The »Vodafone« region seem similar to AOL’s presence in terms of the density of activities provided there, if not programming. There’s ice-skating to be had, high-board diving, butterfly rides and more, and users can upload their own pics that are shown on displays around the skating rink, which is a nice feature. See the YouTube clip above for a quick tour of the island. Vodafone is also giving away “water coolers” that are updated periodically with new free toys. I don’t think the voice services they’ve talked about are in place yet, but they’ve at least bandied about the idea that they’ll provide some back-end voice support for Second Life. Linden Lab, however, is very near to providing native voice support, we hear.