I've mentioned it before, and now the voting is officially open! Vote BUCKET for Comedy podcast, and you can enter to win an iPod Nano! Simply vote, and check your email for the voting confirmation. Then, send that confirmation email to ivotedforbucket@gmail.com, and that's your contest entry!

You can vote once per day, so increase your chances by voting for all 15 days!

(Thanks, Corey!)

Whether you've heard it or not, the BUCKET Podcast, hosted by SL's Corey Akula and Madison Carnot, is up for the 'Comedy' award at podcastawards.com! It's the only SL-related podcast on the site, so go check it out and vote! Voting opens on the 28th of July and continues until August 11th. Solidarity, y'all, it's a beautiful thing!

(Thanks, Corey!)

Previously-mentioned podcast BUCKET, by Corey Akula and Madison Carnot has been picked up by Podshow, the podcast network founded by former MTV VJ Adam Curry.

From the press release: "Lots of our growth is thanks to the SL community, and we wish to thank everyone that's stopped by BUCKET Beach or ever listened to our show in SL for being part of our "BUCKET Brigade."

Congratulations, guys! Now that you'll have a larger audience, make sure to mention how great SLI is, how attractive our bloggers are, and how much Akela loves cookies!

Corey Akula points me toward this interesting take on the whole CopyBot issue. The argument seems to be "Hey, if anyone can copy anything, we have no need for money, so everyone wins!" Comparing SL to Star Trek, however, has several problems with it.

First of all, the whole replicator issue is a bit specious, considering that (as is my understanding), you only really see replicators on Starfleet ships, therefore you have to be military to appreciate them; they're not available to all and sundry. Second of all, eliminating money is never the answer to a complex financial issue. Third of all, there is still an economy of artists to consider. One of the ways humans differentiate each other is by means of their creativity. If there is no way to attribute a piece of art to someone, what does that do to the concept of art?

There are many, many more issues here to discuss, and it's my duty merely to open the door. Chat it up, everyone ... I learn a lot just by listening to you!

(Thanks, Corey!)

This is the seventeenth in a series of mini-interviews with the residents of Second Life. For the most part, I'll try to leave the responses unedited, except where editing will grant greater clarity.

This one, however, is a bit different. Madison Carnot and Corey Akula are a couple in SL who took advantage of my offer to cover just about anything. I'd have found them sooner or later anyway, as they run a non-SL-related podcast called Bucket ("all other shows 'pail' in comparison"), which has an in-world home at Bucket Beach. That's slightly beyond the scope of this blog, or at least this particular post, but it's worth mentioning. Thanks, Corey and Madison!

Your SL names?: Corey Akula and Madison Carnot, hosts of BUCKET (www.BUCKETpodcast.com), owners of BUCKET Beach and CUBO! at Podshow Island in Second Life.

How did you first come to SL?:

COREY: We both tried out SL over a year ago, but really got involved in the game in April as a huge wave of podcasters came into the game, encouraged by Daily Source Code host (and former MTV VJ) Adam Curry.

MADISON: It was actually my brother that introduced me to SL. That seems like so long ago now!

COREY: And we all got together, hung out at Curry's castle at Doomaekkot, and many of us set up our homes and hangouts around his, promoting our own podcasts. We met so many people in rapid succession....it worked great as a way to get real-world listeners to our show.

MADISON: Yeah, but along the way it turned out that we were just plain old having fun too.

COREY: Then Curry (Adam Neumann in game) bought his own sim (Podshow Island, named after his podcasting web site Podshow.com), moved his castle there, and all of the podcasters in SL have spread out all around the virtual world since. But we all keep in touch and hang out regularly with our listeners and SL acquantances.

MADISON: There are still a number of them concentrated in that general area though. And even though we did eventually move, we're not far off.

Continued after the jump!