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Software developers usually confine themselves to working entirely within the runtime environment of a computer just pushing around bits and pixels. Even virtual worlds such as Second Life exist only in the confines of our CPUs. On the other hand, hardware hacking has really taken off in recent years and there are now magazines such as MAKE devoted to modifying everyday objects. It's a lot easier than software jockeys may expect, and this talk will begin with an entertaining exploration of simple ways to get started with linking a computer to real-world objects. But what happens when you knock down the boundaries between the physical world and a virtual world? This presentation will demonstrate how to link real-world objects into the Second Life environment so that changes in the real world can be reflected in SL and vice versa. Control your house from inside Second Life!

Stream: Web & Online Technologies

Paper: Hardware / Software Hacking

Jonathan is President of Linux Australia (www.linux.org.au) and has presented dozens of seminars, tutorials, papers and keynotes on a wide variety of technical and business-oriented topics at conferences around the world. He is also a regular guest on radio, sits on the Advisory Board of Swinburne University's Centre for Collaborative Business Innovation, is the author of "Ubuntu Hacks" (www.ubuntuhacks.com) and "How To Build A Website And Stay Sane" (www.stay-sane.com), and is Founder and Technical Director of Melbourne-based web application development company Internet Vision Technologies (www.ivt.com.au).