Wagner James Au has written about high-tech culture for more than ten years, and has been, at various times, a freelance reporter, a metaverse consultant, a game developer, a screenwriter, and most pertinent, a white-suited avatar named "Hamlet Au," the first embedded journalist in a virtual world, beginning in 2003-a role he still plays on his blog, New World Notes (nwn.blogs.com). His work in Second Life has been cited or profiled in The New York Times , the BBC, CNN International, NPR, Wired , the Boston Globe , and the Washington Post , among many other publications and television programs. He also covers the game industry and online worlds for GigaOM.com. Originally from Kailua,… Hawaii, he now lives in San Francisco, California. When he needs to escape the virtual world, he enjoys reality-oriented diversions such as travel, politics, dining, sunlight, and dogs.