A restored archive of early virtual-world podcasting, experimentation, and community
Introduction
Blue Hair was an independently produced podcast created during the formative years of podcasting and virtual worlds, when creators were still inventing the grammar of online audio, live virtual events, and participatory communities. Produced between 2007 and 2010, the show explored life in Second Life and adjacent platforms through commentary, interviews, live discussions, and technical deep dives.
At a time when podcasting was still experimental and largely DIY, Blue Hair blended voice, music, machinima, and in-world participation. Episodes were recorded both traditionally and live in virtual spaces, often accompanied by presentations, chat logs, audio streams from Shoutcast servers, and audience interaction. What emerged was not just a podcast, but a snapshot of how people were learning to communicate, collaborate, and create meaning in shared digital environments.
Although my real name is Lewis Moten, early virtual-world culture strongly encouraged privacy and pseudonymity. In Second Life, I was known as Dedric Mauriac, the name under which I introduced myself throughout the early episodes of the podcast. I also operated Dedric Mauriac’s Gadget Shop, an in-world business where I designed and programmed interactive tools, systems, and experiments. These creations frequently attracted educators, technologists, and corporate employees who were exploring how virtual worlds could be adapted for training, collaboration, and creative work. Blue Hair emerged directly from that environment—part shop talk, part field report, and part living archive of experimentation in shared digital space.
What Blue Hair Was
Blue Hair sat at the intersection of several early-internet movements:
- Early podcasting, before standardized workflows and distribution platforms
- Virtual worlds as social, creative, and professional spaces
- User-generated culture, where audiences were participants rather than listeners
- Emerging tools, from OpenID and analytics to machinima and 3D modeling
Episodes covered topics ranging from virtual identity, copyright and content copying, analytics and visitor tracking, live events, and digital art tools, to interviews with technologists, creators, and authors. Several episodes functioned as live, in-world talks or classes, blurring the line between podcast, lecture, and community meetup.
Relationship to Early Podcasting
When Blue Hair began, podcasting lacked today’s infrastructure. Distribution moved between platforms such as Podshow and its successor Mevio, personal blogs, and community networks. Episodes were often promoted through word of mouth, RSS feeds, and in-world notices rather than social media algorithms.
Production was equally hands-on. Audio quality varied, formats evolved, and experimentation was constant. Over time, Blue Hair adopted a custom intro and outro jingle, background music, and more deliberate episode structure—reflecting the broader maturation of podcasting itself.
Virtual Worlds & Online Communities
At its core, Blue Hair documented how people used virtual worlds not just to play, but to work, teach, perform, organize, and experiment. Episodes explored:
- Virtual conferences and community conventions
- Live music and performance inside digital spaces
- Early analytics and measurement of virtual foot traffic
- Identity, presence, and professionalism in avatars
- The challenges of intellectual property in immersive environments
The podcast captured a moment when virtual worlds felt open-ended—before rigid platform economics and before “metaverse” became a marketing term.
Restoration & Archival Work
All 20 episodes of Blue Hair have been restored and consolidated into a single archive. Original audio was recovered from legacy platforms, personal backups, and offline storage, including an aging external USB drive containing early episodes and live-show materials.
Each episode was carefully remastered, transcribed, and contextualized using the show’s original notes, archived web captures, and supporting artifacts such as presentations and chat logs. The goal of this restoration is preservation—not perfection—while acknowledging the era’s experimental nature and making the content accessible to modern listeners.
By the Numbers
- Episodes: 20
- Years Active: 2007–2010
- Formats: Commentary, interviews, live virtual events
- Platforms Used: Blogs, podcast networks, virtual worlds, live streams
- Status: Fully restored and archived in one place
Why It Matters
Blue Hair represents a period when online culture was more exploratory, less centralized, and deeply community-driven. It stands as an audio record of early digital experimentation—before social platforms solidified, before metrics dominated creativity, and before immersive online spaces became corporate narratives.
This archive is preserved not just as nostalgia, but as digital archaeology: a record of how people once imagined the future of online connection—and built it together, in real time.
Episodes
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Blue Hair #12: Vista Troubles, Relay Wins, and Voice in SL
Dedric returns with a new Vista laptop and a podcasting-software headache, then dives into photoreal avatar skins, Relay for Life results topping $120,000, Voice arriving in Second Life, and a wave of sculpty tools—plus wikis, job posts, and Shop On-Rez. Read More
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Blue Hair #18: Rebuilding, Machinima, and Free 3D Tools
After his computer crashes, Dedric Mauriac rebuilds his digital life with Songsmith, machinima, and new tools. He hands Woodbridge to Korii Tiger, celebrates CSC’s Second Life feature, and explores Microsoft’s newly free trueSpace for advanced 3D and sculpted-prim creation. Read More
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Blue Hair #19: Copybot, Content, and Control
Dedric Mauriac traces how CopyBot, OpenGL extractors, and third-party viewers reshaped Second Life’s economy. He weighs copyright, DMCA tools, and viewer licensing ideas, arguing that creators need better ways to back up, verify, and protect their digital work without killing openness. Read More