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What does Jay-Z have to do with Jimmy Kimmel, Pontiac and Second Life? Were not sure either, but we wish we were the marketing brains who brought together the strange collaboration that occured in the wee hours of Thanksgiving morning as the reigning king of hip-hop leapt out of retirement with a performance on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" and a simulcast on Pontiacs SL Motorati Life island. If nothing else, the presence of one of Americas most popular recording artists in SL should make non-believers stop and think for a sec: Maybe this virtual-world thing is more than a passing trend? We were lucky enough to be there—in avatar form, of course—to witness worlds colliding. 

The long and short of it is, while you were stuffing your face with turkey and enjoying a four-day weekend (but hey, were not judgin—why do you think this post is coming so late?), Jay-Z was on a manic back-from-retirement blitz, utilizing live performances, record album sales and Web streaming to race into the market on all four cylinders. Since Tuesday, his new album, Kingdom Come, has sold more than 850,000 copies, and his benefit Friday at New Yorks Roseland Ballroom, "H2 the IzzO", raised $250,000 for PlayPumps International, an organization that brings ingenious water pumps powered by childrens merry-go-rounds to African villages. That show was also streamed live, on AOL music. Whew. And I thought eating Aunt Dorothys giblet dressing was a lot to deal with.

Whereas the Jimmy Kimmel show was attended by hordes of die-hard, screaming hip-hop fans, the in-world event was by invitation only, attended by 80 avatars sitting stock-still so we wouldnt crash the sim. The crowd mostly consisted of folks invited by Millions of Us, the design house that coordinated this event (as well as the PopSci Future Lounge,) bloggers, and presumably some Pontiac folks. Needless to say, our crowd of uber-nerds was a pretty far cry from Jay-Zs usual target demographic, but everyone was SUPER excited to be there. Sample nerd chatter overheard before the star hit the stage:

Pixel sex is the best. There are still some things you cant do, but still… Obviously you havent tried it with a pose ball yet. Is it wrong that I want to sing the Smurfs theme song right now?Jigga WHAT? Jigga Woooohoo!"

Yeah. So anyway, welcome, to the ‘hood, Hova. —Megan Miller

See images from the Jay-Z show in Second Life here

Back in the day, big-time musicians used to regularly get together for all-star jams benefiting good causes like famine relief, AIDS research and ending apartheid. But ever since the problems that afflicted the world in the 80s were magically fixed through the transformative power of mediocre pop songs (thanks for opening our eyes, Bono!), rock stars appear less eager to join forces onstage against the intractable ills of the 21st century. Nowadays, the good work is done through compilation albums.

Enter Rhythms del Mundo (just wondering: why not hispanicize all three titular words?), a high-minded album created to raise money for the green activist organization Artists Project Earth. Although its a bit unclear exactly how the group plans to use the money—the Web site mentions raising public awareness of the need to reduce fossil-fuel consumption and greenhouse-gas emissions—its a refreshing approach to environmental fundraising.

The project features a weird mix of do-gooder artists, including the usual mainstream suspects (Sting, U2, Maroon 5, Jack Johnson), along with bands with more indie cred, like the Arctic Monkeys, Franz Ferdinand and the Kaiser Chiefs. All the songs on the album are infused with Latin rhythms inspired by the Buena Vista Social Club, and late, great Social Club members Ibrahim Ferrer and Omara Portuondo appear on a few tracks. Even Coldplay, the recording industrys answer to unflavored yogurt, gets revitalized with some Cuban flair. Be sure to check out one of the standout tracks, a spiced-up version of Stings Fragile. Get the message? The planet is fragile. Yes, its about as subtle as a cattle prod, but it does sound good. —Doug Cantor

With the midterm elections over, you may find yourself missing the warm buzz of negative campaign ads in your home every night. No? Well, you should still check out the Museum of the Moving Image's excellent online exhibition The Living Room Candidate, which compiles TV commercials from every presidential campaign since 1952. It's truly fascinating to see how they've (d)evolved. May I suggest starting in the turbulence of 1968, where Richard Nixon's Vietnam-related ads are particularly trippy (I pledge to you we will have an honorable end to the war in Vietnam). Also cool are the downloadable election-focused lesson plans for teachers. Who's ready for '08? —John Mahoney

It is with a heavy heart that we bring you this special weekend report. When PopSci's Wii arrived last week, it didn't spend too much time in the box. Ripped open without any hesitation, our little Wii gave us a long Friday's worth of furious Wii Sports and Excite Truck action at PopSci HQ.

The scene Thursday outside of an Americatown, USA Best Buy. Photo by Matt McGee

What a day it has been. November 17, 2006: the date that will go down in history as the moment the world lost its collective mind over a new video game console. I'm as excited as the next guy about the sweet new hardware coming out this weekend, but damn...

I pose a challenge: find me a major online media outlet—local, national or otherwise—that doesn't have at least one mention of the insanity surrounding the Playstation 3 launch. With so many angles to choose from, it's going to be tough: there's the obvious low-hanging fruit in the unwashed hordes who, in forming ad-hoc shanty towns in parking lots around the country, sacrificed not only the $600 for the console and how ever much more for games and accessories, but also their dignity. But wait a minute, there's also the heartwarming tale of said unwashed immediately regaining said dignity (and an obscene profit) after, upon returning home, foregoing the urge to shower just long enough flip their just-purchased console on eBay.

The list goes on: armed robberies of Gamestop stores, Ludacris-hosted parties for the NYC refugees at the Sony Store, riots at a California Best Buy, shameful enlistments of the homeless to wait in line, a man hospitalized after running into a light pole in a mad dash for his place in line (a full day before they even went on sale) and my personal favorite, a first-hand account on a forum of a man who, along with his fellow campers, was robbed at gunpoint outside of a New York mall by a man hoping to take advantage of some tired, delirious gamers that may or may not have $600 in cash in their wallets.

Stay tuned for a similar challenge on Sunday when we do it all over again with Nintendo's Wii. Can't wait! —John Mahoney

We here at PopSci.com cordially invite you to attend the grand opening of our brand-new home in Second Life—the PopSci Future Lounge! Our virtual digs will be the place to come hang out with PopSci editors, attend events and concerts, pick up some free schwag or take a ride in our futuristic Concepts and Prototypes vehicles before they exist in the real world.

Join us tonight starting at 6:30 p.m. PST (9:30 p.m. on the East Coast) for opening remarks and a ribbon-cutting by editor in chief Mark Jannot (PS Mandelbrot in-world), and stay to check out live sets from PopSci podcaster Jonathan Coulton as well as Second Life musicians Nance Brody and DJ Nexeus Fatale. Or swing on up to our green-roof dancefloor/garden. Or pick up a shiny new Nokia 770 Internet Tablet for your avatar to chat with. Or kick back and see the video on our massive solar-powered flat screen. Or fly around on a kick-ass rocket-powered PopSci Slegeway (we're giving one free to the first 100 attendees. I've already logged some serious flight time, and they're a blast). Seriously, PopSci knows how to virtually throw down. 

So come on over to our new home tonight (SL link here, be sure to IM Baccara Millionsofus in-world to get on the guest list)—we're the place with the giant Skystream windmills on the roof; you can't miss it. We've warned the neighbors over at Wired that it could be a rager (possibility of Wired vs. PopSci dance competition: high). And if this whole Second Life thing still doesn't make much sense, why not have a look at our in-depth primer from the September issue and give it a try? See ya there!—John Mahoney/Ricky Romeo

First, way back in 2002, we reported on this crazy new kind of movie-making, called â€machinima,†that uses videogames and virtual worlds as platforms for creating animated films.