The online virtual economy is not only doing wonders for the bottom lines of some startups. Charities are winning as well. The American Cancer Society has announced it raised over $115,000 (L$32 million) this year for its third annual virtual “Relay for Life” in Second Life. The relay was originally started in 2005 when some Second Life residents approached the organization with the… → Read More
OK, so sensationalistic headlines targeted at Second Life are so last week; from FBI related gambling bans to animal sex, we’ve seen a lot. Now there are allegations being printed by News Corp in Australia that suggest that the next major terrorist attack on a Western country could be being planned in Second Life, and yes, as can be seen in the picture to the right, 9/11 is being used as a… → Read More
I hate Second Life yet I enjoy soccer, so this next story puts me in a weird spot. Inter Milan launched its new home kit (its uniform) today in the online world full of losers and zeros. I visited the area to see what the Inter faithful were up to. It turns out, not much. It’s Inter, though. Nobody likes them. → Read More
They’re training to be Power Rangers Not a week goes by that there’s not a Second Life story to hate on. This Friday edition of “Second Life is really, really, really stupid” brings us news that an MIT researcher is using the “game” and the Wiimote to create training simulators for various companies. (Incidentally, the researcher, one David E. Stone, called the… → Read More
An ongoing investigation by the FBI into gambling in Second Life is believed to be directly related to Linden Lab’s sudden decision to ban all forms of gambling on Second Life. The FBI investigation commenced in April and was considering the legality of online gambling within the virtual world. The US Government prohibits most forms of online gambling. It was unclear at the time of writing… → Read More
Yeah… not exactly high-end shoppers Second Life may be headed toward a virtual market crash. Marketers and traditional retailers like the Aloft hotel chain are finding out that SL users don’t necessarily translate to real world customers. (Tell us something we didn’t know.) They’re also finding out that when SL users buy items for use in the online world, they’re… → Read More
Everyone’s favorite games writer (after Peter Suciu), James Wagner Au, went about debunking five major myths about Second Life. The myths he debunks — that it has a population of 5 billion or 5 lonely weirds, that it is full of porn, penises, and dancing vulvas, etc. — are aimed at marketers who might be thinking of advertising in the world and are put off by dancing vulvas. → Read More
Virtual worlds like Second Life are strange creatures. The people who participate in them won’t admit to it, but they’re huge dorks. Bar none. They got picked on in school or couldn’t cut it in the Real World. So they hop online, armed only with an avatar and their keyboard. Perhaps some sort of fat-based snack as well. But online they’re kings, demigods among virtual men… → Read More
In the past two weeks, Peer-to-Patent has opened up a USPTO approved project allowing an open review of pending patent applications. Registered members are encouraged to read through the patents available and provide opinions on prior art and obviousness that can then become part of the PTO Examiners review of non-patent references. Today, Peer-to-Patent announced that they have taken a space on… → Read More
The American Medical Association is taking steps to classify Internet and video game addiction as an actual medical condition. A vote is scheduled next week where members will decide whether or not to officially apply the “addiction” label. Bah, addictions are good for people. They help build character, at least the fun ones do. In all seriousness, how many stories have we seen about… → Read More
Mitch Kapor, chairman of Second Life-operator Linden Lab, delivered the keynote address at the Virtual Worlds conference on Friday, speaking on the benefits of virtual education and training, which includes providing an environment in which trainees can fail safely. Although it is an obvious setback that people don’t gain any real-world experience from learning to do their job via the… → Read More
British and Belgian police are closing in on a terrorist organization called Second Life where innocent women — and, potentially, men — could be stalked by people who are interested in sexually assaulting them and your teenagers. Murdoch’s hard hitting paper, the Times of London, has the full story. → Read More
Linden Labs may soon be delivering better clouds to Second Life, yet there are clouds of another kind on the horizon for the much hyped service. An update to Second Life’s client server will coincide with a 6 hour outage from 6am-12 noon PST Wednesday and Second Life users are not happy. According to a post at Gamer.Blorge Second Life entrepreneurs are particularly unhappy with the downtime… → Read More
Linden Lab, the company behind Second Life, has announced the acquisition of graphics technology from Windward Mark Interactive. Linden Lab will acquire WindLight, an advanced atmospheric rendering technology; Nimble, a realistic 3D cloud simulator; and associated intellectual property and interests. Once the acquisition is complete, Linden Lab plans to open source the technology and integrate it… → Read More
Depending on who you listen to, virtual worlds are the new black. Second Life needs no introduction and yesterday rumors surfaced that Sony was in talks to acquire Club Penguin for $500+ million. To date there are two leading online spaces. World of Warcraft has been an unrivaled success, bringing Dungeon and Dragons style fantasy role playing to an audience in excess of 8 million. At the opposing… → Read More
If Web 2.0 is a bubble of hype, then surely Linden Lab’s Second Life is the shiniest bubble of them all. Companies from IBM, CNet, Reuters, American Apparel, Coldwell Banker and many more have established their presence in the metaverse, but a new study of Second Life finds that the expenditure may be wasted. comScore reports that not only are there more Germans actively using Second Life… → Read More
Lacoste Gets Jiggy With The Second Life Crowd $600 Swarovski-encrusted Nintendo DS Lites Rumor: Red Zune to Include Exclusive Sports Content Real Life Link Shield Deflects Nerf Weapons, Girls The Great Skype Contest of 2007 → Read More
First off, forgive me for saying the word Jiggy. Now, apparently this game/Second Life/whatever you call it is getting really big. One of my favorite clothing companies, Lacoste, has struck a deal with Linden Labs to create a virtual modeling contest. Alligator & Co. are looking for 100 “remarkable” avatars to appear in Second Life and model Lacoste clothing. Six of the winners… → Read More
I’m not very big on Second Life — I have enough trouble making my first one work — but it’s interesting to see SL grow and change from a group of geeks reliving Snow Crash to some sort of media darling. Wagner James Au is writing about a study from Komjuniti about marketing in Second Life. 72% of respondents didn’t like SL marketing while 40% thought the concept was… → Read More
The FBI has visited Linden Lab and their Second Life casinos in order to figure out just what that giant teddy bear — really a Japanese exchange student — and the fat man in Spokane who looks like a Suicide Girl and calls himself Wendy Wild are doing over at the roulette table. Yes. friends, some FBI agents want to know how online gambling in Second Life works and they won’t give… → Read More
Some do-gooder constructed a frighteningly accurate model of Apple’s 5th Avenue store in Second Life. This video shows hip, Apple chic Second Life avatars walking around the store, playing the keyboard, harassing the geniuses at the bar and dancing all wily nilly to Wolfmother. If I didn’t have such powerful hatred for all thing Second Life I’d probably be more impressed. As it… → Read More
anything. He kind of chickened out as evidenced by this passage: → Read More
Not to be outdone by some rascally start-up called YouNeverCall, Vodafone has announced its plans to start selling in-game mobile phones for Second Life. If you can afford it, go for the Treo. A word to the wise: if you sign up for a 2-year contract in a virtual world, go ahead and cancel your real-life cell plan, you’re probably not going to be talking to anyone but your mom ever again. → Read More
I’ve oft questioned the existence of games and services like The Sims and Second Life. My argument is simple and unoriginal, why spend your time interacting with avatars when you could be interacting with real people. The presence of these things seem to me more a social retardant than the social incubator that they’re made out to be. Nevertheless, people are fanatical about them and… → Read More
This is a lot NSFW and a whole lot of WTF. Apparently Anshe Chung, some sort of vitual millionaire, got griefed in an interview with CNET’s Second Life reporter, Daniel Terdiman. I’m not into Second Life at all, but this was hilarious. Second Life griefers assault real estate millionaire Anshe Chung [BoingBoing] → Read More
If you’re one of the millions who escapes the drudgery of your real life to the virtual worlds of Second Life, where you’re attractive and witty, and probably slutty, then you know you have to spend valuable Doritos-eating time wandering around to find your peeps. Wouldn’t a virtual cellphone be nice? YouNeverCall apparently thinks so. The resident-owned company is giving out… → Read More
For those of you who play Second Life, I must warn you: There was a virus going ‘round your world. To be completely specific, a worm manifested itself inside the world of Second Life. Though not incredibly harmful, the worm spawned Sonic The Hedgehog rings while making that “Sonic gold ring sound”. They kept spawning and eventually started to bog down systems and connections for those… → Read More
As proof that Second Life is booming, Reuters recently opened an SL bureau and assigned it a full-time reporter. Adam Pasick, known in SL as Adam Reuters, heads up the branch and reports on events inside the community. No word on how much Reuters dumped on opening its SL branch, but I’m sure it was a few grand. Crazy. I still don’t really understand this whole Second Life thing. → Read More
Warren Ellis has written a breathless report from Second Life where horrible little geeks unleashed a terrorist attack on thousands of unsuspecting people who sit in desk chairs for far too long. He describes it thus: Materialising on the Integral Castle grounds, I found myself in the middle of a rain of small boxes, all of which were trying to load themselves into my inventory (where the objects… → Read More
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