Philip Rosedale hates “The Matrix”
From this week’s Rolling Stone profile of “Second Life and its messianic creator, Philip Rosedale”:
One night in 1999, he and some buddies from Real went to see the Matrix. After the flick, the guys hit up a bar, tossing back drinks as they effused over the film’s vivid depiction of a virtual reality. Everyone, that [...]
Links for April 26
Raph Koster on IBM’s virtual world mainframe: “Does anyone really think the future of online worlds is in Big Iron?”
Mark Wallace at 3pointD has an interview with the IBM executive heading up the project.
Gartner sees 80 % virtual world penetration by 2011
Tech consultancy Gartner, whose “Hype Cycle” has been used to gauge Second Life adoption, thinks that 80 percent of active Internet users will be in non-gaming virtual worlds like Second Life by the end of 2011 — a huge increase from current levels.
Housekeeping Part 2: Reuters Second Life privacy policy
As part of the roll-out of the updated Reuters Floor and Wall Displays (see below), we are releasing a privacy policy that specifically addresses our products and services in Second Life.
Housekeeping Part 1: Reuters SL Display update
Do you have a Reuters Floor or Wall Display on your land?
Since last week, some Reuters Floor and Wall Displays in Second Life
have stopped fetching the most recent headlines. This is a bug that may eventually affect all such displays. As a result, we’ve released an update to our displays.
Legal analysis of gambling in Second Life
Spurred by a Reuters report last week, law professor Anita Ramasastry has a detailed analysis of the risks that gambling in Second Life may pose for Linden Lab.
Profitable resident growth hits record pace
The number of Second Life residents with a positive monthly cashflow rose 25.9 percent to 31,929 in March, the highest percentage increase since Linden Lab began tracking the figure in October.
Linden Lab cracks down on Second Life casino ads
Linden Lab has banned classified ads and listings “that appear to relate to simulated casino activity,” amid increasing questions about the legality of virtual casinos and gambling in Second Life.
Offshore casino turns away U.S.-based avatars
PalmVegas.com bans U.S.-based avatars from its virtual casino to avoid breaking anti-gambling laws.
FBI probes Second Life gambling
The FBI has visited casinos in Second Life at the invitation of Linden Lab, but federal law enforcement officials have not yet taken an official stance on virtual gambling.
Don’t forget your Wellies!
It’s been more than six months since marketers and advertisers started deluging Second Life, but ad agency Ogilvy is taking things a bit more literally.
Adam’s Mom returns to Second Life
The following was passed to me from Second Life resident Ines Phillip (real life name: Patricia Pasick), who also happens to be my mom: “A few days ago in Second Life, I returned to my virtual home after a long absence.”
Launching a scent in a fragrance-free world
Calvin Klein’s ck IN2U is “the first global fragrance brand to launch in the virtual world of Second Life,” according to a press release that landed in the Reuters virtual in-box this morning.
ck IN2U is targeting text-message and IM-loving “technosexuals,” with marketing materials like: “She likes how he blogs, her texts turn him on. [...]
Hope Capital shares plunge amid Altman sell-off
Shaun Altman, the developer brought in through a merger to revive the World Stock Exchange last month, said on Monday he is stepping down from his day-to-day role and selling nearly one-third of his stake in its parent company.
Second Life Japan beta opens
Even without a Japanese-language client, Japanese residents made up 1.29 percent of Second Life’s active users in January, putting the country in a tie with Switzerland for 12th place.
Say hello to Eric and Rubina Reuters
You may notice a few new members of the Reuters Second Life family starting this week. Eric Reuters (aka Eric Krangel) and Rubina Reuters (aka Rubina Madan) are graduate students at the Columbia School of Journalism who will be working with me for the rest of the spring semester.
For their initial assignments, Erik is working [...]
Teen grid resident creates real life MultiGadget
Flickr user nik385, a member of Second Life’s teen grid, has created a real-life version of Timeless Prototype’s famous MultiGadget Second Life tool. This one doesn’t have any functionality except to show the world how hardcore you are.
Timeless notes via Skype that MultiGadget isn’t currently available on the teen grid “but it’s so sought after [...]
UPDATE 2: “Jam-packed” Linden limits new Second Life signups
Linden Lab blocked new registrations to Second Life for several hours on Wednesday with a message that it was “jam-packed,” which the company said was posted in error.
Interview with Jerry Paffendorf at SXSW
Electric Sheep Company’s resident futurist Jerry Paffendorf sat down with bureau chief Adam Reuters for an interview on Sunday from the South by Southwest Interactive festival.
Jerry talked about the Metaverse Roadmap, lifeblogging, and what’s to come for Second Life this year. Click play below to hear the interview.
Interview with Areae’s Raph Koster
Game developer and Areae founder Raph Koster sat down for an interview with bureau chief Adam Reuters on Sunday at the South by Southwest Interactive festival on Sunday.
He talked about the state of the metaverse, what’s to come for Second Life, and a few tantalizing details about his forthcoming virtual world. Click play below to hear the interview.
