Linden introduces zoning to Second Life mainland
In a departure from its traditional laissez-faire approach to the Second Life Grid, Linden Lab announced on Tuesday it will introduce zoning to Second Life’s mainland to curb excessive advertising.
Married (or just cheating) avatars wanted
Technology and sexuality blogger Violet Blue is writing a new book about online relationships and wants to hear from Second Lifers.
OpenSim charts path away from Second Life
OpenSim looks and feels very much like Linden Lab’s Second Life. But top OpenSim developers see a future where their software is a generic platform for 3D software, hopefully interoperable with the Second Life Grid but not necessarily resembling it.
Avatars beware: Private investigators scouring Second Life
Be careful, that avatar on your sim could be a real-life private investigator sent in to report on what you’re up to in your Second Life.
Microsoft eyes integration between OpenSim and Windows Live ID
No one’s really sure yet how avatar identities will be managed in a chaotic world filled with thousands of interoperable OpenSim grids. But Microsoft believes it has a solution: its own Windows Live ID.
Gibson guitars enters Second Life
If Second Life isn’t effective for real world marketing, no one told high-end guitar manufacturer Gibson.
Interview: Linden prepares for an OpenSim future
A future where the Second Life Grid is a minor player in a sprawling Metaverse of thousands of competing virtual worlds sounds like a bad outcome for Linden Lab. But company executives say that’s exactly the plan.
An open-source timeline of the virtual world
Artist Annie Ok set up the virtual worlds timeline, an interactive widget where people can contribute entries related to the development of the Metaverse.
Second Life sees record usage but bleeds paid accounts
Second Life hit an all-time high in total hours spent by avatars in-world but shed more premium accounts in June, according to new statistics from Linden Lab.
Second Life on the Xbox/PS3/iPhone?
Avatar Dusan Writer finds an interesting snippet of HTML code on search.secondlife.com
Second Life premium growth flat over past 12 months
Premium Second Life accounts shrank in the year to May 2007, according to statistics released by Linden Lab, even as total user hours climbed by more than 50 percent.
Linden freezes land supply as prices plummet
Average prices on Second Life’s volatile real estate market have fallen from L$11.5 per meter to under L$6 per meter in less than three months. To help shore up the market, Linden announced it was instituting a two-week freeze on additions to Second Life’s land supply.
Linden confirms login restrictions
Linden Lab said on Tuesday it briefly restricted access to Second Life to users with paid accounts, but it has no plans to do so again in the future.
Pirated content deleted from Second Life
Linden Lab has deleted objects from the virtual world in response to DMCA complaints, according to resident reports.
Not just IBM: Microsoft looking into OpenSim
UgoTrade’s Tish Shute carries an interview with Microsoft developers working on OpenSim.
One small step for avatars, one giant leap for avatar-kind?
While still in its technical infancy, the push towards interoperability continues to chug ahead.
For substance abusers, help in a virtual world
“Hi, my name is Gracie, and I’m an alcoholic.”
It is the standard introduction for members of recovery group Alcoholics Anonymous. But at this meeting, one of several held each week in Second Life where recovering alcoholics find support and camaraderie, Gracie’s anonymity was never in doubt.
M-rated avatars disinvited, then re-invited, to Linden’s birthday bash
In May, Linden sent out a “Calling All Cultures” invitation on its official blog to the birthday party, held around the theme of “celebrating the cultural diversity of Second Life.” But as Massively.com reported, the company changed tracks.
Second Life on your cell phone?
Running Second Life on a cell phone isn’t a brand new idea — Comverse was talking about the idea well over a year ago. But Vollee has taken the idea out of the lab into public beta.
Elections, if not democracy, spread to LiveJournal
Online democracy is on the march.
Blogging service LiveJournal.com is currently holding elections for two seats on its advisory board. Election winners will participate in quarterly conference calls with executives from Russian media company SUP, which owns LiveJournal, and be flown to an annual meeting in Istanbul to discuss issues relating to LiveJournal’s administration.
