Annual Survey Shows STRONG Interest in
Second Life Continuing into 2009
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Corporate research in Second Life
An interview with Andrew Mallon on brand development
November 10, 2008: Surveys, focus groups and community building are among the topics discussed in an interview with Andrew Mallon, Executive Director of the Social Research Foundation and First Opinions Panel in Second Life. Mallon discusses what companies got right, and wrong, that led to so many leaving. “Those that did the basic research as with any new medium are achieving cost-savings and other benefits.”
Second Life Sees Pretty Good Q3 Results
November 13, 2008: Linden Lab, the company behind Second Life, released some data about their third quarter, with user hours reaching their highest ever.
The Linden Prize: $10 000 US for good works
Its purpose is to reward a Second Life presence that: “achieves tangible, compelling results outside of Second Life”, is “distinctive, original work using Second Life that clearly demonstrates high quality, execution, function, aesthetics and technical sophistication” and that it “has the capacity for inspiring and influencing future development, knowledge, creativity, and collaboration both inside and outside of Second Life.”
Online game economies weathering real-world financial blizzard
November 13, 2008: a brief overview
Which topics would you like to see us cover?
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Linden Lab's new enterprise marketer
November 9, 2008: “I'm leading the marketing charge when it comes to how companies can use virtual world technologies -- powered by the Second Life Grid -- to communicate, collaborate, and learn,' said van Nuys,
Second Life gets down to business
October 31, 2008: How do Microsoft, Nasa, Nokia and Peugeot look in the virtual world?
November 7, 2008, Forbes Magazine: With funding from Second Life parent company, Linden Lab, Paradiso (at MIT) aims to use sensors, displays and software to bring real-world data into virtual worlds and to integrate access to virtual worlds with real-world situations.
AvivaUSA recruits staff from digital 'island'
November 5, 2008: The Des Moines-based life insurance and annuities provider is marketing itself to young, prospective agents through Second Life, an online three-dimensional virtual world.
Second Life: Megatrend-In-Waiting Or Just A Dumb Fad?
November 4, 2008, InformationWeek: During the Second Life boom not too long ago, enthusiasts predicted it would take over the Internet. Is that still a likely outcome, or is Second Life becoming as irrelevant as pet rocks and leisure suits?
Nov 3, 2008: A good discussion of legal issues surround user content.
Second Life Hosts Web 2.0 Government Discussion Group
Nov 3, 2008: Governments have proved willing to experiment with Second Life, a popular online 3-D community in which users create virtual worlds and interact with one another via computer-generated characters.
New Educational Insitutions in SL.doc
November 10, 2008: Increasingly, the medium is being explored by educators, businesses and non-profit organizations seeking to expand their reach on a more global basis without incurring costly capital equipment or travel expenditures.
Marketers finding ways to connect with consumers in digital era
Oct 26, 2008: The World Bank attracted 1,000 avatars to the Second Life unveiling last fall of its annual report ranking countries from least to best environments for doing business. The report critiqued countries based on 10 aspects of a business' life cycle, ranging from starting a business to hiring employees to paying taxes to obtaining credit.
Virtual online world draws passionate supporters of Obama, McCain
WASHINGTON (AP) -- It's not just Earthbound voters who are intensely following the U.S. presidential campaign: The race also is a hot topic in the virtual world of Second Life. Editor’s note: see election feedback & preferences included in our Annual Second Life survey, free!
'Second China' offers foreign service workers first impression
Oct 29, 2008: Diplomats or military envoys making their first trip to China may soon have a chance to visit a Chinese office building, stop in at a traditional teahouse or hop a cab — all before they board a plane.
Editor’s note: sorry we missed this one earlier. You can still follow up:
Doing Business 2009 Launches in Virtual World
IFC and the World Bank will venture inside the online virtual world of Second Life to launch the Doing Business 2009 report to millions of people in the digital community.
Paramedic students trained using Second Life
20 Oct 2008: Paramedic students in London are being trained in how to deal with emergency situations using the virtual world of Second Life.
Virtual World Offers New Locale For Problem Solving
Sept 30, 2008: Penn State researchers are investigating how virtual teams can better solve real world problems by collaborating in Second Life.
The Second Life of Philip Rosedale
Sept 30, 2008: One big project he's involved in is the open sourcing of the server side of Second Life's code. The client side was opened up a while back as part of a larger plan to throw everything open – what the company dubbed “embracing the inevitable”. The idea here is that if some kind of standard for interoperable virtual worlds is going to emerge, recent history teaches us it's got to be open.
Second Life beats real life for collaboration
Researchers found that groups worked together better in online world Second Life than in face-to-face meetings and teleconferences.
Erica Driver office hours in Second Life this Fri. noon EST
I’ll be in-world Friday Oct. 3rd and Friday Oct. 10th from noon-1PM EST (that’s 9-10AM Second Life time). We’re located on the Vio II simulation – you can find us by searching for ThinkBalm or Vio II places in Second Life. If you have trouble finding us you can always send me an in-world instant message and I’ll offer you a teleport. My Second Life avatar name is Erica Burns. Come on by!
Annual Second Life Survey on U.S. Presidential Contest
September 29, 2008: a preview of the results from our annual survey of the most active SL residents (at least an hour a day in SL) shows Barack Obama the clear favorite. We do not claim this to be a representative sample of all SL residents. Time will tell how predictive these results are.
The Second Life of Second Life
Why A-list companies are returning to the virtual world
Try Second Life Beyond the IT Department
Sep 19, 2008: A number of organizations are recruiting in Second Life. They are realizing significant branding benefits by recruiting in a virtual world. The real question is, How successful at recruiting employees? The challenge becomes more acute for those attempting to find talent outside of the IT world.
Saint-Gobain Uses SL to Promote RL Product Benefits
September 11, 2008 - The establishment of Saint-Gobain Glass in the virtual world of Second Life is a new step to encourage exchanges between scholars and performers of glazing residents with high environmental sensitivity.ain glass in Second Life.
Second Life's Popularity Rests On Breadth Of Activities
September 25, 2008: Here's a quick guide to what goes on in Second Life, a lively virtual world full of music, dance, travel, games, and cybersex.
Digital prototypes help university team get $550k+ in technology funding
September 24, 2008 by Erica Driver: the Second Life prototype helped Shawnee State University avoid what could have been a huge and costly mistake.
Linden Lab CEO Mark Kingdon on Second Life’s latest evolution
A thorough discussion of the SL business model, corporate involvement & more
Sept 18, 2008: “Companies are actively developing their presences in Second Life, more around collaboration and product development. You might say it’s a renaissance for businesses in Second Life. The first wave was well documented as a brand-building exercise. Now the second wave is more focused on collaboration and learning.”
Virtual Gadgets Selling for Real Money
Sept 16, 2008: The goods may not be real, but the value people place on them sure is, and there's a very real economy at work in the virtual realm.
Wipro Technologies inaugurates Solutions Lab on Second Life
Sept 16, 2008: The [Wipro] lab on Second Life is used for collaborating with customers and partners, hosts virtual conferences and provides a platform for innovation in the spheres of technology and business transformation.
Chief executives still don't get the web
Sept 14, 2008: The Secrets of CEOs is the first book to bring together 150 top global CEOs on the record. The book examines how great CEOs really lead in practice, the five facts of business life which most concern them and what the role means for their personal relationships. It also shares a radical view of how best to lead into the future - and what it will take to become a top CEO. This final installment of our four part series explains how CEOs are struggling to adapt to the internet age and the further challenges that the web is set to present.
Unstaffed virtual presences a potential danger
Staffed presences an opportunity
by Tateru Nino Sep 20th 2008: Got a beef with Comcast? A difference of opinion with the Ontario Public Service? Unstaffed corporate presences in virtual environments like Second Life are the perfect place to share your story with other customers and would-be customers.
Ontario Public Service Second Life Experience Recognized With Prestigious Innovation Merit Award
September 15, 2008: The interactive career experience allows Second Life users to analyze traffic patterns using live video feeds from throughout Ontario, to virtually test water samples for pathogens, and to experience other popular jobs in Ontario before applying to the job in the real world.
Second Life sets techies on stability
Linden Lab is working to improve the virtual world
Sept 15, 2008: Second Life's developers are working on new ways at making the virtual world more stable.
Drew Carey Ventures to the Virtual Frontier of Second Life
September 11, 2008: In the latest offering from reason.tv, Drew Carey takes us on a guided tour of Second Life (SL), a virtual world with more than 500,000 residents.
Virtual IU opening doors for executive education
September 10, 2008: With gas prices running high and time running low for executives in real life, Indiana University is turning to the virtual world of Second Life with its Kelley Executive Partners program.
How to survive in the brave new virtual world
Through IT, you can expand operations and processes in the virtual world to get an idea of what the results would be in the real world.
Former Secretary of State Makes Second Life Appearance
September 11, 2008: Secretary of State Madeleine Albright's Second Life appearance yesterday was streamed into SL by way of a live video feed.
Web 2.0 'central' to high-performance workplace
Staff need tools to pull information from external sources and each other, argues Gartner
September 10, 2008: Rozwell also pointed to Michelin, which is using a Second Life environment to boost collaboration among its enterprise architects, and an un-named government agency which has created a virtual operations centre where staff can interact with business intelligence simulations.
IBM adds virtual worlds support to Lotus Sametime
Wed Sep 3, 2008: By Eric Reuters; SECOND LIFE, Sept 3 (Reuters) - IBM, a company long at the forefront of exploring the business applications of virtual worlds, announced on Wednesday it has added support for 3D chat to its Lotus Sametime instant messaging software.
Business meetings in Second Life - 2 minute video
Joe Miller, VP of platforms and technology development at Linden Lab, explains how Second Life has become a competitor to Cisco’s Telepresence in conducting international meetings, group projects, and even recruiting and job training.
Warner Brothers GossipGirl Cafe in Second Life gets Meta Makeover
The popular television series GossipGirl, produced by Warner Brothers for The CW television network, has a demographic target of women ages 18 to 35, and has a strong and growing in-world following in Second Life with over 10,000 members.
Second Life boosts communications support for enterprises
September 4, 2008: The creators of virtual world Second Life have improved support for business users of the service. They have launched a voice and instant messaging client that enables Second Life residents to connect and communicate with their Second Life contacts who are both inside and outside their virtual world.
Digital50.com | Wed, 03 Sep 2008: The product, called SLim, is also a compelling tool for the Second Life enterprise offering, which will enable employees to communicate and collaborate with colleagues meeting inworld without having the Second Life application running.
Will Second Life Transform the Way We Do Business?
September 4, 2008: Many believe that user-created worlds like Second Life will become the framework for a revolution in the way we shop, work and interact. In addition, the technology analyst firm, Gartner Inc., has projected that 80 percent of all active Internet users will be involved in virtual worlds by 2011.
Vollee's Second Life Mobile Open Beta Application Attracts Worldwide Support
REDWOOD CITY, Calif., BUSINESS WIRE -- Vollee, the 3G streaming services provider, announced today that its mobile open beta application for Second Life(R), the 3D virtual world platform created by Linden Lab(R), has been downloaded by users in over 98 countries, across more than 253 mobile operators' networks for 70 supported handset models.
Random House Group Hosts E-book Exhibition In Second Life
September 3, 2008: The Random House Group today announced that its Digital team will host a virtual exhibition about e-books and e-book readers in Second Life. The exhibition is designed to raise awareness of e-books and e-readers among members of the virtual world, while promoting Random House Group e-book highlights launching this autumn.
Second Life’s user economy shows strong growth
August 27, 2008 - Reuters: The real-world economy may be slipping into recession, but the global slowdown isn’t impacting Second Life. According to recently released company statistics, Linden Lab’s in-world economy is larger than ever.
Manpower’s First Year in Second Life
And why employers should care - 6 minute video
The demographics of Manpower placements matches what your company’s hiring requires. It is a generation where the cubicle is being replaced by the Internet café with the emphasis on “collaborative work.” This six-minute video gives a good overview to-date with comments from the CEO of Manpower on his renewed commitment to SL and former CEO of Linden Lab, owner of Second Life.
Second Life is becoming a powerful business collaboration tool
Despite diminished interest, Second Life keeps attracting business
August 25, 2008: a growing number of organizations continue to find practical uses for Second Life.
Business and Startups in Second Life
August 22, 2008 BusinessWeek: Whether they're designing eco-homes or a new mass transit system, entrepreneurs are finding virtual worlds provide them with an inexpensive, low-risk launching pad. Editor’s note: meeting clients in Second Life is already being done. So is meeting with prospective clients and prospects with targeted demographics, e.g. corporate IT managers, all through First Opinions Panel, now up to 11,000 of the most active SL residents. Click for details on our research services.
Nokia's Virtual Business Panel in Second Life Today
August 28, 2008: Made up from Second Life residents all running businesses inside Second Life, there will be ample opportunity for some audience participation through Q and A. The Nokia team suggest that “This is your chance to get the down-and-dirty on how business operates within virtual worlds from some of the best and brightest in the field.”
IBM Blog: New Creative assertion over Second Life
August 25, 2008: Linden Labs announced recently that it was going to take a more assertive role over creative content in Second Life. Looking at it from a business point of view I welcome this development.
Virtual Realtor home finds real fans online
August 24, 2008: The walls are covered with signs that are links to Web pages. A radio lets you select among several Internet radio stations you can listen to while you browse. And a large display focuses on what NJAR calls "Get the Real Story," the group's answer to media depictions of the real estate slump.
A Second Life corporate grid: When, not if
by Tateru Nino Aug 18th 2008: Imagine a Second Life grid without the mainland (the Linden-owned estate) -- a landscape made up entirely of corporations, businesses, media companies and government agencies.
Entrepreneurs find typical business strategies don’t work in a virtual world
“You can’t just plant a flag and say, ‘Here I am, come and buy my product,’” Moss said. “Second Life is a community, akin to a very small town. Wells Fargo, Dell computers and companies like that came in and created a big presence, but what they lacked was community engagement, and therefore, they did not succeed. The businesses that flourish are the small micro-businesses that have low expectation, lower overhead and a high community reach.”
New Courses for Executive and Instructional Designer-Developer Held in SL
August 14, 2008: AHG started a series of new courses taught by a team of experts who have experience creating, consulting and supervising successful Second Life programs. Courses are split into two separate tracks: Executive and Instructional Designer / Developer.
Linden Lab CEO Mark Kingdon to Keynote Virtual Worlds London Conference
CEO of the Company That Invented Second Life to Present What is Next at Europe's Virtual World and 3D Internet Conference
"Mono for Second Life” Scripting Simulator Upgrade Announced
August 21, 2008: Linden Lab says “We've run some benchmarks to compare the performance of the original scripting engine and the Mono VM. When we run the tests side by side we found that Mono is up to 220x faster than LSL2. These benchmarks were math intensive scripts usually used to evaluate performance.”
Graduate Student Earns Degree in Second Life
a graduate student from Colombia, has successfully earned his Masters degree by researching, presenting and defending his thesis in Second Life
An Introduction To OpenSim: the "Apache of Virtual Worlds"
OpenSim about, who's working on it, what are they doing with it, and how do you get involved as a developer and participant? Here's a starter's guide...
Presidential hopefuls struggle to ply real politics in Second Life
IBM Expands Presence in Second Life
August 13, 2008: IBM has extended its presence in Second Life with the opening of a virtual, ‘green’, data center. Those who would like to visit the data center log into Second Life, since the virtual world is the only place where the data center exists.
Virtual Worlds Training For Corporate Leaders
August 12, 2008: Corporations researching virtual worlds as a training tool quickly realize that they lack expertise to fully capitalize on the benefits and avoid costly mistakes. To mitigate this AHG started a series of new courses taught by a team of experts.
Accenture Recruiting in Second Life Paid for Itself
Accenture has been using Second Life since 2006. The recruiting that it's doing there has paid for itself, reports ThinkBalm.
Second Lifers Will Convene In Tampa, Sans Avatars
The convention, he said, is "an opportunity to meet someone face to face you may talk to every day. You may spend hours a day with them as an avatar." There will be tracts on business, education and socializing.
Regional players log in to get a new lease on Life
Arabs, especially Saudis, are flocking to the virtual world to experience a different kind of life
“SL teaches you a lot about real life. The way you communicate, the way you treat people – but mostly, it teaches you tolerance
Second Life Bluesman Gets First-Life Recording Contract
August 13, 2008: "Never before has a virtual character been signed to a worldwide recording contract," stated Warren Croyle, CEO of Reality Entertainment, the company that signed him.
NACOL Announces Special Webinar Series: 'This is Second Life!'
Susan Patrick, President and CEO of NACOL (The North American Council for Online Learning) said, "Educators are flocking to Second Life for professional development and flexible, immersive learning environments. Individuals who attend the session will first learn out-of-world and then be invited to participate in-world, with a hands-on exploration of Second Life."
Second Life ready to take on Google
8 Aug, 2008, Bloomberg: Linden Research Inc., the developer of the Second Life virtual world, will make the service easier to use and court more business customers as it gears up to compete against Google Inc., Chief Executive Officer Mark Kingdon said.
Why Microsoft Chose Second Life
10 questions for virtual world evangelists (Microsoft's) Zain Naboulsi, and (G-Squared's) Kyle Gomboy
August 6, 2008: First question - “You recently conducted a Microsoft event in Second Life. Tell me a little about that a bit. Like why did you do it? Who came? What did you do?”
August 5, 2008, TheSLAgency.com: If you’ve spoken to us before, you’ve probably heard us say that Second Life, despite whatever some of the press may say, continues to grow at a very healthy rate. More land, more users, more currency transacted - it is undeniable that this virtual world is not only alive and kicking, but still young and spry as well.
Seeking business value from investment in virtual worlds on the 3D internet
Insights from an IBM blog
July 23, 2008: Whereas items in Second Life are cheap, staff is not. When the build is done and the contractors and helpers have dispersed, it still need to be maintained. It is very important to remember this while building. It's easy to create fancy gizmos, harder to keep them fresh with information. Things need to be engineered for ease of maintenance. For example, where possible identical items that occur in multiple places should be centrally configured, and configuration should preferentially take place by editing notecards rather than editing code.
August 11, 2008: Despite the economic hard times in “real” life, the number of Second Life business owners with a positive cashflow rose steadily in the past six months.
Linden Lab Appoints Frank Ambrose as Senior VP of Global Technology
Networking Industry Veteran to Lead New Initiatives on Platform Stability and User Support
August 8, 2008: Linden Lab(R), creator of the virtual world Second Life(R), today announced the appointment of Frank Ambrose as Senior VP of Global Technology. Ambrose has 20 years of experience in technology infrastructure development, data architecture and operations, including his most recent role as AOL's Senior Vice President of Technology for Infrastructure and Network Services. Reporting to Linden Lab's CEO, Mark Kingdon, Ambrose will oversee the development of new processes, systems and tools to maximize the scalability of Second Life's network architecture.
Why You Should Have Your Next Business Meeting in Second Life
August 6, 2008: Fastcompany.com Interview: Second Life founder Philip Rosedale talks about SL being open for business, the allure of virtual meetings over real ones, and why he stepped down as CEO.
August 7, 2008: A Second Life for Training is the title of the article that just appeared in the July, 2008 edition of Chief Learning Officer magazine. CLO associate Editor Lindsay Edmonds Wicker sums it up very well,
Gartner's Steve Prentice - It's About Demographics, Not Numbers
July 30, 2008: “It's not so important how many (virtual world) users are out there, but who they are." Second Life Business Brief Editor’s note: Our foundation came to this conclusion almost two years ago and created First Opinions Panel of 10,000 Second Life residents. They are studied by 33 demographic attributes in their "real" and Second Life. Clients include F500, market research firms and Linden Lab, owner of SL.
Aviva Creates Island in Second Life to Recruit Next Generation of Agents
Looking for a unique and effective way to connect with members of the younger generations who have the potential to be effective insurance agents, Aviva USA ($40 billion in assets) has established a presence in Second Life.
State public health director announces successful launch of BASUAH in Second Life
August 1, 2008: BASUAH (Brothers and Sisters United Against HIV/AIDS) offers HIV/AIDS education in virtual world
“In this day and age of modern technology, we need to reach out to and educate people in a way that keeps up with the times. Our goal in creating BASUAH in Second Life is to provide innovative opportunities to keep the dialogue on HIV/AIDS education and prevention in the fore front of peoples’ minds,” said Dr. Arnold. “This virtual world gives people the opportunity to explore different personas and learn what it would be like to be in someone else’s shoes.”
CHALLENGERS TO SECOND LIFE?
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July 30, 2008: a good overview; be sure to read the comments from users at the end.
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Related articles:
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Not a Second Life Killer, but a Lively Addition to the 3D Space
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Gartner has released a report that argues that Lively is more of a competitor to social networks such as Facebook than to established, large-scale virtual worlds like Second Life.
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July 31, 2008: Linden Lab founder Philip Rosedale on video at Fortune’s Brainstorm conference in Half Moon Bay.
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China's answer to Second Life is in the works, but faces censors and other hurdles its American rival never will
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Part of Second Life's appeal has been its vibrant political debate (witness the heated on-line activity during the French presidential campaign, and numerous anti-Bush placards). By contrast, HiPiHi will have to toe Beijing's authoritarian line, which forbids excessive anti-government criticism...
July 31, 2008, Linux Insider: Virtual worlds represent different things to different users. Major corporations set up shop to do business in online realms, while right around the corner, other users are acting out the deepest, darkest, weirdest desires of the human id. In worlds where identity can be pure fantasy but money and intellectual property are real, who lays down the law?
IBM is offering a new experience: a model of a green data center in Second Life-a 3D virtual environment. In the IBM Virtual Green Data Center (VGDC) visitors have an opportunity for "hands-on" experience to learn about the energy efficient technologies of IBM Project Big Green. Try solving energy problems in the data center with interactive demos. All of this from the comfort of your office or home.
July 23, 2008: Last year the World Bank's Doing Business team released its annual report in Second Life... “Second Life offers an unprecedented opportunity for global meetings which are not just interactive and participatory, but which are also carbon neutral. And the UN is watching closely to see if...Second Life provides a domain where non-profits and NGOs might promote campaigns and share ideas as never before.”
A realism model for Immersive Internet Apps: part 2
July 21, 2008 by Sam Driver and Erica Driver. In an earlier ThinkBalm article, A realism model for Immersive Internet apps: Part I, we went into a bit of detail about the two axes of Immersive Internet realism: visual and data. Visual realism is accurate representation without idealization. Data realism supplies a virtual environment with current, accurate information. In this companion article we build upon these ideas and use analogies from the book, movie, and video game worlds to describe the four main categories of Immersive Internet applications:
My First Two Months at Linden Lab
Thursday, July 24: I’ve been with Linden Lab for two months and each day has surfaced something interesting — and often quite unexpected. So, what have I seen? Click to read on.
Will Mark Kingdon’s Reign Boost Second Life?
Wagner James Au, Saturday, July 19, 2008: Is Second Life still relevant in this far more dynamic playing field, which now includes Lively, an offering from the Internet’s biggest player? I posed that question to Kingdon a few days ago in an extended conversation at the company’s spacious San Francisco headquarters.
14 Things Corporations Can Learn from Seasoned Web Workers
July 24th, 2008: If you want a more personal alternative to instant messaging and email, without the constraints of teleconferencing, check out virtual worlds like Second Life...
Ask the experts - tour of Second Life
July 26, 2008: Video games wizard, Second Life World Builder and Preston College teacher Bob Brown takes you on a tour of the amazing revolutionary online video game Second Life
Intel: Human and computer intelligence will merge in 40 years
We're starting to see, with things like Second Life and now Lively from Google, the ability of these machines to create these worlds that are much more comfortable for us to experience and be a part of.
Virtual Toothache Helps Student Dentists
ScienceDaily (July 24, 2008) — Masha is a dental patient. Her oral health problems continue to change as she meets new Case Western Reserve University student dentists in Second Life's virtual dental office.
Working Remotely: Yes, It Sounds Good, But How Do You Actually Do It?
It sounds like Nirvana, everyone working where they want to, being productive and happy in their personal environments. It's long been touted as the wave of the future, the way we will all work in the 2010s and 2020s.
VIDEO
The Power of Collaboration: Manpower's First Anniversary in Second Life
Dancing Ink Productions, in collaboration with Draxtor Despres, produced this machinima in Second Life for Manpower Inc., celebrating Manpower's first anniversary in the Metaverse. The video is an exploration about how the world of work is changing with the advent of virtual worlds like Second Life.
At Microsoft, cost of virtual events about 1/3 the cost of traditional events
July 18, 2008 by Erica Driver, ThinkBalm: how Microsoft is using virtual worlds to strengthen the company’s relationships with customers via its technical communities. [On] a pre-existing Microsoft island in Linden Lab’s Second Life virtual world, IT professionals began to show up for in-world user group meetings and small events.
“First life” versus “fake life”— When realism is important in the Immersive Internet
June 30, 2008 by Erica Driver: The bottom line: don’t stick to common perceptions of reality just because it’s what you know or it’s easier or you’re afraid of what people might think. The Immersive Internet lets us actually improve on reality in some ways.
The Virtual World as Web Browser
Linden Lab is working on making it easier to import data from the Web into Second Life
July 15, 2008: With Linden Lab's new system, for example, Second Life users could create business cards linked to external Web pages, so that they're updated when the pages are, or virtual MP3 players connected to Web radio services. The company is also working to make it easy for users to share 2-D data such as Microsoft Word files or PowerPoint presentations with other users inside the virtual world. Miller says that Linden Lab plans to deliver these new technologies by the end of this year, as part of its Web Media Initiative.
Google's Lively no Second Life killer
July 14, 2008: Google's 'Lively' virtual world will not emerge as a Second Life killer and should not be judged as such, according to analysts.
Monday, July 14, 2008: Gibson Guitar, the world's premier musical instrument manufacturer and leader in music technology announced the launch of the official Gibson Island on Second Life.com (SL). Gibson is the first major music manufacturer to establish an official island in Second Life and has advanced the opportunity for consumers to participate in an exciting virtual world complete with digital luthiers, instruments and guest stars.
Second Life offers healing, therapeutic options for users
July 13, 2008: Maybe because it's a dream realm, hopefulness abounds. Nowhere is that truer than in Second Life's support groups, which help people cope with everything from cancer, depression, bipolar disorder and autism, to caretaker stress. There are more than 70 such groups, according to Second Life's Health Support Coalition. Most are secular. While a few groups are facilitated by associations such as the American Cancer Society, peers run most.
Colleges turn to online game for experiments too difficult -- or impossible -- in real life
July 13, 2008: Judith Kung Fu may be just one of more than 14 million computer-generated characters in the 3-D online game Second Life. But with her help, her creator may one day save your life.
Growing Mystery: Nielsen Reports Second Life's UK Usage Increasing Faster Than Wikipedia Or iTunes
Substantial in-world spending has grown over the year, as have total user hours. Read the full article.
Manpower's First Anniversary in Second Life
At 8:45 AM EST on Monday, July 14, Manpower has sponsored an interesting and engaging event to celebrate the first anniversary of their virtual headquarters in Second Life. They’ve assembled a series of machinima and roundtable discussions with a powerhouse line-up of guests to reflect on the implications of the changing nature of the global workforce and explore the unique opportunities offered by Second Life’s thriving culture. Some of the notable guests include Jeffrey Joerres, Manpower CEO and Chairman; Philip Linden, Chairman of Linden Labs, and Gentle Heron, the co-founder of the Heron Sanctuary in Second Life.
Letter to Second Life Residents
July 9, 2008: Linden’s new CEO speaks after his first two months…
From The Wall Street Journal
Avatars Teleport Away From Second Life
July 8, 2008: Once such interchanges of avatars and their associated creations become commonplace, more companies should be able to reuse animated storefronts, recreation areas and other digital assets they create—and won’t