Clipmarks | kidora's Second Life collection

Terrorism In Second Life

Tue, 31 Jul 2007 16:48:47 GMT

clipped by: kidora
clipper's remarks: I guess not even on-line worlds are safe anymore

With the game taking such a sinister turn, terrorism experts are warning that SL attacks have ramifications for the real world. Just as September 11 terrorists practised flying planes on simulators in preparation for their deadly assault on US buildings, law enforcement agencies believe some of those behind the Second Life attacks are home-grown Australian jihadists who are rehearsing for strikes against real targets. Terrorist organisations al-Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiah traditionally sent potential jihadists to train in military camps in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Southeast Asia. But due to increased surveillance and intelligence-gathering, they are swapping some military training to online camps to evade detection and avoid prosecution.

Be alert, but not alarmed

“Community representatives are relied on to report suspicious or inappropriate behaviour to the owners or the SL authorities, just as in the real world.”

Tags: "second life", terrorism, terrorists

Second Life's First Credit Card

Wed, 05 Sep 2007 16:14:38 GMT

clipped by: kidora
clipper's remarks: Wow who would have thought that a virtural world citizens will now have access to real world credit.
This is just strange!

Clip Source: www.techcrunch.com

Singapore based FirstMeta has launched MetaCard, a credit card for Second Life that is claimed to be the world’s first virtual world credit card.

The MetaCard works in the same way as a normal first life credit card works. Applicants are provided with a credit limit and present the card when purchasing goods at merchants who accept the card.

Although the amount of credit offered by FirstMeta is (in real life terms) rather low, it will be interesting to see how services like these develop in online worlds given that in effect they are financial services that would likely be subject to real life laws. Whilst Second Life companies such as the World Stock Exchange clearly state that they are in effect pretend outfits (ie: games), and therefore are not subject to real world laws, FirstMeta is actually providing credit that is tied to a real world account; in effect by securing their credit services they have crossed the line into the real world.

Tags: second life, credit cards, money

Second Life experiences virtually superficial

Sat, 10 Mar 2007 15:53:00 GMT

clipped by: redhead328
clipper's remarks: I have very serious reservations about virtual communities like these that some people see as antidote for loneliness.

Clip Source: www.dukemagazine.duke.edu

Just an hour or so after joining, "you'll notice that several residents approach you and introduce themselves," the website promises. "Within this vibrant society of people, it's easy to find people with similar interests.... Once you meet people you like, you find it's easy to communicate and stay in touch."

In the context of this universe, communicating and staying in touch have decidedly nontraditional meanings. You can link with your online associates to hang out at a nightclub, take in a fashion show, attend an art opening, or play games. It could be the start of a virtual friendship. The gift of virtual chicken soup delivered by a friendly avatar, though, won't go down like the real thing.

Tags: second life, internet, cyber culture, connections, loneliness

Virtural Integration: Google and Second Life?

Tue, 25 Sep 2007 16:21:16 GMT

clipped by: kidora
clipper's remarks: There has been a lot of talk lately about the integration of virtual worlds with the internet. The fact the Google likes to have it's fingers in all honey pots does not surprise me.
While I enjoy Second Life as a creative platform and sometimes virtual vacation it is in need of a more stable and powerful system to work under. Perhaps Google and Linden Labs (the creators of Second Life) could work together. Google would be able to supply a much needed power boost to the relatively small Linden Labs.

Clip Source: www.webware.com

For some time now, we here at CNET News.com have been hearing whispers that Google might be looking to get into the virtual world space, particularly in light of the increasing interest of existing environments like Second Life, and the success of Google Earth and the search giant's purchase of the Sketchup technology.

Well, now we might finally be on to something. According to TechCrunch, Google may already be testing its own 3D virtual world technology, in a secret experiment at Arizona State University.

And according to a report published Monday from eMarketer, Google is "planning enhancements to Google Earth to let users connect virtually with one another."

If it's even happening. And with rumors being what they are, you never know.

Tags: google, second life, virtual, computers

Buy Armani In Second Life

Fri, 28 Sep 2007 16:00:06 GMT

clipped by: kidora
clipper's remarks: Interesting ... Now you can buy pixelated clothing from Armani in Second Life. This will most likely prove to be a more successful venture for a clothing company than other business that have attempted to set up shop in SL.

Clip Source: mashable.com

Armani’s virtual store in Second Life has opened today, and the designer himself has gone to the grand opening as his avatar, and was interviewed by Style.com’s fashion director Candy Pratts Price for the event.

Second Life users can now don themselves in Armani clothing, purchased with Linden dollars or directly through his online store for non-virtual items. Finally, a really smart integration of a clothing brand and Second Life, with options for purchasing real life items as well. Furniture next? Please?

It’s good to know that not all brands are having second thoughts on investing in SecondLife, and it’s far easier for a brand like Armani to take advantage of the virtual world for direct sales, as opposed to Pontiac, or companies that have purchased virtual space for office collaboration purposes. Other virtual worlds that are integrating real brands include Stardoll, Meez and SceneCaster.

Tags: second life, armani, clothing, virtual, worlds

IBM and Linden Lab Team Up

Wed, 10 Oct 2007 16:51:54 GMT

clipped by: kidora
clipper's remarks: Very interesting ... IBM and Linden Lab teaming up. Trying to get a jump on Googles foray into virtual worlds?

Clip Source: www.techcrunch.com

IBM and Linden Lab (the company behind Second Life) will announce a new partnership at the Virtual Worlds Conference in San Jose today that will focus on virtual world interoperability.

The initial focus of the joint effort will be the ability to allow users to use a single virtual persona (or Avatar) across multiple virtual platforms, with seamless interworld transactions to be considered later.

IBM has been highly active in the virtual worlds space, both as a user of platforms such as Second Life as a conference and business communications tool, and as a creator with its Active Worlds chat platform. IBM’s Italian employee’s went on strike within Second Life in late September.

Tags: ibm, "linden labs", computers, "virtural worlds", "second life"

Second Life Better Off Without Big Corporations

Mon, 16 Jul 2007 05:23:30 GMT

clipped by: kidora
clipper's remarks: Just a little article for all you Second Lifers out there. I think its great that all the cookie cuter corporations are pulling out of SL. Second Life is to imaginative and free thinking for business like that. I know that when I shop in SL I love to buy what people like you and me create, people who work on the internet or in photoshop a lot and when we have free time we create stuff for Second Life. That's way cooler than any old corporation.

Clip Source: www.google.com

The LA Times has an interesting article up on the failure of real life businesses in Second Life.

The crux of the piece is that despite the hype, real life businesses are closing down their Second Life outposts due to little to no interest in them.

The reasons for the failures are open to debate; from firms not engaging Second Life citizens, through to simply a lack of actual people using Second Life (the LA Times says it peaks at 40,000 users at any one given time).

Au’s later notes in the same post that Second Life doesn’t rely on corporations for revenue and the decline of corporations on Second Life doesn’t really matter all that much to Linden Lab. Once the last corporation leaves Second Life, the user-generated metavserse will continue, and in some ways may even end up being better off.

Tags: second life, business, gaming

Videoblogging in Second Life

Sat, 07 Apr 2007 15:12:21 GMT

clipped by: fauxpress
clipper's remarks: I've seen David's SL device in action. Pretty darned cool.

Clip Source: mmeiser.com

Videoblogging in Second Life

As part the Videoblogging Week 2007 theme "crossing borders", Lisa Rein has done an excellent series of posts on videoblogging in Second Life. As part of the series Chicago based videoblogger Davide Meade has created this amazing video of an interface he's created for videoblogs in Second Life. Complete with a channel changer and multiple screens. If you have second life installed you can check it out by visiting the below SLURL... that's a Second Life Uniform Resource Locator or Second Life URL for you geeks. :)

See it in Second Life: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Gyeongju/113/158/74

Tags: second life, secondlife, machinima, mmeiser, david meade, lisa rein

Make Second Life sculpted prims easily with Rokuro (lathe)

Fri, 01 Jun 2007 04:53:27 GMT

clipped by: Torley
clipper's remarks: I've tried this a bit and it's fun; Benja Kepler even made a video tutorial for it. The interface is a bit unorthodox, as if it were some tool from the Elder Gods found in a simple farmer's cornfield. But it's easy enough to get used to.

Clip Source: www.kanae.net

ROKURO(lathe) - Sculpted Prim Maker -

by Yuzuru Jewell(KANAE PROJECT) produced by youwith

This Program makes Sculpted Prim texture .tga file of a solid of revolution for Secondlife.

[Video]

Tags: make, second, life, sculpted, prims, easily, with, rokuro, (lathe)

Google Getting Closer To A Virtual World

Tue, 09 Oct 2007 16:55:05 GMT

clipped by: kidora

Clip Source: news.zdnet.com

Virtual-worlds platform developer Multiverse Network is set to announce a partnership Tuesday that will allow anyone to create a new online interactive 3D environment with just about any model from Google's online repository of 3D models, its 3D Warehouse, as well as terrain from Google Earth.

The idea is simple: Multiverse's technology--which gives game developers tools to design custom virtual worlds--will let those designers pick and choose from most of the millions of 3D models created using Google's 3D software tool SketchUp, and to import pieces of terrain, as defined by entering specific longitude and latitude data, from Google Earth.

Of course, Multiverse's project is not the only one that has sprung up to make use of this data. Google is rumored to be working on a prototype virtual world, a beta test of which may or may not be under way at Arizona State University.

Tags: google, google earth, virtual, world

70% of SL users dissappointed w/ traditional marketing

Thu, 29 Mar 2007 19:09:54 GMT

clipped by: DrLRn1Rs

Clip Source: www.dmwmedia.com

Survey: 70% of of Users Disappointed With Marketing Efforts in Second Life

according to a new survey by Komjuniti, a Hamburg, Germany, research firm. Second Lifers see a lot of the companies as simply opportunistic and not really interested in developing a long-term presence in Second Life that benefits its inhabitants.

“The brand sites on Second Life currently look like they’re being treated in pretty much the same way as [traditional] advertising campaigns,” said Dr. Nils Andres, managing director of Komjuniti to Brandweek. They have been “placed with the hope of getting high visitor frequency and good PR scores.”

“They expect more creativity, more inspiration, and not vertical influence the old and traditional way of the 60-second spot,” said Andres.

Catherine Smith, Linden Labs’ Director of Marketing, says

“If you are not authentic and do not offer anything to the community, you are likely to be ignored”, she said.

Tags: gh avisualagency

80% of internet users in virtual worlds by 2011

Thu, 26 Apr 2007 17:21:15 GMT

clipped by: ONE Research

Clip Source: adverlab.blogspot.com

"By the end of 2011, 80 percent of active Internet users (and Fortune 500 enterprises) will have a “second life,” but not necessarily in Second Life, according to Gartner, Inc.

Tags: virtual worlds, second life