The Center for Media Research reports on recent numbers from the web statistics site Hitwise, which indicate that search engines are still the primary drivers of shopping traffic, but that social networking sites are catching up. Google of course is still the leader in online retail visits, at 14% of all shopping traffic. But Myspace…
Category: Virtual Worlds
Addicted to virtual worlds? No really, I can quit any time
Are you addicted to Everquest (i.e. Evercrack), Warcraft, Second Life, There, and/or Ultima? You won’t be alone, says a new survey by the Pew Internet & American Life Project. Pew surveyed 742 "internet leaders, activists, builders and commentators," asking them about the effect of the internet on social, political and economic life in the year…
Playing with Alt-Zoom’s tracking camera
I read on New World Notes about the free Alt-Zoom camera being promoted by machinimaniac Moo Money. Moo posted a cool video on YouTube that consisely and clearly demonstrates how to use this in-world video camera. I decided to give it a spin tonight, and finally got it to take a very basic tracking shot…
Second Life travel guide in WIRED mag
The october issue of WIRED Magazine has a pretty sweet spread on Second Life, including a brief history of the virtual world, its economy, where to shop, how to have sex, what games you can play, and even some profiles on some of the criminal element that have been banned from SL. I like the…
Slider hair is for dorks
Just got a new ‘do, to replace my super-newb "slider hair" that I’ve been sporting for way too long. I’ve always wanted white hair actually, although perhaps not with enormous antennae. More exciting self-portraiture after the jump…
All your Starbase are belong to us
Master SL builder Hiro Pendragon sends out word about a cool simultaneous "multi-verse" release of Starbase C3. It’s a lot to grok, so pay attention: There’s a ten year old virtual world called "Starbase C3" which exists as kind of a collective fantasy of thousands of fans who perpetuate the world via 3D models, fanfic,…
Correlation between griefing and violent game play?
The excellent Game Politics blog recently did a little investigating of claims by Louisiana attorney general Jack Johnson and other anti-game violence politicians. Apparently Johnson has been touting an American Psychological Association study that he said had found that violent video game play causes real world violent acts. I happen to know the current chair…
I see gray people: second class surfing in Second Life
It hit me tonight what was so deja vu about hanging out in Second Life on my pre-Intel iBook: it’s like surfing the web on dial-up. Tonight I wanted to visit some parties, maybe get some new hair, and change my walking animation. Instead I spent almost the entire time waiting for images to render….
Burning Life turns to ashes tomorrow! Thanks for the paranoia!
Hamlet posted an excellent video of the virtual homage to the Burning Man festival called "Burning Life" in Second Life. Obviously a lot of work by hundreds of builders went into creating the fanciful dreamscapes, strange contraptions and just random silliness. It was like a sandbox with lots of lots of very talented kids building…
Adidas comes to Second Life: the a3 Microride
Moo Money sent a link to the new Adidas store in Second Life (SLURL). It’s pretty spare at this point — just a marketing build to highlight their new "a3 Microride" shoe, which apparently makes you jump really really high. I didn’t see any I could try out, which was a bummer. More pics after…