Ahem… I see two million "residents" of Second Life listed on the front page. I will let others conjecture about how many of these are simply victim of the "try me" virus.
First thoughts on “Second Life: the Official Guide”
I needed to cash out an old B&N gift certificate, so I just got a copy of the new Second Life: The Official Guide. Just superficially, the paperbound book looks great. The overall palette is a calming forest green. Full color screenshots thoughout the book pop out as you flip through it. On the margins…
The REAL skinny on the ICANN Second Life build
Apparently I should have checked my sources more clearly before posting yesterday’s piece about ICANN taking over the virtual world. I should have suspected the press release was phoney when I noticed that it came from a vintcerf@icann.xxx. My bad. It goes to show that not everything you read on the internets is true. Anyway,…
ICANN announces that it now controls the virtual world as well as the web
In a surprise announcement at the ICANN Board Meeting in Sao Paolo, Brazil, Vint Cerf, chair of the ICANN Board, declared that the US-based agency responsible for the web’s domain system was now taking charge of assigned names and locations in the virtual world. Mr. Cerf is expected to be holding a virtual press briefing…
Real World Places in Second Life #12: Virtual Morocco!
I just ran across an amazing new build called "Virtual Morocco" on the Casablanca sim (teleport SLURL). Created as an initiative of faculty and students at Johnson and Wales University in partnership with the Moroccan ministry of tourism, Virtual Morocco is one of the most immersive real world places in Second Life that I’ve ever…
World Vision Village comes to SL
Jas sends along some information about a new virtual initiative by the UK charity World Vision: Copper Industries have recently built a village in Second Life for World Vision UK, one of the world's leading development and relief charities. The aim of the village is to show some of the products you can purchase through…
Net Neutrality Party on Jan 11 in Memphis
As someone who blogs on occasion about Net Neutrality and internet regulation issues, I received an invitation to the Save the Internet Coalition’s "Party for the Future" on January 11 at the Gibson Guitar Factory in Memphis, TN. Held in conjunction with the National Conference on Media Reform, organized by Free Press, it promises to…
Kofi Annan giving last major address today (webcast)
Just got this notice from the Better World Campaign: Today, at 11:30 a.m. EST, Secretary-General Kofi Annan will deliver his last major speech as leader of the United Nations. The speech will explore issues of global governance and the role of the United States in international affairs. Click here to watch the webcast from the…
Politics in Second Life: Time for the Virtual McLaughlin Group?
A number of real world political parties and politicians have in the past couple of months started exploring Second Life as a new medium for spreading their messages and garnering real world press. Most recently, the youth arm of the far right French political party Le Pen appears to be opening an in-world office, according…
Answer three questions, get L$ 6,750!
Troy McLuhan, of the SL Spaceflight Museum, has three pretty complicated questions about sim reservation. If you think you know the answers, IM them to him and you could get L$ 6,750 (about 25 US dollars) for your efforts. I have no idea, but thought I would pass it along. UPDATE 12/10/06, 1:18AM: According to…