JON ERICKSON

Listen to the long-time editor of Dr Dobb’s Journal talk about new media projects and business developments in SL and global collaboration.

When: July 29, 16:00

Where: Microsoft (101, 123, 30)

Popularity: 1%

SECOND RADIO PARTY

Star German house DJ Rick Tale will be on the turntables for what promises to be a fantastic evening at the headquarters of Second Radio.

When: August 2, 10:00

Where: Second Radio Island (128, 128, 0)

Popularity: 1%

Here is a nice big pile of lindens you can win, if you can come up with the most promising use for the Wise Metaverse Texture Management System.

In cooperation with JT Financials and SLReports.net, the Wise Metaverse will be giving a grand prize of L$500,000 (five hundred thousand Linden Dollars) to the Second Life entrepreneur that can come up with most creative, promising use for the revolutionary new Wise Metaverse Texture Management System.

The system is a comprehensive advertising and texture-rotation solution, allowing users to drop scripts into objects they own or have created in Second Life, then use an online account management tool located at www.wisemetaverse.com to update textures on their objects grid-wide, set rotation time, track click counts for each texture, track impressions for each texture, and control what each texture gives when clicked (object, notecard, or landmark). The management tool even allows for users to create multiple campaigns for different objects they are using. Source: Wise Metaverse offering L$500,000 prize to best Second Life business plan

All submissions must be received no later than August 19, 2007. Those submitting entries are asked to please include their Second Life avatar names in the subject line of the email. Get a free copy of the system here, Second Life URL.

Popularity: 2%

Second Life Casino Owner Left Scrambling After Gambling Ban This Second Life entrepreneur complains that Linden Lab was more than happy to take his money for months, even after the U.S. banned Internet gambling, and then Linden Lab’s shut the casinos down abruptly Wednesday, Second Life Drops the Hammer On Gambling.

Jesuits Bring the Good News to Second Life Virtual worlds may well be the new frontier for crusades of today. The Jesuits, a Catholic order of priests founded by St. Ignatius Loyola in the 1500s, have decided their next bastion of faith should be raised in Second Life, reports the Financial Times.

Wii + Second Life = New Training Simulator Using the Wiimote and Second Life to save money on training. Ya, I know, sounds pretty lame, but you never know until you try it.

IBM Guidelines Govern Virtual Employees IBM appears to be the first corporation to create rules governing virtual worlds. The move has critics, who say that mandating behavior for the so-called “metaverse” is unlikely to reform impish avatars. They also question why IBM would add a layer of buttoned-down bureaucracy to this relatively rollicking corner of the Internet.

If Second Life Financial Markets are a Game, Are We Having Fun Yet? Those who were at the panel will remember that LukeConnell, like the COO of the competing exchange (Maelstrom Baphomet of AVIX), argued that SL stock exchanges are “a game.” This news is undoubtedly causing some to ask “Are we having fun yet?”

SLEC Responds to WSE Closure: News and Analysis At this point, we have confirmed that the theft has occurred and we believe that this issue clearly shows that independent regulation is a necessity in order to protect the investing public.

WSE Press Release with some interesting info Today they announced the release of WSE 3.0 that includes enhanced security features such as 256-bit SSL encryption, Risk API for Second Life residents along with the ability for general Internet users with a browser to trade on the World Stock Exchange using the World Internet Currency.

Popularity: 1%

Here is a great post from Torley Linden on the Second Life blog called 10 debug options you should know about that lets you know how to do things to make your Second Life experiences a little better. Such as turning that annoying typing animation and sound off, or the sound it make when you take a snapshot. How many people have been afraid to take a picture because they thought someone would think they were taking a picture of them? I did it just the other day when I was writing , there were two hot girls standing there chewing the fat and I wanted to take a pic. So I got tired of waiting and just took it, and they didn’t notice, but with the first of the tips below, you no longer have to worry about the sound it makes when you take a snapshot.

The Client menu formerly used to be called the Debug menu, and occasionally, you may still see it referred to as such. The reason for the change coincided with our Open Source initiative early in 2007, when we cleaned up the menus and encouraged community contributors to tap deeper into the secrets of Second Life so our platform can be improved.

Long story short, the general purpose of a Debug menu is to provide programmer-facing features not intended for the general public that assist us in reducing problems in the program (hence, DE-bug). But even we can’t resist including some Easter Eggs, as you’ll see.

10. Quiet Snapshots to Disk - Are you an avid shutterbug like me? Concerned that passerby will find the frequent whirrrr-click! of your screen captures annoying? Just select this option to enable it (it’ll have an X next to it when it’s on), and you can happily use File menu > Take Snapshot or Snapshot to Disk without the accompanying animation and sound. Source: 10 debug options you should know about

Check out the blog post for more Second Life Tips, you will be glad you did.

Popularity: 1%

Here’s a new twist in rl meeting sl, a musical based on Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein will be streamed live to Second Life August 4th, 2007 at 7:30pm. It’s a new twist because no one in SL will be acting it out, it will be live actors only.

A romantic drama based on Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein will be the first musical to be streamed live in Second Life when it airs in August.

Joined at the Heart will be broadcast live in the virtual world on 4 August at 7.30pm British Summer Time.

Geoff Meads, a brand manager at Arcam, and co-writer of the script, said that the musical is not being acted out in true Second Life fashion using avatars.

“It is going to be the actual stage show and thus with real people. No avatars,” Meads told vnunet.com. Source: Frankenstein musical comes to Second Life

Popularity: 1%

American Cancer Society to hold third annual Virtual Relay For Life in Second Life.

The event is today and tomorrow, but the fundraising goals have already been shattered by Second Life volunteers.

This year’s event, supported by the Society’s Futuring and Innovation Center, is expected to attract nearly 2,500 global participants. Volunteer organizers have already shattered their goal of raising $75,000 by raising nearly $90,000 (or $24 million Linden dollars, the official Second Life currency) to support cancer research and programs.

In addition to the Relay For Life event, the Society also is celebrating the recent opening of its virtual headquarters in Second Life. The new virtual building, which opened on June 1, is designed to provide the same cancer information and services to people in the virtual world as the organization provides in the non-virtual world. The building includes presentation and meeting rooms for cancer education sessions and fundraising meetings, and will soon feature a staffed link to the Society’s National Cancer Information Center that provides free cancer information 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. The headquarters also features green space and gardens to showcase user-created art that expresses the personal fight against cancer. Source: American Cancer Society to hold third annual Virtual Relay For Life in Second Life

More info and location information available here.

Popularity: 2%

Looks like the end is in sight for people earning a living using gambling and casinos in Second Life as Linden Labs has posted a new policy concerning gambling inside SL.

While Linden Lab does not offer an online gambling service, Linden Lab and Second Life Residents must comply with state and federal laws applicable to regulated online gambling, even when both operators and players of the games reside outside of the US. And, because there are a variety of conflicting gambling regulations around the world we have chosen to restrict gambling in Second Life as described in a revised policy which is posted in the Knowledge Base under “Policy Regarding Wagering in Second Life”.

What kind of wagering games are affected?

The policy applies to gambling games which:

(1) (a) rely on chance or random number generation to determine a winner, OR (b) rely on the outcome of real-life organized sporting events,

AND

(2) provide a payout in

(a) Linden Dollars, OR

(b) any real-world currency or thing of value. Source: Wagering In Second Life: New Policy

This is because of an FBI Investigation from April of this year in which they were looking at the legality of online gambling within the virtual world, as noted in a post from Techcrunch. In a post about the investigation in April from Techcrunch, Linden Labs told them the following:

“We have invited the FBI several times to take a look around in Second Life and raise any concerns they would like, and we know of at least one instance that federal agents did look around in a virtual casino,” said Ginsu Yoon, until recently Linden Lab’s general counsel and currently vice president for business affairs.
…
Yoon said the company was seeking guidance on virtual gaming activity in Second Life but had not yet received clear rules from U.S. authorities. Source: G-Men Visit Second Life Casinos, Stay for the Brothels

At the time Valleywag noted that it was still some good publicity because it makes Second Life look more and more like people are pulling in the cash.

But look more carefully. Second Life’s architects, at Benchmark-backed Linden Lab, invited in the FBI on several occasions; and they’re the ones behind this latest news. It’s not like the Bureau could be bothered to call a press conference. Fact is that this counts as good publicity for the over-hyped and under-whelming 3D environment. Any controversy, over illegal gambling or copyright infringement, creates the impression that Second Life is a vibrant alternative society, and economy. Which it’s not. The FBI probably isn’t making an issue out of virtual-world gambling, because the casinos are so empty (see picture). Source: Second Life Calls in the Feds

I wonder if Nick Denton even went in world?

Popularity: 2%

Here are some SL news nuggets from around the web.

Virtual Worlds as Eco Incubators What does a virtual world have to do with making a real world businesses more eco-friendly? Potentially a lot. Here’s a cheat sheet on noteworthy green development projects in Second Life.

Wired, Too, Bearish on Second Life The August 2007 issue adds its voice to the growing murmur of disenchantment. Its story “How Madison Avenue Is Wasting Millions on a Deserted Second Life” has a great quote about the preceding SLandrush: “It’s as if the moon suddenly had oxygen.” Then it goes on about how there’s nobody around and there’s nothing to do and how advertisers now feel stupid for choking on Wired’s own hype.

Magazines offer opposite takes on Second Life Current issues of Newsweek and Wired offer two opposite views of the Second Life virtual world.

“Can Second Life live up to the hype?” So the mainstream media and the overall blogosphere is having yet another negative reaction to the Second Life hype, and that reaction is expressed as … you guessed it: Second Life Hype.

Popularity: 1%

iWoot just recently opened their store in Second Life, and in this one, you can walk through and browse their store for stuff you actually have delivered to your home, yes, you have to get up because they will bring it to your door. Now, they are having a contest in which you could win L$100,000 linden, all you have to do is show them somewhere they don’t know about, or tell them a good story for a shot at winning.

But the store is just one of the island’s five areas, each shaped as a letter to spell “IWOOT” when looked at from high in the sky. One of the “O”s is a huge maze with cash prizes, “T” is marketplace where prominent virtual gadget makers exhibit their creations free of charge, there is an IWOOT office and a lighthouse (the “I”), picnic areas, a mountain with a lake full of jellyfish and crabs, media area and more.

Dear SL Residents, this competition is open to all of you! To celebrate the launch of the IWOOT Island we are giving away a cash prize of L$100,000 Lindens! (Almost £200) We want you to send us your coolest “things we didn’t know… about Second Life” and the best one will get the prize money transferred to their avatar. So go on, share those funny stories, wacky gadgets and stunning places for a chance to become seriously rich.

Terms & Conditions

• Closing date is noon on 21st August 2007.

• The competition is open to all Second Life registered members.
• Prize will be paid to the virtual avatar account of the winner.
• The prizewinner will be the first winner picked at random from the draw on 22nd August 2007.
• The prize is 100,000 Linden dollars. The prizewinner will be notified on 22nd August 2007 to check their eligibility and if they do not meet the competition requirements another name will be drawn.
• The judge’s decision is final and no correspondence shall be entered into.
• By entering this competition you agree to receive our rather marvelous newsletter, which you can unsubscribe from at any time.
• From time to time we may include customer comments and feedback on the site, and in our catalogue and other media. By submitting your comment you are granting us permission to publish it and, if necessary, edit it for clarity and typos. We will never publish your name in full (First name and surname initial only).

Source: iWoot Via Second Life Insider

Popularity: 2%

Here is something some of you may be interested in, Second Life Walkie Talkies. On your mobile phone you browse too slwalkietalkie.com, the avatar picks up a walkie talkie at the 0031 area in Second Life and then you can talk to each other.

Simultaneous walking tours for Second Life avatars and real people, connected to each other using a pair of walkie talkies. One operating from Second Life, the other running on an internet enabled mobile phone.

Second Life residents can pick up an in-world walkie talkie at the 0031 area in Second Life

Real people can check out the availability of activated virtual walkie talkies and by surfing to slwalkietalkie.com on their mobile phone. Source: Second Life walkie talkie walks

Timeline
may: project proposal
june: finalizing details
july: setting up website and server
august: announcements in SL
september: walkie talkie walks!
Via textually.org.

Popularity: 2%

Get a free sample of the book A Beginner’s Guide to Second Life in world at Archebooks. Second Life URL.

Visit ArcheBooks Bookstore and surrounding property for an educational experience.

Things to do today:

1. Pick up a Free “in-world” Sample Book of “A Beginner’s Guide to Second Life”

2 Curl up in a chair and read a sample Fiction or Non-fiction book in HUD mode (right click and Attach as HUD).

3. Say “Hi” to Dagmar our dog in the backyard.

4. Take a Self Portrait at the Photo Studio.

5. Browse the Art Gallery.

6. Play the Grand Piano or look out a window in our main building.

7. Leave a note in PostNet on the Bulletin Board (tell us where you are from)

SPECIAL OFFER AVAILABLE TODAY: Download the eBook of “A Beginner’s Guide to Second Life” for US$14.99 it has over 200 pages of great tips and hints. www.ArcheBooks.com

or look for “A Beginner’s Guide to Second Life” on Amazon (or in your favorite bookstore)

Popularity: 3%