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The Gender Gap in SL

February 11, 2007 by 2 Comments

Looking further at the metrics released by Linden Labs, the gender breakdown of unique users shows a couple of interesting things. Firstly, Second Life would have to be one of the most gender-balanced internet offerings around, and for one month there was even a female dominance by a small margin. Secondly, the surge in growth over the past six months has seen more males sign up than females which has widened the gap significantly.

The standard perception of internet-based entertainment is that males will seek out options where there are set goals to achieve, the antithesis of Second Life. The statistics are showing this perception to be flawed. Of course, the true test would be the gender balance of active accounts which isn’t clear from the data provided. Nor is the Australian gender balance.

Filed Under: General News, Virtual Worlds

Number of Active Australian Users in SL

February 9, 2007 by 3 Comments

Thanks to a bundle of metrics released by Linden Labs today, we can finally make a good estimate of the number of active Aussie users of Second Life.

Australia comes in at 11th as far as the percentage of active users. ‘Active’ is being defined by Linden as having logged in for more than one hour in the previous month. As of the end of January 2007, 1.48% of active users were Australian. Unfortunately no specific number is given. To work out the actual number of active Australian users, we’ll use the Linden estimate that ten percent of those who register stay active. This means:

1. As at 31st January there were 1,974,607 unique residents.
2. Ten percent of that is 197,461.
3. 1.48% of THAT is 2922.

So this means there are roughly 2500 to 3000 active Australian users allowing for variance in the 10% active estimate. As far as the number of Australian unique residents, the only rough estimate can be gained by dividing the overall unique resident figure by the 1.46% figure – which gives 29, 224.

So that’s one mystery at least partly solved – it’s the most common question asked of us here at SLOz and kudos to Linden Lab for their transparency on the figures. More analysis on the figures over the coming days.

Filed Under: Australian News, Virtual Worlds

Spirituality and SL – want to talk about it?

February 7, 2007 by 10 Comments

Linden Labs have put out the call for anyone interested in speaking to the media about how SL plays a role for them spiritually. Read their blog post for details and email catherine@lindenlab.com if you’re interestd. At SLOz we’re also interested in that aspect so if you wanted an aussie religious / spiritual event covered, let us know.

Filed Under: General News, Virtual Worlds

RMIT Island Under Construction

February 7, 2007 by Leave a Comment

RMIT University, Melbourne have embarked on a construction project in SL that allows people to drop in and view their progress from a lookout area that affords a view across their island.

The contruction zone of RMIT Island is off limits to people apart from a small square atop a hill. From there visitors can see how things are going or relax in a deckchair watching some old 1930s style cartoons.

This quirky little piece of interest is probably a result of the makeup of the team that is putting the RMIT sim together. A mix of students from the faculties of:

School of Architecture and Design
School of Creative Media
School of Property, Construction and Project Management

The in-world contact is John Guffey and no doubt he will be able to answer further questions but I think the ability to drop in and watch progress may be even more revealing than a straight up Q & A from him.

With the growing number of universities from Australia embarking upon, dare I say it, “campuses”, in SL, and already conducting lessons in-world, education is about to embark upon an incredibly transformational journey.

Filed Under: Education

Haptic or just plain bizarre?

February 7, 2007 by Leave a Comment

As explained in a Times Online article, haptic interfaces bring sensation to virtual experiences. This means that we may soon have devices that allow you to feel the hand of the avatar you are shaking. It seems an obvious flow on from the visual and aural experience SL currently is.

There are obvious benefits, particularly for those with particular disabilities. However, such interfaces will bring a whole range of challenges as well. We’ve discussed the issue of addiction previously, and it’s arguable that haptic devices are only going to exacerbate the issue for the percentage of users who find the whole SL experience immersive anyway.

Filed Under: General News, Virtual Worlds

Email and IM changes in SL

February 6, 2007 by 6 Comments

In their latest blog posting, Linden Labs have described an upgrade to their IM to Email system which will decrease load whilst increasing the time you can reply to an IM offline from three days to five days.

An embarrassing admission: I actually didn’t realise you could reply to an IM received via email and have it convert back to an IM for the original sender…

Filed Under: General News, Virtual Worlds

Celebrities in Second Life – why?

February 5, 2007 by 4 Comments

With the growing focus on Second Life, the issue of celebrity is starting to rear its head more often. And like real-life, celebrity is a fascinating and complex issue. Some people admire the achievements of some who become ‘famous’. Others enjoy celebrity-watching as a blood sport and some find it all pointless. Whatever the perspective, celebrity is a reality in SL.

The first type of celebrity in SL is the real-world replica. Adopted Australian Ben Folds performed in October 2005, with Suzanne Vega one of the first ‘big names’ in-world, with Duran Duran the first well-known band. Actors, politicians and other well-known individuals have also made the jump and the momentum is only going to grow.

The second type of celebrity is the ‘home-grown in SL’ type. Anshe Chung is an obvious example, some of the Linden staff are others. Being instantly accessible in-world via IM or groups makes managing the attention a very interesting proposition. With either type of SL celebrity, the question is – why? Why does it look like an ‘elite’ is going to develop in SL – is it just a sociological reality that can’t be avoided?

Filed Under: Op-ed, Virtual Worlds

Is there a good freeware screenshot utility for Mac?

February 4, 2007 by Leave a Comment

Is there ever. Thanks to to the Aus Mac Ed blog who’ve covered the InstantShot application. Well worth the money it costs – nothing.

Filed Under: Mac tips

SL’s Healthinfo Island

February 4, 2007 by Leave a Comment

Healthinfo Island is an impressive community effort on the part of health librarians and it offers two services – a consumer health library and a medical library for health professionals. Both are run by specialist health librarians, Namro Orman and Carolina Keats.

When describing the Consumer Health Library, Keats says “the building is deliberately non-tech, home-like and the doors never close. It’s meant to be welcoming – I think lots about what’s welcoming, non-institutional, and about fostering trust”.

The library, although comprehensive, is always evolving, with new initiatives in development.

“One.. initiative, just in early days, is to encourage the development and identification of assistive technologies so that people with disabilities can come to SL, interact,’ Keats continued

The array of health information on offer is enormous, but approachable through use of everyday objects and environments.

‘if I could give a sort of high-level picture of what we’re about – we’re about supporting SL groups and individuals with quality health information, to empower them as health consumers,” Keats said.

“I’ll be going out to folks, finding out about information needs – and hope to enlist them in collaborative events, like health fairs. There are many healthcare-associated people in SL, so I want to connect with them, too. We are looking for people to help create content in health & wellness subject areas”.

If you’re looking for health information for a family member or friend, or a health professional after research findings, Healthinfo island should be your first stop in-world

Filed Under: Health

Australian part of photo exhibit at gallery launch

February 3, 2007 by Leave a Comment

At SLOz we’ve managed to avoid self-promotion, but for no good reason we’re going to breach the rule to let you know that yours truly has four photos on exhibit at the Coyote launch commencing at 9am Eastern Australian Time, Sunday 4th February.

Come say hi 😉

Filed Under: Op-ed, Virtual Worlds

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