1. Government Computer News (USA) – How far can virtual worlds go in improving the real one? “Computer simulation models are great tools for layering massive amounts of data into visual form, and they are becoming incredibly fine-grained, providing high-def views of both the forest and trees in our surroundings. But can they make people omniscient? That almost seems to be the goal of the recently announced Living Earth Simulator project, which seeks to take global modeling to a new level. Simulations now produce detailed models for everything from climate research to astrophysics. But the Living Earth Simulator is aiming for the whole enchilada, from financial systems to entire societies, all in one model. If all goes according to plan, it even could predict the future, in terms of financial crises or pandemic outbreaks.”
2. BlogHer (USA) – Interview: Laurina Hawks, Making Films in Virtual Worlds. “We speak with one of the most remarkable female avatar who works making movies in Second Life. Her machinima productions will let you without words. With a personal style, her “trade mark†is quality and good stories. Ready to enjoy and learn about machinima? let’s go on!”
3. Search Engine Watch (USA) – Second Life: New Year, New CEO… Big Mess. “Happy 2011, gang! I hope everyone had a terrific break and a wonderful new year. It seems like it’s back to business time and the past two weeks have not been idle in the wacky wonderland of virtual worlds, so let’s do a little catch up baseball. Two days before Gothmas, Linden Lab announced a new CEO, (Rod Humble) who is coming into this new position from a VP slot at EA Play. After the round of jokes about his name settled down (it took a while), the speculation began in earnest about what he was going to bring to the table, having come from EA. I’ve now read a fair bit, and my conclusion is wait and see, since there’s no clear indicators at all as to what his plan is going to be. Frankly, I don’t think he can be much worse than the mess we had in 2010, so I’m willing to be cautiously neutral on the topic of his appointment to the job. Besides, he wasn’t going to be taking the reins until after the new year anyway (using the vacation time as the last calm before the storm, I’m sure.) so he hasn’t even done anything yet.”
4. Gamasutra (USA) – Reality is Alright. “Jane McGonigal’s new book Reality is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World is destined to be one of the most influential works about videogames ever published. The book is filled with bold new ideas and refinements of old ones. It’s targeted at a general readership, but game designers, critics, and scholars will learn plenty from the book too, thanks to the new twists it takes on familiar subjects. The ordinary reader will perhaps be most intrigued by McGonigal’s claims that games can save the world (part III in the book), but those of you who would think to read my review are probably already primed for that idea. Instead, I predict you’ll be most struck by Jane’s bold redefinition of the Alternate Reality Game (ARG), which comes in part II of the book (part I is about why games make us happy).”
5. The Journal (USA) – Next Stop: OpenSim!
“Don’t tell Kyle Gomboy about any depression in the real estate market. That may be the case in the terrestrial world, but out in the cloud Gomboy is moving virtual property like never before.
The CEO of virtual world hosting service ReactionGrid, Gomboy and his team currently operate more than 100 private regions for educators in the ascendant virtual environment platform OpenSimulator, and, Gomboy says, are renting out space to three to five new schools each week. Why all the new settlers converging on OpenSim? They’re part of a wave of K-12 educators packing up their 3D content and moving away from Second Life, long the dominant virtual world. The mass migration was prompted by parent company Linden Lab’s announcement in August that it would be closing the Teen Grid, an area within Second Life reserved for 13- to 17-year-olds and home to hundreds of learning projects belonging to teachers intent on engaging their students through the 3D environment. A second blow came in the fall–the ending of the half-off educator discount, meaning property rates in Second Life would be doubling for K-12 institutions, from $150 a month per region to $300 a month.”
6. Massively (USA) – Free for All: Is free to play turning our kids into Vegas pirates? “I think it’s the hair. In fact, I know it. The constant flicking — it drives me nuts. How in the world did wearing your hair like 60-year-old businessmen become such a fad? I’ve now had my groceries bagged by 16-year-old kids with eyeliner on and dual piercings in their lips. When did looking like a Vegas pirate become so popular? The flicking of their hair — it does something to them. Justin Bieber, in a recent interview, said that he was crazy. He insisted on it. Of course, his agent wanted to push this tiny public cry for help off as some sign of genius, but we all know what Bieber meant: “This hair is *flick* driving me *flick* flat-out bonkers.” What also seems to be an issue with the youngins these days is an unfiltered access to the internet. I’m not kidding — next time you’re at the mall, ask the kid with the 30 Seconds to Mars t-shirt on who the vice president is. Then ask him to spell “lose.” See, on the internet and inside any number of free games, he doesn’t need to know this information. After all, the only time he might be worried about “loosing” anything is when he is busy PvPing.”
7. Wall Street Journal (USA) – Postings of a Troubled Mind. “Last May 9, at two in the morning, Jared Lee Loughner typed a question to a group of about 50 online gamers located around the world: “Does anyone have aggression 24/7?” He was back at his keyboard the following night. “If you went to prison right now…What would you be thinking?” he asked. A trove of 131 online-forum postings written between April and June 2010, which were viewed by The Wall Street Journal, provides insight into Mr. Loughner’s mind-set in the year leading up to Saturday’s shootings in Tucson, Ariz. He stands accused of killing six people, gravely wounding Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D., Ariz.) and injuring 13 others. The online postings paint a picture of a disturbed young man trying to impress his peers and struggling to find a purpose to his life. They range from prosaic chatter about weight lifting to nonsensical philosophical ramblings that left some of the gamers who read them wondering whether he was using drugs or had a mental disability.”
8. Hypergrid Business (Hong Kong) – VirtualU integrates 2D, 3D conferences. “Companies looking to hold virtual conferences first have to decide whether to hold a Web-based conference – normally some combination of streaming video, live chats, slide shows, and social media – or one in an immersive environment. The immersive conference allows avatars to walk around inside a three-dimensional virtual environment, but can be more difficult to use than a Web-based platform. But it doesn’t have to be an either-or decision. One vendor, Jamestown, NY-based Digitell Inc., offers a virtual conferencing platform that allows visitors to attend the same conference either by avatar or in 2D via a browser.”
9. MSN (Singapore) – 10 signs you may be a gaming addict. “Grand Theft Auto, Call of Duty, Halo, and Starcraft are now all names as recognizable as Avatar and Star Trek, especially to the new generation. There’s no doubting that video games are here to stay. They are a multi-billion dollar industry whose games can now claim production budgets rivaling that of Hollywood movies. In fact, video games are such a big part of modern life that they’ve evolved to include people who you wouldn’t traditionally call “gamers”. With the advent of social gaming, everyone and their mothers all play a game, even if it’s something like FarmVille. While having entertainment available for everyone is cool and can be great fun, there’s also a sinister side to gaming. After all, games can take over your life, overpowering your desire to do anything else in the world. To keep you from sliding down that slippery slope, we’ve compiled a list of signs that you may be a gaming addict. Heed these warning signs well, for if you don’t, you may be forever lost to virtual worlds. ”
10. Massively (USA) – Second Life competitor Blue Mars drops PC development for Apple’s iOS. “If you were hoping that Blue Mars was going to rise to directly challenge Second Life’s virtual world dominance, you may be in for disappointment today. In a letter to Avatar Reality’s fans, CEO Jim Sink announced that the company is restructuring and dropping Blue Mars’ PC development to focus solely on Apple’s iOS. As a result, Blue Mars is now Blue Mars Mobile.”
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