1. Marketingweb (South Africa) – Corporate gaming and virtual worlds. “Throughout 2009, the corporate world was exposed to the reality of virtual worlds which has seen a growing influence on how companies train, market, advertise and communicate. This trend was largely driven by the rising influence and profile of virtual online worlds, which allow users to create ultimate realities such as that offered by Second Life, and in a similar vein the computer game SIMS. This is a trend that is expected to continue as organisations begin to recognise the merits of incorporating gaming into their basket of communication tools. As a social dynamic, computer gaming is an influential reality. People under 35 grew up in a world influenced and informed by computer gaming rather than traditional board games. If we consider that society has always used games to teach children the skills they need to be successful adults, the role and influence of computer games is going to increase within the corporate world – driven by the fact that an increasing segment of our marketable demographic have had their values and worldview affected by computer gaming. This growing social effect is one of the drivers behind the probable increase in virtual world activity by the corporate world.”

2. Washington Post (USA) – A Virtual Theme Park for Kids Explores Life’s Wonders. “”I think this is educational,” observes my 8-year-old stepson, about half an hour after logging on to Wonder Rotunda, a Web site aimed at kids that was recently launched by a Washington area dad. I wonder briefly if the jig is up, but he continues to explore the virtual theme park, intrigued by the prospect of winning and spending the game’s “wonder dollars” to buy virtual food and loot with which to decorate his virtual treehouse. I’m not sure whether he’ll be playing next week — who ever knows these things? — but for now he’s intrigued enough to sit still through discussions about how the human digestive system works and which presidents appear on U.S. currency.”

3. CNET (USA) – Audi creates virtual Audi Space within PlayStation Home. “Automakers are like forum trolls. Every time you turn around another one of them is yelling, “First!” This time it’s Audi claiming to be the first carmaker to develop its own virtual area in Sony’s PlayStation Home. Audi Space, as it will be known, will come on line in late 2009. Audi Space will at first feature an Audi TV channel delivering video content relating to the German automaker. In December of ’09, Audi Space will be expanded to include Vertical Run, a futuristic racing game featuring Audi’s e-tron concept. Players will collect electrical energy that will presumably be untamed by the e-tron as they race for the highest possible speed. Be the fastest and you could earn a place for your Home avatar in the virtual Audi apartments, located in a large tower in the center of Audi Space.”

4. Manolith (USA) – Second Life Economy Healthier Than First Life. “Some of you may not be aware of what Second Life is. Some of you might have tried it, gotten frustrated, and then quit. Some of you might still be SL citizens. Whatever your experience with it, you have to be amazed that it’s still around and apparently doing some thriving business. Linden Labs, the company that created this virtual space, has recently reported that SL citizens have transacted over one billion dollars’ worth of services and goods with each other, estimating fifty million dollars being exchanged per month. Furthermore, 1,250 text messages are sent every second of the day, and the virtual geography of Second Life has grown to roughly the size of Rhode Island.”

5. The Guardian (UK) – Maths is the bedrock of the digital age. “It is a situation eerily familiar to most gamers: I am lost deep inside a pyramid, being pursued by a monster about to devour me in a spectacular way if I don’t make a decision pronto. The only difference to most other games is that the problem involves geometry. An arrow appears beneath my avatar’s feet with a length on it, say 5 metres. Above are four boxes consisting of triangles, rectangles and other shapes with sizes marked on the side. Unless I drag the box with the right answer down in front of me, I will be devoured. If I succeed, a fresh section of a stone path opens and the game moves on. Called Pyramid Panic, it is aimed at key stage 3 – and is one of a family of “serious” or educational titles launched today by mangahigh.com. Others range from doing simple arithmetic to make flowers grow to solving quadratic equations to guide a spaceship to its destination.”

6. Virtual Edge (USA) – Two Recent Surveys of Marketing Professionals Shed Light on Trends in Virtual Events. “ON24 and Unisfair recently conducted studies seeking to understand how marketing professionals were planning to use various marketing and collaboration technologies. While the Unisfair survey found that 48% of the respondents planned to increase their use of virtual event solutions. The ON24 study identified some of the drivers for that kind of growth, with cost savings leading the way and time savings close behind. This was a multiple choice question so some of the options we’d like to see weren’t offered but the Unisfair research shed additional light on marketer’s priorities. Not surprisingly, new customer acquisition followed by customer retention lead the marketers’ initiative list. These are two functions that virtual events are very well suited for.”

7. Silicon.com (UK) – Are dinosaur managers and poor teaching holding back Digital Britain? “More must be done to convince grey-haired business leaders to embrace web 2.0 developments, a panel of experts has warned. A panel assembled by the British Computer Society (BCS) were asked to consider whether IT could lead the UK out of recession. But it warned the UK’s potential around technology – and thus the potential of IT to drive economic recovery – is being held back by the current crop of business leaders who are failing to ‘get IT’, and also by the failure of the education system to inspire young people to acquire the skills needed by the industry.”

8. New University Online (USA) – UC Irvine Gets Grant to Study World Of Warcraft. “UC Irvine received a $100,000 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for an ethnographic study earlier this month on “World of Warcraft,” (WoW) a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) with over 10 million subscribers. UCI Professor of Information and Computer Sciences Bonnie Nardi and doctoral student Yong Ming Kow will analyze how players engage in creative collaboration in this virtual 3-D universe.”

9. Minneapolis Star Tribune (USA) – Dangerous adventures in Barbie-land. “Wouldn’t it be great if you could go about your daily life as a better-looking, thinner, more perfect version of yourself? That semi-you could go to work, shop for groceries and go out on the town and the real you could schlub around your house all day long, living vicariously through your surrogate. That’d be great, right? Well, not so fast, says “Surrogates,” a subpar sci-fi thriller set in an Atwoodian alterna-future where regular folks stay at home glued to a complex computer screen while their surrogates venture into the world.”

10. The Times Online (UK) – Angelic pretender Aion threatens to knock king of fantasy games off its throne. “Once upon a time, in the world of online gaming, there was but one king: World of Warcraft — the role-playing extravaganza that has snared millions of fans to become one of the most valuable entertainment properties. Now there is a challenger for its crown: Aion, created by the South Korean company NCSoft. The game had already been ordered by more than 400,000 players across Europe and North America before its launch in Britain yesterday.”

1. Ethiopian Review – Virtual Maps For The Blind. “The blind and visually impaired often rely on others to provide cues and information on navigating through their environments. The problem with this method is that it doesn’t give them the tools to venture out on their own, says Dr. Orly Lahav of Tel Aviv University’s School of Education and Porter School for Environmental Studies. To give navigational “sight” to the blind, Dr. Lahav has invented a new software tool to help the blind navigate through unfamiliar places. It is connected to an existing joystick, a 3-D haptic device, that interfaces with the user through the sense of touch. People can feel tension beneath their fingertips as a physical sensation through the joystick as they navigate around a virtual environment which they cannot see, only feel: the joystick stiffens when the user meets a virtual wall or barrier. ”

2. The Register (UK) – Second Life slapped with counterfeit sex toy suit. “A pair of Second Life entrepreneurs are suing the game’s creator, Linden Lab, for allowing other players to sell “knockoffs” of their virtual sex organs, erotic poses, designer clothing, and other trademarked items. Kevin Alderman (known in Second Life as “Stroker Serpentine”) alleges that Linden facilitates and profits from in-game pirates copying his IP-protected line of adult-themed virtual goods. Alderman claims his SexGen branded items and animations are among the most popular virtual products sold within Second Life, making his US trademark a valuable resource to distinguish himself amongst competitors selling alternative methods of bumping ugly online.”

3. ReadWriteWeb (USA) – Shouldn’t Schools Have Embraced Second Life By Now? “When it first launched, the tech and business worlds were transfixed on Linden Labs’ Second Life as a new marketplace. Science fiction fans flocked to the site for its Snow Crash and Matrix-like neo-apocalyptic feel. And finally, educators arrived to build inexpensive and immersive learning environments. While the hype has certainly dissipated with Second Life, the librarian and educator community remains. Today Linden announced the first statewide roll out of a virtual learning environment. Funded by a grant from the University of Texas State’s Transforming Undergraduate Education Program the company will provide a huge space for faculty, students and researchers to explore a virtual undergrad degree program.”

4. Tonic (USA) – Mombasa’s Cable Gives Africa Better Internet Access. “Prince Charles might describe the Seacom Landing Station in Mombasa as “a monstrous carbuncle, located right next to Mombasa’s most imposing sight, Fort Jesus, built by Vasco da Gama in the 16th century,” according to Rory Cellan-Jones, writing in his BBC.com technology blog. This is where the Seacom cable comes ashore, bringing with it East Africa’s first “decent connection to the internet.” Mahmoud Noor, a telecommunications engineer, runs the station, which, Cellan-Jones said, “is just one link in a network stretching from Mumbai to Kenya, and along the cost of East Africa.” The new cable increases Kenya’s telecommunications capacity by 240 percent.”

5. Business Standard (India) – Spammers target online gamers. “With online games attracting gamers from across the globe, spammers have been trying to cash in on the popularity of Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO) videogames. Using phishing and Trojans, cyber criminals have been stealing players’ login names and passwords. Analysts explain that by creating characters that send unsolicited ads for items such as extra weapons and playable characters, spammers target gamers in MMO games. “In-game characters controlled by individuals working for spam companies infiltrate these virtual worlds and bombard players with unsolicited ads for the sale of in-game virtual items like swords and even playable characters. Since cyber criminals need large audiences to perpetrate their crimes, they have begun preying on residents in virtual worlds and players in online games, particularly in Asia where these games have become extremely popular,” explains Abhinav Karnwal, product marketing manager APEC, Trend Micro.”

6. Medical News Today (USA) – Psychologists Set To Discuss The Psychosocial Impact Of The Internet. “The internet now plays a major role in many people’s lives. Over the last 20 years psychologists have built up a substantial body of knowledge about people’s social interactions in cyberspace. A symposium at the British Psychological Society’s Social Psychology Section annual conference today, 16th September 2009, led by members of Nottingham Trent University’s Cyberpsychology Research Group will examine some of the current psychological issues surrounding people’s use of the internet. ”

7. NT News (Australia) – Computer games good for doctors. “LEADING health professionals are encouraging health workers to play computer games on the job to improve their skills. Professor Terry Poulton and Dr Tenneth Dalipanda have endorsed Second Life and Virtual Patients at a health conference in Alice Springs. The virtual reality games allow graduate doctors and nurses to learn from their mistakes without killing or harming their patients. Simulated scenarios will be rehearsed with other allied health workers for professional development.”

8. PBS (USA) – Second Life. “When the sun comes up in Second Life, which it does every four hours, you are immediately overwhelmed by the vast, brightly colored mish-mash of stores, houses, and malls stretching across multiple continents—all of it, including the mountains and forests, designed and built from scratch by the tens of thousands of people who regularly visit here.
Move your mouse and you tour the Taj Mahal. A few clicks and you are launched on a NASA rocket into low orbit. Click again and you can join a service in an Anglican cathedral. This live, online world called Second Life was launched in 2003 by the San Francisco company Linden Lab and its founder Phillip Rosedale, who says he had no idea what would happen. PHILIP ROSEDALE (Chairman of the Board, Linden Lab): Well, I always figured in the beginning that if Second Life looked like anything we were able to predict that we would have failed, that if it was predictable we weren’t doing the right stuff.”

9. Nextgov (USA) – Generation V. “There’s an interesting conversation going on at IBM’s Smart Work Jam about the concept of age being just a number when it comes to social networking and virtual worlds. “I’ve led groups of zealous, older managers into Second Life sessions, where a number of younger managers were less interested, and managers of all ages have opted into the online community that I launched for them,” one commenter states. As a result, many have begun using “Generation V,” or “Generation Virtual,” which is not age-specific, to describe individuals who engage in Web 2.0 and virtual worlds. In fact, as one commenter stated, the debate over the generational divide in the workplace when it comes to technology is actually diverting attention from the real issue: “When workers of any age (including old) see business value, they are quick to adopt. So here’s the issue that’s masked: how do we demonstrate business value to people of all ages?”

1. TImes of India (India) – Virtual world hit by swine flu! “They have all fallen in the H1N1 trap. The virus that has made headlines across the world, has also hit cyberspace with growing number of people getting hooked to games on swine flu theme. Several portals coming out with games based on swine flu, an increasing number of youngsters spend between 2 and 4 hours a day, fighting the deadly strain. Albeit, virtually. Says Rohit Shankar, a 2nd year law student, ” I am totally addicted to `swinefighter.com’. It is virtual and yet real since everyone around me is talking about H1N1. The game is very simple too and keeps me addicted. One has to kill the oinking pigs with an injection in a limited time frame to have a high score.”

2. Vancouver Sun (Canada) – Twilight expands into the virtual world. “The Twilight franchise is expanding its reach online. Producers Summit Entertainment says it has reached an agreement with website Habbo to feature products and games in its virtual world. Habbo says it is “the largest virtual world for teenagers” and has teamed with Summit in an exclusive partnership to feature games promoting the Twilight films and Twilight-branded goods. The campaign is timed to start in conjunction with the Nov. 20 premiere of New Moon, the second in the enormously popular Twilight series, filmed in and around Vancouver.”

3. DNA India (India) – Want to buy a street in Paris? “V Kapadia is the owner of Marine Drive… well, virtually.A premium property in Mumbai, you would expect him to earn hefty rents from the buildings he has constructed on the road, which includes a ‘four-sided fortress’ next to Taraporewala Aquarium. Unfortunately, a rival built a sewage plant at Girgaum Chowpatty, and as a result VKAPADIA can’t earn any rent from his buildings. A huge investment literally gone down the drain. Such are the twists of fate in Monopoly City Streets, an online version of the popular board game launched this week by Google in collaboration with Hasbro, the maker of Monopoly.”

4. Simple Thoughts (USA) – Researcher invents virtual maps for visually impaired. A new software tool creating virtual maps will help the visually impaired navigate through unfamiliar places. The visually impaired often rely on others to provide cues on navigating through their environment. The problem with this method is that it doesn’t give them the tools to venture out on their own, says Orly Lahav of the School of Education and Porter School for Environmental Studies at Tel Aviv University (TAU). Lahav’s new software tool is connected to an existing joystick, a 3-D haptic device, that interfaces with the user through the sense of touch.”

5. VentureBeat (USA) – The most popular digital goods are virtual money, weapons and gifts. “People are paying real money for digital goods in all sorts of online applications ranging from Facebook apps to massively multiplayer online games. The No. 1 thing they buy is virtual money. Other top items include virtual weapons and gifts for social networking friends, according to a survey released today. Free-to-play games, where you can start playing for free and then buy items in the game as you need them, now account for more than half of all virtual goods transactions, according to the July survey by market researcher VGMarket and virtual goods platform company PlaySpan. About 58 percent of gamers made purchases in free-to-play games in the past year. About 34 percent made purchases in MMO games (or virtual worlds such as Eve Online), and 23 percent made purchase in social networking games.”

6. Virtual Worlds News (USA) – Trademarking Avatars Now an Option. “Law.com recently reported that Aimee Weber (real name Alyssa LaRoche), a Second Life character, applied for, and was granted, registration to for her avatar as a design mark for “claims computer programming services, namely, content creation for virtual worlds and three dimensional platforms in International Class 42.” What does this mean to business and avatar makers? This ruling, the first of its kind, indicates that avatar trademarking is real. By trademarking your avatar, it will become easier to transport them between virtual worlds, a development that will happen over the next few years, if not sooner. For example, in 2008, an avatar was transported from Linden Lab’s Second Life over to IBM’s Open Sim platform, a pretense of things to come. It also is the start of creating financial value for avatars as they are used more frequently in enterprise applications and in creative contexts.”

7. Kotaku (USA) – Gamer Movie Review: More Second Life Than Counter-Strike. “In the movie Gamer, people control real people in a living third-person shooter, guiding them through a war-torn hell created for the pay-per-view enjoyment of a staggering worldwide audience. There’s also the chance to control people in a world of over-indulgence and sex. But what ties the two worlds together, and drives the movie, is the technology behind these emerging forms of entertainment: The ability to log in and drive another human. Gamer gives us a glimpse of new world gladiators, of lust unleashed on a controlled population, of Sammy Davis dance numbers and of a world slowly turning manic, but is it worth the price of admission?”

8. Information Week (USA) – NATO Looking To Build Virtual HQ. “Today is the deadline for developers to submit proposals to build 3D virtual software replicas of NATO headquarters in Europe and America, to be used for training and meetings, and improving staff communication and productivity. The project is a bit less ambitious than NATO’s previous forays into virtual training; in February, the organization a digital simulation of Afghanistan, including Afghan economics, politics and culture, and two years ago the Navy asked for a similar simulation of Iraq, according to the Wired Danger Room blog.”

9. Nextgov (USA) – The Federal Virtual World Challenge. “he Army Research and Development Engineering Command is looking for more than a few good virtual worlds, and has kicked of a real world challenge to find the best for itself, the Homeland Security Department, NASA and other federal agencies. Tami Griffith, science and technology manager, at the Research and Development Engineering Command’s Simulation Training and Technology Center, says the challenge is designed to explore possibilities for using virtual worlds that have not, and may not have, ever been considered by government.”

10. London Evening Standard (UK) – Second Life farmers’ market gets real with home deliveries. “A virtual farmers’ market based on computer game Second Life is going online. The 3D website will offer food from up to 300 small producers across the country and will deliver to customers’ homes. Shoppers will even be able to wander around the web market and talk to producers about their goods before buying them. The site was created by former cattle farmer Marcus Carter, who attempted to boost his business by starting an online market on Second Life – where gamers “live” through virtual personae called avatars.”