Virtual Worlds – Page 144

The A.N.Z.A.C Recruit Training Centre

June 15, 2007 by Editor 3 Comments

On Island Medusado sits a parcel of land titled A.N.Z.A.C RECRUIT TRAINING CENTRE & HEADQUARTERS.

It’s a presence obviously still under construction but essentially it’s a tall block containing black and white cartoons and sketches relating to World War 1 and 2,
a multi-room ‘barracks’ and a number of other storeys yet to be completed.

Using the ANZAC name is likely to raise some eyebrows, particularly if the build ends up being commercial in nature, which isn’t easy to determine at this stage. We’ve initiated contact with the parcel owner to determine the intent of the presence.

Check it out in-world.

Filed Under: Australian News, Landmarks of note, Virtual Worlds

RL interpretation of the avatar

June 13, 2007 by Editor 11 Comments

Thanks to Wolfie Rankin for the heads-up

Filed Under: Humour / Satire, Virtual Worlds Tagged With: humour

Aussie population update – stable at 10K

June 13, 2007 by Editor 2 Comments

Meta Linden has again given an update on SL metrics. This month there’s been a number of changes including the addition of a “Countries By Active” category which takes a little more of the guesswork out of estimating the Australian SL community.

Because the measures have changed since last monthit’s difficult to provide a trend. Australia has maintained it’s ranking at 11th in the world but the percentage of the overall population has ‘dropped’ to 1.93% under the new measure. This translates to 9779 active users – active is defined as being logged in for more than one hour during the reporting period. This is a fairly generous definition of active – the numbers of users logged in more than once per week would obviously be much lower again.

Major credit to Linden Lab for their transparency on the figures and it certainly quashes some of the wild claims we’ve heard over the past couple of months about there being closer to 20 thousand active aussies in SL. Last month we claimed an active Australian population coming up on ten thousand and that’s been born out by the Linden figures. The rapid growth has continued to slow and we don’t believe there’ll be any significant change in the coming month, just slow but steady growth.

Filed Under: Australian News, Metrics, Virtual Worlds Tagged With: Metrics

Hope Capital Island opens

June 12, 2007 by Editor Leave a Comment

The World Stock Exchange has made another location move – only weeks after its last one.

The multi-lingual exchange options are certainly a step forward – we weren’t able to determine their operability at this stage. With the pending partnership with the World Internet Currency and support from Anshe Chung, Hope Capital certainly has some big opportunities. Capitalising on them in a way that benefits the community will be the pivotal challenge over the coming months.

Filed Under: Australian News, Business, Virtual Worlds Tagged With: finance, LukeConnell, WSE

US Presidential hopefuls in Second Life

June 12, 2007 by Editor 3 Comments

With less than 18-months until the next US Presidential election, the number of presidential candidate presences has grown steadily. In real-life the USA has a significant influence on the world, including Australia, so we’ll follow the campaign as it hots up in SL. Here’s what’s happening so far:

Republicans

Republican Ron Paul is one of the lesser known candidates:

The Republican Party of SL gives you the opportunity to vote for your preferred Republican candidate:

Democrats

Edwards Campaign Central is the area devoted to Democrat John Edwards’ tilt:

Hillary Clinton 2008 is one of the glitzier presences:

Grassroots Barack Obama HQ is quite corporate with plenty of Obama photos and Obama TV.

Mike Gravel 2008 Headquarters has extensive information on his policy positions and is a large presence to boot (perhaps inversely proportional to his level of real-life support):

Related presences

Finally, there’s the Presidential Flag store which has flags and t-shirts from all the known candidates as well as a sales leaderboard:

Filed Under: Politics, Virtual Worlds Tagged With: politics

The egalitarian streak through Second Life

June 12, 2007 by Editor Leave a Comment

Over the past 24 hours I’ve come across some great stuff being generated by Australians in Second Life, and the best thing is it’s not necessarily about money. There are two examples from the past day in particular that come to mind.

The first is directly related to the call by Rails Bailey for formation of an Artisan’s guild to provide assistance with building projects of varying sizes. If that idea turns out like some of the more informal networks I’ve seen across SL it’s likely to be a win-win: new users get expertise for very reasonable cost whilst the builders get increased experience and exposure to a wider community of users.

The second is not something I’m able to disclose in full, but there’s an Australian SL user doing some really great work that will benefit the Australian SL community and we’re looking forward to covering the developments as they occur.

Filed Under: Australian News, Op-ed, Virtual Worlds Tagged With: community

Project Outback’s potential engine

June 11, 2007 by Editor 1 Comment

Thanks again to 3pointD, there’s some interesting information on Peer to Peer developments and how they may relate to Aussie-driven SL competitor, Project Outback (formerly known as Outback Online).

We’re currently in process of finalising a Q&A with Yoick CEO Rand Leeb-du Toit to discuss his views on virtual worlds in general and Project Outback’s place within what is a fast-growing user space.

Filed Under: Alternatives, Virtual Worlds Tagged With: alternatives, project outback

Call for Australian Artisan’s Guild

June 11, 2007 by Editor 2 Comments

On the SLOz forums, Aussie SL resident Rails Bailey has put forward an interesting proposition:

“When I first joined Sl, it was a wild mystery ride. Thankfully a few good people helped me on the journey.

As I travel through SL I keep meeting lots of good people who are willing to assist or offer good advice.

I have been thinking about my journey and how new Sl’ers might need some help in establishing themselves in SL. Hence this concept.

I am looking at starting an Artisan Guild (Group). The aim being to attract experienced builders who would be willing to help anybody in SL with building projects of all shapes and sizes.

Obviously such services from experienced Artisans would not come free, and such a Guild would need a strong code of Ethical Practice.

I am canvassing opinion on this concept and would greatly appreciate input from all Second Life citizens, irrespective of their knowledge base within SL.

My name in SL is Rails Bailey.

Looking forward to your responses”

It would appear such a guild, if created thoughtfully, could provide a great service for new SL users. What are your thoughts? Respond here or on the forums

Filed Under: Australian News, For the new user, Virtual Worlds Tagged With: arts, community

Not Long Now

June 10, 2007 by Editor Leave a Comment

Actually, it is. Long Now is a foundation that hopes “to creatively foster responsibility in the framework of the next 10,000 years” i.e. it is involved in projects that work against the “faster/cheaper mindset”. One of its founding board members is musical icon Brian Eno and he has an art installation entitled ’77 Million Paintings’ that is about to make its debut in Second Life.

Eno’s enormous body of work in fusing aural and visual landscapes is an obvious fit for Second Life. And there’s no risk of SL being labeled faster OR cheaper.

Thanks to 3pointD for the heads-up

Filed Under: General News, Virtual Worlds Tagged With: arts, eno

Dream come true – owning a coffee shop

June 9, 2007 by Editor 7 Comments

Veteran American satire site, The Onion, has cast its gaze on Second Life…..

As a regular Onion reader I’d had money on the first story having something to do with ‘male slob as sexy female avatar’ – shows you they don’t go with the obvious.