1. We may be biased, but Tateru Nino’s weekly Virtual Whirl column over at Massively is always worth a read – this week it has lots of Linden Lab staff movements and quite a bit more.

2. 2D social networks for avatars continue to thrive. One of the big success stories is Koinup, which has recently been adopted by Frenzoo. I’ve also had some conversations with recent entrant Moolto, which has developed a decent following so far. If you have a social network your avatar takes part in that you’d like to share, then let us know.

3. Its been two weeks since we launched the Metaverse Reader application for iPhone / iPod Touch and it’s great to be able to say there are now well over a hundred regular users of the app. Enhancements to the application are already underway, so why not give it a try?

4. The latest update to the Second Life Viewer 2 is now available, with a bunch of issues resolved.

5. For the dedicated, this very detailed post on the emergence of Facebook social gaming worlds is well worth the read.

6. Metaverse Health has had a facelift and there’s some exciting health-related stories coming up in the next few weeks. We’ll post most of them here, but if there’s room in your RSS reader, we’d love to have you on board there as well 😉

1. The University of Western Australia continues to by the dynamo of Australian Second Life presences, announcing a fourth sim, Virtlantis as well as announcing the February winners of its ongoing 3D Art and Design Challenge. A record 74 entries were submitted for the month. It’s hard to imagine a larger or more dynamic art installation in Second Life.

2. Linden Lab and John Lester (Pathfinder Linden) have parted ways – with lots of discussion ensuing on whether it’s part of a change in tack by Linden Lab in regards to dedicated resources for educators. In less reported news, Linden Lab’s General Manager Enterprise and expat Aussie Chris Collins finished up in February.

3. Got an iPhone or iPod Touch and haven’t noticed our bombardment of info on our new application? Read all about it here.

4. The US Army has announced the finalists in its virtual worlds challenge. It’s another example of the US Government’s fairly hefty commitment to exploring opportunities in virtual environments.

5. Pooky Amsterdam has a more extended machinima or her in-world interview with Holocaust survivor Fanny Starr. The three-plus minute intro could have been cut in half but this is a very interesting piece. A warning: it does contain graphic images of the Holocaust.

The news and events keep on coming thick and fast:

1. There.com has announced its imminent closure due to funding issues. It’s always sad to see a growing virtual world cease operation, particularly one that offered at least some level of content creation.

Frenzoo are offering lifetime VIP accounts to content creators on There.com. All the details here.

2. Two OpenSim grids have started using a virtual currency: the Open Metaverse Currency. More on that in coming days.

3. We still need more people to ask questions of our agony aunt, Second Lie. Here’s a sample of the life-threatening conundrums he’s solved to date.

4. Are you part of a couple or close friendship in a virtual world? Why not be the next subject of our V2 profiles? Just drop us a line if you’re interested. Here’s the first one published back in 2008.

5. The latest issue of the Journal of Virtual Worlds Research is now out. Guest editors are Australia’s own Mandy Salomon from Smart Services CRC, and France’s Serge Soudoplatoff from ESCP-EAP. The theme is Virtual Economies, Virtual Goods and Service Delivery in Virtual Worlds.

6. Twitter is getting further integration with Second Life. Linden Lab are also looking for people willing to have their RL and SL faces plastered on advertising.