Uthango is an african NGO (Non Governmental Organization), a link between africans and virtual worlds, and Second Life.
They recently launched this wordpress blog, Virtual Africa, to write down their initiatives and thinking.
It’s interesting to see that Africa slowly starts to move in virtual worlds.
Welcome!
It sound a little bit odd, but Turkey has companies which, in 2008, will heavily invest in Second Life.
Vestel will soon be followed by Remax, Rixos and others.
This is a sign that the interest in Second Life is still rising… But beware: trends show that, after the initial rush to virtual worlds, companies face the reality and start thinking where their money are going.
I really hope that turkish companies will start with the right foot, understanding past mistakes and acting accordingly.
Comments Off
The always great Giulio Prisco writes about Facebook, as a 2D social backend for Second Life.
I think this is an interesting argument: Second Life, despite is much about “social”, still lacks a good interface to socialize in the real life.
One main reason is the DIFFERENCE between Avatars and Real Life persons. In Facebook, instead, you have YOUR pictures.
Another main reason is that Second Life is still difficult to use. Facebook is not.
I suppose Linden Lab will address those missing parts during 2008.
Some excellent video tutorials for Second Life.
I think the most useful one, at least for “ordinary” (i.e. non business-oriented) residents, is this one about Second Life gestures.
Which one do YOU think is best?
Comments Off
We can’t say it for sure, but I tell you my take on that:
SECOND LIFE IS WORTH 2,180 million USD.
Here is why.
First of all, I don’t take speculations into account and, apart from that, 5 billions USD is waaaay too much, even for Second Life.
Metaverse Millionaires, such as Anshe Chung (her company AnsheChung.com, and her page on Wikipedia: Ailin Graef) don’t answer such a question… Of course, they’re interested in running their businesses and can’t shout a (low) bid on Second Life value.
Similar projects and metaverses, like Project Entropia, are less valuable, because they are not as “famous” as Second …read more
This is one of the most interesting aspects of Second Life, and virtual worlds in general: the capacity to group people around the world so easily.
In this case, I’m pointing you to the virtual memorial for Benazir Bhutto, without willing to enter any political dispute here, because I don’t really know the details of this (sad, anyway) situation.
This fact has important meanings, beyond the mere virtual scope: it means that people will be more and more capable of reacting, connecting, informing, and such, expecially for “strong” situations like this one.
Comments Off
I needed some lines before catching that it was ironic: yet, this article about strange and humoristic predictions for each month of 2008 is interesting.
Second Life and Politics come into mind.
Think about it for a moment. Second Life is becoming a NATION: its own currency, thousands of people getting their salary INSIDE Second Life, hundreds of newspapers writing about it… Wait a moment: it’s still Linden Lab’s creature, but it could become a common platform for a virtual world nation sooner or later.
Many people in the past few months suggested that Second Life must open to third parties. Of course, …read more
Comments Off
Warning for Apple Mac OS X users: the latest version of Leopard, 10.5.2, can conflict with the Second Life client software.
That’s one of the main reason why I run Ubuntu 7.10 instead
Ah, by the way, Mac OS Leopard is NOT the most advanced Operating System. Let’s talk Solaris instead
CIAO to all my readers!
I hope you had a wonderful new year’s eve, and a great first january 2008!
Mine has been fantastic
Let’s go back to Second Life, metaverses, and so on!
Some smart and down-the-earth analysts agree that 2008 will be an important year for Metaverses (Metaverses are the virtual universes in which humans, through their Avatars and similar alter egos, spend time and interact with others). It will be a CONSOLIDATION year, but also the year in which teen Metaverses will definitively hit the road.
Webkinz is one of those worlds: it’s simple, it’s “teen”, it’s “cool”. It will …read more
Comments Off
1 Comment