Second Life Pros

I discovered this blog yesterday, and it has an interesting post with seven tips for real world business in Second Life.
Some excerpts, here and there, and my comments between ( and ):
Interestingly, despite last year’s rampant over-hyping of SL and the recent negative downturn, at least a few of the avatars that visit us for coffee With crayon say that there are still lots of marketers who are first discovering Second Life and other virtual worlds, and thinking about what opportunities and challenges they present
(In fact, it was an HYPE, and journalists and bloggers perfectly know what a HYPE is… …read more

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[source]
This sentence is worth reading:
“There are 20+ patent applications up for review by the USPTO right now  “involving virtual worlds and different types of credit accounts, charge accounts,  escrow transactions, risk mitigation (to name a few) used within these worlds,” explained Samuel Weis, who is in charge of reviewing the applications”.
Do you know what it means?
It means that in a few years, or even months, patents will start working and limiting virtual worlds or, if used correctly, will be their main economic engine, fostering innovation and research investments.
Problem is that virtual worlds seem too tightly connected to US legislations, which …read more

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They just announced the tracks and sessions for the upcoming Virtual Worlds Expo in Los Angeles on September 3-4, 2008.
1) Hollywood
2) Enterprise
3) Kids
4) Future
The fifth is still missing.
Hmm, I guess that the fourth one (about the Future) should be the more interesting. What a pity I can’t attend!

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SL5B stands for Second Life 5th Birthday, and we now have the text transcript of the opening keynote of the event. (here the full transcript).
Well, it is a nice keynote, whatever, but NO INTERESTING information comes out from that. In brief, if you didn’t attend… well, nothing to lose.
I guess that keynotes are intended this way, but… what about the Future of Second Life? Eh eh, that link is for fun… But, really: what about the Future of Second Life?

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Claudio Ricci, Assisi’s Mayor in both First and Second Life, will be at unAcademy, tonight at 9pm italian time (12pm PST).
The topic will be: relationship between citizens, and their representatives, with a focus on new tools and media, such as Second Life.

I’m proud to see that Claudio Ricci is becoming a benchmark for these kind of topics: he is a bright innovator, and when I first described him my activity in Second Life, he immediately understood its importance.
This is his baptism with Second Life, and another article that gives more details.
Good luck Claudio!

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Check out this tutorial on how to record voice chat and sound!
This is the #39 of a big series of video tutorial, by Torley Linden. If you’re not familiar with Second Life, or if you want to improve some skills, those video tutorial are gorgeous, and very useful indeed!
In fact, I always said that those video tutorial have more impact than many other initiatives. Basically, Second Life is COMPLICATE for a lot of people. Making it easier means a lot!

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Interesting post from Wagner James about a new land devoted to the ancient Roman Empire; this is their blog.
A great interview to Creig Sherman, CEO of Gaia Online.

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Do you want a virtual corporation, perfectly valid as a legal and fiscal entity? In Vermont, YOU CAN!
On June 6th, Gov. Jim Douglas signed an inauspicious-sounding bill entitled “H.0888, Miscellaneous Tax Documents” that could revolutionize the way startup companies are formed and run. As New York Law School professor David Johnson explained to me, up until now, U.S. law required LLCs to have physical headquarters, in-person board meetings and other regulations that have little relevance in the digital age.
No longer. Under the new law, for example, a board meeting may be conducted “in person or through the use of [an] …read more

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[news source]
In response to DMCA regulations, Linden Lab administrators deleted a lot of pirated content from Second Life, apparently taking down some things that weren’t pirate, after all.
“Frustrated Second Life business-owners have turned to lawsuits as an option. Last year Second Life users Robert Leatherwood (Second Life: Volkov Catteneo) and Thomas Simon (Second Life: Rase Kenzo) were sued for distributing copies of virtual objects. Both cases settled for nominal amounts.”
If you don’t the details, take a look at the Wikipedia page about DMCA. I don’t agree on its principles, and I don’t like when DMCA interferes with freedom and creativity. …read more

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In a few days it will be Second Life’s fifth anniversary, and they will have a huge event!
Are you ready to roll?
They say that [bold is mine]:
“All exhibits are PG, because we want to make the SL5B as inclusive as possible.  All Residents, from all communities, and all countries are welcome to attend, exhibit, volunteer and build. We’re thrilled that 60% of our Residents hail from outside the United States, reflected in roundtables from Japan’s Keio University to your fellow Resident musicians around the world.  As a result, we are reviewing and approving content to make sure it matches our …read more

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