1. PC World (USA) - Companies Explore Private Virtual Worlds. "Meetings, conferences and training programs in a 3D virtual world such as Second Life can be more engaging and productive than traditional online sessions and phone calls, and much less expensive than face-to-face meetings requiring travel. But some companies aren't willing to take on the security and compliance … [Read more...] about The Watch – virtual worlds in the news
Virtual Worlds
UWA’s third machinima challenge: what a field
The University of Western Australia's active presence in Second Life continues with a vengeance. I was lucky enough to be asked to be on the judging panel for the MachinimUWA III: Journeys competition. The panel this time includes director Peter Greenaway and you can view the full list of judges at the bottom of this post. Fifty pieces of machinima were submitted, with the … [Read more...] about UWA’s third machinima challenge: what a field
First quarter 2011 results for Second Life: steady sailing
Linden Lab late last week released their user metrics and Second Life economy analysis for the first quarter of 2011. Every time I cover this I'm reminded of how much more substantive these statistics used to be, but here's what we've got to work with now: New user registrations: stagnant to a minor decline. Although, as Tateru Nino notes, if you don't read the graph carefully … [Read more...] about First quarter 2011 results for Second Life: steady sailing
The Watch – virtual worlds in the news
1. New York Times (USA) - Keyboards First. Then Grenades. "Brig. Gen. Harold J. Greene only has to look around his house to realize the challenges the Army faces in engaging young soldiers. His children, he says, are always “buried in a cellphone or an iPad.” General Greene, a senior official in the Army’s research and development engineering command, is among a cadre of … [Read more...] about The Watch – virtual worlds in the news
History with purpose: MUDs and MOOs
I've bored friends and colleagues with my stories of discovering the power of MUDS in the early 1990s. I have a massive soft spot for the original virtual worlds (as pictured), but aside from sentimentality there remains a real role for these text-based worlds. Justin Olivetti over at Massively has a great article on MUDs that showcases some of the good ones and the people who … [Read more...] about History with purpose: MUDs and MOOs