Ferreting out stories for an earlier incarnation of Adam Reuters (left)
At the top of this week's round-up of SL-based projects funded by real world companies and other organizations is, of course, the arrival of Reuters, an event heralded by a slew of outside media coverage (as here and here). In the weeks leading up to it, bureau chief Adam Reuters toured around the world with several of us, in a bid to show that it had, in fact, a dynamic enough economy for someone of his caliber to report on regularly. (Website here.)
"Reuters has been overwhelmed with the positive reaction that the launch of our bureau has received, both in Second Life and in the real world," Adam e-mailed me recently, in acknowledgement. "I'd especially like to thank the members of the Second Life press corps and other residents who have been so helpful in showing me around Second Life and pointing out interesting story ideas -- in particular Hamlet Au, Walker Spaight, German Guru, epredator Potato, Wilder Linden, and Hank Hoodoo. And of course I can't say enough about the brilliant work of Electric Sheep in designing the Reuters Atrium and the news HUD. We're happy to be part of the Second Life community and look forward to contributing for a long time to come."
Other external media reports, mixed reality projects, and real world corporate/non-profit enterprise news after the break, including hip hop and 80's pop stars and virtual cars.
Media stories:
- Wired.com, 10/19: "Second Life's Must-Have Stuff" [highly recommended!]
- New York Times, 10/19: "A Virtual World But Real Money"
Mixed Reality Projects:
- Destroy TV
A cool Web-based interfacce into SL sponsored by The Electric Sheep Company. NWN contributor Rik Riel blogs an on-the-scene report from Brooklyn, including photos of reality-hacking weirdness.
Corporate-funded/real world business initiatives:
- Travel Guides to Virtual Worlds
Brainchild of an editor with Condé Nast
Traveller Italy and founder of the Virtual Architectural
Heritage project.
- Duran Duran Party
Tao Takashi takes rockstar photos from the site, and listens to voice mails sent into SL from Nick Rhodes, an experience produced by Rivers Run Red.
- General Motors' Motorati Island
Produced by Millions of Us (a sponsor of this blog), a continent offering SL car builders free land to customize the vehicle of their dreams.
- Warner Brothers Hip Hop Artist Talib Kweli
Also produced by Millions, Talib gets a Brooklyn brownstone listening center-- and inadvertantly into a "virtual world vs. real world celebrity smackdown."
Comments