New World Notes

ENO BETTER THAN THE REAL THING

Now here's an invitation you don't get every day.  Then again, I remember when (dating myself here, I know) Brian Eno joined The WELL, and he actively participated in the pioneer online community roughly as much as Billy Idol, who also joined up.  That is, not much.  Still, hope rocks eternal, and it looks like a very cool project.   Read about Brian Eno's Second Life-related project here [warning: PDF link].

THE GUARDIAN ROCKS

Thanks to the lovely Mynci Gorky, who's acting as the show's master of ceremonies, I contributed a short article to accompany the UK Guardian's Second Fest, a massive three day concert starting this Friday featuring The Pet Shop Boys, Dub Pistols, Gilles Peterson, and a slew of other artists.  Gwyneth Llewelyn also contributes to the handy and extensive pre-concert guide.

Tateru's Mixed Reality Headcount

The L Word Rallies for the last week of Pride Month; NBA misses the shot; Holland's tulips blooming

The L Word has picked up with a final burst of events for the last week of Gay Pride month, though still falls short of IBM in first place and Australian telecom-sponsored The Pond which remains a close second despite large gains this week, due to a Second Life spot on Australian television.

Surprisingly, sites with their own Linden-authorized registration portals for new users (The L Word, the NBA, The Pond) do not show matching traffic increases at their adjoining parent sites. Many new Residents do not complete the companys' orientations, or do not "graduate" to the parent site, usually teleporting away while experimenting with the map or search functions, and either cannot or do not have incentive to return.

After the fold, IBM battles with Final Fantasy, plus our regular rundown of the corporate top ten.

FORBES FLUNKS SCHOOL OF SECOND LIFE

The July 2nd issue of Forbes has a fascinating article (reg. req.) about failed marketing efforts in Second Life, but not for the reasons its author, Allison Fass, intended.  Instead, it’s the latest example of a larger trend: if 2006 was the year of inaccurate, over-hyped Second Life coverage, 2007 is the year of equally inaccurate counter-spin. “Sex, Pranks, and Reality” is 714 words long, yet contains at least ten errors or omissions, many I've spotted in other publications; given Forbes’ reputation, however, these memes are now injected even deeper into an unresolved issue.  The irony is that there are numerous limitations to SL as a marketing platform-- it requires a client download, advertising is easy for users to ignore, and so on-- but Forbes fails to mention any of those.  (If they're even aware of them, but that's not at all clear.)

But leave that to one side.  I’ll just point out the mistakes, and let readers draw their own conclusions.

THE DAWKINS DELUSION

The world's foremost atheist has a godly incarnation.  Richard Dawkins has a Second Life avatar, a word which originates from Hindu theology. He initially appeared in SL through a real world lecture video streamed in-world, in late May, then returned in avatar form, to watch people watching that stream.

“I have to confess I've been in there myself, as an avatar, incognito," he impishly told a UK Telegraph reporter recently, "and I've seen people in there watching it, and I’ve even actually had conversations with them."  Leading to a moment that can only be called the "Dawkins delusion"-- fixating on a video of Dawkins without realizing there's a Dawkins-controlled avatar standing right next to you.

I've transcribed the most SL-relevant passages from the interview: in it, Dawkins begins by describing “huge overlaps" between his work and Second Life:  "[O]ne aspect is artificial life, and I’ve played a little bit of a role in that in the early days when it was still starting up in the 1980s, I suppose."  (I wonder if anyone's told him about the ant colony or the school of evolving fish, or, of course, Svarga.)

"But there’s also fascinating things," Dawkins continues, "for example, I think it’s reasonable to say that when you and I think we see the real world… what we’re really seeing in a sense is a simulation in our own head. And the evidence for this is the way we see visual illusions, which are just what you would expect to see if we are simulating a virtual reality in our heads.  A virtual reality which is steered and guided by the real world through our sense organs.   

WEEKEND OPEN FORUM (Updated)

Events, projects, discussions; announcements, observations, opinions-- post all and sundry here, for later highlighting.

Updated, 6/24:  Lots of interesting tidbits--

- Ignatius Onomatopoeia wonders if the Lindens are doing enough to promote their own fourth anniversary.  I can definitely say SignpostMarv Martin and his team of Resident volunteers have been a lot more visible in that effort.

- Bay Area-based Residents interested in SL machinima, take note:  Geuis Dassin announces a free machinima class in San Francisco.  "We'll cover topics ranging from software to use to production techniques and more."

- Forget about for-profit companies in Second Life, will it be Universities that make the metaverse truly big?  Dirk Singer makes the case for that happening.

- The irreplaceable Gwyn L. notes the opening of "Bollywood", a new island devoted to the colorful Indian film industry.  No SLURL, but presumably typing that word into the Map or Search panel will bring it up.  Seeing as how SL avatars already look like Bollywood starlets, they should be right at home.

READING *ANIMA*

Dalian Hansen self-portrait

Exclusive to NWN, I'm proud to present this excerpt of Anima, Dalian Hansen's groundbreaking new novel, the first to use Second Life as a central element of the story.  It begins with a conversation between the author and Neal Stephenson, catapults us into a vividly hellish scene, then moves ahead to an eerie encounter with an avatar involved in a hack that defies the laws of both realities.  Take a taste of Anima after the break-- then visit the official site, for more.

YOUR TUBE, YOUR IMAGINATION

Now this is a cool tip: Callum Linden points out that it's possible to stream videos from YouTube's new mobile video site into Second Life, and Torley blogs how to do it.  If I'm reading this right, it's a great hack for landowners to get around bandwidth costs, when they want to stream movies on their property.

Rik's Picks for June 21-25

Rik Riel's weekly round-up of upcoming SL events...

It's hard to believe, but Second Life is four years old this week! The "SL4B," SL’s fourth birthday celebration, is being feted with a host of events from June 23-30 on a whopping nine sims, based at the SL4B sim (teleport SLURL). According to the press release, at the SL4B there will be everything from stand-up comedians, live music and entertainment, educational and art exhibitions, and role-play environments. Contact Ms. Ariel Otafuku for event details. 

Also coming up this week: mystic circles, build-a-snail, sci-fi geeks assemble, a major foundation explores the metaverse, and a few non-English-oriented events in my picks.  C'est un tres bon chance d'utiliser votre appareil du traduction comme le Babbler y peut-etre rencontre un ami noveau. (Translation: It's a good time to use your translator device like Babbler, and maybe make a new friend.)
 

Ophelia's Gaze: How to Dress for SL Success

Exclusive to NWN, Iris Ophelia's ongoing showcase of all things stylish in SL

What’s the business-minded avatar wearing?  Hard to tell, especially when there's so many different kinds of business going on: some companies exist only in Second Life, while others expand into real life; a few help RL firms launch in SL, and some RL businesses elect to do it themselves. Now big companies like Microsoft and eBay are participating in actual job fairs held in-world, too.  So what to wear if you want to look business-like, but maintain your fantastic avatar persona?

That in mind, I had a chat with two respected SL fashion personalities, then flew off to gather a wardrobe for the up-and-coming avatar-based executive.