Coverage of news, issues and events occurring in virtual worlds or those who create those worlds
Am I the only one that experiences nausea at the thought of Microsoft integrating its technologies with the OpenSim virtual world platform?
To me, any technology that’s brand-specific is going to cause more problems than deliver solutions when the longer term view is taken for interoperability.
Popularity: 6% [?]
Second Life’s Relay for Life is well underway – it’s hard to believe it’s been a year since the last one.
Check the schedule and get involved if you can.
Popularity: 3% [?]
When we first launched in late 2006 we also had forums, which were moderately utilised on those first months, particularly by the ABC prior to the launch of ABC Island. We closed the forums down mid-2007 due to lack of activity and some technical problems with the platform we were using.
I’m really pleased to re-launch the forums which can be found here or via the ‘Forum’ link at the top of this site. The focus is widened and the actual design fits better with the overall site.
On the downside, due to a database corruption I wasn’t able to import all the previous posts into the new forum – it’s literally a blank slate so if you’d previously registered, you’ll need to do so again. Sorry!
If you’ve got a point to make, an event to promote or just want to mix with other virtual world residents, please use the forums – that’s what they’re there for.
To celebrate the relaunch, we’re offering 5000 Linden Dollars to a lucky someone who posts on the forums by the end of August 2008. We’ll get a random number generator to give us a number – the person who posted that number post will be the winner. Example: if the random number was 77 – the person who posted the 77th post wins the prize.
So jump in, start a discussion and maybe you’ll be rewarded for your efforts beyond the rewards of forum interaction 
Popularity: 4% [?]
New World Notes’ Wagner James Au was checking out the new Daden in-world web browser when he had a couple of interesting interactions with a ‘robotar’ although his pick-up lines left a little to be desired.
I spent some time with ‘Abi’ myself and agree that for a bot she’s relatively engaging if you’re happy to talk about Daden products. There are other impressive bots out there but as you’ll see from the snippet below, Abi is single, something the above correspondent wasn’t able to determine
You: chatbot?
abi: It is feasible to run an avatar chatbot over a GPRS or dial-up GSM link, but not advisable. For this reason we suggest making a textbot available for mobile users. Avatars should run OK over 3G networks.
abi: Talk to me!
You: why?
abi: Sorry, I didn’t understand. I can tell you about Daden and our products and services, virtual worlds and chatbots.
You: are you married?
abi: Not the last time I looked.
I’d love to hear what your most amusing bot experiences are, whether they be in Second Life, World of Warcraft or elsewhere…
Popularity: 2% [?]
1. Gibson Island on Second Life
2. Madonna Give It To Me (Second Life Version)
3. Second Life Avatar Vignette
Popularity: 2% [?]
Lifenaut is a fascinating service that allows you to create an interactive avatar based on the information you provide. Getting the information into your profile involves an extensive web-based dashboard set-up that you could easily spend hours configuring. At the end of it you’ve created a ‘mindfile’ that drives your avatar’s behaviour.
Aside from the avatar-based approach of Lifenaut, a further virtual world hook is the recent introduction to Lifenaut that occurred in Second Life at their New User Center. A ‘universal avatar’ is something desirable in some people’s eyes and services like Lifenaut will attract some interest if they manage to keep in sync with interoperability developments in virtual worlds.
Popularity: 3% [?]
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