Australians in Second Life Update – murky growth
As we mentioned yesterday, the level of detail in metrics supplied by Linden Lab has declined significantly. The last time we were able to report actual numbers of active Australian Second Life users, there’s been a bounce back to a little over twelve thousand.
There’s no longer a country breakdown for active avatars. Instead, there’s [...]
Taking our biases with us into virtual environments.
People are using the same cognitive tools in their social interactions within virtual environments as they would in the physical world. A recent study has confirmed this happens even though our avatars do not necessarily represent a clear picture of the people behind those avatars, with regards to gender, race, and all those other things [...]
The growing secrecy
Browsing back over some previous stories we’ve run, it reinforced to me again just how more secretive Linden Lab have become in the past year or so.
There’s a growing list of communication mechanisms that have gone by the wayside:
1. The monthly population metrics are no longer supplied in anywhere near the detail they used to. [...]
A true EDUCAUSE
The EDUCAUSE Review for September/October 2008 was released recently. For those unfamiliar with the publication, it is an “award-winning magazine for the higher education IT community”. It is published bimonthly in print and online. EDUCAUSE itself is “a nonprofit association whose mission is to advance higher education by promoting the intelligent use of information technology.”
Below [...]
The Watch – virtual worlds in the news
1. Centre Daily Times (USA) – Virtual worlds provide real interaction. “When I was a boy, I loved the Tom Swift books. Whether Tom was plumbing the depths of the sea in his Jetmarine or flying into space on his Rocket Ship, technology and quick thinking always managed to save the day. Those books delightfully [...]
Weekend Whimsy
1. Obamabot in Metaverse (prototype)
2. Ice Stawberry visits RL Salzburg
3. Megan sucht das Glück in Second Life
WA Police “Step Forward” into Second Life: detractors in hot pursuit.
The WA Police “Step Forward” Virtual Recruiting Pavilion was launched this week in Second Life. The plan is for the pavilion to be run during a three month trial period, after which this method of recruiting will be reviewed.
“Trudi Karu” and “Dreibergs Lannock” are the avatar names of the recruiting police who will be attending [...]
