Musings On Second Life. A ToothPasteForDinner Perspective

I'm still on the Second Life fence. Presently I'm able to spend time in the world and entertain myself, but the experience doesn't surpass that of surfing the web. I don't yet get cravings to spend time in Second Life. That said, apparently some people do.

I see the potential... I just don't think it's even begun to be realized yet. The graphics are wanting... and I don't see a real compelling reason yet to use SL over say, IRC to chat with like minded people. I DO however see how it would benefit distance education though I've not had a chance to try it out.

While most articles tout the positive experience I've started coming across more and more that don't. This post makes reference to one that takes a particularly humorous approach to the topic.

Toothpastefordinner (if you've never been there you must go - some of the better web comics available) posted a brief, comedic journal of one man's experience venturing into Second Life.

Everything went black, and I was transported back to Initiation Island. I thought I'd poke around a little more, to see what was available. There was a place called Freebie Warehouse that I teleported to, which was full of.... cubes... with bad JPEGs on the side.

You can click on the cubes and download scripts, which make you do something, or make your guy move around, or wear something. It was retarded. Imagine that every time you bought a shirt from a store, you had to install Windows on your torso. Pretty fun. I walked around in the Freebie Warehouse, trying to strike up conversations, but most people were preoccupied. I suppose in hindsight they probably had to reboot their avatars after installing Rainbow.Armwarmers, or Dragon.Dick, or whatever.

Regardless how you feel about Second Life, this is worth a quick read.

Auction Bytes Suggests eBay May Be Eyeing Second Life

Not sure about this one... I'll let you click through to the Auction Bytes article and decide for yourselves.

That said... let me know what you think in the comments! What would happen if eBay were to pursue this?

Traumatized In Iraq... Step Into Our Virtual War

Get back on a virtual horse to deal with real life trauma.
At least that seems to be the case with the US military as they're apparently treating soldiers with post-war psychological disorders with a virtual version of the Iraq 'conflict.'

"Say for example their trauma event was being blown up in a Humvee -- we might start them off just standing in the desert next to a Humvee.

Interestingly the experience even includes mimicking aromas experienced on the battlefield. The article states:

Fake aromas -- including gunpowder, burning smoke, diesel fuel, body odors, exotic spices and roast mutton -- are wafted under the patient's nose

I seem to recall a company back in the dot com bubble days proposing to install little devices to generate and diffuse odors to surfers... perhaps they were just a few years ahead of their time. Based on what I've seen in Second Life, a resurgence of this technology might not always be a good thing.

Who's Next To Build A Bulkhead In Second Life?

Automotoportal.com is reporting that Mercedes Benz has established a presence in Second Life. As with so many other commercial newcomers Mercedes will be hosting a concert to kick off their unveiling since... well... cool kids love concerts.

Actually this one sounds kind of interesting with MB suggesting that there will be a virtual test track introduced in time, a showroom, free downloads of Mercedes' 16th mix tape compilation and a virtual Formula 1 racing suit and helmet.

“Digital communication has been established as a permanent component of the Mercedes-Benz marketing activities. With Second Life we are consequently using a new communication platform to further address our existing and potential customers”

Automotoportal.com provides links to more detailed information, so go check them out and enjoy your MB Second Life :)

Google Set To Bully Second Life?

It seems every time some piece of online real estate starts to generate a bit of buzz the rumor mill starts spinning about Google planning to develop a version of their own. It seems that Second Life is no different.

The Advertising Lab has posted an article detailing this particular rumor. In this case they suggest that Google's planning a Second Life challenger based on Google Earth. I won't hold my breath on this one... but who knows, It may just happen.

Second Life May Not Work On Your Shiny New Computer

This is interesting news. It sounds as though some Second Life users may have issues with Microsoft's new Vista operating system. I seem to recall that there was an event in Second Life for the Vista release... good thing they had it BEFORE the release rather than once the machines had shipped!

Now, given the complexity of any Microsoft OS, and what I assume to be the complexity of Second Life and its underpinnings it doesn't surprise me that there were some kinks to work out, but it sounds like the issues are a bit more severe than 'kinks.' In this case it seems to be issues with graphics drivers, which is pretty odd. As the blog linked below points out you'd think that some of Vista's beta testers would also have been Second Life users... unless Vista's beta program was tiny, or... unless Second Life's user base isn't quite as large as we're lead to believe.

You can read some more on the subject here on the weeseepeople blog as well as over at CNET.

When You Think Virtual Worlds...

When you think virtual worlds who do you picture spending their time in them? Surprisingly Second Life doesn't map to the photo below.

The average age of users is 32, and the median age of users is 36.
Median age is 36.
43% of users are female, 50% are female "by use."

Make of that what you will.
The rest of the report can be found here.

If You're Going To Start A Second Life Business... Be Sure To Do It Correctly.

I recently posted an article describing the potential of businesses in Second Life. Here's something for those of you who have decided to pursue one of those opportunities. This article on InfoPirate.org provides those unfamiliar, and even those familiar with the world a checklist to remember as you embark on your endeavor.

Example tasks include:

Purchase your name. Not all worlds offer them, but Second Life is offering custom last names which can serve to identify your team or employee avatars.

Embrace the “Game Babies.” Develop for them and win. Hire them – and listen. There are real generational differences that can both challenge and enlighten your teams. Remember that the true “gaming generation” is just beginning to enter the work force and their interactive and social expectations are high, and are a rich source of innovation for your organization.

The list isn't a long one, so you would do well to take a look.

Secondly this article provides insight into marketing practices in Second Life.

Recommendations are items like the following:

Advertising is a relative cheap way of getting attention. Many people use the classifieds section when looking for something particular, so you DEFINATELY want to be present there.

Advertising starts at L$50 a week, but the more you pay, the higher you will rank. Make sure you figure out what market you are in, and what keywords people would use when looking for what you have to sell. Then do that search yourself.

Another Canadian School To Hold Class In Second Life

This time it's Loyalist College, specifically the Post Graduate E-Journalism progam as described on this page.

Additional information is available in audio form by accessing this linked file.

You Too Can Be A Second Life Millionaire

If Anshe can do it why can't you? Why can't you indeed...
Everywhere you go in Second Life someone's selling something... you're not sure if they're making money doing it, but that graph of 24 hour spend on secondlife.reuters.com wouldn't lie.... would it?

This Entrepreneur.com article promises to show you the business opportunities available to you in Second Life. Reality or snake oil?

From that article:

A million dollars of virtual loot. It's a concept that's difficult to wrap your head around, but in November, that's exactly what virtual real-estate developer Anshe Chung accomplished in the 3D virtual world Second Life, in which users live "second" lives as avatars. When her entrepreneurial success story hit the press, it spread like wildfire, leading many to ask: What exactly are the business opportunities available in Second Life?

As you would expect the article quotes a number of people quitting their day jobs for careers in Second Life. Whether or not they'll succeed is another matter entirely.

From the article:

But the bottom line for entrepreneurs is, will Second Life really pan out? Or is it just hype, since the majority of people have never ventured virtually or even heard of it?

Personally, I expect that we're a little early for this to be reality... but that in the relatively near future certain aspects of the world will provide legitimate business opportunities for more than the current handful of successful vendors. The question as always is when will the time be right to dive in head first?

Embassy In Second Life... Is This Getting Out Of Hand?

CNet's doing interviews in Second Life.
Reuters has a news bureau in Second Life.
Now Sweden has announced that they are planning to establish an Embassy in Second Life.

Why?

The first two resulted in good (though often unpredictable) press for both companies, but does Sweden need this kind of press? It will be interesting to see if they pursue this as well as how they plan to leverage the expense to benefit their citizens in this virtual world.

Davidreport.com provides an interview that provides insight into these questions. You can find that interview here.

From that interview:

Our mission is to increase the knowledge about and interest in Sweden around the world. To do that we need to constantly find new ways to communicate with our target groups and to reach them, where they are most likely to be open to our message. Our aim is to find and inspire a selective group of people which is hard to reach through more traditional channels. Second Life is one of many channels to use and explore.