John Edwards' Virtual Headquarters Vandalized

This is a bit stale, but for anyone out there who is not aware, John Edward's space in Second Life was recently vandalized as described on his blog.

They plastered the area with Marxist/Lenninist posters and slogans, a feces spewing obsenity, and a photoshopped picture of John in blackface, all the while harrassing visitors with right-wing nonsense and obsenity-laden abuse of Democrats in general and John in particular.

After the Anshe Chung episode this isn't as entertaining... in fact it lacks creativity. I hope the next griefing picks it up a notch (though the poo flinging beast was a nice touch).

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.