The following video is machinima which was made in Second Life. The project was part of the SLDEV marketing solution provider initiative, and is intended to highlight some of the solution aspects of Second Life as a platform. While SL isn't the only 3d world out there, this video captures the essence of what's possible in a user generated content environment.

Thanks for watching.




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In case you were looking for indicators that Second Life business might be undergoing a recovery, there are many avenues we could take to examine that question, of which most are interesting and topic into which many of us are willing to dig deeper. However, this post contains one topic area that most of us had likely hoped to avoid. One major indicator that something significant is happening economically is none other than the taxation people sniffing around searching for their cut of the revenue.

Yes, the tax people are coming back to Second Life, and while the following article specifically has ramifications only for UK citizens, once one tax person finds some success, you can be sure that others are soon to follow. Seriously though, if you live in the UK, have an SL business, and you want to be prepared if the tax authorities do tap you on the shoulder, this might be a good thing to attend.

Here, are the particulars:

A year ago The Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT) went into Second Life to inform residents about the tax implications of trading in cyberspace. The
CIOT has come back to update residents interested in these matters and of any developments since the previous event.

You might think that what happens to your avatar in Second Life(r), or in any other virtual world, has no relevance to your real-life tax bill. You may be wrong, particularly if you are a UK resident, and especially if you are making money in-world in a systematic way.

Establishing the true position is not always straightforward, and it is a good idea to consult a Chartered Tax Adviser (CTA) or other qualified UK tax professional for advice if you have any concerns. He or she can advise you based on your specific circumstances, whereas this event will only be a general introduction.

Join Tax Anderton and the Editor of Taxation Magazine to discuss various tax issues that affect people in Second Life.

The event will be hosted by depo consulting ltd and is to be held on the depo business park on Tuesday 2nd December at 3:30pm GMT / 07:35am PST.

The SLURL to the exhibition is:
http://slurl.com/secondlife/depo%206/147/138/37/?title=Chartered%20Institute%20of%20Taxation%20Event

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From a press release:

A virtual artist who goes by the moniker AM Radio will bring his environmental installations to the art gallery on the University of Kentucky's island in Second Life. The artist, whose work is among the most visited and talked about places in this virtual world, will unveil his new installation on UK's virtual island on Nov. 15.

This exhibition of AM Radio's work promises to be another landmark event for the Second Life art world, and most certainly for the UK Department of Art gallery on the UK island. The new exhibit will also mark the hiring of a curator for the virtual facility.

"Beneath the Tree that Died" is an immersive environment set on a stretch of road in rural Vermont, based on an illustration done by AM Radio in 2005. The work incorporates a NOAA weather feed and particle attractor visualization so that every visitor sees something slightly different. "Beneath the Tree that Died" opens to Second Life users at 9 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 15 and will run through Jan. 1, 2009, at the UK Department of Art's virtual gallery, located on University of Ky Island in Second Life.




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Linden Lab has announced the opening of the second annual $10,000 usd (yes Sparky, that is correct, USD) prize competition for best innovation in world over the past year. Of course contests like this are difficult to assess from the outside in terms of what factors will influence the judges. Nevertheless, this is a good contest for several reasons.

First, it creates a scenario where people are looking for the positive aspects of Second Life. Second, it generates buzz. Third, it gives one the sense that Second Life is healthy and still relevant. Whether or not you are one who is a believer in the future importance of virtual worlds, or one who believes it is all a bunch of hogwash, one thing is true: $10,000 USD is real money and a tangible example of being rewarded for developing and organizing a "bunch of pixels on the computer monitor."

Here's some of the relevant info:

The Linden Prize will award one Second Life Resident or team with $10,000 USD, paid in Linden dollars, for an innovative inworld project that improves the way people work, learn and communicate in their daily lives outside of the virtual world. The award is intended to align with Linden Lab’s company mission–to connect all people to an online world that advances the human condition.

We invite all Residents to consider applying for the award. A panel of judges will choose finalists, and ultimately a winner, based on the following criteria:
Work in Second Life that also achieves tangible, compelling results outside of Second Life.
Distinctive, original work using Second Life that clearly demonstrates high quality, execution, function, aesthetics and technical sophistication.
Work that has the capacity for inspiring and influencing future development, knowledge, creativity, and collaboration both inside and outside of Second Life.

Key Dates

- Applications open today.
- Applications close January 15, 2009
- Finalists and the Winner announced no later than April 30, 2009

For the full details, click here.

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I just joined the NaBloPoMo challenge, and have a goal of posting at least one post per day for the entire month of November. Since I normally do not post on the weekends, this of course presents a challenge to me and commitment from me to ensure I have enough content and the wherewithal to maintain my pace each day. I can do it. I like a challenge.

So look for more each day from me that you might normally see. That I promise that I will refrain from posting dreck and filler in an attempt to meet the challenge of posting each day. No, the challenge will be to keep the content of this blog up to its usual standards, so that I will promise to do. So what exactly is NaBloPoMo? Glad you asked. Here's the blurb from their challenge page:

National Blog Posting Month is the epicenter of daily blogging! People who want to set the habit of blogging by doing it every day for a month, including weekends, can come here for moral support, inspiration, and the camaraderie that only marathon blogging can provide.

This is a great idea! And one postscript:

P.S. You must be a blogger to join NaBloPoMo. Sorry to be a meanie but people found adding commercial or graphic adult material to profiles, groups, or forums will be banned.

Okay, I meet the criteria. Time to get blogging. Let's do this!


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Digital art is a burgeoning area that is starting to emerge in Second Life, but one which has not received much press attention. There are indications that this is starting to change as demonstrated by a new report from MarketWatch.

The article discusses the emerging artform and a specific social network designed to help spread this new artform:

According to Philip Linden of Second Life, "One of the unexpected results of Second Life is the emerging of an entirely new art form, which has been dubbed 'Digital Impressionism,' based on the visions of virtual world residents. These artists are re-defining what personal identity means, when expressed in a world where anybody can be anything, can do anything, and can create virtually anything. Their visualizations form the core of this exciting new art."

Check out some art in Second Life:

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Long%20Beach/98/151/22

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Simuality/31/202/35





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This is course II in the BeateNetworks Marketing series, and will discuss advertising issues and how to be more effective in Second Life. This class will pay particular attention to layout of ads in Second Life, and has some applicability outside of virtual worlds. This course is intended for non-marketing professionals. The course will be offered twice this week as follows:

Wed 10/29 10:30 AM to Noon SLT
Thus 10/30 10:30 AM to Noon SLT

IM Allison Selene for a reservation.

To find the class location Click Here

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I'd like to let everyone know that we are making some slight changes to the blog. Effective immediately, we will run a second blog, called Designer Alley, that will focus primarily on the design aspects of virtual worlds: tools tutorials, building and design techniques, graphics, video, audio, etc. It will also have information regarding fashions and other designs, and is intended to have a different focus from this blog.

In addition, Designer Alley will feature posts from BeateNetworks partners, and the first to join us will be Violeta Caproni, who is a fashion designer working on a line called Tokyo Niji.

The Network blog will continue to focus on news, commentary, and industry research from the web 2.0 and virtual web market sectors. The only thing you'll see different here is that any posts here that relate to Second Life news will be focused on business and technology aspects that affect most of us, rather than diluting our focus about SL with posts about fashion and new shops and other events in SL that tend to appeal to a different demographic. In other words this blog will continue to be focused on market research and pertinent issues such as IP rights, the AWG, interoperability, marketing issues, etc. We will continue to do posts about the latest from other research firms, such as Gartner, Forrester, IDC, etc. just as we always have done.

If there are any topics you would like to see covered, feel free to drop me an email which can be done by clicking here.

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BMW announced today that they will be leaving Second Life. They have had a presence in Second Life for nearly two years, and were an early enthusiast about the potential for Second Life and virtual worlds. Their reasoning for leaving is that the platform itself is not yet ready for complex B2C scenarios.

According to Munich Express, who made the announcement to a group this morning:

we felt and still feel that virtual worlds have a big potential, not only in terms of marketing, but a lot of work and development remains to be done. We are convinced that the combination of 3D environment, global communication in real time, the 3D wiki functionality and the creative element can lead to a fascinating experience.

However for a B2C company like ours some elements need to be developed further. An automobile is a rather complex product - at present it is not possible in sl to do a static and dynamic product presentation that you would expect from a company like ours.

From a pure marketing perspective the user base is not big enough yet, then there are the usual copyright issues that you're all aware of. So at this point in time we felt that stepping out from a marketing perspective is the right decision. We leared what we wanted to, we think we have defined the issues that need improvement and we will of course contnue to watch the development because we believe in the potential.

Munich Express went on to say:

If sl develops further in the right direction, there is no reason why we wouldn't come back. Our strategic goal was a bit different, the goal was not to compete with the 'party islands. We wanted to learn how this virtual environment works and to see where possible future applications lie, [and] there is much more than marketing involved in the long run. ...a solution that would enable us to have something running on our own servers.

Photo from the conference:






What all this points to is that SL is probably not going to be the enterprise 2.0 solution, but rather OpenSim will develop as the enterprise class solution. Linden Lab cannot continue to expect that B2B and roleplay can co-exist on the platform without some architectural changes made, however the train has already left the OpenSim station and for Linden Lab the window of opportunity is closing... fast.


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The well known guitar company Gibson has opened its own new island in Second Life. It claims to be the first major music manufacturer to do so. As such it should be interesting to see if companies such as Fender follow Gibson's lead.

The positive aspect of this is that the island will feature music related events and activities. The island launch featured an exclusive live performance by Bob Welch formerly of Fleetwood Mac. More concerts on the island are planned. The island itself is shaped like a Gibson Les Paul guitar, and features humbucker mountains, theatres, mini-theatres, and guitar-related objects.







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The Second Life Fifth Birthday Celebration is over. A group of the artists got together and did a final farewell:

Yesterday we discussed the ad market for "video games" of which Second Life is included. While the numbers offered by the analysts are small when compared to the overall size of the digital advertising market, it's still quite large with estimates ranging between $1.0 to $1.5 billion per year.

We've also been through the hype cycle with Second Life, where it reached a crescendo in mid-2007. At that time it was claimed to almost be the promised land, with real world companies and others rushing in to try to stake a claim and find gold in 'them thar hills," only to be disappointed and feeling cheated by the analysis that told them to build an island, and they will come.

Now we're in mid-2008. Second Life and other virtual worlds remain an interesting business, but are now relegated to corner cases in the enterprise. While they may be on the list of Enterprise 2.0 applications, they are not the main component.

In fact, when considering Enterprise 2.0 components, both online video and social application rank higher in usage than do virtual worlds:




However, one point that seems to remain elusive is that virtual worlds can actually encompass both online video and social applications. As we noted in a previous article regarding Second Life:

1. Second Life is a platform for micro-commerce

2. Second Life is a platform for incubating new business ideas

3. Second Life provides small businesses instant international reach

4. Second Life is a natural extension of a business web presence

5. Second Life is a platform for real time interaction and customer feedback

6. Second Life is a natural platform for for marketing (however, so far companies have been using the wrong techniques to make this point effective)

7. Second Life is a multimedia experience rather than a game

8. Second Life has potential for solutions in both B2C and B2B

9. Second Life can be shaped by its users

10. Second Life is a low cost method of collaboration and is a social networking platform

The problem it seems is thinking of Second Life as either a game or an application. A much better way to view it is as a platform for Enterprise 2.0 which encompasses many of the collaborative and social capabilities that are inherent in the definition of a "2.0" topology. This cannot be stressed enough, if your enterprise persists in viewing Second Life as a game, you are missing the point. Further, thinking of it in terms of being a marketing tool is also missing the point. It can be used for marketing, but above all, it should be viewed as a collaborative platform.

The problem arises when we view SL as simply a game, as these categories indicate:




The questions and answers are all fantasy based. There are no questions about things like education, collaboration, arts/culture, filmmaking, music, etc. It is only when we view SL as a platform that we begin to open up to more possibilities that extend beyond fantasy, and actually touch our everyday lives and businesses. In those terms, SL can be a powerful solution, but it won't happen unless and until we change our mindset.

To paraphrase the old Clinton quote: It's the platform, stupid.

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Okay, this one is filed under "cute" and "fun." One of the SL5B exhibits are a set of gigantic shoes. These things are really made for giants, if giants existed in SL, although I have to wonder what would happen if these things had bling enabled.

Anyway, it's a fun exhibit.

The Second Life Fifth Birthday event (SL5B) is now in its third day. If you have not taken the time to visit the exhibitions, I highly recommend that you do. The sheer volume and quality of the exhibitions is breathtaking, and this truly represents the creative positive side of Second Life.

This morning I attended a demonstration of the Toxian City exhibit, where they had a couple of "monsters" attacking a city and RPG'ers defending against the monsters. All in all, this represents a new way of thinking about SL. Here are a couple of pictures from the event:








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Gartner has issued a new report on virtual worlds which touts their value in the area of training and education. While it's difficult to disagree with this assessment, one could argue that Gartner is late to the party on this one. In essence though it seems that Gartner is beginning to recognize that Enterprise 2.0 will be different from Web 2.0, and virtual worlds are one of the tools that will be a part of the Enterprise 2.0 solution kit.

As for education, there has been a robust community in Second Life around the area of training and education, and we see no reason to believe that there will be anything other than growth in this area. In our own dealings, we have organizations such as the TUV Saarland that have had an in world presence for quite some time, we've attended lectures and presentations from corporations such as Cisco and Sun, and we have provided free live and free self-paced tutorials in world for nearly two years. The only thing that might be missing from the education platform in SL are perhaps an improved set of tools for instructors and students to use in world, but that is not a show stopper, and is being improved all the time.

In any event, it's a positive development that Gartner is recognizing the importance and viability of virtual worlds in the area of training and education:

Gartner analyst Steve Prentice said “Despite understandable concerns about investment during a time of growing business uncertainty, we believe that the internal deployment of virtual worlds offers most enterprise significant benefits in cost savings and improved productivity.”

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