Want A Second Life anyone ???

[canexplain]

Besides just knowing what it is, or going there once (like I did about 7 months ago when I thought it was hip), does anyone do any business on secondlife …. I am thinking of setting up a storefront there … like I said, I went there months ago and got bored with it as a casual surfer, but I am wondering, business wise, what anyone here thinks of it …. It says they have 9 million, yikes, users, and 1.6 million hits in the last 60 days, and something like 40k on line at once …. Boy even the best surfers couldn’t keep up with a yak board there …. So any impressions, please let me know …. Maybe I will name the store after you lol …. Cr****

[Gideon Knife]

There are many businesses. Just about everything that exists in normal life has some form in Second Life. Everything except for people with a sense of fucking normalcy.

[canexplain]

There are many businesses. Just about everything that exists in normal life has some form in Second Life. Everything except for people with a sense of fucking normalcy.

i dont care if they are normal, just do they have money!!! cr****

[fober]

Was Warcraft too normal for you?

[Mr. Dylanja]

What is second life?

[canexplain]

What is second life?

secondlife.com ... it is an interesting idea, about 5 years old, but hasnt yet been a viable business model i dont think ... but it is getting there .... does anyone remember the online chat site where you made your avitar and walked all over this building with all the rooms and everytime you said something, one of those little balloons would pop up with your words ... i thought that was cool, but the pc's back then, at least mine, couldnt keep up with the graphics .. cr*****

[Alchemy]

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/bb/Ps3_playstationhome_logo.jpg

[ewiggy]

does anyone remember the online chat site where you made your avitar and walked all over this building with all the rooms and everytime you said something, one of those little balloons would pop up with your words ... i thought that was cool, but the pc's back then, at least mine, couldnt keep up with the graphics .. cr*****

yes. The Palace. jesus christ, that took me back. hello, 1997.

[comiddle]

They had something on the news a little while ago about doing business on second life. Here's a Business Week (http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_18/b3982001.htm) article.

[gaypalmsprings]

http://www.managementboek.nl/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2006/11/second_life_logo.jpg

[canexplain]

They had something on the news a little while ago about doing business on second life. Here's a Business Week (http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_18/b3982001.htm) article.

cool and tnx ... i know i get lazy like some people, and dont look up things online and just figure peeps here know what is going on .... cr****

[kingsblend420]

http://www.diskusjon.no/index.php?act=Attach&type=post&id=169990

[atom heart]

Before you do anything in Second Life, you must read this:

My Adventures in Second Life (http://www.toothpastefordinner.com/journal/journal.php?user=toothpaste&id=573&readcomment=1)

"Wenis Swindlehurst: How do I hit people?"

[kingsblend420]

Besides just knowing what it is, or going there once (like I did about 7 months ago when I thought it was hip), does anyone do any business on secondlife …. I am thinking of setting up a storefront there … like I said, I went there months ago and got bored with it as a casual surfer, but I am wondering, business wise, what anyone here thinks of it …. It says they have 9 million, yikes, users, and 1.6 million hits in the last 60 days, and something like 40k on line at once …. Boy even the best surfers couldn’t keep up with a yak board there …. So any impressions, please let me know …. Maybe I will name the store after you lol …. Cr****

Second Life inflates there traffic as part of their PR campaign to draw more people in. Their logic is that if they draw enough people it in it will create a critical mass where simply because "everyone's on it" everyone else will want to join. The problem is that they say they have 9 million users but the reality of that is like you said they may have 40,000 on at once but that might have been their high point last year. I am sure its not a rolling average. I would say at any given time its closer to 5-10k online. Its really not as popular as the hype would leave you to believe.

[clarky123]

cr**** I will give you all the facts you need for 20,000,000 Linden Dollars (nee $200k).

[canexplain]

cr**** I will give you all the facts you need for 20,000,000 Linden Dollars (nee $200k).

i saw that linden dollar thing but not sure of the whole process ... if it is a long explanation, i will pm you my email, if not, you can post it here or pm me ... tnx for any info... ron ****

[clarky123]

I read this recently which pretty much substantiates what 420 above was saying:

Only 15 per cent of those who became residents in October of last year ever logged in again after their first 30 days - a churn rate that might surprise and dismay executives from other industries. Remove all those who never returned to Second Life after their first month and the figure falls from a then two million residents to around a quarter of a million. Typically, there are only around 15,000 clients logged in to Second Life at any one time.

In other words, this economy has a population about the size of Ilkeston, Derbyshire, or Troutdale, Oregon. And each business has the prospect of a market of no more than 100 people in one place - a number easily accommodated by a church hall.

[canexplain]

I read this recently which pretty much substantiates what 420 above was saying:

Only 15 per cent of those who became residents in October of last year ever logged in again after their first 30 days - a churn rate that might surprise and dismay executives from other industries. Remove all those who never returned to Second Life after their first month and the figure falls from a then two million residents to around a quarter of a million. Typically, there are only around 15,000 clients logged in to Second Life at any one time.

In other words, this economy has a population about the size of Ilkeston, Derbyshire, or Troutdale, Oregon. And each business has the prospect of a market of no more than 100 people in one place - a number easily accommodated by a church hall.

interesting but not surprising ... i am one of those people that signed on a while ago, and never went back .... at the time, i just wanted to see what the hype was, but now i have a different interest in the place .... tnx again ... cr****

[canexplain]

clarky, i originally thought we were for sure coming over there next year for the summer fests, but now it is up in the air ... if we do, i will pick your brain for some info on the europe fests also .... cr***

[clarky123]

clarky, i originally thought we were for sure coming over there next year for the summer fests, but now it is up in the air ... if we do, i will pick your brain for some info on the europe fests also .... cr***

No worries. Currently, this weekend, we have Reading Festival on, here is the lineup - some names you guys will be familiar with there too:

http://www.readingfestival.com/images/pix/Lineup_Reading_2007.jpg

[canexplain]

No worries. Currently, this weekend, we have Reading Festival on, here is the lineup - some names you guys will be familiar with there too:

http://www.readingfestival.com/images/pix/Lineup_Reading_2007.jpg

wow, i want to go this year ... clarky, so i would guess you are not a weather man, but for this show for instance, is it suppose to rain there this weekend? what we dont want to do , is slosh in the rain and mud for 3 or 4 days ... getting a little too old for that .... cr****

[clarky123]

wow, i want to go this year ... clarky, so i would guess you are not a weather man, but for this show for instance, is it suppose to rain there this weekend? what we dont want to do , is slosh in the rain and mud for 3 or 4 days ... getting a little too old for that .... cr****

They nearly called it off and I think they almost pulled some of if not all of the camping due to recent flooding. It's not raining at the moment tho. Its not like coach, they have dogs in there on string leads n' shit!

[canexplain]

They nearly called it off and I think they almost pulled some of if not all of the camping due to recent flooding. It's not raining at the moment tho. Its not like coach, they have dogs in there on string leads n' shit!

if you mean like drug dogs, boy that reminds me of wakarusa 2 years ago .... i say, let everyone in, lock the gate, and let em party .... cr****

[Stefinitely Maybe]

I swear this is a true story: I met a girl at a party about 6 weeks ago and I thought she was kind of cute and asked her out. So we went out for dinner and the conversation got around to the topic of previous relationships. I asked her how she had met her ex and she said "You might think it's weird" and I smiled and said "Don't be silly, just tell me", and she said "We met on Second Life". I then had to ask her what Second Life was, and she tried to explain it to me. She said she had "met" her ex whilst "walking around" in Second Life, and they had "got talking" and "gone to a bar together" and things went from there. So I asked her how soon after meeting in Second Life they had met in real life, and she said "We didn't" and I said "What?" and she said "We never met in real life. He lives in Germany". I was stunned and asked her how long the relationship had lasted, and she said 3 months. I said "Didn't you want to meet him in real life, or 'be intimate'?" and she said "Our sex life was great, we had sex in Second Life every night, and sometimes attended orgies in there, or went to fetish clubs and stuff. It didn't really bother me that we couldn't meet in real life." It was around this time that I decided this chick was not girlfriend material, and I finished my meal and left soon afterwards, and we are no longer in touch.

[canexplain]

I swear this is a true story: I met a girl at a party about 6 weeks ago and I thought she was kind of cute and asked her out. So we went out for dinner and the conversation got around to the topic of previous relationships. I asked her how she had met her ex and she said "You might think it's weird" and I smiled and said "Don't be silly, just tell me", and she said "We met on Second Life". I then had to ask her what Second Life was, and she tried to explain it to me. She said she had "met" her ex whilst "walking around" in Second Life, and they had "got talking" and "gone to a bar together" and things went from there. So I asked her how soon after meeting in Second Life they had met in real life, and she said "We didn't" and I said "What?" and she said "We never met in real life. He lives in Germany". I was stunned and asked her how long the relationship had lasted, and she said 3 months. I said "Didn't you want to meet him in real life, or 'be intimate'?" and she said "Our sex life was great, we had sex in Second Life every night, and sometimes attended orgies in there, or went to fetish clubs and stuff. It didn't really bother me that we couldn't meet in real life." It was around this time that I decided this chick was not girlfriend material, and I finished my meal and left soon afterwards, and we are no longer in touch.


great story and i agree with you ... cyber is ok, but only up to a point ... i dated a gal i met online for almost 8 years and we didnt meet until we had "known" each other online for almost 6 months ... it worked out pretty well, cept i had to fly out to the bay every 3 weeks, but if we were only cyber friends and she was "it", i think i would have had to pick up a hobby :) cr****

[Alchemy]

I'll never trust the internets. I'm deathly afraid of the angles.

[amyzzz]

They have orgies on Second Life? That's a little weird. I was going to post a pic of the cover from the book Snow Crash, but Stef's post kinda threw me.

[Alchemy]

Link. (http://www.guardian.co.uk/france/story/0,,1994882,00.html)

Exploding pigs and volleys of gunfire as Le Pen opens HQ in virtual world

Violent clashes have erupted in an online world over the arrival of Le Pen's national front

Oliver Burkeman in Porcupine
Saturday January 20, 2007
The Guardian

The streets of Porcupine were tranquil yesterday; a handful of locals strolled through its shopping malls, the sun was shining, and a light breeze blew in from over the hills. There were few hints of the fact that, only days before, the neighbourhood had been the scene of violent clashes between rightwing extremists and anti-Nazi protesters - running battles involving gunfire and bombs that might easily have cost lives were it not for the fact that Porcupine does not, in most commonly accepted senses of the term, exist.

A lesson you quickly learn upon entering the online virtual world of Second Life, however, is that non-existence is less of an impediment than might be supposed.

It hasn't stopped the development of a fully-featured alternative universe in which Second Life's 2.4 million registered users build houses, set up businesses, form clubs and societies, hold parties and have sex. And it did not prevent protest from spilling over into aggression when the Front National, the far-right French group led by Jean-Marie Le Pen, became the first European political party to open a headquarters within Second Life.

"The first night I arrived at the protest ... it was ringed on all sides by protesters with signs to wave and statements to distribute," wrote James Au, whose website, New World Notes, reports on events in Second Life. "By the second night I came ... the conflict had become more literal, for many residents had armed themselves. Multi-coloured explosions and constant gunfire shredded the air of Porcupine." Some activists threw exploding pigs.

"This nationalist idea that Front National is advocating is something that has spread all over Europe like a virus," a protester, using the name Ichi Jaehun, told Mr Au. "It's [as if] the history of the 20th century has already been forgotten. It is time to say enough!"

A group calling itself Second Life Left Unity issued press releases explaining that it had purchased land next to the Front National office, and would be "manning a protest there until FN go or are ejected. Wherever fascists are, we will ensure they get no peace to corrupt and lie to decent people".

A few days later, the Front National building had vanished altogether, leaving only a few protest placards showing Mr Le Pen - who made it through to the final round of the last real-world French presidential election in 2002 - wearing a Hitler moustache.

It was probably inevitable that political confrontation would arrive in Second Life in the end. It is already home to one of the most potentially revolutionary developments on the internet in recent years - a vibrant economy in which residents use a virtual currency, Linden dollars, to buy and sell goods and services, including clothes for their online characters, works of art, buildings, and financial advice.

Because users retain legal ownership of the things they create, and because Linden dollars can be turned into US dollars via an exchange operated by Linden Lab, the company behind Second Life, the virtual-world businesses have real-world value. Numerous real firms have opened outlets in Second Life, and a woman living in Germany has reportedly become its first dollar millionaire - from the property development business she runs inside Second Life.

And so it was not such a stretch to imagine that political parties might soon want to get in on the action. The US Congress held an opening ceremony in Second Life earlier this month to coincide with the one in Washington - an event marked by a discussion forum held "in-world," to use Second Life's jargon, by a character controlled by the senior Democratic congressman George Miller. (The news was reported by Reuters, which operates a bureau inside Second Life.)

The UK Independence Party has also promised to open a headquarters in-world. "The other parties are devoid of fresh thinking, and I fully expect them now to copy us and follow our lead," said Ukip supporter Chad Noble, who is in charge of the project.

The Guardian's "avatar", or on-screen character, tracked down the Front National to Axel, another region in Second Life, where they had rebuilt their headquarters and were engaging a handful of opponents in relatively restrained debate. "Le Pen is the son of Hitler," one protester ventured. "I know lots of people descended from immigrants who vote for the Front National because they're not ashamed to be French," a Le Pen supporter countered, "and I think you'll be surprised at how many people of an immigrant background vote for Le Pen at the next election."

Debate has raged in Second Life as to whether the Front National's presence violates the terms of service that all users must accept on signing up. (Linden Lab was not commenting yesterday.) Race hate is against the regulations. But while Front National members including Mr Le Pen have been convicted of inciting racial hatred in France, it wasn't clear that any avatars had been guilty of it inside Second Life. Should a conviction in one universe carry over into another? Does the question even make sense?

Where do the boundaries of reality lie? And do you have a throbbing headache yet?

Cyber spaces

The growing buzz around Second Life has convinced businesses, politicians and charities to join in:

· Computer giant IBM believes virtual worlds will have a huge impact on business and society. It runs workshops, parties and even business meetings in Second Life

· The BBC ran a series of concerts in the game last spring, with Muse, Razorlight, left, and Gnarls Barkley

· Reuters runs its own news bureau, with virtual reporter Adam Reuters

· The Center for Public Diplomacy at the University of Southern California has bought its own island in Second Life to see how productive political work inside cyberspace can be

· Save the Children runs a "Yak Shak" where charitable Lifers can spend 1,000 Linden dollars (£1.80) to buy a digitised yak

· Californian Democrat George Miller held an in-game press conference on a virtual Capitol Hill to mark the start of the new congressional period this month

· TV production firm Endemol is reported to be creating a virtual Big Brother show - though it is not clear whether Jade Goody will be making a virtual appearance

Bobbie Johnson

[PotVsKtl]

I'm pretty sure orgies are the only thing they have in Second Life. It's a total waste of time. Major companies spent a lot of money setting up headquarters there and they are constantly deserted. There was an article about it in Wired recently. Forget it.

[Ardentbiscuit]

The company I work for as part of their technology push set up a second life store front. I don't really see the point.

Honestly, I need to get my first life off the ground before I start my second life. :)

I remember when they had that concert in second life where bands played live (supposidly) and I thought. Wow, that's pointless. Might as well listen to the CD, MP3, etc. instead of walking a bunch in a virtual world to jockey for a spot to hear pre-recorded music...