Watch out, all you Second Life wannabe marketing types, CMP Technology, the big, bad technology trade publisher is on the scene. CMP is now a certified, card carrying Linden Lab content developer. This lets CMP stage virtual events — like its Life 2.0 nonconference — and build them for other brands. It's like having a license to kill (brain cells, that is).

As John Jainschigg, CMP's director of online technology, explains, CMP is preparing itself for the year 2011, at which point, some neophytes believe, 80 percent of the Internet will reside in the much-dreaded 3-D metaverse. Shocked that Life 2.0 could attract 1,000 attendees, companies are, according to Jainschigg, approaching CMP for custom builds of its faux-conference platform. Never mind the utter failures of brand marketers like Coca-Cola in Second Life; if you've ever been to a real-life tech tradeshow, you'll know that the virtual version can only be an improvement.