philip rosedale

Second Life's death knell

Google has shut down Lively, a service where people log on to chat and explore 3D virtual spaces, after a few short months. The MBAs of Silicon Valley have a pat phrase for the arrival of a competitor on the scene: They say it "validates their space." What does it say, then, that Lively is gone? It means that Second Life, the best known of these unreal universes, is doomed, too. More »

10:40 AM on Thu Nov 20 2008
By Owen Thomas
8,632 views, 46 comments

Most discussed That-Username-is-Already-Taken: If Google shut down Knol, Would Wikipedia need to worry? What about their social network (whose name I can't even remember) more »

virtual worlds

If Second Life throws a fifth anniversary party and no avatars are there to hear it, does it make that annoying typing sound?

Second Life, the 3D virtual world favored by furries and the digital departments of ad agencies desperate to convince clients how cutting-edge they are, is celebrating its fifth anniversary this year. In that time, little has changed — the same poorly-rendered polygons and textures move through the same largely empty world, where quite honestly the most innovative users have been the griefers who turn up at any of the arranged publicity events featuring corporate shills and politicians desperate to convince anyone how cutting-edge they are. Linden Lab may shuffle on like a zombie, but that doesn't change the fact that it's time for a post-mortem. More »

5:00 PM on Tue Jun 24 2008
By Jackson West
2,929 views, 9 comments

Latest by CH2509: Played SL for over 3 years now. Met an absolute wonderful person in the game, and will soon marry him more »

second life

The 5 real blunders of Philip Rosedale's virtual career

Despite a silver-tongued PR team capable of spinning any irrelevant Second Life happening into a New York Times story, former Linden Lab CEO Philip Rosedale couldn't save himself from the downside of the virtual hype cycle. His "life's work" has become a punchline. Here are the five mistakes that added up to cost Rosedale his job.
More »

3:40 PM on Fri Mar 14 2008
By Mary Jane Irwin
2,462 views, 3 comments

Latest by EnerHax: and so arrogance negates his passion? 1 in 1,000 make 5 figures, that sounds better that World of Warcraft, more »

second life

Linden Lab CEO stepping down

Linden Lab CEO Philip Rosedale is stepping down as CEO. The Benchmark Capital-backed company is looking for a new chief with more operational and management experience. "This is my life's work. I'm not going anywhere, and I'm still full-time on this, probably for the rest of my life," says Rosedale, shown here as his Second Life alter ego. The story was broken by the Reuters Second Life news center within Second Life. This is likely the only news ever broken by the bureau that you'll care about.

10:00 AM on Fri Mar 14 2008
By Jordan Golson
1,156 views, 12 comments

Latest by Davion: Attention Benchmark Capital: former Facebook COO Owen Van Natta is looking for a CEO position! Perfect fit! more »

i hate it here

San Francisco is just like Second Life

Gavin Newsom, San Francisco's freshly reelected god-mayor, descended into the bowels of Second Life for a quaint fireside chat with Philip Rosedale, CEO of Linden Lab. What lofty matters could a city mayor and the chieftain of a seamy virtual world possibly have to discuss? Why, the parallels between the "two famously diverse and tech-savvy communities with global profiles," of course. As Newsom said during their discourse, "We're all geeks." But the comparisons don't stop there. San Francisco is exactly like Second Life. More »

12:34 PM on Wed Jan 9 2008
By Mary Jane Irwin
2,665 views, 10 comments

Latest by kookoobird: There is actually a hobo village in SL. Every bit as filthy, just no risk of tetanus. more »

linden lab

Is Philip Rosedale a media vampire?

How else to explain the Linden Lab CEO's waxy complexion? He's the unending leader of an unholy company which laughs at death, and sustains itself through artificial means — PR, that is. To maintain that unhealthy glow, he's preying on unsuspecting technology journalists, sucking out all common sense and journalistic curiosity and turning them into willing propaganda puppets. His silver tongue already scored a succulent piece in the BBC, and now David Kirkpatrick of Fortune has fallen under Rosedale's sway. More »

12:20 PM on Fri Dec 21 2007
By Mary Jane Irwin
470 views, 3 comments

Latest by Randolf: The architecture of SecondLife is shameful. The fact that Rosedale et. al. refer to their data bloat as a more »

linden lab

Philip Rosedale, master of damage control

Just when things turn bleak for Second Life maker Linden Lab — CTO Cory Ondrejka recently "left" the company — CEO Philip Rosedale manages to pull a fluff piece out of the BBC. He's previously denied he has anything to do with timing these media wet kisses, but we're skeptical. Perhaps it's his boyish charm and ability to spin numbers — or the fact that these media outlets are easily impressed by the whizzes and bangs of virtual worlds. More »

3:19 PM on Fri Dec 14 2007
By Mary Jane Irwin
600 views, 1 comment

Latest by ram.perpe: Sadly this seems to be the last nail in the second life adventure coffin, As much as I grumbled on more »

second life

Linden Lab fires chief technology officer

Looks like all those problems in the big empty known as Second Life — the virtual world's confounding user interface, poor graphics, and high attrition rate — aren't going to get fixed anytime soon. Word comes via tipster that Linden Lab chief technology officer Cory Ondrejka, the dude who ostensibly runs the virtual world's tech, has left over "differences in opinion." The official line from founder and CEO Philip Rosedale states that Ondrejka is leaving at the end of this year "in order to pursue new professional challenges." As Rosedale poetically put it, their paths lie in different directions. Ah, the road not taken — like a path to a meaningful business. Anyone have more deets?

5:44 PM on Tue Dec 11 2007
By Mary Jane Irwin
1,900 views, 2 comments

Latest by Trackback: Some links to kick off your Wednesday: * Cerberus reportedly has followed J.C. Flowers out of the running for Northern more »

nerdspotting

The Lobby's leisurely entrepreneurs

While other startup founders have to stay home and, you know, work, these guys have the time and the spare $3,000 to spend hanging out at a zero-agenda conference in Hawaii. (For the record, we're jealous.) Spotted in Yahoo executive Bradley Horowitz's Flickr stream: Benchmark entrepreneur-in-waiting Nirav Tolia; "stepped-up" LinkedIn chairman Reid Hoffman; FeedBurner founder Dick Costolo, who's rolling in Googlebucks; Linden Lab CEO Philip Rosedale; Evan Williams from Twitter; Mashery's Oren Michels; and
Kevin Rose (and his new haircut) from Digg with Joshua Schachter from the Yahoo-owned Del.icio.us. One question: Is this really Meebo CEO Seth Sternberg? I don't recognize him looking so unnerdly. (Photo by: bradley23)

3:53 PM on Thu Oct 25 2007
By Megan McCarthy
554 views, 3 comments

Latest by World of Warcraft Map Guy: Looks like all the photos are now marked private. more »

media relations

Second Life gets a well-deserved drubbing in Time

Linden Lab CEO Philip Rosedale is learning, the hard way, how a charm offensive can turn, well, offensive. The man behind virtual world Second Life may have staged BusinessWeek's glowing visions of the future and Newsweek's virtual wet kiss, but now comes the backlash. Following Wired's recent expose on fleeting marketers, Time's Kristina Dell takes a crack at taking out Second Life. More »

12:28 PM on Mon Aug 13 2007
By Mary Jane Irwin
1,056 views, 1 comment

Latest by seanpercival: Yes AA should should stick to the semi porn ads you find here at VW. Nothing gets me ready for more »

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