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virtual worlds
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Virtual Worlds
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virtual worlds
caption contest
Furry, the other white meat
Further confirmation that if you build a virtual world like Google's new Lively, it will be instantly populated by anthropomorphised animal avatars — also known as furries. In the future, all cats will be bipedal and wear pirate outfits with cowboy hats. Have a better caption? The best one will become the new headline.Yesterday's winner: "Steve Jurvetson is guy you can let your hair down with" by RonMwangaguhunga. (Photo by bellbind.bellbind)
google
New 3D virtual world Lively launches
Lively from Google is yet another 3D virtual world, kind of like Second Life but as yet unpopulated by furries or Goreans — completely virgin virtual land for griefers from like the clever goons at Something Awful to terrorize! But rather than an expansive, open-ended universe, Lively is a collection of individual "rooms" which you can then embed on third-party Web sites. Though it's not a browser-based application but a Windows-only download — so you'll have to wait just a bit before I can confirm whether or not you can "cyber," gamble or run ponzi schemes. You can, at least, feel up other users: 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
2,724 views,
9 comments
Latest by n/a: Played SL for over 3 years now. Met an absolute wonderful person in the game, and will soon marry him in real life (yes a story for the grandchildren for sure)...so as you can imagine SL holds quite a sentimental more »
virtual worlds
The flying penis menace moves offline in Russia
In a stunt reminiscent of something from Second Life, an unknown perpetrator let loose a remote-controlled flying dildo at a speech yesterday by Garry Kasparov, the famed chess champion defeated by IBM's Deep Blue who now heads up Other Russia, an opposition party that seeks to wrest power from the Kremlin government dominated by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. As Andy Baio at Waxy points out, it's unclear if the pranksters knew about the infamous interview between Second Life baron Anshe Chung and CNET reporter Daniel Terdiman, video from which is embedded after the jump. More »
virtual worlds
Congressman Mark Kirk, a Second Life critic, employed Julia Allison
Mark Kirk, the Illinois Congressman who wants Second Life banned from schools and libraries, has more than a passing familiarity with virtual reality, illusion, and the construction of self. In 2000, Star magazine editor-at-large Julia Allison, then known as Julia Baugher, worked for Kirk, a family friend, as a legislative aide, and was maid of honor at his wedding.
Recently released EA Land virtual world already shuttered
In an attempt to rebrand The Sims Online, Electronic Arts renamed their massively multiplayer online doohickey EA Land. Now the site redirects to the project blog, which laments but does not explain the closure. [News.com]
In an attempt to rebrand The Sims Online, Electronic Arts renamed their massively multiplayer online doohickey EA Land. Now the site redirects to the project blog, which laments but does not explain the closure. [News.com]
virtual worlds
Apple leveraging cyberspace to reach growing meth-addict shut-in demo
A patent application filed last week suggests that Apple plans to sell the company's high-margin fetish objects in 3D virtual worlds. Now your avatar can put on skinny jeans and a colorfully-printed hoodie and spend your money in an ephemeral simulacrum of the Apple retail experience — even if you live in Humptulips, Washington, hundreds of miles from one of the company's real-world boutiques. Coincidentally, a methamphetamine epidemic is raging in places underserved by Genius Bars. Luckily, Apple knows how to reach that demo: More »
virtual worlds
Disney virtual theme park closing -- wait, how do we tell the difference?
If any media concern seemed destined to prosper in the business of virtual worlds, it was surely Disney. Its Virtual Magic Kingdom, created as a one-off to promote Disneyland's 50th anniversary, proved popular enough that Disney kept it open. Now, however, it's closing, with the nonsensical explanation that it was meant to close all along. An online petition predictably failed to sway Disney managers, and the site is closing on April 21. The number of players has dropped from 1 million after launch to roughly 250,000 today, and Disney would just as soon have them join its more successful Toontown. A virtual Magic Kingdom, after all, might substitute for a trip to the actual theme park. A fake real thing threatening a real fake thing? Only on the Internet, folks, only on the Internet.
Chadrick loves speaking to nobody
Valleywag mascot Chadrick Baker addresses the crowd at a recent virtual-reality conference. Suggest your caption in the comments [Tech Tucked Under a Wing]
virtual worlds
Are Second Life users on drugs?
As a business, Second Life is a bust. As a technology, the virtual world is a joke. Using snake-oil metaphors to describe it would seem an injustice against toxic cure-alls — were that not Second Life's new marketing peg. The autistic and near-autistic with Asperger's syndrome are flocking to Second Life to learn how to interact with other human beings, CNN reports. This follows Newsweek's discovery last July of Second Life as therapy for the housebound. A suggestion for Benchmark Capital and the other VCs who sank money into this boondoggle: Why not market it as the next Prozac, and sell it to Eli Lilly? That seem easier.
chadrick baker
Valleywag mascot awarded second meaningless title
We're so proud! Chadrick Baker, the omniphilic gadabout who replaced Robert Scoble in our obsessions, has been named an advisory board member by the Association of Virtual Worlds. "The three dimensional Internet will emerge, and it's those who get involved now who will be considered the new early adopters," says our mascot, who used to work as Second Life's policy bad cop at Linden Lab. Got it! Attention, annoying VRML kids who worked at BigBook in the 1990s: You're officially the old early adopters. But somehow, I bet that Chadrick still loves you.
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 »
geek love
Chadrick, the new Robert Scoble, loves everything
The best thing about drunkblogging? When people send in detailed corrections about your alcohol-addled ramblings. Chadrick Baker, lover of tech women, lover of the Internet, now informs me that his affections are unlimited. I'm appointing him Valleywag's new mascot, replacing Robert Scoble. His email, after the jump: More »
"Second Life is slowing down and taking investors with it." — Blogger Adrian Crook during his "Free to Play" panel at the Game Developer's Conference. He says businesses in the virtual world are being forced to shut down because there isn't the population to support them.
virtual worlds
Teens, engage in a virtual circle jerk at Gaia Online
Anime-flavored virtual world Gaia Online started up "Gaia VJ," a service which lets you watch video on the Internet with friends, late last year. Fed by video repositories like YouTube, iFilm and MetaCafe, Gaia VJ allows teens to create video playlists and share them with friends in exchange for in-game currency. (You're paid to watch!) There's no surprise that when offered an all-access pass to the glories of the Web, Gaia's young users choose videos include "Cute Lesbians" and "NOOBS CAUGHT CYBERING." To be fair, clips from Mulan and The Lion King are lovingly sandwiched between "anybody can have sex" and "Yaoi gay 18 and Over ONLY please." At least this virtual world has found an effective way to retain its users.
virtual worlds
IBM has ended the climate crisis by making an educational virtual world for teens.
IBM solves global warming once and for all
IBM has ended the climate crisis by making an educational virtual world for teens.
