My Second Life Car is a Scion

Toyota launched two new models of their 'trendy' Scion line automobiles yesterday at both the Chicago Auto Show and within the flying penis covered wilderness of Second Life. They held simultaneous press conferences to introduce the newly redesigned xB and the brand new xD Scion models. Money makes the virtual world go round, so now users can buy virtual for virtual money in 'Scion City', and then customize them with all different kinds of accessories. I expect to see some very interesting gearshifts in the near future.

Last year Toyota launched virtual Scions in Whyville, opting this year to hold the event somewhere people have actually heard of.

So many questions I have. Why buy a car when your character can fly? For role-playing purposes? Speaking of role-playing, can two avatars fit in the backseat? Can you have virtual sex in a virtual car within a virtual world, and if so do you have to buy virtual upholstery shampoo to get the seats clean afterwards?

From CNN.com

Can Second Life Solve Classroom Crowding?

In a report from Sun Microsystem’s Worldwide Education and Research Conference (which is taking place now in San Francisco), CNET News makes an interesting point about Second Life, the virtual world that’s becoming increasingly popular with colleges. To some campus officials, Second Life may still seem like a novelty. But to administrators at large, public universities, the technology offers a possible solution to classroom overcrowding.



The California State University system, for example, is worried that rising enrollment will put a pinch on classroom space. So Charles B. Reed, the system’s chancellor, says he expects his students to become more like telecommuters — meeting with professors and classmates once a week and spending the rest of their time downloading course work and hanging out in virtual worlds.

Mazda Hakaze Design Concept to be Launched at Second Life

Mazda’s latest concept car Mazda Hakaze will soon be driving through cyberspace on NagareIslandat Second Life and Mazda Motor Europe wants you to join in the fun.

Mazda Hakaze expresses an exciting new design language called Nagare, created by Mazda’s new global design director, Laurens van den Acker. It was designed at Mazda’s European Design Centre near Frankfurt, Germany, and is the third concept to be shown this auto show season – following Mazda Nagare (shown at
the LA Auto Show this past November) and Mazda Ryuga (shown at the Detroit Motor Show just one month ago).



“Nagare is about expressing motion, energy and beauty, in ways that people connect with, and Second Life is one of the Internet’s best interactive venues,” said van den Acker.“Of course we love the idea of giving people the chance to connect with and drive our latest concept – virtually, rather than in reality, of course.”

In 2003, the UScompany LindenLab created Second Life, a virtual 3-D continent that now has about 3 million inhabitants from around the globe. It is one of the fastest-growing “countries” in cyberspace and boasts an average of 15,000 users at any given moment. You can find more details at www.secondlife.com.

“Mazda Hakaze and Second Life are a perfect match,” says Peter Birtwhistle, Chief Designer at Mazda Motor Europe. “Hakaze is a cool, compact crossover with roadster feel, and NagareIslandwill be a great place for people to do a virtual drive and just chill out with others. And there are several exciting surprises in store as well.”

Article from Duemotori.com

Vodafone's Second Life interactive island opens

Vodafone is reaffirming its commitment to Second Life, the virtual online world, with the official opening of an interactive island.

The island is part of the telecoms company's "Make the most of now" strategy and is designed to help as part of Vodafone's ongoing brand building. The island has been developed by advertising agency Bartle Bogle Hegarty with Rivers Run Red.

Visitors to island will be able to experience features such as "photographic ice skating", "butterfly flights" and a user-generated "sound garden".

The sound garden gives residents an "intense sensory experience" as they make their own music depending on the direction they are facing, the number of residents in the same space and the direction of movement, so that more residents co-operate the sound becomes richer and more varied.

BBH and Rivers Run Red will be keeping the island updated with regular up-loads of further features and events.

David Erixon, head of brand strategy and manifestation, Vodafone says : "The launch of the island marks an important point in the evolution of Vodafone's 'make the most of now' brand strategy and we hope that it delivers something of real benefit to the Second Life community. In the long term we are looking to engage even more fully with the community, further opening up communication channels between real and virtual life."

Earlier this month, as reported exclusively on marketingweek.co.uk, Vodafone rolled out a new telecoms service which means residents can call each other via virtual mobiles, as well as "punch out" into the real world and speak to friends outside Second Life.

Life's dangers in Second Life

Ailin Graef, reportedly the first person to become a real-life millionaire through Second Life, knows first-hand what it's like to be on the victim end of a "griefing," or being harassed while in a virtual world.

Last month, she had just started an interview in Second Life with CNET, the network devoted to all things tech. Suddenly, she and interviewer Daniel Sadville were bombarded by sexually graphic images. A hacker had broken into the system and rained anarchy on Graef's parade for 15 minutes.

This incident underscored the dangers of a site like Second Life, which could mirror and magnify those of the Internet in general. The San Francisco Chronicle recently speculated what might happen if another avatar approached yours in Second Life and, using your real name instead of your protective SL pseudonym, said, "I know who you are. I know where you live."

"Technology moves a lot faster than the law and the culture," said technology and privacy expert David Holtzman, a former chief technology officer at Network Solutions and author of "Privacy Lost: How Technology Is Endangering Your Privacy." "Second Life does two things that are interesting. They charge you for real estate and they don't claim intellectual property over people that build on their site. So you have some lady making $65,000 designing dresses on Second Life and both are in danger from hackers."

Holtzman said he's a fan of SL, but warned users they shouldn't get so wrapped up in the fantasy that they forget reality. Hackers from outside the site as well as other "in world" users could pose a danger. "People act like they're in their bedroom, because they're typing in their bedroom," he said. "But (it's more like) they're in Marseilles, at two in the morning, walking around drunk on the docks."

Second Life does have explicit terms of service that, if violated, can get a user kicked off. "If you're caught, you're banned from everything," said Catherine Smith, Linden Lab's marketing director.

In addition to harassment and hacking, Holtzman worried about companies being spied on while having virtual meetings in SL. And he would also like to have the "rights" of an avatar legally spelled out, though he's not hopeful that will happen soon. "I cannot imagine this particular Congress debating avatar privacy as one of their issues," he said.

Currently, Linden Lab is the arbiter of virtual justice in Second Life, but as the site grows beyond its ability to handle all disputes, it would like to see some sort of court system evolve organically out of the users themselves. A Linden Lab spokesperson conceded that complaints about griefing and other issues are "a regular occurrence" as there are upward of 20,000 people on the site at any given time.

"In the real world, you're safe not so much because of the cops but because of the neighbors and the community," said Holtzman. "I believe Second Life is going to be the place where those kinds of communities are going to develop."

Of course, there's the obvious complaint that Second Life — like television and video games before it or the Internet in general — is just another isolating agent, another barrier between people and the real world. But Second Lifers aren't buying it.

"The online world is as real as the physical," said Anne Beamish of the University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture. Beamish, a professor in the graduate program in Community and Regional Planning, has had students do class projects in Second Life. "If you're there, it's real," she said.

"A lot of people can't leave their house or can't participate in real life," said Linden Lab's Smith. "And Second Life is real. There are real people behind every avatar."

"If you're substituting it for your TV time, what's the difference?" asked Gary Leland of Arlington, Texas, who keeps one of his computers logged into Second Life much of the day and devotes roughly a couple of hours per day to the site. "Now you're at least talking to someone."

But he doesn't quite understand those who go "clubbing" or engage in more intimate SL activities. "My wife gives me a hard time about it. There are lonely people, I guess," he laughs, recalling a time he teleported into a room where, it turned out, avatars were having sex. "I said, 'I don't know what's going on, but I'm getting out of here.'"

Article from "Stater Online"

Rough Sex in Second Life

People having sex in Second Life is nothing new... or surprising. Put enough people together in one place, virtually or physically, and they'll figure out how to have sex. I wouldn't be surprised if people have cybered using Morse Code.

Despite how jaded I've become to cybersex, I was fascinated by a recent column by Destiny Welles about BDSM in Second Life for The Register.

Destiny, a self-described bi-sexual, describes how an in-game encounter with another woman helped her to achieve an epiphany about bondage and discipline, domination and submission and sadism and masochism.

She could have asked me to read about BDSM and submission; she could have talked to me about it, explained it at length; and that could have gone on for months without my ever getting it. But instead, she made me experience what she experiences as a sub. And thus I understood it immediately and knew instinctively how to bring it about for her.

She did this to me because she's in love with me, and there's nothing more beautiful to a sub than to have the woman she truly loves become her Mistress. I began to dominate her during sex, and this brought us closer than we had ever been, a development that I didn't think was even possible, so close and so intimate had we become already.

After about a week of this, I sensed that she needed to go further. As her lover - and a damned conscientious one at that, I don't mind saying - I naturally want to do everything that gives her pleasure and happiness. And I grasped instinctively that I would have to collar her to give her all that she wants and needs and deserves.

And so I took her. Today she wears my collar with pride, with joy, and with utter devotion. The collar is scripted and allows me to control her avatar completely, which she loves to experience. But I've got to be clear: I did this for her, as a lover whose only desire is to give her pleasure. I did this to serve her, this wonderful lover whose orgasms I enjoy more than my own. Thus I didn't make her my slave; rather, she made me her Missy. I am, literally, an accidental Mistress.

The sub makes the Dom/me, it's clear to me now. The sub is not weak; indeed, the personal strength required to submit fully is extraordinary, and commands the utmost respect. Domination is service, and submission is liberation. That sounds Orwellian, and it might well be. A current of Fascism runs through BDSM, concealed beneath layers of Medieval veneer. I will return to this in a future column; but for now, I accept what is apparent, if not rational, in this relationship: the Dom/me has the control, but the sub has the power. I feel it, I experience it, and whether it makes sense or it doesn't, I believe it.

It's an intriguing, and of course quite erotic.

Article from "The Register"

Dangers appear in the virtual world

Ailin Graef, reportedly the first person to become a real-life millionaire through Second Life, knows firsthand what it's like to be on the victim end of a ``griefing,'' or being harassed while in a virtual world.

Last month, she had just started an interview in Second Life with CNet Networks, which is devoted to all things tech. Suddenly, she and interviewer Daniel Sadville were bombarded by sexually graphic images. A hacker had broken into the system and rained anarchy on Graef's parade for 15 minutes.

This incident underscores the dangers of an online fantasy site like Second Life, which could mirror and magnify those of the Internet in general.

``Technology moves a lot faster than the law and the culture,'' says technology and privacy expert David Holtzman, a former chief technology officer at Network Solutions and author of ``Privacy Lost: How Technology Is Endangering Your Privacy.'' ``Second Life does two things that are interesting. They charge you for real estate and they don't claim intellectual property over people that build on their site. So you have some lady making $65,000 designing dresses on Second Life and both are in danger from hackers.''

Holtzman says he's a fan of Second Life but warns users they shouldn't get so wrapped up in the fantasy that they forget reality. Hackers from outside the site as well as other ``in world'' users could pose a danger. ``People act like they're in their bedroom, because they're typing in their bedroom,'' he says. ``But (it's more like) they're in Marseilles, at 2 in the morning, walking around drunk on the docks.''

Second Life does have explicit terms of service that, if violated, can get a user kicked off. ``If you're caught, you're banned from everything,'' says Catherine Smith, Linden Lab's marketing director.

In addition to harassment and hacking, Holtzman worries about companies being spied on while having virtual meetings in Second Life. And he would also like to have the ``rights'' of an avatar legally spelled out, though he's not hopeful that will happen soon. ``I cannot imagine this particular Congress debating avatar privacy as one of their issues,'' he says.

Currently, Linden Lab is the arbiter of virtual justice in Second Life, but as the site grows beyond its ability to handle all disputes, it would like to see some sort of court system evolve organically out of the users themselves. A Linden Lab representative concedes that complaints are ``a regular occurrence'' as there are upward of 20,000 people on the site at any given time.

Of course, there's the obvious complaint that Second Life -- like television and video games before it or the Internet in general -- is just another isolating agent, another barrier between people and the real world. But Second Lifers aren't buying it.

``The online world is as real as the physical,'' says Anne Beamish of the University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture. Beamish, a professor in the graduate program in Community and Regional Planning, has had students do class projects in Second Life.

``A lot of people can't leave their house or can't participate in real life,'' says Linden Lab's Smith. ``And Second Life is real. There are real people behind every avatar.''

Gary Leland of Arlington, Texas, who devotes a couple of hours a day to the site, says he doesn't quite understand those who go ``clubbing'' or engage in more intimate virtual activities. ``My wife gives me a hard time about it. There are lonely people, I guess,'' he laughs, recalling a time he teleported into a room where, it turned out, avatars were having sex. ``I said, `I don't know what's going on, but I'm getting out of here.' ''

Article from "MercuryNews.com"

Virtual world, backed by eBay and Amazon execs, has more than two million residents

So I show up, first time in the place, and this fox is speaking to me.

Not talking here about the way-old-school slang for a beautiful woman but something closer to Animal Planet than the Playboy Channel. Bushy tail. Canine features. The works.

Can't remember exactly what the conversation was -- a mere exchange of passing pleasantries before it walked off -- but the whole thing left an unsettling feeling, like this could really get weird. Like I'd fallen through the looking glass and Alice definitely wasn't living here anymore.

That's because it was my first foray into Second Life, the buzzed-about and controversial online role-playing and social-networking site that's being hailed as the next YouTube, the next thing to bedazzle the tech-savvy and befuddle the technophobes.

Sort of a combination of My Space, The Sims and Monopoly with the three-dimensional touch of Star Trek's holodecks and the videogame World of Warcraft, Second Life is not a competitive pursuit -- even though it's technically what's called a "massively multiplayer online game" -- as much as an alternative state.

Users choose a fictional name and create an avatar, an animated version of themselves that can walk, run and dance, and then are dropped into a landscape where they interact with others' avatars, including those of real-life friends who are also "in world," buy or sell Second Life land, set up businesses, build houses, buy clothes, work a job, go bar-hopping, make art and, yes, even some NC-17 activities. It's free to join but potentially expensive -- in the site's made-up Linden dollars or in real currency -- if you want a super kickin' SL lifestyle. Just like real life.

And if that doesn't sound all that much different from everyone's first life, it's their life buffed to perfection.

You can be whomever -- or whatever -- you want. You can fly. You can teleport. No taxes. No politicians. No war. No terror. No War on Terror.

But there is plenty of hype.

Hatched in 2000 by a San Francisco company called Linden Lab, which didn't make the site publicly accessible until 2003, Second Life includes eBay co-founder Pierre Omidyar and Amazon pioneer Jeffrey Bezos as backers.

Major companies and organizations -- from Dell and MTV to the American Cancer Society -- are flocking to the site to set up "islands," worlds within the world dedicated to their products.

Former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner and Sun Microsystems have held press conferences in Second Life. Reuters news agency even has a reporter "embedded" in Second Life full time.

Although most of the site's 2 million-plus residents conduct their commerce in Linden dollars, some are raking in real money. Last fall, Linden Lab CEO Philip Rosedale estimated that $1.5 million (in actual currency) changes hands through Second Life monthly. In November, a German woman named Ailin Graef -- known on the site as Anshe Chung -- reportedly became the site's first real-life millionaire, buying and selling Second Life real estate.

Second Life is the brainstorm of Rosedale, 38, a former chief technology officer at RealNetworks who helped develop the streaming technology that is the lifeblood of Second Life.

"He had a great idea: to create a collaborative online space where people could do things together," says Linden Lab marketing director Catherine Smith. "I don't think anyone knew how it would evolve."

"There are a lot of smart, creative people in Second Life," says reporter Adam Pasick, dubbed "the Reuters Second Life bureau chief" who has been stationed in-world since October. "Some are there to start a business, some are here to create art or write software, and some are in it for purely the social nature."

Article from "The Towerlight"

IFC Opens Site In Second Life

We are pleased to announce that IFC (the International Flightsim Convention network) has now built its very own 2048 X 2048 meter building called Club IFC in the virtual world of Second Life right next door to the existing Flight 1 building. A huge amount of information awaits you from FS developers to new products, links, and lots more. Plus the chance to interact with many other flightsim enthusiasts from around the world who are already enjoying Second Life.

Second Life is a 3-D virtual world entirely built and owned by its residents. Since opening to the public in 2003, it has grown explosively and today is inhabited by a total of 3,293,499 people from around the globe. And now the FS world is part of it. For more details and how you can visit Club IFC within Second Life please click on the link below.

Full details in PDF format can be viewed by clicking on the link below.

http://www.ifcglobalnetwork.com/Infosecound.pdf