Information

This page shows some of the press coverage we receive and the media trends in some of Second Life's major markets.

Linden Lab News Archives

Here are links to the various Linden Lab websites where we catalog the press we receive. (Not all of these are up-to-date, but we are constantly working on it.)

English
French
German
Italian
Japanese
Korean

Weekly Reports

In this section, you will find the media trends and press stories we are tracking in some of our key markets.

Week Ending October 24, 2008

Key Coverage by Market

US

Trends we’ve noticed:
-- Generally positive, local and non-traditional media coverage.
-- Coverage of the Rivers Run Red partnership.
-- Interest in presidential elections.
-- Universities expanding their presence in SL.

Key Coverage:

Wall Street Journal - Second Life’s partnership with Rivers Run Red will allow companies to manage their 3D meetings, store multimedia information, manage news feeds and keep meeting records.

Repost: Massively

Inquisitr - Linden Lab has teamed up with Rivers Run Red to offer a formal business teleconferencing solution on the Second Life Grid.

Second Life Update - Linden Labs has partnered with Rivers Run Red to release Immersive Workspaces 2.0.

Second Thoughts – Blog post about the vast potential of Second Life’s Immersive Workspaces 2.0 platform for businesses.

Metaverse1 - Post that Second Life has launched Immersive Spaces, a solution for corporate distant meeting organization.

Associated Press - Voters are intensely following the U.S. presidential campaign in Second Life.

ENTERPRISE:
Forbes - Second Life is one of the 30 social networking resources you should know, especially for small business.

The Gazette - Second Life is a virtual world where brands attempt to experiment with a new form of business marketing.

ZDnet - In part two of their feature on corporate meetings, they will explore how Second Life is a great alternative for traditional meetings.

Creativity Online - Covers the success of Scion’s “Scion City” inside Second Life.

EDUCATION:
UD Daily -University of Delaware is investing heavy amount of resources to further develop their presence in Second Life.

The Ball State Daily news Online - Ball State University is inviting alumni to tour the campus on Ball State Island, a complete recreation of the school in Second Life.

DU Clarion - The DU Department of Physics and Astronomy is exploring Second Life as a new way of teaching nuclear energy.

Symmetry Breaking – Blog post on plans to build the famous Hadron Collider in Second Life.

e-learning - There will be an informal opportunity to ask questions and find out more about the work of one of the main innovators of educational programs in Second Life.

JCK Library News - There will be a tour (w/ live performances) for the opening of the new virtual library in Second Life.

NPSL - Covers actual experiences of 12 non-profits that have been working in Second Life for the past year.

World in Motion.Biz - There will be a mock presidential debate between Second Life residents on October 25.

CONSUMER: (all other areas) Associated Press - Voters are intensely following the U.S. presidential campaign in Second Life.

Business Week – Post about future saturation of Second Life copycats such as browser-based ourWorld.

Allakhazam - Vivox’s technology is integrated directly into the Second Life interfaces making controls easy to use.

LAist - Peggy Weil, will share “Gone Gitmo,” an installation of Guantanamo Prison in the virtual reality environment Second Life.

Dusan Writer - Second Life is often mirrored or ahead of what happens in the real world.

UK

Trends we’ve noticed:
-- The coverage this week has been positive. We’ve had two articles published from Mark’s press tour, in the Times and on Reuters.
-- The educational category has received the most focus with articles on paramedic training and virtual public services.
-- Articles looking at the evolution of Second Life and growing enterprise of the virtual world.
-- Continued coverage of virtual medical training and use of Second Life to promote state public services.

Key Coverage:
The Times - Profiles Mark Kingdon following his interview during his press tour. The article takes the view of Second Life growing up by appointing a veteran Internet marketing expert.

Reuters TV - Online video from the Virtual World Conference in which Mark Kingdon, Justin Bovington and Language Lab are interviewed.

ENTERPRISE:

Training Zone - Profiles Social and educational technologist Josie Fraser. Josie mentions Orange’s use of Second Life as a great example of commercial technological use.

Aberdeen Press Journal - Reports Aberdeen-based Second Places is among firms specialising in developing presences in virtual worlds such as Second Life.

Silicon.com - Describes different ways in which meetings can be made interesting. Second Life is set to be included in the second part of this series of articles.

EDUCATION:

e-health europe - Discusses the use of Second Life in training paramedic students. The system is being introduced this month for Paramedic Science students studying at the Faculty of Health and Social Care Sciences, a partnership between St George’s, University of London and Kingston University.

Silicon.com - Birmingham is getting its very own virtual island in Second Life showcasing potential ways in which the virtual world can deliver public services.

Birmingham Post - Visitors planning a trip to Birmingham will have the chance to explore the city online when ‘Birmingham Island’ opens in Second Life.

Huddersfield Daily Examiner - Reports West Yorkshire Police are displaying safety messages in Second Life. This move is especially aimed at students.

GERMANY

Trends we’ve noticed:
-- Second Life seems to become more and more interesting for companies.

Key Coverage:

Computerwelt.at - Covers the RRR release and publishes an article about Immersive Workplaces and their use for companies.

Enterprise:

The Inquirer.de - States that Second Life is not affected by the global finance crash.

IT-Times.de - Describes in its big series about virtual worlds what companies can expect from them. They are not too enthusiastic about Lively.

SL Talk - Shows a film about virtual marketplaces in Second Life which has been produced in collaboration with American Express. It is quite nice to look at!

Schweizer-web.de - Reports about plans of creating a virtual world that obeys Islamic rules.

EDUCATION:

Fudder.de - An interview with an English teacher who teaches in Second Life.

IDW online.de - A long news piece about students who won prizes for their thesis. One of them, Torsten Spiller, wrote about marketing in Second Life.

ADULT CONSUMER Coverage:

Open PR.de - Publishes a news piece about a book with erotic pictures from Second Life.

SL Talk - Writes about the Avatrait Gallery opening in Second Life. There is also an interesting video about arts and artists of Avatrait.

FRANCE

Trends we’ve noticed:
-- A great piece of coverage published in Journal du net, AFP, Le Parisien, DNA about the comment of John Zdanowski comment about the impact of the financial crisis on Second Life.
--This week tendency was still about cyberculture on SL and exchanges with artist on conferences.

Key Coverage:

AFP – A press agency published John Zdanowski comment on SL Economy regarding the financial crisis.

Andrea media - A note to let any web surfer know who they are.

michelleblanc - About her blog explaining the subjects she is interested in with the mention of SL.

hakwara – A forum posted a note about Home.

the world of all – Published a note about Wonderland, a program using Java to create a sort of SL in 3D.

boost - Proposes a presentation of SL through another website: gamebiz.

Wangxiang - A note about Interactive music and mixed reality in SL.

Marketing is dead - An article about “after web 2.0”.

Redact - Posted a note about the possibility of having soon a French version of SL.

Inworlds - Published a note about SL popularity.

Community chest - Article about the growth over time of virtual worlds (with a graph) with a mention of SL.

effet de presence - Published a news piece about the effect of the financial crisis on SL (thanks to our response to the AFP).

Virtual world news published a news about SL and the changes that are going to happen.

Gromike on second life - A note about tutorials on SL.

Journal du net - Published a news piece around Second life and the fact that the financial crisis has no impact on SL economy.

The Inquirer - Article about the fact that SL economy is not affected by the financial crisis

Le Parisien.fr - News about the fact that SL economy is not affected by the financial crisis.

neteco - Article about the fact that 3D seduces more and more internet actors.

DNA - News about the fact that SL economy is not affected by the financial crisis.

ENTERPRISE Coverage:

Ange zanetti - Article about SL for companies with the mention to Rivers Run Red.

david castera - A note about RIL Shopping, or e-commerce on SL.

Virtuel Ziplace.free - David castera posted a note about RIL Shopping, or e-commerce on SL.

Miscellanees - A note about a study published around social networks success following SL success.

emob - A note about RIL Shopping, or e-commerce on SL.

julien martel - RIL Shopping, or e-commerce on SL.

Chauffeur de buzz - RIL Shopping, or e-commerce on SL.

vendeesign - RIL Shopping, or e-commerce on SL.

Recrutement communication - About recruitment on SL saying that it is just a beginning.

Informer autrement - About RIL Shopping on SL.

bruxello - About RIL Shopping on SL.

entreprise2.0 - About Immersive Workspaces 2.0.

blog cybermarketing - A video showing the typical day of a businessman working on virtual worlds.

Techcrunch - Published a note about RIL Shopping on SL.

digg france - Published a note about commercial referencing very useful virtual worlds such as SL.

Indice RH - Published an article about RRR.

ecommercemag - Article about RIL shopping.

Territoire digital.com - About MadPea production a solution provider who offers to company creative and interactive content on SL.

Journal du net - A news piece about RIL Shopping on SL.

ADULT CONSUMER Coverage:

girlpower3 – A review of the event they organized last week aux “Beaux arts”.

guim - About the possible visit of the Imperial city in SL.

nathalto - A note about the event Girl Power 3 organized last week aux “Beaux arts”.

Sun3000 - A note about Mimi Carpenter singing on SL.

pensee sociale - Posted a note saying that catholics are present on SL (article reference: Church and internet).

agenda du libre - Posted a note about an event happening in Lille in November “ Numerical Liberties”. In June 2009, the main theme of this event happening every third Monday of each month will be Social Internet and numerical communities with a mention to SL.

Cyberbougnat – Coming French region “ le Cantal” in SL.

Bernard Claverie - Published an article relating of a study led on SL to evaluate the level of racism on SL.

Vade-Mecum - A note about the creation of a special place on SL to welcome Terry Pratchett.

betapolitique - Posted a note and photos about the Imperial city on SL.

Week Ending October 17, 2008

Key Coverage by Market

US

OVERALL OUTLOOK: -- The vast majority of coverage this week was positive in tone.
-- Several articles focused on educational and training uses of Second Life.
-- Many mentions in pieces looking at Obama’s in-game campaign ads.

Key Coverage:

Chronicle of Higher Education - Article on the recreation of Darwin’s journey in-world.

ENTERPRISE Coverage:

O’Reilly Radar Covers Studio Wikitechture.

PC World - Mentions Second Life as a platform for virtual meetings in an article about cutting tech costs.

GameDaily - Covers the Parks Associates report, which predicts 33M users of virtual worlds by 2013; the piece has very positive subhead: Second Life might be doing well now, but Parks Associates expects all 3D virtual worlds to explode in the next five years.

New York Times - Reposts a GigaOM piece in which James Au reports that $148M has been invested in virtual worlds in Q3.

NextGov - Writes about using Second Life for training.

Government Technology - Excerpts a white paper that mentions Second Life as a tool for government outreach.

Third Force blogs about training in Second Life.

Visa Tech blogs about lawyers entering Second Life.

CPA Success - Blogs about an inworld panel that discussed the decision to ‘go private’.

EDUCATION Coverage:

Chronicle of Higher Education - Writes on the recreation of Darwin’s journey inworld.

Kent State News - Reports that a professor has won an award for his work in Second Life.

Kent State News - Also reports that students will perform an inworld play.

Brown Daily Herald - Writes about an alum’s film, which is a documentary about three lives in Second Life.

VRE Blog - Describes the librarian blogger’s plans for a classroom in Second Life.

Online Nursing - Writes about an inworld paramedic training course.

CONSUMER Coverage:

The Examiner - Mentions Second Life in an article about post-apocalyptic themes in games.

ARG Net - Reports on Philip’s panel at PICNIC.

BizReport - Mentions Obama campaigning inworld in an article about his campaign ads in video games.

Salon - Also mentions Obama campaigning inworld in an article about his campaign ads in video games.

The Examiner - Also mentions campaigning inworld in an article about Obama’s campaign ads in video games.

Yahoo! News - Mentions Second Life in an article about Obama’s in-game ads.

The Washington Post - Reposts a Paid Content article, which mentions Second Life in an article about Obama’s in-game ads.

WIRED - Also mentions Second Life in an article about Obama’s in-game ads.

Popular Mechanics - Mentions Second Life in a review of the new Macbook, to note that going inworld would use its more powerful graphics card.

Social Media Watch - Posts about an inworld ‘drug’ that changes avatars’ perceptions.

MMORPG-Bay - Posts Tateru’s thoughts on the inworld economy.

Massively - Reports on Dusan’s claims.

UK

Trends we’ve noticed:

-- Positive coverage, including a Financial Times article explaining how Second Life benefits the art world.
-- All three major categories/markets have received similar focus in regard to numbers of articles this week.
-- Business platforms using Second Life to boost their recruitment drives. The articles reveal the positives that Second Life offers.
-- Education and non-profits have received the greatest quality of coverage with the focus on medical research, charity awareness and educational use of Second Life.

Key Coverage:
Financial Times - Discusses the Chinese artist Cao Fei’s use of Second Life to showcase his artwork. The article also espouses about the benefits of Second Life to art.

ENTERPRISE Coverage:
Computerweekly.com - Discusses how enterprises are using web 2.0 technology as part of their recruitment process.

Personnel Today - Discusses how online recruitment can help a business. Second Life is mentioned as providing numerous opportunities.

BBC Click - Discusses the increasing number of enterprises embracing web 2.0 technology. Second Life is compared to Smeet.com.

EDUCATION Coverage:
Medicalnewstoday.com - Reveals paramedic students are using Second Life to practice assessing and treating patients in assignments set by professors at St George's, University of London and Kingston University.

Thirdsector.co.uk - Reveals Diabetes UK has built a virtual HQ in Second Life, as part of its ‘silent awareness’ campaign.

iwr.co.uk - Reports that The Nature Publishing Group has increased its presence in Second Life by launching the Elucian Islands, its new official area.

Luton Today - Reveals that Barnfield College has opened up a virtual island for the benefits of its students.

CONSUMER Coverage:

continuitycentral.com - Describes how IBM offered its Virtual Business Center in Second Life to host the Virtual Worlds Forum Show after a shooting at the original venue.

earthtimes.org - Announces the agreement between IBM Global Business Services and the Fashion Research Institute. This first-of-a-kind system will allow fashion and consumer packaging designers to access and use 3-D tools with the Second Life client interface.

GERMANY

Trends we’ve noticed:
-- Philip’s interview with Süddeutsche Zeitung was published online and in print.
-- A new book about the society in Second Life appeared.
-- IBM’s Data Center secured a lot of attention.

Key Coverage:

Süddeutsche Zeitung - Published Helmut Martin-Jung’s interview with Philip at PICNIC in which he asked him critical questions. Philip answered in very confident way.

ENTERPRISE Coverage:

Der Standard.at - Almost literally picked up our pitch about IBM.

Computerzeitung
Lanline.de - Both above published the news about IBM.

EDUCATION Coverage:

ORF.at - Describes how an anthropologist examines the society in Second Life in his new book “Coming of age in Second Life”.

Lehreronline.de - An article about a seminar at the University of Nuremberg which deals with lessons in virtual worlds.

ADULT CONSUMER Coverage:

IT Times - A long article if Lively can make virtual worlds a mass phenomena.

Die Presse.com - Publishes an article about Sony’s Home and mentions it together with Second Life. Great comment at the end of the page, where a reader defends Second Life against unfitting comparisons.

SLtalk - Observes rising user numbers in Second Life.

FRANCE

Trends we’ve noticed:
-- Positive coverage.
-- Particularly great piece of coverage published in Les Echos of Second Life.
-- Other articles have been published about SL competitors.
-- This week, the enterprise focus was on Monster virtual recruitment event.
-- Use of Second Life to promote political campaigns.

Key Coverage:
Les echos.fr - Published Charles de Laubier article about Second Life. This article was secured thanks to our common work to organize 5 interviews and respond to the journalist demands. The article is positive and expresses the future of Second Life in terms of “teleportation” and business implementation..

LeBlog du Zebre - Posted a note about “Basque Camp 2” an event with about 30 themes of discussion. One is about the future of virtual worlds as Second Life.

Neuromanagement - An article about the crises and tries to explain why it is major. Mention of Second Life as a world letting anyone be anything.

Cafedete posted a note about dangers of virtual worlds becoming real for some users. Mention of Second Life as one of them.

Stonfield Inworld - Solution provider posted a note about the fact that they will be present at the Virtual World London.

Cote d’azure - Edited an article about cyberculture with a mention to SL.

Betapolitique - Article about antisocial networking and the fact that Linda Hilfling has placarded SL terms of services on SL advertising space.

w3sh - Published an article about Xbox Experience (similar to SL).

ASP Magazine - Published a news piece about Sony and Microsoft exploring virtual worlds. Mention of SL as the first virtual world.

Microsoft-world - Published an article about Sony and Microsoft both launching their virtual community. Mention of SL as a similar product.

L’informatique - Published an article about the new version of the Playstation 3, including Home (mention of SL as a different virtual world).

Eglise Catholique.fr - Edited a web dictionary with a definition of Second Life.

Community Chest - Published a news about what Second Life is.

Sui-Ijeux - Blog published an article about SLurl.

ENTERPRISE Coverage:

Tecoman - Published an article about Monster proposing its event: the eDays (virtual recruitments).

Korben.info - Published an article about Monster and their eDays.

Detruc - Posted a note about Monster’s eDay event (virtual recruitment) such as Second Life.

Interfaces Riches - Posted a note about Monster’s eDay event (virtual recruitment) such as Second Life.

Le Figaro’s blog - Edited a note about Obama on campaign on the Xbox Live. Mention of SL as a place where political campaigns also take place.

Jean Rem - Posted a note about “Paroles d’Européens” an event with Bernard Kouchner and Jean Pierre Jouyet. Mention of the project of a Future European University in SL.

Calinologue - Posted a comment about relations on SL and the fact that anyone can marry everybody.

Solutions Internet Durables - Posted an article about today’s risks from companies with the economical crisis. Mention of Second Life as a company which could suffer of it.

Territoire Digital - Posted an interview of Jean Pierre Etchegoyhen, Community Manager at the Credit Agricole who just arrived on SL.

Metalab3d – A note about history of virtual worlds transposed in a chronological plank.

EDUCATION Coverage:

VirtualWorldnews.fr - A note about creation courses on SL.

ADULT CONSUMER Coverage:

En direct de Second life - Published a piece about the interview of their journalist on France Inter Radio about their activity on SL (galleries, art, and culture in SL).

Tournicoton Art Gallery - Published a page about a year of art and exposure on SL.

VEGA - Posted an article with extracts from a book about addiction to video games and virtual worlds. Mention of SL as one of them and description of what a virtual life can be in that world.

Le Ficanas blog posted a note about the opening of their gallery on SL.

Laura Garcia Victoria blog posted an note about the transmission of knowledge. Mention of SL as a way to propose teleconferences, courses, and other important interactions.

Actualité de la recherche en histoire visuelle - An article about “ why are we so impudic”. Mention of SL as a way to show something “else” to other avatars than in the real life.

Guillaume Payre’s - Blog on webmastering posted an article about the e-commerce 2.0 event in Lyon the 14th October, with a mention to SL as a discussion.

Girl Power3 posted a note about their event the 15th October at the place “les Beaux Arts” which has for theme art and creation on SL.

Leden - An article about the Antroponet Seminar (taking place to find web tools to promote social and human science). Mention of I-Margina, a company proposing to create content and container and working on SL.

Inworlds - Published a note about Burning Life event on SL.

Terre d’armoise - Posted a note about Artemisia Mathy proposing a debate on SL about how to better use water in gardens.

Metaverse 3d - Posted a PR about the expositions of an Australian artist at AIRE BOX on SL.

JAPAN

Trends we’ve noticed:
-- Articles and quotes again are positive.
　 -- This week many new virtual worldss were covered by the media, partly because Tokyo Game Show was held.
-- Nortel plans to develop a virtual world, indicating the diversity of companies interested in starting up virtual worlds with the aim of expanding into new areas of business.

Key Coverage:
Fuji Sankei Business i (newspaper, 10/7) – Recruitment consulting company Posical Corporation is starting a service on Second Life providing a chance for students to hold virtual meetings with recruitment officers and senior employees of various companies. It tackles the problem that nearly 30% of newly-hired college graduates leave their company within the first 3 years due to a poor match with their companies. Currently six companies -- Shiseido, Kobe Steel, Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Daiwa System, Aruze Corp and MK Group -- are enrolled in this service holding presentations and mock interviews at various booths.

ENTERPRISE Coverage:

The Second Times – “WITH”, two SIMs run by HAKUHODO Inc., Japan’s 2nd largest advertising company, has opened on Second Life. The SIMs use the new beautiful graphics of sky and water by Second Life.

ITPro – Canadian Nortel Networks announces new business plans under their new CEO. These plans include creating “Web. Alive”, a Second Life-like communications application aimed at employees scattered around the world and enabling then to hold virtual meetings.

The Second Times – French retailing company Boulanger opened a virtual store on Second Life with support from IBM Research and Global Business Services.

[The Second Times – Resonant Solutions Co. founded the “Kyushu ICT & 3D Internet Research and Social Organization.”

EDUCATION Coverage:

Nikkei Sangyo Shimbun – An article on BMI, Brain-Machine Interface technology. Second Life was mentioned in the article along with full-time lecturer Junichi Ushiba and his colleagues at Keio University’s studies on moving the avatar by only using brain waves.

Tech Crunch – IBM and the Chinese Palace Museum spent 3 years on recreating the Forbidden City, a 178-acre palace in China. It was created on a platform called Torque, provided by Garage Games. No information is given on whether the program will be interoperable with Second Life.

itmedia - IBM created a virtual world version of the “Forbidden City” in China working with the Chinese Palace Museum. This is standalone software which we can be freely downloaded. No information is given on whether the program will be interoperable with Second Life.

ADULT CONSUMER Coverage:
The Second Times – A real world event held in BarTube, and hosted by in-world Club Vital, was streamed in SL, both video and music, and then through a connection between SL and RL, was also broadcast in BarTube. BarTube and Club Vital are planning to hold this event regularly.

The Second Times– The event “Virtual World Forum 2008” which was cancelled due to a gun shooting incident in London will be held in a different place and will have a fresh new start once again.

4Gamernet - 3Di is a core member of OpenSim development. They exhibited at Tokyo Game Show 2008 and held a seminar there titled “Importing and Utilizing 3D Data in Virtual Worlds.”

INTERNET Watch - Several virtual world services such as PlayStation Home, meet-me, ViZiMo, 3Di and ai sp@ce exhibited at Tokyo Game Show 2008 in Makuhari for 4 days.

Week Ending October 10, 2008

Key Coverage by Market

US

Trends we’ve noticed:
-- Coverage has been positive across all sectors this week.
-- A focus on new tools and technologies to improve the education and consumer markets, including the increase of language learning in Second Life and religious organizations’ presence.
-- Mono announcement coverage.
-- Numerous articles about Fashion Research Institute involvement in Second Life.

Key Coverage:

InformationWeek - Second Life will start running Mono-based code on its servers.

ENTERPRISE Coverage:

International Business Times - The Fashion Research Institute will allow fashion and consumer packaging designers to access and use 3-D tools in Second Life.

ITbusiness.ca - The Ontario’s Public Service is showcasing fire simulations in Second Life to recruit future fire-fighters.

EDUCATION Coverage:

Science Daily - An international team has developed a wireless virtual reality environment in Second Life that can help promote language learning.

Nursing Degree Guide - The health care industry uses Second Life to encourage advanced training for doctors and nurses, as a place for teens to learn about adolescent health issues, and more.

Minot Daily News - Teachers, administrators and technology education coordinators are exploring ways to incorporate online virtual worlds such as Second Life for use in the classroom.

Democrat and Chronicle - Students at the Rochester Institute of Technology will be able to experiment with and hold virtual meetings in floating learning pods in Second Life.

St. Petersburg Times - LifeChurch.tv, an evangelical mega-church in Oklahoma, is creating a virtual church in Second Life.

Episcopal Life Online – The Anglican Church in Second Life is successfully attracting younger audiences and building new religious communities.
o Mashable - NASA is trying to educate the public about its new programs in its CoLab Island in Second Life.

Lincoln Trail Library System – The Graduate School of Library and Information Science will offer courses to anyone interested in learning more about virtual worlds and establishing a presence in Second Life.

Daily Vidette - University of Illinois global campus initiative program in Second Life has provided researchers the ability to share their work online.

ADULT CONSUMER Coverage:

eWeek - Linden Lab will use Mono to improve the stability and speed of scripts.

CNET – Analysis of social-media marketing’s impact for brands using Second Life for marketing initiatives.

MSNBC - A company will release a body scanner that allows users to create realistic avatars in Second Life.

Time - OneSeason will offer a young entrepreneur $2 million to start a company that takes advantage of digital real estate in Second Life.

Metanomics - After surveying 11,000 Second Life residents, The Social Research Foundation found that a majority of people use Second Life for professional reasons and expects those numbers to grow in 2009.

Orient Lodge - Next Island, a new virtual world, will compete with Second Life by establishing a real cash virtual economy.

Escapist - As virtual worlds are moving into the mainstream, people quit their “real” jobs to become successful land property holders in Second Life.

UK

Trends we’ve noticed:
-- The coverage this week has been mostly positive.
-- All categories received equal focus.
-- There have been very positive articles about virtual campaigning and HR/recruitment.

Key Coverage:

The Independent - Discusses virtual campaigning including a focus on grassroots activism within Second Life. ‘Obama for President’ and ‘Obama fest’ are used as examples.

ENTERPRISE:

Money Marketing - A US offshoot of UK Company Aviva, created an island in Second Life with the main objective being the recruitment of the next generation of life insurance salespeople. It has closely coordinated with IBM in the creation of its presence.

3g.co.uk – Users of Nokia’s new model, the N96, can now access Second Life from their mobile.

BBC - Reports on the creation of ‘Myrl’. The site is designed to store avatars from virtual worlds such as Second Life.

Silicon.com - Discusses the use of Second Life by Unilever.

Building.co.uk – Interview with IT professional Neill Pawsey. He describes his fascination with potential business meetings in Second Life.

EDUCATION Coverage:
The Independent - Discusses virtual campaigning including a focus on grassroots activism within Second Life. ‘Obama for President’ and ‘Obama fest’ are used as examples.

Personnel Today - Article from Keith Brownlie, group HR and corporate responsibility director, Informa. He states Informa was one of the first companies to launch its own employees' island in Second Life.

GET - Profiles PA Consulting. It was the first major consultancy firm to open for business in Second Life.

ADULT CONSUMER Coverage:

BBC - Discusses the increasing use and growth of virtual worlds. Second Life is mentioned as a popular virtual world. The security concerns of virtual worlds are also discussed.

Metro - Mention of Second Life within the wider context of a diversifying user base in online communities and games.

GERMANY

Trends we’ve noticed:
-- Positive coverage overall.
-- First result of the CeBIT Press Tour by Sascha Alexander from Computerwoche.
-- This week’s coverage focuses on technical aspects.

Key Coverage:

Computerwoche - An article about their visit at Linden Lab, where Jean is quoted several times. The article is called “A Second Chance for Virtual Worlds” and describes how the market evolves at the moment.

ENTERPRISE Coverage:

Newsmax.de - A release about the German enterprise TalentRaspel used OpenSimulator-Technology to install the first German OpenSimulator-Grid.

Das Journal - Reports on a browser-plug-in that converts normal websites into 3D-websites.

Krone.at - Picks same story as above.

EDUCATION Coverage:

Silicon.de - About how Mono dissolves the frontier between Open Source and .Net. Second Life is mentioned.

Johannes Moskaliuk - Provides readers with additional material about virtual worlds, above all Second Life. It adds his talk at the congress for psychology teachers.

ADULT CONSUMER Coverage:

Esslinger Zeitung - An article about a bagpipe player who is successful in Second Life but also in real life.

Frankfurter Rundschau - an article about the Burning Man Festival. Second Life is mentioned as well.

FRANCE

Trends we’ve noticed:
-- Overall outlook is good this week.
-- Business focus on Boulanger, French company new to SL and also Credit Agricole.
-- This week tendency was still about cyberculture and the influence of Internet in everyone’s life but also about the future use of virtual worlds for culture.

Key Coverage:
Metaverse3d - Article about the CEMEA publishes a report about the use of teen SL.

Geographie 2.0 - Posted a note about BTAvatalk who offers phone calls and sms from any phone box in SL.

Maetavers.lepressing - Article about the fact of having SL on its browser thanks to TOKYO ZERO.

Mondes Virtuels - A note about the fact that it is now possible to fly in ExitReality, even it is in a different way than in SL.

Hebiflux – A review of virtual worlds activity with a post saying that 3di is launching its own virtual world and is using OpenSim.

MaconSL - An article about Slim.

Framboise des pres - A note about Real restrain/ Restrained life, a program developed on OpenSim which lets a dominant more strictly a subjected who connects to SL via this program.

Marketing is dead - An interview of Capucine Cousin, writer of “All about Web 2.0” and asks her the question: mobile Internet versus Metaverse Roadmap?

e-south... hic and hunc - An article about Postmodernity and numeric culture written by Michel Maffesoli.

GillarGeorges - A comment about Mono 2.0 with a mention of SL.

Pierre Oliver Carles - A note about Mark Kingdon announcement that 22billion minutes of voice chat have been used in SL.

Explore away from Delphi - Posted a comment about Mono 2.0.

ENTERPRISE Coverage:

01net - An article about the implementation of Boulanger in SL.

Readthefuckingmanual - Posted news about Boulanger in Second Life.

Univers Virtuel - A news post about virtual worlds, with the mention of Google Lively and Second Life about their different positioning.

ConseilMarketing.fr Conseil marketing - Article about how companies should manage and release its numerical identity. Mentions Second Life.

dé signes - Posted a note about the creation of a virtual territory for Credit Agricole on SL.

Les mots du mutualisme - An article about Credit Agricole on SL.

MrBoo - Talks about the fact that Crédit Agricole proposes a discussion on SL about the current financial crisis organized by Stonfield Inworld.

Le journal de Ray Dacteur - Posted a note about the fact that Crédit Agricole proposes a discussion on SL about the current financial crisis organized by Stonfield Inworld.

JulienMartel.net – Post on same subject as above.

Tecoman.info posted a note about the Boulange in Second Life.

Ange Zanetti - A second note from Ange Zanetti about Boulanger in Second Life.

Inpactvirtuel - A note about Boulanger in Second Life.

electromeninges - A note about Boulanger in Second Life.

Tapahont.info - Post about Boulanger in Second Life.

USTREAM.tv - A video about Boulanger company on SL and their digital territory.

Do you speak d’jeunes - Discusses Boulanger company on SL.

GameinSociety - Posts about virtual worlds, and their use to escape reality. The author questions the survival of these worlds with the subprime crisis.

La tribune de Geneve – A third note about how to use SL.

LeBlogdePtitFred - Discusses the TAATU virtual world.

Philippe Chouraki - About employment and virtual worlds with Monsters initiative to create a virtual job forum (Mention of SL as an example of this kind of use).

Willyblog - Discusses recruitment and particularly about LesJeudis.com initiative: Job messenger. Mention to the NeoJobmeeting conference organized last year in Second Life.

Community Chest - Published an article about the company Michelin (on SL) doing Gartner’s Keynote at Gartner EA Summit in London.

Le Monde numerique - An article about the implementation of Boulanger in Second Life.

ITRnews – An article about the implementation of Boulanger in SL.

Territoire Digital - Published an article about Obama and McCain challenging for election on SL.

EDUCATION Coverage:

Bookdesetudesonline - An article about online studies. Mention of the Institut Reperes, which launched a panel of consumers in Second Life to study their habits in the virtual world.

ADULT CONSUMER Coverage:
Memoirevive.tv - Natacha Quester’s video about her proposition for the Europe of 2020 : create a European continent dedicated to science, culture and education. It would regroup many institutions.

[Les Echos] - Published an article about Plus Belle La Vie French serial which has decided to create its own virtual world in a SL way.

Bourdieuhommage blog - A note about a conference on Bourieu’s place in SL in October, the 23rd.

Video of Natacha Quester Semeon – Post about her proposition for the Europe of 2020: create a European continent dedicated to science, culture and education. It would regroup many institutions.

Blogmemes - An article about Natacha Quester’s proposition for the Europe of 2020: create a European continent dedicated to science, culture and education. It would regroup many institutions.

JeanRem - Posted an article about Natacha Quester’s proposition for the Europe of 2020: create a European continent dedicated to science, culture and education.

E-troubadours - A note about the fact that they were at “Nuits Blanche” event in Paris.

As maps - A note about Plus belle la life, a virtual world like SL, developed to refer to the famous French serial “Plus Belle La vie”.

Clipclip - Published a note about object on the Internet and the fact that avatars can buy things virtually as if it was for real and receive their objects in the real world.

En direct de Second Life - Posted an article about an event on SL in October the 8th for Proust lectures.

Sun3000 – A post about Marcel Duchamps’s art on SL.

La revolution du web 2.0 - An article about a new book untitled “Web 2.0 et au delà”.

e-books here - Article about the fact that books are going to be sold in a different way next years: on virtual worlds such as SL could be an idea.

Virtuel news.com - Published an article about the fact that a TV reading Youtube feeds is available for purchase on SL.

IHM.media - A comment about Berkeley and his vision of the human being, his life and its way to be seen. Mention of SL as another way to see things and be seen.

JAPAN

Trends we’ve noticed:
-- Positive coverage.
-- SQUARE ENIX’s Nicotto Town, 2D VW content service, was covered widely including Fuji Sankei Business i. SQUARE ENIX is one of the biggest game developers for game consoles in Japan, so the industry and also game fans are paying close attention to their new service.
-- Kabushiki Shimbun wrote about 3Di’s OpenSIM product and said that it might be a favorable factor for the Japanese stock market and raise the stock price of ngi group, parent company of 3Di. This article proves that VWs, including SL, are still anticipated to be the driving force activating the IT industry.

Key Coverage:

Fuji Sankei Business i, ADVER TIMES (newspaper, 9/30, 10/1) – SQUARE ENIX CO., LTD has announced they have officially started an online metaverse service “Nicotto Town” on the 29th. They expect to gather 100,000 to 150,000 users within this year. “Nicotto Town” is designed in 2D in order for simple user-accessibility and user-friendliness.

ENTERPRISE Coverage:
Kabushiki Shimbun (10/1) – ngi group will introduce a commercial product in the field of 3D metaverses on 10/1. ngi is planning to build a business model whereby they will provide application development tools for profit to companies trying to enter the OpenSIM.

Nikkei Marketing Journal (10/3) - Metabirds started a business matching virtual-clothing designers on Second Life with real-life companies. Fashion and furniture and household goods from virtual worlds will soon be available in real life.

Hokuriku Chunichi Shimbun Kanazawa (9/24) – Ableseed co., ltd. is recreating on SL the Miyoshian tea house – a tea house in Kanazawa city with a history of over 130 years but demolished this July due to its poor condition.

Internet Watch - SUN Co., Ltd. created a system enabling you to access and use Second Life through your television.

The Second Times – Starting from 21:00 on 10/3, Chiyo Linden representative of the Japanese support system for Second Life will give a presentation on system support and “the top 20 FAQs” at the Linden village.

The Second Times – Linden Lab’s CEO Mark Kingdon wrote up the main objectives for the near future of Linden Lab. The four main points were: First-hour experience, mainland improvement, experience localization and product focus.

EDUCATION Coverage:

The Second Times – Piet Hut, Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies at the Institute for Advanced Studies at Princeton University, gave a speech at Shibuya’s BarTube on 10/2. The theme was on “Kira Laboratory, a virtual campus on Second Life for the study of science within context.”

MonthlyBusiness ASCII (Nov. 2008 issue) – A dialogue between Tsuguhiko Kadokawa, CEO of Kadokawa Group Holdings, and Lawrence Lessig, professor of Stanford Law School, on the issues of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Within Second Life, if an individual creates something new, that individual is given the intellectual property right to that creation, and has the right to sell that creation for profit. That is ultimately what separates Second Life from “World of Warcraft,” and in the long run, that will be the separation point between games that will disappear and those that will stay.

ADULT CONSUMER Coverage:

25ans (Nov. 2008 issue) – A feature segment on the 25ans 2nd annual social party held on September 2. The party had several events such as bingo games, cocktail time, photo shoot and many other programs.

Dengeki PlayStation (10/10) – A magazine column on PlayStation3’s new metaverse service “Home”. The closed beta test started on August 8. Second Life was introduced in the article as the predecessor of virtual worlds. Currently there are over 10 million users around the world, but only 0.7% of Internet users in Japan use Second Life.

WWD For Japan Magazine (Aug. 2008 issue) – A magazine page listing out some of the words and terms of the Internet in order to keep up with Web2.0. Second Life was mentioned under the description of the word “Avatar.”

Keizaikai (10/14) – A magazine article covering CGM, or in other words Web2.0. The article covers aspects of SNS and blogs, Wikipedia, YouTube, and Second Life. The reason why SL has lost its momentum is because of the imbalance of gain and loss. For example, SNSs are simple to use, and most likely you will get a large amount of feedback from friends and random readers as well, gaining a lot of reaction from simple actions. Compared to that, there are many technical obstacles a user must overcome before being able to fully use Second Life, and for all that there is not much feedback or encounters with other people.

Mac Fan (Nov. 2008 issue) – “Second Life” won 8th in the unofficial 2008 buzzword contest held by Mac Fan.

The Second Times – The “Akai hane fund-raiser” (a very well known fund-raiser in Japan, held annually all over the country) will be held on Second Life as well at the Hachikokuyama Island SIM.

Week Ending October 3, 2008

US

Trends we’ve noticed:
-- Positive coverage especially in education and consumer sections.
-- More coverage by blogs than traditional media.
-- Continued interest in recruiting in Second Life.
-- Building excitement over Second Life user experience enhancements.
-- More schools are expanding their presence in Second Life and coverage of libraries with successful presences in Second Life.

Key Coverage:

San Francisco Business Journal – Linden Lab hired Tom Hale as its first chief product officer.

PaidContent.org (via Washington Post) – On Tom Hale’s hire.

Dusan Writer – Tom Hale’s hire covered.

Virtual Worlds News

Re-post: http://www.crispygamer.com/news/index.php/2008-09-29/2082/ Crispy Gamer]

ENTERPRISE Coverage:
Enterprise IT Planet - IBM’s Second Life Green Data Center represents the best that Second Life and other virtual worlds have to offer, and it has the potential to attract more Second Life users.

E-Commerce Times - Virtual worlds like Second Life are becoming a popular recruitment tool for businesses.

Geo2Web.com – Blog post on BT’s coming release of a program allowing users to make phone calls from Second Life.

BNET - Commentary on the upcoming Forrester report citing how virtual worlds are continuing to be used by marketers.

EDUCATION Coverage:
Morris Sun Tribune - Ridgewater has received a grant from the Minnesota State College to invest more in education in Second Life.

Science Daily - Penn State researchers are investigating how virtual teams can better solve real world problems by collaborating in Second Life.

Repost: http://www.brandon-hall.com/workplacelearningtoday/?p=410 Brandon Hall Research]

LA Times Blog - For the second year in a row, the American Library Association is celebrating Banned Books Week in Second Life.

Techtotty - Anthropologists, psychologists and sociologists across Second Life are discussing ways to display personal projects in an engaging, interactive manner.

The Click Heard Round the World - Global Kids is starting its youth machinima initiative called the Virtual Video Project where students get training in how to use Second Life as a filmmaking platform.

Alliance Library System - The National Library of Medicine has awarded ALS a $60,000 grant for a project entitled “AIDS Information and Outreach in the Virtual World of Second Life.”

Genome Technology - Holding meetings in Second Life gives researchers a chance to visit with colleagues and attend conferences without having to leave their labs.

CONSUMER Coverage:
Marketing Vox - Linden Lab is using third party developers to help make Second Life more amenable to first-time users.

Massively – Blog post on Linden Lab’s positive steps to attract new users by improving the user’s in world experience and simplifying registration.

Virtual Worlds News – Discussion of Linden Lab’s improvements to the viewer for new users.

Dusan Writer’s – A post that the user interface for Second Life is being redesigned, making it “more user friendly.”

Designing Digitally - Second Life golf island is almost complete.

Ballot Vox - The Democratic and Republican party will be holding presidential debate watching parties in Second Life.

UK

Trends we’ve noticed:

-- Coverage has been positive, with the articles in The Independent, Guardian and Computer World UK.
-- Enterprise and education/non-profit have received great focus this week.

Key Coverage:

The Independent - Discusses UK universities in Second Life.

Computer World UK – Praise for Philip and discussion of his new role as Chairman. The article also details the evolution of Second Life.

The Guardian – Covers the increasing popularity of virtual worlds. The article includes comment from Philip revealing his aspirations for virtual worlds.

ENTERPRISE Coverage:

The Guardian – Discussion of increasing popularity of virtual worlds. The article includes comment from Philip revealing his aspirations for virtual worlds.

Silicon.com – Notes the success of Unilever’s initiative to create their private complex within Second Life.

ZDNet.co.uk – A mention of Linden Dollars as a usable currency when talking about the accessibility of buying the new Intuit QuickBooks 2009.

Computer Weekly - Includes Stuart King’s blog mentioning the success of Unilever’s presence on Second Life as a means of increasing awareness within their organisation.

nebusiness.co.uk – Covers research into the potential money to be made from virtual worlds.

EDUCATION Coverage:
The Independent – Discusses UK universities in Second Life.

Tech Radar.com - Explores the imaginative side of Second Life and how people can interact better during group work as avatars rather than face-to-face in the real world.

Medical News Today - Covers the same case study as the article in Tech Radar and is complimentary of the uses of Second Life as a forum for group work.

M Consulting - Discusses the Chartered Institute of Taxation’s (CIOT) return to Second Life.

24dash.com - An in depth article about the launch of the virtual arts festival, NOISE festival, and the positive influences of creating such an event on Second Life.

TSNN.co.uk – A look at the novel idea of Labour hosting a virtual meeting with online supporters during the Labour Party Conference.

GERMANY

Trends we’ve noticed:
-- The coverage this week was more neutral, nevertheless there were some nice pieces, especially in the adult consumer section.
-- Compared to the last weeks, coverage in the adult consumer section is increasing.
-- New companies entering Second Life and the appointment of Clare.
-- Last week’s very positive article published by German press agency dpa was picked up again.

Key Coverage:

Monstersandcritics.de
Yahoo.com - These two sources published a positive piece on collaboration in Second Life.

ENTERPRISE Coverage:

new-business.de - Covers the release about Clare Rees’ appointment as European Marketing Director.

EDUCATION Coverage:

Hamburger Abendblatt - Describes a very interesting project by students of the University of Hamburg. They built a whole factory to fill bottles in Second Life plus a container terminal.

ADULT CONSUMER Coverage:

Der Standard.at - An article about an art project in which Second Life is involved (see video link for more information).

Focus Online - An interview with “Simcity”-developer Will Wright and says that his ideas are the basis for Second Life and other virtual worlds.

Süddeutsche.de - Talks about originals and copies. German virtual world Secret City is pictured as a copy of Second Life.

FRANCE

Trends we’ve noticed:
-- This week there have been articles about 3D tools’ use, SL competitors, and social networks’ influence and importance.
-- Many blog articles about Stonfield in-world solution provider.
-- This week, the focus was on new company and older companies activity on SL.

Key Coverage:
T’zine - An article about the interview of Philip Rosedale during Picnic 08. Loic Le Meur, an influential blogger in France, interviewed Philip about the future of technologies and companies in SL.

Blackrabbit - A note about Exit reality, a tool allowing any website to become 3D website such as SL.

Marketing and Innovation – Covers six tips to check and supervise your e-reputation.

Stonefield Inworld – An employee posted a video about his boss’s vision of SL.

La culture populaire et moi – A note about Facebook, Myspace and SL comparing each of them.

Green it - Interviewed solution provider Pierre Olivier Carles from Stonfield Inworld. He explains that thanks to SL he has cut costs by three times for his company’s travels.

Stonfield inworld - Green IT interviewed solution provider Pierre Olivier Carles from Stonfield Inworld. He explains Second Life’s travel cost-cutting capabilities.

Merionread - A note about cyber-culture.

Virtualworldnews posted a note about the VideoGame festival this week in Paris and particularly about Entropia Universe ( which wants to be more than SL, and sell universes).

Jeanrem - A post about 3DI OpenViewer a tool like ExitReality, letting SL and OpenSim run in a browser.

Technoweb - Covers avatars and the fact that 80% of web users will have an avatar in 2011.

BetaJournal.com - An article about Google Lively.

La tribune de Geneve - A note on how to go on SL (second part).

Virutalnews – A post about on SL Exchange becoming XStreet SL (Virtualtrade).

ENTERPRISE Coverage:

Ange zenatti – Covers the Boulanger French company entering SL.

Stonefield Inworld - A comment on their activity with Saint Gobain on SL. (tree planting in Liban in 2009)

Chine Information - A note saying that China Telecom wants to create its own virtual world like SL.

EDUCATION Coverage:

Lettre TICE Bourgogne – An article about numeric tools to learn French and old languages and a conference and how a teacher gave lessons on SL.

CONSUMER Coverage:

Maggie Parsons – A post about cyberculture and what SL offers (compared to Myspace, Facebook).

Internetactualive - Posted an article about objects on the Internet.

nawell Laville - Covers the Atlantika exposition on SL ( in Sardaigna Island).

Territoire Digital.com – An article about Frao, a well known sculptor in SL.

Eke.org - Posted on note on the “Pays Basque” Culture on SL.

Npip - A note about La Domestique project: screen space is superposed to real filing space. The artist explains he first uses SL to prepare his film work.

Du fond du lac - A note about the event “Burning life”.

JAPAN

Trends we’ve noticed:
-- Almost all articles and quotes are positive.
-- Medical care is one of the anticipated future applications of SL and JIMA is the first one who has entered SL as a medical organization in Japan.

Key Coverage:
Monthly Card Wave (magazine, October) – JIMA (Japan Internet Medical Association) opened a virtual clinic on metaverse Second Life and demonstrated face-to-face sessions between doctors and patients. The aim is to prove the reliability and authenticity of this service through demos of issuing prescriptions and referrals, consultation, and diagnosis. In a survey conducted of Second Life users who participated in the demos of the virtual clinic, 80% showed inclinations toward using the online clinical service if it were official, but at the same time over 40% of these people chose the reasonable charge for these services such as “consultation” and “mental counseling” of L$200 (equivalent to approx. 100 JPY).

ENTERPRISE Coverage:
The Second Times – Metabirds Co. started a business to support designers and creators who are successful on Second Life to become successful in real life.

Weekly Toyo Keizai (magazine, 9/27) – A chart showing the Internet hegemony with Google services at the center. It shows Google’s metaverse “Lively” and Linden Lab’s “Second Life” in a rivalry.

Nihon Joho Sangyo Shimbun (newspaper, 9/22) – A summary of an interview with Kotaro Okui, president of SUN Co., Ltd. “By operating three businesses at the same time, we aim for a global business evolution.” Out of the three businesses, the most outstanding is the 3D metaverse business with Linden Lab.

The Japan Times (newspaper, 9/24) – An Australian company has launched a free tool that it touts as a world-first opportunity for Web users to view the Internet in more than two dimensions. Melbourne-based ExitReality said its application allows users to turn any regular website into a 3D virtual environment, where an avatar representing them can walk around and “meet” other users who are browsing the same website.

The Second Times – Posical Corporations held an event on Second Life encouraging the young generation in their job-hunting process. The event is titled “Why we work.”

The PR Times – Global Service Corporations, a company that handles Askul office supplies, opened a branch store on Second Life.

The Second Times
The Second Times - Resonant Solutions Co. is providing free IT support (such as free community space on Second Life) to organizations and associations that support local communities.

CONSUMER Coverage:
The Second Times – The Design Association of Oita is holding an event on Second Life titled “DESIGN POWER 2008”. The event is held simultaneously in real life.

The Second Times – According to the survey titled “The Revival of Consumer Virtual Worlds” conducted by Forrester, there recently seems to be a revival in the market of consumer virtual worlds.

The Second Times – For the first time in Japan, and avatar from Second Life gave a lecture to a real life audience at the Metaverse Forum.

The Second Times – The “Hachikoku Yama” SIM underwent an all-out renewal and has re-opened.

The Second Times – An introduction of the book by James W. Au titled “Second Life: How a virtual community will change business”.

The Second Times – American metaverse SNS “koinup” is holding a Steampunk themed snapshot contest taken on Second Life.