Linden hires former AOL exec to improve scalability
Linden hired former AOL executive Frank Ambrose to oversee work on scalability problems with Second Life
Linden introduces zoning to Second Life mainland
In a departure from its traditional laissez-faire approach to the Second Life Grid, Linden Lab announced on Tuesday it will introduce zoning to Second Life’s mainland to curb excessive advertising.
OpenSim charts path away from Second Life
OpenSim looks and feels very much like Linden Lab’s Second Life. But top OpenSim developers see a future where their software is a generic platform for 3D software, hopefully interoperable with the Second Life Grid but not necessarily resembling it.
Microsoft eyes integration between OpenSim and Windows Live ID
No one’s really sure yet how avatar identities will be managed in a chaotic world filled with thousands of interoperable OpenSim grids. But Microsoft believes it has a solution: its own Windows Live ID.
Interview: Linden prepares for an OpenSim future
A future where the Second Life Grid is a minor player in a sprawling Metaverse of thousands of competing virtual worlds sounds like a bad outcome for Linden Lab. But company executives say that’s exactly the plan.
Second Life premium growth flat over past 12 months
Premium Second Life accounts shrank in the year to May 2007, according to statistics released by Linden Lab, even as total user hours climbed by more than 50 percent.
Pirated content deleted from Second Life
Linden Lab has deleted objects from the virtual world in response to DMCA complaints, according to resident reports.
The CW films Gossip Girl “machinisodes” in Second Life
Gossip Girl, the CW television network’s popular show about teenagers on New York’s Upper East Side, is filming what it calls “machinisodes” inside Second Life. The mini-episodes, shot using Second Life avatars and sets, follow script outlines developed by the show’s writers, and will eventually debut on CWTV.com.
SL posts strong economic growth on dwindling enrollments
Fewer new users are signing up for Second Life, but the faithful are spending more time and money than ever inside Linden Lab’s virtual world.
Frustrated virtual agencies look beyond Second Life
The fledgling virtual agencies and service companies who made it big during the boom years of Second Life are looking toward greener pastures, weary of unmet promises from Linden Lab and drawn by competing virtual worlds.
At VW08, kids are the focus
At one of the largest gatherings of the virtual worlds industry, the energy of platform developers, consultants, and marketers was focused on how to target the under-18 crowd.
The last big feature: “HTML on a prim”
Speaking last summer at the Second Life Community Convention, Philip Rosedale pledged that stability would be Linden Lab’s top priority for the coming year, plus two major new features: the introduction of voice, now live in the virtual world, and the ability to access web pages inside Second Life.
Virtual retailers decry Second Life crime wave
About US$1.4 million dollars circulates through Second Life every day, but there’s no police to investigate crime or laws for them enforce. While theft of Second Life content isn’t new, the sense that Linden Lab’s virtual world is a consequence-free environment for criminal enterprise has led pirates to become increasingly brazen in their activities.
OpenSim worlds lure Second Life’s outcasts
For Second Life’s banks, OpenSim grids provide a way to continue on in the field of virtual finance without the need to secure Linden’s approval.
Showtime mulls expansion of SL presence
As real world companies abandon Second Life amidst a rash of ghost towns and bad press about the potential of virtual worlds to reach customers, Showtime’s initiative stands out as one of the few companies that have made it work.
UPDATE 3 - Linden bans Second Life banks
Linden Lab said on Tuesday it is banning Second Life banking that promises interest or other investment returns, citing resident complaints and risks to the virtual world’s economy.
UPDATE: Electric Sheep lays off 22
The Electric Sheep Company, one of the premier consulting and development firms within Second Life, has laid off 22 people, equal to about one third of its total staff.
AOL leaves Second Life
America Online said on Tuesday it is shuttering its AOL Pointe island in Second Life to focus on virtual worlds that use AIM instant-messaging software for communication between avatars.
High risks, high rewards in virtual finance
Virtual banks offer interest rates that would stagger a real-world investor, but very little is certain in the risky world of Second Life finance.
Settlement reached in Kenzo copyright case
Thomas Simon (Second Life: Rase Kenzo) has reached a settlement with the six Second Life content creators suing him for copyright violation.
