Saturday, January 31, 2009

Linden Lab Goes Shopping, Buys Virtual Goods Marketplaces to Integrate Web Shopping with Second Life

Strategic Acquisitions of OnRez and Xstreet SL Shopping Web Sites to enhance e-Commerce Functionality for the Virtual World were announced by Linden Lab some days ago. Below I reproduce the announcement.

San Francisco, CA – January 20, 2009 - Linden Lab®, creator of the virtual world Second Life®, today announced a key milestone in its expansion of the Second Life platform: acquiring two Web-based marketplaces for virtual goods, Xstreet SL and OnRez. These acquisitions join several other recent strategic initiatives, including enhancements to the experience for new users, which will enable Linden Lab to reach a broader global audience for Second Life in 2009. Linden Lab is consolidating the two marketplaces on the Xstreet SL platform, offering one online shopping experience for customers and merchants. This will make it easier for Second Life Residents to find virtual goods to purchase and will provide merchants broader channels to sell their products.

The global market for virtual goods is estimated to be approximately USD $1.5 billion a year,* and Second Life plays a significant role in this market. In 2008, Residents of Second Life purchased and sold more than USD $360 million of virtual goods and services. Shopping for virtual goods has become one of the most compelling and popular aspects of the Second Life experience. The acquisition of these e-commerce sites will aid the continuing growth of the Second Life economy by making it even more convenient for buyers and sellers to transact virtual goods and services online.

Similar to e-commerce sites for real world goods, such as Amazon and eBay, Xstreet SL provides an online catalog, where Second Life Residents can browse, purchase and sell Second Life-related virtual goods and services. Just as e-commerce Web sites provide a complement to shopping in real life, Xstreet SL complements how Second Life Residents shop inworld – visiting 3D stores, shopping centers and malls to purchase virtual services and goods from the Residents who created them. Linden Lab will integrate the Xstreet SL marketplace with Second Life, making virtual goods easier for consumers to find on the Web. The enhancements to the e-commerce experience will also drive Residents inworld to collect and use the goods they purchase online, enabling Second Life merchants to further promote their inworld stores. Merchants will also gain additional ways to market the more than 680,000 Second Life goods currently listed for sale online, including apparel, animations, vehicles, buildings and furniture.

"Linden Lab is expanding its footprint in the virtual world industry through four major initiatives – localizing the Second Life experience in key markets around the world, simplifying the 'first hour experience' to broaden consumer adoption, enhancing the platform for enterprise users and building our virtual goods marketplace," said Mark Kingdon, CEO of Linden Lab. "Content creators and merchants are pillars of the strong Second Life economy. With these e-commerce acquisitions, we will now be able to offer content creators and merchants an opportunity to substantially improve their businesses, while enhancing the Second Life experience for all of our Residents."

"The vibrant inworld economy is part of what makes Second Life such a compelling experience for Residents," said Jay Geeseman, founder of Xstreet SL. "Just as e-commerce can enhance the shopping experience for real life goods, so it can for virtual goods. With the Xstreet SL marketplace integrated more closely with Second Life, Residents will be able to find goods more easily and shop more conveniently, while merchants will have broader channels to sell their creations."

For the immediate future, Xstreet SL will continue to function as it has with only minor changes. OnRez will remain active for a few weeks to give customers and merchants an opportunity to migrate their accounts and product listings over to Xstreet SL.

Dear readers, do you think this will be a good strategy for Second Life? Will this affect your business? How will affect your Second Life? Please leave your comments on what you think about this announcement.

Madonna live in Brazil - Anna Avalanche Second Life Blog

This was an article about Madona in Brazil publish in the February Issue at déjà vu Magazine. Enjoy!!!

Madonna live in Brazil

By Anna Avalanche, Gisa Miles and Luiz Speedwell

Pictures credit for Marcelo Rossi




What to say about Madonna!!! She is hot, she is Pop, she is Madonna (from Italian: My lady, lady, milady, Virgin Mary) and she was live in Brazil last week as part of her music tour.

Madonna is the most famous pop star in the world and her songs are always successful. She has been regarded as "one of the greatest pop acts of all time" and dubbed the "Queen of Pop" by various sources.

For her fans doesn’t matter that Madonna is ranked by the Recording Industry Association of America as the best-selling female rock artist of the twentieth century and the second top-selling female artist in the United States with 63 million certified albums. Guinness World Records list her as the world's most successful female recording artist of all time and the top-earning female singer in the world with an estimated net worth of US$490 million, having sold over 200 million records worldwide. This could mean nothing for the fans and the audience but on March 10, 2008, she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and this year she surpassed Elvis Presley as the artist with most top ten hits in the history of Billboard Hot 100.




But Madonna is not only a singer. Madonna is Madonna, almost a deity in the eyes of fans. She is a dedicated mother and her children have accompanied her trough the tour. Furthermore she is also a women's business which is always a step ahead of its time. Madonna is the queen of the dance floor. Her career has swept from the early 1980s to the late 1990s, ranging from pop charts to MTV to the silver screen. And still, Madonna continues to redefine herself. At once, she is a sultry siren, a marketing phenomenon, a movie diva, and a mother.

Even with the divorce with her former husband, Guy Ritchie just announced. There is a Santa Claus at least for Madonna’s fans. Her tour brought to Brazil Santa Claus earlier this year. The singer returned to Brazil for the most awaited show of the year. Far from the Brazilian stage since 1993, she came back for 5 concerts in Brazil, 2 in Rio de Janeiro, in the Maracanã Stadium, and 3 in Sao Paulo in the Morumbi Stadium.




Sticky & Sweet Tour is the eighth world tour of the artist. The tour is based on the latest album released in April 2008, Hard Candy, premiered in 1st place in the parades of more than 30 countries. The spectacle traveled to Europe, North and South America. It has broken new records of audience with more than 1.25 million tickets already sold. Do you think she is lucky as a singer and unlucky in love (the correct quote should be “Unlucky at cards, lucky in love”)? Maybe! But she is Madonna, “My lady” the inspiration of thousands of women and fans.



Here in Brazil about 70 thousand people in each concert crowed the stadiums to see the pop Diva, even under rain like happened in Rio and São Paulo. Cheerful and agitated, the spectacle was planned in each detail. Much of the audience jumps sings and shakes it frantically while, on stage, the queen of pop proof those 50 years is an age that insists on ignoring his body. Supported by a team of 12 dancers, Madonna dances non-stop, jump ropes, and could play guitar, backed by musicians who appear even when she sing out of tune - moments that happen, but for the audience, not overshadow the brightness of the spectacle.



Even with some troubles like heavy rain that causes her to slip and fall on the stage the super pop singer lavish energy and satisfaction. The incident didn’t bother her at all. At the end of the show Madonna yield to the hot Brazilian fan audience and promise – “Te amo” (in Portuguese I love you) and “I am very happy to be back and next time I won’t take so long”. She also surprised the audience with a passionate malicious worry about the wet crowd asking if they were wet because of the heavy rain, or maybe… she was meaning other thing! With Madonna who knows! Again on this show she ends with the Brazilian national official soccer team T shirt. She said that she would like the Brazilian shows to be the featured on her new DVD! She loved her shows in Brazil and the passion of Brazilian tropical friendly country.





On her least show in Brazil Madonna said that was unhappy because the end of the tour but at the same time she was happy to end it on Brazil. She shouts: “You are the best public that exists” before sing the music You Must Love Me.


This article has been sponsored by AA Trade Company, Cleary (128,128,0) http://slurl.com/secondlife/Cleary/128/128/0

For more pictures and information see:
English blog: http://annaavalanche.blogspot.com/
Portuguese blog: http://dejavu-intl-portuguese.blogspot.com/
Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/annaavalanche/

The Christmas around world

This is my last 2008 article for déjà vu magazine. Hope you all enjoy, and if you do, please leave a comment.

The Christmas around world


By Anna Avalanche, Gisa Miles and Luiz Speedwell



The arrival of Christmas inspires people around the world. The people of many different continents come together in this period of confraternities, meetings of family, hot meals and of course, exchange gifts.


One of the most colorful celebrations of humanity is the greatest festival of Christianity. It is time when all the fantasy is permitted.

Christmas is a day on which commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ. In antiquity, Christmas was celebrated in several different dates, because it is not known with accuracy the date of the birth of Jesus. It was only in the fourth century that Dec. 25 was established as the official date of celebration. In ancient Rome, the December 25 was the date on which the Romans celebrated the beginning of winter. Therefore, it is believed that there is a relationship between this fact with the official celebration of Christmas.



The Germans give the name of Stomach Fat to the day before Christmas. They believe that those who do not eat well that night will be tormented by demons in her sleep. Of ginger cookies and dishes made from pork, pasta and salads, plus marzipan for dessert, make up the German Christmas dinner.

Moreover the decorations of the Christmas markets in Germany misspend lights and colors, creating a world of dreams and the style and the spirit of the season. A cultural program completes the schedule of attractions


Austria - The Christmas tree decorated with ornaments and candy and the Nativity scene make a perfect pair. The December 25 and 26 are national holidays and people used to visit family and neighbors. These meetings are served cold dishes such as cheese and bread and the traditional cookies and biscuits for Christmas. The Christmas in Austria is famous for being the country of origin of Franz Gruber, the composer of "Silent Night", the most famous Christmas song.

Australia - The Australian supper consists basically of turkey, ham and pork with plum pudding. The Christmas tree of Australians is different from all others, because it is a native shrub with small red leaves.



The Chinese Christians celebrate their Christmas decorating their homes with colorful lanterns of paper. Even the Christmas trees which are called "trees of light ', are decorated with lanterns, flowers and other decorations of paper. As the American children, the Chinese also hang their stocking feet for the Santa put the presents there. But there his name is a bit trickier. The old man is called Dun He Ren dao, which means ''Old Christmas'.

Egypt – The Egypt Christians celebrate the Christmas for four weeks and each one of them lit a candle. They fast for 40 days and not missing Christmas dinner of bread, rice, garlic and ground beef.



France - The French homes have a special space reserved for the Nativity Scene, which is known for the quantity and richness of figures that compose. During the supper French can not miss the trunk of Christmas, a typical cake in the form of tree trunk.



Greece - On the day before of Christmas, the children walk the streets singing Kalandia - typical songs of the region - and as a reward receive candy and nuts. After 40 days of fasting, the Greeks eat pork, accompanied by Christopsomo, the bread of Christ. In the Greek celebration there isn’t Christmas tree. Instead, they use a container of wood suspended, filled with water, which is hung a sprig of basil wrapped around a wooden cross. Every day a person's family wet the cross and spray the house with her.



India - Exotic. This word describes well the Indian Christmas. Mango and banana trees are decorated in India during Christmas. Still, the Indians use the leaves of these trees to decorate their homes, and oil lamps in the edges of roofs and leaves of tropical plants and candles to decorate the churches. The Christmas in India is very strict in terms of respect for sacred rituals.


Brazil- as the Brazilian people is one of the most cheerful of the world; the celebration of Christmas here could not be different. Millions of Brazilians gathered in family to celebrate the arrival of December 25. Full of popular culture and traditions, the celebration of Christmas has different performances throughout the country, with regional events and highlighted differentiated mainly in the north and northeast. In general, Christmas in Brazil isn’t much different from natal North Americans and Europeans: the family is held in an exchange of gifts near the Christmas tree and table is always full of delicious meals. The only major difference is the weather, because we are in December at the height of summer and they are in the winter.

But No matter the language, ethnicity, economic condition, age or the climate. Color, joy, hope, love, gifts and music create the festive atmosphere of the time and each country follows a tradition, respecting the line of evolutionary time, the legends and customs produced by ancestors.


This article has been sponsored by AA Trade Company, Cleary (128,128,0) http://slurl.com/secondlife/Cleary/128/128/0

For more pictures and information see:
English blog: http://annaavalanche.blogspot.com/
Portuguese blog: http://dejavu-intl-portuguese.blogspot.com/
Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/annaavalanche/

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Exploring the new sailing area

I spent the last couple of days exploring the new sailing area created east of the Nautilus continent with the creation of the sims of the Blake Sea and moving the United Sailing Sim. This is the first time a direct link is being created between a group of private estates and mainland

Exploring the Blake Sea

I used several of my ships in this esploration, that you can see in the pictures

Exploring the Blake Sea

I have mixed feelings about this operation. It is surely a wonderful opportunity for all those who love maritime activities in SL and expecially sailing, and I keep thinking to get at least a docking place in the area. But these same thoughts have also made me think of the great unbalance this operation has brought into SL. It is very clear that the lands aroung the Blake Sea, both the mainland in the larger Nautilus continent, and the private estate of the USS are more equal than the others. There is no match between a seaside parcel in the original mainland or in the Southern Continent and one close to the Blake Sea. And no other estate will ever be able to offer access the same amount of world that the USS have now. I love Beek Haven for instance, and the Sea of Antiquity, and I used to sail a lot in the water of the elven lands. But there is no match honestly. They are still great for roleplaying but they have become very small for fun sailing. This new situation will be (and already is) reflected in the value of the properties and of the commercial spaces located in the different areas.

the Morning Star Sailing from Nautilus to Sailors Cove

Apart from these considerations the area is just great and offers hours of fun and great views.

the Star of Faeria Cruising from Sailors Cove to Nautilus

I invite all those who like sea activities in SL to spend some time there and explore. It is a great experience.

the Star of Faeria Cruising from Sailors Cove to Nautilus

the Star of Faeria Cruising from Sailors Cove to Nautilus


See other beautiful places inside Second Life
Virtual Africa: Beautiful Places inside Second Life by Wildstar Beaumont
Deja vu International & AA Trade

want to hug a dragon ? - Beautiful Places inside Second Life by Wildstar Beaumont

Oxbridge - Beautiful Places inside Second Life by Wildstar Beaumont

Zurich City SL Opera House Second Life - Beautiful Places inside Second Life by Wildstar Beaumont

Saturday, January 17, 2009

What is Second Life? How to download Second Life? How to sign in Second Life?

I know the majority of readers from this blog known Second Life very well. But I have notice that some readers don’t know this platform or let’s say browser 3D. So I wrote this article for those who don’t know the metaverse, maybe some are your friends. If someone don’t understand what is Second Life invite them to read this article or make a commentary here. I will try to answer as soon as possible. At the end of this post I included some links for you to download Second Life and make your registration at Linden’s Lab (the creator of Second Life) to try this virtual world experience.

But what is Second Life? Second Life is a real life simulator in a virtual world totally 3D. We can also say it is a 3D browser too, analogous to Internet Explorer. Therefore, people can interact with others avatars from other countries. They can also create objects, business and personalize their avatar everything in a 3D ambiance. Residents can travel all around the world and meet people. Second Life is something like the combination of a simulator, web site, Orkut, and MSN all mix in a 3D environment.

What are the minimum requirements for me to run Second Life?
Your computer must meet these minimum requirements, or you may not be able to successfully participate in Second Life.

For Windows:
Internet Connection*: Cable or DSL
Operating System: 2000, XP, or Vista
Computer Processor: 800 MHz Pentium III or Athlon, or better
Computer Memory: 512 MB or more
Screen Resolution: 1024x768 pixels
Graphics Card for XP/2000**:
• NVIDIA GeForce 2, GeForce 4 MX or better
• OR ATI Radeon 8500, 9250 or better
• OR Intel 945 chipset
Graphics Card for Vista (requires latest drivers)**:
• NVIDIA GeForce 6600 or better
• OR ATI Radeon 9500 or better
• OR Intel 945 chipset


For Mac:

Internet Connection*: Cable or DSL
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.4.11 or better
Computer Processor: 1 GHz G4 or better
Computer Memory: 512 MB or more
Screen Resolution: 1024x768 pixels
Graphics Card**:
• ATI Radeon 9200 and above
• OR ATI Radeon X Series
• OR NVIDIA GeForce 2, GeForce 4
• OR NVIDIA GeForce 5000 Series and above

Is it Second Life the web future platform?

I think Second Life definitely is a new concept platform. Obviously other innovations will make this concept better in the future. Others browsers similar to Second Life are here to prove my question. Other programs such as Smallworlds, Popmundo, Maplestory and Kaneva are analogous to the Second Life concept. Even the powerful Google yield to this idea.

Like I Said I believe this concept is the future of internet. Beyond all possibilities Second Life facilitate people relationship, business and learning. Also SL is a good 3D software. The most impressive thing in SL for me is the possibility to go inside a shop and talk to other customers. This is something very difficult to be seen in a 2D website. There are also unlimited possibilities to create pictures, movies and 3D objects. Actually there are more than 15 million accounts open and Sl economy grow about 35% an year. If you bet Second Life you will do well.

To login Second Life you need to follow these steps:

01- Click the image (Login Second Life) on the blog left column. After that touch “GET STARTED” on your right upper screen at Linden Lab website and fill the application form. When you finish that you will receive the link by e-mail. Next you need to download the Second Life software.
02 - Download here the Second Life software if the other link don’t work.

If you still have doubts click here for Second Life and make the software download

Friday, January 16, 2009

Virtual Africa

Have you ever wished to visit the Serengeti ? Until you can do so you can get very close to the experience visiting Virtual Africa in SL.

Virtual Africa

This is a beautiful region, made of 4 (soon to be 5) sims where the African ecosystem, culture and traditions are on display, realized with great passion and care.

Virtual Africa

I found the place jumping randomly from blogs to tweets and, at last, I saw a LM in a tweet, with an invitation to visit the place. I followed the LM and I found myself in this beautiful natural paradise. I was greeted almost immediately by Alanagh Recreant, one of the souls behind the project and a Capetown resident in RL.

Virtual Africa

Alanagh took me around on a balloon tour where I got a great felling of the place. You just need to immerse yourself a bit on the experience and you really believe to be flying over the savana.

Virtual Africa

There are wild animals areas, beautiful landscapes, camping areas, themed platforms in the sky, rivers to navigate, cultural centers and a market where one can find African outfits.

virtual africa

It was an overall great experience. More tours are available with stations to follow all over the place and I definitely plan to go back there for more exploration.

virtual africa

Oh .. I was forgetting: when you are there set your environment to sunset. The warm colors of the sunset light are perfect to enhance an already gorgeous experience.

Have fun ... and remember to pet a lion :)

W

Monday, January 12, 2009

Second Life Events Schedule for January 2009

January 18th
Time: 2 PM SLT
SL NAG @ Rich Island

Wipping Willow live premiere
from MIDEM event @ Cannes / Frances

http://myspace.com/WippingWillow
http://www.midem.net

Scheduled Sequence:

introductory instrumental, image et violoncelle
la periode noire (4 songs) "CInematika"
cerise intro tango
then the singer Anouk joins on l'oiseau tarantelle !

Emergence
Cello Fan
Darquologie
Cerise

Oiseau tarentelle
Cordes pixélisée
coeur grillé
Bonheur ephemere (i shouldn't)
Lollipop
Keskejfoula
rupture inversé (beauty arround)
Escapade
Demenagement
watcha Weia

RL-Videos to your attention:

oiseau tarentelle : http://vimeo.com/1138620
Bonheur ephemere (i shouldn't): http://vimeo.com/2228371
Keskejfoula : http://vimeo.com/2401243
Lollipop : http://vimeo.com/2559001
rupture inversé (beauty around) : http://vimeo.com/2188756
Escapade: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5hyyt_wipping-willow-la-bellevilloise-liv_music
Demenagement : http://vimeo.com/1169521

-------------------------------------------------
January 19th
Time: 1PM
SL Zurich Opera House

Info: http://www.francescocuoghi.it/bibli_streaming.htm
http://www.bibli.it/musica/adesso/2009/09-01.htm

LIVE from ROME:
Maurizio Barbetti viola
Francesco Cuoghi guitar and electronics
Gabriel Maldonado guitars and electronics
Speaker: Gianni Antognozzi

Music from following composers:
Eckart Beinke, Klaus Stahmer, Luca Miti, Edu Haubensak,Bruno Strobl,
Aldo Brizzi, Gerhard Stäbler, Gabriel Maldonado, Riccardo Sinigaglia

ask EdDereDdE Laval - for further infos :)