It has been a very very long time since i wrote anything! It is because I am studying very hard and also because my secondlife account is disabled for god knows what reason as they wont say the reason (as according to the T/C they have thoes reasons)
But the good side is that they are going to activate it and hopefully it would be soon 
-Adi
IT major IBM has announced that it is expanding its business centre for India in Second Life, with live sales “avatars” based in India to offer an enriched customer experience.
The business centre is also adding staff in India, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Korea on the virtual site, as well as dedicated pavilions for China and Japan.
The business centre offer sales support across the world, allowing customers to visit IBM virtually and see products and solutions in 3D. This is a place for IBM sales people, clients, and partners to meet, learn, collaborate, and conduct business together, virtually, without the time and cost of travel.
The new staff join others from North America, Latin America, Europe, Australia, Singapore and Malaysia who started working there earlier this year. According to IBM.com vice-president of India/South Asia Sanjiv R Pande, “Clients are increasingly looking for convenient ways of interacting with their suppliers.
We have always been accessible through our traditional web engines with solutions that allow customers to interact and transact with IBM over the Web. We are now taking this accessibility to the next level.”
If someone wants to buy hardware, software or services or needs help solving a business problem, the IBM sales avatar will either help them or ensure that they are connected with the right IBM expert inside or outside of Second Life. Signing contracts, paying, or exchanging sensitive information would take place by telephone or through the Web.
Controlling an electrical device using a switch in the virtual world of internet would no more be a distant dream, with IBM India planning to develop an “interface” to suit such applications.
Objects like a webcam could be connected to a virtual monitor or a real electric appliance to a virtual switch, according to a project conceived during an internship programme for students of top-notch technical and business schools at IBM India Software Lab.
The project enhances the possibilities of the three- dimensional online virtual world — Second Life — developed by San Francisco-based Linden Lab and opened for the public in 2003.
Over the years, the popularity of Second Life has grown explosively among internet users with over eight million ‘residents’ across the globe.
In Second Life, internet users can interact with each other and can buy and sell services through their ‘avataars’.
“As per the new project, the interface will allow users in the virtual world to experience objects in the real world through a new and exciting Rich Immersive Environment,” Benjamin Chodroff of Case Western Reserve University in the US, who came up with the idea during the recently held internship programme, told PTI.
The new idea has many applications and will enhance both the virtual world and the real world with rich connectivity and on-demand-access from any part of the globe, he added.
Chodroff, one among the 30 students from various top technical and business schools who attended the 12-week programme, ‘Extreme Blue’, hopes to find his project developed and marketed with the help of IT major IBM.
According to Amol Mahamuni, Programme Director, IBM India Software Lab, Extreme Blue team members, during their 12-week internship, develop innovative projects along with marketing plan for an emerging business opportunity in areas that include business on demand, grid computing, pervasive computing and Linux.
The programme also brought forth some new innovative projects like ‘Dynamic Power Management’ which would help plan the quantum of power to be used by data centres, thereby preventing wastage of energy.
Another project - an automatic planning tool for distributed and overlapping projects - was well-received by IBM executives, mentors, sponsors and peers during an expo held as part of the programme, said Mohit Gupta of NIT, Warangal, who along with Anupama Mridul of IIT, Roorkee, developed the project.
“The internship intends to cultivate innovative thinking among the talented students and encourages them to come up with out-of-the-box ideas to meet emerging business needs while assessing the market feasibilities,” said Mahamuni.
One company looks set to unleash a revolution in the online world. Here there is no policy glitch, no threat of a Wal-Mart and no small kirana stores to reckon with. Sample this: Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation is studying the feasibility of starting an online store on Second Life, the virtual world owned by Linden Labs.
GCMMF MD BM Vyas disclosed they are in talks with Trimensions, a metaverse development firm (creator of 3-D online environments) based in Gurgaon to find out whether it can take its product range online on Second Life, where it has already built an ice cream parlour.
The parlour, which took about three months to create will be launched soon and will allow users to walk into, browse and access information about Amul products and processes. If the company decides to go ahead with selling products online, the initiative will put GCMMF at the forefront of the V-Commerce (virtual commerce) drive in India.
What’s a new wave at Amul is a new life for Second Life, a free virtual environment on the Internet where users create avatars, move around, interact with other users’ avatars. Second Life was treated largely as a gaming or networking portal in the beginning. But serious business is transacted on it now. “Trade worth rs 6.5 crore happens on the site daily,” says Siddharth Banerjee, aka Zeus Zetkin (as he is known on Second Life), CEO and Founder of IndusGeeks, another metaverse development company.
He says that the business development potential for companies on virtual worlds such as Second Life is tremendous. At present, it is estimated that there are 20 million registered user accounts on Second Life, though many of those accounts are inactive. “The number of Indian accounts is anywhere over 12,000 and growing,” says Rahul Dutta, CMD of Trimensions.
Dutta’s team has been working with many clients to develop platforms for them on the Net You can indeed buy and sell products and services in Linden Dollars, the official currency of Second Life. These Linden Dollars can be purchased against and sold for real money in the offline world.
Virtual worlds are computer-based simulated environments intended for its users, also known as residents or avatars to inhabit and interact. These virtual worlds are usually represented in the form of two or three-dimensional representations of humanoids (or other graphical avatars like animals or birds). Most, but not all, virtual worlds allow for multiple users.
The worlds being computer-simulated appear similar to the real world, with real world rules such as gravity, topography, locomotion, real-time actions, and real-time voice communication using VoIP is available.
The most common virtual worlds or games are SecondLife, There, The Sims Online, IMVU, World of Warcraft and Kaneva.
Virtual worlds represent a powerful new media for education. Persistence allows for continuing and growing social interactions, which themselves can serve as a basis for collaborative education. Virtual worlds can also provide a foundation for serious games, intended to instruct and illuminate. Some virtual world platforms also provide support for simulation based instruction, increasingly recognized as a powerful new computer enabled approach to learning. They can provide new methods for learning evaluation and teacher professional development, including embedded assessment and teacher training linked directly to student performance.
A growing number of educational institutions are exploring existing general purpose virtual world platforms as a means to extend and enhance their offerings to students. Typically, educators create an online presence where students can interact, using their avatars to learn about new assignments or create projects that are viewable within the virtual world. For example, students taking a computer manufacturing class can log into a virtual world in which they are the inhabitants of a burgeoning village that needs their expertise for the construction of houses, furniture, machines, and other goods. An example of such a program is AWEDU, a project started by Active Worlds, Inc. A number of educational institutions are now running virtual classrooms and discussion sections in worlds like Second Life.
Many people are leaving their daily jobs as they are earning more through such virtual worlds. Virtual Worlds like SecondLife offer people to make their own products for the modification of the avatars and to sell them. “I had joined SecondLife mainly to have fun enjoy and to do and be what i couldn’t in my first life (i.e. real life). But now I own a chain of stores for female clothes and accessories known by the name LifeRocks Inc. I am now a very happy with my secondlief as well because i earn enough money and revenue from my club and stores to pay my apartments rent.” says me.
It can now be said that living two lives at once is not a dream BUT a reality. Anyone can do things and be what they want as in your secondlife YOU are the God and you decide what is right for you.
More than 10,000 people are in Bali thrashing out action on global warming, but those who couldn’t make it in person are here virtually - some in the form of dragons and action heroes.
Hoping to widen the debate and cut down on carbon emissions from air travel, OneWorld.net , a Left-leaning website, has taken the UN conference here on climate change to the online virtual world Second Life.
The website has brought together everyone from a US congressman, who travelled virtually as a 3-D animation, to anonymous participants hailing from Japan to Turkmenistan and Romania.
Second Life, which has drawn millions of users since it was created in 2003 by San Francisco-based Linden Labs, is a fantasy land in which users mingle under assumed identities as “avatars”.
While most delegates in Bali opt for formal attire, users of the site pick the virtual likeness of their choice - ranging from purple hair to outfits befitting action heroes. The mostly anonymous avatars type in questions and comments at a virtual arena in a daily webcast featuring real-world officials and experts.
“I admit I was a bit of a cynic at first about these avatars. I just found it totally bizarre,” said Danny Nelson, 64, an ex-UK journalist who conducts the interviews for the webcast.
“But then I saw the results. This has the potential to bring in all sorts of people who never would have come to Bali unless they’re millionaires or in NGOs,” he said.
One person who used the website to get through to Bali was US Representative Edward Markey, a leading critic of President George W Bush’s energy policies which he accused of worsening global warming.
“I have teleported here over the Internet, as you can see, as an avatar,” Markey said as he introduced his virtual persona - a comparatively staid animation in which he appeared in suit and tie.
“I believe that I am the first member of the US Congress to be introduced by someone with a blue dragon on her shoulder,” the Massachusetts Democrat noted.
Markey said he had to stay in Washington to spearhead a clean energy bill in the Democratic-controlled Congress, but wanted to get his message out in Bali where talks have deadlocked.
With Christmas and the New year round the corner, Second Life is gearing up for celebrations. And what better to usher in the yuletide spirit than the annual Second Life Winter Festival? Linden Labs officially started the festival on Friday, December 14 and will continue till January 8, 2008. It follows last year’s theme of offering a central event registry for resident-hosted experiences.
There are two categories of experiences this year: events and venues. Events have both a host and duration while Venues are un-hosted and function as self-guided tours, scenic vistas, places to relax and so on.
December 15 was the first full day of Winterfest’07 and had an amazing array of events. It started with the Joysco Winter Festival that featured live music, live voice interviews, a skating party, a community awareness program and a grand fashion show. Then the very formal Poetry in Pixels - Yuletide Ball at the Coconut Grove with Live jazz by Aisha Yao and DJ Miriam Antonelli.
Then there was the Illusion Theater Winter Village Party at Koala Point with DJ Cindi and the enSync dancers having a different music theme each hour. Finally it was the La Place Mall Christmas Party at Hauwai with a carnival, dancing, fun, food and more.
There’s a jam-packed schedule for the 25th and you have to be there to believe it. There’s the all day long salsa ballroom party at the Tropicana Ballroom Mall. There are prizes for the best salsa couple and other great prizes too.
Then there’s the widely popular Treasure Quest where you can explore SL while you hunt treasures as you get clues, solve puzzles, and gain wonderful prizes along the way. Catch a glimpse of the giant moving balloons of all shapes towering over your head & fantastic floats sauntering down the street at the Christmas Parade.
In the evening, its romance at the Half Note Jazz Club with slow music to dance, date, flirt, fall in love, make new friends or play a game on the rooftop. As the clock strikes midnight, head over to Teaser’s Nightclub playing all the best tunes from ’80s to the present day, rock, dance and other genres.
Gift ideas
And here are some Christmas gift ideas for your near and dear (and not so close) ones who are also on SL. Your close buddies probably have everything already, so you can’t really be innovative there. Be a dear and pay their land rental for three months. This will ensure they have a guaranteed home in SL for that period. They will in-turn allow you to be the MC for the New Year bash at their club. Or maybe, give passes to the invitation only parties.
For acquaintances, the best thing would be one of the many SL guide books available on Amazon. And what about your girlfriend? Well, you have to be perfect here. Chances are that she has a fabulous avatar and she spent a lot of time creating it. So what’s better than a real world replica of her avatar? Click over to www.fabjectory.com and order one for her. You need to shell out $49 for a 2-inch tall model, $75 for a 5-inch model, and $99 for a 7-inch tall model.
There’s loads more planned for the New Year. But that’s for next time. On behalf of the entire SL community, I wish all of you a great Christmas and a very happy new year. Have a blast!
Oh! I am very tired now….did a lot of research in getting some good news for you guys maybe now I will do some more research and come back after a week with more good-bad-ugly news
Enjoy
Bye
Adi
Running at remarkably steep angles up a grassy hill, Melinda Gann glanced over her shoulder and caught a glimpse of the beach falling far away from her as she recently made her way to the summit.
She was alone and exhilarated. The view, she recalled, was almost as stunning as her achievement: leaving behind her body, disabled with lupus and arthritis that has confined her to a wheelchair, to enter a newly created, computer-generated world called There.
It is a meticulously designed, three-dimensional virtual reality, or metaverse. In it, people are represented by avatars, cartoonlike figures that move about like marionettes speaking through great bubbles of text appearing over their heads. Consumers using high-speed broadband connections can chat, not just in text, but by voice as well, and even share music with one another as they talk and play.
The creator of this virtual world, There Inc, is calling it “the first online getaway,” a sort of digital Club Med where the guests will be able to connect with other people, shop, or simply explore the exotic surroundings.
And while chat is a major feature of There, the company’s chief executive, Tom Melcher, said it offers much more, including avatars enlivened with artificial intelligence that look and act more realistically than typical game characters. They appear to breathe. Their eyes blink, and their body language —controlled by the user or left to software to animate —is meant to make conversations feel more natural.
There is not just a new way to communicate,” he said. “It’s an online place with real-world physics, natural scenery and sounds, and the ability to interact freely with people and objects.”
Of course, computer-generated environments in which users can interact through digital alter egos have been around for years. Almost any computer game that lets a player wield a weapon or throw a punch is, by definition, a virtual world.
A virtual destination like There is more akin to going to a cooking class or an art museum to meet people. Members can guide their avatars by basically using the directional keys on a standard computer keyboard not only to meet friends and make new ones but also to explore There’s worlds.
P.S : SEcondLife is the best…
As criminals increasingly hijack digital technologies, police in Canada are turning to an unusual candidate pool for crime fighters: the virtual world of Second Life. “Policing has to reflect society, and as technology becomes more pervasive in society, we have to make sure that officers we hire are familiar with the technology,” said Inspector Kevin McQuiggin, head of the Vancouver Police Department’s technology crimes unit.
“Anyone we meet online, by virtue of being on Second Life, likely has an interest in cutting-edge technology or is comfortable with technology … and could make an excellent candidate,” he said.
Second Life, created by Linden Lab in 2003, is one of the most popular digital virtual worlds on the Web, with more than eight million users worldwide. Hoping to attract technology-savvy candidates to their unit, the Vancouver cops created online personas or avatars with the help of local university students, and held their first recruiting session on Second Life in June.
A second session is planned by year-end, said McQuiggin,whose team is responsible for computer forensics, investigating harassment by text messages, child porn cases, financial crime, decrypting cell-phone calls of organised crime rings and so on. Last year, the unit was involved in 18 out of 19 homicides in Vancouver on Canada’s Pacific Coast, scanning computers, cell phones and handheld e-mail devices.
In most ways, the Vancouver Police Department’s June online session mirrored a real-life recruiting session: explaining the force’s selection process, training and job opportunities, he said. However, the veteran cops found themselves in a virtual world surrounded by 30 avatars with spiked hair, wings and mercenary accouterments. McQuiggin said recruiters should try to ignore some of the outlandish costumes worn in Second Life.
One man reportedly attended another virtual job fair as a female avatar named Dragon while another appeared as a teddy bear. “The interactivity in Second Life is really neat,” McQuiggin said. But the avatars can be tricky to maneuver. One job-seeker told the daily Globe and Mail he accidentally presented a recruiter with a beer online, instead of a resume. And unintentionally sending your avatar hurtling into a wall could spoil that crucial first impression. According to reports, a growing number of organisations are turning to virtual online communities to find employees for real-life positions, because of their global reach.
