One interesting thing that came out of SLCC was the revelation that it appears that Wired was not only trash-talking Second Life, but that the trash-talk was the goal and intent, quite independent of the realities.

Coca Cola's Mike Donnelly, Director of Global Interactive Marketing says that Wired's Frank Rose completely misrepresented his and Coca Cola's position on Second Life. It's a public dustup about lies and distortion in the media. Yummy.

Enjoy the show...

Crescendo Corporation, a strategic communications company that you've probably never heard of, and Catalyst a 'full service virtual marketing company' that you've probably also never heard of have sent in a press release announcing their joint partnership and merger in terms so superlative and heavily hyped, that - frankly - I nearly junked the release before I got halfway through.

It's that embarrassing. I don't have another Bad News Week piece ready for you yet (but if I did, this would wind up in it), so for your entertainment, I'll reproduce the press release in full. People with severe hype allergies should take precautions. I'd strongly advise not getting any of this on your hands.

There's a lot of shoddy reporting out there, and I'm thinking it was high time we rounded some of it up and laughed at it (as it deserves) or simply slap our foreheads in dismay (as much of it engenders). There's a couple howlers out there at the moment, and it's time to put up the white sheet and shoot them.

One of the ones that's really making some waves right now is from news.com.au. It is, what Second Life users would generally describe as a steaming pile of Shirky. It's really that outrageous.

We all know that when you play Chinese whispers, the message is supposed to get folded, spindled or mutilated on the way around the circle. Surely we expect better from our journalistic colleagues?

First in the circle, the folks in Lockport (titled: Barrett Case: Love Triangle Case Unfolds) By all accounts, they have their facts straight. Thomas Montgomery, Brian Barrett, and a West Virginia woman, were engaged in a love triangle. Montgomery is facing second degree murder charges having allegedly shot Barrett. Montgomery, Barrett and the woman used MySpace, Yahoo! Messenger and Pogo.com to communicate with each other. Notice that there is no mention of Second Life here. That's not going to last.