During my statistical sweep of things Second Life yesterday, I discovered a new private island on the Second Life map. Called Microsoft Xbox, the island appears to have only been in existence for a few scant hours. It's locked down, of course, and there's likely nothing to see yet, but obviously Microsoft have additional plans in Second Life.

Recently, Microsoft apparently looked into the possibility of running Second Life on Xbox systems, but Microsoft's development ethos has long shunned many of the core systems, particularly the graphics system used by Second Life for multi-platform portability. That would make for expensive development efforts, and long delays after updates before new versions could be made available. That would seem to suggest that Microsoft's stake in Second Life is still a matter of advertising, and public relations at the present time.

It took long enough, but Microsoft has now officially developed a presence in SL with the help of Millions of Us. On Thursday, May 10th, at 6 PM SL Time, we'll see the unveiling of Visual Studio Island, which I presume is all about the Visual Studio set of applications.

As you can see by the photo, the island is action-oriented, with areas on the map declaring 'challenge', 'leaderboard', and, uh ... 'blimp mooring'. Is there something in the blimp? We'll have to wait and see, but my hope is cookies. Lots of cookies.

More information to come on the Millions of Us site, as well as Defy All Challenges.

(Thanks, )

[UPDATE: Wellington is in New Zealand, not Australia as originally written -- apologies to the Kiwis!] CtrlShift07, the Biennial Pacific Students of Architecture Congress 2007, is an event designed to get architecture students thinking about how 3D environments relate to architectural design. To this end, Wellington, New Zealand's Victoria University is promoting a contest to be held in SL: students would design a building to inhabit a tract of land, with the winning design to receive their own island and 3 months' maintenance fees.

Beginning May 21 and ending in July, the competition has the full support of Victoria University. If we're able, we'll bring more information on the contest entries as they go up. I've always thought SL is a great tool for architects to use in their design process -- now we'll see if I was right!

(Via scoop.co.nz)

"Chairman and Chief Executive Sam Palmisano is set to visit Second Life on Tuesday, following a "town hall" meeting with some 7,000 employees in China, and speak with the more than 250 IBM employees on one of the company's virtual islands." - IBM accelerates push into 3D virtual worlds, Reuters.

That's got to be one heck of an island that they've got going on there, I must say. 250 on an island is quite a stretch. 250 on a four-sim corner is still a stretch. Either IBM is getting much better toys, or they're planning to do this in shifts.

" The company said it is already holding meetings and conducting development inside virtual worlds with about 20 major clients, including telecommunications and aerospace firms, a petroleum company that wants to use virtual worlds for training and "a major grocer in the UK" that wants to build a virtual storefront that will allow consumers to buy real-world groceries online."

Nice to see they're not claiming to be first, either. IBM is definitely one that bears watching. The company had a very shaky transition into computing originally, with a reputation for second-rate business machines, but the best marketing team in the then corporate world.

That tarnished reputation has long since departed. IBM's there, working quietly in the background, soaking up talent, spending bundles on research, and making yet more bundles in the bargain. No longer the in-your-face edifice they once were, IBM works steadily in the background, finding niches, widening them, and making them their own. Not always with the greatest success, but IBM's quiet, ongoing, sober presence in Second Life is the biggest news you never hear residents talking about.