On May 21, the JayR Cela reported in the Second Life Herald that he had had a conversation with Guy Trenchard of Sun Microsystems. During that conversation, Trenchard said that Sun Microsystems was "Working closely with L[inden] L[ab] porting SL to Solaris."

Was that true? If so, which parts? I mean that's huge news, and would represent a fundamental shift in philosophy at Linden Lab. So, we took the simplest route, and we asked. Was Linden Lab working with Sun Microsystems? Were they porting Second Life to Solaris in whole or in part? The definitive answer via Linden Lab's PR people is that "there is absolutely no truth to this."

The SL Herald breaks the news that Playboy is set to dip its toes into SL's pond sometime in June, and notes that there is no information on what their presence will entail. However, in a world where Playboy-level beauty is readily available, how can Hugh and the Girls compete?

I'd imagine there would have to be some sort of multimedia content, perhaps in the form of video streams of mansion parties, celebrity appearances, maybe some behind the scenes looks at photoshoots. They might choose to offer versions of their printed articles. You'll likely be able to purchase a subscription or an associated product.

Yet SL far outshines anything Playboy might come up with in the matter of prurient content -- pretty much anything you desire can be had for a price. Will this make a splash? Do we care?

Start packing, because SXSW begins tomorrow, Friday, March 9th in Austin! It's going to be an action-packed five days of adventure and excitement, starting off with registration from Noon-8pm CST. Ooh, fun! I was advised to not even get in line for registration until at least 3pm, as it will be packed at first. From what I hear, there will be many parties to attend and lots of free booze, as well as some informational panels for those going to learn.

A whopping eight Lindens and three ex-Lindens will be attending, with some manning booths and others speaking on panels. I just found out that Urizenus Sklar, of the Second Life Herald, will be attending. An interesting tidbit is that his badge lists him as the Corporate Evangelist for Anshe Chung Studios. We also have a late addition to the attendee list. Christian Prior, of the Electric Sheep Company, is going! Are you attending the Interactive section of SXSW? Send me a message in-world and we'll exchange phone numbers! I'll be the short girl with the tall hair. See you there!

The Second Life Herald reports that love-her-or-hate-her icon Anshe Chung is poised to announce that she has made a million dollars in SL since her business's inception roughly two and a half years ago.

Perhaps Saturday's announcement will make clear whether or not her current bank balance is actually at a million dollars or (more likely) that it's an aggregated total over the two and a half years. [SNARK ALERT] Wow, this is a huge relief for me; Anshe is finally big enough for me to interview for SLI.

At this point, is it even possible for anyone to unseat her as reigning queen of virtual estate? Has she just gotten too big to take on? Is it even perceived as necessary? Drop your comments!

Canada's national newspaper, the Globe and Mail, has reprinted their article on SL online. It's a decent overview of SL, citing references to such diverse topics as the BBC Radio 1 event, the American Apparel opening, the Relay For Life, and Canadian griefer Plastic Duck. There are also mini-interviews with resident Anna Mandelbrot; David Fleck of Linden Lab; and Mark Wallace, also known as Walker Spaight of the Second Life Herald.

There are passages that rankle me, most notably the line "Players can purchase cyber genitalia that animate with a fellow avatar's touch, or -- for those into bestiality -- animal parts and costumes, which are exceedingly popular." I haven't covered my thoughts on Furry roleplaying yet, but I'd like to mention that Furry sex is NOT bestiality. Bestiality is sexual relations between a human being and an animal. Furries are humans identifying as animal/human hybrids. The key point here is that at all times there is absolute acknowledgment of a human mind behind the avatar. As Janeane Garofalo says "You can love your pets... just don't love your pets!"

Regardless, this article is another example of the world coming to terms with this new virtual space, and its wide-ranging applications.