While browsing SL Exchange for sculpties, I came across a really cool set of animals made by Timmi Allen. The appeal for me, of course, is that there were holstein cows among them! When I arrived to his shop in Neuland, I was surprised to find very realistic statues. They're even animated so that their mouths open and their tails wag!

I'm really excited to see what residents have done so far with sculpties. In conjunction with regular prims, they allow a whole new level of customization. Have you made anything you'd like to show off? Leave a comment!

It seems the love affair of the media, however 'interesting' the research, continues apace.

It also appears that, with the exception of those that hate SL we're moving past the attacks into more or less balanced pieces, and, in some of the mainstream media away from sex in SL as the core of the story at long last.

The NY Times is carrying another article. This one is making SL appear to be horribly bourgeois and all about keeping up with the Joneses, clothes, cars, sex beds and all. It's slightly misleading - in fact if I were a furry I might be downright insulted by "But the largest slice of the population follows the crowd, and the crowd is not dressing up as dragons." Even if I had to acknowledge the truth of it.

The Toronto based Globe and Mail carries an article about the law and behaviour in SL, looking in quite a lot of depth at griefing, but skimming over child porn, gambling, Bragg v Linden Lab and so on. It's not sensationalist though, it's looking at how laws are being formed and how tools are gradually coming into being to help control this.


Finally, Education World carries a potted but interesting and useful guide to some good education spots in Second Life - along with a good piece of general advice: "these sites admittedly stress the 'wow' factor of a 3-D virtual environment. As Sean suggests, once you are hooked, you can find the more practical, but less dramatic, places."

More like these please in the mainstream media - certainly steps in the right direction.

(Thanks to Carol Tucker for some of the links).

Under the motto of "social engine for Second Life", Robbie Kiama has recently launched a new and interesting product – MetaHUD. This new gadget is a neat combination between a Digg/StumbleUpon network for SL and an in-world, easy-to-search marketplace. The interface is very friendly and reminds users of a regular web browser. The buttons are nicely designed, with graphics that cut across language barriers. You can access the Digg/StumbleUpon feature under the Travel tab at the top and the marketplace under Items.

I typically use the gadget to tag favorite places as I encounter them, but MetaHUD also has a system for people to buy items (without needing to teleport to a store). Simply search under "Items" for things you wish to buy or do the search "/8 meta mart" and grab the partner kit to learn about advertising here.

Much like SLExchange, this MetaHUD does charge a percentage/commission of sales. The other similar service is OnRez, which has free listings for shop owners. It features both in-world and on the web purchasing options. (Thanks for that clarification, Forseti).

MetaHUD's search method seems to be more more efficient than the classifieds and it does allow sellers to input a picture and tags for specific objects (much like SL browser). If you're a fan of digg or del.icio.us, you'll definitely love this. Get your own free copy here and let us know what you think!

Relay for Life has been in Second Life for years now, and for those of you that don't know, this weekend marks the celebration that the fundraising is done for the 2007 fiscal year! After this next week, the sims will disappear and fundraising will begin for 2008. As of 6pm SL time, they've raised L$26,885,975, which is a few hundred dollars short of $100,000 USD!

In the next couple of days, I'll be posting information and schedules for events revolving around SLRFL. A lot of work went into this from many teams. There will be auctions, pageants, and themed laps around the track, which takes over an hour to walk!

The official event starts tomorrow, Saturday, July 28th, at 2pm SL time (PDT), but don't let that stop you from checking it out now! To start your walk through all 32 sims or donate money to the American Cancer Society, head on over to RelayForLife Start.

Phil Limpert, of Supermarket Guru, is working with Kraft Foods to develop Phil's Supermarket, which has been designed not only to create awareness for Kraft's brand, but also to help educate residents about healthy food choices and maximize your shopping dollar.

Although I've been a naysayer in the past about the efficacy of bringing consumables advertising into SL, this looks like something I could actually use. Phil's promises over 100,000 products in the Supermarket by the end of this Summer, as well as a wide variety of activities and information, including (from the website):

• Real world food products presented in 3-D, with access to product information, recipes, and coupons that can be instantly printed, stored or emailed
• In-store seminars which educate shoppers about nutrition, food safety and saving money
• "Supermarket Guru Podcasts" in which Phil will take questions from the Second Life audience

Having just come from there, I can attest to the abundance of choices for the curious resident. Walking in, I felt like Robin Williams in 'Moscow on the Hudson'. I can't wait to explore the store!

(Thanks, Mitch!)

I attempted to use my "special powers" to conduct interviews with various members of Metabirds, a Japanese company specializing in providing marketing solutions for physically and non-physically based businesses, but the results were a bit mixed. I used my "Special Power Google Translator", and "Special Power Inadequate Japanese Vocabulary" to chat to the very helpful Japanese-speaking ladies at the Metabirds beginners helpdesk, to conduct an email interview with Nao Noe, the company manager of Metabirds, and to get an overall impression of the company from the company website.

As I understand it, creating hair is a challenging business. Never having tried it myself (except for the horrifying turn of events hereafter referred to as "The Incident" -- long story), I don't claim to know what issues the process entails. However, I do know good work when I see it. For this post, I've interviewed Six Kennedy and her partner Dominik Bauer, the minds behind Gurl 6, a successful line of avatar hairstyles. Six and Dom were very easy to talk with, no egos involved at all. I heartily recommend checking out their wares!

Note: This interview has been edited for clarity, and in the interest of expediency. Dialogue has not been altered in any other way; these are the words of the interviewees.

Six Kennedy: Hi Akela!

SL Insider: Hi! Nice to finally meet you!

Dominik Bauer: Hi, Akela!

SL Insider: Hi Dominik!

Six Kennedy: And this is my partner Dominik; he runs the man shop and the animations/poses. He also is a big part of the girl part behind the scenes.

SLI: His secret's safe with me.

Six Kennedy: LOL I don't mean like that! He helps me with textures, although I've been known to make him try on a wig or two!

SLI: This is a huge empire of hair you've built.

Six Kennedy: My friend calls it a little hair utopia.

SLI: So, first of all, how did you come to Second Life?

Six Kennedy: A friend of mine told me about the game, I had tried TSO (The Sims Online) before. Once I saw what you could do with your avatars here I loved it and stayed.

SLI: How long did it take you to start doing your own hair? ...so to speak.

Six Kennedy: I had been playing for 6 months, just mostly hanging out in sandboxes watching other friends build and learning basic building, but about 6 months in is when I started actually creating my own hair. I always had millions of ideas for styles in my head and loved the hair out there that already existed; I just wanted MORE of it! That's why I started making it.


More after the break...

American Apparel, the RL clothing store, has opened a new location in SL! To do so, they've enlisted our own adorable Aimee Weber to create their building.

It's interesting, to say the least, that SL is beginning to be regarded as a viable option for advertising purposes. As Raz Schionning, director of Web services at American Apparel, says: "Everyone else has wings and devil horns and all the rest ... So it'll be curious to see if a red T-shirt makes sense." I've found that residents, above all else, value choice in their appearance, so I don't imagine that AA ought to be too concerned. The question is, however, will this drive sales up in RL?

This site has a nice selection of pictures of the newly-designed space, and of course, you may go visit the site itself in the Lerappa sim.