HI-FIve™ (HIFI : SLCAPEX) is announcing today that for every avatar that comes to their Product Openhouse Friday November 21, they will give away a free television - no strings attached. The Free TV event is to take place at 2pm, 6pm and 8pm SLT. (more…)

The Sigma- Aldrich company specializes in assisting researchers in their work. The product lines, each under a different brand name, cover the life sciences, biochemistry, biotechnology, pharmaceutical development, analytical and chromatographic work, research essentials, equipment, books and, last but not least, large scale chemistry. Their customers are primarily in the educational, governmental, non-profit and for-profit sectors.

Sandy Adam – Marketing Guru

Sandy Adam (Georgianna Blackburn in Second Life) is currently the technical marketing specialist in e-marketing for the chemical division of Sigma-Aldrich as well as the brains behind the Sigma-Aldrich entry into Second Life. Prior to this, Adam was self-employed, working in the e-learning industry with a focus on Second Life. Before that, she held a position involving Web Design and Development, Strategic Marketing Plan Development, Advertising and Interactive Tools. Adam obviously has a long, rich history in marketing where online knowledge and strategies are required.

A considered entry into Second Life

A great deal of research has gone into the Sigma-Aldrich installation in Second Life. The American Chemical Society and the Nature Publishing Group, collaborators and partners of Sigma-Aldrich respectively, both had presences in Second Life before Sigma-Aldrich. Their efforts and knowledge contributed significantly to the design of the current build. Adam herself spent many many hours exploring and researching other companies’ builds in Second Life before she partly built, partly commissioned, the installation that exists today. She found some of the required components and buildings at the Clever Zebra vExpo - which were provided free of charge. Unfortunately, the Clever Zebra team were otherwise engaged at the time and could not be hired to complete the installation. Instead, the Estequal group were brought in to round out the selection of buildings. The result is aesthetically pleasing and appropriate to purpose in each case.

Parts of the Sigma-Aldrich installation

Aldrich Chemistry

· New Products Pavilion: This area is intended to engage academic and industrial audiences, including chemists, students, educational institutions and hospitals. Adam’s research has helped her understand that these groups are already represented within Second Life and are just waiting to be funnelled into appropriate in-world advertising ventures. Inside, there’s a display of three-dimensionally rendered molecules from the range of new products developed and produced by Aldrich Chemistry. Each molecule has a corresponding web-page link with further information.

(The Art of Science Exhibit on the Aldrich Chemistry Second Life parcel.) (more…)

I was fortunate enough to sit down with Dakota Neumann at one of his recently designed villas for an insider look at this successful builder and designer. He is most notably the owner of The 5th Element, a very popular dance club that tops the SLENTRE.COM Traffic Report month after month. He is also actively involved with maintaining over 10 sims which house his own private residence, a number of rental units, The 5th Element as well as his luxury pre-fab villas. He admits that he is not in Second Life to get rich - or to even make a profit - but simply to fuel his passion for design. He is meticulous with all of his builds, monitoring them with vigilance so that his vision will not be tampered with by over-eager residents. The villas you see below can be purchased for anywhere from $3500 - $6500 Linden. He usually spends about a week building the structures on one of his vacant sims, carefully working out the details until he feels he’s achieved the desired results. Each villa includes a water feature or pool, making for a very peaceful and serene environment. Below are his thoughts regarding his business ventures and experiences in general in SL:

(Dakota Neumann discusses his passion for architecture and design on the patio of Jimbaran, one of his private villas.) (more…)
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“Winning this award signals to me that established news organizations such as French internews are beginning to grasp the power and reach of virtual worlds as a means to collaborate and communicate ideas irrespective of physical proximity. More specifically, I’m impressed by the recognition of machinima as a powerful tool to communicate to the uninitiated public. This still very very abstract platform has gained legitimacy through this award.
But praise really goes to Nonny Writer and Ping Rau, who created Virtual Gitmo. They showed that SL has more to offer than furry sex and dance clubs.
Human rights and the pressing social issues of the day can be addressed perfectly in SL.” (more…)

(First art exhibit in Turkey to take place both in SL and RL.)

Başak Temel will display her first personal exhibition, “Ellysion - Yeraltı Cenneti ” [Ellysion Underground Heaven], between November 15 and November 30, 2008 at the real life Gallery of Ankara State Art and Sculpture Museum with the support of the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism. (more…)
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(Ewing Fashion Agency’s Second Life location)

The AIFW show is an exciting follow-up to EFA’s successful collaboration with the Artist Advice last February to create the first show of its kind in Second Life - EFA’s First Fusion (http://ewingfashionagency.wordpress.com/2008/02/15/press-release-simultaneous-second-life-real-life-show/), which attracted wide coverage in by the dutch print, television and Internet press and again featured SL household names, such as Nicky Ree and Sysy Chapman. The AIFW show is set to place on Monday the 26th of January at 11.00 AM SLT.

Preparations for this event are starting now and EFA is looking for SL residents to be part of the virtual team and to visit the event live in Amsterdam in January. We would like to hear from Second Life Content creators of clothes, hair, skin, shoes and so on, artists, models, event planners, hosts, DJ’s, builders, scripters, filmers, graphics, writers, press, advertisers and sponsors. (more…)

Action Role Play made a strong showing in SL last month with the resurgence of Remembrance, and new contender, Kingdom of Sand. The Traffic Report’s premium spots held few surprises with Frank’s Place and 5th Element clubs remaining the top 2 most popular locations in Second Life.

Purgatorio, home to Kingdom of Sand, debuts as a strong competitor in position #3. An action role play sim that has taken SL by storm, you can read more about this exotic and sand-swept sim below. Also making its way back onto the charts this month is the sex-filled Red Light District, which has been moved from Plush Zeta to Variyar. Despite the geographical relocation, the move has only seemed to ’stiffen’ the district’s popularity this month. Remembrance, another action-packed role play sim, has resurfaced this month, hitting the charts at position #5. It looks like October was a good month to lose yourself within the narratives of Second Life role play as hundreds of residents joined the ranks of Kingdoms of Sand and Remembrance. Big losers dropping off the chart this month include my personal favorite, The Gardens of Appollo, as well asHelp Island Public and gritty rock club, Sanctuary Rock.

Per usual, you won’t find camping chairs, free lindens, automated avatars, or “bots” listed in any of the SLENTRE.COM’s top 10 sites. The weekly population data was compiled by a 3rd party source and then reviewed to exclude any sites that engage in tactics designed to boost traffic rankings. What remains is an accurate listing of where real Second Life residents are dancing, chatting, spending Lindens, and enjoying their second lives.

		Frank’s Place, Owner - Gymmy Sinatra
		The 5th Element , Owner - Dakota Neumann
		Purgatorio, Owner - Kora Zenovka
		Laguna Bay, Owner -Martin Mounier
		Remembrance, Owner - Luxa Budan
		Badlands, Owner - Jesse Murdock
		Midnight Reflections, Owner - Missbehavin Neva
		SLeek, Owner - Hummer Corleone
		The Red Light District, Owner - Jebee Reinsch
		House of V, Owner - Vveronica Pony

Stayed the same

Moved up

Moved down

New entry

(more…)
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The Public Good Challenge issued by the Network Culture Project has challenged Second Life enthusiasts to come up with ways in which the virtual world can benefit the global community. The Network Culture Project is a group of faculty, students and staff exploring the cultural implications of new media technologies through research. The NCP produces analysis, research and documentation focused on virtual networks, developing projects that cross boundaries between virtual and physical worlds. They are based out of the University of Southern California. (more…)