News of a virtual world. It’s almost a routine find at iReport.com, but there was a time when we weren’t sure what kinds of Second Life iReports we were going to get. We’ve gotten plenty, and it turns out that SL iReports are often some of the most interesting stories we get at iReport.com.

By now, we’ve learned a few lessons and we’re going to fine-tune our efforts for maximum impact. One big change is we’re retiring this blog. While these entries will stay archived on CNN.com, we’re shifting our focus to iReport.com/secondlife (and the iReport.com blog). We’d like to direct our efforts toward putting content on CNN and coming up with creative ways to channel the endless talents of the SL iReport community. If you’re out capturing news of a virtual world, or you’re just curious about these kinds of stories, we welcome you to check out our SL iReports and send a few of your own. Can’t wait to see what you come up with!

July 19th is the first birthday for Italia Vera and of course there will be a great 12-hours party (3:00am-3:00pm) in each of its 4 lands. This day will be filled by live events: music gigs, exhibits, literary meetings, fashion shows. The promoters have the aim of giving to the visiting residents and idea of which are the daily activities in the lands. The first anniversary of Italia Vera represents a good chance to go back over its inworld path so far. In the summer of 2007 Italia Vera project came into existence: it was based on an accurate reconstruction of a virtual Italy, from the Alps Mountains to the little isle of Pantelleria, based on satellite maps pictures So far the virtual towns of Milano, Torino and Marostica have been opened, soon they will be followed by the town of Genova; the construction technique includes both the textures and the building, which allows the avatars to walk freely inside the virtual buildings. Italia Vera lands are constantly on the highest rankings among SL most popular places, and this is n due not only to the beauty of the virtual environment: the reason of a success into web 2.0 is above all based on the community: this one is the true basis for Italia Vera it’s actually its life blood. It’s a bright and shining community that animates all the meeting points, such as Piazza del Duomo in Milano, Piazza San Carlo in Torino and Piazza degli Scacchi in Marostica, .Sharing emotions at the same time is the magic in SL: such emotions and feelings are absolutely more real than virtual: often we can read in the public chats “it seems to be in Real Life!” The musical”Odissea”, first debuting in SL and then in RL,the Second Live Festival, showing the tunes of the most famous sl musicians,hundreds of live music gigs, from jazz to blues to rock represent some samples f Italia Vera entertainment activities. This offer is directed not only to the inner community but above all to all occasional visitors, who once teleported in the awesome Italian cities enjoyed the stay walking around in such a beautiful scenario. Italia Vera lands are not only a great source of entertainment but also a great economic opportunity: inside of them we can find firms that, established in RL in the same Italian cities, have chosen to be there inworld too, with the aim of being transported in the whole world trough SL. Web marketing and e-commerce are the very next challenges for Italia Vera in Second Life. Finally, Italia Vera wealth is strictly inside the engagement and dedication of all the staff whose passion behind pixels has very little of virtual and it’s instead very real!

Posted by Simona Dawes

Submitted by DonMartin Forcella

Economic pressures are taking their toll on surf sims in Second Life and it seems certain that more surf sims will close during the coming months, according to the Second Life surfing blog SurfWatch. Rezzable, one of Second Life’s leading sim owner/developers, announced the closing of Surfline Aloha and Surfline Epic sims at the end of June, just a couple of months after completely redesigning and relaunching the surf sims.

“When the the bulk of the surfing community is spending time at only a couple of surf locations in Second Life, those locations that don’t see traffic will close down,” said ATown Fall, owner of TCH Estates and one of the entrepreneurs behind a massive Second Life watersports development called Broadwater Antilles. “There is no reason to offer something that is expensive to run when people are not using it. For the record, TCH Epic Surf zone will remain open and fully operational.”

Surfing community sources blame the Second Life economy and the difficulty of making consistent revenues via surfing sims. However, this hasn’t stopped sim owners launching new surfing sims and, whilst some surf sims close down, several new ones are opening. Radical Twang, co-owner of Reaction Pro has just opened an innovative new surfing beach called the Boneyard next door to his flagship Reaction and Reaction Girl stores. Combining surfing sims with other economic activities certainly seems to be the key, “I certainly wouldn’t have a full beach sim without my store to cover the costs,” says Radical. “I foresee more closing due to financial issues, not everyone can afford to provide something so expensive, without any real return.”

Picture credit: Dharma Austin
Submitted by Barchan Paderborn

Kelly Cuddihy is and have worked hard to build , decorate, and create a very special Club that will be opening soon. THE CLUB CIRO’s. Where LIVE ARTIST’s will give LIVE concert’sn gowing from romance music from the year 1950 till the music of today in 2008. Also the real Wall of fame will be standing proudly, dedicated to the best SL Artists. And in August 2008 THE CLUB CIRO’s have a special surprise, because Kelly Cuddihy have made a deal with an RL artist to perform Exclisive for THE CLUB CIRO’s. Because of contract reasons in real life the artist can only start to perform in SL starting August 2008. And requested to The singer requested to keep the surprise alive till August 2008
Visit Old Milwaukee (48, 208, 33)
Submitted by Amber Ashton

Who is the man behind the Avatar? It’s a mystery indeed. In fact the only way to catch Jax Live is in Second Life a virtual 3D online world of social and business networking or on his audio stream. Jax is currently on tour in SL:his “DosVidasTour” is stopping in all the best venues, gathering more and more fans.On June 26th he will do a stop at Milano Vera, using a stage built on 4 sims, able to host more than 100 avatars. Jax kindly answered to some questions about his all virtual SL career. First of all I asked him why did he choose to appear only in second life. “When i discovered the opportunity to perform live via second life, i saw a great opportunity to create a new art form and to use the power of the internet to then create a “Brand Name” around this new art form. The Jax Streeter Project was started with the idea of bringing to life a “Virtual Aritst and Celebrity” The project continues to develop quickly as Jax Streeter comes to life and has an identity of his own. Jax Streeter is the Star. Jax Streeter is real and marketable. A blend of reality and fantasy that is marketable across the worlds and across many countries and cultures. Jax has no idealogies or differences that seperate him from others but rather has qualities that bind us all … “The Love Of Music” “Jax Streeter” is not only an artistic project, actually there’s a defined marketing idea behind it which is worth to be explained and, maybe, studied as a case history: so i asked Jax to explain how does it work. “There is a great opportunity to work together in second life to cross promote one anothers interests. The Dos Vidas tour provides a way for artists, businesses and organizations to use entertainment as a way to reach out to the market places in an exciting way. What is more exciting than the sights and sounds of a live concert. Prior to each tour stop, all participating partners (sponsors) send notices to their own membership groups. The notices contain the schedule of acts and information about each tour stop along with a list of all the participating partners. This provides exposure to everyone partner and artist involved. We estimate that currently when notices are sent to each parnter’s group members, it represents over 10,000 SL Residents. There are currently 21 partners.” Jax thinks that second life gives a great opportunity to all the musicians residents to share experiences and enrich each other musical background.During his tour stops he has been followed on stage by the best SL musicians so i asked him his opinion about this sort of worldwidelive jamming in SL. “I think it is important to showcase the best talent in SL in the best possible way in order to continue to grow the entertainment industry in SL. It is still very new and there are many residents to reach that do no even know about live entertainment. So it is important to put our best foot forward with professional artists.” For the Dos Vidas Tour italian stop you have selected a very cool venue, Milano Vera and an italian musician and his band – Swina Allen & the Moodies, so I asked why he selected this new SL band ? “Swina Allen is one of my personal favorite artists..I am a fan of music as well. Swina is talented and shares a similar philosophy about presenting concert like performances in Second Life. He and Sandy Demina of Italian Mood are pioneers in their approach to SL entertainment and I am happy to work together with them. I am always looking for others that share the same philosophy and goals about using SL for their music careers regardless of whether they are new to SL or not. Thanks Jax for your kindness:we all look forward your next italian Tour Stop at Milano Vera on june 26th at 12pm! http://slurl.com/secondlife/Italia%204%20Milano/31/2/652
Submitted by Simona Dawes

Second Life surfers Christine Daffodil and Craig Stallion have announced a cancer benefit surfing competition to be held in Second Life, called the Flynn Sheridan Invitational Surf Contest to benefit the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life. The contest, named after Flynn Sheridan, founder and former director of the Second Life Surfing Association (SLSA), will take place at the Surfline Epic Rezzable sim on Saturday 21 June 2008 starting at 10am SLT.

Full details on how you can help to fight cancer by participating in the event as a competitor or a spectator are available on the Second Life surfing blog SurfWatch.

Pic above: Flynn Sheridan
Submitted by Barchan Paderborn