Author Barry Moltz met with Second Life Entrepreneurs Club to speak about starting and running a business in a down economy. “I believe that the only way to develop true business confidence is to have resiliency,” said Moltz. “Be able to celebrate the good times, transition through the bad times and let go so we can take action that positions ourselves for another success.” Moltz serves up advice for entrepreneurs in his two books, “Bounce! The Path to True Business Confidence” and “You Need to Be a Little Crazy: The Truth About Starting and Growing Your Own Business.” Barry’s site is at http://www.barrymoltz.com. For more on Athena Isle, go to http://cybergrrloh.blogspot.com/
Visit Future (213, 227, 24)
Posted by Cybergrrl Oh

A two-day educational live seminar, Experience the Future Now, will mark the highly anticipated launch of the virtual mega convention center, Virtualis, on April 23-24, 2008 (9 am – 3 pm PST). Virtualis is the largest and most meticulously-designed convention center in the revolutionary, computer-generated world of Second Life. Mirroring lavish real-world convention centers, it boasts state of the art facilities with educational breakout rooms, a grand ballroom, and an exhibition hall. Guests must RSVP by April 20, 2008 to experience Virtualis firsthand and be a part of the thought-provoking, free seminar. Corporate decision-makers and event planners who attend Experience the Future Now will gain cutting-edge knowledge about the Second Life culture and economy and discover the overall value and ease of planning and attending events in Virtualis. The scheduled presenters include some of the most prestigious entrepreneurs, event planners, educators, and attorneys in the U.S. who will cover diverse topics such as “Virtual Event Design and Management,” “Beyond Recycling: Ten Easy Steps to Greener Meetings and Events,” “Emergent Technologies,” and “Negotiating International Contracts.” Planning and executing an event in Virtualis also mirrors real-life work strategies and logistics. With more than 29,000 square meters of meeting space, a grand ballroom for general sessions or special events, and a spacious exhibition hall for full-fledged tradeshows, the visually appealing Virtualis has the facilities to truly make meetings of all sizes successful. The flexible meeting rooms, complete with advanced video, lighting, and audio capabilities, can also be customized for appearance or ambiance to meet clients’ needs and comfort level. To further ensure your meeting’s success and efficiency, Virtualis is the only Second Life meeting facility managed and operated by award winning and experienced hospitality and meeting industry professionals. Guests must RSVP by April 20, 2008 and sign up for a free Second Life account (www.secondlife.com) to attend Experience the Future Now by contacting Dan Parks at cpudan@mac.com or 1.800.493.2545 ext. 201. Members of the media can schedule a preview tour of Virtualis and/or an interview with Dan Parks, Virtualis Founder, during the week of April 14, 2008 by contacting Latoya Vezia at Latoya@LV-PR.com or 404.483.8995.
Posted by LV Zabaleta

Main contest/event island and 3 adjoining Idol Islands (Idol Mall, Idol Orientation, Idol Greenroom). Thursday April 10th marks the grand opening of Idol Event Center Island and its three adjoining islands for the VStarr Music Festival. Apr 4, 2008 — Advanced Content Services, Inc.’s CEO S. Shawn Spahr has revealed that VStarr Inc. has established an alliance with the Leadership in Music Council in Nashville, Tennessee. Spahr commented, “I am extremely happy to officially announce that our Joint Venture partner VStarr Inc. has scheduled our first on line Music Festival for April 10th 2008. After many months of planning, final details have come together to kick off the Music festival to open the VStarr Event Center in Second Life. VStarr is the brain child for the whole talent contest project and is moving forward at a rapid pace to get this festival lined up. With the association with LMC, VStarr has been able to secure ‘The Dynamites’ as the talent to anchor the event. We are also working closely with our CNN contact on the Second Life site to promote and disclose as much information concerning the concert and contest as possible. I know information comes in bits and pieces, however we have made the decision to release things as they happen because if we waited until a project of this magnitude was complete I think shareholders would become frustrated. I assure everyone, much is taking place beneath the surface.” Spahr further commented, “The Leadership in Music Council has extended its assistance as we move forward. Having the Leadership in Music Council on board opens ADCS/VStarr to the expertise and counsel from executives with Warner Brothers, Ticketmaster, BMI Records, XM Radio, Thirty Tigers Public Relations, Echo Music, The Tennessean and the Country Music Association. The members of the Leadership in Music Council will be assisting in areas of production, public relations, and promotion of all of our activities in the Second Life 3D virtual world.” Speaking with Ananti Jiagu, organizer of this event and the islands creation, this past sunday, Ananti tells this reporter that L$300,000 will be given away as prize money during the event along with a contest to win an autographed guitar from the Rock Band The Dynamites. “We will give away L$200,000 Lindens over the course of 5 hours,” Ananti says, “and the remaining L$100,000will be given away at the end of the event along with the autographed Guitar. We will have a wonderful fireworks display as well.” The talent for the event is scheduled as follows:(SLT time is the same as PST) 12:00-12:30p SLT ELECTRIC ASHTON 12:30-1:00p SLT Phoenix Fisseux 1:00-1:30p SLT DOMINICK MANATISO 1:30-2:00p SLT SHELINDREA IRELAND 2:00 to 3p SLT Dynamites featuring Charles Walker 3:00 to 3:30p SLT Hariy Balbozar 3:30 to 4p SLT Hep Shepherd 4:00 -4:30p SLT Shantu Selene 4:30 -5:00p SLT Starr Singer 5:00- 530p SLT Kim Seifert Special appearance by Kevin Thomas Ananti Jiagu informs us “I have other artists lining up and I have Siege Productions putting together banners and promotional materials. Press Conference and questions will be fielded at 11:45a SLT at the Idol Event Center conference room/lounge this Thursday.” This is the first major event prior to the expected national broadcast of the World Wide Talent Contest in June awarding $100,000.00USD and a $1 million dollar recording contract to a single winner. For further information concerning the Leadership in Music Council, please email Tracy Thomas traci@thirtytigers.com For further information concerning the concert visit www.secondlife.com sign in and do a map search for Idol Event Center. Pictured: 1 & 2 Idol Event Center; 3 & 4 Idol Green Room; 5,6,&7 Idol Orientation which is also Second Lifes largest suspension bridge on record; 8 & 9 Idol Mall; 10 World Wide Talent Idol Sims in Second Life. Rocket Flasheart
Posted by Rocket Flasheart

The debate over the use of bots in SL is a passionate one with many different points of view. Anyone can read the blogs at http://www.blog.secondlife.com (search for “bots”) to see that for oneself.

These pictures were taken by me and a trusted friend. When we discovered the bots on Echo Island I did not know that I would be reporting this story and I do not have my pc’s interface in the pictures. You can trust me, however, that I am telling the truth and reporting facts in this report. I have no reason to make up something that is not true.

The facts are as follows:

1) Echo Island - I stumbled upon these bots on February 29, 2008. The traffic count on that day was 57,000+. The bots in the black skybox were positioned over top of “Still Life” furniture store. Most of them were made on 12/15/07 and they all had empty profiles. This skybox also contained a rather large monkey that was holding a Pandora’s Box. I have copied a pasted what was displayed in chat when I clicked on the Pandora’s Box: [2008/02/29 14:22] Pandora v1.0: Echo Still Life Bots: http://www.slpandora.com.

The bots in the white sky box were positioned over top of “mold” store which sells male and female shapes and skins. These bots were made in September and December 2007. As the bots that came before them, their profiles were empty.

Today I tried to go to the skyboxes prepared to take better pictures this time and was immediately teleported back home with these messages: “[12:42] Have a Nice Trip: Access Denied [12:42] You have been teleported home by the object ‘Have a Nice Trip’ on the parcel ‘ECHo Island - Organic Island Living with Beachfront Views.’ [12:42] You have been ejected from this land.” [12:42] Teleport completed from http://slurl.com/secondlife/ECHo%20Island/1/194/73. (Although I have my preferences checked to show the date with my logged time stamps, it is not doing so today. Figures.)

2) THEhood & Capital Mall on Robin Hood Island - I found a skybox full of bots at approximately 820 meters in the sky on April 3, 2008. Just as I was about to snap a picture of the bots I was ejected from the land. I was never able to get close enough again to attempt another picture of the bots. The green object under me in the picture is the skybox housing the bots. On that day, THEhood ranked at number 7 on the list of SL’s most popular places with traffic count at 127,780. (Today they rank 5th on the list of most popular places).

3) Tropical Temptations on Temptation Island - These bots were discovered on April 3, 2008 by my trusted friend. They were hidden behind some kind of invisible box. It appeared as though he was looking at the sky but when he kept angling his camera around looking for the green dots that were showing up on his mini-map, he noticed that avatar names were partially emerging from behind their cloak of invisibility. With some difficulty, he was able to maneuver his camera view inside of the invisible box. These bots were all made on 8/13/07 and all profiles are blank. As you can see from the picture, they all belong to the group “TT Value Camper. Today Tropical Temptations rank 8th on the list of most popular places in SL.

4) Flawless Shapes by Kira in the Flawless sim - I found these “models” because of the green dots they represent on the SL map. I checked the profiles of 25 of the “models”. 23 of them were made on 3/24/08 and two of them were made on 3/26/08. All profiles were empty. Today, the traffic count for Flawless Shapes is 62, 415.

Bots increase traffic numbers and spare owners from having to pay campers to camp on their land in order to drive up traffic numbers. Increased traffic numbers result in businesses/places ranking higher on the Search tool. This in turn results in people being drawn to those businesses/places because the high traffic numbers lead one to presume that they are popular places (with lots of folks to meet) and that the products and services are actually purchased by large numbers of people because the goods offered are of good quality.

I am closing this article with a few questions. What bots should be allowed? Should ANY bots be allowed? What about the “models” I found at Flawless Shapes? Do they serve a legitimate purpose? They do indeed model the shapes and skins that are for sale there. Is there a difference between these “models” and the obvious bots that have been found before them? What about camping? Camping drives up traffic numbers as well. What’s your opinion?
Submitted by FairyWinkler

Submitted by Bella Dutton

As CNN.com is streaming a live broadcast of the Newseum’s memorial ceremony to the world’s fallen journalists, Second Life also has a working memorial for murdered journalists, featuring Filipino journalists. Contact memorial founder dakila.lacava@gmail.com for more information. My avatar’s name is Cheryl Nitely. I’m an SL journalist for SLNN.com and a friend of Lacava. LM addy: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Blackrock/30/168/25
Visit Blackrock (21, 163, 29)

Submitted by Cheryl Nitely

Linden Labs completed the roll-out of its new Second Life Simulator v1.20.83683 on Wednesday morning, leaving a devastated Second Life surfing community in its wake.
According to the Second Life surfing blog SurfWatch (surfwatch.blogspot.com) the new code is upsetting surfable waves, surfboards and other objects that are rezzed in the water. Surfing sim owners all over Second Life have been contacting Linden Labs support staff as their simulated waves crash, stop, sink, fly into the air or simply make it very difficult for surfers to ride them. At least one sim has had to switch off its big surfable ‘Epic’ wave, while other sim managers have been kept busy trying to keep their waves running.
Meanwhile, due to changed ‘physics’ in the new ‘Havoc4′ software code, surfers are finding that their boards float 6-12 inches below the waterline not on top! Surfers and sim owners alike are hoping that Linden Labs or Second Life’s principal wave developer Heather Goodliffe find a solution quickly, but industry sources say that practically speaking it could take weeks to find a solution.
Top of mind for many Second Life surfers, is the Second Life Surfing Assocation’s SurfLine Shortboard Pro surfing competition scheduled for Saturday 5 April. Competitors have been practicing for weeks in anticipation of the event and sim owner Rezzable has created a new surf sim especially for the competition day, which by all reports was performing exceptionally well right up until Linden Labs’ simulator update. Surfing has gained a great deal of momentum in Second Life during the past 12 months, with thousands of surfboards being sold, which now may not function properly as a result of the new software code, and some sims being established and funded specifically to provide surfable waves for Second Life communities.
Hundreds of regular surfers in Second Life stand to be affected during the next few days by the disruption. “With no immediate fixes from Linden Labs or wave-creator Heather Goodliffe in sight, surfers may be in for a bumpy ride over the next few weeks,” says SurfWatch. Photo: SLSA ranked surfer VW Sands, happily shreds up a big Epic wave prior to the Havoc4 software update

Submitted by Barchan Paderborn

The Salt Satyagraha Online ­
Gandhi¹s March to Dandi in Second Life ­
Last Day of the March! April 5th, 12-6pm Eyebeam, New York City and in Second Life.
Joseph DeLappe, 2008 Commissioned Resident Artist http://saltmarchsecondlife.wordpress.com Final steps, Eyebeam Island Saturday, April 5th, after 5pm: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Eyebeam%20Island/102/160/27 Saturday, April 5th marks the culmination of Joseph DeLappe’s 22 days and 240 miles of walking on a treadmill to control his Gandhi avatar walking across Second Life to re-enact the Mahatma’s “Salt March to Dandi”, the seminal 1930’s protest against the British Salt Act of 1882. On this, the final day of walking both on the treadmill at Eyebeam, New York City, and in Second Life, the public is invited to either visit Eyebeam to witness the final steps of the march or join MGandhi Chakrabarti in Second Life to virtually walk the final miles. The final steps of the march will occur on the Eyebeam Island in Second Life, MGandhi Chakrabarti will arrive some time after 5:00pm Eastern time: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Eyebeam%20Island/102/160/27 Otherwise please join MGandhi Chakrabarti in Second Life this week where he will be marching between the hours of 12noon and 6pm daily until April 5th, 2008. For daily start locations visit the project blog: http://saltmarchsecondlife.wordpress.com Coinciding with the original dates of the 1930’s March, DeLappe began the reenactment to coincide with the actual dates of the original march from March 12th to April 6, 1930. The performance will be completed on Sunday, April 6th with a ritual making of the Salt at the virtual reproduction of the monument to the Salt March at Dandi on Eyebeam Island.
http://saltmarchsecondlife.wordpress.com

Submitted by lnylnylny Dufaux

Dove of Love Family & Maternity Hospital.
On March 15, 2008, Mr. Misfit March put his wifes(Rowanda Simons) dream and his building skills together and built the first virtual hospital in SecondLife.

I took the time to interview Rowanda Simons (Owner)
Question: SadeCollins: Why did you open a Hospital?

Answer: Rowanda Simons: “Because of my BAD experiences in SecondLife with OB/GYN and Child Birth.”

Question: Sade Collins: What makes your facility different from others?

Answer: Rowanda Simons: The interactions from real people behind the Avatars who make it as close to real life as possiable.

Question: Sade Collins: What is your Goal?

Answer: Rowanda Simons: The Birth of a child is very special to me and I want the Women of SecondLife to have an oppertunity to share in all the JOY and Happiness in Family. “

Here at Dove Of Love Hospital, the woman is cared for from the time of confirmed pregnancy throughout the birth of her baby and after. The Babies are known as Prim Babies cry, laugh, asked for food and crave attention. Like in real life Expecting mothers and babies are given WIC that can be eaten, regular checkups and total care.

But this Hospital is Not only for Women to give birth, But Families( children and men) also can come here when sick and recieve treatment. This is a full service hospital with staff to assist you with your needs.

Patients from the Dove of Love Clinic are being seen currently. But the Grand Opening for the all new Dove of Love Hospital is March 30, 2008 @ 7: AM slt to 6:PM slt- Following With a Gala Event with the Sexy Divas at Fantasia - Resort “Club Love “come out bring your family and join us Tours will be given as needed.

*Photo’s from taken from the Grand Opening and The Gala Ball Following*

Submitted by Sade Collins

In-worlder Genieva Slade is starting a website about the metaverse! This blog is devoted to social aspects of virtual communities such as Second Life and other popular virtual communities. check it out at http://www.blog.metaversenow.com!
Visit Future (196, 204, 27)

Submitted by Genieva Slade