Now this is very cool!
Sarah Perez over at ReadWriteWeb takes a look at Glasshouse, an app that ". . . lets you take data from either a spreadsheet or database query and place a 3D representation of it into a virtual world environment where it can then be explored interactively."
The good news is that Glasshouse can be used in other virtual environments including Second Life. Sarah's post includes a link if you are interested in testing the app in your environment.
If you are interested in what is happening with libraries in virtual worlds check out this post over at Beyond the Job. They have info on two seminars offered by GSLIS at Illinois at Urbana-Champagne as part of their broader Virtual Worlds series.
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Reuters has closed its Second Life bureau.
But last October, Reuters closed its bureau, and let its specialized blog lapse. CNET and Wired also developed land in Second Life and both have largely abandoned their efforts (though CNET Japan still has an outpost). CNET's Daniel Terdiman, who helped shepherd CNET's presence in SL, still writes about virtual worlds on his blog, Geek Gestalt, but hasn't written specifically about SLfor a year. CNN, however, came later to SL, in late 2007 with its iReport presence, which recently was beefed up to an island where SL users report on their own world as citizen journalists.
Mark Glaser also wonders about the broader implications of the move to less coverage and participation by some major media outlets.
How did the media go wrong in coverage -- and participation -- in SSL, and what went right? It was a typical hype-and-backlash scenario, as I detailed in a previous post on MediaShift. Some journalists simply tired of SL, as so many people tried it and then bailed because of its steep learning curve and high technological requirements. But the journalists that have been more enmeshed within the world have been rewarded with plenty of cultural and sociological (and yes, business) stories.
We'll see.
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Check this out.
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Philip Rosedale, founder of Second Life, spoke about the virtual world at Serious Play last May.
Take the time. It's an interesting piece. Happy New Year!
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Looks like virtual worlds continue to receive more attention from the mainstream media. The last two days have seen the NYTs publish interesting pieces on the state of design in Second Life and growth of a youth oriented 'real' economy in virtual environments like Gaia Online.
The potential for innovation in design, unfettered by the constraints of those mundane issues like gravity and money, is the focus of Sam Lubell's piece, Original Sim.
Stefanie Olsen, a senior writer at cNet News, examines the growth of the virtual goods business. With sales of these goods estimated to be $1.5 billion worldwide and profit margins of seventy percent to ninety percent, it would appear that their are significant business opportunities in virtual worlds.
Interesting stuff ~ take a look.
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It looks like a new online community dedicated to education in virtual worlds has sprung up. Be sure to check out http://www.rezed.org. The interface seems to be a combination of web 2.0 tools - users can add content, invite their friends, join groups, find out about special events, etc. Looks promising!
If you are looking for textures to enhance your SL project be sure to check out the following site: http://www.cgtextures.com/