Second Life is Still Pretty Interesting Though...

French Virtual Politics
“Although French residents had long been a part of Second Life, thousands more joined Second Life in January as demonstrators picketed the virtual offices of Jean Marie Le Pen’s far-right National Front party. Socialist candidate Ségolène Royal also established a Second Life presence.”

The French really do love their politics, enough so for a cyber-rally at a politician’s SL office. I’m starting to really understand why they call it Second LIFE. The Internet is the future of politics. The main thrust of this article isn’t politics though, it’s the fact that almost twenty more percent of SL users are European than North American…having a Second Life is catching on quicker across the pond. Here’s the full article

http://secondlife.reuters.com/stories/2007/02/09/europe-takes-lead-in-second-life-users/

Taxing Virtual Income?
“Dan Miller, a senior economist with the Joint Economic Committee who first told Reuters about the investigation earlier this year, is also a World of Warcraft player with a personal stake in the question of whether virtual world income should be taxed.”

Taxing virtual income? HA! That seems sort of crazy, and I don’t think it’ll happen, especially if a World of Warcraft player is conducting the study. But you never know, if they see it as profitable and their actions come close to falling within the law, then Congress will do it. More below.

http://secondlife.reuters.com/stories/2006/12/04/details-emerge-on-us-virtual-world-tax-probe/

Virtual-Reality TV
“Reality show Big Brother is getting a little less real with a new Second Life edition, which will pit 15 contestants against each other in an attempt to win their own island.”

Big Brother in Second Life. Can I sit on my couch in SL and watch SL Big Brother? Now that would be cool. Would Fear Factor work virtually? I just want to see Joe Rogan’s avatar. Temptation Island would be cool too. But seriously, it will be interesting to see how it goes and compare it to how the people that did it on TV behave. Personally, I thought that most reality TV shows have some scripted element to them, but that can’t really happen over SL. Also, the camera’s won’t have the invading effect on one’s privacy that they would in “real life” and there probably won’t be the same kind of sexual/personality tension that is prevalent in real life real tv. Here’s the full link.

Pulling the Rug (?) out from under a Dominatrix
“It’s not often you come home to find people having sex in your house…You can select every object on your land that doesn’t belong to you and send it back to the inventories of the owners. Therefore, Slave Bill flopped on to the floor as his wooden sex horse vanished from under him…”

Wow…now this is something I could get used to. I wonder if it’s the anonymity that SL provides that brings out the best in user’s sexual appetite. Here’s the full article, it’s a hilarious account of user’s sexual escapades on SL.

http://secondlife.reuters.com/stories/2007/02/23/second-life-sketches-please-stop-doing-that-to-the-cat/

Congress’s Second Life (No Scandal)
“When the Democrats retake control of Congress this week they’ll have a virtual version of the U.S. Capitol to promote their agenda.”

Yes!! Real avatars of the Millionaire Club members. Can’t wait to see Dick Cheney in 3D rendering! I wonder if the Senate tie-breaking voter will have horns? I’ve always thought politics should be left out of video games, but this is pretty cool. I can finally attend a meeting of Congress with out having to go to the east coast. Check it out…

http://secondlife.reuters.com/stories/2007/01/02/congressional-democrats-agenda-gets-sl-stage/

Second Life Shootouts
“Weaponry, therefore, is a booming business in Second Life. Some weapons come as in-world objects, visible guns that you can attach to your hands and aim like a first-person-shooter game.”

I was wondering about this. If it’s a second life, then can’t that second life be taken? Well, yes and no. If someone shoots you, you just start back at home again. I’m sure this fact only makes people shoot more, which makes people carry more weapons, which could lead to all out firefights in the streets of Rome! I haven’t seen any shooting yet, but I’m sure I will be killed soon. More here…

http://secondlife.reuters.com/stories/2007/02/02/second-life-sketches-the-art-of-war/