Having recently read this, this, and (dear god help us) this, I thought I'd just test whether the deployment of the magical phrase 'inside Second Life' automatically results in impressionable venture capitalists battering down the door of Quinquireme Towers to shower me with cash.
I'll shut up now and do some work.
Inside Second Life.
UPDATE: Readers, have you heard of any other companies launching a nonsensical operation inside a virtual world for no reason other than to appear fashionable and/or to attract large cash donations from stupid people? If so, send in your reports! I might set up a Nonsensical Virtual Operations Monitoring Agency...right here in the blogosphere.
About Bach and Keats
19 hours ago
22 comments:
They are getting their own legal system, see here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/law_in_action/default.stm
Not sure you got the complete link *tries again*
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/law_in_action/default.stm
Realdoc, try putting the http address between the quotes and whatever you want to call it between the pointy bracket things..
<'http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/law_in_action/default.stm' virtual law>
Did I do it?
Bollocks go to bbc law in action homepage
Depeche Mode recorded their single in the language of the Sims, apparently.
Of course, you know what all this really represents: advertising invading our fantasy lives and cultural past-times. If advertising in games is bad (which it is, like product placement in films and increasingly books and CDs), then setting up an entire independent advertising economy within game environments is really sleazy.
Companies aren't doing this for the love of the game. They're doing it for publicity offline, and promoting stuff online. Imagine how people greeted the first TV adverts. That's what they think it'll be like in games now, with all these happy little consumers marvelling at the novelty. It doesn't take long until avaricious advertising pollutes every communicable space and everyone hates it, though.
AFAIK, they're not actually subsidising the game in any way - ie, it's not advertising subsidising content like TV or magazine advertising is (which is usually seen as a fair deal, although some channels, eg Sky, and magazines, FHM/Cosmo etc, overdo the ads). This is just an invasion of someone else's space.
Realdoc - excellent! I like the lo-tech approach (because i don't know how to do the hi-tech one properly either).
(What i mean is you just gave me a coffee-coughed-up-nostrils episode)
I read somewhere that advertisers are beginning to *move* their advertising from (eg) print media to online locations (rather than just doing 'more advertising'). Which might suggest that in the future some media become a little more free of advertising than they are now.
Maybe not.
Realdoc: You need the same code you use when you're putting a link in your blog posts, or in your blogroll.
Sean: I read in the Economist a few months ago that as people become weary of advertising, companies are starting to pile more of their marketing money into PR. So far no one's tried to persuade me to write about their company in my blog, but surely it can only be a matter of time - what with my enormous readership and massive influence and all.
Whales: as the print media is almost completely funded by advertising, it usually means that newspapers and print magazines simply go bust. And it's usually the niche publications that suffer the most. I'd rather see a print ad than a pop-up any day.
Sorry, I'm an idiot: I actually put the HTML code in my comment, but of course it doesn't show up.
Instead of that, look at the first boxy bit here.
All these Second Life people...they are MUCH sadder than us bloggers...right???
(Realdoc, I can't do links in comments either. Luckily I never have any interesting ones to pass on.)
did I do it
realdoc - very nearly, but you missed the k off .uk
Realdoc - go back to lo-tech. You're leaving some of us behind...
I still can't decide if that thing about Crayon (sorry, crayon) has leaked from The Onion.
Tim: Sadly I am aware of these crayon people in my professional life, and it is all true true true. When life starts to imitate The Onion, you know the Second Dotcom Boom is truly upon us.
"Tuba Player, Abandoned by Side of Road, Honks Mournfully.
I think that's my favourite Onion headline (no story) of all time."
(Also, well done Realdoc)
Mine's 'New Starbucks Opens In Restroom Of Existing Starbucks'.
Marvellous. Have just wasted morning by typing 'area man' into Onion search box. And only 2520 headlines to go.
Oh, and who else is going into Second Life to get large cash donations from stupid people? Not wanting to be outdweebed...
There's something about phrases like 'players of online fantasy games such as World of Warcraft know that much of the game revolves around looting of dead monsters and selling the booty' appearing in BBC news reports about taxation that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy.
It's like, all that fantasy stuff you read as a child is now pretty much almost actually real. I love that idea. Love it. I may have said this before.
In case there are any stupid people out there...with a HTML/English dictionary maybe (online of course)...send your virtual used fivers to "Save the Leighton" @ getalife
I was at the DTI organised "innovate 2006" shindig in London Village, and NPL (a fancy UK research institute doing proper science, on next generation materials and real cutting edge stuff) were showing off ... their virtual space on Second Life.
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