3D Printer

I am just watching Bloomberg TV as I am writing this post and there was a segment on 3D printers and how corporations are using them for their product prototypes. Hell, even Jay Leno uses them for his cars. Looks like I have been living under a rock all this time and not know that there is such a thing as a 3D printer. I went WOW!

3D glasses to become a big business for CE industry – Current

LAS VEGAS: The introduction of the 3D television has brought with it a secondary category in the sale of glasses which is expected to be profitable for consumer electronics suppliers and retailers – but will consumers BYO to the 3D cinema?

There are two main types of 3D glasses – battery-powered active shutter glasses which turn on and off and are likely to be sold mainly by the companies that make the televisions to consumers for a retail price of approximately $100.

via 3D glasses to become a big business for CE industry – Current: Electrical, Electronics and Appliance Industry News and Issues.

Virtual World Bloggers unite – itsReal

I think this maybe a very cool way of  Uniting with other virtual world bloggers – if you’re blog is in the list below I invite you to connect with me via twitter http://twitter.com/aplink or facebook 🙂

Just in case you are not below – your welcome to connect also 🙂

Andrew Peters’s Profile | Create your badge

# 1 Massively# 2 Official Second Life Blog# 3 iheartsl.com Second Life’s largest community blog# 4 New World Notes# 5 VintFalken.com# 6 Torley Lives# 7 Not Possible IRL# 8 Fabulously Free in SL# 9 Free*Style# 10 Ana Lutetia inSL# 11 Dusan Writer’s Metaverse# 12 Rezzable# 13 Prokofy Neva# 14 Second Style Fashionista# 15 Shopping Cart Disco# 16 Gwyn’s Home# 17 UgoTrade# 18 Kzero# 19 SL iReports: Your news of a virtual world – Blogs from CNN.com# 20 Achariya.net# 21 Virtually Blind Virtual Law# 22 Alphaville Herald# 23 The Click Heard Round the World# 24 What Is This Crap?# 25 Fashion Victim# 26 Slmen# 27 The Metaverse Journal – Australia# 28 Mermaid Diaries: Natalia Zelmanov’s Second Life Adventures# 29 Aviatrix :: Zoe Connolly# 30 El Opinador Compulsivo# 31 Living in the Metaverse# 32 Second Effects# 33 The Electric Sheep Company: Blogs# 34 The ARCH# 35 Corduroy# 36 Men’s Second Style# 37 DIP’s Dispatches from the Imagination Age# 38 It’s Only Fashion# 39 maitreya# 40 Your2ndPlace – Comments# 41 Closet Crisis# 42 casa del shai# 43 CodeBastardRedgrave.Com# 44 Ewing Fashion Agency# 45 Botgirl’s Second Life Diary# 46 Ch’know?# 47 Are we not men?# 48 Alliance Virtual Library# 49 Verbal Stew# 50 Hibernia on the Skids# 51 Designing Nicky Ree# 52 3pointD.com# 53 Prim Perfect# 54 The Heliograph# 55 FUTURE-MAKING SERIOUS GAMES# 56 Geta# 57 Be Less Stupid!# 58 Tuli’s blog# 59 Girl Wonder Speaks…about Second Life# 60 Soign# 61 Second Arts# 62 Ivalde`s Heim# 63 Kitty Witchin# 64 SL Fashion Notes# 65 SL Fashion Police# 66 Fleur Skins# 67 ‘Kota’s Knickers# 68 :: Dutch Touch :: Outlet – Second Life# 69 M is for Myg# 70 caLLie cLine# 71 An Engine Fit For My Proceeding# 72 Ophelia Drowns# 73 Second Stindberg# 74 CeN’s Two Cents# 75 My SLife on the D List# 76 GION PROJECT# 77 CommonSensible# 78 Canimal.# 79 APLINK – itsReal# 80 artilleri# 81 Uma’s Style Diary# 82 MindBlizzard blog# 83 Clyde# 84 The News from BardHaven# 85 Ryker Beck dot COM# 86 Reading Radar# 87 Kyoot# 88 Ambling in Second Life# 89 chignon – a Virtual Style Blog# 90 Fashion Consolidated# 91 Second Life of Dreams# 92 Phasing Grace Social Architecture and Virtual Worlds# 93 SL Fashion Avengers# 94 More Than Meets the Eye# 95 SLOG# 96 -Ana Lutetia-# 97 GoSpeed Racer a Second Life Avatar# 98 Brooklyn is Watching# 99 GoSpeed Racer a Second Life Avatar# 100 Through my eyes..# 101 ~silentsparrow~# 102 Long Awkward Pose# 103 Around the Grid# 104 Half Arsed# 105 Tenth Life# 106 SL FASHION DIVA# 107 Dedric Mauriac# 108 Philotic Energy# 109 Fashion Labyrinth# 110 Another blog!# 111 Digital Image# 112 Carissa’s Closet# 113 Discursos do Outro Mundo# 114 Dwell On It# 115 Eladrienne’s Other Life!# 116 Grid Expectations# 117 Nexeus Fatale# 118 Aspire Model Management# 119 Mui Mukerji# 120 Draconic Kiss# 121 r u n w a y + k i d z# 122 The Realm of the Red Rose# 123 SiniStyle Decapitated# 124 cognitive dissonance# 125 My Second Closet# 126 Radio Riel# 127 Ingmann Design Group# 128 GuRL 6# 129 *ICING* Second Life Vintage inspired Fashions by Miko Omegamu# 130 Koreshan Pointe# 131 SugarCube;Memoirs of Second Life# 132 Veyron’s Adventures in Second Life# 133 Looker Lumet# 134 { Zaara }# 135 SLimply the Best# 136 JUICYBOMB All the Juiciest in Second Life!# 137 A Stroll Through Caledon# 138 All Ears in Second Life# 139 Alysha’s Second Life# 140 Architecture +# 141 Lucas Lameth (luc) Fashion Jewelry# 142 On Your Toes# 143 starley.com# 144 MONTA# 145 PERSONA’s Blog# 146 Business Communicators of Second Life# 147 adam n eve# 148 Fallobst# 149 *AnnaH*# 150 LaBicyclette# 151 Muse Fine Jewelry# 152 Ravishal Ramblings# 153 bijouaholic# 154 Cylindrian’s Grace Notes# 155 CronoCloud Creeggan, Virtual Fashionista# 156 Rheta# 157 Studio Wikitecture: Opening Architecture# 158 SLShop-a-holic# 159 Songs from The Nightingale# 160 ~flirt~# 161 Pandora’s box# 162 Less Than 3# 163 Whole Lotta Rosie!# 164 Rebel Hope Designs, Inc.# 165 My Digital Double# 166 She’s So Unusual# 167 セカンドな日常 – livedoor Blog（ブログ）# 168 SySy’s# 169 Tres Blah# 170 UberNoggin# 171 What *IS* Willis Talking About?# 172 Timothy’s Second Life Experience# 173 Muism# 174 The Minor Mishaps and Adventures of Skusting Dagger# 175 DARK EDEN PLAZA# 176 Mischief# 177 Second Tense# 178 Royal Blue# 179 Shoshana’s Musings# 180 Punch Drunk# 181 What’s New ?# 182 Red-Headed Step-Child# 183 Just me, dinee# 184 Alienbear Jewelry Design# 185 MG fashion# 186 Exiled in SL# 187 Mimikri hot couture# 188 Chey’s Second Life Blog# 189 Metaversal Arts# 190 Unique Needs!# 191 Aenea’s Second Life# 192 Harajuku Box# 193 Refuge# 194 Hey Girlfriend# 195 BEWITCHED HAIR# 196 Virtual Silks and Fantasy Review# 197 All Things Tiessa# 198 Fashionality# 199 How’s your world?# 200 PixelDolls…# 201 Second Life Male Style and Fashion# 202 Tori’s Blog# 203 Wrath Paine# 204 The Journal of Dr. Darien Mason# 205 House of Nyla# 206 Sascha’s Designs – Elegant Ballroom Gowns# 207 Diversity Hair# 208 Lady Adventuress# 209 Loki’s musings on first and second life# 210 amiko*amikino# 211 Evans Avenue Exit# 212 The Winged Girl Blog# 213 ShopArmidi.com# 214 Tao’s Thoughts on Second Life# 215 glamourazzi# 216 The New Observer# 217 Dot in Second Life# 218 GRIDSTYLE.COM# 219 My Virtual World# 220 Content Confessional# 221 -Analise-# 222 Best of Both Worlds# 223 Poid Mahovlich# 224 Bitter Thorns Blog# 225 First Impressions# 226 KessKreations# 227 Berry’s Blog# 228 Designing Insanity# 229 Truth# 230 Virtually Dressed# 231 Diamonds and Rust Podcast# 232 Honour’s Post Menopausal View# 233 Alienbear Gupte Virtual Life# 234 *AC Aphrodite Creations*# 235 Inspired – Kawaii Fashion in Second Life# 236 It’s A Scaggs Life!# 237 Sin Trenton# 238 Ramblings of a Red Headed Kitten# 239 Second Life: Music, DJs, Nightlife, Art and Creativity# 240 http://snatch-sl.blogspot.com/# 241 Vanity Universe# 242 Virtual Neko in Second Life# 243 Willowing Wisps# 244 iCandy# 245 SLink# 246 STELLAR by Lexi Morgan# 247 The Rummage Box# 248 The Connolly Telegraph# 249 A Second Look# 250 Bliss Beningborough Couture# 251 Experiments with Avatars# 252 Avenue Models# 253 avocatio virtualis# 254 #NAME?# 255 PXL Creations# 256 Ambergris Deadly Fashions# 257 Imperial Elegance# 258 Oh, hush!# 259 Passionate Neko Dreams# 260 ArtsPlace SL# 261 Charity Dogsbody’s Booke of Sensible Advice# 262 CONNIE in a SEC# 263 secondguru# 264 The Life of Abigail Raymaker# 265 Fallobst# 266 Zippora’s life# 267 Nyte’N’Day Official Blog# 268 The ramblings of Violet# 269 The Winter Market# 270 Y Me digitally encoded genetic machismo# 271 YABU SIM# 272 Proceedings of the Royal Society# 273 Free Speerit# 274 Genevieve Lutetia# 275 Nimil# 276 Second Wave Fashion# 277 Punk Shack# 278 La Sylphide# 279 Emery# 280 Phantom’s Republic# 281 Second Life Shopping Sherpa# 282 Beth’s Second Life# 283 Decoy# 284 Lo Lo# 285 overcooked# 286 Popfuzz# 287 Shep Korvin – Blog is the new Black# 288 everyday second life# 289 Miss Cornelia Rothschild# 290 Moonshine Clothing# 291 The Lady and The Tramp# 292 Woo’s!# 293 Lick, Don’t Bite# 294 CREAMSHOP# 295 LF Fashions# 296 Pedro Meya Marty – Agentur f# 297 Second Life Stylewatch# 298 The Dressing Up Box# 299 Vitamin Ci# 300 Crimson Flow# 301 Omega Point A blog by Catherine Winters# 302 Sunn’s World# 303 Moggs – a second life# 304 Glamorpuss# 305 Blunt Fashion Sense# 306 L o s t A n g e l . H e a d q u a r t e r s# 307 ma vie d’avatar: ma vie sur second life# 308 SLC# 309 Novocaine# 310 Beta Technologies# 311 IYan Writer in virtual worlds# 312 Little Gems from My Second Life# 313 ::eLDee::# 314 Curious Kitties Island Update Blog# 315 LaynieWear# 316 ::ANA_Mations::# 317 DEVILISH CUPCAKE# 318 Digital Dragon Designs# 319 Digital Eyes# 320 imagendivine.com# 321 Kathar.in# 322 Meet the Petermans# 323 Pix3lizeD Th0ughTs# 324 The Diary of a Caledonian Baroness# 325 500 Year Diary# 326 Accessories by Eolande# 327 Honey Wendt in Second Life# 328 Ingenue# 329 Kabalyero# 330 Solange! Fashions# 331 A Piece of Candy# 332 DragonFly Designs, Inc.# 333 Alphamale# 334 Kryptonia’s Weblog# 335 Ai Baroque on WordPress# 336 DrFran Does SL# 337 I Make HUDDLES# 338 The Fashionable Heart# 339 Eyana Yohkoh’s Blog# 340 Metaverse Law# 341 Sensual Designs# 342 Digital Knickers# 343 Mela’s# 344 Posh Pride# 345 Ravenwear: The Anti-Trend# 346 Scripter Syndrome# 347 Sio’s Second Life# 348 The Cindy Kesey Show# 349 Eloise’s thoughts and fancies# 350 Second Life’s a Drag!# 351 The Virtual Version# 352 Trudeau Classic Sailing Yachts# 353 Winter Moon# 354 Eclipse# 355 Hairapy# 356 theshadow’s Alternative Second Life Fashions# 357 VictoriaV Fashion# 358 Vidal’s Dolly Realm# 359 World of IBIZARRE# 360 Aether Chronicles# 361 EarthStones# 362 DollyRock: Second Life Clothes# 363 I’m a Gracie Girl!!# 364 Freda’s Fine Fashion Magix# 365 :The Cute Institute# 366 The Bon Mots of Phineas Matova# 367 BijouxOr Gold Jewelry# 368 =^.^= Neko Gear =^.^=# 369 The Excellent Second Life of Chartreuse Muni# 370 [CRAP] Fashion# 371 Awesome Designs# 372 Catt’s Creations# 373 Gwendolyn Cassini Creations and Scripts ‘r Us# 374 Illuminati Designs Updates# 375 Just fine# 376 MAU’s# 377 Niki’s Notes# 378 Rustica# 379 SubliminaLuminations# 380 Argent Eyes# 381 CTK# 382 Fashion Predator# 383 Frequency’s Oscillations# 384 Jolie’s Boutique# 385 Material Squirrel# 386 Ookami Ningen# 387 Ribbons Learns to Swim# 388 Serenity Mercier# 389 comme il faut – by Moire Georgette – virtual fashion# 390 Hexed (Formerly Escape)# 391 Second Life – Notizie e Commenti su Second Life# 392 Second Life Games# 393 Subtle Submission# 394 The Antiquity Gazette# 395 The Chilbo Road Press# 396 Viva La Glam.# 397 Comments for Yxes Muses# 398 Glass Earth# 399 Izzyisms# 400 Livin# 401 Not Your Typical Lady# 402 Project Q/Gematria# 403 SinSkins# 404 SlCoolMag# 405 Soda – Bubbly Fashions# 406 Cala – Transgender in Second Life# 407 2nd Lifer# 408 Mascha Boa’s Fashion# 409 Prissy Pixels# 410 Reaction – a Surfers Revolution# 411 *~*HopScotch*~*# 412 Bewitched Designs# 413 Cailyn’s – Classic Jewelry# 414 Dings Digital’s Diary# 415 First Flower# 416 good deeds of a sailor to be# 417 JetDoll# 418 Kyra’s Kloset# 419 Mashooka Designs# 420 pixie dust and tantrums…# 421 Rich Desoto# 422 Second Life at hand# 423 Second Mirage# 424 Selling in Secondlife# 425 Calico Ingmann Creations# 426 enkythings – Virtual High Heels# 427 Larue# 428 Machinations of an Evil Tiny Kitty# 429 Newbe’s Steam Powered Blog# 430 Steamjunk# 431 Studio Sidhe# 432 Taunt# 433 TimeForce 10# 434 Tuli’s Favorites# 435 !TM Hair Styles by Tami McCoy# 436 Daikon Forge# 437 Liquid Velvet Studio Designs# 438 rosemary galbraith# 439 Second Life Conceptual Creations# 440 The Velvet Room# 441 Torrid Tales of a Compulsive Swooner# 442 AMACCI# 443 FETISH FASHIONISTA# 444 Beq’s adventures in second life# 445 Fortunate Productions# 446 A2NZ : When creativity goes global# 447 deadaswe’s weblog# 448 Interests of Isolde Flamand# 449 Vignette# 450 ~Serenity Style~# 451 Beats n’ Pieces# 452 Burroughs Jewellery and Eyes# 453 Caledon Early Bird Social Club# 454 Dreambits# 455 E.Laval Fine Clothing# 456 Fetch Alternative Blog# 457 Forceme Silverspar’s adventures in Second Life# 458 House Of RFyre# 459 INDIRA BEKKERS – Second Life Fashion# 460 Samantha Speaks# 461 sf design – avatar clothing by swaffette Firefly# 462 **THE CLOSET**# 463 Explorations of the White Foxx# 464 Gideon Television Superstar# 465 Iron Raptor# 466 Nicola Escher – Journal# 467 Sparkle-Skye# 468 Tamed Frustration# 469 The Family Jewels# 470 Virtual World Business.com# 471 Warm Winter Nights# 472 Woolly Wildcat Writings# 473 Angie Mornington# 474 For All Your Household Needs# 475 From the Flames# 476 Jana’s Classic Designs# 477 Make Money Online With Richard Palace# 478 Marion in Wonderland# 479 Mirrorlabs: Skin Studio Blog# 480 Quarter Life Crisis# 481 Soliel Snook# 482 The Llama’s Den# 483 The Second Life Great Expedition# 484 Veronique’s Second Life# 485 Wild Thing – Male Clothing# 486 Meta.Live.Nu# 487 Skidz Partz On Secondlife# 488 Contest Central by Impressione# 489 powers of creation# 490 Hair Solutions# 491 MRO SHOW ** LIVE **# 492 secondfluid# 493 :!:Lavish Style:!: by Katy Angel# 494 [Poptart]# 495 Acedia Diary# 496 Asri Falcone Originals# 497 Derek# 498 Diary of an avatar# 499 Elegance Hats# 500 Goto Desoto# 501 LDinSTL says:# 502 Mael’s Mindforge# 503 Oh no Crippy Oh# 504 Ordinal’s Cabinet of Ephemera# 505 Rave Nation Blog# 506 .: Na# 507 ~KorvinKreations~# 508 A NEKO’s LIFE in SL# 509 AudSLife# 510 Balderdash- Bagatelle and Trinketry# 511 Baronial Notations# 512 Diva Designs# 513 Eye Candy Designs# 514 Fae Designs# 515 Fashionably Dead# 516 From The Eye Of The Storm# 517 Frontier’s Horizon# 518 Fuel# 519 Ki-Squared# 520 Makeda Cole# 521 Mal Burns Annex# 522 Moriash Moreau: My Second Life# 523 My Second Life is the New First# 524 Paw Prints# 525 RaceSL# 526 sezmra.com# 527 Something Different# 528 SYD: Style Your Destiny# 529 Taffy Apple Designs# 530 Tea Monster# 531 Through the filter of a Victorian Aesthetic# 532 TorridWear# 533 trash palace – electronic music club# 534 Treasured Visions# 535 Tully in Second Life# 536 Tweaktocracy# 537 Violet Voltaire# 538 Wildefire Walcott’s Mistressy Musings# 539 Your Godless Goddess# 540 Anti Cute Clothing Second Life# 541 BiancaF# 542 Brigid Ashwood Fantasy Artist# 543 Caliburn Susanto# 544 Essentia# 545 Handbags# 546 Mannon’s Fashion# 547 Mircat# 548 Mollster’s# 549 OOpS# 550 Random Acts of Style# 551 Return to Secondlife# 552 Ships of the Line# 553 Khaos Klub Information Website# 554 Blog of House of Lu; Paper Couture# 555 Caliente Express# 556 celtgrrl# 557 Ephemeral Creations# 558 Flower and Willow# 559 ICoN# 560 Inside Second Life# 561 Life by Proxy# 562 Made for No Reason# 563 Metaverse Week in Review# 564 Miriel in the Metaverse# 565 newly born# 566 NPSL: Nonprofits in Second Life# 567 Riven’s Nest# 568 Savoir Hair# 569 Second Life Blogosphere# 570 Second Life Fashion Addict# 571 Second Spice# 572 ShenS Blog# 573 Skin Within# 574 Stella’s Mall on Stella Isle# 575 Sweetest Sin# 576 Technopaideia# 577 The Agile Mind# 578 the Artists’ tea party# 579 The Source of Power# 580 Trin’s Tantrums# 581 Voodoo Style# 582 Welcome to the Train-Wreck Love Life# 583 Women of Second Life# 584 Yoshino’s Second life blog# 585 Zagoskin Haute Couture

Original Source: MindBlizzard http://blog.mindblizzard.com/2009/03/top-of-blogs.html thanks mate !!!

3D Rome – CNN seems to think this is cool – itsReal

Rome, “Caput Mundi”, for centuries it was the center of the known world.  But how did they really live in ancient times, from the mad emperors to the brutal spectacles to the decadent  lifestyle?

Come and discover at  3D Rewind Rome ™, a space of 1200 square meters just 80 meters from the colosseum in the heart of Rome.

3DRewind Rome™,  hosts the only 3d experience in Italy in which the visitors are suddenly catapulted back in time to Ancient Rome in the year 310 A.D., the age of the Emperor Maxentius, developed by an international group of leading archaeologists, architects, historians and digital designers.

In 3D Rewind Rome™, visitors relive the history of ancient Rome interactively thanks to state of the art technology and digital animations.

Tens of thousands of virtual characters bring the ancient city to life, the crowded streets, the Roman forum, heart of the Empire, the temples, the tribunals and the famed Colosseum.

Itis a great opportunity to understand better the architectual sights of the city today and is a fascinating adventure back in time.

This project was realized in partnership with the city of Rome and will be only the first of a series of Rewind Projects in the most important cities of the world.

3DRewind Rome™, is a creation of Virtuality group.

More info: 3DRewind

List of 50 Virtual Worlds video tour – itsReal

Earlier I posted that 345million has been invested in Virtual Worlds this year – this movie Initially posted at marketfactnl – has been translated (close to) below for this part of the world… When i first starting hearing about Second Life in 2006 – much has happened in the space – this video is a tour of some of the virtual properties around today – Google Lively & Twinity appear so the video is coolly current–

Virtual Worlds in the near future are going to play an increasing role in our lives. The fact that Google with Google Lively its first footsteps in the digital universe continues, suggests that more has happened than just a new gimmick. The number of virtual worlds is also growing. Most of the virtual worlds in the Netherlands we hear nothing or very little about. Yet another far-from-us-bed-show? Gary Hayes is currently engaged in an investigation into virtual worlds and he has recorded his journey on YouTube. This provides a seven-minute film in which 50 virtual worlds pass the revue.

Second Life, HiPiHi, Kaneva, Twinity, ActiveWorlds, LagunaBeach vMTV. There.com, Habbo, Google Lively, FootballSuperstars, Weblin, AmazingWorlds, CyWorld, Whyville, Gaia Online, RocketOn, Club Penguin, YoVille, Webkinz, BarbieGirls, Prototerra, IMVU, Spore, vSide, Tale in the Desert, SpineWorld, Stardoll The Manor, There.com, ExitReality, Vastpark, Qwaq, PS3Home, GoSupermodel, Grockit, Croquet, Metaplace, Coke Studios, Dreamville, Dubit, Mokitown, Move, Muse, The Palace, Playdo, Sora City, Voodoo Chat, TowerChat, Traveler , Virtual Ibiza… Are you on your journey?

On his site Gary also refers to a beautiful visual of the Examination Kzero where several virtual worlds in a useful overview (jpg) are plotted against each other.

EVERYONE should be doing videos

– I have seen this video 3 times before reading the content above – andrew peters aka aplink

PS: theRedlightcentre missed a debute in the video – i wonder why ?

CNN to rely on Second Life Residents for SL News – itsReal

CNN To Launch Bureau in Second Life Virtual World..

In the week of Nov. 5, the news giant is set to open a news-gathering outpost in Second Life. And unlike news service Reuters, which embedded a real reporter in the online virtual world last year, CNN will rely on Second Life “residents” to do all the legwork.

INTEL’s perspective on the emerging 3D Web – itsReal

This video is LONG and also very much a crystal ball look at what things will be like when computing power… from INTEL will allow for these types of environments… if you have the time and 3D Web is your area of interest check it out… look for QUAQ, ParaVerses and Virtual Surgery…

Video here at Intel Developers Forum

RedLightCenter.com – Virtual Sex Life gets analysed by conancat – itsReal

“And hell, what’s so fun about cybersex when you can’t hear the other person moaning and feel his/her heat for real?” says conancat.

APLINK thinks ConanCat under estimates how humans need to fantasize, it is very REAL and virtual worlds today are virtually on a path to our reality just as the TV already is !!!See the rest of his REAL thoughts at ConanCat

“But this–Redlight Center–an MMORPG about love, dating, and sex, to me, is getting tee a bit weird.” – conancat

Get a Life.. a Second Life Job – itsReal

Next stage of Internet spawns variety of new jobs..

“While small-scale Web 2.0 shops are sprouting up all over, major corporations, nonprofit groups and educational institutions have been scooping up people like Justin Rounds. They end up with exotic sounding job titles such as “director of interactive experience” or “online engagement manager.”

Typically, entry level salaries hover in the $35,000 to $55,000 range, said MITX founder Larry Weber. “

Big-Bit wants to hear from people that are keen to get into this space

I do think that some of the larger companies are very dedicated to having a strong Web presence. There are a lot of opportunities there as well.”

By Tom Vandyck, Globe Correspondent  |  October 14, 2007

You may have heard of Second Life, the virtual online world that draws millions of aficionados every day. Now imagine a Second Life specifically for business, a world where workers can gather, share files, and communicate securely in a fully animated 3D office environment in cyberspace.

Creating exactly that is what Justin Rounds does for a living. Rounds, 35, is a contractor for Sun Micro Systems in Burlington. He is one of the digital animators behind the MPK20 Project, Sun’s yet-to-be unveiled virtual workplace.

Only a few years ago, a job in new media simply meant Web design. No more. The advent of Web 2.0, the next stage in the Internet’s evolution, has spawned a wide variety of previously nonexistent digital media jobs.

“Technology keeps changing,” said Rounds. “There’s always going to be the next big thing, there’s always going to be a demand for people who are technical minded.”

While small-scale Web 2.0 shops are sprouting up all over, major corporations, nonprofit groups and educational institutions have been scooping up people like Justin Rounds. They end up with exotic sounding job titles such as “director of interactive experience” or “online engagement manager.”

Equally exotic sounding are the technical skills needed for Web 2.0 novices. Software packages like Ajax and Ruby on Rails for website development, or Maya and Blender for 3D animation are all the rage. Many did not exist until only a few years ago. Now they are essential tools.

Still, it takes more than geek credentials to make it in the world of the Web 2.0. Since the work is highly collaborative and only a minority of jobs are posted through traditional channels, social networking skills are just as important.

“There’s just a whole new landscape of jobs,” said Kiki Mills, executive director at the Massachusetts Information and Technology Exchange (MITX), a Cambridge-based digital media trade association. “Now more than ever, you’re able to share information. Obviously, careers are forming around all of this.”

Although purely technical knowledge remains important, a much wider array of skills and attitudes is required for ambitious Web 2.0 novices. The current crop of new media jobs can involve any combination of creating multimedia content, building real-time online communities, and maintaining a presence in the ever-expanding Web search universe.

“Essentially you’re going in as a problem solver for the organization you work for, and you’ve got a variety of tools to work with,” said Bob Daniels, executive director of Boston University’s Center for Digital Imaging Arts in Waltham.

As companies go to great lengths to make sure their names pop up on top of vital Google or Yahoo search result pages, another area that has seen explosive growth, is search engine management.Continued…

Your Guide to Virtual Worlds – itsReal

Awesome report by:

Mark Glaser, of MEDIASHIFT

Second Life avatars

From time to time, I’ll give an overview of one broad MediaShift topic, annotated with online resources and plenty of tips. The idea is to help you understand the topic, learn the jargon, and take action. I’ve already covered blogs, social networking, widgets and various other topics. This week I’ll look at the growing phenomenon of virtual worlds.

Background and History

Virtual worlds are online three-dimensional spaces where you can interact with other people, collect items and build structures, and communicate via a virtual representative of yourself called an avatar. These worlds have been influenced by various science fiction writers such as William Gibson and Neal Stephenson, along with the movie, “The Matrix.”

Virtual worlds differ from massive multiplayer online games (MMOGs) because they don’t offer battles against monsters or have an overriding mission for players. For example, a resident of the virtual world Second Life might spend time in that space accumulating virtual land, rather than striving to complete quests or conquer levels as one would in many popular MMOGs such as World of Warcraft.

The origin of virtual worlds goes back to early games such as Maze War, which was developed in the early ’70s at NASA. The game included eyeballs as avatars, there were maps showing the levels, and it was one of the first games played on networked computers, and eventually over a precursor to the Internet.

Habitat scene

In 1986, LucasFilm Games developed Habitat, a more two-dimensional environment that included humanoid avatars, and people could access the game through online service Quantum Link on their Commodore 64 computers. Developers Chip Morningstar and Randy Farmer, who maintain a blog about their experience with Habitat, say they let Habitat residents generally set their own rules governing the world — as long as they couldn’t hack into the system. In a research paper about their lessons from Habitat, the developers wrote:

READ MORE AT MEDIASHIFT