If you’re a marketer who has steered clear of Twitter, your (non)strategy may be paying off. It’s possible that this Twitter thing may just take care of itself.

In the middle of last year, Twitter’s growth slowed from 7.8 million new users a month to 6.2 million, according to a recent study from RJ Metrics. That report also found that only 17 percent of Twitter users updated their accounts in December — an all-time low. An earlier study by the Nielsen Co. revealed 60 percent of Twitter users do not return from one month to the next. Taking that into account, it’s tempting to conclude that Twitter is following in the footsteps of another social-media ghost town, Second Life. (more…)

A Frank Lloyd Wright Museum has been in operation in Second Life for six months [SLURL]. Now, though, it’s officially working in partnership with the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation under the new name of the Frank Lloyd Wright Virtual Museum, incorporating in the U.S., and seeking official non-profit status.

Four months ago the Foundation approached the Museum and expressed a desire to work together. While other real-world organizations have approached virtual counterparts and sought to compete or simply shut them down through legal proceedings, the Foundation has taken a tack of cooperation in order to build out the virtual presence of Wright with passionate people already doing the work. (more…)

The Cleopatra Water Courts project in Cairo, Egpyt is a build created in Second Life, which Los Angeles-based architect David Denton (known in SL as DB Bailey), showed his client, an Egyptian tycoon who funded the project. On that score, this is almost certainly the most expensive, ambitious real world project using Second Life as a platform.

Denton, who was previously a managing partner of legendary architect Frank Gehry, told me about the project at last August’s Second Life Community Convention, but only recently did his collaborators in Egypt send along the photo above — tangible proof that the build he showed me last year in Second Life is well on its way to being constructed. (It’s expected to be complete in three years.) (more…)

The data center tour is an integral part of the sales process for colocation and hosting space. But in a difficult economy and tight budgets, traveling around the country to scout data centers isn’t as simple.

So the developers of Phoenix NAP decided to bring the data center to the client. The company has created a data center virtual tour that allows visitors to “walk through” a full 3D visualization of the layout for the data center, which is scheduled to open this spring with a first phase of 45,000 square feet and will eventually include 160,000 square feet of data center space. (more…)

Marshall University has created a virtual campus in the online world of “Second Life” that allows visitors to check out the school without leaving their homes.

Marshall said Thursday that its “Second Life” island, MUOnline, will allow visitors to explore campus attractions such as the climbing wall and the recreation center. They also can buy textbooks online at the school’s virtual bookstore and find information about online courses.

In the virtual world of “Second Life,” users create avatars of themselves that live, work and play in its 3-dimensional landscape. (more…)

When you look at the welcome bonus and all the other benefits from joining an online casino, playing online has real advantages over the real world alternatives. Because the virtual operation does not need a major building and significant number of people to run the games, all that saving can go into financial benefits for members. If you play regularly enough and qualify for VIP membership, you can find the casino more financially generous than through the real world comps. Nevertheless, you still need to play smart to give yourself the best chance of winning more than you lose.

How can you improve your chances of winning? Well, the bad news is you have to study. Even though every spin of the wheel is an independent event and what has happened has no bearing on what will happen, you still have to know all the rules and what the odds are on each bet. This is a game of chance, but which game you decide to play and how you bet can affect the outcome.

As you know from the information contained on other parts of this site, there are two versions of the game. The difference between the two lies in the number of zeros, i.e. if the ball lands on a zero, the house takes some or all of the bets depending on the local rules. In the European version, there is only one zero. This makes the house edge 2.63%. In the American version, there are two zeros. The house edge doubles to 5.26%. Thus, if you have the choice, always play the European version because this gives the house the lowest advantage. Always check the local rules. If the house plays the en prison rule, all even money bets stay on the table for the next spin of the wheel if a zero comes up. This has the effect of further reducing the European house edge to 1.35%, i.e. this version of the game gives you the best chance of winning. Now learn how to calculate the odds and always play the bets giving you the best chance of winning and avoid the bets with the worst odds. The following is a simple guide:

• single number bets including zero and double zero 35:1
• two neighboring numbers 17:1
• any three numbers in a row 11:1
• any of the four touching numbers in a corner 8:1
• five numbers, e.g. 1,2,3,0,00 6:1
• any six numbers in two rows 5:1
• any twelve numbers in a column 2:1
• dozens 2:1
• red/black, odd/even 1:1

Now the choice is yours. If you are playing roulette for “profit”, set yourself a limit on the amount your are prepared to lose. Then play the bets with the bigger returns. If your luck is in and you hit one or two times, take your winnings. You can enjoy the rest of the evening at the casino’s expense. The worst mistake anyone can make is to be seduced by the idea of a hot streak. The reality is clear. If you keep on playing roulette, you will lose all your winnings.

There is nothing more awesome in an opinion then Second Life, we are going to learn how to make an avatar for this game.

First go to the Second Life website www.secondlife.com and find the download requirement for that of your computer, there is one for Linux and then one for windows such as XP or Vista. (more…)

The aughts have brought plenty of gaming failures—Dreamcast and Gizmondo come to mind—but for every step backward, there have been two forward. Here are the top 15 milestones—from the PS3 to Second Life, Halo 2 to Zynga Poker—in the last 10 years.

Whatever you want to call it, an open-ended, online homage to The Sims or a sad remnant of the VR craze, Second Life is still drawing attention for its virtual marriages, financial scams, political protests and housing crashes. “Residents” can roam this computer-generated world as a version of themselves, or, if they prefer, as a giant carrot. (more…)

Once the presents have been opened and Christmas dinner devoured, many tech-minded people may have the urge to get online and see what’s going on in cyberspace – and Second Life could well be one of their ports of call.

Bearing this in mind, silicon.com has trawled through the virtual world to find what festive fun you’ll be able to have if you pay a visit.

As you would expect, you can buy various souvenirs and decorations to give your virtual land a Christmas twist. (more…)

Like an emissary from a parallel world familiar to Second Life types, Lady Gaga is a real-life avatar.

And it is probably for that reason that designers have been so hypnotized by her image. Weary perhaps of the drudgery involved in producing actual clothing, designers were attracted to a star who thinks little of going about in outfits that hobble the body or masks that make it impossible to see.

Lady Gaga “lives for” fashion, she has said. She imagines the clothes she will wear to perform her songs in as she is writing them. She employs a team of stylists known as the Haus of Gaga. She has transformed herself into a cartoon muse who has inspired no less than Marc Jacobs and Alexander McQueen. (more…)

Virtual worlds such as SimCity and Second Life have long provided an outlet for socializing, traveling — even shopping — without actually being there. Now virtual conferences are catching on in the financial industry as a cheaper and more convenient alternative to the real thing.

Picture a computer-generated three-dimensional convention center with a younger and more attractive version of yourself trolling the rows of booths.

Stop by a booth for a chat in real time with a company representative and quickly download brochures and white papers right to your computer. Move on to presentations by industry luminaries and panel discussions without having to fight the crowd. Hand out virtual business cards in a networking lounge. (more…)

This month when you watch Avatar or another 3D movie in the theaters, be sure to keep your glasses, so you can watch this machinima as it’s intended: Second Life rendered into a 3D video.

It’s the work of metaverse developer Ian Upton (Ian Pahute SL). “It is not a trick or a post process,” he tells me by email. “It is just another way of experiencing Second Life. You switch it on!” (more…)

Whether teaching in the Peace Corps or pulling together a series of virtual college campuses in cyberspace as a faculty development specialist at the University of Texas, Leslie Jarmon was all about people and communicating with them.

“First and foremost, she was always interested in community,” said Claudia Snowden-Rawley, a colleague and friend. “That’s what she strived to do throughout her life. She was a firm believer that the human spirit can accomplish lots of things, and when you get a lot of people together, you can accomplish even more. One couldn’t help being positive around her.” (more…)

We all know the only place to be right now for anyone-who-is-anyone in the green community is in Copenhagen. The only problem is that there are 34,000 people who have applied to get in and there are only 15,000 seats available, so it might be a case of standing room only. Then there is that problem of air travel, CO2 emissions and offsets.

Alternatively, why not get your green fix via the web, the emissions will be way lower, you are guaranteed a seat and you can even attend the conference with your own avatar in a virtual world. Visit Oneclimate where you can get streaming live Copenhagen video feeds or highlights from the day, along with links to various news outlets. (more…)

Second Life is more than a popular web based community. It is a way of life for Dr. Howard Schatz, a longtime physician who took a sabbatical fourteen years ago to pursue his passion for photography. Schatz has worked as a professional photographer ever since then, and learned to incorporate his expertise as a surgeon into his photographic essays of bodies in motion.

As Dr. Schatz explains the key to his success, he works together with subjects to portray ‘the heart of the champion.’ Their mutual goal becomes making the best possible image of themselves as they can.

Dr. Schatz’s medical training helps him to understand human anatomy to portray people who excel at applying their anatomy to achieve peak performance — athletes, dancers and actors. He explained his technique of highlighting the muscular skeletal system with minimal clothing, usually plain black. (more…)