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Sun Holds News Conference In Second Life
mikesd81 writes, "Internet News is reporting that Sun held an in-world news conference in the online game Second Life. From the article: 'Tuesday, Sun became the first Fortune 500 company to hold an "in-world" press conference to show off its new pavilion in Second Life, the popular 3D online world. Sun said it plans to invest in the Sun Pavilion as a place for developers to try out code, share ideas, and receive training.' Sun hopes to reach millions of Java developers, as opposed to the 22,000 that show up at its JavaOne conference each year." Good luck with that goal of "millions" — the total population of SL is under 800,000. And, who knew that Sun has a Chief Gaming Officer? Good quote from him in the article. He said Second Life isn't a game, "It's an amazing platform for global communications."
... Linden Labs has no intention (at this moment) of using Java for their scripting language. Mono is the next step, from the developer logs.
No, a basic account is free.
Life is short: void the warranty.
Well SL is working at getting a browser built in so objects can have a web page as the surface of an object. They can probably perform presentations through that browser if it ever goes live. But more likely, if this is a success they'll work directly with Linden Labs to get whatever features they can think of to give a nice presentation. Linden Labs is very interested in getting corporate partners to use the virtual world more. If it takes off it'll be very profitable.
Developers: We can use your help.
"Look Lois, the two symbols of the Republican Party: an elephant, and a fat white guy who is threatened by change."
The base account is free, and that includes a weekly stipend of $L (inworld money) and the ability to go to a sandbox and build/script anything your heart desires. You are also able to go anywhere in the world that paid residents can go. The only advantage of a paid resident is a larger stipend, and the ability to own a permanent land location.
However there are some not-so-hidden cost barriers to entry. You need a good cable or DSL connection, and the SL client is able to bring even the most modern gaming machine to its knees at high settings and certain locations. If your setup is already able to play Counterstrike:Source nicely, then Second Life should work OK.
There are three levels of payment information visible to everyone via your profile:
No payment information on file
Payment Info on file but not used
Payment Info used
Locations can be restricted based on your payment information to keep out people who have not provided billing information.
New free accounts no longer get a weekly stipend of Linden Dollars.
There are other "sinks" in the economy as well. Uploading a texture or sound file costs L$10 and that money basically "disappears." Ditto with the fee for creating new user groups (L$100).
Linden Labs has actually found that, to help stabilize the exchange rate, they have to sell L$ on their currency market themselves. The exchange rate, after peaking at around L$330/US$1, now seems to have stabilized at L$275-280/US$1 for the present.
Be who you are...and be it in style!