Photo shoot GAP

To the Moon and Back

Visiting the Warrior

Well it is amazing what you can find in SL. So today I visited Mars... seriously :D

These places make SL worthwhile visiting for the creative experience and to see what can be done if the heart and not the wallet is involved.

Explorer Island makes you feel like a little Dora flying around, through the phantom landscape and of course snapshotting with your tiny virtual Kodak.

What you see here is the 1/3 scale of the Victoria crater, 3/3 would need 9 sims to build!?
It's done with sculpted prims, a friend explained me how they did it but yes indeed it was too much tech talk for little old me ;)

Nevertheless it's wonderful and these projects are one of the most valuable reasons of the virtual worlds' existence... at least something to think about and be inspired by.

Photo shoot Colgate

...

Una sorpresa maravillosa...

Como he estado una sorpresa de recibir mi primera serenata virtual, un cantante privado y amigo muy precioso. Todo los preparaciones y esfuerzos en secreto... me he gustado mucho!

Unos de los agradable lados de SL esta sin duda la gente cariñosa que puedes encontrar de todo el mundo

Muchas gracias mi querido charro :)
<3

13 going on...

It's my birthday :D

I Love My Computer

BAD RELIGION LYRICS

"I Love My Computer"

I love my computer
you make me feel alright
every waking hour
and every lonely night
I love my computer
for all you give to me
predictable errors and no identity
and it's never been quite so easy
I've never been quite so happy
all I need to do is click on you
and we'll be joined
in the most soul-less way
and we'll never
ever ruin each other's day
cuz when I'm through I just click
and you just go away
I love my computer
you're always in the mood
I get so turned on
when I turn on you
I love my computer
you never ask for more
you can be a princess
or you can be my whore
and it's never been quite so easy
I've never been quite so happy
the world outside is so big
but it's safe in my domain
because to you
I'm just a number
and a clever screen name
all I need to do is click on you
and we'll be together for eternity
and no one is ever gonna take my love
from me because I've got security,
her password and a key

We're in the news

Seriously, the job we did for IMAX left them very content and we got different media coverages... can I enjoy this moment?

hehe... guess so :p

'Phoenix' soars into Second Life
Virtual avatars credited with boosting film's Imax 3D showing
By Gail Schiller

Aug 3, 2007

NEW YORK -- A virtual marketing campaign for "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" engagements in Imax theaters that transformed Second Life avatars into "buzz agents" for the movie is getting credit as the main impetus behind Imax breaking all of its boxoffice records.

In a campaign run by This Second Marketing Llc., a relatively new agency that specializes in brand marketing in Second Life, about two dozen avatars were recruited and paid real-world wages to act as virtual street teams, handing out free virtual promotional items and engaging fellow avatars in discussions about the film at Imax theaters.

Dressed in white futuristic-looking outfits with the Imax logo and a cube with the "Phoenix" Imax 3D poster floating above their heads, the buzz agents gave out virtual 3-D glasses, Imax T-shirts, directors' chairs with the Imax logo and virtual movie tickets. Only the virtual movie tickets had a real-life use, with all 300 available redeemed for Imax "Potter" tickets via a link to Imax's Web site.

According to Imax and This Second Marketing, 15,099 unique avatars engaged in conversation about the Imax "Potter" and accepted promotional items during 840 total hours of street marketing efforts in the week surrounding the Warner Bros.' film's July 11 opening. The campaign logged 25,189 individual Imax brand interactions when including all conversations with Second Life avatars, many of which occurred on more than one occasion.

"As far as everyone can tell, this was the highest one-on-one branded interaction known to date that ever took place on Second Life," said Greg Foster, chairman and president of Imax Filmed Entertainment. "Reaching 15,000 people in exactly the demographic you're shooting over seven days is sort of hitting the marketing bonanza."

Foster said Imax's market research indicated that the Second Life campaign "closed the deal" for many of the moviegoers who went to see "Potter" in Imax theaters.

"A huge proportion of our opening weekend tickets came from advance Internet purchases, and a large number of those people came from interacting on Second Life," he said. "We had more than 15,000 one-on-one unique interactions on Second Life, and we captured over 15,000 avatar names. Those people virtually became walking billboards," he said, referring to the fact that whenever an avatar put on the virtual 3-D glasses, the "Potter" Imax cube appeared, spreading the viral campaign.

"Phoenix" led Imax to its largest worldwide opening at $9.4 million, its biggest first-week total at $11.6 million and its largest second weekend at $3.9 million, the company said. The film reached the $10 million mark faster than any other Imax DMR release. (DMR is the company's digital remastering technology that allows it to digitally transform any conventional motion picture into an Imax film.)

Foster said the campaign helped Imax reach its target 12- to 34-year-old "techie" demographic that is a "a little bit more illusive these days in terms of coming to movies."

According to Joni West, president of This Second Marketing, the Imax campaign was much more effective than those implemented by many other marketers who have just created "islands" in Second Life without any marketing or advertising campaigns to get people to go there.

"Some companies have built islands, and they've expected people just to show up, which is not a realistic expectation in Second Life. For Imax, we decided to go and bring the brand and the story to the people," she said.

Imax also opened an office on This Second's island, where avatars can get free promotional items for future Imax movies. West's company has also run smaller buzz agent campaigns for 1-800-Flowers and Careerbuilder.com in recent weeks.

Many other entertainment companies that have marketed their content in Second Life have also been quite successful. An island created for Showtime's "The L Word" -- which features a virtual coffee shop like the one in the series, a street with mostly women's clothing stores, vacation homes for sale, a nightclub and a screening room where whole episodes of the show are streamed -- has attracted more than 50,000 avatars since it launched in January, according to Electric Sheep Co., the company that created the island for Showtime. The avatars have visited the "L Word" island an average of three to four times a week and stayed an average of 20 minutes per visit.

An assassination game created by Electric Sheep and played throughout Second Life to promote Universal Pictures' "Smokin' Aces" drew 1,200 players, Electric Sheep said. To promote "Live Free or Die Hard," 20th Century Fox orchestrated a Q&A with Bruce Willis and his look-alike avatar in Second Life for media and a select number of fans who won a competition to attend.

"It was very well attended and definitely successful," a Fox spokesman said.

In May, Fox also hosted the first online virtual premiere party for "X-Men: The Last Stand," attracting about 18,000 Second Life residents to its movie-themed Avalon island, where the 19-hour party was held. Because of the party's success and high demand from avatars who couldn't get in, the party was extended to last the whole week, drawing thousands more fans to the virtual event, the studio said.

Second Avatar

In this funny psychedelic journey I actually entered Miss SL 2007 recently, why didn't I mention that earlier. I guess cause I'm a weird mix of shyness and vanity hehe. Anyways, just having some fun won't hurt anyone. I'll probably go around unnoticed since it's all about clicks, well we'll see but it is funny that such a thing exists.

I first heard about it through someone else's blog, I should look her name up she was a SL miss too :)

Hear me say "too" hehe as if, well it's fun, and maybe I'll keep entering till I'm a lil' ol lady and be crowned Miss SL 2047. That's the beauty of SL, you never age.

Is it important... no totally not, but it's fun savouring as much SL experiences as you can. So one is added to the growing list again :)

Secondavatar.com

No More Gambling

Second Life has decided to ban all gambling activities from its world. So now all casino's, sploders, etc. are no longer part of SL.

I went back for a minute to the Amsterdam Poker Palace where I used to host for a while, as you can see nothing is left there except some exchange machines, a board and the notice "land for rent".

It's totally silly, all those RL issues in SL, but I can understand their reasoning. On the other hand it's a big cut out of SL visitors, numbers have dropped and it can't be a good thing for the internal economy.

The Thin Line

OK SL is fun, very much fun and i must plea guilty to being an addict by now. Do I mind? Nope hehe! For me as long as I can keep a healthy balance between FL and SL, it's cool in my opinion.

Now how important is it to keep RL & SL separated? I really don't know, it all depends with who I guess. But you never know who's really on the other side of the avatar so I wouldn't start handing out any RL address cards hahaha. Anyways, some people seem to be very cautious about anything that might come near RL info. I like to keep it balanced, a name won't hurt anyone, but a life story and RL emotions (especially when it comes to romantic illusions) can be tricky. The tease is nothing without pretending it's real, but it's pretend real and the line between real real and pretend real can be confusing to many, so they start freaking out, running away, coming back and running away again.

To be honest, I've had some of that confusion too. I guess cause I couldn't make the difference between RL values and the permitted lack of them in SL. It's bizarre how most morals/values/principles/etc. fade the second you log in to The Grid. But then again that also depends on who you meet and what you're looking for.

In the end what intrigues me most is the effect this possibility of having a SL has on human interaction and the way we treat our fellow virtual beings, whom in the end (again) remain human. I will get back on that later, but even though I love SL, the nice diversion it can be and perfect business opportunity.

But lately I've come to appreciate my RL more and more every time I log off, what a relief to see the blue bubblegum sky for realz :)

Marketing Project - CareerBuilder.com

We've added Careerbuilder.com to our tour and the change is nice.

In some aspects it is easier, because more people are looking for a job SL & RL... so many don't mind and also the free builders hat to give away is widely liked. However many people appreciate the fun side of the IMAX project, so it's give or take a bit and we try to combine both.

The hours are long, but it is a valuable experience to see how all of this is possible within a virtual world.

A representative of Careerbuilder.com will be logging in on SL to see how we're doing.

On the Move

When I started out with SL my main goal was to find some kind of business opportunity. It's been nearly two months now, and after messing around a bit I'm starting to put things together.

I've made enough money in SL to set things up, it was a challenge I made for myself not to spend a RL dime into 'The Game'. So far I've succeeded in doing that and things are going great.

Qua business I have:

• set up a virtual enterprise
• opened a shop
• working on two RL in SL marketing projects
• today i actually had my first photo shoot as a model quite unexpectedly
• buying land
• building a couple of houses and stores to rent out

Qua the human experience:

Being in SL is psychedelic, as if you're running through a thousand dreams. Some unexplainable, most based on a sexual desire and Freud would be in virtual heaven if he could've logged in.
SL is a playground for grownups, a world on it's own where human communication is brought to a parallel dimension. Often limited by the use of keyboards instead of voices (which is a new option however), but on the other hand it is exactly that loss of directness that makes people open up.

Anyways, without exaggeration SL is fun. Maybe in the beginning it's a bit boring but after a while when you start meeting fun people (you'll meet some rude individuals too) just like in RL things get better as you settle in. Finding your way around, and although it is a virtual world the human side is never completely virtual. The heart thumps, the body reacts, the cheeks blush, you get angry, you laugh, you share and even in SL when a door closes another one opens.

Is being continued...

Marketing Project - IMAX

Today was the start of my first real job in SL... kick off was fun, nice team and enthusiastic spirit.

We're doing a promotion tour through SL promoting the new IMAX Harry Potter, with a team of approximately 25 avatars we were send out to 'meet the people' and tell them all about the new HP and IMAX.

A specially designed folder is to be handed out with promotional goodies and specific gestures should help us spread the word more easily.

It's funny to see my avi in working gear... laptop in hand.

Most avatars don't mind being addressed about the campaign and find it intriguing to receive RL offers in SL... especially the free movie ticket.

It isn't always easy talking to people, since everything has to be typed but most of the time it's fun. One of the guys in the team contacted the HP sim and got us a free stage to advertise during their event... lots of people showed up and many packages were handed out and accepted which is the most important part.

When the shift is over, numbers are to be handed in.

Pause

So since RL called me abroad quite unexpectedly it's been over a week since I've been on SL, it is scary how I keep thinking about it though :D

Anyways to keep me in virtual mood I ordered the official SL manual + CD and in all the buzzyness haven’t been able to make up my mind yet whether or not it's worth it, but I'll let you know.

Next week is project-time for me on SL so I'm curious if this is going to be worth it too, if not SL has become a nice place to meet and keep in touch with really nice people. So receiving all these offline messages is really sweet!

Love ya guys ;)

Second Life Object Creation Demo

By SL CEO Philip Rosedale

Second Life Video's

To your right at the bottom you'll find a selection of YouTube.com video's concerning Second Life, some can be quite informative while others are funny, and some plain boring. But hey, you decide for yourself.

The Beginning

So today was the day (since I'm writing this retrospectively) I decided to join the expanding community of Second Life. Ever since I've become a bit of an addict and put up this blog to share whatever I'd like to share about this rather bizarre phenomenon.

Why I call it bizarre? Is quite simple, it's just your screen and a whole lot of pixels but still it's a world on its own, where thousands of people gather every day and night to share their moments together: studying, skydiving, working, making love, building, fighting, etc.

Almost nothing is impossible and there's always the security of the phrase: "What happens in SL stays in SL, and what happens in RL stays in RL".

Complete weirdoes, geniuses, geeks, sexy and not so sexy... for everybody the perfect buddy available.

Will update this regularly... ;)