Australian Popularity contest – May 2007

We had a lot of positive feedback the last time we showed the performance of Australian presences in SL, so we thought it time to revisit. One thing that hasn’t changed since last time is the fact that the two major presences are the BigPond and ABC islands.

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Some other Australian presences and their respective traffic:

1. Australia Sim -2776
2. Terra Incognita (Uni of Southern Qld) – 937
3. Esperance Island (AFTRS) – 244
4. RMIT Ormond Island (Public) – 298

Some of the traffic figures continue to place Australian locations well and truly in the big leagues. That said, the traffic statistics themselves are at best indicative, change every day and are also being removed in future updates. Hopefully the replacement functionality will provide an even clearer picture.

(Methodology: one-time sample (Saturday 26th May at 1.15pm AEST) utilising SL search functionality)

Icons under scrutiny

As reported on news.com.au, there’s increasing scrutiny of iconic Aussie landmarks in SL and the copyright implications of their use. The two under the microscope at this stage are the Sydney Opera House (found on both the BigPond islands and the Australia sim) and Uluru (on the BigPond presence).

The news.com.au article asserts that Telstra have confirmed they didn’t approach the traditional owners of Uluru for permission, so this is a grey area that may to attract a lot of attention. An article in the Sydney Morning Herald however, quotes Telstra denying breaching any copyright. Either way, the resolution of the issue will set a precedent that will hopefuly provide some clarity for future development.

What are your thoughts – should people be free to replicate iconic Australian landmarks in a virtual world? And if so, under what conditions?

(Thanks to the Mindtracks blog for pointing to the story)

Wrap-up of AIMIA NSW Intimates: The Future of Virtual Worlds

On Tuesday evening the AIMIA “Future of Virtual Worlds” (Part 2) was held at the The Shelbourne Hotel in Sydney. Over 60 people attended from a variety of business, government and technology groups – either the first time or to find out more about SL.

The wide variety of community representation meant the panellists; Chris Collins (Business Analyst and Developer, Linden Lab), Abigail Thomas (Head Strategic Development, ABC Innovation) and Nick Abrahams (Partner, Deacons’ Technology, Media & Telecommunications Group) had an attentive and questioning audience during the panel discussion that followed their respective presentations.

The technological development’s indicated by Chris in regard to the “look” of SL through new sky rendering along with “Spatial Voice” heralds some important changes to the way poeple interact in SL. The “Spatial Voice” innovation alone should see some changes to both demographic use and the interactions of SL residents provided bandwidth issues can be resolved. to this end Chris indicated that Australia can expect a hosted server “real soon now”.

Abigail Thomas’ presentation on the success and development of ABC island was likewise well received. The island itself ranks as one of the top Australian visitation sites across SL. Abigail explained that the development of content by SL residents in the ABC Sandbox area was the most popular of the areas curently being used, moreso than the other areas that have been set up to reflect various ABC popular shows such as JTV.

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(L to R: Nick Abrahams, Chris Collins and Abigail Thomas)

A highlight of the night was Nick Abrahams. An exploration into the legal ramifications of ownership, activity, authority and jurisdiction, his entertaining look at SL and the law was indicative of how virtual world technology is both a pioneering area in technology, opportunity and behaviour. He covered the recent sex and child protection issues as well as gambling and money laundering and it seems fairly apparent that the concept of SL as a game is well and truly over. With the impending regulation from world-wide authorities to curtail illegal activities, the problems of jurisdiction and legal liability is one that this technology has now pushed to the fore of policy discussions for governments.

Nick Abrahams was positive in his view of the direction that this would take and indicated to the audience that perhaps the nature of SL and its technological development in concert with regulatory authorities, would mean that those wanting to take part in illegal activities may find this difficult due to the nature of the community that SL is inspiring and the globalisation of communication.

Tuesday’s event was moderated by SLOz’ very own Lowell Cremorne. AIMIA’s first venture into conducting this kind of information gathering over a series of presentations and panel discussions was a positive for both SL and the many people that attended. Whilst there may have been some present not too sure what it actually is all about, there is a definite interest in wanting to be part of SL.

Smart Internet and business in SL

Smart Internet, a joint venture between a range of universities, State Governments and industry, has released a report called ‘Business in Second Life: An Introduction’. Authored by Swinburne University-based Senior Researcher Mandy Salomon, it provides a comprehensive overview of the current state of play in SL for Australian business.

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Mainstream media and Lowell’s public appearance

Crikey.com.au have covered Second Life twice this week, firstly in relation to crime, then a discussion on lawlessness and research and development issues.

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Similar issues are likely to be discussed at the Australian Interactive Media Industry Association forum on Tuesday 22nd May. Titled The Future of Virtual Worlds, it features Chris Collins (Logan Linden) from Linden Lab, Abigail Thomas (Abi Goldflake) from the ABC and yours truly as the moderator. Registration required on the AIMIA site.

Kathy’s Kaffeeklatsch

Australian teachers may be familiar with Kathy Schrock.

This USA educator has had an internet presence for just over a decade now and her website “Kathy Schrock’s Guide for Educators” is a popular resource which has certainly developed and changed since the early days.

Of course it stands to reason that Kathy is now exploring the options that SL has to offer educators and with that in mind she has established Kathy’s Kaffeeklatsch.

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Downstairs there is a great coffee lounge adjoining a poster display of resources. The posters are, mainly, Web 1.0 links to various resources and events such as NECC 2007.

Upstairs Kathy has a more formally configured SL classroom in which to conduct Web 2.0 professional development and group gatherings.

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The “To Put your Hand Up – press the fly up (PAGE UP) key. To Put your Hand Down – press the fly down (PAGE DOWN) key” when sitting in the classroom area is a reminder that in some ways school never changes, regardless of technology!

The Fake Doctor’s Association

“Ever wanted to impress someone by telling them you’re a doctor? Or have you ever wanted to be a doctor but lacked the time, money, and sheer will to go to school for it? Well not to worry! By joining The Fake Doctor’s Association, you get the title without all the fuss! Now you can finally tell people that you are in fact a person of medicine!”

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That’s the description you’ll find for the Fake Doctor’s Association, which I was offered membership of late last year after a conversation with an FDA member. This week I received a Group Notice from FDA’s founder (pictured):

“Hello Doctors,

I have an assignment for all members of the Fake Doctor’s Association. This week, I want you to commit malpractice at least once and tell me about it.

To help you, here is an axe.

Regards,
Janette Deakins
Founder, The Fake Doctor’s Association”

So if you see someone wielding an axe, they’re likely to be fake health professionals, so no need to be concerned.

SL Best Practices in Education Conference

With recent media attention on performance pay for Australian teachers, it is fitting that SL has an event coming up on May 25th where “the educators in SL are gathering for the first 24-hour best practices conference in Second Life.”

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The event is billed as having “REAL colleges and universities, and this is a REAL conference including keynotes, breakout sessions, and vendors.”

A 24-hour conference for education community members is indeed a first. This is but one example that highlights cutting edge approaches many educators, and a small number of Australian universities, are taking to integrate the technology of SL into teaching and learning.

A unique approach to this conference will be the use of multiple venues to cater for prim counts and avatar attendees. However the main venue is Hyperstring’s “Huge Conference Center” with a number of other venues used for breakout/overflow areas, poster sessions and vendors. Expect to teleport to various places as the conference progresses.

In-world you can contact Desideria Stockton for more information on this first for education or visit the Second Life International Best Practices in Education Conference website.

LukeConnell Vandeverre – postscript

The response to our interview with Hope Capital’s LukeConnell Vandeverre has been significant and on the whole very critical. A few days ago I sent LukeConnell an IM offering a follow-up interview as an opportunity to address the serious allegations being made about the WSE and the World Trade Centre deal.

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Today I managed to catch-up with LukeConnell via IM to again offer the forum for a reply to allegations. I stated that a key theme throughout the response to the story was the concern around his qualification to run Hope Capital and the allegations of fraud.

His response was (published with permission):

“Forums are almost always the main hang out for rumours, slander, false and misleading information”

He then requested that a further statement be added to this article:

“There have been a small group of individuals making serious false allegations about the World Stock Exchange and are working to create rumours in order to create downward pressure on all shares in market. The malice (sic) intent of such claims is very clear. It is to be expected that such actions would be taken by certain members due to either: an IPO not Approved, intention to start a competing exchange, losses due to poor investment decisions or jealousy”

The story of financial security in SL is obviously not over and it’s an issue we’ll continue to follow closely.

Corporate backlash, Australian style?

Hamlet James Au from New World Notes is interviewed by Henry Jenkins and one key point raised was Au’s assertion that:

“For the most part, there is no tension, because the native participatory culture hardly knows the corporations are even there, or care all that much that they are. Residents have scant or limited interest in their ‘colonization’ “.

In an Australian context this claim doesn’t ring true for me – the small active Australian population means that we well and truly notice the corporate presence. I’d even go as far to say that primariliy due to Telstra’s presence, a significant proportion of Australians actually owe their existence in SL to effective corporate promotion. This makes the dynamic very different and is likely enhancing the level of feeling either way in regard to the increasing presence of business. Although there’s not being any significant backlash against Australian corporations to date, you can be sure that most Aussie residents of SL know of the corporations who are there.

Au is dead right that business in SL is only one facet and that creative individuals are the lifeblood of any virtual world experience. For better or worse though, the two aspects are intertwined in a sigificant way now.

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