3pointD.com

Download the new beta test client for the virtual world of Second Life and you can now browse the Web from a new “Web” tab in your profile, or load the Web pages that other users have set as their home page when you view their profiles. I even managed to search 3pointD from my profile page, though I was for some reason unable to even load the Gmail front page, and was not given an error message explaining why (though I was able to search Google for Gmail). You can also see new information on the client’s login screen (more about that in a moment).

Typically, the in-world Web functionality is quite clunky at the moment. There’s an “Open…” button which does not open the URL in your profile but launches your default browser app and takes you outside the world. There aren’t any error messages at the moment, as noted. And there’s an unexplained “Home” button that doesn’t take you to your home page, but sets the current page as your home profile page, it seems. Most annoying, the profile isn’t resizable, so dynamic widths on Web pages appear squished into a tiny column that you’re unable to expand. Still, it’s a start, and with any luck LL will set about tarting it up, explaining just what pages and protocols the browser supports, and writing some documentation. (more…)

The Shakespearean virtual world being built by Ted Castronova at Indiana University will run on the Multiverse platform, or so hears gamedev Raph Koster. Koster also links to a CNet story by Daniel Terdiman that sheds more light on MMO, which is to be known as Arden and is being built with the help of a grant from the Macarthur Foundation. Daniel’s interview with Ted goes into some detail about the characteristics of the massively multiplayer online game Ted envisions. Mystical bards, almost no healers, rare Shakespearean soliloquy drops, emergent governance entities — but no magical fireballs or storms. (Where’s our Prospero?) In any case, excellent stuff. It will be interesting to see what kind of research information Ted can wrest from his players (for that’s the plan).

Reuben Steiger’s virtual world services company, Millions of Us, has launched a new listening station in the virtual world of Second Life for Brooklyn-born “underground” hip-hop artist Talib Kweli, located in the company’s Millions of Us sim. Similar in nature to the one Millions built for Regina Spektor back in May, Kweli’s is a big Bed-Stuy brownstone, built out by SL architect Lordfly Digeridoo.

But as SL resident Tao Takashi points out in a BlogHUD post made from within the world, he was unable to find a link at the site to purchase a Kweli CD from Amazon or another Web-based service. Is there a missed opportunity here? It will be interesting to see what the Electric Sheep Company (sponsors of this blog) do for their project for Sony/BMG, which, according to The New York Times, “has rooms devoted to popular musicians like Justin Timberlake and DMX, allowing fans to mingle, listen to tunes or watch videos. Sony BMG is also toying with renting residences in the complex, as well as selling music downloads that people can listen to throughout the simulated world.” (more…)