3pointD.com

Landowners in the virtual world of There.com got new control over the weather at their plots yesterday, according to the company. As of yesterday, “all members owning zones, neighborhoods or property lots will have new options for customizing the environment and weather for their locations in the virtual world. Owners will see two new pull-down menus — environment and weather. The environment menu provides for different looks for the sky, including new dawn, high noon, romantic sunset and moonlit night. The weather menu provides for rain, snow and thunderstorm settings. Both menus have the ability to restore the default settings for each particular location.” This is pretty cool, if you ask me. I’d love to see the thunderstorm setting going off right next door to someone’s romantic sunset. And if none of the There.com member-developers have crafted a rain-cloud attachment that hovers over your head as you move around, they should get on that as well. If nothing else, this is going to pump up the market for virtual umbrellas.

German bank Wirecard Bank AG has opened »an island« in the virtual world of Second Life, according to a press release [<-- registration required]. The German financial services provider is also planning to set up shop in Entropia Universe, it says, which implies that it may be one of the five winners of the banking licenses that Entropia recently auctioned. (more…)