Second Life

- 1/2 billion pounds a year in virtual world business
- meant to grow even larger
- you create an account, avatar, etc. great detail in an attempt to show personality
- it works by the creation of an online account in a social networking virtual world
- people give up real jobs for jobs in second life
- they earn real money through the virtual world
- use "Linden Dollars" in the game, but can be exchanged to real money
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linden_Dollars
- growth of 15 to 20% a month
- Big brands going into second life, eg Reebok
- Brands being used same in virtual world as real world, eg fashion
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_life
- World of Warcraft- 8.5m users
- 40-50milion pounds to make these virtual worlds


Anshe Chung
Anshe Chung, real name Ailin Graef, is famous within the virtual world of SecondLife and is widely known in real life business world. Having become the first to become a "virtual millionairre" she featured in a variety of top business magazines such as "Business Week" and "Fortune". However, although she is surrounded by controversy, she does seem to be working for a respectful aim, she claims that she has a goal to support an orphaned boy using virtual wealth. Personally, although I respect her for trying to use the virtual world for good and help others, I do not believe that it is right that you can earn real money on an online computer game when there are other people around the world that have to work incredibly hard to earn anywhere near as much money. Therefore, my opinion is that people like Ailin Graef are effectively cheating everyone else in earning money on a made-up world. Although this is my personal opinion many others believe that it isn't necessarily wrong and just shows the large growth and incredible level that technology has risen to.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anshe_Chung

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Ben
You are missing posts on second life and the Web 2.0 isn't complete. You must complete homework tasks.
CF

Web 2.0

Web 2.0 is an interactive method of bringing people together and gives us, the audience, the ability to interact with different people around the world. It allows creativity through sharing and access to information worldwide. It is also an example of global village as it is an example of how new media has spread round the world. However, controlling the information can be difficult as you cannot control billions of people who place information on the internet that could be dangerous to other people. Problems such as paedofiles, child abuse and indecent exposure, are all over the internet because of Web 2.0. Also, there are some questions on the health and social side of Web 2.0. This is because many believe that it is increasing anti-social behaviour and replacing normal interaction and basic exercise outside of your home. People are beginning to interact through Web 2.0 instead of going out and meeting people face to face.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_2.0 this link is useful because it gives a lot of information on Web 2.0, it gives an understanding of Web 2.0 highlighting problems and how it has grown around the world at a rapid rate.

The Getaway PS2 (18)

For my AS coursework, I am thinking of designing a PS2 game with the same style of genre as The Getaway, as it would appeal to my target audience; teenage boys and young adults. It contains strong violence with very strong graphics and overall quality of sound. It ties in with original gangster, violent based films involving cars, drugs, guns. The game is slightly set out as a Mafia styled game, this is supported by the covers layout and filtering.

The Getaway review including cover, screenshots, etc:
http://www.impulsegamer.com/igversion01/ps2/ps2thegetaway.htm

Jellyfish Online Magazine

The sale of teenage girl magazines is begininning to decrease because the girls could gain the information from new technology, like the internet and mobile phones. In April 2007, National Magazines - publisher of Cosmopolitan and Cosmo Girl! - decided to do something about the decrease on their sales, as a result, they launched a digital weekly magazine for teens called Jellyfish. The readers signed up to be sent the 'eMag' by email. In each issue of Jellyfish, the email featured interactive elements and 'pages' that can be 'turned'. However, Jellyfish proved to be unpopular and few people signed up to have the magazines sent to them through email. As a result, National Magazines closed Cosmo Girl! in June and the Jellyfish experiment was drawn to a close in August.

Jellyfish info:
http://www.magsite.co.uk/store/free-trial-offers/jellyfish-free-online-magazine/prod_2320.html

The Guardian

http://www.guardian.co.uk

The guardian's section on gaming technology can be useful to find out what types of games are popular at the moment and why.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/games

The guardian's section on PlayStation can show new releases and to find out what works well on PlayStations and what doesn't.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/playstation