Note - As always, I am Cisco Systems developer in Second Life. This is NOT a paid advert.

For all of my gamer friends - chance to win $10,000 US and a Cisco Router (worth $35K) - Check out the game at least - It is silly - It is fun - and you can win cash dudes!

Play to Win US $10,000: Cisco Edge Quest Tournament of Aces

Play, challenge a friend, and see if you score high enough to compete in the Cisco Edge Quest Tournament of Aces. Sharpen your gaming skills and start collecting packets!

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I went to the Santa Cruz New Tech Alliance Meetup last night (May 7) with 60+ other geeks and even our Santa Cruz Mayor Ryan Coonerty. Sponsored by Ceboa who paid of the pizza and soda (mucho props!). Overall I rate the night a 4+ on a scale of 5, my only complaint was the lack of Wi-Fi (how hard is it to give access?!?).

I encourage all of my local friends to join the Santa Cruz New Tech Alliance Meet-up Group. The event is free, you get a face-feed and you learn about local tech happenings. True geek happiness! (And you might get a REAL job - That is my better half’s comment)

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Got a message from a friend about an upcoming event for women in the Bay Area

A friend of mine is the co-founder of “Women 2.0″, an organization
that aims to increase the number of young women entrepreneurs by
encouraging women to work with and in the field of technology,
providing resources that will lead to the launch of their company, and
networking women with other female entrepreneurs, experienced
executives, and investors.

If you’re a woman starting a business here in Santa Cruz, or know of
any that might want to check this out. I’ll be there, so if you want
to car pool let me know!

http://www.women2.org/conference/

One of my favorite college thrash bands was Suicidal Tendencies — almost as good as Onion Diet (very few people ever had the privilege of seeing them!)

“All I want was a Pepsi!”

So here today for your enjoyment is Suicidal Tendencies with Institutionalized — How do you know what is my best interest?

Second Life® has released its April demographics and it continues to be heavily used by older people. According to Linden Lab™, 83.79% of the population is 25 years and older, and the older users spend far more time in Second Life than younger users with those 45 and older continuing to be the heaviest users on average.

• 45 and older: 70.17 hours per user per month
• 35-44: 66.06 hours per user per user per month
• 25-34: 55.55 hours per user per user per month
• 18-24: 37.84 hours per user per user per month
• Teen grid: 24.67 hours per user per user per month

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The virtual world is the newest venture into successful marketing, according to a recent study by Pepsi and MTV.

The major push, it seems, is coming from a new case study of Pepsi’s work in vMTV. An online survey of 600 consumers conducted for MTV Networks in January by Harris Interactive and MauroNewMedia looked at 300 viewers of “The Hills” and 300 non-viewers. Fans like the on-air “Hills,” but they love Pepsi’ virtual presence. Users average 28-minutes/interaction with Pepsi’s presence compared to its 30-second televised.

What is very interesting to me is how the brand was perceived in the metaverse.  Over 90% of users said that Pepsi promoted music and artists through the vMTV survey, yet only 30% said the same thing in regards to the traditional televised version. This specialized audience is key to the virtual world’s advertising potential with associate programs such as Pepsi advertising through vMTV.

I strongly believe that community based sponsorship is the key vehicle to successful marketing campaign in metaverse worlds.

Source - Virtual World News - Case Study

We are getting close to finishing the update of Los Arboles in Second Life®. Main building is done, the office complex is complete, the theater has been completely revamped to inlcude some of the art I have been collecting and tonight the Night Owl and CosaNostra Pizza got a complete rework. All I have left is a couple of little odds including inside booths and chairs for CosaNostra Pizza (Store #169) and some other odds and ends and it will be done! Below are some photos of the Theater and Night Owl.

I have implemented new textures and windlight features throughout the build. Comments always welcomed.

Night Owl at Night

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Last week, Pastrami Linden posted a blog about a tool that calculates Avatar Rendering. I will let you read the article on the Second Life® blog to see how it is done, so please forgive me for not giving more detail but basically an avatar with no attachments will equal 1. See picture below. The avatar rendering calculation is a combination of prims, textures and other assorted items (*see note at bottom of posting).

Not bad - your basic avatar counts as 1. You look like a noob, but it makes sense.

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As I do “education” about Second Life®, one of the places I like to show is Abbotts Aerodrome in Abbotts (159, 154, 71). It contains an outstanding build with a great assortment of flight vehicles, skydiving and much more. It was one of the first places that I enjoyed in SLâ„¢.

Place is designed by Cubey Terra who has been in Second Life® since 9/6/2003.

Metanomics Colbert Challenge