Just a short post to say how amazed and excited I am that the Entertainment Industry has woken up to the power of virtual worlds. The picture below made sense to me because in so many ways it feels like the early forays of Hollywood into Second Life and similar environment will feel like translating burlesque stage acts onto the silver screen in the early 20th century.

Edmunds (via edmunds.com) is reporting some interesting news about Scion.

From the article: “The Scion xD, a compact sedan, is slated to replace the outgoing xA and is expected to hit showrooms in spring 2007. In an unusual part of the Scion reveal, the automaker will also stage a simultaneous press conference in Scion City, in the virtual world “Second Life,” to introduce the computer-simulated versions of the ‘08 models. The Scion unveilings will take place February 8. “

There is lots of news today about two of our clients working together, Sun and Intel, for Sun x86 server sales. This is yet another data point indicating that Intel has retaken the lead in CPU architecture with its Core 2 Duo and new Xeon line of processors. I’ve been a fan of Sun hardware going back to my first summer-job at Xerox where I worked exclusively on Sun hardware. Now I just need to get my hands on some of the new gear!

Just a quick post to say hi. After what must have truly been one of the most painful flights to Europe ever (San Francisco to Amsterdam to Rome to Nice — thanks KLM!), I’ve spent the past couple of days attending the MIDEM conference in Cannes.

Very interesting to get an inside view to the concerns of the Music Industry, most of which are obviously around DRM and the mobile market. Our virtual world panel seemed to amuse most folks and come as a welcome respite to the long discussions about “Labels vs. Indies”. My avatar breakdancing got a nice response.

Two favorite moments/quotes:

(to Chris Anderson, Wired Editor and Long Tail author in the green room) “Hi Chris — just wanted to say hi in person — we’ve only met as avatars”.

“This year’s Myspace page is next year’s avatar”

Now it’s off to the airport for the (hopefully shorter) flight home. Au revoir!

It’s now been over 2 months since I last posted here. What is sad about the lack of posting is that it wasn’t for lack of content. So without further adieu..

First off, I have to mention one of our clients, Fox Atomic, who we are creating an amazing series of backdrops for over on the Fox Atomic region. The region has been mentioned here before on the blog, but I think it’s worth mentioning again. For all you machinimists out there, if your looking for some cool backdrops to use in your narratives, here they are! Including the Hills Have Eyes (desert, cliffs and mine backdrop), Combacks (your college football field), 28 Weeks Later (Infested London), and of course or launch set Touristas (tropical island). Come, film and let us know about it!

On a completely different topic, my mission for the last 3 months has been to synchronize my Google calendar with my Blackberry 8700. Up until today I have had no success, but alas, Companion Link has finally come through with a solution via the Outlook <-> Blackberry Desktop software and some automatic scheduling, I’m finally in email, calendar, contact heaven on the 8700. About time (slight pun intended)!

We are just minutes away from the in-world premier of Four Eyed Monsters ~ a videoblog & independent movie being distributed by Sundance!
posted by Ted Millionsofus on Millions of Us using a blogHUD : [blogHUD permalink]

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Sears has found their way into Second Life with the help of IBM. They’ve opened their doors here on the first day of CES. I am feeling cozy in the garage setup here. My friend Lyle would feel right at home!
posted by Ted Millionsofus on IBM 10 using a blogHUD : [blogHUD permalink]

Tonight I had a very Second Life sort of evening.¬† Sibley Verbeck, CEO of the Electric Sheep Company, and I met up for dinner in Sausalito at the appropriately named and eminently delicious, Avatar’s.¬† There, over”Marindian” food, we spent a couple of the most enjoyable hours I can remember recently, catching up, comparing notes, swapping war stories and speculating about what the next year might bring.

The reason I mention this is that the truth is that our companies are fierce competitors.¬† As I drove home, a phrase was rattling around in my head, “May You Have Great Competitors”.¬† What this means, I think, is that your “competitors” should not be adversarial, but aspirational.¬† They should push you, spur you to greatness and inspire you.¬† And ideally, they should also but trusted resources and close friends.

Sibley and the Sheep fit that description and my worlds, both real and virtual, are richer and more enjoyable because of them.

Nancy Pelosi makes history today becoming the first female Speaker of the House. She will make her debut here within Second Life as well!
posted by Ted Millionsofus on Capitol Hill 1 using a blogHUD : [blogHUD permalink]

Jan 5th Correction: Unfortunately, I was in a meeting so was AFK during the event. Nancy did not appear here yesterday, Representative George Miller did. Pelosi endorsed opening the congressional session this way. More about it here, here, here and here.