Second Life has been described as a "test bed for innovation" for business, government, education, civic, nonprofit, and amateur media makers". The avatar universe is to some the test site for a better world, for others its to make fun of, or parody. It is now turning over around $1 million US every 24 hours and has over 8 million residents. It is a part of our culture for the forseeable future. The Australia Council for the Arts has a residency programme for artists and collaborators. Second Life has been described as a "test bed for innovation" for business, government, education, civic, nonprofit, and amateur media makers". The avatar universe is to some the test site for a better world, for others its to make fun of, or parody. It is now turning over around $1 million US every 24 hours and has over 8 million residents. It is a part of our culture for the forseeable future. The Australia Council for the Arts has a residency programme for artists and collaborators.(Sorry you do have to live there to apply.) Whether Second Life takes your fancy or not it is an interesting proof of concept and good for the Australia Council for its progressive investment in new media. Read one anthropologists view of Second Life here

In August 2007, the NMC is planning a very special, one-of-a-kind event -- a
week-long online symposium on the topic of creativity to be called the
Symposium on Creativity in Second Life. The first in a series of conferences
and events exploring virtual worlds of all kinds, the symposium is intended
to redefine the way we think about online conferences.

As such, the Symposium on Creativity will be held entirely inside the
virtual world of Second Life, and will make full use of the wide range of
affordances offered within this virtual world.
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Info: About Symposium
"Second Life is a disruptive technology on the level of the personal computer or the Internet. "Everything we can imagine and things that we can't imagine from the real world will have their in-world counterparts, and it's a wonderful thing because there are many fewer constraints in Second Life than in real life, and it is, potentially at least, extraordinarily empowering." "You are the pioneers and the founders of this new world, and you have unbelievably great opportunities to put your stamp, to leave a legacy, to create things which will endure and have value. The opportunity to participate in the creation of a new world is really a rare one and so I hope you cherish it." Mitch Kapor

Virtual World, Real Money
It's not all fun and games in the online universe

BusinessWeek's John Byrne talks with writer Rob Hof about Second Life. To research the article, Hof took a journey in cyberspace, where thousands of people have imaginary lives -- and some are even making a good living at it. But that's not all: Big advertisers are beginning to take notice of this virtual lifestyle

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