The Alphaville Herald

EXCLUSIVE: Philip Linden Reacts to GOM Announcement

In an exclusive interview with the Herald, Second Life honchissimo Philip Linden gave his reaction to this morning’s announcement that GamingOpenMarket.com would halt trading in L$ as of October 2. Far from stifling competition, Philip sees Linden Lab’s move into the currency-trading arena as one that will enable the entrance of even more resident-created services.

Going, Going, GOM: L$ Site to Close Doors

In news that is sure to shake up virtual commerce in Second Life for some time,GamingOpenMarket.com, probably the single most popular site for trading L$ and the benchmark by which most smaller traders do their business, this morning announced it would shut down its L$ trading service, effective 7pm game-time on Sunday, October 2. The [...]

Fashion Show Review: Adriana DaSilva

by Matthias Zander Tonight, I attended a fashion show presented by the SABORLATINO group for a designer I had never heard of, Adriana DaSilva. When Mariposa Martinez, the host, first walked out on the stage (shown above in the Seniorita Gown), I began to immediately think that I would definately have to shop at Adriana’s [...]

Kremlinden Lab to Second Life Superior Court: Change Your Name!

Kremlinden Lab has reportedly asked Judge Churchill and Judge Mason to change the name of the Second Life Superior Court, on the grounds that it might convey the impression that the Court is sanctioned by Linden Lab. Reached at press time by the Herald, Judge Churchill has indicated that he is happy to comply and [...]

Hammie Jumps on the Potboiler Bandwagon

Clickable Culture clues us in to the news that Hammie Linden is going to pull his articles together to craft a book on life in Second Life. Coming on the heels of the announcement of the bockbuster book deal inked by world renowned metaverse journalists Walker Spaight and Urizenus Sklar (and given the leaked portions [...]

Wells Fargo Harnesses FIC Labor for Stagecoach Island

A few days ago Clickable Culture reported the opening of Stagecoach Island, a private island built expressly for Wells Fargo, and not accessible via the mainland. It’s stated goal is to “help young people learn financial responsibility” (translation: the goal is to establish brand loyalty at an early age). Now our friend Daniel Terdiman has [...]

Post Six Grrrl Joyla Vasilopita

I am happy to bring you this week’s Post Six Grrrl, Joyla Vasilopita! Joyla is a long-time Internet gamer who says that SecondLife has held her attention more than any other on-line game or virtual community and she, of course, loves shopping! Many thanks to Heart Wishbringer and Joe Stravinsky for photographing and submitting this [...]

Here Come da Judges: Second Life Superior Court is Now in Session

We were hoping to see experiments like this. Two law school students, Judge Mason and Judge Churchill (Churchill is the Herald alumnus who wrote about the ESRB under the pseudonym “J”), have opened a court in second life. The idea is that residents may take disputes to the court to be settled according to The [...]

Herald Comix

Slash Dotted Yet Again

The leaked pages from the forthcoming Herald potboiler have yielded yet another Slash Dotting and discussion of the leading journalists of the metaverse: me and Walker. Some comments are not so kind: “typical ignorant stuckup journalist”. Another suggests I should log into Second Life where I would learn that everyone is 25 or older. Riiiiiight. [...]