Wed, 28 Jan 2009 15:24:52 GMT
Second Life Acquires Two Virtual World Shopping Sites
A number of sources (Second life: the Music...., Venture Beat, paidContent) are covering Linden Lab's acquisition of two virtual goods markets that sell items for the residents of its Second Life virtual world. This is the way paidContent put it:Second Life parent company Linden Lab has acquired XStreet SL and OnRez, a pair of virtual goods trading sites. Terms of the deals were not disclosed, but the SF-based company plans to consolidate both sites under the XStreet SL brand.It seems Second Life's creator, Linden Labs, isn't getting as big a cut of Second Life's economic activity as they'd like.
Residents of Second Life spent $360 million in 2008. So how expensive is it to be a Second Lifer? Technically, Second Life is a free game. But people make and spend money. In January 2008, Second Lifers spent about 28.3 million hours in the game. Assuming that's an average month, Second Lifers spend about a dollar an hour while they're there.
© włodi
Posted by: Greg Cruey Read more Source
Wed, 28 Jan 2009 06:02:09 GMT
18th Annual Boston Wine Expo 2008
Just a few days left to get tickets for this weekend's Boston Wine Expo at the Seaport World Trade Center!
Catch TV chefs and culinary experts Lidia Bastianich, Ming Tsai, Martin Yan, Sara Moulton and Christina Pirello, among others participating in the celebrity chef cooking demonstrations at this year's Boston Wine Expo. Other highlights also include the Grand Tasting showcasing over 450 international and domestic wineries from 13 countries pouring over 1,800 different wines; An Exclusive Grand Cru Wine Lounge, featuring the finest wines in the world; and a Seminar Series designed for all levels of wine lovers.
Tickets for may be purchased online or by calling 877-946-3976. A list of area merchants selling tickets can also be found on the website.
Posted by: ruth Read more Source
Mon, 19 Jan 2009 02:44:45 GMT
Thread Spool Works
Thread Spool Works.Here we have some really beautiful work of art which is been created using spools of thread. Artistic!
Installation view from approximately 50 feet.
Detail view from approximately 10 feet. In this one 5,184 spools of thread were been used, 85" h x 86" w.
Installation view: Brooklyn Museum, 2007.
Detail view: Clear acrylic viewing sphere. And in this one 20,736 spools of thread were been used, it measures 85"h x 29"w.
And here is the rest of the interesting work - link.
Posted by: Venus Read more Source
Wed, 07 Jan 2009 03:39:01 GMT
Wicked Winter Weather
That ball's here somewhere
If you live on the west coast of North America, then you're clearly aware that this winter is rapidly turning into a monster.
Under normal winter conditions up and down the coast, from Vancouver, British Columbia to the tip of the Baja peninsula, golfers scoff at winter and why wouldn't they?
Snow never falls. Golfers on Vancouver Island know this only too well. Year after year, they laugh at their fellow Canuck golfers to the east who are inevitably caught in a Deep Freeze and Deep Snow while they walk green fairways at will and play 12 months a year largely without interruption.
But not this year. Oh no, this winter is like that killer wave in Perfect Storm, the one that finally takes down George Clooney and his trawler crew in the movie.
This winter has caught B.C's golfers with their shorts down. A friend, a non-golfer but a fellow with a great deal of empathy for those of us who play, sent me the following description of the scene on Vancouver Island recently.
The chickens have come home to roost.
To wit:
VANCOUVER ISLAND DECLARES CIVIL EMERGENCY
For all you non-Islanders, we have had 70cm of snow in the past week. The
snow is not an issue for most of us, but it fell on the golf courses too
which is a very serious problem.
The following is a blow-by-blow report of the current extreme weather
conditions on Vancouver Island:
6:22 AM Temperature plunges to -8.3 C. Word spreads that a Comox resident
finds ice on the windshield of his Bimmer. Curious neighbors gather to
watch him scrape if off with his Gold Master Card. One motorist, a former
Albertan, claims use of the mysterious "defrost" switch on the dashboard of
the car can aid in the process.
9:30 AM Hardware stores sell both of their snow shovels. Islanders begin
cobbling together implements made from kayak paddles, cricket bats, mashies
and niblicks, umbrellas, cookie sheets, and boogie boards.
10:00 AM Golfers at Qualicum's Memorial Golf Club have broken into the
ladies locker room where the ladies' bridge club store their card tables,
and are now strapping the card tables to the front of their golf carts in
order to clear the fairways and greens. The Pro has sanctioned the use of
orange balls.
Noon Elementary schools call in grief counselors. Grief counselors
refuse to go, citing lack of snow tires.
2:30PM Rush hour begins an hour early as office workers come down with
mysterious illness and bolt for home. Usual traffic snarl is compounded by
large number of SUV four-wheel drive vehicles abandoned by side of road,
still in 2-wheel drive mode. When questioned, one female SUV owner asked,
"What's four wheel drive?"
2:50 PM Airplanes are grounded and ferries docked. No way to travel
between Island and the ROTW (rest of the world). Victoria newspaper
Times-Colonist headline reads, "Mainland cut off from Civilization."
3:00 PM Nanaimo-Parksville Conservative Member of Parliament, James Lunney
phones Prime Minister Harper asking for financial assistance. PM replies,
"Foreign aid budget all allocated for 2008."
3:10PM Same MP phones Peter Mackay, Minister of Defence, asking for
assistance from Canada's DART rapid-response military team. Minister replies
they will be on the ground in Parksville as early as July 2009, or sooner if
they can rent a suitable aircraft from Brazil.
3:30 PM B C Lottery Corp. responds to emergency by installing slot machines
in Nanaimo homeless shelter.
4:15 PM Fears of food shortages lead to alarming scenes of violence and
looting at grocery stores in Victoria, except for Oak Bay, where residents
hire caterers to do rioting for them.
5:40 PM TV weatherman Ed Bain in Victoria, shaking uncontrollably, tells
viewers that snow warnings have been extended. This weather pattern could go
on for days. Mercury plunges to Winnipeg-in-August temperatures. Martial
law is declared and Premier Campbell has called an emergency meeting of his
cabinet on the main deck of HMCS Protecteur where an emergency command
centre will be established as soon as they dock in Honolulu.
6:00PM The sidewalks are rolled up and we retreat to our parlors with our
mulled wine.
Happy New Year to all!
Posted by: Chris Henry Read more Source
Tue, 23 Dec 2008 02:40:51 GMT
Nastia Liukin is a Gold Gossip Girl
Gold medal gymnast Nastia Liukin poses for pictures while promoting the sports performance drink, PureSport in New York City on Monday.
Olympic swimmers Michael Phelps, Brendan Hansen and Aaron Peirsol all promote PureSport.
As reported on JJ, Nastia had a guest spot on Gossip Girl. Earlier in the month, Nastia had an encounter with Chuck Bass (Ed Westwick).
WHAT DID YOU THINK of Nastia"s performance - perfect 10 or flop?
Posted by: Melissa Read more Source
Thu, 18 Dec 2008 14:44:01 GMT
Rosa nutkana
Thank you to arrowlakelass@Flickr from the BPotD Flickr Pool for today"s photograph (original), and thank you to Ruth for today"s write up.
The Nootka rose is widely used horticulturally. It receives its name, by way of some anglicization, from the Nuu-chah-nulth peoples of the Pacific coast of Canada. Peter Gumplinger explains the story behind the name "Nootka" in this essay on Hiking the Nootka Island Trail, August 7-12, 1999:
"Anchored at Resolution Cove on Bligh Island, across from Friendly Cove harbour, the natives called out to Cook"s ship: itchme nutka, itchme nutka, meaning "go around", but Cook thought they were telling him that Nootka was the name of the area."
Wikipedia also has a fairly extensive entry on the Nuu-chah-nulth peoples.
The Nootka rose is a woody subshrub & perennial like the rest of the genus Rosa. It can grow up to 2.1m (7 ft) tall. Commonly found at the edge of coastal marshes, it is tolerant of wet conditions. It can also be encountered in cleared or disturbed areas, thickets and forest edges. The flowers have the characteristic fresh rose scent and are consistently coloured pinky-rose. The stems of the bush are grey and covered in prickles. In temperate regions, they bloom April-July.
Posted by: Daniel Mosquin Read more Source
Thu, 18 Dec 2008 08:52:06 GMT
Discover Your Character Strengths in 15 Minutes
in the Palace of the Vatican.Take the "Values in Action Inventory of Strengths" survey to identify your character strengths.
The classic question psychologists get asked at parties when they reveal their profession is: "Are you analysing me?" A good answer for any psychologist who wants to be invited to more parties is: "Yes, and I find you to be a wonderful human being!"
This helps underline the fact that stereotypically psychologists are obsessed with deficits and disorders. Just look at the title of the clinical psychologists" and psychiatrists" bible, the "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders", also known as "the DSM". Doesn"t sound that warm and cuddly, does it?
To help counter this prevailing tendency towards the negative, psychologists Christopher Peterson and
Martin Seligman wanted to create an anti-DSM, a Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Positive strengths and virtues. Surely it would be useful, they thought, if people could use a questionnaire to identify their strengths as human beings?
Inventory of strengthsWhat they came up with was the "Values in Action Inventory of Strengths" (VIA-IS) which, in a moment, I"ll suggest you take. But first a bit of background so that you can understand what it means.
To create the VIA,
Peterson and Seligman (2005) came up with 6 virtues and 24 strengths. The core virtues are those identified by philosophers, religious thinkers and others as being central to a "good character" - these are the six main headings in the list below. The 24 character strengths, meanwhile, are those characteristics of individuals that contribute towards these virtues. These are listed under the virtue to which they contribute.
Posted by: Jerry Read more Source
