Monthly Archives: May 2009

Sat, May 30 2009
ReactionGrid founders wait 15 years to do 3D

ReactionGrid founders wait 15 years to do 3D

ReactionGrid, headquartered in Fort Pierce, Florida has been working in virtual worlds for years. The founders – Robin and Kyle Gomboy – produced three-dimensional models of aircraft and chip parts... 

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Fri, May 29 2009
ReactionGrid hosts own virtual world, private grids

ReactionGrid hosts own virtual world, private grids

This week, ReactionGrid has released its $8,950 Banbury virtual world server, for those who want to physically own their own virtual universe. But for customers willing to let their virtual worlds be managed... 

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Thu, May 28 2009
Hypergrid Entrepreneurs Group holds first meeting on OSGrid

Hypergrid Entrepreneurs Group holds first meeting on OSGrid

More than a dozen entrepreneurs got together Thursday night — or Friday morning, depending on their time zone — in OSGrid’s Business Center to discuss entrepreneurship on the emerging... 

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Thu, May 28 2009
ReactionGrid Releases OpenSim Appliance

ReactionGrid Releases OpenSim Appliance

One of the biggest obstacles to enterprise adoption of the OpenSim virtual worlds platform has been the lack of a decent behind-the-firewall solution. There are some hosting companies running OpenSim projects,... 

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Tue, May 26 2009
Will you miss the next Internet boom?

Will you miss the next Internet boom?

I missed the first Internet investment boom. I was covering wars in Central Asia, but that’s no excuse. I could have invented Yahoo! — it started with a guy in his dorm room with a list of... 

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Mon, May 25 2009
Which virtual platform is best for business

Which virtual platform is best for business

So you have decided that your company needs a virtual world platform. (Maybe you read our earlier article, “Do you need a virtual world?“) Here is how to select the rigtht platform. Do you... 

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Sat, May 23 2009
OpenSim Glossary

OpenSim Glossary

Grid A horizontal map composed of one or more regions, similar to the way that a chessboard is made up of individual squares. A grid is normally identified by a URL and a port number, for example, the... 

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Fri, May 22 2009
Real names and real faces for virtual worlds

Real names and real faces for virtual worlds

When business users first log into a virtual world like Second Life or OpenSim they usually have two questions: can they use their real names for their avatars? And can their avatars look like them? The... 

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Fri, May 22 2009
Singapore fund manager to hold virtual annual meeting

Singapore fund manager to hold virtual annual meeting

The company is in Singapore. The owners are in Thailand, Moscow, and Shanghai. What’s the most convenient location for the annual corporate meeting? Hint: it’s got dragons, a spaceport, and... 

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Wed, May 20 2009
Individual grids, merchants determine OpenSim payments

Individual grids, merchants determine OpenSim payments

Unlike Second Life, the open source virtual world platform OpenSim does not have a built-in currency system. To users, this is a significant lack of functionality – but developers see it as a feature. The... 

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Sun, May 17 2009
Hypergrid 101: Why its good for business

Hypergrid 101: Why its good for business

[Update: You can browse all hypergrid-enabled public OpenSim grids with Hyperica, the directory of hypergrid destinations. Directory indexes more than 100 shopping and freebie store locations.... 

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Fri, May 15 2009
Hollywood producer wrestles with OpenSim

Hollywood producer wrestles with OpenSim

Mike Joyce – that’s Michael R. Joyce on imdb.com – is a Hollywood producer. You may have heard of him from such projects as “Battlestar Galactica” and “Jewel of the Nile.” “The kind... 

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Thu, May 14 2009
Web access lacking in some virtual worlds

Web access lacking in some virtual worlds

Virtual worlds can be difficult to access, with most of the popular ones — such as Second Life and games like World of Warcraft — requiring the installation of special software. The new OpenSim-based... 

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Wed, May 13 2009
Do you need a virtual world?

Do you need a virtual world?

Few companies today actually need a virtual world — but yours could be one of them. Here’s how to tell. Are you in the education business? Take for example, Tom Hood, president of the Maryland... 

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Mon, May 11 2009
How to choose a good OpenSim host

How to choose a good OpenSim host

Update: Full, up-to-date list of OpenSim hosting providers is here. Running an OpenSimulator instance is a challenging prospect for many — there are a number of important criteria you should be looking... 

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Sun, May 10 2009
Shanghai’s DeepThink shifts to OpenSim development

Shanghai’s DeepThink shifts to OpenSim development

When it comes to virtual world real estate and design, DeepThink has been a big player, operating one of the largest continents in Second Life. A DeepThink sea-side cottage. But in recent months, the... 

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Sat, May 9 2009
OpenSim reaches 95% compatibility with Second Life

OpenSim reaches 95% compatibility with Second Life

According to OpenSim core developer Charles Krinke, there are 330 key functions in Second Life – and 300 of them have been fully implemented in OpenSim. Of the remaining 30, half have to do with vehicle... 

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Fri, May 8 2009
OpenSim developer: Second Life will survive as a virtual world

OpenSim developer: Second Life will survive as a virtual world

Remember Compuserve? You had a dial-up modem and you could log into this bulletin board and send messages to other members. You had to stay inside Compuserve though – there was no place else to go. Well,... 

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Thu, May 7 2009
OSGrid welcomes foreign regions

OSGrid welcomes foreign regions

Many virtual worlds, including  Second Life, OpenLife Grid, ReactionGrid and many others, keep the entire grid behind a corporate firewall, and restrict access. OSGrid, however, is wide open. Anybody... 

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Tue, May 5 2009
OpenSim evolves from packets to stargates

OpenSim evolves from packets to stargates

Charles Krinke joined the OpenSim core development team a year and eight months ago. In that time, he saw the project go from being a collection of 600 messages – packets – used by Second Life browsers... 

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Mon, May 4 2009
Charles Krinke: Why he codes for free

Charles Krinke: Why he codes for free

The OpenSim project – while backed by big companies like IBM and Intel – is not beholden to them. In fact, it works more like a pick-up game of basketball. People show up at the same court, break into... 

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Sun, May 3 2009
OpenSim built by eavesdropping on Second Life

OpenSim built by eavesdropping on Second Life

Many people think that the OpenSim platform was reversed engineered from Second Life’s browser — but this is not actually true. It was actually built based on eavesdropping. No, not on company... 

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Sun, May 3 2009
OSGrid organizers answer questions

OSGrid organizers answer questions

The folks behind the OSGrid — a non-profit open grid focused on OpenSim development — answer questions about the grid, and about OpenSim, every Saturday at 10 a.m. PST, or 3 p.m. eastern time. The... 

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