In today’s strained economic situation, the ability to measure the success of any new project or campaign has become mandatory, as CEO’s are now taking harder looks toward ROI. By collecting and analyzing key data, it is now possible to optimize user experiences, thereby improving overall performance. Companies expanding into Virtual Worlds need to consider overall goals and determine correspondingly specific Key Performance Indicators. Once a set of measurable success metrics has been established, Virtual World Analytics platforms and tools can be evaluated and the process of Virtual World Optimization can begin.

In this article, I outline the top providers of Virtual World Analytics solutions. Whether you own a simple Second Life shop or are creating your own corporate Virtual World platform, one of the providers below can help you track and reach your goals.

The Meta-Mole.com is a comprehensive database of Virtual World environments designed for public, corporate and government use.

Meta-Mole.com provides users with a total solution that includes:

* comprehensive search facility
* generalised and detailed technical information for a wide array of platforms
* images and streaming video media
* dynamic matrices for comparative analysis of environment functionality

Odd how trends come and go. When I was at the New Media Consortium meeting this past summer the teachers seemed a little shy around Second Life - almost as if many of them had been burned by it, or were uncertain of it - that the shine had gone off a little. But increasingly, the signs are that the uptake by education of virtual worlds continues. Shifts to openSim and secure servers might soon be matched by comparable offerings by Linden Lab, giving the IT/security folks some relief (and letting them get some hands on the tech - always critical to keeping them on side).

In an almost surreal scene, unprecedented numbers of euphoric people are mobbing America's capital city to celebrate a new hope for a beleaguered nation. It is a celebration so huge that the bounds of reality cannot hold it in. For the very first time, the inauguration of a new president will be trumpeted in this world and another; in life and in Second Life.

There are those who would dismiss Second Life's Inaugural Ball as a mere novelty, but it is more akin to the novelty of a first black president: It may be hailed for the moment as something sparkly and new, and, in truth, the initial moment may be little more than fanfare, but still the event marks an undeniable change in the future evermore. The effects cannot be predicted, much less measured. From this day forward, it is doubtful any serious political candidate will fail to represent in virtual worlds, particularly in Second Life.

The Open Source Metaverse where you can create your own simulator and connect it to our public grid. To get started, create an account and read the instructions on the menu to the left.

With Google Lively out of the picture, and an uncertain future for “new” virtual worlds to be launched in a world gone insane with the perceived financial crisis, it’s natural to ask over and over again, if there is an alternative to the Second Life® virtual world platform, what it will be.

Since early 2008 I have been very skeptic about “alternatives” to Second Life. In my mind, and specially after talking to several gurus and enlightened residents like Pavig Lok, any “competitor” to Second Life will require those mandatory features to succeed:

For me, the six month mark is the magic mark. And there’s a strange parallel here, because M Linden rezzed as Chief Executive around mid-May, and my rez date was May 20th. Six months later, I started this blog.

I started it because something happened around six months. After the initial energetic embrace of the place, I started to understand that maybe it was even more important than I’d first perceived. Maybe you had a similar six month aha! moment - it seems common enough, you made it past mastery of the basics, you found a home, a community, and then you started glancing around and realizing there was oh so much more. Maybe you started a little shop. Or got married. Or you started teaching classes, or playing music in the clubs. But somehow you had turned the corner, and were surely no longer a noob, you actually thought of yourself as a Resident.

USC Network Culture Project Podcast Virtual events from the USC Network Culture Project at the Annenberg School for Communication in Los Angeles, California, these podcasts are live events streamed worldwide through Second Life and other virtual worlds.

Open Grid Public Beta opened today (see Second Life blog) marking the beginning of a new era of interoperable virtual worlds and a new architecture for Second Life TM. The magic of “running code and consensus” is here and, at least between OpenSim and Second Life TM, avatars are jumping back and forth.