Newer Avatar, Old Outfit: CNN iReports Clothes

 

Going through my inventory for the Club Cutlass "Best in C" event, I came across something I picked up almost a decade ago. It was almost ten years ago on Dec 29, 2011 that CNN iReports Island held it's last event, the location shutting down soon after. The place had a welcome package, including a CNN baseball cap and a CNN iReports t-shirt. And it fit well enough on my DSD mouse avie, though there'd have to be slots cut in the cap for the ears. 

For this virtual reporter, it was a bit nostalgic. For others, not so much, feeling the network has seen better days. One felt the initials should have stood for "Crap News Network." Oh well, you can't please everyone.

Bixyl Shuftan

SL Video: "DJ's Second Chance in Second Life" (2010)

(Click here if the video fails to play)

From CNN Money in February 2010, "Brad Reason, a real life DJ, finds that the virtual world offers more abundant and enjoyable work." This several-year old video is a bit dated, and Doubledown Tandino is a bit mistaken when he says there were few other DJs at the time he started out. Also, most of the DJs I run into don't usually make what he does. Still, it does describe how life for someone who enjoys DJing in Second Life can be, "I don't want to ever leave, because I know this is the future"

Project Sansar Login Page, CNN Article

With the public viewing of Linden Lab's "Project Sansar," it's next generation virtual world, later today, A German blogger, Echt Virtuell, posted a link to what looks like it's login page, along with a screenshot of it, at www.projectsansar.com. The page is not a static one, the white outline of various objects morphing and changing with the passage of time against a wilderness backdrop.

Project Sansar has been making real-life news, one article appearing on CNN's website a few days ago on September 15 by Heather Kelley. She describes Second Life as "an aging virtual world" that while still used by "hundreds of thousands of loyal users" and profitable, "but it's not the future. ... Starting fresh gave Linden Lab a chance to rethink how a virtual world is organized and how it makes money." She describes a few things what the Lindens have been building, "They've made a desert scene with crazy big machinery, weird futuristic lounges and a famous landmark. They've even created an exact replica of a conference room in Linden Lab's San Francisco office, down to the objects on the desk." And it seems the release date, once described as "sometime in 2016," has been moved back to "by the end of 2016."

Hat tip: Daniel Voyager, Cristiano

CNN iReport Island’s Last Event

Two days after it's closing was announced, CNN iReport Island held it's last official event. Part freeform discussion and part party, it was the farewell to the inworld location of the real life news media business, attended by both people in Second Life media and regular folks.

Read more in Events.

CNN Closing Down Second Life Location

Second Life Newser was informed by CNN iReporter Any1 Gynoid that CNN Island would be closing down. The news came from two CNN producers known inworld as Nichole and Henry ireport at an iReporter meeting at the place yesterday on Tuesday December 27th.

Janey Bracken, who wrote about the closing for iReport, quoted Nicole as saying, “We set up shop here in 2008 because we wanted to see what it was like to participate in a real-time community, in a virtual world no less. We didn't know what to expect. The prospect was a little scary, to be completely honest.”

“We've realized that there's a whole culture in-world, and we met so many people and acquired amazing threads and dance moves. Our comfort level grew, and we really feel like we've come to know you. It's been a few years now and we're thoroughly appreciative of this community we've had a privilege to be a part of. We are all proud of what we accomplished here and excited about the future. Just wanted you to know that.”

“We wanted to let you know that we'll never forget our meetings, amazing hair and of course the incredible figures on our avatars. (laughter) We wish we looked like this in real life. It's truly been one of my favourite projects at CNN, and I think others will agree.”

Janey, felt the reason for the closing was “the hectic politics of today’s real world leaves CNN people with little time to cover everything, let alone a fun thing like Second Life.“ But the political season in 2008 didn’t seem to affect iReports then ( the SL iReports page though hadn’t updated since 2008, though). There were some whispers in March that the location would be closing, but the rumors turned out to be false.

CNN will still be publishing articles on Second Life, though it’s unclear if Nicole and Henry will still be logging on, “There are still some of the finer points to work out, but CNN will let us know very soon what else is happening. There will be a farewell party on CNN Island on Thursday at 2pm SLT.”

CNN has been one of the last real-life businesses to retain an in-world location in Second Life, most having left the Grid after the media spotlight largely drifted away. In April, IBM closed it's three art exhibition sims.

CNN’s location is at CNN iReport Island at (128, 128, 24)

Source: CNN

Bixyl Shuftan

Occupy CNN iReport Island

With the "Occupy" movement still in real-life news, Any1 Gynoid went to CNN's iReoprt Island as an activist/reporter to talk to some of the people who brought the movement to Second Life. Last Thursday at a meeting, she talked to a CNN producer, in addition to a few activists.

Read more in Events.