Specifically interested in two areas:
Online environments providing fascinating research:
| Link | Description |
| How games will change the world | BBC news article on the inevitable introduction of games into the workplace (May 08) |
| MMO Arden World | Education-oriented MMO being built by University of Indiana (headed by Edward Castranova) - Arden, the world of Shakespeare |
| Second Life finally gets a competitor | Blog post on GigaOM describing Multiverse - a platform for creating virtual words (Aug 07) |
| Virtual worlds offer more than just escapism | New Scientist article (subscription required) describing how people are living different and similar lives on SecondLife - including choosing to hide or promote disabilities (Aug 07) |
| Are marketers dying on Second Life | Blog post highlighting the similarities (marketing) and differences (behaviour) between Second Life and reality. Original article on Brandweek (Apr 07) |
| Second Life - it's not a game | Article in Fortune describing the future potential of SecondLife as a 3D version of the Internet (Jan 07) |
| Gaming and learning | Can games help build leadership talent? Blog post by John Hagel (Jan 07) |
| Knockoffs roil Second Life | How Second Life hit a speed bump when a replicator hit town. Blog post by Nicholas Carr describing the incident (Nov 2006) |
| Living a virtual life | Article in News Week (Sept 2006) describing how people are living a different life in a virtual world |
| The Ambassador from the Next Economy | Strategy+Business article (Sept 2006) about how Joi Ito is using World of Warcraft to test new management ideas |
| You play World of Warcraft? You're hired! | Wired article (March 2006) describing how becoming a Guild Master in WoW is akin to leadership training in business |
| Virtual World prison revealed | Virtual World 'Second Life' has created a prison for sending temporary offenders to - a corn field. |
| Massively Multiplayer Personal Productivity | Blog post by Steven Frank wondering if games could be used to make you more productive at work |
| My Son and I: Game to Learn | Article in Washington Post (27 Dec 05) describing some of the benefits of computer games |
| Economics of online games | BBC article (30 Dec 05) describing how items from the online game 'World of WarCraft' are being auctioned on eBay | Dream Factory | Article in Wired (13 Sep 05) describing converting virtual models into real products |
| Are virtual assets taxable | Well it had to happen - article on CNET wondering how the IRS plans to tax virtual assets... (17 Jan 06) |
| How a Gold farm works | Blog post (19 Jan 06) demonstrates how traditional business rules are cropping up on virtual worlds (i.e. profits go down when competition goes up) |