The online arm of the San Francisco Jose based "The Tech" museum has been announced as the winner of this year's second annual humanitarian Linden Prize. The Tech Virtual museum will collect the US$10,000 prize for projects that "[elevate] the human condition through using Second Life," and "improve the way people work, learn, and communicate in their daily lives outside of the virtual world."

The Tech Virtual (which has been open now since 2008) acts as a center for the creation of reusable (and frequently interactive) science and innovation based concepts and exhibits, and offers US$ design prizes for exhibits which demonstrate fundamental principles in a variety of areas. Even the museum design itself is a collaborative effort, and the museum is providing prototypes for the construction of physical museum spaces.

Continue reading 2010 Linden Prize winner: The Tech Virtual

2010 Linden Prize winner: The Tech Virtual originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 03 Jun 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

In just a few more days, the winner of the second annual Linden Prize is going to be revealed, and the ten finalists have been announced. The stated criteria for the Linden prize are projects that "[elevate] the human condition through using Second Life," and "that improve the way people work, learn, and communicate in their daily lives outside of the virtual world."

Therefore, I feel it only natural that I was rather astonished to see sionChicken/sionCorn in among the finalists, since it apparently does neither of these things.

Continue reading The Virtual Whirl: Linden Lab short-lists viral poultry for humanitarian prize

The Virtual Whirl: Linden Lab short-lists viral poultry for humanitarian prize originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 29 May 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

A change is as good as a holiday, they say. Seriously, I don't actually know anyone who says this other than myself; though I'm assured that there are some folks out there who do.

With that tragically underutilized platitude in mind, then, last week I posed a question to a spread of well-known virtual environment users (at least to those that I felt would actually respond) and collected the responses.

The question put to the respondents was "What's the single thing that the operators/developers could do to make you feel more satisfied with their virtual environment offering; what thing would help an operator keep you as a customer, or that would make some other operator more appealing than the one or ones you already have?"

Continue reading The Virtual Whirl: Vox virtualis

The Virtual Whirl: Vox virtualis originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 08 May 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Linden Lab has announced that applications have opened for the 2010 Linden Prize, and submissions will be taken until 15 January 2010. The Linden Prize is awarded for Second Life projects that improve the way people work, learn and communicate in their daily lives outside of the virtual world. This annual award is intended to align with Linden Lab's company mission, which is to connect all people to an online world that advances the human condition.

There are a couple of changes this year, one being that the $10,000USD prize will be definitely be paid in US Dollars, not in Linden Dollars, "with the aim of giving the winner some more options in the rough real world economy" according to a spokesperson for Linden Lab.

Continue reading Second annual Linden Prize announced

Second annual Linden Prize announced originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 25 Nov 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Quite unexpectedly, there's not just one winner of the inaugural Linden Prize, there's two. Last week, we covered the finalists (and a pretty worthy bunch at that). Today, the Lab is handing out a pair of Linden Prizes. Each of the winners receives Linden Dollars to the value of US$10,000.

The Linden Prize itself is open to Second Life users and organizations who have an innovative in-world project that improves the way people work, learn and communicate in their daily lives outside of the virtual world and who are willing to participate in Linden Lab marketing efforts.

And the winners are...

Continue reading Linden Lab awards a pair of Linden Prizes

Linden Lab awards a pair of Linden Prizes originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 30 Apr 2009 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Linden Lab has announced the ten finalists (out of over 230 entrants) for the inaugural Linden Prize (Linden Dollars to the value of US$10,000). The Linden Prize itself is open to Second Life users who have an innovative in-world project that improves the way people work, learn and communicate in their daily lives outside of the virtual world and who are willing to participate in Linden Lab marketing efforts.

While no information is available on the judges or the exact criteria, the ten finalists were announced yesterday, and the winner will be announced on Thursday 30 April.

Continue reading Second Life Linden Prize finalists announced

Second Life Linden Prize finalists announced originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 23 Apr 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The application period for Linden Lab's inaugural Linden Prize (US$10,000 paid in Linden Dollars) is coming to a close. The deadline for applications is Thursday, 15 January.

The Linden Prize itself is open to Second Life users who have an innovative in-world project that improves the way people work, learn and communicate in their daily lives outside of the virtual world and who are willing to participate in Linden Lab marketing efforts.

Linden Lab has arranged Second Life volunteers to assist with translating applications and supporting documentation into English.

Additional details about the prize can be found on the Linden Lab corporate Web-site. Linden Lab has not responded to our inquiries about the Linden Prize regarding the adjudication process for the prize.

	Are you a part of the most widely-known collaborative virtual environment or keeping a close eye on it? Massively's Second Life coverage keeps you in the loop.

Linden Prize applications to close soon originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 08 Jan 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

You could be forgiven for having forgotten about the Linden Prize already, given that it's been four months since it was announced by Mitch Kapor. Nevertheless, we weren't entirely surprised to see Linden Lab reannounce it, this time with some actual details, terms and conditions.

The fundamentals of the prize seem to remain unchanged. It is US$10,000 worth of Linden Dollars for (as Kapor put it) 'superlative achievement exemplifying the mission "elevating the human condition" through using Second Life.'

The terms and conditions now make eligibility somewhat more precise.

Continue reading Linden Prize reannounced

Linden Prize reannounced originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 11 Nov 2008 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Mitch Kapor's announcement of the Linden Prize at Second Life's fifth anniversary was rather surprising. Out of roughly 27 and a half minutes of presentation, the "very important announcement" got all of two and a half minutes of talk-time before Linden Lab's staff ran to the fire exits.

There wasn't actually any fire, of course, but it was certainly astonishing just how fast they wound up and departed the event, especially in contrast to Rosedale and Kingdon's speeches on 23 June. It bordered on the unseemly.

Continue reading Thoughts on the Linden Prize

Thoughts on the Linden Prize originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 16 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Overshadowing the Linden Prize announcement -- and frankly, that wasn't hard, as the Linden Prize got a whole two and a half minutes of airtime before Kapor and the Lab staff bolted for the fire-exits -- Linden Lab snuck in one last announcement at a minute after midnight.

The Lab have finally publicly acknowledged the historic intergrid teleportation that took place one month ago, though that isn't the interesting part (other than causing us to wonder why it took them a month to get around to it). No, the interesting part is the announcement of the Open Grid Public Beta.

Continue reading Open Grid public beta

Open Grid public beta originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 08 Jul 2008 03:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Several minutes ago, Mitch Kapor gave his closing keynote for Second Life's fifth anniversary event (never mind that technically it wasn't a keynote, by definition). The topic was announced to be Second Life as a disruptive technology platform.

Since the announcement of this speech, we've been asked frequently what disruptive technology actually means. After all, it is a term not in very wide circulation, and most disruptive technologies have failed to succeed. The ones that you may be familiar with are the success stories -- the very few that actually survived.

So, we'll quickly explain the term, and then go back to Kapor.

Continue reading Mitch Kapor's SL5 keynote and the Linden Prize

Mitch Kapor's SL5 keynote and the Linden Prize originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 07 Jul 2008 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.