Background notes on SL

From wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Life
"The Second Life Terms of Service ensure that users retain copyright for any content they create"
on average, 38,000 residents were logged in at any particular moment. The maximum concurrency (number of avatars inworld) recorded is 88,200 in the 1st qtr. 2009
During a 2001 meeting with investors, Rosedale noticed that the participants were particularly responsive to the collaborative, creative potential of Second Life. As a result, the initial objective driven, gaming focus of Second Life was shifted to a more user created, community driven experience.[11][12]

concept of "live music" events
- what are the motivations for the performer and for the audience?

Terra Nova: http://terranova.blogs.com/terra_nova/
- blog about virtual worlds (esp. SL & WoW)

Richard Bartle: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Bartle
- Bartle did research on player personality types in massively-multiplayer online games. In Bartle's analysis, players of massively multiplayer online games can be divided into four types: achievers, explorers, socializers and killers.[3] This idea has been adapted into a popular online test generally referred to as the Bartle Test.[4] The test is very popular and scores are often exchanged on MMORPG forums and networking sites.[5]

MUDs (multi-user dungeon): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MUD
- "Life on the Screen" by Sherry Turkle: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_on_the_Screen
  - focuses on how the boundary between humans and machines has evolved to become extremely vague
  - also noticed that people now began to talk to machines freely without much embarrassment
  - argues that misrepresenting oneself in a MUD may have the benefit of being therapeutic