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College Plans Virtual Graduation for Online Students
06/06/09 05:06 PM Alexandra

Many colleges and universities offer online courses. But only one's having an online graduation.

Bryant & Stratton College, a for-profit institution with campuses in four states, plus an online division, plans to host a graduation ceremony June 10 in Second Life, the online virtual world.Fittingly, the commencement address will be delivered by Second Life founder Philip Rosedale.

"The Bryant & Stratton ceremony will be the first time a graduation will be fully hosted on Second Life, including the procession, the commencement speaker and the conferring of degrees to students who are even draped in their digital caps and gowns," says the college's Web site.Jessica Blackmer, a spokeswoman for Bryant & Stratton, said the college started using Second Life about five months ago.

"We use it to hold open houses and student events, and have also designed a virtual campus for students to tour," she explained.No classes are held in Second Life, she added, but there was the possibility that guest lectures might be.

"For example, if a law professor wants to address the paralegal students," said Blackmer, "we may hold that in Second Life."The admissions office came up with the idea as a way for the online students scattered across the country to gather in one place without having to travel to Orchard Park, N.Y., near Buffalo, where the physical ceremony was held May 29.

Online students also had the option of attending bricks-and-mortar class graduations at the school's 15 campuses in New York, Ohio, Virginia and Wisconsin.About 40 of the 133 graduating online students will be attending the virtual ceremony, Blackmer said. Only students, family, faculty and staff are allowed to attend.

A four-year bachelor's degree online from Bryant & Stratton costs roughly $58,000 -- about $10,000 more than a single year of tuition, room and board at Harvard.Asked whether Bryant & Stratton planned to make online graduation a tradition, Blackmer said, "Absolutely."

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150 YEAR OLD BRYANT & STRATTON TO HOLD FIRST-EVER
LIVE SECOND LIFE GRADUATION...
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Second Life publisher sued for confiscation of land
05/19/06 08:34 AM

Wired News reports that a Pennsylvania Lawyer is suing Second Life maker, Linden Labs over their closing his account and confiscating in game lands.

The lawyer, named Marc Bragg used the auction system to buy land far below it's market value by swapping the ID number for land that was not even for sale yet. He thus was able to bid and purchase the land without any competition at 1/3rd market price....
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Linux client for Second Life released
03/10/06 10:51 AM

For those of you into Second Life which is more of a life simulator then an actually MMOG, Linden Labs has released a Linux client. Currently it is in Alpha release, but in a market where Windows is the leader it's nice to see companies starting to reconize that there are computers other then Microsoft ones. Second Life is of course the same place virtual land is going for $550 an acre, players create "real" schools of fish," and virtual goods are big business. ...
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Virtual real estate boom draws real dollars
06/02/04 10:51 PM

NEW YORK (Reuters) -- Rising interest rates have yet to cool white-hot real estate prices. Perhaps that's why the concept of virtual home ownership has captured the imagination of a growing number of online gamers, who are plunking down real cash for their own slice of the digital frontier.

Large swathes of undeveloped online property, some bearing an uncanny resemblance to a palm-studded West Coast beachfront idyll, are selling for up to $550 an acre.

That amount is but a song compared with real world real estate, but these are computerized representations of property -- pretty pictures, if you will -- in an online graphic role-playing game known as "Second Life."

"The idea of land ownership and the ease with which you can own land and do something with it ... is intoxicating," said Philip Rosedale, CEO of "Second Life" creator, San Francisco-based Linden Labs.

"Second Life" is a relatively new entry into the world of Massively Multiplayer Online games, known to enthusiasts as MMOs. Like Sony Corp.'s "EverQuest" and Electronic Arts' "The Sims Online," players create their own civilizations and interact with others living alternative lives online.

Starting a "second life" costs $9.95 a month and requires a download at the game's Web site and a fairly powerful Mac or Windows-based computer. Current players arrange welcoming parties for newbies and often help point them toward plots available for virtual homesteading.

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