Paul G. Wright is IT director for the Missouri Dept. of Elementary and Secondary Education Office of Administration-ITSD. He chairs a committee that is taking on IT recruiting for the state. Along with more traditional methods of recruiting, the department is also constructing a Web site that will centralize state IT job postings and related information. So far so good, a state organization going about its business.

Then, said Wright, he read some stories about companies going to Second Life to conduct job fairs. Second Life (SL) is a 3-D virtual world entirely built and owned by its residents, according to the Web site. It opened in 2003 and now has about 10 million residents who live in a sort of video game, exchange dollars for the local currency to clothe their avatars, buy and sell virtual property, create music and art, etc.

So why did the state of Missouri go to SL? The demographics, said Wright. "I saw a number of people in SL were tech savvy and the age ranges from the mid-20s to early 30s. That was an age range we were interested in for our IT recruiting efforts. Dan [Ross, CIO] was very supportive about us sticking our toe in the water." 

There's not a whole lot of information about this, but from the information that we have, people that want to play as female characters in "King of the World" MMORPG must first prove that they are female in real life, via webcam. Shanda (Nasdaq: SNDA) subsidiary Aurora Technology, the publisher of the game, has frozen 17173 game accounts of male players who chose to play female in-game characters.

Aurora stipulates that only female gamers can play female characters in the game, and it requires gamers who chose female characters to prove their biological sex with a webcam, according to the report. According to reports there will be no ban on women playing male characters.

How does the company plan to "prove" biological sex via webcam? That question remains to be answered, but getting a female friend to spend a few mintues in front of your webcam for the "proof" they need shouldn't be too hard. Would a beautiful male cross-dresser be able to pass the test, or are they looking for more "proof" than that?

Shanda Entertainment is one of China's biggest video game companies.

Via: pacificepoch.com

By Ruth Gledhill, Times Online 

The Bible says that Christians should build their house on rock, not on sand, but has nothing to say about building it in virtual reality. Taking that as a sign they should not be afraid to venture out there, Church leaders in Britain have bought an island in the virtual world of Second Life.

With the slogan “Have a second go at life”, the Churches’ Advertising Network is encouraging young people and others with no experience of Christianity to sign up to Second Life and visit the island.

The island has been built by Andrew Down, a Second Life consultant, as a representation of 1st-century Palestine, with internet portals to virtual churches such as St Pixels, cafés, pubs, worship halls and pools for meditating around. It will feature parties as part of the Christmas religious promotion and after the campaign is over will be handed on to another Christian community to develop as a permanent base for the religion on Second Life.

READ IT ALL AT:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/fait...