New Job Opportunities in a Virtual World?

I read an article today about world-reknown Economist, Michael Boskin, becoming the chief economist for Gaia Online - a teen oriented virtual world much like SecondLife. Boskin is a Hoover senior fellow and a professor at Stanford. How virtual worlds gain the interest of real-world financial geniuses? Because although the worlds are fake, the money is very real. SecondLife regularly sees $1 million in user-to-user transactions a day. That's a lot of dough for a fictional world. But with Michael Boskin taking this new post, I wonder what other opportunites will be available in the future. Will future gradutes of Grady College go to work for virtual bosses in a virtual stock market? Will there be ad campaigns and news gathering people in the many different virtual worlds? I guess the term "working from home" is taking on a whole new meaning. Now, you can work from your home and still go to the office (albeit a virtual one), sit down at your virtual desk, and do your virtual tasks; all while earning real money! Although I doubt anyone will be offering me a job like that at this week's career fair, I still can't help but wonder how long it will be before those types of jobs pop up.

http://www.news.com/Big-shot+economist+to+advise+teen+virtual+world+Gaia+Online/2100-1032_3-6208242.html?tag=nefd.lede

Wii = Love

The Wii is awesome. Have I mentioned that before? Before it came out last December, I (like many other gaming nerds) researched and eagerly awaited its arrival. But why? The Wii's innovative gameplay is different from traditional consoles, but it is less graphically stunning than both the XBox 360 and the PS3. What makes the Wii so great? Well, in my opinion, it isn't the games at all. In fact, there hasn't been one game that has come out so far thatI would call a reason you should own a Wii (except for maybe Metroid Prime 3, but I haven't played it yet). No, the real reason everyone should own a Wii is the Wii Channels. When you boot up the machine, the homepage displays a number of channels for you to choose. Not only can you play games from past consoles such as the NES, SNES, Sega Genesis and Turbo GFX, but you can also surf the net right from your favorite armchair. Yes, that's right. The internet on your tv. I can't tell you how useful and entertaining this is. Many a night I've spent with friend watching YouTube videos that play on my television. The Wii also has a weather channel (so you can know what it's like outside without actually having to leave the living room) and a news channel that gives the latest news from around the country. The Wii isn't just a gaming console. Nintendo has moved into an interactive television market. I think there is something big here. The Wii is outselling both the XBox 360 and PS3 almost 3:1, and has already surpassed the XBox 360 in sales even though it came out almost a year after the XBox 360. The Wii is easy to use and highly innovative. I believe interactive tv isn't just coming in the near future, it's already here. Try a Wii out for yourself. It will change your life.

Entry 1

Anyone who knows me knows that I am a huge 'South Park' fan. I recently bought the Tenth Season on DVD, bringing the grand total to ten seasons I own. But DVDs are old news. I'm here to talk about a recent occurence that I think will be much more prevelant in the years to come. In a contract signed last Friday, the creators of 'South Park,' Matt Stone and Trey Parker, agreed to share advertising revenue with their parent company Viacom. The deal will create an entire new media ad campaign to attract more viewers to the show. This is un-precedented. I think this will be a huge success. Stone and Parker have long been ahead of their time (South Park began as a viral-video Christmas card) and I think they are still at it. If you're a fan like me, you've been waiting for your favorite shows to give more content via new media techniques. Luckily for me, one of my favorite shows gets to be the first.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/27/business/media/27south.html?_r=1&ref=technology&oref=slogin