• virtual worlds

    Second Skin Coming To DVD In August

    Second Skin, a documentary about virtual worlds and their inhabitants that we've been keeping tabs on since it started casting in 2006, is finally coming to DVD this August. More »
    06/30/09
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    Comment by NewSpecies: I'm sorry. But they sound like their defending MMOs. So because their social lives don't extend past their couches, were... 18 Responses | Other threads

  • islam

    Muxlim Launching Islamic Virtual World

    Muslim social networking site Muxlim.com is planning a Islam-themed virtual world. More »
    10/22/08
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    Comment by TheHeartless: So help them if they put words from the Qu'ran into that game! I've got an entire group of... 7 Responses | Other threads

  • television

    'Ghost Whisperer' Tackles Video Games Tonight, Expect Hilarity

    Tonight's episode of Ghost Whisperer, the Jennifer Love Hewitt vehicle about the personal problems of the undead, delves into dangerous territory: the warped TV version of video games. Episode three of the show's fourth season is titled "Ghost in the Machine," because there's a ghost in a machine. More »
    10/17/08
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    Comment by Erwin: Holy shit, no one has done it well, and this looks to be among the absolute best yet (or worst,... 2 Responses | Other threads

  • history is fun

    IBM and the Palace Museum Launch the 'Virtual Forbidden City'

    In a move that seems designed to provide Chinese historians with even more ways to torture their poor students (I know at least one thing I'm forcing my sections to do next quarter), IBM and the Palace Museum have teamed up to offer a virtual, immersive, and interactive version of the Forbidden Palace of Beijing. In contrast to the more typical 3D 'tours' that abound, the "Forbidden City: Beyond Space & Time" is sort of Second Life meets the Qing dynasty and eunuchs (minus advertising, a virtual economy, and sex). It's running like a snail on my computer, but is certainly a very neat idea — and in the future, we'll perhaps being seeing more creative uses of virtual worlds for 'cultural' purposes? Full release after the jump: More »
    10/11/08
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    Comment by AmosDampyre: WARNING - The download also contained a piggy-back Trogjan called PWS-LDPinch. Just in the process of removing it and... more » | Other threads

  • virtual worlds

    The Business of 'Avatar Rights'

    The rights of 'avatars' — more to the point, the people who control them and their virtual assets — is an interesting and murky part of legal issues, EULAs, and player-company relations. Court cases have been tried over 'illegal' seizing of assets, and with the amount of time (and money) that people pour into their online characters and assets, we can expect to see more and more real-world legal problems related to virtual issues. But are companies on the ball?: More »
    09/21/08
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    Comment by +: NO, they do NOT have ANY value. If you want to get technical, items are just little bits of coding in... 5 Responses | Other threads

  • virtual worlds

    The Promise of User Created Content - the Kodak Effect

    Ian Bogost has an interesting essay up comparing the flowering of user generated content to the Kodak Brownie camera — in comparison to the unwieldy early cameras, the Brownie brought snapshots to the people. Simple and portable, it allowed people to create their own personal snapshots, something that Kodak capitalized on. In much the same way that Brownies allowed non-professionals to photograph personal moments that had a limited audience, so too does user generated content allow people to create digital 'snapshots.' That is, with the introduction of tools that just about anyone can use, people are able to create things that have personal meaning, but probably little meaning to the world at large. But meaning — and quality — aren't the point here: More »
    09/14/08
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    Comment by HomerSapien: No, no, I meant "private" photos. *hint* *hint* It was a joke. A bad one. 1 Responses | Other threads

  • virtual worlds

    Future Trends for Virtual Worlds

    The Virtual Worlds Expo took place last week in Los Angeles, and there's been bits and pieces of news from the event floating around — the wrap ups of roundtables and panels are the most interesting. Over at Free To Play, they have put together five big trends in virtual worlds, ranging from 'the war on geekiness' (oh, ouch) to one I'm most interested in, the movement from virtual world to real world instead of the other way around: More »
    09/13/08
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    Comment by SS Ymer: I had Scorchio once (the dragon one). Ah, the wasted memories... On second thoughts, I think I still do! I... more » | Other threads

  • virtual worlds

    Study Finds Racial Bias Common In Virtual Worlds

    Anyone thinking that virtual worlds are edging towards some kind of utopia, please revise your hopes downwards. More »
    09/11/08
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    Comment by Krooeenya: Wow, gamers are racist, who woulda thunk it? What next, a study telling us most gamers are self absorbed, emotionally arrested,... 10 Responses | Other threads

  • lively

    A Quick Q&A On Google Lively

    A few weeks ago, Bonnie Ruberg wrote about a few gripes with Google Lively's user interface and chat system; Mark Young, the user experience designer for Lively, quickly got back regarding the complaints and the two shared an interesting little Q&A on future plans for making Lively more user friendly. On the topic of what bits of the interface are still being tweaked, Young had this to say: More »
    08/16/08
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    Comment by joeloliol: @Eranmane: the problem with a monopoly is that giving that much control to one group of people will allow them to... more » | Other threads

  • academia

    Virtual Worlds for Fun and Research

    We mentioned Arden, the university-design MMO, a few times; a working paper has just been released that looks at economic behavior in MMOs using the game. The interesting thing here isn't so much the fact that people replicate real-world behaviors online (in this case, they purchased less of an item when it was more expensive), but that it's yet another piece of a growing literature explaining the utility of virtual worlds in actual research: More »
    07/26/08
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    Comment by raptorsrevenge: @HackJenkins: If you consider that this has been worked on for over 2 years while paying for academic building space,... more » | Other threads

  • marketing

    The Utility of Serious Games for Marketing

    More »
    07/13/08
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    Comment by cshakarian: Hi There, Thank's for your interest in our report. The next report is actually on in-game advertising - we use our... more » | Other threads

  • business

    From the Margins to the Mainland: the Future of Virtual Worlds?

    Those concerned with 'virtual worlds' — as opposed to 'games' — spend a lot of time contemplating the role of virtual worlds in a wider market; over at Terra Nova, Bruce Damer looks at the potential future of virtual worlds, which could be a lot bigger than most people imagine. Some potential answers to keep the industry growing? Piggybacking off platforms that are currently growing at a rapid clip, making sure virtual worlds are 'worth' something — perhaps some as of yet undiscovered little platform will be the key: More »
    07/05/08
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    Comment by DaveKap: Maybe I'm biased, but... I'm pretty sure the quick answer here is: Step 1: Find virtual world platform that is open... more » | Other threads

  • ps3

    My Brief Surprise Visit To Sony's PS3 Home Beta

    Sony's virtual world Home service is still not open to the public. And it's beta is closed to only select people, a group that doesn't include the press. But I recently found myself in front of a PlayStation 3 that had the Home Beta running on it and decided to give it a try. More »
    06/24/08
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    Comment by Office Ninja: Home in theory sounds amazing in my opinion. I can see how being the only person in the application would... more » | Other threads

  • habbo hotel

    'Why User Generated Content Matters' (For Some)

    User generated content is something of a hot issue, with even universities like Stanford getting in on the game of how to make it easier and more intuitive for people to make their own stuff for games. At the recent Social Gaming Summit, a couple of industry types got together to talk about user generated content in virtual worlds, and why the model works for their games (such as Habbo Hotel or Puzzle Pirates): More »
  • second life

    Second Life Celebrates Five Years

    Linden Labs is celebrating the five year anniversary of the launch of their virtual world Second Life, and you're all invited, even if most of you won't come! In honor of this milestone, the Lindens will be holding a two-week long Virtual World Fair, complete with parties, roundtable discussions, and exhibits that highlight the genitalia perversion creativity of the world's residents. More »
    06/20/08
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    Comment by everybest: @karmaghost: haha, gotta agree. more » | Other threads

  • research

    Paralyzed Man Walks in Second Life

    And happily, no one was on hand to grief it. A 41-year-old Japanese man who suffers from a progressive muscle disease that has left him almost totally paralyzed, moved his Second Life character about a virtual environment using his brain waves, reports Agence France-Presse. More »
    06/08/08
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    Comment by hollowfreak: this is nice and all but we all know eventually he'll end up here ... [www.ihumpthings.com] more » | Other threads

  • sims

    Sims Franchise To Explore, uh, Virtual Worlds?

    In a somewhat bizarre interview with The Times Online, Nancy Smith (head of the Sims division at EA) said that " in light of the popularity of virtual worlds ... the Sims may soon become a multi-player game." The article fails to mention the failed experiment of The Sims Online, later rebranded to "EA-Land" and scheduled for closure in August. But Smith talks of potential new (and old) modes for online play: More »
  • virtual worlds

    Virtual Worlds Getting Ready To Explode

    Sure, laugh when I tell you that I spent the better part of last night DJing a virtual wedding in Second Life, but the next wedding I DJ could be yours. In a report released today titled ""Market Forecasts for Virtual World Experiences", Strategy Analytics predicts that over the course of the next decade, 22 percent of broadband users around the world will be subscribed to one or more virtual worlds. More »
    06/04/08
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    Comment by DaveKap: Heh. Sorry to say this, but if you still think "virtual world" and "MMORPG" mean the same thing, you'll... more » | Other threads

  • money money money

    Finding Gainful (Virtual) Summer Employment

    My summer will be filled with exactly the same things my school year is (herding students along to enlightenment, reading, and research), minus pesky seminars, but for the younger generation, gainful summer employment is getting harder to come by. One solution? Turning to virtual worlds for employment: More »
    05/18/08
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    Comment by Perky Peanut: I read an article once about making money on Second Life, but then I downloaded it and it was way... more » | Other threads

  • virtual worlds

    90% of Virtual Worlds Will Fail Within 18 Months

    For those that lament the plethora of crappy MMOs and poorly-planned 'virtual worlds' of various stripes — fear not, a new report indicates that 90% are doomed to failure within a year and a half. Gartner, the research and advisory firm that produced the report, notes that the high rate of failure could be due to a number of factors; perhaps most importantly, the low cost of entry means that more experimentation is taking place (and like any experiment, a lot of virtual experiments fail). But it's not all doom and gloom: More »
    05/17/08
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    Comment by The Maginomicon: Now what they need to do to make this "70 per cent of organisations [with] established [private] virtual worlds" work... more » | Other threads

  • law

    Virtual Property Disputes Landing in Real Courts

    Ok, so virtual property disputes aren't exactly new, but there's a little wrap up on some of the current issues over at a Canadian website. Most of the issues discussed revolve around Second Life, but the questions of virtual property and other virtual issues are getting increasing attention: More »
    05/17/08
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    Comment by foog: Here's one for you amateur legalists: I have a character in World of Warcraft that was temporarily banned for a "reference... more » | Other threads

  • second life

    Linden Labs New CEO Slowly Rezzing

    After last month's resignation of Linden Labs founder and CEO Philip Rosedale, Kotaku readers have had only one question on their minds - is there any way I can get Grand Theft Auto IV early? The answer, of course, is no, but the knowledge that the Second Life company shall soon be in good hands will help massage the disappointment out of your collective furrowed brow. Former CEO of digital communications agency Organic Inc., Mark Kingdon is only one alphabetical space away from having an awesome last name. What he does have is an MBA from the Wharton School of Business and a BA in economics from UCLA, and he's just thrilled to be here.
    "To me, the CEO role at Linden Lab combines perfectly my passions for art and design, business and technology. Until Second Life, we experienced the digital world passively in two dimensions. By enabling users to create a rich and immersive virtual world, Second Life is transforming the way we connect, collaborate, learn and transact online.
    Kingdon will assure the role of CEO on the 15th of May, spontaneously appearing in the office with his hair attached to his ass and a boot sticking out of his chest, his clothing still loading. It's an SL thing. More »
    04/22/08
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    Comment by trigger2: I sort of find Second Life interesting. It's interesting to me to see how whacky people are when they are... more » | Other threads

  • virtual worlds

    Disney's Virtual Magic Kingdom Closing, Fans Hysterical

    Once upon a time, Disney had this virtual world called (creatively enough) Virtual Magic Kingdom: More »
    04/20/08
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    Comment by Zazu_Yen: href="#c5296725">captain_dl: VMK better than Toon Town Online? I think you're comparing apples to oranges here. Toon Town is a MMO... more » | Other threads

  • virtual worlds

    NASA Wants Second Life On The Moon

    A sense of community is important to NASA. That's why they opened a NASA mansion for parties and just hanging out, hacking software and making Uranus jokes. But the NASA mansion was only good during the night. NASA's Andrew Hoppin explains how Second Life allowed connections during the day.
    ...we got employees from all around NASA - the 10 geographies around the country - showing up at these Tuesday afternoon meetings. We formed a community of NASA and non-NASA, started coworking in Second Life. Cultural change started to take place at the agency...
    But Hoppin would like to see this cultural change happen far, far outside the agency: More »
    04/04/08
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    Comment by Purple Dave: @BtownDesignGuy: All they need to do is invent the ansible. Oh, wait. Wrong sci-fi property. Um...can I do the countdown?... more » | Other threads

  • education

    Second Life and ESL Instruction

    A while back, we mentioned a journal article on using MMOs to aid second language acquisition. Now Forbes has a piece discussing the same issue, only with Second Life. The author spoke with several teachers about their approaches to using SL to educate: More »
    03/29/08
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    Comment by uranutan: @Kitsunexus: You are why I hate furries. Unlike any other groups with odd fetishes, furries can't handle that their interests... more » | Other threads

  • virtual worlds

    Human and Property Rights in Virtual Worlds

    SXSW hosted what sounds like a very interesting panel on the issue of personal property rights in virtual worlds: this is becoming an ever more important issue, with lawsuits a-flyin' and people getting arrested for virtual property theft. So, how is this issue going to get nailed down? And when? And by whom? The panel consisted of GoPets CEO Erik Bethke, Live Gamer co-founder Andrew Schneider and attorney Greg Boyd, with Charles River Ventures' Susan Wu moderating. More »
    03/15/08
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    Comment by Adam Ruining: To those who claim you're paying for a service, why? I paid $X for my copy of the World... more » | Other threads

  • crime

    Should Virtual Item Loss Be Classed As Real Life Theft?

    A short and sweet and mildly thought provoking piece over at Terra Nova asks the question: "Why not qualify the taking away of virtual objects as theft?" The author speaks in reference to Dutch law specifically, but a few cases have cropped up in recent months (Shanda getting sued after forgetting to return some virtual items; the case that this post was based on, where virtual theft in Habbo Hotel led to a real life arrest) that raise the question of what do you do with virtual items when they're stolen? Slap a pair of real life cuffs on the thief's wrists? Ignore it, since the items never left the virtual space they inhabited? More »
    02/24/08
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    Comment by Johnny.Shitbox: I'm just going to make an MMO where the object is to steal from the other players more » | Other threads

  • crime

    Government After Terrorists in MMORPGs

    And you thought gold farmers were irritating. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence has released a report on data-mining that includes information on a new initiative called the Reynard project. The point of the foxy initiative? More »
    02/23/08
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    Comment by denim: Filmaka has partnered with General Motors Corporation, the worlds largest automobile manufacturer, to run a new contest. Up to... more » | Other threads

  • metaverse u

    Metaverse U Roundup

    Stanford's Metaverse U conference has been going on this past weekend, and Joey Seiler has been blogging from the event, which has a lot of academic theory, predictions about where virtual worlds are headed, as well as how people are trying to implement some of the theoretical aspects into actual practice. One of the most interesting panels looked to be on avatars, some experiments with virtual reality, and preservation of virtual worlds: More »
    02/17/08
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    Comment by CountingConflict: I love that sociologists and others are beginning to take a deeper look into these virtual environments. One of the... more » | Other threads

  • mmo

    Passively Multiplayer Online 'Games'

    Worlds in Motion has a quick write—up of something that may become a new trend: passively multiplayer ... web browsing? From the GameLayer's website comes a description of a Firefox add on that turns web browsing into something else: More »
    02/09/08
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    Comment by djomg: This may actually be good, but it sounds like the product of a grad student roundtable. Not that that's bad,... more » | Other threads

  • game design

    The Case Against Media Convergence In Games

    A few weeks ago, Leigh Alexander made the case for media convergence in the gaming industry — now she's back making the case against. With the talk of user-driven worlds, personalized content, more media cross—overs than you can shake a stick at (because 95% of games-cum-movies or movies-cum-games are oh—so—successful, yes?), there is a downside — and is this what we really want? More »
    02/09/08
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    Comment by dren: @manaknight: It's not just you. Leigh Alexander's writing is poor and her analysis of her topics is inane. In case... more » | Other threads

  • free to play

    10 Reasons Free To Play Growth May Be Slow

    Over at Free To Play, a list of ten potential reasons the free to play model may never take hold in the West like it has in Asia, or at least why it may take a long, long time. It's an interesting roundup of a number of issues facing virtual worlds and some games more broadly (issues with RMT, bad ad campaigns, bad advergaming, etc.) - I'm always interested to see people's attitudes toward the free to play model, which is frequently met with much hostility. One of the most pressing issues is the issue of an onslaught of repetitive MMORPG or virtual space clones: More »
    02/02/08
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    Comment by ashstampede: @highlar: no not like guild wars, you download the game for free and you play it for free. They make... more » | Other threads

  • military

    Air Force Unveils Plans For Air Force 2.0

    Never accuse the USAF of being too far behind the times - they've just unveiled a long term plan to create 'Air Force 2.0,' including social networking (MyBase!), virtual training, and more ways to appeal to those tech savvy kids than you can shake a stick at. The Air Education and Training Command paper details the plan (but no real mention of cost), wrapping up with a look at three of the ways they hope Air Force 2.0 will function: More »
    02/02/08
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    Comment by Estrelo: All MyBase are belong to US(AF) ...What? Someone had to say it! more » | Other threads

  • lawsuit

    Real Money Transaction Lawsuit Gets Interesting - Very Interesting

    Internet Gaming Entertainment (IGE) is a virtual property company that's found itself in some hot water (or its founder has found himself in hot water, at least) - Debonneville v. Pierce was filed last summer in California alleging all sorts of shady business dealings on the part of the founder, Brock Pierce. This wouldn't be interesting if documents relating to the suit hadn't surfaced last week, which give an insider's look at the world of RMT companies (and a lot of drama to boot). There have been countersuits filed, and everything is scheduled to go to trial in May of this year. In the meantime, you can't make the contents of the original complaint up: More »
    02/02/08
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    Comment by Slatz_Grobnik: In any case, rare is the court filing that is this entertaining. Clearly, you don't read enough motions. They get pretty... more » | Other threads

  • conferences

    Stanford Announces Metaverse U Conference

    Stanford has put together a conference that is going to be running the weekend before GDC. Being held on the 16th and 17th of February, the aim is to bring together a pack of interesting and varied speakers to talk about (what a shock!) the 'metaverse' and virtual worlds. The list of speakers is solid and it looks to be an interesting event - registration is now open and you can find out more at the Metaverse U site. Full details after the jump: More »
    01/27/08
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    Comment by Galvatron: Neal Stephenson should be speaking at this conference.. and it shouldn't be held at Stanford.. it should be at The... more » | Other threads

  • academia

    Stanford's New Contribution To Virtual Worlds: Dryad

    Ars Technica has an interesting hands on with a creation tool that the Stanford Virtual Worlds Group released last month. It's called Dryad, and is the first example of what the Stanford team hopes will be an easy way to create (realistic) user-generated content in virtual worlds: More »
    01/05/08
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    Comment by mork1234: i dont think previous commenters understand exactly what this software is -- it's not about making procedural trees. Trees... more » | Other threads

  • virtual worlds

    Characters of the Year: Does 'You' Suck?

    Over in her Aberrant Gamer column, Leigh Alexander has picked her top five game characters of the year - including the 'you' of virtual worlds and user-generated content. She's expanded on her thoughts on why 'you' sucks sometimes over at Sexy Videogameland, and it's an interesting read through. She even expresses doubt that this open world model can sustain itself: More »
    12/15/07
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    Comment by DARK DVNT; DARKDVNT [Xfire/Yahoo/Aim] ;Plz visit my website, k, thx.: On a count of the top characters, I am am not one of them. The "you" does suck. And yes... more » | Other threads

  • virtual worlds

    Virtual Worlds Aiding 'Exodus' From Reality?

    Edward Castronova, an associate professor at Indiana University and the guy behind a Shakespeare-themed MMO, published a new book last month entitled Exodus to the Virtual World: How Online Fun Is Changing Reality. He spoke to BBC News to talk about his new book and the contents within: More »
    12/15/07
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    Comment by Arrngrim: Life sucks and then you die. In the meanwhile, enjoy what you can, find whatever happiness that is available.... more » | Other threads

  • virtual worlds

    Are Virtual Worlds Liberating?

    Terra Nova has a thought provoking little piece up on the liberation (?) of virtual worlds - rather, are they liberating? Or are they just another method for dominant ideologies to be reinforced? Just a new arena for old social superstructures to be played out on a new stage? The notion of 'liberation' in some sort of all-encompassing way makes me skittish in most contexts, but there are some interesting points contained within: More »
    11/25/07
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    Comment by clam: @EdRoivas333: i think you're asking the main question of postmodernism, which i also think is answered by lacan in discussing psychosis... more » | Other threads

  • crime

    Dutch Teen Arrested For Virtual Furniture Thievery

    Normally, sentences that start with "Dutch teen" are cause for excitement—or at the very least, a Fleshbot post—but this one is nothing short of depressing. According the BBC, six teenagers are suspected of stealing some 4,000 euros (about $5800 US) worth of virtual furniture in a phishing scam directed at Habbo Hotel users. One has been arrested, a 17-year old, after police contacted the service's owners. More »
    11/14/07
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    Comment by chillarmadillo: Is it just me, or is FURNI the name of the ikea like company in fight club? more » | Other threads