Striking news gold with Second Life
Updated on 21 September 2007
Newsroom blog: inside the morning meeting...
On a day when the news meeting began minus the prospect list and the programme editor suggested "we can wait for it but I wouldn't hold your breath", it's maybe no surprise that the team is looking beyond some slim terrestrial pickings.
To space via cyberspace.
Our Washington correspondent Sarah Smith has been given rare access to the R&D facilities of Linden Research, the company behind Second Life.
This virtual world, launched just three years ago, boasts millions of users (around 10 million although many are lapsed) and provides a steady stream of revenue for Linden from monthly subscriptions and 'land' sales.
But that's not news. What is are the increasing number of people - including someone said to be the first Second Life millionaire - making serious (real) money.
And it's got the IRS - the US taxman - interested. If there's money being made, some of it should end up in its coffers.
The film is given extra piquancy right now because of news that IBM workers are preparing to a virtual strike over pay. The employees will picket the technology firm's Second Life premises next week.
This is for real, albeit in a virtual setting.
Now to space, specifically to that little bit of it that will be home to Galileo satellites. For the uninitiated, Galileo is a European project to build a satellite navigation system.
If such a thing sounds familiar that's because GPS is already here and running the Tom Tom in your car among other things.
The reason for a European alternative? Supporters say a home-grown civilian system is a must given GPS is a Pentagon-run system. The US could chose to switch it off anytime, certainly in times of crisis.
Galileo's EU detractors say it's merely a vanity project - and are aghast that they are being asked to find another EUR2.4bn to fund it.
Not find exactly, rather agree to redirect that amount from an EU farming budget.
If it isn't redirected to Galileo, the money will be split between member states and returned as a rebate.
A row is brewing...
Use our seven day guide to catch the shows you missed
