double POSITIVE Marketing Group, Inc.

It seems like every week I’m stumbling upon another way that universities are using the Internet to support their academic programs.  There was Blackboard, then iTunes U, and now, there’s Second Life.

Universities all over the country are hurrying to buy up space on the popular virtual reality world of Second Life.  Georgia State University is creating an “island” where professors learn about the practical applications of Second Life and how to integrate these applications into their classrooms.  Ithaca College has students conducting market research and testing new products in the virtual space.  University of Texas at Austin is even considering taking its online education classrooms into the Second Life world. 

Second Life is potentially a great opportunity for students to experiment with new theories and ideas, while avoiding the risk of suffering costly or dangerous consequences that can exist in the real world. Second Life can act as a trial run, where students can simulate what would actually happen.

While the jury is still out on Second Life’s ability to truly mimic real life, the concept is fascinating.  If it really does work, Second Life holds great potential for so many businesses and organizations to expand in a completely new direction. Stay tuned!

I was very excited to learn more about the launch of John Ferber’s latest endeavors.

John is a friend, and an investor/board-member in DoublePositive.

John is the co-founder of Advertising.com.  John and his brother sold Ad.com to AOL for a bundle in 2004.

This announcement is John’s first return to “the game.”

Today, John Ferber introduced Vandelay Industries

http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&q=vandelay+industries&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wn

The vision encapsulates several new startups including:

• Cellware (www.cellware.com)
• Miss Internet 2008 (www.missinternetpageant2008.com)
• GuessNow (www.guessnow.com)

John is also very philanthropic.  Another “business” under Vandelay Industries is MicroGiving.  The idea is brilliant and the cause is even better.

Here’s wishing a friend, an advisor, an investor, and a board member the best for all Vandely Industries’ “industries.” :-)

SPF