Was recently reading in the Chronicle of Higher Education (November 20, 2008) that Google is pulling the plug on its virtual world called Lively December 31, 2008. Google unveiled Lively in July 2008. The winner in the virtual world so far seems to be Second Life. I have been invited several times to join friends in Second Life, but, frankly, I don't have time to fool with the virtual world. The real world is enough for me and it includes plenty of virtual business. That's my minor rant. Would be interested in hearing your comments about virtual worlds.
http://www.chronicle.com/
http://www.lively.com/html/shutdown.html