This Thursday, the 12th of July, will see the launch of Manpower, Inc.'s new island in SL. To celebrate this new virtual office, Manpower will host a moderated panel discussion on the topic "The World of Virtual Work". From the press release:

"The world of work is changing - it seems as though each new day brings a new and innovative tool for businesses and employees to communicate and interact in the virtual workplace – from telecommuting to outsourcing and, more recently, virtual worlds such as Second Life. But as the novelty of the virtualized workforce wears off and real business starts to get done, big questions call for a response: What does success look like in this emerging "World of Virtual Work?" What are the opportunities, what are the risks? And what are the rules of engagement for employers, employees, entrepreneurs, customers and job seekers?"

Featured on the panel, and moderated by CNet's Daniel Terdiman, will be Manpower's Tammy Johns, IBM's Colin Parris, Quest G's Algis Leveckis, The Magicians' Kimberly Rufer-Bach, and Shiny Things' Fallingwater Cellardoor. This is sure to be a hot event, so arrive early; the actual island won't open until an hour before the event.

(Thanks, Kalley!)

I'll admit that I'm a profile lurker, which is why when I stumbled upon Roberta Beauchamp, I just had to ask her about one of her picks. It was for a store called love.love.love. The clothing looked totally adorable in the picture, so I couldn't help but stop by.

What I found was a mix of cute shirts, pretty dresses, and snazzy shorts. I'm keeping my eye out on Roberta in the future because she is headed for big things in the fashion world! You can find her store on Freude.

Items featured in gallery below:

• Clothing by love.love.love. Dresses featured are cupid micromini, polka dot tube dress, and spool ruffle dress.
• Skins by Gala Phoenix
• Hair by ETD and Karina Popinjay
  
• Shoes by Shiny Things
• Poses by Reel Movement by Luth and ANOmations

It all started with the dress. The Satin Ribbon Cocktail little black dress by Boing Fromage called to me from the forum ad. I couldn't just wear it by itself, though. I needed some serious accessories!

My first thought was shoes. Didn't I see some nice ones at Shiny Things? Ah yes, the Flare Oxfords. Ooh, and freebie nubby socks, too! My legs looked so bare that I paired them with some fishnets from Preen. Then, of course, my arms looked bare. Pushbutton Skolnick's new Sailor Jerry Tats in Fresh took care of that problem.

I knew I had to have the Fierce hair by Gurl 6. The pink dipped black had just the edge that I needed. It's as girly as you can get for a hardcore mohawk. As for the skin, I am such a Tete a Pied addict. I think the fashionistas will really like the new Fevrier four pack that will be out next week, with it's cat eyes and bold colors, shown here in Sky.

Total fashion bliss has been achieved. What do you think?

This is the thirty-first in a series of mini-interviews with the residents of Second Life. For the most part, I'll try to leave the responses unedited, except where editing will grant greater clarity.

Peasan -- or, as I like to call her, 'Pea-san', the Japanese honorific -- always manages to keep me on my toes. She's witty, wise, beautiful, a hell of a dancer, and apparently missing her purse. Not a day goes by that she doesn't remind me of this. Peasan, sweetie, I hope this makes up for it. I don't know where your purse is, but maybe it will see this Snapshot and come running -- or whatever it is that purses do -- home. Oh, and by the way, P: This "How to Get Rich Blogging" book is rubbish. I want my money back.

Your SL name:
Peasan Kuu

How did you first come to SL?:
By mistake. I was trying to get back to RL and took the wrong exit.

How did you choose your name?:
A spur of the moment joke -- "Mind your P's and Q's". I've grown quite attached to it now and all the variations that people think up -- Peas-and-carrots, Pea-soup, Pea-brain, Pea-ness and so on. It's a laugh a minute. (NOTE: I REALLY wanted to say "Because 'Phu' was taken", but I didn't want to bring your august journal into disrepute.)

What's your favorite thing about SL?:
The opportunity to chat with wonderful people all around the world and the shoes. Well, mainly the shoes now I come to think about it. Yes -- the shoes. Forget the people.

What do you like least about SL?:
The name. It's a bit dorky. I think it should have a friendlier name like "Peasan's Place" or something. I also don't like the fact that you have to sleep with journalists just to get your picture in the papers.

Favorite hangout/store?:
Hanging out with the Phreak-radio guys on Phreak Isle and buying shoes at Shiny Things and Lassitude and Ennui. Favoursite SL related website?: http://www.secondlifeinsider.com . Honest.

Name one new feature you'd like to see added to SL:
Animated graphics.

Shout outs:
Akela Talamasca, the brightest star in the blogging firmament.

Tateru Nino is a wonderful person. There, I've said it, it had to be said. She's one of those residents whose ideals and activities inform each other, to the benefit of us all. Involved in Mentoring and Live help, Tateru is as beloved a personage as Torley is, and in much the same way, though their respective traits are polar opposites of each other's. Nevertheless, they are good friends with each other, and I'm happy to have finally had the chance to meet her and ask her a few questions.

You can read her blog here, and there's a wonderful article devoted to her in the New World Notes archive here.

SLI: So: How did you choose your SL name?

Tateru Nino: Well, Tateru is a japanse verb. Plain dictionary form. "To build/to construct". Nino was easily representable in Japanese, and was the last name of the person who dragged me in here :) Nino apparently wasn't all that popular as names go. It took a while for it to leave the rotation.

SLI: And how did you discover SL?

Tateru Nino: I'd been aware of SL for ages. Following the press for some time...even some of the early pieces around the time it went Alpha. It was Nene Nino who finally prodded me into giving it a try. Haven't looked back :)

More of the interview and photos after the break!