I've been enjoying internal builds of the Third World plugin for VE for the past few months. It's really matured and will finally ship this week. If you're familiar with Second Life from Linden Labs you'll be right at home in Third World, a virtual world without limit. One of the major differences is that the space you live and interact in is actually the Virtual Earth, modeled after the real world you're already used to, minimizing the learning curve. You can be productive in Third World in no time, meeting new friends and wandering around aimlessly for hours. You can even go hang out in actual places that you know from the real world. Among the key differentiators in Third World:

• Integrates with existing Social Networks. No need to make new friends. MySpace, Tribe, and Friendster are initially supported. Facebook integration will follow on shortly.
• Dyna-drobe. A dynamic wardrobe. you specify your preferences once, then Third World automatically changes your avatars outfit as you move from place to place. No more stopping at home on your way to dinner after work to change. We used geofencing algorithms to determine when you are near the new destination to trigger the wardrobe change.
• Transact with Flooz. We've partnered with the founders of Flooz to bring back the forgotten Web currency.   You use your real world credit card to put Flooz in your Third World account, and from there you can participate in virtual commerce within the metaverse. And just about everything is bargain priced - you can pretend to sip a 4 dollar latte for only 20 Flooz which cost you only about a buck fifty of real earth currency.  
• Adult-only spaces. Just as in the real world, Third World has bars and clubs that are 21 and over. If a RW business is categorized as a bar in our business listing database, you'll be carded by a virtual thug on the way in.  
• Child Safe spaces. Similarly, there are zones in Third World like schoolyard playgrounds and the big colorful ball pools at Chuck E Cheese where only kids under 12 are permitted.

I'll have more details and screen shots online after the launch this week. Which by the way is actually taking place inside Third World! It's going to be a huge event with Duran Duran and Staind performing live and a keynote from Erik Jorgensen, General Manager of Virtual Earth. I'm sure this is going to sell out quick when tickets go on sale Monday as space is limited, so get your's quick. they're only 50 Flooz.