Brian Kramer from McDonalds dropped me an email with link to a C|Net story about the seriousness with which IBM is taking Second Life and other metaverses. Next month, Big Blue will debut a special group assembled to address virtual worlds. IBM sees such worlds as EBO’s—emerging business opportunities—according to Irving Wladawsky-Berger, vice president of technical strategy and innovation.

Also, on Monday, IBM will open as many as a dozen new islands to join its existing in-world research center.