Learn About Second Life For Developers And Business At The Life 2.0 Summit Late This MonthLearn About Second Life For Developers And Business At The Life 2.0 Summit Late This Month

If you're a developer or businessperson interested in learning more about the opportunities in Second Life, my colleagues at Dr. Dobb's Journal have the conference for you: the Life 2.0 Summit, running April 28 to May 4, both in Second Life and simulcast to the Web.

It's looking like a great conference. Check out the complete calendar. for event times and details, read on for the complete overview.

Things start off Saturday and Sunday with eight hours of tutorials for advanced developers using the Second Life programming language, Linden Scripting Language.

Saturday night you can get a tour of Second Life's most impressive locations, and Sunday at the same time, you can get a tour of SL's most impressive and beautiful objects, demonstrated by their creators.

Monday: Two-hour panel on Second Life as a platform, looking at technology trends, plans to open-source the platform, and other likely changes.

Later, there'll be a keynote by Mitch Kapor, a director at Linden Lab, and investor and advisor to tech companies. Kapor was founder and CEO of Lotus Development, and designed Lotus 1-2-3, the most popular spreadsheet of its day until it was eclipsed by Microsoft Excel. He co-founded the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Tuesday: Two-hour panel on the three-D user interface, followed by a keynote by Linden Lab founder and CEO Philip Rosedale.

Wednesday: No daytime programs because Wednesdays are when Linden Lab usually schedules its "rolling restart," shutting down Second Life a couple of hours for maintenance. In the evening: A costume party with live DJs and entertainment.

Thursday: Panel on business in Second Life, moderated by Yrs Trly, in the form of his avatar Ziggy Figaro.

Friday: Games in Second Life. as tools for market testing and branding.

Evening events: According to the schedule: "A full schedule of evening programs, including informative guided tours, wallet-depleting shopping sprees, and (mostly) safe and (maybe 80%) wholesome late-night entertainment, will be offered on Mon-Tue and Thur-Fri, beginning at 7 PM SLT (PT)."

The conference will also include a career center, and a show floor.

Register here. Because of Second Life capacity issues, attendance in SL will be limited, but people can also attend on the Web site, and be able to chat with people attending in-world. Tickets to in-world attendance are being distributed by random drawings. Register right away -- the earlier you register, the more drawings you can participate in.