OSRAM, a more than 100-year-old "passionate about intelligent light" company, has decided to kick off its second round of Second Life activities, by launching an idea competition, the like of which has yet to be seen, according to a press release made earlier today.

The only thing known so far about it is that the idea has to be connected to the world of light and that the winning idea will not only receive a prize of one million Linden dollars (did I not mention that in the title? It must have slipped my mind, but don't fret, last time I heard the parity was 1/1 with US dollars or somebody really yanked my chain), but it will also be turned into an actual product in the real world. "We believe that Second Life holds a huge international potential for creativity," says Juliane Braun, Head of Corporate Communications, explaining the rationale behind the competition. "We would like to pick up on this and find out how ideas are developed in a virtual world", she added.

If you want to take part in the contest, all you'll have to do is to submit a preliminary sketch of the idea for the qualifying round. The competition starts on the 6th of December and the deadline for the entries is in four weeks' time. The best 250 ideas will go through to the next round and will be then split into five groups of fifty competitors each. The top two will progress and will be awarded 75 thousand Linden dollars, 25 thousand respectively.

Then, the winner will be announced in five months and there will be a party thrown for the occasion. Virtual party, of course.

In other Second Life news, Georgia State University is going to Second Life in order to offer free instruction, showcase the best practices and offer tips on the ways to use Second Life. This is a huge step forward for architecture students, who will get to build a virtual house, instead of just designing it on paper. A huge decrease in cost and an amount of danger others are put in, I think.