How fitting, since Second Life, a piece of software which allows users to move "avatars" representing themselves around in a three-dimensional space and decorate themselves and their virtual land, resembles nothing so much as a failed academic experiment.

Linden Lab, the maker of Second Life, has raised $19 million in venture capital from a star-studded list of backers, including Benchmark Capital, the backers of eBay; eBay founder Pierre Omidyar; Mitch Kapor, the founder of Lotus; and Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos. But the last infusion came nearly three years ago. The company charges fees on people and companies who own virtual land in Second Life, and also issues a currency, Linden dollars, used to trade goods in-world. Kapor, the company's chairman, told the Financial Times last year that it was "absolutely in the ballpark of profitability."

Second Life may well be on the verge of profitability. But it is firmly headed into irrelevance. It is impossible to imagine another BusinessWeek cover story like the one it garnered in 2006. Reuters closed its Second Life bureau last year. The former bureau chief, Adam Pasick, told PBS's Mark Glaser that there was no longer a there there:

We were primarily interested in Second Life as a business/commerce/finance phenomenon, covering it like we would any small but fast-growing economy in the real world. The bureau is now closed. Essentially the story we were there to cover has moved on.

His reporter, Eric Krangel, who now writes for Silicon Alley Insider, was more trenchant:

The very things that most appeal to Second Life's hardcore enthusiasts are either boring or creepy for most people: Spending hundreds of hours of effort to make insignificant amounts of money selling virtual clothes, experimenting with changing your gender or species, getting into random conversations with strangers from around the world, or having pseudo-nonymous sex (and let's not kid ourselves, sex is a huge draw into Second Life). As part of walking my 'beat,' I'd get invited by sources to virtual nightclubs, where I'd right-click the dancefloor to send my avatar gyrating as I sat at home at my computer. It was about as fun as watching paint dry.

What's left for Second Life? Community meetings, underattended cultural events, and education. CNN uses its Second Life "island" to hold meetings with volunteer reporters. WGBH threw a virtual concert with a grand total of 70 attendees. And the Modern Language Association, that bastion of English-department wonkery, is pursuing the idea of using it to hold meetings.

Imagine a dry academic conference enlivened with a few space-alien avatars. Deans with mohawks and tight leather pants! Only compared to the life of a university professor might Second Life actually seem exciting. We look forward to the news that Linden Lab has sold itself to an academic consortium. It's where the virtual world belongs.

Spy cofounder Kurt Andersen couldn't believe it had all happened..

Software entrepreneur and technopontificator Mitch Kapor, once a candidate to be Obama's CTO, apologized for suggesting the all-new president looked old.

Boing Boing blogger Xeni Jardin hated capitalism.

Air America radio hostess Ana Marie Cox looked for politically amiable shelter.

And evil genius turned Beltway pundit Karl Rove fled town altogether .

Anyone else's tweets we should keep an eye on? Send us their username.

The whispers I've heard are that the most likely candidate is Mitch Kapor — the founder of Lotus, and the man who suggested the position to Obama in the first place. Technology Review interviewed Kapor about the position. He all but nominated himself for the job — and then backed away artfully:

TR: So who's on your shortlist?

I'm a million miles away from whatever group of people will actually pick the CTO. I would like it to be someone who has some startup DNA in him or her, but who's realistic about getting things done.

TR: One has to ask: do you want to be CTO?

I'm interested in helping in some way, but the time to think about specifics is post-election.

(Photo by David Lauridsen/Technology Review)

Eich credits Mitch Kapor, founder of Lotus. The story goes that around the turn of the century, AOL agreed to spin off the Mozilla Foundation, but only wanted to fund it with a "get lost package," according to the Chronicle.

Eich says that Kapor, himself a victim of the Microsoft hegemony, leaned on a friend, AOL exec Ted Leonsis, to get the Mozilla Foundation a better sendoff. Eventually AOL agreed to set up the foundation with $2 million. It was enough to keep Mozilla alive and thriving.

Now, Mozilla's browser Firefox owns around 16 percent market share and Mozilla is more profitable than its new CEO would like you to think about.

So, our questions: Come on guys, quit blogging about net neutrality or whatever and give the people what they want. Who was on the party plane? Mitch? I'm checking your blog. Tim? That's some Radar I'd like to see. Zuck? I'm checking your status updates. Nothing. Don't let us down. Oh yeah, and Paul Boutin is in the market for a new bed. What size does the Google Jet have — King, California King, or Euro King? Oh, and did any of you cheapskate tech moguls reimburse Larry and Sergey for the cost of the flight?

I've heard that Tim O'Reilly, Mitch Kapor, Reid Hoffman and Mark Zuckerberg will be on that flight. Basically, every Davos attendee from the Bay Area except me managed to hitch a ride back with Google.

• Om Malik's Internet video blog, NewTeeVee, hosts its NewTeeVee Live conference today in Mission Bay, south of the ballpark. Not interested in talking business with videobloggers? Check out the game show tonight at 7 p.m., where contestants including Diggnation drinker Kevin Rose and Wallstrip siren Lindsay Campbell will compete in a Family Feud style contest hosted by comedienne Heather Gold. [NewTeeVee]
• Lotus founder Mitch Kapor gives a talk today at 4 p.m. at UC Berkeley's School of information. [UC Berkeley]
• Nate Bolt, CEO of Bolt Peters, gives at talk at Yahoo Brickhouse about UX research with an emphasis about life instead of just interfaces. I don't know what the hell that means either, but it's a chance to test morale at the Brickhouse. [Upcoming]

Please do us all a favor and write an expose of the dreaded Conference Hags. There they were in your latest entry. Esther Dyson [pictured], Mitch Kapor. I'm sure Stewart Alsop was there as well.

A study of Flickr photos from conferences each week will reveal these knuckleheads as the Zeligs of the Web/Techie/CoolNewHipNow conference scene.

I don't go to that many conferences each year, but these three Conference Hags are ALWAYS there.

Do they have nothing better to do? Worse, they bust in on conversations and comment like they are the only ones that have a correct opinion. Shut up, already. And find something better to do.

But isn't it better to think of these "conference hags" as jetsetting cool-hunters whose presence validates a conference?

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"Looks great, doesn't he?" says Melinda Gates. "I left him alone at Bath and Body Works, and he picked himself a moisturizer."

Damn it, if Walt Mossberg hears one more story about that stinking John Markoff, he's switching to hard liquor.

Jean Louis Gassee: "I worked at Apple for nine years, and honestly, Steve's feet are this huge."

Martha's only smiling because she thinks that's Daler Mehndi.

After the jump, Mr. High Fidelity looks for a cooler conversationalist.

ZDNet king Eric Hippeau to serial entrepreneur Josh Felser: "Oh, my unbuttoned shirt is no accident, Josh. Let's dump this dump and go...share some war stories."

Lotus founder Mitch Kapor tells Answers.com founder Bob Rosenschein: "There's the 98-pound Dictionary.com guy. Let's go throw wine in his face."

Martha Stewart and her boyfriend, the man who built Word and Excel, Charles Simonyi. (They really are dating.)

The crowd was delighted as Walt and Kara performed a scene from A Streetcar Named Desire. "Listen, baby, when we first met - you and me - you thought I was common. Well, how right you was. I was common as dirt."

"Walt. WALT. Put down the Jack Daniel's and let's stop the 'I'll kill that ass Markoff' talk."

AOL exec Jason Calacanis pulls the Kawaii Anime Girl sign we all know and love. Meanwhile, the extinguished body of VC Yossi Vardi slumps in its chair.

"And we'll have a farm...with ethanol-fueled vehicles...and I can pet the rabbits! Tell me about the rabbits, Vinod!"

Dan's schwag. That damn Long Tail gets EVERYWHERE.

John Cusak pulls the over-the-shoulder glance, made easier because Kara Swisher is half his height.

Photos: D Conference [Dan Farber on Flickr]