To promote a new gorilla habitat, the London Zoo came up with a virtual gorilla. You download it to your desktop, then make sure all its needs are taken care of: food, water, etc. In time, the baby gorilla will grow into a mighty silverback. (I’m waiting for a virtual Jane Goodall to show up and park herself in the corner of my monitor, taking notes on my gorilla.)

Basically, this is a retread of the Tamagotchi phenomenon. It’s a cool toy that hooks kids in, educates them a little, and clutters up mom’s computer.

This is pretty much one of the coolest things I've ever seen online.  The Jane Goodall Insitute has created a geoblog with Google Earth, the Gombe Chimpanzee Blog,  that allows readers/viewers to view Gombe National Park in Tanzania while they read entries by Emily Wroblewski, a field researcher who is studying the Gombe Chimpanzees.   The photo above is a screenshot during my Gombe Flyover Tour.

I can't imagine a more powerful tool for environmental nonprofits and NGOs than to "fly" your supporters and potential supporters over the area of the world you are working in.  It is really an awesome experience.  It has the color, movement and visual richness of Second Life, but it is First Life, it is our Earth.