companies should try to spark user-to-user discussion -- a surprisingly cost-effective option on Second Life.

West's epiphany came about by accident. One day, she was sitting on a Second Life art-gallery couch, talking to people from all over the world, and she had their rapt attention. "At that moment, I could have sold my couchmates on anything," she says. "I realized how powerful one-on-one engagement could be."

hypercreative users who wanted to interact.

It is leveraging like in translation memory, except the productivity factor lies a hundred times higher.

It can be free because the accumulated data - the live translations - are much more valuable than the software.

Google gives the localization industry a tremendous boost, first with its recognition that translation is really the key to growth and second with its appreciation for the tremendous value of good quality translations.