Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian has been confirmed as one of the celebrity hosts at Stage-Z — a full-day concert to be held July 7 in its virtual world, Zwinktopia. Kelly Rowland, Lil Mama, HINDER, Teddy Geiger and Jordan McCoy, along with environmental reporters Amy Sedaris, Tina Fey, and Amy Poehler, and Triumph the Insult Comic Dog will also be participating. Stage-Z will raise awareness of the global warming epidemic and need for climate control reform.

In conjunction with The Alliance For Climate Protection, Stage Z will broadcast in Zwinktopia, a virtual world for the more than seven million Zwinky avatars worldwide. Stage-Z will feature a 24-hour block of music videos, interviews, comedy, short films, and exclusive programming from today’s top hip-hop, rock, pop, electronic, and metal artists as well as celebrity DJ’s, comedians and actors.

The event will coincide with Live Earth, a 24-hour, seven-continent series of nine concerts taking place on July 7 that will bring together more than 100 music artists and two billion people to trigger a global movement to solve the climate crisis.

July 7 really promises to be a big day for environmental awareness. Apart from the highly anticipated (that may be an understatement) Live Earth, another 24-hour concert will be taking place in the virtual world as well, in Zwinktopia, to be specific. Stage Z will feature musical performances, short documentaries, and interviews and will be hosted by celebrities such as Kelly Rowland, Teddy Geiger, Tina Fey, and even Triumph the Insult Comic Dog.

The Zwinktopia blog zwINK explains that Stage Z “is a 24-hour concert event that will take place in Zwinktopia on July 7th, 2007. The event will coincide with Live Earth and was designed to raise awareness of the global warming epidemic and need for climate control reform.”

Seems kind of like an unusual event to me, but anything that can get people to really sit up and pay attention to the big issues is all right by me. Any Zwinky members here? We’d love to hear from you about how the event turns out.

To add your Zwinky to My Space:

1. Log in to your My Space page, and click on the “Edit Profile” link in your account information box.
2. Paste the code into one of the text fields (such as “About Me” or “Interests”) on the page.
3. Click on the “Save All Changes” button on the page.

To add your Zwinky to Xanga:

1. Log in to your Xanga account.
2. Click on the “Look and Feel” link at the top of the page.
3. Paste the code into the text entry field named “Website Stats”.

To add your Zwinky to Hi5:

1. Log in to your Hi5 page, and click on the “Edit My Profile” link beneath your photo box.
2. Click on the “Lifestyle” tab and paste the code into the text entry box beside the “About Me:” text.
3. Click on the “Save Profile” button on the page.

To add your Zwinky to your Blogger or TypePad blog:

1. Log into your Blogger or Type Pad account.
2. Click on the link to create a new post for your blog.
3. Click on the “Edit HTML” tab and paste the code into the text entry field.

To add your Zwinky to your IMVU Homepage:

1. Log into your IMVU account.
2. On your IMVU Homepage, click on the “Edit” button under the “About Me” heading.
3. From the dropdown menu that appears, select the “Edit Custom HTMl/CSS” link.
4. Directions and a text box appear on the page. Paste your Zwinky code into this text box.
5. Then click on the “Save” button.

Don’t have a Zwinky? Click here to learn how or here to skip straight to the toolbar.

We do understand, however, why you may be skeptical and think Zwinky is just too good to be true. Especially considering all the rather unbelievable offers floating around the Internet. So let us put your mind at ease and explain how they make money - without charging you a cent. When you download Zwinky, you get a Zwinky icon installed on your browser. This is how you access the Zwinky interface - by clicking on your browser’s button. As you’ve no doubt already noticed, you also get other great benefits, including a browser search tool that is powered by the Internet’s leading search engines. When you search the Web via your browser search tool and click on any of the relevant sponsored search listings, they make money. It’s as easy as that.