tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26311627883039678482024-03-14T03:53:05.273+01:00IYan Writer in virtual worldsVirtual worlds, communities and people who inhabit or form them.IYan Writerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00682961187290777139noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2631162788303967848.post-20121789888745050252009-01-06T11:53:00.009+01:002009-01-06T13:02:23.834+01:00A new beginning<div>Second Life has failed. More specifically, Linden Lab's promise of a virtual world, which will improve the human condition, has turned out to be false. And, astonishingly, it all boils down to the old<a href="http://iyanwriter.blogspot.com/2008/03/hunt-for-elusive-augmentationist.html"> Immersionism vs Augmentationism</a> debate. Who would have thought it?</div><div><br /></div><div>There are two radically different groups of Second Life users. The first are the <span style="font-weight: bold;">immersionists</span> - escapists in disguise, who have come to Second Life to create a new life for themselves. They are lured here by the promise of a brave new world, a blank canvas on which they are free to draw their fantasies. From perfect bodies to Gor slave traders, from male to female (and sometimes, but rarely, from female to male), from autocracies to egalitarian communities, from translators to land barons - all are seeking something that is not available to them in the real world.</div><div><br /></div><div>The other group are the <span style="font-weight: bold;">augmentationists</span> - drawn to Second Life by a promise of a world without boundaries, where geographical distance is meaningless and which can improve their existing lives - either personal, professional or both.</div><div><br /></div><div>There is nothing wrong with either point of view - however, it is important to realize the difference in their expectations. The immersionists want, above all, a stable foundation upon which they can express their fantasies and desires. Not just platform stability - if you have to postpone your role playing for an hour because of disabled logins, that's annoying, but it is not the end of the world. No, they desire stability on the higher levels - a stable economy, laws, prices.</div><div><br /></div><div>The augmentationists, on the other hand, value platform stability the most. They try to use Second Life as an aspect of their real life; they need a stable set of features with a roadmap of changes to follow, so they can migrate some of their activities from RL to SL. The in-world economy is less important to them, and so are the legislative changes.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Unfortunately, Linden Lab has miserably failed both these groups. Price and policy juggling, coupled with an inherent inability to <span style="font-style: italic;">feel and connect</span> with their user base, have hurt the immersionists. A year of standing still, platform stability-wise and feature-set wise, have hurt the augmentationists. And all this combined has resulted in a failure to attract new users, which hurts both groups equally. How many new and interesting people did you meet in 2007 and how many in 2008?<br /><br /></div><div>I still believe that virtual worlds are a valuable tool for all - I just don't think that Second Life will be it. It will not be the Google of virtual worlds - I doubt it will even be Altavista. Perhaps Lycos or Webcrawler, to be mentioned in geeky old-skool debates in 2015. </div><div><br /></div><div>So, what do we do while we wait for the *real* virtual word platform, which will be able to foster mass adoption?</div><div><br /></div><div>I don't know about you - but I'm flying internet spaceships :)</div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://linuxfud.files.wordpress.com/2008/01/eve-online.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 370px; height: 223px;" src="http://linuxfud.files.wordpress.com/2008/01/eve-online.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /></div><div><a href="http://www.eve-online.com/">EVE Online</a> is a vast online game, spanning thousands of star systems and inhabited by a few hundred thousand players. It has an extremely complex system of production and trade - so much so that they employ an economist with a Ph.D. to oversee and tweak it (check out the <a href="http://myeve.eve-online.com/devblog.asp?a=blog&bid=594">quarterly economic report</a>); it fosters communities in the form of corporations and alliances that vie for territory and resources; the ship mechanics are mind boggling, to say the least, and you can never be truly safe.</div><div><br /></div><div>I've played EVE Online since late July; in this time, I have seen one major new release and several patches which significantly improved user experience. One such example is Jita - a random system which has become the major trading hub, solely due to group dynamics. There are always around a thousand players in system and it was becomming increasingly lagged. CCP, the creators of EVE Online, have adapted to it by developing a <a href="http://myeve.eve-online.com/devblog.asp?a=blog&bid=588">64-bit server code</a> and deploying an extra-powerful server to power the node - and lag actualy disappeared. </div><div><br /></div><div>Another example is a recent exploit which enabled some corporations to basically mint money <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">(</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">*cough* copybot *cough*)</span></span>. When CCP heard of it, they <a href="http://myeve.eve-online.com/news.asp?a=single&nid=2608&tid=1">promptly responded</a>, removed the assets and banned dozens of user accounts.<br /><br />EVE Online even has a user government of sorts - the <a href="http://myeve.eve-online.com/devblog.asp?a=blog&bid=606">Council of Stellar Management</a>, elected twice a year by the EVE Online players, which periodically meet with CCP and represent the wishes and needs of the players.<br /><br />Could this be any further from Linden Lab?<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>I am not leaving Second Life - I'll still be here, waiting with you for the real virtual world which will improve the human condition and where, I don't doubt, most of SL users will migrate in a heartbeat; but I'll spend more of my time elsewhere, where nobody knows my name and nameless strangers wait to blow me up - but where the creators, at least, care about my user experience.</div><div><br /></div><div>Expect some stories about my EVE Online adventures soon :) and if you'd like to try it, IM me your email for a 21 day hassle-free invite code.</div>IYan Writerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00682961187290777139noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2631162788303967848.post-38243548993493955892008-07-21T18:27:00.008+02:002008-07-21T19:59:53.329+02:00The Second Life Kindergarten<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Excuses * Then and Now * Zen and the art of virtual worlds maintenance * On the nature of Linden Lab * We are the world - not * A plan for the future</span><br /></div><br />It's all Hamlet Au's fault, really. I wanted to post more stuff. But the juxtaposition of Second Life today - a laggy, crashy place with rude newbies and an aloof, blundering <a href="http://www.lindenlab.com/" title="Linden Lab" rel="homepage" class="zem_slink">Linden Lab</a> - with ye olde Seconde Life and a dynamic Linden Lab, doing all it can to make some sense out of this world they have created, as described in Hamlet Au's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Making-Second-Life-Notes-World/dp/0061353205">book</a>, was just too much to bear.<br /><br />While "<span style="font-style: italic;">Making of Second Life</span>" is a fairy tale (<span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">or "based upon a true story" at the most</span>), the difference between then and now was still surprising. I needed more insight into Second Life residents, so I continued my literary virtual world sojourn with Tom Boellstorff's "<a href="http://press.princeton.edu/titles/8647.html"><span style="font-style: italic;">Coming of Age in Second Life</span></a>" and completed it with Castranova's "<a href="http://freshtakes.typepad.com/sl_communicators/2007/12/book-review-exo.html"><span style="font-style: italic;">Exodus to virtual worlds</span></a>". By then, the pieces were starting to fall into place. I retreated to my yak hut and meditated in the rain of prims - until understanding dawned.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqi6WLAwg_B02gRL6IZhzLcnJiHDasISndqPueoKoW6d9z2cBrp1rnUUwL2tY1xHpfNBDfreOKI4r7AzEYlovYXYGt5eHsjPRj0bdpFSdphnW2MtJD7231AlOw3ywYuwQJ4Q7extpLpEQ/s1600-h/24-Meditation.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 138px; height: 205px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqi6WLAwg_B02gRL6IZhzLcnJiHDasISndqPueoKoW6d9z2cBrp1rnUUwL2tY1xHpfNBDfreOKI4r7AzEYlovYXYGt5eHsjPRj0bdpFSdphnW2MtJD7231AlOw3ywYuwQJ4Q7extpLpEQ/s320/24-Meditation.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5225527528446904546" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">IYan in meditation</span><br /></div><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Linden Lab is *old*</span></span><br /><br />Linden Lab is far from a spry start-up, frolicking about, ready to challenge the world. It's been around the block and tried it all - so that now, when new and energetic employees have an idea, they can always be assured by their senior colleagues that this has already been tried in the past and failed. So, why bother? The asset server architecture, as it is, has always been enough - why update it? The users have always grumbled - so why listen?<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeE1y735b02q0SQB53TPnvmr0vOHptPwelR7ElvXfacWep_RkRGZmKRpjEOi9yBzvS4K6pkqxXq0nQsgVBoVJqRGQmnXu3iZn-uV-Wu2slloDwvVaPbp-IdOIDfD-5UK-_HrAmEtrfVPc/s1600-h/dog-jump.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 153px; height: 121px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeE1y735b02q0SQB53TPnvmr0vOHptPwelR7ElvXfacWep_RkRGZmKRpjEOi9yBzvS4K6pkqxXq0nQsgVBoVJqRGQmnXu3iZn-uV-Wu2slloDwvVaPbp-IdOIDfD-5UK-_HrAmEtrfVPc/s320/dog-jump.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5225524647917301954" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqwlxfDktd6JTCx0FS38DTIMQhjeWP_9vXio0_wlYmF0fIoI7acDbT8DZvvyiSYyTJPjQgzwIibe3hbaqKGgJlwJ5YppufQwA6xZ6nuk8kolOExJgFSKCm-HksMv4yBD0JDPXeVeza69Y/s1600-h/tired-muddy-dog.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 118px; height: 120px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqwlxfDktd6JTCx0FS38DTIMQhjeWP_9vXio0_wlYmF0fIoI7acDbT8DZvvyiSYyTJPjQgzwIibe3hbaqKGgJlwJ5YppufQwA6xZ6nuk8kolOExJgFSKCm-HksMv4yBD0JDPXeVeza69Y/s320/tired-muddy-dog.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5225524648904055330" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Guess which one is LL</span><br /></div><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">We can only count on Linden Lab to make a mess of things occasionally. For all the rest, there is only us.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Second Life is not a world</span><br /><br />A crucial element of the world, according to Castranova, is a shared mythos - a story that puts the world as you see it in a larger context. Another crucial element is a set of values, shared by the residents. With those, the world mythos can create and sustain itself; and, as long as the ratio of new users keeps under a certain limit, everything works - the old users are numerous enough to explain the world and the etiquette to the new users. Unfortunately, with exponential growth, this breaks down and we get what's called an <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eternal_September" title="Eternal September" rel="wikipedia" class="zem_slink">Eternal September</a> - a deluge of newbies with no comprehension of the world. This is the reason for <a href="http://phasinggrace.blogspot.com/2008/05/upholding-social-norms.html">prominent bloggers</a> rueing the passing of the golden days of yore, when users were friendly <span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">(and Second Life never crashed, I imagine)</span>.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSN9Q4PSYEUH11Tejpz-Ewf8KiMUpur2gACC6MkO7teSO4Yjd0aXgMJhe0esG9zBefQwmslZmFsU8UvbJ9OHe1wWceJ6R4d1ktBWagkrpzWyCa-jPoMDAmSwbI2Lut_GEOXV3gf5Lj1Ew/s1600-h/stranger.png"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 156px; height: 115px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSN9Q4PSYEUH11Tejpz-Ewf8KiMUpur2gACC6MkO7teSO4Yjd0aXgMJhe0esG9zBefQwmslZmFsU8UvbJ9OHe1wWceJ6R4d1ktBWagkrpzWyCa-jPoMDAmSwbI2Lut_GEOXV3gf5Lj1Ew/s320/stranger.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5225525539994523298" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;"></span><br /></div><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Second Life as a whole has no mythos; therefore, it is not a world. To make Second Life a world, we need to give it a story and put the user in context.</span><br /><br />Given these two points, my proposal is simple:<span style="font-style: italic;"> the users should<span style="font-weight: bold;"> create the Kindergarten of Second Life</span></span>.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr0fvjTlHDIuREGGQoUlNDhtVDaGfVEKN0lYDPrVJJEA750mIl2BjTPOObH261YNOwhGYc_XxAkZXt6HHMBJaowxlTMArbIoyUTJZX8b9PGmp1lIOW_Tc57a9KIU5aF76yjL67j9S_UY0/s1600-h/SL+class.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 187px; height: 139px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr0fvjTlHDIuREGGQoUlNDhtVDaGfVEKN0lYDPrVJJEA750mIl2BjTPOObH261YNOwhGYc_XxAkZXt6HHMBJaowxlTMArbIoyUTJZX8b9PGmp1lIOW_Tc57a9KIU5aF76yjL67j9S_UY0/s320/SL+class.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5225526708584203634" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />Call it the "<span style="font-style: italic;">Second Life Academy"</span> or something appealing and mask it as a beginner's guide to UI and building; then, while explaining the dark arts of the SL client, teach the users the mythos of Second Life, based upon Tom's and Hamlet's books and recollections of respected oldbies. Teach them the story of <a href="http://secondlife.wikia.com/wiki/Steller_Sunshine">Steller</a>, who logged into the empty world one night and left the generations of users to come the jumping bean stalk; regale them with the story of Gibson sim and the transience of being; and instill in them the values of helping new users, respecting the old users, and revering the content creators.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc2_XIGB1A6QB53MWPAmuEOQlwT91SAiT915Ll-ZAPa27ZiVPkKmlY6hW6N-dIeponitK1TGEXdV-YcT36cszNn2rewaoRl2dhnhv48i8B4FPCHkR4TyHGunCMriEvwuKMD1TdXc4Gnoo/s1600-h/stalk.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 235px; height: 262px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc2_XIGB1A6QB53MWPAmuEOQlwT91SAiT915Ll-ZAPa27ZiVPkKmlY6hW6N-dIeponitK1TGEXdV-YcT36cszNn2rewaoRl2dhnhv48i8B4FPCHkR4TyHGunCMriEvwuKMD1TdXc4Gnoo/s320/stalk.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5225521952898866178" border="0" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.secondlifeinsider.com/2006/10/18/beautiful-things-the-beanstalk-challenge/"><span style="font-style: italic;">Steller</span>'s <span style="font-style: italic;">beanstalk</span></a><br /></div><br />It's up to us. Will we keep waiting for Linden Lab to make everything all right? Or do we want to accept and assume responsibility for making Second Life a world?<br /><div style="margin-top: 10px; height: 15px;" class="zemanta-pixie"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://reblog.zemanta.com/zemified/c65ba00d-1c65-4603-9387-c9e9d891db35/" title="Zemified by Zemanta"><img style="border: medium none ; float: right;" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=c65ba00d-1c65-4603-9387-c9e9d891db35" alt="Zemanta Pixie" /></a></div>IYan Writerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00682961187290777139noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2631162788303967848.post-81696590408068381032008-07-09T17:49:00.004+02:002008-07-09T18:09:45.489+02:00Loco Pocos: The tiny revolutionIt's a holiday for us <a href="http://iyanwriter.blogspot.com/2007/12/joy-of-being-tiny.html">Tiny fans</a>: Damien Fate and Washu Zebrastripe, the amazing content creation duo, have created a new line of Tiny avatars called <a href="http://www.locopocos.com/">Loco Pocos</a>.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img style="width: 337px; height: 316px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3046/2647164370_25507ffd19.jpg" /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Loco Pocos at Metanomics</span><br /></div><br />While tinies are great fun, they have some problems: can't sit in ordinary sized chairs, can't use normal gestures, and it's hard to find good fashion and accessories for them. Well, not anymore - the Loco Pocos can do all that, and more!<br /><br />Despite the recent mega-linden <a href="http://dusanwriter.com/?p=557">UI challenge</a> from Dusan Writer, SL inventory is currently still a drag. While I've kept my inventory rather thin (a bit more than 3000 items, until I fell prey to the insidious 7S fishing game), finding the correct shoe in a forgotten folder - <span style="font-style: italic;">named "shoe", of course</span> - is still a challenge. Or, at least - was a challenge. Loco Pocos include an ingenious HUD that allows users to change their outfit, colors, shapes, attach or hide ears with a simple click of the button. The same HUD allows access to a variety of emotes and gestures - from laughter to sleeping on the ground, beautifully animated and wonderfully voiced.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/a0nJUklh5kA&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/a0nJUklh5kA&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />As an added bonus, the Loco Poco sim is an amazing place which features an interactive back-story about the island. By retracing steps of an earlier explorer, visitors ar drawn into the story, led to several fun mini-games and awarded with Loco Poco goodies.<br /><br />Second Life has had its down points lately - from the ill communicated SL5B, ill communicating M Linden or uncommunicated grid stats; but Loco Pocos will help you remember the fun side of SL.<br /><br />Join us for the Grand Opening of <a href="http://slurl.com/secondlife/Loco%20Pocos%20Island/183/154/140">Loco Pocos Island</a> with a massive scavenger hunt today, July 9th at Noon SLT. Visitors to the sim on this date will have the opportunity to win a unique avatar which will only be available during events at Loco Pocos Island.<br /><div style="margin-top: 10px; height: 15px;" class="zemanta-pixie"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://reblog.zemanta.com/zemified/46d4f475-54b6-43dd-8b93-542c8d442c05/" title="Zemified by Zemanta"><img style="border: medium none ; float: right;" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=46d4f475-54b6-43dd-8b93-542c8d442c05" alt="Zemanta Pixie" /></a></div>IYan Writerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00682961187290777139noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2631162788303967848.post-13885075179320782852008-05-08T12:50:00.009+02:002008-05-08T18:55:40.101+02:00Event chat transcripts considered harmful<span style="font-style: italic;">For a number of months I have been familiar with the observation that the quality of an event recap is a decreasing function of event chat transcript density they produce. Recently I became convinced that event chat transcripts should be abolished from all "higher level" event recaps (i.e. everything except, perhaps, business meeting transcripts). At that time I did not attach too much importance to this discovery; I now submit my considerations for publication.</span><br /><br />You've all seen it before. The event is nearing its close an an enthusiastic host exclaims "<span style="font-style: italic;">Oh, and we'll put up a transcript online!</span>". True enough, the transcript shows up in your <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aggregator" title="Aggregator" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" class="zem_slink">RSS reader</a> - but although you had missed 10 minutes because of a phone call or something, you <span style="font-weight: bold;">never</span>, ever read the transcript. It's not because you are lazy. It's because transcripts are <span style="font-weight: bold;">useless</span> - they not only have zero informational value, they actually decrease the information content.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaihVIyMTUS6SpBTETjnO6crq-jFjlxSUNUFZdam8QhbYFywjqpWVYeL0Hywtc1XptHQ7s2L58i8yQDmCOihxy3xV3AeJWtNn3URzfhr2zrZNNz3SUyBnva-vrZ__xhZiESVrNnDjCQ_0/s1600-h/decrease.png"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 260px; height: 177px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaihVIyMTUS6SpBTETjnO6crq-jFjlxSUNUFZdam8QhbYFywjqpWVYeL0Hywtc1XptHQ7s2L58i8yQDmCOihxy3xV3AeJWtNn3URzfhr2zrZNNz3SUyBnva-vrZ__xhZiESVrNnDjCQ_0/s400/decrease.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5198047987476126114" border="0" /></a><br /><br /></div>There are several reasons for that. <span style="font-weight: bold;">First</span>, a large portion of event chats is simply <span style="font-weight: bold;">people socializing</span> - saying hello, wawing to one another, laughing or nodding in agreement. As virtual worlds make <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonverbal_communication" title="Nonverbal communication" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" class="zem_slink">non-verbal communication</a> rather hard, a lot of it has become verbal. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Second</span>, a lot of the time the log is full of <span style="font-weight: bold;">system messages</span> - people signing on or off, which adds to the clutter. And <span style="font-weight: bold;">third</span> - even if we prune all the non-essential parts, the transcript is still <span style="font-weight: bold;">too long</span>. It's one thing being present at an hour-long event - you pass the time during less interesting parts IM-ing or camming around. Reading the whole transcript, however, takes a lot of concentration - and, to be frank, I'd rather invest 30 minutes focused reading time in something well written, not pore over old event transcripts.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1QNoFGIHZUgeEv2-OPX5whR44s-9IowZrz8j-to3RvrZN45GXpZ8KPPBCLi5y872ZZmS5ncymNUnyHuNiF77oP_ZxPpMRAr-6RrnVgSwAqXGrtlngEBYebmXqd4GiaV5-ZTdqsWHnjY0/s1600-h/world.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 109px; height: 164px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1QNoFGIHZUgeEv2-OPX5whR44s-9IowZrz8j-to3RvrZN45GXpZ8KPPBCLi5y872ZZmS5ncymNUnyHuNiF77oP_ZxPpMRAr-6RrnVgSwAqXGrtlngEBYebmXqd4GiaV5-ZTdqsWHnjY0/s400/world.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5198048842174618034" border="0" /></a><br /><br /></div>OK, so the transcripts are useless. So what if people publish them? Where is the harm? Simple - the transcripts kill the Google search, or at least, maim it. Here are some of the search results for IYan Writer:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8j9sIS_DdZGZaYdjMypOTIXIjaVv0IJTAsp-ThVSf-8ihYOy0fKT3kRjYOsL2JVUA2q1oMxLVqC14qqCLbtCXTeyiVNyI66dy09yC46cLTzhB3fi2lJL0HsNr0cArE-Olh_EqPIUxqmM/s1600-h/Picture+2.png"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8j9sIS_DdZGZaYdjMypOTIXIjaVv0IJTAsp-ThVSf-8ihYOy0fKT3kRjYOsL2JVUA2q1oMxLVqC14qqCLbtCXTeyiVNyI66dy09yC46cLTzhB3fi2lJL0HsNr0cArE-Olh_EqPIUxqmM/s400/Picture+2.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5198045225812154770" border="0" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN-4ZJRsxv6rDNyOe_MLOBva9UlWT3kMMNwj20bUj4wTEQBgfKRDbhKlViocyOIG8cUzENTVfraDnnoei0xilsSGkMX4kxc35loh6aR1FqeIs7TekLc2CWjQSGNkyyUA8s2kayTJHwksc/s1600-h/Picture+1.png"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN-4ZJRsxv6rDNyOe_MLOBva9UlWT3kMMNwj20bUj4wTEQBgfKRDbhKlViocyOIG8cUzENTVfraDnnoei0xilsSGkMX4kxc35loh6aR1FqeIs7TekLc2CWjQSGNkyyUA8s2kayTJHwksc/s400/Picture+1.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5198045148502743426" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />Is it really helpful to someone searching for me? Even worse, as Google usually displays the first occurrence or two, you're very likely to seem like some weird "Hello"-saying and madly wawing maniac - heaven forbid that the search would show a cutting question you posed at the end of the event.<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCJtF2U8kStdNYxrSGjk5Nk3TuMkI5Q_7xdOe6nuQped5Gv8ztieA22vWGD3wH5xKMGWxVnZ5nErRbObO53HMFO-CctJIOXnGcgm3YoGlSckW2LnKPuviyE79RhglIiX6G-iZK0AVBDnM/s1600-h/ah-ha.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 222px; height: 160px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCJtF2U8kStdNYxrSGjk5Nk3TuMkI5Q_7xdOe6nuQped5Gv8ztieA22vWGD3wH5xKMGWxVnZ5nErRbObO53HMFO-CctJIOXnGcgm3YoGlSckW2LnKPuviyE79RhglIiX6G-iZK0AVBDnM/s400/ah-ha.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5198049495009647042" border="0" /></a><br /><br /></div>So what are the event organizers to do? Again, it's simple: <span style="font-weight: bold;">provide actual value</span>. Don't do the easiest thing and just slap the transcript online. Take the time to go through the transcript, identify a few key issues raised at the event and write a paragraph on each one of them. Some <a href="http://metanomics.net/">Metanomics</a> event recaps are <a href="http://metanomics.net/11-mar-2008/recap-richard-bartle-visits-metanomics">stellar examples</a> of it. If you're taking the time to remove the "XX has signed off" lines already, chances are that this will not take much more time. Event visitors, readers and the hamsters powering the Google servers will be grateful to you.<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJu6G4Xlfa8s74FnbOtSUupTUaFyyTAWUkVEyxVf1_rokdxVxzfvwau0VwyZ04ANUWa2LDuB3TKlmfFa3p_qpI_3vc4yWnDX8fiuBcph4pHOsYE0tOav27BAq0_3JJZQeI-52xFJqDCbs/s1600-h/usbhamster.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 145px; height: 145px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJu6G4Xlfa8s74FnbOtSUupTUaFyyTAWUkVEyxVf1_rokdxVxzfvwau0VwyZ04ANUWa2LDuB3TKlmfFa3p_qpI_3vc4yWnDX8fiuBcph4pHOsYE0tOav27BAq0_3JJZQeI-52xFJqDCbs/s400/usbhamster.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5198050388362844626" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />PS: Why the title? <a href="http://www.u.arizona.edu/%7Erubinson/copyright_violations/Go_To_Considered_Harmful.html">Hint</a> for non-CS grads :)<div id="zemanta-pixie" style="margin: 5px 0pt; width: 100%;"><a id="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/" title="Zemified by Zemanta"><img id="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/pixie.png?x-id=73bf6ce7-7b64-45b8-9d61-fa8399d9b5b2" style="border: medium none ; float: right;" /></a></div>IYan Writerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00682961187290777139noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2631162788303967848.post-58907378066755219212008-04-23T23:47:00.004+02:002008-04-23T23:52:59.622+02:00Virtual Africa opening in Second LifeMy dear friend Alanagh Recreant's Virtual Africa project is finally opening tomorrow. Join us at the opening! I'm attaching the official invite below.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3158/2431048612_5fdce335a6.jpg?v=0"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3158/2431048612_5fdce335a6.jpg?v=0" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">OPENING DAY EVENT - April 24</span><br />Please come and join us on Thursday 24 April for an exiting programme on the first annual Africa Day in Second Life, hosted by Uthango with support of Orange from their island. ‘Virtual Africa’ and the adjacent ‘Robben Island’ with its African Rain (club) will be launched on the same day!<br /><br />The popular DJ Doubledown will conclude the day at 16:30 SLT with a party for our guests at the new, spectacular African Rain, a club for Virtual Africa, designed partly pro-bono by Eshi Otawara.<br /><br />this is the SL Africa club slurl: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Robben%20Island/120/161/635<br /><br />Virtual Africa is an initiative of Uthango Social Investments, a registered NGO based in Cape Town, South Africa. You are welcome to check CIPRO the offical SA Registrar of Companies for our details or contact us via our company’s Co-Founder and Director in-world, Alanagh Recreant.<br /><br />Virtual Africa is currently in development and will become a unique Orientation Gateway that may add value to the SL experience for old and new residents in the metaverse. Uthango drives the project together with a small team of volunteers and (soon) professional developers, and welcomes you to collaborate and discuss possibilities. We were delighted to hear Philip Rosedale, CEO of LL, speaking about the importance of these gateways and look forward to bring you a special african immersive environment.<br /><br />Together with Virtual Africa, we plan the Bottom-of-the-Pyramic Innovation Centre that will showcase ingenuity in Africa and for Africa - specifically in relation to the strategies of companies and social entrepreneurs to make the world a better place. This is one of our main reasons for being in SL - to connect with creative, lateral-thinking people that could solve complex problems - like the ones we face daily in our first world. In this context, we are also busy with the pototype of the Uthango African Roundtable aimed at educational institutions that would like to spend time researching the views of people in Africa. Hopefully, we will soon be able to bring in the voices of african residents as well, as SL is currently a bit skew in its global diversity<br /><br />You are welcome to join our group: Second Life Africa to keep track of our developments, or the following blog: http://slafrica.wordpress.com/<br /><br />Uthango has been extremely fortunate to be in the media the past few months, which has hightened the SL profile in Africa and globally: Here are a few links:<br /><br />UGOTRADE: http://www.ugotrade.com/2007/06/25/uthango-social-investments-leads-the-way-to-virtual-africa/<br /><br />SLNN: http://www.slnn.com/article/africa-second-life/<br /><br />WEEKEND ARGUS: http://www.slnn.com/article/africa-second-life/<br /><br />AFRICA NEWS: http://www.africanews.com/site/list_messages/10271<br /><br />Your financial support is appreciated, but more than this, we really treasure the interest in our work and your own social network. Please feel free to tell others about our projects and visit our website: http://uthango.org/<br /><br />We can only be here with integrity if we find specific ways to harness the power of virtual worlds for Africa and our 18 461 real life clients that are NOT here today… Please assist us in doing so! We need all the help we can get…<br /><br />Thank you very much!<br />See you soon!<div id="zemanta-pixie" style="margin: 5px 0pt; width: 100%;"><a id="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/" title="Zemified by Zemanta"><img id="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/pixie.png?x-id=d40992b7-aaec-4f0f-9863-0a8dbb16eb7e" style="border: medium none ; float: right;" /></a></div>IYan Writerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00682961187290777139noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2631162788303967848.post-3391602535897015202008-04-15T18:38:00.003+02:002008-04-15T18:56:56.096+02:00We apologize for the momentary interruption of service<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigalbIXiyQCTTsChFWZp5Sfaaz75Emh-MG1V0VB2yjtuUYE0ICX4mdeN4L9gMcVHGu3yqLOisIyy7NuPx7i-lrLsT7rqR8edIE8UNSHfitP_Oi3LAJXmtS1qkcqAwpJy_4psZjTwl94Ew/s1600-h/pitchfork_yan.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 270px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigalbIXiyQCTTsChFWZp5Sfaaz75Emh-MG1V0VB2yjtuUYE0ICX4mdeN4L9gMcVHGu3yqLOisIyy7NuPx7i-lrLsT7rqR8edIE8UNSHfitP_Oi3LAJXmtS1qkcqAwpJy_4psZjTwl94Ew/s400/pitchfork_yan.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5185871286846365634" border="0" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center; font-style: italic;"><span><br /></span></div>This blog <a href="http://gwynethllewelyn.net/2008/04/15/going-on-strike/">will not update until 18.4.2008</a>.<br /><br />To be honest.. Did my blog drive traffic to Linden Lab and help popularize Second Life? <span style="font-weight: bold;">No</span> - I only started it a few months ago. Would I have posted something in the next few days? <span style="font-weight: bold;">Probably not </span>- still searching for the topic for my next post. Do new trademark rules directly impact me? <span style="font-weight: bold;">Not really </span>- I added the legalese and I doubt they will come after me. Will the protest make Linden Lab think? <span style="font-weight: bold;">No</span>. So why am I doing it? Because<span style="font-weight: bold;"> the issue is important</span>; because Linden Lab's <span style="font-weight: bold;">community mishandling</span> is reaching new heights; and because I was always partial to <span style="font-weight: bold;">symbolic gestures</span> :) More explanation in my blog post <a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://iyanwriter.blogspot.com/2008/04/on-nature-of-protests.html">On the nature of protests</a>.<br /><br />Come protest with us next Sunday! <span style="font-style: italic;">*shakes pitchfork*</span>IYan Writerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00682961187290777139noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2631162788303967848.post-80933395165716010282008-04-11T11:04:00.011+02:002008-04-11T14:00:36.698+02:00A zebra and its stripes<b>Marty the Zebra</b>: "<span style="font-style: italic;">I'm ten years old. My life is half over and I don't even know if I'm black with white stripes or white with black stripes!"<br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgThnaJsXgm-pZ86Sy4-LxYU6jKcOJVBMAqi0EaRoNvJYlzOj1KxcEnFC12AukaqeSk1-YRJXFBo1aWxfrD-ocyAu7Qd1cO_6jERlgj4kAW1ZEldD050u24CuamDhUTVLMvYDCBQGvOB_Y/s1600-h/madagascar_zebra_215.gif"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgThnaJsXgm-pZ86Sy4-LxYU6jKcOJVBMAqi0EaRoNvJYlzOj1KxcEnFC12AukaqeSk1-YRJXFBo1aWxfrD-ocyAu7Qd1cO_6jERlgj4kAW1ZEldD050u24CuamDhUTVLMvYDCBQGvOB_Y/s400/madagascar_zebra_215.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5187920592527128306" border="0" /></a><br /><br /></div>I've followed <a href="http://cleverzebra.com/">Clever Zebra</a> with interest since they launched, but after some four months, I believe they have the same problem as Marty. Their value proposition is "<span style="font-weight: bold;">SL entry made simple</span>" and they promise to achieve it with a pack of business oriented builds and utilities - from an amphitheater to a slide show presenter. Their offering is RL company friendly - a <a href="http://cleverzebra.com/products/secondlife/solutions/corporate">stated</a> up-front price of $4,950 and $395 per month enables companies simple cost calculation and moves them from perilous and possibly expensive <span style="font-weight: bold;">project</span> territory into the safe <span style="font-weight: bold;">product</span> zone. They will definitely get some customers and expand their presence. However, after some 6 months, I think they will have to reconsider the nature of their stripes.<br /><br />Clever Zebra's <span style="font-weight: bold;">basic fallacy is in their value proposition</span>. Is the price and complexity of creating a Second Life presence really the major hurdle the real world companies must overcome? I believe not. The major problems are the <span style="font-weight: bold;">unwillingness to invest </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">human resources</span> in SL; the <span style="font-weight: bold;">complexity and immaturity</span> of Second Life as a business platform; and the biggest one of all, the <span style="font-weight: bold;">difficulty of forging lasting and valuable </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">relationships</span> with Second Life community.<br /><br />How does Clever Zebra help companies overcome these difficulties? Their corporate product page is quite devoid of information; it's hard to discern exactly what services the list price includes. If it's consulting, there can't be much of it - let's say 30 hours at $100. Is 30 hours enough to get company personnel to grasp the UI complexity and get to know Second Life so well that they can begin to use it productively? I sincerely doubt it.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZit7XJdXzLdLxC0v3ZzZVBYHoc_4RX5KfmhhN4JDWqu0v8IWWlRKCofPpGOgJbC1GqoOvsv0Ibq0MCB58ct-M7pIzZ63Ftpktj5_IkX3x-4bVYsPM5W2u7E1R7M-4tDORvWbsdUil2fA/s1600-h/Picture+1.png"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 322px; height: 194px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZit7XJdXzLdLxC0v3ZzZVBYHoc_4RX5KfmhhN4JDWqu0v8IWWlRKCofPpGOgJbC1GqoOvsv0Ibq0MCB58ct-M7pIzZ63Ftpktj5_IkX3x-4bVYsPM5W2u7E1R7M-4tDORvWbsdUil2fA/s400/Picture+1.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5187920837340264194" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />The kind of company that goes for "<span style="font-weight: bold;">as low as $$</span>" deals is not the kind of company that is willing to heavily invest resources in getting to know Second Life and extracting value from it <span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">(and is also most probably not a company that could use Second Life to "<span style="font-style: italic;">save thousands of dollars on travel</span>")</span>. Only a few real companies are - Cisco Systems, IBM, and Dell, to name a few. All of them understand that they are in virtual worlds for the long haul; <span style="font-weight: bold;">there is simply no ROI to be made in short term</span>. Does Clever Zebra tell that to their potential customers? I hope they do.<br /><br />So what does the future hold for Clever Zebra? They will definitely sell a few packs in the upcoming months. But, to keep customers from leaving Second Life in disgust after 6-12 months, exclaiming "<span style="font-style: italic;">Second Life is totally unsuitable for business</span>", they will have to start <span style="font-weight: bold;">accurately representing both the challenges and the maturity of Second Life</span>. They will have to admit that they are not providing a "<span style="font-style: italic;">solution</span>" for real companies wishing to enter Second Life - they are only making the first step of many much simpler.<br /><br />It's time to decide: black with white stripes or white with black stripes?IYan Writerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00682961187290777139noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2631162788303967848.post-73249348658161478182008-04-05T21:06:00.011+02:002008-04-05T23:10:30.556+02:00On the nature of protests<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Crisis endures * what's in a title? * IYan's first protest * high school sucks * lessons learned * a call to action and fun</span><br /></div><br />The Second Life blogosphere is still in turmoil after the <span style="font-weight: bold;">TM/R fiasco</span><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);"> (we really need a cool name for this)</span>, only slightly dampened by the quality of service of Second Life of late. The promised clarification on the part of Linden Lab arrived - two days late and none-too-clarifying. Besides the nearing SL bloggers' strike, we now have a <a href="http://gwynethllewelyn.net/2008/04/05/petition-to-linden-lab-on-the-policy-of-trademark-enforcement/">petition to Linden Lab</a>, urging them to adopt a more lenient trademark policy. The petition is titled "<span style="font-style: italic;">Petition to Linden Lab on the Policy of Trademark Enforcement</span>" - quite a mouthful. Unfortunately, my suggestion of "<span style="font-style: italic;">Please stop being foolish</span>" did not pass muster.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFQYdzRgr9UXU_iWhdnUwAG5RHeKHX0MHF4OWXJV_drHf-mFHVTNhtLRvmvSqoJyiUMIj0yvthhaWrSvUQ79AYHS6rQzo4udbT1tHbJyL3V8pB9Qq02tDKBdAACPgO0RS4OJ8794tNm88/s1600-h/trademark-protest.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 146px; height: 254px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFQYdzRgr9UXU_iWhdnUwAG5RHeKHX0MHF4OWXJV_drHf-mFHVTNhtLRvmvSqoJyiUMIj0yvthhaWrSvUQ79AYHS6rQzo4udbT1tHbJyL3V8pB9Qq02tDKBdAACPgO0RS4OJ8794tNm88/s400/trademark-protest.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5185851220759158642" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">About that policy? (<a href="http://gwynethllewelyn.net/2008/03/26/second-life-bloggers-require-clarification/">source</a>)</span><br /></div><br />Given past community performance by LL, it's a safe bet that nothing will change and some kind of in-world protests will ensue - and that makes me very happy. Not because I think that the massed avatars will force Linden Lab to see the light, but because<span style="font-weight: bold;"> I love protests</span>.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQHx8xHldi-0w8M3LFKXAN-NA40U0OviRQ_eqSh_oszWcgGfJPUEWbeSdmmUILLZS_BHwGkmkNZ4aMSXDm-vw-nCtXSjZsXl0ZXppz_7McibBHp6cxvNbQ7xWrmd9uLg4Vy5bquwYfAGQ/s1600-h/March20Protest.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 128px; height: 194px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQHx8xHldi-0w8M3LFKXAN-NA40U0OviRQ_eqSh_oszWcgGfJPUEWbeSdmmUILLZS_BHwGkmkNZ4aMSXDm-vw-nCtXSjZsXl0ZXppz_7McibBHp6cxvNbQ7xWrmd9uLg4Vy5bquwYfAGQ/s400/March20Protest.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5185851714680397698" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Save our blogs!</span><br /></div><br />I was part of the "<span style="font-weight: bold;">experimental generation</span>" when growing up. Every year, they would change the school system a bit. First, there was the "<span style="font-style: italic;">Hey, let's abolish the general purpose high schools!</span>" idea which forced me to enroll in something called the "<span style="font-style: italic;">high school for nature sciences</span>". Then they canceled high school graduation exam, fiddled with the number of semesters, decided that general purpose high schools were not such a bad idea after all, and, in the end, decided to bring back the graduation exam.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh10e_KaGIwJ4hUo6Dq04ne0IQqX_skhwwD7pD2wY6Vsg7adDhJshnuQ3KuIEtrug57bnHSBnfO985zfEMVwJrcULI3uPcs4cJjwLPVdUPY_IJhXaj21zC4d740jRYWOSyYOvdk9dbNko4/s1600-h/Classroom+group.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 215px; height: 161px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh10e_KaGIwJ4hUo6Dq04ne0IQqX_skhwwD7pD2wY6Vsg7adDhJshnuQ3KuIEtrug57bnHSBnfO985zfEMVwJrcULI3uPcs4cJjwLPVdUPY_IJhXaj21zC4d740jRYWOSyYOvdk9dbNko4/s400/Classroom+group.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5185852487774510994" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">"OK, now everybody do a flip!"</span><br /></div><br />Needless to say, everybody was kinda fed up with constant irritation, even given the <span style="font-weight: bold;">cheerful and cooperating demeanor</span> of high school kids. The graduation exam was the straw that broke the camel's back - when forced with a distinct possibility of having to study extra hard for a month, two generations of high schoolers rebelled. We left the schools and marched in the streets, wowing not to return until the exam was canceled.<br /><br />The strike lasted for two weeks. On the first couple of days, we <span style="font-weight: bold;">closed the traffic </span>in the city center, <span style="font-weight: bold;">drunk</span> more than high schoolers should, and <span style="font-weight: bold;">had a great time</span>. After that, the novelty wore off and the police were more vigilant, so we did without public displays and just skipped school - the more cautious of us returning to school for an hour every day for supplemental classes in math, as the yearly math test was approaching. In two weeks' time, some kind of compromise was reached, the exam lightened a bit, and we came back to school. In the end, a year and a half later, <span style="font-weight: bold;">I still had to pass the graduation exam</span> - just under a different name.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQGUAUZ2hyi2fG2lER5BZpawel7C7G2QgBDbunn7e-rk3wdwEg7wAiFdBMmQ-MzStgnanAtG3sxVH__E2fFassEtKK-Z9ZUYU6kaAgB6yELsNNQvZQGR4MFnPEVfam1Ov-4OF61Q0knTM/s1600-h/graduation.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 201px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQGUAUZ2hyi2fG2lER5BZpawel7C7G2QgBDbunn7e-rk3wdwEg7wAiFdBMmQ-MzStgnanAtG3sxVH__E2fFassEtKK-Z9ZUYU6kaAgB6yELsNNQvZQGR4MFnPEVfam1Ov-4OF61Q0knTM/s400/graduation.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5185853217918951330" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />Although I did not realize it then, the lessons of the strike stayed with me. Can you bring considerable change to the environment? <span style="font-weight: bold;">No</span>. <span style="font-weight: bold;">But</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;">you can have great fun trying to bring change about</span>. There is nothing more powerful than joining a band of Davids, waving their puny fists at Goliath. And, as you know - every so often, David actually wins.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlQEoyu1RfI9FzYOrtEb1RAjsS5CnKPPaeLZCkvvFgiFrNu6WzHgu-bTGUkogdIp9JdPi9yraB-ne-M9c8rFaOZphCENyvgFQ7uhepgS9hDyILJPBlVIMZuwqSaSZk_v3ldMTA9uEKzV8/s1600-h/Sling.gif"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 204px; height: 199px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlQEoyu1RfI9FzYOrtEb1RAjsS5CnKPPaeLZCkvvFgiFrNu6WzHgu-bTGUkogdIp9JdPi9yraB-ne-M9c8rFaOZphCENyvgFQ7uhepgS9hDyILJPBlVIMZuwqSaSZk_v3ldMTA9uEKzV8/s400/Sling.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5185855635985538994" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">"Oh, Goliath?"</span><br /></div><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">See you at the protest!<br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></span><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigalbIXiyQCTTsChFWZp5Sfaaz75Emh-MG1V0VB2yjtuUYE0ICX4mdeN4L9gMcVHGu3yqLOisIyy7NuPx7i-lrLsT7rqR8edIE8UNSHfitP_Oi3LAJXmtS1qkcqAwpJy_4psZjTwl94Ew/s1600-h/pitchfork_yan.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 225px; height: 263px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigalbIXiyQCTTsChFWZp5Sfaaz75Emh-MG1V0VB2yjtuUYE0ICX4mdeN4L9gMcVHGu3yqLOisIyy7NuPx7i-lrLsT7rqR8edIE8UNSHfitP_Oi3LAJXmtS1qkcqAwpJy_4psZjTwl94Ew/s400/pitchfork_yan.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5185871286846365634" border="0" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center; font-style: italic;"><span>Bonus: IYan in protesting gear</span></div>IYan Writerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00682961187290777139noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2631162788303967848.post-34340187594348092732008-04-02T11:35:00.006+02:002008-04-02T12:51:31.544+02:00The importance of making Lindens<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;">A newbie is born * IYan buys his first Lindens * the entrepreneurial quandary * "It's the media!" * remaining questions * closing scare</span> </div><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Newbies</span>. We were all there once - wearing default avatars with sliders painstakingly adjusted so that we were happy with the way we looked <span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">(ignorance of prim hair is bliss)</span>, bumping into people, wearing optional torches and having absolutely no clue. After the first difficult hours of UI navigation, the endless Second Life vistas spread open before us and we were free to do practically anything we liked. With such endless choice, it is an eternal mystery to me that the most common question I hear from newbies is "<span style="font-weight: bold;">Where can I earn money?</span>"<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmV57KszWAKvMisq20qekki4orYflIoyoR5z3541uocpmEIch1V4zJQejjKKbRsU95u8_we8j-g92Dsbn7fk37e3joW_l9pXF-lVZBIZcpQTO-4mDSxLAGdeHVoYZra-c3z6DJ41GTckk/s1600-h/newbieSL.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 164px; height: 201px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmV57KszWAKvMisq20qekki4orYflIoyoR5z3541uocpmEIch1V4zJQejjKKbRsU95u8_we8j-g92Dsbn7fk37e3joW_l9pXF-lVZBIZcpQTO-4mDSxLAGdeHVoYZra-c3z6DJ41GTckk/s400/newbieSL.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5184593869083254610" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">I can has Lindens?</span><br /></div><br />The financial side of Second Life <span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);"><span style="font-style:italic;">(or, indeed, all life)</span></span> is, of course, important. Upon registration, I connected my SL and PayPal accounts and received a <span style="font-weight: bold;">100 L$ bonus</span> for doing so. I treasured my first money in Second Life and was extremely careful when purchasing stuff. However, all good things must end and the era of free money soon came to a close. With my PayPal account already linked, I did a quick calculation and discovered that I could get a kingly sum in Lindens for the price of two cups of coffee in the real world. I made my first Linden dollar purchase and never looked back.<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWB60sqXC66ty2v5RbdQt13x9XL4i9beWsSIlhgktkqLQa9ukBIg-TC3XY3YCOrj_C0-Yw2zyJ6crw4CdJ0aIovdR9-RMi_xknHbqJ6c2TYQcRMaA6uNv84rCrfDE5VQpFlvbrgsAurBA/s1600-h/small_cup_of_coffee.preview.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 61px; height: 55px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWB60sqXC66ty2v5RbdQt13x9XL4i9beWsSIlhgktkqLQa9ukBIg-TC3XY3YCOrj_C0-Yw2zyJ6crw4CdJ0aIovdR9-RMi_xknHbqJ6c2TYQcRMaA6uNv84rCrfDE5VQpFlvbrgsAurBA/s400/small_cup_of_coffee.preview.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5184595818998407010" border="0" /></a>=<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/180/425870405_2f3f6f6123.jpg?v=0"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 103px; height: 102px;" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/180/425870405_2f3f6f6123.jpg?v=0" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Small coffee equals big bucks (<a href="http://www.vintfalken.com/linden-lab-on-the-linden-dollar-virtual-banking/">source</a>)</span><br /></div><br />But back to the entrepreneurial newbies. I admit to having little patience with such questions and refer them to Manpower island or Search. <a href="http://ialja.blogspot.com/">iAlja</a> usually goes a bit deeper - she asks them what would they do and what do they need the money for. The most often answer to both these questions is "<span style="font-style:italic;">I don't know</span>".<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">What is going on here?</span> Do they love work so much that a real job is not enough for them and they need a virtual one? Is it a regional bias? Perhaps newbies from other countries are less enterprising and more laid back. Do they think that nothing in Second Life is free? Even after pointing them to Search for "<span style="font-style:italic;">freebie</span>", most are undeterred in their Linden quest.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/aOHQpPJncCE&hl=en"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/aOHQpPJncCE&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object><br /></div><br />The most obvious possible cause for this behavior is the<span style="font-weight:bold;"> media coverage </span>of Second Life. Local media, late to the party as usual, still has to descend the hype curve into "<span style="font-style:italic;">virtual worlds are awful</span>" stage. Their portrayal of Second Life is not exactly as a land of milk and honey, but they do stress the money earning potential of virtual worlds.<br /><br />But even if we attribute this attitude to the media misrepresentation, two mysteries remain. The most bent-on-making-money newbie <span style="font-weight:bold;">shudders with revulsion</span> at the suggestion of paying real money for Linden dollars. How do they think the SL economy works - one way? With nothing coming in and everything going out? The other mystery is the question of skills. Second Life is still life, and as in life, zero skills gets you zero money. You don't walk into a hospital an exclaim "<span style="font-style:italic;">OK, I want to earn money, let me operate!</span>" - why do they think this approach will work in Second Life?<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1173/1422748331_305b825735_o.png"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1173/1422748331_305b825735_o.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Remember.. (</span><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://ialja.blogspot.com/2007/09/5-common-myths-about-second-life.html">source</a><span style="font-style: italic;">)</span><br /></div><br />I've almost given up on understanding it and lately just accept it as a given. As it is a newbie-only issue, I'm inclined to think that this question is posed by the members of the 90% brigade - the ones to try Second Life for a while and never come back. But does that mean that 90% of population is unable to think outside of the money-making box? Now that is a scary thought..IYan Writerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00682961187290777139noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2631162788303967848.post-56096451915589279342008-03-26T19:24:00.011+01:002008-03-27T17:12:00.404+01:00Avatar uprising (and it's not even October)<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Water cooler discussions * topics revisited * latest crisis * out-of-hand dismissal * communist parallel * obscured blessings * ah, but-</span><br /></div><br />If you are ever in any doubt that Second Life users <span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">(or, at least, the vocal ones)</span> are a community, check out the topics of conversation. There are minor topics, discussed by individual posters and commenters; and then there are the big topics - the ones where you find yourself discussing them in-world, on blogs and in blog comments. A common perception of reality is, of course, one of the characteristics of a community. But even more fascinating is the <span style="font-weight: bold;">persistence </span>and<span style="font-weight: bold;"> pervasiveness</span> of topics and conversations; it's not unusual to start a conversation with an avatar in-world, continue it over several blog posts and comments and end it on twitter - all the while interacting and including others in conversation.<br /><br />The topics of late have ranged from banking in virtual worlds to meaning and methods of using virtual worlds. I don't know why <span style="font-weight: bold;">"The end is nigh!"</span> debates are always followed by the more philosophical ones, but it's nice in an "<span style="font-style: italic;">After every rain comes the sun</span>" kinda way.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIrErdQRTE758d4Ff3anni-I3kADh-c6kcQQp0GsrCC7Lg0KK9cZ3MefPnQq9U-tPTZdyVIDCGYYuIBsQECPRQIw6qHBM-N8IEounYLjDgG093CXQOVYlhYwhBO7VxtYRy6pxLPL73XLw/s1600-h/the+end+is+nigh.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 204px; height: 153px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIrErdQRTE758d4Ff3anni-I3kADh-c6kcQQp0GsrCC7Lg0KK9cZ3MefPnQq9U-tPTZdyVIDCGYYuIBsQECPRQIw6qHBM-N8IEounYLjDgG093CXQOVYlhYwhBO7VxtYRy6pxLPL73XLw/s400/the+end+is+nigh.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5182384722589785890" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />So, after the extremely philosophical "<span style="font-style: italic;">what is the meaning of IS</span>" debates of late have subsided, I was waiting for the bombshell to drop - and it has. Linden Lab has decided to tighten the TM reigns on the old SL mare and prod us in a new direction, and the SLogosphere <a href="http://yolto.com/FeedTopic.aspx?Id=515">exploded</a>.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3ci0ZoWB878J-5z5NBCzhj7tLC_L4vdDzKyW6Z1jVrma1D4nS3p8OxGTYHKCRH4RB6fhOHOMcSBMCOXleAzLJeUqcB79RTZIbpzDspkBqtVq2VeNJkhoQxCMhP2_aJlj3J-8lpbxHmJQ/s1600-h/Supernova.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 197px; height: 254px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3ci0ZoWB878J-5z5NBCzhj7tLC_L4vdDzKyW6Z1jVrma1D4nS3p8OxGTYHKCRH4RB6fhOHOMcSBMCOXleAzLJeUqcB79RTZIbpzDspkBqtVq2VeNJkhoQxCMhP2_aJlj3J-8lpbxHmJQ/s400/Supernova.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5182384640985407250" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />First, quickly on the topic of trademarks: Can LL tighten TM control? <span style="font-weight: bold;">Yes</span>. Will it in fact have any impact on most bloggers? <span style="font-weight: bold;">No</span>. Is it a sign of an upcoming IPO? <span style="font-weight: bold;">Don't be silly</span> - LL would be crazy to IPO with stagnating growth, in a recession-bound market, and with a missing/unproved CEO. Is it yet another perhaps needed, but extremely stupidly implemented decision which seemingly affects the whole Second Life community? <span style="font-weight: bold;">Absolutely</span> - but I have come to expect nothing less of Linden Lab. Should we panic? Well, <span style="font-weight: bold;">if you insist</span>.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6lyWG5eQJv2RWM0yp0_YnqcLw_JfFpjgcItPSOSGl4y3yRntY2FK6ElREqKwOaoA9cpu3MXG1dlnY7czXxHcThOarq4CLTXET7PF7F4Lpzw_YrVAOr5NKj4r3tqREm20lflBTq8CWlOw/s1600-h/panic.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 127px; height: 198px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6lyWG5eQJv2RWM0yp0_YnqcLw_JfFpjgcItPSOSGl4y3yRntY2FK6ElREqKwOaoA9cpu3MXG1dlnY7czXxHcThOarq4CLTXET7PF7F4Lpzw_YrVAOr5NKj4r3tqREm20lflBTq8CWlOw/s400/panic.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5182385469914095410" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />But back to the community. I grew up in a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialist_Federal_Republic_of_Yugoslavia">communist country</a> and once heard this anecdote by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stane_Dolanc">one of the commie leaders</a>: he was meeting with some Italian representatives who commented that our delegation (and, indeed, the constituent nations) bickered all the time. "<span style="font-style: italic;">Ah, yes, that is very true</span>," answered our leader, "<span style="font-style: italic;">but just try attacking us - we'll close like a fist and repel you!</span>". "<span style="font-style: italic;">But</span>," wondered the Italian delegate, "<span style="font-style: italic;">what will you do if nobody attacks you?</span>"<br /><br />As the former country is now fragmented into seven new countries <span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">(I believe, and at last count; but it's so hard to keep track)</span>, the Italian guy was right. And - doesn't the same hold for the Second Life community? When there are no perceived external dangers, we're at each other's throat over silly things like who is more "<span style="font-style: italic;">immersed</span>" in the environment and whose prim hair looks better. But, when a threat appears, we form tight ranks and start waving the pitchforks.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO0-PEFZWyzIUGbpJjERVwCdNyYZuwjSNCV72rtdPPVACVfpIuR7YWI4TzpaO4x0OxVL_58h0bifD2E4qRLnMiLms1WvgbBqHqdjmBqNzRcvnCT00V9z4jvLC8-NQlwinlQEm0SHCHy5A/s1600-h/peasant+revolt.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 243px; height: 221px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO0-PEFZWyzIUGbpJjERVwCdNyYZuwjSNCV72rtdPPVACVfpIuR7YWI4TzpaO4x0OxVL_58h0bifD2E4qRLnMiLms1WvgbBqHqdjmBqNzRcvnCT00V9z4jvLC8-NQlwinlQEm0SHCHy5A/s400/peasant+revolt.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5182387007512387394" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />With that in mind, Linden Lab's heavy handed policy changes might be seen as a blessing in disguise. A chance blessing, to be sure - I have yet to be impressed with Linden Lab's community handling and no one can pretend <span style="font-weight: bold;">that</span> well - but a blessing none the less.<br /><br />But, as our example proved, this can only work for so long. Sooner or later, you have to move to better community strategies - and I hope Linden Lab find them soon. If only to stop the drama..IYan Writerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00682961187290777139noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2631162788303967848.post-44950209993648056952008-03-09T19:42:00.006+01:002008-03-09T20:25:16.554+01:00The hunt for the elusive augmentationist<span style="font-style: italic;">After several opening salvos, the immersionist cavalry has reached the supposed location of the augmentationist camp and found it empty - not even a prim cube there. With the battle clearly won, the horses were put back into inventory, many a flexy skirt was rezzed and the wings put on for the celebration. The augmentationists were on the run.<br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1229/763031354_1efc03aa08.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 322px; height: 236px;" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1229/763031354_1efc03aa08.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Aim!!</span><br /></div><br />But were they?<br /><br />The abominable augmentationist is a fearsome beast indeed. I picture him with long fangs, stalking around Second Life in an avatar that looks just like his RL self, filled with righteous indignation at the multicolored denizens around him, always ready to shout "<span style="font-style: italic;">YOU ARE PLAYING A GAME! GET OUT MORE!</span>".<br /><br />There is just one problem: their population density is about <span style="font-weight: bold;">the same as the Yeti </span>population in RL.<br /><br />You see, the dreaded <span style="font-style: italic;">augmentationist</span> is defined as "<span style="font-style: italic;">someone who doesn't immerse in the medium</span>". Someone who doesn't "get" the other users, doesn't get the world and doesn't get the rules and etiquette of Second Life. It is true - a lot of newcomers to Second Life come in with a similar mindset and stay that way. Based on the registration/active user stats, I think the number could be as high as 90%. But - all of them are <span style="font-weight: bold;">gone</span>, never to return.<br /><br />Why would someone not seeing the benefits of Second Life stay in? Suffer the grid and viewer crashes, climb his way up Mt.Stupid UI and brave the Inventory Missing monster? No reason at all - so they leave.<br /><br />The ones who stay are the ones who see the benefits of Second Life and are willing to suffer its quirks for a chance of connecting to other users.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Yes, Virginia - we are all Immersionists.<br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1081/544288669_76022abcde.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 329px; height: 189px;" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1081/544288669_76022abcde.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Peace at last?</span><br /></div><br /><span>Separating immersionists into groups based on whether they reveal their real life info, whether they roleplay, do business in Second Life or use Second Life for business is .. silly, yet quintessentially human. Still, to be honest.. I had kinda hoped we had outgrown it. Oh well, perhaps in Third Life.<br /></span>IYan Writerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00682961187290777139noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2631162788303967848.post-76202148493027638112007-12-30T13:31:00.001+01:002008-02-26T11:58:11.715+01:00So you want to be a benevolent dictator: rules for running a virtual communityI have recently attended an interesting discussion about virtual community management. It made me think about communities, their rules and their users, hence this blog post. It is based on my experiences with being a member of and running virtual communities since 1992 (for more details about my tech past, see my <a href="http://iyanwriter.blogspot.com/2007/12/how-unalienated-iyan-writer-got-his.html">previous blog post</a>).<br /><br />The relationship between users and administrators in a virtual community is a tricky one. On one hand, absolute power rests with the administrators; on the other hand, the users invest their time, add value to the community and demand a stake in the way it's been run. It is a tricky situation and one of the common pitfalls of any virtual community. The balance is delicate; one step over the line by any party is sure to damage trust and bring quarrels to the community. What can an administrator do to avoid the problem?<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img style="width: 240px; height: 202px;" src="http://www.cartoonstock.com/lowres/bmm0328l.jpg" /><br /></div><br />The first thing to keep in mind is that the <span style="font-weight: bold;">community = the users</span>, plain and simple. Yes, the work done by the administrators is valuable; but you can have a community without administrators (albeit a chaotic one) - however, without the users, there is NO community.<br /><br />The second thing to remember is the <span style="font-weight: bold;">power disparity</span>. The users know that they have little to no actual power - they cannot click on someone and ban them, for example , but have to plead their case before the administratorss. While the users know this, they hate to be reminded of this. It's the same in real life: the police COULD, in theory, throw you in jail even if you are innocent; but we do our best to forget this and count on the legal system to help us in that case.<br /><br />The third thing is <span style="font-weight: bold;">planning ahead</span>. Like Wayne Gretzky said - "<span style="font-style: italic;">I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it is.</span>" Some decisions might seem like a good idea at the time, but might not be in the long run. It's the same in business: once the company crosses a certain size threshold, it is better to do things following a set process. Yes, it might take a bit more time compared to a gung-ho, quick-fix solution; but the extra time buys you predictability and enables easier connections among co-workers and departments - or among community members.<br /><br />So, based on this, what can we extrapolate?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">1. The opinion of the users should be more important than the opinion of the administrators</span><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img style="width: 106px; height: 152px;" src="http://tell.fll.purdue.edu/JapanProj/FLClipart/Adjectives/tall&short.gif" /><br /></div>In order to tip the scales toward the users,<span style="font-weight: bold;"> their opinions should matter more</span> than the administrators'. That does not mean that the administrators should do anything the users say; but it means that in a regular discussion, it is the administrator who should gracefully bow out of the conversation - even if it is to "agree to disagree".<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">2. The administrators should lay down clear rules and follow them.</span><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img style="width: 230px; height: 161px;" src="http://www.learnerdriving.com/Aids/Highway_Code/7__Using_the_road__Rules_135_-/165_dble_roundabout.gif" /><br /></div><br />While there should be <span style="font-weight: bold;">some latitude allowed for the users</span>, there should be <span style="font-weight: bold;">none for the administrators</span>. Think of the example with the police: if random innocent people would be detained and the law system would not work in their favour, would you feel safe? The belief that the same laws hold true for everybody - policeman or not, administrator or not - fosters trust and a feeling of safety. Remember the importance of safety in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow%27s_hierarchy_of_needs">Maslow's hierarchy</a>; only when we are feeling safe can we satisfy our needs for belonging, self-esteem and self-actualization - which is what communities are all about.<br /><br />A virtual community is an intangible thing; in the absence of face-to-face inputs, a framework of clear rules allows the users to fit in more easily and conduct themselves with more assurance.<br /><br />Again: this does not mean exclusion of common sense. Balancing common sense with adherence to the rules is another challenge for the community administrators.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">3. A muti-tiered system of management is preferable</span><br /><br />As in real life, with the CEO and the board of directors, community <span style="font-weight: bold;">administrators should be divided into two groups</span>. The first one - the administrators - sets the rules and takes care for the technical side. The second group - the moderators - runs the community based on those rules. Administrators themselves should "keep their hands clean" - not enter into arguments with users, nor ban users unless a moderator requests it. Another option that I have not yet witnessed in a virtual community is a three-tiered system: the admins, the moderators, and the dispute resolution section. This probably sounds very familiar, and it should. Most probably, it is the way your country is run - with a body that makes the laws, a body that rules based on that laws and the courts to decide when laws have been broken.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img style="width: 245px; height: 154px;" src="http://www.communities-united.org/atf/cf/%7B92EABFF8-7BEC-480A-B884-631AC431BEAB%7D/image1.jpg" /><br /></div><br />Of course, the problem of selecting moderators is a complex one and a blog post in its own right. Based on my experience, many systems work. Perhaps the best one was used on the old FidoNet network where the moderators would be elected by the users. It demands more from both the users and the administrators, however the sense of joint participation in community more than makes up for it.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">4. The administrator should NEVER get into an argument with a user</span><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img style="width: 200px; height: 138px;" src="http://lifeboat.com/images/couple.shouting.jpg" /><br /></div>This rule seems very obvious and simple, but is almost never followed. Engaging in flame wars <span style="font-weight: bold;">damages reputation </span>and<span style="font-weight: bold;"> undermines trust</span>. The fact is that <span style="font-weight: bold;">the users will have more fun</span> in a community than the administrators; it is, as I have said earlier, <span style="font-weight: bold;">their</span> community after all. Leadership is not a magic fun-ride - it's tough work that demands sacrifices. They must lead by example - be the most courteous, the most attentive to other's needs, the most willing to understand another's point of view and least affected by emotions.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">5. The disciplinary actions should be public</span><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img style="width: 167px; height: 159px;" src="http://www.dkimages.com/discover/previews/870/20085858.JPG" /><br /></div>While this may seem like an additional punishment for the offending user, it is actually quite effective in preventing misbehavior. But that is just a useful side-effect - the main benefit of having a public list of disciplinary actions is for the users to<span style="font-weight: bold;"> keep tabs on the administrators</span>. It forces the administrators into explaining their actions and thus into following the rules more closely.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">6. Users should be involved in rule changes and strategic decisions</span><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img style="width: 368px; height: 123px;" src="http://lpsy.epfl.ch/VMworkshop/pictures/discussion.jpg" /><br /></div>Blindingly obvious, but included for completeness' sake.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">7. Admit mistakes and learn from them</span><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0Y_iHow-SzpnTLVQLe9kgO9HnTpawIcwRKz_kImOHrUraPzGxZSpw5_sfnF3xHECY55Xxkvaw4sDTnpfibRTZlDKuOhUgw4MjFyQC_yW_v7ro6HN8K0T8VLPsdbtx9vBRjgjSkJsPJuo/s1600-h/mistake.jpg.w180h240.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 112px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0Y_iHow-SzpnTLVQLe9kgO9HnTpawIcwRKz_kImOHrUraPzGxZSpw5_sfnF3xHECY55Xxkvaw4sDTnpfibRTZlDKuOhUgw4MjFyQC_yW_v7ro6HN8K0T8VLPsdbtx9vBRjgjSkJsPJuo/s400/mistake.jpg.w180h240.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5171241263634726530" border="0" /></a><br /></div>Everybody makes mistakes - in communities and in real life. If we admit them and how we deal with them is what defines us as a human being and evaluates our capacity for management. This does not mean that in every dispute, you should give way; but you should define guidelines on what constitutes a mistake (say, a vote by the users; or more than X posts by Y users on the subject) and adhere by them. It is perfectly fine for a community to have one or more smart alecks that know everything and can not be budged; but it is potentially very destructive when the smart aleck is in charge.IYan Writerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00682961187290777139noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2631162788303967848.post-39570445000991856552008-02-11T17:31:00.000+01:002008-02-11T18:10:40.655+01:00A griefer's manifesto - FOR THE LULZ!!I am sure you have all seen the slanderous campaign of the Second Life blogosphere about griefing in the recent weeks. Spurred by the excellent Julian Dibbel article, a host of Second Life users have been asserting that griefing in Second Life can cause real world problems. Such claims cannot go unopposed. Hence this manifesto.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">A GRIEFER'S MANIFESTO</span><br /></div><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">1. We're only joking!</span><br /><br />Some Second Life users say that we are interfering with the grid. Well, Pah! says we. Why, the sim crashing is nothing but a fun game. How dare the sim owners object? The ever-so-funny self-replicating cubes (funny texture optional) are a simple jest. We are joking! Come on, lighten up! Nothing here is real, so who are you to claim one state of irreality is better than the other?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">2. It's just a game!</span><br /><br />Some of the "victims" - I use quotes because nobody can be a victim for hearing a joke or participating in one - say that we interrupt business meetings. A business meeting?? In a *game*? Come on, what's next - meetings over a game of Scrabulous? Corporate take-overs of WoW characters? Everyone knows that business is only done in real world with real things - and on-line only when trigger-happy corporations like Ebay* or Microsoft* are involved.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:78%;">(*The names Ebay and Microsoft are trademarked by their respective owners. No claim as to anything regarding these two fine examples of corporate America is meant or implied. Please, Ebay and Microsoft lawyers, do not come after me in my basement - lulz and Ron Paul posters are all I have)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">3. We decide how the game is played!</span><br /><br />Some Second Life users dare claim that we are interrupting their fun. Yeah right, like giant snail races or discussions of RL and SL issues could possibly be *fun*. It's all a game - who are you to tell us how to play it? It is <span style="font-weight: bold;">WE</span> who decide how the game is played. And it's simple, so just get it into your heads: our objective is to annoy you. For the lulz. And your purpose is to be annoyed! Now, see - isn't Second Life fun? LULZ!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">4. Griefing is not a crime!</span><br /><br />There are still some that say that griefing is a crime. A crime?! What is a crime, anyway? And who is to decide what falls under that category? Show us a law that prohibits animated penises. And who could even set up such a law? The users of Second Life are simply too distributed and the courts too detached and expensive for anyone to prosecute. Therefore, there is no crime in Second Life.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">5. Suck it up!</span><br /><br />We understand that there will always be some users that just cannot comprehend the simple fun of griefing. Like a baby without a rattle, they will continue to wail and shake their tiny fists. Well, from the goodness of our hearts, here is how to deal with griefing (<span style="font-style: italic;">or "having a bit of harmless fun", as is the preferred term</span>). It is quite simple: <span style="font-weight: bold;">DO NOTHING</span>. After some hours, days or months, the LULZ will be gone and you will be able to continue your "business" or "fun". Trying to fight us will just make the LULZ longer. You cannot win. Patiently wait and eventually, you might get your Second Life back.<br />--<br /><span style="font-style: italic;">I graciously thank Lordfly Digeridoo for inspiring me to write this manifesto.</span>IYan Writerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00682961187290777139noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2631162788303967848.post-12418633785197007802008-01-09T11:39:00.000+01:002008-01-09T13:02:23.362+01:00The unbearable lightness of banning: Linden Lab's lack of strategy<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;">The demise of banking * analysis of Linden VPs * Linden Lab's problem solving algorithm explained * a friendly advice to Phillip * it's a brave old world * patronizing advice</span><br /></div><br />By now, you are sure to know about the Linden Lab's <a href="http://blog.secondlife.com/2008/01/08/new-policy-regarding-in-world-banks/">ban on in-world banking</a>. At a glance, it seems like a reasonable decision: the banking activity in Second Life was often suspicious, and it has had its fair share of <a href="http://www.wired.com/gaming/virtualworlds/news/2007/08/virtual_bank">scandals</a>. But what might it mean for the long-term future?<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img style="width: 266px; height: 199px;" src="http://sl.governormarley.com/bankrun.jpg" /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">A rush on banks on Tuesday (</span><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://your2ndplace.com/">source</a><span style="font-style: italic;">)</span><br /></div><p>On Monday, I attended the Metanomics event featuring Robin Linden. The Metanomics events are often boring, especially the ones featuring Linden VP's. Last year, we had Ginsu Linden, whose answer to the questions ranging from in-world monetary policy to the laws of supply and demand was the mantra "<span style="font-weight: bold;">Second Life is a product</span>". This one was no exception, except that Robin's mantra reply to the questions ranging from land zoning to JIRA and reputation systems was "<span style="font-weight: bold;">It's very hard, so we are focusing our efforts elsewhere</span>", peppered with an occasional "Well, if the community implements something, we might use it".<br /></p><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRPhudDzbZdjz8MfYz9wmezo3X-dU7Gm0KsldDmwc3jRbZjmYJnEXGltfyyV1OUIbPfm-6GdB5BpF5vqE4Y2lRZQBy0CgAgHvuTHbALee2D-uHzeJtGPuJzgJh9Gc7NFu37u20p6PxnTw/s1600-h/Metanomics-Gene-Yoon.preview.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRPhudDzbZdjz8MfYz9wmezo3X-dU7Gm0KsldDmwc3jRbZjmYJnEXGltfyyV1OUIbPfm-6GdB5BpF5vqE4Y2lRZQBy0CgAgHvuTHbALee2D-uHzeJtGPuJzgJh9Gc7NFu37u20p6PxnTw/s400/Metanomics-Gene-Yoon.preview.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5153438943544054946" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">I HAS A PRODUCT</span><br /></div><span style="font-style: italic;"><br />(hint to surviving Metanomics events without falling asleep: watch it at Muse Isle, where the atmosphere is fun and joking constant)</span><br /><p><br />Boring as Linden VPs may be, they do provide an insight into the workings of Linden Lab and the future of Second Life. Briefly stated, their problem-solving algorithm is:<br /></p><ol><li>A problem arises in Second Life</li><li>Problem grows worse; L$ are lost, blog posts on the topic abound, possible solutions are put forward</li><li>The JIRA is mobbed</li><li>Time passes</li><li>Some more time passes<br /></li><li>Linden Lab implements a quick fix by either:</li><ol><li>banning the activity in question</li><li>extending RL governance to the SL activity in question</li></ol></ol>While this may seem to work <span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">(hey, gambling is not a problem anymore, right?)</span>, it proves that Linden Lab has no long-term strategy for Second Life. This is a bit shocking: all Phillip's speeches and LL's mission ('<a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://lindenlab.com/about">To advance the human condition'</a>) sure make it seem like they know where Second Life is headed. There seems to be a disconnect at the middle management layer - you have visionaries and enthusiasts on the top and bottom, but the VP layer is made out of old-school businessmen. We all remember how it went when Apple tried a Coca-cola executive, so my advice to Phillip would be "<span style="font-weight: bold;">Watch your back!</span>".<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizkhVeavjAZcWv3sl4WSQQ5294hiyCmThAHM-rjQlvfrWOAv6Stpraw_Ka1dfHborpts39MrVwUtd3dvWwxdEKfJPMHB3_3nW1CQNLGgCKUZTGCuJN_eiDCsyBBayYClxhgCwWGkCh2PA/s1600-h/WatchYourBack.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 252px; height: 189px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizkhVeavjAZcWv3sl4WSQQ5294hiyCmThAHM-rjQlvfrWOAv6Stpraw_Ka1dfHborpts39MrVwUtd3dvWwxdEKfJPMHB3_3nW1CQNLGgCKUZTGCuJN_eiDCsyBBayYClxhgCwWGkCh2PA/s400/WatchYourBack.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5153441954316129458" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Oh, Phillip?</span><br /></div><br />The essential premise of Second Life and its biggest competitive advantage is <span style="font-weight: bold;">freedom</span> - freedom of creation, freedom of communication, freedom of interaction. Of course there must be some limits to freedom; but instead of <span style="font-weight: bold;">giving us the mechanisms to evolve these limits</span>, Linden Lab simply stamps the real-world solution on the troubled area. Problem with the banks in Second Life because there is no regulatory body with authority and tools to regulate banking? No problem - let's allow only real-world banks which conform to real-world restrictions. Bit by bit, they are making Second Life a <span style="font-weight: bold;">carbon copy of First Life</span> - just with wings and furry avatars.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">An aside: Linden Lab states that Linden dollars are "<a href="http://secondlife.com/corporate/tos.php">fictional currency</a>". So why must you have a real currency bank certificate to open a bank in Second Life? Wouldn't a certificate of fictionality be more appropriate? I fear that LL has opened a Pandora's box with this decision - it will be interesting to see how the future develops.</span><br /><br />Am I concerned about my Second Life? Yes and no. I love Second Life, but what exactly do I love about it? The crashing viewer and an abundance of Ruths? No - I love the way it enables me to <span style="font-weight: bold;">communicate</span> with others, by creation or by interaction. Exactly who provides that service is <span style="font-weight: bold;">unimportant</span> in the long term. Once something has been done, it's easy for another to copy and improve it. If Second Life fails, I have no doubts that a<span style="font-weight: bold;"> Third Life will await me</span> down the road.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img style="width: 313px; height: 187px;" src="http://www.massively.com/media/2008/01/unwisdom1.jpg" /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Ruth army (<a href="http://www.massively.com/2008/01/03/gaming-search-results-the-unwisdom-of-crowds/">source</a>)</span> </div><br />I offer no concrete suggestions to Linden Lab; <a href="http://phasinggrace.blogspot.com/2008/01/25-group-symptom-in-second-life.html">other posters</a> have done that better than I could have. I do have one advice for Robin Linden, the "VP for community", though: <span style="font-weight: bold;">make deciding about the "hard" issues your priority</span>. They (and not viewer stability, GRID architecture or banking regulation) are key to Linden Lab's and Second Life's future.IYan Writerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00682961187290777139noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2631162788303967848.post-87527865415577753042008-01-04T14:43:00.000+01:002008-01-04T18:22:28.468+01:00Second Life for fun and profit: the cycle of added value<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Introduction * a newbie's response * the value of.. well, value * the formula for success * give before you take * a hearty guffaw</span><br /></div><br />Virtual worlds are <span style="font-weight: bold;">tricky</span>. That holds true for users and companies alike. The old behavioral patterns no longer apply - there are no quests to embark on, character level is not measured with simple stats, repeatedly hacking at things doesn't guarantee a level-up, and pouring money into shiny builds does not guarantee an increase of sales.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img style="width: 177px; height: 141px;" src="http://www.christiananswers.net/spotlight/games/2005/world-of-warcraft3.jpg" /> <img style="width: 164px; height: 141px;" src="http://www.3pointd.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/01/aol.jpg" /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Ah, the simplicity</span><br /></div><br />What is a person or a company confronted with a brave, yet incomprehensible new world, to do? Well, most simply <span style="font-weight: bold;">leave</span>. That is evidenced in low user retention rates and the exodus of companies to greener (or so they think) pastures - to other virtual worlds or back to the warm embrace of traditional advertising. Yet, some persevere and a few of them even <span style="font-weight: bold;">prosper</span>. What do they know that the rest don't?<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img style="width: 156px; height: 132px;" src="http://nwn.blogs.com/nwn/images/coke_logo.jpg" /><img style="width: 200px; height: 132px;" src="http://mashable.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/12/cc-metro.png" /><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-style: italic;">"There there, we'll do it much better this time"</span><br /></div></div><br />It's simple: the prosperous ones understand <span style="font-weight: bold;">value</span>.<br /><br />The key ingredient of a successful and eventually profitable Second Life presence is <span style="font-weight: bold;">added value for the Second Life community</span>. Only by adding value can companies build their Second Life community, and only a Second Life community enables the companies to reap added value from Second Life.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjabnj3K_8KyOlA32Mwqtm50HAixSzzcvrvAymNXJ2n83V3k0dlX-HAJsm87Vh4-27EdddwmdMOFte1r1reKdYNhEPmpQjyWQikIMhBFZIGkM079YtT8pBQ-p0uZxgh7nSFwTNTveybv_s/s1600-h/Community+added+value+ENG.png"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjabnj3K_8KyOlA32Mwqtm50HAixSzzcvrvAymNXJ2n83V3k0dlX-HAJsm87Vh4-27EdddwmdMOFte1r1reKdYNhEPmpQjyWQikIMhBFZIGkM079YtT8pBQ-p0uZxgh7nSFwTNTveybv_s/s400/Community+added+value+ENG.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5151621656981771410" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">The cycle of value</span><em></em><br /></div><br />A process for real companies entering Second Life should therefore be something like this:<br /><ol><li>Company starts <span style="font-weight: bold;">creating value </span>for Second Life users. That can be practically anything: free content, free music, regular events, education, ..</li><li>A <span style="font-weight: bold;">community forms</span> around this and grows<br /></li><li>After a community has been established, the company can <span style="font-weight: bold;">reap the added value benefits</span> - brand promotion, attracting new customers, business partners or employees, sales of virtual and real goods, content creation, market research, experimentation with business models, ..</li></ol>But why does it work like that? It's nothing but the old "Give before you take" rule applied to business.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img style="width: 63px; height: 82px;" src="http://chase.inthebasement.us/wp-content/giving_tree.gif" /> <img style="width: 77px; height: 82px;" src="http://www.aamconsulting.com/img/right-img-giving.jpg" /> <img style="width: 81px; height: 81px;" src="http://nonprofits.aclink.org/newknowledge/images/dove.gif" /> <img style="width: 106px; height: 79px;" src="http://images.inmagine.com/168nwm/stockbyte/cd284/354011rkt.jpg" /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Looks familiar..</span><br /></div><br />The "GBYT" rule is one of the cornerstones of human interaction - in a way, our default behavior. Big corporations were only able to circumvent it by <span style="font-weight: bold;">hammering</span> advertising messages into us and controlling the supply. In Second Life - and all open virtual worlds - this kind of a <span style="font-weight: bold;">heavy-handed approach doesn't work </span>- everybody's free to teleport away and the playing field for content and service providers is extremely level.<br /><br />I believe the virtual worlds are <span style="font-weight: bold;">here to stay</span>. Not necessarily Second Life, to be sure, but there will be virtual worlds and they will shape our life - both personal and professional. Like with the internet, the sooner you "get it", the bettter - and that goes doubly for companies. Which means that in order to prosper in virtual worlds, <span style="font-weight: bold;">they will have to learn what it's like to be human again</span>.<br /><br />Hah!IYan Writerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00682961187290777139noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2631162788303967848.post-87653170299192583092007-12-26T09:57:00.000+01:002007-12-26T12:51:57.138+01:00Yet another turn of the year blog post<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Introduction - Second Life misrepresented - hurdles jumped and obstacles overcome - wildly inaccurate predictions - we few, we lucky few - holiday cheer.</span><br /></div><br />It's customary to commemorate the switching-of-arbitrary-number-thing with highlights of the year <span style="font-style: italic;">n </span>and predictions for the year <span style="font-style: italic;">n+1</span>. Well, far be it from me to separate from the herd, so here we go!<br /><div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://shop.onrez.com/item/304722"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 238px; height: 238px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy9mlQrhFXgH82ZvE4vUedSjC1GTZxiANhhHDFsCW3GMNv7wuqTmCmW6yHYwNpVQKF8w6s7IenxhMN5RX7VpPDXy_VU6Zl46R72W2IaxTA-Lc4LTVsAbGjvzTiT1CrX5p8soAeGyMFLeY/s400/tiny+sheep.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5148204782864536610" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Baaaaa!</span><br /></div><br />As 90% of the other blogs are filled with<a href="http://readwriteweb.com/"> complex technical analysis</a> of the year behind us, I'll take another route and try to evaluate the year from a <span style="font-weight: bold;">more personal perspective</span>. For me, 2007 was the year when I shed my online 3D environment prejudices and<span style="font-weight: bold;"> embraced virtual worlds</span> wholeheartedly.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkevEvADm0ZTXRSBXH8hP-Sl99OpgqUEfGKK3AfF69gmzfVfOWX-2-6VX1rFMRysERxUNgC6nz49a18ls_cRiGIn7zcRHXSOp6oE010DX8smWOiCWWnkhYilhcfNeHCD08wbQ6BaniEvM/s1600-h/extropia+party.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkevEvADm0ZTXRSBXH8hP-Sl99OpgqUEfGKK3AfF69gmzfVfOWX-2-6VX1rFMRysERxUNgC6nz49a18ls_cRiGIn7zcRHXSOp6oE010DX8smWOiCWWnkhYilhcfNeHCD08wbQ6BaniEvM/s400/extropia+party.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5148230629977723970" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Embracing the virtual world</span><br /></div><br />Why was I skeptical? For one, I <span style="font-weight: bold;">hate</span> online multiplayer games. The hassle of having to play the game and deal with complex relationships at the same time never attracted me. When I first heard of virtual worlds through the mainstream media, this was the impression I got. Of course, having read <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_crash">Snow crash</a> (and loving it) years ago, I was patiently waiting for the Metaverse. I just <span style="font-weight: bold;">didn't think we were there yet</span> - and none of the media reports made it seem so.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikM1-INCGXuvAC0QuyAtPOp1yxrjMaD_RwqlfTdqLioW51b8t8U-WJvZh_mm7NNGkk8CVDgc-YaJ5B0K68wgZMts8K1Dfl8sv2LOu5Bhh1H_Chq8jcn4ptTxlEOX6TSPr4y9BHhMsTWQ0/s1600-h/neuromancer-cover.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 142px; height: 212px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikM1-INCGXuvAC0QuyAtPOp1yxrjMaD_RwqlfTdqLioW51b8t8U-WJvZh_mm7NNGkk8CVDgc-YaJ5B0K68wgZMts8K1Dfl8sv2LOu5Bhh1H_Chq8jcn4ptTxlEOX6TSPr4y9BHhMsTWQ0/s400/neuromancer-cover.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5148233945692476514" border="0" /> </a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-GAgBsKtXMI7PbiGdZLj6A0IQOcf6d7rxHxWN1wdvhwFjLVa1wlohv3TvT2CUxwI3TE8TQ3i4_aiT3g19wO5Zb1eyVQF6sdSEhg23p7iTqEccpXNLao6PKiowOP6C9gOcevCQfBh1y-s/s1600-h/SnowCrash.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 161px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-GAgBsKtXMI7PbiGdZLj6A0IQOcf6d7rxHxWN1wdvhwFjLVa1wlohv3TvT2CUxwI3TE8TQ3i4_aiT3g19wO5Zb1eyVQF6sdSEhg23p7iTqEccpXNLao6PKiowOP6C9gOcevCQfBh1y-s/s400/SnowCrash.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5148233559145419858" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The books that started it all</span><br /></div><br />The second reason was the name. "Second Life". Admit it: the name is <span style="font-weight: bold;">too good</span>! As I have been quite happy with my first life, the idea of a replacement life in a cloud of pixels was off putting. I understand why an immersionist would be immediately attracted to the name, but for myself, "Additional Life" or "Life Enhancement" would be more appropriate and alluring.<br /><br />All this combined to make it hard for me to jump the hurdle; but, fortunately, with the assistance of someone who used to <a href="http://ialja.blogspot.com/2007/08/catching-up-8-random-things-about-me.html">jump hurdles in competitions</a>, I finally managed it. I came, I saw, I spent Lindens, I crashed, I loved it!<br /><br />So, now that I am here, what are my Second Life predictions for 2008?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">1. User retention will stay the same</span><br /><br />Second Life's 10% user retention is not due to system crashes or user interface. It's due to <span style="font-weight: bold;">inherent complexity</span> of the virtual environment and communication. A <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Functional_illiteracy">large group of people</a> can't find the Post Office based on simple instructions and can't write a coherent email to save their lives. Do you really expect them to successfully navigate and communicate in virtual worlds?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">2. Prices of virtual goods will fall</span><br /><br />The virtual nature of SL merchandise means that there are <span style="font-weight: bold;">no costs associated with production</span> of items. Once the development/building costs are recouped and the competition is closing, it's very easy for the creators to start lowering price and continue to do so until the price reaches zero. This is the reason for Anshe's much-maligned <a href="http://www.secondlifeinsider.com/2007/09/13/buy-anshes-stuff-for-l-10/">10 L$ goods</a>. She's not evil; she just <span style="font-weight: bold;">understands</span> the virtual economy. The sooner SL creators understand the laws of the virtual world, the better. The solution is not to band together or <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RedLyae4b2s">hurl penises</a>, but to keep creating; the time of resting on laurels is even shorter in virtual world than in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_World_is_Flat">the flat world</a>.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Idea: instead of having fixed prices for goods, why not implement an algorithm that would automatically lower costs towards a preset minimum based on aggregate demand? Every store (or every creator) could have a sales bot that would connect to an external database and dynamically adjust prices.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">3. L$ will detach from the US dollar</span><br /><br />This one is a bit out on a limb. It greatly depends on the state of US economy during the 2008 and perceived main market for Linden Lab, as the possible attachment to the Euro would mean rising costs of Second Life for the American customers. However, if the US economy tanks, but the European and Asian don't, it would make sense to shift primary focus to more healthy markets and to guarantee an influx of a more stable currency.<br /><br /><div> <span style="font-weight: bold;">4. There will be no big virtual worlds revolution.</span><br /><br />Another risky prediction. I think that improvements of software alone cannot be revolutionary enough to turn the large part of society to virtual worlds (see prediction 1). The revolution, when it comes, will be based on hardware breakthroughs. Bring on the cyber jacks!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">5. The hype will become and remain mostly negative</span><br /><br />The people at Gartner are known for some <a href="http://news.zdnet.co.uk/emergingtech/0,1000000183,39284186,00.htm">weird predictions</a>, but I think they're on the money with the <a href="http://www.gartner.com/pages/story.php.id.8795.s.8.jsp">hype curve</a>. It's important to understand that the hype curve describes the behavior of mainstream media and says nothing about technologies as such.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKP7_dzowA8ZW36yvxBAxejyN6KMLIGsiW8t4tseuPU3WjevcQ97fPmRO6BMuRHO6T48KSnih8bPySgkug3xbtUb6ZZPZVZKJMx85vzkU0l1VpDLsnnFva1sBOIMWDs1KBGH2dvnwipBg/s1600-h/gartner+hype+curve.gif"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKP7_dzowA8ZW36yvxBAxejyN6KMLIGsiW8t4tseuPU3WjevcQ97fPmRO6BMuRHO6T48KSnih8bPySgkug3xbtUb6ZZPZVZKJMx85vzkU0l1VpDLsnnFva1sBOIMWDs1KBGH2dvnwipBg/s400/gartner+hype+curve.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5148227163939116082" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />What does that mean for virtual worlds? Well, from a personal standpoint - I remember the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eternal_September">Eternal September</a> and have seen it arrive in a variety of media, so I say <span style="font-weight: bold;">Hooray!</span> I understand the need for Linden Lab and virtual merchants to expand the user base as much as possible, but I for one will be glad to meet fewer, but more interesting people.<br /><br />From a global Second life standpoint, the year 2008 will be a year of <span style="font-weight: bold;">proving ourself and our virtual world against expectations</span>. The grid will crash; the media will glee in describing our alternative lifestyles to the close-minded masses; money influxes from big companies entering SL will drop; and respected SL businesses will close. But, despite (or even because) of all this, we will not only prevail, but become <span style="font-weight: bold;">stronger</span> - with better communities, better content, and more knowledge and skills. When the hype cycle turns and the shift into virtual worlds begins for real, we will be there and ready to <span style="font-weight: bold;">lead the transformation</span>.<br /><br />Wearing fancy avatars with wings or cute furry ones, of course!<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3ASMYiHWd9Lghz9_-mHDxTfYv6dz40jHWcMuuTf08hy4erWMdtZI9s9qKlqhCODl2KFoBGT-ppJmczDfXTvSy3fgPILu4W1_wAlKJm_KZFHdn4p428GNmNFxJhco2rBuurVwX8hcgPPk/s1600-h/Writer+greetings.png"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3ASMYiHWd9Lghz9_-mHDxTfYv6dz40jHWcMuuTf08hy4erWMdtZI9s9qKlqhCODl2KFoBGT-ppJmczDfXTvSy3fgPILu4W1_wAlKJm_KZFHdn4p428GNmNFxJhco2rBuurVwX8hcgPPk/s400/Writer+greetings.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5148237562054939778" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /></div></div>IYan Writerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00682961187290777139noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2631162788303967848.post-20041983805224852502007-12-22T12:29:00.000+01:002007-12-23T22:36:16.388+01:00How an unalienated IYan Writer got his avatar<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;">An explanation * IYan recounts the days of yore * joy in a small black box * joy in a big beige box * the cycle of communication and content * finishing words</span><br /></div><br />First, some background. My last few days in Second Life were <span style="font-weight: bold;">a blast</span>, re-enchanting me with the virtual worlds and their denizens. I've been moved by a <a href="http://grace.weebly.com/">musical immersion spectacle </a>and a shining example of a <a href="http://core.extropiacore.net/">community</a> having fun and at the same time helping those in need. I made a <a href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2347/2127908000_7516cd6a5a.jpg?v=0">watermellon-colored pony</a> eat snow and got it rubbed in the face by his Linden allies. But I have also had more than my share of RL discussions on the theme of "Technology and how it alienates us", which always <span style="font-weight: bold;">frustrate</span> me. That is why I wanted to write a post about all the great things technology brings us - but the introduction turned out to be a story in itself. To rez two prims with one click, consider this also a reply to the <span style="font-style: italic;">8 Things Meme</span> - I got <a href="http://sophrosyne-sl.livejournal.com/47869.html">tagged</a> by Sophrosyne last week.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr8upid_MN0R9OsE14s_4djd7_OiCuK9guQOyTr6blI7JaIkw4uA5x_CysU2bdzSl2B6mKyiS8D224t6uuK9dbZNETY2ZPA9ZxAn7x5tROSao-0a5GkGz_bTxU_M_i6b5FI-HqunBf64E/s1600-h/kadett0.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 173px; height: 130px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr8upid_MN0R9OsE14s_4djd7_OiCuK9guQOyTr6blI7JaIkw4uA5x_CysU2bdzSl2B6mKyiS8D224t6uuK9dbZNETY2ZPA9ZxAn7x5tROSao-0a5GkGz_bTxU_M_i6b5FI-HqunBf64E/s400/kadett0.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5147171297769001906" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig38jRKu5FU2ZfszHU7YPrpdbL60JArp_LdYNZuMfdGojtNx7POVohViNKWcjqBKBa5eUoMOt-yF5ESBblB11IDBJ_61uMy8u1BfFjYahRPUIPsy8DGZgU10AlBHwOPgBF3rmKyfJT8wQ/s1600-h/fash2_04.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 96px; height: 130px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig38jRKu5FU2ZfszHU7YPrpdbL60JArp_LdYNZuMfdGojtNx7POVohViNKWcjqBKBa5eUoMOt-yF5ESBblB11IDBJ_61uMy8u1BfFjYahRPUIPsy8DGZgU10AlBHwOPgBF3rmKyfJT8wQ/s400/fash2_04.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5147172994281083858" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0kKjtKRYJ9rWCH_Kv9Nx6Kn-YKEgHA4ZjDGQYDIH7mrglbVqsz2ZMdiiFaHecW7ArIBbVnbtj_ZaP0EMiceWumaBpYH9d_fvJtNq3gDpJunIS1_jEzy4lQysOeIbkszpZw8PZcmDJ7Ys/s1600-h/1970sfashionthumb.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 96px; height: 130px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0kKjtKRYJ9rWCH_Kv9Nx6Kn-YKEgHA4ZjDGQYDIH7mrglbVqsz2ZMdiiFaHecW7ArIBbVnbtj_ZaP0EMiceWumaBpYH9d_fvJtNq3gDpJunIS1_jEzy4lQysOeIbkszpZw8PZcmDJ7Ys/s400/1970sfashionthumb.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5147172904086770626" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The 70s *shudder*</span><br /></div><br />It's confession time: I'm <span style="font-weight: bold;">old</span>. Not Rolling Stones old, but old enough to remember a world of analogue pulse-dialing telephones with electrical buzzers, where the closest thing to a computer was <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HP-19C">my father's HP calculator</a> with <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">glowing red digits</span>. It could be coaxed into simulating a lunar lander by simple expedient of tapping in program commands for a few hours. The save feature wasn't there, of course, and I never managed to actually land the thing without crashing, but that didn't stop me from inputting the commands over and over again.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.robertopiecollection.com/Application/Images/Teleph/kirk-telephone-lg.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 109px;" src="http://www.robertopiecollection.com/Application/Images/Teleph/kirk-telephone-lg.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/25/HP-19C.jpg/250px-HP-19C.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 75px; height: 108px;" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/25/HP-19C.jpg/250px-HP-19C.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Archaeological specimens from the Electronic stone age</span><br /></div><br />Things got better, though. First, the <span style="font-weight: bold;">home computing revolution</span> hit our living room with a space-agey <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zx_spectrum">Sinclair ZX Spectrum</a> (<span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">many a geek gets misty-eyed when thinking about this black plastic box with its rubber keys</span>). As we lived in a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialist_Federal_Republic_of_Yugoslavia">then-communist then-state</a>, the herald of the future arrived to our house hidden in a trunk of a German friend of the family, who smuggled it across the border. Years of fun ensued, from typing in 30K long programs (<span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">which </span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">always</span><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"> had an obscure error or two in them</span>) and playing A LOT of <a href="http://www.twinbee.org/hob/play.php?snap=chuckie">games</a>, to purchasing pirated cassettes and attending programming classes. To this day, the command <span style="font-style: italic;">POKE 23609,255</span> is etched into my memory.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/33/ZXSpectrum48k.jpg/250px-ZXSpectrum48k.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 148px; height: 108px;" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/33/ZXSpectrum48k.jpg/250px-ZXSpectrum48k.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.lichtensteiger.de/Images/cassette02.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 72px; height: 50px;" src="http://www.lichtensteiger.de/Images/cassette02.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI4df1QYDSAxmFI0veIjvFGDiDybxt3EMU6rZ3T3waJmguuPk0EVNHnGXksg1yR0NDbIXFmBJLT4JSgEppbxJhWkM2TAEpvq6dZH4h51ezafiQotLdckmzqWye-z6n6Md0U7E1GuPZYX4/s1600-h/cpc_chuckie_egg.png"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 130px; height: 98px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI4df1QYDSAxmFI0veIjvFGDiDybxt3EMU6rZ3T3waJmguuPk0EVNHnGXksg1yR0NDbIXFmBJLT4JSgEppbxJhWkM2TAEpvq6dZH4h51ezafiQotLdckmzqWye-z6n6Md0U7E1GuPZYX4/s400/cpc_chuckie_egg.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5147193816282534930" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Bronze age fossils</span><br /></div><br />With the advent of the late 80s, the <span style="font-weight: bold;">PC revolution</span> arrived - again mostly in car trunks or under the seats. Before I could call a PC my own, I would sometimes persuade my mother to let me come to work, play games on their computer and read and read about DOS and PCs. I was probably the only person in the world to have written an extremely complex branching .BAT (<span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">DOS command batch</span>) file before I even had a PC. I wrote it down in a notebook, and, of course, never actually used it. When I finally had one, BASIC gave way to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turbo_Pascal">Turbo Pascal </a>(<span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">and my masterpiece, a half finished space invaders game with a single enemy ship</span>) and Chuckie Egg to Leisure Suit Larry and Defender of the crown. However, it was a purchase of a single computer component that <span style="font-weight: bold;">shaped</span> most of my later life and <span style="font-weight: bold;">fundamentally changed</span> the way I used my computer and interacted with others. It was, of course, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modem">modem</a>.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.old-computers.com/museum/photos/amstrad_pc1512_2s.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 157px; height: 161px;" src="http://www.old-computers.com/museum/photos/amstrad_pc1512_2s.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.73.com/a/tf493.gif"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 103px; height: 84px;" src="http://www.73.com/a/tf493.gif" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Iron age fossil and a simple signaling device</span><br /></div><br />The first few nights after I installed the modem were spent dialing <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulletin_board_system">Bulletin Board Systems</a> near and far. I would fill out the questionnaires, required to get an account <span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">(new user Qs came with the BBS software and were almost never changed or checked by system administrators or SysOps)</span>, download shareware and freeware games (most all sucked), but the thing that fascinated me the most were the message boards. I discovered a thriving community - and I wanted to be a part of it. I set up <span style="font-weight: bold;">my own BBS</span> and ran it for a few years, moderated groups, joined <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fidonet">FidoNet</a> (2:380/110) and had a great time debating and arguing on-line and getting together periodically for a beer fest.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9J8PbvdzfkLXt2Aa8q7ZcnI-HsHLXKNVoYBz4hjt1UmALHNYQt8DmiXqd6HBmjG0Aap2pXbn8yjowuxFGsoteW9JiugQvZALrbzaxAuKsJBFxDHR9ofPBG9r_0LP4rHbDf3suVfEM5JM/s1600-h/bbsmenu_large.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 442px; height: 209px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9J8PbvdzfkLXt2Aa8q7ZcnI-HsHLXKNVoYBz4hjt1UmALHNYQt8DmiXqd6HBmjG0Aap2pXbn8yjowuxFGsoteW9JiugQvZALrbzaxAuKsJBFxDHR9ofPBG9r_0LP4rHbDf3suVfEM5JM/s400/bbsmenu_large.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5146903678356788130" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Fragment of an ancient transmission</span><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br />A year or two later, I managed to procure a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VAX">VAX/VMS</a> username that allowed me to use the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DECNET">DECNET</a> via <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X.29">X.29</a> to connect to a (supposedly) US Army <a href="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=outdial+modem+US+Army&btnG=Search">outdial modem</a> (<span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">they were located in practically every state and unsecured</span>) to dial local USA BBS-es, use <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gopher_%28protocol%29">Gopher</a> and <a href="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=QSD+chat&btnG=Search">QSD chat</a>. The pattern emerged: after a new communication tech became available, I would first use it for content. Yes, porn too. Downloading, however, soon got boring and I would seek out others in the new medium. I would then cheerfully proceed to argue with them and explain that they simply haven't got a clue, but hey, it still counts as communication :)<br /><br />After the arrival of Internet, SLIP and Mosaic, the sky was the limit. The <span style="font-weight: bold;">personal homepage phenomenon </span>arrived, with everybody and his dog having a Geocities home page. I believe you know the rest of the internet story, so I will not bore you with details.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrW35x62Y2E6t8whmqr7kZxv7YLASF4eyVx2xPg9xA2DN5Uh3adYi_cMRxdc1kHN5ZV9f7Lf5RjGXSkI4hlqKDkKyI6cYL5XWg6AnqU-myZP-hbTpfir6rZxbXhQ8AbkFiRm3TYUIddmc/s1600-h/mosaic1.gif"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 134px; height: 103px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrW35x62Y2E6t8whmqr7kZxv7YLASF4eyVx2xPg9xA2DN5Uh3adYi_cMRxdc1kHN5ZV9f7Lf5RjGXSkI4hlqKDkKyI6cYL5XWg6AnqU-myZP-hbTpfir6rZxbXhQ8AbkFiRm3TYUIddmc/s400/mosaic1.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5147178504724124642" border="0" /> </a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhadT47bd6woJ23sYtGv0lqruPnskNgRq5LfS1eNNGA_jtIN1_oaZkE9CPsAdvKZrasgTm7mTBOv7LfAv3Z8wn08lZm0PUK8PE9okRbU5tGbbQiTxJozazs1FdlIitXIE2Bg80VinGvfJ4/s1600-h/yahoo+old+1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 186px; height: 105px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhadT47bd6woJ23sYtGv0lqruPnskNgRq5LfS1eNNGA_jtIN1_oaZkE9CPsAdvKZrasgTm7mTBOv7LfAv3Z8wn08lZm0PUK8PE9okRbU5tGbbQiTxJozazs1FdlIitXIE2Bg80VinGvfJ4/s400/yahoo+old+1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5147178715177522162" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Renaissance</span><br /></div><br />Each new method of communication would bring a <span style="font-weight: bold;">wealth of new content</span>. Each time, I would dive into new content - but, time after time, the need for companionship would drag me back from the solitary Download zone. It was the same with Second Life: the first few months, I wandered around the sims, going <span style="font-style: italic;">Oooh</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">Aaah</span> and rarely speaking to people. Now, <span style="font-weight: bold;">talking to people is what I do most</span> and like best - and I rely on other <a href="http://slambling.blogspot.com/">persistant wanderers </a>to tell me about really special stuff they've found.<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5p_jo-taMXGzbp5xZMd8uQkic-yuJArwxmo9Pk4ZbwuWBnwppqPHShDxDyqB0_dDAZjj4ItJ-VT_WJfrtoTHmq9VVvZJzw8XUYJjN6rDjHCJ5jFVmLHVQc3SLZYsBotS6tb09oH9c6z4/s1600-h/Content:communication.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5p_jo-taMXGzbp5xZMd8uQkic-yuJArwxmo9Pk4ZbwuWBnwppqPHShDxDyqB0_dDAZjj4ItJ-VT_WJfrtoTHmq9VVvZJzw8XUYJjN6rDjHCJ5jFVmLHVQc3SLZYsBotS6tb09oH9c6z4/s400/Content:communication.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5147186416053883906" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />So what about this alienation, then? The alienation, caused by technology, is and was real. However, <span style="font-weight: bold;">television and radio </span>were the technologies that <span style="font-weight: bold;">alienated us the most</span>. We were passive receptacles of content, created and selected by others. But this state is not natural to us: all humans strive to change and affect the environment - that is the very definition of human (<span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">and, unfortunately, our greatest failure, as the sad state of Earth testifies</span>). As soon as technology that promised to connect us to others was available, we grasped it with both hands, pulled and haven't let go since. And<span style="font-weight: bold;"> the level of alienation keeps dropping</span> - for example, you can be alienated on a web forum, but must try hard (<span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">trolling ain't easy!</span>). However, that is practically impossible in virtual worlds.<br /><br />Second Life is not about shopping, company builds or even content, created for and freely given to community. No, it's not even about prim hair, girls. No, not wings, either, Soph ;) It is about <span style="font-weight: bold;">PEOPLE</span>. You can be disliked, but you are <span style="font-weight: bold;">never</span> alone.<br /><br /><a style="left: 0px ! important; top: 15px ! important;" title="Click here to block this object with Adblock Plus" class="abp-objtab-08793557651369341 visible ontop" href="http://www.youtube.com/v/naSOCHeF3P0&rel=1"></a><a style="left: 0px ! important; top: 15px ! important;" title="Click here to block this object with Adblock Plus" class="abp-objtab-08793557651369341 visible ontop" href="http://www.youtube.com/v/naSOCHeF3P0&rel=1"></a><object height="355" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/naSOCHeF3P0&rel=1"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/naSOCHeF3P0&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" height="355" width="425"></embed></object><br /><br /></div></div>IYan Writerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00682961187290777139noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2631162788303967848.post-59636416746964679982007-12-10T09:43:00.000+01:002007-12-10T16:28:49.736+01:00The joy of being Tiny<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Avatar evolution - tangential rant - importance of looking good - a solution found - pros and cons - conclusion.</span><br /></div><br />Recently, the time has come to do some avatar maintenance. In keeping with my old <a href="http://metanomics.metaversed.com/11-sep-2007/metanomics-101-suggested-reading"><span style="font-weight: bold;">augmentationist </span>/ <span style="font-weight: bold;">experime</span></a><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://metanomics.metaversed.com/11-sep-2007/metanomics-101-suggested-reading">ntalist</a> </span>self, my first Second Life avatar stayed more or less the same for about 6 months. Of course, I invested <span style="font-weight: bold;">valuable lindens</span> in a semi-decent skin and hair, got some clothes and pretty much called it a day for a while.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5XVWkzLWY4F0_PN1AYI4MVcOIhvB3wlo5SVbWIzFl7Er4ax2Ifp_xtufnE3OCFUPtZH1AhhNSQbtOFA2sAW-4dLjVmHDL-JYCwZh_5nzUvW4E8MQ9dXVrLfAAQpT00GSftWcy8xnOb1M/s200/Snapshot_006.bmp"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5XVWkzLWY4F0_PN1AYI4MVcOIhvB3wlo5SVbWIzFl7Er4ax2Ifp_xtufnE3OCFUPtZH1AhhNSQbtOFA2sAW-4dLjVmHDL-JYCwZh_5nzUvW4E8MQ9dXVrLfAAQpT00GSftWcy8xnOb1M/s200/Snapshot_006.bmp" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">"I has a suit."</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">back when I thought that made me cool *facepalm*</span></div><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Tangent</span>: WHY!! is it so hard for a male avatar to <span style="font-weight: bold;">prim primp</span>? I'm sure that not all males choose a sexy, big-breasted skimpily dressed female avatar as their SL personification - why, there must be at <span style="font-weight: bold;">least a couple of dozen</span> guys that picked a male avatar. Shopping for male stuff is almost as depressing in SL as in RL - there I would be, pockets bulging with Lindens (almost 80!), patiently zooming over displays and displays of gorgeous female wear and looking for something that would fit me. I see <span style="font-weight: bold;">market potential</span> here, my dear SL creators! Grateful donations in the form of prim hair graciously accepted.<br /><br />Ahem.<br /><br />After a few months of wandering around SL, attending interesting events and meeting more and more cool people, a couple of things became apparent: (<span style="font-style: italic;">a</span>), my avatar was <span style="font-weight: bold;">boring</span>; and <span style="font-style: italic;">(b</span>), <span style="font-weight: bold;">looks matter </span>in Second Life even more than in RL. A casual avatar-disparaging comment by a dear SL friend, made while commenting on my Facebook photo clinched it: it was makeover time. But make over into what?<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">Well, if tails, horns, starfleet uniforms or robots are your thing, you're in luck - you can hardly rez a prim over your shoulder without hitting a shop selling one or all of these. If your tastes are a bit more (less?) <span style="font-weight: bold;">exotic</span>, it gets trickier. After a long search (30 minutes RL - that's like 12 hours SL time), the die was cast, the Lindens spent and IYan transformed. Enter - <span style="font-weight: bold;">the cat</span>.</div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://s3.amazonaws.com/shop.onrez/item-view-394822-1193364459"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 154px; height: 154px;" src="http://s3.amazonaws.com/shop.onrez/item-view-394822-1193364459" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Meow?</span><br /></div><br /><a href="http://shop.onrez.com/Wynx_Whiplash">ExtroVirtual </a>tinies are incredibly cute and there is a wide selection. While I knew the avie was diabetes-inducing, I wasn't prepared for the <span style="font-weight: bold;">extra dimension of fun</span> it brought to the SL experience. It's such a joy watching it scamper around on its tiny feet, and the cuteness doubles while in flight!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFqBlpG9XdRqqRwoueXk0RgQpWQ2SYdemsgmxON26hA_YCYN7h7A-dAStp3Gg7FKDhvRVeGlBcGXgL7uInZYk_mXngb6xxmb7jGjF6IevI2qSKjGJqHRMAH7qdWz8i86Dy8ufj6hWL2WQ/s1600-h/tiny_flight.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFqBlpG9XdRqqRwoueXk0RgQpWQ2SYdemsgmxON26hA_YCYN7h7A-dAStp3Gg7FKDhvRVeGlBcGXgL7uInZYk_mXngb6xxmb7jGjF6IevI2qSKjGJqHRMAH7qdWz8i86Dy8ufj6hWL2WQ/s400/tiny_flight.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5142343891995997714" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Wheee!</span><br /></div><br />Of course, it wouldn't do to look TOO cute, so I shopped at <span style="font-style: italic;">Bitter Thorns</span> (love the store!) and changed the kitty into cyber-cat:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrnc7lIK5x5D9D9dzerZntFdpsg7XAqTJL6k0_BFgDcCLn5jNyM_CfMtSYuuMt-dkgdmCik2TJngrPNU4LQEfnscbKnTWmskYAKe2IoPGidMNgyNxcyxHuZc6kZzzPgUbWj5JcibJcrxI/s1600-h/tiny_cyber.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrnc7lIK5x5D9D9dzerZntFdpsg7XAqTJL6k0_BFgDcCLn5jNyM_CfMtSYuuMt-dkgdmCik2TJngrPNU4LQEfnscbKnTWmskYAKe2IoPGidMNgyNxcyxHuZc6kZzzPgUbWj5JcibJcrxI/s320/tiny_cyber.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5142344205528610338" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">I made you a battery, but I eated it.</span><br /></div><br />The <span style="font-weight: bold;">drawbacks </span>of having a Tiny avatar are seldom having a place to sit (except at exceptionally gracious hosts), people stepping on you (not that much, fortunately - and there are free <span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">WATCH OUT FOR THE TINY</span></span> signs available at the Extrovirtual store) and an inability to use certain scrips/animations (like dancing). The interaction with other avatars, on the other hand, is much improved - it seems like everybody loves a Tiny! The greatest fun is when several Tiny avatars gather for some <span style="font-weight: bold;">big-people pushing</span>, as demonstrated by my friend Ally the tiny warthog :)<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj3SQdUTxCA4jjuD81x3RKtY-914bdg_FpZ_oTLK27gVTxSmqXh8rwTXASJ3pq3Lbg40fH39M84XvBsTejHNjMyxRnRr4bAevNXXmzwELtoarEpsIQqbtUZbVhKIrwGSBmkEPl2_YjxEU/s1600-h/tiny_love.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj3SQdUTxCA4jjuD81x3RKtY-914bdg_FpZ_oTLK27gVTxSmqXh8rwTXASJ3pq3Lbg40fH39M84XvBsTejHNjMyxRnRr4bAevNXXmzwELtoarEpsIQqbtUZbVhKIrwGSBmkEPl2_YjxEU/s400/tiny_love.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5142344733809587762" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Everybody loves tinies</span><br /></div><br />Of course, tinies will not do for business, although I've tried it. The problem is that the tiny paws of Extrovirtual avies aren't animated while typing, which makes text chat much more difficult; plus, some people might have a problem with <span style="font-weight: bold;">discussing business with a foot-high cat</span>.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">So: do the tiny avatars solve the boring avatar problem? Yes and no. There are many occasions when I use my main avatar, which is still pretty boring; but the occasional entrance of my Tiny cheers me up and makes my main avatar cooler by association. If you're asking yourself whether to <span style="font-weight: bold;">join the Tiny Army</span>, my answer is - YES!<br /><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6Yxd86zqN6NR2gXRa9g-u0OKJ4TrxM06P7TGul76AwaLbT9BMizDpKbhs7QTjU3x4V-S-nFws_F5NYfZ0iR6J_tkm7bZCq4vyw558hMPwBU9cIz1w45_YYAyI1mEgXykLSL_VD9F4YZU/s1600-h/tiny_army.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6Yxd86zqN6NR2gXRa9g-u0OKJ4TrxM06P7TGul76AwaLbT9BMizDpKbhs7QTjU3x4V-S-nFws_F5NYfZ0iR6J_tkm7bZCq4vyw558hMPwBU9cIz1w45_YYAyI1mEgXykLSL_VD9F4YZU/s400/tiny_army.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5142345648637621826" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Tiny army</span><br /></div>IYan Writerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00682961187290777139noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2631162788303967848.post-23925304610201440322007-12-10T09:28:00.000+01:002007-12-10T09:37:40.532+01:00IntroAlthough I post an occasional blog entry on my company pages, the format (explanatory and marketingy) has been limiting me lately. There is so much interesting stuff happening and I have so much fun in Second Life that I want to share. Enter IYan Writer's blog!<br /><br />The opinions expressed here are my own - or not even that, if I see an opportunity for a good joke. If you are easily offended, may I suggest ReadWriteWeb.<br /><br />As the immortal and ever funny JenzZa Misfit would say: POKE!!IYan Writerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00682961187290777139noreply@blogger.com0