BREAKING NEWS: Balloon Guides gives way to Sky Guides following protest
By ETHAN THEREIAN
On July 23, an an announcement was posted in the forums, declaring that "[the] limitations of the balloon have come to an end. The group formerly known as Balloon Guides will now adopt the stylish new moniker of Sky Guide Tours - and flight path and flying craft are now left to the imagination of the Guides. the Balloon itself has been removed so that the Sky Guides [formerly the Balloon Guides]might dock their tour craft at is former berth."
When asked if the changes to the Welcome Areas tour sections were due to Hank Ramos' protests, Jill Linden confirmed: "I kept my promise to Hank and brought it up in the (Linden Labs) meeting. The dialog contributed to changes that were already be considered...and now I head Sky Guide Tours."
Jill Linden, however, emphasized that Ramos' protest was not the only factor, and that discussions were already underway at the time of the protest.
When asked if the announcement had changed his opinion of Linden responsiveness to residents, Hank Ramos commented "I always knew that Linden Lab listens to their customers, and I knew that protests were a time honored way to influence change, both in Real Life and Second Life," and then added, jokingly "though, the [area]definitely need[s] a redesign to look better."
11.21.2007
web 2.0?
Why do we still care about web 2.0?
The term “web 2.0″ has become about as hackneyed as a Valley Girl’s “gag me with a spoon.” Everything from Youtube (which is actually an example of what web 2.0 is meant to describe) to a car’s company’s “build your own car” page (which is far from it) is being described as “web 2.0.” The term has come to mean very little but the idea behind it is still worth thinking about.Why is it important to think about a potentially over used idea? Because, though it’s been abused it’s still useful. Understanding the larger trends in this new shift to user-centered web experiences can help us understand our own use of the web as well as serve as reminders of the kinds of web experiences we should be offering our students, customers, friends.To best organize our thoughts about the concept, it’s useful to go back to Tim O’reilly’s original version of the term. O’reilly laid out four concepts to describe (not prescribe) aspects of new uses of the internet but I’m going to focus on the first two. To see more clink on the link.
1. The Web As Platform
Why this is important: In a few years we won’t remember what it was like to install new software with the exception of the latest fandangled browser. Our word processing, spread sheets, email and the like will all be online via a website. We’re already there in many ways thanks to Google’s docs, spreadsheets, and gmail. But I’m still writing this blog entry in Word 2007 which I installed off of a disk. Why is “the web as platform” a big deal? Access. Instead of investing in computers with gigs and gigs of hard drive space we can instead focus on a speedy connection and a bit of ram. More people will have access to the tools that we find common and we need not all have our own computer to be able to store documents and important information. In addition, being able to access your info from anywhere means no more lugging around laptops. Folks who can’t afford a computer won’t be so limited when they use a public access machine.
How this should change the way we think: Programs such as Photoshop are now online with cheap access. When we teach we can provide students access to software that would have been cost prohibitive in the past. Platforms like Second Life give us entrance to a world of human resources and concepts about 3D modeling (which we can also play with via Sketchup, another freebie from Google). More and more companies are learning that making their software available via a browser makes good business sense. We’re moving toward a model of openness that will benefit everyone (see #2 on this list), which makes us all potentially more productive, and builds great positive ethos for the companies which play along and let their guard down.
2. Harnessing Collective Intelligence
Why this is important: If you haven’t perused Pierre Levy’s book Collective Intelligence do it. The basic idea is that EVERYONE has knowledge that is valuable so SOMEONE. From the street cleaner to the CEO, we all have something to contribute. Wikipedia is the perfect example of the benefit of valuing collective knowledge. Everyone contributes and everyone benefits. Sites like Youtube and MySpace are close to this model in that they become “better” when more people contribute but there’s a line where too much is, well, too much and the site becomes burdensome to navigate. The real strength of harnessing the collective is that we all put in a little and get back a lot.
How this should change the way we think: In education we’ve got to start thinking about our students in a different way. They aren’t just receptacles to be filled with our knowledge. They’re knowledge makers and we can put them in the driver’s seat. They may be teenagers, returning adults, grandparents…whoever they are they have valuable experience and knowledge, unique perspectives and experiences. Making use of what they know and how they see the world can create a rich learning environment. Use a wiki, blog with comments, or any collaborative project that they design and execute and watch the ideas fly!
As businesses we should think of our customers the same way. They can teach us more about our product/service than we can teach them. As I’ve said before, a happy customer is a better marketing tool than any advertising campaign created by folks around a board room table. Smart companies allow their customers to become evangelists for their products.
In the end, the bottom line boils down to one concept: openness. Openness in business practices. Openness in classrooms. Openness in software and applications. The more we share, the more we benefit. Give away some power, some information and get so much more back.
The term “web 2.0″ has become about as hackneyed as a Valley Girl’s “gag me with a spoon.” Everything from Youtube (which is actually an example of what web 2.0 is meant to describe) to a car’s company’s “build your own car” page (which is far from it) is being described as “web 2.0.” The term has come to mean very little but the idea behind it is still worth thinking about.Why is it important to think about a potentially over used idea? Because, though it’s been abused it’s still useful. Understanding the larger trends in this new shift to user-centered web experiences can help us understand our own use of the web as well as serve as reminders of the kinds of web experiences we should be offering our students, customers, friends.To best organize our thoughts about the concept, it’s useful to go back to Tim O’reilly’s original version of the term. O’reilly laid out four concepts to describe (not prescribe) aspects of new uses of the internet but I’m going to focus on the first two. To see more clink on the link.
1. The Web As Platform
Why this is important: In a few years we won’t remember what it was like to install new software with the exception of the latest fandangled browser. Our word processing, spread sheets, email and the like will all be online via a website. We’re already there in many ways thanks to Google’s docs, spreadsheets, and gmail. But I’m still writing this blog entry in Word 2007 which I installed off of a disk. Why is “the web as platform” a big deal? Access. Instead of investing in computers with gigs and gigs of hard drive space we can instead focus on a speedy connection and a bit of ram. More people will have access to the tools that we find common and we need not all have our own computer to be able to store documents and important information. In addition, being able to access your info from anywhere means no more lugging around laptops. Folks who can’t afford a computer won’t be so limited when they use a public access machine.
How this should change the way we think: Programs such as Photoshop are now online with cheap access. When we teach we can provide students access to software that would have been cost prohibitive in the past. Platforms like Second Life give us entrance to a world of human resources and concepts about 3D modeling (which we can also play with via Sketchup, another freebie from Google). More and more companies are learning that making their software available via a browser makes good business sense. We’re moving toward a model of openness that will benefit everyone (see #2 on this list), which makes us all potentially more productive, and builds great positive ethos for the companies which play along and let their guard down.
2. Harnessing Collective Intelligence
Why this is important: If you haven’t perused Pierre Levy’s book Collective Intelligence do it. The basic idea is that EVERYONE has knowledge that is valuable so SOMEONE. From the street cleaner to the CEO, we all have something to contribute. Wikipedia is the perfect example of the benefit of valuing collective knowledge. Everyone contributes and everyone benefits. Sites like Youtube and MySpace are close to this model in that they become “better” when more people contribute but there’s a line where too much is, well, too much and the site becomes burdensome to navigate. The real strength of harnessing the collective is that we all put in a little and get back a lot.
How this should change the way we think: In education we’ve got to start thinking about our students in a different way. They aren’t just receptacles to be filled with our knowledge. They’re knowledge makers and we can put them in the driver’s seat. They may be teenagers, returning adults, grandparents…whoever they are they have valuable experience and knowledge, unique perspectives and experiences. Making use of what they know and how they see the world can create a rich learning environment. Use a wiki, blog with comments, or any collaborative project that they design and execute and watch the ideas fly!
As businesses we should think of our customers the same way. They can teach us more about our product/service than we can teach them. As I’ve said before, a happy customer is a better marketing tool than any advertising campaign created by folks around a board room table. Smart companies allow their customers to become evangelists for their products.
In the end, the bottom line boils down to one concept: openness. Openness in business practices. Openness in classrooms. Openness in software and applications. The more we share, the more we benefit. Give away some power, some information and get so much more back.
11.17.2007
The Building Series: Part 1
The Building Series: Part 1
By Jamie Otis
So you have just started in Second Life and you are finding your way around the world, there's alot to take in right? You've checked out the popular picks and visited some events and you are settling down into a routine. Now might be a perfect time to start trying your hand at building some things and see what all the fuss is about.
Lindens would say that Second Life has built-in powerful, highly flexible building tools, using
geometric primitives and a simple, intuitive interface. But you're thinking great, how do I build
stuff.
Well what is great about the setup in Second Life is that anyone can build anything. The tools at your disposable are quite easy to master and with a bit of practice you will be creating things you only imagined the day before! This article is a on-going one, where we will look at building tips and hints each month. At the end of the series you should have a useful collection of building notes.
So lets start at the beginning and get a little background information...
SL uses geometric primitives (ie. shapes) or as everyone will call them, prims. These are the basic building blocks in SL, almost all objects in Second Life are made from prims.
The land in Second Life has an allocation of prims per parcel/plot, the larger the parcel the more prims you have at your disposable. Basically for ever meter you get 0.228 prims, so on a 512m parcel you would be able to create 117 prims (some urban areas have a slightly different ratio).
OK, how to I learn how to build.
There are many ways to learn how to build in Second Life below are just some of them:
- Visit the Ivory Tower Library of Primatives for an in-world visual building guide, the building guide is split into parts so you can go at your own pace.
- Check the Events listings for building classes, usually under Basic Building or Building 101.
- The Learning Center have course notes on their own building course which offers a step-by guide, written as if you were in the class.
- Visit a sandbox (area for building practice) - you can practice with the building tools, socialize and see what others are making.
Rather than writing a complete guide to building, what we are going to cover are tips and hints to help you with building, so think of these as things to try once you have a seen the basic building ideas.
Snapping a prim to a certain angle when rotating:
===============================
Once you have created your prim, you can move it about under edit by dragging on of the color axes, holding CTRL and SHIFT changes the edit mode from move into resize (you will see the axes change), however what we are going to look at is rotation. You can rotate your prim about the color axes by holding CTRL down and then dragging a color axis.
Here is something to try, with your prim selected and the edit window open, hold CTRL down (so we are in rotate mode), select a color axis and hold the mouse button down.
You'll see that a yellow scaled circle appears around the prim, by moving your mouse pointer to the outer edge of the yellow circle you will see that a line is drawn from the prim to the outside of the circle and that your prim will snap to a marked angle on the yellow scaled circle. Neat huh?
Another rotating tip:
=============
When using the rotate mode under edit, make sure that you always have a color axis (red, green or blue) highlighted before dragging the axis. If you have your mouse over the white part of the rotation axes and hold the mouse and drag, you will be in a free rotation mode, which is rotates your prim in all directions based on the movement of mouse and is, as you can imagine, hard to control :)
Undo:
====
Many people ask, why doesn't CTRL-Z undo work when I'm editing my prims. It does, but here’s the catch, undo (when editing prims) only works when you have the chat window/box closed. D’oh, I hear you say. The undo history for previous undo is around 10 or 11 I believe.
Hopefully this first article has been useful and giving you a taster of what’s to come next month. You now have time to get the basics of building clear before the next issue in October.
I'm usually around one of the TLC areas in Second Life most of time, so why not drop by and say hello.
Jamie Otis signing out.
The Learning Center - Mauve (120, 95)
By Jamie Otis
So you have just started in Second Life and you are finding your way around the world, there's alot to take in right? You've checked out the popular picks and visited some events and you are settling down into a routine. Now might be a perfect time to start trying your hand at building some things and see what all the fuss is about.
Lindens would say that Second Life has built-in powerful, highly flexible building tools, using
geometric primitives and a simple, intuitive interface. But you're thinking great, how do I build
stuff.
Well what is great about the setup in Second Life is that anyone can build anything. The tools at your disposable are quite easy to master and with a bit of practice you will be creating things you only imagined the day before! This article is a on-going one, where we will look at building tips and hints each month. At the end of the series you should have a useful collection of building notes.
So lets start at the beginning and get a little background information...
SL uses geometric primitives (ie. shapes) or as everyone will call them, prims. These are the basic building blocks in SL, almost all objects in Second Life are made from prims.
The land in Second Life has an allocation of prims per parcel/plot, the larger the parcel the more prims you have at your disposable. Basically for ever meter you get 0.228 prims, so on a 512m parcel you would be able to create 117 prims (some urban areas have a slightly different ratio).
OK, how to I learn how to build.
There are many ways to learn how to build in Second Life below are just some of them:
- Visit the Ivory Tower Library of Primatives for an in-world visual building guide, the building guide is split into parts so you can go at your own pace.
- Check the Events listings for building classes, usually under Basic Building or Building 101.
- The Learning Center have course notes on their own building course which offers a step-by guide, written as if you were in the class.
- Visit a sandbox (area for building practice) - you can practice with the building tools, socialize and see what others are making.
Rather than writing a complete guide to building, what we are going to cover are tips and hints to help you with building, so think of these as things to try once you have a seen the basic building ideas.
Snapping a prim to a certain angle when rotating:
===============================
Once you have created your prim, you can move it about under edit by dragging on of the color axes, holding CTRL and SHIFT changes the edit mode from move into resize (you will see the axes change), however what we are going to look at is rotation. You can rotate your prim about the color axes by holding CTRL down and then dragging a color axis.
Here is something to try, with your prim selected and the edit window open, hold CTRL down (so we are in rotate mode), select a color axis and hold the mouse button down.
You'll see that a yellow scaled circle appears around the prim, by moving your mouse pointer to the outer edge of the yellow circle you will see that a line is drawn from the prim to the outside of the circle and that your prim will snap to a marked angle on the yellow scaled circle. Neat huh?
Another rotating tip:
=============
When using the rotate mode under edit, make sure that you always have a color axis (red, green or blue) highlighted before dragging the axis. If you have your mouse over the white part of the rotation axes and hold the mouse and drag, you will be in a free rotation mode, which is rotates your prim in all directions based on the movement of mouse and is, as you can imagine, hard to control :)
Undo:
====
Many people ask, why doesn't CTRL-Z undo work when I'm editing my prims. It does, but here’s the catch, undo (when editing prims) only works when you have the chat window/box closed. D’oh, I hear you say. The undo history for previous undo is around 10 or 11 I believe.
Hopefully this first article has been useful and giving you a taster of what’s to come next month. You now have time to get the basics of building clear before the next issue in October.
I'm usually around one of the TLC areas in Second Life most of time, so why not drop by and say hello.
Jamie Otis signing out.
The Learning Center - Mauve (120, 95)
11.12.2007
The Big Story: Man on a mission
The Big Story: Man on a mission
Philip Rosedale, aka Philip Linden, says verion 1.4 is just the beginning
By LORELEI PATEL
These are exciting times for Philip Rosedale, who is better known in the world he created as Philip Linden.
A major upgrade to his on-line world Second Life has recently been released, just days after the virtual reality simulator got a boost in membership through mentions on CNN and Slashdot. At the height of the influx, one new person was signing up for Second Life every minute.
"We've had tremendous growth," Rosedale said. "I don't know how much more it could accelerate."
Over the past half year, Second Life memberships have grown at a steady 30 percent each month - punctuated by sign-on spikes caused by media mentions and events in other virtual worlds.
Unlike competitor There, which recently told its members that it would forsake in-world development in favor of other business opportunities, Rosedale said Second Life is an end of itself.
"We want to see it get bigger," Rosedale said.
Linden Labs, Second Life's parent company, took a giant step in that direction when it released verion 1.4 in mid-June. The update allowed users to create their own animations and stream audio onto their property.
Rosedale is particularly excited about the animations.
"With animations, you can completely become another person," he said. "How you move is how people recognize you."
But Rosedale said he hasn't created many animations of his own. He'd rather buy them.
"Custom animations have really improved Second Life," said Teeny Leviathan, who's been a member since May 2003. "They were a big ticket item we were all waiting for."
Leviathan said she's enjoyed dance animations created by Christiano Midnight.
Looking forward, Leviathan awaits the addition of Havok 2 to Second Life. The new engine will allow builders to create more complex items. For example, it will allow vehicle designers to make machines with more than 31 primitives.
"Right now, I think most of us are eagerly awaiting Havok 2," she said.
The changes may help Rosedale with another of his goals: Make it easier for newcomers to get excited about their new world.
"The amount of time it takes someone to have an eye-opening experience is five to 10 hours," he said. "We need to take that 10 (hours) and make it one # That's a tremendous challenge to overcome."
Leena Khan, who joined Second Life in April 2004, said she relied on the help of others to get her footing in Second Life.
"My avatar looked like a gorilla," she said. TinaStar Dawn eventually helped her out.
Khan suggested that giving newbies goals might ease their way into the virtual world.
"Second Life is wonderful, but people expect it to be a game, not a virtual world where they have to make their own goals," she said. "And there are people I've met that still don't have a goal after playing a month."
Rosedale's goal is to make Second Life a vehicle for other people's imagination.
"The world has always been about people expressing themselves in ways they couldn't before," he said.
Philip Rosedale, aka Philip Linden, says verion 1.4 is just the beginning
By LORELEI PATEL
These are exciting times for Philip Rosedale, who is better known in the world he created as Philip Linden.
A major upgrade to his on-line world Second Life has recently been released, just days after the virtual reality simulator got a boost in membership through mentions on CNN and Slashdot. At the height of the influx, one new person was signing up for Second Life every minute.
"We've had tremendous growth," Rosedale said. "I don't know how much more it could accelerate."
Over the past half year, Second Life memberships have grown at a steady 30 percent each month - punctuated by sign-on spikes caused by media mentions and events in other virtual worlds.
Unlike competitor There, which recently told its members that it would forsake in-world development in favor of other business opportunities, Rosedale said Second Life is an end of itself.
"We want to see it get bigger," Rosedale said.
Linden Labs, Second Life's parent company, took a giant step in that direction when it released verion 1.4 in mid-June. The update allowed users to create their own animations and stream audio onto their property.
Rosedale is particularly excited about the animations.
"With animations, you can completely become another person," he said. "How you move is how people recognize you."
But Rosedale said he hasn't created many animations of his own. He'd rather buy them.
"Custom animations have really improved Second Life," said Teeny Leviathan, who's been a member since May 2003. "They were a big ticket item we were all waiting for."
Leviathan said she's enjoyed dance animations created by Christiano Midnight.
Looking forward, Leviathan awaits the addition of Havok 2 to Second Life. The new engine will allow builders to create more complex items. For example, it will allow vehicle designers to make machines with more than 31 primitives.
"Right now, I think most of us are eagerly awaiting Havok 2," she said.
The changes may help Rosedale with another of his goals: Make it easier for newcomers to get excited about their new world.
"The amount of time it takes someone to have an eye-opening experience is five to 10 hours," he said. "We need to take that 10 (hours) and make it one # That's a tremendous challenge to overcome."
Leena Khan, who joined Second Life in April 2004, said she relied on the help of others to get her footing in Second Life.
"My avatar looked like a gorilla," she said. TinaStar Dawn eventually helped her out.
Khan suggested that giving newbies goals might ease their way into the virtual world.
"Second Life is wonderful, but people expect it to be a game, not a virtual world where they have to make their own goals," she said. "And there are people I've met that still don't have a goal after playing a month."
Rosedale's goal is to make Second Life a vehicle for other people's imagination.
"The world has always been about people expressing themselves in ways they couldn't before," he said.
11.08.2007
From the Editor's Desk
From the Editor's Desk
I took a break at work to check in on the Second Life forums yesterday. It was Sept. 10, the eve of the three-year anniversary of the terrorist attacks that claimed 3,000 lives.
The first post I saw was entitled "9/11 -- We Will Never Forget (Patriot Day)." Off topic for Second Life, but topical as far as the real world is concerned. It promised to be a memorial thread. But my, how quickly things can change in the opinionated world of message boards.
Some quotes:
"It saddens me to see you waste such excellent arguments on someone who has such a fundamental lack of understanding of politics, of patriotism, well, of pretty much everything. He will keep posting the same neo-Republican doublespeak no matter how many times you whack him with a stick."
And
"Nope. Its a Generalization. Hippie. Back to woodstock, I wasn't talking to you."
How sad that a memorial thread could degenerate so fast. But it is hardly suprising.
Will the rest of the world please excuse me while I talk to my fellow Americans? We’re less than two months away from a hotly contested presidential election here, so it’s to be expected that the Second Life forums would reflect the passions of both sides.
But damn, people, do you have to be so nasty about it?
I find it hard to believe that anyone’s mind has ever been changed by reading an Internet bulletin board. I may be wrong, but I certainly have never witness so rare an event.
As long as the Lindens allow it, it is your privelege to snipe at each other over the coming elections on the forums. Maybe it makes you feel good. Maybe it lets of some steam. But it is an exercise in futility.
The world has never been changed by what someone writes to a massive multiplayer online role playing game message board, and it probably never will. But there is something that does work. It’s called voting.
So, release the hounds on the bulletin boards to your hearts content, while hopefully keeping in mind that a living, breathing, feeling person is on the other end of the pipeline reading your words.
Just make sure you do what’s really important and get to the ballot box on Nov. 2.
-- Lorelei Patel
I took a break at work to check in on the Second Life forums yesterday. It was Sept. 10, the eve of the three-year anniversary of the terrorist attacks that claimed 3,000 lives.
The first post I saw was entitled "9/11 -- We Will Never Forget (Patriot Day)." Off topic for Second Life, but topical as far as the real world is concerned. It promised to be a memorial thread. But my, how quickly things can change in the opinionated world of message boards.
Some quotes:
"It saddens me to see you waste such excellent arguments on someone who has such a fundamental lack of understanding of politics, of patriotism, well, of pretty much everything. He will keep posting the same neo-Republican doublespeak no matter how many times you whack him with a stick."
And
"Nope. Its a Generalization. Hippie. Back to woodstock, I wasn't talking to you."
How sad that a memorial thread could degenerate so fast. But it is hardly suprising.
Will the rest of the world please excuse me while I talk to my fellow Americans? We’re less than two months away from a hotly contested presidential election here, so it’s to be expected that the Second Life forums would reflect the passions of both sides.
But damn, people, do you have to be so nasty about it?
I find it hard to believe that anyone’s mind has ever been changed by reading an Internet bulletin board. I may be wrong, but I certainly have never witness so rare an event.
As long as the Lindens allow it, it is your privelege to snipe at each other over the coming elections on the forums. Maybe it makes you feel good. Maybe it lets of some steam. But it is an exercise in futility.
The world has never been changed by what someone writes to a massive multiplayer online role playing game message board, and it probably never will. But there is something that does work. It’s called voting.
So, release the hounds on the bulletin boards to your hearts content, while hopefully keeping in mind that a living, breathing, feeling person is on the other end of the pipeline reading your words.
Just make sure you do what’s really important and get to the ballot box on Nov. 2.
-- Lorelei Patel
11.02.2007
Newbie 2 Newbie – Second Life Social Protocols
Newbie 2 Newbie – Second Life Social Protocols
By ROSE KARUNA
So, imagine that you are standing on your Second Life front porch torturing prims, when a giant skunk shows up and begins to rez beautiful furniture on your front lawn at the same time that a shirtless, tattooed, pierced guy drops by to discuss Rene Decartes and hyperbolic doubt. Then suddenly, a guy in an orange jump suit wearing handcuffs and the numbers 666 runs into your house.
If your anything like me, you might be wondering … what the heck is the social protocol for this? Hey if I knew the answer to that – this game would begin to bore me.
Nevertheless, I have learned that there are social protocols to be followed, even in Second Life. I discovered this when I was caught working nakies in the garden of my beloved "Land for the Landless" by my sweet but easily embarrassed neighbor, who kindly reminded me that I was in a PG sim. No, I was NOT trying to show off new body parts, things were just really slow and laggy and I wanted to continue building rather than dress. Honest -- although some of the attachments that I have found are pretty cool, but that’s another story for another issue.
Back to social protocols – "bare" in mind, as you walk the paths of the Second Life world, that there are both PG and Mature Sims. The type of Sim that you are in is noted at the top of your screen along with the indicators of what is allowed on the land you are in, such as building, scripting or safety.
Walking naked in either Mature or PG sim is not allowed. Showing up naked and displaying newly purchased body parts (no matter how proud you are of them) at public events, is a violation of the "Terms of Service" agreement and an invitation to be quickly "tossed" from Second Life. If you think that your just going to DIE if you can’t show someone your newly purchased penis immediately, I recommend that you teleport to one of the many clubs that allow this on a mature sim. Just be advised that unwarranted poking anywhere with said body part is in violation and you will probably be tossed if that person reports you. On this note – guys that walk around with their body parts on all the time, loosen the pants! Sheesh!
Another difference between a PG and a Mature sim is the language that you are allowed to use publicly. Just make sure that if you’re having hot Avatar sex you are in IM and not in Chat mode. If not, the entire area will hear your sexual escapades and most likely, you will be tossed. Personally, I’m offended by it simply because usually I’m laughing so hard that I can’t type. Really interferes with my building.
Speaking of big guns – or not, we move on to "safe" and "unsafe" areas in Second Life. When an area is unsafe (meaning that your avatar can be injured or die, a red heart (health indicator) will show at the top of your screen. If your inclination is to jump right into Second Life and on your first day shoot something, well I have just the sim for you. I recommend that you immediately teleport to Jessie (38.145). If you want to experience Avatar death without putting up a fight, I recommend that you teleport to Pomponio (64, 208), either way, you’ll wind up being teleported home sooner or later. Every Avatar should experience death at least once in their Second Life.
That said, please realize that safe land is just that - "safe" and shooting is not allowed. People in Second Life who hold events put a great deal of time, effort and often their own Linden dollars into them and it is the height of rudeness is to show up at an event and shoot the patrons. In addition, it causes a great deal of lag in the area and is disrupting. I should note here that you also risk being suspended or tossed from Second Life for this type of behavior.
The same principal applies for classes that are being held. Mentors and instructors in Second Life dedicate an enormous amount of time to training new people on how to build and script. Shooting, rezing large objects or poking people with your big guns at events which are essentially being held for you (the newbie) are not only rude, but will also get you suspended or tossed. My recommendation is that you holster the newbie gun and hunker down for a class to learn how to build a bigger and better gun and teleport to Jessie, where shooting is not only allowed, it’s encouraged.
Last but not Least, keep Second Life beautiful and remember to clean up after yourself. If you rez an object on land that is not your own, before leaving the premises, pick up the object and put it in your inventory or in the trash. If you crash a vehicle, don’t just walk away, take your wrecked, sorry vehicle with you. Land in Second Life is owned either by the Lindens or individual Second Life Residents. There is no such thing as a "homestead". If you feel the urge to build, do it on sanctioned land (such as a "Sand Box") or with the permission of the owner.
There are a thousand ways that you can offend someone, but hate, murder, theft, liter and mature activity in a non-mature sim seem to be the biggies. My best advice is to think before you act (yes I’m sure you’ve heard it before). Never forget that there is a real person behind the Avatar that you are standing in front of and act accordingly. In other words, "do unto others as you would have done unto you". It’s a good rule – and it works in both lives.
Next Column: Down and Out in Second Life – How to Live in Second Life on a Linden Dollar a Day.
By ROSE KARUNA
So, imagine that you are standing on your Second Life front porch torturing prims, when a giant skunk shows up and begins to rez beautiful furniture on your front lawn at the same time that a shirtless, tattooed, pierced guy drops by to discuss Rene Decartes and hyperbolic doubt. Then suddenly, a guy in an orange jump suit wearing handcuffs and the numbers 666 runs into your house.
If your anything like me, you might be wondering … what the heck is the social protocol for this? Hey if I knew the answer to that – this game would begin to bore me.
Nevertheless, I have learned that there are social protocols to be followed, even in Second Life. I discovered this when I was caught working nakies in the garden of my beloved "Land for the Landless" by my sweet but easily embarrassed neighbor, who kindly reminded me that I was in a PG sim. No, I was NOT trying to show off new body parts, things were just really slow and laggy and I wanted to continue building rather than dress. Honest -- although some of the attachments that I have found are pretty cool, but that’s another story for another issue.
Back to social protocols – "bare" in mind, as you walk the paths of the Second Life world, that there are both PG and Mature Sims. The type of Sim that you are in is noted at the top of your screen along with the indicators of what is allowed on the land you are in, such as building, scripting or safety.
Walking naked in either Mature or PG sim is not allowed. Showing up naked and displaying newly purchased body parts (no matter how proud you are of them) at public events, is a violation of the "Terms of Service" agreement and an invitation to be quickly "tossed" from Second Life. If you think that your just going to DIE if you can’t show someone your newly purchased penis immediately, I recommend that you teleport to one of the many clubs that allow this on a mature sim. Just be advised that unwarranted poking anywhere with said body part is in violation and you will probably be tossed if that person reports you. On this note – guys that walk around with their body parts on all the time, loosen the pants! Sheesh!
Another difference between a PG and a Mature sim is the language that you are allowed to use publicly. Just make sure that if you’re having hot Avatar sex you are in IM and not in Chat mode. If not, the entire area will hear your sexual escapades and most likely, you will be tossed. Personally, I’m offended by it simply because usually I’m laughing so hard that I can’t type. Really interferes with my building.
Speaking of big guns – or not, we move on to "safe" and "unsafe" areas in Second Life. When an area is unsafe (meaning that your avatar can be injured or die, a red heart (health indicator) will show at the top of your screen. If your inclination is to jump right into Second Life and on your first day shoot something, well I have just the sim for you. I recommend that you immediately teleport to Jessie (38.145). If you want to experience Avatar death without putting up a fight, I recommend that you teleport to Pomponio (64, 208), either way, you’ll wind up being teleported home sooner or later. Every Avatar should experience death at least once in their Second Life.
That said, please realize that safe land is just that - "safe" and shooting is not allowed. People in Second Life who hold events put a great deal of time, effort and often their own Linden dollars into them and it is the height of rudeness is to show up at an event and shoot the patrons. In addition, it causes a great deal of lag in the area and is disrupting. I should note here that you also risk being suspended or tossed from Second Life for this type of behavior.
The same principal applies for classes that are being held. Mentors and instructors in Second Life dedicate an enormous amount of time to training new people on how to build and script. Shooting, rezing large objects or poking people with your big guns at events which are essentially being held for you (the newbie) are not only rude, but will also get you suspended or tossed. My recommendation is that you holster the newbie gun and hunker down for a class to learn how to build a bigger and better gun and teleport to Jessie, where shooting is not only allowed, it’s encouraged.
Last but not Least, keep Second Life beautiful and remember to clean up after yourself. If you rez an object on land that is not your own, before leaving the premises, pick up the object and put it in your inventory or in the trash. If you crash a vehicle, don’t just walk away, take your wrecked, sorry vehicle with you. Land in Second Life is owned either by the Lindens or individual Second Life Residents. There is no such thing as a "homestead". If you feel the urge to build, do it on sanctioned land (such as a "Sand Box") or with the permission of the owner.
There are a thousand ways that you can offend someone, but hate, murder, theft, liter and mature activity in a non-mature sim seem to be the biggies. My best advice is to think before you act (yes I’m sure you’ve heard it before). Never forget that there is a real person behind the Avatar that you are standing in front of and act accordingly. In other words, "do unto others as you would have done unto you". It’s a good rule – and it works in both lives.
Next Column: Down and Out in Second Life – How to Live in Second Life on a Linden Dollar a Day.
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