Reality is Relative

Once again Sam Harrelson talks me into a late night look at Next-Gen Marketing with a few practical examples over at Revenews. Long one- so good time to change the oil on the car (time shift) and listen…some might find it very relevant- no matter what reality you exist in, or think you do.

Sam says: “The podcast runs about 90 minutes and we discuss Wayne’s conception of Next Gen marketing and possible futures of online and affiliate marketing.”

Wayne says: “As usual, this podcast runs about 90 minutes and we discuss science fiction books, Next-Gen, games, my experience with ARGs, multi-verses, engagement from twitter to Second Life, Sam finds value in an OPML file, engagement metrics, incubation of fan bases, engaging smart people, Twitter, personalities, a bunch of books like: The Book of Zines, The Adventures of the The Stainless Steel Rat, Media Virus, etc. Not that many would care, but for the observant we also plod into Assyriology, cuneiform, ancient civilizations and why that crap is important to us. As usual I interrupt too often (why does he always catch me tired?), but we move along and didn’t even touch Mobile Marketing or iPhone stuff or blending it with RSS. At any rate this is sort of what “industry insiders” talk about…sort of.”

Stainless Steel Rats MP3 File

Another good cast, and Pinnacle Best Blog Award Winner- Sam Harrelson, speaks (what are you cloned or what?) at AffiliateFortuneCookies.com giving more clarity as Next-Gen, Virtual, Affiliate, and A Whole Bunch of Stuff Most Can’t Even See are heading for a whacked out, giant ajax-style real-world mashup collision thing. Maybe.

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Sam Harrelson ferrets out the kind of stuff that really interests me with a take on Darmik.

Rather surprising, as I recall the ZeFrank issue too. Google Checkout appears to have opened their doors…and I like it as transactions seem to go as low as 10 cents US. Nothing like pushing pixels…can someone hook me up with the Google Base guys?

Darmik is an incredibly profound and interesting experiment in selling, music sharing, job listings and virtual economy.

Last year, Ze Frank was booted from Google Checkout for attempting to sell virtual duckies on his popular video show because he wasn’t selling a real world product or service. PayPal allowed him to do this, but Google Checkout had a problem with his actions. That was later remedied and now Checkout allows for the selling of such virtual “services.”

Darmik throws that to the wind and opens the doors of virtual commerce and classified listings…

Using Rapleaf for reputation management no less…more on Darmik.

Darmik gives sellers of digital content the ability to credit rights holders as well as rights holding organizations with funds from the sale of digital content

Darmik can be used by companies and organizations that need a fast, easy and flexible way to sell or distribute real world products, digital content, and listings internally or externally.

Sam goes on to say:

However, with the growth of MMORPG’s such as World of Warcraft, Star Wars Galaxies (my favorite… yes, I know it’s a horrible platform but I still enjoy it) and EverQuest along with developing virtual worlds such as Second Life, these sites could continue to grow and expand in popularity.

Perhaps one future of affiliate marketing is selling less of virtually more. Content creation will continue to become democratized and PayPal can’t handle the load in a monopolistic fashion forever.

For the many who scoffed or wondered months ago what or why I cared about virtual worlds- well now you have a clue. Sustainability is the next equation and I am getting close to solving that one- I think.

Virtual or Real…Virtual IS Real. It is all negotiated.

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Bots and Second Life

This should give everyone alarm and reason to pause to think for a bit.

“When calculating the online now number,” Jim told me, “we do not filter out users/bots who are logged in through thin clients like libsecondlife, but we know through closely monitoring the user data, that they represent a very small percentage of the overall number.”

“By design,” studio director Jeff Linden added, “the exact version of the viewer is not integral to the login process, just as different web browsers should still allow you to login to your bank’s online site. Viewers do voluntarily self-identify (like browsers do), but this is not authoritative, so we can’t be 100% sure which versions are connecting. Because of this, it’s difficult to provide an estimate of what percentage of the ‘online now’ number may be bots logged in… That said, anecdotally, we’ve noted that connections made with clients that self-ID as libsecondlife are generally very brief, and very few of these clients are logged in at any given time.”

Interstingly enough linden Labs posted, per Zee Linden, some new data.

Concurrency. Peak concurrent users, shown in the red line on the chart below, grew 12.5% in the fourth quarter to more then 58,000 - up more than 210% for the full year. We’ve seen a growth in concurrency almost every week since the beginning of September. Growth continued last weekend when concurrency grew another 5.3% to 61,500.

Data is Data

The problem with this data is, and I commend Linden Labs for releasing it, that it really doesn’t tell me what I need to know. Actually in December I need metrics from post Novemeber to end of December if I am to make meaningful comparisons to virtual and web-based shopping behaviors.

Zombies Walking Around in Sims

Timeless Prototype notes the SL Polymorphism Proxy with Imaginary Friends for SL. The developers plan on including support for animating the proxy, saving the local users appearance preferences, tweaking controls, etc. From Timeless’ site…

In the true sense of the original meaning of hacking (not malicious), Thoys Pan has achieved over 100 avatars in a simulator. But there’s something ghostly about it all. Concept by Fw0rd Utorid. Thoys very kindly demonstrated to the technology to me, see screenshot attached to this post (credit to Thoys). The code is now open sourced, and the project is here

(http://www.secondlife.com). The product enhances the user experience by providing user control over avatar appearances, and further by allowing the placement of avatars anywhere in the virtual environment. Both of these events occur only to the user running the software.

and here you go: Scene from the living dead or that Shaun movie thing.

Metrics & Web

Jeff took the topic to a broader perspective, noting that this is a problem with measuring general Internet usage. “It seems the bigger question is: how do we know that Second Life isn’t filled with bots and devoid of real human activity?” As he puts it. “Turns out this is a statistic problem that’s well solved by the web world– we can determine this in much the same way that a website would determine that visitors are real users rather than automated webcrawlers.

I would not go so far as to say it is a “statistic problem” nor well solved- I would have to say it is quite the inverse- ask the IAB. Especially if you want to get down to the nitty gritty and get people to understand the difference between say- crawlers, bots, botnets, agents, virtual botnets and some of the really damaging things some of these things can do. Of course not all agents are bad- it is all in the eyes of the beholder. For example is Cyveillance’s agents good or bad? It all depends on the relationship, need, and value delivered.

The Obvious Lesson

I have tried to make this post as short and concise as possible. Second Life leads us to consider the death of old metrics and more meaningful new metrics- good- it needs to go there. I am less concerned about “traffic” and more concerned about “engagement”. Thanks to Sam for pointing out my annual rants about “clicks”. Not that bots cannot be engaging…but concurrent logins simply does not cut it as a meaningful stand-alone metric. Plenty of conclusions can be drawn, but without looking at the type of agent logging in, its activity and posting this data- one really cannot draw a meaningful “anything”.

Much more could be said, but I am trying to keep it brief…

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Arguments were strong in the back waters of the SLDEV and Metanomics groups over Linden Labs new policy. e.g. This post…. odd I remember covering in Revenews’ long ago and it didn’t ripple.

Linden Labs says:

Please read this if you operate, or have transferred L$ to, an in-world “bank” or financial company.

As of January 22, 2008, it will be prohibited to offer interest or any direct return on an investment (whether in L$ or other currency) from any object, such as an ATM, located in Second Life, without proof of an applicable government registration statement or financial institution charter. We’re implementing this policy after reviewing Resident complaints, banking activities, and the law, and we’re doing it to protect our Residents and the integrity of our economy.

Since the collapse of Ginko Financial in August 2007, Linden Lab has received complaints about several in-world “banks” defaulting on their promises. These banks often promise unusually high rates of L$ return, reaching 20, 40, or even 60 percent annualized.

Usually, we don’t step in the middle of Resident-to-Resident conduct – letting Residents decide how to act, live, or play in Second Life.

But these “banks” have brought unique and substantial risks to Second Life, and we feel it’s our duty to step in. Offering unsustainably high interest rates, they are in most cases doomed to collapse – leaving upset “depositors” with nothing to show for their investments. As these activities grow, they become more likely to lead to destabilization of the virtual economy. At least as important, the legal and regulatory framework of these non-chartered, unregistered banks is unclear, i.e., what their duties are when they offer “interest” or “investments.”

There is no workable alternative. The so-called banks are not operated, overseen or insured by Linden Lab, nor can we predict which will fail or when. And Linden Lab isn’t, and can’t start acting as, a banking regulator.

I did converse with a representative of First Meta Card who I have had some conversations before (mostly over RPG’s and not banking) and she provided me this statement via note card. (no mod I think).

First Meta comment on Linden Lab’s New Policy Regarding In-World “Banks”

9 January 2008

First Meta fully supports regulation of financial services activity in the virtual economy. We agree with the statement by Linden Lab that in-world “banks…offering unsustainably high interest rates…are in most cases doomed to collapse – leaving upset ‘depositors’ with nothing to show for their investments.” We believe that the removal of non-credible players from the financial services sector of Second Life’s economy will benefit all of its participants.

First Meta’s approach differs radically from the “banks” as described by Linden Lab. We offer a full range of financial services focusing on credit products, including MetaCard(TM), backed by a robust real-world system, run by professionals with real-world financial expertise, and focusing on providing customers with transparency and accountability. We are a real-world company, registered in Singapore, one of the financial centers of the world. First Meta’s operations are supported by the Singapore government and we are funded by real-world private investors, not by our customer’s deposits.

We are in discussions with Linden Lab about our MetaSavings(TM) accounts. OurMetaSavings (TM) deposits are more than 100% funded, which means that no First Meta customer will lose any money as a result of the new policy.

Since our MetaCard(TM) does not “offer interest or a rate of return on L$ invested or deposited”, it should not be affected by this new regulation.

As First Meta’s business is not dependent on savings accounts or other investment instruments which are addressed by the new policy, we believe that the new policy will not have any adverse effects on our company. Insofar as the new policy strengthens the virtual economy, we believe this will actually benefit First Meta. As the leading provider of financial services in virtual economies, First Meta will continue to provide a trusted partner for our customers.

Sincerely,
Douglas Abrams (JP Mougin)
Chief Executive Officer
First Meta Pte. Ltd.

It does meet one of my acid tests. Douglas Abrams is a real name, and only uses his avatar name INWORLD. Also Lindens aren’t the only “fiat currency” they will be chasing I detect…but more to come! Monolith 8 is kicking off…

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I caught this on TheGridLive.com and then rolled over to New World Notes about AM Radio’s philanthropic campaign. I just went in world and made another donation staight to AM Radio. (I later met AM Radio again at the The Wall SL build covered here by Aribella Lafleur you can visit it inworld at TheWall. )

Background on The Far Away and Wheat Project

See: The Giving Fields: Real Cows Purchased with Virtual Wheat or at Not Possible IRL (In Real Life) blog for some background. Some more wheat pics at SLConceptual or more background at Ambling in Second Life or IBM’s Ian Hughes site.

Power of Pixelated Wheat

As it goes around late September of this year, avatar and content creator, AM Radio, set out some plots of wheat for sale on the land where his own virtual wheat field in Second Life sits, known as The Far Away. His goal was to raise enough in the campaign to buy a cow through the Heifer International Project. I remember it well as I attended a live concert and went on to pick up some of the “virtual wheat”, several plots actually, and they are really neat and well made. Note- if you rez them you might want to link them together or they come up one strand at a time.

The fact that Second Lifers are a pretty giving bunch doesn’t surprise me. I have been doing my own “arm-chair” (non-scientific) studies and at least among the avatars I speak to frequently (most over a year in world) answer product B when I give them the following scenario. Out of a approximately 100 queries Product B has won every time.

The 50 Linden Micro Transaction Question: A or B?

Scenario: If you are given a choice between Product A for 10 Lindens and Product B for 50 Lindens, and all things about the product are equal (prims, creator, size, permissions, color, etc) except that Product B will share 50% of the take with a charity you support and it is priced at 50 Lindens instead of 10- which would you choose?

Get some Wheat or Consider Micro lending via kiva.org

According to New World Notes the campaign is still live, visit the The Far Away and make a donation.

I just heard back from AM Radio, creator of The Far Away wheat field, and the campaign to sell plots of that field to raise enough US$ to buy three cows for people in the developing world. With $1405 raised thus far, he’s just $95 (about L$25,000) short of that goal. If you’re looking to spread some holiday warmth, why not travel to The Far Away, and make a purchase? “[T]he vendor is still on the wheat field,” AM tells me. “You can now buy a boat, and a flyable plane will be ready soon.”

It Adds Up

Some might say that raising only a few hundred dollars isn’t that big of a deal. However, when you consider the products are micro-priced on a platform that has a historical problem scaling up it is astounding how much it can really add up. Nor does it take much to add-up to an amount that can make a difference in some countries.

For example, if you aren’t into Second Life that is just fine- consider Kiva which I found via John Hunter’s Curious Cat blog after he left a comment on my own blog during a science fiction back and forth. You can learn more about my experience with Micro Lending here and it doesn’t take much to make a difference so take a moment and get involved- even on a micro scale it does matter.

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Fleep Tuque (aka Chris Collins), an educator who I have a lot of respect for and know through an interesting string of “chain reactions” incited by micro media, had an interesting comment on the introduction of Live Gamer into the mix…it seemed like cheating. I replied back, but my blog seems to be eating comments so I figured I would expend what thought I had left looking at this and some other topics. This is not a term paper, but more “thinking out loud”.

Fleep Speaks

To quote her comment.

My first thought regarding these game goods trading or buying/selling platforms is: how does this not just perpetuate the “person with the most money wins” paradigm that already exists in the real world? This is beginning to happen to some extent in Second Life - though indie content creators and long term residents still have the edge because they know what actually works - that advantage will disappear with time as the big boys figure out how to do things right. But in a narrative game world like WoW? It feels like outright _cheating_.

Fleep how about the sixteen year old who has much more TIME in which to play a game? What are the conditions for a “win”? Is this maxim really true for the “real world”? I certainly think having a ton of money can help, but doesn’t mean you will win and winning is often subjective. I am not sure if the indie content creators will lose their edge at all. The big boys have been wrong for a long time and television is a great example. That is why we have Ask the Ninja, Bus Uncle or even the perpetuation of shock memes like Tub Girl and GoatSe Guy. Real life is simply more entertaining than the carefully prepared baby food they want us to eat.

She goes on…

What’s the incentive to play for hours to win the Flaming Sword of Super Powerz if you can just go out and buy the thing? Sure there are gold farmers and the like, but I say most people are playing MMORPGs for the fun, the camaraderie, the _escapism_ from real world pressures. Bring in a profit motive to play and then it just becomes another job where some jerk who already has more than you in the real world can now buy her way ahead of you in the game world too. What’s the incentive to actually play the game when it can just be bought?

Because one can buy the game does not mean they will derive some the core benefits you cite like camaraderie, escapism, fun and perhaps most important- a sense of belonging to a group and shared accomplishment. WoW pros tell me, and I have asked, that they can spot a power jacked character right away and typically shun them. They may have the “loot” but they do not have the cultural mannerisms of one properly indoctrinated through blood and fire. They are missing the secret handshakes, or the native linguistic touches. They are simply a noob in +5 Plate Mail.

Suggested Science Fiction Reading

Since I am so fond of science fiction I would recommend a couple of texts written circa 1970’s. They are fantastic fiction and great metaphors for Second Life.

Roger Zelazny
The Great Book of Amber : The Complete Amber Chronicles, 1-10 (Chronicles of Amber)

Phillip Jose Farmer
The World of Tiers: Volume One (World of Tiers)

In the World of Tiers we meet earthlings Robert Wolff and Paul Janus Finnigan (alias Kickaha) who through strange circumstances are “gated” into a parallel pocket universe. These pocket universes are maintained by mostly insane “Lords” who are paranoid and spend most of their time trying to kill each other to stave off ennui. The World of Tiers is just that, a multi-tiered world that spans a virtual garden of Eden and changes each level until we come to a deadly palace at the top. I won’t spoil it, but the first three are really good, old-fashioned rip roaring reads.

Farmer’s books went on to inspire the late Roger Zelazny who wrote The Chronicles of Amber. He was so inspired by The World of Tiers Zelanzy actually dedicated one of the books in the series to the main characters Jadawin and Kickaha. I have found Amber to be an incredibly accurate metaphor for Second Life. (Matter of fact you might find the quixotic Chevaliers names and behavior to be quite similar to those of Amberites at times.). In the Amber stories, Amber and the Courts of Chaos are the only two “true” worlds. Everything else, even Earth, are called or simply the byproducts of “shadows”. The royal family of Amber that negotiates the Pattern, and the equivalent Chaos nobility who have walked the Logrus, can freely travel through the shadows and alter them at will. The obvious metaphor for Second Life being that of some arbitrary static reality and the existence of an infinite number of “negotiated realities”. Furthermore we have the metaphor of a scripter or builder who can literally “create” whatever they choose- it is nothing but Shadow and really quite malleable- even the physics.

The books are narrated by Corwin who suffers from amnesia, escapes, tracks down his sister Florimel, and discovers that he is a prince of Amber. He is taken by his brother Random to walk the Pattern. The Pattern is the construct which gives the multiverse its order. Walking the Pattern restores Corwin’s memory and his powers to travel through shadow…I won’t spoil the rest and since it is late I will let the Wikipedia hammer at the metaverse concepts within.

Amber and Second Life Parallels

The series is based on the concept of parallel worlds, domination over them being fought between the kingdoms at the extreme ends of Shadow—Amber, the one true world of Order, and the Courts of Chaos. Amberites of royal blood—those descended from Oberon (and ultimately his parents, Dworkin, formerly of the Courts of Chaos, and the Unicorn of Order herself) —are able to “walk in Shadow”, mentally willing changes to occur around them. These changes are, in effect, representative of the Shadow-walker passing through different realities. There are apparently infinite realities, either found by the Shadow-walker locating such worlds or by creating them (we the readers are never sure; neither are the characters).

Within this multiverse, Zelazny deals with some interesting philosophical concepts about the nature of existence, compares and contrasts the ideas of Order and Chaos, and plays with the laws of physics—they can differ from Shadow to Shadow; for instance, gunpowder does not ignite in Amber, which is why the characters all carry swords. Other Shadows have green skies and blue suns, cities of glass and Kentucki Fried Lizzard Partes, and worlds out of our own fiction can come to life.

In short, as I have maintained, reality is what we mutually negotiate- like modems we will find a common protocol. A game is what we choose to make out of it and if left idle humans will create their own rules and games to satisfy their needs.

Metaverse History

I just finished The Second Life Herald: The Virtual Tabloid that Witnessed the Dawn of the Metaverse By Peter Ludlow and Mark Wallace. This gelled or provided a much needed history for me that is often lacking in the fast-paced world of the “synthetic”- although i am not sure they are really synthetic at all- it just makes us feel better to say that.

I would add this is a must read too. It fits together so many of the missing pieces when you see how and why the refugees from the Sims Online started showing up on Second Life’s doorstep- mostly because “skilling” (playing the game) your avatars up the ladder sucked- it was more fun to form virtual mafias and berate people, perhaps the same reason we have “griefers” in Second Life. As a bonus you get to track some of the history and birth of the more interesting personalities like Ludlow or Prok who challenges me to write on the virtual chalk board about humility- in The Sims Online known as DyerBrook a.k.a. Prokofky Neva. (Yes- it was cut and paste.)

Fiction to Non-Fiction Books

The State of Play: Law, Games, and Virtual Worlds (Ex Machina: Law, Technology, and Society)
By Jack Balkin, Beth Noveck

Play Money: Or, How I Quit My Day Job and Made Millions Trading Virtual Loot
By Julian Dibbell

They touch on the “cheating” phenomena and I was actually able to catch up with one of the major “gold farmers” in Dibbel’s book. The amounts being made are staggering so clearly people, and many of them want this. Perhaps this should be a clue to game makers? Are most people really mechanics driven Monty-haul gamers or dedicated role-players who love true immersion?

What to Do with Noobs

If we go back to October of last year I pulled and commented on this TechCrunch Gem.

i went on second life; its rather boringand most people where just running around changing their apperance…i’m not realy going to waste my time and money doing this; expecially since i know they got hacked and all their customer data was compromised.

probably tha main point of contention in this game for me is: i don’t get to kill anyone…it lame in that i have to have clothes and the appearance sucks; and i wanted a chance to start a business/make money…and i couldn’t figure it out…and i’m not going to stay up at night making polygons…so maybe the audience is limited to people who use animation software…not me….i want a game where i can go kill something and steal gold, and then use that to start a business or something.

i was fun walking around though…but if you’ve played online games before, like Arena, etc…its kinda boring.

Sad but true and really some of this moron’s complaints are probably valid. Their appearance probably did suck and a complicated GUI (which has improved) and dedicated skill set are needed to look better. Low and behold it wasn’t so easy to get wealthy and make money especially if you aren’t willing to sit up late and “make polygons”- that isn’t even a game- that sounds like work! This guy just wanted to kill people and steal gold and use THAT to start his business. Interesting. There is a major disconnect between the uninitiated and the real virtual world.

Why Can’t You Buy a Better Second Life?

Second Life is not easy to absorb at first- sort of like nicotine. Often veterans take for granted the amount of indoctrination that is needed. From idiosyncratic speech (e.g. Tier, Prim and Orbit) to a completely self-absorbed and alien culture where people often experience vertigo from initial participation. Then again that is why veterans put up with just about anything including frequent grid failure. Once you participate in the world, once you have earned the skills through experience- you don’t want to go. Clearly you CANNOT really even BUY a better Second Life like you can in say WoW. You can look better perhaps, but participation and friends are not bought. The only thing that shocks me are people who say “I’m bored”. I really believe there is little to no hope for them.

Virtual Scarcity

Back tracking to March of this year…

I find it an interesting parallel between buying virtual goods like World of WarCraft Power leveling or Second Life Linden buying and the swapping of “joost beta accounts” for tangible or intangible goods. Both are subjective in value. Both are desired by “fans”. Both would seem to have relatively limited life spans. The only prime difference is that one (beta accounts) are predestined to become ubiquitous. At least I am sure Joost hopes so

People were paying for Joost betas because they wanted to be first or they wanted to satisfy a need immediately.

Dusan Writer touches on many things I agree with in her follow-up. One being Edward Castranova’s desire for protecting the magic circle. Users will define what the magic circle will be and in the not so near future, if they wish, they will be creating the entire magic circle.. When does the game begin and end? It varies from individual to individual. Like turn of the century Quake matches via TCP/IP…you were not the best until you mastered Ping flood protection, learned to send a string of out of band data against your foe on TCP port 139, coordinated via ICQ, kept up with the birth of the Stooge bot and a host of other challenges. The game demanded players improve their security skills or suffer. The game went far beyond the game’s own boundaries- yet people played and they still play.

Second Life and Second Iteration

Conversely, however, platform owners can play tricks with virtual economies in ways that aren’t transparent to users who may be highly invested in particular virtual worlds. The example of Second Life pegging the Linden to the US dollar is an example. This is arbitrary, and the spread of the actual rise and fall of the Linden is covered by Linden Labs. But just as it’s in their power to control against a sudden decrease in the value of the Linden, it’s also in their power to remove their hands from the wheel (for financial or other reasons) and let the economy spin off on its own.

Let’s face it - with X billions of objects in Second Life, few of which deteriorate (although MANY of which are lost in someone’s inventory), surely the value of a shirt is worth less now than it was a year ago. How many shirts have been made? But so long as the Linden is pegged at an artificial rate, the illusion of an economy can be maintained. The real SL economy is in the island and off-world economy, but these statistics aren’t tracked (or if they are, they aren’t published).

Users often take it for granted, in a cycle of trust, that the platform owners are working in their best interests - they have an interest in working economies that don’t collapse, otherwise they lose their users. But as virtual worlds grow and real economic value starts to accrue to them, this might be courting disaster.

I have a lot of thoughts here on Second Life and new technologies like hashed validation of “virtual goods” to guarantee scarcity. I would love to reveal it all but I simply want to try it first. I will say as a micro-content “facilitator” that I see the exact SAME patterns I saw in performance marketing from late 90’s until now. Most of us were amateurs who organically built up from small operations- just like we see now in SL. We had the good fortune of being in the right place and at the right time and most worked hard. Some even made millions, but it was clear with each passing year that those who had not networked, had not built a brand, had not acquired disruptive technology or strategies were doomed.

Attention Still Equals Revenue

So called “social media” was another pocket of opportunity with a different attention=revenue pay off- influence. However, just as in performance marketing, and we will probably see it with micro or social media, the bar will rise higher and higher AND / OR technology will make it so simple it will no longer be a “skill” or barrier to entry. Second Life has clearly set itself up to be disrupted and I hope to help that along- I call it Second Iteration (Second Foundation?) and it is a good thing that does NOT make Second Life “bad”. However, the bar still has a long way to drop. I grant it is easy to create things but just like in performance marketing I do not think content creation follows The Pareto distribution or principle (aka the 80-20 rule, the law of the vital few and the principle of factor sparsity) like I often hear. I think it might be better expressed as a joint ratio of 96:4- very imbalanced.

It is the big players that should be sweating when amateurs in their bedroom can suddenly duplicate the work that was walled off to the elite with high-end graphics and 3D programs. They have to have noticed by now.

What is to Come

Metaplace is a taste of what’s to come. Islands and builds in Second Life are CLEARLY a sign of things to come. Games will be created by kids in their basement, companies wanting a quick new way to train staff on a new product line, and educators wanting to throw together a virtual classroom with live collaborative project and presentation spaces.

I concur with everything but I say let us dispense with the classroom. In a world where you can create or cheaply procure whatever you need I see no reason to have classrooms or ill-fitting desks. I truly hope educators don’t try to replicate everything. The game, the world, and the experience are the real classrooms and most students, like their games, will define it if you let them. You need only enable and guide them.

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It is that time again. Personalization for those inclined to give special gifts to their virtual or “pixelated” friends. What do you give your post-human, spend-too-much-time-in-Second-Life friends? Photos, better yet photobooks, or yes- even stamps of their avatars!

The latest deals, coupons, and breaks are updated: - dotphoto promotions

- Kodak coupons
- Snapfish special offers

- Photoworks special deals

Let’s not forget Stamps.com which allows you to put ANY photo on a block of stamps…not that many people send snail mail these days, but sending one with your avatar’s snap is a classy touch.

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I started into micro lending to help out entrepreneurs in 3rd world nations. Let me go back to how and why. I am a curious cat…

I am glad I found John Hunter’s information packed blog after his science fiction comment on Ender’s Game…(one of the few who read all the novels I think…ok I suffered through them all.)

John, among others, left some feedback on my science fiction ponderings.

At any rate thanks John for your comments on science fiction and I am glad (can’t quite match you) you got me moving in making a difference. In my Kiva case I was able to fund the remainder of a loan for this lady.

Saleh Lie is forty-years old and married with one child. She sells clothes and with her previous loans she diversified her business so that she now sells onions, sauce pans, tomato paste, etc. Saleh also opened a small shop in Kabala’s market and employed her nephew to run it. She is planning to expand her business and build a small family house. Saleh said she would like to save some income to build a small house for her grandchildren. She is requesting a loan of $275 to expand her inventory.

My action was based on his blog post that I found after John had left some feedback on Ender’s Game.

John said:

Ender’s Game is great. Another point, Valentine and Peter engage dueling mock personas. They don’t just impersonate one person they impersonate both and then debate with each other (and if I remember right at some point one debates the mock personas against each other by themselves). Though maybe this stuff takes place in Speaker for the Dead.

And that effort is not to have the mock personas win or lose directly but rather through the public debate shape the way real people think and view issues in a way that Val and especially Peter want.

Ender’s Game, and Sci-Fi, Podcasts from Jeff Doak on Ambient Findability to Social Comments on to Twitters among other Sci-fi readers seeing it as a blueprint and I circle around and micro fund- alltogether new to me…micro media and being social. It changes us- our behaviors. If you think about it- someone far away is able to fund their business, move on, get help, whatever… I know because after quite some time I was surprised to get an update, by e-mail about Saleh Lie who has made her first repayment.

Via E-mail

The business you have loaned to, Saleh Lie, has made a repayment of
$28.00. The total amount repaid is now $56.00. This repayment will be
divided amongst all the lenders who helped to fund this business,
depending upon the percentage each lender contributed.

Please note that these funds will not be credited to your Kiva account
until the loan is repaid in full or when the loan term is complete. At
that time, you will be able to withdraw these funds from Kiva.org or to
re-lend these funds to a new business.

Kiva.org is a great way to give and you can take the money out or keep lending it to another person. I hope someone picks up the baton and microfunds- let me know. Thanks to all of those who caused this social chain reaction. Sometimes Good things happen to good people we just seem to talk more about the bad.

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IT UNFOLDS PART DEUX

In case you missed it Eldritch Errors Part II has commenced and was shot in the mountains of West Virginia. (See Production Crew) My only regret was not being able to make the journey due to health so I have to be content with story line development and watching it unfold. I do regret missing my acting debut, then again, maybe the world is better for it. Oh the lament as this ARG (not sure if that fits or just immersive fiction) was in my home state.

For marketers or story tellers, or SIM builders or anyone wanting to see the style of creation dissected I refer you to http://www.schmeldritch.com.

THERE IS AN ERROR IN MY SOUP
Eldtrich Errors

the story

You are a Sentry, part of a group that discovered something unspeakable in April 2007, something that has pursued you ever since. Together we are Providence, part of a dream prophecy about a city in chaos that fills the nightmares of B.A. Saint-Feline, who does not dream alone. This is your story, this is our story.
Book 2 (09.07): Scream in the Mountains

“Two minutes later, another cat came into the room. It was black as midnight, and as large as the biggest dog. It lay down among the red-hot coals, lazily batting them with enormous paws. Then it walked over to the other cat and said: ‘What shall we do with him?’

“The first cat replied: ‘We should not do anything until Emmet comes’.”

- “Wait Until Emmet Comes,” traditional folktale as retold by S.E. Schlosser

When JJason dared the Conclave to contact him via a maildrop, he didn’t imagine that the shadowy group would take him up on the offer. The letter from Exu hinted at answers, included the strange annontations and symbols he wrote on a map of swan migrations. The more we looked into the map, the more we found stories of telescopes, quiet zones and things hidden in the mountains of the Virginias. Exu implied whatever we had stumbled into was related to these tantalizing bits. That investigation lead us to fragments in a filesharing system from Dr. Elizabeth Riley — a presentation, a poem, a song and yet another map. Together, they suggested our world is full of unexplained noises, including something called the “Scream” in the Virginias responsible for the collapse of a radio telescope. What is Exu trying to tell us, and what have we gotten ourselves into?

OBSERVATION POINTS

From Eldritch http://www.eldritcherrors.com/about.php

protagonist

As an immersive experience, the story is as much about you and your experiences as it is any fictional creation. You will find yourself interacting with others, real and seemingly real, throughout your stay. The discoveries that you make, alone or together, can change your entire experience. The world may have been conceived by us, but the story is yours.

Brian Clark of GMD has always been light years ahead of the pack and I am fortunate to call him a mentor and collaborator on many strange projects. This is where I and others feel “advertising” might head. An experience of immersion where the backdrop is created, but people interact and move the story along. Sound familiar? Think Audi: Art of the Heist, or Sega’s Beta-7.

This one tackles the dangers of computer security in a way that is downright scary and meant to be. Challenging the one immersed to really think about “Pressing OK”. Because you SHOULD think long and hard…

computer security

Oh, the dangers that lie hidden in the bits and bytes swirling around us on a daily basis. The Sentry Outpost is filled with experts on all matters of computer security and, although danger will always be lurking in the shadows, the integrity of both your machine and your mind is of great concern. Don’t fear your lack of technical prowess; there is always somebody close at hand with a deeper understanding of these matters, and you’re always in a position to learn more. The question of “how” may often be asked, but it is no more important than the question of “why” - a question that even the most innocent computer user can answer.

Why computer security with Lovecraft? After years of fighting in the trenches I still do not feel we are getting the message across, and it truly is disheartening. What better way to teach than to immerse? It is no secret Clark plucked me up (used) as a primary character (I can say no more), but you can get his take here on Sentries.

Chris Boyd (a/k/a PaperGhost) and Wayne Porter are Sentries in a very real sense of the word. Capturing a taste of what their experience is like when they track down malware and the people behind it was part of the inspiration for the Sentry Outpost and what horrors might be waiting out there for you to discover. In the right circles, their exploits are legendary — not only for revealing whole new types of threats, but also for the sense of snarky humor with which they document those discoveries.

Snarky humor is more a function of Boyd’s legendary style and he had no idea… Aye- sorry Chris.

I still think the computer security industry could take clues from this model and there must be a push toward education. Paperghost’s VitalSecurity.org is a good start and some of the work at Spywareguide.com Blog hits the ribs. It is in the story telling and not dry reports and numbers that reach people. If we can reach people and entertain while we do it we might reform some of the more wanton and dangerous behaviors. That was my hope at least. The current path is not working and not enough is spent on prevention.

For that matter marketers, teachers, advertisers, even virtual world creators in Second Life or anyone creative or wanting to rise above the din might look at this and wonder if story telling is a more effective way to rise above the clutter of messages that people are barraged with everyday. I think so. However it is not easy and takes a talented crew to pull off a full-blast campaign. The number of cogs and wheels that must turn would astound a Swiss watch maker.

STILL PLAYING

NOW PLAYING: The Scream in the Mountains - CATCH UP & JUMP IN. Dive in or play it safe and watch from the sidelines…

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While playing another round of the obnoxious, yet horribly addictive pirate game at Facebook I noted an advertisement for The Facebook Lending Community. (According to the intra-house inventory these are served at a measly 0.50 CPM. It has to be low when they are using incentives for installs of Mywebsearch or Zwinky or “free screen savers”. Yes you can get the value added software in exchange for a load of 1000 in-game gold coins to firm up your pirate armada. Better yet the de facto “complete a questionnaire and subscribe to a bunch of CPA priced offers to get a free case of soda pop or a shopping card” and 1000 gold kind of deals abound.

The Facebook Lending Community
Where you can borrow and lend money,
bypass the banks, and get better rates.
Need Money?
Easy online application.
Rates start at:
7.62% APR

Got Money?
Invest in trusted borrowers.
Average portfolio performance:
11.84%

Average portfolio of 11.84%? Not a bad return.

What is This All About?
According to the site “We are not a bank: with rates like these, we’d be out of business Lending Club is a lending community where you borrow and lend money to fellow Facebook members. We operate as cheaply as we can, providing better rates on both sides of the loan.

All members’ identities and bank accounts are verified. Borrowers are credit-checked. We report payments to credit bureaus just like banks do, so this can help build up your credit.”

And they go on to extol the benefits of social lending:

Better Rates for All of Us
“While banks typically pay 5% interests on savings accounts and charge a 12.32%* interest rate for personal loans, Lending Club offers an alternative: members lend and borrow money directly among each other online, bypass the banks and get better rates.”

Peer-to-Peer lending, or social lending, is not a new concept. I recently covered philanthropic micro-financing. Much earlier I covered true P2P lending sites, again perhaps better termed “social lending”, like the Prosper service. Prosper operates as an online auction site where people with dough can lend money directly to people without any.

Borrowers set the maximum rate they wish to pay and lenders set the minimum rate they want. Prosper matches borrowers with lenders and manages the loan repayment. You can even earn referral money to the tune of a $25 kill fee for bringing in a lender and the lender also receives $25 as soon as as they fund their first loan (subject to a 30 day cookie and 90 day start-up period after a successful conversion to a lender).If you refer a borrower you receive 0.5% of your friend’s loan amount as soon as the friends first monthly payment clears. Get it while you can the referral program ends on December 31, 2007.

At Revenews I also covered several different services and/or financial peer driven networks well over a year ago while talking about “whuffie”.

Fries with my Whuffie?

From the cyberpunk novel Down and Out… the usual economic incentives have disappeared from the book’s world. Whuffie has replaced money, providing a motivation for people to do useful and creative things. A person’s Whuffie is a general measurement of his or her overall reputation, and Whuffie is lost and gained according to a person’s favorable or unfavorable actions. The question is, who determines which actions are favorable or unfavorable? In Down and Out, the answer is public opinion. Rudely pushing past someone on the sidewalk will definitely earn you negative points from them (and possibly bystanders who saw you), while composing a much-beloved symphony will earn you positive Whuffie from everyone who enjoyed it…

Second Life could use a Whuffie system, and they sort of had one- the problem was it was based on the Linden, but I digress…from the Revenews’ post I’ll draw a couple of examples:

Snip…

ZOPA: UK equivalent of Prosper. The name, ZOPA, stands for Zone of Possible Agreement, a negotiating term identifying the bounds within which agreement can be reached between two parties. Coined concept of “FreeFormers”. Freeformers were identified as displaying different attitudes towards many aspects of life, including their money, and Zopa has developed a credit referencing process that goes beyond credit bureau information in order to establish consumers’ attitudes towards money, as well as their credit-worthiness.

BillMonk: New start-up engaged around “Social money”- the informal currency between friends and they have a blog. (Yeah guys I’m blogging about you at your request.)

Again, nothing new although at the time I blogged the piece at Revenews I spoke to BillMonk and they were not quite out of the gates. Over a year and a half later all the services I referenced seem to be operating fine. If it were 2001 it might be a different Phillip Kaplanesque kind of story. ZOPA and Prosper seem to be very much like Lending Club. However, I ran into Lending Club on Facebook via a banner advertisement. “F8″ they call it internally. Perhaps just “Fate”? I wonder why Prosper didn’t get their first?

Lending Club does have a complex set of rules based on the licenses which are granted state-wide. Currently, at time of writing, they are not licensed in South Dakota, Rhode Island, Oregon, North Dakota, Nevada, Michigan, Iowa, Illinois, Idaho, California. Don’t worry even if you cannot borrow, if you live there you can still lend. The rest of the states fall to a whole bunch of different Minimums, Maximum Interest Rates, Late Payment Fees (15-Day Grace Period), Unsuccessful Payment Fees, you can see the lending terms here.

I find it interesting that you could potentially, but absolutely, put the financial hammer down on someone residing in Alabama, Georgia, Montana, New Hampshire and Utah. Yes, now you too, the empowered consumer, could possibly dole out the bone-crushing misery that has long been reserved for credit cards, banks and the alley-HQ operations of loan sharks carrying clubs and brass knuckles. The max rates in Alabama, Georgia, Montana, New Hampshire and Utah reach an astounding thirty (30) percent state maximum.

Lending Club works closely with “industry leaders” to offer their own “comprehensive person-to-person lending platform”.

How do they do courier all that cash around?

BankServ. BankServ is the financial services processor handling the submission and receipt of ACH transactions. BankServ supports over 400 banks in 52 countries and operates a PCI-compliant data center.

For the curious what is PCI-compliance and why so many acronyms?

I believe being PCI compliant is a nice way of referring to the adherence to Payment Card Industry Data Security. In 2004, the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard was created in a joint effort by the major credit card companies American Express, Visa, Discover and MasterCard . In the summer of 2005, the PCI DSS regulations were standardized and implemented. Naturally every credit card company has its own security policy.

- American Express: Data Security Operating Policy (DSOP)
- Visa: Cardholder Information Security Program (CISP)
- Discover: Discover Information Security and Compliance (DISC)
- MasterCard: MasterCard Site Data Protection (SDP)

To keep merchants marching to the tune of protecting our credit card data the PCI Security Standards Council (PCI SSC) was birthed in the fall of 2006 with a goal of having everyone that should be PCI compliant on board with the program by the end of 2008. At the current rate Visa U.S.A is projecting that 65 percent of all merchants will be PCI compliant by the end of 2007. The over-arching requirements are building and maintaining a secure network, protecting card holder data, maintain a vulnerability management program, use of strong access controls and routinely monitoring and testing a network. It goes all the way down to basic and common stuff like don’t use default passwords, performing vendor audits to ensuring credit card information is encrypted when being sent over public networks. That’s the short of it. We should know when they are really successful when crackers finally make the switch to chop-shopping WoW accounts instead of carding.

As for the latter- acronyms are fun- that’s why.

Forget Whuffie…They use one of the Big Three

Credit information is obtained through TransUnion. TransUnion is a global leader in credit and information management with 50,000 customers on six continents, supporting more than 500 million people worldwide. I am not sure where TransUnion has ever “supported” me, but that is how the system is setup.

F8 (Sounds like a Top Secret Plan or a Function Key or maybe “Fate”)

According to the privacy policy , and I am sure many will sleep soundly knowing they are certified by TRUSTe…

About Our Facebook Application

Lending Club maintains an application on the Facebook application platform known as F8. Facebook users can register for a Lending Cub account by coming through Facebook. This entails adding the Lending Club “application” to your Facebook profile (also free). Once the Lending Club application is installed, users get to a “landing page” on Facebook governed by Facebook’s privacy policy. No personally identifiable information is collected while on the Facebook landing pages. By clicking on these links from the Facebook landing pages, you will be taken from Facebook to the Lending Club site.

It is good to know it is governed by Facebooks’ liberal and well tuned privacy policy- also bearing the TRUSTe seal. I do mean liberal. All sorts of things leap out at you…for example:

However, while we have undertaken contractual and technical steps to restrict possible misuse of such information by such Platform Developers, we of course cannot and do not guarantee that all Platform Developers will abide by such agreements. Please note that Facebook does not screen or approve Platform Developers and cannot control how such Platform Developers use any personal information that they may obtain in connection with Platform Applications. In addition, Platform Developers may require you to sign up to their own terms of service, privacy policies or other policies, which may give them additional rights or impose additional obligations on you, so please make sure to review these terms and policies carefully before using any Platform Application. You can report any suspected misuse of information through the Facebook Platform and we will investigate any such claim and take appropriate action against the Platform Developer up to and including terminating their participation in the Facebook Platform and/or other formal legal action.

It is best to just read it all so you are informed. That being said I think social lending is a good thing and Facebook is certainly here to stay and willing to introduce you and I to new concepts like social lending. This is perhaps one reason, out of many, Microsoft got a whopping 1.6% stake in Facebook for approximately $250 million.

It’s social…
It’s the future…
It’s our fate…f8

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The Arizona Republic notes an interesting rumor— Google is reportedly working to create a virtual world that will take-on Second Life.
The company may be testing the project at Arizona State University.

While Google isn’t mentioned by name by ASU, its ties with Google suggest a possible connection.

ASU’s solicitation describes the university as the only school asked to collaborate on a new product to be launched publicly later this year.

“This is a truly unique opportunity for you to test-drive the software and provide feedback, which will be used to continuously refine the product before its launch,” according to ASU’s note to students, listed at asu.edu /myworld. “Please submit the questionnaire to see if you will be one of the chosen few picked to participate.”

Not much more than rumor, and I find it rather surprising if they would create a wild-west sort of experience like Second Life. But according to the piece the university is now soliciting students with video-gaming backgrounds for an “unspecified software-testing project“. The questionnaire Arizona State is sending to student applicants asks if they have Gmail accounts…

Sit back and wait. Not sure how Google will manage all the pitfalls of virtual reality (the security hazards alone are unique and interesting from a research angle), but I am sure the hardware will allow the world(s) to scale.

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We knew this was coming since CIA backed In-Q-Tel sold Sketchup to Google…along with Google Earth formerly, known as Keyhole- I think. Never can keep up on that sector. Don’t act surprised- it is plain sight folks.

Google Going Grid?

The Multiverse Network is announcing a partnership today that will allow you to create a virtual world using Google Earth and Google’s 3D Warehouse, a repository of 3D models created using tools like Google Sketchup. So, say if a city has 3D models built of it’s buildings, you could create a virtual world from them, almost instantly using this new technology. They are planning on showing Architectural Wonders at the Virtual Worlds conference tomorrow in San Jose, California.

Wonder what Second Life folks think? I’ve noted some ex-Lindens in the Google officer’s mess. Yet I am not so quick to throw in their towel (although at times…)- Google does not like to create content, they really don’t like controversy, and really I don’t think they like to police content either (hint- it doesn’t scale)…still I take their Grid over Second Life’s anyday who knows…perhaps it won’t be so proprietary and “grid crasher” will come to fruition ala Open Sim.

I also have to wonder if Second Life saw a bit of light encryption coming…or if they wonder what might be coming next since this is just a light warm up I am sure. Yeah I am really, really sure more is coming. 100%…and this is important. Not object-to-object- person-to-person or avatar to avatar. Your nomenclature may vary.

Second Life Encryption- weak like mint tea- but the concept is there.

What You Get: The Chevalier Encoder HUDS come in packs of 2, 5, 10 and 20. One for you and one for whomever you want to chat with securely, each avatar is required to have one to be able to join the chat.

How it works: The HUD, or heads up display, includes an on-screen keyboard, which you attach from inventory. It will attach itself to the top center location of your screen, which of course, you can change as you do you other HUD’s, and place it somewhere other than the top center.

To use the Encryption Keyboard HUD click the “Menu” button and select “New Chat” or “Add To Chat” from the dialog that pops up, you will be given a list of avatars in range (96 Meters), then select the avatar with whom you wish to speak to (or add to an existing session) in encrypted form and a notice is sent to their HUD, which they must be wearing. A random pass-code is generated and swapped between HUD’s, and then you can safely communicate with that avatar or avatars.

You may also choose a pre-determined pass phrase that everybody wearing the Chevalier Encryption HUD knows, by keying in the group pass phrase and clicking the “Set Pass” button, and everyone can talk in group chat- encrypted.

Communication works Sim wide once pass-codes/phrases are swapped and chat begins.

NOTE: This version of the HUD uses simple encryption so while no other avatars can read it, the text is still visible to Linden Labs. It is also notable that the keying in of information is slow using the screen keyboard; you can also enable a chat channel to speed up encoded chatting, although this is not as secure. A high numbered random channel is selected each time you enable this feature, but using presets can help, and the look of the faces of the enemy is priceless.

I tried it- it is slow as stated, but for emergencies- it works, and fun to hit channel scanners with. Really….plus SOX, HIPPA, e-discovery- remember all that kids? VoIP or IM, e-mail or chat, no matter how ephemeral the medium it has to be archived if you are a publicly traded company. Not sure how encryption fits in there.

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I love e-mails from Ev at Twitter…the microchunking revolution marches on- thanks Sam for driving me nuts with those SMS calls at the Gonzo inspired summit.

I can’t wait to see what Don comes out with the next iteration of SLTWeets.com, as I understand it- something universities and educators like Fleep will love.

FLEEP AND STEVE

Ironically, as an aside, following the initial exposure via a video widget first injected by Steve, multiple Twitter back and forths over months, see timeline, Fleep and I had a brief waltz in the Church of Waltz in Second Life and weeks later she got to (lucky her) hang out late at night and listen to collegues in my social group ramble about pseudo-intellectual things. Even cooler we are meeting up in the educational track at the SL convention this weekend in Chicago (my wife’s anniversary gift)…..I really get excited about twitter/video chain reactions. Anything that makes me cut a video and buy an iPhone is significant- at least for me.

From the team at Twitter…

TWITTER PEOPLE SEARCH

It’s new feature season and we’re starting with People Search. This new Twitter feature is great for finding more people to follow because it searches profile information such as name, location, bio, and url. Come on by and find out if your friends are already Twittering and you just didn’t know it! The search field is on the right side of Twitter when you sign in:
http://twitter.com

TWITTER & MTV

We’re partnering with MTV for the Video Music Awards next month. They have some fun ideas which involve artists and celebrities including the MTV Moonman twittering from Las Vegas during the whole weekend leading up to the VMA broadcast on Sunday, September 9th. Also, Twitter’s gonna be on TV! We’re looking forward to it. The artists who will be joining Twitter are popular and you can get their updates by following the Video Music Awards
on Twitter.

Follow VMA: http://twitter.com/vma

NELSON, EX-GOOGLER, is NOW A TWITTER DUDE

Speaking of celebrities, the genius behind Google’s Search API is Nelson Minar. Nelson left Google a while back but joined Twitter months ago as a permanent advisor. Nelson continues to provide us with engineering advice, helps us work through scaling and infrastructure details, and in general brings more engineering “gravitas” to our operation. Nelson is a such valued part of the Twitter team we gave him an iPhone preloaded with all our phone
numbers.

So yeah, Nelson rocks. http://twitter.com/nelson

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