Reality is Relative

Steampunk, Caledon and Second Life History

I should focus on more relevant and perhaps interesting events like Second Life hitting G3 Phones, concepts of cross reality synchronization, the new viewer but I find myself drawn back to Steampunk- think Victorian fantasy hybrids? (For no good reason I want to think China Mieville however he is not Steampunk, but rather “New Weird”.)

I became more aware of Caledon while visiting with the Duchess of Carntaigh…(The knight Chev still humbly apologizes for not attending the New Year’s Ball- as he was off on a quest and all that.)

The Caledonian builds (there are many sims both low and high prim density) tied in directly with some of the experiments I had conducted at Monolith Eight and DarkWood…e.g. How do we “preserve” virtual worlds? Should we even bother?

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Twitter and Polite Librarians

Thanks to Patricia Anderson (University of Michigan) who got back to the mad knight Chev via twitter as he has been spending some time studying the history of Caledon after his dance ticket. His interest piqued after reading the Covenant. In Second Life a Covenant usually spells out the tier (tax or rent), rules, ratings, etc.

Taken to heart- it is a serious bilateral promise to do or not do something specified in an agreement- a promise. Rather than the typical covenant read he got an entire history lesson on Caledon instead. Later he wondered out loud in Twitter- “Caledon amazes me- what amazes me more is the history of Caledon. Must talk to librarians.”

They came to him with help. If you know anything of Caledon you understand that politeness and courtesy are the cornerstones of behavior. Ironically Chev had just been muted, ejected and banned in the span of five minutes by Prok, but that that is another tale.

Patricia informed me, in typical polite Caledon fashion, that Master JJ Drinkwater, Head of all the Caledonian Libraries was presenting to their group on Friday of this week. There is actually a group email for the Caledon Librarians! I am now wondering if Master JJ Drinkwater is the same person who curates The Hermenautic Circle?

The Hermenautic Circle is a select and secretive web enclave of 100 thinkers, writers, editors, journalists, bloggers, artists, designers, musicians, multimedia producers, activists, grad school refugees, and other friends. Hosted by Joshua Glenn. The group is not accepting new members.

I sort of hope so, because secretive enclaves are the kind of things that attract a Chev. Closed or not…

Patricia also, rather sagely, pointed out to me in an e-mail that I have truncated for maximum “sageness”:

For my own two cents, I am a fan of preserving widely and broadly…. however
there are other ways to preserve bits of the flavor of the time and culture
of a place — chatlogs, snapshots, machinma and such.

We are still getting fragments of history, but I suppose that is what history really is. Reconstructed fragments.

Preserving Pixels

I too am a fan of preservation, but preservering the virtual is far trickier than it looks.

I became very interested in the preservation of virtual worlds after Chev bought “land” at Darkwood. Darkwood, I believe, was one of the first fantasy RPG sims in Second Life and I’ll have Chev put the history up somewhere. It seemed a shame for a land baron to be holding a large parcel at an outrageous price to only let the community become littered with Darleks and the like.

I say community because there is a definite, and in Second Life terms, elder community at Darkwood…it was one of the first places a neighbor actually came out to greet Chev- thank you lady Rhiannon Chatnoir for doing that. As the tale goes Chev, out of sheer stubbornness, went ahead and paid the outrageous rate and declared Darkwood free.

He had wanted to curate the previous build, for sake of history, but that is another story entirely. In the end, it was wiped and some talented builders worked it back to a shop for wizards and the like, and an underground cavern full of monsters. Angus Mesmer being one the developers. I believe, if the words of royalty be true, he is a Caledonian well known and highly regarded for his talent and passion. He is one of few people that I know that uses a quill pen and ink and believes it is more efficient- he is also a habitual “prim trimmer”, his work is magnificient no less and if rumors are true- his latest creations are taking shape in “Dancing” located here.

From this thought and experience Chev formed a group, oviously poking fun at himself and Harry Potter a little because the thought of Corwin sitting still in a university or college setting is rather laughable. The group essentially focuses on asking the right questions- are we even doing so? One was surprised by the number of people who joined and some of the questions they brought up…should we preserve these worlds? If so- how? Authentication, DNA, genetics, etc…and we keep questioning.

Caledon and Keys

At any rate Caledon holds a lot of the keys to questions I have so I asked Patricia to send these to Master Drinkwater if she would be so kind. I have many more, but three was a good start, and I was really tired. I think I know the answers, but better to get it from experts.

Questions for the Caledonian Librarians

1) Does the Caledonian citizen’s interests in literature influence how well curated the history of the build seems to be?

2) Are there any specialized tools or processes that a community can use to “keep its identity”. Regain its identity?

3) How has having a “history” helped the overall community at Caledon?

Community and Beyond

If you think about about Caledon, about its citizens, their DNA, and covenant it isn’t that surprising we see a lush history- although it seems a bit scattered about the Web. Moreover, it doesn’t matter if Second Life were to go down tomorrow- the community, the fan base, the people are there and united. They are quite solid and capable of a journey to any virtual destination needed, to erect a new Caledon should disaster strike.

I think Caledon is a big deal if you think about what it really means. Brands, agencies, marketers, pundits and new media evangelists should pay attention to steampunk on the grid.

Caledon is a community, a community with a history and therefore a community with an identity, and if you have spent any time in the deep digital jungles of Second Life or other worlds you will know that idenity is everything…or nothing?

Addendum:

Mr. Edward Pearse, Earl of Primbroke, kindly directed my attention,via the comment thread, to the following websites. I feel they may be of interest to readers:

The Caledon Wiki

as well as a “*mostly* Caledon collection of blogs:” Caledon Blog Collection

I would enjoy hearing from any other Caledonians on their state and I do thank the Earl for the information.

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An update on the microloan to Saleh Lie. if you recall the story I blogged here a few times the last few months.

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.

The business you have loaned to, run by Saleh Lie, has made a repaymentof $28.00. The total amount repaid is now $140.00. This repayment will be divided amongst all the lenders who helped to fund this business, depending upon the percentage each lender contributed.

Find out more about Kiva, micro-loans, and how you can get involved by reading on Saleh’s story.

Kiva & Second Life

Educator Fleep Tuque also noted Kiva is making a foray into Second Life, a move I think makes perfect sense, and I noted AM Radio’s charity concert featuring a very talented ColeMarie Soleil and his work on grain sales (AM Radio may share some numbers with me in the future.). In addition Beth Kanter has quite a nice interview on how non-profits can leverage Second Life. (Makes note that someday i need to annote the “collisions” that had to happen to bring me to that concert to hear ColeMarie Soleil and how I later met AM Radio at a charitable build I was involved with.)

Scale of System, Scale of Process

However, and I plan to write on this if my ailing back cooperates (I was trying cartoon stunts in my car again-I have feline blood perhaps..shakes head- I live.) Linden Labs really needs to step up to the plate to make it easier to do. This is based on examining a couple of million worth of Linden micro-transactions that have nothing to do with rentals. As an online Jedi once told me- scale is everything.

Old Ideas - New Terrain

I have my own ideas, based on real-world affiliate marketing mechanisms that people have been writing about for about a decade at Revenews, on how this can be done in a manner that rewards content creators with not only good will, but self sustaining commerce and a better time had by all. Linden Lab cannot do it all, and I appreciate the huge task, but they most enable sustainable creation.

On that note I will add that it isn’t just about charities, but about many newly minted entrepreneurs, many amateur, who support their families or supplement their income on virtual work! This will sound very familiar to those with long time roots in the performance marketing industry now moving into next gen marketing.

For example, a colleague and friend Tim Storm who I met in the late 90’s, always at 2 am on a cruise ship for years it seems. Tim was a one-man shop, like myself, and now runs an ethical and vibrant community providing dozens of jobs and serious dollars. The conferences have morphed over the years and now Affiliate Summit is a gathering of well over a thousand twice a year. Metaverse developers and creators- think “partnership” or I can point you to a historical blueprint that will show how 96% of you, me, and who knows- will probably fare.

Monolith 8 to Primula Rasa

Speaking of which some have asked about Monlith 8 (my own operation that continues) and now Primula Rasa, a project design lead by the talented, and prototypical developer in his own right, Timeless Prototype. An individual I really regreted not getting to meet in Chicago. The questions are in particular around my role n the build (e.g. the big space ship?). Right now I am sustaining it- let’s see how that goes.

As for the build let us leave it at this- a study of artificial life, micro-transactions, genetics, evolving story lines and system dynamics. This is stage one and hardly out of development…but feel free to drop in and explore. Rhetorically I ask perhaps we need less emphasis on the virtual campus and using the technology to create useful or thought provoking simulations? At any rate this is the result over a long series of conversations on metaverse history (thanks to Prokofky Neva for ranting enough that I got some clues from the Sim’s Exodus) with a number of some of the top thinkers in the Second Life metaverse…(so glad you all found Monolith 8).

Pictures & An Out Take or Two

For the amusement of some a few out-take photos during the build process- note leaping was not programmed into the organisms behavior and you will find the current ones are far more colorful than the original grey- evolution?. As an aside, this one has nothing to do with Primula Rasa, but I find it quite amusing. And it hurts to laugh right now. Another great photo by krystine qinan. The only “ghost fish” and a gorgeous shot of the actual ghost fish cave.

You can find it covered here at the Grid Live (on the fish) and an overview here- even a beta photo using Wind Light. Ian also has a great write-up at Eightbar with lots of stunning photos.

The things that initially attracted my attention were the fish that Timeless has created. Not only are they fantasticaly articulated and organic in their swimming motion but whilst we were talking the fish took an interest in us and congregated around the jetty we were on. Timeless days he has seen all sorts of unprogrammed but interesting behaviour as the fish take an interest in their surroundings and each other. He got me to hover in the water and a fish decided to lift me up and ‘rescue me’ clearly not scared of the predator AV

Having spent a little time watching things grow and happen it is intriguing how much more involved you can feel as the environment changes around you. The fascination of both the simple patterns of nature with the uniqueness of each part of the landscape as things grow and then die to respawn elsewhere is really good.

I know that under the covers there are some intersting pieces of code, but like all good alife it seems simple, the rules are simple, yet it causes (just like simple flocking) a very complex looking and attractive feel

Delphic Region Primula Rasa

In the old pictures the description reads like this:

Primula Rasa: An Interactive and Immersive Experience

Do you enjoy new realms? Do you like to curate or study organisms? Let your imagination free at Primula Rasa- the Primitive Slate….Still Under Wraps…for now…

Now reads:

Primula Rasa

Two forces converge from hyperspace to unlock the secrets of beings thought long gone from the Delphic System. Studying the land of Ever-Motion holds surprises both sinister and beautiful . Primula Rasa- the Primitive Slate…Stage I

There is a notecard updater system provided by Jiminy Roo. If you want the occasional update as the build will change as the story line progresses. We are also entertaining sponsorships, but that is down the line. Right now feedback is great- feel free to drop me a notecard with any thoughts…I simply can’t answer every IM, but will read every single one.

Virtual Rumors

I also plan to put some rumors to rest shortly, like the acquisition of the islands Delphic, Tacitus, Phaedrus and Daedalus, or a alleged buyout of a famous avatars digital creations- ColeMarie Soleil perhaps? and the odd or end-am I the same Wayne Porter in Playboy advisor this month (obviously yes considering some of the e-mail)? Or perhaps my avatar (we are NOT the same- I cannot reign him in) actually told the SL citizen police and fire marshall that Prok was his mother or some strange tale and that is why he needed locked up while trying to simulate a miniature riot (it was a joke). Let’s put that one to rest- of course he did and was informed of his retardation via Twitter (not to mention her own). Never take things or self too seriously.

Of course the academic question might be- were events on Twitter causing the large crowd to grow inside the metaverse during the “simulated arrest’ acting as an outside catalyst or is this just a case of Nassim Nicholas Talebitis? (Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in the Markets and Life)

“My major hobby is teasing people who take themselves & the quality of their knowledge too seriously & those who don’t have the guts to sometimes say: I don’t know….” (You may not be able to change the world but can at least get some entertainment & make a living out of the epistemic arrogance of the human race).

Well Mr. Clark of GMD… I really don’t know!

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DIGITAL AFTER SPECTRUMS

I had a long talk with a colleague about death and our digital lives…it stemmed from an earlier post about Kurt Vonnegut and a question Kevin Lee posed in a LinkedIn thread about what to do about the blog remnants of those now gone. The digital aspects of our lives will continue, at least until the account or medium fades, for some time after our deaths. They can be quite awe-inspiring, like the Vonnegut video, or perhaps dark and sinister as Steve Rosenbaum noted in the Huffington Post piece regarding my trip around the grid. His thoughts on Cho and the Virginia School shootings in stark contrast to Vonnegut’s passing and their respective digital “after-spectrums”- for lack of a better word, and because I feel “spectre” has too much of a negative connotation. Be it web page, forum post, blog entry or avatar…this is something I think will come to startle us a bit as we move on as a society.

It is hard to run from your old classmates now, thus it is logical to believe it will be hard to run from the after images of the departed. I wonder if this is how the families of say- a famous book author might feel.

ON CHO and VONNEGUT

The Huffington Post piece goes on too say…

And as if this week didn’t have enough terrible news…there was the sudden passing of Kurt Vonnegut. Perhaps not surprisingly - Vonnegut did something to make his mark, even in his passing. He creates a clue about what immortality may look like in our new virtual world. As Wayne Porter discovered in his exploration of the grid of Second Life.

So in a chilling parallel, both Vonnegut and Cho live on - virtual media selves that reach beyond the grave. Vonnegut’s immortality is a sign of the web’s power to amplify and archive wonderful creative minds. Cho’s immortality is less welcome, and profoundly disturbing. Would Cho have been inclined to act if he hadn’t known that he could push the buttons of the media machine? We’ll never know the answer.

RISE OF 3D VIRTUAL MEMORIALS

So as we grapple with what to do with our post-human selves as we decay. Threfore it comes as no surprise that memorials (mail me if you know of more 3D memorials) should start cropping up. Unlike the two-dimensional funeral home pages these pack more punch. First we have (courtesy of Point3D) the 9/11 Memorial. I happen to know Liam Kanno, who runs Silicon Island.

9/11 SECOND LIFE MEMORIAL

The build has been carried out by Liam Kanno (in real life: Odin Liam Wright) of the V3 Group. But this is more than just another commission for Liam, one of the most talented builders in Second Life. He was at Ground Zero that fateful day, and so this is of special significance to him. I believe my New York friends will find this site deeply moving, but this was a tragedy of global impact: 82 nations lost people that day. I hope you will agree that this is a most fitting tribute.

SECOND LIFE VIETNAM MEMORIAL

Then the truly technically difficult and exhausting task of recreating a well known memorial in detail- the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C. I should note a correct as it is scheduled to open in-world at The Wall island on November 7th, 2007 to coincide with the real life event in Washington DC.

From my talks with developers (OK I have my hand in it), a complete detail of the Vietnam Memorial Wall. I have seen the beta and it is awe inspiring. I don’t think you can quite capture the power of the real thing, how one decends into darkness, or seems too, and then after reach the middle of the Memorial one seems to slowly emerge into the light. These events transpired when I was too young to even understand them (does anyone ever really understand?), but one can’t be helped feeling emotionally bowled over or

The island will open to the public in early November, with a formal unveiling on the actual anniversary, the 13th of November. The plan is locate the island adjacent to the existing Capitol Hill islands, reflecting their location in the real world. The island will feature all 3 components of the memorial: The Wall; the Three Soldiers statue and the Vietnam Women’s Memorial. Information and name search facilities are planned, along with the option to leave virtual items (supplied by Meme) at The Wall.

The purpose is to provide a contemplative space for remembering the U.S. servicemen and women who died in Vietnam. It will be tied into a website that will offer name search facilities, research resources and more. The full list of features remains to be finalised. Evian was at pains to point out that the aim of the island is not political, it is simply to honour those who had given their lives and provide an education resource for those wishing to find out more, with tours, seminars and other events.

IF WE DON’T FORGET

These aren’t the only memorials either. Some are small gravestones, or epitaphs on prims textured with granite, or a poem carved on a random spot on the ever-changing, pulsing Grid. The nice thing about these memorials, if done correctly, it affords people the opportunity to see them, experience them- those who would never have had the chance. No, I don’t believe they will replace the impact of “the real thing”, but they help us to not forget.

If we don’t forget, hopefully, we won’t repeat the same mistakes…I still find it sad that we continually have a need to build so many memorials…where the names number in the thousands, or tens of thousands like the Vietnam Memorial. We should look at them and remember, or if we were too young, ask why they are there.

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Down the Second Life Rabbit Hole ala CSI Miami..no CSI NY

It should have been Miami in my opinion…TheGridLive carries some interesting news and trends in this piece on Second Life and CSI NY, CBS, and Second Life hitting mainstream TV. I really don’t think the mainstream is ready, but there you go. From the piece.

He also describes the thought process behind the Down the Rabbit Hole episode, such as having the sim after the show that people can do stuff in and interact with, they are calling it the CSI:NY Virtual sim, where they have recreated the Flat Iron Building, not sure if that is right but it is the one you see in the Spiderman movies and episodes of Friends, they have recreated Times Square, the Chrysler building, the Empire State building, he says they have recreated every inch of New York city, so it really is a virtual representation. It will take you through an orientation process and then right after the show you will be able to do some cool things like a facial reconstruction game, puzzles and memory games, for the intermediate player you will be able to play Murder by Zuiker, a blog written by him in which you have to find one crime scene a month and the one who comes closest to giving the correct explanation of what happened wins a prize.

The last thing is Murder of the Month, where you can fly around virtual New York city, find crimes, solve the crimes, go to the virtual lab, be hands on inside the lab, and go to the Cisco teleconferencing system and deconstruct and solve the crimes every month. The same lab that you see in the show, will be the same in the virtual lab, with an audio/visual department, where you can trace, do fingerprints, do an autopsy, think about that, do an actual autopsy on a body to gather evidence, so you can be the CSI in first life and in Second Life, he says.

Some Points to Note

— CBS makes a strategic investment (correction- NOT an acquisition) in the Electric Sheep Company who are also making the OnRez viewer platform a direct market competitor with SLEX. Long neglected it is good to see it getting some attention although I think both platforms will fill different niches and bridge platforms will rise too.

— CSI NY, which means CBS, is making a foray into Second Life. I am a fan of the show and Second Life, but I am not so sure how they will mix together on network T.V. or will they be able to incubate large scale community. There are obvious uses for simulations in Second Life…we will have to wait and see. I know the Havok4 engine should help and no doubt I have seen demonstrable IMPROVEMENTS in the Second Life GUI and customer service response the last two months. (Thanks Dee Linden). Then again, they had nowhere to go but up….

— Pay Attention: Powerhouse, Cisco Systems, is a prominent sponsor behind all of this…with buys on the CBS tie-in pages pitching “The Human Network”. As a West Virginia native I have to cheer Cisco on through regional nationalism if nothing else. I really think they “get the picture”, or I hope they do and they aren’t planning a “Myspace with clunky social aspects”.

— Think “unified communications + collaboration + social networks + security”. Let us not forget their CEO, John Chambers, is dyslexic- he likes video and micro-chunked information. Maybe they should check out this emerging ARG. See Brian Clark’s schmeldritch.com. I plead the fifth, but I am punking him.

— If we look at their behavior, or not so recent behavior in Internet time- March of 2007- DNA and scalable tech based acquisitions and mindset- this was obvious. Cisco executives are banking on social networking and the general Web 2.0 phenomenon as pipelines to shift around Internet traffic, and thus traffic over their routers and other networking gear. Given the moshpit in the industry I can see why.

Previously, Cisco provided presence on a separate, optional server to what was then called Unified CallManager. Cisco also added the Cisco Unified Mobile Communicator, which puts presence, corporate calling, and unified messaging capabilities as an application on BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, Symbian OS and, eventually, Brew handsets. Other additions to the Unified Communications System includes a new Wi-Fi phone; upgraded its MeetingPlace 6.0 Web conferencing with Flash for better PowerPoint viewing; the Cisco voicemail system, Unity 5.0, with handsfree and security functions; Cisco’s contact center with e-mail and chat integration and created special technology bundle for SMEs.

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TEN MILLION NO SET BACK TO “SOCIAL MEDIA” BUYING BLITZ

Despite losing $10 million to a fraudster Cisco isn’t done with their social media acquisitions either. The company bought select assets of privately held Utah Street Networks, the operator of the social networking site Tribe.net and is on the lookout for more. Ugh. Tribe.net? OK…they wanted the infrastructure- not tribe.net- good.

So Tribe.net will remain independent and since the financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, we don’t know what they are paying, but I am sure it is a drop in the bucket.

Speaking of Cisco I recently found out their CEO and Board Chairman of Cisco is a native West Virginian (well born in Cleveland, but moved to Charleston as a tot), as were other key founders. Some WVU alumni, some Marshall. Either way chalk one up for the Appalachian technologists no one knows exists. Didn’t know that did you? Go ‘eers, go Thundering Herd.

Silicon Hillbillies. Love us, hate us…get used to it.

Copious Buckshot Fired Feedback on the CSI:NY CBS Second Life Crossover Show

From this post at Pacificrimx the author also notes that Cisco was a sponsor. No real surprise given their foray, albeit rather bland, into Second Life and their appetite for “social media” DNA as I noted above and months ago. They are in Second Life for a reason. They want to gather the skills to negotiate the slippery turf of a metaverse. Rumor has it they encourage all employees to sign up.

Henry Jenkins interviews some of the people at Electric Sheep about the cross-over.

Dusan Writer comments on the potential for a “tipping point” as 400+ sims were brought online to handle the load. What if…that didn’t work? I was in-world and did not watch the show. Aside from a couple problems with assets not uploading for a brief period, the Grid thrummed on without a hitch while avatars bet on how long before the Grid would tear apart. It didn’t. The Second Life website went down for a bit, but the Grid, incredibly, worked well. Maxing at no more than 40k simultaneous users.

- Second Life Insider gives their preshow take based on the commercial.

- GayGamer.net chimes in with the extended presence of CSI:NY in Second Life.

The list goes on and on and on- just hit the blogosphere or RSS reader of choice. Second Life, hate it or love it…

What was Everyone Anticipating?

Not sure. Knowing major networks I was figuring we might get a much better pixel resolution of say… Tron, with avatars doing all kinds of things they probably can’t. What they pitched…

The episode will see Mac Taylor (Gary Sinise) entering Second Life to pursue a killer who has killed a Second Life user in a case of virtual stalking gone too far. CSI:NY fans will be encouraged to join Second Life and investigate the case by following a link on the CBS website. CSI:NY will have three options for CSI-related inworld activities. The first option will allow viewers to walk around virtual New York buildings and visit a CSI lab and play forensic games.

The second option consists of a game called “Murder by Zuiker,” a unique murder plot which can be solved by users finding clues. The 100 people who come closest to solving the murder will win virtual gifts.The big tie-in gives new users the ability to become CSI investigators, complete with field kit and tools, and are given a chance to interview suspects and to solve the murder featured in the actual CSI:NY episode. The episode itself will apparently end in a cliff-hanger with the solution not revealed until February.

Down the Rabbit Hole with Sketchup… Alice

Now for a tangent…

I also noted a local paper in Huntington, WV (a recent “hyper-local” acquisition according to their purchasers) and a local university press releases corroborates that Google Earth is working with Marshall University to prepare a virtual tour of the university in three dimensions using Sketchup and Google Maps. The buildings are created using Google’s free Sketchup software and they are then uploaded to the Google Earth Warehouse. From there they are await review and accuracy checking by Google. After the 3D structures are reviewed, they become part of the Google Earth application. Did I mention they bought Sketchup from In-Q-Tel, and In-Q-Tel is sponsored by the CIA? I probably did, not that it is a big secret or anything.

Do I think Google and Second Life will go in the same direction? No, not at all and this is due to corporate vision and risk versus reward behavior. Although I know some Lindens have defected to Google…(Hi Hunter.)

I am Banking on “Zs” and Heterogeneous yet Linked SIMS

Hollywood glitz aside I am looking forward to the future. I am ready for the change over the next 2-3 years. X, Y, Z- it is all about the “Z” variable- depth. This depth allows us to measure or model those “new metrics” everyone talks about- I think we have killed the page view and replaced it with stickiness- still not good enough.

Think “Curiosity + Engagement + Word of Mouth”. I figured this out in July (O.K. I am slow), and if marketers want to know when developer “Bleys” finishes up with “Project MicroPepper” drop me a line. My observations from early summer below…I stand by the analysis on Facebook (which MSFT just dumped in almost $250,000,000.00 for a 1.6% stake), problems with MySpace, and what Linden Labs really needs to do.

- I feel Facebook’s success is predicated on their wise choice to attack the weird angle of a delicate time- renegotiation of college social networks…and their almost incredible illusion of an extension of privacy. Zero privacy, read the TOS…background etc- not a secret- just cleverly wrapped. (Sam please quit messing with my social AI- hanging out in the desert does not mean we lived together).

- Couple that wise choice with control of mass and the velocity at which this mass moves. It has to be somewhat “safe”. Something that MySpace has failed to do, as Chris Boyd points out time and time again, and why they are trapped in this impression/click world of defectors. Once again let’s philosophically call it the Z variable- it lacks “depth”. Facebook offering up an API lets the community give it all kinds of depth, but they do contain the aesthetic to where you can operate without getting knifed by malware and if you leave the system they are sure to reinforce the fact you are leaving the system! Very astute.

So while everyone chucks bad food at applications like Second Life (primarily due to the ridiculous amounts of perceived freedom, in some ways a low barrier to entry, poor protection for content creators against system gamers, a hideously steep learning curve coupled with complex GUI) the parallels are very similar and valuable. Whether it fails it or not may be largely predicated on LL’s ability to nurture trust, making it secure, reformation of their GUI, and making it more pragmatic and perhaps the rate of adoption of post-humanism among society. I know there are many trans-humanists in Second Life which is even further evolved or devolved depending on your POV.

I will leave it at that, well maybe I won’t. Second Life fever will catch again, after flagging in the press, so I may just blog on the topic until someone throws a mega prim my way…

Some CSI Second Life Videos below.

Sample CSI:NY - CSI:NY in Second Life Videos from SecondLifeVideo.com

CSI NY Video 1

CSI NY Video 2

3D social networking avatar photos CBS CBS and Second Life Cisco crimes csi CSI New York CSI Miami CSI NY electroic sheep company Gaming google google maps in q tel Marshall University Net Lifestyle Second Life Second Life Cisco CISCO Systems sketchup slex The Viral Dance thegridlive.com The Human Network university Video Games virtual autopsy virtual murder web2.0

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Once again, as the holidays approach, another photo printing service for those who are fans of avatar photography. I last covered dotphoto promotions, and Kodak coupons as well as Snapfish special offers. Some will scoff at the idea of real world gifts for a posthuman existence, but photo taking and machinima making are two very common activities and thus gifts that avatars give.

This is especially true with Second Life Marriages. As bizarre as it may sound this is actually quite common and I have attended several ceremonies across many different faiths. It is often referred to as having a Second Life Partner. You pay a fee and sure enough that special, virtual someone is featured in your profile as your Second Life Marriage partner.

It is cheap to get married, and a bit more expensive to have them dissolved- but still a bargain if you weigh it against Real World ceremony costs of marriage or divorce. I know of more than one couple, seperated by hundreds of miles, who actually go to bed in real life, yet their avatars stay online and “sleep” in their home using “stay alive” scripts. Bizarre or a sign of the times? I have found it is actually quite common. While gifts at these ceremonies tend to be a donation of Linden Dollars (money), or a handcrafted virtual item in one case I actually saw a couple gifted with land and a virtual home. So why not physical gifts? It is coming as more and more items spew from the virtual world and into real world existence. The logical starting point is photo-based gifts. While some see it as a “game” to many participants this is an important part of their life and relationships.

Photoworks is a photo gifting outfit meaning you can put a photo on just about anything cool from a mug to a calender to an apron or even a jewelry box. It is very easy to turn your digital photographs into one-of-a-kind gifts such as (my favoriate) photo-books, holiday cards, calendars and of course stunning prints. These products are great gifts- especially for virtual relationships- try the photobooks and you will see what I mean, and PhotoWorks’ stresses quality-so the gifts aren’t cheesy.

They carry the following sizes: Canvas Prints, Posters, Large Format Prints, Wallets, 3×5, 4×6, 5×7, 8×10, 11×14, 12×18, 16×20, 20×30

Paper Used: Kodak paper and Fuji paper

Products Produced: Photo Books, Calendar, Calendars, Signature Greeting Cards, Greeting Cards, Slides, Canvas Prints, Posters, Large Format Prints, Mugs, DYI Greetings, Boxes, keychains- you name it- they probably make it.

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GIFT IDEAS FOR VIRTUAL FRIENDS, GROUPS or OCCASIONS:

PLAYING CARDS: card playing is a popular metaverse activity, simply upload your print and you will have a customized deck of cards.

Metropolitan Oversize - Midnight Black Photo Book- Snap photos of your favorite group, club, or hangout moments and you have a regal gift that leaps fromm virtual to real.

11×16 Calendar - Classic Capture a photo a month and you have a cool gift that is unique and blows the store ready calenders out of the water.

Glossy Avatar Puzzle- Virtual relationships are like a puzzle and this nifty personalized gift is a great way to show it off.


Virtual Business Clipboard- With so many “shadow consumers”, creators, content makers and business owners growing the virtual GNP- a clipboard of their virtual business is a great way to get rememebered.

Nifty Avatar Collage Mouse Pad- Simply put together several poignant snaps of your friend’s virtual existence and you have a nice personalized keepsake they can use.

POPULAR DYI CARDS, STICKERS, APRONS, BUILD YOUR OWN, PHOTO BOOKS AND APRONS- SAMPLE PHOTOS of PRODUCTS

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Continuing the tradition of aggregating online photo printing services for avatar photo fans I have found dotPhoto- Join Free – unlimited photo and video sharing, receive 50 FREE Prints now! ( See Kodak coupons and Snapfish promotions)

- 50 FREE 4×6 prints.
- FREE personal web site.
- FREE multi-media slide shows.
- Make Cool Videos with transitions
- Online photo sharing with friends and family members.
- Enormous storage for digital photos and videos.
- Whole range of extra photo related material

++ Get 10% OFF your order with coupon code 10OFF1006

++ Print and frame your digital photos at dotPhoto!

FREE PHOTO UPLOAD SOFTWARE (BETA)- works on cell phones too.

dotPhoto, using Noromis Software makes it super easy to get photos from a camera and upload them to your account. You can enable processor-intensive functions like adjusting, cropping and red-eye fix on your local PC for better responsiveness using their desktop printing platform. On average people generally print 50 to 100 prints at a time online (some people print over 1000!!), and doing it without software to do it in batch is a major pain. Not to mention there are many occasions when you want a print to take to school or a few photos immediately. As a plus dotPhoto provides free download capabilities, so you can email wireless images from camera phones, download them to your desktop, and print locally with dotPhoto Go. Single photos, small batches, or giant batches- this place has it covered.

avatar photos Deals & Shopping Dotphoto

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Recently I have been following the Second Life adventures of one smashingly attired avatar, Ms. Aribella LaFleur. The series cropped up at Stone Culdesac’s, TheGridLive.com and features Ms. LaFleur dressed in various ball gowns, the latest in virtual high fashion and incredibly impractical and expensive formal wear. Thus attired she treks through dense jungles, dangerous volcanoes, deadly forests, and other rough places. She is aided only by a pack of unruly, ruthless, and usually disloyal and drunken “sherpas” now turned pirates.

With zingers like- “After such a difficult passage I was satisfied with the acceptable loss of only one Sherpa” it isn’t hard to see how her adventures can provoke a smile. Cut with rapier wit and lots of full color photos you get a chance to explore some of the places you might not be able too or have the time for through the eyes of of a seasoned veteran who is also a witty débutante. For example, I don’t think I’d ever find a reason to go to Ponderama, but Aribella has the time to take us there. Ms. LaFleur is what I call a “virtual helper”. She has the patience of a saint and one of those friendly types of people who will spend hours helping a new person get oriented, shop, find their “look” and get used to the complex “second world”. This is very important, because without some assistance, a user can quickly get turned off as opposed to “indoctrination” (hate to use that word but it is apt) and establishing contacts and friends inside of a new and idiosyncratic social network where the rules of physics are not the same.

Here is an excerpt from her work:

The onerous task of firing my new Sherpa team was simplified by the fact that I now had a much lighter load of luggage. My remaining porters had abandoned all semblance of civility and become the pirates that I knew them to be. One had even found a very seedy looking stuffed parrot, which was perched precariously upon his shoulder in a ridiculous manner.

We found ourselves standing in the shadow of the towering wooden effigy of a man. Enthralled, I stared up at this icon which symbolized the festival’s transience. I knew that in a few days hence the man would be set alight and the land would be returned to its former barren state. After a last glance up at this overshadowing presence, I maturely resisted the urge to get out a blowtorch or flick a few matches, and we moved off into the wild world of Burning Life to further our explorations.

It is with a great deal of fondness I recall some of my own adventures with Ms. LaFleur and other virtual friends a few months ago during my “balloon phase”. During this phase, aptly inspired by William Pene du Bois’ adolescent adventure book, The Twenty-One Ballons I was keenly into hot air balloons.

Crossing SIMs in a hot air balloon is often a dice roll and Aribella was one of the few people intrepid (or silly?) enough to get into the basket as I careened across the metaverse. I later replaced the balloon with a horse and at one point- a large and cumbersome elephant. I hope to find a rhinoceros for future expeditions. On that note enjoy this early series if you want to get an idea just how diverse the people and the flora and fauna can get, and how easy it is to wear a ball gown while traipsing through a lava flow.

Some example day trips:

BURNING LIFE: Living on the Edge, Quest for the Burning Man, Day Trip To Ponderama, Exploring the Northland Sim…

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It seems some enterprising avatar found a practical outlet for expression over Zango’s installation practices…Second Life photo of the week- “street style”.

The action is heating up in blogs and all over the mainstream press as well…

Zango and the FTC by Jimmy Daniels
I suppose everyone has already read or read about the post Ben Edelman made today, Zango Practices Violating Zango’s Recent Settlement with the FTC, but, if not, it says Zango is not in compliance with the terms set forth by the FTC, …
Jimmy Daniels - http://www.jimmydaniels.com

Zango caught cheating on FTC settlement – again by Tom Sanders
Zango just can’t seem to leave it criminal days behind. Spyware researcher Ben Edelman today published evidence that shows that the company is still engaging in deceptive installations of its adware application. …
Silicon Valley Sleuth - http://www.siliconvalleysleuth.com/

Zango Violating Their Recent Settlement with the FTC
By Jimmy Daniels Contributing Writer, RealTechNews Now who would’ve thought this could happen, other than, anyone who was ever infected with a Zango product. Known spyware hunter Ben Edelman has released his findings in how well Zango …
Alice Hill’s Real Tech News - Independent Tech - http://www.realtechnews.com

Zango refutes Edelmans findings by paperghost
More here. This one is sure to rumble on and on…
Vitalsecurity.org - A Revolution is the Solution - http://www.vitalsecurity.org/

Ben Edelman Alleges Zango in Violation of FTC Agreement by Certifiedbug
In my hands-on testing, Zango continues numerous practices likely to confuse, deceive, or otherwise harm typical users as well as practices specifically contrary to Zango’s obligations under its November 2006 settlement with the FTC. …
certifiedbug.com - http://certifiedbug.com/blog

Zango Still Misbehaving, Says Researcher by Catherine
“Spyware researcher Ben Edelman has been following Zango’s software installation practices before and since their November 2006 settlement with the FTC, and found the company still doing some questionable practices.” …
Flying Hamster - http://flyinghamster.com/

Zango Denies Claim That It’s Flouting FTC Agreement
Spyware researcher Ben Edelman charges that Zango, the adware company formerly known as 180solutions Inc., is distributing deceptive software without adequate consent or disclosure.Story. Wilders Security Forums - http://www.wilderssecurity.com

Ben Edelman Charges Zango is in Violation of FTC
Among the allegations: “Widespread Zango “ActiveX” Installations without Unavoidable, Prominent Disclosure of Material Terms (XP SP1 and Earlier). Details. Widespread Zango Banner-Based Installations without Unavoidable, …
bits and bytes - http://msmvps.com/blogs/susan/default.aspx

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The story heats and long overdue up….Colleague Steve Rosenbaum would love this moving from the virtual worlds, to the web and into video FAST:

Investing in a GAME???

Posted to Second Life Video- Machinima Fans by SecondLifer on July 25, 2007

Click to Play Video | View Details

Let us go over some facts. A blog I respect, Metaversed (57 Miles) and a professor at Cornell (Avatar: Beyers Sellers) released a two pieces. The latter slightly re-worded and titled to add clarity I think that was the intent, because at first blush it appeared Linden Labs was doing the cover up…or I took it so. Good starting point.

The answer to some of these questions are simple, so let’s go to one source that will give me answers. Ultimately Linden Labs have promised a statement. I ask them, implore them- that while they espouse freedom (and I laud them) security and education is a concern.

Here we have Ms. Boucher. My questions are in bold. Her responses below.

1 ) What kind of communication did you receive from Linden Research and on what day?

July, 21st, 2007 I received a notice, here is a snippet;

“Your Second Life Account has been placed on hold pending an administrative review. We have taken this action to safeguard your account from potential unauthorized behavior. Unfortunately, you will not be able to access your Second Life account until this process has been completed. Be assured that we are reviewing your case and will return you to active status as quickly as possible. Thank you for your patience while we investigate this matter for you.”

2 ) Was this before or after topic being broached by head of WSE?

This was approximately 12 hours after I had learned of the theft by LukeConnell Vandeverre.

3 ) On what day did you regain access to your account?

I regained access to my account on Tuesday, July 24th.

4 ) Did Linden Labs ask you to cover up anything, threaten, or insinuate punishment or retribution?

No Linden employee has even remotely suggested that to me. As I understand it they followed internal procedures. I can only speak for myself. There were no threats. It was a professional exchange and resolved quickly and I was treated as anyone else. Under the circumstances I believe it was the right steps, I would want the same safeguards.

5 ) Did you have advanced or any prior knowledge of the hack allegedly perpetuated by avatar known as Thurston Hallard?

No.

6 ) Show me some proof you are here- in-world-reinstated. For privacy purposes you may blot out SLURL address and money in your account please, but please leave system time intact.

Screen shoot taken in my presence in-world per Ms. Boucher.

7 ) Has the WSE taken any action against you or your firm- even though evidence shows you as innocent (e.g. account re-instated)?

Yes.

8 ) If so can you describe the alleged action?

The WSE first froze my assets in their system, then distributed my protected works to third party individuals with full permissions, while neglecting to even pay for those works. I cannot comment on legal action at this time.

This includes my interview with Ms. Boucher. Will this effect her firm? Her reputation? Her business? That is for the public to judge. I have my own opinions, and as I have said before it boils down to being accountable. You run through the scenario and look at the facts and make your own decisions.

*Caps made by Ms. Boucher in my presence, edited per her at my request, and hosted on her servers.

ADDENDUM: With such loose controls with exchanges, unregulated as they are- could they fall under this new policy by L.L? Either way thank goodness. Death to the ’sploder…

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Amazingly since my talk last fall with FEZ Rutherford on 2nd life and how it might simulate or emulate disabilities or physical malady. I have ran not only into avatars with many disabilities, but continue to find media mention of them. It makes perfect sense. They are liberated and can move freely. Sadly enough I have found several in stage III and stage IV cancer.

- EurekaStreet, or this piece, or his own

“his visual impairment should be based on experiences a friend of hers told her about. She provided me with some images that show how this friend sees the world (see comments on the linked post). Now I did a first prove of concept to see if one could replicate this impairment in Second Life. On the right hand you see screenshots with and without an attack. So it works…

I just have to finish the effect and then we will have a new version of 2nDisability ready

Bleys and I have both thought how to integrate the research features into the HUD and if FEZ is not around, I will see if I can find Griefer Marky E who is a very talented person at such.

And more on FEZ’s blog’s commented “Hi - I just launched a new site in SL AskPatty I support the UnitedSpinal.org Foundation and my son is a para and just started using Second Life to get the Second Life experience.”

Great work you are doing here I am going to blog about you on www.askpatty.com today!

Jody DeVere
President
AskPatty.com

“Get the Second Life Experience”? I think if you walk through a ward of little kids in end stage leukemia, pulling around IV poles with no hair. Let them play.

Again after years of being a medical professional, and having the lights turned around on me at a Summit while having a seizure I once got a bitter taste of what it is often like to walk in someone’s shoes and failed to appreciate the people’s quandry I served all those years. Maybe this will be a unique window, and who knows, maybe I can get a company to ante up some funds to help develop out these social concepts. We will see. There is goodwill out there. I truly believe it.

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OK I have reviewed Kodak in the past and Snapfish but Sony Image Station doesn’t appear to have image books- too bad it is a perfect for avatar pictures of course! I like to capture images in 3-D metaverses, not for texturing- for collecting.

Sony’s ImageStation, PC Magazine Editors’ Choice January 2007, rated best online photo service and take advantage of the tremendous growth of digital photography by joining Sony ImageStation’s service…..but this might be better than Sony’s offer- make your own avatar postage or baby stamps-that you can mail

SPECIALS

NOT TO FORGET MY UK FRIENDS- AVATAR PHOTOBOOKS

myphotobook.co.uk> Discounts applicable!

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Breaking up the long AM prelude post…

- I tried iStockPhoto for the first time and I loved the service. Why is it people are very comfortable with selling pieces of video or their photograph, yet when it comes to words people don’t like it? Eitherway I love the fact that many are indy photographers. I really want to see micro-transactions take off…time for avatar photos perhaps.

- Interesting tool reviewed by Heather Paulson. Lots of neat graphs- speaking of which I checked out Google’s Beta Analytics and, aside from a network, ahem, change or two, less really is more. I still cannot find a metrics package that does what I want though. They might reign supreme, but I think Mashable missed it. However, Google has mopped up Measure Map.

- Ben Edelman checks in on traffic inflation via spyware and Jimmy Daniels also discusses it. ComScore, Alexa, Nielsen- all of these places are tangling with the IAB- at least ComScore and Nielsen…but let’s talk Alexa. Again in an extremely long beta podcast I think Professor Harrelson and I made it pretty clear that gaming a system like Alexa is as easy as pie- unless they fixed it since then. Throw your old metrics out the door.

- Since we are on Alexa- Amazon fires up Web Services in Second Life according to mark Wallace at 3pointd.com, (no surprise given Bezos has a stake) and we learn how to build an Amazon store per the Jnana System- nice try- I am more interested in Jnana’s core software. Sophisticated logic Without coding- Zero code! An inference engine and automated control logic sporting declarative semantics and multiple reasoning tools.

I better post this at Revenews so Trust knows…but I am taking a break…although for Second Life fans this month’s print issue has quite a forray into the metaverse, which is much more plush than my