I have probably blogged more on Twitter than any other micro-chunking platform, or micro-blogging format if you wish. Call it an addiction, call it fandom, or just let it go.

I have listed some examples below and bold texted posts I felt had more “value”. e.g. Twitter & Social Proprioception

• Why I Stick With Twitter
• Memetic Codes and Games
• Twitter Collision Shocker
• Twitter Tips and Cycles
• Stainless Steel Rats Next-Gen Podcast
• Twitter, Trust and Nature
• Ebay powers Second Life and Live Gamer and Twitter Blackjack
• Second Life Avatar & SMS Language Barrier
• Con Jobs, Twitter, Open Source Self, Death Shovels and My Aftermath
• Twitter Tracking - Twitter does More
• Rube Goldberg, Micro Media and Chain Reactions
• News From Twitter - MTV, People Search, and Nelson the API guy
• iPhone, Second Life and Ambient Findability
• Twitter & Social Proprioception
• Ender’s Game- E’ving Obvious - Twin Fake
• Paying Attention, Earning Attention
• Robert Scoble, Wayne Porter- Scrabulous, Twitter, Blame Ev.
• Media and Social Collision- Crude Timeline
• Accountability, Freedom and Making Room for Micro Media and Our New Worlds
• The Eye of Providence and Video as a Change Agent- Microchunking is more efficient.
• Second Life, MySpace, Twitter and Wings of the Sounds of Thunder
• Japanese Twittering- Security and Coining a Phrase…
• Twitter- NanoBlog or MicroBlog early AM Round Up
• Dodgeball knocked out By Twitter? Google Snacks on DCLK- Is Twitter Next?
• Erik Drexler’s Engines of Creation- From Nano to Metaphor
• Attention Economy, Temporal Challenges of Vlogs - Open Source Revolution & Word Press Plugins
• Thoughts on Second Disability, Second Life, Empathy and a Second Chance?
• SLTWeets- Bleys Delivers Updated SL Twitter Client
• Second Life Disabilities and Second Life to Twitter
• Sermo - MySpace for Physicians? Why not Twitter Enterprise
• Twittering Jobs and Ethics of Twitter Outsourcing
• Twitter Mania- Slowing But Strong- Trends and Regions
• Twitter Gone Adsense? Nice targeting…
• Twitter and Social Media Chain Reactions
• Implicate this Twitter Plugin Professor Harrelson
• Frappr + Twitter = Twitterami.com

How Do You Know Who To Follow?

• The number one thing I look for and follow is the individual’s URL.
• I ask myself is this person aligned with my goals?
• I ask myself will this person contribute knowledge outside of my usual scope or comfort zone?
• I do a quick scan to gauge signal to noise ratio. Don’t get me wrong- I enjoy some of the noise. The “noise” is part of Twitter Proprioception. In layperson’s terms this is the neurological sense that allows one to know not only where one is in space, but also the position and location of each individual part and joint. Twitter Proprioception is knowing where one’s distributed network is and how they are feeling or responding.
• If the noise level is too high, I simply stop following.
• I turn to trusted influencers to see who they follow. A choosy Twitter personality will often have a greater number of followers to those followed. Not always, but for me it has held true.
• Sometimes a quick jump to their favorites gives me some core insight into what they value.
• Occasionally I turn to tools to zero in on quality contacts. http://www.whoshouldifollow.com/ is a good example. (You can follow them at http://twitter.com/wsif )

Twitter Mathematics

I have three Twitter accounts. My primary account shows the following statistics.

F/F Ratio: 285/468 = 0.609 with 1043 updates. My first Tweet was on March 12, 2007*. Given today’s date June 7, 2008 and assuming 30 days per month we get a rough 16 months or 16*30=480. 480 days / 1043 updates gives us approximately 0.460. Half a tweet a day or so.

Someone like Evan Williams, CPO of Twitter, has a F/F ratio like this: 664 / 13,663 = 0.0486or Robert Scoble 21119 / 26554 = 0.795 but you have to couple it with a staggering 12,429 updates. Whew.

I am sure an enterprising mathematician will come along and put these metrics to some sort of pragmatic use (Brian Caldwell?) perhaps a Golden Twitter Ratio so we don’t blow out our neocortex out before quantum computing comes along and allows us to defy Dunbar’s Number. Tactical Twitter Tips or Twitiquette (tweaked from a previous post)

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Having a history analyzing data and metrics for real world charities I was very interested in how virtual worlds, in particular Second Life, have or are using lindens to do the same.

One stellar success sticks out- http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/relay/. Here is an official blog post from avatar, Fayandria Foley on relayforlife.orgin Second Life. As I understand it they raised $140,000 US last year. That is quite an accomplishment and one worthy of note.

I started thinking on how non-virtual entities leverage the web to generate funds, the performance marketing industry in general, and some quick bullet points came to mind as raw ideas. I realize some of these tactics have been probably been used before, like items created by “top content creators” in a vendor, but I feel it could be more efficacious to activate the content creators who tell me- “I would never sell this- it is personal- but I would get involved if it raised funds for a charity I believed in.” I also understand that if you do not have a background in online advertising or marketing that some of this can be confusing. Don’t worry- focus on the larger concepts.

I, and others, noted AM Radio’s success. In a previous post about AM Radio’s The Far Away how many avatars told me they would 50L (lindens- a form of fiat currency) for the identical item priced at 10L if it went to a worthy cause. IDENTICAL. The Second Life group is a giving bunch…so I put together some quick bullets and what might be accomplish by adopting or experimenting with some of these ideas.

Caveat- some of these concepts are based on many years of real world experience, however one or two years is not enough time for me to study what all that has or can be done in a metaverse. Also let it stand that some of it is purely anecdote and not scientific.

1. Pay More - Give More: People will pay for a digital item, and more for it if it is for a charity or cause they believe in. Pay more is really- give more.

2. Release Dark Content: In my talks with some content creators, both “top guns” and “lesser knowns” (that produce quality none-the-less) many tell me never sell their items or intend to. However, if it were to benefit a cause- they would be inclined to do so. This is great because great content or ideas that might never see the light of day enters into the marketplace and raises the bar. It also helps galvanize a diverse world around causes which is important as the world seems to disagree on so many things. Altruism and good will are aspects avatars seem to be in sync with. I call this the release of “dark content”. The content exists, most never see it. This adds value to the world and attracts new people. Sustainable builds means less population attrition as more time is allocated to teaching or indoctrination.

3. Bi-lateral Exchange & WOM (Word of Mouth Advertising) over Time: There is a tangible value exchange beyond altruism in the form of a digital item or “gift”. This does not weaken the altruistic spirit, but serves as a reminder or a viral “totem” to propagate the cause through word of mouth as this item moves into virtual space. After all, much interaction occurs in small group clusters inside of residences or small parties. The item itself could be scripted so that anyone can make a donation at any time. There are other risks, but I am positive they can be solved. At the very least you have a contextually significant virtual item injected into the discussion mix.

4. Old Systems Adapted to New Metrics: To do this you would need robust tracking vendors that can analyze the efficacy of campaigns and goods. Useful metrics can be produced, in a non-invasive manner, that would provide insight into future deployment. This is something I have been working on with Bleys and we are very near completion of two of the last primary components- gifting an item and multiple splits.

5. Sustaining the Sustainer: I raise the issue of multiple splits because some charities may allow or enable content creators to split revenue on their creations- thus solving another problem, or helping solve it. I call it bi-lateral altruism others might call it brand equity transference. The content creator, can help sustain their build, adding longevity to a world in flux and this makes the build or exhibit sustainable. In turn it lowers the churn in a system by imparting a boost from the brand equity of a charity to the creator- a fair exchange. Some merchants, like Amazon, have rejected this on the web, but I don’t see it being a problem in a metaverse on a micro-content scale. Also many large name merchants have no problem with this e.g. Wal-mart. I plan to talk to igive and upromise when I attend Affiliate Summit this month.

6. Metrics with Meaning: We would now have granular metrics with meaning. For example some creators may only wish to donate a portion of an item’s proceeds to a cause. We designed it so it was web based in control (color, shape, reload, kill, title change, FPS delta, etc) and merchants (fund raisers) can run metrics, at least metrics I CAN’T FIND, on efficacy.

For example, The average spend from an avatar of greater than two years age from a single prim vendor in a plot size less than 2000 m2 or the average Earnings Per Teleport (EPT) on a set of thematically created content residing on mainland versus estate. There are so many missing pieces to the puzzle it is difficult to make decisions or plans. This is because Virtual worlds are young, but I am seeing the exact pattern in CPA/CPS (Cost Per Action - Cost Per Sale) driven Performance industry that is now a multi-billion dollar powerhouse.

EPC Calibration Tangent: I realized the value of not only performance metrics but engagement metrics years ago while developing EPC calibration (earnings per click), a technique to select placement of merchant relationships on performance by comparing return to a median eCPC (effective cost per click) in a thematic shopping vertical- for example many flower merchants. (The article is archived at CJ University- perhaps I can talk them into liberating it as it was commissioned). Merchants falling below the “calibrated EPC” could be retained by renegotiating either coupon or commission raise. It set a meaningful bar for negotiation. Some, like Tim Storm, took this to a dynamic level and used it on the fly! It also led to other concepts like network concentration risk or merchant mix concentration risk.

7. Evangelism of a Platform: This process advances many other needed causes in a digital world struggling to prove its worth to the outside. Insiders get it- they are indoctrinated- outsiders do not and it is completely alien. Anyone can get behind goodwill and for avatars the added benefit of what I called earlier “dark content”, more interaction, sense of personal involvement beyond giving lindens and moving on, and the production of thematic and contextual items that are aligned with a particular niche or “land”.

8. Uniting on a Personal Level: Because content creation is not limited to few, but many, and control lies in the hand of the charity, there is far less potential for brand damage or non-alignment, yet the system scales and again a metaverse is more united and on a more personal level. I not only gave- I gave something even more valuable- time, a creation, a piece of one’s DNA- legacy. Giving to a world attaches one to a world.

9. Diversity is Strength: We now have Virtual World involvement on many different levels. Content creators, artists, singers, music creators, essay writers, performers, can choose to participate on a level they desire and they are the subject matter experts. Charities can select brand equity transferral or not. The more diverse the offering, the more robust the market and the more money will change hands- it is bi-lateral.

10. Terrain that Blends: Obviously this sets the stage for a web (HTTP) blend or terrain cross-over. I have seen nothing of this, or very, very little in the virtual world and that is probably because concepts of Signature Tracking, Flex Tracking or SID* usage are all new to them. They speak a language all their own. Some argue not breaking the “magic circle”, I argue the circle is as large as we make it and metaverses are not isolated. Right now we see their trails like comets, the particles are tweets, Flickr photo streams, and forums. (*The tracking systems above are proprietary mechanisms used by major networks to match transactions in charity, cash-back, or point systems.)

11. The Door Opens: These are ideas not only for RFL, but for other charities that are entering the virtul like Kiva and another lady I was speaking before my client crashed (please feel free to contact me).

12. Reset The Market: This is where we can start an important “reset” and possibly alter a model in a way that sustains the sustainer, grows virtual worlds, and enhances our existence or life- no matter what number you give or what you give. I know networks are interested in this as I have talked to their executives about it, yet the virtual terrain is so alien to them they don’t know where to begin. Executives- you will know where to find me in February.

Anyone else is welcome to contact me about these ideas or leave their comments, or educate me. wporter@gmail.com or skype wporter. In world Corwin Chevalier (notecard please) or linkedin.

P.S. Yes Tim Storm- that is what that e-mail was about- and hopefully I will see you at the summit. $140,000 is a powerful proof for an emerging virtual world, but knowing that much more can be done and that charities can enable the very pioneers of a struggling digital space is a compelling value proposition in my eyes. These worlds are educational, they break open new ideas, fuse new relationships and they are on the horizon.

Addendum: I heard colleague Jiminy Roo on the RLFL cast- so Mr. Roo- expect an IM on this buddy and I am glad you are leading the technological team.

Addendum Two: Additional edits made for clarity, and some explanation of acronyms.

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I happened upon this excellent resource by John Rice who is an educator, author and speaker specializing in educational technology and instructional gaming, when he noted a recent entry I did on griefing. I really like his blog perhaps because I feel vindicated that spending my high school time reading TSR’s Fiend Folio and memorizing THACO tables really might have practical applications. Sorry Dad- you might have been wrong.

John has not only a great blogroll–

• Bud the Teacher
• Clark Aldrich’s Blog
• Education Business Blog
• EduGamesBlog Feed
• EduQuery.com
• Electric Archeaologist
• Future-Making Serious Games
• Karl Kapp’s Blog
• Miguel Guhlin’s Blog
• Research Quest
• Richard Carey Associates
• seriousgames.blogspot
• seriousgames.ning
• SharpBrains.com Blog
• Tim Holt’s Byte Speed
• VG Researcher
• Zone of Influence

and he also puts together some fine pieces and resources like Top 10 Education Video Games, gives us the truth about “Virtual Shakespeare”, follows how virtual worlds are spewing real life creations into meatspace, and I like his take on VastPark.

John Rice on VastPark

Educators love to appropriate existing technologies for pedagogical purposes. And so we have educational radio programs, TV programs, videogames … and instructional applications in virtual worlds (VWs) such as Second Life and Active Worlds. However, there is an unfortunate lack of control in VW environments, as griefers manifest themselves with online terrorism, and students may potentially wander into explicit adult areas. What educators really need are VWs they control completely, regulating who has access as well as the pedagogy that is covered. Dr. Greg Jones over at UNT is a pioneer of this idea. Now, the potential for teachers to easily create their own online education worlds is proffered with a new service from VastPark, which bills itself as a “distributed virtual worlds platform.” Essentially, you design your VW using VastPark’s tools, invite users to stroll your virtual realm with their avatars, and achieve your online objectives whether that be making money or teaching students at a distance.

Second Life Innovates but Will Serve Niche Community in the future

Lately I have been looking at Second Life “economics” and how to disrupt the market. Finally it hit me and I think it can be done by using modified classical models in the far more mature affiliate marketing space. I am seeing the same sort of entrepreneurial patterns I saw with performance marketing in 1996 and I think it will follow a similiar maturation cycle. Snowcrash anyone? I believe the struggles with Second Life have been based around its hyper-freedom. You cannot fit square pegs into round holes. This does not mean it does not have value, only that its value is misunderstood or misused.

Is Second Life Going to Die?

I don’t think so- it will continue to serve niche and fringe markets and attract hyper creatives. I think new worlds or platforms like VastPark will fill the gaps that Second Life cannot due to the nature of the platform. Their 9 new rules is a great read starting with their view that a contigious metaverse is not going to happen.

The vision of an organised single world (or even a world of worlds) where the rules apply throughout might fall nicely into the Second Life fan club’s imaginations, but we don’t think it is going to happen. We all owe SL a debt of gratitude for putting virtual worlds on the agenda. On the other hand, gamers generally look at SL and think it’s a lame place for middle aged furries and academics. Corporations want to run their own meeting places without fear of flying penises. Media companies such as MTV want to enable their audience to get deeper involved in a variety of media properties and they will generally run their universe of virtual worlds quite separately from external influences. There’s no need for a Metaverse.

VastPark’s Vision

From what I gather reading their blog VastPark posits a virtual world can be thought of as a collaborative wiki hence virtual world is controlled like a distributed content management system (CMS). Also the decentralization of content with portable worlds, platforms and purposes combined with the use of “atomic portable Widgets” will lead to an explosion of meta-worlds and quests that will become the new arena of layered interactivity that fosters exploration. Exploration equals immersion in my experience.

Also see Future-Making Serious Games VastPark piece by Eliane Alhadeff, who also covers two emerging genres that I think hold promise- alternate reality games and augmented reality games.

MetaPlace Rising

I do like their value proposition too even if their view is slightly counter to another potential contender for this lucrative space- MetaPlace, headed up by CEO, Raph Koster.

Metaplace marks itself as next-generation virtual worlds platform designed to work the way the Web does. Instead of bloated custom clients Metaplace enables gameplay on any platform that reads their open client standard. They supply a suite of tools so people can make worlds, and host servers so that anyone can connect and play. Thus the client could be anywhere on the Web.

They too boast some interesting business and marketplace with some unique value propositions as per Jason Hable’s blog post.

What is the Future?

No one really knows, but no doubt MMOs, virtual worlds, 3D environments and rapid content creation tools for gaming environments are poised to explode. There will be no one “killer world or platform” but diverse companies that are honed to fill the needs of certain environments e.g. workspace collaboration, game play, teaching and education, and simulation.

Ultimately what I am looking at is how the traditional Web and 3D space will collide and what kind of real world fragments will be thrown off as this happens.

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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

End of Mail……Emphasis added by me- excited by Twitter- where you can catch me…on your own schedule- that is the point.

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Deconstructing only on what I know. Stream that acts recursively to site or dated.

- Ponder Path of Widgets on February 2, 2007 via Steve.

- Go Gonzo and exposed to Twitter via Sam. Post at RN January 21, 2007

- Note Twit to Sam March, 16, 2007

- Twitter Tracking with Fleep date unknown.

- Fleep makes a tweet (short post) about a teacher’s conference on March 14, 2007

- I follow her stream, blog on March 18, 2007.

- Meanwhile, Fleep reads my old post on March 14, 2007

- Her Read based on my blog on Steve’s embeded widget dated March 26, 2007,

- Retrograde Note: Know Steve via Brian Clark’s (circa 1999) and series of posts- summed up August, 28, 2006.

- Fleep tweets about the video. March 18, 2007

- The entire loop prompts me to document the action in a blog entry March 18, 2007

- Injected back into Twitter March 18, 2007

- This inspired by Sam on Twitter adoption story via WSJ March 16, 2007

- Sam’s blog based on Wall Street Journal story March 16, 2007

- Circle completes and I “meet” Fleep July 27th, 2007

- Recap with addendum. August 2, 2007

- August 2, 2007 injected into facebook…perhaps via twitter.

There has to be more. I cannot see it all- maybe Steve can shed light on widget views of the video? It still sits at University of Cincinnati and on blogs. What effect continues to pulse from this “frozen knowledge”

Commonly called “social media”- it is really only media that we socialize around.

Note the players in the pattern- blog, video, widgets, twitter, conversation, inspiration, virtual meeting…and elements unknown.

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Yes folks sorry to squash it all together, but it rolls together in this weeks theme of trust, accountability and communication.

I don’t know if Steve got his call from the monkey, but I am glad the spirit of open communications continues to blaze its way from one area to the next. Good things happen when butterfly wings flap…plus after using my iPhone to monitor it I realize I have developed a vision problem. I can’t see words that well unless under my nose- excuse typos.

This hit my mail box later after the post on “Shania Stewart’s Stand”, as I call it.

To the Magnify.net community:

This morning we woke to read this post from our friend, and Channel Creator Wayne Porter:

http://www.wayneporter.com/2007/07/27/accountability-freedom-and-making-room-for-micro-media-and-our-new-worlds/
While it says a lot - the part that has had us concerned, and frankly thinking hard, is this:

Magnify, you should…”hand over inventory control to platform users on the 50/50 model…let the users decide for themselves what and how to monetize the channel (watch out for those “Adware” deals- stop that cold) or not too monetize it. The know it. It is their passion.”

Wayne goes on to say:

The choice of coin is in their hands. As Sam and I like to say- it could be influence, or making a difference, or just having different and unique ideas to expose. At the least you and they can always use the mass of the collective and if they can’t beat that- they can join it. Some will fail, some will fail badly- but we will learn.

Well, we respect Wayne. In addition to being one of the most respected virus hunters on the internet, he’s deeply into Second Life, and has created a Magnify.net channel to present those videos. (http://virtualworldsvideo.com)

So needless to say, we’ve been giving this some thought - and we’d like your input.

As a channel creator - would you make use of the advertising inventory on your page if 50% of total inventory was turned over to you?
We NEED YOUR INPUT.

We want to hear what you think.

So please, post on the boards; We’ve created a Discussion area: “SHOULD REV SHARE MODEL CHANGE?” or if you prefer to communicate with us privately, email: RevShareDebate@Magnify.net

Thank you for your great work, and we look forward to working with you and other members of the community to evolve the Magnify.net platform.

The Magnify.net Team

As an aside, as a fan of Second Life, and the metaverse concept- this is how to solve sticky issues. They aren’t even problems yet- but concerns, yet Magnify.net is opening up the communication channels and giving user’s choice on how to talk to them- that is proactive. I will think on more ideas Steve. I pledge that- let’s start with this concept!

Meanwhile in the batcave Paperghost checks in about TRUSTe…and comScore.

I’m not sure how something that amounted to “We’re going to slam them in a ditch” turned into “go sit in the bad boy corner” but that’s exactly what seems to have happened here (in case you didn’t know, comScore’s Relevant Knowledge was installed via a security exploit, and someone from TRUSTe had said the ban-stick would be liberally applied if that was found to be the case).

For Gods sake, when are we going to stop gimping around and actually break out some actual punishments for people? Either kick someone from your program and be done with it, or admit that attempting to “rate” stuff on the Internet is essentially doomed to failure and just give up already.

The TRUSTe Blog talks about how awesome the anti-spyware community was key in shutting this down before the damage was much greater, and goes on to say:

Vigilance, cooperation, and mutual assistance by the entire online community - anti-spyware companies, third-party certification entities, government enforcement, consumer-complaint mechanisms, and self-policing by “good players” all have roles to play in making the internet a safer place for everyone.”

….but what’s the point if we have to do it all over again six months later?

Yes the community was key. I recall those days (more on it here). They were not pretty and the game is NOT over. You can reinforce reform, but some models are broken and have been for years. I know- I have the gray hair and worn out from it. One mistake, even two- fine- human. A pattern of abuse is reason for stern retribution when so much hangs in the balance.

If you recall my interview with TRUSTe and with Harvard’s Ben Edelman…it takes on perspective. You cannot control the wild field. I have talked with TRUSTe reps on my take to a one-sided approach- odds against it and the battlefield too large to patrol- especially where there are patterns of long-term abuse. They are into the pro-active approach, reward good behavior, and support reform. However, years of fighting hardcore malware has taught me that you never strike until the facts are clear, and while you can reward good behavior, I don’t see much. When you call a line in the sand you must follow through hard. Sometimes you have to use a “metaphorical baton”.

Then this report of “guns by the WSE staff” from Jimmy Daniels at Revenews summing up some of my thoughts and this disturbing stuff. I call it social engineering and with my tests it is even easier to do in a “3D Metaverse” because the physics are not the same.

Source: Your2ndPlace.

“I stayed for a little over 2 hours, trying to get to the truth of the matter. Weapons were pulled out by WSE staff, saying that they were ‘on alert’. This sort of security always amuses me; more imaginative and effective are the weapons which are invisible. I asked if they were meant to intimidate, to which the answer was ‘no sir’. Securing an area in Second Life doesn’t require weaponry. It requires agile thinking. Some people near me got ejected a few times, I have no idea why.

Still I stood there, waiting, until LukeConnell Vandeverre graced a few of us with his presence. He didn’t say much, really, but suddenly the same people who couldn’t give me an answer before had one: 15 hours. That put it at 10:30 AM PST today, the 26th of July 2007.”

The more imaginative and effective are the weapons that are real. Never pull a baton you don’t intend to use, and batons come in many shapes and forms if you think metaphorically. So when I have time I’ll trot into the metaverse myself…and have a little peek around, talk in a civil manner. I always extend the benefit of the doubt, but intuition is a researcher’s tool and it is ringing- I hope I am wrong.

My hand is itchy, and when a social explorer and experimenter gets an itch, he naturally wants to scratch it. With a baton.

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Vacation time and as it is traditional- when I take them (like never) I give out a nod and this one goes out to my respected mentor- Steve Rosenbaum, who recently said,

“So a new class of producers is emerging, and within that class there is some very high quality material that speaks to audience with passion, authority, and conviction. This is a good thing. Its good for consumers, it’s good for new makers, and its good for technology providers.

The shift moves the power from the owner of the network, to the creator of the most compelling content. And that’s going to be important for all of us.”

If you want to see a taste of micro content, of the new rise of creators speaking with passion, authority and conviction read on.

These are the stories that fire me up, that make me believe that media is of the people and for the people. That it is what we do, and what we say that can move mountains. Small sparks that erupt into infernos, grass roots efforts like Paul at Castlecops, or kung-fu artists like Paperghost.

Steve here you go. From an earlier comment on accountability and fraud in virtual worlds Ms. Stewart posts:

What can I do here? What solutions or remedies can I offer? How can I make SecondLife better than I found it? What would I want my children to look back and see?

and…

Am I now just pointing fingers myself, and stirring the drama I dislike? Yes, I am. I am angry and I have good reason to be.

A friend told me this is a pivotal time, an important time and what we do, whether it is perceived as a game or reality, is shaping the world. I could grind axes until there is nothing but a tiny piece of metal left, I could keep up this warfare and allow it to serve no purpose other than an outlet for my anger.

What can I do here? What solutions or remedies can I offer? How can I make SecondLife better than I found it? What would I want my children to look back and see?

From here, the warfare will cease. This will be my time to cool off and offer up solutions to those willing to listen, instead of pointing fingers. We can share Ideas instead of pointless bickering.

and…

Life is full of deception. It’s how you handle the deception by prevention and education that helps mitigate losses, and ultimately risk.

This is Shania. I have officially spoken my peace.

You can accept me for who I am and what we can do together, or you can point your fingers in the mirror, keep in mind the mirror will point back.

This is Shania. I have officially spoken my peace.

That is what it is all about- our stories, our lives, our convictions, our passion and knowing that what we do and what we say can make a difference. That difference can ripple the fabric. We are people and we are human but we know what to do, and what must be done.

But back to Steve….who has inspired many posts:

History:

We ended up conversing back and forth after a brief intro from collaborator and another mentor, Brian Clark, as I had been blogging on censorship in India and javascript injection and caught up in what I called Rosenbaum’s dilemma.

We bonded around our views of that “Web 2.0″ thing, and I was intrigued by his Magnify.net platform- with the ability to create channels and get feedback it led to my own thoughts on ways to do this tool- we talked. Takeaway- Think niche, think long tail, think community. (And I think I showed Steve a thing or two about thinking like an A.I. agent.). During that time I wanted to see if any community could be built with just a lump of symmetrical media. Would we, as people, seek to put order to the mass? No other agents. No big budgets, just media on a niche topic and some passion.

Yes. It worked shockingly well, and the little known niche of “machinima” (Hat tip to moo money) gets a little more exposure. Then we talked about monetization since I had some experience in that realm and a strange hybrid of security genes. It is a long story- maybe I can get movie deal Steve? Not with Clark…

So going on into my vacation I wanted to leave some thoughts- and perhaps the conviction of Shanai Stewart as we talked about how do you make it sustainable? Ack…boring inventory…Well you could widget around it, but no- that isn’t the full answer. Steve I think the key is, as I keep harping to you on skype over and over- break it out and hand over inventory control to platform users on the 50/50 model…let the users decide for themselves what and how to monetize the channel (watch out for those “Adware” deals- stop that cold) or not too monetize it. The know it. It is their passion.

The choice of coin is in their hands. As Sam and I like to say- it could be influence, or making a difference, or just having different and unique ideas to expose. At the least you and they can always use the mass of the collective and if they can’t beat that- they can join it. Some will fail, some will fail badly- but we will learn.

Open up the inventory at Magnify and just as we know what to magnify or to create, and measure we will figure out what to put there too…or work together and find that solution.

I am Wayne Porter…off to rest on my vacation and think about what I may contribute in the way of solutions and more importantly recharge with my wonderful wife (saint) and two kids who tolerate the crusader inside Dad…and Steve- the Monkey Phone Call is on the house…and another chapter is written on media I hope we can read in 100 years. Video your thoughts…or twitter them.

The Sounds of Thunder echo…Snowcrash has arrived at our doorstep…and the fiery chain reaction is closed in loop or rather it spreads further as I finally meet Fleep today and we talk about education, memes and graffiti moving to tee-shirts; on to zines and into blogs. This as we move and socialize around what we create and others create for us. “Social Media”.

I thank you all for your campfires, your stories, and your convictions. As a jedi master once told me- find your Zen.

ADDENDUM: Gigaom’s property covers Rosenbaum’s decision. Steve just keep the malware or adware out!

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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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Biz Partner and business visionary Vinny Lingham has launched Synthasite into alpha. I know Vinny, I know he is damn smart (Yeah ok… Kwisatz Haderach smart), and I have high hopes for Synthasite…and while this news is a bit late on my blog- I am looking forward to the beta version.

Synthasite, an AJAX based Web Publishing Platform, emerged today from stealth mode. The 6-person startup based in Cape Town, South Africa was recently spun out from the incuBeta group as a separate stand-alone company that will focus on delivering a world class web based software platform for web publishing, focusing specifically on Widgets & Mashups. Synthasite looks and feels like desktop software, but remains firmly rooted in the browser with no reliance on client side technology.

Facebook Tangent Alert

I wonder if Vinny will tap into Facebook?…of course one might read the TOS behind Facebook, because it really is just that- your face, your life, your friends- like a book. Not that Web 2.0 hasn’t made it one already- think of it is more a Bible. But funds setup and earmarked to monetize Facebook? The value is in the data if you ask me. Time to go see I guess.

I mean imagine Google’s Grand Central fused with Facebook, caramelized with Google Analytics…uber social network. Ripe for engineers like Brian Clark and ripe for others…

Things are changing from widgetry to Nielson sobering up over pageviews (think engagement), and while some call it insanity…these dozens of fast-tracked, micro-investments are a pittance compared to what really sits in the value of Facebook- it is not insanity too me.

Check out this Video from Google and a talk from Fred from UNC Chapel Hill and his research into “The Facebook”. Yes according to Fred- Facebook owns your campus. Zoho has tapped in, LinkedIn and StumbleUpon (ebay) has tapped in, even colleague Steve Rosenbaum has tapped Magnify into FaceBook. (Steve- yes people taking JPGs of JPGs!)….

One takeaway from the research talk Fred finds that friends in Facebook “are not real”, they are not quite like the friendships we form off line. I see the SAME type of behaviors in Second Life- friendship formation is not the same as face-to-face friendship formation- even with an avatar as proxy. People are hanging out and learning about each other. Second Life is different though, in the Facebook you are identity sharing, in Second Life the identity you share is not quite the same…

Also pay close attention to the concept of situational relevance. IN particular freshman who must renegotiate their “social network” and identity formulation and reformulation. This is the hinge pin of Facebook’s success. Again similar principles with Second Life where people can “try on” different identities…in a “walled garden”…

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Sam has been Powncing ahead as usual and hat tip to him for the invite. Right off the bat I can say I Kevin Rose’s Pownce (and I still like twitter) feels like a better thought out Twitter. Not surprising since Twitter was way ahead and I think Ev and team were experimental…and blazed a path. I fought Twitter for quite awhile…not any more. Micro-chunk, thin-sliced, easy to read, make it simple, fast-delivery is good. I still haven’t seen what I want though in a type of application like this for certain goals so I am going to have my biz buddy Don (of SLTweets.com), you know the guy that tools around with me in virtual worlds, create this- I hope…He may slap me, I may pawn him. Hard to say.

It took me 5 minutes to sign up for Pownce and go Pro. I do have an invite left after tapping colleagues (I think)…just reply with ‘Hey Wayne- Pownce me” or feel free to go off on why you think micro-chunking information is where it is at or not. I liked the no ads option. I do not mind to pay a fair price for software- I far prefer it to ads. If I have it- I will hook you up.

Social networking- gosh. Between E-mail, skypes, My Page (last), IM, Twits, RSS, phone calls, video conferences…is it any wonder we feel a bit awash in communications? That is why I liked twitter- I could get it when I needed it and that is why I have been relatively silent for awhile. I was more productive creating off grid, however it is very useful for idea absorption and synthesis. Let’s not forget- good blogging, at any pace is hard work. Micro-chunked messages that are aggregated over time makes a blog a good canon for “twitter’ or ‘Pownce” or any sort of this.

From site:

Website + App
You can access all of your Pownce notes just on our website or you can download a small program for your computer.

The software is available right now for Windows and Mac users and will available for Linux soon too. It takes advantage of a new technology from Adobe called AIR, which is super useful.

Pownce Me:

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Have I been in torpor? No. I have been resting up after my near fatal crash, or at least detaching from the net enough to clear thoughts and mull over the vast amount of information, theory and news that keeps flying my way. At times shutting off the spigot so I can listen. Not easy to do, but needed.

Still for those wondering- I have a pulse despite a publishing hiatus. I have been (and remain) deeply immersed in:

- unified communications
- Web 2.0
- “Security 3.0″, and, of course

- Metaverses and culture….which continue to totally fascinate me, or more the revolutions I find happening inside of them. I have went into deep immersion into the ether in the wee hours- in this case Second Life.

My AV has hot air balloned over empty sims, horse galloped through deserted suburbia, bought up slums, swept into griefer zones to trade tech, visited goth pits, coffin camping, entered places that were majestic and others that were too offensive for even my Indiana avatar to handle. I even jumped off the WSE (World Stock Exchange) with a parachute. The best way to know terrain is to get ones hands dirty. I do believe that. In this case, pixels are elusive.

I felt I (or my avatar who thinks he “controls me”) needed to go “Indiana Jones style” to find out what is/was really happening- good and bad.. A report soon…far too much to tell and like any story- you can’t tell it all, but it gets pretty intriguing. I have even contemplated keeping an AV journal…but then that shard of synthetic being might get more bold.

But metaverses, unified communications, web 2.0 and security are ALL related.

A side note on: “Twitter and Social Media Chain Reactions” that I wrote on March 18th, 2007. In that post I looked at how Twitter (it could be any nano blogging platform…) can forge new paths. Small sentences, mixed media, and memes propogate.

Noted this gem from Fleep. (Love the 30 prim cottage btw- if you read this Fleep.)

Fleep finds it and….this twit emerges three months or so later.

Responding to WPorter asynchronously: http://tinyurl.com/2xekaa

02:12 PM June 10, 2007 from im

If you have read Ray Bradbury’s 1952 short story “Sounds of Thunder” you will recall the plight of Eckels who “blew it” and history too.

A short summary: This well-known story about time travel revolved around a business called Time Safari, Inc. Time Safari promises to take people back in time so they can hunt prehistoric animals even the grand Tyrannosaurus rex.

In order to avoid a “time p