Second Life

[Note from Justine- Bells Semyorka IM’d me weeks ago about being a Post 6 Grrrl. I got to meet her and take these pictures, and THEN I realized the she is the writer behind the This Girls Second Life blog. Bells is a great person and, as you can see, a gorgeous avie. I hope my pictures do her justice!]

   Hello Sweethearts, My name is Bells Semyorka, I am 25 Years old and am from the Lone Star State, Texas. ; ) I first want to say I am very excited and grateful to be given the opportunity to become a post 6 Grrrrl. I have been a fan for a long time, and I finally worked up the courage to ask Justine if I could pose. ( I tend to be on the shy side at times) I have been playing Second Life since Nov of 2006, and seeing as how my rezz day just passed, I can officially say with pride that I am no longer a Noob!  I believe everyone should be treated with kindness and respect even when they don’t deserve it.

For me Second Life is about learning,and new experiences. I try to enrich my second life by participating in as many activities as can handle. I am a Jack of all trades, and a master of none. I own a little store, Bells Boutique: Clothing that wont break your budget; and I also blog, This Girls Second Life.  I am a Mentor and have been known to hang out at help island volunteering to the newbies masses. (Oh yeah, I have the T-shirt and emotional scars that proves it. LOL )

   When I first started SL I found a job working at a club as a dancer. the club had a no nudity rule, so even a shy girl like me felt comfortable there. I have tried my hand at running my own club, but quite frankly I don’t have the patience or time to properly commit myself. I learned the hard way its not as easy as some have made it seem. The one skill I learned for my Club experience was Djing, and that I am always willing do. I am no where near an expert in SL and I never claim that I will be. I will try to go out of my way to help anyone out and I will always attempt to learn something new.

When I am not busy I spend my time making new friends, exploring sims and it goes without saying Shopping. I also spend time  at Kindly State University, where I role play as a college student. I have to admit I am not very good at role playing, but I certainly give it my best shot. My two closest friends in SL, Frankie Palliard, and The Princess Parisi are my partners in crime. They know me best and have the most blackmail information on me. LOL, I love you guys, I am taken by Frankie, a total sweetie and hottie. (blows kisses) He is the only guy in SL ever to have my heart.

Feel free to IM and say Hello, I hope you like the Pics. I know the criticism from the group can be brutal at times, but what doesn’t kill you will only make you stronger. Thanks Again for reading, Bells MUHA!

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Love happens. So do Break-Ups.

by Penance Sautereau

Love happens on SL. No one will deny that. But like RL, people grow apart. So if your SL romance fizzles, if it was serious for you, you’re going to feel hurt by it. Aside of the ways to cope with your hurt in real life, which may be the preferable choice for a few days, as in taking a break, if you must keep playing SL while healing, you’re going to need ways to distract yourself. So in that vein of reasoning…

5) Go dancing! Yeah I know that sounds simplistic but SL has no shortage of dance clubs of all sorts, such as Lucifer’s, Gazza’s Bar, Refugees, Rogues Club, and many others. Sometimes dancing mindlessly to good music with fun people around is a great way to soothe the ache. For a lot of people it’s healthy to be around people after a break-up, and if your RL friends are bust, well, SL is always crowded. It also doesn’t hurt to just dance the anger away. Channeling break-up anger through dancing is a lot healthier and positive then stewing on it.

4) Go exploring. When you’re hurting in your heart, well, that’s a perfect time to look up some things on SL. I looked up the Apple store after seeing a video of it on YouTube, and had fun browsing all the virtual computer props. Then I looked for various themes. I found an actual Transgender support area, hidden amongst all the shemale sex clubs, and met some really cool people there. Just search the places tab for anything you’re into, goth, rave, art, etc, and go exploring. You’ll be amazed how easily you get distracted from the hurt.

3) Learn to build or create. Get yourself to one of the many public sandboxes here on SL and start building. Create something. Experiment with textures and shapes. Build a house, a car, or a guitar. Almost anything that you can imagine, you can build in SL. You might fnd it incredibly cathartic to even just build a box . It can be liberating, and can help you ignore the hurt for awhile. So go get yourself building, and see what you can come up with.

2) Hanging with friends. A simple yet easily overlooked option. There’s always SOMEONE on SL more than happy to shoot the breeze and gab happily for hours about anything and everything, or even nothing in particular. Talk about your break-up. Talk about the weather. Talk about that new prim outfit you bought that you don’t think quite looks right, but talk. It really is the best way to purge negative energy from a break-up, to just talk it out, or talk about completely unrelated things. But talk, and soon you’ll find the hurt fades into the background.

1) GO SHOPPING!!! Okay, this one probably usually only applies to us girls, well, except if there’s a good hardware store on here someplace. But the best medicine sometimes when we’re hurt is to go shopping. Spend frivolously on things you don’t need, or just window shop looking at nice stuff you can’t afford. Shopping is a great stress reliever, because you get so caught up in all the cool things you can find that for a while you forget you’re hurting. Shopaholics unite!

Of course we know nothing ever truly makes the hurt go away. Only time can do that. But for the immediate moment, it helps to have fun ways to make you stop thinking about it. And that’s really the best painkiller isn’t it? So go have fun. Hurt is only as painful as you allow it to be. I know that’s easier said than done for those of you who feel real emotions in SL, and for those who don’t well, you folk won’t get hurt to begin with and wouldn’t need this list.

But for those who do, I hope this list is helpful in taking your mind off the hurt. Thanks for reading.

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by Kris Dibou, warrior poet/pirate

I sleep by the luminous light
Of my laptop, left on all night;
As closer I drift towards the place
Of digital time, life and space.

Evolution’s next step for man?
The digital body’s at hand!
When at last we move without keys;
No sickness, death nor disease.

Are not our streets paved with gold
Like in the stories of old?
Will we have eternal life,
Immune to the rifle and knife?

When the last display fades to black
With no one to power it back;
Will we find a way to survive
and keep our ‘bodies’ alive?

Perhaps it’s your state of mind;
Pixels and skin cells, I find
Are not needed eventually,
Just what your mind’s eye will see.

And so with a beep I wake up;
I fumble around for my cup,
And merge once again with my screen
To become what I once might have been.

copyright (c) 2007 - Kris Dibou - used by the gracious permission of the author.

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[Note from Justine; ToKizzable contacted me weeks ago about being a Post 6 Grrl and waited patiently for her chance. I thought it a great sign that she showed up for the photo shoot in a sexy elf costume the week before Christmas. I hope you enjoy meeting her as much as I did!]

Hello
     I’m ToKizzable Zeddmore friends and family call me Kizz or Kizzy. Not a lot to say about myself besides I’m a simple person…I belong to the Paglione Famiglia, I Love the moma Raven and poppy Nite sooooo much they have been good to me..then I have some of the most awesome friends anyone could ever ask for Purgitori Darkes..an awesome DJ and my SL and RL best friend..then Scarlet Chandrayaan always there when i need to complain about something…lol and she listens..Then My Brubby*brother* Kaos Elcar, he’s a pain in the ass and thinks he’s the pimp but we all know I rule…lol..then there’s Monavie Voight who’s been great to me and forming our very new friendship..I have many more wonderful friends Charlene, Vera, ChanChan and soooo much more.

I Do have a Business life..I’m a residential manager for 2 of the most beautiful sims..green wonderful grass and lots of friendly people..then I am also a model for One Source as well as a Model Training Manager for One Source..We work with some of the most prestigious designers in SL as well as some RL designers..if you’d like more info on it contact Purgitori Darkes or Honor Lehane..

My Personal life..Well i don’t have anyone steady in my life right now…then again I’m not looking…I love to dance and hang out with friends….omg and shop…I am such a shopohalic…lol I need help…clothing hair shoes…I want it all…lol So if you know of any hot shops lemme know.

I know everyone has their own opinoins and I am not someone scared to to take critizisum; maybe you think my breasts are too big or my lips or my booty..*giggles* that’s fine…tell me about it..maybe you can give me some pointers..I never claimed to be perfect..so others’ input just might help…Remember only give what you can take Merry Christmas Everyone..May Peace and Love fill your homes and family this Holiday and please have a safe and Happy New Year!!!

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by Jessica Holyoke

In my time at the Herald, I’ve seen bank failures, aborted mergers, strange actions by the stock exchanges and company failures.   I’ve also experienced first-hand what happens when residents believe that we’re in a “virtual economy” or “fictional economy.”  Residents subscribe to a number of myths that affect how they view everything around them.

It’s a Virtual Economy

Many residents view the in-world economy as a virtual one.  A fictional economy is what the WSE describes what we are doing, most likely for legal reasons in Australia.  Just calling our economy fictional or virtual does not make it so.  We, as residents, buy and sell real things.  It is just that these real things are represented more by electrons then atoms.  These items we buy and sell are as real as software, pictures, stock options or futures.  I really own a SexGen bed.  I really own various dance programs.  I really paid someone to have a logo made in SL.  I don’t fictionally own objects and items.

When Ted Castronova wanted to study a virtual economy, he decided against using Second Life.  A number of people thought that was foolish because SL already has an economy.  But SL is not like other MMO economies for two reasons; the LindeX makes asset prediction impossible and residents do not make predictable economic choices. 

In World of Warcraft, a person enters and has no gold.  Players have to earn gold by grinding or maybe dueling other players.  If you see a level 10 and a level 70, it is likely that the level 70 has more gold and assets than the level 10.  And their economic choices are limited.  Both players are likely to spend on skills training, material or weapons that are appropriate to their class or race.

In SL, you do not have that same level of economic certainty.  Someone who’s been here for three years may have fewer lindens than someone who’s been here a week.  Possibly due to the newbie bringing money in or the oldbie taking money out or the oldbie getting by without any money and using freebies.  The LindeX makes basic asset predictions impossible when compared to a WoW situation. 

Purchasing decisions are also not easily predictable.  The Gorean slave girl, just for fun, might have bought a combat helicopter.   She can’t use it on Gorean lands, but there’s nothing stopping her from making that economic decision.  In WoW, her experience and in-game role would have prevented her from buying items she is not meant for.  In the real world, no one is able to just purchase a combat helicopter. In SL, those limitations do not exist.

Banks and Stock Exchanges in SL Are Bad Ideas

One of the beautiful things about capitalism is the ability for resources to be put to their best use.   Its the basis of supply and demand, but its also the basis for capital investing.  The safest thing to do with your Linden Dollars is to take them out of SL.  The second safest thing to do with your Linden Dollars is to leave them alone in your in-world wallet.  But if you leave your Lindens in your in-world wallet, they are not being put to use.  That’s where the banks and stock exchanges come in.

Say there are a hundred residents with L$100 they do not have a use for.  They deposit those Lindens in a bank which takes the L$100,000 and buys land.  The owner decides to develop it commercially so that he can have cash reserves, income generation and the ability to pay interest.  Those residents enabled a mall to be built, which further drives the in-world economy.   

In the stock exchange example, someone has a business idea, but they don’t have the money or capital to exploit the idea.  The entrepreneur holds an IPO to raise money.  The residents with left over Lindens buy shares of stock. In exchange for an ownership interest and a portion of the profits, they fund the entrepreneur’s venture.  The venture may do well, it may not.  Either way, the economy is growing based on the initial investment.

These investments are high risk.  An investor still needs to do research before investing just as an investor would do in the real world.  Additionally, that investment can be completely lost.  That does not make investing bad, just risky.

Failure Means Fraud

Once I was able to explain the details of the July Ginko Crash to a business person not familiar with all of the intricacies of SL.  As I’ve written before, the July Ginko Crash was due to the gambling ban and casino owners cashing out, accusations of being a ponzi, and technical difficulties with the Grid the weekend after the ban was put into place.  People were having difficulties withdrawing from Ginko, which drove down depositor confidence.  As I was explaining the details, the business person responded, how would any bank without insurance or government backing, deal with that kind of loss of depositor confidence and deposits? 

Sometimes entrepreneurs might not know what to do, either due to a lack of training or due to education not knowing what to expect in a SL economy.  Just because they fail does not mean that they are frauds.  This does not excuse all fraudsters, but you have to find more proof of fraud than just a bank failure.

If This is So Good, I Should Invest My Out of World Assets.

That is the worst advice anyone can give regarding SL investing.  And partially it goes back to the analogy of investing in SL being like gambling.  “Bet with your head, not above it.” Investing Lindens that are sitting in your in-world wallet is one thing.  Buying new Lindens simply to invest is another.  All of the real world protections, insurance, bankruptcy liquidation, government oversight, are lost if you invest your real world assets in Second Life.  Linden Lab takes many steps to keep the Linden dollar seen as a digital right and not a currency, so they will not step into the shoes of a government to protect your investment.  Additionally, it raises issues as to tax consequences for investments in SL with RW assets. It is better to leave your money outside unless you need it in-world for something that you personally are going to use, such as purchasing land or starting your own business, as opposed to investing in others. 

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Tiny Tim despondent - lumps of coal and company restructuring for the holidays

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

Jeremy Vaught reports on the Second Life Podcast blog that 22 employees of the Electric Sheep Company will have a permanent holiday this Christmas - leaving them plenty of time to select and wrap presents and visit their families, now that they have been sacked by the metaverse development company.

Reportedly, ESC cited financial problems and is “refocusing the business”. The group working on MTV projects is apparently still intact, but speculation is that they may be discarded at a later date now that the company is focusing on “technology like onRez”. OnRez is a shopping site for purchasing virtual clothing and accessorizing SL lifestyles with possible holiday gifts such as latex school girl outfits, and whip marks and everhard prim genitalia.

OnRez sells milk and cookies, too

Joel Greenberg’s Virtual World Ad Network has also been shutdown as part of the ESC company restructuring. According to an e-mail send by Mr. Greenburg to those who had signed up for updates on the project the ad network was about a month away from going into beta test. Tiny Tim was unavailable for comment at press time, but the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future were reportedly planning a midnight visit to the ESC headquarters.

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by Jessica Holyoke

Philip Linden is happy the BBC gave him a big kiss

Earlier this week, residents learned of the departure of Cory Ondrejka aka Cory Linden aka SL’s own Flying Spaghetti Monster, from sources as varied as Massively, the recipient of leaked e-mails, to CBS News, which featured an article on Cory’s departure as Chief Technology Officer, to the Herald’s help wanted ads.  As residents and Pastafarians alike deal with the surprising disappearance of Linden Lab employee #4, speculation turned to what Cory’s future plans are, and who - if anyone - will be taking his place. 

For the SL media, the situation is difficult, since the Lab seems to have gone into damage control information lockdown.  My e-mailed inquiries to the Lewis, the Lab’s PR firm, are going unanswered - leaving us to speculate on how the CTO position will be filled, if at all, and question the Lab’s direction.  At a time when one might expect more PR would be better than less, I found out from Catherine Linden, the head of PR for Linden Lab, that she is no longer holding in-world office hours.

While the April 2006 arrival of Joe Miller, VP of Platform and Technology Development, may be a sign that the Lab will weather this change and this is not as big of an upheaval as some are imagining, why aren’t the PR people telling us anything?

As ValleyWag notes, after the news of Cory Linden’s departure broke, Philip Linden managed to pull off an excessively well-timed sloppy wet kiss from the BBC - narrowly avoiding being “left talking to tens, if not dozens of users in a Second Life amphitheater”. While we agree that SL press conferences get old, why are all the PR people hiding? 

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Why are Residents believing in Linden Lab’s proclamations?

by Jessica Holyoke

The more people discuss Age Verification, the more questions are raised.   The biggest one is why are Residents believing in Linden Lab’s proclamations.

The Lab states that “[w]hile not foolproof, age verification can provide an additional layer of trust for inworld businesses and Residents. It also helps ensure that minors can’t gain access to inappropriate adult, mature content in Second Life.”  In the first sentence, taken from the Knowledge Base FAQ given on the blog, it suggests that age verification will build up trust.  But if you page down on the FAQ, it states  “[o]ther Residents will not be able to view your age verification status — for example, within your profile.  However, if you are on a parcel that requires age verification, other Residents on that parcel (or having access to your location information) may be able to deduce that fact.”  So how does this build trust for inworld businesses and Residents?  It would seem only to do so if you restrict access to your parcel or estate to age-verified avatars.  Otherwise, a resident would never know if someone is age verified unless they ask for proof. 

The second sentence lowers the standard of what should be age-verified.  Inappropriate and mature content goes beyond sexual content and could mean other content such as excessive violence or even political speech depending on the country.  Worse is that the Lab requests that “the community . . . continue to be effective and responsible in ensuring that Residents are sufficiently protected from potentially inappropriate and/or offensive content that is adult in nature. “  Apparently, all people who use SL need to be protected from content, not just minors. 

In discussing age verification, two ideas are being promoted as to why it is good, one statement is leading to confusion and one point is being avoided.  Please keep in mind that this is written by someone in the United States, which has laws that vary from state to state.  The actual law where you live and how it applies may be different. 

Does age verification limit liability? for whom?

The first idea that is being suggested as to why age verification is a good idea is that this will somehow limit liability.  The problem with the limitation of liability theory is what exactly is a content creator being held liable for.  Most “distributing ‘harmful to minors’ material to minors” laws require that you know or have reason to know the person is a minor.  (California is somewhat interesting in that if you fail to use reasonable care to see if someone is a minor before giving them the material, you are guilty of a misdemeanor, but if you use the internet, you have to know that the person is a minor. Cal Pen Code §288.2.  The question becomes what does reasonable care mean.  Another question is, in a world where behavior and content are mixed, what does distribution mean.)  If someone does not use voice, a person cannot tell if the avatar they are interacting with is above or below the age of majority.  For the most part, you cannot be held guilty for knowingly giving something to a minor if you had no means to know that person was a minor. This is especially true when just accessing the Grid requires a minor to lie about their age.

Aristotle does offer to pay if a company is fined for underaged sales.  However, its not quite clear as to how a landowner who clicks “Age Verified only”  is protected. Paying Fines for underaged sales is a very narrow protection and one that is not part of the majority of cases concerning adult content and youths. And the protection would lean more towards Linden Lab, not the Resident. 

Virtually Blind brought up the point of parents may attempt to sue content creators for exposing their children to harmful to minor content.  When you Google parents filing suits like that, Virtually Blind is the first web site that comes up.  I looked for a single case in Lexis Nexis where a parent sued a website for content that is harmful to minors falling into their child’s hands and could not find one.  The closest two were where a parent sued a library and a town for negligence and waste of funds because her child could print up pornography at the library and the French parents group that sued Linden Lab.  Both suits never made it to trial. 

One of the difficulties of bringing suit as a parent for the child is that you would have to prove damages.  How was your child harmed by viewing content that is harmful to minors?  There’s no statute saying there’s a definite amount of damages.  And most courts avoid determining how a person was damaged psychologically without medical proof, such as psychologist visits or physical manifestations of mental disorders, such as the physical side effects of anxiety.

If a law enforcement agency decided to go after a land owner for Obscenity, age verification will not help.  While “think of the children” comes up often in obscenity prosecutions, the basic nature of SL being adults only would seem to protect against using “think of the children.”  It would not help against the basic obscenity charge.

Does age encourage accountability? for whom?

The second idea that is bounced around is that age verification will encourage accountability.  It’s just that the program as described would not be able to do that.  Age verification does not retain records, or so the Lab tells the community.  If this was about accountability, then the records would be retained.  If they are not retained, then it is not about accountability.  A Resident, in theory, is still as anonymous after verifying than they were before.  Or taking the carding analogy further, just because I show the bouncer at the bar my real phone number on my license, doesn’t mean I’m going to tell you my real phone number.

One muddled idea is about who is accountable.  At times, I’ve seen Robin Linden state that land owners are responsible for what occurs on their land.  And that age verification means that the responsibility for content shifts from Linden Lab to the Resident.  But that suggests that, at one time, Linden Lab was responsible for people’s content and actions.  Additionally, if the Landowner is solely responsible for what happens on their ‘land”, then why is Linden Lab, the ultimate owner, not responsible for what happens on their “land”?  I covered some of these issues in a previous Op/Ed.

If you use the “land” as website analogy, and the duty to moderate what is posted, the analogy fails because a reader cannot make a temporary adjustment to the experience of the website.  YouTube might be able to stop a posting of someone singing that infringes someone’s copyright, but a land owner cannot stop a Resident from infringing on someone’s copyright.  Residents have the ability to have sex with each other, anytime, anywhere, regardless of zoning.  Its the Resident, any Resident, committing the act that needs to be responsible for their actions, not anyone else.

An idea is being buried that might be the key to age verification.  Deep on the Knowledge Base FAQ, Linden Lab states that they currently do not charge to age verify.  Previous plans have stated that age verification will cost a nominal fee when it comes out of beta for basic members, and L$10 for premium members.  In that same sentence, the Lab states that it does not cost to host “Age Verified only” land at this time.  This might be very important, either as a future means to price out adult content, making it too expensive to host, or as a way for the Lab to cash in on the money involved in adult content. 

Granted, paying Aristotle to host “Age Verified only” may be the way that Aristotle insures the land owner, but why would Aristotle agree to insure something when they would not know what they were insuring?  (For instance, many obscenity laws automatically list BDSM as something that is fundamentally obscene.  Perhaps Aristotle would not want to insure against a minor seeing BDSM due to the notoriety involved. Unless the cost is so high that Aristotle wouldn’t have to insure the content.) That one point might be the key as to why we have age verification.  Linden Lab is a corporation. It always comes back to money.

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by Urizenus Sklar, from the Missing Linden Desk

Cory sipping tequila in the Herald Hospitality Suite at the Tribeca Grand Hotel

As I write this I am drinking bourbon from a paper cup, listening to country music, and waiting by the phone in the vain hopes that Cory Linden Ondrejka will call and agree to be the Herald’s CTO. Such is my nostalgia that I cannot help but dip into the Herald Paparazzi Photo Archives ™ for a trip down memory lane. I thought I would share the memories with all of you too.

Cory and Howard Rheingold at the Herald Suite.

Cory ashes a goldfish for reasons unknown.

The Linden Love Machine in Action. Cory gets a massage from Hamlet Linden Au. In the background Pathfinder Linden macks on my then GF.

Cory and Pathfinder compare hardware. Later they would retire to the mens room to compare their Prince Albert piercings.

Pathfinder tried and failed, but Cory steals the heart of my erstwhile GF. The cad!

In happier days at SOP II with Philip and Yale law profs Benkler and Balkin.

At a dispute resolution workshop, making a point, with David Johnson (NY Law), Susan Crawford (Cardozo Law) in the background.

Bye Cory. We love you!

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[Note from Justine- Quest Jarrico asked if she could be a Post 6 Grrrl many weeks ago, and then added that she would like to use her own pictures. I asked her to send me her shots and the pics you see below are the result. I wish I’d had the opportunity to take her pictures if only to get to spend some time with such a talented person!]

My name is Quest Jarrico, because when I was creating my account I was listening to a Tribe called Quest.  At the time it sounded like a good idea.  I joined SL in 2005, and have mostly used that time for exploring, socializing (especially good discussions/debates on philosophy, religon, history, films, and classical books), and poking at the quivering mass that is the building engine. 

I’ve been just about everywhere around the grid, in fact I used to spend time just walking across the mainland, but got slapped down pretty quick on that one after having red fences became a fad.  Walking down the Linden made roads in between all the bright lines of red isn’t quite the same.  I’ve also enjoyed bouncing around some of the major social structures in SL and watching how they treat things differently, I’ve been around the furries, the militaries, a lot of smaller groups that have since disappeared, and even the goreans, they didn’t like me much.

However, I’ve never managed to get into the club scene in SL,  with a few exceptions everytime I’ve gone to one the builds have been ugly and the conversation inane and stupid.  I worked as a stripper for like half a week before I got fired for not taking it seriously at all.  It was a crappy job anyways, never bothered with that whole run again.  Outside of that, I kinda treat SL as an outlet for nudism, which is something I’d like to do in real life but lack the guts, so for the most part I’m almost always nude when I go about the grid (which, incidentally, didn’t help the stripper job very much since I guess it kinda defeats the purpose), this gets me into a lot of trouble, you’d be surprised how many unheard of and unposted “no nudity” rules get thrown around when I walk into places.   

To segue suddenly into an entirely different subject:  I run a little shop too, I didn’t particularly want to start one, but on the repeated suggestions of Philo Sion, I started one up in Glass Earth where I occassionally toss the random crap I tend to make.  In keeping with my inability to name things, it’s called the Cat Box, which is about as cheesy as it gets, but it’s good for a bit of extra spending money, though when you’re nude all the time, your clothing bill is pretty low.

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