patrick.net

Is it illegal for someone to become a virtual God Father type crime boss in second life?

Are automatic weapons banned in the virtual world?

You assume that I would rather look at my coworkers than some spiffy avatar. :)

justme

You're onto something there at least as far as comparing Second Life to a religion of sorts. What I call "Cult Second Life" is only partially tongue in cheek. There are, in fact, True Believers who actually think that SL represents some sort of eminent transformation in humanity. They see SL as delivering a new ordering to the world in which they are rightly rewarded for their beliefs while us unbelievers are left behind in growing irrelevance.

They think that one will need to be immersed in "Matrix Second Life" in order to have the right to even participate in business, commerce, society, education and even love and relationships. I've thought about editing through all the emails and comments I've received over this issue from True Believers and listing a best-of so people can see just how much actual faith these people have in this thing.

Incidentally, Linden Lab uses Kool Aid packets to advertise for employees.

The CEO more resembles a cryptic cult leader on drugs.

Oh, I can't stop. I love pointing out bullshit so much that maybe I'm an addict myself.

(Last one, I promise)

Scientology is there too, so it's gotta be legit. There are rumors that the whole thing is really a clandestine Scientology operation. But I don't dare suggest those rumors might be true. I'm scared of Scientologists (and their lawyers).

I prefer to post with Firefox, which caches information on prior pages. Whenever my post doesn't go through, I just click back arrow and retrieve.

Owing to spam activities, it is increasing more difficult to get posts out of moderation. Be careful!

I can't claim immunity from void filling. I've wasted dozens of my hours tweaking elaborate Sims 1.0 constructions (I had the cheat code though, so at least I didn't spend hundreds of hours working to pay for them).

Given the wrong set of circumstances, I could be mesmerized by Solitaire and Free Cell for entire nights. I had to remove them to neutralize the temptation to zone out.

Peter P,

That should be a project for this blog. All the older pages should be permanently closed to new posts. That would dramatically cut down the moderation problem.

If possible, we should also switch to a random image key system to verify posts. That cuts down on spam tremendously.

That should be a project for this blog. All the older pages should be permanently closed to new posts. That would dramatically cut down the moderation problem.

That may worth a try.

If possible, we should also switch to a random image key system to verify posts. That cuts down on spam tremendously.

Even I have trouble passing those image tests. Maybe I am a version of Jukubot.

Stop trying to antagonize the nutters over at Linden Labs, Randy. Blogwars are kind of stupid.

ThinkPad is a registered trademark of International Business Machines.

Thinkpad is a product of Lenovo, the Chinese hoard, want to buy a type matched kidney from a shot in the back of the head political prisoner while shopping for pirated technology sold to finance Amerikan debt? Well then, look no Fuhrer that Lenovo.

but don't worry, there is a robust service technology going on, why shit, there is no possible way anyone could export programming. California Uber Google. Why just yesterday Mrs. X and myself were shopping and loaded the cart up with Amerikan made goods. We bought stuff from all over the good ole USofChIndiMexifornia.

On your knees boy. Shit, sorry, everyone is rich, everyone is rich, everyone is rich.

Then why is real estate on the otherside of a logarithmic slide?

temptation to zone out

I hear ya loud and clear. (Carpal tunnel syndrome from Tetris back in the old XT days, anyone?)

I now limit sessions by strictly applying stop rules. For FreeCell a loss, for Minesweeper (with 99 mines) a win in under 150 seconds.

Now if I could just discipline my share trading that tightly...

Oh, and OT I know but the World Swimming Championships are being held in Melbourne Australia at the moment, and the US Men's Coach said in an interview that he thought his team could win every Olympic event.

Granted, they currently have a truly fantastic Men's swim team (and one of Australia's two Individual world champions has recently retired), but I wonder if people in the US truly appreciate just HOW much a prediction like that p!sses off folk from anywhere else.

Even if it's correct. Perhaps especially if it's correct. As Willie Nelson sang, "Time enough for countin, when the dealin's done".

(And in fact, I note a young Korean just won the first Men's individual final, the 400 Metres Freestyle. Tunisia and Australia filled the minor placings. Even though I have liked just about everybody from the US I have ever met, :D :D :D.)

wasn't it kenny rogers

Surfer-X brings up a good point. If SL really becomes useful(I don't think SL will be, but some better 3D web productivity suite), it'll accelerate outsourcing of some current *secure* US jobs. I can easily secretaries, administrators, receptionists, etc going overseas.

Just wait until they get to really good remote control robots. No more paying $100/hour for auto mechanics and plumbers.

surfer-x Says:

ThinkPad is a registered trademark of International Business Machines.

Thinkpad is a product of Lenovo, the Chinese hoard, want to buy a type matched kidney from a shot in the back of the head political prisoner while shopping for pirated technology sold to finance Amerikan debt? Well then, look no Fuhrer that Lenovo
_____

Awesome post. And for the most part, true!

Don't feed your cat any kitty chow made with Chinese grain products. It now looks like they've sprayed it with rodenticide, i.e. rat-poison.

You see, in the "people's" republik, the dictatorshi of the proletariat doesn't feel the need to inconvenience itself with such trivialities as, say, human rights, or FDA standards to protect people from rat poison in their food, much less their kitty's chow-chow.

Hell, rumor has it, that in some famished parts of the hinterland, where Mao's glorious five year plan for a bountiful harvest for the people hasn't materialized, they even eat cats for breakfast. So who cares, right?

Oh, sorry, it's just the new order of things.

So much for the evolution of two hundred years of laws to protect American citizens from such inconveniences as, um, rat poison in your food and illegal immigrants walking across the border with diseases such as Leprosy, incurable Tuberculosis and Chagas (research this one, it's pretty hellacious).

As for a decent living wage, benefits and affordable housing? Let 'em eat cat food!

I never thought the dissolution of this country would go down so quickly. But then again, never underestimate the power of greed wedded to mass delusion.

Michael,

Easy come, easy go. Remember this country was founded on the Three Fifth Compromise. Remember that in 2004 gay marriage was more important to the majority of electorate than social security, separation of church and state, or the horrors of Iraq.

Don't blame China for what America does to itself.

Also - the Chinese don't eat domesticated cats (even feral domesticated cats) and is any Chinese food more disgusting than what America serves in its school cafeterias?

I am OUTRAGED!!!!

From what research I've done (I even joined the darn thing), Second Life is ran by a company in downtown San Francisco. Yet, when you join Second Life, you have the option of submitting some form of payment (ie, credit card, paypal, whatever). What happens to someone like myself who joined with no payment and is now a homeless virtual citizen?

So far, I've found no homeless shelter and no politician that gives a rat's ass about my oppressed condition. I would think that a city as "progressive" as San Francisco, would not allow such capitalism, even though it is virutal, it is still evil capitalism!!!

Does Great Mother Nancy Pelosi or Dear Leader Gavin Newsome know about this?

Second Life even has this thing called "The Marketplace"!!! WTF?!?!?! What about the needy? Haven't we learned from the real world that free-markets are cruel and evil and only benefit corrupt big businesses?

Don't just take my word for it....here's what the site itself says!

"Second Life has a fully-integrated economy architected to reward risk, innovation, and craftsmanship.

How can this be? Karl Marx must be turning over in his grave by now. Perhaps some enlightened soul (maybe one of the Google billionaires) will create "Second Collective" or "Second USSR" to show us virtual compassion done right.

Seriously folks...all mocking aside. I think that we all should join second life as flaming, bleeding-heart liberals. Just join and act like your neighbors. Drive this thing into the ground with a good dose of San Francisco liberal values!! :)

How can this be? Karl Marx must be turning over in his grave by now. Perhaps some enlightened soul (maybe one of the Google billionaires) will create “Second Collective” or “Second USSR” to show us virtual compassion done right.

How about SOL? Second Objectivist Life.

You see, in the “people’s” republik, the dictatorshi of the proletariat doesn’t feel the need to inconvenience itself with such trivialities as, say, human rights, or FDA standards to protect people from rat poison in their food, much less their kitty’s chow-chow.

And you think DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Kalifornistan) is much better? ;)

Drive this thing into the ground with a good dose of San Francisco liberal values!!

LOL! We will require that at least 64% of all virtual housing be BMR units!

Or are we really just a housing bubble cult?

So we get a special tax status?

There are probably enough Gen-Y Losers out there for SL to be very successful.

I define Gen-Y as the class of people with Pluto in Scorpio.

I SUGGEST NEXT TIME SOMEONE ASKS A QUESTION YOU ALL TAKE HEED AND GIVE YOUR ANSWERS.

perhaps we did not see the question. i .have trouble reading caps. can you post your question again?

<i>ITALICS</i>

Tax breaks will make people do the strangest things.

Very true indeed. Hopefully people will donate more just for the deductions. :)

THERE SHOULD BE SET PRTICES ON HOUSING JUST LIKE THE GROCERY STORE

On the contrary, I think grocery store should have flexible "market prices". :)

Here's some motivation for fellow Second Life proletariatarians... ( If SL has a DNC, you'll find this in their founding documents, just like the one in the First Life. :)

"The proletariat will use its political supremacy to wrest, by degree, all capital from the bourgeoisie, to centralize all instruments of production in the hands of the state, i.e., of the proletariat organized as the ruling class; and to increase the total productive forces as rapidly as possible.

Of course, in the beginning, this cannot be effected except by means of despotic inroads on the rights of property, and on the conditions of bourgeois production; by means of measures, therefore, which appear economically insufficient and untenable, but which, in the course of the movement, outstrip themselves, necessitate further inroads upon the old social order, and are unavoidable as a means of entirely revolutionizing the mode of production.

These measures will, of course, be different in different countries. Nevertheless, in most advanced countries, the following will be pretty generally applicable.

1. Abolition of property in land and application of all rents of land to public purposes.

2. A heavy progressive or graduated income tax.

3. Abolition of all right of inheritance.

4. Confiscation of the property of all emigrants and rebels.

5. Centralization of credit in the banks of the state, by means of a national bank with state capital and an exclusive monopoly.

6. Centralization of the means of communication and transport in he hands of the state.

7. Extension of factories and instruments of production owned by the state; the bringing into cultivation of waste lands, and the improvement of the soil generally in accordance with a common plan.

8. Equal obligation of all to work. Establishment of industrial armies, especially for agriculture.

9. Combination of agriculture with manufacturing industries; gradual abolition of all the distinction between town and country by a more equable distribution of the populace over the country.

10. Free education for all children in public schools. Abolition of children's factory labour in its present form. Combination of education with industrial production, etc. "

Are you quoting the Communist Manifesto? Are you now or have you ever been a communist?

How hard would it be to make a 'watch for falling prices' insert to fit into the 'sold' slot on RE signs?

In this life, I'm a capitalist from the sole of my feet to the crown of my head. In the Second Life, I'm the most left-wing communist that you will ever meet.

And if we become a tax-exempt cult, who gets to write the Dyanetics parody?

In this life, I’m a capitalist from the sole of my feet to the crown of my head. In the Second Life, I’m the most left-wing communist that you will ever meet.

You got me worried. :)

Perhaps I will become the Casey Serin of the virtual world. Or maybe even a virtual NIMBYist!

@nanab301

Thanks for the compliment but keep in mind as soon as someone starts to think they are smarter than everyone else they just as surely aren't.

I kind of became an accidental SL "pundit". It's much more a statement about the lack of any serious scrutiny by the press and most of the wide eyed academics than it is about me. Except for a couple of exceptions, the bar wasn't really set that high when I came in.

I was really working on much wider online computer games stuff when the whole SL episode erupted. I actually believe there _is_ something pretty big developing in the realm of "online virtual reality", but I think the crowd that's now squatting on that intellectual realm aren't deserving all the hype; and maybe they're actually causing damage.

@Jimbo

Consider it a weekend distract then and wait for the next thread. A "virtual reality real estate agency" being offered by a real world major real estate agency is a crossover worth bitching about, at least on a slow weekend.

You guys are using limited imagination here. Someone needs to be a mortgage broker that is a giant talking alligator. Then when people are close to foreclosure, the alligator can eat them.

Maybe we should be Linden mortgage brokers. Then people don't have to pay up front. We could purchase their land and homes, and then rent it back to them indefinitely. The lack of a legal system wouldn't necessarily be a problem. You could always grief that person continuously.

Seriously, people are stupid. They will focus on the monthly payment instead of the total capital outlay. If you make it easy for them to live in SL in tiny little bites, then they would probably do so.

astrid Says:

"...Don’t blame China for what America does to itself."

Also - the Chinese don’t eat domesticated cats (even feral domesticated cats) and is any Chinese food more disgusting than what America serves in its school cafeterias?
_____

The problem is, is that too many fat cat's (Repub's and Dems) are doing big business with a big brother totalitarian regime, which is tantamount to the maintenance dictatorships, its sine qua non for existence.

Just follow the money, honey!

Yeah, I'll never forget Californa cafeteria food. And the smell of the cafeteria...

Mike, there is nothing wrong with totalitarian business partners. So long as we are not living under totalitarian rule who cares?