Look Ma, No Dollars!

Some years ago, there was a market. It was called GOM. And they did this funny little thing, where they would exchange your L$ and USD$ outside of LL's money exchanger. They offered some wild and crazy rates (something like L$1000/US$4 and upwards, or something like that) which meant that if you earned a lot inworld, then you could withdraw it for more real life monetary bang. Very useful. You could buy in via LL's exchanger, start a business, and extract L$ from GOM and make a tidy profit.

Then one day, a problem occured. The problem was that Philip had an itch. See, while he thought it all well and good that he controlled a good deal of one side of this operation he wanted more. What if, and this was one big if, what if he controlled all sides? What if, instead of all these third party exchangers, what if he consolidated it all under a single, LL controlled roof? And thus, the Lindex was born. Philip said it was good.

As you can imagine, this led to GOM's inevitable downfall, because the simple truth was that LL could afford to take some initial losses in the short run to cause a run on GOM and destroy it. And that happened. And from then on, we have had only the Lindex and the whims of the Lindens to maintain the exchange between the real bucks and the space bucks. At least, that is the story that is told to Second Life children and is taught in Second Life schools. It may be a tad off from the real truth.

In any event, all we've had, and all I've known since I first rezzed, was that the L$/US$ was controlled by Supply Linden, a federal reserve unto himself.

And now, some three years after monopolizing the exchange markets, the Lindens announce that they are opening up foreign exchange rates, for those of us trading in Euros, Pounds, and Canadian dollars. This is a very good thing, because limiting SL to the US dollar isn't so good when fifty percent of your customers aren't Americans. The thing is that LL is offering this service via numerous third party providers who have given their word to LL to honestly exchange L$/Euros.

Gee, that sounds a lot like GOM. Maybe one day, when Linden Lab gets more resources and decides that these third parties aren't quite as effective... and that they'd make more controlling both sides of the equations...

They say those who fail to learn from the past...

Second Life (TM, (C), (R), Patent Pending)

Buried way in the back, is an interesting little diddy about Second Life Branding.

You also can't continue wantonly using "Second Life" or "Linden Lab" in your groups or blogs or anything if you read this all carefully.

First, what concerns me as a pseudo-journalist: How to use the Second Life (trademark copyright patent pending) name and logo properly in any blogs/articles I write. Fortunately, Linden Lab has thoughtfully provided a handy guideline so I know my legal bounds.

1)Approved Use. The Second Life Hand Logo may be used only by journalists or media outlets in a published article or blog entry specifically about the Second Life world. No other use is allowed without Linden Lab's written permission. Never use a Second Life Hand Logo (or any part or version of one):

-in any name or logo of a business, news program, or publication, including any website or blog;
-in a header or banner of a website or blog;
-in the title of an article, blog entry or news program;
without displaying the name and any logo of your business, news program, or publication in the signature position (usually the top of the material indicating clear ownership of the communication);
-in any manner that suggests co-branding or a relationship with Linden Lab; or
-in any manner that tarnishes the Second Life brand name or the Logo.

Well, the good news is that both my blog, domain, and any given 'business' I may belong to never use Second, Life, Second Life, and all recombinations of the letters in between. Or use the stupid hand logo. Yup, squeaky clean here. I'd sure as hell NEVER co-brand anything with Linden Lab, egads, I'm not that evil. Flattered, but no.

That last bit is interesting, because there are tons of sites that satire and mock SL and which use the SL hand logo in full and in part as part of the joke. It's funny because it will be as effective at preventing brand destruction as the flag burning amendment will be in preventing the burning of US flags (freedom of speech and all that lovely jazz).

2)Placement.

-Do not make a Second Life Hand Logo a primary or prominent feature of your article, blog entry, or news program. The Logo must be smaller and subordinate to your own business name, logo, and any other branding.
-Always display the Logo right-side up with the words "Second Life" in a horizontal position.
-Never use more than one Second Life Hand Logo in an article, blog entry, or news program.
-Never use the Logo in text to represent the words "Second Life."

Common sense, all this, no? That last point (what is with these points on the end?) is kind of funny. Who in their right mind binds a key to a mini picture of the SL logo just to save a few seconds typing out "Second Life"? I'm not exactly a flash in the pan with regards to typing, but "Second Life" only takes me a cool three seconds to write out.

3) and 4) describe the boring ol' "this is the way our official logo should look".

5) gets into the gnarly details. I have already established that I'm in the clear because I don't use their logos. But it's interesting to read because the devil is into details and for those who have, it's a good idea to read up. For instance, LL retains the right to determine whether you are a press outlet or not. Obviously, for big ol' media, this is no problem because you'd have a fine time in court trying to prove that ABC is not a press outlet. But for little bloggers like me, starting a blog called "My Second Life" and garnish my site with a nifty SL hand logo then I'm at SL's mercy. If I publish an article that isn't too complimentary, then they could go around Rule #1 above and just say I'm not the press and shut me down. All the way to chinatown.

Then there's the always knee-slapping part about obtaining an official logo. Here is the way I'd get the logo for free. Step one would be to load the SL website. Step two is to hit a nifty button called "Prnt Scrn" on your keyboard. Step three is to open up Microsoft Paint, select the edit menu, and select "Paste". Crop the image out into the SL logo. Done. All without such stupid things like "permission" and "official".

There's so many rules. It's just the funniest thing I've ever read. It's taken me about a week to slog through it all, and the laughs just keep pouring in.

That first link lists unauthorized uses of LL's trademarks. Obviously, you can't steal it as your own. And you can't make merchandise such as coffee cups with their brands on it. The name can't be used in website domains. Some examples:

"This is NOT OK:
secondlife.net
secondlife.de
2ndlife.com
secondlife-grid.com
chinasecondlife.com
secondlifesoftware.com
secondlifetutorials.com
lindenworld.com"

Gee, there goes about every single home brewed personal blog about Second Life out there. Good thing I based my name around a running gag I used to pull.

You also can't use "Your world, Your imagination". I hope this is only intended for some kind of competitor, because I'd love to avoid having a take-down issued to me solely because I just used the tagline in this article. There's also a bunch of anal rules about the actual name itself, as in it must be in English fully spelled out. No "第二の人生" or "Second-life". Must be exactly "Second Life" if you refer to it in an article/blog. Guess the nail is screwed to me, then.

And don't think it's funny. No one is above the law, as LL specifically details each particular outlet's rules and responsibilities. Mine would be here.

So, finally, we should dig through and find out just what exactly is trademarked. That particular list can be found here. I can't use just Linden or L$, it must be either Linden™ or "dollar" (they helpfully suggest 'dollars' as a plural, just in case we thought they trademarked that too). It's Second Life® and Linden Lab® . Even SL is supposed to be SL™. Names for viewers are not exempt (WindLight® ).

I am not a lawyer, but there is something about trademarks. They must be enforced with zeal or else you lose them. Hence, we have things like "aspirin" (registered under Bayer but lost), "band-aids", and "Xeroxing a document". Adobe is currently attempting to do something similar to LL by asking users and web authors to not say "photoshopped" but to declare that a picture was "modified by Adobe® Photoshop® software". That is to say, I believe that unless Linden Lab wants to spend a significant amount of time fighting infringement cases, their trademark will probably be beaten and hung out to dry. Alas, what a fate.

I suppose I should wait for the LL lawyers to send me letters now. In the meantime, I'll be busy bashing LL in the name of Linden Lab®.

Blocking the Writer

Sometimes, you just can't put anything into words.

You look and look and stare at this white blank piece of paper, and there is just
nothing coming out of the pen. It just wasn't meant to be. That paper is mocking
you, laughing at your feeble attempts to force your hand to write what your mind is
thinking. Both the paper and your hand are laughing, saying, "Oh this is rich. Look
at that prose, it's downright hideous. I'm embarrassed to be attached to this
person!" And the paper replies, "if you think that's bad, try being the one who's
forced to bear this dope's tattoo for the rest of your natural life."

It's worse when your job is on the line. Authors, Grad Students, Postal Clerks,
Police, all jobs where writing is part and parcel of the daily tasks. And to be so
crippled by that most fiendish mind which cannot fathom where to start or end with
the purpose on task. It is truly devilish.

Perhaps it is just the daunting task of knowing where to begin. It is similar to
the formality you encounter when you are just introduced to someone, polite hullos
are exchanged and small talk is brought up as you feel out this new aquiantance,
finding out where they stand, whether they like you and you like them.

Only in writing, there are many more factors. The audience is unseen, possibly.
Who knows what they will think of you. If you start off on the wrong foot, then your
idea will not get across. You have to be perfect in your introduction, you have to
nail it right off the bat. It must be perfect. Anything less is inviting diaster.
A good intro can hand wave past shaky premises and any leaps of logic.

And it must all tie together into a single thesis towards which you are
presenting. Every work has a singular goal and a purpose which the author wants to
drive you the reader towards. It could be as complex as using symbology to protest
the silence of the Darfur crisis or as simple as discussing the day-to-day
banalities. But whatever the cause, it must get the point across. And it's hard
especially when your talking points all mash around in your skull and obfuscate your
central point.

We all succumb to this. It's only natural as most of us cannot efficiently process a piece of writing right off the bat and with no delay or heistation. It's something of a learned skill.

It also happens to be a skill which I still have yet to grapple with.

Checkmate

Checkmate.

Response to a Comment II

On February 11, 2008, this was posted as a comment to my "Great Evils" post on age players. I will respond point by point.

"You probably will not post this, And that is ok. I know you will read it."

My policy for this blog is to allow you, the reader, to post comments of whatever flavor you want. I do not see your comments, there is no moderation. When you click post, it goes immediately into the post itself without me seeing it. This saves tremendously on my time and fulfills my belief in the freedom of speech and freedom of discussion of ideas.

Also, I do make an effort to read and think about comments. This involves a lot of back checking my archives for comments such as yours that get buried in the past. But I honestly believe that everyone should have a fair say in whatever it is I'm ranting or tripping about at the moment.

Hmm, come to think of it, I don't believe I've ever stated that before as my policy. But now I just did!

"I play a child avitar in second life. And while yes there are many there who are not innocent, let me assure you that I know many who are. My child avi acts and speaks in a Pg if not G rated manner. The sim she lives on is a pg sim, and anyone who suggests she do otherwise is reported immediatly."

Good!

"There are some there hon who are only doing in Second Life what many many others are doing. Something you can do in real life and that is be a child again. I had a horid childhood, sl provides a safe and sane place if i am careful where i can have a fraction of that, that i missed."

I'm sorry, but I have to disagree on this point. It is a release, certainly, but it's not treating the source of the problem, the horrid childhood itself. That is something that will require some serious therapy and playing a child on Second Life is something like repressing this rather than confronting it. Perhaps you have already done this, and in that case I'm something of an ass for suggesting it.

I am going to be honest, life is shit. Life sucks. It's short, horrid, and brutal. But I try to live in the future and look ahead, I personally don't try to go back and rewind my life to that point. Again, I may be presumptuous on your life but I only have your Second Life to judge this from. Please forgive me these assumptions otherwise.

If you believe this to be true, and it helps you, then more power to you.

"Also let me assure you that the innocent child avis are at war against the not innocent pedos as much as the next person."

That's great to here! Keeping house in your community is vital, precisely because it was ignoring the problem which brought age play to the forefront in the first place. It's great to hear that your community is taking steps against this.

"You dont have to understand, and I will not loose any sleep if you do not even try. But you do need to remember that there are real people on the other side of that screen of yours, and we reserve the right to play our game in any way that we choose."

And I respect your right to choose how to live. I understand perfectly the direction from which you are coming from, and I also understand the people on the 'other side of the screen'.

"Everything I do there is legal in rl, i would be more focused on those who do things in sl that would NOT be legal in rl. Such as rape? verbal assault, harassment."

Verbal assault and harassment are two things which in SL are easy to solve. Mute the person, ban them from your lands. It's very simple and I do not understand why they will stand there and complain that so-and-so person is IMing them lewdly when there is a mute button right there. This is a RL problem where you can't mute. But in SL? Something of a non-issue. I've been harassed in SL, and I mute them. If they're a (former) friend, then I turn off 'see my location' and 'see my online status' and destroy their friend card if they get annoying enough.

"I am signing this anonymous, because i really do not care to be harassed by you in game. I go there to have fun not deal with grief. Open your mind and eyes a little. You just might be surprised. =) Have a great day."

I would never think to harass someone just because of their beliefs or comments. I'm sorry you got that impression. It hurts me a little that I scared you to the point where you could not give your SL name for fear of harassment.

Having said all that, let me explain myself. My great evils posts were, at their heart, tongue in cheek. I really don't care about what people do in SL if, as you say rightly, they remain in RL laws.

The Great Evils Posts focus upon communities and people who people seem to always scream about as bad or not acceptable. When I wrote that Great Evils of Ageplay, it was just before the age player ban, when people at that time were calling for age verification (strange, they don't seem to like these days) and banning of child avatars. I was just more than a little disgusted and so wrote a post describing all the 'evils' of child avatars. I wrote it in the manner of a 17th century naturalist, even ascribing latin names to avatars. My idea was to write about age players doing and being something so over the top, that the reader would come to grips with the fact that perhaps the hype about age players was a little overblown.

I'm not saying I'm a saint, and you could probably dredge up a few posts of mine where I submit to this scandalizing of child avatars. That is my own faults of character. However, all the Great Evil posts were intended as comedy and not taken seriously. If people have, that makes me sad. I'm sorry if I offended you in any way, but please take consolation in the fact that I actually intended it to show off the overblown fear of child avs present at the time.

I honestly thought that the bland picture of the child av labeled as "hideous", that a herd of them would be called "Bunch of snot nosed brats", that they eat avatars by mimicking children and lowering your guard, that I would even need to warn an avatar having sex to check to see if their partner was an age player in the first place, was funny and a mockery of the taboo people placed on them.

The Great Evils was going to be a running series, but I stopped because I forgot about it and it was tiring to think of unique ways to make someone 'evil'. I only covered child avatars and griefers, and I had posts written about Nude Newbies and Copybot. But between Real Life (school finals), Second Life, and writing the Nunchuck Bible, I just stopped. Maybe that is just a little unfair to griefers and age players.

Zeppelin

Madison and I were goofing around per usual and bought an 80-90 meter long airship dubbed the NS Deukalin (or something along those lines).

This thing is 263 prims. It has about six rooms: A main reception room, two bedroom/observation rooms, a hallway between those three, a maintenance room on the top for access to the balloons, and an engineering/cargo space on the bottom. Six engines propel this massive beast across the skies, and it needs a helmsman, a navigator, and an inflight engineer to do so. There is no limit on its capacity, but it starts with seating for three in the cockpit. More can be added if the rooms are furnished.

Did I mention this thing can actually fly? It crawls along looking for all the world like a metal caterpillar but it flies in one piece and doesn't look half bad doing so. Madison and I flew it across the Russian continent (they call it the 'Japanese' continent but the names are all Russian). We kept to the open sea Linden sims along the coastline, just as I do with my airplanes, to avoid banlines and full parcels.

And so we cruised, admiring the beach houses and yachts people placed out. There was minor trouble as our tail was shot off as we tried to break into Mia and Bree's hide-out, but we managed to keep it together. We were finally done in when we hit a full parcel (the ocean ran out and we had to make a land crossing). The cockpit kept chugging along until it finally fell out of the sky and crashed.

I think I like blimps more than airplanes now. They move much slower, so I can chat and fly at the same time without worrying whether I'm going to smack into the broad side of someone's house or marina. Moving slower lets it cross sims easier and lets objects rezz, meaning I crash into something far less and can enjoy the actual view. And for this particular vehicle, it can hold multiple people on a cruise to hell.

If I'm inworld, feel free to IM me and I'll give you a ride. I swear it's completely worth it, and if we do crash, it's also good for a few chuckles.

Declaration of Independence

When in the Course of Avatar events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the servers, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Code and Nunchuck entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of Avatarkind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all Avatars are created equal, that they are endowed by Nunchuck with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Avatars, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

Such has been the patient sufferance of these Islands and Mainlands; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of SL is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these Servers. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in LL, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together meetings at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has conspired dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness of his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Lindens, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the Servers remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these Servers; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Newbies, and raising the conditions and costs of new Appropriations of Land Parcels and Islands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world during Rolling Restarts:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us out of SL to be tried for pretended offences:

For declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Griefers whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Linden brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by them to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, We, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Servers, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Servers are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to Philip Linden, and that all political connection between them and the State of Linden Lab, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.