Another Negative Article about SL

No, the "journalist" was.

I'll assume it was your intent to make my point for me. Still: How charmingly quaint, the Brits: always eager for any excuse to play dress-up.

Yeah, right, I really come to sl to go to school. Sure.

I didnt go to school to go to school. Can we please stop taking ourelves so seriously an djust have some fun?

OK!

/me stuffs Jig into the Otterizer.

LL already did that when they disbanded the mentors. It is called 'the green mentor'. Go to an infohub or a help island (create an alt for the latter) and see how much help it is. All it is is a sign with a simple script ... clicking on it redirects you to the wiki.

Even if it were improved though, you would REALLY need to improve it, you have 4 categories of issues:
1) common issues like 'how do I change my appearance'
2) 'what is this place'/'what do I do now?'/'where is this place I do not know the name of but saw on TV' (yes, have been asked the last)
3) no clue at ALL how to use the gui
4) any random issues/questions a new user can come up with

While (1) and (2) can be done with a rule based system (although it would not be efficient) I would challenge anyone to write something (especially in LSL) to handle the other 2 categories.

The Lindens have the solution and they have people BEGGING to do it. Right now those of us that did not give up mostly mentor at other new user areas. On the plus side we do not have the Linden Tao or whatever shackling us, but we do not have the resources (like access to a whole list of mentors that speak different languages) to help either.

Categorially not. I would have to feel that I was doing a passable job at helping *myself* first, before I went to help others. Since I seem to have the social skills of an even mix of the late Kim Peek crossed with Herman Goering, I don't presume to advise...

Have to correct you here. 1) he didn't "seeked" sex - he was snagged by a shill at an infohub. 2) the word you want is "sought".

I actually think the issue here is worse than people imagine - it's not just that noobs can fall into the type of experience Collins had - it's that retunees can, too. He was, after all, a returnee, and appraising SL on th basis of hte culture he saw and the LMs he visited first time round.

Oooh! Me too! Me too! I wanna be anotter otter.

Noob or returnee, Collins is one of the many who don't "get" SL. That crew will never understand this place.

Yes, educators and nonprofits pay half price for their islands, but any one who pays yearly for a premium membership gets a 40% discount. I think the same principle is at work. Educational institutions pay less because they are more likely to pay every six to twelve months which makes them a very attractive income source.

http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Linden_Lab_Official:Invoicing_for_Special_Orders_of_Land_in_Second_Life#Verification_Information

Also there are several fairly large educational continents:

NMC
UTexas
Info Island
JMU
The Nonprofit Commons islands

Those are the ones I can name off the top of my head. And no nearly all of these are wide open sims. They are just not all that attractive to those wanting to have sex in public. As for avies in fig leaves or underwear, so what. It's no worse than you'd see in the pages of a Penny's catalog.

Most interesting are the gawkers, who are shocked to find a library or college in the middle of SL. How dare any learning happen in their playground.

/me raises hand. You didn't ask me, but since this isn't a PM, I think I'll answer #2 anyway. Lately? Like, every single day, and that's all I do in SL? As a board member of Virtual Ability, it really is. Helping new disabled residents (I'm really not fond of the terms 'noobs', but realize it's part of the lingo..' is what we do in SL. It's why we exist here. The thrill that was described from realizing that she could dance, again, in SL, is repeated over and over again in different mediums. Someone laying flat and typing with a stylus in their teeth can walk and fly. Run and play and climb and see beauty instead of the 4 walls they have in rl. We don't dance at the clubs as a group we have our own places and parties and gatherings, but anyone is always welcome. Her experience was one; but it still happens every day. It's why our CG is always busy, and why our mentors/greeters are never without something to do. There are other groups that are in SL for the same reasons, who do the same work, tirelessly. Sometimes you laugh (naked new resident standing in front of a freebie box of pants.....how to get one?) So even though it can be amusing, remembering my own new days, my response is to teach him how to get and wear the pants. The amusement is shared and I am never, ever unkind. So to answer your question: Every day. Including today. And if I am still blessed with RL, I'll be here tomorrow doing it, too.

Treasure, I made an account over at that site where the guy posted his "ramblings." I'm going to respond with what people do here, that does not involve sex. Which I would wager he typed into a search. What you do is on my list of amazing things, but I wish you could go over there, and explain it yourself.

Not sure you'd enjoy my otter. Maybe my beaver. Wait a minute! I dont have one of those either. Thank goodnesss for technology, eh? What it must have been like before Gillete and lasers and wax and...

> look
Argent's Bedroom
This room is low, barely two meters high... if that. The floor and ceiling are
foamstone, and the walls are covered with abstract tapestries. The only thing
on the floor is a broad, low bedframe covered with a futon.
The only obvious exit is 'down' to the main room.
Contents:
Otterizer
Argent Stonecutter
Lindal Kidd

> look otter
A great big brushed-aluminum machine with dozens of mechanical arms hanging
loosely around a big square door at one end. Directly over the door is a lever
labelled 'pull me'.

> stuff lindal in otter; pull lever
You pull the lever. The Otterizer stirs.

The Otterizer grabs Lindal in its steel hands and drags her into the hopper.
Images of otterish forms are flashed in her mind, and rules of otterish
conduct run through the back of her head...

> look Lindal
Lindal is a well padded prosperous looking country otter dressed in a smart
woolen outfit. Standard otter accessories like thick brown fur and broad
smiling muzzle and little black twinkling eyes are all present. In one paw is a
rolled up kite, the string trailing behind alongside her muscular otterish tail.

People's "discovery" has to do with how they go about exploring, and what they want to find. Timing (for some people) really isn't a factor. Attitude is.

There is a place for everyone in SL. Those who are more socially inclined, will be the ones who make a dozen friends, right off that bat, and have a desire to communicate. Those who have a creative flair, will most likely grasp that from day one, and run with it. Those who are explorers will be busy for months on end. And there is always a new place around the corner.

Even someone who is not Chatty Cathy in RL....can most certainly attempt that, here. But you don't have to. If you have a particular interest....all you have to do is type it into a few searches, and off you go, and you'll have days worth of TPing and exploring to do. Or, you can develop a variety of entirely new interests, that might not be possible in RL, and off you go again, for unlimited exploration.

If you're the type who goes to a community in RL....and wanders down the main street....with just a nod to anyone who passes by....without a real conversation....if you stay on the main street, and never veer off the path to the side streets, or if you pick up a tourist brochure, and see the usual attractions, without driving off into the countryside to find a gem....you're not going to be able to write an accurate and informative article for the travel brochure. You're certainly not going to be able to write an accurate presentation, if you walk down the main street....walk immediately into the strip joint on the corner....spend your whole day there.....then go back to the hotel to bust out your observations.

LOL!

Oooh, neat!

/me does a little Otter Happy Dance with her webbed feet.

Let's go outside and see if there's enough wind to fly kites!

/me scampers out the door.

Hmmm. Now that you're an otter, perhaps you should adjust your sig. Somehow, it sounds more threatening now....Run, Argent!

Seconded.

*GROAN*

Otters can't climb trees.



BTW: My Otterizer is a real object is a text-based world called "Sociopolitical Ramifications". It really does turn people into otters.

*blinks black beady eyes at the pretty lady and puts on a mostly innocent expression*

Who, me?

True, I do not come on SL until 9pm SL time also my time and many sims are empty.

Also Colleges get a big discount and Linden is in San Francisco just 20 miles from here so I am sure they would help us out.

Locking out adult sites is probably possible with a custom Viewer I am sure that Linden would help with that or some of the other programmers out there.

But we cannot lock people out of the adult sites on the web but again that does not keep us from using it wisely.

My Alma Mata is here? I will have to go take a look at their sim this evening.

You are in a maze of twisty passages, all alike.