Congrats!

Congrats to a very special lady and a group of amazing people. Oh and I guess I need to ask a question...so......Have you seen this?
http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/i_video/main500251.shtml?id=3547970n&channel=/sections/earlyshow/videoplayer500202.shtml

Very interesting and a good argument against voice in SL. I liked seeing Pathfinder there.

Awww, nice!

Sweet story. Between the reports of good customer service I've heard this week and this story, I'm starting to feel good about SL again.

Well, that's a nice, positive piece for a change! I hope someone can keep track of these (they said they would do more) and let us have the links to them.

coco

I can't view the video. I'm guessing it will only play to US residents, since that's something that I've run into before with US TV network based streaming video.

Anyone care to provide subtitles for the geographically disadvantaged?

Highlights two avatars whose owners are disabled. One is controlled by a group of nine people with Cerebral Palsy.

I think if we wish to give feedback to CBS we can send it to the Early Show's feature reporter, Dave Price (this is the email addr the show gives as 'write to us!'):
[email]heydave@cbsnews.com[/email] (even tho the reporter here is Tracy Smith).

Might want to use a specific subject like: "Early Show: Second Life segment"

Interesting how in-line this is with LL's new mission statement: "To connect us all to an online world that advances the human condition."

For the CBS-impaired (amazing that CBS's website is borked in that way!)
It's a 5-minute video showing two stories of real-life redemption through second life. First is an event planner who had to abandon her career when she learned she has multiple sclerosis, and is now a wedding planner and owner of Homegoods store in SL. The other is a group of people with cerebral palsy who collectively are Wild Cunningham in SL, who evidently has a lot of fun Video also had brief appearance by LL's John Lester, who I gather must be Pathfinder Linden.

Wow, beautiful story! For me, it just adds to my daily amazement about our little universe.
Thanks for sharing that and I hope someone will keep us posted on these reports.



I'm not in the US and I just watched. Could it have something to do with your browser?


Nika sums it up pretty well. And yes, John Lester is Pathfinder Linden. Nice to see a monkey appear in that report.

Watched it no problem here in Taipei, Taiwan.

A couple of very positive SL-related stories indeed.

- Infrared

ditto, and might I add for the record, if this hadn't been posted in Residents Answers, I would never have seen it?
Thanks again

Absolutely brilliant!

This is why I LOVE SL so much, its is amazing how different the world is when you remove the millions of obstacles that can affect different people in different ways.

I can't say often enough how utterly bowled over I've been by the real, genuine emotions I've felt during my short time in SL. I think its impossible to even closely understand what the experiences are like unless you're living SL first hand. I tried to explain it to a member of my family and I could tell they thought I'd lost my marbles, so I don't bother any more.

Great story (By the way, I'm in chilly Britain and I could see it)

And .... this is why Sandy has been such a great addition to this forum.

Beautifully said!

mornin' Sandy, Bilbo

Truly marvellous. Inspiring. Uplifting. Oh hell, you can throw words at it but they're wholly inadequate somehow.

Thanks so much for posting this. It's made my day.

aww now I wish I could hear what was being said I'll send myself the link so I can watch it when I get home.

morning everyone

Its great to see a news report that doesn't only focus on the downside and the kiddiporn. Next time I hear one of the bad ones, I will email the reporter this link.

Its time people got the good side of SL

Fantastic

imogen

thanks I check it out here hoping it works myself.
Being disabled myself in real life I always like hearing about others in similar space and how they use SL

I agree. That was a great story, and there are many in SL. It seems that only the "bad" stuff gets publicity, so it's so nice to see the other side of "our" world shown here. You know....I get upset about the problems and bugs sometimes, but SL is amazing in so many ways to so many people. Better stop....I'm going to get all sentimental if I keep going.

It was sweet but I smell spin.
I often wonder these days whenever something is being promoted spinned good or bad.
I also noticed they pick disabled of certain class too.
Very few disabled I know can afford a island or developer.

What an absolutely wonderful story! I've believed all along that SL had much to offer those whose first lives lacked something (whatever that something is for them) and this story just confirms that for me.

I love SL...absolutely everything about it, and my own life has certainly been enriched seeing this piece and having my heart deeply touched by it.

Nice to see a piece about the beauty of SL for a change.





Oh, you think that they must be wealthy disableds? Lol. Any "poor" person could get a group of like minded people to pool resourses and maybe buy an island.

Though I suspect that it is funded in some form.

Its incredibly nice to see a story about the true power of Second Life and to have it focus on the people who have had it enhance their lives with barely a mention of how much money you can make in a virtual world (hats off to Baccara for keeping it more about her Second LIFE and then her Second INCOME).

Congrats indeed to a wonderful lady.

thanks for the upbeat story!

It was several years ago when I first heard of Wilde and was privileged enough to meet them early on. In the beginning they didn’t even have a computer that would really run sl. The community came together and helped that happen. Here is a link to an earlier update on Wilde and how some of the things came about. Which in itself testifies of the greatness of the sl community.

/120/5f/33686/1.html I hope that link works.

In case it doesnt...I have copied the text here.


update on wilde cunningham because you've asked

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

first let me apologize about taking so long to put something of an update into the forums. i started to put something in here last week but the forums were so nasty and negative that day that i couldnt bring myself to post. also, i'm not much of a forums writer, so again, my apologies. i know many of you have wondered as i've gotten several inquiries lately.

for those of you dont know wilde, they are a group of 9 severly disabled people who share the same av. i drive their av from work for them. sl has changed their lives!

when wilde first started playing we were playing on a limpy computer which crashed a lot and that wouldnt give us access to many common sl features such as iming people and tping to places in the find menu. as the sl community discovered this they decided on their own to start sending them money towards a computer. this was back in november (i think).

i'm very happy to share that due to the generousity of the community they now have a solid computer on order and is due into the main office sometime this week. which means, crosses fingers, that it should be in the program sometime the end of next week. wilde was blown away by the responce ya'll had to them. not merely by the lindens people sent their way, but even more so by the instant acceptance they received. in rl when people see them they avoid eye contact and keep going. i've seen little kids look at them and get so scared they cry. which of corse adds to their huge pile of self loathing and lack of self worth. second life has revolutionized how they see their part in the world and added more positive componants than i could ever share in a forum. to say its revolutionizing the lives they've known would be an understatement.

some additional news regarding wilde is that they have been given an island. john prototype, who also works with the brigadoon island, has met wilde in rl and become a fast friend to both them and myself. he set them up with an island which will serve not only wilde but also others with severe disabilities who will want a safe place to build, dream, and express themselves. it's also intended as a reach out point to the rest of the world. the crew of wilde is very excited about this as they definately play with a sence of mission. they want people to see they are the same as others, and that if you have a disability, even a severe disability as they do, you are not alone. accordingly they have many notecards on the island which help readers understand their humanity. we've had over 750 notecards distributed so far and the feedback from their writings has been overwhelming.

additionally, john prototype set them up with a blog of their own which you can find at the link listed below to put up their inworld writings and to further express not only the good things they experience from second life, but also some of their challenges which go beyond the imaginations of those without severe disabilities. if you want a good read, check it out.

their favorite thing to do at the day program is play sl. i actually had a mutany on my hands on thursday when it was time to log so they could load up on the vans. no one wanted to leave the game. i was arm wrestling with the strongest of them on the issue (= but really none of us had any choice.

second life is a place where dreams can come true. many dreams for many people. for wilde cunningham the dream of being accepted and empowered has been realized in second life. i'm eternally grateful to all the lindens who've worked so hard to make sl work, and to the greater sl community for seeing beyond our shallow shells to the humanity inside crying to be seen.

you are all welcome to visit the island live2give and poke around. it will be some time in the development, but there's been a good start made on it. see if you can find the john s's hidden treasure chest. (=

you can read their blog at http://braintalk.blogs.com/live2give feel free to leave comments and pass the site addy on to friends.

until the next time take good care~
lilone

ps hamlet has an artical called 'the 9 souls of wilde cunningham' in new world notes if you havent read it.

Our local Fox station just did a piece on SL. It wasn't as heartwarming as this one but pretty good and not what we originally heard it would be - about how SL ruins lives.

http://www.fox6.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=eb393896-97f2-4def-b98b-9598c2835e92&rss=tick