Bear with me as I am going to ramble a little.
Ever since LL introduced the new Second Life Dashboard, I've been using it, it's pretty nice. One of the feature of the dashboard is you get a nice listing of recent activity on Linden Lab's blog, the Linden Answers area, and many other places.
But one thing that has come to my attention lately is how often Linden Employees go back and modify blog posts. Sometimes weeks, even months after they were first published. The modifying in itself isn't troubling, it's the fact that they don't highlight what was modified.
Now maybe they are correcting a fact, or a misspelling, but what if they aren't? The blog isn't like a Wiki, where you can see the history of edits. And the modification I saw today made me wonder:
Blue Linden modified Guidelines for the SL Blogs Wed, 08 Jul 2009 18:38:47 GMT
https://blogs.secondlife.com/community/features/blog/2009/02/25/guidelines-for-the-sl-blogs
So what exactly was modified? Was some rule changed, added, or removed? How are people to know when these guidelines are changed?
Does anyone have a good enough memory to remember what was there, and what has changed? When the TOS changes, there's usually some notice, I think this is equally important for Blog rules or Forum rules, especially when the listed penalty for breaking some of these rules is ban from not only the blog/forum, but from In-world as well.
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Stealth Changes to Policy |
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Darien Caldwell
Registered User
Join date: 12 Oct 2006
Posts: 3,127
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07-08-2009 12:05
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Ponsonby Low
Unregistered User
Join date: 21 May 2008
Posts: 1,893
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07-08-2009 12:17
I agree with you that this is a disturbing phenomenon.
The Bush Administration was infamous for 'changing history' by altering content on the White House website to remove embarrassing contradictions and such. (see, for example, http://www.citizensforethics.org/node/30037 ) Need one mention Mr. Orwell, here? |
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Amity Slade
Registered User
Join date: 14 Feb 2007
Posts: 2,183
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07-08-2009 12:19
Anyone who wanted to watch LL on this would be wise to make their own copies of important posts.
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Raymond Figtree
Gone, avi, gone
Join date: 17 May 2006
Posts: 6,256
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07-08-2009 12:19
How strange for LL to change the rules on us.
The only thing I know for sure about this company is not to invest any real money in their world because they can screw you at the drop of a hat with their policy changes. _____________________
Read or listen to some Eckhart Tolle. You won't regret it.
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Lord Sullivan
DTC at all times :)
Join date: 15 Dec 2005
Posts: 2,870
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07-08-2009 12:35
Here is the last cached page at google. The beauty being atm that google indexes the pages of the blogs. It is a snapshot of the page as it appeared on 1 Jul 2009 09:12:23 GMT.
However that is why I started putting the important threads from the forums and blog posts regarding zindra into pdfs and putting them on the slapt wiki as Amity suggests its a wise thing to do as LL are known to change things as they need  Posted by Blue Linden on Feb 25, 2009 9:29:02 AM Welcome to the Second Life Blogs! These blogs and threads are here for you, the Residents of Second Life, to discuss your ideas, questions, and projects and to share what you’ve learned. Purpose The purpose of the Second Life Blogs is to promote discussion and education about Second Life. We believe in an honest and open free exchange of ideas, and in always maintaining a respect for the opinions and positions of other people. Moderation Policy Linden Lab provides these blogs in the belief that promoting discourse and the sharing of ideas leads to a stronger, better informed community. We allow full freedom of expression, within the limits of the Community Standards. Generally we will not delete whole threads, except in special circumstances as noted below. Any editing or locking of threads will be accompanied by an explanation, to make our moderation decisions as transparent to Residents as possible. Specifically: * Hate speech and revelation of other people’s real life information are prohibited and are grounds for suspension or removal from the blogs and Second Life. These comments/threads will be deleted. * Self-regulation is the ideal. Comments should conform with the Terms of Service and the Community Standards. However, moderators will have the option of: o editing aggressively offensive personal attacks to remove those statements that violate the community standards (with an accompanying statement explaining the violation and reason for edit), please note language, such as "fraud, liar, cheater, griefer, troller, jerk, scam artist" etc is strongly discouraged, but will not be removed. o locking comments/threads with explanation in extreme cases (e.g. although posts have been edited and the parties asked to cease, the attacks don’t stop. There’s no obvious constructive discussion going on). o A system of warnings and suspensions (see description below) will ensure that Residents who repeatedly violate the CS in the blogs lose their posting privileges. Discipline Be respectful. Please challenge opinions, state your own and enjoy the discussion, but do not cross the line into personal attacks and insults because you will risk having your Second Life account suspended or banned. We believe that in-world and blog behavior are linked and behavior carries across the boundary. This means if you are suspended or banned in-world you are also suspended or banned from the blogs, and vice versa, if your account is suspended or banned from the SL blogs, it will also be suspended or banned from in-world. Violations are evaluated on a case-by-case basis depending on the severity of the offense and past history of violations. The following types of disciplinary action are possible remedies for inappropriate posts. * Deletion/editing of offending material: The material that violated the rules may be edited or deleted without warning. In addition, threads that are no longer productive may be locked from further posting. * Informal warning: If the offense is not severe enough to warrant a formal warning, an informal warning may be issued. An informal warning is a private correspondence between Linden Lab and the violator, advising the violator of the offense and what (s)he can do to correct it. * Formal warning: If the offense is severe enough or an informal warning has already been issued, Linden Lab may issue a formal warning. The formal warning becomes a permanent part of the poster’s record. Several warnings can result in suspension or banning of your account. * Suspension: A suspension is the temporary deactivation of a violator’s posting privileges from the Second Life Blogs and from in-world activities. * Ban: A ban is the permanent deactivation of the violator’s account with the Second Life Blogs and from in-world activities. Alternate Account Abuse: When an account is suspended from the SL Blogs, alternate account misuse will cause an increase in suspension time for both accounts. For instance, if John Doe is suspended from the blogs for three days and comes back to the blogs on the second day of her suspension as an alt and breaks the Community Standards again, both accounts will be suspended from the SL Blogs for seven more days. Every effort will be made to take into consideration the general feeling of the blogs, but Linden Lab has the final say. Recourse: If Linden Lab takes disciplinary action against you that you believe was unfair or inconsistent, you may appeal the decision. An appeal is an e-mail explaining your situation and why you believe you should not have been disciplined. Appeals must be sent to [email]abuse@secondlife.com[/email], and must follow this appeals procedure, or they will not be considered. You may submit only one appeal per disciplinary action. Basic Posting Policies and Etiquette * Private discussions – the blogs are a public area for the Second Life community’s use. Individuals who have a dispute with each other have other channels of communication to discuss their differences or communicate – private messaging, IM within Second Life, or chatting within Second Life. Also, threads that are addressed to a single individual or group are inappropriate on the blogs, this includes libel or "naming names" in a post's title, etc. * Think before you post – sometimes in the heat of a passionate discussion you may be tempted to say something that on reflection you will regret. If your words do more harm to the community than they might give you pleasure in the short term, reconsider posting. * Flaming, Spamming, Trolling – Flaming (posting a message that is intended to incite anger or directly attack a person or persons), Spamming (multiple posts of the same topic or discussion), and Trolling (a post with an intentionally contrary opinion written with the intent of inciting or getting argumentative opinions) are strongly discouraged. If you think your post might be over-reactive, or that it might fall into one of these definitions, please reconsider posting. * Reposting – If a moderator removes your post, do not repost it elsewhere. Do not repost threads that have been locked or deleted and do not repost content that has been edited or deleted by a moderator. Furthermore, please do not post a "why did my post get removed" post. Send any further discussion regarding post removals to [email]abuse@lindenlab.com[/email]. * Post in appropriate places, for appropriate reasons – The blogs are split into separate Channels. Please do not post discussions into blogs that are clearly designed for other discussions. * Advertising - Advertising is not allowed on the blogs. Posts containing spam, real-world commercial advertisements, chain letters, pyramid schemes, and solicitations are expressly forbidden. Also, please do not post any affiliate or referral links, or post anything asking for a referral. Such posts will be subject to removal. More Information: You may also be interested in reading more about Netiquette - "Netiquette" is network etiquette, the do's and don'ts of online communication. Read more about the Core Rules of Netiquette here. Tags: guidelines _____________________
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Darien Caldwell
Registered User
Join date: 12 Oct 2006
Posts: 3,127
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07-08-2009 13:01
I have found the difference:
Old: * Advertising - Advertising is not allowed on the blogs. Posts containing spam, real-world commercial advertisements, chain letters, pyramid schemes, and solicitations are expressly forbidden. Also, please do not post any affiliate or referral links, or post anything asking for a referral. Such posts will be subject to removal. New: * Advertising - Advertising is not allowed on the blogs except where expressly stated. Posts containing spam, real-world commercial advertisements, chain letters, pyramid schemes, and solicitations are expressly forbidden. Also, please do not post any affiliate or referral links, or post anything asking for a referral. Such posts will be subject to removal. So they have allowed advertising where stated. A small change but good to know. _____________________
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Lord Sullivan
DTC at all times :)
Join date: 15 Dec 2005
Posts: 2,870
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07-08-2009 13:20
I have found the difference: Old: New: So they have allowed advertising where stated. A small change but good to know. Lets hope that the blogs have to remain open to google _____________________
Independent Shopping for Second Life residents from established and new merchants.
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LittleMe Jewell
...........
Join date: 8 Oct 2007
Posts: 11,319
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07-08-2009 14:26
I agree with you that this is a disturbing phenomenon. The Bush Administration was infamous for 'changing history' by altering content on the White House website to remove embarrassing contradictions and such. (see, for example, http://www.citizensforethics.org/node/30037 ) Need one mention Mr. Orwell, here? There are plenty of "Orwell" type examples being perpetrated by many different flavors of the religious and/or political folks out there. _____________________
♥♥♥
-Lil Why do you sit there looking like an envelope without any address on it? ~Mark Twain~ Optimism is denial, so face the facts and move on. ♥♥♥ Lil's Yard Sale / Inventory Cleanout: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Triggerfish/52/27/22 . http://www.flickr.com/photos/littleme_jewell |
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Chris Norse
Loud Arrogant Redneck
Join date: 1 Oct 2006
Posts: 5,735
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07-08-2009 14:49
Search the internet and you'll find that all sides claim similar actions by all other sides -- and they are probably ALL correct in that all political groups mess with words to make themselves seem more right or to remove embarrassing info. There are plenty of "Orwell" type examples being perpetrated by many different flavors of the religious and/or political folks out there. But, but, but the Anointed One, blessed be his name, was going to bring change. _____________________
I'm going to pick a fight
William Wallace, Braveheart “Rules are mostly made to be broken and are too often for the lazy to hide behind” Douglas MacArthur FULL |
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Ponsonby Low
Unregistered User
Join date: 21 May 2008
Posts: 1,893
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07-08-2009 23:09
But, but, but the Anointed One, blessed be his name, was going to bring change. Um, well, people who seek power tend to be the type of people who, well, LIKE power. Selfless saints are rare in that little game (and you'd be surprised how few of those who voted for your bete noir believe him to be a selfless saint). Still, there are differing levels of basic arrogance amongst pols; some are simply more shameless than others. Anyway.... One would hope that LL might choose to decline to be completely shameless with regard to stealth changes in policy...one would hope. |
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SuezanneC Baskerville
Forums Rock!
Join date: 22 Dec 2003
Posts: 14,229
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07-08-2009 23:27
Would one of the free "monitor web sites and notify you of changes" sites work to detect such changes automatically?
http://www.changedetection.com/ is one such site. I've never used any such site that I can remember, so that's not an endorsement. _____________________
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So long to these forums, the vBulletin forums that used to be at forums.secondlife.com. I will miss them. I can be found on the web by searching for "SuezanneC Baskerville", or go to http://www.google.com/profiles/suezanne - http://lindenlab.tribe.net/ created on 11/19/03. Members: Ben, Catherine, Colin, Cory, Dan, Doug, Jim, Philip, Phoenix, Richard, Robin, and Ryan - |
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Tegg Bode
FrootLoop Roo Overlord
Join date: 12 Jan 2007
Posts: 5,707
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07-09-2009 01:44
In the end it's their gamefield, their bat and their ball, if we don't like the current rules we have the option not to play.
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Nuno McCullough
PixelDolls' wholesaler
Join date: 28 Dec 2007
Posts: 275
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07-09-2009 01:51
This reminds me 1984 from George Orwell where the authorities changed history everyday so they could accommodate their own version of history... scary...
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Void Singer
Int vSelf = Sing(void);
Join date: 24 Sep 2005
Posts: 6,973
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07-09-2009 03:05
This reminds me 1984 from George Orwell where the authorities changed history everyday so they could accommodate their own version of history... scary... day late and a dollar short... see post #2 _____________________
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Nic Writer
Registered User
Join date: 25 Mar 2007
Posts: 740
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07-09-2009 06:25
In the end it's their gamefield, their bat and their ball, if we don't like the current rules we have the option not to play. True, but if they change the rules after publishing them and hide the fact that they've even made changes, we can't know for sure that we're playing by the rules as they exist at any given time. The change in this case is innocuous enough, but if this is going to be a trend, it can't be a good thing. _____________________
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Morgaine Christensen
Empress of the Universe
Join date: 31 Dec 2005
Posts: 319
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07-09-2009 10:01
Here is the last cached page at google. The beauty being atm that google indexes the pages of the blogs. It is a snapshot of the page as it appeared on 1 Jul 2009 09:12:23 GMT. However that is why I started putting the important threads from the forums and blog posts regarding zindra into pdfs and putting them on the slapt wiki as Amity suggests its a wise thing to do as LL are known to change things as they need Wise move, one never knows when original unaltered documents might come in handy, private and class action civil suits come to mind. Courts seem to take unkindly to document that are altered, especially when they are altered after the fact. I believe they call it fraud with the intent to deceive. |
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Darien Caldwell
Registered User
Join date: 12 Oct 2006
Posts: 3,127
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07-09-2009 13:15
I think the proper solution would be for LL to move these rules off a blog post, and onto their new Wiki-KB, where changes are clearly visible. It's kind of bad practice to have Policy set in a blog post anyway, it should be somewhere more official and easier to find.
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