Announcing the $10,000 (USD) Linden Prize

Who or what is deserving? Who is making life better for others with the platform? Have been thinking about that hard last night and today and still keep coming back to the same answer. Someone has already done all of this and more. I was gravely ill for over a year when I discovered SL to the point that I had even started cutting myself off from the rest of the world fearing I would not survive, shutting out even my daughter and family. I found I was able to express myself though to people who I could not even really see or touch or hear. Rediscovered humanity through a virtual world and then I discovered scripting and eventually found I could help others learn as both my brain and body recovered. Because of helping others in the forum I found a sense of worth and purpose I had not had in over a decade and it prepared me for going out and rejoining the work force.

There are a multitude of stories just like mine in SL, guess we all know about the person with Aspergers. I have known people here with so many conditions including even some rape victims that were able to start the healing process. I personally have 3 friends that have met and married both here and in RL. One was from New Zealand who met her soul mate in England. In some ways, being separated by computer screens and even thousands of miles we are able to connect closer to people then if they lived down the block. No matter what the reason is that we have built walls around us to keep the world out or protect ourselves, this virtual space and separation offers a safety net to start exploring the world around us again. It is just pixels and typed words but my tears, laughter, rage, joy, frustration happen in RL.

Yes I do still get incredibly frustrated with some of the things some of the employees do or even some corporate decisions themselves. Don't much like it when the platform doesn't behave itself either. But I also know some incredibly dedicated employees at LL. Hat's off to everyone in QA, Dan, Beast, Milo, Vector. Then there is Kelly and Torley and Robin of course and many more.

So yes I may even say a word or two every now and then that I am not supposed to say here in the forum in fleeting anger but I still love what Phillip created. To say that if there was no SL that I might not still be alive probably would not be an understatement and what is truly amazing is that my story pales in comparison to so many others here.

You are looking for someone who is using the platform to change the lives of people for the better yet this has already happened countless times over, but it has been happening individual by individual.

I guess he isn't eligible but yep, Phillip was the name that kept popping into my mind.

Who judges.
How will they be chosen.
Will the judges be introduced before or after?

From the Linden Prize FAQ site, "The judges are a panel of thought leaders from Linden Lab, Second Life and related fields. Judges serve confidentially..." So basically we have another corporate decision making process that's not transparent and does not involve the residents.

Xcite...They help so many people around the world get off


Would be nice to see the in-world, resident projects like NCI, and TUI getting in there, although they don't help 'real life' directly, many people have started their SL careers there, some making a real living from this game as a result. Many ESL speakers have been made to feel welcome and well adjusted to the game in these areas and the friendly staff are always accomodating to those with disabilities. The cash could be useful to TUI in particular, who are unforunately closing down a place that once ran many classes daily for residents on all kinds of topics.

The UC Davis Hall of Hallucinations would also get a vote from me (should it still exist, not been for a while) it's an interactive walk through which aims to explain Schizophrenia, great for raising awareness and building understanding.

Partners for Others in partnership with SOLID and with the fabulous support of SL business owners, reporters, land owners, builders, event planners and, most importantly, SL citizens we have been able to raise, what may seem to some of us small, funds that have a significant and life changing impact on small communities in Africa. Many of these people that we help don't even know what a computer is, let alone a virtual world but yet that virtual world has impacted their lives in a positive way. Thank you to every one that supported our most recent fundraiser at "Caer Blanco" over the Hallowe'en celebrations.

Our build at Better World Island is our effort to keep our Second Life supporters up to date on the progress at the projects in Africa. Please tp by for a visit. We are considering throwing our Basotho hat in to the ring for this challenge.

On a more personal note, thank you Nika for your nomination ; ) donation and support. You are a virtual, and real life, hero. Bottom up trumps top down even in a virtual world.

Be well,
Zeke Poutine

"Please keep this thread on topic and constructive."

I hope my silly comment was not what motivated that.

I nominate Anshe Chung, whose successful business started in Second Life provides real world employment opportunities to a number of people who've found them better choices than their alternatives.

I do wonder if the idea of the contest is that the improvement in the way people work, learn, and communicate in their daily lives outside of the virtual world is supposed to be due to the characteristics that distinguish SL from other online gathering places - 3D, easy in-world building tools, simple but powerful scripting of objects, micro-economy, simulated body language, one grid - as distinct from effects that could have been achieved by people using 2D interfaces, like facebook or IM clients, posting your pictures at art chat rooms, etc.

Someone trying to sell L$2.62M is going to soak up 10% of the available cash on Lindex and could markedly move the exchange rate.

I'm curious about how the prize is to be paid. Is LL just going to credit someone's account with L$2.62M (at today's exchange rate) or are they actually going to inject US$10,000 into the SL economy?

Someone trying to sell L$2.62M is going to soak up 10% of the available cash on Lindex and could markedly move the exchange rate.

The prize should be backed by a real cash injection.

Lindens,

We really dont care what you spend your overhead on. You have already costs us all thousands of dollars, and are dipping into our pockets again with this stupid $125 a month Open Space fee.

No one will be around come January we will all have been forced to leave, by you.

Enjoy unemployment.