just ignore and let this one die

Group shower too?

Hmm Senator Kennedy died yesterday. Which probably won't mean much unless you live in Mass. But just thought I'd report it.

Be careful reading that. You will get dizzy and nauseous from that much spin.

The sadest (and scariest) part of Sen. Kennedy's death is that Hillary is now the Democrate with the most clout

Maybe someone will drive her off a bridge.

Just send your boss this letter and you will magically be able to slack off all day. https://blogs.secondlife.com/community/workinginworld/blog/2009/08/19/open-letter-to-your-boss

OUCH!

LOL. I read it, read some of the comments. Tried to log in (from work) to submit a comment of my own, and got a 500 Internal Server Error - Unable to View This Webpage.

So much for using SL for work. I can't even use their WEBSITE at work!

I love SL. I adore SL. I'm a total SL addict...but there is NO WAY, simply no way at all, that I would EVER sign my name to a letter like that and hand it to my boss. SL is an entertainment platform, not a business platform.

And by the way, has anyone noticed that we have a New Website now? The crappy blogs are prominently featured, while anything really useful is off to the side and buried. How achingly typical.

Maybe someone will drive her off a bridge.

This screen capture I took not so long ago, basically summarizes how ready I believe SL is as a serious business platform.

/me shakes her head.

Have you not seen Monty Python's Search for the Holy Grail?

This is so awesom. I hope you don't mind... I had to pass that along to some freinds.

I couldn't help but laugh when I read that letter. I would SO like to do a parody on it.

In 2006-2007, SL was always in the public eye, catching media attention. Politicians, corporations, celebrities, all threw themselves into it. A few years passed, and everything changed. In part it was a passing fad. In part because social networks like Facebook and Twitter exploded with exponential growth. Even the Foreign Ministry had bet on SL, opening the "91esimo istitute" (The Ninety-First Institute?), a virtual twin to the Italian Cultural Institutes scattered around the world. "It's still active, but it doesn't get updated on a regular basis," admitted an official spokesperson. "Second Life took a very commercial direction, and over time the flow of visitors fell dramatically. And so we've decided to concentrate on estericult.it, a collective interactive blog." [incidentally, I couldn't get to that website.]

Those who used SL in a more professional way have decided to leave. "We began to think of leaving just when we were at the height of our success," Bruno Cerboni told us. Cerboni is the "father" of Parioli, the first Italian region in the Linden's metaverse. "Second Life stimulated interest in virtual reality, but it doesn't satisfy the needs of people who want efficient, targeted service. If you have a company or a commercial activity, you don't find the right *trust*; the guarantees you need with people you do business with."

Aww crap, someone beat me to it on doing a parody of the "Open Letter To Your Boss About SL" blog post. It's pretty funny.

http://foo.secondlifeherald.com/slh/2009/08/open-letter-to-your-boss-about-sl.html

Regarding the "tell your boss about SL" letter: this morning my mother forwarded me an article about SL that was pretty interesting, but it's in Italian. ("I didn't read it, but it looked interesting."

Basically the article says that SL is sinking because it's a fad that passed, that people prefer more immediate services like Facebook or Twitter, and that there is a "sort of cybernetic darwinism" about SL that filters out 90% of the would-be users.

Anyway, this is an interesting paragraph (to me). The original is a bit difficult, so sorry if it doesn't read well. I know it's a bit long, but I found it interesting that the Italian Foreign Ministry was disillusioned because SL got too commercial.

It's okay. You should take a shot at it. You could probably do better.

.

This screen capture I took not so long ago, basically summarizes how ready I believe SL is as a serious business platform.

We were just told not to view 'gossip sites' as they're having problems with spyware that they say came from these types of sites. But I know the Forums here don't fit into that category, no gossip here, all posted here is absolute verified fact. They're talking about those entertainment type gossip sites, this is a news site.

Oooh, I was just going to say. My mother called to tell me. So sad!

This is going to be interesting politically - normally a governor can appoint a new senator in cases like these, but back when Mitt Romney was governor, a law was passed requiring a special election. Mitt (whose real first name is Willard) became governor as a step to the presidency, and at the time he was VERY anxious to get his conservative credentials, so people were afraid of what sort of appointment he'd make.

So now I think the seat will have to remain vacant until we can get up a special election.

And THAT might have an effect on the health-care issue and national health insurance.

.

The sadest (and scariest) part of Sen. Kennedy's death is that Hillary is now the Democrate with the most clout

Maybe someone will drive her off a bridge.

Yup pretty much all hard news all the time...



Interesting, Seven. It isn't good timing for people like my husband and me who are finding it increasingly difficult to pay for our health care at the same time we're increasingly loathe to lose it.



Not sure why you are discounting the clout of President Obama... Or what is so bad about Sec. Clinton.



ROFL! Joseph K. and his sons (and I think at least one grandson) certainly did have some unsavory episodes in their private lives. Most of which seemed to have to do with their wealth; the sexism and the ignorance about substance abuse that prevailed at the time; and probably their downtrodden-immigrant roots.
But it's my impression that Ted Kennedy worked very hard his whole adult life trying to make life better for others.

I will agree with all of that. The Kennedy legacy will be one of many high and low points, and it will grow more fascinating as the years pass. Th 3 brothers have much to revered and reviles for depending on your viewpoint, where as Joe Sr. I think will pretty much be reviled, and Joe Jr. will be the big "What If?".

As far as Ted goes, he too will have a mixed leagacy. His biggest tragedy will always be remembered, as it should, not only for the death it caused, but for the events following. But he was a tireless champion of those things he felt were important to him and his constituents, and did appear to serve their interests as opposed to merely his own. Much like Nixon going to China, this will go a long way to repeairing the damage his foibles may have caused. I disagree with a lot of what he stood for politically, but he still should be honored for his service.

Re: business applications in SL. Through my little design business I know some (very few) people who are, are becoming, or at least know SL movers and shakers. And just from the projects I've been a tiny part of and the bit of information I've managed to glean I've seen that corporations and universities are doing way more in SL than more casual users like many of us will ever know.

I believe it's quite possible that there are quite a few people out there who see the potential and do want to sell it to the decision makers in their organizations.

I also think it depends on the type of industry that you're in. Even though the one I'm involved in is very high tech, it's also fairly conservative in nature and a bit cumbersome when it comes to change of this sort. You are very right though that there is some really interesting and innovative things happening that many of us are unaware of with some companies and educational institutions that are early adopters.