Second Opinion Second Life people
NOV | 2006
Back Issues
A newsletter for the friends and residents of Second Life
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Fight Hunger


Fight Hunger FightHunger.org is a division of the UN World Food Programme (WFP) that has been set up to help achieve the first Millennium Development Goal by raising awareness and funds to end child hunger by 2015.

The group has big plans for a Second Life component to their campaign and is currently looking for volunteers interested in helping them. Interested? Send an email to team@fighthunger.org.

Read This

Did you know you could sign up to get the Second Opinion newsletter delivered to you in-world? Visit the Second Opinion in-world kiosk to grab a copy and sign up for automatic in-world delivery of upcoming issues! Each month Pathfinder Linden creates great looking image-rich versions of the newsletter, pick yours up today!

The Teen Grid


Checking In!
TG Party

Join Claudia Linden as she explores some of the projects Currently underway in Teen Second Life. Also, take a peek into the exciting REZuation tradition - or what happens when teens transfer to the Main Grid when they turn 18! Read more.

Name Dropping


Welcoming New Friends
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Second Life Mentor Scarlett Bessie was recently nominated by Resident Jasmine Paz. Jasmine explains, "She helped me with clothes, shoes, jewelry and instructions. She gave me skins and shapes to wear and showed me the best places to get what I needed. A year later and we are still friends, and Scarlett is still helping newbies with shapes and skins." Big kudos to the very helpful Scarlett!

Know someone worth mentioning? Tell us!
Developer Focus


Jnana Provides Good Advice in Second Life

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From his office in New York, whip-smart Fred Parnon - Lex Lardner in Second Life - is revolutionizing business with Jnana software. Jnana is a platform designed to enable anyone to build web-based systems that give situation-specific advice. His recent passion has been making Jnana available within Second Life... Read more.

 
Police Blotter


Renewing Customer Support

Re-imagining support in a world that has only existed for a few years is a daunting task. Unlike other online environments that have strict rules and regulations, we have tried very hard to allow Second Life to develop on its own as much as is practical. This brings its own philosophical challenges in terms of governance, but those challenges exist in support as well... Read more

 
Tips and Tricks


Advanced Snapshot Magic

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The effervescent Torley Linden takes you on a detailed tour of the world of advanced snapshot magic that includes an in-depth video with many tips and tricks on capturing the moment and documenting your Second Life. Become a superior in-world photographer today... Read more

As We See It


Growing the Community

Second Life achieved a major milestone this past month as we reached our millionth registration. Over two hundred thousand accounts have been created in the last two weeks alone. Premium membership soared nearly 20%, and thousands of new basic accounts were opened around the world, with >50% increases in people arriving from Turkey, India, Portugal, Israel, China, Singapore, Colombia, Hungary, Romania, Malaysia, Philippines, Hong Kong, Peru, Chile, Croatia, and Taiwan, among others.

As exciting as it has been to welcome so many new people and see how the world is transforming before our eyes, there have of course also been some growing pains. The Orientation Islands are full. Volunteers from the Mentor and Live Help groups are challenged to keep up with the influx. Our Linden staff strives to answer as many questions as possible and to maintain a dialog, but at times there is only time to listen and not always time to respond immediately.

We are taking the opportunity to think up new ways to connect that will hopefully meet expectations while being more expeditious and stable. Our values haven't changed. We continue to believe in free expression, tolerance, creativity and community as the foundation for building the world. We are committed to revamping customer support services, rationalizing and improving our communication systems, improving orientations and help for newcomers, offering greater direction and help for volunteers, and supporting liaisons with specialized training. Be assured we're vigorously pursuing these changes to ensure that your Second Life continues to be a first class experience.

Agree? Disagree? Let us know - send us your Letter to the Editor - with your Second Life username - and we will publish a representative set in the next edition of The Second Opinion.

Your Letters


We received several thoughtful responses to our opinion piece: Serendipity in Disaster. Below is a sample of the replies. Thank you for your responses!

Makes Sense
Why on earth would any of us mind changing our passwords, I mean it's like you said we are a community in here. And not just that there are quite a few of us who have made good friends in here as well so asking us to do a small thing like changing our passwords because some idiot (who let's face it, was probably a hairs breath from being banned anyway) tries to ruin it for the rest of us isn't really that much of an ask is it).
- Victor Godwin

Freedom with a Cost
I've played video games since Atari 2600 and specifically massively multiplayer games (MMOG) since Ultima Online. Most MMO experiences are carbon copies of each other. You begin at level one with basic items. You spend weeks, months, and years working on acquiring items and leveling your avatar with little or no impact on your environment. Games like Worlds of Warcraft are fun but they cater to a younger audience. Second Life is a great playground for adults. The amount of freedom and choices is addictive, and decisions you make can change your environment. You form friendships that blend the line between Real Life and Second Life. This fantastic article shows the maturity of the community in a time of crisis. For my many years gaming Second Life has become a refreshing jewel for me! Go Linden go! :)
- Kahn Moore