We were talking yesterday about reasons for pseudonymity that are fun, that are connected to exploring and re-creating yourself, living like a celebrity and having a fully developed nickname. But, there is another kind. One that is connected to contemporary society and the Internet. One that we don't like that much.

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Once upon a time, actually most of the time, during the regular exploration of second life, somebody enters somebody else's home, click an object, try a poseball, trigger some hidden script… you know, nothing damaging, just exploration. Our world is pretty clean and hard to damage so most of those cases stay unnoticed.

Sometimes, though, our Goldilocks stay AFK on the scene or home-owning bears show up… and there the drama start. (more…)

No, not all the characters of the mass-production that reside in the club around the corner, but the real Mattel's Barbies. They have their own world as I've just learned at Terra Nova:

Girls can create their own, personalized online space–everything from designing a "room" to creating a character–where they can then play games, chat with gal pals, watch videos and even shop with earned virtual money.

That's what girls were doing with barbies since long before Barbie was born (whether they were made out of cloth, rubber or pixels). Ok, except the last two: videos are natural extension of the tea parties in the 21st century and shopping is the result of capitalism educating kids into nice consumers. 

What could I do than to put my anti-pink shields and go into the world of Barbie Girls. (more…)

What to do than to continue about identity verification of second life residents? Not that I can offer much answers. It is up to Lindens to answer our concerns, and it is obvious that they don't want to answer, don't know the answers, that they're buying their time or just play another stupid strategy. There is one thing we can be sure about: it is not going to work. (more…)

It's been said that identity verification is optional. Yesterday something made me thinking if it is really optional and some other things about revealing identity and submitting it to verification. I was standing on Public Help Island when a guy approached and asked for some help with verification. Silently, I cursed the fate and what mentor has to do and headed my browser to Second Life's web-site. But, no way I could help him. He couldn't verify his identity. Verification is still by invitation only, that is for sim owners. So he left it for some other time and went away. (more…)

When Robin Linden said that trust is the foundation of any community and announced identity verification in second life, she made me thinking. OK, business people need to know who they are making contracts with. And emotional and sex adventures could also benefit from knowing who are you playing with. At least, some hearts would be settled easy if knowing that they are not messing with the minors. This is not about how minors got to the main grid, if they really did. This is about what does it takes to settle your heart, both in business and in romance.

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One small piece of Nipplegate was Iridium Linden's response on Burning Man blog. After the attempt of censorship and all the things she said, her comment was:

I'd also like to remind you that pasting chat without consent is a violation of the Community Standards.

Well, let's examine that a bit. (more…)