The Voices in My Head

This is to announce that I am entering the land-baroning business in ever-larger steps. I now have a second island, named Fabled Legend. It is still undergoing terraforming and preparation for renting out. Some of it is already either rented out or available to rent out, and the rest will be made available as it is finished.

The northern half is designated as desert, and the southern half as grasslands, with a mountain ridge dividing the two main areas.

This division is achieved by judicious use of the ground texture tools, and setting the altitudes at which each texture is used. One consequence of this is that the desert areas must be kept very close to sea-level, and the grasslands must be kept at medium-high altitude, or at least, not as lowlands.

Rental enquiries go to the usual places.

“To be, or not to be, that is the question.”

Said Hamlet. And, to continue in more modern English…

“…is it better to carry on suffering quietly, or to bravely enter a useless and suicidal battle which you know is already lost?”

But, I might ask,

“…is it better to carry on suffering quietly, or to enter a dangerous battle whose outcome you can’t possibly know at this time?”

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“Unbending”. “Opposite of her ancestors”. The name probably has a few other meanings and literary implications, some flattering, some not. I won’t compare myself to her too closely.

But certainly, I am unbending. I have, at least twice in my life, pursued some goal that, on the face of it, seems pre-destined to failure due to insurmountable odds. But each time, I persevered, and succeeded. ironically, I seem to have more success at these bigger goals than I do at the mundane day-to-day living.

And in many ways, I guess I am the opposite of my ancestors. I have invented my own religion (which I don’t plan on proselytising much. Don’t follow me - start your own godamn religion). I suppose each time a religion started, someone must have started it, but they are by far the exception from the norm. I also regard myself as a card-carrying member of the Internet age (despite an allergy to remembering my PIN numbers). Both my parents were born before computers were much more than military secrets, and, if they had their druthers, would keep it that way.

Me? Antigone? For sure I am. I am here to stay. I shall never be gone.

So I’m contemplating a move to the US of A to study, and possibly work. And it occurred to me that, should I decide to apply for citizenship, I might, nay, will, be asked to swear some silly pledge of allegiance.

One of my hobbies is collecting passports. I have no problem with swearing any silly pledge in order to further that hobby. But any pledge of allegiance won’t mean a thing. Not because I don’t believe in such pledges, but because my allegiance is not mine to give.

I owe my allegiance to a higher power than any mere nation. And no, I’m not getting all religiousy on y’all.

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This is the first in a series of articles I plan to post in this blog, detailing some of the things a new avatar can do to make their Second Life more fulfilling.

Today’s topic: the profile.

Right-click on one of the mentors in Orientation Island. You can tell who the mentors are, because they have the title “Second Life Mentor” hovering above their name. Look at the profile. There’s usually quite a lot of text, telling you when that avatar started SL (yes, we are SL addicts), what groups they are in, a little bit about them, and so on. Click on the tabs at the top of that profile window, and you can see even more information about that person. Do the same thing on a non-mentor in orientation island, and you will see a comparatively empty profile.

People like to fill these spaces out because it helps to find people with similar interests, and if you have ridiculously large friends lists like I do, it helps to remind them who you are. Many people all but refuse to talk to newbies who have an empty profile, simply because they have no idea what that person is like. After all, woudl you spend a lot of time and emotional energy on a new person you know nothing about, or a new person who is willing to say something about themselves up front? In that context, although SL is NOT a dating site, similar social networking rules apply - a person with an empty profile will get passed over.

So, what is to be done?

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yesterday I received official confirmation that I have been approved as a mentor for Second Life. This comes complete with membership in a special SL group for those such as me who have volunteered. I can’t remember exactly when I applied to be a mentor, but I think it was about 18 months ago. Certainly, the last time I applied for any kind of official or semi-official position sponsored by Linden Lab was back in January or February. I’m not entirely sure why it took them so long to approve of me.

Nonetheless, it pleases me no end to know that LL approves of me.

Article here.

Wheelies, and by extension, Second Ability, has been mentioned by Newsweek magazine. This is a major media coup, and I am extremely happy to report this. Things are looking up.

This is just to announce that the Great Expectations Mall, a part of the Second Ability sim project, is now open. We are currently looking for tenants. Rent is 300 linden dollars a week, for 50 prims. Larger spaces are also available by special request.

This is the second incarnation of the mall. The original incarnation was as part of the Wheelies complex in Innuri sim. That went down at the same time as the old club of course. This is the new improved version. Set in a spacious courtyard, there is plenty of room between each rentable unit, ensuring that floating text will never interfere with your neighbours. As well as regular events in the club tower (see the schedule board on the dance floor), we will from time to time hold events in the centre of the mall itself. Well worth the premium. Finally, and most important…

Our traffic is real! Yep, unlike many malls, which employ campers, or use campbots, every single bit of traffic on the sim is a real person, a potential customer.

Speaking of great expectations, the Second Ability sim which I worked on is shortly to be profiled in a major international magazine. Watch this space.

Yesterday, the island sim “Second Ability” was delivered. It is already open for business. It will be almost exclusively used by Enable Enterprises, owned by Simon Walsh (SL name). Activities will include the Wheelies nightclub, selling merchandise related to Enable Enterprises, and conducting seminars related to working with disabled people in RL workplaces. There will also be a small section of the island parcelled off as an office/meeting space for the island owners and administrators.

I first came in contact with Simon through the Big Brother event that Endemol ran in Second Life.

This is naturally, a very exciting step in the business world for me, and I hope to expand things farther in the next few months. While this island is fully rented out, I will listen to requests to rent land in new islands as they become available, which will influence my island-purchasing decisions.

The skyscraper is gone. 60+ metres tall with several dozen outsize prims and more retail space in a tight area than you can shake a stick at (can you say “lag”? I knew you could).

The club is gone. 20 camping chairs and the sim filled to capacity every other day.

My store is once again in a low-lag sim, despite never having moved an inch. Proof that, since the vast majority of SL enterprises are based on hot air, they collapse as soon as the maker realises that there’s no income in there.

Despite the slow sales - hey come on, you know you want a Tudor style house that fits on a 512m plot - my business model is sound, and I will not be closing up shop again. I do have some mid-term plans to move to another sim, possibly an island, but that isn’t yet definite. It’s just idle speculation.