Is virtual partnership cheating?

According to Linden Lab figures, 35,796 of its residents are engaged in partnerships - and are stating so on their profiles.

Sometimes these online unions, marked by instant message communication, lead to real-life phone talk, meetings and other RL activities.

The ABC raises the question … do those with SL partners encounter difficulties with their RL partners? What do you think? Is this virtual cheating?

Virtual Cheating : Does it count? (There’s a vote button)

Protection Racket?

The Second Life Herald is running an interesting story. A story worth following

A number of sources claim that Angel Fluffy has an alternate identity as Mootykips Acronym - leader of the notorious Patriotic Nigras griefing group. Was Angel Fluffy using the PNs to create demand for the security service that Fluffy runs?

While it remains to be proven that Fluffy was part of the PN or has been running a protection racket, at least some of the PNs think so, and they would seem to be in a position to know. Is Fluffy hoodwinking goons and griefers into acting as a personal army for business purposes?

Security Chief running Griefers?”

Blasted upgrades!

Upgrades are usually more trouble than they are worth …. Why is this so?
On the other hand, I can see the value of tradition. That’s the virtual business that I’m in after all - but the tradition of introducing two new bugs for every one bug fixed or worked around is really starting to get up my nose. I have a feeling that “Don’t fix a problem, just disable the functionality” has been the main response.

I missed a baptism this morning when the system refused me entry.

I hate this, no warning, just the inability to log on. It seems as though I must be prepared to unintall SL completely, then reinstall the new version. Am I imagining it or is each upgrade making SL Life more difficult than the last?

Is it the servers? Currently there’s a mixture of class 3, 4 and 5 machines running on the grid. Is it just the private islands on Class 5? Do the rest of us struggle on Class 3?

More to the point, where can I get an answer?

Two Way Webcast to help blur the worlds

Art on the Horizon, featuring work by Theresa Jones, opens at noon Tuesday August 14 in Blue Horizon Business Park.

The official opening runs alongside a RL opening in St Ives, Cornwall, UK.
Although Theresa is now based in St Ives, she previously worked and lived in in New Orleans, and was there when Hurricane Katrina struck. Her paintings, saved from the hurricane, are currently viewable in SL and the gallery launch is roughly timed to commemorate the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.

Now get this, a large plasma screen will display live footage from both the SL gallery launch and the RL party in St Ives, and the launch will feature two-way webcasting from the St Ives gallery. So we get a simultaneous art gallery launch in both worlds. In RL, the cameras will show the SL gallery at the same time streaming live video into the SL gallery.

A little blurry? I’ll tell you about it after the event.

Nonprofit Commons Gala

Nonprofit Commons Grand Opening Gala Event. 32 Nonprofits and their supporters will host a grand opening celebration Tuesday, August 14, 2007 at 5:30 p.m.SL Time, in their new locations at the Nonprofit Commons.

The Nonprofit Commons creates and houses a community of nonprofits, hosts organisations from around the world and to-date has already held mixed-reality events, workshops, and regular weekly town hall meetings.

Space is limited, so please IM Glitteractica Cookie to reserve a spot and get in early.

Affairs of the Economy

Ginko Financial’s CEO, Andre Sanchez, of Sao Paolo, Brazil, has refused to release records of Ginko’s investments or financial history, and he has not revealed a clear plan for returning people’s money.

According to Ginko’s website, current deposits total more than $750,000 in U.S. currency–an amount that Sanchez probably can’t cover using his personal income.

Second Life has none of the regulatory apparatus that ensures your bank actually can give you your money back when you request it, or that somebody doesn’t just walk off with $12,000 from the stock exchange in their back pocket

In spite of the turmoil in Second Life’s financial sector, the game’s economy will survive as long as there is continued growth in the demand for virtual goods and services, as well as for real services, such as programming in-game systems. This is the future of Second Life’s economy, not casino closures or financial hiccups