JacksonBollock

Yeah, it is a tough watch for some people. The second one not so much, I'd recommend giving it a go if you have the time

Choose SECOND Life. Anyway...it amused us at the time.

Not completely, for every comeback there is always the small group of zealots who have kept the torch of faith alive through the dark and lonely wilderness years. As Rick himself said. "I've been stood up, messed around, and taken for a fool But next time 'round, I'm gonna change the rules And I don't care about the things that people say It's you I think about each and every day"

You say that, but lots of things have made come backs Vinyl and Turntables Flip Phones Parachute Pants and Big Shoulders Rick Astley The Mullet - or maybe that's just me. We could get SL on that list if we tried.

Some people say Rationalisation is the enemy of self awareness. or put another way Denial is not just a river in Egypt

Yeah, but you still can't resist and you'll eat every last one of those donuts. Even though the self loathing started almost as soon as you tucked your legs under the yellowing table, and picked up the stained, dog eared menu. So to be fair, the article did have something to say about the current SL experience.

I mean you'd think there'd be a Statute of Limitations on this sort of thing. There actually is, it's how many years can LL really be bothered to sift through conversations along the lines of 'Does my bum look big in this?'

Potato, Potatoe.

That's disappointing, you mean I'm going to have to come up with a plan B?

Don't get me started with those seductive Poodles strutting around, half naked in their Continental Clips.

50 Ways to leave your Lover in RL - Only 1 needed In Second Life. Buy your loved one a cute puppy for Christmas. Wait until the puppy is rolled on its back, and they're scratching its tummy. Take an adorable picture for the family album. Attach the family album to an AR and click send. They be gone. Bingo, you're free as a bird - just make sure you're fully fledged when you visit those Adult Regions!

Ok, since I'm one of the lucky few getting the rough end of @Zalificent Corvinus 's tongue (so to speak ) I am going on record as agreeing with you here Kathlen. Look, everyone's allowed their opinion, and I'm really not so precious that I can't have mine called out and roundly abused - it's what makes life interesting and keeps even us "pseudo intellectuals" honest. On that note, Zalificent's use of that term has made me look at myself more closely, particularly around my style of communicating. Basically I'm used to communicating in a certain way for work, and here I guess I sought to dilute it a little - which in itself is pretty patronising and didn't work very well in any case. Without (hopefully) being too boastful, as I sit here now I look up and see 4 hard won (for me anyway) bits of paper hanging on the wall. 2 are advanced degrees, one a PhD, from the two Universities that most people will think of when they think of English Universities. So I guess, in my defence, all I can say is that along the way I've tried really hard to actually learn some stuff as well. As for the rest, and speaking directly to @Zalificent Corvinus now, I'd just say keep doing what you're doing. Yours is an important voice here, albeit your style is somewhat 'interesting' and sadly might obscure your message for a few. All the Best, Jackson

Hi Katherine, For the most part I (sort of) agree with what you're saying but it's important to clarify that recognizing and supporting such diversity does not inherently require the support of explicit adult environments - not as a fundamental necessity anyway. I personally don't think that Second Life's success or failure is predicated on just how far it leans into its current reputation - such that it is. Second Life "succeeds" as far as I can see, based on its unique ability to provide a space where adults can freely express aspects of their identities that may not be as easily explored in other settings. Does "free expression" really predominantly mean explicit "sexual expression"? I'm not sure. It might be that by leaning more into creating and marketing itself as a truly segmented environment, Second Life could continue to serve its existing adult community without alienating potential new users who seek creative but non-adult interactions. I just think that perhaps the whole "If SL took away the adult side of things, it'd fail." mantra, sells SL a little short. So yeah, focussing on the explicit adult side of things might prolong Second Life's mere survival, but perhaps not its future growth and wellbeing.

OK, so kindness in general, as a behaviour, is influenced significantly by key factors such as empathy, altruism, socialization, personal value systems (ethics), and biological feedback mechanisms (such as oxytocin release). Online environments are not great at facilitating or supporting the factors outlined above, As a species we're still pretty hardwired to dealing with each other in a proximate, embodied context. So should we even try to be kind, or expect kindness from other while online? All I'd say is we shouldn't depend on it, or rely on it for our own personal wellbeing. There are a couple of ways we can protect ourselves a little and be able to shrug off any unkindness that comes our way. First is to recognise what are sometimes called "argumentative fallacies" (there are lots of different classification of fallacy which these might fall into). If you recognise someone resorting to this sort of thing (certain individuals on these boards aren't shy of the old "ad hominem"), then you can see it as what it is and detach yourself from the situation. To not be too crass about it, if someone lobs an ad hominem at you (or any other fallacy for the matter), you can relax because you've already "won" If you add in a certain level of resilience and even self awareness, and you can see that the ad hominem is in fact not true (which it often isn't - because it's the lazy person's first resort) then all the better. Second - somewhat related - is don't rely too much on anecdotal or subjective experience to support your position (especially in a debate/discussion). It may not be the case, but many times, by doing this and then having your position attacked - it feels like a very personal and triggering attack - even when not intended as such. If things get too close to home for you, then get back to the helicopter view of the discussion as quickly as you can . My advice here is to stick to metaphor and general analogy, or the theory - but you know, some people don't like that and then they call you a "pseudo intellectual" If none of that stuff works, then I like to take advice from the Madagascar Penguins ..

Is this like one of those Mills and Boon torrid romance novels my granny used to read. You hate me and loathe me.. until you don't You'll deny it Zalificent, but you do seem to be hanging on my every word...

Nah there's three obviously - as evidenced by quite a few in this thread. Option 3: "I'm pretty lazy both in thought and deed, the idea of actually "doing" anything is a bit...yuck. So I'll get my head down on this comfy pillow and hopefully when I wake up it'll all be a bad dream and things will be like they were back in the good old days."

Yeah, but this isn't simply about a company imposing policies on customers - for lets say - not rewinding their Video Cassettes (I am that old ). It seems a bit bigger, it has implications for identity and freedom of expression across this new thing which some (admittedly not you) are calling the Metaverse. So Martin Niemöller's piece felt relevant, touching as it does on themes of apathy and personal responsibility. Believe it or not, platforms like Second Life are examples of how a new Social Contract might look in the future, and how policies like that being implemented by Linden Lab should be scrutinized from all side. There you go, so I think what I've said so far in this thread is relevant and timely. I might be wrong though

Thanks Erwin, but I think you've just made my point for me Anyway, sorry all for the diversion - what can I say, it's a quiet Friday afternoon. All the Best Jackson

And thus spake the "Reasonable Man" First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me. —Martin Niemöller

Ooph, ok ok Zalificent, you win

And there's the rub... the legality or otherwise of a contract is almost always open to question. That's what expensive lawyers are for

It's not necessarily something that concerns me, I was responding to another post - the one I quoted. Thanks for the link by the way, various firms that I work with are registered with the ICO and yep, they can be very helpful

The ToS isn't the legal context, Linden Lab's ToS exists within a legal context.

I think it's related, because the means of testing the policy are critical, and were addressed explicitly. It's like trying to address the legality or otherwise of any activity, without specifying the legal context. Historically that sort of thing doesn't end well