Treasure Ballinger

Oh that's great, I didn't know. Is the scene viewer part of the plug in?

Hi Taira; Radegast is pretty much text based; people with low vision issues often use it, and I believe it has a plug in for text to voice, too. You only see your inventory, notecards, groups, friends list, you can chat, things that are in text. Far as I know you are unable to see your avatar, or anything else, graphics-wise. On my iPad, I have Pocket Metaverse, which I use if I REALLY need to do something inworld, like read a notecard, and can't log inworld at the moment. It's totally text based but does allow me to do stuff like that.

Fran's getting to be a classic! I always love seeing this vid. She was a hitmaker at the disability conference in Denver too, last year, people's jaws dropped, and they admitted, they never realized just what effect virtual worlds (in this case, SL) could have on someone. That conference wasn't specific to SL, or virtual worlds, was a general disability related conference, so that light coming on moment, for many folks there, was Sweet!

Not only that, but LL is a business. Last time I checked, businesses are in business to make money. LL isn't a charity. As with most things in life, people do what they can afford to do, within their means, and within the scope of what they want to do. I don't resent LL for anything they choose to charge, or for making a profit, if they are, because face it somebody can afford to pay it, and they are, that's why it is what it is. LL has a right to expect and make, a profit, as done any other business. Otherwise, why be in business?

How come? Too much of a pile-on? Surely he's not that thin-skinned, I've seen far worse in here. I'm going to bet he can take it, and will continue to interact.

I"ve found that when *I* am cold in RL, Treasure can be found wearing sweaters, boots and jeans in SL; my SL seems to reflect my RL in Treasure's SL wardrobe.

I'm actually glad this spam crap happened while Ebbe is in here talking to us, nothing like seeing it for oneself.

Awwww. Many D/deaf left SL with the advent of voice. Because now, people think that you are an avatar of the opposite sex, if you don't 'prove it' with voice, and many just don't want to bother with you. That's why it's important (for me it was anyway) to find your niche, your group of people who like and want to be around you, for who you are. I personally haven't found the advent of voice to be a problem for me, simply because of the venues, the Virtual Ability disability related sims, and the function venues I choose to be in. When it's a dance, I just dance, I enjoy the movement of my avatar, and I don't need to hear the music; I've found a couple of DJ's who have really worked hard and gone out of their way to provide text lyrics with the songs they're playing, when they're doing a dance or party that include RL D/deaf. Most people are kind. Why force yourself to be with people, or at places, who dont' accept you or want you around, when there's so many who would love to have you? It's sad Heather stopped coming around and I too hope she comes back, and renews her friendship with you. It seems a loss to both of you.

What a cool thread. I Feel this way, every time I see someone that has shared just how disabled (in RL) they really are, walking, running, flying, with a freedom they'll never know in RL, being bed or chair bound. SL is a lifeline to 'fun' for those who have no fun in RL, due to physical disability/immobility issues, vision loss, and even deaf, (like me); there's a whole community of like-minded folks out there to share commonalities with. I love SL, it's important to me, and I hope it never goes away. I hope new CEO Ebbe learns to love it, too. Gentle Heron, the founder and prez of Virtual Ability, has in her profile, proudly states that 'Gentle can walk without crutches'. A statement of fact and joy, for something she can do in SL and not in RL.

Sweet! Great blog, Jo, thank you. I feel excited and positive also. As Ebbe said he'd love to meet some communities, I can only hope he'll keep Virtual Ability in mind as he moves forward! There's so many great groups, orgs and cities for him to explore! I'm hopeful, now, that I was wrong about LL not caring about SL; Ebbe certainly sounds like he cares.....I hope he'll grow to love it as some of us do.

Welcome to SL, Ebbe. I too believe!

Just an idle question; why do you think he will know, or care, if you're trolling him here?

Try IMing Tom Bukowski (his SL name) he's a RL uni prof, he may guide you; also look up Rockcliffe Uni, should be lots of info there. Have fun!

Awwww my old friend, it's so good to see you. I think of you often and wondered if you'd completely left SL. I'm REALLY glad to see you!! Thanks for those kind words. I'm really kind of an introvert. I'm only verbose on the interwebz, LOL. I do respect the OP's assertion that he or she is a loner; I'm that way myself so I do get that. Still, that safety net of like minded folks, it's nice, even for someone who doesn't really do groups. It's nice to be around some other people who 'get it' . Anyway Scylla my love, it's awesome to see you, I wish you'd come around more often, I miss you.

Jasmyn, I'm sorry you feel you lost the magic! I guess it can't stay at that height forever. I can't say I lost it, it's dimmed some, after 7 years but I still look forward to my time in SL. I still miss it if unable to log in for awhile, but RL always comes first, and it can get busy. I hope SL has many more years to show people 'the magic'.

Hiya; I feel you! It will be 7 years for me in SL, in April, and I was just like you, at right about the same point in time. I even took a day off work once, so I could be in SL all day. OMG. *Facepalm* I'd never do that today, but I still love SL, it's important to me, and I log in every evening, and on weekends. You're a loner and don't like groups, I get that; I am too, kind of, but if I hadn't found my niche, first the deaf community, and then the entire disabled community of Virtual Ability, I would have been long gone. For me, *they* have become SL; I still shop, and play around with land, etc, but the work, fun, and socializing I do with them has made SL more than a game for me. I did get tired of shopping and messing around fairly quickly, but once I found the community that I clicked with, all that changed, and I was excited again. Ask anyone typing with their feet, or with a stylus in their teeth and they will tell you that having the option to see your avatar walking, running, flying, building, socializing, doing a myriad of things you can't do in real life, ask them which life feels *fake* to them. So often people who have no disability just don't get that, and the disdain that comes from them is palpable, but it's cool.... I know how to walk away from any situation or person that I am not comfortable with, and I know how to click the red 'x' in the corner. You might feel addicted now, but I'll bet you'll normalize your time, eventually, you're still new enough to be starry eyed, and see ALL the potential SL has for you. (I remember learning to put a texture on a prim too. I once accidentally put a texture on my entire house, yikes, but live and learn. Have fun, relax and enjoy yourself, you'll modify your time inworld as your avatar gets older and matures. Meanwhile, have a blast!

I read SL Enquirer *blushing* :matte-motes-bashful: I think I even once did an interview with them, long time ago, regarding the D/deaf community in SL. I also met Hamlet Au (nee' Linden) at a SLCC, and I bought his (autographed!!!) book. That was fun. Now I see what you're referring to, not really RL celebrities.

Didn't we have Yoko Ono for awhile and 'Sheldon' from Big Bang Theory (Jim Parsons)? I'd heard rumors of Lady Gaga too........

lindenlab.com is the official Linden Lab website. Not here. This is just one of Linden Lab's product's websites. They announced it on lindenlab.com. And twitter and later on SLU after having been nicely invited.

Right, if not wackadoodles, there's still a perception of hostility here on these forums. If you attract someone's attention negatively, get ready to get ripped to shreds cause that's how it is here. Maybe he knows that. Maybe he reads and doesn't post. Maybe that kind of dialoguing isn't his thing. And again, maybe SL isn't the main focus of LL these days. Only have to look at lindenlab.com to see that.

But it was announced on the Lindenlab.com site. He hasn't started his job yet, and i realize you're talking about his communicating elsewhere but you said not on the official site, and I'm not at all sure that this IS the official site. Wouldn't that be lindenlab.com, where the announcement was made? This is Second Life's official site but they have a lot more going on than Second Life. Are the members of Desura or Patterns complaining for the same reason? I did find it odd, and kinda interesting, that on that site, SL is #4 on the list of things LL does, you have to click through to find it, low on the list of priorities, so we are here getting all butthurt, and obviously SL isn't all that high on the list anyway. We are acting like he should be jumping front and center here, when SL doesn't even rate a front page showing on the Lab's website. In other words, it obviously isn't all about us in Second Life.

I think it means he shared your tweet, but why, rather than just come on over, lol. I don't tweet so the procedures of Twitter are over my head.

They actually invited him to come post on SLU. Did we do that? If I were him, reading these threads.......I wouldn't want to come here either. We do not seem very welcoming here, outside of the OP on this thread, and a few others. To be honest, we sound pissed off before he even gets his key to his office.

Awww yeah, this. And if he were to love SL, even a little bit, making everyone smile a little would come a whole lot easier.

LOL That's actually one of my favorite songs (and movies), but not in this context. Unfortunately I"m sure you're right, and I've overly romanticized the whole idea of the 'business' of Second Life. So, this new person.......this was actually announced on Twitter? How odd.