MasterJedi Nayar

Spite the fears, geers, and lack of understandings regarding SL and the future of life itself, I thought to share some super sites on SL and education: Virtual schools booming as states mull warnings Online classrooms: More teachers ride virtual circuit Second Life Education The School of Second Life: Education Online Second Life - Education and Learning Opportunities These are just a few of what can be done in SecondLife regarding education. If the trolls that are saying so much negativities about what I have written, then should they be in real life smelling the air and all the rest? If SL is not for you, then do not use it. The rest of the world will use today's technology. There is no reason to be rude with your comments. I will nor can change your own mind. Please be stupid somewhere else.

As anything in life, it will have it downfalls. I have seen SecondLife change dramatically since it first started. Why large corporations left SL could be due to the economy as a whole. Dramatic cutbacks were done that year so many left SL. Just the same, I have seen SecondLife excel in ways I did not expect. Linden Labs has a new mesh system. They jumped from a Version 2 (V2) to a Version 3 (V3) viewer. This could cripple a lot of 3rd party V1 viewers (from what I have heard). All that has been happening lately is not SecondLife seeing it last days, but innovation. From the Industrial Age, there were fallouts of jobs and other things that would take too long to go into here. Now we are in a newer age that I call "Globalized Humanity." As expected, transending from the old Industrial Age to this new one has grabbed a lot by the shorts. Just the same, life moves on, and I see it going/growing in a magnificent way. There is a lot more to do before this Age can get on its feet and start progressing with this new innovation that appears to be constantly involving. When that does happen, I know (by what I have seen so far) SecondLife will be a big part of it. Before that happens, Linden Labs may have to innovate the grid further than just mesh or V3 for that matter. The biggest issue is having the personal comptuers stay up to date. With a GeForce GT 430 video card (that I have), I for the first time have set my graphic settings to full. I have seen how wonderful SecondLife can be on a visual medium. I think the issures so many are having with SecondLIfe is not the grid itself, but the client end. SecondLife is a true client/server based mutual system. From my experience with computers (one certificate and 3 diplomas), the client end is always going to be a lower end than the servers. For so many, it is hard to get the latest upgrade, especially in the economic downfall we all live in today. That is not LL fault but the situations we live in. As economy will push forward, more and more will start to upgrade due to necessity. Look around, technology is growing faster and faster, spite the economy. Nothing can stop it. Either we get on board or we will be left in the dust. The new transition must be for us to be upgraded to this technology wonder. Even though, as you said, business have left SL, but tons of credible colleges and organizations are in. Once ebooks replace hard copy books (the trend does show it to be so), then more and more will rely on digital means in just about anything you or I can thnk of. No matter how we can slice it, we are tramatically turning our lives in to this technology.

Because something does reach its peek does not mean it cannot grow. That is life and the ones that work hard at what they do in life...online or off line.

--------- In my opinion, Master Jedi, you romanticize SL in particular, and virtual worlds in general, far more than they deserve. You call SL a "3-D reality"? It isn't real. It's virtual. It may look 3-D but that's only a clever programming illusion. Try sticking your hand thru your computer's monitor if you think the three dimensionality is real. SL is a poor educational medium compared to an old fashioned book. You can borrow a book and read it without reliance on electricity or a computer or software or crashing or lag. ---------- Reality is what you make out of it. As George Lucas said though his Star Wars movies, "The truth we cling to are told to a certian point of view." To have it real does not mean it is always tangable. Because it is online does not mean it is worthless. Online education is growing. The old fashion textbook take years to make and get printed. By that time the information could be out of date before the students get a hold of it. Most importantly, we learn more than what is in a textbook. If students have a great instructor, the textbook is a supliment to what is being taught in the classroom. SeclondLife is another medium that instructors can use. It is a tool and nothing more. It does not tools cannot be used when it is needed of them. There are people that do make real life money in SL. More could do so if they work hard in it. No online or off line medium is a quick buck factory. Many, many colleges are using SL. There are other organizations using it too. Social networking online is not a fad. It has grown far too much since 2001. I might be opitimistic for some on what I have stated, but I stand by what I have said to this day. There is an old saying, "Every action there is an opposite equal reaction." By being a free account in SL is like saying, I am going to a post secondary school for more money. Going to college is more than getting more income. It is the ability to get a job that one can hold onto. Part time jobs do not last. Most imployers do not like job hoppers. Tools like SL online is a means to an end that keep on going. By being a premium account, I am saying, to myself and others, I am wanting more out of life within this 3-D virtual reality. It also helps support Linden Labs by allowing them to continue to work and improve on the quality of SecondLife. There is another old saying, "If you want something in life that is worth having...you earn it." That is why I titled, my original statement "The future of SecondLife." I know technology and have seen it grow beyond anything else in life. Cannot wait to see what happens next.

What made me want to join SecondLife had to do with my love for technology. I have a certificate and 3 diplomas in the I.T. field. Unforturnately all jobs I could have gotton went overseas. Now I am back in school for another major. As for your question, "Has my life been better?" Yes it ihas. I learn things in SL that I do not think I could in real life. It is the stepping out of the box that can make a difference. The sky is the limit is SL. That is why so many colleges are using it. I am excited to see what next will happen in SL to allow everyone to excel in their own lives. I have seen so much changes and all of it for the better. It has brought the world togehter as one human race. It has broke the sex barriers. It has broke the borders between countries and allowed us to be humans amoung each other. What amazes me that everything that we see in SL has nothing directly to do with Linden Labs, unless they create their own regions or whatever. That 99.9% of SL has been created by everyone else. That is why SL has stood up with all the other 3-D realies. It is more than social interaction that made SL so wonderful.

Something can reach a high end and still grow. Read about history. You will see what I mean. Yes, I was being poetic, but it the reality of it still hold strong.

In all my training and understanding of computers, I see a wonderful future for everyone in SecondLife. It is true not all will benefit from the this technology. I do not see how the food industry can benefit from SL unless they want to share information in a way that SecondLife can only offer. I have seen this 3-D virtual reality grow a lot since I first started in Augutst 17, 2007. I have seen a good many make real life money in SL. There is more to SL than making a living. Education is an all time high. There is so much that can be done in the conventional world. SecondLife broadens that horizon. I think that with all the social netowrking system, including SecondLife, the economy can move in the direction it should. The Industrial Age was a wonderful experience. Now it is the 21st Century and beyond. We need to focus on this new age...I call "The Global Humanity Age." All the social networking has reached it peak and still growing biger and faster. SecondLife is one of them with a different aspect, 3-D reality. In its wonder, I hope that onter innovations will come forth. As there are different types of ways we socialize online (FaceBook, Twitter, Google Plus, etc.), there can be other innovative ways to share and experience 3-D online activities as we might do in real life but never had the chance. Another big thing that shows promise in SL is people that could not do things in real life are doing so for the first time in SecondLife. In all honesty, I wonder when SL was first created, did Linden Labs realize how much it is a second life if not a first life to some? That concept is growing still. I see it all the time. That is why I am honored to be a premium account to this day.

The plans for the future in SecondLife is right in front of us all. The biggest death marks are not Linden Labs but the free L$ scams that still haunt SL. One, you do not get much. Second, one could spend more gettting free L$ than getting any profit. I will not pick on the names of these services due to LL and the rest of us know who they are. I strongly believe that some of the free lindens one that allows us to hop all over the grid causes more lag than anything in SL. The important thing is nothing in life is free that is worth having in the long run. The L$ one can get by these scams do not give one enough to buy hardly anything worth getting in SL. One can waist time gettting free L$ that could be used for other things. It does not promote a business at all. The ones that are after free L$ are only concerned is getting more free L$. Once they get it from your club/shop/whatever they leave. There are more shops full of great stuff to buy. Education is all over the grid. Tons colleges and other educational services are using SeclondLife. Changes have happened, but so has a lot with our moderned technology. Anyone that is willing to work hard in this 3-D virtual reality can make real life money in it. A good many have done so. The number that failed to do so is no different than in the history of America moving west. Another issue in working in SL is that it is complety different than in conventional life. As in the 1900s, everyone had to learn to adjust to the industrial age. Now we are in a new age that I call the technical communication age. SecondLife is a giant part of it. In this virtual world, one is not limited to real life. One can build things without any restraints. It can float in the air without anything holding it up. Your shop or whatever is open 24/7. Anyone can see and interact with it without all the issues that is known in real life. This is all what LL has given us within SecondLife. The future is already here. All we need to do is to imbrace it and be a part of it all. Yes, SL can lag and have bugs, but so does real life. SecondLife has far less bugs than real life in any situation one can think. Where there is a garden, there are weeds to attend. I can say SL lags a lot less than in the early years. LL sees the things I have mentioned and more. That is why they work hard to make it better for all. The ones that have left mostly have been trolls and trouble makers. I say good riddance. As with the first PCs, it was used by a few. It was more of a hobby that has turned into what we have today. As technology continues to grow, so will inovations. SecondLife is one of them. I could see one day that SL can be a form of an operation system or an operating system itself. So much can be done in SL than can be done on any web browser today. I am sure that SL cannot replace real life, but it can make a giant difference in how we live. We can communicate with so many around the world. I know I have. I have done more in life in SL than I could ever do before. I could go on and on telling about all that can be done in this wonderful world, but it must be experienced. Believe it or not, all that one can experience has been designed by individuals like you and me. Linden Labs simply enjoys all that has been created in SecondLife with the rest of us.

For the most part, my display name is not recognized by any objects throughout the grid. I have had this same display name Chari Skale Carter O'Neill for a few months now. When will my display name start to be recognized. Some objects do recognize it, most do not.

I have read a lot of comments that are concerned with privacy. That is a good thing to think about. When online, no one has 100% privacy. What do you know of me by this comment, my SL profile, my Twitter account, Facebook account, etc? In SL, it is a second life. Not everyone fills out anything on their profile. How can one's private life be in jepordy? How can linking to FB, Twitter, or other accounts be an issue? What about the ones that do not have these other accounts and have an SL one? I see no reason to fear in this new SL profile. It is up to each and everyone of us to be responsible for what we give out online. Linden Labs does not have our private information to give out to others. Another thing, one does not have to use the new beta viewer. There are 3rd party viewers out there to use. LL killed the Emeraled viewer because of security issues. Read the private policy of SecondLife, and you will see how important privacy is in SL. All this fussing is silly if not out right stupid. If you still do not feel that SL is safe, then cancel your account and there is nothing to fear, but I am sure you will find something if you have to make it up.

It seems silly to me that so many are fussing about this new beta viewer and know nothing about it. SecondLIfe is a great platform that has evolved over the years. Some people have even made real life money in this wonderful world. My point is before you bash something, learn more about it. First of all, this new viewer is a beta. Actually everything online is a perpetual beta. That is how fast things are growing in the technical field ladies and gentlemen. I for one love the new beta. As technology grows, the SL viewer must do its best to keep up. Spite what bugs I will face, it is the best viewer to tackle today's Internet. Social Networking is here to stay, and that is growing faster and faster. Spite the negative press, blogs, videos, etc., SecondLife is here to stay. I am a premium account because I see a great future in this 3-D virtual reality called SecondLife. Thank you for your time.

LL is not only listening, once again, but they are still going far too fast with the V2 viewer. For example: If the display names are not meant to be a unique identifier, then why are they showing up on the Dashboard and not the username?