Cindy's+Pookiedots+Second+Life


 * February 21, 2010**

While I was in Hyles, I also had a conversations with the other characters and I learnt some really useful and interesting facts about Second Life. I think I'm starting to get better at understanding of what some people do in Second Life and that they are social codes or rules that need to be applied at all times. Here is the conversation log from the chat:

// [18:20] Connecting to in-world Voice Chat... [18:20] Connected [18:20] Christian Mercer: hmm [18:20] You have been teleported home by the object 'hippoSECURE Ejector v1.1' on the parcel '~*~Home~*~'. [18:20] Teleport completed from http://slurl.com/secondlife/Madison%20Isle/196/62/35 [18:20] Connecting to in-world Voice Chat... [18:20] Connected [18:21] Danem Elan: gah what's what [18:21] SynerKitty Alidiana: lol [18:24] Reggie Shui: lol [18:24] Kim Link: dunno [18:24] Group Joiner: Requesting an invitation to the group... [18:24] Kim Link: brb [18:24] Reggie Shui: kk [18:25] Reggie Shui: wb [18:25] Pookiedots Christenson: hii [18:25] Reggie Shui: We still need to meet the last 90% tips from you ladies (L$17855) this month, to pay for land tier etc. Please consider donating to help us out! [18:25] Kim Link: hmm, my Alpha layers aren't working now [18:25] Reggie Shui: yeah ur av looked weird [18:25] Reggie Shui: i an see skin now [18:25] Reggie Shui: looked like [18:26] Reggie Shui: there was holes [18:26] Reggie Shui: in ur skkin [18:26] Pookiedots Christenson: you're pretty much nakedd :/ [18:26] Kim Link: the new v2 viewer has Alpha layers [18:26] Kim Link: so, no more Invisiprims [18:26] Kim Link: big plus [18:26] Reggie Shui: lol [18:26] Reggie Shui: i have much to learn i havent been on sl much [18:26] Reggie Shui: got lots of catching up to do [18:27] Kim Link: yep [18:27] Pookiedots Christenson: me too .. [18:27] Kim Link: what the hell else is there to do up there? [18:27] Kim Link: isn't it freezing? [18:27] Reggie Shui: ive been frying my brain doing multimedia project [18:27] Kim Link: oh i see [18:27] Reggie Shui: in scotland ? [18:27] Kim Link: yes [18:27] Kim Link: Aberdeen [18:27] Reggie Shui: yeah its well cold at the moment [18:27] Kim Link: of course [18:27] Pookiedots Christenson: What are those labels on top of your names ? [18:28] Reggie Shui: shit u have a good memory [18:28] Kim Link: they are "group tags" [18:28] Reggie Shui: lol [18:28] Pookiedots Christenson: e.g. SL buildren ? Waikiti Lt. Governer ? [18:28] Kim Link: if you are in a Group, you get a tag, if you choose to wear it [18:28] Kim Link: i'm in the Waikiti Islander group [18:28] Pookiedots Christenson: ohh like cliques ? [18:28] yzabella Dover: santos alex kkkkkkkkkkkkkk [18:28] Kim Link: yes, or clans [18:28] Reggie Shui: ye we got our ban rights back [18:28] Reggie Shui: for hyles [18:28] Kim Link: oh? [18:28] Pookiedots Christenson: i see : ) sorry, im still learning here [18:29] Kim Link: so now you'll ban me i suppose [18:29] Reggie Shui: no lol [18:29] Kim Link: its how you learn, ask ppl [18:29] Reggie Shui: i havent banned anyone yet [18:29] Kim Link: right yzabella? [18:29] Reggie Shui: thats how i lernt [18:29] Reggie Shui: just askeda million questions [18:29] Pookiedots Christenson: banned ? [18:30] Reggie Shui: banned means like ejected [18:30] Reggie Shui: like from an area [18:30] Pookiedots Christenson: are there rules here ? can you get banned from SL ? [18:30] Kim Link: banned is banned [18:30] Kim Link: can't come in here anymore [18:30] Reggie Shui: yeah [18:30] Kim Link: oh sure [18:30] Kim Link: just say the "n" word [18:30] Reggie Shui: if ur an ass like meand get drunk [18:30] Reggie Shui: and show cock pics [18:30] Kim Link: a minor infraction [18:30] Pookiedots Christenson: "n" word ? :/ [18:31] Pookiedots Christenson: how are they gonna know ? [18:31] Kim Link: oh, i know, make a child avatar and solicite sex! [18:31] Reggie Shui: people can report you [18:31] Kim Link: that will do it! [18:31] Kim Link: It's frowned upon [18:32] Kim Link: The child-rapist politicians get all over Linden Labs about that [18:32] Kim Link: (i hope you aren't a politician....) [18:32] Reggie Shui: lol [18:32] Reggie Shui: politions are all currupt anyway [18:32] Kim Link: they are known child abusers [18:33] Reggie Shui: where are u from again kim [18:33] Kim Link: http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/Evils%20in%20Government/boys_town_abuse.htm [18:33] Reggie Shui: sorry i have a crap memory [18:33] Kim Link: california [18:33] Reggie Shui: ahh [18:33] Reggie Shui: u have arnie then [18:33] Kim Link: ....or what's left of it [18:34] Kim Link: yes, Nazi i think [18:34] Reggie Shui: lol [18:34] Kim Link: not that there's anything wrong with that. We are very tolerant here [18:34] Reggie Shui: yeah [18:34] Kim Link: tolerant or just lazy [18:34] Reggie Shui: calfifonia seems a cool place [18:34] Reggie Shui: u can smoke the herb there [18:34] Kim Link: very materialistic [18:35] Kim Link: oh no you can't lol [18:35] Pookiedots Christenson: i love cali : ) [18:35] Reggie Shui: i thought if u got medical stuff [18:35] Reggie Shui: u could [18:35] Kim Link: no, i don't think s [18:35] Reggie Shui: iam sure u can [18:35] Kim Link: They reversed all that [18:35] Reggie Shui: yeah ? [18:35] Reggie Shui: bummer [18:35] Reggie Shui: that sucks [18:35] Pookiedots Christenson: so are you saying that there're actually administrators that are watching everything that everyone is doing in SL ? [18:36] Reggie Shui: probaly not everyone [18:36] Kim Link: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE5AJ4P320091120 [18:36] Pookiedots Christenson: sorry for the many questions [18:36] Reggie Shui: but iam sure people are monitored [18:36] Kim Link: There isn't enough money to pay people to watch us [18:36] Kim Link: they have the data, but no way to access it [18:36] Kim Link: there is nothing there anyway [18:37] Kim Link: we know who the terrorists are [18:37] Reggie Shui: lol [18:37] Kim Link: Almost all terrorism is from one group [18:37] Reggie Shui: ur not going to say amunati or sonthing olol [18:37] Kim Link: what is that? [18:38] Reggie Shui: nothing [18:38] Kim Link: no, its the Picks [18:38] Reggie Shui: just conspricey theory [18:38] Kim Link: what is it?? [18:38] Reggie Shui: its like [18:38] Reggie Shui: suposdly a bunch [18:38] Reggie Shui: of people that control the world [18:38] Kim Link: Illuminati you mean [18:39] Reggie Shui: ye sorry i cant spell [18:39] Kim Link: sure, that's true of course [18:39] Kim Link: but they are just geezers [18:39] Kim Link: the dirty work is done by the Mossad [18:39] Reggie Shui: mossad [18:39] Reggie Shui: never herd of them [18:39] Kim Link: lol [18:40] Reggie Shui: hay i must appoligise for those pics again [18:40] Reggie Shui: i feel a bit stupid [18:40] Kim Link: good, you should [18:40] Reggie Shui: ya [18:40] Reggie Shui: was rather drunk [18:41] Reggie Shui: lost control [18:41] Reggie Shui: happens [18:41] Reggie Shui: llol [18:42] Kim Link: trying to find a good link for you [18:42] Reggie Shui: lol [18:43] Kim Link: http://how911wasdone.blogspot.com/ [18:43] Reggie Shui: hay ill give u an awesome drawing i made to make up for i [18:43] Kim Link: uh oh [18:43] Reggie Shui: hahah [18:43] Pookiedots Christenson: Are these Mossad, Amunati you're saying are clans ? terrorist ? [18:44] Reggie Shui: no [18:44] Pookiedots Christenson: haha you can get drunk here ? [18:44] Reggie Shui: just powerfull people [18:44] Kim Link: no, just the Mossad are terrorists. Amundi is a mispelling [18:44] Reggie Shui: noo drunk in real life then come on sl [18:44] Kim Link: or whatever [18:44] Kim Link: yes, not recommended. You will buy stuff accidentally [18:44] Pookiedots Christenson: oh haha : ) [18:45] Reggie Shui: ooh hold on [18:45] Reggie Shui: so ur saying the mossad are terroists [18:45] Pookiedots Christenson: thanksfor your help guys : ) you've been really helpful .. [18:45] Kim Link: of course [18:45] Kim Link: that's their job [18:45] Reggie Shui: controled by allumanti [18:46] Kim Link: mmm, i don't know about controlled [18:46] Kim Link: illuminati is a catch-all term [18:46] Kim Link: basically it means the Rothschilds //

As you can see from the above conversations, I've learnt more things about Second Life. One of the most important one I think is that I learn there are social responsibilities and etiquette that you have to abide in Second Life. You can get banned from the community if you violate. I don't know if there are actually set of concrete rules that all users can refer to, but some social responsibilities are quite similar to real life. For example, they say that we couldn't say the 'n' word. I asked what 'n' stands for, but I guess if they say it, they would get banned. Another example that they gave is to create a child avatar and have sexual relationship with it. When other users see something that are offensive, they are able to report you to the administrators. They also mentioned, "the child-rapist politicians get all over Linden Labs about that", and so there are people who are controlling the Second Life "world".

Also, user of Second Life formed cliques or 'clans' as one of them said. There are labels on top of the avatar's name are group tags, for those people who belong to a group. I guess these groups are mostly created based on common interests, such as music, etc.

These things made me think of the idea of "community", and in my opinion, Second Life is indeed a community, characterized by obligations, common social responsibilities and established relationships based on common understandings and interests. These users are responsible for behaving appropriately in most places (I guess there are still red light districts, where the escorts are, as I talked about it in the earlier posts). But, in general people have to treat each other with respects and proper etiquette. They are obliged to report on those who violates common courtesy.

These people were really friendly. Kim Link and Reggie Shui both were really patient in helping me learn. Kim Link even said "its how you learn, ask ppl" and Reggie Shui said, "just askde a million questions".


 * February 19, 2010**

Hii :) Remember from my previous post when I got "kick out" from a restricted house, they teleported me to this place called 'Hyles Info Center', where there are a lot of instructions and useful information about Second Life. The description of the land also says that the place would help us learn about Second Life. If I had known about this place from the beginning, it would be the first place I visit.

As you can see from the above, there are boards with 'How-tos' instructions, such as 'How Do I Use Alt-Cam?', 'How to Edit Items of Clothing', 'How do I Edit my Apperance' and more. There is also a video tutorials, with search functions, so you can specifically find the help that you need. To view the instructions, we just need to double-click on those boards, and a pop-up menu, asking the preferred language for the tutorial. After you choose the language, a box will appear with instructions in text.



Some other tutorials on other things: And, Second Life also offers language translations:


 * February 17, 2010**

So here's some information about the Linden currency used in Second Life



So, you can actually convert really American dollars to Linden dollars. And according to other people that I've talked to, you can steal Linden dollars or borrow from other people as well. But I haven't came across anyone who would loan me money and I still have no idea to steal (unfortunately).

To buy anything in Second Life, a pop-up box will appear, like below. It tells you how much the object costs. In this case, L$250, and it will also tell you whether you have sufficient funds in your account. If not, it will let your purchase some. As you can see on the above image, there's an American flag soaring, which may express the sense of patriotism in Second Life and it assumes that all users are based in America. This is just a plain assumption, which may not be true, if the server actually recognizes where each player is located, and place them in appropriate domain, and this is the America domain.

Anyway, I explore more of Second Life and I found another awesome empty house. The house designs in Second Life is out of your mind ! If only these people who design the house could transform those designs into real houses in real world. Take a look :)

Indoor pool ! Awesome :) And shower :) (with my clothes on). AI tried the bed too. Had a short minute nap :D

The house also has home control and allows you to do those various things listed in the blue drop box. The houses are furnished with advanced technologies. I guess the idea of Second Life being virtual or fantasy world, people also do get creative with many of the things that they do and create in it. I think some of these creations could be successful if they were to be created in the real world.

Those are some of the other houses. And Oops, turns out some of those houses are restricted. I guess to just it's owners. It's amazing how they can recognize who the owners are and so, when I entered, a warning popped up.



Time to runnnnnn ..


 * February 16, 2010**

Another video I came across in YouTube. Shows some of the attitudes of the people in the community towards "noobs" as they call it. I guess one of the ways that the experienced users use to identify the "noobs" is by their styles (how they dress themselves). The more experienced ones are more likely to be dressed more elaborately. Anyway, the video is quite entertaining to watch so I thought I will just share it with you guys :)

A Little Preview Second Life

At 5:11 to 5:49 of the video, also raised the idea of exploring the other gender and also online predators. It shows that a female avatar might actually be a man, and male avatar is actually a woman. This reminds of Nakamura's idea of identity tourism. This idea is quite evidently shown in Second Life.


 * February 15, 2010**

To follow up on the previous post, I found this article on Second Life that is really quite interesting. Here's a link to the PDF file.



Here's some parts of the article (for those who do not have the time to read it), that really struck me:


 * "Players can convert that play money into U.S. dollars, at about 300 to the real dollar, by using their credit card at online currency exchanges"
 * "This virtual role-playing economy is so strong that it now has to import skill and services from the real-world economy."
 * "Linden Lab made a policy change unprecedented in online games: It allowed Second Life residents to retain full ownership of their virtual creations. The inception of property rights in the virtual world made for a thriving market economy."
 * "Linden Lab raised a second, $11 million round of private financing, including new investor Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon.com Inc "
 * "My disorientation points up one of the big challenges of these virtual worlds, especially one so open-ended as Second Life: With nothing to shoot and no quest to fulfill, it's hard for newbies to know what to do. "
 * "Still, there's no denying the explosion of media, products, and services produced by users of these virtual worlds. IGE Ltd., an independent online gaming services firm, estimates that players spent about $1 billion in real money last year on virtual goods and services at all these games combined, and predicts that could rise to $1.5 billion this year. "
 * "One brave (or crazy) player in the online game Project Entropia last fall paid $100,000 in real money for a virtual space station, from which he hopes to earn money charging other players rent and taxes. "
 * "In January inside Second Life alone, people spent nearly $5 million in some 4.2 million transactions buying or selling clothes, buildings, and the like."
 * "That can add up to serious change. Some 3,100 residents each earn a net profit on an average of $20,000 in annual revenues, and that's in real U.S. dollar"
 * "Residents spend a quarter of the time they're logged in, a total of nearly 23,000 hours a day, creating things that become part of the world, available to everyone else"

Read the article if you have time ! It's quite enlightening :)

 * February 14, 2010**

I came across something really interesting today. It is actually videos from YouTube about Second Life, but I think they are worth sharing. I was just browsing videos to try to learn more about Second Life, some instructions to help me get familiar as to how to get rid of my "noob-ness". Virtual Sex in Second Life I was really surprised that some people actually rely on Second Life as their main source of income. For others, it is kind of a second job, on top of their real job in real life. Their real life identity also did not correspond to their behaviors in the Second Life. For example, the the wife, mother of two, PTA mom, and works in real estate in real life, goes to Second Life to be an escort and charge US$20/hour.

Also, Kevin Alderman, a Second Life Porn Mogul, sold his plumbing business, when Second Life had struck him rich. He claimed that Second Life has made him a "millionaire". As he mentioned in his interview, Second Life is fantasy world, people let down their inhibitions, and participate in behaviors that they would not even consider in real life, and people take advantage of this and try to earn money from other people who do not hold back to fulfill their desires.


 * February 12, 2010**

I was just wondering around today and look at what I bumped into ! Such an awesome crib ! The door wasn't locked ! (I don't know if you can lock your houses here :/) But I hope I wasn't breaking and entering. Haha I wonder if there are any laws in Second Life (I'll get back to you on that)

Anyway, check out this place ! It's huge

And it has waterfall in the house ! I want to live here. And oh, I came across this:

It's a home security orb ! As you can see, there're instructions and detailed information on this orb. Everything in Second Life goes into detailed information, so you have to really be knowledgeable to really understand how to use these things.

The kitchen ! And I was playing around with the buttons, and turns out that you could edit the layout of all these things in the house. If you can see at the top left corner, there are options to 'Position', 'Rotate', 'Stretch', 'Select Texture', and etc. And, as you can see, there are blueprints of all the kitchen counters, the oven, the fridge and other things. Basically, I could fit these things completely to my own preferences, which is cool ! Where in your 'First' life can you do this. But of course, I did not change anything permanently, since I had no idea whose house this was. So I tried to figure out whose this house this is and wallaa, it belongs to this guy called Ray Hoffman. He looks like a mafia and he's only 6 years old (he was born on 10/30/2004)! Looks pretty old for a six year old : D



At the bottom, there's an option for me to invite this guy to my location, it's called 'Offer Teleport'. How awesome is that. I guess this way, it is easier than trying to tell your friends where you are or finding them, because Second Life is practically boundless. So I sent him a message ! To offer him to teleport back to his own house : D And while waitingg ... I'm taking a seat :)


 * February 10, 2010**

Hi guysss :) So I was walking around with that board I was telling you about for a good hour until I found somebody that could remove it ! :) Yayy ! It was actually so simple, I was so embarrassed I couldn't figure it out by myself. So I asked this girl, her name is Alix Stoanes.



That's her at the background ! In black. So I realized when you double-clicked you all of these options:



So when I click on 'Detach', and poofed the board away :)


 * February 6, 2010**

On the earlier post, I mentioned that I made new friends, and they really have helped give a few useful pointers. They give me links to a few landmarks, where I can get some new clothes :) So, it means SHOPPING TIME ! Yayy :)

Oh, when other users give you something, a pop-up menu will drop down from the top right corner, that looks like this:



I have then, the option to keep, discard or mute it. When I keep it, the landmark will automatically be added to the 'Landmarks' folder. Oh ! Before that, I should share with you some of the basics about Second Life, that thank God I can understand.

At the bottom of the screen, there are a series of buttons that will be useful for me throughout my time in the 'community'.



Most of these buttons are pretty intuitive, such as 'communicate' to talk to my contacts or the 'local chat' where you can talk to anybody in your surrounding area. 'Fly' is for me to go up, up, away ! and fly to see the whole area. Probably the fastest mode of traveling in Second Life. There's no cars, motorcycles, planes or even bicycles. 'Snapshot' is get a screenshot of where my avatar is, and I can e-mail or save it the screenshot. Next is 'search', which is a useful guide in Second Life. A 'search box' for various things, such as events, land sales, places, people and groups, will pop up, and it looks like this: The next that I'd like to talk about it the 'inventory' button. There you would find all the useful links, and all the 'things' that you have.



As you can see above, there are files for all your "assets", such as clothing, calling cards, landmarks and etc. All the new clothing that you buy, new landmarks you receive are all stored in this inventory. Like at the bottom, you can see for example, "Clear Blue Silks", "Woman Outfits Af" and "Unisex Clothes H". These are the new clothes that I just 'acquired'. They are FREE !! Here's a screenshot of the boutique. IT'S HUGE !! It is called Gritzi Design in 'Sarah's Freebie Paradise'.



Isn't it great?! They have things on every side of the room, from bottom to the ceiling. Oh, I fly to look at those on the tops 'shelf' (like that guy in black robe). Coolbeans :) And I managed to get some free clothes into my inventory, but the problem now is that I have no idea how to put those clothes on. I Tried clicking on one of the them, and this is what happened (you're going to think I am such a dork, who have no clue how Second Life works)



I now have a board stuck on me !! I am like a walking billboard sign ! And I have no idea how to get it off :( Those blue outfits on the board were the ones that I got for free from that boutique. But when I tired putting them on, I put on this board instead -.-" How embarrassing. So, I guess I will just have to walk around like this for now. I don't think anyone would want to be my friends now. Haha !


 * February 5, 2010**

So I just had a chat with some of the other users. I was walking around the neighborhood when I heard some people having conversations. I don't really know how they do that, but they were speaking out loud. So I guess there is a function, where you can speak with audio. Above is the screenshot of our meetings :) They seemed to be quite familiar with Second Life, so I decided to get some pointers from them. (Look at the way they are dressed! The blue girl looks like one of those anime girls in fantasy world.

So, I decided to copy and paste the conversation that we had, because they were some really interesting parts that I feel is worth sharing with all of you.

// [14:07] Connecting to in-world Voice Chat... // // [14:07] Connected [14:11] Pookiedots Christenson: hiii // // [14:11] nickibabe Ashton: hi // // [14:11] codt123 Wasp: wtf // // [14:11] codt123 Wasp: was that // // [14:12] Pookiedots Christenson: I'm new here, i don't really know how the game works .. // // [14:12] Pookiedots Christenson: can you tell how ? : ) // // [14:12] nickibabe Ashton: its not really a game, but sure.. you buy money ( linden dollars ) and shop till you drop // // [14:13] Orland Diesel: haha // // [14:13] nickibabe Ashton: and talk to people alot // // [14:13] Orland Diesel: and don't forget dancing till your pixel legs get tired // // [14:13] nickibabe Ashton: its a community // // [14:13] nickibabe Ashton: exactly! // // [14:13] Pookiedots Christenson: how do you earn the money ? // // [14:13] nickibabe Ashton: you buy it // // [14:13] Orland Diesel: or borrow it // // [14:13] nickibabe Ashton: you dont really earn much // // [14:13] Orland Diesel: or steal it // // [14:13] nickibabe Ashton: yes you borrow it off orland // // [14:14] Orland Diesel: you borrow it off Scott :) // // [14:14] nickibabe Ashton: hehe // // [14:14] nickibabe Ashton: the thing on here is.. explore alot of places and find where you fit in // // [14:14] nickibabe Ashton: and make lots of friends // // [14:15] nickibabe Ashton: there is role play sims.. shopping, education, jobs, people, // // [14:15] Orland Diesel: and treat others as you would like to be treated // // [14:15] Signarius Rexen: and be a twat to whoever ya can // // [14:15] Signarius Rexen: bacj btw // // [14:15] Signarius Rexen: back* // // [14:15] nickibabe Ashton: welcome back // // [14:15] Orland Diesel: you can also be a vampire on here, and bite people :) // // [14:15] nickibabe Ashton: role play // // [14:16] Pookiedots Christenson: oh cool :) thanks guys. // // [14:16] nickibabe Ashton: you can build, scrip, sell what you make // // [14:16] Signarius Rexen: welcome to sl // // [14:16] nickibabe Ashton: you can be a helper or a griefer // // [14:16] nickibabe Ashton: or both :) // // [14:16] Pookiedots Christenson: yeahh first i need to steal/borrow money from somewheere // // [14:16] Orland Diesel: most new people like to go to the free stores and get a lot of new clothes // // [14:16] Pookiedots Christenson: where do i go again ? // // [14:17] Pookiedots Christenson: i see :) // // [14:17] nickibabe Ashton: you need to hunt the freee stores // // [14:17] Orland Diesel: you don't really need any money at first // // [14:17] nickibabe Ashton: see search at the bottom of your screen, click it // // [14:17] Signarius Rexen: want a folder of landmarks with those freebie places? [14:17] nickibabe Ashton: and type freebies // // [14:18] Money Tree whispers: The Money Tree is a way for NEW players to get free Lindens. // // [14:18] Money Tree whispers: Kant Usitnov has been kind enough to sponsor this tree. Say 'Thank You' - it's good for your karma. // // [14:18] Money Tree whispers: Look in the tree for Lindens and fruit. Click on each one. // // [14:18] Money Tree whispers: Lindens pay L$1, Bananas pay L$5, Apples pay L$10, Cherries pay L$20 // // [14:18] Money Tree whispers: 3 Lindens grow every hour. Fruit grows randomly based on donations. // // [14:18] Money Tree whispers: And 1 Golden Ticket grows once a day on a random tree somewhere in SL. // // [14:18] Money Tree whispers: If you wish to donate, Right Click / Pay any amount. // // [14:18] Signarius Rexen gave you Freebies. // // [14:18] Orland Diesel gave you The Free Dove ~INSTYLE FREE FASH, Gallii (130, 82, 32). // // [14:18] Pookiedots Christenson: ohh thankss :) i shall shop for better clothes for now :) // // [14:18] Signarius Rexen: dont accept that // // [14:18] Pookiedots Christenson: thanks for the help ! // // [14:18] nickibabe Ashton: have fun :) // // [14:18] Signarius Rexen: I gave ya that already // // [14:18] Signarius Rexen gave you Freebies. // // [14:18] Orland Diesel gave you Sarah's Freebie Paradise. // // [14:18] Signarius Rexen: good luck to you // // [14:19] Orland Diesel: have fun // // [14:19] Signarius Rexen: oh // // [14:19] Signarius Rexen: and stay away from nutjobs like codt here // // [14:20] nickibabe Ashton is Online // // [14:20] nickibabe Ashton: thank you :) // // [14:20] Signarius Rexen: you're a wack job // // [14:20] Signarius Rexen is Online // // [14:20] Teleport completed from http://slurl.com/secondlife/Braunworth/150/144/178 // // [14:20] Connecting to in-world Voice Chat... // // [14:20] Connected // // [14:24] Teleport completed from http://slurl.com/secondlife/Philereme/212/199/55 // // [14:24] Connecting to in-world Voice Chat... // // [14:24] Connected // // [14:33] Connecting to in-world Voice Chat... // // [14:33] Connected // // [14:48] Teleport completed from http://slurl.com/secondlife/Gallii/161/92/32 // // [14:48] Connecting to in-world Voice Chat... // // [14:48] Connected [14:53] Khaimani Moleno: hi // // [15:04] A1 Clear Blue Silks owned by Pookiedots Christenson gave you 'A1 Clear Blue Silks' ( http://slurl.com/secondlife/Orellian/226/61/24 ). // // [15:04] A1 Clear Blue Silks owned by Pookiedots Christenson gave you 'A1 Clear Blue Silks' ( http://slurl.com/secondlife/Orellian/226/61/24 ). // // [15:05] You decline 'A1 Clear Blue Silks' ( http://slurl.com/secondlife/Orellian/211/55/24 ) from A1 Clear Blue Silks. // // [15:06] You decline 'A1 Clear Blue Silks' ( http://slurl.com/secondlife/Orellian/211/55/24 ) from A1 Clear Blue Silks. // // [15:06] You decline 'A1 Clear Blue Silks' ( http://slurl.com/secondlife/Orellian/211/55/24 ) from A1 Clear Blue Silks. // // [15:07] Teleport completed from http://slurl.com/secondlife/Orellian/212/55/24 [15:07] Connecting to in-world Voice Chat... // // [15:07] Connected //

So, I first asked them whether they knew how to play the 'game', and nickibabe Ashton pointed out that it is not a game. It is rather, a 'community'. I learnt that these people who are in Second Life view this virtual world as a place where they can unleash their fantasies, and not just a game that they play to kill time. Some probably spend hours and hours of their day in it. They "explore a lot of places and find where you fit in" and it is about "role play(ing)". One of them said, "You can also be a vampire on here, and bit people". Haha awesome ! Except that I don't really know that quite yet. Also, they told me that to earn money, I would have to buy it, borrow it or steal it !

One of the most interesting one, I would say is when Orland Diesel said that I should "treat others as you would like to be treated". I have to be honest and say that I thought many people would come here to fool around, and just have fun with their imagination. But obviously, I have been proven wrong. Some of these users practice "internet etiquette". They have rules about how you should treat other people you meet online, although they might be strangers.


 * February 3, 2010**

Hi, still lost at this Second Life thing :/ But trying to learn more and more each day : )

So, I received an e-mail from Aarac Chrome, the new friend I made, and oh, I made a new friend again :)) Anyway, I didn't know you could send a personal e-mail to the e-mail address you signed up the account with.

Here it is:

[0:53] Aarac Chrome: Hi we met the other day when you arrived, I wonder if i could ask you a favour, I have lost the location of the place we met the welcom area with the blue baloon. would you know what it was called or its location? thx

--- To stop receiving these emails, log in to Second Life and uncheck "Send IM to Email" in the General tab of the Preferences window or visit: []

So I learnt today, there are various things that you can do to communicate with your contacts (the friends that you have added/added you). Above is the screenshot of my contacts list. Only two friends, sadly. So on the side, there are buttons for 'IM/Call', to communicate with your contacts. I also can see their 'Profile', which will look like below.



As you can see, there are tabs for various things about the user. The most interesting one is the '1st Life' tab. There, the user is allowed to upload their personal picture from their 'real' life, and some useful information about themselves that they would like other people to know.

At the bottom, there are also a few options to locate the user, add them as a friend, or to 'pay' them some Linden dollars (donate?). Oh, the currency in Second Life is called Linden, and I still need to figure out how to earn them.

And ! I just found that I could fly ! Haha ! How awesome it that. And I can teleport too : D There are... I don't know the exact number, but probably hundreds of places that you can go to in Second Life, and you can teleport to any places you want, as long as you have the links in your 'Landmarks' folder. Like this below:



Just have to click on those places and the option to teleport :)


 * February 2, 2010**

I made a friend ! Yayy ! I am still kinda lost. This game isn't so user-friendly. There's no clear guidance or tutorials. You kinda just get thrown into some foreign island. So I decided to approach the first person (?) avatar ? I see. His name is Aarac Chrome ! Like Facebook, you can request friends here. That's him in black. Looks pretty badass. As you can see, there's a little chat box on the left bottom corner. There's an option for 'Local Chat', where I think everyone around the area would receive, or you can click on each avatar to have personal chat with him/her.

Here's the local chat box

I was trying to ask for some help or guidance to how to play the game, and no one seemed to know what's going on :/ Uhoh.


 * February 1, 2010**

Hiii, So I've been trying to figure out how to play the Second Life for a few days now. Progressing a little, but I am still completely lost on how to navigate around this supposedly magical you-can-do-anything, you-can-be-whoever-you-want-to-be world. For start, I changed my body and my outfit ! :) So, you seriously can transform the avatar's body to be whatever you like. I made mine to look like Alessandra Ambrosio : D HAHA! Anyway, the point is there's tool box for you to play around with literarily every single parts of the body, skin, hair and everything else.

Here is the screenshot of the toolbox: So, as you can see, there're buttons for everything ! I now understand why they say that Second Life is a magical fantasy world. If today I feel fat, because I have a super jumbo dinner, I can make my avatar chubbier, and the next day I magically be thin again by changing the setting. I can change my eyes, how far they are apart from each other ! I can change my nose, how flat, loop-sided I want them to be ! and .... you get my point. Underneath 'Body Parts', there're functions to change my outfit.. and socks?! Undershirts !

Basically, you can create your ultimate fantasy character of yourself :)


 * January 30, 2010**

I created my Second Life account :) The sign-up procedure was pretty simple. We just had to choose our Second Life First Name and Last Name. So I chose 'Pookiedots' :D (I was wearing a polka dots sweater when I created the account :P) Okay, so after choosing my first name, the system would suggest random last name. I'm not sure how they came out with the list, maybe just random. Anyway, so yay ! I set up my account.

Below is the invitation e-mail to activate my account.

**Subject:** **Pookiedots Christenson, please activate your account**
 * From:** no-reply@secondlife.com

Welcome to Second Life, Pookiedots Christenson! Please keep this email in case you need to retrieve your account name later.

Account Name: Pookiedots Christenson

CLICK HERE TO ACTIVATE YOUR ACCOUNT:

[]

(If you are unable to click the above link, copy and paste it into your browser.)

We look forward to seeing you in-world, - Linden Lab and the Second Life team