SL6B: Opinions, please

If you've seen my SL6B Flickr stream you may have seen panels in build that were textured with images of attractive models and celebs. These are being replaced with images of the Isle properties (as shown above on the right side panel), informational graphics about the LGBT culture, and portraits of people connected to the Isle. Each will cycle textures (probably) and the LGBT panels will be clickable for further information. I need opinions, however, on whether the portraits should be full-color or black & white. A sort of compromise could be met, too, by toning the latter style, probably "selenium" to contrast all the orange in the build.

Please leave a comment on this post or Plurk users can reach me here.

15 Minutes of Fame

If you haven't noticed the sidebar of my blog, look now and you'll see my Plurk timeline, or go the main website with this link to see what it is all about. Familiar with this social messaging tool? They you know about the Interesting Plurkers page. What you may not know is that for some inexplicable reason I was on it in the Popular section sometime during April 17th. Go figure. Then on the 19th I made the Most Responded section. Little ol' me.

On the right in the pic above is my friend Peter, in Most Responded.

Can SL and RL truly be seperate from each other?

Here is the Mix'n Match blog swap (Web) post from Stuart Warf of The Insane Life of Stuart Warf (Web).

When I was assigned this topic of "Can SL and RL be truly kept separate?" My instant reaction was to say that they can't be separate. In the current state of technology it is hard to keep something like SL and RL separate. But then it dawned on me that my situation isn't entirely the same as others in Second Life.

Now there are many reasons why somebody would want to keep their Second Life separate from their Real Life. A simple example of this could be that the person just wants their right to privacy. There are multiple reasons why an avatar would want privacy though. Someone could have a high profile job in some area and want Second Life as an escape without anyone finding out who they are. Some companies do have policies that require them to say who they work for in their contract which can cause all sorts of issues and see it fitting to just not mention who they are in order to maintain a simple life and escape.

In todays digital climate it's hard for someone to keep their real life identity a secret once they have revealed it, thanks to things like Google. So people who are aware of this decide to just keep their real life information separate from their virtual life.

Another way in which SL and RL can be separate is via roleplaying sims where you can act out a different life as a character and interact with a world. Examples of this could be the fantasy world of Avillion or the Star Wars world of Little Mos Eisley.

However there are many beinifits to not keeping SL and RL separate. Depending on what you do outside of the virtual world, you can be more open about who you are as a person in reality. A great example of where this typically happens in social networks like Facebook. Social networks like these can help you get to know your SL friends more and maybe even make new friends.

Other ways to interact with other avatars are microblogging websites such as Twitter and Plurk. Not only can these services give you another communication window into peoples lives.

When I look at who are probably the most open of avatars in Second Life I think these people are the podcasters, bloggers and active community members. Podcasters love to talk openly about things which says to me that they are also open in Real Life about their Second Lives.

Personally I think that SL and RL can be separate if you really try it but you limit yourself to what you can do in the virtual world. What I mean by being limited is that you miss out on a lot of the things you could enjoy in the world. If your trying to cut your real life off and be someone totally different in Second Life then ultimately it won't last forever. You can easily not tell people your in Second Life in real life but that can cause problems and that's why I figured that when I entered the world, I'd talk about it to friends and family.

Another thing that I've found while being in the virtual worlds is that aspects of it changed me in real life. I have become increasingly confident towards people (and I know that this has also happened to friends on mine in Second Life as well) and I truly believe that because of things like this that SL and RL cannot be separate.

Second Life Bloggers Mix'n Match

A couple days ago I applied for the Second Life Bloggers Mix'n Match announced on Vint Falken's blog (Web) and on ArminasX Saiman's blog (Web) October 24^th. The idea is that participants will write a post on a topic they may not be familiar with at all for someone else's blog. Today I was pleased to learn that I was accepted! Stuart Warf of The Insane Life of Stuart Warf (Web) will be posting on my blog with the topic "Can SL and RL truly be kept separate from each other?" while I'll be writing on "the ways SL experience is affected by avatars connecting outside SL with sites like Plurk and Flickr" for Torley Linden's blog ... er ... it might be on the official SL blog (Web), actually. Not sure, but the assignment list (Web) shows that to be the case.

:::runs in circles all terrorfied:::

Yes, terrorfied! First thing that scared me is the topic, but after a little thought I figured I could handle it. After all I've heard of Plurk and I'm a subscriber to both Flickr and Twitter. Then I saw that I was to write for Torley Linden. Yes TORLEY! Cripes! In terms of SL fame he's way up the ladder. I guess he puts his pants on two legs at a time like the rest of us (What? You can't?) so I'm a bit less freaked, but there is still a bit of arrrrgghhh! happening. I hope he remembers the nice watermelon hammock I sent to him recently and thinks kind thoughts when he sees what I'll write. But then I saw that my writing will likely be on the Offcial Linden Blog.

:::more running around in circles like poultry from a barbecue:::

Okies. Breathing now (stole one of mom's portable oxygen bottles and left a note that I'd get it refilled). I've frequently posted comments so I'm not unknown on the blog. I've even had folks in-world contact me about my comments so maybe it won't be all bad.

:::faints with the question "Where'd I leave my tranqs?" on her mind:::

Look for the posts to appear November 12^th, all over the blogosphere.