Mm20051004

Tuesday, October 4, 2005

A Second Life Publication

Second Life community convention approaches

Inside

PARK OPENS - PAGE 9

Sports SL RESIDENT JONQUILLE NOIR is one of many who are planning events in the Big Easy and Biloxi sims to raise money for Hurricane Katrina victims. - Photo by KATT KONGO.

SL residents plan fundraising SKYDIVING - PAGE 6

FYI Jeska Linden announced the winner of the SLCC Scholarship Essay Contest as Blueman Steele. Linden said, via a forum post on Oct. 3, that Blueman will recieve a full scholarship to the Second Life Community Convention.

Index Perspectives . . . . . Page 2 Comics .. . . . . . . . . Page 5 Sports . . . . . . . . . Page 6 Classifieds . . .. . . .. Page 6 Entertainment. . . . . Page 9

Web Poll Go to our website at www.metaversemessenger.com

to participate in our online poll.

This week’s question: Do you plan to use the new LindeX currency exchange system?

Look for the results from last week’s poll on Page 2.

About Us Volume 1, No. 8 Second Life The Metaverse Messenger Sido (169, 195) Rose from Ash Publishing

Free

J2By GEORGE BACKBITE Staff writer Linden Lab has done their part to support Hurricane Katrina fundraising by setting up two sims, Big Easy and Biloxi, for SL residents to use as a location for fundraising efforts. The group SL Katrina Relief is taking advantage of the sims to plan a series of builds and events.

ReallyRick Metropolitan is planning a Linden auction for Oct. 15 at 7PM SLT in Biloxi. Those interested in bidding should join the group SL Katrina Relief.

He said, "It's not an original idea but it's a money maker," adding, "And gives more people the opportunity to get a chance with them [the Lindens].

Metropolitan has sent requests to various Lindens, asking for permission to auction them off. As of press time, no Lindens have responded. Updates on the Linden auction will appear in future issues of the Metaverse Messenger.

Meanwhile, Katt Kongo is putting together a Linden Lottery. Instead of time with Lindens going to the highest bidder, the winner of time with each LInden will be selected from a pool of ticket buyers.

Kongo said she is still in the process of contacting Lindens to ask if they will participate. More details will be available in the next issue of the Messenger.

A building group led by Billy Madison is constructing a replica of the French Quarter in New Orleans in the Big Easy sim, while another group is building a New Orleans cemetary in the sim.

Margaret Mfume has plans as well. One such plan is to have fashion creators design and donate apparel with proceeds going to Katrina relief. Donated duds could include Biloxi beach wear, New Orleans music T-shirts, and Mardi Gras outfits with a fashion show featuring each line.

Mfume also hopes to have a beach sand sculpture contest, similar to the one that Biloxi has each year.

She would also like to have music events with artists

who can perform the music of New Orleans.

Another idea in the works is aimed at the -Ingo community. Mfume said she would like to get the area built up, and then have volunteers host games. Those who wish to play would be charged a fee, which would go into the pot. At the end of each game, the pot would be split, with half going to the winner and the other half going to the charity.

The games could have more players than normal games since the charity group has use of two adjoined sims. Mfume is seeking hosts who know how to run big draw events. Those who would like to volunteer for one of Mfume’s events should contact her for more information.

Other plans include providing educational notecards on the subject of New Orleans and a Mardi Gras themed Halloween party. Also on tap is a parade on Nov. 5, with floats constructed by residents.

The floats will also be the subject of a competition held by Jonquille Noir. Float krewes (as the First Life parade crews spell it) will construct their floats, and then the floats will be voted on by other SL residents.

Votes will be cast by donating $L to boxes in front of each float. The float that has raised the most most money by parade time will be named as the winner and will receive various prizes.

Krewes may consist of 2-15 people, but only 12 members can man the float, due to prim restrictions, said Noir. "Scripts will be provided for the floats, but they should be 50 prims or less, with a theme acceptable for NOLA style Mardi Gras floats, which is pretty open-ended," she said.

Noir has already sectioned off locations in the Biloxi sim for krewes to build in. "If they want to build them on their own land and move them once the contest starts, that's fine as well," she said.

For more details on the parade and float contest, contact Jonquille Noir. For more information about fundraising in the Biloxi and Big Easy sims, contact Katt Kongo. Everyone is invited to not only attend, but to plan their own fundraising events.

Second Life Residents recently announced the first annual Second Life Community Convention, to take place at New York Law School on Oct. 8 - 9, immediately following the NYLS's 3rd Annual State Of Play conference.

Completely conceived of and organized by Second Life residents, the SLCC brings together over 150 participants from all over the world to New York city for a day and a half of presentations, demonstrations and conversation about the future of Second Life and the Metaverse - the emerging 3-D World Wide Web. "It's entirely appropriate that Second Life residents have developed and organized this event," said Philip Rosedale, CEO and founder of Second Life.

"Everything in Second Life is created by the residents. Why should the convention be any different?

We're psyched the residents have taken on such an undertaking and are making it a great success."

A unique aspect of the SLCC will be the ability for residents to participate in the event regardless of their location. This is facilitated by the live, mixed-reality simulcast from New York Law School into a virtual recreation of the convention in Second Life.

Likewise, video from the virtual convention will be streamed live to New York Law School for an interactive experience with a dynamic virtual world.

Convention presenters include Rosedale; Cory Ondjreka, VP of Product Development at LL, and Mark Wallace, a freelance reporter with The New York Times, Escapist and The Second Life Herald.

In addition, renowned Second Life residents, Anshe Chung, Fizik Baskerville, Nephilaine Protagonist, and others will speak on everything from creating a successful business in Second Life to playing games.

"The SLCC couldn't have happened without the support of our generous sponsors and volunteers," said Jerry Paffendorf, one of the organizers of the event. "This whole

See SLCC, Page 11

Currency changes hands

By KATT KONGO Staff writer With Gaming Open Market president Tom Merrall’s announcement of the closure of the primary source for currency trading in Second Life, residents and Lindens alike acted quickly.

Merrall said that on a typical day, GOM receives anywhere from 30 to 50 withdrawal requests, upon which staff members take a minute or two to scan through the user's account information to make sure there are no problems, and send the payment through PayPal. "So, we're talking an hour or two each night to send people’s withdrawals," he said.

However, since the Sept. 22 announcement of GOM's closing,

the number of clients asking to withdraw funds has skyrocketed. "We've received well over 800 requests," said Merrall on Oct. 1.

"I truly apologize for any delay in getting withdrawals sent out. I know people count on timely cash transfers, but there are only so many minutes in a day," he said. He added that he hopes to have the backlog cleared out by early this week.

Residents aren’t the only ones scrambling to get their affairs in order. Linden Labs immediately rushed to get another currency trading system in place.

Lawrence Linden announced the establishment of LindeX, LL’s currency exchange program, in an Oct.

See CURRENCY, Page 11

AS GAMING OPEN MARKET closes its doors, Linden Labs currency exchange system, LindeX, opens its own, with a few temporary restrictions in place. - Photo by KATT KONGO.

Perspectives Page 2

The Metaverse Messenger Sido (169, 195)

October 4, 2005

A Bird’s Eye View Observations on Second Life and its denizens

By Phoenix Psaltery

Comfort Zone Or Danger Zone?

The dictionary defines “change” as “The act, process, or result of altering or modifying; the replacing of one thing for another; a substitution, [or] a transformation or transition from one state, condition, or phase to another.”

Change is something that is rather uncomfortable for a lot of people.

Most people just want to find their comfort zone, their sweet spot, and settle down, perfectly content to let the circumstances of their lives remain as just they are, pretty much forever.

As long as things are not extremely unpleasant, or terribly inconvenient, the status quo is a pretty damned comfy place for most of the population, whether it’s in First or Second Life.

But I ask you, what about progress? What about growth, and expansion, and increase? What about seeking to better ourselves, and finding a better life, and expanding our horizons, as our forefathers did before us? It seems to me that sometimes there is a sad lack of progress for the most patently ridiculous reasons.

It kind of reminds me of the old Peanuts cartoon where Snoopy says, “Sometimes I’d like to just pull up stakes and move out of here… see new frontiers, broaden my horizons.

But something holds me here.

Something binds me to this spot… :::sigh::: that ol’ supper dish.”

And yet a lot of us are like that about this crazy little world called Second Life. We come into SL as fresh-scrubbed young newbies, and discover that we really do like this strange new place.

We can fly, we can look however we want… but pretty soon we start whining and crying because we don’t have any skills that will allow us to have a viable business, or make money to feed our “I wants.”

I can hear some of you, even as I write this, before it’s ever published, back there in the back. “I can’t build, I can’t script, I can’t do much of anything,” you say. Well, you know, very few people came into Second Life already possessing useful skills such as these.

The rest of us have had to learn them, gradually, over time, by trial and error, or by taking classes, or by learning from a mentor. Hey, after eight months in SL, I’m still bewildered by anything but the most basic LSL scripting, and my building skills are nowhere near what my imagination can create — but I am continuing to learn, and so can you.

But even beyond that, some of us are absolutely stuck in a rut regarding the things that we do every day in SL. Now, I realize that some people like to dance at clubs, and some pre-

See, BIRD’S EYE, Page 11

The Metaverse Messenger Sido (169, 195) E-mail: metaverse_messenger@yahoo.com Website: http://www.1webspace.biz/metaversemessenger Publisher: Katt Kongo Associate Publisher: Phoenix Psaltery Composition: Katt Kongo Phoenix Psaltery Account Executives: Phoenix Psaltery Maureen McLean Lola Rosebud Office Manager: George Backbite

Distribution: Lola Rosebud Sports: Porscopino Brocco News editor: Katier Reitveld Staff Writers: Katt Kongo Phoenix Psaltery Katier Reitveld Sarg Bjornson Mel Fitzcarraldo

The Metaverse Messenger is published once each week on Tuesday for $L0 per year in Second Life. Subscribers send notecard or instant message to publishers. Any erroneous reflection upon the character, standing or reputation of any person, firm or corporation, which may occur in the columns of The Metaverse Messenger, will be gladly corrected upon being brought to the attention of the publisher(s). The publisher is not responsible for copy ommissions or typographical errors which may occur other than to correct them in the nearest issue after it is brought to the publisher’s attention and in no case does the publisher hold him/herself liable for damages further than the amount received by him for actual space covering the error.

Copyright © 2005.The entire contents of this publication are copyrighted by The Metaverse Messenger and the Rose from Ash Publishing Company. No material may be reproduced without the expressed written permission of the publisher.

Write a Letter to the Editor Our policy pertaining to letters: The Metaverse Messenger accepts letters to the editor/publisher from our readers. Letters must include a valid SL name and an e-mail address. All letters will be verified before being published, and only letters that address SL matters will be accepted. To submit your letter, either send it via a notecard in-world, with “Letter to editor” in the file name or e-mail it to the newspaper.

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Classified system to change

By SARG BJORNSON Staff writer An upcoming change to the ingame classified ads system was announced by Jesse Linden of Linden Lab on Sept. 26. The new system will be implemented in version 1.7, due for release in the near future.

Up until now, residents who wanted to place a classified ad inside Second Life had to send an e-mail with their personal data (SL name, ad description, screenshot and landmark) to a Linden managed address.

After being approved by LL, the ad was added to the Classifieds section of the Find screen. The new system will automate this process by eliminating the need for any out-ofSL e-mail contact.

The new classified ads will be accessible through the Profile screen, just like the personal Picks are right now.

To create a classified ad, a resident uses a new option on their profile. The cost of using the service is L$250 for a two week advertisement.

A screenshot, landmark and even price and category can be listed in the classified ad.

The advertisement is placed almost immediately without the need of any approval and will be listed in the classified ads section.

This section has been given a new search button to help navigation.

The idea has been greeted with mixed feedback. Some residents are very positive about it, while others are less so.

Valsera Queso, from MVP Designs, one of the current users of the classified ads system, said "I think the new system is a great way to get your name out there and pull in more business to your shop.

The more ways to spread your business name, the more likely you are to reach a few more customers.

The fee is money well spent."

Another system user, SlickRichard Dangle from Still Moments, was less positive, stating, "Personally, in the month or so our ad has been running, we did get several job offers, but many I have spoken to think the ads don't get looked at much.

If that feeling is prevalent in the larger business owner community, then the charge may actually reduce the amount of ads placed."

On the other hand, the issue has raised the concerns of many small merchants with few resources, who think that the new classified ad system will be out of their reach.

"The classifieds are right out", said Ceera Murakami in a forum discussion. "Way too expensive for a small vendor like me.

If I could afford something like that, I'd have a Premium membership and would own land. My sales won't even come close to covering the cost of a Classified ad at this point."

For now, Linden Labs has disabled the placement of new classified ads in the Second Life directory until version 1.7 of the client is released.

Ads that are active in this moment will keep showing in the classifieds section at no additional charge until the release, at which point they'll have to be renewed.

Ads placed in any of the Forum Classifieds sub forums are completely unaffected by the future system change.

The new system can be tested by all residents by downloading the 1.7 preview release from the site http://secondlife.com/downloads/pre view.php.

Changes made to the premium referral program

By KATT KONGO Staff writer Reuben Linden announced Oct. 3 via a forum post that LL will be making a slight change in the way they handle payments for premium referrals. “We are doing this do reduce the

amount of fraud associated with referrals on this type of account,� he said.

First, LL will increase the amount they pay for a premium referral from L$2000 to L$2500.

LL will credit the referrer according to a schedule of L$500 immediately, L$500 at 30 days, L$500 at 60

days, and the final L$1000 at 90 days.

The payments will only be granted provided that both Referrer and Referree are still members, said Linden.

The Basic payment structure will remain the same. Referrals for basic accounts will receive L$1000.

Sports Page 6

The Metaverse Messenger Sido (169, 195)

October 4, 2005

Rausch combat sim moved to a new location

By MEL FITZCARRALDO Staff writer

CONTESTANTS in Rei Kuhr’s weekly skydiving contenst jump from 4000m and try to land on a target.

The contestant who lands closest to the target wins $1000L. - Photo by KATIER REITVELD.

Skydiving contests held weekly

By KATIER REITVELD Staff writer There are many varied sporting activities in Second Life, one such sport being skydiving. Rei Kuhr runs a skydiving contest, held weekly at Abbot Airfield.

The event takes place on Friday evenings at 7pm SLT. The contest itself requires the parachutists to jump at 4000m and attempt to land as close as possible to the center of a target, situated on the roof of the airfield's hangar.

The equipment used consists of a Terra Sport chute which is available for L$50 at Abbot Airfield.

While other chutes may be used for normal jumping, Kuhr's contests require that contestants use a Terra Sport chute as they contain the marker needed for the target.

Getting up to the 4000m launch altitude is simplicity itself, as a launch elevator is provided. It takes around 15-20 seconds to reach that altitude. Once there, the elevator automatically ejects the parachutist(s).

There are two such elevators provided for public use at the airfield, which are conveniently located beside the skydiving shop. These, like the chutes, are simple to use.

When asked how easy the chutes are to control, Ruhr said, "It's just like walking, although you don’t stop moving when you stop pushing buttons, so the real skill is in controlling your motions."

The launch system is available to the public. After purchasing a chute, the jumper may utilize an easy touch- or voice-activated system for customizing the color of the chute and setting things like an auto deploy altitude.

The chute itself can be deployed manually, but the auto deployment feature prevents nasty accidents.

At one recent contest, the entry list was a little smaller than usual, with five entrants plus a couple of observers and two organizers including Kuhr.

Cutter Rubio jumped first, landing just 3.59m from the target. He was followed by Kamatz Kuhr, who landed 5.16m target distance.

The third contestant was Robin Vogel, who was unable to hit the target. She landed approximately 10m from the center, outside the target area.

After a brief delay, the fourth jumper was Ketan Manimal, jumping in this contest for the first time, although he had previous skydiving experience.

This didn't help him much, though, as he ended up in the lake near the airfield, which, according to Kuhr, is a common occurrence.

Finally, Salen Welesa saved the best till last, achieving a landing 2.27m from the target distance to win the L$1000 first prize.

Kuhr said that the contests are set up with a class before the actual contest, so newcomers know how to use their parachutes before the contest starts.

"Then we get people to go up, usually three at a time. The closest to the target out of all the contestants wins the prize. Sometimes we do L$1000 for first place, sometimes we give 2nd and 3rd place prizes as well," he said.

If you've played the game World of Warcraft, you know that there is a recently added attraction to that game called Battlegrounds, in which the two opposing factions, Horde and Alliance, engage and do battle to capture each other's flags. A similar, smaller version of that game has been introduced into SL. The Rausch sim, a designated combat area, has been moved to a different location. The previous location of Rausch is now a void area. To the east and west of the new Rausch location lie two team areas designated as Red Team's HQ and Blue Team's HQ. There are two open enrollment groups associated with these areas (Red Team and Blue team groups) that anyone who wishes to participate can enroll in.

Rausch and the two adjoining areas are designated as mature sandboxes and combat regions. While the two team areas are featureless, with no structures, Rausch itself appears to be a war zone, with war-torn ruins and smoking husks.

It has the definite aura of a land ravaged by battle. In the center of the island is a hill surrounded by jagged rocks that would make a great location for king-of-the-hill competitions. Also located in all three sims are information kiosks with instructions on how to use the areas.

Several plots on Rausch itself are marked as Red and Blue Team spawn points. There is also a small sandbox island to the north called the Weapons Testing Region, for anyone who wishes to fire off a few practice rounds before entering combat.

Will this be a hit with the combatminded community in SL? anthony Ghia thinks so. He and friend

Michael Hatfield are planning on reenacting World War II battle scenes on the island, complete with authentic war machinery like amphibious landing craft and aircraft.

Ghia has friends who will participate in this, but he still sees problems with the way combat is done in SL. He says this is because "All people do is use shields, and just sit there launching seeker [weapons] at me."

He believes shields are something that give players too much of an advantage. However, there are still some people in SL that do honest combat, he says.

A nice feature with the new combat sims is that since players must be members of the group that rented one of the two team areas, they can set their "home" location to their team's HQ location. When they "die" (run out of hit points), they are transported to that island and can quickly rejoin the fight.

Rausch itself will always remain a Linden sim, according to the information card dispensed by the information kiosks. It goes on to say, "Whenever Residents rent these Regions for private battle, Rausch will only be available to the renters as a contested center-stage for combat.

Choose your team (Red or Blue), pick a name for your home Region (or use the default Red Team/Blue Team), and let slip the dogs of war as you battle for Rausch!

"The fee for renting this combat area is L$8,000 per day. For more information, contact Pathfinder Linden at pathfinder@lindenlab .com."

New SLers often ask, "What else is there to do here?" Well, Rausch enthusiast Tom Soothsayera says, "I'm just here to learn how to shoot!"

Amnesty granted to minors on main grid

By KATIER REITVELD Staff writer A one week amnesty period for under aged players in Second Life was announced by Blue Linden on Sept. 30.

The new Second Life grid was added by Linden Lab in mid-August.

This grid, known as Teen SL, was created to cater to the 13-17 age group.

For some time now, LL has been fully aware that there are teens on the adult grid, who are there due to lying about their age. Rather than banning them, as would normally be the case there is now an alternative

for these teens.

Linden said the over 18 age requirement has always been the policy for Second Life, but this did not deter many minors from creating accounts.

"In opening Teen Second Life, we provided an alternative for the positive, productive, but underage members of the community who, until then, had no recourse but to hide their age in order to take part in the ground-breaking coolness of Second Life," he said.

Linden went one by saying now that the "Teen Grid" has its own web site, has received notable press coverage and is common knowledge

Classified Ads For Rent The rent is $200 a week for 175 prims, parcel can be named what you choose, and the stream can be set on your preference. The view at this location can't be beat. It's the perfect home for a newcomer to Second Life.

Catocala (41, 113)

within Second Life, there is no excuse for a minor being on the "Main Grid."

"As such, we are offering one week of amnesty to those at least 13 and not yet 18 years of age, currently residing on the main grid. They can contact a Linden to be transferred and no disciplinary action will be taken for breaking the Terms of Service age requirement," said Linden.

He added that minors requesting transfers will also be allowed to keep their entire (PG) inventory and will be given an opportunity to let their

See AMNESTY, Page 11

Help Wanted The Metaverse Messenger is searching for a motivated and responsible person to perform duties as a staff writer. The position would require reasonable writing skills, willingness to work and the desire to learn.

Staff writers at MM start off with a base pay of $200L per article. After a one-month probation period of quality work, base pay goes up to $300L.

The Metaverse Messenger A real newspaper for a virtual world

October 4, 2005 The Metaverse Messenger Page 7

October 4, 2005 The Metaverse Messenger Page 8

Entertainment Page 9

The Metaverse Messenger Sido (169, 195)

October 4, 2005

Psaltery, Band Hit Airwaves

By GEORGE BACKBITE Staff Writer Enigma Archer, AKA DJ Fingersmith on Jaded Radio, announced Sept. 30 that "I'd Die 4 U" by Gemini Genius had been added to Jaded Radio's regular rotation. This is noteworthy because the track is by a band led by Second Life member and Metaverse Messenger associate publisher Phoenix Psaltery.

When asked for his comments on the tune, Archer said, "It's a great

THE SUPER SLIDE, one of many at Four Seasons Theme Park takes visitors, on a fast and fun ride. - Photo by KATT KONGO.

Four Seasons Theme Park opens with rides and games for SLers

By PORCOSPINO BROCCO Staff Writer The beginning of October brings the beginning of a new area that will bring thrills and excitement to the residents of Second Life, the Four Seasons Theme Park.

Located in Eaton (206,162), the park is loaded with rides, shops, and games.

Jvizzle Jacques, owner of the park as well as nearby IceDragon's Playpen, said of the grand opening, "The idea for the Four Seasons was that it would be something I believed everyone would like," he said about the inspiration for the park.

Walking through the gates of the park, one is greeted with ticket offices that offer the latest visitor's guide to the park as well as a suggestion box for additional ideas.

The front portions of the park contain the various vendor booths, with nearly a dozen still available for rental, as well as signage to the rides and the games.

Walking along the lake towards the fairway, the sounds of the games and attractions become very vibrant, along with the fine music of Rockin X Radio.

During the opening weekend, DJs Luckee Charming and Daspion Took were bringing more fun and games to the festivities, along with supporting the L$5000 raffle which was being held to celebrate the opening.

When asked about the park, Took commented that "[the idea behind] A theme park in SL is astounding and they’ve really pulled it off."

The park consists of a haunted house, black magic theatre, twisted funhouse dance club, Halloween decor, and more spooky delights everywhere around the large theme park.

The old dreary mansion, which opens on Oct. 10, lies quiet in a corner of the park. Explorers can walk its dusty hallways, watching out for unfriendly spirits, solving the mystery of the mansion and encountering its hidden passages and dark secrets that have been locked away for years.

The Funhouse Dance Club is a dance club with a difference. The club is decorated in with Halloween

theme, so that visitors can throw on their costumes and dance the day or night away on a groovy dance floor upside down.

Visitors to the park can also hop aboard the fungi from the stars with the Space Shroom, which will jet riders across the sky and around the theme park to get some great views of all the fun here.

Claimed to be the longest slide in SL, the Super Slider teleports riders to the top where they then sit down on the mat for a long thrilling journey down to the bottom.

Alongside the rides are the games.

One such game is Sim Invaders in 3D. Reputed to be one of the best games in SL right now, players shoot aliens in 3D as they advance.

"We are friends and are loyal to each other," Jacques said of the partnership with Rockin X Radio. The radio station will be at the park for different events and contests throughout the year.

Four Seasons, as well as IceDragon's Playpen, both operate as excellently as they do because of their staff, said Jacques.

The builder of the park, Kyau Brodie; Krystall Jacques, Jvizzle Jacques' wife and support; Ralek Queso and Luckee Charming of R + L Gaming; and Corialote Dougall, property manager for the Playpen, all work with Jacques in both locations.

Jacques said the secret of the success for these areas also comes from the guests, always returning for more and making the games fun, as well as the hosts. "[The hosts] top it off and take pride in what we do and are a bunch of great people we've grown to love," said Jacques.

He added that the Four Seasons will always be evolving and changing to fit the seasons and holidays, and also will be open from now on for all to enjoy. "I think we’ve entered a new and exciting area of fun, and it's gonna be thrilling, and we want everyone to come along for the ride," Jacques said.

The group is also seeking out new ideas from people of things they would love to see and will try to see if they can create it. Getting their strongest motivation from the SL community, they get their greatest ideas from them as well.

track, and we're honored to be airing it!"

According to Psaltery, the song was inspired by a relationship gone sour, when his former girlfriend began seeing other people.

It was originally released in the summer of 2004 via independent music website soundclick.com, and immediately began climbing the charts, peaking at #17 on soundclick.com's Pop/Rock charts, quite a feat considering that soundclick.com reportedly receives as many as

60,000 song submissions each month.

"No, it's not about Katt," laughed Psaltery, referring to Katt Kongo, Psaltery's romantic interest as well as business partner. "It predates her by at least a year. It was written before I ever heard of Second Life."

More information about Gemini Genius can be found at http://www.soundclick.com/geminigenius. To listen to Jaded Radio, visit http://listen.jadedradio.org or http://www.trianglegurrls.com.

"I'm here to tell you, advertising in the Messenger really works!

Since I started advertising, my sales have increased 30%, and I recouped my ad costs within the first day of the ad running.

From that point on, it was all gravy."

-- Jamie Bergman of Bergman's

October 4, 2005 The Metaverse Messenger Page 10

October 4, 2005 The Metaverse Messenger Page 11

AMNESTY friends know they will be back when they turn 18.

Said Linden, "After the week of amnesty ends, any minor caught on the main grid can have their account canceled or, if eligible for the teen grid, have their inventory completely purged.

When asked how the amnesty was going, Linden said, "We didn't set any expectations as to how many residents we thought would come forward, but we've been really busy moving teens (since the announcement went out)."

He added that "after the announcement -- and this is before amnesty officially started -- I got IMs from 10 separate minors on

From Page 6

[the] main grid."

The teen grid itself was slow to start. Jade Boxer, a teen grid resident, when asked what the community is like on the teen grid, said "Everyone is friendly, everyone is pretty creative with their houses and stuff."

However she did say that "It needs more shops, fun things to do and ways to make $L. It would be better if more people were creative."

However, Linden did say that "Teen grid enrollment has skyrocketed since we published the website and moved to free [accounts]," and that "some of the teens that hid on [the main grid] were positive, productive community members.”

BIRD’S EYE From Page 2 fer to play games of luck and/or skill such as SLingo, Tringo and the like.

Some just like to shop — and God knows, there’s plenty of that around.

But variety, as I said last week, is the spice of [second] life, not only regarding the diversity of content in SL, but in a personal sense.

Do you know that there are people who have been members of Second Life for months (a virtual eternity in SL!) and have never learned to play SLingo or Tringo?

(Yes, I see the horror on your face.

Shocking!) On the other hand, some people seem to know nothing but those two games — a cursory glance at the events calendar on any given day will attest to that. And yet there is so much more! The Hokey Pokey ISN’T what it’s all about!

My point is that many things start out small — “mighty oaks from tiny acorns grow,” as the saying goes.

And so it is with Second Life.

Now, there is a small but quite vocal minority in Second Life that insists that we’re in the danger zone, that the sky is falling, and that SL is doomed, because of this, that, or the other thing.

The Lindens should do this. The Lindens should have done that. Give me a break! In my opinion — and take it with a grain of salt, but I think it’s pretty objective — most of the Lindens do a damned good job keeping this world going.

They care what happens to it, and to you. At times, however, the load is just so great that things happen. Yes, some decisions have been made that I don’t necessarily agree with. But I’m not bashing the Lindens over those things.

Instead, I am doing as I would encourage you to do — I am continuing to work towards a better SL, in a constructive manner rather than a destructive one.

CURRENCY 1 forum post. By visiting https://secondlife.com/currency/, SL residents can now trade currency with others, he said.

At the time of the announcement, trading was restricted to limited trade hours, and carried an account age requirement of at least 45 days.

Also, buyers could only buy US$20 worth of $L per day, and sellers could only post US$500 worth of $L each day.

Linden, who currently splits his time between a working at LL as a software engineer and the web team project manager, said that the numerous limitations reflect the caution LL is exercising with the LindeX rollout.

"For example, we want to make sure that LindeX performs well under moderate usage before subjecting it to heavier usage," he said.

He added that the company also wants to be sure that the first users of LindeX are having a positive experience before opening LindeX up to additional users.

Linden said he set LindeX to run over a Monday night to Tuesday morning (Oct. 3-4, SL time). "If all goes well tonight, it will continue to be open 24 hours from here on out," he said.

The account age restriction is in place to help reduce fraud, said Linden. "As we roll out other fraud

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safeguards it is possible that we may be able to loosen that restriction," he said, adding, "We recently started to allow accounts less than 45 days old to buy currency."

Linden said the restriction of selling/posting US$500 worth of L$ per day has been raised to US$1000 per day. "We've been gradually increasing the limits to slowly ramp up volume. It's possible that we may raise this limit again," he said.

As of press time, a few changes in trading rules have been made.

Residents whose accounts are less than 45 days old are restricted to purchasing no more than US$20 worth of L$ per day and US$40 worth of L$ per month. They are also not allowed to sell L$.

Residents whose accounts are 45 days old or older are restricted to purchasing no more than US$250 worth of L$ per day, and selling or posting no more than US$1000 worth of L$ per day.

Linden said that both GOM and LindeX are systems that allow residents to exchange currency with others, but there are a number of differences.

One of the most notable differences in the two systems are their operators. "LindeX is operated by the creators of Second Life, so it can be relied upon as an integral part of the Second Life platform," said

Linden.

"You buy currency with your Second Life account, using the form of payment you've set up for your Second Life account," he said, adding, "With LindeX there's no need to create a separate account and share payment information with a third party website."

Other differences include the fact that LL measures the exchange rate in L$ per US$1.00 instead of US$ per L$1000, that LindeX trades are not based upon blocks of L$1000, so a buyer can purchase any quantity of L$ up to their daily or monthly limits, and that LindeX currently does not support limit buy orders.

Linden said that the LindeX fee structure differs from GOM's fee structure as well. "Currently buyers are charged US$0.30 per trade, and sellers are charged 3.5 percent of the US$ value of their trades."

Another difference is that traders on LindeX who sell L$ and leave the US$ proceeds in their account will automatically have those funds applied to any monthly island or land tier as those fees become due, said Linden.

Linden said he started work on LindeX shortly after he was hired in June of 2005.

Other sites that offer currency trading include IGE.com, anshechung.com and more.

SLCC From Page 1 project came together very quickly and the time and effort of the team was invaluable."

Convention sponsors include: Linden Lab (lead sponsor), ANSHECHUNG.COM, avalon., CafePress, The Electric Sheep

Company, SLBoutique.com, Montria Holdings, BAWLS, BelaSon Consulting.

The organizational sponsors are the Acceleration Studies Foundation and the New York Law School Institute for Information Law &

Policy.

For more information about the SLCC, visit the convention’s website at www.slconvention.com, which includes travel information, the convention’s agenda and its location, as well as registration details.

October 4, 2005 The Metaverse Messenger Page 12