Please go to the new home of Virtual Living!

http://virtuallivingasecondlife.wordpress.com/

Thank you . . . Dana

It’s not hard to understand why many people feel a overwhelmed, confused, and lost upon entering Second Life. It is a multiverse of many worlds, and it’s not apparent from doing the beginner’s tutorial just where a person might fit in, or where to start to find the right niche for oneself. But I encourage folks, especially the social types, not to give up.

It can be difficult and frustrating to find people in your in-person (IP) neighborhood, city, or state who share your opinions, your philosophies, or interests. This is especially true for people who live in small towns, but even for some in larger cities. But there is a lot to choose from in Second Life among its vast networks of social groups and themed worlds. Second Life is even has groups that are out of the norm from what we are used to IP.

In California, there are many Buddhist sanghas for me to choose from. But in my years of studying Buddhism, I have decided I don’t care for the religious aspects of it, and I don’t agree with all of the teachings hook, line, and sinker. Yet, IP Buddhist groups conform to one school or another for the most part. In Second Life, however, there is a group called Skeptical Buddhism. This is a wonderful group who welcomes all, and each week discussions are on various aspects of Buddhism, but they are discussed with a healthy dose of skepticism. We talk at length about the teachings, what cultural aspects it may have, how it can be tested, and issues if it can not be tested. I like that group a lot because of the focus on Buddhism with the openness to disagree with some of the teachings.

I decided recently that I wanted to take those kinds of discussions in a slightly different direction. I will continue to participate in the Skeptical Buddhist group, but in addition, I am starting another on my own SIM that will combine the effective mindfulness tools of Buddhism and combine them with the modern ethics and values of Humanism.  I like Humanism a lot, and I think the mindfulness of Buddhism can be a great asset to bring to the principles of Humanism. To create my SL Insight Meditation group such as this IP wouldn’t be easy, but in Second Life it’s a snap.  To join Skeptical Buddhism or SL Insight Meditation, use the Search on Groups. Alternatively, follow the links I’ve provided, go to those places and look for the signs that allow you to join.

Joining groups in SL allows you to be notified of upcoming discussions and events.

Second Life seems to allow for a lot more diversity than most IP groups, and because of anonymity attendance is sometimes better than IP. There is a wide variety of groups already established in Second Life, but if you can’t find the social network you want, then create what you need! Very likely, others will be happy to find your group.

Me by my pond

In Second Life people often refer to life outside SL as RL, for real life. But according to the dictionary, the word real has these definitions: Read the rest of this entry »

Twitter Searches in Seesmic

In The Usefulness of Twitter, I talked a bit about the useful of Twitter concerning finding great product reviews, getting product support, and finding communities of  interest. All of this is done through saving Searches. Read the rest of this entry »

I was hesitant to use Twitter. It seemed like just a wild stream of useless blather and banter, people throwing their boring thoughts out into the ether. There is that in tweets. But there is more. Read the rest of this entry »

I’m often asked what’s the point of owning a home or land in Second Life? It’s certainly a valid question. You sure don’t need to have a home or land. You can just as easily find a place you like, and put your avatar there when you log off, so when you log back on, that’s where you’ll appear. There are plenty of public sandboxes and changing rooms to use when you buy new clothes or hair.

Even so, many of us want a place we can call our home base, a place where we own the rights, where we can have privacy, where we can play, learn to script or build, or even work. It’s nice to own a place you can decorate to your taste, then change it around as often as you like.

I have rented apartments and houses in Second Life, but I enjoy owning land even more. The avatar Dana Oceanlane most closely resembles my physical life, and so when I decided to buy a homestead, I did it under her name. My other avatars also come here to use this space as home, but when I want to kick back and relax in SL, it’s usually with Dana Oceanlane.

Relaxing by the waterfall

I’ve owned land in the past in SL, but this time I took a little more time to research the various types of land available, and settled on a half SIM Homestead. Homesteads cost less because you are only allowed 20 avatars on a full SIM, and 10 on a half SIM. You also get a smaller prim allowance. The reason is these SIMs are set up to be low traffic, fairly private areas that contain mostly land. It’s ideal for those of us who want to emulate  nature, and enjoy privacy.

I found a few SIMs that were flat, square plots of sand, with the islands being close together. No thanks. I found land for sale on the mainland that cost less, but I’d have to put up with ugly buildings from neighbors. I really wanted something where I could enjoy the view, play with some terraforming, and not have to worry about neighbors. So, a Homestead is ideal for me. I found a great island, and half of it was for sale. This gave me a little over 16 K square miles, with an 1875 prim allowance, which is plenty!

To my delight, this land  was already terraformed nicely. Scripts had been set up so as soon as I purchased it, everything went right into my name and I had the permissions I needed to set up the place like home.

House shopping is a lot of fun, but after awhile can become grueling. Lag is bad on the SIMs where homes are already rezzed, and after awhile houses start looking a lot alike. But I found the perfect house for me, then set off to do some furniture shopping.

Last, but not least, I shopped for animals, both wild life and pets. I have three dogs, one of which is an adorable puppy who plays with his bone, chases a ball, sleeps in his bed, and pees on his newspaper. My husky Zooley growls and barks when he looks out the windows, and outside, Zack, my tiger roams the property and swims in the ponds.

I enjoy watching the ducks, the loon, and the swans, all of which dunk their heads to feed. I have dragonflies and humming birds, as well as butterflies flying around.

Now, between going to Buddhist talks and meditations, role playing in the Star Wars SIMs, and blowing Linden dollars like there’s no tomorrow, I sit and fish or just watch the wild life, which is surprisingly entertaining and not unlike their physical counterparts.

No, it’s not the same as being out in physical nature, nor is my home the same as my physical home. But it’s a lot of fun in all kinds of ways.

Come by and visit when you get a chance!

I must admit, I really enjoy my job, and the industry that I’m in. This week I went to the Virtual Edge Summit conference in Santa Clara. Today, I am attending that same conference, but I’m participating while lying on the couch, in my jammies, and getting some other work done at the same time.

Virtual meetings and conferences are wonderful. I’m not saying this replaces face-to-face interaction, but there are many advantages to attending meetings and conferences virtually:

1. Convenience — no traveling; easy to join in; can squeeze in between other tasks because you don’t have to go anywhere
2. Increases productivity — you can do other work when parts of the meeting don’t apply to you, or during conference sessions of no interest to you
3. Document share — you can share documents or other computer assets instantly
4. Increased communication — while one person is talking, you can IM others pertinent information
5. Expense — virtual conferences and trade shows cost a lot less to run than physical ones, or extend the physical
6. Increased Participation — Folks from all over the planet can join since no physical travel is involved
7. Near face-to-face – Video and avatars, plus live chat or voice, provide a near face-to-face experience that is immediate

I’m looking into various software applications for CollabNet to use for virtual conferences and trade shows. Yesterday while at the Virtual Edge Summit in person, I had a chance to talk to a few vendors. My experience has been mainly with Second Life, so this was a nice opportunity to see what other folks are using, and what features are provided.

Some of the software was mostly 2D, some of it 3D similar to Second Life, and one ran in the browser, using graphics and a menu system. I was impressed with all. Some are quite pricey but have a lot of features. I’m also looking online for less expensive alternatives, and to see what is available.

I welcome suggestions from you folks who have experience with particular software that you really like. I’d also welcome hearing your experiences with virtual conferences and tradeshows.

My Twitter

There is a lot of noise in social networking. I mean a lot! But the definition of noise depends entirely on personal opinion. What one perceives as noise, another will find valuable or enjoyable. When I first created a Twitter account, it seemed like all noise. I have a Facebook (FB) account, and Twitter simply seemed a repeat of the status line in FB. Why read tweets of the same nature? Read the rest of this entry »

Me and my droid

I’ve spent the last few days  in Second Life SL finding a world with mostly Jedi and fewer Sith. At last I found Yavin IV, a place that is warm and welcoming. Read the rest of this entry »

My Spider Guest

My newly installed doorbell rang when I was in SL the other day, and when I opened the door a spider came scrambling in. I must admit I was a bit startled at first, having expected an upright avatar. Read the rest of this entry »