on the seventh day I rest for a minute or two

(The below photographs all come from the "Passage of Time" exhibit at SL10B in Pizzazz. Part one and part two, for your reading pleasure.)

(from the events album; the "Passage of Time" exhibit in Pizzazz)

With 2009 came new challenges; namely, a system of 'rewarding' new premium accounts that I still hear complaints about to this day. Oh, granted, the occasional furniture or adornment gift that wanders towards premium accounts, the ability to buy and sell virtual land, and the premium-only sandboxen; these are all fun things, and--at least where the sandboxen are concerned--potentially invaluable to premium builders.

No, where the hitch seems to be is with the Lindenhomes. In essence, what the Lab has done is remade their "first land" proviso with a shocking difference, by giving each new premium account holder the ability to pick a "neighborhood", and subsequently receive--"free of charge"--a 512 parcel of land, complete with home and furnishings. Home and furnishings, I might add, that that premium account-holder cannot modify, retexture, or reconfigure in any way. It is theirs and not-theirs, in the same instance. It exists as a possession and it is never given away. Paradox? Yes, with each house that is offered.

I suppose, if the Lindens' intent is to quickly shunt new premium accounts towards tier fees and land ownership, simply because the Lindenhomes is question are so bland and utilitarian, then I suppose they work? So...yay for that?

(from the events album; the "Passage of Time" exhibit in Pizzazz)

I admit, I stood in front of this placard for a very long time. "Then in August, the Emerald viewer was in trouble..." This makes it sound as if it was purely a software issue, and not a deliberate violation of trust. I'm not going to turn this into another Emerald diatribe, but really, even within a commemorative event array, that single toss-off line does not sit well with me...nor, I would suspect, with any of the former users of Emerald who felt profoundly victimized by the developers' bad behavior.

(from the events album; the "Passage of Time" exhibit in Pizzazz)

This was another difficult placard to cover. I'm still not entirely comfortable with mesh, if only because I like to be seen as clothed when I go shopping. But the other issues that this particular sign mentions were both extraordinarily problematic at the time. As it turns out, looking back on these events, web profiles have turned out to be minimally non-invasive, though they still have features I'm not fond of using.

But the closing of the Teen Grid was a profound violation for many of us. First, because Claudia Linden, when asked, said it would never happen, but also because it's still such an appallingly bad idea. Intellectually, I realize there's no difference between someone I don't know who's thirty behind the screens, and someone I don't know who's seventeen; but emotionally, I stopped dating at all past the closure of Teen Grid. I do not want to play in mature ways with people I can't trust to be at least eighteen. It may be a minimal standard, but it's mine and I'm by damn clinging to it.

(from the events album; the "Passage of Time" exhibit in Pizzazz)

And here's another controversy that's still raging. There are many separate groups in SL, on many levels; at any given time, there's always someone new to embrace or disdain, but even within these cliques and sub-structures, there's a fluidity that comes from all playing in the same space, with the same tools.

The "Resident" last name--which, to be honest, doesn't even exist; it's a holdover to provide two distinct names under Legacy viewers--was the first brutal social distinction in SL. Within days of the announcement, anyone who didn't have a last name was almost universally dealt supercilious scorn or lip-curling disgust, and all for no reason, essentially--or perhaps for the very worst of reasons: "I was here first".

At this point, there are Resident-bearing sim owners, Resident-bearing business owners, and overall, as a defined class, they add more than they take away. But it's been a harder struggle for new residents than it ever should have been, simply by virtue of the Lindens removing their choice of a last name. It set the cultural bar excruciatingly low; too low for many at first even to make the attempt to struggle under. And it's a great shame to all of us, that so many of us couldn't see past that unfortunate distinction.

(from the events album; the "Passage of Time" exhibit in Pizzazz)

I'm still waiting for evidence that Project Shining will be worth the hype.

(from the events album; the "Passage of Time" exhibit in Pizzazz)

At the time I snapped this picture, the latest settlement involving the Lindens hadn't been announced. Looking back on it from the perspective of time, however, Rosedale's statement seems flawed and disingenuous. What we have in Second Life is real, and is ours? Hardly--as that settlement proves once again, what we have in SL is theirs, and it's as ephemeral as this exhibit will be, in a few more hours.

hey keep your fingers off me, why can't I get through?

(from the bizarre album. Apparently, she's playing a three-year-old. No, really.)

THIS had the nerve to call me scary:

[02:00] yayashi: :O
[02:00] Fawkes Allen: Sorry!
[02:00] yayashi: scarry
[02:00] yayashi giggles
[02:01] yayashi: ??
[02:01] yayashi giggles

The apology was because we were at the Hair Fair's last day, and Mm. Allen was guiding us around on a prim. And bumped into Little Miss Thing coming into a shop. You'll see why she called me 'scarry' in the next shot. The "giggles" were accompanied by that frenetic high-pitched squirrel giggle gesture. Gaaah.

(from the bizarre album, and NO ONE under the age of consent should wear shorts THAT SHORT. PERIOD.)

Over this waif's right shoulder, you can see me, green and agog at the spectacle. (Actually, technically, Mm. Allen is there too, but currently removed from view with an all-over-body alpha layer.) And I really was just baffled by this. I mean, sure, I'm not going to win any style contests--I was bottle-green, with a nearly matching outfit that--sans the prims--became a halter top and spandex leggings, not the sweet little summer dress it had been before. And I was bald, with pointed ears. So I get the "scarry" accusation.

But...this? This is a nineteen-year-old pretending to be a three-year-old with that fetish-skank outfit on. I'm not just pulling those figures out of thin air, either--this is from her profile:

i am 3 in SL - i am 19 in RL :D

And that's ALL that's on the first page of her profile.

(from the bizarre album. The AO, also, is OBVIOUSLY designed for a more mature person. NOT a three-year-old child!)

1. No three-year-old on the planet has breasts.
2. Any mother who thought this outfit was appropriate for a three-year-old hooks on streetcorners. I'm not trying to be insulting, I'm trying to be factual. NO mother would dress her kid in this, even if she was working a minimum-wage job, because this does not come in child sizes. (Unless you're in SL.)

3. No three-year-old on the planet is four feet tall.

Me, scary? Fine. I'll take that. But she's pretty much hanging out the sign to pedophiles everywhere in this. That is just disturbing.

Briefly and beautifully, though, at the Hair Fair, I fell in love with Etain Ceawlin:

Don't just stare, say something!

I'm an owned switchy sadomasochist that's sometimes a dolly, sometimes with extra bits, and always sarcastic. Using single letters in place of full words is a hard limit. So are bling scripts and facelights.

Mohawks, fantastic futuristic robotics and sexy and/or stompy boots catch my attention like WHOA.

I like her. I like her a LOT.

Unfortunately, then this came in:

[7:25] Argenta Redyard: Hello and no you do not know me I was just looking at residents with intrest in victorian intrests and i would love to talke with you about that!

Dear gods, why me? Why? I am not the best spokesperson for Victorian matters. Mr. JJ Drinkwater, Miss Stereo Nacht, Miss Reghan Straaf, Miss Riven Homewood, Sir Edward Pearse, even Desmond Shang--goodness, nearly anyone who's a resident of Caledon--all would be more suited for finding out more information!

But I am dutiful, in some things, so I logged onto the grid and pulled her profile:

Hello I am Argenta Redyard. I have been here before this is not my first avi. The reason I have this avi is because of darma so please do not cause me any with this one. Well I do not bute so feel free to IM me since you are already creeping on me my reading this but wait what else is it for.

Oh. I am much less inclined to talk with her now. Well, then.

This has been a far-from-private pet peeve for some time. This fairly new idea that if I employ basic reading comprehension and keyboard skills, and pull their profile from a mention of their name--an action that has, I hasten to note, been an expected part of several jobs in Second Life--I am somehow "stalking" them. This idea is ludicrous and all who hold it look absurd for doing so.

So, to decrease any chance of "darma" to Miss Redyard, and to invalidate any potential sense of "creeping" on her, I shall simply choose not to contact her back. I hope she succeeds with that lack of "darma" thing. It sounds painful.

mamas, don't let your cowgirls grow up and have babies

The Labs being the Labs, they're never going to budge on this position. In fact, once a company changes their Terms of Service to reflect any given change, even if it's a massively unpopular one, it won't go back. Still, it seems like there's one of these threads popping up on the forums every other day. This one has some amusing points, however...

From MilosZ Milosz:

Say, for example, an adult is wandering around a general region. This adult has adult groups in his profile, for example "No limit C** S***s". A child scans this person profile and sees this group, double clicks on it and opens the group window which, wow, is open enrollment much to his glee. Said child then opens an IM window for that group and attempts to start chatting up adults. Regardless if this groups are flagged as mature or not, the group can still be opened by double clicking it on a persons profile page.

Not an unfair point. How are people responding?

From Venus Petrov:

Too late...cope.

Short, simple, and to the point. I have to admire her for that.

From Spiral Silverstar:

...While you are at it, why not ask LL to return to the Old Viewer too. Ain't gonna happen. Get over it.

From Ann O'Toole:

maybe people should not name their groups that way.

anything visible in a profile is supposed to be G rated.

That said yes groups (and everything else in SL) need content ratings so non account verified people will never see any of it.

Yes and no. Everything seen in a profile is supposed to be G-rated, but are the groups given that restriction? Because as far as I know they've never had restrictions on what can or cannot be used as an in-world group name.

From Wilhiam Hydraconis:

I concur there are various reasons (still) to object to the merger, but as indicated by others it's too late for any reversal to be taken into consideration by LL. It is done. Perhaps a different title of your thread like "Did you consider this too ?" would have been better.

That being said, the overall idea of minors mixing with adults in an environment that is far from suitable to minors even if parts have been marked as PG and disguised as 'merely a 3D game' is a severe chance being taken.

Yes, but it's always been a problem. I used to have to turn away thirteen-to-fifteen year-olds who wanted to strip all the time when I was part of managing the Enigma. At least one of them--and I know this because I knew the participants involved, and was dating one of them--had sex with two avatars who were not aware until later that the person behind the keys was a thirteen-year-old girl.

From Ishtara Rothschild:

Let LL handle those cases. It's their responsibility now. Meanwhile, start blogging about this and other scandalous things. SL needs a lot of media attention right now...

Doing my best to blog about scandal and Labs.

Also from Miss Rothschild:

It would have been great if LL had advised us to do this before they let the teens in, and before they start banning us for indecency. That's so typical of SL, everything is utterly haphazard and uncoordinated.

Yes, indeed. But nothing we can do about the Labs' coordination and communication skills, either.

From Wynochee LeShelle:

Like many said before, it is too late. Since the new ToS from Dec. 15 is in effect, teens from all over the world are able and allowed to join the main grid "fast, free and easy", like the join button says...

This is the small "thank you" from Linden Lab, a christmas gridmess gift for us adults, for our efforts to build an interesting and attractive grid for years and for our efforts to drive the company into the black numbers.

How fast is it to get an account on Second Life? Pretty damned fast. How free is it? Unless you agree to hold a premium account, or want any ability to spend Lindens, it's pretty free. How easy is it for a child to get access to the Adult grid and have virtual sex with other adults? Still far too easy.

But then, people should wake up to that, as well, as far as the internet at large goes: I know six different ways, without even thinking creatively, for a random anonymous browser to access fairly extreme pornography--and I'm talking moving pictures, not photographs--without laying out anything--not one dime, not one credit card number, not one attempt at any sort of verification. So really, how much worse is it going to be on the grid?

From Marx Mode:

Here's the situation. The "good kids" are going to stay in the PG sims - they're the ones who signed up for the Teen Grid, rather than sneaking into the Main Grid all along. And to be honest, they probably want to stay as far away from the tantrum throwing "adults" as possible.

The rest of the teens - and there are a LOT more of them than the ones who are moving over from TG - have been here all along. And see, that's what *really* has the Chicken Littles running around like the sky is falling - they now have to contend with that reality. They can't cover their eyes to it anymore. Teens have been among us all this time - in violation of TOS. The problem is not that the Teen Gridders are coming. The problem is that anyone can sign up for a Main Grid account with zero verifiable idenficiation required. None. Getting to the Moderate/Mature grid? No obstacle whatsoever.

That is the problem. And it has been for a very long time.

Amen.

From Starchild Magic:

People are freaking out because "OMGGG there's gonna be KIDZ on teh main gridd!!!11!!1!" but forgetting that kids have been on the main grid for a long time - they just kept the fact that they're kids hidden. I met my first one a year ago. He was only 11 years old.

And as for asking for a RL age...there's no guarantee that even if asked, the person's going to tell the truth. In fact, chances are they won't. So hopping on the poseballs with ANYONE who you don't know well is a risky thing.

Which means trust is going to come into play, in a BIG way, and how many people really, deeply, trust the people they're sleeping with on the grid all the time? I think the answer to that would shock people.

From Tristan Avedon:

I don't see why the sky is suddenly falling just because the teen grid is closing. Teens have been sneaking on to the Main Grid ever since the beginning. If anything, I think the teens coming from the teen SL will be less of a problem because LL knows they are here, knows their age, and knows what they're doing. It's the teens (and pre-teens) that are here now masquerading as adults that you should be more concerned about.

I still say allowing them in by fiat--in this case, by revising the ToS--does change the game, but he's not wrong; teens have always been on the adult grid, and frankly, between a teen that can't type that well and an adult who has literacy problems, who can really tell the difference?

From shadowfamicom Watanabe:

Also covering yourself from what? Last time I checked there is no law against RP'ing with minor. If you go into RL and have sex with the minor fine... against the law. But I cannot recall a court case where someone had virtual sex with a minor that they had no idea was a minor and went to jail. You guys are freaking out over nothing.

Yeah, um...obviously shadow wasn't around, when the two more than adult typists, both of legal age in their countries of origin, engaged in sexual ageplay when a German reporter was taking pictures of that roleplay sim. Neither participant was underage; but one of them was in a young-looking avatar.

Everything spiraled out of control from there, accusations flew heavily on all sides, and 'videos' of the purported 'pedophilia' incidents began circulating on YouTube--all of which look, to even a marginally seasoned eye, as a bunch of newbie avatars hired for publicity shots, and not actual 'underage brothels'. Legal charges were very nearly filed on everyone involved--including the Labs. It has happened in the past; it could happen again.

From Shiori Carter:

Asking for real life information can get you AR'd according to the safetly guidelines for teens. You may end up being flagged as a predator or you may not, you might just suddenly get logged off, who knows whats going to happen whent those types of AR's are sent in.

And asking will not cover you, just research some RL cases in the US for that.

If you are worried about RL age, then it might be best to not use SL as there guidelines for teens supports staying anonymous.

Yeah, some of the guidelines on that page worry me, but it's not like I have anything to worry about--hells, I'm barely social as it is, right now.

From Cabbage Acanthus:

I think that it would be best if they had their own continent or grid.

That's not going to happen and LL is going to dump them into the mainland. LL's track record for sound decisions speaks for itself. I'm sure this will turn out about as well as the other times they have had a "bright idea". It's pretty clear that other than tweaking the TOS, they haven't done much to prepare for this.

If people want to disregard some fairly well justified concerns and mingle and do busines with the teens, then that's their business.

Well, they had their own continent; that changed. What is starting to concern me now, more than anything else, are the unenforceable sections of the ToS. The fact that if a teen wants to buy land, they must submit a form which requires parental consent--but the teen is still held responsible for payments on that land. That's illegal, isn't it? Entering into even a verbal contract with someone under eighteen?

More, there's now that telling passage on the new Terms of Service, that if you are at least thirteen and you have the legal authority to enter into this Agreement...If you're thirteen, you're not able to enter into legally binding agreements. Right?

Ishtara Rothschild again:

The fact that they're now officially allowed to be here changes everything.

You're right that the teens have always been here and we knew that. So what? Back when LL opened the floodgates and let the NPioFs in, we already knew full well that a large number of the new anonymous throwaway accounts were created by kids. I actually pointed that out in the old SL forums, added that Philip didn't give a fork as long as his user numbers looked good on the paper, and was permanently banned from the Resident Forums for telling the truth.

But the legal situation was different until now. That's all that really counts. Seriously, who gives a damn about the wayward offspring of inconsiderate parents? The important thing was that the kids had to misrepresent themselves in order to gain unauthorized network access. That wasn't LL's legal liability, nor was it ours.

Now it is. Not only do we have to be damn careful in G and M rated areas from now on; the entire world will soon know that LL allows children into an adult online game that features the wildest sexual perversions. LL will soon be under a lot of public pressure and find themselves faced with the choice to either go back on their inane decision or make changes that will pretty much ruin SL for the adult RP community.

I agree with her.

From Thraxas Steamweaver:

Let me try and spell it out for simply: The Second Life you knew and joined, as an adult virtual world has come to an end. You think that's a good thing? Well, good for you. The overwhelming majority of adult residents do not. At all. Unfortunately, LL could care less what the adult residents think, despite the fact they outnumber any teen influx considerably, their opinions and concerns are not so much on the bottom of LL's list, they are not even on the list at all...

It is also interesting seeing the increasing sly and subtle and not so subtle attacks on any adult resident who is - shock, horror! - on here for adult purposes or visits adult sims having joined what they foolishly thought was a adult virtual world playground, where they interacted with adults. Truly, the Disney process is well under way. The shills and idiots are primed and can be depended upon to slavishly support LL's road to ruin

The contempt LL has for it's adult, LL-wage-paying residents is nothing short of staggering. It illustrates beautifully the dangers of monopoly and next to no competition in a market.

Of course, the writing was on the wall a considerable time ago. The creation of Zindra, and the 'Disney-fication' of SL were all geared to letting the teens in.

I still giggle at "Disneyfication", but more and more, that seems the appropriate word. And of course, am I the only one who remembers Philip saying the teens were never going to be coming in to the main grid; that the Teen Grid wasn't going to be closed? I knew then that this was what they were thinking.

Now I'm wondering if that happens every time: any time we get a Linden denial, does that mean they're lying to us?

And finally, from Mandy Strazytski:

I agree with others that said if you are that concerned about it, hide your groups. Do you really need to tell everyone in SL that you are in a group called, "No limit C** S***s"? Also, if you are not happy with TOS, don’t agree to it and log out.

Get over it, change happens... move on or hit X.

By and large, most adults that I've talked with--if they even know what's going on--don't seem to think it will impact them in any way. We'll see. For me, the jury's still out.

Sadly, I think the main reaction, overwhelmingly, is tied up in something I overheard in one of my groups. A resident popped up in chat to ask what she'd just agreed to, as far as the Terms of Service changes.

She hadn't read it. She had no plans to read it. She's not going to go back and read it now. She just waited until it loaded, and then clicked her agreement. And her virtual life goes on...

eight legs to the wall, hit the gas, kill 'em all

Stupidity from the Terms of Service I'm now able to see:

2. ELIGIBILITY TO USE SECOND LIFE

2.1 Age Requirements for Second Life.

By accepting this Agreement in connection with an Account, you represent that you are at least 13 years of age and you have the legal authority to enter into this Agreement. If you are at least 13 years of age and less than 18 years of age, you represent that (i) your parent or legal guardian has consented to your having an Account in Second Life, participating in the Service, and providing your personal information in connection with the Service; and (ii) your parent or legal guardian has read and accepted this Agreement on your behalf. If you are under 13 years of age, then please do not use Second Life. There are lots of other great virtual world services for you. Talk to your parents about which services are appropriate for you.

2.2 Age Requirements for Teen Second Life.

(i) Users 13 to 15. If you are at least 13 years of age but less than 16 years of age, you may only use the Service if you are affiliated with a Sponsoring Organization, and your Account in Second Life is referred to as an “Affiliated Account.” A “Sponsoring Organization” means a User Organization (as defined in Section 2.4 below) that (i) maintains on the Service a “Teen Estate,” which is Virtual Land and Content that is appropriate for users between 13 and 16 and complies with the General Maturity Rating; (ii) has been approved by Linden Lab, in our sole discretion, to register Affiliated Accounts using our "Registration API" tool; (iii) limits the access of all Affiliated Accounts of users between 13 and 16 to the Sponsoring Organization’s Teen Estate; and (iv) requires all visitors to the Teen Estate to comply with the General Maturity Rating and any other rules that the Sponsoring Organization may impose as long as they are consistent with this Agreement. By accepting this Agreement in connection with an Affiliated Account, you represent that in addition to the representations of section 2.1, you are at least 13 years of age and less than 16 years of age, you agree that you will at all times comply with your Sponsoring Organization’s rules for the Teen Estate, and you acknowledge that you are only permitted to access your Sponsoring Organization’s Teen Estate and no other areas of the Service.

(ii) Users 16 and 17. If you are at least 16 years of age but less than 18 years of age (or the legal age of majority in your jurisdiction, if it is greater), then you may only access areas of the Service rated General in accordance with our Maturity Ratings. If you have used the Service under an Affiliated Account, you may continue to access your Sponsoring Organization’s Teen Estate, provided that the Sponsoring Organization permits you to continue such access upon reaching the age of 16.

For users 13 through 17 years of age, we have created Teen Safety Guidelines that we suggest you review with your parents.

(iii) Users 18 and Over. If you are at least 18 years of age (or the legal age of majority in your jurisdiction, if it is greater), then you may access areas of the service that are rated General, as well as Moderate and Adult, as provided in our Maturity Ratings and Section 2.3 below.

Your Accounts may be supsended or terminated immediately without warning or any refund or other compensation if we believe that you are under 13 years of age, if we believe you are under 18 years of age and you represent yourself as 18 or older, or if we believe you are over 18 and represent yourself as under 18.

2.3 Age Verification for Adult Only Second Life.

In order to access Second Life regions or listings designated as "Adult Only" Content, which Content may be explicitly sexual, intensely violent or otherwise designated as Adult under our Maturity Ratings ("Adult Only Content"), you affirm that you are at least 18 years of age, or the age of legal majority where you reside if that jurisdiction has an older age of majority. You further agree that as a condition to accessing Adult Only Second Life, you will submit to account verification as required by Linden Lab, and provide only true and accurate identification documentation to Linden Lab or its third party service providers to verify your age. You further acknowledge that you will comply with our Maturity Ratings, and conduct any activities we have defined as Adult only within regions designated as Adult.

2.4 Requirements for Corporate Users and Sponsoring Organizations.

If you are using the Service on behalf of a company, organization or other legal entity (collectively, "User Organization"), you represent and warrant that you are an employee of that User Organization or other person authorized to do so. If you are a Sponsoring Organization, you agree that (i) you will maintain your Teen Estate in compliance with the General Maturity Rating; (ii) you will comply with the the API Terms of Use; (iii) you will limit the access of Affiliated Accounts of users between 13 and 16 to your Teen Estate; (iv) you are solely responsible for all Content and activities that take place on your Teen Estate, and (iv) you will comply with such guidelines as Linden Lab may issue from time to time with respect to Teen Estates.

Then, halfway down the long list, this:

8.2 You will not post or transmit prohibited Content, including any Content that is illegal, harassing or violates any person's rights.

You agree that you will not:

(i) Post, display or transmit Content that violates any law, or the rights of any third party including without limitation Intellectual Property Rights;

(ii) Impersonate any person or entity without their consent, or otherwise misrepresent your affiliation, or if you are an adult, impersonate a minor for the purpose of interacting with a minor using the Service;

(iii) Stalk, harass, or engage in any sexual, suggestive, lewd, lascivious, or otherwise inappropriate conduct with minors on the Service;

(iv) Post, display or transmit any material, object or text that encourages, represents, or facilitates sexual "age play," i.e., using child-like avatars in a sexualized manner. You may review our full Age Play Policy here;

Incidents under sections (iii) and (iv) above are grounds for immediate termination. You understand and agree that we may report any and all such incidents -- and any and all of your corresponding personal information -- to any authorities we deem appropriate, whether or not it in and of itself violates the law of your (or any) jurisdiction.

(v) Post, display or transmit Content that is harmful, threatening or harassing, defamatory, libelous, false, inaccurate, misleading, or invades another person's privacy;

(vi) Post, display or transmit Content that is obscene, hateful, or racially, ethnically or otherwise objectionable;

(vii) Operate or profit from a "game of chance" In Second Life. For more information please see our Gambling Policy;

(viii) Operate or profit from a virtual "bank" In Second Life. For more information please see our Banking Policy; or

(ix) Post, display or transmit any Content or conduct or host any activity that is explicitly sexual, intensely violent or otherwise designated as Adult under our Maturity ratings, except as set forth in those ratings.

Any violation by you of the terms of this Section may result in immediate suspension or termination of your Accounts without any refund or other compensation.

Near as I can figure, those are the main alterations.

Today, the game changes, people. Forget January 2011: as of today, the current Second Life Terms of Service allow teens to enter the grid. They may not do so; Second Life may still be working out all the bells and whistles for restricted accounts. But as of today, they have the option.

Be careful out there.

these are hard hard times; who do you think you're fooling?

Got another mention on NWN; gave me a bit of reinforcement on the diffidently realized intention (if not actual goal) of taking better photographs beyond just multiple ones.

I don't always worry about the details, but it's nice that when I do, it's noticed.

What's a technocommunist?

Meanwhile, in the land of Emerald, the new production team (with some of the old team's members) are working on transparency issues. Some think the long list of required fixes needs to be kept private; some think it has to be made public; others think it has to be made public AMONG THE DEVS only, so they're all sorts of confused over there. All they really know? They have a huge list of problems that need to be addressed, and they're working as fast as they can to come up with a battle plan to address them.

Speaking of restructuring, have some very handy tips on fighting the Frankenfuture; AKA, bringing value back into business and creating forporations, not corporations. I'm not sure all the newly created lingo works for me, but I like the direction they're going. The problem is, the dinosaurs we have in government and business now are not going to understand anything that article says.

Meandering through the Stumblebum Brigade list, I took a port to the O!Bleak store. This is where I found myself:



Wau. I actually started out in midair over this, about nine hundred meters up, and I'd say it's a recent move, considering they're on the Stumblebum Brigade list, save--why are they on the list if they don't exist anymore?

And yes, I edited the smaller images to show you JUST how big that sucker is--that is a HUGE BLACK BOX a quarter of a sim in diameter. Damn.



I would love to know the backstory on that. Protest gone wrong? Their landlord suddenly raised their rates? What? And their blog's no help; the last update was back in May.

Back to this entry while everything sorts itself out in the background.

Quoting Glimmering Sands again:

I note, there seems to be some belief that age equals maturity. I believe there are plenty of counter examples to this on both sides of the magic 18 boundary.

I do not believe SL is the appropriate place for people to be first acquainted with topics that are considered mature, but this is my own opinion. It is not up to me to decide how another parent wishes to have their child introduced to subjects they consider mature (or even for me to decide what they consider mature)

No, we shouldn't take the place of parents, that's not our place. But by the same extension--are parents going to ignore their child's presence in Second Life, until they catch over their shoulder some pixillated pornography, before they throw a fit?

Because that's what this end of the argument comes down to: the parents who are involved in their childrens' lives are not the problem. Those children are likely in SL already, having claimed to be adults long before, and are smart enough and diligent enough not to be 'caught out'; or they've stayed responsibly on the Teen Grid, trying to obey the rules even when their own grid went under time and again due to...what, really? Irresponsibility on the part of the Labs? Lower-grade servers? Incompetent techs watching the game? What?

But no, it's not them. It's the parents who want zero responsibility for their spawn, who will then shriek like internally irrigated squirrels over the mere concept that their "babies" could have been led astray by Second Life--because as they all know, after all, it's a den of sinful corruption and vice, adultery, homosexual fur orgies, gambling, Mafia crime, pedophilia, and terrorist training (depending on the rumors of the day, and how vapidly dull those hearing the rumors really are).

Tock Mars said (in response to Zyth Hax):

Zyth, you are right. With teens coming to the main grid any adult that wishes to engage in adult behavior should leave Second Life.

And because this is true, a lot of adults are throwing a fit that they are going to lose a safe place to act out.

Forgive them. They will settle down and find some other game to play.

Please be kidding. Please, please, please be kidding. Because if Tock isn't, then that entire comment becomes outrageous. Adults leaving the formerly eighteen-plus-only world that we designed, populated, and helped to create? Why? Why should we?

Of course, this goes back to that whole 'think of the children!' vibe I'm getting off other comments. Again, Second Life is not Gaia. It's not Shinobi Village. It's an adult game, supposedly designed for o why should all our behaviors be restricted to G? Hell no. Screw that.

Zoren Manray said:

IM services and other social sites don't separate adult and teen users and I haven't heard of massive amounts of people getting arrested from the interactions between teens and adults on those services.

Pardon me while I laugh hysterically for a moment. Obviously, Zoren hasn't been paying attention to how many adults are arrested every year for dealings with children. While some aren very nearly defiantly guilty--just like overzealous photography studios and postal workers who carefully pore over pictures of children to determine what might be child pornography, but operate largely on "I'll know it when I see it because I see child pornography IN EVERYTHING"--some are not, and it's a headache for everyone involved. Not the least of which is, SHOULD someone go down as a sex offender, there's no marking for online or offline predation--at least, not yet--so the assumption is (in the eyes of nervous parents, church leaders, and politicians) "Oh dear GODS that man is moving next to our CHURCH and he's on the sex offenders list and I bet he had sex with a nine-year-old and he could be SHOPPING while our KIDS are there and our KIDS COULD BE NEXT to be RAPED TORTURED AND KILLED and he must be STOPPED AT ANY COST--" and other forms of grindingly shrill hysteria.

A significant number of the current crop of sex offenses, by the way? If anyone's curious? Are between kids who were two years apart. Like, eighteen-year-old with a sixteen-year-old. Or a fourteen-year-old with a sixteen-year-old.

Hells, there are cases now where it's a six-year-old who got in trouble for kissing a five-year-old on the cheek, and got arrested, and got CONVICTED, and that's bad; nobody's going to convince me that "unwanted sexual advances" figure in to the five-year-old sharing a hug with a willing companion, people. But it's more or less understandable now--when they're both little kids. In fact, it may even be baffling, over worrisome--"Oh, that's just sad, Shaelee, I can't believe the judge sentenced him--but it's over now, right? How's the little guy doing?"

The problem is going to set in later. What happens when he's fifteen? Twenty-four? FORTY? Because the victim? Will never age.

I'm not saying bad things won't happen with kids on the grid, they will, they happen now, after all. I'm saying that all it's going to take is one big lawsuit and we'll be right back in the midst of child porn hysteria central. Do the Lindens really want that to happen?

Protest all you want on how most teens just want to build and sell and interact in safe spaces in safe ways--sooner or later some ditz (of either gender) is going to hook up with some twink (older or younger), and there's going to be that moment of revelation on one side or the other--"Wait...you're HOW OLD?!?" That is the scenario I don't want to see played out with lurid description on 60 Minutes or The View.

However, I have to admit, Zoren did wind up making a point:

And for those lamenting that Adults will no longer be able to engage in adult behavior in SL have you even read the TOS and community guidelines? You shouldn't have been engaged in those behaviors in PG regions to begin with.

Something we've been screaming about for YEARS at this point...

In Adult regions the risk will be no greater that it is now. To gain access a teen would have to lie about their age to gain access in the same way they can currently lie about their age to get a main grid account. Thus we'll still have the "They misrepresented themselves so I had no idea they were underage" defense we've always had. Just don't start mature behavior with people you've only met in a PG area, have them come to you in an adult area, or check if they're age verified, seriously it isn't that hard people.

And this is absolute truth. In fact, the only hardship I think will happen in these cases is that there are adults, who, for whatever reason, never wanted to age-verify because they themselves did not want access. These selfsame people may see nothing wrong--and there is nothing wrong--with a discreet skybox-bounded bed or rug with adult poses. They just don't want to have to move to Zindra and be faced with everything, all at once.

So, okay, what happens if you meet someone dreamy in a PG area? Get them to go to a Mature area. It's not the end of the world, no; and the Labs are ***SUPPOSED TO*** (I'd make those damned letters BLINK if I could, people!) be age-restricting under-eighteens TO PG/General areas alone. Which should mean--if it works--that they can't access Mature areas any more than they can access Adult. If whomever it is won't--or can't--leave PG land, even for Mature spaces? You have your answer.

Zyth Hax comments again (in response to George Orellana:

Then maybe you should stop having "Virtual Relations" with random people on Second Life and if you say "Why should I have to [stop]" then think, that's what you're saying we should do, you're saying we should have to stop doing what we want to do, and that's enjoying Second Life. And you're right I can't assure you that I'm 18 so maybe it's time to be a bit more careful who you mess around with, just my opinion. ):

Okay, I grant Zyth, and the rest of the Teen Grid, this point: Linden Labs just took away THEIR playground, and they're pissed about it. I get that, I do; I was pissed when they wanted to pop up an all-Adult continent, increasing hassle to everyone and incurring loss of revenue for affected merchants, rather than do the LOGICAL thing and pop up an all-PG (at the time) continent. That still seems like the best idea. Because there are people who want to live away from any potential 'naughtiness'; moreover, as I said at the time, it doesn't HAVE to be a backwater. Make it an art hub, a culture hub, give it gardens, give it statuary, give it amazing views and even more amazing builds to work in, play in, live in. Do the RIGHT thing, the FAIR thing, and make an all-General-rated continent, and make it so amazingly beautiful that it will win awards for innovation on and off the grid.

But no. The Labs aren't going to do that. They're going to force these kids into our playground, and while we're willing to share some things, we don't want or need to share other things with the underage. And it's not specifically the underage we don't trust! It's the Labs. We purely, honestly, rationally do not trust the Labs not to fuck this up.

Put frankly.

I'm not sure if I'm going to read this thread all the way down. I can see a very large battle brewing, and it touches on a lot of things integral to society, family, and the concept of relationship itself, but it can also come down squarely into the simplistic "NO KIDS"/"SCREW YOU, ADULTS" thing I'm already seeing, and...that's not good, either. Once concept becomes dogma, thinking goes out the window. And--though I know the Lindens aren't going to listen on this issue any better than they listened on Zindra, we need to stay rational and (at least somewhat) clear-headed.

But with clear and unwavering--and deeply traumatizing--real life punishments for even online offenses at this point, I can see why some adults are running scared. What I don't get is the attitude from some of the under-eighteens; it goes beyond "Dream on, like I'd be interested in you" into "But we would never never EVER want to kiss icky adults, we just want to build and be free to create"...and frankly? That doesn't ring true, either.

the harbingers of war with their nature revealed

So, let's talk a bit about the future of Second Life. The future of Second Life with kids.

Philip Linden addressed the whole teens-and-SL thing on the official blog. The high points for me were:

• 16 to 17 year olds are, as promised, going to enter Second Life (in a supposedly "protected" way);
• 13 to 15 year olds might be coming in later, if the first stage protections work for older teens;
• and, of course, Philip Rosedale outright lied, when he said the Teen Grid wasn't going to close.

Me being me, it's the lying that gets me, but all of it's bad, in my opinion. I'm not going to trust anyone I meet now who's new. I'm not going to be social at all unless I can personally guarantee there is zero chance of ever even flirting with any avatar I meet, just in case, let alone anything else. And frankly, I was already a hermit for the most part, socializing in spates of group chat; this will not help.

Now, to the comments. Michael Fairplay starts things off:

This turns logic on its head, Linden Lab got all upset and nervous over age play but we are going to unleash 16 year olds onto the grid. Well at least I can say the bad decisions are consistent. It's one mistake after another.

What are the guidelines? Supposedly they're going to be restricted to PG builds, but I know there used to be a lot of "free sex" sims operating on the PG mainland. Zindra was supposed to take care of that, and when last checked, the known ones seemed to have been removed, but does that really mean they're gone?

Ceera Murakami remarked:

Are you going to create a G-rated continent for the Teens to access, and that they can't leave until they turn 18? If you don't, even if you restrict them to PG sims, those sims are side by side with Mature sims containing XXX content.

Or are you going to further downgrade "Mature" mainland and prohibit all use of Adult-rated content anywhere outside Zindra or isolated Adult-rated private sims? That should go over really well with your over-18 residents, who signed up for a virtual world that allowed an Adult experience,and not for Disneyland-safe G-rated fun.

A damned good question, and a good point beyond that.

Jeroen Waisman says:

There is a reason why 18+ isn't allowed to access the TG, without doing a expensive background check, being a licenced educator and being restricted to an educational sim. Restrictions should work both ways. Exposing teens to adults raises concerns, but so does exposing adults to teens.

Absolutely. Why aren't the Lindens thinking of those concerns, also?

Gavin Hird has heavy questions:

Could the Lab please clarify exactly by which mechanism the age group 16-18 will be restricted to General (PG) regions.

Can you also clarify what signup controls you will put in place to confirm the age of this group? (we know the current credit card account verification method for access to adult regions makes it possible for 13+ to enter such regions.)

Can you also clarify how you will proceed to purge General regions of the large amount of adult and mature content currently in resident parcels?

Add to that, how will you guarantee that the residents transferred from the teen grid indeed is 16+ old?

Are we going to get answers to any of these questions any time soon, also?

Shockwave Yareach ponders:

I am not the least bit worried about the teens coming in. I am, however, scared sh*tless about the law enforcement folks coming in with them - people who do not know (nor care) how SL is run or that Timmy broke a rule by camming into my home.

I make a very good living. Some of that money still comes into SL, though much less after the voidsim debacle. But if you think I'm going to risk prison and a child pedo rap to continue playing in SL, you truly are living in a dreamworld. Better start telling us what protections and the rules are because many are already preparing to abandon ship.

He's not wrong. What are the rules for accusations of child endangerment? What are the protections?

Again, a huge sign that the Lindens--as per usual--have failed to think this concept through.

1angelcares Writer said:

I shop and party and work and hang out on PG sims. To argue that we adults will never have to interact with minors because they will be on the PG sims and we adults will be on the Mature or Adult sims is ridiculous. I want to be able to speak with whomever I want to on the grid, anywhere on the grid, without fear of legal reprisal. Nowadays, you don't even have to proposition a minor to get in trouble. Just be nice to them! Just give them a compliment! OMG! He must be "grooming" the poor, poor innocent teenager for "future" molestation!

This is a realistic assessment of the situation. Or, put another way, it's not the teens we fear so much as their parents; not their families so much as their media outlets sensing salacious news about to be made. How many reporters are going to log into SL as a potential 16-year-old? How many parent groups are going to flip out? How long before Second Life is once again Public Enemy Number One in Germany?

Ceera Murakami chimed in again:

I'll grant that most 16 and 17 year olds are probably mature enough emotionally to handle what they might see in a Mature sim. But the LAW still says it's illegal to provide them access to Adult materials. Linden lab's 'opinion' that 16 year olds are mature enough does not make it legal.

What I see happening is that once this new policy goes into effect, any new person you meet, before you consider interacting with them in an Adult manner, you better webcam them or get a photocopy of their legal ID. Otherwise, you risk arrest for contributing to the delenquency of a minor. That will absolutely kill most Adult interaction in Second Life.

Prior to this, yes, the new person you meet might actually be under 18. But if he or she was, then they LIED to get here, and the legal onus is on them for 'sneaking into the Adult movie theater'. When mommy complains that their 14 year old girl is table dancing for you, you can say "No one here is supposed to be under 18, so she lied to get work here as a stripper."

After this, there's no protections at all. Even if you're standing in the Adult-rated Zindra continent, any 16 or 17 year old who has their own credit card, or who borrows their parent's card info to be able to buy L$, will have full and unrestricted access to the hardesd hardcore areas in SL. And any of them can PM an adult and get involved in Adult conversations, with no way for the adult to know that he's chatting up a kid.

Yeah, I can't really add anything to that, I believe the same thing.

Ciaran Laval asks a pointed question:

Why don't you turn the teen grid into the PG continent we were asking you to create at the time of the adult content fiasco? That would be perfect for this little experiment, teens could roam there, adults would come as they could setup stores and rentals, the teens could even setup business partnerships with adults to distribute their wares.

Mm-hmm. Why can't this happen? I know why it won't--Lindens don't listen, don't take advice from residents on the ground, and don't care about doing the right thing--but why can't it happen? And the advantages of an all-PG continent far outweigh the potential disadvantages: making a purely protected content that one physically cannot in any way port off until one is 18, or older, and such information is kept tidily on file at the Labs for verification--all it really requires in terms of change is blocking porting (which could then be locked to that PG continent), and access to resident's RL info--which all residents have on file anyway!

Glimmering Sands asks:

Is this new policy, unwittingly or not, a public admission of SL that their attempts have failed and they might as well codify the practice?

And isn't that a question to keep you up nights?

Terrence Linden came in at this point to address one of Miss Murakami's points:

I understand your concern. To clarify, any user who is under 18 in our system has a maximum maturity rating of General. Those with a maxium maturity rating of General are not able to adult verify and/or access adult regions, even with a credit card on file or if they gone through the age verification system.

Until they come up with a brand new alt, that is...

Skatoulaki Nakamori comments:

When I was forced to relocate my place to the porn ghetto...er...I mean...to Zindra, I remember specifically reading - both in comments in the SL forums as well as in published interviews with Philip Linden - that despite speculation and rumor to the contrary, there was no intention to move teens onto the main grid.

Yeah. Bugs the hell out of me, too.

Emma Starsider shares Desmond Shang's worry on contracting with teens:

I think it's a very bad idea to form a business relationship with a teen. You might get into legal trouble really fast. Talk to your lawyer or accountant before you start this.

And both she and Des are serious; if you run any major business in SL, at the very least pay for an hour's consult with a corporate lawyer, nailing down the teen provisions, all none of them, for cooperative ventures with adults.

1angelcares Writer posts her plan of attack:

Not that it's a failsafe, but to protect myself from as much liability as I can given that Linden Lab is throwing us under the legal bus, I am considering the following:

1) I will uncheck the PG box in search. Only Mature or Adult search results will show. Any new places I visit, new stores I shop at, or new groups I join will have to be Mature or Adult. As for existing places I frequent and groups I am affiliated with, I will carefully evaluate their value to me vis-a-vis the probability/liability of minors being present.

2) Any new avatars whose rezday is after August 14th, 2010 will be ignored/muted unless they are able to prove they are age-verified. I will be polite, but firm. No verification, no interaction.

I have to say I'm right there with her. I'm checking profiles like crazy now, and it was a habit before. And I'm nervy and paranoid--is that new av a teen at the BDSM discussion? Is that newbie asking for free latex underage? I'm afraid to hang out in PG areas; I'm afraid to hang out in all other areas just in case someone's slipped through. And it doesn't even stop there, because as several gentles pointed out, teens have been with us all along.

But 90% of those teens? Are smart enough to keep their heads down, and play along; just the 10% of extremely thick got scooped up for wanting to be a dancer "because high school sucks" or wanted to show off their new Halo armor freebie set at the strip club.

Now? It's a whole new world of doubt and fear. And it only gets worse from here.

As the Betterverse blog puts it, "January 1, 2011 is going to be an interesting day in Second Life."