Archives for October 2009

The bathtub test

During a visit to the mental asylum, I asked the director how do

You determine whether or not a patient should be institutionalized.

“Well,” said the director, “we fill up a bathtub, then we offer a

teaspoon, a teacup and a bucket to the patient and ask him or her to empty the bathtub.”

“Oh, I understand,” I said “A normal person would use the bucket because it’s bigger than the spoon or the teacup.”

“No.” said the director, “A normal person would pull the plug. Do you want a bed near the window?”

The Watch – virtual worlds in the news

1. The Industry Standard (USA) – Gartner: Rise of virtual worlds will lead to dress codes for avatars. “Don’t get too attached to that avatar of a punk rock angel you spent five hours designing in Second Life. According to Gartner, if you think you’ll be doing work-related tasks in virtual worlds in the coming years, chances are your employer is going to establish dress codes that governs how the avatar looks and behaves — and halo-wearing, flying rockers just won’t cut it. The research firm says by the end of 2013, “70 percent of enterprises will have behavior guidelines and dress codes established for all employees who have avatars associated with the enterprise inside a virtual environment.”

2. GigaOM (USA) – Is Augmented Reality Just the Beginning of the 3-D Revolution? “Augmented reality — a group of technologies that marry the virtual world with the real one — has been around for decades, and has traditionally required the use of expensive and specialized equipment. But the proliferation of smartphones that have cameras, displays, and even GPS and other sensors on them has enabled a whole host of new mobile applications — Soundwalk, Wikitude and Layar, for example — that offer a glimpse at how online digital information and offline physical worlds could be combined. With such tools, virtual and real worlds have moved one step closer to one another.”

3. Earth2Tech (USA) – As Virtual Worlds Grow, More Ways to Cut Carbon. “Take one slumped economy, add some high travel prices, stir in a healthy dose of climate change anxiety, and you’ve got the perfect recipe for an emerging market: virtual worlds for businesses. According to the new GigaOM Pro report “Virtual Worlds for the Enterprise Market” by Kris Tuttle and Steve Waite of Research 2.0 (subscription required), these factors are driving annual revenues for the space for businesses up to $8-10 billion by 2015. While I’ve been skeptical about the emissions-reducing potential of virtual meetings in the past, Tuttle and Waite’s report indicates that the growth of enterprise-focused virtual worlds could have some real green benefits, by helping companies eliminate a higher percentage of business-related travel over time.”

4. Wired (UK) – ‘Visual Walkman’ merges real and virtual worlds. ” new augmented reality helmet that mixes the real world with computer-generated images has been developed by a student from the Netherlands. During his course at Delft University of Technology, Jurjen Caarls developed image processing technology that allowed the “mixing and filtering of information” from a range of different sensors.”

5. Kansas City Star (USA) – It’s not all play for a degree in video gaming. “Menacing, metallic and mega-gun brandishing, the cyber super soldier looms over Richard Fleming’s desk. Not exactly stereotypical for a professor’s office at Johnson County Community College? Well, as the “Gears of War” crowd might say: “Eat boot! Suck pavement! Get back into your hole!” This professor under the “Halo 3” figure teaches video game development. So lock and load, zappers of Nazi zombies or the locust horde. All those hours wearing out your thumbs in front of “Halo” or “Gears” actually could mean a college degree and fast career path.”

6. Hartford Courant (USA) – Wonder Rotunda Fills A Niche. “‘I think this is educational,” observes my 8-year-old stepson, about half an hour after logging on to Wonder Rotunda, a website aimed at kids that was recently launched by a suburban dad. I wonder briefly if the jig is up, but he continues to explore the virtual theme park, intrigued by the prospect of winning and spending the game’s “wonder dollars” to buy virtual food and loot with which to decorate his virtual treehouse.”

7. Wall Street Journal (USA) – Your Second Life Avatar Is Dressed Inappropriately. “Don’t show up to your company’s virtual meeting wearing a tail. And by all means, do not come dressed as a goblin. That’s one of the takeaways from a new Gartner report on corporate avatar etiquette. As businesses use virtual environments such as Second Life, Gartner researcher Jim Lundy said he’s been fielding more questions from companies about protocols for appropriate business use of avatars and virtual environments. He predicts that by 2013, most of them will have such guidelines in place.”

8. AFP (USA) – Imagine Peace Tower lights in Second Life. “Just hours after Friday’s annual lighting of the Imagine Peace Tower in Iceland, a virtual version of the tribute to late Beatle John Lennon opened in online world Second Life. “I hope we will all come to visit it when it lights up every sunset time, as it spreads our wishes of peace throughout Second Life,” Lennon’s widow Yoko Ono said Friday in a message at her imaginepeace.com website. “Remember, each one of us has the power to change the world.” Ono’s avatar spoke at the Second Life lighting ceremony, and then danced with others until a virtual dawn.”

9. CNET (USA) – The future of iPhone games. “With the release of “2012,” the iPhone app tied to the forthcoming Sony Pictures film of the same name, a group of developers may have kicked off the future of games on the hit smartphone. While the game itself is fairly simple and lasts just minutes, it incorporates features that may never have been tried before, and as such, could be among the small number of titles that are showcasing what will soon be considered par for the course. In the minds of many industry observers, thanks to its integration of a functional operating system, an accelerometer, GPS and a camera, and the fact that thousands of developers, big and small, have released games for the iPhone, the Apple device has already surpassed Sony’s PSP and Nintendo’s DS as the most important, or at least most adaptable, portable gaming platform.”

10. Stuff.co.nz (NZ) – Review: Aion. “It’s impossible to review a MMORPG without making a comparison to World of Warcraft. With its huge following none have come close to being able to match it, although a few recent games have tried. This has now changed, because with Guild Wars, Lineage and City of Heroes under its belt NCSoft have finally released what can only be described as a work of MMORPG art. Set in the world of Atreia, the lands are split between the Seraphim Lords (the Elyos) and the forces of the earth (the Asmodians). As a new player you must select between either of these two races. ”

R.I.S.E. U.P. – lymphoma information in Second Life

nodeman Roche Integrated Support Entourage Unique & Personal Our Mission, or R.I.S.E. U.P, is an area in Second Life recently launched to provide education on lymphoma. It’s a joint effort between pharmaceutical company Roche Products Australia, Lymphoma Australia and the Leukaemia Foundation.

The purpose of R.I.S.E. U.P is singular: to provide an interactive, engaging way for people to find out more about lymphoma. For the veteran Second Life resident, there’s nothing particularly ground-breaking about the approach, but that’s not really the point. Given the importance of the health topic, it needs to be communicated clearly and somewhat simply – it’s about retention not entertainment. R.I.S.E. U.P. achieves that – there’s links to traditional web content, streaming media and a ‘Node Man’, which provides an effective way of showing the myriad of lymph nodes around the human body.

Collaborative partnerships

A noteworthy aspect of the project is its backing by the medical profession, private enterprise, key peak bodies and a range of people who have lymphoma. I took the opportunity to shoot some questions to Professor Jeff Szer, Clinical Haematologist at the Royal Melbourne and Western Hospitals to get his take on the project:

TMJ: What for you would demonstrate that the presence in Second Life has been successful?

Professor Szer: Pairs of eyes – how many people attend the general public presentations on lymphoma, as well as the number of YouTube replays. How many questions received during the presentations – there were a few during the first presentation this week.

TMJ: Do you believe there is growing acceptance of the use of virtual environments as a health education tool within the Australian medical profession, or is it still a case of pockets of innovators fighting against significant scepticism?

Professor Szer: My view is that there is growing uptake of this form of communication. The patients and families are better at this than the profession so we need to engage it proactively.

TMJ: As virtual environments continue to evolve, are there further education or actual interventions you’d like to be able to offer in regards to lymphoma or related disease states?

Professor Szer: I can see many educational opportunities for this type of live interaction. Another patient group that values education is the multiple myeloma population and there may be some interest from the patient groups (such as Myeloma Australia in Australia) in pursuing such an event. Currently, many of these activities are conducted through webinars or the like and this adds another possible dimension of interaction. My only concern is the behind-the-scenes work involved in setup which I suspect was far greater that I was exposed to.

I also had the chance to ask some questions of a lymphoma sufferer, 60-year old Anna Blyth, who I’d like to particularly thank for taking the time to respond (see Anna’s experience with lymphoma at the end of this post):

TMJ: Are virtual worlds like Second Life something you see as being useful for receiving health information i.e. does it provide something that other routes of communication like traditional websites can’t?

Anna Blyth: My experience with virtual worlds is very new and I’ve found that in comparing the communication of information with traditional websites, they are very different. When I looked for information on non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) on traditional websites I was pretty overwhelmed. There was a lot of medical language that I didn’t understand very well. There was also a lot of research data that I couldn’t quite follow. And because there are so many types of lymphoma, I found it difficult to find information on the specific one that I have. I also found many sites conflicting with other ones in regards to long term outcome and the benefits of different forms of treatment.

Going to Second Life and visiting R.I.S.E. U.P., I was very impressed. The graphics are great and I felt that I was actually in a place that ‘real’ – as is intended of course. But the feeling is a good feeling and a calming feeling when looking for information regarding my health. I found it exciting visiting the different places and reading the information available on lymphoma. The information is direct and easy to understand and going into the Node Man was great also because I could see exactly where lymph nodes are and relate that to my body.

TMJ: How would initiatives like R.I.S.E. U.P. have helped you in your particular circumstance if it had been available?

Anna Blyth: When I was diagnosed in 2007, apart from websites to look up my cancer there wasn’t anywhere else to go. I got totally confused which really increased my overall state of anxiety. If I had been directed to the virtual world of R.I.S.E. U.P. I believe that I would have stayed away from the traditional sites and focused on the virtual world. With the simplicity of the tour, the information available and other events such as lectures etc., I think I would have understood my cancer much better. As I described in question one… the overall feeling of being in a real world would have helped me to not feel so alone and I would have had a much more positive experience as I learnt about lymphoma. Instead I was in a state of constant anxiety and fear as to what to believe from which traditional website.

Finally, I asked some questions of Libby Day, Roche Products’ Australian Director of Corporate affairs:

TMJ: Can you outline why Roche chose to get involved in virtual environments as a health education tool?

Libby Day: Roche Products has been committed to improving the health and well-being of people across the world for more than 50 years. Lymphoma is the most common blood cancer and the incidence has doubled over the past 20 years for no known reason, yet new statistics released by Lymphoma Australia reveal that one in five Australians do not know what lymphoma is, and less than 20% can name at least one common symptom. Furthermore, nine out of ten people don’t realise exactly how common lymphoma is within the population, even though more than 4,000 Aussies are diagnosed with the cancer each year.

Australians are increasingly going online to search for health information. After consulting with their doctor, the internet is the most popular source of health information. With the support of a number of health consumer organisations, Roche Products is aiming to meet this need by providing easily accessible lymphoma information to the general public through R.I.S.E. U.P. For many people, receiving a diagnosis of lymphoma is a particularly frightening and overwhelming experience because they have a low awareness of the disease. Furthermore, early detection can make a huge difference in the ability to combat this often life-threatening cancer, making the provision of accurate information critical.

There is a lot of misinformation about healthcare on the internet and Roche is committed to helping ensure that people are accessing correct and accurate resources.

TMJ: Does Roche have any involvement with Second Life outside of this project?

Libby Day: R.I.S.E. U.P. is the first Roche health awareness initiative to be launched within Second Life and is currently in its pilot phase – future plans for the initiative will be confirmed once it has been tested and evaluated. Roche is pioneering the provision of virtual health education amongst the pharmaceutical community and is, as yet, the first organisation to do so.

TMJ: Outside of this project, dose Roche see virtual environments as a means of maintaining competitive advantage in a competitive marketplace?

Libby Day: The virtual space is a growing area for all business sectors. With regards to education, as mentioned previously, we know that people searching for information regarding health are increasingly turning to the web. Projects such as R.I.S.E. U.P. will hopefully fill a void.

With regards to maintaining a competitive advantage, it is early days but even in this pilot phase, the virtual world technology is promising. At this early state, Roche Australia is only piloting the program and needs to address the technological barriers which have been detected during the test. This technology means Roche delegates can communicate in an engaging manner, at anytime and anywhere. From here, Roche Australia is working to strategise on how best to maximise the value of this technology.

TMJ: Does Roche have any plans in Second Life or other virtual worlds for the future?

Libby Day: The R.I.S.E. U.P. initiative is currently being piloted in Second Life and future plans for the initiative will be confirmed once it has been tested and evaluated.

Upcoming events at R.I.S.E. U.P

For those wanting to find out more or to enjoy some of the activities going on in coming weeks, here’s the details:

Until Saturday 24 October: Robin Roar, a R.I.S.E. U.P ambassador and Second Life expert, will be available to answer any questions you may have about R.I.S.E. U.P. and take you on a tour of the facilities. AEST: Tues‐Sun, 12:00‐17:00. Second Life time: Mon‐Sat, 05:00‐10:00.

Tuesday 27 October – Professor Jeffrey Szer, Clinical Haematologist at the Royal Melbourne and Western Hospitals in Australia, will hold a brief seminar on lymphoma signs and symptoms in the Auditorium. Professor Szer will be available to answer any questions R.I.S.E. U.P. visitors may have. AEST: 14:00. Second Life time: 21:00.

There’s also some music events going on – check out the details on R.I.S.E. U.P itself.

The Sum Up

As a health professional myself, I’ve long had a passion for using a range of methods to get crucial health information disseminated within the community. VIrtual environments are no exception to this, and given their growth, initiatives like this are key early steps. Skeptics may point to a lack of clarity around outcomes versus the cost of implementation. That tends to miss the point to a large extent. As Professor Szer stated: it’s consumers who are driving the momentum in the use of social media for health information. If companies like Roche Products are going to engage in brand recognition exercises in Second Life, I can’t think of a better way for them to do so.

Finally, the machinima created for the project gives a nice summary of R.I.S.E. U.P’s intent:

Check it out in-world

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Anna’s story:

• Anna noticed a large lump above her collar bone in late September 2007 and was initially advised to have it removed for cosmetic reasons
• However, five weeks later, Anna was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma
• Anna was not prepared for this, as she was initially told she wasn’t at risk of a cancer diagnosis
• She found it particularly difficult to tell her husband and four children about her diagnosis, as her family is very close
• Later that week, Anna underwent blood tests, a CT scan and a surgical biopsy. She was soon admitted to Cabrini Brighton Hospital and found herself in intensive care following an anaphylactic reaction to one of the anaesthetic agents. She was unconscious for over an hour until the medical team were able to revive her
• Following surgery, Anna was official diagnosed with Follicular Lymphoma and her diagnosis was a shock. She felt physically and emotionally exhausted and found herself in a surreal state
• Anna’s treatment consisted of twelve weeks of chemotherapy and a targeted biologic therapy. Throughout the treatment, she felt 100% supported by her family and a group of great oncologists
• On the ninth week of treatment, Anna’s oncologist informed her that the treatment was successful and she was cancer free
• Anna has now officially been in remission since April 2008 and she is a proud wife, mum and grandmother

Merged realities – events and issues for virtual worlds

metaplace-musicquest 1. Metaplace are having a Halloween Party on the 31st October. All the details here.

2. If you’re a Mac user interested in signing up for the Star Wars: The Old Republic (SWTOR) beta test, don’t bother. It won’t matter if you intend on running Windows on your Mac, BioWare aren’t interested in having you take part. While talking SWTOR, prolific SWTOR site Darth Hater asks the question: is SWTOR a paradigm shift for the MMO genre?

3. Tateru Nino reports on how Linden Lab have jumped heavily on a bunch of copyright infringers in Second Life.

4. OpenSim in a web page anyone?

5. The Metaverse Aid team have funded 17 entrepreneurs in developing countries so far via Kiva.org. Why not join us?

6. Yours truly has written a piece for Crikey on the legal action against Linden Lab and its implications for virtual goods and intellectual property rights. On the same topic, The Alphaville Herald asks what will happen next with the legal action.

The Watch – virtual worlds in the news

1. Reuters (USA) – Virtual economies in videogames used as case studies. “Virtual economies set up in videogames as players trade items are being used as case studies to track and model real-world economies. As more people join massively multiplayer online (MMO) videogame worlds like Activision Blizzard’s “World of Warcraft,” NCsoft’s “Aion” and Atari’s “Champions Online,” real money is being used to purchase virtual items through micro-transactions. As a result, game worlds are creating virtual economies. With the global recession impacting consumer spending — and the sales of videogames — a research group is using Sony Online Entertainment’s “EverQuest II” as a case study to explore how virtual economies mirror real-world economies.”

2. Jerusalem Post (Israel) – New Worlds: ‘Virtual white cane’ helps familiarize the blind with new environments. “Software developed at Tel Aviv University can help the blind and visually impaired maneuver through unfamiliar three-dimensional environments. Dr. Orly Lahav of TAU’s School of Education and Porter School for Environmental Studies invented the new tool, which is connected to a joystick that interfaces with users through the sense of touch. Today the visually impaired are very limited in their movements, which necessarily influences their quality of life, says Lahav, but this solution could help them find new options, like shorter routes from train or bus stations to their homes.”

3. Mediaweek (USA) – Virtual Worlds See Shakeout. “A couple of years ago, MTV seemed to be onto the next wave in digital media, as it introduced to much hype several virtual worlds tied to its hit series Laguna Beach and The Hills. Last week, even as the new season of The Hills premiered, the Laguna and Hills worlds were nowhere to be found. The site virtual.mtv was still live—but it featured a nearly empty theater designed for fans to gather and watch the MTV Movie Awards—which took place last June. It appears the conventional wisdom that Generation Y was about to become the avatar generation may not have been so wise. For example, The CW quietly shut down its two-year-old Gossip Girl-themed virtual world a few months ago. Earlier this summer, the teen-targeted vSide.com shut down. And in August the once-promising young adult hangout There.com drew just 265,000 unique users, per comScore.”

4. PCWorld (USA) – Twitter vs. Second Life: A N00b Takes Another Look. “Overhyped technology poster child of 2009, meet your counterpart from 2006. We’re talking about Twitter — which, by our reckoning, entered the mainstream at the beginning of this year — and Second Life, the virtual world which went through its own hype phase in 2006 (BusinessWeek: “Virtual worlds abound in useful business applications!”) before being brought roughly back to earth. But not all hype is created equal. In a June 2009 blog entry for AdAge, PR executive Chris Abraham compared the two services, and concluded that Twitter’s hype cycle is more sustainable than that of Second Life. Why?”

5. Advertising Age (USA) – Has Second Life Cut Its Mullet? “At the end of June I wrote a simple blog post for DigitalNext addressing why I believe the hype currently associated with Twitter will be more sustainable than Second Life’s. Long-story short, “Twitter is light, cheap, open and permanent, whereas Second Life is heavy, expensive, closed and ephemeral.” Twenty-one comments and a series of responses later, I was invited by Second Life to return to the virtual world that I stopped visiting back in 2007. My complaint, and why I never returned, is that the client, called the viewer in SL parlance, was too resource intensive, incompatible with my executive laptop (which favored lightweight and slimness over horsepower and graphics cards) and required too much bandwidth, preferably a LAN connection instead of Wi-Fi.”

6. Kotaku (Australia) – Australian Film School Offers Games Course For 2010. “The Australian Film Radio and Television School is now taking applications for a 2010 course in Games & Virtual Worlds. AFTRS is Australia’s national screen arts and broadcast school. Loads of successful filmmakers are graduates: Alex Proyas, Jane Campion, Andrew Lesnie, to name but three.”

7. VentureBeat (USA) – IMVU, the 3-D avatar chat room company, hits $25M in revenue. “IMVU has been fairly quiet about its success in virtual chat rooms, where people can create their own dressed-up 3-D characters and socialize in graphically beautiful settings. But today it’s starting to trumpet loudly that it has established a strong business with a $25 million annual revenue run rate.
Cary Rosenzweig, chief executive and president of the Palo Alto, Calif.-based company, said in an interview the company has doubled its revenue in the past year in spite of the recession and the cooling off of the virtual world hype. IMVU now has more than 40 million registered users and six million unique visitors a month, according to comScore. For the past three months, the company has been profitable, Rosenzweig said.”

8. Kotaku (Australia) – Littlest Pet Shop Online Has Cutest Hourglass Ever. “Why spend your evening waiting in an queue to play Aion when you can watch an hourglass spin around in EA’s new MMO, Littlest Pet Shop Online? The Hasbro / EA partnership is fully realised today with the launch of Littlest Pet Shop Online, an immersive online world filled with animals desperately struggling to keep from being crushed under the weight of their own massive skulls. The game is all about decorating, customisation, and of course, mini-games, offering fun for “girls” whether they opt to play for free or buy a subscription for $US6.95 a month.”

9. Crispy Gamer (USA) – F-Secure details World of Warcraft scams, trojans. “Players of Blizzard’s ultra popular MMO World of Warcraft are under attack by a phishing scheme that lets the attacker steal players’ gold and rare items by luring players with an offer of “free in-game mounts,” anti-virus and security researchers at F-Secure point out. This is common knowledge to many WOW players (read the official forums for proof), but not to those few of us that don’t play World of Warcraft, or security experts who don’t pay too much attention to virtual worlds.”

10. Media Asia (Hong Kong) – Sector Insight… Taiwan gaming firms look to offline advertising. “The growth of the online gaming industry in Taiwan has created a new group of big-money advertisers. Taiwan’s publishers of insanely popular, massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs) are relying more and more on good old offline mass media to recruit players to their virtual worlds. TV is the medium of choice, and commercial breaks feature video grabs of evil demons in deadly action, or cloyingly sexy animated pop idols inviting all to dance and sing. This year’s advertising onslaught began last spring as university students prepared for final exams. Heavy promotion pushed PC/online game adspend to NT$510.9 million (US$15.6 million) for the first half of the year, up a whopping 283 per cent year on year, according to Nielsen Taiwan. Ninety per cent went on TV (77 per cent cable; 13 per cent terrestrial), with six per cent spent on OOH, and a mere four per cent shared among newspapers, magazines and radio.”

A detailed map of Darnassus vendors and trainers

This map has been updated and moved to here

Trademarking and educators: Linden Lab responds

As reported yesterday, there’s been some activity around the use of the ‘SL’ trademark, with Australian educator Jokay Wollongong receiving a takedown notice. I shot through a few questions to Linden Lab on the issue, and Pathfinder Linder has formally responded. So as promised, here’s Linden Lab’s full right of reply:

Lowell: What was the impetus for LL tackling Jokay’s Wiki specifically?

Pathfinder: Jokay’s Wiki is a wonderful educational resource for the Second Life community, and Jokay organizes incredibly thoughtful and informative conferences about education in Second Life.

Some Lindens were recently invited to participate in a conference that Jokay was organizing, and we wanted very much to accept and show our support for Jokay and all the amazing work she’s done for the community. We were concerned, though, that the name of her blog is “Second Life in Education” and that her uses of our trademarks do not comply with our policies and create confusion about her blog’s relationship with Linden Lab.

We realize now that we poorly expressed our concerns by sending her an email from our trademark team, and that we should have reached out more personally to such an important contributor to the educational community. I (Pathfinder Linden) did speak to Jokay inworld after we sent her the email to explain to her why it’s so important for Residents to respect our trademark policies. However, in hindsight, this should have been the first step in our process.

Lowell: Does LL see it’s in its interest to issue takedown notices to educators showcasing one of SL’s strengths (i.e. it’s power as en educational platform)?

Pathfinder: We have great respect for the work of Jokay and other educators in Second Life. We’re also committed to increasing awareness of intellectual property, as we said in our recent Content Management Roadmap, through improved policies and outreach to the community. When we get in touch with Residents about improper uses of intellectual property – whether it be the intellectual property of other Residents, companies outside of Second Life, or Linden Lab itself – it’s nothing personal. It’s simply what we must do to help protect intellectual property.

Lowell: How much confidence should educators have that further trademarks won’t be registered, leading to a further change of landscape that can’t be forseen?

Pathfinder: When choosing a brand name or name for your website or domain name, it’s good practice to check that you are not using another person’s trademark or brand name. Trademarks do not need to be registered – so it’s best to search the web as well as trademark office records, and to consult a trademark attorney if you’re uncertain. This good practice is called “trademark clearance,” and it protects against your having to make a name change down the road.

Pathfinder: In this case, both Second Life and SL have been Linden Lab trademarks since we first started using them for our virtual world many years ago. To help promote awareness about proper use of our trademarks, especially for Residents unfamiliar with trademark clearance, we updated our trademark policies in early 2008, providing additional information and examples. We have also been reaching out to Residents about our trademark policies.

Lowell: How would you respond to claims that actions like this provide further motivation for people to move to other grids or platforms outside of SL?

Pathfinder: Intellectual property rights are part of what makes Second Life unique and compelling, and we’re committed to supporting a community that respects each other’s intellectual property. Although making changes in response to intellectual property complaints can be frustrating, it ultimately makes our community stronger, more aware and respectful of each other’s intellectual property, and a more desirable place for content creators and content consumers alike.

==

Over to you – is Linden Lab’s position a reasonable part of protecting intellectual property rights or an example of brand protection at the expense of community?

Update: Tateru Nino at Massively has a follow-up piece with some views of educators on Linden Lab’s response to the issue.

Weekend Whimsy

1. Roger’s First Day in Blue Mars

2. SURF, RACING in SECOND LIFE 2009 ANGEYLAURA HOUSTON SINGING LIVE: I WANNA DO IT ALL

3. Second Life Groningen 2 jarig bestaan NuScore Kidd

Trademark protection gone mad: Linden Lab takes aim at educators

sl-wikispacesI’ve had the pleasure of having a chat to Jokay Wollongong in RL on one occasion, and hope to again in the future. I was more than aware of her work in Second Life prior to that catch-up, but only then did I realise her passion for the work she does. Sure, it’s part of making a living but it’s also a lot more than that – she is fundamentally driven by seeing the outcomes virtual environments can provide in education. In that, she’s no different to hundreds of other educators in Second Life.

That’s primarily why I’m gobsmacked and somewhat angry at a move Linden Lab has made, as reported by Tateru Nino over at Massively. Essentially, Jokay’s use of the URL sleducation.wikispaces.com has come under attack by Linden Lab, who’ve asked Jokay to take it down because of the use of ‘sl’ in the URL. As Tateru Nino outlines:

Under the Lanham Act, which controls the registration, usage and control of trademarks in the United States of America, Wollongong’s usage appears to fall squarely under nominative fair use, and thus legally unable to be counted as dilution of Linden Lab’s trademark which finally saw registration on 22 September this year.

Aside from the questionable legalities, I just can’t get past the apparent futility of issuing a takedown notice for a wiki site devoted to showcasing some of Second Life’s main strengths.  Sure, I can understand protecting a trademark makes exceptions difficult, but this has the whiff of a scorched earth policy. To that end, I’ve contacted the ever-helpful Pete at Linden Lab to get his thoughts on four specific questions:

1. What was the impetus for Linden Lab tackling Jokay’s Wiki specifically?

2. Does Linden Lab see it’s in its interest to issue takedown notices to educators showcasing one of SL’s strengths (i.e. it’s power as en educational platform)?

3. How much confidence should educators have that further trademarks won’t be registered, leading to a further change of landscape that can’t be forseen?

4. How would Linden Lab respond to claims that actions like this provide further motivation for people to move to other grids or platforms outside of SL?

Linden Lab deserve full right of reply and they’ll certainly get it (Update 2: you can read their response here).  My guess is that the takedown was instigated by Linden Lab legal people without a lot of consultation with others. Time will tell. I also had a brief chat to Jokay in-world late this evening, and although insistent on keeping positive about things, she made one key point that sums up the senselessness of this decision:

I’ll also be working to consolidate and publish my research on other platforms and will seek to diversify the wiki.  In the end all of this only strengthens my desire to establish presence in a broader range of virtual worlds, and we’ll be working on that over the coming months.

Then again, expanding the outcomes derived from Second Life into other platforms can only be a good thing. Perhaps it’s been Linden Lab’s intention the whole time 😉

Update: Jokay has posted her thoughts in more detail on her blog

Dark Siren: Part 5

Dark Siren CoverIt’s time for the final part of the Dark Siren serialisation. This takes the story up to the Chapter 10. Don’t forget you can see Part 1 here, Part 2 here, Part 3 here, Part 4 here.  If you like what you read, please do support an up and coming author and buy the full book as a PDF here for only US $7.95. Payments are accepted via PayPal or credit card.

A big thanks to Clifford Wycliffe for letting us run this serialisation. It’s a novel deserving of success and I have no doubt that’s just what it’ll achieve.

Chapter 9

Nez took of his jacket and hung it around the back of his chair. Learning to play Avataria like an old hand felt like a daunting task, and it was. One redeeming factor was that thousands of new residents were joining Avataria every week, so provided he could master the basics he shouldn’t stand out too much from the crowd. On the other hand, his aim of joining the AvPost as a freelancer wouldn’t succeed if he failed to persuade the Editor that he had a good working knowledge of the place and some new angles on stories about the citizens. He was also acutely aware that if he posed as a journalist he would have to write and converse lucidly. Then again, he could always say he’d worked for Hello! magazine.

Lauren’s first outing seemed to be going well. Once Nez had mastered the use of the page up and down keys to propel her around, he began to relax and enjoy himself. The first thing he noticed was that there didn’t seem to be too many other avatars around, although what few there were certainly reacted positively to Lauren’s seductive sashay. On Nathan’s advice he visited a few clubs, although these too appeared to be mostly empty as it was too early in the day for serious business both in the U.S. and Europe. Hardcore clubbers rarely surfaced before 11pm.

After several hours had elapsed and Nathan hadn’t returned, he ambled down the corridor in search of something to eat. Just off the Nursery he found what he was looking for, although it resembled a small boutique café rather than the institutional canteens he was used to.  The young man behind the counter was just shutting up for the day, and cheerfully offered Nez what food was left: sushi, zucchini, tofu, brown rice and a black bean salad, all washed down with organic orange juice or herbal tea. Nez grimaced, but took the free food over to a corner table where he’d spied a copy of the San Francisco Chronicle.

Lunch over, on his way back to the room where he and Nathan had been working he was met by Bremer.

“Frank, there you are. I came down to see how you were getting on. I’ve got everything that you asked for.”

The two men carried on to Bremer’s office, where some more coffee was ordered and the door securely closed. Bremer settled back in his chair.

“This is one aspect of my job that I really hate. No disrespect to you Frank, but the thought of all this information on our own citizens being mined by the agencies gives me the creeps. Sure, our country must be protected, but do we have to totally undermine our civil liberties in the process? Your case has merit, but some of the requests I get here are glorified fishing trips. Anyway, lecture over. Here it is.”

Bremer passed over a CD to Nez and continued, referring again to his notebook.

“You realise that we don’t ask for street addresses, so the only real way you can get an accurate fix on those names is by tracing their credit cards. IP Addresses are useful, but aren’t really enough by themselves, and in any case some of the griefing fraternity use anonymisers.”

Nez interrupted: “I understand how anonymisers hide the IP addresses, but what in God’s name is a griefer?”

Bremer laughed. “I can tell you don’t play computer games on the net. A griefer is usually a player who doesn’t stick to the rules and gets pleasure from messing up things for everyone else. Don’t you remember the Avataria property developer and the flying penis affair? That was in all the papers.”

Nez shook his head. “Don’t tell me, I don’t want to know.”

Bremer continued: “OK… as I was saying… on the CD you’ll find detailed chat logs, but don’t get too excited – we only keep these for two weeks so they may be of limited use. You’ll also find printouts of their public profiles which you may have already, plus the date when they first logged on.”

“First of all – Ariana McDowell, the Avataria alias of your villain Kyrylo. A big let-down. As you thought, he disabled the chat logs so there’s no information there, and the email address amcdowell@hotmail.com is, well, just a Hotmail address. He gave his real name as Ann Doe, and the only thing we can say with certainty is that she befriended Carmen Verne on November 7th last year and Menuti a few days later. She did seem to be into BDSM though. There’s a bondage group called Hellfire Inc. to which she, Menuti, and interestingly, the AvPost Features Editor Roxy Ryder belong. But all the activity on Ariana’s account stopped on the day of the Sydney raid you mentioned.”

“Second – the boys Ginger Stallion and Blow Dailey. As you correctly inferred from their profiles they’re in-world male escorts, and judging from their email addresses are students at UCLA in real life. The groups they’ve listed in their profiles give an indication of where they usually hang out: gay bars and BDSM parlours. On the positive side their credit card numbers are on file.”

“Now. Our friend Mr. Menuti has an email address at Yahoo, which is a little odd when you consider he’s supposed to be an executive. Joined in 2005, no credit card information at all, and when he logs in he rarely strays beyond the AvPost offices and a skybox in a residential sim called The Garden of Lust. He’s an advertising manager, but he never seems to visit potential clients. I have to say this is unusual behaviour, especially with rusted on business types.”

“The fourth name – Carmen Verne, the Editor of the AvPost – has been doing the job for two years, and she’s been a resident for as long as Menuti. No mystery about her real life name – Melissa Thurmann – she’s got credit card info on file and there’s even a real picture of her in her profile. I’d say she’s kosher.”

“What about her colleague, Roxy Ryder?”

Bremer glanced down at his notebook. “She’s been in Avataria for over two years, and spends all she earns at the Post on clothes. According to the info on file, she’s Roberta Harding with an email address at a community college in Houston, Texas.”

“Now we get to the interesting bit. I’ve been doing a little detective work here.”

Nez leaned forward in his chair in anticipation.

“There is another name – Joss Guest – which appears in the friends lists of both Ginger Stallion and Blow Daley. Nothing unusual, you might say. Could just be a regular client/friend/relative – whatever. Well, it could, but not with a real owner called Jack Gallagher.” He paused for effect.

“Senator Jack Gallagher, you mean?” said Nez, trying to sound unconcerned and neutral.

“Yeah. And how do I know it’s Gallagher the Democratic Senator and not any old itinerant Irishman?”

“Tell me.”

“Because three months ago, Senator Jack Gallagher became the first major league politician to set up his campaign office in Avataria. You must have read about it in the press.”

“Yes, I did.”

“Now he was given dispensation to use his own name to log into Avataria with – a $1000 privilege he paid for with a credit card. He certainly didn’t use the name Joss Guest, and he filled out the application form online like anyone else. So when I saw that name I went back through the records and checked. Not only are the credit card numbers the same, but so are the email addresses: jackgallagher@globelink.com.”

Nez digested this information silently, instantly aware of the implications and repercussions that could ensue if it became public knowledge. Bremer however was ahead of him.

“I know, I know. You don’t have to say anything. My lips are sealed. You and I are the only people who know about this so far. Of course I can’t vouch for our criminal friends.”

Nez let out a long low whistle. “Boy oh boy,” he said finally, “if this is going the way I think it is, the whole lid could be blown off the race for the Democratic nomination.”

“Absolutely. Not to mention the whole electoral process. Unless there’s an innocent explanation. I suppose that’s always possible.”

“Possible, but not very probable. If Gallagher happens to be some kindly old relative of Blow Daley’s mom, why wouldn’t he pick up the phone rather than communicate in that convoluted way? It wouldn’t make sense.”

“No. Perhaps not.” Bremer had placed the tips of his hands together and was staring out of the window, lips pursed.

“So is that it?” Nez suddenly became businesslike.

“Uh… Yes, I think so. I’ve recorded all the IP addresses of the computers used by those names, also a list of credit card numbers – they’re on the CD – and backdated the entry into Avataria that shows up on your profile. That will help when you talk to Carmen and make sure you’re taken seriously. Newbies have no status at all.”

“Martin… I really appreciate your help on this. May I call you if I have any more questions?”

“Of course. And I wish you the best of luck. Here, let me show you out.

Chapter 10

San Jose, CA.  26 January 2008 : 6.05am PST

It was still dark when the phone rang the next morning. Nez had just fallen into a deep sleep, having spent most of the night tossing and turning, unable to stop thinking about Gallagher and Kyrylo and the avatar they apparently shared. His hand groped blindly for where the phone should be. It was Everett on the line, and judging from the number in the LED window on the handset he was still at home.

“Frank?” the tone of voice was sharp.

“Cameron? What the fuck do you want? It’s six o’clock on a Saturday morning for Chrissake!”

Everett ignored the outburst.

“Things have moved on since we last spoke. There is now a joint operation in force between the FBI and the AHTCC – that new hi-tech crime agency downunder. So I want you to pack your bags, get down to the office as soon as you can and file a report on everything that Bremer told you yesterday. You’re booked on a flight to Canberra tonight.”

“Canberra? Canberra Australia, you mean? Why me? Why Australia? From what Bremer told me the action’s all at home,” said Nez bad-temperedly, now completely wide-awake.

“Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t, but the Feds want Kyrylo ASAP and the Aussies have already screwed up. They want you there on the ground to help catch him.”

“Have you cleared this with Rod Finlay?

“Frank… it was Finlay who wanted you to go. We both agree your skills will come in useful.”

“Kyrylo’s Avataria communications weren’t coded.”

“Don’t argue with me Frank…”

“I’m sure the Aussies have analysts and internet specialists too, you know.”

“That’s not the point. Do I have to spell it out for you? With your background and inside access to Avataria management… “

“All right Cameron. Keep your shirt on. I’ll discuss this with you later.”

Nez replaced the phone and mouthed a silent ‘Goddamn’ at the wall. He swung his legs out of bed and headed for the bathroom and the shower. What game was Everett playing now? From the sound of them, Simon Austin and his team were more than capable of bringing Kyrylo in on their own. Maybe Finlay knew more than he was telling Everett. His thoughts turned to Gallagher. Should he mention Bremer’s detective work in his report? On balance, no – let Everett sweat a little longer. If he didn’t know about Gallagher already, another few days wouldn’t hurt.

He quickly dried himself and shaved, then went back into the bedroom to dress. What was the climate like in Canberra this time of year? Hell, he didn’t even know what season it was – the southern hemisphere summer? Jeez – why did every conversation he had with Everett put him in such a bad mood? He wrenched a case from a shelf in the closet and irritably packed it with his passport, clean summer clothes, shaving gear and a few toiletries from the bathroom. He was just about to go down to the kitchen when he had second thoughts.  Dropping the case at the top of the stairs, he instead went across to the spare bedroom that he kept as an office to carry out his ritual morning prayer to the White Dawn.

Ten minutes later he retrieved the case and carried on downstairs to the kitchen, feeling in a much more positive mood. The American way of solving problems through argument and analytical process had its advantages, he knew, but somehow he’d always fared better with k’é, the Navajo spirit of peace and harmony, gone for the most part these days. The calming effect of those ancient rites his father had passed on to him never failed to surprise, even though in all other respects he had completely given up any semblance of living the traditional lifestyle. He stirred a teaspoon of instant coffee into a cup of boiling water and cursed when the fridge failed to yield any drinkable milk. He lit up his first cigarette of the day and thought about what he had to do and whom he had to notify before leaving for Australia. Too early to phone Alex and Julia, he’d do that later from the office. So apart from them, the depressing answers were 1) nothing much, and 2) nobody.

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