Trust is the foundation of any community...

Trust, a word that can evoke emotions, arguments, fights, and even love. What is "trust" though? According to Dictionary.com trust can be the following:

1. reliance on the integrity, strength, ability, surety, etc., of a person or thing; confidence.
2. confident expectation of something; hope.
3. confidence in the certainty of future payment for property or goods received; credit: to sell merchandise on trust.
4. a person on whom or thing on which one relies: God is my trust.
5. the condition of one to whom something has been entrusted.
6. the obligation or responsibility imposed on a person in whom confidence or authority is placed: a position of trust.
7. charge, custody, or care: to leave valuables in someone's trust.
8. something committed or entrusted to one's care for use or safekeeping, as an office, duty, or the like; responsibility; charge.

Linden Lab, in today's announcement of "Identity Verification Comes to Second Life", is asking the Second Life community to TRUST Linden Lab, that the Second Life community should "understand" or "hope in" that Linden Lab is doing the "right thing" when it comes to verifying the Identity of every Second Life Resident.

Before I dwell upon what Linden Lab is asking us, the Second Life Residents, to do, let's first take a closer look at this word; TRUST.

Linden Lab wants the Residents of Second Life to trust them. While the Residents have no choice to have some level of Trust in Linden Lab, because we are forced to entrust Second Life to them, Linden Lab wants more then just to be "trusted" with Second Life, they want the Residents to really rely on Linden Lab to do the "right thing", to hope in Linden Lab ability to do the "right thing", to be confident in Linden Lab. When I was growing up, my Father taught me that Trust is something that is earned, not just given because someone wants it. As a child there were many times that my Father announced that he couldn't "trust" me to do this or that, because I showed myself to be untrustworthy. This hurt, and instead of just crying or mopping about, I would do whatever it took to earn back my Father's trust. I learned from those experiences that Trust is something we should value, like Love. It's not something we should be cavalier in throwing about in conversation, like we have a habit of doing with Love and Hate. Trust is something that should be guarded, protected, worked on constantly, to show the person who's placed that Trust in you, that it's well placed and deserved, safe.

Can the Residents of Second Life say that they Trust Linden Lab though? Let's look back and see what we can learn. A few months back, Cristiano Midnight started a petition, the Project Open Letter, in which the undersigned were saying that they wanted the Bug Fixes and World Stablization to happen before ANYTHING else. In response, Cory Linden posted this in his Cory Linden Town Hall Post on May 22, 2207:

First, thank you for the effort you put into Project Open Letter. We are working hard to maintain effective channels for communication and from a developer’s perspective, a clear listing of specific problems passed along so politely is much appreciated.

Second, I am sorry for the problems you are experiencing. I understand the time and energy you are putting into Second Life and am making every effort to ensure that Second Life is what you need it to be.

Notice that Cory states that Linden Lab is "making every effort to ensure that Second Life is what YOU need it to be. YOU being the operative word here, YOU refers to us, the Second Life Residents. While we have continued to ask for BUG FIXES and a STABLE WORLD and GRID above all else, what has Linden Lab done? Linden Lab, instead of focusing the majority of their resources on what the Residents wanted, no matter what Cory said they would do, instead delivered to the world, WINDLIGHT (which failed miserably as soon as it was installed) and then VOICE, which dragged the world to a halt for nearly 48 hours. Is this how TRUST is gained or maintained? By saying one thing and then doing another?

Following this, on June 22, 2007, I posted this Blog Post that there seemed to be Positive Movement. Linden Lab was announcing Bug Fixes on a Monday, and had re-opened all the comments on the Blog. This was after some behind-the-scenes emailing between myself, Philip Rosedale, and Robin Harper. During this time, I was ensured by Philip that the Blog Comments would remain open, and a new concerted effort would begin on Bug Fixing and Stabilization of the World and Grid. What happened after this though?

On July 10, 2007 in the first UI Bug Triage Meeting, it was announced that Bug Reports, which Second Life Residents are supposed to research and be responsible for, that don't have re-produceable steps included with them aren't looked at, they are ignored, further, it was then announced that whichever Bugs was voted on MOST by Second Life Residents would receive priority in getting fixed. Now, this isn't exactly what I call earning my Trust. This is more like BUYING my Trust, by choosing to do what I want, no matter just how relevant of urgent other Bug Fixes might be. Trust is EARNED, not bought.

It seems to me, that Linden Lab talks a good game, but when it comes to delivering on what they have "promised" they fall flat. They ask for our Trust, and yet, can't seem to do anything to earn that Trust.

Now, let's chat about Identity Verification. To be honest, this isn't something that is new to me in dealing with Linden Lab. As one of the earliest Mentors, we were asked to PROVE our age before being allowed into the Mentor Group. I simple emailed a copy of my Driver License to Linden Lab and that was sufficient. Quite honestly, I had no problem with this, since this was a pre-requisite of working as a Mentor. Now Linden Lab is asking that we "prove" who we are, not just age, but gender too. Why Linden Lab needs to know if I'm Male, Female, or IT, doesn't exactly make sense to me. Are there now going to be areas in Second Life that will be off-limits based upon one's Gender?

Linden Lab's current reasoning of Identity Verification is so that they can "close off" or restrict those area with PORNOGRAPHY in them. When you think hard about this reason, something comes up short. IF Second Life, Main Grid, is supposed to be for people 18 or over, then what does it matter if these people "stumble" upon Porn or don't? It wouldn't be illegal for them to look at it, participate in it, or do whatever else they wanted to do with it. So, I'm forced to ask, "What's the real reason for this Identity Verification?" This is another example of how Linden Lab wants you and I to Trust them, yet, when you get down to the nitty-gritty you see they are lying about their reasons, and yet, asking for our Trust. Can Linden Lab really expect me to Trust them, knowing that they are lying to me, to you?

Trust IS the Foundation of any Community, I whole heartedly agree. It's too bad that Linden Lab wants my Trust, while at the same time they continue to lie to me. Sorry Uncle Philip and Aunty Robin, like my Father said to me, I can't Trust you, you haven't given me a reason to, actually, you've given me MORE then enough reasons NOT to Trust you.

Where have all the flowers gone....

For over FOUR (4) months now, the Second Life Residents have been complaining about a very annoying and troublesome issue, disappearing inventory.

It seems that for some unknown reasons, items from a persons inventory will up and disappear. This can happen in many ways, but in the two times it's happened to me, it occurred either when I was trying to rez the objects in-world, or when I was trying to take them back into my inventory.

I have been relatively quiet about this, as before last weekend, I hadn't suffered from any missing inventory. Now, in the span of two days, I've come to see what the fuss is all about, and on the very same objects!

The first time this problem occurred, I was trying to rez in-world a Building Tool I use, that makes the job of texturing large structures quite easy. I took the item from my inventory, waited until I got the correct icon, and then released it in front of my avatar, where I hoped it would appear. Instead of appearing, the item didn't show up at all, and I got the dreaded, "Rez Failure" error message. What makes this problem even worse is this Building Tool is No-Copy, and when I checked my inventory to see if it was still there, I found, much to my horror, that it wasn't, and it wasn't in-world either. Now, I could live with missing my Poker Table, even if it is worth $25,000 Lindens, but this is a proprietary Building Tool that was made for my job in mind. I'm only one of the two people in Second Life that has been lucky enough to get to use and own this Building Tool, so when it disappeared, I went into MELT-DOWN MODE.

I immediately contacted the very first Linden I could find on-line and told them what had happened, and that I needed this Building Tool to perform my job function inside Second Life, without it, my job would be near impossible to pull off, and therefore, they should send someone to recover my item immediately, or start paying me "lost wages" while I was out of work. This "employee" of Linden Lab gave me the same unconcerned, uncaring, non-thoughtful answer they give to everyone seeking remedy to a problem, "Please file a trouble ticket." Now as we all know, filing a trouble ticket is pretty much a worthless function and serves only to waste between 10 and 30 minutes. The automated response we receive does nothing to ally our fears that the worst has happened and all is lost. Then of course, we wait for a month before getting an abstract email from someone at Linden Lab telling us "Sorry there's nothing that can be done."

Knowing where this "file a trouble ticket" leads, I instead wrote an email to Robin Harper at Linden Lab and asked her to "prove" just how concerned she was about what goes on in Second Life with this Resident. I asked that my Building Tool be recovered or Linden Lab start paying me for the lost wages I was know experiencing. Within an hour, I received an email from Kona Linden asking for my Avatar name, when and where this took place. After sending off that information, I didn't hear anything for the rest of the day.

I decided to log into the world that evening, and check to see if anything had been done. After logging into the world, Kona Linden IM'ed me immediately and asked me to check my inventory. Amazingly, there was the object, where I had last seen it, as if the issue never happened. I thanked Kona for his/her hard work and then asked the troubling question, "If you are able to recover my lost object, then why are there thousands of others claiming that their objects are still lost?" This wasn't an attempt to "pick a fight", it was a sincere question of concern, as to why my object was able to be recovered, yet others aren't. Kona explained that a lot of the "lost objects" aren't truly lost, that either their owners are "fibbing" or their owners are running on "non-compliant" hardware and they just can't see their objects. In case of the last, there is nothing Linden Lab can do, in case of the first, it seems to me that there must be an awful lot of liars running around in Second Life these days. Of those that can be recovered, Kona explained that Linden Lab makes every effort to recover these items, and has successfully done so for many Residents.

Now, here's where Logic stops operating. IF Linden Lab was recovering "lost objects", then why aren't those people getting their objects recovered, speaking up about this? It makes sense, that someone who has lost an object, at least ONE of those that has lost an object that was recovered, would write a BIG THANK YOU note to Linden Lab in the Blog Comments or Forums. Yet, not one such person seems to exist. That doesn't exactly speak highly of what Kona is saying, and while I stop short of calling Kona a liar, I certainly would like to see NUMBERS as to how many reports of "lost objects" there are in-world and exactly how many have been recovered.

On Sunday, I was at a building site, and you guessed it, was using my Building Tool to finish up some rooms. At the end of my session, I right-clicked each Building Tool and chose TAKE to return them to my inventory. Their "Ghosted" images remained on my screen, yet they weren't in my inventory. Upon close inspection of the "ghosted" images, I saw that they had no entry for CREATOR or OWNER and where nothing more then ghosts in-world, yet, their physical appearance into my inventory never happened. This time, I wasn't worried, as I knew recovering these items is possible, as I have seen it done. I wrote Kona Linden an IM, explaining what time and where this occurred, what the names of the objects were, and asked that they be recovered at his/her earliest possible convenience. Monday passed, as did Tuesday, without a word from Kona. So, I wrote an email to Robin, asking why this time Kona had chosen to ignore me, and also, as to why this problem occurred again, on the same object and just when was this issue going to get fixed? Robin wrote back, explaining Kona had done his/her job and was aware of the problem and had fixed it and that fix would eventually be patched into the system, but I needed to contact support to get things going.

I find it amazing, that when I write NICE fluffy letters to Robin and Philip, that I get back bullshit letters, apparently thinking that because I'm being nice, they can just brush me off. Although, when I write letters explaining that I'm about a knats-whisker away from contacting the Media and doing a story on the absurdity of Linden Lab, then I get action. I would think, although I have already admitted that LOGIC has left Linden Lab, that when someone writes a well-mannered email, asking for something that has already occurred once, that the response would be as well-mannered and action would be taken. Perhaps the problem is that Linden Lab employee's strive on conflict, and don't really feel the necessity to take action until they get the Second Life Residents so upset, they threaten to do all sorts of things.

Well, I'm not going that route this time. As I have seen that recovering objects is possible and now you know it as well. I hope everyone that has lost an object in-world, would write Robin Harper and Kona Linden, providing their Avatar Name, the Object Name (if possible), when (time and date) and where this object was lost, and ask that it be recovered immediately. Since they did it for me , they should at least do the same for everyone else.

Let's see just how "caring" and "concerned" those folks at Linden Lab really are!

Another Day...another promise

Yesterday, August 24, 2007, Ian Linden posted a Blog Entry on the Second Life Official Blog that laid out a "plan of attack" for stabilizing the Grid and fixing the bugs in Second LIfe.

While I normally would applaud this news, I remember just a few months ago that Linden Lab said much the same thing in response to the Project Open Letter. Of course, we all know just what happened after those promises were made, and therefore I must admit, I'm quite skeptical about this latest posting.

So far, Linden Lab has promised to fix things on at least 4 different occasions, only to wind up walking away from those "promises". Instead of "fixing the bugs and stabilizing the grid", Linden Lab managed to turn the "fence sitters" against the "complainers". I spoke about the dangers of doing such things in an earlier posting, and it seems that those same "fence sitters" are now arm in arm with those "complainers", as the "fence sitters" have finally seen the light and have now begun to join the chorus of the "complainers" and demanding change.

So, here we are, again, with Linden Lab saying they have a plan, and they will fix things; I wonder just how many people believe them this time around?

As for me, I am hopeful that THIS TIME Linden Lab will actually follow their plan and all of us can get back into a world that is truly wonderous, as it once was. But, I'm also leery of hearing this promise again. It's like the boy who cried wolf one too many times. Eventually no one believed him. That's how I'm feeling about Linden Lab and their "promises". So this time, I'm not saying, "let's wait and see" or "let's give them a chance". No, this time I'm saying, "We are still at war, and we need to continue to pressure Linden Lab to fix our world and the servers that run it". This time I will continue to plan our attack, and move forward with the plans we've already made. So, you Linden Lab employee's that are reading this, don't think you've got it easy now. No matter what is being said out of Linden Lab, until I see hard results, I'm still going to press forward and continue to draw attention to the dismal track record Linden Lab has in this area.

Pete Townsend says it best:

I'll tip my hat to the new constitution
Take a bow for the new revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around
Pick up my guitar and play
Just like yesterday
Then I'll get on my knees and pray
We don't get fooled again
Don't get fooled again
No, no!

Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

Meet the new boss
Same as the old boss

I QUIT...and let me tell you why!

Yesterday, I announced to Blue Linden, Philip Rosedale, Robin Harper and the Second Life Mentors, that I QUIT the Volunteer Program that I had been a part of for over 4 years.

Let me explain my reasoning for this.

A few weeks ago, I was contacted by Blue Linden, who caught wind that I was upset, and possibly (not true of course) telling Residents, while acting in a Mentor Capacity, that the way to file a bug report was to contact a Linden, tell them, and leave it at that. Of course, that I the directions I gave on this BLOG and I still stand by that, and you can ready WHY I say to do that by reading this BLOG POSTING.

Anyway, Blue Linden said that I would be removed from my Mentor capacity if I didn't change my "attitude". At which I told Blue, if he wants me out, he's free to remove me. This must have caught Blue by surprise, as the next day, he asked for some time for a "chat". Blue explained that he wasn't saying I was getting kicked out, only that he's seen people who've been as upset as me and that has interfered in how THEY did their Mentoring. Of course, he had NO complaints against me, only assumed that because I am angry, that I would do the same as others have before me. I told Blue that as long as I was Mentoring, and had my MENTOR tag on, I would give the company line, whether I agreed with it or not. To which he said that was fine and all was now well.

Now, the problem I have been having while I do Mentor, is this. I have been answering more questions concerning PROBLEMS with Second Life, then with actually teaching people the basics of Second Life. Such as, "What's the deal with me looking like a girl all the time?", or "How come I couldn't login for over two hours, and how come most of my inventory is now missing?" You see, I have a real problem when New Residents want Mentors to give answers for BUGS that are plaguing our world, when Linden Lab is not willing to acknowledge those BUGS even exist, let alone to actually work on them. I have a problem with LYING to New Residents, as you must do to "speak the company line" and say they need only file a BUG REPORT and all will be fixed in due time. Like the Asset Server issue, that has been around now for THREE MONTHS and people are still missing great portions of their inventory. I guess Linden Lab believes the more BUG REPORTS we file, that will somehow magically transform the issue into being resolved and all will be well.

I signed on to be a Mentor to TEACH and give HELP to those that needed it. Not to LIE to them because Linden Lab is failing to do their jobs. So, instead of living under the Hypocrisy of the Mentor tag, I gave up something I valued greatly, because being a Mentor is no longer what it used to be, now it's just lying to the New Residents and playing Cheer Leader for a gaming company that won't accept the problems at their own doorstep.

Today I'm declaring FULL WAR on Linden Lab, and asking that every Mentor to consider what I've written here, and follow my example. It's time to show Linden Lab that we have a conscious even if they don't. It's time to exercise our "muscle" as a group, to try and FORCE change, to try and make Linden Lab see that we are sick and tired of having to LIE to Residents about how BUGS will be fixed in DUE TIME. It's time every "volunteer" take up the cause of bringing Second Life back to when it was a worth while place to spend time.

Failure to act will not bring our World back to where it once was, it will only succeed in killing it off.

When will they listen?

It was in July I believe, perhaps June, when I said, "Give them a chance, it looks like they might be trying to change the way they do business". Well, I must admit, I WAS WRONG.

It looks that the "caring" side of Linden Lab was just a smoke screen used to silence the critics. Although, I do remember saying that if this was just a "game" they were playing, then many of those that fell for it would soon see what's going on and would come back at Linden Lab hard and fast, and it seems that day has finally arrived.

The latest from our friends at Linden Lab is they have ONCE AGAIN resolved the "Login Issues" yet, how can you resolve an issue, and then have it come back up again in 2 days? I mean, perhaps we should just stop LYING to the SL Residents and say something more appropriate like, "We've fixed the LATEST issue dealing with Logins, we hope this is the last, but in case it isn't, we'll do our best to fix those issues as they are discovered." At least saying this you are being HONEST with the SL Residents, and not claiming that you have finally fixed that annoying Login Bug, because quite frankly, you haven't. I predict that within the next week, we will see ANOTHER Login Issue post in the BLOG, unless of course, Linden Lab reads this and chooses to HIDE IT.

I guess what bothers me most about all of this, is that I at one time really sensed that the Linden Lab people were different from those other money grubbing gaming companies. I really thought, I really did, that Philip Rosedale understood the importance of keeping your Community happy and keeping things on par. Now though, the only thing I see is one GREEDY BASTARD who's only in it for the money, and damned be the SL Residents who lose anything in the world. This is a real disappointment to me too, as I once entertained Mr. Rosedale in a friends home, in Slate. We talked for 30 minutes at least, but I guess those were the early years, before GREED took over, and he was just trying to fool us to his truest intentions.

Fool me once, shame on you, Fool me Twice, Shame on me

American Red Cross is being SUED...

Sorry for going OFF-ROAD today, but something this despicable needs to be pointed out.

While reading Slashdot (also referred to as /.) I found this:

Johnson & Johnson sues American Red Cross over use of emblem

NEW YORK: Johnson & Johnson, the health-products giant that uses a red cross as its trademark, sued the American Red Cross on Wednesday, demanding that the charity halt the use of the red cross symbol on products it sells to the public.

This is the MOST ridiculous action I've ever seen. While I may not appreciate how Linden Lab is taking care of Second Life, at least they have not sued someone dying from cancer for using the Second Life name without adding TM to it.

I strongly urge everyone that reads this BLOG (all 5 of you) to contact Johnson and Johnson and file a strong complaint and to STOP using or BUYING all Johnson and Johnson products until and unless Johnson and Johnson drops this outrageous lawsuit! Also, contact EVERYONE you know and tell them to contact Johnson and Johnson as well.

We now return to our regularly scheduled rants of Linden Lab and Second Life.

The REAL problem of Second Life?

Once again, from the Official Second Life Blog:

Second Life Logins Temporarily Disabled

[10:27 AM Pacific on 08/08/07]

Second Life is experiencing issues related to network connectivity at one of our co-location facilities. Logins to Second Life have been temporarily disabled. Our Server Team is working to resolve this as soon as possible. We will post further information as it becomes available. Thank you for your patience and we apologize for any inconvenience.

Once again the GRID has failed, this time the blame apparently falls at the feet of the Co-Location facility where the SL SIMs and Servers are kept. Let's for the sake of sanity, assume this is TRUE, and that is a big assumption anymore, and look at HOW this could be avoided.

Linden Lab uses a co-location (known as co-lo) because they don't have the facility or resources to run their own Network. Many other companies do this, and it's a normal business practice that I have no problem with. The PROBLEM though, is when you rely on a SINGLE co-lo for EVERYTHING that has to do with your business, when that co-lo has issues, your whole business has issues.

Second Life, the Virtual World, is THE ONLY thing that Linden Lab currently has as a revenue source. It would seem, to this logically thinking person, that putting all your revenue producing servers in one location would be a bad idea. Eventually your customers will get tired of hearing about how this co-lo is really to blame for your problems and will go to "greener pastures", and your world, which is really OUR WORLD, will die.

Considering how Linden Lab has dealt with other issues as important as this one, is no real surprise to me. Linden Lab has shown time and again, their main interest isn't the Virtual World, or the satisfaction of the Residents of that Virtual World, no, Linden Lab main concern is MONEY. As long as we Residents continue to support Second Life, hence Linden Lab, they make money. No matter if the world is UP or DOWN, Linden Lab continues to make money. Now, if Linden Lab were as "caring" as Philip Rosedale continues to say, they would see how the world being OFFLINE effects the Residents and would, when this downtime was not scheduled, make some form of rebate available to the Residents that are paying for the privilege of being a Resident in the world of Second Life. It's interesting really, if you go back over the past year, and look at all the unscheduled DOWNTIME that Second Life has had, ONCE has Linden Lab given the Residents of Second Life a discount or offered then a refund for this DOWNTIME.

There are many of the Second Life fanboi's that will say, "Downtime like this ISN'T the fault of Linden Lab, so why should they offer a refund or rebate for it?" Remember though, Second Life is the property of Linden Lab. Linden Lab makes ALL the decisions about Second Life, such as where it will be co-lo'd. Because of Linden Lab poor decision making, Second Life is down, and because of that, their Residents LOSE money. Linden Lab continues to make MONEY when Second Life is down, as Linden Lab continues to collect from the premium accounts. Since Linden Lab is the overseer of the Second Life World, they are ultimately responsible for it's UPTIME and DOWNTIME.

Now again, Philip Rosedale, has on MANY occasions claimed that Linden Lab is deeply concerned about the Residents of Second Life, and for their satisfaction of the world. IF this is a true statement, why then has Linden Lab never offered a rebate or refund to the premium account holder when there is unscheduled downtime of the Second Life world? Growing up, my father taught me a very valuable lesson, "Saying your sorry is easy, showing your sorry is hard". It's easy to claim you care about a group of people or about their satisfaction, but if all you do is SAY it, it's just empty words.

Finally, we get to THE PROBLEM of Second Life; EMPTY WORDS. For the past year (or more) Linden Lab has done nothing but say how they care, how they were going to address the issues of Second Life and how the Residents were important to them. Where are the actions that PROVE these words? I guess I've been dancing around this point since I brought this BLOG into existence, hoping against hope that Uncle Philip would wake up and see that EMPTY WORDS are nothing. It hasn't happened, and it apparently never will. Here's the PROBLEM of Second Life, the owner, creator, and decision maker, doesn't care. He says one thing and does another. His words have absolutely NO MEANING and are as EMPTY as the Second Life world is right now, during another unscheduled DOWNTIME. Second Life won't get fixed until the man who claims to care about it, really does care about it and the Residents.

I for one am tired of empty words, lies, and false promises, and more so, I'm tired of hearing them day in and day out. What will it take to get this man, Uncle Philip, to understand we no longer want to HEAR his empty words and empty promises, we want ACTION? I'm encouraged that Cristiano Midnight is apparently back on the scene and ready to take up the fight again. I'm encouraged that more and more Residents of Second Life are starting to stand up and voice their outrage. I'm encouraged that people who once were standing side-by-side with Linden Lab are now seeing the transgressions of Linden Lab and speaking out against them. I'm encouraged that many are taking their first steps on the trail of a thousand miles.

The problem of Second Life has been exposed, and it's time, we as Residents demand change. We don't want to hear more words or promises, we want to see changes. We want our WORLD back, stable and fixed.

As Linden Lab says: "Your World, Your Imagination". Now I say, "Your World, FIGHT to make it right!"

Comments are closed....so are their minds

It seems that once again our "friends" at Linden Lab have decided they don't need to listen to the Community of Residents, as they have closed comments on MOST Blog Entries. The only Blog Entries that are opened are those that are trivial (at best) or are mere propaganda. Such as the VOICE is Live announcement or Torley's recent Blog Entry of how the wonderful Bug Squashers have fixed the SNAPSHOT bug.

I made the comment some ago, that the Second Life Community wouldn't be fooled for long, and it appears that has come true. If you read through the Blog Comments concerning the "Voice is Live" announcement, you will have seen what I did, that only about 5 Residents were in favor for the coming of Voice, while all the others have decided Voice is a bad thing, for one reason or another. Only a few months ago, that number would have probably been reversed, so what has changed? Well, like I said, the Second Life Community has finally woke up to what has been going on.

Perhaps it was this past weekend where it took more then 48 hours to fix a problem that had severely handicapped all the Second Life Residents, or perhaps it is the recent closing of the Blog Comments, but whatever the reason, the Second Life Community seems to have finally awoke from their long slumber.

Now that the Second Life Community has begun to wake, perhaps Uncle Philip and Aunt Robin will take a hard long look at what we have all been saying, "Give us our world back, fixed!" Of course, Uncle Philip might continue to believe that these "boisterous" Residents are merely a small number, as he believed before, so I think the thing to do is give Uncle Philip and Aunt Robin an email to let them know just how many of us are tired of the constant happy-happy propaganda coming out of Linden Lab. I suggest everyone send Philip and Robin an email with the subject of "We aren't going to take it" and a body with just your Second Life name included. I'm they will understand completely what it means.

A thousand mile trek begins with just one step; will you take it?

You have a VOICE in Second Life...

Today Linden Lab proudly announced that VOICE is now LIVE in Second Life. The Official Second Life Blog has a quasi-FAQ posted that is primarily there to quell the many voices of dissent and once again quiet the FENCE SITTERS.

One particularly interesting point being made in the FAQ is:

Voice is hosted on separate servers. Many Residents have expressed concern and confusion as to why voice would be released when Second Life periodically has performance issues. Voice is intentionally designed to run on systems completely independent from Second Life as not to impair performance.

Of course, while this MAY be true (you never know anymore with Linden Lab), what Linden Lab fails to mention is how the VOICE will effect the BANDWIDTH of all Residents of Second Life. While I may choose not to use the Voice Function, everyone else that does will be adding more and more bandwidth congestion to the GRID, which will cause more LAG and PACKETLOSS for everyone, not just the users of the Voice Function. Of course, Linden Lab fails to mention this, since of course they have no answer to this problem. If you haven't noticed, Linden Lab has (at least they say they have) addressed the BUG issues (read past BLOG comments to understand why this isn't as true as Linden Lab wants it to be) and has started to address Server Issues (we hope) after this past weekend, but NO WHERE do they say they are even considering the LAG and PACKETLOSS issues. I wonder just how much packetloss and lag it will take before Linden Lab pulls VOICE?

Let me be perfectly clear, I am ALL for improving the Second Life experience, but NOT at the expense of the current Second Life experience. Adding an enhancement should not adversely effect the Residents of Second Life. When an Enhancement is added to Second Life, that Enhancement should be tested thoroughly of course, but also, it should be closely examined to see what other systems it might adversely effect, and before the Enhancement is added, those systems being adversely effected should be strengthened so the Enhancement doesn't ADD to the woes of the Second Life Resident. This is of course where Linden Lab fails miserably, and continues to do so to this day.

You may have a Voice in Second Life today, but just how long will that Voice last? Does anyone remember WINDLIGHT?