News.com.au - Terrorists in SL

Mainstream media reporting of Second Life in Australia has a mixed track record, and one of the biggest low points would have to be in this article on the news.com.au website published today. It can also be found on The Australian website.

The article starts off regurgitating the (never confirmed) accusation that the 22nd May issues with ABC Island were due to a ‘bomb’. Then it goes further downhill from there, describing how “landscapes are razed and residents are wounded or killed” after an attack by the SL Liberation Army.

It seems doubtful that the article’s author, Natalie O’Brien, has spent more than ten minutes in SL given the range of other factual errors contained in the story. Here’s one more example to get you worked up: “This terror campaign, which has been waged during the past six months, has left a trail of dead and injured, and caused hundreds of thousands of dollars’ damage”.

The sad thing is, the shoddy premise of the article overshadows the legitimate concern about the power of virtual worlds for use in criminal pursuits. Yes, terrorists groups COULD use streaming video in SL to broadcast propaganda or training. But why would you bother? I suppose potential terrorists may believe the misinformation about being able to wound or kill people in SL and decide they’ll register for some killing fun. My, how they’ll be disappointed.

Popularity: 6% [?]

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The wolves are out for WSE

Over the past 24 hours reports have started appearing around companies delisting from the World Stock Exchange and moving to smaller competitor ISE. The impetus was the theft reported last week. What hasn’t helped is the current trading halt:

We’ve had some brief IM discussions with WSE Chairman / CEO LukeConnell Vandeverre about setting up an interview in order for him to put WSE’s perspective on events. We’re hoping this will occur in the next day or so.

We’d also like to hear from SL users with funds invested on the WSE - how concerned are you?

Popularity: 5% [?]

Griefers cause of grid problems?

Fellow Aussie SL blogger Tateru Nino is alleging that foul play is behind the past few days’ glitchiness in SL.

Whatever it is, it’s intermittent and causing a lot of frustration. I attempted twice over the weekend to complete a full lap on the Relay for Life and both times my browser crashed. Has your time in SL been affected by the glitches?

Popularity: 5% [?]

Thursday’s Fictions Q&A a success

This afternoon, the ABC Island Ampitheatre played host to the Q&A session following the ABC TV screening of Thursday’s Fictions.

The panel consisted of Dr Richard James Allen , Dr Karen Pearlman, Gary Hayes and Story Consultant Jacqueline Turnure and the discussion was moderated by Christy Dena and audio streamed. Around twenty-five people sat in-world on the discussion with lots of questions around the translation of the story into SL, the collaborative process that allowed the project to succeed and the potential for such projects to increase the engagement of the wider community with SL as an entertainment medium.

Check out Thursday’s Fictions in-world

(For more pictures: go here).

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Welcome to error-land

There’s nothing on the LL blog at this stage but there’s obviously a significant issue with SL at present. When launching the browsers a stock standard ‘Access Denied’ message comes up within the browser:

It’s not been a great week for stability in SL, that’s for sure. One important note - you can still log in to SL by clicking the Connect button.

UPDATE: Linden Labs now aware of issue

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Relay For Life commences

The SL Relay for Life is in its third year, and this weekend is the culmination of months of work and promotion.

Spread across four sims, the course has some great sights, music on tap and a bunch of entertainment and commemorative events scheduled (SL Insider has the full schedule listed). There are different themed areas such as Pinocchio and Tomb Raider to walk through in addition to chatting with other participants.

Like the Australian Relay For Life, groups have set up camping areas and the whole thing has that similar community spirit. You can even enjoy the sight of yor hair disappearing as you cross sims on the walk.

Do yourself a favour and do at least one virtual lap and donate some money for cancer support and research. Check it out in-world.

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Weekend Whimsy

Each Friday we’re going to provide a sampling of content generated by SL users and posted on services like YouTube. Here’s Round 1:

1. The Cecil Codex Chapter 5

2. Second Me

3. Globe Theatre Opening

Popularity: 5% [?]

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