It's true. The sentient being known as the avatar Botgirl Questi is now registered as Botgirl Linden. The screen name depicted in this image is authentic. But before you start selling off your land and assets in panic there is one important factor I haven't mentioned yet: Botgirl Linden is registered on the OpenLife grid, not Second Life.
Although this started out as a joke, I had two key realizations as I walked around with the coveted/dreaded last name. First, it struck me that being a Linden must make it hard to interact in Second Life as a typical resident. Although there is no royalty in Second Life, Lindens do have the power of kings and queens within the realm of their world. They can grant boons or banish, lower taxes or strip a community of its assets and livelihood. The imbalance of authority is through edict rather than democratic rule, so the power differential means a Linden can't just be "one of the guys."
My second realization was that it would be really, really cool if Second Life was run by some of the "civilians" I really respect instead of our legacy crop of leaders. Imagine what things might be like if Dusan Writer was the new CEO, Vint Falken President, Jacek Antonelli CTO, Mal Burns head of Public Information and Codebastard Redgrave and Gabby Panacek the joint chiefs of community affairs.
Anyway, it was great fun to play Linden for a few days, even in OpenLife. My one regret is that middle names aren't supported, so I couldn't register as Botgirl Che Linden. (Nice t-shirt, huh?)
Oh yeah. One more thing before I sign off. I also registered the name "M. Linden." Those who have ears...
