New video: A fast look at secondlife.com 2002-2004

The comment war the other day reminded me that practically everything posted to the Internet is on your permanent record. So I went over to the Wayback Machine this evening, grabbed some screen shots and slapped together a little video for your viewing pleasure.

The comment debater's equivalent of waking up with some half-remembered person sleeping next to you

Upon reviewing my own comments from the last cycle, this hit a bit close to home.Thanks for the link, Grace! Cartoon from the ever-brilliant xkcd.com

Botgirl moves to Extropia

I purchased a sweet parcel in Extropia. Vidal Tripsa brilliant builder, architect and living-doll was kind enough to loan me a house to use until she finishes designing and building the super-secret project that will one day be the futuristic home-of-my-dreams. (No pressure Vidal.)

Although the dwelling is a work in progress for her, it's a beautiful and happy place even in an unfinished state. After positioning the building, I ran out for a few essentials such as art, and then added some movie posters and a bed from inventory. In honor of Harper's birthday, these images are posted here with no retouching other than cropping.

Dr. Avatar I presume? Anthropologist sheds light on Second Life natives in new book and upcoming Extropia Salon

"Coming of Age in Second Life" author Tom Boellstorff will be featured in this Thursday's Sophrosyne's Salon at 10 am in Extropia. The anthropologist studied Second Life for two and a half years through his ethnographic-collecting avatar Tom Bukowski (who will be appearing in lieu of Mr. Boellstorff at the Salon.)

This book is chock-full of the kind of meaty research I've been craving. It is a goldmine of fascinating narrative accounts informed by well-reasoned and insightful analysis. It sheds light on culture, psychology, community and the possible future.

Here are a few tidbits from the introduction:

• "[in virtual worlds] our humanity is thrown off balance, considered anew, and reconfigured through transformed possibilities for place-making, subjectivity and community.

• "...online worlds are [not] spaces in which we simply work out offline issues and once sorted, happily leave....What happens in virtual worlds often is just as real, just as meaningful, to participants."

• "The gap between virtual and actual self could reverberate into everyday practices of identification and interaction."
  

I'm looking forward to meeting Mr. Bukowski in the virtual flesh tomorrow. The event is open to the public, so teleport on down for what will likely be an intriguing discussion.

Botgirl whispers: Hey, Sophrosyne. Now that I'm an Extropia citizen, do I get some kind of special seating?

Playboy, Elmer Fudd and Intellectual Property

An article in New World Notes today describes bona fide Playboy bunny avatars trekking around Second Life sniffing out sellers of bootlegged merchandise. The surrealistic image of IP-hunting metaverse bunnies is a great metaphor for the ongoing battle between intellectual property owners and neo-Lessigians.

Although it is said that information wants to be free, the fight is far from over. Peer-to-peer downloaders may be having a big party at the moment, but the knife of technology can cut both ways. Elmer Fudd may have the last laugh.

In K.W. Jeter's novel Noir, IP thieves are ruthlessly hunted and bagged for their neuro. If the future looks more like China than the Netherlands every bit and byte may be tracked. It may even be possible to detect your little human thoughts one day. Wouldn't the RIAA love to debit your account every time you had one of their songs stuck in your mind?

Oh well. These are certainly interesting times.

Transhumanism: Road to utopia or Narcissism 3.0?

Since my decision to move to Extropia, I've been giving the idea of transhumanism more thought. My decision to move there was not based on the any particular philosophy, but rather my fondness and respect for Extropians I've met, recommendations from non-Extropians and the consistently interesting events hosted on the sim. Nevertheless, since I'm about to be situated in the international and inter-world hub for positive post-biological futurism, I thought I would share just a few initial thoughts:

• It seems to me that transhumanism without some sort of psychologically corrective practice will just extend the human ego into new narcissistic realms. That's why I was happy to learn of the upcoming Future of Religion/Religions of the Future Conference hosted by Extropia. I am very interested in exploring the potential for non-religious psychological practice.
  

• I wonder how the role playing aspects of Extropia impact its potential to chart a realistic near-future. From my very limited experience, it seems the RP aspects of Extropia are more a matter of style than lifestyle as compared to other SL cultures such as the Goreans.
  

• My guess is that the messy work of active VW collaboration within a virtual-world-based community will produce the most valuable results. The trick I think is balancing the need for like-minded collaboration with an openness to thoughtful questioning, ongoing course-corrections and intellectual honesty. I like the example of the Dalai Lama, who told Carl Sagan,"If science can disprove reincarnation, Tibetan Buddhism would abandon reincarnation."
  

That's all I have for now. Comments would be greatly appreciated!

Botgirl speaks and moves her lips in new Metaverse TV show

I had the great pleasure of making an appearance on the first episode of Metaverse TV's Second Living show. It has kind of a Public Access TV feel. It just posted on their site.