Mental Health Month At Health Island, Virtual Ability (Event Thursday May 15)

 

May is Mental Health Month. While mental illness is often feared, persistent fear and anxiety count as mental health issues. And these days they seem quite common among friends or ourselves. Gemma Cleanslate checked out the exhibit on Mental Health at Health island, and learned there's an all day event at Virtual Ability, their Mental Health Symposium, on Thursday May 15.

 

Read Gemma's article in Events. 

 

Looking Back: The Saftey Pin Post-Election Support Group

 

A few weeks after the Presidential Election, things are starting to calm down somewhat. But with both sides screaming that victory for the opposition would bring ruin to the country, there are still some people nervous about what lies ahead. It was much the same eight years ago. In response to Trump's victory in 2016, the head of one Clinton HQ, Evangeline Ling, founded the "Safety Pin" post-election support group, "to provide a safe space for people negatively impacted by the election to process it and to support each other," inviting people over, "if you would like to take some time to process your fears, hopes, and experiences about this election." The Newser would interview her about the group then.

I would message Evangeline a few days ago, asking if the group was back or she knew of another. She would say no, "While 'Safety Pin' as a group no longer exists in reality it certainly exists as a concept." She would say she still thinks Trump is "disastrous," but would rather express her disappointment more privately than in 2016.

If anyone knows of such an existing support group, feel free to contact the Newser.

 

Post-Election Support Group For Democrats

It was quite a Presidential election season in the United States this year. While some are happy with the results, and some are just glad it's over and putting politics behind them, others are expressing fear and anger. For those genuinely worried about what changes the election might mean, Evangeline Ling has started a support group. The first meeting was last week, but another one is tonight. Talking to Evangeline, she had a number of things to say.

Read more in People.

Commentary: An Anxious Community Awaits A New Grid

By Bixyl Shuftan

"Happy Birthday Second Life, you're being replaced," was how many residents took the news of Ebbe Linden's announcement of the new virtual world being developed. It seems every major change by the Lab seems to prokove somebody into saying "SL is doomed!," but residents adapted and Second Life went on, (with one change, the third party Linden exchanger ban last year, the Lab made a quick partial reversal). But this time, the change is an entirely new virtual world being developed.

While Ebbe has made an effort to be more open to Second Life's community about what the Lab is doing, unfortunately years of saying little but canned responses in response to questions about a number of it's decisions isn't so easily forgotten. Coming here because of one another, not because of faith in Linden Lab, many residents fear that all they have created here will soon be nothing but memories. Many feel Linden Lab is about to pull the plug on the virtual world that has been their outlet for creativity, their means of communicating with friends that they found here, or both.

Perhaps some found it more than a coincidence that Ebbe chose a third-party viewer developer meeting to announce the news. Team Firestorm, the most popular of the viewers, started out as Team Phoenix. What happened to Phoenix? Over time the team found it more difficult to upgrade to where it could still perform as before, and eventually the team ceased work on it to concentrate on the newer viewer. Might the Lab be doing the same?

The answer to that is no. The big reason is they have no choice if they want to stay alive as a company. Although Linden Lab has diversified somewhat in the past few years, the only other product of theirs that seems to making much money is Blocksworld. And it's income over the months has remained far short of what Second Life has been bringing them. And later on should this next-generation virtual world, called "SL 2.0" by some, become it's more profitable one. As long as the older Grid continues to make money, they'll keep it.

Though comes the question, how will the Lindens run this new world?

When Second Life was first created, the company was fairly idealistic, inspired by the possibilities of what people could create in virtual reality. The Lindens held regular meetings with the residents, some interacted with the residents, and there was a fair ammount of openness. "Your World, Your Imagination" was the slogan, and indeed it was with few rules around.

Today, not a single Linden from the early days remains. Although there are meetings with third party viewer developers, the regular meetings with residents have long been a thing of the past, and for quite some time until recently, Lindens fratenizing with the residents was discouraged. Over time have come a number of rules and changes in the terms of service, the Lab taking more control over the Grid back from it's denziens. Instead of "Your World, Your Imagination," the slogan is now the awkward-sounding "Shared Creative Spaces." The Lab has become more distant from it's residents, leaving them, especially the long term ones, feeling somewhat alienated and unappreciated. On occasion, I hear some wonder if the Lab feel deep down if they would be happier if the the old-timers just went away.

It's because of this distrust of Linden Lab's motivations, competence, or both, that many wonder what lies ahead.

That Linden Lab will be having more control over this second world is a given. They've already stated it will not be open source. No Third party Viewers here. You will either use whatever viewer the Lab gives you, or you don't get on the world at all. Hopefully the Lab will offer something easier to use than the "Viewer 2" so disliked by many longtime residents. If they don't, well, the "oldbies" are going to have difficult times from the start. Then there's the third party Linden exchanges. Many use them because they can't, or won't, use the Lindex. Assuming the new Grid disallows third party cash exchange services, unless the new grid's official currency exchange has more options, these residents won't be able to do much in the new Grid, if they come here at all. There's also the issue of content created and who owns it. Will the Lab state they have just enough control to maintain it on the Grid, or will they insist anything created here, or uploaded here not copyrighted by a corporation first, is theirs to do with as they please?

Will more adult-oriented content be allowed to exist? Although it's been profitable for the Lab as many residents buy Lindens to get lingere and animation poseball beds, it's also been someting of an embarassment as the masses outside the computer world sometimes see Second Life as a sexual playground more than anything else. That is, if they realize there is anything else. Those who come to Second Life to explore their friskier sides or to maintain a long distance relationship could find themselves frustrated in it's sequel if the Lab insists on keeping things squeaky clean.

Will residents be allowed to bring content with them from the older grid to the newer? Many residents have made some great and fantastic things here. The thought of what they've spent years making vanish and having to rebuild it elsewhere is just too much for some, whom would reluctantly let it fade if they can't maintain what they've made here. Assuming the new grid is mesh and prims won't be a part of it, only more recent items could be moved over. If so, will there be some procedure for this? If the Lab doesn't allow content to be transfered, will they offer compensation of some kind if they make a new place in the new grid?

Will residents need to buy new computers? Most likely many will, possibly most. This will cut down on what these residents can spend inworld for a while.

Of course there is the option of simply sticking around Second Life. Team Firestorm's Jessica Lyon predicted residents would be slow to move to the new world at first, that is, until the Lab continues to open up and talk with the residents about it, listening to them and accepting suggestions. And if residents simply go back and forth between worlds, this won't be a problem. But what if Linden Lab's move ends up being a big financial blunder? Suppose the Lab ends up making little to nothing from the new grid while on Second Life anxious residents slow down buying Lindens and virtual land?

Perhaps it was just a matter of time Linden Lab had to make a new virtual world. This one has been around for over a decade, the technology involved originating in the 1990s, and Linden Lab still has not found a way to reverse it's declining income.

But to many of Second Life's residents, especially those whom have invested much time and money, this is worrisome news. Linden Lab will need to keep talking to them, and listen to their concerns, if they want to avoid trouble.

Bixyl Shuftan

SOPA Proposal to Declare Unauthorized Streaming a Felony is Back

Some bad news for Second Life radio. About two years since originally being shot down with SOPA, a proposal to make a felony the streaming of copyrighted works without the expressed permission of those holding the copyright is back. According to the Huffington Post, last week the Department of Commerce's Internet Policy Task Force revived the proposal (pdf link). "Such a provision" the Post stated, "if interpreted broadly could apply to people who upload covers of themselves performing songs to YouTube without permission."

The proposal was originally part of the proposed SOPA legislation two years ago, but the bill was soon shelved after much public protest.

Source: Huffington Post

Opinion: Will SOPA Wash Away the Internet (and Second Life)?

A youtube of a chubby bearded character has been going around a number of friends of mine. Despite his similar looks to left of center figure Michael Moore, this man’s cause is more Libertarian: the SOPA Bill in Congress.

The SOPA Bill in Congress, he charges, threatens to shut down the Internet as well know it by making people liable to a multimillion dollar lawsuit just for *linking* to a song or other material. Ironically enough, some of the top SOPA supporters he charges were distributors of some of the software tools used by downloaders, CBS/VIACOM, ABC/Disney, Microsoft, and others. The purpose: entrapment. He charges the distributors of conspiring to put a chokehold on the Internet in order to control entertainment markets by “taking down Youtube, Twitter, and all other websites and networks you use.”

He certainly sounds over the top and easy to dismiss. That he was previously noted only for his “Epic Fail Toys Funny Videos” doesn’t exactly help his cause. But the more I looked into SOPA, the less I liked.

SOPA is short for “Stop Online Piracy Act.” Checking Wikipedia, the bill would allow copyright holders to sue websites they accuse of “enabling or facilitating copyright infringement.” Actions they could take include Payment sites like Paypal from doing business with targeted websites, baring search engines from linking to them, and requiring Internet Service Providers to take them down. It also would make “unauthorized streaming of copyrighted content a crime” punishable by five years in prison. Debate in the House will continue when Congress returns from winter recess.

Fortunately the “Epic Fail Toys” man isn’t the only one talking about SOPA. There was another video sent to me, made by “The Cynical Brit.” There was also an article on the Forbes website, “How SOPA Could Ruin My Life” by Paul Tassi, a writer, and a small business owner operating from his website, “a movie/tv/video game site that I started with a partner about three years ago.” SOPA, he feels, will cause him and others to close down. The bill, he fears, “reeks of Chinese and Iranian Internet policies that allow the government to simply censor the Internet the way they see fit ... their definition of what piracy is ends up including most of the Internet, including my own site, and the punishments for even minor infringements could be catastrophic and run me out of business completely.”

Also opposing it is David Ulevitvh, the head of the Internet business Open DNS. "The legislation has the potential to create the great firewall of America," he told a CNET reporter. The bill “is written so broadly that it will invite abuses,” and would be bad for businesses like his, which would have to reincorporate as offshore companies.

So why is this bill making any headway in Congress at all? Tassi claimed many of the Representatives who went over it in committee “admitted to not knowing how to use the internet. The consensus among them was merely ‘ piracy sounds bad, therefore we should pass this anti-piracy bill ‘ without any further investigation into its deeper implications. Implications that would in effect, destroy the entire idea behind the Internet.”

Ulevith himself went to Washington to talk with Congressmen. What he saw was not good news, "Everything they were hearing from people who came to their door every day is fervent support (for SOPA) ... There was nobody sitting on the other side of the table opposing it ...The amount of perspective and influence we have in DC is essentially non-existent. it's not serving us well anymore."

Amendments to the bill have been rejected, and Congress is set to debate it sometime “early next year.” How it will affect Second Life is unclear, though as the Grid has been targeted before for copyright infringement, some are predicting a chilling effect as radio streams and roleplay regions shut down out of fear of lawsuits. Among those expressing worry, Nydia Tungsten, whom worried she would have to give a certain announcement:

Because the US goverment has been bought by the recording industry, KVXN will be off the air until further notice. I am sorry to have to do this, but I don't want solders kicking in my doors because i am playing music for others to hear, so until we know how and where this is going....this is KVXN Signing off.....

“KVXN Shutting down forever is a REAL possibility, we need to let those fools in Washington know that WE know this is them lining their pockets again.”

Big Business can be beaten. This week, less than a day after Verizon Wireless announced a fee for paying their bills, a public outcry brought it down. Will this also be the case for SOPA, or will the United States join China in censoring the Internet? Tassi went on to write about a "VETO SOPA" Petition that got over 26,000 signatures in two days (as of when this article was written, it's over 44,000). He wasn't sure what the White House would say, but, "Until then, keep signing. It can’t hurt."

I can’t tell others what to do, but I have sent emails to my Congressman and Senators asking them to oppose this dirty SOPA.

Sources: Youtube, Wikipedia, Forbes, CNET

Bixyl Shuftan