Sleuth is a new dating and mentoring service located in the virtual world of Second Life. It is a service that allows new members to learn and explore a social virtual world, while also providing the opportunity for older members to mentor and meet new avatars. I really feel that this service will give other avatars the possibility to socialize and to meet interesting people in a relaxing yet fun environment. SLeuth3D offers areas within the virtual world that cater to those who want to learn and meet others. We have rooms for those who want to learn about Second Life (e.g. building objects/ meet mentors). While other rooms are for those avatars who want to mingle (e.g. create new friends/ date). I also question whether or not this business venture will be successful, but it does not hurt to try and do something different. Second Life is a virtual world where gaming is not as popular as the idea of meeting others from different places. It is important to recognize that virtual worlds are available to almost everyone. They can hold many opportunities if one really learns to use and understand the inner workings of the virtual world.

 

Official Sleuth3D homepage:

www.sleuth3d.com

 

YouTube Video:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=9132792118670172526&hl=en

 

Location in Second Life/ SLurl:

Meyonohk 49, 98, 53

Over the semester and past month we have been exploring, reading, and understanding the workings of virtual worlds (Second Life in particular). At first it was difficult comprehending what was going on in Second Life and grasping the fact that you could talk to other people through an avatar. However, upon catching on how to talk to other avatars and conforming oneself with the virtual world it became quite easy to approach other avatars and create a friendship.

 

Within the class deciding to create a dating/ mentoring service was a really good idea. Second Life is need of an area where people can meet and begin to understand how this virtual world works. Marketing this product has proven to be somewhat difficult and resulted in numerous debates on what to do to reach people within and outside the virtual world. My assignments at first were to market the business in world. Here I posted advertisements in a few popular areas and I feel that this is really beneficial because people click on the sign to find out what Sleuth is. I also created a facebook group and myspace page. Facebook was a bigger hit than myspace. I feel that myspace is more difficult to use and not really beneficial to our business. Myspace requires more time and the search engine is quite tedious to use.

 

The future of Second Life is quite debatable. I believe that many individuals see this virtual world as a game or sexual world. In my opinion, this is a great place to meet new people or converse with family or friends who live extremely far away. I do not know if Second Life will grow. It depends on the improvements it will receive and on whether or not people will accept it as a place to socialize. So far it seems that people view this virtual world as boring, nerdy, and idiotic. Therefore, the growth of Second Life depends on society and the developments Linden Lab or others will make.

Reading Dina’s comments, in regards to Second Life, I found her blog entry about the article “Cyberspace Inn-keeping: Building Online Community” vital to the overall outcome of our overall project. She believes that our project/ business should leave room for opinion from the consumer and I agree. Not only does this allow for freedom to think, but the customer can make individual decisions without the constant push from the big business. Each article seemed to draw on the belief that consumers are no longer satisfied by others thinking for them, but instead they want to do for themselves.

 

Another entry from Dina’s blog that I found quite interesting is titled “Web 3D: No we can’t stop it.” I really love that Dina has an open mind to everything she does in this class and further explores topics to expand her knowledge base about the technological world. Even though Dina seems to fear Web 3D it seems to me that once it comes in most people will accept what is given to them. We see this in all that we have on the Internet today and almost everyone uses Facebook, Myspace, and other forums to connect to others. Technology changes and so does society, therefore I feel that Web3D embraced or not the world will still continue to exist and change. No matter how much we are afraid of the future I feel that we fear what we cannot control (e.g. technological advancements, natural disasters, etc.).

 

I feel that Dina’s responses and entries are very relevant to our class project and really enjoyed reading all her journal entries. She is very optimistic to all set before her and I feel that her comments are just as important as everyone else’s.  Dina tends to notice the smaller details, such as understanding the importance of a name, using Myspace, or technological advancements. She sees relevance in Second Life communication and open communication. Overall, I truly gained insight from these posts and hope that others will truly learn from her comments.

Current Mood: accomplished

Title: “Second Life to go open source: The creator of the burgeoning 3D virtual world expects it to grow even faster with outside programming help”

 

Article Author: Kirkpatrick, David

 

Full citation: Kirkpatrick, David. "Second Life to Go Open Source: the Creator of the Burgeoning 3D Virtual World Expects It to Grow Even Faster with Outside Programming Help." CNN Money. 8 Jan. 2007. <http://money.cnn.com/2007/01/07/technology/secondlife.fortune/>.

 

Summary by: Koterba, Agnes

 

Key concepts, terms, and buzzwords:

• Scripting/ Code
• Open Source

 

Summary:

 

The article, “Second Life to go Open Source”, discusses the growth potential of Second Life. Instead of users having restrictions when using the virtual world, they will be allowed to take Second Life and modify it to their potential benefit.  At the current time, this virtual world allows people to explore territories, chat with other avatars, design buildings, attend events, and do many other things. Nevertheless, once Linden Lab allows for Second Life to become an open source, CEO Philip Rosedale feels that “‘its product quality will move forward at a pace nobody’s ever seen’” (Kirkpatrick).

 

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Title: "Distributed Intelligence: Extending the Power of the Unaided, Individual Human Mind."

 

Article Author: Garhard, Fischer

Full citation: Fischer, Garhard (2006). "Distributed Intelligence: Extending the Power of the Unaided, Individual Human Mind." Excerpt from Proceedings of Advanced Visual Interfaces (AVI) Conference, Venice, May 23-26, 2006, pp. 7-14

Summary by: Koterba, Agnes

 

Key concepts, terms, and buzzwords:

• Distributed intelligence
• Human cognition
• Socio-technical environments
• Meta-design

 

Summary:

 

The following piece, "Distributed Intelligence: Extending the Power of the Unaided, Individual Human Mind", takes a look into today's changing technological advances. In current societal settings, all developments are "empowering human beings", "creating task- and user specific visualization", "providing support not only to individuals but to groups and communities", and offering a system that allows people to become actively involved with technology, media, and society.

 

Title: “The Long Tail”

 

Article Author: Anderson, Chris

 

Full citation: Anderson, Chris. "The Long Tail." Wired Magazine. Oct. 2004.

 

Summary by: Koterba, Agnes

 

Key concepts, terms, and buzzwords:

• Long Tail

Summary:

 

“The Long Tail” is an article written by Chris Anderson, editor and chief of Wired Magazine, who discusses the issues facing today’s media industry. With technological advancements, the distribution of media is drastically changing. Books, music, movies, and other media are now found all over the internet. However, many industries shy away from selling and catering to the niche audiences and instead sell what is popular and “in” with today’s society. In contrast, unpopular books, movies, and music sold by companies such as Netflix, Rhapsody, and many others are bringing in revenue because of the vast audiences those companies can reach using the internet.

 

( Read more... )

When working on how to create a mobile digital workspace I first thought of creating links for each area. This is a simple and easy task to do, where I would be able to view all my necessary pages under one single toolbar heading. However, I quickly changed my mind once Pat demonstrated to the class the simplicity of using Gmail. The Google e-mail is a source that will create an easily accessible page from every computer. This is relevant because I use not only my laptop, but I also use the communication lab and library computers that do not save personal information. Therefore, my information and links are ready once I log into my Gmail account.

I decided to use Gmail as the primary source for reaching each web page in a timely and orderly manner. I like the setup because once one accesses his or her personalized Google homepage everything is displayed under headings and subheadings. At first, I faced issues with figuring out how to link my items (Live Journal), but this was easily solved through the bookmark links. Afterwards, I added on the Second Life news content. The three main distributors I chose to receive reports from are Reuters/Second Life, Second Life Herald, and Second Life Insider. These are popular news sites that offer Second Life insights. They are for the most part considered credible sources and will more than likely provide me with substantial information.

According to the article social realties are viewed as “'extensions of reality'" (Betsy Book). We are catering to avatars that exist in an environment that is their own. It is also important to remember that time is continuous in the virtual world. Therefore, when choosing a name we want that will be remembered. The name cannot go out of style because virtual worlds are in real time and another real world that people come into to extend their everyday activities.

The idea is that we create a name that is innovative and memorable. It needs to stick in the minds of our audience. SLAMM has an interesting appeal. There is the possibility that people will check it out because they want to know more and they will most likely want to know what the acronym will stand for. There is a need to market our product and diverge even diverge, just a little, from the typical everyday and simple marketing tactics. Our name is representing our product. I really cannot think of any names. However, I did discuss the topic with a friend and he like the term SLAMM and its overall meaning.

Some possible names that I can think of are The Second Life Community Service (CLCS), Advisory World, Representative Community, or Social Service. Some play on words could also work quite well. We must also create a slogan to attach to our campaign in Second Life to further peoples’ interest in our service.

Betsy Book (2004)."Moving beyond the game: Social virtual worlds." Conference paper presented to State of Play Reloaded. New York Law School. October 2004.

The internet was never a part of my life, until I reached the later years of high school. For the most part we were discouraged from internet use and only allowed to use the internet under certain circumstances. Technology is constantly changing. We were once only capable of e-mailing friends, now we can instant message, and today we can view them through web-cams and virtual worlds.

I feel that the strengths of Web 3.D are few, but they may eventually grow and improve over the years. Avi Bar-Ze’ev really feels that Web 3.D will create connectivity and interactivity amongst society (Avi). I agree with this point because people will be able to bridge the gaps in Web 2.0. Once Web 3.D is better developed there are many opportunities to expand and develop between Web 3.D and society. Second Life is an excellent way to explore Web 3.D. You can receive an understanding of just how much revolution is taking place and how much more can happen over the next few years.

Current weakness in Web 3.D is the lack of participation from members in Second Life. Many articles report that people sign up and quickly disengage from the world. I understand that it can be very frustrating to figure out what is going on in SL with events and society. Upon entering SL I thought it was interesting, but after spending three hours wandering around and doing absolutely nothing I was quickly bored. However, upon getting the idea of when the most people logged on and exploring local clubs I was once again interested in the program. SL is truly a place for socializing, but I feel that it has not really advanced the way people socialize using the computer.

Overall, I believe that time will play an important role in the development of Web 3.D. Technology changes and advances everyday. Therefore, I do not doubt that Web 3.D will grow it may not be in Second Life but someone will find some way to advance technology. It will be quite interesting to create the Dating Service in SL and promote to others virtual dating. Maybe then it will be easier to understand the social framework of Second Life.





Avi Bar-Ze’ev (2006). "What is Web 3D anyway?" Brownian Emotion, September 27, 2006.