E-mail issue…
I’ve been having a problem with the domains e-mail. I apologize to those who have tried to drop me a line and were unable to connect! Instead of dealing with it, I’ve created a new e-mail.
Please e-mail me at genievaslade@live.com!
Hope to hear from you soon!
<3
Gen
Business in Second Life® the next step
Another friend of mine, Lucian Seriman from Second Life, talks about business basics in his little chunk of the metaverse and Spain.
This article is intended to be light introduction about business in Second Life and the basic steps for getting into.
With the launch of Second Life® in 2003 we got a new and exciting chance to an opportunity for starting business, offer our services across this virtual environment. I just discovered it go impressed with the rich content, the great chance to get my ideas go worldwide. As everybody in Second Life I started having no idea of where to go, what to do and what the possibilities were. Then exploring I saw some amazing buildings, landscapes and other user-made content. And the truth is that the community is who made Second Life what it is today; and after looking at all of these things I decided that I had to participate in this, and as I work as graphical designer in real life and I’m programmer as hobby, after some training I decided to found SecondSolutions. This is my business in Second Life, the meaning of it it’s providing design or scripting solutions to people who wants to create a rich environment, for enjoying this virtual world, or for other persons that want to offer their own services, like opening a store or a club.
Like for opening any real life business in Second Life you need to make market research, do some inversions, and get ready for the hard work, nobody will give you it done. The start point must always be a good idea, and then thinking in the way to make it move; probably the first thing you may want to do is get a brand name, something easy to remember that will be the center of your business, and after that register it starting by get a new group in Second Life, have in mind that a new group price is L$100 and that at least 2 persons must join the group within 24 hours. Once this step is done you have your business name into the wheel, now is time to get all the common related stuff you will probably use, a good idea is to get a Gmail account for the business name, you can use that account for using Google Docs, Google Calendar, Picasa, YouTube now, and so on, so that would be good idea. Now probably you would like to have a blog so you can make announcements, and keep people informed about progress of products, and general stuff so you should get a free blog at WordPress these are highly customizable blogs and the option to link it to your own domain, that offer you the option to get; you may also take benefit of a Flickr account for storing high quality pictures of the content you create or any other thing. Getting a Twitter account is also a good option to make lots of people know about your business and keep track of it. You will also need a good logo, designed for the web because even if you plan to do everything in-world the most of the time you’re logo will appear in web-like environments and pages.
Marketing the big bad word, but you will need to take a lot of use of it, if you want to make progress among your Second Life experience. The best and most important thing is to be known and that people talks about you, your business and your services/products. So start by blogging and telling to friends, etc. is the best starting options, you can also add it to classifieds in Second Life search, or rent an add place. All you need is to never stop and keep working, you will get results if you do so.
Good luck to all people that wants to make virtual worlds a better place.
Lucian Seriman – SecondSolutions CEO
secondsolutions@gmail.com
How to Avoid the Pitfalls of Being A NEWssiance in Second Life.
This article comes from a great friend of mine in-world on Second Life, Remmie Lipponen. She’s normally full of fun, but this time, lends a “word to the wise” to new residents on Second Life.
Ok, you’ve got your basic account and you’re ready to explore this crazy game that your friends have told you about, but I’m sure your friends forgot to give you a few words of advice for getting started. Allow me to be your guide in your new journey into your Second Life. Below I’ve listed a few things you should and should not do to get acclamaited more smoothly into the game. Second Life is full of wonderful and not so wonderful people. And just as in real life, people get annoyed by other people. The longer you stay in the game, the more you find the things you used to do when you were new and annoying…when done by other people of course.
Let’s start with the “Should Not’s”:
1. When you log into the game you really need to spend as much time on Help and Orientation Island. This is where you first “rezz”. Follow all the tips and tricks that have been laid out before you to inform you how to operate within the game. If you hurry too quickly out of these areas with a million questions, you will surely find yourself being abused by older players.
2. As much as it seems funny to you, do NOT attach anything to your body that you wouldn’t attach in real life. For example: a house, a car, a boat, and a chair. Players who have been in the game for years have seen this schtick a million times….it’s not amusing.
3. Do not log in and immediately ask where to have sex and where to get money. These things will come in time. If you are in a hurry, you can use the search tab at the bottom of your screen and click classifieds to find work.
4. Do not walk around naked….. I don’t care if you are a nudist in real life!
5. Do not use the voice option without a microphone and earphones. You will give off an awful feedback that will surely aggrivate those around you.
6. Do not play music over the mic. Nobody wants to hear what songs you like…. really. I’m not kidding. If you are interested, there are plenty of DJ jobs available in the game.
7. Try your best to get used to the navigational tools. Walking into people (even if they are avatars) is considered rude.
The list can go on, and I’m sure you will be told in your first few days that you are doing something rather “noob-ish”. Don’t worry, we all have gone through it!
And now the “Should’s”:
1. Get some money quick. The best way to do this is to register your credit card on Second Life’s web page and buy money in the game using the following option (World>Buy L$). The quicker you look less like a noob (the standard, generic avatar you are born with) the better. For some reason when you are new, you are always the target of some aggression. I would say that 4000 Lindens (about 16 Bucks) would be enough to really get you started.
2. Get an animation overrider. These are little devices that make your avatar stand more naturally with poses and animations that run on a loop. You can get them all over, just search using your search tab for them. A good starter one can be found at Vista Animations for 50 Linden.
3. Get some skin.
4. Get good hair! Hair makes the avatar. I must admit if you are a lady you have more choices than men. But there are plenty out there for both.
5. Clothes, clothes, clothes! Second Life is a shopping Mecca! You can dress up as anything you dream of, but it costs money. Spend your first few days wandering around the world and check out the stores.
6.Make a friend. Friends will always help you when you need it most. Easiest way is to just pick a place with a nice crowd and sit and listen for a while. Make your presence known quietly by being there. When you feel comfortable, just jump in the conversation. Than brooch that you need some help.
7. Build, start a business, own your own land…. all these things are wondering and there are a number of tutorials on Second Life’s webpage that will guide you further.
So that’s it. The quick and dirty of it all. You can check you tube for Second Life videos to get a feel for the game as well. Remember, it is just a game, but you are dealing with real humans in the world…so there is a sense of reality as well. Enjoy and be safe 
Remmie Lipponen
Have an idea for an article? Submit to Genieva Slade at genievaslade@metaversenow.com!
Ning Social Network: Metaverse Now
Join the Metaverse Now community site!
Discuss is forums, post pictures, personal user profiles, join groups, and more!
Anyone who has ever belonged to any social networking site belongs here! Find the best and worst, hash out internet and console games, meet people, be a part of the global community!
See you on the social site!
♦Genieva♦
EDIT: I see lots of people are viewing this post but not joining the Social Site! Don’t leave me hangin’! Get in there and start a buzz!
Being P.C. (or not so) on the Internet
Boring title, I know, but I didn’t want to give anything away. Also, I was typing this as fast as possible before the subject matter disappeared, but seems it will be sticking around. On to the show…
LOLcats and LOLdogs are extremely funny if you’re a pet owner or not. The site updates multiple times a day, which is conducive to wasting time at work, school, or from doing anything more important. I love the site. It has references to the “Dune” movies and Star Wars, and has created its own heaven and hell with Ceiling Cat and Basement Cat, and a running story line about a walrus looking for his bucket. Where these partnered sites hit so many high marks, one photo cased a ruckus on its comment page.
I choose to remain unbiased, but of course willing to share my own opinion. First off, people were throwing the race card in right away. I didn’t put two and two together, insinuating that Asian cultures ate dog. Maybe they do, maybe they don’t. That argument wasn’t really resolved when another broke out. Comments like “stupid baby”, “stupid parents”, “poor puppy”, and “the dog is fine” all came up. Some insinuated the picture was photoshopped. Overall the photo was labeled as a “FAIL”, not necessarily for the website as no one really pointed a finger at “LOL” or asked for it to be taken down, but for people to start a hostile argument over race, the internet, and each others opinions and choice of words. Perhaps the following post should have read “I did it for the lulz”.
♦Genieva♦
August 18, 2008. Tags: cats, comments, dogs, Dune, i can has cheezburger, internet, lol cats, lol dogs, photo, Star Wars. Main Idea. 1 comment.