New World Notes

THE WORLD FROM MY WINDOW: QUINLAN PFIFFER IN TSL

Quinlan sends a postcard from the forbidden Teen Second Life:

"The land that I usually hang out on is my own. I work on various projects and occasionally watch a movie," he writes, "while particle rain falls on the premises. I like the land because it is close to a canal and what, in Teen Second Life, is called a city. I consider it to be a good purchase because most of the buildings nearby are well-built.  There is even one dedicated to the game Half-Life 2...

"Friends drop by and mess around on projects of their own, because it is a good work environment.  I am also a Snowcrash fan, and have several Daemons marching about and helping anyone who happens by."

And where in the world do you live?  Take a look at the entire Window series for inspiration, read the details for submitting to NWN's World From My Window series, then send me a screenshot or video link of your SL home or favorite haunt.

STARAX SPEAKS

Meeting Starax in 2004...

Those who met Starax Statosky and saw the wonders he made, loved him.  Especially those who held the wand he crafted in their hands, marveling at its ability to summon things like robed worshippers and falling cows from thin air with a single command.  (He sold that device for thousands of Linden Dollars, but no one considered that price too high.)  So when Starax's account unexpectedly dematerialized a few months ago-- taking his wand with him-- it caused not a little consternation, and quite a lot of wild speculation (as here, or here). 

As it happens, Starax lives on in Second Life, albeit in another form, through an avatar he'd rather not reveal.  I recently spoke with him in-world, and since he was reluctant to speak for the record, we passed a notecard back and forth, cobbling together a statement he was comfortable with sharing.  In the end, it wasn't much, but here it is, an update in his own words:

THE NEW YORKER'S SECOND LIFE

This may be a milestone that's important only to me, but The New Yorker will offer its first mention of Second Life in its next issue (parenthetically, to be sure) within a long profile of Will Wright by John Seabrook.  Seabrook was among the first writers to explore the culture of high technology for the world's most venerated magazine, and so it's no surprise that his understanding of Second Life seems more up to date than Wright's:

NEED 4 NISSAN?

JR Breed and Kristyn Sinclair

When I first contact JR Breed, he's not sure he wants to talk with me.  He's never heard of New World Notes, for one thing, and he's not sure it's worth my time.  "I'm just a guy who likes making cars in Second Life and selling my creations.  No one special," he insists. "Just your average Joe."  But I have to press, because at the moment, JR Breed-- in real life a twentysomething from the American heartland-- has created an SL-based car dealership that's nearly three times as popular as the automotive site backed by a Japanese-based international car conglomerate that earned $39 billion over the last six months.

Produced by The Electric Sheep Company, Nissan's Second Life presence debuted last week, a series of connected islands with a race course and stunt areas, and a witty, building-size vending machine designed to disgorge free Nissans like they were cans of soda.  Taken together, it's an impressive, highly polished presence, offering Second Life Residents a chance to engage with a real world brand in a way that's compelling, immersive, and above all, fun.

The thing is, in the days after its premiere, Nissan island had a Traffic ranking of around 8,000.  (Analagous to web page views, "Traffic" is the SL metric by which aggregate foot traffic-- the number of feet, and how long those feet stay-- is measured.)  It dropped to about 5,000 over the weekend, and currently ranks (as of a few hours ago) at 3925.  By contrast, Breed's automotive dealership of custom-made virtual cars has solidly remained at between 10,000-12,000 in Traffic throughout that period. 

Which is why, when you search for "Cars" in the Second Life interface, among the first listings you'll find is the "Need 4 Speed" dealership of JR Breed.

Or to be more precise: ~CARS~ Need 4 Speed ~MOTORCYCLES~ vehicles Rides Whips PIMPIN!!

MIXED REALITY MONDAYS

Gwendolyn Kronsage and Wild Winger, advance team for RL Dutch Parliamentarians, in SL Amsterdam*

When Governor Mark Warner came to Second Life, he was (and still is) an active force in Democratic politics, but by then, he had alrady left office as Virginia's governor.  If all goes as planned, therefore, this Friday will mark the first time that office-holding politicians will enter SL in their capacity as government officials-- members of the Dutch Parliament, to be exact, who'll visit Second Life's Amsterdam and other regions frequented by real life Dutch citizens to raise awareness for the country's November 22 elections, and to "hand out flyers at Dam square, [debate] about healthcare and education, and generally touring around SL." 

Their visit tops this week's edition of Mixed Reality Mondays, a round-up of recent and upcoming real world corporate/non-profit/government/cultural/scientific initiatives launched in Second Life.  Details after the break.

NEW WORLD NOTES IN THE NEWS

Two more links for the NWN clip file, from the Street.com and The Boston Globe, after the break.

STROSS-CRASHED

Last week Boing Boing mentioned my post on the SL edition of Neal Stephenson's Snowcrash, and that was lovely; even better was discovering that Charlie Stross, an acclaimed visionary author in his own right, had stopped by NWN to reply to Gwyneth Llewelyn, and offer his own thoughts on the subject of online worlds and science fiction authors.   Read them all here.

THE WORLD FROM MY WINDOW: GEOFFRION IN ORION

Young Geoffrion sends me a missive from his her villa in Orion (direct teleport here):

My dear sir,

When first I came to this Life, I wander'd hungry and homeless among a thousand homes, seeking my fortunes as an adventurer and defender of the helpless. But food and wine did not warm the body or intoxicate the blood, slaves did not always wish to be freed, nor philosophers disputed.  I journeyed on roads and sailed the high seas, pursuing legends of islands that could not be reached on foot. I collected a modest store of tales and became instead a raconteur to Aegyptians in Themiskyra...

LOGO BY JW!

Discerning readers will have noticed a few tweaks to NWN's design that kicked in late yesterday.  My SL blogger and media roll, for example, has been shifted over to the right column, in a higher place up the page-- which is a good thing, because there are well over fifty of those now.  Just as crucial, of course, New World Notes finally has a new logo, selected by readers from a list of over 10 nominees.  For numerous reasons it's taken awhile to actually get the winner implemented, but I'm proud to say it's finally emblazoned as the New World Notes banner.

The logo's creator is JW Russell, seen above in the NWN-branded tie he created for discerning avatars who want to see it flying flexi-like from their necks.  "The thought behind my design," he explains, "is that the sketched world, representing the 'o' of World and in the middle of the design, represents the virtual world Second Life, virtual but very recognizable as a world."

JW also is the owner of Down Undies in the sandswept sim of Plush, a fine place to shop when searching for sexy lingerie and bikinis for your favorite female avatar.  Direct teleport here.

Update, 1:25pm: Discerning readers will also notice the NWN logo sometimes dropping off the banner section.  Big thanks to master web ninja Jonathan Schreiber of Federated Media for working on repairing that, and for tweaking NWN's general layout yesterday.

FINDING FUR

Michi from February 2004

So how many furries in Second Life are there, anyway?  While working on a book project last month, I stumbled into an educated guess at that number, and it surprised even me.  I once tried to make my own estimate by tallying up the total membership of every group with "Fur" and its many variations in the listings, but that was a doomed task, since it didn't account for overlap.  I missed an obvious and much more accurate metric, but fortunately, Michi Lumin of Luskwood didn't.  So when I happened to ask, she had a number right in her pocket.  (Or in a fold of her dragon wings, as the case may be.)