Limited limitlessness: the invisible barrier

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It all starts. It may take a couple of hours to find your way around. Eventually, though, you find yourself talking to someone, or touching that whatever-it-is object over there.

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- SIM OWNER: Hey! You can´t be here without wearing a combat HUD!
- POOR NOOB: Sorry, a what?
- SO: Did you not read the notecard?
- PN: I don't know what you are talking about, dancing is the most complicated thing I've learnt so far...
(Noob dances)
- SO: Are you laughing in my face??
(Noob is ejected form the parcel and permanently banned)
- PN: Hey, wait, wait! What is going oooooon!?

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Have you ever experienced something like this? If you are new to SL, you probably have, in some way or another.

Ever since I started wandering around Second Life, I had mixed feelings about the world and their inhabitants. On the one hand there were all the good (amazing!) things that SL provides us with: a plataform for global communication, a magical place where to turn dreams into (virtual) reality... On the other, I noticed an awkward “something”, silently inherent to the residents and their particular spots: the smell of private property, human liking for possession and prohibitions.

At this stage of development, I don't think there are many people left thinking that the economic dimension of SL has not contributed greatly to its success. This economic dimension entails, of course, private property, boundaries and numerous constraints to the potential of a virtual existence. And this is also why we should not forget that the world itself belongs to every single resident when lifting barriers to seal our properties off. After all, what is the point of being able to fly if you keep running into invisible walls which destroy the illusion of freedom?

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Also, if you are a sim owner and would like visitors to act according to your rules, remember to make them logical, practical and actually possible to obey. Find the way of making it easy for people to "walk" around your place, don't just overuse your power over your own sim for the sake of it. Above all, don't make your guests (sure they are!) remember an awful experience they won't like to repeat.

Let us control our (real life) impulses for (real life) needs that are not necessary in SL and keep it open and magic. As anything new, learning SL may be hard. Let us try to make it enjoyable for everyone, including the newcomers, and not more complicated.

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Enjoy and let enjoy.

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¿Second Life? ¿¿¿Y eso qué es???

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Para aquellos que pueden no saberlo, Second Life (SL) es un mundo virtual. Aunque no sea primero ni el único, es, hoy en día, el más popular. SL es un "lugar" al que cualquiera puede acceder a través de la web, y donde se puede establecer una presencia permanente. Una vez allí, se puede no sólo interactuar con los elementos a nuestro alrededor, sino también crear otros nuevos. Se puede encontrar gente de todas partes del mundo, comunicarse con ellos y compartir todo tipo de experiencias.



En este blog exploraré el emocionante desarrollo de este nuevo mundo desde mis intereses personales (rodaje de películas, educación, idiomas, tecnología,...) y quiero hacerlo de forma comprensible, esperando que todo el mundo pueda sacar algo de estas líneas que pueda serle útil en el ambiente -a veces muy complicado- de SL. Intenta de crear dos copias de todos los escritos y escribirlos tanto en inglés (el idioma que utilizo a diario) común español (mi lengua nativa).
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Lo que es más importante, creo que SL -al igual que cualquier otro futuro mundo virtual- debe pertenecer a todos, como Internet. Debe convertirse en una extensión de nosotros mismos, en una forma de hacer la comunicación más fácil y agradable a escala global. Y, si bien se trata de una poderosa herramienta para nosotros, también es cierto que todos debemos responsabilizarnos de ella y hacer de esta plataforma la mejor de las posibles. Este es el tema principal desde que regirá estos artículos.

Hasta pronto.

Second Life? What is that???

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For those of you who may not know, Second Life (SL) is a virtual world. Although it is neither the first nor the only one, it is, nowadays, the most popular one. SL is a "place" that anyone can access through the web, and where you can establish a permanent presence. Once there, you are allowed not only to interact with the elements around you, but to create new ones. You can find people from all around the globe, communicate with them and share all kind of experiences.



In this blog, I will be exploring the exciting development of this new world from my personal interests (i.e. filmmaking, education, languages, technology,...) and I want to do it in an understandable way, so that hopefully everyone will be able to get something from these lines which may be helpful in the sometimes very complex SL environment. I will try to create two copies of all pieces of writing, and I will be writing both in English (the language that I use on a daily basis) and in Spanish (my mother tongue).
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Most importantly, I believe SL, as well as any upcoming virtual world must belong to everybody, like the Internet itself. It must become an extension of ourselves, a way of making communication easier and more enjoyable at a global scale. And, in the same way that it is a very powerful tool for us, we all must take responsibility for it and make of this platform the best possible one. This is the one main point I'll be conducting these articles from.

See you soon.