Second Life @ MindSay 
Another reason is that it has been my most extreme time waster...I can sit in that game for hours and really accomplish nothing. It has been something htat has led to me missing many of the goals I have set for myself...
No I'm not blaming the game, but it was very easy for me to get lost in it...
However, of late, I haven't been on the game much anyway. . Plus I did feel God prodding me to get it totally off my system. (For the reasons listed above, among others.) Yet it was still a hard choice for me to make: I've been playing the game for over a year and a half. That is a long time...
I've uninstalled it and I'm not sure if I will ever go back; maybe after I'm earning a living off my writing I will go back for a lecture. For right now, however, it is part of my past.
Good bye Second Life, it is time for me to start looking after my first life again.
Could The Information Superhighway Become A Toll Road?
There's a battle going on for control of the Internet, and if consumers don't watch out they're going to be playing second modem to the captains of industry.
The black hats are worn by a handful of media conglomerates who hope to build a two-tiered Internet, with the fastest tier going at premium prices. Everyone else will surf at reduced speeds, which can be the fast track to Net oblivion.
In the beginning the Internet was truly democratic -- anyone with a computer and a dial-up connection could log on and surf as fast as the equipment allowed. But the system was accessed via old-fashioned copper telephone wires that weren't capable of high-speed transmission.
No worry. In the 1990s phone and cable companies promised to re-wire America with fiber-optic cable, thus keeping pace with some European and Asian providers. All they wanted in return were tax breaks and the rate hikes to cover infrastructure outlays.
The upgrade would be massive. By one estimate the old copper-wire dial-up connection would take 82 years to download the contents of the Library of Congress. The fastest fiber connection can do the job in about 45 seconds. A cable connection is a waste of time. Watch this video.
The promises, however, turned out to be a lot of fast talk, billed as a "telecommunications muckraker.''
According to the group, TeleTruth, telephone companies received $25 billion in tax breaks while their revenues soared 128 percent in the 1990s. But they didn't build the high-speed system.
Should telecom and cable companies be able to influence what Web sites you visit? That’s a key question in the debate surrounding Net neutrality.
It’s an issue being fought over tooth and nail in Washington.
Supporters of Net neutrality say the government needs to step in and ensure that cable and telecom companies who offer Internet service provide their customers equal access to every Web site in cyberspace.
Those against the idea say the government needs to stay out of the Internet business and let the market forces, which have made the Internet a success, play out.
Sen. Ron Wyden is among those pushing for a Net neutrality policy. He says the lack of Net neutrality would turn the information superhighway into a toll road with the best access given to Web sites willing to pay top dollar.
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Response to todays top-blogs:
What are the requirments to be considered a homophobe?
Is just my mildly contrary comment enough to mark me as one? Is it really about the actual marriage?
If I go in for a colonoscopy tomorrow should I make a video of the process to offer as entertainment.
Didn't Al Franken already cover this moronic shtik with his Stuart Smally character?
Will I become # 4 if I re-post # 2?
I vote for 
misterghouliemisterghoulie
misterghoulie
Seriously, enough already!
Pablo
©2006
15 beautiful people dancing in unison under flashing lights and a disc ball is awesome to watch. After 20 minutes, the view starts getting stale. Repetition gets old (if this weren't true, I'd have a lot less video games.) and there are only so many scripted animations before I feel the need to move on. Upon closer inspection of this dance troupe, you can see the flaws with graphic engine. Hands go through bodies, the long hair shows through the torso when the head is tilted back or clothes fail to show-up and instead leave a gray outlined shape. These glitches quickly alert the person that they are inside a computerized world. I have always been a fan of full immersion and it is tricky to pull off in this world. I can pretend that Nomad and I are slow dancing on the beach, but if it is represented by my avatar sitting in the air and hers waiting for a partner then the effect is lost.
The other problem that quickly rips someone out of the game is the clunky controls. Your character walks slow, there is no strafe and walking through a crowded room is a challenge. I'm sure that after some time, some can become quite proficient with the controls, but it isn't very inviting for new residents.
I love and hate Second Life. I'm am in awe of this virtual sandbox concept. I love the idea of being able to travel to a world of art. I love that Nomad and I went on a digital date. I love the concept of chatting about the television series, Firefly, from inside the spaceship. This is the first major step in creating Star Trek's signature Holo-decks and who hasn't wanted to mess around with one of those?
Sadly, Second Life isn't second coming of digital media. While it accomplishes some of the concepts stated above, it is never easy. An unforgiving camera, difficult movement controls and a hard to understand inventory panel will have a person looking more through menus then the world. If I wanted menus, I would use any office application.
There is the battle line. I will probably return to SL because I believe in the concept. I hate the controls, but love the idea more. While many others don't. Where do you fall?
Tonight was pretty fun; I ended up driving around Second Life in a variety of vehicles. It's amazing the types of things you can find here. After being invited to the blue room with one of the gals, another showed up. We danced a bit and then there was another. He had a car that fit four... we drove around Second Life. The guy showed of the many mods this vehicle had on it, from rocket power to a hover ability. A bit later we landed and he pulled out his Apache Helicopter.
I have no idea where these things are hidden. I guess everyone on here has a magic bag of infinite holding.
He invited me to go in the helicopter. It was pretty neat I must say, having full hover capabilities and working weapons. We ended up shooting the women we were with (Which they didn't appreciate to much.) After that he took off on a motorcycle with one and I followed the other off the edge of the roof.
On the ground I started to change in to the various costumes I received from the junkyard the day before. I have everything from the Kool-Aide man to the figure of death.
Death, it seems, even smokes a cigar. He trails a black mist behind him and his steps create a dead black spot that slowly vanishes in his wake. I can only think of how to use this avatar for telling stories using the Second Life engine. Maybe I can hone my script writing abilities....
The guy is showing me a jet he wants to buy: F-15. It costs sever thousand linden... I asked how he will get the money. He laughs and says his credit card. I hope to not have to buy the money with real money; but if some people want to do this it is no big thing. I know that people spend money on hobbies that can be as outrageous or more then in this virtual world.
The two girls have wondered off, not interested in seeing things like jets and helicopters it seems. We find them later in a building dancing, but I find I must leave again.
I am tired and must go to bed. Sleep doesn't elude me.
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