Google+ Adventures of a Southern Gentleman: September 2008

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Absent Friends Revisited

This past July I wrote a post about about a personal experience that made me think about what happens to my virtual self if my real self is injured or dies abruptly.

Here is the original post...

http://sladventures.sougent.com/2008/07/absent-friends.html

Recently, ArminasX Saiman did a blog post entitled Your Second Will @ http://www.secondeffects.com/2008/09/your-second-will_22.html where he proposed a template to use for leaving instructions for your real life survivors outlining who to contact and how to take care of your virtual affairs. It made me realize that if you are more than just casually involved in Second Life, you have more to take care of than notifying your friends. Things like land, stuff you've created, any stores or events you are involved with, virtual assets with real world value. This is a must read blog post for anyone involved in Second Life on a more than casual basis, and even if it is only a casual thing for you, it's still thought provoking.

I'm ashamed to say that I haven't followed through on my original post other than to get a fireproof safe in which to store important papers and the instructions I need to write, but ArminasX has brought back to the forefront the need to leave some sort of instructions.

It's hard to think about something happening to you, even harder to sit yourself down and actually think it through and write it all down. So many people don't even have wills to take care of their real lives, much less a virtual one.

But I know this is something I need to do.

Because you never know.

My friend mentioned in the previous blog post, logged in on July 10, 2008 and we talked for a bit but she was tired and "fuzzy", so she logged off to rest, the last thing she said was that she'd try to log in tomorrow. That's the last time she logged in to Second Life, I don't know if I'll ever see her again.

Update: Sept 29, 2008 - Heard from her today, she's ok, just without access to the computer for the past few months.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Podcasts and Blogs Revisited.

One of my first few posts on this blog had to do with Second Life related podcasts and blogs that I followed.  I figured now was a good time to revisit the subject, spotlight a few new ones and mention a few old ones.

A brand spanking new podcast that just started today is Bargain Hunting in SL, done by Hedgie Till, it will help you find freebies, cheapies and other bargain shopping opportunities.

A new blog that also just snuck up today is Sim Crossing by the incomparable TheKeeme of the KeemeCast.   As described by the Man himself, the blog is "about life as a Hobo traveler from Sim to Sim" and will be chronicling his adventures across the grid.

Another recent addition to the SL blogoshere is Second Homes by Nika Dreamscape, a new blog covering everything from pre-fabs, to garden and plants, to furniture and home accents.

A new SLPN video podcast provides a bit of comic relief, the RezzedNecks podcast pokes a little fun using a few southern stereotypes.  It's all done in fun, so for a little laugh join Cooter and Forest Weezles in some of their misadventures in Second Life.

There have been a few changes to ones previously mentioned as well, Going Broke with Daphne and Tamara after a brief hiatus transformed into Going Broke inSL, still doing it's stellar coverage of shopping options in Second Life.

The wild and crazy Torley Linden has revamped his personal blog Torley Lives with a new theme and format, but he still has the same great content.   Torley's wife Ravenelle has an interesting new SL related blog worth mentioning called simply Ravenelle, which covers a variety of topics.

And me, I've not taken the plunge yet and started my own podcast, though I've been tempted I just haven't found anything worth talking about yet.

I have been, however, doing a few videos on YouTube playing around with Fraps and video editing, you can check them out on my YouTube channel here.