Socially Mundane

“Successful Business in Second Life, Best Practices” (third edition, 2012) is finally available at Amazon (Kindle) and Apple (iBooks), though I’m somewhat surprised how long it took this time around. I supposed it has to do with the wild popularity and, hence proliferation of eBooks now, compared to when the first edition went on sale in 2006.

Needless to say the Third Edition is all updated for 2012 with all the latest information, even right up to the Marketplace “Direct Delivery” scheme. And, if you think this post is a plug for the book, you’re absolutely correct.

It’s available for Kindle at Amazon ($9.99 U.S.):
Amazon.com: SBSL: Successful Business in Second Life - Third Edition 

It’s also in iBooks MultiTouch Enhanced format ($9.99 U.S.):
SBSL: Successful Business In Second Life Third Edition 

Because of the enhanced nature of the iBooks version (it includes video, interactive images, and other tutorials built-in) it is only viewable on iPad. If you don’t have an iPad or planning to get one, then you’ll want to go with the Kindle version instead.

Print edition of the book is scheduled for later in the year at $14.99 U.S.

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(Source: bit.ly)

Pinterest is the buzz-word of the social media news scene of the day. Either it’s the greatest thing since sliced bread or it’s the scourge of the Internet and specifically: for photographers. This is simple bullshit and I’ll explain why.

Very few professional photographers survive on photography alone unless they are employed directly by a photo studio or work for a large company that runs it’s own shop. Photography, as a basic rule of thumb, is a freelance kind of business. Photographers are photographers because they love photography. Making any real money off it is simply icing on the cake. Many try, but it’s a ridiculously difficult proposition because 75% of professional photography is shopping for the next paying project.

Pinterest is a different sort of social network. Not because it’s like a “twitter for pictures”, but rather because what is “pinned” into a box is pinned for the pinner’s personal reasons. Rephrased: the people who post or “reblog” (repin) images into their “pin box” are doing it for themselves. Though their pin boxes (think of Flickr “photo sets” here) are publicly viewable and people can make comments, the primary reason people are building these collections is not necessarily to gather “fame” and followers.

That’s what people on Tumblr and FaceBook and Twitter do: whatever they can to be “reblogged”, “retweeted” or whatever and the more followers they have the better. Pinterest users, as a rule of thumb, aren’t looking for that. It’s about, for example, shopping for new drapes. As she clicks from web site to web site to web site browsing around, the shopper can “pin” images of what she likes - each “pinned” image having a link back to the original page where it resides.

Now she can compare all she’s pinned side-by-side rather than between browser window tabs.

Sure, some users are turning their pin boxes into subject-related “Tumblrs” - so what?

The big stink about Pinterest right now (it’s start-up and not fully public at this point) is how it’s Terms of Service are bad, Bad, BAD!!!!! for it’s users. and how all the blame for inappropriate image sharing (read: Intellectual Property theft) is 100% the responsibility of the user posting it and the user exonerates Pinterest of any wrong-doing. This is what all the so-called “news media” are harping on and tooting their horns about. I just saw a tweet from a dear acquaintance pointing to a blog post written by someone claiming to be an attorney of some kind who happens to love photography - and how she read the User Agreement and was flummoxed! Flabbergasted! Appalled!!! (my words here) at how terrible it is! Why, how could they!? So she is deleting her Pinterest account and leaving four-evar!

(Note: an “expert attorney” having a Pinterest account and posting her art after agreeing to the terms of service which is required to sign-up is now appalled at the very terms of service she already agreed to. Go figure.)

Bullshit.

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It’s a new year. And every new year I rehash this theme I originally wrote on back in 2006. It’s accurate, effective and true. Apparently Linden Lab thinks so as I have discovered they link to the original in the Second Life Support wiki.

Either way, I like to review and refresh the article to bring it up to date and the theme still applies.

Second Life users: if you ever need creator support you’d do very well to read and understand. Second Life creators: you’d do very well to accomplish the same. It’s just good for business.

Oh, and this “best practices” applies in real life, too.

So, without further ado, let’s get started, shall we?

***

Six years on the Second Life grid and I can count failed “customer support” from in-world creators on one hand. And in those cases, it always was a case of “AWOL” where no response to my inquiry was ever received. Of course, I’ve dealt with my share of rude, crude creators, just as a creator I’ve dealt with rude, crude customers. However, as a rule of thumb, I’ve always received excellent support from practically any creator when I needed it. I am willing to share my simple recipe for success in the scenario of needing or giving creator support. When I say creator support, I am referring to those times when there is a need to contact the creator of something purchased in-world or through the Second Life Marketplace.

These scenarios include, but obviously are not limited to:

• Failed deliveries on purchases (rare on today’s grid, kudos Linden Lab)
• Wrong permissions from those advertised (more frequent than appears)
• Missing portions of a “package” (rare, but happens)
• Something does not operate as expected (also rare, but more frequent than it should be)
• Something becomes broken (too common - usually due to creator paranoia)
• Something becomes lost (rarely ever Linden Lab’s fault, this is a user issue)

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I have what some might call a serious lack of general confidence in government. I just don’t trust the efficiency, accuracy, or ethical motivation in governmental ‘administrative’ work, especially the more local the government. Perhaps what I’m about to describe vindicates this attitude. Perhaps it doesn’t. Judge for yourself.

• A traffic infraction is caught on camera, but the citation is never received.
• A past-due notice is received, with a threat to be sent to collections.
• Though a rebuttal letter is sent in response to the postcard, a request for written statement is hence received - or choose to appear in person at court.
• However, the notices indicates that if a written statement is made, one waves any right to appeal. (?!)
• Even though a defense of “denial of due process” is reasonable, the case is dismissed because there are two vehicles on the road with the same license plates.

NOTE: because it appears to me the super-majority of world population are gullible idiots, I warn you what is stated here following is my personal experience. You would be the ridiculous idiot if you attempt to use any of what is written here as a legal defense for yourself in any charge made against you.

Government efficiency.

I return home and collect the mail one day to find a simple postcard. On it is a simple statement:

RE: Case BEP xxxxxx
You owe: $159.00

This was actually a bit of a surprise as the original citation was never received. Because the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution guarantees the right of “due process”, which includes clear information on the nature and cause of any charges” - this would be a simple case of “piss-off”. However, this means a ‘no-contact’ would have the due charges sent to a collection agency, then everything gets all mucked-up. It is better to avoid this scenario.

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You want to change the world. Don’t you?

We all do. Or, at least, we all did at one time or another. The whole “delusions of grandeur” thing in our younger days when we were still discovering the world and never realized how big and complicated it really is.

If I could live any dream life at all, it would be a the same life lived by Steve Jobs.

No, this isn’t some gushing tribute or my wish I were a bazillionaire or anything like that at all. Think about it, though: when was the last time in history the world-over felt genuine condolence over the death of a company C.E.O.? Sure, it’s happened before, but not like this in a really, really long time.

This is because Steve Jobs changed your life.

And his was the “perfect” life.

Steve Jobs literally invented the personal computer. They simply did not exist until he twisted Steve Wozniak’s arm into turning his geeky genius into creating one, rather than another one of his electronic “pranakster” gizmos.

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I’ve been playing with a new …er, …hmmm… For now I’ll call it a “blogging” service. Except that it’s a lot more, but not quite as much. It’s kind of like Flickr, but it’s not quite as much, but also a lot more. Sort of kind of like YouTube, but not. Wait! It’s kind of like Tumblr, but not quite as much, but more. Sort of. 

Oxymorons aside, suffice it to say it’s a fun …thing.

I’m referring to a ridiculously fun-to-use newcomer called Jux.

Blogging has gone from long-form “web logs” to smaller “bursts” of multiple genre media sharing over the last few years. People want to write a little less and share a lot more other stuff like pictures and video and links and all sorts of things. Thus, “blogging” platforms and services have cropped up to cater to these desires and hence the popularity of relative  newcomers Posterous and Tumblr over other “heavier” platforms like Blogger and Livetype and such, though WordPress continues to enjoy a continued growth and caters well to long-form blogging.

Among other things (specifically the “dashboard”) that make Tumblr so popular is it’s ease of use and genre-specific post types, which include the requisite text article, but also specific presentation of pictures, video, links, chat logs and such - though it appears most people use it for photo-sharing.

What makes all these services, including Tumblr, basically the same is they are still pretty much “cliche-formatted” blogs - most recent posting at the top of the page with previous posts below in descending order based on the date and time posted. All blogging platforms support and rely on “themes” that create the layout, color-scheme and overall look of the blog web page.

This is where Jux breaks the mold.

The new Jux is not a lot different in terms of another blogging platforms… more or less. What makes Jux different - radically different is in the presentation of your blog posts. They are still displayed most recent first and in descending order, but the visual presentation is dynamic. Rather than rely on “themes” for the look of the blog web page - and hence every single post you contribute - Jux actually eliminates the “look” altogether. Rather you decide on the “look” of each post you make independently of every other post you’ve made. This is the game-changer in terms of “blogging themes” and “looks”.

What Jux does is pull the “interface” away from the presentation of whatever it is you are sharing with others: pictures, video, copy-text, etc. Additionally, you the blog owner, always see the presentation in exactly the same way everyone else does: in a full-screen (inside your browser window) without anything else not specifically related to the content.

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