Botgirl Questi Beats Philip Rosedale's LoveMachine To Market With Low-Tech Solution

If reports are right, Second Life founder Philip Rosedale's LoveMachine start-up will be creating some sort of reputation currency for businesses. The currently two-man operation has a cool logo, a couple of entries on their blog and are offering a bounty of $50 (at least it's not L$50) for a design stratgy for iPhone application configuration management.

I wish them well, but have come up with a low-tech strategy for employee motivation that I can start delivering next week:

*** Princess Barbie Reward Stickers ***

Despite my inherently digital nature and hatred of that bitch Supergirl Barbie, truth is, nothing says "we appreciate you" like a Disney sticker, as the product blurb says:

A fantastic set of 400+ Disney Princess Stickers for your child or school children employees when it comes time to make them feel special for that big accomplishment or just for a rainy day when they have nothing else to do.

I've got a line on a wholesale source of books and am confident that companies will be very receptive to this warm-and-fuzzy way to reward their workers for a job well done!

Sorry Philip. Better luck next time!

I Didn't Want To Be A Cloud

A little true story about serendipity. Music from the London cast of Snoopy (The Musical).

The Acceleration of Nostalgia in Virtual Life

The Second Life 365 Days project continues to catupult me into unexpected spaces, both internal and external. Unlike SL365 participants who are inworld everyday and can capture whatever they're up to, so far every entry I've made has been a result of logging on specifically for the project.

Last night, I initially planned to rez my old tower from Botgirl Isle in Extropia and take some shots, when I was suddenly struck by a strong wave of nostalgia for my Old Extropia Home and the life I briefly led there.

My active participation in the Independent State of Extropia lasted only about six months, but represented the most intense, productive and social period of my virtual life to date. A year later, my good friends and leading Extropians Vidal and Sophrosyne have both left Second Life. Extropia itself, once the thriving center of Immersionist and TransHumanist thinking in Second Life, is a ghost of its former self (given the latest post to their website's news section is dated April 1.)

Scarp Godenot posted yesterday in Plurk:

Two SL friends Left SL without a word. Closed groups defriended all, abandoned land. No reason no warning. Are they really 'friends'?

From almost the start of my virtual existence, it seemed to me that the primary benefit of a second life for humans is its potential to lift up one's first life. The accelerated and intensified perception of time, relationships and experience, combined with continual reminders of impermanence make it an ideal classroom for transcendence...to learn to love the friend you're with, even though they will likely disappear from your life one day without leaving a trace.