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<DIV>This is great! I was wondering when my Second Life would intersect with the Extropy group mail, and today's that day! LOL</DIV>
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<DIV>I am Artillo Fredericks in SL. I've been there since June 04.</DIV>
<DIV>Send ne an IM! :)</DIV>
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<BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #1010ff 2px solid">-------------- Original message -------------- <BR>From: Giu1i0 Pri5c0 <pgptag@gmail.com> <BR><SPAN class=gmail_quote>Second Life becomes more and more interesting. Any other user here? I will try to go to the Future Salon meeting below, anyone going? Perhaps we should build a classy transhumanist meeting place there. <BR></SPAN>
<DIV><SPAN class=q id=q_10819a6636bb2960_0><SPAN class=gmail_quote></SPAN>I have been interested in virtual world after reading <A onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neal_Stephenson" target=_blank>Neal Stephenson </A>'s <A onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_Crash" target=_blank>Snow Crash</A> (1992) and have occasionally experimented with virtual worlds on the net since. In the mid 90s I used to visit one of the first virtual worlds on the net, Worlds Away (now <A onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="http://www.vzones.com/" target=_blank>VZones</A>). But I have never been an addicted, probably because I never liked computer games too much.<BR>Now since I bought a new sufficiently powerful PC I am spending some time in the <A onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="http://secondlife.com/" target=_blank>Second Life</A> virtual world, which is the most similar to Stephenson's metaverse that I have seen (from the <A onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Life" target=_blank>Wikipedia entry on Second Life </A>: "Many <I>Second Life</I> residents have noted the similarities between <I>Second Life</I> and the <SPAN>Metaverse</SPAN> from <SPAN>Neal Stephenson</SPAN>'s <SPAN>Snow Crash </SPAN><I><A title="Snow Crash" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="http://wiki/Snow_Crash" target=_blank></A></I>. This is actually a stated goal of Linden Lab - to create a user-defined world of general use in which people can interact, play, do business and otherwise communicate"). <BR>Of the public open VR worlds that I have seen (I have seen some very high tech and very closed ones, but this is another thing), this is the first realistic enough to create a "real VR" experience (perhaps <A onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="http://lindenlab.com/" target=_blank>Linden Lab</A> have been the first to spend real money). My interest in SL has been boosted by reading <A onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="http://www.business2.com/b2/web/articles/0,17863,1127659,00.html" target=_blank>this Business2.0 article</A> which explains how SL has already evolved into a real VR world with a lot of interacting users and a real economy that permits making real money in VR. See also <A onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="http://www.fortune.com/fortune/technology/articles/0,15114,1130814,00.html" target=_blank>this Fortune article</A>. Some "evident" business models are already being exploited, other more sophisticated will be developed, and someday someone will make a lot of money.<BR>So I have upgraded my free account to a premium one so I can purchase land and property, building a house etc. The name I have chosen for my avatar is Giulio Perhaps. For some reason you can freely choose your first name but have to pick your family name from a list, and "perhaps" is a beautiful word. Many interesting sentences start with this word, for example "perhaps in a few decades I will upload my consciousness to my SL avatar and live permanently in SL". <BR>One of the things to do today in Second Life is visiting a virtual <SPAN>Future Salon</SPAN>. The <A onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="http://accelerating.org/futuresalons.html" target=_blank>Future Salons Network </A>runs one in Second Life besides those in the Bay Area, LA, Seattle etc. More details in the article "<A onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="http://slfuturesalon.blogs.com/second_life_future_salon/2005/04/why_second_life.html" target=_blank> Second Life Future Salon: <SPAN>Why Meet in Second Life?</SPAN></A>" on the <A onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="http://slfuturesalon.blogs.com/" target=_blank>Second Life Future Salon blog </A>. I look forward to attending the SL Future Salon next week.<SPAN></SPAN><BR></SPAN></DIV><SPAN class=sg><FONT color=gray size=2></FONT></SPAN></BLOCKQUOTE></body></html>