The rules of the internet (Friday Fun Post!)

Something dawned on me as I was transversing the blogosphere the last couple of days.

Ettiquette.

"Back in the day" when chatting was done at "internet cafe's" there were rules that everyone observed when chatting or making a comment. As time passed however, it seems that what we previously looked at as "rules" were considered to be mere suggestions. Today, the end result is that these "rules" aren't even thought of and have been forgotten.

In the interest of helping the internet (and games such as SL) become a better place, I've decided to post the commandments of chat.

Rule #1: Thou shall not omit verbs, nouns and/or adjectives.
Omitting these because it's "faster" only proves to others that you lack typing skills. Often, the time "saved" is lost exponentially by having to explain and then re-explain what it was you were trying to say.

Rule #2: Thou shall not randomly ask someone to "cyber".
A good rule of thumb here is to not say anything to anyone that you wouldn't say to them in real life. If you were at a bar and you led out with that... well let's just say that I know quite a few women who are well-versed in "Beat-the-ever-loving-crap-out-of-you Fu." They also know how to find you...

Rule #3: Thou shall not use more than three exclamation points... EVER!!!
I understand that it's hard to express yourself through mere words without using facial expressions or voice intonation/inflection however, there is a fine like between being excited and acting like an actress on clueless jumping up and clapping your hands because you just found a new pink shirt. There is also the reader to think of... how do you feel after reading the following sentence? "I totally LOVE Hansen!!!!!1!!!1!!!!!!111!!!!1!eleven!!!!!!1!!!1!!!!!!eleventy-one!!!!!!" Yeah... I feel dirty too. Sorry about that but it had to be done. We will now pause so that we can all go take showers.
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Ok, we're back! ... man, they just don't make water hot enough to clean that amount of wrong do they?


Rule #4: Thou shall ask for clarification before becoming angry.
Accept the fact that occasionally, "I really like your avatar" actually means "I really like your avatar" and not "You pathetic sheep of an internet denizen, your usage of this image that literally saturates the internet disgusts me to the point of committing ritual Seppuku" Learn to react to the correct meaning by asking a simple question "what do you mean?" I know it's a VERY foreign concept for some of you out there, but trust me when I tell you that not everyone out there hates you.

Rule #5: Thou shall not curse so much that the point of your statement is lost in the word filter.
Allow me to share a phrase I saw online recently:"@$%@#$ Noob!! Go !@# yourself!!! Your grandmother @#$#@ her #$@# on a ^%^$%% at @#$@#$ CHURCH!!!" This was not an appropriate response to "how was your day?"... or anything really. In fact, this is probably not even appropriate at a Tourettes-syndrome convention. Keep it clean and use cursing in moderation as a spice to flavor your speech rather than to smother it.

Rule #6: Thou shall not use phrases that are offensive.
"Ghey", "gay" or other, more harsh statements meant in a derogatory way usually aren't tolerated... by anyone. Spelling it in a way that exhibits your "uber-ness" will not make anyone less offended. It also outs you as a newbie pretty quickly. I have a friend who's little brother was complaining that no-one liked him and he kept getting kicked out of chat. Reading his transcripts proved that he was a cyber-punk (and not in the good way). Many hours of electro-shock therapy later proved to be the solution.

Rule #7: Thou shall not draw during active chat sessions.
Yes, we know that there are sometimes some cool things that can show up in a scrolling environment. What is most important to remember however is that people didn't come into the chat room to see YOU perform works of art with your period button. That means that your masterpiece pyramid will look like this:

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Wyatt: hey, did you see Firefly last night?
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Aalanna: Yeah, it was awesome! Brown coats forever!!!
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Wyatt: Do you watch Battlestar Galactica?
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Aalanna: this period picasso needs to stop with the clutter!
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Wyatt: So say we all!
Aalanna: lol

Rule #8: Thou shall not spam audio into the chat room using voice-chat.
Yes, audio clips existed before counter-strike. They were used tastefully and to add a bit of fun to a chat-room. Screaming "I like pie" into your mike until the audio clipping washes out your voice to make it indistinguishable from television static at a volume of 40... well my friend, that's not cool, nor is it fun. Also, please for the love of god make sure you're set to "push to talk" or else we'll hear nothing but heavy breathing, belching and all manner of unsettling sound effects...

Rule #9: Thou shall admit that thou dost not knoweth everything.
Yes, I'm sure you've experienced a LOT in the 13-15 years you've been alive but try to remember that there are a LOT of people who are older who (and this can be hard for a lot of people to understand) have probably experienced more in life than you have. After hearing the 9th person in a chat room tell me that I was an "l00zer n00bzor" when I was discussing that various benefits of rear-end gear ratios and stated that I had never heard of a 1080:1 rear-end.

Rule #10: Thou shall not draw the ire of the chat moderator.
This will be the harshest thing to learn but understand this: You may be a "1337 H4xxor" but the moderator has access to tools that are created to destroy your enjoyment of harassing others. Also, in my experience, Chat mods are usually more "1337" than you are. I remember one mod sending a letter to one "chat-troll's" mother explaining that her son was portraying a 19 year old and was attempting to taking part in some very adult conversations and was giving out their address with an open invitation to come over at any time, day or night. That's not ENTIRELY true... but remember, the mod can pretty much PWN you whenever they want to.

Take to heart these rules and you will enjoy your time in chat/game/second life much more!

-Wyatt-

4th iPod found!

Well Explore and Win contestants, iPod #4 has been found by your very own Phat Lipo. His picture has been posted below.

As a reminder we are in week four of six with a total of 6 more iPods left to find somewhere hidden on Circuit City island.

I have to tell you that as an observer I am having an incredible time getting to know all of the visitors who come to the island to search.

A large number of folks just come to look and don't bother responding to me when I say hello and introduce myself. A part of me wonders if that's because it's an online communications format or if we've been conditioned to tell employees that at such an early age.

I have noticed a large number of people who simply respond to "Hi! How are you today?" with a "no thanks, I'm just looking around" which to me seems rather odd since I'm not there to sell anything.

On the flip side though is the increasing number of folks who come by to search for an iPod and come back day after day to chat and talk about SL, technology, games or just life in general. Phat Lipo is one of those residents who always has been both kind and happy to chat about whatever tickles your fancy.

So, congratulations from myself and from Circuit City on winning your new iPod nano. Please be sure to come by and let us know when you get it (unboxing photos would be cool too!)

-Wyatt-

Lessons Learned

I'm in a very "romper room" type mood today, it's in the mid to upper 70's and it's put me in a silly mood. I was just thinking about how on the old saturday morning children's TV shows they all had some kind of moral "lessons learned" segment at the end.

That of course made me think that it might be a neat idea to incorporate that into my blog.

So without further adieu, I present to you the first of hopefully many "SL lessons learned" but to raise the difficulty level I'm going to do the whole thing in ancient Aramaic!

...ok, maybe not... I just realized that there is no word for iPod or MP3 player in Aramaic... heck they didn't even know what plumbing or electricity was back then.


Lessons learned:
I've learned that some people don't mind resorting to bribery above an item's value to win that item. For the record, even if I knew where the iPod was hidden I wouldn't be able to tell you, play "hot hot cold" or give out clues. No amount of bribery will help this.

I've learned that people enjoy sharing stories about themselves. SL seems to be a great conduit for the emotional/mental interaction that humans crave without the superficial hangups of looks. You can share and talk without worrying about someone staring at your clothes or judging you based on looks of any kind. I would surmise that this is one of the reasons people are better able to open up through online chat, SL and to a lesser extend, over the phone.

I've also learned that people have a wealth of knowledge to share if you're just willing to listen.

More observations are to come when time allows for more writings ;)

-Wyatt-

iPod "Explore and Win" information

Many of you have asked me for for information about our "Explore and Win" iPod promotion.

If you click Here you'll go to a copy of the official rules.

To answer the most asked questions:

1. Yes, it is a real iPod.
2. We will ship it to you as soon as we are able to verify you are eligible.
3. Yes, it is a real iPod.
4. We're giving away 10 of them.
5. Three have already been won.
6. No, I can't tell you where they're hidden.
7. No, I can't personally win one.
8. Yes, there are some random objects that AREN'T the iPod you're looking for ;)

If you have any other questions regarding the iPod, gadgets, or technology in general I can be found on the Circuit City Island (180, 245, 59) in Second Life from 9:00am to 6:00pm Eastern time.

Happy Double post Tuesday!

Hey everyone, just a real quick note to let everyone know that I'm in-world from 9:00am to 6:00pm M-F. That's eastern time by the way.

Also, understand that I'll be AFK for an hour or so for lunch.

That said, I had a few questions from in-world that I thought I'd take the time to answer here.

Q. So do you work for Circuit City or are you just an in-game person?
A. I'm an employee, have been for a few years now ;)

Q. Other than giving guided tours of the Island, what else are you there for?
A. Honestly, I'm there for you. You have questions about a digital camera? want to know what you REALLY need for that plasma TV? How about an explanation of clean power vs. dirty power? That's what I'm there for ;)

Q. Where is the iPod hidden?
A. If I told you, it wouldn't be a secret would it? lol Honestly, they're placed randomly throughout the Island (remember, it's called "Explore and Win" because of the exploration part)

Q. So is this real or is it one of those, "Buy 6 of these first" type deals?
A. Just Ask Micala Lumiere, Notice how it's chock full of real-ness? ;)

Q. Are you single?
A. I'm flattered!

Q. I went to Circuit City's Second Life location a while ago, are things really that different?
A. I'm glad you saw the old spot because that gives you a point of reference. The old spot was good, but this new area we've carved out for ourselves is pretty sweet if I do say so myself!

Welcome to my second first life

Let me start out my initial post by pointing out the pictures on the right. You will notice the words "winner" and "iPod" underneath their names. Yes, Circuit City is giving away a bunch of iPod Nanos in Second Life. The rules and everything else are listed in world. And to stop any confusion, the iPods are nanos that they FedEx to your home.

Many of us have experienced Second Life long enough to know that as a newbie, it's an awful lot like trying to scrape ice off your car with a ham sandwich. You can tell that you're doing.... something but you're not quite sure if that something is a good thing or not and in fact, you're still trying to figure out why you're doing it.

For those of us who have tried Second Life and stayed away, let me try to explain Second Life another way. First, it's not a "game" where you level up, score massive points, slay ugly beasties and/or save the missing/lost/kidnapped prince/princess/queen.

In fact, you can't even die in this world. One of my admittedly guilty pleasures is to fly up to about 1000 meters, switch to first person view and then fall. See, I'm deathly afraid of heights in real life and Second Life allows me to do things that I would never be able to do in the physical realm. In short, it's all about freedom, it's about interaction and it's about experiencing. (side note, it's interesting to point out that after a long long time of this type of skydiving, I can get above the 3rd step on my ladder without freaking out... worth investigating further I think)

Most of us who have been around for a while understand that with a video game, you have to make the right choice or else... and usually there's no going back. Once it enters your thoughts that you can do anything (and I do mean ANYTHING) the game takes on a whole new perspective.

I'd also be terribly remiss in my blogging duties if I didn't mention that Second Life is very much a social network. Imagine taking facebook, Myspace and a myriad of others and throwing them in a mixing bowl with a chat room and a video game with god mode enabled and you'll start to understand the possibillities.

It's this social interaction that has brought companies to Second Life hoping to cash in on the marketing opportunities that are there. Unfortunately, many of these companies fail before they even open for business.

The Second Life community had posted, blogged, made videos, begged and in some cases written to these companies explaining what it is they're looking for and what it is they want. Sadly, too many companies are stuck in the "You don't know what will work, that's why I'm the professional" mode.

One of the things I like the best about being on this project is the number of time I heard "what's the experience like?" in a meeting. The person above me really has a lot of desire to bring to the community something that it hasn't had from a major retailer yet... a great user experience.

Incidentally, if you're in world, hop on over and say hello. Just search for Wyatt Odriscoll or check out the Circuit City Island (and maybe try to win an iPod!) After all, That's what I'm in world for!