38 K

This term, when googled refers to money, a gun and K-Pop -Korean pop that is, which happens to have a larger following than most people think- but judging by the picture, you can pretty much guess what the title and the topic today revolves around.

Money in my opinion is a necessary evil, it's true that it won't bring you happiness, but try to live without it and see how happy you end up being; the issue begins when people start associating it with success or power, something that I've seen happen in SL a little too often lately.

There was a close friend I'll choose to leave anonymous, who confessed to me that he had been grieved by all sorts of drama during his first year in the platform, until he turned things around and became "Mr. Money Bags", basically going from party to party throwing money away, at that very moment and as soon as word got around, he stopped being grieved and was suddenly welcome and liked by everyone; is this happiness? is he really "loved" by everyone now? Does he really have any friends?, I'd dare say he doesn't, because I am willing to bet that as soon as he stops pissing money, things will go back to their starting point.

Then there are the Deejays in Second life, that after some smart networking, become somewhat popular by having built a following and decide to start making monetary demands -a certain amount per set on top of tips for example- which I have never, as a club owner have humored in the slightest, Deejaying for me in Second life is about sharing the music with others, I enjoy it and it makes me happy that people come to my sets and have a good time, if tipping happens then it's more than welcome, but it is surely not my driving force.

Why 38 K? -you may still be asking yourselves-, yesterday I was contacted by someone who, somewhere along the road of his Second Life, decided to become a Deejay; now the thing about DJs is that setting yourself up and finding somewhere to play is incredibly easy and accessible to pretty much anyone willing and able, being good at it, that's a whole different story.

He claimed that he could make 38 k Linden in 4 hours because he was just that awesome, I won't name names but Damien baby -ooops I guess I just did-, not even Madonna and her Virtual Tour can make nearly 40 K in 4 hours. Here's an advice to all aspiring DJs out there, having the tools doesn't make you a DJ; it's not about pulling a playlist together and hoping to make money out of it, it's all about entertainment, something that some, like my very misled DJ D can't seem to be able to do -and no, this isn't me being me, I have never been to his sets, this is mere hearsay-

If you are going to try a professional sector in Second life, make sure that you are doing it for the right reasons, i.e because you enjoy it and think that others will find enjoyment in what you are doing, because in SL, the minute you turn your hobby into a money making machine, that's when you lose that shine and glitter that brings crowds to what you are doing.

https://www.facebook.com/spikecls

SLebrities

Yes, even in the virtual world of Second Life, they exist and much like in real life, you have all kinds of celebrities: those born in a family of celebs, those who are famous by collateral -i.e. friends, partners or exes of someone famous- and those by own merit who either work in Arts and Crafts or in the entertainment industry.

But what drives a person to become a SLebrity and pursue this lifestyle? Is it the shine and glitter? is it the attention? perhaps the shows of affection and admiration from the masses is what they crave? I've seen people look for all sorts of things in second life, trying to compensate -or not, this also varies- for all they lack in real life but stardom is something that not only seems to be happening a lot often recently, but also becoming a trend and a lifestyle goal that would indicate personal success for some.

Those who do manage to get to a point where everyone knows who they are, by own merit or not, sometimes fall into a weird "Diva" trip I simply find amusing, which varies from extremes of the spectrum: the ones who parade around expecting personal favors and treatment in a very public fashion and those who also want that but pretend to be humble and modest. I am sorry, but the ones who truly make a difference in second life and how we experience it, are most of the time anonymous -not many people knew who was really behind the Gay Archipelago among other projects who have benefited, inspired and helped many in our community until he passed-

But then again, isn't having a blog and a following of readers also a way to achieve stardom and public attention? -some may wonder- not really, might be for some, but for me is simply a way to inform people out there -both in-world and on the internet- willing to read me on how I experience second life and the many wonderful possibilities it offers, while trying to remove the "game" stigma this virtual reality has had, for far too long.

https://www.facebook.com/spikecls


Si, incluso en el mundo virtual del second life, existen e igual que en la vida real, hay todo tipo de celebridades: aquellos que naces en un entorno de famosos, aquellos famosos por colateral -es decir, amigos de un famoso, exes ó  compañeros sentimentales- y aquellos por merito propio que trabajan en el mundo de las artes ó el entretenimiento.

Pero, ¿qué empuja a una persona a perseguir este estilo de vida? ¿será el brillo y glamour? ¿a lo mejor la atención? ¿las muestras de afecto por parte de las masas? He visto a personas en la plataforma buscar todo tipo de cosas, intentando compensar -ó no, esto tambien varía- por todo aquello de lo que carecen en la vida real, pero la fama y el estrellato es algo que no sólo parece estar ocurriendo muy a menudo ultimamente, pero que también parece se está convirtiendo en un modo de vida casi religioso para todos aquellos que persiguen la fama.

Aquellos que consiguen llegar a ese punto deseado en el que todo el mundo los conoce, ya sea ó no por merito propio, caen en una especie de "zona Diva" que encuentro simplemente divertida, y que cubre ambos extremos del espectro: los que quieren atención y trato especial por sien quien son y que lo piden de forma muy publica y aquellos que también lo desean, pero pretenden ser humildes. Lo siento, pero aquellos que realmente hacen la diferencia en el second life y como lo experimentamos son bastanate anónimos -no muchos sabían quién estaba dentro del proyecto de Gay Archipelago entre otros proyectos que han beneficiado a muchos en nuestra comunidad, hasta que falleció-

Pero entonces algunos se preguntarán, ¿no es el blog una forma bastante pública de buscar la atención y la fama? no en realidad, a lo mejor para algunos sí, pero en mi caso particular es una manera sencilla de informar a todo aquellos que me leen -ya sea en el second life o fuera de este- de como experimento la plataforma y de las miles de maravillosasd posibildades que ofrece, mientras intento remover el estigma de "juego" que esta realidad virtual ha tenido durante demasiado tiempo.


https://www.facebook.com/spikecls

Censor me, I don't know better

Censorship is by simple definition, the act of filtering information handed out to the public for a number of reasons, this being copyright infringement, adult content or simple protocol. Censorship is present everywhere and in every situation of our daily lives, we even censor ourselves and we call this being polite.

In second life you can be censored through various means, but it being a social platform built on text / voice communication, censoring someone can be complex. Most of the time it occurs in groups, which strive to keep SPAM notices to a minimum, or the public notices under a very specific topic; when you join a group -in theory- it comes with a very clear set of rules posted somewhere for everyone to read, or handed out on a note card, so in order for you to be a part of the long term community you have to adhere to this rules or be banned.

This is in theory how most groups work, unless the group owner wishes to bend the rules for his own convenience and play the diva role on everyone he has the misfortune of talking into joining the group -Make Him Over for example, but that's a subject for another article-, apparently once you hit the 800 members mark on your group and even people you don't know, know who you are, this entitles you to hold the absolute truth and never be wrong.

I was until very recently -i.e. last night- an active member of GayMeeting Point, a somewhat public group for club owners, hosts and the general public to join and announce various events happening in-world. I had since day one problems with the group owner: Joaopedro Oh, who was very nice when asking me and my business to join his group, but that's about the time it ended him being nice. I am the type of person that will DJ or work anywhere if I have fun and people want me there, but one of the first issues I encountered with this person was exactly him having an problem with me announcing a party at a straight / open to all club, to which he added "a party with a room full of sluts".

Then it continued on with group chat issues and so on, rules not openly stated anywhere but only mentioned when it was convenient for him or when something brushed him off the wrong way -which was me apparently-, then after seeing a few other non club venues being announced -shop freebies, art galleries and so on- I decided to send a notice about my family's shopping area, I mean they were announcing shop freebies -it being done by Joao himself-, so I figured people would like to be informed.

In a nutshell, I was threatened to be banned after him adding: "I am 5 years old in SL and you DJ for work, you should listen to people with more experience", pretty strong words for a person running a party group; so DJs and club owners don't know better than you. I don't go for how long you have been in second life, or what you do for a living while in-world, I rather pay attention to your talents, but hey that's just me.

I'll be partying on my own now, there are some things I rather do without and stroking someone's online ego is certainly one of those. I'm not being difficult or pretend that I hold the absolute truth, but double standards are always bad, no matter under what situation you use them.

https://www.facebook.com/spikecls

La censura es por simple definición, el acto de filtrar información que se ofrece al publico por un número de razones, ya sea violación del copyright, contenido adulto ó simple protocolo. La censura está presente en nuestro día a día, incluso nos auto censuramos y lo llamamos ser educados.


En el second life puedes ser censurado de varias formas, pero al ser esta una plataforma social basada en la comunicación de texto/voz, la censura puede ser compleja. La mayoría de las veces esta ocurre en grupos, los cuales se esfuerzan de mantener el exceso de notificaciones masivas al minimo, o por lo menos en el mismo tema del grupo; cuando te unes a un grupo -en teoría- este viene con un número de reglas bastante claras, en un sitio a la vista de todos o entregados a tí en una nota, para garantizar que tu permanencia en la comunidad a largo plazo, lo que requiere que te adhieras a las reglas ó que te echen.

Así es como funcionan en teoría la mayoría de los grupos, a menos que el dueño del mismo decida doblar las reglas para su propia conveniencia y haciendo el papel de diva, abuse de todos aquello que hayan tenido la desgracia de unirse -Make Him Over, para nombrar a uno pero eso es tema para otro articulo-, aparentemente una vez que tienes 800 miembros en tu grupo esto te da licencia a ser dueño de la verdad absoluta y nunca estar equivocado.

Formé parte, hasta recientemente -es decir anoche- un miembro activo de GayMeeting Point, un grupo más o menos público para dueños de clubes, anfitriones y personas en general para ser informados de los eventos que ocurren en la plataforma. Tuve desde el primer día problemas con el dueño del grupo: Joaopedro Oh, que fué muy amable al pedir que mi negocio se uniese al grupo, pero fué justo después de hacerlo cuando lo de ser bueno paró. Soy el tipo de persona que asistirá y hará de DJ en cualquier club o fiesta, pero uno de los primero problemas que encontré fué cuando al encontrarme en un club heterosexual y mandar una notificación de la fiesta, este se presentó teniendo problemas con el mismo y añadiendo que se trataba de "una fiesta llena de mujerzuelas".

Así que continué en mis andaduras y los problemas continuaron, chat grupal y así sucesivamente; al no haber reglas claras en ningún lado pero sólo siendo nombradas cuando algo le molestaba de manera personal -yo específicamente aparentemente- y al ver que varios negocios no centrados en las fiestas eran anunciados -regalos en tiendas, galerías de arte y así sucesivamente- decidí enviar una notificación sobre la zona de tiendas de mi familia, es decir ya que estaban anunciando regalos de una tienda específica -hecho esto por Joao en persona-, me imaginé que a la gente le gustaría ser informada sobre esto también.

Resumiendo, se me amenazó con ser expulsado del grupo después de añadir: "llevo 5 años en el second life y tú solo haces the DJ como profesión, deberías escuchar a alguien con experiencia", palabras con mucho peso para una persona que lleva un grupo de fiestas; parece que los DJs y dueños de clubes no sabes más que él. A mi me da igual cuanto tiempo llevas en el second life, ó a que te dedicas como profesión en la plataforma, prefiero poner atención a tus talentos.


Me voy a dedicar a mis fiestas de ahora en adelante, ya que hay cosas que no voy a hacer y una de ellas es la de acariciar el ego de nadie. No estoy siendo difícil, ni creo tener la verdad absoluta, pero la doble moral es mala, da igual en que situación se use.

https://www.facebook.com/spikecls