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Introducing: Second Lie

Second Lie is arguably one of Second Life’s most interesting people. I’ve run across him a few times over the past three years and every time found him to be mightily amusing, as well as having some great insights on everything Second Life. I can’t tell you a lot more except that he’s based in the United States and makes some pretty impressive content in Second Life.

In recent weeks I asked him if he’d be interested in writing for The Metaverse Journal and he’s kindly agreed.

On a regular basis, Second Lie will answer any question you may have on Second Life. Whether it’s negotiating the etiquette of personal relationships in-world or the potential pitfalls of becoming a Second Life entrepreneur, Second Lie will do his best to simultaneously enlighten and entertain.

Here’s how to get started: just use our contact form, which contains an option to select ‘Submit a question for the Second Lie column’. We’ll forward every question on and we’ll publish responses in groups each week or fortnight depending on volume.

Even better, you’ll be helping to fund Relay for Life. Each time a group of responses is published, Second Lie has requested his payment go to that rather than his pocket. A funny, intelligent columnist with a philanthropic streak: does it get any better?

If you want a taste of Second Lie’s approach,check him out on Twitter. Start submitting those questions so the fun can begin!

Popularity: 1% [?]

New site design

It’s been quite a while since this website has had a facelift, so we’re pleased to unveil the new one. It hopefully makes finding key subject areas a little easier and provides a greater range of information within easy reach. This is the fourth significant change in the site since its inception and it probably won’t be the last ;)

As always, feedback on usability and navigation are very welcome.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Competition: win an ‘Avatar Dog’ t-shirt

Its been a few months since we’ve run a reader’s competition, so lets get one underway.

This one’s simple: your choice of any t-shirt from the Avatar Dog range of t-shirts. To go in the draw, all you need to do is post a comment below, with the following information:

1. A favorite virtual world-related website and its URL;

2. The name of the virtual world you spend the most time in;

3. Your country of residence.

That’s it!

Entries will close on Friday 24th April AEDT 5pm (that’s Midnight Thursday 30th April US PDT / SL time). A random number generator will then be used to select the winner. Entries are welcome from anywhere in the world. Just make sure you give a valid email address when posting a comment so we can contact you if you win.

Popularity: 2% [?]

Introducing: Tateru Nino

about_tat-smlIt’s an understatement to say I’m really pleased to announce a further addition to the writing team at The Metaverse Journal.

Tateru Nino is a significant addition too – she’s one of the first Second Life writers I read and she was incredibly supportive of our initial efforts when we started in 2006. It’s also worth reading our 2007 profile of Tateru to glean more of a picture of her.

Tateru will be providing stories most weeks and she has a totally open brief. If you’ve read her work on Massively or its predecessor Second Life Insider, you’ll know how thorough her research is.

No-one knows Second Life better and I for one am already excited about the stories she’ll be writing over coming weeks.

Welcome Tateru!

Popularity: 4% [?]

Avatar Dog T-Shirts: Victorian Bushfire fundraiser

avatardog_fundraiser Although there’s no shortage of fundraisers going on for the ongoing bushfire tragedy in Victoria, we want to do our own little bit to help.

For February and March, 100% of profits from the sales of the t-shirt range will go to the Red Cross Bushfire appeal. We’ve kick-started things with a donation and it’d be great to add more to the total. More than a third of our readers are from Victoria and any gesture that can assist is worth a try.

Check out the t-shirt range here – if anyone’s looking for customised wording we can set that up for orders of three t-shirts or more. We’ll report back on proceeds raised and donated at the end of March.

A very honourable mention to Crikey’s fundraiser as well, featuring the work of our t-shirt’s artist, First Dog on the Moon – there’s three great signed cartoons available for purchase there.

Popularity: 4% [?]

Announcing: Avatar Dog t-shirts

avatar_dog2

I’m really thrilled to announce we’ve got some t-shirts for sale. The primary purpose of the t-shirts is to raise money for Kiva, our charity of choice. Kiva provide funds to small businesses in developing countries and to date well over 57 million dollars have been lent, with over 97% of that repaid so that it can be reinvested in other businesses.

Here’s how it works. Buy one of our Avatar Dog or Real Life Avatar t-shirts, and 50% of the proceeds go to Kiva. To clarify actual amounts – each t-shirt generates 20% commission, of which half goes to Kiva. The other half goes to us to assist in meeting our costs (paying writers, hosting, cost of t-shirt design etc). So on a standard t-shirt purchase, a minimum of $2.50 goes to Kiva.

There’s a number of variants on offer including:

- Avatar Dog in colour, no text
- Avatar Dog in black and white, no text
- Avatar Dog in colour: “What’s a metaverse? I call it home”
- Avatar Dog in colour: “Furry for life”
- Avatar Dog in black and white: “It’s an avatar’s life”

We’re selling the t-shirts through Red Bubble, an Australia-based company that ship worldwide (they have offices in the UK and US as well). Their shipping costs are very reasonable: one t-shirt delivered to the USA is $29 US dollars shipped at present (only AU$36 or so delivered within Australia). There’s a choice of up to 22 different colours and four t-shirt styles.

Most importantly, I’d like to give major kudos to the artist we commissioned to create the Avatar Dog. His name is First Dog on the Moon, and he provides a daily piece of brilliance for Crikey – read First Dog’s blog to see more of his excellent work. I’ve been a fan ever since seeing his work appear in Crikey and I was rapt when he accepted the commission.

Comments welcome – we will be uploading further t-shirts (same design with different text) in coming months, and if popular enough we’ll also be commissioning First Dog for a second design. Enjoy!

Popularity: 5% [?]

Metaverse Aid – join the team

Back in October 2007, this site started generating a positive cash flow. After covering all costs, the decision was made to put excess funds to good use. Kiva was chosen primarily for its brilliant model of helping people help themselves, but there was also the tie-in of Kiva having a Second Life presence.

Since then, more than a dozen entrepreneurs in developing countries have been funded from our advertising revenue, but we’d love to see an even bigger impact from the virtual worlds community. In October this year we set up a Kiva team called Metaverse Aid and we’re now starting a campaign to build the team.

If you’d like to join the Metaverse Aid team on Kiva, sign up as a member, then join our team. When you make your first loan you’ll be able to select Metaverse Aid as the team you’re a part of. That’s it!

If you’re already a Kiva member, just click on the ‘Community’ button and search for Metaverse Aid.

Without some assistance, the people requesting micro-finance on Kiva will not likely have access to the opportunities that virtual worlds offer – here’s a chance to influence that.

Popularity: 6% [?]