It's not about the story, it's about the discussion

Follwoing my recent article in the Alphaville Herald about the Hippiestock event last January, a number of accusations have been made about my failure to mention a Second Life resident, Suspiria Finucane. In a thread on the SL Offworld Forum, Suspiria took me to task for omitting her contribution to the event, implying that I had intentionally done so because I was "biased" - presumably against her?

As I read through the comments, what was interesting was that a consensus was beginning to develop regarding my motivations, and people were using what I had said on the article to support their hypothesis - that I was involved in some sort of conspiracy of silence against Ms. Finucane.

Fascinatingly, the "proof" of my bias was based on what I didn't say, a classic example of using the rhetorical device called "argumentum ad ignorantiam" - or "arguing from ignorance." And no, the word "ignorance" in this context does not mean "stupid" - it simply means "being without facts." It's similar to the "Area 51" devotees who argue that because the government cannot prove there are NO aliens, then they must exist!

It's worth looking at the discussion because there are lots of little examples of how one can use anything to support a position if you want to. But ultimately, the truth is that I didn't mention Suspiria because I also didn't mention other people. I was also trying not to fill the article with names because I wanted to avoid spotlighting some folks over others, especially since the organizer, Hippie Bowman, had said that he felt this was a community event and not a one-person show.

There is also another spin-off post at Prokovy Neva's blog - which I haven't read because I'm too busy with Real Life things to do it - that took the discussion alog even further. So the post in the Herald had unintended consequences and crossed to a forum and a blog. And that's ignoring Suspiria's riposte, which you can read here;

Suspiria Finucane's riposte to "Hippiestock."

Although something of a storm in a teacup, it is instructive as far as the basic premise of the actual article went. What I was trying to talk about was the dual nature of Second Life folks who can go from being full of love for each other at a festival to using spite and hatred as a mode of rhetoric - yet still manage to avoid any cognitive dissonance. A new book, Virtually You by psychoanalyst Elias Aboujaoude is an excellent introduction to the subject of how the real and virtual selves can be different, but also how one can have an effect on the other.

No doubt this may rumble on for a little while and I am curious to see how people are affected by it. Pixeleen Mistral, the editrix of the Herald, once told me that the power of the Herald is not in its articles per se but in the discussions those articles generate. A successful article is one that creates debate and interaction. On that basis, I consider this article a success - even if I have to endure some abuse, or should I say, even if Sigmund Leominster has to take some abuse. After all, "I" am not just "Sigmund Leominster" but a real person, and somewhat different from dear Siggy!

It's cold here in Ohio

Some of you who "know" me also know that I live in Ohio. That's more by accident than design because when I left the UK and followed the old advice, "Go West, Young Man," I didn't go west enough. Ideally I would be somewhere in SoCal, between Orange County and San Diego, but instead I am buried in snow somewhere outside Cleveland. C'est la vie, as those continental chappies say.

You might think that lots of snow would keep me in the house with extra time to spend basking in the virtual sunshine (four times a day) of Second Life, but that hasn't happened. Instead, I've been trying out this thing called "Real Life" and spending time in other sims. Using a rather quaint form of TP called "an airplane," I've been able to explore some new areas such as "San Francisco" and "Houston," along with another sim called "Orlando," which even has theme parks! Whoa!

Fortunately I think I have three weeks without travel so I may be able to pull together some copy for SLentrepreneur Magazine, The Metaverse Tribune, and even The Alphaville Herald. Who knows? I certainly need the money as my tier fees are due and my PayPal account is low.

So those of you who occasionally stop by here to see if I am not dead should check back in a week to see if I have had some flashes of inspiration. I may even get back to sending out a few tweets.

New Article in the Alphaville Herald

Take a look at my "fairly unbalanced" article on Avatars United, the latest social networked aimed at avatars.

Avatars United: A Social Network Too Far?

There's some discussion on the new site on MBC News.

FTC Report on Virtual Worlds

For a slightly sarcastic look at the recent FTC report on the how kids can access explicit content, check out my latest article for the Alphaville Herald - FTC Report to US Congress Finds Explicit Content in Second Life!!!

My tongue is in one cheek but not the other. The trick when reading the article is to decide where my lingual muscle is ;)

SL on SL Slowdown

The real world economy is causing problems and challenges for many people. And this is true for the man behind Sigmund Leominster too. But not in a bad way. Although I chose to keep my RL and SL separate, in the real world, my international company has been going through some significant growth over the past two years and it continues to do so. And without revealing too much about "me," my role is at a senior level and I have to ensure that all the employees are fully tasked and able to do the jobs needed.

So, what with hiring new people, shipping large quantities of products, and having to travel around to continue expansion, poor Siggy has been in SL much less of late. This, of course, doesn't necessarily mean he's idle. As news anchor for Life On Line and a co-presenter on MBC's news, Sigs has four shows per month to cover. And writing for SLentrepreneur, Prim Perfect, and The Alphaville Herald still keeps crusts on the table.

Where sacrifices have been made are in the blogging arena. SL on SL comments have slowed down, as have SL on VL. However, that's not really a problem.

I also have a blog in real life - which gets many more readers than SL on SL - so that also takes up time. It all comes down to numbers really. We all have to divvy up our time to make best use of our scarce resources. Second Life is fun and being part of it is a great escape at times. But, as my friend Mony Markova keeps reminding me, it is, after all, not "real" or "important" in the grand scheme of things.

So don't think that fewer posts in SL on SL means I have gone away. No, I'm just shuffling the deck a little.

What's In A List? Well, Me Now!

A few weeks back, Second Life resident ArminasX Saiman published a list of blogs in his own Second Effects blog. The original list contained some errors and dead sites so, to his credit, he took on the Herculean task of trying to produce a rank-ordered listing . The criteria for a "live blog" are that;

* There must be at least one post within the last three months (dated within 2009)
* There must be visible Second Life content
* It must be a blog (and not a forum, flickr group, static website, ning community, etc.)
* It must not be closed or on hiatus

Aided and abetted by a team comprising of Amber Decuir, Thickbrick Sleaford, Peter Stindberg, Haley Salomon, Moggs Oceanlane, Quaintly Tuquiri, Radar Masukami, and Andrew M, Armin ended up with a huge list of blogs, which, it's safe to say, could not possibly be read in totality by any one person.

The semi-good news is that I have a scattered presence. The Alphaville Herald comes in at #14, SLentrepreneur Magazine has the #51 slot, and this very blog ranks 82nd. I could perhaps claim a hit with the #40 slot, Prim Perfect, but having only written one article for them so far, that might be pushing it a little.

SL on VL doesn't get a mention but then the "visible Second Life content" is not as high - it is designed to comment on all virtual worlds so mentions of SL can be sporadic.

All in all, this is not a bad showing. My aim has always been to freelance across a range of publications rather than focus my efforts on just one.

Now, what I really need is a venue where I can write some fashion stuff as the return of FreeLife Magazine appears to be somewhat delayed: In fact, I have not heard from the editors for weeks! I wonder what is happening?

I Want My MTV(R) - or Not

My latest article in the Herald follows my trip into the world of Virtual MTV. Entitled, Pimpin' My Crib in Virtual MTV: Points for Friending and your Chicks for Free, it's a short piece that offers a glimpse into the latest version of MTV's attempts to gain a virtual world presence.

Check out my blog post at SL on VL, which includes a promo video.