UK virtual worlds journalist and best-selling author, Tim Guest (also known as Errol Mysterio in Second Life) passed away last week at the untimely age of 34. Only recently married late last year, his wife found him dead of apparent heart-failure late last week.

Guest's work in UK journalism and with metaverse development group, Rivers Run Red, straddled the period of mainstream awareness of virtual environments in general and of Second Life particularly. Guest's book Second Lives: A Journey Through Virtual Worlds was widely acclaimed as a full and frank view of the realities and the potentials of Second Life and other virtual environments, and his treatment of virtual environment topics in his journalistic career demystified the subject for many ordinary people.

While we didn't know Guest personally, the industry will suffer from the loss of Guest's informed commentary and popularization of the medium.

[via Sky News]

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UK virtual worlds writer, Tim Guest, dead at 34 originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 06 Aug 2009 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

As you are probably already aware, Linden Lab have suddenly decided to take an active role in the Second Life fifth anniversary this year, overriding the organizing committee and excluding a number of the invited communities from presentation this year.

Decisions, ultimately, get made because they seem like the best of the available options at the time. Nobody sits down and thinks, "Hey, this is my second best option. I should go with that!" -- they only go with the worse options when nothing better seems to be possible.

So -- why did Linden Lab make this one?

Continue reading Peering Inside: Pleading the fifth

Peering Inside: Pleading the fifth originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 02 Jun 2008 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Lalinda Lovell, the person behind the Wonderland site that was the focus of the Sky News virtual child sex scandal is apparently promoting a new grid, called litesim. The server software apparently is under development and due to be released under GPL Free Software licenses at some future date, so it isn't exactly clear if the code is based on Open Simulator or some other backend.

The system sports three tiers of users: Free, Basic and Premium, the latter two both having a monthly fee and cashout options. Lovell's advertising for this grid emphasizes "Freedom and privacy guaranteed" however the litesim terms of service specifically state that a number of things (like child pornography, and anything that violates either US or UK laws - that would include simulations of underage sexuality) are not permitted.

Continue reading Wonderland creator promoting new grid

Wonderland creator promoting new grid originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 06 Mar 2008 21:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Sitting in the Sky News venue, waiting for the debate, I'm struck by the number of child avatars in attendance in this packed house. I expected the audience to contain at least a few of them. Maybe as many as a quarter. Most of the avatars represented however are child avatars. Maybe some people who do not usually wear them are doing so just for this occasion, perhaps not. It is, after all of great interest to the community.

The debate is supposed to be on "Do real-world rules apply here", off the back of the recent video report by Farrell on an incident of sexual ageplay within Second Life. Well, of course they do, and they are applied. That would make for a very short debate. It's still fifteen minutes before showtime, the Sky News broadcast audio servers have crackled and died, Jason Farrell is on stage and we still don't know who the participants in the debate are going to be.

Continue reading The Sky News debate: Do real world rules apply here?

The Sky News debate: Do real world rules apply here? originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 05 Mar 2008 04:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Linden Lab has responded to the recent Sky News/Five News report on sexual ageplay between adults in Second Life with a formal statement.

In it, Linden Lab continues to hold a strong position against such content -- although, we think the statement itself would carry far weight if it were not almost word-for-word the same statement issued in response to Farrell's Wonderland scandal some several months ago.

Continue reading Linden Lab responds to Sky News, holds the line

Linden Lab responds to Sky News, holds the line originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 05 Mar 2008 00:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Sky's Five News reporter Jason Farrell who broke the Wonderland Scandal last year, has been back in Second Life with a young girl avatar, and hooked up with an adult avatar for sex at another site created by the creators of the now-removed Wonderland.

Second Life users had previously complained about the Wonderland site in Second Life for some time, particularly those users who had avatars that were either juvenile in appearance or diminutive, but virtual world operator Linden Lab took no action against Wonderland, claiming there was "no firm evidence of wrongdoing" -- nevertheless, the Wonderland site disappeared, apparently due to Linden Lab intervention sometime after the whole mess hit the mainstream media.

Continue reading Sky News targets sexual ageplay in Second Life again

Sky News targets sexual ageplay in Second Life again originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 03 Mar 2008 22:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Second Life "Wonderland" scandal hits mainstream media originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 31 Oct 2007 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.