AW: [syndicate] Trans.: [thingist] IAM SPEAKER SERIES: SarahRobbins, March 12, 2007

[fmadre at free.fr]

> Hey Fred -

'lo Patrick
(dunno what the idc list is, I'm not xposting to it, but do as you wish)

> my father was on the verge of dying during that time, and honestly, I
wanted a space where there was always the knowledge that there was a
live warm body _somewhere_.

ah, well, perhaps it's not newageism but you still wanted to get away  
from the "body". of course I understand the situation you explained  
and the points in our life where we are prone to give up are many,  
still you "came to visit but decided to stay"
just yesterday I was reading a story by philip k dick, the story is  
called "Foster, you're dead"
http://www.philipkdickfans.com/pkdweb/Foster%20Youre%20Dead.htm
it's the story of a little boy who lives in a world were war is  
overpresent and people have been conned into buying family shelters  
that they install near their homes. the kid's father is the only guy  
in town who refuses to give in to this, more for political reasons  
than money issues. finally, because his son is afraid to become an  
outcast, he buys one. the day after is is installed the press reveals  
that a new weapon has been released which renders this shelter  
useless, the shelter company isssues an add-on shortly as well as a  
new type of shelter. this endless cycle, of course, has been happening  
for ages. the dad returns the shelter to the manufacturer and refuses  
to buy one again, ever. it's a world where one company has taken over  
the world with its product which has become necessary for survival,  
the real reason for its necessity is totally virtual.

I think the worst thing with sl type of business ventures is that,  
patrick, you are being controlled by them, controlled by the software.  
you might feel it is a world where you freely roam and within which  
you experience what you want and you tend to blend with the  
"atmosphere". this atmosphere is totally man made, the software is  
designed by the owners of the business to their goals. their goals  
are, as you know, to first gain a lot of users and make a lot of  
marketing noise (they are succeeding in this) and second to make money  
out of their business with those users. the software is their control  
tool over you the users of the service.

it is generally a bad idea, I find, to delve willingly in areas where  
one is being controlled. it is generally a good idea, I find, to  
resist any control and even better to avoid controlled areas.

what areas in SL are uncontrolled and unmonitored ? none.
everything you engage in there is known and logged and this data is  
crossed with other data that you willingly give away.

PLUS it looks like shit!

> For me, it is a place in which I study the sociology and artforms of the
place and then bring those artifacts into the physical.

I understand this, and please understand that I am as curious as you  
are. that's the good side of all this over-coverage of SL: my  
curiosity is satisfied without me having to go there at all.

> When I mean community, I mean that I enjoy this milieu for the same
reason why I enjoyed Rhizome in the mid-90's.  There is a group of New
Media avats there who are 'interested';

it looks to me that people have too powerful machines and they don't  
know what to do with this hardware power. they feel they need to  
consume the hardware power with new software fuel. some, kof kof, new  
media type of people are very prone to technological consumption for  
its own sake. they are going to be the first out there who get the new  
shelter... for them, participating to old style mailing lists is so  
passe

> It is an elite place.  Period.

with 4 million elitists ? looks like the last pair of Nikes to me
(btw, I think this
http://rhizome.org/thread.rhiz?thread=23737&page=1#46558
totally disqualifies the O1s as, yeah, activists. they are just  
bullshit scam artists drawing money for a company that is as evil as  
Nike)


> WHAT I DON'T LIKE/MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT SL

thanks, patrick for remaining unblinded.

> What I think people "don't get" delineates people who see SL as "THE
NEXT BIG THING", and those who see it as a milieu which can augment
functions in RL/First Nature.

mmm, I see it as neither of those, mostly as a new business venture  
which is namedropped everywhere and that i chastize for popularizing  
more childishness
have you read the Dick (again) story "the days of perky pat" ?
this had such a powerful effect on me that I had to stop reading this  
particular collection of short stories for a week after finishing that  
one

apparently he later on developed on this idea
http://www.technovelgy.com/ct/content.asp?Bnum=577
I read all of his books so early on in my life that now I seem to have  
forgotten about it

have a good read,
f.