Marianne McCann and Mole Day

By Deaflegacy

On Saturday February 2, Bay City held it's annual Mole Day event. It was organized by Marianne McCann. She and I met at the site of the Mole Day party. We were talking about the celebration and how it got started.“Well, it's always an honor to put on Mole Day," replied Marianne, "Bay City was one of the very first projects of the Linden Department of Public Works, so we have a special kinship to the Moles. Mole day was started by me and BlueGin Yifu, as a way of honoring their good works. all the stuff the Moles make and do to help keep Second Life fun and all.”

I asked Marianne where she gets the idea for the Mole Day. “Well, it was last January about eight years ago," said Marianne, "and BlueGin and I were thinking about Groundhog Day, which was upcoming. We thought 'heck with groundhogs, we got moles!' This led to us thinking, about all the work the Moles did in Bay City and elsewhere, and that we should honor them for it. That first year, all we did was issue a proclamation in their honor, By the next year, we decided to hold a public concert in their honor.”

I wanted to know how the Lindens and the Moles feel about the Mole Day. “They've always seemed to appreciate it," replied Marianne, "They don't get a great deal of praise, after all. I mean, Lindens are usually vilified - rightly or wrongly - but moles tend to be, well, under the radar.” I was curious to see who shows up the most often. “Garden is here most times, Ancient, Abnor, and others often show too.” said Marianne. “The weather may be causing issues this year.”

I was wondering if the event had changed in any way. “Yes, a bit," replied Marianne, "Like I said, it was at first not even an event itself, but the thing I've noticed is how it's gone from simply a Bay City event to more of a grid-wise thing. People from elsewhere on the grid come here to partake.”

My last question was which one of Lindens or Moles have been the most fun. “Oh gosh, that's a hard hard question. There's been so many! I don't think I could even pick one.” said Marianne.

I stayed at the party for as long as I could, but with so many people coming to the party, due to the lag, I have to leave. But I sure hope that the others had lots of fun at the Mole Day party.

Deaflegacy

Interview with GoSpeed Racer (GoSpeed Rasere)

By Deaflegacy

GoSpeed Racer, best known for being the owner of KONA Radio, the DJ for many of Bay City's events, and a display name matching the name of a Japanese cartoon character, was recently crowned Miss Bay City near the end of it's "Hot Bay City Nights" yearly summer car show. GoSpeed had been Djing the Miss Bay City Contest for the past few years and had entered once before.  “I figured I'd give it a shot this year,” she explained.

I asked GoSpeed why she chose her particular account name. She answered, “When I first signed up in 2006 I was going through the list of available last names. As I scrolled past Racer, I saw the GEICO Insurance commercial featuring Speed Racer (on TV). So, on a lark I chose GoSpeed Racer.” Recently, she has been using the display name "GoSpeed Rasere." She explained,  “This past year I changed it to Rasere because I am using GoSpeed as a character in my writing and I wanted to avoid intellectual property issues with my name.”

GoSpeed does have a "Mark-Five," the car her cartoon counterpart drives, which was in the Newser for a cartoon in 2011. When I asked her if she had ever raced with it, she said, “No, it's a very fast vehicle and that often leads to crashes and horrible sim crossing snafus.” She won a nice sports car from 2Zm as a prize for winning the Miss Bay City Contest. That it had a "5" painted on it, GoSpeed smiled, calling it "Pure coincidence."

When I asked if there are any other peaks to winning the Miss Bay City Contest beside the title and bragging rights, she answered, “Nope, nothing else!” There are no specific events she has to attend, or/and responsibilities of the title, but GoSpeed intend to attend as many Bay City events as possible. Of the crown, she says she will wear it mainly at these events. GoSpeed has been attending events in Bay City since 2009.

GoSpeed would like people to know that KONA Stream is still alive and kicking after nearly 11 years inworld, "Our homepage is www.konastream.com . It's (been) doing quite well the past year. Listenership in and offworld has increased.”

GoSpeed is also a budding novelist, who has completed the drafts to two novels  She is working on a third.  When asked what they were about, she explained, "They are novels about a futuristic simulation where SL avatars are reconstituted as living AI. Our social media presence is preserved and then used with computer algorithms to synthesize personalities." That is, their personalities are based on how their users used the avatars in actions and virtual speech, and, "on how the algorithm interprets the imagery, blogs, etc... You may have read an article where researchers say that based on a person's lifelong Facebook and other social media postings that an somewhat accurate represntation of their personality can be emulated. So, our avatars live on, but they won't totally be us.  I hope to self publish by the new year."

You can go to her personal Second Life blog at https://gospeedracer.wordpress.com/  to read more about her stories and other things about her.  The link to GoSpeed's blog as well as her other media sites is:  http://about.me/GoSpeed_Racer .

Pictures from Bixyl Shuftan and GoSpeed Racer.

Deaflegacy

Interview With Marianne McCann

By Deaflegacy

Marianne McCann would say that Bay City is a themed Mainland city, created by Linden Lab back in 2008. Since then, it's Residents, with some help from the Lab and their moles, have helped see the city grow into a virtual community.  That was exactly what Marianne said about Bay City.

"Oh yes," Marianne told me, "Well, the way Bay City was described by Linden Lab before it opened was 'the American urban experience, between 1940 and 1965, perhaps best typified by Chicago circa 1950 and marked by a distinct deco influence."'

There is more city feel to Bay City, from skyscrapers to other city environments. Bay City consists of 24 Residential regions, with an additional 24+ owned by Linden Lab. Each of the Residential regions has a bit more than half the land owned by Linden Lab as well, which allows for the residential parcels to have a double prim allowance.

When asked if Bay City has a council, Marianne said, "Informally. There is a community group, called the Bay City Alliance, that meets every Tuesday. I run the meetings, but everyone who attends has a voice."

Marianne joined Second Life back in early 2006 after a couple of her friends recommended it.  For Bay City, back in 2008, Linden Lab was promoting it on their official blog.  She was already interested in "city land" and had been eyeing parcels in the Nova Albion city area, but the mid-century theme of Bay City was right up Marianne's alley.   She was one one of the early land owners in the city, winning her first Bay City parcel in the initial land auction.

I also asked her about what inspired her in her choice of avatar. Marianne said, "I started to play a kid avatar about a month after joining, in part inspired by other friends who were kid avatars. It's a way to let my more childlike self - what one might call their "inner child" or what not - out to play and have fun and be silly."

I asked her about a controversy that happened several years ago involving child avatars.  Marianne said, "Well, that's a complex question. I'd say there were a couple times child avatars have been viewed as a controversy. The biggest of these was back in 2007 after Report Mainz, in Germany, did a piece on the trading of real life child pornography on Second Life's servers, as well as simulated child abuse between an adult and a child avatar. This was, essentially, resolved by Linden Lab putting restrictions on the type of content that child avatars can use, and the actions they can do."

I also asked her about her involvement in Burn2 and Second Life birthday.  Marianne said that she has a "bad habit" of volunteerism.  With Burn2, she ran Inner Child Camp, which led to further involvement with the event.  Nowadays Marianne and her inworld brother have been called on three times to build and script "The Man" and the "Man Burn."  As for the SL birthday, she first displayed back at the 3rd birthday event, and have been a part of many years.  "Back around SL9B, when the Lab had pulled their direct involvement with the event, I and a coalition of other residents worked to put on our own birthday event. We have since kept at it to this day." said Marianne.

When Marianne was asked about Bay City's position, Marianne said, "Well, I think everyone wants the best and the most for their hometown, regardless, and I know I've very proud of Bay City and want to see it continue to flourish. I think we have gotten a fair amount of attention over time, but I'm always willing to see it get more!"

I asked her as well about Luskwood and Bay City, the two communities being a few sims apart.  She said that she think that Luskwood and Bay City get along pretty well.  Some of the folks from Luskwood have came over to Bay City for some of the big events, like the anniversary event.  Bay City is pretty easy going. 

Finally, I asked Marianne about her plans for the future. She answered, "As far as Bay City goes, we're in the midst of finishing up a project we've been working on for a long time, which is Enter Bay City, our Community Gateway for new SL users. Beyond that, I hope to see all of us, including myself, continue to flourish and grow."

After that, I told Marianne goodbye and wished her well. As one of Bay City's most visible residents, Marianne sets a fine example.

Deaflegacy

Post-Election Support Group For Democrats

By Bixyl Shuftan

The results of US Presidential elections always bring out cheers from those who won and some sadness and sometimes a little anger from those who didn't. For instance in 1992 with the election of Bill Clinton, Democrats called it a new generation coming to power while Republicans often moaned the White House was in the hands of a skirt-chaser. But the 2016 election season had been an especially intense one. Both major political parties fielded controversial candidates, and partisans again and again stated the election of the opposing candidate would spell disaster for the country. On Election Day on Tuesday November 8, the country went to the polls, and in a tight election that wasn't decided until almost Midnight SL time, the Republican candidate Donald Trump was declared the winner.

For conservatives, many were celebrating and/or breathing sighs of relief. But many liberals took the results with shock and dismay. While that Trump was a political rookie was occasionally a source of worry, more often many feared his over-the-top statements made during the campaign were a sign that he and his allies would make an effort to roll back their rights.

It was several days later that Evangeline Ling, the leader of the Hillary Clinton HQ in Bay City during the election, decided to do something about these fears. So she announced in the Clinton HQ group, "We are launching our post-election support group appropriately named SAFETY PIN. The purpose of this group will be to provide a safe space for people negatively impacted by the election to process it and to support each other." On Thursday November 17 came another notice, "We will be launching our 1st support group meeting on Tonight, November 17th at 7:00 PM SLT Please come join us. Then if you would like to take some time to process your fears, hopes, and experiences about this election.  It's been a stressful week for many of us I know. If you know a friend who is struggling with this in SL please bring them with you."

The location of the "Safety Pin" meeting was in a two-story skybox high above Bay City, above a spot marked by the symbol of the Clinton campaign, and a car with it painted on the hood. Evangeline greeted the number of men and women present. The people there expressed a great deal of fear about the future, some for their physical well-being in real life. Seeing me, Evangeline requested that everything stated in the meeting be off the record, as well as no pictures published from inside the building on the second floor unless the subject gave his or her okay later. But she did say she'd be willing to talk later.

Later on, Evangeline told me she had been doing security for the Clinton HQ, and had to deal with quite a large number of griefers. Of the Trump supporters, "it's too easy to just say they are all a bunch of malevolent racists. I see them in the categories." The majority she felt were "white working voters mostly concerned about the economy and changing the system. Hillary failed to really fully address their concerns so they went with Trump who was a big FU to the system. I actually have a great deal of empathy for them."

The second group she felt were mainly motivated by their hate and/or fear of Clinton, "they might not even actually like Trump. My Stepdad thought he was a total idiot, but voted for him anyways because he was not a Clinton." The third group was the "Alt-right," which she felt was a sanitized name for white supremacists and other outright extremist groups that were essentially fascist, "they will be the ones throwing out antisemitic memes, Pepe the frog memes, neo-nazi memes, etc. They are very social media driven."

"My biggest fear of this election is that Trump has made people in the Alt Right more comfortable in being OUT about their hate." She described an incident at a Chili's restaurant in Texas in which a black veteran had his meal taken away, "Chili's has since apologized to the vet and removed the manager. But why did this have to happen? ... Trump has, even if not directly or intentionally, emboldened those with those views."

I asked her where the idea of the safety pin as the group's symbol come from. Evangeline told me, "we decided to go ahead and use the safety pin since it became such a phenom in real-life. It actually was a symbol people used after Brexit in the UK." When I brought up that some conservatives were poking fun at it, she answered, "They were going to make fun of us no matter what we called ourselves."

On her Flickr page, Evangeline had a message for Trump supporters. "If you are celebrating today congratulations you have gotten something you wanted and as much as I disagree with your choice there is a part of me that is happy that somebody found some joy in this decision. But right now there are many things that you are doing that will cut off a person like me for a very long time, possibly permanently." Among her comments was one about illegal aliens, or "undocumented immigrants," which I asked her about that, saying conservatives were highly unlikely to change calling them the former, her answer was, "we will continue to call that an offense against human dignity to refer to a person as an illegal."

So what did she think lay ahead? "I think two years of disappointment for sure," she answered, "Then I'm putting hopes that we can take back the Senate, and maybe lighten up the House a bit." She was hoping Tim Ryan of Ohio would be the next Minority Leader of the House, "he has a plan to reclaim moderate blue collar voters ... who may have tilted Trump this year. ... But honestly, I will not breath easy until Trump is totally out of office altogether.

Asking about future meetings, Evangeline told me the next one would be on Friday November 25 (today), the day after Thanksgiving, at 7PM SL time, feeling some right-wing minded family members would be rubbing it in at the family gatherings, "We are gonna get out our post Thanksgiving detox that day after any potentially explosive dinner table convos. ... My thoughts are Uncle Archie needs to lay off Meathead this Thanksgiving and stick a turkey leg in it." After that, events would be on a floating schedule, with plans for two events in December, "after that we might go down to one meeting a month, will have to see."

Since the first support group meeting, the situation in politics continues to change. The protests in the streets in many cities seem to be quieting down, though the worry remains. The President-elect is still selecting members of his administration, some choices seen as sound, others raising eyebrows. Evangeline may have her support group meetings around for a while.

Hamlet Au has also written about the support group, his article here.

For those wanting to be at the support group meetings, contact Evangeline Ling for a landmark.

Bixyl Shuftan

SL12B : Marianne McCann, Revisited

By DrFran Babcock

 Tricked!

I received an offline message from the famous Doc Gascoigne telling me that Marianne McCann wanted me to interview her. This didn’t seem too unusual, because my last Second Life Birthday interview with her was my favorite interview since I had started work at SL Newser (http://slnewserpeople.blogspot.com/2013/06/sl10b-interview-marianne-mccann.html),. I put it all together: Doc, Mari, SL12B all the components seemed to be in place, so I thought all was in place. I contacted Marianne, and she informed me that Doc had told her I wanted to interview her! Well, you have to love Mr. Gascoigne for his cleverness. Marianne and I laughed about this prank, and agreed to talk about SL12B.

Unfortunately for us, we were both so busy with (me) Relay for Life, High Fidelity, and First Life; and Marianne with The Arcade, SL12B, and the beginning of summer camp. As she said: “Yikes!”

The Interview

However, thanks to the wonder of notecards and Instant Messages, we present here an interview with the beloved Marianne McCann, wise beyond her young years:

SL Newser:  In my opinion, this year is a tipping point for Second Life™. Work has begun on SL2.0 (Sansar) and Philip Rosedale is in alpha with High Fidelity. Where do you see yourself positioned as things begin to shift?

Marianne: Personally, I don't see that. I do think there's a LOT of interesting things going on in Virtual Worlds, even beyond High Fidelity and Project Sansar, but I don't see that as the death knell of Second Life.

On a personal level, I have almost no interest in High Fidelity. I do have an account, but I've yet to find anything I feel enticed by there. As to Sansar, well, I need to see something before I even consider any involvement there.

So, so far, I'm still riding this wave. If something compels me, I'll go over there -- but thus far, I'm not compelled.

 SL Newser: SL12B What Dreams May Come…what does this title mean to you?

Marianne: Well, it's a little known fact that I came up with this year's theme.

Initially, I was playing off this notion that when we create in Second Life, what we create comes from our own dreams. We create this world purely from our own imaginations. At the Second Life birthday, we bring those dreams out and share them with each other. It's why I've tended to call each SL12B presentation a "dream," rather than just a "display."

There is a deeper level to it, however, and it's slightly coded into the choice of quote I used for the theme. "What Dreams May Come" is from Hamlet's "To be or not to be" soliloquy, and is very much about death, and what dreams may come in dying. The Richard Matheson book that also uses the line is similarly about death. It may seem odd for a birthday.

Yet, let's go back to your earlier question: so many want to think of Second Life has having this uncertain future in the wake of Project Sansar and other things. Heck, we have a long and storied history of declaring the death of Second Life.

So, in this time, when we seem so enamored with the death of Second Life, let us instead see what dreams may indeed come. Let's really give people a taste of what makes Second Life still the best virtual experience out there, twelve years down the line.

SL Newser: Tell me a little (lot) about your build.

        a.    How did you get the idea?

        b.    What were the special challenges in putting it together?

        c.    What is your favorite part of the build?

        d.    What thoughts/feelings you like people to take away from the exhibit?

Marianne: My main build this year is the pavilion for Bay City, titled "The Bay City Dream." I wanted to share a slice of what those of us who live there see and experience.

I've always been fond of building my displays at the birthday event in line with vintage World's Fair structures, and this year is no exception. The design itself is a scaled down version of the Ford Magic Skyway, designed by WED Enterprises for the 1964-65 New York World's Fair (ED Note: That’s exactly what I thought of when I saw it). It does deviate a lot from it, but anyone familiar with the original will see some very obvious nods.

It is also a classic "Dark Ride," which is what the original was as well. You'll board a car, built by my collaborator, ADudeNamed Anthony (ED Note: who came in third in my RFL team’s build contest) and see three vistas of the city, while a narrator - we've called him "Narrator Mole" tells you about the Bay City Dream.

It was a bit of a challenge to put together. How do you portray the whole flavor of Bay City within a limited space? I had to use a lot of visual tricks to pull it off. In the end, the vistas inside are probably my favorite element of the show.

In the end, though, I hope folks who visit it get a sense of what the Bay City mainland community is, and what makes us a special place. I also hope it entertains folks, and they enjoy the whimsy of it all.

SL Newser:  What else would you like people to know about you, about SL, about the future of virtual worlds? In other words…what dreams may come??

Marianne: In the end, I'm a dreamer. I always will be. I think there's yet a bright future in Virtual Worlds, and we've only yet scratched the surface here. There's still times to be had here, and rather than hanging funerary flowers, let's celebrate what we have here, and what will be.

Once again, Marianne has shown herself to be a literate and sane resident in a world filled with every form of humanity—just like First Life.

Notecards make it easy to conduct an interview, but I will have to track down this busy girl and do some follow up.

Meanwhile, come to SL12B and take a ride into the history of Bay City:

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/SL12B%20Wonderous/24/103/22

DrFran Babcock

A Special SL Kid: Marianne Mccann's Rezzday

By Gemma Cleanslate

 Saturday February 22 was a special day in Second Life because it was the rezz day of a special person: Marianne Mccann who was "born" in 2006. Here is a SL kid who has accomplished a lot in Second Life during her life. She has always been true to her SL inner child, but has been involved in so many things.  Marianne first entered Second Life as an adult, but became a three year old child soon after, Now she is an 8 year old, but is resting at that age. 

I went over to "The Pen" in Bay City, where she has properties, for her birthday party. Lots of kids and grown up friends were present for the festivities. Marianne herself did the DJing for the dances. People dropped by to congratulate her. I have known Mari since 2009. I believe I met here at my first visit to SLB at the kids build. Later I asked her to write an article for the SL Newser as part of a whole group of SL kids articles. You can read about Mari here  http://slnewserpeople.blogspot.com/2010/08/so-why-am-i-kid-avatar.html . I think she was SL kids age 3 then. 

I have been at many events where Mari was involved in one way or another.  One of the most exquisite things I think she ever did was the history build for the SL10B . It was a complete look at the past years in a wonderful setting. I kept going back to it over and over so I did not miss anything. It should be preserved somewhere in Second Life for posterity.  Right now Mari is getting ready for the first Second Life Winter Games which will be held at Chamonix City in mid-March. I have always admired Mari and wish her so many more years of achievement in SL. 

Drfran Babcock did an interview with her after the SL10B .
http://slnewserpeople.blogspot.com/2013/06/sl10b-interview-marianne-mccann.html

Gemma Cleanslate

SL10B Interview: Marianne McCann

By DrFran Babcock

Second Life’s Tenth Birthday is on June 23, 2013, and the celebration is going to be the biggest birthday bash this virtual world has ever seen. There is a lot of buzz about Marianne McCann’s full-sim build, some of which was covered in prims, and the rest of which had signs asking folks not to take pictures. Top secret builds are always a fascinating draw for the public, so I decided to see if Mari would grant me an interview prior to the opening of her history-themed sim.

I was surprised and pleased that she was willing to speak with me. We met on the SL10B build on Beguile, but you won’t see any photos of the build until press day^—not really that much of a loss, because Marianne is a delight to speak with. I have always found her to be someone who both takes Second Life™ seriously as well as playfully. That’s a sophisticated feat to pull off. Here’s what she had to say:

SL Newser: Mari, you were not in Second Life™ from the beginning--you came in during the rush of 2006, as did I. However, you possess an enormous love for the history and anthropology of this virtual world.

Marianne McCann: At heart, I’ve always been an explorer, no matter the world -- and part of that means understanding the history, the background. You know, getting a sense of what a place or thing is all about, and here, it became understanding the stuff that predates me, looking at how the world had evolved before I made an account in 2006.

I found it fascinating to watch the evolution, and read the history of things that sound like almost mythical things. The tax revolt, the Jessie War... all these things that made the fabric of Second Life™.


SL Newser: This is one of the first major builds I have seen you construct that does not focus on the Child Play community. Many people who do not know you here may come to know you as someone who is a genius of history, not a pioneer in the freedom to be whatever one wants to be here. What are your feelings about this?


Marianne McCann: I’m actually okay with that, really. It’s a funny story, in a way, and one that typifies my Second Life™ I guess.

I came to Second Life after hearing about it from friends, and felt it might be a good respite from actually doing a lot of community activism in my first life. Then, quite unexpectedly, found myself doing much the same here! “No matter where you go, there you are” became a very true thing.

On the plus side, we've all come a long way since then. A lot of those battles have been won or lost.
And really, it has allowed me to show off more facets of me. Like the interest in history, or some of the builds I've done in and for Bay City. That doesn't stop me from still keeping a foot in kid stuff, and staying watchful, but it gives me a more varied palate.

SL Newser: Can you explain the process you went through in coming up with the design of the build? I really want a glimpse into your inspiration...and your perspiration. What was it like to conceive of a build this large ?


Marianne McCann: Well, I have a bad habit when doing builds at the SL Birthdays. My first stop is to look at the World’s Fairs in the US in the mid-century. See, there’s that history interest, and in this case, I knew I wanted to showcase everything year by year, and give people a place to walk around and reflect.

This build was inspired a bit by the Avenue of Flags at the 1933 Century of Progress Exhibition in Chicago, Illinois. The upright flagpoles come directly from it, I'll admit, but I opted to make it a plaza, with the pools and fountains to give it a more “park like” feel. The large arches in the back, feature the Second Life™ sun image from the old viewer as a fresco, to emphasize the passage of time. And of course the big box prims up there, a play on the old slogan: “It all started with a cube.” But ya, it winds though, with a sign or two for year to year, giving the highlights and some pictures, as well as the various items. Most everything is from its actual years, with items dating back to early 2002 and textures back to December 2001!

The first item on the walk is the remains of a slideshow that Linden Lab gave in 2001, at the Demonstration conference, talking about their upcoming Linden World project.
It's fascinating to read through and get a sense of what Philip & Co. envisioned early on, and muse about how close it may have gotten.


SL Newser: How have you been able to amass so many artifacts of the history of Second Life™ Who are your mentors, idols, etc?


Marianne McCann: Well, in some ways, it just sort of happened. An inventory in the 95k range and all...but back in 2007, I believe, I was writing for the Metaverse Messenger, an in world newspaper, doing a kids page. I started to watch for interesting happening on the grid then. I spotted a big gambling protest in Pooley, and photographed it. Also, I got a couple of their protest signs,  some of which I could not display on a General rated region! This led to me starting to collect items here and there relating to this history: protest signs, stuff from the tax revolt, then old maps, other items of note here and there, Eventually, well, you can see it all here,  I suspect.


SL Newser: Oh, and bears ? I guess the bears are too primmy?


Marianne McCann: I actually donated a few to another build here: Bear Island. I would need a full sim just for that collection; I have over 400 Linden Bears, and some of them are, um, not exactly prim savers. It was  my first collection, I suppose. I remember trawling through Ambelside hunting up bears.


And mentors:  I think that the SL History wiki, and all the work Oz Spade and Eggy Lippman put in on our history also helped fuel me, and Salazar Jack, too, and of course, Lalo Telling, who did some amazing history work. This build is actually dedicated in the memory of Lalo, who passed recently.
A number of times while doing this build, I’d come across something and think: “Lalo would love this!” or “Oh, Lalo would know this.” For example, finding evidence about what may have been the first Second Life2 road network in Tehama via old pictures of Natoma, that sort of thing. Oh yes, Daniel Voyager. He puts so much heart into everything he does.

SL Newser: What would you like folks to know about Second Life™?


Marianne McCann: I want people to think of Second Life as a place, a tangible space we can all share and can all do great things within. In my neck of the SL grid, Bay City, we’ve got this great community of people, all tending to work together and make our community great. I love that. So ya. I guess that. It’s this incredible place where we can all share, and learn, and grow. I also love to see people come together and make something greater. Being good neighbors and helping each other. I’m a hippie kid at heart
.

SL Newser: You have been quite open on your blog and elsewhere about your reasons for playing a child in Second Life™. What have been the positive and negative outcomes of this?

Marianne McCann: Well, the positives are that, first off, folks know where I and other kids come from. It’s a “light a candle versus cursing the darkness” thing. It’s made things better for kid avatars, I think. Its helped people see what it is, what we’re doing, not thinking we're all here for some deviant purpose or whatever. Otherwise, what would they learn? Not from the stuff on Report Mainz or Sky News? That’s not the kids I know.


The negative: Well, most of the negatives came out of ignorance of why I was a kid here, though I think that it has caused me to be a bit pigeonholed. People just think of me with kid stuff, or they think I’m going to be more radical, or...I dunno. I'm good with that!

I've taken some pains to try to make this build as open as I can. I mean, so it's not just “my” history. I mean, hard for it to not be through my own lens, but I have tried to be objective A lot of the photos I’ve used here are ones I’ve shot, so it is through my eyes. However, it’s not “scenes of my family life,” or what have you.


SL Newser: Pie or Cheese? (Note: This “joke” question was a standard in the old Metaverse Messenger.)

Marianne McCann: And there can be only one answer: Apple pie. With a slice of cheese.


SL Newser: Is there anything you want to say about how you came into SL, why it clicked for you, and why you love it so?


Marianne McCann: I had actually heard of SL way back. I had a first life boss who ended up being one of Linen Lab's first marketing guys. At that time there was no Mac client, and I saw no obvious value in buying into a service I could not even use, so I “filed it,” as it were. But come late 2005, early 2006 I had a couple friends who were here regularly, and raving about it all. I decided to come here for a week or two and see what the hubbub was all about. I wasn’t initially impressed. My computer was a bit slow for SL, even in those days, so the user experience was low. I could not even properly finish the tutorial on Orientation Island! The Ahern Welcome Area was a madhouse, and I quickly moved my home to the Sami Infohub.

Then I met up with the folks I knew who were here. This is the funny bit. I had three friends: One was a young mouse in a family of furs, one was a kid out on her own, and one was a kid in a family.
I thought was a bid odd but after I explored a bit what they were doing, seeing what they were up to, it seemed like quite a bit of fun. I ended up stretching those two weeks... a bit. We both grinned a lot at that statement.

SL Newser: One last question: What do you forsee in the future for Second Life™?

Marianne McCann: I’m going to tie that a bit to this display, in a way. When I started to write out all of the different things that happened in Second Life™, year by year: Gaming Open Market (GOM), Windlight, the Banking Ban, Ansche Chung, Flexiprims, etc., etc.

I realized that every innovation, every highlight, every controversy, every policy change could be written with a sentence that ended: “This was widely criticized as a bad idea, and it was said this would be the end of Second Life.” Every year, Second Life™ has been ending. Free accounts would be the end of it, or whatever, and yet, here we are, ten years on.

We have had our dark times. When the Lab laid off so many of its staff right at the end of the M Linden era; then I did worry, but we persisted, even past that. There’s some amazing stuff right now. I am a sucker for mesh stuff, and the materials stuff is amazing too.

I don’t think we’ll ever see Second Life™ like it was at the end of 2006 into 2007, the wunderkind, with all the corporations flicking about, but we’ll survive, and grow.


SL Newser: Thanks so much Marianne. What a thought-provoking interview. I can’t wait until the world can see your build.

SL10B opens June 15^th, 2013. More information can be found here: http://slcommunitycelebration.com

DrFran Babcock

Credit for the Liquid Prim: RRaskolnikov Roffo of the Lollygaggers (one of my favorite objects in my inventory)