Intellectual Property theft is a grave misconduct in the Second Life community, however unfortunately, it is rampant. Most I hear of theft consist of texture stealing and copying of objects or prims, I know of one whose building concept was stolen as well. However, the latest to hit is AVENUE MODELS, and they were hit in a different manner.

Read the entire post here, from AVENUE’s blog, and read on the stupidity of one Vanessa Knoller. This latest theft in the community exudes pure stupidity, that among the things I did (after saying “Damn, AVENUE??!” and recovering from shock, I also laughed because it was so stupidly done. Imagine copying and pasting a whole notecard without changing the infos in it! To top it all off, she makes a blog, puts another model’s photo on the header, and imitates AVENUE’s blog layout!

Avatars of Second Life, I present to you VANESSA KNOLLER OF SL MODELS AGENCY as the latest recipient of the first ever STUPIDEST ATTEMPT AT IP THEFT! She’s so devoid of originality, she dares use SL without the registered or trademark sign that all of us are now required to use. How clueless is she?

Indeed, in this instance, greed can make you stupid as well.

AVENUE was lucky to have caught wind of this situation the way they did, other victims of content theft are not so lucky. Nonetheless, the blow it strikes, regardless of how stupidly done the theft, is just as bad. It is a grave misconduct and a testimony that the concept of IP theft is so wide, everyone wonders what Linden Lab is doing about it.

It is also distressing to realize that some do not care of other people’s IP rights and do not hesitate to take it away. Not only is this wrong, it is DISHONORABLE, and more and more individuals are not caring about their statuses in SL just so they can do this nefarious acts against the COMMUNITY. For them, SL is just a game, another platform to for their racketeering schemes. They are just avatars with random names, copybots, misguided ingenuity and little to none talent. Until IP theft is addressed, the Second Life community won’t feel secure in the platform they feel most at their creative best. We will always not trust, always watch our backs, always be wary, and that is not good. For SL to thrive, its communities must feel secure and supported.

So please, Lindens, do something.

It has been 4 days a week since HodgePodge’s website has been down and my MetaNetwork Media email not working. I am frustrated and all the rumors on the SLCAPEX website are now starting to bother me. Seriously.

To think I just did some work on the website and is starting to get the hang of Joomla!

It has been said that MetaNetwork Media has been under a lot of scrutiny because of the lack of activities in world, however, not everybody knows or notices that HodgePodge Variety is part of MNM, and has been working steadily on it’s own even if it has affiliated itself with MNM. HodgePodge has achieved so much despite of little propaganda. I get a lot of feedback that the magazine is very useful, informative and easy to digest. However, I also get feedback that we can stand to improve on the visuals, considering that most magazines in SL are visually stimulating in nature.

And now this.

A turn for the worse? What can I do?

I was showing this article to my sister who always wonders what people actually do in SL. She laughed when I told her I got to dive in SL (right now I can’t afford to join her in RL), and when I showed her this she asked:

“Will Bear Grylls be there?” referring to the host of Man VS. Wild.

I can only answer:

“Who knows?”  Remembering that plenty of famous RL celebrities and icons like atheist Richard Dawkins have roamed in SL anonymously in the past, it won’t be surprising.

Anyhow, since the event is long past over, I better head there and join a group or something.

WRITERS WANTED:

My time in-world can tend to be flaky, so attending events (my favorite past time) and writing about them is very much affected. Besides, I long need someone to help me cover more events in SL for HodgePodge, especially on weekends when I’m not on.

So if anyone of you need a sideline and find yourself available and in SL on weekends, email me (i.fiddlesticks at metanetworkmedia.com) and let’s work together. I’m very flexible and I love working with others. My only criteria is that you are responsible, a self-starter, and you already have your own style of writing.

Rates are flexible and can easily be discussed…:)

Caved in and joined plurk…:D If you are in plurk, please add me up!

Isadora’s corner in Plurk

Eshi Otawara (Monday 21 July 2008) from ZoeConnolly on Vimeo.

There are some things you really cannot create in the physical universe but in an alternate reality where the mind and heart has a playground, uninterrupted by prejudices, limitations, and disability..:)

Yesterday, Eshi Otawara did a magnificent, nirvana-inducing, beautiful replica of lotuses in Second Life. The video above is a beautiful attempt to immortalize and capture Eshi’s works before she decides to take them all out. She did this in an hour, and in real life is an artist. She has been doing One-hour sim projects, changing everything everyday, until this particular day when she decided to keep the lotuses. Video is by Zoe Connolly, virtual world aviatrix.

Met lots of interesting people in Desperado, where the giant lotuses were blossoming, and heard and talked a lot about possibilities in Second Life. It is amazing when people get together to admire something and then discuss what else that needs to be done, what are yet to be explored, etc. The spirits of creativity, collaboration, appreciation, peace, and calmness lingered in whole build during that particular day, and it was special.

This was a special day in Second Life.

I’ve decided to put the past issues in ISSUU online, so if any of you who has difficulty with loading PDF files should be able to view the magazine in this manner. I also ought to put this in the website/blog, but I’m Joomla-challenged, so here it is for now.