The House Of Cards

Well well much has passed since I last wrote, we launched virtually-Linked London, slowly created a presence in real world, and Virtual through the “greyhound Project” and go for full launch to public on the 26th March using one of our good and oldest partner in this journey Ozone.

We shall also announce the direction we are headed for this year,with our new partners, after achieving all our goals beyond our expectations.

But I of course come to talk of other things, Linden Labs are on their crusade to monetize, and we of virtually-London have gone along for the ride, even changing our name from sllondon at great cost, as we were told we had to conform to passing of laws, and joining the gateway program, with the opening of Hyde Park.

But now I am disappointed, at moves within the process set in motion, which originally was so welcomed, and was perceived as a genuine attempt to gather under the platform known as secondlife, a collection of content, and service providers to take the said platform forward.

It seems all have lost sight of the fact it is the very Platform secondlife is what we stand to lose if this trend is not reversed, and after we all held our collective breaths as Obama went through his, campaign based on change, not only of how business was done, but of hearts and minds, and yet we still get the petty bickering associated with the old regimes.

What happened to Collaboration and Transparency ? there is this sudden urge by everyone to carve their little niche in the market, losing sight that we are yet to convince the organic world that, this market is viable at this time.

As we sit and bicker amongst ourselves sometimes on a personal level, the big boys, and by them I mean the owners of companies who are also aware of the yet to be achieved potential of virtual world and 3D web, watch these shenanigans, and I will bet my bottom dollar they are already rubbing their hands together as they plan to launch their version of virtual community, I stress the word community, because it will work for them as they have learn’t the lessons that we went through, and will provide a platform, monetized from day one, with the users given full control of their destinies.

At this point all our hard work to take our specific platforms forward will be for naught, unless you are in a position as market leader or at least to have been seen to have delivered on promises to your past clients, and therefore will be of use as possible consultants you can kiss your hard work and good bye.

If last years opensim debarkle did not give you an epiphany, then you are lost already, as that more than anything proved the fickleness of this new journey we call virtual worlds is.

And take this on board convincing ourselves its all good is one thing, convincing those you tell how wonderful and collaborative it is is one hell of a story further.

So I will end by saying if you are part of this striving to move forward on any platform, be aware it is not your project at risk at the moment, but the very platform you have put so much blood and sweat into, and if this continues, anyone with sense will already have a bail out doorway set in motion. And be aware it is the content and service that sing, not the theater they perform in.

As I have always said we In Virtually-Linked perceive our business as a joint effort of all friends and partners and some of you who have met me in real life will know that is what I always bang on about, so I plead with some out there to get back to the table, and take gun away from head, cause there is a live round in the chamber.

Further more we will work with any body, as long as there is the transparency, and openness, associated with good business practice.

These are my opinions, and I say them under no duress whatsoever, and you can agree or disagree, what you cannot do is do nothing about it.

Julius Sowu (Kwame Oh) on behalf of Virtually-linked London formally know as SLLondon “grin”

Virtual world & Communities as I see it

Ever since Edison first made it possible to communicate over distance electronically we have continued to become more immersed in a virtual world, your phone records are a representation of your communications with others, [adjective] being actually such in almost every respect.

We sometimes on our quest forget these principles but instead emerse ourselves in the world which is in favour at the moment in my case secondlife, and other world platforms.

The web, or the electronic media which makes up most of our communications at present I will refer to as the grid “because it has connotations to many a SciFi movie we have all watched” has in its own way tried to correct us, by creating pathways to and from all its respective comunities be it by feeds, Blog links, social network applications, and most inportant the “real you”  etc.

I was recently asked to “create” a community or community spirit within secondlife, and have come to the conclusion that only in the re connect between “all” form’s of these pathways would you be able to come close to a unified community, as there will always be members of your commuinty who are beyond the bounderies of one or more of these pathways.

I would also mention that community in world, on whatever platform you are using, is only a community there, and without the interconnect is “only” that, and is not in itself a community in its truest form.

So here is my pennies worth on Community building.

Your presence

Be you an avatar, Tag, etc. by mentaining your digital presence, with no connect to the other interconects, you have a comunity bound by the rules of that community, and cannot say you are in “the comunity whole” It is only when your real life presence is known, and the connect is complete and real world name , and personality traits and other human traits are present can you say so.

Your connections

Your connections “are” your presence in the larger comunity, you cannot possibly be trusted or taken at face value if you are “digi sexstar” in one comunity, and “theory Logic” in unother, unless through comunication and needs of the relavant communities, you make it clear you are “Jolly Goodfellow” after all, and all you say and do points to you as the individual that you are and can be recognised as.

The community whole

When above two points are established and stable, you have already by this point have a community, and will have formed consensus with members of that community as to where you meet be it in a pub having a drink, in secondlife conversing or working on project, on facebook, writing wishing members happy birthday or throwing sheep at you get my drift. You would also have found people who have similar interests to you and you can relate to and can then go on to form groups which enhance your existence.

There are some who feel this interconnect is dangerous, wrought with pitfalls, etc and will go to great lengths to hide parts of there community presence, my opinion, is yes there are dangers, and with communications as fast as they are in to days world, when danger comes it comes faster than before, but as with the real world, you can run, but you cannot hide, and communication between you and your fellow man, far out ways any negatives you will encounter.

My Community presence

Kwame Oh is my avatar in secondlife I see him as my real life presence there, if I could have afforded my real name, my avatars name would have been Julius Sowu, but have not won the Lotto yet. What I would say is his profile is more real life than secondlife. Facebook name Julius Sowu again my real name, and where I connect with members of my community , specifically family and friends who do not yet see the need to be in virtual world platform such as secondlife. Skype juliussowu, where I meet when the visual clues which I find missing “well to date, though voice technology helped” in the virtual world platforms I use, that is looking into the face of a friend when talking.

Conclusion

Some will already have come to the same conclusions I have, and some will totally disagree, both are proof that as you read this you are part of my community, and can respond, regect, and god forbid, tell me what an idiot I am. but all good, as you are in fact participating in “the community” and as such through such dialoge will directly or indirectly chart a course in to which we shall sail, and as such would love to hear any comments so as to enlighten me.

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