AiM Project Status as of 11/11/2011

I have some land of my own, and I have a building there. Want to see? Here’s the slurl:

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Seonbawee/133/45/47

This is my AiM Bank. Not to worry! There’s no money trade going on here. It’s just an example of how a building can be made accessible to truly everyone. There’s also a slope on my land.

It may be a little sloppy at the moment. That’s because I had a problem with it recently. I came in one day, only to find some pieces of the slope were not in place. I’ve tried to correct the problem, but…let’s just say that I’m not much of a builder.

About how complete the land is…I’d still like a revolving door, preferrably with a button that triggers a demo of taking you through the door. This is not exactly in accordance with how such a button would work in RL, because there it would cause the door to slow down for some time.

There’s some more that needs to be done here, but it is a beginning. Hopefully it will stay this time.

What more do I have…? Ah yes! Virtual Architecture 101.

I’ve tried contacting Jon Brouchoud. Although Evidence suggests that his account is still active, I have yet to receive a reply.

Even with the grant request still to be completed, I’m still considering presenting my project at Virtual Ability Island. At the very least I’d like to see if I can get some pointers on how to create some activity in the group. Although…a presentation at Virtual Ability Island might do the trick.

I know Mike Burleigh from my time with the White Tiger Mentors. After he showed interest in Accessibility in Mind, I presented my plans for it to him. Although this was a good 2 months ago, I have yet to hear back from him.

Growing up a la Second Life

To make use of a very attractive offer, my creator has enabled me to own land. I’m thinking of buying some, and letting it to others. I think I can offer cheaper rates than the landlord I rent the AiM Project land from, but only if I get more than 1 tenant. Oh, all of them will, of course, have their own parcel.
If anyone is interested, and knows a spot that I can buy, please let me know!

Speaking of my AiM Project…

Is it going much too slowly, or is this my eagerness talking, to keep the building going?

Who knows the expression ‘being in two minds about something’? Well, I’m in four minds about my project.

Part of me wants to keep asking my builder, and part of me doesn’t want to get on his nerves. Part of me wants to see if someone else can take over, and part of me doesn’t want to offend Heino in the process.

As for the latter…logic dictates that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one, but is this sacrifice necessary in this case?

Questions…questions…I hope I’ll get going again soon. I do have an idea of what I’d like. A building with the front of a bank, and information buttons inside. Oh, and let’s not forget about a slope, with a horizontal part in the middle. Nothing too accurate, I just want it to serve as inspiration.

I’ve got plans. Just…no builder.

Progress of AiM Project

My creator recently made the first steps in realizing his dream for the disabled people of RL. Although…this will actually end up benefitting everyone, and not just the disabled people.

Firstly, the Accessibility in Mind SL group has been created, which everyone who’s interested is free to join. Just click on the group name. If there’s anything new to report, you can be sure I’ll put it into a notice.

Secondly, the land is being rented, and I’ve also put a donation meter up. A grant request is in the works, but we need an alternative way of getting the money for the rent, until the grant request can be submitted.

Thirdly, building has begun, but is on hold for the moment, as my builder has lots of other work to do.

Lastly, I’ve put up some signs with text explaining how I envision AiM to work.

Facebook from SL to VirtaPay

Some avatars have had an account at Facebook, and many of us have seen their account deleted. The reason is that the people who rule Facebook want to have only RL people use it.

To help us finance what we do in Second Life, our creators can use VirtaPay. This is one of the services that I get to pass on to students who take my class.

Here’s a twist of fate:

VirtaPay now expects its users – one of them being my creator – to use Facebook information to log in. With Facebook having deleted so many accounts that were opened for us avatars, can I still in good conscience include VirtaPay in my Student Presents?

The money our creators get this way, helps them finance what’s done in Second Life, but still…

I’ll let my students decide. That is…I guess I’ll hear it if they object to the inclusion of VirtaPay, but I’ll tell you this much:

With the first objection I get, VirtaPay is out!

From Time to Time…and Back Again

Every year Second Life Time skips an hour, and jumps back again at a later date. Why do we have to go through this every single year?

Avatars…some of our creators have to deal with shifts in time no fewer than 4 times per year. This is because the use of DST in both their time zones and SLT are not in sync with each other.

Switching to UTC will be quite a jump, but it will make things easier on us avatars, and on our creators. Some of our creators will have only 2 time shifts per year left to deal with, while other creators will have none. Also, we avatars will not have anymore time shifts to make.

I believe that there’s only 1 thing to do:

I call on all avatars to get their creators to vote on and watch Issue ID SVC-1385, to motivate Linden Lab to switch to UTC as soon as possible.

The jump to UTC is big, but it will be our last one, and it will make time keeping in Second Life easier.

May our creators understand the logic of voting for this issue. Only then will they place the vote that will make our and their lives easier.

Lest I forget…I thank the creator of Coyote Pace for creating this issue in the JIRA.

AiM Project still growing

OK, I’ll admit it. I can only suspect the cycle I described in my previous post. I have yet to find evidense of it.


I recently met Yeti Bing, who I discovered to have an interest in architecture. When I discussed the suspected cycle with him, he gave me the idea of asking the architect of a building that has been adapted to be more accessible.

As recently as 2 days ago, I had the pleasure of attending an event organized by Virtual Ability. Not only was this about Universal Design, I also had repeated excu reasons to mention my project.

In short, the following things happened that make the AiM Project feel more alive to me:

- The chat I’ve had with Yeti Bing.
- An event about Universal Design organized by Virtual Ability.
- Hearing that Gentle Heron has not forgotten about my project.
- And lastly…the, by me eagerly awaited, return of Se7en Wirsing.

Course Correction

As I made clear in my profile, I’m not one to waste time. I’ve been busy alright, but not with the reason for which I was born. I was born to help get the people in RL out of a cycle they’re stuck in. Before I explain about this cycle, let me make the following absolutely clear:

I love my job, and I have no intention of leaving it. Not only do I teach newcomers about the Second Life Viewer, I also teach meditation and Vulcan philosophy. As if that’s not enough, I also get to make myself useful in the meetings…even if I have made a mistake or two in the past.

So, what’s that cycle about?

Public buildings keep being created, with the accessibility leaving to be desired. Next, an organization is consulted about how to improve upon said accessibility. Using the guidelines provided by said organization, the accessibility is improved…after which, the architect is generally none the wiser. As a result, he/she is bound to make the same mistake(s) again with the next building.

The first goal of the upcoming project is to get the necessary information to the first person who needs to have it; the architect.

The second goal is to show that, if accessibility is properly provided, the whole population can help with the prosperity of the country.

While my creator is busy completing a grant request, in hopes of getting the money necessary for the project, I look forward to helping him realize his dream. I will already be needed to find the right person to take the grant request to, but something tells me that that is only the beginning.

Grief and You’ll be Punished!

I’m usually not one to use strong language, but this might well be the exception to the rule. I apologize in advance.

With that said, let me tell you what happened:

One day I came to work, and found that it was raining at Danmu. Raindrops? Er…nope. Boxes!

Quite noisy ones at that!!

I managed to find the offender’s name (malol Aie), and immediately reported the joker.

Seriously! It can’t have been more than half an hour from my abuse report to Linden Lab, to them throwing that good-foor-nothing out. That was fast!

I’d show you malol’s mug, but I could only now get around to blogging about this incident - Linden Lab has meanwhile thrown that griefer out of Second Life…and deservedly so, if you ask me.

I mean, I could hardly get my bearings, until I took the viewer’s Quality and speed slider all the way down; I don’t mean to brag, but I can normally have that slider all the way up to Ultra.

So, what can we take from this event? Two things, really:

- Linden Lab is rumored to not handle complaints. I believe that I can safely say that this is undeserved.

- If you don’t want to be in Second Life anymore, you can go and grief, but what good will it do? Just close your account! You’ll get banned anyway.