SLC

Kids Surfing and sailing

2010-12-06T17:46:00.000-08:00

Well, just some old news about SL Kids Surfing in SL, one of the biggest Surf Blogs have been writing about us kids. Follow it here: http://surfwatch.blogspot.com/2010/10/meet-groms-of-surfing-in-sl.html
Just positive and nice to read. I also started to sail seriously nowadays, but i might keep it to the fun part: Traveling tours around the waterways. Haruki did one sailing cup and won with his team the 2nd place allready :-) You can ask me in SL for advice and help! On the picture you can see us sailing a huge trimaran :-D

Second Goony Invasion of London

2010-09-09T05:26:00.000-07:00

From a chance word from Nat grew a gathering of Goonys and friends, for the Second Annual Invasion of London! Myrtil, the mastermind behind the first successful invasion, took the reins again, amply aided by Gemini’s encyclopaedic knowledge of this fair City and, of course, by his Goony Separatist knowledge of invasion tactics…

To avoid suspicion, we arrived at our meeting place under the clock at Waterloo Station, where the infamous spies Harry Houghton and Ethel Gee handed over secrets to the Russians, arriving from all points of the compass to avoid our gathering being detected. Some had travelled over dangerous seas, others from different parts of the country, but we were all intent on our Goony Gathering!

Finally, we were all together, except for Kevvy, who sent a note. Myrtil, our leader, Gemini, our guide, Nat, yti, Everest, Simson, Gadget, myself (Tepic) and temporary honorary for the day Deacon were ready! Before we set out Gemini relayed a message from Loki, the Goony Chief, blessing our mission (errrr…. To cause mischief and mayhem, I think…).

So off we set, to see if we could track down the mysterious and elusive Morris Men, as they performed their strange and dangerous rites on the banks of the Thames. We had a slight and unsuccessful detour trying to find some treasure to boost Everet’s fortunes, which had been depleted in some fashion, but soon we reached a great market, full of wondrous foods and drinks, mostly at prices far beyond our modest means. Thankfully, I had packed sufficient voles and vole juice to satisfy my needs, as had most of our party – always take supplies when adventuring, you never know what the local idea of food might be!

Then it was on to the Morris Men, and to our astonishment, some Morris Women as well. The men were fearsome indeed, with bells pealing from their leg adornments, and the clashing of their sticks as they ritualistically fought each other in pitched battles, but the women! Oh if the men were fearsome, the ladies were terrifying, as the danced with wrath as if possessed! It was a magnificent spectacle, though we though we could be in trouble when they spotted us. Luckily, one of the tribe was known by a friend of Loki, so we were greeted as friends, before leaving their territory to search for the Central London Hawks we had heard so much about.

After pausing by a huge ferris wheel, like a giant’s eye looking over the City, for refreshments and recuperation, it was along the banks of the ancient river, heading towards the landmark of Tower Bridge. We encountered living statues, standing still as… errr… statues, until their prey, seemingly the young of the local inhabitants, came closer, made brave by the seemingly harmless statues, only for them to pounce with sudden movement. Then the young, if they were quick enough, would run screaming back to their parents, a valuable lesson having been learnt!

There were bird charmers, offering to teach their skills, for a price, and Myrtil was sorely tempted. We passed artists creating strange and wonderful works, and found an arcane market, where Nat dallied until he found a text to help his research, which, after hard bargaining, he wrested from the trader!

Poor Nat was also enticed into trying one of the local delicacies, something called “ice-cream”, which he devoured with great gusto, eyes growing wide as the unfamiliar mixtures took their toll on his body. Thankfully, there were no lasting ill effects, and we were able to proceed, taking every opportunity to rest and take comfort breaks.

As time passed, there was no sight of the elusive birds, and Everest struck out on his own, hoping to find the gold or treasure he needed to fund his time in this fabulous City. Gadget also headed off, as an advanced scout to find us a place to rest and broadcast our findings back to the waiting throng at the Vortex Club. Eventually we found where the hawks we supposed to be found, only to discover they had fled, having heard of our approach! Never mind, the natives were friendly, and the walk along the riverbank invigorating.

Progressing, we discovered a huge and ancient hulk, of a ship called the Golden Hind, and nearby heard the tale of greed and disaster that ended with the building of a magnificent house of religion called Southwark Cathedral. Further on, there was another ship, of metal and steam, a monument to the ideals of Steampunk!

Near to the great Bridge, we stopped for a while to see local inhabitants perform a play in the open air, but time was pressing so it was onwards to the hostelry Gadget had found us. He had secured a private room for us to transmit our information back to the Vortex, and the refreshment was most welcome and of superior quality. Some of us chose to partake of the local victuals, and were not disappointed. I was lucky enough to try their local variations on vole, accompanied by exotic sauces and accoutrements, a tasty fare to finish the invasion with.

As the evening wore on, and our adventures were relayed to the waiting throng, our party gradually took their leave, heading on their long and arduous journeys back to their homelands.

It was a good invasion, well worth the hardships and difficulties we had encountered, and we all profited by meeting together!

Tepic

Chronicler of the Invasion

Introducing keyword: youthspot

2010-08-01T10:04:00.001-07:00

keyword: youthspot is a new campaign by SLC, to help make it easier to find virtual kid locations in Second Life. All too often, in recent days, we have seen many kid locations close due to a lack of support or awareness that the location even existed. Knowing where to go is a problem many of us frequently encounter.

The solution is very simple. If you are looking for somewhere kids hangout, you simply type youthspot in search and all the results returned are kid locations. Over the coming weeks we hope that just about all kid locations are using the keyword.

click image to see larger

Participating and getting found is easy. Just add the word youthspot to your parcel description, it can be the last word, and within 24 hours it should start to appear in Search. This only works for parcels that are included in the search directory. Linden Lab charge L$30 a week for inclusion.

click image to see larger

We're experimenting with other ways on how to be found and we will keep you posted as we make new discoveries, including the kid's places directory we're working on. Don't forget to return your survey answers to Sokmunky Rutabaga.

It is often said that simple ideas are the best and this is no exception. I believe adoption of the keyword will benefit the community as a whole.

youthspot!!!

YIPPEE!!

The SLC Adventure Playground!

2010-07-31T08:26:00.000-07:00

SLC has a new meeting spot in Whippersnapper, the SLC Adventure Playground!

Building on previous locations, the SLC Adventure Playground is a place for SLC sponsored events, Sokmunky Rutabaga's storytimes, and for Second Life residents to learn about SLC and child avatars!

it is also home to the transmogrifier seen at Kids5B, the amazing bubble machine from SL5B, and the giant popcorn maker from last year's Burning Life.

Come check it out!

Egnog Returns but has and empty sack

2009-12-21T06:34:00.000-08:00

Once again Egnog the christmas Troll returns to Second Life to spread joy with the Kid Avatars. Unfortunitly he was kidnapped by the evil grand master who lives under Goony Island. The Goonies bravely battled the lag and gelatinous cubes to rescue Egnog for all the Kids of Second Life.

Egnog was greatful for his rescue but with tears in his eyes he explained that his christmas gifts had been stolen and there was only the big Christmas Carousel to give everyone. That is when Loki suggested that maybe if everyone made or gave something to put in Egnogs sack, then everyone in the Second Life Childrens Community would have a MEGA big present from everyone.

GIVE TO YOUR COMMUNITY! COME TO GOONY ISLAND AND DROP A PRESENT IN EGNOGS SACK!(press CTRL key while dragging your gift onto the empty sack, it will outline in red, then let go.

ON CHRISTMAS DAY THE CONTENTS OF THE SACK WILL BE AVAILABLE TO EVERYONE!

VISIT EGNOG AND HIS CHRISTMAS CAROUSEL HERE >> http://slurl.com/secondlife/Goony%20Island/99/140/95

Horse Riding trip

2009-12-20T12:35:00.000-08:00

Hi,

after a loooong time i did a horse riding trip with some friends (again). We started in Equus and rode through 7 nice Wintertheme Regions. Slippery slopes and nice Hils! Cool fun!

Adventure in New Babbage!

2009-11-11T11:00:00.001-08:00

Well, it's some time since i blogged anything, despite having quite a few adventures over the past few weeks. This last weekend though, i visited New Babbage, and found they had a walking tour.

I grabbed a HUD (great design, very easy to use, love to see this used all over!) an started off. The great thing about this walking tour is it starts by riding a trolley bus! Now that's my kind of walk! hehehe

But.... my adventure actually started later. I had to stop the tour cus of other things to do, and while i was hurrying back to where i had left off, i fell through the street and under a building! Trapped!

I picked a random spot on my map, and tried to tp out.... Imagine my suprise when i didn't arrive in an open space, but in a tunnel underground, with brick walls and some water lapping around my ankles.. Naturally, being an inquizative fox, i spent the next few hours wandering around exploring.

When the water got a bit deep, i found a boat, and was able to row myslef down long tunnels and through underground gallerys, some with wharfs for boats, others just large spaces under the buildings.

Occasionally i found manholes above, and i could have climbed up to the street, but it was far more interesting to follow the tunnels to where ever they could lead.

Some were dead ends, others branched off, and i even found an enterance into a shop, from the sewer!

After a while Leo joined me, and we rowed about a bit before having a look along some of the dry tunnels. When we went back to the boat, it had drifted off, but i had packed my corracle, so with a few deft twists of the willow twigs, and streaching the cover over it, we were off again!

It was getting a bit late for us by then, so we exited the tunnels into a deserted house, and headed off our seperate ways.

It was a grand adventure, all the better for being unexpected and unplanned. I would urge everyone to have a look round, but do go justafter a rain-storm, or the sewers may be a bit smelly!

Burning Life 09 - The End

2009-10-26T12:33:00.000-07:00

For me and the House of Pips burning Life is over. I had great fun this week, not just at the House Of Pips but at the other great Kid avatar Built camps. If only SL was this fun ALL the time :) here is a video off The SLC bumble Bear race.

To see the House of Pips from Concept art to final Burning down visit MY BLOG

A funny thing happened on the way to Burning Life

2009-10-13T11:00:00.000-07:00

Burning Life is now less than a week away. From inside the fence, the sights to see and things to do are incredible. All the kids who have built plots on the playa have done an amazing job.

I wanted to relate a story, though, that I think illustrates a change in the way kid avatars are viewed at these big events. Certainly a change from the days of SL5B only a year and a couple months ago. It all starts with a wristband: the very one I mentioned in my last post here.

It was designed as a nod to the First Life Burning Man, and to the KidsVille camp at same. A freebie in the spirit of the real-world event. I have those available for free at Inner Child Camp on the virtual playa. I also told a Burning Life Ranger about them: he snagged a copy of the "Lost Child Procedure" from the real event, and put it up at Ranger HQ. All good fun.

I also gave copies of them to the head of the greeters, who was putting together a Kids' freebie pack for the entrance to the event. For those unaware, it really does behoove you to come in through the entrance, get the background on the event, and be greeted onto the playa. Its a part of the fun of the event, IMO.

Anyway, somewhere after it went to the greeters, something got miscommunicated. I don't know if it was me, or who, but it went from "here' a fun thing to give to kid avvies" to "child avatars must wear this to be admitted to Burning Life." In spite of it being very clear both last year and this, and with several builders on the playa who are also child avatars, rumors started to go around that kids were not given express permission to be at Burning Life. Yikes.

To the credit of the event organizers and others, however, they stepped in to quash this rumor within a half hour of its inception. A couple Residents heard it, passed it immediately up the chain, and notices went out o the Burning Life groups and the Second Life mentors group, making it clear that child avatars have equal access to the event -- same as anyone else in Second Life.

This is a major change from previous events, but not unheard of with Second Life events since SL5B. Last year's Burning Life had a "maturity policy" that made it clear that all forms of avatars were welcome. SL6B included child avatars within their initial FAQ, again spelling out that our involvement was welcome.

Anyway, I felt this was important to note to all SLC members: if you have felt unwelcome in Second Life, or have felt that you are not on an equal footing, the organizers of Burning Life consider you a valid, valuable member of their family. So come on out and party with all of us on the virtual playa!

A little more on Burning Life '09

2009-10-06T01:21:00.000-07:00

Burning Life 2009 is coming up from October 17-25.

I'm very excited to note that there's at least eight plots being worked on by kids, each of which is unique and wonderful. In looking at all the things being built, this will be a great year overall for kids to come out to the virtual playa and enjoy the goings on.

Burning Life is not a "role play" area, though it tends to fall into a certain level of role play naturally. It is set in a desert environment, and people are encouraged to treat the location as if it was the First Life Burning Man's location of Black Rock City, NV. As such, when you enter the event, you are greeted by folks at an entrance much like the one you'd be greeted at in Burning Man, etc. The RL event also has a sizable number of kids and families present at the "KidsVille" camp. You can see some of their world at http://www.blackrockkids.org/.

My own entry (created with the advice and prims of Pygar Bu, Robin Howe, Valla Griffin, and Johnathon Spad) is Inner Child Camp 2009. It takes a lot of designs and ideas from the "KidsVille" camp mentioned above. There's a lot of stuff there, including a small shaded area for stories, chilling or whatever and a stage area for shows an stuff.

Now is probably a good time to mention that I am looking for kids who want to make use of the space during the event, for shows, acts, or whatever. I'm sure that the other kid-themed camps and art spaces will also want good folks to DJ, perform, and do stuff as well. No shortage of venues this time!

There's also lots of volunteer positions for the event itself, including greeters, lamplighters, and even porta potty decorators. Look to the right of the Burning Life page for details on that

As the event comes closer, I will be distributing a HUD to those on the playa, allowing them to quickly and easily find the kid builds and other points of interest. Even then, take the time to really get out there and explore all 34 regions. I recommend starting in Burning Life- Deep Hole at the "What is Burning Life?" area, and following it through to the main entrance.

The event is VERY kid friendly/positive (though you willl also find a fair amount of non-sexual nudity and stuff on the playa too), and a good place to show what we're all about. Even just being here puts you "in the show" really, and I look forward to seeing all of you on the playa. :-)

When visiting, I recommend dressing for the site. Wear clothes you (or your parents) would not mind seeing get dirty on the desert -- or dress up in something for the fun of it. You'll see both on our RL counterparts. Also, consider some goggles, a hat, and even a bandana for your face. The latter can be gotten free on site, including at Inner Child Camp. I'll be passing out some "Dusty foot prints" and an "Inner Child bracelet" (similar to the KidsVille bracelets all under-agers were on the First Life Playa) on the SLC group.

Anyway, I think you'll love what you'll see here at all the camps, including those being made by some of our talented an wonderful SL kid builders an stuff.

Burning Life 09

2009-09-05T01:53:00.000-07:00

Old Residents will know that Burning Life is THE event of the year in second life. SL6B birthday event is rally just where Linden Lab get us to put on a show to celebrate all things second life. Burning Life is different in that it's about the SL community expressing themselves in what ever way they want (within TOS). Burning life is about building imaginative experiences that last one week then dissapear for ever and its an chance for ANYONE to express themselves.

Granted the land grabbing process is a little awkward, but i really think if you have an idea, wonna express yourself to the world, then follow the Burning Life Blog and get ready to grab some land. The Child Avatar Community is renowned for its powerful creativity so get some friends together, sign up for land and join this years desert party starting 17th october!

Surfing

2009-09-04T08:08:00.000-07:00

Hi folks!

There was a blog entry about surfing in SL some time ago. After i got some practice i joined now a competition. It is a lot of fun and you can watch many other surfers and learn a lot. I had to wait some hours for my heat and i even didn't advance to the next round, i will try next competition too. If YOU want to surf, IM me inworld and join my Kids Surfing group! Take a look here: SLSA Surfing Season 2

Invasion London!

2009-07-21T11:40:00.000-07:00

Well.... from little acorns do big oak trees grow... someone mentioned meeting up for a drink to someone else, and a few weeks later a bunch of us gathered from all corners of the UK, and even from across the pond, descending upon Hyde Park. For some reason, it seemed like a good idea to meet up at the statue of Peter Pan, no idea why...

Winne and me met first, then Myrtil and Murdock arrived, followed by Kitto and Felix. Gemini caught up with us at the Science Museum, but seems to have been in the group picture too...

The statue is wonderful, with all sorts of details, mice in a hollow, a group of rabbits (no, there were the same number after i spotted them as before....), and even a squirrel in conversation with some faries. When Myrtil saw then, she couldn't help joining in!

The weather was wonderful, and we have a fanastic view over the lake to the Italian Waterfalls. There were all sorts of waterbirds, including geese, ducks, a herron, and some cormerants drying their wings. There was no truth in the roumour that i had a BBQ in my pack, and that there were fewer ducks after we left....

The Science Museum is marvelous, loads of huge machines, and buttons to press. The best part is that it's free! We spent hours wandering round. Myrtil wanted to take a traction engine home, but we couldn't get it started!

Murdock discovered a big engine with loads of cogs and wheels, though i have no idea what it was for...

I did discover why small foxes shouldn't operate heavy machinery, but don't worry, they did get me free after about half an hour!

There was a whole section on power production, which Kitto liked, not sure it was wise to turn all those switches on though.

Upstairs was a hall full of old aircraft, including a rather nice Spitfire. I tried to get in, as it would have been fun to fly, but somehow things didn't quite work out how i'd hoped...

It was a wonderful day out, and it was nice meeting up with all the others. There is still the Natural History Museum, and some other very good ones we still have to visit, so i wonder where it will be next? I do hear there is a Hyde Park in sl, i will have to visit and see how like the one we visited it is.

I hope you enjoyed my description about our day out, and the pictures.

Have fun,

Tepic

Relay for Life 2009

2009-07-19T12:35:00.000-07:00

Hi fellas!

I got told bout the Relay for Life a few days ago, and finally got over there intending to do a lap of the circuit. The Relay for Life is an event to raise money and support for Cancer Research and treatment, so is well worth joining in. Teams or individuals race round a track, filled with all sorts of wonderful builds, some educational, some just, well, inspiring!

Errrr.... well, i started will all good intentions... but... the builds were so wonderful, i just had to stop an look, and by the time i got back to the race.. it was all but done!

Anyway, i look forward to trying again next year, and maybe joining a Team ter race round?

So here are some pics, Loki and Myrtil are in some, cus they joined me when i found the underwater city....

Tepic

New Babbage Revisted

2009-07-15T11:11:00.000-07:00

Hi!

I know i did a blog about New Babbage a short time ago, but the other week, once i had tped in to the Railways Station, i decided to turn right instead of left, which i normally do. To my suprise, i reached a HUGE wall, with massive electric canons on the top!

I'd never seen this part of New Babbage before, so i climbed up and took a few pics. There are some wonderful views from up there, and the canons and other equipment is very interesting (no, i didn't move any wires around, and if they now pick up Clasical Radio, it wasn't me.....).

Just goes to show, sometimes it's worth turning the other way from your usual haunts, and you never know what you might find!

Tepic

Second Life 6th Birthday - A First Look

2009-06-25T13:34:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone, and i hope you are enjoying the 6th Birthday Celebrations!

In case you haven't visited yet, let me take you on a quick look at some of the places i've seen so far.... as usual, my sense of direction is not good, so i'm not sure quite where i've been, but...

Loki had arranged for a group of us to go around together, so we gathered at his build and checked we were prepared - it's possible i overdid it slightly.

One part of Loki's build is a wonderful floor made up of a thousand photos of kid AVs. I'm there, as is Loki, and we went to find his picture. I wonder what it would be like if we could all gather together and stand on our own pictures?

So, we wandered off, and soon came to a party, with loads of very friendly people dancing away. There are all sorts of builds that make you think, and ponder the future of the Virtual World, but it's nice to see some people's idea of the future is a big party!

This is me dancing with some of our new friends, with a wonderful Latin beat. Myrtil wondered how i could dance with my big pack on, but i think we should be able to dance anytime, anywhere, just cus we want to!

Still, it was soon time to head on, and we said goodbye to our friends, leaving them still partying away.

Loki an i found a HUGE hamster wheel, so we jumped on and ran - i think we were powering the world!

A little further on we found a set of HUGE drums, with a ladder to climb up to the top of them. Imagine our suprise when we found we could bounce up and down on the tops, making a beat just by having fun!

It was quite scary at times, but no-one fell off, and we had a great time.

I did think of playing my flute while jumping, but would probably have lost my teeth!

Just around the corner, we found a huge statue of a very nice white fox, fully dressed for the future. She didn't say much, but was very impressive, and when i looked up i saw her air supply on her back was a huge tree in a glass dome, very ecological! Some of the rest of the exhibit was a bit puzzling, but i think it was about Furry Pride.

Having a beautiful tail and ears myself, i can fully understand!

Still, time was getting on, and we still hadn't seen even a small amount of the builds, so we set off on the road again.

Well, the roads.... this year, the whole place has more of a theme and a flow to it, partly because of these wonderful looking modernistic roads. The whole place is divided into grids by them, and they soar over one another at the junctions, very impressive, especially the green glowing edge markers! Was a bit worried about walking along them to start, after all, such fantastic roads should have some VERY fast vehicles running along them, but we didn't see any.

They did have stairs and crossings to cross over on foot, but we just jumped up and over - quicker and more fun!

Sadly, it was about time for me to head for bed, so i said my farewells, leaving the group to explore further. I did come back the next day though, and have put some of the pictures here to show you what i saw...

Have fun exploring,

Tepic

Exploring New Babbage

2009-04-28T12:24:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!

It's been a bit of a time since i last posted anything, so thought now would be a good time. Over the past few days i've been dropping in at New Babbage, somewhere i used to visit quite regularly, but where i haven't been for a while.

Naturally, i prepared myself before going, dressing in my best urchin things, and equiping myself with a broom and bucket in case there was the opportunity to make a few pennies sweeping streets and stuff for the residents.

However, there were not many people around when i arrived, and although i did say hi to one rather impressive and beautiful lady, she just said "Good morning" and vanished!

The place is very wonderful looking though, and i met a new friend, even if he was rather stoned when i found him....

I wandered down to the docks area, and found i was looking over to a huge iron giant, with an airship going past. He looked quite fearsome, and was looking towards the city, but even though i watched for quite a time, he didn't seem to be coming any closer.

There i was, wandering along, when i smelt a wonderful scent. Around a corner was this lovely little chocolate shop, with huge chocolate animals and some delicious lookimg sweets. Ah! What a pity i am a poor urchin, and not able to but such treats! There is the impression of my nose on the window now!

A little way off was a very fancy fire engine, belonging to the Ladies Fire Brigade of Babbage, standing outside it's Station. It was fired up, with smoke coming from the stack, but unfortunately i didn't see it working. Suppose, well, it was better not to see it in action as that would mean something would have to be on fire... but...

Then, over in the corner of one building, i saw some stairs. Now, being a curious sort of fox, i headed up, and to my delight, i found myself in a tiny little cinema showing Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow! i stood in the aisle and watched a bit, but soon had to continue my explorations.

After a while, i got a bit tired, so sat down on a box and warmed my feet on a couple of cans which were burning nicely - not sure how! Behind me, you can see a notice, telling people about the dangers of climbing the ladders up to the roof. Of course, i read the notice carefully, and obeyed it absolutely.... errrrr... well... what do you think i did next? heheh

Have fun,
Tepic

Director of Oscar winning Movie uses Child avatars in new SL Machinima!

2009-04-26T02:50:00.000-07:00

from new world notes "This is the trailer to 'Dear My Father', an SL machinima currently in development, scheduled for a Summer release. (Warning: contains some brief sexual imagery.) It's the work of Japanese filmmaker Hidetaka Nagahama (known in Second Life as Sela Boa), who was also Assistant Director of Departures, which won the 2008 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language film."

It looks to be a film with some hard themes especially for some of our community members. What strikes me is the way the director has used slightly cartoonish backgrounds to make his main characters stand out. Looks very kool.

A rough translation of the video's dialog/captions "The boy loved his father... The boy didn't love his father.... The memory of father in his boyhood.... Of himself in his boyhood... His memories were different from others... But his memories were same as others. Dear My Father. 2009 Summer. Coming soon."

Secondyouth.net - Second Childhood Website

2009-04-24T03:00:00.000-07:00

To coincide with the Second Childhood Network, we have released a website that gives outsiders a little info on our community, places and how to join. The website offers to guide you through joining the virtual worlds and to arrive directly at a Learning Tree where you quickly become a child avatar and join a group.

if you ever visit the learning trees and see a new person there, please give a helping :)

Visit the Website HERE

Second Childhood Network

2009-04-07T14:00:00.001-07:00

This week saw the release of the Second Childhood Network. The Network is a collection of 24 most popular kid places in SL connected via a Visual HUB that lets you travel from place to place.

"it's a way to see our community as a whole, many of us are unaware of the many places available to our community"

here is a video created to help explain the Second Childhood Network and show how to use it.

The HUBS are available at all 24 locations on the network. It is hoped that this will encourage members of the child avatar community and normal SL residents to travel and explore the whole circle of places.

How Dangerous is the Internet to REAL kids? - Growing Up Online

2009-04-06T08:12:00.000-07:00

Today i stumbled across an article by David Pogue for the New York Times which examines closely the question of internet safety. He makes reference to a PBS Frontline documentary film which is certainly worth watching and is in SEVEN parts, each 8 minutes in length exploring many aspects from over protective mothers, to cyber bullying.

“One of the biggest surprises in making this film was the discovery that the threat of online predators is misunderstood and overblown. The data shows that giving out personal information over the Internet makes absolutely no difference when it comes to a child’s vulnerability to predation.” (That one blew my mind, because every single Internet-safety Web site and pamphlet hammers repeatedly on this point: never, ever give out your personal information online.)

“Also, the vast majority of kids who do end up having contact with a stranger they meet over the Internet are seeking out that contact,” Ms. Dretzin goes on. “Most importantly, all the kids we met, without exception, told us the same thing: They would never dream of meeting someone in person they’d met online.”

Several teenagers interviewed in the story make it clear that only an idiot would be lured unwittingly into a relationship with an online sicko: “If someone asks me where I live, I’ll delete the ‘friend.’ I mean, why do you want to know where I live at?” says one girl.

[From How Dangerous Is the Internet for Children? - Pogue’s Posts - Technology - New York Times Blog]

View the very good VIDEO here

Bunny Hop

2009-04-02T14:23:00.000-07:00

Hi All!

Easter is almost here, and, as usual in sl, there are Easter Egg Hunts beginning! A friend mentioned on to me, and I have been following the links to see the places and find the eggs. This one is called the Bunny Hop (that might explain the people you see hopping around sl..... I do say MIGHT! heheheh), and covers a lot of different places, there being apparently over 160 different eggs to find.

The Bunny Hop HQ, aduchi momoyama (146, 189, 40) is where it all starts, with a notice and an example egg. Follow the directions the rabbits are taking the eggs, and you will soon find your first real egg, with a gift and the landmark to the next location.

It's not a quick race, some of the eggs are REALLY difficult to find (yes, I did follow the yells of "It's over here!" a couple of times...), others are in plain view. Take time to look round places and enjoy the exploration, it's well worth it. As in most such hunts, the eggs are placed by stores to get you to see their stuff, and there are some nice things out there! It's the different locations that are really fun though, the colourful, the strange, the downright weird (like the place covered in blood, and where i stood in something icky..... rather cool really...) and the truely beautiful like the place in the sky with transparent floors. I've put some pictures in to let you see.

So far I have found seven eggs, the next is proving difficult to find... but there are still loads for me to discover, and I am going to have fun doing so.... anyone want to join me?

Tepic

KIC Kids Info Center

2009-03-22T18:08:00.000-07:00

Hello and welcome to the KIC, the Kids Info Center!

After 3 days of celebration is the KIC open for all Kids since March, 20th. If you need help, want to know more about being a SL Kid or just want to have fun or a Sandbox for building in a calm and safe environment, this place is for you. Just made from SL Kids for SL Kids. Many different buildings to explore, the MnK HQ is there too. Arts made by Sl Kids, the (SLC) learning tree with a lot informations, the transmogrifier for adults who want to be a SL Kids fulltime or just from time to time...yes you were reading right: Adults are allowed there too! We will tear down the biased opinions about SL Kids (or try it) grins. All welcome! If you need help or advice or can't find the answer yourself, we have KIC Mentors to help you, some of them also Second Life Mentors. Just go to the "Old Town" over the suspension bridge to the first buidling you see at the left hand. Enter it and you will see a display with all Mentors and the language they speak and their online/offline status. Click the sign and type your message into the open chat.

http://slurl.com/secondlife/KIC/128/128/33

sven Homewood

Clash of the Kids [Updated]

2009-03-13T04:31:00.000-07:00

Well Linden Lab have done it again. They have announced something that effects their residents again. And once again the entire grid community seems to be up in arms. Though at first i was not sure how their new policy on adult content was going to effect me.

The Child Avatar Community is a special magical thing that has never happend anywhere before. SL is the cradle of life for a community of people around the world that live second childhoods, no other platform can claim that.

We all have invested so much time, money and emotion into our new gangs of friends and adventures. So far i think we have felt safe knowing that everyone around us, even if we pretend to be kids are in fact adults. The Child Avatar community spearheaded a clean non-adult environment to play and it seems Linden Lab are wanting more of the main grid to follow this.

But will this mean we will eventually loose that secure blanket that keeps Child avatars seperate from REAL kids? We have worked hard to make this world within SL and it's easy to feel backstabbed if LL decide to drop the 'Adults only' rule of being in SL. It would drop us all in a moral dilemma that we did not want, 'is it ok for underage residents to mix with Adults who pretend to be kids'?

This is the question that has to be asked even if LL decide to push it aside. Why has LL decided to seperate Adult content from the rest of the grid if not to prevent the possibility that underage residents might make unverified accounts?
We already have options for Adult Residents to avoid adult content, for example the Huds that tell you wether the place you are is Rated R.

Even if Linden Labs reasons for moving Adult content has nothing to do cleaning up the main grid for underagers, we still need to start thinking about the future and how the interaction between underagers and Kid Avatars could and should be.

Some argue that it should not matter if the people you interact with are adult or underagers, as you treat all people the way you would want to be treated. That the Kid Avatar is by nature a caring, imaginative and inspiring individual and who better to draw experience from.

Who would parents prefer an underager to be shown around the main grid? A Child Avatar resident, or a scantly clad Stripper?

There is a view that underagers would prefer to go hang out with the strippers than play with virtual kids, but that cant always be true. A lot of the stuff that we build for our own virtual second childhoods are based on the same kool things that real underagers find kool so it's not impossible that underagers might be drawn to the fun and games we also enjoy as Kid avatars.

There are some that feel no matter how safe we try and make things in our community, that there will always be the chance that being a child avatar will be exploited for deceiveful means. This though can be applied to any type of avatar community in SL, and any type of chat program infact.

The debate about Child Avatars, Adult Content and Underagers on the Main grid will go on for ever. As a community we need to be recognised for our deeds so carry on being the kool kids of SL.

[UPDATE] ABC news ran a sensationalised story about a wii game and concerns about adults and children playing same games. Read an article about it here

Roleplaying Sims and the Kid AV

2009-03-02T14:09:00.000-08:00

Well, been a bit of time since I last posted, and there are loads of things I’ve been doing and that I want to talk about. One thing I have heard quite a bit about recently is how kid AVs seem to be excluded from quite a few of the role playing activities in sl, particularly the combat ones. There was even a bit on the Milk and Kookies Show this last week about a combat system that appears to discriminate against kid AVs.

What I want to speak about is a role playing sim that includes combat, and that I have been an active part of for quite a time, as a kid AV.
Antiquity is a group of sims that follow a timeline of around the Napoleonic and early Victorian eras. There are pirates, a French group, a contingent of Portuguese, and various others wanting to enjoy that period of history. I belong to a group whose members play mainly British troops of the era, including Guardsmen, Riflemen and Highlanders, along with a very active Navy.

Last year, I was introduced to the group as a musician, playing the flute befor>e, during and after the combat roleplays. I always appeared in my kid AV form, and have been welcome at the scenarios, where I always find everyone joins in the interaction with the idea of a drummer boy with good heart (though some seem to think my playing is good reason to shoot me, and that’s just my own side!)

When we have fought the other groups, I have been included and accepted by the other groups without reservation, and think that having a youngster involved has given them the opportunity to explore a greater range of role play. Since young people were active in life and combat of the period, as drummers, cabin boys, horse handlers, powder monkeys and in many other roles, we can bring a vibrancy and depth of feeling to places like Antiquity that accept us as we are.

I would encourage others to join in with any role play sim, if you are not certain they will welcome you, ask! If they say no, well, ask another, and another, until you find one that says “Well… “, then jump in with both feet and have fun! They will find out how much more fulfilling role play is when it has a full spectrum of aged AVs, and you will have found another place to enjoy yourself in sl.

Horse riding field trips

2009-02-06T17:52:00.001-08:00

Hi... i know, i did not write much, but i decided to do some of my field trips for german speaking kids. So i did most of them now and i will give a short overview in german here now:

Hallo, ich mache nun auch die Pferdausritte für dt. sprachige Kids. Soweit wurden schon die Avarien Sims (Grendels Children), das Bliss Garden Center besucht. Der nächste Ausritt geht nach IOW - Isle of Whyrms, macht euch auf einen Ausritt mit Drachenbegegnung bereit!

Wer interesse hat, kann gerne die Trips bei mir auf einer NC bekommen!

Ich werde auch diese Trips in dt. in der SLC Gruppe ankündigen!
I will announce these trips in the SLC group too (in german).

Is a teen invasion looming?

2009-02-03T11:31:00.000-08:00

Well, so how many of you out there heard Philip Linden's interview, when he talked about the future of the Teen Grid? To say it came as a suprise to me is an understatement, as I can see the potential for all sorts of problems for LL, though probably less for us as a community (that's all of us, not just the kid AV community!).

How would it affect us specifically? Not really sure it would, as I still can't see teens (and the way PL was speaking, it may not be limited to just teens...) playing kid AVs. Certainly as a teen myself, I would have played a heroic adult AV, ready to save the world from all dangers! PL spoke of parents not being able to join their children in-world, I have a feeling the parents might be a bit stunned by the choice of Av their kids want to play...

I would be quite worried if I was playing an adult AV, because I would never know if that rather stunning person I just met, with the wonderful eyes and a body to kill for was actually under age in rl. It could get some people in big trouble very quickly.

But the last thing a teen would want to do would be to hang around with a bunch of kids, they can do that every day of their rls. SL is a place where we can explore life in ways we are not able to in rl, why would anyone want to do the same things they are able to do in rl?

So I think our world is quite safe, though we may be in for an interesting time over the next few months or a year. What do you think?

Tepic

Where to start?

2009-01-20T01:10:00.000-08:00

Well, on the surface, it all seems a bit quiet after Christmas and the New Year, but all sorts of things seem to be happening!

My last post has had two comments, both from people I hadn't met, which was nice. I've since met one of them, and am in the process of talking to the other - looks like my Christmas wish for new friends has started to have an effect :-) One of the comments was a plea for help in starting up in SL, and this is something I have noticed in the past few months. It is apparently easier to jump straight in and start exploring than before, but this leaves many newcomers without a basic understanding of our world and how it works. Thankfully, this new friend has already found the SLC, and I am sure that this will be the best start possible! The potential for possible new friends being disenchanted before becoming fully conversant with how things works may be increasing, so remember back to your starting days, and offer help and a kind word to them.

Oh! Yes... about a week ago, one of our members found they had been ejected and banned from a sim run by a group offering help to new people. This was all sorted out quite quickly with the people who own the sim, and it was an error by a relativly new person who had mis-interperated the "mature" setting on the land as meaning kid AVs were not allowed! But, what was impressive was the speed with which the kids community got together and arrived at the sim in support of our friend, and the swiftness with which negotiations and and understanding were arrived at with the sim owners. It could have so easily have degenerated into a free-for-all, with all of us losing out, but in the end, through group action and calm leadership, we were able to resolve the situation to everyone's gain. Errrr...... actually, I had drifted off to sleep just as things were getting underway, and didn't wake up till it was all sorted out... but the reports I heard were very encoraging!

So, what have I been up to? Well, after chatting with some friends, I realised that fire precautions in the kids community were rather sketchy, so I designed a fire hydrant for use in strategic locations.....

I've also attended a couple of decent events that are a result of the change to Homestead land, the party at Goony Island was a terrific way of seeing in the 20 AV restriction, and a wonderful example of creative, cross-sim boarder anarchy! Long live the revolution! Also, the Him & I & Us let their second island go, as it would no longer be able to support the activities we had been enjoying there under the new restrictions. The final bike race was fantastic, around the whole island, up hills, down dales, over bridges - a triumph of planning and organisation. Hopefully, such events will still be able to take place, as they have really enriched our community.

There have been Rez-Day parties, far too many to attend all of them, also big partnership ceremonies and parties, in fact, it seems there are even more things going on, on an individual level, than ever before. Looks like a great year folks - that is if the numbers of AVs logged in does'nt snap the elastic band!

Have Fun

Tepic

Happy New Year!

2009-01-06T14:25:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone!

As there have been no new posts for a bit, I thought I had better do one! First if all, we have now started a new year, so welcome to the latest in a series of great years! heheh I'd only just got used to last year!

There was a great party the other night at Goony Island to usher in the new Homestead Status - we are now limited to only 20 AVs on the SIM, which will slow down events slightly! Never mind, there has been an increase in the number of clubs and places we can visit and have fun in, so the choice is there!

Just before Christmas I was at a fencing contest, only as a spectator, don't think I am good enough to compete. It was a great event, made more so by the mixing of kid and adult AVs (and furrys, robots, strange green squidgy things... it was an interesting contest...). Several kids were competing, and one of our number made the quarter finals! What was nice was the good humour and enjoyment by all the competitors, people congratulating winners, comiserating with losers, all done in good sportsmanship (sportsAVship?). It bodes well for our future, and maybe is the model for more intergration in the coming year.

Well, this is just a quick post to welcome in the New Year, I hope you all had as good a time as I did, and I will see you inworld soon.

Tepic

Have I been Naughty or Nice?

2008-12-19T09:53:00.000-08:00

Well, looking around sl, I guess Christmas time is here again (except is some strange areas where Winterfest is here...). The snow is thick and falling everywhere, with appreciably less lag than I remember from last year - can you remember watching the snowflakes fall sooo slowly you could dodge between them... errr... if you could move!

I've visited lots of great winter builds, Goony Island being one of my favorites, if for no other reason than the presence of Egnog the Troll! The Him & I & Us Commune has turned it's main square into a winter wonderland, Aspen of course looks lovely, the Scout Camp has frozen over, in fact, the whole place is fantastic!

I've also visited several Santa's Grottos, and to be honest, I'm not quite sure where they were, as I had the message that Santa was there, tped in, saw the great man, looked round and headed off! I will be trying to visit as many Santas as possible over the next week - Santas need our support, and the places taking the trouble and effort to set things like this up deserve to have people visit.

The reaction when I tell people I am visiting as many Santas as possible has been mixed, though the usual question is "Why?". Well, I enjoy Christmas, and when I was growing up, I was more likely to be one of Santa's Helpers than one of the children lucky enough to visit him. Now, I can be the one doing the visiting, and enjoying the magic, even though the beard may be false, standing in line, waiting to be called up for my turn - it all feels so warm and comforting.

Most of the Santas have presents to give, which is nice though I have all that I really need or will use. There always comes a point where I am asked what I would like for Christmas, and the answer has to be, for Christmas, nothing really, but for the coming year I would like to meet new friends, and deepen the friendships I have in sl. I can think of nothing that could possibly be a greater gift than my friends here.

I will continue to visit more Santas (I also try to play them a carol on my flute, in sims that allow that), and I will enjoy every experience. As to the title question, have I been naughty or nice? Well, I think that's for the people around me to decide, not me!

Happy Christmas!

Egnog the Christmas Troll

2008-12-07T04:13:00.000-08:00

Goony Island this christmas has a special treat for visitors in the shape of a troll. Egnog the Christmas Troll sits upon a large crystal ice burg awaiting good little girls and boys who would solve his riddles for a present. The Riddles range from easy to hard, and some you require you to search the island for the answer.

A boy called Linus captured on Film Egnog the Troll in his video adventure of the SLC Learning Tree and Goony Island.

Great Video Linus!! XD

Photo by Marianne McCanne

Music and other things - a gentle ramble

2008-11-27T23:47:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone

As many of you will know, one of my great pleasures in world is playing my flute. This is something I am utterly incapable of out there in the outside world, and I have always been envious of those who could pick up a musical instrument and play anytime they liked (yes, I know it takes a lot of work and practice to reach that stage, it's just that even with the practice I was as tuneful as a bucket of rocks rolling downhill!).

I certainly don't class myself as a musician, not like those wonderful live performers who so enrich our communities, but I was looking yesterday at the work I put in to bring just one tune into our world. First, I have to source the sheet music for the tune, checking that it is not too complex for the restrictions scripting puts on us - Wagner's Ring Cycle would have to be done in small chunks! Then, if the score goes outside the range of my flute, I have to transpose key (and boy, have I made some errors doing that!). The score has to be transcribed (each note changed from the musical notation to a code the script will recognise) by hand - sitting on the couch while doing this is my favorite, though I can not listen to music at the same time because the tunes get mixed up!

Once the score is ready, I copy it into the world in a notecard, thankfully no uploading fees! Then it I copy it into my flute's HUD, and it is ready for testing! This is when the real disasters show up, though I am getting better at it, and at tracking down my mis-encoded notes. Sometimes, if there are just too many notes in a tune, I get a "exceeds length, truncating at.." message, and the whole thing has to be junked. But usually, I reach a stage where I am reasonably happy with the results.

This is where the hard work really begins to pay off for me. I love just stopping somewhere and starting to play, watching other people stop and listen, until there is a small group clustered round. I guess this is the nearest to playing a real instrument I will ever get, and the feeling is wonderful! Even when there is no-one around I play, creating a mood around me by careful choice of what I am playing.

It's not an activity that brings in Linden, certainly not enough to cover the effort of bringing new tune in, and that is not why I do it. And I was looking round the world, at all the things we do and make, the beautiful locations that are built, the DJs who play the music we party to, the creators of the really useful gadgets or clothing we wear.... Except for a few, the effort that has to be put into what they are doing is always going to exceed the Linden that can be earned. So why do we do it? All I can imagine is that it's our individual love and appreciation of this marvelous world we have, that we want and are enthusiastic about contributing whatever skills we have to make the world a better place for all the people there.

That's what I hope is the case anyhow - what do you think?

Tepic

Robots Robots Robots

2008-11-15T08:45:00.000-08:00

When I was a young boy in real life I had a fascination with robots of all kinds. I had many a robot wind up toy, and of course I loved droids from the star wars movie. I liked the Cylons from the original Battle Star Galactica almost more than the heroes of the series. So, when I was shown "The Museum of Robots" I was very excited to share it with you. I quickly wished myself into my android (a type of robot) form and went about exploring.

The Museum is dedicated to all manner of robots, including vintage robots like "Robby the Robot" and "Tabor the Great" as well as more modern versions like the "T-101 Terminator" and "Cylon Centurion". There are also a few vintage movie clips available of old black and white movies where robots were the main plot device. Outside is a gallery devoted to entries in Robot build contests. Most are very well made, some comical and some serious.

Up on the third floor of the main museum building is the obligatory shop where some of the robot designs from the contests are available for purchase. Of note, the coolest one in my opinion, a robotic steam punk hand, is a freebie.

There is more to see at the Museum of Robots, including an exhibit dedicated to a man who makes robot shapes out of every day items such as teapots, refrigerators, and other household items. I did not have the time to fully explore, so go there and let me know what I missed out on!!

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Kubrick/200/151/24

The Spacexcape Project

2008-11-14T12:29:00.000-08:00

Well, after Sokmunky suggested I visit the Spacexcape Project, how could I miss taking a look?

I've been in sl for quite a while now, and have seen some very nice builds, some imaginative
ones, some stunning ones, some beautiful ones, (and a few I wish I hadn't visited!). This one is quite extraordinary, in thoughtfulness, design and intriguing beauty.

You start in a gallery area, with glowing warp holes to take you to the main entrance (there is also a vehicle of some sort, but it didn't come when called, this is a known problem, which is why there are alternative ways in). Do look round, there is some nice artwork here, as well as some clues as to what you might see inside.

Taking a warp jump or any other way, you find yourself in an entrance chamber, where you have a decision to make on how to proceed. I'll not say exactly what your choices are, but you may get an idea from the pictures in the blog! I enjoyed it so much I went back and tried several more times, and there was a minor glitch on a couple of occasions where I dropped through the next room - this must be a common occurrence, as there is a very handy warp hole to take you back again!

Eventually, you arrive at a room with four tunnels leading off to different areas. You can choose between "Identity", "Space", "Technology" and " "Communication". I visited all of them, and they are well worth spending considerable time exploring. I have included various pictures to give you a taste of the different areas.

My exploration involved several visits, some by myself, some with a friend, and on the whole, I would recommend visiting with a couple of good friends or with your partner. Having someone to try different activities with is definitely the way to go!

At the end of one of my visits, I met a very nice person called Spacexcape Bridges, one of the designers. We had a pleasant conversation, during which she told me that the Project will be closing at Christmas, I would urge everyone to take the opportunity to visit before this happens, as it is truly a wonderful build. There may be the chance to have a guided tour at some time, I will be exploring this, and letting people know.

Good exploring,

Tepic

Horse Field Trips

2008-11-06T12:08:00.000-08:00

Hello,

if youre interested in the field trips for riding yourself, i have from most a notecard with SURLS for the way. Just contact me inworld.
So far i have done:Avarien Sims (Grendel's Children), no notecard, but worth to visit, Bliss Garden Center, IOW Sims

Sven

Horse Field Trip to the IOW Sims

2008-11-06T11:33:00.000-08:00

Hi all!

I offered a horse trip to the IOW Sims (http://daryth.com/draconica/index.php/Main_Page) and announced it in the Kulture Kids, SLC and Goonies Groups. Around 12 Kids followed the call and we started to ride at 9:15 AM SLT.
We started in Limbo then rode through 8 Sims:Tir na Lir, Tir Infernis,Tir na Seilidhe,Tir Zephyrus,Tir na Nog,Hatchie Heaven,Cathedral. It seems this day we had a lot of luck, nearly no lag, even the Sim crossings were no problem at all.
We visited some Temples and saw some nice Houses and in Hatchie Heaven was a nice Pirate Place, where you can swim, fishing, relax. At the Limbo Sandbox we saw some funny buildings for a Helloween Contest.
At least we went to Cathedral and met some Dragons and got a nice ride with a Dragon.
Pais wrote his own report, you can read it here and there is also a small video:
http://paiskidd.wordpress.com/2008/11/03/exploring-the-isle-of-wyrms/

Sven

SLC Blog UPDATED

2008-11-04T09:57:00.000-08:00

In an attempt to make the SLC Blog more useful and interesting for its members we have updated it with new graphics and buttons. Gone has the lists from the side, instead there is now one post that you can post places you have been to and loved and wish to share with the rest of the Child Avatar Community.

We Also have many new articles from members of the SLC writing about their experiences. If you to would like to contribute tot he blog, please contact Loki Eliot.

Also the Kid Avatar Advice List has been updated also and is perhaps less agressive than before :-p

Finally we have a list of office (club) hours which are held every day at the SLC Learning Tree at Whippersnapper for new members to come ask any questions, or for old members to come chill and discuss new ideas. Times are available in the side bar.

Thank you everyone in the SLC community. :-)

PLACES TO GO

2008-11-04T09:38:00.000-08:00

We have done away with the list and are now allowing YOU the option to post any kool places that are fun and safe for Child Avatars to explore and enjoy :)

Please use the comments option to Post a description and paste a SLURL.

Sven Homewood - Everyone knows me hehe

2008-11-01T18:13:00.000-07:00

Hi,

Many know me and i will intodruce myself a bit. I am since 03/16/2007 in SL and was first month adult. I adopted a SL Kid and we had a lot of fun. After a time we split up in good and went our own ways. I changed into a Dragon (sometimes you can still see the Dragon) and then into a Kid. I'm doing a lot of things, build and script. I do offer horse field trips and will write about it a little bit.

Greetings

Viva la Revolution!

2008-10-30T09:03:00.000-07:00

Well, what an interesting day yesterday was!

I logged on, to be greeted with several messages about the price increases in tier fees for Openspace SIMs, and headed over to one of the protest locations to see what was going on.

When I arrived, I met Loki and Myrtil, along with several other kid AVs and a HUGE number of other people, all talking and discussing the increases.

So what is it all about, and how does it affect us, your average (who, us lot? heheh) kid AV?

Well...... from my research, seems Openspace SIMs were originally designed for open spaces, water, forest and such, and had a limit of 1875 prims. To be honest, they were not that attractive, quite highly priced, took ages to deliver, and apart from scenery, not much use for anything. Then the price dropped dramatically, the number of prims increased to 3750, and they were delivered almost immediately. It was also possible to buy them (you had to own a full SIM), then pass ownership to someone else!

Overnight, they became very popular, and the areas we had to explore expanded wonderfully! Often they have been used as residential SIMs, with lots of space and not many prims.

Places like Goony Island, which was in danger of vanishing, found a new and affordable place on an Openspace SIM, keeping a wonderful place for anyone to explore. Many of our friends now live on Openspace SIMs, where, for a modest rental, they have space to live and play. New sailing, flying and frankly wonderful builds were made available for us to use, because residents could afford to have a SIM that they could leave mostly as open area.

Unfortunately, it seems some people decided they could be used for heavy use, such as clubs, and, an Openspace SIM being used heavily affects the performance of the other Openspace SIMs using the same processor.

This has lead to complaints by residents, and Linden Labs have decided that the solution is to raise tier prices by 67% from January (on existing and new Openspace SIMs), and to increase the initial set-up fee by a similar percentage.

To be honest, I can't see how that will actually help, and from what I have read on the blogs, neither can a lot of people. What it effectively means for us as kid AVs is that, with people no longer able to afford the tier, many of the places we have learnt to love and explore over the past few months will vanish. My feeling is that without these places, with sl a poorer environment for new people, we will see less staying and contributing to our communities.

This is a sad situation, and I hope that Linden Labs will reconsider, or we will all end up the poorer for it.

There is a JIRA on this issue at https://jira.secondlife.com/browse/MISC-1776, and you can follow the forum discussion at http://forums.secondlife.com/showthread.php?t=289652&page=1&pp=15 - have a look at what is being said and discussed.

In friendship

Tepic

Surf's up DUDE!!

2008-10-26T10:56:00.000-07:00

Hello again everyone, or should I say “aloha!” or maybe “Surf’s up, Dude!!” I just had a great time at Bishara Island

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Majini%20Island/140/244/23

where the waves are always big and the fun is too. Aang Minotaur dropped by the Vortex today and asked if anyone wanted to go surfing. He teleported our group to the islands where we spent some time learning to ride the surfboards and catch the waves. It is relatively simple, the boards are standard vehicles but the effects on the water are very well scripted. One only has to paddle out to the wave and wait for it. When it arrives it is easy to start surfing. Like anything else, though, fancy tricks require practice.

The surf boards can be purchased in the shops nearby and they even cater to child sizes with half sized boards perfect for youth. Aang says that the boards available in the many shops only differ mostly in art design, shape, and look. Boards range in prices from L$450 to L$550 but there are loaner boards floating around on the beach for anyone to ride on a first come first serve basis.

The island also rents apartments for those that are interested in having an SL home on a tropical island.

So.. until next time, I’m going to be working on my tan and my surfing skills, trying to catch the eye of my favorite beach bunny with my antics.

New Blogger for Second Life Children

2008-10-20T12:24:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone, this is Wlfric Gausman, a new blogger for Second Life Children. I would like to start out by telling you a little about myself. I am a regular at the Whippersnapper sim and own land right next to our own SLC Learning Tree and I am a DJ at the Vortex Club not far from there. I am a twelve year old SL child and I love to script, build, sculpt, DJ, and play with toys both big and small, but my favorite thing to do is just hang out and pal around with my good friends.

My blogging will be mostly about exploration as that is one of the funnest things to do in Second Life. I will blog about places that would be of interest or fun places to play for children of any age.
I will start off with one of the very first places I went to upon leaving the Help Island over a year ago.

The International Spaceflight Museum - Spaceport Alpha - ISM

As you can see, these first three pictures were taken with a much earlier viewer (and a much earlier me as well). Yes, I started my second day in Second Life as a child. I figured since we could be anything we wanted to be, I wanted to be a boy again. Little did I know that I was not the only person in Second Life with that idea.

The rockets are just a very small part of this exhibit. Above them on the platform is a representation of our solar system with the planets in proper scale from the sun and with the times of their journey around it above them. Above that is a model of the international space station.

There are many more exhibits to see, including a planetarium, a rocket ride in a Gemini Rocket (no relation to a Gemini Enfield, thank goodness), a model of the hubble telescope and the international space station.

This sim is honestly one of the reasons I became hooked on second life. In the picture on the right is the video screen with the live NASA TV stream that is constantly playing video from latest space launches to explaining the technology to what exactly the astronauts are doing on the particular mission. It is very educational and interesting.

The last picture is the sim as it looks now, with the windlight viewer, on highest settings of a very high powered video card.

There is so much here to see you'll just have to go yourself and explore this wonderful sim

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Spaceport%20Alpha/137/128/451

Enjoy!!

Evolution and my AV

2008-10-19T05:52:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

Tepic here again! The other day, meeting a new person, I was asked, "Are you a Neko?". Well, it's a fair enough question, as I do have ears and a tail (of which I am inordinately proud and which are very much of my sl character now). In the end, I had to check up on the Wikipedia (hoping the info was right! hehehe), and guess, beacuse I see my tail and ears as fox rather than cat, I am probably a Kitsune.

This was not that straight forward, as I have never specifically chosen to be Kitsune, it's something which has evolved with me over a long time. When I first came to sl, logging in for the very first time (boy, was I nervous and uncertain!), I was presented with a set of possible starting AVs, none of which really appealed to me. The clean cut hunk, the college boy, the nightclubber, none felt right, and as for the lady AVs, I could never play a lady convincingly. However, there was one last AV, what looked to my eyes as a fox (oh OK, I learnt later that it was some kind of ringtailed ocelot or something like that!), and I instantly felt I could be a fox in this wonderful new world.

I walked proudly into sl wearing my new form, fully dressed and looking forward to exploring and making new friends to be greeted by another new arrival, with the words "Ewwwwwww.... you are a furry! That's sick!". hehhee my first encounter with sl cyber prejudice! Anyway, I was not deterred, and spent the next few months exploring some wonderful new places and making friends I still have now.

I also started to make modifications to my AV, creating my own fox fur textures, changing the prims to look more fox-like. It was a fun and productive time, I didn't feel constrained by the adult role I would have otherwise have taken on - after all, I was a fox!

Although I was enjoying myself, I had not found a community I felt I belonged in, no matter that I visited the Furry sims, they were nice enough, and the people were fine, but it still wasn't really me. It was about then that I heard about the possiblity of being a cub or kid in sl, something I hadn't considered. However, it felt like an interesting experiment, so, with a little searching, I found freebee cub and kid shapes, which I tried out for size. I was also lucky to find Nemo Beach, and a safe area to explore my inner youth.

In those days, you could find me messing about on the beach, either as a fox cub or a human boy, and I had found a community I felt I could be a real part of. More and more, I stayed in human form, and with a few tweeks, made the free boy shape I had found into the me you can see today!

I was happy as I was, though usually described myself as part fox, there was nothing to show that independence of spirit I saw in the fox I had been. I had seen other kid AVs with tails and ears, who described themselves as Neko or Kitsune, neither term I was familiar with, and we have our share of cat/puppy/wolf/otter people. It was like I was missing something to make my AV identity complete.

Then, by chance, I came across a starter kit of ears and tail, that I could colour and change to how I wanted to look. I took the chance, and have been wearing them ever since!

Occasionally, my tail will vanish when I attache some object, but as soon as possible, I put it back - not something that should be a mere de-tail! My AV now feels right for me, not from a constructed image I had way back when I started, but by a process of slow evolution. Sometimes I meet new people who have arrived, and immediatly taken on a kid AV, this may well be right for them, but I do wonder if they have missed something in the evolution process I and some of my friends have gone through.

What do you, reader, think?

Do you remember.....?

2008-10-15T23:45:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! I'm Tepic, and I'm one of the new contributors to the blog. I was not quite sure what to write, possibly something about the stuff I make in sl, why I make it and what it means to me as a kid AV. However, this morning, as I wa making my rl breakfast, I opened a new jar of set honey to spread on my toast. As I looked at the unmarked whiteness of the top crust, a memory from my rl childhood was sparked, of fighting with my siblings about who should have that wonderful top layer! Oh, those fights were bitter and hard, but looking back on the memory, it was with a warm and comfortable feeling.

It occurred to me, in a moment of clarity, that this is one of the reasons I am a kid AV in sl, I can re-awaken all those wonderful memories, that I had forgotten even existed. Last week, I was trying out some swings in sl, and I remembered jumping off at the top of the movement in rl..... Well, how could I resist! At the top of the swing, I stood up, and flew through the air to land in a bush! I couldn't stop laughing, in both sl and rl, because it was exactly the sort of thing that I remember doing, and it was exhilarating!

That is one example of my "Do you remember...", but since coming into sl there have been so many, each touching a remembrance, sometimes sad but mostly happy, always comforting. I was wondering, do other people find the same thing, or is it just me? The kids AV community is so diverse, just looking at the shapes, sizes and other characteristics we have, that there are probably as many reasons for being here and playing the parts we do, but if anyone else has a "Do you remember..." moment, I for one would love to hear about it.

Thank you for reading, and if you want to know more about me, have a look at my profile, drop by and have a chat sometime, and we can remember together!

Oh, I'll probably be chatting about my AV sometime, if I remember!

In Friendship

Tepic Harlequin

SLC Office Hours at the SLC Learning Tree in Whippersnapper

2008-10-05T16:01:00.000-07:00

Second Life Children group are pleased to announce SLC Office Hours at the SLC Learning Tree in Whippersnapper.

Maybe you have some questions or concerns, you're a newbie looking for help. you want to hang out and meet other kids, you're looking for a little fun and entertainment, or a curious adult wanting to know more about the kid community, then pop along to one of the sessions listed below.

Each duty officer may have something lined up for your entertainment, such as a live DJ, a quiz, a theme, stories or a special guest. So come on down and take your face for a joy ride!!

The first session will start on Monday 6th October with Loki Eliot at 2PM

Click to teleport to SLC LEARNING TREE

SLC Office Hours

MONDAY:

Loki Eliot

2pm - 3pm

TUESDAY:

Arianna Pinkerton/Marianne McCann:

6pm - 8pm

WEDNESDAY:

Akiko Qinan:

10am - 11am in German/English

THURSDAY:

Arianna Pinkerton

6pm - 8pm

FRIDAY:

Cricket Nelson:

10am -12pm

SATURDAY:

Gemini Enfield:

10am - 11am

SUNDAY:

Sokmunky Rutabaga:

Features stories using voice

English (a little Italian, French, and Spanish)

10am - 11am

SLC get a mention on the BurninLife.com blog

2008-10-02T11:59:00.000-07:00

Thanx to all those that Turned up at the Hay Barn on open day. The massive turn out impressed one journalist who writes ongoing reviews about The Burning Life festival.

He was so Impressed with the way our community comes together he awarded the Hay Barn a Sizzle Award.

Head over to the burninglife.com blog to read his words of praise.

Burning Life 08

2008-09-26T01:19:00.000-07:00

All is set for a spiffing time at Burning life for us Kid Avatars. There are Lots going on around the Burning life sims next week. Both Loki, Marrianne and others have built some wonderful places to explore.

Marrianne McCann has an inner child camp located here (http://slurl.com/secondlife/Burning%20Life%20(Reaper)/92/176/2 ) Which will be host to half of the Special Milk n Kookies radio show on saturday the 27th when it all opens to the public.

Loki Eliot has built a Hay Barn with hidden dragons. Located here (http://slurl.com/secondlife/Burning%20Life%20(Optic)/249/212/25)

Events at the Hay Barn are as follows

Saturday the 27th............ Burning life opens at 9am - Milk and Kookies Show at 12noon - DJ Rai show at 11

Sunday 28th.......... Sokmonkey Story Telling at 3pm

Monday 29th........ A Special Burning Life Goonies Adventure, everyone welcome to hang with the Goonys as they set forth and Explore Burning Life. AT 2PM

Tuesday............ The Gemini Enfield Experience at 12 noon. Special DJ show from Gemini Enfield

Wednesday.......... DJ Loki's Chill out session. 3 hours of chill out music starting at 2pm

Friday............... The Great SLC Pogo Stick Race. Winner wins the SLC grand Prix cup, Free pogo Stick supplied! AT 3pm

Saturday............ Burning Of the Kid, not a real one, a wiker Kid made of wood. Music supplied by DJ Loki & DJ Serverus

Sunday............ Final day, Bert Burns the Barn. Witness the HAy Barn being burnt down which music by DJ Loki and a Fireworks display.

We should be proud

2008-06-26T07:45:00.001-07:00

I'm a regular in the SL Forums, and one of the big topics? Us.

Now we've long been debated there. A year or so ago, when they still had the general forum, most comments about us kids were pretty negative. They were particularly bad in the wake of the Report Mainz and Sky News pieces of 2006. That isn't what these discussions are about. No, they're my photo display, the SLC's "Childhood Dreams" walk through storybook, and especially about Kids5B.

One person visited these with his 60 year old father. The latter now has an SL account just because of what he saw from us.

Another person compared Kids5B to visiting Walt Disney World.

Tons of adults have been "transmogrified," and loved every minute of it.

I've had to give out SLURLs several times in the forums and elsehwere to people eager to see what seem to be some of the biggest parts of SL's fifth birthday. SL5B Move - the home of the SLC build, the Kids5B build, my exhibit, and the BSSL's Camp Duck Itch - is one of the most popular sims there. Kids5B will be known as a legandary SL site by those who visited.

Remember, it was only a month ago that we were "respectfully declined." In that time we changed policy, we built showcases worthy of our community, and we put together two simply awesome regions at Kids5B.

We've changed the entire dialogue about child avatars, and changed minds from all over.

Today, we should be proud of all we've done in a very short period of time. Congratulations to us all, and let's keep the momentum rolling!

Now that the birthday is underway

2008-06-24T12:50:00.001-07:00

Last night a number of us stood around in the Kids5B sims snapping pictures. In the middle of our group was Teagan Linden, wearing a chibi kid avatar. I had seen Teagan in the official SL5B sims a bit before this, and suggested that she visit Kids5B. She was wary. She was not sure how us kids would react to a Linden in our space, given all that has transpired.

I don't blame Teagan for her reluctance. I know that if we were talking about another Linden or two, the reaction might have been quite different.

For myself, I've grown somewhat tired of the controversy. It's hard to keep fighting, day after day, over this issue. As the event is open and -- by and large -- Linden Lab has changed the policy about our builds in their event, I feel there isn't much left to fight.

Yet there are some things that still frustrate me, and will still gnaw at me.

If you read the official line, you would think that there was no issue at all to begin with. This was all a product of being "mininformed," and subject to "rumors." Yet we all seemed plenty informed, Loki and I, when we were summoned and told about this policy. It also seemed plenty clear when Everett Linden gave the infamous "Respectfully Declined" notice on the SL Forums, Massively.com, and other spaces. I also did not feel misinformed when Robin Linden also confirmed this policy.

The same thing happened days later, when a policy about not allowing child and adult avatars in the same frame of an image -- no matter how innocuous the image was -- ended up rescinded and chalked up to rumors. The only "rule" we were told was that images must be "PG," inadvertantly implying that anyone who did face troubles was trying to display mature images of adult and child avatars together.

The one thing this situation ahs taught me is that there is still a world of educating to do. We need to seize the dialogue from the Sky News' of the world, and show people who and what we are. Those of us who can need to be telling our stories, being visible, and otherwise showing what us kids in SL are.

This is something we are accomplishing with Kids5B: everyone who visits there leaves with a whole new understanding about us kids. It is also something we accomplishing in SL5B, as people who would otherwise never go to an event with the word "Kids" in the title are seeing the great works of a handful of us within the SL5B sims, as well as seeing us within that space.

I debated long and hard about my own involvement in SL5B. I wondered if it would be a disservice to SL's inner kids to be there, or if it would be viewed as tacit support for what was some bad policy making on Linden Lab's part.

If the goal had been to keep us out of their event in the first place, then it stands to reason to make sure you are there. This is a chance to educate the average user, who may never have seen one of us kids in SL before. That's what caused me to keep going on SL5B.

I'm not happy with these shifting policies. I would love to see an apology from Linden Lab to those of us who have had to weather these changes -- preferrably from those most behind said policies. I would like some reassurances that we will not face these issues again, and will be treated as an equal part of the Second Life community. I'm not gonna hold my breath, because I don't look all that good in blue.

I am happy with the response to the things we've done, both in SL5B and Kids5B. I'm happy for every avatar who comes away with a greater understanding, and who learns that Second Life does have room for virtual kids who just want to have some fun.

Last night, Teagan Linden got an eyeful of our commuinty. Her comment? "Kids are awesome."

It's way true.

Child Avatars RULE, back in SL5B

2008-06-11T04:42:00.000-07:00

OK the news has been out a while now, but i thought i better post it here also. Linden Lab have restarted their Submission Form, only this time allowing Child Avatars to build exhibits and represent our community. Already Me (Loki) Marianne, Geoff and others have had applications approved, all Linden Lab want is for us to be sensible in what we build. It seems strange and wonder why they reacted like they did to start with. We no more want anyone to see us in a bad light than LL do.

Anyway so now after all the drama the Child Avatar community will have a big presence at SL5B. Not only that but there will be Landmarks to the Kid5B event which is growing bigger and bigger.

There are casualties from the protesting and campaigning. Signpostmarv Martin and his team were managing this event to start with, while it was still a resident run celebration. They stood down in protest of the ethics involved and i dont think their hard work and sacrifice should be forgotton!

Anyway, all the Grids eyes are on us now!!

Still more...

2008-05-30T09:55:00.000-07:00

Robin Linden has indicated that child avatars are allowed and welcome as attendees - this is simply affecting whether child avatars can be contributors.

More on SL5B

2008-05-30T07:39:00.000-07:00

If you have not yet, read Loki's post below, first. Dun worry, I'll wait right here.

First off, we're NOT happy with this. Loki and I are not happy, and the Linden who had to deliver the news is not happy. This decision was made thanks to people like United States Representative Mark Kirk who are on a misguided quest to keep real life kids off an adult only service by penalizing a company already making steps to keep real life kids off the system. Heck, I bet that Kirk's concern has more to do with gathering votes from his conservative base than it does about actually worrying about any child.

There are some elements within LL that are panicking. As a result, many last minute changes are going on with the SL birthday celebration. It's being all made PG (no mature sims or builds), Linden Lab is taking a direct hand in the approval of content (they've been far more standoffish about this in the past), and yes... they're being overly cautious about representations of child avatars.

What does this mean? For one, the planned SLC build and others (including a presentation I had planned of my inworld photography) that are specifically about kids in Second Life are not going to happen. Ironically another build that will include kids will, but because it uses a literary reference to get around the fact. And while we are having the Linden who contacted us do some follow-up on specifics (including, as Loki referenced below, the very basic issue of access), this is the extent of things. Really.

It is about a disallowance of certain forms of builds within the birthday area, on the grounds that their inclusion might give the erroneous appearance of Linden Lab condone said activities, including a misguided assumption that kids = teh sex0r. As we all know, people like Sky News don't need reality to spin a story -- and this is right at the heart of things.

I should also add that the Linden who provided the news is not our enemy. Frankly, I feel sorry for her being stuck in the position of presenting news that she, herself, is opposed to. Her preference is to have us included, and is even willing to do what she can if we want to have something -- provided it can make its way past what would likely be a very severe vetting process.

I am wary of bending too far backwards on any such build, though, given that this could set a precedent. I don't want us to be "separate but equal," pushed into the closet when convenient. Frankly, that serves no one's interests, and will only highlight some of the very issues LL wishes to prevent.

At the same time, how far do we push back? SL is Linden Lab's place, and while it is a place of "your world, your imagination," they nevertheless own this particular sandbox. They're fear is that people like Rep. Kirk and Jason Ferrel are just itching for more grist, and this will destroy LL's chances to grow beyond what it is now.

So what now?

For one, I want to hear your input. Leave comments here or contact us. Let us know how we should proceed. What should our group do? What should those of us put in leadership positions do? What should we expect and ask for from Linden Lab?

Also, I want us as a whole to keep a clear head. Let's get more answers, let's figure out our best course of action, and then let's proceed. Panic will serve no one well (after all, one could argue that it's panic that had led us to where we are right now).

Most of all, let's be there for each other right now. We've beaten the impossible before, and we will do it again -- we will see a time when us kids will prevail.

Mari

Child Avatars Not Welcome at SL5B

2008-05-30T02:24:00.000-07:00

Last night I and Marianne McCann met with a the Linden assigned to the organising of Second Lifes 5th Birthday celebration (SL5B). Some of you are old enough to remember our community last year showcased itself with camp duck itch and the Giant SLC Sand Castle.

This year we have unfortunitly been told we will not be allowed to represent or promote our community at SL5B. From what we could understand the reason being that Linden Lab (LL) do not want the world to see our community being sponsored by them in the current climate of hysteria created by a certain US politician. This MAY also mean that Child Avatars will NOT be allowed at the SL5B celebrations.

While shocked and disappointed that LL have decided to exclude us from such a celebration of everything in SL, I ask everyone in the Child Avatar community to stay strong and to not seek retribution. I reluctantly acknowledge that LL want us to lay low until the smoke of Real World Politics blows over or risk the entire world of Second Life being torn down by uneducated Politicians seeking fame and glory.

I say reluctantly because we have tried so hard to be recognised as a respectable important group of imaginative, talented and caring people. Being asked to go underground works against our already tarnished image. Anyone who hears of the drama of SL5B will wonder what we do that causes LL to fear being associated with us.

Ive heard of people deleting their child avatar accounts because they can not cope with the prejudice against them from other residents and even SL Mentors. I am TELLING YOU that we will get through this as long as we stick together. We have a great collection of Sims devoted to our community with great owners who will look after us.

And we WILL continue to have adventures in SL!

New SLC AWARENESS poster

2008-03-31T05:53:00.000-07:00

Every now and then we bring out a new SLC Awareness campaign poster. This is to keep the campaign fresh in order to remind those who may have forgotton, or for newbs who are not aware of the strife that can surround child av's. It is also because of revisions of the actual advice.

There has been in the past a lot of internal controversy over the wording of this advice. We really only have the interest at heart of all those who come to SL as Child AV's. We dont want anyone to get into trouble with anyone, we want you to have as much fun in SL as we do and so this advice was created as steps to lower your risk of being picked on by outsiders who dont know and dont wont to know about our community.

The new revised advice simplifies some and expands on others. Please check out the advice here :)

Also the new POSTERS note givers are available FREE in the SLC Learning treehouse at Guardian Island Sim

THE NEW SLC HQ LEARNING TREE!!

2008-03-31T05:42:00.000-07:00

well i guess you have all heard about it, but if not, there is a new HQ for the SLC group. The Learning Tree is situated at the centre of the Guardian Island Sim for Child Avatars and is designed to be the one place all SL Kid Avs should visit for information about the community, free kid stuff and for anyone who wants to know what the SLC group is about.

We Held an open day party last week which involved discussions on current dramas as well as many high-jinx and tomfoolery that you'd expect from our community. There was also a rubber ring race around the moat that surrounds the treehouse which was won by Jimmy because he was able to get under the stone bridge before the others plugged it up. Was great to see so many there having fun.

The SLC Learning tree is also a place for friends to meet and discuss their own issues, hold paformances, read stories etc.

Hopefully we can get round to updating the fun lists very soon!

Sky News goes after us kids, again

2008-03-13T08:50:00.000-07:00

I wrote a loooong piece about the current Sky News controversy with child avvies an sexual ageplay an all dat. I have it on the Livingtree blog, for those who wanna read it.

SLC Youth Centre

2008-02-20T04:44:00.000-08:00

At the Weekend the SLC Youth Centre was returned to me as Masqerade Island is redesigned. After thinking about it a while, i have decided to take this opertunity to create a new SLC home with the hope of better getting across what our community is and ad things to make it kool for us all to connect better :)

The project name is called the "SLC Learning Tree" ;P

Happy New Year SLC!

2008-01-06T07:51:00.001-08:00

So here we go again, another year.

I dont know about you but im feeling quite positive as we leave 2007, the year of the german anti virtual child conspiracy, Nemo Sim drama, and the strange Disappearing Child AV fiasco. The strange policy shifts, the infamous Note Card from now ex Linden Chadrick. The "Broadly Offensive" rubbish and general feeling of discrimination from not just other residents but also the Linden Lab itself as we are forced to type in our profiles that we are not actually minors or face account cancelation.

In all truth when it comes to these dramas i think we all got on with our pursuit of fun and friendships just fine, except for those who for a brief while were suspended pending age verification.
I think more and more other communities are realising what the Child Av can bring to SL and i think this might be a really good thing to have on our side. The more others realise what we can bring to SL the better.
I had a talk with a woman who was discussing getting communities who are persecuted to talk at events shes holding. The idea is to highlight what different groups go through so the second life community as a whole has a better understanding. I rather liked that idea and might be talking to her again. But this si something we as a group should consider this year.

I know some of you are more active than others in SL, building, scripting and stuff. I think we should really push this year to make the Second life Children Community the most talked about community in SL... for the RIGHT reasons this time.
We are a highly talented and imaginative group whos ideas bring out the kid in anyone. We create fun safe atmospheres that any age would enjoy and with the Lab pushing SL towards an Age verified world of safe zones and mature zones we are going to need to show we are the experts and care about what we do.

Eventually SL will open its doors officially to under 18s. People will want residents who can build safe environments and it would be great if they turned to the talented creators within the SLC for that.

So i urge you all this year to create, not just in the SLC, but in the other groups you are part of, steampunk, cyber punk, fantasy, pilots, trekkies... Get your build out there, show Second Life what us Kid Avs's are made of, cos they need to know.

Being Active

2007-12-11T10:55:00.001-08:00

I do a lot on Second Life, much of it with a goal of increasing the overall visibility of child and family role playing on the grid. With all the negative media coverage we've had to endure, I've felt it necessary to increase the amount of positives out there. Plus, well, it's a bit of what I do in the real world, so it's something I'm pretty familiar with doing.

To tootle my own horn, I've recently been the subject of a big interview on New World Notes (thanks to my win in their Uncanny Valley contest), I was a guest on Tonight Live with Paisley Beebe, and I am part of a group art show in the popular Cannery Rezzable sim. I also try to maintain a high profile in the Second Life Forums, the LiveJournal "second_lifers" group, flickr, and Snapzilla, attend Linden office hours, and keep up my "M2 4 Kids" page in the Metaverse Messenger newspaper. I would like to think all this has helped to make people think better of us kids, by using myself as an example.

The down side of this, however, is that many have only seen me. Their entire concept of kids is based around the idea that all kids are, well, a lot like me -- and we all know that isn't the case. There's at least one other gender out there, lots of other species, and about a hundred billion trillion different kinds of kids to be had.

The SLC officers, I know, are all very visible, and we have others amongst the overall SL kid world who have gained some visibility. Yet I encourage each of you, within our own comfort zones of course, to do your own part of being visible. Consider the following:

* The Second Life forums or other sites like SLUniverse or LiveJournal could always use other kids, especially because regular discussions of child avatars can and do come up. We're all valid members of Second Life, and all "belong." Speaking up and letting all them know you exist can help them see just what us kids are all bout

* Flickr and Snapzilla for photos, and YouTube for video, are great places to post a visiual record of who you are and what you do in Second Life. I personally have used a video from Camp HardKnock many times to show people just some of the things us kids are capable of, and it has helped people to recosider their feelings towards us. Ditto with my still photos. You can use most of these sites for free, and they also serve as good spots to store some of your inworld memories, too.

* Linden office hours. I regularly attend Torley Linden's office hours, and try to make the office hours of the governance team, but there's many others I'm not able to hit. Being seen at these meetins is no sure fire way to avoid some future changesin Linden policy, of course, but they do help to humanize us, and make kids something other than "that thing."

* Just be yourself. Being seen out and about, doing what you do, can be the most effective thing ever. Let people out there see that kids in SL are well, just being kids and having fun and all that.

Just a quick messege

2007-12-10T09:21:00.000-08:00

Hey Loki here, i havent posted on this blog for a while. Thanx to marianne for keeping it going and well done in that competition thing. I know some think one story on one blog explaining what it can be like for us kids when our peaceful playful world gets disrupted by ignorance wont change anything. But over time these things are going to get talked about more and more.

Next year id like to do alot more stuff just for you kid avs. ive spent alot of time on my steampunk projects lately but still hear what you lot are up to. It would be kool if we could get you lot to show off what your doing. we are a large community and i think it would be great if we was able to somehow all come together at the same time..... shame there is'nt a sim that can hold over 500 kid avs.

To all those who are well into the christmas spirit !!!! look out for Santa, he's here in SL somewhere im told!

New World Notes, and kids!

2007-10-30T07:36:00.000-07:00

New World Notes is holding their "Uncanny Valley Expo" contest for 2007, and I've managed to beat 33 other great avatar photos to the finals! The goal of their contest is to showcase avatars who've"crossed the divide between creepily artificial and the believably human."

My entry, titled blog.secondlife.com was a visiual depiction of how I felt reading some very anti-kid comments on the Second Life blog titled "Accusations Regarding Child Pornography in Second Life." The photo has previously been an editor's choice on Snapzilla.

Voting is open for a couple of weeks. Please, if you wish, vote for my image. I think it'd be cool to show 'em dat us kids got what it takes, an get someting more positive about kids out in the press!

EDIT: Voting will be closing on the 14th of November!

I just spent a wonderful week at camp...

2007-10-29T11:41:00.000-07:00

Camp HardKnock is the outgrowth of the the old HardKnock Elementary. Run by Jill Caldera and Gattz Gilman in the Tu Amor sim on a seasonal basis, Camp HardKnock serves as a sleepover camp featuring numerous guided activities and plenty of "free play" time.

I arrived a day or two late, due to real-life commitments, as well as a little trepidation about being away from my SL family for so long. A Second Life week can feel like forever!

Once I settled into camp life, however, I saw that the experience was something quite wonderful. The sort of thing I wish there was far more of in Second Life. A place full of joy and delight, peopled by some very loving and caring individuals, and a place to truly, safely explore one's own "inner kid."

There were activities galore, from a "cabin pranking day" that left the boys cabin full of pink, and other filled with giant cup cakes, to a talent show full of play acting, performing, and other moments quite unlike the dance clubs of "mainstream" SL spaces. We had ghost stores, camp outs, dances, scavenger hunts, and even just pancake breakfasts in the mess hall.

Even when there wasn't a scheduled activity, we still found ways to occupy our time. In the open area between cabins, there was always plywood cubes being turned into some new shape as kids let the imaginations go. Counselor Gilman's morning building events -- more of a "build on a theme" gathering with some instruction as need be -- made for everything from sentimental mementos of camp friendships to imaginary creatures.

Then, one night of camp, you got to see the real heart of the place: one camper's SL father -- and another's SL grandfather -- was killed in a real-life car accident. The camp pulled together for them, holding a solemn memorial for those who lost family, and reflected on how much their own SL families mean to them.

This is the thing about these Second Life kids, and about this camp. While there sure are some to whom the name might fit, we're not some perverse subculture that some would lead you to believe. The camp, while red taped to allow a respite from the outside world's interference, was something I wish all could see, just to have a better idea what all these kids are doing on Second Life.

We're creating and using our imaginations. We're sharing with each other, and enjoying each other's company. We're caring about each other, and lending a hand when needed. We're learning new skills, new ideas, and even new interests. Above all this, we're having fun.

For those who might be interested, there is a movie on YouTube that Counselor Caldera put together at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9iNjwMy8eU - an also photos at http://www.sluniverse.com/pics/Default.aspx?Name=Marianne+McCann, Casey Sawson's website at http://www.rainbowramen.com/princessofsl.html, and in Maxi Rehula's MySpace at http://www.myspace.com/maxirehula, amongst others.

The Kids are the most creative souls in Second Life

2007-10-18T02:17:00.000-07:00

The SLC has been up and running for a year and a half now me thinks. When i talk about working on stuff for the SLC im not just talking about the group, im talking about the Child AV community as a whole. The SLC was formed as a way for all kid av's to stay in touch and find out what everyone is up to. It was also formed so we could advise noobs about current attitudes towards Kid Avs in SL.

With over 500 members and still growing, i think we are at a point where we really could be crating some wonderful stuff for SL. More and more Sl communities are saying how much imagination people behind Child Avs have. If just look at some of the stuff us Kid Avs create its a wonder more of us arnt approched to create more.

We tend to think about those nostalgic things like Cans with string on them for communication. Wooden Swords and collander helmets. Animation overides that perform wedgies. We as a community of people are highly creative, its part of being a kid av. You might not think you are. ;) but i know better :-p

"Why A Kid?" art show!

2007-10-04T14:43:00.000-07:00

Livingtree island will be hosting a showing ofself-portraits by me, titled "Why A Kid?", and focusing on the experiences of child avatars within the Second Life world. Show will run from the 5th of October to the 19th, with an opening event with me on the evening of the 6th at 8:00 p.m. SLT.

If you or anyone you know has ever had a misconception about child avatars in Second Life, please come and learn some of the reality behind why people would choose to be a kid in this world!

My works and a show book will be available at the show. All are welcome, an lotsa refreshments will be provided.

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Livingtree/77/129/24/

SLC Burning Life Party!!! WOOOT!

2007-09-30T05:50:00.000-07:00

Yes the Burning Life Party at the SLC kicked off last night, the dance floor is still there if you and your friends wonna go party for a bit.

Thanx everyone who came, and also thanx to those who carried on after the Huge Griefer attack happend durning the Burning Life celebrations, it just showed how hard we little people of SL are.

I enjoyed seeing everyone getting into the free spirit and was cool to look across the sims seeing all the other parties going on! was a proper festival atmosphere and something i cant wait to see again.

They was burning a replica of Londons Globe theatre wich some of you might remember seeing at the SL4B

Hope to see many of you later at Mr Crabby for the official Burning of the man at 3pm SLT. Will give out Landmark later.

SLC JOURNALISTS NEEDED!

2007-09-07T09:39:00.000-07:00

We need some aspiring Journalistic members to write about their favourate SL group and the many wonders in Second Life. We'd like articles about places you have explored and about the areas of fun you have as a kid in SL.
Many people wonder what the Kids of SL do, and it will be great to have a few articles from the group members showing what fun is to be had while being an SL kid AV.

Some ideas for possible articles.

1) A special Linden sponsored event.
2) a party you went to and really enjoyed.
3) Some crazy new thing you discovered and think the rest of the SLC would love to know about.
4) Great Places to Explore.

Please send your proposals to either Loki Eliot or Marianne McCann and if chosen, you will be added to the SLC blog roster letting you post articles for ever more :)

Kidsploration!

2007-07-19T09:37:00.000-07:00

Just for fun, here's a couple places I've been exploring lately

Victorianna Castle, Hogback
This place is like a fairy tale princess castle, all white marble. I kept expecting to see Cinderella or Belle or some other Disney princess to step out of an alcove. There is a store there, focusing on gothic lolita dresses, but even if that style isn't yours, it's still a super pretty place with lots to explore.

Lake Gnoma
A nice, natural lake and campsite, featuring canoeing and other fun stuff. Worth taking a tour around, especially if you like natural.wildlife environments. Grab the freebie walking stick in the cabin by the lake, too.

Greenies Home Rezzable
One of the bestest builds I've seen in a long long time. This home is built to put you on scale with the "Greenies," tiny aliens created by inworld artist Light Waves. The "house" is huuuuge, an requires a 300m draw distance jes to see across the living room! Not all the items you'll find exploring the house are kid-friendly, but the folks who made the place are. Check out the hamster balls scattered on the floor as well as the hidden trampoline (I'm not gonna spoil it!) in the kids' part of the living room. ALso, make sure to get up to the mother ship from the main hidden teleporters.

EGO Terra
You'll find another giant house here too. Not as huge as the one in Greenies Home, but still a fun place to explore. Of more note are the recreations of cartoon places, You'll find the Simpsons' house and Moe's Tavern, the Animaniacs' water tower, Scrooge McDuck's money bin, the Planet Express Building, and Invader Zim's place. Not a lot other than eye candy - but it's really good eye candy.

Livingtree
Okay, I'm way biased, cuz I helped build it and I have a store there, but check it out. There's a large kids' playground, a bay you can dive around and swim in, a small campsite, a drum circle, free kayak rentals, a Neo-Realms fishing francise, and tons of places to explore. Look for the hidden cave. As mentioned, my store is there, as is my brother Pygar's, and all of RObin Sojourners stores. It's the main place to find her skins and shapes for boys and girls, amongst other stuff.

Have fun exploring!

Memories and imagination

2007-07-18T14:55:00.001-07:00

Remember, for a moment, what it was like when you were a kid.

Remember springtimes of your past, when the flowers would bloom, when you could wish on dandelions, and -- for some -- when you would hunt for brightly colored eggs while wearing your new Easter dress. Perhaps, too, you spent a weekend or two selling cookies for your scout or guide troop some Springtime, too.

Remember Summers that would never end, where ice cream, lemonade, and all sorts of summertime treats seemed like they were yours for the taking. Days spent climbing a favorite tree, or daydreaming of clouds that looked like fluffy bunnies.

Remember Autumn: the satifying crunch of a leaf as you leapt into a pile, freshy stacked. Cast your mind back to pumpkins carved and costumes worn for Halloween, or - for those of us in the States - Thanksgiving-time school plays.

Remember wintry nights spent at home, a mug of cocoa at the ready, perhaps catching a "CBS Special Presentation" featuring Charlie Brown, Rudolph, or Frosty. Think of the wonder of lights, whether it was the glow of the family menorah, or the gleam of lights strung around a tree. A time of paper-wrapped presents and candy canes.

Remember joy, and wonder, and the happy times of your youth. All these memories that may bring a smile to your face, or even a tear to your eye.

Those were halcyon days where life may well have been a lot simpler, before car payments, mortgages, and 1040s, when you got up to go to elementary school instead of facing another rush hour commute to a dull, gray cubicle. You know, when the doctor might offer you a sucker, and you could do crayon drawings on the menu at your favorite restaurant.

Now imagine those being something other than simply memories. Imagine if you could head off to elementary school now, experience the seasons as you once did, and enjoy a simpler time in your life once again. Imagine that Summer need not end, because the sky will always be blue, with a few wispy clouds some 140 meters over your head.

Imagine too that any bad that may cloud those memories could be somehow lessened, with a sheen of adult experience allowing you to avoid your own errors, while a bevy of other tools can help prevent any ills you may have suffered during your childhood.

Finally, imagine if, as a kid, you could fly, teleport to places far and wide, and make whatever play thing you desire.

This is the life of a child in Second Life. Now, is it any surprise why one might choose it?

SL4B finally over

2007-07-01T06:31:00.000-07:00

So the week is over, the forth celebrations are at an end, and what a mad week it was. As Sl Birthdays go this one did not go as well as i think it could have. But that maybe in part to do with how badly SL works compared to this time last year. Many New members may not believe this but once upon a time you could cross a sim boarder without getting a hairy butt. You could fly a plane without suddenly getting stuck and watching your beloved aircraft fly off into the distance.

SL4B was all about the past, with is different sims devoted to the previous 4 years. Ours was year 3 as thats when the SLC started up thanx to Gemini and Linnian. My mission for SL4B was to represent us Kid Avs as best I could with the help of my friends and i think it worked. Unfortunitly i feel the promotion of SL4B was a little bit....well crap. Many people did not even know the event was on. It did not feel like a major second life event. Anyway, heres some of your thoughts......

" hej all, i rilly liked the race, an it was fun to fall off, even t made it hard to race. We had two chances to race, an thats funner, cuz then you can do it two time in stead of one time. Thanks for a nice day to Loki an SL04" : Leendert Meriman

"Yea the pictures were awesome, spotting friends and giggling at antics ^^" : Tsukasa Saka

"was alot fo fun remembering all the stuff we did" : Koffeekid Smalls

" Looks like lots of fun!" : Robin Linden

Najmah Handayani: I wasnt able to go to the race but I did get a chance to visit and spent a lot of time reading about how SLC got started and more history abut it... had a good time jus being alone there hehe

Well with the castle, Scout camp and Go-Kart race, i think we made our presence in SL4B, wether anyone was there to notice, who knows. So just before i go to pull down the SL4B castle i'd like to thank everyone who helped me. From those who terraformed the land after it was reset, to those who just sat on a pose ball to help me position a pose, i could not have done it without you all.

Whats next for the SLChildren? well thats up to you lot. I myself have some ideas, but if you have any, then get to it and DO IT!
Us virtual Kids are a big community here in SL and we have many with the skills to help each other do amazing things, Go Kart races, baloon rides, parties,camping, exploring, dancing, baseball leagues... all you need is the idea and then go find someone to help you out :)

SLC SL4B Go-Kart Grand Prix

2007-06-30T04:27:00.000-07:00

So we braved the lagged sim and bugged scripts to have a Go-Kart Race. In all honesty i really thought it would not happen as upon arriving we had about 3 sim crashes and i had 5 viewer crashes. Thanx to my bro we realised it was the Kart rezzing board that was crashing the entire sim, so i got rid of the board and rezzed karts for everyone myself.

There was two races in the end due to me not being very organised. The first race i lost track of everyone and the person i thought had won had not, but seeing as no one knew who had won we let Leendert Meriman Keep the cup to share with his brother Jesper Toll. (I'm sorry for screwing that up)

So we had a second race and Marianne McCann volentered to stand at the end to see who won. The race was as crazy as the first with racers dropping off bridges, crashing into sculptures and at one point much swerving was done to avoid hitting two SL4B visitors who had stumbled onto the track. In the end it was Jeremy Ondricek who won the great race closely followed by Gemini Enfield.

The After race party was held at the SL4B dance stage where us kids took over the floor and rocked our butts off :)

So we did it, Lots turned up, many returned after each sim crash and we finally got the race underway and had some real fun. It showed how we can make kool things happen even amongst the crashing sims, rolling starts and buggy scripts.
So what next? maybe a SLC Go-Kart grand prix in clown town?

SLC GO KART GRAND PRIX FRIDAY 29th

2007-06-27T10:41:00.000-07:00

This friday the 29th of june there will be a SLC Grand Prix starting at the SL4B SLC Sand Castle at 4pm SLT. The Go Karts are available to rez FREE at the sandcastle and drive around the roads at SL4B. You can go there NOW and practice. The winner will get the SLC Go Kart Grand Prix Cup and be talked about as a hero.

Be Warned, Many karts may break down do to Second Lifes poor pafomance, and many maybe be knocked of the track due to competetive drivers. Plus there is always the chance the sims will crash!!.... SO WITH ALL THOSE PERILS I INVITE YOU TO TAKE A CHANCE AND TAKE PART IN THE FIRST SLC GRAND PRIX AT SL4B THIS FRIDAY!!!!

SLC @ SL4B

2007-06-26T12:34:00.000-07:00

Most of you know now that we have built a presentation to the rest of Secondlife to try and shed light on our community. Its no secret that Kid Avs are the hot topic of this year and that most residents dont have a clue what a Kid Av is except for what they read on the SL Gutter Rags.

Although as posted on some news blogs the organisation of the event was met with criticism, add to that poor promotion of the week AND the flakeyness of SL for the last year, its easy to see why the place is empty for the most part.

So if you havent been already go now and check out the sandcastle :)

But why?

2007-06-04T10:38:00.000-07:00

Because tons of people ask me: here's some of the big reasons people play kids in SL. At least the ones I know.

1. A way to recapture some of the spirit of youth. Much like the old Twilight Zone episode, Kick The Can, it allows one to 'be' a child, and run and jump, and play unencumbered with the responsibilities of adulthood. It's a fun escape to a simpler time of their lives.

2. Some may have had bad childhoods. Many SL kids have faced childhoods filled with illness (one I know did not have much mobility as a real life child, and is one of the more physicallyt active kids in SL as a result. Hard to keep up with her sometimes!), or with abuse. Many (by no means all) were victims of sexual or other abuses as a child, and this is allowing them to "rewrite" some of those childhood experiences with much healthier ones. I fit within this camp, as well as #1 and #3

3. Many, and related to #2, also want to have the childhoods they could not, with all the toys and goodies they may have been denied for some reason. Always wanted that Easy Bake Oven? Go buy or make it in SL. Want the big swingset, or slide, or whatever? All yours for a few pennies, and you won't looks silly (or, perhaps, have to reinforce it) to make it possible.

4. One I know plays a kid as a way to virtually keep her own RL child alive in a form.

5. Some enjoy the roleplaying challenge of playing a kid. It isn't always as easy as one might think.

6. A few feel more comfortable in the role of a child, for whatever reason. While some of these might fall under various "philia" subsets (adult babies, for example), not all do.

7. sexual ageplayers. I am not going to speculate on the motivations of such. II do suspect, however, that many who did do this in SL did it with the intent to make money at it. I will also add that sexual ageplay is, overall, a very small portion of the kids you'll find in-world, and SL kids themselves are a small segment of the overall SL population.

Of course, all the attention lately has been on #7, and that's one of the smallest groups of all. I hope, maybe, people will gain a little perspective, for once.

Mari

SLC ADVICE ON BEING A KID IN SL

2007-06-03T11:24:00.000-07:00

THINGS YOU NEED TO THINK ABOUT WHEN BEING A KID IN SECONDLIFE!  WANT TO BE A KID IN SECOND LIFE?
This list of important advice was written for Kid Avs new to Second Life, please read :)  

1). Contrary to what most people outside second life think, there is more to SL than just SEX and if sex is all you have come to SL for then you are missing out on what SL Child Avatars find great about SL. A member of Linden Lab has stated (although it is not in the SL community Standards) that if someone captures a pic or chatlog of a Child Avatar engaging in depictions of sexual ageplay even in their own home, then you will have your account deleted no questions asked.

(TOS - 2.6 Linden Lab may suspend or terminate your account at any time, without refund or obligation to you.)   

2). If you dont feel complete unless you are anatomically correct, refrain from wearing it in a public place, this applies even to adult avatars!
  
3). Consider what groups you join. Some people judge you for the names of the groups you are a member of. The SLC does not stop people being in the SLC because of the groups they have joined, but you do risk distaste from other Second Life Residents.    

4). It was discovered that places had been created by ADULT avatar's who were interested in luring Kid avatars to engage in sexual activities. The Child AVs who fell for this ended up having their pictures posted all over the net and in the end they deleted their accounts and left SL leaving behind a media circus. Simple really, just do not go to these kinds of places! Linden Labs polices prohibits these sorts of places from being in SL, if you stumble upon such a place ABUSE REPORT IT! 
 
5) SL residents have been told to report Underage Users. Some people are ignorant and will think you are underage just because you are a child avatar. Linden Lab would LIKE ALL child Avatars to state their TRUE REAL WORLD AGE in your profile to try and prevent mistaken reports.  

Thank you for reading.   

The SLChilden was formed to bring all the Kid AVs together to exchange advice on how best to behave in SL, in order to cause little trouble for ourselves and warn of people who would take advantage of its members.  

For more info on the Child Avatar Community visit the SLC BLOGPAGE http://secondlifechildren.blogspot.com  Or inworld at the Visit the SLC Learning Tree, Whippersnapper

Secondlife Child AV policies - PART FOUR - Daniel talks about baby weasels

2007-06-03T09:26:00.000-07:00

This is the final part in the Linden Child AV policies i hope they have given you something informative. There are so many obscure and really odd communities in SL. Linden Lab had to respond to what many newsblogs were seeing as unfair discrimination.

"The diversity of things to see and do within Second Life is almost unimaginable, but our community has made it clear to us that certain types of content and activity are simply not acceptable in any form. Real-life images, avatar portrayals, and other depiction of sexual or lewd acts involving or appearing to involve children or minors; real-life images, avatar portrayals, and other depictions of sexual violence including rape, real-life images, avatar portrayals, and other depictions of extreme or graphic violence, and other broadly offensive content are never allowed or tolerated within Second Life.

Please help us to keep Second Life a safe and welcoming space by continuing to notify Linden Lab about locations in-world that are violating our Community Standards regarding broadly offensive and potentially illegal content. Our team monitors such notification 24-hours a day, seven-days a week. Individuals and groups promoting or providing such content and activities will be swiftly met with a variety of sanctions, including termination of accounts, closure of groups, removal of content, and loss of land. It’s up to all of us to make sure Second Life remains a safe and welcoming haven of creativity and social vision."

So from this day forth they ask you to report and tell on your fellow residents who engage in sex, engage in shooting and killing, engage in slaving, engage in many pretend activities that you feel are offensive. Report them all. Except most of the SL community are not stupid extremists.

I end with a small video clip of Daniel Linden. It is taken from a questions and answers video which you can link to at the bootom. In it he talks about communities, abuse reports and how they (linden lab) choose not to take part in desputes within communities. He explains to us why they use the words BROADLY so much. Also there is a quote from a top Law Blog which may give you something to think about if you are packing your bags to march on Linden village to plead free speech...

"almost every article I’ve read about this inaccurately accuses Linden Lab of violating Second Life participants’ “free speech rights.” That’s not how it works — the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution only prohibits government action. If Linden Lab wants to turn Second Life into Club Penguin, it’s allowed to. Like it or not, you don’t have a constitutionally protected “right” to do much of anything in Second Life." Quoted from Benjamin Duranske blog - http://virtuallyblind.com/2007/06/10/policing-content/

We, like every other community in Secondlife do our own little things that some find offensive. This is how it is always going to be, this is how the world works. Linden Lab say they will deal with something if many find BROADLY offensive. This they have done with Chadricks first policy change.

In the end its down to us to carry on with our Secondlives, doing what we feel is ok, respecting others feelings and educating those who have no understanding about why we choose to be this hight in SL.

Id avise everyone to also view the entire video here as it has many intersting points about SL's history and future ideas which will effect us all.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2642394922604088000&hl=en

Secondlife Child AV policies - PART THREE - The Germans Take Virtual Porn Pics

2007-06-01T12:19:00.000-07:00

This is Part Three in a series about the linden Labs ever changing policies on Child Avs. Once again the Child Av community got back to doing what it does, having fun and kidding about. But not a month seems to go by these days without the Linden Lab posting a new Blog entry about their ever changing policy on Child Avs. This time the Blog reported on German TV network who had taken pics of two Secondlife residents engaging in simulated sex, one of which resembled a child.

Linden Lab had this to say
"Linden Lab has absolutely zero tolerance for depictions of child pornography within Second Life. We were outraged to see the images that ARD showed us, and will cooperate fully with any legal authorities that choose to investigate the individuals involved in such activities. Child pornography is, of course, illegal and as such is a breach of our Terms of Service. It goes without saying that anyone engaged in this activity will be permanently banned from Second Life, and subject to legal consequences."

A Linden was asked if this means that if you and a friend engaged in sexual roleplay in a private place as childlike Avs would this be a bannable offence? the answer was If someone reports you with evidence via snapshot or chatlog, then you could have your account deleted.

"If Linden Lab learns that someone is engaging in, advertising or promoting locations or activities involving the depiction of sexual or lewd acts involving minors, their account will be terminated, and we will fully cooperate with all appropriate authorities."

Secondlife is fast becoming a place where pretend is not tollerated.

Secondlife Child AV policies - PART TWO - Chadricks Crackdown

2007-06-01T11:47:00.000-07:00

Part two of my series on Secondlife Child AV policies. The Child Av community was growing faster and faster and at one point almost turned on itself as a split formed in the community.

Eventually though the community felt it was better to teach and advise rather than force and persecute. Many now lead by example and all seemed to be fine in Secondlife. Then one Child Av resident recieved a notcard from a Linden. The notecard turned out to be the infamous "LL AgePlay Policy".

"Dear Second Life Resident:

Linden Lab would like to inform you that your land or business is possibly not in
compliance with Second Life's Community Standards. The depiction of sexual
activity involving minors may violate real-world laws in some areas, and the
Second Life community as a whole has made it clear that it views such
behavior to be broadly offensive. Linden Lab chooses not to allow the
advertising or promotion of age play or related activities in any public
forum -- including in-world textures, classified ads, the Second Life
forums, or parcel descriptions.

Advertisements, promotions, or descriptions of such activities must be
removed to avoid account sanctions. Any account asserting an age that does
not meet Second Life's minimum age of eligibility will be closed.

Linden Lab"

Mayhem followed this quickly with the Child Av community abuzz with concerns for their secondlives. What was apparent was that Linden Labs use of the word "ageplay" had caused many to think it was an outright ban on Roleplaying a child In secondlife.

The policy itself once understood is quite understandable. They dont want people PROMOTING sexual ageplay and they want Child Avs to state their real age sumwhere in their profiles. So the Child Av community calmed down and got on with their secondlives. Those who wanted to continue with relationships with their friends did so in the privicy of their own homes while those who made a living out of clubs and Dens that promoted sexual ageplay were reported or shut down. This was the first sign that things were about to change in Secondlife, not just for the Child Av community, but the SL community as a whole.

Secondlife Child AV policies - PART ONE - In the Beginning

2007-06-01T11:11:00.000-07:00

We feel it is important that you out there understand what has happend in the Child Av community in SL, where it started and where it seems to be heading. This is the first in a series of articles explaining the history of the ever changing policies that effect you as a CHild Av, and hopefully give you a better understanding of whats going on.

If we want to start at the begining we need to refer to the old SL Forums. These were once the only place to express your opinions about the communities in SL. This was also the place where people started to air their views on Child avatars and their dislike of them being in SL. Following this a number of SL residents took it apon themselves to grief, hassel and persecute Child Avs just because they looked like kids, justifying their actions because they felt that Secondlife was an Adult game and there for pretending to be a kid in SL was SICK!.

For the most part the secondlife community as a whole felt no wrong could be done as nothing in Sl is real, and for alot of us Child Avs the whole being a kid again experience was a new thing. Not only were we experiencing a new way to meet people and have relationships, we were reimagining our childhoods and letting go of our adult sensibilities.

Before long Linden Lab pretty much closed down the forum of trolls and brought out their new Blog which was easier for them to control the content of. It was around this time that a number of Kid Av's, some of which had already been victims of extreme griefing, saw where things were going and decided something could be done. It was felt that a little note out to Child Avs to take in mind what they get up to In SL would help. Promoting SAFE zones around SL reminding residents to keep their clothes on and showing that not ALL of Secondlife is ADULT oriented.

The SLC group was then formed by two child Avs to bring the new and quickly growing Child AV community together to share information and advice on being a kid in SL.

Hey-Lo

2007-05-29T11:30:00.000-07:00

Marianne, here. So, um, Loki asked me to contribute here. I'm still not totally sure what to write, so I prob'ly won't often.

I sent a long letter to Robin Linden and Chadrick Linden a couple weeks ago, after the whole blog about kids happened. I asked a lot of specific questions about a number of hypothetical, but highly possible, occurances that might fall into gray areas. I sent a follow-up a couple weeks later, too, when I received no response. I only asked for some more basic clarification on dat note.

None of the hypothetical stuff was addressed at all. The response I got was actually pretty short.

"Marianne, as I told you previously, child avatars are fine, it's the depiction of sexual activity with children that is grounds for terminating an account, and could have potential implications for real world action. We will post a clarification publicly."

This is purty much in line with stuff dat's been said before. What I'd like to think is dat we're okay on everyting until you (an not, "you", but a hypothetical you) does explicitly sexual stuff with a kid avvie. Of course, I could have it all wrong, but I suspect we're okay in the eyes of Linden Labs. At the same time, it makes a lot of sense to remain cautious about our avvies an what we do with 'em. Not paranoid, but careful. You know, like no skinny-dipping in the waters of Linden Village, or stuff like dat.

This dun mean we're okay in the eyes of everybuggy, though. A lotta people are still treating us bad, an not jes the weird ones who wanna do icky stuff to us. I've heard of a lot of griefing an harassing, as well as a lotta places barring kid avvies, I've hadda get real good with using the "Report Abuse" menu item.

One thing I really thought was interesting about what I posted from Robin Linden was dat she says there will be a posted clarification shortly. I'm glad of this, but also a little unsure, 'cuz I never know what to expect when stuff goes onto the official blog. I expect that any publicity on kid avvies is gonna mean more people causing troubles with us. Still, maybe (I hope!) whatever they post makes it clear dat we really are welcome in the world like everyone else.

SLC New webblog and Youth Activity Centre relocation

2007-05-20T16:33:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the New SLChildren Groups webblog. We have created this page in an attempt to update resources for our members. In the youth centre the information boards never got updated :-p. With this site we hope information on shops, groups and clubs devoted to the Child Av community will be more up to date and make things easyer for you to explore our community.
We will also be able to post info on Events around the SLC community.

With regards to the Youth Centre, we are in the process of moving it to Clown Town making it more likely for many of you to drop by. Thanks to Olive for her help, we are all very greatful for all her efforts she puts into The Child Av community. And thank you also Musuko for letting us have the old land for so long and for free :)