SLC SL4B Go-Kart Grand Prix

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

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

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?

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

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

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

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

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

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.