Absolutely!

Go look at this - there's either a valuable lesson for you, or a laughing "Oh, yes!"

Either way, enjoy.

Someone hand me my EMP cannon.

I can has...

I have no excuse for this. There can be no possible excuse for this.

Settlements and standards

Just getting completely off-topic for a few minutes.

Jack Thompson apparently lacks the integrity to stick with his settlement agreement with Take Two. Up until this point, I could still imagine that he actually was honestly misguided, I suppose.

However, Jack pales into insignificance with this piece of graft and corruption from Microsoft. Wow. Sure, I know a person who was offered a bribe by Microsoft a couple years back (maybe this is one of those "doesn't everyone?" situations, and maybe not), but the magnitude and sheer hubris of this is impressive the same way cyclopean architecture is impressive. You just have to be awed by the scale.

Getting Rich Quickly

Here's a handy rule to live by, one that will guide you just as well in the physical world, as it does in Second Life.

If you suddenly think you've found an easy, quick way to make a lot of money ... please, get professional help, counseling, whatever. Get a friend to talk sense into you.

There actually is no secret that 'they' don't want you to have, other than hard work, inspiration and persistence pay off. Put in the work required, and you stand a good chance of earning. Don't, and you won't. Holding that notion in your head puts scammers, con-artists and grifters out of business.

Being presented with the notion that you can 'get rich quick' or 'make money fast' means that someone is conning you, and that person might be you.

CNN to Shirky - Practice what you preach

David Kirkpatrick over at CNN Money is a bit miffed with Clay Shirky, and goes on to point out that:

• Shirky's missing the point.
• Shirky's indulging in hype-sans-research.

Ouch.

Shirky responds, first-to-comment but does so obliquely, dodging the Kirkpatrick's main points and either ignoring or failing to research the available data. Double-ouch.

Monty Python's black knight comes to mind here, bleeding from stumps but still full of ineffectual fight.

I've got to hand this one to Kirkpatrick. Shirky's response seems to confirm Kirkpatrick's point, and makes Shirky look like he's carrying a specific grudge. He knows that no MMO or virtual world or web-services company can address his first basic question on which he predicates all the rest of his arguments, but he's hammering on just the one company.

How many people (real unique people) have created a gmail account?
How many people (real unique people) have created a World of Warcraft Character?

I don't see him kicking up the same fuss about Blizzard or Google, so ... what's his beef with Linden Lab? He's entered into what looks increasingly like a personal grudge-match with Linden Lab, with reporters and journalists being used as simple cannon fodder.

How many people (real unique people) read Shirky's posts on Valleywag? Answers on a postcard.

I am not Amber Linden

Well, today I've been flooded with little congratulational notes, like this:

"Congradulatons on all your hard work being rewarded at last!! You deserve it. Why did you pick Amber?"

I'm sorry to disappoint, but I'm not Amber Linden. I'm not even in the right country, if you check her profile, she's on the other side of the world - which might give you some sort of clue about why we're not online at the same time. Yes, quite a lot of you know my association with the word 'Amber', so that's another easy (if wrong) piece of evidence to apply.

I know it's tempting to jump to conclusions, but please. I'm not a Linden or a liaison. I don't work for Linden Lab in any capacity.

Is there a word for being told you deserved something that people think you got but you didn't? Thank you all for caring so much, but how about you send Amber some congratulations of her own, huh?

Rawr

Bestride the site, like a collosus



What powers will you use to fight the insanity?
Me? I vote giant plush toys!