Wagner James Au / New World Notes

Author, strategist, virtual world reporter

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Second Life Community Creates Flickr Group for Virtual Tributes to Ukraine

March 2, 2022

Cajsa Lilliehook covers the best in virtual world screenshot art and digital painting

SL STAND FOR UKRAINE is a new Flickr group devoted to Second Life images created in support of the Ukrainian people during Russia’s invasion of the country –click “Add Photo” to contribute your own.

Second Life artists can be counted on to respond to important world events. Milena Carbone captures the Russo-Ukraine War perfectly with the single word, “Madness” since it surely is madness for Putin to assume people will cede their autonomy on his say-so.

In the image comments, she explains her use of the swastika and how it is completely justified: Putin’s favorite advisor Aleksandr Dugin is proudly fascist. One of the three books Putin insists people in his circle is by Ivan Ilyin, another fascist. I think when Putin claims his mission is “de-Nazification” of a country that is led by a Jewish president it is clearly pretext. Milena’s picture is a potent example of symbolic imagery, the bleeding heart, the colors of the Russian and Ukrainian flags. You can get a free copy at her gallery.

For more support for Ukraine, click here:

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Watch: Zuckerberg Goes In-Depth on the Metaverse With Lex Fridman — Here’s My Highlights

March 2, 2022
Acclaimed tech podcast Lex Fridman recently did this in-depth interview with Mark Zuckerberg, much of which was devoted to Meta's metaverse plans. (Watch above, with the metaverse conversation between 5;36 – 37:44.) While I'm sorely tempted to editorialize on his comments, for now I'll just summarize some of highlights that stood out to me most:
- Zuckerberg believes fully photo-realistic avatars are coming in the next few decades (with the implication being that they're desirable).
- He believes a sense of true immersion and a feeling of presence is not yet possible "on all the screens we have today… at no point do you feel like you're actually in it".
- His company is already having mandatory meetings in Horizon Workrooms — "We have to dogfood this" — and finds it to be more immersive than Zoom. (Here's my interview with Jim Purbrick, who led development on the project.)
- Zuckerberg believes we'll have true immersion and sense of presence within the next 10 years. He also believes that full embodied VR is necessary for immersion. "I think a lot of that will be possible in a 5 year period."
More highlights:

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Osmia in Hiding: Messages from a Second Life Creator in Ukraine During Russia’s Invasion – UPDATE: Her City is Now Occupied

March 2, 2022

While the Second Life community rallies to support Ukrainian users in the virtual world, such help during a time like this can only go so far. I've been thinking about that over the last few days while intermittently messaging Hanna, creator of the beloved SL fashion brand Osmia.

While Osmia is listed among the Second Life merchants based in Ukraine, Hanna has not been able to access her SL account lately, and her access to the Internet has been sporadic too.

Or as she expressed it via a social media Instant Message: "You can ask questions. But if I disappear for awhile, it will mean that we are hiding."

Second Life users have been buying items from her and other Ukrainian merchants in the hopes that they'll be able to convert the Linden Dollar sales into local currency.

But in Hanna's case, at least, that won't happen any time soon:

"I am very grateful to everyone who is worried about me and my [Second Life] store," she tells me. "Unfortunately, getting money now is not realistic, currency exchange offices do not work with us and it is very dangerous to go to the bank."

Now sheltering in place with family in one of Ukraine's major cities, Hanna has more immediate concerns, than cashing out Linden Dollars: She is over 6 months pregnant.

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Sannyのおすすめバーチャルワールドニュース : 2022年2月 Sanny Reports For Virtual Japan

March 2, 2022

Sanny Yoshikawa が、New World Notesのなかから、毎月おすすめのバーチャルワールドニュースを日本語で紹介します。

Sanny Yoshikawa covers the monthly virtual world highlights from New World Notes for virtual Japan.

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Valve Continues to Be the Metaverse Dog That Didn’t Bark

March 1, 2022

Above: Valve's Steam VR Home in 2017

It's one of the metaverse's biggest mysteries: With so many major tech companies announcing metaverse strategies or full-fledged platforms, where the hell is Valve? With its Steam distribution platform for gaming content that counts over 120 million active users, an array of VR devices, and now Steam Deck, a video game console of its own, Valve is the best company by far to launch the dominant metaverse platform.

But the thing is, Valve founder and CEO Gabe Newell simply doesn't seem very interested in doing that any time soon:

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Linden Lab to Start Charging Sales Tax on U.S. Second Life Users This Month

February 28, 2022

Well this is a bit of a bombshell for Linden Lab to drop on a Monday:

The Wayfair Sales Tax case decision by the Supreme Court was when prior rules about sales tax really changed. Since then, we have done our best to shield our residents from these taxes as long as possible, but we are no longer able to absorb them. As of March 31, 2022 we will begin charging sales tax in the U.S. For the time being we will charge taxes only on recurring billings, such as premium subscriptions and land fees. The amount of tax charged will be communicated clearly in the receipt or invoice… Your individual charges will be determined by your local jurisdictions.

Sales taxes vary quite a bit across the United States, and can be extremely high. On the very top end, major cities Los Angeles (hey that's me!), Oakland, Chicago, and Seattle charge around 10%.

So as an example, if you own a private sim and you live in Seattle, where tax rates are 10.3%, your yearly sales tax hit will come out to about $283.

Which is quite a lot! I have to think this will have a huge impact on the Second Life economy and the community culture as a whole. Then again, SL users in the European Union have been paying a VAT on many Second Life services for years. And yet then again, Americans tend to be much less tolerant to paying taxes. There a whole virtual tax revolt in Second Life modeled on the original American tax revolt over this!

Another interesting aspect of this: I believe this is the first time that the Second Life virtual world will be directly impacted by a US Supreme Court decision:

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“Community makes things valuable” – I Talk About Virtual Wealth in the Metaverse Era on Bustle

February 28, 2022

NFT? Maybe that should mean Not Friendly Transactions. Allie Volpe of Bustle recently asked me who will be rich in the Metaverse:

Virtual plots of land or massive yachts won’t be signs of wealth in the metaverse if other users aren’t on the platform to witness it, especially if outsiders don’t see value in these items aside from their high price tags, Au says. “To me, the realization that these [metaverse] startups are missing is that community makes things valuable, social cohesion makes things valuable,” he says.

If you're wondering which metaverse startups I'm talking about, here's my post on the so-called Metaverse real estate "bubble".

I go into detail about what is truly valuable on metaverse platforms:

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Top Posts Last Week: SL Community Rallies to Help Ukrainians, Meta Makes a Sci-Fi UI Error

February 28, 2022
Second Life Community Rallies to Help Ukraine-Based Creators on Platform

February 26, 2022
A Tribute to Ukraine – "Long may Ukraine stand proud and free." by Rhaenys Targaryen

Update, 2/26: Bumped up for weekend support!

This is a Google Spreadsheet of Second Life stores and website Marketplace shops owned by Ukraine-based creators on the virtual world platform. It was quickly created by SL community members within the first 24 hours of the Putin regime's invasion of that country, with a goal of supporting these merchants with L$ purchases — which they can subsequently convert into their local currency. (Whenever, that is, they are able to find a stable Internet connection in the now-embattled region.)

I have not yet personally verified that all the listed merchants are indeed based in the Ukraine, but a top expert in the SL economy confirms that these brands on the list, at least, definitely are:
- Loki (Marketplace here, SL store teleport link here)
- Osmia (Marketplace here, SL store teleport link here)
- Rouly (Marketplace here, SL store teleport link here)
- RAMA Salon (Marketplace here, SL store teleport link here)
- Evani (Marketplace here, SL store teleport link here)
The "Ukrainian Stores" list, as it happens, was created in great part by Second Life users based in Russia, who are now sickened by their government's military assault:

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Watch: Seracast, Seraphim’s New Weekly Show on Second Life Trends

February 25, 2022

Here's a fun and chatty new YouTube channel from Del and Kess, co-founders of Seraphim SL, by far the most read Second Life fashion blog on the interwebs. (Which like I mentioned, has more readers than many top real life fashion blogs.)

Stepping out of the website shadows, Del and Kess' weekly Seracast — highlighted on their blog here — is the first time the ladies are featuring select SL content, events, and personal opinions from the wider Second Life ecosystem. (Including a very nice plug for New World Notes, and Cajsa's recent post on Blueberry's new metaverse ambitions.)

"It is a fun, new way to communicate with our readers and share a bit of information about Seraphim and Second Life trends," as Del puts it.

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