Help Wanted: SL Herald Seeks Experienced Chief Technical Officer
by Alphaville Herald on 12/12/07 at 11:42 pm
Due to recent growth, the Second Life Herald is expanding our staff and now seeks an experienced Second Life CTO to join our team.
Recent graduates of Linden Lab are strongly encouraged to apply for this position – special consideration will be given to avatars who appear in the form of a flying spagetti monster, and a background in revolutionary technologies required to enable collaborative, atomistic creation, including distributed physical simulation, 3D streaming, completely customizable avatars and real-time, in-world editors and Linden Lab’s Linden’s virtual real estate policy is a plus. References from Philip Linden are not required, but ability to operate and explain the Love Machine is helpful.
The Second Life Herald is a groundbreaking newspaper that defines the state of the art in news, opinion, and fashion coverage for the metaverse. We are an equal opportunity employer – furries, tinies, dragons, elves, dwarves, babyfurs, goreans, and goons will receive special consideration.
[note: can someone pass this on to Cory Linden? he might be interested - the Editrix]
Screw You
Dec 12th, 2007
Go to hell Herald. No one wants to be part of your trash making save for sub humans.
Uri is a /b/tard
Tizzers Foxchase
Dec 13th, 2007
To whom it may concern,
My name is Tizzers Foxchase and truly believe that I am qualified to fulfill the duties required by this position. Although my specialty is creating immersive and innovative educational spaces in the Metaverse, my skillset is far reaching and interdisciplinary by nature.
References include:
Prokofy Neva ~ CEO of Ravenglass Rentals and well respected journalistic figure. Prokofy has been an inspiration, mentor, and father figure. His ability to bring people together and stand out as leader is something I one day strive to emulate.
Kalel Venkman ~ Founder of the Justice League Unlimited and a personal role model. Fighting internet crime is a noble and courageous endeavor, and Kalel has stepped up to the plate. I salute you Mr. Venkman.
Philip Linden ~ I talked to him once. He looked at me funny, which is Linden speak for “I approve of this individual.”
Edward Castronova ~ Because nobody can take the MacArthur foundation for $240,000 like you. Mad props, yo.
The Linden Lab Governance Team ~ All the wonderful times we’ve had together. <3
FlipperPA Peregrine ~ Quite possibly the most feted individual I’ve had the pleasure to meet. You sir, are truly a god among men.
You may contact me in-world, or leave a message with my personal assistant, d3adlyc0d3c .
Regards,
Dr. Tizzers Foxchase
Woodbury University
Blinders Off
Dec 13th, 2007
LOL I think this was a hilarious tongue-in-cheek article.
But this article also points to very serious implications for Second Life. I just today found out about Cory’s leaving, and learned some of the details thanks to the well-placed url lead (thanks Editrix).
Cory leaving LL? I am sure that LL has all kinds of non-competitive agreements with Cory, but they also legally can’t relieve him of his livlihood skill, and what is that skill? Programming 3-D worlds.
Unless this is yet another hair-brained, knee-jerk reaction from Linden Lab, they already have someone in place to replace Cory. If not, it’s gonna be a bumpy ride people. But then, when, ever, has SL NOT been a bumpy ride? The system hasn’t had a neatly paved road since we crossed the border.
The main question that crosses my mind is this: was it Cory, or Rosedale, or both who were responsible for the shoddy way in which SL was programmed? Which one is primarily responsible for bugs not being fixed months and years on end? The articles say that Cory designed LsL, and that is IMO one big pile of crap of a programming language. Cory made a “note to self” to “never design a programming language in one day”. That certainly describes the state of LsL. A langage intended to give scripting power to the average user, the language is filled with excessively-complex routines and blunders of design. If that’s Cory’s doing, hey guy, hate to kick someone when he’s down, but ya blew it. If the rest of SL was designed by similar concept, no wonder it’s borked.
Is Cory “hot property”? My guess is the job offers are already flowing in, if not due to his considerable technical expertise, then at least due to his inside knowledge of Second Life. Cory exited SL gallantly, with professionalism and honor, and gotta give the guy kudos for that. Considering his involvement in SL, he can’t be happy. But I try to imagine myself working with Philip Rosedale, and I’m not so sure I could do so without daily homicidal tendencies.
All I know is that Second Life while a lot of fun, is also a pit of inefficient coding, griefing, social problems, and unmoderated drama queens who think their personal opinion is word-o-god. I’ve seen garage-based chat room companies managed better than Linden Lab and Second Life. There is no arguing that Linden Lab is a price-gouging, self-interest corporation, no different from any other corporate entities in the world (meaning, the profit line is their bottom line and the customer comes second). They’ve made dishonorable and dishonest decisions, cheated their customers, lied to their customers, obfuscated data, and played games with customer investments like a bunch of irresponsible teenagers hacking a network. Frankly, if Cory has any sense of ethics and degree of skill, he’s better off elsewhere, at a company that’s a little more serious about what they do.
What happens to Second Life from this point on is anyone’s guess. Will they wake up and pull out of the predictable tailspin they’re in, or will they predictably self-destruct or lose their market to a saavy competitor? The outcome is anyone’s guess. If Cory was the basis of major problems in Second Life, then the board can only improve with his departure. If he was a foundation which has prevented Second Life from totally self-destructing already… hey everyone, enjoy the ride.
We appear to be living in “interesting times”.
Pedro Esparza
Dec 13th, 2007
Wow, this just SO clever and funny!
The SL Herald, bringing you years of ego-filled and hateful SL related smacktardery since 2004. Now new and improved as a de facto hangout for greeferkidz.
grow.the.fuck.up.
urizenus
Dec 13th, 2007
@ Mr. Srew You, I beg to differ. I say that if I can get Cory on the Herald yacht for a weekend of island hopping on the Dalmation coast …
He.
Will.
Join.
The.
Herald.
Team!
And we don’t have one love machine, we have lots of them. In every port!
@ Pedro: “The SL Herald, bringing you years of ego-filled SL related smacktardery since 2004.”
Pedro! I think you just wrote our new banner!
Nicholaz Beresford
Dec 13th, 2007
Clever, hehe … kudos!
Overcast
Dec 13th, 2007
Oh I think this site is so horrible – yet that’s why I post on it!
LOL
marilyn murphy
Dec 13th, 2007
i liked cory and at least he would talk to me. all phillip ever said to me was that i was infamous.
anyway, cory will have no trouble getting work, i bet the job offers are certainly there for him. that being said…
gosh something has to change in LL. maybe this was the wrong change? i don’t know enough to make that call. a few years ago i dreaded the idea of some massive corporation buying up sl. now i wish that would happen. someone needs to take the reins that understands customer service and the need for product performance. ….blah blah blah, the list of all to common and usual complaints.
so was it phillips lack of interest in sl’s performance or was it corys inablility to make it perform? guess we will find out.
StallionSeven
Dec 13th, 2007
Wouldn’t a real journalistic outfit have broken this story, and not simply linked to someone else’s legwork?
DaveOner
Dec 13th, 2007
“…is also a pit of inefficient coding, griefing, social problems, and unmoderated drama queens who think their personal opinion is word-o-god…”
That’s because RL humans are involved…plenty of them socially inept!
I never understand why people try to use issues that are quite common IRL as reasons why SL has problems. The whole basic idea was for people to be free to make and do just about anything they wanted (within legal limits).
Well, apparently bling, super sex machines and cartoon animals in diapers is the best the majority of the population can come up with. The answer to that is social change, though, not game regulation.
I know that wasn’t Blinders off’s point but I just saw the above comment and thought about that.
Nacon
Dec 13th, 2007
“The Second Life Herald is a groundbreaking newspaper that defines the state of the art in news”
OH REALLLLLLY?
Using weblog system from TypePad….. oooh yeah, that’s some real state of art. Idiot.
Why Bother
Dec 13th, 2007
“Wouldn’t a real journalistic outfit have broken this story, and not simply linked to someone else’s legwork?”
Bingo. You hit the nail on the head. Which makes this little line from the article…
“The Second Life Herald is a groundbreaking newspaper that defines the state of the art in news”
..pretty damn moot.
“Using weblog system from TypePad….. oooh yeah, that’s some real state of art. Idiot.”
The Herald’s commenters are far more astute than the Herald’s actual “writing” staff and “editors.”
Blinders Off
Dec 13th, 2007
@DaveOner
Yeah Dave, I won’t argue with that observation. If anything, SL rather than being a fantasy world TOO WELL mimics RL. And there are sure a bunch of drama queens in RL. Only difference is that in RL I can sue the jeebers out of someone who slanders me, I can file criminal charges against someone who steals from me, and there are few people in RL with the guts (or stupid enough) to get in my face.
None of that really applies to SL. The concept of allowing people to be who and what they want to be is an interesting one and I won’t debate that concept. But a board that’s largely unmoderated in any way (the abuse system is just a joke), goes way beyond “tolerance” and into absolute anarchy. All of human history has shown that total anarchy never benefits anyone. It’s destructive.
Ah, I ramble. Your point is well made. There are drama queens in SL because they’re likely drama queens in RL. But I do think LL could do a bit more about their activities without crossing the line of intolerance. Even the TOS states that no user shall intentionally harass another user. There’s not really even a valid way to report such abuse with chat log evidence. I don’t see the “no harassment” rule enforced very much… thus the prevalence of drama queens. If they knew their moronic activity could bring heavy consequenses, they might think twice about doing what they do.
But yeah, you’re right. Drama queens plague both SL and RL. There’s always the emotionally-challenged.
Blinders Off
Dec 13th, 2007
Scuse the double-post, but I gotta say this…
I think it’s hilarious that the majority of the people who have posted above are likely the very first ones that scream if LL moderates anything. Then when Uri opens up a newszine that allows people to say just about anything they like, these people are the first to harass him for doing so. LOL. What hypocrites.
I don’t particularly like the way this zine is moderated. I would like to see the Herald become a more responsible rag. But… the leader blurb itself visible on every page says: “The Second Life Herald is in no way, shape or form associated with Linden Lab (the company that operates Second Life), nor with Electronic Arts, nor any other aspect of the Dark Side of the Force.” I think it’s pretty obvious from that blurb that Uri never intended this to be a professional newspaper. It’s basically a flamerzine with a bit of irony thrown in, that has occasional glimpses of actual news. And most people realize that.
If anyone doesn’t like the way Uri does things here, then STOP READING THE ZINE AND GO OPEN YOUR OWN NEWSPAPER. It’s his company, his newspaper. Like people are always screaming about on SL… he pretty much has the right to do what he wants without censorship from anyone. If people want a “responsible” SL newspaper, go out and MAKE ONE. Duh. Otherwise, the complaints are just from a bunch of equally-offensive hypocrites flapping their jaws.
Kalel Venkman
Dec 13th, 2007
A healthy dose of reality at a critical moment. Well said.
DaveOner
Dec 13th, 2007
I agree with you, Blinders, but LL isn’t providing a government (and shouldn’t be) they’re providing a world. God (or who/whatever you think made our reality) didn’t make zoning laws or tax laws. He pretty much rolled with gravity and death and left it at that! I think LL should keep to that model as much as possible.
People in world will (and have) band together to form their own communities regulated in ways they see fit. Others that have better perspective don’t call for regulation and don’t need a policed and rule-driven community to hide in because they realize they can just log off when things get crazy.
And yeah, SLH is a joke, but I think the staff at SLH get the punchline already!
Prokofy Neva
Dec 13th, 2007
Yes, the Herald is seriously broken and needs fixing by a CTO.
Blinders Off
Dec 13th, 2007
LOL Prok. Enjoyed your post. Don’t agree with it, but it made me smile, gave me a chuckle, and was thought provoking.
I never really get into God and religion here or on SL or hardly anywhere else on the net, because the people that care about such things probably are already settled in their zone, and those who don’t usually aren’t respectful enough to talk with. But your statement about God setting up gravity and death and leaving it at that made me chuckle. I can see how some people would think that.
From what I see though, God gave us LOTS of rules that mankind pretty much ignores. And when people that were supposed to know better failed to follow those rules, they bore the consequenses of their decision. Egypt, Babylon, Israel, the nations of Caanan, Ninevah, and the most obvious of all, those in the days of Noah, all found out what it meant to not follow the rules given by God. That people today think they don’t have to pay attention to those historical lessons is just testament to the continued and consistent stupidity of mankind. Some don’t believe in God or the Bible and that’s their choice. People are killed every day because they earnestly didn’t believe a gun was loaded. LOL. People every day catch HIV and Herpes because they didn’t think it could happen to them, because they didn’t believe they had to follow any rules. Doi. Surprise!
I have always been of the opinion that when Linden Lab created a world, they pretty much instantly took responsibility for governing that world to a reasonable extent. Remember the novel Frankenstein? That story interestingly enough, wasn’t about a monster created by a doctor. It was about a man who created something and then monstrously failed to take responsibility for it. Most true fans of the book realize that “Frankenstien’s Monster” wasn’t referring to the beast he created (who was really quite intellgent), but the doctor himself. He became the monster.
That’s pretty much what Linden Lab has done. They created something unique and amazing, then have repeatedly refused to take responsibility for it or shape it into a reasonable society. Letting people do whatever they please is not only anarchistic in concept (and anarchy always destroys), it’s moronic.
It comes down to the old freedom-of-speech thing. Sure people have free will and freedom of speech. That doesn’t give them the right to go out and knife someone, or to yell “FIRE!” in a crowded theatre. Along with the concept of “freedom” comes an inherent obligation to treat your fellow-man with dignity and respect. When one’s exercise of “freedom” imposes upon the safety, harmony and freedom of others, then that person is no longer simply exercising his or her rights… s/he is being abusive. It is at that point that Linden Lab, the creator of Frankenstein’s Monster, bears the obligation to step in and correct. Otherwise, the monster does just what it does in the book… runs around the countryside harming innocent people.
Blinders Off
Dec 13th, 2007
LOL Dave. Enjoyed your post. Don’t agree with it, but it made me smile, gave me a chuckle, and was thought provoking.
I never really get into God and religion here or on SL or hardly anywhere else on the net, because the people that care about such things probably are already settled in their zone, and those who don’t usually aren’t respectful enough to talk with. But your statement about God setting up gravity and death and leaving it at that made me chuckle. I can see how some people would think that.
From what I see though, God gave us LOTS of rules that mankind pretty much ignores. And when people that were supposed to know better failed to follow those rules, they bore the consequenses of their decision. Egypt, Babylon, Israel, the nations of Caanan, Ninevah, and the most obvious of all, those in the days of Noah, all found out what it meant to not follow the rules given by God. That people today think they don’t have to pay attention to those historical lessons is just testament to the continued and consistent stupidity of mankind. Some don’t believe in God or the Bible and that’s their choice. People are killed every day because they earnestly didn’t believe a gun was loaded. LOL. People every day catch HIV and Herpes because they didn’t think it could happen to them, because they didn’t believe they had to follow any rules. Doi. Surprise!
I have always been of the opinion that when Linden Lab created a world, they pretty much instantly took responsibility for governing that world to a reasonable extent. Remember the novel Frankenstein? That story interestingly enough, wasn’t about a monster created by a doctor. It was about a man who created something and then monstrously failed to take responsibility for it. Most true fans of the book realize that “Frankenstien’s Monster” wasn’t referring to the beast he created (who was really quite intellgent), but the doctor himself. He became the monster.
That’s pretty much what Linden Lab has done. They created something unique and amazing, then have repeatedly refused to take responsibility for it or shape it into a reasonable society. Letting people do whatever they please is not only anarchistic in concept (and anarchy always destroys), it’s moronic.
It comes down to the old freedom-of-speech thing. Sure people have free will and freedom of speech. That doesn’t give them the right to go out and knife someone, or to yell “FIRE!” in a crowded theatre. Along with the concept of “freedom” comes an inherent obligation to treat your fellow-man with dignity and respect. When one’s exercise of “freedom” imposes upon the safety, harmony and freedom of others, then that person is no longer simply exercising his or her rights… s/he is being abusive. It is at that point that Linden Lab, the creator of Frankenstein’s Monster, bears the obligation to step in and correct. Otherwise, the monster does just what it does in the book… runs around the countryside harming innocent people.