The Alphaville Herald

It Has To Be Said: Second Life (R) Isn’t Addicting

As I have previously stated, I went to grocery bagger school in the Philadelphia area.  (I must be a grocery bagger, I read it on the Internet.)  And one of the funny things about Philadelphia, besides that the best cheese steaks are neither Pat’s nor Geno’s, is that the rest of Pennsylvania is pretty damn [...]

Op/Ed: The Positive Feminist

by Meleth Oakleaf
This isn't an article about a role-play sim, this is an article in which one reporter tackles a delicate topic and probably pisses off a few readers. Hopefully, beyond just pissing off a few people, I can make people think about an often underrepresented feminist view.
I spoke to Pixeleen today about beginning another [...]

It Has To Be Said: What’s in a Name?

by Jessica Holyoke
One reason why I am not too worried about people outing my identity is that I have a fairly common real life name.   Pretending my real life name is "Stacey Fox,"  if you Google it, you will find many other people who share my name, some sharing my real life location, some [...]

It Has To Be Said: Why does Second Life Need Social Media?

Please define your virtual social graph to help the Lab gain ad revenue
by Jessica Holyoke
When the Lindens talk about expanding residents' presence with Social Media, I have to really ask why?  At my closely guarded age, I use Facebook a good deal.  It helps keep me connected with classmates who have moved great distances and [...]

It Has to Be Said: It Has to Be Said

by Jessica Holyoke
Over the months that I have written editorials in the Herald, I have typically labelled the Op/Ed.  Traditionally, Op/Ed means Opposing Editorial.  Someone writes something in opposition to the stated views of the Editorial Board.  However, the Herald does not use an Editorial Board to provide a view point to the community, such [...]

Op-Ed: Avatars United – A Social Network Too Far?

by Sigmund Leominster
If you’re becoming jaded by the tales of the inconsequential status and activity of the Justice League Unlimited, which, as a group, must now hold some sort of record in terms of column inches in the Herald (inversely proportional to the inches of their primmy penises), and fapping to Post 6 [...]

Op/Ed: Second Life Resident Comments on JLU Superpowers

Have you taken a look in a mirror lately? You're a walking infringement…
AnnOTooleInSL's  Xtranormal.com video commentary on the Second Life Justice League Unlimited situation:

Op/Ed: Facebook, IslandLife, Second Life, Lively, Metaplace – Why Worlds Fail

by Jessica Holyoke
As previously reported, IslandLife, which looks a lot like Metaplace, has opened on Facebook.  Metaplace is a virtual world that closed at the end of 2009.  Metaplace looked a lot like Google's Lively, which also closed. What does IslandLife in Facebook and the failure of Lively and Metaplace mean? Consider one world that hasn't closed, [...]

Op/Ed: It’s the Avatar, Stupid.

Magic ingredients for a compelling metaverse
by Tizzers Foxchase

Since the dawn of online gaming, the driving force which has kept players glued to their computer for hours has been the advancement of one's character by means of levels and better items. Many of you can probably the recall the satisfying feeling of accomplishment when your [...]

Opinion: Public Spaces

by Jessica Holyoke
The Swiss recently passed a referendum that banned the building of minarets in their country.  As discussed on Slate, part of this is because the Swiss, like most European countries, are worried about Islamic extremism.  Especially as Muslims in Europe do not integrate to the same extent as Muslims in the United [...]