Slashdot Mirror
Nine Souls, One Body
Second Life blog/newspaper New World Notes reports on an interesting resident, wilde Cunningham. wilde is actually nine separate people on one account, all of them with physical handicaps that keep them in a care center. From the article: "We formed the man avatar first, because that day, we had more men in the group. We always wanted a female one, but we haven't taken the time to create her yet. Mary and Johanna would like that very much. We decided on how wilde would look first by starting with skin colors. We have both black and white in our real life group, and didn't want to have those because neither is better than the other. So we picked orange."
I mean really. What is supposed to make it interesting or relevant? The cheap emotional hook seems to be the substance of the article, too. Is this what Slashdot is becoming?:
Local World News
Cast:
* Bob- Brandt Waterman
* David- Jazz Witherspoon and Daniel Smith
* Jay- Carl Bellflower
Tom V.O.: You're watching Local World News -- local news from around the world. And now, here's your anchorman, Brandt Waterman.
Bob: Hello. I'm Brandt Waterman. We have an update on tonight's top story. Jazz Witherspoon, our field reporter is on the scene in Hamilton, Ontario. Jaaaazz.
[The story's entitled "Button Glut"]
David: Yes, Brandt. I'm standing outside this humble home in Hamilton, Ontario, where a man who calls himself "The Button Man" resides. [Display of Paul in a shirt covered with buttons] Art Keeslan has over thirty-thousand buttons in his private collection. He is a man we can truly call "A Button Collector." Those are the latest facts, Brandt; I'll keep you updated on any new developments as they occur.
[David starts to walk out of frame, but comes back when called.]
Bob: Jazz, does the button man plan to continue collecting buttons?
David: No official word on that. But the feeling on the street is that this is far from over.
[This time David stays still.]
Bob: Well, we certainly wish him the very best. Later tonight, we'll have an update from the war-torn Gaza Strip...where Betty McFee will tell us all about Tripper, the counting dog. And, we'll met a man who makes art out of garbage. In a few moments, though, a lighter side to tonight's news. But first, a fluffy marshmallow shaped like a bunny was found today in-- Oh, I'm getting more breaking news. What a news day this has turning out to be. It seems a local boy is making good, as we speak. Carl Bellflower has the story. Carl.
Jay: [singing] Rock a'bye your baby [speaking] Hi, I'm Carl Bellflower, the singing news reporter. [That's "Singing" "News" Reporter] Daniel Smith, valedictorian- La Flant High, and top of his class- Harvard Law School, is being considered for a job at this prestigious law firm. Oh there he is now. Daniel.
[David hears he's being called and turns around. He nods at the only man he sees; he doesn't notice Jay.]
Jay: Daniel!
[David looks again, but Jay quickly turns around and acts nonchalantly. When David gives up and walk inside the building, Jay looks pleased.]
The jist (rather than pasting in the entire text like a total Karma whore):
A group of nine residents in an assisted-living home, some of whom completely unable to operate a computer on their own, all of whom are wheelchair-bound, but none of whom have mental disabilities, created a Second Life character with the help of a person (a resident, IIRC... I just skimmed most of the story), who turned them on to the idea and controls the interface for them.
Pretty much everything the character says and does is decided by a consensus of these nine people, including the look of the character itself (a big bulky guy with orange skin and red hair.)
From the article, it sounds like they were a pretty tight-knit bunch before they even started playing this game, which probably makes it easier for them to cooperatively roleplay a single avitar.
Information wants to be anthropomorphized.