Despite my[inlink]twisted,143[/inlink]protestations, I have an interview with the makers of Second Life on Monday. So I thought I should check out what's new. Here's the report.
Partners
"Second Life couples can now make their relationships official. Whether you're married or just connected, you can designate your partner on your profile in-world and make your relationship visible to the rest of the community. Send your proposal to the avatar of your dreams using the form below. Partnering, like real life marriage, costs money. To create a partnership will cost each partner L$10. If you decide to divorce later, the person requesting the divorce will be charged L$25. Can't be married in real life? Try Second Life!"
I'm not sure if I'm more fascinated by the pricing structure, or the fact that they have a form on their website to propose to your intended partner. And what about threesomes? I think they're missing the boat there. Maybe I can fix that.
Postcards
Second Life residents can now send
postcards 
from SL and post them on their SL Blogs. Here's one that got
censored. Now that could be a fun job, intercepting and putting digital fig leafs on explicit SL pictures
SL on NPR
I missed this one:
NPR's "All Things Considered" - 2.05.05 "Finding a 'Second Life' Online"
The really frustrating thing is, I can't run the darn thing on my laptop any more. I had to reinstall my video driver recently, and I can't seem to reproduce the series of updates/patches that let me run it last time. I did manage to make my video display completely blow up once, so that was fun. I haven't quite given up yet, but I'm close.
My ex (aka technical support) sent me this helpful information. I think he added step 5.
4. What computer hardware do I need to live a Second Life?
PC specifications:
* Graphics Card: Nvidia Geforce 2 (32MB RAM) or higher, or ATI Radeon 8500 (32MB RAM) or higher
* Computer: 800MHZ or higher, 256MB RAM or more
* OS: Windows XP/2000
* Internet Connection: Broadband (DSL/Cable Modem/LAN)
* DirectX 8 or 9
5. What computer hardware do I need to live a First Life?
PC specifications:
* None -- just get off your computer and go outside.
Good advice.
p.s. - hey
(e:Paul), I tried uploading
(e:estrip)'s userPic again but the ads are still here. Maybe if you put some real ads on this page the profits could go into an SL L$ fund.