Alan Bamboo

There are many AA support groups in the  the Second Life^® virtual world.  At best, rehab, as well as 12 step programs can boast a success rate of only about 10% and with those disappointing stats in mind any added tools for success in recovery from substance abuse are worth exploring.

Treating addiction is a very complicated subject and I’m not going talk about that here. There are thousands of “experts”, books and articles already out there. What I’m really questioning is to whether Virtual AA meetings are helpful in treating substance abuse problems? No one has done any studies, so I’m more or less exploring the possible pros and cons that could be considered.

On the positive side some people are going to AA support groups in Secondlife, trying them out, whereas in RL life they would never have attended. They could also get information about how these groups really are in RL and even potentially get people to chat with on a regular basis. Many people don’t have transportation, have disabilities and other valid reasons and cannot attend support groups in real life. There is also the added convenience of not having to leave one’s home as well. Also some people may feel more anonymous online (?) and may feel more comfortable discussing their issues of addictions more openly than they might in RL. There is also little risk in chatting with someone (neighbor, employer etc) that one knows as well .

On the negative side, one of the common factors with most addictions is that an addict tends to isolate himself. When under the influence and even if amongst people, an addict is actually isolated as they are not really there and are not really being with people, not even themselves. One of the first things rehabs do is prevent a patient from being alone, almost all waking hours are spent with people. Also with real life support groups, one meets many people who meet on a regular basis and really get to know each other (as only addicts can) and in many cases become good RL friends. Chatting online with friends is not the same as being with RL people, especially in looking for help and support in treating such a life threatening disease (addiction).

(Let me know what you think? ... I'm also a friend of Bill's)

Second Life® and Linden Lab® are registered trademarks of Linden Research, Inc. No infringement is intended.

Posted by Alan Bamboo Comments

Video Broadcast yourself  live, or record it and then embed it, right on your own blog . Veodia makes it extremely easy and its excellent quality video to boot. Just get a free account with them then plug in your web cam and try it out. I don't even need to give details on how to use it....it's that easy. Check out one of their own videos, it's really high quality and please don't forget to view it Full Screen also....Excellent! 

 

All you have to do for a live broadcast is give people the URL,

it's located in the lower left of this photo.

 

Or embed your recorded video right on your own site. Simple!

Posted by Alan Bamboo Comments

I made a little bit of money at Weblo, after initially investing a small amount in this virtual world. Not many people have heard of it and time will tell if many will?

 

Back in late 2006 there was a lot of press  around this new virtual world in which you could buy any domain you wanted. If you missed out the first time  in getting a really good .com site, this was to be your 2nd chance place.

So in Sept 2006 and not one for being a risk taker, I actually invested $100 into it. I bought quite a few  cities as well as a few domains. So now more than a year and a half later I've sold off just about everything I owned there and have come out ahead of the game with a little profit.

It's called a virtual world, but to me it's just your simple basic web site. Why did I bail?... well I don't see much use for it, nor the possibilities of it anymore? If you check it out let me know what you think, money maker or money pit?

You can try it out for free if you like and get ... Cities, States, Free Celebrities & Domains!

As for me, I'm glad I'm out of it.

Fox News story from last year

Posted by Alan Bamboo Comments

It seems like the first thing everyone wants to do right after joining the Second Life^® virtual world is make money. Can it be done? The short answer is yes and a lot of people have, this post is just about one way.

My virtual land business experience

I joined secondlife in late 2006 when the hype was really at it's peak. Timing is everything and a few people got in at the right time. It was the virtual land business in which I made a little bit of money. At the time there was such a shortage of virtual land and residents were snapping up any hard to find bargains they could find, then in turn marking up the price and re-selling them. Back then simulators (sims for short) were being auctioned off for around $2100 USD, for what is considered the low end real estate and up to around $3800 USD for the higher end more desirable waterfronts sims. Then the winning bidder of the auction would usually divide up the his land into smaller parcels and sell them for profit.

That's where I came in, the guy who bought the smaller parcels and then in turn re-selling them again for profit. The market was so smoking hot back then that I would usually sell my little parcels of land usually within days and often even hours. I got out of that business last year, but yes people are still in the land business and probably making money, but not as quickly as the 2006-2007 era.

If you have any questions about secondlife let me know.

Oh, and here's a link about economic statistics in Secondlife.

Second Life® and Linden Lab® are registered trademarks of Linden Research, Inc. No infringement is intended.

Posted by Alan Bamboo Comments