Marshall Law in Orange County Florida?

Marshall Law

It’s not exactly Marshall Law, but it may as well be. Orange County Workers in Florida were given the notice “No Smoking” on or off property.

I agree that smoking can be a hazard to one’s health. So can drinking Florida water from the tap or even breathing air downtown where monoxide fumes are overwhelming.

As most of my family have died from cancer and never smoked in their lives I have to ask what the validity of this is. Some friends who work for the Orange County Garbage & Sewage Department can risk their lives smelling toxins one should not even put in garbage, sewage that speaks for itself, but smoking a cigarette is now illegal even off duty?

Daily people risks their lives on Central Florida highways with drunks, druggies and people that have no right behind the wheel of a car. But your garbage man, you know the guy who removes the crap you throw away for sanitary purposes can no longer mask the putrid smell by smoking? It’s not just that they aren’t allowed to smoke on property. I can understand that. They are no longer permitted to smoke period.

Who makes these rules in the name of freedom? Isn’t that why America became what it is? To be free, to live one’s life without harming others in their own beliefs?

Maybe Orange County, Florida is just a test. Maybe we are the test that either liberates Americans or places us in bondage completely based on how we as a Nation sit back and do nothing as usual, or is it time we stood up and said “I’ve have enough!”. I guess the choice will be yours when Orange County, Florida doesn’t have any workers in a few months and the funny thing is, some of these people affected could easily go on Social Security, eating your tax dollars. Your choice world.

Oh guns are permitted on Orange County Property.

Are You Kidding?

You’re Hired! How Would You Like To Pay For Your Job Today?

I’ve been going on many interviews and applying for many jobs and the recent American scam seems to be paying to work somewhere. Not the old fashioned employment job service fee but the company telling me I am hired. I get excited I aced all the interviews, applications and BAM! I get the words I’m waiting to hear followed by “How would you like to pay for this? Money order, Credit Card?” And I am dismayed. In a “Right To Work State such as Florida I am certainly not going to invest the precious dollars I do have for a job that has a disclaimer stating I can be fired at any time.

I am a good worker. I have always been at my place of work 30 minutes to an hour ahead of schedule and often work late whenever asked. These disclaimers state, due to changes in the economy, funding or other reasons they have the right to fire me at any time. And please do not tell me discrimination does not exist in American jobs. I am 51 years old yet I see children my kid’s age getting hired at these places with less experience and no degree. Granted I have not completed me degree yet, but I am very experienced and willing to learn anything or mode and conform to any companies needs.

Once upon a time it was experience that counted as well as proper work ethics. I was taught to respect my elders. Now any hip-hop kid with dreadlocks can get these jobs and I am still hunting.

To add insult to injury they are selling products not made in this country. Granted some of my favorite perfumes and certain things are not American made. Those are generally low in cost and a luxury I allow myself when I am working. I call my bank in America and I’m speaking to outsourced Philippines who can barely understand what I am saying and they have trouble understanding me.

These are scary times indeed when the United States has become what I observe to be now a third world country with very few of our own products to offer. I blame our Government for not looking out for its own people. When will the very people we elect start to show more concern for the people that put them in office then rubbing shoulders with countries they gain a kick-back on?

It’s time Americans woke up and started to boycott certain items. Make a statement, our forefathers did, there is nothing we need in America we can’t produce ourselves, but if things continue they way they are there will come a time when we will lose this opportunity.

I and many others I know simply want to work. We want to contribute to our own society. Is that too much to ask without having to pay money we don’t have to get a job we may not even get to keep?

New Enthusiasm with a New Start

Today ends the “official” Second Life Mentor Program and with it begins new hope that those who served to help New and Old Residents alike in Second Life will continue.  Using the base we learned as new mentors and the knowledge we have gained over the last 3 years we provide a team of experienced volunteers who will not leave a person with simply “I don’t know”. We pull from our roots and team members much like a family now to provide ongoing support to those who want to learn Second Life.

Second life is widely mistaken as a game which is not to say there aren’t places for games and role playing.  I personally find one thing that surprises most New Residents is when the find out Second life offers Education and has over 60 Colleges and Universities with a presence World-Wide offering courses in different degrees of study.

It is a platform which enables business to test market with little cost to any given business, advertise to a reach of a population of 50,000 to 90,000 residents at any given time. Many companies have found cost savings by using Second Life’s platform to hold business meetings lowering the costs of air fare, meals, hotel expenses and more by holding such meetings in Virtual Worlds such as Second Life.

Daily New Residents come into this world for many reasons. Perhaps their company is there; perhaps they are interested in forming a company. Perhaps their college is there and as the word gets out perhaps you are in the areas of Entertainment.

For Entertainers Second Life has become a place to share their music, art, theatre and many other aspects of the industry including Machinima, a term used to describe the art of film-making in Virtual Worlds.

There is so much to learn New Residents are often very confused when the first enter Second Life. It is indeed overwhelming. That is where the Volunteers of Second Life step in to help. No matter what you are interested in, gaming, entertainment, business, higher education anything you can do in the physical world outside of Virtual Worlds you can do in Second Life and more.

Artists combine Photo Editors along with Second life Environmental Editor have been producing works of Art that are actually being sold at Galleries in the physical realm.  Movies and plays, live theatre from the Second Life Avatar Repertory Theatre to classics that the second Life Shakespeare Company offers and inspires creativity.

In March the Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education, (VWBPE), will offer a look at how Virtual Worlds are being resourced as a tool for both teaching and learning. Last year this even covered 22 Sims , (or simulators) and Universities from all over the Globe participated, this year we expect even a bigger crowd. Mentors will be there to give you live on-the-spot assistance. Yes you can study these things for yourself through Wiki and Second Life Knowledge Base; https://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/KB and https://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Main_Page and I have studied a lot in there a have many of my associates. For the New Resident often they do not know where to start. That is where Mentors come into play.

The first thing I ever ask any New Resident is “I’m curious, what brought you to Second Life?” It opens a conversation that allows me to point people in the direction they’d like to go into unlike computer generated programs and personally I do dislike calls from Voice Recognition Units that only offer me a limited number of choices. Nothing can replace the human factor and nothing can replace a person that cares.

I care.

I want your experience whether you have come to enjoy a good time or come to see how Second Life can save your company time and money, your teaching facility to provide a more interactive relationship with its students in an immersive learning environment or you want to gain exposure as an actor, singer or artist of any type, if I cannot show you how, I know someone who can. That is the beauty of our network of volunteers.

To see the new Second Life Mentor Hall of Fame visit http://slurl.com/secondlife/DC%20District%20Style/240/118/32

Second Life Mentor’s Tribute

Hope to see you in Second life soon.

CallieDel Boa

Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education 2010

Coming again after a successful event last year, it’s just growing.

Last year VWBPE had 22 Sims involved with Colleges and Universities from every corner of the World! It was exciting, informative and I got to meet some people whom I would have never met without this, very inspirational.

This year VWBPE is being held in Second Life in March 2010. It’s definitely an experience educators do not want to miss.

I personally feel Virtual Worlds is the best way to go for online Education and information. Having taught and taken classes in Second Life I find it so much better then the conventional 2D Online Colleges. We have real time voice, lessons and are able to interact with students and teachers alike. It is truly the type of experience I felt while going to college on campus.

I encourage any Educational Institution to take some time in March and explore how easy and fun it is to learn in Virtual Worlds.

Stay posted, as more information is listed with upcoming meetings you will see this information here, on Facebook, Twitter, Plurk and other sources of networking.

I feel any College or University that claims to be cutting edge technology and doesn’t use Virtual Worlds is behind the times. There will always be traditional campuses and that is great for a younger crowd eager to go to college and meet fellow students and professors face to face. For those people working or with schedules that cannot accommodate a campus life I see Virtual Worlds as being the best, most real way to have the same experience.

I look forward to reaching out to educators in my local community first hand as many claim to be highly technical yet are using 1990′s methods of teaching. This is exciting, innovative and allows students a way to interact on a level of Education that most resembles physical life. So please, take a moment and search VWBPE and see the results. And if you are all ready in Second Life we need volunteers. This year is going to be much bigger then last year and the best part about it? It’s Green! No driving, no pollution and it works on every countries schedule. How much better can it get?

You Know It’s A Poor Business When…

This is not at all Second Life Related.

I recently got a job which stated it offered a weeks training, I got one and a half day’s training and no training at all on the computer before I was required to contact new clients.
I was a representative and required to contact potential clients, yet the manager whom I tried to see the good in as I usually do seemed to think it appropriate to blast his radio full volume while me and co-workers were on the phone and told us if we complained we would be fired. It makes me wonder if the owner is paying any attention to his business or he’s so rich he simply doesn’t care.

It’s the Holiday Season and many people are in need of work. In any job there will be pros and cons and while newbie works in Virtual Worlds it is a derogatory statement to new employees eager to make a good impression.

I was told this is an International company and it completely puzzles me that any professional operation would allow such immature behavior and put children in charge of people who obviously have much more experience and the awards and certificates to prove it.

If you live in Florida and find what appears to be an opportunity at 1490 Sunshadow drive, Suite 3000, Casselberry, Florida 32707 - think twice. This company is not worth even filling out the application. Sure there are people making money there. I suspect they have been there from the beginning and before said manager may have ever been in effect. It is obviously geared to get-my-GED education level and although I don’t know for sure it appeared petty cash was spend to get something for the employees which was locked in the managers office and shared with the other 2 managers at that location. $75.00 worth of Red Bull makes me kind of wonder what type of drugs these people are on.

Just my two cents and there has never in my life been a company I have worked for even on the downside that compares with the sad state of this company. I refuse to mention names, just thought I’d put a warning out to all that are Internet savvy so they don’t fall into this scam that sells lies to both consumer and new employees.

Sociology and Business In Virtual Worlds

In my first Virtual World, LambdaMOO the Terms Of Service were simple and still apply to any Virtual World. We call it “Help Manners” . People who enter the Virtual World of Second Life are often confused. When meeting someone either a SL Mentor on Help Island or at one of the Gateways to other locations most perceive that are in a game and that the avatars around them may not be real human beings. Let me assure you for the most part they are not. Although I feel the use of “Bots” in Gateways can cause more confusion then help I see them more and more at these Gateways, thus further confusing New Residents.

It is my feeling Virtual Worlds such as Second Life were not only meant for things such as social networking, also business, both First Life and Second Life businesses. Things such as Education, Entertainment and even such areas of Research and test marketing are all advantages of Virtual Worlds and a huge part of Second Life. One of the things I see missing is appreciation that most people who spend a lot of time in Second Life are there because of several reasons. They have lost their jobs in the current economy, they are disabled or are actually making a living by certain talents using things like Photo Shop, Gimp or other photo processing programs.

What most businesses and Universities lack in Second Life is real customer service and the reason I feel this happens is because of the value of the Linden dollar. For some reason people advertise Real Life Jobs which to me should be able to pay real life bills, but for every advertisement I research that claims to be a real life job offers $L or Linden dollars, considering the average currency exchange is approximately $4.38 USD for 1000$L so if I accept a job for example offers 1000$L an hour I’m getting paid about $3.55 less the the US National minimun wage, that does not pay the bills, yet the people who advertise these jobs can own several sims that cost them $1000 USD a year, perhaps more now not to mention the monthly teir fee, yet they think people can afford to work for them at this rate of pay. My last “supposed” Real Life job paid me 100$L an hour, so that’s about 40 cents. Until people are willing to make available a real living the the term RL Job is misleading.

Other aspects of Virtual Worlds such as Entertainment is often free or people place “tip jars” out. What people do not realize is these people have REAL talent and should be compensated REAL currency for what they offer. There are many things in Second Life that are free and I am all for that. But if you are advertising RL Jobs then remember people seeking these jobs are real live people with real live expenses.

Until businesses both virtual or physical are willing to pay at least the minimum wage, (and I am basing this on USD as I do live in the United States) then it is not a Real Life job.

I have had a couple Real Jobs where I did receive good USD for the work I did. I’m not saying all businesses that advertise are not authentic. I’m simply saying if a position for Public Relations in Physical Life one usually makes anywhere from $10.00 to $20.00 USD an hour an do not require special knowledge of how to use Virtual Worlds. Add to that the knowledge one needs to be in Public Realtions in a Virtual World the rate of pay should match or be higher.

That’s just my two cents. I’ve also found the real paying jobs, (real meaning a USD equivilent) are usually more by word of mouth and not advertisied in Search/Classifieds.

That’s just my two cents to those who claim to be offering Real Life jobs and plan on paying below the US minimum wage.

Second Life Teaching, Learning Education, Theatre, Cross-Reality

My Dream of The Future.

Hello and welcome to a vastly changing paradigm in Education, Arts Culture and Society.  As more and more Virtual Worlds are built new concepts of ways of teaching, business and the arts in all their forms are emerging so that each of us can bring our unique talent to the world, either Virtual or Physical.

This picture is a wonderful example of people from all Nations coming together for the Virtual Worlds Best practices in Education and covered 3 days of information on how countries are using Virtual Worlds to train and learn from their students. It also demonstrates that people of all cultures can work together for a common cause.

The barriers everyone overcame to understand each others language, technical difficulties as with any new technology and friendships formed across continents was amazing and something each one of us can take a lesson from. Rather then fight over our differences I hope that we all find a common ground to help one another and this Planet as a whole.

Although a lot of my images may be from Second Life or other Virtual Worlds in my heart these are real causes, real people, real emotions and real effects. The only senses we lack so far in virtual worlds are taste, touch and smell.