Sunday, August 10, 2008

Idle musings ........

I'm in the process of editing an image I hope will be a good weeping willow foliage texture (and by the way, just whose idea was it for me to do a willow? do you have any idea how many tiny leaves I have to outline with a 1 pixel brush?). Anyway - it's taking a while and that means an extended period of the proverbial stream of consciousness.

I've been watching as much of the Olympics as I can (which is a lot given the CBC/TSN/BOLD are broadcasting everything live and then repeating a lot of stuff while they're sleeping in China) - I'm a big believer in the Olympic ideals and I love the romance/emotion/ etc. of the competitions/spectacles. Was watching the swimming and saw a senior politician in the audience - one who will be out of a job soon. That led me to start thinking about legacies. And that led me to the following:


  • I'm guessing that in 200 years if there isn't a SecondLife there will be a descendant of SecondLife.
  • Resident profiles of SecondLife seem to stay in the database even when the resident's rl incarnation has died.
  • Storage is becoming cheaper and cheaper so it wouldn't be a huge burden to keep all of us in the database.
  • So it's possible that the profiles of Honour McMillan and all of you will still be accessible in 200 years.
  • Maybe rather than just dropping off of the grid I should set up a "going away message" in my will. (gruesome I know, but think about it - there are some interesting possibilities there)
  • Somebody would actually have to look up the profile to see the message - why would they do that?
  • I make things - hopefully I get better and better at making things. These things aren't really tied to fads or fashion. I mean classic textures and plants could be used forever. Right?
  • So is it possible that in 200 years there will be a Museum of Oddities with one of my trees in it? ("um quaint, not bad considering the technology they had back then").
  • Is it possible that something I've made will be handed down and treated as an antique by some future resident? ("a genuine Honour McMillan? Wow! Have you read her profile?")
  • Is it possible that I will have a legacy on the internet? I don't expect to have one in rl. Can it be that our av's will give us that kind of immortality?
  • Cool!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I've actually been thinking about adding a provision to my will that requires notifying all my virtual friends if I pass away. I hate the idea of people just disappearing without anyone knowing what happened to them, although I know it happens all the time in the "real" world.

Honour McMillan said...

Good point! I've also being wondering how to dispose of my sl assets in the event of my unfortunate demise. How to transfer ownership and make it not only legal but hassle free. The next owner would want to be able to keep selling the items I expect - but non transferable objects would be an issue.
hmmmm

Shockwave Plasma said...

I have said a few times to my friends, who my SL next-of-kin is.

That way if something happens to me, then they can ask that person.

Linden Lab has repected the wishes of the Residents wills after they died.