Blog #6

Tim Long

Professor Crawford

English Composition I

18 February 2010

Annotated Bibliography

Komin, Bob. Interview. CNN Money. Dec. 2006: 1-4.

Bob Komin is the CFO of Linden Labs. From the interview, viewers can gather the linden dollar is a floating currency. A floating currency is not a fixed amount when consumers try to exchange linden dollars; this type of currency depends on how the market is doing. Komin also speaks about managing the money supplies. The economy is growing so fast that Linden Labs is having trouble supplying money for the Lindex. Komin then explains that there are three ways that Linden Labs help mange the money supply. The first method is Linden stipends to premium users. The second method is Linden Labs is able to actually sell linden directly on to the exchange. Finally the last major method Linden uses is “sinks”. A sink is a Linden fee, for example if a user wanted to upload a file they have to pay a sink. Koman concludes the interview by expressing the demand for the Linden dollar is based on the growth of the use of the world and growth of services provided determine the value.

The source is reliable, because of the person being interviewed is, the chief financial officer of Linden Labs. Therefore it is his job to know the financial matters of Second Life. The research is not based on a biased opinion but rather on statistics, which can not be biased. The facts are well documented, but the interview took place in December of 2006. The information one can gather from the interview is substantial, however it is dated which could be misleading. The source is both scholarly and popular because of the network that did the interview.

Blog #5

Tim Long

Professor Crawford

English Composition I

18 February 2010

Annotated Bibliography

Rosedale, Philip. Interview. Second Life w/Philip Rosedale. Internet Television. The GigaOm Show. 25 June 2008.

In the interview Philip Rosedale explains the basics of “Second Life”. Then Rosedale explains how Second Life is growing so fast that it is hard to meet the demand of the users. Therefore the demand of the consumers is creating a frustration for the customers of Second Life, because Linden Labs can not work fast enough. Rosedale also addresses how Second Life’s concurrency rates have been at a steady increase however the consumer statistics for new users has seem to stop increasing. The statistics start to balance out for the new consumers, because of the users who get on Second Life and stay on for a few months then decide to quit using Second Life. It seems more and more consumers do three months then quit, but the long time consumers seem to be putting more hours into Second Life in that case, boosting Second Life’s economy. Rosedale also explains why businesses should stick into Second Life and he explicates how a good reason is the growth of the economy, which is bringing a half a billion dollars annually.

This interview source can be very informative, in which case makes this source reliable. Another key factor of the source is the fact that Philip Rosedale, the person being interviewed, is the founder and CEO of Second Life. This makes Rosedale a reliable source, because he knows more about Second Life than any analyst or critic. However this also makes his information very biased, because Rosedale is always trying to sell Second Life to potential consumers. The source itself is not a popular source or scholary, because it is an informal interview. The interview takes place with the primary interviewer, Chris Albrecht, and a secondary interviewer, Wagner James, who is a person in Second Life. The interview was don on June twenty fifth, 2008. This makes this interview almost two years old so the statistics are a little out dated.

Blog #4

Summary of Wired Travel guide: Second Life

The webpage covers many topics about Second Life such as, the history of Second Life, economy, fashion, and Locations. When the author writes about the history of Second Life it is very interesting, because the writer compares alot of American History with how Second Life began. A good example of the comparison is the tax revolt which Linden Labs started taxing the users of Second Life for there creations. In conclusion to the taxing, the users revolted by creating a lot of crates of tea everywhere and posting signs on Second life that say "we are born free: taxed to death". The comparison is of the Boston Tea Party that happened in American history. Second Life's economy seems to be growing rapidily according to the data on the website. Many more users can be found starting a business and making a profit according to the information on the webpage.
Locations in Second Life are also growing very fast. As an avatar the users are able to fly around and teleport to anywhere the consumers want to go in the virtual world. However the author warns potential users that some places in Second Life can be violent or sexual. As far as transportation goes not only can consumers fly and teleport, but there are rocketships, sailing ships, and many more creative machines for transportation. When the writer gets to fashion, the author gives many places where users can shop for clothes, body parts, and hair. The author also describes how consumers do not have to be humans or even there same sex in real life. Overall the Website's information was useful, because there is a lot of tips and many topics.