Who KNEW what would happen when I started this thread?! Okay, so, now there are loads and loads of folk looking at this thread and posting. I'd like to ask all of you---who has pn here? Does everyone? Please, folk, fill out a profile and put some basic information--it helps if you put your major diagnoses, approximate age, sex, and maybe a few other things there. I find when I am reading folks' posts who I don't remember, I look at their profile in the hopes of being reminded what they have and who they are, and rarely is the info there. So, please identify yourself---are you a pn-ner? Did you put something in your profile to summarize your basic medical issues?

Next, I have some good friends who are high-level Aspies. I like geeky people, and some of them are Aspy-ish. I never meant to cast aspersions, if that was believed. Also, I have one good friend who spends a great deal of time on SL. She, too, is a lovely person. I have nothing against second lifers. But I do object to what JL did to us at OBT. He started a community which he handled carelessly; he used us to raise money which he then used for a purpose other than what he said it was for (namely, he used money we gave to protect the OBT server to buy land at SL and to do whatever else he needed to do there). I resent that he has treated us with zero compassion, zero empathy, and zero respect. I resent that he leveraged us into a well-paying job that is not basically about illness or health at all, but is a profit-centered online game (some call it a world, but basically, what you do there is PLAY).

I'm happy that people feel JL has helped them; but it makes me rather nauseated when people advise me to just "get over it". I feel I was ripped off, and everyone else was too. Again, this man who made a neurological community showed zero concern for that community once he'd leveraged it into a well-paying, status-filled, and fun job.

Now, about SL. One thing I wondered was--how do Avatars have sex? I mean how could someone manipulate an avatar well enough for an interaction that specific. It seems that people write mini-programs, called macros, and when you decide to have sex with someone, you basically turn on the macro that does what you want. My friend who spends a lot of time there writes macros and designs objects there.

It's important to remember that SL is NOT a not-for-profit enterprise with any dedication to the welfare of its customers. It just wants customers, wants them to spend real money to buy linden dollars, and wants them to come back. Sex and deviance and porn sell big, and SL has lots of that to offer. It has no particular vested interest in making sure that only adults go to adult areas unless their pocketbooks get hurt by the complaints.

Major investors are investing in it: the list is full of big-time funders, beginning with the guy who wrote Lotus, but extending widely. I can't remember offhand the other folk, but there are many with big bucks. It's all about the linden dollars/real dollars.

Okay, folk, if you don't have pn and have been posting here, I'm curious---what brought you to this thread? What's kept you here? Not that I am disinviting anyone AT ALL. I LOVE THIS THREAD. I love how many people are exploring and talking and joining the talk. It's fabulous. But I'm curious.

Melody---where are you going tomorrow? Can you take pictures for us?