There is currently an interesting discussion about Global Kids and their "Adult" presence on the Teen Grid on Spotlight on Digital Media and Learning. Global Kids runs a summer camp and seemed to have provided a useful program for the Second Life youth who inhabit the teen grid. However, this goes in the face of what Relk Akula says about them. "I view Global Kids as a despicable attack on TSL's existence as a place for teens to take a break fro real life and be able to have a world entirely grown by them," Says Relk Akula. He also likens Global Kids to the people behind the ESRB and RIAA, a comparison by which he seems to mean they censor free speech. Cheesepuff Barnard believes Global Kids should be eliminated as well stating, "This is like the Revolutionary War. A mainland, a colony, and somebody up there trying to take advantage of the colony." I was looking for the give me liberty or give me death line but I couldn't find it.

Now that is only one side of the story, Lucky Figtree says, "I can't imagine not having the GK leader in-world anymore. . . There are many teens that think of the Global Kids Islands as a second home (me included)." Should Global Kids or any other adult organization be allowed to operate in Teen Second Life? Is Teen Second Life a bad idea and we should just let everyone on the main grid? I don't really know the right answer, but I see Second Life as the beginnings of an important educational tool and removing the ability for educators and students at any level to collaborate in Second Life is a bad idea.

Search > Places is back. Well, sort of back. Mostly back. Reasonably back. Okay, so there's still an issue.

At 2:55PM SLT (Second Life Time) on Friday, Search > Places was finally restored to service, after essentially a full week of downtime. By 18:00 SLT, it had become apparent that there was still one or more problems, and by 18:22 SLT, it was apparent that the problem was 'estates'. Basically, you can't seem to find things that are in another estate.

Most Second Lifers don't really know what a Second Life 'Estate' actually is, beyond the common-coin term in the English language (whichever dialect of it you choose to speak or mangle, or stoically persevere with as a second or third language), so a little background on estates is probably in order.

Obviously, I'll never get to go to the Teen Grid, unless I were to make a special request of LL, and even then it would probably be under the auspice of some educational institution. But I'm damned curious about what goes on there. If, for example, we assume that a great number of griefers are teenagers (and I don't automatically assume that, but let's do it just for the grand funk railroad of it), can we also assume that the TG is 24/7 Grief City?

I couldn't be; they'd delete the TG before too long. So, is it just like the Main Grid, only younger? Are they grooming the next wave of talented builders/scripters over there? Do they yearn for the perceived succulent fruit of the MG? Are new, untold, unpronounceable acronyms being created? It makes me kinda sad to think that the poor teen residents there are making friends 4 life (yo), only to have to abandon them once they reach 18. Seriously, that's sad.

So, if anyone has any stories of life on the Teen Grid, please contact me; maybe we can set up an interview. Or, if you were on the TG yourself, send me your story; let's talk!

In his usual colourful style, Siggy Romulus has posted an M-rated question about some of his content having migrated to the teen grid. As there is supposed to be no exchange of material between the main grid and the teen grid, on pain of banning, he asks how it is possible that his items are there.

In reality there are a number of possible explanations. Some teens confessed that they were on the main grid during an amnesty, and were transferred with all their PG inventory to the teen grid. It seems possible that some of those people were able to order goods on the SL exchange or SL boutique, because their accounts were verified when they were on the adult grid and they were transferred with all details intact. Some of these have reportedly been order material from the external sales sites and then reselling in the teen grid at a profit.