Real Life Government

This article is obsolete, but kept as a historical record. Do not rely on this information in any way. However, it may be used in the future, so please do not delete or modify.

The intention of this article is to share information on what international government agencies are publicly doing in Second Life, interesting links, and guidance from others on government related policies, such as firewall security and 508 compliance information. Please share your questions on the talk page and add your own content and experiences on the Real Life Government Examples page. If you create a new article relevant to Real Life Government in Second Life, please sure to add it to the Real Life Government category.

This is set up for community participation to provide current and accurate information - your involvement helps maintain current and accurate information. If you find better resources elsewhere, please point to them; life's too short to duplicate information.

Mailing Lists

Linden Lab maintains a Government using Second Life (GuSL) mailing list to keep interested individuals alerted to government agency related opportunities and events on the Second Life Grid. This list is also an opportunity for organizations to communicate with each other as well as find new colleagues. If you want to quickly get up to speed and learn from the shared experiences of others on the Second Life Grid, or if you have questions about how to best use the Second Life Grid with your organization's projects, this is the best place to start!

We also maintain other related mailing lists to help you find colleagues and share ideas on more specific topics. In addition to joining the comprehensive mailing list mentioned above, you might like to join these more focused discussions. They are: Educators, Non-Profits, Healthcare Support and Education, and Corporate Use

Second Life Group

There's a Second Life Group called Real Life Government in Second Life which is comprised of people who are interested in the possibilities of Second Life as it relates to government agency mission statements. If you'd like to keep in touch with others inworld, please feel free to join this Group (click the Find button and search under Groups for 'Government').

What Other Agencies are Doing?

Go to Real Life Government in Second Life Examples for information about what other agencies are publicly doing in Second Life. Please add what your agency is doing here.

Working Group Wiki

The United States National Defense University has set up a working group wiki to support the Federal Consortium for Virtual Worlds - an international group of federal government employees and contractors interested in exploring the use of virtual worlds in government, sharing best practices and policies, creating shared repositories, and networking. Request membership to the consortium wiki by emailing federalconsortiumvw@ndu.edu with the subject "Request for Consortium Wiki".

See Also

Overview

• Introductory Video to Second Life The first-ever Congressional hearing on virtual worlds took place on April 1 in Washington, D.C. Linden Lab CEO Philip Rosedale testified before the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet. As part of his presentation, Mr. Rosedale presented a seven-minute machinima scripted, shot and edited by Silver and Goldie with additional footage provided by Torley Linden.
• Frequently Asked Questions (from What Is Second Life? on secondlife.com)
• New Media Consortium's Getting Started
• Getting Started in Second Life by Random Unsung and Prokofy Neva
• How to learn about Second Life before learning Second Life (Eric Rice)
• It's not an economy, it's a product - understanding Linden Lab's view of Second Life
• Architecture Working Group Wiki - AWG's mission is to develop the protocols that will open up the Second Life Grid from something operated solely by Linden Lab to where others can run parts of the grid.

Tips & Tricks

• Linden Lab Knowledge Base and Video Tutorials
• Noob Be Gone Video Tutorials

Research

• CRS Report: Avatars, Virtual Reality Technology, and the U.S. Military: Emerging Policy Issue

Development & LSL

• Community Development Guide - This section is designed to aggregate knowledge about Second Life community development in one place and create a "living document" any Resident can edit and contribute to. It is our hope this guide will be useful to interested individuals, businesses, and organizations using the Second Life Main and Teen Grids.
• Getting Started in LSL scripting in Second Life
• Using the Linden Scripting Language: Tutorial on basic LSL capabilities

Business Examples

• See also Recent Business Articles - Articles about business in Second Life
• Glenn's Tips for Businesses

Solution Providers

• Solution Providers
• Solution Providers with a focus on government - We are hoping to generate a list of Solution Providers that have government clearance or are registered. If you are such a solution provider, please add your details to the list.
• Solution Provider Support
• Linden Office Hours

Issue Tracker (Bugs & Feature Requests)

• Learn about the Issue Tracker and how to use it
• Recently resolved issues (general resolutions in last two weeks)
• All fixed bugs, sorted by votes
  • Login with your Second Life name and see the growing lists. Also to emphasize community spirit, some of these bugs were patched by Residents!
• More handy filters are on the main page of Issue Tracker

Questions about the firewall?

Firewall Configuration