My Project Du Jour: GetaFirstLife.com
Hey you, get a first life, eh?
First off, I am not a Second Life hater. Let me say that again: I am not a Second Life hater. I’m on record as saying that there’s something important going on inside the game.
That said, I’ve been bemused by the amount of hype and attention the game…er…virtual world thingee has received over the past three months. The media has been on SL like white on rice. I’ve only written about SL a couple of times on this site, but I’ve probably received five enquiries from sundry Canadian news outlets asking if I played, or knew anybody who played, or knew anybody who was making a six figure income from playing, and so forth.
Clay Shirky has done some excellent (though much-debated) work evaluating the media’s reportage on Second Life, and trying to apply some normalcy to the hype.
Second Life, Same Brand
More pointedly, I’ve been dismayed by the number of companies opening offices in Second Life. It’s my impression that a lot of them aren’t wanted, and I can’t imagine how what they’re doing is actually cost effective. Okay, American Apparel made a big splash because they were first, or seemed to be first, but every company isn’t going to enjoy that media spotlight. Let me quote Tim Bray, who had a SL event as part of a big Sun announcement:
The Second Life thing, well, I don’t know. It was a lot of work to get going and it costs us real money, and then our pavilion can only hold 63 avatars, so the ROI seems questionable.
I think there’s a lot of corporate hubris at work here, with company’s companies wanting to appear hip or cutting edge.
Speaking of companies, I think the worst perpetrators are PR agencies and marketing companies (and, hey, I run one of those). If I’m building a Brave New World, I don’t want PR flaks in my utopia.
Here’s an idea: if you’re corporate, wait until somebody invites you into SL. Wait until somebody says (and this is hard to imagine), “hey, wouldn’t it be great if we had a few PR agencies around, just in case there was a crisis that needed managing?”
Culling the Crowd with Lag
And, let’s be honest, the game isn’t good enough yet. It’s too hard to play. I watched a veteran computer user and occasional console gamer try to attend an event in SL. It took her five minutes just to figure out how to sit down on a bench. And that was with my pathetic help. And then there’s the lag I’ve experienced when playing–it’s so severe that it actually works as a population control technique, redistributing avatars because a certain zone gets too dense.
After all that, I do think something important’s happening in the game. I forget who I’m quoting here, but whoever makes Second Life 2.0–where, say, the gameplay is as intuitive as World of Warcraft–is going to have a license to print money.
And, in the future, if it’s the right thing for a client (or if I can’t convince them against it), I’d consider running an event in SL. I just wish we could cool off on the hype machine a bit. Happily, Gartner thinks Second Life is on the edge of the trough of disillusionment.
Light-Hearted Fun
Hence the light-hearted fun that is GetaFirstLife.com. I think I first heard the phrase yelled by someone inside World of Warcraft, and it stuck with me. It’s in the vein of iCryptex, except this time there are t-shirts.
Thanks very much to Heather, Rob, James and Todd for their excellent work as consulting humourists, and to Kris Krug for the pirate children. I struggled with what should be the correct photo until I remembered this one, and it seemed like the perfect fit.
You can Digg this, if you’re so inclined, and here’s a gooofy Technorati tag: secondlife.
UPDATE: Prominent Second Lifer Wagner James Au points me to a couple of posts on Clay Shirky and the hype. An interesting axiom: “The more someone pronounces Second Life over-hyped, the less first-hand experience they tend to have in the world.” On that topic, I’ve tried the game at least twice–possibly three times–but I’ve probably only put in 5 to 7 hours. It just didn’t stick for me.
UPDATE #2: In case anyone is wondering, “de hecho, fornica usando tus genitales” is apparently an accurate translation of “fornicate using your actual genitals”. I know because the site was linked to by a Diggesque site from Spain.
UPDATE #3: Got dugg, but the site didn’t fall over. That’s credit to Laughing Squid, my new hosting company, and the fact that it got dugg in the middle of the night.
UPDATE #4: Speaking of foreign language Diggs, check out the German yigg.de. Mein lieben.
UPDATE #5: I just got what I can only describe as a proceed and permitted letter from Linden Labs in the comments.
UPDATE #6: A few people, on Digg and elsewhere, have wondered why a) it’s only one page and b) why the only clickable links go to stuff that me me money. This was my response on Digg:
It’s true that I could have made a couple more pages. But having done a few of these sites, you’re better to get in and get out quickly–always leave them wanting more, as the saying goes. It’s a one-trick humour pony, and I’m not sure that if I had five pages, that there’d be five pages worth of funny.
As for the links to purchasing stuff, that’s absolutely true. I made icryptex.com last year, and it got a good chunk of traffic, but all I got for that was a bandwidth bill. So, this time around I wanted to make a little money without having a ridiculously monetized (and therefore compromised) site.
UPDATE #7: I’ve never had this many updates on a post.
UPDATE #8: Thanks to everybody for all the linkage and nice things you’re saying. The best bit is getting mentioned on the BBC’s web site (screenshot for posterity). That rocks. Thanks to Adiana for letting me know about that.
UPDATE #9: Tom from GiveMeaning sends along this article about Second Life and Ponzi schemes.
UPDATE #10: Comments are closed on this post because spammers are bastards.
January 20th, 2007 at 1:51 pm
GetaFirstLife.com: well done, Darren!
But I do have to say, there are a lot of organizations quietly going about figuring out what 3D worlds mean to their business innovations, content categories, or services. These companies have people working in Second Life who are sincerely listening and learning.
The hype is the hype - and will always be “leveraged” by some. Others are just putting their heads down and working.
January 20th, 2007 at 2:49 pm
A beautiful parody :)
But seriously, SL does kind of suck doesn’t it? I mean it looks just like the lame-ass 90’s Virtual Reality (which nobody wanted) reborn. I especially hate that it just attempts to import all the boring crap from the real world into the virtual one, eg companies, money, real estate… arrgh!
January 20th, 2007 at 5:03 pm
Darren, I laughed my first life pants off. The parody site is brilliant! Nice job!
January 20th, 2007 at 10:34 pm
Dude, this is just hilarious.
January 20th, 2007 at 11:43 pm
Pretty funny. You might want to also check this article out
Get a First Life
http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php?/site/article/2742/
January 21st, 2007 at 5:06 am
CompanIES not CompanY’S.
Please, for the love of God, see this:
http://www.angryflower.com/bobsqu.gif
As for Second Life, I’ll become interested when it doesn’t look like it was created by someone having an epileptic fit while writing VRML. In other words, I find it aesthetically offensive. In much the same way as Bob (the Angry Flower) finds your apostrophe mis-use offensive.
Your parody, however, made me smile.
January 21st, 2007 at 9:51 am
Oh. So. Funny.
Excellent work!
January 21st, 2007 at 10:44 am
Did you know that the French Front Nazional party opened an office in SL? I don’t know if it’s still there, but it inspired some great creativity.
(Sorry–I meant the “Front National”)
January 21st, 2007 at 12:33 pm
I don’t “play” Second Life either, but if I did, I’m sure it would drive me out of there just about instantly to see advertisements showing up everywhere. Your parody page is hilarious–I just voted for it over on mefi.
January 21st, 2007 at 12:48 pm
[…] Get a First Life is a hilarious “One Page Satire of Second Life” by Vancouver web geek and Northern Voice co-organizer Darren Barefoot. Membership perks include “going outside” and the ability to “fornicate with your own genitals”. tags: parody (T) , Second Life (T) , Darren Barefoot (T) , satire (T) submit to StumbleUpon Comments RSS feed | Trackback URL […]
January 21st, 2007 at 12:50 pm
Brilliant.
And this new “breaking it up with subheads” thing is intriguing. Makes for a nice skim of your posts.
January 21st, 2007 at 1:08 pm
[…] This [via Darren] made me smile: […]
January 21st, 2007 at 1:39 pm
[…] guy behind it explains his actions here Bookmark on del.icio.us. « The Oracle Machine: PRESENTATION Saturday January 20, 20.00 hrs / De Balie,Amsterdam | […]
January 21st, 2007 at 1:50 pm
Very nice, very funny. I like it. I was also amused by your Google Ads… they all seem to be for second life and related products.
January 21st, 2007 at 1:52 pm
FWIW -
That’s a weak translation of “fornicate using your own genitals.”
It is more like “Fornicate using your genitals for real.” “De hecho” is usually used more like “actually,” as in:
“I don’t know which cow to slaughter. Do you know anything about beef?”
“Actually, I am a butcher.”
January 21st, 2007 at 2:57 pm
This notice is provided on behalf of Linden Research, Inc. (“Linden Lab”), the owner of trademark, copyright and other intellectual property rights in and to the “Second Life” product and service offering, including the “eye-in-hand” logo for Second Life and the website maintained at http://secondlife.com/.
It has come to our attention that the website located at http://www.getafirstlife.com/ purports to appropriate certain trade dress and marks associated with Second Life and owned by Linden Lab. That website currently includes a link in the bottom right-hand corner for “Comments or cease and desist letters.”
As you must be aware, the Copyright Act (Title 17, U.S. Code) contains provisions regarding the doctrine of “fair use” of copyrighted materials (Section 107 of the Act). Although lesser known and lesser recognized by trademark owners, the Lanham Act (Title 15, Chapter 22, U.S. Code) protecting trademarks is also limited by a judicial doctrine of fair use of trademarks. Determining whether or not a particular use constitutes fair use typically involves a multi-factor analysis that is often highly complex and frustratingly indeterminate; however a use constituting parody can be a somewhat simpler analysis, even where such parody involves a fairly extensive use of the original work.
We do not believe that reasonable people would argue as to whether the website located at http://www.getafirstlife.com/ constitutes parody – it clearly is. Linden Lab is well known among its customers and in the general business community as a company with enlightened and well-informed views regarding intellectual property rights, including the fair use doctrine, open source licensing, and other principles that support creativity and self-expression. We know parody when we see it.
Moreover, Linden Lab objects to any implication that it would employ lawyers incapable of distinguishing such obvious parody. Indeed, any competent attorney is well aware that the outcome of sending a cease-and-desist letter regarding a parody is only to draw more attention to such parody, and to invite public scorn and ridicule of the humor-impaired legal counsel. Linden Lab is well-known for having strict hiring standards, including a requirement for having a sense of humor, from which our lawyers receive no exception.
In conclusion, your invitation to submit a cease-and-desist letter is hereby rejected.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, it is possible that your use of the modified eye-in-hand logo for Second Life, even as parody, requires license from Linden Lab, especially with respect to your sale of goods with the parody mark at http://www.cafepress.com/getafirstlife/. Linden Lab hereby grants you a nonexclusive, nontransferable, nonsublicenseable, revocable, limited license to use the modified eye-in-hand logo (as displayed on http://www.getafirstlife.com/ as of January 21, 2007) to identify only your goods and/or services that are sold at http://www.cafepress.com/getafirstlife/. This license may be modified, addended, or revoked at any time by Linden Lab in its sole discretion.
Best regards,
Linden Lab
January 21st, 2007 at 3:42 pm
[…] Dus als afsluiter van deze zeer informatieve post, mijn huidig sentiment omtrent Second Life netjes weergegeven: get a first life. (Met dank aan deze kerel.) […]
January 21st, 2007 at 4:34 pm
Very amusing, this one’ll be flying around my office for a bit :)
Thanks Darren
January 21st, 2007 at 5:20 pm
[…] Darren Barefoot voices his dismay over all the Second Life hype by creating a very, very funny parody site called “Get a First Life.” […]
January 21st, 2007 at 5:56 pm
The GaFL says “No Server Lag”. Ever try to get your boss to approve the purchase of some great new software to help you do your job better? Ever see a good idea bogged down in committee?
I was definitely persuaded NOT to start a SL hobby after reading your site. It was hilarious.
January 21st, 2007 at 6:00 pm
[…] But no. To their enormous credit, they sent me what I can only describe as a ‘proceed and permitted’ (instead of ‘cease and desist’) letter. Here’s an excerpt: We do not believe that reasonable people would argue as to whether the website located at http://www.getafirstlife.com/ constitutes parody – it clearly is. Linden Lab is well known among its customers and in the general business community as a company with enlightened and well-informed views regarding intellectual property rights, including the fair use doctrine, open source licensing, and other principles that support creativity and self-expression. We know parody when we see it. […]
January 21st, 2007 at 6:17 pm
[…] Darren Barefoot voices his dismay over all the Second Life hype by creating a very, very funny parody site called “Get a First Life.” […]
January 21st, 2007 at 6:25 pm
[…] Even if I consider Second Life just as entertainment, it doesn’t live up to gaming standards (as DarrenBarefoot.com observes). I just started playing the game Okami for the PlayStation 2 and it’s amazing how frankly - pathetic the graphics in Second Life are. I know that over time, the graphics in Second Life will only get better and better, but I frankly don’t feel any obligation to sit around and wait. […]
January 21st, 2007 at 6:54 pm
[…] Posted by Curtis on January 21st, 2007 Vancouver web geek Darren Barefoot did up a little riff on the whole Second Life madness currently sweeping the nation and actually got a response from Linden Labs, the creators of Second Life. They basically say, “Hey, this is pretty funny, go a head and use our logo and we promise we won’t sure”. For some reason, that’s a bit refreshing to see. It’s not often you see companies communicate with people who are being critical of them or their users in such a respectful manner. Right on Linden. […]
January 21st, 2007 at 6:55 pm
[…] Darren Barefootが「First Lifeで行こう」というものすごく楽しいパロディーサイトを作って、このところのSecond Life騒動にがっかりした気持ちを声に出している。このサイトは自称「3Dアナログワールド」で、「タンスの中を探してファーストライフファッションを作ろう」と提案している。私の好きな件りは「実際に生殖器を使って姦通しよう」。笑わせてくれる。 […]
January 21st, 2007 at 7:06 pm
While “Get a first life” is a fine slogan, surely the killer t-shirt will be the one reading “fornicate using your actual genitals.”
Not that I would, er, actually buy one for myself. But the number of kids willing to put FCUK on their clothes does suggest it might be popular.
I probably would get a First Life t-shirt that used the “work. reproduce. perish.” slogan.
January 21st, 2007 at 8:31 pm
[…] Classic. [via] […]
January 21st, 2007 at 10:14 pm
This is all brilliant. Nice work, Darren.
January 21st, 2007 at 10:49 pm
[…] Darren Barefoot voices his dismay over all the Second Life hype by creating a very, very funny parody site called “Get a First Life.” […]
January 21st, 2007 at 11:04 pm
[…] Darren Barefoot exprime son raz le bol pour l engouement autour de Second Life en créant un site parodique plutôt drôle du nom de “Get a First Life” (Ayez une première vie). […]
January 21st, 2007 at 11:40 pm
Excellent stuff. Similar frustrations aired on my recent blog post on losing my Second Life virginity (not very successfully, and without a penis) at http://thoughtcat.blogspot.com/2006/10/lifes-too-short-for-second-life.html
January 22nd, 2007 at 1:11 am
[…] הנה דוגמא לחברה שיודעת איך לעבוד ולטפל בבעיות זכויות יוצרים וסימנים מסחריים. דארן בארפוט, בלוגר וסאטיריקן רשת, העלה אתר פארודי על משחק הרשת סקנד לייף, בין היתר האתר הופיע במנוע הפופולרי דיג, והזמין את מי שנעלב, נפגע, הופרו זכויותיו וכדומה לפנות אליו. מעבדות לינדן, במקום להעלב ולבקש את הסרת האתר, השתעשעו ככל הנראה עם האדון הנכבד ושלחו לו מכתב שמסביר מדוע הם חושבים שזו פארודיה ראויה וגם שהוא רשאי להשתמש בסימנם המסחרי ובלוגו לכל מטרה שיחפוץ. […]
January 22nd, 2007 at 2:25 am
[…] While reviewing his blog comments, he spotted a post from Linden Labs (creators of Second Life) and expected the usual cease-and-desist wording, instead they wrote this: Moreover, Linden Lab objects to any implication that it would employ lawyers incapable of distinguishing such obvious parody. Indeed, any competent attorney is well aware that the outcome of sending a cease-and-desist letter regarding a parody is only to draw more attention to such parody, and to invite public scorn and ridicule of the humor-impaired legal counsel. Linden Lab is well-known for having strict hiring standards, including a requirement for having a sense of humor, from which our lawyers receive no exception. […]
January 22nd, 2007 at 2:25 am
[…] Parodie op SecondLife van Darren Barefoot: Get a First Life! Coole opties van First Life: […]
January 22nd, 2007 at 2:29 am
[…] Ormai Second Life, il famigerato mondo “virtuale”, viene utilizzato anche dai politici: se non avete mai sentito parlare di Second Life leggete qui. In ogni modo qualcuno stanco di girare tra città, quartieri ed avatar virtuali, ha realizzato una pagina satirica dal titolo “Get a First Life“: l’immagine riproduce in una parodia l’homepage di Second Life. L’idea è venuta a Darren Barefoot. Se vi fa ridere allora siete tra quelli che bazzicano in SL. Tags: Comix, get first live, second life Voice over NetTechnorati: Comix, get first live, second life, Voice over NetShare and Enjoy on - Condividi su:These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. […]
January 22nd, 2007 at 3:26 am
[…] A great Second Life parody by Darren Barefoot. Membership perks include “going outside” and the ability to “fornicate with your own genitals”. […]
January 22nd, 2007 at 3:58 am
Wenn das “erste Leben” ruft ……
Oh je. Drei Wochen ohne Eintrag. Die Zeit für drei bis vier Einträge hätte ich wohl finden können. Aber ich komme nach wie vor nicht so ganz zur Ruhe. Aber das mal nur so nebenbei.
Immerhin lese ich noch regelmäßig meine Lieblings-Blogs. So bin …
January 22nd, 2007 at 4:02 am
[…] Linden Lab sees the humour, too. […]
January 22nd, 2007 at 4:30 am
[…] Cansado de toda essa animação em torno do Second Life? Parece que você não é o único… Darren Barefoot, um designer de Vancouver criou essa divertida paródia do site: […]
January 22nd, 2007 at 5:38 am
I thought this was hysterical and I am absolutely sure Linden will find that funny as hell too.
January 22nd, 2007 at 6:03 am
[…] “First Life is a 3D analog world where server-lag doesn’t exist” - join 6 billion users and register at getafirstlife.com! …according to the comments on creator Darren Barefoot’s blog, Linden Labs takes the joke with a wink and grants Darren all rights to proceed the parody…big up! The Ad Generator produces fake advertising by mashing up real-life corporate slogans with (tag-)related flickr-images. […]
January 22nd, 2007 at 6:50 am
[…] Felizmente, há mais pessoas que não estão gostando do hype do Second Life. É o caso da paródia Get a First Life . Bem feita, critica exatamente o maior apelo do jogo. As pessoas vão ao SL para buscar o que não fazem no mundo real. Feito pelo mesmo cara que fez a paródia à Mac, o iCriptex.com. No seu blog pessoal, Darren Barefoot, explica os motivos desse projeto […]
January 22nd, 2007 at 7:05 am
[…] Credit where credit is due to Linden Lab (LL) for the manner in which they responded to Darren Barefoot’s tongue in cheek project-du-jour Get a First Life. Good to see the Tao of Linden being followed in both spirit and action by Ginsu Yoon’s response on behalf of LL. Organizations can learn alot from the manner in which LL chose to join the conversation by adding to the parody. Heres hoping that the number of proceed and permitted letters exceed the cease and desist letters in 2007. […]
January 22nd, 2007 at 8:01 am
[…] Even better, Linden Lab commented on the blog of Get A First Life’s creator, Darren Barefoot, with a “Proceed and Permit” letter, as opposed to the usual “Cease and Desist” ones that such parodies often attract. Hats off to Linden, and here’s to healthy parody […]
January 22nd, 2007 at 8:54 am
It’s slow, it’s clunky, it’s over-hyped and it ain’t like the real thing. But it is also something quite exceptional.
Personally I think that ‘Second Life’ isn’t a good name for it. But it shouldn’t be thought about as a replacement of our first life. It’s simply a different medium for doing and experiencing things that we already do online, including creating new identities, social networking, buying/selling and gaming.
January 22nd, 2007 at 9:40 am
[…] I’m so Jealous of Darren Barefoot’s idea. Darren has decided that we should have a First Life before we start working on our Second Life. Though he says he’s not a hater (and I concur), this is truly brilliant: Get a FIRST Life. […]
January 22nd, 2007 at 10:01 am
[…] Complete with pirates! ‘Get a First Life’ is a send-up of MMO Second Life. It was created by self-proclaimed non-SL hater Darren Barefoot, and one page parody site offers ‘Get a First Life’ members perks like ‘go outside’ or ‘fornicate using your actual genitals.’ And the kicker? Linden Labs found out about this and contacted Darren, writing: We do not believe that reasonable people would argue as to whether the website located at http://www.getafirstlife.com/ constitutes parody — it clearly is. Linden Lab is well known among its customers and in the general business community as a company with enlightened and well-informed views regarding intellectual property rights, including the fair use doctrine, open source licensing, and other principles that support creativity and self-expression. We know parody when we see it. […]
January 22nd, 2007 at 10:04 am
I just tried Second Life for the first time this week and my impression of it is that it is a grandiose and 3D version of the Million dollar homepage - http://www.milliondollarhomepage.com/, and a one-hit wonder.
I did not “get it” the first time in the Second Life world, partly because I expected it to be like a game. However, my experience (5 hours) with Second Life is that it’s a virtual compendium of real life consumerism.
January 22nd, 2007 at 10:14 am
[…] Als opvolger op Second Life is er nu ook First Life. Was het in Second Life nog nodig je te registeren, bij First Life hoeft dit niet. Daarnaast kunnen nu ook kinderen jonger dan 18 meedoen, met Teen First Life. First Life is een analoge 3D-wereld waarin servers lags niet bestaan. En met ruim 6,5 miljard spelers is First Life nog een van de grootste communities ook. Linden Lab - maker van Second Life - heeft al aangegeven niet blij te zijn met First Life […]
January 22nd, 2007 at 10:17 am
Freakin’ hilarious! And here I was, on my way to a THIRD Life. Goodness gracious.
I like the “Proceed and Permitted” letter too; of course, I’m positively biased because I work for Linden Lab.
Bless you… MAD Magazine and The Simpsons — or even a Futurama comeback — can’t be far away! :D
January 22nd, 2007 at 11:06 am
“However, my experience (5 hours) with Second Life is that it’s a virtual compendium of real life consumerism.”
If that’s the inclination in a metaverse then… maybe it’s in our nature to be such.
Have tried looking for groups within SL who may share the same concern?
Personally speaking, I love the decadence, consumerism and general lack of discipline.
January 22nd, 2007 at 11:19 am
Very nice. Love the parody, and I think Linden Lab’s note is great. Good on them for not getting all pissy and putting their metaphorical foot in their mouth. BUT…
Reread the note from Linden. On the one hand, they say your site is clearly parody… but then they purport to give you “permission” to knock off their trademarks on your Cafe Press stuff. Which means they think that if they wanted to, if they were pissy about it, they could STOP you from putting your parody logo on things and selling them.
Maybe not as “enlightened” as they want you to think….
January 22nd, 2007 at 11:53 am
Made me laugh my @ss off, well done Darren! Step away from the computer Second Lifers, and go out and enjoy nature and the company of interesting people…
January 22nd, 2007 at 1:57 pm
If you haven’t already been shown, the bottom paragraph that starts “Penguins…” has a repeated “the”.
Great bit of parody. Well done.
January 22nd, 2007 at 3:33 pm
[…] My Project Du Jour: GetaFirstLife.com | DarrenBarefoot.com Get a first Life: Linden Labs antwortet (tags: second_life fun) […]
January 22nd, 2007 at 4:49 pm
Such a sweet idea. I laughed, I cried, it was better than Cats.
January 22nd, 2007 at 4:50 pm
brilliant - wonder could I get a second life account and dress my avatar (or whatever) in a get a first life t-shirt?
how about a getafirstlife button link we could put on our websites like the creative commons logo below?
January 22nd, 2007 at 6:40 pm
[…] Darren’s First Life campaign is good… Second Life’s response to it is almost better. At the very least it quickly reveals who reads posts and who just skims… […]
January 22nd, 2007 at 6:44 pm
Heh, awesome dude. I quickly skimmed this site and didn’t realize I knew the man behind the humor.
PS I’m in an upcoming CBS Sunday Morning piece on SL and also, about to announce an indie music initiative I’m starting to build on Pontiac’s sim. More later. :-)
January 22nd, 2007 at 8:46 pm
It was worth getting out of bed this morning and turning on the computer just to see the word “perish” looking back at me.
Thanx
January 22nd, 2007 at 10:40 pm
Your “Get a First Life Parody has been Linked in the SL Resident answers Forum, and All the respondants (Including Myself) there are Loving it.
It’s brilliant.
If you can’t laugh at yourself, Everyone else is willing to do it For you. ;)
Angel.
January 23rd, 2007 at 1:29 am
[…] Blogger Darren Barefoot has published a clever Second Life parody at Get A First Life dot com. The community boast over 6.5 billion residents (not inflated), free membership, and is the first 3D analog world sans server lag. Linden Labs, creators of Second Life, even sent the site a ‘Proceed and Permitted’ letter (the opposite of a ‘Cease and Desist’). Nice to see the company appreciates a sense of humor. Now go outside and enjoy the beauty that is First Life. […]
January 23rd, 2007 at 2:52 am
[…] Den amerikanska teknikbloggen TechCrunch tipsar om dagens humorsida. Som ett alternativ till nätidentiteter, webb 2.0 och communities lanserar den kanadensiske bloggaren Darren Barefoot nu Get a First Life med sköna beskrivningar som: “Your world. Sorry about that.” “Are five senses enough?” “Find out where you actually live” “What’s this body thing, and what do I do with the dangly bits?” […]
January 23rd, 2007 at 4:10 am
[…] O criador do site é um blogueiro canadense que vive em Vancouver, que criou o site simplesmente para fazer uma paródia. A coisa foi tão longe que ele até recebeu um e-mail da Linden Labs, e o buzz correu solto graças a sites para compartilhar notícias, como o Digg.com. […]
January 23rd, 2007 at 4:28 am
[…] Linden Labs, however, proves once again that it is not your average company. In their response to the parody site, the company reminds us that they are ‘a company with enlightened and well-informed views regarding intellectual property rights, including the fair use doctrine, open source licensing, and other principles that support creativity and self-expression.’ concluding with, ‘your invitation to submit a cease-and-desist letter is hereby rejected.’ […]
January 23rd, 2007 at 5:12 am
[…] Linden Labs, however, proves once again that it is not your average company. In their response to the parody site, the company reminds us that they are “a company with enlightened and well-informed views regarding intellectual property rights, including the fair use doctrine, open source licensing, and other principles that support creativity and self-expression.” concluding with, “your invitation to submit a cease-and-desist letter is hereby rejected.” […]
January 23rd, 2007 at 5:33 am
[…] Linden Lab, however, proves once again that it is not your average company. In their response to the parody site, the company reminds us that they are “a company with enlightened and well-informed views regarding intellectual property rights, including the fair use doctrine, open source licensing, and other principles that support creativity and self-expression.” concluding with, “your invitation to submit a cease-and-desist letter is hereby rejected.” […]
January 23rd, 2007 at 6:14 am
good
January 23rd, 2007 at 10:16 am
[…] Blogger Darren Barefoot has published a clever Second Life parody at Get A First Life dot com. The community boast over 6.5 billion residents (not inflated), free membership, and is the first 3D analog world sans server lag. Linden Labs, creators of Second Life, even sent the site a “Proceed and Permitted” letter (the opposite of a “Cease and Desist”). Nice to see the company appreciates a sense of humor. Now go outside and enjoy the beauty that is First Life. […]
January 23rd, 2007 at 11:04 am
[…] It’s called First Life. Read the exclusive beta review by GameSpot. Update: Linden Labs (the company behind SecondLife) just responded to the parody. “Linden Lab is well-known for having strict hiring standards, including a requirement for having a sense of humor, from which our lawyers receive no exception. In conclusion, your invitation to submit a cease-and-desist letter is hereby rejected.” See full comment. It’s good to see that some companies have a sense of humour […]
January 23rd, 2007 at 2:17 pm
[…] Now, ordinarily this sort of thing would be met with cease & desist letters, etcetera. This time, it did not. […]
January 23rd, 2007 at 3:21 pm
[…] My Project Du Jour: GetaFirstLife.com | DarrenBarefoot.com “We do not believe that reasonable people would argue as to whether the website located at http://www.getafirstlife.com/ constitutes parody – it clearly is. Linden Lab is well known among its customers and in the general business community as a company (tags: satire fair-use ip-maximalism free-culture) […]
January 23rd, 2007 at 7:23 pm
“Notwithstanding the foregoing, it is possible that your use of the modified eye-in-hand logo for Second Life, even as parody, requires license from Linden Lab”
Is it just me, or is Linden holding out for a cut of your proceeds despite the professed “proceed and permitted” approach?
January 23rd, 2007 at 7:26 pm
Hey, Linden, get a “life” and take a fucking joke. Satire and parody happen to be protected forms of free speech in “this life, this country.”
January 23rd, 2007 at 8:27 pm
Michael: You might want to re-read their comment closely ;)
January 23rd, 2007 at 8:54 pm
Darren,
In answer to the question you’ve posed on your getafirstlife web-page, “are five senses enough,” I must submit this answer, “no, five senses are not enough.” IMHO, you’ve forgotten two senses: the electromagnetic, or “sixth” sense, as well as that most important of senses, the sense of humor. (Though the site, admittedly, shows yours to be well developed.)
HTH,
-beefhaze
January 23rd, 2007 at 9:19 pm
I haven’t seen this many riffed takes of “get a life” since the infamous William Shatner-Trekkies skit on SNL. Fantastic!
BTW, the front page should rotate on reloads, so we get pirates AND ninjae. Arrre.
January 23rd, 2007 at 9:30 pm
[…] My Project Du Jour: GetaFirstLife.com | DarrenBarefoot.com fantastic response from Linden re: the Second Life parody (tags: humor Linden legal ceaseandesist parody) […]
January 23rd, 2007 at 9:50 pm
Man, I so wish I worked for Linden Labs. Their answer is priceless!
January 23rd, 2007 at 11:48 pm
[…] 1. Je me suis fait "shifter" par Michael Lenczner sur la publication de ce site internet. En réalité, c’est un mockup, mais l’idée reste très intéressante. Une chose que Michael ne parle pas et que je crois important: Liden Labs à envoyé une "Proceed and Permit letter", genre de "Cease and desist", à Daren Barefoot qui la commente ici. Ca, c’est exactement ce que je m’attends de la part d’une vrai compagnie de la "nouvelle économie". Kudos guys… vraiment!. […]
January 23rd, 2007 at 11:52 pm
@Dan Someone:
> Which means they think that if they
> wanted to, if they were pissy about it,
> they could STOP you from putting your
> parody logo on things and selling them.
Check up on your trademark law: it doesn’t matter what Linden Labs thinks. To keep a trademark, you have to defend it. Imagine if Linden Labs did nothing. Then, imagine someone comes along and really does infringe on the trademark, they would be able to argue that the trademark was undefended, using this as evidence. That would mean that Linden Labs would have to fight to prove that this isn’t an infringement. That would be painful.
By explicitly granting permission to this potential-infringment, they can more easily fight other infringments in the future by people who might be less friendly than Darren.
January 24th, 2007 at 12:41 am
[…] Hie noch ein Paar Zitate aus der Erklärung von LindenLab: “Wir denken nicht, dass es sinnvoll ist darüber zu streiten, ob die Website unter http://www.getafirstlife.com/ eine Parodie ist. Sie ist es offensichtlich.” […]
January 24th, 2007 at 4:13 am
I love the parody, even as a total SL addict. First thing I did when I saw the website was to steal your logo, slap it on a t-shirt, and start handing it out to every resident in sight in the Welcome Area I usually hang out (with an instruction to pass it on as much as possible :)).
And kudos to LL for responding in the only appropriate manner. You can say what you want about Second Life, but not that the people behind it have their heart and their brains in the right spots.
January 24th, 2007 at 4:27 am
On parody, and how to respond about it…
A very short post, this.
The Parody
The Response
Now, if all law schools could please make this a case study in 101 trademark law…
(thanks to Giovanni for pointing out the “Permit and Proceed” letter to me. I was aware of the paro…
January 24th, 2007 at 5:44 am
I actualy DID build a derigible with my mind in my first year in SL :)
(ok, so i had some help from my mouse)
Great parody Darren. Loved it!
January 24th, 2007 at 5:46 am
I actualy DID build a derigible with my mind when i first joined SL :)
(ok, so i had some help from my mouse)
Great parody, Darren! Loved it :)
January 24th, 2007 at 9:25 am
I think folks should view SL as a prototype of the internet to come. Just imagine, one day a huge grid with no lag, shopping, conferences, photos and movies- everything integrated.
SL is much more fun and interactive than scrolling through websites on a search engine…
January 24th, 2007 at 9:57 am
I agree with you Samantha.
I believe our browsers will be replaced by 3D enabled web clients that will allow us to shop for books in a 3D Amazon store, and chat with fellow shoppers :)
January 24th, 2007 at 10:08 am
I absolutely love the parody, but I’d really prefer to have the “eye in hand” lifting the middle finger instead of the index, could you arrange that ? I’d buy a GetAFirstLife t-shirt with this modification in an instant.
January 24th, 2007 at 10:59 am
[…] Doing no evil… By Frank Paynter Ginsu Yoon pulls a fast one on Darren Barefoot…. Darren’s “Get a first life” site is brilliant. […]
January 24th, 2007 at 1:09 pm
[…] You will, I hope, have seen Darren’s Get a First Life site, a call for people everywhere to sign up and try some of this real life stuff; you have to scroll down to comment 16 to get the real social impact of this, with Linden Labs posting their take on it and giving a licence for the logo to be used in making of the First Life tshirts. […]
January 24th, 2007 at 1:37 pm
Good… it made me laugh. But did not make me cancel my SL accounts, sorry :)
January 24th, 2007 at 4:33 pm
Ha! I heard about Second Life, and then I heard about your spoof.
Now I got caught in the world of a text-based RPG and it was fun, but it was incredibly complex and took up way too much of my time. I still have print out of lengthy game guides. I just can’t bring myself to throw them out. At this rate, it will be my kin’s duty to toss them when I die.
When I saw Get a First Life, I laughed because, well, I get it.
I don’t think I’ll join Second Life. It’s interesting but I’m having too much time just playing Civilization IV and living my own somewhat interesting life.
I might get one of the Get a First Life t-shirts though. I like t-shirts and have way too many of them.
Thanks for the laugh.
January 24th, 2007 at 11:21 pm
I second the request for a T-shirt with “Work. Reproduce. Perish.” I also want the bumper sticker.
Should sell like crazy… It resonates with just about everyone here in the First Life world.
Sweet parody page, btw.
January 25th, 2007 at 12:34 am
[…] Linden Labs ok with GetAFirstLife.comGood sport!(tags: copyright parody SecondLife) […]
January 25th, 2007 at 2:49 am
A fabulous send-up! It made my day; I spent a few hours bumping around in Second Life, drinking water non-stop, and falling off the island. You don’t get that time back.
Thanks for the reminder that we need to turn off the computer from time to time and get out there!
January 25th, 2007 at 5:31 am
[…] by http://www.darrenbarefoot.com […]
January 25th, 2007 at 12:32 pm
That is very, very funny and spot-on - great parody, and I’m tickled that they posted a ‘proceed and permitted’ comment, in a somewhat unnecessary attempt to prove they have a sense of humour (I’m afraid many of us long-time SL residents think they could do with less of a sense of humour and more of a sense of good business practice).
I have to say SL really does rock - WHEN it’s working - and if it appeals from the outset, it doesn’t take too long to learn all the tricks, though admittedly more than a few hours are needed. What doesn’t work, unfortunately, is the attitude and professional ethic of the company itself. I could write you a whoooole long article on THAT score, if you wanted ;-) And believe me, I’m offering.
Still, as a 9-month old SL resident logging over 80 hours a week, I can’t deny that in many respects, SL beats FL into a cocked hat - certainly financially. Not that I have any major complaints about my real life! The big things it has going for it are touch, taste and smell, sunlight and weather and real living nature, and the ability to snuggle for real with my husband (not to mention the thing about the genitals). And of course it doesn’t lag or crash, plus if your possessions mysteriously disappear overnight, you can call the police for an investigation and may actually receive some recompense for the loss (assuming you have adequate insurance).
Real life also has well developed public and emergency services which you really come to appreciate when you notice the lack thereof in SL. Of course we’re paying for those services through our taxes, so we can’t really complain - SL could be better, but then it would also be more expensive.
Anyway, I’m rambling on, really just wanted to say well done from a SL addict and fanatic - I loved your post.
January 25th, 2007 at 3:43 pm
How To Do Good Public Relations…
This is a lesson for far too many companies out there, an object lesson in how to respond. A guy called Darren Barefoot made a parody of the online environment Second Life, called Get A First Life. It’s particularly amusing……
January 25th, 2007 at 5:03 pm
Very cute. Also very sad, since I have the feeling that you’re not going to listen to your own advice. You’ve made comment about your inability find purpose and direction in Second Life–and honestly, that rather makes me doubt your ability to find same in your *first* one.
Why do I say this? Because you, and virtually everyone else who keeps complaining that Second Life is a poor game, don’t merely ‘don’t get it’, you Don’t Get It. Saying SL is a poor game is like saying your telephone is a poor game, paper and pencil are a poor game, or IRC is a poor game (or, for that matter, that your ‘First Life’ is a poor game). Second Life is *not* a game, it’s a communication tool, which, among its other functions, can be used to play games, just like the aforementioned tools.
That being said…Second Life is quite admittedly not a very *good* tool for various reasons, including how storage space is used, and how communication between systems is handled. Then again, that’s to be expected–Second Life is *very* first-generation, on a par with Alexander Bell’s first experimental phone. Future versions of virtual environments will be better.
And for those who try to compare the graphics and construction quality to MMORPGs and MMOFPSes like WoW–keep in mind that all of those are using pre-created, pre-packaged models and enviroments, with variances limited to mixing pre-defined components from different models, and a limited menu of alternate texture-maps on those models. Communication of changes to those environments consists of a simple ‘Generate PlayerObj 256 using body model 27, head model 42, hair color FFFFFF, skin tone 0000FF, and texture set 69′. SL, by comparison allows changes down to the *model structure* level on the fly–and this is far, far harder to keep synchronized across multiple systems running at multiple speeds and bandwidths in any sort of real-time fashion.
To those who lament the appearance of pornography–or worse, the horror of *advertising* and product sales in Second Life…all I can do is marvel at just how *sheltered* you are, in both lives. I know I certainly can’t go much of anywhere or look at any material, printed, transmitted, or otherwise, without seeing a multitude of advertisements. Pornography is there as well, albeit not pushed in your face as much, and not as directly. Even a regular novel will usually have at least one advertisement for either books by the same publisher, or books by the same author.
To sum up, the message I’m trying to get across is simple–before you go pointing fingers at someone else’s first and ’second’ lives, you might want to take a good, hard look at your own first..
January 25th, 2007 at 5:10 pm
Chris: Thanks for that. As you’re being prescriptive, what criteria should we use to evaluate my first life?
January 25th, 2007 at 5:38 pm
*laugh* You’re on your own, there–I have my hands full dealing with my own, such as it is. Part of the reason I have an alternate one, really–then again, I’m also quite aware of what I’m doing and *why*, which some people I encounter online seem to have lost.
January 25th, 2007 at 6:04 pm
[…] Instead of a cease-and-desist letter, Linden Labs sent a proceed-and-permit letter. […]
January 25th, 2007 at 7:43 pm
Getting a First Life…
Another piece of web humor caught my eye this week. Get a First Life is a spot-on parody of the unstoppable buzz machine known as Second Life. It simultaneously tweaks Second Lifers who don’t spend enough energy on their regular…
January 25th, 2007 at 8:26 pm
Cool post and slants on what is life - first/second/? - versus what works in PR. Thanks for starting the conversation, Darren and congrats on all the well-deserved attention.
January 26th, 2007 at 12:56 am
[…] In what has to encourage the right-shoulder side of the “Linden: good or evil?” debate, Linden executive Ginsu Yoon (his title is now “Vice President, International” but he’s also serving as General Counsel while they search for a full time GC) posted a comment for the guy who did “Get a First Life.” We do not believe that reasonable people would argue as to whether the website located at http://www.getafirstlife.com/ constitutes parody – it clearly is. Linden Lab is well known among its customers and in the general business community as a company with enlightened and well-informed views regarding intellectual property rights, including the fair use doctrine, open source licensing, and other principles that support creativity and self-expression. We know parody when we see it. […]
January 26th, 2007 at 3:02 am
Parodie auf Second Life wird nicht verklagt…
…
January 26th, 2007 at 5:57 am
Hey, the ALT of the image of your project site says “Join Second Life for FREE”. It was a mistake, right?
January 26th, 2007 at 8:53 am
[…] Der Hersteller von Second Life, Linden Lab, hat jetzt auf die Parodie reagiert. Unten auf der satirischen Webseite findet sich die Aufforderung, Kommentare oder Abmahnungen zu hinterlassen („comments or cease or desist letters“). Am 21. Januar hat Linden Labs eine Antwort gepostet. […]
January 26th, 2007 at 9:05 am
Ana: It’s just an artifact from the actual site–I’ll change that to something else.
January 26th, 2007 at 12:54 pm
Life 2.0: Who could not have foreseen the branding fiasco to come? Congrats to you on being wicked, wicked, wicked — and winning.
January 26th, 2007 at 12:59 pm
[…] 3. The Right Way to Respond to Parody - Over at EFF’s Deep Links, a wonderful tale of Second Life humor shows a equally humorous response in terms of the use of copyrighted works in parody. Over at Get A Life First, Darren Barefoot has created a brilliant Second Life spoof urging users to go outside where fresh air and lack of server raid can result in a wonderful feeling of ‘first life’. Rather then sending Barefoot a ‘cease and desist letter’, Linden Labs, creators of Second Life, instead sent a ‘proceed and permit’ letter to the creator. How absolutely refreshing in the age of lawsuits involving 70-year old grandparents and musical theft. […]
January 27th, 2007 at 3:29 am
“Fornicate with your own genitals”!!!
FINALLY I’ve escaped web puberty!!!
THANK U DUDE!!!
January 28th, 2007 at 9:41 am
LMAO !!! This is the most amusing stuff I ever seen since The Daily WTF and Dilbert :-D !!! Thank you very much !
January 28th, 2007 at 7:05 pm
BEFORE SECOND LIFE, GET A FIRST ONE…
In response to the phenomenon that is Second Life, Darren Barefoot (an avatar-sounding name if there ever was one) implores you to Get A First Life, um, first. Something to do with pint-sized pirates, apparently.
This lighthearted parody comes with s…
January 30th, 2007 at 5:27 pm
Darren, this is brilliant. I linked to it a few days ago and had no idea you were behind it.
Standing ovation.
Couldn’t agree more.
January 30th, 2007 at 10:00 pm
[…] The attorney for Linden Lab, Ginsu Yoon, writes, inter alia (lawyer speak for “among other things”): We do not believe that reasonable people would argue as to whether the website located at http://www.getafirstlife.com/ constitutes parody – it clearly is. Linden Lab is well known among its customers and in the general business community as a company with enlightened and well-informed views regarding intellectual property rights, including the fair use doctrine, open source licensing, and other principles that support creativity and self-expression. We know parody when we see it. […]
January 30th, 2007 at 11:10 pm
This is really cool. But…
“Linden Lab hereby grants you a nonexclusive, nontransferable, nonsublicenseable, revocable, limited license to use the modified eye-in-hand logo (as displayed on http://www.getafirstlife.com/ as of January 21, 2007) to identify only your goods and/or services that are sold at http://www.cafepress.com/getafirstlife/. This license may be modified, addended, or revoked at any time by Linden Lab in its sole discretion.”
You have been granted a revocable, nontransferable license. So, please, don’t piss them off. This proceed and continue letter is “revocable.” Lawyers just can’t resist being lawyers. I am not a lawyer so my read of REVOCABLE might not be a proper reading of REVOCABLE. Thanks for playing…
January 30th, 2007 at 11:36 pm
[…] There have been way too many stories over the years of humorless lawyers sending cease-and-desist letters to websites that create parodies involving their brands. Parody, of course, is protected by fair use. That’s why it’s at least a little refreshing to find out that there’s at least one company out there that recognizes that you should respond to parody with parody. The EFF points to the way that Linden Lab, makers of Second Life, responded to a parody site called Get A First Life, by sending a “proceed-and-permit” letter (as described by the guy who created the parody site, Darren Barefoot). The text of the letter is classic, as they mockingly (in the language of a typical cease-and-desist) take offense at the idea that Barefoot would even bother to think that Second Life would dare to send him a cease-and-desist. “Moreover, Linden Lab objects to any implication that it would employ lawyers incapable of distinguishing such obvious parody. Indeed, any competent attorney is well aware that the outcome of sending a cease-and-desist letter regarding a parody is only to draw more attention to such parody, and to invite public scorn and ridicule of the humor-impaired legal counsel. Linden Lab is well-known for having strict hiring standards, including a requirement for having a sense of humor, from which our lawyers receive no exception.” […]
January 30th, 2007 at 11:57 pm
[…] Lahe näide positiivse poole pealt on aga Linden Labs’i kiri ([L] siin koos aruteluga) viimase aja haipmängu Second Life ja selle paroodiasaidi [L] http://www.getafirstlife.com asjus. Juristid nimelt keelduvad ühele kaebusele reageerimast ja cease-and-desist -kirja saatmast põhjendusel, et nende firma rangete personalivalikukriteeriumide hulka kuulub ka huumorimeele olemasolu. Seetõttu saadetakse hoopis permit-and-proceed letter. […]
January 31st, 2007 at 12:32 am
[…] My Project Du Jour: GetaFirstLife.com | DarrenBarefoot.com I had no idea Darren Barefoot was behind this. It is brilliant parody, and I couldn’t agree more with his observations. (tags: secondlife parody satire darrenbarefoot) […]
January 31st, 2007 at 2:15 am
Since I’m making good money in second life from people paying more on clothing textures than on actual real life clothing, I’m saying; Second life is soooooo much fun, you should really try spending some money in it ;)
As somebody who spends a lot of time in SL, I’m not one of those people that forms an opinion based on 10 hours of play tops. And STILL I agree with this post.
I DO think that real-life companies can have a succesful presence in SL, as long as they actually provide services people want. I.e. a RL database provider providing in-game access to online databases, a RL consulting firm offering SL scripters-for-hire. Offer services, similar to those you provide in real life, that actually have in-game benefits.
Reuters bringing in-game news? I can get the same news a lot quicker from a website.
Weather reports/predictions in-game? SL doesn’t really have a weather system apart from random wind.
Car manufacturers selling in-game cars? To drive where? Teleporting is much faster.
Some software company providing middleware to do better communication between in-game objects? Now THAT would be useful!
January 31st, 2007 at 2:38 am
Darren, you’ve been invited (sort-of) to open your “First life” T-shirts store on Second Life, where it’s pretty obvious they will sell quite well.
If I were someone with the L33T Skillz to make decent looking SL t-shirts, I’d offer to help. But I’m not, so I suggest you go find someone who has them, and put your virtual wares up for sale in SL. It’s likely a better market than even the internet.
January 31st, 2007 at 2:39 am
P.S. Surprise — you’ve been Slashdotted. Good luck to your servers.
http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/31/0216258
January 31st, 2007 at 2:57 am
Now if only these companies that setup shop in SL would follow Lindens Law policies ^^
January 31st, 2007 at 4:14 am
[…] Linden Labs, the people behind Second Life, recently sent a letter specifically permitting parody of the burgeoning online service. [link] The parody, called “Get a First Life”, exhorts users to “Go Outside. Membership is Free!” amongst other hilarious send-ups of the service. This has resulted in positive coverage throughout the blogosphere, even recently rising to coverage on Slashdot and Digg. […]
January 31st, 2007 at 7:46 am
Thank you Darren - best laugh of the morning. Thank you SecondLife.com for one of the best responses to a parody that I have seen in a long time;-)
January 31st, 2007 at 7:50 am
Anyone who thinks first life is lag free hasn’t ever (1) driven on a Los Angeles freeway, (2) had a layover in Denver in the middle of winter, (3) been pregnant.
Nevertheless, this is all pretty funny.
January 31st, 2007 at 8:59 am
Please consider adding a mug to the cafepress store.
How about:
On one side, the hand logo with “Get a First Life” underneath.
On the other side “Work. Reproduce. Perish” in big letters…. with “www.getafirstlife.com” written in small letters underneath.
Personally, I’d prefer a black one :-) …
January 31st, 2007 at 9:16 am
Very entertaining…very funny! After my RL day my second life used to be chatting with a few of my far away friends on Yahoo IM. We could spend a couple of hours talking about RL goods and bads and just enjoy each other’s company. In RL we are too far apart to meet and visit. After we found SL we are not only enjoying our conversations but also running in all directions, climbing mountains, dancing…playing and laughing and meeting others doing the same thing…Way more fun than Yahoo IM …But I have to say your one page parody is just as fun…Woo Hoo lets all keep communicating…Ahhh even here on this blog I see a number of people just hanging out saying what they think sitting at their computers typing and staring at a monitor…(ahh don’t for get to get up and kiss the kids once in a while..OK)…I love it we are all using a computer to communicate and this life in the REAL WORLD will only be more interesting and become virtually smaller because of Computers!!!! TYPE ON, I say…TYPE ON!!!!
January 31st, 2007 at 11:51 am
“Get a first life” What a ironic statement from people who don’t have their OWN lives, but instead spend their time flaming other people over their lives!
Somebody needs to make this site for all of you… http://www.getyourOWNlife.com
January 31st, 2007 at 2:25 pm
[…] Instead of a cease-and-desist letter, Linden Labs sent a proceed-and-permit letter: http://www.darrenbarefoot.com/archives/2007/01/my-project-du-jour-getafirstlifecom.html#comment-75509 […]
January 31st, 2007 at 9:25 pm
I want in on First Life!
I have an avatar I’ve been working on for 30 years….
February 1st, 2007 at 9:59 am
[…] But a software promoter named Darren Barefoot recently got a little press of his own by putting up a First Life parody site at GetAFirstLife.com. It’s nicely done, copying the look and feel of the second life site. It even parodies the little eyeball and hand logo of second life. In small print at the bottom of the page Darren invited comments or cease and desist letters over at his blog. Well that’s not exactly what he got. You can read the whole thing on darrenbarefoot.com, but below I’ve stolen, er, I mean presented as fair use, the official comment from Second Life’s lawyer “Ginsu Yoon”– # Ginsu Yoon Says: January 21st, 2007 at 2:57 pm […]
February 1st, 2007 at 12:18 pm
[…] What’s especially notable, other than the dead-on humor, is that Linden Labs, creators of Second Life, responded with a direct anti-”seize-and-desist” letter. It’s nice to see a company that allows, even encourages, parody and derivative creativity — though given Second Life’s ethos, I’d have been surprised by any other response. Share This:These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. […]
February 1st, 2007 at 10:47 pm
[…] But I guess the hilarity of Get a First Life and even further hilarity of Linden Lab’s resulting refusal to serve its creator with a cease-and-desist letter has really stayed with me. What else—save an unhealthy sci-fi obsession in my tween years and having watched a certain X-Files episode a few too many times—could possibly have led to my dystopian Sunday night dream in which people had uploaded their consciousness into Second Life? […]
February 1st, 2007 at 11:46 pm
Totally fun site and unfortunatley very true… I should turn off my laptop right now and go the park, nah there should be spiders there (I live in Australia), maybe my laptop-based world is more secure.
February 5th, 2007 at 3:42 am
[…] and Secondlife parodies February 5, 2007 Posted by Aditya in Interesting sites. trackback I was going through my Google Reader subscriptions when I came across this post on the Americanlegal system, and through it the site Overlawyered. The site makes for quite a lot of interesting reading. It also had a reference to Secondlife, rather a reference to the Secondlife parodying site “Get A First Life“, which seems to have got into trouble with Linden labs. […]
February 5th, 2007 at 7:43 pm
[…] And Dan throws this in for humor, after the fact. […]
February 5th, 2007 at 11:40 pm
[…] Why Do You Blog? My first attempt at running a contest is coming along nicely with 9 submissions so far. One of the topics I asked people to write about is “why did you start your blog?” As fate would have it, I ran across another blogging contest that asks bloggers to fill out a 10 minute survey at whydoyoublog.com for a chance to win a prize. It’s run by Darren Barefoot and it is on the up-and-up. He’s the same guy who did the humorous “Get a First Life” Second Life send up that was making the rounds this week. […]
February 6th, 2007 at 5:25 am
hmmmm… nice
February 6th, 2007 at 7:30 am
[…] A nice little article over at FoxNews on the official response from the Linden Labs lawyer to the blogger Darren Barefoot. Darren put up the Second Life parody website Get a First Life and received an official Un-Cease and desist reply from Linden. Good to see Linden labs leading the way in legal policy regarding humour […]
February 6th, 2007 at 2:52 pm
[…] PS Знизу сторінки є лінк спеціально для представників Linden Lab — адреса для листів з вимогою припинити це неподобство (cease-and-desist). Офіційна відповідь Лінденів — “афтар жжот, пеши єсчо“! […]
February 9th, 2007 at 3:50 am
nice work
09.02.07 20:56:21
February 15th, 2007 at 8:23 pm
Thank you for a great laugh!
I remember when we actually had to
**!! Pretend **!! that our stuffed animals could talk (not to mention actually raise hell if we tried to turn them off or leave our blokes house where they had “conected” with another stuffed animal!
Keep those creative juices flowing!
February 21st, 2007 at 2:54 am
I like to have a look at your site from time to time! See you soon ,Jason
haggerty-collector-auto-insurance
February 24th, 2007 at 3:00 pm
[…] Autour du net Flea market Montgomery: Just like a mini-mall Vidmeter: tracking popular (but not always good) online videos Australia Day 2007 Roll your own 3D photography on the cheap Create printable business cards at Businesscardland Make quick music playlists with YouTube Turn an old floppy into the starship Enterprise Zelda ‘Take This’ Personalizer Donkey Kong Movie on the Way My Project Du Jour: GetaFirstLife.com This just takes the cake! Every ad in Times Square On Space Art in Sebastopol… Ninja kitten band win Coke battle First iPhone Commercial Spoof, Courtesy Conan O’Brien Reality Bedding Viral Video The Hottest Booth At CES 2007 Was… iBoy: iPod + GameBoy Windows Vista Ultimate Signature Edition THE ORIGINAL NINTENDO MIDI MUSIC PAGE Welcome to MIDIsite - MIDI Search. Kool Cigarette commercial Leaked: Screenshots of OS X Leopard Terminal, Parental Controls, More […]
February 27th, 2007 at 3:11 am
Hi
Im Mary
As luck would have it, Mort, Mort’s Mom and myself all use Tomsastrblog for our blogs. This was handy because it meant I could use the exact same code for all of them - the only downside is that they perhaps aren’t as representative of all blogs everywhere as they could be, though the techniques I used would work for any blogging system, and I imagine the results would be much the same. But I suppose you’re all screaming to hear just what these cunning things I did are. You are, right? Yes, I thought you were.
Thank s
February 28th, 2007 at 6:05 pm
[…] A página foi criada por Darren Barefoot. […]
March 1st, 2007 at 1:45 pm
Get a first Life!…
I think I want a Get a First Life t-shirt in-world! I had to laugh at this: getafirstlife.com. But don’t hate the guy for poking fun at all the hype. He get’s what it’s all about and I think he’s on target with some of his blog…
March 1st, 2007 at 10:24 pm
Kudos to Linden Labs on "Get a First Life!"…
I don’t know about you but I love parodies. (I am actually going to see Epic Movie.) A few days ago, the blogosphere was buzzin’ ’bout Get a First Life; a parody of the very popular Second Life. (FYI, I first noticed it here.) It…
March 1st, 2007 at 11:45 pm
I needed to see that. Thank you. I’ve been wrapped up in this hoo-ha at work and I’m getting sick of all of the promises that are being made on behalf of this thing. Frankly, it is fun to walk around or fly a bit now and then, but it gets stiffling quickly. You should market those First Life T-shirts. I’ll buy a couple.
March 3rd, 2007 at 7:49 am
Yes!!!! What a wild idea!!!! play outside instead of inside. I love computers and they are important, but, unless you are locked up underground 24 hours a day, the First Life is the way to go.
I’m going outside now to walk my real dog.
March 5th, 2007 at 12:41 pm
[…] Barefoot got something different. In the comment space of his blogpost describing the parody, he got what he calls a “proceed and permitted” letter from Ginsu Yoon, VP and general counsel for Linden Lab, creator of Second Life. In the letter, Yoon acknowledges that Second Life is the owner of the copyrighted material and trademarks that are parodied on Barefoot’s site, that parody is permitted by copyright and trademark law, and that Linden Labs will not sue: We do not believe that reasonable people would argue as to whether the website located at http://www.getafirstlife.com/ constitutes parody – it clearly is. Linden Lab is well known among its customers and in the general business community as a company with enlightened and well-informed views regarding intellectual property rights, including the fair use doctrine, open source licensing, and other principles that support creativity and self-expression. We know parody when we see it. […]
March 6th, 2007 at 1:43 am
Very cool! Only that other languages and more navigation point should be added.
March 14th, 2007 at 4:42 pm
The homogeneity of the Google ads on your page puzzled me:
Second Life Linden
Secondlife Dollars
Secondlife Board
Secondlife Bot
Secondlife Buy
So I set my browser on disable images and show alt descriptions, and the resulting view was interesting:
Top left: What is Second Life?
Second row: Join Second Life for FREE! (twice)
Left column:
Second Life is a 3D digital world imagined, created, and owned by its residents.
Buy and Sell Linden Dollars
Own Virtual Land
Refer Your Friends
View interactive map
Teen Second Life
Your page is great, but I don’t think I’ll post about it in our work group’s blog. At least not in the “Second Life” category. Maybe I’ll make an “Adsense bombing” one for it, though.
March 16th, 2007 at 9:58 am
[…] In response, Linden Labs apparently sent the author—Darren Barefoot—a un-cease-and-desist letter, writing: “Linden Lab objects to any implication that it would employ lawyers incapable of distinguishing such obvious parody.” Barefoot also offers interesting thoughts on SL hype, worth reading after the FL laughter subsides. WP plug-in directory […]
March 21st, 2007 at 9:57 am
Very good post thank you.
March 21st, 2007 at 9:58 am
If I were someone with the L33T Skillz to make decent looking SL t-shirts, I’d offer to help. But I’m not, so I suggest you go find someone who has them, and put your virtual wares up for sale in SL. It’s likely a better market than even the internet.
March 30th, 2007 at 2:18 pm
I am reminded of a brilliant SCTV piece from the 1980s featuring Rick Moranis that parodied the emerging obsession with new video and sound technologies such as wide screen tvs, etc. (what then counted as the virtual world). Moranis’ character is overwhelmed when he encounters the real world, amazed by the picture clarity, sound quality, and 360 screen. A trip in his car through an automated car wash was touted as the ultimate audio-video experience.
March 30th, 2007 at 2:27 pm
Postscript: A little searching yields that the SCTV character Moranis played was Gerry Todd, and the car wash scene was episode 95, Feb 12, 1982 (”PSA: Video — Don’t Abuse It; sponsored by concerned parents of Melonville”.)
April 9th, 2007 at 3:54 pm
I share3 your views, since I had them also. I joined to see what was all the fuzz about SL, and downloaded the program. So far I’ve been about 5 or 6 times logged in, but so far I haven’t passed the help island. Even I returned to the introduction island and stuck there. I also found a way to acquire the different forms and avatars you have to choose when signing up the first time,and got the male forms to play around, but all in all, It haven’t sticked to me. I’ll just let it pass while there is something more interesting down there than in real life.
April 12th, 2007 at 3:06 am
i love SL! You can get out of the help island by using your search button to teleport to any destination. And SL has everything, snowboard, skydiving, windsurfing…kinda like google!
what it is and what it has to offer is entirely up to you…
i used to think only losers would play SL (as i play it when i’m bored or broke), but i met all sorts of fun characters in SL. from plain psychotic people, to really intelligent interesting folks.
i don’t think it is a senseless game. coz you do learn new things (previews, confidence in interacting, etc.)
SL is an excellent interactive medium. if you’re not having fun, then either you’re still clueless or i hate to say it- plain boring. you have to have wit. and you need to be friendly.
with SL, only your imagination lim