Second Chance for Second Life?

So there are no more gambling in Second Life.

Somebody tell me what is there left to do in Second Life? Walk around killing creeps? Oh no, there are no creeps in SL. Walk around pk(player killing)-ing? Oh no, you can only say hi to other players, no killing him/her.

Have fun saying hi to each other and probably decorating your virtual house and avatar.

I do not mean to insult the game whatsoever, but I am sure the guys at Linden Labs took the hardest blow in that decision. The USA has outlawed online gambling for close to a year now but the gambling activities were still going on very actively in Second Life. In fact, I raised the same question to Cory Ondrejka, CTO of Linden Labs, when he was in Singapore during Nexus 2007 but he didn’t provide any direct answer to it but giving the hint that the feds were still letting them loose but if they wanted them to change anything, Linden Labs would gladly do so.

And so 3 days ago, they did. And now there’s a huge void in Second Life. All the slot machines, poker tables, etc have been removed from Second Life, which were previously commonly seen on the majority of the virtual real estate. Suddenly it feels empty when I was in yesterday.

I guess the guys at Linden Labs realized that too and now it’s even a bigger challenge to them to find the fun factor in the goal-less MMORPG, considering the fact that a huge majority of the transactions done in-world, which directly translates to revenue for Linden Labs, involve an element of chance (or gambling). They have lost a lot of money in that decision, now it would be a challenge for them not to lose the players.

I would definitely miss the good times laughing at the fishy poker players in Second Life and nothing more as I was only playing for really micro stakes in Second Life just to try out. Anyone wants to buy my Lindens?

Back from Shanghai

This blog hasn’t been updated for awhile. Not that I have lost my passion in blogging, but I would like to blame it partly on Twitter and partly on the fact that I am pretty sick of Wordpress. I have been wanting to redo my blog but haven’t found time.

I am just back from a 10-day business trip in Shanghai. Sek Ling was there with me as well. It was a good experience for me to have witnessed the difference of culture in China and Singapore. Will probably post up some photos soon.

During the time when I was in Shanghai, Straits Times’ Digital Life ran a short article on Ping.sg, with a picture of me and my lappy showing Ping.sg.

The digital copies are here: (thanks to Rinaz for the scan.)

(click on the images to enlarge)

It was fun to get another 15-mins of fame even though I don’t remember saying anything about blind-dating, issues of meritocracy or comparison between multi- and single-authored blogs during the interview with ST’s reporter via email.

I Am No Longer Alone

From tomorrow onwards, I am no longer alone in Singapore.

Finally, after 3 years being in long distance relationship with my girlfriend, she is relocating from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore. And it is happening tomorrow.

It means a lot to me and to the relationship.

Thanks for doing this, Sek Ling. I know it isn’t easy for you. I will take good care of you. Looking forward to starting a new life with you.

I Need A Break

My work productivity has been extremely low the last few days. I felt really bad about it but I just couldn’t get myself to working as efficiently as I used to be.

I guess it’s probably due to the fact that I haven’t had a proper break for a really long time. I haven’t left Singapore since Chinese New Year, not even to Kuala Lumpur to visit Sek Ling. It was mainly due to myself trying to complete the final year project then and later preparating for the final examinations. The last semester at NUS was a really stressful period for me. And then right when everything ended, I began a new life almost immediately without any break. I went on to work as a freelance web developer full time right after the last paper.

This is officially the longest time I have remained in Singapore ever since I first came here 7 years ago. Even my Malaysian pre-paid mobile number has just been canceled due to myself not topping up for too long.

And just at the time when I needed a break so badly, so that I could refresh myself and work more efficiently later on, I am refrained from leaving Singapore for about 3 months due to the processing of my permanent residency application.

Gotta catch some sleep now. Keeping my fingers crossed that I will feel better after the sleep and will be able to work more efficiently.

I’m definitely going for a getaway the first thing I am allowed to leave Singapore again.

TODAYonline Feeds Fixed

Sorry to those of you who have been struggling without the full TODAY feeds for about a month. I received quite a few emails asking me to fix it soon. I have finally fixed it.

Sorry for the delay, I thought I would have time to fix it right after my examinations but almost immediately after my last paper, I have been having really busy days for almost everyday.

Anyway, there they are again. Enjoy.

TODAYonline News Alert (Main)

TODAYonline News Alert (Supplementary)