I’ve been following Second Life from the beginning, and a few months ago I bought an island just to see how it feels to own absolutely nothing. The jury is still out, but like many people out there I wonder whether this will become the platform, or will the next thing from Google or Microsoft become the winner. Graphic quality is good but their scripting language is like drinking from a beat-up styrofoam cup. One could say the same thing about HTML early on.

What do you think? I’m still on the fence … or … er … on the island.

I wrote a tiny essay for this month’s Technology Review (TR). Five years earlier I wrote a longer essay in TR about the relationship between technology and art. The younger version of myself seemed to manage complexity quite differently than I do now. I was glad to stumble upon my old self as he lied quite comfortably with the chaos around himself. We should all take the time to see ourselves in the before.

Which one are you?