The SORBET Project drives residents of SecondLife and other virtual worlds to rethink social distancing and engagement during COVID-19.

COVID-19 has been a very sore spot for all, regardless of what many went through. Some lost their source of livelihood, many lost family members, homes, a sense of security, unity, and many other casualties of the pandemic. However, everyone lost their sense of freedom when the government, per the recommendations of the CDC and the World Health Organization (WHO), suggested that businesses, schools, and other public venues shut down to encourage social distancing--a set of non-pharmaceutical interventions to prevent the spread of a contagious disease with measurable physical space between individuals. As a result of the shutdown, people everywhere faced the challenge of dealing with being forced to stay home in place of being with family and friends at the mall or their favorite restaurant. 

Many people took up new hobbies and new ways to generate income during the earlier phases of the pandemic; others turned to their expansive collection of books or movies to cope. Others took to the metaverse to regain some semblance of social life and escape the pandemic and the doldrums. During this time, it was evident that SecondLife had regained traction with those familiar with the metaverse while newcomers were roused to start an account and see what the virtual world had to offer. Linden Labs, the creators behind SecondLife, saw the virtual world's economy take a sharp upturn during lockdown periods when no one had a way to engage other than through a vehicle like SecondLife, according to Yahoo! Finance. This positive change in SecondLife's economic data meant that more users logged in or joined the community at that time. 

Naturally, with COVID-19 as disruptive, many would want to either forget the event or talk more about its effects while interacting with many of SecondLife's users. To satisfy the latter, a few groups and places cropped up on the grid. However, one place that I found to be particularly interesting is the location of The SORBET Project. Veritas Raymaker is the leading mastermind behind the project but is the sole owner proprietor of its location in SecondLife. After making this remarkable discovery, I had to tap Veritas for an interview being that this particular location was a part of something that had a real purpose, in my opinion. 

I was curious as to where the idea for the SORBET Project sprouted from, so I asked Veritas for his response to this burning question, and here is what he said: 

"The SORBET Project came about as a virtual research project that a team of mathematicians wanted to start to teach children and adolescents and the general public about social behaviors that are appropriate for the pandemic. The point of this was to rewire the brains of people to believe that these practices were intrinsic to their existence and not feel as if they were another set of directives that they were required to follow," states Veritas. 

When asked why SecondLife was the medium of choice, the response was, "James Gee* had written about something he referred to as projective identity. So, as people familiar with operating as avatars, we understand that 'whatever happens to our avatar in-world, our minds generally take it as happening to our atomic selves,' this can be designed for and made use of in learning." 

He adds, "By using environments such as SL, learners can 'play' and modify their behaviors and subsequently discuss the implications of their personal decisions on the wider community, without negatively impacting the community. for example, they could see how decisions to wear masks/take a vaccination influence the degree of diffusion of the virtual virus among the community." 

Usually, such a project measures the effects of such research longitudinally. Veritas stated that "we have not undertaken any longitudinal studies primarily because our initial work was self-funded (our priority in 2020 was to respond rapidly to the teachers' expressed need to take learning to home-based settings). We were awarded formal funding in 2021 to take SORBET to the mobile platform; however, we will not be studying participants longitudinally because the funding is to develop the app and not to investigate this (pertinent) question [sic].

However, I asked whether there were measures of the project's success or failure, and Veritas provided pages of his research journal. The measurements you will see below are taken directly from the journal, which tended toward many pre-and post-questionnaires.

Leading image of descriptive statistics from the pilot that pertains to students’ responses to four statements on a five-point Likert Scale (where “1” is ‘strongly disagree and “6” is ‘strongly agree’). 

Statements used in the pre-and post-surveys on attitudes to citizenship education. 

As far as a support group for COVID or hangout spot, I felt that highlighting this cool project not only utilized SecondLife as a space to conduct a study but taught students and people about the importance of changing social happens during something as lethal, and life-altering as the COVID-19 Pandemic is far more advantageous and worth the coverage. 

*For reference, James Gee is a retired American researcher who has worked in psycholinguistics, discourse analysis, sociolinguistics, bilingual education, and literacy.

Veritas Raymaker Socials: 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennethytlim/

Twitter: @thinkermaker 

A personal site for SORBET Project: 

https://sites.google.com/site/disciplinaryintuitions/covid-19-safe-distancing-through-math

Link to In-world Location:

The SORBET Project

Link to the Journal Entry: 

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666557321000136

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AVIE POLL: A YEAR LATER, WE HAVE A VACCINE. HOW HAS COVID IMPACTED YOUR LIFE?- Lanai Jarrico Reporting…

With the vaccine phase of the pandemic slowly getting underway around the world, it has been a tough year since lockdowns and travel restrictions began. Many have gotten covid or know someone who has and many others have lost friends and loved one. This is a test to everyone's faith in regaining some normalcy in uncharted territory now that the vaccine is here. Second Life has become a safe haven for many around the world who are in desperate need for social interaction without worrying about social distancing and being exposed. Normally, I ask questions related to Second Life, but this is a topic that affects us all as human beings. We are all in this together and any advice or even venting concerns will help others cope better knowing they are not alone in this. I set out to ask residents from all over the grid how covid has impacted their lives and how they are coping with a new normal.

How has covid impacted your life? Now that we have a vaccine, what do you see in a year from now?

Logan: “Before I caught Covid I was very healthy and active. I hit the gym 5 to 6 days a week and I was working. I'm getting my personal trainer certificate. Ever since I have been sick I have now developed severe fatigue shortness of breath and it caused me to develop a 90% blockage of my heart. I had been in the hospital where they had put 2 stents in my heart and I haven't been to the gym since I've been sick.”

Aggie: “How has covid impacted your life?There was a significant impact - working from home. This, with the UK Lockdown meant that I have only been in my normal workplace for 7 days in the past year. There was a sense of loneliness and frustration. My normal work practice was to have several different tasks on the go, hopping in between them. What I did not know was how much I needed the occasional 'interruption' caused by someone coming for a chat, needing help, or overhearing something in the office to cause each 'hop'. I wound up with a sort of serialized 'writers block' which was pretty depressing. Working from home also meant that there was a tendency to carry on - get something finished - rather than putting it down. The

go-to-work and then leave-work cues were broken. I also discovered how much I hate Zoom! Now that we have a vaccine, what do you see in a year from now? I think next year we will be vaccinating again, counteracting the new variants that will be circulating. Work for a significant number of people will have changed in nature, as they will have found working from home suits them. Some firms may take a bolder step and restructure so that working from home is more the norm, saving them the costs of office space. Many small businesses will be unable to recover as shopping over the web rather than coming to stores will take a notch up. There will be inquiries and lessons-learnt on the various governmental and institutional responses to the crisis, but the output of these will be cherry-picked and rendered quite useless.”

Sam: “Wow what a year Covid is something one really has to be very careful about, you see this past year and even now it is hard for me for one thing I live with a roommate how has stage four cancer so ya it been unreal not being able to go out to any place, you see I has to be careful if I was to come in or near anyone who has it and I not know they did and I come home I can bring it in to them and that all it would take she be gone as her body would not be able to deal with it at all so yeah this past year has been a pain not being able to do anything or go any place, and well even now that they are vaccine's I for one am not 100% sure on how  good it is and don't feel like taking a chance just yet on it , I sure you can understand why I say that  but I am sure it will help out. I will be so happy the day we all can go back to doing the things we all loved to do before this happened. Now do not get me wrong about the vaccines I am sure they are safe and will do as they say they will and yes I know I should get it just waiting a little to see, but I get it in time soon. To all that are dealing with this hang in there we are way better then we were back in 1918.” 

Ami: “I became stuck in Asia longer than 1 year expected and unable to travel till now.  My business was affected and am changing careers and countries. As soon as I have the vaccine, I will travel to another continent and buy a home and start a new business.  Excited.”

Ryla: “My life was affected a lot not only because I don't see my family too often but because my body was affected from that moment I was infected... now  the virus is gone but I still have consequences like weakness,headache,flush nose and this is from November...I don't know if the vaccine will immunize people but is something like a moral peace if you don't have a bad reactions.I wish you all will stay safe and hopeful of one day we will escape this pandemic.”

Becka: “Covid has affected my life since I got infected with Covid in November 2020 by a careless boss who believed it was just the flu. She was allowing clients into the office and openly telling them they didn't have to wear a mask. She was putting us all at risk and tried to voice my opinion and was met with office gossip saying i needed to “shut the F up”. I ended up contracting it along with 5 other office members because of my boss’s ignorance. I resigned the day I got my results and was quarantined isolated for 2 weeks battling fevers and chill, lack of energy, weakness, loss of taste and smell and mental drain. I went through insomnia for about a month after I got sick and still suffer from fatigue and anxiety months later. I barely leave my house and find myself almost having a panic attack if I do go to the store or even the post office. I still haven't gotten the vaccine but I check the website everyday to see if there is a slot available in my area. I’m hopeful once everyone has the vaccine, the fear of catching a severe case will be minimized. It’s hard to tell where we will be in a year from now if people don’t take it seriously or they get lazy about wearing masks properly and respect social distancing. Without everyone’s diligence and respect for Covid and safety, will we not see a light at the end of this pandemic for a long time”

Staci: “My friend Courtney, who posed as Ivanka in the Golfing With Trump article we did during the election, runs her father's lobster mart in real life. She works every day, 10-12 hour days. She has a girl who comes in for afternoons, but she has school during the day. The rest of her family is at sea from 4 AM til dusk. Courtney got the Rona in February, and it was illegal for her to remain open. Even if she could, she had no staff. She was telling me this one day, wondering "Where can I get someone with experience to run the store until I am better?" The answer was at the other end of the message. I worked at the Green Harbor Lobster Pound for a few summers as a kid. OK, "as a kid" means "about 30 years ago," but Courtney was in a jam and I don't live that far from her RL, so I offered my services. Shoot, I had even been vaccinated. Courtney, who had no options, accepted my offer immediately. Two days later, I was reporting for work at the lobster mart. Courtney's dad, who's name I never learned and who I referred to as "Captain" when I needed him, doesn't like yuppies, but he did appreciate that I showed up at 4 AM. He thought it was cute that I refused to step foot on the boats, a trait I shared with his wife, who he outlived. Once he approved of me, I was allowed to open his store. Selling seafood hasn't changed that much since the 1990s, and the Captain was pleased that I knew how to measure/package scallops, that I wasn't afraid of reaching in the tank and grabbing a lobster and so forth. The customers began to come in, and they are a funny lot. Courtney lives in the town that The Perfect Storm was based in, and the guy who directed it really did nail the locals. Courtney is well-loved in her community, and not a day passed where some elderly lady didn't show up with a crock pot full of kale soup with linguica, saying "Bring this up to Courtney, she's been looking thin lately, this will help her along." The locals were able to help me do my new job, seeing me hesitate in my work and saying "They keep the bags under the counter over there, dear" and so forth. I did a half dozen 12 hour days, teaming with the high school girl at night and closing at 7 PM. I refused monetary payment, instead taking a dozen lobsters home. I had a great time, and was pleased to help my friend. Coronavirus stories shouldn't contain "I had a great time," but here we are.”

Mist: I've worked full time from home for several years now. Frankly, the  biggest impact has been that I cannot go to interest-related "meets" or  to the movies, which I dearly love and miss. I do not venture from the  house often. I firmly believe that we've handled COVID-19 so badly that it will  become endemic, like the flu, and we will have to have annual  immunizations. I would love to be able to travel again, but suspect that  I will remain uncomfortable about it for the foreseeable future.”

Karen: “It is my right to not wear a mask because I am entitled to think it's just a flu. I’m calling the cops!”

There is no doubt that Covid has impacted everyone around the world in different ways. From those who have first hand experience contracting covid or suffered a loss due to it to those taking precautions hoping not to catch it while combating others who have absolutely no regard for others and their well being.   

Many feel isolated or have limited interactions with their family and friends. We all as a global community  and have been deprived of the daily life we once had. None of us are alone in the concerns and fears collectively shared as Covid continues to spread and change. While vaccinations are being carried out around the world there are still concerns about long term effects, how it will react to new variants and ultimately what will it take to regain some normalcy. Only time will tell if each and every one of us take it seriously enough to be part of the solution and not the problem.

Be safe and well.

HOW HAS COVID IMPACTED YOUR LIFE? Please share your comments below and be part of the Avie Poll.

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What Could Go Wrong? Let's Visit The Bermuda Triangle - Stacey Cardalines Reporting

 2020 was perhaps a cursed year... so why not start 2021 in the Bermuda Triangle? Where danger rears her ugly head, Stacey Cardalines is sure to tread. My sources informed me of a paranormal hotspot on SL, and I was chartering a boat five minutes later.

The Bermuda Triangle is a section of the Atlantic Ocean where a bunch of ships and planes have disappeared under mysterious circumstances. The points of the triangle are roughly Miami, Bermuda and Puerto Rico. I don't know why Bermuda got the naming rights. I think there may already be a Miami Triangle involving cocaine, I'll have to nose around later.

Famous incidents involve the Carroll A. Deering grounding/abandonment, the Pride Of Baltimore sinking, the USS Cyclops vanishing (the largest non-combat loss of life in US Navy history), the Flight 19 lost squadron and the missing Great Issac Lighthouse lightkeepers disappearance.

Noting that almost every possible angle to the Triangle story has been debunked (there really isn't a larger number of vanishings there, and driving ships through places that have hurricanes before people invented weather satellites was a bad idea) only screws up an easy paycheck for ol' Miss Cardalines, so we won't pay any mind to those book-learning type of people. I've got Fear to monger and dresses to buy.

There are few benefits to "dying of COVID," but one of them is "You won't be sucked into a paranormal interdimensional watery grave." Unless you get the COVID at the Bermuda Triangle, of course. I'm not even sure if Bermuda is letting in Americans, but we also snuck in, by boat. We sailed in unannounced, during a tropical storm, and I do my dirt by my lonesome... with my photographer. "Two if by sea," as Americans say.

But that is neither here nor there. 

Of course, it was stormy when we arrived off of Bermuda. I want to say right here that SL needs more hurricane sims. Hunting for stormy sims is how I found the Bermuda Triangle, but- again- that gets in the way of a good Myth. This guy nailed the stormy aspect. Rough seas, pouring rain, vivid lightning, heavy winds, mist, lighthouses... I grew up in New England, I know nautical, and so does this guy. SL has a tendency- mostly justified- towards sunny days, but it is not a true reflection of how most of our weather comes and goes in the real world.

Paranormal stuff beyond vampires and zombies is also under-represented on SL. Spooky is Better. We could use a Salem, a Castle Rock, a Loch Ness, a Haddonfield, an Amityville... folks, you know I'm out there looking for it. It's nice to see someone illuminate an aspect of it. He really did a nice job, and I'll eventually chat him up and see if he has other sims working along with these themes.

You only have a small area of land with which to move at this sim. You land on a small island, home to a cool lighthouse. You can go up to the top and use a telescope, although I think it is just a pose and you have to zoom the camera around yourself. Nice effect, though. It looks like I was shooting down the plane in the picture, but I was just, like, looking at it. Honest!

What you see from this perch is first-rate SL Destruction. There is a ship sinking, a rescue helicopter trying to fish survivors out of the water, a second rescue helicopter that crashed onto some rocks and exploded, a sunken submarine, a pilotless ship circling aimlessly and another boat that crashed onto some rocks. That boat, which looks suspiciously like the Orca, may have been the one which left the abandoned shark cage floating in the water... because if you visit an island nation in a pandemic and then go to the place known for sinking boats, why not throw your ass more completely on the line by cage-diving with sharks during a hurricane? 

The amount of floating human corpses being fed upon by fishes leads me to strongly not recommend any locally caught seafood. God made bacon for a reason, kids.

(Our editors are left to wonder if Stacey became aware of the sunken submarine because she donned scuba gear and dove into the water with the sharks, or if she accidentally stepped off of the island and sank like a pretty little journalistic stone. She is demanding immediate payment for this article, so we assume that she got out of the depths somehow and that her dry cleaning bills are immense.)

Bermuda Triangle = http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Dolcenotte/5/177/689

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A COVID ANNIVERSARY, BUT WITH NO CAUSE TO CELEBRATE – JOSH (THOMAS1 BELLIC) REPORTING

Almost a year ago, we asked Select SL Residents to share their thoughts about the newest worldwide pandemic – COVID 19. This “pandemic thing” had been around for over a month already…and it was proving to be quite an inconvenience.   Many believed however, that in a matter of weeks – certainly by the summer of 2020 – it would be contained and we could go about our lives. 
(see http://www.slenquirer.com/2020/04/covid-19-real-world-virus-impacts.html)

And here we are…almost a year later…still battling the virus, with a vaccine that as been slow to deploy, to a world where many people have been slow to accept it.
The original story queried eleven people from around the world, asking them to share some thoughts on COVID and the impact it was having on their lives.   As we approach the first anniversary, we decided to contact as many of those original respondents as possible and see if their impressions had changed due to life live in a COVID-infected world.  Where we could not locate the original respondents, we found others who graciously agreed to answer our questions. 

This year’s answers come from:
Robb Larkham– Arizona, USA
Amanda Emerson– Norway
Reagan DiStefano– Texas, USA
Rose Krimau– Catalan, Spain
Gemma (gemmarossa) - Italy
Sexy Olga – North Cyprus
Melissa (Melissa212212) - Chile
Lisisme Dubrovna – Canada

 
Josh Bellic (JB):  How have you been affected by the COVID-19 Virus?
 
Reagan:  I work for a Geriatrics Doctor.  By now, the majority of the staff have had COVID, or have had the vaccine. Luckily, none of us were hospitalized. 
 
Robb:  As an older educator COVID-19 has had a very direct impact on my life because of transforming the nature of teaching, now totally online through the Zoom platform and changing the dynamics of the relationships with students. It has also required acute attention of the inequalities of educational resources, i.e. ability to find stable connections to allow students to attend class, and dealing with the stresses that they encounter in trying to navigate the school/life dynamic.
 
Rose: COVID has had a significant impact on me and my family, since several of us have actually been infected by the virus to different degrees.  Additionally, we have had to deal with varying degrees of lockdown and partial lockdown.
 
Amanda:  I am doing a lot less traveling, and having no social contact with friends or family. And we have to wear masks when out in public which I never thought was going to happen here.
 
Sexy:  My business is renting Vacation Homes. Since the onset of COVID, my business has been virtually closed. People are not traveling as much as they normally do, so my business is suffering.
 
Gemma:  I’m not affected directly by the virus, but rather but from its consequences.  I have had less contacts with other people for a year now.  Also, my work has changed a lot because my boss decided to change our work schedule.  We now work in two shifts instead of one, which cuts in half the number of people working in the same space at one time.
 
Melissa:  My life has been affected mainly because there's no school.  I have been my son’s teacher and it has been difficult for both of us. The other aspect of my life that has been affected is traveling.  We love to travel but we couldn't during 2020.

Lis: A better question is "How haven't I been affected?" Lol.  An AirBRB and all my investment in it, has gone down the drain. The tires on my car went flat from sitting in the garage for a year with no place to go on Vancouver Island, B.C., Canada. I haven't seen family in over a year. I got what might have been a mild case of COVID but was more afraid of being put on a quarantine list than seeking help. I wanted to get back to my home in Rome but feared the outbreaks there. Travel restrictions were awful - when I finally recently went back, I had to wear a mask for 24 straight hours during that trip.
 

(JB)  Are you staying at home? 
 
Rose: No..I am not having to stay at home. So far I'm still going to work but I am able to do part of my work things at home and online.
 
Amanda:  Yes, but I am still able to do my work from home.
 
Gemma:  Yes, I have not moved from my home since February of 2020 except to go to work.  I have stopped all my social activity and only leave to buy food or other needed items.
 
Melissa:  Yes, I have been at home since March 2020. T that's a long time!

Lis:  Mostly!  Which is not a sacrifice for me because I am my own best company lol.

(JB)  What do you do to keep busy?
 
Reagan: I was sick the three weeks leading up to Christmas so when I felt decent, I would order presents online. Now that I'm feeling better, I have organized several rooms in my home in RL. I have also spent more time in SL. I do spend much more time with my family now. But let me just say, I was somewhat happy to be going back into the office to work. We were getting on each other's nerves. lol
 
Robb:  I succumbed to the allure and ease of buying online! Establishing Zoom groups with old friends and relatives, and go for runs and walks, as well as rediscovering playing Bocce--in a safe socially distanced manner!
 
Amanda:   What can I say? Work , work, work!
 
Sexy:  I still manage to keep pretty busy. I am often doing housework.  I enjoy gardening, and I also enjoy doing photography.
 
Gemma:  I have my work... For the first three months, I worked from home into the "smart-working" and after those 3 months, we went back to work maintaining social distancing and face masks all day..
 
Melissa:  Happily, I like handcrafts so I have been knitting a lot, mainly crochet. I have seen several series on Netflix, Amazon Prime or Disney.  Thank God for them! They really do help fill the time.

Lis:  I have a graphics company so I can work from home. I do web cam and Zoom to catch up with people. I enjoy tweaking my sims at the Grand Canyon in SL

 

 
(JB) When I asked if there was an upside to these conditions and staying home, half the respondents answered with a resounding NO!
Other folks were a bit more reflective.
 
Reagan:  While I was home, I was much more productive work wise.  I was able to log on and finish projects in the evening if I didn't have anything else to do.
I find that I cook more.  When I had COVID I lost a few pounds so now I’m eating healthier than I did before and continuing to lose weight.   I am much more aware of keeping distance, washing hands, and wearing a face mask. LOL Who would have ever thought that we would actually shop for face mask, or choose your mask to compliment your outfit for the day!?!
 
Amanda:  Upside is that its proven once and for all that working from a home office doesn’t have to have a negative effect on work quality.
 
 
(JB) Has COVID-19 affected your time in SL? Has it changed the time you spend here?
 
Reagan:  While I i was working from home, I did spend an hour or two in SL during the day that I wouldn't have had I been in the office. But my life is back to normal for the most part, so I am back to my normal routine.  I now spend no more time in SL than usual.
 
Robb:  SL becomes a safe harbor to connect with different communities and engage in all the things we do here!
Rose:  I don't think the way I spend my time has changed. Maybe I it gives me a chance to be online more.  Maybe I could be spending a bit more time online when we were at home but not a huge difference.
 
Amanda:  I`m more online but most of the time I am still working, just on a different laptop when I am home.
 
Sexy:  Not really.  I think I am spending about the same amount of time in SL as I did before the Pandemic.
 
Gemma:  Depending on my working hours I could stay a bit more connected since I didn’t have anything else to do (especially in the winter).  Maybe things will change in the next spring...
 
 

 

So, there you have it, folks.  A Crisis for some, or an Opportunity for others.  Let’s hope and pray that next year at this time we can look back on COVID as something fading into the distant past, and not as a still-current reality.  In the meantime, stay safe and stay healthy.

JB

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