Oh boy ... do I have some catching up to do! I know, what else is new, right? ~laughs~

Health rollercoaster has been a challenge. I wanted to be better right away. I thought once I went through radiation therapy things would start to turn around, and I'd be raising proverbial hell again in short order. Leave it to me to expect the universe to somehow bend herself for me and treat me special. Took a long time to get to the point where they had my medication right to get my body back on track. I was grumpy and impatient and just wanted to be better. About a month ago things finally started to turn around in a dramatic way. I have energy again and the tremors have all but disappeared. The chronic pain is something that only visits occassionally now, which allows me to sit and really focus on something again. I'm starting to remember what normal felt like, and having fun again, and thinking about how to get off my arse and lift these SL Ubuntu kiosks up and get them out there pervasively in Second Life.

With only a single test kiosk in place, and no real SL announcement about it, it's been an interesting pilot period. I've learned several things. One is that the cost I set on "project shares" means less people participate. Lowering these will allow more people to get involved, and boy do they want to! The feedback has been overwhelming. People seem to love having something like this as an alternative for gift-giving in their virtual world, and for simply investing something of themselves, period. They are taking the time to visit the welcome center on the Ubuntu sim, watching the slideshow with the pics from Ha Ma Kata, picking up the literature on the desk. People are writing and asking questions. Almost every major publication in SL (inworld magazines, web ezines, inworld television and radio casts) have asked to cover this before I'm really ready. I'm finally at a point where health issues or not I have to take advantage of the enthusiasm and start talking publicly about the kiosk program. We have lots of people who are anxious to host them in their own inworld shops and venues, so rolling them out across the grid will be as viral as I had hoped it might be.

At present I hope to have an official launch early in September, cutting the first two checks (Paypal?) to the Ha Ma Kata and Kamae Children's Group programs.

The SL Ubuntu program is far from self-sustaining. I'm putting $195 US a month into the cost of the island, on top of the initial $1,295 (? .... need to check that again) that our little band of hoodlums initially invested in it's purchase, so it's cost about $2,800 USD so far to run the pilot. This is all out of pocket right now, so I'll be looking to build an advisory team to help me find a way of transitioning things like accounting/reporting so that the program will be transparent and accountable. I want to get the program to the point where it is self-sustaining, and operating in a manner that's in tune with fiscally responsible charity standards (less than 15% of the monies going to program administration).

I'm also recognizing that while the Second Life economy may be unconventional, running a program like this is not. It really needs to be done through an official charitable organization in a position to receive and disperse the monies that come through the kiosks. The 1% Club is a separate issue, with designers choosing to invest 1% of their monthly profits into an investment pool that will serve as a jointly administered microfinance fund. The pilot has given lots of food for thought about both the unique opportunities and challenges of creating a new charitable/investment utility/program within a virtual world.

I hope you'll forgive the mish-mash update here. I really wanted to get in to let people know how things are transpiring, that it's going well and being received enthusiastically, and that when this is rolled out officially across the Second Life grid this fall it has the markings of a successful new tool for creating funding opportunities for better world programs.

Will try to drag my bottom in here more often to share news, catch up, find out what y'all have been up to! I miss so many friends and allies here.

AND ...

I'm -dazzled- by what Ray and Jackie Brosseuk and Meron Moroz continue to do! Jackie floors me ... absolutely floors me ... with her tenaciousness, pragmatic business approach and gigantic heart. I cannot believe what that girl is doing to cultivate a vibrant, meaningful, sustainable better world hub in Second Life. Ms. Moroz ... good heavens ... another digital hurricane leaving the most incredible things in her wake. These two women are my frigging heroes. Dauntless pain-in-the-asses who will change the world. Truly. While I've spent the last year on the mend, these two have been cultivating some truly cool things. The connectedness between people/media ... the bridge building ... essentially cool stuff to watch.

So, another Braiden hit-and-run ... ~laughs~ My apologies for the infrequency of my reconnecting. I need to fix that. I know I do (or Meron will hunt me down with a big stick).

(btw ... Pam, how is your friend's shoulder? Hoping the boat ride wasn't too excruciating and that she's on the mend!)

I also hear that a certain friend of our's is about to leave Africa to go to university Sweden on a scholarship? Eric Wanjamah you are one of those gifted, heart-first people who deserves every good thing that comes your way. I hope this is a fruitful, happy, blessed thing in your life.

Not sneaking back out again ... just kind of lurking in the doorway.

-- Sue.