Money Mist.....

But this week a larger part of AWWoS is dedicated to COF becoming ActiveWorlds.com.....

I remember a few weeks ago a citizen saying to me : "Simon, I'll see you elsewhere in a few months. You're not going to stay."  I saw no reason at the time. Sure, there were rumours about selling AW, some doom prohets even predicted COF wouldn't exist anymore, soon. And look what's happened. The name COF doesn't exist anymore, the group fell apart, another apparent victim seems to have fallen in the pit of oblivian. All those events partly hidden from curious eyes by the Money Mist..

Oh well, more changes are facing us, I guess. The PK's becoming paid employees of COF, excuse me : ActiveWorlds.com, is one of them I can imagine. Like in some private business world i once visited, where the greeter was paid to guide visitors around. I won't say paid PK's would be bad. At least they would know what they're doing it for... the bashing, the testing and the endless discussions : would make them a part of their living. And the employer will probably  pay more attention to who they give commercially dangerous powers. 

Another development could very well be that citizens/users will be divided in two categories. Those who could be commercially interesting and the others. The latter, since it isn't likely they'll spend any money, are parias, ready to be shot on sight, overlooked etc... But as AW-browsers are used in more and more environments (so far I know of four universes that use this technology) they'll probably go to another one and if they are ready to spend cash (that's maturity, I guess) their money will evntually end up in the pockets of those who spit them out once. 

But hey, we seem to be on earth to grab as much money as we can.... why bother then ? No need to cry about it when things go down.... We're flexible, we can adapt to the circumstances..... We'll probably become virtual nomads, fleeing from the droughts of capital into every oasis of free (in all the meanings of the word) communication.

Thus, in more than one way, the money will (or can at the least) make a few things clearer. Noone is in it for anything but the money, anymore.The hypocrisy that some were accused of is gone. The money mist is easier to cut through than the fog of "wanting the best for....".
 
But it will take a little more time before AW-membership rates are as high as in some other environments. In the meantime, enjoy the community, the building and if you got time.....

..., enjoy reading AWWoS.