UgoTrade

“I don’t have any MSN, hotmail, friendster, icq, irc or any forums. Do not add the impostor to your list!” says the real Lao Zha Bor. But, by
riffing and rapping about her life, the real Lao Zha Bor, who acted as Fann Wong’s mother in Just Follow Law, has soared to the heights of the blogosphere, obliterating the digital divide of age – an impressive feat!

I have so little time to add friends or visit forums these days. Lao Zha Bor’s success really cheered me up! Check out, “Aunitie’s,” impressive number of hits, and her stream of comments too.

Lao Zha Bor, is not IT trained. She got her start blogging with the help of young friends: “They taught me how to create a blog and design template.” (hey another form of “bridge blogging” has begun). Lao Zha Bor comments on the media attention her blog has brought her, “I think more and more aunties and uncles will start to set up a blog soon!”

I learned about this new rockin’ blog star from Clapping Trees, my second friend on Twitter, who is keeping me up to date on what is going on in the very cool Singapore blogs – pioneers in the exploration of virtual worlds. (My first friend Jim Gustafson reminds me of events and scripting classes on SL. I will check out his 11 am class on the beta voice grid tomorrow) One of Clapping Trees tweets led me to Rinaz’s latest report on a Singapore Second Life Meetup hosted by Engkiat and Nicholas from the Idea Factory and to the Nexus 2007 conference.

She writes: “I met fellow Secondlifers like Preetam, Vanessa and Alvin. I also met Aileen and for the first time ever, finally got to meet up with Jeremy, or Limkopi, as he is known inworld.”

Aunties and Uncles to storm virtual worlds?

I can imagine that soon, not only blogging, but virtual reality, will begin to play an important role in banishing the loneliness, isolation and depression that is all too often part of aging. Right now probably most people on line who declare themselves as 80 are decades younger. But, perhaps, the next big “off the grid” community to get a ramp to the super highway will be the elderly – with a little help, like Lao Zha Bor had, from their young friends.

Now, virtual reality plays a big role for people with disabilities, not just because in a virtual world many disabilities are not the factor they are in RL. Mitch Wagner reports, “one woman whose cancer was quite severe, for whom Second Life had become her first life.” And, on Second Life there is a community using SL to aid in the recovery of stroke victims. But, also, Wayne Porter notes that HUDS that simulate disabilities in Second Life can offer a way to educate people from a new perspective (also see Wayne’s review of the groovy and free SLtweets HUD (Heads UP Display) available at SLTweets.com).

With a little bit of luck, inspiration and support the next suave lady and gentlemen you meet on SL, gliding and twirling on the dance floor in “tails” and “bling heels,” may really be 95!

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