Reality Check v2

Reality Check

Features:

• Identify real life computer of inworld avatar
• Guest user experiences professional dropdown notice help with robotic voice.
• Timed IP verification from 4 source reference points delivered to owner.
• Automated procedure guide complies with TOS

Reality Check is the first practical IP tool of its kind for empowering SL residents.  All hype aside, the inworld to offworld use of Reality Check has been carefully planned.  A couple of paradigm shifts occur that may be misperceived.  And so, a bit of perceptual knowledge is required as understanding reveals the Reality Check kiosk to be a plain and practical tool for you.  Each computer connected to the internet has an Internet Protocol address.  The Reality Check kiosk displays each unique IP address series of numbers.  The display of each distinct IP address is viewable only by the correlating avatar inworld.

okCopy: This means you can make copies of the item.  okCopy is a better value if you might need more than one instance of the item.

Extra Backup Copies: Besides this item being okCopy, the inworld productPM store features an Express Redelivery Terminal that will give you a few extra backup copies. Should you suffer the misfortune of a Second Life server losing your inventory, you can get more copies of your item at the productPM store Express Redelivery Terminal.

Genuine productPM technical support is included with this item.

Inworld it may be against policy to store or collect IP addresses;  However, SL residents may choose to provide you with their IP address offline.   Reality Check is a process that helps your customers and friends give you their computer IP address offline.  Requiring your inworld customers and friends to confirm their IP address can help you, your business, land parcel, sim, or organization avoid trouble from griefers, stalkers, and dubious scammers.   Reality Check was designed around a four step integrity process.  Each of the four reference points (inworld photo, offworld email, inworld IM, and confirm completion notification) help ensure time stamp verified IP address confirmation to a specific avatar.

The example problem below which Reality Check solves is related to landlords.  Please remember that Reality Check can also be utilized for 100s of other application types.  The renting scenario was chosen as renting is a SL activity most readers are somewhat familiar with.

Brief Example:
Here is an example case use:  Suppose that you have a parcel of land which you only want to give access to renters, and you have suffered from a griefer returning with alternate accounts, renting and causing continual trouble.  Reality Check would help you to stop this type of griefer.  Reality Check ensures that you know each of your renters IP address.  So you could correlate each renter to one computer.  You will need to keep your own offline records (physical notepad and a pen works fine), and write down each IP address along with the avatar name.  And should that griefer tenant be so dumb as to try to submit his alt account through your Reality Check, you will have already written down an offline note of that griefer IP address, so you will know not to allow his alt account access to your rental land.  (Of course there are many common ways for you to save IP address offworld; however in this case the notepad and pen example allows us to complete this paragraph sooner).

Detailed Example:
If you understood how Reality Check stops a repeat alt account greifer in the brief example above, feel free to skip this detailed example paragraph:  Otherwise, perhaps you read the above brief example and wondered, hmmm,  I still do not understand how a griefer is causing repeat trouble, well if you need a bit more of a clarified explanation,  here you go:  Let us suppose that in this same example you are the landlord.   You limit your land parcel settings to only allow access to certain avatar names.  This means that after a resident agrees to rent, you then add his avatar name to the parcel land access list.  You just got a new tenant.  Let us call this new tenant avatar name Happy Guy.  The next day you receive a ton of complaints from existing tenants that Happy Guy has done many unforgivable very bad things (Happy Guy rezzed photoshopped images of you, your mother, and all of the Second Life employee Lindens in compromising graphic positions, then Happy Guy shouted swear words at all your existing tenants, then Happy Guy rezzed lots of security orbs to repel everyone else and slow down the entire sim, then Happy Guy got on a goat…and well you get the idea) .  You remove Happy Guy from your land access list.  The next day another avatar rents from you.  This new renter avatar is named Grandma Keneval.  You grant Grandma Keneval access to your land.  The following day you receive many messages from not only your existing angry tenants, but also from neighboring sim residents, and everyone is complaining that Grandma Keneval has done many unforgivable very bad things (Grandma Keneval has also rezzed photoshopped slasher images of you, your mother, your grandma, and all of the Second Life employee Lindens in even more compromising graphic positions, and you are shocked to learn that that Grandma Keneval also shouted the same swear words at most of your existing tenants, then audio looped the swear words all day long, then Grandma Keneval rezzed lots of security orbs to repel everyone else and slow down the entire sim and auto-rezzed thousands of goats with two heads…and well you follow the dilemma).  You realize the SL avatar account names for Happy Guy and Grandma Keneval were actually the same RL person.  If you would have required Happy Guy to use your Reality Check station in the first place, you would have known his real life computer IP address.  So, when Grandma Keneval would want to rent, you would also require her to use your Reality Check kiosk to provide her real life computer IP address.  And you will then see that Grandma Keneval has the same IP address as Happy Guy.  So you can safely conclude that both Second Life accounts belong to the same person using one RL computer.  This empowering IP address information would have surely helped you decide to definitely not allow Grandma Keneval access to your land.  In fact, Reality Check will help you be immune from any other alt accounts this griefer has.

User Experience:
As a guest approaches your Reality Check kiosk she will notice the clearly viewable start button.  Upon clicking the start button three events will occur (1) a robotic voice speaks , (2) a dropdown notice appears, and (3) onscreen text is seen.

Robotic Voice speaks this audible phrase:

Are you ready to check yourself?  You better check yourself.  You are going to have a reality check.

DropDown Notice:

For the next 120 seconds this Reality Check kiosk will help you view your offworld computer IP address.  Then, you can be responsible for providing your IP address via email offworld. Please begin by pressing the photo button below. You must also make sure your preferences for streaming media are set to automatically play. Preference Instructions have been texted to help.

Onscreen text:
The following text simultaneously appears on screen in regular chat:

Instructions for Preference settings: From the top of your viewer screen please select Edit > then select Me > next select Preferences > then select the Sound & Media tab > check off Allow Media to auto-play > then press ok on the preferences window.  When these preferences are set please press the play icons at top right of your SL viewer screen

When your guest clicks the Photo button a new drop down notice will display these words:

First, please click the main center picture of the magnifying glass image, to display your IP address.  Next, please position your avatar beside the IP address display, so that you can take a photo of  your avatar beside your IP address.   From the top of your viewer select World > Snapshot > select the default Send a postcard > press Send.  Kindly leave the Send Postcard window open and proceed to the next button 2) Email.

When your guest clicks the Email button a new drop down notice will display these words:

An email address has been texted on your screen.  Please type this particular email address into the Recipient Email field.   For the Subject header please type in the your numeric IP address exactly as you see displayed above your avatar in the photo and on your screen.  Then go ahead and press Send.  Please proceed to the next button 3) Message.

As the owner, your RL email account will then receive a photo containing the guest avatar beside her IP address.

When your guest clicks the Message button a new dropdown notice will display these words:

Next please send an inworld message authorizing correlation of your IP address.  The name of the resident avatar for you to message is listed at the top of this notice.  When you have finished sending your IM, please click the last button 4) Confirm.

The following text simultaneously appears on screen in regular chat:

Here is the sample IM authorization wording for your convenience: I confirm that I have emailed my offline IP address; and I authorize the correlation of my IP address to my avatar name offworld.

When your guest clicks the Confirm button a new dropdown notice will display these words:

Thank you for completing Reality Check.  The information you provided will be reviewed for authenticity by the owner of this kiosk, and you will be contacted if necessary.  Thanks again.

As the owner, your Reality Check kiosk will automatically send you the following inworld message:

(auto insert guest name) has pressed the Complete button. As you review the information provided, pay close attention to the minute time stamps, to make sure that the photo email, the IM, and this confirmation have all been sent closely within the same period of time.

Set up Instructions:

1. Rez your Reality Check kiosk from your inventory to inworld, and note that the Reality Check kiosk is connected in one unit, except for the Email button.  Be aware that if you move your Reality Check kiosk unit, the Email button will be left behind.  You will need to separately move the Email button after you move the unit.  Position the Reality Check unit and Email button where you like.
2. The Email button is separately modifiable because it holds your email address.  Right-click the Email button > select Edit.  Type your email address into the Description field of the Email button.
3. At the top of your SL viewer > select World > select About Land.  From your inventory drag “Reality Check v2 land texture” onto the Replace Texture window.

Congratulations on setting up your Reality Check kiosk!

Behavior:
The IP address displayed on each residents SL viewer is unique to them.  Say your avatar is standing in front of the Reality Check kiosk, and another avatar is standing beside.  The other avatar will see her own IP address, not yours.   This scenario presumes the two avatars are using two separate real life computers.

 Usage:
With the help of your Reality Check kiosk guest avatars will email you photos that include their IP address.  As mentioned in the brief example above, a standard notepad and pen can serve you to write the IP address matching to the avatar name.   As your real life record keeping grows, you might find it easier to keep the info in spread sheets or contact organizers.   Be on the lookout for someone trying to sneak past your Reality Check kiosk by sending a photoshopped image.  The email, IM, and confirmation notifications provide reference points to compare validity and freshness of the photo.

Limitations:
Lets go back to the detailed example above to show the limits of Reality Check.  In that example it was assumed that the RL griefer owning the accounts of Happy Guy and Grandma Keneval was just using his home computer.  Griefer trouble can continue a bit further if the RL greifer creates more alt accounts using his work computer (or college network,  or cyber café, etc).  So, Reality Check will stop a casual home user griefer, and slowly thwart a intermediate location changing griefers.  Techniques used by high level hackers are beyond the scope of this conversation; as the author of this text realizes that nothing is fail-safe.  In general comparison though, the majority of griefer types (casual and intermediate) will be squelched by Reality Check.

Land Ownership Support Note:
productPM will provide support for use of Reality Check on land owned by the purchaser.  While Reality Check works on group owned land, due to the complexity of group settings (which must be arranged separately by the land owner) support policy does not extend to group land.

FAQ:

1) Question:
I cannot find Tools / Edit / etc…

Answer:
These instructions are based on the official Second Life viewer.  Often productPM documentation refers to accessing an object’s Contents menu.  Right-Click the item > select Edit (or Build if that is currently appearing) > then select the Contents tab.

2) Question:
Would I have to have each person go to it and run the program?

Answer:
Yes, you will need to tell the SL resident to go to the Reality Check kiosk and press the Start button.  An automated guide then instructs the SL user.

3) Question:
Have you found that people are open to walking up to the thing and using it before renting?

Answer:
Reality Check is one of the best selling productPM items.  I assumed most people were using it for rentals, but I noticed a review of someone using it to verify employees.  Yes, it requires an extra step for the renter; but it also allows for their RL name to remain unknown –providing the anonymity some residents prefer.

4) Question:
It sounds as if the device has to be deeded to the group to work properly?  Once deeded will the device work only for group members or will it work for everyone?

Answer:
Reality Check does not need to be deeded to a group.   The set up instructions above are the same regardless.  The behavior experience is the same for all users.

Also available: Royal Charter economical 60-day license