This is the twenty-first in a series of mini-interviews with the residents of Second Life. For the most part, I'll try to leave the responses unedited, except where editing will grant greater clarity.

Erbo's been a friend for quite a while now, but we always seem to miss each other in-world due to scheduling conflicts. So much so that he looks different every time I see him, and most recently, he's got a new baby! Her name is Alia, after Paul's sister in the Dune novels. Erbo's quick to point out, however, that she's no abomination! Congratulations, Erb and Dani!

Your Name: Erbo Evans

How did you first come to SL?: I had read about it in various places -- magazine articles, blogs, and so forth -- but it wasn't until I was able to build a new workstation that I finally had hardware powerful enough to run SL. In the end, curiosity got the better of me.

How did you choose your name?: "Erbo" is derived from my real name, and has been my preferred handle or account name ever since I was in college. I picked "Evans" because of its Colorado connections, such as to Mount Evans (one of Colorado's "fourteener" mountain peaks, the closest one of those to Denver, and site of the highest paved road in the United States).

What's your favorite thing about SL?: When I came in, I was intrigued, as a programmer, by the building and scripting aspects, but, as a longtime virtual community person, I was intrigued by the community aspects as well. In the long run, it's the latter of those that has proven to be most rewarding.

What do you like least about SL?: The fact that most of the good stuff seems to happen while I'm stuck at work and can't get in-world. :-(

Favorite hangout/store?: Well, our clubs, of course, but beyond that, The Shelter and Soulmates.

Name one new feature you'd like to see added to SL: Better management of instant messages, such as the ability to block them (and route them to E-mail) without killing inventory transfers and in-world chat, the way Busy mode does. I've had some back-and-forth with Torley and others on her blog about this. The proposed "Jabberization" of SL may help (and, as a former employee of Jabber Inc., I'd love to see it happen!).

Shout outs: To Blessed Danielle, of course, and Val, and all our Spira Enterprises managing partners and employees, and all the Shelter regulars, whom I don't get to see often enough anymore.