This week, the Public Works Resource Center (teleport SLURL) is holding a series of events to raise awareness of the new "811" call service, which is launching tomorrow (May 1). What is 811 for, you ask?
811 is the
new number you should call before you begin any digging project. A
new, federally-mandated national "Call Before You Dig" number, 811 was
created to help protect you from unintentionally hitting underground
utility lines while working on digging projects. People digging often
make risky assumptions about whether or not they should get their
utility lines marked due to concerns about project delays, costs and
previous calls about other projects. These assumptions can be
life-threatening.
That’s right, it’s a sim built just to keep you from digging up a power line. Your tax dollars at work! Now if only you could call 811 from within SL using the new voicechat:
"Hi, 811? I’m thinking of digging up the ground beneath my gothic neko castle to put in a dungeon. Are there any powerlines that run below Bloodland (43, 480, 12)?…. Yes, I can hold."
Especially puzzling since most of us can’t dig any deeper than 4 meters!
That’s the wrong SLURL. They straddle a sim border in:
http://slurl.com/secondlife/West%20Sunset/195/239/22
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Sunset%20Commerce%202/218/7/22
I suppose this makes sense, in a weird way. Backhoes digging where they shouldn’t are the largest danger to Internet connectivity, as any sysadmin will tell you, and SL can’t live without Internet connectivity.