Tuesday, 29 June 2010
Monday, 28 June 2010
Digested Blogsphere... hail the new king!
Now they do say (too much, mainly) that there is nothing new, and similarly this post is nothing more than a bit of digested blogsphere, i.e. this is what I have drawn from various posts, Botgirl, Lalo, Dusan and Crap (I do still love you) being the main ideas generators I read.
So...in no particular order or accurate attribution....
A company, as an individual, needs a Why. Without this he/she/it is blown like a leaf in a gale and usually ends up swirling round, chasing its own bum. Adopted trends are used and discarded by the time they are instigated. (This years fashion is next years tank-top).
Now it seems pretty obvious that those in charge of steering SL for the last while have very little idea as to what SL is. It has been seen as a product which needs to be sold to as many people as possible.
Now, the end (goal) never justifies the means (method). This is particularly true when the product is an experience (SL and the psychology of virtual experience). If you dilute the experience so that more people can get it you end up with a product (experience) that most people can manage without.
Example: If climbing Everest is a life-changing experience, building a small hill in your yard so more people can climb.... duh!
Now...based on current trends some bean-counters have seen the SL future as a 3D Facebook. That is as stupid as deciding to have plastic surgery so you will look like Elvis when, in fact, you have the talent to be better than the King.
The only thing, as far as I can see, that Philip can change, in spite of the mass optimism, is that he understands a bit better than Mark, the experience that is Second Life, that he resurrects the Why.
If he does, he will secure the future of Second Life..
......and the chat lag, groups, megas, censorship, content theft, etc. will all seem like secondary issues.
Important cultural issues it is true,.... Our issues.
Good Luck.
:)))
So...in no particular order or accurate attribution....
A company, as an individual, needs a Why. Without this he/she/it is blown like a leaf in a gale and usually ends up swirling round, chasing its own bum. Adopted trends are used and discarded by the time they are instigated. (This years fashion is next years tank-top).
Now it seems pretty obvious that those in charge of steering SL for the last while have very little idea as to what SL is. It has been seen as a product which needs to be sold to as many people as possible.
Now, the end (goal) never justifies the means (method). This is particularly true when the product is an experience (SL and the psychology of virtual experience). If you dilute the experience so that more people can get it you end up with a product (experience) that most people can manage without.
Example: If climbing Everest is a life-changing experience, building a small hill in your yard so more people can climb.... duh!
Now...based on current trends some bean-counters have seen the SL future as a 3D Facebook. That is as stupid as deciding to have plastic surgery so you will look like Elvis when, in fact, you have the talent to be better than the King.
The only thing, as far as I can see, that Philip can change, in spite of the mass optimism, is that he understands a bit better than Mark, the experience that is Second Life, that he resurrects the Why.
If he does, he will secure the future of Second Life..
......and the chat lag, groups, megas, censorship, content theft, etc. will all seem like secondary issues.
Important cultural issues it is true,.... Our issues.
Good Luck.
:)))
Sunday, 27 June 2010
Blender tutorial...a start...
Sorry...the next 6 posts have been sent from Posterous and are all back to front...
eeeeek....the correct order should be....
1
2
3
4
5
6
anyway.....you are a bright bunch....work it out..:))
Anyway...the idea is that its a cherry-picking type of tuition...there are loads better and detailed videos out there on Blender...thing is tho they are enough to send most people running for the hills...
Like trying to learn to drive a car when your instructor wants to teach you the physics of combustion and the mechanics of motion.... "JUST TELL ME WHICH PEDAL TO PUSH.."
..so..you could end up like me, knowing nothing about Blender except how to use it...
The above steps will get you to a stage where you can make strange 3D shapes at home ... the secret is to play.....mess it up and start again...that's the way...
The stage after that is called "Baking"...that's where you get to import it (soror style) to SL/VW.... we will deal with that later....
`:))
eeeeek....the correct order should be....
1
2
3
4
5
6
anyway.....you are a bright bunch....work it out..:))
Anyway...the idea is that its a cherry-picking type of tuition...there are loads better and detailed videos out there on Blender...thing is tho they are enough to send most people running for the hills...
Like trying to learn to drive a car when your instructor wants to teach you the physics of combustion and the mechanics of motion.... "JUST TELL ME WHICH PEDAL TO PUSH.."
..so..you could end up like me, knowing nothing about Blender except how to use it...
The above steps will get you to a stage where you can make strange 3D shapes at home ... the secret is to play.....mess it up and start again...that's the way...
The stage after that is called "Baking"...that's where you get to import it (soror style) to SL/VW.... we will deal with that later....
`:))
Viewing what you have done
these are where you can change your view point...
try them...
Front., side and top are the most obviously useful...
the Camera one you will most probably only use before the end ("Baking")
the "user" view changes you from Otho to perspective ....so you will need to change back...
editing tools
So...less and more....(A) pretty easy...they increase/decrease the number of vertices you have selected....
B...... these three I use most... try them and see..
C .... these are the editing tools, if you have built a bit in SL/VW then these will not be difficult for you to master..
D.. this is a proportional/connecting tool...basically that means that a number of related vertices are .......well....they move in sympathy with the ones you have selected....
Philip's List...
Things to do on Monday 28/06/2010.
1) Sack the PR team.
2) Repair Chat.
3) Repair Search.
4) Dump Viewer 2.0
5) Get scalable megas rolled out.
6) Fix voice.
7) Go for long, expensive lunch....
8) Participate in group Ear-Wax Removal Event..
9) Have tea.
10) Hire new PR team.
11) Make list for tomorrow...
...
1) Sack the PR team.
2) Repair Chat.
3) Repair Search.
4) Dump Viewer 2.0
5) Get scalable megas rolled out.
6) Fix voice.
7) Go for long, expensive lunch....
8) Participate in group Ear-Wax Removal Event..
9) Have tea.
10) Hire new PR team.
11) Make list for tomorrow...
...
Saturday, 26 June 2010
Inworldz and CelticWarriorMaiden...
Well, this was the first party I have been to in Inworldz, CelticWarriormaiden played some chilled out folksy stuff which was great. She has a beautiful voice and it was well appreciated that she had gone to the trouble for our pleasure. Thank you very much.
It was well attended, around 15 people, two tinies, a fairy, a nekko...all sorts....some names.....Teal, Miso, Ian Scott, Alizarin, Taralyn, (who's place InArtz is), Julia, ELQ, Cy All, Treasure, Astra, Jim y, Chantal, KarmaGirl, and Scottius..... may have missed someone...sorry if I did....
I think Aliz did the decorations and we all had a dance...well, I left early cos of bed....
Earlier in the day I had been doing some work for Frigg...(of Companion sim fame).. she needs a bunny park...so..
...with a general "moon" type theme I set to work and this is, I think, still a work in progress....
In other news.....Wimbledon is great, loving it all,....now for week two......drama!!
:)))
Thursday, 24 June 2010
Rezzed TV....was this the most boring show ever?
Brookston Holiday: Saveme was banned, so that Rezzed TV Island can continue to grow.
Well, not a new experience for SaveMe, I grant you, but I thought she was kinda cute, sitting there with a SaveMe for President title above her head. It was the "thought police" lollypop tho that sent Brookston (strange name) over the edge.
So, now this TV can continue to grow.....
Well, good luck. It was the only interesting thing happening there, SecondLie and some women, one of whom had the most awful voice were all discussing crap about Philip and Mark...(except they kept losing the plot). I think they were trying to compete as to who was the most boring.
Well...it was just like watching Real TV, except the commercials are normally better than the programme and here...there were no commercials.
SecondLie wished me well when I banned myself (partly cos I was too bored to exist further in the same space as this panel)....
SecondLie Scribe: "pffft. go blow it out your pelvic attachment point, soror"
....and that is such an amusing avatar, really, a paper bag. I was soo amused, how very original. The 3D world is in safe hands when such vivid imagination is rife....... such a shame I missed more of your lucid comments....
The real point is that no-one has any idea how this will pan out, so to sit there and hypothesise, well...that's like RL TV......congrats......you just need more adverts, oh, and a subject could be good too...
:))
Well, not a new experience for SaveMe, I grant you, but I thought she was kinda cute, sitting there with a SaveMe for President title above her head. It was the "thought police" lollypop tho that sent Brookston (strange name) over the edge.
So, now this TV can continue to grow.....
Well, good luck. It was the only interesting thing happening there, SecondLie and some women, one of whom had the most awful voice were all discussing crap about Philip and Mark...(except they kept losing the plot). I think they were trying to compete as to who was the most boring.
Well...it was just like watching Real TV, except the commercials are normally better than the programme and here...there were no commercials.
SecondLie wished me well when I banned myself (partly cos I was too bored to exist further in the same space as this panel)....
SecondLie Scribe: "pffft. go blow it out your pelvic attachment point, soror"
....and that is such an amusing avatar, really, a paper bag. I was soo amused, how very original. The 3D world is in safe hands when such vivid imagination is rife....... such a shame I missed more of your lucid comments....
The real point is that no-one has any idea how this will pan out, so to sit there and hypothesise, well...that's like RL TV......congrats......you just need more adverts, oh, and a subject could be good too...
:))
News....well, sort of...A Positive Future looms??
"On behalf of the board, I thank Mark for all of his contributions during his tenure with Linden Lab which include growing our user base and revenue, increasing the stability of the platform, and nurturing and helping build a world class team," said Rosedale, who will continue to serve on Linden Lab's board of directors."
Well, I'm not really much of an insider.... I don't know anything much about the Boys except what I have read and heard discussed...
Now Mark has gone, Philip is back...and a lot of people are excited about the old team of Cory and Philip getting back together again, even tho, apparently, they may have had their differences.... I don't know.......I leave it to others to analyse .
I DO know however that if this means getting back to the core of a successful business by treating your core clients well, then I am all for it. Philip was certainly making all the right noises during his speak at the opening of SL7B, and even admitted that LL may have made some mistakes (lol)...
Surely any news is good news if it doesn't involve nipple-banning....we were definitely due some positivity round here..
So....Philip we welcome you back......tentatively..
:))
Well, I'm not really much of an insider.... I don't know anything much about the Boys except what I have read and heard discussed...
Now Mark has gone, Philip is back...and a lot of people are excited about the old team of Cory and Philip getting back together again, even tho, apparently, they may have had their differences.... I don't know.......I leave it to others to analyse .
I DO know however that if this means getting back to the core of a successful business by treating your core clients well, then I am all for it. Philip was certainly making all the right noises during his speak at the opening of SL7B, and even admitted that LL may have made some mistakes (lol)...
Surely any news is good news if it doesn't involve nipple-banning....we were definitely due some positivity round here..
So....Philip we welcome you back......tentatively..
:))
Wednesday, 23 June 2010
LEA, Arts and Artisans.
Well, just tried to plough my way through the meeting notes posted by Sasun here...now.....good luck if you follow that link.
Sasun is looking for feedback on the LEA update on the Linden blog, but, as FreeWee so wisely asks....dont you have to have feed before a feedback? For, in truth the update says absolutely nothing more than general banalities....viz..
"Our high-level goals for the LEA program are as follows:
Provide a starting point for artists in Second Life and for those interested in art to make connections and display their work
Encourage and cultivate art and artists within Second Life
Foster community, creativity, and innovation among artists and all residents interested in art.
Provide a way for artists to not only sell and promote their art but also to choose to donate it for linden preservation (optional)
Collaborate with existing art regions, galleries, exhibits and performance spaces to help nuture their valuable participation in SL arts"
Now, I have read enough marketing bullshit over the years to know that nothing has been said....lets look at this...
"Provide a starting point for artists in Second Life and for those interested in art to make connections and display their work"
...so...this means what? They are gonna open an art gallery...wow...that would be unusual.... (UWA already provides this facility better than anyone else on the grid).
"Encourage and cultivate art and artists within Second Life"...so, like SL7B and BL, give people a few prims for a few days with strict rules and regulations to be adhered to?... pretty sure they won't be giving me any money, or tier reduction....
"Foster community, creativity, and innovation among artists and all residents interested in art."...this I have to see....
"Provide a way for artists to not only sell and promote their art but also to choose to donate it for linden preservation (optional)" could this be more sales on Xstreet??
"Collaborate with existing art regions, galleries, exhibits and performance spaces to help nuture their valuable participation in SL arts"...sorry, this translates, for me as..."we will use your creativity to try and sell SL to noobs"..
But the whole thing is just full of crap. If I was LL I would give 50 sims to 50 artists for two months..... then I would give them to another 50...etc....how is that difficult?? Well...thing is, LL is gonna try and milk it for as much as they can, obviously, but, as usual they will make it so incredibly complicated that it will end up a mess.
There will be, I predict, a frustrating tendency to rate "RL" artists and "RL" art as the benchmark.
Art in SL is different.
There is no difference between Artist and Artisan in SL.
That means.... there is no difference between a great pair of shoes and some twirly rotating anim smooth sculpture...both are High Art.
In a very wise post by Alpha Auer in NPIRL (which I can't find now), Alpha points out how the art you wear on your body in SL is more like Art as it used to be.
She points out that historically paintings clothed walls in houses because they had a useful function whereas today they sit lined up in museums, as does 'Modern Art' if it isn't sitting in bank vaults. SL Art that has function (i.e. great shoes) therefore enriches our lives in the way art historically did. Stuff that RL would called Artisan, or Crafts is, in truth the Real Virtual Art.
This is not a concept I expect the LEA to grapple with, preferring things that look like paintings and sculptures.
I expect to be severely disappointed with the LEA.
:))
Sasun is looking for feedback on the LEA update on the Linden blog, but, as FreeWee so wisely asks....dont you have to have feed before a feedback? For, in truth the update says absolutely nothing more than general banalities....viz..
"Our high-level goals for the LEA program are as follows:
Provide a starting point for artists in Second Life and for those interested in art to make connections and display their work
Encourage and cultivate art and artists within Second Life
Foster community, creativity, and innovation among artists and all residents interested in art.
Provide a way for artists to not only sell and promote their art but also to choose to donate it for linden preservation (optional)
Collaborate with existing art regions, galleries, exhibits and performance spaces to help nuture their valuable participation in SL arts"
Now, I have read enough marketing bullshit over the years to know that nothing has been said....lets look at this...
"Provide a starting point for artists in Second Life and for those interested in art to make connections and display their work"
...so...this means what? They are gonna open an art gallery...wow...that would be unusual.... (UWA already provides this facility better than anyone else on the grid).
"Encourage and cultivate art and artists within Second Life"...so, like SL7B and BL, give people a few prims for a few days with strict rules and regulations to be adhered to?... pretty sure they won't be giving me any money, or tier reduction....
"Foster community, creativity, and innovation among artists and all residents interested in art."...this I have to see....
"Provide a way for artists to not only sell and promote their art but also to choose to donate it for linden preservation (optional)" could this be more sales on Xstreet??
"Collaborate with existing art regions, galleries, exhibits and performance spaces to help nuture their valuable participation in SL arts"...sorry, this translates, for me as..."we will use your creativity to try and sell SL to noobs"..
But the whole thing is just full of crap. If I was LL I would give 50 sims to 50 artists for two months..... then I would give them to another 50...etc....how is that difficult?? Well...thing is, LL is gonna try and milk it for as much as they can, obviously, but, as usual they will make it so incredibly complicated that it will end up a mess.
There will be, I predict, a frustrating tendency to rate "RL" artists and "RL" art as the benchmark.
Art in SL is different.
There is no difference between Artist and Artisan in SL.
That means.... there is no difference between a great pair of shoes and some twirly rotating anim smooth sculpture...both are High Art.
In a very wise post by Alpha Auer in NPIRL (which I can't find now), Alpha points out how the art you wear on your body in SL is more like Art as it used to be.
She points out that historically paintings clothed walls in houses because they had a useful function whereas today they sit lined up in museums, as does 'Modern Art' if it isn't sitting in bank vaults. SL Art that has function (i.e. great shoes) therefore enriches our lives in the way art historically did. Stuff that RL would called Artisan, or Crafts is, in truth the Real Virtual Art.
This is not a concept I expect the LEA to grapple with, preferring things that look like paintings and sculptures.
I expect to be severely disappointed with the LEA.
:))
Tuesday, 22 June 2010
Nipplegate and Barbiegate
The above work is the one that got banned by the fools at SL7B...
It has now found a home at the UWA....here ...love those Australians to bits...
In a very thorough post NWN has printed out the whole letter from Peter Greenaway which is well worded, and the response from Blondin Linden which is very weak.
Peter Greenaway says...amongst other things.....
"I suspect you are responding to pressure, to some form of mind-police, certainly to some form of political correctness that is related to money and the slow swing to the political right that is happening all over the world related to civilisation's fear of financial insecurity. Don't go that way. You are endangering a tool that is greater than you.
If you really insist in so-called protection of innocence (and I really wonder what that really is - is it a synonym in fact for ignorance and intolerance?) then do so on a careful case by case basis with intelligence and foresight."
Now...that sentence "You are endangering a tool that is greater than you." Is probably the most astute thing I have heard said recently....and it is exactly the problem. the Boys have no idea of what SL is, because they don't use it.
The weak reply was....
"As with past Second Life birthdays, we have implemented guidelines for the SL7B event to create a celebration that can be enjoyed by as wide an audience as possible. One of these guidelines notes that the event has a General (aka PG) maturity rating, as have previous Second Life birthday celebrations. As described on the wiki, the General maturity rating includes a prohibition on nudity. All exhibitors and builders agree to adhere to the policies for the event as a condition of participation, and these guidelines are available publicly on the wiki."
..pathetic. Nudity of dolls included? what next? nudity of trees...(all trees to wear bras)?
LL has made a rod for its own back in trying to divide the world into PG, Mature, Adult, and the definitions (as predicted at the time) are impossible to define and enforce. Its a complete nightmare. Well, it was their idea.
It is this situation that causes me to doubt the ability of the LEA to change the Boys attitudes to the Arts. I do not doubt the sincerity of those on the committee, just their empowerment....
It has always been the way of power structures to use emotive causes to justify their domination and control.
Yesterday Linden Lab used SHAWN as henchman, and paedophiles as the cause....If SL had existed under McCarthy you can be 100% positive that LL would have banned the use of the colour RED in the builds. Wikipedia says... "McCarthyism is the political action of making accusations of disloyalty, subversion, or treason without proper regard for evidence."...hmmm...sounds familiar..
Now, as the boys have no balls regarding nipples, it fell to Misprint to make a statement. She did so in an artistic way which, like all good art, exposed the hypocrisy of a fascist approach to censorship ..... and I am sure she deserves an apology as does Rose. None will be forthcoming although I know the Lindens have read both this post and NWN's.
The inability to admit you are wrong is a sign of weakness, and rushing out the mesh launch to take the edge off this sorry affair is gonna help as much as the feeble voice morphing does to cure the woes of Viewer 2.0...
Boys, this is a "a tool that is greater than you" and, if you piss it up against the wall chasing some Holy Grail of Mass Membership.... you will lose it.
We, the creators, are portable, you aren't.
:))
Monday, 21 June 2010
"SL is a breeding ground for pedifiles"
.jpg)
Misprint Thursday has been ejected from SL7B.
SHAWN Masters, a volunteer policeman at SL7B, seeking to enforce the No Nipple Policy at SL7B, explained to Misprint Thursday, as Blondin Linden and Doctor Gascoigne stood by..... "SL is a breeding ground for pedifiles [sic]" and Blondin Linden demanded she remove the particle emitter which was churning out pictures of nude Barbie Dolls.
Misprint refused to do so and was ejected from the sim.
Botgirl has great piece on this here.
Now, it seems like there is one important fact I seem to have missed out on...and that is that paedophiles (english spelling) breed in SL. Now, I have been around a while and never caught them at it yet. I would have thought, not that I have a great deal of paedophile experience, that Google or some porn site might provide more interesting and immediate gratification than downloading the SL viewer, making an avatar and going to SL7B to look at nakkid Barbies...but, hey.....what do I know??
Now, these sick major corporations that have been responsible for the sale of, apparently, 1 billion Barbies, would probably disagree with LL on the degree of immorality connected to Barbie.... would they sue?...probably not.
Now, if this company, LL, were run by sexually repressed bigots from some sick religious cult, which it obviously is not.... I could understand their sexual obsession more...but as things stand, I am a bit at a loss.
So...a few questions....
Do they think major corporations will refuse to join SL if the Barbie scandal should be exposed?
...and how can Blondin Linden stand by while SHAWN tells Misprint that SL is a breeding ground for 'pedofiles'...
oh...and another question.....how many pedofiles are there in SL...is there a survey...how do they know??
...and...the most important question of them all.... HAVE YOU ALL COMPLETELY LOST ANY SENSE OF HOW RIDICULOUS YOU LOOK?
Again I am minded to be so grateful for the Linden Endowment for the Arts, it is so wonderful to know how committed LL is in fostering the Arts in our 'community'...or, in the words of the Linden blog...
"Provide a starting point for artists in Second Life and for those interested in art to make connections and display their work
Encourage and cultivate art and artists within Second Life
Foster community, creativity, and innovation among artists and all residents interested in art.
Provide a way for artists to not only sell and promote their art but also to choose to donate it for linden preservation (optional)
Collaborate with existing art regions, galleries, exhibits and performance spaces to help nuture their valuable participation in SL arts"
So that's in safe hands then, the future of the Arts in our 'community'...good.
:((((
SL7B
My virtual entry....
....don't worry I haven't turned religious, I'm still aware that more people have been killed by Christianity than by Hitler....
:))
....don't worry I haven't turned religious, I'm still aware that more people have been killed by Christianity than by Hitler....
:))
Sunday, 20 June 2010
Nipplegate Revisited
Well....there's nothing like a good kicking when you are down
but to give it to yourself...hmmm...well, this week....after a funny week......funny (peculiar) rather than funny (haha)....LL managed to stir up a lot of negative sentiment again.
The previous Nipplegate involved a stone statue ..that is a Primstone statue of a woman with Nipples at BL.....the artwork was banned.
This one involved the work of Rose Borchovski at SL7B, she had cartoon-like images of Susa Bubble a child like image and...this image had Nipples.
Now, as I pointed out at the previous Nipple post-mortum, all children (mostly) have both seen and sucked Nipples, so the idea that Nipples are gonna corrupt anyone is actually quite sick. Gods have Nipples. Christ on the cross is normally showing a ripe pair, so icons would be banned...and artists like MichaelAngelo or Raphael...they would be banned too...along with an endless list of Evil Nipple Painters.
Now, I have sort of boycotted SL7B, not in an active way, rather a passive.....can't be bothered sort of way. I hate themes, for a start, script fear, rules, no megas....very few prims...etc....can't really be bothered.....and I will go see friends pieces, no doubt, but....I am bored senseless even moaning about it....and BL isn't really much better...acres of Art Ghetto....
Now, what LL really needs is a good Something Positive to start the next week off well. The announcement about the Linden Endowment for the Arts...(LEA to you and me)... said really very little except that they have had a meeting and made lots of words about what they are gonna do. Seems like 70 sims has shrunk to 4 or 5 to start with ..and a committee has been decided upon...some good names there...here...
But... Nipplegate and LEA don't quite mix...
Well, now, I have been doing a bit more planting at "InArtz", Taralyn Gravois' place at Dolphin Bay in Inworldz along with Lemon Serendipity and Scottius Polke ....which was great fun. ...
In SL, Maeve has had me helping with a club, music venue and art gallery which we are both very pleased with. I hope to announce the opening in these pages shortly ...seems like Chrome might be the first to show and Hexx the first to play, but this is gossip and not confirmed as yet.....just teasing you all a bit...:))
Otherwise I'm working on my IBM ideas....and Wimbledon starts tomorrow...whoops, today. So I might be building less and watching the Evil Box more this week... and the RL weather may warm up a bit, it's been freezing....
:)))
but to give it to yourself...hmmm...well, this week....after a funny week......funny (peculiar) rather than funny (haha)....LL managed to stir up a lot of negative sentiment again.
The previous Nipplegate involved a stone statue ..that is a Primstone statue of a woman with Nipples at BL.....the artwork was banned.
This one involved the work of Rose Borchovski at SL7B, she had cartoon-like images of Susa Bubble a child like image and...this image had Nipples.
Now, as I pointed out at the previous Nipple post-mortum, all children (mostly) have both seen and sucked Nipples, so the idea that Nipples are gonna corrupt anyone is actually quite sick. Gods have Nipples. Christ on the cross is normally showing a ripe pair, so icons would be banned...and artists like MichaelAngelo or Raphael...they would be banned too...along with an endless list of Evil Nipple Painters.
Now, I have sort of boycotted SL7B, not in an active way, rather a passive.....can't be bothered sort of way. I hate themes, for a start, script fear, rules, no megas....very few prims...etc....can't really be bothered.....and I will go see friends pieces, no doubt, but....I am bored senseless even moaning about it....and BL isn't really much better...acres of Art Ghetto....
Now, what LL really needs is a good Something Positive to start the next week off well. The announcement about the Linden Endowment for the Arts...(LEA to you and me)... said really very little except that they have had a meeting and made lots of words about what they are gonna do. Seems like 70 sims has shrunk to 4 or 5 to start with ..and a committee has been decided upon...some good names there...here...
But... Nipplegate and LEA don't quite mix...
Well, now, I have been doing a bit more planting at "InArtz", Taralyn Gravois' place at Dolphin Bay in Inworldz along with Lemon Serendipity and Scottius Polke ....which was great fun. ...
In SL, Maeve has had me helping with a club, music venue and art gallery which we are both very pleased with. I hope to announce the opening in these pages shortly ...seems like Chrome might be the first to show and Hexx the first to play, but this is gossip and not confirmed as yet.....just teasing you all a bit...:))
Otherwise I'm working on my IBM ideas....and Wimbledon starts tomorrow...whoops, today. So I might be building less and watching the Evil Box more this week... and the RL weather may warm up a bit, it's been freezing....
:)))
Saturday, 19 June 2010
Wizzy and Prim Perfect.
Raven Haalan has written a very thorough article on Wizzy in Prim Perfect...it's on page 108.
It's thoroughly recommended reading.
Raven has excelled anything I am capable of, with a well researched and crafted piece of reporting; difficult to do when the person involved is one of your best friends...
With friends we tend to take their talents and gifts as 'given' as we have known them for so long and appreciated their work for years, so it takes a 'stranger' to communicate it to others....and someone who isn't shy of hard work (which writing such a competent article entails)..so..well done Raven.
..and Wizzy?...one of our gems, showing how good 3D environments are for incarnating complex concepts...and...if I hadn't flown thro it, the E8 would be just that to me, a concept.
:))
Friday, 18 June 2010
Blender/SL change... technical post
This is the current sculpt map I use for baking in Blender as it is the only one that now works...
For more than two years I used this image as my starting point, but there seams to have been an unannounced change in the upload mechanism...
...iof you are having trouble, you might try the top image and see if it helps at all. Unfortunately it is for a sphere and I don't have the equivalent for a cylinder....but it may give you an idea of why you are having trouble.
:))
In troubled times..
If in doubt.....dance....
This is Okin Nishi spinning stuff at Artisfacta... last night...
...and my old favs.....Alienspeaking and Mr. Widget at Braunworth.
...in other more cultural news.....Eshi Otawara seems to have returned to SL, and has a new shop here. I didn't actually buy anything, for once, her new stuff is a little to "period" for me, I like the semi casual look more often than formal wear.....but v pleased to see someone so talented return....
Also put in an entry for the UWA June round of Imagine... a bonsai...my 99th Ancient One, the Midnight Maple..... and I've been getting some ideas together for my IBM show in the Autumn, I have a great tree and a good flower so far...lol....better get that Blender whirring....
:))
New Tombstone needed....
Well, it's so interesting how very real this virtual world is, in spite of some peoples continued ignorance of that fact.
It was, it seems, just a short while ago that the Government in this sceptred isle made sure, through all public communication means available, that the ignorant public who didn't understand the economy be told, clearly, that the Royal Bank of Scotland was a good, solid, financially sound institution. People queued around the block for hours to get their money out.....
The ignorant unsophisticated financially-naive public didn't believe the Big Boys and, as it happens, they were right because the bank went under, and the public got robbed later by the Government to bail out the bank.
Now, as Lalo points out...here... M Linden, or rather his totally inept PR dept. (who are, honestly, the imbeciles in this whole saga) have, every day for the last week, reassured us that SL is in a financially wonderful state and all is well and blooming in the economic garden.
110,000,000 L$ got sold yesterday at a very low price. There was a run on the Linden.
The similarities are pretty obvious, though the scale may differ and the economics behind the two events may be different. The thing that is striking is the psychology behind the two events.
Credibility dies.
In the UK it was because the government lies to us so often that no-one with any brain cells believes anything they are told..... how has it come to this with the CEO of Linden Lab, M Linden??
This is where I lay the blame 100% on the shoulders of the PR dept of LL, or.....(they could be innocent...) the person who instructs the PR dept...(they could have just been doing what they were told.)
(This is why the boys need a Client Representative or two on the Board.....and a better, client-orientated PR dept.)
So...the newest tombstone.... Credibility Linden, RIP wasted by bullshit scripts and continued repetition.....
:))
It was, it seems, just a short while ago that the Government in this sceptred isle made sure, through all public communication means available, that the ignorant public who didn't understand the economy be told, clearly, that the Royal Bank of Scotland was a good, solid, financially sound institution. People queued around the block for hours to get their money out.....
The ignorant unsophisticated financially-naive public didn't believe the Big Boys and, as it happens, they were right because the bank went under, and the public got robbed later by the Government to bail out the bank.
Now, as Lalo points out...here... M Linden, or rather his totally inept PR dept. (who are, honestly, the imbeciles in this whole saga) have, every day for the last week, reassured us that SL is in a financially wonderful state and all is well and blooming in the economic garden.
110,000,000 L$ got sold yesterday at a very low price. There was a run on the Linden.
The similarities are pretty obvious, though the scale may differ and the economics behind the two events may be different. The thing that is striking is the psychology behind the two events.
Credibility dies.
In the UK it was because the government lies to us so often that no-one with any brain cells believes anything they are told..... how has it come to this with the CEO of Linden Lab, M Linden??
This is where I lay the blame 100% on the shoulders of the PR dept of LL, or.....(they could be innocent...) the person who instructs the PR dept...(they could have just been doing what they were told.)
(This is why the boys need a Client Representative or two on the Board.....and a better, client-orientated PR dept.)
So...the newest tombstone.... Credibility Linden, RIP wasted by bullshit scripts and continued repetition.....
:))
Thursday, 17 June 2010
Takeover.... a feasibility study.
Firstly, let me explain who we are. We are the existing clients of Linden Lab, referred to, in Mark’s letter to me as...[thanks to Crap Mariner for pointing this out]....
...”users, residents, people, customers, partnership, you”.....though actually we are clients, I would suggest, as we are paying for a service, not buying anything.
Now, I don’t have all the exact data so a lot of this feasibility study is theoretical. That, however, doesn’t make it less or more feasible.
We make SL, the social life, the builds, the PR, the economy, the culture. LL runs a bunch of servers and puts its foot in its mouth occasionally...
Now...before you dismiss this idea totally, consider the slant that Dusan puts on Sion Chickens... here..
“Sion Chickens hold the, um, kernel for new concepts of distributed work. Substitute “rare eggs” for “demanding tasks” and you get the idea – users collecting work tasks based on the level of difficulty and being rewarded appropriately. The embedded bidding and auctioning aren’t so different from crowd-sourcing, but with a difference: instead of trying to get free work from the “crowd”, you’re including proper rewards and pay.”
This makes it theoretically possible to own SL and run it from within SL.
We have more experience of SL than Linden Lab. We are more than 100,000 people with 2 years SL experience (guesstimate) which equals 200,000 years SL experience. We have around 20 years of business experience each, on average, making a total of 2 million years market economy expertise.
We have invested more time in the creation of SL than Linden Lab.
We own full rights to the most valuable SL assets, our skills, which we currently lease to LL free of charge.
We can buy out the venture capitalists or make an offer for the whole bunch of servers the Boys currently operate, though it would be cheaper to buy your own server than pay tier.
We know how to operate complex social and business structures without the need for expensive air-conditioned offices.
We propose a new face to SL where, for example, every premium member is given a share option and further options depending on hours spent inworld, thus reinforcing SL as a business owned by it’s clients.
A group of clients holding a combined quantity of share options (say xxxx) would be given a place on the board. Which would be an intelligent move as the recent 3 or 4 PR disasters could be avoided.
PR is redirected inworld rather than towards fictional future users.
We would further only employ staff who have a couple of years experience inworld.
New members will be allocated a mentor who will gain points (for introducing them to SL) counting towards a share option.
The ‘Linden Prize’ (to be renamed) would be for x,000,000 $ to be split amongst those making the greatest contribution to SL life, e.g. lag reduction, voice improvement, alpha bug, etc.
The future SL could be a devolved power structure where regional boards administer areas in return for tier, the successful would see their land prices rise and new members increase....etc.
No new land would be released. 30,000 sims for 60,000 clients is enough already.
House sales to new members will cease as the future SL will not compete for business with its clients.
Future ToS would recognise that the clients own all the skills which are leased free of charge for as long as the Board does it’s job satisfactorily.
We would be able to raise a very large sum of money, i.e. 1,000,000 users buying share options or, say, land owners boycotting tier for 6 months. Its is easy to raise capital when you are so many people.
....any further ideas..??
:)))
...”users, residents, people, customers, partnership, you”.....though actually we are clients, I would suggest, as we are paying for a service, not buying anything.
Now, I don’t have all the exact data so a lot of this feasibility study is theoretical. That, however, doesn’t make it less or more feasible.
We make SL, the social life, the builds, the PR, the economy, the culture. LL runs a bunch of servers and puts its foot in its mouth occasionally...
Now...before you dismiss this idea totally, consider the slant that Dusan puts on Sion Chickens... here..
“Sion Chickens hold the, um, kernel for new concepts of distributed work. Substitute “rare eggs” for “demanding tasks” and you get the idea – users collecting work tasks based on the level of difficulty and being rewarded appropriately. The embedded bidding and auctioning aren’t so different from crowd-sourcing, but with a difference: instead of trying to get free work from the “crowd”, you’re including proper rewards and pay.”
This makes it theoretically possible to own SL and run it from within SL.
We have more experience of SL than Linden Lab. We are more than 100,000 people with 2 years SL experience (guesstimate) which equals 200,000 years SL experience. We have around 20 years of business experience each, on average, making a total of 2 million years market economy expertise.
We have invested more time in the creation of SL than Linden Lab.
We own full rights to the most valuable SL assets, our skills, which we currently lease to LL free of charge.
We can buy out the venture capitalists or make an offer for the whole bunch of servers the Boys currently operate, though it would be cheaper to buy your own server than pay tier.
We know how to operate complex social and business structures without the need for expensive air-conditioned offices.
We propose a new face to SL where, for example, every premium member is given a share option and further options depending on hours spent inworld, thus reinforcing SL as a business owned by it’s clients.
A group of clients holding a combined quantity of share options (say xxxx) would be given a place on the board. Which would be an intelligent move as the recent 3 or 4 PR disasters could be avoided.
PR is redirected inworld rather than towards fictional future users.
We would further only employ staff who have a couple of years experience inworld.
New members will be allocated a mentor who will gain points (for introducing them to SL) counting towards a share option.
The ‘Linden Prize’ (to be renamed) would be for x,000,000 $ to be split amongst those making the greatest contribution to SL life, e.g. lag reduction, voice improvement, alpha bug, etc.
The future SL could be a devolved power structure where regional boards administer areas in return for tier, the successful would see their land prices rise and new members increase....etc.
No new land would be released. 30,000 sims for 60,000 clients is enough already.
House sales to new members will cease as the future SL will not compete for business with its clients.
Future ToS would recognise that the clients own all the skills which are leased free of charge for as long as the Board does it’s job satisfactorily.
We would be able to raise a very large sum of money, i.e. 1,000,000 users buying share options or, say, land owners boycotting tier for 6 months. Its is easy to raise capital when you are so many people.
....any further ideas..??
:)))
Wednesday, 16 June 2010
more building.....
...hmmm...this might turn out to be an IBM preview, except I can't scale this well in SL....darn....
Maeve popped into Inworldz and we were gonna buy hair but she left for a big apple, outworldz, np....
In other RL news..... "green fingers" = watering your plants before they shrivel up and die...(i.e. common sense)...
:))
Monday, 14 June 2010
Blogger???..... bullshit???
I am not a blogger....or at least I do not consider myself one, and have never set out to be either. I simply mention this in passing as there is some challenge by bloggers for other bloggers and of little interest to anyone who isn't a blogger. I'm more of a bullshit artist really, I just ramble on a bit and people read this stuff because I seem to be on the same wavelength as you/some of you.
758 posts is more of a habit than a conviction, certainly no ambition, tho I was mightily stimulated by Right as Rain when he asked me to take down a post where I had dared to criticise him. He wasn't worried that people would read my "boring little melodrama" more that they might stumble upon it by accident.... hehehehe.... ah well, he was the first but not the last to take offence at my musings....
I am pleased tho that I gave up blogging for koinup, not that I didnt do a few good, and the occasional controversial, post, but I felt the obligation to blog (cos I was getting paid) and that took the fun out of it. I have to really just let my musings take me where they will, be it texture lectures, art, sex, architecture or the psychology of virtual existence... it's just a bit of fun with the occasional thought and the odd rant.
.....and, because I digress so well.... I can flip anywhere I like...like Inworldz.....and the new tree, the biggest tree I have ever made.....see below...
Now, some of you may note a 'more than passing' resemblance to Tree Sisters... yes, they are the same genus...
....and the White Goddess Tree, which won 'best unscripted build' at UWA last month (thanks all) has self seeded all over Inworldz and some have grown to maturity....
....due to the generosity of Mouser (Scotsgraymouser Janus) I should have room to plant a little copse of them at Alchemy Labs...
The above build shows the Library at Tesseract.... Mouser is no slouch when it comes to building herself and she is responsible for getting me interested in Inworldz...
So.....I will keep you all up to date.... Alizarin Goldflake and Wizard Gynoid have visited and rumour has it that Scottius will build there too....interesting times. Theres about 5000 users I think and 5000 reasons for someone who makes hair to come and sell us some...oh, and shoes too....
:))
758 posts is more of a habit than a conviction, certainly no ambition, tho I was mightily stimulated by Right as Rain when he asked me to take down a post where I had dared to criticise him. He wasn't worried that people would read my "boring little melodrama" more that they might stumble upon it by accident.... hehehehe.... ah well, he was the first but not the last to take offence at my musings....
I am pleased tho that I gave up blogging for koinup, not that I didnt do a few good, and the occasional controversial, post, but I felt the obligation to blog (cos I was getting paid) and that took the fun out of it. I have to really just let my musings take me where they will, be it texture lectures, art, sex, architecture or the psychology of virtual existence... it's just a bit of fun with the occasional thought and the odd rant.
.....and, because I digress so well.... I can flip anywhere I like...like Inworldz.....and the new tree, the biggest tree I have ever made.....see below...
Now, some of you may note a 'more than passing' resemblance to Tree Sisters... yes, they are the same genus...
....and the White Goddess Tree, which won 'best unscripted build' at UWA last month (thanks all) has self seeded all over Inworldz and some have grown to maturity....
....due to the generosity of Mouser (Scotsgraymouser Janus) I should have room to plant a little copse of them at Alchemy Labs...
The above build shows the Library at Tesseract.... Mouser is no slouch when it comes to building herself and she is responsible for getting me interested in Inworldz...
So.....I will keep you all up to date.... Alizarin Goldflake and Wizard Gynoid have visited and rumour has it that Scottius will build there too....interesting times. Theres about 5000 users I think and 5000 reasons for someone who makes hair to come and sell us some...oh, and shoes too....
:))
Saturday, 12 June 2010
Advice for the Boy
"Ruling a big kingdom is like cooking a small fish.
When a man of the Tao reigns over the world, demons have no spiritual power....
Not that the demons have no spiritual powers, but the spirits themselves do no harm to men...
Not that the spirits do no harm to men, but the Sage does no harm to his people..
If only the ruler and his people would refrain from harming each other, all the benefits of life would accumulate in the kingdom"
OK...so it may be 2500+ years old, this advice, but it holds good.
:))
When a man of the Tao reigns over the world, demons have no spiritual power....
Not that the demons have no spiritual powers, but the spirits themselves do no harm to men...
Not that the spirits do no harm to men, but the Sage does no harm to his people..
If only the ruler and his people would refrain from harming each other, all the benefits of life would accumulate in the kingdom"
OK...so it may be 2500+ years old, this advice, but it holds good.
:))
Lazy saturday with prims
While the toffs drink Pimms at Queens, I've been working pims at Primworks...
I had this idea to do a huge tree for SL but it isn't possible because I need to be able to scale the megas, which, in spite of literally years of asking for them (NPIRL and Bettina had a fruitless campaign going...) is still NPISL, not possible in second life...
...luckily....there is a grid where you can do this...well, several. I popped over to Inworldz and got the trunk going...that's me in the little yellow circle...oh...and how wonderful not to be told "you can't link these prims cos they are too far apart, tough luck schmuck" by the Boys. They all linked wonderfully... Rezz-faux...eat your heart out.
Meanwhile I get an offer to morph my voice...lol...I hate voice anyway..people just talk drivel. The great thing about IM is that you have to be a little economical with words....which some people are not when they talk...they just drone on and on, often not speaking clearly and with no idea that no one can hear them....but...I would be interested to hear from anyone who's tried it. I was too busy messing...
:))
Friday, 11 June 2010
Why I can’t “rest assured”
It was very nice of Mark to write to us all today, after all, he’s a busy man and has lots of staff issues to attend to and restructuring to be done.
He has asked me to “rest assured”.
The thing is that I do not feel very assured... so I thought I would layout my neuroses on virtual paper and have a look at them.
Now, Mark is obviously a very clever man and should know, much better than me, how to run a big company like SL. I should be able to relax that he knows exactly what he is doing and let him get on with his job. It’s never easy to make the transition from pioneer stage to more universal thing, but why is it that I am not convinced?
I have had a few rather worrying times over the last while where I have had reason to doubt his abilities.
He seems to be totally unaware at how shocking some of his past moves have been for us “residents” (god I hate that term, sounds like an institution)... people have set fire to themselves outside his offices in the worst handled PR event of recent years (a simple price restructuring) and many have left and now populate other grids (the combined avatar concurrency has probably increased dramatically if all grids are added together).
A lot of money and man hours were wasted on the latest two projects... the “let’s attract businesses” saga which involved shelving all the Adult content onto it’s own ghetto and rolling out a neat little $55000 package for business users..
....and the latest fiasco of the Viewer.
In an extremely clairvoyant blog (thanks to Nur Ophuls for the heads up) Grace McDunnough asks the very relevant question of who is being ‘targeted’ as the future ‘residents’ of SL.
FunnyFarm meets IMVU in a 3D shopping channel seems to be the answer...
I understand that SL thinks that the creators aren’t bringing in enough income and that millions of new users will buy tractors etc. but... can you really turn your back on the people who made SL what it is and survive??
I know it is a major simplification (that has never stopped me before tho...) to compare Microsoft and Apple, but in terms of ethos it looks, to a simple mind like mine, like Mr. Gates went all out from day one to cash in on every aspect of the computer revolution and has become a very hated company.... Apple seems to have gone about it’s business in trying to provide the highest quality innovation (and had to wait for the rest of the world to catch up) and is one of the world’s most respected companies....
...soo.....Mark’s reassurance that SL is dripping with cash does nothing to reassure me...I don’t care, as long as they aren’t broke, how much cash they make. None of it gets recycled anyway.. ($10,000 Linden Prize is a complete joke for a company that big)...
....and the 70 sims for artistic stimulation...hmmm....all gone very quiet on that front.
Well, I could probably continue on this vein for a while but....
...to sum up...
the FunnyFarm/IMVU/Facebook is such a retrogressive step in my opinion that I cannot seriously believe it is going to improve my experience of SL.
The mass market is a dictator that flattens experience. Those on the margins of the mass are always ruthlessly eliminated ‘for the good of the mass’ and democracy is held up as the shining beacon of ‘why we had to...’
This flattening will never lead to a philosophy that wants to “connect everyone to an online world that advances the human condition”, mass consumerism is always about getting paid as much as possible for as little as you can get away with. We get screwed.
So, I am not assured, Mark.
:(((
He has asked me to “rest assured”.
The thing is that I do not feel very assured... so I thought I would layout my neuroses on virtual paper and have a look at them.
Now, Mark is obviously a very clever man and should know, much better than me, how to run a big company like SL. I should be able to relax that he knows exactly what he is doing and let him get on with his job. It’s never easy to make the transition from pioneer stage to more universal thing, but why is it that I am not convinced?
I have had a few rather worrying times over the last while where I have had reason to doubt his abilities.
He seems to be totally unaware at how shocking some of his past moves have been for us “residents” (god I hate that term, sounds like an institution)... people have set fire to themselves outside his offices in the worst handled PR event of recent years (a simple price restructuring) and many have left and now populate other grids (the combined avatar concurrency has probably increased dramatically if all grids are added together).
A lot of money and man hours were wasted on the latest two projects... the “let’s attract businesses” saga which involved shelving all the Adult content onto it’s own ghetto and rolling out a neat little $55000 package for business users..
....and the latest fiasco of the Viewer.
In an extremely clairvoyant blog (thanks to Nur Ophuls for the heads up) Grace McDunnough asks the very relevant question of who is being ‘targeted’ as the future ‘residents’ of SL.
FunnyFarm meets IMVU in a 3D shopping channel seems to be the answer...
I understand that SL thinks that the creators aren’t bringing in enough income and that millions of new users will buy tractors etc. but... can you really turn your back on the people who made SL what it is and survive??
I know it is a major simplification (that has never stopped me before tho...) to compare Microsoft and Apple, but in terms of ethos it looks, to a simple mind like mine, like Mr. Gates went all out from day one to cash in on every aspect of the computer revolution and has become a very hated company.... Apple seems to have gone about it’s business in trying to provide the highest quality innovation (and had to wait for the rest of the world to catch up) and is one of the world’s most respected companies....
...soo.....Mark’s reassurance that SL is dripping with cash does nothing to reassure me...I don’t care, as long as they aren’t broke, how much cash they make. None of it gets recycled anyway.. ($10,000 Linden Prize is a complete joke for a company that big)...
....and the 70 sims for artistic stimulation...hmmm....all gone very quiet on that front.
Well, I could probably continue on this vein for a while but....
...to sum up...
the FunnyFarm/IMVU/Facebook is such a retrogressive step in my opinion that I cannot seriously believe it is going to improve my experience of SL.
The mass market is a dictator that flattens experience. Those on the margins of the mass are always ruthlessly eliminated ‘for the good of the mass’ and democracy is held up as the shining beacon of ‘why we had to...’
This flattening will never lead to a philosophy that wants to “connect everyone to an online world that advances the human condition”, mass consumerism is always about getting paid as much as possible for as little as you can get away with. We get screwed.
So, I am not assured, Mark.
:(((
Wednesday, 9 June 2010
Inworldz and the smell of wet fur....
Well, as Brinda "smells wet fur" in the rush to the lifeboats.....
.... I thought I'd have a word with Scotsgraymouser, a seasoned and very creative builder who I first met in SL probably two or more years ago.
She moved to Inworldz, maybe 6 months or more ago, and it is partly due to her that I now have two small shop thingies and have earned my first "OSdollars".
She has 3 sims now in Inworldz... 135,000 prims, for less than one region (15,000 prims) would cost her in SL.
"I have 3 sims that I use to help creative artists, scripters, animators, etc. it is like a commune and with it we hope to have an interactive game. It has done amazing things for my creative streak..and the community is wonderful.
I've been to others [grids]..i stay here.......basically..i love it here..it is what SL should have been..but decided not to be.
And that honestly makes me sad...."
Now, one of the amazing things about the founders, well...at least Elenia, is that she will probably meet you when you arrive and say hi...they actually use Inworldz like you or I do, tho obviously they are pretty busy... Legion, and now Tranq are mainly busy doing computery things that people do to keep worlds going....
Scotsgraymouser explained..."I came here because i love to build. I love the use of the virtual environment to put into 3D form what i see in my mind.
Here, on the open grid, i have much more freedom of prim size and number [yep, 135k...a good number] to realise my dreams and this world, Inworldz, by virtue of its Founders has been the best grid for doing that. They too want people to realise dreams and made land/region ownership cheap and stable.
They listen to the residents..and like they are..value creativity, thus texture uploads are free. Copybotting, content theft is NOT tolerated..as they value that too."
...and, every time I go I meet new refugees...and these guys and gals are NOT noobs...tho we all look like we are...these are very skilled people...
The dumbing down of SL has already started a brain drain and these small grids will be the beneficiaries. It's all quite exciting.
You can find out about this particular life raft here.
:)))
.... I thought I'd have a word with Scotsgraymouser, a seasoned and very creative builder who I first met in SL probably two or more years ago.
She moved to Inworldz, maybe 6 months or more ago, and it is partly due to her that I now have two small shop thingies and have earned my first "OSdollars".
She has 3 sims now in Inworldz... 135,000 prims, for less than one region (15,000 prims) would cost her in SL.
"I have 3 sims that I use to help creative artists, scripters, animators, etc. it is like a commune and with it we hope to have an interactive game. It has done amazing things for my creative streak..and the community is wonderful.
I've been to others [grids]..i stay here.......basically..i love it here..it is what SL should have been..but decided not to be.
And that honestly makes me sad...."
Now, one of the amazing things about the founders, well...at least Elenia, is that she will probably meet you when you arrive and say hi...they actually use Inworldz like you or I do, tho obviously they are pretty busy... Legion, and now Tranq are mainly busy doing computery things that people do to keep worlds going....
Scotsgraymouser explained..."I came here because i love to build. I love the use of the virtual environment to put into 3D form what i see in my mind.
Here, on the open grid, i have much more freedom of prim size and number [yep, 135k...a good number] to realise my dreams and this world, Inworldz, by virtue of its Founders has been the best grid for doing that. They too want people to realise dreams and made land/region ownership cheap and stable.
They listen to the residents..and like they are..value creativity, thus texture uploads are free. Copybotting, content theft is NOT tolerated..as they value that too."
...and, every time I go I meet new refugees...and these guys and gals are NOT noobs...tho we all look like we are...these are very skilled people...
The dumbing down of SL has already started a brain drain and these small grids will be the beneficiaries. It's all quite exciting.
You can find out about this particular life raft here.
:)))
The shit hits the fan.....
Ok...so now it is happening....
DON'T PANIC, the Hitchhikers Guide said, but there will be a massive boost for all those small grids.. Inworldz, Reaction, Open Sim will all benefit from the 30% layoff just announced by the Boys. 100 Boys will lose their jobs and SL will turn into a web based social networking site.
"We've emerged from a two-year investment period during which, among other things, we've spent a considerable amount of time improving reliability and the overall user experience. Today's announcement about our reorganization will help us make Second Life® even simpler, more enjoyable, relevant and engaging for consumers starting with their first experience. It will also enable us to invest in bringing 3D to the web and will strengthen our profitability," said Mark Kingdon, chief executive officer of Linden Lab. "Ultimately, we want to make Second Life more accessible and relevant to a wider population," he said.
Well, the bean-counters have won....sad, but hey, that's life.
Many people will, like me, will wait and see, there won't be an immediate exodus, but the life rafts are being prepared....
Read more here...
:(((
DON'T PANIC, the Hitchhikers Guide said, but there will be a massive boost for all those small grids.. Inworldz, Reaction, Open Sim will all benefit from the 30% layoff just announced by the Boys. 100 Boys will lose their jobs and SL will turn into a web based social networking site.
"We've emerged from a two-year investment period during which, among other things, we've spent a considerable amount of time improving reliability and the overall user experience. Today's announcement about our reorganization will help us make Second Life® even simpler, more enjoyable, relevant and engaging for consumers starting with their first experience. It will also enable us to invest in bringing 3D to the web and will strengthen our profitability," said Mark Kingdon, chief executive officer of Linden Lab. "Ultimately, we want to make Second Life more accessible and relevant to a wider population," he said.
Well, the bean-counters have won....sad, but hey, that's life.
Many people will, like me, will wait and see, there won't be an immediate exodus, but the life rafts are being prepared....
Read more here...
:(((
Monday, 7 June 2010
The Future ...
I just love stuff that claims to be about the future...it's soooo cool.
Many thanks to Wizzy for sending this my way. We don't know if it's real or a hoax, but one thing is for sure.....anyone who invents a better way of modelling in 3D is gonna get my vote.. Polygon are sooo crap......except the E8, of course.... well....let me amend that....polygons are crap for depicting virtual volume in a lot of cases...:)))
It would be interesting to hear from someone who is a computer genius/geek/...anyone better than me...(heheheheh) ...if this sounds like a possibility, cos I have no way of knowing if, in theory, an algorithm is capable of doing this...
...anyway, the great thing is that there are people out there trying to solve the secrets of the universe and the metaverse....I look forward to the day when my virtual face, fingers and toes ...work...
:))
Sunday, 6 June 2010
Community Building, Why's and Culture.
It isn't possible to build a community just because it is something you want. A community is a group of people who grow up (growth being the operative word here) around a central idea, job, location, and the most enduring ones are those where the central idea is bigger than the individual.
This is not just theory, I have spent 7 years in different communities where soul searching and navel examination was a weekly or daily occurrence. The successful ones were groups who worked on the land, where animals and crops needed the individual ego to be put to one side for the sake of the survival of the core idea. Others were therapeutic communities for people with various difficulties where the same selflessness could be called on from time to time.
Just living in a particular town doesn't make you a part of the community, and just logging on doesn't make you part of a virtual community.
Wikipedia lists three main uses of the word culture:
a) Excellence of taste in the fine arts and humanities, also known as high culture
b) An integrated pattern of human knowledge, belief, and behavior that depends upon the capacity for symbolic thought and social learning
c) The set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterizes an institution, organisation or group
Now it is particularly the third point here that is going to make or break a community because without it we are just a bunch of people....
....and I am going to pick out values and goals as a sort of central starting point... for, if the Central Organisation has as its values and goals to get the maximum financial return from its group members, if that is Why the Boys do what they do...well, consumerism is by any definition greed made culture....then this ship will sink.
The Why of the central organisation/authority is the most important thing in this discussion, not why individuals log on.... that has got to be as diverse as ...(some very diverse thing)...
Why, oh why, oh why the Boys think I come online to stand in grubby malls waiting for grey things to rezz so I can fill my inventory with more crummy stuff......is totally beyond me. It is their wishful thinking, their 'why'. It might be projection from their RL's onto my SL... but it is misguided and mistaken.
Luckily there are places, new, pioneering grids, where the central Why is to provide an optimum creative environment for those who want to participate in the building of a new grid....and that may be enough 'glue' to stick a community together for a number of years...
..the fact that people find others with "shared attitudes" is, I would guess, however, what keeps us all coming back, our friends. I love creating and I love my friends, it's as easy as that....(well...and the "psychology of virtual existence").
Now, as I mentioned before, Avatar Identity is something that is a real shared experience and as such makes us into a community because we are different to Members of The General Public in that we have had this experience and most people haven't..
So...the people that read these blogs, the people that ask these types of questions, you, me.... We are a community, simply because we care enough to try an exercise a few brain cells....because we are looking for "set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices" amongst other things...
As Maeve said so clearly the other night we are like a periphery looking for a centre.. but I feel quite strongly that it is this looking that unites us.
The only truly interesting exploration is that of the psyche.
Know Yourself.........yep... one day I hope to.
:)))
This is not just theory, I have spent 7 years in different communities where soul searching and navel examination was a weekly or daily occurrence. The successful ones were groups who worked on the land, where animals and crops needed the individual ego to be put to one side for the sake of the survival of the core idea. Others were therapeutic communities for people with various difficulties where the same selflessness could be called on from time to time.
Just living in a particular town doesn't make you a part of the community, and just logging on doesn't make you part of a virtual community.
Wikipedia lists three main uses of the word culture:
a) Excellence of taste in the fine arts and humanities, also known as high culture
b) An integrated pattern of human knowledge, belief, and behavior that depends upon the capacity for symbolic thought and social learning
c) The set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterizes an institution, organisation or group
Now it is particularly the third point here that is going to make or break a community because without it we are just a bunch of people....
....and I am going to pick out values and goals as a sort of central starting point... for, if the Central Organisation has as its values and goals to get the maximum financial return from its group members, if that is Why the Boys do what they do...well, consumerism is by any definition greed made culture....then this ship will sink.
The Why of the central organisation/authority is the most important thing in this discussion, not why individuals log on.... that has got to be as diverse as ...(some very diverse thing)...
Why, oh why, oh why the Boys think I come online to stand in grubby malls waiting for grey things to rezz so I can fill my inventory with more crummy stuff......is totally beyond me. It is their wishful thinking, their 'why'. It might be projection from their RL's onto my SL... but it is misguided and mistaken.
Luckily there are places, new, pioneering grids, where the central Why is to provide an optimum creative environment for those who want to participate in the building of a new grid....and that may be enough 'glue' to stick a community together for a number of years...
..the fact that people find others with "shared attitudes" is, I would guess, however, what keeps us all coming back, our friends. I love creating and I love my friends, it's as easy as that....(well...and the "psychology of virtual existence").
Now, as I mentioned before, Avatar Identity is something that is a real shared experience and as such makes us into a community because we are different to Members of The General Public in that we have had this experience and most people haven't..
So...the people that read these blogs, the people that ask these types of questions, you, me.... We are a community, simply because we care enough to try an exercise a few brain cells....because we are looking for "set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices" amongst other things...
As Maeve said so clearly the other night we are like a periphery looking for a centre.. but I feel quite strongly that it is this looking that unites us.
The only truly interesting exploration is that of the psyche.
Know Yourself.........yep... one day I hope to.
:)))
Still Life
Asmita Duranjaya invites you to submit an entry....details as follows....
"Dear Artists,
The Meisterbastler Gallery hosted by Asmita Duranjaya invites you to participate in an art contest with the topic "Still Lifes between 2D and 3D".
Here are the conditions:
1. You should create a Still Life, but only with objects inside Second Life, e.g. freebie sculpties like fruits, vases, flowers etc. If you use a texture, e.g. for the background, the texture picture should also be taken in Second Life.
2. You can send us the 3D-installation or you can take a photo of the 3D-installation, process it in a graphic software and upload it again as a 2D texture. This texture you put on a prim and send us this work as a 2D-object.
3. The installation should not have more than 15 prims and minimal scripts.
4. The deadline is the 26th of June. artwork sent after this date will not be accepted.
5. One object per artist is allowed, either 2D or 3D.
6. On the 27th there will be a voting board for public voting, which counts 50%; the other 50% will be a judges panel voting.
7. The winners will be announced on 4th of July. The 1st winner gets 4000 L$, the 2nd 2000 L$ and the 3rd 1000 L$.
8. All the Still Life entries will be presented in the Meisterbastler Gallery during July and August 2010 and can be sold there.
9. Opening party is on the 4th of July 1pm SLT.
10. Send your entries with no mod/no copy/trans to Asmita Duranjaya.
The Meisterbastler team wishes you a successful contest!"
Asmita Duranjaya, Zewe Major and Miriam Evanier
...go for it... (larger images on Flickr [misssorornishi])
:))
Saturday, 5 June 2010
UWA peoples choice
Well...I popped over to UWA to vote for my fav. pieces.......and really there were too any good ones...I got totally perplexed..
this one by Fuschia I liked alot...
...and Sabrinaa's flower is very good...
Trill's work is great, I love the colours....
Aliz's Lupin pond is just amazing.....
...and Sharni's is sooo cute....
and all this on top of the one's I mentioned last week... and there are a load more I could list too....well..........it just reinforces what I said before ...namely that it is one of the best shows in SL at the moment, well, most moments actually... get yourselves over there...today!!
In other breaking news.....a small extrovert Italian girl won the French ladies' singles.... Francesca Schiavone..... she was inspired and played like a little demon...excellent. There'll be some Italian wine drunk tonight I guess.
Tomorrow it's Nadal's turn to shine.....probably...
:))
this one by Fuschia I liked alot...
...and Sabrinaa's flower is very good...
Trill's work is great, I love the colours....
Aliz's Lupin pond is just amazing.....
...and Sharni's is sooo cute....
and all this on top of the one's I mentioned last week... and there are a load more I could list too....well..........it just reinforces what I said before ...namely that it is one of the best shows in SL at the moment, well, most moments actually... get yourselves over there...today!!
In other breaking news.....a small extrovert Italian girl won the French ladies' singles.... Francesca Schiavone..... she was inspired and played like a little demon...excellent. There'll be some Italian wine drunk tonight I guess.
Tomorrow it's Nadal's turn to shine.....probably...
:))
Friday, 4 June 2010
Blog snaps
Well, I finally dusted the camera off and snapped a few things this last week....so....
This is the artist board at S&S Galleries in Inworldz... showing....
Fiona Leitner
Elin Egoyan
Kirle Adamski
Alial Allen
Larkworthy Antfarm
Shoshisn Shilova
Teal Etzel
Danika Littleboots
Soror Nishi
Trill Zapatero
Life Charron
Archer Zerbino
Lala Lightfoot
Wizzy has a show of her things, including the new RL/SL tensegrity sculpture at a Chilian University.....University of San Martin de Porres....here
...and I was in a Machinima that Alizarin Goldflake has produced, filmed by Chantal.... for inclusion at the World's Trade Fair... probably the most rehearsed piece ever...:))
...and finally got round to making a start on tidying up the shop....
...and as the French Open finishes on Sunday....(don't forget UWA>>>go vote today....)...with...as I suspect a possible Aussie win from Sam....I should be back to my normal self on Monday (until Queens starts...)......finishing off a new orchid, which is a bit of a stunner (if I can just get that tex right.........).
:)))
This is the artist board at S&S Galleries in Inworldz... showing....
Fiona Leitner
Elin Egoyan
Kirle Adamski
Alial Allen
Larkworthy Antfarm
Shoshisn Shilova
Teal Etzel
Danika Littleboots
Soror Nishi
Trill Zapatero
Life Charron
Archer Zerbino
Lala Lightfoot
Wizzy has a show of her things, including the new RL/SL tensegrity sculpture at a Chilian University.....University of San Martin de Porres....here
...and I was in a Machinima that Alizarin Goldflake has produced, filmed by Chantal.... for inclusion at the World's Trade Fair... probably the most rehearsed piece ever...:))
...and finally got round to making a start on tidying up the shop....
...and as the French Open finishes on Sunday....(don't forget UWA>>>go vote today....)...with...as I suspect a possible Aussie win from Sam....I should be back to my normal self on Monday (until Queens starts...)......finishing off a new orchid, which is a bit of a stunner (if I can just get that tex right.........).
:)))
Tuesday, 1 June 2010
Avatar Culture...and identity.
Now, as with any Culture, avatar culture is marked by, amongst other attributes.... a shared language (e.g. prim, rezz, lag) and...
... as Lalo Telling puts it...."One aspect of virtuality in general, and Second Life in particular, about which Dusan and I have never parted company is its culture (I'm tempted to capitalize the word -- Culture -- because it carries that much weight). My guess is that, if you were to ask each of us what we mean, we wouldn't answer the same way... but that doesn't mean that we don't grok [?] each other. So, what do I mean by culture? Commonality: shared experience; shared symbology and language; shared worldview; shared purpose; shared philosophies of what is "right behavior", and why, and how to coax it from people... in the case of Second Life, I'll even borrow from archaeology and include a shared "tool kit". The operative word, obviously, is shared."
and......by the need to ask the question "Who are we?" ....
now... Botgirl's quest to make some sense of the subject of Avatar identity is fascinating...(..here..).... possibly more than fascinating.
Identity is, for all of us, of primary interest. There are many theories, models etc constructed to explain the various ways in which we create our own immersive storyline which we call "me" and "I". Avatar Identity is, on the surface, no different to Identity in general and is informed by the theories/models we have accepted and can relate to. ....but....
The Digital Person, when not killed off by the Typist's Angst (for 'honesty', 'truthfulness', 'disclosure',) is a new and vital link in identity research. We have, for the first time the possibility to see our identity from 'outside'. The avatar is a monumentally important research tool, (if it is allowed to be) a mirror.
Jung hints at the enigma of a consciousness which lays outside of consciousness, i.e. in the unconscious. He didn't pursue this too vigorously in print as he knew that it was, by definition, impossible to defend this paradox. He pointed to the way in which the process of Individuation (as he called it) seemed to be guided by a consciousness wiser and older than our ego-consciousness, and, of course, his well known work on Synchronicity implies a level of consciousness which is, as yet, not understood at all.
I have the feeling that this strange and difficult identity issue that we have to face and deal with is, possibly more than anything else, what makes us avatars, what makes us Us. The duality is not even negated when people decide to reveal their RL names. I find that in the long term it makes no difference to me who Botgirl is, or who Dusan is....they will, most likely, always be Botgirl and Dusan to me.
As I believe I have said before, the one person I have met in RL, Pixi Cosmos (was wearing wings when we met),...I called her Pixi in both worlds and she called me Soror. The name game is NOT the point...... the name, any name is nothing more than a sign, a title. (" a rose by any other name.." or "Goodness is just another name"), (it just gives me another set of words to forget).
This shared, totally new, dual role of avatar and typist is just not possible to explain fully or understand unless.....unless you are one of Us.
Dusan Writer (recommending highly his post here)...."We create variations on our identity – even when our avatars are tightly coupled to who we are, and look like us, and act like us, we’re still one removed from, well, ourselves."
He could not possibly have written this if he were not one of Us...
So..... this thing we have, this Culture....tends to separate us slightly from those who are not part of our tribe?
..is this why the Boys just haven't understood SL? ..
because they don't live and breath it?
because they are actually not one of Us,
even tho they know the words prim, rezz and lag??
..and while I applaud the ongoing efforts of everyone involved in the rather intellectual attempt to explain it all...
....well....we know who we are.
That means we have a Cultural Identity.
YAY! Us.
:)))
... as Lalo Telling puts it...."One aspect of virtuality in general, and Second Life in particular, about which Dusan and I have never parted company is its culture (I'm tempted to capitalize the word -- Culture -- because it carries that much weight). My guess is that, if you were to ask each of us what we mean, we wouldn't answer the same way... but that doesn't mean that we don't grok [?] each other. So, what do I mean by culture? Commonality: shared experience; shared symbology and language; shared worldview; shared purpose; shared philosophies of what is "right behavior", and why, and how to coax it from people... in the case of Second Life, I'll even borrow from archaeology and include a shared "tool kit". The operative word, obviously, is shared."
and......by the need to ask the question "Who are we?" ....
now... Botgirl's quest to make some sense of the subject of Avatar identity is fascinating...(..here..).... possibly more than fascinating.
Identity is, for all of us, of primary interest. There are many theories, models etc constructed to explain the various ways in which we create our own immersive storyline which we call "me" and "I". Avatar Identity is, on the surface, no different to Identity in general and is informed by the theories/models we have accepted and can relate to. ....but....
The Digital Person, when not killed off by the Typist's Angst (for 'honesty', 'truthfulness', 'disclosure',) is a new and vital link in identity research. We have, for the first time the possibility to see our identity from 'outside'. The avatar is a monumentally important research tool, (if it is allowed to be) a mirror.
Jung hints at the enigma of a consciousness which lays outside of consciousness, i.e. in the unconscious. He didn't pursue this too vigorously in print as he knew that it was, by definition, impossible to defend this paradox. He pointed to the way in which the process of Individuation (as he called it) seemed to be guided by a consciousness wiser and older than our ego-consciousness, and, of course, his well known work on Synchronicity implies a level of consciousness which is, as yet, not understood at all.
I have the feeling that this strange and difficult identity issue that we have to face and deal with is, possibly more than anything else, what makes us avatars, what makes us Us. The duality is not even negated when people decide to reveal their RL names. I find that in the long term it makes no difference to me who Botgirl is, or who Dusan is....they will, most likely, always be Botgirl and Dusan to me.
As I believe I have said before, the one person I have met in RL, Pixi Cosmos (was wearing wings when we met),...I called her Pixi in both worlds and she called me Soror. The name game is NOT the point...... the name, any name is nothing more than a sign, a title. (" a rose by any other name.." or "Goodness is just another name"), (it just gives me another set of words to forget).
This shared, totally new, dual role of avatar and typist is just not possible to explain fully or understand unless.....unless you are one of Us.
Dusan Writer (recommending highly his post here)...."We create variations on our identity – even when our avatars are tightly coupled to who we are, and look like us, and act like us, we’re still one removed from, well, ourselves."
He could not possibly have written this if he were not one of Us...
So..... this thing we have, this Culture....tends to separate us slightly from those who are not part of our tribe?
..is this why the Boys just haven't understood SL? ..
because they don't live and breath it?
because they are actually not one of Us,
even tho they know the words prim, rezz and lag??
..and while I applaud the ongoing efforts of everyone involved in the rather intellectual attempt to explain it all...
....well....we know who we are.
That means we have a Cultural Identity.
YAY! Us.
:)))
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