Friday, 31 December 2010
Vitriolic posts of 2010...
This just had to be blogged..... I was mistakenly thought to have been angry when writing my last post, I have often called Facebook crap, so nothing new there, really, and so I got to thinking about my 2010 posts, 301 in number and how many of them where written in a red mist...
Now, normally, I have my tongue in my cheek to such a degree that I am somewhat amused by the various nefarious moves of our beloved leaders... with one exception...
I am Absolutely Furious was by far my angriest post of 2010 and heralded a bit of a change which you may or may not have noticed. It was this messing about with my wardrobe by creating folders to hold clothes outside my clothes folder that really got me thinking about withdrawing my financial support of the Lab, which I did two days later.
It was, however, the proposed introduction of Display Names that irritated me most. Nothing I could do, no point in complaining (tho that never stopped me) and no-one to turn to with my frustration, and I still see it as the worst move of 2010. To a certain extent, everything the Boys have done since then has failed to irritate me much, I do feel somewhat distanced from it having two new homes, both InWorldz and my Local OS, NishiLand..... more of that in a future post.
The post that attracted the most irritation from my dear readers, by far, was my Mystified Musings on Madame Mesh which was taken by some to be an anti-mesh post, but was genuinely born out of a certain bewilderment on my part..
The most read post of last year was however my simple Second Life vs. InWorldz posting of building tools with almost twice as many hits as the second most popular post about Wizard Gynoid breaking the world record for space travel.
Other contenders were... Third Life Syndrome and RL Relationships to SL Addiction... all in all it's been a good year for this blog, with returning visitors more than doubling.
Thank You for your support, even tho I do get it wrong a lot of the time....
...as I said before... I'm not writing a PhD here...
Have a great evening.... will write more next year.
:)))
Wednesday, 29 December 2010
A Browser-Based 2011.
There are a great many bloggers at the moment who have chosen this random date-based event to make predictions about 2011. Some have simply repeated everything LL has said and are thus likely to be proved ‘right’, others have seen what a nonsense it is and mocked the whole exercise.
Jung always loved those that speculated about the unknown because they simply manifest their own unconscious in their predictions.
Some of what 2011 has in store for us is not pure speculation though, it is based on visible trends and stated intent, like the stuff LL has ‘promised’ to deliver.
Now, we don’t know for certain that LL has decided to go for The 100 Million Users, but from all their recent moves and changes it seems fair to assume that they want as many people as possible in SL, even at the expense of SL losing it’s lead as the foremost VW.... even if these people are to dim to download a viewer.
Argumentum ad populum is the fallacy that the majority must be right. .... wikipedia gives the following examples...
"The fallacy is [also] common in marketing:
▪ Brand X vacuum cleaners are the country's leading brand; so buy Brand X vacuum cleaners.
▪ Watch Show X - the #1 watched show on television!
Other examples:
▪ Fifty million Elvis fans can't be wrong.
▪ All of my friends are doing it.
▪ In a court of law, the jury vote by majority, therefore they will always make the correct decision.
▪ Google gives more hits when this spelling is applied, therefore this has to be the correct spelling.
▪ Most analysts consider Enron Corporation a well-run company with excellent management, so its common stock is a good investment."
etc... there are more...here
Now, whether it is the desire to conform that makes this fallacy so popular is open to debate, but LL has decided, it seems, that because so many people play StupidVille, then the way to be A More Successful Business is to copy them. Jump on the bandwagon, even if the bandwagon is being driven by fools, even if it may disappear as quickly as it appeared.
So....the browser-based, dumbed down SL is on the cards, we all “know” this as a possible future for SL.
There is another business model which they could have used. If you come to a prominent position in the market but decide that you are a little ahead of the mainstream, you do not have to dumb down to attract more people. LL could have used their lead to consolidate their position and driven full steam ahead to create an untouchable platform where tools, facilities, customer care, etc etc were just so far ahead of the competition that they were ready for when the mainstream caught up (for I fully believe they will one day). Educating the mainstream is a constructive use of an advertising budget.
As it is, it seems to me, based on my experience of 2010, that a large proportion of SL users will become more and more mobile.
SL is not the only game in town, and when the new physics engine is in place in InWorldz, SL will no longer be the best. It will be the biggest for a good while still, but... this preoccupation with numbers is a bit daft.
It is the way of ‘keeping score’.. how many “followers” you have, how many “friends”... these are game rules for the new social media.
Social Media is a false name anyway, there is not much social about Twitter (which is a bulletin board), or Facebook (which is crap), not when you compare the experience to sitting watching the sunset with two or three friends in SL, your feet dangling in a splashing fountain, chatting at length about nothing much.... I am There, and so are my friends.... the number of people on my “friends list” is totally irrelevant, as is concurrency.
This Keeping Score is so Male, anyway..."How many pigs did you kill today?"....yukkk...
So, if I have any prediction for 2011, apart from mesh falling flat and browser-based SL being a flop, it is that IWz slowly jogs past SL while it is asleep (or farming bunnies), like the tortoise and the hare.
Time will tell.
:))
Jung always loved those that speculated about the unknown because they simply manifest their own unconscious in their predictions.
Some of what 2011 has in store for us is not pure speculation though, it is based on visible trends and stated intent, like the stuff LL has ‘promised’ to deliver.
Now, we don’t know for certain that LL has decided to go for The 100 Million Users, but from all their recent moves and changes it seems fair to assume that they want as many people as possible in SL, even at the expense of SL losing it’s lead as the foremost VW.... even if these people are to dim to download a viewer.
Argumentum ad populum is the fallacy that the majority must be right. .... wikipedia gives the following examples...
"The fallacy is [also] common in marketing:
▪ Brand X vacuum cleaners are the country's leading brand; so buy Brand X vacuum cleaners.
▪ Watch Show X - the #1 watched show on television!
Other examples:
▪ Fifty million Elvis fans can't be wrong.
▪ All of my friends are doing it.
▪ In a court of law, the jury vote by majority, therefore they will always make the correct decision.
▪ Google gives more hits when this spelling is applied, therefore this has to be the correct spelling.
▪ Most analysts consider Enron Corporation a well-run company with excellent management, so its common stock is a good investment."
etc... there are more...here
Now, whether it is the desire to conform that makes this fallacy so popular is open to debate, but LL has decided, it seems, that because so many people play StupidVille, then the way to be A More Successful Business is to copy them. Jump on the bandwagon, even if the bandwagon is being driven by fools, even if it may disappear as quickly as it appeared.
So....the browser-based, dumbed down SL is on the cards, we all “know” this as a possible future for SL.
There is another business model which they could have used. If you come to a prominent position in the market but decide that you are a little ahead of the mainstream, you do not have to dumb down to attract more people. LL could have used their lead to consolidate their position and driven full steam ahead to create an untouchable platform where tools, facilities, customer care, etc etc were just so far ahead of the competition that they were ready for when the mainstream caught up (for I fully believe they will one day). Educating the mainstream is a constructive use of an advertising budget.
As it is, it seems to me, based on my experience of 2010, that a large proportion of SL users will become more and more mobile.
SL is not the only game in town, and when the new physics engine is in place in InWorldz, SL will no longer be the best. It will be the biggest for a good while still, but... this preoccupation with numbers is a bit daft.
It is the way of ‘keeping score’.. how many “followers” you have, how many “friends”... these are game rules for the new social media.
Social Media is a false name anyway, there is not much social about Twitter (which is a bulletin board), or Facebook (which is crap), not when you compare the experience to sitting watching the sunset with two or three friends in SL, your feet dangling in a splashing fountain, chatting at length about nothing much.... I am There, and so are my friends.... the number of people on my “friends list” is totally irrelevant, as is concurrency.
This Keeping Score is so Male, anyway..."How many pigs did you kill today?"....yukkk...
So, if I have any prediction for 2011, apart from mesh falling flat and browser-based SL being a flop, it is that IWz slowly jogs past SL while it is asleep (or farming bunnies), like the tortoise and the hare.
Time will tell.
:))
Monday, 27 December 2010
The Xmas Daisy Tree
Great to have plenty of time to mess about and fiddle with textures. This is my latest tree in IWz, also originally grown on my local OS grid. I have just finished reading a chinese book so I may have been a bit influenced, tho the chrysanthemum-like daisy textures were probably enough to get my creative juices flowing in that direction.... tho the trunk is maybe more japanese, to be precise.
It's my first one of the new year, or last of the old, depending how you look at it.... and a great start I think.
:)))
Friday, 24 December 2010
The Black Madonna.
Well, I have used this time of year to bring to mind the fact that Christianity is guilty of an active political cover-up of the initial meaning of the festivities which normally, (i.e. before Christianity gained a widespread following) would have been associated with this time of the year.
As I was at pains to point out in an old blog... “Mary had a baby boy”... the Goddess, from even before Isis, was the ultimate creator of life and the only one who could get us out of this “dying world” pickle at this dark time of the year.
The exploits of the god boys I gave a slightly less intellectual treatment last year....sorry.
The question, or rather phenomenon of the Black Madonna is, however, good to call to mind at this time of year. The lilly-white Virgin does as much harm as good to women, I think, being a ridiculously weak and pious archetype for anyone in their right mind to look up to.
The Black Madonna, and I am not talking about a racially, African/Asian, whatever, different type of female but a black Madonna in the same way that Kali, the Indian goddess is black. I mean black black ... (though probably the RL Mary wasn't that fair skinned either.)..
Kali is a great archetype, being the goddess of creation and destruction. She wears a necklace of skulls and is happy to lead troops into battle... now that’s no wimpy simpering girl.
There are about 500 Black Madonnas found throughout Europe, mostly created around 11th to 15th centuries before the male church got the right hump and started calling strong women ‘witches’. The black colour usually, from a Jungian perspective, denotes an inhabitant of the realms of the unconscious, the night, and as such, by her colour, makes it clear she is not to be confused with real bio-women.... she is a Force of Nature.. and a magician.
There is a certain sexuality connected to the Black Madonna which, of course, the male church was very unhappy about, but, as an archetype she was impossible to eradicate. So, they survived, the various depictions, reminiscent of a time when women were given their rightful place as equal to, and superior to (in some arts) men in a more natural and creative society.
So....drink a toast to the Black Madonna too this Yuletide, the lilly-white wimp gets more than enough praise.
Bottoms up...
:)))
Christmas/festive Greetings
Happy Christmas/solstice/festivities.......
I would like to say thank you to all those great friends who have sent me best wishes for the season, cards, and little gifts and for those who have just made my year so great. It is, after all, friends and people we know who make this such a rewarding place to spend our time.
I've some very old friends who have stood by me through thick and thin over the years and I have been lucky enough to have met new people who have turned out to be pure gold too.
My best wishes and warm thoughts go out to you all..
...and just to keep you up to date...
...and to show a little of what I have been working on... this is the Christmas Daisy which is still a work in progress. I have been using my snow days to upload a whole new set of textures which you will hopefully get to see next year.
The holiday time should give me a chance to do some new things for the new year.
Don't eat too much..
..yeh, right...
:))))
XXXX
Thursday, 23 December 2010
What did Santa drop off early??
Well, a rather large packet in the shape of a new CEO has been dropped on the table as early Festive Gift, it seems.
Rod Humble, from the Sims, previously is joining LL as our new CEO.
Now, lots of jokes have already been Tweeted about his name and I am not gonna go adding to them in this respectable news media. I don't see anything amusing about being called Rod Linden....(*attempts to stifle giggles*)
My feeling is that it is probably too late to make much difference whoever is CEO, but maybe I'm just being a bit negative...full details here, and the official blog...here.
He certainly has the experience to make a difference ....if he is allowed to, or wants to.
In an interview with Wired (while working on the Sims) back in March he said...
"Games have been my chosen form of entertainment and art. Now I'm running a label, and so I'm less able to focus on small very, very creative games. I've got a job to bring in a large amount of revenue each year. So I decided that I'm going to do all the weird stuff that I know I won't make any money off of at home. That's the appropriate place to do it. My day job is making entertainment—this is a noble profession and will make millions of people happy. At home, I like to make games that are art, and I don't care if the audience is just one person. It doesn't matter if a dozen people like it or a half million, I'm just focused on the art itself."
Well, we will see how the games experience comes to play here... and, he can't be all bad if he's a Brit....
Can he? (suddenly has visions of nasty Tony Blair....and wonders if that was a wise thing to say after all.)
Oh well...
:)))
Rod Humble, from the Sims, previously is joining LL as our new CEO.
Now, lots of jokes have already been Tweeted about his name and I am not gonna go adding to them in this respectable news media. I don't see anything amusing about being called Rod Linden....(*attempts to stifle giggles*)
My feeling is that it is probably too late to make much difference whoever is CEO, but maybe I'm just being a bit negative...full details here, and the official blog...here.
He certainly has the experience to make a difference ....if he is allowed to, or wants to.
In an interview with Wired (while working on the Sims) back in March he said...
"Games have been my chosen form of entertainment and art. Now I'm running a label, and so I'm less able to focus on small very, very creative games. I've got a job to bring in a large amount of revenue each year. So I decided that I'm going to do all the weird stuff that I know I won't make any money off of at home. That's the appropriate place to do it. My day job is making entertainment—this is a noble profession and will make millions of people happy. At home, I like to make games that are art, and I don't care if the audience is just one person. It doesn't matter if a dozen people like it or a half million, I'm just focused on the art itself."
Well, we will see how the games experience comes to play here... and, he can't be all bad if he's a Brit....
Can he? (suddenly has visions of nasty Tony Blair....and wonders if that was a wise thing to say after all.)
Oh well...
:)))
Monday, 20 December 2010
In the deep midwinter....
Day One of my Local Grid, Soror Nishi Land, and I have started already on the heavy landscaping. Altho you can't get a scale of it yet, these 256 meter rock stacks are occupying a whole sim ... with the other three sims sunk under water... It's gonna be a very interesting terrain.
So, of course, it takes a very short time to upload 1000 textures as no ISP is involved and that gives me even more freedom with experimenting which textures fit best. I used this new workshop to create my first piece, today...as seen below...it's my entry for the UWA thingy: December.
so...Day Two... it's the Grove of Lanternfruit Trees... and the first tree created here.
Now, it is of course, the lunar eclipse....full details courtesy of Miso....here. ... and on the verge of the longest night it's great to realise that summer starts here....sort of.
So, with all good will to you all, with good wishes and kind thoughts I pray for light, laughter and levity for everyone both in this season and the following year.
i.e. *hugs*
:))
Sunday, 19 December 2010
Sunday, Snow and a million new users.
In a parallel universe I could be stuck in the snow in my car on the way to a closed airport where I could wait for a day or two in misery for my flight to Marrakech but instead I'm at home, warm and well fed.
It's interesting how fate twists and turns, like the weather. This our second RL snow fall before Xmas, and quite unusual, and another reason why you'll find no snow on my sim. I'm not a great fan. Give me coral sands, green coconut juice and a Thai curry while I gaze out over turquoise seas...*sigh*..
Meanwhile back in the Real (virtual) World I have been making an InWorldz version of the Tree of Light, as pictured below..
It is one (of many) of my trees that looks best as a forest or copse....so it may well get moved...
Meandering around in my brain today is this whole question of 'growth', after reading Botgirls post about how the numbers of people using VWs hasn't grown. She argues, eloquently, for the introduction of a browser-based strategy linked to social media in order to get the growth of VWs back on track.
I think that LL is fully committed to this and it's only a question of time. All LL's recent changes have been pointing in that direction, and I have no doubt that the investors are all hungry for the advertising revenue that will provide.
Now, I have to ask, as it is natural to see the world from my own vantage point..."How will that effect me?"...
As far as I can see this very strategy has already had a negative effect on the development of the platform.... specifically in this way.....Tools... As the realisation dawned that a very small percentage of the computer-using public had computers good enough to access SL/VWs, development was frozen on the expansion of the tools provided for inworld creation.
As an example.. it took Imprudence to include Torley's windlight settings as standard, and Qarl's prim alignment tool was only available once he had left LL. For those that would argue that Mesh Is The New Saviour, recent SLikileaks tells us that mesh will be 'trottled'...i.e. less animated....details here.... sensible, but another limitation to the animation of mesh, which, as we know will not be flexible.
Chat may eventually get sorted in the new year, after 3 or more years of people complaining.... not strictly a building tool, I admit, but surely one of the things that would have been sorted if the platform was uppermost in anyone's mind.
Well, no point in me going on and listing all the broken stuff, everyone knows that. My point is that instead of making SL better and better, all activity has been directed into making SL bigger and bigger.
I don't think this has been to my benefit.
I don't see that putting another million users onto a broken or fractured grid is going to improve my life either. Casual users aren't going to buy stuff, so there won't be benefits for most businesses, except advertising of course.
...which leads me to the Cyber Bunny Wars... fully outlined in Tateru's post .... we have the Big Boys (or girls in this case apparently) fighting tooth and nail for market share. As in the high street, small shop owners have withered and died as the huge Malls take a higher and higher percentage of all consumption... this will be encouraged and promoted by the Lab too.
So...back to basics... a million new users will not....
Reduce lag...
Improve building tools..
Increase my sales..
Make a community improvement...
They will, however...
Increase advertising revenue...
Increase the value of LL shares...
Boost the larger SL companies..
The idea that music events would have greater attendance is dependent on a sim being able to carry more than 20 people before the lag sinks all activity in syrup. ....which incidentally is something that InWorldz (barely 18 months old) is already ahead of LL on.... along with better building tools.
So my argument with LL is bigger is an illusion, you need to be better first.
I don't expect anyone is listening..... or if they are, they have already committed to a plan for the future which permits no U turn.
InWorldz is tho...
:))
It's interesting how fate twists and turns, like the weather. This our second RL snow fall before Xmas, and quite unusual, and another reason why you'll find no snow on my sim. I'm not a great fan. Give me coral sands, green coconut juice and a Thai curry while I gaze out over turquoise seas...*sigh*..
Meanwhile back in the Real (virtual) World I have been making an InWorldz version of the Tree of Light, as pictured below..
It is one (of many) of my trees that looks best as a forest or copse....so it may well get moved...
Meandering around in my brain today is this whole question of 'growth', after reading Botgirls post about how the numbers of people using VWs hasn't grown. She argues, eloquently, for the introduction of a browser-based strategy linked to social media in order to get the growth of VWs back on track.
I think that LL is fully committed to this and it's only a question of time. All LL's recent changes have been pointing in that direction, and I have no doubt that the investors are all hungry for the advertising revenue that will provide.
Now, I have to ask, as it is natural to see the world from my own vantage point..."How will that effect me?"...
As far as I can see this very strategy has already had a negative effect on the development of the platform.... specifically in this way.....Tools... As the realisation dawned that a very small percentage of the computer-using public had computers good enough to access SL/VWs, development was frozen on the expansion of the tools provided for inworld creation.
As an example.. it took Imprudence to include Torley's windlight settings as standard, and Qarl's prim alignment tool was only available once he had left LL. For those that would argue that Mesh Is The New Saviour, recent SLikileaks tells us that mesh will be 'trottled'...i.e. less animated....details here.... sensible, but another limitation to the animation of mesh, which, as we know will not be flexible.
Chat may eventually get sorted in the new year, after 3 or more years of people complaining.... not strictly a building tool, I admit, but surely one of the things that would have been sorted if the platform was uppermost in anyone's mind.
Well, no point in me going on and listing all the broken stuff, everyone knows that. My point is that instead of making SL better and better, all activity has been directed into making SL bigger and bigger.
I don't think this has been to my benefit.
I don't see that putting another million users onto a broken or fractured grid is going to improve my life either. Casual users aren't going to buy stuff, so there won't be benefits for most businesses, except advertising of course.
...which leads me to the Cyber Bunny Wars... fully outlined in Tateru's post .... we have the Big Boys (or girls in this case apparently) fighting tooth and nail for market share. As in the high street, small shop owners have withered and died as the huge Malls take a higher and higher percentage of all consumption... this will be encouraged and promoted by the Lab too.
So...back to basics... a million new users will not....
Reduce lag...
Improve building tools..
Increase my sales..
Make a community improvement...
They will, however...
Increase advertising revenue...
Increase the value of LL shares...
Boost the larger SL companies..
The idea that music events would have greater attendance is dependent on a sim being able to carry more than 20 people before the lag sinks all activity in syrup. ....which incidentally is something that InWorldz (barely 18 months old) is already ahead of LL on.... along with better building tools.
So my argument with LL is bigger is an illusion, you need to be better first.
I don't expect anyone is listening..... or if they are, they have already committed to a plan for the future which permits no U turn.
InWorldz is tho...
:))
Friday, 17 December 2010
Local Soror Nishi Land
Well, I started about 10 O'clock, I first downloaded Mono, altho the actual bit I needed to download was linked in the actual read.me notes, so I could have downloaded the actual Mac sim-on-a-stick first.
A guy called Daniel had done all the hard work ...here....(so download this first).
Then download Mono....follow the link.
...and X11 you will need if you haven't got it running already...I did, cos I use Gimp.
This was my third attempt at getting a local sim to work on my Mac, but the first time I had used Daniels download. I had used an "easy" set of instructions before and had failed. The only mistake I made was trying to close the Text Edit/Terminal thingy programme...that has to stay open it seems...it's the start up file...
Two hours later I stopped for a spritzer (yes, it's early....so what) having 4 sims, and new avatar called Test User, and 1200 sculpt maps already uploaded.
Now...4 free sims....what can I do with 60k ++ free prims, I wonder.
Let's see.....
:))
ToS
Well, we have all signed the new Terms of Service and, for once, I thought I would make another attempt at seeing what it was I signed.
So, searching the SL site didn’t get me very far...search produced some problems people had been having in May signing on after the ToS had shown on their screens.... Eventually, tho I found it here...
But, of course, there is no way of knowing how it changed from the last time I signed it... that would amount to a customer service feature which we know LL is allergic to.
As before, I couldn’t get past this following clause..
"Linden Lab has the right to change and/or eliminate any aspect(s), features or functionality of the Service as it sees fit at any time without notice, and Linden Lab makes no commitment, express or implied, to maintain or continue any aspect of the Service. You acknowledge that your use of the Service is subject to this risk and that you knowingly assume it and make your decisions to participate in the Service, contribute Content and spend your money accordingly."
I mean, that makes the whole exercise a complete waste of time.
They, could just as easily condense the whole thing to.. “I agree I do not have a leg to stand on and LL can do whatever it wants, whenever it wants.”
Anyway I just clicked on it, like 99.9% (maybe more) of all users, and because of this I missed the paragraph 15.z which states.
"Linden Lab has the right to harvest any or all of your internal organs for a profitable little side line now that the cyber bunnies have failed to make us rich. You also agree to any or all sexual favours which Linden Lab (and its officers, directors, shareholders, agents, subsidiaries, and employees) may from time to time require."
As a foot note.... breaking news... Linden Lab Jack's off.
Oh well, that’s life.
So, searching the SL site didn’t get me very far...search produced some problems people had been having in May signing on after the ToS had shown on their screens.... Eventually, tho I found it here...
But, of course, there is no way of knowing how it changed from the last time I signed it... that would amount to a customer service feature which we know LL is allergic to.
As before, I couldn’t get past this following clause..
"Linden Lab has the right to change and/or eliminate any aspect(s), features or functionality of the Service as it sees fit at any time without notice, and Linden Lab makes no commitment, express or implied, to maintain or continue any aspect of the Service. You acknowledge that your use of the Service is subject to this risk and that you knowingly assume it and make your decisions to participate in the Service, contribute Content and spend your money accordingly."
I mean, that makes the whole exercise a complete waste of time.
They, could just as easily condense the whole thing to.. “I agree I do not have a leg to stand on and LL can do whatever it wants, whenever it wants.”
Anyway I just clicked on it, like 99.9% (maybe more) of all users, and because of this I missed the paragraph 15.z which states.
"Linden Lab has the right to harvest any or all of your internal organs for a profitable little side line now that the cyber bunnies have failed to make us rich. You also agree to any or all sexual favours which Linden Lab (and its officers, directors, shareholders, agents, subsidiaries, and employees) may from time to time require."
As a foot note.... breaking news... Linden Lab Jack's off.
Oh well, that’s life.
Thursday, 16 December 2010
Julian, the Congressman and the spotty clerk.
I watched most of the congressional hearing about WikiLeaks and the whole Official Secret affair.
I was very impressed by the quality of the guys who were testifying, all pretty learned men, with the “Let’s Nail Assange” party being slightly outnumbered by the “Relax, Guys” party.
The congressmen and women didn’t impress me much but then, politicians don’t really do it for me in any country.
The amazing thing, I found, is that it is gradually becoming obvious, even to congressmen that some spotty 20 year old clerk is responsible for stamping anything he’s given with the TOP SECRET stamp, on a ‘better to be safe than sorry’ basis.
It is also obvious that their best chance of being informed about vital information is via the press rather than via official requests for information.
America has an immense pile of ‘secrets’, most of it complete crap, that no-one is ever going to be able to work their way through, many million documents more than 30 years old, and that shit pile is growing daily.
There were those that pointed out that secrecy had cost many more lives than leaks and the hatred that those secret lies have engendered have done far more to endanger national security than anything WikiLeaks could ever do. Those politicians claiming that Assange has blood on his hands should take a look at their own.
Now, it seems like the New York Times, Julian Assange and I are all journalists, and as such are protected by the first amendment, Whistle-blower legislation and the hypocrisy that allows the White House to leak secrets but no-one else. So, he’s gonna be difficult to nail. Trying to get Manning to testify against Assange to prove Assange solicited the information, or colluded, hasn’t gone that well, as Manning refuses to co-operate, so far.
This, maybe, is the reason why it was the British Prosecution wanted to keep him locked up.. the US is buying time by calling in a few favours. The Swedish prosecution is mainly using Assange to boost their own political careers as there is a major problem with rape incidents in Sweden. Local politicians want to show that they are championing the cause.
So, it seems that congress will have a very interesting debate or two .... one, about the overclassification of every bit of crap that those in power want to hide... and secondly, about whether they want to intimidate all journalists and thereby alienate their own electorate.
That means, for me, that Assange has already changed US ( and other nations’) politics for the better.
When WikiMania finally subsides, maybe Time magazine will grow some balls and give Assange the recognition he deserves (which the public already recognises)... before he wins the Noble Peace Prize.
As I wrote in my last post on this topic... the weak are being spotlighted.
:))
I was very impressed by the quality of the guys who were testifying, all pretty learned men, with the “Let’s Nail Assange” party being slightly outnumbered by the “Relax, Guys” party.
The congressmen and women didn’t impress me much but then, politicians don’t really do it for me in any country.
The amazing thing, I found, is that it is gradually becoming obvious, even to congressmen that some spotty 20 year old clerk is responsible for stamping anything he’s given with the TOP SECRET stamp, on a ‘better to be safe than sorry’ basis.
It is also obvious that their best chance of being informed about vital information is via the press rather than via official requests for information.
America has an immense pile of ‘secrets’, most of it complete crap, that no-one is ever going to be able to work their way through, many million documents more than 30 years old, and that shit pile is growing daily.
There were those that pointed out that secrecy had cost many more lives than leaks and the hatred that those secret lies have engendered have done far more to endanger national security than anything WikiLeaks could ever do. Those politicians claiming that Assange has blood on his hands should take a look at their own.
Now, it seems like the New York Times, Julian Assange and I are all journalists, and as such are protected by the first amendment, Whistle-blower legislation and the hypocrisy that allows the White House to leak secrets but no-one else. So, he’s gonna be difficult to nail. Trying to get Manning to testify against Assange to prove Assange solicited the information, or colluded, hasn’t gone that well, as Manning refuses to co-operate, so far.
This, maybe, is the reason why it was the British Prosecution wanted to keep him locked up.. the US is buying time by calling in a few favours. The Swedish prosecution is mainly using Assange to boost their own political careers as there is a major problem with rape incidents in Sweden. Local politicians want to show that they are championing the cause.
So, it seems that congress will have a very interesting debate or two .... one, about the overclassification of every bit of crap that those in power want to hide... and secondly, about whether they want to intimidate all journalists and thereby alienate their own electorate.
That means, for me, that Assange has already changed US ( and other nations’) politics for the better.
When WikiMania finally subsides, maybe Time magazine will grow some balls and give Assange the recognition he deserves (which the public already recognises)... before he wins the Noble Peace Prize.
As I wrote in my last post on this topic... the weak are being spotlighted.
:))
Tuesday, 14 December 2010
Lots of bits..
Well, in no particular order.....stuff:
Last week I popped along to Kelly Yap's Newcomers and Friends Gallery ... here.. to see Miso's photography work. Miso is doing a mass of shows at the moment while moving house and probably X number of other multitasking events. Full details of all her 6 shows....here.
...anyway, while I was there I had a look around, and, wow, it's a great gallery. Upstairs I was very happy to see Penelope Parx's sculpture, particularly the Resistance Is Not Futile and the one pictured below... I had not seen them since UWA and was glad to see that I was right at the time (in my own mind (always)) that they are great pieces of work.
...I also was pleased to see work by some 'old' favs... namely, Trill, Aliz, Corcosman, Fiona Leitner as well as people who's work I didn't know, the "newcomers and friends".... Neeks Karu, Alcibedes Zemeni, Louly Loon, and others....sorry if I missed a few, but it is quite a collection.
Congrats to Kelly for getting so much good stuff in one place.
I'm gonna be planting a few trees there in January, which will be cool.
And... UWA, Jayjay tp'ed me over to see this great piece...
It's by Faery Sola ..:)) very well done. I would be surprised if this doesn't walk away with a prize in the next UWA round.
Well, kissing me while asleep...it sort of reminded me of another Ozzie who got into trouble... Apmel got a video of some of the pro-Assange demonstrations in SL... here.
Further news on RMB City and the new mayor from NWN for those interested...here.
On the InWorldz news round...well, Elenia has posted a personal account of the first months of IWz ...here. I just love the openness of it all.
I was also invited to see YaDNi's new build , he is recreating the staggering cathedral build by Gaudi, Sagrada Familia, a building which in RL is still not finished.. some Flickr photos here.
Then Thirza Ember has been grid hyperhopping with the Pathfinder group in an amazing trip which she documents ...here. It is just a small band of intrepid travellers so far, but they are the real pioneers, currently.
...and for the technically minded...well...Kirsten has more good news on the TPV front with a new release (for Macs too...Kirsten is a gem)...details here, along with an extensive report, courtesy of Tateru Nino, about client detection systems, which some have started to use to protect their shops.. (crap apparently).. details here.
So, plenty going on at the moment,
.... that should keep you busy for a while..
:))
Last week I popped along to Kelly Yap's Newcomers and Friends Gallery ... here.. to see Miso's photography work. Miso is doing a mass of shows at the moment while moving house and probably X number of other multitasking events. Full details of all her 6 shows....here.
...anyway, while I was there I had a look around, and, wow, it's a great gallery. Upstairs I was very happy to see Penelope Parx's sculpture, particularly the Resistance Is Not Futile and the one pictured below... I had not seen them since UWA and was glad to see that I was right at the time (in my own mind (always)) that they are great pieces of work.
...I also was pleased to see work by some 'old' favs... namely, Trill, Aliz, Corcosman, Fiona Leitner as well as people who's work I didn't know, the "newcomers and friends".... Neeks Karu, Alcibedes Zemeni, Louly Loon, and others....sorry if I missed a few, but it is quite a collection.
Congrats to Kelly for getting so much good stuff in one place.
I'm gonna be planting a few trees there in January, which will be cool.
And... UWA, Jayjay tp'ed me over to see this great piece...
It's by Faery Sola ..:)) very well done. I would be surprised if this doesn't walk away with a prize in the next UWA round.
Well, kissing me while asleep...it sort of reminded me of another Ozzie who got into trouble... Apmel got a video of some of the pro-Assange demonstrations in SL... here.
Further news on RMB City and the new mayor from NWN for those interested...here.
On the InWorldz news round...well, Elenia has posted a personal account of the first months of IWz ...here. I just love the openness of it all.
I was also invited to see YaDNi's new build , he is recreating the staggering cathedral build by Gaudi, Sagrada Familia, a building which in RL is still not finished.. some Flickr photos here.
Then Thirza Ember has been grid hyperhopping with the Pathfinder group in an amazing trip which she documents ...here. It is just a small band of intrepid travellers so far, but they are the real pioneers, currently.
...and for the technically minded...well...Kirsten has more good news on the TPV front with a new release (for Macs too...Kirsten is a gem)...details here, along with an extensive report, courtesy of Tateru Nino, about client detection systems, which some have started to use to protect their shops.. (crap apparently).. details here.
So, plenty going on at the moment,
.... that should keep you busy for a while..
:))
Monday, 13 December 2010
Blog and a shot.
Whiskey Shots has, as last week, thrown out a challenge to Inworlders to write some tips for a new blogger on the art of blogging, (if indeed it is an art) and to publish your first Inworldz picture of yourself....
Well, I'm not exactly sure about blogging, it's not something I normally think about, so it's probably good to exercise the little grey cells...and see..
My first reaction is to say..."don't have a plan". I have no desire to be a journalist or to make 'something' of this blog, I blog because it's a way of clarifying what I think about stuff, or to share stuff, or to keep people up to date with what I've been doing. I blog because I like doing so. When I am feeling flat, I don't blog.
My Only Rule would be ...don't use your blog to hurt someone. I immediately stop following anyone who is spiteful or bitchy about someone else, and I would expect my readers to do the same. Although.... I feel no reason to pull any punches directed at LL, as this is the only outlet I have for my frustration. There is no democratic channel I can use to discuss stuff with LL, so this blog is my soapbox.
I try to blog different points of view....for example....if 'everyone' is saying Mesh/Philip/Cloud SL is the New Messiah, I will want to explore the opposite viewpoint because most things in life have two sides. Similarly if a famous artist has 5 different posts written on their work, I will look for a lesser know artist to blog about, unless one of my fav. artists has a big show which isn't being covered very well.
I never delete a post even tho I have been, in my first year, pressured into withdrawing a criticism, I stood firm. Far better to apologise for having made a mistake than self-censor (except in the case of My Only Rule). I am quick to judge and quick to apologise. I don't mind being wrong... I'm not writing the Bible.
My "boring little melodrama" like yours will attract its own followers and those that hate it...that's life.
I'm sitting here with a white wine spritzer, I have time, and I let the words out. Sometimes I spend a lot of time thinking about a post, and sometimes I don't. If every post is a 4 hour marathon, I'm not gonna manage 950 (nearly) posts.
I really like the blogging community, those that blog and those that comment. They are for the most part people who think, have opinions and are fairly eloquent. Quite a few people I have met thro blogging and have turned out to be good friends. It's like an extended IM.
Now, of course, after having blogged for a while I can easily look back to my first day in InWorldz....blogged ...here
...and apart from full-blown noobness, my first picture is this :
....so.... enjoy blogging, if you have a mind to, and write about stuff you like
it's easy... like chatting.
:)))
Well, I'm not exactly sure about blogging, it's not something I normally think about, so it's probably good to exercise the little grey cells...and see..
My first reaction is to say..."don't have a plan". I have no desire to be a journalist or to make 'something' of this blog, I blog because it's a way of clarifying what I think about stuff, or to share stuff, or to keep people up to date with what I've been doing. I blog because I like doing so. When I am feeling flat, I don't blog.
My Only Rule would be ...don't use your blog to hurt someone. I immediately stop following anyone who is spiteful or bitchy about someone else, and I would expect my readers to do the same. Although.... I feel no reason to pull any punches directed at LL, as this is the only outlet I have for my frustration. There is no democratic channel I can use to discuss stuff with LL, so this blog is my soapbox.
I try to blog different points of view....for example....if 'everyone' is saying Mesh/Philip/Cloud SL is the New Messiah, I will want to explore the opposite viewpoint because most things in life have two sides. Similarly if a famous artist has 5 different posts written on their work, I will look for a lesser know artist to blog about, unless one of my fav. artists has a big show which isn't being covered very well.
I never delete a post even tho I have been, in my first year, pressured into withdrawing a criticism, I stood firm. Far better to apologise for having made a mistake than self-censor (except in the case of My Only Rule). I am quick to judge and quick to apologise. I don't mind being wrong... I'm not writing the Bible.
My "boring little melodrama" like yours will attract its own followers and those that hate it...that's life.
I'm sitting here with a white wine spritzer, I have time, and I let the words out. Sometimes I spend a lot of time thinking about a post, and sometimes I don't. If every post is a 4 hour marathon, I'm not gonna manage 950 (nearly) posts.
I really like the blogging community, those that blog and those that comment. They are for the most part people who think, have opinions and are fairly eloquent. Quite a few people I have met thro blogging and have turned out to be good friends. It's like an extended IM.
Now, of course, after having blogged for a while I can easily look back to my first day in InWorldz....blogged ...here
...and apart from full-blown noobness, my first picture is this :
....so.... enjoy blogging, if you have a mind to, and write about stuff you like
it's easy... like chatting.
:)))
Saturday, 11 December 2010
Floating Islands in InWorldz.
I figured there might be some who would like to make their own floating islands, as, for me, they are far more attractive than a sky box..
...so these two colours (so far) of copy/mod island are for sale up at around 350 meters on Rainbow Country, my sim, for 300 Iz (around 180 L$) and....if anyone wants a finished, commissioned island complex....just ask..
Meanwhile a little nearer to the ground I have been carrying on with my build. Still a good way to go, but I am getting there... All these flowers are flexi, so, when the wind arrives in January it will make quite a show.
I have generally tidied up and sorted some things out so it's a bit more ship-shape than it has been...
Pop over anytime you are always welcome.
":))
History of Information...... part x...
An excellent, if somewhat long, (it's an hour) documentary of the background of Wikileaks and their recent activities.
...and, one reason we should all be interested, as Internet users, is the control of cloud hosting services being controlled by politicians with their own demented take on information freedom....as outlined ....here.
The words that more or less end the swedish documentary are well chosen..."Democracy without transparency is just an empty word."
:))
...and, one reason we should all be interested, as Internet users, is the control of cloud hosting services being controlled by politicians with their own demented take on information freedom....as outlined ....here.
The words that more or less end the swedish documentary are well chosen..."Democracy without transparency is just an empty word."
:))
Friday, 10 December 2010
Identity.... let’s get this straight.
There is an increasingly annoying misuse of the word Identity.
Now, as with most of my blog posts I am not setting myself up as an authority although some people tend to skip over caveats I nearly always pepper an opinionated post with and get hot under the collar because I state my case forcefully in an attempt to stimulate debate.
So...back to identity. There have been more than one reference to people assuming different or multiple identities in SL. NWN, in a terrible post recently gave space to some armchair psychologist talking about post modern thought. Now, the very phrase ‘post modern thought’ is enough to get me ranting, but my distaste of the sort of inane thinking that can lead to, as an example, Wagner James Au saying..”I'm a logical empiricist, scientific triumphalist mofo” will have to be the subject of another post.
This guy, Robert, talks in a video (which is cringe making) of the theory that “an individual may define themselves as any multiple number of identities”.
Now, my argument is NOT with Robert but with the continued misuse of the word Identity. We recently saw a show in SL which fell into the same trap, namely a misunderstanding of Identity as a concept.
[wikipedia: In philosophy, identity, from Latin: identitas (“sameness”), is the exact sameness of things. According to Leibniz's law two things sharing every attribute are not only similar, but are the same thing. The concept of sameness has given rise to the general concept of identity, as in personal identity and social identity.]
Identity is, by definition, something you can only have one of.
[wikipedia...Personal continuity is an important part of identity; this is the process of ensuring that the quality of the mind are consistent from moment to the next, generally regarded to comprise qualities such as self-awareness, sentience, sapience, and the ability to perceive the relationship between oneself and one's environment.]
You cannot assume a different identity by putting on a different frock, or avatar. Your Identity (despite the misnamed “identity theft”) cannot be stolen, traded, changed, or swapped. You are you...even in a coma you have the same identity. Only on death will you cease to be you, although all your previous worldy actions, etc. will still continue to be accredited to the Identity that was you.
So.....Is it Personality? Can you say you assume a different, or multiple, personalities in avatar form. I personally think not. Your basic personality doesn’t change, if you are a nice person in RL, chances are that will shine through whatever avatar you wear..... and a fool will always be a fool, that we know for certain.
Aspects of your personality DO change when you wear different clothes/avatar, your basic personality doesn’t.
So...what of Role Play? Well, an actor doesn’t change his identity when he plays Hamlet, he may try to identify with that role, but he will have the same Identity and personality when the play finishes as he did at the start. He may have had insights into aspects of his psyche through doing so, as we do when assuming an avatar, or a role.
The clothes you wear, the avatars you wear, are a facade you present to the public, a manufactured You which is normally called a Persona....now... personas we have many of. Daughter, wife, mother, employee, party goer, etc, etc. the list, for a healthy person is endless, we adapt to the situation and act in an appropriate manner.
..But....it’s alway Me. It’s never another identity, I don’t become Wizzy...ever....and should I change my name to Wizzy, that still doesn’t change my Identity or my personality.
Now, it could be said...’well, you know what I mean, why be so particular?’ but it’s only when you listen to someone like Robert that you understand how confused people can become when they are not precise in their use of concepts.
The things we discover through living life as avatars are aspects of our selves, we do not discover new selves or new identities.
Your Self and your Identity you are stuck with, and you only ever have one of each.... by definition.
:)))
Now, as with most of my blog posts I am not setting myself up as an authority although some people tend to skip over caveats I nearly always pepper an opinionated post with and get hot under the collar because I state my case forcefully in an attempt to stimulate debate.
So...back to identity. There have been more than one reference to people assuming different or multiple identities in SL. NWN, in a terrible post recently gave space to some armchair psychologist talking about post modern thought. Now, the very phrase ‘post modern thought’ is enough to get me ranting, but my distaste of the sort of inane thinking that can lead to, as an example, Wagner James Au saying..”I'm a logical empiricist, scientific triumphalist mofo” will have to be the subject of another post.
This guy, Robert, talks in a video (which is cringe making) of the theory that “an individual may define themselves as any multiple number of identities”.
Now, my argument is NOT with Robert but with the continued misuse of the word Identity. We recently saw a show in SL which fell into the same trap, namely a misunderstanding of Identity as a concept.
[wikipedia: In philosophy, identity, from Latin: identitas (“sameness”), is the exact sameness of things. According to Leibniz's law two things sharing every attribute are not only similar, but are the same thing. The concept of sameness has given rise to the general concept of identity, as in personal identity and social identity.]
Identity is, by definition, something you can only have one of.
[wikipedia...Personal continuity is an important part of identity; this is the process of ensuring that the quality of the mind are consistent from moment to the next, generally regarded to comprise qualities such as self-awareness, sentience, sapience, and the ability to perceive the relationship between oneself and one's environment.]
You cannot assume a different identity by putting on a different frock, or avatar. Your Identity (despite the misnamed “identity theft”) cannot be stolen, traded, changed, or swapped. You are you...even in a coma you have the same identity. Only on death will you cease to be you, although all your previous worldy actions, etc. will still continue to be accredited to the Identity that was you.
So.....Is it Personality? Can you say you assume a different, or multiple, personalities in avatar form. I personally think not. Your basic personality doesn’t change, if you are a nice person in RL, chances are that will shine through whatever avatar you wear..... and a fool will always be a fool, that we know for certain.
Aspects of your personality DO change when you wear different clothes/avatar, your basic personality doesn’t.
So...what of Role Play? Well, an actor doesn’t change his identity when he plays Hamlet, he may try to identify with that role, but he will have the same Identity and personality when the play finishes as he did at the start. He may have had insights into aspects of his psyche through doing so, as we do when assuming an avatar, or a role.
The clothes you wear, the avatars you wear, are a facade you present to the public, a manufactured You which is normally called a Persona....now... personas we have many of. Daughter, wife, mother, employee, party goer, etc, etc. the list, for a healthy person is endless, we adapt to the situation and act in an appropriate manner.
..But....it’s alway Me. It’s never another identity, I don’t become Wizzy...ever....and should I change my name to Wizzy, that still doesn’t change my Identity or my personality.
Now, it could be said...’well, you know what I mean, why be so particular?’ but it’s only when you listen to someone like Robert that you understand how confused people can become when they are not precise in their use of concepts.
The things we discover through living life as avatars are aspects of our selves, we do not discover new selves or new identities.
Your Self and your Identity you are stuck with, and you only ever have one of each.... by definition.
:)))
Thursday, 9 December 2010
Ahhh.... a touch of humour...
Always good to have a bit of humour, and, if someone wasn't spending their nights in jail it would seem more like a ridiculous farce....(thx to paisleybeeb for the retweet)....
Well... been building in Iwz, and slaving in RL... all bits of my typists body hurt...so...will recoup after tomorrow and be back with a swing and a spring in my step come the weekend... til then....
hugs.
:))
Tuesday, 7 December 2010
Julian Assange, Shame on U.K. and Sweden.
Henry David Thoreau wrote, apart from On Walden Pond, an essay on Civil Disobedience (1849). The government, according to Thoreau, is not just a little corrupt or unjust in the course of doing its otherwise-important work, but in fact the government is primarily an agent of corruption and injustice.[Wikipedia]
He went on to say...
"Under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man is also a prison.… where the State places those who are not with her, but against her,– the only house in a slave State in which a free man can abide with honor.…"
...and he went to jail for his beliefs, it wasn't just rhetoric.
Now, most of us aren't that strong, or don't get a chance to show how strong we are, but Assange, figurehead for WikiLeaks is in jail on trumped up charges which basically makes him a political prisoner.
British justice, supposedly the finest in the world, has refused to give bail to a man who offered £180,000 security (his admirers did) because he is wanted in Sweden FOR QUESTIONING, (where the senior prosecutor discharged his case a long time ago, in fact declared it ridiculous). No charges have been made, only allegations. He has not been arrested. His lawyer has not been shown any information regarding the charges.
He is in prison. His lawyer has been refused access to see him for the next 5 days.
Now in the face of strength, the weakness of the British Court and the Swedish Government are just more manifest.....and the large capitalist companies have shown their weakness too.
According to the Tweetosphere.......you can send a donation to the KKK through all the companies, like Paypal, who are now refusing to take donations to WikiLeaks. The weak cower.....
....and unsurprisingly a band of hackers called "Anonymous" has now decided to give the companies that have been trying to make WikiLeaks life difficult, a taste of their own medicine (cyber attacks and DoS). I can't blame them. Resistance is not futile.
The Good Old Days have gone, because of the Internet, when governments can stop their dirty laundry being washed in public. They no longer control the flow of information, though many of them would like to. Information is power, and it's no longer solely in the hands of governments and media moguls as it used to be.
I expect there will be attempts to 'rectify' this... moves to control the flow of such embarrassing revelations, and the Party Faithful like Palin will recommend that whistle-blowers be "hunted down like terrorists". Some like Clinton will try and spin the facts to make Assange the enemy, this is how governments work, we are used to it, even though we see through it...but.... the Internet is sacred. My right to access all the good and bad it has to offer is a thing worth fighting for.
Expect things to heat up on the Internet control debate...... though I expect the Censors to lose.
:ll
He went on to say...
"Under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man is also a prison.… where the State places those who are not with her, but against her,– the only house in a slave State in which a free man can abide with honor.…"
...and he went to jail for his beliefs, it wasn't just rhetoric.
Now, most of us aren't that strong, or don't get a chance to show how strong we are, but Assange, figurehead for WikiLeaks is in jail on trumped up charges which basically makes him a political prisoner.
British justice, supposedly the finest in the world, has refused to give bail to a man who offered £180,000 security (his admirers did) because he is wanted in Sweden FOR QUESTIONING, (where the senior prosecutor discharged his case a long time ago, in fact declared it ridiculous). No charges have been made, only allegations. He has not been arrested. His lawyer has not been shown any information regarding the charges.
He is in prison. His lawyer has been refused access to see him for the next 5 days.
Now in the face of strength, the weakness of the British Court and the Swedish Government are just more manifest.....and the large capitalist companies have shown their weakness too.
According to the Tweetosphere.......you can send a donation to the KKK through all the companies, like Paypal, who are now refusing to take donations to WikiLeaks. The weak cower.....
....and unsurprisingly a band of hackers called "Anonymous" has now decided to give the companies that have been trying to make WikiLeaks life difficult, a taste of their own medicine (cyber attacks and DoS). I can't blame them. Resistance is not futile.
The Good Old Days have gone, because of the Internet, when governments can stop their dirty laundry being washed in public. They no longer control the flow of information, though many of them would like to. Information is power, and it's no longer solely in the hands of governments and media moguls as it used to be.
I expect there will be attempts to 'rectify' this... moves to control the flow of such embarrassing revelations, and the Party Faithful like Palin will recommend that whistle-blowers be "hunted down like terrorists". Some like Clinton will try and spin the facts to make Assange the enemy, this is how governments work, we are used to it, even though we see through it...but.... the Internet is sacred. My right to access all the good and bad it has to offer is a thing worth fighting for.
Expect things to heat up on the Internet control debate...... though I expect the Censors to lose.
:ll
Monday, 6 December 2010
Whiskey Day's Challenge v.3
Whiskey Day, a very funny lady, has started an ongoing series of challenges for us Inworldz bloggers which have been taken up and enjoyed by many.
The third in her series is to find somewhere you haven't been before, on InWorldz and blog it...
Now, I haven't taken up her challenges as religiously as some, but this week it fitted in with circumstances...
I was at the UWA awards yesterday, and some excellent pieces got chosen for prizes and the full list is documented here. (My personal fav, Miso's piece which I bogged a few days ago was listed...:))
...anyway...Ginger Alsop and I were chatting thoughout the whole thing and she was telling me about her build in InWorldz... we shared a joint prize for Best Unscripted Work, and she won another prize on top of that!
So, I went out to Nexus Central today to see her work on InWorldz..
..and I liked it a lot.
While it is very nice to stumble on those very warm and homely builds where you could chill and laze around, I do feel that VW's give the possibility for Heroic Architecture. There is no gravity, construction problems etc...and the chance of really sculpting structures is seldom taken. Where some have chosen to 'reach for the skies' there has, in SL been a tendency to settle for a stereotypical cartoon-style futurism. This build is really just exploring the geometry and scale that VW's give.
Now, as the ground textures and the subtle style of this smaller build show, Ginger is not a person with just one talent and I, for one, am excited to see how this all progresses...
It's at Nexus Central if you want to find it on the Map, very near to Jeri's sims.
Supercool.
:))
The third in her series is to find somewhere you haven't been before, on InWorldz and blog it...
Now, I haven't taken up her challenges as religiously as some, but this week it fitted in with circumstances...
I was at the UWA awards yesterday, and some excellent pieces got chosen for prizes and the full list is documented here. (My personal fav, Miso's piece which I bogged a few days ago was listed...:))
...anyway...Ginger Alsop and I were chatting thoughout the whole thing and she was telling me about her build in InWorldz... we shared a joint prize for Best Unscripted Work, and she won another prize on top of that!
So, I went out to Nexus Central today to see her work on InWorldz..
..and I liked it a lot.
While it is very nice to stumble on those very warm and homely builds where you could chill and laze around, I do feel that VW's give the possibility for Heroic Architecture. There is no gravity, construction problems etc...and the chance of really sculpting structures is seldom taken. Where some have chosen to 'reach for the skies' there has, in SL been a tendency to settle for a stereotypical cartoon-style futurism. This build is really just exploring the geometry and scale that VW's give.
Now, as the ground textures and the subtle style of this smaller build show, Ginger is not a person with just one talent and I, for one, am excited to see how this all progresses...
It's at Nexus Central if you want to find it on the Map, very near to Jeri's sims.
Supercool.
:))
Sunday, 5 December 2010
GoodBye Idontknowwhothefuckyouare... sorry
Well, you can imagine my surprise when I logged onto the SL website to do a bit of financial control and general management to find, when I checked out who was online, that I had friends on my list who I don't know...
Handmadeandroid, Luscious Lily and Oliver Slipstream are NOT people I have ever friended.
Luckily I am still running 1.23 and Imprudence because, I'm sorry, but once these new contrived names start appearing on my friends list....they are gonna be culled.
It's not because I don't like you, I just don't know you.
I hate FaceBook because people use their real names, often without telling me who they are. They may be Joe Swift in RL but that is absolutely no good to me when I have met them as Quirky Av..
If you have an urgent need to change your name and do so without telling me... what else can I do but drop you and see if you get back to me with an explanation of who you really were.
I have trouble enough keeping up with who is who without playing silly buggers.
Send me a notecard if we are close, if not....live long and change your name often...
:))
Handmadeandroid, Luscious Lily and Oliver Slipstream are NOT people I have ever friended.
Luckily I am still running 1.23 and Imprudence because, I'm sorry, but once these new contrived names start appearing on my friends list....they are gonna be culled.
It's not because I don't like you, I just don't know you.
I hate FaceBook because people use their real names, often without telling me who they are. They may be Joe Swift in RL but that is absolutely no good to me when I have met them as Quirky Av..
If you have an urgent need to change your name and do so without telling me... what else can I do but drop you and see if you get back to me with an explanation of who you really were.
I have trouble enough keeping up with who is who without playing silly buggers.
Send me a notecard if we are close, if not....live long and change your name often...
:))
Losing My Memory
There’s an old saying, “If your head wasn’t screwed on...” etc.
So...as my Bio Memory is so full of years of crap, films, music, people, languages, plants and old TV adverts that got stuck deep in my cerebral cortex as a child, it seemed like a great idea that I could buy Memory on a Stick.
Having access to a Windows run PC a few weeks back I was able to buy my first Stick and download loads of stuff that is “PC only”... I named it “My Memory” which may have been my unconscious telling me I was Riding For A Fall...
This morning I thought I would fish it out as I was planning on using the library PC to do some import/export thing with Second Inventory, a PC only programme. So, I looked through my desk...
Now, there is a particular glazed look that comes over me when I am staring at something that doesn’t quite compute... My Memory wasn’t there.
When did I last have it ?? No idea. [Words of a song come back to me “I know I had it when I came back from that memory enhancement seminar”.]
I could have put it somewhere “safe” and so started that increasingly inane activity called Search. More and more unlikely places get examined until you know you are verging on the desperate.
The second search through the same desk can be excused, after all, I may have missed it in my first incredulous realisation that it wasn’t where it should be... but... the third scramble through the same draws holds a certain lunatic idea that maybe it may have crept back into the draw when I wasn’t looking..or..what?
No, the third search attempt on the same areas must lead to the mental awakening that My Memory now has to be classed as Missing, presumed Lost.
The crazed workings of the brain wonder if some miscreant has crept into my house, past cash, jewellery, electrical appliances and stolen My Memory. But I have to draw the line at looking through the draw for the fourth time, at least for the moment.
I have lost My Memory. It takes a bit of accepting, but it may, or may not, “turn up”. Amazingly in life some things do not turn up. They just get sucked into a vortex of Lost Things where they fester and mould until the end of time. That is apparently a part of life.
So...being in this slightly insane mind set I decided to look for the Xmas lights. They are the only real decorations I like, little neon blue strings which get put up in my front room and look so good I usually don’t remove them til Spring... any bit of colour helps to get through the dark grey season. I had looked for them earlier in the week and they weren’t where they were supposed to be either...so I assumed they were in the loft.
Loft entry entails gymnastic maneuvers befitting a modern circus troupe, and possible muscle damage. It only took me 20 minutes to find the torch.
The Xmas lights weren’t on the loft. ( I say ‘on’ rather than “in” as a remnant of my Norwegian speaking days...a habit I can’t shake).
So, plainly a total waste of a morning..
My conclusion... simple...
My Memory has stolen the lights and is holed up in some dark corner celebrating Yuletide without me.
:))
So...as my Bio Memory is so full of years of crap, films, music, people, languages, plants and old TV adverts that got stuck deep in my cerebral cortex as a child, it seemed like a great idea that I could buy Memory on a Stick.
Having access to a Windows run PC a few weeks back I was able to buy my first Stick and download loads of stuff that is “PC only”... I named it “My Memory” which may have been my unconscious telling me I was Riding For A Fall...
This morning I thought I would fish it out as I was planning on using the library PC to do some import/export thing with Second Inventory, a PC only programme. So, I looked through my desk...
Now, there is a particular glazed look that comes over me when I am staring at something that doesn’t quite compute... My Memory wasn’t there.
When did I last have it ?? No idea. [Words of a song come back to me “I know I had it when I came back from that memory enhancement seminar”.]
I could have put it somewhere “safe” and so started that increasingly inane activity called Search. More and more unlikely places get examined until you know you are verging on the desperate.
The second search through the same desk can be excused, after all, I may have missed it in my first incredulous realisation that it wasn’t where it should be... but... the third scramble through the same draws holds a certain lunatic idea that maybe it may have crept back into the draw when I wasn’t looking..or..what?
No, the third search attempt on the same areas must lead to the mental awakening that My Memory now has to be classed as Missing, presumed Lost.
The crazed workings of the brain wonder if some miscreant has crept into my house, past cash, jewellery, electrical appliances and stolen My Memory. But I have to draw the line at looking through the draw for the fourth time, at least for the moment.
I have lost My Memory. It takes a bit of accepting, but it may, or may not, “turn up”. Amazingly in life some things do not turn up. They just get sucked into a vortex of Lost Things where they fester and mould until the end of time. That is apparently a part of life.
So...being in this slightly insane mind set I decided to look for the Xmas lights. They are the only real decorations I like, little neon blue strings which get put up in my front room and look so good I usually don’t remove them til Spring... any bit of colour helps to get through the dark grey season. I had looked for them earlier in the week and they weren’t where they were supposed to be either...so I assumed they were in the loft.
Loft entry entails gymnastic maneuvers befitting a modern circus troupe, and possible muscle damage. It only took me 20 minutes to find the torch.
The Xmas lights weren’t on the loft. ( I say ‘on’ rather than “in” as a remnant of my Norwegian speaking days...a habit I can’t shake).
So, plainly a total waste of a morning..
My conclusion... simple...
My Memory has stolen the lights and is holed up in some dark corner celebrating Yuletide without me.
:))
Friday, 3 December 2010
The Star Factory
Maeve Eiren is hosting a debut show at her new gallery in Avalon.
The invite goes as follows...
"This coming Saturday (the 4th) at 2 PM SLT, you are invited to ice-skate and dance to the live music of The Born Again Pagans.
Come check out the artwork (by soror Nishi, Sunn Thunders, and hexx Triskaidekaphobia) hanging inside and on the roofs of The Star Factory gallery, then have a stroll through the Art District of Avalon Town.
This is a first for soror’s 2D art to be seen in SL, a look back at my vintage steampunk-y decorations, and some cool photography by hexx.
The fantasy garden, where we’ve frozen the inlet, is magical, especially at midnight.
The gallery is a new no-fees hangout for art exhibits and charity events.
Contact Maeve Eiren, if that sounds useful. Better yet, come meet her, have a skate, a dance, and a look at all that’s on display."
Now, the Born Again Pagans, many of you may know... probably the most laid back musicians on any grid, but the fact that Hexx is a photographer is something that is a small revelation...
Sunn is already well known as an artist and always worth checking out...
...and I have helped plant up the garden....
it's kicking off here at 2 pm on Saturday...(tomorrow)...
:))
Full Perms and Other Grids.
It’s almost impossible to have a proper discussion on Twitter, in my opinion, or, maybe I am just too wordy to make it work. There is the possibility of stating a point of view, sharing a link or telling a joke, but that’s about it really.
So, I need to take time out in these pages to explore the subject of selling and buying goods full perm for people to take to other grids.
It started as a question by Chestnut yesterday where she asked me if I would sell stuff so that it could be taken to other grids. I replied that there wasn’t really a mechanism in place that permitted me to do that in a satisfactory manner. That is an incomplete answer, partly due to the 140 character limit imposed by Twitter. The full answer goes like this...
If it costs me $30,000 per annum to live and I manage to get online 1000 hours per year then, even if all my costs are met through my RL work, it is a delusion to think that making a product in VW’s is cheap for me. My overheads are, in an economic sense, in the order of 30$ per hour.
To say “well, SL is just a hobby anyway and no one makes any money out of it, so why bother..” is incorrect as an attitude. It is incorrect because it undermines the potential economic reality which VW’s could attain with time. It is like saying VW’s will always be a stupid game for losers and you don’t need to take the economy, and by inference it’s players, seriously.
The economics of production and sales do need to be modeled on a potentially viable basis or we are all just ‘playing’....(not that I have anything against play, but some people do use VW’s to pay some of their bills, or at least tier).
So.. if a product has hidden production costs in the shape of ISP, utilities, dentists bills...etc... then we have to think in the order of 10$ per hour (which is the legal minimum wage in the UK) to 30$ ... something in that range.
Now, if a tree takes 8 hours to make, including Blender, Gimp, and construction time, that means it has cost me 80 to 240US$ in real terms. If I ever want to turn this production into a business I should be looking to sell this tree for 3X (that’s a traditional business model) the cost of production.
I’m hammering away at this, because there seems to be a lack of understanding of the basic economics in an emotional frenzy of loss when people have to leave stuff behind in SL, almost blaming the creators for not making everything full perm.
So... my tree has to earn me somewhere between 240$ and 720$ in the course of the tree’s sales life. The Sales Life of a product could be many years, and, if I sell the tree for 1$ it will have to be in order for me to recoup my initial investment.
Asking someone to sell you a product full perms vastly shortens the Sales Life of the product. A full perm object can be in everyones SL invent, free, within 2 or 3 years... on a small grid...a month or a week.
So...my point?? Well, my point is that unless people are prepared to pay RL prices for full perm goods then they are being unreasonable.
I have been asked to build “the best night club in SL” but was turned down when I quoted 30$. I was asked to create an exclusive logo for “under 20$”... so there is without any doubt due cause for creators just to refuse point blank to sell things full perm. Many buyers are completely delusional on prices, and that is not their fault necessarily, as someone will build a night club for 29$ or a logo for 19$... but that doesn’t make it right.
I know someone who made exclusive commissioned T shirts, full perm for 50L.... but I don’t think that’s a good thing.
..so...when Jim Tarber says, in Twitter, that he won’t buy anything that’s not full perm, there is insufficient ink for me to respond fully.
There is, as yet, no possibility for me to sell something that can be used on all grids by a buyer without it being full perm. ...and full perm stuff gets handed out free, thereby destroying any Sales Life that product might have.
Now, I realise that this is not the final word on Inventory transfer, but I wanted just to start a discussion by presenting a creators point of view....
:))
So, I need to take time out in these pages to explore the subject of selling and buying goods full perm for people to take to other grids.
It started as a question by Chestnut yesterday where she asked me if I would sell stuff so that it could be taken to other grids. I replied that there wasn’t really a mechanism in place that permitted me to do that in a satisfactory manner. That is an incomplete answer, partly due to the 140 character limit imposed by Twitter. The full answer goes like this...
If it costs me $30,000 per annum to live and I manage to get online 1000 hours per year then, even if all my costs are met through my RL work, it is a delusion to think that making a product in VW’s is cheap for me. My overheads are, in an economic sense, in the order of 30$ per hour.
To say “well, SL is just a hobby anyway and no one makes any money out of it, so why bother..” is incorrect as an attitude. It is incorrect because it undermines the potential economic reality which VW’s could attain with time. It is like saying VW’s will always be a stupid game for losers and you don’t need to take the economy, and by inference it’s players, seriously.
The economics of production and sales do need to be modeled on a potentially viable basis or we are all just ‘playing’....(not that I have anything against play, but some people do use VW’s to pay some of their bills, or at least tier).
So.. if a product has hidden production costs in the shape of ISP, utilities, dentists bills...etc... then we have to think in the order of 10$ per hour (which is the legal minimum wage in the UK) to 30$ ... something in that range.
Now, if a tree takes 8 hours to make, including Blender, Gimp, and construction time, that means it has cost me 80 to 240US$ in real terms. If I ever want to turn this production into a business I should be looking to sell this tree for 3X (that’s a traditional business model) the cost of production.
I’m hammering away at this, because there seems to be a lack of understanding of the basic economics in an emotional frenzy of loss when people have to leave stuff behind in SL, almost blaming the creators for not making everything full perm.
So... my tree has to earn me somewhere between 240$ and 720$ in the course of the tree’s sales life. The Sales Life of a product could be many years, and, if I sell the tree for 1$ it will have to be in order for me to recoup my initial investment.
Asking someone to sell you a product full perms vastly shortens the Sales Life of the product. A full perm object can be in everyones SL invent, free, within 2 or 3 years... on a small grid...a month or a week.
So...my point?? Well, my point is that unless people are prepared to pay RL prices for full perm goods then they are being unreasonable.
I have been asked to build “the best night club in SL” but was turned down when I quoted 30$. I was asked to create an exclusive logo for “under 20$”... so there is without any doubt due cause for creators just to refuse point blank to sell things full perm. Many buyers are completely delusional on prices, and that is not their fault necessarily, as someone will build a night club for 29$ or a logo for 19$... but that doesn’t make it right.
I know someone who made exclusive commissioned T shirts, full perm for 50L.... but I don’t think that’s a good thing.
..so...when Jim Tarber says, in Twitter, that he won’t buy anything that’s not full perm, there is insufficient ink for me to respond fully.
There is, as yet, no possibility for me to sell something that can be used on all grids by a buyer without it being full perm. ...and full perm stuff gets handed out free, thereby destroying any Sales Life that product might have.
Now, I realise that this is not the final word on Inventory transfer, but I wanted just to start a discussion by presenting a creators point of view....
:))
Thursday, 2 December 2010
UWA.... time to vote...
Yes, time has come round again to go get an eyeful of the best recent builds on the grid at UWA. After a slight pause UWA is back on schedule with it's monthly showing of what's new and good in artland here on SL grid.
So, as usual, I thought I'd throw a few crumbs your way to entice you over for a better look......the one above is a piece by Typote Beck, and like a few of them, it's scripted, so photos only give you a small idea of the actual piece...
Miso Susanowa has a great piece in the show which is a thoroughly appropriate and, as usual, intelligent comment on the question of art and the art business.....it is scripted as well so the photo is just a tease.
Kyra Roxan, creator of my recent hair sculpture...(here).. has two very cool pieces on show, this one being the more organic...as that is my kind of interest...
...and Kalie Fang has a very organic and rather mesmorising piece in the show.... above...
Zola Zsun's tree would, of course, not fail to get noticed by this writer as it is yet another worthy alternative to the photo-on-a-stick trees that plague this grid...
Now, that is only scratching the surface of the works on show there. Alizarin Goldflake is showing some of her amazing work which she used in a stage set for an Alaskan theatre piece..
...and Saveme Oh is creating her own theatre, as she does, on a specially defined area of the show where she has a tiny parcel where she is unbanned.... it's like a SaveMe Oh enclave, a sort of performance art ghetto. I find it very funny. Jayjay and SaveMe have created an ongoing soap opera/performance which I love.
So....the final voting day is Saturday as the awards are announced on Sunday.... pop over and cast your 3 votes.
...of course you have time...
...always time to look at art.
:))
So, as usual, I thought I'd throw a few crumbs your way to entice you over for a better look......the one above is a piece by Typote Beck, and like a few of them, it's scripted, so photos only give you a small idea of the actual piece...
Miso Susanowa has a great piece in the show which is a thoroughly appropriate and, as usual, intelligent comment on the question of art and the art business.....it is scripted as well so the photo is just a tease.
Kyra Roxan, creator of my recent hair sculpture...(here).. has two very cool pieces on show, this one being the more organic...as that is my kind of interest...
...and Kalie Fang has a very organic and rather mesmorising piece in the show.... above...
Zola Zsun's tree would, of course, not fail to get noticed by this writer as it is yet another worthy alternative to the photo-on-a-stick trees that plague this grid...
Now, that is only scratching the surface of the works on show there. Alizarin Goldflake is showing some of her amazing work which she used in a stage set for an Alaskan theatre piece..
...and Saveme Oh is creating her own theatre, as she does, on a specially defined area of the show where she has a tiny parcel where she is unbanned.... it's like a SaveMe Oh enclave, a sort of performance art ghetto. I find it very funny. Jayjay and SaveMe have created an ongoing soap opera/performance which I love.
So....the final voting day is Saturday as the awards are announced on Sunday.... pop over and cast your 3 votes.
...of course you have time...
...always time to look at art.
:))
Wednesday, 1 December 2010
Craft again...
Yes, my first build on Craft Grid, all went well. I uploaded nearly 2000 textures for free and Luce Laval has given me a plot to work on next to Wizzy. There is a Hypergrid portal just behind where I build... it quite strange like something out of Dr. Who....
Lots of well known names have popped in and Oberon has his own sim too.
I have been given space in the Museo del Metaverso to show a few pieces... which I will no doubt do. I can't use Second Inventory yet as I don't have Windows on a PC...and, looking at the price of the software, it would be a lot cheaper to buy an old computer than the new software...so that's something to think about....
.....anyway...all went well ant this is the "Craft Mystical Bean"...not found on any other grid....yet...
:)))
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
