PostHeaderIcon No One Uses SL Voice. How Dare You Even Think of it!

Yeah. Right. Fail.

Just because I don't like something, I should force my views down your throat and force you to abide by my wishes. It doesn't matter that it's only optional for me. You must be forced to live and act and be allowed as I see fit.

That's a common theme in the talkbacks on the Second Life blog post about the new viewer (link below). What ridiculous fuckbunk. This viewer includes the voice feature turned on by default. The purpose to allow new users to hear others who are using voice... by default. Also, in this default setting, "push-to-talk" is the configuration. Hence, even if you are wearing a microphone-headset, you cannot accidentally speak into the SL world, as you must press your middle mouse button, or the "talk" button to be heard (walkie-talkie-mode.)

I think it's a great idea. Win for Linden Lab.

But, rather than simply turn the voice features off, there are those whiney-assed fuckwads who blast Linden Lab for having this feature turned on, by default. Proclaiming that voice is refused by the majority of SL users, and that it's a failure, etc. I suspect they are all mesbians* doing the complaining. I say show me the stats. I want metrics so I can see your research that proves what a genius you are. All you whiney-assed, bonehead fuckwads fail.

Another new feature finally introduced for full-time service is Identity Verification. When the hell did "Identity Verification" ever become "Age Verification"? I follow Linden Lab announcements and policies all the time. I have yet to ever see any official statement that this 'name change' has ever taken place. There is only a single instance where the term "Age Verification" was ever used by anyone at Linden Lab: Robin (Linden) Harper used the term on the Second Life blog when mentioning the beta testing period was beginning. Robin: because of your misspoken statement, it is now "officially" 'Age Verification' as far as all the bloggers and LL Blog readers are concerned. Fail.

And you wonder why in sam-hell Linden Lab always are so damned vague?

Because too many boneheads take every word spoken, parse the living hell out of it and then assume it's policy and law rather than simply looking at the spirit of what it being communicated. I for one can't wait to turn ID Verification on. I am referring to banning all 'non-verified' people from my sim. Why? How many griefers will be verified? If you refuse to at least verify who you are, then I don't need or want your company/business/presence/attitude/poaching/freebie-collecting-too-cheap-to-buy-anything/face anywhere around me. Just... you know, go away.

Then there's good old Ann O'Tool. Just like clockwork, she comes crawling out from under her rock-of-negativity to shout her shrill complaints about anything and everything. For the last who-knows-how-long, it's been content theft.

Okay folks: shoplifters exist in the real world. You actually lose money in that case: the wholesale cost you paid for it. In SL it's not theft. You are not being deprived of anything. Rather it's plagiarism.

It's going to happen. Get used to it. Deal with it. Find a way around it.

Whatever it is that is being plagiarized, make it a freebie. Include landmarks and notecards with it. Get those people who wouldn't know any better to at least know who you are and come to your shop. In other words, don't be an Ann O'Tool and expect the Lindens to babysit your problems and drop a hammer on others every time you feel a need, but yet crucify the Lindens every time they dispense 'justice' in a direction you disagree with.

Ann: make up our minds, will you?

We're getting confused. But worse, we're getting tired of you. Usagi (U. M. on the Blog) has finally reverted to only using his/her initials because he's either too damned lazy to type his name or too many others got tired enough to finally put him in his place. Or, it could be one of Ann's alts! He always sounds a lot like Ann. There are many others, but their names aren't so recognizable because are usually just drive-by lashings, and a lot of 'anonymous' fuckwads doing nothing more than trolling.

All of you whiners: fail.

This new viewer release is a good one. It's solid and stable and adds great new features. It's optional... for now. Next release: WindLight. I am anxious to share what I am seeing with everyone else.

So, are you in agreement that voice in SL is refused by the 'majority' of all residents? And, that it's a terrible idea to have it on by default for new users? And instead of turning it off for yourself, you need to force it down everyone else's throats that they are wrong to use it and deny them?

Please... do explain.
*Mesbian: male driver of a female avatar proclaiming to love girls and girls only while in-world. Usually portraying themselves as a submissive or slave, but at times traipsing around as a Mistress who owns submissives or slaves.
Linden Lab Blog Source

PostHeaderIcon But, no one uses voice! You shouldn't either!

Yeah. Right.

Just because I don't like something, I should force my views down your throat and force you to abide by my wishes. It doesn't matter that it's only optional for me. You must be forced to live and act and be allowed as I see fit.

That's a common theme in the talkbacks on the LL blog post about the new veiwer. What ridiculous bunk. This viewer includes the voice feature turned on by default. The purpose to allow new users to hear others who are using voice... by default. Also, in this default setting, "push-to-talk" is the configuration. Hence, even if you are wearing a microphone-headset, you cannot accidentally speak into the SL world, as you must press your middle mouse button, or the "talk" button to be heard (walkie-talkie-mode.)

I think it's a great idea.

PostHeaderIcon I'll Hold Your Second Life Inventory For You

Okay... so your in-world inventory is whacked because, though you've tried hard to keep it organized as you went along, by now it's just this side of completely out of hand and a total mess. Right? Then let someone else manage it for you!

Ummm.. yeah... right...Oh, and of course, you keeping all that stuff in inventory is a heavy load on the asset server and makes everyone else in SL suffer. Well, that's according to all the people on the LL blog who've been totally going silly stating the same complaints over and over every time the asset server hiccups.

Those boneheads always tend to suggest that 'nopay' (No Payment Info on File) people be limited in the amount of inventory they are allowed to have - so to ease load on the servers.

Well, good news! Now you can (apparently) hand-over all your inventory to a third party to manage and hold for you! Okay, I'm being sarcastic here. But, please... anyone who has so much inventory that they need to hire a company to manage it for them is a complete pack-rat.

Also remember, these PR firms and press releases always spin things to make them look better than they really are. Note the excerpt below where it is stated "...the first and best solution..."

Okay, if your are the only one, then obviously you're the first. And if you are the first and only one, of course you're the best, because there aren't any others to benchmark you from. Ummm... duh. Please understand... I'm not knocking this company, or even the concept. In fact, it's a good concept. What I'm rolling my eyes at are the people that might feel a need for such a service. And then I chuckle at the thought. In reality, I wish the company the best of business luck.

Please understand that I won't personally be using your services because I'm not so sure I want to give-up that feel-good tactile touch on all my stuff and heave trust to someone else.
I'm already forced to trust Linden Lab, after all. ;-)
Beatenetworks - Revolutionary Storage Device for Second Life Assets
The CEO of Beatenetworks, B. Koenig said "one of the main things that business users have lacked inside Second Life is a robust CMS (content management system). We are pleased to offer the first and best solution for managing content in world, and we look forward to adding new features to the system over time."
Source

PostHeaderIcon Breaking news: Dinos go extinct!

Rezzable - DinosaursIf you have never been to a Rezzable sim, you just don't know what you're missing. If you don't move real fast, you'll miss their Dinosaur sim permanently as it's being destroyed at noon SLT today.

Unfortunately, Real Life pulls me away and I can't be there. You see, in true Rezzable fashion, something's amiss... the process is supposed to be somewhat of an event... of some sort. I really hope Naoki (definately my better-half) can make it there in time to see what it is they plan and get lots of pictures Rezzable is currently best known for their "Home of the Greenies" sim.

A fascinating location that brings back fond memories of the wonderful Disney movie "Honey, I shrunk the kids" - and you're one of the kids.

Rezzable - DinosaursI don't know how long the Dinosaur sim has been around. I visited there a month or so ago and found it very interesting, but rather static, and persistently dark (as in night time.) Either is didn't hang around long enough then, or the fine folks at Rezzable have added something new. I don't know which it is.

As I had remembered (almost too late) early this morning that the sim was being taken down, I zapped over there to get as many decent photos as possible. I hovered in the center, knowing the darkness and distance from my camera position would keep me relatively hidden in my photos (yes, I say photos, not screen captures, Hamlet.)

Rezzable - DinosaursSuddenly, a bright, bright 'orb' or sphere surrounded me and weird green globs (particles) started emitting from it... and strange rays of light, all ruining my photography! I was being griefed!

Then I noticed... I was the only one on the sim. it took a bit, but I then realized, this effect was part of the build!Holy leaping lizards, Batman! This is awesome! It's apparently the meteor that killed-off the donis so long ago, coming in for a crash landing... or something. It was beautiful and stunning. That's when I pulled my camera out for wider shots after trying to get at least one good shot of each dinosaur carcass... er... remains... whatever.

If you get the chance and you are reading this before 12:00 PM Second Life Time (SLT) - search places for Rezzable, scan the list for Dinosaur and get over there before it's too late and the place is gone forever.Sorry, I had to hit RL before I even thought about grabbing a SLURL to post here. See all my photos in larger versions here.

Rezzable - Dinosaurs

PostHeaderIcon CMS for SL? This is just too funny.

Okay... so your in-world inventory is whacked because, though you've tried hard to keep it organized as you went along, by now it's just this side of completely out of hand and a total mess. Right? Then let someone else manage it for you!

WOOT!

Ummm.. yeah... right...Oh, and of course, you keeping all that stuff in inventory is a heavy load on the asset server and makes everyone else in SL suffer. Well, that's according to all the people on the LL blog who've been totally going silly stating the same complaints over and over every time the asset server hiccups.

PostHeaderIcon It's official: Your 'Alternative' to SL is Here. Now.

Well, all you people who are so fed up with the way the grid runs, LL manages and your viewer crashing woes, your MMO Virtual World has arrived - and it's NOT Hipihi! And, this isn't hot air - it's real!

So many have complained and whined about the unreliability of the SL grid, issues with Linden Lab and how they run the grid, complaints about viewer stability and missing inventory items and land squatters and bot campers and... and... people who just plain sneeze wrong and look funny!

PostHeaderIcon Know any private estate idiots?

Sim-hopping from rhe mapSo many - no, almost all private estates with land for sale or rent are so incredibly under-creative, overpriced and full of horrible builds, it makes me wonder how they actually stay in business.

The mainland land-barons have shifted gears and are ruining the estate business, costing the regular Janes and Johns to spend more money and become increasingly more frustrated. Sometimes SL just totally sucks. As for the land-barons: boneheads all, I say.

It used to be that if you wanted to buy a sim, search for someone selling one before buying a shiny new one from Linden Lab. You'll save a little money because they are usually looking to unload it for some reason. The problem is all the amateurs trying to start or run (sloppy) estate empires are buying them all up and sucking the pool dry for those of us that just want a little sim we can call our own. Thus, we are forced to buy a shiny new one from Linden Lab at full price, about $1,800 $1000 - and delivery takes longer.

[update April, 2008: new Estate Regions will sell for $1000 beginning by the end of April and supposedly be delivered 'immediately' —Ari]

Obviously, (on the mainland) a few bad apples give the majority a bad name. However, with regard to private estates, it's the other way a round. The majority give the few a bad name. There are some reputable land-barons and land dealers. They do it for the enjoyment of flipping land and playing the real estate game, more for fun than any real life-sustaining profit. Awesome customer service and very personable. I salute you, you know who you are.

Unfortunately, the greedy land-barons, (estate-barons?) always trying to make a quick buck, have decided to follow suit with the Anshe Chung recipe. Buy a private estate, develop it, then rent or sell the land on it at a higher tier than what Linden Lab charges for mainland, covering their own tier costs and reaping profits in the process.Some of those profits might be a bit over the top, if you ask me.But, I digress.

Now, when I say land-barons, I'm not necessarily referring the the ones we've heard so much heartache about. But rather the amateurs looking to make that fast buck through the private estate (private island or region) business. In other words, the sim owners who buy a sim for the sole purpose to this end. But before the cause, let me go over the result very quickly.

Here's how I reached my epiphany... I am sim-hopping left and right and up and down for private estate land to buy or rent. Holy crappola! I can't believe how many boring, uncreative, downright ugly private sims there are!

Wow!

Let's start with the fact that most are just big, flat, ugly squares in the middle of the ocean. Then, some will add 'canals' to separate the parcels. Can you say 'sand-waste' or 'sand-bar'? Now let's add the fact that most are totally overpriced in weekly and monthly tiers. Then, let's add the fact that many that are already populated somewhat are loaded with horrible, laggy, unsightly builds. It's as though there isn't any management there at all. Might as well just go get land on the mainland.

Naoki'sAnyway - this is what I discovered in my private estate land search... which is really more of a scavenger hunt. If you own or know of a sim where a little loving care was actually put into its design, and reasonable tiers, please let me know. I am still in the market. For a time further anyway. I've now basically decided screw it, I might as well buy a new sim and make it the way I want it to be.

Oh, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

Let me turn to what started this search to begin with...I already own my own sim. It's a mixed residential/commercial sim. It's about 80% commercial and managing it goes well. Most days it is almost no, or very little lag, except when someone has an event. But that's tolerable and fair. In all a very pleasant place to be.

Well, there's really no need to have a 'home' in SL, so I didn't bother saving any space for myself there. I also bought the sim from someone else, and it was already established with residents, so redeveloping and redesigning the terraform the way I'd really like is out of the question. I simply can't do that to the residents that are already here. It's not right.

I try to be honorable that way. Besides, the sim supports itself in tier and I'm not out to make a profit. So I'm happy enough with it. My better-half does have a place she rents through another 'Estate Management Company' - but we have decided it's much larger (in prims) than we really need and we'd like to cut down tier costs and reinvest the money elsewhere. So I go land-shopping; sim-hopping.

Wow.I do manage to find a wonderful sim designed in a tropical style. The terraforming is very nicely done and the tier rates are reasonable. On top of that, it's a straight rental. L$1 to buy the land and pay the first week's tier fee - done. I'm thinking it's a great find. This land requires membership in a group to use the 'public facilities', so I contact the sim owner, ask him to add me to the group along with my sweetheart. Later, he comes online and does so (we play offline ping-pong over a half-day, overnight).

He welcomes us and, later my better-half comes to see the place and falls in love with it. In my openness, I happen to mention to the sim owner what a wonderful place this is and I'm happy to be there because there isn't any room left on my own sim. He happens to be offline again.

A few hours later... a sudden IM comes through: "You have been ejected from [insert name] group" - whoa!

Huh? What?

No IM from the sim owner, no email, no contact whatsoever. Must be a mistake. I send an IM to the sim owner. No answer - but he's online.

Hmm, let me TP over there so I can find out what's going on... "You are banned from the region" WHAT?

I ask him "Why am I ejected from group and banned? I paid tier"

He finally responds after a long delay with "You have to ask?" I told him of course I have to ask, I totally don't understand. He claims that he will not "allow griefers and poachers to squat" on his sim. I told him I was neither. I paid tier and I'm on the up and up. I'm not even sure he got that message at all because it wasn't long before I realized I was muted. (It sure would be nice if the IM system would at least let you know when you're muted.)

First, this guy is a complete idiot and amateur. As for myself, if you own a sim - I'd love to have you rent land from me. As long as you pay your tier, what difference does it make to me? I don't care. Besides, what's to keep you from creating an alt and renting from me anyway, round-abouting such a policy?

The problem is the amateur idiot assumes people are evil, haters, bad-doers at heart, right off the bat. He's a serious pessimist with serious issues. Personally, I give you the benefit of the doubt and always assume you are a nice, trustworthy person until you give me a reason to believe otherwise. I don't need to act so rudely and take drastic measures to "protect" myself from griefers and the like.

Second, this guy is not only an idiot, he's an idiot asshole. Refused to refund my money. I paid only a week in tier, so I wasn't too worried about it. What burned me more was the whole scenario and his reasoning in it. The sudden rudeness, ejecting and banning without so much as allowing me to at least explain why I wanted to rent the land from him. We never even met in person! All communication had been in IM. Eventually, he did finally refund the tier I paid, but only after I reported the incident and sent logs to a well known blogger about the issue, who loves to blog about these scenarios. I thought 'cool - I get to be a subject on this lady's blog!' ...and I have to admit, I did chuckle about it. But, because he did, in fact eventually refund my money, it's not news any more, so I guess my fifteen minutes of fame is over before it started.

Not only is this sim owner an amateur idiot asshole, but he's a totally childish amateur idiot asshole. Had he simply spent five minutes to allow me to explain why I wanted to rent his land even though I already have a sim, not only would he have a new tenant, but a positive vocal voice for referrals.You see, I don't own a sim to make money and turn it into a business. I'm content with one (I keep my own store there - that's the whole reason for it) - so I'm not in competition with these knuckle-heads (and respectable non-knuckle-heads alike) - so I would have gladly referred friends to his estates and really talked him up good.

But now, not only will he not get that good word-of-mouth (I'm sure he's sold the plot by now) - but now he'll get a bad wrap every time I even speak about a sim owner - any sim owner - under any context. His name and sim name and group name (yes the names) will be spat out like sour milk. (I won't mention any names here, because as it turns out, even though he's a complete amateur and childish asshole at the same time - he did eventually return my money - after arbitration with a third party. And, I'm really not a griefer. So it wouldn't really be justified to do so.)

Now I also have decided to compete... directly against him. Just out of spite alone. It's become a vendetta now. Buying sims left and right is not beyond my means. And running the one I have now, I have really good experience managing them and turning them to supporting themselves. And my current tenants will surely provide wonderful references and testimonials as to my management style. Oh, and since I'm in the communication, promotional, entertainment business in Real Life, I know every dirty little secret in the book when it comes to direct competition. So I will now begin my own estate company. Can't mention my intended name here, not yet... need to establish it first, get the trademarks and copyrights registered and all that.

And I'll model my sims in terraform design similarly to his, intentionally. As long as I do the RAW image files myself, there can be no complaints about Intellectual Property rights or copyright, because you can't reserve a concept.

So, look out, bonehead. I'm coming, and you're in my sights.

Naoki's GardenAs for my readers... I'll let you know when the first residential sim is ready. Come on over and take look. Since I'm happy if the sim simply supports itself in tier, I can guarantee I'll have among the lowest weekly and monthly tiers in SL. And my Better-Half is the sweetest girl you'll ever have the pleasure of knowing. She'll make an awesome estate manager.

Hmmm... still contemplating on posting the IM log here. It's not against LL TOS to post that stuff outside Second Life. Or, maybe I'll just update this story later and plaster this idiot's name all over the place.

Nah... he's not worth the effort. And I'm not really like that, anyway. But, if you are shopping for estate residential land to buy or rent - and you want to know who this childish amateur idiot asshole is so you can avoid him (or run to him, whatever) - IM me in world. I'll be happy to spit his name out at you like sour milk.

So, have you had any sucky landlord experiences in Second Life? Tell me. I'm curious as hell.

PostHeaderIcon Calling All Second Life Estate Idiots...

So many - no, almost all private estates with land for sale or rent are so incredibly under-creative, overpriced and full of horrible builds, it makes me wonder how they actually stay in business.

The mainland land-barons have shifted gears and are ruining the estate business, costing the regular Janes and Johns to spend more money and become increasingly more frustrated. Sometimes SL just totally sucks. As for the land-barons: bonehead fuckwads all, I say.

It used to be that if you wanted to buy a sim, search for someone selling one before buying a shiny new one from Linden Lab. You'll save a little money because they are usually looking to unload it for some reason - usually real life reasons and willing to bargain. The problem comes from all the amateurs trying to start or run sloppy estate empires and thus buying them all up and sucking the pool dry for those of us that just want a little sim we can call our own.

Hence, we are forced to buy a shiny new one from Linden Lab at full price (about $1,800) - and delivery takes longer. [update April, 2008: new Estate Regions will sell for $1000 beginning by the end of April and supposedly be delivered 'immediately'][Update 2: Regions and "open space" sims can be purchased at the online land store for $1000 and $250 respectively and delivered immediately.]

Obviously, (on the mainland,) a few bad apples give the majority a bad name. However, with regard to private estates, it's the other way a round. The majority give the few a bad name. There are some reputable land-barons and land dealers. They do it for the enjoyment of flipping land and playing the real estate game, more for fun than any real life-sustaining profit. Awesome customer service and very personable. I salute you, you know who you are.

Unfortunately, the greedy land-barons, (estate-barons?) always trying to make a quick buck, have decided to follow suit with the Anshe Chung recipe. Buy a private estate, develop it, then rent or sell the land on it at a higher tier than what Linden Lab charges for mainland, covering their own tier costs and reaping profits in the process.

Some of those profits might be a bit over the top, if you ask me, but, I digress.

Now, when I say land-barons, I'm not necessarily referring the the ones we've heard so much heartache about. But rather the amateurs looking to make that fast buck through the private estate (private island or region) business. In other words, the sim owners who buy a sim for the sole purpose to this end. But before the cause, let me go over the result very quickly.

Here's how I reached my epiphany... I am sim-hopping left and right and up and down for private estate land to buy or rent. Holy crappola! I can't believe how many boring, uncreative, downright ugly private sims there are!

Let's start with the fact that most are just big, flat, ugly squares in the middle of the pixelocean. Then, some will add 'canals' to separate the parcels. Can you say 'sand-waste' or 'sand-bar'? Now let's add the fact that most are totally overpriced in weekly and monthly tiers. Then, let's add the fact that many which are already populated somewhat are loaded with horrible, laggy, unsightly builds. It's as though there isn't any management there at all. Might as well just go get land on the mainland.

Anyway - this is what I discovered in my private estate land search... which is really more of a scavenger hunt. If you own or know of a sim where a little loving care was actually put into its design, and reasonable tiers, please let me know. I am still in the market. For a time further anyway. I've now basically decided screw it, I might as well buy a new sim and make it the way I want it to be.

Oh, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

Let me turn to what started this search to begin with...I already own my own sim. It's a mixed residential/commercial sim. It's about 80% commercial and managing it goes well. Most days it is almost no, or very little lag, except when someone has an event. But that's tolerable and fair. In all, a very pleasant place to be.

Well, there's really no need to have a 'home' in SL, so I didn't bother saving any space for myself there. I also bought the sim from someone else, and it was already established with a few residents, so redeveloping and redesigning the terraform the way I'd really like is out of the question. I simply can't do that to the residents that are already here. It's not right.

I try to be honorable that way.

Besides, the sim supports itself in tier and I'm not out to make a profit. So I'm happy enough with it. My better-half does have a place she rents through another 'Estate Management Company' - but we have decided it's much larger (in prims) than we really need and we'd like to cut down tier costs and reinvest the money elsewhere. So I go land-shopping; sim-hopping.

I do manage to find a wonderful sim designed in a tropical style. The terraforming is very nicely done and the tier rates are reasonable. On top of that, it's a straight rental. L$1 to buy the land and pay the first week's tier fee - done. I'm thinking it's a great find. This land requires membership in a group to use the 'public facilities', so I contact the sim owner, ask him to add me to the group along with my sweetheart. Later, he comes online and does so (we play offline ping-pong over a half-day, overnight).

He welcomes us and, later my better-half comes to see the place and falls in love with it. In my openness, I happen to mention to the sim owner what a wonderful place this is and I'm happy to be there because there isn't any room left on my own sim. He happens to be offline again.

A few hours later... a sudden IM comes through: "You have been ejected from [insert name] group" - whoa!

Huh? What?

No IM from the sim owner, no email, no contact whatsoever.
Must be a mistake.
I send an IM to the sim owner.
No answer - but he's online.

Hmm, let me TP over there so I can find out what's going on... "You are banned from the region" WHAT?

I ask him "Why am I ejected from group and banned? I paid tier"

He finally responds after a long delay with "You have to ask?" I told him of course I have to ask, I totally don't understand. He claims that he will not "allow griefers and poachers to squat" on his sim. I told him I was neither.

I paid tier and I'm on the up and up. I'm not even sure he got that message at all because it wasn't long before I realized I was muted. (It sure would be nice if the IM system would at least let you know when you're muted.)

First, this guy is a complete idiot and amateur. Total fuckwad. As for myself, if you own a sim - I'd love to have you rent land from me. As long as you pay your tier, what difference does it make to me? I don't care. Besides, what's to keep you from creating an alt and renting from me anyway, round-abouting such a dumbfuck policy?

The problem is the amateur idiot assumes people are evil, haters, bad-doers at heart, right off the bat. He's a serious pessimist with serious issues. Personally, I give you the benefit of the doubt and always assume you are a nice, trustworthy person until you give me a reason to believe otherwise. I don't need to act so rudely and take drastic measures to "protect" myself from griefers and the like.

Second, this guy is not only an idiot, he's an idiot asshole. Refused to refund my money. I paid only a week in tier, so I wasn't too worried about it. What burned me more was the whole scenario and his reasoning in it. The sudden rudeness, ejecting and banning without so much as allowing me to at least explain why I wanted to rent the land from him.

We never even met in person!

All communication had been in IM. Eventually, he did finally refund the tier I paid, but only after I reported the incident and sent logs to a well known virtual land flipping blogger about the issue, who loves to blog about these scenarios. I thought 'cool - I get to be a subject on this lady's blog!' ...and I have to admit, I did chuckle about it. But, because he did, in fact eventually refund my money, it's not news any more, so I guess my fifteen minutes of fame was over before it started.

Not only is this sim owner an amateur idiot asshole, but he's a totally childish amateur idiot asshole. Had he simply spent five minutes to allow me to explain why I wanted to rent his land even though I already have a sim, not only would he have a new tenant, but a positive vocal voice for referrals.You see, I don't own a sim to make money and turn it into a business. I'm content with one (I keep my own store there - that's the whole reason for it) - so I'm not in competition with these knuckle-heads (and respectable non-knuckle-heads alike) - so I would have gladly referred friends to his estates and really talked him up good.

But now, not only will he not get that good word-of-mouth (I'm sure he's sold the plot by now) - but now he'll get a bad wrap every time I even speak about a sim owner - any sim owner - under any context. His name and sim name and group name (yes the names) will be spat out like sour milk. (I won't mention any names here, because as it turns out, even though he's a complete amateur and childish asshole at the same time - he did eventually return my money - after arbitration with a third party. And, I'm really not a griefer. So it wouldn't really be justified or serve any purpose to do so.)

Now I also have decided to compete... directly against him. Just out of spite alone. It's become a vendetta now. Buying sims left and right is not beyond my means. And running the one I have now, I have really good experience managing them and turning them to supporting themselves. And my current tenants will surely provide wonderful references and testimonials as to my management style.

Oh, and since I'm in the communication, promotional, entertainment business in Real Life, I know every dirty little secret in the book when it comes to direct competition and communication. So I will now begin my own estate company. Can't mention my intended name here, not yet... need to establish it first, get the trademarks and copyrights registered and all that.

And I'll model my sims in terraform design similarly to his, intentionally. As long as I do the "raw" image files myself, there can be no complaints about intellectual property rights or copyright, because you can't reserve a concept.

So, look out, bonehead.
I'm coming, and you're in my sights.

As for my readers... I'll let you know when the first residential sim is ready. Come on over and take look. Since I'm happy if the sim simply supports itself in tier, I can guarantee I'll have among the lowest weekly and monthly tiers in SL.

As for posting the logs... he's not worth the effort. And I'm not really like that, anyway. But, if you are shopping for estate residential land to buy or rent - and you want to know who this childish amateur idiot asshole is so you can avoid him (or run to him, whatever) - IM me in world. I'll be happy to spit his name out at you... just like sour milk.

So, have you had any sucky landlord experiences in Second Life?
Tell me.I'm curious as hell.

PostHeaderIcon QuickTime 'evil pink box'... again?

Yes - that flaw. The problem is this: Apple plugged that flaw within a week of its discovery. Unfortunately, stories like this become confusing and alarmist because it's recycled old news and they make it look like current news when it's not. The story doesn't specify whether this is a new exploit... or the same old one running on an older version of QuickTime and an older SL Viewer - because all current viewers require the updated, patched QuickTime.

Confused, yet?
Yawn.
QuickTime 'evil pink box' flaw hits Second Life
In the demo, the researchers were able to show that their avatar became infected when it came too near the pink box. The code they used raided the avatar's Linden dollars and emptied the bank account. On the Internet, an attacker can get one dollar for every 275 Linden dollars stolen, so there is a financial incentive to these attacks and other future attacks

PostHeaderIcon Avatars awaken second selves

A very nicely written story about 'the avatar' and not necessarily Second Life itself, though SL is prominently featured. It's about the way we choose to represent our selves in these alternate planes, these 'synthetic' worlds and why. And the real benefits it can have. It's really a very good article and a recommended read.
Avatars awaken second selves » PopMatters | News and Commentary | PopWire“An avatar is your embodiment in virtual worlds and virtual game spaces,” explained Matthew Falk, an Indiana University researcher of what he and others call “synthetic worlds.”

PostHeaderIcon "If you get to know me, then you'll know me"

There are a lot of reasons people choose not to use voice. But, there are those who tend to just start assuming things and they are likely miles off-target in most cases. What's worse is when they become insulting and rude about it. They can be really damaging emotionally to some people for no good reason.

They are part of that third camp. The one almost all griefers and newbies are part of.

It would explain why newbies tend to just mow-down others in crowded places without thinking about it, or have no qualms about asking the girls if they 'wanna play?' and just being overly obnoxious. It also explains the whole griefer mentality.

The common understanding is that there are two camps in places like Second Life: the immersionist and the augmentationist. (Full essay about the concept here.)

But what about the third camp? What I would call the 'puppeteer'. Upon first entry into Second Life, I believe this is the 'persona' everyone will naturally assume at first blush, until they learn otherwise.

You see, the immersionist may be the serious role-player. Deeply entrenched into the fantasy world they choose to be a part of. And the augmentationist might simply see SL as an extension of themselves. And there also are those who actually mash-up the two in varying degrees. But what about that group who are almost, if not totally, emotionally disconnected from the 'fictional cartoon character' they drive and control on the screen?

Well, these are the people who simply cannot grasp the idea of attaching any emotion to their avatar (and that's all it is on screen: just an 'avatar' - not even a representation of a RL human) and consequently cannot understand any emotion tied to any other avatar. These are the ones who insult others without even really trying to. But they don't understand, there are times they could be really hurting someone in a far more profound way than they could possibly imagine.

Now, take the first two groups - immersionists and augmentationists and throw them into a room together. Mix in a few technologies. Oh! Let's start with voice...

Watch the sparks fly!
The immersionists would rather not use such a technology because it can ruin the immersion aspect of their experience. The augmentationist immediately assumes the immersionist (and possibly not realizing the immersionist is an immersionist to begin with) is hiding something.

If the person in question is female in SL, it is immediately assumed the Real Life half of this person is really a male or (on rarer occasions) vice-versa. All because she refuses to use a microphone and allow herself to be heard.

This is the most common accusation in this kind of scenario. However, I believe most augmentationists either really don't care or simply don't think much about it. The ones who seem to worry about most are the ones who tend to have at least one foot still in the puppeteer camp.

Now, let's throw the puppeteer into the mix.
The puppeteer also will usually fall into one of the other two camps by default. The difference is the world they see on screen is 100% synthetic and so are all its inhabitants. They tend to speak or do without thinking how it might affect other people. Why worry about what you say and to whom? These are only synthetic fictional characters, right? How can computer cartoons have any emotion or feelings?

And if the cartoon is a female, why would the person controlling that 'puppet' refuse to use voice? Unless... they want me to think they're female. Ahah! So that's it! You're really a DUDE! A dude playing a chick! EEEWWW GROSS! HAHAHA lulz.

Now... these puppeteers, who simply can't or won't choose to grasp the idea that the majority of people in SL actually do view their 'characters' on screen as some form of themselves, don't stop to think about the myriad of reasons why this character's 'operator' would choose not to use voice. Or a webcam. Or skype. or any other technology that could or would reveal their real life anything.

It simply does not occur to them that the immersionist who may be a faerie elf simply does not sound or look too much like such a fantasy creature in real life and would probably like to maintain the illusion represented on screen.

Or that the augmentationist has had a harrowing experience in real life in the past that turned scary for real reasons... identity theft, stalking by a stranger/estranged relative or spouse/or other reason and so on.

No, they automatically assume that because it is a known practice, (though far less often than people think, I believe,) everyone who refuses to use the microphone, (whether they have the voice feature turned on or off,) simply must be a "guy in girls skin" trying to pull the wool over everyone else's eyes.

To those people, I say there are likely real reasons. Legitimate ones beyond the immersionist frame of mind. Even beyond the basic security reasons. There really are people in SL who are legally deaf and probably feel the voice feature is pretty useless to them at this point. And yes, sure - anyone can claim to be deaf and there probably are more than a few. So what? More power to them.

Yes, there are guys in girl skin. So what? More power to them. I mean, is it your intention to reach through the internet and actually mesh lips in a real life passionate tongue-swapping blissful french-kiss with them? Sheesh, get over it. Unless you are actually intending to take any kind of relationship out of SL into RL, it doesn't matter. Just focus on what you see on your screen and go with the flow.

It's likely you've noticed SL is in the news a lot over the past couple years. In 2006 through the first part of 2007, it was over-hyped 'ZOMG SL IS AWESOME!' - then through most of 2007 it was completely the opposite. But, if you've been paying attention, there are a couple of human interest stories that flew-in low, under the radar.

They featured how Second Life is proving to be a huge benefit and rehabilitative boon for those with practically any handicap. I've known this long before any of the news agencies even thought of reporting it. And I've known it works. First-hand.

There is a girl I want to tell you about. I know this girl in person, an acquaintance in RL. She's been in SL almost as long as I have. I won't bother giving her name here because she doesn't know I'm using her as my example to get a point across.

She's more or less an augmentationist, with a little immersionism thrown in. She refuses to talk about RL to strangers, and even to those she knows well, she gives nothing of identifying content. She absolutely refuses to use her microphone and if you earn enough of her trust to get her to send you a picture, the best you'll likely get is one that is two or more years old. Never, ever anything current. Her most recent self-portrait that she keeps in her profile is even almost two years old.

In RL she doesn't have a lot of friends. Unfortunately, because she refuses to use the microphone, she tends to be somewhat of a loner in SL, too. You see, she is shy. She is shy because she is self-conscious over what you cannot see or hear or feel about her. And if you ask, she likely will not say or explain.

In fact, it is stated in her profile: "In SL we all are beautiful and glamorous. In RL, I was beautiful just like you, once." Okay, it's pretty sad she feels this way. She's young, only in her 20's.

You see, she was involved in an auto accident a while ago. A terrible one and almost lost her life only hours after that profile picture was taken. Many reconstructive surgeries and hospital visits later, she still struggles with her loss (her father, my friend), what happened and the emotional trauma of it all.

I introduced her to SL while she was laid-up in the hospital, stuck in bed undergoing all the long and painful treatment back then. SL turned out then and to this day to be her escape from her "RL Hell" and has provided a way for she and I to stay loosely in touch with each other since then.

I recently chatted with her after a few months of not seeing her around. It turns out she had temporarily left SL. Her always flying so low under the radar, I noticed... but didn't really notice... and I know her in real life!

Among our other catching-up chit-chat, I asked her why she had left SL and for so long. It turns out that ever since voice has become so prevalent, she is constantly questioned why she isn't willing to use it when she has it active (typing instead of speaking with the microphone.) She chooses not to say.

Then, of course, she is immediately snickered-at, eyes-rolled-to and basically accused by insinuation that she is just another guy in girl's skin. She got tired of the insult accusations about why she refuses to use voice. I also asked her why she returned, even though I already knew the answer.

"Because in SL I am beautiful again. I am normal and people can see the real me inside without all the distraction," she said.

You see, my friend's daughter had massive injuries. Broken collar bone and shoulder, broken neck, her skull was badly fractured. She's been undergoing facial reconstructive surgery off and on since then. A long, painful process. This is why she simply refuses any picture be taken of her over the last couple years. She sees her entire life as being ruined... her real life, that is.

In the accident, her throat was crushed. Speaking is difficult and painful. And when she does speak, beside the slurring, the synthetic reconstructive elements surgeons inserted into her neck make her voice sound "like a monster" (her own words.) She refuses to take a current picture or to speak on the microphone "because they are distractions that keep people from seeing and getting to know the real me."

So, my whole point is this: Second Life is so much more to other people than it might be to you and for completely different reasons you may never have even fathomed. In this girl's case, it makes her "whole and beautiful and normal" again. Literally a second life. And I suspect this is true for a lot more people than you or I might think.

If you run into her, and decide not to learn more about her and quickly cast her off as a guy-in-girl-skin all because your litmus test is whether she is willing to use voice or not... it will be your loss. You're the one who will be missing out on the friendship of a wonderful, funny, beautiful person. And you, in your own shallowness, will simply become just another one who decided to judge a book by its cover and turn away from someone you'd really enjoy getting to know.

So, augmentationist, immersionist or even puppeteer: remember that everyone in SL is here for their own reasons. Some for simple fun, others for social reasons, others to simply experiment, explore, learn and so on. And though there are sometimes 'suspicious' reasons why so many choose to mention in their profiles that "SL and RL are and will always be separate" - and many reasons why someone might refuse to speak into a microphone, even if they have voice turned on, some of those reasons really are legitimate.

Such as immersionism. Being legally deaf. Or because it's simply easier to be mute, rather than dealing with the pain of hearing yourself.

Sometimes, they just want to be "beautiful and normal again."

The next time you see someone who isn't using voice, or perhaps has that little white dot over their head but always tends to use the keyboard and refuses to use the microphone... think outside the box for a change and remember... there are real reasons why this may be so. And you may not even be close as to guessing why.

PostHeaderIcon Tired old New York Times

So, the New York Time must be infatuated with Second Life. I mean, honestly.

Not only is there a mention of (read: full-blown article about) Second Life practically every week, but it's usually old news and, on top of that - they still can't get it right.

Ummm, hel-lo? Second Life (and practically all other virtual worlds) is not "web-based". It doesn't require the web at all. In fact, clicking a SLURL (Second Life Uniform Resource Locater) still requires the stand-alone Second Life Viewer.

I would say 'hey, dolts, get a clue for once'. But, it is the New York Times. No sense wasting my breath. Anyway, if you want to read yet another article about job interviews in SL - go for it. Link and excerpt follows [emphasizing the SNAFU is mine]:
The Job Interview, Starring Your Avatar - New York Times
"Finally, after thanking me for my time, Mr. Gould stood up, shook my hand and flew away.
No, this wasn’t some technophile fantasy, nor was it my debut in local surrealist theater. Instead, Mr. Gould and I were sitting at computers on opposite sides of the same room. We were meeting in Second Life, the Web-based virtual world that is owned and operated by his employer, Linden Lab."

PostHeaderIcon ZOMG! It's the END of SL as we know it!!!

Well - at least this is what all the "voice" naysayers will proclaim.

Remember how Linden Lab introducing "Voice" to SL was going to 'kill' the grid? Notice how the naysayers are still proclaiming that voice is a 'failure'? I just can't stop laughing so hard.

Then that survey... asking about cool new voice features, like your own phone number and voice-to-text-to-voice capabilities and all that. Wow. Isn't technology wonderful? It's on it's way. Oooh, this press release is so going to burn the 'voice-haters'. I love it!

NEC connects real world phones to the “Second Life” world with their IP Voice and Media Solution
The NEC Communicator will be located at “Tokutoku Pocket Island” in the Second Life world during Mobile World Congress 2008. NEC launched “NEC Island”, “Tokutoku Pocket Island” and several other virtual points of presence in September 2007 to initiate branding, marketing and new business opportunities activities in the virtual world.

PostHeaderIcon Media & Second Life: Finally Getting It Right?

"...get a Second Life, where you can pay real money for virtual property, clothing and sex from a ridiculously proportioned cyber prostitute who may or may not be a fat middle-aged man in real life.If you're scratching your head in a bewildered manner, it's unlikely that your computer usage extends beyond the obligatory office hours and the occasional email to your cousin in Maatjiesfontein."
I *love* this opening.

I don't know from which country "iAfrica' hails from or who their target audience is, but the introductions to Second Life as a new phenomenon is still rampant throughout the world.

Unfortunately, most journalists totally hose up the concept and just make themselves look like lazy imbeciles to those in the know. However, in this case, there is a reporter who actually did some research.

And yes, I know this isn't the first time someone got it right. It's just been so long, it's refreshing all over again.

Kudos to you.

See the story called "Much to do about life"
It is important to note that Second Life is a virtual world, not a massively multiplayer online (MMO) game. That is, there are no set objectives, no apparent purpose. Furthermore, there is the possibility of creating meaningful relationships with other residents.
An important question, therefore, is do the same rules (and in Second Life there are very few) apply?
In a game, blowing up a fellow gamer may be imperative to achieving success. In Second Life, where there are no set objectives, gunning down a fellow resident or setting off an atomic bomb is tantamount to virtual murder. Luckily no one actually dies in Second Life — your avatar either reappears at a home point or is resurrected when you next log on — but the implications are a little concerning.
Source

PostHeaderIcon Finally, an accurate introduction to SL in the media

"...get a Second Life, where you can pay real money for virtual property, clothing and sex from a ridiculously proportioned cyber prostitute who may or may not be a fat middle-aged man in real life.If you're scratching your head in a bewildered manner, it's unlikely that your computer usage extends beyond the obligatory office hours and the occasional email to your cousin in Maatjiesfontein."

I *love* this opening.

I don't know from which country "iAfrica' hails from or who their target audience is, but the introductions to Second Life as a new phenomenon is still rampant throughout the world.

Unfortunately, most journalists totally hose up the concept and just make themselves look like lazy imbeciles to those in the know. However, in this case, there is a reporter who actually did some research.

PostHeaderIcon Cory? Where's Cory? SPOTTED!

Well, it was surprising - nay, shocking news when we all got the word Cory Ondrejka was leaving Linden Lab at the end of the year. Woohoo the rumors were flying! What an excellent drama and suspense-fest and... and... heheh.

Well, Cory moves on:
Second Life co-creator joins Annenberg adjunct faculty - News
Cory Ondrejka joined the Annenberg School for Communication as a visiting professor in January to give students tools they need to be innovative with online communities.

PostHeaderIcon Mange Your RL Portfolio in Second Life

Linden Lab wacked all the virtual banks (well, the ones offering a return on investment, anyway,) unless they are licensed and registered in real life and all that hogwash.

And, as the Linden Dollar banks closed down or realigned themselves, the next big question had to do with all the virtual stock exchanges.

Personally, I don't see a need for a 'bank' inside SL. Neither do I see the need for a virtual stock exchange. But, a real-world bank... that would handle the exchange of Lindens (L$) and real-world dollars... even manage a real world portfolio from within SL?

Food for thought?
The things that make you go 'hmmmm'
Virtual money: the next big thing in the payments market?: "... according to a report by Finextra, Danish online investment bank Saxo is establishing an office in Second Life and plans to offer residents the chance to manage real-life portfolios from within the virtual world. The bank says that it may also eventually create a market to trade the virtual Linden dollar against real-world currencies."
Source
heheheh.
Woot!
(...still won't likely touch it, though) ;)

PostHeaderIcon Vodafone in Second Life

Remember that survey Linden Lab offered on voice-enabled features where they asked you about voice mail, a phone number where RL can dial into SL...to YOU. Or even the possibility of converting voice to text and vice-versa?

Looks like it's the Vodafone people. Now, I don't know this for sure, and it's just a snippet in a larger story. As soon as I get the chance, I'll head over to the Vodafone site and see if I can confirm this.

This is all that was mentioned in the article:
"Vodafone recently announced the beta launch of Vodafone Inside Out, a mobile platform created in conjunction with virtual environment Second Life, enabling subscribers to contact others Second Life avatars via real-world handsets."
Source 

PostHeaderIcon Funny-money banks are fading away... but a real one arrives?

Yes, Linden Lab shutdown all the virtual banks (well, the ones offering a return on investment, anyway,) unless there were licensed and registered and all that hogwash.

And, as the banks closed down or realigned themselves, the next big question had to do with all the virtual stock exchanges.

Personally, I don't see a need for a 'bank' inside SL. Neither do I see the need for a virtual stock exchange. But, a real-world back... that would handle the exchange of Lindens (L$) and real-world dollars... even manage a real world portfolio from within SL?

Food for thought?
The things that make you go 'hmmmm'
Take a peek here:
Virtual money: the next big thing in the payments market?: "... according to a report by Finextra, Danish online investment bank Saxo is establishing an office in Second Life and plans to offer residents the chance to manage real-life portfolios from within the virtual world. The bank says that it may also eventually create a market to trade the virtual Linden dollar against real-world currencies."


(...still won't likely touch it, though) ;)

PostHeaderIcon Second Life Herald: Finally a decent Op/Ed

The SL Herald is a real joke as of late. No wait... always was.

Sloppy writers, stupid stories intended to troll flames and beat-up on other residents and just plain garbage. It's just another tabloid sitting on the shelf next to the "Globe" and "National Enquirer" on the supermarket checkout stand.

Finally, a very good article (Opinion Editorial) comes along by Victoria Wheeler.

Congratulations, Victoria. A very good article I hope many more residents will read, so they don't fall for the whole SL Banking and Exchange shell games and loose all their 'fictional play money'.

Read Victoria's article here:
Second Life Herald: Op/Ed: Exposed & Shamed, SL Banking Silently Slinks Away
Three months later, their SL bank had closed, and that avatar had disappeared, along with the considerable 'fictional' cash reserves of their SL bank. To compound the problem, they had pointed the finger of blame at someone else. I was glad I had seen it coming, and that I never invested a single Linden in their ventures.

PostHeaderIcon New SL Voice feature to be provided by Voadafone?

Remember that survey Linden Lab offered on voice-enabled features where they asked you about voice mail, a phone number where RL can dial into SL...to YOU. Or even the possibility of converting voice to text and vice-versa?

Looks like it's the Vodafone people. Now, I don't know this for sure, and it's just a snippet in a larger story. As soon as I get the chance, I'll head over to the Vodafone site and see if I can confirm this.

This is all that was mentioned in the article:
"Vodafone recently announced the beta launch of Vodafone Inside Out, a mobile platform created in conjunction with virtual environment Second Life, enabling subscribers to contact others Second Life avatars via real-world handsets."

Blackthorne™ ≠ inSL

Search This Blog

SL Grid Status

Mundane History