Yes, My Blog Has Moved

Catharsis (moderate)

This seemed as good an image as any to illustrate the process of moving my blog.  The fact that there's a move afoot to link google profiles with blogger and the annoying "security" process in place forced my hand.  This is annoying because I like blogger - it works.

I'm sure I've messed up various things and I'll try and get them fixed.  I'll also be tweaking but, I hope, no wholesale changes and at some point I'll figure out why links don't always want to work etc.

Two things didn't make it over - the videos I've posted are missing and my Travels Sorted by Maturity Rating.  I'll be starting a new page of them but the old one will remain for as long as possible.

I apologize to all of you using RSS Feeds and who kindly link to me on their blogrolls - but I couldn't take the chance that the blog would vanish completely.  I'm attached to it. :)

All future posts will be available solely on the Wordpress site.  I hope you'll continue to follow my inworld adventures!

We Interrupt This Stream of SL Posts For a Brief Dedication

Back in my younger days I fell in love with this older guy - one with smarts and a ridiculous charm and a complete disregard for many of life's rules.  It was a period of time when many of us avoided disco and the rest of the 70's and found country - in particular my never ending passion for Waylon Jennings which outlasted my affair with the man I'll call TM but is all bound up into the same memories.

He could be an ass at times.  The song above is one he insisted reminded him of me - and no my name isn't Susan, he'd substitute mine in the lyrics.  It actually didn't seem like a bad song for him to pick.  Years after we parted I passed through his town and had dinner with TM and his wife. The idiot got up in the middle of the meal and put this on the stereo and made sure she knew it was about me.  sigh

I learned today that there won't be a possibility of any future dinners together.  The memories though are mostly happy ones and I want to dedicate the next video to him.  To TM and to my wish that some people would just stick around.

Some People Have Shoulder Pets in Second Life

Felix & I

I've not only acquired a new friend but also a way to deal with those annoyances which crop up in our daily lives from time to time.  Thanks to Claudia222 Jewel I won't have to raise a finger in anger or frustration (which always seems to result in a chipped nail).  My buddy Felix is very protective.  He's also a great,  if wry, conversationalist and observer. We've bonded.

Searching for your Roots - Genealogy in Second Life

First Life Ancestry & Genealogy (FLAG) Center  (moderate)

So somebody mentioned on twitter today that people don't do "genealogy" in Second Life.  The point she was making (I think) was that people interested in that topic explored their history inworld through builds and roleplay not actual genealogical pursuits.  I knew this wasn't quite true because I had visited a couple of sites for people interested in the search for physical life roots.  I mentioned this and was asked if I'd blogged them - well, um, no I hadn't.  I guess I should. :)

I first found the sites when I was thinking about the early days of the interwebs - one of the things many of us did was start using the now available online resources to look up our personal histories.  The nice thing about Second Life is that you can connect with others interested in the topic and share tips and resources and methods and stories.

Just Genealogy  (moderate)

I'm sharing 5 locations with you today but there may be more.  It helps when you're searching on the topic to spell it correctly (blush) - I always try and use an "o" instead of the "a", not a good idea. Other good search terms might include "ancestry" and "family history" but I didn't try them this afternoon.

One of the interesting things about these sites is that they work together to foster the study of their topic inworld.  There is a Union of Genealogy Groups and they have an Integrated Calendar of events online so if you want to go test the waters and talk to fellow researchers that's a good place to start.

Genealogy Research Center (moderate)

Most of these sites appear  to be very broad in terms of focus - you can get help or enter into discussions about your family history no matter what part of the world you're from.  At least one,  The Genealogy Centre - Greater Ireland, however is devoted to the Irish, Scottish, and Celtic heritage.

The First Life Ancestry & Genealogy (FLAG) Center provides both a link to Genealogy Today (an online newsletter and list of resources) as well as a very useful notecard outlining guidelines you should use to protect your privacy while discussing family names and history.

The Genealogy Centre - Greater Ireland (moderate)

When I was poking around in the misty beginnings of the internet those of us searching for ancestors wondered a lot about when the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints would get their records online.  It's a huge resource and there was much excitement when it finally began to happen so no blog post about genealogical sites inworld would be complete without a tip to the Family History Centre run by the Friends of the LDS.

I didn't spend much time at any of these locations today because my intent was just to pass on the basic info of their existence.  I plan to go back though and get more help from them to fill in a huge gap I have in my family's history prior to 1729.  If you're at all interested in the topic I suggest you check out the inworld resources available to us - really it's hard to think of anything you can't find on the grid.  :)

Family History Centre   The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (general)

Some Resources For Your Second Life

NV Madworld

In a brief departure from the recent norm I wanted to highlight some of the resources available to those of us living in Second Life that I use most often. The photos may or may not have anything to do with the content of this post - in most cases they are of places I just haven't had a chance to mention as of yet.

One of the best sources of information on Second Life, with links to answers for questions you haven't even thought of yet, is Daniel Voyager's blog. Daniel is one of the most active correspondents we have on the grid and if you go through the tabs at the top of his page you'll find a wealth of information gathered in an easily accessed format. If you want to know more about this world Daniel is always the "go to" person.

Milk Wood

If you want to know how to make something for Second Life but don't know where to start the best place is the MetaLibrary. Compiled and maintained by Indigo Mertel this is a treasure trove of smart and invaluable information about everything from Blender to poses. Take advantage of all of Indigo's hard work (and support the library if you find it helpful).

Zed

Speaking of poses - I'm certainly not a model. However, I do on occasion like to tell stories and include illustrative photos with them which requires my "character" to look at least semi appropriate for the narrative. If you want to start creating a "pose library" then you need to visit Status. Elusyve and Gidge display a wonderful sense of humour and I haven't found anything there so "precious" that I didn't want it. The icing on this cake is that the prices are fabulous! Besides, how many designers do you know who create a colour scheme for their store which somehow magically mirrors that of the two cats playing outside?

Status

Words are important, even in a virtual world, and there is a rich culture of book clubs, writing and literature in Second Life. Locations such as the Milk Wood Writers' Colony & Showcase and Book Island are good places to start.

Crap Mariner writes a 100 Word Story every day and invites others to do the same in his weekly challenges. In addition he performs his story readings every week on Edloe and at various storytelling gatherings around the grid. Follow him and his adventures and find links to this active group of verbalists.

To find those residents who feel the same way you do about your favourite author just use search. You may be astounded at the number of sims and groups that share your fascination.

Sium Garden & Space Station

I realize that this is just a small sampling of the resources available to us but they are some of my favourites. I believe that all of the inworld sites mentioned or photographed (with the exception of Milk Wood) are rated "Moderate". I'll get them added to the page that sorts by maturity rating as soon as I can. :)

Mulligan Can Finally Visit Zindra

Mulligan is 18 years old today. All 6 pounds of her. You'd think at her age she'd be a sedate grande dame but instead she's more like the juvenile delinquent I've always known.

I've given up worrying about feeding her the "right" things. Keeping her eating seems more important and she does eat about 4 times a day. The problem is that I keep misunderstanding what she's ordered off the menu and wind up having to throw stuff out and replace it. I'm apparently a very slow learner but in my own defense she changes her mind about what's good every day or so and I have trouble keeping up.

A few weeks ago she started yelling at me. It sounded like the usual call for some kind of protein so I fed her. She ate for a while and then started yelling again. This went on every 60 to 90 minutes for more than 24 hours. Nothing I did seemed to appease her.

Part way through the night I suddenly thought that maybe she was really sick and in pain. Maybe this was the end. The next day I happened to walk into my bedroom and saw a small something on the floor. It was a catnip bud.

Understand that one of the famous crops from here is BC Bud - the most powerful marijuana around. The same growing conditions produce the most potent catnip buds known. I had hidden a bag of them very carefully. She found them.

Mulligan wasn't sick or in pain. She was seeing dragons. My almost 18 year old cat was stoned out of her gourd. sigh

I've never known an animal who gets into as much mischief as she does and somehow she always winds up looking at me like I'm the one to blame.

So here's to Mulligan. Long may she drive me crazy. :)

On the 1st Question Hotseat in Second Life

Let me start by saying that Pooky Amsterdam is a force of nature and when she aims her powers your way you are helpless to resist. This is the only possible explanation for my agreement to be a panel member on the 1st Question. I have never had any desire to get in front of a camera so it was with a mixture of both trepidation and anticipation that I prepared for the event last Sunday. I had great plans to take lots of photos for this blog post but I was so focussed on not messing up that my camera button was never clicked. Luckily Ahuva was there and took some for my personal inventory - I went back to the empty studio to take the one above.

To relieve the tedious amount of text I'll use to describe this adventure I will insert photographs from other recent explorations. :)

Kowloon - in the narrow streets you will find Japan Relief items for sale.

I knew about the date of my appearance weeks ago and spent hours in preparation. I carefully studied the periodic table to identify my element, evaluated seemingly thousands of suffixes and prefixes to arrive at a word I felt comfortable creating and I combed through mountains of science news in the hope that I'd be able to answer at least one question correctly.

The element and word got done. Neither will remain in anyone's memory but they were done. Of course all my studying and notes were wasted (well apart from increasing my knowledge of scientific current events I suppose) because nothing I had found was included in any of the questions posed. sigh

Fashion for Life - Arbus Sim

On the day of the taping I spent a final few hours reading science news and then thought I'd be clever and have a nap so I'd be fresh and alert for the show. Most of the nap involved a nightmare about arriving late and having to face Pooky, Hydra Shaftoe, Petlove Petshop and the rest of the very professional crew in disgrace. I woke up to discover I had 15 minutes to get inworld, assume the chosen avatar and rush to the studio. Unfortunately I decided to counteract the brain blurriness caused by the nap by having a cup of coffee. This meant I was not only nervous but also wired.

This was the 116th episode of 1st Question - it has lasted this long because it's fun and because the team is really good at what it does. I was almost entirely certain that I couldn't be the cause of the sudden demise of this Second Life institution.

Deelish-ous Designs

My fellow panelists for this episode were Frolic Mills and Callie Cline. Frolic informed us before the show began that he had won on his last visit (I immediately taped down his button) and Callie brought her own army. I was going to adopt a display name of "Roadkill". It seemed fitting.

I won't tell you what happened but I will say that through a combination of the teensiest bit of actual knowledge, lucky guessing and the invaluable assistance of audience members I managed to hold my own. The show is a lot of fun and I'm very glad to have had the opportunity to add it to my inworld experiences.

For those of you who are interested, here is my episode of 1st Question for your amusement. :)

Rush Hour in Second Life

Back when I started in SL there were dirt roads throughout the mainland (and yes I had to walk 5 miles to school, in the snow, with bare feet). These were Linden Roads and it was considered beneficial to own land next to the road because, at least on that side of your parcel, you wouldn't have rotating ads or naked people on billboards peering down at you. It was fun to walk or ride down the road and explore the neighbouring sims.

The Linden Roads are still there but now are paved- which is not a bad thing. The few I've seen look good and are well maintained (no potholes at least). A friend of mine lives next to one of these roads and asked me to investigate a sudden influx of traffic going by her house.

Standing at the intersection near her parcel I watched as varying types of vehicles went past about every 3 minutes. Sometimes two would arrive at the intersection from different directions at the same time. The vehicles included taxi's, tanks, an ice cream truck and a school bus and you can ride them - although you don't steer them (more about that later).

The vehicles are created by AnnMarie O'Toole and I did try to speak with her but I'm guessing she's a very busy woman so I failed to connect. I did figure out that you don't have to hop on one of the moving vehicles to take a ride - you can start a journey at one of almost 70 rezzing stations around the grid. This one is the Straminsky Depot. Note that they don't pollute the air and only one, the ice cream truck, appears to include sound. Unfortunately I'll be humming "Daisy, Daisy" for the rest of the day.

I am awe-struck at the amount of work that has gone into this endeavour and I think it makes a lot of sense to actually have traffic on the Linden Roads. It's also nice to have another way to explore the grid. Having said that there are a couple of issues. Script doesn't always work the way it should - I'm not blaming the scripters, I'm sure there are variables beyond their control e.g., sim script load or server behaviour.

I did take a ride in a garbage truck and concluded that the invisible driver was probably drunk. The truck kept leaving the road and then attempting to get back on track. Finally it crossed a couple of parcels and crashed into a nursery, wheels spinning uselessly in the air.

I waited and watched and the truck did vanish. However when I checked I realized that the parcel had auto-return enabled, I don't know how long it would have remained otherwise.

Admittedly my mind works in bizarre ways, but these are the thoughts that occurred to me:

• Prim littering must be a concern - there are many reasons people won't have auto-return enabled.
• What happens if the Second Life Transit Authority gets competition? Having a lot of scripted vehicles running around could lead to interesting truck duels.
• Do we now need sidewalks for joggers and hikers? What about horse or bicycle paths?

The friend who got me started on this would like to see fewer vehicles - maybe reduce the frequency to 3 per hour. That might help with prim littering as well. Of course she'd also prefer fewer garbage trucks and graffiti-laden school buses. She's such a princess! :)

As I stood near the intersection and pondered the amount of work behind this rush hour on Linden Roads and the possible implications, I heard a strange sound. This made me laugh for a long time. So much for our Robot Overlords.

Improving My Second Life Performance

I don't mean my performance in Second Life. :) I'm referring to SL's performance on my computer - or maybe the performance of my computer in Second Life. To be precise, in this instance I'm talking about FPS (frames per second) and Ping Sim (time for data to transfer from my computer to the sim I'm in). You can get this information on the Statistics Bar - to find that go Advanced/Performance/Statistics Bar in V2.

I am no technical expert and what follows is only a description of what I did and the results. I'm sure everything I'm going to mention is glaringly obvious to most but there might be one or two people who haven't tried these things and for you this might be helpful. :)

Note that the steps I talk about can be undone, but if you're worried about making a fatal error please get real expert help before doing any of this. I seem to have managed the following changes without encountering any disasters - there was one glitch I'll discuss but it is manageable.

I have a fairly powerful computer and high speed access but there are a number of locations in SL where my lag seems unreasonably high - certainly higher than others I know. Standing on my Linden home my FPS would typically range between 11 and 14 - low. My Ping Sim time would range between 300 and 380 - high. I'm not talking about when you first arrive and have to wait for everything to rez - I mean once you've been there for a while and stabilized.

The Stats Bar in the photo at the top shows my readings after I made the changes I'll talk about below. My FPS ranged from 29 to 37 and my Ping Sim varied from 97 to 130. Huge improvements!

The first thing I did was update the SL Port Specifications. In my case I had to do this on my router - my software firewall settings were OK. Making these adjustments should be done by everybody in SL - it just makes sense.

The Wiki information is essential to you here and I'm grateful it's published. My only criticism is that the chart isn't dated so you have to check your settings periodically against what's published to see if there have been changes.

The next thing I did was very new for me but it was also extremely valuable. There were a number of unnecessary "Services" or applications running in the background on my computer. In addition a number of applications were launched at startup that I didn't know about or need. I still use Windows XP and using the System Configuration Utility you can access a list of both and turn off the ones you don't want. I'm sure you can find out from MicroSoft what utilties are needed in other versions of Windows. I don't know about Apple but I'm sure there's something. :)

In order to decide what I did or didn't need I compared the items on both tabs to information at this site. The only mistake I seem to have made (at least that I've found so far) is that I turned off something that allowed me to open my Corel Photo Editor - but that was easy to fix. On the top page of the Configuration Tool, I just clicked Normal Startup and rebooted. Then I had to redo my changes but I was more careful the second time. :)

I don't know if my experience will help anybody else. Frankly the attempt to do techie stuff makes my head hurt but the performance improvements in Second Life are worth it. :)

Bits of News from Second Life

I know - pictures of me two days in a row. (sigh) I promise it's just a blip in the space/time continuum. I have the following little bits and pieces though that I'd like to share:

• Crap Mariner has news about an Amazon.com music discount available and suggests you use it to support live musicians in Second Life. He also suggests you do the "forwarding" part of the process to encourage the Lindens involved with events to experience more of our terrific inworld talent. I heartily endorse both recommendations and would encourage you to check out Von the Revelator and consider it for your selection. :)
  Update: Crap has passed on the news that American Express is now offering a 5 song rebate on iTunes. Hey - even more inworld music for you!
• In Land - The Search for the Sy has been extended until mid-March which is fabulous news. If you haven't experienced it yet you now have an additional 4 weeks to get in there. You'll love it! There's a party from 5 til 8 SLT tonight for all the winners and those who may not have won but enjoyed it anyway. I hope to see you there.
• The new Viewer 2.5 is FAST! Certainly much better than the beta version was. :) I'm still having a couple of minor issues but I suspect it's because I haven't checked the port specifications lately and I'll do that later today.

In other news it's almost Valentine's Day. Mia Linden has done one of her special occasion builds and there are Linden and Volunteer kissing booths (which will be open for business from 7:00 am to 7:00 pm SLT). If you spend the entire year yelling at Lindens I think you owe it to them to give some love at least one day a year and Valentines would seem the perfect opportunity. We all need encouragement every now and then. :) Here's a schedule of Volunteers, if I find one for Lindens I'll add it.

It's Robbie Burns Day - Gung Haggis Fat Choy

I know I look a teensy bit hungover - and it's a possibility. Today is after all Robbie Burns Day and that deserves celebrating. I didn't choose the last name McMillan by accident you know - there is a lot of Scotland in my genetic makeup. There is a lot of Scotland in Canada's makeup as well and the traditions are strong here.

In Vancouver we add a little twist. It will shortly be the Chinese New Year (the year of the Rabbit in case you didn't know) and many will combine the celebrations. Add the traditional Burns Supper dish to the Chinese New Year Greeting (Gung Hei Fat Choy) and you get the title of my post. My friend and I are preparing for a multi cultural feast and I may require a few days rest afterwards.

I was going to share with you Robbie's Address to the Haggis but some of my readers have difficulty with Auld Lange Syne so it would probably be almost impossible to decipher the Address. Instead I've chosen one of his best and favourite song poems - A Man's A Man For A' That. And to show that you don't have to be a staid 18th Century singer to deliver this toast to the egalitarian spirit I have a recent version of the song for you. I'll provide the words in case you have trouble following - you enjoy the music and Lang may yer lum reek!

Is there for honest Poverty
That hings his head, an' a' that;
The coward slave-we pass him by,
We dare be poor for a' that!
For a' that, an' a' that.
Our toils obscure an' a' that,
The rank is but the guinea's stamp,
The Man's the gowd for a' that.

What though on hamely fare we dine,
Wear hoddin grey, an' a that;
Gie fools their silks, and knaves their wine;
A Man's a Man for a' that:
For a' that, and a' that,
Their tinsel show, an' a' that;
The honest man, tho' e'er sae poor,
Is king o' men for a' that.

Ye see yon birkie, ca'd a lord,
Wha struts, an' stares, an' a' that;
Tho' hundreds worship at his word,
He's but a coof for a' that:
For a' that, an' a' that,
His ribband, star, an' a' that:
The man o' independent mind
He looks an' laughs at a' that.

A prince can mak a belted knight,
A marquis, duke, an' a' that;
But an honest man's abon his might,
Gude faith, he maunna fa' that!
For a' that, an' a' that,
Their dignities an' a' that;
The pith o' sense, an' pride o' worth,
Are higher rank than a' that.

Then let us pray that come it may,
(As come it will for a' that,)
That Sense and Worth, o'er a' the earth,
Shall bear the gree, an' a' that.
For a' that, an' a' that,
It's coming yet for a' that,
That Man to Man, the world o'er,
Shall brothers be for a' that.

My Failed Secret Mission to Welcome Rod Humble to Second Life (and influence our future)

I had this scathingly brilliant idea. I would do something special to personally welcome Linden Lab's new CEO - make him feel at home and, as a side benefit to me, get his ear so that I could make sure he knows what needs to be done to ensure the future of our world.

I borrowed a kitchen and spent the entire night cooking my special casserole - the whiskey marinated Haggis masterpiece I'm known for. It takes hours but I knew that one taste and he'd be my devoted slave (no need to collar him, he'd be begging for more treats without any coercion). I flew down to San Francisco this morning prepared to delight him with my thoughtfulness - unfortunately it turns out my idea, although inspired, did not make me unique.

The scene outside Linden headquarters was insane. The police had to cordon off blocks to ensure that no tourists got injured by accidentally heading in that direction.

It seems that every blogger, group, activist and concerned resident had decided to try and get their message to the poor guy first. As a result the noise was deafening.

I saw one corner of the office lobby where they are storing just a portion of the notecards, im's and tweets directed at him.

I suppose it would be smarter of me to wait until he has (as we used to say) actually got his feet under his desk, found the washroom and figured out how to fill in his timesheet. (sigh)

I was left with my masterpiece and thousands of starving residents (there are only so many chairs in the office cafeteria). I gave my dish to the policeman and escaped before it got too ugly.

Welcome to Second Life Rod! We look forward to working with you. :)

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My poses are (as always) from Gesticulate

Attending the 2011 Virtual Edge Summit - Virtually

I decided not to wait til the end of the conference to post my initial thoughts on attending the Virtual Edge Summit partly because you might like to do the same. So here's a heads up - it's on through today and tomorrow (January 12 - 13, 2011). Check the schedule because there might be something you're interested in watching.

I say watching instead of attending because really that's all you're doing. Once you login to the conference you have 9 platforms from which to choose your preferred path for accessing the presentations. I've tried a few of them now and they look a little different but all get you to the same place in the end. From the platforms' point of view this is their way of marketing their services for you to use in your next virtual or hybrid conference.

All of my online conferences in the past few years have been in Second Life or on an SL clone and I'm finding this experience disappointing. There was a lot of emphasis in the first couple of sessions about the need to engage the remote attendees to your event if you're going to have a successful virtual or hybrid conference. Unfortunately this technology doesn't facilitate engagement. Consider:

• Much like a televised sporting event you are at the mercy of the person who controls the camera. In the first session I was "at" the camera pointed at two people on the stage and stayed there. One of those individuals kept referring to his slides - I'll bet they had colour and neat graphics but I'll never know. The camera didn't show them. Another of the panelists attended by phone - which is fine. However while that person was talking we were staring at the other two panelists trying to appear to be engaged. In the virtual world we're used to looking at what we want and we control our own cameras. This was frustrating.
• In a couple of sessions we got to see the slides - and that's pretty much all we looked at. Some people don't do very engaging slides.
• The platform I've spent the most time on (through sheer laziness frankly) has a chat function. Great! We're used to engaging with fellow audience members and even presenters through chat. However, the chat function is on a different window - it doesn't appear with the video. It also doesn't distinguish between the 4 concurrent sessions so the only occasional chat I saw was from representatives of the platform trying to engage in marketing discussions with conference attendees who made the mistake of saying "Hi". (You can also use twitter though and sometimes the twitter stream appears next to the video.)
  

The most interesting session so far included Terry Thorpe and David Gardner (VenueGen) talking about 3d Immersive technology. They didn't have enough time to show the real difference but I hope they made a lot of the attendees interested. Once you've actually been engaged at an online conference you won't want to go back to just watching video. I keep trying to cam around and it's not working!

However, check out the schedule - the conference is free to attend online. Just don't expect too much in the way of "engagement". :)

A Toast to Absent Second Life Friends

A toast "to absent friends" is always (to me) the most poignant part of New Year's Eve. The feeling that somebody is missing and missed and that your world is lessened by their loss deserves acknowledgement and I think it's worth the time to honour the gift their friendship brought you.

We lose friends in Second Life all too often as a result of death and we mourn and vent when that occurs. We also see friends drift away because we've grown apart but they still exist inworld and at least we know they're around even if not part of our "lives" any more. Then there are the friends who leave Second Life voluntarily and just disappear from our radar. I know people who have left but stay in touch through Plurk or Skype or email etc. The ones that just seem to vanish are the ones I include in this toast. The people I care for who left me behind when they found new adventures to pursue.

The photo above is old and represents one of my favourite memories of Second Life. Two of those individuals wandered away and I think about them often - I hope whatever they're doing they are happy and loved and I'm very very grateful they were part of my life as long as they were.

I went through a lot of youtube videos trying to decide on something appropriate for this post. I wound up getting sadder and more maudlin the more I searched and finally decided that it would be better to honour their temporary presence in my life than mourn their loss (and far less emo).

So for Wrath, Dodgy, Pieter, Trayz, Linux, Weeger and Mihai - a toast to you and a thank you for your friendship and all the gifts your friendships gave me. I hope someday our paths cross once again.

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A Holiday Thank You to My Two Readers :)

I love this time of year. It's a time to celebrate friends and family and remember to tell people how much we care.

In the process of shopping and cooking and fussing and stressing I don't want my two readers to think I've forgotten them. :)

For you, for being patient with my rambling and occasionally allowing me to vent, I'd like to share one of my favourite pieces by one of my favourite artists. Song of the Earth seems to apply to Second Life as well as the physical one. With love.

Update: I had to add this gift from Chantal Harvey and friends!

A Christmas Present for PS22

The other night the PS22 Chorus was invited to perform live at the next Academy Awards ceremony. They were a little excited. :)

If you're not familiar with these kids (and even if you are) watch the video gift from them to all of us. And because I feel like it I'm including a video of theirs I posted before.

Second Life - Considering Virtual Justice

Skye Basilisk Castle Keep

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If you have built castles in the air, your work need not
be lost; that is where they should be. Now put
the foundations under them.

Henry David Thoreau

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This quote appears at the front of a new book called Virtual Justice - The New Laws of Online Worlds by Greg Lastowka. The author is a Professor of Law at Rutgers University and has written for a number of publications on such topics as CyberProperty and Virtual Crimes.

Far from a "dry academic" tome I'm finding it interesting, thought provoking and educational. One quote from the acknowledgements forward should give you a clue to his approach:

..... I feel obliged to note that this is a book about law that strays fairly far afield from my professional comfort zone. I make extended forays into medieval history, airplanes, and professional sports simply because I could find no better way to say certain things about virtual worlds.

Professor Lastowka appeared today on Metanomics and his conversation with Beyers Sellers generated a lot of interest and a LOT of chat (some of it was even on topic).

.

The book begins with a look at three different castles and uses them to "introduce some basic observations about power, technology, artifice, and law." The idea that "feudalism" has had a strong influence on virtual worlds found a sympathetic audience even without an explanation. I think people sometimes like to feel downtrodden even if they aren't sure why they should feel that way. Just in case you're starting to think you're downtrodden too - understand that he's speaking about influence on the law as it relates to virtual worlds not your landlord's right to demand Droit de Seigneur cybersex.

I haven't finished the book yet and I don't plan to regurgitate it for you once I have. He covers all the hot button topics (including copyright) so there is plenty of food for thought and debate. I do think it's worth a read and I believe it will generate a lot of discussion which will be healthier if all of the parties doing the discussing have actually read it. :)

The good news is that a pdf version of the book is freely available to read online and/or download (then if you like it you could go buy it). If you need more incentive than just curiousity, go watch the video of his Metanomics talk first. Both are intriguing.

Indulging in Second Life alpha.tribe Skins

I've been very self indulgent recently. I went back to alpha.tribe because I just can't get enough of their skins and, although I don't usually wear the clothing that comes with them, I thought I'd give you a glimpse of the wonderful pieces that are included.

I'm in love with the Moth skin but this mohawk above deserved special mention (and yes I left off the tail and the wings just to keep the prominence of the headpiece).

The next head shot shows you just part of the cool cyborg-type limbs and pieces that are boxed with Natural Things v4.

Someday I'll invest in poses for these photos (maybe once Elusyve gets her store opened) but in the meantime I think you can get a feel for the Musha-e skin and its terrific mohawk.

Eventually I'll find myself at one of those occasions which will demand the full avatar design. In the meantime I'll just drive my friends crazy trying to guess which skin I'll be wearing. :)

The New Networked Reality

Forgive me for a brief bit of nostalgia. I used to have time. Time to think, time to read and yes, time to get bored. The phone was a black box hanging on the kitchen wall. There was a radio in the corner of the living room and a television in front of the big chair. Next to the chair was a table with magazines and a pile of books.

It was a new modern world and we were able to access information at a reasonably fast pace from:

• The newspaper which arrived once or twice daily (depending on how many you read).
• The radio, if you had it playing, would give you the news every hour.
• The television had regular newscasts on each of the 3 channels.
• Magazines which only arrived monthly but gave you the indepth information you wanted on topics of the day.
  
• Meetings which were held at work and sometimes in the community to share information and work out solutions to common problems.

I would sit down in that comfortable chair and automatically pick up a book. The television or radio would be background accompaniment unless something really interesting was happening.

The world has changed of course and it's exciting. It's also exhausting. I'm starting to worry that I've become a network storage device. A node on the internet - a small, inconsequential node, but a fixed part of the network nevertheless.

Actually reading a book involves planning and scheduling. I have to consider how I will "catch up" if I take time to do it.

It's my own fault, I recognize that. But the opportunities to learn and connect and enjoy are so bountiful that I have trouble setting my boundaries. I do have some though - oddly enough my cell phone is used for phone calls. That's all - phone calls. Anybody who knows me would never try to reach me with a text message. And nobody would expect me to answer the phone while I'm in the car or walking the dog. Only emergencies would make somebody dial my number at those times.

I don't "do" FaceBook or MySpace. I haven't visited Avatars United in months. I don't do online gaming (SL of course doesn't count). However, my information sources and social network ties are still way too numerous.

• My television now has access to hundreds of channels and still I watch shows online from around the world.
• I'm a news junkie who has dozens of online news sites bookmarked and I read them first thing every morning.
• I have a blog which must be maintained and a network of blogs I read and try to follow on an ongoing basis.
• Plurk.
• Twitter.
• Email.
• Inworld IM's, group chat, meetings, workshops, and general conversations.
• Forums (well, they're mostly for the amusement value).
• Online virtual worlds where I either "live and work" (i.e., SecondLife) or visit as a tourist.
  
• Online conferences and courses.
• General research and knowledge activities (e.g., The TED Lectures)
  

I find myself always trying to catch up. In self defense, I limit the issues I'm prepared to get involved with - but I do try and keep up with developments.

If our great new world - virtual and physical - is this demanding of my limited cycles I can't imagine what it's like for people who try and do it all. So, I have a request of those technical geniuses out there - find a way to simplify things.

I'm pretty sure FaceBook and Google would each like to be the only pipeline anybody needed for their online lives. I'm not sure that's a good idea - I'd rather not have somebody else do it for me (Remember the early days of the internet when AOL would act as your carefully controlling window to the online world? Most of us went our own way for a reason.)

The virtual world offers possibilities for us to design our own pipelines - design our own network connections. I want you, the brains working on the big developments in cyberspace to give me the tools I need to design/build/create my own network. If I'm going to be a network storage device I want to have admin rights.

Max Headroom had fun being part of an online world - I want that too without always feeling like I'm playing catchup.

And oh yes, I also want time to read a book. :)

I'm an SL Skin Whore

I'm certainly not a fashion blogger, but I have a problem and I decided to admit it and accept it. My addiction began when I discovered []Trap[] Chromatic Skins and it just keeps getting worse. I have a weakness for the grey/drow skin tones with coloured tattoos (and there must be facial tattoos).

So today I may have to defriend two individuals who should know better than to tempt me with something I can't possibly resist.

It began when Winter blogged about Gauze (formerly Illuminati) skins and that meant I went looking for their main store and bought the one you see above (well OK I might have purchased more than one).

Then Dale blogged about alpha.tribe. sigh

I only went to visit out of curiousity. Really! However, it turns out you not only get a selection of skins in your folder, you also get these wonderful character clothes. Male and female! I couldn't in good conscience resist these amazing offers.

And yes I may have purchased one or two more than I'm showing you here. And by the way, the second two photos were taken at Remix Yo Life which is still under construction but worth visiting. :)

I looked at my Linden balance and blamed it all on my two ex-friends.