Kicking Puppies in Second Life

Sparky, Sparky, Sparky. sigh

I swear there are times I'm ready to give up on you! Really! The only reason I keep trying to help you is that I recognize that you truly love Second Life. That may, however, be your only redeeming quality.

I keep telling you that to be taken seriously you have to start actually exercising some of those teensy little grey cells every now and then.

We all know you come from the Rush Limbaugh school of debating (the whole trash the person who disagrees with you rather than actually debating the ideas approach, preferably using self-constructed epithets and insults to sound clever) but you really need to choose your targets with more care.

Picking on somebody who has never done anything to you is typical. But kicking a puppy, no matter how bright and articulate that puppy might be, is low even for somebody as mean spirited as you often are.

It's time to evolve. Either that or get better drugs!

At least try to move up the evolutionary ladder a bit - I realize this would be a big leap but it's an appropriate time of year to at least aim for something with sentience (however warped).

If you keep this up you will visit the SL Halls of Justice. I've been there and it's no fun. Fair warning - there's a very large pool of interested and enthusiastic potential jurors just waiting for the chance to pass judgement.

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Thank you to Daniel Voyager for participating in the photo shoot!

Nemo in Second Life - Alnitak

One of the reasons I love Second Life is that I get to fall in love with something different every day. I'm sure you've all heard of the Nemo build by Sextan Shepherd - that astounding SteamPunk sim he has created. I made it to Alnitak this morning - the flying city. I'm in awe!

The Space-O-Rama is impossible to describe coherently - it's beautiful, complex, entertaining and really really cool.

The build includes some commercial space which is all in keeping with the theme - I saw no naked/bondage/skanky/tacky/ stuff you can find almost everywhere. Very nicely done!

The highlight for me is the SteamPunk Air Museum. It includes the most amazing and amazingly detailed machines that would make Jules Verne moan in envy.

You can sit on the flying machines to see them operate (you're inside the museum so they don't actually take you into the sky - you really wish they would though).

I'm so glad there are people like Sextan inworld sharing their talents with us.

Nothing is Easy in Any Life

It's been one of those days. Allow me to lead you through a few of the highlights.

• All of my active items on XStreet have been migrated over to the new Marketplace. I've edited them and added a bunch more (there's a way, just add them to your magic box and then use the sync function) and taken new photos which are uploaded and done the linking to other items. This is all good - I think they're better listings now. However, the translations for all of the Drama Doll Listings on XStreet are not there. So I've waited. And waited.
• Today I went to find out when (and yes, if) they would be migrated. I searched the Wiki and found no mention of translations or translated versions.
• I posted the question to the Commerce Group inworld asking if anybody knew anything. I received no responses.
• I posted the question in the Commerce Forum. I received no replies.
• I posted the question on Plurk. Apparently nobody knows.
• I posted the question on Twitter. Apparently nobody knows there either.
• I then decided to go to Jack Linden's Office Hour because he would know the answer. Right? Except he got delayed and wouldn't make it to the OH. Grant Linden arrived to tell us that and he's in charge of Marketplace (I think) so I tried asking him. But I was more than 30m away and neither of us could see the other's chat.

I have reached three conclusions.

1. Very few people have translated their listings in XStreet. Otherwise this topic would have appeared before and somebody would have known the answer.
2. My items have been migrated and no further incremental migrations will occur. So the translations apparently aren't coming over automatically and at this point, if they did, it would probably mean I'd have to rework the english version anyway.
3. While XStreet still exists I'd better open two windows and start copying and pasting.

So 60 some odd listings times 4 languages - I have a lot of work to do. sigh

Hollow Earth Barony in Second Life

I'm going to stop telling people that my ruling planet is Inertia and start saying it's Serendipity. I had a serious face palm moment this morning!

I went to the hair fair (cause, yes, I'm an idiot and I keep thinking I'll find a pixie cut I like) and didn't stay too long. In spite of the fact that most people should be back at work, or in school, the crowd was still huge (and so was the pregnant woman with the 8,000 prim hair but I won't mention that). I didn't stay long but I did see a selection of fantasy hair I liked so I went to visit the store - Tekeli-li. It has some really cool stuff in it - including a group of underwater avatars that are truly spectacular.

However, back to the face palm moment. The area around the entrance to the store looked surprisingly familiar. I finally realized it was Hollow Earth Underdark, something I blogged about in July. Now I don't know if the build wasn't finished back then but I do know I didn't go above ground. OMG I should have and so should you!

Above ground is the Hollow Earth Barony. A gorgeous city with the most beautiful design. One of the things you'll notice immediately is that any change in sky colour (use windlight rather than waiting for the sl day to move on) changes the city character dramatically. The designer has taken that into consideration and although the character changes it is still remarkably striking and attractive.

Everywhere you look you see beautiful lines and textures. Inside the buildings you might find an elevator or a set of stairs that take you to another wonderful discovery.

This is a work of art built by Tekelili Tantalus, an artist in both lives. Yes I'm gushing, but you really need to go wander about this place to understand and then you will share my appreciation for what he's done.

Finding this city was a true I Love Second Life! moment. :)

Second Life Art Gallery at The Retreat

Phasmatis Ex Machina by Feathers Boa

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I'm getting nowhere fast on the trail of solving the Fortune Quest but I honestly don't care. I'm finding some fabulous "not to be missed" locations that I have apparently, to this point, missed.

The Art Gallery at The Retreat "An ever-changing display of art from the collection of Messalina Lavendel" is one of my favourite all time finds. I had to force myself to stop taking photos but here are a few of the pieces on display. Note that many of them are moving/changing so a picture really doesn't do them justice.

Flame of Creativity by Gleman Jun

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Amatorious Arborescens Ink & Pencil by Jessica Tehan

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Alive in Wild Paint - Beauty by Feathers Boa

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Rain Beads small by Glyph Graves

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humans4 - ieko 06 2010 by ieko catnap

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26 Tines by Bryn Oh

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I'm impressed at the depth of the collection on view and the generousity of the owner to share it with us. I'm also blown away by the talent inworld. Please go visit the gallery, you'll be very very glad you did. (PS Don't cam around the gallery, walk up to the exhibits. It does make a difference!)

The SPCDH in Second Life

I'm creating a new group, The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Dead Horses. Enough with beating on these poor animals! Isn't it enough that they're dead and starting to decay? Abuse will not bring them back and it's time to stop trying. Seriously.

I'd like to see bright minds work together in a positive way to build something wonderful for the future.

Of course I'd also like to see a magic wand and millions of dollars appear in my mailbox. :)

I'm hoping for better luck with those bright minds.

Update: Raul Crimson posted this link - follow it and remember how much fun we're really having when we're not so busy whining.

Treasure Hunting in Second Life

I mentioned a while back that a new Treasure Hunt called Fortune Quest was starting up - and it has. Beginning today you can buy both the HUD and the daily hints for a minimal fee and start searching Second Life for the Treasure.

It turns out that I'm really bad at treasure hunting - not because of an inability to do it, my problem is more that I'm easily distracted (it seems). I was using search to try and find things that might apply to the words in the first clue and I kept seeing sites listed that looked cool. So I went to visit them instead of focusing on the task at hand.

The results to me look like the type of treasures we take for granted inworld - I really need to spend more time exploring great builds like StoneHenge in Space above. Or the next one I saw, Eturnal Night.

I don't know if this is what the designers had in mind, but it's a really neat way to force you out and about and make you experience sites such as Isolla Della Collina, a mediterranean town being built as I write this.

Second Life is way too big for any of us to say that we've seen it all. Anything that gets us on the tourist trail - even accidentally, is a good thing. I would never have visited Jaded Wings if I was just working on that stupid todo list that's mocking me on my desk.

So I thank the Fortune Quest people - and I will get back to actually trying to follow the clues. Right after I spend some more time hanging around the Lost Lighthouse.

I certainly won't win the prize in this Fortune Quest - but I'm having fun pretending to try. :)