Before I moved to my current RL home in Jackson Heights, I lived in Astoria. Astoria is a contradictory place. It's a blue collar neighborhood by nature, being situated near warehouses and a power plant. The train is elevated, which is a sure NIMBY factor. But it's close to Manhattan and the trains have a short run through Queens before submerging to cross the East River, thus attracting the pseudo Manhattan crowd and commanding high rents.
I dont know when things got funky in Astoria where I lived, but during the early 90s a vigilante group was formed called PACT (Police and Community Together). We had monthly meetings where we discussed trends of crimes (like a rash of break-ins), local politicians would discuss proposals and improvement projects, or something like the recycling committee would come with a demonstration and materials to distribute. Some members would go together out on "patrols" which included one cop - vigilante as far as crimefighting is clearly against the law and the city cant be liable for anything which happens to someone foolish enough to pursue it. The group's primary goal were to be a presence after dark and deter criminals from lurking about.
I was an area captain. I helped to answer questions of neighbors (like the proper recycling etc) and how best to contact the police and their priority for certain types of calls etc. My roomate and I worked together putting up meeting flyers, going door to door with petitions, etc. I got to know the police and came to respect their job, which isnt an easy one. With all the bad press a handful cause in the media, there are thousands who suffer because of stigma. The NYPD is about community and diversity, protecting inhabitants and giving them the knowledge - tools if you will - to exercise prevention.
So you'll have to pardon me when some Second Life skinhead dons a police uniform and insists he isn't engaged in role play or fetishism. No, our friend Maven is NOT playing. But he's not a Linden either. So where does his alleged law enforcement activity come in with regard to Mainland? Other than his own property it really shouldn't according to Second Life's Terms of Service.
What do his activities include? Heresay suggests he and/or his goons - noobs he's recruited for his "force" - snoop around neighbors' shops & scrutinize residents' friends & clientelle profiles. That's what I heard.
My own experiences with him are outbursts of a more sociopathic nature. Case in point:
Bay City held a flea market in Hau Koda last spring, which filled up quickly thanks to the MOTD login screen link. Maven insisted on standing around in uniform while people lined the border to come in. I whispered from the Docklands that people were waiting to get in, and he responded very "unpolicelike" and said he could close down the flea market.
Well not really. As with law enforcement, only the Lindens have that right on Mainland. What his duty amounted to appeared to be alternately posing and keeping his own booth well stocked.
Apparently the flea market was initially Maven's idea. While he was absent from the planning portion of a Bay City Alliance meeting, we worked out the details with Blondin Linden with regard to price cap of items offered, access rights, promotional details, and so on. Maven arrived just as Blondin left, and seemed disappointed ("oh.") that he would not be able to price freebies or jack up costs of unwanted stuff. Everyone else thought more about freeing up their inventory and giving nice stuff to folks who otherwise couldn't get them. Go figure Maven.
His megalomaic line of threatening to disrupt a Linden community event was worth an AR.
The second incident occurred this past weekend, and this time not very discreet.
With the opening of Hau Koda came LL's current load balance bug, where the newest infohub is sent most first time users following their start on Help Island. This was an issue with Bay City Moosehead for a while when Moosehead Beach opened up to the north. There were griefers rezzing junk in the streets and the spillover lagged. Many residents were very Zen about the situation and offered to donate some space for NCI to put infonode stuff. I vaguely recall impromptu backyard parties...
At the meeting, Maven whined and whined AND WHINED about current predicament which had befallen Docklands (it borders Hau Koda) and the terrible lag and griefing. More than what Nova Albion experiences on a regular basis? Not likely. He wanted the only rez spot in western Bay City be changed to no rez/no script/no object entry (the latter needed for vehicles). He's put in for a land swap for Zindra, where I guess he'll pose by the front door of his new precinct without his pants.
One of our recent issues has been Linden Lab adding object entry and noscripts restrictions on all local infohub land. There's one thing to deter griefers from rezzing objects etc, but to prevent people from riding through compromises those who pay for the experience. And as you know we all paid a great deal to be in Bay City. Quality of virtual life takes many forms.
Why is this an issue? It just so happens that several landowners in Bay City have alternate locations in Nova Albion and/or homes in Shermerville. Many of them "commute" between locales. The recent addition of Hau Koda has served as a new route by air versus following Route 66 (which the Bay City Trolley follows), then changing course in Barcola. Skimming the corner of Moosehead Beach before turning north into the Gulf of Lauren or flying through it towards Barcola Sound now amounts to skidding to a hard stop in midair with no choice but to unbind from the vehicle, fall off, fly up, and take it. Then navigate somehow to a rez point on protected land (good luck with that). Or forget the excursion altogether.
This is an issue with enough Bay City residents that a compromise is justified: minimize grief and lag while allow residents to make use of roads and airspace. The bridges are clickable over canals so that those who sail through the waterways can raise them, but boats must be allowed to function. Perhaps moving the rez point from the airship tower in Docklands and the Hau Koda southeast corner at the tower's border to a defined strip of runway on the other side of the infohub buildings, at worst the last patch before water. Or even special access rights for genuine Bay City landowners.
Maven definitely had issues with this. The concept of anyone driving a car or riding a plane in Bay City, much less to go from a point A to a point B entirely escaped him. Which means it was a worthless and meaningless concept - along with anyone who did anything short of posing in a cop uniform I reckon.
He interrupted my concerns and included the phrase "I don't give a rats ass..." I found very sophisticated for his ilk, even though none of the words used were more complex than one syllable each. It was important for the other BC members to see what sort Maven really was. Later on when Blondin arrived and I brought up the vehicle use and issues with locals commuting, Maven asked me what my problem was.
It's amazing sometimes what passes for adult or mature, isn't it? A black-&-white view Maven seems to have for Linden Labs to accommodate his needs full on and no plans to accommodate the needs of others. Short of that anything LL does is unacceptable to him. I still think he's some rich kid who got by the age verification. He doesn't behave at all like someone who knows how to speak to people and he blatantly disrespects the kids (I've seen that as well. Holograms and children). He obviously has no interest in community activities for the sake of community*. And the guy is desperate to leave anyway. You'd think this would free his Sunday evenings up instead of wasting time at meetings just to insult people.
*I caught him happy once. When he saw the traffic stats in Hau Koda's properties following the flea market, he got all excited and wanted another flea market planned RIGHT AWAY.
It takes a type, doesn't it? A type who embraces the brutal image of cops and forgets dedication and empathy to a community.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Monday, June 15, 2009
Creating Callisto
After RL interrupted my two days planned toward building my SL6B project, I'm doggedly working on and offline toward its completion.
When we were given "The future of virtual worlds" for a premise, I had understood it to mean a RL relating to SL kinda thing. I had made a detailed proposal as expected of me, and hoped I'd get the land and prims needed to do all I had promised. When the lands were rewarded, the premise slightly changed. It was the 25th century and we were on an asteroid hurtling through space with the remnants of our civilization. Our hopes would be to find a new home on a distant planet.
As mentioned, the barren rock and perpetual darkness sent most applicants into a tailspin. Heavy use of glow & particles ensued; whatever they proposed must have flown out the window.
I remain the calm within my region's storm: no post-apocalyptic drek, no undulating blobs of light or showering sparks. My proposal applies now just as it had then. The difference being a question of whether to fullbright interiors and "paint shadow" with material and textures, or just use alpha lightsources.
Tonight the layout and basic builds should be completed (still need to make some livingroom furniture and maybe some framed art for the "bedroom" wall). Then I'll need to map out the layout from above and prepare terrain details on graph paper. I've got a diner parking lot, a pebble path, a residential lawn, and other somesuch things. I'd like to have a pool but I don't want to impose on the exhibitor assistants more than I have (there's something amusingly ironic on the livingroom TV). They've lowered the land so my fake terrain can be flush with the region, added media including an awesome Space Age Lounge station, and will be assisting me media changes for a party planned with DJ GoSpeed Racer.
Stay tuned; maybe next entry about SL6B will include screenshots!
When we were given "The future of virtual worlds" for a premise, I had understood it to mean a RL relating to SL kinda thing. I had made a detailed proposal as expected of me, and hoped I'd get the land and prims needed to do all I had promised. When the lands were rewarded, the premise slightly changed. It was the 25th century and we were on an asteroid hurtling through space with the remnants of our civilization. Our hopes would be to find a new home on a distant planet.
As mentioned, the barren rock and perpetual darkness sent most applicants into a tailspin. Heavy use of glow & particles ensued; whatever they proposed must have flown out the window.
I remain the calm within my region's storm: no post-apocalyptic drek, no undulating blobs of light or showering sparks. My proposal applies now just as it had then. The difference being a question of whether to fullbright interiors and "paint shadow" with material and textures, or just use alpha lightsources.
Tonight the layout and basic builds should be completed (still need to make some livingroom furniture and maybe some framed art for the "bedroom" wall). Then I'll need to map out the layout from above and prepare terrain details on graph paper. I've got a diner parking lot, a pebble path, a residential lawn, and other somesuch things. I'd like to have a pool but I don't want to impose on the exhibitor assistants more than I have (there's something amusingly ironic on the livingroom TV). They've lowered the land so my fake terrain can be flush with the region, added media including an awesome Space Age Lounge station, and will be assisting me media changes for a party planned with DJ GoSpeed Racer.
Stay tuned; maybe next entry about SL6B will include screenshots!
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Response to Torley's video re Guilty Pleasure
Torley:
I didnt have room on YouTube, but I wanted to comment properly about your latest videoblog. I tried to delete and repost since I typo rabidly, but it wouldn't take subsequent attempts to repost, so I undeleted the one I had. Anyway, here's the full response:
As you most likely know, in Japanese a Kanji ideogram alone may mean something totally different than grouped with others. I think the term "Guilty Pleasure" works similarly, as do many other terms we have in English.
I know why I use the phrase and it's to say I have a fondness for something which reminds me of a time or place I'm no longer associated with. For that I think it's perfect & serves a purpose.
Consider this for a comparison: In cinema there's high comedy & low comedy. In the first half of last century, slapstick and physical humor was seen as the commoner's form of entertainment, & someone telling bad jokes with pretty girls dancing around them was seen as high class. By the last half of the century, low comedy by the likes of Lloyd Keaton and Chaplin (among several others) was recognized as genius. Even those still seen as less sophisticated and more formulaic such as The 3 Stooges or Laurel & Hardy were admired for having entertained the masses and taking us through the harder times of our history in America.
I dont mind "guilty pleasure." In context of music it usually means that I enjoy something or someone from a genre I normally don't favor, or more commonly a song targeted for teens at a time when the music was considered frivolous and the artists exploited to the point of embarrassment. For example my last.fm library includes The Partridge Family, Tommy Roe, Bobby Sherman, and other such acts. They were in Tigerbeat & 16 and not Stereo Review, their records made gold & platinum by armies teens who often screamed too loud to listen to their music. I never screamed LOL. And maybe I didn't see them at the time as special or their music as catchy and uplifting as I do. Maybe it was the time away from them. I consider listening to them today as a guilty pleasure. I'm not ashamed to listen to them - in some cases no longer ashamed :P - but they're certainly out of character for someone like me OR someone my age.
Just wanted to feed you a perspective from the other side.
I didnt have room on YouTube, but I wanted to comment properly about your latest videoblog. I tried to delete and repost since I typo rabidly, but it wouldn't take subsequent attempts to repost, so I undeleted the one I had. Anyway, here's the full response:
As you most likely know, in Japanese a Kanji ideogram alone may mean something totally different than grouped with others. I think the term "Guilty Pleasure" works similarly, as do many other terms we have in English.
I know why I use the phrase and it's to say I have a fondness for something which reminds me of a time or place I'm no longer associated with. For that I think it's perfect & serves a purpose.
Consider this for a comparison: In cinema there's high comedy & low comedy. In the first half of last century, slapstick and physical humor was seen as the commoner's form of entertainment, & someone telling bad jokes with pretty girls dancing around them was seen as high class. By the last half of the century, low comedy by the likes of Lloyd Keaton and Chaplin (among several others) was recognized as genius. Even those still seen as less sophisticated and more formulaic such as The 3 Stooges or Laurel & Hardy were admired for having entertained the masses and taking us through the harder times of our history in America.
I dont mind "guilty pleasure." In context of music it usually means that I enjoy something or someone from a genre I normally don't favor, or more commonly a song targeted for teens at a time when the music was considered frivolous and the artists exploited to the point of embarrassment. For example my last.fm library includes The Partridge Family, Tommy Roe, Bobby Sherman, and other such acts. They were in Tigerbeat & 16 and not Stereo Review, their records made gold & platinum by armies teens who often screamed too loud to listen to their music. I never screamed LOL. And maybe I didn't see them at the time as special or their music as catchy and uplifting as I do. Maybe it was the time away from them. I consider listening to them today as a guilty pleasure. I'm not ashamed to listen to them - in some cases no longer ashamed :P - but they're certainly out of character for someone like me OR someone my age.
Just wanted to feed you a perspective from the other side.
Friday, June 5, 2009
Life in the 25th Century?
We got our parcel assignments yesterday for SLB6. Along with the landmark came our collective premise in greater detail. We are hurtling through space on a meteor (The Rock) in search of a new home. Apparently we were placed with others based on the similarities of our proposals. If that's true, I'll be in an interesting neighborhood for the next few weeks.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
And Then I Want a Chalet
It started when my grandmother took me and a cousin to France for my graduation.
The survivors on Mom's side hid out during the war and remained in Alsace. I remember seeing Grandma's birth certificate when we went through her things 11 years ago; her birthplace belonged to Germany that year.
I ogled the architecture. Anything we had in America was a paled copy. No no not those! THOSE! Yeah! The framed houses reminiscent of every fairy tale I was ever read as a kid: thatched roof, window panels with little shapes cut into them, flowerboxes...
When the cousins took us to Obernai that was it. Anything before or after would be framed chopped liver. Even the river ride through Strasbourg lost view points after Obernai. Back then I thought to myself: "If I win the lottery or the French invite me like they did R Crumb, I will live in Obernai."
Nowadays the thought is more along the lines of "If only the French as a whole weren't anti-Semitic..."
Then again in Second life I don't have to deal with that, would I?
Wow only one other person bid on the thing. I assume all land gets automatically bid by some reseller. Well, something else to dabble with :) 1024 for less than 3500 and bordering with a Pathfinder project. I ain't complaining.
The survivors on Mom's side hid out during the war and remained in Alsace. I remember seeing Grandma's birth certificate when we went through her things 11 years ago; her birthplace belonged to Germany that year.
I ogled the architecture. Anything we had in America was a paled copy. No no not those! THOSE! Yeah! The framed houses reminiscent of every fairy tale I was ever read as a kid: thatched roof, window panels with little shapes cut into them, flowerboxes...
When the cousins took us to Obernai that was it. Anything before or after would be framed chopped liver. Even the river ride through Strasbourg lost view points after Obernai. Back then I thought to myself: "If I win the lottery or the French invite me like they did R Crumb, I will live in Obernai."
Nowadays the thought is more along the lines of "If only the French as a whole weren't anti-Semitic..."
Then again in Second life I don't have to deal with that, would I?
Wow only one other person bid on the thing. I assume all land gets automatically bid by some reseller. Well, something else to dabble with :) 1024 for less than 3500 and bordering with a Pathfinder project. I ain't complaining.
Friday, May 15, 2009
It's starting to look like something
I'm really psyched. Cartoon World is starting to look like something. I found a nice deco wood tile pattern from Harbinger for the floor and it seems to have transformed the shop.
At the same time, the moles and Michael Linden are working on various elements to construct an airport in Hau Koda for another infohub. They work out of the way in a remote location of the region. Being a theme with planes there's no surprise that Michael L is contributing. There are some awesome deco aviation wings of various sizes and building applications all around the work area, and photo references on a makeshift wall (some provided by Marianne McCann with the poll results from the Bay City Alliance. It was nice Linden Lab took input for a theme; but it makes sense since it was their idea to create Bay City). It's neat to see the process. Besides we probably won't have access once the region officially gets its "i" designation if Moosehead Beach to the east is any indication.
Speaking of which, I miraculously got into Moosehead Beach the other day. I flew by the border and miscalculated but didn't hit an invisible wall. Marianne joined me for the rare occurrence while we watched avatars yell "penis!" and "hey baby" a lot. I swear it reminded me of Cybertown's main plaza on a bad night.
If only SL had a competent age verification process at the front door. They would restrict new residents if they did not enter payment information or were new and their IP address detected another unverified ID created within 24 hours. Anyone who entered verifiable proof and payment info from the start - or a resident sponsor and payment info - would be allowed anywhere immediately while the others would have to wait for verification. Or maybe restrict to infohub-only regions like Hellfell and Hau Koda?
What would verification be? Hm good question. When I first joined eBay I didn't have a credit card, and verification meant their sending me an envelope by mail and my returning a postcard. If SL was that serious it might pose an inconvenience to some but a blessing to others.
You may ask why not include any PG land in the restrictions? Well, because inworld residents have a right to be protected just as much as minors have a right to be protected. PG has never meant anything more than "this is the content threshold I have set for myself in SL," regardless of children watching with their parents (my friend showed her kids the 7Days Bakery, so yes it does happen). All of SL must respect the cultures of the world or their claim for diversity is a sham.
At the same time, the moles and Michael Linden are working on various elements to construct an airport in Hau Koda for another infohub. They work out of the way in a remote location of the region. Being a theme with planes there's no surprise that Michael L is contributing. There are some awesome deco aviation wings of various sizes and building applications all around the work area, and photo references on a makeshift wall (some provided by Marianne McCann with the poll results from the Bay City Alliance. It was nice Linden Lab took input for a theme; but it makes sense since it was their idea to create Bay City). It's neat to see the process. Besides we probably won't have access once the region officially gets its "i" designation if Moosehead Beach to the east is any indication.
Speaking of which, I miraculously got into Moosehead Beach the other day. I flew by the border and miscalculated but didn't hit an invisible wall. Marianne joined me for the rare occurrence while we watched avatars yell "penis!" and "hey baby" a lot. I swear it reminded me of Cybertown's main plaza on a bad night.
If only SL had a competent age verification process at the front door. They would restrict new residents if they did not enter payment information or were new and their IP address detected another unverified ID created within 24 hours. Anyone who entered verifiable proof and payment info from the start - or a resident sponsor and payment info - would be allowed anywhere immediately while the others would have to wait for verification. Or maybe restrict to infohub-only regions like Hellfell and Hau Koda?
What would verification be? Hm good question. When I first joined eBay I didn't have a credit card, and verification meant their sending me an envelope by mail and my returning a postcard. If SL was that serious it might pose an inconvenience to some but a blessing to others.
You may ask why not include any PG land in the restrictions? Well, because inworld residents have a right to be protected just as much as minors have a right to be protected. PG has never meant anything more than "this is the content threshold I have set for myself in SL," regardless of children watching with their parents (my friend showed her kids the 7Days Bakery, so yes it does happen). All of SL must respect the cultures of the world or their claim for diversity is a sham.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Cartoon World Opening This Saturday
After a defunct computer and pneumonia, I think the setbacks are over and done with.
Even the planned entertainment had its share: first a folk performer whom I knew (and who wanted to get involved in Second Life) couldn't make Saturdays, then my backup fractured his wrist. Now I have an awesome DJ (awesome = nice + has a great music collection) scheduled.
The building's been in place in Bay City for about two weeks now, and with a staggering pace is almost ready to open. The comic art is already installed. The illustrations I displayed previously will get lower prices; some of them will be featured on shirts, which will be available on the ground level. I need to set up a subscribe-o-matic as well; I'm glad I found out about that.
Healthwise it fluctuates with the pollen count; I don't anticipate this preventing me from seeing it finally through.
Even the planned entertainment had its share: first a folk performer whom I knew (and who wanted to get involved in Second Life) couldn't make Saturdays, then my backup fractured his wrist. Now I have an awesome DJ (awesome = nice + has a great music collection) scheduled.
The building's been in place in Bay City for about two weeks now, and with a staggering pace is almost ready to open. The comic art is already installed. The illustrations I displayed previously will get lower prices; some of them will be featured on shirts, which will be available on the ground level. I need to set up a subscribe-o-matic as well; I'm glad I found out about that.
Healthwise it fluctuates with the pollen count; I don't anticipate this preventing me from seeing it finally through.
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