if you pull on my hair, and bite me like that

So, scattered news from the multiverse.

This is, by far, the scariest. Essentially, past July 1st, there will be no more age verification hassles. Why is that? Fixed the system, you say?

Not so. Abandoned it.

In all seriousness, this is what the Labs have decided to do--for all new accounts, there will now be a checkbox, wherein one determines whether or not they are, as their country and culture understand such things, an Adult with Adult freedoms (and responsibilities).

What does this mean for the rest of us? (Other than I am NEVER DATING AGAIN, NEVER, EVER--) Well, in a sense, the Labs are telling us that we were right when we went through this the first time around; that their age verification system was ridiculous, arcane, and illegal in several countries. But, rather than work internationally to find something that does work...they're dropping it altogether.

In other news, SL profiles are now fully web-integrated. While it's unclear at this time whether or not in-world profiles will be phased out (personally, I think that would be the worst move since popping up Zindra as a continent), what is clear is that avatars are suddenly catching on to the 'web' part of this integration.

What can I say, people can be dim at times. But, just to press the point home: yes, if you link your Facebook profile and your LinkedIn profile--one for the 'rest of the world' and one for 'professional social networking', or so they tell me--then anyone on Facebook or LinkedIn could conceivably look at your Second Life interests in light of who you're representing yourself to be elsewhere.

While such judgement and bigotry are nothing new these days, to be fair, we should also consider what our listed interests are going to say about us. I'm not waving the censorship flag here, but--well, for the case in point, here's my profile for comparison. My current bank of interests (and they can be changed at any time, they are purely voluntary additions to the web profile) are:

building, City of Heroes, crafting, dark Victorian, dieselpunk, fantasy, fashion design, gothic, haunted houses, horror, landscaping, magic, mermaids, Minecraft, Second Life, steampunk, steampunk music, Unseelie, Victorian, zombies

Each and every one of those terms is relevant to me, and I don't feel any particular social pressure to change them. But what if I was trying to get a job as a teacher at my local high school, and one of my interests was bondage or rubber clowns? While I still firmly believe that anyone should be able to do anything they want to that doesn't hurt people who haven't already consented to be hurt, some things will get your application tossed in the nearest bin. In all seriousness.

Seems some residents of SL are beginning to figure this out, and the hand-wringing is beginning in earnest.

More from Hair Fair!

(from the Hair Fair album)

Style: Hunter
Color: Ginger
Materials: Sculpted curls with flexi strands
Maker: Gauze, located on Hair Fair I (aka Independence/Iridium)

(from the Hair Fair album)

Style: Melanie
Color: Sandy Red Root
Materials: Sculpted and flexi strands
Maker: ACTION, located on Hair Fair IV (aka Salt Water Taffy/Osmium)

(from the Hair Fair album)

Style: Scarlett
Color: Royale Blue
Materials: Sculpted and flexi strands
Maker: ACTION, located on Hair Fair IV

(from the Hair Fair album)

Style: Megan03d
Color: Maron
Materials: Entirely sculpted, including hat
Maker: AOHARU, located on Hair Fair II (aka Oceania/Platinum)

(from the Hair Fair album)

Style: Angela
Color: ItsNotGinger
Materials: Sculpted and flexi strands
Maker: LeLutka, located on Hair Fair I

(from the Hair Fair album)

Style: Loose
Color: Praline
Materials: Entirely sculpted
Maker: LeLutka, located on Hair Fair I

(from the Hair Fair album)

Style: Shoop
Color: Harvard
Materials: Entirely sculpted strands and headband
Maker: LeLutka, located on Hair Fair I

(from the Hair Fair album)

Style: Khloe
Color: Red Cordial
Materials: Sculpted strands and buns with flexi wisps
Maker: Raspberry Aristocrat, located on Hair Fair III (aka Carnival/Rhodium)

(from the Hair Fair album)

Style: Delicate
Color: Unnamed; I'd say Black with Rose Tips
Materials: Entirely sculpted
Maker: Alice Project, located on Hair Fair II

(from the Hair Fair album)

Style: Lina
Color: Unnamed, but I'd say Cherry with Black Tips
Materials: Entirely sculpted
Maker: Alice Project, located on Hair Fair II

(from the Hair Fair album)

Style: Yua
Color: Black
Materials: Entirely sculpted
Maker: Alice Project, located on Hair Fair II

(from the Hair Fair album)

Style: May Queen
Color: Ginger
Materials: Sculpted strands and flowers, flexi strands
Maker: Bliensen & MaiTai, located on Hair Fair IV

(from the Hair Fair album)

Style: Aroha:Roots
Color: Drift
Materials: Sculpted curls, strands and accessories, flexi strands
Maker: Exile, located on Hair Fair II

Skipped past a couple to tie this up, because Clawtooth, DERP and Donna Flora had their demos still in boxes, even after being unpacked (hate that), and ChiChickie has an entire dress made of hair, and I want to deal with that separately.

(Worn for this entry: SN@TCH's "Plaid Poppet" dress; Show Me on the Doll's "Patriot Red" Tippytoe Ponyboots [yes, I know they never show up]; *MiuMin*'s RoseEyes in Red; ni.ju's Claws [because they happened to go on sale when I was snapping these shots]; and Nomine's Rose White skin [Red/Tattoo variant].)

Actually, that's a good point. Here's another couple shots of the Claws:

(from the Hair Fair album)

Here's one of those iffy lines where copyright is concerned. I, personally, see nothing wrong in "inspired by". Because "inspired by" doesn't have to mean "bad copy of" (compare that to Lenore, f'rinstance), or "faithful duplicate of" or even "we're just going to blatantly rip you off". There are lots of different ways content can be considered an homage to original works without crossing that line into exact reproduction.

(from the Hair Fair album)

Where that line gets odd for me, though, is when both products only exist virtually. To wit, the Witch from the game Left 4 Dead II. She's a video game character, true, and Second Life is only nominally a game, but it's still fairly equal--virtual world to virtual world.

So where's the line? Entire law firms have clocked thousands of work hours trying to draw that line, and I'm no closer to understanding it than I was three years ago, when I started trying to pin down my comprehension. What I do know is they seem to use invisiprims, not plain alpha channels, to hide the hands, so at times AO movements can get very, very odd. (Speaking plainly: at times your fingers will disappear, or, even odder, you fingers won't, but will be seen beyond or below the hooked claws.)

You can get them for L$120 at ni.ju; they're on the right side of the wall near the door.