making yesterday tomorrow with every road once paved with gold

This is actually incredibly helpful for people just looking for an easy, visual definition on what the differences are between steampunk, dieselpunk and cyberpunk. (Not that I'm not still irked by the automatic -punk ending to everything, but still.)

In the meantime...



Shopping naked.



Still a thing.

*sighs*

I'm not, I'm not myself

(Continued from part two.)



Hybridz came up with this skirted rubber doll, retailing for L$900. Very stylized.



Hybridz also has this Lolita-esque 'Candy Doll' avatar. Goes for L$700.



Also for L$700 is this ponygirl-influenced iso-suit avatar, also from Hybridz.



And this is Hybridz' Latex Sex Drone, which also goes for L$700. (If you're interested, most of Hybridz' content is in this vein. Just go wander their Marketplace page, or their main store.)



I admit, I'm dubious about the LA Drone Suit, only because it says it's 100% mesh, but...is only a single Linden? Still, it's on the list.

(Continued in part four.)

I come apart at the seams inside the panic, I fall outside of myself

(Continued from part one.)



Yeah, I found more than I expected. Let's briefly mention the Rubber Drone at L$499 from Simple Stuff, before things get really dark.



So now, we get into the darker regions of rubber/latex fetishism...amputees. I present the Rubber Balloon Doll avatar for L$875.



Or the Armless Rubber Doll, for L$600.



Or BioDoll's quadruple amputee rubber girl, which retails for L$700.



I also found Zee Positive's Zee Nurse, which goes for L$1,200.

(Continued in part three.)

I keep on having this dream inside the static, I fall outside of myself

"In 2011, Linden Labs changed their policy on age limits in second life, allowing teenagers to join the main grid. The quality of social interaction immediately decreased exponentially."
~~Willow Redstar

Oh, Chop Zuey, you so silly...When I originally made up the bulk of this post, this thing was still at the SENSE event. It's not now, but lo, these many months later...I still kind of want this ludicrous thing.

In the meantime, around the same night I started typing this entry, friends and I got into a discussion about blow-up dolls/RealDolls for some reason. Not the RL ones, but the SL equivalents. So, I went looking.



WowRabbit makes a fitted mesh Rubber Doll avatar. Currently it's L$98.



ThinkKink's tkISO suit (female version; there's also a male version). Both retail for L$999.



How about a full Zentai suit? Comes in a variety of shiny latex colors for L$399.



Lali also has four different "sex doll" avatars, covering the minimum of fetish behavior. This one's the Hanna model, for L$799. (I've blurred the nipples for the blog; if you're rated Adult for Marketplace shopping, you can track down the uncensored vendor photo.)



Naomi's the "ethnic" variant. Same price, L$799.



Miku is the 'Asian' doll, also L$799.



and Lolly, the...err...schoolgirl? Also L$799.

(Continued in part two.)

take it easy Arlene, don't give me no lip

Well, this is just a terrible friggin' idea. Listen--I know we're all paranoid since Teen Grid closed. I know a lot of sims don't want any possible connection to ageplay in any way. I get it, okay? But this is not the way. This is the worst level of tattletale coding, and from what I understand from the article, it's something I could be involved with without even knowing it, and that's a dangerous road to go down.

Think about it. Say I'm wandering--me, an RL adult, outside of some extremely rare occasions playing an adult, officially rated Adult for all sims--in my Kemono, and I found a cute little romper that I wanted to wear on the MP from someone. Unbeknownst to me, they've put this coding in, and since they tell makers to make it a no-mod script in a no-mod item (we'll save the no-mod rant for another day, thanks), I'm likely not even going to check to see what's in it before I put it on.

So I'm happily wandering and then suddenly POOF--no warning, I'm banned from someplace. I have no idea why. I try to go back, can't. I contact the owner, and if everyone's on a rational page that day, maybe I get back in to look that sim over. But in all likelihood, if they look at their "Agegate" system software, and see my name, then they're going to get their back up and say I was bounced for very good reason, and I'm some kind of low, illegal pervert for even asking to get back in. And if they're really in a mood, they go off and report me for being an ageplayer on their sim.

That threatens my account and I never did a thing. All I did was wear an outfit. THIS IS VERY BAD, PEOPLE.

Elsewhere...



The Manisha does not function.

That is all.

(Yes, there's a story behind this, but I just wanted to save the image, so...presented without context.)

rocket man burning out his fuse up here alone

Here we go again, random IM out of nowhere:

[12:59] mxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: greetings
[13:00] Emilly Orr: Greetings.

I swear, I'm nearly to the point where I'm going to toss in one of those "If you're just IMing to say hi, don't bother. Have something to say or don't even contact me." It wouldn't stop things like this, because no one reads profiles anymore, but it would make me feel a little better.

[13:00] Emilly Orr: How did you come across my name?
[13:00] mxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: i am here
[13:00] Emilly Orr: Where?

And he never bothered to respond. And I should have let it go, but...it was nagging at me. This is his profile bio:

greetings my name is [mxxxxx] i am a dom that is looking for a submissive woman willing to do anything i ask i am into bdsm i am into women in karate or any form of martial arts but am also loving and caring.

Profile like that makes me think three things, with a pretty high degree of surety:

1. He's a bad dom.
2. He's a new dom.
3. He's deeply confused.

His groups reflect that confusion--only one that has anything to do with bondage or BDSM, the rest are all breedables or horse ranches FOR breedables.

So I made one more attempt, because...I'm stubborn:

[13:18] Emilly Orr shrugs and goes on with her day.
[13:19] mxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: bdsm society

I looked it up after this snippet of a convo. Turns out--at least as far as a search for that name goes--there is no "BDSM Society". There's the Bound Passion BDSM Society, which is on the same sim I was on at the time, but pretty far away from where I was on that sim, at that time. There's nothing else that's even close to that name.

[13:19] Emilly Orr: I'm not at BDSM Society, if that's a place, and not just a thing you're referencing.

A few more minutes passed, and...I tried again.

[13:24] Emilly Orr: Well, still confused on how you got my name, but okay. Enjoy the rest of your day, I suppose.
[13:24] mxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: you we're in local chat range

No. No, we weren't. We weren't even close to each other.

[13:25] Emilly Orr: We are not.
[13:26] mxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: not anymore i left
[13:26] Emilly Orr: But not before, either. I am a thousand meters above a business, but it's not that one.

And that was the last I heard from him.

So, goodbye, clueless dom, hope you find what you want, because it definitely won't be me. Too bad you're too stupid to figure out SL distances.

there is no way to slow down, so either steer or collide

The Social Injustice Warrior makes the...last?... episode on Channel Awesome.

In the meantime, in another group someone was having a bit of trouble...

[12:51] mxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: a shadow map is being mean and i dont know how to fix it
[12:51] mxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx:



[12:52] Txxx Nxxxxxxxx: has the shadow map got a black background?
[12:52] mxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: yes
[12:53] Txxx Nxxxxxxxx: thats the reason, delete the background and save as a png texture
[12:53] mxxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: looks like you need to extend your texture past the edges just a little bit
[12:53] Cxxxxxx Pxxxx: don't save as a png, you'll get alpha clash issues

Now, this was the first I'd heard of something like this. I use Gimp for textures, and I always save in .png format, because I thought that eliminated alpha clash issues. That's not true?

[12:54] mxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: o oo
[12:54] Txxx Nxxxxxxxx: so are we saying save as jpg for mesh texturing?
[12:54] Cxxxxxx Pxxxx: i would, yes
[12:55] Cxxxxxx Pxxxx: unless you're trying to retain transparency
[12:55] Cxxxxxx Pxxxx: that's how i do it
[12:55] Txxx Nxxxxxxxx: ok i've not had issues with png

Nor have I, it's why I'm curious.

[12:56] Txxx Nxxxxxxxx: but know if shadow map has a black background then thats why there is black seams i've had it several times
[12:56] Emilly Orr: I save nearly everything as png for clothing, haven't had an issue...but I also largely don't work in transparent laces. Hmm.
[12:57] Sxx Dxxxxxx: no transparency png, transparent parts tga
[12:57] mxxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: thats because the edge of the texture needs to be extended a tiny bit past the seam lines
[12:57] Txxx Nxxxxxxxx: ty for those tips
[12:59] Cxxxxxx Pxxxx: if your texture is blended, you will have alpha clash when using png

Ah, okay, this may come down to my not using Gimp the way it's intended to be used. I don't think I've ever 'blended' a texture. I've layered a texture, then either imported it as is, or flattened it to save data space, but...that's about it.

[12:59] Cxxxxxx Pxxxx: png for system clothing and appliers is correct
[12:59] Cxxxxxx Pxxxx: but i do not recommend it for mesh
[12:59] kxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: why?

Now, while I've never used a texture file for a mesh template that employed a transparent layer--yet--I will say that I have worn mesh templates that have employed transparent layers, and...yeah, there's some alpha issues. That, I have noticed.

[13:00] mxxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: transparency data is built into png files
[13:00] mxxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: jpgs do not
[13:00] kxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: but if you flatten a non transparent png then no transparency data
[13:01] Cxxxxxx Pxxxx: if the mesh detects transparency, it will blend it
[13:01] mxxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: png transparency data is there whether you use trans in the texture or not
[13:02] Cxxxxxx Pxxxx: which means any other alpha that comes in contact with it will create issues, kind of like the old invisiprims did

Right, that's what I've noticed.

[13:02] kxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: not if you flatten it
[13:02] Cxxxxxx Pxxxx: a png is a png, flattened or not
[13:02] Cxxxxxx Pxxxx: you would need to select "none" for the blend
[13:03] Txxx Nxxxxxxxx: is it possible to shorten say a mesh dress if you use transparency on the part you want to hide?
[13:03] Cxxxxxx Pxxxx: yes it is
[13:03] Cxxxxxx Pxxxx: i do it often
[13:04] Cxxxxxx Pxxxx: in that case you would use a png with transparency maintained
[13:04] Txxx Nxxxxxxxx: so use png for that or what?
[13:04] Cxxxxxx Pxxxx: yes
[13:04] Txxx Nxxxxxxxx: ok ty
[13:04] Cxxxxxx Pxxxx: and choose mask rather than blend so that it doesn't clash with stockings or tattoos

So what I've been noticing are textures made by people who don't know this? Okay. I'll see what I can do with the next textures I create.

Mars ain't the kind of place to raise your kids

"Businesses naturally require hard decisions, and having your career damaged by someone who you admire can really be soul-destroying." The Right Opinion channel's take on Mike Michaud and Channel Awesome.

And apparently the channel isn't changing, even though they've lost thousands of subscribers and nearly every content producer on the site. So...they're just that clueless? Or no one in management cares, and I have to toss Doug Walker into that callous, uncaring sector, because he hasn't seen fit to make any sort of response.

In the meanwhile...

[15:33] pxxxxxxxxx Wxxxxxxxxx): does this group havea favcebook if soo can u pass me the link ?

So, it doesn't matter what group this was posted in--according to chatter after in the group, she posted this exact line, typos and all, in several groups. What is important is why ask this question at all? Maybe it's just me, because I don't have Facebook (and never will), but why is this important at all? I don't get the reason for the question.

And maybe it's also just me--not having Facebook--but I don't understand why said copy-pasting person stuck in the wilds of Typonesia can't just go to the main store and check. You know? Like, I never think of checking social media sources in any way in group chat, unless a link's posted from Flickr, Tumblr, or the like, but if the logos of those same social media sites are found in the store, I notice. So again, why didn't she just port to the main store and check there? Why didn't she port to all the stores she pasted this one terrible line in and check? Just too lazy to bother?

Lastly, I got a letter from someone with an autism interest, with a bunch of links, and I admit, I dismissed it. I get a lot of 'cause' letters, and they're all pretty much the same. "Hi, I noticed this great entry on [thing] you had on your blog, I was wondering if you wanted to link to my blog/have me write a blog entry for your blog/buy [X] product/join our network." Generally I dismiss and delete, I won't lie. They're rarely relevant, in the end.

Case in point, this is the opening paragraph of the first letter she sent:

"Hi there,

I just love all of the helpful information you've shared on your site in support of individuals and families with autism. (This page is especially wonderful.) As an educator, I’ve worked with people of all ages who have autism, and I’ve found a lot of resources to help my students along the way."

And this is the opening paragraph of the second letter:

"Hi,

"I'm following up on an email I sent you last month, which included some fantastic information that is helpful to individuals and families living with autism. I initially reached out because I saw this page on your site and thought you may want to update it with some more info, and I’m reaching out once more in case you missed my last email."

Since normally it's a one and done thing, and she actually wrote a second time, I thought I'd check the links out, but this isn't--and has never been--an autism blog. The sole entry under the 'autism' tag she linked both times--this entry will make all of two with the tag--only mentioned autism in regard to the charity for that year's Lovecraft Festival.

The first link is obviously written more for educators than parents, but it does lay out good behavior strategies for dealing with children on the autistic spectrum, without making it sound like autism is an inherently "bad" thing to have.

The second link isn't targeted to autism, being a general primer on how to create a (relatively) safe space for children with disabilities, with many opportunities for general sensory play.

The third link is a .PDF file, and is also written for educators, with emphasis on the importance of structure and routine. Pretty basic, but it has some useful tips.

The fourth link is designed for parents of teenagers with Asperger's syndrome, or with high-functioning autism. It does seem to weigh heavily on the "Asperger's teens are just regular, normal kids who are just socially devolved", which...is not the best message, but it may be useful for some.

And the last link is geared towards autistic adults, or caregivers of same, who own their own homes. Most of the tips critically fail when applied to apartments, but in case they might be helpful to some, I'm offering them here.

{Note from the Editrix: In 2020, I was sent this link by someone unknown. I'm not crazy about the domain it's on, but I read through it and it doesn't seem to be actively malicious, so I'm including it. It's a basic text on how to set up a playroom, or, including space concerns, a 'sensory space' in one corner of a larger room, for the autistic child. There you go.}

If anyone needed these at all; as I said, I'm not an autism blog and it's not my main focus. But there you go.

and I think it's gonna be a long long time

The Social Injustice Warrior takes on the Gamer From Mars' reaction to JewWario in an old retrospective video.

An Instagram blogger has decided to take all her complaints and Photoshop them onto her pictures. The results are horrifying. But more relevant for this blog is this image:



That 'shopped image on the right? That was THE BIGGEST SHAPE on the grid for a while, may still be in some places. Fish-lipped, spraddle-hipped, twig-legged, wide-eyed, pouty, sullen women, prowling the grid. Largely, the ladies I ran into that had this shape? Also had things in their profile like "98% Bitch, 2% Angel, take your chances." Or "I say what I want, fu*k what you think." Or any other of a thousand other variations on "Hi, I'm a tiny emotional terrorist, I will wreck your life, LOVE ME".

Gah.

What does everyone think so far of baked-on mesh?

Also, SmugMug just bought Flickr.

still got scars on my back from your knife

So, how are the new EU regulations on data going to affect SL? Friend brought it up, and now I'm wondering.

• Tipster gives his analysis of the terrible, and mostly deeply flawed, "response" to the accusations against Channel Awesome.
• MarzGurl's take on Justin Carmical and her tribute film
• The Agnostic Plague Doctor's take on Channel Awesome's poor management--with a side jaunt into their terrible apologies.
• Breaking down #ChangetheChannel, from UNpopular Culture
• Micah Curtis faces the fact that we can be friends with people, can think we know them, and then suddenly realize we never knew them at all.
• Social Injustice Warrior addresses the hate he's received over his livestreams on JewWario, and so hosts a second funeral for him, which is acidly sarcastic, NSFW, and brutally factual--and uses clips from other YouTubers with views on the situation.

It's...still..getting...worse...

I'm not even sure I'm going to continue the retyping of the now 73-page document, especially as, with how they've saved it, it is retyping, not just copy-pasting. Maybe I'll check back on the tweets...

...or, maybe not.



It's...pretty ugly under the #ChangetheChannel tag at the moment. I'll just...leave it here, and decide if I'm going to pick this up later.

And I'm still trying to confirm if Brad Jones and Doug Walker have, in fact, left Channel Awesome.

promise me you'll let me be the one, the worst of all your enemies

Couple more vids.

• Channel Awesome's Crimson King, by Odie Esty.
• Kyle Haines' Channel Awesome "Our Response" reaction and discussion

And I have no place in my head for this next one...from Count Jackula, who's somewhat out there in a lot of places for me, but who seems, at least, to be a rational, thinking mind: an account of his perceptions, and after-the-fact reactions, on the JewWario/Justin Carmical sexual assault allegations.

"Apparently Mike, Doug, Rob and Holly knew...um, and they kept it quiet for the sake of the victims, I hope, I hope that's why they did it...but I'm not necessarily trusting anyone involved."

Yeah.

And have a two and a half hour reaction livestream from Fredrik Knudsen on Channel Awesome's "response" to the whole shebang. It also includes an interview with Iron Liz that goes into the whole Justin Carmical madness.

I'm still trying to process all of this, as a fan of content reviewers, and a fan of Channel Awesome. I'm fairly sure that Tamara Chambers and Malcolm Ray, being so new to the team, are clear of any wrongdoing. (And in fact Malcolm has said, at least, that he never saw anything as egregious as the folks who wrote the Not So Awesome document, but he also makes clear that he was hired much, much later.) And I'll go out on that limb and say, barring any direct, on-paper or screencapped evidence, I'm fairly sure that Doug Walker is just an oblivious egotist for the most part. But the same cannot be said of Rob, or Holly, or Mike Michaud, who seems from every account I've heard to be a garbage person, a bully, and a talentless hack when it comes to apologies.

The whole thing is just depressing.

(And while I was dealing with all of that, and the new, terrible "reaction" from Michaud and management, this came out, which means the fallout's already started. Just...great.

(I don't think I'm in the best mindset to continue with this today. I'll pick it up tomorrow.)