wake up! no more nap, your turn is coming up

Found on a random profile:

There's 3 ways to approach SL, each one is unique but none better than the other.

1. Augmentationist - One who's AV is a tool to make a RL connection with another RL person.
2. Roleplayer - One whos AV is a fictional character, a puppet in a shared storyline.
3. Immersionist - One who self-identifies with their AV, and who lives thru its eyes in this world.

Interesting. Depending on setting, I am nearly always 3, and largely 2 (my backstory is fairly constantly in mind as the answer to many questions), but...I have been 1 on occasion. And I've highly enjoyed meeting those other 1s.

In other news, welcome to another random clip entry.

I can't remember which group I was in that linked this old New World Notes article, but it amuses me greatly that it was written in the first place (by ABC, who should know better, not New World Notes, who likely was as amused as I was when they read it the first time), and that things really haven't changed. Yes, surprise, women wear less in Second Life. What a shocking surprise.

And the designer behind EscalateD posted something interest recently about how to fix clipping with mesh hair. And I'd never considered that angle before. I've mostly just ditched hair that doesn't fit, or resized my head, but...I never even thought the underlying default hairbase might be an issue.

Though to be fair, it's probably more of an issue for mesh head wearers.



I saw this while wandering about, and of course, had to laugh a bit at myself. Because of course I want the treehouse that costs L$5999. But...it's so pretty...It seems very well built, very natural--you know, for a multi-roomed treehouse on a gigantic tree--and I could even live with the more tropical-styled roofs on the rooms.

I'm not going to get it, it's not like I even have anywhere I can rez that out right now. But still, it is made of the pretty. I so could live there.

You can find it at KAI Outdoor Furniture. In case any of my readers wants to drop six thousand Lindens on a tree.

Did anyone else miss the Caledon Catgirl Dance? I did, but thankfully, there's a Flickr feed of photos just from that affair.

A bit of random truth:

[14:33] Banshee (abinathra): False information is always free. You have to pay for the truth.

To that end, this bit of concern from one of my sales and freebies groups:

[10:52] Kxxxxxx Sxxxxxx: mmm we are talking about nothing other than corona virus in my country today, Spain just declared the state of alarm or whatever you call it. Closing all schools and some jobs.
[10:52] Kxxxxxx Sxxxxxx: I do hope you are all doing better in your own countries, lets hope the summer calms things down.

Yeah, Italy's already locked the country down, no travel in or out. Our orange menace, meanwhile, is thinking only of himself--he's declared no one can travel into the US, unless they come from a place he has a golf course at. Why he thinks golf will somehow keep people well, I have no idea, but it's infuriating. It's also infuriating that he's still scheduling big rallies, and flying off to his country club to meet with dignitaries who've bribed their way in. Though that may in fact backfire on him--one of those dignitaries he met with has been diagnosed with the virus. And why yes, of course he shook hands with the man.

[10:53] Nxxx Wxxxxx: its a big bag of nuts here.
[10:53] wxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: in the U.S., people are in a state of mass hysteria, buying out essential supplies like toilet paper and hand soap, and the economy is crashing. The people are scaring me much more than the virus does.

I have to agree. I live in something even an optimistic sort would not consider a large city, yet we're dealing with empty shelves here as well. Toilet paper I get; hand sanitizer, though that will do NOTHING for a viral infection, I get; I even get why over-the-counter painkillers and decongestants are being stockpiled. I don't get why people are buying whole milk by the truckload, or concentrating on frozen ground beef over fresh or frozen anything else. It's baffling.

[10:54] Gxxxxx Dxxxxxxxx: I told everyone CHina did a great job of containing things and consequestly the numbers are declising...but the US is NOT China and Americans are not used to being ordered to do anything!

Actually, that's not quite true. China wanted concealment first, safety second. Had they not done that, had they actually buckled down and started openly telling people how to avoid the virus a week before they actually began to do that? It wouldn't have hit so many people.

[10:54] Gxxxxx Dxxxxxxxx: That is what makes me worry
[10:54] Kxxxxxx Sxxxxxx: In Spain its the same of buying way too many supplies in supermarkets, but then you look at the streetsw and people seem calm
[10:55] Kxxxxxx Sxxxxxx: yeah, spanish people do a lot of life in the streets, it will be difficult to keep us all inside houses.
[10:55] wxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: it's a bad virus, and nobody wants to get sick with it, but we all need to stay calm and just take a deep breath and not panic
[10:55] Nxxx Wxxxxx: ^^^^^^
[10:56] Nxxx Wxxxxx: so very that.

Absolutely. Washing hands frequently is the first line of defense. Staying away from large groups of people is the second. Neither of these need to induce utter screaming panic, however.

[10:56] Kxxxxxx Sxxxxxx: yeah, I think a good middle point. Talking things seriously and following orders but not enter panic and buy everything off the shelves.

[10:56] wxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: I work at home so I have no problem staying in, but I feel bad for those who can't stay home
[10:56] Sxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: I'm staying calm, but I refuse to take a deep breath. Too many germs in the air.
[10:56] Kxxxxxx Sxxxxxx: Well, I am going to be working from hoem several days too, but since we will have less work and Ill be able to stay up later... Im be getting a bit more of SL.
[11:00] bxxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: seeing you all talking bout the corona stuff ... where i live idiots are following the target and walmart trucks to see where they are going so they can try to pester the unloaders to give them stuff so they don't have to go in the stores i dunno whats wrong with folks these days they seem to have lost their minds and need to get back on track and do things the right way That does seem pretty high in the stupidsphere.

[11:00] sxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: Wow thats nuts
[11:00] exxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: people have been stealing masks from hospitals here in France - facepalms

And again, this is that lack of comprehension thing. Masks will do NOTHING to prevent the wearer from getting sick. About all they do is prevent the infected from easily spreading it if they have to go out.

[11:01] Nxxx Wxxxxx: people get scared and go dumb.

Nearly always, sadly.

[11:01] Kxxxxxx Sxxxxxx: O_o that is bordering crazy, sorry.
[11:01] Nxxx Wxxxxx: same here where i live and hand sanatizer.
[11:02] Kxxxxxx Sxxxxxx: I had hand sanitizer because I use it to clean my hands from polymer clay, yaaay for doing crafts LOL
[11:02] Cxxxxxxx Fxxxxxxx: I live in the only state that does not have a case of the virus yet, but the stores have a run on hand sanitizers and toilet paper too, local schools have no school after today just to try and stay safe.
[11:03] bxxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: 6 confirmed cases in diff spots in sc where i live 47 others being watched for it so far none in the county i live it knock on particle board
[11:04] yxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: you have to stand in line to buy hand sanitizer where i live, if they have it, its rationed

They're doing that in a lot of places.

[11:04] hxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: If you are in my state [Cxxxxxxx], it is here we have only tested 8 people so far in the entire state.
[11:04] Cxxxxxxx Fxxxxxxx: hope they come back negative, and all is well
[11:05] bxxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: need to head back off and get some things done but i wish hope and pray everybody stays safe and way from the mess smiles :)
[11:05] Nxxx Wxxxxx: the part that worries me a bit is they arent quite sure how it is spread.

Near as I can tell, Wuhan, China was where it was first seen, in an open-air market. While that market did not, specifically, sell bats for soups and other dishes, it is quite possible infected bats flew in and fed on chickens or other live animals, thus giving them the virus, and it was then transmitted to humans.

As much as I adore bats, vampire bats in particular do tend to carry a lot of bacterial and viral diseases, because of their habit of feeding on live blood. For the most part, these diseases don't infect them at all, but can be spread through their saliva in bites into other animals. And we already know this is a virus that crosses species, so it wasn't a big leap at all to jump from chicken (or other live animal) to human.

[11:06] Cxxxxxxx Fxxxxxxx: Take care [Bxxxx], stay safe out there, and don't touch your face, wash your hands, smiles
[11:06] Kxxxxxx Sxxxxxx: they seem to not know many things :-(
[11:06] yxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: they know its origin dont they?

Wuhan, China.

[11:06] wxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: my state has a few cases but everyone acts like it's all over the place

Well, technically, it is all over the place, but I do know what she means. She's not talking globally, she's talking about how people are freaking out locally. And my state did a bit of that, too, even back when we only had one case here (a dowager sort who was entitled enough to rage against being prevented travel off the Diamond Princess, so argued her elderly way into returning home...two cities away from me).

[11:06] Nxxx Wxxxxx: wet markets in china.
[11:07] yxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: i heard it had to do with snakes

Again, probably not. The likeliest assumed vector is bats into live animals at that wet market, and then into us.

All I can say is reinforcing what I've said above--basic hygiene helps. Hand sanitizer doesn't. Never cough into your hands if you do need to cough. And to reinforce that, let me share with you the cutest viral outbreak song ever--because even if there weren't subtitles, the hand motions are clear enough to be understood.

Going further back into the past, have an article on haint blue as a color. And switching to charity, Amanda Palmer--who, with husband Neil Gaiman, is currently stuck/on tour in Australia--has released a charity album with a bunch of friends, in support of the Australian bushfires. Pay what you can; all profits will be donated to recovery efforts.

:Lastly, I recently watched a playthrough of an independent horror game from Japan, called The Doll Shop. Now, yes, the game is quietly unnerving, and if that's not your thing, that's fine, but I fell in love with the soundtrack. Evocative, drifting, ethereal, minimalist music.

Turns out the entire soundtrack can be downloaded for free through Bandcamp. So even if you don't like horror games, you might like the soundtrack to this one!

And we end on a sad note--Torley Linden has left Linden Lab. Which is a shame, as that was one of the last Lindens left who would openly talk things over with residents. But onward we stagger.