wake up and smell the coffee, is your cup half full or empty?

Yesterday, this forum discussion hit the airwaves in a couple in-world groups. Today, this notecard was sent out by Casper Warden:

Dear valued customer,

You are receiving this communication because you are a registered user of CasperTech services related to Second Life (CasperVend, CasperLet, or CasperSafe). We don't communicate like this very often, but we have some really exciting news to share!

CasperTech has provided various business-related services within Second Life for 13 years. Over that time, we have been proud to provide continuous service for tens of thousands of Second Life businesses, and have remained steadfast to our commitment to the merchants who depend on us.

Today we announce the next step in our journey. We are delighted to share that the Second Life portion of CasperTech is being acquired by Linden Research, Inc. Not only will this move ensure that all of our services will continue to operate without interruption into the foreseeable future, but it also opens up brand new opportunities to vastly improve the experience for our users.

You can expect to see the same great services that you know and love continue on, but with closer integration into the Second Life ecosystem – and as such, an even more reliable and convenient experience.

As part of this process, the entity that controls your data (the “data controller”) will change from CasperTech Ltd, a United Kingdom based company, to Linden Research, Inc, a company based in the United States. This means that the data we hold about you, and on your behalf, will transfer ownership and jurisdiction.

You have the right to object to your data being transferred to Linden Research, Inc, by requesting the deletion of your data prior to this transfer instead, if you wish. You can view information on the data that we hold on your behalf, and request deletion, using our GDPR tool: https://gdpr.casperdns.com. If you have difficulty with this tool for any reason, please email gdpr-legal@caspertech.co.uk with your request. In order to take effect before the transfer, deletion requests must be activated by 5pm UK time on Monday, 19th of September. Otherwise your data will be transferred to Linden Research, Inc, although you can still request that your data is deleted by them afterwards.

Information about how Linden Research, Inc protects personal data can be found at https://www.lindenlab.com/privacy.

We hope that you are as excited about this change as we are, and we thank you for your continued support as we all step boldly into the future together!

Sincerely Yours,

Casper Warden and the CasperTech Team

So what does this mean for Second Life, and those who use CasperTech products? I'm not sure yet. We'll have to see how it develops. But it is concerning, so I'll be watching for news.

everyone wants something from your soul on the molly

The blurb for the Fenway Asylum and Chapel reads:

Welcome to the Original Fenway Asylum which closed it's doors on Saturday August 16, 1919 due to gross neglegence of patients by Asylum Medical Staff. It is said that the spirits of Fenway still roam the halls looking for assistance. Come for a visit and read the Tragic Story Of Fenway...... chapel, asylum, spooky, scary, halloween, medical, sad, death, ghost, spirits, caretaker, spider, web, fun, building, church, hospital, blood, rats, roaches, dark, story, grave, buried, visit, open, roleplay, nurse, doctor, operations, illness, sick, graves,

...and there it trails off.



Deeply unimpressed. It's not even a well-textured box. I'm just baffled. And so unimpressed I didn't even bother to frame these shots.



This is the entire parcel, apparently, just this oversized eyesore of a terribly-textured box, with an innumerable number of dance pads for some reason, plunked down in the middle of people who at least attempted landscaping. Done here. So done here.

About an hour after I'd gone back to Twisted hunting, the fellow that owns the sim dropped a notecard on me thanking me for visiting, and telling me to invite my friends for future concerts. No, but I did send a notecard back telling him that I hadn't gone there for music, I'd gone there for the asylum. He said it had closed, and then said he'd forgotten to take down the ad.

Forgotten. To take down an ad that charges a weekly recurring amount of Lindens. Let's assume extraordinarily low investment in this, and propose he's paying L$50 a week to host an ad for a haunt that no longer exists. That's only L$50, sure, fine, but that's L$200 a month, that's L$2400 a year. I don't know about anyone else, but I have never operated with so many Lindens that I just fail to notice entirely losing over two grand in Lindens. So baffling.

And keep in mind that's making the assumption that that's all he's spending on that weekly ad. I know designers who routinely drop L$2000 per week for their businesses. I know some clubs (granted, none of them lasted, they all ended up closing) where their weekly ad fee was L$10,000. So...I don't get it. Maybe I'm just not in the income bracket for me to barely notice thousands of Lindens withdrawn for something I'm no longer promoting.

here comes the part of you and me arguing about nothing

I was following the last few stops of the Twisted hunt, so I could go home and finally unpack everything, when this happened:

[11:36] Gxxxxx Txxxxxx: hello sexy!
[11:36] Emilly Orr: Hello?

This, and variations of this, are my standard response to anyone who writes me that a) I don't know and b) opens only with a 'hello', 'hi' or 'hey'.

[11:37] Gxxxxx Txxxxxx: hello you look awesome!
[11:37] Emilly Orr: Thank you!
[11:37] Gxxxxx Txxxxxx: your very sexy

"You're".

[11:38] Emilly Orr smiles.
[11:38] Emilly Orr: I try.

I ported off to the next hunt stop at that point, and as expected:

[11:38] Gxxxxx Txxxxxx: owwwwwww
[11:38] Gxxxxx Txxxxxx: gone?
[11:39] Emilly Orr: Following Twisted hunt stops
[11:40] Gxxxxx Txxxxxx: would love to meet you
[11:41] Emilly Orr: In what capacity? As a model, or in my work capacity?

I mean, look. I don't port to a new place and toss every avatar in sight range my rate card. I don't advertise, beyond occasionally forgetting to change my tag when I'm out shopping. There are probably ways to get my name out there more, but I don't tend to follow those, as many of them involve renting ad boards at free sex stops, and frankly...if someone's there for free sex, why are they going to pay anyone? Doesn't make sense.

[11:43] Gxxxxx Txxxxxx: model ofc
[11:44] Gxxxxx Txxxxxx smiles
[11:44] Gxxxxx Txxxxxx: your so sexy model
[11:44] Emilly Orr: Oh, thank you

Also "you're", again.

[11:45] Gxxxxx Txxxxxx: would you pose glamour, kinky or nude?
[11:46] Emilly Orr: Well, I can do all three. I took posing fees off my rate card, as the photographer attached to Sakura moved on, so what would you think fair?

Now, this isn't exactly true. Of the three photographers attached to Sakura--that I know of, anyway--one moved on from taking Blossom portraits, but is still friendly to the house, one still takes photographs for us (she's responsible for the current ladies-in-white theme our portraits have going), and one is no longer working as our photographer, using our services, and is not welcome on the sim.

But in the large, I was making a point. I don't have rates for posing on my Blossom card. I don't have voice rates on my card either, because it's not something I'm comfortable doing with strangers. But I used to have fees for both.

[11:47] Gxxxxx Txxxxxx: i don't pay and you don't pay
[11:47] Gxxxxx Txxxxxx: that's how i work
[11:47] Gxxxxx Txxxxxx: you get the pics
[11:47] Emilly Orr: Then not interested, but thank you for the compliment.

Because basically, I pose nude for this fellow, he gets to upload them anywhere, sell them to anyone, use them for advertising, and no. I'd like some compensation for that. I doubt I'd demand insane amounts, just a token for the fact that I'm posing for someone.

[11:47] Emilly Orr: You also get the pics, and can at that point, with no contract involved, sell them at whim.
[11:48] Gxxxxx Txxxxxx: omg your [f**king] serious

Yes. I usually am.

[11:48] Gxxxxx Txxxxxx: forget me
[11:48] Gxxxxx Txxxxxx: please

Happy to, but...

[11:48] Emilly Orr: You said hello first.
[11:48] Gxxxxx Txxxxxx: i don't sell pics

What? Ever?

[11:48] Emilly Orr: Really? So, you just have a gallery for show?
[11:48] Gxxxxx Txxxxxx: yes ofc
[11:48] Gxxxxx Txxxxxx: it's sl
[11:48] Gxxxxx Txxxxxx: and i have flickr

Well, I have a Flickr, doesn't mean I'm a professional. I have an Instagram account, too, and a deviantArt account, but I'm strictly am amateur artist in all mediums.

[11:48] Gerard Gxxxxx Txxxxxx: sl is fun no business

Maybe for him, but some of us work here.

[11:49] Emilly Orr: Huh. Okay, you're the first professional photographer I've met here who doesn't sell their work.
[11:49] Gerard Gxxxxx Txxxxxx: why pay for a sl pic
[11:49] Gerard Gxxxxx Txxxxxx: weird

Not that weird, it's called making a living from your art.

[11:49] Emilly Orr: If the photographer is talented, and you want something from that particular person? It's happened.

I mean, I have no objections to nudity or fetish photography. Somewhere out there, there are RL fetish photographs taken by a dear friend. I have no idea if he ever uploaded them. So I'm not body-conscious in SL or RL, but I do have standards, and one of them is, if I don't know the photographer in question, I'm going to charge a modeling fee.

This has happened more than once. Maybe it's time to revise my rate card again.

But either way, that was the end of that, as he stopped responding. I wasn't interested in encouraging him further, anyway. After all, according to him, "sl is fun no business", so, y'know, everyone should just take what they want and give nothing back and treat it all like a Solitaire game. And no thank you. I don't share that attitude, I never have. SL is a game, yes, but it's a game played with hearts and minds, real feelings, real thoughts, real consequences. Anyone who doesn't comprehend that, I just can't communicate with--because it tends to be their RL feeling as well. "Just kidding, dude, don't take everything so seriously". "It's just a prank, bro." "We didn't mean to, we didn't think anyone would die." "Yeah, I drove drunk, but that guy turned in front of me, it's his fault for getting hit."

Yeah, no thank you. Actions have consequences, even here. No amount of denial reverses that.

it's only 'bout the money and control

This proved short but complicated:

[14:39] Ladysoraya Ruby: Group Notice Sent by: 
Ladysoraya Ruby[[PROMO WEEKEND]] 249L$ Mega Fatpack Original Mesh
✩✩[ LsR ] - Sexy Nayna Jumpsuit Set✩✩
100% Original Mesh
Includes:
[✔]Mesh Option : Jumpsuit - Belt Chains - Mules High Heels
[✔]Controler Hud with 60 Textures 30 Plains - 30 Patterns - Belt - Gold and Silver
[✔]Sizes for Suit : Maitreya Belleza [ Isis Freya ] Slink [ HourGlass ]
[✔]Single Items available 'ONE COLOR'Two Dresses
[✔]Full Options in FatPack
https://marketplace.secondlife.com/p/LsR-Sexy-Nayna-Jumpsuit-Set/17983283
Store in World:
Bad Girl

Now, I'm leaving the ad above, and the ad below in the chat, intact even down to avatar names for a reason: because that seems to be the main complaint of the woman below as far as I can tell.

[14:40] Axxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: Why are DAZ3D models considered 'original mesh'? Isn't it illegal to rip meshes from them?
[14:43] Emilly Orr: Anything that someone has created, that is not rights-free, is illegal to rip from.

Or limited-rights-granted, but the point still stands.

[14:43] Emilly Orr: DAZ3D models are sold pretty much for the purposes of photographic use only, and rarely game use, but those rights are restricted to the buyer alone.

Though, when I grabbed the link to DAZ3D just a minute ago, there's a large ad about how their software was used to position people for exact heights, so they knew what amount and angle of light to use in digital replacements. For big movies, apparently--Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America were mentioned.

[14:45] Axxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: Then why is this group allowing the advertising of items that have been ripped from Daz3D?
[14:46] Emilly Orr: That is a very interesting question, isn't it? And I'd say most likely, they don't know. Most people don't know what they're buying in SL, or selling in SL, is illegal. Digital rights are tricky things.
[14:48] Emilly Orr: Like the 'Crying Alice' fountain that's everywhere in here now--it was created for American MgGee's Alice 2, and that company has the rights to reproduce that particular mesh for game tie-ins, like small statues, printed art, and game promotion. *No one* not associated with American McGee's game company has the right unless it's granted to, a third party specifically for branded merchandise.
[14:49] Axxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: Which is why I'm not blaming the consumer, just questioning the group admin itself for allowing the adverstisment.

"Advertisement", and as I said earlier, because the group owners and moderators may not be able to tell at a glance when something's ripped or not. I can't always, and I've spent a great deal of time tracking down potential suspected mesh rips. No one person knows everything about every single property out there.

[14:49] Emilly Orr: But it's everywhere in here. EVERYWHERE. Why? Because someone ripped it and brought it in. And Linden Lab's "Safe Harbor" provisions are clear--unless someone from that game company directly complains about that game mesh, they won't do anything. They *can't* do anything, until someone who owns the rights complains.

And most rights holders won't complain simply because they don't know, and it's that simple. And even if someone went on a crusade--say, to ensure that every single zombie from Valve's Left 4 Dead game franchise was stripped from SL, it would still be a cumbersome series of steps:

1. Track down the current contact information for Valve's legal arm, and/or whomever specifically deals with the game and merchandise rights for Left 4 Dead.
2. Convince them their work is being illegally sold and redistributed. (And convince them that they care about the mesh being ripped and used in a game not theirs where each mesh is sold for a pittance, if not outright given away. Because remember, that old yarn about if you make it for free, it's not copyright infringement, is just that--an old yarn, and completely empty of legal merit.)
3. Should the be so convinced, they would then need to contact each avatar name that is reselling or giving away the individual game meshes from said games.
4. A cease-and-desist letter would be mailed to each one, with possibly a backup copy to Linden Labs (not sure if that's required, it used to be with some things, but may not be in 2019.)
5. Each individual avatar would then have the choice to voluntarily remove the mesh from sale or redistribution, or file a countersuit, including their full legal names, place of business, contact numbers, and any legal representation handling their case.
6. At that point it's Valve's choice whether to escalate to court, or drop the entire thing.

There are an innumerable number of ways this could go pear-shaped for the individual--the individual may not play that particular game, and picked up a full-perm version of that mesh, and thus potentially never knew they were redistributing rights-infringing goods. Valve may not care to pursue. Valve may go directly to the Lindens with evidence that it is their mesh directly, and it could not be anyone's else, with validating dates, and the Lab could just declare it acceptable by fiat and nuke that mesh from their server chain entirely--thus removing everyones' copy of that particular mesh. All of these have happened, in varying combinations, and when one tosses in people getting temporary or permanent bans on top of that, it's an incredibly tangled area of law.

[14:50] Axxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: Sigh.
[14:50] Emilly Orr: Right, and as I said, they may not know. There's a TON of ripped mesh in here, and not everyone knows every game, every property, every digital designer off the grid.
[14:51] Axxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: One look at the most recent ad above proves that the mesh is ripped. They didn't even bother using SL mesh bodies.
[14:52] Emilly Orr: Maybe I missed the actual ad, then, because the last ad I saw before your comment was for https://marketplace.secondlife.com/p/LsR-Sexy-Nayna-Jumpsuit-Set/17983283

The jumpsuit in question--which does seem to use SL bodies, does use recognizable--at least to me--SL templates as far as I can tell, and should be completely above-board...unless I'm wrong. And I could be.

[14:53] Emilly Orr: And I honestly couldn't look at that and say with surety it was anywhere else first. It's similar enough to other jumpsuits on the grid by makers of full-perm mesh templates. Are you talking about something else?
[14:55] Nxxxx Vxxxx: Group Notice Sent by: [Nxxxx Vxxxx]
LAST DAY Vaxer *Monaco * 12 Textures * 99 L$. PROMO
https://marketplace.secondlife.com/p/M/17924303
New "Monaco" by Vaxer ✿✿ 99L$ (Marketplace only)
***LAST CHANCE***
Sizes for Maitreya, Slink Hourglass, Physique, Belleza Isis and Freya
12 Textures HUD. Demo available for free.
[14:57] Emilly Orr: Actually, they usually do. Vaxer likes to use the upper end range of the graphics for SL, though. And I'm pretty sure that's not ripped, I think it's actually either a Meli Imako template, or a Flecha template to start with.
[14:57] Emilly Orr: Or, no, that may have simply been another ad, and not what [Axxxxxxxxxx]'s talking about.

And unfortunately, Ms. A never responded after that, so I have zero idea whether she meant the jumpsuit, or something else linked in that group I never saw before I replied.

I tried to teach you solitaire, you just hollered at the moon (part two)

(Continued from yesterday's entry.)

[11:43] rxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: I've complained enough.
[11:44] rxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: I'm sure not everyone is pleased with me
[11:44] Emilly Orr: It's just baffling. She keeps doing this.
[11:44] rxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: She's out of excuses...
[11:45] Emilly Orr: Do you give her another chance, is the question.
[11:45] rxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: That is exactly the question
[11:45] rxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: If she's replaced all of her stuff will be returned
[11:46] rxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: She definitely cannot pay any rent that will cover a sim sized platform
[11:47] Emilly Orr: True. Also ouch, that's right, she's basically "renting" a skybound sim.

She'd asked [Txxx] to give her a 'learning center' space, that she wanted to look "natural" to the area, so...in talks on what she wanted, they decided on the sim-size platform over the entire ground-level sim. So on that platform, there are trees, hills, foliage--all now in winter with added piles of snow--and buildings. Buildings which, in my estimation, have been used exactly once for one class. Yule was a failure, two of the three classes following--four, if you count this one--are dead on arrival, so...what is the point of the additional sim and prim space reserved for her use?

[11:47] rxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: Both of them have been given an opportunity to contribute to Thorvaldshavn and failed
[11:48] rxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: That's right
[11:48] rxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: there's a couple of thousand linden in that, per week
[11:48] Emilly Orr: At least.

And that's daunting in itself, innit? I mean, by no means am I rich; I wouldn't have lost my Caledon parcel by not dancing for tips for two months if I was even up to lower middle-class in income. But sim owners cannot be supposed to be rich, either, and even if they are, even if they can afford to own seventeen sims (and most can't), they still will not ever be comfortable tossing thousands of prims to someone without something in return. Friendship, help on the sim, rent, whatever--something, or it's an entirely one-sided transaction.

Right now [Ixxx] is a one-sided transaction.

[11:49] rxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: They both were allowed to live here rent free because they were contributing to our group and sim.
[11:50] rxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: And neither has fulfilled their part. Or am I wrong?

I don't think he's wrong.

[11:51] Emilly Orr: This is such a mess. How is she a member of a Norse faith and not learned the values of responsibility, standing behind her words, at the very least?
[11:52] rxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: No idea...
[11:52] rxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: is her disease part of her problem?

There are RL issues I won't go into, but she is affected by them.

[11:52] rxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: Am I being self-absorbed and petty?
[11:53] Emilly Orr: I can't imagine how unless it affects her memory and impulse control.

And if so, if that is the case--and I am not saying it is--shouldn't she mention that to people who are relying on her? Not the breakdown of specifics, no one is "owed" that, but just a general--"I may have problems doing [X]?

[11:54] rxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: She saw the comment about her attention span and she had to IM me, saying she was gnat-brained
[11:54] Emilly Orr: Yeah, but that's an excuse at this point.
[11:54] Emilly Orr: She flips it out as if it's supposed to protect her.
[11:54] rxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: I said, "no your not... your attention span is short."
[11:55] Emilly Orr: It's like Yule, all her hand-wringing over "Freyr is mad at me". Yeah, great, then fix it. How would he want you to repair this? And she ignored both of us, and just kept hand-wringing.
[11:55] rxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: I told her straight up. She needs to learn how to manage and stay on things
[11:55] rxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: Yes.. exactly
[11:55] rxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: I think she's done
[11:56] rxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: I really don't need this
[11:56] rxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: I've already raised two kids.. I'm not doing another who's a manipulator.

For me, the question is why she's a manipulator. Not that she is one, and sure, that kind of thing can start in childhood, I get that--but I mean, in SL. How has she spent ten years on the grid and expected other people to just cover for her like this? She doesn't move her own prims, she expects other people to do that. She asks for things she can't afford and expects them just to be given to her. She starts events two hours late, IF she starts them at all, and she expects everyone to fawningly accept this level of mistreatment. So who the hell was covering for her over the last ten years of SL? Because whoever they were, they're not here now. And we're not interested in being her fetch-and-carry servants.

[11:56] Emilly Orr: Aiii. So you already deal with this, yeah.
[11:57] rxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx nods
[11:57] rxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: they both turned out well
[11:57] rxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: they aren't jailbirds and are sober
[11:57] rxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: and have good jobs
[11:57] rxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: I did what I was supposed to do
[11:57] Emilly Orr: You have.

For me, that's the mark of a good parent. Did he and his kids always get along? Probably not, growing up is hard, emotions run high, arguments are bound to happen. But he got them to adulthood, neither died, neither are addicted to horrible things, neither went to jail. That's indicative of a success rate, to me.

[11:59] rxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: No wonder Birka failed.
[11:59] rxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: with those two in charge
[11:59] Emilly Orr: They're both so bad at this.

They really are. And even worse--[Vxxxxxx], who left the sim entirely to go chase Gorean slave girls, as a slaver, left nearly 5000 prims rezzed out on the sim. Inge, with her 'learning center' sky platform, has 1,500. This is a full-size sim now, not a homestead, but that's still more than 6,500 prims that they're using--and for what? [Vxxxxxx] is never there, and has unfriended all of us (though he hasn't left the group), and [Ixxx] is just...useless in every way. So why are we still hosting their things if they aren't working for the sim?

Comparison: I'm not there a lot. I admit that. I have an active SL, an active RL, I'm not there as much as I want to be. But I have less than 100 prims rezzed out. My house--which I pay rent for!--is the smallest I could talk [Txxx] into giving me. I am very much aware that I could have more if I asked, because I do make the council meetings, and take my position as advisor seriously.

But I don't abuse that. I am happy with my 100 prims. I may at some point ask [Txxx] for a slightly larger house, but two rooms maximum, not a palatial hall. Or a one-room with a partial loft. I do not want or need more than that.

So why do they need 6500 prims? Neither of them showed up to the last two council meetings, and [Vxxxxxx] in specific hasn't shown up to the past three. [Ixxx] can't seem to throw a ritual, or a class on lore, to save her life, and she's supposed to be this huge expert on all things Norse. So what gives?

I tried to teach you solitaire, you just hollered at the moon (part one)

Anyone feel like a trip through negative nostalgia? I was on the grid for all but the first controversy. And many of them got very, very dire indeed, on the ground, living them out.

Kind of continuing the negative trend...today's Scenes from a Chat, all about irresponsibility.

[11:17] rxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: Hi Em
[11:17] Emilly Orr: Hello there!
[11:18] rxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: How's things?
[11:19] Emilly Orr: Going well so far. Quiet.
[11:21] rxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: Well [Ixxx] claims she's having cramps but she's got notes for the Lore and Life event

Now, this is not the irresponsible bit. I well know how daunting it can be to try to concentrate when part of my anatomy is trying to turn itself inside out. It's perfectly valid to say, sorry, migraine, can't, sorry, cramps, can't, sorry, RL has exploded, can't.

[11:21] rxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: She didn't send out notices...
[11:22] Emilly Orr: ....
[11:22] Emilly Orr: When's the event happening?

This is our problem with this particular individual. She doesn't send out notices in advance. She doesn't start on time when she DOES send out notices. Hells, for the Yule event--which she had said she wanted to run--she ended up starting two hours and TWO ENTIRE DAYS late! That's not just scatterbrained, that's personally insulting to everyone who wanted to attend.

[11:22] rxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: She asked if you could take it.
[11:22] Emilly Orr: She asked if...IS SHE SERIOUS
[11:22] Emilly Orr: No.
[11:22] rxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: I'm going to tell her now
[11:22] rxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: NO
[11:22] Emilly Orr: Let me correct that.
[11:22] Emilly Orr: I will take it if you ask me to.

And I would. For [Txxx]'s sake, I would try to run with this, pull up some articles, parse them before I had to be 'onstage', as t'were, and run this. I trust him that much.

[11:22] rxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: the event is today in a few minutes
[11:22] Emilly Orr: But SHE is responsible, and SHE needs to realize that her lack of preparation has consequences.
[11:22] rxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: You are busy
[11:22] rxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: and I'm not qualified
[11:23] Emilly Orr: Sure, because I had no notice of an event! I could easily have been occupied with any of a dozen other things.

That's not me being flippant. There could have been folks at Sakura that I needed to meet with. That's happened in this time slot in the past. I could have been spending time with my dominant, who, when he has time, likes me there. I could have been engaged in building something, prepping items for sale, and didn't feel I could break off to attend a class.

[11:23] rxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: I know that well
[11:24] rxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: She's going to eat this too
[11:26] rxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: I'm thinking we'll need another priestess..
[11:26] Emilly Orr nods.
[11:26] Emilly Orr: If she doesn't shape up.
[11:26] rxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: She waited until the last moment
[11:28] rxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: 11 AM is start time

This is another thing. You have an event, you advertise it. If it really is spontaneous and no warning was given US to advertise it, we still try, by and large, to give as much advance warning as possible. Half an hour at the LEAST. Now, most of us who are comfortable with listing events, will follow up at fifteen, and at the start, and then at least halfway through...but if we have notice of when this is going to be, we'll try to list it a day early, a week early, whatever we feel we need to.

[11:29] Emilly Orr: Now, maybe it's just me, but....I generally have more warning in terms of feminine discomfort? Like, things ache for a bit, and then it gets hard, it's never just....normal then boom, if that makes sense?
[11:30] rxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: I was married to a PMS Queen for 30 years...
[11:30] Emilly Orr: Okay then.

So yeah, he definitely understands.

[11:30] Emilly Orr: Well, PMS is slightly different, though the girls know to toss me B and C vitamins if I start getting snappish. :D
[11:31] rxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: I knew nearly a week in advance
[11:31] Emilly Orr: And yet. She still waited until...well. Now.

When she should have had ample warning of both when the classes start, since SHE sets them up, AND when her courses started and the expected levels of pain. Come on now. Even me, with my hugely erratic system--once I do start, I know what I'm in for. How can she forget something like that? Both of those things, the class time too?

[11:31] rxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: and when she went into menopause I really knew it
[11:31] rxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: so.. this is crap
[11:32] rxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: Why or why do women seem to think men are idiots?
[11:32] rxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: oh why?
[11:33] rxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: I'll hush... I'm sorry
[11:34] Emilly Orr: No, you're not wrong. Not all of us do, but it is a prevailing trend.
[11:35] rxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: It's really insulting
[11:35] rxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: It's Misandry

It is, actually. It's very dismissive of an entire gender. Just as we complain about misogyny towards women, men do have a right to complain about using menstruation as an excuse to men. (Not actually having, and explaining; that's different, and again, if she's genuinely suffering, I get that. But.)

[11:37] Emilly Orr: I think most of us were raised that men dislike mention of menstruation, and a lot of men do, but not all of them. So women--some women--use that as a handy excuse. "I can't do [whatever], sorry, cramps."
[11:37] Emilly Orr: I'm not saying she is, just saying it's been done.
[11:38] Emilly Orr: And the expected response is "Ew, oh gods, okay, whatever, do what you need to, just don't tell me about it".
[11:38] rxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: I know it well
[11:39] rxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: Menstruation never put me off.. it's a fact of life.

I was sent a copy of her "notes" for the event, by [Txxx]. Even her notes would need heavy explanation to be used by another teacher:

Lay of Sigdrifa -- immediate segue from Lay of Fafnir (poem about Sigurd the Volsung killing Fafnir the dragon)...
begins with S. riding to Hindfell (unknown mtn in Frankish territory) to find Brynhild

* Brynhild = Sigdrifa? YES; Sigdrifa ('inciter to victory') a generic description of Valkyries, mistaken for proper name
* if Valkyries choose who _dies_ in a fight, they also choose who survives and wins
* (Brynhild kicked out of Asgard for supporting the wrong side -- Odin had promised to let other guy win [*loss of honor*])
* If Odin loses honor, he passes that loss on to Brynhild: no more exemption from marriage, female norms traditional *at the time*
(NO, this does not mean all modern Heathen women should stay out of the military and get married; it means women should keep their word as much as men.
She's the equivalent of a dishonorably discharged vet busted for insubordination.)

Brynhild still keeps some agency, allowed to marry fearless man

"Sleeping Beauty" parallels?

* Loss of innocence from tempting fate
* Magical stasis thru pricking (spindle vs. thorn), woman set up for future pricking (Freudian) by Mr. Right

Romanticized Valkyrie imagery?

* Yes; older Norse poems depict them as frightening, shrieking, wolf-riding hags
* Valkyries in Odin's service aren't sexual, or marriage wouldn't be punishment
* Do any serve Freyja? Strictly UPG, but Freyja needs help gathering "her" half -- what qualifications?

If I was completely familiar with the story, I could have flown with this. If. But since I'm not completely facile with this, just have the "I have read this" comprehension level, I would not feel comfortable addressing these points in a class.

[11:40] rxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: Anyway, she did a nice job on her notes, but no notice? ...
[11:40] rxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: not one... I checked the groups.

He sent me the second part of her "notes":

-- only poem in the Eddas with the following:

* spoken prayer (Brynhild's "Hail to Day")
* magical techniques described in detail (where to carve what, materials used)
* individual runes named as part of spells (but archaeological evidence, other poems show that spells were not just isolated letters carved/named)
* ale-runes (protection from poison/magically spiked drinks) *may* support alternate rune name (leek/laukaz = laguz, not the actual plant here)

-- Brynhild's magical lessons a fragmented list, not in order; probably not from same poem

-- list of 24 magical things ("where runes are carved"): link to Elder Futhark is modern UPG, no order or pattern

-- slight Christian influence in ref to coffin burial (this and romanticized Valkyrie are "red flags" for late origin

-- life lessons: (1) pop-culture images of magic and the supernatural...not historically accurate
(2) lore itself recorded in conversion era; learn to spot non-Heathen elements, but don't throw whole thing out

Strangely, the second part of the notes is more cohesive, but I'd still have to dig up my copy of the Poetic Eddas and read through it, maybe Google for some things (granted, a five-minute search gave me every lore-related link here, but I didn't read through everything comprehensively; I'd want to do that to have familiarity for any questions asked by the class).

(Continued in part two, tomorrow.)

a world of fragile things

Remember, at this time of year...think before you pink. While I do hold with many of the statements in that article, I also realize that without advertising, big events, and splashy, attention-grabbing colors, many of us won't tune in. Most of us are dealing with crippling emotional overload, whether or not we realize it. Billboards, commercials, phone spam, text spam, targeted computer ads--it's all trying to get in, trying to push us to buy, consume, spend, invite others to do the same.



The Susan G. Komen Foundation has improved over the last few years; it used to be far less than half of donations went back to administration and fundraising efforts. Now, donations going directly to research institutions, hospitals, and patient needs are clocking in at a little over 80%.

Relay for Life, on the other hand, is an event run by the American Cancer Society, and their scores are...lower. As of the last figures published on Charity Navigator, their donations to research, hospitals and cancer patients aren't even 60%. The larger half of their funds raised go towards fundraising efforts and advertising, with 6% going to salaries and administrative concerns. That's not ideal.

Which brings us to SLRFL, the conglomeration of events that lasts for roughly half the yeare to raise funds for Relay for Life. And the Relay for Life event, at the corporate level, is a woefully inefficient charity sub-group. Some quotes:

"Relay for Life spends an egregious amount of funds promoting its own brand."

That was written in 2012.

"If you take a look at ACS, you soon understand that they are simply being intellectually dishonest on several fronts."

That was from 2013. And finally, this damning statement from a 2016 article:

"Relay for Life money does not go towards helping cancer patients."

Ultimately, both Relay for Life and the American Cancer Society, the organization responsible for Relay, have a great deal of scandal associated with them. This cannot be denied. And, while in recent years there have been pushes towards more global efforts, there were far too many years where the focus was solely on US cancer fundraising/services, even though Relay runs had sprouted up in several other countries.

So, knowing all this, why have I donated to SLRFL for the last few years, have I made charity items to sell at Fantasy Faire each year for the past three years? That part, at least, is simple: community. I don't run--in SL or RL--so I've never actually Relayed, but I've supported friends who ran. And more than that, I hear very personal stories of people reaching out to other people through this event. This goes beyond the malfeasance of the original charity, because this is now the human face of loss and hope: people struggling to survive connecting with other people struggling. And together, while their struggles are still occasionally mortal things, they are supported. Connected. Befriended. Helped, in that sense that sometimes big-money charities forget. Because at this level, the level of Relay, it's no longer about how much money was raised, beyond the organizers. For the people in the teams, it's about word getting out. It's about support from other people. It's about how everyone on that Relay ground understands why they're there, why they're involved, and why they're Relaying.

There are better cancer charities out there. There are much better charities devoted to childrens' cancers, absolutely. But there is nothing quite like Relay, and that's why it, at least, is important.

dislocated, suffocated

So, homeless again for a bit. It won't last, it's just a matter of searching for or freelancing for enough Lindens, and spending time searching for a new home base, but...it's always a sad thing. What makes me saddest about this is not actually the having to leave. It was the why.

For several months now--since my income seems to be oddly variable--I've had an agreement with a love. She exchanges her work at an estate--and no, not identifying which one--for the plot that she uses, and the plot that I use. (I moved to a smaller place when we struck this arrangement, and when I was flush, I paid her rent, so it wasn't entirely one-sided.)

Over the run of everyday life on SL, they had to downside, so she went from being an estate manager to being a land office clerk--a significant downgrade in both income and responsibility. Still, she understood, and life went on. At least, until they stopped paying her.

In general--and both in RL and SL--my love takes a particular approach to employment, one echoed by Captain Mal Reynolds: she works in exchange for Lindens, the key point being exchange. That's the transaction, that's what she signs up to do. She's a very loyal worker, and she works hard, but she insists on the formalities: she does the job. And then she gets paid.

And three weeks ago, this estate stopped paying her.

At first--the first week--she sent friendly IMs, asking her employers to resolve the situation. Obviously it slipped their minds, it happens. No hard feelings. But then she hit week two, and what was worse, they'd stopped talking at that point--and not just to her, but to their other estate managers, and to their customers.

We still don't know what's going on with this formerly functional estate, but she's now at week three. And over the course of one day of talking, we went from "you need to try and ask them what's going on" to "maybe you need to leave". Because they're not paying her; they're not talking to her; they're not updating their webpage listings (for example, four listings today she found that were open and available on the website, that had been rented in world--some for months) for their estate. So...why is she staying? It was a damned good question.

So she made the decision to leave. And then everything happened very quickly, for the first time. In the space of three hours, she'd informed her employers, I'd taken back what was mine in my skybox, she'd taken back what was hers in hers...and both of us suddenly had no homes.

Well. That was abrupt.

Okay. Tomorrow, back to work, and we see where I go from here.

I light the candle for the ghosts in my home

DARPA--yes, that DARPA--has released an open-source catalog of software and research project notes. Why? Got me. But apparently the agency working to develop weaponry and battle armor for the US government wants input and coding help from...everyone who wants to help out.

Unpaid, of course, but they also say that since it's open-source, it can be used in coders' own projects, as well.

What this means in the larger political sense, I am purely not the one to ask. I'm just baffled.

Meanwhile--continuing in strange US news--there's now a sculpture of a nearly naked man...on the all-female Wellesley College campus. Why the sculpture there? Why is it a nearly naked man? The artist made a companion piece of a nearly naked woman; would that have been more or less disturbing as an installation on the campus lawn?

There's an entire page devoted to the rest of the installation set (including the female version of the Sleepwalker, and an alternate male version) on Tony Matelli's website; but does seeing the rest of the installation pieces invalidate the oddity of the lone somnabulist on campus? In my opinion, not really. (Also, a warning for that link--Matelli's artwork meanders from the clinical to the profoundly disturbing. View at your own risk.)

Moving to the field of neuroscience, Robert Provine, author of the new book Curious Behavior, posits that not only do tears serve a physical healing function (not the least of which is to lubricate irritated or injured eyes), but might also serve as a mood elevator--a compound called NGF, which stands for nerve growth factor, seems not only responsible for axonal branching (the thing that makes nerve fibers grow like tree limbs), but also potentially has an anti-depressive, anti-psychotic effect. If proven, this could have wide application in terms of recovery from mental illness (schizophrenia, depression, general dementia) as well as mental impairment (autism, Alzheimer's, possibly even the full range of anorexia and bulimia illnesses).

Further study is definitely needed, but it looks promising.

And Linden Lab has a new CEO. So far, he seems sane. Yay?

trouble is a friend

So, I'm planning some back-end fill-ins for old content (none of it hugely relevant at this point, just drafts that are aging in queue) behind this one, but there's been a ton of things happening of late, and I've been hermitting, so...right. Time to get to it.

First up: Mr. Ciaran Laval noticed that LL changed their land bot allowances, from "allowed" to "not". As he points out, five years ago this would have been both relevant and helpful, but as things stand now...what, exactly, is the point? Unless--as he also points out--the Lab's planning to also reorganize tier in some fashion.

Sort of in the same vein--that of unsettling changes, at least--there was a thread on SL Universe querying if the Lab had a policy on requesting tax information. Which wouldn't be that big a deal, save for the way they handled it--or rather, aggressively and ridiculously mishandled it. First was the utter lack of communication, followed by wrong information given out by Lab employees who apparently weren't informed of the correct procedures, and--to my mind most significant--an utter refusal to change their policies when illegally employed.

Now, the lack of contact we are unfortunately accustomed to, along with the spreading of misinformation by people who should have better accesses to correct info than those not in the rank and file. But what started out as a reasonable conversation about terminology and correct interpretation began to slowly go south. The first hints of trouble were seen in Malkavyn Eldritch's post of January 18th:

First sale of the year (over 600.00 under 20,000.00) we now have received the support ticket and it is our first. (We wondered why the deposit hadn't processed in over a week)

[...] LL has failed (as usual) to provide relevant information to the residents in a timely manner. This shouldn't be a shock to anyone.

It really shouldn't, and that might have been the end of it, just an unfortunate delay, but...Kat Fetisov was next, on the 20th:

I got one of these the other day when I tried to cash out - for the record I'm nowhere near 200 withdrawals or $20,000 a year.

Then Charli a day later:

I have received the email as well. Who is Tommy Linden really? This is a matter of real life information and to be requesting such information without even providing their real name is just ridiculous.

Kat Fetisov received resolution...sort of...maybe?...on the same day:

I've had a reply from the Lab about this. It's left me a little puzzled.

They said that I don't need an ITIN or an EIN, just my UK National Insurance number (that's the UK's tax reference code for an individual; the equivalent of a US SSN). This is good news because it makes everything nice and simple but it leaves me puzzled because every other US based business platform (yeah, please forgive the pretentiousness of that term - you know what I mean; Amazon direct publishing, all the other e-book publishers, stock image sites etc) that asks users to file a W8 variant require an ITIN or EIN or they'll withhold US taxes from your payouts.

I hope that LL are in proper compliance because what seemed a big problem earlier today has now vanished. I can't help but feel that acquiring an EIN hasn't been a wasted effort since I can't know how things will change in future. The IRS is coming down harder and harder on this kind of commerce, so having an EIN in reserve gives me some reassurance I'll be able to deal with any stricter requirements that may come along later.

And then things got really worrying on the 24th. This was Desmond Shang, chiming in with his responses from the Lab:

I've made more than pocket change with my SL estate, and as such, I've always routed it through my S Corporation.

Why? Because you can't have, say, greater than 50,000 a year come into your personal bank account without paying appropriate taxes. I put in work to build my SL business, and that means wage taxes. Which I have paid. Just try telling the IRS that you had money rain out of the sky for no reason and see what happens ~ that's most certainly a bad, bad idea.

So I get a W9 request thursday. It's the sort of thing I get all the time in the course of other business, before SL even accepted residents. Except they doctored up the form horribly, and locked it on Individual / Sole Proprietor, and SSN through this weird electronic form overlay. I use an S Corporation with an EIN.

No big deal except they say if I don't fill out THAT form, locked to the wrong tax information fields ~ my account goes on hold in 30 days.

Let me restate some things from this, because I feel they're vaguely important.

• For the purposes of estate management, Des has filed as an S corporation.
• As he is an employee of this corporation (he's also the owner, which is another reason to incorporate; it makes things very neat and structured for purposes of taxation and filing), he pays himself wages from this estate-based income.
• As such, it's fairly standard to fill out incorporated deduction forms (which he's done, both as employee and owner), as well as standard for companies and incorporated entities to interact with him as another incorporated entity.
• Linden Lab did not do this. In fact, they doctored the form before sending it to restrict his ability to fill it out properly; they insisted that he fill it out as a private citizen, not an incorporated entity (or even employee of same).
• Legally, Des cannot fill out this form.
• If Des does not fill out this form, his account goes on hold, and they withhold wages until he properly fills it out--which, again, he cannot do as provided by the Lab.

This is insane. Why would any company mess with their paying clients this way? And "Because they're the Lab" is no longer a sufficient answer.

And let's not forget the next bit of Des' section of the thread:

I'm very upset with:

1) the incompetency of trying to force me to fill out a W9 incorrectly,

2) the fact I can't get anyone on the phone for something that should be a 5 minute thing

3) the fact that they are threatening to put my account on hold over it.

Yeah. Let me restate that bit, too, because it's important: A major estate owner, paying operational capital directly to Linden Lab, cannot get anyone on the phone to answer him. And if they're doing it to Des, they're doing it to everyone else. So forget regular users of SL trying to get information--when the people essentially providing working capital to the company can't get answers, we're in very deep. Drowning, not waving time.

While Des (and presumably other businesses and estate owners) were trying to figure out what waqs going on, on the 29th Karlin James developed an all-new, easily resolved problem:

I started to process my credit on January 13th and asked for USD1200 to be sent to my PayPal account. This is only the 3rd time I have withdrawn money from SL in 4 years. After 6 business days had passed I gave billing a call and asked if there were any delays in making payments. I was told that I would be paid that day as Wednesdays were when LL do their mass pay outs.

Well it didn't arrive in my account that day or the day after. But I did receive a case number and a request to fill out a form. It was the W8 for me because I am from the UK. I did that immediately and sent a photo of my passport and of my bank statement showing my address. That was a week ago.

[...] Just to add to that, I called a couple more times this week to ask to speak to a supervisor. I called during LL office hours but both times I was told there was no supervisor available and then got this recorded message "This call has ended, please hang up".

Joy.

Passages bolded for emphasis above; and because James hadn't reached either internally stated limit, it's wholly unknown why the Lab decided to dick them around like this.

So now we're near the end of the month. New program, or least the Lab's new compliance with a program which may have gone into play (at least in the US) in 2010; still not sure on that score. Bumpy couple of weeks, but everything worked out, right? Well...

Here's eku Zhong on the 29th:

I cash out pretty regularly (monthly).. last week when cashout should have gone through I got the W8-BEN form and filled in and sent in photo ID last Friday.
Still waiting.. ticket is still IN PROGRESS.

Evil String on the 29th:

I got my ticket on friday. Everything filled up in less than 1 hour ( I had everything prepared), documentation uploaded. Still nothing.

Desmond Shang, same day:

Still waiting here; they have enough info to ID me seven ways to Sunday by now. I don't care if they are understaffed on the effort. Staff up. It's not like they couldn't see this coming for at least a decade in advance.

Now, very late on the 29th, both Zhong and String had their payment issues resolved; Charli and Nan still hadn't been contacted; Min Barzane, on the 31st, meanwhile, still hadn't heard anything:

Monday 20th requested cashout to paypall...friday 24th got suport request for aditional info ,tax stuff(ID,online form,the works)and normaly they stopped my cashout ... filled and sent ewerything inside 1 hr...today is 31st and still waiting for LL to move their lazy asses and let my money go!

And a few hours after both Des and Mm. Barzane posted that, they were mysteriously resolved. Someone reading along at the Lab?

And on February 4th, Eboni Khan added two more cents to the discussion:

My 1099-K arrived today from Linden Research. Not one single USD number on it matches my Paypal 1099-K. Hello double reporting!

Which I find highly suspicious on the part of the Lab. Shouldn't the numbers match? And there are still folks waiting for funds to be received, and all of this right at the turn of the month, when many of us are also asked to pay rent. The hell, Linden Lab. The friggin' hell, what is going on?

And does it have anything to do with Rod Humble leaving the Lab?

throwing out a boomerang, waiting for it to come back to me

Dare Designs Kickstarter campaign:

Okay, let me say this first. I'm not saying it's not a worthwhile effort. It is. What I am saying, at the start of this, is that a search through Kickstarter reveals nothing under "Dare Designs" or "Dare Munro". (Not that I expected Dare Munro to show up--Kickstarter is, pretty much, a real-name place, and he could easily be listed under his real name.

I think, instead, what he's going for is the idea of Kickstarter--a time-limited crowdfunding option. (Though, to be fair, if he wanted to go an official crowdfunding option, I'd point him towards IndieGoGo over Kickstarter--Kickstarter's good, but IndieGoGo still pays whatever's generated at the end of the set time, whether it came up to the stated goal or not. Kickstarter doesn't.)

To all my loyal customers, friends, fans, and fellow Slitizens – DD needs your help.

Technically, they've needed help for a while now, and if you haven't participated in the earlier sale-slash-computer-fundraiser, shame on you. Because a lot of great outfits are still available for L$99 each.

My mission statement at Dare Designs is and always has been to create a sustainable community with an atmosphere of fun, friendliness, and happiness; where good products, good friends, and good times go hand in hand at every level.

In short, what I want more than anything is that every person who visits DD goes away happier than when they arrived.

On a larger scale I want DD (and DE – the sim) to be a place where people know they can come and set down their bag of cares and troubles for a while and connect with others, and themselves, in interesting and pleasant ways for a little time, or a lot. A place where people want to be, and want to bring their friends, not just to BUY, but to BE. A place to call 'home'.

To do this I need your input, and your help.

I won't lie, I've had problems with Dare in the (by now) distant past; we had a disagreement, I blogged some things, I calmed down eventually. It was never, never, because he was a bad designer. He is not a bad designer. He is fiercely creative--both he and Axi Kurmin are--as well as having a defined artistic ethos that his creativity shines through. You can see it in everything from the outfits he makes, to the trees outside the store (which he also built), to the prefabs on the far side of the sim (which he also built). I've been a quiet member of one of his groups for years; I don't put group slots on hold for many people. (Seriously, sometimes I think I have the shopping equivalent of ADD--there's maybe a handful of groups that I always stay in--Dare Designs among them--but everything else is the whim of the moment, and can change nigh-daily.)

On the help side – as I have said before, my computer is ancient and basically dead on it's feet. I can run low-level programs for a few hours at a time, higher level programs (like Secondlife) for minutes at most. It simply needs to be replaced, and the efforts I have made to generate the money to do so have failed.

Understand that SL is my source of income, I don't have any outside job or source of income – so while SL has barely managed to continue to pay my RL expenses, the extra income needed to replace this computer so I can continue creating has not come about.

I know this pain. I am intimately familiar with this pain. I've had three computers die on me--four if you count the ancient Mac I had before I joined SL--and, if it weren't for incredibly generous friends, I wouldn't have a functional computer now. And while I do use my computer to generate income, it's nothing near something that supports me in RL, as much as I wish it would. I do have friends who do this dance, though, and at times, when the economy is especially daunting, I worry over their ability to make rent, to continue to eat, to keep the power on.

Add that to the inability to create new things, and that's a whole new level of hell for a designer.

This campaign is designed to generate that additional income to replace this computer so I can resume creating, and resume turning DD and DE into my vision as described above.

Goal: 300,000 L$ in 30 days

Now, in the original notecard, of course, that wasn't bolded, but I want you to seriously consider what he's asking for here. He's not asking for half a million US. He's not even asking for a quarter of a million US.

He's asking for a little over $1200, which is pretty much the bare minimum to get a reasonably decent computer. Yes, if you have the right friends, and find the right deals, you can still jerry-rig a Frankencomp out of component parts for around $500. It's not even hard. But doing it that way requires a familiarity with building computers from scratch--which Dare may not have--plus, consider the level of tech we're talking here. He wants something robust enough to handle the demands of SL--which remain steep, and are getting steeper every year--and at the same time, run PhotoShop (or whatever his graphics program of choice is). And/or mesh programs, which is a whole other complication. To do that well, to have the power you need, the graphics strength you need, the bare minimum is about a grand, and it goes up from there.

Plus, take a step back and think through what he's asking for. If everyone in any of his groups for the various stores that make up Dare Designs, or any of Axi Kurmin's groups that make up Dare Designs, kicks in some, he'll reach his goal in those thirty days. Just for the groups I can remember off the top of my head, I count about 2300 avatars. L$300,000 divided by 2300 equals about L$130 per person, which is less than the cost of one of his outfits, seriously. (And I know I'm forgetting some groups, so yeah, that number-per-avatar could be lower to get him to his goal!)

I'll have to buy some Lindens to do it, but I plan today or tomorrow to toss in at least that L$130. You really should too, or at least, whatever you can afford.

I am setting up a drop box and a 'tip' jar in DD in the main area right beside the model stands.

That would be here, by the way.

How you can help:

Fill out this short questionnaire:
Say as little or as much as you want as answer to each question, then drop this notecard in the dropbox.

The dropbox is right next to the tipjar, you can use the same SLUrl given above.

1: What is your favorite aspect of DD – what do you like the most?

2: What do you dislike the most about DD (or any store)?

3: If DD were to make one change that would make you happiest – what would it be?

4: What other changes would you suggest?

5: What is your name (avatar name so I can find you)?

6: How much did you contribute to the computer fund (if anything, not required)?

7: What do you feel that contribution is worth to you? (free outfits, special mention, hugs and kisses from a raving mod of fans, anything – I'm your genie, rub my belly and make a wish...)

While I didn't ask, I can't imagine he has a problem with signal-boosting, and besides, how often do you get a chance to give honest feedback to a designer who really, truly, wants to know what you want? Take this opportunity to tell him! I promise you, Dare and Axi have the creativity, the intelligence, and the drive to take your suggestions and channel them into future creations.

By filling this out and contributing to the fund, you will be helping me to get back in the game and turn DD and DE into the vision I have in mind – a place that we all can be passionate about and call our own.

Help me make our Second Home out of just Second Life.

With hope and passion,
Dare

Here's to all our dreams. But most importantly, the computer fund. I know there's a ton of things to occupy you--stores closing, big sales, SLRFL's main fashion takeover is right around the corner, Hair Fair's opening tomorrow--but think how hard it would be to want to create something, and be denied that ability. Then give what you can. It truly won't take much, and if you'd rather go the something-for-something route, there's an entire store full of goodies to peruse, and that will help too. Do what you can, and if the universe is kind, he'll get there, and get his new computer.

on the seventh day I rest for a minute or two

(The below photographs all come from the "Passage of Time" exhibit at SL10B in Pizzazz. Part one and part two, for your reading pleasure.)

(from the events album; the "Passage of Time" exhibit in Pizzazz)

With 2009 came new challenges; namely, a system of 'rewarding' new premium accounts that I still hear complaints about to this day. Oh, granted, the occasional furniture or adornment gift that wanders towards premium accounts, the ability to buy and sell virtual land, and the premium-only sandboxen; these are all fun things, and--at least where the sandboxen are concerned--potentially invaluable to premium builders.

No, where the hitch seems to be is with the Lindenhomes. In essence, what the Lab has done is remade their "first land" proviso with a shocking difference, by giving each new premium account holder the ability to pick a "neighborhood", and subsequently receive--"free of charge"--a 512 parcel of land, complete with home and furnishings. Home and furnishings, I might add, that that premium account-holder cannot modify, retexture, or reconfigure in any way. It is theirs and not-theirs, in the same instance. It exists as a possession and it is never given away. Paradox? Yes, with each house that is offered.

I suppose, if the Lindens' intent is to quickly shunt new premium accounts towards tier fees and land ownership, simply because the Lindenhomes is question are so bland and utilitarian, then I suppose they work? So...yay for that?

(from the events album; the "Passage of Time" exhibit in Pizzazz)

I admit, I stood in front of this placard for a very long time. "Then in August, the Emerald viewer was in trouble..." This makes it sound as if it was purely a software issue, and not a deliberate violation of trust. I'm not going to turn this into another Emerald diatribe, but really, even within a commemorative event array, that single toss-off line does not sit well with me...nor, I would suspect, with any of the former users of Emerald who felt profoundly victimized by the developers' bad behavior.

(from the events album; the "Passage of Time" exhibit in Pizzazz)

This was another difficult placard to cover. I'm still not entirely comfortable with mesh, if only because I like to be seen as clothed when I go shopping. But the other issues that this particular sign mentions were both extraordinarily problematic at the time. As it turns out, looking back on these events, web profiles have turned out to be minimally non-invasive, though they still have features I'm not fond of using.

But the closing of the Teen Grid was a profound violation for many of us. First, because Claudia Linden, when asked, said it would never happen, but also because it's still such an appallingly bad idea. Intellectually, I realize there's no difference between someone I don't know who's thirty behind the screens, and someone I don't know who's seventeen; but emotionally, I stopped dating at all past the closure of Teen Grid. I do not want to play in mature ways with people I can't trust to be at least eighteen. It may be a minimal standard, but it's mine and I'm by damn clinging to it.

(from the events album; the "Passage of Time" exhibit in Pizzazz)

And here's another controversy that's still raging. There are many separate groups in SL, on many levels; at any given time, there's always someone new to embrace or disdain, but even within these cliques and sub-structures, there's a fluidity that comes from all playing in the same space, with the same tools.

The "Resident" last name--which, to be honest, doesn't even exist; it's a holdover to provide two distinct names under Legacy viewers--was the first brutal social distinction in SL. Within days of the announcement, anyone who didn't have a last name was almost universally dealt supercilious scorn or lip-curling disgust, and all for no reason, essentially--or perhaps for the very worst of reasons: "I was here first".

At this point, there are Resident-bearing sim owners, Resident-bearing business owners, and overall, as a defined class, they add more than they take away. But it's been a harder struggle for new residents than it ever should have been, simply by virtue of the Lindens removing their choice of a last name. It set the cultural bar excruciatingly low; too low for many at first even to make the attempt to struggle under. And it's a great shame to all of us, that so many of us couldn't see past that unfortunate distinction.

(from the events album; the "Passage of Time" exhibit in Pizzazz)

I'm still waiting for evidence that Project Shining will be worth the hype.

(from the events album; the "Passage of Time" exhibit in Pizzazz)

At the time I snapped this picture, the latest settlement involving the Lindens hadn't been announced. Looking back on it from the perspective of time, however, Rosedale's statement seems flawed and disingenuous. What we have in Second Life is real, and is ours? Hardly--as that settlement proves once again, what we have in SL is theirs, and it's as ephemeral as this exhibit will be, in a few more hours.

open atmosphere, take me anywhere

(The below photographs all come from the "Passage of Time" exhibit at SL10B in Pizzazz. Part one is here.)

(from the events album; the "Passage of Time" exhibit in Pizzazz)

I was on the grid in September of 2006. I was working at the Enigma still--my first, and, in some ways, best job on the grid--when the hacks began. Between "grey goo" infestations, rezzed-out pose items spontaneously ceasing to work, and griefing objects in a dizzying and disorienting array, we also had the first major hacking strike to the SL servers themselves. It would not be the last.

(from the events album; the "Passage of Time" exhibit in Pizzazz)

I have heard distant (and unfounded) rumors that gambling may be making a comeback. I'm not putting any faith in them right now, but I do agree that when gambling services and virtual banks left the grid, the grid economy never really recovered. Granted, there were large (and occasionally, scarily corporatized) interests behind the gambling industry, but on the ground, all we saw was commerce easily flowing, rent being fairly effortless to pay, and a naïve sort of financial exuberance (with an accompanying naïveté as to exactly what was happening).

(from the events album; the "Passage of Time" exhibit in Pizzazz)

The launching of Windlight I remember most vividly by how jarringly unhappy my graphics card was with the system. At this point, three entire engines later, changing Windlight settings is as effortless as thought...but at the time, it was a terrifying, unnatural thing for me.

(from the events album; the "Passage of Time" exhibit in Pizzazz)

It's still hard to believe that five celebrations ago, the controversial "no nipples" policy of SL5B was enacted by fiat. Of course, soon after Ursula-then-Zindra rose as the new Adult continent, and we all discovered we had bigger things to worry about.

From the transcript of Mitch Kapor's closing keynote remarks from SL5B:

So the first is, in the earliest wave of pioneers in any new disruptive platform, the marginal and the dispossessed are over represented, not the sole constituents by any means but people who feel they don't fit, who have nothing left to lose or who were impelled by some kind of dream, who may be outsiders to whatever mainstream they are coming from, all come and arrive early in disproportionate numbers.

It was the way the west in the U.S. was settled. It is the way Second Life has been settled. And in fact those early pioneers find a very arduous environment. In the early days, you really have to want to be here because life in certain ways is very very difficult, in fact too difficult for most people. It is unavoidable in some sense that there will be a very high attrition rate in the early years while a platform is being built out. It doesn't stay that way of course, it can't, but the difficulties of conditions cause those who stay to really bond together, have something in common.

And that sort of arduous frontier conditions really give these environments their charm and their character, but also their challenges [...] I think the larger prospect is bringing the value of Second Life and virtual worlds to the world at large. And to do so, it has to be opened up, it has to be made easier to use [...]

So the first thing is a much more realistic looking avatar and particularly for business meetings and meetings between people who know each other, the ability to look more like yourself when you want to, would be a positively good thing. And there are some technologies that have been developed that will create an extraordinarily realistic avatar out of a single digital photograph and a lot of algorithmic magic. These are not Second Life avatars yet, but they could be at some point.

I still find it baffling, and more than a little irritating, this insistence--from Kapor and others--that all anyone wants to do in Second Life is to log in painlessly, shop in permitted areas, and wander around looking as much like their RL selves as possible.

Don't mistake me--for those people who want to resemble their RL selves, I say more power to them. I have a friend who's done everything he can to match his RL self to his SL avatar, down to changing his in-world glasses and hair when they change. How'ver, far more of us want the creativity in SL to attach to our virtual selves as well.

Perceive it this way: I communicate one message when my RL self is in front of someone. Partially, that message is out of my control, because it rests within the viewer's internal perceptions of me or people like me. I only have my personality, my words, my body language, to communicate on my side of this interchange. Everything else rests on the perceptions of that viewer.



In SL, I can substantially increase the amount of communication on my side. Because it is my choice of presentation, my choice of avatar. Good or bad in the eyes of the viewer, these are choices I can and do make on a daily basis. As odd as many of my avatars have been (and still are), I have gone to scathingly few events where my choice of virtual appearance was wholly out of my control. In SL, what I think, what I feel, what I believe can become part of my avatar identity because of how I choose to appear on the grid--from footwear to ears and everything in between. It takes "Your World, Your Imagination" and makes it "My avatar, my identity".

While there is still perceptions on the part of any viewer that I do not control, it's far less haphazard than in RL, where I cannot as easily change hairstyle, eye color, skin color, and outfit. Which doesn't even factor in entire species shifts, or as Miss Neome is frequently seen in, avatars that are less "avatar" and far more "idealization of the perceived interior".

This is not a long-winded way of deriding people who choose to match their RL selves and their SL selves; it's a valid strategy, and for many people, it helps them adapt to virtual landscapes. But just as studies have shown that imagining a thing paves the way for that thing to happen (think studies that have proven a concrete link between disabled people visualizing walking, and subsequent physical muscle changes that would help them with the right equipment walk again), so it is with avatars. What we see ourselves as being, becomes part of our mental and emotional landscape beyond the grid; something Mitch Kapor denies at his peril.

and if you don't have anywhere to go, you go down on the pedal and you're ready to roll

Anyone not living in the current USA might find this tale difficult to believe, but as an American, I can tell you--while it's appalling and wrong, it's also standard operating procedure at this point. After all, we've had people detained for hours at airports for reading Prisoners of Azkaban in line; what's a little terrorist accusation for a comics artist between paranoid, suspicious enemies?

Also, the category changes for the Marketplace are in! I'd list the changes, but there's a ton, so read through the wiki to better make sense of them all.

Also II, this is one of the stranger ads for noodle soup mix out there, but damn, it sold me, and I don't even live in Japan. I am honestly tempted to go to our local Asian market and hunt it down, so I'd say as ads go, that's a very successful one.

Also III, I'm amused by people calling their spokesperson the Asian Robert Downey Jr.

[And also IV: An anonymous friend told me I was wrong on the derivation of the noodle soup--it's Korean!]

This is a lovely thing, but I think it would be a collectible only--actually using it to hold beer would result in alcohol abuse, as it would pour through the rings.

While wandering around the grid tonight, I got a dropdown message I'd never seen before:

"We are sorry, Linden Lab has discovered degraded performance on your connection to the sim you are on. You will need to restart Second Life and log into a new region for the next 30 minutes to an hour. We apologize for the inconvenience."

Really? I was able to port home, the message disappeared, then reappeared, so...I logged out. Strangest thing.

Finally, what do you get when you combine the Powerpuff Girls and Minecraft vidders? Well--at least if you're talking about the three Canadians in the bunch, VintageBeef, Etho and PauseUnpause--you get this. Which is disturbing enough in its own way.

Though I think VintageBeef really does rock that little blue dress.

the taste of something so sweet should have warned me 'bout the undertow

There was one comment on the Marketplace announcement page from Darrius Gothly longer than most of the others. I felt it was important enough to reprint the entire thing:

There are a lot of thoughts this post creates in me. I'm going to try and encapsulate all of the important ones here .. and hopefully won't bore everyone to tears in the process.

First off is the ongoing issue of enhancements that cannot be edited or terminated. Obviously the developers have added a "semaphore" .. a digital device that can be used to prevent two things happening at one time. Typically the semaphore is "set" when an update or modification is begun then "cleared" when it completes. That way any external processes (like manual edits from a web page) can be made to hold off a bit until the semaphore-protected process completes. The ONLY time to use a semaphore like this is when the protected process is quick, automated and guaranteed to succeed. Apparently the clearing of the semaphore has failed, repeatedly, and thus a growing number of enhancements are "stuck" with their semaphore set and no way to edit them.

How do you fix this? First off you make sure there are no automated processes running that might need to be protected. (In the case of enhancements, that's the "charging" process as indicated by the warning message "Charging, cannot edit".) Then you run a quick database update to manually clear all the stuck semaphores. Time to completion? About 5 minutes. Problem resolved.

Secondly is the issue of Enhancements being billed with no "cookie crumbs" to follow to assign the charge to the enhancement. Every enhancement must have a unique ID number. That number MUST appear on all transaction records that involve that enhancement. Why is this not done? Not a clue, but it's a basic of financial programming .. and one the Commerce Dev Team seems incapable of following. Take a look at your own Credit Card statements Dev Team. Do you see how every charge has a number and detail that let you understand where the charge originated and who you need to contact with questions? Good .. now DO THAT!

Third .. the issue of charges/refunds/charges with Listing Enhancements. I've used this old saw here many times, but apparently you didn't pay attention. It goes as follows:

"How come there's never enough time to do it right, but always enough time to do it over?"

When your staff went through and refunded everyone, you should have AT THAT TIME tested to be sure your code modifications would not immediately undo everything just done. But did you? Nope. As a result it went through and lickety-split re-billed everyone .. not only for what they'd just been refunded but additional charges too. Pardon me but .. WTH?!? By dint of your lack of attention you have just completely undone everything your staff did .. by hand .. at great expense to your employer. You have WASTED a very large amount of money. Wasted because you could not or did not want to bother testing your changes. I'd not be surprised to see your boss wandering into your offices soon and explaining why your paychecks will be short this time around. Be grateful if he doesn't also schedule exit appointments with HR.

Communication from your team to us is a major issue. I've no doubt why this is the case. Most people have a very difficult time going to others with the need to say "We're sorry, we screwed up." With the number of times you must begin a blog post in that manner, it's no wonder you don't post very much at all. So here's an idea ... stop being lazy, stop short-cutting things and rushing changes into production, stop screwing up .. and STOP having to begin every post with an apology.

Deal?

Does anyone think the Lindens will listen?

Pity, because there's some damned good advice here.

it'd be a shame to stop now that I've started to make really good mistakes

While I deleted this as a potential published comment on the last entry, I felt I had to share it. From "Anonymous", of course, comes this gem:

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Now, the bit I've struck through was an actual link, but two things strike me, inescapably, about this:

1. It's an automatically generated bit of fluff; and
2. whomever sent it out doesn't speak English, because
3. the person who DOES speak English is steeped in sarcasm like a rich broth.

On to other things. Unfortunately, the exhibit's long gone from Calgary now, but Caitlind r.c. Brown has her own page up about both the Cloud art installation in specific, and her art overall. The installation piece that drew me to track her down was called CLOUD, and consisted of six thousand incandescent lights--five thousand of which were burnt out--installed in an outdoor space at the beginning of September. Most of those--though not all--were attached to the inner section, but here's the fun thing about burnt-out lightbulbs: sometimes, if they're in proximity to working light bulbs, and everything is wired in circuit, they can flicker as the charge passes through the working bulbs.
There were also a series of pull cords descending from each bulb, so that attendees could stand under the glass cloud, and pull a cord, turning that light off or on, thereby lending interactivity to a fixed art piece.

So...there's been an update to the whole Marketplace debacle. Intriguingly, CommerceTeam Linden actually made a new forum post to discuss the situation, which is a refreshing shock. But, in short, this is what happened:

• The Lindens, pretty much unadvertised, have been giving away free listing enhancements to merchants hardest hit by the two-year-long malfunction of their Marketplace code.
• The Lindens developed a new fix for that section of the code--it was supposed to start the billing again, both on those accounts they'd given away free listing enhancements to, and to accounts that they hadn't.
• The fix--is anyone surprised by this at this point?--failed to work.
• Worse, the fix back-billed everyone who'd been getting free enhancements, for the entire length of time they'd been getting those enhancements.

Yeah. Let that sink in. This from CommerceTeam Linden:

To show our appreciation for your patience with this mix-up, we will be doing the following:

• Giving everyone free listing enhancement renewals for the period between August 7, 2012 and today. This means all listing enhancements billed during this time will be refunded before end of day today (October 4, 2012).
• Once the refunds have completed, we will begin billing those enhancements again.

But that's not where this stopped. Let's turn to the comments.

From Pamela Galli:

I appreciate the gesture; however, although I check this forum daily, I was unaware of the free enhancements you mentioned. But nevermind because I don't need free enhancements; what I need is to be able to stop renewing enhancements that I no longer want but am not able to discontinue because they are stuck in "Charging, Cannot Edit". Looks to me like I have been charged several hundred dollars for enhancements I do not want -- figuring out exactly how much will take hours

From Bee Caudron:

Same here Pamela, many things that i dont want to list anymore are there as charging cannot edit, and i keep being charged, today i received a huge refund, and now they started to take all back,this is a huge mess

From Magnet Homewood:

I was refunded 999L and 5 hours later billed 999L, what a senseless and complete waste of resources - but if it makes them feel better because they 'did something for us' then what the hell ... I am not sure I feel any more appreciated and patient at all.

From Medhue Simoni:

LL, something is messed up again. I just got charged 4 more times for listings I already got charged for. And, I still haven't recieved the refund.

From Teradawn Serenity:

Um first of all I have been getting billed for my listings. Second I have several I cannot change because it has said billing for months. Third you refunded me for 3 listings today then billed me for 7, all of which were not due. All the listings I have had I have paid for, and the billing today does not even show me what you supposedly billed me for (which listings) and I STILL have the listings that are showing charging that I want to cancel and Can't and I have not seen them shown in the advertising for months either. So exactly what did you fix or give us? The only thing I can see is that you just took a great deal of lindens from me and still have NOT corrected the issues.

From Layla Fiertze:

First, thank you for the offer to give us credits for at least some of our ad's. I know many people are quick to point out negative in here (myself included) so I wanted to say thanks.

That said, this is obviously still a huge mess. I have been credited, charged, told I would receive more credits than I got etc. etc. I do appreciate the offer, and I hope people can be understanding through some difficulties- however please understand that this is NOT play money for many of us. This is at least some portion, or in some cases our entire, real world income. We work very hard and pay a lot of money for ad's on top of the commissions on each sale. I do hope this issue will be corrected very, very soon.

From pravda Core:

1. Today refunds had been completed and LL begun billing my active (every 30 days) enhancements.
2. Since today (10/4/2012) is the starting billing date, it is very plain and simple that LAST CHARGED AT should be (10/4/2012) and NEXT CHARGED AT should be (11/3/2012) however my Subscription page in marketplace says different dates and states that my NEXT CHARGED AT will be on October 11, 21, 29 of 2012.
3. So how was this really fixed?

From Pamela Galli again:

I got charged for 6 things, just got charged for the same ones on the 28th, in addition to 12 others. I do not want some of these at all. And I did not get any refund although I have filed a ticket.

What is going on? I want someone to do something so I am not forced to pay for all these ads I do not want.

From Sera Lok:

Who was aware that you were "giving away" enhancements, and where was this communicated? I myself filed a few tickets wanting to be assured that I would not be charged for the enhancements that I ALREADY CANCELLED yet were still running. (I did not receive this assurance, so I still have to constantly check to be sure I am not being billed). Based on the posts in this thread it's obvious there are a lot of merchants that are still trying to cancel their ads and yet cannot. Why is it taking so long to fix this? I honestly don't understand. What I do understand is that there is a lot of peoples' $L toyed with and wasted with little to no communication or visible effort on LL's part to rectify the situation.

From Tazzie Tuque:

This "Gesture" is nice for the few who benefited from it; but what I still want to know and do not understand is how there has been a JIRA for over 2 years regarding "Stuck" listing enhancements that absolutely no one has addressed to anyone's satisfaction at all. There are pages and pages of merchants who have had this issue; I myself ended up with half of my listings in "stuck" format. Absolutely NO ONE FROM LL has said anything about when this might get fixed!! Meanwhile I pulled all what was left of my active listing enhancements out. It simply is not worth the frustration of listing something and a month later having it "stuck" so you can't do anything with it at all, your item is not in rotation anymore and you are in limbo for ever I had two enhancements that were stuck since 2010!! These little band aids for a few folks are nice I guess but does litle for those of us who have been putting up with this stuck listing issue for years with NO help or even concern from LL that I can see.

And finally, from Dartagnan Shepherd:

When your pricing and monetization exceed your perceived product value, you decline.

LL's monetization and pricing directly correlate to its decline.

When you're unable to properly implement your monetization mechanics, in this case the Marketplaces most basic functions, you lose trust and the ability to monetize, further contributing to your decline. (Can't handle basic advertising billing or implement features desired by customers).

Solution, on your hiring page LL, remove the hiring ad for a currency and monetization expert and put hiring ads up for those with hefty experience in online sales and basic commerce. Virtual goods experience is less important than basic commerce.

You are underskilled and over monetized in this case. The combination is erosion. Please convince us that you're not just milking us (us being the product being monetized more than the goods we produce), Not that we'd necessarily believe it, but we'd end up with a shopping cart that say .... worked best for the customers that you're monetizing and didn't make you look quite so inept.

What do all of these comments have in common? These are all merchants on Marketplace paying for enhancements. Many (if not most) of these merchants also have in-world stores, which means they also either pay rental fees to an estate agency, or own land themselves.

In short: these are paying customers that the Lindens are ignoring. While it's far from the first time, it's continued evidence that the Lindens are either incapable, or truly that disinterested, in proper communication with their clients. Nor do they seem especially interested in fixing what's been broken--for more than two years.