I walk out to meet my fate in the receding of the day

In Horseshoe Bay, until the end of October, there's a haunted mansion. Or should I say "Haunted Mansion", because yes, it's kind of a fan homage to the Disney attraction.

(from the haunts album; peeping skeleton at the Haunted Mansion)

I won't lie, this particular haunt doesn't have any genuinely scary moments. But it is so long on charm and whimsy, I doubt you'll care.

(from the haunts album; relaxing skeletons at the Haunted Mansion)

Including unintentional ones--because all their prim skeletons are animated. The inherent problem with that is, if there's any lag on the sim, you don't just see jerky animation, but extra limbs!

(from the haunts album; reclining skeleton at the Haunted Mansion)

Again, though, it's quirky enough--and happens often enough--that for me it just added to the whole thing. After a while, I found myself smiling every time a collection of bones waved four arms at me.

(from the haunts album; waving skeletons at the Haunted Mansion)

And they all seem so happy about it, that again, what could be a detraction ends up being great fun.

This particular house is maze-like, too. Most of the doors are only one way, but you can just cam through the wall and tap the door on the other side if you really need to return to another room.

(from the haunts album; the dish-washing skeleton at the Haunted Mansion)

And apparently, even death does not ease our chore burdens. Good to know.

It's a quick trip through a lovely house; I highly recommend it.

we had to learn how to bend without the world caving in

What, pray tell, makes this erotic art? I'll wait while you think it over, but for me personally, I think this would be a big tip-off. If this is what arouses your partner...and you aren't an eyeless broken toy? They might be considering making you one.

(And yes, even though that image, itself, is perfectly work-safe? Considering the rest of the content of that store is WILDLY NSFW, that one might also only come up if the Adult settings are permitted on Marketplace. So in case you can't see it--here's the work-safe variant.)

This is going to be a little more edited than usual, because I really want to toss this out there, but I don't want pointers directly to the...erm...creator in question.

[03:09] Kxxxx Mxxxxxxxx: I literally JUST opened my MP store with the one shirt I have for sale, since my other shirts don't work now apparently
[03:10] Dxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: What happened to the other shirts?
[03:11] Kxxxx Mxxxxxxxx: Let's just say temporary textures have poor mechanics
[03:11] Kxxxx Mxxxxxxxx: But for now all I have is this cute [edited] shirt [link removed]

All right, obviously, my first thought in grabbing this for reposting was having fun mocking people, but my friends and I started to discuss things, and we actually ended up talking about the larger issues involved.

Keep in mind the Second Life for new players now is vastly different from the SL we walked into. I walked through Orientation Island, then wandered around trying to figure things out with that basis. I walked out of the tutorial--the only way we could walk out of the tuturial at that point--after I had demonstrated basic understanding of the grid. And these really were basic things--how to walk, how to change clothes, how to unpack boxes, how to talk to people or objects (or both--the version of Orientation Island I went through had a parrot who would talk back to avatars in range), how to fly, how to interact with physical objects.
By the time I developed the shop alt, Orientation Island had changed into a four-part sim (officially, I mean; one of the quarters had an entire office-building-size parking lot I had to negotiate out of in a 'test car'), and into several little divided experiences if I'd chosen to go through one of any number of 'private' orientation displays. In talking with friends who made those journeys, the corporatized orientations were all designed with as stripped down an experience as possible, while still covering the basics: receiving objects, rezzing out objects, talking in IM and main chat.

At this point, though? Create an account on the website. Pick out an avatar on the Second Life page. Download the client, and you're on the grid.

There is no orientation anymore. Oh, there are places new avatars can go to get help--I still highly recommend Caledon's Oxbridge Village for new players, because of their emphasis on teaching and, well, orientation--but the problem is, that's all after they log into the game. There's no separate area anymore, with required tests (or even highly suggested tests) to pass before entry onto the live grid.

[03:11] Dxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: Temp textures are a 1 time use only you can see
[03:11] Kxxxx Mxxxxxxxx: See, it never says that anywhere
[03:11] Dxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: you have to upload them
[03:12] Dxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: the word temp should tell you

It should, but for some reason, it's not. The thing is, without explanation, there's no context for anyone. As this particular new maker says:

[03:12] Kxxxx Mxxxxxxxx: Yes, but I thought it meant like I could temp upload it to use on a shirt
[03:12] Kxxxx Mxxxxxxxx: And then the shirt would work and I could get rid of the texture

This sounded ridiculous when I first heard about it, but think this through. Here's a new maker who has no idea how the grid works. Obviously, they've discovered they can make things. Maybe they happened to log into a welcome area where that was under discussion. Maybe they'd been invited by a friend who creates things. In either case--in all cases--no one's likely to define what "temp texture" means to newcomers, because it's a process anyone who's used a third-party viewer already understands. It's like trying to teach someone how to make a snowman, without telling them how to make a ball of snow, because everyone knows how to make a snowball, right?

Or hey, let's transit this back to the virtual world--when I first was introduced to Minecraft, I HATED it. Why? Because I couldn't do anything. My friends said, 'no, just go punch this tree for wood', so I went over, and clicked my mouse repeatedly to punch the tree. And nothing.

My friends had told me to punch the tree, but hadn't told me that meant "walk to the tree, and hold down the left mouse button". They'd only given me part of the equation. I had no context.

This maker also had no context, because no one thought to sit them down and say, "Okay, there's this thing called temp textures; it's a great tool for creating because you can see how that texture would look on an object or avatar before actually paying the ten Lindens to bring it onto the grid. Temp textures last for that one session only, though, so don't use them on objects you plan to keep or sell without importing that texture in and paying for it."

[03:12] Dxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: yes to look at for yourself
[03:12] Dxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: if others could see it then why would people pay for uploads
[03:12] Kxxxx Mxxxxxxxx: In any case, I figured out what happened
[03:12] Kxxxx Mxxxxxxxx: so now I'm putting myself on the MP earlier than I had planned to make some L for upload costs.

Which is not the worst move, but again, this entire issue could have been avoided if this creator's friends had told them how temporary textures work. Or, y'know, had they actually gone through something like Orientation Island before appearing on the grid, newly fleshed and staggering.

[03:13] Kxxxx Mxxxxxxxx: I'm not selling the texture though, I was temp'ing the fabric texture
[03:13] Dxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: your selling them attached to an item
[03:13] Kxxxx Mxxxxxxxx: See, I didn't know that's how it worked until yesterday.

And that's another good point. This is something I've seen happen more than once. New creator makes an object. It has an internal script that pulls from something in the creator's inventory. The creator then rezzes out that object, and deletes what's in their inventory. Object then does not work.

If you know the grid, if you understand building, you get why it happened, and you fix it. But if you don't understand why the thing stopped, instead of pulling the texture or script or whatever? You'd be really, really frustrated, wouldn't you? And in asking around--if you're in the right groups--someone might give you the answer, but you'd have to know how to ask the right questions, wouldn't you?

The Ivory Tower of Prims really needs to be sent on to newcomers far more often.

[03:13] Dxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: Live and learn :)
[03:14] Kxxxx Mxxxxxxxx: Indeed =)

I second that.

Part of the conversation on Skype held after this snippet was grabbed from the grid:

[3:43:15 AM] Axxxxxxxx: I suppose it comes down to, I'm flabbergasted that people don't make a point of learning this stuff beforehand?
[3:43:28 AM] Emilly Orr: Well, remember, we used to
[3:43:33 AM] Emilly Orr: There used to be Orientation Island
[3:43:52 AM] Emilly Orr: Then there were various tutorials in various sims, some good, most indifferent, but all pretty solid on the basics, at least
[3:44:17 AM] Emilly Orr: Now? They fling 'em in by telling 'em how much fun it is and how amazing you can do and OMG HAVE FUN NAO *LAUNCH!*
[3:44:33 AM] Axxxxxxxx: *facepalm*

And that's really the basic problem, innit? If you've never heard the term before, you'll never really understand it until you've learned it on your own. It would be so much easier if we just had solid, sturdy, orientation experiences for new players before they ever hit the grid. I get that people were impatient with the process, and I understand why the Lindens changed the tutorial concept for businesses using the grid, but...eliminating it entirely? Was never a good answer.

In other news, this is the most frightening prim baby I've seen so far. Those blank, dead eyes scare me worse than the fact that it's programmed to bite Mommy with its wee little fangs.

And if your secret dream goal is to be an inflatable doll with quadruple-G breasts...there's now a mesh avatar for you. The maker wants L$3200 for it, which--considering it comes with full outfit, shape, skin, avatar, alpha layers, fingernails and boots--really isn't that bad, all in all.

I'd say they scare me too, but really, that's targeted to a specific market--hells, to a specific fetish--and I know a few folks who are now greedily saving their pennies to acquire it. More power to them--at least that one won't be all primmed out, it will actually move and flex in an....um...realistic?...way?

Is that the right word?

Finally, while I still may pop in and make adjustments to things here and there, SEVER is now fully opened, has sounds, and the next time I log in I'm going to toss up a low-cost ad for the thing. We only have six days until Samhain arrives, which is sad, because November 1st, I believe, I'll be taking the thing down. But I'm tempted to do this again next year, assuming I and the grid both make it through intact (considering the way this year has gone, at least). Maybe next year I can figure out how to properly invoke a fictional nightmare to join in on the fun...

though well-concealed, the scars, they just compound

A fortnight ago, give or take a few days, I suddenly realized it was October, and I had no haunt planned. This was, understandably, something of a shock: I hadn't expected either to want to build a haunt, nor did I have the land for it.

How'ver, in discussions with friends, a parcel was set aside, a ridiculous amount of prims reserved, so I set to.

(from the haunts album; floating above Lunitarium, contemplating potential builds)

It was hard going--not because I didn't have ideas, but because I didn't have the skills to bring them to fruition. Sadly, the warehouse as you'll find it, should you go, will not be all that I hoped.

It's not even, strictly speaking, a haunt. As such.

(from the haunts album; the path to Severance)

I should explain. What I originally decided on was a quirky, little, abandoned-warehouse haunt. Some sounds, some floating objects, a great deal of surreality that stayed on the cutting-room floor. No hunt, I felt, because I just didn't have the time to create anything.

And then...I found myself going through the pages of the Black Book, and I felt compelled to make more of a presentation piece of them. At the start, that's all it was. At the start, it was going to be a few extra textures, tossed in at random, into an otherwise unremarkable build.

Later...

(from the haunts album; the second floor)

At this stage, I still have sounds and such to throw down, but I've made over forty pages from the Book, plus assorted "tag"-style graffiti works for the walls of the warehouse, some unique industrial sounds, and I've gathered an insane number of things that look like they belong in an abandoned warehouse. What started as a quirky little thing has morphed into a fairly faithful tribute to...well.

Slender Man.

(from the haunts album; the second floor)

Of course, understandably, it's my own take on the topic. So some things may not match other recorded 'histories'; all I have to say to that is every chronicler adds their particular spin on things.

This is part of mine.

For what it's worth, I'm now opening SEVER to the public, though more may be added later. It can be found in Lunitarium.

Enjoy?

it's hard to change directions, it's all we know

From a random profile seen whilst shopping:

Panther girls are fierce, they are strong, and there are not enough slave bells in the world to keep her from finding a way to cut your throat in the night if she finds you too weak a Master.

The Panther Girls flee the cities not because they hate men, but because they will not kneel to the weak.

I am not a feminazi, I am not an earth feminist, I am not a dominatrix.

I love men, I just refuse to kneel to those who I cannot respect.

I am a Panther Woman.

So, I did a little digging and it seems like this passage was not original with the Gorean lass I stumbled across, but from here. Even so, it presents a fascinating perspective, at least to my non-Gorean self: the concept of a fierce, feminine warrior caste that refuses to melt spinelessly before any male, but waits until she finds one she can respect.

Of course, in Second Life, finding men worthy of our respect--in or out of the Gor lands...well, that's the trick, isn't it?

Moving to fandom news, I take it all back: Star Wars merchandising was weird from the start.

[Zone] SinisterZerpent@SinisterZerpent: When Millenium City is ashes, you have my permisson to Fap
[Zone #3] M.A.S.T.E.R model no 1491@MoonJuice: I don't need anyone's permission, thank you very much.

Reason number 4765 why I dislike Champions: zone chat.

Ever wanted an anatomical model of Audrey II? Now you can...for an exorbitant price. Still cool, though.

There are Minecraft environmentalists! Who knew?

There's also more baffling news from Minecraft--apparently this year's Halloween update will introduce the Witch, hooked nose, pointy hat and all. But the best part for me--or at least the part that inspired hysterical giggles along with copious eyerolling--was this definition of properties:

The witch does not burn in sunlight and when set on fire, drinks a potion of fire resistance [...] If lit on fire by lava or fire, witches will quickly drink potions of fire resistance, making lava and fire ineffective ways of killing witches.

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA...

And the latest from Organica:

To all who recently purchased furniture from Organica which includes multiple seating:

Due to a recent change, likely as the result of pathfinding being added to SL, many of you may find that multiple seating for mesh objects no longer works properly. While all items of furniture were checked at time of packaging, it now appears that this functionality is broken. For more details, please see
https://jira.secondlife.com/browse/SVC-8210.

Continuing the trend that neither mesh nor pathfinding were entirely ready for prime time...

Oh, and something else: there's a new word in the Urban Dictionary. Here's the top definition for it:

lindened, verb:
The process of taking something, and in an effort to improve it, making it worse.

Particularly as applied to softwear programs, wherein updates generally result in more bugs than they fix, or more old features broken than new ones introduced. I do wonder what the Lindens think of becoming a word, albeit a slang one.

I wonder what the Lindens thought of this when it surfaced on the site.

I'm resigned to simply live in your wake

This is a fun, easy tutorial on making new 'Polaroid'-style art for your home. All it needs is a simple wooden frame, some jute string or kitchen twine, several miniature clothespins, and artificially aged-and-cropped pictures (unless you want to use actual Polaroid images).

About the only thing I'd suggest is that you print out the images on a color printer capable of cardstock printing, or take it to a print shop and have them print it on cardstock. If you want to get really fancy, add a slight layer of Mod Podge over the tops of the pictures for gloss, and paint the backs black. And that's it! Hang it, you're done!

I also want to bring to your attention the best cosplay EVER. Don't believe me? Here's one of the original appearances from Sesame Street for detail comparison.

Why you should never give your cat fresh catnip. This has been a public service announcement from the Nip Council.

And do you want an iPhone 5? You may not after watching this.

Cracked.com came out with a review of the Slender Man phenomenon that's funny, filthy, and has links to other information--much of it down-the-rabbit-hole sites where people really seem to believe this stuph. (The only thing I don't get is why the writer seems so traumatized over the whole Meat Spin site--I'm not linking it here, either, but it's because it features actual penetrative sex, which is not something I'm going to bring onto this blog. The content itself--come on, it's just sex, people, you're not five. Grow up.)

I want to toss you a little exercise. Go in order.

• Step One: Go to the Marketplace, and search for "rusty".
• Step Two: Set 'Items per page' to 96, and set the 'Sort by' field to 'Price: Low to High'. (I'm also on seeing General/Mature/Adult, but that may or may not help.)
• Step Three: scroll through the first page and realize there's nothing buyable, it's all glitched.
• Step Four: scroll through the second page and realize there's nothing buyable, it's all glitched.
• Step Five: scroll through the third page and realize there's nothing buyable because it's all glitched.
• Step Six: repeat this for the next ten pages.
• Step Seven: give up.

Honestly, I think Marketplace has gotten worse over the last two weeks.

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:

It is truly a great and useful piece of information.
I am glad that you just shared this helpful info with us.
Please keep us informed like this. Thank you for sharing.
Also visit my webpage : grow taller 4 idiots scam

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.

we can remember swimming in December

If you are one of those people who need special instructions, then here's how to pet a kitty. You're welcome.

Meanwhile, Gaetano Pesce has found a way to bring water features indoors--as end tables. It's a really intriguing idea--reproduce waterfalls, puddles, islands and bays as miniaturized objects that can then be used--to hold anything from coffee-table books to containers that might hold water as well. It's genius, in a sense.

Here, I found the world's smallest violin. It plays just for you.

Also, this is deeply impressive--a mix of mesh and plain system layers, with more traditionally designed pieces, all of which make up a stunning Marie Antoinette costume.

Oh, did I mention she's headless?

Happy Halloween.

Speaking of creepy things...more from compileTRUTH:

(from the Slender album; compileTRUTH's entry on the Ichthyological blog)

Acherontia, noun (animal): A distinct species of European hawkmoth, also called the "Death's head moth". Notable for the distinctive (and variable) markings on its thorax that resemble a skull. Used significantly in the Silence of the Lambs film, both on the movie's poster, and by the serial killer, who kept and bred the moths in his basement.

(from the Slender album; compileTRUTH's entry on the Ichthyological blog)

Set aside the notion that the Slender Man isn't real, for the moment. This, by itself, is a fascinating idea. The tiger moth does, indeed, seem to have a way to jam bat sonar with a series of loud repetitive clicks. This seems to confuse the bat into missing them when in a hunting dive, or in being unable to find them.

Where this theory falls apart, as fascinating as it is, is that the variable ways Slender Man has been shown to affect electronic equipment is just that--affecting electronics. Cameras, recording devices, video recorders--none of these are particularly 'effected' by things in their immediate surroundings.

Of course, the internet has documented a wide range of ways Slender Man effects the living bodies of its victims, as well, so...maybe it's like the EVP recordings from several different, purportedly haunted locations?

EVPs, or electronic voice phenomena, are supposedly communications from the deceased using frequencies humans cannot hear unaided. Perhaps Slender, as he is so often depicted, communicates visually (and perhaps audibly) in frequencies that distort recording devices?

(from the Slender album; compileTRUTH's entry on the Ichthyological blog)

This is also a fascinating concept to me. The movie Mimic (and, to an unfortunate degree, Mimic 2) took on this concept as a major plot point: that other lifeforms evolve to imitate dangerous things, or innocuous things. For example, most poisonous tree frogs evolved brightly colored skins because of the toxic compounds their bodies naturally produce. Over millenia, similar, non-toxic species evolved with simulacra coloration, because this meant predators would leave them alone, thinking they were their more toxic cousins.

(from the Slender album; compileTRUTH's entry on the Ichthyological blog)

On the surface, this sounds plausible as well, but...seriously? This:

(from the Slender album; All Rights Reserved to original artist, whomever they are.)

is meant to be an inviting pose?!?

And if so...what's wrong with the minds of the children who respond to that "invitation"?

no sleep, nothing in between me and the rain

This one takes a bit of explaining.

It all started on Henri Beauchamp's viewer forum. He'd apparently been in discussions for some time with Oz Linden, and...well, Oz handed him an official Linden decision that he disagreed with, is the short version:

I finally decided to publish these emails since not only do they explain why I had to disable the experimental mesh deformer code in the stable release of the Cool VL Viewer, but also because it shows how badly Open Source contributors are treated by Linden Lab (note that it is nothing new either: the first talented Open Source contributor to give up because of LL's arrogant and inadequate behaviour was Nicholaz Beresford, back in 2008)...

Now, that's straight from the first message (though it is the first message on the second page). And he has a point: Beresford spent many, many months banging his head against the wall of Linden obstinacy, and eventually realized that his life, his energies, and most importantly, his main hobby shouldn't be tied up in maintaining an alternate viewer for a company who didn't care.

Beauchamp, though...well, he takes this as a stepping-off point for an epic email rant.

From Oz:

Henri... as you should well know, the deformer falls under rule 2.k of the Policy on Third Party Viewers. As such, since it has not yet been accepted by Linden Lab into the common code base, incorporating it into a regular release of your viewer is in violation of the Policy. To some extent, I'm normally willing to give you a little more leeway on these things than larger viewer - Cool VL has so few users that the potential for harm (in this case in the form of the proliferation of assets compatible with future viewers) is reduced, but the fact that you are so heavily advertizing it puts me in an awkward position.

Translation from the legalese: "Dude, look, you have dick for users right now, and if it weren't something very openly known--which you agreed to follow--we'd let it go. But you didn't put it in an experimental, download-at-your-own-risk viewer, you put it in your main release viewer. Can't have that. Take it out."

Seems pretty simple, right? Well...From Beauchamp:

So, are you saying LL is going to abandon the mesh deformer project, or are you just taking back your own words on the OK you gave in the past for viewers to include it as an experimental feature?

Err...no, actually. The Lindens still allow experimental features in experimental viewers, as you well know. You put this in the stable release.

But he goes on:

It is included only as an experimental feature, which I always advertized as such and that is off by default (and it's switchable from the Advanced menu only, not from the Preferences floater).

Which means he knows both that it's not supposed to be in the main release ("only as an experimental feature"), but also that he figured burying it in a sub-menu would make everything okay (because, what, only 'advanced users' would know how to access that menu??)

There is 0% risk of any harm in that particular case, and this independently from the number of users of my viewer: my backport of the mesh deformer is 100% compatible with Qarl's.

That's not the damned point, and you know it--it doesn't matter a whit if Qarl's deformer code is used. It's not official yet, you ditz.

There's a lot of back and forth wherein Oz comes across as pretty reasonable, and Henri gets increasingly shrill and self-serving...but ultimately, it's just a series of emails. Explains why he took the deformer code out of the main release, okay, fine, sorry things seem to have gotten so heated, but whatever.

Then you start reading Henri's responses to people who commented on that forum thread. Like this bit:

My feeling is that LL is pissed off because I produce better code than they do and, since their stupid stance prevents them from reusing it (nothing can prevent them from reusing LGPL code that I explicitly released as such and personally encouraged them to reuse: CA or not, they *CAN* reuse it since it's LGPL !!!), they wish I would never submit any code, in case they (or another developer) would come up with the same ideas as the ones I have (re-read Oz' first email: it's evident !).

Or this bit from the first page that starts everything off:

First of all, the method used to introduce the changes... You'll ask me, "what method ?", and indeed I should have said "the lack of any method", because throwing in new paragraphs in an existing policy without any official forewarning and announcement being done is quite a stupid thing to do and shows a total absence of any method!

You should remember also that when the TPV policy was first introduced, LL did provide forewarning and some time for users and TPV developers to react and contribute to its refining...

Indeed, proceeding as LL did with the latest policy changes was bound to trigger strong reactions (and much unneeded and exaggerated drama) from the community; makes me wonder if there's anybody left in charge for the communication at the Lab...

Yeah.

But it still gets weirder. In going through page eleven of SLUniverse's CoolVL coverage (because every alternative TPV has a sub-forum thread there), came a link to Misfit's Index of Viewers. This--because it's not affiliated with the Lab in any way--is a fairly impartial review of features over more emotional reasons to prefer one viewer over another. Save that Henri had a problem there, too.

Back in May of this year--back when Misfit listed most viewers by their shorthand descriptions for ease and readability--Henri wandered in and blew a gasket:

Please, correct the name of my viewer: it is not "CoolVL" but "Cool VL Viewer"

Thank you.

Why this is such a huge deal to Beauchamp still passeth any understanding I can throw at it, but apparently, it was--to the point of several increasingly irate demands that Misfit either call it by its proper name (which apparently, in Henri's view, includes "Viewer" as part of the official title, or something), or cease to list it at all, thankyouandgoodDAYsir...Honestly, you'd think Sarge Misfit was a girl, the way Henri yells at him.

In fact, it escalated for three days until Misfit caved enough to toss his own explanation up, and apparently, even afterwards, because now Misfit's listing all the viewers with "Viewer" after their name.

Perceive this clearly, because I think I have a small little pedestal in this terrain to call all my own: it's not a smart idea to argue with the companies who make your toys, unless you are very, very sure of your reception. I know this, and know that at any time, a Linden could wander across the blog, get seriously irritated, and bounce my cat-eared self off in record time. That would hurt, undeniably. But knowing who I am and what I've written about the Lindens, on this blog, publicly? I could not say they might not have a point.

And I will also say, in Henri's defense, he does make good points. The problem is that, along with those good points comes a hell of a lot of high-toned entitlement that is just mentally stunning to wade through. Anyone who's ever requested help from Beauchamp on his forums (at least, if you're female) already knows he's an ass, so this isn't news. What is, I think--at least, to me--is how he's somehow managed to ball up all that jack-hatted superiority, wad it up into a huge ball, armor the entire thing, and use it to convince himself that he's morally and ethically superior to the actual people in the right. This is a profoundly dangerous, and I might also add, stupid, position to hold.

(from the bizarre album; Sakide's former holiday offering, now on their lucky board.)

On to other things. Look! Pretty little femboy holiday elf! Only at Sakide on the lucky board.

A casual mention in another group led to a group member apologizing that the troll escaped confinement, with a link to the troll in question. This led me to the Troll Museum of Second Life. There only seems to be three entries there, but it would be wonderful if this caught on. Imagine, a visual repository of avatars to be wary of, based on spam activity alone. Technology is a beautiful thing.

Finally, I was pondering an entry on Arkhamville, but going there two nights ago left a bad taste in my mouth, and...then there was this, sent last night:

[01:20] Sxxxxx Bxxxxxx: hi guys, i have hear some people say they have had issues wit items on their hufs missing. if you experience thi just etach it and reattach and it should work. if not pls let me know and we will get it fixed. it should not hender your game progress tho

Yeah. I think I can safely ditch that group now.

Listen, people, if you care so little for your fellow players that you don't even feel like running something through a simple spellcheck? Don't be in charge of posting things. Flat out.

(from the bizarre album; I think I'd have been displeased, but okay, if there hadn't been active buzzing flies around the corpse.)

Also, if the whole reason you're getting extra folks on the sim is to enlist them in solving the killing of Mr. Whomever? Don't have a rotting female carny with an axe in her head not fifty feet from the site of the supposed crime. That tells me two things, right off the bat:

1. "We don't care if it violates the story, it's cool lol!" or
2. "Oh, them's CARNY folk, it's not like they're PEOPLE! This fellow, why, we KNEW the guy!"

One sounds unbearably stupid; the other sounds unbearably classist. I don't care for either.

I understand what I am still too proud to mention to you

There's at least one more entry--or a group of entries with the same theme--on City of Heroes waiting in the wings. Mainly, because I took exhaustive pictures and chat captures of the summer event, and was in the process of deciding what and which to go for, when the announcement came in.

And frankly, all that exuberance, all that sense of joy and amazement, that I wanted to share just got sucked out of me. It was a gut-punch of epic proportions, and any former resident of There.com, the Matrix MMO, or other games that have crashed and burned will understand. I keep circling back to posting it then shaking my head and backing away.

At some point I will be posting it, if only out of stubbornness because I took all the images. But it may take time.

In the meantime, some scattershot things from today.

(from the fashion album; Caverna Obscura's October group gift)

There are reasons to belong to pay groups. Here's one.

At the last Nomine sale, on a whim, I picked up the Red Panda skin. It's not been my best whim, not because I don't like the skin--I do!--but because it didn't come with ears and a tail, and I've just been too lazy to look into making my own.

How'ver, I thought, today would be a good day (as I have since discovered, this was wildly in error on my part) to make the ears, so I flipped the skin on, then realized there were some texture fur packs I hadn't unpacked yet. So I rezzed those out. In the process, I discovered I hadn't yet unpacked the October group gift from Miss Ewing.

(from the fashion album; Caverna Obscura's October group gift)

This is it. It did need a little adjustment--probably less on ladies that aren't as freakishly short as I currently am--but it was all simply done, and this is very nearly out-of-the-box wearable.

(from the fashion album; Caverna Obscura's October group gift)

It flutters enticingly when I spin, and the details are to die for. The fact that this is pretty much just a monthly thank-you to her customers (because you still can't get IN to Caverna Obscura's group if you don't buy at least one outfit) is stunning. And it even manages to go pretty well with the skin!

(from the fashion album; Discord Design's "Leah" braided bun in Cast Iron)

Speaking of, because Miss Kallisti Burns sent out a box of her "Leah" hair around the same time, that got unpacked as a potentially good cover-up for the lack of panda ears. This is the style in "Cast Iron". It's mesh hair, but it's unrigged mesh hair, which means it's fully adjustable and modifiable.

(from the fashion album; Discord Design's "Leah" braided bun in Cast Iron)

Absolutely lovely from the back, and, as with most Discord designs, worn over a tattoo-layer hair base.

(from the fashion album; Discord Design's "Leah" braided bun in Cast Iron)

The amazing thing to me, though, was in adjusting it--this is it with the braids moved down very close to the top of the scalp. This results in a very tight-braided look, sleek and stylized.

(from the fashion album; Discord Design's "Leah" braided bun in Cast Iron)

But if you adjust it up a bit, so that the braids hold a little loft above the head? Suddenly it's a vastly different style--a loose, flattering, casual braided bun. The same hairstyle with two completely different looks? I don't think that happens with prim hair.

To get into the Caverna Obscura group, you still must buy at least one outfit, then send the transaction details to Elvina Ewing in a notecard to request to be added to the group. But for things like this, it can be worth it.

"Leah", meanwhile, retails for L$180 per color pack (six different shades each pack), or you can buy the whole lot for L$900), and she was originally developed as part of the "I Heart Rouge" fundraiser to save CodeBastard Redgrave's sim. Because that happened at the end of Septus (and because, for me, the end of Septus was just insane), I never got around to sending out a blog entry on the event, which is now over.

How'ver, "Leah" is in the store now in all colors. And Miss Burns also has her Flickr stream for more up-to-date info.

Last thing I want to talk about--I missed telling anyone (who didn't already know) about the closing of the Innsmouth H.P. Lovecraft Festival, but because a dear friend invited me to the closing party, I got the Cassiopeia eyes! And believe me, they WILL be blogged, because omnomnom they are gorgeous.

Okay, maybe "omnomnom" was the wrong sound effect when discussing eyes. Still, we were also discussing Lovecraft...

In the MEANtime, go off to that entry if you want pictures of why I fell so sweepingly in love with them, and look for eye posts to come!

keep all the roses, I'm not dead

First off, go here. Then start haunting Malfean Visions because those are AWESOME and must take over the grid.

[Help] Xeyu: Ahhhh damn, the best MMO just cant die, it cant.

All things pass.

From Mr. Noddington Schmooz's profile:

If you want to make yourself smaller and tell yourself you're "properly sized", you go right ahead. Knock yourself out. And then shut the hell up about it, okay? Do NOT try tell me that I am a giant because I stand 6'10", or preach to anyone that you're doing it right and they're doing it wrong.

The problem is that you are attempting to use Earth-standard measurements in SL, and the two are not the same. According to the Lindens, average height in SL is 2.1m (or 6'11"). People my height are the norm. Coming into SL and telling people they are too tall would be like going to Pandora (from 'Avatar') and telling the Na'vi that they are too tall: no they're not. They're the norm. By their standards, you're short.

In a nutshell, then: shut up about your height (and SERIOUSLY shut up about everyone else's height). Besides the fact that nobody but you cares about how awesomely perfectly proportioned you are, you're incorrect. You may be Earth-normal height, but in Second Life, you're short.

This is beautifully put. In my defense, I have never told people they're too tall. I have had fights with avatars around me that I am not a child, I'm just short. Weirdly, I hear this a lot from the tall folk around me.

I wouldn't mind, save that most of the time I'm called a kid, or worse, a creepy pedophile, I'm not even dressed in Lolita gear. I get called a child, labeled perverse, and occasionally bounced home when I'm wearing a Tiny, or dressed as a neko whatever, or even just in a blouse and a simple skirt. In fact, most of the time folks get outraged? Is when I'm not in a child form, when I have recognizable adult characteristics--read, "cleavage"--and makeup appropriate to an adult female.

People, I'm 5'5" in RL. My ENTIRE family, barring one cousin and a now-deceased aunt, is (or was) at least 5'10", with many of my uncles clocking in between 6'2" and 6'4". 5'6" may be the average, but I grew up feeling short, so in SL, I gravitate naturally towards an avatar that's between five feet and five and a half feet tall.

I fully acknowledge, this in SL is woefully short. I fully claim this lack of stature. Interestingly, a friend's gone the other way--she's short in RL, so she tops six feet here, because she's tired of craning her neck the other side of the screen. All in how we're wired, I guess.

One thing that really improves any social outing is half a dozen people yelling "Hooooo!" (pretending to show support for the music, but in reality attempting to draw attention back to themselves, where it belongs) or spamming up the public channel with shouted graphics to say "Good song" or "Applause" (for the exact same reason as previously noted). Or showing their knowledge of the song by 'singing' the lyrics as it plays.

Chances are excellent that if you've done that in a public place where I am, you're on my mute list. Congrats!

P.S. -- It's also awesome when you have shoes that make walking noises and pace around the club. Thanks ever so for sharing.

P.P.S. — If you use a gesture that includes the word "Hoogasm", congratulations! You're retarded.

I have to admit, I really like the way Mr. Schmooz thinks. Now, granted, I never minded groups of people "Hoo!"-ing, but in general, that was due to it being typed in chat. It started getting seriously on my nerves, though, when I'd go to a DJ-ed event, or a dance, and there would be sixteen people all gesturespamming the multi-Hoo--you know, the one that goes "Hoo-Hoo-Hoo-Hoo-Hoo-HOOOOOOOOO" really loudly?

Yeah. That's when I started muting gestures in most sims.

He has a store, too! Eminently practical soul, I'm quite impressed.

Work on the haunt is slow, but the build is up! Now to begin to creepify it. This will require much sound work, picture work, and poking scripters. Muahahahaha.

In the meantime, I leave you with the awesome hexaflexagon, and the beyond creepifying trailer for the Silent Hill sequel, and just to wrap things up on a fun note, a new rap song from Jack's Films on YouTube. It's a lovely, lyrical song about atrocious grammar. Enjoy.