Does a Bear Shit in a Mine?

In yet another example of violent video games' impact on bears, a mob of 30 bears in Moscow have killed and eaten two men at a platinum mining company in Kamchatka.

After ganking the two men (security guards for the mining company), the bears camped the location. Nearly 400 workers are refusing to go back to work until someone clears the area of these ursine bullies.

He's No Captain, But He Sure is a Space Cadet

If you noticed at all, recently Representative Mark Kirk (IL-R) was spouting off about virtual worlds, children and the upcoming death of civilization as we know it. Unfortunately, Mr. Kirk is severely lacking any foundation in reality for which to launch his attack on all things virtual and the mega-threat posed to our young Americans.

After his rant about Second Life, The Lab replied in typical fashion. I think they probably just use the same boilerplate for all similar empty-headed do-gooders.

Now, Kirk has appeared on NBC Chicago to further assure anyone in the know, that he is...well...not. If you are similarly in the dark as to what all this dangerous stuff is, I suggest you go find out for yourself rather than taking my word or the word of "informed" people like Mark Kirk. Besides, learning is fundamental.

One thing I can assure you, THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH GETTING PUBLICITY FOR THE UPCOMING NOV 4, 2008 ELECTIONS.

For those of you that want to give Kirk a piece of your mind, just drop him an email and let him know what you think.

Avast, Ye Scurvy Dogs

I interrupt the movie madness to let Qi Sao strut her stuff for a minute. Hide your treasure and your young lads, this pirate lass is on the prowl.

Slap Fight!

Caught a link for this GameSpy bit on the Sony PS3 game LittleBigPlanet. I guess they are showing the game off at the CES 2008. I have to admit the video was pretty slick.

The little characters are ridiculously amusing to look at and appear to have some decent customization. The game has level creation including sculpting, cloning and rotating shapes "in world". The creations look crafty in the same demented cute fashion as the avatars. Something akin to a Stewart Little workshop. Could be some fun to mess around with.

However, being only two and a half years old, the thing that grabbed my attention was this comment

the developers have also added "slapping" since we last saw the game. Tapping a button will brutally backhand your buddy, hurtling him or her across the map (and potentially into the clamping jaws of an obstacle). Slapping is accompanied by suitably ridiculous sound effects and even the dev team couldn't help from busting out into goofy four-way slap-fights while they were supposed to be giving the demo.

Now we're freakin' talking! Slap fight, dood. I'm on it.

Shapeshifting for the Holiday

Hallows End Pumpkin Treat. A good disguise for a jaunt over to The Undercity.

All sorts of lulz

I had heard that the young kiddies these days were breaking new ground and speeding up the technoramp with abandon, while simultaneously lacking in concentration and obsessing over sex. However, it appears that they cling fiercely to the old ways. So much so, that you have to admire their raccoon-like grip on the traditional methods. The clarion call for original content has been rebuffed in the face of a need to maintain the culture from days of yore.



Newly minted avatar, Nichove Abramovic (Born on Date 9.11.07) was kind enough to help me relive my most recent turtule spam adventures. He chose Spetember 11th, the National Day of Reflection for the new millenium. This might seem odd to you, but it happens to be expected and far be it from the likes of Nichove to let the populace down.



This proud member of the Jews of Second Life group was also quite generous in that he allowed so many of my SL compatriots to be a part of the action this time. The wonderful spectacle spanned far across the grid, from the barren veldt of Jessie all the way to the New Continents and back to the dens of iniquity in Crimson.

Witness the glorious rain of cash.

...and yes, see too my old turtle friend.

Yet, in the end, the Hand of Linden came from on high to crush the rebelion. Where did all the money go? The coffers of your Masters are lined with just such treasures as these, freely bestowed on the people by forward thinking avatars, not content to let Evil reign. Poor souls crushed underfoot by the Ruling Family.

The last note, but a figment. A ghost of riches wiped clean by Gods. Our avatars remain shackled to an unjust economy, suffering the Wrath of Lunacy. Heroes are fantasy, even in the metaverse.

Mutant Redux

No, this isn't a repeat entry. I was beset by demons yet again. The horror...the horror!

The anarchy last night came courtesy of one-day-old avatar, Jew Canning. Yes, you read that right, the one and only, Jew Canning.

ARs away, matey! I hope the recipient Linden reads them, I really work hard at it.







A short while later, peace reigns. Smells like.......victory.....

Mutant Revenge

What does one do after a soothing, murderous romp in Eversong Woods? Why, you pop over to Second Life to regain your edge.

Alas, all was quiet on the virtual front. I ended up sitting in on some live music (Mythica Writer at Patio at The Mill in Brithys). The crowd was more enthusiastic than I typically see at this hour (note the expression of rapture on my fellow attendee). I soaked in the last few minutes of the show before popping back to my home location to finish a few tasks prior to shutdown.


It turned out that my home sim was being assailed by angry Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle heads.

They were out of control. However, it was a chance to send in legitimate Abuse Reports complete with insane ramblings. I fired off three ARs showing various angles of the carnage and with a bounty of colorful descriptions.

Then I went and hid in the bunker while those evil SOBs stalked around outside...looking for a breach in the bunker defenses.

It's a miracle! The serenity and beauty of the Jessie sim is returned courtesy of some hidden Lab grunt. I doff my cap to you, sir and/or madam. And I take back all the things I said in IM during the chaos of the turtle invasion. Your swift work and use of deadly force here is appreciated.

However, I must demand that you cease and desist from responding quickly and efficiently to resident Abuse Reports and FIX STUFF THAT'S BROKED! AND NECK ATTACHMENTS....THIS NEVER WOULD HAVE HAPPENED IF THERE WERE FREAKING NECK ATTACHMENTS!!!!!!

The Return

Spent a few minutes in WoW for the first time in ages. It was the same, except my new toon is a much bigger wuss. Don't tell my poor LOTRO elf, it'll make his bow go limp.

Zombified

zombified
Originally uploaded by Gabe Lippmann

Look, zombies! Run!

What would SL be without a cube on an abandoned neighboring parcel that is spewing particle zombies and moaning sounds?

If you can't beat 'em.....

Can You Hear Me Now

The long awaited voice capabilities have finally been integrated into the Second Life client. It came with a whimper. The first day resulted in nothing short of agravation as I did not get voice to function properly on either of my systems. Shortly thereafter, voice was brought down for maintenance.

I have since managed to test it with a two sentence exchange akin to "Can you hear me?" "Yup".

At some point I'm going to go somewhere and listen to some Welcome Area chicanery, but I haven't gotten around to it. Almost nobody I deal with on a personal level is overly interested in SL voice chat. Neither am I, but I'm also not violently opposed to voice (for you, not for me, I'm mute). Nothing I do in SL really requires, though I could see some non-recreational benefits to it (assuming it functions well).

I'm waiting for the death of text chat that I was promised. It seems to be hanging on for a bit. I'll let you know if I see any roving Voice Zombies shoving around the Texters.

Greenies

Go find the Greenies Home sim and take a walk around. An exceedingly cool build with some really nice texture work. Find all the little green aliens mucking about in this home. Be sure to poke under and behind things and don't forget to find your way up to the mother ship, where you can test out a ufo or buy yourself some gear, including a variety of greenies avatars.

The scale of the place is amazing and I couldn't help chuckling at how small everyone seemed when viewed from across the sim.



Smokin' a little, then doing the nasty (what? aliens do it weird) and wallowing in some sugar.




Family cat is not pleased.

Mother ship!

I'm off into the sunset.

Chiparus

I found myself wandering an urban blight zone in SL. Not one of the true metaverse slums replete with neon, spinning cubes belching particle sputum into the aether. Rather, a detailed representation of an urban landscape with colorful wall taggings and dark, gritty textures applied to ground, walls and structures. The owner, Tomarus Lednev, has displayed some excellent photography of the Amsterdam metro network (more of the artist's work can be seen on this website). Take a gander at the beautifully grungy subway car (outter and inner vews) and the broken husk of an airliner backed by a graffiti-covered brick wall.

A single manhole, venting a fetid steam, led down into a maze of sewers.

What could await an avatar at the end of such a jaunt? The singularly most entertaining part of the evening stroll......an underwater living quarters on the neighboring parcel. The relatively staid decor of the bubble-like underwater home belied the most outstanding upper chamber. A private den with a suitably large bed and walls plastered with $100 bills. Life is grand (possibly more, I didn't tally it up).

The Virtual Reality Room

Last night, a friend took me to see the VRR Shop in SL. It has some fairly interesting "virtual reality" cubes being sold by Stephane Zugzwang. We discussed at length some of the environments that could be created using these. I'm going to play around with one when I get a free moment. Follow the title link for more details as provided by Stephane on SLExchange.

Check out the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFYXqpwM3DE

Tentacle Tongue

I saw this over in the forums and had to check it out.

Devil Made Me Do It introduces the scripted Tectacle Tongue. A long tongue attachement that flicks in and out of your avatar's mouth. How could you not want one?

7 colors for individual sale or as a pack.

Oh, Lourdes!

I'm out there on the streets, living the true grit of SL (and the nonsensical net ninnery on the forums, too - but that story is best left in a dark corner, crying to itself because it's too stupid to play well with the other kids).


I managed to land myself at a Huchu 148, 252, 65. The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes and the neighboring Abbey - Our Lady of Second Life. The location is overseen by Romano Saenz.


It was actually a nice looking joint, though still raw in areas, particularly what appeared to be a WIP bazaar for a few outdoor shop kiosks.


Anyway, I repented at the feet of the Lady of Lourdes, cruised the Abbey, shouted from the pulpit, snooped the monks' quarters and checked out the anims for sale. Now I am armed to hit the Welcome Area and bless the noobs in Latin.

Trouble Everyday

The band, Trouble Everyday, rocked SL live over at Phreak Isle on Friday night. It was a good show and a few of the band hung about a bit afterward.

What's up SL?

There was an update. There was a blog entry. No mention of the friend list nonsense. Still semi-unworkable for me. I should say, it is back to unworkable. I had a functional list briefly. Maybe it'll be better today. Maybe I should re-update my video card.

The blog did mention that there was an issue with group voting IMs. Read it here.

In other news, the sculpted prims are a go. This has been fun, if for no other reason than it has renewed my interest in Blender. I had put it aside a long time ago, having no real reason to bother with it. It isn't as much of a pain as I was led to believe. In fact, many of the things I had heard people have issue with, are actually more to my style of interface. I encourage people to figure out the sculpted prims. The wiki has some good info. Also check here for some helpful tips.

Additionally, an earlier Linden Blog announcement noted the LL acquisition of Windward Mark, the developers of WindLight, which will provide atmospheric rendering in Second Life. In a perfect world, this is a great addition. However, there remains the issue of implementation and impact. At least it looks remarkable from a distance. Check out Torley's pics.

ABC's SL sim vandalized

Head of strategic development in ABC Innovation, Abigail Thomas, says an
unknown party has "bombed" the island and various features have been
removed.

Features that have been removed from the Island include the
Amphitheatre, the Ecohouse, media pods, Dreamtime Cove and the Island's
favourite destination, The Sandbox.

The Second Life island home of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation got a taste of the seedier side of SL. Apparently LL is going to roll them back, but it seems like ABC may need a little primer on life in the 'verse. They claim the griefers "breached existing security", but you have to wonder. I smell an inside job! (^_~)

By the way, these episodes are getting truly unimaginative. If you have to go on with something like this, please come up with something better than a standard prim bombing and object deletion.*

Thanks to Some Guy I Know for bringing this article to my attention.

*This is in now way suggesting that anyone do anything of the sort. In fact, I advocate going for a bike ride and going to the malt shop with your sweetie.

Project Open Letter garners Lab response

Today we received a letter signed by over 1,500 Residents requesting that
Linden Lab focus on performance improvements in several areas in Second
Life. We’re drafting a response to provide more details on the specific
issues that were raised, and scheduling a Town Hall with Cory for later this
week. We’ll also give you an opportunity to ask questions to be answered at
the Town Hall.

More of the same or a step forward? Stay tuned.