A Whiff of Football in the Air

So the NFL draft was this weekend, leaving the unmistakable smell of football in the air. Admittedly, I’m a college football fan (primarily following the Big 10 and SEC) but will take anything at this point.

So the Atlanta Falcons drafted Matt Ryan. I haven’t seen him play much, but I’ll ask the same question as when the Falcons drafted Vick – “Who’s gonna protect him?” The Falcons still don’t seem to have much of an offensive line. At least this time they didn’t trade the picks which netted the Chargers Drew Breez and L.T. Oh well, hindsight is 20-20.

Not much to report on the college scene. Over at my alma mater, Purdue, it looks like Joe Tiller will be retiring after this season. I’m happy to see that he’s pulled the program out of the cellar. Over at UGA, looks like they’re the #1 in the pre-season rankings. Not sure they’ll be able to hold onto that with a brutal conference schedule and Florida looking for revenge for that excessive celebration last season. Oh well, one can hope.

Only four months to the beginning of college football. Sigh. Don’t worry, this will probably be the last football post… at least until the beginning of the season.

Recycled Meme #2 – State Thy Groups

This one should be fairly easy. Here are my groups as of April 23, 2008:

Abraca’s Dance Hall – Abraca Cardiff’s notification group for her Dance Hall. Used to be a regular hangout, but I haven’t been there in a while.

Al’s Place – The group which owns my land.

CasaBlanca Society Lounge – Romantic dance club managed by Kevin Nordwind with Kylie and Rosa working as hosts. Becoming one of my regular hangouts as I usually go to support Kylie & Rosa when they’re hosting.

DJ CoolJ’s Groupies and Friends – Erbo Evans’ notification group for when he DJ’s.

Fantasyland Estate – Sirux Mahoney’s group, which is the estate owner for my land. I’ve only had one issue, which was quickly resolved, in the 15 months I’ve owned my land.

Frogg and Jaycatt Fan – Frogg & Jaycatt’s notification group.

Howling Mad – Joined back when I had a wolf AV. Not sure why I’m still in it.

Intrepid Explorers – Group for gathering together to explore new and interesting sims.

Jade’s Jazz Lounge – Romantic Jazz club

Kim’s Club – Kim Siefert’s notification group.

LaSalle’s Liner Notes – Patrick LaSalle’s notification group.

Less Lag More Leg – Vel’s group protesting lag. More leg means fewer prims.

Lorrie’s Fun House – Notification group for my friend Lorrie’s club.

Miranda’s – Romantic jazz club. Not sure if it’s still open.

Mourning Middy – Midel Shabtay is gone but not forgotten.

Patrick’s Peeps Posse – The official fan club of Patrick’s Peeps.

Photographers Of Second-Life – One of several photography groups in SL. Mostly consists of requests for wedding photographers and gallery opening announcements. I’m in it more as a statement of my interest in photography than anything else.

Science Fiction Rangers – SF fans in SL. Used to go to events back when I was a newbie. I left once very early on, and Shawna, the group owner, immediately asked why I was leaving. I subsequently rejoined because I thought it was inactive. Nobody else has ever made an effort like that.

Shelter in Exile – From back when all the strife was taking place at the Shelter in late 2006. Still a member for sentimental reasons.

Technical Difficulties – For those who aren’t very technical in sl. Believe it or not, that’s me.

The Carnival of Doom – Notification group for the “carnival from hell” sim. You die if you exit a ride prematurely, only to return after spending some time in “hell”.

The SHELTER – A haven for those new to sl, and a regular hangout as well.

White and Nerdy – The only question I ever thought was hard was ‘Do I like Kirk or do I like Picard?’ Contrary to rumor, you don’t have to memorize PI to 17 places to join.

Shadow Dancing

So… I’m all set to publish a recycled meme article when I read Josie’s post about Jung’s Shadow. I got to put mine in decent view once by being on Percocet for a week, becoming pretty a pretty mean person as a result. Ok, that technically violates the definition, but then again I thought I was acting pretty normal. I do like to think that I keep my Shadow in check, but one never knows for sure.

I think this all circles back to the faces we show in sl. Since all we see is a digital representation of ourselves, our appearance and our words are usually all that we have to go by. None of us get to see the brief facial expressions that can give away more than we care to admit. Real speech doesn’t have a backspace or enter key. You don’t get an opportunity to edit something while saying it. That combined with the lack of non-verbal communication often leads me to wonder if it causes a much bigger perception gap than in rl.

As for our Shadows, I think they’re something you can eventually deal with but never eliminate. They’re part of who we are and where we came from. Behavior change is possible but is almost always a long, difficult, and sometimes painful process. Two steps forward, one step back. Two steps forward, one step back…

SL’s Friendship Mechanism is Broken

So Wednesday night I’m hanging out at Casablanca Society Lounge when I notice a very old friend, one who I haven’t seen since November, 2006, comes online. I rarely remove old friends from my list because I always figure you never know when they might show up again. They logged before I had a chance to chat. Reflecting on this led me to conclude that the current SL friendship mechanism is broken.

In RL, I don’t think I’ve formally “asked” or “offered” friendship since the 4th grade. For as long as I can remember, friendships have tended to form over a period of time. Sometimes very quickly, sometimes very slowly, but there has never been an instant where one moment you’re not friends and the next moment you are. Women seem to grasp this concept a lot better than men do. Of course, it goes without saying that friendships can dissolve instantly.

SL, like in RL, has varying levels of friendship. Some people are just acquaintances or co-workers. You see and talk to them because you work together, see them at a place you regularly frequent, or even just have a common interest. Next is your circle of friends. This probably is most associated with the concept of “friendship” in SL. Finally, you have close friendships, “family members”, or bff’s. People can get closer or drift apart as time goes on. The binary concept of “friendship/no friendship” does a poor job of capturing the subtleties of the relationship (referring to friendship and not romance) between friends.

How would I improve the SL friendship mechanism? For starters, I would get rid of the concept of “adding friends”. In its place I would have several options for contact and interaction. The first, or “lowest”, option would be little more than an address book where you could pull up people to IM them. When a person gets added, there is also an option available to let them see your online status. From there, one could add the options to allow you to be teleported, to be map stalked, or to have your objects modified. Of course, permissions could be changed or revoked at any time. The whole concept of “friendship” would go back to its proper amorphous state, which is reflected but not defined by the permissions you give a person.

And as Dennis Miller always says, “That’s just my opinion, I could be wrong.”

SL is what happens when you make other plans

It’s amazing how an evening in SL can turn out very differently than you expect. Last night, a friend suggested that instead of spending all of my time thinking about recent happenings, I should come spend time with them. The event theme was “pink”. Not having any time to go shopping, I decided to color my white Blaze suit pink. It turned out more pinkish than I wanted, but I didn’t care and soon went.

Little did I realize it was a dance event… and me with no partner. My first instinct was to turn around and tp right back out. I had convinced myself that there was no way I could have a good time. However, I concluded that an awkward night here was far better than the alternatives. So I stayed and tried to make the best of it. Kylie, a longtime friend, was hosting the event. She took pity on me, and we danced right after the event ended. And talked. Turned out to be an enjoyable evening after all. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, SL is what happens when you’re busy making other plans.

Recycled Meme #1 – Eight Random Facts

Old blog memes are a great source of posts. Periodically, I plan on recycling a meme that previously made the rounds in the SL blogosphere. So… here are eight seemingly random facts about the man behind the avatar:

1. I’ve never purchased a lottery ticket. In my not so humble opinion, winning the lottery is the *worst* way to acquire money. Sure, I’d like $100 million or $200 million, whatever the grand prize jackpot is this week. But I have no desire to have “friends” who I never knew start appearing, have people asking me for thousands of dollars, or have a constant barrage of marketing phone calls, and all of the other grief associated with winning the lottery. It was bad enough winning $100 in the Superbowl squares pool and having everyone ask me when I’m taking them out to lunch.
2. I don’t find the Three Stooges funny. One late night, about 9 months after I graduated from college, I was watching TV at a friend’s apartment after going out bar hopping. The Three Stooges were on, and my friend is busting a gut while watching. Meanwhile, I’m looking at him wondering what on earth is so funny. Give me good satire any day of the week.
3. I hated coffee until I visited my parents, who were living in Seattle, back in May, 1998. I became a coffee addict during that trip and remain so to this very day.
4. I used to be a dog person, but now I’m a cat person. This was the result of trying to tame several feral kittens which were living in our backyard when we moved in. They didn’t survive, but adopted two cats from the vet.
5. I was an underachiever in high school and college. I never studied in high school but still managed to get good grades. This annoyed the hell out of my teachers and parents. I studied around 1/2 the time in college and still did fairly well. I’m certain that if I went to grad school right after college I would have flunked out due to bad study habits.
6. I’m the unofficial photographer for all in-law events. These days, I’m not even asked to do this. It’s assumed that if I show up, I’ll be taking pictures. My family, being around 1/10th the size, doesn’t do family reunions or big gatherings.
7. I have absolutely no musical ability. I couldn’t carry a note in a bucket and can’t play an instrument to save my life. Music theory makes no sense to me. Ironically, I can do voices really well.
8. I have osteoarthritis & tendinitis in both hands. I’m not sure how it developed, but I blame it on having been a fast touch typist. I took a touch typing class my freshman year in high school. Back then we used these things called “typewriters”. Most people averaged 40 wpm by the end of the semester. I did 63 wpm with 3 errors on the final exam. Today, I can only use a trackball mouse with a wrist wrap on my hand. I’ll never forget the time when my 90 year old great aunt had a better grip than me. Of course, she was a sculptress all her life.

I hope that has been interesting/amusing/enlightening/entertaining/etc. I won’t be tagging anybody, but feel free to tag yourself.

Wanted: One Photographic Muse

Glancing at my SL Flickr page, I notice that I haven’t posted anything in over two months. Scrolling through my SL pic directories doesn’t show much that hasn’t already been sifted through several times. Maybe one day I’ll post some of what’s there, but I’m in no hurry. Checking through saved blog posts shows some interesting sims that would make for good picture taking. However, I can’t convince myself to start planning an outing. Frustrated, I decide that perhaps I should focus on RL photography instead.

Double checking my RL Flickr page shows inactivity for well over twice as long as my SL Flickr page. I’m no longer a Flickr junkie like in the days before discovering SL, but it seems so unusual to have such a huge gap. Scanning through my photo directories doesn’t turn up anything new. Time for some picture taking.

I pull out my D50 and check to see if there is any battery leakage from lack of recent use. Nothing wrong except a layer of dust. I turn on the camera, pop off the lens cap, put the strap around my neck, and focus on a painting hanging off in the distance. There’s no immediate desire to start figuring out the best angle, compose the shot, or even search for another subject. Once upon a time, I’d be primed to start snapping away.

I have no desire to take pictures of any sort. This is SO unlike me. What in the world is going on?

Picture taking has always seemed natural to me since the days of playing around with my dad’s Polaroid 103 as a kid. I love photography as a creative outlet, untarnished by any monetary pressures. Obviously, I’m burned out at the moment. Maybe I just need to step away from the viewfinder for a while. Perhaps I should try a change of pace like portrait taking. I’m not sure what’s needed right now, but I’m fairly confident that one day my photographic muse will return.

Periodic Existential Threats to SL

So… I was all set to start writing about something else (don’t worry, I’ll get to it soon enough) when I find out SL is having *major* network issues. The grid has been borked for over half a day with no end in sight. Network administrators are scratching their heads wondering where the problem lies. Tens of thousands of people (myself included) start getting nasty cravings for their next SL fix. Jacek Antonelli notes that this is the latest in a month-long series of outages and issues. This leads me to an observation I’ve made. Every few months people fret about an existential threat to SL; however, this threat never fully materializes. Let’s run through some of the problems that could have ended SL life as we know it over the past 20 months:

The Database Breach – Shortly after I joined SL back in August, 2006, came word of a membership database breach. Somebody had cracked the database which contained a listing of all 600,000 avatars and their RL names. Everybody worried that a website soon would appear where you could type in an SL name and find out who they were in RL. Males who were female in SL would be outted, alts and their owners would be discovered, the identity of Prokofy Neva would be splashed across the pages of blogs everywhere, and nobody would feel safe anymore. Oh, the humanity! Time passes, and nothing happens. Shortly thereafter, the population of SL explodes.

Grey Goo Attacks – Self-replicating object attacks start appearing, forcing grid closures to become a regular event. Concerns arise that Linden Labs, already straining to keep the grid running, will be unable to fix the problem. A combination of law enforcement and code changes fixes the problem.

The Copybot Program – The release of libsecondlife enables the creation of a program which can duplicate objects along with any textures and animations. No longer need you fret over buying clothes, avatars, or other accessories since free knockoffs would be plentiful. With no incentives to purchase anything, all commerce would grind to a halt and people would close up shops everywhere. Some stores actually did halt operations amid fears of having their wares pirated. A way to block the Copybot program is soon discovered. For a while you couldn’t go anywhere without being greeted by an endless series of “!quits” designed to stop illegal copying. In the end, it turns out that 99% of the residents prefer to buy their goods legally. Only a very small number of copyright complaints ever get lodged. In all fairness, this was probably the most serious threat I’ve seen.

The Gambling Ban – In a major CYA move, Linden Labs™ bans gambling in SL. No more casinos, no more Tringo, and no more sploders. With all of those Lindens no longer changing hands, the velocity of money would slow down considerably. People would leave in droves. As time went on, Lindens still found a way to change hands. I guess all of the SL gamblers found other interests and started buying considerably more clothing and Xcite body parts. “Games of skill” with payouts started appearing in many fine SL establishments.

Voice – In a major blow to Immersionists everywhere, Linden Labs announces that voice will be available in Second Life. Lots of concern is expressed over how life in SL will be irrevocably altered. People with *very* legitimate reasons to not want others to hear them (transgendered folk come to mind) will feel alienated and leave. In the end, voice gets relegated to a “gee wiz” feature which never seems to work right. Everybody else goes back to their Skype conversations which take place while in-world. And nobody in SL has yet to hear my “Barry White” voice that I get when I’m sick (as Dave Barry would say, “I’m not making this up”).

Amazingly enough, SL still grinds along. The lesson to be learned from all of this is the only things certain are death, taxes, and lots of people thinking that all threats to SL are fatal.

Personality Goes a Long Way (with apologies to Pulp Fiction)

One of the first things I noticed about SL is that it doesn’t seem to take too much to have a good looking avatar. Those with fashion sense can design or assemble an avatar on the cheap. For the rest, there are a variety of pre-packaged avatars to choose from. As an example, 350 Lindens can turn you into Demi Moore, 1500 Lindens will turn you into a David Hasselhoff wannabee, and 2000 Lindens will enable you to send Tyra-Mail to all your SL friends. Lots of good looking avatars of all shapes and sizes roam the grid.

Long ago, I concluded that Second Life could be described by, “In a land where good looking people are a dime-a-dozen, personality is the coin of the realm.” Your avatar can get you past preconceived notions, and your personality is what allows you to stay past it.

That personality, of course, may not be what people see in RL. For instance, the “Alan Hearn” avatar is about 70-80% of my RL personality with a couple of the dials turned up to 11. I can’t speak for people engaged in SL role playing and how that reflects their RL personality.

Finally, on an administrative note, I realize that this blog looks pretty “generic” right now. I hope to have a blogroll up and running soon, and I plan on eventually revamping the theme. I’m guessing this blog will wind up as a perennial work-in-progress.

Inaugural Post

Well, here goes nothing. I’ve finally taken the plunge and begun blogging. I primarily consider this to be an exercise in writing for an audience. I figure at the very least I’ll gain something by writing these entries. If I had the ability, I’d write each post like a Dennis Miller rant. Unfortunately, I don’t have half the command of the English language that he does, so I don’t think I could pull it off. Of course, that’s just my opinion. I could be wrong.

I don’t expect to be writing in the same voice/style as I do in-world. For me, the whole process of signing into SL prepares me to be in character. It’s kind of like when Billy Batson says, “Shazam!” Hey, in world I can even fly like Captain Marvel. We’ll just have to see how things evolve.

I’ll probably talk SL and RL, but I have no idea in what proportion. As far as SL goes, I’ll probably opine on the various happenings in SL. In addition, I may try to pass on whatever useful bits of wisdom I’ve accumulated in the past 20 months of SL. I guess there’s something to be said for staying active for almost two years. Don’t know what RL stuff I’ll wind up talking about, except it won’t be work. It wouldn’t be good to show up one day to find out I’m fired for violating some corporate policy.

So…. welcome to my little corner of the web. And here’s hoping that I’ll keep finding stuff to post.