Nothing Much to Report Here... Move Along

Written 31 July, 2011

Nothing Much to Report Here... Move Along

I've been home for a week. It's hot as hell outside, my internet has been off and on again and my router is down, and I'm lacking motivation to do much more than piddle around in Second Life. And even when I'm here, I sort my inventory or hang out at the infohubs.

I guess the dog days are affecting me. But no worries, I'll be back to normal soon, and writing like mad. Just checking in.

Read More

Video Loop Crasher

Written 27 July, 2011

Video Loop Crasher

I was at Hyannisport this morning and crashed-- twice. And so did everyone else.

Another resident told me it was because someone was using a weapon called Video Loop Crasher. I turned it off and stopped crashing, although many people around me continued to crash repeated.

So, you might want to do this to protect yourself if you find yourself crashing suddenly. It involves disabling a feature you probably don't use anyway.

Open the Advanced Menu. If you don't have Advanced, CTRL-ALT-D will turn it off (add SHIFT if it doesn't work). The menu will be on the top bar.

Open Advanced, go to the Recorder submenu, and uncheck Loop Playback. That should do it.

Unfortunately, on login Loop Playback will turn back on-- so you'll probably only want to turn it off when you're somewhere that's under attack.

Read More

Kids on the Grid

Written 25 July, 2011

Kids on the Grid

After Linden Lab closed the Teen Grid earlier this year, teens 15, 16, and 17 years of age were allowed on Second Life's main grid's PG sims, and 13- and 14-year-olds were allowed on the grid is select regions.

A lot of older (in terms of time in world), residents predicted chaos and an influx of children even younger than thirteen. I didn't think that likely, but now I think I was wrong.


Admittedly one avatar's experience is subjective and might not be typical, but I know I've been coming across a lot of avatars lately who say in chat they are 13 or 14 years old and whose behavior suggest that's true. Lately I've been filing get-this-kid-off-the-grid abuse reports on an almost daily basis-- this because I've been spending a lot of time at infohubs, where new avatars come into world.

Over time I've learned to tell the approximate age the people behind avatars by the way they behave. It's not fail-safe, but I'm usually spot-on accurate.

Today at the Hyannisport infohub I spotted an avatar who I was sure was very young. How did I know? He couldn't stay still. He was the very personification of Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder. His attention span seemed to be about five seconds.

Then of all the people on the sim, he latched onto me. He offered me friendship three times. I told him it was customary in Second Life to become friends only with people one knows, and he kept sending me blue menus.

Then he started typing. It took him several minutes to chat "hi cyeyenne" and two more to ask him to fly with him. I told him I was happy standing where I was and of course he kept trying to get me to fly. At some point he accidentally opened his mic and I could hear a young child talking to someone in the room.

When I asked him how old he was, he said, in chat, "Seven," and I believed him. I told him Second Life was no place for young teens and even less a place for children and told him he should leave and not come back until he was much older. Then I asked if he would bring his mom to the screen. He walked away.

Several minutes later he walked back up and typed "Hi. This is Alvin's sister."

I asked her how old she was. Twenty, she said.

The typing was much faster and the language usage more sophisticated, so my best guess was it was actually his sister and not Alvin trying to fool me. I told her of the dangers of Second Life and the rules which forbid those under 13 from being on the grid, and urged her to delete his account. Alvin's avatar disappeared. Logoff.

I hoped that would do it, but five minutes later Alvin reappeared. Again, his sister was the typist. Alvin was sitting on his bed crying, she said, and it was my fault.

I asked her to tell her mother what I had said. She said her mother had no problem with Alvin being in Second Life-- which might or might not have been true. I said if that was true it was astonishingly poor parenting behavior. I once again urged her to delete the account and told her I was muting and derendering Alvin and would no longer hear what he or she typed or said. And I did.

By that time I and several other residents had filed abuse reports so the Lindens would be made aware of Alvin's age. So had at least one other resident.

Just then a resident long enough to have a real last name came over and told me I should have minded my own business. Alvin was just annoying me, he said.

No, I said. I wasn't annoyed; I was concerned. He scoffed.

I said, "Well, I don't want to get into a conversation about this with you. I'll follow my conscience and you can follow yours."

But of course he wouldn't let it go. He said kids were fine on the grid, they would just play and would never engage in sexual behavior, they needed no supervision, it was just a game.

I told him he was using the same language a sexual predator would use, and asked him to show me his NAMBLA card. You should have seen him backpedal.

A few hours later I copied Alvin's name from the chat log and pasted it into search, and he didn't come up-- meaning his account had been zapped by the Lindens. Of course, Alvin will probably be back tomorrow, using another account, but I did the proper thing. As an adult, I took the steps I thought necessary to protect a child.

And I urge my readers to do the same.

Read More

PTSD Information Island

Written 24 July, 2011

PDST Information Island

In World War I they called it shell shock. In World War II they called it battle fatigue. Now it's known as combat stress reaction. When it persists, it's known as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD.

PTSD follows traumatic experiences that overwhelm the individual's ability to cope.

Since January the U.S. Department of Defense has maintained a region in Second Life devoted to educating people, and especially those who have served or are serving in the military, about PTSD and helping those with PTSD to learn to manage their condition while maintaining anonymity. It's called The Virtual PTSD Experience, or T2. Click here for the SLURL.

Those using the program can navigate their avatar virtually though situations that they actually may not be comfortable with in real life, explained Greg Reger, a clinical psychologist and acting chief if T2's Innovative Technology Applications Division.

"An individual can go into this space and go through a series of interactive simulations and experiences that really help them learn about the causes of PTSD, the symptoms, and how they can get help," he said.

 Throughout the program, a "relax button" is available when any scenario becomes too overwhelming. The user will be immediately transported to a relaxation room to listen to relaxing music or take part in relaxing breathing techniques.

Program creators hope that in the future the Virtual PTSD Experience can facilitate actual virtual patient appointments, where users can meet with mental health professionals using their avatars.

                -- Alexandra Hemmings-Brown, www.army.mil

Yesterday Sweetie and I visited. We wound up staying several hours.

I have to say that in terms of coherency, consistency, and structure of experience, T2 is perhaps the best sim I've ever visited. Great attention was paid to detail and every effort was made to make visitors with PTSD feel comfortable. The scripting was amazing.

And so, dear reader, I'll walk you through.

At the welcome areas we found links and reading material. The stands on each side of the reception desk (see photo above) were the same, which was handy. I browsed one side while Sweetie browsed the other.

T2 made heavy use of the new media-on-a-prim, showing movies at several steps along the way. Sweetie and I spent a good hour loading and running the Firestorm Beta browser and tweaking the many settings. I managed to make my HUDs disappear and switched back to Phoenix. Sweetie stayed in Firestorm, cursing it all the while-- but I noticed she was still using it today. I listened to the movies on her Mac, which was only ten feet away, since they wouldn't play in Phoenix.

When I touched the movie screen-- even in Phoenix-- my camera was dragged and focused and centered on the screen. I don't know if that's he way HTML-on-a-prim works or if it was scripting; if the latter, I don't understand how the script could gave gotten permission to control my camera. It wasn't unpleasant, but it did feel a bit freaky to have my camera grabbed like that when I wasn't sitting.

The only thing I found that didn't work was a basketball and net. I tried shooting some hoops, but build permissions were off so the basketball thrower couldn't rezz balls. Sad. It looked like fun. It can be easily fixed, though.

So, away Sweetie and I went on the virtual tour.

The first portion of the tour concerned the causes of PTSD.

Signage was excellent. T2s creators wanted to be sure those entering the Causes simulators knew exactly what was about to happen.

Sweetie and I attached the HUDs we had been given and were issued combat uniforms.

"Private Palisades reporting for duty, Captain Sweetie, SUH!"

"Wipe that lipstick off your face, soldier!"

We were then required to choose one of three levels of simulated combat severity.

We entered a Middle Eastern market street and were asked to sit in a Hummer.

 Inside the vehicle our cameras were strictly constrained, forcing us to look forward and scan the street. The scroll wheel wouldn't take me out of mouselook, the arrow keys wouldn't move my view, even the escape key did nothing. How did they DO that?

Everyone looked suspicious.

Even kids.

Sir! Stand still! Move and you will be shot!

Then it happened!

The anxiety meters in our HUDs redlined.

In the highest level, the soldiers on the road were killed or horribly injured.

After our tours of duty, Sweetie and I were sent to the airport...

... where we were issued everyday uniforms.

.. and put on a plane.

Since I didn't get a photo of the jetway, I went back today and took this picture.

We boarded and sat in the cabin of a jet, where we were shown a short film.

After about ten minutes we landed and exited in the virtual United States.

Our next destination was a mall...

...where we experienced symptoms of PTST and were quizzed as we wandered about.

We spent nearly an hour at the mall, which had lots of stores.

At one point I experienced a flashback, complete with visual hallucinations.

After we left the mall we entered a wind-down area.

Along our tour we were given chances to provide feedback about the experience.

There were even wheelchair ramps.

It was an educational and fun experience, and we left amazed at the scripting, and especially the masterful manipulation of our cameras when we were sitting in the Humvee.

Sadly, the region was empty when Sweetie and I visited yesterday, and again today when I visited for photos. What a shame! T2 is a wonderful place.

Read More

Alpha Masks Open New Possibilities for Avatars

Written 23 July, 2011

Alpha Masks Open New Possibilities for Avatars

In your library you'll find three alpha masks-- full, feet, and head.

These masks will make the part of the avatar they cover disappear-- totally-- but only if you're using a viewer that can handle them. Viewer 2, Phoenix, Firestorm, and a lot of the other third party viewers can. Viewer 1 can't.

Some shoemakers are now using the foot alpha instead of invisprims. This forever ends the alpha glitch problem with invisiprims, but if you lose a shoe you'll look like an amputee.

The full alpha mask is handy. I've been adding one to the folders of each of my various avatars. It prevents stray body parts from sticking through.

The full mask opens possibilities for avatars that haven't until now been possible. Hamlet Au has written about the hairdo above.

Lately I've been seeing full avatars made with alpha masks. Here's one:

Swirling particle leaves created the vague shape of an avatar and responded to movement by leaving a trail in the direction the avatar was walking. Very nice.

Then there's this avatar:

Tiny tiny avatars are now possible:

Content creators are only just beginning to utilize alpha masks. Before long, I'm sure, we'll be seeing some absolutely amazing avatars.

Read More

John31921600084123 Resident

Written 22 July, 2011

John31921600084123 Resident

Ever since the inception of display names I've been looking askance at people with the last name Resident. I'm like all UH-OH! WHO LET _THEM_ INTO THE PARTY?

Of course some people with the last name Resident have been in world for more than six months now, but my immediate assumption on seeing that last name is this: NOOB.

I could prevent this, of course, by turning on display names, but I will never, ever, not in a million years do that, not since the Linden FAQ said, in response to the question "Can I prevent other residents from using my display name?" the following:

 No, display names are not meant to be unique identifiers. Instead, if you notice that others are using a similar display name, feel free to change your own name.

Fuck that.

Clearly, the supply of unique names for new residents is fast becoming exhausted. Hence I'm seeing names like Fanboy0523 and Savvy92143 and really long names like IDontKnowWhatImDoingHere Resident.

All I'm really saying here is that since the policy change I've been looking differently-- and not favorably at residents with the last name resident. I think I'm responding to a very real class divide-- we "real" residents and those unfortunates without a last name.

New World Notes today points to this Jira, which asks Linden Lab to provide an option for a real last name. I urge my readers to click on the link and vote.

Read More

Twitterfeed

Written 21 July, 2011

Twitterfeed

For a month or so links to this this blog have been posting to my Twitter account, thanks to a website named Twitterfeed.

To follow, just click on the second link, above.

Read More

The YES! Hairdoes

Written 19 July, 2011

The YES! Hairdoes

Drumroll, please!

Here are the winners (I actually bought them!):

Waka &Yuki, Type 163

Waka & Yuki, Type 168

Red Mint, Hair No. 10

Yes, yes, this is the hair I choose for Sweetie in my last post. I'm not for a moment suggesting my own mind isn't  frizzy and messy and tangled.

Exile, Aroha

Exile, Glory

Illusory, Yew

Read More

Hair for Sweetie

I know I promised you the YES hairstyles next, but I'm going to go ahead with the hair that wound up in the Sweetie folder.

Written 19 July, 2011

Hair for Sweetie

I'm not saying Sweetie's tastes are over the top--

Wait a minute! That's JUST what I am saying!

Strangely enough, Sweetie can make hairdoes like the one above work. Or this one:

Or this one:

But my top choice is this one, because it's frizzy and messy and tangled-- just like her mind.

Oh, wait, did I say that? Oh, yes I did! Shhh! Please don't tell her about this post. I mean, it's not like she checks it daily to see if her name has been mentioned.

Read More

Hair Fair 2011: The Number One Yes!

Written 19 July, 2011

Hair Fair 2011

The Number One Yes!

Okay, so this is my number one yes, and you know what? I can't dammit find it, not in the No! folder, not in the Yes! folder, and not in the Xubi folder.

If any of my readers can tell me the name of this hairdo or who made it, I would be most appreciative.

Read More

Hair Fair 2011: The NO!s

Written 18 July, 2011

Hair Fair 2011: The NO!s

I hit this year's Hair Fair just before it closed. Sweetie, alas, was not with me. That's because she was on a super-secret mission to investigate the hacking of Second Life IMs by Rupert Murdoch's NewsCorps.

Yes, the scandal has spread to Second Life.

Of course it wasn't as much fun without her. In her honor, I used the ten-second rule. If I didn't see something I liked within 10 seconds of entering or camming a shop, I snorted "You have failed to impress me!" and moved on to the next display.

Which actually worked out pretty well, since there were four sims of hair fashions.

I picked up samples of just about every hairdo, and a lot of freebies besides.

Back home at Whimsy, I stood on the sea decks on Kaboom and sorted hair into three folders-- Yes, No!, and Sweetie.

As you might expect, anything stylish or outrageous went into the Sweetie folder.

I took photos as I worked.

First, some of the NOs:


I should note that NO was assigned for two reasons: first, it looked horrible on me, or second, it just looked horrible.

I always wanted to wear a giant Hershey's Kiss on my head!

The entire front portion of this hairdo is a hollowed sphere.
It reminds me of the one below, from the 2009 Hair Fair

I kept waiting for the top prim of this hairdo to rez.
Then I realized, no, I was just wearing a bowling ball on my head.

This one made me look like Rachel Maddow.

Too messy.

Too frizzy.

Too too.

Next: The YESes.

Read More