Links to the Late Unpleasantness

Links to the Late Unpleasantness

Here are links to that tumultuous and terrible time (mid-2007), when Sweetie took on the government of the entire United States.

Teleportation Security Administration
http://cheyennepal.blogspot.com/2007/05/teleportation-security-administration.html
Last Night With Sweetie
http://cheyennepal.blogspot.com/2007/05/last-night-with-sweetie.html
The United States of America Vs. Sweetie: I. The Raid
http://cheyennepal.blogspot.com/2007/05/united-states-of-america-vs-sweetie-i.html
The United States of America Vs. Sweetie: II. The Trial Begins
http://cheyennepal.blogspot.com/2007/05/ii-trial-begins.html
The United States of America Vs. Sweetie: III. Cheyenne Takes the Stand
http://cheyennepal.blogspot.com/2007/05/united-states-of-america-vs-sweetie-3.html
The United States of America Vs. Sweetie: IV. Dakota's Damning Testimony, Part One
http://cheyennepal.blogspot.com/2007/05/iv-dakotas-damning-testimony-part-one.html
The United States of America Vs. Sweetie: V. Dakota's Damning Testimony, Part Two
http://cheyennepal.blogspot.com/2007/05/v-dakotas-damning-testimony-part-two.html
The United States of America Vs. Sweetie: VI. Update from Linden Public Television
http://cheyennepal.blogspot.com/2007/05/vi-update-from-linden-public-television.html
The United States of America Vs. Sweetie: VII. The Rakehell's Damning Testimony
http://cheyennepal.blogspot.com/2007/05/rakehells-damning-testimony.html
The United States of America Vs. Sweetie: VIII. The Incident at the Teleport Hub
http://cheyennepal.blogspot.com/2007/05/incident-at-teleport-hub.html
The United States of America Vs. Sweetie: IX. A Spy In Our Midst
http://cheyennepal.blogspot.com/2007/05/spy-in-our-midst.html
The United States of America Vs. Sweetie: X. Sweetie Cross-Examines Aldo
http://cheyennepal.blogspot.com/2007/05/sweetie-cross-examines-aldo.html
The United States of America Vs. Sweetie: XI. Diva's Closing Remarks
http://cheyennepal.blogspot.com/2007/05/divas-closing-remarks.html
The United States of America Vs. Sweetie: XII. Sweetie's Closing Remarks
http://cheyennepal.blogspot.com/2007/05/sweeties-closing-remarks_22.html
The United States of America Vs. Sweetie: XIII. The Jury Deliberates
http://cheyennepal.blogspot.com/2007/05/jury-deliberates.html
The United States of America Vs. Sweetie: XIV. The Verdict
http://cheyennepal.blogspot.com/2007/05/verdict.html
The United States of America Vs. Sweetie: XV. Notices and Credits
http://cheyennepal.blogspot.com/2007/05/notices-and-credits.html

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Dixie Ladies MC Ride the Whimsy Train

Dixie Ladies MC Ride the Whimsy Train

Written 13 May, 2013

This evening members of the Dixie Ladies Motorcycle Club came to Whimsy to ride our steam train. I added two extra carriages and away we went!

Ride the train here.

The Ladies Arrive

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Whimsy Wildlife

Whimsy Wildlife

Written 5 March, 2013

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It's a Black and White Virtual World

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Sexism in Video Games and Misogyny in the Real World

Sexism in Video Games and Misogyny in the Real World

Written 10 March, 2013

Over at New World Notes Hamlet Au has taken time off from his countdown to Second Life's death from sim attrition to write about the work of Anita Sarkeesian-- and specifically the first part of Damsels in Distress, her new series of short films about sexism in video games. You should watch it and, if you're interested, view some of the other videos at the feministfrequency YouTube channel. The messages are important.

You'll notice Sarkeesian has disabled comments for her video. That's because misogynists of the troll subspecies launched a campaign of harassment, ridicule, and death threats in response to her work. Below, see what she has to say about it-- and click through to YouTube and look at some of the videos made in reaction to her. This guy is far from the worst-- but ain't he a peach? Look at the comments, too-- full of troglogytes.

Viewing Sarkeesian's films and seeing the reaction to them, I couldn't help but think about Second Life.

Unlike most of virtuality and the near-entirety of Planet Earth, females are equal to men in Second Life. They're more numerous than men, they drive the virtual economy, and they are as strong as men. They have equal economic and physical status with men, and, unlike the real world, they  can't be physically harmed or, if they know how to work the user interface, intimidated by men. Because their real-life identities are anonymous they can say what they want and do what they want, and they don't have to put up with shit from anybody. They don't hit glass ceilings; they build their own economic empires. They can express their sexuality any way they want. They can't be flung into doors or pushed down steps. They can't be choked or kicked-- not unless they agree to be When male avatars go all macho, it's not dangerous like it is in the real world; it's pathetic.

This doesn't mean there's not sexism in Second Life. There is, and plenty of it, most from males, but some, sadly, from female avis.

It doesn't matter that some of SL's female avies are controlled by real-life men. Anonymity is the great leveler-- and besides, except for the walking sexual stereotypes, most of the women in Second Life are women in real life, too. That's been my experience, anyway.

Because their real identities are shielded, women can compete equally with men, and they need not fear them. Consequently, Second Life is, I would argue, a remarkably level playing field, a place where not only women, but people of color and LGBT people and  people with disabilities are equal under the eye of the pixel.

And guess what? Men here aren't disempowered by the equality of women. They build their own empires. They can't be bullied, either, provided they know how to ban and mute and derender.

There's a great deal of play here around issues of freedom, dominance, and submission-- but no one here is complelled to participate. It's cheaper than, and I suspect more beneficial than therapy.

Here we don't have to be princesses caged in towers. We're not murdered and stuffed into refrigerators. Second Life is safe space for women, which is without a doubt why there are so many of us are here.

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Marketplace Frustration

Marketplace Frustration

Written 9 March, 2013

Quite a few months ago the Lindens sent a notice to avatars with products on the Second Life Marketplace, warning us that magic boxes containing product lines would eventually be phased out. I ignored it.

This month I received a second message saying all 388 of my products would be removed by mid-April if I hadn't migrated them to direct delivery..

The alternative is to re-list everything using direct delivery. That requires the official Linden viewer, or, happily, Firestorm.

I downloaded Firestorm, installed the Phoenix skin, and tweaked things until I was able to stand it. (I hate, hate, hate the damned toasts!) and went to work on the marketplace.

On the surface migrating items is fairly simple. One puts everything in a folder (subfolders are allowed), and right clicks and selects Send to Marketplace. A box pops open and you click a second button and the folder is transferred to one's store at the Marketplace. There you can quick fill using an already existing product as a template.

Sounds easy, doesn't it?

The monkey wrench in the engine is the horrible performance of the Marketplace website. About half the time items sent don't arrive. You never know if they actually did arrive or if the Lindens are just telling you they did-- so you might find five or six copies in the unassigned box when you visit the website.

About half the time attempts to start a listing for a newly-migrated item results in failure. The website is that horrible.

Quick fill is annoying because it doesn't migrate the photos that illustrate the product. That means you have to dig up photos you might not have seen for five or six years-- or capture new images.

Deleting an object from the product list can take a full minute-- and there's no way to select more than one at a time. Idiocy.

The real nightmare begins when you try to delete the old magic box items. Before you can delete them from the website you have to remove the item or items from the magic box, then go to the old SL Exchange website and update the box, because updating from the box itself no longer works. It can take as long as five minutes before the update is finished; meanwhile, the SLEX site is unavailable. Then, from the website, you syncrhonize the web contents with the boxes (happily, this doesn't take long). THEN you can delete the items from the Marketplace.

We all know the Lindens are horrible with databases. Look how long search has been broken! The only thing they seem to be able to keep up with (thankfully) is avatar names and (usually) inventory. I'd give anything to have SLEX back.

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Bitchy Profile

Bitchy Profile

Written 5 March, 2013

I like the jewelry at Uzuri in Second Life, and I absolutely love my Hanu dress, in brown, but I'll no longer be shopping there.

Why? Because of creator Bella Bombast's profile.

The sentence that lost me to Uzuri products is just below the text that shows in the About box. It reads:

MALL OWNERS & MAGAZINES: forget me!!! You all grow up on creators head. I don't need you.

Keeping one's products out of malls might make sense, but Second Life's fashion magazines have an avid readership of fashionistas who spend big money on couture. They promote designers, both by way of advertisements and by featuring a creator's work and the creator him- or herself-- and they don't ask the creator for money. It's a symbiotic, win-win relationship. It's just stupid to consider it parasitic.

Which is probably why the Uzuri store is no longer in world.

Karma can be a bitch.

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