I Am Totally Biased!

Recently I and my poor little blog have gained some attention due to my posts concerning the upcoming Second Pride election.

I have received messages and emails asking me to post this or that "to prove" that I am unbiased and objective. It is totally beyond me how anyone can think I am unbiased or even attempting to be that.  I am a blogger, not a journalist. Every post I run is something I myself find interesting and have an opinion about, which I in rare cases choose not to share with you. Usually however I will tell you what I believe, think or feel in no uncertain terms.

In this election I have asked the candidates certain questions that I believe are relevant and pertinent. I have done so respectfully and with no interest whatsoever of "bashing" them or making personal attacks in anyway. Despite this I have, more than once, been accused of bashing or personally attacking some candidates, sometimes even by the candidates themselves.

I have also been asked or told - anonymously or straightforwardly - to ask a certain candidate something or other. I have always refused to do so because I am not a mouthpiece for anyone but myself,. If someone else wishes to ask a question they should do so themselves.

I of course realize that others do not always agree with me, and however distasteful I may find their views I will allow them to comment on my blog as long as they stick to the issue and don't attack other commenters or people, should they wish to launch a personal attack at me they are welcome to do so.  I have only ever removed one (1) real comment and several hundred spam comments. The real comment I removed was a personal attack on an avatar and had no relevance to the post at all. Even the four Swedish female avatars that I utterly detest, can and have indeed left comments here even if I have expressly asked them never to do so.

In spite of this I today received an acidic message in private on Facebook from someone whom I thought was a friend, thanking me for permitting him "to leave a comment on (my) magnanimous blog". This totally irked me.

So be warned, I am opinionated and totally biased. Always!

The Interview With Oz Linden

(via Treet.TV)

Jessica Lyon, from the Phoenix viewer, interviews Oz Linden of Linden Lab on the Labs policy changes on Third Party Viewers (TPV). (Unfortunately parts of the interview is silent or inaudible.)

Oz Linden (Scott Lawrence in first life) is the director of Open Development at Linden Lab.

This is my humble take on some of the issues discussed in the interview (and please remember I am not a programmer):

1. Privacy
The change has been put on hold indefinitely by Linden Lab to investigate more on legitimate uses, except concerning whether someone is shown to be online against the users consent.

2. Identifying viewers, operating systems, IP-addresses and other personal data about the users
I support the change in policy as I cannot see a legitimate reason for anyone to gather, store and display this information about users.

3. Altering "shared experience" (the rendering of the world itself)
I support the change as long as testing in small scale is allowed as the Lab says it will be. Most of the brouhaha on this issue seems to me like the usual psychotic Linden-bashing and mostly comes from "the usual suspects", i.e the high-strung prima donnas.

4. "Feature surprises" by Linden Lab
I don´t understand why the Lab shouldn't be allowed to develop new features in private, just like the TPV´s can.

5. Cooperation vs. Competition between Linden Lab and the TPV´s
I highly approve of the fact that Oz strongly stressed the Labs wishes to cooperate with the third party viewers in improving the user experience and SecondLife as a whole.

Linden bashing

I get very easily pissed if I read something that upsets me before I have finished my breakfast and have gotten my full pot of coffee.

Now I just read - yet another - Linden bashing posts on the blog "Mer eller mindre KRANFEL". I do not understand why Alessia/Vesper cannot promote the "lovely" InWorldz without constantly bashing the Linden Lab and Second Life.

All I can say is the following:
1. Second Life is not compulsory.
2. Linden Lab - through it´s wonderful employees - has always come through for me whenever I needed it.
3. Second Life has improved greatly - and keeps on improving - since I first arrived.
4. Second Life is well worth every penny I spend, if I did not think so I would move on and never look back.

It is true though, we really are building a paradise in Second Life and all of us who love it here benefit from that.

So please stop spitting in my soup!
..........
FYI
No, this post is not aggressive.
No, I am not being defensive to protect the time and money I have invested in Second Life.
No, I am not insecure, never have been and never will be.
No, I am not on any edge whatsoever.
Yes, we are still friends.

Now go find some better arguments!
........
P.S. Thanks Alessia/Vesper for all the international traffic to my blog from your post in the "Inworldz forum". Welcome strangers, I am usually a nice guy, whether you believe it ot not...