Close to Home

Ever since I was reached by the news about Avacar Bluestar's passing I have, privately, been hoping that he and his partner Rico had been more prudent than my Ars and I were.

It is after all so extremely easy to take precautions to help your partner in SecondLife in case something unforeseen should happen, even if one is young and in good health. Unfortunately we seem all to be living in a dream that nothing bad will ever happen or that there is no tomorrow and thereby leave our loved ones future in the - less than certain - good will of our inheritors in first life.

As the passing of Avacar hit very close to home for me and have brought all the uneasy memories from almost five years ago to life again, I have not been able to bring myself to contact Rico directly. Even if I am now very happy again and very much in love with my new partner Tomais, the memories of those awful hours, days, weeks, months and years after Ars death are with me still. In particular the period when I was afraid of losing the home we had over  period of more than two years built together on the Southern Charm sim.

Ars had just died and I was grieving deeply for him and less than two weeks afterwards I was struck with the realization that the sim was solely in Ars' name (to avoid EU VAT) and I did not know what to do to get the sim transferred to me. I was afraid to lose it all and with it all the memories of Ars.

I blogged about it - of course - as that was my way of venting and letting off steam. These are the links to my posts as the events unfolded. (If and when you read them, please try to remember I was not completely sane at the time and more self-involved than ever before or after.)

1. Trying to deal with reality - March 26th
2. Trying to deal with reality II (updated) - March 20th
3. Trying to deal with reality III (glimpse of hope) - April 2nd
4. Trying to deal with reality IV - April 13th
5. Trying to deal with reality V (The conclusion) - April 19th

I will never forget the kindness of Belinda Linden and a few others at Linden Lab when they guided me through the process, however I do believe think it would have gotten the happy ending it did had it not been for the kindness and compassion of the Wilson family.
---

I can wholeheartedly sympathize with the agony that Rico is going through at this time. The sims mean nothing to Avacar's first life family - except possibly a hateful reminder of the true nature of their son - while it to Rico is a living memory of the work the two of them did for many years to build a meeting place for the LGBT community in SecondLife.

Please @ebbealtberg, @LindenLab try to find a way to #DotheRightThingforAvacar and transfer the GFW-sims to Rico. pic.twitter.com/WFy7zoi4Qj
— Bock McMillan (@BockMcMillan) January 16, 2015

#DoTheRightThingforAvacar

Yesterday I was contacted by Rico Bluestar, who wanted to know how the situation concerning the transfer of Southern Charm sim had been solved when my husband Ars Northmead passed away on March 12, 2010. Ars was in first life also known as Joseph Douglas "Doug" Wilson Jr.

Although Linden Lab were compassionate and as helpful as they reasonably could be throughout the process, I could only tell him that I was fortunate that Doug' first life family were understanding and loving enough to help me in that situation.

Doug's father, who was the executor of Doug's estate, presented the proper documentation to Linden Lab showing his status as father and executor, and also wrote a letter to Linden Lab in which he asked them to transfer Southern Charm to me. That saved the situation for me.

I am forever grateful to the Wilson family, and especially Mr. Wilson himself, for the love, support and assistance they showed me - a complete stranger (although Doug had mentioned me to them several times it seems) - in this difficult situation.

---

Rico Bluestar was the partner of Avacar Bluestar for close to three year up until Avacar passed away on November 14, 2014. Together the two owned, operated and worked hard to build Gay Fun World (GFW) as a place for gay residents to go to for fun and shopping.

Rico is not as fortunate as I was. It seems that Avacar's first life family are Southern Baptist and all of them - with the exception of a one of Avacar's sisters - absolutely abhor and detest Avacar's "lifestyle choice" (i.e. that he was gay and admitted it). They want all evidence of Avacar's homosexuality obliterated and disolved and will therefor not cooperate to have the sims transferred to Rico Bluestar.

I think that is wrong, it is in fact an outrage!

I would like all of my family and friends - straight or gay - to join me in telling Ebbe Altberg, the CEO of Linden Lab, and Linden Lab itself that it is time for them to take a stand against homophobia, to make an exception and to transfer the GFW sims to Rico.

If you have a Twitter account please retweet my tweet and ask your friends to do so too. If you don't have a Twitter account, get one and do the same thing. Gawd this is the 21st century people, get with the program!

@ebbealtberg & @LindenLab, #DoTheRightThingforAvacar and put an end to #homophobia. Transfer the GFW sims to Rico! pic.twitter.com/WYipgApNVq
— Bock McMillan (@BockMcMillan) January 15, 2015

The Laird's New Year Address - 2014

Friends, residents of SecondLife, countrymen in the Commonwealth of Southern Enchantment and residents in regions under Our protection,

As tradition bids We address you on this last day of the year. In a few hours the bells will toll and 2014 will end. The new year 2015 will be here. Of this we can be certain, and we look forward to it in hope and anticipation, but we cannot predict what it will bring us.

When We look back at the past year in first life and SecondLife it is - as always - with mixed feelings. Many things have moved forward and been improved but others are still the same or even worse.

From a strictly personal perspective the year 2014 will forever in Our heart be remembered as "Primus annus Thomaidis" (The first year of Tomais). Our royal consort's  love, patience, humor and thoughtfulness has been a great support for Us throughout the past year. His presence in Our life is a source of unceasing joy for which We will always be amazed and grateful.

For SecondLifer's in general and for SecondLife itself, We believe that 2014 will be remembered as the year when Ebbe Linden (in first life a.k.a. Ebbe Altberg) came to the salvation of us residents. Since Ebbe assumed the reigns of Linden Lab many advantageous changes in policies and practices have been made. We can - hopefully - look forward to many more years with Ebbe.

In Our first life We despair at the sight of such dictators as Vladimir "Little Father" Putin and the massmurderer Bashar al-Assad, not to mention others, with the help of their henchmen still in control of their respective countries to the detriment and misfortune of their countrymen.

However, we mustn't be discouraged, there is a New Year ahead with infinite possibilities and much hope of change. If we all, like the Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, resolve to work together to make our worlds into better places we can surely accomplish many improvements.

We wish you all a fabulous, fantastic and fruitful new year! Be happy, be safe and be forever vigilant against the powers of evil until the day you die of old age with a smile on your wrinkled face!

Our Darlings

Lindens... pic.twitter.com/pPutWimkKh
— Ebbe Altberg (@ebbealtberg) July 24, 2014

Ebbe Linden, in first life known as Ebbe Altberg, yesterday tweeted this picture of our wonderful friends at Linden Lab, Makers of SecondLife.

Upcoming Improvements to Second Life

My friends at Linden Lab have been busy. From the SecondLife blog:

"At Linden Lab, we’ve recently been reviewing the long list of improvements and enhancements we want to bring to Second Life, weighing priorities, and scoping out important projects for the next few months. We wanted to share a few highlights from the list of projects we’ll be working on so that you can know what improvements to expect in the coming months. This isn’t an exhaustive list, of course, but here are a few of the initiatives we think will have a big impact on improving all of our Second Life experiences."
(Tipped by BiSL reader Tomais)

Read all about the new improvements here: Upcoming Improvements to Second Life

Coming Viewer Improvement - Experience Keys

Linden Lab, the makers of SecondLife, are working on new exciting improvements as seen in this video about "Experience Keys", where Torley Linden explains what it's all about.

According to Torley, Experience Keys is in its final development phase and Linden Lab is now looking for high-quality experiences to beta test the toolset. The lab needs our help to stress-test these features and demonstrate how easily experiences can be converted.

(Tipped by loyal BiSL-reader Tomais Ashdene)

Update
And as luck would have it, I waited to long after the tip so it has now been scooped by the following

• New World Notes; Improved Permission System May (Finally) Make Second Life a Decent Game Platform
• Jo Yardley's Second Life;  "The Cornfield returns" and
• Daniel Voyager's Blog; "The Return of The Cornfield in Second Life".

Vistas & Blossoms 2014

Today I received this wonderful invitation through my dear friend Garth Raleigh.

VISTAS & BLOSSOMS 2014

~A GA multi-sim, juried Landscape, Garden & Destination Exhibition

A GA 7-Year Anniversary Event

In conjunction with the GA SummerFest 2014

JULY 11 - JULY 20, 2014

WHAT IT'S ALL ABOUT: The concept is to feature multiple GA properties of varying LANDSCAPES, GARDEN SPOTS and UNIQUE DESTINATIONS throughout the Gay Archipelago. In effect......a 'multi-sim' event! This one-of-a-kind event will officially open grid-wide on July 11th and will run thru July 20TH. The regions are linked to all other sim/estate entries via an LM-GIVER BILLBOARD - allowing touring guests to jump from location to location (23 diverse regions to explore this year!) to enjoy all the Exhibition has to offer.

Touch a picture tile on one of the billboards located at each region entered and you will receive an LM to tour that estate. You will also receive a note-card that each participant has prepared describing the areas interest and varied attractions that VISTAS & BLOSSOMS tourists will be experiencing. In their own words, they will tell you about what they have created; sometimes their approach to creating the landscape/garden areas; their philosophy on presenting their creations to sim/estate residents and visitors, etc.

The featured entries need NOT be professionally landscaped, nor gardened - only a presentation from a sim/estate owner/manager who is proud of the work that has been done to terraform, landscape and garden in order to beautify and add interest to the property. Displays do NOT have to be huge and awesome....merely inviting and complimentary to the surroundings.

Our Top Three Winners from 2013 will be acting as the judging panel and will be awarding L$34,000 in cash prizes at an Awards Gala on July 20th in the following arenas: 

Best in Show: L$15,000
1st Place: L$7,500
2nd Place: L$2,500

Best use of water feature: L$1,000
Best urban setting design: L$1,000
Best rural setting design: L$1,000
Best 'Themed' design: L$1,000
Best use of a dedicated structure: L$1,000
Best 'Commercial' setting design $L1,000
Best 'Residential' setting design $L1,000
*New: BEST use of wildlife/animals $L1,000

PEOPLES' CHOICE AWARD: $L1,000

AFTER you have toured the regions exhibiting, we invite you to VOTE (free) for your favorite overall region at the voting board on GA Coronal Estate.

Vistas & Blossoms 2014: People's  Choice Voting (SLurl).

During the 10 day exhibition, these regions will be visited by people from all over Second Life! This event is listed with Second Life - Linden Lab - as a 'Featured Event' in the Destination Guide! 

Vistas & Blossoms 2014 is presented to you by the Estates of the Gay Archipelago and is a friendly competition amongst neighbors. We welcome you to this event of exploration and discovery through July 20th!

Begin your Vistas & Blossoms Tour here (SLurl)

Enjoy your tour! 
Garth Raleigh & Othon Weiland 
Vistas & Blossoms 2014 Coordinators

Inventory Cleanup from Second Pride 2014

So Ebbe Linden (a.k.a. Ebbe Altberg, CEO of Linden Lab, The Makers of SecondLife) did not deign to respond to my tweets asking him to take some time to honor the largest LGBT event on the grid with a visit, nor did he pay us a visit (as far as I know).

For next years Pride I may choose to send him the invitation through bloggers and SLebrities Jo Yardley or Strawberry Singh, whose tweets he does seem to respond to.

However, as you see below we did get attention from at least two other first life celebrities from stage and screen, Conchita Wurst and Peggy Bundy!

Conchita Wurst (PuPi)

Peggy Bundy (B.J. Floyd)

On the last afternoon of Second Pride we also got to crown a King and Queen of Second Pride 2014 in a pageant arranged by Frolic Mills. I completely agree with the judges choices. The judges were, by the way, my hug-buddy Takuya Jinn - CEO/Chief Designer Gabriel, my dear old friend and hug-buddy Kharissa Indigo - Board Member of Second Pride, the lover of my Jesters Hat and therefore close to my heart Hobbit Zenfold - MR. V♛ GERMANY 2014 and Frolic Mills - CEO Partyculars and founder/former CEO of BOSL and Miss Virtual World.

The winners if the pageant were Queen Locuala Madrugi and King jOrGe (a.k.a. Manito12). Below presented in their first and second outfits of the evening.

Although Frolic repeatedly made excuses for there only being three candidates in each category, I must honestly say I think it was quite enough. Two hours are a suitable time frame for these events, we lead busy lives with two of them to juggle.

In closing I would like to share this Bitstrip my other half posted on Facebook today.

Bitstrip comic on Facebook by Tomais Ashdene

We had a wonderful Pride celebration in SecondLife this year.

My sincerest gratitude to all of the board members, 

this was the best Second Pride evvvahhhhhhhh!

In my opinion Second Pride 2014 had a King and a Queen that did not take part in the pageant. The two are King Petr, "The reluctant chairman", and Queen Khar, "The old trusted hand who stepped in and saved the day". 

In gratitude for their services and together with the rest of the board I hereby declare them to be honorary citizens of Southern Charm, with those citizenship's granted to them they are of course all now also royalty with princely titles. 

Another Try...

Dear @ebbealtberg (@SecondLife @LindenLab) can we expect a visit from you at the ongoing largest #LGBT #Pride celebration on the #Grid?
— Bock McMillan (@BockMcMillan) June 26, 2014

Please help getting the message across by retweeting if you are on Twitter.

A New "Names Project" for Second Pride

In response to a question from "someone who wants to be proud of pride" concerning the sad fact that there are no quilts on display this year either, chairman of Second Pride told the bitter truth: "Second Pride does not have control of the AIDS quilts. They are in the inventory of one person/avatar".

That avatar has apparently not come in-world for quite some time, so I am assuming that we can consider the previous memorial quilts as lost and unreachable.

I propose that we start anew. Although I do so without consulting anyone on the Second Pride board, I cannot imagine they will object. The quilts are important for so many of us and surely more than one on the present board.

What I am thinking is that those of us that wish to honor the memory of someone we have lost in the war against the plague creates a memorial quilt, either a new one or by just using a copy of one previously made and send it to the Second Pride Avatar.

The Second Pride avatar is an avatar created, by special dispensation from Linden Lab, for Second Pride mainly for financial purposes, but also to hold all possessions of Second Pride, buildings, landscaping, textures etc, for reuse at future Pride Celebrations.

The special thing about the Second Pride Avatar is that it, with Linden Lab's blessings, can be used by several people that each board decides and is passed from one  board to the next board that follows it.

The important thing here is that we will in the future not be dependent on one individual and whether or not that individual can or will log in.

I am sure it will be too late for this years festival, but we mean to stay on for a while, don't we? What do you guys and girls think? What does the present board think?

I have an old notecard concerning the size, prims and other specifications that I will post here a.s.a.p.

Please wait until we have an all clear for this new "Names Project" before you start sending in your quilts, I am sure none of us will wish to create havoc for the board at this time. They have enough on their hands already.

A Brave New Virtual World Is Underway

"Moment" Photography by Tomais Ashdene
(Totally unrelated to the subject of the post, but I couldn't find any suitable illustration)

The most sensational news yesterday - for those of us with a presence in virtual worlds - was undoubtedly Ebbe Altberg (a.k.a. Ebbe Linden in-world),  CEO of Linden Lab, confirmation that the lab is investing heavily in creating a new SecondLife.

The project is expected to take several years to accomplish. The new virtual world will not be constrained by the limitations that the existing SecondLife and "backward compatibility. Although there are some hopes for some levels of migration, given the new platform may well be revolutionary, rather than evolutionary, whether this will be possible , and at what level cannot at this time be determined." (Quote from "Living in a Modemworld")

There are already  many excellent summaries on this development on other blogs, so I will refer you to them.

New World Notes:
BREAKING: Linden Lab Confirms It's Building New Virtual World "Far Beyond What is Possible with Second Life" (Updated with Official Statement)

Living in a Modemworld: 
a) Ebbe confirms: “we’re working on a ‘next generation’ platform” (with audio) with an interview with Ebbe Linden
b) Lab: “We’re not giving up on Second Life”

Jo Yardley's Second Life: 
a) Linden Lab working on new virtual world
b) Linden Lab officially responds to the new virtual world story

Eddi & Ryce's Second Life:
Hear Ebbe Linden Make the Announcement of Linden Lab's New Virtual World Over at Inara Pey's Blog

Mona Eberhardt │ Living Virtualy:
Linden Lab working on Second Life’s successor?

A SLebrity Drops By

Yesterday evening, while I was taking selfies on how my eyes sink into my head when I am using poses, a male avatar dropped in almost right on top of me. Even without his name tag I would've recognized him at once, with all the brouhaha that has been going on about him the last couple of months in SecondLife.

"So, you motherfucking cocksucker, you finally deigned to pay me a visit after spending months on charming the asses off of Frau Jo Yardley and Miss Strawberry Singh and all those other important women in-world, huh? Now the time has come to charm the asses of a sweet and innocent gay man like me?", I said to him.

"Hahaha Bock, you fuckmented shitjizzle you! You know I love you and besides the ladies were nice and had important information to share, I know everything you have to say already because you have told me a thousand times the last seven years, even long before I accepted this job at Linden Lab."

"Well Ebbe, you could at least have told me you knew my Philip back then, I would only have asked to be introduced as one of his many loving residents."

"Don't be silly, Bock, you know exactly what would have happened if I had told you that or if I had introduced you to him. You would have gone all weak in the knees, start drooling and make his socks all wet while you lay drooling at his feet. Now come along, show me this beautiful sim of yours. I understand you have had it for a while."

As I took my old buddy on the long tour of Southern Charm and the buildings, we talked about everything that had happened to us since last we met and I told him the shortest version of my SecondLife.

While we were preparing to say good bye after an hour and a half, I remembered the most important thing and asked my friend for a picture for the blog. Being Ebbe he kindly acquiesced.

The Much Honored Bock McMillan, laird of Southern Charm etc. etc., and Ebbe Linden, CEO of Linden Lab

This post is also a reply to Elblin's challenge to me about using the words "fuckmented shitjizzle" in a sentence.

Mergers & Acquisitions (Updated)

"Linden Lab, the makers of SecondLife, announced today that it is in discussions with High Fidelity over merging the two companies and thus consolidating in anticipation of a future collaboration with or takeover bid from Facebook", the Financial Times reports, citing sources.

As Philip Rosedale, a.k.a. "our creator", Philip Linden or "my beloved Philip", has a major interest in both companies it is assumed that the discussions will go smoothly and a deal will be made before the end of the week.

According to the article  it is probable that Philip Rosedale will become the Chairman of the Board of the new company, while Ebbe Altman, a.k.a. Ebbe Linden, will remain as CEO.

Read the full article Financial Times: Linden Lab & High Fidelity to merge?.

More updates on this will be posted here, as soon as I learn more.

UPDATE April 2, 2014
This entire post is of course a fabrication, it was my attempt at trying to fool you on April Fools Day.

Fitted Mesh

Torley Linden tells us about fitted mesh, that will probably come in the main viewer with the next update and most likely with the TPV viewers soon too.

This will revolutionize the clothing industry. Thank you Linden Lab and all of the content creators who helped develop this amazing improvement to SecondLife!

Goodbye Rodvik!

Yesterday the part of the metaverse which focuses on SecondLife exploded with the news that Rod Humble, formerly known also known as Rodvik Linden, is no longer CEO of Linden Lab (The Makers of SecondLife).

This change first became known through a private message Rod sent to blogger Jo Yardley (Jo Yardley's Second Life (url)) on Facebook yesterday, where he informed her that he had "left Linden Lab last week". A short while later he posted the following message on his timeline on Facebook.

My first reaction to this rather surprising news was to check Linden Lab's (url) webpage, and sure enough, Rod Humble was no longer listed as one of the company's management.

It seemed rather amateurish to me that no official announcement about the change had been made - and still hasn't, but then I remembered that no announcement has ever been made by the company concerning my Philip - to some of you better known as Philip Rosedale - stepping down as Chairman of the Board. Linden Lab seems to really need someone with skills in communication.

However, I would like to thank Rod for all the improvements that have been made during his three years as CEO and  like my darling Sergeant of Arms sirhc DeSantis in a comment concerning the news on New World Notes (url) I say "Best of luck to (you Rod). Now...who wants to step up to be vilified next (because we are so supportive are we not =^^= )"

Ballooning at the Blake Sea (Updated with SLurl)

The invention of the GPS (Global Positioning System) and its adaptation and application for civilian use have improved my quality of life with at least 5%. It has saved me countless of hours of being lost and searching for the correct direction to go and of making excuses for being late.

I actually like getting lost sometimes, because then I get to go places and meet people I wouldn't have encountered otherwise, but most of the time I simply want to get from point A to point B as fast and easily as possible. Of course I have used written directions earlier and sometimes even maps, but it is so much easier to find your way with a GPS.

My lacking of sense of direction has undoubtedly stopped me from certain activities in first life, and perhaps even in SecondLife. 

 After the party at Whim - Part Deux yesterday evening Tomais suggested that we and Guyke should go ballooning. I was a little hesitant, but allowed myself to go along with the idea. Afterall "Home" is only a teleport away in SecondLife.

First we went to buy some amazing balloons. They were sold for L$10 and parachutes for L$0 by a fabulous creator who had left SecondLife after being dejected and upset by some changes Linden Lab had made to Marketplace. You can get the balloon and parachute here Abbotts Aeronautics (SLurl).

We promptly unpacked the balloons and Tomais took us to a location at the Blake Sea to start our adventure. First we simply had to - of course -texturize our balloons, which was easy with the beautiful textures that Tomais provided and a texture-HUD. (In the middle of the trip I felt adventurous enough to change my balloons texture to the McMillan tartan and Guyke changed textures too, which is why you see our balloons with different textures in the pictures.) That being done, we were ready for take off.

Tomais was an excellent instructor and was completely calm the whole time, although he himself crashed and had to relog in the middle of it all. He found us easily and hitched a ride on my balloon for the remainder of the trip. I felt very safe with his voice in my ears telling us how to maneuver the vessels, what speed and height to set and which direction to fly. 

A cute ass I happened to see over the sea 

Ah, I knew I recognized it!

We had a fantastic time up there in the air, but at some point we would have to land and I was a little worried about that part. What if I made a total fool of myself and landed us in the middle of the sea? Tomais shared some misadventures that had occurred the first times he had tried it, no doubt to take away some of our worries of feeling like fools.

Le Petit Prince

I needn't have worried though, because I did a perfect landing on the small island that Tomais had chosen, well apart from dunking the two of us in water briefly before hitting the designated landing spot dead-center. I was jubilant and elated over my fantastic achievement, Guyke was thrilled too because he also had a safe landing, but not as wonderful as mine. (I will never confess to Guyke, but between us I believe I had some really good beginners luck going for me there.)

Laird ❤ Linden Lab=True

So many improvements have been made in SecondLife over the last couple of years, that I have been thinking it was time to consider updating the landscaping at Southern Charm. As some of you may already know, the time lapse between me thinking of something to actually doing it is sometimes extremely long. However, at other instances, I just get tired with myself and do it right away.

Early yesterday I had been experimenting with my newly acquired snow HUD and Guyke, the Prince of Paradijs, had come over to assist me. I then realized that winterifying the landscaping convincingly would require so much more than just falling snow. The ground textures would also have to be changed and the all the trees and plants would need to be updated to the kind that change according to the seasons. It seemed rather overwhelming and I was a little hesitant.

The Prince of Paradijs started - ever so sweetly and subtly - informing me about the great developments that had been made by the gardeners and creators in later years to make trees "that don't look flat".

I let it slowly sink in and then I started asking him if he thought specific trees all over the place looked flat. Even if he tried his very best to be delicate about it, I came to the realisation that my son thought all my trees and plants were antiquated, flat and awful "even if they were once the best you could get...". My son is careful never to hurt my feelings and he knows how attached I am to Southern Charm, but I can always expect him to - eventually - tell me the truth.

Later Guyke and I were joined by my boyfriend Tomais and the three of us took a tour around the Arrival Area. "To hell with it", I thought to myself, and began returning or deleting trees as we went along. This is when I got called up by brother in-law Dej. "I see you're doing landscaping... if you have a moment could you remove some things here also", he said. My sweet Dej had been suffering for three years so I went over to his parcel and removed a load of ugly stuff.

After Guyke had left us to cater to Ziggy's needs and urges, and his own also no doubt, Tomais, Dej and I started looking for more eyesores to attend to. I then remembered the strange and ugly hill that was a remnant from when the sim had been subdivided into parcels, but now just looked weird. I asked Dej if he would mind if it was flattened out, he told me he would welcome it because he had always thought it looked strange.

Although I have never previously terraformed during my entire existence in SecondLife I thought, "How hard can it be, really, everyone else does it. You are the only one you know who leaves it to others. Come on, just do it!" Thought and done, I unblocked terraforming and started to level out the hill. I thought I was absolutely amazing at it and that it was really easy, even if I heard Dej talking to me in the background telling me to be careful.

A few minute later I looked at my work, It was astounding! The hill had been perfectly flattened. Unfortunately, as Dej and Tomais pointed out to me very kindly, the rest of the land all around us had been raised. The big lake on the sim was gone, the canals and waterways also and the seating at the Arrival Area was now under the ground. Hell and damnation what had I done!

"Call the Lindens for a rollback", I thought just as the other two suggested it. So I went on the SecondLife website and chatted with the kind Izzy Linden at customer support. He kindly informed me that I would need to submit a ticket about it. I did that promptly and told them that I had experienced a terraforming disaster, as I had not heeded by wise brother in-law Dejerrity Mycron's warnings to be careful.

With the holiday weekend and all I was not expecting anything to happen before Monday, but lo and behold, within five minutes of submitting the ticket I got a message from the wonderful and clever Elijah Linden that the sim was going to restart in five minutes.

As I told Tomais and Dej, the Lindens know that I love them and this shows they love me back. I would not be surprised if they actually have my portrait up in the company lunchroom right next to my darling Philip Linden's.

Izzy Linden and Elijah Linden have definitely made my Holiday cards list this year for their courteous and speedy assistance!

I Signed Up With Philip

After reading about this on my bosom buddy Apmel Goosson's blog "My Avatar's Name is Apmel" I signed up to become an alpha tester on Philip Rosedale's new project High Fidelity.

The man, the myth, the legend Philip Rosedale (previously a.k.a. Philip Linden), as you all should know, is the original creator of SecondLife, who after leaving Linden Lab has now go on to create another wonderful new world.

Where my Philip goes, I follow! (This by no means implies that I will ever leave SecondLife before they pull the plug on it in San Francisco.)
____

The Idea
We're building a new virtual world enabling rich avatar interactions driven by sensor-equipped hardware, simulated and served by devices (phones, tablets and laptops/desktops) contributed by end-users.

The Matter
Voxels. We're making a strategic bet that rich computer rendering is heading there. Imagine an experience with cubes of many different sizes, with the ability to scale them down to a seamless molecular fabric. Now imagine these building blocks manifesting complex physical properties.

Finally, imagine that world extending visibly to vanishing points like our world does today, enabling you to see your house, your neighborhood, distant mountains, and other planets in the sky. We believe computing power and network transmission speeds are evolving to make such a world possible, represented by a sparse voxel octree data structure.

____

Read all about the new project here: High Fidelity
And when you visit that webpage, please, oh please, make sure to click the sound players under each of the team members, especially Philip!

Schadenfreude

Schadenfreude is by Wikipedia defined as the "pleasure derived from the misfortunes of others. (...) It is the feeling of joy or pleasure when one sees another fail or suffer misfortune." 

In Swedish we even have a cynical proverb that goes "schadenfreude is the only true joy".

The reason I thought of this word and the Swedish expression was that I got an offline message from SecondLife in my email today. The message was from a person that I have considered a friend for the last three years, but the message and the glee in it made me wonder if the friendship is perhaps only one-sided.

My friend tells me in his message that he "supposes that (I) know what (my) choice for Second Pride (chairperson) has done?" 

He is of course referring to the recent rumors circulating in the gay section of SecondLife, especially those of us in some way affiliated to Second Pride. The rumors make the following claims:

1. Three of the Folsom-sims have been shut down recently by Linden Lab due to unpaid tier. The three sims belonged to Damian Tar, the chairperson of Second Pride.

2. Damian Tar has been collecting tier from those living on the sims during the last months, but has still failed to in turn pay tier to Linden Lab.

3. Damian Tar, who has previously claimed to be sick in pneumonia, is now believed to be abroad and is therefor not available to comment or speak up for himself in this matter.

To my friend and everyone else, I would like to say the following. I am not going to pass judgement on Damian Tar without hearing what he has to say in his defence. Admittedly, the accusations are serious and I am not at all sure any explanations will clarify things enough to remove doubts concerning his suitability to remain as chairman of Second Pride. Nonetheless, I am anxiously waiting to hear what he may have to say in this matter, if and when he returns.

So as to alleviate any doubts on why I supported Damian Tar in the election of chairperson for Second Pride let me say this. Yes its true, Damian was by no means an ideal candidate. However, truth be told, given the choice between the two available candidates for chairperson in the election I had no other option but to support Damian Tar. I have had no reason to regret my choice in anyway whatsoever. Up until this latest development I also truly believe that Damian has handled himself as well as could be expected in the difficult circumstances.

Strange Messages

Lately when I log in to Second Life I have been getting these messages (see image). On these occasions I do not get the inworld IMs or notices that I have been able to see in my mail.



When I relog I am mostly OK and don't get the message and everything works perfectly.

"It grows mysteriouser and mysteriouser", as Alice said in Wonderland.

I have reported the issue to customer support to Linden Lab and am looking forward to hear from them soon.