Picture of the Day - 373

"shine on and on.........." by Lara

If you wish to see more of Lara's photography, please visit her Flickr photostream here.

Mitzi's Dilemma

Sorry but this post turned out longer than I had wished, but I hope you will consider reading it and responding anyhow.

A moral dilemma is a situation where: 

1) You are presented with two or more actions, all of which you have the ability to perform.

2) There are moral reasons for you to choose each of the actions.

3) You cannot perform all of the actions and have to choose which action (or actions when there are three or more choices) to perform.

---
The background
SecondLife is an immersive 3D virtual reality world that is owned and operated by Linden Lab. In this world people can create one - or more accounts. Once the accounts have been created they can be logged in-world as residents.

The residents can interact with each other in almost every conceivable way and through more than two but less than three of their five senses (the full exceptions being smelling and tasting, whereas "touching" can sort-of be achieved). 

However, apart from breaches of the Terms of Service (ToS) for SecondLife (which all residents have to accept on login) Linden Lab is not a party to and cannot resolve disputes between residents. There are no laws and no judicial system to solve disputes between residents, other than their own personal ethics and morals. 

Introduction of the participants

Mitzi and Barbie have both been residents in SecondLife for eight years. They are acquainted with each other, but have never really had much to do with one another except some friendly interaction at social events.

Mitzi has chosen a life on the sidelines which is mainly concerned with her lover, her family and her friends. Alongside that Mitzi has a passion for gardening and landscaping and is a member of an in-world garden society, "The SecondGarden". Mitzi has a blog where she gives an account of her life and experiences.

Barbie, on the other hand, is a high profiled business woman and entrepreneur and has been involved in a land owning company and many major events and business ventures. She is a well known and respected woman. Barbie also has a blog where she promotes her events and ventures and recounts her life and experiences,

The deal

SecondGarden annually hosts a huge inworld event for it's membership and everyone else who may be interested in participating. Due to the size of the event the society needs more than it's regular sim to organize the event.

At a late date Mitzi learns that the society is having problems acquiring support from it's previous supporters for the use of an additional sim and offers to step in. She starts looking into the problem, but as it all is a strange and new territory for her and time is short. Mitzi therefor comes to think of Barbie, whom she believes must be familiar with similar issues through her previous business and large scale events. 

Mitzi and Barbie have an amicable chat and Barbie agrees to help in renting a sim for the soon upcoming event. They agree on the following:

1. The sim is to be rented for six (6) weeks at L$19,000 per week (4 weeks before the event, 1 week for the event and 1 week for cleanup)

2. The cost of moving the sim prior to and after the event, L$37,500 (both ways).

3. The sim to be delivered as soon as possible. (Barbie assures Mitzi that this should only take a few days.)

Mitzi pays Barbie the full costs of the arrangement, L$151,500, and thanks her profusely for her kind assistance in the matter.

Ensuing events

The sim is not delivered to SecondGarden until some 10-12 days later. This doesn't bother Mitzi too much as she believes that it could be due to some mess up in communications and actions for which Barbie is not solely responsible.

On the last day of the event Mitzi wakes up to find a barrage of emails informing her that the sim she has rented through Barbies kind assistance has been closed and no one can get in. Mitzi tries to get in contact with Barbie to have the issue solved, both on social media and inworld without success. 

When nothing is heard from Barbie during several hours, Mitzi instead contacts the land owning company directly and asks for information about how she can solve the problem.

The company informs her that the rent for the last six days have not been paid (nor for the clean up week). When Mitzi asks if she can solve the issue by paying the arrears (the back rent) and for the coming week on behalf of Barbie, the company kindly acquiesced to let her do so. The sim was opened again immediately afterwards and the closing ceremonies could continue as planned.

When paying the arrears and for the coming week Mitzi sees that the cost is not L$19,000 a week, but L$17,777. This in itself doesn't bother Mitzi as she assumes that Barbie has gotten a better deal than the going rate due to her previous dealings with the company. 

However, Mitzi doesn't feel that it is fair that she should pay for the two weeks twice and asks Barbie to reimburse her for the additional costs of L$35,554.

No reimbursement has been made and Barbie no longer responds to messages from Mitzi on social media or inworld.

The dilemma

Mitzi feels she has two choices in the current situation.

1. To forget all about it and go on with her happy life and avoiding all future contact or dealings with Barbie, after all the amount is really not that substantial and it is mostly her own fault for not having protected her interests better.

2. To write about the incident on her blog and name Barbies name, show the proofs she has collected for her case (transaction records, chat logs etc.) and warn everyone from future business with Barbie, after all the amount is not insignificant and Barbies actions show poor business ethics. 

What do you think Mitzi should do and why?
Please leave your thoughts in the comments. 

Lucy B's Barnyard Bash

Ms. Lucretia Brandenburg cordially invites you all to Lucy B's Barnyard Bash today at 5 PM SLT

DJ: Hottie B Lockjaw
Host: Nikolai Warden

Your hayride to Lucy's Barnyard Bash (SLurl)

Please do not forget to compliment the delightful Ms. Lucy on her luscious, but still deliciously firm and decidedly perky ass. If you dare not do so on your own behalf, you may quote me.

I may be there, if I get enough naps in before...

Keep Safe with Tom of Finland

I don't usually run first life product advertisements, but once in a while I may be convinced to do so without monetary gain.

Nonetheless, when this press release from Jalo Helsinki appeared in my email, I knew I simply had to run it.

Tom of Finland and Jalo Helsinki are ready when things start getting hot at home

"Finnish fire safety company Jalo Helsinki and Tom of Finland Foundation have teamed up to create a new line of red-hot fire safety products. Four of Tom of Finland’s iconic drawings will appear on Jalo Helsinki’s fire blankets, raising the temperature on interior design goods.

The blankets can extinguish small fires, but while there are no flames, users can have Tom’s art on display to enjoy, within easy reach and in case of emergency.

“A fire blanket by nature is quite a practical application, but we also want it to be beautiful and meaningful beyond its primary function” says Olli Nuutila, CEO of Jalo Helsinki. “By launching, we want to communicate Tom of Finland’s message of love, respect, tolerance and freedom through display of our fire safety products” he adds. 

The Jalo Helsinki team worked with Tom of Finland Foundation in Los Angeles to identify inspiring and iconic drawings to grace the fire blanket covers. Dubbed The Leader, The Aviator, The Hero and The Dog are quintessential examples of the Finnish artist’s work featuring men depicted as powerful, distinctive and unafraid - notions that ran counter to the prevailing sentiment in the late 1950s when Tom of Finland drawings first started appearing.

“This collection of fire blankets is a wonderful hybrid between art and design, and further elevates Tom’s work to heroic proportions. We are honored to partner with Jalo Helsinki in making Tom’s drawings and message easily reachable and always available.“ says S.R. Sharp, Curator at Tom of Finland Foundation.

“When we started our collaboration project with Finnish designers and artists - some iconic, some emerging - we knew that we wanted Tom of Finland on the list. He represents freedom, pride, and promotes a respectful attitude towards other people. His body of work embodies this universal message that we also stand for as a company” says Nuutila.

Jalo Helsinki’s fire blankets comply with EU fire safety standard EN 1869:1997 and are available to buy online through the Jalo Helsinki shop."

Press contact:

Olli Nuutila,

CEO & Co-founder

 olli@jalohelsinki.fi

+358 40 578 0109

Media Kit

About Jalo Helsinki Jalo Helsinki is a Finnish design company turning fire safety products into beautiful design objects and improving user experience with the help of internationally famous designers. The company’s current products range from smoke alarms to fire blankets. Jalo Helsinki was founded in 2009 and is headquartered in Helsinki, Finland. More information: www.jalohelsinki.com

About Tom of Finland/Tom of Finland Foundation (Touko Laaksonen, Finnish 1920 - 1991), is the creator of some of the most iconic and readily recognizable imagery of post-war gay culture and is regarded as one of the 20th century’s most influential artists. He produced thousands of images beginning in the 1940s, robbing straight homophobic culture of its most virile and masculine archetypes (bikers, hoodlums, lumberjacks, cops, cowboys, and sailors) and recasting them through deft skill and imagination - unapologetic, self-aware, and boastfully proud enthusiasts of gay sex.

In 1984, the nonprofit Tom of Finland Foundation was established by Durk Dehner and Touko Laaksonen. As Tom had established worldwide recognition as the master of homo-erotic art, the Foundation’s original purpose was to preserve his vast catalog of work. Several years later the scope was widened to offer a safe haven for all art in response to rampant discrimination against work that portrayed sexual behavior or generated a sexual response. Today the Foundation continues in its efforts of educating the public as to the cultural merits of erotic art and in promoting healthier, more tolerant attitudes about sexuality. More information: www.tomoffinlandfoundation.org

Picture of the Day - 372

"Rub your nose on my finger" by Leonorah Beverly

If you wish to see more of Leonorah's photography, please visit her Flickr photostream here.

I'm Not Complaining

We Swedes spend nine-ten months a year wishing and longing for warmer weather, so we don't feel that we have any right to complain when it actually gets - perhaps, maybe - a teeny bit too hot for us coldblooded Northerners.

Pietro Boselli demonstrates how to dress during the heatwave (well expect for the socks...)

The last couple of days we have been hit by a heatwave of temperatures up to 30° C (≈90° F). Which is way more than we ever wished for, whereas 20-25° C would have been absolutely perfect (or to use the splendid Swedish word for it "lagom", i.e. just right, not too much, not too little, simply perfect)

If you go out on the town these days you will often hear "Not that I wish to complain, but..." or "If we had a little breeze it would be so much better, not that I am complaining mind you...".

I agree with them, but for the love of humanity don't for a second think that I am complaining.