It Isn´t Rocket Science

Kids can do it well, so can you if you only try!

Hey excuse me, but I am Swedish and hugging is our favorite pastime. We hug a lot, no one is safe anywhere.

I am getting totally disheartened by the lousy and sloppy hugging going on in SecondLife. I have only met two outstanding huggers, my Ars and my son in-law Janttu. Guyke is getting much better - much thanks to Janttu´s training , I am sure - and so is my brother in-law Andrey, but the rest of you desperately need lessons.

It really isn´t rocket science, as the headline states. Hugging just takes a bit of concentration and knowing who does what. So here is a short excerpt from the "Hugging 101" class at "The Lairds School of Animation" (a part of the BMcM Corporation)

1. Someone sends you an invitation to hug.(Sending the invitation and standing still is pretty much what the hugger needs to do.)
2. Check - and double check - who you the hug and decide if you want to hug the person or not.
3. If you do not want to hug that person, click the "Decline"-button and say something nice about why not in local chat. (I cannot stress enough - nice!)
4. If you however decide to accept the hug, follow these steps
a) Locate the person who wants to hug you.
b) Go stand in front of that person.
c) Make sure you line up properly and squarely in front of that person (not sideways, but facing them directly).
d) Check - and double check - that your AO (Animation Overrider) and any dance-HUD is turned off..
e) NOW - and not before - is the time to click the "Accept"-button.
f) Enjoy the hug, do not rush through it or stop it prematurely. Just go with the feeling. (If you feel that 1-2 minutes of your precious time is too much to sacrifice, it is better to decline the hug than cutting it short.)

Please note:
1. It is always the huggee´s privilege to decide whether or not they want to join in a hug or not but it is also the huggee´s responsibility to make sure that it turns out well by following the measures above.
2. The guidelines given above work for all animations in SecondLife (kissing, dancing, f**king and getting bitten by noob-vampires, whatever).
3. To avoid the noob-vampires, get the Garlic Necklace. Wear it and click the appropriate button and then take it off. You are now pretty safe from the noob vampires. (If you cannot find that necklace, send me an IM and I will send it to you.)

Hugs are healing!

Attaboy Rodvik!

Video streaming by Ustream

This video from the SecondLife Community Conference this year.(SLCC 2011) is going completely viral on the SecondLife blogs. It shows Rod Humble, CEO of Linden Lab (in our world better known as Rodvik Linden) giving his keynote speech.

Noob Rodvik is actually starting to gain my confidence. I like what I hear him say in this speech. Testing and bug-fixing are a priority for him, as are lag, usability and added value features for the paying customers.

Best thing is that Rodvik reveals he doesn't much like the Viewer 2 either and actually hates the sidebar like many of the rest of us!

Keep this up Rodvik and you may become my second favorite CEO. There is no one that can beat my dreamer Philip Linden, but they can come pretty damned close.

I Persist

Art by Stina Sunnesson

There I did a remake of my blog, just for the hello of it, and as you can all see I am persisting in staying away from the oh so popular black and gray themes on blogs.

I prefer the blog to be light, the background to the posts to be white for easier reading and I like green, so enjoy! (I may come to the conclusion that the background is too distracting in the long run but lets wait and see...)

I Switched To The Firestorm Viewer

I have been reluctant to switch from the Phoenix viewer because it has worked wonderfully for me. I have very seldom experienced crashes and almost never felt any lag expect when that must be expected.

Well with all the talk about mesh coming and how important it was to get ready for that change I finally dared to take the big step, especially after watching Jessica Lyon video tutorial four (4) times about how to configure the Firestorm to look like viewer 1. I also remembered the praises for Firestorm by my friends Ziggy Starsmith, my regular tech-head Vampi Twine-DeSantis and Sven Idyll.

So far everything seems to be working as promised, and I have all my stuff back in their regular locations on my screen. Next thing will be to see how it works for me when I am doing my thing, but I´ll leave that for another day.

What Are Words - Chris Medina

I thank my sister Millimina Salamander for pointing me towards this song.

"What Are Words" - lyrics by Chris Medina
Anywhere you are, I am near
Anywhere you go, I'll be there
Anytime you whisper my name, you'll see
How every single promise I keep
Cuz what kind of guy would I be
If I was to leave when you need me most

What are words
If you really don't mean them
When you say them
What are words
If they're only for good times
Then they don't
When it's love
Yeah, you say them out loud
Those words, They never go away
They live on, even when we're gone

And I know an angel was sent just for me
And I know I'm meant to be where I am
And I'm gonna be
Standing right beside her tonight

And I'm gonna be by your side
I would never leave when she needs me most

What are words
If you really don't mean them
When you say them
What are words
If they're only for good times
Then they don't
When it's love
Yeah, you say them out loud
Those words, They never go away
They live on, even when we're gone

Anywhere you are, I am near
Anywhere you go, I'll be there
And I'm gonna be here forever more
Every single promise I keep
Cuz what kind of guy would I be
If I was to leave when you need me most

I'm forever keeping my angel close

DJ Arcy at The Sanctuary

DJ Arc in the booth with his hot bodyguards in front

Just as my usual Friday night coma was about to set in I got the call from The Sanctuary club that Arcangelo Hellman (DJ Arcy), was about to start his set. I have always liked his music so I decided to go over for a while.

The Sanctuary is a deconsecrated church building (or perhaps it was never consecrated) and a is a beautiful venue with stained glass church windows.

Although the trance music was great and the company pleasant my sleep deprivation finally caught up with me after an hour and I had to leave.

Go Berserk at Vadstena Festival

My friend the always creative Ewa Aska invites us to the Vadstena Festival tomorrow! The festival has a Viking theme.

A "Berserker" was a Viking warrior who fought with wild ferocity. In the berserker fighting tradition the warriors take on the spirit of bears whilst foaming at the mouth and gnawing on the edges of their shields. It is the source of the Vikings' reputation of ferocity.

I don´t expect any battles tomorrow, but the dancing will be ferocious I am sure!

As for the theme, I have the most wonderful helmet from Gryphon Lair that should work well, but not much else. Hmmm, I wonder if I dare go to the party only wearing a helmet...?