Life

"Listen with an open mind, but don't try to remember this stuff. There's no quiz at the end." Jack Kornfield







Tuesday, June 28, 2011

"I, AVATAR" & why SL ain't easy. Plus Miso day... Nooblets...

*******************************Where we come from***************************
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Wow! Just noticing the date of the last post, rare that this much time goes by without these pages calling my name.
More than a few things that have been going on in all my lives.
Several new people have come into my virtual world this past week or so...
Some came and went quickly, and I always wonder what happens to them.
One has come and is one of those joys that I see infrequently.
Another I spent a couple of days with... and because of either cultural differences or a clue pointed out by a friend of mine that maybe this nooblet's too stoned to be able effectively do Secondlife, I had to let that one go off on her own. Sad too, She was one that is a classic example of how new users, if they don't quickly "fit in", are subjected to less than a friendly environment. She had left a mike open while her music was playing in the background and the people at the Violet Infohub were verbally abusive to her.
 One day old, (Way to go Violet... running the new ones off doesn't help Secondlife)

A day or so ago I received an invitation to a surprise party for my friend Miso... a celebration of Miso Day!
What a great party... I wasn't able to remain long, but I was thrilled to be invited.
Miso has been around virtual worlds for a very long time and we had a chat some weeks ago about her history with the earliest worlds. During our talk she had mentioned, "The Well", and while that name was somehow  fuzzily familiar, I guess I filed it away as stuff barely heard... 'till yesterday.
One of the first things I did after joining Seconlife was to purchase some of the books written about Secondlife and this entire thing about avatars.
Enter the book, "I Avatar", by Mark Stephen Meadows.
There was a reference to The Well... along with a ton of other information.
I didn't find, "I Avatar" a quick read... obviously... because a reread has shown me so much information, information that I saw before but had no reference point for it.
One good example can explain why Secondlife will never be easy:
I don't care what viewer The Benevolent Monarchy gives us...
I don't care how "basic" they make that viewer... the very thing that makes Secondlife as we see it be what we want is exactly the thing that will preclude "easy".
A brief quote from "I Avatar" page 15:

"Please note the difference in number of users and complexity of avatar:
290 million for the simplest kind of control-only avatar:
25 million for the next simplest (the customized, yet not controlled):
10 million for the most complex of avatars that requires the highest technical skill (in The World of Warcraft)"

control only...chat rooms. FailBook?
customized... Sims Online?
most complex... World of Warcraft?

To that I will add Secondlife avatars. Remember, Mr. Meadows copyrighted his book in 2008 and the text seems to indicate it was compiled during 2006 and 2007... the heyday of Secondlife.

In the next day or so I will link to and interview on Massively with Rod Humble. Few in any world have greater credentials in on line gaming than Mr. Humble. He found Secondlife to be a challenge.
Secondlife as we know and love it will never be easy.

This past week I really tried with the nooblet I said was a joy to mentor... I rezzed and alt using spewer 2.7.
I worked with her for nearly a week every day trying to allow her to use that viewer. Last evening I had her download a TPV... now I don't log chat, I wish I did. You will have to take my word... her response on relog with a TPV?   "WOW! This looks so much easier! Is there anything hidden?"
[Heh heh...only the advanced menue dear, and there's a reason its not default!] =^..^=

And so it goes
My love to you all, brinda
Namaste
नमस्ते

Post Script...
Just looking at sitemeter and where we come from... guess it's time to start adding a fourth image and occaisionaly just a post of images only.
Again, I'm humbled that you readers come from literally all over the world.

1 comment:

  1. Brinda, the party was awesome because of the friendship and people involved :)

    The WELL was The Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link. It was an amazing place, where you could chat with Brian Eno, Thomas Dolby, Stewart Brand, John Perry Barlow and many other amazing people. It was great in that you could telnet there from a local BBS to save long-distance charges, offered shell accounts and email and was a formative influence in the early net (pre-WWW). It's still up and running :)

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