Brinda@Benares

Taking a break...

2011-07-20T22:50:00.000-07:00

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It's been two weeks... and I so miss writing this blog.

I had mentioned previously that I wasn't feeling that well.... =^..^= & it didn't get any better!

I will try to post here next week... just can't do it now.

Benares will continue... Benares is more than coordinates on a Linden grid... it's more than me.

And so it goes

I love you all, brinda

Namaste

नमस्ते

AlexHayden and "Bliss"... the measure of a bargain

2011-07-06T18:18:00.000-07:00

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Apologies for any delays in posting... I've not felt well RL for sometime now. [My mother has told me that getting old "ain't for sissies".]
Anyway...
There are several stories about whether any news we ever get is "good news".
Nearly a week ago I received an Email from AlexHayden that he was going to leave Benares. While he didn't elaborate, I did gather that a lot of real life things going on just weren't going to allow him the time to spend in-world. A measure of the kind of person Alex is is demonstrated by the way he handled all of this.
He gave me nearly half a months notice... very apologetically I might add, and one of his concerns was whether we could find someone that would retain the parcel name. The South East corner of Benares East was named "Bliss" by Andor Diechter a long time ago, and residents ever since have kept the name.
No worries Alex... As soon as Caro, who used to have that parcel, learned it was coming up she IMed me explaining her desire to have "Bliss" again.
Done.
Is there good news? I offer yes...the true measure of a bargain is if everyone ends up getting something.

AlexHaydens "Bliss"
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AlexHayden...
Alex will return someday... just another reason for me to continue my promise to be here if I can.
Will I miss Alex? Absolutely. He's promised to continue his blog:
http://walkingwithavatars.wordpress.com/
And I will look forward to keeping in touch.

Mucaro...
Caro has always remained in our Benares heart. She has been a continuing presence in mentoring those that come to Secondlife with various disabilities and has worked with the Virtual Abilities group since her earliest days. I am blessed to have her as a friend.

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

नमस्ते

Finally Free...But why did it happen....

2011-07-03T13:11:00.000-07:00

This will be a very short post... today it's difficult to see the screen through the tears.
Freedom... he was finally set free.

No images of where we come from today....
Nothing about Secondlife today...

I guess if I could pray for anything, it's that those responsible not get the death penalty.
You will have to trust me on this...
Those that did this will never be able to walk the yard, they will remain in "protective custody"... their own private 'dog cage' as long as they live.
I wish them a very long life.

http://ow.ly/5vPmP or

http://www.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/07/03/greene.boy.missing/index.html?eref=mrss_igoogle_cnn

Does Rod Humble "get" the Secondlife Culture? I think so...

2011-06-30T15:44:00.000-07:00

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Rod Humble.
Can he turn Secondlife around?
I don't mean financially, both he and Linden Lab tell us that Secondlife is currently both financially stable as well as profitable.
In these last few days I've been reading some of Inara Peys blog posts. She has brought forward a couple of interviews conducted recently with Mr. Humble.
In the interest of a bit of bevity let me just drop in the URLs here:

Living in the Modem World... http://modemworld.wordpress.com/
http://modemworld.wordpress.com/2011/06/24/rodvik-talks-about-birthdays-and-second-life/
http://modemworld.wordpress.com/2011/06/30/rodvik-virtual-goods-and-lls-profitability/

The "Rodvik talks about"... is a 34 minute audio interview via Massively... worth taking 34 minutes of your time.
The last link is where he discusses Linden Lab profitability, and perhaps the monetary future.

When I ask the question, "Can he turn Secondlife around?" I don't mean financially... I mean culturally.
In very recent times we've had a CEO that seemed to believe that there was no Secondlife culture.
Not that Secondlife had no art, music, poetry, or creativity... Secondlife has all of that and yes that is culture, but that isn't "The Secondlife Culture", or it isn't for myself and a lot of others.
I suspect it's difficult if not impossible to initiate a corporate identity, a corporate culture, from the bottom up.
No matter how dedicated the receptionist or the mail room clerk... they can't influence those at the very top.
Conversely those at the top do have that power, and those recently at the top allowed, if not encouraged the rank and file below them to view us, their customers, as just a necessary evil to be dealt with as summarily as possible.
Get the money and ignore.
Part of the problem was we started going away... we took our money and our culture with us.
I and so many others repeatedly talk about the current state of how difficult it can be for new users.
I continue to believe that leaving new people alone... dumped into and increasingly, at least verbally, hostile world is no success story.
Why not return to what worked pretty darned well for six years, work on what wasn't done as well as it could have been... the basics there were working better than what we have now.

Numbers?
10,000 new people are born every day in the USA, a country of 360 million people.
16,000 new people everyday join Secondlife... and traditionally our retention rate is around 15%.
That's not 15% that come to our world and become a part of.... that's 15% that perhaps log in a few times.

When I read what Mr. Humble says... when I listen to what he says, I sense that he "gets it".
I sense that he sees the Secondlife culture and believes in it.
I want to believe that he can turn those under him around. The key is to convince those employees that what we have in Secondlife is unprecedented and that instead of perhaps just focusing on the paycheck and time clock, embracing this Secondlife culture might well improve how they feel about their job and who knows, maybe someday improve their bank accounts.
I'm sure that on any Friday afternoon when all someone has done all darned day is struggle through lines of code looking for a killer bug or have just spent and inordinate amount of time trying to placate and unreasonable customer the last thing they're thinking of is the Secondlife culture and what a fantastic, (and at least for me), once in a lifetime opportunity our Secondlife world can be.

I will continue to dream... and I know I'm not alone in this dream.
And so it goes
My love to you all, brinda
Namaste

नमस्ते

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

2011-06-28T12:25:00.000-07:00

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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.

FailBook, Unix, DOS, Commodore 64... connected how?

2011-06-22T18:55:00.000-07:00

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OK... I know a few of my readers either don't have a TV... or if they do own one, they never watch it.
I confess, living alone my TV runs constantly, now I don't actively "watch" it that often , I use it as background noise. But even as background noise I've noticed a fair amount of references to FailBook.
"Friend us on Failbook" is a common plea in more than a few commercials.
With more than and estimated 700 million reported users world wide, FailBook is arguably the single most successful entrepreneurial enterprise ever created, and with that popularity there's no doubt why Linden Lab would choose to attempt to ride that bandwagon in their constant push for new account signups.

"San Francisco, we have a problem".
Secondlife doesn't have a new user sign up problem.
Secondlife has a new user retention problem.
Perhaps the "Boys" are attempting to follow the old Fuller Brush business model. For those of you too young to remember Fuller Brush, they ran a door to door cold call business selling various brushes for home use.
The companies marketing philosophy was simple... the more doors one knocked on, the more brushes you sold. Sound familiar? The more people sign up for Secondlife, the more stay?
It doesn't work that way, any idiot can use a brush... Secondlife will never be easy.

I'm starting to see a lot of articles about Failbook and how certainly the USA user base is falling.
{Curious? Search: FailBook user base shrinking.}
Has FailBook passed its peak? I'm reminded of how a friend of mine is still paying AOL for email services.
AOL passed it's peak a long time ago....
My Space passed it's peak...
Unix, DOS, Commodore 64, all are gone.
Buggy whips as well.

FailBooks time will pass. Attempting to hook Secondlife to Failbook is short sighted in my opinion.
There is a chasm between these two platforms. Where one can get tired of reading what someone has posted on their FailBook wall.... Secondlife and other virtual worlds are open ended. There is no finish line in virtual worlds... only ones creative genius.
Come on guys, let's don't screw this up.

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

नमस्ते

News from the Edge of Secondlife

2011-06-20T19:41:00.000-07:00

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Heh heh, news from the edge (remember Gary Larson the cartoonist and his "Far Side" cartoons?) That's sometimes how I feel. {See below, can't remember where I collected this... but it's often how I feel} [This isn't by Larson]

I've mentioned before that one criteria I use to measure any success at Benares is whether those that have to leave us return. That other life we all have required Otto to leave us for a few months... Vic called me a couple days ago informing me that Otto had returned and wanted a parcel. Welcome back Otto!

More news from the edge... My so loved adopted Secondlife daughter Lala graduated last week from University in Bucharest Romania. I got photos as well as a video of a speech she did in front of the students, faculty, and a lot of parents. I couldn't be anymore proud were she my blood... Lala was my very first friend here.

More...
While demonstrating to someone that land parcels self limit prims, I logged in and alt I hadn't used in some time. As soon as Leee entered the world, I saw and IM from another longtime friend of four years Katina Cazalet. Katina and I haven't been face to face for years... and yet it's not uncommon for one or the other of us to send a simple, "Meow" **hugs**, sometimes months may go by between, but we still treasure that we started this journey so long ago.

I've been working quite a bit with Anna, our newest. Working with new people constantly reminds me just how much there is to learn in Secondlife.
Downloaded the Firestorm viewer... I absolutely hate learning curves, that viewer does address a lot of my complaints about spewer 2 point ought oh. I guess it's something I read some years ago here though, devs develop... that's their job. Look at prince Phillip... soon as the initial "fun" was over with Secondlife he drifted away.
Did attempt to log in with 1.23.5 this evening... guessing it's now gone. It's been a long time since 1.14.0.

And so it goes
My love to all, brinda
Namaste

नमस्ते

Post Script June 21st:
Either I totally screwed up last evening... or Google ate about half of my post.

{And Google Chrome wanted to know why I was uninstalling that browser....pffft}

Are You Poor? Are you Grateful?

2011-06-16T16:51:00.000-07:00

*************These are not representative of blog readers as I usually publish**********

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The three most dangerous words in my vocabulary...."I've Been Thinking"!
Actually I do a lot of that and my latest thoughts have been concerned with gratitude.
Gratitude is apparently and often forgotten feeling for the vast majority of us.

First, there are no poor people in Secondlife... well, let me qualify that. There are no poor people in Secondlife that are using a computer they own and connecting to broadband with a connection they pay for.
Yes, some of us are financially more affluent, but no one here is poor.
No one is living in a mud hut, or yet worse... simply lying down at night to sleep where ever tiredness finds you.
If you are very young, or if you skipped geography in school, a brief primer.
Using metrics from the countries I'm familiar with, the average income in India is approximately $800USD a year or roughly 100 rupees a day, Bangladesh is a little bit lower. A person with and IT degree that would earn upwards of $80,000USD a year in the USA can expect around one fourth of that in Delhi.
Still terribly common is the practise of maiming children so as to make them more successful as beggars. While usually done by criminals that have abducted the children, it still happens to the children of those maimed years ago.
You can't beg well?... starve.

I don't bring the above numbers up to denigrate in anyway the countries I mentioned... while I've not visited Bangladesh, I have gone to India and I tell any that will listen that I love India and the people.
India was a life changing experience for me.
I do mention those figures to demonstrate how ungrateful so many of us in virtual worlds can be, myself included.

I believe that the vast majority of the people in Secondlife never read the forums... they never read what we write in these blogs... they go on, happily or not... oblivious to all we whine and moan about.
Those are the ones that come to Secondlife to have fun, to enjoy themselves, to forget the kids, cars, grass that needs mowing, the boss at work that's and ass. That's how I was my first year and a half or so.
No politics.
Now there are a few of us that do invest a lot of time, creative skills, as well as money in virtual worlds.
Why? Why does someone like myself pay The Benevolent Monarchy nearly $6,000 USD a year?
I started wondering just how many people actually make any money in Secondlife, since a lot of the constant rant about what the "boys" do to our experience seems often to be linked to whether we are free to do as we please, be that crossing sims un impeded, using group chat successfuly, being able to find our content in search, or being upstaged via off world content sales ran by the company.

My first call was to Crap Mariner, I appreciate his involvement in our world and I know first hand how it is to run a small estate. I did find that CMs experience is much like mine... more about that in a minute.
My next call was to Tateru Nino, She always has a good view of most Secondlife metrics.
My question to her was did she have any information on how many people in Secondlife actually made enough money to cover their time. I was thinking 40 hours a week (which I certainly come close to) and an income of $45,000USD from either content sales or land sales. That number is achievable, go back and look at the furor over the 'Red Zone' stuff... that guy make a killing!
With her permission here's the salient part of her email response:

"The closest I can come to a figure is looking at the last positive monthly Linden flow data, which showed about 220 users or so with a positive flow of over 5000 USD.
A quick guess for how many are making 45K or over would then be "under 200". A slightly less quick guess would be "under 50". But I can't really back that up... it could be "under 5" for all I know."

For me... and I think for CM... we come in world, we pay tier... {most all of that tier is covered by our estate residents} and we do it because it's fun. It is a way to meet people we wouldn't otherwise meet, a way to establish friendships all over the world.
I've mentioned before that most of my computer basics were taught to me by Twinkle Villota.
Twinkle is from Bangladesh.
Poly is from the middle part of the USA... she took over where Twinkle left off.
Without her skills I would never have had the skills to run and estate.
I have friends from places in the world I will never be able to visit and that, to me is priceless.

Am I thrilled with some of what The Benevolent Monarchy does? NO!
Am I going to leave? NO! I plan on being here as long as the servers are on.
Do I need to perhaps change my attitude? YES!
You see, Secondlife has also been a life changing experience.
I need to remember to live in the now, to grateful that I am not poor and never was.
I need to learn to accept the gift that each of you gives me... remember, my chances of meeting anyone of you are around six billion to one.

And so it goes
I love you all, brinda
Namaste

नमस्ते

It's the People... It's the Community... It's about us

2011-06-13T17:37:00.000-07:00

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Secondlife can be a very lonely place, I know it was for me during those first few weeks. But while I found it lonely, that had more to do with me than with the Secondlife community. Secondlife was just exploding resident wise in those early days of 2007, a busy day in May of that year was 28,000 on line.

Things seem to be much different now, a recent post of mine mentioned my perceived view that there is a definite change in the newer people joining our world today. Newer people now seem to have a "what's in it for me" attitude. Maybe I'm viewing the past with rose colored glasses... but I don't think so. I'm hearing the same sentiment from others as well.

A few days ago I saw someone just a few days old standing off to one side at an Infohub. After chatting for a few minutes I asked if she would be interested in a tier free furnished house on a small private Isle.

Her response was guarded to say the least, as in "What's the catch?"

No catch, I sent her the link to kains offer of a couple days earlier... an hour or so later... after seeing the house and taking a tour of our estate, she was amazed.

What she found was what I experienced four years ago.

What she found was the kind of thing Pituca Fairchang has written about.

The things that Effulgent Brown told me about when Secondlife was more like high school.

I can name at least six people that claim the reason they are still active in Secondlife after 2/3/4 years is because of how they were treated when they were minutes old... I believe them... I was there.

I have to believe the reverse is also true... log a nooblet into a place where they are teased, jeered at, or otherwise harassed... I'm betting they quickly find that red "X" in the upper right screen corner.

I've mentioned before that I think Mr. Humble would learn a lot about "The New User Experience by e-mailing those that log out quickly.

There is another way to have what would be, for me, a lonely Secondlife experience...

I have met a person that seems to have alienated virtually everyone they have contact with. They never appear to be able to disagree without being disagreeable.

I think about those six people I mentioned... if their earliest exposures here in Secondlife were disagreeable... would they have wanted to stay?

For me... Secondlife is about people... it's about community... it's about us.

And so it goes

My love to you all, brinda

Namaste

नमस्ते

Why Are New People Harassed?

2011-06-09T16:45:00.000-07:00

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Today in our virtual world there are a couple things that bother me... things that degrade our cumulative experience of Secondlife.
Here's the deal, visit almost any of the so called Welcome Areas or the Infohubs. You don't have to go as a new account, just drop in, walk to one side, set your preferences so you hear voice from camera position, and listen. Often you will hear a steady stream of negative and or demeaning comments both to and about various new accounts.
Why? Am I looking back a couple years with rose colored glasses? Was it always this way everywhere?
I don't believe it was, yes we have had a couple of WA's with a bad reputation, but today the verbal teasing and or harassment seems pervasive.
I'm wondering if I've hit on a reason... well a couple reasons.
{If you're super happy with "display names" and "resident" as a last name stop reading here.}

AOL chat room type names.... ie: 123coolguy... Sweetbuns16.
There have been studies done in California some years ago that indicated that people tended to drive much more courteously when their car license plate was their name. Now I'm not and advocate of real life names in virtual worlds but many of us that came long before the "resident" names really identify with our names, brinda Allen IS ME.
This last year or so has seen a very big difference in the way new people tend to act... do these people talk to and about the newer people because that's the way they were treated?
Are we producing a resident population where only the "thick skinned" rule... until they're bored?
In this latest push to appeal to the FailBook/Farmville crowd are we making Secondlife a "throw away" passing faze?

A solution? Sure, first return to the old legacy names. In my case Brenda was't available... lower case "i" was fine. Next... hire one Linden who's job it is to manage an Official Mentor program. We don't need 1600 Mentors, (I think Doc Gascoigne told me that was the approximate number), a couple hundred to start with should be able to randomly cover the places where our resident idiots gather to prey on nooblets.
Monitor those Mentors... log the times they actually mentor (no tag hunters). A good reason for Lindens to actually come in world... if wearing a Linden tag is a problem? Don't.
Figure out a way to document harassment in voice.
How about write a line or two of code that tracks new accounts and if those accounts don't return... if they log out after just a few mins or a couple days, send them and e mail asking about their experience.

I believe Secondlife can return to the community it used to be...
Yes, it's rather geeky.
No, it will never be easy.
But if we make new people feel we care... I think it will grow.

And so it goes
My love to all, brinda
Namaste

नमस्ते

What is the cost of love?

2011-06-08T16:54:00.000-07:00

Ive settled down a bit since my post of yesterday, not much, but today I'm a bit more rational.
A young man ended up paying the ultimate price for his inability to deal successfully with his personal identity issues (never mind his attempting to deal with the betrayal he must have felt from the way his father treated him) http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/06/07/sissy.boy.experiment/index.html?iref=NS1.
Some of his story is mine as well... I too learned early on to "just go numb"... they beat you, you don't cry- you go silent. It's too late for sympathy for that young man, and I'm not looking for sympathy... what I do want is to bring something to the table of public discourse.

I've sat here for several moments trying to find a way to link this terrible story to virtual worlds... it's not possible for me. Nothing I could say would do anything but diminish the absolute horror that was perpetrated those many years ago. In real life I can tell you that there can be a very real large price we all pay when children are treated with a lack of love and understanding. In my case the tax payer and society at large paid a very large monetary price. My behaviours over thirty plus years cost in excess of one million US dollars in court costs and resources spent in incarceration, never mind the cost to society in general with disruption.

My only link from this post to virtual worlds I guess is this....
People I deal with everyday love me...
People see me as kind and loving, willing to give...
I will never live long enough to repay the debt that my behavior created... but if I don't start now, then when?

And so it goes
I do love you all, brinda
Namaste

नमस्ते

Rage... not anger, rage.

2011-06-07T15:11:00.000-07:00

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There are times when the appropriate words fail me.
I sit here so angry... so full of rage at not only the "researcher", or the "father", or even a society that could conceivably condone these situations.
The silence will be deafening, the righteous will attend the religious service of their choice, the bigots will be smug, and the band will play on.
The time that my Buddhist compassion should calm me isn't happening.
Sadly, nothing will ever happen... to anyone.... except the ones that are experiencing this same thing today.
If you have any compassion in your heart, please take a moment to read this...
http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/06/07/sissy.boy.experiment/index.html?iref=NS1
And wonder at the thirty years of pain this kid endured, you see the pain didn't stop when he left home,

Tomorrow I will tell you a story.
A personal story.
A story of those that "survive", and the cost to the rest of you.
Not just a cost that a dim memory will cover, or a drink will dim.
A cost in money.

And so it goes
While I am trying, I can't say I love all today.
Brinda
Namaste

नमस्ते

People like kain Canare are why I stay...

2011-06-06T22:23:00.000-07:00

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Over the years I've asked this question often of people in Secondlife, "What keeps you here"?
I don't have the metric but there still must be tens of thousands of us four years or older.
What is it we find that keeps this experience interesting enough that we log in thousands of times?
Commonly the answer I get is, "It's the people".
Yes, there are those that spend and inordinate amount of time creating content, but the overwhelming answer is, "It's the people". I know it is for me.
Lately I, and some of my blogger friends, have commented that those of us that bitch and complain about some of the perceived failures of The Benevolent Monarchy aren't necessarily just doom sayers and/or recalcitrant about change, we truly want to see Secondlife grow and flourish. Otherwise, that red "X" at top right ends any problem.

Some of the readers of this blog know that since the earliest days of our home, Benares, I have kept a guest house for new people. I've never forgotten my early days of flying to the top of tall buildings to try and dress myself. I believe that everyone needs a place they feel they are "part of", a place they feel they belong, and so the Benares guest house.

About seven months ago kain came to Benares... and as with all new people she was offered a stay in that house.
"Stay as long as you need".
I have never in over three years had anyone take advantage of that, and kain was no different. She ended up getting a small parcel, built her own house, and over these last months furnished it with her own original sculpted creations.
Kain sent me and IM yesterday... She wanted to offer her furnished house tier free as a place for another new person to receive the same care and love she had when she was new.
My suggestion was that she offer it free for ninety days to anyone with less than say...45 days.
So that's the deal... images below... tier free, ninety days.

Kain and people like her are why I continue to invest time and treasure in Secondlife.
Kain Canare... she has made Secondlife the place I wanted to see so many days ago.
She is doing for others as Prissielou Flora did for me.

And so it goes
I love you all, brinda
Namaste
नमस्ते

What's Live Music? or who cares?

2011-06-05T20:45:00.000-07:00

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Funny how a day or so goes by with nothing I want to chat about... then I suddenly find topics calling my name.
This post won't take long... it concerns a "subject" that's just worn out.
The subject? LIVE MUSIC in Secondlife... or what is live music?
I saw a tweet today from a self appointed music critic/aficionado that came to Secondlife the month after I did (co signed by a very smart person that came to Secondlife six months before I did).
Their on going shtick is that if everything you hear on a stream at a music venue isn't being performed live, "then it's not live" music. To me that says that every venue that only has only one instrument playing (or rarely a group) is the sole criteria for "live".
One of my residents is a professional vocalist that performs with a group of great musicians in Portland Oregon. Now FezFatale does occasionally do a live stream in world, and my resident, Porter Paquot, does occasionally play piano during her shows here, but most of her shows are sung to recorded music. That's "live"... live as in listen to the stage chatter during her performances, she has a degree in performance art if I remember right.
The bottom line?
People go to music venues for entertainment. If they aren't entertained they won't pay (tip), if they don't pay the venue will close for lack of revenue, it's totally self limiting.
Over these last few years I have heard this subject come up every few months... at least one musician has told me that he just lets this drivel go in one ear and out the other.
I offer that if someone doesn't like a particular venue or performer... don't tip, TP away, remind yourself to not return..... and please don't bother to tell us that the music wasn't "live".
Be direct enough to call the show out publicly if you choose, but perhaps save the screen space as far as repeating that same tired stuff about, "it wasn't live".
Who cares if it is or isn't if people enjoy it.

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

नमस्ते

Miso & Wizzy.... NPIRL

2011-06-02T10:04:00.000-07:00

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After one has been in Secondlife for awhile and settled in we come across the letters NPIRL, Not Possible in Real Life. Obviously much of what goes on in Secondlife isn't possible in real life, for instance flying or walking underwater, but our immediate thoughts usually end up going to the fantastic content that so many of our Secondlife residents create. For myself there is so much more to all this.
Virtual worlds allow a tremendous amount of personal freedom. Yes, we have the role play that perhaps few would engage in in "real life", but there are other situations we will find ourselves in as well.
In April, 2008, at age 66 I attended my very first birthday party... it was held in Secondlife.
As a measure of the selflessness of some in Secondlife... it was a couple weeks later that I discovered that one of the residents that helped put on the party had a birthday on that same day.... She hadn't said anything because she said she wanted that day to be mine alone.

NPIRL
There is a rezz day party scheduled for this evening in Secondlife. {For time & place see yesterdays post}
While I don't know if Wizzy has ever had a public celebration of her start here in Secondlife (it's her fourth year), I do know our friend Miso hasn't, and that's after 25 years on the Internet and being a member of the earliest virtual worlds.
We get to celebrate Misos three years here... we get to celebrate Wizards four years.
Happy rezz day to both of those I consider my friends... people I would never have met were it not for this virtual world we call Secondlife. You see, this is truly Not Possible in Real Life.

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

नमस्ते

Rezz Party for Miso & Wizzy

2011-05-31T11:10:00.000-07:00

NO pictures... NO whining...
Just this... Thursday there will be a rezz party for Miso & Wizzy at The Mill a live music venue.
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Blue%20Rain/86/238/22/?title=The%20Mill

I hope all can come...
Thursday June 2nd, 2011
5PM till 7PM SLT

Live Music with Porter Paquot...
Blues, Funk, Soul,
plus a DJ

Hope to see all of you there, Miso and Wizzy are a big part of Secondlife for many of us.

brinda

Reflections of a time past...

2011-05-28T23:03:00.000-07:00

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This weekend is Memorial Day in the USA, the weekend my country honours all those military service men and women that have truly given that *last full measure* their lives, in the service of this country, and perhaps your country as well in some cases.
I am getting older.
For many years this weekend was a time to party, to enjoy the company of friends and often family.
Not so this year, for what ever reason today has been a day of melancholy and reflection.
My physical health is good, and while all my family in that world where I breathe is gone, I am blessed with so many that love me in these virtual worlds.
Something is just different this year.
The USA is a country of emigrants... all of us, unless you are a member of those native American Indian groups. While Ellis Island off of New York city is where most of the early immigrants arrived, the potato Famine in Ireland found many of the Irish entering the USA via the South.
One of my earliest memories is listening to the music my grand parents loved.
Below please find one of their favorites, {mine too}, as well as one that I have come to love.
Eva Cassidy, gone at 33.

I know next week will be different... time makes everything different.

And so it goes
I love you all, brinda
Namaste

नमस्ते

I Wrote the same, in different words...

2011-05-26T17:31:00.000-07:00

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Humans receive some very large amount of information visually, some estimates are 90%. But what we see is always colored by our perceptions and prejudices.
Words have power.
My thanks to Scotsman Fenn MacMoragh... {@ Fenn_ MacMoragh on Twitter} self described, "Crafter of fine prims with a Celtic flair. Aficionado of Whiskey, cigars and Albannach, wearer of kilts." for the below link. I went to tears when I first saw it, and I continue to think about this video.

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

नमस्ते

The gift...

2011-05-25T14:53:00.000-07:00

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Monday afternoon I sat down with my very first friend in Secondlife, four years ago I met Lala at the Morris welcome area, now before you all gasp, "What!", in those days both Secondlife and the welcome areas were a lot more friendly than either are now. A busy day then would see perhaps 28,000 on line and while Secondlife by then had grown beyond it's early days of *everyone knowing everyone else*, there was still a sense of community.

It didn't take long before Lala *adopted* me as her Secondlife Mom and for us to establish a deep friendship that continues to this day.
Lala was in her last year of high school when we met... in a few weeks she will graduate from University and is looking forward to a post graduate degree.
You see, I never cease to be amazed at the gifts I receive from a chance encounter with and advertisement I saw for this thing called Secondlife so many days ago.
In a life lived long ago I made some very selfish choices, and because of those choices I missed watching my own daughter grow up. Secondlife has allowed me a another chance to watch a young woman grow into adulthood.... that for me is a priceless gift.
And so it goes
I love you all, brinda
Namaste

नमस्ते

Why Stay In Virtual Worlds?

2011-05-22T12:40:00.000-07:00

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Why come to virtual worlds?

Why remain in virtual worlds?
If there is a fascination with virtual worlds,
and for me that fascination is still so alive, how do we keep that fascination alive?
Is there an "attention span" concerning these worlds?

Virtual worlds like Secondlife are open ended creatively... I don't believe that one can ever reach and end.
That thought brings up, is there an attention span?
I'm certain that the attention span that keeps someone constantly fascinated, interested, and creative would depend a lot on the activity that one engages in. When I meet those in Secondlife that have remained well over two years, and that time frame isn't cast in stone, I don't find those avatars spending years totally involved in shopping, pixel sex, standing in welcome areas chatting, or even griefing. I do find them creating content, volunteering in educational situations, engaging in commerce, or designing something totally new. In a word being pioneers. I have friends in virtual worlds today that have been involved in all this for over twenty-five years.

Recently I have seen some of my friends drifting away from Secondlife, it's not uncommon to see those around two years here lose the passion that grabbed us at first sight of this world. Look around at the next gathering you see and inspect rezz dates, vast numbers of new people, a few between one and two, and after that the numbers diminish rapidly.
Two of my dear friends have recently made decisions about perhaps leaving Secondlife, one because of real life situations. The other because, I suppose for them, the magic has gone.

A part of what makes me dream this dream that I never want to end is that I get to support this family, this community, and I get to perhaps help these two friends reconcile whatever choice they make.

I'm sitting here suddenly torn between two opposing thoughts.
First is that if my happiness depends on what another does or says I will be disappointed.
The second thought is that as I told a couple of my dear friends this morning, the people of Secondlife have become my family. I could never possibly repay those close to me for what they have given me.
They have given me love.
Some have given me an education.
And perhaps the greatest gift that my Benares family has given me is purpose, a passion, a reason to remain here and continue to provide a place for a community to thrive.

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

नमस्ते

Geeks, Hats, Aspergers, Emotions, & yay! Maroon5!

2011-05-19T15:38:00.000-07:00

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Every now and then I figure out something on my own, and get that sense of accomplishment we all love.

In this case it was something as simply deleting all browsing history, cookies, saved passwords, form data, etc so that blogger would load. Guess I still fail the geek test 'cause that's likely stuff one's supposed to learn in PC 101 =^..^=

Since I've been trying to wear several hats lately, and of course ending up getting little actually finished, it was a surprise to me to see where some of the readers of this rag come from. The three above are new visitors and I'm always humbled to think anyone would find anything I have to say entertaining, never mind important.
Nearly a year ago a friend, (whose since cut my card), found it distasteful that their town was imaged.
The overwhelming response I got regarding the "Where we come from" images when I asked was positive and so they will continue.

Some of my time this past week has been used in attempting to talk a friend into doing some of those things that allow many of us a healthy emotional relationship with both other people in virtual worlds and certainly for me, allowing the magic to continue here.
A dear friend of mine, Mucaro (Caro), has been involved in volunteering a lot of her time working with many that come to virtual worlds with special needs. Most of us tend to think of "special needs" as those using wheelchairs, or being physically challenged, and there certainly are that contingent here.
But that's not all... I know a person that's very successful in Secondlife as a land owner who is deaf, others are mute. One of the challenges people face in that other life we live in is one that after I was here in Secondlife for a few years, I found that I had had trouble with both as a child and as a young adult, Aspergers Syndrome.
I was fortunate that apparently I am one of the estimated twenty percent that grow out of Aspergers.
Without naming names I can tell you that there are two people I personally know of that are incredibly successful in virtual worlds who have Aspergers. As you can see via the above link, Asbergers people don't seem to "get" those unspoken social clues that contribute to how we deal with social situations.
Of course that lack of silent social interaction is what can make interpersonal relationships a living hell here in these virtual worlds.
Over and over I try to explain to people that emotions run extremely intense in virtual worlds and since no matter how close one feels with another... unless you can walk out of your real life house and actually look another in the eye... it's all a terrible gamble.
As far as my friend goes, all I can do is to try and show them how I found a place here, a place where I fit it, a place mentally where I feel I am contributing.
***********************************************************

Below Maroon5, first because of the catchy beat. Then because the song can be taken as how many of us feel about The Benevolent Monarchy and how they seem to be sleeping with another in our bed!

And so it goes
I love you all and I will try, brinda
Namaste

नमस्ते

Blogs and My Education...a beginning only.

2011-05-14T22:30:00.000-07:00

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Thorough out my life I have been incredibly fortunate. There is and old Jewish curse that goes something like, "May you live and interesting life".... I certainly have!

All in all perhaps the single most interesting adventure I have ever taken has been this one of these last four plus years. When I found the advertisement for Secondlife in May 2007 I never dreamed how this experience would change my life. I spent my first couple of years learning a little bit about computers, virtual worlds, and reading the various blogs written by some that were so much better versed in the Internet experience. Almost two years ago I decided that I wanted to speak to a larger audience than that of my residents one at a time.... or my cat.
This blog was my solution.
I found there were as many blogs as there were people, and that there were a lot of different styles of writing. I promised myself that I would try very hard to see that what I wrote wouldn't troll or belittle anyone.
As time has gone by I have met some extremely bright people, one of which sat down with me recently and spent nearly and hour explaining some of the many nuances of writing a blog and why some bloggers write and do some of the things they do.
Ever hear or see the term SEO, Search Engine Optimization?
Ever wonder why you can find mini posts that highlight a URL in HTML even though the mini post is perhaps only an image with a one line caption?

How about HTML links to a blog site that is currently under going tremendous controversy?

All of these are common ways to increase the traffic to a blog...SEO.

I've mentioned controversy, a blog that sees a lot of controversy can boost its ranking and therefore the amount of money generated by its advertisers.

As far as controversy goes, I'm OK with that, often we will have strong opinions and it would be foolish to expect us to believe the same things.

I do get uncomfortable when the controversy turns into verbal bullying.

It happens.

A common form of attack seems to be accusing some one of disguising their gender and it always seems to be an accusation of someone really being a man while pretending to be a woman.

Perhaps this is one of those rare times when the gender discrimination is against males, I have yet to see a female accused of being male.

{The above reminds me of the courtroom tactic of asking someone if they still beat their wife.}

We will usually find a collection of fanboyz and girls willing to accept any slur no matter how ridiculous, they remind me of lynch mobs unable to either think for themselves or to at least hold judgement in abeyance until the facts are clear.

What's that line... don't confuse me with facts, my mind's made up?

What to do if verbally attacked?

Recently I made a comment that no response is a response, but it is difficult to not want to defend ones self no matter how ridiculous the statements.

Any world is much better served with out hate and discontent... even virtual ones.
And so it goes
My love to you all, brinda
Namaste

नमस्ते

Hold my place in line... Be right Back! =^..^=

2011-05-14T09:39:00.000-07:00

What with some other life stuff going on, plus Blogger being borked for a couple days, I seems as though I've totally let this blog go... not true! I promise to do a real post this evening. I did rough one out on real paper graveyard shift early early Friday.
Gonna chat about stuff my friend explained to me about "gaming" the SEO..(look it up heh heh) and other things that could be construed as "verbal bullying".
And so it goes for early today
My love to all, brinda
Namaste

नमस्ते

Silence can be a response... Help wanted... & Benares @ Inworldz

2011-05-09T23:01:00.000-07:00

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It's rare that I take much time off from this blog, not because I feel bad that those few readers might "miss" this, {contrary to some opinions my ego isn't that big}. It's because this is often where I come to set my thoughts down in print and take a look at where I seem to be mentally and emotionally.
Several things have been going on in both the virtual world... as well as my life in that world where I sleep.
The real life things are really nothing new... life goes on, sometimes you eat the bear, and sometimes the bear eats you.
The virtual world where I spend so much time has also had me doing a lot of thinking.
I continue to believe that nothing good comes from posting hate and discontent. Lately I have seen some of my friends denigrated by those posting innuendos and allegations that first seem patently false, and if nothing else totally non factual {lies?}.
Now certainly one "answer" to stuff like that is to just not respond. Silence is a response, silence in effect says that what has been said isn't worth responding to.
So far, I seem to have flown under all radars.... but I suspect that if I were to be attacked, my actions would be a lot closer to what my friend Immy does than to what I preach. Immy will not tolerate lies silently.
Silence may well not be the answer... even though I have yet to see the recent attacker ever ever admit that something isn't their business or that they were wrong. Just sayin'.

I do try to read several of the blogs written concerning Secondlife and specifically those about The Benevolent Monarchy.
Lately I see there have been billing issues. One of my oldest friends had billing issues I posted about back in early April . I think I just saw something about Mr. Humble, the CEO, having to step in before a popular group abandoned their sims and moved on. That says a lot about the infrastructure of the company... rest assured if I were Mr. Humble those responsible would be reading help wanted ads tomorrow.

The group that had those recent issues has already done something I started last week.
My friend Ling and I now own a full region in Inworldz.
I have said before that my intentions are to remain in Secondlife for as long as the servers are on, and I promised in January my commitment to remain another year minimum. But I am going to be certain that those people that mean so much to me will have a place to go just in case.

Before I close this for this evening there is something else I want to say.
When I bring newer people into Inworldz it becomes easier to see that Secondlife has made it easier to get started today. So much of what we had to do where our avatars are concerned four years ago is pretty much done for new people today. Today's default avatars are better than we could buy then, and so I end up explaining things I see as simple {how to wear a bald to remove texture hair for instance}. The Secondlife platform is great, no doubt about it, but the friendliness one finds in these new worlds reminds me of those stories from Secondlifes earliest days, for that I'm both willing to deal with things being a little primitive at times, and proud to be in on the ground floor this time.
And so it goes
I love you all, brinda
Namaste

नमस्ते

Mette Lindberg likely isn't an avatar... but cute, yes.

2011-05-05T02:43:00.000-07:00

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OK, I suspect almost all of us in the USA have seen the latest Heineken's beer commercial, "The Entrance".
I just had to look up the details of the truly catchy song and find out who the bubbly little blonde woman was.
She's Mette Lindberg a Danish singer with the group The Asteroid Galaxy Tour.
No, she won't likely sing in the New York Metropolitan Opera, but the song just keeps running through my head. She, and the song are just darned cute. Good for them!

I wished I lived in the golden age
Giving it up on the broadway stage
Hang with the rats and smoke cigars
Just have a break with Frank and count the stars

Dressed to the nines, we've had too much
Shiny jewels, casino cash
Tapping feet, wanna take the lead
A trip back in time is all I need

Oh!

Sing it out loud gonna get back honey
Sing it out loud get away with me
Sing it out loud on a trip back honey
Sing it out loud and let yourself free

Whoo

I'm on my way, gonna make it big
Gonna make these songs for the chicks to dig
It's really hot and a little bit sour
We're getting your strength to the maximum power

Flying away from reality
Whatever-ever happened to gravity?
I see it clear, a shooting star
And I'm really gonna sing it like da-da-da

Sing it out loud gonna get back honey
Sing it out loud get away with me
Sing it out loud on a trip back honey
Sing it out loud and let yourself free
******************************************************************************
Just fun today!

And so it goes
Love to you all, brinda
Namaste

नमस्ते

Prissielou... Thank you, It's been four years!

2011-05-02T18:43:00.000-07:00

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On the evening of May second, 2007 I downloaded the Secondlife Viewer version 1.14.0 and never dreamed the way this journey would turn out.
I didn't have cable that evening... so the viewer download alone took 40 minutes, when I logged on I was just a cloud and couldn't move. I looked around and said to myself OMG!, I have to do this.
I was instantly hooked.
A few days later with broadband connected, I relogged and found myself at Orientation Island.
The tutorial probably took me half and hour.
Thankfully the so called Welcome Areas were full, so I rezzed on the mainland at the Ross Infohub.
That place became my "home" for a couple of weeks until I found land at Arrazura.

I learned something about 2 months in-world that has shaped my entire Secondlife.
I met Prissielou Flora. Priss was from late 2003, she took the time to make me feel "a part of", and that made all the difference in my world.
She gave me nothing... except acceptance.
She did nothing *for me*... except IM me to say, "Hi! want to join us at ???".
She made a difference.
Prissielou has been gone from search for a couple years at least... I still wonder if she will ever return, I just want her to see what she did for me, and that what she did was selfless.

Tomorrow starts my fifth year in this fantastic world... this world that has also affected that world where I sleep... and I will be forever grateful to not only Priss, but to each of you that has touched my life.
Thank you.

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

नमस्ते

Have We Created Another Martyr ?

2011-05-01T22:28:00.000-07:00

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There will be worldwide glee on the one hand, or hate and sadness on the other depending on the political, social, and religious views of those that hear the news of the death just announced of Osama Bin Ladin.
Those that live in New York City will have likely taken the attack on not only their city, but often on those they personally knew, differently than perhaps someone from another country. If I had lost someone I knew in the attack on the world trade center I'm sure my feelings would include a desire for vengeance.

Those religious extremists in certain parts of the world will see the death of Bin Laden just as personally.
I consider myself to be a good citizen of the USA today, and yet I am very torn with my feelings on hearing the news of his death.
While his death is the most economical outcome, and perhaps he died while attempting to kill more people, I would have preferred to see him tried, convicted, and sentenced to a life of custody.

Osama Bin Ladens death will not stop those religious extremists that followed his lead.
One must remember that a true follower of Islam would never do the things that extremists such as Bin Laden advocated. I'm reminded of something that Benazir Bhutto , the former premier of Pakistan had said in the days immediately preceding her assassination. "No true believer in Islam would kill a woman", this just hours before she was killed.

Early in this Secondlife one of my dearest and closest friends came to me and told me she had something to tell me, and that she hoped that what she was about to say wouldn't harm our friendship. She proceeded to tell me that she was a Muslim and because the Ramadan religious observance was approaching her hours here in Secondlife would be modified some.
You see, many people that practise Islam are conscious of how western perception views their religion.
In my case my response was, as a practising Buddhist, we don't get too excited about anyones religion, or lack thereof.

All this yelling and screaming and posturing will pass, and as the news cycle turns, in a month or less, we will be onto other things.
The question that bothers me is this. Will those religious extremists go onto other things, or has Bin Ladens death simply provided another martyr?

And so it goes
I do love you all, brinda
Namaste

नमस्ते

Do You Have a "Bucket List"? I do...

2011-05-01T11:19:00.000-07:00

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I rarely take the time to go see movies.
But this morning as I struggled to get my eyes open, yelled at the dog I'm babysitting for friend, and apologised to my cat for said dog invading the house, I found myself watching perhaps the last thirty minutes of a movie that came out around three years ago. Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman in their movie, "The Bucket List" .

There were two quotes that so jumped out at me:
Of the two questions asked of the dead by the gods at the entrance to heaven, Have you found joy in your life? Has your life brought joy to others?
And,
You measure yourself by the people who measure themselves by you.

First, I wonder if I ever will understand if I truly understand the extent of joy.
Second, I do hope I have and will continue to bring some measure of joy to others.

Maybe the second is more important than the first.

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

नमस्ते

Gambling anyone?

2011-04-29T15:35:00.000-07:00

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Love affairs in virtual worlds.
They happen all the time, often they are the virtual equivalent of one night stands and as such could be filed under *no harm, no foul*. Sometimes those one night stands turn into a few weeks or even a few months commitment before the affair fails. There are as many reasons for failure as there are people involved... plus there is the added problem of anonymity inherent in these worlds.
Monday will be my fourth rezz day and in these past four years I have witnessed more than a few of these love affairs that have proved rather tragic. When I say tragic, I mean that in a real sense. There is the tragedy of a broken heart that drives someone from the magic of these worlds, there is the tragedy of attempted suicide, and pretty much everything in between.
Yes, there are successes, one of my friends has had the same partner since they both came to Secondlife four years ago but I'm not a gambler, and the odds of a lasting romantic relationship are longer than I'm ready to accept.
While everyone wants someone to love, I'm just not sure virtual worlds are the place to find that love.
There is one thing I am certain of.
There is no need for a third party to play Cupid... and absolutely no place for playing Cupid for entertainment, the stakes are too high.

And so it goes
I love you all, brinda
Namaste

नमस्ते

So long to Bobby.... And a Thank You to Miso.

2011-04-26T00:52:00.000-07:00

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OK, here's some totally unrelated disconnected stuff that has rented space in what little bit of brain I have left.

Yesterday I made this statement: Like most anything, there's what we read and think we know, and what we experience and really know.
I learned today that Bobby is dead.
Now none of you, my Secondlife family, ever met Bobby.... and I never mentioned Secondlife to Bobby.
I know Bobby would have just looked at me funny and mumbled something about, "If it makes ya happy, I guess".
Bobby was my neighbor for these last twenty years, sober for the last thirty plus years, and a retired U S Navy guy. Diagnosed with colon cancer a little over a year ago, as late as a couple months ago he was still in denial about the terminal aspect of his illness, "I'm gonna be OK" he would say.
All the few regular readers of this blog know that I am a Buddhist... and as such, I tend to have quite a different view of life and death than the average westerner.
The cause of death is birth.
While I will miss seeing Bobby, I'm not sad... I will always have had those last twenty years.

Secondlife.
I continue to tell anyone that will listen to me that there are so many incredibly truly brilliant people here.
More than a couple times lately I have commented on why there seemed to be total silence on the part of current or former Lindens as to the inside story of what really goes on at Linden Lab.
There wasn't total silence... I just hadn't asked the right person. When I mentioned the apparent lack of information, Miso Susanowa gave me this link. {Thanks Miso!}
Reading what these current and former employees had to say explains a lot about why The Benevolent Monarchy is as screwed up in a lot of areas as it is. What does amaze me is that Secondlife works at all... let's face it, any virtual world is complicated beyond belief.

InWorldz.
35873 ~~concurrency~~ Total sign-ups! Almost a year ago, when I joined, there were less than 4000. It's after midnight and there's apparently some login problems so I'll look again tomorrow.

That's all for now I guess
And so it goes
My love to you all, brinda
Namaste

नमस्ते

Learning Who We Are... Wise Choices?...

2011-04-25T10:17:00.000-07:00

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Just a few things this morning...
I've learned so much about me in these last four years. Up until just a few weeks over those four years ago, what I was certain I knew about computers was what I had read. {IE: zeros & ones...positive & negative}
Like most anything, there's what we read and think we know, and what we experience and really know.
Virtual worlds have opposing factors... because of anonymity people can be very false, and because of that same anonymity people can be freed to express what we are really like.
In my case in this last year or so I've come to understand something about myself that created so much of who I was and why I did so much of my destructive behaviour for so many years. I won't get into details, {twelve step programs suggest not doing a "fifth step from the podium". } =^..^=

I saw an avatar profile last evening that, unfortunately, I understand... I understand a lot.
"Im rude, crude, and witty! I dont usually speak unless spoken to but have a lot to say. I cuss.. A LOT! I shoot people for a living and bleed music. I dont like talking about myself because it would only make you jealous! HA! If you cant take a joke, f*** ya!"
{I added the asterisks}
Virtual worlds allow any of us to be anything we choose, I hope I've chosen wisely.

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

नमस्ते

P.S Jake... were you chatting with your people in Hyderabad? Funny we were just chatting about your potential trip there.

New Benares Resident. (and Rolling In The Deep with Adele)

2011-04-21T19:49:00.000-07:00

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As I recently posted, my rl part time job has had me spending more time working than I really wanted.

Hopefully the training of a workmate will be complete by next week and I will return to my 1.5 days a week. (Yes, I'm terribly spoiled!)

Our ongoing saga with Secondlife and it's perceived struggle to retain those that sign up goes on, and until The Benevolent Monarchy chooses to listen to those that are both successful in world and actually work with new people, the reported 10,000 a day that sign up will continue to just leave approx. 1500 to relog again.
Another statistic I seem to remember is around 15% end up owning land. Owning land is certainly making a commitment to more fully engage one with Secondlife... a fact not lost on the Lab. Witness the "free" linden homes available for signing up as a premium account. Hmmm.........I wonder if anyone at the Lab has ever tried to do anything with 117 prims?
I would be so willing to bet that anyone could find a quorum willing to advise the Lab on concrete solutions to improving retention. {Even those of us entirely too recalcitrant to embrace the latest fiasco =^..^=}

Emma has posted that her regions are seeing 90% occupancy... My friend Limpy has indicated 85%, mine approach that same level so it would appear that if we get people past that very steep learning curve they will remain and add to the Labs coffers via tier.

Benares has a new resident! Just this past week I was approached by Erity Shima about the corner parcel on the main island. {Btw, I spelled her name as she chooses to use it... leaving out that silly ass "resident" part.}
(That's another idiocy I will never understand... 6 billion people on earth and I suspect very few are named resident)
She has already rezzed a wonderful house and I'm anxious to see how well she integrates herself into our community.

If I could... I would love to have our main island surrounded with 8 homestead regions, but with the current pricing, homesteads today are strictly a break even affair, there just isn't any profit if one provides any land/seascaping at all.

For what its worth section.... I saw you there on the main island, AlexHayden.  =^..^=
Just couldn't yell at you before you "pooofed" away.

After the closing I want to embed a music video... just 'cause. Adele has perhaps one of the great voices performing today. {And before you even think about anything else, remember that few of us in RL look like our avatars!} I sure as heck don't
And so it goes
My love to you all, brinda
Namaste
Namaste

Other Peoples stuff.. plus-No Shiny Keys....Change my diaper please.

2011-04-19T20:02:00.000-07:00

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Reading through a lot of blog posts and comments today... My other life has kinda taken precedence over this past week so I had plenty to look at today.

I find it more than a little odd and amusing that the life where I sleep seems to often "interfere" with my virtual life... although it's been that way since May Second, 2007.

Ok,in no particular order.. {and instead of using HTML links I'll just leave a list of URLs at bottom of page.}

Crap Mariner has called the hamster a ham.....ster. I promised myself I wouldn't pile on, but it's hard not to... trust me I won't leave a hamster URL.

Miso sat right up and called 'em as she saw 'em.

Soror tried to explain that not all "negativity" is unjustified.

Emma did have a good point that all businesses have problems.

Now that last one I can agree with... to a point. {I will paste my comment to her blog below}
When I sit back sometimes and think about exactly what has to happen, let's say as I cross a region boundary, I'm totally amazed. Imagine getting a new PC and transferring all your data several times a minute, or even and hour. That's my impression of what goes on in a region crossing, a server hand off.
Btw... I'm guessing at that... based on our inventory isn't stored "with us", it's on LL servers.

Well, I reread this comment below... and I hope it's not seen as too harsh, anyway here it is.

"I call some negativity... but much is constructive criticism.

If The Lab really wants higher concurrency... listen to the tens of thousands of us that have actually spend hundreds of thousands of hours in world. (Thanks soror)
Thousands have complained about Spewer 2.ought oh. Not because much of it's details... but because of the confusing UI.

There's a very old Spanish saying that applies to much of how the Lab acts....
si dos personas te llaman y el culo usted debe tener una silla y el freno (translated as)
If two people call you and ass you should get yourself a saddle and bridle.

Just listen to us... we really do know how this darn thing works. Don't treat me like a small child and hand me shiny keys to hold when my diaper needs changed."

OK enough out of me I suppose
And so it goes
My love to you all, brinda
Namaste

नमस्ते

Crap Mariner
http://firstlife.isfullofcrap.com/2011/04/19/when-will-amaretto-sell-dead-breedable-horses-for-me-to-beat/

Miso

http://gomiso.blogspot.com/2011/04/reply-from-recalcitrant-nwn-go-away.html

soror

http://sorornishi.blogspot.com/2011/04/blog-stuff-negativity-and-positivity.html

Emma

http://emmageraln.blogspot.com/2011/04/just-quicky.html

Four Years & Friends...

2011-04-15T22:46:00.000-07:00

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My fourth rezz day is fast approaching and no one is more surprised than myself.

I have been here in Secondlife for one half of its existence.
I'm now as old here as those people that so amazed me when I first came... as old as Prissielou was when she took me under her wing and made me feel "a part of".
It's been an amazing journey and I want to thank all of you that have accompanied me on this journey.

There are a couple of people here that hold a special place in my heart.
Two came to Secondlife about the same time I did, and it's such a privilege to still have the early ones with me... I have seen that that's not the case for everyone.

Lala was my first friend, and such a joy to watch this young woman grow up from a senior in high school to someone that's graduated from University.

Twinkle. What can I say... Twinkle took me from someone that came to Secondlife unable to do things as simple as copy/paste to where I am now.
It's one thing to sit beside someone and show them how to do things with a PC... try doing it from nearly 20,000 kms away. Thank you will have to be enough.

Ling who I profiled recently, came along about seven months into this voyage. I know she will always be there... even when my decisions aren't the best.

This past year has seen another woman that's become very dear to me. Raven came to Benares just over a year ago and has finally figured out that becoming a contributory member of Secondlife doesn't always mean that one must build or script or perform. Being a member of a community is contributing... being there to chat with people is contributing.
Raven has also learned that we must constantly refine our vision here if we are to remain so in this next year I do expect to see further growth.

I have no idea how all of this will end. If Secondlife were to shut down next week.... I have a life boat ready to Inworldz, and would ask all of my Benares family to join me.
Yesterday was my 69th birthday in that life where we sleep, I'm still in good health and log in everyday with that same passion of those four years ago.
The journey continues.
And so it goes
I love you all, brinda
Namaste

नमस्ते

Being Polite...

2011-04-12T23:02:00.000-07:00

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While I have found a few idiots in these past nearly four years there really haven't been many.
Griefers sure, heck that's why I left the mainland over three years ago, and while they did crash sims as well as viewers they didn't speak like idiots or rudely, if at all.
I don't remember of ever finding some one in-world that had been around for years that didn't have a polite, courteous manner, until these evening.
A couple of examples.
I went to visit a friend at a place of business when a woman walks up. Her early words were pleasant enough. Being an inveterate profile reader I saw she had been around since mid to late 2006. Now anytime I see avatars as old as I or certainly older I always engage then in a conversation about how and why did we end up staying this long in Secondlife. I consider myself polite, reasonably well educated, and halfway knowledgeable about Secondlife, it's history and why it's in the position it's in today. First this woman's comments started out a little condescending, speaking to me as though she was the queen and I someone that she merely consented to speak with. Then what I got was a rather snotty comment about I was, "Entitled to my opinion". Really.
You will have to trust me on this, but at nearly 70, and having spent a good number of my final working years dealing with members of both the U.S. government as well as fairly high ranking military officers... I understand I'm, "Entitled to my opinion".

Sadly the second example came from what I read in a blog. When some one makes a comment suggesting a solution for a problem, I see no reason to be snide, snotty, disparaging, or disrespectful, if all else fails, ignore.
I recently had someone make a rather unkind observation about me in an anonymous blog comment.
There were a couple of options left to me...
Don't publish the comment
Publish the comment
Publish the comment and curse out the writer
Or just publish the comment with my polite added comment detailing the original point
The last was my choice. It just seemed to be the right thing to do.
I do understand that along with my cynicism I have to temper my behavior.
I'm not always successful in that... but I do try.
And so it goes
I do love you all, brinda
Namaste

नमस्ते

P.S. In the interest of tempering my behavior I decided to not post a picture of the sim or "The queen" =^..^=

Give Me a Reason to Stay Here..... please.

2011-04-11T19:04:00.000-07:00

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I so often say that I needn't know how I know things... but when I know them.
Some call that exercise, "Following ones hunches".
While I was out around today in that world where I sleep, I kept hearing the same song.
It is a plaintive sound by Tracy Chapman, "Give Me One Reason".
Then I came home, logged on and started reading a few of the more popular blogs... I saw that the on-going concurrency slide for Secondlife continues.
Suddenly Tracy's song made sense.
I know tomorrow I will feel differently... but this evening I think I will just take a nostalgic tour to as many of the old Secondlife places as I can find. This is one of those days when my fear that The Benevolent Monarchy will screw this up seems a little overwhelming.

And so it goes
I love you all, brinda
Namaste

नमस्ते

Immersion, Imagination, Intimacy...Those don't describe "Social Media"

2011-04-08T15:11:00.000-07:00

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Some comment exchanges between soror Nishi, myself, and a few of my residents have gotten me to thinking. In these last few months we have seen a dramatic push on the part of The Benevolent Monarchy to drive the Secondlife customers in the direction of social media, specifically FailBook.
Now keep in mind that when I came to Secondlife in mid 2007 I had no idea what the term social media really meant, and if I had been asked at that time if Secondlife was social media I'm not sure how I would or could have answered that question.

Here's my take on that today.
Secondlife is a social platform, but it's not "social media".
Social media is as intimate as my casual contact with my neighbors, or the clerk at the local grocery store. While I could call those contacts "friends"... they aren't necessarily intimate friends. The very definition of intimate precludes casual.

I suspect most of us have found nooblets whose first questions are commonly those of......
Where is everybody?
Wow, why do people here seem to be so very unfriendly?
What is there to do here?
How do you play this *game*?
It takes some time to develop intimate friendships in Secondlife... my guess is that most new accounts don't last long enough to develop those kinds of intimacies, and experience tells me that in order to remain in Secondlife beyond that initial *Wow!* moment requires imagination, immersion, and intimacy.

I've heard people say that one of the things they like about Failbook is that it's commonly a "quick fix", they can just log on, look at a few pictures, read a few lines... and bail. It requires zero immersion or intimacy.
What FailBook does offer is and audience of 500 million plus.
That's 500 million pairs of eyes, eyes that see ads... eyes that see who "likes" Secondlife.
Will those eyes end up trying Secondlife? Likely. But we don't have a shortage of people trying Secondlife.
We have a shortage of people remaining in Secondlife.
The reported retention rate of those remaining in Secondlife past say those first weeks is under 15%.
I don't have a solution for retention that I think would work for everyone, but I doubt attempting to appeal to the social media crowd is the answer.
You know... just perhaps Secondlife is a little too "geeky" for the mainstream.
If it is... please, don't dumb it down. Remember those golden days, "Your world, your Imagination"?
Not everyone has the imagination I see as necessary to make their Secondlife experience to be the experience those of us that love Secondlife have.

And so it goes
I love you all, brinda
Namaste

नमस्ते

There is no shame in making a mistake...It's the human condition.

2011-04-07T01:26:00.000-07:00

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OK... It's been a couple days since soror Nishi posted this. (I tried to use the link she provided to this site but the informational link provided now seems to be dead. I didn't want to just copy her text so go take a peek... and to see maybe why I can't find that original "80/20" information, look at sorors comments. I'll bet "80/20" got and earful.
Many years ago I was told that statistics can be presented in such a fashion as to "prove" most any point. Witness the impressive "statistic" that, "Over 50% that loaded the viewer never returned a second time". Well that's likely true... the numbers bandied about for years have said fewer than 15% stay, and while I can't prove what "80/20" claims is B.S. {40% increase in active users}.....it just doesn't ring true.

Here's what I saw this evening as I dropped in at the Moose Beach InfoHub troll zone.
There were the usual suspects on voice, commonly using language that isn't acceptable in social circumstances.
And as is common today a new user standing dead center of all that confusion.... a woman from mainland China.
If you are over a year old you remember when we entered Secondlife at a safe area... a place where there were never more than about 15 avatars. A place where you could look around and see pretty much everyone that looked and acted just like you. Often at these places you found Mentors, both Secondlife Mentors as well as Independent Mentors that could answer your questions and offer advice to make your transition into this magical world seem a little easier.

I spent a lot of time on those Help Islands... One of the good things that came about in the last year of the HIs was when Ferd Frederix got together with Google and Linden Lab to provide a free translator. Often you would find one of the forty HIs populated with a majority of new avatars that didn't speak English. They were comfortable there though, because they were surrounded by other new people that looked like them, were just as confused as them, and spoke their language.
Contrast that with my new friend standing dead center of the Moose Beach troll zone. Baierr used great English... but it is a second language for her. Secondlife is confusing enough with out dropping someone into a place where the idioms make no sense, where the language is crude, where the best one can hope for is to be ignored.
That's what I find so sad.
The best a new user can often hope for is to be ignored?

There is no shame in making a mistake. It's the human condition, it's how we learn.
The Benevolent Monarchy has tried several ways to improve The New User Experience these last two years, so far... IT'S NOT WORKING. There would be no shame in returning to a prior system that did allow some to actually demonstrate to new people that Secondlife is a culture, it's a community, it can be magic.
Yes, I still dream.

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

नमस्ते

Honesty, Grace, & Creativity Transcend Location...

2011-04-05T01:11:00.000-07:00

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A resident and a friend that would be a credit to any place she lived,
Marianela Beaumont.

If you look at her Secondlife in-world profile you see some one that is rapidly closing in on four years here, and I've had the pleasure of knowing her for just about a year.

Yes, Secondlife has been around since 2003 and there are a very few of those from then still around... but not many. Today those of us termed *midbies* are the old ones commonly seen on the grid.
To remain this long means Marianela is one of us that has found a passion... something that has kept her here.
Now normally I'm an avid profile reader... our profiles say a ton about us... even the blank ones. But for what ever reason I didn't dig too deeply into her profile or it's *picks* for some months.
It turns out she creates some of the most fantastic dresses in Secondlife... actually, they aren't "dresses", they're gowns.

I was chatting with my friend Lita one day about getting a rather formal gown to attend some quasi political function in-world and Lita gave me the landmark to Marianelas shop where I found the perfect gown.
The very next day I get a note and another copy of the gown from Marianela. She was concerned that there was some manner of glitch with the one I had purchased and she wanted to be certain I was happy.
Btw... I just deleted the copy she sent, I could see nothing wrong with the one I had bought. Service and attention to detail is why she's successful. I believe that the basics of honesty, grace, and creativity transcend ones location and that if you are kind and honest here... you are kind and honest in that life where we sleep as well.
For what it's worth, Marianelas Art In Fashion... Marianela is fluent in English, Spanish, as well as Italian.
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Hidden%20Treasures%20/100/8/21/

And so it goes
I love you all, brinda

Namaste
नमस्ते

Positive People... {and how to drive them away}

2011-04-02T01:04:00.000-07:00

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Lately I've been trying to maintain posts of good news and stories about those people in my Secondlife that contribute in a positive way. This evenings post will be about one of those positive people... but not necessarily about good news.

DaAngel Roussel was my very first resident at Benares... She and I chatted this evening about one of the first meetings we had when She, Ling, and I stood on the Southwest corner parcel of a brand new Benares Estates with environment set to midnight listening to a freebie jukebox I had found somewhere.... and we dreamed.

"Angel" had several places at Benares, her RL significant other found me more than he wanted around... he just wasn't happy that I counseled Angel to set boundaries for behavior and to speak up for herself.
Eventually she moved on from him, both in Secondlife as well as real life.
She worked several Secondlife jobs in order to repay the money he scammed some people out of, not because it was a legal issue... but because it was the right thing to do.

Angel recently received a letter from The Benevolent Monarchy after she elected to convert her premium account back to a basic account. Keep in mind this woman owns no land. The salient part of the letter is below.

"If we are unable to collect the amount due within seven (7) days, your account will be suspended pending payment for an additional thirty (30) days.

During that time, you will not be able to log in to Second Life.
Alt accounts may be placed into administrative hold and you may be logged out of active sessions during this time as well.
Failure to resolve this billing issue by the end of the probation period may result in the cancellation of your account."

This is a great way to provide zero support to someone that has maintained a premium account for 3 years. Angel has supplied a credit card now, but one can imagine how long it could conceivably take for the TBM to credit her account with money they will effectively extort.
Extort?
Harsh words?
Absolutely!
She has done nothing wrong and they threaten to delete her account {and inventory} if she doesn't provide them with money... money for a service they say they will provide free. {a basic account}
Darned sad.

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

नमस्ते

One Way to Remain...

2011-03-31T01:14:00.000-07:00

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One doesn't have to spend much time in Secondlife to learn that time seems to move very differently here than it does in our other life, a friend of mine has compared Secondlife years to dog years... and that analogy may not be that far off. My friend Jake came up to my yard this evening to say hello and we started talking about early friends here in world. I would imagine his case is very average in that most if not all of his earliest friends in Secondlife are no longer around. Even those of us that come to virtual worlds all wide eyed at first seem to gradually fall away as the weeks, months, and years go by.

In my case I feel so fortunate in that four of my earliest friends, those I met in my early days, are still in my life today.
Among those, and today the most active of those, is Ling

I'm either blessed or cursed with a really good memory =^..^= I often can remember exactly where I met some one and Ling is no exception. We were standing on "The Bridge To Nowhere" at The Lost Gardens of Apollo. That was late 2007, and we have been doing this virtual existence ever since.
More than that, we have maintained a wonderful relationship since that first day.
That's not to say that we haven't disagreed... where I tend to be headstrong and impulsive, Ling is cautious and pragmatic. So often I end up mentally kicking myself for not seeking her counsel before I act, instead of asking her how can "we" fix another situation I find myself in.

Today Lings corner may well be the showplace of Benares, from birds and plants, to those games we did as children... all are to be found around her place.
Her latest contribution to our community is to be found on our West shore, just north of her peaceful garden. She has set up a fishing venue there, with prizes paid out for the most fish... the biggest fish. It's a non profit thing... Ling not only bought the land to put it on, she bought all the content as well.

Fishing venue...Come and enjoy! A great place to sit and chat while you maybe earn an L$ or so.
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Benares/14/119/21/

I will always believe that the only way to remain in Secondlife long term is to find a passion. For some of us that passion is content creation, some use art, others can sing, still others find helping new people the key that works for them.
Ling has found being and active member of Secondlife, of always being there with a kind word, a helping hand, a shoulder to share what's going on, of being a person of integrity, and above all being a friend to all that will return that friendship the thing that has kept her here for one thousand two hundred thirty five days.

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

नमस्ते

AlexHayden, Bliss.....and a bear who simply isn't funny....

2011-03-29T00:48:00.000-07:00

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In August of last year I had the good fortune to meet one of those gentlemen I spoke of a few days ago.
And I mean that in it's literal way... a gentle man. AlexHayden joined us at Benares. It said a lot to me when he chose to retain the parcel name Bliss that had been given to that far Southeast corner of our east homestead by another gentle man, Andor.

AlexHayden Junibalya

Bliss @ Benares East
Alex has been our resident grid traveler, a fellow blogger , and an all around supporter of not only my efforts at Benares but the efforts of several of my friends as well as a supporter of where Secondlife could go if we just could get The Benevolent Monarchy to listen to us.

I find Alex to be a very interesting guy...
Take a look at a couple of things I've found out about him.
First, what you will find on his Secondlife profile:
"Happily wandering the roads of the Omniverse...
There's a voice that keeps on calling me
Down the road, that's where I'll always be.
Every stop I make, I make a new friend,
Can't stay for long, just turn around and I'm gone again
Maybe tomorrow, I'll want to settle down,
Until tomorrow, I'll just keep moving on....."
And then his first life text:
"In real life, I play piano with a band at a small theatre run by a green frog and whose performers include a pig with Diva like tendencies and a bear who simply isn't funny...."

Now that is funny!

Then... there's the serious, compassionate guy.
http://walkingwithavatars.wordpress.com/2011/03/14/courage-strength-and-the-great-river/

And in that life where I sleep I have people ask me why I spend time in virtual worlds....
They ask because they never meet the kinds of people I meet in these worlds.

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

नमस्ते

Doing the right thing sometimes just sucks...

2011-03-27T11:06:00.000-07:00

*****************************Where we come from***************************** **************************************************************************
This is a re post of what I wrote last evening... I guess Blogger had a glitch. Shortly after I published, it disappeared. If you still have the original forgive the disparity, I still feel the same way. ********************
I had to do something last evening that just breaks my heart. I had to report a thirteen year old not only on the main grid, she was at Benares. This wasn't someone that just wandered in, it was some one I had met... someone I had shared laughter with... someone I had shared some of the magic of Secondlife with.
Yes... it was the right thing to do.
Yes... if she were my child I would want some one to do as I did.
Yes... to not report her could conceivably cost me my account.
No... it didn't feel good.
Two days ago a friend showed up at Benares with a one day old nooblet. This girl was as smart as I think I've ever seen someone enter Secondlife, she was also very polite, respectful, and full of questions. She was a joy to teach the basics of this world to. She wasn't interested in how she looked or dressed, {I do have to say the newer default avatars are very well done}. She wanted to know things like how do you build a house, how do you make a door work.
Last night I received an IM from one of my residents, "Brinda, are you busy? We have and issue".
Ling and I TPed to my residents home... there is Kayesim Resident, the new girl.
One of the people there had asked her how old she was.... thirteen.
I called a trusted friend of mine to come and tell all of us the exact legalities of what ages can be where.
I had no recourse. Kayesim was honest and I'm sure it took at certain amount of courage and the ethics that her parents had instilled in her for her to be honest with us. She acknowledged in chat that she was thirteen.
I reported her to Linden Lab. Then I took her to The Lost Gardens of Apollo, one of the most beautiful places in Secondlife. She thanked me and told me that what she had seen gave her something to look forward to.
As I landed back at home I saw her log off. Search showed her account was deleted.

This morning I saw the E-mail below from Alex, (and I'm sure he won't mind my posting his missive).... **************
"Hand on heart. What choice did you have? Let her wander the grid and find the adult areas? Stumble into a situation beyond her control? We both know that not everyone would have the best interests of a youngster to heart...so you said it yourself, you did the right thing, don't beat yourself up over it! Besides, you indicate that she is an intelligent young lady. I'll bet she will be back here making stuff when she is old enough to be. Unless Second Life has turned into some god awful version of IMVU by then....
Namaste
Alex"
************
Dear Alex, thank you.
My dream is that we are still here when this child returns in five years. What a story that will be to tell.
And so it goes
I do love you all, brinda
Namaste

नमस्ते

Hopefully a Positive Contribution...

2011-03-25T12:14:00.001-07:00

*****************************Where we come from***************************** **************************************************************************** Some weeks ago I posted about how I intended to try a little harder to work with the newer men just entering Secondlife, and while I've had no negative experiences, only one or two guys ever returned for *lesson* number two. That is about the same success rate as with any group. The bottom line is that helping new people is difficult at best. I have been so blessed with the men residents at Benares. Jake, Alexhayden, Bernard, Dan, Smithy, loegan... all have treated not only myself but everyone else at Benares with the greatest kindness and respect. In the coming days I will attempt to profile a couple of these men and their specific contributions to both our family at Benares as well as to the Secondlife program. In the above list I didn't include a former resident and friend, Andor. He literally dropped in on me last evening for a visit. Andys other life now keeps him a little too busy to spend much time in virtual worlds, so it's always a rare treat for me to have a chance to chat with him. Andor has a small spot near the center of the main island where he enjoys coming to sit for a bit and relax and think. He's promised me to occasionally offer a few thoughts and poems that I will be able to share with all of you. One last comment for today. When I started this blog just a couple posts shy of 300 those many months ago, I said I wanted to do a blog that didn't troll or disparage anyone. For the most part I've succeeded in that, though recently I have been less than kind when referring to a rather famous blogger of virtual worlds. I don't think I've trolled The Benevolent Monarchy...but I suspect if I have, {A} they don't read me and, {B} if they did they don't care what I say. What I have noticed in this past week is a significant increase in page views here. People are interested in good news. I like that. All I've wanted is to be a positive contributor to our world... Hopefully to contribute as much as those I've recently written about. Maybe it's important. And so it goes, Much love always, brinda Namaste नमस्ते

Contributions, Compassion, Professionalism...

2011-03-24T10:54:00.000-07:00

******************************Where we come from***************************** **************************************************************************** Everyone in Secondlife makes a contribution. I know some of you understand my feelings about those whose contribution is simply standing at the so called welcome areas and chatting either in voice or in text, but they too do contribute. Their contribution, as I see it, might simply be those of numbers... concurrency. My guess is The Benevolent Monarchy needs numbers in order to keep the venture capitalists placated. The ones really that impress me are those thousands that truly make Secondlife what it is. Those that contribute to the culture of our world. Some contribute content, others contribute community, still others make us a gift of their time and compassion. My friend Porter Paquot does all of those. There is Porter the vocalist. A singer in real life performing with a group in the Northwest USA, she brings a level of professionalism to Secondlife performances not often seen. There is my resident Porter the home body, the wannabe child {look at the water slide}. Never content with boring status quo this is her roller derby rink... the striped tent upper left is a bumper car ride. The heart of her Secondlife has to be here, the Mill. This is where one can find the performer Porter. There are a lot of performers in Secondlife, some quite good. But having a professional stage presence makes all the difference in the world. Never content, next to the Mill is this gallery. My former manager, Poly, found Porter about day one or so, I met her on day two. I watched her decorate her first house... I watched her venture out into the often contentious Secondlife entertainment world. I've watched her help some in our world that were having real problems. I've watched her battle some of her own demons... and she does it with grace. And so it goes Grace and love to you all, brinda Namaste नमस्ते P.S For a link to her real life band use this link. http://www.fezfatale.com/home.html hint... click on the "recordings" tab to hear some of their music!

Educator, Content Creator, & most of all Friend...

2011-03-22T15:10:00.000-07:00

*****************************Where we come from***************************** **************************************************************************** Flor Nachtigal... A case of where to start. I first met Flor in November 2009 when she entered Secondlife... she was busy editing her appearance at the BSD Archer house on a Help Island and all of 15 minutes old. The basic person we see today was already formed to a great degree even then. When given suggestions on appearance... she listened, and then still made her own choices. Flor is the Chief Editor of The Palais Secondlife Magazine... She is a builder and content creator... The beach house above is just one of the houses she's built at Benares. I didn't realise how much content she had created until I started writing this post... Google her name. I had no idea she had creations on the Secondlife Market Place. If you've never met Flor, send her and IM, ask her a question. Particularly ask her a question about art, education, or the true Secondlife experience. You will find someone both dedicated to Secondlife as well as having a well formed opinion about our world. For a copy of The Palais Magazine, one place you can find one is at the location below. http://slurl.com/secondlife/Benares/115/80/37/?img=The%20Palais%20Kiosk&title=Benares%20Public%20Area&msg=The%20Palais And so it goes I love you all, brinda Namaste नमस्ते p.s. Sorry about the smoggy picture of my dear old Orange County California, some stuff just "is".

New talent!

2011-03-21T18:58:00.000-07:00

*****************************Where we come from***************************** ***************************************************************************** For all of it's many problems... Secondlife is awesome. I know I've said before that I have more passion today than I did that day in early May four years ago when I first logged into our world, it's true. In this next week or so I want to document what a few of the residents of Benares are doing. I am going to start where I start, and the order I go with has absolutely no hidden meaning. I often say that I have no creative talent in Secondlife save and ability to map textures, mostly that's true. There are some that tell me that perhaps my true talent is having some people skills, maybe. Four and a half months ago kain Canare came to Benares, and like a hundred before her she enjoyed having the use of our guest house. This woman was like a thirsty sponge when it came to learning everything there was to learn about our world. Below find some images of just what this woman has taught herself to do since the beginning of the year.

This desk set's PC has a "screen saver"... that works. A bath for a customer. {Under construction} A sculpty living room set... If memory serves me, 8 prim total. This grandfather clock actually works! Pendulum swings... and I took this screen shot at 5:06 pm SLT She has created a chess set that is playable... yes, it's 33 prim but so very cool! Kain is available for custom work, you give her a photo of what you wish and see what she can do. More tomorrow about the people of Benares And so it goes My love to you all, brinda Namaste

नमस्ते

post script: I see a couple of my friends are in a comments war blog wise. I can't /won't choose sides, all I can think of is that and eye for and eye leaves us all blind.

Yes, We were recalcitrant

2011-03-18T17:49:00.000-07:00

*****************************Where we come from***************************** **************************************************************************** I think this will likely be my last post about Spewer 2.ought oh... and unless something else absolutely ridiculous comes from the keyboard of Wagner James Au, my last comment here about Mr. Au. In case you don't keep up with the latest drama in our blogosphere {is there such a word?} Mr. Au of New World Notes infamy recently blamed the downturn of Secondlife on those oldbies/midbies et al who refused to march blindly to the drumbeats of The Benevolent Monarchy. Yes and no. I believe without a doubt the single worst decision by the Monarchy was the creation of viewer 2 as it was configured. While most of us fully supported many of the new features, we balked at the complicated poorly thought out UI. Almost without exception the populace rejected the new viewer... not because it was new, but because it was poorly thought out, had so much hidden, was difficult to use for building, had weird panels that hid much of our screens, broken search functions, on and on ad infinitum. My best guess is that because the Monarchy had spent so much capital on that viewer, and would have their investors wrath to deal with if they withdrew it, they had little choice about retaining it. I can almost hear someone in a meeting saying, "We're stuck with the viewer, the users will come around if they're forced to use it". Well, a lot of people wouldn't be forced to use it... they left Secondlife for other grids. Others just left. Perhaps the saddest part of the decision to force the use of Spewer 2 has to do with those just entering Secondlife. The viewer that was supposed to make The New User Experience easier... didn't. Secondlife may never see the kinds of numbers that Failbook has, and as Mr. Au has said, without growth Secondlife will never see it's full potential, or perhaps survive. But Secondlife would be well served if we just retained more of the reported 86% of new users that never log back in after that first confusing venture. They will never get to see the true magic that is the Secondlife myself and so many tens of thousands have found. That's darned sad. I spent my last working years in the business world. Contract or no contract, it's imperative to keep the customer happy. While the Terms of Service make it abundantly clear that Secondlife is a take it or leave it deal... we are customers first, we pay the bills. If we have been recalcitrant, maybe we were right. And so it goes My love to you all, brinda Namaste नमस्ते

Wonder If Mr. Humble reads the blog I commented on?

2011-03-16T13:16:00.000-07:00

*****************************Where we come from***************************** **************************************************************************** OK Soapbox time... again. Below is a comment I posted today on a blog that is still shilling for both FailBook {gosh I love that and can't remember who to credit it to} and for The Benevolent Monarchy. I can accept that the company that runs Secondlife may not be growing at the rate that that same amount of money would increase at if it were invested elsewhere. And believe me, I do understand that "the bottom line" is truly the bottom line. While Secondlife is a wonderful, creative, multinational experience for us the users, for the investors/owners it's all about money. Here... Just maybe my one tiny voice will be heard, I have to believe.

"Oh Please!. I pay my share... 6K USD a year. No, I'm not golden... but I'm far from a freeloader. Try to force me/us to use a UI that's so bad that literally thousands of daily users don't like it? It's also darned sure nothing to do with point/clic... the Third Party Viewers have that, I use that function... it's handy. As was stated above we tug on the rope and no one listens for weeks/months/years? It's not that people don't come... it's the 86% that never re log after time one. Here, let me tug on the rope one more time. This *New User Experience* isn't working, and a large part of that is the complicated viewer that we that are strangling Secondlife refuse to embrace. Default all new users to and island of their own with adequate mentoring. Instead of sitting in and office emotionally, actually come spend time in world talking with that new user standing way off to one side of a so called welcome area where he/she has just been ignored... or even worse jeered at because they are so *lost*. Mr. Humble... if you read this and would like to hear from several of those that used to work with new users (and a few that still do... IM me or send me and Email, you have the address). " And so it goes My love to you all, brinda Namaste नमस्ते

Our Secondlife Still Has A Culture...

2011-03-13T17:18:00.000-07:00

*****************************Where we come from****************************** ***************************************************************************** I originally intended this post to be about how people in Secondlife learn about the latest news, or new thing, or current drama. The leading subject was to be concerning the near constant hysteria surrounding "RedZone"... and then I decided to listen to what a friend counseled a few days ago and just ignore that latest drama. Instead I want to focus on something most of us likely don't often think about... community and the culture of Secondlife. Whether there is a culture of Secondlife as opposed to there being culture in Secondlife was one of last years news stories. Tom Hale, formerly of Adobe Systems and Macromedia Executive was hired in 2008 as Chief Product Officer for Linden Lab. Here in a post from last year by Dusan Writer Mr. Hale says that he doesn't believe that a Secondlife culture, as such exists... perhaps that kind of thinking is one of the reasons Tom is no longer with The Benevolent Monarchy. I'm one of those that does understand that we as a group in Secondlife do have a culture all our own. Does our culture have as many facets as a brilliant cut diamond? Maybe more. Last evening I saw an off-line IM from one of my friends, Porter Paquot. She wanted to know if there was a parcel she could purchase, she has a friend that has had some severe medical issues and because of those issues Porter decided that it was important to all of us to bring our friend close to us. We found a suitable place and Porter rezzed a house...{see image below}. Darn you Mr. Hale, that is a culture at work. A culture of community. I recently reread some of what Mark Stephen Meadows wrote in his book, "I Avatar- The Culture and Consequences of Having a Second Life". One of the things that caught my attention was how the size and mobility of a group of people can determine its culture. He used the example of early Los Angeles where when the automobile came, communities lost their cohesiveness. Take a look at what has happened to much of Secondlife... how new people can come to a world where there are 50,000 people on line and still feel lonely. Compare that to what Pituca Fairchang has written as late as last year. Part of me wishes I had been a part of those earliest days. The rest of me is happy that I have been privileged to be a part of this at all. And so it goes My love to you all, brinda Namaste नमस्ते

New Secondlife Help Page? Not so as I could tell!

2011-03-09T11:22:00.000-08:00

*****************************Where we come from***************************** **************************************************************************** Ranting. Again. Just yesterday I started looking at "our" new Secondlife knowledge base. Maybe it's just me... Hey, I can provide testimony, both in-world and out, that there are times I make the easy stuff way too complicated. But have any of you tried to use the new and improved gonna get us Residents to provide information 'cause that way you can earn brownie points help section of the Secondlife Web Page? I just spent 24 minutes looking for a list of Third Party Viewers... this list here. I didn't find that link at the site new users would likely go to first, the Secondlife Web Page... I googled Secondlife Third Party Viewers. After entering my log in info twice while trying to just post a question, {like a new person is going to sit for "X" minutes, hours, days, for someone to answer their question} I quit in disgust. I wonder how this new system will improve the new user experience? Not! {Can't imagine why Third Party Viewers aren't easy to find.}*cough* Please, if I screwed up that search... let me know. When I try and help nooblets, one of the early things I suggest is that they at least try one of the 1 code viewers. I tell them that downloading Phoenix, Imprudence, Ascent, etc. won't remove "Spewer 2.ought oh"... but that they will find the early UI much easier to use as well as make it certainly a lot easier for me to provide them with easy to understand pictorial information. Later, once they have become a little more comfortable, if they choose they can certainly return to their original viewer. Works every time. But what about the uncounted thousands that never meet someone in-world that can take the time to help? I know... if I expect anyone to do anything except disappoint me.. I will be disappointed. Cynical s.o.b. I am. And then... I read Wagner James Au's New World Notes from yesterday afternoon. {And no, I won't HTML link it} He continues to shill for Facebook. I will let his commenter's speak for themselves... at last count there were 28 against anything that would connect Facebook to Secondlife, 1 for, and 1 ehhh maybe. Jeez... we are still going though all the current privacy stuff. Enough with and outfit that can't even keep their own CEO's account safe. I know... much too cynical. =^..^= And so it goes My love to all, brinda Namaste नमस्ते

Virtual World "wills"?

2011-03-08T16:51:00.000-08:00

*****************************Where we come from***************************** ***************************************************************************** I just finished reading Ener Hax' great blog a few minutes ago. She mentions something that I've thought about before, what does happen to your "stuff" here when you die? Btw thanks to Eners commenter "Johnny" for his link to this site. Now I have read a bit about what The Benevolent Monarchy has posted about this some years ago. What I read from them is fine as far as any money left in the deceased account. As for your inventory, Ener did a previous post last spring explaining options. If the death isn't a sudden one just leaving your password with others sounds like the easiest way out. The Benevolent Monarchy. Have you tried to get anything done there? I knew someone that was falsely ARed as under age, it took her around a month to finally get someone to rectify that... and only after she found a Linden in world {Honest, she actually found one!}. I have real people that have paid me real money for the experience I promised them at Benares. What would happen to my sims? Can you say *log on* and see, "Your former location no longer exists or is currently unavailable and you have been moved to a nearby region"? I will not have that happen to those that have trusted me. My solution will be as I commented on Eners blog... It's just the right thing to do. While I have found more stuff that, "the boys", as soror Nishi calls them have broken... I'll save that for the next rant! And so it goes My love to you all, brinda Namaste नमस्ते

Part Two... More "Rules" for Secondlife =^..^=

2011-03-06T17:30:00.001-08:00

******************************Where we come from*****************************

**************************************************************************** I doubt anyone ever first comes to Secondlife truly understanding exactly how our world works. Now and exception to that might well be those that come here from other virtual worlds, and when I say how our world works... I don't mean technically, I mean emotionally. In May 2007 I was 65 years old, a self described been there done that sort of person, and because of a very storied past, pretty darned street wise. None of anything I thought I knew would prepare me for Secondlifes emotional stuff. Yes, I had a brief emotional fling... and got over that fairly quickly. Next I met a dear friend from Bangladesh, a person that taught me so much about how Secondlife works. We kinda grew up here. While we were never more than just extremely close friends, I was just feeling so lost when my friend decided that her life was to go another direction. Where I'm headed with this is I allowed my emotions free rein... And I forgot the reason I originally entered a virtual world... entertainment. In my life where I sleep... if a stranger made rude comments about me, most of the time my practise would hopefully kick in and I would simply go about my business and promptly forget what was said. If I were in business and someone took and ad out in a publication and said things about me that were unkind but not libelous, either I counter respond... or ignore. How often have I told nooblets..."Secondlife is not a game, it truly is a second life". Many years ago a very wise woman gave me a gift. It's a gift with very sharp edges, and as such must be handled carefully. The gift? The first three rules of life. Life is not fair. There is no justice. Nothing is truly sacred. There will likely be calls of cynicism. I call it realism. Come on, no one gets out of here alive. Life is incredibly short... much too short to waste such a precious gift. Come to Secondlife, make it the best you can, don't worry about the stuff you have no control over. Live as good a life as you can. Be honest. Allow others the right to make bad decisions. Love with all your heart. Take care of your friends. Jeff...Remember yesterdays rule 1, have fun.

And so it goes I love you all, brinda Namaste

नमस्ते

P.S. There is a fourth rule... I will sneak it into a future post.=^..^=

Part One, "The First Rule of Secondlife"

2011-03-05T22:38:00.000-08:00

*****************************Where we come from***************************** ***************************************************************************** As these last few days have gone by there have been a couple of things that seem to want to come together in my head. There often seems to be a persistent problem with some of us that are getting older. It's not uncommon to see the, "My minds made up, don't confuse me with facts" bit. I'd like to think I don't fall into that. I suspect that most people in Secondlife over a few days old have at least read something about the latest Secondlife drama concerning RedZone, data scraping, and the sharing of personal information. I'll leave it to the various pundits as well as the legal minds to determine if it's legal... it doesn't sound like it to me. For many people the concern has less to do with the outing of alts, or being lumped in with everyone that was in the local WiFi Starbucks that morning... it has to do with the possibility of a real life confrontation. Stick around the Internet very long and we will all see some of us that look a little loose in our loafers. I had found a site that advertised relatively cheap VPNs {virtual private networks} and wondered if it was something I might want to look at. So I IMed a friend of mine in-world. This person is one of the brightest people I've come across, travels all over the world for work, really understands how all this tech stuff works, and seems to have both feet firmly planted. Below you will find and edited version of our chat. I deliberately left my friend anonymous for a couple reasons. One, while I have good reason to believe they would authorize the publishing of our conversation, I didn't bother to ask. Second, I don't care who some one cites as an authority there will be those that will 'pick' at that. And third, as I said...this is edited, most of what is missing are my inane comments. ***************************************************************************** Me: Hi! I'm begging again, if you've a minute...well begging information and advice. Them: No worries. What's up? M: Concerning VPN's and hiding IP addresses. Look at this link. All this concerns the recent controversy about RedZone. I'm sure some IP addresses change with every log in right? T: Yeah... There's a DSL type of connection that constantly changes. Dial-up was sure to change. Cable and full on DSL stays the same simply because of the persistent connection. M: See... That's why I come to you for info. T: You can reset your router/modem/whatever and have a 20% chance of getting a whole new address. I'm sure you use a firewall router, right? Like a NetGear or whatever? There's a trick with those... Their MAC address is not hard coded. Reason being, some IP's require you to register a computer and they log the MAC to be sure no one steals your computer. M: OK...Any thoughts about all this RedZone crap? T: Much ado about nothing. People want something to be afraid of. They see the "Address" in IP address and that psychologically tells them it's a location of a sort. M: Yup...my IP logged as Santee {51 KM's away} for nearly a year 'till Cox cable came out and worked on my cable... now it logs as Lemon Grove {37}. T: Exactly. They're all over the place. Now... If you have an open WiFi router, someone can radio in and A-B compare your address... but we're talking about near impossible odds. Historically speaking, nobody has ever been "found" by IP address alone. Any time the story comes up it's IP address -and- [inset whatever wireless tech here]. M: OK Dear. Thank you T: Not a problem M: I suppose one might be able to pay $ to some one at Cox for and address. T: People will attack you like savage wolves if you dare say such a thing :-). In the end a fixed address is still preferable. It's just not reasonable to give every resident their own number. The protocol ran out of numbers just a couple of months ago. We're running on vapours.XD. A 100% surefire way to rotate IP addresses is to have a hand full of Ethernet cards. Don't use them... just write down each MAC address. When you want a new address, put a new MAC in your router, reset it, FOOM! New address. Don't use that MAC for a week and it'll never be the same address again. So 7 cards would do for the most paranoid... M: Yes... I can see how this may be "Much ado about nothing"... at least as far as locating some one physically. T: Yes, People want something to be afraid of. M: Dear, as always thank you for your time and the info. ****************************** OK... for me that's enough. I'm not smart enough to copybot, I wouldn't steal, My alts are nothing secret, and if a shop bans me by mistake? Guess who loses money? There is something else that's an on going issue though, this latest drama within Secondlife is just another thing that some of us will focus on... instead of remembering the first rule. You never heard of the first rule of Secondlife? Then you must not be one of the over 1000 nooblets I've worked with these past three and a half years. A day or so I got a goodbye note from a wonderful guy here. He says he's had enough of all this drama, the content theft, the name calling. This was not a rich guy... but I know how many of us in Secondlife actually even break even. My bet was he didn't, I saw him take new people and give them their first Secondlife job... paid them pretty darned well too. Money is not why he left. I'll try and talk about this more on Monday. Oh... The first rule? It's simple, HAVE FUN! And so it goes I love you all, brinda Namaste नमस्ते

It's Your Privacy...Send Linden Lab a letter.

2011-02-28T22:46:00.000-08:00

******************************Where we come from***************************** **************************************************************************** I would imagine that most people that have spent enough time around the Internet understand that one of the downsides involved is that there are some dangers. While most of the dangers are monetary... Bank accounts, Identity theft, Credit card charges, dangerous links that can cost you a trip to a computer repair specialist ( or a "factory restore") w/the loss of data), there are instances of actual physical harm coming from the rare occasion of a nut job coming to your door. Long before I ever had a PC I knew that rule about we have a choice about what information we put on the Internet...but once that information is out, it's there... permanently. Now I would imagine that most everyone understands that every website we visit "sees" our IP address... that's how the website "knows" where to return the data we've requested. Likely all bloggers use a program that tells us a lot about our visitors... We use that information to keep track of how many visitors we have as well as a few other things, such as how you found us, where you went after you looked at our blogs, where you come from in the world, the time of day, your service provider...... and yes, your IP address. Now please keep in mind that your IP address does not exactly locate you, mine shows me as Santee California, that's 51 kms away. Your service provider of course does know your location exactly, but that information requires a court order to access. Having said all of that, I still respect all IP addresses as personal and wouldn't post those just because that information is no ones business and I understand that there are people that just don't want that info released no matter how innocuous it may be. Here's where I'm heading with all this. For well over a year or so I have been aware of a system that detected copybot viewers. Some months ago another item went for sale here in Secondlife called RedZone. Redzone is advertised as a way to detect both copybot viewers and............any alts that someone may have. There are a couple of problems... first, RedZone just matches IP addresses. Go to your local Starbucks free WiFI and log in... everyone that logs in there is your "alt" (same IP). Second, there are those that are using RedZone to effectively "out" alts as well as collecting information on what places you visit in Secondlife. All that is bad enough but.... Redzone is keeping a database of all this information and sharing it. The RedZone program exploits your choice to enable streaming media... it's not your choice to provide your IP address, RedZone takes that info. I realize that many of you may not take the time to read JIRAs... the Secondlife bug trackers, but I encourage all of you to educate yourself about this. So far The Benevolent Monarchy has done virtualy nothing to put a stop to this. As you will see in the links below this can and will have far reaching consequences for our world. Send Linden Lab a letter, Linden Lab, 945 Battery Street, San Francisco, CA 94111 Ask them to put a stop to RedZone and programs like it. Here's a link to the JIRA its self. https://jira.secondlife.com/browse/VWR-24746 And Ann Otoole has a very good post on this subject here. Her post will also give you a link to the Alphaville Herald. And so it goes My love to you all, brinda Namaste नमस्ते

Ranting about facebook...conclusion

2011-02-24T01:32:00.000-08:00

******************************Where we come from*****************************

**************************************************************************** More of the rant about Hamlet Au's New World Notes blog of a few days ago. I won't copy Mr. Au's rebuttal to my first comment, it did sound convincing. You know, convincing in that don't confuse me with facts my minds made up and I know more than you mentality. And perhaps he does, his response can be found on page two of comments... just before the following. My counter below: "Mr. Au...I bought and read your book, and that was after I had been in Secondlife for awhile. When I read that, I saw someone immersed in this world I've come to love. You were here near the beginning. You as much as anyone should understand that Secondlife is not easy... it will never be easy, at least the Secondlife I know and love. I don't remember now how I found Secondlife, it wasn't the CSI episode and yes likely it was and advertisement somewhere. Here's the thing... my guess is that you as well as most everyone that comes to Secondlife and decides to remain has had my experience with proselytising about this world... the very few we even talk into attempting Secondlife don't find what they are looking for. People want simple. People want quick. People want easy. People want Facebook. With Facebooks track record of security... no way. @Lili said it well..."Facebook is only a distraction for Linden Lab." "OK, let's say we get people to sign up... we've got sign ups now... what is it, less than 15% stay past first hour? If Linden Lab wants to improve concurrency? There is a way... it was a way that seemed to work before. SECONDLIFE is not easy, don't dumb it down... restart the Mentor program... restart the Help Islands. At the risk of irritating more than I may have already, my take of a great number of the people we all know: About forty years ago when I was in my late twenties I asked a very brilliant friend of mine if she thought I was and elitist. {this friend had a PhD in education as well as a masters in speech pathology} She patted me gently on the hand and said, "No dear, and you may not be exceptionally bright... this world's full of dumb S.O.B's." I'm still not and elitist and not nearly as bright as those that created our world... but if so many of us in-world can see so many of the problems, problems that could be fixed without a major outlay of cash. Why can't those that run this world. In some cases we all know why... to fix some would require saying a mistake was made. If we don't help the ones that do sign up... signing up more won't help." For what it's worth................ And so it goes My love to you all, brinda Namaste नमस्ते

Ranting about Facebook... part one

2011-02-22T18:47:00.000-08:00

*****************************Where we come from******************************

***************************************************************************** OK, My great plan for a blog topic suddenly changed. I had a long semi ranting comment on Hamlet Au's New World Notes blog... Hamlet had posted from Mitch Wagner about how he {Wagner} just didn't seem to want to take time to come in-world, and that Facebook met his needs today. Along with all that, so many today have decided that Secondlife is both a little too difficult and takes too much time. These people prefer Facebook or at least those kinds of "social media" applications. I guess to say I got carried away would be and understatement. First my comment... then Hamlets response. Tomorrow I'll post my reply to that response. In the interest of brevity I'll paste that comment here: "OK Mr. Au, Have a great time with "social media", go spend your time on Facebook and any other shallow log in/log out platform that pleases you. But I'm curious, for one that's made at least a partial living from Secondlife {as a Linden for one}, and spending so much of your time writing this blog about Secondlife... why? Why even bother with Secondlife at any level... unless writing about Secondlife pays your wages? Some months ago you abandoned us for Blue Mars or at least that was a perception. While I often have appreciated your reporting. Your constant calling for the end of Secondlife as we know it and shilling for Facebook isn't what I expected. For me you have lost credibility. But of course I'm sure what I think is of no consequence to you. What do these people have in common?@Medhue @Lili @Roslin Petion @Ciaran Laval @Laetizia Coronet @Tinsel Silvera @Adeon Writer @Ignatius Onomatopoeia @Aliasi Stonebender @Rawst Berry @Paisley Beebe @Rin Tae @Nickola Martynov @David Cartier. Times up! They have time to log in to a virtual world and immerse. Some like Nikola seem to find similar things as I do. I can look at IMs to Email, see there's a minor question or issue from a resident, log in fix issue and log out. Other times I may spend what is and inordinate amount of time in-world... loving every minute of it. After nearly four years in Secondlife I'm every bit as infatuated with the almost infinite possibilities. For me the magic has never ended..." OK, more tomorrow And so it goes My love to you all, brinda Namaste नमस्ते

It was a good day to stay in-world...

2011-02-21T00:22:00.000-08:00

*****************************Where we come from****************************** **************************************************************************** Seemed rather hard for me to get outside today.. It's rained really hard [for Southern California] the previous couple of days and lately I've just not wanted to go anywhere. At this mornings log on I saw my wonderful Secondlife daughter Lala... Well, at least I saw her log on via I-phone and a light client. I love that kid, I really do, and I tell her so. These past few months she's not logged on often, it's her last year of university. It's been nearly four years we've been doing this world together, she was my very first friend. One of my residents moved on today... it was expected. Trinity has been around since 2006 and a friend has offered her a great place for free, I can't compete with that.=^..^= I did send her a snapshot of the sign on the tori gate above the access to our south beach, it says simply, "Each of us has left a part of ourselves on this island". I wish her well and she knows she will always be welcome. Late this evening I went up to my friend kains sandbox to see about what she had made lately as well as to ask her if she could create sculpty blades for my other long time friend Lings lighthouse tower. All in all I managed to do absolutely nothing all day. It was just one of those days. And so it goes My love to you all, brinda Namaste नमस्ते

Complaints?...Not really.

2011-02-18T22:37:00.000-08:00

******************************Where we come from***************************** **************************************************************************** It's quite common for me as well as a lot of the other members of our virtual world to complain. Often our complaints are justified and few subjects get more blog traffic for me than when I get on my lil hobby horse and start complaining about the latest screw up conceived by The Benevolent Monarchy's actions... or lack there of. Lately I've found ways to complain about how busy I seem be with the day to day running of Benares, and yet deep down inside... I love it. Last evening as I logged off and sat looking at a blank screen, I realised just how fortunate I am today. I have dear friends here from my earliest days... I have so many that care for both me, as well as this place on the grid we call home. Financially these last couple of months we have come as close as we ever have to breaking even on tier. I have to tell you... I could have bought a nice used car with what this venture cost just that first year. Sure, script times are higher than I want. Kattie's struggle to work, keep a family going, buy a house... all of that keeping her a little too busy to log in is a bummer. Lalas drift away bothers me. But what about when I sit on the west shore fishing for scripted fish and chatting with someone that I know cares about me? What about the friend that set up that fishing venue? What about the friend that calls me just to say hello? This evening as I logged off leaving friends standing in the yard of my virtual yard......I never dreamed all this would be my wonderful virtual life nearly four years ago. And so it goes My love to you all, brinda Namaste नमस्ते

Privacy & Courtesy...

2011-02-17T13:14:00.000-08:00

*****************************Where we come from***************************** ************************************************************************

I've had something happen yesterday that really surprised me. It has to do with a question of privacy.

Now I understand that there is no expectation of privacy in Secondlife... legally. And that's why I took a security orb off of my house. My house sits just a few meters away from our telehub as well as not that far from 128/128, the default landing spot on any region. When new people come exploring it's not unusual for them to promptly wander into my house. When I was new, that bothered me no end... today, not so much. I'm rather proud of my single room and it's fantastic view. And if these new people turn out to be a pain.... poooof, they're gone never to return.

Having said all that, I do understand why people do get upset about people prowling around. Perhaps it's my age, but I believe that everyone should have an expectation of courteous behavior. What got me about the report I got from a resident yesterday was that those "investigating" her house weren't nooblets and they have both have had houses in Secondlife. The rational was that since the house in question was a skybox... normal conventions of courtesy didn't apply.

Because of my age I suspect you know how well that went over with me =^..^= Being a curious person (as well as taking a bet on the results), I did a poll of my residents.

Only two people out of the fifteen {now twenty @18:00 hours} that answered said no to a question about if skyboxes were private, and one of those said that courtesy should still rule.

I won't pursue further research... but my guess is that real life age has something to do with whether or not someone would find doing something in virtual worlds acceptable just because they could, rather than following a sense of propriety. I also won't chat about "common courtesy" or the lack of in that life where I sleep.

I don't mean help a lil old lady across the street... how about please and thank you.

Oh well, just mumbling... And so it goes

My love to you all, (even SL prowlers) brinda

Namaste

नमस्ते

More bits & pieces of Secondlife...

2011-02-16T16:01:00.000-08:00

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There's and old saying that, "All new brooms sweep clean".

We saw a lot of that with M. Linden. He came in and swept our easy viewer UI away, implemented the disaster called spewer 2.ought oh, all the while seeming to clutch as desperating at the helm of our sinking platform as Ahab did after Moby Dick rammed the Pequod.

This new guy, Rod Humble, seems very different. I've swung from exhilaration to pffft let's see and back after listening and reading what he's had to say. In these last few hours Phaylen Fairchild has done a podcast with Mr. Humble. To say it would be difficult to BS Ms Fairchild would be and under statement... as far as I know she's the oldest active member of Secondlife bar none, as well as one of the oldest accounts period. Listening to that podcast... our dream just may continue. One of my single biggest complaints has been that those at the Lab didn't actually spend time in world... this guy (Humble) does, both as his CEO account as well as just another nooblet. He really seems to "get it", please take a listen to the audio, it's around 27 minutes and see what you think.

On another tack... Ann Otoole is P****d! And I can see her point. Looking at her recent post about RedZone... if it is as she's described it, it makes me uncomfortable. I have never used a copybot viewer and I won't. I'm one that believes that those of you that are content creators are the heart of virtual worlds and to effectively steal your content is not just illegal (and I suspect most content thieves aren't caught), it's unethical. [ethics... that's the practise of doing the right thing when no one's going to know]. I have "purchased" the freebie she's described and fully intend to do as she suggests. I suppose it's back to that thing that if I don't... who will?And if I don't do it now... when?

My love to you all, brinda Namaste नमस्ते

"I know how this will end"...Heh Heh

2011-02-15T23:46:00.000-08:00

*****************************Where we come from****************************** **************************************************************************** OK... a couple things in this short post. First, Bernards back! Bernard is my resident Frenchman. Another total gentleman that has stayed at Benares twice before. A real life photographer... when those commitments take all his time, he leaves us, and when time allows he returns. Welcome back Bernard! Next I have a report on a meet and greet session by Rod Humble, the new CEO of Linden Lab. The story was covered by Pixeleen Mistral of The Alphaville Herald and for me the part of the story that just sent me gasping for laughter was the comment I found down aways. {see below} *********************************************** @ Oh noes “I stopped reading when I saw his avatar. Man in robes and long brown hair + Claims to have the answer to everything = ? I know how this will end.” *********************************************** I'm sorry... I just gave up trying to read more, I was laughing too hard. I'll do better tomorrow And so it goes I love you all, brinda Namaste नमस्ते

Do My Dreams Continue...Maybe

2011-02-13T09:38:00.001-08:00

*****************************Where we come from***************************** ***************************************************************************** There is wonderful news for the future of Secondlife! Maybe. The future of Secondlife will continue to fail us at every turn! Maybe. No one knows the future of Secondlife. Maybe. One or all of these statements will turn out to be true. Maybe. Confusing? Yes, absolutely. OK... first a caveat about this post. Somewhere I read a general rule about writing pretty much anything supposedly original if the writer is just rearranging the words of others. It's not acceptable. I do have a couple of sentences of my own about the latest news concerning just where the future of Secondlife is headed, but the real meat will be found in the links to a couple of the blogs I will list. The most definitive information about our direction comes from and interview with Rod Humble the current CEO of Linden Lab by Dusan Writer, you can read the complete article here. That article had me all warm and fuzzy =^..^=... Then I read Lalo Tellings post here and decided we, the customers of Secondlife, had a great future and all would be perfect. Finally after a nights sleep, this morning I read what soror Nishi had to say. Both soror and Lalo are respected writers and original thinkers and in this case while one may have a slightly more cautious view I see some hope for all of us. I have made no bones about my desire to remain in Secondlife. I also realise that so many that create find other worlds more welcoming and economical, and in the case of Inworldz so much more like the stories I've heard about the community feeling that Secondlife started with. I really want to continue to believe the dreams I had early on and much of what Mr. Humble says allows me those dreams. I'm also old enough to understand that Mr. Humble has to answer to those whose money allows our world to exist. And so it goes My love to you all, brinda Namaste नमस्ते

The Care & Feeding of Trolls?...

2011-02-11T10:28:00.001-08:00

******************************Where we come from****************************** **************************************************************************** Don't feed the trolls! There has been controversy about musical performers for as long as there has been music... and just because the music is performed in a virtual world doesn't mean the controversy will abate. The reasons that some performers have different acts is because their listeners (read customers) prefer many different styles and kinds of music. My firm belief is those that whine about other performers have the idea somewhere embedded in their brain that the easiest way to improve their audience (read customers and the customers money) is to denigrate others. I spent my first three years in Secondlife without attending a single music function... and then I found and act I liked. I believe that anyone that could be persuaded to avoid a musician or vocalist they chose to listen to because of what someone else said.. isn't likely to be the kind of person that would monetarily support a music venue anyway. I call on all of you that choose to perform.... do that, perform. Let those that financially support you to choose what they want to listen to. All avatar profiles have a mute tab.... and all computers have a delete key, use them. If we refuse to feed the trolls.... they starve. And so it goes My love to you all, brinda Namaste नमस्ते

Two Kinds of a Virtual World Life...

2011-02-07T16:21:00.000-08:00

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Bits and pieces... So often much of the thoughts for what I write just fall in front of me and become obvious. That is the case today. These last few days I've found reasons to rezz a few of my alt accounts... and when I clicked "go home" with one of them, I saw the home position for that account is still set at my first home in Secondlife. At one time I owned over 8,000 meters at Arrazura and while the Northeast corner of any estate can be the same... that region will always have a place in my heart, though at my last count that region has been resold three times and has had three different names. The feeling I got is the same feeling I know Mucaro has about Benares. She had recently sent me a note telling me she was homesick and last evening she stopped in to see those of us that were chatting on the West shore. When I told her some of the latest news about our mutual friends and how some are struggling with serious health issues, she commented on the very real emotional attachments we make in Secondlife. As I rezzed one of the alts that I had used while mentoring on the old Help Islands I heard my friend Barbara say how nostalgic the site of that avatar made her, even though she knew it was still me. Caro asked about many but made a special point to ask about Andor. Andor is a man that appears so unassuming, he doesn't portray the stereotypical Incredible Hulk body shape we so often see, yet everyone that ends up on the parcel he owned at East retains the parcel name...Bliss. He spent a long time at Benares.... and still returns. I see he's rezzed a lantern at a special place he occasionally comes to sit.

Not long ago I quietly sent a guy and IM suggesting that the triple X rated tag over his avatar was inappropriate for a PG area. His answer... Did I understand that the area where he and I were standing seemed to be dedicated to crude, rude, trolling people? And that my use of "secret" IMs was almost proof that I intended to hassle him. Why didn't I mind my own business? Of course my explanation that my IMs were intended to see he wasn't publicly embarrassed left him with the opportunity to tell me that there was no way he would be embarrassed by what happened in a virtual world..... OK, what about those young people that have recently joined us on the grid? So what?

Hmmm... which kind of virtual world would you rather have? I wonder how many people such as he will end up staying. Longevity here in virtual worlds has benefits... I have learned so much about "you"... and therefore so much about "me".

And so it goes

My love to you all, brinda

Namaste

नमस्ते

Secondlife Men & Perceived Social Skills...

2011-02-04T16:46:00.000-08:00

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Men in my Secondlife........As we so often see in any life, men come in many sizes and shapes emotionally. I've one former resident that I suspect would have loved to have had a more serious relationship with me and yet he always treated me as a treasured friend and with the greatest respect. Today he's busy in another area of his life and I will continue to miss him both as a resident and as a friend I got to chat with often.

My newer direction in Secondlife concerns mentoring men as opposed to my past efforts focused on women... so far it's been fulfilling. I usually end up working on just one person at a time and my current effort with Lawton is no exception. He's bright, polite, and willing to take suggestions [as in load a third party viewer!].

Another guy in my Secondlife has proved to be something very different from my experience with Lawton.... we've all likely had this stuff go on. He says, would you like to go dancing? I say no, I don't dance here in Secondlife. He says why not. I explain about watching cartoons on screen. He says dancing would be blah, blah, blah................... ad infinitum. I facetiously ask if he's dyslexic and doesn't understand. Trust me on this... he will understand soon. Anytime someone refuses to accept a no answer... they are trying to manipulate you. I don't manipulate easily.

But before I get too negative I look at the guys here at Benares.

AlexHayden Junibalya GuitarDan Silversmith loegan Magic Smithy Miami Jakob Faulds

None of these men have ever acted in any way other than that of gentlemen. Yes, I have to say that women in general have "X" times the social skills of men... but the men we have in our community are priceless.

And so it goes

My love to you all, brinda

Namaste

नमस्ते

Sorry, we didn't clean up before we left.

2011-02-01T12:02:00.000-08:00

******************************Where we come from******************************

**************************************************************************** The cause of death is birth.... Tokyo crime reporter Jake Adelstein wrote a short story in The Shambhala Sun magazine this month and I'd like to print a few paragraphs of that story. In a recent post on Women Who Dance With Frogs there was discussion about the way many of us deal with despair and/or the heavy emotional load so many carry today. Mr. Adelsteins story demonstrates the way one Japanese couple handled their lives............................................................................ On a weekend in July, the bodies of Mr. and Mrs. Akutagawa were found in their apartment, He was sixty-two and she was fifty-nine. It looked like what the Japanese call a murishinju. In medieval times, shinju meant the suicide pact between lovers. Muri means unreasonable. They had drunk poison. The husband had boiled a pack of cigarettes, either Peace or Hope brand, in some alcohol and water. There is enough nicotine in a pack of smokes to kill you if you distill and drink it. She'd died first and he died shortly afterward.

The Assistant police chief told me, "He was a faithful salary man that had gone through a company restructuring............... It happens like that, a guy gets put into a situation where, even when living a relatively simple life, he can't save enough to repay bills and loans". I tried to flesh out a story by finding people that knew Mr. Akutagawa, but no one did................ he was practically invisible. The apartment manager... "I didn't have a personal relationship"............... Another resident... "We were living in the same apartment building, but I never got to know him".................. The pub owner next door... "I'm not familiar with the man"..................... It's amazing to me that people can live in an apartment complex right next to each other for years and not know each other at all, not even in passing. This was the case with the Akutagawa family. They had no friends; they had no social life or interaction with the neighbors. Mr. Akutagawa lost his job, they ran out of money, and they made a suicide pact. A lot of Japanese people hate to ask others for help--- even close friends. That was the whole story. I went back to the police station......the Akutagawas had left a note. The note said simply, "Don't worry about us. We've been dead a long time. Sorry, we didn't clean up before we left. We didn't have the energy". Very Japanese, very apologetic. I asked when and where the funeral would be held, but the police said no one had claimed the bodies. They were muenbotoke, literally "Buddhas without connections." There was no one to mourn for them. There was no one that would miss them, pine for them. At least not in Tokyo. There would be an ad put in the paper, and if no one came forward, the cremated ashes would be taken to a temple on the outskirts of the megalopolis. Two weeks later............ A priest took me to where the ashes of Mr. and Mrs. Akutagawa were stored. I lit a stick of incense, put my hands together, mumbled the only Buddhist prayer I could remember and left.

By now, the ashes of the Akutagawas have probably been evicted or displaced by the ashes of other muenbotoke. This happens. When family members don't pay the upkeep fees on gravestones and burial plots in Japan, the remains are moved and new tenants are sought. Even the dead can only rent in Tokyo. I think I'll still visit the temple this summer anyway and pay my respects to the Akutagawas before even the memory of their memory is gone. It seems like the least I can do. Everyone needs someone to mourn them. I hope when my time comes there's someone who will do the same for me. I can't tell you why that's even important to me, but it is.

************************************************************************** I guess I know why those last lines mean so much to me personally..... Sometimes the price one pays for the way a life is lived isn't obvious until near the end. And so it goes Today I do love you all, brinda Namaste नमस्ते

Men, Women, & Civil Frogs...

2011-01-28T23:10:00.000-08:00

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Recently I did a post on civility and how the anonymity of the Internet provides a platform for many to do and say things on line that they wouldn't likely do face to face. That post got a comment from Paisley Beebe... and that in turn got me to reading a blog co written by she and Bliss Windlow, " Women That Dance With Frogs". Our revolving comments soon turned to another kind of civility... and that was how women, and men, act in virtual worlds. Basically, in many ways, we act out the much of the same scenarios in virtual worlds that we do offline, except.... those civil inhibitions are missing. Men, particularly new comers to virtual worlds tend to choose avatar shapes that look more like the Incredible Hulk than Woody Allen. They tend to be very forward and blunt about asking for sexual favors... my suspicion is that the embarrassment of rejection is mitigated by simply logging off as well as the danger of a physical confrontation with a boyfriend, father, husband, brother is missing.

Women have struggled for millennia to achieve being recognized as equals... to be recognised for achievements rather than looks or what sexual favor that could be provided. And yet in virtual worlds, particularly newcomers seem to allow promiscuity free rein. I suppose it's a form of role play... the chance to do some of those things that would be terribly unsafe in real life. It is rather odd that given a chance to achieve so much of the respect that is often difficult to attain in the life where we sleep, so many women simply perpetuate the status quo.

This last couple of weeks I've been trying something a little different, I'm mentoring a couple of new guys. These last three years I've primarily worked with women, but it's occurred to me that if I was successful in dealing not only with men during my last twenty working years, but military officers, I should be just as successful here. My philosophy? Simple... act responsibly, set distinct boundaries, say what you mean, mean what you say, and don't say it mean.

And so it goes

My love to you all, brinda

Namaste

नमस्ते

Living every day as though it were our last...

2011-01-27T00:15:00.000-08:00

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I was turned onto a blog earlier this evening where the author was making some seemingly valid arguments as to the direction Secondlife life was heading, as well as whether the coming prime mover of Secondlife will be market driven or role play driven. Now my immediate thought was to link to that blog.... and then after a few moments I thought, why? Absolutely no one can be prescient as to the direction Secondlife is headed in a future immediate enough to matter. Actually the blog writers last comment was that they didn't expect Secondlife to last another ten years... whoopee... I'm willing to bet a substancial amount of money that I won't live another fifty years either. We are constantly surrounded by those seeing doom and gloom around every corner {Lions, and tigers, and bears! Oh, my!}, sometimes I too am guilty of a part of that. Nothing in Secondlife really exists... save in our imaginations. I know I'm not the only one that has had people in the everyday world where we sleep say to me, "You actually pay real money for land that doesn't exist!"? Where in a scenario like that could anyone believe that a dream, a dream of a place that existed only in peoples imaginations, would encourage wealthy people to invest several millions of dollars and to continue that dream for nine years. Yes, I complain loud and long about how things work in Secondlife or how they don't work. I could easily complain about the cost... both in hardware good enough to really enjoy our world {I do} and in the cost to maintain all those fictional objects that give me great joy {most of the time}. The bottom line is.. we don't know... no one does. For me the choice then becomes easy...in the life where I sleep, I attempt to live every day as if it were my last... because one day it will be. So I guess it's a given that I live everyday in our imaginary world the same way, someday the servers will go off.

And so it goes

I love you all, brinda

Namaste

नमस्ते

Benares Yearbook, Community, and whiners...

2011-01-26T18:15:00.001-08:00

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I did write a post some days ago that I never got around to doing anything with since a few other ideas seemed a little more important {as if any of this is important!}. The post was to start out about my trials and tribulations with the yearbook I do every year for Benares. This year I think I finally made something reasonably professional looking... down to about thirty page turns... partners on facing pages... text on each page to identify who or what it was. Obviously I am very proud of the book, I know from comments over the years that many see it as just one more facet of our community. BTW, IM me in world if you'ed like a free copy of yearbook.

Speaking of community... I have had a few residents shuffle parcels recently. The ability to do that easily is enhanced by the way Benares "sells" parcels for zero, that allows residents land owner controls... one can leave at any time without trying to sell their land before tier eats it's value, and it saves me policing prims.

Other news... Smithy returned after a few months absence, two new women have joined us... Bonnie and Trinity... and a few have changed their houses around. One thing that does seem to return often... that's those that want to tell me that my prices are too high, and/or our prims are too low. When I first started Benares I went for a long enough time that I almost believed that. Keep in mind that I was one of that group in early 2008 that experienced The Benevolent Monarchy's bait and switch, they raised island prices from 1000USD to 1695USD......and a couple months later went back to 1000. [And no they didn't refund the additional money] I persevered, Benares cost me nearly six thousand dollars that first year... but I have stayed and our prices remained. My comment to all those that complain is, "You can buy pixel sand anywhere... we have a community"... just before I tell them goodbye. =^..^=

I love what I have had a part in creating...

And so it goes

My love to you all, brinda

Namaste

नमस्ते

Civilty... a vested interest in Secondlife?

2011-01-23T14:08:00.000-08:00

*******************************Where we come from*************************** **************************************************************************** I came across a story a day or so ago that kinda dovetails into my recent post on civility and rudeness. My personal experience in Secondlife likely parallels most others... I found my first crude, rude person on day two. I suspect many of us understand at some level the thought that "Where there's no police car.. there's no speed limit", meaning that one can be crude and rude and when they log off there are no repercussions for their actions. Well...........Jeff Pearlman, a columnist for Sports Illustrated decided to confront at least one of his rude, crude critics... his is an interesting story. I think readers of this blog understand how I feel about those members of Secondlife who choose to never leave the "welcome areas or info hubs"... {yes, it's their Secondlife program and if they are having fun I need to shut my pixel mouth.} But in order for Secondlife to grow (and things that don't grow end up dieing) I feel we need to be more than a three D chat room. It would seem that those of us that have a vested interest in Secondlife would do well to encourage a more civil environment. I guess that perhaps one way to do that is for each of us to gently confront those who are rude. When I say confront... what I have found that has had the best response so far is I try and contact the rude individual in IM, state my feelings clearly and leave. I know, I'm still a dreamer. And so it goes My love to you all, brinda Namaste नमस्ते

The Art of Disappearing... a poem

2011-01-22T17:27:00.000-08:00

******************************Where we come from**************************** **************************************************************************** Another of those days when I have had the time to sit down and print out a post I took time to write at work......... and then I see something that just grabs at me and says 'write this!'.

I had a IM conversation with a fellow last evening... it's perhaps the third time we've spoken, and he laughed about me being a "power user" here in Secondlife, meaning that I guess every time he logs on...there I am. During our chat he said something about me proselytizing about Buddhism {jokingly}... and of course my standard response is that as a Buddhist I don't get too excited about any one else's spiritual path......or lack thereof.

But when I came home today and picked up my mail I saw the poem below. It's printed in the February issue of The Shambala Sun magazine and reading it I had to laugh because I instantly knew I had to "proselytize" if that's what it is and reprint it.

The Art of Disappearing by Naomi Shihab Nye

When they say Don’t I know you? say no. When they invite you to the party remember what parties are like before answering.... Someone telling you in a loud voice they once wrote a poem. Greasy sausage balls on a paper plate. Then reply. If they say we should get together. say why? It’s not that you don’t love them any more. You’re trying to remember something too important to forget. Trees. The monastery bell at twilight. Tell them you have a new project. It will never be finished. When someone recognizes you in a grocery store nod briefly and become a cabbage. When someone you haven’t seen in ten years appears at the door, don’t start singing him all your new songs. You will never catch up. Walk around feeling like a leaf. Know you could tumble any second. Then decide what to do with your time. I hope you can understand how and why this spoke so gently to me And so it goes I love you all, brinda Namaste नमस्ते

Are We Dancer... or Are We Human?

2011-01-20T10:07:00.000-08:00

******************************Where we come from***************************** *************************************************************************** I guess it has been a couple of years since my Secondlife daughter Lala turned me onto the song below. Keep in mind that at age 68 seeing a groups name is, "The Killers" isn't likely to make me run to a site and either buy..or listen. In this case I did... and I'm glad. So often the lyrics to a song just all run together for me, and while I had listened to the words of this song, perhaps it has taken me all this time to hear something different. This time last year I was just about finished with preparations for my pilgrimage to India's four holiest Buddhist sites. That trip was a life changing experience for me and the way I think. So today when I listened to this song I heard something very different. "Are we dancer... or are we human?" Depending on ones view of life... most of us likely want to say we are human. As a Buddhist, this current body is merely a dancer through another incarnation... for me. BTW... in the grand scheme of things, being human is doing really well too. =^..^= And so it goes My love to you all, brinda Namaste नमस्ते

Things that make me go.......Hmmmmmm

2011-01-19T17:02:00.000-08:00

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There was a comedian some years ago in the USA that had a line that went like this: "You know, it's one of those things that make you go ..hmmm". I've had a lot of those moments this past year certainly. Think about this if you will, how often have you seen a Linden in world this past year? Now don't count those Lindens that come in world for office hours. And don't count those Lindens that have showed up in world to either welcome Prince Phillip or wish him goodbye {again}. I mean Lindens that actually show up in world on their own time? I know of one... now surely there must be others.... if you've seen them, comment...please.

The Linden I speak of that does come in world was one that I had met last year at the brief memorial to the one hundred that were fired. We had a brief chat recently and I commented on how great it felt to see her online, and we agreed that perhaps things would be different if more Lindens would come in world and mingle. Now I won't give up her name... will say she isn't privy to executive decisions, but she full well understands that all the reading, all the videos, all the talk, is no substitute for spending time in world. Time... not a log in and spend 5 minutes... Time. Log in as my friend does.. go explore, go near a so called "welcome area" and cam in from a distance, sit there and listen, watch. Try to go to a sandbox or Linden land and actually build something. Go and try to do all those things us mere mortals do. After all if spewer 2.ought oh is so cool... all of those activities will be easy!

And so it goes

I love you all, brinda

Namaste

नमस्ते

Just crude & rude...

2011-01-17T17:25:00.000-08:00

******************************Where we come from**************************** ***************************************************************************

Been thinking about the subject of this blog post since yesterday. I've decided about 3 times to just forget it.... and for all the good this post will do... I likely should. But being old and stubborn...........

I saw a post yesterday on a blog about a cool place to visit and so went. Where isn't important, now I'm always quite concious of who is around and I love to read profiles. Too bad I didn't read Daktari Ducatillon's profile more completely before I saw and commented on his rezz date. As I'm sure most know, those of us that have been around for awhile are becoming fewer and fewer as the years go by, so when I see a rezz date just one day older than mine.........well I just have to say hello. The story now goes downhill from there, first the IM history:

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This is what he sent... perhaps I'm a little old fashioned. I wonder if he would address his Mother or grandmother or a stranger at the grocery store with something like this. Those who know me know I dress conservatively and rarely ever say anything that couldn't be said in front of either my elders or a child. I'm so spoiled... of the three male residents of Benares as well as one that's left... I have never ever heard a single out of place word... to me or anyone else.

For what it's worth... "Common courtesy is a very uncommon virtue", said Voltaire.

And so it goes

I do love you all, brinda

Namaste

नमस्ते

Blue Mars isn't our future...

2011-01-17T09:12:00.000-08:00

******************************Where we come from*************************** ***************************************************************************

There's a lot of buzz in the blogosphere and on the forums about the reported changes in Blue Mars, it's future, and what if any, impact the decisions made in that world would affect Secondlife and our future.

Before I get too far... it's considered bad form to just re post what others have written as your own so while I will include a couple of links, I think most of you will recognise that some of the material in those links represents positions I've taken in the past.

I joined Blue Mars when it went to open beta and on my first log in I wasn't that impressed. The first thing almost all of us did when we first logged into Secondlife was to start tweaking our avatars and in Blue Mars that tweaking was sadly limited... we all seemed to just be clones wearing different clothes. The Blue Mars world was so finite as well... your exploring was very limited, and the world was often empty, all of those limitations and others are well covered in the links below.

Secondlife has it's share of problems... there's no disputing that, but I continue to be amazed daily at what really makes Secondlife different. For me it is the content as well as the sense of community... I know I seem to find constant fault with those who's major contribution to Secondlife is standing at welcome area/infohubs and chatting, but those people do have a sense of community. Further amazement, I don't believe it's possible to explore all of Secondlife... there just isn't time before the content changes in our nearly thirty thousand regions. Inworldz is as close as any platform has ever come to doing what Secondlife does so well and today Inz is still small enough that the very thing that the oldbies in Secondlife found, that feeling of being a pioneer, of "We're all in this together", is one of the things that drives it so well. (Never mind Inz being a content creators paradise)

All in all what makes any virtual world work is imagination and imagination seems to be a lot more rare than I thought. Just maybe what one of those links says so well is true... that there never will be 0ne hundred million of us. In any world most of us are too busy looking out for number one and I think all of you know my feelings about how that doesn't seem to be a success story in our Secondlife world.

And so it goes

My love to you all, brinda

Namaste

नमस्ते

References: Honour McMillan http://honour-mcmillan.blogspot.com/2011/01/dear-blue-mars-its-community-stupid.html

Gwyneth Llewelyn http://gwynethllewelyn.net/2011/01/17/mars-attacks-mobile-platforms/

Angels... Blackbirds... & Tears...

2011-01-14T19:15:00.001-08:00

******************************Where we come from**************************** ***************************************************************************** Sometimes I make great plans for a post subject...... and then something I read and/or see makes me feel so small. Please take a look at Wagner James Au's New World Notes link. Btw, I think I know the opening scenes are Essex California... I first saw Essex as a child in 1948. http://nwn.blogs.com/nwn/2011/01/sarah-mclachlan-second-life.html *************************************************************************** **************************************************************************** This is specially for a dear friend... She knows who she is. For what it's worth And so it goes I love you all, brinda Namaste नमस्ते

What is "Live Music" here in Secondlife?-part two

2011-01-12T09:45:00.000-08:00

More about the live music scene....or, part two.

Just to make it easy...first a comment from a musician posted yesterday to part one , bornagainpagans said... "Ah yes, the 'live' versus 'karaoke' thing. Pops up a couple of times a year, usually combined with all kinds of silly ideas to make music a profitable business in SL. Dust in the wind, that's what it is. Music, as well as running a venue for that matter, will never be profitable in SL. And as far as the live/karaoke thing is concerned: the music fans in SL couldn't care less. They just want to be entertained - for the most part by tunes they can sing along with. The SL music scene is a lot like the RL music scene. Including all the egotripping about who's better than who.Personally, I'm very happy with the couple of venues and artists that have a nice vibe to groove along with."

Now Leogans article in Scruples Magazine:

DON'T CALL IT KARAOKE by Loegan Magic The Second Life music scene is an ever changing component to to an already complex virtual world, filled with it's own politics and unwritten rules. It has become a thriving independent global music scene unaltered by the corporations that have pretty much gobbled up the airways and watered down the music being put out in the “real world”. Sure some of it is pretty amateurish, but even that has it's charm. What's better then then a kindergarten teacher by day who is a SL rock star by night? The musicians here are all on various levels, some are just having fun, some are trying to make it big, and some are just playing for a much needed outlet or release. Whatever the reason, Secondlife is full of music and we the fans have tons of choices. I have been involved in this scene on various levels for almost two years now and I've seen a lot (keep in mind SL years are like dog years). Most of what I've seen has been good, some of it wondrous and amazing and yes some of it not so good. I have met a lot of great people, venue owners, musicians, managers and fans. However, one aspect has troubled me, and that is the blatant disrespect, by some in the scene, for singers who use tracks. For those of you who don't know, “track singers” use pre-recorded music to sing live to. This has labeled them by some as Karaoke singers or being dismissed as not live music. I disagree. Even the term track singer, I have an issue with; why don't we use the term vocalist? First off karaoke is an activity. You go to karaoke with your friends to drink and have a good time. And getting up in front of your friends in a supportive environment and singing badly is just that - fun. If you don't believe me ask yourself what happens when the one person in the room that can sing gets up and does it? No one wants to follow them, its no longer fun. It is completely different than listening to a trained professional singer putting on a show and entertaining a crowd. Now, does that mean that there are people using tracks who can't sing and should not be labeled vocalists – yes it sure does and a lot of them. Does that mean they shouldn't sing – no! It means I might not book them at my venue or go see their next show, but that is the great thing about Second Life music, someone else will. The point is, I can think of countless people who strum guitars and sing that aren't any better. Does that mean I dismiss everyone who strums a guitar – no. So why are we dismissing everyone who uses tracks? The truth is some music can not be reproduced with just a guitar or a piano. So why limit the music in second life to someone playing one instrument? Many track singers sing jazz, blues, soul, funk and more, giving a much needed kick to a music scene saturated with people strumming guitars. I welcome the variety. Now most fans don't care, they just want to hear good music and be entertained, it's mostly other musicians, venue owners, and managers, that have issue. It just seems sad to me to declare, that you only have 100% life music at your venue when what you are really saying is we don't let people sing with tracks here. As a venue owner I want the best, most talented people I can find. Personally, I don't care if you are banging on a bucket, scratching a record, or strumming a guitar...art is art and good art should be seen and heard. Music is an art form and I can't think of another art form that I would dismiss due to the tools used. Singing is actually the most pure form of music I can think of and while we all do it, it doesn't mean we do it well (or should). So if someone is using a pre recorded track it doesn't matter to me as long as they are singing well over it. I've heard some amazing vocalists in second life, trained professional singers with successful real life music careers that should not be missed. And to not book them because they don't strum a guitar seems absurd to me. Second Life is an amazing place, it is literally what we make it. Just think how music will be experienced twenty or even ten years from now in whatever Secondlife will evolve to. We are experiencing something that is in its infancy and we are the ones who will say, "remember when". So if you are a musician, venue, owner, manager, or fan who dismisses vocalists who use tracks in second life, I urge you to reconsider. We are all in this together, pioneers in a new world, but whatever world you are in, real or virtual, one thing that does not change is talent... talent is talent. So open your ears and mind to some amazing music, you might be surprised what you discover. ***************************************************************************** For what it's worth And so it goes My love to you all, brinda

What is "Live Music" here in Secondlife?-part one

2011-01-11T17:17:00.000-08:00

******************************Where we come from**************************** **************************************************************************** A little something different from me... well, it seems a little different anyway. First, keep in mind that although I do stream music to estate land it's not unusual for me to have audio turned off on my PC. I went for my first couple of years in Secondlife without attending any of the live music acts here until I started following Crap Mariners involvement with Live and Kickin' events. I have posted before of my belief that to remain in Secondlife one needs to find a passion, and for many that passion is music. Nearly a year ago Porter Paquot came to stay at Benares... it turned out she was a professional vocalist in her other life, and she wasted no time in getting into the music scene here, I was amazed.

Earlier today I received a note from one of the owners of two live music venues here in Secondlife... I would like to paste Loegans open comment to a group that has a vested interest in live Secondlife music. In the interest of transparency, I will say that both Loegan Magic and the above mentioned Porter are current residents of mine... and that status has exactly zero influence in my choosing to do this post. Sometimes it's important to do things because they are right. This post will see part two tomorrow when I post Loegans article to Scruplz Magazine . What follows is Loegan Magics response to a contact from a new group called Live Music Review, It speaks for its self.*********************************************************

My venue was recently approached to join a group for venue owners called Live Music Review. I would encourage the SL music community to not join this group. They have set down guidelines for what they feel is a quality venue. After a heated discussion with one of the groups founders, I was still unable to determine what the purpose of the group was – needless to say he no longer wanted my venues in the group (which is fine by me). One of the standards of what makes a venue, “high quality” according to the group is “no karaoke acts." I own two live music venues with Porter Paquot, The Mill and The Kasbah. We do not book karaoke acts, we book high quality vocalists who use tracks, live musicians, and DJ’s. We have original music night and do our best to support the live music scene and art community in Second Life. I have worked for almost two years trying to bring people together and book quality music at my venues. I feel that my venues can stand on the reputations they have made for themselves over the last year and half. In my opinion, reputation is what a makes a good venue not an arbitrary checklist. It frustrates and angers me when someone makes blanket statements like this group is doing. If a venue does not want to book vocalists who use tracks, that is their choice, It does not make them a higher quality venue. This attitude is what is wrong with an otherwise amazing Secondlife music scene. It is time to put a stop to this. This is a debate among musicians, managers, and venue owners. The fans don’t care they just want to hear good music. Let’s stop creating divisions and work together. If we as venue owners just book the best people out there and run our venues the way we want, then the people going to the shows will decide who runs a quality venue and who doesn’t. It’s simple. Groups like this that see things as black and white are what is wrong with the Secondlife music scene. I also encourage musicians to not support venues with this attitude. This debate is getting old. I have attached an article I have written for Scruplz Magazine that is coming out this month about this issue. I wrote it before I had this incident with Live Music Review. As you can see, this is a hot button issue with me and it's about time that we as a community stop making divisions and work together. Good music is good music. I hope you take the time to read the attached article􀀀 Thank you for your time, Loegan Magic

And so it goes

I love you all, brinda

Namaste

नमस्ते

Was the Money Right?

2011-01-10T18:45:00.000-08:00

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Honest..I've not been flaking off here. After working three graveyard shifts in a row..........and sleeping twenty hours today I will post stuff I wrote while at work a day or so ago.

The thing about publicly owned companies is that their balance sheets are available for inspection. Now I'm sure there are creative ways to massage the bottom line in a public company but at least one can get a feeling for a companies viability, whereas with a privately owned company such as Linden Lab we can only go by what they choose to tell us. If memory serves me right, Phillip Rosedale has indicated that Linden Lab showed a profit of 78 million dollars last year and that the company was healthy. OK, assuming those figures to be correct... I'm very interested in why the company fired 100 employees a few months ago.What were those employees working on? What kind of hold does the company have on those former workers that we don't hear what they were working on? No leaks? I'm surprised... loyalty rarely exceeds the Andy Warhol thing about everyone's famous for 15 minutes......unless the moneys right.

Many years ago a loan shark friend of mine told me that one cannot say what they will or will not do until it's 3 am in a very private place and there's just you, one other person, a case with 10 kilos of one hundred dollar bills ($1 million)...........and no one is going to know. Then you choose. Has The Benevolent Monarchy offered enough money for total silence? And if so... why? Just asking.

And so it goes

My love to you all, brinda

Namaste

नमस्ते