Dreaming Under The Water...

Porter came to me a few days ago with an idea for an underwater garden/scuba area. Take a look at the pictures below, I think we did well...what you see is a collaborative effort between Porter, our friend Loegan Magic, and myself.

While most of the underwater garden area with places to sit, fish to enjoy, and a sunken ship to explore is close to the swimming dock here... http://slurl.com/secondlife/Benares%20East/142/2/21/?title=Scuba%20Dock

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I did deepen the entire sim enough that one can swim over and watch the mother Orca and baby, don't let them land on you...Look for the dolphin near Sophie and Felicitys! ************************* This parcel has a wonderful view of the above underwater garden...jump off the end of that dock and you will be just at the edge. 2880 meters 656 prims 7000L$ month tier land owner rights. http://slurl.com/secondlife/Benares%20East/189/25/21/?title=Bliss

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Nothing serious today...tomorrow there is something I'd like to chat about, I don't know if it qualifies as serious...today all my perceived problems are what one of my friends calls "quality problems". (You understand how hard it is to find a really good Lincoln Continental mechanic!) =^..^=

And so it goes

My love to you all, brinda

Namaste

नमस्ते

I don't Understand...

Well...more of the things I just don't *get*. A short list: Painting your name...or any name on something that doesn't belong to you...(unless the person that owns the object is paying you)... Breaking windows that you don't own... Flattening tires on anothers vehicle... You get the idea I'm sure. How about the recent server crashes in Inworldz? It's all meat from the same bone. I posted a few pictures recently of one of the brighter people I have the pleasure of knowing in Secondlife and the dominoes she had set up.....{below}*** ****** Yesterday, I logged in a bit earlier than usual, I had received an offline IM day the before...my Swedish friend Bubbles had let me know her summer vacation was over and we often meet early in my West coast time zone.

Looking over the sim, I saw an avatar out on Sophie and Felicitys parcel....camming out I see someone running around. Now I suspect that if you are reading this post you aren't new...and by default you don't "run" in Secondlife.

I teleport out to the land...and this {below} greets me.... Fjorn Arun had been running around knocking over dominoes, just to the upper left you can see him rezzing those dark blue cubes. The dominoes had been left physical so they would fall in a line... I had dominoes all over the place!

OK... first, I tell all my residents to set land to group object entry/create....for what ever reason this land wasn't. That's how he was able to do this...why he did this is the part I don't get.

When I landed I greeted him and asked if he was someone I knew..some one alting. His chat was a script I didn't immediately recognise...(turned out to be Korean) so I sent him home.

Thank you viewer 2.ought oh...he was back before I could get his name typed into estate ban. I did get him out and gone...and a couple minutes later I got an IM wanting to know why I had sent him away. I want to believe that he really didn't understand.

After thinking about it for a day....can't be cultural. My experience with Asian cultures would indicate that western cultures have a long ways to go. Age maybe... the deformed avie is odd, I guess I just don't get it.

People in Secondlife pay real money to own land...just as people in real life pay money to own things.

These are things that, first I don't understand...and second, that I hope that person remains in this world long enough to understand.

And so it goes

My love for you all, brinda

Namaste

नमस्ते

Friends...Some You lose...Some You Always Have

There is always a special place in my heart for those I meet when they're new.

No matter their real life age...it's much like watching children grow up, such a joy.

My dear friend Mucaro has made a major change in her real life and that change has impacted where she calls home here in Secondlife.

Caro was a resident here for over a year...she started in Twinkles rental 1024...moved a bit east to a larger parcel...onto a private islet, and finally to a parcel I've always seen as special...Bliss. The parcel was named Bliss by Andor some time ago and I always thought it was a perfect name.

Today Bliss will be again set for sale....as with all my land, the sale will be for zero L$...tier only.

Perhaps tomorrow or so I may re-image this beautiful parcel using daylight...Today it kinda fits my mood. {It's beautiful at midnight too}

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Good news........and some that's rather sad.

The good news first........

I got an off line IM this morning that my Bubbles has returned home from summer vacation...some of Bubble family lives in the UK and she spends a part of her short summer there. The not so good news.........

Again, those people I meet when they're new have that special place in my heart.

I see a close friend that I met well over a year and a half ago has removed me from her friends list. I'm not surprised...she often removes those that have no contact with her after a bit. I do as well, I will add a nooblet so as to keep track of them early on...and after a bit, once they find their way in Secondlife, if we find nothing in common I remove them as well.

Today I guess my relationship with my old friend is over...rather sad. And so it goes

I love you all, brinda

Namaste

नमस्ते

Notes from SL grid..X=1058 Y=1110...Yup, Benares

OK...let me be one of the first (that I know of) to not debate #Emeraldgate.... it is what it is, and nothing to really concern me. The other wild thing currently going around in the blogsphere is display names, for more information I suggest you look at the Official Secondlife Website {and no, I'm not going to link it...does that give you a clue about how important it is?} I will add this link from AlexHayden Junibalya just because everyone can use a smile. ******* There have been a few changes at home....let's see. In no particular order..... ******* *** Felicity is another of those people that just amaze me...she's not been here very long, but has to be another of the really bright people that Secondlife attracts. ***

I found this scene set up on Sophie and Felicity's parcel..(and no one around)... the prim with text said, "Tempting isn't it?" And of course I just had to kick a domino...............and couldn't stop the inevitable results. I'm standing there contemplating 500 dominoes all toppled over when Felice drops in. After I pleaded temporary insanity she said,"No big deal"...deleted my mess........

rezzed the tool she had made, turned it on, skipped around and around with dominoes falling on end all set up behind her!

***** Where on earth do these people learn all this? Felicitys parcel mate Sophie was here two weeks and built a fantastic house...I've been here three years and my houses look like poorly made boxes with badly fitting lids. ******* **** Krasin is our oldest continuous resident now...it's been a little over two years since she joined us and got a small 1024 parcel....a few months ago she decided to go to a 2048 meter parcel, and then last month when this private islet came open she asked me if she could move to it. Remember the freebie house on the Help Islands...the Archer house ? Krasin had a great time in that place for a very long time. ***** Ling has made changes to the southwest corner... btw, I had to derender her lighthouse to get this shot. Ravens new house behind Lings...more about hers in a later post. ***** Flor has redone the southeast corner as well. You might contact her to ask about a tour of the art library shes done up over this parcel...really well done build. Flors another that came to secondlife with so much talent. She is also the editor of the Palais magazine, you can find a magazine vendor at the Benares telehub. ***** Lastly I've added a few more things to the whimsy corner....this plot is just west of our guest house.

I wanted new people to see a bit of what is possible in Secondlife... much of the objects there are creations of soror Nishi.

****** OK real life calls...after I log in and tell Raven that we can re-rezz her deleted house easily (that's why I always have them write down the XYZ on the house!)...

I am still as fascinated and in love with Secondlife as I was on May 2, 2007

And so it goes

My love to you all, brinda

Namaste

नमस्ते

Looking Back...Thank you Blue Szondi...

I lay awake for a long time last evening thinking about the struggles that Linden Lab goes through in an effort to grow this world of ours. While those struggles are difficult for many of us... I believe the decisions are a lot easier when made from the point of view of a corporation... I begin to see why so few Lindens actually spend anytime in world...it would hurt too badly to be that close and have to actually feel what we feel. I originally took this screen shot from one of the old Help Islands the second week of December 2009. I will include the link to the original post below... but the body of this post is going to be what the Secondlife Mentor (retired) commented. I will always believe that this is how you keep people in Secondlife.

Blue Szondi said... What a lovely post brinda and thank you for the picture, it does sum up how I felt at the time. Lonely and abandoned by a company and philosophy I had worked years for. But in the end its not about you or I or the Mentors or even Linden Lab, but the newbies who are curious enough to download Second Life and log on. We have grown to love this world and want to share all the good that is and can be. So many log in for the first time and don’t see what we see and will quickly log off, uninstall SL and never give it a second look. I once heard there is a 87% attrition rate for SL. That’s barely 1 in 10 who try SL and stick around. In this world I have seen the lame dance, the mute wax poetic and the lowly thrive. SL can change peoples lives. Some for better some for worse but still if they cant understand the basics, how to open a box or pan their camera so they can see the face of their avatar, things we see as simple but so important. If they cant do those things then they will likely leave and never have a chance to know what SL can be. I was helped by a Mentor early on and was thankful. And like so many who became Mentors I wanted to share the exciting things I learned with others. Often the phrase “pay it forward” was used to describe why we mentor, and each day there is someone new who has the desire to share what they have learned as well. Becoming a Mentor wasn’t hard but did require enough enter prospective to string 500 characters together in an application describing why you wanted to be a Second Life Mentor. Now there is no standard to uphold. True anyone can mentor. But a tradition has been abandoned and a trust lost and no matter what new and innovative and “scalable” solutions LL has in mind, I can’t imagine it replacing the SL Mentors and the people who made it great. Blue S. December 12, 2009 1:00 PM http://brinda-benares.blogspot.com/2009/12/sadness-personified.html

****Thank you, Blue for all you did and continue to do****

And so it goes

I love you all, brinda

Namaste

नमस्ते

Thanks to soror for the title idea...LL you broke it... you fix it

There is something going on at Linden Lab that just baffles me. Actually much of the decision making at Linden Lab reminds me of a former significant other of mine from some years ago. It would appear as though the Lab in general suffers from severe adult ADHD . The latest fiasco was announced today on the Secondlife forums. I say fiasco because the Lab took a system that was working...the original help Islands... and destroyed it some months ago. They spent a lot of time and money on the latest "new and shiny" and produced something that I can't imagine anyone with any experience in-world would believe acceptable. The Help Islands were a place where new residents could learn the very basics of Secondlife without interference...a safe place. All that's left are the current "Welcome Islands"... they did one thing appropriate in my opinion, and that was to stop the gateways. The downside to that though is the gateways did have people there helping nooblets...more below. ******* After eight or nine months of the "community gateway" new user experience...that experiment is abandoned, as of today. Now personally I'm glad to see the gateways go ... they were a transparent attempt to steer new residents to selected venues of commercial use as well as steer them into various role play situations. The only part of that program I did find really great was that so many of those gateways were language specific...that's so important... in a very strange world, at least you will find yourself able to communicate. On the down side were those sites such as Fairies, Steampunk, and such.... while those are fine... let's allow nooblets to find those niches on their own...don't drop them into a lifestyle where the nooblet may not understand that all of Secondlife isn't that lifestyle. I found this comment on the SL website...while it's funny...at least to those who aren't brand new, if I look at it from my perspective of early May 2007.... not so funny. *************************************** Aug 19, 2010 2:28 PM Marx Dudek says: "A perfect example of how this will work. " http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpiwRN6OA2A ******** In case you came here before 2010, this is what the "welcome islands" look like today. You first rezz inside the "spaceship" looking affair. If you, as a nooblet loaded the 2.ought oh viewer... ('cause while 1.23.5 is available...it's 'below the fold' so you don't readily see it), you will finally see a way out of this place.

Load any other viewer and you won't see the link to leave. Seems like a door would be easy. Theres 'no build', no way to learn how to open boxes, so you get to wear your first box at a public welcome area........great fodder for older residents to get a chance to "welcome" you.

If you're curious about how this looks to a nooblet, enter Welcome Island Public on your map in-world....teleport. You will land outside the "spaceship" and have to click the little sign above to get teleported inside. No doors.

There were over two pages of welcome islands... as you can see with sixty plus "spaceships", you're chances of finding anyone to get any help from is limited to say the least.

******* Now I suspect most of you that read this blog entered Secondlife through one of the below 'Help Islands'. About the only change in the Help Islands since late 2006 was the elimination of a freebie building...I think it was about 2009 when the freebies were placed on sign boards at the far side of the image below.

The great thing about these islands was that access was controlled... if you rezzed a new account and left it there you could help brand new people. Or if you were a Secondlife Mentor you could come and go... all others were prohibited. You, as a new account, could make mistakes...learn how to get around...learn with everyone else without the teasing and griefing that goes on today at various welcome areas and info hubs. We can hope "The Benevolent Monarchy" will return to these islands.... but in my three years plus here they have shown a lack of willingness to admit any mistakes.

Time... and the Gift of Sight...

This is preface to how fast time flies at this point in my life..... And about the gift of sight.... I find it so funny that when I was *almost* twenty one {1962, but who's counting!} that year was sooo long. Please take a moment...particulary those of you say, over fifty... and think about this. If you live in a country that celebrates the winter holiday season, think about how long it took from January of any year when you were a child until the next holiday season. When I was a child that amount of time was inconceivable . I chose the arbitrary age of fifty plus above, because no matter what you believe now...if you aren't a "senior citizen" type, you will not be able to truly understand that youth is wasted on the young. It's like being born blind...there is no way one can understand the color green if you've never been sighted. I have found myself very real life busy these last few days and this morning before I had to go out again I took time to look at Twitter, E-mail, blogs, and log in world for a few to make sure Benares was still on the grid and nothing was "on fire". One thing I noticed was that I hadn't posted anything here in a couple days... and I really don't like to go three plus days. I know there are a couple of former residents of Benares that, while they aren't currently in world...they still feel "a part of " our Benares family and use this blog to kinda keep a virtual eye on the family they are a part of. I love how things seem to work out well if I don't get too involved. I say that because this morning, as I was driving around, I was wondering what I wanted to say here.... Returning a few hours ago I read this from AlexHayden Junibalya and the answer for a topic was obvious. Bye the time 1958 came along, I know now that I was a Buddhist... I didn't know the label then, but today in retrospect I realize that Buddhism fit my spiritual path to come. My daughter was born in 1970 and in August of 1973 it became obvious to me that while not celebrating the religious winter holidays suited me just fine, the lack of a Christmas tree and all those trappings would be a burden on my child that I couldn't justify.......so come December... we had to have a tree. Kindra had asked all early December if she would get a tree and if Santa would come. We put that tree up on Christmas eve after our child went to bed....and on December 25th Kindra woke up, came flying into the living room, slid to a stop on her knees about one meter from a beautiful tree surrounded by presents. I sat down beside her just looking at her face...she was totally transfixed by that tree....I saw Christmas through the eyes of a child for the first time............I was nearly thirty one. Thank you Alex for reminding me of that. Somewhere back in time there was a song lyric that went, "Just because you can see the stars doesn't mean you can see the light". So often today, we are all so convinced that we have the only true answer...to anything. Sometimes the true meaning of what is really important can be seen in the face of a child watching the sky...or a tree at Christmas And so it goes Gently My love to all...even the blind of heart, brinda Namaste नमस्ते