The news that the IRS has ruled that Sheep's CSI Greeters are part-time employees link #1 and link #2 just invited the camel's nose into the virtual tent.

Based on how things went with the outsourcing to India book in the past decade, how long before typist behind that greeter, helper, shopping assistant, escort, or dancer is being connected from somewhere far, far away and far, far cheaper?

Okay, okay - besides Anshe's empire?

(I won't hold my breath for the SLLU's protests over that practice... after all, to them, it's America that's evil, not the dictatorships and petrotheocracies around the world, right?)

Continue reading "Hammerblow..." »

Just a few more hours, and it will be mine.

And yours.

Then, it's gone.

Shall we dance?

05/12/08 6 pm SLT - Podcast Island Podcaster Meetup - Todd Cochrane of RawVoice

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Black Tie Martini Club is working on a landmark production that should cause tsunami-level waves across the podosphere.

Alternative Classix opens up those old wounds from the 80's to groove to.

Bedtime Stories My Kids Love - The Man In The Can continues!

Chillcast and Lovespirals makes sure that you have enough Anji Bee to get through the week.

Did I hear that she's going to work with MoShang on something?

Cybsterspace puts up another set for your enjoyment.

Living a Second Life is going from A to Z.

Your Neighborhood Stage brings Thinkerer Melville into the fray for talking about local/regional/national productions and separating venue management and production company management.

Night Guy revives a golden oldie for the English cast, and he's moving everything to nightguy.guydavid.com.

Podmafia visits Caledon but might have a bit of... sync issues.

(Kanomi was working on a podcast, but apparently it needs a little more work. Well, besides the mention of yours truly, of course.)

Lots of daily content out there for you to enjoy... and more every day from Quiet Time Podcast, 100 Word Stories, The Latest at Second Life, The Daily PWN, M is for Myg's Music and SLCN.TV.

Don't forget about the SL Podcasting Network and my directory for all your (two-letter-abbreviation) podcasting listening needs.

Or, if you're a lazy-ass, just keep coming back here for my useless roundups. Or if you just want to chit-chat, comment on my lame summaries or non-summaries which make it obvious which shows I haven't listened to yet.

I build this entry over the course of the day, Daphne, so IM me or add a comment pointing out any that I've overlooked.

I'm reopening the clocktower tonight for music...

I figure I'll ease back to inviting a performer every other week.

It's baseball season, you know, and I'd like to get out to the games a bit more often. Mondays are good for that, or watching them at the Irish pub.

Two weeks also gives me time to toss in an effect or two for the performer that's coming.

Cylindrian's coming to visit at 4:00PM today.

I think I need to repair the tango couples dance and drop in a few more, but everything's pretty much as it's going to be.

We'll see if we can fill that tip jar to the point where Cyl can go furniture shopping for the new place.

*grumble* What is it now?

Daleks?

Oh great.

Fine fine fine... I'll handle it...

Okay, boys, let's just have a little robot y robot discussion here, okay?

Yeah, you've had your day, exterminate this and exterminate that, but have you really managed to exterminate much besides opportunities to take over the universe?

You guys really, really suck at this business of conquest.

I'm thinking it's that prune-boy Davros.

What you need, hear me out here, is a new leader.

Someone that thinks like you. Knows what you've gone through.

A robot, perhaps?

I wouldn't mind submitting my own grid-conquest credentials if you wanted to review them, perhaps sit down and lay out a 13-step plan for obliterating all organic life on the grid, and so on.

And unlike me, well, you have no covetous streak towards shoe shopping.

Although with all those tits on your shell there, I guess you'll be burning up the registers at Last Call.

But that's besides the point... how about we meet for lunch back at the clocktower at 2PM SLT, go over a few things, compare goals, and perhaps we can come to some kind of arrangement.

Maybe I can get you some better medical... I won't bother with dental, since you don't have teeth, but perhaps extended warranties and on-site service through Dell? Would that make you guys happier?

I thought so.

Okay, well, I gotta go... yeah, yeah... Daphne says there's some great boots for 100L a pair and I just gotta see.

Since 2005, there's been one lass kittycat to sign the Mother's Day card I give to the Mrs.

Um... I won't tell Nardo if you don't, okay?

Dorje threw me a note about Texas Antiquity, and I needed to check it out.

I am a Texan, after all.

The sim is similar to Israel in scope, where they take a few highlights of that period of Texas history and brings them all together in a single sim.

Uh oh. They have cannons!

Lots of maps and historical information inside the Alamo, but...

Why isn't Pee Wee Herman's bicycle buried under it?

Let's check out the State House:

It's mostly mallspace (Sylvester Turner is on sale for 500 lindens), but has an art gallery, too.

Yes, the white suit is partially inspired by Marvin Zindler, who closed down the Chicken Ranch, Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, yadda yadda. Felt funny parking the av in the seal here.

I still don't understand how she could kick Claytie's ass but get steamrolled by Shrub.

Oh well. Knock back a tequila with Molly for me, Annie.

No weekend is complete without Effinjay at 7 on Heron Island on Saturdays.

Complete with sim crash!

Heron Island blew up while Tanglewood rolled along.

What I find amusing about this is that Frogg and Jay are in the same room in RL, face-to-face like a musical Bouvard and Pecuchet, but the SL platform fails to the point of one vanishing from view of the other.

It's one of those kinda things that could get you standing on a soap box in Hyde Park raving for at least two ours on the nature of space and time.

I caught Grace's set in the Elf Lands earlier in the day...

So I figured twice in one day would be, like, totally stalker-weird or something, so when Dolmere tossed me a note about this Building Shelter thing at Wingo, I hopped over.

It's a builder contest kinda thing where you have to build using raw prims. No scripts, no textures. You've got 10 minutes to build something based on the topic and then there's 2 minutes of voting by the aghast audience.

Closeup on idiot robot:

Yay.

I don't remember what the topic was for this one, but "a tube full of tennis balls" is a line out of GTA4 and it kinda stuck in my mind. So, I went for broke with it and played it surreal.

Then...

Slight industrial accident. Pass the Bactine, please.

This one was about someone being so lazy, they had a remote to do something. Remote-controlled toilets get them EVERY time, I figure.

I liked this one.

I'm not sure what this one was about, but I wanted to do a concentric sphere radiation kinda thing and the light switch with blood drops followed from that.

I tossed my winning back in the Shelter tipjar along with some extra because they do neat things.

I should wing by there more often.

It's a neat thing they do there, and it's at 6PM Saturdays... same time as Grace, unfortunately, but if you've caught her at Glass Earth and Freudian Slip and other performances during the week, she'll just slash you with a whiskey bottle instead of killing you outright for missing a show, right?

Hurts. So. Good.

I didn't like the edge textures in the gallery, so I've been adding rivets.

It's going to take a while, but detail-work is always worth it. Plus, it's the same texture everywhere, so it'll load lickety-split.

Sure, I could stick to shiny chrome or basic shiny metal edges, but that's boring.

I abhor boring.

Well, isn't this amusing?

Humans pretending to be made of iron while an iron robot pretends to be human.

I was working on a Matzoh Man, but all those damn prims! Ugh!

Max, Dolmere, and Chaos were relaying at Prankster Island last ni-

Wait. Prankster Island?

Did Merry Pranksters move or something?

I read SLMC like anyone else, sure, but weren't they on Basilisk?

I really can't keep up with things anymore.

Oh well.

I added some more dynamic elements to the clocktower last night...

The water texture acts as a flowing marble highlight in the interior dome glass.

I may hunt down something more subtle in tone so it doesn't obstruct the night sky as much.

I did a check of the island's prims, and the prims I'm accountable for is a bit over my budget, so I'll be snipping a few things out here and there to get it back under control.

Shouldn't be too hard... a rose here.. a flaming barrel there... the unused elevator platform in the sky...

Did you know that Daphne Abernathy produces three podcasts and appears on countless others?

Let's see if anybody (except for Daphne) can name them all in the comments.

Rosedrop Rust turns two...

I really like his Rosedrop Media Circus podcast. The interviews with musicians combined with a few numbers is a format that really needs exploring in SL podcasting.

I keep hearing of others starting these things up, but I've yet to see one launch or get past the critical 5 episode barrier.

I'd do one myself, but I just don't have the time.

If you're holding a meeting somewhere that isn't this beautiful...

Then either build something that beautiful to hold your meeting in, or take your meeting and shove it.

Life's too short for ugly, first or second.

Don't just build a conference room. Don't just build a temporary tomb for everybody to rot in. Don't just stack shit shoulder-high and call it art.

Blow. Me. Away.

Blow. Me. The. Fuck. Away.

I want the gods of Mount Olympus to look down and mutter "Why the fuck can't we hang out somewhere cool like THAT place?"

I want the trophies to envy the grandeur of the trophy case.

I want to sit in a ludicrous throne that a Bond villain would be envious of at a model of your great master plan and be totally unable to resist a laugh that would make 007 piss his Tuxedo.

I want my client to crash from IMs yelling HAVE YOU SEEN THIS PLACE??????

Put your goddamned soul into this shit and HEAVE, motherfuckers!

RAAAAWWWRRRRRRRRRR!