The sidewalk is being swallowed by the grass:

I love to look at these swallowed sidewalks closely to get a feel for how to make sidewalk edges natural.

I'm taking a 4-day weekend.

I woke up feeling not quite 50% and thought about toughing it out at work for one more day so I could crash into a 3-day weekend.

Then I thought about the air conditioning being broken at work for three days, air pushers shoved into the open doorways that weren't good enough. I thought about the fan on my desk that I had to bring in myself.

Since repairing the problem isn't a high priority, it seems, they've provided an alternative solution with the paid time off program, right?

This ickiness will probably clear up in a few hours, I hope. Just in time to walk to the movie theater.

Wait! you say. Isn't that a 20 minute walk in 100 degree heat?

I can handle a 20 minute walk in the heat with a bit of a temperature better than 8 hours of sitting in a warm room trying to "focus on everything at once."

Ooooh... and there's diet Coke in both places, too.

See?

(Excuse me while I flip a coin to see which I'll do first... throw up or shit profusely.)

Phaylen takes a bow and... heads to work.

Whenever someone I know gets a new job after a long stretch of time out of work, I remind myself of the following quote form the movie Dave:

If you've ever seen the look on somebody's face the day they finally get a job, I've had some experience with this, they look like they could fly. And its not about the paycheck, it's about respect, it's about looking in the mirror and knowing that you've done something valuable with your day. And if one person could start to feel this way, and then another person, and then another person, soon all these other problems may not seem so impossible. You don't really know how much you can do until you, stand up and decide to try.

I'm also reminded of the end of Labirynth. A girl in her room surrounded by the memories and puppets, moving forward with her life and wanting to look back now and then... wondering...

We'll be here if you need us.

But really... GET YOUR ASS UP AND OUT OF BED AND OUT THE DOOR! YOU'RE LATE FOR WORK!

The former Cory Linden was on Metaplace yesterday discussing various topics, but here's a highlight of the music discussion:

CoryOndrejka: we know that music has been a killer app in virtual worlds -- both in SL and MP

CoryOndrejka: which makes a ton of sense

Raph: I am not sure we have wrapped our heads around what all the usecases are. I tend to think they lie around the notion of co-presence

CoryOndrejka: music has long been a great infection vector for new technology

CoryOndrejka: plus, as you just said

Raph: Music is a great case where co-presence just makes the experience richer

CoryOndrejka: being able to coexperience music makes for a much more enjoyable experience

Raph: Last night I sat in the lobby of this theater and played guitar for people for two hours

Raph: It is a surprisingly intimate experience

Raph: even when all I was doing was playing MP3s, not even live

CoryOndrejka: we hear that from SL musicians as well

CoryOndrejka: we're seeing that on iPhone music games as well

Raph: Is the music industry going to jum into this space then?

Raph: I mean, you can MAKE it jump now, right? ;)

CoryOndrejka: well, labels, musicians, and fans have all been jumping in for a while

CoryOndrejka: the challenge, like much of online, is balancing when awareness is the challenge (ie audience building) versus monetizing the audience you have

CoryOndrejka: what makes VWs cool is that we see explorations of all kinds

Raph: The variety of worlds users make always blows me away

CoryOndrejka: The experience of music, as we all know, extends well beyond a transaction around a little plastic disk, so virtual worlds offer some great options for extending that experience, through interaction with other fans, richer content, connecting to the web, etc

A tornado of buzzwords, or is there a practical way to that that co-presence/intimacy to a higher level?

Lots of folks are bouncing against that challenge of audience building and monetizing the audience they have... who's succeeding at that and how?

Panic is the result of fear. Fear is often the result of not knowing something.

It looks like the threat to Australian users of Second Life may not be as great or imminent as previously thought.

Or... is it?

Via Dusan "Doogie" Writer, Linden Lab states:

“Linden Lab has received no indications from the Australian government that it plans to block Second Life and will keep our community apprised of any developments on that front. In the meantime, we want to assure Australian Residents that Second Life remains accessible and functioning in your region.

Um... if you read into that, it's not exactly a statement that says "We're safe. Relax. They won't block us. Have some pie." It's more of a statement that says "Well, they're not saying anything, so..."

Or am I misreading that?

I'd think that Linden Lab ought to get a definite statement out of Conroy and the Australian Government. After all:

Australia has and will continue to be an important market for Linden Lab, and we’re committed to providing the best possible Second Life experience for the users in that market. Some of the most exciting uses of Second Life have come out of Australia, a diverse community of Residents that includes major universities, large enterprises and many thousands of consumers, who spend hundreds of thousands of hours inworld each month.

Commitment requires a level of certainty and pursuit of specifics that "has received no indications" doesn't quite meet.

I haven't received any indications that the guy sitting next to me at the bus stop would pick up a chunk of concrete and try to brain me.

(Gee, I love this city.)

I'm looking forward to a statement that reads more like: We have talked with the Communications Minister Stephen Conroy and his staff about the situation. After expressing our concerns, we have been assured that Second Life will not be blocked by any involuntary filtering software schemes imposed by the Australian Government.

Such a statement would show that:

• A dialogue has taken place between LL and the Communications Ministry.
• Minister Conroy has been made aware of what Second Life is.
• An agreement has been reached between Conroy and LL.
• Australian customers can be assured that they will either have access or grounds to have Minister Conroy removed from the Communications Ministry/Government.

Is it possible to get such a statement?

I'm not sure. But considering all of those major universities, large enterprises and many thousands of consumers, don't they deserve such certainty?

It looks like this Rabbi Writer guy has the hots for my sister, because he keeps building for her around the periphery of the TMA community...

Gee. A grave.

Most men send flowers and chocolates, you know.

I can't wait for them to get partnered, although do I go as a groomsman or the maid of honor... or both?

I find it amusing when a person who isn't a real rabbi names himself Rabbi, engages in low-grade harassment of a woman who really doesn't need the additional stress (not exactly the behavior you'd expect from a rabbi towards a community leader), and gets huffy about the details of what may or may not be his religion.

Me, I'm full of crap. Always have been, always will be.

But at least I'm honest about it, eh.

So, who's got a Class 5 island to sell?

I'd prefer to buy it off of a friend that's trying to offload theirs.

OmniPrim has a new home:

Feel free to read him all sorts of lousy 100 word stories from the bookshelves.

I wrote two last night, but didn't bother recording them, so it's another twofer afternoon.

It happens when I get really, really tired. I know I conked out a bit after 10 Texas Time.

I can't remember half of the play last night. I remember pencils and clocks and phones and other weird stuff. And a talking computer. And...

I do remember the launch of the Peace Center:

Thanks to everyone who came out last night.

I have a good feeling about it, and I look forward to working with Louis on some information displays, maybe a nice walkway... that kind of thing.

Louis Volare is getting settled into Nowhereville...

He's sharing another Improv For Peace tonight at 6:00PM SLT. Afterwards, get ready to dance on the umbrella... a mystery deejay is spinning tunes. (GoSpeed and Rav get the night off for once. It's about time they get to sit back and relax.)

Check Events - Live Music for the listing, search for the green dots on the map (control-M) on the Nowhereville sim, or IM me. (I'll probably ask if the listing in Events vanished and Nowhereville is missing from the map.)

I'm sure that he will appreciate any and all suggestions on the build by the bridge and the beach. (My first thought is a tiny seat or two for Schmoo and guests.)

And with a final message, The OmniPrim returns to the future...

Thanks to everyone for asking such great questions, having a laugh or two, and helping to raise the bar on improv comedy on the grid.

The poseballs... priceless. (Worshiping false idols may be against the Ten Commandments, but it's totally cool with the TOS, eh.)

And I got my wish: Lauren wants to do a Reiner-Brooks style act with this at her open mike on Wednesdays.

We did a few minutes via Voice at the SL6B center stage last night and I think it went pretty well (despite my having pounded two shots of JD after the 4PM finale.)

I'm not sure which I like better... Voice or text. Maybe we'll experiment with each and see which we're more comfortable with and what the audience likes best.

I kind like the idea of a straight-man with two rival OmniPrims.

Oh, and check my Picks for something Lailu told me that completely blew my mind.

So many things wrong with that sentence, eh. My therapist is going to need therapy.

I thought for a bit about what song would have fit with the theme of the build.

"I Will Wait For You" by Matthew Ebel sounds about right. ("Join The Conversation" fits as well.)

What the hell am I going to do now for Burning Life?

More comparisons between apples and oranges by an Internet marketer trolling for links... and Hamlet gives him the attention he wants.

*sigh*

Time to bring out the hammer:

I agree with my cohort SecondLie... this is like trying to compare the engines of a John Deere and a Porsche, then mowing your lawn with the Porsche.

Abraham's being a marketing troll for links, doing yet another SL-bash that's behind the curve of his equally-incapable marketing cohorts.

These are different tools with different features and requirements. To an SL-er, Twitter can be a tool to circumvent 25 group limit and the EPIC FAIL that is groupchat. Or it can be an offline chat mashup. Or it can be a way to follow headlines, scores, etc. without a full RSS reader.

Maybe some folks prefer the Pandora streams, other folks want the whole music venue 30-second-shoutcast-lag-live experience, and others want to buy CDs and smoke a joint in the tub and be left the heck alone... each has its appeal, each has its use, each has its audience.

And as long as there's differences, well, there will be folks like Chris Abaham trying to make comparisons and declare winners.

I mean, yeah... the Iranian Counter-revolution appears to have used heavy Twitter traffic for organization and getting the word out while SL was too bulky... when the Basij is chasing you with iron bars, the last thing you need to do fire up SLim to debate riot tactics and the nuances of making democracy work under the Koran while your avatar mimics your thrashing gestures due to Mitch Kapor's Wondercamera in Snowglobe for Farsi.

Might as well call their state-run media an epic failure for not addressing that need, too... and hanging posters while police and mercenaries roam the streets tearing them down... and other media.

Nope. Focus on SL. It's the in-thing to compare everything to, you know, just to highlight its weaknesses.

Meanwhile, at SL6B on Saturday, a 50+ avatar crowd appeared on Cyro to discuss the concerns about the new Australian communications minister's online crusade to censor/block various internet services. Australians were there with their perspectives, added a few facts to fill in the gaps, educated some of us yee-haw Yanks, proposed a few ideas... (audio transcript at SLPN, btw)

For that, it worked. And it would NOT have worked on Twitter because a lot of the discussion was way longer than 140 characters long (minus hashtag footprint) and the concurrent discussion would have taken time to follow and re-follow people... a total mess.

Instead, pop into same virtual space, fire up microphone, add a bit of civility in taking turns to take or the principles of creative cacophony, and boom. An hour well spent.

So, Chris Abraham, does that mean Twitter is an abject failure because SL worked for the Aussie talk and Twitter was good only for promoting it?

Internet Marketers. Like Billy Mays, but pushing virtual snakeoil. Ugh.

Thanks,
-ls/cm

Instead of making hare-brained linktroll comparisons, perhaps marketers should be looking at all these sites to see what purposes they serve well, how they complement each other, how they can connect better, and which of these blowhards will replace Billy Mays now that he's dead.

I'm hoping it's something like The Gathering in Highlander. That way, we end up with the best of the best peddling crap to the masses, and the rest all end up with a significant distance between their heads and necks.

SecondLife's customer base represents a cacophony of markets.

They're not dumb and gullible like the mass consumer markets (but they have their dumb and gullible moments... just not in the same ways).

Marketers have failed to understand that audience/market, and instead of trying to understand it, they've tried to exploit it and, in their failure, just attack it now.

You know, while I was gorging at Cabo's yesterday before the game, I saw bowling on the televisions.

Maybe marketers should compare Second Life to the obviously vastly superior experience of eating way too much food, watching two sponsored teams bowl at a bankrupt Six Flags, and going to a baseball game?

Nah. I like the Highlander idea better... who's got some secondhand swords they can ship out?

So, Gomem's been gone for a while, the Gomem DeSoto Memorial Bridge is looking good, and we all miss him.

However... the theories are building up as to the reason for his disappearance.

Now, I'm not one to gossip, and I'm the person who's been saying "Back off, don't spread rumors, and when he's ready he'll come back if he wants to."

It is kind of fun speculating, though.

My latest crackpot Gomem theory is that he knew all about Michael Jackson being too weak to do the O2 concerts, So they tried to have him silenced. so he escaped into the country.

Time to let loose, people. What's your craziest Gomem theory?

When he gets back, pint glass in hand, I want him to get a gander at these and have a laugh.

Sometimes, we make our own monsters...

It's so easy, you know.

Fishing tournaments aren't exactly intense games of skill these days.

Auto-casters are build into the rods, so... um...

How's the weather there? Doing good? Find any good stores lately?

Me, I make monsters. I throw out a pair of Muppet Ping Pong Ball Eyes and start doodling with spheres, spirals, patterns, colors, a rotation or two.

This time around, I made Bob the Monster. He's eating a noob.

I added him to the customs on Edloe Island. He's no Madcow Cosmos creation, I admit, but I figure he'll convince others that it's pretty easy to whip up something silly. (Although I think Bob may have gotten loose from his underwater cave and is hanging out by KONA today.)

What do you do while at a fishing tournament?

Congratulations to Stuart Warf for organizing and leading a discussion on the risk to Australian residents from Stephen "Censorship" Conroy and his crusade against adult content sullying Internet connections Down Under.

The audio will be posted to SLPN sometime soon.

I'd like to thank Phaylen and the SL6B crew for getting the word out at last minute for Stu... they had to increase the sim limits to pack as many interested people in. They also did a great job at crowd control to keep the grief-raff out.

Also, thanks to the folks who posted on the Australian group lists to bring in people with firsthand experience with the problems and the politics. It's hard enough following US and Israeli coalition politics, but this legislation threatening Aussie freedoms is an interesting artifact of a moral crusader carrying water for the winning coalition being promoted from shadow government backbencher to an incompetent, unqualified minister abusing his portfolio like a kid with a bb gun at a zoo. (It's as if Netanyahu had handed Defense in Israel to the United Arab List and being surprised at Ahmad Tibi screaming for a Second Holocaust in the name of the great and holy Yasser Arafat... not much different from the days of Fuad "The Failure" BenElizer, mind you.)

I'm most impressed at how people self-organize. Despite heated opposition to a person's opinion, the politeness in the group in waiting for others, making sure they didn't talk over other opinions, and typing out responses while others talked as to not interrupt each other... these are well-documented as constructive cacophony in Metanomics forums run by Pluggers Sponsors and Dusan Writer.

As for Wiz being a no-show, yeah, it probably drove some folks batty (if it drove Yxes batty, WTG bro!) but you know that he'll have one whopper of a tale to tell when he finally reveals how he couldn't log on, koalas kidnapped the dingos who took the baby, and so on.

That, I've gotta hear. Three beer minimum, I estimate.

Everybody keeps saying that the Adult Content changes is Disneyfying the grid.

Well... um...

Some of those "upper-level dimensions" of The OmniPrim have revealed themselves.

By the way, about the rain:

Sometimes it brings out the best in people.