Archive for July, 2007
Blogtools: HitTail and Authorati
July 31, 2007 5:42 pm
Brian Clapper wrote a worth reading article on why - it seems - Second Life is the prefered medium for Virtual Sex on The Dumping Ground: ENODICK, reprise.
He has three possible theories for this, which I’ll quickly summarize:
- Second Life makes satisfying virtual sex more achievable. Avatars, settings, animations, … are more customizable.
- Second Life is less of a directed place. There is no ‘quest’ and so it leaves people more free in picking what they’d prefer to do: ‘In a virtual world with no explicit point, people get bored and eventually start screwing around.’
- Second Life does have a point, and the point is social contact. Second Life does explicitly emphasize social contact, and social contact inevitably leads to sexual behavior of one kind or another—not necessarily in everyone, but in a large (and expected) percentage of people.
According to Brian Clapper this is just hunching, but he thinks theory 3 in combination with a little bit of 1 and 2 to be the most likely one. Just read Mr. Clapper’s blogpost! ;)
PS. Last post about SLex and related issues from me for a while. I promise! But, if they say 18% of the Second Life main grid is about SLex (lost the source here), 18% of our blogposts should be too? ;)
US $26.61 for 1 Linden Dollar
4:35 am
Avatar Davidovic Dean minted some RL coins with the value of 1L$ for the celebration of the birth of ‘Tender Island’. Neat idea!
In March 2007 I became the proud owner of an island in Second Life. The island was created on my request by Linden Lab. To celebrate the birth of Tender Island, a limited number of commemorative coins have been commissioned, and are minted by Pressed Metal of Canada.
25 ‘Friendship Coins’, minted in silver, are for non-commercial interchange only. 50 nickel coins are also been minted, and some of these are offered for sale on eBay.
It seems the coin on the eBay auction was bought for US $26.61, not by a Second Life resident, but by a coin collector.
(via Eightbar)
After the ‘Privacy, Risk and Exposure’ BlogHer SL session was mainly about ‘virtual relationships’ and exporting them, I’m curious about the SLex / RLex ratio of my fellow residents. (Yeah! You! ;))
Do we indeed engage in SLex as often and with that much different avies as the mainstream press claims, or aren’t we as ’sinful’ as they are depicting it?
As I’ve heard many claims of still being a Second Life virgin, but no ‘I never had sex IRL’ claims came to my ears yet, I thought it more safe to divide by the amount of RLex partners then by the number of SLex partners since as far as Vint knows her maths, you can’t divide by zero. (If anybody knows of another way to solve this divide by zero problem, please do tell!)
Furthermore, there are two SLex/RLex ratios. The Gross SL/RLex ratio includes the occasions a payment (be it in real money, L$, virtual or real goods or services) was either received or given. The Net SLRLex ratio does not include ‘monetized’ SLex or RLex.
As to make sure results for all main grid residents are somewhat uniform and to rule out the differences in RL and SL age, you should take the amount of SLex partners since the day you rezzed in Second Life divided by the amount of RLex partners since that day you rezzed (in SL, not rezzed in FL ;)).
In case of ‘alts’ there is the ALT-ratio, wherefor the # of SL partners is the sum of the number of SL partners of all alts since the day the oldest alt rezzed.
I’m also thinking of adding a constant, to kill the maybe ‘increased easyness’ to find SLex over RLex. (More overall present, cheaper, …). Yet, we need to first know the numbers before we can define the constant? So for now, take v = 1. And should female (avatars) get a ratio (or an extra constant?) different from the male avatars to keep things fair? As far as I’ve seen there is much more ‘girl on girl’ action then ‘boy on boy’. Could also be I grew up in the wrong neighbourhood of Second Life. ;)
The meaning of the ratio’s results:
- 0 < 0.5 : Not interested in SLex, or a very poor looking / English impaired avatar. Did you even invest in genitals?
- 0.5 < 1 : Well, I’ve tried it, but it just doesn’t beat the real thing. *Goes back to the sandbox.*
- = 1 : Very rare ratio, where your SLex life is in total balance with your RLex life. Up to now I know of only one avie with that ratio.
- > 1 : Lot’s of SL partners, not that much RL partners. Let’s prove those RL newspapers right.
- ‘error’ : No RL sex partners had since the day the avie was rezzed.
And for the daring there are the Weekly SLRLex Gross and Net Ratio: the amount of times you had SLex during the last seven days divided by the amount of times you had RLex this past week.
My ratio’s:
- Gross SL/RLex ratio: 1.5
- Net SL/RLex ratio: 1.5
- Weekly Gross SL/RLex ratio: error
- Weekly Net SL/RLex ratio: error
And for the ones that were asking: ‘No, the Falken administration did not count political manoeuvres to be SLex’. ;)
Disclaimer: Don’t see a psych based on these number and my analysis of them. *grins*
Second Life web resources for July 30th 2007
July 30, 2007 4:30 pmBlogHer ‘07 SL: Candidates in SL - Good, Bad, Indifferent?
July 29, 2007 4:14 pm
I just needed to attend this one. Some short notes I took:
Panel members:
- Padlurowncanoe Dibou (Runs the Hilary 08 campaign in Second Life)
- Sarah Granger (Avatar name: Sairy Baily)
Republicans just less tech savvy?
Do you have any information on the demographics spread on the political spectrum in second life?
Padlurowncanoe Dibou: We do not have actual demographics, but it’s being brought to my attention, that news organisations, after research they feel that the democrats have a stronger precense in Second Life and they wonder why. The only thing I can point to is that typically democrats are a progressive group of people, more open to technology and the future of technology then more conservative people.
Sarah Granger thinks there is also an urban vs. rural thing in that respect. A more active use of technology in urban areas is common.
Senator Clinton in Second Life?
Would Senator Hilary Clinton considerate speeching/discussing in Second Life?
Padlurowncanoe Dibou: No, as the candidates didn’t even want to come to BlogHer (except for Elisabeth Edwards). Their time is worth so much (campaign management, fundraising), you can’t expect them to get involved immediately. I wouldn’t say it’s out of the question, but I don’t think it’s likely they will be able to do that somewhere soon.
Sarah Granger: The only advantage at the moment - as they won’t reach a lot of avatars, we all know the sim limits - would by the media attention.
Camping spots and freebies?
Of course I had to ask this question: What about using camping spots and freebies to draw more people to your policital sim? Allowed, or should people focus on the message?
Padlurowncanoe Dibou said they don’t employ campers or free give aways. They do have entertainment: discussion panels and after that often have live music in the spirit of Second Life. People are here to have fun and socialise. Best conversations often happen during those live music events, as people tend to feel more relaxed and actually have/take the time that such conversations can take place.
Sairy Baily notes that you should be very careful if you’re running an official/endorsed campaign, that you keep to real life regulations. Be careful about the legal ramifications of give aways. Because if you do thinks like that, it can get kind of sticky, especially when they are allready other legal issues in regard to cash and money exchanges in Second Life.
Most ‘LMAO’ during the whole session: Myg wondering if she could get Padlurowncanoe Dibou to drop Hilary Clinton and start working for Romana Wei. I don’t know if in the end she suggested that to Padlurowncanoe. *grins*
The whole session was captured by SLCN and can be watched here.
The first part of the session was streamed live from Chicago and focussed mainly on the panel member’s experiences with online journalism and icky reactings from people when writing on ’sensitive’ topics. A good recap of that you can find at the Being Amber Rhea blog.
Second Life session: no voice
Things really started to get interesting for us Second Life Residents with the in-world panel moderated by Meghan Laslocky (avatar Miranda Tibbett), with Lilly Yifu from the Second Sex blog and Regina Lynn (avatar name: Aph Lightworker) who writes articles on tech/sex for Wired. The in-world panel on Privacy, Exposure, Risk was hold in main chat, as Miss Yifu wishes to keep her anonymity and is thus weary of using voice. Strangely enough covering the whole ‘voice in Second Life vs. staying anonymous vs. gender issues’ was not covered in this session. :(
The discussion on Relationships, Privacy, Exposure and Risk
I gave my chatlogs to Lilly Yifu who has posted them on Second Sex, but I do want to highlight some parts:
Exporting relationships
Three rules on internet relationships according to Lilly:
- Don’t be in a hurry.
- The person you need to meet first, is yourself.
- Trust in the community of people.
Queen Tureaud: So are we stupid if we meet someone in RL?
Miranda Tibbett: I don’t think so, no.
Queen Tureaud: putting ourselves in danger?
Miranda Tibbett: But I think, back to Lillie’s point, you need to give it time.
Queen Tureaud: trust them
Miranda Tibbett: Time will show if they’re trustworthy or not.
Queen Tureaud: or being baited
Miranda Tibbett: I think you have to go with your gut. And, yes, the community can help.
[For those curious, yes, two bf’s from Vint’s RL bf history I first met on the internet. Number one on IRC, because of a mutual friend. I got a nice amount of The Cure mp3’s from him. That I got to see him IRL was utter coincidence (yet later we found out planned by the friends). The second one, I fought heavily on the forums, disagreeing with him on about everything imaginable, we met IRL at a party and started to talk for hours. I did not know he was ‘that’ guy. I only learned later - he assumed I knew - but by then it was to late as I was in love head over heals.]
Using pseudonyms
And about using pseudonyms on the internet. I think it’ s far more accepted in SL that you use a pseudonym to write under or to engage in relationships (be it business or personal relations):
Aph Lightworker: Good luck keeping it separate. I tried for a while to separate my “day job” self, to protect those clients from knowing that gasp - I write about sex.
Vint Falken: I think the difference is, in SL , pseudonyms are accepted as real names. Even if you write for one of it biggest newspapers. ;)
Miranda Tibbett: But Lillie, let’s hear from you more about this.
Aph Lightworker: Good point re: names. I think the Reuters bylines hould have full journalist names, not just First Reuters.
Aph Lightworker: if using online community for personal, relationship, entertainment, that’s one thing. but journalism - needs to be up front.
Cybersex: cheating and infectionous?
And then the - by now classic question - ‘is cybersex cheating?‘ And my added one ‘are people that ‘cheat’ online more likely to cheat IRL?‘
Aph Lightworker: Infidelity - I get that question a lot. “Is cybersex or SL sex cheating”
Vint Falken: aph, and what’s your idea about that?
Aph Lightworker: Vint … people who are drawn to online sex desperately hope it’s not cheating … people who aren’t, and who worry about their partners, desperately hope it is cheating … ultimately, it’s something each person and each relationship has to determine
Aph Lightworker: but i will say this: the door is open and isn’t going to be closed again. so i think we have to be open to thinking about ow we figure out relationships and fidelity and play going forward
Phoenixxa Homewood: i agree Aph - it’s to do with intent and understanding between partners & there’s no one answer for everyone
Aph Lightworker: Is’ relationships - doesn’t fit nicely in a little box
Vint Falken: they say using soft drugs gets you closer to hard drugs. is it the same way with cybersex/cybercheating (let’s call it that way): does ‘cheating’ on the internet would make the step IRL more easy?
Miranda Tibbett: Interesting question.
Aph Lightworker: Vint, i’m sure it does, because the emotional connection gets strong, and you stay up all night, and you get tired …
Miranda Tibbett: Is there some sort of “gateway” progression to cyber sex?
Aph Lightworker: … and meeting in person starts to be more real, less fantasy
Lillie Yifu: Many of us aren’t paid, or aren’t paid much, to be in sl. For us, the risks of online hararssment aren’t balanced by the rewards of selling more books. Quite the reverse. When you go online here, it is very wise not to reveal too much about your personal life, without thinking about it. There is no check on the front door to sl, anyone can enter, and anyone can be read your profile. A good rule is don’t say anything in public about yourself, that you would not want printed on the front page of a major newspaper.
Aph Lightworker: and one has to do some hard work and step back and ask: what am i doing. is something missing in my relationship offline that this online person fills.
Aph Lightworker: Lillie - YES!
Aph Lightworker: so true
So… did we say totally wrong stuff or totally correct stuff? And if you want to read more about keeping your SL identity totally seperate from your RL one, I suggest you read Veyron’s post on ‘Taking your avatar into cyberspace‘.
What do I love most about Second Life? Residents sharing stuff. Expertise, property, virtual goods, textures, knowledge, scripts, experience, … all these things are very valuable items for us, residents and yet often you get the most interesting of those for free. Upon kind request, or just because the maker wishes to contribute to the Grid and Second Life’s growth and future.
So jiddy I was when Dalien told me he created the Primskirtbuilder - based upon the LoopRez script which is in public domain. And decided to release it under GPL license. Which ment more residents could create even better prim skirts with even more ease. Even more jiddy I was when I heard that not only I thought it is a kick-ass tool for creating prim skirts and that NCI and TUI were considering using it to teach classes. (You can find the Primskirtbuilder at Mindulle. Grab and distribute! ;))
Maties, danger! Jerry Martin and patents on starboard!
Highly disappointed in avatar human nature I was, when Dalien IM’d me that Jerry Martin - from Fashionetics - was:
- Threathening Dalien with ‘a pending patent’ on automated primskirt building.
- ‘Suggesting’ Dalien would close the script and sell it for 2k l$ so they both could make money out of it. Closure of the code, as Jerry Martin puts it that well.
Huh? Well, if the patent is still pending, anything created before the actually patent date is safe, right? And if Jerry Martin’s automated primskirtbuilder - which he brags about is there since 2005, yet I’ve never heard of it - is that good, he would not have to fear Dalien Talbot’s free version?
(Dalien Talbot’s blogpost on this whole frenzy.)
Defend thy claim.
Having a hang for drama and being eager to defend the Primskirtbuilder - what I recon to be a great gift to Second Life residents and fashionistas in general - I TP’ed over to join the… euhm… conversation. Only to get to hear from Jerry Martin that I had nothing interesting to contribute as I knew nothing because he was born in 2005 and contributed that much to the grid and I was born in 2006 and did nothing. Hell, I hate such guys!
I asked Jerry Martin two important question which he both left unanswered:
- What are you actually patenting? As I saw not much that he could patent in the Primskirtbuilder. The mathematics? Nah. The idea of using a script to rez objects? Nah. The LoopRez script? Nah. As it was not his but Ged Larson’s.
- What is het that you created in 2005 that the Primskirtbuilder is - as you claim - a copy off? Show it to me, please. I’m curious and astonished that there would be another automated prim skirt builder by Jerry Martin that I did not hear of in my search for making the prim skirt creation more easy.
LoopRez targeted too.
When mister Martin TP’d out I quickly googled him. On which I found this page on Ged’s Larson’s - the creator of the original LoopRez script - blog that shows that already in januari 2007 Jed had - sort of - the same conversation with Mister Larson:
I initially posted his (red: Jerry Martin’s) notecard to me, but because a notecard might be construed as part of a “conversation”, which would be against LL ToS to post under resident’s expectations of privacy, I’ve removed it. The bottom line is that he tells me he has applied for a patent of his dress-making “invention,” and that he suggests that I should be aware of the “patent pending” status of his “invention.”
This is rather interesting to me, but doesn’t make me overly concerned. I wonder what portion of LoopRez infringes on his yet-to-be granted patent? Possibilities include:
- the parametric definition of an ellipse, consisting of:
- x = a cos (t)
- y = b sin (t)
- dividing 360 degrees (or 2*PI radians) by the number objects you wish to place radially symmetrically
- the equation for a tangent unit vector at a position on an ellipse, which is published in equations 89 and 90 at Wolfram’s Mathworld
- applying a fixed rotation to an object around a local axis (the “flare” rotation)
- using llRezObject?
Another reason that I’m not terribly concerned, and would be happy to challenge his “patent”, in the unlikely event that the United States Patent and Trademark Office were to grant it, is that it fails to meet 2 of the 3 criteria that all patentable inventions require: “new / novel” and “non-obvious.” Multiple people have independently come up with the same method to place objects along an elliptoid path in space, including Ariane Brodie and Johanna Hyacinth.
International waters… euh… public domain.
Jed Larson states that he finds Jerry Martin’s claims do not have merit. Especially since the original LoopRez was released into public domain:
Finally, once in the public domain, it is usually not possible to successfully obtain IP rights. I point out that I freely released the LoopRez v0.6 script into the public domain, which includes both the non-original concept of placing objects in an ellipse, as well as the corrected mathematical formula of tangent vectors.
I agree on that. And I would like to add that I find that Jerry Martin - despite his old age - doesn’t seem to contribute much to the grid when asking GPL licensed stuff to get closed.
Are his canons actually loaded?
And in the end, I wonder if Jerry Martin really has filed that patent. And if he’s not just lying to scare off the competition.
For those interested, the main chat logs are included below. Just click ‘more’.
Show me more… »
