Meeting the Lindens at the SL12B

By Gemma Cleanslate

All the interviews with Lindens at the SL12B at the Dreamatorium have been so enjoyable this week. Each has brought a wonderful  perspective to the thoughts and aspirations for the continued improvement and continued progress in Second Life . I am very encouraged that SL is not going anywhere. Saffia Widdershins with different co-hosts every day did done a remarkable job of interviewing each day and keeping everyone on topic and actually digging into their thoughts. She also took some questions from the audience.  

 

Friday was the pinnacle moment as Astound and Enchantment regions filled up to the max to hear Ebbe Linden. Some who wanted to come in lingered on the edges of Wonderous and cammed in to watch and listen. The crowd was so overwhelming that it took a while to get the voices and cameras synced. As they started, Ebbe was happy to let us know he feels a better comeraderie among the lab and the residents and is happy about that. He spoke of continuing improvements in Second Life. They are working on several new projects besides Sansar: some virtual world games for children, a focus on  cashing out Lindens, and making it safer and easier for residents. 

 

Ebbe enjoys traveling around sl meeting people and talking with them as himself . Virtual Reality  is going to be around a long time and is still being invented in so many ways that Sansar is taking time to be ready to last many years. Second Life has been around 12 years and has a  future. Sansar will be approached to last as many years and longer and is more than a year before it is ready for prime time.

The Lab is working on how to make land less expensive and packages and products for Second Life and other ways to raise revenue. There are so many things going on at the Lab . Ebbe Linden has impressed me as a real leader who is keeping it all going.  I hope you will take the time to watch all the interviews of this past week. All the Lindens who visited at the Dreamatorium had lots to say. Try to watch all the videos . I have heard so many comments that when Sansar arrives the Second Life will become a has been. I have been so encouraged to hear over and over this week that Second Life is not going anywhere. It will continue to develop and be developed. It sounds like Ebbe is willing to do more questions and answers with the residents and committed that to Saffia.  Watch and see!

 

Monday 22nd June – Oz Linden, Engineering Director, Second Life.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPmpchJ6yfM

 

Tuesday 23rd June – Patch Linden, Senior Manager, Product Operations, and Dee Linden, Land Product Specialist.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2UD-8ipFRc

 

Wednesday 24th June – Xiola Linden, Lead Community Manager, and Pete Linden, Senior Director, Global Communications at Linden Lab.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qf3HN9wywbc

Thursday 25th June – Danger Linden, Sr. Director, Product, Virtual Worlds and Troy Linden, Senior Producer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qf3HN9wywbc

 

Friday 26th June - Ebbe Linden, CEO of Linden Lab. 

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXUEm57C1gQ

 

Gemma Cleanslate

Oz Linden at the SL12B

By Bixyl Shuftan

On Monday at 1PM SL time, Oz Linden spoke to an audience at the SL12B Auditorium about his experiences in Second Life. He was interviewed by Saffia Widdershins of "Designing Worlds," and Jessica Lyon, the head of Team Firestorm, Saffia asking most of the questions.

When asked bout what he did before Second Life, Oz answered that he did a number of jobs related to communications and the Internet, hs last job doing "voice-overs" for IP Phone systems. which he called educational, but not as much fun as Second Life. When asked if it was less challenging, Oz remarked "that depends" as with the voice-over, he could just do things with a phone call while with Second Life, not always, "Here I get to do things, people get to create all kinds of crazy ... unpredictable things."

He described his coming to Second Life as he was interested in a fun set of challenges and a fun environment to work in. Asking someone at the Lab if there was anything interesting going on, as it turned out, Linden Lab's Vice President of Engineering was trying to get someone in a certain position at the Lab, and he was hired. He described his role as having "evolved" from there, eventually ending up where he is now, "Mostly I manage what's going on."

When his job was compared to "herding cats," Oz laughed, saying he'd probably have more control over cats, "actually, I have a terrific team." He explained the engineers were there because they wanted to work in Second Life and found the work challenging, "It's a great team to work with."

Jessica commented it must be a challenge balancing new features that work across all platforms. Oz responded, "That's definatley an issue." He commented people sometimes give him ideas that they feel would work well, but it turns out they would only for about five percent of the residents and degrade the expereince for everyone else. When commented that everything done has an impact, Oz answered, "That's certainly true. Anything we do, we can count on some people liking it, many people being indiferent, and some people disliking it." Oz commented the number of complements and complaints was a motivation, "their level of intensity means they care about the product we're working on ... it's no fun to build something no one cares about." Oz was happy to be working on Second Life, and couldn't imagine working on anything else.

Oz mentioned that "We'll be bringing out some terrific nre features and changes that the users are really going to like." Jessica commented from her experiences earlier as a Third Party viewer developer that it could sometimes be hit or miss in what features would be popular for users. She asked Oz if the Lindens get discouraged when they come out with a new feature and the response is flat? Oz answered, "No, I don't think so." He did acknowledge that it could be a challenge for the residents to understand why the Lindens do what they do, "I don't think there have been any ... early in my tenure at he Lab that have been very unpopular, except for those that cause a performance problem."

It was about this point that Oz crashed, getting a few chuckles from the audience about the seemingly all powerful Lindens crashing like everyone else. But he soon came back. Oz remarked that this was one thing that he found very challenging, having come from a field "where if you only have 99.999 reliability, your product is junk." Whereas in Second Life, while people complained about the crashes, they were more or less accepted as part of the Second Life experience, "I've always worked in worlds where crashing 1% of the time is disastrous, and here I am in a world where the best crash rates are much higher. It's very challenging." The Lindens themselves, Oz explained, were not taking this acceptance as a reason not to improve the crash rate, "none of us thinks it's okay just because the viewers ... " Someone suggested that the tolerance was because many Second Life residents had memories of the dial-up days of the Internet in which getting on and getting anywhere could sometimes take a while. Oz commented, "That's an interesting theory."

Of the projects he's worked on, Oz felt one of his favorites were the Windlight settings. He commented in the official viewer, the default was to use region settings, "I've got quite a list of things that ought to be part of ... settings." When asked if they could get the light differently at different levels in a sim, such as sunrise on the ground and Midnight in the skybox, Oz didn't think they would be doing that, at least not anytime soon. He stated there were several reasons for that. When asked if the day and night cycle could be made into a 24 hour one instead of about every four hours, Oz answered "Maybe," but he couldn't say when, saying the cycles were currernly "bakes in." He did say it would make things easier for him in some ways, bringing up inworld meetings, "I would like it whenever I hold it to be daytime."

"I run the development team," Oz stated, "beneath and around us is the operations team. They're the ones who really keep it going. We're the ones who change it every now and then." The operations team had to take care of "thousands and thousands" of simulators, "they do an amazing job." He talked about "just the other day" when they were rolling in new software on a rack of servers when there was a "catastrophic failure. ... a whole rack of stuff went down, and Second Life users did not notice." Jessica commented things had changed a lot since the old days when the Grid had to be taken offline when there was an update.

When asked if he used a non-Linden avatar, Oz stated almost all the time he spent inworld was as Oz Linden. He went on to say that employees of Linden Lab besides the Linden avatar also get a premium one, but he had forgotten the password to it. But he did have an ordinary one from "a few years" before he joined the company, "I use that one for testing when I need another avatar." He commented when he started, he seemed to get more anxious responses from the residents than he does now. He wasn't sure if that meant a change in the population, or if residents were more relaxed. He had been going around "as Brad Pitt with a flak jacket," and these days people are generally excited to see him.

When asked about any hobbies, Oz Linden did say that he had tried the Linden Realms game. He had also tried some one the games that the residents had come up with, though didn't say which ones. He did say he didn't have any building skills, adding when he was setting up his account, he handled the appearance part of the process to his son, "make this somewhat like me."

When asked about if there was anything upcoming he was looking forward to, he commented, "I'm going to leave most of the leaking to Ebbe, he seems to enjoy it." He stated there would be some experiences handed out that people should enjoy, though it would take some time. There were also other projects, "genuinely new stuff for Second Life. ... I'm not giving any hints though, we are working with some residents."

When asked if he had anything to do with the new grid in development, Oz commented he has a tendency "to ignore what foes on Project Sansar ... unless it's an all hands company meeting," saying they generally have some announcement about it then.

When asked if he intended to stay in his "current role," Oz commented, "I have no plans to change, I love my current role." He stated he wasn't much of a job hopper, but also, "this one's the most fun I've had in a long time."

Following that were some questions from the audience. These included the new Grid, "We'll see if in the end they manage to outdo everything we have in Second Life." Issues with Windows, such as support for XP discontinued after Microsoft no longer would, and testing Windows 10 for eventually support for that later, as the official viewer was "not officially supporting it just yet." When asked if the official viewer would soon have a 64 bit option,

Oz answered "at some point, I will try to carve out some resources. He did have one bit of advice for residents. He commented better memory for graphics would be better for the Second Life experience than a graphics card. It was at this point Oz crashed again, "You jinxed him Jess."

After Oz came back, he was asked if Linden Lab was working on it's own streaming version of Second Life with SL Go discontinued. Oz answered, "actually when SL go was shutting now, we had some discussions about whether we could pick up a streaming interface." But as one or two more companies seemed to be "making a go at it," they decided to wait and see. It was his observation that although this was intended for tablets, those who used SL Go to improve the performance on older computers, "that was the real loyal audience."

It was soon after that it was time for the discussion to end. "Thank you Oz for joining us," Saffia told him. Oz answered, "It was a lot of fun."

Chakat Northspring of Team Firestorm would later upload a video of the event. As of the writing of this article, no transcript was available.



(Click here if the video fails to play)

Bixyl Shuftan

A Couple Humorous Stories (2007)

By Bixyl Shuftan

This was my very first article about Second Life, sent as a Reader Submission to Second Life Newspaper in October 2007. The picture is from September 17, 2007, possibly from New York City Block. The stories are a rather amusing incident just after I got my red Luskwood Fox avatar, and another when I dropped in on the New York area.

*  *  *  *  *

Second Life has been full of funny moments. Here's a couple that stick out.

The first relates to my avie. I had started out with the ringtail foxfolk, partly to stand out, and partly as a reflection of my love of science-fiction. A friend gave me some cash to upgrade, but I postponed it for a while, giving some thought on what to upgrade to.

While in a store looking over options, I got the attention of a couple others, "I don't see too many still in their original skin," spoke one. I explained I was thinking over my options. "Well, I'd make a decision soon. The way you are now, people are going to think you're new. With a new avatar, it's going to change how people look at you."

A friend of mine had recently joined Second Life, so the next day I made my decision. I decided to stay a foxfolk, but with my family part redneck, and one of the online sci-fi comics I read it's red foxfolk were traditionally laborers, I got a Luskwood Red Fox avatar.

So did the way people saw me change? Well, the next day while exploring around, a woman walked up to me, and propositioned me! She was a cyberhooker looking for a few bucks.

I've never "paid for it" in real life, sour love life or no, so I politely declined. I guess since I was out of my "baby coat," she assumed I had cash.

A couple coworkers of mine had plenty of tattoos, piercings, odd hair, filed teeth, etc., and managed to find women to marry them. So perhaps it's not hard to imagine that some girls would go for a "foxy guy." ;-)
 
*****

 My second story had something of a somber beginning. It was Tuesday, September 11, the sixth year anniversary of that dreadful day. In SL, I stopped by a memorial to pay my respects. I was going to teleport out for the evening, but recalled a recreation of the Twin Towers next to the "New York City Block" area. So I teleported there to see if there was any memorial there, and landed in the middle of a conversation between two ladies, "Hey, there's a fox on your head." ;-)
 
I greeted them, and they welcomed me into the conversation. It turned out they were both New Yorkers, from Brooklin, and they were in on the design of the place, basing it on their home turf. We discussed 9-11, the ceremonies that day, and a third lady soon joined in.

In the middle of the talk, a guy ported in, and walked up to a couple of the girls. It took a few moments for him to rez, so we thought nothing of it at first. Then below his belt, a certain obviously male extremity appeared.

I wasn't sure what was going on. Was this guy last at a nude beach or somewhere and he forgot? So I typed the first think that came to mind:

"Excuse me, your fly is down."

And the girls burst out laughing. I wasn't sure how the guy would react. He reacted by porting away almost immediately. One girl spoke, "What happened? I didn't see (him fully rez)." We explained to her, and concluded it was some creep who was trying to get his jollies by shocking the girls. But instead got humiliated by my one-liner.

One of the girls and I exchanged friendships, and we've continued to keep in touch.

Guess my cheesy puns are good for something after all.

Bixyl

* * * * *

The first story I continued to look back with chuckles. As it turns out, lots of girls in human avs don't mind a little hair on the chest when it comes to dating. Of the second, It was the owner of New York City Block Cheri Bing I became friends with. And we kept in touch for years until real life would force her off Second Life. As for me, this would be the first of many, many articles I would be writing about Second Life.

Interview with Frets Nirvana

By Bixyl Shuftan

Frets Nirvana is a musician in Second Life best known for the benefits he helps organize at Veterans' Isle every month. Just before the concert in May, I had a chance to interview him and ask him a few questions.

Bixyl Shuftan: "So how did you find out about Second Life?"

Frets Nirvana: "Through a former employee and friend, Von Johin. He was performing in SL, told me about it and helped me get started."

Bixyl Shuftan: "So you had a friend performing here? What did he tell you about it?"

Frets Nirvana: "He basically said it was fun and you could actually make money performing (at that time! Ha-ha!) Anyhow, he had not heard me play before although he had worked for me. When he heard me play ... he said they would love what I do musically in SL ... and encouraged me to perform in SL."

"That was about five years ago now ..... Due to real-life he is no longer performing in SL, but he used to a lot."

Bixyl Shuftan: "How did your first few days go here?"

Frets Nirvana: "Well the first performance was great. I performed at his venue and he helped promote it. We had sixty people that night. After that his manager helped promote me and I was off and running ......playing a lot of covers with my own arrangements of other people's tunes."

Bixyl Shuftan: "Sixty people, that's pretty good."

Frets Nirvana: "Yeah ...Von was pretty well established at that time, so it helped. After that though ...it was a lot of hard work, and a bit of a struggle. I was not singing at that time ...just doing all instrumental. So it was a harder sell."

Bixyl Shuftan: "About what point did you include singing?"

Frets Nirvana: "I also tried doing a duo with a female singer. That was going well ... unitl (laughter) she bumped me and went on her own. Kind of the story of my musical life with singers."

Bixyl Shuftan: "Oops, what happened after that?"

Frets Nirvana: "I strated singing about six months after I entered Second Life. I had never sang lead vocal before ...just backup. But I figured out that I needed to sing if I was to have more success in SL, and well ... I just jumped in and worked on it and went for it. (laughter) Hopefully not offending anyone. Along with my guitar playing it is something that I have worked on a good bit. Although I will probably never be a love song singer."

"Kind of like everything for me in life ....I just make a decision that I am going to go for something, and work hard at it and do it."

Bixyl Shuftan: "What did audiences think at first?"

Frets Nirvana: "Well ...(laughter) nobody left due to singing to my knowledge. And they seemed to like it, and my crowd and bookings grew ... so guess it was a good decision."

Bixyl Shuftan chuckles a bit

Frets Nirvana: "But of course ...guitar picking has always been the feature."

Bixyl Shuftan nods, "when did the idea first come to you about doing bennefit events for veterans?"

Frets Nirvana: "That idea came about the same time ... about six months after starting performing in Second Life.  I saw all the activity forRelay for Life, and some other causes, and thought 'gee, why not for vets?' If not for them we could not be doing any kind of benefit for other causes .... or for that matter Second Life ... huh, trying living in Syria or Iran!"

"So, I took the initiative, and started it. Take note,I am not a vet. I just feel strongly about what they do and how they sacrifice, and how they should be supported. ESPECIALLY in today's world.

Bixyl Shuftan nods again, "How did the veterans respond to your idea?"

Frets Nirvana: "Well, once I figured out who to get in contact with, they responded well and jumped right in. Some of the original people involved are no longer in SL much, but it has kept on going. Dahlea Milena is a BIG part of that at this time. She has been sooo helpful and supportive."

Bixyl Shuftan nods, "I recall the events were first at Patriot Island for Wounded Warriors"

Frets Nirvana: "In general though ....it all had to picked up by the bootstraps at first of course .... And yes, until last fall, all were for Wounde Warriors Project. I switched allegiance to Homes For Our Troops at that time. one main reason, lack of support by WWP. I won't go into that any further. They still do good work but HFOT is much more supportive and I feel that the percentage of dollars that actually help Vets is higher with HFOT."

Bixyl Shuftan: "What was the most successful of these events?"

Frets Nirvana: "Mmmm ,,,, well it is really hard to say on that. It varies really, and so far I have not really found a definite 'this is the best.' But I can say this soemtimes we have raised as much as 300,000 Linden for vets in one month. I keep trying to keep the trend going up."

Bixyl Shuftan nods, "I wasn't familiar with Homes For Our Troops before. Where did you hear about them?"

Frets Nirvana: "I found HFOT on the web. I was searching for an organization that would be more supportive, and I talked to a lot of them. Amazingly, many did not want to get involved, and I have some theories on that (government!). But HFOT jumped right in and said yes."

"I hope we can honor that support with soem excellent donations going to HFOT. They do great work."

Bixyl Shuftan: "Sounds great. Did they have someone who was familiar with Second Life?"

Frets Nirvana: "No, they were not familiar with Second Life. I had to educate them on it. But they were open right away to hearing about it. Others seemed to resist.""We have sent over $45000 to help veterans through WWP and HFOT in the last five years."

Bixyl Shuftan: "Forty-five thousand dollars, that's pretty impressive."

Frets Nirvana: "I would like to do that in one year! An then increase it from there (laughter)."LOL

Bixyl Shuftan: "Heh heh ... Have any of the veterans made an effort to involve another charity?"

Frets Nirvana: "Yet ... on an aside, Relay for Life states they $250,0000 in one year, so why not for vets? Not that RFL is not a good cause."

"Not aware of vets trying for another charity. But if they do,good for them. But I know what I went through getting this set up, a lot of work."

Bixyl Shuftan: "What other benefits for veterans in Second Life have you heard of?"

Frets Nirvana: "Well ....I haven't really ...."

Bixyl Shuftan: "Just one time performances and nothing else on a regular basis?"

Frets Nirvana: "Usually .... Since I have been involved in this for some time now, if someone wants to do something for vets they will contact me, and I give them donation kiosks etc. .... there are others who do benefits, but they will use our donation kiosks etc."

"So if that is what you mean, there are venues here and there that do things, but not on a regular basis like our monthly benefit. But I WELCOME that big time. Our vets need all the help we can get. RFL does not, collects $250,000 with one benefit! (laughter) But I don't have the time to organize what they do."

Bixyl Shuftan nods, "Besides the charity events, can you tell me what else goes on at Veterans Isle?"

Frets Nirvana: "As far as Veteran's Isle .... candidly you would have to talk with Dahlea about that."

Bixyl Shuftan nods, "Did you have any plans for special events soon?"

Frets Nirvana: "Well, we have one event a month that I organize,last Sunday each month. That is about all the time that I have to be able to organize an event. But I definitely welcome anyone who wants to put something together for HFOT. ... this months benefit, May 31. Then the next one will be June 28 .... etc. Always last Sunday of each month from 5-9 PM at Veteran's Isle. That way we have at least one benefit, and hopefully establish a schedule that people put on their calendar."

Bixyl Shuftan nods, "Were there any venues that you performed at which had benefits of their own?

Frets Nirvana: "Not on a regular basis .... thinking about it, I cannot highlight any that I perform at that have benefits for vets. But I would welcome that."

Bixyl Shuftan checks the time, "Was there anything else that you wanted to mention?"

Frets Nirvana: "Just that I encourage people to take the time out of their busy lives and think about the needs of our wounded veterans ....and help as they can. And if anyone wants to sponsor an event for HFOT, contact me."

Bixyl Shuftan: "Thank you for your time and good luck."

It was then that we parted ways. Shortly afterward, Frets messaged me about one more detail, "Here are a couple more names that have been very supportive.  Jardasius Ecksol, Checkers Firelight and Vicktoreeia Resident. They are the primary ones that come to mind that sponsor events other than our monthly benefit. They do a lot with motorcycle clubs in Second Life. If you do mention other people, please make sure to mention them."

Shortly after this interview, the May 31st benefit on Veterans Isle took place. It was a success, raising 200,000 Lindens. Frets is still doing well at what he does. The next fundraiser there is Sunday June 28. Before then, he can be found performing at a few venues across the Grid.

Bixyl Shuftan

The Eternal Knights Motorcycle Club

By Leona Kitty

It is time to break the misconception! So we have all heard about Biker clubs and some of us have even followed the hit series Sons of Anarchy which, while exciting, did not help to promote a very good image. But today I went on a fun journey with one of my longest and closest friends in Second Life, Savage Sykes.

Savage is the Sergeant at Arms for the Eternal Knights Motorcycle Club. Now, I have to admit, he has spoken to me on several occasions about the MC and I never really knew what it was all about. This afternoon he brought me over to the sim where I had the pleasure of meeting the President and Vice President, Grizzly Nightfire and Callie Brune. They spoke with me about the MC. Eternal Knights was formed over 2 years ago after "Grizz" had spent time in a few MCs and never really fully agreed with how things were done. He wanted to bring something new to an MC. He believes in complete fairness, meaning everyone in the club, including himself follows the rules at all times and are all treated with respect and he is big on structure in the club. They, unlike other MCs are very family oriented and when they gave me a run down of some of the activities they did I was blown away!

I had always assumed being a part of an MC was riding around in a circle on a dirt track and being bored the rest of the time. Not only was their on sim track amazing, the activities presented were as well. They have things such as bowling, boxing, fishing, obstacle course, gun range (which by the way no guns are allowed on sim aside from the gun range), a games area and so much more! The sim was set up with a swamp type setting and one of the things I enjoyed the most was that their offices were not bunched together but located across the sim and even some off of the ride track.

It was very obvious that this MC lives up to their motto, "Be strong enough to stand alone, be yourself enough to stand apart, but, be wise enough to stand together when the time comes". They really do come across as a family. They keep a calendar with all upcoming activities and rides.

One of my favorite things I found out today while visiting is that the Eternal Knights focus a great deal on charities. They are currently supporting Homes for our troops which you can find more information on this at http://www.hfotusa.org/. They have hosted concerts, carnivals, bike auctions, all of which were donated for the cause as well as live singers donating their time as well. Recently, during their 2 year anniversary they collected over $400 USD for charity!

So, how does one become a part of such a great club? Well, the first step is to speak with a Recruiter. They will give you the bylaws and expectations. For about 2-3 weeks you are termed "Supporter" while you get to know everyone in the club. After this time the officers will take a vote to make you a Prospect. Once this happens you will continue to focus on getting to know the members as well as put together an event. After this you will take a test in the council room and at the next weekly meeting they will vote to see if you will be patched in. There are several different ranks in the MC, each of which holding a good deal of responsibilities, and over time as they open you are able to apply for these and again, be voted in.

I could go on and on with the information I learned today but instead, I highly encourage you to check them out! You can contact Alyssia Steamer or Willow Rexen for more information.

Leona Kitty

SLife and Times: When Exploring Becomes a Pain in the Neck

by Ozymandius (0zymandi Resident)

After being warmly received by Star Raven who kindly took the time to show me around the immense multi tiered sim of INSILICO, I was looking forward to my next assignment. I had never been to the MadPea sim and was curious to find out more about the gaming company so I sent an IM to Kiana Writer, the founder of MadPea, requesting an interview. A day went by and I received no response until K’ess (Kess Crystal), who I can only assume is the press liaison for MadPea sent me a message explaining that Kiana Writer was too busy to return my IM but she was willing to answer my questions. This message had been left while I was offline, so I replied only to receive the following message… "(busy response): The Resident you messaged has activated Firestorm viewer's 'autorespond mode' which means they have requested not to be disturbed.  Your message will still be shown in their IM panel for later viewing.”

 

The following day I received a message from K’ess, stating that she would drop me a notecard. I checked my inventory from time to time but found no notecard from Kiana, K’ess or anyone else from MadPea so I sent a message to K’ess explaining I had not received a notecard. The following day I received a notecard from K’ess outlining the fact that, over the last 8 years, MadPea produced over 60 different puzzles, adventures, hunts and games and they were currently promoting a Horror Survival Game called “UNIA”.

 

According to the notecard; "players find themselves abandoned in a small town where a number of people have gone missing...players find themselves having to solve puzzles, crack codes, fight monsters and survive booby traps in order to solve the mystery and escape their fate." UNIA launched on the 27th April, after 2 years of development, and has already had over 1000 players.

 

After reading the notecard I sent an IM to K’ess requesting the opportunity to photograph the sim where the game takes place. She was kind enough to send me a teleport to the starting point but explained I would not be able to enter the sim where the game was taking place. The starting point looked to be a junk yard in the middle of a dustbowl town and while the ambience of the sim intoxicating there didn’t seem to be much reason for the lag or the three crashes I experienced while trying to photograph a few signs, some rusting cars and a couple of turkey vultures flying over head. Finally I decided to adjust my graphics settings to try and reduce the lag when I began to received multiple notification from someone named “Lareda”. It was then I realized that a 2 month old vampire was trying to bite me.

“Hi Lareda,” I typed. "I'm writing a review of this sim for the SL Newser, are you trying to bite me?"

 

“ops ..if u dont want u can dont agree” She replied.

 

Clearly her command of the English language was not one of her strong suits, but she was a cute little blood sucker so I engaged her in a side interview and asked her how long she had been a vampire.

 

“yes.” She replied.

 

Perhaps she was from Eastern Europe.

 

“Why did you become a vampire?” I continued to interview her as a way of distracting myself from my growing disinterest in the sim.

 

“i like vampires.” Lareda replied with the kind of insight one might expect from a two month old vampire.

 

Then I began to think, maybe she’s a plant. Not like a plant because plants can survive without brain activity, but a plant like, maybe she is part of the MadPea game and I should let her bite me in order to gain entry into the other sim. What genius! After all this would explain the MadPea catch phrase; “Release the monster within”

 

“u know bloodlines?” She asked.

 

“No I never heard of them.” I replied.

 

“They are my clan, I take u to there.” She said.

 

This is it! This is the true brilliance of MadPea, they lull you into a false sense of security with a barren, lag filled environment then send a cute little vampire to lead you into the horror that awaits. So I eagerly accepted Lareda's teleport and soon found myself deep within the bowels of the Bloodline home sim.

 

With the regional wind light setting this is a dark and murky world full of daunting shadows and foreboding passages but if you readjust your sun direction to noon and it could easily pass for Disney Land. The bright light also helps to spot the night crawlers and it was then I was able to get a better look at Lareda’s clan who, aside from their pointy teeth, reminded me a lot of how my own middle class family would get together in a suburban park for a Sunday afternoon barbecue.

They were sweet, not very hospitable as they didn’t offer me anything to eat, not that I would have accepted, I’m a vegetarian, but sweet and affable folks all the same. As for Lareda, I was beginning to fall for that barely literate child of the damned and, now that I had met her family, it was time to think long and hard about what our next move would be.

 

“so u want be vampire?” She asked.

 

“That depends,” I hesitated. "Will becoming a vampire get in the way of my career as a Second Life photo journalist?” I tried to get my avatar to look her avatar directly in the eye when I typed this but our AOs were not in sync. This seemed a tragic metaphor for our relationship. We were crazy for each other but we were from two different worlds and our professions, me as a seeker of truth and knowledge and her as a destroyer of souls, had us moving in two different directions. Maybe that was the sign. That and the pentagram carved into the chest of her pot smoking skater cousin.

 

“Well Lareda,” I said with much regret. “It’s time for me to go.”

 

She sent me a friend request. Maybe she felt what I was feeling, maybe she was holding on to the desperate possibility of a future together, or maybe she was still trying to bite me. Who knows?

 

As for my review of MadPea’s latest game UNIA, I don’t really have one. The Gold Pea Game Pass costs 1000 Lindens ... Lareda bites for free.

 

 Ozymandius

 

News and Commentary: Avatar Trouble at the Basilique Linden Meet-Up

By Bixyl Shuftan

On Thursday May 14, Linden Lab had their "Inworld Meetup," in which a number of Lindens would show up at a certain time and space and answer questions the best they could. Before the meeting, Xiloa Linden posted in the Linden blog about a thread where residents could suggest where the meeting could be held. Early in the thread, Canary Beck suggested her place, Basilique, at the Our Island sim, "I would love to help you host a meeting here if you like." A few others seconded the idea, and so Xiola chose it as the place.

The description of the area was a nice one, "A lovely town on the shore of a northern Italian lake. Walk the square and waterfront piers, relax in the bars or cafe, or row around the lake. Meet new people that also aim for immersiveness and accuracy in a friendly setting." There was a webpage with more info at http://bit.ly/thebasilique .

I arrived late at the meeting, near the end. So all I caught from it were a few questions about the SS Galaxy that went unanswered. As the place was pretty packed, I imagine it wasn't easy for the Lindens to keep track of them all. Before long, Xiola Linden told everyone, "Thank you all for continuing to populate this place with awesome things and looks and builds and personalities!"

But not everything was awesome. Shortly after my arrival, I got an IM.

Miss Ford (julietford): Hi Bixyl, my name is Juliet. Welcome to Basilique. Please join our group to stay up to date with current events. Also note that only human avatars are permitted here, and there is a casual dress code in effect in the town :)

What the hey?

In my over eight years in Second Life, only three times have I been asked to leave a sim because of my appearace. And two of them were probably from the same location, once a friend inviting me to a club (Frank's Place), and getting told to ditch my foxlike appearance or leave (I was halfway to the door when apparently someone decided I wasn't moving fast enough and booted me out). There were a couple other times with an astrisk, once a friend inviting me to a beach, then fifteen minutes later suggesting that we both head somewhere else as someone IMed her furred avatars weren't welcome, and once when I took part in a "Bid Me Human," and being told to avoid another beach where human avatars were unwelcome. While others whom prefered furred avatars have complained about being rudely thrown out of places, it's my personal experience it's pretty rare.

So I responded matter of factly.

Bixyl Shuftan: Um, this is the avatar I use for journalism. I only use what you're asking for activities like RFL "Bid Me Bald."

Miss Ford then responded.

Miss Ford (julietford): That's alright. You don't say.  I heard other people use what I am asking for activities like RFL Bid you Bald too.

So Miss Ford was an avatar with a greeter script and an AI to give responses based on statements to her. A bot. I would later find her tucked away in a bakery. Anyway, I was determined to stay, and I noticed other nonhuman avatars around. So apparently we weren't being given the boot. But before long, other people began IMing be about the problem. Nydia Tungsten, who was there, sent me the conversation she had with the bot.


Miss Ford (julietford): Hi Nydia, my name is Juliet. Welcome to Basilique. Please join our group to stay up to date with current events. Also note that only human avatars are permitted here, and there is a casual dress code in effect in the town :)
Nydia Tungsten: even if it is a Linden meet up?
Miss Ford (julietford): Yes, even that.
Nydia Tungsten: you will boot me for my choice of Avitar?
Miss Ford (julietford): What makes you say that I will boot you for your choice of Avitar.
Nydia Tungsten: only human avatars are permitted here
Miss Ford (julietford): What about the other ones?
Nydia Tungsten: those were your words to me LOL
Miss Ford (julietford): All of them? I'm glad you find this amusing.
Nydia Tungsten: one moment while I try and find a human AVI
Miss Ford (julietford): One what?


DrFran Babcock was also there, along with her furry bat friend Areal Loonie. She got the okay for this bit of IM chat to be published.


Areal Loonie: I'm being asked to leave because of my avatar
JulietFord: Hi Areal, my name is Juliet. Welcome to Basilique. Please join our group to stay up to date with current events. Also note that only human avatars are permitted here, and there is a casual dress code in effect in the town :)
Areal Loonie: are you saying that I have to leave because of my avatar?
JulietFord: Yes, that's what I mean, isn't it clear?


It wasn't just furries who were having problems. Talun Resident, a tiny, told me about problems he had observed, "I went human, and for the brief time before I crashed (there) were several being asked to leave, they were protesting in open chat ... strict dress code/avatar rules." He told me of one friend whom had trouble, "Arabella went early to scope the place out I believe, ended up ejected and banned, furry. And (in the) early part of the meeting, they started asking people to leave." In the case of Arabella, "they meant it, ejected and banned, (an) hour or so before the event. I sent an alt to look, cos I is tiny." Talun did say this wasn't the first time he'd been given a rude reception, "I once got asked to leave an adult sim. Wrong sort of 'beaver.' (laughter)"

Arabella had posted in Xiola Linden's thread, "I have been just been ejected from the region and banned. The sim owners have a humans-only rule, and refuse to suspend it for the meeting. I have seen several Lindens with non-human avatars, as well as there being a large number of furry residents. And they seemed to be saying it's your fault for picking the venue." I sent Arabella an IM, but as of the writing of this article have yet to receive a response.

Before long, I went back to Basilique. With the meeting over, would I be tossed out, or would the people around be civil? I soon came across a small gathering of locals, mostly human, but with one domestic cat (what furries sometimes call a feral) among them, presumably talking about the meeting, just as one was saying, "and no one wanted to detach their (penises) and such." Another mused, "Well sis, it's a part of themselves." A third went "(name) didn't care to be (name) the eunuch." After a few chuckles, one noticed me and greeted me in a friendly manner, "Hi Bixyl! (smile)" Others joined in the friendly greetings as well. At least these locals didn't have a problem with furries.

Of the Linden meet-up, one local told me he had also joined in at the tail end. Another told me the event had taken her by surprise, "I was wondering why there were so many people around outside." Someone joked, "We were going to have a Linden toss, but decided it (was) best not to." She later commented more seriously, "It's hard to have anything really happen with so many people, and so little time to plan. ... I liken it to the Rolling Stones turning up to play a small club. The whole town comes unglued."

I brought up the forum thread in which the sim had been chosen to be the place for the Linden meet-up. The locals acted positively, "So everyone voted Basilique? How freakin awesome." "Thats great." I then mentioned, "There was one thing at the tail end of the forum thread though, someone saying she got booted." One looked at me surprised, "Booted?" Another responded after reading it, "Well they clearly weren't booted for not being human." A third told me, "Two people were booted out of well over a hundred. ... I don't think that is why they were ejected." A fourth, "What did they do? I didn't get it."

I asked the third person for her opinion why this someone had been booted. Her answer was, "They were just being rude and difficult. And at that point, you really do not have time to be nice about it. There was 104 at one time. But that doesn't count all the unique visitors either. And trust me when I say, Becky is slow to boot, not like me. (smile)." She told me she had enough administrator powers to boot someone if she felt it was needed. The feline mused, "Dammit I didn't know ... I've always been very very nice to you, haven't I ... ?" It seems this admin didn't think the "humans only" rule was worth enforcing.

Of the bot that was giving people the message that irked people, the admin told me, "The bot just states the rules for the sim ... but they cannot differentiate who is a furry or a tiny." Another local asked "Does Basilique discourage furries?" The admin answered, "Yes, and no kids. But like anywhere, exceptions are made. ... There was a wolf-man kind of guy here. He didn't get kicked." The feline commented, "I think the rules were suspended while the event (took place) Bixyl. I saw loads of anthro in the streets." I asked, "So either they were (booted) because of bad behavior or by accident?" "Bad behavior," the admin told me.

The conversation went on for a little longer before I bade everyone farewell and walked out. As I headed to the pier, the feline IMed me that my reception next time might not be so friendly, saying furries were not usually allowed, saying "rules are rules" and that the owner told him herself they weren't allowed. I would then send a message to the owner, Canary Beck, about the problem. She would answer later than night, and when I tried to explain she asked me to send her any questions via a notecard. I did, including one asking her to explain the reason why the place didn't allow nonhuman avatars. I would get no response from Canary.

I would return a few days later. There was no attempt to give me the boot. I didn't hear the bot message me either. Was there a change of policy? Maybe not, as there were signs around that nonhuman avatars were discouraged. I then logged in with an alt. After a few minutes came the bot message. Walking about as the alt, there were a couple of avatars who logged out when I got near, but no one complained. Dropping by the bar where a couple people were, two people were willing to talk to me.

Going about the sim, it was nicely detailed and done, with lots of fine details such as shopping stands and the peirs. There was one thing I noticed. In one corner of the sim, there was a club building where ban lines appeared when I approached. Was this the one place that was truly exclusive of non-human avatars? I didn't try to join as I was maxed out with groups, so I could only speculate.

My investigation was less than conclusive. I have yet to get Arabella's answer to the admin saying only those causing trouble were booted, but it's looking like a case of one's word against the other. With Canary not talking, it seems nonhuman visitors are okay on the sim when she's not around. When she is, I can only guess. Perhaps nonhumans are discouraged rather than truly prohibited. It's still enough to annoy many furs whom keep telling me they're tired of people questioning their choice of avatar to the point entering a room that suddenly goes quiet, they see as being given the silent treatment. Other furred folk just tale it in stride, feeling life, or Second Life, is just too precious to let people get them down for long.

On Basilique's webpage, I found a link to Canary Beck's own blog. I didn't see anything about why she would want only human avatars at Basilique. But there was one post in which she brought up a Zogby poll asking 3500 people, apparently not users of Second Life, if they would make their avatar the same as in real life, similar but enhanced, or dramatically different. Only 15% in the poll picked "dramatically different." Her own response, "Looking at this chart, something doesn’t really square, does it? ... Unless I’m reading this wrong, this chart would suggest that at least 6/10 of us are actually perfect super-models in the non-virtual world too! Do beautiful people just happen to love Second Life? Or, are we saying one thing while doing another?" Her own poll at the end of the blog post had over 50% saying they looked "dramatically different."

No Canary, something really doesn't square.

Bixyl Shuftan

*Addition* The resident who IMed me after I finished my conversation with the group later requested that I spell out two lines of his dialogue more fully, saying my description sounded misleading, "be aware for next time, furries not allowed here usually (smile)" "This is how I go about reporting. I'm not called 'fox news' for nothing." "(grin) yeah I know, but rules are rules ... I'm a lion usually, but the owner told me nicely it wasn't allowed."

Remembering Kat2Kit

By Bixyl Shuftan

On Thursday May 21, it was announced over Facebook that Mathew Shapoff, known there as Matt Cyanotype Shapoff and in Second Life as Kat2 Kit, had passed away. This took me by surprise as I'd only talked to him a few weeks ago, and he seemed happy, talking about future plans. His last Facebook post was only one day before, with no hints of trouble, so whatever happened must have been sudden. Kat was 42, and survived by his real-life wife.

To begin with, I'd known Kat for some time. He was part of Pooky Amsterdam's "The 1st Question" game show staff as one of the tinies in the opening act to entertain the audience before the cameras rolled for the game show. In real life, he was an artist who specialized in a kind of blue art called cyanotype. Besides selling it in real life, he also sold pictures of in Second Life. In late December 2009, I stopped by his store, and a few days later in early January 2010, an article about it appeared in Second Life Newspaper, "Kat2 Kit’’s Cyanotype Artwork for Sale in Second Life."

 *  *  *  *  *

Residents in Second Life whom have been to Pooky Amsterdam’s “The 1st Question” game show, or seen the episodes online (http://www.the1stquestion.com/) have seen a tiny panda doing the opening acts. He’s also among the tinies in Pooky’s Second Life Machinima “I’m Too Busy to Date Your Avatar” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-MVwwl2jjw ). Kat2 Kit is his name here in the Metaverse.

As it turns out, Kat is also a talented artist in real life, Matt Shapoff of New York City. He works on a kind of artwork called “cyanotype,” and makes some money selling the pictures. A notecard described his work as, “combining 19th Century printmaking techniques with 21st Century digital photography and design.” Besides in real life and on the Internet, digital pictures of his art can be purchased at the LlSound New York sim.

Kat has been doing artwork, “Officially after dropping out of collage for aerospace. ... I got into NYU photo undergrad after discovering this,  on a portfolio I made in high school under my stairs. (I) took one class in "non-silver" where i learned several processes,  but cyanotype was my favorite. In the early 1990's I was doing this. The process is a contact process so I need a negative the size of the print. Usually people do this with BIG cameras. I used a laserwriter and overhead slides. The department chair will now admit I àwas the first to do digital in the department.” Kat says they didn’t act impressed at first, but, “Now the department is Photo and *Imaging*!”

The idea of selling artwork never really came until about fifteen years later. “A dozen or so,” pictures were sold on his first try, Kat described, “It was a jewelry sale for my wife, and we put a few out to see.” What surprised Kat the most was, “I offhandedly set a price, and they paid it! Well, it was what I guess I would part with them at. Pretty high I thought, $75 for an unformed one of a kind 6" wide by 30" long print of local botanicals.” Kat used the plants themselves in the pictures, saying they worked, “but they somewhat expensive in commercial terms. My cards are created in much larger, more repeatable, volume via offset or inkjet.  I have cyanotype cards, but they are a bit pricer.”

Kat first began advertising his commercial art online in 2005, “First with etsy ( http://supermarkethq.com/designer/8511/products ) and then with supermarket ( http://www.etsy.com/shop/handmadeonpeconicbay ). He got the idea of selling them in Second Life, “pretty quickly, as I started making film again, but this time using SL as the camera.” Kat had been a part of Pooky Amsterdam’s “The 1st Question” from the beginning, “I was doing my bike tricks at ‘Brooklyn is Watching’ and she asked me if I would be the opening act for her show.” He also did the filming, “If SL years are like dog or cat’s years, it feels like 10 years.”

Kat went on to say, “We will be on real-life public access on the 31st 3 PM, in New York City. I made the tape. (For) over year I have trying to get the files. I have worked in broadcast media both at S howtime networks, and BBDO. Finally we got enough short together for 1 hour special. Pooky submitted it, and we feel honored to have been chosen for December 31st. We will stream it in-world, and have a part in-sync with real-life. We are considering a weekly show for the Dating Casino ... a real-life slot on MNN TV ... public access.”

Kat’s personal blog is at - http://handmadeonpeconicbay.com. He pointed out a short webfilm on cyanotypes at (http://blip.tv/file/341745?filename=Mattlabs-DigitalCyanotype664.flv). Kat is sometimes seen in Second Life operating a printing press with the tiny panda. He pointed out another short webfilm “Using the Pearl” at - (http://mattlabs.blip.tv/file/1884211/)

*  *  *  *  *
Just a few months later, Kat2 Kit would ask me to write about something else he was involved with. This wasn't about commercial art, but instead a charity. So I wrote "The Great Panda Heist" for Second Life Newspaper, which went up March 25 2010.

*  *  *  *  *

Among the shopping hunts out there in Second Life, there’s one in particular for nature lovers, and those whom simply like fuzzy critters, “The Great Panda Heist.”

Spooky Mistwallow is the organizer of the hunt. In real life, she is a finance analyst, whom writes novels as a hobby. In Second Life, she is a part of Pandas International. In setting up the hunt, she has had the help of Kat2 Kit, whom has been making a name for himself in his tiny panda avatar for his work with Pooky Amsterdam’s “The 1st Question” and other media.

“(The hunt) was Spooky’s idea,” Kat told SL Newspaper at his panda center in Silver Bog, “I was looking for a traveling fundraiser, and this is both fun and traveling.” He brought to attention the Wolong Panda Center, which was severely damaged during the earthquake in China in May 2008. A number of workers and pandas at the center died. Among them, one named Mao Mao, whom was memorialized outside the Pandas International hut in a sculpted statue.

Of how Kat got interested, “I originally had a miniature panda av. ... As I started to talk around, Ling Ling passed. So Cheen Pitney made me a sculpture. The one out here. Little did Cheen know I would wear him. I did a series of photos around the grid. And people started tipping me. Then after the earthquake, Elnora Newel made me a sculpty Ma Mao and baby, this one here. And now for this hunt, Bald made the greater panda up front.” “Baldtraveller,” Spooky corrected, mentioning Baldtraveller Shan.

“I have worked with Kat many times doing fundraisers for Pandas International in the past,” Spooky told, “and I have organized gridwide hunts in my store, so I thought why not combine the two. In this hunt, while every store hides a small panda with a gift inside. Most also have a donation box in the store as well. Even if donations aren’t received from every hunter, they are definitely made aware that pandas are in need, and the existence of this organization.”

Asked about what kinds of stores are in the hunt and what kinds of goods can people expect to find, “Well, I know most of the stores have panda-themed gifts made special for the hunt. Others, include bamboo or are Asian in nature. The items will range from furniture, jewelry, clothing, and anything else you can think of. The stores we hand-picked and are almost all good merchants with whom we have worked with in the past. Again, from every level of merchandise.”

“For example, we are giving out this lovely panda-framed image to visitors here,” Kat spoke as he pointed to a picture.” Spooky continued, “Kastle Rock Couture, my store, for example, is giving out a special color of my fundraiser panda gown, a panda necklace, and an Asian-themed table. I have seen some panda art, a bamboo leaf dress, and a set of ginger jars. There are a few sample pictures on the official hunt blog as well.”

“(There) was an unspoken theme,” Kat informed, “everything had to be cute to ‘ holy s*** that’s cute!’ “ He then rezzed a panda bot, a small cub holding a balloon that began floating around, making grunting cries those around found adorable, Spooky commenting, “that has to be the cutest thing I’ve seen besides Kat. (laughter). .... It’s cute like a baby.”

Spooky has been involved in other charity hunts, “My store participated as a vendor in the AIDS hunt and also provided donation items for Breast Cancer. I also sell year-round three special gowns and give the pandas fifty percent.” Spooky herself was sporting a panda necklace and a panda tattoo, “the tattoo I’m wearing is a hunt gift one of the vendors sent to me. It’s from Suzy Martinek of Love Tattoos. It’s so cute."

Spooky talked about doing a “Party for Pandas” event in the future, “what we do is schedule time at one club after another, an hour usually. We rezz donation boxes that give information about pandas and why they need support. Last time how much did we raise, Kat?”

“Over 20,000 L," Kat answered, "We were verrrry happy. I take the Lindens, cash them out to Paypal, and then make the donation to Pandas International.”

The website for the Panda Heist is at http://greatpandahunt.blogspot.com . A video Kat thought was important was Pennies for Pandas . For a takeoff on the “Roaming Gnome," here is "Ling Ling around the Grid."

Pandas International accepts donations at P.O. Box 620335 Littleton, CO, 80123. It’s website is located at http://pandasinternational.org . They also have a Facebook page.

"The Great Panda Heist” lasts from March 21 to April 30th.

“I am very excited and thankful for all this support. I an starting to find one of the keys to social media, is volunteerism.”

*  *  *  *  *

Kat2 Kit was also a regular at the broadcasting of "Science Friday" in Second Life. He would keep on being part of "The 1st Question" crew for a while. Eventually, he would come on Second Life less frequently, concentrating more on his real-life activities such as his artwork. But we did chat with one another once in a while.

The last time we would meet was March 29, 2015. He teleported me to where he was building a new art shop on a skybox, describing some future plans for selling his work online.

But of course, he would be unable to carry out these plans, at least on his own. One day after his last Facebook post, it was announced he has passed away

A small memorial has been set of for Kat2 Kit at his store in Montauk New York (128/157/24). On Facebook, many have left comments on his page. While in Second Life he might have been small in stature, he had a big following of friends.

Bixyl Shuftan

*Addition* The Jan 2010 article I did was also reprinted in skullenblog (link).

Dinner Dating in Second Life

By Leona Kitty

Second Life, being an online virtual world allows us the opportunity to create just as the title says, a second life. We have the choice to make it anything we want. Some come here as an escape, others come here because they are unable to get out much in real life. Either way the lives we create in here can contain so many different possibilities. One of those that I have personally seen and experienced over the years is the ability to meet people and date in Second Life.

In real life you meet someone, usually go out on a date with them to a dinner, movie, a walk in the park, out dancing. So why not do the same thing here? Residents of Second Life have created so many wonderful places for us to use for this purpose. You can go out shopping for a nice outfit to wear for your date. You can then meet up for a romantic dinner followed by dancing. And all of this can be done for much less than the cost a real life date would have cost.

So you may ask, how can I go to a romantic dinner? We cannot actually eat in Second Life. Well this is where your imagination comes in. And truly, when you take that real life date out, are you there only for the food or are you really there to get to know them? Getting to know your date is what the night is all about.

 I personally have always loved the Live service romantic restaurants in Second Life because I feel it truly creates an atmosphere that is as close to a real life date as you can possibly get. You and your date arrive at the restaurant and you are warmly greeted by your hostess or server. Once seated at your table you are able to view a menu and make selections. Over a three or four course meal your server will visit your table to deliver the next course, see how you are doing and just provide general roleplay to make the experience as close to real life as possible. During this dinner which usually lasts close to 1 hour you are able to talk privately with your date and focus completely on getting to know them. What a wonderful way to live a dating experience in Second Life.

So for those seeking a nice, romantic experience where they can devote some time to their date or even significant other I highly encourage you to check into some of your local romantic restaurants.

- Leona Kitty

Pictures taken at "The Falls"

Tonight Live WIth Paisley Bebe, 23 August (Sept 2009)

Article by Shellie Sands, originally published September 15

*  *  *  *  *

Featuring Nazz Lane, AMForte Clarity and Wiz Norberg

Our very own Nazz Lane appeared recently on Tonight Live with Paisley Beebe. A very skilled interviewer himself, Nazz was on the receiving end this time. Speaking to Nazz just prior to the show, he did not seem the least bit nervous. I, of course, had no doubt he would be brilliant as he spends much of his time here in SL interviewing others, I had every confidence he was prepared and anticipated the types of questions he would be pressed to answer.

Nazz was the first guest. After some sound checks and double checks, Paisley began. Initial bleed over (for lack of a better way to describe it) with each of the speakers made it a bit difficult to follow. The engineers went to work and quickly straightened it out, and the interview proceeded.

 

Nazz explained he began his journalistic endeavors with Lane's List, a personal account of his experiences in SL. He later stumbled across an ad for the SL Newspaper in his travels and thought he might enjoy writing stories about SL and other events in SL. He contacted the owners, JamesT Juno and Dana Vanmoer, and was given an opportunity for a trial run, for which he was both grateful and excited. This has blossomed into a nearly full time career in SL and he has produced numerous articles and stories for the paper, as well as other publications, including New Vibe magazine, to name one.

 

Paisley inquired of Nazz what it is about SL that makes good journalism and why he thinks so many people ask him to write for them. Nazz replied he believes it is the fact that he tries to get to the "who" of an individual, to understand who they are, and what motivates them to do what they're doing in SL. He also tries to uncover what drew an individual into SL and what holds him or her in. Understandably, this requires him to be able to keep track of who's doing what in SL and keep his finger on the virtual "pulse" of SL events. He does this via blogs, twitter, RSS feeds, as well as art forums, such as Pirates, Angelgate and Diablos, to keep up on events in the art scene. 

 

Nazz has recently completed the first 5 chapters of his SL book, Borders of Our Lives. The story Is based loosley on the characters in SL, relationships and experiences, from the newbie experiences on. The main character, Jeffrey Goff, is author Jeffrey Stone and RL attorney. Jeff is quickly befriended by a female mentor, who shows him the SL ropes, gets him clothes, hair, etc. Once acclimated, Jeff realizes how it is affecting his RL and finds it difficult to separate the two worlds. (A truer statement I have not heard).

Paisley asked how much of the book was autobiographical versus lives and experiences of people he has met in his SL travels or perhaps people he has interviewed. Nazz acknolwedged he has met many people here, some of whom he absolutely loves and adores and would also like to meet in RL. What Nazz really hopes to achieve with the book is to provide a vehicle by which to bring the SL experience to those outside of SL who have never experienced a virtual world. He tries to achieve this goal through the narrative and also through the dialogue of the characters. Nazz finds it mind boggling that, despite the lack of tactile senses in world, somehow we have a sense of how people feel, how something smells or feels, or the experience of dancing with someone and actually feeling like we are touching them. I think any of us in SL would agree with this, as odd a concept as it may be. This is a diffcult concept to portray to someone who has not experienced SL. It's amazing what our own imaginations can do. Nazz attributes it to the fact that many of us, in our first lives, are engaging in various forms of communication daily, whether it is for the job, via instant messaging or texting, or for some other form of personal enjoyment.

The book can be purchashed via his business office on Tranquil found in Nazz's picks in his profile, or by sending him an IM directly. (Author's Note: Tranquil has since been sold and interested persons should IM Nazz directly to get a copy of Borders of Our Lives.)

According to Nazz, he had always wanted to be a writer in RL but had never tried it. Since he began writing in SL, Nazz has taken steps to hone his craft and hopes to transcend the realm into RL in the future. I am sure we will also enjoy his book when all planned 12 chapters are completed; I anxiously await the final chapter.

Following Nazz was singer/songwriter AMForte Clarity. I have heard AM many times and was compelled to join her group. A very talented performer with a surprisingly refreshing sound, AM spoke about her life growing up in a small village in a suburb or Toronto, Canada.

After performing a song, AM took her place on the couch with Paisley. When asked how she chose her SL name, AM revealed that AM are her RL initials, standing for Anna Maria, her true name. Forte is actually her RL last name so, as she said, she does not hide anything. 

 

AM recounted a bit of her childhood, claiming it was tough growing up and schools were difficult. She noted she was "so uncool" as a kid. Family life was also a struggle for AM. Her family being very religious, she was not permitted to listen to secular music. Of course she did, being the rebel that she was (and still is by her own admission). AM believes being a bit of a rebel sort of keeps it all real and reminds us we are alive as we go through our sometimes mundane, routine filled lives, governed by schedules and "must do" activities. She left home at age 20 to go to North Carolina for school. 

 

Having escaped from the small town environment in which she was raised, AM began looking for love, admittedly in all the wrong places. I can definitely relate to that! A true poetess at heart, AM began turning her prose into songs, setting the words to music. SL has helped AM grow her RL music career. Her website, AMForte.com, includes 5 professionally recorded songs, many other songs she has written that are new and yet to be recorded, and about "300 ideas for other songs," she said, laughing. She has been putting very much effort into getting her RL career off the ground for the past 4 or 5 years, sending demos out to multiple producers, etc. , even including, in some cases, lavish gifts. This she said chuckling, claiming she had heard this was the way to go. Unfortunately, it got to be a bit pricey but she continues to try. You have to admire her tenacity. AM would love to do a RL tour with other SL musicians. My wheels started turning when I heard this. I have ideas for her. 

 

The thing that keeps AM going, she claims, is she nearly died at one point, she did not elaborate, but it opened her eyes. She decided she needed to really start living having been given this second chance at it. This has made her decide that what she really wants to do is sing and write songs rather than have a boring 9-5 job, no matter how profitable it may be. She hopes her songs may help save some lives, through people identifying with the lyrics and the emotions in her songs.

As a poet myself, I can relate to the introversion and using writing as an outlet to express those thoughts and feelings, bourne from our RL experiences, when perhaps times were not always very happy. Listening to AM describe her life's struggles through growing up with strict parents who did not allow her to do much of anything, and often feeling out of place in her environment, I truly felt as though I were looking in a mirror, seeing a reflection of myself and my own life (minus the near death experience). The similiarities were truly uncanny. This interview gave me welcome insight into this talented musician, songwriter, and poetess.

Wrapping up the show was Treettv CEO, Wiz Norberg. Paisley described Wiz as somewhat of a "quiet achiever" with not much written about him, and a real "mover and shaker in SL" due to the content of Treettv, which is fast on its way to becoming one of the biggest media outlets in SL. Wiz says he will appear on some shows, but generally he is so busy making things, he doesn't have much time. The best interviews he's done are with people who have a clue about what he does here in SL, so those interviews go well and are enjoyable for Wiz--much like talking shop to a colleague. 

 

Treettv has been producing 14-15 shows per week generally, for the last 18 months or so. Wiz stated that while it is difficult to know how many people are watching the productions at any given moment, many people watch after the fact, which is why Treettv makes media available via many different options, to accommodate the global community's schedules. 

 

Paisley posed the question that, because there is so much online media available to folks, how is Treettv planning to compete with that? Wiz doesn't believe it is a competion, TV is fun and everyone knows it's graphics they are looking at. "The real competition we have are what other people are doing with their time...because television itself is just .... we're interested in new ways people consume things." Audiences are amazingly committed to the shows on Treettv according to Wiz. He sounded very surprised by this.

Paisley noted that Treettv itself is nearly about to be launched from the former SLCN TV. Wiz clarified that Treettv is already launched and people are watching it a lot inworld. The changes are more due to better production and high definition TV, but the real change is the launch of the website, which is geared to expanding the audience and use the web more effectively. One of the problems they are facing is that so many people are involved for a mere one hour show. Treettv has 3 full time people and various others, and the whole endeavor becomes somewhat expensive. Wiz believes the website will help with this. Wiz would like to turn the virtual island they are on into a bit more of a showcase, complete with museum. The studio Wikipicture project they are currently involved with is a bit of an experience, and it remains to be seen how it will all unfold. 

 

Paisley acknowledged that much of the SL video/media available closely mimmicks RL, citing the example that her SL studio for the talk show is very like a RL TV talk show set. Wiz believes that what happens in SL is just a mirror of our real lives, using the example of journalism, and splitting things into chapters just as in RL. People have tried to do some different forms of writing, but there are "certain ways that we engage in art" and television is a reflection of our current lives. Some shows, such as Simboarding or The Snails, are ideas completely off the beaten path of what we would consider normal, reflective TV. The people factor is that we just want to learn about each other, which I personally is a normal, valid, human response.

This was a great show and to her credit, Paisley is a very skilled and talented interviewer. She exhibits terrific poise and quickly puts her guests to ease. Check out Paisley Beebe on Tonight Live weekly, some of your favorites may be the target of one her shows.

By Shellie Sands

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Nazz Lane would write for SL Newspaper for several more months until striking out on his own in early 2010. Shelie Sands would be among those heading on to SL Newser. Paisley Bebe would continue Tonight Live for another two years, the last show being May 2011.