Hibernia on the Skids

Calling it a day

2010-06-22T13:54:00.000-07:00

It was a long, slow time coming, but I've discovered I'm pretty much done with Second Life. So I have (successfully!) sold my last land plot (in the Harbor of Steelhead) and going back to being a "stateless" itinerant-- e.g., a hobo, much like I was four years ago. This is not a MacArthur Speech.. I'm not bowing out of Second Life altogether. I will be in from time to time. However, having looked at the statistics lately, I've been in maybe four times in the month of June. This is down significantly for me, and does not bode well for future involvement. Looking at this blog, I haven't found anything interesting to write about in months, and it, too, has become ready for the boneyard. This will be my last post.

Why the change? Other (real life) concerns. Other hobbies, other passions. We have a thriving reenacting community here in my part of the world, and I'm pursuing the notion of joining a group of Pikemen at some point to reenact some English Civil War battles. A long time hobby in the real world is taking up my vanishing free time, to boot. Lastly, I'd like to do more writing-- and SL is a notorious time sink.

The worst part about SL for me currently is the persistent sense that I have been changing, but it does not feel as if Second Life has. Frankly, I've grown bored. There are activities that I could pursue in world but I feel frustrated that nothing will generate the critical mass to succeed without lots and lots and lots of personal attention and care. I just don't have that kind of free time any more. I already have a job during the day. I don't want another one at night.

I guess you can say I lack an SLPurpose.

Lastly, I'm getting the impression that the Linden Corporation is a rather shaky foundation for a long term presence in world. If Second Life is around in two years, I'll be pleasantly surprised. May they prove me wrong with glee!

Until then, you may see me here or there, if you are interested.

It has been a great almost four years. Good night, and good luck.

HOTSPUR

Best Time In World:The year and a half on Roatan Sim, running the Port Merrimac harbor on the edge of the giant United Sailing Sims sailing ocean community. Introducing ironclad combat to a new audience, aggressive story based RP on the exploits of the Fleet of Wrath Exiles. Sufficient groups of other players were truly networked and in the groove on this one. I loved it.

Worst Time in World: The Relay For Life "War" aftermath in Caledon. It really seemed like a great idea at the time, but it was a divisive project that made very little actual $L for RFL, to boot. It's three years later and people still have opinions on this one, not all of them positive and supporting. I'm glad it is in the rear view mirror.

There's a gazillion people I should acknowledge in print... for their friendship, their patience, and their dedication to making SL a better place. The problem is you name one, you forget another.. and I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings. Thanks, everybody!

CodeOrgan: How to Play Hibernia on the Skids

2010-05-06T18:42:00.000-07:00

Mr. Mason turned me on to this-- a site that encodes your website as music of sorts. I rather like Hibernia's "Sound".

Port Harbor: Stunning Lot. Polymath Eyrie for sale

2010-05-02T22:26:00.001-07:00

Hotspur O'toole announces a unique land opportunity in Steelhead Harbor. "The Rock", a small island (1024 lot 441-442), is located almost in the exact center of the Steelhead Community, surrounded entirely by water. The Lot will support up to 534 primitive objects. Building on a vertical axis (e.g., a tower) the view can be quite spectacular indeed.

See Hotspur OToole in world with an offer.

Farewell, Port Merrimac

2010-05-02T22:17:00.000-07:00

For the past year or more of Second Life time, a loose confederation of people enjoyed the hospitality of Zatzai Asturias, the Autocrat of the Island of Lilliput. In exchange for maintaining a fleet in being, the Autocrat gave us refuge and a place to repair our ships, as well as practice battles on Thursday nights. Sadly, Mr. Asturias has moved on and is no longer participating in Second Life. His sims were sold with the exception of Roatan (where Port M. was), Zatzai and Artificial Isle. We held out hope that Mr. Asturias would wish to come back in world at some point, but circumstances did not work out that way. So, sadly, I have to announce that Port Merrimac, scene of many roleplaying adventures and many, MANY naval battles, is no more. Roatan, Artificial Isle and Zatzai will revert to the Battle Circle community owner (MarkTwain White) and they will be redubbed Blake's Roatan, Blake's Zatzai, and Blake's Diego. As a concession to all the ironclad enthusiasts that once played there, Mr. White has set up a sanctuary dock to hold battles from in world, and I will be publishing the Slurl to that once it is in my possession.

The time at Port Merrimac was some of the funnest and happiest in my experience in Second Life, and I shall miss it very much. But the nature of life is change, and that statement holds true doubly so for Virtual Reality too.

Farewell, Port Merrimac, You were great fun when we had you.

Aether Salon postponed

2010-04-17T21:41:00.000-07:00

Due to real world emergency, tomorrow's Aether Salon on Ironclad to Dreadnought part one shall have to be postponed. My apologies for any inconvenience.

The Aether Salon: Ironclads, Part One Of Two

2010-04-15T22:46:00.000-07:00

YHN will be honored to present a hopefully illuminating lecture for on April 18, 2PM SLT, on the topic of "From Ironclad to Dreadnought". As this subject is broad and quite complex, YHN has decided to split it into two lectures, the first of which, "Look to Windward", will be on developments up to and during the American Civil War and just beyond, up to the grand naval battle of the age, Lissa. YHN hopes some of you might wish to attend.

Respectfully,

Hotspur

Where the Tides Ebb and Flow, by Lord Dunsany

2010-04-09T08:27:00.000-07:00

The fire was guttering in the fireplace at the Black Goat. My host, Doctor Dayafter, pitched another log in, sending sparks showering up the chimney, and waking the dozing barrister next to me with a start. "Hmmph? Oh, I say.. dashing good story, Gus, dashing good, what?"

Dr. Dayafter finished tending to the fire, the refueling of which signalling at least one or possibly two more stories were left to be told. His baleful eyes rested upon your humble narrator.

"And you, Commodore? You have been silent tonight. What have you brought the throng this evening?"

"I may have just the thing," said I, watching the rain beat upon the windows of the Goat. "Just the story for a night like tonight."

And with that, I wet my pipes with a tankard of dark ale, cleared my throat, and began.

RELATED: A startling work of Interactive Fiction based upon this very story! Worth looking into!

Movie Night! at the Gangplank

2010-04-06T04:16:00.000-07:00

My friend Dr. Dayafter threw a kinescopically themed entertainment last evening, at the Gangplank in New Babbage. Young Master Finley Twine provided the music. YHN was happy to attend after long absence from the city.

YHN in foreground. Can you guess the costume? No, it isn't Gene Kelly in Singin' in the Rain, nor is it Maurice Chevalier

Costumes were quite creative, and all of them movie themed. YHN espied an Alex from Clockwork Orange, Sookie Stackhouse from True Blood and many other characters.

I am not a number! I am a man!

YHN had a lovely evening reacquainting himself with New Babbage and has every intention of being more active in NB events in the future.

Blank verse for a hard Easter

2010-04-05T14:00:00.001-07:00

In memory scribed,
undimmed by time
Your eyes closed tight
A fist engulfed in mine
so fierce.. so hot
fight, boy, fight!
tears shining bright
don't leave,
The tension fades,
suddenly as if sleeping
I whisper..
Don't be scared.

In memory eternal, for Joaquim.
We will meet again,
in the place where there is no darkness.

Only Nixon Can Go to China: the end of the great Riel dispute has arrived.

2010-04-02T08:40:00.000-07:00

I have received several IMs and emails about the recent mutual posting about a ball hosted by Gabrielle Riel and myself.

The speculation driven by the date of yesterday's post is entirely correct. It was, indeed an April Fool's joke, and a pretty good one at that.

And yet, to even arrive at the point of an April Fool's joke would require an unprecedented amount of cooperation, and yes, civility from two parties that heretofore were in a dispute "to the knife.. to the very hilt!". The moment to put it all aside has arrived, I am happy to say.

To quote that old maxim of diplomacy: "Only Nixon can go to China". As it turned out, many of my perceptions of exactly WHAT happened and WHEN and by WHOM in past events were flawed-- this became quite clear in a conversation with Ms. Soleil Snook that occurred by happenstance about a week ago. She cleared a lot of it up for me. She, in turn, realized that GR didn't know that I had these assumptions... and must have spoken with her. Then, Gabrielle herself emailed me-- at first grudgingly speaking with me, then I responded back, equally grudgingly, explaining what I had seen and heard, then we compared notes, and explained our positions.. and talked more. The result was our first honest conversation in almost three years-- clearing up disputes old and new. Ms. Soleil, you have done some good, and you should be proud.

There can only be only one course of action when you have a rigid ethical standard, so I publicly announced that my perceptions of the Radio Riel incident were flawed directly after speaking with Soleil, whom I trust. I was ending the boycott immediately, and all hostilities had ended. Nothing big and public of course-- this beast has been fed enough. Directly after that, the email conversation, initiated by GR, commenced.

The rest you might have guessed.. it ended up being rather good humored at the end. And GR came back with ... it's April Fool's day tommorrow.. Let's cook up an April Fool's joke! If you liked the Caledon Drama Society idea, your jaw would have dropped to the floor with the first draft. But that shall have to remain forever a secret (grin).

I'm very happy with the course of events, it's amazing how quickly it worked out when we decided to communicate directly and honestly, without the filter of third party agendas. I'm sure the community as a whole will be happy about this development, too. Endless dispute can be very tiring for everyone.

GR explains her end of it here and yes, it's an accurate description of how things played out-- no arguments here. I welcome a more civil future in the Steamlands.

Through the Looking Glass and Back Again

2010-04-01T21:41:00.000-07:00

At New Wonderland, in Silence

Gabrielle Riel and Hotspur O'Toole announce: The Caledon Dramatic Society!

2010-04-01T17:44:00.000-07:00

Ladies and Gentlemen:

Commodore Hotspur O'Toole, Fleet of Wrath Exiles

and
Duchess Gabriel Riel, Caledon Cartaigh

Cordially Invite you to a ball celebrating the launch of the Caledon Dramatic Society!

Sunday, April 4th, 2010, 7PM SLT

Coughton Court, in Caledon Carntaigh of Rothesay

Formal Attire Requested

The Brass Image, at the Black Goat in Arkham

2010-03-25T21:00:00.000-07:00

The Brass Image, by Clark Ashton Smith

The evening growing late, and the fog was chill. I bundled my cloak a little closer and strode into the Black Goat public house. The crowd assembled gave me a somber nod, and resumed spinning tales. A bone chilling tale was being narrated by the young lady in front of the fire. She brought her tale to a thrilling conclusion to thumping applause and raised glasses. The purveyor of the evening's entertainment, Dr. Dayafter, requested volunteers.

"If it please the company assembled, I may have one to tell."

"Proceed, Commodore."

I cleared my throat, stepped in front of the crowd, and began.. the fateful tale of the Brass Image.

(click to play. Apologies for the raspy voice, YHN is overcoming a head cold of a pernicious nature, so does not have the range or energy he normally devotes to voice performances. There is one jumpy cut at the beginning, hardly noticeable, which YHN tried to fix, but was unsuccessful).

Victoriana's farewell broadside

2010-03-24T04:15:00.000-07:00

Mr. LittleBlackDuck Lindsay ran the picturesque and lovely VICTORIANA sim up until recently. He has decided to call it quits after a series of mishaps with Linden Labs. This is a disturbing trend-- Ordinal gone, now Mr. Lindsay. YHN surmises that Mr. Lindsay likely wouldn't mind if his letter announcing his termination of Victoriana had broader circulation, so YHN will do his humble best by quoting it here.

*Sigh* A Nation Owner's Sad Farewell
Hi everyone,
This is to announce that The Nation of Victoriana is closing.

I've been a SecondLife citizen since July 2006 and have seen many wonderful things come (and go) on this grid. Over the past twelve months I can't help but notice the "cons" of living and working on a Linden grid far outweigh the benefits. DAILY grid issues with logins, transactions, inventory and lag, continually spoil everyone's experience. I personally have lost a considerable amount of inventory over the past twelve months alone, something nobody enjoys. Reports from friends and residents of Victoriana tell me I'm not alone here either.
As most of you are aware Linden recently "screwed the pooch" with my permissions in Victoriana during a recent "maintenance update"; effectively disabling my ability to manage, repair and improve the estate by setting almost everything to 'no modify' (yes stuff I built and owned, which makes up the majority of everything in the estate). After numerous attempts via Concierge Chat and support ticket application, Linden failed to correct the issue after fourteen days... they didn't even have the decency to contact me about the problem, or even move the ticket beyond "New" status (ie they didn't bother to look at it). As you also know I sent out notices keeping everyone up-to-date about the status and eventually explained I would have to rebuild much of the estate from scratch and 'fix the problem myself'. This lacklustre response from Linden has brought to light a great deal of uncertainty in our little community about the future of Victoriana and the Linden grid itself. I've seen a number of people in the past few weeks re-evaluate their own personal investment in SecondLife, and sadly a number of them have chosen to leave the grid for fear of losing everything they've invested money in. It's a very very sad thing to see good people go (especially long-termers who've been around for a while) for fear of "what will happen to them" come the next maintenance rollout/asset server failure/grid issue.
Since then it's been more daily issues with logins, lag, asset server/inventory problems, you get the picture. It's not enough that IMs are capped (making it really tough for an estate owner to communicate with people) but it seems now Notecards are not working correctly either. I've sent a number of notecards to residents the past two weeks and am told most never received them, and have not received a number of communications that people have sent me. How anyone is expected to run a business, community or even take this grid seriously is beyond me.
Linden is working hard to improve the experience for new users on the grid, something I feel very passionately about, however in the process of changing their mind on how to achieve this every five minutes, they are effectively hurting everyone involved and destabilising the economy. Recently we saw Linden introduce "free homes to Premium members" which, while basic and really aimed at the newbies joining the grid, has effectively devalued any land or sims people have spent their hard earned money on. Why buy a plot of land for a home when you can get it for free? If you're a landholder, congrats, your plot is now worth much less than it was in January. If you're a homebuilder, congrats, why would someone buy your houses when they can get one for free? For someone that owns a sim or an estate of sims, right down to someone who runs a business selling houses, your hard work and effort is now worth a lot less. Anyone trying to run a rental business is pretty screwed now, too.
Linden also 'dumped' the mentor programme and mentors (a team of residents, like you, who offered their time for FREE to assist people with questions and generally help as needed). Linden is now in the process of dumping the gateway program completely too (so people in the know tell me), effectively saying "screw you" to residents and estate owners who invested their own time and money to set up. I fortunately don't own a gateway, however I do know three people who do, and know how much of their own personal time and money they invested setting it up so that newcomers to the grid could have a fantastic 'first five minute experience" (effectively doing Linden's work for them). This expensive effort is all now null and void; a waste of time and investment because Linden have changed their mind again.
I'm pretty disgusted about the current state of affairs regarding DMCA on the grid too. I don't blame Linden for copybots being created/used (by a very small number of bad eggs on a very large populous of accounts), Linden should be applauded for opening up the viewer code to public licence allowing others to tinker and improve the viewer with new features and speed. The fact a very small handful of people chose to tinker with the code to exploit permissions and allow a small handful of people to copybot the hard work of others is hardly Linden's fault. I am terribly concerned about the lack of support content creators seem to receive when they report to Linden that their work is stolen. Anyone fancy a grey-market turtle? How about a whole sim of builds? I read day after day about content creators complaining X or Y is being copied by someone and they are not getting any support from Linden. Who will be next? I've personally had some of my builds copied and ended up chasing the offender myself to resolve the issue, now things are getting even easier to copy and even harder to get effective action taken, I see creating content on this grid a total game of cat-and-mouse if you expect your items to remain your items. "Word on the street" tells me Linden will be locking out all viewers other than their own some time mid-year in an effort to stamp out copybots. This means no more fantastic features in Emerald, no more model bots in your fashion store and no more innovation or improvement to the viewer beyond what Linden chose to give us. Why stifle the creativity of many when you only need to chase after a handful of offenders? Why is it taking so long for something to be done about this issue when all that needs to be done is investigation/deletion/accounts locked? DMCA and copying goes far beyond a simple copybot/hacked client, too. I've seen cases where 'people' have copied by hand, builds by "Four Winds" (for example) that are prim-by-prim identical down to the nearest 0.01m and have simply thrown on a slightly different texture and called it an original. The shape, size, layout and overall design has been stolen (and badly textured) for resale. Again where's the DMCA love for the person who spent so much time creating the original?
I have now come to realise that running an estate or investing any kind of time or money on a Linden-run grid in it's current form is for chumps, so I'm leaving whilst I still can.
Let me be totally clear on what I am saying and sum up why Victoriana is closing:
* I currently have a LOT of REAL WORLD dollars invested on this grid
* I have no problem covering the tier for all 13 sims if need be, as this is (was) a labour of love project for me (I like to build). I have never had an agenda for a "full estate" and would rather have a half full sim of friendly, fun, community-minded residents than "just any avatar" here to fill in the gaps.
* A recent maintenance update broke my permissions in Victoriana, and Linden Labs did nothing to fix it after repeated requests, indicating this is not only an unfixable problem (or one they don't care about) but one that if it happens again I'm S.O.L
* Since the permissions "issue" a number of Victoriana residents have contacted me; unsure about the stability or continuity of the estate/the Linden grid, given Linden's lacklustre efforts to resolve things
* Over my time in SecondLife I've also lost a large quantity of inventory during grid-related issues or maintenance updates, effectively like 'throwing money into the furnace" as I've never been able to get any of it back.
* According to reports from others, I'm not alone with the inventory loss issue, and apparently not alone in the perms scenario either
* It is becoming impossible to conduct any form of business, or assist anyone here; ongoing communication problems, lag, L$ issues, grid issues
* Linden Labs is trying it's best to improve the grid experience for people, however in the process is devaluing any money or time anyone has put into the place already; making it a poor investment opportunity and an unstable future business prospect
* Ongoing grid issues, and an uncertain future about what rules of the game Linden are going to change 'next', make this grid an unstable environment for anyone to conduct a large-scale project such as Victoriana, expecting it to survive intact more than a few weeks
* Linden's apparent lack of interest in DMCA issues via copybot use means I can't trust that if I log in tomorrow my hard work won't be sold by someone else, and if it is, anything will be done to rectify the situation by Linden
* I have not made this decision lightly
* Nobody else (Other than Davey McDowwll) was aware I was making this decision until receiving this notice. Many people are aware I am unhappy with Linden Labs' lack of support and care for residents on the grid but this decision was mine and mine alone to make.
* This is not a 'poor me' issue. This is a "I have a concern that every time I log in I won't have inventory/an estate/a business/the ability to do anything as promised" issue
* This is also a "I have fears that my residents and storekeeps will be greatly affected by the above issues which are all out of my control and how the hell do I help them if so" issue

What does this mean for you?

* Everyone's rentbox has been locked
* Anyone with overdue rent will have their items returned asap and will be banned from the estate, this includes landholders. Just because you're overdue in rent doesn't mean Linden won't charge me tier for the sim, grow up and take responsibility for your decision to rent/live/work here (or anywhere on the grid)
* Everyone is asked to "collect their stuff" asap or else it will be returned to your lost+found folder
* SHOPKEEPS: As you empty your store, any remaining rent will be refunded
* RESIDENTIAL RENTERS: As you empty your home, any remaining rent will be refunded
* LAND OWNERS: Anyone who owns land "not" for sale, your rent will be refunded and your land "bought back" for half it's original value, this seems to be the current going rate these days in this shitty economy++
* There are over 400 individual rentboxes across the estate, I will endeavour to tend to everyone as soon as I can re:the above
++If the above sounds unfair, that's life. In the past when people have been ejected due to antisocial activities they were always refunded any remaining rent owing and paid full amount for their land value (contrary to what they told everyone) before being banned from the estate. Due to Linden's devaluing land through "Free Homes" and overall poor economy performance, the value of a plot of land is worth much less today, so "half it's original value" is more than fair. Welcome to the Linden grid.

Given Linden have closed all but the most basic of forum topics now (hiding something are we LL?) there's no decent place to list "sims for sale" any more. Victoriana was always planned as a COMMUNITY estate; when full sims in Victoriana _break even_ (ie I kept the prices low so more people could enjoy the place and I don't make a profit, like other estates) as this project was a labour of love for me. The tier I have collected over two years has helped ease the cost of this project but was never planned to fully cover it (let alone make a profit from it). Linden killed that dream. I've spent over US$30,000 on this project over the past two years. That's my own money; any tier I collected from people (when they did pay their rent) went towards the additional costs on top of that, so if you feel you're wasting your money put things in perspective. Buying out everyone and refunding any rent is going to cost even more, as I suspect the chance of any resale value of the 13 sims that make up Victoriana will be non-existent now Linden don't provide estate owners anywhere to advertise sims for sale.
I'd like to take this opportunity to thank the (sadly) small number of genuine people I've met over my time running Victoriana, that have contributed towards the estate in a positive way. Some residents have held events, submitted freebies or Victoriana-branded items for others to enjoy, acted as greeters tirelessly helping newcomers to the estate, or even just attended events and made them a fun and fond memory. A big thanks to all the residents who often sent me a quick IM or Notecard out of the blue saying "Hiya" for no reason other than to be friendly, it always made my day that someone would say hello and not expect something in return other than a cheery greeting. Thank you for your time, efforts and for generally helping to make Victoriana a fun place for me and everyone to visit.

Off to OpenSim I go...

Best wishes (Unless you work for Linden Labs),
LittleBlackDuck Lindsay
Mayor of Victoriana and Tinytoriana

The Battle of Edgehill

2010-03-23T16:24:00.000-07:00

Your humble narrator has on occasion pushed a Pike with fellow members of the English Civil War Society of America. For some reason, the lines below came to mind repeatedly recently, which led to some quiet audio experimentation. Pray forgive the head cold.

The Fight at Edgehill,
By Rudyard Kipling

Naked and gray the Cotswolds stand

Beneath the summer sun,

And the stubble fields on either hand

Where Sour and Avon run.

There is no change in the patient land

That has bred us every one.

She should have passed in cloud and fire

And saved us from this sin

Of war--red war--'twixt child and sire,

Household and kith and kin,

In the heart of a sleepy Midland shire,

With the harvest scarcely in.

But there is no change as we meet at last

On the brow-head or the plain,

And the raw astonished ranks stand fast

To slay or to be slain

By the men they knew in the kindly past

That shall never come again--

By the men they met at dance or chase,

In the tavern or the hall,

At the justice bench and the market place,

At the cudgel play or brawl--

Of their own blood and speech and race,

Comrades or neighbors all!

More bitter than death this day must prove

Whichever way it go,

For the brothers of the maids we love

Make ready to lay low

Their sisters' sweethearts, as we move

Against our dearest foe.

Thank Heaven! At last the trumpets peal

Before our strength gives way.

For King or for the Commonweal--

No matter which they say,

The first dry rattle of new-drawn steel

Changes the world today!

Sinister Remotely Piloted Vehicles for any Steampunk Setting.

2010-03-22T21:09:00.000-07:00

Today's Audio post will focus on the Remotely Piloted and Detonated Siege balloons used by the Austrian Artillery to break besiege the town of Venice during its ill-fated revolution in 1849.

Click to hear "Steampunk Remotely Piloted Vehicles"

My Last Duchess

2010-03-22T04:46:00.000-07:00

Inspired by Lady Eva's recent post experimenting with audio recording of poetry, YHN thought he would emulate her fine example with a personal favorite of his, "My Last Duchess" by Robert Browning. Enjoy, or at least, be kind.

Sails of Days Gone By

2010-03-19T08:55:00.001-07:00

Cigar Boats: Imagine my puzzlement..

2010-03-15T04:11:00.000-07:00

YHN awoke this morning to a tap on the door. Upon descending the tower to the bottom levels in steelhead harbor, opening the door revealed a note stuck in the doorjam.

"Solicitors" thought YHN.. "I shall remind myself to load the shotgun with rocksalt. If this is another advertisement flyer for gutter-cleaning, I shall be most upset..."

In the event, YHN did not toss it into the kindling pile immediately, for he thought he recognized the manila envelope Opening, he read:

"Good morning, Commodore! I'm afraid I've been playing hookey. I've not been doing anything I've been supposed to be doing. It's your fault you know; it was that public journal of yours that sidetracked me with this project. I can't promise you it will be an enjoyable ride, it will probably need a lot of tweaking for your avatar size, it might not probably even be big enough, and the esteemed gentlemen at Scientific America were right, it's NOT seaworthy. If you have desire for a short and glorious life, pray give it a test ride... Signed, NB"

YHN had a very good idea who that might be.

A stranging huffing noise of a partially enclosed steam engine revealed the subject of the enigmatic dispatch. NB had fielded a prototype of the Winans' Spindle Ship design! The prototype was large, but not ungainly. Her steering mechanism is interesting, to say the least.

Must dash a note of encouragement off to "NB", whom YHN suspects he knows, and continue sea trials in the harbor.

Abraham Lincoln, vampire hunter.

2010-03-10T05:14:00.000-08:00

By the same chap who brought us Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters, we encounter our venerated 16th president... KICKING VAMPIRE BUTT! YHN thinks he'll be picking up a copy.

Winans and the Spindle-Ships

2010-03-09T03:20:00.000-08:00

The prototype Winans Spindle Ship (aka Cigar Boat) in 1858!!!

Just through happenstance, YHN had the opportunity to stumble upon a website dedicated to the remarkable Ross Winans family, and his accomplishments as an inventor of steam powered, spindle hulled ships that would bear a remarkable resemblance to the Holland submarine hulls of a much later era.

Ross Winans (1796–1877) was an American inventor, mechanic, and builder of locomotives and railroad machinery. Winans was one of the richest men in America at the time of the Civil War. Winans was also involved politics and was a vehement states' rights advocate from Maryland who viewed Federal intervention in the conflict as tantamount to invasion. In the early part of the war, Winans was jailed as a result of his political activities but was later paroled upon giving his oath of loyalty to the federal government.

Aside from advancing the state of railroad technology during the 1840s, Winans also had a fixation with boats. These were the so-called Winans Cigar Ships built in Maryland from 1858 to the late 1860s. The first cigar hull was constructed in 1858 and featured an unprecedented (and unworkable, as it turned out) midship propeller, enclosed in a shroud. This propeller was driven by steam engines located in each hull section. This may seem odd, but the Winans' theory was that the hull would steam through the water with less interference from wind and waves. The design was roundly criticized in the pages of Scientific American thought the spindle nose would tend to bury itself rather than pierce the waves, causing excessive pitching. They considered the circular cross-section and absence of a keel would result in excessive rolling. In general they considered "what was novel about the design to be a detriment and what was not a detriment not to be novel".

The cigar boat was improved upon in later version but never succesfully given a sea trial.

While nothing much came of the Cigar Boats in America, Winans did manage to convince the Russian Empire that there was something in it. Some of the gunboats designs Winans created for the Tsar's Navy were so far ahead of their time they conjured up images of the very first (Holland style) submarines.

Alas, Winans was not aiming at a submersible, something his hull shape might have been ideally shaped for, and the odd centrally located propeller never really worked right, no matter how optimistically the ship was reported in the press. Thus history records another interesting nautical "might have been".

On a side note, the MCS Menkar (from Murakami Steamworks, in Second Life) bears a striking resemblance to a Winans Spindle Ship or "Cigar Boat". If you are interested, their home shop is in the process of moving to the imminent new sim in the Steeltopian Empire.

Second Life Groups, NINGs, Blogs, Lists, and etcetera.

2010-03-08T09:04:00.000-08:00

YHN has been contemplating how to effectively communicate with diverse people and groups within Second Life that engage in related activities, but don't do SPECIFICALLY the SAME activities in the SAME AREAS of Second Life every week. For instance: I am currently a member of several Second Life groups that are related to being involved in inworld combat activities, almost all of them nautical. Some of these are pirate groups. Some of these are ironclad groups. One of them is a land combat group. Some of them are related to a region, some of them are related to a combat system. Many of them have sporadic to very little activity. When an evening's battle entertainment is being planned, several steps have to take place:

1) The organizer usually types something up in notepad to cut and paste into chat windows. This includes the subject line of the message, combat system particulars, Scenario details (if applicable), a little blurb about what will transpire, and a starting and ending time and date.

2) This information is then cut and pasted into every one of YHN's several battle oriented groups, one by one, or sent to an administrator to make an announcement. The entire process can take 15 to 25 minutes (better spent getting people who are already present ready for battle). Then it is repeated (often).

3) After a battle concludes, writeups and pictures are usually put on individuals blogs and/or NING. There's nothing wrong with that, per se, but the wider community of enthusiasts often miss out on subjects of interest.

So what to do? YHN is pondering solutions that would draw in announcements from several SL groups, such as the Blakes Sea Battlers, the Sanctuary Sholes group, the Steelhead Naval faction, the Caledon Fleet, the New Babbage Fleet, The Fleet of Wrath Exiles, and now the "Steam Hussars", the group that is interested in running land battles using steampunk armor and the ICS combat system. Heck, maybe even some steampunk flyers might want to get involved.

The problem, as YHN sees it, is that when someone discovers or develops a group of like minded individuals interested in the same activities, the VERY FIRST THING THEY DO is start a new SL group supporting the notion. YHN is just as guilty of this-- when we started attempting combat with steam tanks recently, the very first thing he did was create a SL Group called "The Steam Hussars".. without really thinking it through. WHY do we need another group to support this activity? What are the functions that we need the group for?

That's the sort of question that CAN be answered quickly. We need groups to communicate inworld with people quickly. To post announcements. To send group notices and inventory items needed to pursue an activity. The Group FUNCTION is essential, but a vast collection of groups doing the same thing? Maybe not. What about this mailing list script.. thingie.. that I get library announcements from? Could that take over the functions of an inworld group.. or at least reduce groups doing the same thing all the time down to ONE group. For instance, I use "ICS Shot and Shell" for inworld gaming related to ICS activities. I can think of many alternative groups that essentially say the same thing-- my own Steam Hussars among them. If we maintained a mailing list gadget (like the library sends out) and ONE group for inworld chatter, I could do away with at least two other groups.

That is not to say that groups shouldn't exist for their own inworld identity and bragging rights; that's a large reason anyone gets involved in activities, the sense of identity. But could group identities be transferred from being IN-world to an external portal, where they could all exist in one... website for instance? YHN rather likes the notion of a NING in this regard, which can maintain man sub-groups with their own message boards, calendars and graphics. YHN considers the integration of GOOGLE CALENDAR to be essential for planning and scheduling activities.. the calendar embeds other calendars nicely and present a coordinated and combined approach to event announcements. I only wish there was a way to port elements of a NING or a GOOGLE CALENDAR into Second Life so that an event announcement on Google could filter to an inworld mailing list gadget. Sigh... one can hope and dream, and experiment.. some day.

So, what's the point of this ramble? YHN might be thinking aloud here-- aiming at a combined NING-GOOGLE-Inworld Mailing list thingie to consolidate and combine many ICS and SPD combat activities within Second Life. It's just a thought now, and YHN is discussing this subject with Angusgraham Ceawlin and others, to see what the best approach is from a technological, efficiency and ego-less perspective. We'll see what transpires.

Connestoga receives a baptism of fire

2010-03-05T03:54:00.000-08:00

A new hull by AngusGraham Ceawlin

The USS Conestoga was one of the first three civilian sidewheelers to be fitted out for riverine warfare during the crucial campaign to seize control of the Western waterways. The Conestoga, along with her sister ships Lexington and Tyler, gave long and honorable service to the Union Navy, supporting the earliest advances of Union General Grant at Forts Henry and Donaldson with direct fire support for attacks, and later covered the Union riverside flank at the critical battle of Columbus, Kentucky. The Conestoga saw action from the very beginning of the war almost to the very end.

Mr. AngusGraham Ceawlin has created the Second Life version of the Conestoga. It's the behemoth in the top left of the photograph below.

USS Conestoga, ZCS Brawler, USS Monitor

YHN enjoys historical hulls more than any other type of ship involved in Ironclad combat, being a RL Naval history enthusiast. The Conestoga wasn't an ironclad at all, actually. She was a "timberclad", a type of ship that used heavy reinforced timber planks instead of armor for protection. Timberclads proved to be surprisingly cost effective as a hull type; The timber planking was often 3 or 4 inches thick-- allowing the timberclads to stand offshore and provide a fire support platform while remaining relatively impervious to small arms fire.

I like Angus' ship designs. He pays attention to the real heroes of the American Civil War naval struggle-- ordinary riverboats and paddleboats converted for war use by both sides. Converted Sidewheelers and paddlewheel types were by far the most common ship on the water during the war. Conestoga came out for a test run last night, and like her real life counterpart, remained relatively impervious to enemy fire, but not to rams. We all enjoyed a stimulating clash of cordite and steel.

And later, other diversions offered themselves.

The New Champagne Rooms

Out, Damned Spot!

Enough moping....

2010-03-02T06:09:00.001-08:00

YHN discovered a new version of OK GO's "This Too Shall Pass" this morning. This is a version with a strange endless loop of Rube Goldberg devices that take up an entire warehouse. I love Rube Golderg sequences. So instead of moping about the downfall of Caledonian civilization, YHN presents:

THIS TOO SHALL PASS

I still think I like the Marching Band version better, but this made me smile today!

Downhill Fever

2010-03-01T03:23:00.000-08:00

Aside from looking pretty, the new Mount St. Helens build in Steelhead has a practical value.

The Malted Bunneh

2010-02-27T09:03:00.000-08:00

Now THIS is storytelling..

Hilarious!

New Splodey Effects in ICS

2010-02-22T08:14:00.000-08:00

This is essentially a repost of Justinian's from the Murakami blog, in hopes of it going out to a wider audience.

ICS 3.1 is now a reality, and UCS?, the urban combat system associated with and compatible with ICS, will soon be distributed to various ICS developers. What is in 3.1 that makes it worthy of note? Lots of things-- including "drowning", better visual and particle effects. The brand new "Splodey ball" which will show you exactly where your explosive round has landed will be part of a special "Special Effects" pack that Justinian and MrB. will develop as a freebie add-on to 3.1. That's pretty great, actually. In an ironclad combat situation, vision is often limited and one's concentration is fixed on the opposing ship. It's hard to tell where shots land. The "splash effect" for misses that was recently added to 3.0 helps stupendously in that respect, and the new Splodey Ball will make battles more lifelike and fun.

In Justinian's words:

Explosives in ICS battles have always been a bit of mixed bag. While they generally are pretty effective at destroying whatever they hit, it's very hard to tell if they hit anything at all unless you see something get damaged. The blast radius was always invisible, with no real way to tell what was caught in it. Well not anymore....

Explosive animation "ball" effect

That is a 15x15x15 blast prim effect that will be rezzed along with the explosive prim that goes off. The result is a clear indicator of the blast radius! Another nice part is it has glow and lighting enabled, making it easy to see from a distance. This is similar to the water splash effect that was added to the cannonballs when they hit the water, the point being to add better indicators to rounds so fighters can get more tactical information on the battlefield. Expect to see all explosives in our next update look like this. Also all of the cannonball rounds that did not have splash effects will have them as well.(I think the only ones that don't have splash effects are the coastal artillery)

Lupercalia et Romana

2010-02-21T20:59:00.000-08:00

But first, a little historical diversion.

The Lupercalia proper began on the 15th of February with animal sacrifice and ritual flagellation. After slaughtering a goat and dog in the sacred grotto of the she-wolf who suckled the legendary founders of Rome, the young men would run through the streets whipping women and crops with the flayed hide of the goat to promote fertility. Archaeological evidence suggests that the Lupercalia, far from being restricted to Rome, was practised in other cities in Italy and Gaul.

Dating from remotest antiquity, the Lupercalia was celebrated until as late as the reign of Anastasius I in 491-518 CE. It was towards the end of the 5th century in 498 CE that Pope Galesius decided to dedicate the Eve of Lupercalia to the long-dead priest. The lottery system was banned as being un-Christian and the Pope did his best to make people forget about other un-Christian ideas such as fertility.

-- Dr Leo Ruickbie, St Valentine's Day and its Origins in Lupercalia

Roma celebrated the Lupercalia festival over the weekend-- Lupercalia, as the citation above tells us, is an ancient pagan festival from Rome's pre-history, dating back (possibly) to the Etruscans. The Lupercalia is a fertility festival that featured naked youths running about the city striking matrons on the hands with furry thongs, as well as a stylized Wolf Hunt. Roma, the preeminent Roman history simulation within Second Life, held a weekend's worth of Lupercalia activities. YHN's dignity and sense of modesty ruled out the running through the streets naked element of the proceedings, but he did venture forth into the great wolf chase, all over the territories surrounding Roma. This was a very well organized and executed event, and quite competitive. YHN did corner a wolf in the highest snowy reaches of the highest mountain in Roma's territory, but fumbled the "catch" and thus his furry friend bounded away unfettered.

Click picture to view as slideshow

Sky Jousting at Caer Firnas

2010-02-21T11:19:00.000-08:00

Back in the dim mists of time, the Williams Manufacturing Company, via its arcade and pinball subsidiary Midway Entertainment, released an arcade game called JOUST. The graphics were crude by the judgment of modern times; the game play, however, was excellent-- players competed by flying in two dimensions over a cavernous pit filled with lava. Players assume the role of "Jousters" flying ostriches or storks, trying to kill enemy death knights that were flying similar mounts. Three decades after the introduction of JOUST, the genius minds of the folks at Abraminations has recreated this experience in three dimensions by bringing the video game to "life" in Second Life as SKY JOUST. Game play is very similar to the old two dimension arcade game, only movement is in three dimensions and players do not face autonomously programmed death knights; they compete against each other instead. Astute long-term readers may recognize this pastime from a posting two years ago.

YHN competed in Caer Firnas' SKY JOUST event last night as part of the ongoing Caledon games being organized to raise money for the operation of the Cavorite Mines. YHN participated in Rounds 1, where he emerged as leader (not through any cunning strategy, just a berserker approach towards constant attack). Round 2 produced Mr. Goode in the lead with one kill, and Round 3 was the final-- by this time, all participants had learned a few tricks and were hugging the stalagtites for cover. A much harder round by half. YHN regrets to admit he was unhorsed twice in Round 3's brutal melee, such is the way of life. Mr. Goode emerged the victor, Ms. Silver for Second Place, and YHN for third. YHN enjoyed himself tremendously and would do it again if this entertainment was being offered again. A cheerful congratulations to the impressively mustachioed Mr. Goode and the demure Ms. Silver, deadly lances, the both of them!

To see the larger images, click HERE and select GALLERY VIEW.

Virtual Worlds: YHN tries out Allods Online

2010-02-19T08:02:00.001-08:00

Every once in a while your humble narrator espies an opportunity to visit an entire other plane of existence, and executes a brisk recce into that world to see if it will be his cup of tea, as in recent sojourns to BLUE MARS and an earlier visit to the spaces around EVE ONLINE. So it was with ALLODS ONLINE, a new, free 'massively multiplayer game' that recently came to his attention. Allods, run by a company called 'gPotato' of all things, is a game set in an odd mixed steampunk and fantasy universe that describes itself as "Space Opera", but that is perhaps a stretch. It is more like Star Wars than Foundation, if you understand the reference. YHN didn't think of it as being remotely a traditional SF setting. Before YHN continues, the reader should be aware that this is NOT the open universe he or she is used to with Second Life. There is a firm backstory and setting, and the player has no tools to alter this. This is not a world to create in, it is a world to play in. There are several player races-- many traditional fantasy types, a couple of cutesy, anime style critters, and basic humans. For his participation in the "Open Beta", YHN selected the equivalent of a regular plain jane human being he has dubbed "Benbow".

The results were mixed, but overall, quite pleasantly surprising. For starters, this game has the look and feel of WORLD OF WARCRAFT-- it appears to be structured that way on purpose, although it is hard to tell, YHN has not ventured far into this new plane. The graphics were fast and efficient, and quite workmanlike. From what YHN has seen of WOW, maybe even an improvement. YHN found the interface a bit difficult to pick up at first, but managed to hobble around after some frustrations and trial and error. There is a tutorial that runs in the game, but YHN found it to be of limited value (far too terse). Still, this is not Aether Science; YHN eventually found out what he needed to find out.

Here are some screen shots (click to enlarge and see more detail):

"Benbow", YHN's character on Allods Online.

Benbow having a pleasant chat with an onlooker.

Overall, YHN enjoys his first impressions. The client is quite large and slow to download, the interface needs some tweaking, and perhaps some more explanatory help would be useful. With all that said, Allods is a fun little extraplanar experience. If the casual reader does not value creation and the chasing of the almighty linden too highly, Allods may be a nice alternative. If the casual reader desires the ability to make things overall, than Allods will never be your main diversion-- it is too locked in to the interface and story choices. So, in the final analysis, a simple "if one likes this sort of thing, one will like this sort of thing" will do splendidly for a one-line review of Allods.

The Adventures of the Steam Hussars!

2010-02-19T06:29:00.000-08:00

FORWARD THE STEAM HUSSARS

Last night, after the community IRON MELEE was concluded (5 battles, despite the lag!), Mr. AngusGraham Ceawlin and your humble narrator discussed the notion of land battles. We have experimented with these before, as landing battles, at Roatan. Miss Kandace Commons has released the first prototype of UCS, the ICS compliant land combat system, and it will be featured in the battles in the weeks ahead. YHN was lamenting to Angus about the lack of suitable land battle space, saying he had been pestering the Lindens to make a desert style "Open" battlefield similar to the Blakes Sea contested area, but on land. "No need", quoth he. "Follow me". YHN trotted after him to the edge of the sea. Faster than Moses parting the Red Sea, the water level shrank to nothing. Suddenly the ocean bottoms were transformed into vistas of a cragged and rocky landscape, the islands into giant hills or low mountains. Here was the battlefield YHN desired!

We each pulled out various steampunk and historically inspired vehicles, many of them ICS compliant. Instantly dubbing ourselves the Steam Hussars, we entered into a pitched battle. The results were astonishingly fun! The Lady Sharrah Bredel is now working on putting a trench system on the ocean floor at Sanctuary so we can occasionally hold a land battle there. YHN has been looking for this kind of event in SL since 2006. It is exciting that it may soon come to fruition.

An irreverent view of the proceedings. Click to enlarge and see details.

We are all quite excited about the potential for a true, refereed, non-griefing and gentlemanly land battle using ICS style vehicles. See hotspur otoole in world if you wish to participate with the Steam Hussars.

In anticipation of future land combats, YHN has created a group called "The Steam Hussars". Apply within SL if you are interested.

Regular Ironclad Battle Information in Second Life

2010-02-17T07:36:00.000-08:00

VIRTUAL CORDITE AND STEEL

Regular battles using the ICS Combat system are held in many locations in Second Life. The original, and I dare say best known, might be THE IRON MELEE, which started in Roatan on the edge of the Blakes Sea about a year ago.

THE IRON MELEE continues to thrive, but has transitioned from one location (Roatan) to several, in order to spread the gospel of 19th century naval combat around Second Life. I (me, Hotspur O'Toole) can be contacted for the current location at any given week, just IM "hotspur otoole" in world.

At the moment, we are holding events on Thursday evenings as per usual at the usual time of 730 PM SLT, but the hosting is split up between myself, Justinian Huszar, AngusGraham Ceawlin and Sharrah Bredel. Our current battle launch locations are:

Sanctuary Rock at Blake's Shore (for naval battles) Sanctuary Rock takes advantage of the Blake Sea Contested Waters (BSCW) battle circle which includes events which will take place in the four Linden Lab owned Contested Water sims (Blake Sea: Kendra, Thunderer, Cannonade, and Beaufort)and the privately owned sims: Blake Coast, Blake Shore, and Blake Cove, Roatan, ZATZAi and Artificial Ilse. See a map, HERE. For more information, view the Blake Sea Contested Waters blog, run by Nber Medici

Port Merrimac at Roatan (for land and naval battles). This is part of the Blake Sea Contested Waters Battle Circle

Sanctuary Shoals Pier (for naval battles, SLURL Forthcoming)

in addition, Steeltopia hosts BATTLESTORM SATURDAYS at Obsidian Pier, Port Tiburon in Steeltopia. Battles are roughly the same format as Iron Melee Thursdays, on Saturday Nights. Contact Steelcobra Calamari in world for details. (Slurl forthcoming)

If you have a relatively lag free location with a lot of water in it and a desire to play naval combat games in world, please contact either myself (Hotspur Otoole) or AngusGraham Ceawlin in world, and we'll try out your location in the rotation.

Keep your powder dry!

Hotspur

Farewell, Dame Ordinal Malaprop

2010-02-16T11:25:00.000-08:00

Perhaps it's a sign of how blase I have become with Second Life of late that I am so late to the party on the subject of Ordinal Malaprop leaving Second Life, seemingly forever. I haven't visited a neighboring SL-focused journal in well over six months, so I did not know. I am profoundly distressed at her departure. Dame Ordinal and I were never close colleagues or friends in a conventional sense, yet I have always found her to be a decent, caring and an outstanding contributor to that whimsical, unvoiced element that made Second Life a better place, at least, "back in the day" as we veterans can call it. Her sense of acid wit, so cunningly displayed on her journal An Engine Fit for My Proceeding, was an early attractor for your humble narrator to participate in the genteel society of Virtual Steampunkery that was Caledon in those days. I remember a time when there were only a few SL Steampunk related blogs (or SL blogs at all), and Ordinal's was preeminent among them. I'll miss her writing, even about the stuff that distressed her. I'll miss her clever gadgets, of which I may boast I have one of all of them, or at least I think I do. Ordinal was a virtual celebrity that enjoyed the foolishness that can be Second Life (and certainly the in world communities we both belonged to) on her own specific terms. She clearly was involved in inworld activities for the joy she garnered from building and making things, and helping other unfortunates (including your humble narrator, more than once).

When the joy dried up, she didn't want to play any more. It happens. I have seen some luminaries depart that seem irreplaceable in context-- their absence leaves a void that seems impossible to fill. Arcadia Asylum and Alley Arai were among these. Ordinal is another.

Thank you, Ordinal, for all of the silly gadgets and the great writing over the years. Should you decide your self imposed exile isn't permanent, I will be first in line to welcome you back home.

A Proposal to Linden Labs: Desert Combat Space Similar to the Blakes Sea

2010-02-16T09:06:00.000-08:00

Let us make a landing!

The ICS combat system "Goblin" tank vehicle, capable of combat with other ICS vehicles

Dear Linden Labs:

Hello there, I'm Hotspur. I've been a customer since 2006. My primary activity in world is simulated nautical combat using simulated ships crafted to achieve either a historical or semi-historical appearance. There are many communities that engage in this activity, some with wooden ships style vehicles (using a combat system called SPD or TCS?) and some with more modern ships that emulate a more steampunky, late 19th century historical style (using a combat system called ICS). The details vary but essentially either combat system rezzes a projectile, heaves it at another nautical vehicle, which senses the projectile and calculates how much damage it may do, then decrements that number from the ship's damage point total until it reaches zero and goes BOOM (sinking).

Combat systems such as SPD and ICS are natural candidates for a fracas on land. Elements of SPD and ICS already are in use on land (melee weapons and cannons for SPD, cannons and the tank you see above for ICS). The principles that work on water work just as well on land, although they are more challenging as a land system must negotiate new challenges such as terrain fluctuations, line of sight and range.

Groups such as the Pirate communities, the Duchy of Brunswick, and the Fleet of Wrath Exiles (which I have the honor to lead) have experimented with land combat in small doses, as "landing party battles". These have been great fun-- we all use a common combat system, agree to a set of rules in advance,and usually have someone referee the combat.

Recently, through the tireless efforts of Mr. MarkTwain White and Ms. Nber Medici, a large area of the Blakes Sea opened up for regular sea battles for both our sailing and ironclad communities. I am happy to report that the "Contested Area" of the Blakes Sea hosts regular pirate and ironclad battles, held in a sportsmanlike fashion, with an eye for the rules of the road that are clearly posted before battle is engaged. Similar events also occur in Sanctuary Seas under the auspices of Mr. AngusGraham Ceawlin and Ms. Sharrah Brendel. We appreciate your concession of the area for a combat community and we will work hard to earn the trust you have shown in our communities.

With that said.. allow me to put a bug in your ear for a future project. Many of us like the "landing party battles" and would like to resume having them soon. However, the pace of change with combat systems in world promises that larger scale and scope battles may very well be possible. Land battles, with armor support and infantry actions. Snipers hiding under cover. Air assets dropping bombs that can attack ground positions. Artillery firing in support of an attack or defending a position. The technology is already in place... but we don't have anywhere to use it. So I'm proposing that Linden Labs considers the creation of a largish land mass, roughly 4 or 5 sims large, in primarily desert terrain with many natural terrain features to hide behind-- hills, scrub, wadis, rock formations. This terrain mass would have a name, and could be administered by groups using a shared battle calendar (not unlike the arrangement you have created with the Blakes Contested Areas). Combat systems and a Code of Conduct would be authorized and enforced.

Many SL citizens are not interested in combat simulation sports in world and consider it tantamount to griefing. However, there are also many communities that can agree upon a code of behavior and stick to it (as has been demonstrated by our historical RP nautical communities). I encourage you to look behind the misconceptions and consider putting in a neutral combat space, preferably next to the Blake Sea.

Your Humble Servant,

Hotspur O'Toole
Steelhead City, Second Life

The Art of Whimsy: Steampunk Artists

2010-02-16T07:44:00.000-08:00

Beware: this is a Flash-Enabled Slideshow application. Give it time to load. For a less dynamic, MUCH LARGER display, I strongly recommend visiting the non-dynamic slideshow at THIS LINK. Once there, select GALLERY VIEW for best results.

Iron Melee at Sanctuary Shores: The Cerebus versus the Battle Barge

2010-01-29T14:00:00.000-08:00

CPT Huszar (Gunner: Murakami) versus CPT Ceawlin on the Battle Barge. An epic contest between volume of shot and precision gunnery.

A Short Memoir of a Desperate Fugitive: On the Lam from Caledon Catgirls

2010-01-14T06:09:00.000-08:00

Perhaps a few pictures are worth the usual plethora of words.

The Fourth Annual Snowflake Ball

2010-01-10T07:39:00.000-08:00

Snowflake Ball 2010

(dispensing with "YHN" voice and my general prohibition about reporting on YADEs for this post)

This is an event that has special meaning to your correspondent. Four years ago, give or take a week, I arrived at a newish Victorian themed sim community named Caledon (it had been around for less than a year, but was growing fast at (I think) 8 sims at that point). The event was "The SnowFlake Winter Ball" and it was held by a "Duchess" Shenlei Flasheart, at a sim are called Loch Avie.

Frequency, Hotspur, and Frequency's Hairdo go for a Spin (Courtesy FP)

Two Commodores 01 (courtesy J. Dagger)

Two Commodores 02 (courtesy J. Dagger)

I showed up with a pack of SL hobos and reprobates in tow. They misbehaved, according to that lady's strict standards, and were soon ejected. I left with them, but came back later. That night, I met individuals like Miss Virrginia Tombola (although we didn't say much at the time), Miss Gabriele Riel (already another one of these "Duchesses") Miss Eva Bellambi (at the time, a member of the Caledon Royal Society and a distiller) and Miss Kate Nicholas (also a member of the society).

Lady Bellambi greets guests

Mr. Exrex Somme I already knew, but i had the pleasure of meeting his wife Callypigian and the aforementioned Shenlei at the event. Everyone was speaking in a polite semi-Victorian argot that I appreciated (amateur historian that I am), and played along with-- a subdued performance, but the crowd accepted it.

Citizens old and new from all over the Steamlands attended.

Since then, I have made a point of attending the Snowflake-- at Loch Avie, at Port Caledon, and now at Isle of Skye. The event represents the start of my transformation from being an observer (and an anarchistic one at that) to being a participant in themed communities in Virtual Worlds.

Although I crashed twice, I only looked upon that as a sign of social success.

Many things have transpired in the four years since then, good, bad and indifferent. I have enjoyed my time in Caledon, Steelhead, Babbage, and Port Merrimac. I look upon the Snowflake Ball as the Anniversary of me becoming a Second Life Steampunk.

Miss Eleanor Anderton captured the event far more conclusively and with greater quality than my humble efforts can attest to. Here is a slideshow of her photographic efforts:

Thank you, Lady Bellambi, for being an excellent hostess and party planner. Thank you, Mr. Icarus Ghost, for your excellent play list and DJ skill. I sincerely had a wonderful time and I hope to be at Snowflake Ball number five. If we are fortunate denizens, the both of you will be involved in throwing that party. :-D

Snowflake 2009

Snowflake 2008

Fallen London, a game by "Echo Bazaar"

2010-01-07T04:42:00.001-08:00

THN steals a moment away from observing the latest Plurk drama queen in action to recommend heartily a new little diversion firmly ensconced within social media channels. If you have a "Twitter" account, FALLEN LONDON might tickle your steampunk sensibilities. It is the project of a company or individual named "Echo Bazaar" on Twitter. The game is entirely browser based, and integrates very well with Twitter.

A player assumes the role of a recent arrival to the town of London, trying to make his or her way in the world. The action is entirely browser based-- a player is given 10 event cards a day which are used to wander about London, look for work, get into trouble with the police, and maybe get involved in an endeavor like a quest.

The artwork is colorful and somewhat iconic. The color text is amazingly well done-- truly the work of someone who appreciates the Steampunk subgenre and is capable of stringing a few period-flavored sentences together.

The plots have been somewhat linear so far. YHN greatly enjoys this site and recommends it to anyone.

ECHO BAZAAR

A historical campaign in a theoretically lag-free Second Life

2010-01-05T06:26:00.000-08:00

If lag was not an issue, which battle or campaign in the 19th century would you like to recreate in SL?

A very good question. Given that I'm a fan of American Civil War naval history, my first choice would be the extremely colorful Red River Campaign of 1864. By any measurement, this was a Union fiasco. The Union's leader, Nathaniel Banks, was a political general with good intentions, strong pro-Union sentiments, but little strategic skill. His opponent was Dick Taylor, the Confederate general and son of a former President of the United States. The campaign was the brainchild of the General Henry "Old Brains" Halleck. His intentions were threefold: To destroy the Confederate Army commanded by Taylor, To capture Shreveport, Louisiana, Confederate headquarters for the Trans-Mississippi Department, control the Red River to the north, and occupy east Texas. Lastly, to confiscate as much as a hundred thousand bales of cotton from the plantations along the Red River. The Union offensive failed in each of these. As I am an avowed supporter of the Union, this selection may come as a suprise. Yet, the campaign itself was a doozy, involving several ironclads and gunboats on both sides, troop landings, strife amongst the Confederate generals, and a swirling melee of seven chaotic, confused and lethal battles. If the lag permitted it, I'd love to conduct a river campaign based upon Red River, bad union record and all. Shore bombardments! Marine Landings! Log booms across the Red River! Confederate Indian Cavalry units! The Red River had it all.

Ask me anything

Big Wastes of Time in Second Life

2009-12-31T14:46:00.001-08:00

Question: Is there anything you set out to do in SL that you later tought (sic) of as a huge waste of time?

Yes, I once tried to create a giant, almost hour long machinima that would tell the story of a war between (then existent) Duchy of NewAltenburg and the Independent Nation of Caledon. The story was quite complex for a Second Life machinima-- involving a storyboard, multiple characters, several actions scenes, and many people in crowd scenes. It was a doozy of a plot, with a genuinely funny ending-- a take off of the old "coke drinkers singing on a hill" commercial. Alas, it was too much for me to commit to by myself. Aside from a core group of workers, enthusiasm for the project waned quickly among the the participants and gradually I dropped the idea. I learned that small projects that can be accomplished with one to three filming sessions are the way to go, but large, complicated ones inflict too much pain and suffering to be practical. Your mileage may vary, of course, but that was my experience.

Ask me anything

Ask Hotspur Anything!

2009-12-31T10:42:00.001-08:00

(out of voice meta-post) There will be an occasional post that is posted in the form of a question that I must answer. This is a result of a new social media service called formspring.me (remember the ".me", it is not formspring.com) which is making the rounds right now on Plurk and Twitter. I like this notion, and have set up an account on formspring. If you have a SL related question (really, ANY question), you can ask it on formspring and then odds are the answer may post here and/or Twitter. Alternatively, you can enter a question in the "Ask me a question" box called "For the Casual Reader" on the top right of the sidebar of this blog. It depends. Stupid or insulting questions will likely be ignored.

Here's the first one:

What would you like to see more of in SL that you feel is missing?

Simple collaborative and blogging tool interfaces-- such as Googlewave and Google Calendars. As part of the Client. Let's face it; SL is touted to be a big social media tool but it's really standalone. The hooks to other media channels aren't right there in the client. They should be; it's not that hard to conceive of. Imagine being able to take pictures of an event and instead of downloading them to post on Flickr and Blogger.com, you just pushed a button that made it happen? Imagine if Events synched with Outlook and Google Calendars? Imagine if IM Channels could synch with Google Waves? I don't consider these things to be that hard, from a technical perspective. And they would add immeasurably to the SL experience-- from the user perspective AND from Linden Labs perspective.

Ask me anything

Hotspur on Mars

2009-12-30T15:12:00.000-08:00

BLUE Mars, that is.

Dropping the typical "voice" for this post.

Probably the least kept secret in the Independent Nation of Caledon and various other steampunk locales is the vast number of Virtual Victorians that have been recruited to work on the Blue Mars Project. You'll find out in due course, I'm certain.

I've been only marginally involved from the outset-- not from choice, but because of several upheavals that hit me during the course of 2009.. I didn't have the time or inclination to jump into ANOTHER life consuming project. There were far to many Real Life matters (many of them, not very good ones) consuming my spare time. So it goes.

I have been keeping tabs on the development of the alternative world of "Caledonia" and various other locations in Blue Mars. This is an intriguing development. Yet another hangout for virtual steampunk life. My impressions are that it needs a human touch yet, and that's what the virtual steampunk community has been recruited (heavily!) to do.

It's still too youthful and I couldn't figure out freckles or glasses, but that's pretty close!

I intend to support Blue Mars with such talents as I can bring to the table, as things progress. There will be a Fleet office of the Wrath Exiles within Blue Mars, and some day, the demigods of IT willing Ironclad battles.

Right now it's pretty much early days. Expect to see material on Blue Mars as my involvement increases.

Note the peculiar font face?

There's lots to do yet, Ports to build, Uniforms to tailor, social structures to create out of whole cloth. I think I can get excited about this prospect. It should be an interesting 2010!

Note Bene, I go by the same in world name there as I do in Second Life.

Armada Scoundrel's Parley

2009-12-30T14:19:00.000-08:00

The good folk of Armada, with whom the Fleet of Wrath Exiles has scrapped in the past, have a Steam Pirate festival coming up, called the Scoundrel's Parley. This is in celebration and recognition of the "Scoundrel Fleet" that has popped up over in Armada lately, I suppose. In any event, it would appear to be quite the event!

ARMADA SCOUNDREL'S PARLEY

Armada is proud to host the first steam pirate fest, January 26th to February 1st, 2010!
The event is open to steampunk and pirate-themed sims as well as individual participants.Bring yourself or your crew and prepare yourself for for battle, building, and buccaneering!

Battles, competitions, and perfomances will be held throughout the week. Details on specific events and the schedule to come soon. If you are interested in any of our events, either drop a notecard in the mailbox attached to the poster at our landpoint, or send it to Roswenthe Aluveaux. The event is open to steampunk and pirate-themed sims, as well as individuals interested in participating.

---- Battle Events ----

1v1 Ironclad TourneyBattle it out with ironclads in a tourney event! Times for all tourneys will be open for all time zones, and signups on a first-come, first-served basis. If you are interested, drop a notecard to Roswenthe Aluveaux or Captain Static.

Airship TourneyFinally, the airships get a turn to fire in our airship tourney event! Take to the air as steampunk airships fight to be the last ship standing.
Sail-powered tourneyWhat pirate parley would be complete without a sail-powered ship tourney? Traditional pirate ships battle it out for the best sail on the seven seas!

---- Performances and Gatherings ----

Armada Anniversary BallCelebrate Armada's first anniversary on Tuesday, the 26th of January, at 7pm, with a celebration DJed by Armada's owner, Remington Thursday!
The Scoundrel's Ball Come decked on Sunday, January 31st at 1pm in all your pirate gear for a pirate ball and costume contest to steampunk and pirate themed music, DJed by Roswenthe Aluveaux.

Performances by:* Phantasmagoria Circus* artemesia - gothic bellydance troupe* Belly Up - Mer dance troupe..and others!

---- Build events ----

Steamy Shipbuilding Contest In an effort to see more steampunk-themed ships on the market, this contest is aimed at waterborne ships such as ironclads, to be decked out in steamy themes. Entrants will be judged via a rubric on overall theme, originality, and economical use of sim resources. All entries must be your own design and build.

Theoretical Machine Build Contest Build anything you can imagine in our contest to design what might be possible in the world of steampunk. There are no limits, and items with a fantasy or science fiction bent are allowed. Entrants will be judged via a rubric on originality, design, and economical use of sim resources. All entries must be your own design and build.

---- Other Contests ----

Swordfighting contests

Shooting contest

Costume contests

Pirate filk contest

Mudfighting

Wrath Fleet plans on entering at least some of these, heartily endorses this competition, and hopes to see you there!

Sherlock Holmes at the Kinescope

2009-12-28T10:01:00.000-08:00

The Game's Afoot, Watson!

Your humble narrator had the opportunity to view the new Sherlock Holmes adventure story over the Christmas holidays. YHN can report that he is very favorably impressed by this adaption of the famous occupant of 221-B Baker Street.

First of all, the story, which shan't be revealed in any great detail here, lest my words spoil enjoyment for any eyes perusing this missive. The plot revolves around a villain (of course) who has grand, evil plans (of course) that vaguely employ either magick, or technology, or perhaps both. The script was very cagey about magick in this setting-- it appeared to exist, at least until the denouement. There's a grand mystic brotherhood (of course) who are the secret hand at the tiller of the Empire (God Save the Queen!). All of these elements are familiar to fans of penny dreadfuls and readers of adventure stories such as the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen or even (it must be said) Girl Genius! Yet, the visuals, in the hands of the director, Mr. Guy Ritchie, are so startling and wonderful to behold one does not for a second get a sense of hackneyed or trite storylines. Indeed, one almost seemed transported back to London of the 1880s or so, the attention to detail-- both in the close up objects such as props and clothing and the far off objects like the matte painting and animation provided by ordination devices. Bravo, to Mr. Ritchie's art director and his staff!

Secondly, and best of all, are the performances. Mr. Robert Downey portrays Sherlock Holmes as a world weary, cynical, slightly deranged genius. This is not far off from Doyle's original perception of him-- but Downey carries the sense of dissipation far beyond Doyle's original. Here we have a nervous, disturbed Sherlock who is almost a manic depressive-- a genius, but with no challenges in life. He is bored (at the commencement of the plot in any event) and fretful-- think "Seven Per Cent Solution" Holmes here. Many strident voices were raised about the high level of activity being presented by the kinescopic promotional bits showed here and there. I did not find this off-putting in the least. Doyle's original Sherlock was a man of Deduction, yes.. but also a man of supreme Action, as is hinted at time and time again in all of the canon stories. Mr. Jude Law, as Watson, is also not the jowly, stodgy and thoroughly stupid Doctor Watson as he has been portrayed in the past. In this Watson, we see a man who cares for his friend and yet refuses to be his constant foil. Law brought a sense of personality to Watson that has long been absent in kinescopic efforts of the past. In the books, Watson's function seems to be to stand around and say "By Jove, you're right, Holmes!" and "How the devil did you deduce THAT, Holmes" and always "I have my trusty revolver handy, Holmes"... not this Watson. He is portrayed as being more his own man and less a sounding board for Holmes. The kinescope is set in the time period just prior to Watson moving from Baker street to move in with his wife, and that decision plays into the plot repeatedly.

The rest of the cast is quite impressive-- many of them staples of current British cinema and some of them veterans of Mr. Ritchie's previous efforts. Perhaps the least impressive was the big villain himself. YHN observed that the plot seemed to develop without him until the very end-- we get a glimpse of him here and there and then he shows up at the very end for a prolonged sequence. As we do not get a chance to see into his mind very much, he is nothing more than a stock character, really. Just as well, the movie hints of a far more serious enemy waiting in the wings (the one of whom we all know, whose name begins with an "M"). Perhaps a future engagement for Mr. Holmes? We can only hope. In the meantime, Sherlock Holmes is a must see for Steampunk fans everywhere. Don't miss it!

Now that was a Rez Day Party!

2009-12-27T06:33:00.000-08:00

December 26, 2006, YHN (in RL) was down with a fever and camped out on the couch in the study downstairs, trying not to make the members of his household sick. He had NPR on, where Mr. Cory Doctrow was being interviewed on NPR. Mr. Doctrow was going on about the wonders of this brave new virtual medium, Second Life. Then he said the words that changed everything for YHN: "It's free by the way..." Being bored out of his wits, YHN decided to give it a try. The rest, as they say, is history of sorts.

Last night, at Lady Bellambi's High on the Skye platform we celebrated the third anniversary of that event. How long ago it seems now! How many virtual miles have I trod since that evening! And yet, here we all are.. years later. We packed the plat with friends and friends of friends and friendly acquaintances and dire enemies and we all managed to have a great time anyway!

The Theme was "Santas and Shotguns"
Dress was casual, with an emphasis on post-Yuletide seedy.. so there was an abundance of santa hats, naughty elfs, and reindeer horns on display!

Click to Enlarge

The boys in the backroom (Mr. Huszar and Mr. Murakami) had come up with a cunning macguffin for the event. It was a Christmas tree that spat out flying, explodable reindeer, each with 100 hit points. Using any SL weapon that fired a projectile, you could knock them out of the sky. The evening would demonstrate how broadly the phrase "Any SL Weapon that can fire a projectile" can be! A fusilade of bullets, buckshot, minie balls, musket balls, teddy bears, pumpkins, watermelons, chickens, and couches (yes, couches) were fired into the air over High in the Skye, knocking out reindeer so much we had enough to feed venison stew to the poor twelve times over (albeit they should check for shot first)

Ms. Frequency Picnic was in rare form last night, playing a very diverse set-- Terpsichore herself must have inspired her selections!

Thank you for throwing this event, Lady Bellambi, and thank you to the many attendees. I do think we outdid ourselves this year!

A blessedly brief magick lantern show!

Bouncey Bongo Hobo Flash Mob

2009-12-25T22:45:00.000-08:00

Never get Hobos bored in a group. They may show up at your location and play the bongos mercilessly.

Hotspur O'Toole's THIRD Rez Day! 12/26/2009

2009-12-24T08:30:00.001-08:00

Time flies when we're having fun. What have I learned in three years? I waxed eloquent in previous years when asked 'what has a year in Second Life taught you?". I've got it paired down now.

1. Don't be a bastard
2. Listen as much as you Talk
3. Go for the Win-Win
4. Big Virtual projects usually Fail.

In any event, to celebrate my third year in this virtual landscape, the lady Bellambi has graciously hosted a party in her land of Skye.

Click to Enlarge

The theme: SANTAS AND SHOTGUNS
The date: 12/26/2006
The time: 730 PM SLT
The style of dress: A "Seedy Yuletide" (santa suits, rum and shotguns provided for free)
The SLURL: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Winterfell%20Anodyne/205/222/2501
The DJ: Miss Frequency Funky-Fresh Picnic playing your post-Yuletide depression favorites!

The boys in the back room have been cooking up some fun... it involves reindeer.. exploding reindeer that one shoots like skeet.. and other fun items. There may be melee on ice as well.

In any event, have a tot of run, load your shotgun and bring some ho, ho, hos to Santas and Shotguns!

A Christmas Blessing from Polymath Eyrie

2009-12-23T08:55:00.000-08:00

One Universal Christmas Card

To all YHN's friends and acquaintances in virtuality, he wishes to extend sincere wishes for a Very Merry Christmas, and a Safe, Happy, and Healthy New Year.

On a side note, YHN's human wishes to thank numerous friends and acquaintances for their support this year-- there were some bad times: unemployment (blessedly, brief) and a lean purse being one of the major issues that struck in the middle of 2009. Life does not come with guarantees, alas, but let us hope the dark times are behind us, at least for the while. To my friends, I thank you for your continued support. To those I exasperate beyond all measure, I likely will continue to do so (being far too set in my ways at this late date), but let us all hope the new year brings us all new beginnings.

From Polymath Eyrie's Red Room

Hotspur

Attackazods, DEPLOY!

2009-12-18T09:26:00.000-08:00

For one week only, Brian Lonano, the creator of Attackazoids, Deploy! is posting his short film to the web. It is well worth a look and quite the steampunk art film.

ATTACKAZOIDS, DEPLOY!! from Brian Lonano on Vimeo.

Zombie Outbreak Simulator

2009-12-18T08:32:00.001-08:00

Using google maps.. this is well worth a click or two. :-D

Click on the picture to get to the outbreak.

True Steampunk

2009-12-16T09:01:00.000-08:00

Go Out and Build Something

Recently posted on the Lead Adventure Forum, the results of the go out and build something contest.

The "Tsar" Steam Tank:

This is why I don't enter these contests-- it would be too humbling...

Keep in mind, this is all hand made. Usually from castoffs and junk.

The Nautilus

Steam Tank

Iron Melee in the Battle Circle

2009-12-10T22:31:00.000-08:00

Come back, you jolly jack tars...

Iron Melee returned to the Blake Sea area for Thursday night, the first time in several weeks as Roatan, AI and Zatzai are being remodeled.

The Crowd Gathers: Hotspur Hosts

Operations shifted to Blake's Cove and Blake's Shore, hosting from Sanctuary Dock in the midst of the so-called "Battle Circle" of Outposts set up by MarkTwain White. The folks from the ICS Steam and Sail community showed up in force to battle with larger sized ironclads using the ICS 3.0 combat system. This was no formal battle, just a repetitive die-and-re-rez contest of steel, cordite and discipline.

The Captain's View of a CHOCTAW ship

YHN first put a FISHKILL in the water-- probably a tactical mistake, as it only had a Gatling Gun up for'ard and a Depth Charge launcher aft. Still, YHN was surprised at her general toughness and capability to hang in and trade blow for blow. Even launching depth charges in a generally rearward direction can cause havoc if you set it up correctly, and YHN had a quiet moment in which to set up a long dropping shot or ten into the general melee. What fun he had then! All good things come to an end, and when the crowd realized where the gadly was stinging from a few worthies were dispatched to sink YHN and his valiant ship.

YHN's next ship was the CHOCTAW, a historical hull recently completed by Admiral AngusGrahamn Ceawlin. Ungainly to look at, she handles marvelously well indeed-- and the view from her cannon postion is second to none.

The last ship of the evening was the valiant QUEEN OF THE WEST, YHN's Ellet Ram. She charged into the fray like a good 'un, but was unable to effect a decisive ramming angle and thus was despatched under the guns of Angus' CHOCTAW.

We were all a bit dubious at first, as being caught on the sim lines and edges can be quite murderous, yet Blakes Commons proved to be a wonderful place to put some iron in the water. Lag was minimal at the Cove sim, and a significant amount of ships participated simultaneously with few problems. A true win win.

We hope to hold future contests there, so consider showing up at Sanctuary Dock at 730 PM SLT on Thursdays, or at Sanctuary Seas, or Roatan-- we will be rotating locations.

A Visitor to Polymath Eyrie

2009-12-09T03:43:00.000-08:00

Gozer: The Choice is made!
Hotspur: Whoa! Ho! Ho! Whoa-oa!
Gozer: The Traveller has come!
Hotspur: Nobody choosed anything!
[turns to Fuzzball]
Hotspur: Did you choose anything?
Fuzzball: No.
Hotspur: [to Lunar] Did YOU?
Lunar: My mind is totally blank.
Hotspur: *I* didn't choose anything...
[long pause, Hotspur, Fuzzball and Lunar all look at Nichus]
Nichus: I couldn't help it. It just popped in there.
Hotspur: [angrily] What? *What* "just popped in there?"
Nichus: I... I... I tried to think...
Fuzzball: LOOK!
[they all look over one side of the roof]
Nichus: No! It CAN'T be!
Hotspur: What is it?
Nichus: It CAN'T be!
Hotspur: What did you DO, Nichus?
Lunar: Oh, shit!
[they all see a giant cubic white head topped with a sailor hat, Hotspur looks at Nichus]
Nichus: [somberly] It's the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.

Iron Melee at Port Merrimac on hold for Terraforming

2009-12-01T08:15:00.000-08:00

I have heard back from Zatzai Asturias, who owns the region around what was Lilliput, where Port Merrimac was located in the sim named ROATAN. Zatz has sold off some of the Lilliput area to "sailing and ironclad combat enthusiasts" MarkTwain White and Fanci Beebe. MarkTwain White is setting up the Blake Sea Battle Group for battles on the Blake Sea (with some restrictions, we are working that out). Zatzai sold off Gregory Rock, Althorn Point, the Great Dismal, and perhaps one other, which are now being incorporated into MarkTwain White's OUTPOST Program (see below). This is a small archepeligo for pirate and ironclad communities to set up "Battle Bases" right on the edge of the Blake Sea. Good times are ahead for naval combat!!

In the meantime, that leaves the original ZATZAI, Artificial Isle and ROATAN sims. These are undergoing a terraforming into a longish three sims wide island with Port Merrimac being enlarged and expanded.

In short, Port Merrimac, Iron Melee and the Fleet of Wrath Exiles will still continue to operate out of this location as a location for Ironclad ship battles. The terraforming may take from 2 to 3 weeks. In the meantime, I have asked my friends AngusGraham Ceawlin at Santuary Seas and Steelcobra Calamari at Steeltopia to host Iron Melees. Both have large bodies of water which are ideal for the purpose and relatively lag-free.

Thanks,

Hotspur

A Rollicking Ripper Mystery Party!

2009-11-29T22:32:00.000-08:00

Ripper makes a Comeback

A whispered conversation between the RIPPER and SCOTLAND YARD (Your Humble Narrator) as we ran Ripper last night at Port Harbor, Steelhead City.

(I never reveal IM conversations; however in this one instance, I think Miss Virrginia won't have a problem with it)

[19:42] Virrginia Tombola: BWAH HA HA
[19:44] Virrginia Tombola: Let us start with Riven. Show her to show up late!
[19:45] Virrginia Tombola whistles innocently with a candlestick in the conservatory
[19:47] Virrginia Tombola: Riven! With dental floss strung across the top stair to trip her!
[20:03] Virrginia Tombola: Okies, next let us do in a Jaeger. Maxim, bludgeoned to death with a copy of "An Aspiring Actors Guide to Scenery Gnawing"
(Maxim gets hanged by vigilante justice)
[20:04] Virrginia Tombola: Whoops, NOT Maxim :D
[20:04] Virrginia Tombola: How about Molly, same bit :) [20:04] Hotspur Otoole: next time? sure
[20:04] Virrginia Tombola: Trying to preplan
[20:05] Virrginia Tombola: We murderers need stay one step ahead of things
[20:08] Hotspur Otoole: Okay, Molly, yes!
[20:13] Virrginia Tombola: You're much more graphic than I :P
[20:13] Hotspur Otoole: of course.
[20:17] Virrginia Tombola: Okies, Maev with a cleaver :)
[20:31] Virrginia Tombola: See if they remember the whole cleaver chatter
[20:35] Virrginia Tombola: Sent
[20:35] Hotspur Otoole: Maev with a cleaver!
[20:35] Virrginia Tombola: It's clever :)
[20:39] Hotspur Otoole: Start thinking of a new vick
[20:42] Virrginia Tombola: Coral, drowned in a fish tank with her loyal seahorsie watching over her. [20:45] Virrginia Tombola: No, let's drop a clue. Strangled with a scarf :)
[20:45] Hotspur Otoole: Clues are the fun part for me.. :-D
[20:55] Hotspur Otoole: Coral vanished-- got another?
[20:56] Virrginia Tombola: Buffy then
[20:56] Virrginia Tombola: With Elegia's scarf
[21:01] Virrginia Tombola: If Coral is back, fish tank her :) Might toss a seahorse motif in there, since they haven't shown any suspicion so far :P
[21:16] Virrginia Tombola: heeheehee
[21:18] Hotspur Otoole: Coral, neh?
[21:18] Virrginia Tombola: Mais oui
[21:19] Virrginia Tombola: Keep her horsey :)
[21:32] Virrginia Tombola: And I've got this "kill all the other girls" thing going now
[21:40] Virrginia Tombola: Okies, Ellie next time.
[21:40] Hotspur Otoole: You're down to three! Who is it going to be!
[21:40] Virrginia Tombola: Ellie!

Ripper, the game of misdirection, paranoia, accusation and counter-accusation was ran by YHN in Steelhead City last night, and we had quite a cast of characters playing: Ellie Fenwitch, Airwin Skytower, Maev Ceawlin, Ethera Hissop, Molly Steampunk, Therian Au, Myn Serendipity, Riven Homewood, Elegia Underwood, Maxim Krutschek, Jayleden Miles, Virrginia Tombola, Buffy Lionheart, Coral Serpente, Ethera Hissop-- with Caladon Rae, Icarus Ghost, Tensai Hilra, Totalunar Eclipse (both briefly) and a young lady named Poverty kibbitzing. So a very nice crowd of participants.

(mouseover for picture captions)

Needless to say from the paragraph above, Miss Virrginia Tombola was the obvious RIPPER killer and victor. She played it very cool, only being accused ONE turn, believe it or not. For the rest of the time, she played coy, trying to lead the investigation and actively creating distraction clues for them. Vee managed to last until the very last round, beating out Myn Serandipity.

A great time was had by all, and we shall not wait two years to throw it again. A special thank you to Miss Myn for her sterling assistance in putting together a wonderful "I'm DEAD!" animation for the players. Of further note was our "Great Detective" character role, being one Miss Molly Steampunk. She accurately assessed Virrginia's murderous intentions the first round, but was effectively, er.. silenced, the very next turn.

Outposts for Nautical Warfare opened on the Blakes Sea edge

2009-11-28T18:23:00.000-08:00

Received this from MarkTwain White

See him in World if you are Interested. These won't last long.

------====== BLAKE SIMS ======= -------

Being Contested Waters Sims Near the Blake Sea

Outpost and Residential sims for the Ironclad/Steampunk and Pirate Communities

There now exists the perfect solution to integrating private communities of pirates. ironclad navies, and steampunk sailors with the growing Blake Sea and United Sailing Sims area of Second Life.

Owners of private sims supporting these communities can now, for a low overall cost, not only bring new blood into their communities by establishing an OUTPOST in the Blake Sims, they can also participate in a common battle area to fight their common foes from all over SL.

With up to six communities represented in the initial phase of the Blake Sims, up to six communites can gather in the contested waters sims of the Blake Sims (private sims open to the public) , as well as four sims in the Blake Sea (Gov Linden sims) to meet up with their allies and confront their foes.

Six half-sim parcels are now available next to the popular Blake Sea designed for naval combat for the pirate and ironclad communities. By leasing one of these "Contested Water" sims, private communities have a great way to attract new residents to their primary sims.

OUTPOSTS Program
---------------------
Here is how the Outpost Program works. Any Blake Sea leased island can, naturally, promote there private sims elswhere. Each of these Blake Sea leased islands will, in turn, be promoted at the Hollywood and Barbarosa INformation Hubs that visitors to the Blake Sea and United Sailing Sims will be directed towards.

In just the first day these sims appeared several USS residents bought pirate ships in order to get involved in those communities.

These Contested Water sims (Blake Sims) are premium priced because you cannot find a better place in SL if you really want to be in the Blake Sea area. These sims are created and administered by the same people who brought you the Blake Sea and adminsters the USS. If location means anything, and you know it does, these sims are the cream of the crop.

The six Blake Parcels being offered presently are either directly next to the Blake Sea or one sim away. Here is an EXCEEDING RARE OPPOTUNITY to not only get land next to the Blake Sea, but get in on the ground floor of combat in the Blake Sea / USS area.

PRICING for Half Sim Island (i.e. only two parcels per sim)
-------------------------------------------------------------
Parcels in BLAKE SHORE, and BLAKE COAST -- $75 USD (19,500L) per 4 weeks
Parcels in BLAKE COVE -- $65 USD (16,900L) per 4 weeks

Secure your island and growth opportunity today.

Non-affliated pirates, ironclad sailors, and steampunk sailors are welcome to lease as well.

Rental Vendors will be ready soon, but don't wait. Reserve your spot today. Contact MarkTwain White or Nber Medici.

Initial Available Parcels
-------------------------

Blake Shore North
Blake Shore South
Blake Coast North
Blake Coast South
Blake Cove North
Blake Cove South

Version 1.2
11-21-09

Oh yes... IT CAN BE DONE!!!

2009-11-28T12:56:00.000-08:00

One day, whilst helping a certain famous in-world game designer fix a certain scoring exploit with a certain popular inworld game.

Posted with affection and respect. :-) Click on the picture to enlarge it.

New! Steamlands Word Search Puzzle! Give it a try!

2009-11-27T09:53:00.000-08:00

Just for fun! YHN has created a Second Life (tm) Steamlands Word Search Puzzle. The words buried in the list are common names, concepts, places, from the Second Life Steamland communities. Alas, the puzzle can't be embedded on blogger, as the word formatting would be thrown off by the blogger template. But YHN has shared out a PDF of the puzzle on his Google Docs account. The word list is on the bottom. The answer key will be published in a week or so.

(Later edit) Whoops! YHN Lost track of time. HERE is the answer key to this wordsearch puzzle. Pray forgive the unseemly delay, and the conceit of adding his own name to it. :-D

Hotspur O'Toole banned from Second LIfe

2009-11-23T03:31:00.000-08:00

Well, it surely sounds melodramatic-- but it's actually true! Friday night, quite late, Second Life crashed for YHN, using the Emerald Viewer, YHN found himself rapidly exiting Steelhead City's "Mystery Dance" and out in the real world. YHN wishes he could report this as a unique experience, but sadly, it is not. While attempting to log back in, YHN was told that he could "no longer log in to Second Life" and "If I think this message is in error, email support@secondlife.com (an obsolete address)". YHN tried logging in a few times, and since it was late, shrugged his shoulders and did something novel-- retired for the evening.

The next day, YHN did not attempt entry again until late in the day and discovered he still couldn't log in to Second Life. At that point, what was a minor annoyance became a matter of concern.. having read up on this error code, YHN discovered this was the message that the Lindens return when an individual has been banned from Second Life for some reason.

Banned? Banned? YHN was puzzled... to say the least. YHN doesn't engage in adult activites in world, doesn't sell anything (so couldn't have swindled anyone), is no ruthless land baron or sim owner, and does little else than live a quiet, contemplative virtual life, free of controversy and idle peculation, the very model of monastic spiritual discipline. Being nobody of consequence, YHN was at a loss as to WHY he would be banned. Yet, there it was. VERY fortunately, there are steps to take, and YHN took them, submitting a 'ticket' to Linden Labs twice, and then relying on the assistance of community leaders Tensai Hilra and Totalunar Eclipse (for which, many thanks!!!). They elevated the status of YHN's ticket from "plodding ox cart" to "chemical land rocket" in speed.

By midday on Sunday, the ban had been lifted, with little or no explanation as to the original why of it, and apologies for the inconvenience:

"We have solved your issue

Solution:

Hello,

Thank you for submitting this Support Ticket. You should now be able to log into Second Life. We apologize for any inconveniences. If you have any further questions, please let us know.

Best Regards,

Linden Lab Support"

There has been some idle speculation here and there, but YHN cannot believe that he has been on Linden Labs radar in any degree at any time-- this has to have been what the technologists call "A Glitch", and nothing more. A pity, in some respects-- YHN loves a good conspiracy theory like the best of 'em. So no harm done whatsoever, and my enforced sojourn gave YHN an opportunity to indulge in a very good book, so all's well that ends well. My sincere apologies to those who were breathing a sigh of relief for an all-too-brief period, but YHN is still around to bedevil SL in his own inimitable way.

Farewell to XStreet.

2009-11-20T07:49:00.000-08:00

It was fun while it lasted. I wonder what economic school the Lindens emulate at times. I have detected a hint of Neo-Keynsian in their approach, but lately I'm leaning towards revising that assessment in favor of the Josef Stalin School of Industrial Management. Yes, that might be it.

(Green font is official Linden Policy statements, and should be attributed to Linden Labs, Inc.)

In a stunning move, Colossus Linden announced that from now on XStreet, the Linden owned retail arm, will be charging a rather stiff fee for listing Free items. The ubiquitous freebie is now likely to be a part of Xstreet's past. In short, the new policy reads like so:

Monthly Listing Fee for Freebies of L$99:

Listings for free items will now be treated as a marketing/promotional tool and thus will have a price.
L$99 is the price of our least expensive listing enhancement and so we will start there.
Depending upon desire for this marketing opportunity and perceived value given such demand, we will adjust the price as necessary to maximize this value and keep the freebie listings from becoming bloated again.
Expected Delivery: 30 - 60 days

Minimum Commission of L$3 on all items priced L$1 or greater:

We will enact a minimum commission of L$3 on all sales of non-freebie listings.
Since Freebie listings are now considered marketing and are charged as such, they will not incur this fee.
A L$3 commission will raise the commission on all listings under L$50. This was a range suggested by residents, but it turns out that this is the price range where there is a very high transaction volume and low commission income which combine to cover the costs of those transactions.
We may adjust this minimum commission as we see its effects on the marketplace. L$3 does not cover the full cost of a transaction, but the goal here is first to manage freebie growth first.
Expected Delivery: 30 - 60 days

Monthly Listing Fee of L$10 for all items L$1 or greater:

All non-freebie listings will now be charged L$10 per month to remain listed in the Xstreet SL Marketplace
Currently, less than 20% of Xstreet SL listings make at least one sale per month. This displays just how much clutter of unsold items exists on Xstreet SL.
Doing this will provide an incentive for merchants to remove listings which are not selling, while keeping this fee low enough to have a minimal effect on listings which are selling and are desired by shoppers.
By reducing the overall number of listings on Xstreet SL, the shopping experience will drastically improve which will please our shoppers and be a boon to the business of all of our merchants.
Expected Delivery: 60 - 90 days

Separate freebies into their own category:

There is already a freebie section on Xstreet SL. This section will become the place to browse for new freebies.
We will remove free listings from the browsable categories and keyword search results on Xstreet SL.
Expected Delivery: 60 - 90 days

Timeline:

We will provide at least 2 weeks notice before releasing any of these changes.
We expect to enact these controls within the time window 30 - 90 days following this roadmap announcement.

Perhaps it is needless for me to say, but I will anyway. I find the timing, the reasoning, and the data associated with this announcement to be highly dubious. Colossus does not hide the discussions that went into the decision to gouge freebie makers. He posts three commerce office hour sessions that were dedicated to the "freebie problem", as he seems to view things. I urge readers to browse through these. Count how many actual "Residents" were there, and then look up what they do in SL. How many are merchants? Then count how many Lindens were present. Take notice of the tone of the conversations-- did they seem as if they were entering into these 'talks' with a foregone conclusion in mind? Don't take my word for it, read it and draw your own conclusions.

Remember, ostensibly, it was the "Residents" that are complaining about the so called "freebie bloat" on Xstreet. Hmmm... they must not be the same Residents that responded to Hamlet Au's recent poll on this subject.

Then we are given a FAQ to read about why Colossus Linden is doing this. Here are some of the salient points:

Why does Colossus think free listings on Xstreet SL are a problem? He maintains that the "Residents" say:

The items are a large percentage of transactions which have associated costs but no value, which means that cost must be shared by all users.

And why would any Resident care a fig about the costs involved to maintain XStreet, unless they had to bare the burden of them? We are told there is a cost involved-- presumably some form of labor cost to list it, or to administer a data base online that has a record in it, or some currency conversion fee to process lindens. How much of a cost is this, really? I'm sure a lot of people would love to have the answer to that question. As for myself, I am of the opinion that the per-transaction cost of a freebie is vanishingly small and that this is a very weak argument.

They decrease the price that other merchants can charge within a category

Which, in the great tradition of Western Free Market economies, is called "competition" in the real world. Is this so inimical to a virtual marketplace? Honestly? Didn't the Lindens use to tout the unfettered capitalistic atmosphere of Second Life as a selling point?

They hinder the shopping experience because a "sort by price" puts all freebies first

And this is a problem, how? See comments on "competition". Don't the manufacturers that charge for their wares believe in the quality of their products? Must the marketplace be manipulated in such a blatantly artificial manner? Surely a manufacturer is confident that the blue jeans he or she makes and sells for 100L is somehow superior to the freebie blue jeans at the other end of the spectrum, yes?

They garner so much attention that Residents are driven toward the freebies instead of quality, fairly priced items.

Those Residents seem to be a pack of Oliogopolists in the making. Force out competitive wares that are coming in at a price point they don't wish to support. But that's not ALL! Look at the fine print..

All non-freebie listings will now be charged L$10 per month to remain listed in the Xstreet SL Marketplace
Currently, less than 20% of Xstreet SL listings make at least one sale per month. This displays just how much clutter of unsold items exists on Xstreet SL.
Doing this will provide an incentive for merchants to remove listings which are not selling, while keeping this fee low enough to have a minimal effect on listings which are selling and are desired by shoppers.
By reducing the overall number of listings on Xstreet SL, the shopping experience will drastically improve which will please our shoppers and be a boon to the business of all of our merchants.

Are you reading between the lines yet? THIS is the main point of the policy change, my friends. To make a substantial revenue boost off of ALL items in XStreet, not just freebies, which are simply going to (mark my words) vanish without a trace from XStreet in the next three weeks or so. The left hand is dangling the so-called 'freebie issue' while the right hand picks the pockets of all merchants on XStreet, nodding head sympathetically all the while.. "those Freebies certainly are the source of woe, are they not?" A disingenuous tactic at best.

You may take this as you will, but I read it as blatant tinkering with the marketplace, in order to slap on an extra fee and make more Linden$ in the aggregate. What will be hurt by this? Small, niche product lines that appeal to offbeat people looking for something goofy. Sure they don't jump off the shelves, but someone may want them. Or they will become freebies.

Let's talk about the real problem. XStreet is very difficult to navigate. The search engine lacks many simple boolean search options. A potential customer can't even search by manufacturer with any degree of certainty. Time and time again I have known, for certain, that a product has been listed on XStreet, and I can't even find it with a simple name search. This is a known problem. Wouldn't it be wiser to spend some money to fix the search engine than to penalize those hapless creators that don't subscribe to a blatant profit motive?

Who gets hurt by this? Quirky, independent creators that are trying to get items with personality and style out to the populace. Sure, the give out freebies. Why not? It's for a niche audience. I am not surprised to see people like Ordinal Maliprop, Murakami Steamworks and Punky Pugilist departing Xstreet en masse. Another victory for Linden's version of e-commerce.

What's the future of Xstreet with this policy in place? A thousand listings of the lowest common denominator blue jeans, t-shirts in thirty colors each (as separate items) and impeccable, Ken and Barbie doll clothing going for 100L each, and nobody will buy them. Linden for the win, again.

So I'm personally saying farewell (for now) to XStreet, until they come to their senses. I don't really NEED anything I buy on there.. I'm not a merchant, I'm not a SL shopaholic either. But I don't want to be part of the bland future they've made for the forces of the marketplace in Second Life. Perhaps this slapt.me site can pick up the burden of freebies and independent creators (and somehow, bear the 'costs' associated with it), perhaps not. Right now, slapt.me is a tad too adult for my liking.. but I'm willing to give it a try. At least it's a bit more market oriented than XStreet.

I made my last XStreet purchases on Tuesday night, just before hearing about the change of policy. Ironically, it was a bunch of freebies from Punky Pugilist. I thought that was a fitting end to my XStreet experience.

THAT Iron Melee isn't OUR Iron Melee

2009-11-19T20:23:00.000-08:00

Notice: There was an event in the City of New Babbage this week, entitled "Iron Melee". This is part of that city's Fleet Week celebration. It is not the same Iron Melee originated on Roatan, held every Thursday for the past year under the aegis of the Fleet of Wrath Exiles, and continuing after the transition to Blake's Battle Group. The term was 'borrowed' without consulting Zatzai Asturias, who coined it, or myself, who has administered the event for the past year (my own fault, really, I should have read the event card a tad more closely-- it was vetted to me in advance and I thought they were asking to run this event on the Blakes Sea, not in New Babbage). We wish the citizens of New Babbage every success in their Fleet Week celebrations.

Doctor Who to punch it for Christmas 2009

2009-11-17T03:58:00.000-08:00

I rather doubt I'm giving this away to any of my SL colleagues, who are usually in the know.

Ripper Party in Steelhead City

2009-11-16T08:56:00.000-08:00

Proposal: In honor of MYSTERY MONTH, I am offering to run a RIPPER party at Steelhead (not sure where yet, my place could hold people but maybe a more central location).

Ripper is a game of accusation, counter-accusation, paranoia and murder. It is based almost entirely on the game of WEREWOLF, a party "LARP" game I have run at RL conventions before.

Essentially, you have a pool of individuals. They are all, with the exception of the referee (me, in this instance) considered to be inhabitants of a bustling 19th century metropolis (London, Paris, Victoria City, take your pick). Secretly, the referee assigns roles to some of the players. ONE OF THEM is the Ripper, who murders citizens in their sleep. ONE OF THEM is the Great Detective, who deduces if someone is a Ripper or not by guessing during the night turn. If more than, say, 12 people show up we may add another Ripper or another role to the populace, but those are the core types-- you can be a stalwart citizen, a dastardly Ripper, or a Great Detective.

During the course of the game, there are day turns and night turns.

During the Night Turn, the narrator tells the populace:

All is well, in our lovely city, as the citizens slumber... all but one.. the Ripper! Ripper, tell me who will be the next subject of your scalpel!

(Ripper player IMs selection to Referee).

Next, the Referee says:

But the great detective is on his trail! Great Detective? tell me who you think is the culprit!

(the Great Detective player IMs his selection to the referee, who says YES or NO).

Then the day turn arrives, with the discovery of a newly deceased victim.

IF the Great Detective guesses right the night before, he may or may not reveal that information-- he might not because he might not convince anyone that he is telling the truth. Lying about being the great detective is a good ploy, you see.

And then the daylight accusation turn starts. It's easier to conduct live, but the referee throws in a blind clue that may or may not mean anything.. such as "the distinct odor of codfish was detected around the corpse".. to give the players something to latch on to.

The crowd determines the guilt of an individual (often by voting), and that person is summarily dispatched by a lynch mob.

They find out if they were right or wrong the next day, when they see if someone died or didn't die the night before.

Gradually you winnow it down to the point where you find the Ripper-- one way or the other. The game ends, and you either have a Ripper or Citizen victory. Depending on how quickly the Ripper is found and how many players are playing, you can run 1 to 3 games a session.

I ran this quite early in my SL career and loved it-- and have a bunch of tags ("Victim of Mob Violence" "Done in by the Ripper") to use that will allow me to track everything-- plus notecards and such to pass out.

I'm proposing we hold this on a Sunday or Wednesday, since that seems to be the least booked day of the week, probably the week after Fleet Week. Wednesday won't work that week as it is the day before Thanksgiving for us Americans. Possibly Monday?

Do let me know what you think. For the game to work well, at least ten people should be present.

V/R

Hotspur

Murakami Steamworks 2nd Anniversary

2009-11-16T07:35:00.000-08:00

The much anticipated SECOND ANNIVERSARY of Murakami Steamworks was held Saturday night, and a great time was had by all of us who attended-- maybe 30 people all told.

The boys in the backroom (Justinian Huszar, MrBunwah Murakami) understand that good parties need something silly to hook into (witness recent roller derbies with Mexican wrestling, cannons, and zombies). So they resurrected our old display from Burning Life 2008, miniclads. These were remote controlled ironclads that work with a HUD, actually conduct battle, and can sink each other. Alas, due to scripting restrictions in Burning Life, we didn't realize the full potential of this thing back then, but it worked great on Lady Bellambi's Skyplat party hideaway. We were also fortunate to have the usually reclusive Nower Meli in attendance, which rounded out the trio of the Boys from the Backroom.

Alas, my green viewer was a slow rezzer that night, so I'll borrow the good lady Bellambi's Youtube and pass on some viral promotion post facto:

It has been an honor to be associate with Murakami Steamworks in a sort of part patron/part Commodore/part PR Flack/part beta tester/100% friend for the past 2 years. I wish the lads every bit of success in the years to come.

Hotspur

Iron Melee at Sanctuary Sholes

2009-11-14T17:17:00.000-08:00

As Roatan, Zatzai and Artificial Isle are undergoing facelifts, currently, we shifted Iron Melee to Sanctuary Sholes, the home of Antiquity Refugees AngusGraham Ceawlin and Sharrah Bredel. We had some lag problems at first but the sim started to behave as we held battle. It was very informal-- battle until you die, then re-rez and battle until you die. We had a great time!

A small slideshow, courtesy of intrepid reporter Mrs. Peterman. This was the debut battle of Commodore Ceawlin's CHOCTAW hull as well as his version of the USS Cairo. These are both some "oddball" ironclads that I am glad to see added to the roll of active historical ironclads in Second Life today. Yes, I will be buying both of them.

MiniClads! Remote Control Ironclad Ship Warfare

2009-11-12T11:18:00.001-08:00

Those fun little remote control ships we built at Burning Life 08 are back, revamped, recoded, and much easier to use. These will be out for people to play with to their heart's content at the MURAKAMI STEAMWORKS ANNIVERSARY PARTY, this Saturday evening, at Lady Eva's skyplat location, Winterfell. More details in her journal as they show up.

I highly recommend trying miniclads. They are quite a hoot.

Hotspur

Steelhead City NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD-ish

2009-10-30T07:25:00.000-07:00

In keeping with Halloween!

The Storm Tossed Sea

2009-10-29T12:11:00.000-07:00

Another view of Theresea Ferelle's wonderful ship in distress build. This is just some scrap footage I put together, I intend to revisit and film something with a story at some point.

H.

Batten Down the Hatches! We're serving calamari!

2009-10-25T16:24:00.001-07:00

Walk, don't run, to visit Therese Ferelle's struggling ship build confronted by a Kraken of the deep. The build is very reminiscent of the final scene of the third Pirates of the Carribean movie. Or it might be, my only memory of that movie is sleeping through it.

SLURL: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Captiva%20Island/62/198/1475

Second Life in the very earliest days.

2009-10-25T10:41:00.000-07:00

Before there was a Second Life, there was a Linden World.

Demo of the precursor to Second Life, called LINDEN WORLD, back in 2001

¡El rodillo Derby de la MUERTE!!

2009-10-20T07:14:00.000-07:00

YHN was very happy to host Miss Picnic's Rez Day at Artificial Isle; alas, it was not to be. The owner of the music stream was not to be found, so at the last second, we transported the entire effort to Fairy Meadows, where we were beset by..... well, perhaps I shall let events unfold thusly:

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Miss Frequency Picnic and her REZ DAY of DOOM! Tonight!

2009-10-19T08:29:00.001-07:00

Miss Picnic

One of YHN's oldest and dearest friends in Second Life, Miss Frequency Picnic, will endure her THIRD REZ DAY in Second Life today. Miss Eva Bellambi and YHN will host a raucous ROLLER DERBY OF DOOM REZDAY PARTY tonight, featuring Lemurs, Music, Roller Skates, Land Mines, Melee Weapons, Rocket Darts, Mexican wrestlers, and the Undead!

There's a strange mixture of stuff in play tonight, but YHN suspects it will be hilarious despite it all.

Time: 730 PM SLT
Place: The Artificial Isle Amphitheater. SLURL to a spot just in front of the "Skate Equipment" area. There is a teleport up to the Roller Derby track. Be ready to skate!
Dress: Either as a Lemur, Mexican Wrestler (aka Luchador) or any generic (non-trademarked) superhero in tights, or just something wacky.
Equipment: The SLURL above will take you to a place for FREE SKATES and SKATING ANMIATIONS (From Abraminations, at his shop, in the freebie section), the MMCS Health Hud (for the Roller Derby of Doom-- LM takes you to Port Merrimac's MMCS dispenser, it's only 10L), and there is also a LM for Mexican Wrestler outfits in world.
Other: Bring your Roller Derby NAME, and whether or not you are a "Hero" or a "Heel"..

Iron Melee: Ship AND Shore Mayhem in Second Life

2009-10-18T20:48:00.000-07:00

Iron Melee is a regular event held at Port Merrimac, Roatan, every Thursday night at 7:30 PM SLT or thereabouts.

SLURL: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Roatan/193/168/23

Events usually center around a nautical battle of some sort, using steampunk or historical 19th century naval technology. Ironclad battles are a perennial favorite; particularly using the inworld ICS (Ironclad Combat System).

Not all adventures transpire on the water, however. Often, the Iron Melee group will conduct an "Infantry Landing" game, dropping an infantry section off to reach an objective on shore (usually a gun emplacement firing on ships out on the water). For this they use the MMCS combat system, but may soon graduate to the UCS combat system (the work of Miss Kandace Commons) which alleges to be compatible with ICS.

On a recent ILB (Infantry Landing Battle), the Red (Confederate) team defended against the Blue (Union) team attacking their gun emplacements in an improvised recreation of the "Island Number Ten" battle in the American Civil War.

As the body of one of the Union attackers mutely attests, these events can be tricky.

Naval battles, either as a straight up Ironclad slugging match or as a more whimsical version of Capture the Flag, continue to be the most popular activity at Port Merrimac.

In this picture, Eva Bellambi shows off her new limited edition Breast Cancer Awareness Civil War Monitor.

Iron Melee is welcome to all and anyone is encouraged to participate. Do keep in mind that Roatan is a Homestead sim and capacity will cap at 20 people. See Hotspur Otoole in world for particulars.

Step UP! to protect against copyright theft!

2009-10-12T12:29:00.000-07:00

A lovely post in Miss Orr's blog tipped YHN on to one of the most sublimely ironic (and unintentionally hilarious) images in Second Life:

(YHN's apologies for the picture's blur. To clarify: that's a wall full of.. ahem.. "heroic images" from well known comic lines in RL, for sale at this locale, with a STEP UP kiosk directly in front)

I encourage travelers to go visit, themselves.

Artifacts from the Past

2009-10-11T20:41:00.000-07:00

YHN was clearing off artifacts from an older ordination device that he once used as his primary conveyance into this world. One folder of ancient pictures caught his eye

Many people have heard of or seen the old classic CALEDON SLEEPS machinima by Oolon Sputnick. if you haven't seen it, you ought. It tells the story of a hapless assassin from an unnamed vaguely Germanic country trying to shiv Guvnah Shang in the middle of the night. The Guvnah is saved by the timely intervention of tiny, valiant "Gunbunnies" from Tanglewood. I had forgotten that we had worked on the storyboard together and I had some very crude pictures (done in some old storyboard program) that were the rough cut of what became Caledon Sleeps. It seemed .. rude to just dump them in the machine's recycling bin without so much as a word, so here they are. It's amusing to run the them all in a sequence and compare them to what finally made the silver screen. A nice reminder of a very different time in Caledon.

Limericks for Boobies

2009-10-08T03:23:00.000-07:00

YHN did his humble best in the Limerick Contest for Boobies at the Isle of Skye last night, coming in a distant third behind Mr. Munster (left) and Mr. Trenton (right). Ah well, the important thing is that our combined efforts raised a significant chunk of boodle for Breast Cancer Research! I'm sure the exact details will be forthcoming on the Realm of the Red Rose today. From last night's excited reports, total inworld efforts raised 2010 USD for Breast Cancer research! (Dollars, not Lindens). Not bad work for a pack of virtual avatars, at the end of the day!

Metropolis in Second Life

2009-10-04T21:11:00.000-07:00

Performance I filmed in Second Life. Very lovely.

Hotspur is the Blue Demon

2009-10-01T14:32:00.000-07:00

Shhhh.. it's a secret. We are working on something profoundly silly at the Wrath Fleet Secret HQ sandbox.

The concept: ROLLER DERBY OF DOOM

Description: A long oval track, filled with dart throwers, landmines that explode and push, flame throwers that crisp people.

Racers Will wear a MMCS or UCS (if it is ready in time) health hud and carry a MMCS or UCS melee weapon (a saber). They will wear the ABRAMINATIONS roller skates and skating hud. The idea is to race around the track ten times. You will earn one point per lap, lose 1 point for every time you die from the actions of an opponent or one of the many booby traps on the course. Flamboyant Mexican wrestler costumes are a must.

Anticipated Arrival: when it's ready. If we can grab a Burning Life spot to deploy this, we will.

HOBO ROLLER DISCO!

2009-09-25T04:00:00.000-07:00

The Skies Over Polymath Eyrie were were ripped apart as the fabric of space and time rent asunder. Two Disco Demons descended upon The Hobo Roller Disco!

One night in a disco
On the outskirts of Frisco
I was cruisin' with my favourite gang
The place was so boring
Filled with out-of-towners touring
I knew that it wasn't my thing

Your Hostess

Your Host

I really wasn't caring
But I felt my eyes staring
At a guy who stood out in the crowd
He had the kind of body
That would shame Adonis
And a face that would make any man cry

Soon the dulcet sounds of a bygone era were heard as once again, Gloria Gaynor, the Bee Gees, Sister Sledge, Abba and more, as a crowd of hobo minions showed up, clammering for more disco!

For a relic from ages past, HoboFro Bro Hotspur could could cute a rug. And speaking of rugs, what's with the hair?

Miss Cookie Bookmite demonstrates that white skates are for ladies...

Mr. Aitolda Cooljoke demonstrates the face-lampiest of face-lamps. Good luck with the Melanoma!

The Room fills up!

Miss Eva wins the biggiest of big hair contest!

The decor was early 80s video arcade meets early 80s bad roller disco movie

Maybe you don't personally associate knife throwing with roller disco. And who would blame you? I just like to mix it up at parties I am involved in. It's not really a party without explosions or pointy sticks or at least a wheelbarrow race.

Standing next to Pac-Man is Mr. Logan Rizooto, and his lovely "bride". They won best Hobo Disco costume for a male. That rainbow-headed waif in the center next to YHN is Bonehead Goalpost.

Remington Pinion and Krystin Quinn demonstrate that polyester is not dead, while Bonehead leads a rollerskating disco choo-choo behind them.

HoboFro Bro Hotspur surveys the kingdom of the Roller Rink floor with satisfaction

Oh-what-wow
He's the greatest dancer
Oh-what-wow
That I've ever seen
Oh-what-wow
He's the greatest dancer
Oh-what-wow

Miss Callypigian Christiansen arrived late to the party but astounded us all with her graceful arabesques and capers.

Best Male Roller Disco Maven: Logan Rizooto
Best Female Roller Disco Maven: Molly Steampunk

We had a wonderful time, and the HoboRoller Disco was just the tonic required after a hard week in SL.

Sometimes they rise

2009-09-21T20:54:00.000-07:00

AM Radio at IDIA Laboratories

Mr. Radio has confounded us again with an amazing installation at IDIA Laboratories.

The setting, his by now familiar wheat fields in the middle of a prairie. A railroad line bisects the installation, and in true AM Radio style, seems to stretch out to either horizon. Tricking the visual perception is a highlight of an AM Radio build. On the track, a series of five freight cars, covered with graffiti. Wait, the graffiti changes. Movable textures? Perhaps. But here's the trick.

Walk to the table with a can of spray paint. Click on the paint can. A web browser window launches (make sure it is launched in a separate browser call).

In the web browser, you see a Graffiti enabled paint program. Draw something.

In YHN's case, a Double Helix strand of DNA. Web Browser View.

Gaze at the train cars. Soon, one of them is sporting the Graffiti upon it! AMAZING!

Et Voila.. moments later, in world.

The Installation, located at IDIA laboratories, is a wonderful bridge between reality and virtuality. The resulting drawings are excellent, and are being stored at their own FLICKR group.

Here's the Graffiti Train created by the 100 or so cars painted so far.

I declare thee NULL! Burning not-Effigies at Port Merrimac

2009-09-19T23:17:00.000-07:00

After Ironclad mayhem the other night, the Lady Bellambi, concerned about YHN's rather disenchanted mood after recent ambushes and escapades, had arranged for a real treat. She and some of the lads in the back room had created a certain type of ~~effigy~~ Vaguely Humanoid Prim Shape (VHPS) for me to explode as a joke, with cannons and even sound effects-- the effigy would squeak "Take ownership of THIS!" as it exploded.

The results were quite invigorating, dare I say it, quite a stress relief. We got to the point where if enough of them were placed in close proximity, a single shot would generate a terrific chained explosion.

A lovely effect.

Gradually many more adventurers and well-wishers dropped by the Port and got involved with the concept of explosive exorcism.

By the power granted to me by the Five Fleets of the Steamlands, I declare thee NULL, ~~witch~~VHPS! NULL! Take ownership of this!

Just to head off the perception that this was a negative event, let's just say a great time was had by all.

We may have to do this as a regular event.

Kill the beast!

2009-09-19T07:04:00.000-07:00

No, not that beast, I'm talking about Ironclads

Last Thursday, I received a friendly challenge from my friend, the Emperor Calamari, to attack his new Imperial flagship, the Right to Rule. This is possibly the biggest ICS vessel ever built, with multiple gun turrets, heavy armor, depth charges and rockets. It requires three people to effectively crew it in a battle. We were delighted to oblige "Blue" with a battle-- mostly Wrath Fleet and Babbage types against the giant ironclad.

The results were very interesting. The Right to Rule is a very hard nut to crack, but it is not unkillable-- with four ships and some air support, the combined fleet of small boys killed the Right to Rule three times in a row, proving the old maxim that you can't defend everywhere at once.

new Spiral Walcher Installation at Ball State

2009-09-18T14:45:00.000-07:00

I miss the Tunnel of Light. So when I heard that Spiral was previewing his new installation at BALL STATE UNIVERSITY http://slurl.com/secondlife/Ball%20State%20University2/130/121/1002, I was eager to go!

He never disappoints.. :-D

"9".. a visionary and decidedly steampunk movie

2009-09-14T04:15:00.000-07:00

YHN had opportunity to catch a viewing of "9" over the past weekend. He is enchanted, exhilarated, and enthusiastic about this wonderful visionary film. While it is appearing on the big screen, run, don't walk, to catch it.

Make no mistake, 9 is very much a steampunk movie.

And once again.. an interesting lesson in industrial psychology.

2009-09-13T22:35:00.000-07:00

YHN had an interesting experience with the lighting fast conveyance of biased perception via the magic of social networking this evening. Having come on Twitter for the first time in days, he noticed a provocative statement by a lady of some notoriety in the circles he used to inhabit in Second Life. YHN "replied to her tweet" with what he hoped was a jocose reply to her statement, which clearly was serious and meant to bait someone. YHN had no idea it was meant for HIM! Moving on to Plurk.com, a longish thread unfolded, and YHN was mentioned in an unflattering light by the lady in question, not only in her "Plurk", but traveling over to a friend of YHN as well. Much had been said, in public. Much of the record of it is now deleted from Plurk. Some (perhaps) regrettable words were used as a descriptor for your humble correspondent. No, strike that, we were informed that there were no regrets on the part of the lady in question and she stood by her statements. YHN, not having been in world but briefly since Thursday, was at a loss for words. And for the record, an attempt was made to drop the lady in question a note requesting some form of clarification, but it remains unanswered. Furthermore YHN is 'blocked' from the lady's plurk postings, where they used to be able to exchange them. He suspects a similar blocking will come from any further attempts to seek clarification via electronic mail, as well, and would not be hugely surprised if he is muted and banned in world, too. That can be for the best for both parties at times. Still, the attempt to reach out was made, and it is not welcome.

"Good lord, what have I done now?" was YHN's first thought. He had not conversed with the lady in question at any length for almost a year-- indeed, had hardly been in Second Life in many months. They had had issues in the past, to be sure, but everyone does. No ill will was harbored in the breast of YHN towards her,and (he is fairly certain) no public or private record would record an ill word spoken against her character, or any word at all about her, in a year or more. This is not because he finds her unpleasant company, or a bad person, a schemer or a bully.. YHN has called out many bullies for what they are during the course of his stay in Second Life, or just plain ignored them. This person was not among that select few... YHN had assumed at least that neither party was on the other's radar, he can assure the public (for her comments were public, so they must be answered as such), that she was not a blip on YHN's radarscope at all.

YHN admits to confusion, befuddlement, and being a bit defensive of the one friend he had at the public event that cared to (more rightly dared to) speak up for him. She didn't deserve to be brought up or humiliated for defending a friend. That was and is an honorable course of action, to be respected. YHN is lucky to have such a friend. :-D

After asking a few questions, but NOT reading any transcript of the interaction, as the lady seemed he was sure to do, YHN received a more complete picture of the events as they transpired, and discovered a few things that may have played into the lady's behavior. By her own admission, she had been drinking heavily that day, and had recently had endured a traumatic breakup of a long held romantic pairing in Second Life. She was also feeling ill in the real world. YHN doubts the lady reads Hibernia on the Skids, but realizes the post preceding this one may have come off as holier than thou or snarky in light of her recent experience-- so mabye she read that and assumed something that was not there. YHN will state this publicly, and for the record: The previous post on romantic pairing was not inspired in ANY way by recent specific events in Second Life, not by the lady in question or any other individual. YHN read Miss Wynn's article with great interest, as it had bearing on many people he has encountered over the years in SL. That was the sole motivation for posting that. YHN discovered the lady's mental anguish over the breakup just this evening, about two hours before writing these words here. This is the plain and simple truth, and no amount of labeling, or intentional perception bias, can change that. However, YHN can see that perhaps old hurts and new anguish may have deflected ire meant for another his way, having read that post in lieu of the newer information.

So, YHN can hardly blame the lady in question for feeling hurt and angry, and seeking an easy (absent) target when she might have been in a mood to lash out at someone, anyone. With that in mind, the only response a gentleman could make is simply:

"Madame, I forgive you your public comments at my expense, and bear you no ill will for making them. We all experience bad days.. I certainly understand how this might be a bad day for you, and wish you a speedy recovery of spirits in lieu of your recent heartbreak."

Yours Most Sincerely,
Hotspur

That's about all there is to it. YHN is convinced it wasn't anything more complicated than a lot of negative emotion bubbling to the top of the pot all at once, and no more need be said on it.

Amended: Alas, this story has no happy ending. It's really too bad.

Moving on...

Virtual Love, Real Life Heartbreak

2009-09-11T15:19:00.001-07:00

It must be admitted, YHN sometimes come off as a bit dismissive of inworld marriages, affairs, pairings and bondings of all stripes. Almost to the point of being 'snarky.'

This isn't a statement of 'intolerance' for the notion of virtual bondings, or a statement dismissing the importance of the emotions associated with these relationships between inworld couples of all sorts. Nor would it be an attempt to disregard the very real nature of emotions held by people inworld and the how important that emotion is to them. YHN has made some very real friendships with virtual people and it is the friendships with these people that is important to him. The emotions are certainly real, and that is where the distinction lies, for this reporter.

Love is, and should be, a real thing experienced in reality. Love should be shared. YHN has yet to experience a virtual world that could ever convey that depth of emotion -- that sense of sharing and togetherness, that could possibly ever rival what he experiences in real life, with a certain real living, breathing human being. Mind you, that is ONLY ONE OPINION, YHN recognizes that people come to Second Life for various reasons and some of us are getting exactly the Second Life we are paying for, and are quite happy with virtual relationships-- and more power to 'em!

Hamlet Au recently pointed out a great article in New World Notes on this very subject, which (YHN thinks) illustrates the pitfalls and dangers of the dichotomy of real world disappointments and virtual romantic ideals. Take the time, if you are interested, to read IS VIRTUAL ROMANCE TOO POWERFUL FOR YOU? by Emerald Wyn tonight. It is a fascinating and poignant description of one woman's need for the 'perfection' of virtual love-- the escapism it offers her. This was a thought provoking piece and I recommend it to anyone.

A very nice picture of Polymath Eyrie

2009-09-09T13:56:00.001-07:00

Dunno who took this, but it's lovely.

ICS: Steam and Sail starting up

2009-09-09T06:55:00.000-07:00

There has been a move afoot for some time now to consolidate and coalesce efforts to routinely hold naval battles in Second Life, particularly in the community that uses the ICS (Ironclad Combat System). There has been talk of standards, a league, joint maneuvers, resource sharing and the like. One element that badly needs "coalescing" is communications-- something analogous to Antiquity's "Battle Channel" for fighting with SPD ships. Duke Angus Ceawlin and others have moved locations in Second Life and wish to be more involved with the ICS engine-- it's open source and inexpensive. Recent discussions have led to the creation of the ICS: Steam and Sail group. This is meant as a one stop shop for sailing and ironclad fighting in Second Life using the ICS combat system. I favor this move, as it will make communications between interested parties a lot more streamlined and easy. In the near term it will facilitate communications with the folks that recently left Antiquity and the Wrath Exiles, but I hope that New Babbage, Steelhead and Caledon can jump on board-- this isn't about egos, it's about communication and having fun.

A little further down the road, as the ship developments in ICS progress, I can easily predict the appearance of ISC tall ships with ISC cannons and ISC damage modules. This is a natural progression for naval battles-- the only tall ship system in world for years has been SPD, and there are no technical roadblocks to getting this (free) system in place for Pirate and Sailing Ship battles.

So if you are part of an organized navy, or just like to "show up and blow up", please consider joining the ISC: Steam and Sail group in Second Life. I hope to use a message to this group as my principal means of communicating imminent battles (instead of spamming multiple organizations and groups). At least, I will when enough people start to join.

Until then, I'll be seeing you on the Seven Seas.

Nazi Britain (From BBC History Channel)

2009-09-03T03:56:00.001-07:00

This is a promo clip from the History Channel on BBC 4. What might have happened had the Germans managed a landing in early World War Two? Scary to contemplate.

Fundamental Attribution Error at work

2009-09-01T21:54:00.000-07:00

"When we try to understand the behavior of others, we often make a particularly human mistake. We tend to attribute too much to character and disposition and too little to situation and context. When we seek a better balance, we can adopt a more accepting view of events around us." -- Malcom Gladwell

"And this doubly true when processing text comments made by avatars in a virtual world as a primary means of communication"
-- Hotspur O'Toole

YHN had an interesting encounter tonight, and the more it is replayed mentally, the more interesting it becomes. YHN was at an event in Second Life. He made a comment that someone took out of context, and the individual made a veiled threat to mute him. YHN was a bit shocked at this-- the individual had displayed a sort of dull hostility from time to time, as well as being rather sharp-tongued, but YHN had always found that to be in keeping with the role that person was playing in world.

The ensuing dialogue brought to mind a problem that Second Life, or any other virtual world would be challenged to solve-- fundamental attribution error and its impact on roleplaying. Fundamental Attribution Error is a term YHN has brought up from time to time because he feels that the environment of virtuality exacerbates its impact. The fundamental attribution error (FAE) is a common type of cognitive bias in social psychology. Essentially, the fundamental attribution error involves placing a heavy emphasis on internal personality characteristics to explain someone's behavior in a given situation, rather than thinking about external situational factors. The flip side of the fundamental attribution error is the actor-observer bias, in which people tend to over-emphasize the role of a situation in their behaviors and under-emphasize the role of their own personalities.

YHN is as guilty of this as the next man. How could he not be, when he has only text and an animated dolly to process intentions from? YHN clearly erred tonight, as the following dialogue can attest:

(edited for grammar and spelling.. it was late in the evening and typos prevailed. Names removed for privacy's sake and "victorianisms" edited out. This is out of respect for all parties involved and not an exercise in editorial license. )

(after a publicly veiled threat to hit mute)

YHN: Was that directed at me?

___________: It was.

YHN: Indeed? What for?

______________________: If you suspected it was directed at you, you must have some idea what for.

YHN: No, I do not, hence the inquiry.

______________________: You remarked about _______. The usual connotation between ____ and _____ is one of ______. I find this both upsetting and offensive,
and it is hardly the first time you have said things that have affected me so.

(the blanks reference what she interpreted as an offensive remark-- the nature of which is unimportant. A sad attempt at humor by YHN that backfired)

YHN: There is another meaning that you might be overlooking or ignorant of.

YHN: Perhaps, purposefully.

YHN: ___________________________________

(the long blank is an alternative interpretation of the same phrase, with a VERY different context)

______________________: Ah. I have only heard that as "___________".

(this references the version that the other party had heard, which differs from the one stated by the author above in one key aspect)

YHN: That was my meaning. In any event, if you choose to be offended by my presence, I have no objections to being muted. Mute away.

______________________: That would be a last resort. I have never muted anyone, and feel I may be missing something of value to me and mine if I were to do so, to anyone. You do tempt me, however.

YHN: As have you me, to be honest, on several occasions. But I persevere, and I am delighted you do as well. Perhaps we shall find that delicate middle ground.

YHN: If you do choose the last resort, I would request a polite notice, though, as it would spare us both the embarrassment of speaking to a mute object. :-D

______________________: I'll give that request due consideration, if indeed it should come to that.

YHN: To use the obvious pun "no more need be said"... however, one last item of curiosity, what have I said that offended you in the past? This is (the only time I mentioned the activity that offends you) that I can recall.

______________________: I would ask you the same question, but maybe we shouldn't stir up the past?

YHN: tit for tat, and I asked first.

______________________: Quite honestly, I have put the details from my mind -- all but the generally intolerant attitude you display toward a certain group.

YHN: That is your interpretation, and I respect that. I don't consider myself intolerant at all, but that point has been debated to death.

______________________: Much of society is an agreed interpretation, after all.

YHN: Still, using the word intolerance is to use an emotionally charged word, akin to calling someone a "racist" perhaps.

______________________: There are many forms of intolerance. Why would you focus upon that one?

YHN: Really? I'm interested in the shades of definition you stating as linguistic fact. An example of two different kinds of intolerance, please?

______________________: As I said: many kinds. There is artistic intolerance, which can be seen in a hatred of modern music and all who like it, for example. Or intellectual intolerance, which expresses itself in prejudice against those perceived to be less quick-witted. Or intolerance for those poorer, or richer, than oneself. Or for those who favor an opposing sports team to yours.

YHN: Don't all those speak to the same nature of action? A general dislike for something? Changing the object of the dislike does not change the fundamental nature of the action itself.

______________________: Perhaps. But none of those things is racism.

______________________: If I had meant that, I would have said it.

YHN: I don't doubt that! In this case, I think the analogy might apply, because racism singles out a specific group or race of people, and in a virtual sense, is this not what you have just accused me of?

YHN: Racism, by your lights, being an "intolerance" for a sort of person?

______________________: Your attacks and petty jabs have been against their particular mannerisms and affectations. You have obviously been friendly with people of different skin colors, so I would not have used the word racist, myself. Are you telling me that it is an appropriate usage?

YHN: No, as I aver above, I equate your use of the word 'intolerant' to be the ethical and moral equivalent of referring to me as a 'racist against (the group you are holding up as examples)', a mantle I would not accept, any more than anyone else would.

YHN: And 'petty' and "attack" are the spin that you are placing on things, I suspect, merely because we don't share the same sense of humor.

______________________: Regardless of our inability to agree upon terminology, I have commitments, as I said, off grid, and must go. There is nothing that says we must have the same sense of humor, or even get along. all we must do is be civil to each other in public, as society requires. Good night.

YHN: Good night, then.

Note the key elements:

YHN was attempting a feeble joke that could be interpreted two ways. He certainly KNEW of the other interpretation, it just didn't come immediately to mind when he said the first statement. Perception error from the start.
In the ensuing discussion, my correspondent communicated the alternative interpretation of the phrase, and I could see my mistake. In a perfect world we could have both chalked it off to poor or non-communication, resolved the gaffe with a contrite explanation, and moved on. However, there were other factors in play here and it affected this outcome. Clearly, the offended individual held other pre-conceived negative notions about YHN, all of them based upon cognitive biases held by that individual and as seems more likely, the individual's peer group as well. Some of them might even have been justified, some not.
Further FAE problems crop up around the blithe use of the word "intolerance".. For YHN, this is very negatively charged word, to be equated with "hatred" and, yes, "racism" in a certain context. YHN admits he can grow quite heated when people apply a cognitive bias to the term and exchange a statement of preference (e.g. "I don't like this comic book" "I prefer green") for "intolerance" (e.g., "I hate this or that sort of person"). I would have loved to have challenged my correspondent to a review of exactly what was said by YHN pertaining to the group being cited, where, and when-- and suggest alternative context so that another side of the picture (perhaps one less emotionally charged than "intolerant") might be perceived. As in the case of the first comment, there always might be an alternative context to ANYTHING said in a text communication environment. Sadly, from the tone of the other party, YHN believes that the chances for a future Socratic dialogue on the real nature of hatred remain unlikely. Still, YHN was delighted in the civil tone the discussion took even with an obviously hostile correspondent. Even after three years, Second Life astounds (and educates) me.

The Lady

2009-08-21T20:45:00.000-07:00

At BLACK SWAN, Rezzable.

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Black%20Swan/227/111/21

Astonishing!

She's beautiful.. well worth a visit.

Iron Melee Night!

2009-08-21T20:18:00.000-07:00

The New Champagne Rooms

2009-08-21T06:39:00.000-07:00

A long time ago in Second Life terms, there was a pleasant little spot in world called "The Champagne Room". YHN visited there, almost three years ago, and recorded his adventures here in this journal in roleplaying terms. I visited a few more times and enjoyed the atmosphere of genteel (almost Edwardian) titillation, great music, wonderful textures. Sure, young ladies pirouetted about and some garments might have become lost in the shuffle, but this was no mainland style adult entertainment. The owners strictly adhered to the notion that they were providing the roleplaying experience in entirety, playing the role of a demi-madames in charge of a burlesque entertainment house of the sort frequented by gentlemen. YHN enjoyed it immensely, as it fit his character like a glove. Then, one day, inexplicably, it was gone. These things happen in Second Life. It went off of YHN's radar and a few years went by. Gradually, he became dimly aware of another effort starting up on Jersey Island called "The New Champagne rooms" (a naval colleague dances there, believe it or not, and he had read of it on the New Babbage NING)-- but being busy with RL and naval endeavors at Port M, he did not have opportunity to visit.

After a excellent evening's battle at Iron Melee last night (with ships AND lag), one of the senior officers in the Wrath Fleet suggested a post-melee visit to the New Champagne Rooms. YHN had no objections. Astoundingly, the entire venue from earlier times had been recreated, textures, layout, tables and all. Nay, improved upon. The current Champage Room is quite impressive-- maintaining that charmingly decadent (yet innocent) hospitality of the earlier era. The results were quite positive. Of course, YHN and his companions played the bluff hearty sea-dogs to the hilt, toasting the Artillery, the Ships at Sea, and various other entities. YHN greatly enjoyed sitting about with various customers and the owner afterward, engaging in airy persiflage.

Ms. Writer, our deft and charming hostess

Battlestained veterans take a break for the gentler pursuits

The main event: titillation, suggestion, never blatant

A little nip while the house isn't watching. I doubt it's a BYOB establishment

The New Champagne Rooms is managed with style and grace by Ms. Ahnyanka Delphin. Her lead hostess is Ms. Ceejay Writer. More information can be found at the New Champagne Room NING.

The Bandobast

2009-08-19T06:56:00.000-07:00

Bandobast is an Urdu word for "organization" or "effort". In 19th century parlance, the term was flung about by players in the Great Game to mean gangs or organizations of people engaged in a (usually nefarious) activity. I've always liked the word-- it has a dashing ring to it.

A lot of talk has been bandied about on the nature of Stories and Roleplay in Second Life, particularly focusing on the city of Steelhead, where I "live" in world. There are many citizens therein that like what is loosely referred to as "Story-Based" roleplaying. This is a form of roleplay that relies heavily on the written word, usually the electronic written word, as the background and setting and plot drivers of roleplay. A story can enfold on a blog, journal, NING, or whatever, and continue in world. I favor this approach myself, and maintain a story blog myself, called "Scéal an Ghamhna Bhuí..." (to tell a tall tale in Gaelic).

The obvious problem is that a lot of background and context falls upon deaf ears-- people don't read blogs, or don't care to, and thus don't understand the big picture and often feel mystified, out of the loop and even resentful. In order to combat that trend, I have started BANDOBAST: THE STEELHEAD STORY ARCHIVE, a wiki on wikidot. This is a true wiki that uses the wiki language to organize and catalog the many characters, invented characters, settings, storyline and customs of Steelhead City.

I didn't wish to post on this subject until the archive had filled up a bit. Now, thanks to the energetic work of a few posters, we have a respectable body of knowledge on the site. I invite you all to participate, if you have the desire to. Obviously this effort favors a citizen of Steelhead City, but you never can predict how these things can link to each other.

http://bandobast.wikidot.com/