As it turned out, after making my first shirt in Second Life, I ended up bug-reporting that wrinkle sliders in Appearance don't work. Tested both on my old and new PC, asked around for the same results—thanxies Tesla and Nephilaine!—so it's been filed, and will be checked out in good time by Linden Lab Quality Assurance aka eXtreme Bug Hunters. I don't know when this broke, because I remember a long time back, when I was in my Torley Sr. av, and I wanted to figure out how Huns Valen's coat flapped in a video. I asked him and he told me about the .cg involved, and about setting the right option in Preferences. Did that, and got the flapping of my own pink coat and wrinkles when I moved the slider.
Read a good article by Robert Silverberg about Philip K. Dick's visions. PKD is one of those authors whose work I've hardly read—and yet, hope I someday will. I just don't feel it's right, but what light I've glimpsed so far truely resonates with me. In it, Silverberg describes the parallels to Artificial Life, Inc., who makes virtual girlfriends for your cellphone. Yes, a real company, as you might say. Silverberg describes, with much fortitude and eloquence yet with a sort of wry tonic rasp, a creation named "Vivienne" who wants to be YOUR galpal. Despite many press articles, on the site, I didn't see Vivienne, but another comely type named Maya… and her friends.
Fittingly, the FAQ's (I really wish I could hyperlink to Flash subsections) first question is an honestly popular one: "Can I have sex (or Cyber-Sex) with the V-girl?" I'm glad they got that out of the way.
When I was new on the shores of Second Life, new Resis used to frequently to ask veterans, "Are you a bot?" or otherwise address them like an AI. I don't think it's quite as common, since SL's socialsphere is better understood today. But, let's turn that question on its flipside: when will the time come when it's not unheard of to ask, "Are you real?" and instead be speaking to a computer-controlled NPC. When will there be jealousy because a guy comes on SL with his wife but she catches him cheating with a virtual girlfriend? Long way away, realistically, but as many events have come to pass over decades, the train eventually makes it to the station—albeit weathered and weary before getting a new coat of paint.
SL has amazing volunteers, some of the most helpful, dedicated people I've ever known. They simply love to help. And that's part of what makes SL special, like KFC to the Japanese at Christmas. I sometimes playfully wonder, knowing how crowded Help Island can get and how the gridverse is growing so quickly, what it'd be like to take their personalities and multiply them. Some would argue the generic point of "loss of humanity", but I'd bring an even more cliched counterpoint to the table, stating that the original person is alive, and this is enriching the world on a template of excellence; memebabies. Too often there's a fear of replacement, and it comes from shortsight—not realizing what additive (and often addictive) opportunities there are to be had.
In other words… a flawed OR not AND mentality.
Truely, one of the biggest opportunities is human sexuality. Awhile back, I used to joke about "When will someone snap up sexondlife.com?", simply because I know that altho Linden Lab is conscious of not trampling over Resident content—while simultaneously "seeding" and inspiring new fruits for the harvest—the probability is dim that LL will start producing inhouse porn or even artistic erotica, socalled marriage enhancers etc. I just checked, and BOY am I thrilled, looks like CJ Christensen finally snagged the domain. WHOIS shows it was registered less than a month ago. This has come to pass.
There was a time where Orientation Islands were isolated. Each one, by itself… learn the basic lessons and move onto the mainland of your Second Life. That's where I started (I wasn't old enuff for the "Newbie Corral", as I've heard it called). I passed through quickly, because my entrance had already been delayed by 20 min due to downtime. I'm infinitely happy I had the patience, tho, as I've seen downtime since, but being weathered by that first experience prepared me better for what was yet to come.
Do you remember the first time you… saw a sim crash? How did you feel? Did you ask any questions about what was going on? I don't exactly remember my first time, but after you've seen more, you may be acclimated. But think, reach back to the primordial avatar soup from whence you came, and like staring at words for a long time, you too may wonder how it came to be.
Resis today will likely end up on Help Island. Which is truely a lush place to be. If you're new to SL and reading this, maybe you even remember your first Mentor or Mentors who helped you out there. I remember mine. Some are still active in SL, some not so. But it's what they gave me, that encouraged me to press on.
