Renable

Posted on: February 16, 2006

And this is the utterly tripped-out thing: I have to be up in a few hours for work, but what kept me up? Play! All in Second Life. This incredibly dense space where—you know, I used to think about whether the name "Second Life" made much sense, but the more I think of it, the more it does. As I repeat it, it's like a mantra. I've heard all the generic bad connotations attached to it, i.e. "Why do I need a second life? I already have a first one, huh-huh!" and I'm convinced they are temporal and will be diluted in time as SL grows. People will accept the meaning without having to question it so deeply. I mean, c'mon, think of this: do you know anyone who wonders why Warcraft has its name? A lot of Japanese anime names don't even make literal sense in English, but they're memorable and catchy. And as Second Life continues to take on its own life—there ya go, a metameaning!

Particle systems in Second Life have amazed me since my first day. I wondered how they were made, and after finding that out, I started to explore the possibilities of what could be done with them. You may have seen watermelons splash outta me when I teleport—thanx Jeska for the piccie. This was a custom texture I edited in response to seeing all the poofers in clubs—funny thing is, I don't see many of those anymore! Used to be I went to Club Elite, and a woman would have all these stylized logos explode with the word "BITCH" and maybe a cute, doll-faced cartoon offset as part of the design. I thot, "Well, I want to be like that, but I'm not a bitch." You'll still see poofers for sale, including those that respond to keywords. There are some shops in the old old part of the gridverse that've laid dormant for months, even years, that exist as museums of some of these trends: I understand wings used to be a big "fad" too, except for those who've worn them onto permanence, like Aimee Weber. And you'll still see boxes of freebie wings around.

Nevertheless, we have our institutions: Jopsy Pendragon is the maker of the Particle Laboratory @ Teal (180, 74, 21). It is the ultimate location to go to learn about particle magic in SL—I can't think of any alternatives in all this time! Not content to let his content go stagnant, he's updated with some tutorials that look more like works of art. One highlights the difference between angular settings, not doing so much through words as by the particles themselves. There's a certain fantastic atmosphere about the machinations:


Fortunate as I was to actually be with Jopsy at the PLab. And that's one of the awesomest things about SL, you can get so easily in touch with the people behind the things you enjoy! I couldn't resist asking Jopsy a question I've wanted to for a long time: when was the last time he saw Ama Omega? Ama is the legendary casino pioneer who also came up with the base script Jopsy's commented to heck to make accessibly easy-to-understand. And Jopsy, with what felt like a touch of whimsy to me, mused that he don't think he ever has met Ama inworld. Last time I saw Ama, he was kicking ass at Tringo, but that's another story for another day.

Besides the Linden roads (and variations thereof), there aren't really many streets in SL. What I found special about this pavement in the Los Angeles sim (yes, there really is one!) is that it's four lanes wide. A Resi had asked me earlier about finding freeways in SL—now we have an answer.

Searching inventory by Creator would be a big boon. I can think of so many times when I can't think of what the item's called, but I do know who made it.

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