FICkle Forum ResMods
by matthiaszander on 22/02/06 at 8:03 pm
I’m not one to typically believe the typical "FIC" stereotype, and I don’t tend to give it much credence. However, a certain forum thread in the general forum caught my eye this morning as something that needed to be moved to the events forum, as other things of its kind had been in the past. Through the course of the day, I continued to watch the thread just to see what would happen to it. Much to my shock </sarcasm>, it still hasn’t been moved.
What thread is it exactly? It’s this thread, posted by longime SL resident BuhBuhCuh Fairchild. Having been a member since October of 2002, he certainly must be at least a *BIT* feted, not to mention the fact that he’s partnered to Launa Fauna, and is a retailer in Midnight City.
In the time that this thread has been posted in the general forum, I’ve seen four other threads moved to different forums by various ResMods. Some of them were even merged by great watermelon queen herself, Torley Linden. BuhBuhCuh’s thread advertising his film festival, though, remains unmoved. Is this prior evidence of some very FICle ResMods?
Anonymous
Feb 22nd, 2006
>>Is this prior evidence of some very FICle ResMods?
No.
buhbuhcuh
Feb 22nd, 2006
but but but, the thread was moved not 20 minutes after I posted it…
Walker Spaight
Feb 22nd, 2006
You spoke too soon. Seems to have been moved to the Classifieds.
Matthias
Feb 22nd, 2006
o.O When I checked the thread a few hours after it had been moved, it was still there firmly planted in the “General” section. Glad to hear it’s been moved, though
Prokofy Neva
Feb 23rd, 2006
Not only is he feted, he’s Ben Linden, no? That’s what everyone always says about this avatar anyway. If it’s not true, so shoot me, who cares. In fact, quite a few people have warned me that he’s close to Aimee, sells in Midnight City, and because he’s a Linden, he will “get me”. I imagine he will. Hi, BuhBuhCuh/Ben/whoever you are!
Well, cool things like machinima in SL, well, they get special treatment! They get in General or Land or even Linden Announcements. And if they’re moved 20 minutes later because people howled, so? The point is, they often aren’t moved. So Matthias didn’t speak too soon, he merely articulated the truth of the forums, that happens over and over, even if Mr. New York Times is going to fact-check him to death on this particular one and say, “Oh, it *was* moved to Classifieds.” Bleh.
And here’s a good place to put another tip: look at Bedazzled Studios. They’ve got Eric Linden and other Lindens in their group, now why are we not surprised? They’re shooting a Western, I hear. Eric Linden’s the chief gunslinger. They’ve got a cast of hundreds judging from all the people I’ve seen around sporting this group title for being walk-ons. They’ve also been rumoured to boot some people from the group. Where’s the Herald when you need it to get on a story like this?
Cocoanut
Feb 23rd, 2006
So that’s where that thread went! I went looking to post how fabulous this event was, and could no longer find it in General. That’s when it occured to me that it shouldn’t have been in General in the first place. Looked in Events, and it wasn’t there – didn’t think to look in Attractions.
So Buh Buh Cuh is Ben, huh? I wonder who pays for that Alt-Zoom land.
Anyway, yes, the gathering was full of FIC and full of Electric Sheep. Also some master and his/her slave, apparently, plus me and my friend. Like the first one I attended, it was fabulous – and the last movie, by Pierce Portacerro (sp?) was phenomenonal. And yes, it had a huge cast.
coco
Prokofy Neva
Feb 23rd, 2006
I’ve persistently heard the *rumour* that BuhBuhCuh is Ben. Of course, Lindens who were former residents are entitled to keep their former accounts. They can apparently now, under the new interpretation of the rules since Zarf Vantongerloo became a Linden, and Torley became a Linden, able to frankly state, and even publish at their places of business (as Zarf does for his Nota Bene), their Linden identity.
Supposedly, residents who become Lindens aren’t supposed to go on using their resident accounts for major businesses. Supposedly, Lindens are only supposed to join groups of residents for “work”.
But we all know that some things are more feted than others because well, they just are, usually in honour of The Platform’s Development All Hail the Holy Platform.
Lindens have rightly concluded that making movies inside SL is a highly cool thing that might attract a certain high-end group of geeky customer with buzz and high-traffic websites AND please the masses of customers looking for content URLs to put on their finicky videos — which cost $1000 or more in SL, don’t always work so hot, but which contain content that the makers have to keep fresh and alive on websites they find for free or pay for (as some do with their rights purchased from porn streams or music video streams).
So it’s a win/win and I can only encourage the making of little tiny videos about little tiny avatars and their lives (the most popular ones are likely to be soap operas about the internal world of SL itself, not just recycled RL stuff — but these await their non-FIC makers who will get that point).
So in that sense BuhBuhCuh is excused — not only is he entitled to have a big business and a big splash and big traffic and whatever big things he can reap, he’s *mandated* to work this issue because it’s part of Development Uber Alles.
Yes, I imagine while this field gets developed, the events will be filled up with the FIC masters/slaves (Lindens, their residents, their residents-turned-Lindens) and the garden variety master/slaves and…you and your friend. Most likely it will get bigger as time goes on because it’s a cool thing.
Like all cool things, what’s important is that a) the Lindens develop it to get more customers b) the FIC get the contracts to it, in one form or another, to help the Lindens develop the cool thing and enrich themselves in popularity and traffic, if not in cash, too (and most likely in cash, too).
That’s how development works, Coco.
HiroPendragon
Feb 24th, 2006
Prok, you’re more of an a-hole than I thought, if what you say about BuhBuhCuh turns out true. Hell, even if it doesn’t, you’re still more of an a-hole. For all the whining and crying you talk about your RL identity being revealed, how dare you try and do that to someone else!
What a total effing hypocrite you are.
As for what Lindens can do on their resident accounts, you don’t know squat. You are so out of the loop on so many things that it’s laughable. You base your half-brained arguments off your out-of-touch knowledge and come up with cockamayme conspiracy theories.
It’s utterly depressing to see someone concerned about legitimate issues totally go down the wrong path because of her pride getting in the way. Now you’ve proven you’re so desperate for attention and information that you’re willing to jeopardize peoples’ privacy.
Go shod off you old crone.
Lordfly
Feb 24th, 2006
Any chance Prok gets to go to bonus hell for outing a Linden?
Prokofy Neva
Feb 24th, 2006
I think an interesting coda to this story is that Hiro Pendragon just came inworld and IM’d me and called me a “scumbag” for asking whether BuhBuhCuh is a Linden — and saying that it doesn’t matter if he is or not.
Wellllll…yuh. Except, it *does* matter. If a resident gets to post a hype of his business or event bringing traffic to his land, and helping his sales or reputation or friends’ sales, it’s helpful to know why he gets special treatment. Why his thread isn’t moved. Why he feels a special sense of impunity and noblesse oblige, confident his thread won’t be moved. And more…And if that person is a Linden, that would explain it. Of course, he could just be FIC, that’s good enough, you don’t HAVE to be a Linden to be feted!
As I pointed out, this particular activity of making machinima movies for SL seems worthy of feting, as it helps develop SL, bring in customers, and provide much-needed fresh and interesting content on the events list. What’s not to like? Except…it always leaves a bad taste in your mouth that this is not straightforward, not open to all, not fair, if it is Lindens in their off hours on their old charter member accounts as residents, or if it is any kind of special treatment not available to others. We’re inured to this phenom. It’s the way of the world. Just don’t expect us to be playing some masquerade game of hiding Linden identities in the age when Zarf and Torley now openly declare themselves as having become Lindenized (R).
Does it matter if this guy is a Linden? No, except he is privileged. And he is in Bedazzle. And Bedazzle got thrown a particularly lucrative contract. To point this out isn’t about “jealousy” it’s just about transparency.
It’s silly to keep on pining for fairness and justice in this world, where the deck is so stacked.
What I won’t stand for is being bullied, however, by the likes of Hiro Pendragon. He told me that he felt entitled to be an asshole — he “gets to be an asshole” because he believes I’m being a bully by raising this very pertinent question of whether this guy is a Linden.
If he’s not a Linden, is his reputation damaged? No, being a Linden is cool. If he is a Linden, is his personal life on his old account now horridly blighted? Um, hardly, since his little friends already know and share this secret, and now we can too, if it is true. Will we ever know? Um, probably not. Only his hairdresser knows for sure.
Is it wrong to out Lindens? It’s not against the TOS. The rules say that Lindens can keep their resident accounts — they get a freebie account in fact. It doesn’t require them to reveal these accounts, but they are not instructed NOT to reveal them, and residents aren’t told it is an offense of any kind to reveal them. If the FIC wants to make it a federal offense and a moral crime of magnitude to out residents-turned-Lindens, they can do so, and reveal their own moral paucity.
I for one think the free press needs to ask these questions. They’re asked in the form of questions about persistent rumours. Is it wrong to publish rumours? Possibly. But how can we get the facts in this very stacked-deck situation without asking quesitons?
That Hiro, a Development Team Leader and Master of the Metaverse sees fit to come inworld and punch me out for being a “scumbag,” and also has the nerve to call me a “crone” etc. with the usual theory that I must be a “hater” with some kind of blighted real life — just because I think it’s reasonable and just to ask normal questions about privileging and — corruption in SL — just exposes him for the bully he is.
Why do the Lindens condone such bullies on the forums?
HiroPendragon
Feb 24th, 2006
Prok > Hiro Pendragon just came inworld and IM’d me and called me a “scumbag” for asking whether BuhBuhCuh is a Linden
1. I said it was “a scumbag thing to do”, not call you a scumbag, for the record.
2. Posting our private conversation is against TOS/CS.
3. You didn’t “ask” anything. You stated.
Prok > Is it wrong to out Lindens? It’s not against the TOS.
Yes it is. It falls under the Community Standards under “disclosure” of private information of any resident, Linden or not.
I really truly hope this nets you a permaban, and if not, I’m pretty sure you just earned yourself a ticket that is waiting for you to slip up in-world to be punched.
Cocoanut
Feb 24th, 2006
This is pretty funny.
Ben Linden would not even be the guy’s REAL NAME.
Heck, it’s been ruled okay to out people’s alts openly on the forums. (A ruling I disagree with, if for no other reason than half the time, they are wrong.)
If anything, a resident should be more entitled to the privacy of his alt than a Linden.
coco
Walker Spaight
Feb 24th, 2006
Coco is absolutely right here. Transparency dictates that all Linden employees should be identified when they’re wandering around the Grid. What we have now is essentially undercover cops.
Also, I’d just like to remind everyone that the ToS/CS *does not apply* on the Herald, so please don’t pretend that what is said here is something that LL has any authority over.
Also, Hiro, Prok didn’t post your private conversation here. He related one word of it. Very different.
Prokofy Neva
Feb 24th, 2006
Hiro, we’re not in Kansas anymore, and we’re not on the SL forums, we’re on the SL Herald.
1. Saying what someone has done is a “scumbag thing to do” (it’s not) and then doubling back and whining that they didn’t really call them a scumbag as such, is wimpy. Geez, if you’re going to essentially call somebody a scumbag, call them a scumbag, Hiro, and don’t be a wimp.
2. Publishing conversations, or quoting from them, without the consent of one of the parties, is a violation of the TOS of SL, but it isn’t any violation on the Herald. The Herald doesn’t routinely practice this, but I believe, and the Herald editors have also demonstrated in the past with things like the IRC channel transcript, that in matters of public interest, one should publish such conversations especially if they involve the federal government and its chosen ruling class, i.e. the Lindens and the FIC, attepmting to gain favours or influence situations outside the regular channels.
If this was a personal matter, it wouldn’t be appropriate to publish it. It’s not. It concerns a smackdown and a threat from you, leader of the Development Team, the SLCC, and the FIC, as well as a major company enjoying considerable feting, and therefore someone constantly conversant with those in power and capable of influencing how our actual world gets changed (without our poarticipation).
And it concerns the issue — the primary issue of this thread — involving whether a resident-turned-Linden got to have special coverage of his pet project by having his threads left in General (they were moved likely due to being covered in the Herald, that’s all) — and other issues, like the original Stagecoach Contract, etc.
3. I don’t believe that covering the issue of how residents and Lindens collude to obtain special privileges not available to everyone else — which is what this is all about — is one that should rightfully, in a just society, constantly be kept covered up in the name of an individual’s privacy. Indeed, invoking individual privacy and threatening people with permabans if they can’t out corrupt practices is actually the recipe for the destruction of any free society, and while such tyranny might have a run, it can’t last and won’t last.
If the Lindens meant to have any privacy regarding this matter of which of them came from the former resident base, they’ve completely eroded this concept by having Zarf write on a notecard on his own business, himself, that he had become a Linden, and having Torley transform into a Linden before our very eyes. It seems to me that all bets are off.
If an individual becomes a member of the federal government, capable of exercising power over other residents, why is this a matter of privacy? It isn’t.
If there are individual residents-turned-Linden who are trying to keep their privacy because they don’t want to be bothered by customers constantly searching for help or fans wanting socializing, or even harassed while on their individual accounts, everyone quite understands. Lindens shouldn’t be bothered on their individual accounts. But if Lindens use their individual accounts to mount major businesses, events, activities, RL contracts, RL mass media coverage, etc. then the public has a right to know what’s up.
4. Your overweening and arrogant notion that the TOS of Second Life, which you arrogate yourself to interpreting, is applicable to third-party sites, i.e. the free press, such as we have it, is the most troubling thing about your post. You just take it for granted. Of course, where were you when the Sluniverse.com was making these same kinds of “violations,” outing my RL, pasting conversations from me, and libeling me with the *wrong* real life — all actions that can’t be violations because Sluniverse.com doesn’t sign the TOS — it’s outside it’s purview.
The minute LL starts enforcing the TOS outside of its own sphere, it’s own game, it’s own forums, and reaches any long arm out to fansites and the free press, I hope you would hear some howling and resistance, even from the Herald, whose backbone is getting pretty rubbery these days.
I wasn’t aware that it was “ruled OK to out alts” on the forums, but it is true, this is routinely done, was done to me, like the continual outing of RL info that isn’t on the first-life profile (regardless of where it might appear outside of the SL sphere) — and nobody lifts a finger to discipline the perpetrators *inside the sphere of SL* — so honestly, in that climate of non-enforcement and selective-enforcement, one really has to wonder about the rule of law.
Re: ” really truly hope this nets you a permaban, and if not, I’m pretty sure you just earned yourself a ticket that is waiting for you to slip up in-world to be punched.”
I really marvel at your notion that you can come here, threaten me, bully me, and announce yourself as the Linden’s enforcer. Is that what you are? It’s more like you’re just the stalking horse for some rogue group of vindictive former beta-tester residents, some of whom became Lindens — and I hope that isn’t the official face of Linden Lab.
Why would comments on a *third-party site* net me any kind of permaban? The TOS does not apply to them, nor should it. If the Lindens begin to try to reach out beyond their sphere and affect free speech outside their sphere, they are really going to face some resistance. They know that, they know it’s wrong, and they don’t do it. If they decide to do it, than they had better put something inside their TOS in the next patch saying they enforce the TOS even on third-party fan sites, because they do NOT have any restriction to that effect now, so that their punishment of anyone under a law that they didn’t write yet, based merely on fanboy whinings, is one that any RL lawyer would be happy to take up — it’s a no-brainer.
As for your other threat, that the Lindens lie in wait for people to “slip up” (swearing in PG? allowing a tree to wave on to another’s property? ???)because of some perceived or imaginary “violation” that their fanboyz are howling about, I actually do think that your Lindens are busier than that, and in any event making a vicious threat like that, implying that a) you are an enforcer and interpreter of the TOS b) you can apply to any sphere you like outside of the Lindens’ actual sphere c) that you are able to keep some kind of threat ongoing over my head — lets me know all I need to know about you and your protectors — you are thugs.
Let’s remember what it was that started my crusade against the injustices of the forums and the world of SL: the unequal, biased, favoured, non-enforcement or selective-enforcement of the TOS. It began with the Lindens (like Jeska) letting a long thread just about one resident go on and on and on, just because it was about a “land baron” (me) and just because it involved a FIC member (Pahoa Jade) wishing to vent herself about a lot of things she didn’t like, like land barons in general. That was wrong.
It went on as I saw that on any occasion, whenever other people started threads about individuals, started polls to bash Anshe, used swear language, made personal attacks, even outed RL or made false accusations of crimes based on the wrong RL — if it involved the FIC, the mods did absolute nothing. Even a demonstrable, documented case of creepy stalking, harassment, and attempted blackmail and the outing of RL netted only the mildest of wrist slaps. This is wrong. Everyone knows that it’s wrong, except that tiny clique of forums rulers who believe it’s ok to keep throwing the world their way.
The private life of a resident, the private life of a Linden, are of no interest and they can be rightfully kept private. The ONLY reason they *become* of interest is if it appears the intersection is used to obtain privileges — and it looks like they are, very commonly. The public is right to ask questions about this.
Prokofy Neva
Feb 24th, 2006
I’m glad Walker has made it clear that he does not view the Second Life TOS as applying to the Herald, a third-party site. And there is no language in the TOS saying that it views LL as being able to do this, so unless and until there is such language, then there cannot be an offense.
Re: ”
Here’s what I wrote: “Not only is he feted, he’s Ben Linden, no?” That’s a question. It has a question mark on the end of it. It’s not a statement. It’s a right and just question to make about a story involving feting by letting a resident tout his activity in “General” instead of under “events” or “announcements” so that he can get maximum visibility.
Re: “He related one word of it”. Actually, I think there are two or three words related, “scumbag” and “crone” etc. but what of it? It’s not an offense. And I didn’t post the transcript of the conversation anywy. What, we’re not allowed, even on the Herald, to post information about attempts to bully, silence, harass other residents for their questions???? Not even to post a few words out of a conversation????
FlipperPA
Mar 2nd, 2006
Sure, Buhbuhcuh is Ben Linden, Aimee is Jeff Linden, and Launa is Nova Linden. The old rumors were so much fun! Oh, and by the way… Aimee and Jeff were both 16. In early 2004.
Prokofy Neva
Mar 4th, 2006
Well, gosh, Flipper, who knew? Go know! If Aimee Weber is Jeff Linden, does that confirm the rumour that the reason she didn’t go to SLCC (or at least no one answering to any likely description showed up at SLCC with that nametag) because she’s a) male in RL or b) a Linden? Honestly, I don’t care? This is a question? Just sayin’?
Oh…and Jeff Linden you say? Well that explains something…but I’m still checking on it : )
C.T.Dummy
Mar 6th, 2006
I rather suspect Aimee didn’t go to SLCC because of C) An Aimee-obsessed sociopath was going to be there?
Lasivian
Mar 6th, 2006
Of course Aimee is a Linden.
She’s also George Bush, and was the shooter in the grassy knoll that killed kennedy.
gee, we can’t stop there.
She’s a practicing satanist that eats butterflies (so that makes her a cannibal).
To be honest I know a decent amount about the RL Aimee, and even if every bit of it is a lie i’m still very happy she’s on my friends list.
Urizenus
Mar 6th, 2006
All we know for sure about RL Aimee is that she has been known to lick her computer monitor.
The evidence: http://www.dragonscoveherald.com/blog/index.php?p=746
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