by Onder Skall

I didn’t start out looking for proof that Light Waves was Starax. Originally I just wanted to figure out who was bankrolling Rezzable. They’ve built 35 sims and have no defined business model. Who is spending tens of thousands of dollars on these vaguely defined art sims? Why are all the employees under contract to not reveal where the funding comes from?

Unfortunately I’m going to have to save the answer to that question for another day. They’re trying to keep a client, Surfline, from freaking out over deadlines for a bunch of surfing sims so I’ll give them some slack. Along the way, however, it came up several times that Light Waves, the artist behind the Greenies and the celebrated ballerina sculpty, is most definitely Starax.As I explored Hallucinogen (SLurl), a sim filled with stuff Rezzable bought from Light Waves, I thought it would be the right time to talk to him about having left behind his old identity.

I should preface this by saying that, while I thought I was such a brilliant researcher for working this out, it turns out that Not Possible IRL had the scoop on this in mid-September. Ah well, I guess I’ll have to work a little harder to earn my reporter’s rumpled raincoat and fedora.

The number one question I had was: why did he leave the Starax name behind? "I dumped Starax for many reasons. I wanted to move on from the wand [...] I became disillusioned with prims for things like "sculptures". Oh, and nobody could remember how spell his last name. "

Starax’s wand is the stuff of legend. One of the most expensive items in Second Life, it listens and responds to almost 150 words, rezzing some of the most incredible interactive sculptures you’ve ever seen in response. The problem was that as long as the name Starax Statosky was associated with that wand, people would be less inclined to accept permanent installations. Everyone would want to know why they should pay such an exorbitant amount of money for something that doesn’t have his "latest" work in it. The wand owned the name, not the other way around.

Making sculptures from prims was frustrating too. Starax was known for incredible works of art, all hailed for their detail and subtlety. The trouble was that he couldn’t take it to the next level – there’s only so much detail you can create with a basic prim set. He had gone to the edge of what could be done in Second Life, and was frustrated when he couldn’t go any further.

So he left… for a few months. "I didn’t really take that long of a break. After a few months Iwas soon back to building. But this time I decided to make stuff thatwas more suitable to prims, and so the Greenies were born… and nowthat we’ve got sculpties I’m enjoying making "sculptures" again."

These days he uses Mudbox, Cinema 4D and Maya to design and implement his Second Life creations, but he wasn’t always the notorious artist we know today. "I do SL for a living now. But I was a office worker before SL anddidn’t create a damn thing. If you had seen my first model that I madein SL, you’d laugh. I was bloody awful."

So who does he look to for inspiration? Nobody, apparently. In fact, he’s careful not to follow others too closely at all: "I don’t really have any influences. I’m deliberately ignorant to otherart because I worry I’ll  block myself off through fear of copyingsomebody else’s stuff."

Having said that, I did manage to get him to show me some pictures of what he would build if he had a full 4 sims available to construct a single piece of art in. He directed me to images of the Himalayan mountain range, and of Angel Falls (the world’s highest waterfall). Seeing these images really makes one appreciate what he’s doing here: bringing a new reality into the virtual world. Even so, Light Waves doesn’t see anything he has accomplished so far as all that impressive:

"I’m fully aware that Second Life is very limited and that anything Icreate is nothing compared to the what the big fish create in the vastocean of 3D modeling. I’m just a little fish that’s grown up  in thesmall pond of SL and is afraid to venture out. I never think ofanything I do as an ‘achievement’."

Octoberville is back again over at PixelTrix; a full sim of kooky creepy Halloween goodness courtesy of visionary Cherub Spectre. There’s more to see and do than could possibly be covered in a single article, and you really have to see for yourself anyhow. So, instead of boring you all with a big epic about how marvelous the place is, I’ve boiled my photo essay down to 20 things that you can do. Go do them.

1. Ride the train.

2. Hand out candy.

3. Die.

4. Go to the playground.

5. Watch a movie.

6. Go to church. What?

7. Crash the train.

8. Die.

9. Make some witch’s brew.

10. Pick some corn.

11. Trip out with the swirling ghosts.

12. Trip out with the swirling spiral.

13. Visit the theater.

14. Visit the neighbors.

15. Die.

16. Dodge the falling pumpkin. Stupid cat.

17. Watch TV.

18. Solve a complex sim-wide mystery.

19. Ride a giant spider.

20. Brave Elvis’ candy apples … and probably die.

Of course there’s lots more. A club. Some stores. A hayride. Oh, and you can die. Watch out for that.

by Onder Skall, former Unicorn daddy

Yesterday at the First Friday technology expo we saw some incredible inventions, but one in particular had the power to change the way we buy and sell things in Second Life. Through BidSL you can put things up for auction quickly and easily, and bidding is fast and fun! For Second Life society at large this is big deal, and could change the way we think about selling things in-world.

For me, I saw it as an opportunity to dump find a loving home for the rape spawn sweet little things that were the product of me stupidly following the latest fad some unfortunate incidents I’d rather not discuss. Let’s just say that mating with unicorns isn’t everybody’s cup of tea, and I thought perhaps people would like baby unicorns without having to do the deed.

The BidSL Auction House (SLurl) is laid out into sections for various types of items, and a handy elevator lets you go upstairs for the adult stuff. Lucky for me I was there early on opening day and got to grab the prime Featured item spot right near the door.

Setting up an auction is easy. Click on the board, say in chat the number of days you want the auction open for, make a payment to the board for L$1 for every day, and ctrl-drag-drop a texture, notecard, and the item in question. Naming conventions make everything work, so check the instructions. You can click the board and hit "clear" to reset, or hit "ready" to start your auction.

Next thing I knew, the babies were up for sale ready to find loving parents. Problem solved! Uh… the problem being finding parents who could love and care for such beautiful creatures. I’m just too busy, that’s all… and… well everybody knows guys wearing horns are notoriously terrible parents! I’m doing this because I want to be rid of the little pests love them!

Do you have some junk you’d like to dump from your inventory for a few Lindens? Swing by the BidSL Auction House in BongSwang (SLurl) or check out the website!

This story began when I was directed to an essay over at the SLLU blog entitled "What’s The Harm?". Basically it was a review of Second Life’s more hardcore sexual enterprises and a little walk down "Hard Alley", with the general message being that real harm was coming from it all. I wasn’t sure about the research and, not being a feminist, couldn’t really relate. I’ve always been a big supporter of people getting their kink on any way they damn well feel like, after all.

Still, I did think this picture was pretty funny – f you click on the ball you become chained to the post in a rather vulnerable position.

So I figured, what the hell, let’s talk to the person who wrote it. Whether I agree with someone or not, passion is something worthy of respect. In that way the author of the essay, Ledoof Constantineau, fits the bill. She’s worked with abused women and children for 12 years and has built a massive gallery of screencaps from inside Second Life. Maybe she’s seen something I haven’t.

After a bit of trouble (which I’ll cover in a bit) we visited the site that Ledoof created in the skies above Surrendered Scorpion. We were inside an enclosed area with screenshots on all sides from Second Life. Some were of search screens, some of domination scenarios playing themselves out, and some showed various bits of sexually violent artwork displayed in SL’s darker playgrounds [and Not Safe For Work - the Editrix].

The effect, at least from an artistic point of view, was impressive. We were enclosed on all sides by this material. On the ceiling there was actual text from message boards discussingwomen in ways not fit to print anywhere. Yeah, I realize this is theHerald, but even so.

There seemed to be volumes of it.

I’ve seen this all before, or stuff just like it, but having it all in one place and in every direction brought a new effect. It mattered now. It became really difficult to maintain my distance. I mean, I’m all for people expressing themselves any way they want as long as nobody is being victimized, but there was something about coming face to face with this much… what’s the word… disrespect. Even that word, "disrespect", meant something new now.

A walk through the wall revealed an exterior covered with more material from around the Internet. There were dozens of links to sexual journals and help for abuse victims. The build is a valuable resource, and one you should definitely track down. There’s a peaceful sitting area just off to the side if your group wants to gather and chat about these issues.

This was supposed to be a dispassionate article. What I had planned on doing, even leading right up to the point where I clicked the "New Post" button, was to just present the build and offer you the SLurl. Of course, the next thing I knew I was referring to myself… to my experience, to my perception, to what I was thinking and feeling. It became a blog entry really, and I apologize for that as I know you deserve better even if you don’t always expect it.

It happened for a reason, though: this is a story about passion more than it is about harm or abuse. Partially it’s about Ledoof’s passion, which is commendable, but it’s more than that. Most media let’s you drift past it, not obliging you to think or feel anything. This makes you think. It demands it. You might not be convinced of anything, but you will feel something here, even if you don’t understand what it is or what it means.

It was passion that made the build possible, but it was also passion that almost killed it. I had mentioned earlier that there was some trouble getting to see the build. The fact is that the sim owner wasn’t sure that they wanted too many people knowing it was there. It wasn’t prejudice or politics but something much worse: fear. They thought that if word got out, griefers would come and crash the whole place.

It wasn’t an unreasonable fear, either. Anybody who gives a damn about anything seems to be targeted these days. If you care, it doesn’t matter what about, chances are a few dozen people are going to jump down your throat about it. In the current climate of Second Life and the surrounding blogosphere it takes courage to make any kind of strong statement.

So there it is. Check it out, and if you have the guts, think about what you see while you’re there instead of doing what you have to do to brush it all off. I’m not saying that I’ve been convinced of anything, nor am I saying that "people are getting hurt". What I am saying is that Ledoof has a point, and it’s a good thing that at least one person is still willing to express an opinion about something despite how dangerous our "open-minded" culture has made it to do so.

August 14, 2007 – 9:20PM – According to The Sydney Morning Herald, there’s going to be a concert performed by real professional musicians in Second Life. It’s going to be the very first time that has ever happened, and will change the Internets forever. Here’s an explanation of this completely original concept:

The Liverpool Philharmonic said audience members from across the world will "sit" in a three-dimensional virtual version of its home venue in the north-west England city and listen live as the real orchestra plays.

This thrilling, ground-breaking event is coming up on September 14th and will feature all of the hits the kids are crazy about these days from Rachmaninov, Ravel and contemporary Liverpool composers John McCabe and Kenneth Hesketh. The best part: audience members’ avatars will even be able to buy sweets and go to the toilet, just like at a real concert!

Obviously the event will be a media madhouse and demand to go to the first ever live concert in a virtual world will be monumental, so they’ve had to close access. If you’d like to win a chance to go, visit the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic website and register. Winners will be announced on September the 10th. Publication of the link to the webpage may create a mad rush so if the site is unavailable, please wait and try again.

(Special thanks to Tateru Nino for sending me the link!)

I’ve received an urgent transmission and need your help! Beware the pink pony-tailed menace!

BEGIN TRANSMISSION 1 (07.31.07). S.O.S. – S.O.S. – IBMCODESTATION is breached. Infiltrator appears to be horrible pink beastwith devastating pony-tails. Our defender, SENTINEL, is defeated –broken in four and scattered across Second Life. [See attached movie.]You are our last hope. Find the four parts and rebuild SENTINEL. Theblack boxes will lead the way. Prizes and glory await all those whocomplete the challenge… END TRANSMISSION 1 (07.31.07).

IBM CODESTATION (SLurl)

The basic idea is that, scattered around Second Life, there are fourpeices of the Sentinel. Eventually, when you get all four, you can wearthem and you’ll BE the Sentinel and get to participate in a kick-assdrag-out fight with the Infiltrator. Each bit gets released on aschedule:

• Black Box 1 (Arms) – Tuesday, July 31
• Black Box 2 (Body) – Tuesday, August 13
• Black Box 3 (Legs) – Tuesday, August 27
• Black Box 4 (Head) – Wednesday, September 12

Not a bad way to keep people coming back to the sim, don’t you think? Here’s a link to the official IBM page on it: http://www-03.ibm.com/developerworks/blogs/page/codestation

Getting started is really easy. When you first get to the buildyou’re treated to the above video and a kind of scoreboard that tellsyou who the latest participants are. You also get to pick up a copy ofthe first “black box” that should lead you to picking up the Sentinel’sarms. When rezzed, this is what you get:

Click on it, and you get a landmark. Next thing you know, you’re in MTV’s Laguna Beach build!

Up until now I had thought that MTV’s Laguna Beach was all about abuild using Makena’s technology, but I guess they have a sim in SecondLife too. It’s gorgeous, as all Electric Sheep things tend to be. (Nothey didn’t pay me to say that and I’m in no way affiliated.) I didn’treally look around all that much because I didn’t have to: directly infront of the TP was a little sign. One arrow pointed to where the armswere, and the other direction pointed at this SCUBA gear you can pickup for free.

Now, I admit, I figured I could get away without the extra gear. Ihad a meeting coming up and didn’t want to mess up my hair. So I justheaded over to the buoy in the water and right away I could see thearms floating underneath it. Hunh, neat shark decoration…

AAaaah! Not decoration! Not decoration!

Alright… I’ll come back and figure out what the trick is after I get my arm re-attached.

I caught one of the kickoff events at Samarkand saturday night. (Here’s the SLurl.)The place is gorgeous, the role players really and truly role play, andI got pictures. It’s good to wear my “games reporter” hat sometimes!(Even if it has holes in it from the horns.)

Here’s a quick summary from the press release:

As one of the oldest continually inhabited cities in theworld, Samarkand is an international city set along the mysteriousCentral Asian/Persian/Arabian Silk Road. It is here, in ancientSamarkand (2000 BC – 1200 AD), that a group of outcasts have settledand begin to blend into the tribes of the land. These multi racialtribes–consisting of vampires (Vampire: The Masquerade clans, as wellas vampires without clans), demons, nekos, drows, mages, mortals,shapeshifters dragons, angels, lycans, among many other species andcultures–draw all travelers into their ancient rivalries until, soon,Samarkand lives up to the meaning of its name:”land of war!!!”…

As role play areas go, I have to say that Samarkand is unique inthat they control the style, but not really much of the content. Youget “Masquerade” vampires and human goreans, sword fighters and magicusers, angels and atheists, but in conversation they all seem to be onthe same page about the tone and style of the environment. It’s anopportunity for people to take characters they play elsewhere and bringthem into a new culture to see if there are new ways to make things fit.

The architecture is a mix of Arabian, Persian and Indian opulence,and I found myself looking forward to the day when Windlight lets uscontrol the lighting effects. This kind of build will really win outagainst others when shadows and light can play against each other in amore subtle way. It’s running on a class 5 server so the details poppedinto view fairly quickly too.

The “Queen of Queens” in Samarkand is (currently) Pierce Malick, whowould tell you that all of her subjects are loyal to her. That’s notcompletely true, however. There are always plots to overthrow thethrone, but of course, none of the tribes will openly admit that to theQueen herself. Secrecy, politics, and strategy play as much a part inthe daily lives of the city’s residents as DCS combat does.

Of course, every sim needs a club. Samarkand’s is called “The Silk RoseClub” and keeps with the multicultural feel, broadcasting dance radiofrom China, Afganistan, Russia, Iran, and even a little European mixnow and again. Like most clubs they hold regular events on Fridays andSaturdays, and they’re hiring dancers and escorts now if you’reinterested.

If you want to join in the general exotic fun at Samarkand, TP inand you’ll get notecards telling you how to join a tribe and meetinteresting people. It’s nice to see somebody trying something unique,and I have a feeling old-time role players are going to love therefreshing change.

Remember people putting “cyber” in front of everything? Remember articles defining what an “emoticon” was?

Suddenly… VERY suddenly… everything changed. That network not only became mainstream, it also fundamentally changed the lives of a lot of people. The isolated had company. The uneducated gained knowledge. The dreamers touched their dreams.

The Internet really means something to a lot of people now, and that has nothing to do with technological marvels. Below I’ve collected moments of passion (with links to the full stories) from savetheinternet.com detailing how much the Internet has made a real difference in the lives of these people.

None of them are CEOs or celebrities or historical figures. They’re regular folk, and they can’t imagine a world without the net.

—

My significant other and I are living with AIDS, sadly my partner no longer is able to move about as freely as before. His survival depends on his ability to communicate with others in his position, the access of most updated research and treatments. It also provides us with much needed fun when things get just too hard to bear.
- power Leyba (full story)

I am a small screen printing business owner who has been able to take advantage of the openness of the internet as it has been up until now in order to create a thriving business that markets to a niche that would otherwise be unmarketable. I am not rich and I was not raised rich, but I have been able to climb out of debt and really become more financially secure.
- Christopher Loch (full story)

My family is far flung. My sons are in Maine and Southern France. I have brothers in Atlanta and South Carolina and a sister in West Virginia. My wife’s family is in Ohio. We’re in San Francisco. We use a family website to communicate with one another… little stories of daily life. It’s a big part of our lives.
- Marcus Rector (full story)

The internet has fundamentally changed my life. I simply cannot overstate how important it is to me, and everyone else. It is my business lifeblood, and an immeasurable asset to my personal life. I am a self-taught graphics artist and musician, and care for my aged mother at home. The internet allows me to work at home while being immediately available if she needs me.
- Boyd Williamson (full story)

I became disabled in 2003 due to an industrial accident in 2002 and my life has been altered permanently.I can’t do the things I used to do because of physical limitations.I have learned about the internet from my son’s and now have some experience with using a computer. […] This is important because it facilitates my ability to be a better father to my son’s.We can communicate at any time as long as we have internet access.This is vitally important because we live apart from each other physically,first from a divorce and now because of college.There is an awakening going on in America about the importance of the father’s participation in parenting and if I am to be involved in my son’s lives,I need the internet to do so.
- Mark Stone (full story)

The Internet has been around all of my educated life. It has always been a free, open, equal source of information & entertainment. It was a magical place where anyone could be famous, if they had good enough material. And I could be a part of it!
- Taldar Baddley (full story)

Does everything have to be stamped, indexed, filed, and regulated; don’t all of you have enough ways to annoy us? My name is Scott Belbey. I’m 33 years old. I’m a blogger, a Libertarian, and I also have an advanced case of Multiple Sclerosis. I’d rather not have to deal with limitations imposed by corporations pertaining to what I can and cannot access on the Internet. I think I’ve got enough limitations these days.
- Scott Belbey (full story)

I lost my job four years ago. I was computer illiterate then. I found out immediately how essential computer knowledge and the Information Superhighway are to any job search.
After acquiring my first pc, I learned how to surf the Internet, to train online in MS Office skills so I could make a career change, and I even took a college course online! (I got an ‘A’!)
- William Leavy Jr. (full story)

Me and a group of friends have built a media company strictly on the basis that we need no distributer or resaler and can go straight to the public. This is a very common model for young entrepreneurs with big ambitions.
- Peter Toh (full story)

The internet is my only outlet of getting my art and what I have to say out to the real world.
- Tyler Murphy (full story)

I am a senior citizen, grandmother. The internet is a huge boon to free speech and access to information. Either you are for this wholeheartedly, in classic American fashion, or you are a greedy sort trying to figure out a way to either make a profit on it, and/or control the access people have to information and free speech.
- g. l. Williams (full story)

For many years I was the webmaster and executive director of a very small non-profit corporation with an international client base clustered in chapters scattered around the US and Canada. Our website was one of our major tools for connecting to potential new clients as well as staying connected with our existing clients. We are an education and support organization with almost no operating money to work with. Our web hosting was provided as a free service by a concerned, civic-minded hosting company. In addition we used a free, web-based, email-list service to provide a direct communication link among the leaders of our various chapters, myself and our Board of Directors.
During the years I was executive director we moved from 7 chapters in the US to 40+ chapters in the US and Canada. I doubt that we could have made that growth happen without the use of the internet. And we could not have used the internet successfully if we had to pay some communications giant a significant fee for access.
- Alex Keppeler (full story)

I am a point in my life where my full-time job is to look for a full-time job. It’s exhausting and disheartening. Why? I’ve been unemployed for almost a year now. I have a graduate level degree. If I did not have access to the internet, I would be unable to pursue my search, and although daunting at times, how might I continue to contribute to society? The idea of freedom – in equal distribution – doesn’t have a tag name on it. No one invented it. It was a discovery meant to be shared by all.
- ellen piangerelli (full story)

by Onder Skall

On my way home there’s this tunnel I pass through. It periodically fills with graffiti and then gets wiped clean. The really good graffiti doesn’t appear here. The good stuff ends up on a wall between two lanes of the highway that few but the most stalwart urban explorers ever see. The tunnel kind of serves as a clearing house for the city’s more amateur artists.

Today as I entered the tunnel I noticed that the city workers had been back, applying paint-thinner to all of the swear words and tags and additions of people’s initials “4evr”. They did a bad job this time around. While you couldn’t make anything out, there was still paint everywhere. The only thing they left alone was the pumpkin I took a picture of.

You know, I always did like that pumpkin. It’s pretty cool that they made the decision to leave it.

All of the excitement about user-created content that the Web 2.0 boom is bringing with it makes a lot of sense when I look at this picture. If we spend time somewhere, we want to leave our mark. It mostly leaves a mess, but sometimes it gives everybody a little shared moment. Who cares why, or whether that’s a good thing, it just is. We’ll break the law to do it if we have to.

It’s our compulsion.

I think a lot of what we’re seeing in the information revolution is the general acceptance of what our compulsions are. We want to kill, thus killing became the norm in video games. We want sex, and so there’s porn three clicks away from every page on the Internet. We want to tell everybody that we exist, and get recognition for it. Youtube.

Never mind if that’s good or bad, it’s what is. I think we’re starting to get that as a society and find new ways of coping with that beyond general repression. It’s not happening by design, but it is happening.

I really do like that pumpkin.