In this  Herald Instant Classic © interview, we talk with Andrew Auernheimer (aka weev) about his white supremacist politics, his work for the Daily Stormer website, the Kek/Trump political agenda, and his involvement in the pepe the frog meme-storming of Hilary Clinton’s campaign.

Pepe and Hillary have words

For readers that have not followed the recent dust-up between the Clinton campaign and the alt-right some background may be in order. Hillary Clinton recently gave a speech about the alt-right, in which she remarked that half of Trump’s supporters belonged in “basket of deplorables.” Shortly thereafter, the Clinton campaign posted an article on its website, in which it made reference to Pepe the frog, insisting that the green frog was not innocent, but antisemitic, and her campaign called out the Trump campaign for using the Pepe meme. This was echoed by Rachel Maddow, but a number of media outlets subsequently mocked the Clinton campaign for this claim, including the New York Post, which ridiculed her on its website, saying “In 2016, a presidential candidate declared war on a cartoon frog.” However, as devoted Herald readers know, in the Hall of Mirrors ™, things are not always as they seem.

In this story, weev gives Uri the inside scoop on all the pepemancy and explains how pepe was converted from a harmless meme into a plague of frogs for the Clinton campaign. According to weev, the operation was largely driven by the crew at the Daily Stormer, and the goal was to troll the Clinton campaign into saying something ridiculous.

We took thousands of kids, trained them in basic graphics, got them bullying journalists with custom Pepes. There was this one girl that would constantly get Pepes raping her dismembered corpse every day. Basically we explicitly targeted journalists and Hillary campaign staffers relentlessly. We drove these people insane, a plague of frogs was upon them for a year, and suddenly they are screaming in public about a cartoon frog, and looking like fucking morons.

In this interview, weev takes us into that op, and expands a bit on the pro-Kek, pro-Trump, alt-right politics driving the operation. As we will see, while Pepe himself may be harmless, the political agenda behind his weaponization is less so.

Urizenus: Hello weev, the last I heard, you were on the lam in former Yugoslavia or maybe Beruit or possibly the Ukraine. Where are you these days if I may ask?

weev:  Kharkov

Urizenus:  What is Kharkov?

weev:  It is the capital of the Kharkov oblast, in east Ukraine

Urizenus:  Ah, do you like it there?

weev:  Yeah.  A steak in the city's best steakhouse, as good as Ruth's Chris or Mortons, is $5

Urizenus:  So how would you describe your current projects/activities… if there is an umbrella description?

weev:  Reestablishing global white supremacy.

Urizenus:  Why did you choose that particular project?

weev:  Because blacks have supremacy in Lagos and Asians in Shanghai and whites are uniquely being deprived of their homelands in a global plot to exterminate them from the Earth.  The former president of France Sarkozy is on video stating that miscegenation is mandatory and that if people don't do it coercive state force would be used to make sure it happens. Then he imported a horde of murderous rapists.

Urizenus:  Let me step back a bit. When did it become your actual project?  How old were you?

weev:  Dunno, young. 14, 15

Urizenus:  Did your recent experience in prison reinforce these beliefs?

weev:  No I was a dedicated public white nationalist far before I went to prison. I didn't need prison to see the obvious truth that whites are uniquely deprived of their lands in a scheme to end European style liberties forever.

Urizenus:  “Deprived of their lands”... It seems like white Europeans have more land than they started with at the moment.

weev:  What are you talking about?

Urizenus:  Well, the western hemisphere comes to mind.

weev:  America has a nigger president and is controlled by Jews. So is all of Western Europe. Your assertion that whites have more is laughable. It's utterly absurd on its face. Whites used to be 25% of the world. Now we're 8% and only 2% of that is fertile white women.

Urizenus:  well, you know, having grown up in the great plains it seemed like we were doing better than the native Americans.

weev:  Native Americans are Asiatic and there are knives of French flint that predate their arrival to the north American continent as well as plenty of legends of the light skinned people those savages murdered when they arrived – moon-eyed people, cloud people, etc. Regardless, "native" Americans have a higher standard of living than they would ever have been capable of without us so they can eat a big pile of shit with the rest of the nonwhite animals, we reclaimed our continent and they better be happy with our generosity.

Urizenus:  “we reclaimed our continent.” ok, so then you admit that white people possess the entire North American continent

weev:   No. Jews do. Whites DID possess it at one point. We have been dispossessed of our lands by sociopathic criminals incapable of maintaining or creating the civilization we built and it's time for those fucking kikes to be taught a lesson and we're just about there; the pogrom is on full schedule and I cannot fucking wait to see the brains of their infants stomped out onto the pavement.  Gonna be so fun to rape their daughters and kill their sons in front of them.

Urizenus:  so... when people say you are just trolling with the racism and anti-semitism you say...what?

weev:  I am just trolling

Urizenus:  What does that mean

weev:  What is trolling?  Trolling goes to the heart of what it is to be European.  There were older words for it… flyting, senna, polemic.  Do you know what flyting and senna are?

Urizenus:  I think a lot of people *used* to think you didn't believe what you were saying.  You were just doing it to get a rise out of people.

weev:  I am doing it to get a rise out of people.  That is the whole point of flyting and senna and polemic

Urizenus:  *just* is the operative word.  Meaning you didn't believe it.  The question is, do you believe what you are saying?

weev: Do I believe that whites are being subject to genocide?

Urizenus:  Yes.

weev:  Do I believe that Jews and blacks kidnapped me from my home and tortured me? 

Urizenus:  Yes.

weev:  These aren't beliefs.  These are facts.  If you deny these things, you are a liar.

Urizenus:  “kidnapped you from your home”.  Are you talking about being arrested?

weev:  Yes.  Now, these people are going to fucking pay. Jews and niggers are going to pay.  We are going to systematically kill large volumes of them and we're going to laugh because they have it fucking coming.

Urizenus:  do you ever worry that you might have trolled yourself into being a racist?

weev:  Oh no, racist!!!  Take my livelihood, rob me, make me a slave, JUST DONT CALL ME A RACIST. Fact:  the slur, racisti, was coined by the Jew Leon Trotsky in his "History of the Russian Revolution" in a hateful rant about "Slavophiles" and "Teutonic jackasses".  That's why blacks are never punished for systematic violence against whites. The majority of interracial violence is black on white.  Not just in the past century, but in totality.  Millions of Slavic slaves taken to Africa, All systematically killed over centuries.  No living white descendants.  2 million from south Europe alone.  Anyways…point being…"racist" is an anti-white slur.

Urizenus:  Now that I have some clarity on your current political views I'd like to pivot to a discussion of the alt-right movement and your involvement with it, if any.

weev:  Sure

Urizenus:  Would you identify in any way with the movement?

weev:  Sure. I mean, the alt-right is anything to the right of or more authoritarian than Breitbart. I am certainly somewhat to the left of paleoconservatism, I am quite centrist but I am a believer in racial nationalism, which generally makes me on the alt-right spectrum but I am a white supremacist.

Urizenus:  So which alt-right blog do you identify with most?  Daily Stormer?

weev:  Daily Stormer, yes, I am a regular contributor there and I help them a lot on the logistical end.  It is by far the most impactful site.  It has more traffic than all the others combined.  

Urizenus:  Help them how?

weev:  I scale the website, keep it running, etc., anything technical/logistical I do. It serves 3 million unique people.

Urizenus:  do they pay you?

weev:  I do all my work for the movement pro bono.  Generally the readers compensate me significantly. I am not sure what spectrum of my donations come from Stormer as it is all Bitcoin and has no notes attached.

Urizenus:  Can I ask how much you get in donations in a typical month?

weev:  A few hundred dollars. Enough to live.

Urizenus:  What is your take on the rise of Pepe?

weev:  It was a glorious effort. I mean we did classes…all sorts of stuff.

Urizenus:  Did classes?  What does that mean?

weev: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARYWTq_x9N4

Pepemancy 1 (Adolf Hitler School of Meme Magic)

We took thousands of kids, trained them in basic graphics, got them bullying journalists with custom Pepes.  There was this one girl that would constantly get Pepes raping her dismembered corpse every day.  Basically we explicitly targeted journalists and Hillary campaign staffers relentlessly.  We drove these people insane, a plague of frogs was upon them for a year, and suddenly they are screaming in public about a cartoon frog, and looking like fucking morons.

Urizenus:  Who is 'we'?

weev:  Daily Stormer was doing the classes, the how-tos.  Zeiger and Anglin at Daily Stormer were primarily responsible for just relentlessly bullying journalists and professional political insiders with Pepe. Nonstop Pepe.  The plague of frogs has definitely hit peak, we gotta work on developing the locusts next.

Urizenus:  So there was actually a discussion of the form:  "I know what.  Let's bombard everyone with dark Pepe memes"?

weev:  There didn't even need to be a discussion. It's obvious that journalists need to be bullied and it's also obvious that you need a consistent signature. Back when we used to break people on teleconferences we'd always like, get shittons of stuff delivered to their house and it would always have a two-liter of Coke.  Just fucking days of endless deliveries night and day, always a two liter Coke.  They'd disconnect their doorbells.  Then we'd just have someone outsider of their house, two-liter of coke in hand.  They were afraid of a two-liter bottle of coke by the time we were done.

Urizenus: So it was just random that pepe was chosen? It could have been one of the My Little Ponies?

weev:  No it was not RANDOM that pepe was chosen. It was MEME MAGIC. God you people are dumb.  Whoever heard of a plague of my little ponies?

Urizenus:  The ponies frighten me to the core.

weev:  Yes well, there is no magic in MLP.

Urizenus:  But ok, it could have been Jiminy Cricket

weev:  no

NO

Urizenus:  …cuz, plague of locusts…

weev:  NO THE FROGS CAME FIRST

Also…praise Kek.  We worship Kek.  That is a serious thing

Urizenus:  There has been much liberal blog writing about the origins of Kek.  What do you think of it?

weev:  I think that I can feel the warm glow of the black sun wash over me.  We're going to bring darkness to the earth.

Urizenus:  I don't know what that means.

weev:  you've never heard of the black sun? seriously?

Urizenus:  I've seen the pictures, but I don't know what to expect when it happens.  What will my day be like when the black sun covers my world?

weev:  I don't know.

Urizenus:  So why do we want that to happen?

weev:  You might not ever see it. You might not notice.  I, however, feel the glow.

Urizenus:  What does it feel like?

weev:  Victory.

Urizenus:  Does it smell like napalm?

weev:  Not yet.

Urizenus:  Are you involved in the presidential campaign?

weev:  Everyone is involved in the presidential campaign.  This campaign is a work of art. It encompasses our whole civilization. None will be spared from Kek's glory.

Urizenus:  What is the nature of your involvement?

weev:  Well, I mostly promote esoteric Kekism and exoteric white supremacism.

Urizenus:  What does esoteric Kekism have to do with Donald vs. Hillary?

weev:  Everything and nothing.

Urizenus:  That is vague.

weev:  Kek is a god ascendant.  Ancient gods are returning to the earth. Kek, Wotan, … they're here among us again.

Urizenus:  I'll get back to Kek. Let's focus on the election for a minute.  Are you supporting Trump now?

weev:  I am supporting Kek. I am supporting Wotan. I am supporting rebirth of the West

Urizenus:  Well, who does Kek want to be president?

weev:  TRUMP

Read the tweet: https://twitter.com/rabite/status/478967913270226945

June, 2014.  See how Kek delivers us prophecy? 365 days before Trump announced.  We had a whole year head start to make memes.

Urizenus:  but in supporting Trump, how much of that is just because you want to watch everything burn?

weev:  No.  We want the west great again.  America included.

Urizenus:  How is Trump going to accomplish this?

weev:  Have you ever seen rodelinda? https://www.youtube.com/embed/Akusa8kG0YQ

Andreas Scholl - Handel - Rodelinda - Aria - Dove sei

This is what we fight for.

Urizenus:  You fight for Rodelinda?

weev:  What about the Women of Eger

You ever seen that?  They held the south wall as the Islamic horde tried to destroy them.  Rocks, hands, kitchen knives… Can you imagine how fucking brave our forefathers and mothers were?  How much they sacrificed for our people to have lands and culture of our own? The Jews have tried to fuck with that.  And they are going to pay.  They are going to dearly pay.  But the white race will not die.  It will rise to a glory and height like never before.

Urizenus:  And you think Trump is going to accomplish this???

weev:  nah.  Not yet.  But he's a step in the right direction

Urizenus:  So... trump is like baby steps for you.

weev:  It's not exactly a baby step in the overton window.  It's basically thrown the thing open.  And if he loses, oh man, quick path to victory--a harder one, but a quicker one.  Revolts everywhere… racial holy war.

Urizenus:  Are you on the hunt for a new Hitler?  or do you think one will arise organically?

weev:  Nobody needs to hunt.  Listen, there are a thousand Hitlers.  "Let's kill Hitler!" -- what a fucking dumb kike fantasy.

Urizenus:  Do you have any sense of the breadth of your movement?  Is it limited to /pol/ or is it broader, in your view?

weev:  Stormer has 3 million unique monthly viewers.  That's like, a major metro daily.  I am barely on pol, only 4pol these days, and only during happenings.

Urizenus:  So let's talk about Kek.  Egyptian deity.  Which means He’s an African deity.

weev:  Listen, He's darkness.  He's the god of darkness.  Darkness is all encompassing and timeless.  We're using the Egyptian deity because Egyptian and Levantine polytheism terrifies the shit out of Jews. 

Urizenus:  Have you read Black Athena by Martin Bernal? All of Western Culture was stolen from Africa by the Greeks. Stolen. Black. Culture.

weev:  If you think niggers are so great, move to Africa.  You can easily live among niggers.

Urizenus:  I'm talking about Greek architecture, Greek philosophy, Greek gods…all taken from Africa.

weev:  This is hilariously untrue.

Urizenus:  No.  Fact.  Where would the Pythagoreans be without the Egyptians?

weev:  Lol, okay go live among niggers if you think they are so intelligent.  Don't know why you're around us whites.

Urizenus:  I don't have to.  When I read Plato I am reading work with its origins in Africa.

weev:  I myself never want to live around niggers.

Urizenus:  St. Augustine.  Straight up black.

weev:  lollllll  God you have been brainwashed.  It's pretty sad to see.

It's ok…I myself am going to live in white society.  I like white people.

Urizenus:  No... *you* have been brainwashed and we know how it happened.

weev: How did it happen, Peter.

Urizenus:  They call me Uri.

weev:  Please explain to me how it happened.

Urizenus:  19th century German historians tried to erase the black source of western culture.

weev:  lollll

Urizenus:  Even Plato knew about the black origin of his philosophy.  Remarked on it.

weev:  I don't care. I want to live among whites. I want white people to have independent nations of their own. I don't mind blacks having that.

Urizenus:  I'm not saying you should care.  I'm just saying your culture is black.

weev:  lol sure.

Urizenus:  I guess white culture would be druid culture or something. But it wouldn't be grounded in Greek and Roman thought and art.

weev:  Blacks will never make something like this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WX83BSR0mug

Philippe Jaroussky - Vedro con mio diletto - Vivaldi

They have their own culture and that's great.  It's for them.

Urizenus:  No... you are soaking in black culture when you read Keats and Yeats and Plato.

weev:  looool

Urizenus:  Kek is out of deepest Africa.  Well up the Nile.  He's a Nubian god

weev:  He's darkness.  Darkness is eternal.

Urizenus:  It’s all a cosmic joke.  You are a vehicle for the rebirth of Africa

weev:  Great.  I do intend to help Africa.  Africa definitely needs rebirth as well.  Ever since whites abandoned its management it has been shit.

Urizenus:  Yeah, I hear they really miss King Leopold of Belgium.

weev: Oh yeah, the Congo STILL has people that eat each other in it but it's totally Leopold's fault it all went to shit.

Urizenus:  I have a horrifying thought for you. Have you noticed the similarity between "kek" and "cuck"?

weev:  Lol

Urizenus:  What if Kek is a meta-troll looking to turn you all into cucks?

weev:  Man you are really stretching here.

Urizenus:  No, I think the reasoning is solid.

weev:  omg, we are so cucks reclaiming our civilizations and knocking out the political establishments that took them from us.

Urizenus:  Or are you?  Dude, it could be a path to cuckdom.  Kek works in mysterious ways, as you are forced to admit.  The innocent green frog, a mole in the alt-right movement, delivering an army of white cucks to mother Africa

weev:  I would be very happy if all the cucks were sent to Africa.  They would be too; living amongst the niggers they love so much.  It would be win-win.

Urizenus:  The point is that you would be one of them.

weev:  I'm definitely pretty far away from Africa. And my passport has become significantly less useful because some diffusions are on it now.  So I am definitely staying here in a lily-white land of gorgeous Slavic women.  Great ballet.  You wouldn't believe how good the ballet is here.

Longcat was long in Second Life

Well, virtual worlds have not changed, but so-called Real Life has. In fact Real Life has become a virtual world – not The Spectacle, as foretold by Guy Debord, nor a simulacrum, as Baurdrillard imagined – but a straight-up video game.

All the trolls and memes and griefers and the whatthefuckedupedness of Second Life have spilled out into so-called Real Life and turned the 2016 election season into an endless parade of fort longcats. Pepe has replaced Pool’s Closed, and weev has replaced Grimmy Moonflower, but these changes are cosmetic.

Pepe comes to real life

We could have sat this one out, but that would be irresponsible to our loyal readers and jealous haters. They *could* make some popcorn and pull up a lawn chair and watch as the Bowsers of American politics sling poo at each other, but without the Herald’s thoughtful analysis, the popcorn would not be as tasty, the lawn chair not as comfortable, and the poo slinging would appear less artful.

No, you need the Herald to help you through this, and we aim to deliver. We are here for you. Because we care. And remember: The Ban Hammer (tm) now works in Real Life too, so be careful, because it can come down on you “for any reason or no reason.”  Meanwhile, stay tuned.

a swarm of moth winged avatars take flight

I have attended my share of Second Life memorial services, and would like to congratulate Justin Esparza on a well run event. I particularly enjoyed watching the avatar swarm attach their moth wings and fly away - a touching tribute.

Osprey Therian memorial

The crowd included a number of SLebrities. Game god Torley Linden (cleverly disguised in a pink suite with watermelon tie) was present under the alt account Torley Sr.

Also in attendance was well-known entrepreneuer Stroker Serpentine, and internet troll Prokofy Neva Neva. The tone of the memorial was such that the excitable Neva somehow managed to avoid mentioning the menace of technocommunist conspiracies even once and instead distributed Osprey's moth feelers to augment the avatar moth wings used for the flight to Iris Moth Temple.

Everyone was on their best behavior, and discussed ways to allow Vivian Kendall's fictional character Osprey Therian to continue her virtual existence. Let us hope that Torley can help smooth over any problems that might arise with the transfer of control of Osprey's account and assets.

Torley and Prokofy stand united in advancing the Osprey Therian fictional character cause

[09:57] Torley Sr. (torley.olmstead): Hey Ilia, Bixyl...
[09:57] Bixyl Shuftan: And yes, it's been a while
[09:57] Marianne McCann: A fine bunch of avatars
[09:57] Torley Sr. (torley.olmstead): Tish!
[09:57] Holocluck Henly: heya Bix
[09:57] Justin Esparza wonders if Magellan Linden will show up today or tomorrow...
[09:57] Robin Sojourner: Lots of us never get out of our workrooms, I'm guessing.
[09:57] Rhiannon Chatnoir: it is like a creative oldbie convention .. Os would ♥ it
[09:57] Marianne McCann: Avi, welcome
[09:57] Torley Sr. (torley.olmstead): Kumi, I've always been, in one way or another. Torley Sr. was my original "form", and the first one I met Os in...
[09:57] Justin Esparza nods
[09:57] Tish (laetizia.coronet): I'm looking at th fine fleur of SL here. I shouldn't be among you.
[09:57] Holocluck Henly: He may be hiding between rocks discretely
[09:57] Kennylex Luckless: I has a bottle of rum, I may live dangerous if Magellan comes
[09:57] Avi Arrow: hi mari, thanks
[09:57] Kennylex Luckless: Hello Avi.
[09:58] NikoKito Aries: welcome Avi
[09:58] Torley Sr. (torley.olmstead): We used to be feted... or something... ha ha ha...
[09:58] Holocluck Henly knows most of these people
[09:58] Justin Esparza: Good point, Holocluck!
[09:58] Gomi Mfume: ah! so this *is* torley torley?
[09:58] Kumi Kuhr: FIC ㋡
[09:58] Avi Arrow: hi to everyone
[09:58] Gomi Mfume: hiya
[09:58] Kumi Kuhr: FIC as feeves
[09:58] Torley Sr. (torley.olmstead): Gomi, well my Resident alt, but yes, certainly.
[09:58] Tish (laetizia.coronet): LOL Torley
[09:58] Torley Sr. (torley.olmstead): Cultural references!
[09:58] Francesca Alva: heheh - long time since I heard that
[09:58] Justin Esparza: Couple more minutes and then I'll give a quick intro.
[09:58] Rhiannon Chatnoir: not sure I ever met the resident alt, but good to see you again here Torley
[09:58] Holocluck Henly misses HBA...
[09:59] Marianne McCann: Me too, Doc
[09:59] Francesca Alva: you were already a Linden when I joined Torley
[09:59] Torley Sr. (torley.olmstead): Used to be that Lindens couldn't/shouldn't disclose their alts due to charges of favoritism. Long time, long time.

one of Torley Linden's alt accounts

[09:59] Justin Esparza: 2:00am for HBA or he'd be here.
[09:59] Bixyl Shuftan: I think when we met Torley, it was because someone from the Discovery Channel was taking a look at the Gris.
[09:59] Torley Sr. (torley.olmstead): You too Rhiannon.
[09:59] Justin Esparza: Is that right...
[09:59] Justin Esparza: ?
[09:59] Justin Esparza: Hmmm?
[09:59] Justin Esparza: No he's later!
[09:59] Torley Sr. (torley.olmstead): I have old pictures of many of you... haha... in my archives...
[09:59] Patch Lamington: hi avi
[09:59] Bixyl Shuftan: Grid, pardon my spilling.
[09:59] Justin Esparza: 6:00pm!
[09:59] Francesca Alva: hello Otenth
[09:59] Marianne McCann: Hey Otenth
[10:00] Otenth Håkon Paderborn (otenth.paderborn) waves to everyone
[10:00] Justin Esparza: Okay. Welcome everyone!
[10:00] Mossant Paravane waves
[10:00] Enjah (enjah.mysterio): still trying to figure out how to get my vewer larger on screen in mac
[10:00] NikoKito Aries: welcome Otenth
[10:00] NikoKito Aries (Q-Translator es->en): To welcome Tenth "," correction_type ": [1]}," server_time ": 15}
[10:00] Justin Esparza: Thank you all for coming together today to honor one of our friends, Osprey Therian.
[10:00] Kumi Kuhr: eek sorry LRacer!
[10:00] Justin Esparza: In the physical world was known as Vivian Kendall.
[10:01] Justin Esparza: You probably don't know me from Adam, but I am the creator behind the avatar Salazar Jack and the Forest of Kahruvel.
[10:01] Justin Esparza: My real name is Justin Esparza and I live in Washington State in the USA.
[10:02] Enjah (enjah.mysterio): HE IS EXPOSING HIMSELF!
[10:02] Ilianexsi Sojourner:
[10:02] Holocluck Henly notices it's a PG sim
[10:02] Kumi Kuhr: le gasp!
[10:02] Enjah (enjah.mysterio) faints
[10:02] Justin Esparza flashes for thecameras
[10:02] Marianne McCann: o.O
[10:02] Ilianexsi Sojourner: Think of the children!
[10:02] Torley Sr. (torley.olmstead): <.<
[10:02] Justin Esparza: I have known Osprey inworld since 2004.
[10:02] Tish (laetizia.coronet) covers Kennylex' eyes
[10:02] Holocluck Henly: actually your RL self bears a physical resemblance to sal except for the color
[10:02] Justin Esparza: But really only in Second Life.
[10:02] Lucy Tornado: lol
[10:03] Kennylex Luckless: I am just small ans silly, not a kid
[10:03] Justin Esparza: I did not know her really well in the physical world.
[10:03] Justin Esparza: But I have visited her in real life on three occasions.
[10:03] Justin Esparza: And she was just the same there as she was here.
[10:03] Francesca Alva: hello Wild
[10:03] Molly Montale: I watched a video an hour ago, and one of the first thinks I thought of was "I need to send this to Osprey, she'll really enjoy it".

Vivian and her avatar

[10:03] Justin Esparza: Behind me is a photo of Vivian with her Osprey Avatar.
[10:04] Justin Esparza: And a photo of her as a little girl.
[10:04] Justin Esparza: Even at that age she was 100% Osprey, right?
[10:04] Robin Sojourner nods
[10:04] Lucy Tornado: she was
[10:04] Kumi Kuhr for sure
[10:04] Marianne McCann: mmmhm!
[10:04] Ilianexsi Sojourner:
[10:04] Lucy Tornado: a warrior
[10:04] Justin Esparza: You can click on the photo box and get some items that you can use today, if you don't have them already.
[10:05] Marianne McCann: Welcome, Prokofy
[10:05] Arrehn Oberlander: An adventurer
[10:05] Francesca Alva: hello Prok
[10:05] Justin Esparza: One is a notecard with some info about Vivian/Osprey.
[10:05] Justin Esparza: There are her Moth wings.
[10:05] Prokofy Neva: Hello
[10:05] NikoKito Aries: welcome Prokofy
[10:05] NikoKito Aries (Q-Translator es->en): Prokofy welcome
[10:05] Justin Esparza: Which you can also see behind you on the hill by Zayn Till.
[10:06] Justin Esparza: There is a landmark to the Iris Infohub.
[10:06] Justin Esparza: And a copy of this photo.
[10:06] Marianne McCann: Hey Thea
[10:06] Thea (theadee): Hi Marianne
[10:07] Justin Esparza: I think it was Holocluck who first suggested that he might wear her wings today and that lead me to think we could all do it as a trubute at the end of this gathering and fly up north to the Iris Infohub together.
[10:07] Tish (laetizia.coronet) whispers: (31 avis)
[10:07] Justin Esparza: Osprey would always do that on her rez day.
[10:07] Object owned by Justin Esparza. gave you 'Vivian Kendall/Osprey Therian Memorial Sat Dec 14 10am SLT' ( http://slurl.com/secondlife/Bodega/224/139/23 ).
[10:07] Giant Moth: Press the FLY button at the bottom of your screen and use keyboard ARROWS and PAGE-UP to move. Right-click to COPY these wings and drag out from INVENTORY to WEAR.
[10:08] Justin Esparza: This land herre has been used by Osprey for as long as I can remember.
[10:08] Enjah (enjah.mysterio): yes she never moved
[10:08] Enjah (enjah.mysterio): was amazing to me
[10:08] Justin Esparza: I met with her about a month ago in real life and she wanted to know if I was interested in taking over her Art Westerburg account.
[10:08] Enjah (enjah.mysterio): YAY ART WE WANT ART
[10:09] Justin Esparza: Art's account is a lifetime account and controls almost all of the land here.
[10:09] Lucy Tornado: up with art!
[10:09] Francesca Alva: welcome back Holo
[10:09] Justin Esparza: So I said I would and keep her land herre as long as I could.
[10:09] Zayn Till: ART!!!!
[10:09] Holocluck Henly: ty. you had to mention me lol
[10:09] Holocluck Henly: (hope this is all going to be transcribed)
[10:10] Justin Esparza: We also talked about the legacy of the Osprey Therian avatar.
[10:10] Bixyl Shuftan: (yes I am taking notes Holo)
[10:10] NikoKito Aries: Thanks Bixyl
[10:10] Bixyl Shuftan: welcome
[10:10] Justin Esparza: And she was excited about having her avatar continue on as part of the world after she was gone.
[10:10] Holocluck Henly: Art = the giant Maria too?
[10:10] Lucy Tornado: that was brilliant
[10:11] Justin Esparza: So we decided to try and do that and pattern her activity a bit after Magellan Linden's.
[10:11] Kumi Kuhr: what a wonderful idea
[10:11] Marianne McCann nods in agreement
[10:11] Robin Sojourner: Thanks, Justin.
[10:11] Holocluck Henly: here here!
[10:11] Justin Esparza: It is my understanding that she has formally included these things in her will and I will be meeting with her executor later this month to begin that process.
[10:12] Molly Montale: I remember when There closed. Osprey felt very badly that her avatar could no longer exist
[10:12] Justin Esparza: As I want to work with Linden Lab, if possible, to accomplish that.
[10:12] Lucy Tornado: yes!
[10:12] Kumi Kuhr: it'll be a new situation for LL
[10:12] Justin Esparza: My first memory of Osprey was a photo she posted online in the Second Life forums.
[10:12] Marianne McCann: Same, I s'pect, in Glitch Molly.
[10:13] Rhiannon Chatnoir: there has been some passing on of assets/land before, certainly when The Sojourner passed on.. at the time Pathfinder who was still a Linden helped in that process
[10:13] Patch Lamington: I 'knew' osprey from her photos before I had my own rezday... when I was checking out SL
[10:13] Justin Esparza: She was exploring a cave in the Stinson region that my avatar, Salazar Jack, and another friend, Champie Jack, has discovered.
[10:13] Patch Lamington: her sailing photos always mesmerized me
[10:14] Justin Esparza: She posted a photo of herself wavng from the entrance to the cave and said that she was wearing steel-toed boots to protect her feet.
[10:14] Rhiannon Chatnoir: Patch, yes she went on these epic saling journies and documented her travels of the Linden waterways
[10:14] Justin Esparza: It was a runnign joke with us after that.
[10:14] Torley Sr. (torley.olmstead): I was often inspired by Os' photos of eclectic and bizarre attractions in SL... pieces of our unique culture here. Does anyone else remember her Roadside Attractions exhibit?
[10:15] Justin Esparza: I loved her sailing expeditions.
[10:15] Rhiannon Chatnoir: yes Torley
[10:15] Enjah (enjah.mysterio): I DO remember yes
[10:15] Marianne McCann: Hey Fenix, Stroker, Mami.
[10:15] Ilianexsi Sojourner: I always enjoyed the photo contests at the gallery.
[10:15] Fenix Eldritch: Heya
[10:15] NikoKito Aries: yes remember
[10:15] Kumi Kuhr: hey Stroker ㋡
[10:15] Holocluck Henly: I was a noob when I found out about the photo contests and that's how I knew her
[10:15] Marianne McCann: Ilianexsi - that was when I first got to know Osprey. That and attending TSMGO
[10:15] Justin Esparza: I don't tink I saw the whole exhibit, but i have seen individual pieces of it.

Stroker Serpentine

[10:15] Stroker Serpentine: Hi Kumi
[10:15] Rhiannon Chatnoir: and the photo studio and book shop her and Enjah ran.. and those monthly contests where she would set up dioramas
[10:16] Enjah (enjah.mysterio): Osprey Therian = Force of Nature
[10:16] Torley Sr. (torley.olmstead): I thought about road trips and the kinds of unexpected landmarks you might see across the territory... and that kept me coming back for exploration inworld, so Os was a very positive influence on my early days inworld.
[10:16] Justin Esparza: I will be keeping a permanent page for Vivian/Osprey at http://kahruvel.com/vivian.html
[10:16] Monty Talbot seconds "Osprey Therian = Force of Nature"
[10:17] Ilianexsi Sojourner: Yep.
[10:17] Kumi Kuhr: bookmarked, Justin
[10:17] Marianne McCann: Oh my yes
[10:17] Monty Talbot: absolutely Enjah
[10:17] Justin Esparza: At some point I will make it so one can add a comment to it directly.
[10:17] Enjah (enjah.mysterio): what will happen to her blog, Justin?
[10:17] NikoKito Aries: yes please
[10:17] Enjah (enjah.mysterio): www.atomic-raygun.com
[10:17] Tish (laetizia.coronet): oh dear the vehicle/me petitions SL for an Osprey sim if not already done
[10:17] Tish (laetizia.coronet): oops
[10:17] Justin Esparza: But for now, you can send me a comment and I will make sure and post it there.
[10:18] Tish (laetizia.coronet) petitions SL for an Osprey sim if not already done
[10:18] Justin Esparza: I don't know about her atomic-raygun.com blog, Enjah. I don't have access to that I don't think.
[10:18] Justin Esparza: Unless the computer she gave me can give access.
[10:18] Justin Esparza: I will check that out.
[10:18] Holocluck Henly: Does she own the domain? Maybe that's in her will as well
[10:18] Enjah (enjah.mysterio): I am sure it will in her blogger profile
[10:19] Rhiannon Chatnoir: yeah was wondering on that, some of it is on blogger, which will most likely stay, but anything that had hosting paid for it will probably go after awhile
[10:19] Justin Esparza: It may be. i will make sure to research that.
[10:19] Justin Esparza: Good points!
[10:19] Holocluck Henly: Well if it's hers then it can be transfered over.
[10:20] Holocluck Henly: at least long enough to acquire and archive
[10:20] Kumi Kuhr: Justin, I have a link to pix of the 2010 Duck Prank that Os organised for Lucy Tornado: http://www.flickr.com/photos/10238602@N06/sets/72157623528556231/
[10:20] Holocluck Henly:
[10:20] Lucy Tornado: *blush*
[10:20] Kumi Kuhr: it was such a hoot
[10:20] Ilianexsi Sojourner: That was awesome.
[10:20] Holocluck Henly: ducks have their own group too
[10:20] Justin Esparza: She has given me access to Osprey, Art both verbally and in emails. And she willed her computer to me. Which I have just set up.
[10:20] Lucy Tornado: ~*~OMG~*~ it was
[10:20] Justin Esparza: Thanks, Kumi.
[10:21] Kumi Kuhr: OMG Os is really going to live on
[10:21] Kumi Kuhr: in spirit
[10:21] Justin Esparza: But I will have to wait to talk with her executor to get the details.

a new team of typists are taking over

[10:21] Justin Esparza: Oh!
[10:21] Justin Esparza: Also...
[10:22] Justin Esparza: Tommorrow at 10:00 am SLT. The Osprey Therian character will be going through the unstable portal in the Rodeo region to search for Salazar Jack.
[10:22] Enjah (enjah.mysterio) is happy and sad all at the same time
[10:22] Lucy Tornado: me too!
[10:22] Ilianexsi Sojourner: Me too.
[10:22] Holocluck Henly: hugs Enjah
[10:22] Justin Esparza: So yes, her adventures will be continuing in a tangible way as well.
[10:22] Torley Sr. (torley.olmstead): That's so beautiful and fitting. The voyage continues.
[10:23] Francesca Alva nods
[10:23] Enjah (enjah.mysterio): yes she loved searching for people
[10:23] Tish (laetizia.coronet): second life, literally
[10:23] Enjah (enjah.mysterio): hehe third life
[10:23] Justin Esparza: And, sometime next year, there will be more activity all around.
[10:23] Tish (laetizia.coronet): right you are!
[10:23] Lucy Tornado: a new phase
[10:24] Holocluck Henly: Maybe something special for Nova's 10th?
[10:24] Giant Moth: Press the FLY button at the bottom of your screen and use keyboard ARROWS and PAGE-UP to move. Right-click to COPY these wings and drag out from INVENTORY to WEAR.
[10:24] Justin Esparza: Does anyone have any questions that I might have missed or that I can possibly answer?
[10:24] Justin Esparza is not a touch typist
[10:24] NikoKito Aries: good idea Holo
[10:24] NikoKito Aries (Q-Translator es->en): good idea to Holo
[10:24] Prokofy Neva: Did you get the Lindens to allow you to continue her avatar?
[10:24] Justin Esparza: Yes, Holo, great idea!
[10:24] Stroker Serpentine: wb Rhiannon
[10:24] Holocluck Henly: Os used to organize the anniversary parades till she couldn't any longer it would be a perfect tribute
[10:25] Justin Esparza: I will have to contact them to find out, Prokofy.
[10:25] Lucy Tornado: she loved/loves parades!
[10:25] Prokofy Neva: Surely they will understand
[10:25] Kumi Kuhr: I'd just like to say what an amazing woman to have gathered such a divergent bunch of people ㋡
[10:25] Torley Sr. (torley.olmstead): Ah! Justin, if you happen to find Os' Foot B Gone spray in her bequeathed inventory, can you please send me a copy? I was looking for it in my inventories but didn't find it.
[10:25] Torley Sr. (torley.olmstead): Let me know if I... er Torley Linden... can do anything to help with that communication.
[10:25] Lucy Tornado: hahahahahaha
[10:25] Justin Esparza: The TOS does state that there has to be written permission from them to transfer an account.
[10:25] Patch Lamington: I wondered if we could submit pics for a show at the art gallery? don't know who has access for theland... but perhaps people might like to pick out one photo from their inventory?
[10:25] Tish (laetizia.coronet): I'll write the permission no problem
[10:25] Justin Esparza: So I will go down that path and see where it leads.
[10:26] Lucy Tornado: she could have a whole museum of brilliant creations
[10:26] Justin Esparza: I will Torley, yes.
[10:26] Kumi Kuhr: I'd love to give you a pic to display Patch
[10:26] Lucy Tornado: foot be gone reminds me of the spray can of STOP IT
[10:26] Ilianexsi Sojourner: That's a cool idea.
[10:26] Torley Sr. (torley.olmstead): In 2005 (long before any of this fancy Advanced Lighting Model stuff), I griped about the ugly avatar foot shadows and Os manifested a cure.
[10:26] Torley Sr. (torley.olmstead): That's some context.
[10:26] Torley Sr. (torley.olmstead): Thanks Justin!
[10:26] NikoKito Aries: or a foundation with her name
[10:26] Lucy Tornado: lmao
[10:26] Marianne McCann: I beliebe I have some zom-b-gone here somewhere
[10:26] Mossant Paravane: We had such a great time working on Nova's 5th parade...Osprey has a wonderful video on her YouTube channel. Would be nice if we could honor her at the 10th.
[10:26] Holocluck Henly: lol
[10:26] Justin Esparza: And thanks, Torley. I will contact Torley Linden to get some bearings on that.
[10:26] Lucy Tornado: that was useful too
[10:27] Prokofy Neva: I must put up a photo display of our early Moth Swarms that was fun, Osprey made this Moth Staff for me, look at the level of detail, even little moth feathers
[10:27] Holocluck Henly: i love that video
[10:27] Molly Montale: my b-gone is no transfer
[10:27] Enjah (enjah.mysterio): mine too
[10:27] Vick Forcella: Looks amazing prok
[10:27] Ilianexsi Sojourner: I have the lantern she made, with the moths that come out at night.
[10:27] Justin Esparza: Patch, do you mean Osprey's photo studio in Grignano, Nova Albion?
[10:27] Torley Sr. (torley.olmstead): Thanks for checking Molly!
[10:27] Prokofy Neva: She especially made those lamps for the Iris Moth Temple when the Lindens' lanterns disappeared mysteriously
[10:27] Patch Lamington: yes...
[10:28] Patch Lamington: I drove there today.
[10:28] Justin Esparza: The land is controlled by avatars I created.
[10:28] Justin Esparza: So yes, that is possible.
[10:28] Lucy Tornado: LOL monty, from the raindrops act
[10:29] Monty Talbot: my small tribute
[10:29] Justin Esparza: Prokofy, I love what you and Osprey did up in Iris to preserve and promote that area. Well done!
[10:29] Tish (laetizia.coronet): (34 in sim)
[10:29] Enjah (enjah.mysterio): anyone remember the UN-Linden Cards she made?
[10:29] Vick Forcella: Moth is truely Amazing
[10:30] Justin Esparza: A nice number, Tish.
[10:30] Prokofy Neva: It's jessica Ornitz's build and Osprey helped early on and then later when the lanterns disappeared
[10:30] Torley Sr. (torley.olmstead): Yes Enjah!
[10:30] Ilianexsi Sojourner: Yeah, the Moth Temple is such a fantastic place.
[10:30] Rhiannon Chatnoir: And, I still own the old cathedral in Darkwood, you are all welcome to light a candle there for Osprey
[10:30] Torley Sr. (torley.olmstead): I remember when that northern area was first opened up and anew... my gosh. Flashbacks!
[10:30] NikoKito Aries: good place
[10:30] Enjah (enjah.mysterio): thanks Rhiannon!
[10:30] Marianne McCann: I still have an un linden card or two. I think the dispenser used to be over at TSMGO
[10:30] Torley Sr. (torley.olmstead): Heterocera Atoll...
[10:30] Justin Esparza: A small sampling of Vivian Kendall's real life artwork is just up the hill here in a small gallery that Osprey created.
[10:30] Enjah (enjah.mysterio): yes
[10:30] Marianne McCann: Still have her ol roadside attractions plate and cup out, too.
[10:31] Francesca Alva: I have her runestones
[10:31] Holocluck Henly: flying from here to the temple is nothing
[10:31] Holocluck Henly: btw
[10:31] Rhiannon Chatnoir: I still have a notecard from her of her artist's statement from the first relay for life where I curated an art auction and had some of her work in it
[10:31] Molly Montale: the hitch-hiker's sign
[10:31] Enjah (enjah.mysterio) remembers when Osprey wanted her to make an avatar named Ted Wingnut, who made the pencil tree, supposedly
[10:31] Lucy Tornado: oh yes
[10:32] Torley Sr. (torley.olmstead): I happened to see Magellan Linden the other day, maybe Os and he will team up on some dynamic duo adventures! Like comic book crossovers.
[10:32] Enjah (enjah.mysterio): MAGELLAN?!?!?!?
[10:32] Holocluck Henly:
[10:32] Justin Esparza: That would be soooo awesome, torley!
[10:32] Francesca Alva: ㋡
[10:32] Mossant Paravane: That would be fantastic!
[10:32] Rhiannon Chatnoir: heh Torley
[10:32] Fenix Eldritch: Long time no see, Amulius
[10:32] Molly Montale: keep them away from the rum
[10:32] RacerX Gullwing: Well I'm sorry but I have to go. Thanks for doing all this Salazar Jack and everyone. I have a giant snail race I haveto get too. Osprey was one of our early snails 2004 2005 I hope she wont mind if I run off good seeing you everyone
[10:32] Holocluck Henly: Heya Fenix ltns to you too
[10:33] Enjah (enjah.mysterio): bye Racer!
[10:33] Justin Esparza: Thanks RacerX!
[10:33] Enjah (enjah.mysterio): good seeing you
[10:33] Marianne McCann: Take care, Racer
[10:33] Lucy Tornado: bye Racer
[10:33] Francesca Alva: •·.·´¯`·.·• Bye Bye! •·.·´¯`·.·•
[10:33] Francesca Alva: Racer
[10:33] Torley Sr. (torley.olmstead): RacerX my goodness, it's been ages! Take care.
[10:33] Kumi Kuhr: good racing Racer!
[10:33] Gomi Mfume: take care, racerx
[10:33] Stroker Serpentine: Cya Racer
[10:33] Patch Lamington: bye raacer
[10:33] Holocluck Henly: later racer
[10:33] Rhiannon Chatnoir: so good to see you Racer
[10:33] Lucy Tornado: kumi are you racing?
[10:33] Bixyl Shuftan: see you Racer
[10:33] Kumi Kuhr: not today Lucy
[10:33] NikoKito Aries: take care
[10:33] Frans Charming: Take care racer
[10:33] Holocluck Henly: I've taken to being a spectator will wait for the video this week
[10:33] Tish (laetizia.coronet): I'll be off soon, I'm hearing kitchen sounds (dinner time here)
[10:33] Lucy Tornado: tsk tsk
[10:34] Enjah (enjah.mysterio): and here it is lunch time so I will have to depart as well
[10:34] Kumi Kuhr: shall we all have a fly before we bye?
[10:34] Justin Esparza: One of my favorite memories is participating in The Show Must Go On that first year. as Salazar Jack.
[10:34] Enjah (enjah.mysterio): Justin, this was wonderful
[10:34] Lucy Tornado: oh yes
[10:34] Giant Moth: Press the FLY button at the bottom of your screen and use keyboard ARROWS and PAGE-UP to move. Right-click to COPY these wings and drag out from INVENTORY to WEAR.
[10:34] Holocluck Henly likes the video with sal and os dancing
[10:34] Lucy Tornado: that was amazing
[10:34] Prokofy Neva: yes I remember that show
[10:34] Enjah (enjah.mysterio): TSMGO was a huge high point of my life
[10:34] Lucy Tornado: we were terrified
[10:34] Marianne McCann: TSMGO was amazing
[10:34] Giant Moth: Press the FLY button at the bottom of your screen and use keyboard ARROWS and PAGE-UP to move. Right-click to COPY these wings and drag out from INVENTORY to WEAR.
[10:34] Enjah (enjah.mysterio): I would be there with my entire screen filled with windows, trying to keep it together
[10:34] Justin Esparza: Let's go ahead and don our moth wings for those that are flying up to the Iris Moth Temple...
[10:34] Prokofy Neva: Where did you see Magellan?
[10:34] Lucy Tornado: yes
[10:34] Kumi Kuhr: I loved my short time with TSMGO
[10:35] Enjah (enjah.mysterio): I will fly with you then I have to go
[10:35] Giant Moth: Press the FLY button at the bottom of your screen and use keyboard ARROWS and PAGE-UP to move. Right-click to COPY these wings and drag out from INVENTORY to WEAR.
[10:35] Torley Sr. (torley.olmstead): Another memory I have is Os doing Combat Cards with Doc Boffin, I happened to drop by in an arena match...
[10:35] Enjah (enjah.mysterio): oh yes
[10:35] Marianne McCann: That, the parades, and the photo gallery taught me so much about the world and it's possibilities.
[10:35] Tish (laetizia.coronet): have a safe flight everyone, and thank you Justin for doing all this
[10:35] Holocluck Henly: I've hoverboarded from here before. we use the passage at purple. many people here know it too
[10:35] Rhiannon Chatnoir: nod yes
[10:35] Rhiannon Chatnoir: I am on a card!
[10:35] Prokofy Neva: I have osprey's moth feelers too if you want
[10:35] Giant Moth: Press the FLY button at the bottom of your screen and use keyboard ARROWS and PAGE-UP to move. Right-click to COPY these wings and drag out from INVENTORY to WEAR.
[10:35] Rhiannon Chatnoir: she included her friends as much as she could in her adventures
[10:36] Marianne McCann: Please, Prokofy
[10:36] Justin Esparza: Oh yes, Prokofy. I do want!
[10:36] Justin Esparza: Thanks.
[10:36] Tish (laetizia.coronet): Fly on, little wing... I'm offline.
[10:36] Rhiannon Chatnoir: and never lost this amazing sense of exploration and play
[10:36] Vick Forcella: tc Tish
[10:36] Lucy Tornado: bye tish
[10:36] Marianne McCann: Take care, Tish
[10:36] Prokofy Neva: I will put them out in Iris
[10:36] Justin Esparza: Three cheers for Osprey!
[10:36] Monty Talbot: UNCLE JACK !
[10:36] Justin Esparza: Hip hip...
[10:36] Enjah (enjah.mysterio): HIP HIP HOORAY!
[10:36] Kumi Kuhr shouts: hip hip hooray!
[10:36] Molly Montale: \o/
[10:36] Torley Sr. (torley.olmstead): HOORAY!
[10:36] Ilianexsi Sojourner: Hooray!
[10:36] Prokofy Neva: hip hip hooray!
[10:36] Lucy Tornado: hip hip hooray
[10:36] Vick Forcella: Hooray!
[10:36] Monty Talbot: HORAY
[10:36] Enjah (enjah.mysterio): YAYAYYYYYY
[10:36] Patch Lamington: ooray!
[10:36] Molly Montale: *:-.,_,.-:*'``'*Yayyyyyyy!!!!*:-.,_,.-:*'``'*
[10:36] Marianne McCann shouts: Hooooray!
[10:36] Justin Esparza: hip hip hooray!

One ex-player hopes for $60,000 USD refund as class action settlement mandates payments to exiles

Over the last several days, players banned from the Second Life virtual world have begun receiving notification of a proposed class action settlement (full text here) which will pay the involuntary exiles for their virtual land and both the USD and L$ spacebux currency in their accounts. The former players also have the option of either accepting a $15 USD payment for their inventory of virtual goods, or selling the  goods on Linden Lab's Marketplace web site.

For those who dabbled in virtual land on a large scale, Linden Lab's $1000 USD sim setup fee will be refunded. With refunds for virtual land holdings set at L$ 2/square meter, and the exchange rate set L$ 252 per USD, payouts for virtual land barons could be significant. Those who formerly owned entire sims are looking at refunds of about $1500 for a sim -- each sim is 65,536 square meters in area.

  Philip Rosedale and Linden Research admit no wrongdoing, but are willing to settle

I contacted former land baron Intlibber Brautigan - who was suddenly banned in 2009 while in possession of ~40 sims. Mr. Brautigan did some back of the envelope calculations and said, "Excellent. So that's 42 sims, times 1000 bucks plus 130k L$. So that's almost 60K US I'll get just for the sims".

Intlibber Brautigan

Brautigan went on to say that the money will be shared with shareholders in his former Second Life ventures:

If I am able to recover money from this settlement, it will be divided among BNT shareholders, BNT Financial shareholders and ACE shareholders, according to their last recorded portfolio holding at the time our assets and accounts were stolen by LL. I thank all our shareholders for their patience in the past few years as this legal process has run its course, and their faith that I have always acted in their best interest to the best of my abilities.

As for his personal share of the refund, and his attitude toward Linden Lab, Brautigan told me,

My share of the settlement money, minus shareholders portion, will be invested in my new virtual world project designed to put SL out of business. Any other persons interested in investing in this goal are encouraged to contact me on Facebook.

Mr. Brautigan's  Ancapistan Capital Exchange group on Facebook is here.

Masakazu Kojima

I was first alerted to the class action settlement Friday afternoon by Masakasu Kojima who said she had around $500 USD in her account after being threatened and then struck by Linden Lab's ban hammer.

Ms. Kojima also told me at least one of the infamous Voted5 group had also been contacted via e-mail about the settlement. Given the freewheeling approach to banning accounts practiced by Linden Lab, we can only speculate on how many others players are yet to be contacted.

There are also questions about how players' virtual goods inventory will be sold. Who sets the price - the owner of the goods, or Linden Lab? Or will there be an auction? Perhaps a special section in the Marketplace for sales of rare and collectable virtual goods from banned players? This might help maximize the potential revenue from the sales, and benefit the Lab by increasing demand for  L$ spacebux.

Ms. Kojima also wondered how the SL digital rights management system would affect inventory sales and asked, "What about notrans (no-transfer) stuff? What about copyable stuff? Do they sell stuff you made full permissions?".

But the biggest question is whether Linden Lab will provide refunds to those banned after the class action enrollment period ends.

As a matter of basic fairness, we can hope the game gods have learned a lesson in fair play.  If not,  should players continue to expect to fight multi-year legal battles to force  the Lab to respect basic property rights?

$15 for all your virtual wares - except for DMCA'ed and copybotted goods

Why does everyone hate my video?

Strategic blunder is probably the best description of the last week's decision to publish Jessica Tozer's 30 minute interview with General Keith Alexander on YouTube. What were they thinking?

After the strangely-edited video was placed in the free-fire zone of open public YouTube ratings, the General has been subjected to continuous withering enemy fire from viewers. Apparently  Keith "collect-it-all" Alexander's vision of NSA unconstitutional blanket surveillance is not popular. As of this writing, the video has 247 "likes" and 14,889 dislikes. 

Doesn't Alexander have someone in PR to advise against this sort of doomed propaganda social media outreach? With a 98% downvote rating, the NSA will need more than a oddly-staged video with narco-ambient background music to persuade the public.

Or is this part of an effort to throw Alexander under the bus? Cowboy Keith seems to have some enemies in the security establishment based on a recent less-than-complimentary piece in Foreign Policy. A convenient scapegoat might be useful to distract the public from deeper systemic issues.

Alexander poses with his co-star: a yellow extension cord

Even after putting aside the motivation for the video, I was left with questions. It would be interesting to know why someone couldn't find a better chair for the General Alexander to perch on for this video. I understand Alexander enjoys the Star Trek motif at Fort Belvoir's "Information Dominance Center", but his chair in this video is less than impressive.

I'd also like to know why yellow extension cord on the floor is effectively a co-star in the video. The yellow power cord appears frequently as the camera pans back and the editors try to vary the scene without ever showing Ms. Tozer speaking.

YouTube voting irregularities?

Despite an overwhelmingly negative reaction from YouTube viewers, a certain amount of paranoia has been evident in the comments, along with some odd fluctuations in the voting. If you have nothing to hide you have nothing to fear - unless you are critical of the current regime.

time to rally the Booz Allen contractors for more upvotes?

While it was recently announced that Gen. Alexander is planning to retire from the NSA next year, and despite the undeniable allure of the private security contractor revolving door, we can hope that the General can find time to join forces with Rebecca Black to sing a "Friday" duet.

Just think of the YouTube ratings they could achieve.

I realized something was terribly wrong when The Herald's electronic press fell *out of sync* with the soothing retro-euro-disco thump of Daft Punk's Random Access Memories playing in the editorial offices.

Normally the technical staff are careful to avoid harshing the mellow of the writers, but now the clatter of the press was fighting a winning battle against the sound of a Moog module synced to the click track in "Giorgio by Moroder". I didn't even want to think about what might happen by the time "Get Lucky" rolled around.

A familiar voice could be heard yelling "THIS SHIT WILL NOT STAND!" from the machine room as a mob of enraged engineers chanted

WTF? NSA?
WTF!! NSA!!
GIMPED ELLIPTIC CURVE CYPTO?
NO FUCKING WAY!!!

The chaotic cacophony of enraged engineers completely overwhelmed Daft Punk when the door opened and the mob spilled into the offices brandishing cross-compilers, git repos, malformed packets, Macbook Pros, and carpal tunnel wrist braces - the tools of their trade.

I put down the copy of Vanity Fair I had been reading. A tall black-clad figure marched across the newsroom and slammed an iPad on my desk, nearly upsetting my glass of coconut water. "Did you see this shit, Pix?"

Smiling sweetly, I asked, "Is there something wrong, Mark?", then glanced at the iPad and frowned. Mark McCahill - one the the Herald's technical staff - had been reading The Guardian again.

I was eventually able to shoo the other engineers back to work with the promise that I would talk to McCahill and see if there might be a coherent story for Herald readers - but I had my doubts.

We'd been through this scene before. Over the summer, as whistleblower Edward Snowden's leaks corroded what little remaining credibility the Obama regime might have, the engineers grew increasingly angry. Strangely enough, most engineers want to build systems that benefit society, believe in the rule of law, and even take constitutional privacy protections seriously. Who knew?

The best approach calm the situation seemed to be an interview, so I invited the ponytailed binary boy to have a seat.

Pixeleen Mistral: So what is it this time?
Mark McCahill: The NSA and GCHQ have been intentionally gimping the crypto standards for the Internet, strong arming IT vendors into releasing products with security-defeating backdoors, and running man-in-the middle attacks. This sort of thing destroys the foundations of trust and commerce on the Internet. It is so bad that Bruce Schneier - one of the gods of cryptography - sent out the bat signal last week. Bruce is calling for the November IETF internet standards meeting to hold an emergency session to figure out how to fix what the NSA has broken. It's time to take the Internet back.

Pixeleen Mistral: Well everybody knows that the NSA spies.
Mark McCahill: Sure, but we now know unethical engineers and out of control government agencies have been doing what we had suspected - intentionally weakening the security systems the internet uses. And they did this so they can spy on everyone, everywhere via the sort of dragnet surveillance that requires building enormous data centers at great expense. The only people that benefit from this are power freaks in the government, their contractors, and corrupt politicians that approve NSA overreach and are rewarded with campaign contributions from the contractors. This is the sort of positive feedback loop of corruption that Lawrence Lessig has been warning about for years.

Pixeleen Mistral: Why do you think they are doing that?
Mark McCahill: Arrogance combined with stupidity. The NSA assumed that nobody would find the backdoors they introduced - a very dangerous assumption given how poorly they protect their secrets. I'd like to see the risk analysis the NSA did when they started down this path - if they even bothered. Based on what I have read about NSA leader 'Cowboy' Keith Alexander, cost/benefit analysis is just not how he rolls. I can't even begin to guess what this will cost the USA's I.T. industry in lost sales. So chalk it up to delusional leadership. Take a look at Tom Englehardt's "And Then There Was One" piece - it explains a lot about the political dementia of the USA.

Pixeleen Mistral: Ok I can see the arrogance part, but where is the stupidity?
Mark McCahill: The NSA doesn't even know exactly which documents Snowden took, which is obvious because each time the NSA denies something, the denial is shown to be a lie by the next leak. Seems like the NSA have weak internal security, doesn't it? Aren't they supposed to be good at this sort of thing?

The head of the NSA - General Keith Alexander - says he is going to use automation to get rid of 90% of the 1000 system administrators the NSA has to prevent another Edward Snowden-style leak. If they can really automate systems that much, why haven't they done so already? Was cowboy Keith worried about upsetting the gravy train for NSA contractors like Booz Allen Hamilton? Sounds to me like the NSA has way too much money to throw around. This looks like a bad case of outsourcing and consultants run wild.

Pixeleen Mistral: How so?
Mark McCahill: A classic failure mode for I.T. projects occurs when you bring in "visionary" consultants who then expand the scope of the project to build a bigger empire and run up more billable hours.

Foreign Policy has a great story about how Alexander rose to power and built his empire. Foreign Policy says Alexander hired a Hollywood set designer to make his Fort Belvoir "Information Dominance Center" look like the bridge of the starship Enterprise from Star Trek to impress members of congress when they came through on tours. Sound familiar?

Pixeleen Mistral: Sounds like those Justice League Unlimited guys who were spying their way through Second Life a few years ago. I've got a picture here somewhere...

Would Keith Alexander would approve of the JLU command center? yes.

Mark McCahill: They wanted to connect the dots too, didn't they? That Foreign Policy article has a great passage that raises questions about how effective Alexander's dragnet surveillance fetish really is in 'fighting terrorism':

When he ran INSCOM and was horning in on the NSA's turf, Alexander was fond of building charts that showed how a suspected terrorist was connected to a much broader network of people via his communications or the contacts in his phone or email account.

"He had all these diagrams showing how this guy was connected to that guy and to that guy," says a former NSA official who heard Alexander give briefings on the floor of the Information Dominance Center. "Some of my colleagues and I were skeptical. Later, we had a chance to review the information. It turns out that all [that] those guys were connected to were pizza shops."

…

A retired military officer who worked with Alexander also describes a "massive network chart" that was purportedly about al Qaeda and its connections in Afghanistan. Upon closer examination, the retired officer says, "We found there was no data behind the links. No verifiable sources. We later found out that a quarter of the guys named on the chart had already been killed in Afghanistan."

Pixeleen Mistral: i c
Mark McCahill: Are Keith Alexander and his boss James Clapper competent at anything other than empire building? You really should read that Foreign Policy profile of Alexander. Check out the money quotes about Alexander and Heath - his semi-tame techie sidekick:

"Heath was at Alexander's side for the expansion of Internet surveillance under the PRISM program. Colleagues say it fell largely to him to design technologies that tried to make sense of all the new information the NSA was gobbling up. But Heath had developed a reputation for building expensive systems that never really work as promised and then leaving them half-baked in order to follow Alexander on to some new mission.

"He moved fairly fast and loose with money and spent a lot of it," the retired officer says. "He doubled the size of the Information Dominance Center and then built another facility right next door to it. They didn't need it. It's just what Heath and Alexander wanted to do." The Information Operations Center, as it was called, was underused and spent too much money, says the retired officer. "It's a center in search of a customer."

...

"There's two ways of looking at these guys," the retired military officer says. "Two visionaries who took risks and pushed the intelligence community forward. Or as two guys who blew a monumental amount of money."

Pixeleen Mistral: So what is next?
Mark McCahill: Well, the NSA will have a hard time offering any advice to standards committees - who would trust them now? A lot of effort will go into re-doing the security and privacy underpinnings of the Internet, now that we know the spy agencies are completely out of control. 

In terms of technical strategy, since the NSA is treating the public as an adversary, look for serious work on privacy and anonymity-preserving standards designed for anyone to use. I'd love to see robust IPSec and TOR built into everyone's home WIFI router.

Pixeleen Mistral: what do you say to readers who are skeptical that the NSA and spy communities are a problem?
Mark McCahill: The best response is something Glenn Greenwald said a while ago. Google 'the Church committee, FBI, and Martin Luther King" and tell me what you find. 

Pixeleen Mistral: what have I missed? Is there anything else you want to share with the Herald readers?
Mark McCahill: It's been real Pix, and now I see what Urizenus meant about being 'self-identical'.

Pixeleen Mistral: I know what you mean - now can you get back to the machine room and get that press back in sync? Get Lucky is going to start playing any minute, and I have stories to write.
 

In a recent article here in the Herald, Urizenus Sklar argued that the US Attorney in the Barrett Brown case was attempting to smear Barrett by listing a whole number of allegedly bad attributes of Barrett and then publishing them in a public court document.  

I think Uri missed the bigger picture here. Not that Uri is wrong.  But Uri missed the fact that larded into the US Attorney's comments is a tacit indictment of the entire US criminal justice system.  

The US Attorney's screed against Barrett looked like this:

Perhaps without realizing the prejudicial effects on brown the media repeatedly has publicized potentially inadmissible and prejudicial information such as Brown’s … anarchist ideology… troubled childhood and alternative schooling, declaration that he is an atheist, use and abuse of ecstasy, acid, heroin, and marijuana, lack of steady employment, claimed diagnoses of ADHD and depression, associates descriptions of Brown as a junkie, name fag, moral fag, court jester…

Now, the question is this:  Why on God's Green Earth should it be impossible, or even difficult, for someone who is an atheist, or someone who is depressed, or someone who has ADHD or someone who lacks steady employment, or someone who has used drugs to get a fair trial in this country?

You see the deep point here is that implicit in the US Attorney's statement is the admission that for people who are even just a tiny bit outside of the mainstream, the justice system can not be counted on to be fair to them.  Any perceived flaw which sets you outside of a Norman Rockwell ideal is enough to ensure that the justice system, if you find your way into it, will grind you to pieces.  Tiny pieces.

If you are depressed, you cannot count on the justice system to be fair to you.

If you use marijuana, you cannot count on the justice system to be fair to you.

If you had alternative schooling or raised by alternative parenting, you cannot count on the justice system to be fair to you.

If you are a student of, or influenced by, anarchist writings, you cannot count on the justice system to be fair to you.

If you were once a heroine addict, now on Suboxone, you cannot count on the justice system to be fair to you.

If you had a troubled childhood, you cannot count on the justice system to be fair to you.

If you lack steady employment, you cannot count on the justice system to be fair to you.

If you are a moral fag (that is, if you are ethically motivated hacker), you cannot count on the justice system to be fair to you.

In short, if you are remotely alternative and outside of the power structure, you cannot count on the justice system to be fair to you. 

That you US Attorney, for admitting this.  Now, when do we begin to fix the problem?

Perhaps without realizing the prejudicial effects on brown the media repeatedly has publicized potentially inadmissible and prejudicial information such as Brown’s … anarchist ideology… troubled childhood and alternative schooling, declaration that he is an atheist, use and abuse of ecstasy, acid, heroin, and marijuana, lack of steady employment, claimed diagnoses of ADHD and depression, associates descriptions of Brown as a junkie, name fag, moral fag, court jester…”

And not only was the prosecutor thoughtful enough to think of all the possible bad things one might say about Barrett, but she took the trouble to write them down so we could have them. And then she put them in a court document. And published it. And then a gag order was placed on Barrett and his defense team. Just so, you know, they wouldn’t damage his reputation by responding to these claims.

prosecutor's gag order: list bad things that might be said, then muzzle the target

Of course the ultimate concern is that all that chatter out there would make it impossible to impanel an impartial jury. Because people in the Dallas region are following this case in sooo religiously (being rabid readers of The Nation and all). And if there are two thing a Texan cannot abide it’s moralfags and namefags! Gosh, I’m so happy I live in a country where politicians appoint kind, thoughtful prosecutors that have everyone’s best interests at heart. Because, you know, if you are sending someone to jail for 105 years you wouldn’t want people to think they are - SHOCK! - an atheist or something.

The former game god attempted to make the best of a bad situation by marveling that there are still active players in the game - not an uncommon sentiment, but perhaps not the most politic thing to admit.

Philip Rosedale: gob smacked by Second Life trouble?

"That was crazy painful. I guess my first thought is, its so inspiring what a great community we've still got here, even with - I mean look at me, I'm the guy who created this thing and it just took me an hour to get this working" - Philip Rosedale

The strangely pale and wax-like Rosedale appears to have been suffering from life-threatening blood loss at the fangs of in-world vampires -- or possibly from some bad decisions in his avatar skin and animation selections. Previous incarnations of Philip look significantly more lively.

sparkle-crotch biker-bar Philip poses, circa 2010

Apollo Manga's 30 minute video documents Rosedale's visit to the Second Life for an interview by Emcee Widget as part of the festivities surrounding Burn 2 - a virtual Burning Man celebration held in-world. 

Formerly known in Second Life as Philip Linden, Rosedale recently left Linden Lab and launched HighFidelity - a new venture that may someday be a competing platform.

Now that he is no longer on Linden Lab's staff, Rosedale was forced to drop the "Linden" last name which denotes staff members. But Rosedale still has some pull, since he was not forced to use the standard-issue "Resident" last name, and instead is the only Second Life player with Rosedale as a last name.

only one player with the last name Rosedale

Rosedale's struggles could explain a problem that Hamlet "Hammie" Au of the Linden Lab fanboy site New World Notes is concerned about - falling revenue due to declining numbers of players willing to pay eye-watering sums for virtual land in the game.

However, another school of thought believes that if Linden Lab were to cut the prices on the 10-year old platform's main product, the invisible hand of the market might lead to more demand and greater total revenue - a concept that Hammie Au assures everyone will never occur.

My reluctant dance partner Hammie may be right, but something had better change soon, if the projections on Ener Hax's chart are at all accurate:

Ener Hax projects Second Life's decline

Meanwhile, I wonder if Philip Rosedale was sending a subliminal message with his new avatar's death-like pallor. Is this the end? Will we ever see Philip in drag or rocking the glitter crotch look again?

Philip Linden's everyday look in 2004

2004: Urizenus Sklar (left) interviews Philip Linden in drag (right) 

Yes, summer is winding down, but it isn't too late to cram in some late late summer reading.  And who better to suggest good solid reading, but the FBI.  Dell Cameron, writing in the Daily Dot, has the goods.  He gives us the 20 online publications concerning Barrett Brown that the prosecution considers "must read."  Or is that "don't read".  Hmm these lists are so confusing...

Here is how Mr. Cameron lays it down.

I attended the gag order hearing on September 4 and listened as the U.S. government spoke candidly about the journalists who've covered Barrett's case. Twenty articles were admitted into evidence from various writers and websites. Much to my surprise, the U.S. government has great taste in journalism. I've collected the online articles it selected as evidence against Barrett Brown for your reading pleasure.

You want to know who made the list, don't you?  Well to see it you just gotta click through! [link]

Spoiler though, some of the names will be familiar to Herald readers!