Alphaville Herald

Opinion: Public Spaces

by Jessica Holyoke

The Swiss recently passed a referendum that banned the building of minarets in their country.  As discussed on Slate, part of this is because the Swiss, like most European countries, are worried about Islamic extremism.  Especially as Muslims in Europe do not integrate to the same extent as Muslims in the United States.  Although you do still see burqas on the streets of major cities in the States. 

While traveling those same streets in the United States, there used to be an ad campaign about spotting people who are being trafficked as sex slaves.  One of the reasons I support at least stopping prosecution of prostitutes is that women and children who are trafficked into foreign countries would not be afraid to seek help from the police. 

By now, you may be wondering what this has to do with Second Life. 

After the Hard Alley protest of a few weeks back, a few comments were made somewhere else about whether or not depictions of slavery, such as by followers of BDSM or Gor, should be allowed in public spaces and reserved only for private spheres.  The fear articulated is similar to the fear articulated by the Swiss, the fact that Goreans or BDSM'ers are in your face or forcing their roleplay onto an unwilling or unsuspecting bystander, even if it is simply the interactions between the Dominant and the Submissive amongst themselves. 

Katt Rickena - The 12 Days of Post 6-mux Grrrrls

[Katt Rickena might be the sweetest human being on earth, as I think her essay will show, but to which I testify. Katt was featured by me just a few short weeks ago in October, but I knew she had a fantastic deer avie, and what could possibly be better than that for a Post 6 special on Christmas? I give you the lovely Katt Rickena -Timothy Morpork]

Hello there, I'm so happy to be given the chance to pose to this publication again, that when Timothy asked me if I'd like to do it, I instantly said yes because 'tis an honor to me to be considered worthy of this attention (and because I have the chance to show of a little more... he he joking, i just enjoy doing this so much doing!) and once again I had to write somethig here but, this time it will be a little different since he asked; "What do you like of this season?" so here it goes the answer.

Amara Shino -- The 12 Days of Post 6-mus Grrrrls

[Day two of the 12 days of Post Six features my friend Amara Shino. I featured Amara's alt, Sigsbee Fuller, back in September. Because the twelve days feature is a way to reconnect Post 6 with its models from the past, I didn't want any avatars to debut in Post 6 this week, but I did want to acknowledge the Tuesday "new Post 6 Grrrl" deadline with a nod, so here is the gorgeous Amara, a new face from an old friend. -Timothy Morpork]



I'm back!  Well, kinda.  You might remember me as Sigsbee Fuller.  This is my oldest avie, Amara Shino.  Some people think my name is a pun on "Maraschino cherry" but I assure you, the similarity is a complete coincidence.  I've been around SL since summer of 2006 so I guess I qualify as an old-timer of sorts.  Unlike my other avie, this one has stayed very consistent in appearance.  In fact, this is still the same shape that I made on my first day in SL!

The 12 Days of Post 6-mus Grrrrls: Jenna Papp

Nothing says "Happy Birthday Baby Jesus" like a string of Post 6 posts, so we proudly present "The 12 Days of Post Six-mus," which we hope will be an exciting mix of old and new faces on both sides of the camera.

[First up is Jenna Papp, a Post 6 Model for Justine Babii in February 2008. ( http://foo.secondlifeherald.com/slh/2008/02/jenna-papp-post.html ). Jenna is a delight to work with and even more of a delight to chat with. I was completely charmed  by Ms. Jenna and am pleased to present her as the first model in our 12 Days of Post Six-mus. -Timothy Morpork]

Hi Everyone,

It's nice to be back here in the Second Life Herald. I can't believe that almost two years have gone by since the last time I was here. I want to thank Timothy for inviting me, Christmas is a favorite time of year and in looking for outfits and places to pose, I got to see a lot of great places I wouldn't have otherwise. It's always fun to get bundled up and go to winter sims, something about the look of falling snow touches me.

Trilling on Trilling on The Tallest Thing in Second Life

Will mega-phallic build impress oldbie Linden babes?

Freelance SL writer Mariner Trilling interviews SL builder Mariner Trilling

Mariner Trilling:  Hello Mariner.  I appreciate this opportunity to sit down and discuss your latest project.
Mariner Trilling:  Project?  What the fuck are you talking about?
 
Mariner Trilling:  I mean your latest structure, “The Tallest Thing in SL”
Mariner Trilling: ok dickhead, first off, it’s not a ‘project’ it’s not a ‘structure’.  It’s just a stack of prims.  Second of all, I’m not a ‘builder’.  I was just out surfing the grid one night doing tequila shots and found these parcels on the mainland with fucked up auto return settings.  I just started stacking prims and the next thing you know, it’s over two miles high.
 
Mariner Trilling:  Wow! Two miles!  That’s very impressive.
Mariner Trilling: … and stop fucking calling it ‘The Tallest Thing in SL’.  It’s the tallest thing I could find in SL.  …way taller than any buildings and shit.  You start calling it THE tallest thing and I’ll start getting IMs from assholes all over the grid who want to tell me how fucked I am and how much taller their thing is.  If word gets around that you got a really big dick, every other freak starts waving his dick at you trying to show you up.
 
Mariner Trilling: How many prims is it?
Mariner Trilling:  eh, I don’t know.  … probably around three hundred.
 

Second Life Holiday Gift Guide: Bondage Xmas Tree, Spanking Santa

Santa gropes, strips, spanks avatars - eggnog bukake surprise awaits

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

This holiday season, a bondage Christmas tree and Spanking Santa illustrate the boundless creativity of Second Life residents. While we don't expect an official mention in the Lab's holiday promotions, the scene at the Something Spunky store in Tovaris sim was quite festive - both Santa and the tree are available for demonstration and sale and a small crowd formed to sample the delights of Santa and his bondage tree - a fine example of metaverse holiday spirit.

While the Herald was unable to immediately verify claims that avatars running the Restrained Life Viewer can be involuntarily stripped by the randy Santa, several residents - including Tizzy Teardrop and Dirk Talamasca - were spanked by Santa, while I was left struggling on the Christmas tree. We also witnessed a Santa eggnog bukake after the jolly old elf had became overly excited by a player who agreed to be Santa's good girl.

Hopefully this example of user generated content will not  give the US Congress, FTC, or unsupervised child avatars the wrong sort of ideas.

FTC Report to US Congress Finds Explicit Content in Second Life!!!

…or not so much

by Sigmund Leominster

Your tax dollars have been at work once again in the expert hands of a committee commissioned by Congress and handled by the Federal Trade Commission. This is the same FTC that failed to catch Bernie Madoff’s $65 billion Ponzi scheme, and the same Congress that handed out money to poor bankers who went bust yet ignored the requests of mortgage owners to give them time to avoid being kicked out of their homes and onto welfare – so you know your money is in good hands.

The FTC Commission has just released a report to Congress entitled Virtual Worlds and Kids: Mapping the Risk, which is available in its entirety (except for the videos) from the Federal Trade Commission’s website: http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2009/12/virtualworlds.shtm. The aim of the study was to examine the ease, or difficulty, with which children and teens can access “explicit content” in places like Second Life, Gaia, Twinity, My Diva Doll, and Pixiehollow. Inexplicably, my personal favorite, BarbieGirls.com was absent from the report. We could imagine that the project was underwritten by Mattel Corps® but that would be pure speculation and potentially libelous. So we won’t.

The press release announces, somewhat dramatically, “FTC Report Finds Sexually and Violently Explicit Content in Online Virtual Worlds Accessed by Minors,” which conjures up images of poor, helpless little Jimmy finding his Second Life avatar strapped to a table in a dungeon while being molested by huge-breasted Post Six trannies and having bizarrely scripted chickens inserted into unfeasible large orifices.

Restrained Life - A Vile Perversion, Masked by a Gentle Name

An alternate Second Life viewer reviewed

by Miss Petunia Amaryllis Courtney Taliaferro, Second Life League of Decency

Beware, innocents! I had such hopes when I transferred the so-called “Restrained Life Viewer” to my personal computer. I do not use the crass term “download,” since it can have a sexual double-entendre.

Once I had installed the viewer, I obtained a dubious sounding “Bunnehs Tied Down in Writing Agony Relay”. The donor, some chuckling stranger at the Ahern Welcome Area, dressed like a theme-park animal, also provided me with a destination where I could “start ur RL fun good. LOL.”

So armed, if slightly wounded by his atrocious grammar, I began the search for others who live a life of restraint in Second Life's vast moral wasteland.

EVEonline Player Visits Second Life

Killing time while EVEonline is EVEoffline

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

Last night I ran into poopmaster Oh - an ex-Second Lifer who now spends quality time in EVEOnline. While poopmaster Oh waited for EVEoffline to become EVEonline again - the game had crashed - we discussed the relative merits of the worlds, the charm of spaceships and spacebux, and the impact of the fearsome Something Awful Goonswarm faction.

poopmaster Oh stops by Hyperborea sim

Pixeleen Mistral: great name!
poopmaster Oh: you dont remember?
poopmaster Oh: yea its great

Pixeleen Mistral: I meet a lot of avs in this business
poopmaster Oh: I am a reporter, or was a reporter for SecondLifeHarold.com
poopmaster Oh: damn domain expired on me

Pixeleen Mistral: the SecondLifeHarold.com was short lived
poopmaster Oh: 2 years
poopmaster Oh: very short yea
poopmaster Oh: time flies so fast in here

Pixeleen Mistral: so maybe you should write for the real Herald
poopmaster Oh: i found a new game last year and hardly ever come in here anymore

Pixeleen Mistral: what game is it?
poopmaster Oh: been playin EvEOnline.com

Alessandra Narayan -- Post 6 Grrrl

[Alessandra Narayan IM'd me and introduced herself and I was thrilled. I am a student of the Herald and it was a not just a pleasure to meet a fellow writer, but a chance to meet a gorgeous avatar and a great person. I was thrilled when she agreed to pose for us, and she would have been here sooner but we are each the most crashtastic avies I know. It is a real honor to introduce this week's Post 6, Alessandra Narayan. -Timothy Morpork]


Dear readers:

I am a reporter of Alphaville Herald, as many of you probably know, although I haven't been writing all that much lately. But then again it's hard to find interesting and original contents, which doesn't mean I myself am a subject of superior interest. But since Tim and I are co-workers, the possibility of participating in "Post 6 Grrrrl" just showed up in a natural and spontaneous way. I accepted it because Tim is a great photographer and does a great job every week.

Kokopelli Racetrack Owner Killed In Copybot Abuse Report Collision!!!

Greg Drayman executed by Linden Lab - racetrack closed

by Millennium Sands - pictures courtesy of Caz Fresc

The world of Second Life motorsports suffered a severe loss when Greg Drayman, famous race driver and owner of Kokopelli Raceway Park (KRP), was banned from the grid by Linden Lab at the end of November. Greg's appeal to LL was denied on December 2 and Kokopelli was closed on the following day.

Greg Drayman was banned for the use of CopyBot or "another means to circumvent the permissions system", as an e-mail from LL puts it.

In a lengthy statement that can be found in the Kokopelli Forums, Mr. Drayman admits that he used CopyBot, but claims to have used it only for private purposes. Mr. Drayman's deep dissatisfaction with the Lab's handling of his case may be seen in a Kokopelli  Raceway Park forum entry titled "Greg Drayman's Final Words to Second Life".

Barbra Winkler -- Post 6 Grrrrl

[I met Barbra while out on the grid and was looking at her avie and thinking about asking her if she'd be willing to pose when she IM'd me and said she was a Herald reader.  A perfect coincidence for Post 6 readers, I'm pleased to present Barbra Winkler, Post 6 Grrrl. -Timothy Morpork]

Hello Post Six Readers,

I'm Barbra Winkler and I've been hanging around in SL waiting for the lights to go out with the rest of you since 2007. In the meantime I enjoy experiencing the various cultures and belief systems and arts to be found in Second Life.

I have been blessed with a wonderful family in real life, so I'm not on very often. When I am, I am always blown away by all the cool developments and new spotlight builds there are. I love the styles that people borrow from real world things and adapt, and I also like that SL has a funky style all its own.

A View from the Back: The Hard Alley Protest

by Jessica Holyoke

As previously reported, as part of the 16 Days against Gender Violence, a variety of groups, SL Left Unity, Feminists, and Stop Violence Against Women, (disclosure: I am a member of the latter two) descended on Second Life perennial popular area Hard Alley in order to protest the rape role play on display there. 

Counts of the number of protesters vary, but after witnessing a variety of protests on the Second Life(r) grid, this one was, at least in the beginning, about average in attendance.  Half an hour into the protest, 37 people were counted as part of the protest. 

While the protesters, some in cooked ham avatars, marched the streets of Hard Alley, with signs listing the roles women have in life, mother, daughter, granddaughter, either suggesting that those women aren't sexual or for the male participants to think of their mothers and daughters when taking part or Reclaim the Night.  

But the protesters went on, basically following the script of the press release said Scylla Rhiadra, "Rape play desensitize users to the violence that they represent; they 'normalize' the rape and sexual abuse of women by asserting that these things are not merely 'fun,' but also sexually arousing"... "Any activity that trivializes or seems to validate real life violence of women is intolerable."... "This protest is being staged to make it clear that our society should not, indeed must not, tolerate it."

Those gathered around but not part of the protest had different ideas. 

Second Life metaLIFE Market Grows at XStreet's Expense

by Coke Supply

Ever since XStreet was taken over by Linden Lab, there has been a demand for independent sites that offer the same services due to resident fears that Linden Lab would run their site into the ground. Now that the Lab appears to be doing just that with the introduction of their new "XStreet Roadmap" pricing policy, a mass exodus of merchants is looking for a more customer-friendly service with which to conduct their business.

Slapt.me and metaLIFE are two of XStreet's leading competitors and, as a direct result of the Lab's latest error, residents are signing up to these sites in droves. In the last week or so, both sites have experienced a phenomenal growth rate which can only be a direct result of the Lab's recently announced policies. Indeed, according to Robbie Kiama, one of the founders of the metaLIFE merchant system, Linden Lab's recent actions have been hugely beneficial to his business.

RK:  When Xstreet made their announcement, it sent ripples across the Second Life community. Of course, news of LL's new policy reached metaLIFE very fast. And so it started - we got coverage across many blogs and websites, and people started comparing all of the available alternatives, metaLIFE included, and so lots of people discovered us during this period. So, we had an unexpected growth of people coming to our website and to our inworld HQ, trying our services. Users grew by 33%. We already had a lot of users who had tried our system at some point, but this time over a thousand new users joined MetaLIFE. Vendors more than doubled, growing by 56%, and currently 1200 vendors have been rezzed on the grid in the last 24 hours.

HRH Princess of Yaximixche Starts 90 Day Virtual World Tour

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

The Princess of Yaximixche is embarking on an ambitious tour of virtual worlds beyond Second Life from December through February 2010. The tour marks Her Royal Highness's first major public appearances since failing gravely ill during the summer of 2009, according to the Royal Press office.

Over the next ninety days, Her Royal Highness will visit 9 Virtual Worlds focused on content creation and other sectors, including stops in Twinity, Blue Mars, HiPiHi, i-Citizen, ActiveWorlds, VastPark, Mycosm, Multiverse and Opensim grids.

Is the Princess hedging her bets on Second Life? 

Hard Alley Protestors Issue Press Release

16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence visits Hard Alley in Second Life

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

Yesterday, about a dozen ham shaped avatars staged a protest in Hard Alley - a notorious role play sex sim - to warn against the objectification of women in the virtual world of Second Life. Could this the beginning of a wave of activism in the virtual realm - or will the Hard Alley property owners simply smile and enjoy the traffic boost?

Here is the text of the press release Scylla Rhiadra sent to the Herald's iMojo3Gs newswire:

---

WOMEN ARE NOT MEAT: A PROTEST AT HARD ALLEY IN OPPOSITION TO VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN.

---

As a part of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence, a series of events to promote an end to violence against women being held in Second Life from 25 November to 10 December, a broad coalition of activist groups in SL staged a performance protest at Hard Alley on 27 November.

Ashyne Demonista -- Post 6 Grrrrl

[Ashyne Demonista hit me with an IM about becoming a Post 6 Grrrl at exactly the moment I had decided to go find this Week's Post 6 Grrrl. Beautiful woman at the right place at the right time- I love it when a plan comes together.  Ashyne exudes charm and bubbly fun, and it is a treat and an honor to introduce her as this week's Post 6 Grrrl -Timothy Morpork]

Hello everyone, I guess I'm the first Post 6 Grrrl to be from Singapore, I'm very happy to be able to have this photoshoot and interview done.

I started playing SL only 3 months ago, but this digital world has become more than just a virtual reality for me. Second Life is a place where I can live and play out my childhood fantasies, or do things that I cannot possibly do in the real world.  

Linden Lab to Volunteers, Small Merchants: Screw You

by Mammon Linden

In case you didn't already know it, Second Life wouldn't be anywhere near as cool as it is today if it weren't for our volunteers and small merchants who have vended their creations at low prices.

That's why we just fired a bunch of volunteers and taxed the losers who give their stuff away or sell it cheap. Second Life can never become Suit Life™ if it's too helpful or inexpensive. Moreover, Suit Life will never attract the blood-sucking yuppies who wrecked the real world economy if they see anything for sale at less than L$ 1000 spacebux.

The problem is huge for us. Here's our plan:

Egghead Studies Second Life Chickens - Clucks To Shocking Conclusion!!!

The Web Ecology of Sion chicken society explained

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

Patrick Davison is part of several performance groups including What We Know So Far and MemeFactory and is also involved with the Web Ecology project at Harvard - exactly the sort of scholar that can bring meaning to the Second Life Sion Chicken phenomenon. He has graciously agreed to allow the Herald to publish slides from his talk titled  "On Chickens" - a groundbreaking work presented earlier this week  illustrating the problems perceptions create in the online realm - and the awesomesauce role of the Herald plays in the new media metaverse.

 

LL To SL Mentors: Your Services Are No Longer Needed

"All official Linden Lab sponsored communication channels related to the Second Life Mentor group will be discontinued"

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desks

Citing scalability issues, Linden Lab announced the end of the volunteer Second Life Mentors program on Wednesday evening with a wiki post on wiki.secondlife.com. Some observers were confused by the references to scaling issues and the implication that SL has a growing population. Have we been missing evidence of growth in concurrent users? Even Hamlet Au has been silent on peak concurrent users of late, after breathlessly touting growth in the Sunday afternoon population last year.

Meanwhile, mentors surprised at the end of their special relationship with Linden Lab should recall that scalability is an abstract, mystical concept with quasi-religious overtones invoked whenever the Lab feels the need to change course.  Mentors who have invested their free time in assisting noobies should also remember that sustainability is important. As the wiki states, "Volunteers have been very successful and helpful. We appreciate all they do. They have been so successful that the official program was not enough to showcase all the contributions and allow growth in a sustainable manner."

So perhaps excessive Mentor success was to blame? I contacted SL Mentor Orange Planer for comment.