January 30, 2008

Goodbye Eppie


Goodbye Eppie
Ursprünglich hochgeladen von Peter Stindberg
Explorer Eppie Hock is leaving Second Life for personal reasons. I had the honor of meeting her when she tended to last unfinished business, left all her groups and said Goodbye to her friends. I only knew her for a short while personally, and she struck me as an extraordinary person. Before she left, she gave me the cat. I will care for it until she eventually returns. All the best to you, Eppie!

January 24, 2008

Who's afraid of the blogger?

It seems that my promising career as a movie star came to an aprubt halt. After getting hired by the same person for a second time, he IMed me the other night. Since he explicitely said I could both leave the movie-link on the blog as well as "do as you wish", I would like to share this rather bizarre conversation with you. I don't know WHAT this person is afraid of though...

[14:17] XXX: hello peter
[14:17] Peter Stindberg: another one? :-)
[14:18] XXX: nope...pls can u remove the posting I am a movie star from your blog... the transaction is commercial and not might to be pulished
[14:19] Peter Stindberg: The movie is on YouTube?! That's as public as it can get?!
[14:19] XXX: i did not know u were a blogger...should have pointed this out... sorry
[14:20] XXX: you can off course post the movie... what i am talking about is the story
[14:20] XXX: this includes the fee we paid as well... that is not intended to be public domain
[14:20] Peter Stindberg: What exactly
[14:20] Peter Stindberg: Ah, ok
[14:21] Peter Stindberg: So is there a Zero too little or aZero too much at the end, that bothers you?
[14:21] XXX: i did not know you had a blog.. should have made this clear
[14:21] Peter Stindberg looks at the post right now
[14:21] XXX: peter we are a rl world business....we cannot have commercial transactions published this way
[14:22] XXX: sorry, i should have made this clear... but i did not know u had a blog!
[14:22] Peter Stindberg: It's in my profile :-)
[14:22] Peter Stindberg: OK, I stencil the amount out.
[14:22] XXX: must have over looked that
[14:23] XXX: pls can u for the sake of our business relationship... modify the posting
[14:23] XXX: not just stencil the fee
[14:24] Peter Stindberg: Modify in what way?
[14:24] XXX: sure we have no problem with posting the movie and telling your readers about the acting... but the story
[14:24] XXX: I exchanged a few IM's with the person, and he said it was for some sort of tutorial, and whether 250 L$ for 10min would be ok. Since he wanted to take a look at me, I TPed him in, he let me stand, open my mouth, check my teeth and said I was just fine
[14:25] XXX: I checked the profile of the guy which was rather bland, and mentioned it to Avarie who - without a second's though - said "Must be porn!".
[14:26] Peter Stindberg: Well, you DID act quite funny and unprofessional, I'm sorry to say. Avarie and me made it for the fun, not for the peanuts you paid. And you did never mention it was a commercial thing - otherwise I had asked other prices.
[14:27] XXX: that is unfortunate
[14:27] Peter Stindberg: A tutorial sounded fine by me.
[14:27] Peter Stindberg: And it WAS fun.
[14:27] Peter Stindberg: But now it looks rather different.
[14:29] XXX: i do not intend to argue or exchange unplesant words... it will not cost u anything to pull down the post... but if you do not want... we will not die
[14:29] Peter Stindberg: I mean SL is not another third world country. I run a business in SL, and for a reason I do not accept RL jobs.
[14:29] XXX: ok
[14:30] Peter Stindberg: OK, I'm not very emotionally attached to that post. I'm open to a serious sugestion.
[14:30] XXX: never mind... do as you wish
[14:31] Peter Stindberg nods
[14:31] Peter Stindberg: Good luck with your project.

Coincidence and publicity

I was shopping with Heloise and bought an item for 350 L$, when a few seconds later the ka-ching sound came up and I got paid 350 L$. "Huh?" I thought, and checked if the merchandise was all there - yes it was. Vendor malfunction was my first thought, and since I wanted a second item from the same vendor I made the next purchase. But no ka-ching this time.

Strange, I thought, and suddenly I got the message that my Plywood Man avatar got sold. Realization dawned when I remembered that it sold at 350 L$ as well. So it just was a double coincidence.

A few minutes later I got another notice about another Plywood Man sale. And then yet another. "Hold it", I thought, that item only ever sold once, and now 3 times in 15 minutes? And right enough, as I suspected, one of the blogs had reviewed Plywood Man. Read all about it here: http://lindenlifestyles.com/?p=890

January 20, 2008

The straight guy and the lesbian - a few words of explanation

My recent partnering with Gina Glimmer raised a few questions, and unfortunatly caused some pain as well. It seems emotions come always at a price, only this time it was not (like the other times) me who had to primarily pay it...

The biggest source of raised eyebrows or outright curiosity is the fact that my wife Gina is lesbian. And even though it is none of any of your business, let me answer the often voiced, and probably often not voiced question: no, we have no sex. Of course we don't - she's a lesbian and lesbians don't have sex with guys. Is it that difficult to understand?

The next question is usually "So why did you marry her?". Actually this puzzles me a lot. The reason should be obvious: because we love each other! In fact the question is also offending. It suggests that having cybersex is the only reason to partner with someone in SL.

So why did I partner with her? Being three times in SLove before, and failing three times with lots of pain? To be honest, I did not intend to ever again engage in something romantic after the last time. Too deep the pain, too much the hurting. My approach to take things more lightly worked, I started to have fun in SL again, my creativity returned, I started to exploring again. It also allowed me to appreciate my friends more. Refraining from romantic entanglements sort of liberated me. During the time I was open for romance, I checked every new person (or every old person) I met against the might-she-be-the-one? But as soon as I ruled romance out for me completely, I was free, and could focus more on the people, who they are, what they do.

I knew Gina for almost 6 months already, and even during the phase of my last unhappy non-relationship, I watched her artistic experiences closely. In my post-relation status, I was able to fully open up to her, taking her as an unbeliavably creative human being. Her being a lesbian actually helped - I could focus on the person, without being distracted by the female.

Soon we realized a symbiotic effect. My skills completed hers. I did custom builds and animations for her. I helped her with the business side of things. I inspired her, gave her impulses. I became her toughest critic, and her biggest admirer.
In turn, she brightened up SL for me. Brought beauty into my office, made me feel valuable for my feedback. Philosophized with me, helped me to see clearer what I want in SL, what SL means for me. She showed me the beauty of SL again, encouraged me to do crazy things. We found out that our minds were in remarkable synch. I will never forget the day she teleported me into a small shop where she was looking for a dress, and asked me for my favourite. I named three outfits, and she admitted that actually those were the three she had in mind too. During this time, friendship became deep friendship, and deep friendship became - to our mutual surprise - love.

I had a hard time admitting these emotions to myself. Too deep where the wounds from earlier experiences. Her sexual orientation did not bother me that much, since I feel at home amongst lesbians anyways. For a while, I thought I offer her to become my sister, and in fact it might have simplified a few things. But there was more, there were feelings one should not have for a sister. So one evening I admitted my feelings to her, shyly, cautiously, afraid she might turn her back on me. And when she replied, with a soft smile, that actually she feels the same, my RL eyes filled with tears.

I am sorry to say that there has been fallout from our love. The majority of my close friends were very happy for me, but two close friends where hurt and felt betrayed. One of them had romantic feelings for me, of which I was not aware. A series of misunderstandings, plus an unexcusable insensitivity of mine, made her suffer very much. I am sad about this, especially my faux pas, and I hope it will mend in time. The other one had no romantic feelings for me as far as I can tell, but was caught off guard and saw our friendship endangered. However both Gina and myself are free spirits, and being partnered to each other does not mean that we now exclusively spend every in-world minute together!

I feel at the end of a long journey, and at the same time at the beginning of an even more exciting journey. In restrospect, all these months in SL I was looking for Gina. She makes me complete, she balances me. It is great to finally belong to someone, and even greater to know that all those feelings are mutual. We are Ying and Yang. We are whole now.

The search is over. Now let the journey begin!

January 19, 2008

Finally at home

[13:16] You shout: A moment silence please, I have something to say.
[13:17] You: Gina Glimmer, I have known you for over 6 months now, and while you barely appeared on my radar screen in the beginning, our friendship grew quite intense over the last couple of months, until suddenly I realized it was more than friendship. Whenever you come online, my heart makes a little jump of joy. I admire your creativity, your playfulness, as well as your deep and balanced thoughts. All these months I have been in SL, through all ups and downs, through various romantic episodes, which only left me hurt, I was looking for a person to belong to, to truly share this wonderful experience, to walk into this life together. In you, Gina, I found this person, and despite circumstances which at first sight might seem to separate us, I love you, your soul, the very essence of your digital persona. You make me complete, and my love to you is pure in the most literal meaning of the word. You trusted me that you feel the same for me, so I want to take this occasion and ask you in front of all those witnesses:
[13:18] Heloise Merlin cheers
[13:18] You: Gina Glimmer, would you like to become my SL wife, belong to me as I belong to you and share this experience with me?
[13:18] Gina Glimmer faints
[13:18] LeXa Demme: /hoo
[13:18] Mr Yin: great time to say your love
[13:18] Gina Glimmer: yes Peter!
[13:18] LeXa Demme: yay!!!!
[13:18] Dru Bracken faints in sympathy :)
[13:18] Therese Carfagno: YAY!
[13:18] Elusyve Jewell claps and jumps
[13:18] Minki DeCuir: wooot
[13:18] Carabella Babii: congratulation
[13:18] Long Pausch shouts: AWWWWW GROUP HUG EVERYBODY
[13:18] Kooko Darwin: yeahhhhhh!
[13:18] Minki DeCuir: (enthusiastic applause)
[13:18] Gina Glimmer: :)
[13:19] You: I love you, Gina!
[13:19] Ayla Janick: whoooot
[13:19] Gina Glimmer blushes deep red
[13:19] Elusyve Jewell: Congrats you two!!

January 17, 2008

The full Monty - Spencer Tunick event on Saturday

My dear friend Gina is stagings a Spencer Tunick hommage on Saturday 12:00 SLT (21:00 CET). Spencer Tunick is known for public mass scenes of nude people, and Gina will do a shooting just like that in the "Experience Italy" sim. She needs about 10 more people willing to pose naked. If you are interested, send an IM to "Gina Glimmer".

Spencer Tunick event Sat Jan 19th, noon SLT
Thu Jan 17 12:41:15 2008

Hello all!
The Spencer Tunick event is getting closer!

Please check your agenda's for this Saturday, noon SLT. If you cannot make it please leave the group as I need a head count for the pose balls :(

I do hope that you all can make it though!

And! Since there's still room for more attendees, feel free to refer people who'd like to join to me :)

Thank you and I hope to see you all this Saturday!


Update: samples of Tunick's images: http://images.google.com/images?q=spencer+tunick

January 15, 2008

I'm a movie star!

I was sitting with my friend Avarie, when all of a sudden I got an IM from someone I did not know asking whether I was available for a video shooting. I checked the profile of the guy which was rather bland, and mentioned it to Avarie who - without a second's though - said "Must be porn!".

I exchanged a few IM's with the person, and he said it was for some sort of tutorial, and offered a nominal fee. Since he wanted to take a look at me, I TPed him in, he let me stand, open my mouth, check my teeth and said I was just fine. He TPed off, only to ask a couple of minutes later if Avarie would like to act as well and if I had a suit and she a gown.

About half an hour later we were standing dressed up on a castle, while the director/cameraman struggled with the controls. The "acting" of me consists mainly of walking up and down, while Avarie's task was to stand there and look beautiful. About 15 min later it was all done, we got both our money, and the strange person left.

He kept his word though, and today I received a YouTube link with the shooting. Hey, I'm more convincing than Schwarzenegger was!


The new meme by LL

So Linden Lab started a meme of themselves (without noticing it probably). Follwoing other blogs examples, here are my answers to their call to share stories:

What are you doing in Second Life?
Apart from the social and exploring side, I run a company offering translation and copywriting services for SL companies.

How long have you been in Second Life?
October 2006

How did you find out about Second Life?
I read some report on BoingBoing.net as early as 2005. It looked interesting, especially since I had a background in 3D design. However I saw the potential addictive factor and did not sign up back then (I think there were no free accounts either back then). Still the articles on BoingBoing.net caught my eye, and eventually I signed up in late 2006.

What were your original goals when you became a part of Second Life? Have they changed?
Having a background in 3D design, I thought it would be interesting to check out. Admittedly also the business aspect was attractive for me. It turned out however, that the building tools ware way inferior to what I was used to, and that of course conducting business was hyped in the media. What I did not expect though was to find many great people in SL, so the immersive and social - and later emotional - aspect became by far my biggest motivation to stay. And even though I am an SL entrepreneur in the meantime, it's the aspect of having real and close friends - as far as that is possible in a virtual world - which makes me stay.

Was there anything in-world that surprised you, something that you may not have expected?
I did not expect that SL is pretty much oversexed. Especially as a male, I feel under special scrutiny regarding my motives when talking to female residents. Innocuous remarks get met with the suspician that I am only after cybersex - which I am not.

What do you hope to achieve in-world?
Make a lot of nice aquaintances, get a circle of really close friends and virtual family, and make the lifes of residents better.

What is your motivation?
I really care for people, and enjoy meeting new and interesting ones. I am also the "hands on" type of person, so SL offers me a great opportunity to use my creativity.

How many Residents frequent your island/business? Daily? Monthly?
I don't own land, and honestly I don't believe in traffic as a means to measure attractiveness anyways. My office gets a fair amount of visitors each day, so does the island it is on.

How do you measure your success in-world? Is it by money or another means?
The commercial success of my SL-company is of course measured in money. But I don't want to accumulate riches or cash out regularly. Making money in SL is a means for me to maintain a rather care-free in-world lifestyle.

My social success I measure in terms of the interesting conversations I have, the good people I meet and comments on my blog.

What are some of your favorite places in-world?
For the longest time the Hobo place at Celleta was my home. I enjoy the tropical island Pele (on Forsaken) of my SL sister Chey. Black Swan, Chakryn Forest and Straylight are highlights of landscaping and content creation. Virtual Dublin is still one of my favourite hangouts.

What do you think makes Second Life interesting?
The residents, their social interaction, and their creativity.

What are the pros and cons of doing business in Second Life?

Pro: It's incredible easy to start a business, and the risk of failure is low and in any case not existential threat.

Con: People mixing RL expecations wiht SL reality or expecting that you work/produce for free. Unclear strategy of LL - you knever know how your business gets affected next, or whether your account might be frozen one day, or how they change SL and ruin your business model.

What do you see in the future for Second Life?
Ambigous question. Linden Labs task is to make SL more stable and upset its residents not too much. I hope we get better ways of interacting with the environment, and help new residents to make their first steaps easier. It hurts to think how many interesting people give up simply because their starting experience is too frustrating.

I personally would like to go on like this, meeting people, finding friends, doing my share of making SL a place worth visiting.

January 10, 2008

Dating Persona Test

My friends now that I am quite struggling with emotions, relationships and gender stereotypes. While searching for a tutorial on Natlaias Blog, I stumbled accross a "dating persona test" with some 75 questions, and out of boredom I took it. Here's the result:
Deliberate Gentle Love Dreamer
Steady, reliable, and cradling her tenderly. Take a deep breath, and let it out real easy...you are The Slow Dancer. Your focus is love, not sex. You're a great, thoughtful guy, and your love life improves every year. Your ideal woman is someone intimate, intelligent, and very supportive. While you're not exactly the life of the party, you do thrive in small groups of smart people. Your circle of friends is extra tight and it's HIGHLY likely they're just like you. You appreciate symmetry in relationships.

So, those of my readers who know me, is that me?

Strange visit at the office

There's gold on your friend's list! I rediscovered so many great people on my list lately, so when I saw Mindy Runo logging in - I had not talked to her in months - I shot her an IM and mentioned we should talk more. Unfortunately, she did not remember who I was, and asked for a TP. Last time I met her she was a human/bunny hybrid with a sword. Well... bunny she still is...

My 5 seconds of fame

Hamlet Au of New World Notes asked for predictions for 2008, and of all reader suggestions he chose 10 predictions to vote on. I am proud to say that he chose my prediction, that Linden Labs will be bought by a major player (my bet is on Google), to be among those 10.

January 07, 2008

Ennui

You look at your friends-list, and can't really get yourself to say "Hi!" to one of them (or are reluctant to bother those who you plagued the previous days already, or you know they are occupied otherwise).
You look at your landmarks, and can't really decide to visit something.
You look at your projects, and don't feel like finishing one of them.
You feel a void and and emptiness inside, and nobody is there to save you.
And you can't save yourself.

January 06, 2008

Scripting during downtime

When I logged in today to continue to work on my current project, I noticed that 2 out of 3 times saving and compiling a script failed. And before long, the Lindens shut down the grid to (yet again) fix the asset servers. So this is actually a perfect moment to talk about the great tool LSLEditor by the Dutch SL user Alphons Jano (Alphons van der Heijden in First Life).

LSLEditor is not only an offline editor for LSL scripts with syntax highlighting and auto formatting, it is in fact a complete development package with project control and even a built in debugger. From my experience, it covers at least 80% of the scope scripts are used inside SL, and actually close to 100% of the most commen aspects of scripts. Only things like sensor sweeps or animations can of course not be debugged with the LSLEditor. But touch and listen events are fully functional inside the development interface.


Not only allows this great tool happy coding during downtimes, it also allows you to actually do a backup of your work on your own harddrive - at least the scripting aspect of it. Thanks, Alphons, for this great contribution to the community!