The Life of Evola

This blog is moving

2009-11-18T00:38:00.003-05:00

I'm moving the blog to my own webhosting, actually I've divided it into 3 blogs, including a Photoblog for some of my SL snapshots(I'll still be posting them to Koinup and sporadically to Flickr). Anyways, please update your bookmarks, RSS subscriptions, etc. Hope to see you there!

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The SS Galaxy is Moving

2009-11-14T17:16:00.005-05:00

I just read on the SL Sailing website that the SS Galaxy Cruise ship is going to be joining the USS(United Sailing Sims). My wife and I have both rented there, and loved it, I've also rented on the land area nearby(Al Nasl and Polis sims specifically). It is a great place to rent & live, or just hang out - the staff has always been good too.

Having said that, when I was living there were problems with newbies letting themselves into peoples' homes, trying to play hooker for $L, etc. In fact one day I tp'd in to find some girl standing in my drivway, on top of my car, and was immediately asked (in very crude English no less) if I wanted to have sex. She hadn't even made it to the freebie areas to bother with prim hair and clothes, she was in one of the default Linden get-ups looking like she had just taken a boat off of Orientation Island - couldn't have been more noobish. I laughed and ignored her, she tried to follow me into the apartment but once she figured out that she wasn't getting in she wandered off through the rest of the neighborhood asking any and every poor passersby(male & female alike) if they wanted to have sex with her. She then came back to ask me again(sans the standing on my car), and repeated the whole thing.

There had been increasing number of newbies wandering around at this time, most of them seemingly harmless, some of them even friendly but outnumbered by the ass hats. The ones who think they're bad-assed with their "defensive" gadgets, or just barge into peoples homes, camming in to hop on your furniture, helping themselves and a buddy to your sex bed or hot tub, etc. you all know the types I'm sure.

It's always something you have to deal with no matter where you live, just part of SL, but why were these nuisances so frequent? The SS Galaxy also serves as a Community Gateway for new residents. Good move business-wise and don't fault them at all for it, wish we had those when I was new. However, does a Community Gateway belong on the USS? I would have to say no, a perfect example as to why was recently posted on the SL Sailing Forums about the griefing of major events(specifically, one of the J-Classic races). The post starts out with..

(censored) is the name of an avatar that sat on a number of boats during the J-Classic finals. He disturbed the final race, possibly having a decisive outcome on the final results.

I am not going to immediately claim this person is a griefer, but it is kind of funny to see this account being made the same day of the finals. (11-07-2009 (US notation))

A number of people are witness to this action, one of them mentioned he asked the person to not do that, after which he apologized and jumped on another boat.

This sort of thing of thing is hardly uncommon to begin with, even just pleasure cruising it's at least 2-3 times a week when someone clicks on my boat and effectively stops it dead in it's tracks, and/or hopping on uninvited(which can also heavily effect boat performance, the Beach Cat or Patchogue for example. I wish more boats came with eject scripts like other SL vehicles.) It isn't just a problem with newbies, but oldbies who should know better too.

Anyways, while I like the SS Galaxy and all, and on the whole think they'll be good neighbors(I live a short distance from the newly announced location), I think it'll be fun sailing in for the occasional 7Seas Fishing tournament held there(or other events, they have geisha shows and the Zodiac Ballroom etc., the cruise ship spans three sims), etc., - I do also have my reservations and hope the USS and others are ready to deal with increasing nuisances a Community Gateway will bring to the area.

Saturday Exhibit, Nov 14th {An Update}

2009-11-11T00:33:00.004-05:00

{Edit 11/14: I guess the Saturday night slot was given to a different manager than the one who asked me, and haven't been asked to set up yet so presuming I'm not on for tonight. I'm sure there'll be some great artists there regardless, and just as well as I have a stack of other things on my plate to get around to.}

I'll be doing another showcase at the Omni Market and Art Gallery Cafe this Saturday, Nov 14th, I believe from 6-8pm sl time but don't quote me on that :-p I'll repost Fri with more info. Was hoping to have the first volume of my soon to be published book out for sale but not looking likely, but I'll have plenty of new works out for your viewing pleasure(and purchase). Feel free to check out my main gallery in the meantime.

Cafe - http://slurl.com/secondlife/Giradikon/13/19/90

My main gallery - http://slurl.com/secondlife/Giradikon/176/220/82

Gallery Showing Tonight - Exclusive

2009-11-02T14:29:00.004-05:00

I'll be at the Omni Market and Art Gallery tonight for a showing at the cafe, including some brand new works and some older exclusive stuff rarely if ever seen. The showing is officially 7-9pm SL time at the slurl below, it's set up now though so you can drop by and look around anytime before then if you wish.
Omni Market and Art Gallery - Cafe: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Giradikon/21/41/82

There will be other artists showcasing there tonight as well. Hope to see you there!

ps. I presume there'll be live entertainment during the exhibit. Also you may of course visit my main gallery anytime if you aren't able to attend tonight's event

Blake Sea

2009-10-22T19:55:00.007-04:00

Took some spur of the moment shots yesterday out on Blake Sea, many I've posted to my Koinup account. Maybe I'll throw a few up on Flickr too.

Blake has become rather littered with race buoys and markers, I suspect the LDPW(or whomever has permissions) puts them down for certain events and just never removes them. I had noticed it before while sailing, but egads - most of the post-processing on these photos was time spent cloning them out. Not difficult to do, but quickly gets to be a nuisance when it's a batch of a dozen or more photos. I suppose I should get in the habit of using the rendering tools in-world to hide junk more often. I usually don't think of it for casual spur of the moment shots unless I'm on mainland - then it's rather unavoidable.

Just saying..

..
While I'm here, I'm glad that LL is finally doing something about all the 3rd Party Viewers out there. Nothing wrong with them in and of themselves, but no accountability or expectations from 3rd party developers and users just doesn't work.

I do hope the Lab makes it so that bots need to be registered to connect to the main grid as well. If not possible, then only let PIOF or Premium members connect to the grid with 3rd Party tools, take the anonymity out of it and you stem a lot of the abuse and content theft. Doing this I'd think would make the certain functionalities(such as export) added to viewers & other tools less of a concern - the few people who might theoretically have legit uses for them could still do so but who's going to use their RL info to go on a copytheft or griefing spree?

3rd Party developers would continue to complain and cry witch hunt where LL puts any restrictions on them, and many would rather see users(including content creators) restricted from transferring items without having a verified account. Basically, they'd rather the restrictions be on anyone but themselves, and will complain no matter what LL does. While there may be some individuals who are generally supportive of the Lab's upcoming policy, on the whole I wouldn't expect anything constructive to come out of their community regarding the matter. They don't even accept that 3rd party tools enable much of the content theft and griefing in SL, where there's viewers which make copy-theft so simple even a two-year old could do it and others which enable griefers to evade parcel bans and ejections, which is one of the main tools Residents have to deal with griefing and harrassment on their property. This is the kind of "creativity" that needs to be stifled, and I hope that LL is serious and follows through when they say it will not be tolerated.

Today's the Day! Will You Be There?

2009-09-15T02:08:00.003-04:00

From 4pm - 6pm SLT(Pacific time) I'll be one of the featured artists at the Omni Artists Cafe. You can visit anytime throughout the day of course, in-world at http://slurl.com/secondlife/Giradikon/130/128/84 (the cafe is on the 1st floor, I'm set up on the 2nd)

Presenting..

2009-09-12T16:25:00.001-04:00

This Tuesday, the 15th, I'll be presenting some of my works at the Omni Market & Artist Gallery event, along with the 3 other featured artists. I'll add the location's SLUrl here when I have it.

In the meantime, you can view my newest works on Koinup.com

Reopening the Blog

2009-09-05T22:21:00.004-04:00

Yesterday I was invited to join the Omni Market & Art Gallery to show off my work(SL Photography), it's been months since I've posted anything here but decided to fire it back up and start posting again. More in the coming days not just on my work but other topics such as the state of SL these days, etc.

In the meantime, while in-world feel free to check out all the artists at slurl.com/secondlife/Giradikon/177/221/82

Just Because..

2008-12-02T19:40:00.004-05:00

I came across this the other night and found it a somewhat amusing sign of the times

Open Space Sims

2008-11-07T03:36:00.006-05:00

It's been forever and a day since I've posted anything here so thought I'd share some thoughts on SL's Open Space Sims controversy.

Used to be, Open Sims were originally limited to light use to provide forestry or open waters between regular Full Sims, whether for sailing or just to add open space between areas to make estates more appealing and not having everyone's builds crammed together virtually on top of each other. Eventually people figured out that they could use them essentially as "poor man's sims", and to accomodate them SL doubled the number of prims on the Open Space Sims. Recently SL decided to raise the price and tier of Open Space Sims, which they hadn't done prior when they doubled the prim. This was a way to deal with the increasing resources they took up as a result of previous accomodations.

Learning of this increase, many SL users have gone into an uproar, staging protests in-world and the like. The most vocal of which seems to be those who were using them as Poor Man's Sims, many claiming that the increases amounted to "paying something for nothing" when in fact they've been getting something for nothing for weeks or months. Because of people not living within their means "needing" a full sim rather than living with a smaller peice of a Full Sim which they could afford, the ensuing price increase unfairly effected those who had used the Open Space Sims as they were intended all along - as open space. SL has since come to a compromise, going back to the original Open Space Sims for those who request to do so but with stricter enforced limitations, and naming the "poor man's sims" as Homesteads while keeping(though somewhat delaying) the price increases for those intact. This still hasn't stopped the "Save Our Sims" protests, as if they are entitled to a huge quantity of cheap land and the "right" to misuse it in any way they see fit.

For a short time I was concerned with whether it would affect my tier(as I recently moved to Azure Islands and they use many Open Space Sims as, get this - open space, including a full sim of forest behind the plot where I've put up my church/home but I'll save that for another rambling late-night post). SL's newly announced compromise actually seems fair though, and shouldn't effect me, not that I'd mind paying a bit more tier for what I own as I think that living in a quality community on an estate that enforces it's covenant is worth paying for.

The New (not for long) Neighbors, Part Two

2008-09-19T03:14:00.006-04:00

So, I finally filed an abuse report over my neighbors volcano, being the most egregious violation being both well over the 20m build limit and constructed using megaprims. Garth(the estate owner of FairChang Isles along with his partner Pituca) responded to it a short while later stating that "The oversized prims are with prior permission as per covenant", and that the land editing is okey dokey too as it's set to 6m limit.

The covenant *does* clearly state that 6.) All terraforming must be approved by the management. I never imagined that the neighbors' incredible job of terraforming would have been approved by management, as shown by photos posted here a few days ago, or that the gargantuan volcano was met with approval for that matter. FairChang's estate covenant also states that 10.) Since these are resort communities please keep the architecture and landscaping in tune with the area.

The neighbors' dump stays, with FairChang ownership and management's blessing.

I go.

I've put the land up for sale, though can't say I really expect it to sell, short of a miracle. Part of me hates to give it up, it's zoned a mixed residential/commercial and I loved the convenience of having both home and business located in the same place.

When I bought the land, it was with the understanding that these were typically English themed sims and while maybe not strictly enforced would stay generally in tune with that, and that the 20 meter build limit would prevent against eyesores, etc. In practice however it is now clear that this is not the case. FairChang Isles may as well be mainland.

In fact, it's worse than what I left behind in Westhaven when I was renting there - with no covenant and no marketing of it as a "resort community" besides. But at least I had a great landlord.

For now I'm calling Cali's place home, and may look for a rental somewhere like Zurich until I find a place to own. I have my eye on a couple peices of land at an equestrian resort-type place right now but I'm not rushing into anything, especially if she's going to start looking for new land too. I'm too disgusted with the whole affair at the moment anyways.

Gathering To Honor Richard Wright

2008-09-17T00:17:00.007-04:00

Cali, Yasmine, and I attended an event at a club in the sky called The Tree, hosted by DJ Kim Uriza(in the purple dress below) on Tuesday night. It was a sad occasion but quite pleasant, a couple hours of choice tunes.

I was surprised that there weren't more people there. Maybe Pink Floyd fans on SL don't know who Richard Wright is, and/or are too young. He was, after all, not only a founding member but also the unspoken creative genius behind Pink Floyd, writing songs like Great Gig In the Sky and Us & Them among others - and far more influential than Syd Barret, even if not as well known or acknowledged.

Earlier tonight I took some photos of Cali and I watching the sunset from an old VW watching the sunrise in Stokame Woods, which I should be posting tomorrow, along with a couple of puppy pics.

The New (not for long) Neighbors

2008-09-13T18:46:00.011-04:00

Some new tenants moved in next door to me on FairChang River recently, for amusement(mine or yours, take your pick) I thought I'd post some before and after photos. I'm a tad anxious to be rid of them, as part of the reason I bought my land on Wharf was for the view.

Doesn't look bad huh? Those were taken in my earlier days of SL. Below is what it looks like now - or rather a couple days ago, it's even worse as of this posting. The land was bought by some South Americans, Brazilian I gather, from their profiles it doesn't look like any of them speak much if any English. And it's also clear that they didn't read the covenant when they bought the land, and/or simply don't care that there is one. They're not supposed to do their own terraforming(and the photos of how they left the public road with ground jutting out of it is a good example why it should be left for management), they're not allowed to use megaprims, no structures over 20 meters tall(the volcano, besides being ugly, is around 30-35m tall at the least), and no unapproved security devices. *All* of these they have broken in the last few days, most within 24 hours after purchasing the land. It literally looks like a dump besides all of the violations, with vehicles strewn all over, a large plywood building outside my front windows where I formerly had the view, etc.; FairChang River is also supposed to be an English themed sim. The two plots of land seem to be owned by a group of people who call themselves the Cosa Nostra 2. They're essentially anti-social and inconsiderate, and don't belong in any "community" worth belonging to. I should collect their names and post them here, just to be a prick and I suppose to warn other reputable land and business owners who might deal with them. It's not like they're newbs and don't know any better, most if not all of them have been around SL longer than I.

I had planned on having an official grand opening of my Wharf Cat gallery Sunday evening, but ended up cancelling it earlier this afternoon partly due to this, along with my coming down with a bug or whatever my neice is passing around, and I probably would have bailed early to catch a show anyways. Oh well. Hopefully I can get something constructive done tonight, like maybe building a large fence :->

Update: below is a pic of them taken yesterday, again for amusement purposes..

Owners/Tenants:

-Owners-
Cacaua Peccable (the girl to whom the land was sold)
Roderick Benoir
Lua Foden
Laura Kaul
Mari Sands
Drigo Devin

-Others- (these are the people who have been granted access to the ~~land~~ dump to play in)
Escobar Parx
Cado Sorbet
Maquiavel Carter
kurie Erde
Evellyn Sirnah
aline123 Quan
Estrela Beattie

Boating on FairChang Isles

2008-08-30T05:58:00.004-04:00

Spent much of my free time today boating around the numerous FairChang regions, was relaxing and saw some nice sights.. I'll have to take Cali out to Laguna. I also noticed awhile back that someone on a sim next to the sandbox has the same house she does, saw another out boating as well but don't recall where.

Anyways, I also managed to lose two boats. One I lost in FairChang Atlantis, SL decided to crash 1/4 of my way around, and when I signed back on the boat was long gone.. I also discovered that I was trapped in by red ban lines, and a popup alert telling me I needed to verify my age with SL in order to get out. Not sure how I made it in to begin with, I'm guessing that may have had something to do with SL crashing on me. Earlier today I lost one attempting to sail around FairChang Aimee, which was set to group access only(not just one plot of land, seemed to be the entire region), the boat kept going and my avatar disappeared completely. Managed to teleport home but even then my av wouldn't turn left or right and had to relog to get things working properly again. Neither boat ever made it back into my Lost and Found.

While the boats themselves don't really matter, it's copyable so endless supply.. I hate feeling like I'm littering as well, knowing that they're likely sitting on someone's plot who will have to return it because some people won't read estate covenants when they purchase land. I suppose it also irks me because I've come to be a lover of order as I've grown older - I believe a well regulated society is a healthy society. Looking around and observing mainland sims on SecondLife has also greatly reinforced my belief in that, while I've rented there in the past(specifically in WestHaven) I would never do so again.. but I'll save that for another day.

On another note, I briefly considered posting one of the Obama pics to the SL Flickr group, but decided it was against my better judgement :-D I am curious to see what kind of response(s) that would get though, especially after learning of the controversy which stemmed from the banjo playing emporer. I've got some new self pics that I'll probably touch up and upload to my photostream tomorrow.

Aspiration Shots

2008-08-28T20:19:00.010-04:00

A couple of pics taken in-world, the first is from an exhibit of Reflection Freenote's rl photography at the Thothica Walkway Gallery

_{Photo displayed in image is © Reflections Freenote}

I found it to be one of the more interesting works; it's titled The Aspirational Self, and is actually a fifth graders art project.

I also got a chance to meet Obama today and he seems to be settling into the White House Simulator rather well, the following shots are from the Demoncratic National Convention. He has a gallery of other caricatures, and a few avatars for sale ranging from Dylan to Sarkozy. There's a sign concerning one of the Lindens actually going to his property and removing a photo of Bush playing the banjo, because "he looked naked under the banjo". This was in a Mature sim mind you. Not that this surprised me in todays climate, but did get me wondering aloud as to whether Obama-bots will be as bad as Bush-bots. Believe it or not I think whichever of the two chosen candidates wins will end up being worse than Bush. Considering Obama's ties to terrorists like Bill Ayers and his financial support(in the form of at least $1,000,000 in campaign donations) of tribal relative (and terrorist) Raila A Odinga and the Orange Democrat Movement(color coded revolutions aren't apparently limited to the former Soviet republics, but are a global phenomenon. Go figure.)

Anyways, I didn't see a tip-jar so I bought a couple photos for the house, including the banjo playing Bush.

A Night Of Organ Jamming

2008-08-27T02:12:00.007-04:00

Spent the evening at Luskwood Amphitheatre with Cali, was looking through event listings and came across an organ concert at 8 so knew I had to check that out.

"Live music by Canon Rhode, a theatre organist, playing the Hammond Aurora Custom (and perhaps more, Hammond XK-2 and Korg DW-6000) - Classic rock, 30s and 40s, an eclectic selection. At the lower Luskwood amphitheatre."

It ended up being a pretty good time, though I didn't know until we got there that it was a furrie sim so needless to say we were quite out of place, I only saw two human avs there beside us. Canon was absolutely amazing, he played an hour long medley of songs ranging from movie themes to Flight Of the Bumblebees, etc. all pretty seamless transitions between songs. To quote the performer, "Well, I pretty much played the history of the organ I think. Starting with the early classical to the roaring 20's silent film music, to the 40's swing band, little modern classics. I wasn't sure what to play for you guys, honestly. XD" For some reason it all put me in the mood to log off, strap on the headphones, and listen to Pomme Fritz.

After a 10 minute or so intermission he was gracious enough to continue playing, and turned into a 2 hour event. The second set included a medley of everything from Boston's Foreplay, 96 Tears, Light My Fire, Incense and Peppermints, both the Star Spangled Banner and Oh Canada, Freebird, and the theme to Phantom of the Opera, with other stuff mixed in.

I have to say it was one of the best performances I've seen yet on SL.