The Legacy of Ibn Firnas

On Apologies

2011-11-22T19:54:00.000-08:00

There is only one person you can apologize for: You.

Only You can apologize for your actions or lack there of. You have neither the right nor responsibility to apologize for others. Though nothing happens in a void, each man's actions are his own.

It is popular in the current social and political climate to play passive-aggressive linguistic games with apologies, turning them into snide asides and insults. Worse, it is quite en vogue to use such false apologies to blame a wronged party for being slighted. Such insincerity is neither clever nor charming, but rather, shows a distinct lack of character. Taken to its ends, in the right setting it demonstrates a distinct lack of survival instincts.

If your employer hires you to be a Frontman or foreman, and apologizing for others' failures is part of your job, you are not apologizing. You are politicking.

If you offer an apology on behalf of a group that you are neither spokesman for nor identify with, you are not apologizing. You are grandstanding.

If you apologize for the actions of your children or someone you have introduced, you are likely as embarrassed and agog as the third party offended. Your failure to prevent the misstep is certainly worthy of an apology, but this too is politik. You too should expect an apology from the offending party you have chaperoned.

If you profit from another's ill doings, again, your apology is for your actions, or lack thereof. Anything else is not an apology.

Be your own master, Damnit! If you cannot apologize sincerely, keep yourself on a shorter leash.

Masterworks

2011-11-22T19:16:00.000-08:00

Craftsmanship like this brings a tear to my eye and fills me with hope. I am pleased there is such beauty in the world.

This is what skill and dedication to one's craft looks like. I salute the Gentleman and his precision handiwork.

End of an Era

2011-07-04T20:27:00.000-07:00

I grew up with the Space Shuttle. I watched the first shuttle launch and many after it. It is with both great excitement and some sadness that I look forward to this Friday's launch.

The applet and coverage below is courtesy of SpaceFlightNow.com

Skydiving Dance Numbers

2011-06-19T14:07:00.000-07:00

Ladies and Gentlemen, please allow me to introduce you to Havard, Ju, Raph, and Alberto. These gentlemen are skydivers beyond compare who represent their respective exhibition teams in a truly inspired performance or aerial acumen. For your consideration, I present to you a display of grace and style rarely seen upon land, sea, or air.

Fred and Ginger have nothing on these four.

Search Fail: wherein I vent Bile I did not know I had

2011-05-08T01:38:00.000-07:00

I fear I unloaded on a fellow member of ISC over something that he has no control over. It was inappropriate of me.

However, it changes nothing about my opinion.

In the last week, I have had no less than five (well, six now) conversations regarding Second Life's search function. In each case, the other person reads it as being a "Viewer 1x vs Viewer 2x" or "Primary Viewer vs Third Party Viewer" debate.

No.
No. No. No.

This is a debate over usability.

Fifteen years ago
In 1994
Anno Domine One Thousand Ninehundred and Ninety-Four,
I could visit Webcrawler or AltaVista and do a websearch, using quotation marks for an exact match, or logical operands such as + and - or AND and NOT to limit or broaden my search.

Fifteen Years have passed.

I can use Google to find a specific Chris Johnson in the city of Chicago using quotation marks for an exact match, or logical operands such as + and - or AND and NOT to limit or broaden my search.

Even in the nascent days of the web, search engines and webcrawlers included this functionality. SL search, in the years I have been here does not.

Please: This is not about one viewer being better than another. This is about search being deployed in such a way that it fails to incorporate the most basic boolean functionality. Anyone who Evangelizes that search works just fine for them is just begging to play out the Dead Parrot Sketch and I am not John Cleese.

I am sick of this bloody discussion.

Search. Does. Not. Work.
Don't try to tell me it does but that I am using it wrong- there is only one way to use it.
Don't tell me it is because of my viewer. I can log into the SL website and get the same results and I can try under numerous different viewers and reach the same end.

When search query is for a place, dumping to full list of every possible refence to that place, plus spellings close to the term, but not the actual place, is not a meaningful result.
When it is for a person, especially one with a somewhat common name, dumping 50 results full of references and variants on the name, rather than the exact match you could have shown me, is not a meaningful result.

Now, I do not believe i pointing out a problem with out suggesting a solution, so here is my suggestion:

Linden Lab, please offer an advanced search option.

Include using quotation marks for an exact match, or logical operands such as + and - or AND and NOT to limit or broaden search results.
For Bonus points: Weight results to Name field first, then Descriptions (objects or places) and Screen Names (avatars).

And to the Evangelists: Don't tell people they are doing it wrong without listening to what the actual complaint is. It makes you look moronic and does nothing to win anyone over. There is no "winning" or scoring points on someone when your argument consists solely of knee-jerk gainsaying.

There is the reason Open Source left a bad taste in the mouths of so many prior to Ubuntu: you.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I swear, I am surrounded by zealots and sycophants.

Yuri's Night

2011-04-12T23:44:00.000-07:00

Tonight we raise a glass, and celebrate the dreams of Mankind

Tonight we celebrate Yuri Gagarin's epic flight

50 years ago today he touched down after going further from home than any man before.

Tonight we raise a glass to Yuri Gagarin

Tonight we celebrate his epic flight

Festo does it again: Smart bird

2011-04-09T01:13:00.000-07:00

Ladies and Gentlemen, without further ado, may I present a vision of elegance and the dreams of centuries.

Chapter 24: A change of Plans and public Apology

2011-04-02T23:44:00.000-07:00

I received a great deal of interest from Friday's posting.

If you note the date, you will find it was, in fact, an April Fool's post. Unfortunately, the cues I added to indicate so were not as obvious as I thought, and I had a great deal of interest for parcels and regarding general theme. At first, I was apologizing for getting peoples' hopes up. However, the more I read it, the better an Idea it seemed.

By early afternoon, I was ready to go ahead and buy the sim.

Friday evening, however, when we returned from a night out on the town, I had a message from certain commercial interests asking me to reconsider my plan.

As a matter of professional courtesy, all plans are off at this time.
My sincere apologies.

~Vivito Volare

Chapter 23: Wherein The Volares expand their Enterprise

2011-04-01T14:36:00.000-07:00

There is a relatively small but ardent population in the steamlands that represent the Entrepreneurial classes. While others play out roles of grand Duchesses of Pomp and Fluff, or Bookbound Scholars or trumped up self-made "pirates," we represent the underbelly of the Victorian image. We own the bosses that drive the workhouses. We smuggle French and Oriental narcotics past the admiralty. We find a use for all of Dickens' little scamps. We are not criminals, no. We understand the markets, and that Laws are merely fashionable denials.

We lubricate the gears of Society.

As such, M'dear and I have been talking with Des and several fellow Caledonians. As we all know, the fabled Guv'nah Shang Catgirl Dungeon does not exist, despite doors to it being littered all over Caledon. Why not make the legend live, eh?

I have just put in the order for a full sim, to be placed near Caledon.

While not affiliated with "Caledon" in any official sense, it's theme can best be described as "The Whitechapel of Victoria City"

The sim will be rated Adult and be damage enabled. Several animators and clothing designers have already signed on for the initial opening. We have worked out a monetized "reverse rent" system to guarantee the sim has a live cast at all times for visitors to interact with.

This is the back alleys and slum of London, 1888. Jack The Ripper stalks the streets. Prostitution, Extortion, and Thuggery are the daily reality...

We have a great group of designers working on the build and look forward to a sneak-peek opening later this month.

Caledon's 5th Anniversary

2011-02-26T20:30:00.000-08:00

Five Years is a long life for an online community. In that time friendships have formed, worlds have grown and disolved, lives lost and new lives born.

It was here that I met the love of my life, and here I staked a claim in all manner of questionable enterprises.

I have been here for each of Caledon's Anniversary Celebrations, and plan to continue so long as her flag waves.

5 Wonderful Years.

So, Here's to the Desmond Shang and the Steampunks, The NeoVictorians, The Tinies, Automatons, Furries, Dolls, Clanks, Jaegers, Aliens, Insects, Fae, Urchins, Gargoyles, Mad Scientists and Poetic Recluses that have made it what it is today!

Happy 5th Anniversary Caledon!

The Fury, The Bluster, The Status Quo: LL/Customer Communications

2011-02-12T15:27:00.000-08:00

I generally avoid the subject of LL's relation to its product and its customer base. I do not want to turn into one of those "SL Bloggers": spending more time reading each other's writings with the requisite commenting and counter commenting. I would rather be highlighting those things that interest and excite me and share them with others.

However, I cannot help myself. While looking for a script snippet, I somehow landed in the discussion on LL's new communications strategy. I was pleased to see that this Amanda Linden was far more engaging than her predecessor Kat Linden, who was so much a PR frontman as to be surprised that customers might respond for her in kind.

Reading down the responses was a poor choice on my part. I have many other things I need to do*. However, Amid the high noise-to-signal ratio, with the usual squawks about democracy, old issues, and "back in the day" posts, I was very pleased to see a rather coherent tone of dialogue occur:

Lab: We are listening to our customers
Customers: Prove it
Lab: Ok

There were two great disappointments to me reading these, however.

1) The Linden-du-Jour having cutesy names to refer to the SL Customer base. Amanda Linden repeatedly used the term "Resi." I should hope she get this out of her head right now. We are Primary or Secondary customers, Vendors and Third-Party App Developers of their platform. We should be communicated with as such. This goes both ways, of course.

2) LL is a company that rests entirely on one product. It tries to account for a broad customer base whose interests are often in contention with each other and their forums and office hours have breed a great deal of discontent of the years. This has lead to louder and louder clamoring by a very small body of commentators. The result: more reasonable voices that have legitimate concerns appear to be overlooked. LL Reps continually try to speak to the ranting our Screaming Mimis instead of having a conversation with the rest of us. This is rewarding bad behavior and LL will do to move away from this.

After nearly 5 years in Second Life, I am still enjoying myself. Sadly, every time I look up and delve into the broader SL/LL community, I see the same floorshow and I get the distinct impression none of the actors have changed.

-----
*Yes, clearly I then went and took the time to post a blog post on it to expound on my views and beat my chest and scream into the aether. So much for priorities...

Evolving Spaces

2011-02-03T16:31:00.000-08:00

If you create tools and environments, especially for virtual worlds, I would recommend these two quick posts.

I have a great respect for anyone who can create an immersive environment. Doing so requires an empathic and critical understand of human senses and motivation. How do all the little pieces come together and create a scene that envelopes the viewer and makes them part of it?

I have a great respect for those designers that do this so completely as to ply the user into playing a part. I have been to theme parks and watched people's behavior change as they move from one environment to another. I have been to themed events (conventions, parties, etc) and watch how the space chosen draws the person to become a character. This is especially notable in those that don't RP.

In Second Life, a new viewer feature enables you to share windlight settings, which has a huge impact on creating a sense of place. Caer Firnas in perpetually shrouded in an early morning hush, changing to hazy and dim twilight in the forgotten little cemetery. Above, Port Morgan drifts at the cloudtops, feeling the first rays of morning warm the frosted metal hulls and chilled canvas. It was meant to feel like an old cemetery in morning: a place of quiet that has an unseen life of its own.

At least, that is what is seems to aspire to...

Wrestling with Reality: Aesthetic Flight

2011-01-22T21:00:00.000-08:00

When you are designing a vehicle for artistic purposes, whether it be SL, a video game, or even a shortstory, you are faced with a problem engineers don't have: you don't have Physics there to proof and pass judgement on your work.

Sure, you don't have to worry about shearing point or strength to weight ratios. Nor are you encumbered by vibration, lift/drag coefficients, or pesky things like labor and materials handling. You don't have to even consider how it is fueled or how electrical system are run unless you choose to make a point to do so. You can do as you like, so long as you are not abusing the audience's expectations.

This is not to say you should be bound by the constraints of reality as-we-know-it. In fact, the further you get into the abstract, the easier it becomes as the viewer/reader/player is more willing to take what is presented to them at face value. Even then, however, you must remain internally consistent.

There is a peculiar hardcore of SL users who enjoy modeling and scripting all manner of flying things. Looking at who is building what, you come to see that those vehicles that are most enjoyable are those that work to make the Appearance of Form match the Appearance of Function. Sure, All you really need for a vehicle in SL is a prim and a script, but that isn't enough to satisfy what people want.

(We who create vehicles are the largest portion of the vehicle market, all buying one another's creations. This is largely because there are many SL users that don't get it. It is a common refrain I hear, a murmur of "Why would you want a vehicle when you could just fly?" This is a topic for another day)

The best designs try to marry the form of the craft and the handling, reinforcing what the tool-using portion of the brain expects. When it doesn't the user experience is less than satisfying. However, if it succeeds, that vehicle will become somebody's favorite.

Old Show. New Theme.

2011-01-16T00:17:00.000-08:00

Hollywood desperately recycles old franchises in the hopes of avoiding taking a loss like every other industry has. Surely, there is a little more money to besqueezed out of superheroes X or 70'sploitation flic Y.

Television, on the otherhand has not considered updating classic series in the same way.

Perhaps it is time.

In the name of Retro Futurism, Ladies and gentlemen, 1983 is the present's future!
May I present you with the hit new Television serial: "Lol's"

The Theme from "Lol's"
-----
Making your name on the net today takes everything you've got.

Taking a break from all your Durr-ing, sure would help a lot.

Wouldn't you like to get away?

Sometimes you want to troll where everybody knows your name,
and you're always glad you flamed.
You wanna be where they can't see,
you will pwn all that's lame.
You wanna troll where everybody knows
Your name!

(Lol's is film before a live studio chat app)

The Antikythera Device, Now

2010-12-09T16:37:00.000-08:00

Like many, I have always been intrigued with ancient technology, and the discovery of the Antikythera device had no small part in that. Many authors, scientists, engineers, UFOlogists, crypto-archeologists, anthropologists and historians have puzzled after the use of the device, its construction and function.

But after all the speculation, bronze-age retro futurism, and gearhead-of-the-gods pontification, the truth was far more interesting. It was a highly accurate eclipse calculator. Still accurate, centuries later.

Let's see your Rolex pull that off.

So, fast forward to today, where Andrew Carol has built a functioning replica...from Legos. (also check out his 3rd generation Babbage Engine, built from everyone's favorite plastic blocks)

The Antikythera Mechanism in Lego from Small Mammal on Vimeo.

The Small Mammal blog has a great posting on this wonderful little project, and the filming.

On the occasion of Magdalena Kamenev's Birthday

2010-12-09T00:22:00.000-08:00

Today I would like to wish a warm and wonderful birthday to The Lady Magz, Librarian, Lucien of Caer Firnas.

I first met Magz amid the tumult of conversation that is Caledon state chat, and we invited her (well, begged is more like it), to come and DJ one of the SSC Big Brass Balls. Magz is charming, funny, and intelligent and I am proud and humbled to call her my friend, both in SL and AFK.

Happy Birthday!

The best answer yet to "What Is Steampunk?"

2010-11-23T13:12:00.000-08:00

I have had the pleasure (I am an automasochist it seems) of reading no end of academic papers trying to analyze "Steampunk" and place it on the correct shelf of genre and cultural theory. A large number of these papers fall into three distinct groupings, all of which are most marked by a lack of good research, and poor analysis:

1) I Love Steampunk, Love It Too!
The authors generally come off as over-excited children trying to describe their favorite cartoon. The impression one walks away with is that either the Author really likes gears or needs to drink decaf.

2) U Sux LOL!!1
The authors read as blowhards who dismiss anything that they themselves are not into. This category of papers follow the format of "I don't get it, hence, it is reproachable".

3) Isn't this Delightful! What is it?
Steampunk is what it wants to be, isn't that delightfully [postmodern/anarchic/cyber/whathaveyou]?

As I said, the main issue with these papers come from a lack of research, most notably limiting oneself to secondary sources.

Aevelle Galicia recently linked to a paper titled Reclaiming the Machine: An Introductory Look at Steampunk in Everyday Practice by a Ms Rebecca Onion. I very much enjoyed this paper, and feel that it is probably one of the best analysis I have read on the subject.

Most importantly, it lays out some of the key elements of what makes something Steampunk (at least, as far as I am concerned). If you have a few minutes I would recommend giving it your attention.

Doubly so if you believe Steampunk has no DIY ethic or lacks some sort of counter-culture street cred.

I particularly liked the citation of Margaret Ratt

...she believes that most steampunks “look at the modern world about us, bored to tears, and say, „no, thank you. I‟d rather have trees, birds, and monstrous mechanical contraptions than an endless sprawl that is devoid of diversity”

The Brooklyn Space Agency

2010-10-04T21:32:00.000-07:00

I launched weather balloons, rockets, and who knows what else as a child. My parents were always very encouraging of my scientific explorations (well, except for the "Frankenroach" incident). I had many men and women in my family who inspired me to poke at the natural world and see what happens.

I see this gentleman obviously shares a similar background. May this man leave an indelible impression that inspires these kids for years to come.

Homemade Spacecraft from Luke Geissbuhler on Vimeo.

Thanks to Zoe Connolly for posting the link to this.

"Eureka!": Burning Passion, Divine Madness

2010-09-25T01:11:00.000-07:00

If you want to fly, don’t drum up the men to gather materials, divide the work and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sky.

http://hpo.ornithopter.net/

HPO The Snowbird from U of T Engineering on Vimeo.

If this does not stir something deep in you, I cannot explain it to you now. I can only stand you at precipice and direct your eye to the stars below.

Behind The Scenes

2010-09-14T23:30:00.000-07:00

"A man fears fame like a pig fears fat" -Proverb

In some lines of work, whether at or away from the keyboard, to draw attention to one's self is to suggest incompetence. If you cannot handle your affairs quietly and calmly, leaving your hands clean and no discernible footprints, you may as well bag the lot and take up fishing.

However, it is in each of us to want to make ourselves known. We wish to promote ourselves and our many virtues (whether they are recognized by the community of merely self-attributed). There are some people who have made such an industry of promoting their name that their identity becomes meaningless. Poor fellows. The world is full of them, and few recognize they are living out a joke whose punchline, death, is wholly dissatisfying to all but the audience.

The middle way is to behold your accomplishment with a critical eye, neither seeking nor shrinking away from praise and criticism. Be humble in receiving any recognition foisted upon you, and thankful for those the raise a voice contrary to yours.

Then, while nobody is looking, slip out the back door and return to your Works...

6 Months

2010-08-06T18:34:00.000-07:00

Your illustrious host, I, Vivito Volare, have spent the six months in a mad frenzy of activity. First, there was the demolition and remodel of Caledon Steam Sky City, which was no small feat. Special thanks yet again to the talented and patient Equine McMillan and Wrath Constantine, and to all who offered such wonderful and valuable input along the way.

Next, we had the numerous SLRFL builds, culminating in the Caledon RFL camp. We one an award, and it was a wonderful collaborative experience. Special thanks here to Darlingmonster Ember, Martini Discovolante, Audrey Fotherington, Fogwoman Gray, Equine McMillan, Garth Goode, and Wrath Constantine.

In the midst of all that, The SL platform underwent some ground shaking changes that have certainly affected my business plans- namely script, physics, and permissions issues that forced me to abandon some products after demos made it into the wild full-perm (documented issue, not user error on my part, thank you)

Also, work on Blue Mars projects continue, with the stealth opening of the Volare Teahouse & Museum of Unnatural History in Caledonia, and the developement of Grey Market Productions' display outpost: Nivelea

The Caer Firnas Sky Joust Event

2010-02-20T21:58:00.000-08:00

Tonight, in Caledon Caer Firnas, the stakes were high as Man, Woman, And Ostrich took to the sky to compete in The 2010 Cavorite Cup Skyjoust event.

For those not familiar with the Game, the mad geniuses at Abraminations have re-interpreted a timeless tale of airborne doom from the arcades of yesteryear to the 3-Dimensional world of SecondLife as Sky-Joust.

Mounting up on ostrich-back, you take to the sky, trying to bring your lance to bare one your opponents.

The initial heat of the first round was a free for all. Donal Loxley, Hotspur O'Toole, Wendyslippers Charisma, and Kamika Ying were all dead set on unseating their fellow competitors as quickly as possible. The technique was very hit-and run, with Col. O'Toole coming in first with three kill, and Kamika Ying following close behind with two.

In the second heat, the players were more guarded in the first half, exploding into a frenzy of feint and counterfeint at the one minute warning. Magdalena Outlander, Garth Goode, Rachire Andel, Rurik Bellinghausen, and Mari Moonbeam played a cat and mouse match that had the spectators enthralled. Capt. Rachire was holding the pressure on Ms Outlander until the tide turned and he became a favoured mark for the other players. As the one minute bell was rung, Play went up to the ceiling of the cave in a desperate bid to score. Garth Goode finished the round with the only kill, having squared off in a last second do-or-die vs. Rachire.

The Champion Round saw some very exciting play. Col. O'toole was the favorite, coming in with three kills from the previous round, and Miss Ying was showing far better control of her mount, and held him in threat in the first minutes. In a Surprise upset, Mr Goode took up a strong lead after a series of well timed surprise attacks.

Garth Goode was awarded the Gold medal, Miss Ying Silver, and Col. O'Toole the Bronze after an exhilarating final match.

SSC Revisited

2010-02-06T14:31:00.000-08:00

Even after the circumstances that left us holding the isle of Caer Firnas, I was still regularly tending my shop at No. 2 Steam SkyCity.

In the last several months however, my business has kept me on the move. I alight in the city to pay tier, check mail, and feed Mr Squiggles, but had not had time to walk the hallways as I once did.

It seems upkeep is needed. The storage areas all have broken hatches, the floors are corroding, and there is a creepy moaning sound emanating from the freshwater lines.

I have moved the Anna Chronos to a particularly high altitude and have worked on fabricating some replacement parts. The timing on this could not be better, as stories of lurkers, pirates, and brigands are on the rise, and I am not one to have my enterprises disrupted by adventurous amateurs.

Disappointed

2010-01-30T18:15:00.000-08:00

Well, I certainly did not see it coming.

The one person in SL who I always knew to speak rationally on any topic, who inspired others to engage their brain before opening their mouth; The sharpest wit and the single most effective mitigatory I have seen on the grid has finally had enough.

LL has finally driven one of it's most talented and long established content creators to pack it up.

I hope things can be mended, but I doubt it.

Shame on them.

On Holding Shipments for Third Parties

2010-01-22T11:15:00.000-08:00

It is inevitable, in all forms of enterprise, that you will find yourself holding inventory on behalf of one party for receipt by another. Such is all overhead, and at best, it costs you time and space, at worst, sanity, personnel, and having to explain when half the city is on fire.

Such is the concern lately.

Not Since my early days in Caledon have I been targeted in this manner. Many parties seem interested in this problematic parcel.

I would move it to Caer Firnas, but the receiving party is expecting delivery in SSC. To take it to the Isle would be to open myself to undue complications should there be anything wrong with it when it is finally recieved.

It is a good thing to operate from a Sky City.

Shorthanded

2009-12-06T19:06:00.000-08:00

Traditional wisdom says there is a point, on the balance between too little help and too much help where adding manpower only makes things more complicated. I disagree. However, I do not overly rely on manpower to get things done.

I knew we were going to have visitors come to Caer Firnas with the intent of testing our genteel manners as we often do. Between our Lady Lucien moonlighting as a popular musical entertainer, my dear Lady's work at Oxbridge, my assistant's insistent calls for revolt among mechanical workers, and my own research and business pursuits, we are never at a lack of short-sighted guests with ill-advised plans. Had I more time, I could have prepared some entertaining diversions for them.

Alas, on the morning of November 27th, the great Tesla Tower had been dismantled by unknown persons.

I confess there was part of me, the young man of yesteryear, who was a bit angry and embarrassed. Such a heist, and from under my own nose? Oh the indignity. I should have come out of this ahead!

As a man, you never escape the brash and prideful youth you were.

I examined the site in the light of false dawn. It was clear my visitors had come by train. The tracks took the long way around, and approached the tower from the south. Clearly, they had intended to move the pieces through the woods to a landing where small runabout would have ferried the various bits to a waiting steamship.

Oddly enough, it seems they only loaded a fraction of their haul. Something obviously panicked the steamer, stranding our visitors. The footsteps in the snow suggested our industrious fellows ran for the water, looking back on occasion. One fell and obviously backpedaled from something coming at him, but I cannot tell what.

I do not know what happened to our interlopers. I doubt anyone does. Sadly, the tower is no longer a resource to draw upon, and other power sources will need to be devised. I have shipped what pieces remained on the beach (still nicely stacked and crated for their former voyage) back to the Duke Glamorgan, ambient Kukulcan. Perhaps he can sort out if what remains is usable or if they made of with the most key parts.

Meanwhile, I think I may begin work on a rectifier of my own design. Surely I can piece together something that can be hardened against the advances of the torch-and-pitchfork crowd...

Reflections on the Occasion of The Author's Third Rezday

2009-11-16T20:13:00.000-08:00

Three Years.

I am I, because I am here...

I have made many things. Constantly, I am meeting little challenges to learn from.

I have heard songs I likely never would have heard otherwise.

I have met the love of my life, made dear friends and acquaintances I do not deserve, and have been blessed with only the most choice and select enemies.

I have the opportunity to fly, constantly.
I wear many faces.

I have helped waves of new residents find their footing. I have watched them come into their own, and in the words of two great transdimensional explorers, "be excellent, dude!"

I have tormented the mighty, pestered the annoying, and inflicted myself upon the masses.

I have whipped up whirlwinds of whimsy

Ladies and Gentlemen, I am having too much fun.

So Eat! Drink! Dance you fools! It is always about to end.

Facing the year to come, I forfeit my grumpy oldbie card. They send you one on your third rezday, you know. It entitles you to wail and gnash teeth about every little inconvenience. It gives you carteblanch to be bitter if someone else is having more fun than you, and even provides you an excuse, printed on the back in large, easy-to-read letters, reading "Back then, everything was more stable"

A little bit of Whimsy

2009-10-09T21:31:00.000-07:00

To H.G. Wells

2009-09-21T22:48:00.000-07:00

You are why we are here
With our steam engines, balloons, and improbable contraptions
Making the Present into Yesterday's Future

Happy Birthday, sir!

The Greatest Lie

2009-09-13T22:07:00.000-07:00

As a culture, we have swallowed whole this idea that "The Dreamer Must Die." Look at the stories that litter our cultural heritage, and you see a common theme, wherein someone finds "A New Way" and is either killed for it, must sacrifice themselves mortally, or are too delicate for the world's cruelty.

These make great fiction, yes, but the trope is inherently dishonest. It does a disservice to those minds that burn bright to the last, to those who move aside for the next "New Way," and to the reader, who comes to associate genius with early demise.

Certainly there are many of those sparks that burn out all too soon, but looking at their lives, do not confuse genius and recklessness.

To be certain, everyone dies. However, that is not license to fetishise the dead dreamer to satisfy your need for an idol. Especially considering all the perfectly good, low mileage dreamers we have laying all about the place.

Improbably Large Aircraft or The Trouble with Cavorite

2009-07-02T11:17:00.000-07:00

Cavorite is an amazing mineral, and provides us many freedoms when designing homes and airships. Not only does it allow lighter-then-air flight without the difficulties of attaining Helium, the hazards of Hydrogen, and the weight issues associated with the traditional Steam engine.

However, Cavorite comes with its own design problems.

If you look around our fair land, you will notice two obvious issues:

1 Cavorite is not readily damped. The lifting effect of cavorite is itself a damping effect, as it is "opaque" to gravity.

2 Cavorite purity is variable. Some veins, such as those in Moors and Stormhold have produced specimen so pure as to have rocketed skyward before being assayed, whereas Morgaine's cavorite is mostly in-matrix, and many of the largest boulders from the mountain can be lifted by a grown man.

The most common approach at this point is to build your structure or vehicle, find an appropriate quantity of Cavorite to bring the structure to a neutral or slightly positive bouyancy, and use rotors for maneuvering.

While this approach is the most elegant of current arrangements, it requires a fair amount of guesswork.

However, My thinking is, there must be a way around one or the other of these limitations.

We shall see.

The Sky's the Limit now has a difinitive meaning

2009-06-28T00:53:00.000-07:00

Let it be known that none soar higher than I, Vivito Volare.
For tonight, I reached the highest altitude possible by known conveyance:

-2147483648 meters high

Enemies on All Sides

2009-06-27T20:32:00.000-07:00

In my line of work, being that of a humble businessman and meddler, you make many friends. Building a reputation for being a Professional is neither difficult nor costly.

But it does require vigilance.

I was familiar with the Luddites, who smashed the mechanized Looms and claimed allegiance to the fictitious "King Ludd." It took the weight of a nation to be brought down upon them to bring their insurrection to a halt. It is commonly held that the Luddites were against technical advancement. This is not correct. What they were really against is the threat mechanization posed to their carefully crafted and militantly maintained textile pricing scheme.

Recently, however, I have had my first encounters with persons describing themselves as NeoLuddites. In the first instance, a chap made it aboard the Anna Chronis and attempted to sabotage the engines. Sadly, his lack of technical knowledge sealed his fate, and I was left the messy chore of picking through his personal affects to learn what he was about. On his person was all manner of literature calling for the destruction of all Artifice and the end of the Machine Age.

It reminded me of when I was in Paris and had witnessed an artist attacked on Montmartre. It seemed a group of distinguished persons about town had taken to attacking avantgarde artists. While we were never clear as to what their initials F, O and P stood for, the crew and I took to calling them the Fraternal Order of Philistines.

Groups like F.O.P. and the NeoLuddites believe that they are saving our culture from its self-inflicted ruin. What they are really doing is trying to herd us into stagnation. They are afraid of the rapid change of our age, and fixate on some facet, whether it be the Arts or Technology, and do their damnedest to bring our culture to a screeching halt just so they can feel less out-of-control.

I do not fool myself into believing I have met with the last of either group.

Coming Soon!

2009-03-05T15:51:00.000-08:00

Have you ever said this? Has this prediction ever held true?

You Have? It hasn't?
Good, then I was simply misguided in saying it, and not a liar.

I have spent the last few days far from my workshop. After a week of designing ejector seats that don't quite eject, and rudder assemblies that don't rudd, I spent two days, stethoscope in hand and ear, listening for an unwelcome vibration in my new engine. Is it something anyone else would notice? Probably not. But, I cannot release my new and updated designs knowing it is there.

In the midst of my aggravation, I looked at the puddle on the shop floor and the now crisp and charred lightning rod, and realized there has been a storm raging for the last two days, and all my adjustments and subtle tuning included compensating for the low, constant, dull rumbling of grid weather.

I was of a mind to seek catharsis in a proper historical manner and sack Rome.

Not wanting to start an international incident, I decided to take a short constitutional, and seek out a little wonder and amazement. Fortunately, it didn't take long for a little wonder and amazement to find me instead.

First, there were the new residents, exploring Caer Firnas. Some did a little exploring, some were couples looking for hide away nooks. My favorite though, was the young woman who explored all the abandoned houses, and was a bit concerned "What happened? Where did all the people go?"

Then, as I considered going back to my workshop, I was paged by Mr Walcher. Upon arriving, I discovered that I had been invited to play with Madcow Cosmos's newest fancy. Mr Walcher is a good friend, and both he and M.Cosmos are builders whom I admire for their creativity and their whimsy. To quote my mad-scientist grandfather, "They Get It."

So, passing an evening with Miss Gray, Miss Meredith, Mr Walcher, and M Cosmos put a huge smile on my face, and helped stoke the furnace.

Thunder be damned, new works, coming soon!

A little Bierce makes everything Bitter, er, Better

2009-03-05T14:00:00.000-08:00

Ambrose Bierce, whether for, by, or in spite of his cynicism, is a genius. A contemporary of Mr Samuel Clements, but far less "folksy." His best known works, and sadly the only two most of the intelligentsia will ever touch, are "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" and "The Devil's Dictionary"

I found my old, over-loved copy of The Devil's Dictionary recently. Miss Gray had never read it before, and she was nearly howling with laughter. "The problem I have with this book," she gasped, "it is not written as an illuminated manuscript bound in leather."

I think this would be a noble undertaking, as well as required reading for future hiring decisions.

"Well, I am a journeyman boilermaker, a champion cannon loader, have no trouble with heights."
"Ever read The Devil's Dictionary?"
"...yes?"
"Ah, well, thank you for your application. You start Monday. Here is my sister, go have fun."

Happy Third Anniversary Caledon

2009-02-26T15:29:00.001-08:00

This is the rambling toast of a drunken best man. A good number of thoughts, less organized than they might otherwise be, and meant to be read in a good-humoured tone.

Here's to us!
This past year seems like it has been far more tumultuous than it really was, I say.

The Bad and the Ugly went together, and it is easy to recount these because they are specific, and small in number(though of no small magnitude).

From my perspective, the low points of this year came in the form of the SL5B Child Avatar gaff, the many wonderful builds and fledgling enterprises that were dashed by LL's %66 price hike, LLs insulting spin and blame game, and the deaths of Sumie Kawashima and Kendra Bankcroft.

But these dark spots are simply unable to mar all the wonderful things that occurred this year. Not even speaking to all the wonderful things this year has brought into my life personally, this has been a good year for the residents of Caledon.

This year started with twenty-four hours of music and we even managed to get Des onto the dance floor. Our nation grew dramatically this year, both geographically and socially. We were given a new Anthem by virtue of Miss Rothschild taking the song "Caledon" and singing what most agree is the definitive version of the tune. We saw critical acclaim for our library, members of our artistic community, and a Relay For Life event that saw record donations. Between Oxbridge University and NCI's Presence in Caledon, we find ourselves better serving the many newer visitors to our land.

How is Caledon? Don't let the public meltdown the occurred at the end of December fool you. Look at the group membership of Caledon. Sort it by date of last login. Eighty percent of our members have logged in in the past two month, with Fifty percent having logged in within the past few days. Compare that to any other group on the grid this old.

Everyone lauds Des. Yes, He's a nice enough fellow, I guess, but if we didn't keep him busy with notecards, random IMs and land tissues, I would well expect him to have been ejected from SL within six months for pushing "Nip" on streetcorners and in back alleys.

No, Really, if anyone deserves a toast, it is us. We have stuck with each other, cheered each other on, put up with one another's BS, bickered like siblings, shared griefs (and griefers), and laughed with each other for hours on end.

Predictions for this year? I foresee returning to a subscription model for SL, or a Grid v2 that is subscription only and not built on legacy code. I predict the release of Flexible sculpts will come with a major overhaul of the client and physics engine, for better or worse. For Caledon, I hope to see Des finally get a bloody secretary that isn't just himself as an alt. With so many wonderful and talented residents, I see us losing some of the reputation we seem to have gained for being insular, and really connecting with other communities and activity groups across the grid. Closer at hand, I foresee strange occurrences in Caer Firnas.

So Happy Third Anniversary Caledon. May your flag wave higher than your tier, and may your hare never turn gray.

A humble request to my readers

2009-02-15T00:46:00.000-08:00

Please review http://jira.secondlife.com/browse/VWR-12059 - Advanced Mute and offer your thoughts on the idea.

I believe such a feature, while not a panacea for all that ails, may well prove of much benefit if implemented properly.

If you believe it warrants real consideration by Linden Lab staff, please vote for it, and consider pointing others toward it.

Why Steampunk?

2009-02-11T00:35:00.000-08:00

Steampunk is the most latest fad
To drive all of the scenesters quite mad-
Where sexy is brains,
and airships and trains,
In a culture that thinks old is bad.

Steampunk is a form of Retro-Futurism that is loosely based on the Victorian era, and the science fiction of that age.

Retro-Futurism is a newfangled term for two simultaneous phenomena:

1) Seeing the unrealized potential of the past.

2) Projecting upon the past the hopes and insecurities of the present.

But as with all labels, it is inherently an incomplete definition. I myself like the sound of the label, but it holds little inherent value to me.

I will confess a certain degree of annoyance and amusement at the debates I have witnessed among aesthetes and lexicographers as to the meaning and scope of the term.

So, what is it to me? Simply put, it is an admiration for the various aesthetic movements of the 1800's, a love for the technical ingenuity and craftsmanship of the machines of the era, the turmoil affecting the social strata, and embracing scientific discovery.

More than that, however, is the sense of hope and bravado of the age, and understanding "Eureka!" as a euphoric transitory state and not just a word.

These things I love existed before the term "Steampunk" was coined, and they will continue to exist long after I have have been swept away.

The Trolls, The Pedants, and The Fox: A Parable

2009-01-22T17:42:00.000-08:00

The Pedants sat in a small pub, discussing their trade (Pedantry, or course). When a new student would arrive with an interest in Pedantry, the Pedants would offer the student insights, and sometimes give them whole books, or objet d'art, or basic yes and no answers for all occasions.

The Fox snuck into the pub, as a fox is want to do, and listened. He neither asked questions, nor contributed to the Trade of Pedantry. Doing so, he thrived, and grew great with knowledge and devious tricks.

A Troll sat on a dunce stool in the town square, and watched as the students who walked into the small pub came out with books and scrolls. They chanted strange phrases he did not understand. He saw how this impressed the townsfolk, and even caused some townsfolk to give the students money.

The Troll did not want to understand, but did want to impress the townsfolk and be given money too. So he walked into the small pub. The Pedants saw him, listened to his request, and assuming he was a student as those before him, they gave him a tattered bit of papyrus. He smiled and left.

When he got outside the pub, he chanted the incomplete phrase and nothing happened. So he went back into the pub, loudly proclaiming it didn't work. The Pedants were surprised, and after much back and forth, filled in all of the rest of the scroll for the Troll. The Troll walked outside, and read his prize, a simple love poem. He was excited, and left to show it to the other Trolls.

When he read the poem, the Trolls demanded to know where he got it. "I got it from the Pedants in the small pub. If you tell them a chisel doesn't work, they send you away with a sculpture. If you tell them their papers are busted, they send you away with a new book. I bet if you challenged them that something could not be done, they would do it for you."

So, the Trolls began to frequent the Small Pub, one at a time. Their silly games wore on the Pedants. Soon, apt pupils (who had not yet learned how to ask or say anything pedantically) were being mistaken for Trolls, and being ushered from the small Pub.

This annoyed the Fox greatly, as, if the Pedants were not being Pedantic, he would have to return to foraging for tricks and tidbits for his cache.

So the Fox followed the Trolls back to their cave. He waited until they left for the small pub, where they would continue to displace apt pupils, and where they would harass the Pedants, saying how the people in the pub knew little skill, and would laugh amongst themselves at their own cleverness.

The Fox snuck into the cave, as a fox is want to do, and ate their babies.

There are certain things one bears in mind when your life is only as sure as your crew

2009-01-21T01:03:00.000-08:00

Are you familiar with Dunbar's Number?

Are you familiar with Cracked magazine?

Are you familiar the quasi-satirical introduction to implications of Dunbar's Number, as published by Cracked Magazine back in 2004?

Are you familiar with "The Monkeysphere" ?

Scripts and Permissions

2009-01-18T13:10:00.000-08:00

From the SL Scripting Tips forum

Winter Ventura did the following tests to see how script permissions behaved. Scripts are similar to textures in SL, in that if they can be seen, they can be copied. However, there has often been some quibbling about exactly what effects the different combinations of permission had.

Well quibble no more!

You can see the full thread this is from here

ACTUAL BEHAVIOUR:
The following results were gathered on January 17, 2009, using Henri Beauchamp's Cool Viewer for SL, based on SL 1.21.6 (0).. the tests were conducted on a (non openspace/homestead) mainland sim, running server 1.24.10.106829. No inventory anomalies were encountered during these tests.

[x]M [x]C [x]T Opens (code visible)
This case allows full editing of the script by the second owner, permissions can be changed, the code can be read, and the script can be renamed. This is basically an "Open Source" script. The guts of this script can be altered, or copied out using the text-copy tool, and pasted into a new script.

[x]M [x]C [ ]T Opens (code visible)
This script can be opened, edited, and renamed, but it's permissions can NOT be edited by the second owner. Of course, this script is no-transfer, so there's really no point in changing next-owner permissions, is there? The guts of this script can be altered, or copied out using the text-copy tool, and pasted into a new script.. but the actual script can't be passed on (showing the original creator). This is a great way to share a script with someone, without worrying that they'll make a doomsday device that shows your name as creator.

[x]M [ ]C [x]T "You are not allowed to view this script."
This script can NOT be opened.. however it can be renamed. You can alter the "modify" permission for a "third" owner, but you can not affect the next-owner's transfer permission.

[ ]M [x]C [x]T "You are not allowed to view this script."
This script can not be opened, or renamed.. but the second owner CAN affect the copy and transfer permissions for a third-owner. Of course (as always) the choice is really CT, C or T. there's no "none" option here.

[ ]M [x]C [ ]T "You are not allowed to view this script."
This script can not be opened or renamed.. and the second-owner can not change the third-owner permissions. (being no-transfer, this is a moot point).

[ ]M [ ]C [x]T "You are not allowed to view this script."
This script can not be opened or renamed.. and the second-owner can not change the third-owner permissions.. Once no-copy, it seems that transfer is automatic.

[x]M [ ]C [ ]T Case not possible
[ ]M [ ]C [ ]T Case not possible
These two situations seem to be impossible to create.

[quoted without permission]

Anecdotes, History, and Our Favorite Thrice-told Lies

2009-01-13T14:20:00.000-08:00

Miss Rhianon Jameson, in her post here, suggested a chronicling of these oft told reminiscences. I think it a wise idea. We do have something akin to an oral tradition in the ephemera of ISC, and in told and retold stories that rise up when particular combination of people show up at the same tavern.

I would invite any one with a blog, associated with the Realm of The Roses to record a few of those stories and vignettes of their experiences.

--------------------------
SSC had been aloft not three weeks, and apart from the small impromptu gatherings at Miss Katat0nic Pigeon's shop, SSC was a derelict much of the time. Most evenings, the only sounds to be heard over the ship's engines were Sir Zen's Quizaphone calling out for anyone to play with it, and muttered curses of a tiny wooden gargoyle just learning to script.

(Why was I a gargoyle? The AV was cute, any follies were hence excusable, and it wasn't any of horribly malformed byproducts I had created experimenting with LL's appearance sliders)

I came to know Mr Nikmi Hax, now a rare visitor to the Grid. When not a small gnome of a man, or playing Go in far more traditional Japanese look, he sported a 2-dimensional avatar, which fascinated me (myself still a rank novice wondering at how to pull off such a feat).

Kat and Nikmi both made me very welcomed, and introduced me to many other Caledonians, inviting me to small gatherings, and graciously putting up with my foibles. Through them I came to know the talented Miss Begonia, Mr Wellinder, and Miss Tombolla and their creations.

It was during one of these impromptu gatherings that Miss Carricre Wind handed out her experimental gun she was working on (a combat system gun, rather than a physical gun) and we played with that for a time until someone shoved watermelon cannons into our hands and asked the group "Come now, what is a little live ammo between friends?"

-------
Now, while SSC was empty much of the time, she had many visitors, and being the only green dot on the map, I was introduced to many characters. I first learned of Gor in SL, in the form of an unfortunately proportioned woman speaking of herself in the third person. Regularly, I was asked to explain Steampunk, Neo-victorian, and "what is this place I am?" And on one memorable occasion, I was treated to a running commentary of all the things wrong with SL and why I was being shortdealt everytime I logged in by some very conspiratorial woman talking to a group of strangers just outside my shop.

But my favorite of the day were the Dueling Cyberpunks.

Almost every Friday or Saturday night for several months, a pair of heavily armed, heavily Chromed gunmen would show up, go to opposite ends of the ship, and proceed to have a John Woo style shoot out through the empty aisles of the city. They would play for eachothers blood for about half and hour or until other people showed up, before vanishing in a poof of neon.

The last night I ever saw them, they had hit the telehub as I was running past, with a funny elf of a woman yelling after me "You can't outrun frozen poultry death!" and me giving her the raspberry. She was slammed to the side by a hit from what looked like a beach ball, giving me time to shoot past them at the robot that had the chicken cannon.

Standing in the middle of this free-for-all, the first cyberpunk turns to the other and says "See, this is why nobody griefs in Caledon," as they vanished in a poof of neon.

It's what they don't tell you.

2009-01-08T09:09:00.000-08:00

In the last week, I have had the pleasure of giving a number of scripting tutorials, ranging from making a poseball to building a vendor. I didn't seek out any assistance when I started scripting. Had I done so, perhaps I would be better versed than I currently am. At the same time, "Eureka!" moments are best after repeated failures.

You see, in any profession, there are little things you must learn from experience, whether that experience is you own or somebody else's. You must observe closely the mistakes of others, and be keen to recognize your own.

There are also little caveats that are rarely mentioned, as those with experience take them for granted as understood. As a result, they are readily missed by the novice, who only learns them after much frustration.

Scripting in LSL is no different.

So, a few notes for the rank beginner-

Collect freebies, read the SL scripting Forums, tear apart every script you meet.

Indent, and keep your opening and closing brackets aligned.

When working on a complex script, break the project down into smaller projects. As you work out the bugs you can fold them into your bigger project.

Use llOwnerSay rather than llSay or llWhisper if nobody but the owner really needs to hear the script output.

When tweaking a script, change one thing at a time.

Syntax Error? The line looks textbook? Look for missing semicolons, closing parentheses, and missing quote marks in previous lines.

Once you start getting used to the idea of rotations, note that there is a long standing bug in SL (going back to the beginning) that effects dividing a rotation by a rotation. Save yourself hours of debugging and workaround this through multiplication.

Do not pay for scripts. Paying someone for custom work is one thing, but most of the scripts for sale out there are lifted directly from freebie items, copied wholesale from the forums, or available for the asking.

Setting a Listen to open chat (Channel 0) is very laggy when local chat is busy. Set Listen to a high channels when at all possible. Remember, the more specific you can make the Listen, the better.

Explicitly close Listens when you are done with them, as each use of llListen adds another listener. These build up.

Unlike Listen, you can only have one Timer going per script. If you need multiple things to happen at different time, set an interval that is a common factor in the intervals you want then increment a counter variable to count off each tick of the timer.

Scripts get last shot at a sim's resources. As such, timers are never completely accurate.

Avoid using Sensors. Try to stick to Touch events, and passive methods such as llDetectVolume

When debugging, if you need to know the value of a variable at a certain point, use llOwnerSay((string)VariableName); This is called type casting. Similarly, if you need the Z axis component of a vector or rotation, you can use llOwnerSay((string)VariableName.z);

All that is now, and all that is gone, and all that's to come, and everything under the sun...

2009-01-04T02:03:00.001-08:00

Lest we forget, 2008 was not all bad.

2008 was a tumultuous year for users of SL, and the members of the many communities therein. It saw a curious change in leadership at Linden Lab, some remarkable PR gaffes, and some of the most amazingly shameless spin-doctoring I have seen from a non-government entity.

Between LL's shenanigans, growing stability issues, and a world economic crunch, the stressors of the past year have done a lot to strain the many and varied communities of SL.

I am not so concerned about that.

When I look back at 2008, I saw the endeavors of many wonderful and willful people doing amazing things.

I saw people in the midst of their personal evolutions, some seeking acceptence, some identity, and others, a space for their mind to explode and overcome the world with their visions (I'm looking at you Spiral, Madcow, AM, ...)

I saw people give freely of their expertise and knowledge both In-World and in the various world-related forums.

I saw users go out of their way to test and report on a product they pay for, without compensation for their time and effort.

I saw as communities gathered to grieve the loss and celebrate the lives of persons who passed away too young.

I saw the wonderful series of events that lead from my darling Miss Gray and I being friends in some online game, to being partners, to meeting in person, and now, looking into 2009, planning our wedding and three receptions (Out of state at the wedding, locally, and amongst our friends and neighbors In-World.)

Whatever else passes, I feel confident that I will see many more such wonders in the year to come.

Introduction

2008-12-29T09:49:00.000-08:00

I am Vivito Volare.