Second Living Bay Sweetwater @ home

Back in college lit, we studied a Ray Bradbury story called Boys! Raise Giant Mushrooms in Your Basement! The premise of the story was that aliens, who could take on any form, packaged themselves as mushroom spores, then sold themselves via advertisements in kids’ magazines like Boys’ Life. When the boys ordered the mushrooms, raised them, and ate them with their families, the mushrooms could take over whoever ingested them.

I thought of this story when I saw that Google over the past several years has induced ordinary people to build a world for them–Google Earth. This is the virtual globe that Google first offered as a free software download in 2005, which it still is today (although business-oriented versions Google Earth Pro and Google Earth Enterprise cost some serious money).

Google Earth–like any other social network these days–has been busy harvesting its customers as product. Dangling the lure of free software, Google Earth has enticed people with time on their hands, and an unfulfilled creative urge, to start building houses, parks, trees, water features, bridges, buildings, castles, and every kind of world landmark–all modeled in exquisite texture, size, and scale to match real world counterparts. Your grocery store clerk is probably spending his evenings modeling a 3D masterpiece for Google Earth. Right under our noses, Google is populating its virtual world–and getting us to do it!

Linden Lab’s got nothing on Google . . .

When I first began hanging out in Second Life years ago, I marveled at Linden Lab’s ability to somehow convince a bunch of hugely talented people to spend untold hours building a world that Linden would profit from. More amazing, Linden actually noodled these same people into paying for the opportunity to do so! Even now that I’m a serious Second Lifer, I still marvel over Linden’s ability to crowdsource the building of a world.

Continue Reading “Boys and Girls! Raise giant worlds in your basement!”

Update: For a list of all the recent SL closures, see Daniel Voyager’s tally here, and his updates here and here.

***************************************

I’m listening to Rod Humble at the Second Life Community Convention. How depressing. How sad. If you want to listen to Rod word for word, here’s the replay. Otherwise, here’s my take.

It’s not that he is saying anything dismal; on the contrary he’s oh-so-upbeat and cheerful; there’s just so much that he ISN’T SAYING. Like what I’d really love to hear:

I am cut to the quick that we are losing more and more of the best creators and the best sims of Second Life every day. Let’s talk about what we can do about this. How can we keep the best of you here? Why are you leaving? What’s wrong? I care about each and every one of you. How can we change the pricing? How can we bring mesh in without destroying the old builders? What can we do about permissions to keep you here? Won’t you miss your community, your friends, the stores that have been our lifeblood for years? Maybe it’s inevitable. Sort of like leaving your hometown to travel the world(s). But you were born here. Doesn’t that matter?

No, no, none of that.

But hey, I’ll give Rod a chance. Maybe it will get better. He’s only been talking about 10 minutes now.

Continue Reading “Live blogging Rod Humble vs what I’d love to hear”

I love summer better than just about anything. Warm weather. Few clothes. Long days. Starry nights. Friends and beaches and road trips. Oh, and bikinis.

My favorite bikini this year is Summer Sidhe, by ColeMarie Soleil, available in the marketplace here. I paired it with the Orange Morpho Bodywrap by Chioca Latte, and one of my favorite airy summer skirts from Janzoe, part of the Gossamer Silk Dress. The tattoo is the Blue Moon Tattoo from Indigo Ink, and the leggings are part of Serina Juran’s Fire Fae pants from her shop, Stones of Heaven. The skin and makeup are both from Dr. Life, and the shape is Lisa from Insolence (somewhat modded by me). The hair is Fierce III from Tami McCoy’s shop, Hair by Tami.

[cue sounds of heavy boots pounding on your doorstep and the front door crashing in . . . if you have time before they storm in, read the news in the Second Life Forum here about Facebook deleting Second Life avatar accounts. And before you have to grab your data and run, read a cautionary tale.

Continue Reading “First they came . . . and Facebook followed”

Last chance to visit the all the amazing spots in the  Elf Circle Home & Garden Tour Sunday. You can start here at The Bay Area and get a free pink pony to ride around. Giddyap! Just touch the Visitor’s Guide when you get there for a list of all the other locations. P.S. See the gorgeous Bay Area fog rolling in? Must be summer. lol

"Kobian"-photo courtesy Waseda University, Tokyo

THEY Say

by Bay Sweetwater

See that guitar player there? They say he’s just a dreamer.
And that girl having visions? Just too out of touch.
See that guy who turns his cheek? Just a troublemaker.
And that old guy with frizzy hair? He won’t amount to much.

O Robot, dry your tears, don’t listen to what THEY say.
No one at this party’s seeing clearly; it’s all a swirl
Of smoke and mirrors; no one sees into your soul;
They only see your steel and wires, though you might just save the world.

My new machinima goes inside Fukushima through the eyes of the robot who went into the reactor when human beings could not. My entry in Linden Endowment of the Arts June Month of Machinima event.

Two years ago today we got the news:

… on April 3rd, my wife was hit by a van as she crossed the street to get to the bakery. She was dead before SAMU could reach the hospital. She was 9 months pregnant; our unborn son died shortly after she did, despite doctors’ best efforts. […]

Dear Rheta, you changed my life.  How have we managed to live . . .  two whole years . . .  without you?

You were softness and sharpness, sweetness and the occasional bitterness . . and (how?)  life and death too.

Continue Reading “RIP Rheta Shan”

Here’s my latest. Dancing shoes required!