LaskyaClaren

Sy Beck wrote: LaskyaClaren wrote: I think you're right. And, if not Google Glass, something somewhat like it is the future. Had I money to bet on this, I'd bet on a hybrid of virtual and augmented realities, that liberates the augmentation from clunky mobile devices, and the virtual from boxy laptops and desktops. It will be, I think, something like an enhanced Google Earth that you can stroll through in physical space and time. I love living inside my computer sometimes, but how much more exciting might it be to liberate all of that creative potential and let it free to meld and blend and play with the Real? I'm intrigued, you write like a former forumite. SR? Out of curiosity, I once consulted a Past Second Life Therapist. The best she could offer me was merely a past existence as an Egyptian princess. And Joan of Arc. You can imagine my disappointment. :-)

I think you're right. And, if not Google Glass, something somewhat like it is the future. Had I money to bet on this, I'd bet on a hybrid of virtual and augmented realities, that liberates the augmentation from clunky mobile devices, and the virtual from boxy laptops and desktops. It will be, I think, something like an enhanced Google Earth that you can stroll through in physical space and time. I love living inside my computer sometimes, but how much more exciting might it be to liberate all of that creative potential and let it free to meld and blend and play with the Real?

Gadget Portal wrote: This thread is more a general request than directed at any specific person. As evidenced so far, poor communication isn't restricted to ban lines. No, indeed not! :-)

Celestiall Nightfire wrote: LaskyaClaren wrote: Well, yes. Or should I say, bien sûr! :-) What I was attempting to convey, of course, in my temporarily Gallic way, was that the mildly xenophobic ire of the creator of this thread was somewhat misdirected. You're making two assumptions. First that the OP is "mildly xenophobic", second that the OP was referring to someone who was not a native English speaker. It's just as likely that an "incoherent rant" could be from someone who is a native English speaker. Well, yes. They were indeed assumptions, and apparently incorrect, and for this I have apologized, although I remain mystified, in this context, as regards the point of this whole thread. Celestiall Nightfire wrote: my reply to Gadget was a goodwill gesture, as I think he's been lonely. (my observation from his posts lately) ...and now he's pronouced as being "mildly xenophobic".....so..uh..."no thanks" to your misdirected umbrage. I don't know Gadget well enough to know his moods, I'm afraid. If I did, possibly I might have better understood his post? And been more inclined to try to cheer him up, rather than (mildly) chastize him for what I took to be (mild) xenophobia. Celestiall Nightfire wrote: But, anyway Scy...err Laskya.... Alt Drama, real or imagined, is always a great deal of fun, and so easy to initiate with little more than a sly wink or subtle smile. I had, indeed still have, a friend, a truly sweet man, who once tried to pass off a female alt on me. I think he was just having fun. His problem was that his writing style was very distinctively ponderous, slow, and old-fashioned in a nice sort of way. It took me about 2 minutes of conversation to figure out who she/he was. I decided, however, not to out him, as he was so obviously enjoying it. It was harmless, and he later came clean anyway. Actually, I wonder what happened to her?

Gadget Portal wrote: Awesome. No, I'm not xenophobic. I don't know anything about the person that sent me the IM. I got a message that was complaining about ban lines at my new airport. Except I couldn't make heads or tails of it because the message made no sense. Something about bad advertising and ban lines. I have no ban lines. On any of my parcels. I don't even have security orbs. So it'd be nice if people learned to communicate with semi-literate English (this includes some Americans and British) before they sent an IM to an English speaking person. Especially if they expect said person to be able to do anything about it. Well, then I certainly misunderstood you, for which I apologize. You must admit, however, that your post is a bit cryptic, and it certainly suggests that you are complaining about a non-English speaker. I am very unclear why you would even post this here though. You can't really expect whoever it was to read it?

Studio09 wrote: Did you come across any "smile" animations? Are there such things? I hung out with a male avi for a brief time that would smile every once in awhile in the middle of dancing or sitting or standing. (I wish I had asked him about the smile since I found it appealing.) No I didn't, although I've run across animations that had them. Like Aelthewine, I'm afraid I find them mostly pretty ghastly, but maybe there are some nice ones I haven't seen? What I'd want is a "lopside grin" HUD. Or maybe an "eyeroll" one?

steph Arnott wrote: I watched the you tube, best thing I have heard in years, than kyou. Thank you. You are most welcome! :-)

Well, as one who has had to rely upon machine translation frequently in Second Life (and occasionally in RL as well), I am in no position to demand perfect grammar from those whose first language is not English. To insist upon utter grammatical correctness in those with whom we speak is, I think, to doom ourselves to mutual isolation. I know a great many native speakers of English who are far less grammatically competent in the language than are ESLers. I am sure there are pedants in all languages; I know that the French are sometimes known to be contemptuous of misuses of their language (or as Madelaine might say, they'll tear out your heart and stomp that sucker flat), but I have personally run across this phenomenon far more among English speakers than in my dealings with those who speak other languages. I think that Stephen Fry is, as always, particularly insightful on this subject:

Venus Petrov wrote: Translation (thank you Google): "You are very lucky to have international neighbors! One of the things I love most about Second Life is that it gives me so many opportunities to meet people from all over the world. I have friends from almost every continent on earth! What we must do is to demolish ban lines rather than build. I understand that this is what you do. I congratulate you. Do you want a Coke, anyway?" I agree this is one thing that I enjoy about SL. However, the OP was about rants in languages other than English. I have also experienced this. I do not have a translator so when someone keeps ranting (as someone did recently in IM while I was DJ'ing), despite my attempts to redirect them to someone else who might help them, my alternative in that moment is to block them. Well, yes. Or should I say, bien sûr! :-) What I was attempting to convey, of course, in my temporarily Gallic way, was that the mildly xenophobic ire of the creator of this thread was somewhat misdirected. I imagine a scenario in which two people shout incomprehensibly at each other in different languages. Both might well be fluent in their tongues of choice, and both languages, as you note, will have their legitimate place in Second Life. What is more, as you further demonstrate, we have at our disposal marvelous new tools to facilitate that communication. (As it happens, O Serendipity!, I posted upon the subject of machine translation in SL a month or so ago). It seems logical to conclude, then, that the problem is not the languages employed, but the tendency to shout them at others. A "rant" will always be poor communication, because it is always one-sided, and not intended to form part of a dialogue. What of course was required in this instance was a cosy chat over Google Translate and a communion of ideas oiled, as it were, by an iced glass of linguistically-inclusive carbonated beverage. :-)

Vous êtes très chanceux d'avoir des voisins internationales! Une des choses que j'aime le plus à propos de Second Life, c'est qu'il me donne autant d'occasions de rencontrer des gens de partout dans le monde. J'ai des amis de presque tous les continents sur la terre! Ce que nous devons faire est de démolir lignes interdiction plutôt que de les construire. Je comprends que c'est ce que vous faites. Je vous félicite. Voulez-vous un Coke, au fait? :-)

Treasure Ballinger wrote: LOL that's what I liked about it, it's dull. :matte-motes-big-grin: Well, if I can't entertain myself with my onscreen presence, who am I going to be able to entertain? ;-)

Tiffy Vella wrote: Yay! It sounds like you've had fun! And yes..there are a lot of hilarious animations out there. Which is a good thing. I certainly did have fun, at first, although as all too often my response to that was to try to make it more like work. So I took notes as I cycled through every single female animation at Oracul (and quite a few at those other two places). The result is a copious volume on nearly every aspect of the most popular female animations in Second Life. Coming soon, with a rich trove of full-colour illustration in coffeetable book form, to Amazon and other fine retailers. More seriously, I could tell I was beginning to get punchy when my notes began to become messier, and I was simply punching "Pay" for the ones I liked, rather than recording my appreciation of their finer points. :-)

Madelaine McMasters wrote: LaskyaClaren wrote: Maybe this is why I have not be as successful at administration in RL as I might have been? I've been getting the body language wrong! I don't imagine I'll ever find animations that match my RL body language... which is gibberish. I look forward to seeing what you've put together, Laskya! ETA: On further reflection, my RL body language may simply lack nouns. I knew a writer-in-residence who used to tell students who came to her for advice on their writing that they should avoid adjectives, because adjectives were a little bit fascist, and deprived the reader of the joy of imagining the appearance of something unhindered by the author. Perhaps a body language without nouns is similarly liberating. As an academic theorist might say, your body is dynamic, unfixed, and always in the process of "becoming"! Or something like that. Seriously, give it some thought; it's something you could work with. I find that theory always supplies a great way to justify my own otherwise inexcusable inadequacies. :-)

I'm feeling more and more inadequate every time I visit this thread. :-) Beautiful skin and hair especially, Kelli. I certainly didn't find anything of such a high quality when I was freebie shopping. I'm clearly not even very good at being a noob. :-D

I just wanted to leave a short note to thank everyone who contributed to this thread! I spent several hours last night running through hundreds of animations at three major animation stores. My still tentative, undigested, and highly subjective conclusions are: The animations I looked at that purported to depict "professional" women or women in professional contexts seem to do so by permitting a minimum of actual movement. Apparently, when women aren't at clubs, they are standing somewhat lifelessly with arms crossed or hands on thighs. (Maybe this is why I have not be as successful at administration in RL as I might have been? I've been getting the body language wrong!) On the other hand, to judge from animations depicting "office workers," professional women spend much less time actually working than Preening, Posing, and Pouting. (The Three "P"s of How to Get Ahead in Business?) Most mocap must be undertaken in hair salons. OMFG, people, women do not play with their hair every 30 seconds! I finally settled on a miscellaneous batch of animations, mostly from Oracul (Thank you for directing me there, those who did! Occasionally odd but well-done animations that are ridiculously inexpensive!) As I didn't want to sacrifice movement to modesty, I chose ones that seemed to me assertive in a relatively unsexual way. I'll probably continue tweaking my AO endlessly, but at the moment, anyway, I'm fairly happy with the result. So, again, thanks for the advice and guidance!

Liana Wildmist wrote: Hi, I use Abranimations 'Urban Woman' ao, some walking about, definitely not sexy, abit of hand to hair but not too much. It does have a really annoying brushing dust off legs ani i can't be bothered to see if I can remove but it's good, not guy like and not all cutesy I have an Abranimations AO, but I don't know their products as well as I do Vista's, so this is very helpful! Thank you; I will schedule a trip there to test drive this!

Tiffy Vella wrote: I use a mixture of aos that have been put together over the years, some quite over the top (for a giggle if I'm off building and not being seen by anyone) , and some sensible (I like my default stand that lets me talk politely with others without presenting a rear end to them like a baboon in heat). I'd also recommend that you to visit Oracul, as they sell well-populated aos for a very good price, the animations are mo-cap and copiable, and you can edit them to make your own version. You can then add animations from a variety of stores (if you can edit a Zhao you will figure out the Oracul notecard system easily). Also, check out men's runs, as they can be much more sensible than women's ones. Enjoy! Shopping for anims can be really fun Thank you Tiff! This is good advice, and another vote for Oracul, which I will definitely check out. And thank you for the baboon bottom image, which may linger uncomfortably in my mind for days to come. ;-)

Madelaine McMasters wrote: I recommend you carry your goal post in your purse. This is an excellent idea. It's sure to get lost in there, rendering the entire issue moot. Who wants to be "perfect" anyway? :-)

Treasure Ballinger wrote: I use Vista's Basic Girl for this same reason. Yes, that's the one that I started with, and that still forms the core of my current mixed AO. It's not awful, but I suspect that in part is also because it's rather dull. It would be nice to think that there are varieties of "interesting" body language that aren't overtly, ostentatiously "sexy," but maybe I'm wrong, in SL anyway.

Snugs McMasters wrote: LaskyaClaren wrote: Madelaine McMasters wrote: Imagine my reaction to the title of Vista "Perfect Lady" AO that I use. I was looking for precisely the look you describe, and found nothing better years ago. I do have Oracul's "Math Teacher" AO in my inventory, though I haven't ever worn it. I believe I intended to move some of its poses to my Vista AO. "Perfect Lady," unfortunately, would only half serve my needs. I am, in my own particular and idiosyncratic way, pretty near "perfect." It's the "lady" part I'd have some problems fulfilling. ;-) Maddy can't get within a country mile of "perfect" or "lady", and that's entirely for lack of trying. And you should commend her for it. As I'm sure, in your quiet moments together, you do. I myself only achieve perfection by ,maintaining remarkably low standards, and a shifting goal post.

Aethelwine wrote: I would recommend taking a look at the Oracul AOs not so much because any spring to mind as being precisely what you want but because they are high quality and cheap compared with other AOs. I think I use some of the walks from the maths teacher AO, and the basically girl anims for the stands and sits and stuff. But take a look at them all and think whether you need the whole AO or just some of the anims and work out which is cheaper way to buy them. Thanks! Although I'm about the farthest thing from a "math teacher" you could imagine, it sounds as though that's one I should look at. I'll also check out Oracul, which I don't know at all -- I'm not overly worried about price, but why pay more if I don't have to, right? After all, that's extra L$s I could spend on slide rules, calculators, and graph paper. :-)

Pussycat Catnap wrote: Just cherry pick the animations... Hit up as many animation shops as you can and buy individual animations. Stuff them into an AO Hud or TPV built in that lets them all cycle in some manner (I use the one from Akeyo as its really easy with having multiple animations of the same type). You'll be much happier if you pick your animations individually. And be more unique. Thanks; this is increasingly looking like the route to take. I may start with a AO package, and then fiddle with it, pulling and adding as need be, but much will depend on what I can find in the way of individual animations. I'm pretty adept at working with the ZHAO Hud, so I may just use that.

Madelaine McMasters wrote: Imagine my reaction to the title of Vista "Perfect Lady" AO that I use. I was looking for precisely the look you describe, and found nothing better years ago. I do have Oracul's "Math Teacher" AO in my inventory, though I haven't ever worn it. I believe I intended to move some of its poses to my Vista AO. "Perfect Lady," unfortunately, would only half serve my needs. I am, in my own particular and idiosyncratic way, pretty near "perfect." It's the "lady" part I'd have some problems fulfilling. ;-)

Oh, here' s one for "sexy drunken girl." That'll probably fit the bill, right? /me sighs

Bree Giffen wrote: You should look at male animations. They work just as well for women although some might go to the opposite end of the spectrum and be too masculine. Also look for female AOs marketed as business animations. Those aren't sexy. Thanks, Bree. I've thought about male animations, although that would of course also mean cherrypicking appropriate ones, as most of the male AOs I've seen seem to have some very hyper-masculine poses. I searched "professional" in the SL Marketplace, and there is one by Abranimations that I will check out. I haven't searched under "business": that's worth a shot as well.