QuietEventide

I was really only comparing creative tools of different eras... SL is obviously more than just a creative tool, but it can also be used as a creative tool - in addition to other things. Be that as it may – I have removed the little word "we", from my original statement. Instead, the singular form "I" has been inserted, to clarify that I was only speaking for myself. This thread was about avatars and how we look at them. The use of the printing press as an example was merely an illustrative example, and a secondary one at that.

I see most SL avatars as images of people's souls (to a varying extent depending on the person behind the avatar). In here we can create our own body to match our soul. Isn't that amazing? Yes it is a virtual body, but it is a body nevertheless. If I were to create a replica of my RL self ... the resulting avatar would look more like Yaphet in "The Orville" sci-fi series and nobody wants to see that (sigh...). 😁 But the soul is infinite. In SL we have the tools to make pretty things. I like the "image of my soul" to look nice. Creativity is part of the avatar styling as well - half a century ago I liked to draw clothes for cutout dolls and paint them with crayons. Today all of that is available in 3D and I don't need the crayons anymore. We I don't write novels stories using pen and paper anymore - We I don't even use Gutenberg's printing press laser printers now that there's Kindle. One of my favorite CS Lewis quotes: "You ARE a soul. You HAVE a body." Sometimes I think part of the answer to the "chicken and egg" question might lurk somewhere in SL too. 🙂 You created your avatar – and it was created ... – specifically for you. "You are the universe..." (Brand New Heavies, 1997)

I'm 62 in rl (and 25 in SL ... sigh ...). Ah well. I made a small retro hangout in SL – "Little Moons" – during these lockdown times. It might appeal to some of the more mature SL:ers. Maybe not everyone, but some might like it. Pop by and visit if you like. It's in the "Snowshoe (87, 44, 35)" region. Tried to create a mix of: (1) my grandfather's backyard as remember it from the 60s and 70s... (2) something from a Ray Bradbury sci-fi story (with the UFO over the chimney) (3) a few mini-games from vintage fairgrounds/carnivals (fortune teller, slot car racing, human cannonball ... always open to ideas) Everything is haphazardly put together with duck tape. 😊 Little Moons is Moderate - I avoid the overly 'explicit' animations, but there are some dances and cuddles, a little pond to dive into and a number of places to just sit and chat. Swing from the moon... bring a friend and chat about old times, this, that and the other. Be nice, be what you want to be – all preferences welcome – and enjoy, we're not in Kansas anymore. "And I keep my Christmas lights on the porch all year long..." (pic below)

I still like this intro to the Follyfoot TV series. 50 years ago now... The song "Lightning Tree" was by a group called "The Settlers". There is also a full length version of the song on Youtube. This was the short TV intro:

My neighbor has an 1800's old Wild West chapel on his site. The parcel radio has organ music sometimes. Hymns and choir music etc. It can be quite nice to let the avatar sit in the chapel and just listen to organ recitals. If anyone is genuinely interested in this, you can PM me. There aren't any church services in this chapel - it's "music only". As far as I know. (But watch out when you leave the chapel again ... there's a dueling game just outside and a saloon across the "street" ... 🙂).

One of my usual 1970's pieces... I can also confirm that the story about what you find at the end of the rainbow is true. 😉

Yes ... if I am (A) extremely nice to myself, (B) looking at old pictures, and (C) ignore all the (numerous) imperfections. But my real question is this: How can I turn back the clock 40 years and get Truth hair in RL? Preferably with a RL HUD so it isn't gray all the time. Sigh... 😔

Thank you very much for your helpful replies - streaming Youtube video to parcel media might work. We will try this and see what happens. I seem to remember trying it earlier but failing to get any sound - but if there has been a codec update that situation may have changed. UPDATE: I am very grateful guys - I'm very happy to report that everything now works as it should without any audio "leaks".

Thank you. It is original music, so we need to rent a stream in this case.

Thank you for the info – it is very appreciated. The sound came from a Youtube television. The TV was playing a Youtube playlist. Based on the description, I presume the TV must be using "MOAP". Since there is no way to restrict MOAP, we will have to find a different solution. The television has been taken down as a result. It seems the best way is to rent a radio stream and send this radio stream to the parcel media as "Audio".

+1 for character creation. Very good point. SL is a very good basis for creating characters. You can sort of "write a book in 3D" and "be in it". Many SL people have Flickr pages, some have Youtube channels, and the creativity is just astounding sometimes.

I think a lot of people have figured out that 'virtual strippers' are just avatars playing BVH animations. Once you've figured out how 3D etc. actually works, the "wow" factor tends to disappear. SL is more of a "mind" thing - if you want to be in groups with others, you can. If you want to connect with like-minded, you can. If you want to build/play games/dance/play around with virtual fashion... you can. Someone I met long ago described SL as "a journey through your own soul". That's a nice way to look at it I think. There is also the element of being in a different universe – so it has a kind of sci-fi edge as well. But you have to go and look for what you want. What you want ... is up to you. It won't be served on a plate. You have to find it for yourself. To paraphrase Star Trek: "It's a mirror, Jim, but not as we know it..." 🙂

I am also interested in this. My neighbor (a musician) has two parcels adjacent to each other and wants to play his own music on one of the parcels. But when he plays Media on one parcel, we can hear the Media sound on the other parcel as well. The parcels have been divided. One parcel is set to a Group and the other one is his own. But the Media definitely spills over. He has ticked the box "Restrict gesture and object sounds to this parcel" but it has not solved the problem. We can still hear the media stream on both parcels. We don't want to disturb neighbors obviously. Should we change to a radio stream instead (Gostream or Shoutcast) and give up on "shared media"? Will the radio/music channel stop at the parcel limit?

I've been on SL a lot more since the lockdowns started. I get bored by television and I find other PC games stressful. In most other computer games you have to "do" a lot ot things all the time. In SL it's more like just "being" than "doing" and that suits me just fine. Tired of being "efficient" all the time and "meeting targets" in RL ... what's it all for ...? SL activities: - Taking SL photos & cartoons - Building a 1950's backyard that reminds me of my grandfather's place - this has given me lots of joy - Learning to stream music in order to "manage" two virtual musicians (eventually... not quite there yet) - Like Jordan above, I just like standing/sitting somewhere, not doing much at all - General chatting - Learning something new along the way

Hello SL, May I add one of my little SL cartoons? This is such a 2nd world problem... 🙂 Evie