Madelaine McMasters

MoiselleErin Teardrop wrote: You have to keep in mind with a RL or SL group chat, most people are more interested in what they want to say instead of listening to anyone else. MoiselleErin, I have only rarely experienced this. People, in general, seem to be as interested in me as I am in them.

Del, what a marvelous acknowledgement to all those who helped you along. I can't help but think you were worth all the pain and suffering you put them through. ;-)

Dillon Levenque wrote: If you go to a club or some other public event typically the host or hostess will say 'Hi'. Sometimes nobody else says a word to you even though there's conversation going on. That might be a bad sign. I've found that in the places I go regularly, most of us make a point of speaking to new people (possibly 'cause we're just getting bored with talking to ourselves all the time). If you arrive someplace and several people at least acknowledge you, the chances you can join the conversation should be pretty good. And no, I've never had an IM convo with myself :-). Lord knows I talk to myself enough in RL; I don't need to do that inworld as well. ETA: If in your OP you used 'group chat' to mean the actual 'Group Chat' feature in which group members share common IM's, my advice was completely pointless (some might suggest that's true more often than not in any case). In reading your comment and those of others I got the idea you meant public chat between a group of avs in the same location and my comments were about those situations. Participating in Group Chat, especially if the other people IM'ing already know each other pretty well and they don't know you at all, might be a little difficult unless you're incredibly brilliant, witty, or both. Dillon, for me public chat and group chat aren't really much different, other than you can see all the potential participants in a public setting. In an actual Group Chat you know what the members share in common and you can pop up the profiles of those chatting, so it's just as easy to find a hook if the common interest doesn't provide one. It does take a little confidence to get through those cases where your efforts fall flat, but each success gives you a new place you can go. As you so sagely noted, we're all prolly dying to talk to someone new ;-)

With standard 3-axis (Euler) rotations, you run into situations where the math blows up. Telescope users, robot designers, pilots and ships captains have run into this problem, which is commonly called gimbal-lock. Quaternion math saves the day. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gimbal_lock ETA: I suppose ship's captains don't encounter gimbal-lock unless they've also encountered intense weather, during which gimbal-lock is probably not a concern. ;-)

Selina Graycloud wrote: Hi! Well, I thought I would post this due to the fact that sometimes I swear I am being ignored in chats lol or enter in to find others with the same. Does this happen to you? How do you overcome? Or do you wind up just IMing messages back and forth TO YOURSELF!!! lol I think we all suffer a bit of this when entering a new space. When I'm at a venue with friends, I often go out of my way to welcome strangers and try to get them into the conversation. I'll check their profiles to see if there's some "hook" I can use to draw them in. If I find myself in a new space, surrounded by strangers, I'll listen for a while, to try to get a sense for the flow of the conversation. Then I'll do the same thing, examine the profiles of the chatters and look for a hook. This works pretty well. I'm an introvert so it's hard work, but without it I'm just gonna be a wallflower.

PeterCanessa Oh wrote: TED? OSC? No idea what you're talking about Peter, OSC is Orson Scott Card, a science fiction author. I'd not known of him until just now Googling "osc ender alvin". TED stands for Technology, Entertainment and Design. It's a non-profit organization that hosts speakers on a wide variety of subjects and makes their talks available for free online at TED.com. I highly recommend it.

valerie Inshan wrote: Awww, thanks Maddy! :smileyhappy: Ooooh, you've done something to yourself. No, no, don't tell me... it's your hair, yes? I seem to recall you usually part it on the left. I love this new look!

valerie Inshan wrote: Hippie Bowman wrote: Lillie Woodells wrote: Good MornAfterEvening everyone! Thank you for breakfast Val! Hippie's right you two do look wonderful dancing in the kitchen! Hugs to you all today! Good morning Lil! They look Fab huh?! Peace! /me blushes for two, lol. Thank you guys! Mmmm, you look good with rosy cheeks, Val.

Void Singer wrote: TED has some wonderful gems of thinking (and occasionally some that people can apply immediately to their lives)...I've spent hours and hours on some of their talks. PS if you haven't read the book, you should.... at least the first one. OSC is an impressive author, and one of the best redeeming qualities of Utah I'm a TED fan too. I love to sit at the corner of Technology and Art, watching traffic.

Hippie Bowman wrote: valerie Inshan wrote: Hiya, good evening, night, morning, everyone! Early hugs from Paris! Ajja and I are serving breakfast/lunch/dinner in my kitchen today, help yourselves! So good Val! You two look so good together! Peace! Good morning, Kids! Val? How did my warm, cozy bed end up in your kitchen? And why is there a pot and all that meat hanging over it?

Some things never change, including my avatar? I doodled it myself! I don't think much about the avatars, it's you folks in the chairs that give me the warm fuzzies. ETA: Well, that's not true, I do like to see what people do with their avatars. I just don't think much about MY avatar.

Einsman, I think you are expressing a frustration with those technologies that are most apparent to you, either because they are still crude or are poorly designed. I'm simultaneously a technologist and a closet Luddite (one who shuns technology). I design complex medical instruments but don't own a TV. I get frustrated several times a year when my 90 year old neighbor calls to say "Maddy, my TV is yelling at me in Spanish again, make it stop!". If I'd ever owned a VCR, I'm sure it would have been flashing "12:00". These technologies will stop frustrating us as they improve or are displaced, but those frustrations are nothing compared to advances we've made since wielding our first club (which, as Ishy points out, was a technological advance). If you want to know what life would be like without technology, look at wild animals. There are a few crude tool users in that lot, but nothing like us. Some will point out that millions of people are suffering on this planet every day, some as the result of technology. But as a percentage of the whole, and in absolute terms (lifespan), suffering has been on the decline for a very long time, and that decline in suffering has correlated very strongly with the rise of technology. That is not an accident. While locally (both in time and location) you may not see it, we are making progress. I share your frustration over bad design and misapplication, but I'm so very thankful for technology. Without it we'd not be here to complain.

Perrie Juran wrote: Madelaine McMasters wrote: I prefer omniscience myself, it's less taxing and I don't feel so bloaty. And don't forget omnipotence, that's my favorite! /me casually checks "Mark all as read" and goes back to doing her nails.

Hi MrGrin, for particles to flow from an avatar towards you or another prim, that avatar must be wearing an object that contains a particle emitting script that targets you or the other object. You've already got that part working, you simply need to get someone else to wear the thing you've made. Or you could script your object to follow another avatar. Worn objects will TP with the avatar, following objects will not. Following objects may also not keep up with the avatar due to lag.

Carole Franizzi wrote: May I be so bold as to point out that, in order for one human being to personally witness every single event occurring within SL, he would require the gift of omnipresence, which is, as far as I know, still the domain of the Almighty. I prefer omniscience myself, it's less taxing and I don't feel so bloaty. And don't forget omnipotence, that's my favorite!

DQ Darwin wrote: Hugs to all. Wow lots of activity in here today. It's funny when you think we all have jobs too. Lia welcome back girl - Hugs Maddy I wanted to update you on the boys so far 2 of 13(?) have shown up. I thought you were coming by to get them. Had to take them home last night, sigh. I got sidetracked on the way home. Tune the TV to that Sponge Pants guy, that'll keep 'em busy until I get there. It'll also rot their li'l brains, as recently discovered by researchers... http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/09/12/is-spongebob-squarepants-bad-for-children/

Dillon Levenque wrote: I saw that, too, Melita. One thing I thought was really interesting was a comment from one of the creators of the 'game' software (Foldit). He said, "People have spatial reasoning skills, something computers are not yet good at.". That kind of suprised me; I'd have thought a computer would be more adept at dealing with spatial concepts, given it can keep all the points involved stored for quick access. Isn't that why people use software like AutoCad? I grant you that it may not be reasoning but I'd have thought it would suffice. It would be nice if someone could explain that; I'm sure there are people on this forum who could. Dillon, the unfolding done by those gamers is not unlike trying to untangle an extension cord. We have an exquisite ability to think spatially, as that's necessary for our survival. We can see that you can't pull the cord this way or that because another bit of the cord blocks the way. A computer must tediously follow an algorithm we've designed to try to replicate what our brains do (and we don't really know what our brains do, so we guess at it), searching down long trees of numbers looking for collisions and trying to figure out which way to pull to avoid them. We just "do it". Chess is another example of a spatial problem that's been difficult to "teach" to computers, though we've done it. Given the simple rules of chess (the complexity comes from the depth of the moves), I wonder if winning against Kasparov wasnt' easier than trying to untangle an extension cord ;-) For some years now, researchers (and perhaps now companies) have been co-opting people online to solve thorny problems like this. There have been games where people compete to name all the objects contained in photographs. The result is a library of images with very good keywords attached to them. Computers are currently only able to recognize the most basic objects in photos. By making such "jobs" pleasant for people to solve online, we can leverage the intelligence of everyday people to solve problems that are currently well beyond the fastest computers running the best algorithms.

Hippie Bowman wrote: HEHEHE Maddy! I would like my Wellington boots medium well please! Peace! One medium well Wellie, coming right up!

Lia Abbot wrote: /me hugs Maddy and wonders what the crunching sound is. Care for some ribs? I seem to have a few broken ones.

Good morning Kids! Breakfast is on me, in the tradition of the Irish Jubilee. We'll have... Clam chowder, chowder crackers, crackers and cheese, cheesecloth Hot dogs, dog chow, Chow Mein, Mein Kampf Baked Alaska, Alaskan king crab, crab cakes, caked on grime Fried chicken, chicken soup, soup bones, boned corsets Lemon grass, grass fed beef, Beef Wellington, Wellington boots Raspberry tarts, tart apples, apple cobbler, cobblestones Bon appetit!

Randall Ahren wrote: If I had the pills, I think I would have to take them. I saw Limitless and I thought it was great. The pills must operate to keep the person in the inspired state 97% of the time, instead of just 3%. I'm confused about Up. That's the animation produced by Pixar correct? I don't recall the five minutes of silent film, it must have been a scene at the beginning where the protagonist was recalling his younger life with his wife? Would you want to be the only one with the pills? Would you want to live in a world where everyone had the pills? I haven't seen the movie, but those questions pop to mind right away. Yes, I'm referring to Carl's recollection of his entire life with Ellie, packed into five beautlful, silent minutes. I look forward to Andrew Stanton's next work, "John Carter". I met him briefly a few years ago. I'm glad it was briefly too. I have this fear of meeting the creators of works I love, only to discover they're not superhuman. Were that to happen, I'd have a harder time explaining to myself why I haven't done better ;-)

I jumped in-world last week, to take a quick snapshot of my current self for the similar "Avatar Evolution" thread. So this repost is a bit of a cheat. I don't much like being the subject of a photograph. I'd rather an image convey a feeling or tell a story. The first snapshot is from my second day in SL, April '08. It is the only picture I have from my first go-round in SL. It was taken by a woman who gave me $250 to purchase some hair (a favor I've passed on many times over the years). Her reward for doing so was to watch me learn how to dress myself. The second picture is what happens when the camera is in my hands. Time has changed my perspective as well as my look.

DQ Darwin wrote: Okay Maddy I have done that. Oh he mentioned something about Dave 4 and washroom, I didn't get it all he was stuck to the window sticking his beak out. ooops /waves Oh dear. Dave 4 loves to soap up his tentacles, close his beak, pinch his nose and exhale... hard. I never should have let the kids watch Lawrence Welk clips on YouTube. I'm so sorry, Dee. I'll bring towels.

DQ Darwin wrote: Maddy if this is yours you can pick it up at the front desk. Says he is Dave 3 whatever that means? Yeah Dee, that li'l rascal is mine. Would you kindly direct him to the reception area and have him read magazines (I hope you have many, he reads them four at a time) until I pick him up? Oh, and tell him "No clinging to the windows!" He loves to stick his beak out at passersby. Thanks so much!

Lillie Woodells wrote: Great video Dee! Yeah, you came away with a little something alright... I'm still holding my breath waiting to find out what devious plans you have! Hahahah hugs and love you! We may take this to page 200 today! Wooohoo! @Hippie I'm glad you're chompers are fully functioning. I'll make you a nice steak for lunch. @ Everyone else! Big hugs!!! Keep Dee busy, Lillie. That'll give me time to sneak in a hug from Jenn. While Hippie might make a nice steak for lunch, that sounds a li'l gruesome, and more my style than yours. Maybe you could feed him a nice steak for lunch? @Val, my boss has been in an awful mood for 41 years. Have you tried ignoring? Good morning, Kids!