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Sy Beck

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Posts posted by Sy Beck

    I hope SL is making lots of money off the ads!

    in General Discussion Forum

    Posted

    Tsk, I now imagine you sat at your PC in expensive lingerie, surrounded by Gucci bags.  Interesting proposition you raise though I suspect that most people ignore the ads or have a blocker thereby rendering an extremely small revenue stream to LL.

    LL would have to hope that any expenditure on items bought through the ads would be additional spend on top of a person's SL budget.  Luxury or impulse buys might impact on inworld sales, but I suspect that most items bought through ads would be items that we already do spend money on regularly and wouldn't impact on inworld sales such as: insurance, utilities and Viagra.  :smileywink:

    Pat Robertson: Sinning In Video Games Is The Same As Sinning In Real Life

    in General Discussion Forum

    Posted

    This only applies to Christianity (don't jump on my ass Melita - and you don't have to answer) , but if you are not allowed to bear false witness how can you declare there is a God when you can't prove it exists?  I'm no anti-christ and I acknowledge faith is a support or a crutch for some people and it has done good as well as evil, but my 3rd or 4th time in church I asked that question and I still haven't had a satisfactory answer and I did a degree in philosophy (as a module) as well.

     

    [ETA] In the UK philosophy students are asked to argue and propose arguments for all beliefs and propositions, all religions are tremendously difficult to argue save Buddhism, but they never ask you to argue that  :-(

    the battle of lexicon

    in General Discussion Forum

    Posted

    Drake1 Nightfire wrote:

    Sy Beck wrote:

    Can I add 
    reality & real 
    to the list?

    I've yet to see a reality show that shows reality and when anything is titled "real" what they really mean is stage managed surreal.

    Survivorman wa sa real reality show.. he was alone out there. Thats about as real as it gets.

    I try to only watch the HBO imports over here for good American TV.  Though I was stuck in a waiting room the other day and subjected to Lizard Lick Towing.  Went into the doc's with more worries than what I initially thought I had.

    LL should write all the code

    in General Discussion Forum

    Posted

    Why do you assume that LL would or could write a good complex script?  Every TPV for example has more functionality, utility and a better UI than the LL viewer.   Is your view though that if LL code it then it will be opensource and can then be easily monetised by anybody else who can add a bell and whistle to it without having to do the majority of the work involved?

    How about CAPTCHAS?

    in General Discussion Forum

    Posted

    Innula Zenovka wrote:

    As I said, I don't really see why it should be a problem unless you assume the moderators are going to collude with people doing this irresponsibly.

    Say they ask me to do this.    When one of the LL moderators logs in, they see a list of posts I've hidden and accounts I've suspended for spamming.  The moderator quickly reviews them, flicking through saying, "she's suspended a one day old account posting about Mumbai hookers.. yep.   She's suspended a one day old account.. Italian Soccer Matches.. yep.  She's suspended Sy Beck because he disagreed with her??   What is this.. ?".

    Clearly it could be tweaked.   Only let people suspend posts sent by accounts that haven't been active in the forums for more than a week, maybe.   I dunno.   I just think it's the sort of job best done by humans rather than automatic filters and captchas.

    I honestly don't think that LL do any overview of the moderation of the forums at all and that it is all contracted out.  But, that's just my opinion.

    How about CAPTCHAS?

    in General Discussion Forum

    Posted

    Innula Zenovka wrote:

    ....In any case, people here wouldn't necessarily need to know what's going on.   If LL simply approached some of the saner regulars in these forums and asked them if they could help by hiding obvious spam,
    provided they didn't let on to anyone that's what they were doing
    ,  then all the rest of us would know is that LL seemed to be dealing with spam far more promptly than had been the case.

    I have had two posts deleted recently for allegedly breaching guidelines.  In both cases I could clearly prove that neither had broken any LL guidelines and both times asked the moderator concerned to point out exactly where I had breached the guidelines.  On both occasions I received no reply from either moderator concerned despite repeated requests for them to do so.

    So if your scenario was in operation and somebody did decide to go on a power trip who do I appeal to so as to rein them in or get them fired?  Maybe your scenario is already operating in which case I would repeat my question.   There was a time when there was interaction and discourse between Lindens, moderators and residents inworld and on the forums. Now it's anonymous entities who feel they know better, but don't care to explain why.

    I agree with you that LL care little about the forums and regard it as part of a modern day corporate business kit, but have little understanding of it as useful tool.  If that is the case then I'd rather they scrap it and leave a rump customer account service as their web presence and we can all go off to SLU et al and have proper discussions there, with a very light hand of moderation.  Let's face it, if even CEO Rodvik prefers to go chat and make announcements there and on other people's blogs rather than on his own forums then what's the point in persisting with it?

    Are Spambots in the Feed too?

    in General Discussion Forum

    Posted

    Question...

    my.secondife.com (more popularly called the feed) has of late been more erratic and slow than usual, which is saying something.  Is it at all possible that the Mumbai spambots that are spamming the SLF forums are also spamming the feeds too? We wouldn't see them because they are not our friends and neither would their posts be loved to appear in the trending section.

    However, if they were spamming with the same speed that they do in these forums and it has never been previously stopped because we and the moderators are unaware of it then surely it would be having an adverse effect on the feed's operation by now?  I'm not geeky/proficient enough to know the answer to that nor the implications, but the thought of every Mumbai spambot ever witnessed here in the forums still carrying on happily spamming the feed unchecked from day one of their appearance is a sobering thought.

    I have tried searching a spambot's name from today, but got a nil return so I can't check their feed to verify. Also would banning the spambot from the forum carry to the feed? I don't think it does; it would have to be a total account ban..I think.  I know of many people banned from the forum and inworld who are still able to participate in the feed.

    So, one enquiring mind would like some info or reassurance.

    A most unusual ghetto.

    in General Discussion Forum

    Posted

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-23063492

    A community that has grown up because of laws that segregate them to an effect from society.  

    The story raises many interesting thoughts.  If a school were built, would they all have to up sticks and leave to go elsewhere?  As a group they form the democractic majority of a town so I presume they could enact their own local planning/buidling guidance to stop such a build (?) plus using any other power delegated down to that community level.  What must it feel like to any long-term resident there who now lives among them?

    I just find it a very unusual example of the law of unintended consequences.

    It's time we stand up against LL and tell them they need to make SL far for everyone

    in General Discussion Forum

    Posted

    Phil Deakins wrote:

    Ceka Cianci wrote:

    how you like mah 2 second version of history lol 

    I like history, and I would have loved your 2nd version - if I'd understood any of it :matte-motes-confused:

    More recent history shows clearly that the U.S. owes its position in the world to us Brits
    :)
    At the turn of the previous century, the U.S. was insular and didn't want to be troubled or bothered about anything outside its borders. WWI came along and still the U.S. remained insular and wanted nothing to do with it. But persistent persuasion by the Brits caused the U.S. to join in - late in the day but with a very powerful impact. I think I'm right in saying that the U.S. troops only fought one battle and then the war was won. Not because the U.S. defeated the enemy but because the addition of U.S. troops, and the numbers that could be brought over, caused Germany to realise that it was futile to continue, especially since German people were suffering badly in Germany itself. That was the start of the U.S. awakening to the idea of the power they could have in the world.

    Not long afterwards, WWII came along. Again the U.S. preferred to be insular and wanted no part of it, although the President believed it was necessary. And again, because of much persuasion by the Brits, they joined in in Europe when Japan triggered war for the U.S. That completed the awakening.

    Ever since then, the U.S. has seen itself as being very powerful in the world, and it's we Brits who caused that to happen 
    :)

     

    Note: In some ways, the power has been bad for the U.S. people - getting involved in wars everywhere - but it wasn't me who did the persuading, so don't blame me - I wasn't around at those times :matte-motes-sour:

    I'm afraid that the US has been an expansionist power since it's very founding and has been involved in a war of territory or economic expansion on average every 5 years since its inception.

    Between 1776 and 1914 (I should say 1917 for US involvement in WW1) for example here is a list of countries the US has gone to war against in that period; many, more than once, twice or three times:

     

    • Britain
    • Algeria
    • Vilayet of Tripoli (now Libya)
    • Morocco
    • Malaya
    • Sumatra
    • Japan
    • Samoa
    • Spain
    • Algeria
    • Mexico
    • New Zealand Maoriis
    • Nicaragua
    • Fiji
    • Paraguay
    • Its own Civil War
    • The Phillipines
    • Various Chinese provinces
    • Formosa (now Taiwan)
    • Korea
    • The Dominican Republic
    • Haiti
    • Not to mention the continuing battles with the native Americans throughout this period

    And as I say that's only up to 1917.  The 20th century bar WW2 had been a relatively peaceful period for the US as it was not quite so isolationist, but was able to project its power through economic influence or proxy states during the Cold War and only with the end of that has the US had to take on a more physical presence e.g. Kuwait, The Balkans, Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya to conduct/project its foreign policy.

    It's time we stand up against LL and tell them they need to make SL far for everyone

    in General Discussion Forum

    Posted

    Malanya wrote:

    Do you realize that as US citizens we pay tax on "certain" services? If I buy something out of my state I may not be taxed, only people that live in the particular state would. It's more complicated than you think. try Inworldz maybe they absorb all fees for non US people.

    Interesting, InWorldz hasn't seen a need to differentiate charges between countries though it's based in the US.  Likewise Avination, Kitely and...I'll say all others till somebody says different.

    It's time we stand up against LL and tell them they need to make SL far for everyone

    in General Discussion Forum

    Posted

    Madelaine McMasters wrote:

    ETA: For states in which LL has a physical presence,
    they would generally be obligated to collect the state sales tax at time of purchase.
    That would be added as a line item in the invoice and so not absorbed by LL. LL simply acts as the collection and transfer agent for the sales tax. There are some states that require any out of state business doing business with residents of their state to collect and transfer sales tax, and there have been efforts to establish that requirement as a matter of federal law, but it would not be the federal government collecting taxes, as there is no federal sales tax to collect.

    Re. bolded, So why don't they?  Or why aren't people in those states complaining that they are being taxed when people in other states aren't? Or are LL just absorbing the cost?

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