Jump to content

Ishtara Rothschild

Resident
  • Posts

    6,348
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by Ishtara Rothschild

  1. Some cultures (such as mine) have come to see the idea of human races as racist. Please understand that SL is an international platform and that you might offend some people here with this kind of "research". It's generally not a good idea to bring RL ideologies into this virtual world.
  2. Pussycat Catnap wrote: This is the new way in which the white-power movement tries to destroy minority groups: Well the truth is, after 500 years of oppression, you don't really exist. Get over it, and stop acting funny and just be white like a normal person. That is one way to look at it. But if we want people of all skin colors to be treated equal, wouldn't it help if we no longer saw them as different minorities and paid as little attention to skin color as we do to hair color? Technically, blond and green-eyed people are minorities too, but they are not discriminated against. In order to end the discrimination against ethnic minorities, we need to put skin color in the same category as other personal traits instead of making a big deal out of it. Of course I can see that this is not possible for as long as the majority still discriminates against those they perceive as racial minorities. The realization that we all belong to one big species without subspecies has to happen on all sides. And yes race is real. Its as real as saying you are democratic or republican or christian or muslim. Its a culture thing. And it is a shared ancestry thing. Of course culture and ethnicity are real concepts. But race is a different concept that, as far as the notion of human races goes, has its origin in the so-called scientific racism of the 19th and 20th century. It's time that we abolish this racist idea.
  3. JeanneAnne wrote: Tiffy Vella wrote: I was taught that there is no such concept as race. Some biologists have drawn a technical distinction between "race" & "subspecies." For all practical purposes, however, I consider the two terms synonomous. Because of racist connotations, I'd just as soon the term "race" be dropped from usage. There are no distinct modern human races. This is because there had been insufficient time for distinct races to have evolved allopatrically, or due to geographic isolation. Today, of course, there is so much gene flow between incipient "races" that the whole concept of different human races is meaningless. Whatever criterion one might choose for distinguishing between "races": skin pigmentation, blood type, mitochondrial or Y chromosome haplotypes, etc... is arbitrary. One could choose any given phenotypic or genotypic criterion and group humans accordingly, then chose another and another... and there wouldn't be any correlation between the groupings. For the concept of "race" to apply, as it does between the three races of gorillas I cited above, there would have to be such correlation. So the concept of race exists, it just doesn't apply to modern humans. Jeanne While I agree that the concept of race is quite meaningless when it comes to human populations, I disagree that the terms race and subspecies are interchangeable. Historically, some biologists have used the word race in this way, especially botanists. But nowadays, subspecies is the lowest rank in both the botanical and the zoological taxonomy, and race is no longer a term that has any place in science. "Race" has always been a breeder's term. There are many races of dogs, for example, but there is no subspecies called Canis lupus doberman or C. l. labrador, simply because there is no wild population of these domestic breeds. Let them out into wild, and before long, all those different races are history. You'd probably end up with something resembling Canis lupus dingo, which unlike dog races is a genuine subspecies by now. The fact that humans are not domestic animals makes the notion of different human races all the more offensive and is one reason why the word is no longer used by the science community, which is nowadays taking a clear stance against scientific racism (including the governmental racial stereotyping that is still common in the USA and other parts of the English-speaking world. Think of the race question on the U.S. census, which is in itself racist).
  4. iMourn. Don't mind me, this is just my mourning process. As a home computer user, I have never been much of an Apple fan, although I do own an iPod Touch and an iPhone. But I've worked in the print and design industry for almost 20 years, and nothing short of Gutenberg's invention has ever revolutionized this industry like the Macintosh did. It was Steve Jobs' WYSIWYG approach that started it all. Computer systems that can handle multiple fonts predate Apple computers, but WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) was something new. When I started to work as a typesetter and reprographer, text and fonts were processed on specialized Linoytpe computers, and typesetters didn't get to see the final layout and fonts on the monitor. Images were either reproduced on giant repro cameras or with vastly expensive drum scanners. Like the text layout, the reprographer had no way of previewing the final image on a monitor. Needless to say that photographic color correction and manual image manipulation were a pain in the tush. Not to mention the tedious work of manually assembling photos and text in all four colors, creating a print-like color proof, and starting all over if the customer wasn't satisfied with the result. The pre-print work was often a greater time and cost factor than the final print and manufacturing process in those days. Then came the Macintosh, and with it came DTP software like Aldus PageMaker and QuarkXPress. Steve Jobs had not only created a computer that displayed pretty fonts, he had created the first computer for designers and artists. I think it's safe to say that he invented what came to be known as desktop publishing. Printhouses and graphic design agencies that adopted the Macintosh as the first WYSIWYG layout system were soon rewarded with Photoshop and Illustrator, which could not have been developed on any other computer system at that time. Photoshop ushered in the rapid development of high resolution flatbed scanners, which were originally nothing but expensive toys, and delivered the final blow against the room-filling, overpriced repro cameras and drum scanners. For the first time in history, it was possible to do all layouting, photo retouche and design work on a single machine and preview complete pages with color images on a computer monitor. Moreover, customers were now able to do the complete pre-print and design work at home and save huge amounts of money. Until then, even the import of floppy disks with ASCII text was problematic due to the vastly different systems and file/disk formats. As far as I'm concerned, this is the single most important thing that Steve Jobs did for the world. His idea of introducing WYSIWYG typography to the world of computing revolutionized entire industries. It would have happened without him eventually, but probably much later and not on a single all-round computer platform that was not only adopted by the pre-print industry all over the world, but also found its way into many households. Thanks for that, Steve. You were the Gutenberg of the 20th century.
  5. If you run out of arguments in a forum discussion, shrug it off and leave with dignity. Don't sully your reputation by trying to get back at a poster with snide comments in other threads.
  6. PeterCanessa Oh wrote in part: Unfortunately Germany might be about the only 20th Century power not going backwards as fast as possible :-( You forgot about China and India ETA: Of course they have some catching up to do, but they are definitely going forward.
  7. Shouldn't it be technically possible to keep new accounts that have never used the SL viewer from posting in the forums? I think there already is a flag in the account database that triggers the ToS window when a person logs in for the first time, so this flag could be used to determine if someone has the right to post or not. The spammers could be Mac- and hash-banned, which makes it impossible for them to ever log into SL again with the same PC. So even if they created a new account, they wouldn't be able to post here. I don't think they'd be willing to buy a new Ethernet card on a daily basis. The only downside is that after each ToS change, none of us would be able to use the forums without first logging into SL and accepting the new ToS. But I could live with that. People who are no longer active in SL have no business posting here anyway, imho.
  8. Sylvia Tamalyn wrote: Tem was in charge of cooking....and these things sure give off a lot of smoke!! That's a hilarious photo I usually don't like breedable creatures, but that looks both funny and delicious.
  9. That sounds great I never had one of those. There are so many animals out there that I haven't eaten yet. I buy cat food with all sorts of exotic meat to make sure that my cats have enough variety -- such as ostrich, reindeer, buffalo and kangaroo -- and except for ostrich meat (which I highly recommend btw, it tastes almost like beef), I've never eaten any this myself. I mean the meats of course, not the cat food.
  10. Be glad that she didn't eat all of it! My cats just ate my veal steak I only meant to give them a few pieces, but one of them has figured out that if she touches my food, it's hers. Especially if she quickly uses her litterbox right before she pulls this stunt. So I had no choice but be content with my ten french fries (oven fries, only 3% fat) and a little cucumber salad.
  11. Btw, a report released by the Brown University estimates the total costs of the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan to reach $3.7 trillion by the time these wars are over. See http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/29/cost-of-war-iraq-afghanistan_n_887084.html
  12. Storm Clarence wrote: At the turn of the 20th Century there were 10 empires that ruled. At the turn of the 21st Century there remained one: The U.S. That remaining empire was attacked in 2001. The U.S. is a nation at war. The cost in lives is what troubles me. That attack had nothing to do with the Iraq war though. That was just a sales pitch. Bin Laden was killed in Pakistan, so there should be no need for further war efforts (especially not in Iraq).
  13. Celestiall Nightfire wrote: Deltango Vale wrote: What can you buy with $35 million? This: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-15079119 Del, let's look at some key sentences and paragraphs from that article: "Since 1985, engineers have been accelerating bunches of proton and antiproton particles around the Tevatron's main ring at close to the speed of light, then smashing them together in a bid to unlock the secrets of the Universe." " But the Tevatron has been superseded by the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) - located on the French-Swiss border - which is capable of getting to much higher energies than the US machine."  It was outdated equipment and had been superseded by the LHC that CERN operates. Although it *could* be that 35 million would have updated and continued work there, when there is modern equipment and further advances being made elsewhere, why duplicate the efforts? I think Deltango's post wasn't so much about the Tevatron as about the question how much this wasted $1 trillion could have helped to keep the USA at the forefront of scientific discovery, and thus at a top position of the world market. The fact that further advances in particle physics were made elsewhere is just it. The cost of development for the LHC were about $4.6 billion, which means that the Iraq war could have bought 217 large hadron colliders.
  14. Chronometria wrote: What is this Euro-Heritage thing anyway, i thought the idea of things like independence day was to celebrate getting rid of all of us euro types. Only the Euro types that wear crowns and ermine capes As for this Euro heritage month, I think it's something like a heterosexual pride parade or the male rights movement.
  15. Void Singer wrote: @Istara: I do so love pratchet's Discworld.... takes a world filled with all the worst abuses and vices, sets it in motion, and you get to whatch the novelty of kindness and decency succeed in the most unusual ways =) Kind of like the real world Or Second Life, for that matter. We even have dragons, vampires, werewolves, and of course trolls in SL. And lots of beefcakes that remind me of Corporal Carrot, probably because of their carrot-colored skins. I've even seen someone who looked like Nobby Nobbs :smileyvery-happy: Terry P. would feel right at home here.
  16. This line at the top: llSetTimerEvent(start_param); ...calls the timer event at the bottom that contains the llDie command, which deletes the prim. start_param should be a time in seconds, but since the variable has no number assigned, its value is zero. Using zero disables the timer, so you need to replace start_param with a number or assign it a number. In other words, if you change the line to this: llSetTimerEvent(60); ...the item will delete itself after 60 seconds, exactly like Inky's flaming skulls. Edited to add: Since the llSetTimerEvent command is called in the on_rez event, the timer will only start running when the item is rezzed out. Which means it won't start running after you save the script. Only when you pick the item up and then rez a copy, the copy will delete itself after a minute.
  17. Um, Flopsy is a bunny-eared SL alt, not an RL pet bunny It just occured to me that "bunny girl" could be misread. My RL pets (cats) have rather unimaginative names.
  18. Ishtara was originally my Sociolotron character Ishtara Darkwell, and later her transsexual daughter Ishtara Nyx (it's not possible to pick a T-girl in Socio right from the start, one has to procreate in order to father or conceive one. It's a pretty weird and twisted game, but that's exactly what made it so much fun). The name is inspired by the Babylonian sex / love / fertility goddess Ishtar. I googled "Ishtara" back in the day and it didn't turn up any results, so I thought the name would be and remain unique. Alas, it caught on (or other people had the same idea) and there are now 40k Google hits My first SL character back in 2005 was Ishtara Dougall. I picked the name because it reminded me of my original Socio surname Darkwell. But I didn't stay for long back then because SL looked too goofy and RP-unfriendly with its weird typing animations and unrealistic flight and teleport abilities. When I returned in 2006 because all my friends in Socio were praising the scripted adult content and lively BDSM scene in SL, I had forgotten my password and created Ishtara Rothschild in a hurry, a decision I've since come to regret. Not only didn't I have the slightest idea who the Rothschild family is, it's also a pain in the tush to type this name at the login screen I always type Rotschild for some reason. I wish I had a shorter and catchier name, like my Indian alt Shanti Ra. Or something cute, like my bunny girl Flopsy Murfin, whose name was inspired by Limp Bizkit.
  19. There are several free AOs on the Marketplace, as well as some basic starter AOs for L$ 1. You can find lots of other freebies there too.
  20. Maryanne Solo wrote: Scylla actually said she was making a moral judgement in her post. In that case I misunderstood her. I thought she said that she wasn't making a moral judgement, only an aesthetic or personal one. Pink marble skins for example are a supreme work of art and the joyous feelings they invoke by wearing one is simply inexplicable, but I don't think I wear one for its intended purpose as I understand it now, (could be wrong), but I don't make a moral judgment about that, nor do I want everyone else to partake of them. Did I mistake it for beautiful art? That is why I wear it. Thanks This shows that there is no clear division line between creativity and sexual kinks (I think the creator of the marble skins originally intended them for objectification and forniphilia play). In the same way, a SexGen bed could be used as a "harmless" furniture item by somebody who simply likes the design. Most sex beds also include sleeping and cuddle poses, which are great for completely innocent photo shoots. There is a creative, artistic and social component to everything in SL.
  21. Another option is to completely replace the texture, or just remove the texture by clicking the "blank" button and then tint it. I would only do that if the bed is copyable though, since it can't be reversed unless you have the original texture in your inventory.
  22. Wow. That looks exactly like Ben Templesmith's artwork for the "30 days of night" graphic novel series. Alas, I also can't help you with the name of the creator
  23. Bandito Razor wrote: Wouldnt false friends be people who PRETEND to be your friend while being a douche behind your back? That makes sense. In that case, I have to rethink my previous statements. According to your definition, all of my RL friends have been false friends, much unlike my SL friends (as far as I can tell anyway).
  24. Conifer Dada wrote: If I, as a Briton, live on a continent called Eurafrasia, then I reckon that continent across the Atlantic must be called "Northsouthamerica". I think most of us Europeans have a fair idea of what Europe is, although the geographical Europe is a bit different from the European Union, a purely political / economic entity that doesn't include places like Switzerland or Norway. A continent in the true sense of the word is a continuous land mass, including the continental shelf and the islands that rest on it. Insofar, there is no geographical continent called Europe or Asia, but there definitely is a geographical continent called America that includes both the North and the South half. Europe is merely a political "continent". But I agree that Afro-Eurasia or Eurafrasia is pushing it I prefer the five continent model (Africa, America, Antarctica, Australia & Eurasia), or the six continent model that lists North and South America as separate continents (but not Europe and Asia).
  25. Calling something or someone repulsive can very well be a moral judgement. Think of the people who call homosexual love repulsive, or those who have used this word in the past when referring to couples of mixed ethnicity. But even without getting hung up on this adjective, you certainly do pass moral judgement when you pit us pornographers and our customers (bad) against people who value art, culture and creativity (good, as long as it's not X-rated creativity), and imply that if SL had less of the former, or if the former were less public and more secretive, there would be more of the latter, and that SL would be a better place for it. Not only is this both a moral and a value judgement, it is also a false dilemma. There is no reason why art and porn can't coexist in SL. I mean, you don't see us porn addicts protest against art galleries It is entirely possible to voice one's personal preference without any us vs. them sentiments, and of course without being insulting. SL is a big place that has enough room for all of us. PS: Why can't self-proclaimed SL artists and cultural entrepreneurs do exactly what Stroker did and bask in the media limelight? You can't blame Stroker for the failure of SL's art and culture scene to show the public a different side of SL.
×
×
  • Create New...