Magnus Brody

Zena Zemlja wrote: I actually do write poetry and do sell them, either illustrated and framed or on a notecard, and yes, they do sell on notecards. You cannot make them no copy though, otherwise no one can read the notecard (something I never really understood about the permissions of notecards). But you can make them no mod and, if you wish so, no trans too. Who ever would have thought eight years ago when I registered for sl that my poetry would be a business to survive best all current plans and changes to come! :smileylol: Difficult to no transfer as copy, then paste to new notecard lets new owner set their own perms?

Mony Lindman wrote: ok .. here i go : - Linden Lab gimme a kiss - "TBD but not as is" .. would that sell ? Might need some work.

Mony Lindman wrote: .. does anybody actualy make a living from selling notecards in SL ? If yes, please teach me, it looks like the only "business model" we can take with us in the new world .. Write poetry.

DesperadoReprise wrote: Sy, the main problem is not the technical platform for Sanitised Life; it is that creators/vendors are going to be bankrupted prior to any migration because their customers - as they discover that there are no guarantees that anything they purchase from now on will be of any value in a very short time - are going to stop buying. They have already, if several reports are to be believed, and why should they not be. The knock-on effect of this on the existing SL economy will be massive, as will be the consequences for LL's ability to fund the development of Sanitised Life. Any business plan (although somehow I doubt if one exists as yet) would have to be based on the redirection of existing profits from maintenance and V1 enhancement to V2 resources. But the profits, as explained, aren't going to be sustained, and by letting the cat out of the bag this early Ebbe has shot himself in the foot, because the Board are going to have to go running to third parties for money. And who is going to be interested? Nobody has been in the past five years, and every other attempt to offer a "better sl" has been a short-term commercial disaster Of course creators are looking for reassurances that they might be able to bridge the trading gap technically, and many will be doing their utmost to try to bolster market confidence by offering unfounded assurances to customers. I know that SL users are not known for their collective intelligence, but I don't think they are going to be taken in by the tepid and unprepared bluster currently issuing from an obviously disturbed - and apparently isolated - CEO. Bottom line? I don't think SL is going to last long enough to support the development period of Sanitised Life. And the CEO certainly isn't. "all you blood-thirsty bystanders, will you try to find your seats" Agree Perhaps Off on one, again Irrelevant

DesperadoReprise wrote: Magnus Brody wrote: Although I know your very reason for continually posting here is to annoy anyone you can, it is not only annoying, but also as innacurate as telling me I am more dimwitted than you only because I am Scottish, to continually bang on about Ebbe communicating in English as a Second Language, particularly when your clear inference is that he struggles. I think Ebbe is telling us as much as he can, particualry when it's considered that the developers are only writing the new software now, so I don't see how he can be absolutely definitive about this type of prim or that avatar axis, etc. Just because he's as competent as you apparently are - you have obviously set your standards low enough - doesn't mean that he's fluent, or even that he knows what he's saying. "sinking low-down" He's back from tea break. Fifteen famous thinkers who couldn't spell - you should try a bit of thinking. "Before you speak, let your words pass through three gates. At the first gate, ask yourself, "is it true?" At the second ask, "is it necessary?" At the third gate, "is it kind?"" Total average score < 33%

Phil Deakins wrote: Don't argue with him. That's his sole reason for posting. We know that, Phil, but I didn't want everyone reading his continual posts to think Ebbe was being unclear because he wasn't communicating effectively.

DesperadoReprise wrote: If you're going to nitpick, then I should point out a couple of things: 1. He hasn't said anything at all about Sanitised Life V2 in his statement, merely given an almost content-free confirmation that V1 will be allowed to stagnate as it is. 2. He's an ESLer, and his choice of wording has been overtly suspect in almost all the posts he has made here recently, so I would not rely on fine distinctions of interpretation. "watch 'em" Although I know your very reason for continually posting here is to annoy anyone you can, it is not only annoying, but also as innacurate as telling me I am more dimwitted than you only because I am Scottish, to continually bang on about Ebbe communicating in English as a Second Language, particularly when your clear inference is that he struggles. My understanding is that Ebbe is Swedish and as such will have spoken English since very early childhood. Having lived in both Stockholm and Malmo I can tell you that everyone in Sweden (under the age of approx 70, and many over 70) can speak English fluently. I think it is appropriate to make a distinction between someone who has more recently learned English to a conversational level, but mostly communicates in their first language, and someone who has known a second language all their life, is entirely fluent and has spent most of their life living in places where they would only have spoken this second language: English. Ebbe has made himself clearly and logically understood, and your continual attempts to obfuscate his message by stating that it's not being made clearly enough should be seen for what it is; laughable. I think Ebbe is telling us as much as he can, particualry when it's considered that the developers are only writing the new software now, so I don't see how he can be absolutely definitive about this type of prim or that avatar axis, etc.

Since my first post, I'm become more positive about the Brave New World, and here's my thinking. Way back when I first rezzed in 2006, SL was much more about community and less about the Lab making a profit. Lindens were around a lot, often popping into live concerts and they were chatty. I even became friends with Blue Linden, who often attended the same concerts as I did during his lunchbreak, and my 9:00pm UK time. So Lindens were once friendly and around a lot. When things changed makes sense when you consider the Lab to be a business, which needs to repay and make profit for its original backers. As I remember SL opened, after a brief period as Linden World initially, around the end of 2002. It became a proper early version of what we have today in 2003. The first few years of SL were probably run purely on the credit of the investors and the main goal of the Lab then would have been to build up its customer base, hence the community atmosphere. Come 2007/8 there definitely was a shift in focus, and some here have mentioned the homestead fiasco. That time was certainly a shift from "hey we're all cool dudes here at the Lab" to let's change the financial model to start bringing in cash proper. In fact, possibly those with the out of date community atmosphere, vanished in the great redundancy cull. Was it, "thanks guys for being the type of friendly folks we needed to start us off, but we need to start making money now"? This was all at the same time as M Linden making a bried appearance and changing things around a lot. He was clearly an eye on the money man. Unfortunately that left many longer-term residents stuck in a timewarp feeling of SL being a huge community run for the benefit of residents and, although that changed, many still have a residual feeling of what it was before. As for the future, and reading many posts here which indicate that the Brave New World will need to be a simplified version of SL, albeit with better graphics and new bells and whistles, to run on tablets, phones, etc., that would set-up a need for two versions of SL, the current one and Brave New World. One for those who love SL for all its knob tweaking complexity to get just the right graphics, and those who would prefer an instant switch on and it works Brave New World. Again, as has been posted here, the very ethos of Brave New World is going to be different from SL. I don't think it will be called Second Life, because I don't think the Lab wants it to be separate from first life. It's going to be more integrated with first life and interrupt your day for a few minutes at work, like facebook and twitter. This difference is a positive one I'm thinking, because the Lab may consider it business savvy to continue with two brands of Virtual World, just as Volkswagen owns Bentley, Audi, Seat and Skoda and markets their brands separately to appeal to different market sectors - clever, because it means they can seel the same car 4 times to completely different markets by rebadging it Audi, VW, Seat or Skoda. My tuppence worth is, at the time of Brave New World being up and ready to go (or even five years later) if SL continues to be a profit making business, why would the Lab close it, particularly in the early days of Brave New World when it won't be making money? I think Ebbe has hinted at that, I think I remember "years and years" and a comment about "as long as it remains profitable". Effectively then it's really up to those who want to see SL continue, to keep it going. It's possible SL could continue to run as a niche product with vast unused areas of land wiped out, creating a slimmer operating model financed by those who remain perhaps paying a lesser tier in return for a viewer which offers more and more infrequent updates, and therefore less Lab maintenance. SL would be cheaper for the Lab to run, cheaper to participate in, and still generate a profit. Even in the future, if the Lab were not happy with profit levels, but they were consistent yet modest, SL could be sold as an ongoing business - even perhaps as a structured resident buy-out. I don't think everyone is going to be running over to Brave New World, and some of those who initially do, may return to SL as a preference. Once things stabilise and the Lab are happy SL continues to generate profit, then I think SL will continue. Brave New World may fail, so the Lab are going to want a fallback for a few years to come. If Brave New World takes off then I still see a future for SL Personally, I think I'll be hovering between both for a while.

DesperadoReprise wrote: Magnus Brody wrote: I'd rather read what Ebbe has to say than read posts about spelling mistakes, but whilst we are on the subject, your use of the British vernacular "ain't", rather than the more universally acceptable "isn't" suggests that you really should have spelled "center" as "centre". "Pep, is that you?" In English language forums, I'd rather read English that makes sense, without the misplaced arrogance of the writer regarding his capabilities impinging on my perception of his competence. I am afraid that Ebbe's words lack content even before the built-in deniability of the "I didn't mean that; English is not my first language" excuse is raised. And your time in Scotland has obviously dulled your senses to classic culture, since you have failed to recognise the intertextual references between my avatar name and lyrics contained in the seminal Eagles song. That's why the last sentence in all my posts is in quotation marks. It's in the original "Americanese". At least I am not using pretentious archaisms, like "whilst", or do they still think that word is current north of Hadrian's Wall? "watch 'em duelling" No, my time in Scotland has made me impatient with the supercilious, having nothing better to say than pointing out spelling mistakes made by those not writing in their first language, or indeed pointing out that living in Scotland may be the cause of slowness of wit. My stupidity, or basic inability to recall the musical references of some musicians whose output I have no care for, is neither related to my nationality nor my geographical location; being as it is and has been for a few years, considerably far south of Hadrian's Wall. My stupidity is proudly all my own work. Now we have the marathon search debate behind us, perhaps we could read the views of everyone about the Lab's plans, and Ebbe's responses which have provided some re-assurance, rather than the pedantic corrections of a thwarted p®ep school teacher who believes geographical location has an affect upon intelligence. Really, it would just save a few emails.

DesperadoReprise wrote: Ebbe Linden wrote: I'm not sure what you are suggesting or asking. SL is donig great, it's better than it's ever been. And we want to make something that's even greater, but to make it increadible there are areas where we just have to move forward and do some things in new ways and thus can't guarantee 100% backwards compatability. And it will be years. Now you're just making yourself look foolish, as well as demonstrating a lack of care for your readers here. Is Peter not around to vet your stuff? "ain't it hard when you're all alone in the center ring?" I'd rather read what Ebbe has to say than read posts about spelling mistakes, but whilst we are on the subject, your use of the British vernacular "ain't", rather than the more universally acceptable "isn't" suggests that you really should have spelled "center" as "centre". "Pep, is that you?"

Ebbe Linden wrote: So you think SL can continue forever and still be competitive enought to matter in the future? We are going to do our best to make it smooth, but if we have to make a crappy product with crazy complexity and poor user experience to preserve some very specific content compatability we don't want to cause those problems. A lot of what you have will be possible to move across and more specifics will come through over time. Thanks for your reply, Ebbe, which I find re-assuring and logical. Also re-assured by another of your responses which sounded positive about current and future indentity.

So the SL reboot "will put focus on content creators as the primary customer". I think I heard that about 8 years ago and invested much money, time and emotion getting to a very happy SL. Now I feel like a happy Windows XP user who is being told I've to move to Windows Vista (and didn't that work out well!) but all of my pictures, video and music files will be deleted, but that's ok, I can just buy some more. Well, just like I can't recreate a picture of my infant son, I also can't just recreate the one-off build I live in now. Some of the precious music I have is no longer available, and even if it were why should I rebuy it? Move to the SL Reboot? How many years before the next delete all inventory and start again? Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.

It's been an interesting 24 hours. Indeed I did want opinions, not just on my actions, but some discussion on child avatars in general. In regard to some of the more considered opinions on my actions, I listened and agreed, and have since apologised to the avatar concerned for jumping to conclusions. I said to her the reasons I jumped to those conclusions (her very quick leap from hello to want to do something later) but apologised nevertheless. She has agreed there was room for misunderstanding her approach and has accepted my apology, and invitation back to the sim. In regard to the merely personal comments, amongst which in such a short period of time there has been: A comment to indicate I'm one of those ban hammering sim owners who enjoys the power this gives them. Absolutely, I'm so power mad and so enjoy these events, I really save them up so I can gain max enjoyment. In 5 years I can remember every single one of the 8 banned avatars on our sims' ban list and their bannings in every detail. That's right, 8. If I tell you the worst thing about banning anyone is I can't remember how to do it, I can honestly say it's not just senility. Direct comments that as I felt a little uncomfortable around child avatars I was the weird one, or creepy, I say directly back that there is so much implied by these comments, you should be ashamed of yourselves for making them so casually. There was certainly an inference, which others commented upon, that I had underlying paedofile tendencies at worst, or certainly presumed all child avatars to be such. Additionally it was commented that I had a problem with rl children in general. All round these comments were unnecessary in large part, quite cruel in others and hugely misinformed conjecture in whole - exactly what I was accused of, in making my original post. The debate over what was role playing and what wasn't, was educational, thank-you, but ultimately not of much interest to me; I'm just me on sl. The comments around that which cause us to feel freaked out, were also educational and much more interesting. Highlight of the day was the post delivered in such certain terms proving that I was clearly an arch pervert, hanging around the adult areas of sl, as all those a little uncomfortable with child avatars fitted this personality type. No research or proof was offered to back this up, but it was delivered with such confident assumption that it wouldn't be challenged, it did make me actually LOL. I was also mocked for being neurotic in an attempt at some irony, which backfires for two main reasons, one being I did not paint the avatar concerned to be neurotic in any way, so I've no idea where this thought came from, and the other being that if British men are just a little neurotic, paranoid and feel some guilt by gender association presently, it will be because they agree and at the same time are horrified and terrified of the backlash to the widely reported, daily and unending, details of high public profile abuse cases which are neverendingly broadcast in the UK at the moment. Terrified in case they are ever falsely accused, or approached by a 13yo for example. Many of the abusers involved are my generation's most trusted childrens' television personalities and not all of them fit the "yeah, I always knew there was something weird about him" type. One or two are hugely surprising, so the mood in the UK is "OMG! If he can do it, like anyone, anyone...." So, in light of this, would a man who states his age as nearing 50 on his profile including a pic to prove he's no spring chicken (thanks Madelaine!), be a little jumpy when a 13yo asks after two words of introduction if he'd like to do something later? I can only give my opinion - damned right I was. Yes I jumped to conclusion, but if it were rl, am I going to hang around until the cops appear and I try to explain, to misquote an old joke, "and that your Honour, is how the young woman ended up in my hotel bedroom"? No, I'm not. Again thanks for the considered opinions posted here, and many thanks to the many who privately messaged me and indicated that nervousness about the intentions of SOME (not all) but some child avatars makes them a little nervous of all of them. That's a great pity, but it has a very current parallel irl at the moment and it means that men capable of doing a lot of good for children, by working with them in a voluntary capacity, and very far removed from those who would do them harm, are no longer volunteering in the same numbers to help charities connected with children. A very few evil men have stigmatised those good men who would give children the time of day, but are now too frightened of conclusions being jumped to, just as I did in the very opposite.

True, that is clumsily written, so I can see anyone would consider I meant his as my 4th, when in fact I meant I had only filed 4 in 8 years, and I was considered and not reactionary to file a 5th.

Aye, tis true I am photogenically challenged!

Please quote from any of my posts where I said I AR'd them, or did you just jump to that conclusion?

I must then be the exception that proves the rule. I have perhaps only once or twice visited an adult sim in sl, and then only to hear a live singer. That is not to say I have a problem with adult entertainment, I don't, I just find it generally boring. Perhaps I jut prefer good conversation. Quite a gross assumption on two points, firstly that I am deeply immersed in the adult culture of sl and also that I presume that all child avies are paedophiles. I was concerned about the approach by this one child avi, the content of their profile and their singling out of me. That is all.

Many thanks for all your responses. I posted to see if I was being over-reactionary, and on balance I could have dealt with the situation a little more politely. Firstly, I don't have a problem with children irl, I am a happy godfather to a few and get on very well with several friend's children. I even have one of my own. One reply here hit the nail on the head, if my 13yo friend's daughter asked me to play xbox, I would, but if a stranger in the street had the same conversation with me I certainly wouldn't and certainly not after "Hello, are you from the UK, wanna come play xbox?" This avi arrived on my sim and was there for several minutes and responded to no greetings in chat. Then I got an IM with the conversation I pasted. Her profile indicated that she should be spoken to as a 13yo child and I should have been happy to have politely ended any conversation but for her suggestion that we do something later, which came after Hello and asking if I was from the UK. As the only man in the room at the time, I did feel singled out, as she had ignored everyone else. The fact that her profile contained a rl pic of a young girl, who I did not believe to be over 18, further concerned me. What with the UK news currently ringing with abuse scandals, many men are somewhat neurotic/paranoid about such things. I told her politely I waas not comfortable with her profile, and I now realise I should perhaps have said something more like, you are welcome to stay, but I don't wish to follow the request in your profile, I am not comfortable role-playing with you as a 13yo. Some replies indicate, I have AR'd her, their writers should recheck my two previous posts, nowhere do I say this. So, on balance I could have been more polite, I don't have a problem with child avatars as such, but this one, when both the conversation and other factors (like profile rl pic, sl description asking that she be treated like a 13yo, me being the only person she spoke to, etc) are taken into account, definitely did concern me. In future however, I'll take some of the advice here.

Thanks for your reply. As a clearly identified 50yo, I still feel creeped out to be asked to hang out with a 13yo, as I would be irl. I politely indicated her profile made me uncomfortable, she persisted. So rather than declining to answer, which I personally find more impolite, I indicated that I was uncomfortable. Her last remark indicates this was ageplay, and not a genuine roleplayer, and it is under this section I decided to contact the lab. I have been in sl for 8 years and this is only my 4th AR, therefore it was considered and not reactionary. If I were reactionary, I'd have filed a few more of them by now. We are visited by a few child avis in my sims, and polite to all of them, however they do not IM me randomly and ask me to hang out.

Very much depends on your rig, but Niran's Black Dragon is unbeatable for me. It doesn't have all the firestorm toys, but it rezzes faster than any viewer (for me) in a bright, clear way. Niran's continual push to clear the screen of viewer, and fill it with sl, whilst still having the buttons you need to push and the info you need available - is unmatched. I used to use Kirsten's, but Niran has got it mostly right for me since. Niran produces the viewer he likes, and shares it with anyone who wants it, so I take the great with the very few not so great. Overall I can't fault it.

Thanks for your reply. Generally I am merely a little uncomfortable with them, in much the same way as rl when in the middle of a dinner party and a child appears from upstairs, obviously any adult conversation changes until the child leaves. It could also be said that my conversation might well also have changed if my Grandmother had appeared. I take your point that sl might well be as weird without children, as rl would be, and also that many adults experience a childhood in sl which they were denied for whatever reason. However, as an obvious 50yo man, I was creeped out to be asked to hang out later by an avi which so clearly, both prof and appearance, described itself as a 13yo girl.

I'd be grateful for your opinions. I'm co-owner of a couple of sims which are based on a rl place, not rp. We are a community and get visitors from all over the world. We don't ban rp at all, but we are a very social community and generally discuss rl. Now and then we are visted by child avis or families and, as a rl tourist attraction, we are welcoming and polite. However I have always been ill at ease with adults rping children, but I realise that is part of sl and I suspend judgement. Today, I had quite a freaky experience. An avi, describing itself as a 13 years old girl, and with an avatar which was very small and in keeping with their profile desciption, visited an event I was holding. I was concerned at their appearance enough that I checked their profile and became even more concerned when their "rl" pic was a very young female selfie. The avi IM'd me without me making any welcome in local and the convo went like this... [2014/05/11 12:12] 13yo Avi (13yo Avi): Hello. [2014/05/11 12:12] Magnus Brody: Hey [2014/05/11 12:13] 13yo Avi (13yo Avi): You're from UK too? :) [2014/05/11 12:13] Magnus Brody: yes [2014/05/11 12:13] 13yo Avi (13yo Avi): Cool [2014/05/11 12:15] 13yo Avi (13yo Avi): Do you own this place? [2014/05/11 12:16] Magnus Brody: Yes [2014/05/11 12:16] Magnus Brody: Sorry I'm djing, so sorting out tracks etc [2014/05/11 12:16] 13yo Avi (13yo Avi): Oh, maybe you'd like to do something later? :) [2014/05/11 12:19] Magnus Brody: tbh I find your profile is something I'm not comfortable with [2014/05/11 12:19] 13yo Avi (13yo Avi): What do you mean? [2014/05/11 12:20] Magnus Brody: I prefer to talk to adults [2014/05/11 12:21] 13yo Avi (13yo Avi): Oh, so you wont even concider talking to me? :( [2014/05/11 12:21] Magnus Brody: No, I feel a little creeped out by someone role playing a 13yo [2014/05/11 12:22] 13yo Avi (13yo Avi): Why's that? [2014/05/11 12:23] Magnus Brody: Well, let's just say, I don't talk to 13yo rl or sl [2014/05/11 12:23] Magnus Brody: If you continue, I shall report this convo to the lab, as I feel it very creepy [2014/05/11 12:23] 13yo Avi (13yo Avi): Sorry, report for what? I havent done anything [2014/05/11 12:24] Magnus Brody: I have told you I am creeped out, that should really be enough [2014/05/11 12:24] 13yo Avi (13yo Avi): Okay, Im sorry. [2014/05/11 12:25] 13yo Avi (13yo Avi): If I were to change my age? At this point I banned them. I was left feeling quite sick and uncomfortable, really creeped out. I found this approach very weird as my profile makes it quite clear I am nearly 50 and contains a photo to evidence I'm certainly within that ballpark. Perhaps you think I overreacted and I would like your views. As a larger discussion, is it acceptable to rp children in SL? Is anyone else generally creeped out?

Interesting article here... Could Second Life Go The Way of Cloud Party, by Apollo Manga He bases his article on this thought: "Two newsworthy events happened on January 24: Linden Lab announced that Rod Humble was leaving as CEO Yahoo! announced that it was buying the virtual world Cloud Party and that it was going to shut it down. Is it a coincidence that both happened on the same day, and that less than two weeks later, a former Yahoo! senior vice president is taking over as CEO of Linden Lab? This writer was surprised at how quickly Linden Lab found a new CEO. Could this have been in the works before Rod Humble's departure was announced?"

Thanks for all your help. In the end I've gone for a MSI GTX 670 and I think I got it for a good price at £289.98 or $438 approx, as most I've seen have been over £300.

Not sure if this is the right place to ask, so do please redirect me as appropriate.... Currently I have an NVIDIA GTX 295, and it still manages SL well enough. I generally use Niran's Viewer, largely because I really like the way the viewer works and the quality of the graphics which, I think, are unmatched across any other viewer. Generally I run almost everything at Ultra and/or beyond and I'm thinking it is time for a GPU upgrade as I can drop off to 10 or so fps now and then. Please let me know your thoughts on the following, and I've made some comments on each as collected from my internet meanderings: 1. NVIDIA 670 - said to be so nearly as good as the 680, many have commented that the quality/performance difference with the 680 is not worth paying the extra price for the 680. In fact, before launch, it is said by some, the 680 was known as the 675. 2. NVIDIA 680 - just a litle beyond my budget, but if you give it absolutely rave reviews then I'd seriously consider reviewing the budget. 3. AMD 7970 - said to match the 670 (great news as it's generally cheaper) and may rival (not entirely, but nudging especially if overclocked) the 680. This is generally given great reviews, but I'm worried by some terrible reports of general instability (total fails on delivery and, in some cases, multiple returns) and that it sounds like a hoover when it rises to the challenge. I'm not techy enough to overclock, in fact I'd rather not as I'd prefer to keep a decent card for 1-2 years than thrash the guts out of it in 6 months.