Monday Meme: Being ToSsed Out

Stop. Before going any further, go read Strawberry Singh's blog challenge for the week (here) and then come back or my ramblings might make far less sense then they usually do, i.e., not bloody much. I'll wait here.

Waiting ...

Back already? That was quick. And you understand everything? Bah, I don't either, but that has never stopped me so onward and upward!!

Do you usually read the TOS thoroughly before you hit accept?
Yes and No. For the most part, I initially accept an application's or service's ToS with little interest other than its privacy elements but afterward I invest some time in following the changes made in each iteration. Again, I mostly focus on privacy rights, but if I read that something allegedly onerous has happened, then I try to learn more. When Facebook bought Instagram I stopped using the latter, all due to the glaring issues privacy issues that riddle the former's service (and to think that Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg just bought up the houses surrounding his because he wanted more privacy). When the blogosphere went ape over the new Second Life ToS, I read everything I could find.

How do you feel about the new LL TOS changes, specially from August 15th and section 2.3.
It smells a bit desperate. The on-going talk about lost revenues, declining membership, decreasing number of private estates, &c., makes this clause look like an attempt at increasing revenue. Perhaps its the legal-speak, but it really does sound like those corporations that claim anything you invent while employed by them belongs to them because you might have used something you learned at the company or may have thought about the idea during working hours.

After lots of reading and long periods of reflection, however, I've come to the conclusion that The Lab is merely inept, not evil. Once again The Lab has whipped up something quickly and without much thought about long-term maintenance or planning. Likely someone pointed out that another area of the company had an issue or someone noticed that two different factions (and I intend the connotation there) conflicted over company-wide content and the ToS change is a band-aid to distract some from the obvious need for a clear and lasting solution.

Ahhh ... this is the life. Can't do this iRL, huh?

Do the changes affect you directly?
As I'm not a serious content creator at this time, I was tempted to say "No, this does not affect me directly." As a content consumer I have to say "Yes, this may have consequences for me." Here's my thinking: Jo Baghadonutz (not her real name) makes the most beautiful elbow piercings on the market, painstakingly crafted with love and original mesh/textures. Jo, however, read the ToS and thinks that The Lab can thus appropriate her designs, textures, and compiled talent despite her wisely having claimed copyright and trademark before upload to The Lab's servers so she stops creating the elbow piercings which so fulfill my Second Life. I'm devastated. And if you've looked, you know there are no comparable elbow piercings available (until the illegal CopyBots find out, of course).

The ToS change threatens all the creators I've come to enjoy and rely upon in my possibly interminable sabbatical from creating things myself. And as I see more creators cease creating, the less likely I am to finally buckle down and learn the tools required for making quality things in Our World.

What do you think people should do about this new change?
Read. Read lots. Read lots and often. Talk to others. Talk to others that can make a difference. But for deus's sake, don't whine and moan and generally go troll on this issue. If you don't have something substantive to contribute, don't cloud the debate with vitriol. Let the The Lab and others know your reasoned opinion, but skip the rhetoric. Ultimately, the ToS question won't be solved by Jane Q. Resident, but by creators with the resources to pursue legal challenges and by a Lab that is willing to listen and work with its subscribers.

Pretty sure there's nothing outside Second Life that interests me. Not.

Are you or have you ever thought about leaving Second Life?
I sometimes think about leaving Second Life but I would greatly miss many of the people I know in Our World. The Inventory I hoard for no particular reason does not keep me living a Second Life but rather it is the idea that I have an actual interactive social experience that I can enhance with the things in my Inventory. I know some that enjoy Cloud Party and OpenSim and even WoW but none are quite like what I have in Second Life.

What would you do with your time/blogs/career if you ever did?
There's this wooden structure attached to the back of our dwelling and it faces some lovely, tall plant-like growths that appear to have various forms of animal life in them. Likely I could rig some sort of comfortable sitting device and investigate while a mysterious, warm light from above shines down upon me. I suspect this sort of activity could lead to a Third Life, perhaps, but I'm not done with my second one yet.

Topless Tuesday

Yesterday was my Topless Tuesday (don't Web search that phrase while at work) because my mistress (and wife) gave me several instructions for the day, one being "stay topless until told otherwise." Any woman will tell you that not wearing a bra is a touch of freedom at times, but this was Second Life. What it did, really, was to limit my freedom to places that met certain maturity ratings. For example, I couldn't go to my home in Bay City as it is a G-rated region (NO nudity). I could, however, spend time at my home in Nangrim because of its M-rating (nudity is fine, just no public sex acts). Of course, A-rated (Adult) regions were fine, but right away I visited a resort recommended by a friend only to read on the rule card "No Nudity During Events" – an event was in progress right at the entrance.

Still, I managed to get through the day by exploring new regions, only occasionally going to nude beaches or adult clubs where I knew I was safe from being ToSsed out on my hooters, simply wandering about as if I was fully dressed. No one bothered me.

Then I thought, "lets see if I can get away with it every Tuesday!" So. Starting today, I plan on being topless in Second Life every Tuesday, barring needs to visit G-rated sims (like meetings in Bay City) or areas where the land owner forbids it (like that resort), until further notice. Here is my start:

I posted almost all these pictures on the MySL feeds, ending in this one and promising an NSFW version for this blog. Scroll all the way to the bottom to see it. After all, if I don't mind the Ladies getting out in-world, why would I mind here?

The first pic of the day, on a beach at a nice Adult resort. In two days, though, my breasts were the only ones I've seen (dang it!!)

I just had to do this. I have no poses in my inventory that have my hands covering me well since most seem to be made for women that are far less endowed than me. No, the sliders are not maxxed and I'm not wearing primplants.

I live in New England where views like this are not uncommon – if you take the topless girl out of the pic. I am allowed by law to be topless in my state so long as such an act does not cause others to break the law, such as starting a riot.

Of course, I had to visit a Safe Hub. No one acknowledged I was there, not even the topless man. Why are they allowed to be topless anywhere and women aren't? Very sexist.

"Hello!!! Topless girl here, you aliens!!"

Dancing with the butterflies at my home in Nangrim.

Finally, the "money shot" – me and the Ladies just hanging out (so to speak).

Vick's Wish List

Too often end-of-the-year retrospectives are planned and published well before the end of the year. For example, I was watching a television news piece about celebrities and notables who died in 2012 when news hit that another famous person died just that day. And then each subsequent day saw a notable death. Why can't reviews created when the year is over? Instead, I like previews and wish lists and resolutions. Quite a few bloggers from Second Life have published these but the wish list from Vick Forcella stuck out (see the original here). Here's my annotated look at what Vick would like to see in 2013:

This spot needed a pic and has
nothing to do with the post.

80 people in a mainland sim
No. Sorry, Vick, but avatars cause lag. I don't want to see more avatars on Mainland, especially in areas with roads. Someone who needs to have a high avatar account should consider owning parcels on sim lines and spreading the content/avatar load like they do for big official Linden events. Long ago when my brother and I owned about 3/4 of Nangrim a Brazillian casino opened on much of the remaining land and kept the "agent limit" maxed most of the time. On the rare instances when we could enter our property, the lag was so bad from well across the region, we could barely function. Raising the limit may have seemed like a good idea, but from a functionality standpoint, it would not have worked.

Distribution quota so that each parcel (>255sqm >2) on the mainland is always accessible.
This would work, especially for the situation mentioned above. There is a club in part of Bay City that often uses the full agent limit of the region but they have only 1024 sqm of land. That is an abuse of region resources, but it not a ToS offense (many have tried filing and failed).

Tier reduction
This might work. The Lab certainly has quite a bit of unused land laying about in unsold and abandoned spaces so I see that if tier fees are reduced, folks might buy up more land.

my.secondlife.com moderation tools
Yes,  please. A lawyer would be needed, though, to decide if this would be legal or not. An abusive comment is free speech, at least to a point. MySL is public to view, like comments on news/blog posts and can be moderated by the thread originator by deleting comments (again, just like other public forums). MySL might have to be taken private to enable a more expansive tool selection.

my.secondlife.com moderation based on TOS
Again ... Yes, please! I further suggest that MySL users be required to take a mini-tutorial and comprehension quiz to be able to access the microblogging service. Come to think of it, the same should be true for access to any part of Second Life. Violators should be required to retake the course after a to-be-determined number of offenses, too.

Linden Lab unmuted
No idea what Vick means here. Really, Vick? Did the whole Lab mute you?

Linden Lab finding a single platform for communicating with residents
Excellent suggestion. Several different blogs, status report pages, Dashboards, and in-world announcements that lag (I'll change viewers, for example, and see notifications in the second viewer that never showed in the first one).

Pro-active griefer reduction by Linden Lab, policing
This would require more tools or better tools in the hands of the Residents because even with GOD powers, the Lindens can't be everywhere at all times. And when you do see a Linden, they are often "back office" staff that may not be as familiar with Governance as we'd think they would be.

What should be implemented is a form of limited access for "free" accounts, the types that are often used by griefers. For example, limited resource sandboxes or tiered-rights to resources as an account "ages" –– this assumes that many griefers are just noobs that don't understand now things work but also rewards learning and loyalty.

A Jira that gathers errors instead of covering them up
My opinion of the JIRA is well known. I almost believe it should be suspended until it can actually become useful. C'mon, now ... why should ANY Resident be able to close my JIRA without Lab review just because they think they are smarter than me? And JIRAs can go years without being looked at ... ask my brother.

A Jira that welcomes improvement suggestions
Not gonna happen. JIRA is too broken.

A new policy for the Linden Memorial Park and re-opening
Hear, hear. I whole-heartedly agree. What the LMP needs is a caretaker. Make it a fee to place a memorial if you have to, but please open the LMP.

Clean up of micro parcels
This would require a complete rethink of how land is marketed and sold. Then thousands of parcels would need to be claimed under Eminent Domain for redistribution.

Clean up of abandoned parcels
I agree, but The Lab doesn't see an economic issue here otherwise they would have done it by now. If a Resident wants to buy an abandoned parcel, there are tools available here.

Clean up of parcels owned by inactive residents, plenty of oceans
Same as above ... not seen as an economic imperative.

De-activation of new (*) accounts that do not enter world in two days
Yes and no. If The Lab wasn't trying as half-hard as it was to be a social network, I can see this being viable. As it is, people are encouraged to have accounts whether they come in-world or not because they can still use MySL.

From the game Lili, available for iOS devices here.

Noob micro learning continent where noobs are forced to remain for one week 
The current new Resident experience is bloody awful. I had more of a tutorial from an iPad game I downloaded the other day than new Residents get now. The tutorial in Lili (see a a review here) is not only more intensive, but it is brilliantly implemented. The lessons are progressive in that they "pop up" as a skill is needed. If The Lab wants Second Life to be a gaming platform, it could create a day-long game each new Resident would be required to complete before accessing the full world and during which they would learn all the skills and conventions of Second Life.

A forum that is no longer Béta
What? The forums are still relevant? Any time I look the are filled with trolls and 'experts' that never seem to be in-world. Rather they seem to enjoy being big fish in the little pond of forum-life.

my.secondlife.com that is out of Béta 
My Second Life (MySL) is a wonderful tool that has been officially abandoned. I've been told that except for basic maintenance, no more development will be done.

Webcontent more tablet friendly 
Amen. Flash is dead but some of the world just doesn't know it. Heck, my iPad has a faster, more powerful processor and more RAM than did the first computer I used to access the Web on "back in the day." There is NO reason Second Life itself couldn't run on a tablet or even a more mobile device. Scalability is the key. Oh, and effort. And caring.

Scalable sims: Optional more/less residents/prims = higher/lower price
But this would require work on the part of someone. The Lab no longer has a focus on developing the Second Life infrastructure.

Linden Lab Gaming Viewer (LLGV)
Huh? Sounds like it would be a second world. Third Life?

Resident created games for LLGV
The Moles are very clever and have a ton of game/experience content in Second Life even as I write this but it isn't promoted. Let's get people using the world they have before luring them away to yet another world.

Second Life doesn't need to be a game. It is a way to have a life that isn't possible in Meatspace. No way in heck you'd catch me dressing like this iRL and laying on a boat. Not that I haven't, but you wouldn't see it. You should see what I've done on boats.

Linden Lab Communicator Client (IM/Voice/Groups without in-world avatar)
Sooooo .... like MySL? They could just buy Plurk and be done with it.

Pro-active copybot policing (used client, use of proxies)
I don't think that The Lab sees any economic advantage to this. At least none to them.

UDP(*) type implemented for SL (i.e. SLDP, blocking of SL ISP side)
Sound like a good idea, but I don't know enough about it to make a cogent observation.

Life membership reward if premium >5 years
This idea works for me and I can think of lots of rewards.

Tier-free 1024 sqm when Life Member
Like this one. This is a good idea. Or even double-prims on any land a Life Member owns.

LL attaches it’s hired developers with a life maintenance contract
Not sure I understand what this is. Could you explain more?

Easier ticket escalation towards Linden Lab
I've told you twice now .. JIRA IS DEAD. Take its wallet and walk away.

Return of the quarterly Linden Lab report, more in depth
Yes, please. Not gonna happen, but yes, please.

Linden Lab that treats it’s residents for what they are. Owners and creators
That is done, but selectively. Look around. There is a cadre of Residents that is regularly hired as "outside contractors" to do work for The Lab ... not to mention the beloved LDPW Moles.

Linden Lab that acts as a trusted provider
Again, I'm lost. Reason #9087 why folks just shouldn't listen to me at all.

A TOS that protects the residents
Ideally, the ToS does that now, but the way it is implemented is lacking.

World peace!
Still wraping my head around whirled peas. I'll have to get back to  you on this.

MORE RESIDENTS THAT STAY
Alas, therein lies the rub.

ETA: Flying over parcels that are Full
Allowance does need to be made for occupied vehicles to cross land that has reached its agent limit and its prim allotment. Too often I've crashed or had my vehicle returned or bot just because I'm travelling.

 * This is the Usenet Death Penalty (see here).

Interesting list, Vick. Thanks for sharing. I can't add anything, really, as I'm pretty happy with Second Life overall or I'm rather accepting of the status quo. If I had to pick one item, it would be Web/mobile access to Our World. It is possible and shouldn't be too much work. Maybe Google needs to buy The Lab. I've suggested it before.

B-B-B-B-Bots All, Folks!

Yes, I cammed in. Take that Ban Lines! But if I can see the name tags from outside the house, what good are the lines?

Wandering about in my dragon avie I managed to run across another bot farm in a Linden Home. These were playing Tiny Empires. Not all were bots as one of them spoke with me when I poked my head through the wall and "rawr"-ed at them, all dragonly. Check out the Linden Homes regions and you'll often find the cluster of green dots on the maps are bot farms. You'll find them in the oceans, too. And herds of bunnies, horses, cats, and other breakables. One house I found was a brothel, a sure violation of the Linden Homes ToS. I don't think that a bot farm would be a violation, though.

No Reason At All - Bunny Edition

My Second Life^® is no longer filled with bunnies. They've been given away or sold. Well, two still have my name on them, but as far as I'm concerned they belong to someone else and I'm just waiting to transfer them. Too many people I know were hurt during a recent debacle with an in-world bunny "game" and I can no longer in good conscience give my money to the owners. For me it was a hobby. A way to share experience with my friends and to help others. Now it has become a black subject.

For now I'll stay in the game group (I still assist others and begrudgingly have to buy bunny food at times, so I'm still a customer) but I'm bunny-free. Just some nice pics are left and some happy memories I refuse to let the ill-advised behavior of others tarnish.

Check out these sites if you are confused or if you want more information:

Wrongly Accused Ozimal Customer: Points out that many of the problems involved grid issues, that investigations were not conducted, and that customers were not given due process.

Bragg v. Linden Lab: Reminds us that The Lab's Terms of Service (ToS) is inherently unenforceable and thus the bunny game ToS is unenforceable, particularly since the ToS is not given before one makes a purchase to join.

Bunnies left to right in the pic: Pedoretes, Reekalf, Antioch, Caerbannog. I'm in the middle.

Search for Bunnies left to right in the pic: Pedoretes, Reekalf, Antioc ... Search for a map Translate

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Content Theft: Brooklyn Designs part 2

Dear Friends and Customer.

As most of you know i create a special line of clothes for a brand called BD Designs (nothing to do with DK Designs). The owner of this brand was brooklyn Rickena. During long time, she was selling the designs that me ( i helped her to start with the brand) and Belladona Cordero (she did more than 40 outfits for BD) did for her. our agrement was based on profit share, but one day, this girl decide dont share nothing with the creators and keep all the money for herself. I left this brand so time ago so this decision didnt affect to me so much, but Belladona continue working for her and i know she was hurt with the decision of Brooklyn Rickena take making a box with all the BD stuff FULL PERMS. Neither Belladona and me autorithed this decision, so we would like that any ppl receiving this box take care of use like freebie or resell. there a lot of work behind that and nobody has rights to sell. BD Design still alive and Janeforyou Barbara and Belladona Cordero still working and managing the company. I dont like that any of my friends or customer will be affected or damage for any consecuence of the bad use of this stuff so i would ask to everybody can receive that box, dont do any comercial use of that or prepare gift like freebie with that stuff. Brooklyn Canceled her SL account so probably she will no be affected for any legal decision about the bad use of the clothes.

thanks for your understanding and best regards
Dexter Kaupas

Please see this earlier post (Web) on this topic.

Content Theft: Brooklyn Designs

A former partner in Brooklyn Designs is giving out Full-Perm items from the shop in an effort to destroy the current business. The creators are BellaDonna Cordero and/or Dexter Kaupas. Watch for the following culprits:

Brooklyn Rickena
AngelMia Nightfire
CaraMia Hanna

This information is from the current business owners: Janeforyou Barbara and BellaDonna Cordero. Linden Labs has been notified and the legal paperwork has been started.