This week, Roslin Petion of 5th & Oxford (p.k.a. Fleur & Tête a Pied) sent me a review copy of her most recent skin release, Brooke.  I was absolutely thrilled at the opportunity and spent the better part of last night trying them out and photographing them.  (Above: Shape by Paper Dolls, Hair by YunA’sHAIR, Eyes by Miriel, Lingerie by Lingerie by Hollee.)

“Brooke” provided me with a challenge.  As my personal shape does not flatter these skins as stunningly as some of the others who have reviewed them, I looked for one that would bring out more of what they have to offer.  The results are below the cut!

(...)
Read the rest of Brooke & Velma. (323 words)

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In the belly of the beast (L to R): Dutch Box (DX’s ATM payment bot), Telephone DX,
Groupinviter DX, Bart Melendez (Owner of DX). They were “busied out”
together in the server room, which amusingly is underwater. The publicity
brochure on the table is titled, “Geen Paniek” (“Don’t Panic” in Dutch.)

It has been four days now that Dutch Exchange’s inworld ATMs have been offline.

On the 14th, Stef DX (“DX Inworld Manager”) sent the following notice to the DX users group:

Dear DX Exchange Users,

We are actually experiencing some issues with our banking system (unexpected delay to get the ls we’ve bought) , we consequently have to close down the system till tomorrow.  We will keep you informed about any change that could occured by the next hours.

We are sorry for that inconvenience and remain at your entiere disposal for any question you would have.

Best regards,
DX Exchange Management Team

After three days of silence, a notice from Rosa Rolls (region manager for DX’s Rotterdam office):

I sent this notice because yesterday and today about 50 people asked me when will the atm’s be working again. I have no idea. I hope very soon. I only work inworld for DX. Best is to look from time to time.

Greetings Rosa Rolls.

DX advertises itself as the largest L$-exchange office in Europe.  For such a boast, it seems very odd that they seem to be out of funds – or at least so low on funds that their business has been paralyzed while they wait for the fulfillment of an inworld currency order from Linden Lab.

You would think that they would be making every effort to reassure their customers that all is well, but there is no signage in the DX office that indicates the reason for the outage.  Attempting to use a DX ATM returns a message blaming the downtime on grid issues:

Due to problems on the SL grid our DX Exchange system is currently offline.  Our excuses for this inconvenience.  Meer informatie is te vinden op: http://status.secondlifegrid.net/

I contacted a DX representative over the weekend, asking if there was any idea when the ATMs would be returned to working status:

Me: “Any idea when the ATMs will work again?”

DX Agent: “Linden labs have informed us they can’t get the L$ into Dx until tomorow (monday)..sorry for the inconvenience”

Me: “So DX does not have their user’s funds on hand?  Or they were appropriated by LL?  I’m confused.  Is DX still solvent?”

DX Agent: “DX is solvent….Just Linden Labs dend the L$ to us…we buy in advance and linden send them to the DX system..but being sunday they were slow to do this.”

It is now Monday evening and the terminals are still offline.  While I hope that everything is as they say, I can’t help but get an uneasy feeling about all of this.  After the previous outage, my commission (for hosting a DX ATM on the Holland sim) disappeared.  I filed a support ticket asking:

I recently received a commission for my terminal in Holland.  When I went to withdraw funds, I was told that the system was down due to SL malfunctions.
When I went today to withdraw those funds, I was told that my balance is L$0.  Could you check this for me?  Thank you.

The response I received was:

iam sorry but ur account has 0 l$ so thats why u cant withdraw .

kind regards
Olivia DX

Apart from the SMS-speak, I knew that my account had L$0 in it.  My question was not “Why can’t I withdraw funds I don’t have?” but rather “What happened to my commission?”  My follow-up to this ticket has, as of yet, been unresolved.

DX needs to provide a clear reassurance to their customers that their money is safe.  Otherwise people are left to wonder.

People like me.

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Post tags: dutch exchange, dx, finance

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I would like to state, for the record, that this birthday was kick-ass.  *dances*

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So I suppose this is the year of change.  Of reinvention.  Of shaking up the Etch-a-Sketch and starting anew.  I’m down with that.  Yes.  With some very notable exceptions, 2009 is dead to me.  Hit me, 2010.  I’m ready.

Cleaning my inventory?  I’m already on it.  I’m down by 5,000 6,000 since last week, but there’s still a long way to go.

Getting creative again?  I’ve just streamlined my most popular product and am beta testing it prior to giving it a gentle nudge from the nest.

Putting RL in order?  Hm.  I’ve cleaned out the microwave, does that count?

Blogging moar?  Oy.  We’ll see.

Really, I do need to blog more.  Of course, that requires that I actually get out more.  I was such a hermit in 2009, but I honestly had a lot of reasons to be.  Cocooning is sometimes very necessary – we all need time to recoup, recharge, and revitalize.  The problem is when cocooning becomes an end in itself.  When we’re too busy being cozy in our shell that we forget that the purpose for the cocoon is to help us grow the wings we need to fly.

So, 2010?  We can be friends for right now.  We can hang out and get to know each other a bit better.  You show promise.  I like that.

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I suppose I should think of something to write in it, yes?

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One year later, it seems so long ago and yet it feels like yesterday.

I am so lucky to have you in my life.

Happy anniversary, baby.  Muah!

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Post tags: love, partnership, sl-marriage

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I was looking for a place inworld that I had stumbled upon recently, and in the process landed at a rather hateful (and I am not using that word lightly) “homage” to the current President.  Out of curiosity, I clicked to see who owned it – and was shocked to realize that it was someone I knew.  And more precisely, who that person was.

Part of me says that I wish we could keep the baggage of World Number One at the door when we enter this realm.  Part of me realizes this is a foolish notion, not to mention entirely impossible.  We bring ourselves here – our hopes, our fears, our joys, our sorrows – and yes, even our ideologies – and the animosity that those ideologies often inflame within us.

However, it’s one thing when they escape before our consciousness can lock the door.  It’s another thing entirely when we allow them free reign to paint their dark landscapes for the whole world to see.

To quote the cartoon philosopher Pogo, “We have seen the enemy, and they is us.”

I am going to bed now, with a bit of a heavy heart.

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Post tags: division, politics, rhetoric

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This month marks my one-year SL-anniversary with my wife, Ella.  This month also marks my return to single life in RL.

Inworld, I doubt I could be much happier than I am.  Over the fourth wall, I am feeling … well, considerably happier than I’ve been in quite some time.  Ending a relationship is never easy or fun – but ideally, both parties will hopefully find happiness.  This seems to be the case for myself and my ex.  She has a new life with a charming new love in an exciting city.  She has the freedom to turn a longstanding dream into a career.  Her future is so bright, I have to wear shades even from halfway across the continent.

As for me, my life is very small right now – but that’s not a bad thing.  I need time to reconnect, to center, and to rediscover myself.  I need to dispose of the clutter and organize the rest.  I need to relearn how to take care of myself, to love the body I’ve been given, and make sure that I’m here for a long time.

I am in no rush to establish a new relationship in RL.  Rebounding hasn’t even crossed my mind.  I quite enjoy the peace and serenity of my own company.  I don’t feel incomplete at all.  My emotional needs are met – both in the quiet and solitude of my RL world, and the wonderful relationship I share inworld with the love of my Second Life – a relationship that occasionally jumps over the wall in the form of a card, or a “care package”.

I wish my RL-ex well.  We parted ways on good terms, we are still friends, and she sends me celebrity-sightings every few days.  There are no regrets, and that’s a good thing.

Life, as it is … is good.

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Post tags: breaking up, relationships, starting over

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I understand that Linden Lab has opened up a messy can of IP worms for themselves by purchasing xStreet, and I think anyone with an ounce of common sense could have told them that.  By doing so, a privately-held corporation with millions of real-world dollars in annual inworld revenue became an active distributing agent for every item sold on the service – licensed, grey-area or decidedly black market.  Suddenly, it wasn’t about a hobbyist at home creating a non-tangible virtual replica of a Gucci bag or BMW – it was about the owner of the Internet’s most profitable metaverse making themselves a target by interjecting themselves directly in the purchasing process – and earning a commission on every sale.  In buying xStreet, Linden Lab became a profitable blip on the radar of corporate legal departments.

But let’s be rational.  Someone photosourcing a Gucci bag and selling it in world is not in the same league as someone who counterfeits a real, tangible Gucci bag and attempts to sell it to you out of the trunk of their car.  You can’t export the XML for a virtual Gucci bag and turn it into a physical bag you could carry with you out the door after you log out.  It is a representation of a physical object and nothing more – and unless that representation endangers the integrity of the brand, as I believe was the case with pasting the Taser name on a line of virtual sexual restraints – the virtual designer is providing free product placement.  I’m quite convinced that this is why we have never seen the threat of a high-profile corporate lawsuit before Taser – SL residents save them the footwork.  Honestly, what corporation would hire someone on a graphic designer’s salary to create branded virtual products for them when there are plenty of hobbyists doing the same thing for the equivalent of a dollar or two on every sale?  In real-world numbers, there is absolutely zero return-on-investment for corporations, save for the value of the exposure of their brand within the environment.

What I think everyone needs to maintain is a sense of perspective.  Apples are apples, and oranges are oranges and Second Life is a sixth-world economy.  With very few exceptions, we do what we do for the love.  And while I would much rather see someone create something truly unique and original, the fact remains that we have been programmed to respond to corporate and cultural iconography.  Right or wrong, these icons provide us with a sense of comfort.  There is a reason why people convince themselves that a store-brand is inferior to a name-brand – there is significance in the image.  In a very limited way, it’s almost a religious experience.  Even if you put the exact same product in two different boxes, one with a brand-name and one with a generic, people would insist to the point of argument that the branded one was better.

Our virtual spaces, being an idealized extension of our physical spaces, are going to reflect this as well.  It’s inescapable.  And if Linden Lab wants to strip Second Life of all unapproved branding, I honestly believe they are going to strip it of some of its comfort as well.  “Avatar-Cola” branded products are not going to sell – except, perhaps to immersionism purists – precisely because there is no frame of reference for it in our lives.  It doesn’t have a flavor.  It doesn’t comfort us the way Pepsi or Coke or RC might.

And, quite simply – an intangible digital representation of a physical item is art.

I am always going to defend the intellectual property rights of SL residents with more ferocity.  Because when we’re talking about content theft inworld, we are comparing apples and apples.  Someone who rips skins or replicates hair is counterfeiting in much the same way as someone counterfeiting those real-world Gucci bags and selling them out of the back of his car.  Like is counterfeiting like, and no artistry whatsoever is involved – only a hacked client or a replicator.  And while there are legitimate uses for replication tools, that which is defensible is blotted out by the abuse of those who see SL as nothing more than an opportunity to make a few quick bucks.

A consistent, hard-and-fast application of copyright law in Second Life would mean that almost every single club and live music venue inworld would be forced out of business.  With the licensing required to play and perform copyrighted music, not to mention the per-stream, per-song royalty fees that must be paid, tier fees would be the least of club owner’s financial worries.  Singers and musicians would be limited to original compositions only.  If this seems extreme, consider the fact that nearly any major-label musician who burns a copy of his or her new CD for a friend is engaging in copyright infringement – most rights to the physical recording belong to the record label in “perpetuity” – forever.  Even singing “Happy Birthday” as a performance of the song in a public setting requires a license from ASCAP or the Harry Fox Agency.  (This is why you never hear it sung in restaurants – which is insane, but that’s the world we live in.)

I understand LL’s desire to remove unauthorized trademarks from xStreet, and they should have realized the legal minefield they were stepping into before absorbing it.  But to advocate for the deletion of any item that may conceivably resemble something in the physical world is, in my opinion, going  just a bit too far.  I think LL’s acquisition of xStreet and OnRez was a short-sighted attempt to neutralize competition, and gain and assert dominance of e-commerce in Second Life.  (Of course, there’s the matter of tightening control over the currency exchange, but that’s for someone else to write.)

Every time the duration of a copyright is extended, it happens right about the time that Mickey Mouse is about to enter the public domain.  Food for thought.

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Post tags: copybot, copyright, infringement, trademark, xstreet

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Please make your best attempt to bring your (xStreet) listings and content into compliance with the updated Listing Guidelines.  If after September 14, we find that your listings and content are not in compliance, we will be in touch with you about them.  We understand that you might choose to remove items that you’ve created from XStreet SL and/or Second Life–indeed if you think those items are not in compliance, that’s exactly what we want you to do.

By “in compliance”, Linden Lab means that no item may resemble an actual, identifiable real-world item.  Those “Chuckers” on your feet, that vintage Coca-Cola sign in your game room, that Clash poster in your bedroom, that Atari T-shirt you’re wearing – all of those things.  If you feel that they could potentially violate some corporation’s intellectual property rights, the Lindens want you to remove them from Second Life.  In fact, that’s exactly what they want you to do.

Perhaps I’m overreacting, but it seems we have been subjected to one slap in the face right after another this year.  And even though all but two of my items could be deemed to be “infringing” (a box of classic B-movie posters which are long out-of-print in RL, and a box of scripted wine for which the graphics which can be easily modified), I’ve decided to remove all but two of my items from xStreet – and those will probably be going soon, as well.

I hope that this does not inconvenience anyone.  My inworld stores located in Paxson (Zindra, under construction) and Grishin are both open for business.  In addition, I will be offering items for sale on Apez and Slapt in the coming weeks and months.  As for xStreet, I am adopting a wait-and-see attitude.  I will, however, continue to host their terminal on my Holland sim for as long as people find it useful.

I am not being belligerent.  I am just tired and sad.

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