Pages

Mar 18, 2011

One Big Blond Moment: So what now?

One Big Blond Moment: So what now?: "It's definitely been a chaotic couple of weeks to say the least. Sometimes I take a step back and look at the big picture, and I think..."

Mar 14, 2011

Musings About Getting Immersion

..., or: a reminder to dear memories...

A few days ago, I found a very great and profound article in Adam Zadeh's wonderful blog Gorean Wines:

Try this at home or "so you wanna be a kajira"

In my journeys though out Second Life I have heard again and again the same lament.  My boyfriend/husband/significant other does not/will  understand my need to explore my submissive side.  So they start to explore this need via virtual reality programs like SL or via "relationship" sites like Collar Me, and the much superior Fet Life - where at least you can learn something.  

I personally see no harm in this.  However I have always argued that unless you experience some of these things in reality, you have no idea what it feels like.   Your reactions will be much more realistic in the game if your mind has an idea of what it would be liked to be flogged.  To be tied up or to be forced to do things.  This little article is not geared towards those of us in the lifestyle (Gorean or otherwise) but towards those that are "newbie's" to BDSM.

Some of these little exercises may make you smile, but each is designed to "give you a taste" of what a slave on Gor may have experienced in their day to day lives. [read more...]
Though I wouldn't call SL a game (I think i mentioned that already somewhere) I  think this article is a really great read for everyone who wants to be - or just play - a slave in SL.
What exercises are what he writes about? Well, duh - things you see each kajira or slave girl doing in SL.. Things like: trying the slave positions, trying how it feels to wear a collar, trying to be mindful in your acts - and a few more. And he is right, it does add realism and plausibility to your acts in the realms of SL, other virtual worlds - or even chatrooms.
These are only suggestions, how you meet your desires is up to you....but the journey there is full of wonderful surprises.
And that is something I totally can admit.Kudos to such an insightful blog and such a great article.

But this article very much reminded me of my own way to become a slave in SL, and also of a post I wrote long time ago:
Gem's blog: a few thoughts about being a slave: "I consider myself a slave, slave of Mistress Lexi Leiner , Her property. A slave with privileges though, but nonetheless a slave.  You might..."

Mar 11, 2011

My stance on RZ and others

Instead of publishing the last pending comment, I want to make MY stance on it.
Yes I do read it that RedZone etc are indeed violating the SL TOS.
And I doubt that Soft Linden's statement in the JIRA was just his own private opinion:

Soft Linden commented on VWR-24746:
-----------------------------------

Hey, all. I got the go-ahead to give an update on zF Red Zone specifically. Again, thank you for the ARs with specific info about violations. These have been very helpful for letting Lindens know what's going on.

Tuesday morning, we removed zF Red Zone from the Marketplace for a second time. We removed the in-world vendor distributing the item as well. We determined that zF Red Zone was still in violation of our Terms of Service and Community Standards.

We asked for removal by no later than today of all zF Red Zone functionality that discloses any alternate account names. That is, even if consent is asked, the service may not act on the consent. In addition, we asked for removal by no later than Friday of the interface for and any remaining implementation of the zF Red Zone consent mechanism because it does not comply with our policies. If these updates are not made, we will take appropriate steps to remedy the violations.

As before, we appreciate your help in keeping an eye on content. If you find that any merchant's product is not in compliance with our TOS or our Community Standards, please file an abuse report about the product. Do this even if you filed against a previous version. Include a specific explanation of what you believe is a violation, and ideally select and report the in-world object at issue in case it behaves differently than what's in the Marketplace. Before reporting, make sure you have first-hand knowledge of the issue. Support can best react if you explain specific steps to reproduce or confirm a violation.
»WE determined that zF Red Zone was still in violation of our Terms of Service and Community Standards.« Not »I thought that...«, or »I guessed that...«
»WE« - i.e. Linden Lab. As I see it, there is nothing to misunderstand.


Nonetheless, here is MY stance:
  • Simply because something that's morally and/or legally WRONG can be done easily, doesn't make it morally and/or legally RIGHT. TOS violation is TOS violation, no matter how easy it is done - and there's only black or white: respecting the TOS or disrespecting it.
  • And a system that spies data from my computer without my permission - unlike when I "permit" it, or rather hand my data over by deliberately trying to get access to a website or server - such a system CAN, but doesn't HAVE TO, be installed on my computer, but nonetheless it's SPYWARE, hence not legal.

Is it easily possible to spy my momentary IP address by using Media stream? Yes it is. If I wanted, I even could get your IP address by using my pictures here.
Is it easily possible to get my avatar name and key inworld? Yes of course. As easy as getting your blog user names and blog ID here.
Is it easily possible to connect my avatar name to the IP address I use at that moment? Yes of course.
Is it easily possible to add time stamps to that connected info, and to create a list? Why,  of course.
Is it easily possible to check the collected IP addresses and names against other avatar names and -keys on such a list? Yes it is. You don't even need an SQL database for it, an XLS (or ODS) list is enough.

Does anyone have the right to do that UNLESS I explicitely allow this media stream, unless I deliberately go to their website? Of course not.
Does anyone in SL has the right to spy on me? No of course not. Just like a forum user has no right to spy on other forum users. Just like your neighbour has no right to spy on you.
Does anyone have the right to put an IP sniffing tool where one would expect a media stream?  No.
Does anyone have the right to try to find out ANY RL information, even including IP address, MAC address, browser etc of others who are not users of their OWN webspace? Or even to create a database about this info? No, of course not.

So, whether it's Quickware or RedZone, or CDS, or any other alt-"detecting" system, any such Stasi tools don't belong into Second Life and should be banned immediately, together with their creators. I don't need any wannabe Stasi loners in SL. I had enough of them in RL.

Even though this following pic belongs to a different issue, I think it's not so much off-topic here:

Mar 10, 2011

An Open Letterto the Phoenix Team

To the viewer team who stated their stance in the RedZone/Spyware matter were NEUTRAL

You seem to miss the point that one cannot be neutral about violation of the TOS. There is only either right or wrong, either respecting the TOS or violating it. To compare it with RL laws: There's only either innocent or criminal.

Either one respects the TOS (in comparison: abides by the law), then RedZone and every other similar tool is absolutely inacceptable -- or you are for RedZone et al, but then you don't mind violating the TOS (in comparison: you don't mind breaking the law).

The TOS clearly states that
8.3 You agree that you will not post or transmit Content or code that may […] invade other users' privacy, or surreptitiously or negatively impact any system or network.

You agree to respect both the integrity of the Service and the privacy of other users. You will not:

(i) Post or transmit viruses, Trojan horses, worms, spyware, […], or other computer programming routines that may harm the Service or interests or rights of other users, or that may harvest or collect any data or personal information about other users without their consent;

The Community Standards also state:
Residents are entitled to a reasonable level of privacy with regard to their Second Life experience. Sharing personal information about your fellow Residents without their consent -- […] beyond what is provided by them in their Resident profile -- is not allowed.

Soft Linden  wrote that
[…] if you see one of his resale vendors, you should Abuse Report
the vendor's owner. File the AR against the object's owner whether the vendor is
owned by the creator, an alt of the creator, or set out by others for
commission. For the AR type, select "Harassment->Soliciting/Inciting others to
Violate ToS." Feel free to add a link to this comment.

It is absolutely clear, there is nothing to be misinterpreted: LL is considering such spy tools as against the TOS. They took a stance, while you back off, because you don't want to be split apart. For an undisrupted work on the viewer and its successor, you are ignoring that there are some violators of the TOS in your team. In this subject, there is only EITHER one side OR the other. Either TOS or RedZone et al.

Hasn't the team of the predecessor of this viewer had enough trouble with people within who didn't mind violating the TOS? Don't anyone of you remember EmeraldGate - which was caused by a few in the team who violated the TOS, plus by the others who remained neutral?
Please don't  make that mistake again and let a "PhoenixGate" be created over it. Being the most-used third-party viewer in SL, the Phoenix can't afford that.
Do make a decision AS A TEAM, even if it means to have to let a few go. Decide AS A TEAM to be either for the ToS or for the spy tools, and do take a stance.

eighthdwarf Checchinato
Phoenix user from the beginning, Firestorm user
- and before the rise of Phoenix: Emerald user

Mar 8, 2011

New Works in Progress, and a statement


I have 2 things I'm currently working at in regards to SL - and a couple things I'm working at in RL.
The ones for SL are quite ambitious - one because I need to collect correct translations before I make the final version and load it up to the SL Marketplace, the other one because of its size and details.

First the 1prim thing, or rather a texture with a statement:

Yes, it is entirely about the ongoing "war" on privacy-invading spy tools in SL that almost is splitting the SL community apart. Tools like RedZone, CDS, theQuickware Alt Detector and others.
Those who use these tools argue that they have the right to protect their land from griefers and copybotters plus their alts -  while those who don't condone these tools argue that they are invading everyone's privacy even more than the groping TSA guys. 

To all Alt Detection System users out there: It's nobody's business except Linden Lab's whether someone has alts or not, or how many, or what's their names are, and what they do. And you can't detect alts anyways by sneeking their IP: otherwise, everyone using a Hotspot at a cafe or station, or everyone in a company or university network, or everyone in a wi-fi sharing neighborhood, or everyone in an apartment with more than one computer would be each other's alt. And what about dynamic addresses? Is Avatar "X" the alt of avatar "Y" simply because X had the same IP yesterday that Y has today? Even if it's only one computer being used: is the SL account of X who is the RL roommate, or a family member or a guest of Y, and logging in from Y's computer, necessarily Y's alt account? Nope. Same IP is not equal to same account owner.

As I stated last week on SLU:
I have never used - and will never use - RedZone, CDS, or any other spyware thingy on my land. Or on land of any alt of mine.
I have my own private rl reasons from the past to be completely against such STASI tools.
I don't support them, and I don't support anyone who uses them by spending my time and L$ on their land.

I respect the privacy of anyone I meet and anyone who comes to my land.

eighthdwarf Checchinato
March 03, 2011 (4:14am)
Yes, I learned my lesson about privacy and disclosing of private info well. 


Ok, the other thing i'm working on is a boat, or rather a ship, my Catamaran Yacht "Jewel of the Seas":



 


I'll still need to rebuild some of the things as sculpts, but as of yet it's look is more or less what I hoped for it. And as the last picture shows, it is quite big :) Actually, it's just over 81m (266ft) long, 32m (105ft) wide, and each deck is 4m (13ft) high. As far as I know, no RL ship looks like my yacht, though I have seen huge cruise ships with the name "Jewel of the Seas"


My RL work in progress is quite more time- consuming: I'm working on volume two of my not-yet-published book, on illustrations for both books, and on a graphic novel - together with the child book author Benjamin Nover - that is supposed to become a book for grown-ups.

So, everyone who wondered why I am online for only short time, and why my alt Lady Alexandra hasn't been on SL-Gor anymore for a long while, and why i'm mostly busy when being online and not with my Mistress - that's why.