Clockwork heart ... Pixellated soul

Return of the Aether Salon!

magzkam — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 19:28:00 +0000

The Aether Salon in New Babbage is returning under new management!

From the new Manager:

What is ‘Salon’? According to Dictionary.com it is:

salon [suh-lon; Fr. sa-lawn]

1. a drawing room or reception room in a large house.
2. an assembly of guests in such a room, especially an assembly, common during the 17th and 18th centuries, consisting of the leaders in society, art, politics, etc.
3. a hall or place used for the exhibition of works of art.
4. a shop, business, or department of a store offering a specific product or service, especially one catering to a fashionable clientele: a dress salon; a hair salon.
5. ( initial capital letter ) (in France) a. the Salon, an annual exhibition of works of art by living artists, originally held at the Salon d’Apollon: it became, during the 19th century, the focal point of artistic controversy and was identified with academicism and official hostility to progress in art. b. a national exhibition of works of art by living artists: Salon des Refusés; Salon des Indépendants.

We may extract bits and pieces of those definitions to answer an even more burning question: What is ‘the Aether Salon’?

The Aether Salon has, in its illustrious past, attracted speakers from all over the Steamlands to gather on the third Sunday of each month in its iconic building in the City/State of New Babbage. These interesting, talented, or sometimes simply lunatical speakers have enthralled and educated rapt audiences for an amazing 28 month run under the original ownership. The final ‘first edition’ Salon in August, 2011, ended with the unfortunate destruction of the building in a freak explosion, something quite rare in New Babbage.

But the Aether Salon is returning, now under new management, but quite respectful of the reputation and history of the Aether Salon. Soon, you shall again be able to soak up the knowledge and wisdom of a fresh crop of Salon speakers.

Or – shall you be amongst the speakers? Think upon it. What is your passion in life? What knowledge do you have to impart? Might your topic be suitable for the Salon? If you are able to put your passion into words, please contact Baron Klaus Wulfenbach (klauswulfenbach.outlander inworld) and describe your chosen topic.

The first ‘second edition’ Salon shall be Sunday, October 16th at 2 pm SLT as is usual; it will be celebrating the Anniversary of the Salon as a whole. All former speakers are requested and urged to attend (please wear your sashes if possible). The unveiling of the model of the new Salon building will also take place, so the first regular speaker of the new season will present in an eyecatching venue on November 20th.

Please join the Aether Salon group, free of charge, for notices of upcoming sittings:

http://world.secondlife.com/group/257bb953-2165-e1e9-c472-64f71873237d

Yrs.,

Klaus Wulfenbach, Baron
Manager, Æther Salon

Victorian’s Secret @ the Blue Mermaid!

magzkam — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 23:45:40 +0000

Good heavens, it’s been 18 months since I’ve posted!

I take up the blog “pen” for a combination of self-promotion and promoting a really good cause!

As part of this week’s SL Boobiethon celebrations, the Blue Mermaid in Caledon on Sea will be having a special Wednesday night party!

Victorian’s Secret …where musical and other inhibitions will be shed

It’s a night of sexy music — with both mature themes and explicit language — and an even sexier audience. In addition to the usual burlesque and cabaret wear, avs are encouraged to start or end the night in their most lovely (or even their briefest) lingerie/underwear/unmentionables. And if someone wants to go semi-bare to encourage others to donate to the Boobiethon kiosk … all the better!

Some caveats: Remember, this is a fundraiser for breast cancer research. Be adult, be responsible, be ladies and gentlemen worthy of the moniker “steampunk”. Most of all, be generous and convival!

When: Wednesday, October 5, 2011, starting at 7 pm SLT
Where: Second Life, Caledon on Sea, The Blue Mermaid

Hope to see you there!

DJ Magda K

Sapphic steampunk spy saga!

magzkam — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 06:08:59 +0000

I tend to get alliterative when I’m excited.
This story excites me. It mixes Haiti’s past, New Orleans’ past, dirigibles, revolution, secret societies and kisses (and as alluded to above, yes, between women).

Oh, and I forgot the rum!

The Effluent Engine by N. K. Jemisin. This is part of A Story for Haiti effort — writers write, and if readers like the stories, rather than pay the writers, they give to charities for Haitian relief.

Great cause, wonderful story (IMO). M. Jemisin writes that she hadn’t attempted steampunk fiction prior to this effort. In that case, someone get her a Tor contract, stat!

Thank you, D.M.P., aka Ay-leen the Peacemaker, for the digital breadcrumbs that led me to the story.

Caledon and Avatars United

magzkam — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 22:22:33 +0000

There is a great deal of discussion going on about Linden Lab’s acquisition of the social networking site Avatars United. I’d love to be able to talk about it more in depth here, but I doubt I’ll have the time. However, Desmond Shang, who is the Guvnah/chief administrator/land baron of Caledon on Second Life (and Caledonia on Blue Mars), has an important message about AU and I’m distilling his remarks to help pass the word along. Please note, this isn’t the entire conversation. If you are part of ISC, you should have received a notecard via group notice, with a fuller transcript of the remarks and reactions by those participating in ISC group chat. If you did not and would like a copy, please IM me in-world or retrieve it from the Group Notices tab for ISC.

From Desmond in his Desmond Magic alt (yes, this is common knowledge, I’m not disclosing secret information) on Feb. 1st:

[1:42] Desmond Magic: wearily waves hello to everyone ~ hey, I wanted to pass on something, word of mouth to people, if I may

[1:43] Desmond Magic: some of you may have heard of something called Avatars United

[1:44] Desmond Magic: I’ve done my best to recover things, and even unlocked my actual account and created a caledon group

[1:44] Desmond Magic: please,

[1:44] Desmond Magic: 1. do not friend me, or anyone claiming to be me

[1:44] Desmond Magic: 2. do not join any caledon groups, if you did ~ leave.

[1:44] Desmond Magic: 3. I’ve set up the ‘real’ me

[1:45] Desmond Magic: and a real group

[1:45] Desmond Magic: Desmond Shang

[1:45] Desmond Magic: I got it, Ordinal made one just out of demonstration’s sake

[1:45] Desmond Magic: I’m not upset at ordinal whatsoever, that was a test

[1:45] Desmond Magic: it’s NOT PROTECTED.

[1:45] Desmond Magic: there can be a dozen Desmond Shangs.

[1:45] Desmond Magic: there is now apparently an official Caledon group.

[1:46] Desmond Magic: folks, here’s what happens, according to US law.

[1:46] Desmond Magic: if I don’t defend it, ANYONE can legally use “Caledon” or “Caledonia” or “Independent State of Caledon”

[1:47] Desmond Magic: there are. One is me, one is Ordinal (testing), beyond that, it’s all nobody I know

[1:47] Desmond Magic: there are apparently THREE Caledon groups now, I added the fourth and real one, I think.

[1:47] Desmond Magic: minutes ago.

[1:47] Desmond Magic: now, here’s the nasty part

[1:47] Desmond Magic: 1. I don’t want to be Caledon (TM) but I’m being given no choice

[1:48] Desmond Magic: and here’s the 2nd Really Ugly Nasty Part

[1:48] Desmond Magic: the one that will burn maybe 40 to 80 hours of work

[1:48] Desmond Magic: someone well~intentioned will make a group

[1:48] Desmond Magic: I will say ‘don’t do that’

[1:48] Desmond Magic: they will be hurt, heartbroken, massive drama will ensue.

[1:49] Desmond Magic: drama = major income loss for Des. Every. single. Time.

[1:49] Desmond Magic: so I am not mad at any well intentioned people who tried to ‘help’

[1:50] Desmond Magic: there’s no drama, just, do. not. duplicate. caledon. or. we. *all*. lose. the. ability. for. me. to. defend. us.

[1:50] Desmond Magic: without being defended by me, it falls to public domain, by US law.

[1:50] Desmond Magic: I have no choice, I have to aggressively pursue it.

[1:50] : Are we allowed to make “ of caledon” groups?

[1:50] Desmond Magic: oh that’s fine

[1:51] Desmond Magic: but someone made the OFFICIAL group…

[1:51] Desmond Magic: doubtless people are going to join it in droves. Please. do. not.

[1:51] : Does this mean you will have to crack down on any use of “Caledon” in commerce outside of your activities, Des?

[1:52] Desmond Magic: I am super easy going about ‘licencing’

[1:52] Desmond Magic: ____________ of Caledon, or _______, Knight of Caledon or all that is just fine

[1:52] Desmond Magic: it’s like this:

[1:52] Desmond Magic: pretend I’m Star Trek

[1:53] Desmond Magic: go fly Enterprises, whatever, but don’t start your group as THE Star Trek

[1:53] Desmond Magic: because now, once that happens, guess what any hostile noob can do, if it falls to public domain

[1:53] Desmond Magic: “hai we are another Caledon rent from me PLZ!”

[1:54] Desmond Magic: all that we are, all that you guys are, will be legally take~able.

[1:54] Desmond Magic: I won’t have any ability to defend it.

[1:55] : Do you own the trademark Caledon or its permutations?

[1:55] Desmond Magic: I do, sir.

[1:55] Desmond Magic: yes, it was done , on Avatar United… as well as multiple groups called Caledon that aren’t me.

[1:56] Desmond Magic: LL bought a facebook~like company

[1:56] Desmond Magic: you might want to check it out, it may be done before you even realise it.

[1:57] Desmond Magic: no, in fact all of you could make fake desmonds, that’s the problem

[1:57] Desmond Magic: I want to be LL’s biggest fanboy, I normally am

[1:57] Desmond Magic: but this is where I see this going:

[1:57] Desmond Magic: some well intentioned person, probably one of us, made the Caledon group

[1:58] Desmond Magic: this is a bad, bad, bad thing

[1:58] Desmond Magic: everyone, please spread the word… I’ve been dealing with this all night

[1:58] Desmond Magic: now, I have literally years of ‘prior art’ and can get testimony from literally several hundred people that Caledon is mine

[1:59] Desmond Magic: if anyone has backup, it’s me… even if someone falsely registered Caledon as a trademark, I could take them down easily

[1:59] Desmond Magic: but I don’t want to deal with all this

[1:59] Desmond Magic: ah, official word is this: for now, Please Do Not Use the Avatar United site for Caledon stuff

[2:04] Desmond Magic: I’m not worried about any well intentioned person ‘helping’ to make a caledon group and finding out it wasn’t a good idea

[2:04] Desmond Magic: I won’t be mad at them

[2:04] Desmond Magic: what I AM worried about, is Caledon falling to public domain, and none of us able to do anything about it.

[2:05] Desmond Magic: when, not if, it were to be used by hostile parties.

[2:05] Desmond Magic: well I am the easiest guy in the world with Caledon ‘stuff’

[2:06] Desmond Magic: you can sell Caledon flags, or whatnot inworld I am good with it

[2:06] Desmond Magic: I give permission, always

[2:06] Desmond Magic: the line has been drawn at real world products

[2:06] Desmond Magic: and for instance, excalibur has permission to use ‘caledon’ (think of it as a ‘licence’) for forums and stuff

[2:07] Desmond Magic: I’m really, really, really casual

[2:07] Desmond Magic: but the problem comes in, when someone makes an official group, and they aren’t.

[2:08] : Many items for sale in Caledon shops use that name , to protect a name all uses except by owner need to stop, reaches for a KLEENEX to dab eyes

[2:08] Desmond Magic: to give an idea, we raised something close to 20,000 USD for cancer charities over the years

[2:08] Desmond Magic: I don’t need to go that far, I informally ‘licence’ everyone

[2:09] Desmond Magic: that’s how ‘fan fiction’ works

[2:10] Desmond Magic: I can handle it more like fan fiction ~ basically, nobody gets in trouble, *until* they claim to officially represent all of Caledon

[2:10] Desmond Magic: the paperwork and legal stuff are one thing, the thing I truly dread is this:

[2:10] Desmond Magic: probably a few well intentioned people who are part of us, here, started these groups

[2:10] Desmond Magic: I don’t know who

[2:11] Desmond Magic: I am *not* mad at them, but the one thing I absolutely don’t want,

[2:11] Desmond Magic: is four or five hours of tearful drama over it

[2:11] Desmond Magic: that burns me out like few things ever can.

[2:12] Desmond Magic: in fact, if any of you hear or see of the Avatar United stuff,

[2:12] Desmond Magic: for now,

[2:13] Desmond Magic: please ask people NOT to get involved with Caledon stuff there yet, please.

[2:13] Desmond Magic: it’s not secure, it won’t be for a while.

[2:13] Desmond Magic: that’s totally fine

[2:13] Desmond Magic: just~ NO official group, and don’t join one

[2:14] Desmond Magic: they aren’t, but, that’s not the issue, it’s the issue of say, controlling the whole group

[2:14] Desmond Magic: it’s been nearly four years ~ can anyone guess the number of times group chat has been moderated here?

[2:15] Desmond Magic: exactly zero. we are a free group, and I’ve fought for that

[2:16] Desmond Magic: yeah we keep the group closed to keep out spammers

[2:17] Desmond Magic: well,

[2:17] Desmond Magic: anyway, just imagine anyone else in control of the group

[2:17] Desmond Magic: we are THE most free state on the grid, I keep it that way

[2:18] Desmond Magic: if I don’t defend our name or the group, we’ll end up like your typical RP area and it’s moderation and ban lists.

[2:19] : Des, maybe I’m oversimplifying things, but it stands to reason if LL owns AU, all they;d need to do is match emails to avatar names, and freeze accounts that don’t match until proven otherwise.

[2:19] Desmond Magic: anyway, if anyone discovers who started these groups, I am not mad, but would they please discontinue any group that represents the whole of Caledon.

[2:19] Desmond Magic: well that would be ideal

[2:19] Desmond Magic: maybe they will… months from now

[2:20] Wrath Constantine: LL Anounced the purchase a couple of days ago Yuriko. It’s bad.

[2:21] Desmond Magic: mmm… well let’s wrap this commentary up with Avatar United

[2:21] Desmond Magic: I am not mad at Avatar United

[2:22] Desmond Magic: I am not mad at any well intentioned person that made a caledon group, but Please disband it if it represents all of us.

[2:22] Desmond Magic: finally,

[2:23] Desmond Magic: yes, I do have an account and a Caledon group there, created for the sole purpose of defending “Caledon” and “Caledonia” and “Independent State of Caledon”

[2:23] Desmond Magic: but please don’t join it, or ‘friend’ me

[2:23] Desmond Magic: I’d rather spend my time inworld with all of you here.

[2:24] Desmond Magic: alright… that was that. sorry for the late hour; if this gets out by word of mouth that would be appreciated

[2:24] : Out of curiosity how would one tell YOUR DS from another ? That’s why it’s not a place that holds any interest for me

[2:24] Desmond Magic: group notices come so fast it’s terrible

[2:25] Desmond Magic: , mine has some comments like “don’t friend me”… but even that can be copied

[2:25] Desmond Magic: just stay away from the site until they fix all this, I’d say.

[2:25] Mari Moonbeam: No kidding

[2:25] Desmond Magic: avatar united

[2:25] Desmond Magic: people have been making fake linden accounts too.

[2:26] Desmond Magic: indeed, I thought going there and making my name would preserve it, I was wrong.

[2:27] Desmond Magic: I don’t *want* to be upset at LL, just, there’s not much I can do and preserve our identity

[2:27] : This convo is being saved for sharing amongst those not currently on.

SL Steamlands wordsearch!

magzkam — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 00:27:14 +0000

Mr. Hotspur Otoole has created a SL Steamlands word search puzzle, featuring words related to the various steampunk communities of SL. How lovely! Thank you!

The XStreet clean-up

magzkam — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 23:07:12 +0000

It’s been a long time since I’ve posted, and shame on me. No real reason, just lost the impetus to blog. Working on getting it back …

There are many, many blog posts out there regarding the new fees and commissions for XStreetSL. Anyone stumbling across this is already in the loop, and I won’t try to repeat the many arguments I’ve read. Let me just say that for me, someone still in the beginning stages of building, with no store or plans to open one, XStreet was my sole outlet for my items. They sold, but not in high volume, and I am fine with that – but the proposed listing fees would make it a loss for me. So, I’m withdrawing all my items — probably right after I finish this post.

I have been meaning to do one particular task: when RELIC/Baron Grayson closed up shop & sims on the grid, he said he would be transferring his inventory into XStreet and it would remain there until December 2009. Either this did not happen, or the inventory has been pulled – I’ve just attempted searches for “RELIC” as well as a merchant search for “Baron Grayson” but I’m not finding any of his furniture. His business partner, Sue Stonebender, is on XStreet with over 300 items, but none of the furniture I looked at was branded RELIC or had the specific look of RELIC furniture.

In the words of my typist, that bites the wax tadpole.

I’m not saying that I will boycott XStreet … I don’t know if that’s feasible in the long run. But for now, I plan to do as much perusing and shopping in-world, while watching to see if the alternatives are successful and sustainable.

A treasure map (if you consider free images treasure …)

magzkam — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 01:06:19 +0000

Good heavens, it’s been a month since I’ve posted?

My fervent apologies. And yet, I’m still not ready to post anything serious. Bloggers, have you ever done a post just to remind yourself of a resource or story? Yeah, that’s what this is. Because I don’t trust my bookmarks file …

Basically, this story promises 12 Best Places to Get Free Images For Your Site … and there they are! Not at a point where I can peruse the resources, but I do look forward to it in the near future …

Have it your way?

magzkam — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 07:39:09 +0000

Because I am flippant and irreverent, I must start off this post by admitting my serious, though platonic, girl-crush on Miss Emilly Orr. As it happens, I interact more with her blog than the av herself, but the same qualities shine through: thoughtful, fierce, articulate, funny, bold, curious. Miss Orr, you are cooler than a thousand My Evil Ponies.

I started with a paean to Miss Orr because this blog post is in response to a post on her blog, to which I was about to clog up with the comment below. However, I came to my senses and posted it here. But it was a near, near thing.

The first part of the post addresses a comment from a Second Life blog made by Ari Blackthorne. Miss Orr quoted at length, but I prefer giving a briefer excerpt:

Since my first coming into SL I have owned… (counts fingers and contemplates) … 5 private regions (sims) – not all at once of course. But I have owned them. I have done what you are doing now – the land sales/rentals. I have created a role play sim (still going strong fortunately) and so on and so on.

However, I clearly understand my “place” in it. That being that I am paying Linden Lab to give me specific and complete control of part of their system. That’s it. Nothing more. I do not now nor ever expect a “return” on my “investment” because not only is it not promised, Linden Lab doesn’t even so much as imply such a thing is possible. In other words, what I do and how I do it using the tools and services available I do on my own at my own behest and risk, knowing full well anything can change for the better or worse at the drop of a hat.

So, again with respect, I take the words of anyone who proclaims they have spent money and are thus “losing” money with a serious grain of salt and tongue-in-cheek. Second Life is not billed as any kind of money-making enterprise or investment venue. If you spend money on a movie ticket at the cinema, do you realistically expect to get any kind of return on that money, save for the screening itself?

This leaves me torn. I respond to rightness and wrongness in this sentiment.

The rightness:

Life is hard, business is rough. A guaranteed profit is the lure of hucksters fishing for the desperate and gullible. Sometimes … heck, oftentimes, smarts and capital and the sweat of the brow is just not enough to succeed. That’s the real world, and fortunately or unfortunately, the same is true of the virtual world. Many people can and do succeed. Many don’t. And while a high likelihood of success is a fantastic indicator … it’s only an indicator — not a sure thing, not a guarantee.

Virtual businesses may operate on different scales and have very different rules from real-world ones, but we’re not talking Bizarro Land. And if you’re operating within someone else’s servers, under their rules AND they have their own goals for what success of their operation entails, which may not mesh with or acknowledge your goals … you are assuming some measure of risk.

So, yeah … right on, Mr. Blackthorne. But … the wrongness:

I don’t have it in front of me, but Benjamin Duranske‘s book details the dissonance between LL hawking the potential for significant economic opportunity in their marketing materials versus their ToS provisions. But there are also the issue of people are already in the system and previously thriving. When things go sideways, is it more rational to stay & hope they go right again, or cut bait and flee? Only it’s not so rational a decision and people may stay & hope/fight/wait it out due to emotional attachments, sheer irrational hope, or a lack of information. [The typist took an entire semester of law & behaviorialism, bless her twisted brain, so I could go into extreme gory detail, but you know ... let's not. For your sake & mine & even hers.]

There’s also the issue of whether everything in the ToS is company policy or CYA to please lawyers and fend off users threatening to sue. Literally changing your rules at the drop of a hat tends to strike most customers as arbitrary, capricious and a no-starter for serious “investment”. Coca-Cola, Harvard and Warner Bros. wouldn’t put up with it, and why should individual users? Most everyone expects a certain level of consistency and logic, and SL would fail even as an entertainment if it did not attempt to operate with both qualities when providing its services.

The truth of the matter probably lies between the hype of marketing materials and the risk-avoidance language of the ToS … the set of reasonable expectations between the service provider and the users/customers. Reasonable expectations are built upon clear communication – not only notice and disclosure, but feedback, conversation, a willingness to understand and synthesize what each side is communicating, and clear, non-contradictory messaging throughout the corporate chain. And this is what I think LL falls down on the majority of the time.

*sigh* I fear I’m going to end up a one-trick pony but really … effective communication would help, while ineffective communication leads to frustration and anger and impotency and blame-storming.

A touch of poesy

magzkam — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 02:42:09 +0000

I — well, the typist — was struck by a bit of dark whimsy due to two events:

1) The trip to DC was wonderful … until the breathing problems started. Luckily, both inhaler and allergy meds were on-hand so no need for frantic trips to an ER or pharmacy but still … breathed better on the plane than on the ground in DC for the last 2 days, and isn’t THAT saying something?

2) The Consulate’s weekly Poetry Slam had the theme of surgery, medicine and the body.

So, I wrote this. Why a poem? *shrug* Just because it appealed to me. Blank verse, of course (or is it free verse?).

Signs of the onset of acute bronchial asthma

The quick way is

that you simply, suddenly

cannot draw breath.

Your ears fill

with the sound of rasping breaths.

Adrenaline floods your bloodstream

along with panic.

And you wonder if

you’ll ever be able to fill your lungs again.

The slow way,

for those with allergies

or otherwise have their asthma

usually under control.

You notice a muscle

along your collarbone

stretched taut, almost to tearing

but you haven’t done any heavy lifting.

After a while,

you realize how tired you’ve become.

Why are you winded

after just a few blocks?

Perhaps it’s lack of sleep.

(And you haven’t been sleeping well, have you?)

Then you hear the rasping of your own breath.

Why didn’t you put the pieces together before now?

How is it you don’t know your body after all this time.

Stay calm, do not panic.

Do not think of Robert Donat in his prime,

sent to an early grave by asthma.

Fight for breath, but not too hard.

Yes, you wonder if

you’ll ever be able to fill your lungs again.

If you are very good,

and if you take your medications,

you will draw breath …

until the next attack.

When you’re able to breathe again, give thanks …

- Magdalena Kamenev 2009

The Mason Campaign

magzkam — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 22:55:05 +0000

The banning of Darien Mason from Second Life is probably old news by now, but there are new and continuing developments.

Serra Anansi has opened a ticket asking for LL to vacate its decision (as it were), and is encouraging others to do the same. Gabrielle Riel has done something similar. She also notes that those only Basic accounts may have their tickets ignored. There may well be other background efforts going on. Let’s hope this bears fruit … the grid is a rather more monochromatic without Doctor Mason.