Is Loki a pervert ?

It's been a while since I posted here. That is mainly because I had little or nothing to tell you. Linden Labs changed that last night by sending me an e-mail that made me wonder whether to laugh or cry.

Dear loki Popinjay,

This email is notification of action regarding your Second Life account,
loki Popinjay, for violation of the Second Life Terms of Service or
Community Standards. The violation in question occurred on August 29, 2008 in the region of Cannery Rezzable.

Violation: Community Standards: Broadly Offensive Content or Conduct

Real-life images, avatar portrayals, and other depiction of
sexual violence including rape, real-life images, avatar
portrayals, and other depictions of extreme or graphic
violence, and other broadly offensive content are never
allowed or tolerated within Second Life.

Nude photo of young girl holding a teddy bear needs to be removed
immediately. Alternatively, you may cover up the nudity with photo
alterations.

Action:
No additional action is being taken at this time.

Appeal Process: The decision to suspend your Second Life access was
reached after investigation of your use of the Second Life software and
service. If you would like to appeal your suspension, you may contact
Second Life Support, in writing, at the address below:

Second Life Support
Linden Lab
945 Battery Street
San Francisco, CA 94111

You may also appeal electronically by filing a support ticket via the
support portal at http://www.secondlife.com/support/

Please provide relevant information that you believe would explain the
above violation. Linden Lab reserves sole discretion in considering
whether to take any action on a written appeal.


This is the picture in question:

'Virgo'

Now, you have to know this picture is part of the Avatar Zodiac series I made for SL5B where it was on display until the very last day. Without complaints. It's been on display at the Cannery for weeks now. Without complaints ... till now.

Avatar Zodiac at SL5B

Frankly, how stupid and narrow minded do you have to be to find this picture offensive? It is in no way meant to be sensual let alone sexual in nature and all "bits" are covered. Since it was meant for SL5B where strickt guidelines were enforced as to what would be allowed and what not I actually added some hair to cover a nipple.

Is it me who has the distorted view here? Ah well, guess that's what you get when you live in some "Sodom and Gomorrah" called Belgium where the government only this week bought a painting by James Ensor for the Arts museum in Ghent depicting not one but TWO completely naked girls for 2.8 million €.

'Kinderen aan ochtendtoilet' by James Ensor

What bothers me the most is the procedure LL seems to follow. Probably some redneck complained and LL takes action by ordering me to remedy the situation. Last I looked the correct way to act would be to check the complaint and if found correct at least give me a chance to defend myself. In this case I would be very surprised if the complaint was indeed checked and the above mail is surely not a question for my view on the matter. Even more so it states I get a chance to "explain the above violation". It is not even questioned if it actually IS a violation.

That said I don't like to be nailed to the cross for being a pervert. In my opinion this picture is not in violation of TOS. So I'm not taking it down until my time at the Cannery is up and I will protest the supposed "violation of TOS". Surely there must be a few Lindens with some common sense...

Oh, and to answer the titel: of course Loki is a pervert, just not this kind ;-)

UPDATE:

I just received this notice from Harry Linden:

Hi there,

Linden Lab has reviewed, at your request, a discipline action recently taken against your account.

Our investigation shows that the discipline was correctly applied.

If any further information is required, Linden Lab will contact you regarding this incident. Otherwise, please consider the matter resolved as no further communications will be sent.

Guess I was wrong about the common sense

Snippets on Friday 07/11

My sincerest appologies for missing two weeks. What can I say? I was just too busy preparing SL5B and enjoying the music at the world's best rock festival last weekend.


Cannery Gallery

Always something happening at the Rezzable Cannery. When Vint Falken asked me to put up some work at the Cannery about a week prior to the opening I didn't really know what to put up. Having worked my ass off to get pictures ready for SL5B I had little else lying about and I didn't want to just pick some from my Flickr stream. With a week to go there was no time to make decent new ones. Contrary to popular belief I do have a first life as well.


Long story short: I decided to put the Avatar Zodiac up at the Cannery in a slightly different form. So those who didn't have a chance to see it at SL5B can now get their butt over to the Cannery. It's worth a visit anyway. There is also work to admire from Leou Aeon and the amazingly talented Andromega Volare and more to come.

Go there straight from here

Avatrait

Pestilence and Heroine are showing this month at Avatrait. On July 12th at 1pm SLT you can ask your questions make your remarques or just admire the art on the walls at a meet and greet with Pestilence and Heroine.

Go there straight from here


Artists Park

This is the last week to see the work of Petr Vanbeeck and Silverdrake Sparrow at the Artists Park. The show will close on the 19th. As of June 21st they will be showing ew, never seen before, one of a kind images again by Petr Vanbeeck & Silverdrake Sparrow.


Twilight Gallery

Belmakor Pintens invites you all to Twilight Gallery this Saturday the 12th at 1pm SLT to see six amazing artists put their work on display.

Didih Merlin
Ghostalker Wise
Hinata Ivory
Ilian Garrigus
Prad Prathivi
Vallys Baxter

Go there straight from here


Music

Riona Rimbaud is organising a huge music event on July 13th & 14th featuring Kiku Seitan, Cyberpiper Roelofs, Yan Etzel, Angelina Ozsvar, Cedric Renoir, Sinatra Cartier, and the multitalented Nephie Eerie.


The event is meant to raise funds for the fight against cancer so be there!

Go there straight from here

Avatar Zodiac

It's that time of year again when we celebrate SL's birthday. This year I decided to participate in SL5B, the resident run event that accompanies SL's birthday. As always I got to work on it way too late but I'm happy to say that after a week of slaving I pulled it off. Seeing this years event is all about diversity and the different cultures in SL I went for a series of portraits.

Avatars in SL are people's way to express themselves and a means to indicate what community they belong to if any. They are incredibly diverse. It's a joy to see how inventive people are in creating their own 'persona' in SL. I hope I managed to capture that diversity.

SL5B opens on Monday 06/23 and will run for two weeks.


That said I think it's a pity there was a fair bit of controversy about this years edition. The whole thing is PG and a number of rules were issued about what is and is not appropriate to be shown. I really regret that and me participating in the event is by no means an endorsement of that policy. I sure hope that those who were refused at SL5B will find another way to share their art with the rest of the community.

Go there straight from here

No Snippets Today

When I open my Flickr's contacts page it's been plastered with the same text-picture for a while now. Make no mistake I understand the outcry. What Linden Labs is doing at SL5B is giving in to a bunch of religious fanatics, right-wing moralists and overall narrow-minded biggots. So I do support Stephen's cause but I will not put the picture on my stream.


"Why?" you ask? Well, because I think that would be a bit too easy. For one those concerned enough to protest will still be a small minority and can easily be ignored by Linden Labs. For two because just paying lip-service to a cause has never changed anything. Three because I mistrust mobs rallying behind a protest sign. I prefer to make up my own mind and choose my own plan of action. Four because just saying "I don't like this" is not very constructive and five and maybe most important because this is part of a larger issue and focussing on this single aspect will oversimplify the larger topic at hand.

Essentially this is about accountability. Who is responsible for what... Are we responsible for our own actions in world or is Linden Labs? I would assume we are but I guess Linden Labs is not too sure about that and fears being sued over what people in-world do.

And really, it's not surprising considering we live in a society where lawsuits are the glib and profitable answer to our own stupidity. Blame someone else for the result of your idiotic behaviour; the lawyers will find the minor technicality to hang them up on and reward you, and themselves, with a boatload of money.

I'll admit Linden Labs' reaction and the way they communicated it is a tad unfortunate to say the least but I imagine they just trying to cover their own butts. With the influx of new avs and SL getting more popular the aforementioned biggots have arrived too and claim their space under the WindLight sun. I say don't blame Linden Labs for protecting themselves but take a good long look around you in RL and drink in what this world has become. LL is nothing but the messenger of bad news and they don't deserve to be shot. Blame them for their half-ass communication, for their poor resident relations, whirly-gig decisions and at a stretch for their lack of balls to stand up and resist. LL is treading the never-before tred grounds of a virtual society created, and, to a degree, mirroring real society. Unfortunately that very same society responsible for demonising a number of lifestyles is also responsible for making the $ king and let's face it, LL need their $$ to survive.

Yes, I sympathise with Stephen, his family and those who wish to protest but I'm afraid it's moot point. "SL is SL and RL is RL" is too easy a slogan. They are intertwined and this is a prime example. Want to change SL? Start with RL and no, I don't mean by posting a pic on Flickr...

Snippets on Friday 06/07

First of all my sincerest apologies for missing last weeks snippets. Lack of time and lack of news combined made me skip a week.

Avatrait presents Hio

When you can announce someone and you don't even have to mention their last name you know you have a celebrity on your hands. This Saturday you won't want to miss the opening of 'The Bastard Side of Life!' featuring pictures by Hio Taringa.


Festivities start at 1:00 pm PDT. Fireworks start at 1:45 pm, Dancing with DJ Azu @ 2:00 pm and goes until 4:00 pm.


Twilight Gallery

Twilight presents the wonderful works of Anya Kivert, Azaiya Aeon, Beatriz Hayes, Danielh Dryssen, Elros Tuominen and Vivienne Cassavetes. This exhibit opens June 7th 1pm PDT. I'm sure that with a list of artists of this calibre it will be a "must see". Place to be is Aloha Oceans Estates 158,248,501


Firenze

This video was published yesterday to announce the "Rinascimento Virtuale" exhibit I mentioned before. I think it looks really cool and it promises the best for the actual exhibit in in October.

From the numerous Flickr comments it seems a fair number of people will actually be going to Firenze in person. I really look forward to meeting them as I am making plans to go over there myself. More news on that later ...


Interesting Links

For those interested in the history of OpenSim and the open source grid this is an interesting read by Danton Sideways about its history.

If you are interested in Marketing, social media and SL you should read what Social Media guru Kelly Feller from Intel has to say about it in her latest post at conversationsmatter.org

Snippets on Friday 05/23

A fair bit of stuff this week. Seems like exhibits and picture contests are being organised left right and center these days. All the better I would say!


SL5B “Celebrating the cultural diversity of Second Life”

Each year, on the date that Second Life came out of beta (June 23rd 2003) SL's birthday has been celebrated with an art event everyone can participate in. If you want to be part of it this year you will have to hurry though. The SL5B-team will only be accepting applications until May 25th. This years theme is “Celebrating the cultural diversity of Second Life”.

You can expect to see the regions open for building on or shortly after June 1. The deadline for completing your builds is June 20. Gates open on June 23 and the event runs until June 30th.

At last years SL4B

Apart from the exhibit the team is putting together a retrospective of scenes from previous SL Birthday events. If you have movies or still images of 2004, 2005, 2006 or 2007 that you can share with full permissions, please drop then on Evie Fairchild, and include a notecard that explains which year the photos are from. If you have photos on a photo-sharing site, please send Evie a notecard with links to them. Once the photos are compiled, you may be invited to donate a voice remembrance to add to the slide show.

More info on SL5B on the Linden Blog
Info about SL5B on Vint's blog
Info about SL5B on Shoshana's blog
submit your applications for SL5B here


Cienega Soon

I said it before: I love Cienega Soon's art. A while ago she opened her own gallery at SL City of the Arts at Hyacinth Island. Two floors of beautifully colourful art and there is a wing reserved for invited artists. Definitively worth a visit! On top of that 60% of all sales goes to Bread & Jams, feeding the homeless.


Go there straight from here

Exhibit at Plutonia

My French speaking friends Sebcaen Ulysses and Gabrielle Sinatra are showing their remarkable pictures at Plutonia together with Hinata Ivory, Vayne Shan & Sypher Wyler.


Grand opening of the event is on May 24th at 12PM SLT

Go there straight from here

Exhibit at The Cannery

There is always something going on at the Cannery. May 21th an exhibit opened featuring the art of Marianne McCann, Raul Crimson, Stephen Venkman, Kimberly Mirabeau and Prad Prathivi. With names like that you know you're in for a treat. You can go and see it till June 12th.

Go there straight from here


Playtoy Centerfold Contest!

Jeza May announced yet another picture contest. Here is your chance to be the centerfold of Playtoy!! You can submit your work until May 31th and, who knows, maybe win the 2000 L$ cash prize.

More info on Jeza's Flickr stream


Avatrait picture contest

Over at Avatrait Corbet Howard's work is till on display. Part of the exhibit is a nice set and pose created by Corbet and used in one of his pictures. You can use it to take your own picture. Anyone who has taken a shot there can post it in the Avatrait Gallery pool thus entering it in a picture contest organised by Stephen Venkman. You have until May 31st to get your images in. The winner will be announced on June 2nd.

More on Stephen's Flickr stream

Go there straight from here


Work on display at Shoshanna's Gallery

I have put some of my work up on display (and for sale) at Shoshanna's gallery. I wrote about the gallery last week and last I looked there are still a few open spots. So, if you have no work on display in world at the moment or your av is less then 90 days old contact Shoshanna Epsilon in world and fill those empty spots in this beautiful gallery! Of course you can also just go and have a look at the wonderful pieces already on display.

Go there straight from here

Wonderland

Early March I wrote a post about why I think Linden Research should open their server sources. I concluded: "I think Linden Labs basically has no choice but to open up their source. If they don't others will soon be competing to set the standard for an open grid". From the looks of it I may have been right even though the competition comes from a somewhat surprising source.

Santa Clara, California based Sun Microsystems, developpers of the Solaris operating system, Java and builders of high-end server hardware have been in SL for a good long while now. The sims they own are only partly open to the public. Some are Sun employee-only isles. I often wondered why they didn't use SL more as they are known to be big proponents of the "the network is the computer" adagio and SL fits that bill perfectly.

Java mascot Duke in SL

The answer is simple, they have develeoped what they call "Project Wonderland". It is described as a "toolkit for creating collaborative 3D virtual worlds." Sun's vision for this Java based multi-user virtual environment is to "provide an environment that is robust enough in terms of security, scalability, reliability, and functionality that organizations can rely on it as a place to conduct real business". This all sounds like music to my ears because let's be frank: SL is neither secure nor reliable and I have a hunch they are at the end of the ride in terms of scalability. Functionality? Everything in Wonderland seems to comply with open standards which will make interaction with existing tools easier. At the moment Maya is used for content creation but other tools like Blender, 3D Studio Max, Lightwave and a number of others are being looked into. Imagine how much easier life would be if you could use these standardised tools to create content ready to upload.

Even though it is still in it's beta stage (present release is version 0.4) Wonderland is not just an exercise. At Sun's Menlo Park Campus there are 19 physical buildings named MPK1 to 19. Now they have a new building: MPK20, built in their own virtual world. In this video Nicole Yankelovich (Principle Investigator for Collaborative Environments program at Sun Microsystems Labs) shows us around MPK20.

Watching this video you can see it doesn't look as imaginative or artistic as SL does but, that's just a matter of content. The core functionality is there and what's more it's all based on open source projects. Wonderland relies on these existing technologies:

• Project Darkstar - provides the scalable, persistant server software infrastructure
• JVoiceBridge - provides realtime immersive stereo audio with distance attenuation
• Java 3D - provides the scene graph on which the 3D world and scene manager is built
• Project Looking Glass - provides the 3D scene manager

So, could Wonderland be the keystone of the Metaverse? I don't know but it seems to me Sun steps up to the plate well prepared. Compared to SL, Wonderland is build on existing tried and tested open source technologies, it complies to open standards and since it's Java based it's completely platform independant. On top of that Sun has the resources and more importantly the in-house knowledge to address issues like secure authentication, content protection, compatibility with open document formats and many others. Unlike SL, Wonderland is not a stand-alone client-server application, it's embedded in an existing framework.

Did I mention I like Sun stuff ?

Even though they themselves seem to see Wonderland purely as a collaboration tool for businesses and educational puropses I think it's important that a big company like Sun recognises the fact virtual worls have an added value and deem it important enough to devote time and money to them well beyond setting up some sims in SL. Unlike LL's server code the Wonderland source is out there. Will someone pick up on it?

Interesting reads about Sun and its involvement with virtual worlds:

The Wonderland homepage: includes the Wonderland sources and a binary download
Wonderblog : a blog about project Wonderland
Virtual wolds at Sun: A blog about Sun's involvement in vitual worlds including SL

Just for the record: I'm in no way associated with Sun Microsystems other than being a Solaris sys admin :-)