RSS - PostsFiled under: Sachie Bade, Second Life, Virtual Land & Landscapes | Tags: malvina reynolds, Second Life, virtual landscape, virtual suburbia
There’s a green one and a pink one
And a blue one and a yellow one,
And they’re all made out of ticky tacky
And they all look just the same.
On the hillside
Filed under: Sachie Bade, Second Life, Second Life Aviation | Tags: Second Life, secondlife, mainland, Second Life Aviation, blake sea, tordangle sim, werner herzog
Tonight, I’m really trying to clear my thoughts of disasters, natural and otherwise, so I hopped back into the Air Camper and made my way north again with the intention of exploring the lands beyond the village this time. I do dearly love our messy little garden here and don’t want to see it destroyed, whatever form that destruction may take. In the 1980’s, psychologists had a term for the effect that the knowledge of thermonuclear war imposed upon the human psyche. It was called psychic numbing. I find it kind of hilarious that we would collectively invent a disorder for one the most natural impulses that a body could have, to not think about the unthinkable. If I’m numbing my psyche in the face of a terrible possibility, then so be it.
Just as a side note, the Aircamper is IMHO one of the best planes for exploring Second Life for those who are inclined towards air travel. It was originally created by Ezekiel Bailly, then modified by Driff Beadmore. You can get the original version for free, and it is very nice, but I highly recommend the modified version, as it has a number of features which make it suitable for adventures, most notably the addition of pontoons that allow you to land on water or on land. The modified version, Pietenpol Air Camper Sr., is only L$250 and is well worth the small fee. Being a well-scripted, low-prim aircraft, the thing faithfully crosses sims and almost never fails, at least for me. Plus, I think that it is quite stylish both in its name and in the way it looks. Anyway, hats off to Ezekiel and Driff for giving us this little marvel.
Air Camper, Sr.
Well, the camper brought me faithfully to my destination once again in the great manner of the golden age of flight, as I very much expected.
On my way
I parked my plane on the beach near a small tidal pool and got out. I was so excited to explore the island beyond. I could see all of the familiar sights I saw the other day, and I raced past, climbing up the hill, past the shops, the kenpa circles, all of it.
Racing up the hill
When I got to the end of the village, something stopped me. There is this great scene in Grizzly Man, where the camera just rolls on the weeds and trees being blown by the wind. It’s not actually Herzog’s shot, but it is Herzog who recognizes what the camera can do. I sat down on a bench in the village and looked at the clover growing.
Clovers
I guess it’s my antidote for nuclear war
Filed under: Maps, Sachie Bade, Second Life | Tags: Second Life, secondlife, sachiebade, mainland, sansara, blue mars, nuclear war, dr. strangelove, celebration florida
Oh dear! I went out to see if I got any letters today and discovered something truly disturbing in my mailbox. It was a booklet sent from the Office of Emergency Management and an agency with the strangely archaic-sounding name, “His Majesty’s Stationary Office.” I guess they got my address when I applied for a disaster assistance loan and added me to some list.
In Case of Attack
Of course, none of this craziness would require fiddling around with atomic nuclei in a secret laboratory in New Mexico or Snezhinsk. No Atomgrads here, just lines of code developed whenever it was felt necessary to provide a “deterrent” in the interest of protecting National Security. “The mad fools!,” as Alexei de Sadesky proclaims in Dr. Strangelove when he discovers that his own government has activated an automated doomsday device.
Jeez, this stuff used to scare the knickers off of me when I was a young one out there in real life la la land. Now, I guess the youth and the crazies have the planet Niribu to fret over, and when I think long and hard enough on it, I have a difficult time finding any substantial difference between my adolescent fears and theirs. So, who am I to judge?
Anyway, I’m going to let you read a particularly frightening section of In Case of Attack here, because I feel like the material therein is something with which every Second Life resident should at least have a passing familiarity…
Do You Know Where You Stand?
The map pictured below graphically represents the range of effects from the detonation of a 1 Megabyte Blue Mars ground burst device in the approximate center of the Sansara continent of Second Life. Descriptions of modifications to builds, avatars, and the long-term effects of such a detonation follow.
Blast effects from a Blue Mars 1MB Device
1-2 Sims from ground zero
Builds: All structures, scripts, and textures instantly deleted. Terrain mesh is turned black with a fine dusty brown glow which persists for a period of several years, post-event.
Avatars: 100% of avatar account information, including inventory, Linden Dollars, etc. deleted instantly. Permanent IP block from Second Life placed into effect immediately for everyone within these regions.
Long-Term Effects: Rebuilding, scripting, and texturing becomes impossible within this zone for a period of at least two years. Avatars spending more than 15 minutes at a time in these areas automatically have their accounts set to expire one year after date of over exposure with a permanent IP block from Second Life.
3-4 Sims from ground zero
Builds: Structures, scripts, and textures heavily damaged or destroyed (many missing prims, lines of code). Remaining textures take on a gray or black underlying color. Terrain mesh becomes a dark brownish gray.
Avatars: 50% of avatar accounts instantly deleted and IP blocked. Surviving avatars sustain permanent loss of one or more abilities, e.g. building, communicating, or flying. 50% of financial assets deleted. All accounts are set to permanently expire at a date not less than one year and no more than three years from the time of detonation. Avatars assume a stigmatizing dusty brown glow.
Long-Term Effects: Rebuilding and spending long durations in these regions is extremely hazardous, as random accounts will be flagged for expiration in one to three years from point of over exposure.
5-7 Sims from ground zero
Builds: Moderate damage to structures and scripts (missing prims, lines of code). Textures and terrain mesh receive a light gray underlying color.
Avatars: 25% of avatar accounts instantly deleted and IP blocked. Survivors suffer a temporary (3 to 4 month) loss of one or more abilities. 25% of financial assets deleted. Accounts are set to expire at a date no less than two but not more than four years from point of detonation.
Long-Term Effects: Rebuilding in these regions is risky. A small percentage of avatars who spend long periods of time in these area will have their accounts flagged for deletion in two to four years.
8-10 Sims from ground zero
Builds: A few structures sustain light damage (missing prims only). Scripts remain intact. Terrain mesh and textures unaffected.
Avatars: 1-2% of avatar accounts instantly deleted without IP block due to falling debris and small fires. Avatars outside of structures at the time of detonation suffer a temporary loss of eyesight persisting for up to two days. Most remain unaffected.
Long-Term Effects: Repair and Habitation of structures is safe in these areas.
In Summary
The immediate physical devastation and disease that this device would cause is certainly unthinkable, but such an event would have other, long-lasting effects, as well. Economic impacts would take place on a scale never witnessed before. Large refugee populations from affected areas would place a great strain on server resources. A sense of sadness would prevail over the whole land. Read the next chapter “WTF are We Going to Do Now?” to learn more.
##
Dang. Just typing that up was scary.
I do have to wonder a little bit at the specific anxiety subtext in terms of an assumed foe. I mean, I went to that wrongly hued Mars once, and it felt like a really hot and humid afternoon at Celebration, where all the people stay in the air conditioning. It didn’t look weird or broken at all. Not my thing, and, hopefully, no real threat to our way of life here on the mainland.
Well, I’m going to hop in my Dreamliner now and go to sleep and try to think about something nice. First thing tomorrow, I’m going to get up and call the OOEM and those stationary people (whoever they are) and have them take me off of their mailing list. This Cold War propaganda business is a real comb-over. Give me some propaganda that is a little bit more now.
Nite nite :)
Filed under: Maps, Sachie Bade, Second Life, Second Life Aviation, Virtual Land & Landscapes | Tags: Second Life, secondlife, mainland, Second Life Aviation, blake sea, virtual landscape, travelogue, grand manan, second life exploration, fishing village, japanese design, tordangle sim, pork buns, spirited away, chihiro
My flight out of Grand Manan last night took me to the most wonderful place. I flew over the Blake Sea and out to Spyglass Island where I took a short break (my hands were getting cold), then made my way up along the eastern edge of Nautilus until I reached Tordangle, a beautiful little Japanese fishing village and yacht club.
The flight lasts about 45 minutes, but it is well worth it, as there are lots of interesting islands and ports to see from the plane on the way there. Almost the entire route is over the sea, as well, so you don’t have to worry about the usual hazards to aircraft like full parcels and banlines. Here’s the map:
Flight Route from Grand Manan to Tordangle
Fortunately, I made a short film of my landing in Tordangle, which should give you a nice idea of the lay of the land (or water as the case may be). About half way through, you’ll see that I almost collided mid-water with another seaplane that was taking off at the same time I was landing. I don’t think either of us saw the other until it was almost too late, but we somehow managed to stay off of the eleven o’clock news.
After like five cigarettes and once my knees stopped shaking, I was able to deplane and have a look around. The village takes up the entire sim, so there is a lot to see and do. I started by exploring a weathered little house which was surrounded by a beach.
House on the beach
Inside, I found all sorts of fabulous little details, like this record player and vase with cut flowers.
An intimate scene
I was also excited to find that someone had laid dinner out on the table. It was a breakfast dinner actually with eggs sunny side up, tomato slices, milk, bread and fruit. I’d gotten hungry on the way here, so this was a nice surprise. There was even a candle burning which gave my meal a pleasant atmosphere, and the food tasted so good in the salty air coming in from the window.
A simple yummy meal
I’d spotted a sea wall with a row of buildings at the top as I was walking over to the house, so, after I finished eating, I decided to go and have a look. I made my way up a set of old stone steps, and the first thing I encountered was a stand that offered steaming hot pork buns for free. I couldn’t resist, though I felt a little bit like Chihiro’s parents in Spirited Away.
Here piggy
And while these buns didn’t magically transform me into a pig, they turned out to be remarkable in their own way. As I munched away, I noticed that the bun was slowly disappearing in my hands as I ate. How cool?
Magic buns (lol)
It turned out that the row of buildings was a mix of small shops and houses. There was an art supply store with a giant tube of oil paint leaning against the door, a shop that sold anime pets, and a furniture boutique. All of the prices were reasonable and there were freebies everywhere. There was also an alleyway behind the first row of shops that had some interesting things for free and for sale, as well as some adorable little nooks to sit and get away from it all. I picked up a cute low-prim tea set there for free that will look good on my dining room table.
Shops on the first row
The alley behind
I even played a game of kenpa while listening to the wind chimes.
After poking around some more, it was getting to be time to go, so I headed back to the dock where I’d tied up my plane and flew off. There was so much more to see and do here. The Tordangle sim is an incredible place. Everywhere you look there is some odd and subtle detail all tied together harmoniously in this strange little village. I know I’ll be coming back here soon to see them all.
Clovers
Filed under: Sachie Bade, Second Life, Second Life Aviation | Tags: grand manan, sachiebade, Second Life, Second Life Aviation, second life exploration, united sailing sims
It’s been a long week, so tonight I’m just going head out into the skies and see what I can find.
Filed under: Sachie Bade, Second Life | Tags: bureaucracy, disaster assistance, sachiebade, Second Life
Well, I finished filling out my application for a disaster assistance loan last night, and I was getting ready to send it off to the Office of Emergency Management when I noticed in the fine print that I had to actually deliver all of the documents in person, by hand. You’d think that in this age of communication wonders it would be easier than that, but apparently not.
Office of Emergency Management
Just so you know, I get very anxious around Ionic columns and monolithic edifices. I just want the bureaucratic experience to go away as quickly as possible, so you can imagine how I felt waiting for an hour until a loan officer would see me, and, of course, I didn’t have everything in order because the effing rain had smudged my social security number on the application and they couldn’t just write it in because it had to be typed and I just realized (or the loan officer realized for me) that my driver’s license is expired, which was an issue, and could you come back again when you have your s*** together, Miss Bade?
The world hates me
Now I know that you are supposed to just take a deep breath and go to your happy, special butterfly place in these situations, but I was so mad. I could hardly think when I went got to the grocery store to restock all of the crap that I’d eaten while I was trapped at home, watching TV and rereading the like fifty now soaking wet back issues of allure that I have laying around my house. Then, to top it off, the store had all manner of polliwog floater, basil seed whatever drinks, but they were completely out of my beloved Diet RC, so I had to settle for something called Pepsi Sweet Azuki Bean. It was turning out to be a rotten, wretched day.
Diet RC pls, just pls?
The saving grace, I suppose, is that the rain has finally stopped. I’m tired of hearing about it myself, and I’m so ready to move on to other things. You know like gardens and record stores and cats that don’t hate you, things that remind you not to regret your life. I’m hopeful. I’ll let you know how it goes.
Filed under: Sachie Bade, Second Life, Virtual Land & Landscapes | Tags: hepialus, heterocera, obscure sandbox, orions vale, rain, risoul, sachiebade, sansara, Second Life, virtual landscape
I don’t know if they have disaster assistance in Second Life, but it looks like I’m going to need it pretty bad.
Filling out the application
Oh, what else today? I’ve been talking about rain way too much, I realize. I didn’t have to work in rl because it is Veteran’s Day, so I hopped around the grid and looked at real-estate. The prices have really fallen since my first purchase in 2007. It’s not that I want to move from where I am. Once everything dries out, I should be fine. The land-hunting is just something I do when I’m bored.
I have moved probably four times since I’ve been in Second Life. First there was the large parcel that I had in Orion’s Vale that I wrote about a lot when I first started this blog. I was probably the most creative while I lived there. It truly was a studio in the way that none of the other parcels I’ve owned since have been. I loved that place, but it got kind of overrun, and what was a beautiful spot in a valley turned into a canyon surrounded by people who had built giant boxes right out to the property line that they lived on top of. A total shame. I still go back there sometimes to check in on it. Orion’s Vale is like a child to me, in a way; I need to know what’s going on there or I don’t feel quite right.
One iteration of my Orion's Vale parcel
Then I moved to a little flag lot off of the SLRR in Achemon beneath the Zen Gardens. It was a lovely place, but too small in the end. My favorite thing to do while I lived there was to walk down the tracks to Tooter Klaxton’s place, then on to the Hobo infohub in Calleta. Sometimes I’d take the ferry from there over to the Sansera continent, which was always fun. I was also near the Obscure Sandbox which was constantly in some state of being griefed. I have a note card diary entry from that time that talks about the sandbox:
I have a view from my house of obscure sandbox, which is an incredible thing. I hope that when Modest becomes less modest (the neighboring sim wasn’t visible for several days at the time of this writing), the view will remain. It is so fun to watch the creations blossom up and disappear. I can also spy on the builders by camming in. On Saturday, I watched this naked guy with a giant phallus harassing this cyber goth and kitty-eared Avatar. First she put a rainbow cage around him, but he figured out how to escape. Then I flew down and tossed him around with my Mysti Tool. After that, she caged him with this giant steaming turd which had particle flies swarming all around. So funny. He finally gave up and left after that. It’s great entertainment to sit on my perch with my binoculars and watch the violence ensue.
And here’s a picture I found of the house that I built. You can see the porch and the railroad tracks, and the gardens above. It really was lovely. Thinking about it now, I’m kind of sorry that I gave it up.
My house in Achemon
I did a brief stint in Hepialus after that, but I really didn’t like it there. I had these grand dreams of having my own boat dock and sailing around in the narrow channels of the Heterocera Atoll, but the place just had a bad feeling that I can’t really explain. It just seemed hot and muggy there and devoid of activity. Even looking at the photo of it kind of gives me the creeps. The good thing is that I made a huge profit when I sold, which allowed me to buy the parcel I’m on now in Risoul.
Water lot in Hepialus
I just checked, and it looks like I claimed my current home on October 10th, 2008. Wow, I didn’t realize that I’ve been living here for over a year now. Time flies in the metaverse. Anyway, just to complete the picture, here are two photos of where I live now. The first one is the original house I built, which I’ve since torn down. The second is of my current house, the one that is inundated at the moment.
First house in Risoul
Current house in Risoul
Well, that’s about all I can think of to say right now. I didn’t expect to take a trip down memory lane, but I guess that’s where the mind goes when you are up to your ears in floodwater, to drier ground.
Filed under: Sachie Bade, Second Life, Virtual Land & Landscapes | Tags: rain, Second Life
Working on a boat now… There are things I need to do around here! All the books I left out are soaked, and the pages are roller coasters. The plants are wilting. Carrots rotting in the ground. I want this to stop! Does anybody have a magic weather wand or know what’s happening? I’m overdosed on television and being inside. Eff this rain coming down.
Filed under: Sachie Bade, Second Life, Virtual Land & Landscapes | Tags: rain, risoul, sachiebade, sansara, Second Life, second life weather
It’s been like this for days now…
Filed under: Sachie Bade, Second Life, Second Life Aviation, Virtual Land & Landscapes | Tags: blake sea, new sims, sailor's cove, Second Life, Second Life Aviation, virtual landscape
Interesting. There is a new passageway that opened up in the Sailor’s Cove Sims between Sugar Reef and Honah Lee. The rain never stopped at home today, so I went out for a flight, and there it was.
Flying over the new passageway
It’s kind of nice sitting out here watching a new thing take shape.
Watching the world grow before my eyes
