Blog Challenges

Buuuuuh! Challenge Accepted!

Image PeepSideshow Darkward14 Comments

Buuuuh_002P

Cute little black dress, isn’t it? Simple style, form-fitting lines, everything you could ask for in a LBD. But there’s a kicker!

Pippi Moonites, the creator of this dress, gave it a little something extra for Halloween. She sent it out with a note card to bloggers, along with a challenge. Here’s what she had to say about it:

BUUUH!!
this dress has a trick (it is not a coincidence that i produce it for halloween). on the back appears a pumpkin that makes buuuuuuh! then disappears. After 10 seconds the pumpkin returns to frighten those who want to get their hands on your ass … ehmm… on your pumpkin.

if you click the dress while the images are moving, the animation stops and becomes a normal dress. if you click it again, the animation starts again.
Click it is not easy because it is a mesh dress. advice before deciding if you want it for halloween or for a normal day; rezz it, click it, and then wear it

The idea was mine. It went in the time usual for an idea: less than a seconds… more to make the textures (9 images).
The script is of my lovely husband, duilio mastroianni. He needed a day to understand my desire and to script (he also has not lots of time for SL)
Now the challenge is to you: are you able to explain with static images what this dress do???

Well, Pippi, challenge accepted!

Buuuu-gif

And no, I couldn’t do it with a static picture. So I made my very first gif! lol that’s a story in itself, but since I want to keep my blog rating at PG, I won’t discuss the language I used when trying to make it.

This dress is free 1L…yes that’s right, FREE ONE Linden! at the Cosmopolitan Sales Room until at least October 27th (it may be extended to the 31st). So hurry over to pick it up before it poofs!

Pretty stuff I’m wearing:

*Dress: Ro’ e Buni’ – BUUUH!!! by pippi Moonites (FREE 1L at Cosmopolitan Sales Room)
Boots: BAX Regency Boots Black Leather by Bax Coen
Tattoo: Letis Tattoo :: Pink Rose :: Back :: 50% :: B12019 by Leti Hax
Hair: /Wasabi Pills/ Lory Mesh Hair – Cinnamon by MissAllSunday Lemon (gacha prize)
Skin: [PXL] Creations – [PXL] JADE SK Bare Lips MEB C2 by Hart Larsson
Makeup: [PXL] Creations – [PXL]JADE SK Smokey Eyes (tattoo) by Hart Larsson
Hands: Slink Mesh Hands (av) Casual by Siddean Munro
Hand appliers:[PXL] Creations – [ PXL ] Slink Hands Appliers SK by Hart Larsson
Eyes: Amacci Gaze Eyes – Ocean Blue by Carina Larsen
Lashes: Mon Cheri *MC* “Falsies” Eyelash by Freya Oliveri

Pose: BENT. Be.Hind 10 by Catherine Fairport (unable to locate in world or on Marketplace)

*Review copy

Questions About Linden Lab’s TOS: Should I Stay Or Should I Go?

Image PeepSideshow Darkward3 Comments

1 Blah Slacey_011

This week, Strawberry Singh hasn’t really created a meme (in her words). Instead, she wants our views on the recent change to the Linden Labs TOS for Second Life users. This is one of the biggest controversies I have been aware of during my five year tenure in SL. And while I am not a creator, the change to the TOS has opened my eyes.

Instead of a list of instructions, Berry has just asked that we answer her questions, either in a blog post or in the comments of her post. She has linked to quite a few resources about the changes, so if you are unaware of what has changed, hop over to her blog and hit the links.

I admit that, while I am not a creator in Second Life, these updates have given me pause to think. Enough to consider leaving Second Life? No. But I am concerned how this could impact builders and designers in SL, particularly those who earn their livelihood from SL. I would be saddened to wake up to a Second Life that no longer included such designers as Onyx LeShelle, Cory Edo, Gospel Voom, Truth Hawks, Siddean Munro or Hart Larsson (to name just a few). Losing even a few of those creators could heavily impact the bottom line of the SL economy. I shudder to imagine it.

I had a conversation with my brother the other day about the TOS. It happened because he is a builder and while checking out his latest house, I casually mentioned that Linden Labs actually owns it. He had no idea what I was talking about. I explained briefly about the change to the TOS and his response was, “You actually read the TOS before accepting?”

That is a good lead-in to the questions Berry has posed.

1. Do you usually read the TOS thoroughly before you hit accept? No, I don’t. And I find it a bit underhanded that they don’t include a synopsis of the changes, as most reputable online companies do (Ebay, Paypal, hell, even Facebook offers this when they make changes.) I am a bit cynical so it makes me wonder if LL chooses to skip this, knowing that most people don’t read the full TOS – particularly when one has to determine the changes for themselves without even an indication of which sections have been affected. Unless you have an extensive knowledge of the previous version, you could read the entire document and not even know what is now different. It’s easier just to tick the box to accept the changes so you can log in and go about your SLife – regardless of the consequences.

2. How do you feel about the new LL TOS changes, specially from August 15th and section 2.3. Aside from feeling LL has tried to sneak these changes past their users by not giving an outline of the changes, my feeling is that they are setting themselves up to take the work of their user base as assets for other games they have (or may) develop. Despite their cries of, “Oh, that’s not what we meant!”, I have to believe that their legal department knew full well what they were doing when they drafted these changes. According to one blog I read on the subject, attorneys have said that it would take very little to change the wording to allay the fears of SL residents – especially its creators.

If they didn’t mean it…then change it. I’m sure those lawyers are on retainer, if not actually on staff.

3.Do the changes affect you directly? No, these changes only affect me indirectly as a consumer in SL. That said, I no longer upload my photos into SL unless it is for a client shoot or my own profile picture. I used to regularly update the photos in our home, but no longer. I don’t believe LL would have any use for my photos, but I’m not giving them the opportunity to take my images just because they reside on their servers.

4. What do you think people should do about this new change? I support the creators who are speaking out against this change. I have heard more than one activist suggest that the only way to force a change is to mount a test case in court. However, it has been suggested that simply bringing a case against LL for what they might do would stand very little chance of winning. Others have mentioned a class-action suit against LL, but again, I wonder how effective that would be if none of the intellectual property has been used by LL in any way. And I believe everyone should now read any changes to the TOS, or at least find a synopsis of the changes put together by people who have read them. This time the change is geared at creators, but who knows what future changes will target?

I should have stuck with the short answer. I haven’t a clue.

5. Are you or have you ever thought about leaving Second Life? What would you do with your time/blogs/career if you ever did? Because of this change? No. I enjoy my time in SL. It gives me a creative outlet both through my photography and DJing. I’m sure a day will come when I no longer feel the desire to log in. What I do with my time will be something I determine when I cross that bridge. However, unless I moved on to another virtual world where I could continue my photography, I cannot see any reason to continue blogging.

Speaking of creators, the outfit I am wearing is from two designers taking part in this Tuesday’s SLebrity SLection Street Sale at the Cosmopolitan Sales Room. This is a one-day 50L vs 50% off sale, so if you’ve accepted the TOS and can log in, hop over to pick up some bargains!

Pretty stuff I’m wearing:

*Tank & Bolero: Part of SLACY’S SIMPLY PLAID & LEATHER BLACK Outfit (skirt not worn) by Sabrina Hoyer (Available at SLebrity SLection Street Sale on Tuesday, October 22)
*Skirt: blah.BLAH.blah*MESH*Kimmie Skirt-12 Colors Via Hud by Lyric Derryth (Available at SLebrity SLection Street Sale on Tuesday, October 22)
Earrings: Amacci Earrings – Stripes II – Bronze by Carina Larsen
Hair: Analog Dog .b – pornado sangria by Queue Marlowe
Skin: [PXL] Creations – [PXL] JADE SK Bare Lips MEB C2 by Hart Larsson
Makeup: [PXL] Creations – [PXL]JADE SK Smokey Eyes (tattoo) by Hart Larsson
Hands: Slink Mesh Hands (av) Casual by Siddean Munro
Hand appliers:[PXL] Creations – [ PXL ] Slink Hands Appliers SK by Hart Larsson
Eyes: Amacci Gaze Eyes – Ocean Blue by Carina Larsen
Lashes: Mon Cheri *MC* “Falsies” Eyelash by Freya Oliveri

Pose: aDORKable Poses: Attitude by Adorkable Peapod (available on Marketplace only)

*Review copies

Google Meme: Goofling Peep

Image PeepSideshow Darkward7 Comments

1 Finesmith LG_004

Well, I must say, this week’s meme was a bit of an eye-opener. Miss Berry has asked us to Goofle ourselves (this is the term my sweetheart and I use for Googling, due to a hilarious typo 😀 ). Here’s what we’re supposed to do:

Meme instructions: Google your SL name and answer the following questions. Don’t forget to leave a comment with a link to your post here so we can all drop by, read and be nosy. Optional: click over to Emily’s blog and do her Google challenge as well. Don’t forget to leave a comment in her post if you end up doing it, so she can come stalk you guys too!

Before you start to answer these questions, open up a fresh browser and clear cache if you can. Make sure you are not logged into your Google account and it might even be better if you open up a incognito window.

This challenge is actually in two parts: the first is about our SL name and the second is comparing our SL and RL names. I’m going to include both, but to be honest, I am sorry I did the second part. But since I did, I’ll explain why when I get to that section.

BERRY’S CHALLENGE

1. Google your Second Life name in “quotations” and share your results. When I Google “Peep Sideshow” I get about 4,000 hits. Interestingly, I use PeepSideshow Darkward as my Google Authorship name (which I linked a couple of months ago) and I come up with about 1,580 hits. But since Peep Sideshow is my SL name, I’m going to use that to complete this challenge.

2. What is the first link that comes up? Oddly enough, it’s my about.me page. I say “oddly enough” because this is a page I set up when I created my blog at WordPress. I had never heard of about.me before then, and I think I’ve visited the site two or three times since I created my account. LOL looking at the photo, I think I need to log in and update my profile – it’s one that I did months ago, and I’m pretty sure I’ve improved my skills since then. *runs to update now (if I can remember my password) in case anyone clicks the link* 😉

3. Which link were you surprised to see? There wasn’t one particular link that surprised me; rather, there were two types of links that opened my eyes.

First, there are a LOT of sites out there that pull images from Flickr. They use the Flickr API, but “are not endorsed or certified” by Flickr. These sites make me a little nervous – one I found only displays the © symbol in place of the photos, but most actually show the images, regardless of the copyright status. I had no idea these sites existed, although I’m not quite sure what to do about it or whether or not I should be concerned.

Second, I comment on a lot of blog posts. And I mean, a LOT. I knew I was chatty, but I had no idea how many different blogs I have left a comment on! I think I should be a little embarrassed and a little less verbose o.O

4. Click on the “Image” tab and tell us where the first 5 pictures listed are from. The first image is my about.me avatar (the original, now sneakily changed). The second is the photo from the completion of the first week of the irez.me Avatar Blogger Month Challenge, of which I am quite proud. I still display my gold star on my blog page for successfully completing the challenge 🙂 The next eight are entries I have made for Single Frame Stories. I really need to get back to posting for SFS! I love that challenge, but I haven’t felt I had anything creative enough to include lately. There are also a lot of photos I have “liked” or connected to blog posts I have commented on. One particular blogger kind of stands out; Berry, I swear, I’m a follower – NOT a stalker!

5. Click on the “more” tab and then click “news” and share your results. Newp. I’m not newsworthy!

Now for the second part of this challenge. Sighs.

I have a rather unusual first name – particularly the spelling, with a rather common last name, so I was surprised to find about 1,350 hits under my name. Only a very few are related to me, but the first thing I noticed was in the images that popped up. I recognised a photo of my sister, so I switched over to the Image page. It was a shock, but I guess it shouldn’t have been a surprise to find that my name is linked to both my sister’s and my mother’s obituary photos. Needless to say, it was a rather somber moment. But both of these remarkable women loved life and loved to laugh, so I’m going to try to just smile and remember those two amazing women as the inspiration they both were.

EMILY’S CHALLENGE

1. How did the two digital footprints compare, and did that surprise you? Unsurprisingly, my SL name is much more prominent than my real name. I have worked equally hard to maintain my real life anonymity and promote my SL name online (at least in the past 10 months since I started my in world photography business and blog).

2. Does anyone interesting share your name? While there are a couple of doctors who share my name, the most surprising find was that another woman with my name lives in the same small town my cousin does.

3. Are you happy with the size of your digital footprint, or do you wish either one was larger/smaller? Yes, I am. I would have liked to see more of my individual blog posts listed, but I am hoping that will come in time.

4. If you woke up/ logged in one morning to discover over night you had suddenly gained rock-star status, and everybody knew who you were and wanted to know what you were doing… what would you do? I would completely freak out. ‘Nuff said.

The lovely dress and jewelry set I am wearing are both to be found at the new round at Cosmopolitan Sales Room. Don’t forget the CSR 1st Anniversary hunt is going on and Tuesday is the SLebrity SLection Street Sale, which includes items that are either 50L or 50% off. It’s only one day, so make sure you pop over to check it out!

Pretty stuff I’m wearing:

*Dress: [LG] K Collection Pusher Love Girl 2Dress by Kim Lysette (available at Cosmopolitan Sales Room)
*Jewelry: FINESMITH- LAETITIA MV JEWELRY- FULL SET GOLD14K by yula Finesmith (available at Cosmopolitan Sales Room)
Hair: Maitreya Siri – Red by Onyx LeShelle
Skin: [PXL] Creations – [PXL] JADE SK WineLight Lips MEB C2 by Hart Larsson
Makeup: [PXL] Creations – [PXL]JADE SK Smokey Eyes (tattoo) by Hart Larsson
Hands: Slink Mesh Hands (av) Casual by Siddean Munro
Hand appliers:[PXL] Creations – [ PXL ] Slink Hands Appliers SK by Hart Larsson
Eyes: Amacci Gaze Eyes – Ocean Blue by Carina Larsen

Pose: aDORKable Poses: Sunny 4 by Adorkable Peapod (NLA)

*Review copies