Been At Parents The Last Week

Yep, I’ve had to scurry away again last week to keep an eye on my Mum and Dad – they’re not in the best of health. BUt I’m back now, so normal service should resume!

The Weakest Link in Second Life is… Second Life Itself

So this weekend I did try to get into SL, and it pretty much wouldn’t let me. Or when it did, I was unable to move. Once I did get some traction, although asking even a basic hug animation to play was beyond the system. Keep that in mind over the next paragraph or two.

Without a grid that lets me move around and run animations or poses, it makes it a touch difficult to do my twice weekly photo shoots – I’ll try again later tonight. It’s one of the reasons that the Open Source project to make your own Second Life Server got me a touch excited – of course it’s far from being ready, which is a shame because having a little private oasis for shoots and meetings would be perfect. I guess that it’s going to blow Linden Lab’s income stream out the water if and when it is available to anyone. Why would you pay $1600 setup fee and $300 a month to Linden’s server cluster when you can get your own generic server for $300 for a year?

The other little snippet I noticed was that Google’s Gmail opened its doors to anyone who wants an account. Now this caught me out for a moemnt, before I realised that up until this announcement, Gmail was still invite only – you needed to know someone already on Gmail and ask them to send you an invite before you could sign up (The same is happening with the TV streaming service from the people behnd Skype). So even the high volume of Google had to throttle the signups till very late in the game.

Perhaps Linden Lab might want to switch to an invite only model to slow the signups while the sort out the basics?

Age Play, Second Life, and the Jurisdiction of Pornography Laws

Quick question for you, in regards the image below,is it illegal? Do you think that it is enough to put me in jail? If so, for how long?

So the last week saw myself hang out with some friends and we all regressed back to our teenage years, and of course in Second Life it’s a simple matter of tweaking the avatar back to when I was younger. And for the benefit of anyone reading, my regular body is on th eleft, while how I looked when I was 18 is on the right (I used some of my pictures from University to guide my ). The problem is the UK has this (ahem) handy little law called The Protection of Children Act, amended by the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994. In short, it makes it an offence to produce distribute , show or promote pseudo-pictures (ie computer graphics that appear to be pictures).

By creating an avatar that appears under 18 in Second Life, you’re sailing close to the wind if you’re in the UK, simply because using the client, you are aking the picture. Maybe you run a hug or a kiss animation from Abranimations on another Avatar. Congratulations you’ve jsut broken the Child Pornogrpahy laws in the UK, and you

If I were a US citizen, simulated child pornography is allowed under the First Amendment.

So here’s the rub. It’s illegal in the UK, and my PC is in the UK, so I could be looking at jail time.. But it’s on an American server, by an American company, and the people that I’m cuddling will carry on with their lives. It may well be hypothetical (for the moment), but as Second Life (and virtual worlds in general) continue to grow, there are going to be some sticky legal cases…

[Gallery Update] Beachhouse Gazebo

High up on a cliff, in the warmer climes of the Second Life continet, there’s a lounge, with a roaring fire, that’s jsut perfect to relax around. Care to join me?

The full version of this set, with 28 pictures, is now available in the members section of my website. Why not take the free tour of the site before you join and get instant access to this and all the archived galleries for $15.

Second Life in the Slow Lane

That ’s full twenty four hours were Seconmd Life has been unusable for me. The lag in hitting a key in moving s really killing, especially when I need to try and get into place for the camera besude a table or a car bonnet. It’s also putting a real cramp on private conversation (stop sniggering) and any sort of human to human interaction.

But I’ve got Duran duran playing on my iPod, so at least I have Simon to keep me ticking over. “Her name is Rio…“

[Gallery Update] The Cheery Cheerleader

The result of course went to the Colts.. or to England (lets not think about that game, okay?) but that didn’t make a huge amount of difference to me. I was on the sidelines, with the wireless relaying the scores, a coke machine to keep me going, and a megaphone and pom-poms to get you going!

The full version of this set, with 30 pictures, is now available in the members section of my website. Why not take the free tour of the site before you join and get instant access to this and all the archived galleries for $15.

Three for Three: A New Trial Membership Option

This might be important to some of you waverers, I’ve aded a new pricing option to the memership section of the website. There’s no change in the regular monthly membership of $15 (5,000 Linden), but I’ve added a new ‘trial period’ option, which is $3 for 3 days of access (or 1000 Linden). If you want to take this up and see what there is to offer in my members section, then you can sign up instantly online with your credit card, or IM me in SL to set it up. More detailed info on membership is here.

As always, the long standing and reputable CC Bill handles all the card processing on the site, as well as all the password and security on the Members Section. I don’t see your card details at all, and any billing issues are dealt with by CC Bll (although do email me as well if you need to, cardiemahoney@gmail.com so I can try and sort it first.).

A Little Bit of Home Improvements

As well as some architectural changes to my Second Life store, you’ve probably seen the little tweaks to the blog today. I’ve reworded the top banner with some newer pictures of me to better reflect the variety of styles I have here on my site. I’ve also tweaked the top banner on the main page to reflect both my store and a link to join page for new members.

[Gallery Update] Take a Letter Please

With all your skills, you should be able to take down this with ease. Yourinterview in my Office is about to commence. I do hope you can impress me, I’d hate to think that all you’ll be good for is listed in your CV. Practical skills are a must with me.

The full version of this set, with 28 pictures, is now available in the members section of my website. Why not take the free tour of the site before you join and get instant access to this and all the archived galleries for $15.

The Thrill of New Skin Under My Fingers

Underneath my light fingers, another new user of Second Life. She’d heard about this place from her RL boyfried and he’d encouraged her to look around a bit and get into trouble. And she has the luck of the irish to bump into. Me? Trouble?’ I thought, as I buffed my halo. The newly remodelled basement, and the oak massage table called us both.

For someone not that long in second life, she’d taken some time to sort out her body, and as it stretched out in front of me it was such a starin to keep my mind on the job in hand. My hands on her,working through the stress, chatting about Second Life, what could happen in the world, and just getting over the fact that anything is possible. Oh, she’ls got to roll over now. I’ll just run a nail over her hip to guide her

Must… concentrate… I think she’s got one of the new skins I’ve been watching – the shadows on her and the light are just driving me wild. I climb up and straddle her, all the better to work on her shoulders (honestly!). She’s making all those little noises I want to make. It’s not fair, I want to swap places!

And then she’s gone. She took a calling card, but then everyone does. Very few people ever use them. I hope she’s the exception.