Butterfly Hollow: A Better View

Bringing You the News that Really Matters

The recent release of the latest version of the GreenLife Emerald viewer has lead to some interesting discussions about the newest developments and some older features that some of us hadn't yet discovered.

But don't worry, this article isn't about the handy dandy built-in radar or the "Show Look At" doohickies. I'm here to talk to you about something far more innovative, something that will change our entire Second Life experience.

There can be no turning back once you've seen...

Jiggly Boobs!

That's right. Forget all that techie stuff about new Windlight presets. We can have bouncy, jiggly, bodacious tattas of happiness.. in Second Life!

If you're using the new viewer and you've not discovered this feature yet, go to Preferences - Emerald - Page 2 - Effects and start experimenting. Some users have reported that they've had to re-log for the changes to show.

Of course, once you've made your adjustments, you'll want to test the settings to find your optimum jiggilocity. First, you'll need to find some jiggly bewbage friendly clothing:

Please disregard my addled, slightly hungover expression. I was out late last night listening to my voice crush croon past my bedtime.

To see your shimmy shake in action, try one of these suggestions:

• Rez a box, sit on it, then move it briskly up and down
• Hijack the nearest stripper pole and pan your cam around
• I'm told lapdance animations work well too, but I wouldn't know from experience *cough*
• Participate in nookie related activites (In the privacy of your own home or on adult rated sims, please)
• Sneak over to your neighbor's property while they're away at work and jump on their trampoline
• Ask any random, passing stranger if they'd mind checking your bewbage for jiggilation. You may also ask for a tip afterwards

After a few hours of obsessing over your avatar's newly shimmy enabled breasts (and, if you're like me, feeling a little creeped out by your behavior,) keep in mind that October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and pay a little attention to those RL tattas.

Because regardless of their age, whether they bounce up and down, lay on your belly or perkily peek-a-boo through wet t-shirts...  they're all fabulous.

Feeling a Little Dirty?

When I'm feeling dark and a little shady, I like to strap on my ears and visit the grimy streets of the Neko sims, where it's always midnight and you can find endless places to explore in towering apartment buildings and underground tunnels.

Last night I picked Dirty City.

The build was amazing. While you'll find endless commentary on the natural creations in Second Life, with the flowers, trees and wildlife (and rightly so) sometimes my heart longs for the dirty streets of the inner city where I grew up and exploring well constructed sims dedicated to recreating that feeling helps settle those longings.. just a bit.

At Dirty City I walked along abandoned streets where stray dogs sat quietly watching. I found a Gypsy wagon selling food with laundry hanging from the roof and got lost in sewer pipes underground. One dark alley hid a body hanging in the dark... he was a Linden... just in case ya'll know of any of the SL elite who've gone missing.

Of course there were shops with Goth/Urban inspired designs, but sadly most of the shops I found were empty, something I'm seeing more and more of as I explore Second Life.

Is the Second Life economy suffering along with the rest of the world? Are shop owners pulling out? Or are sim owners simply devoting more of their land to shop rentals, in hopes of making a little more money?

With it's train idling at the station, bus stops and flaming trash barrels, Dirty City is a fun place to explore when you want to embrace the seedy underbelly of Second Life and get in touch with your inner wild child. You can even do a little dumpster diving while you're there.

Not that I did.

*cough*

Anyway...

That's our slice for this week. Don't forget to stop by the Second Slice Cafe. Pick up a group tag to access the jukebox and spend some time chilling out to your favorite oldies music.

I Loves Me Some Monkeys

Quite possibly the cutest avatar I've seen in Second Life. Ever.

Prejudice in Second Life

One of the great things about Second Life is, you never know who you might run into while wandering the streets late at night. When I spotted this fashionista, with her shiny latex body suit, I just had to strike up a conversation.

She was surprisingly friendly.. looks can be deceiving and was eager to tell me all about her dominatrix who apparently keeps an entire herd.. flock.. harem.. troop.. whatever the word is for a group of submissives.

When I complimented her on the lovely collar, we somehow got on the subject of the Neko lifestyle and she started asking me a lot of questions about the different types of roleplay in SL. She wasn't very new, but I got the impression that her experiences in the metaverse were limited to her current situation.

She seemed surprised that anyone bothered to engage her in conversation, which made me think about how residents are judged by their appearance here, maybe even more than in First Life. The reason seems to be that in SL we choose who we become, externally, while away from the computer, much of what makes up who we are is out of our control... like the language we learn to speak, the color of our skin, our sex, etc.

Here, it seems, prejudice against some groups is excused, because they've chosen to express their individuality in a way that differs from the masses.

I think maybe we shouldn't be so quick to judge. Second Life should be a safe haven to explore those little quirky kinks of personality, things you'd never do in real life.

On a side note.. I haven't seen headgear like that since the fourth grade when Donny Mathews got his uber orthodontic braces over Christmas vacation to fix his overbite.

Seriously.

I think he's still in therapy.

That's my two cents worth (or like 50$L) for now. We'll talk again soon. Ya'll have a good one and I'll see you around the grid.

Feeding the Beast No More

Over the weekend, Bear Dream Lodge Infohub was once again visited by an angry landowner, this time a shop keeper. As he stood in the center of the gathering, shouting insults and obscenities, I wondered what, exactly, he was trying to accomplish.

I assume that if you open a store, more traffic yields higher sales. Opening your store directly across the road from an infohub would definitely give you more traffic and one would assume, put more money in your pocket.

Why then, would you enter the infohub and call everyone, new and established accounts alike, everything from an *sshole to a wh*re? I can almost guarantee that no one in attendance was making plans to make any purchases from those establishments. Is this a wise business practice?

Within minutes, this shop owner (who sadly seemed to be suffering from some form of typing Turrets, God bless him) was joined by the other landowner, the one who frequents the infohub when she needs a boost to her self esteem.

It's like a day care center, with all the stomping around and demanding of attention.

They complain about all the ad farmers yet outside their businesses they display huge signage:

Notice the lovely flaming finger displayed multiple times. A nice touch I think.

I can understand the frustration of opening a business and not being able to operate it properly because it shares a region with an infohub. Perhaps it's time to learn what we can from these errors in judgement and move on.

Lag can be a huge problem when a sim is full, especially while trying to conduct business. Another resource hogging practice is the addition of camping chairs or dance pads. If you're new and looking for a way to make some spending money, please don't fall prey to this practice. It costs more for the electricity to run your computer while there than you are being paid. By having you parked on their property for ten minutes and paying you the equivalent of one U.S. nickel the owner increases the traffic rating for their land, falsely inflating it, improving the position of their listing in the "places" menu. Instead of idling on a dance pad for an hour, invest your time in a class at NCI, learning to build or script. At least you'll be interacting with other residents and putting another wrinkle in your brain. Second Life has enough zombies already.

Other practices being performed in the area around the infohub include individuals messaging new residents, spamming them with landmarks to other regions and implying that they are acting on behalf of Linden staff, to assist them in setting their "home" elsewhere. It's interesting to note that when this occurs, the profile of the individual redirecting the new residents, is usually less than a week old. Draw your own conclusions.

There have also been instances of individuals standing on the edge of the landing area, using particle emitters to block the vision of people entering the region, causing excessive lag conditions and leading to sim crashes. It is probable that because this practice began at the same time that neighboring business owners started making statements that they were going to have the infohub shut down, that the events are related.

I've reviewed Linden Labs "Terms of Service" and "Community Standards" as well as their definition of infohubs and the intended purpose of these areas. I can say with utmost certainty that nowhere within these documents is the use of profanity, insults, threats or the misrepresentation of intent condoned in any way. Having made that statement, I can also assume that, based on past experience, little or no "official" action will be taken against these practices in the Bear Dream Lodge Infohub situation.

My advice to residents? Don't feed the beast.

At the moment that it becomes evident that an individual who lacks basic social skills is going to become verbally abusive, mute them. It's easy to do, right click on either their avatar or their name, chose mute and magically, the grid becomes a happy place again. Arguing just feeds their infantile need for attention.. and that's really what this is all about.

Oh and to that Bear business owner who continues to insist that she's having the infohub shut down?

Shit or get off the pot.

Voice in Second Life

I don't usually rush right out and jump on the next big craze. I tend to wait a bit, see what happens, then ease into it after I see how it's going to work. This has been my approach to voice in Second Life.

So far, I've heard many discussions that consist mainly of "I can't hear you," "Do you hear me now?" "Why don't you have a mic?" "You're really a man!"

I don't think I'm missing all that much.

I do enjoy listening to conversations sometimes and I've been surprised by the extremely sexy voices of some of my male friends.. no I won't name any names.. they know who they are.

I'm sure I'll give in and buy a headset eventually, mainly so that I can more easily give hell to this guy: