"There's a new Mother Nature takin' over..."

The news came out yesterday--there's a new Earth Mother statue at her temple. I had to go see, and that gave me, if not a new experience, an experience I hadn't had in quite a while. I was headed for a temple and not rushing to try not to be late for a temple ceremony. (Very embarrassing, but I must admit to it to be honest. I forget about the passage of time, or underestimate how long it will take to get ready or get to the temple. My next goal is to tour the temples and collect landmarks so I am not late again. The temple ceremonies are very moving and beautiful; the empire's priestesses are amazing women who do a wonderful job.)

That combination meant that I was both looking for a place and not so desperate to get there that I didn't notice things along the way, and that led to my seeing a lovely unbuilt-up area in the city of Knossos. There I saw sheep peacefully grazing...

...and the path that took me there led on past high rocks and trees...

...ultimately to a dwelling. I didn't go there, lest I disturb anyone, but the path itself is a pleasure to travel, just to see the surroundings. It didn't lead to the Earth Mother temple, though, so I headed on my way and found it--and what a treasure I found at the end of my search!

Here I wish to my voice to the chorus in appreciation and gratitude to Beautiful Shamen for a magnificent statue.  Thank you, and thanks to Aeneas Anthony, architect of the city, for announcing this excellent work.

UPDATE: So you can compare, here's a photo I took of the temple back when I first visited the Minoan Empire sim:

UPDATE: It is a puzzlement. I went to the shrine to Europa, clicked "Create Landmark Here", could edit it to be labeled "Shrine to Europa"... no problem. Went to the various temples, clicked "Create Landmark Here", and could not edit it to save my life. Have I unintentionally offended the gods?

Only Myself to Blame

If you want to upgrade to the current version of Ubuntu and want to do it quickly, don't do it on the day it comes out. I did... and it took somewhere in the neighborhood of six hours, most of that downloading.

I'm up now, though. I will give Unity what I think is a fair try to see how I like it.

UPDATE: Unity's not bad. I think I could get to like it.

Like Income Tax?

New World Notes has a recent post that points out some interesting data. Tyche Shepard estimates that 80% of Linden Lab's revenue comes from 5,500 SL residents, and 73% comes from just 500 people.

It's rather reminiscent of the distribution of money the US government takes from us via income tax; a few at the top end pay the majority of that money.

And in a way, it is a tax; in the virtual world, it is essentially property tax, the money that landowners pay for the privilege of keeping the virtual land they buy. (Can anyone really be said to own property if they have to continually pay the government to keep it from being seized? I digress...)

On the other hand, it's not like a tax in one important way: unlike the government, you have the choice to not deal with Linden Lab. How many, and what kind of, missteps would it take to drive away the 500?

Bodice Ancient Clothing returns to the grid

Reine kindly let me know that Bodice Ancient Clothing has returned to the grid on The Cyclades sim. They have an assortment of Minoan-style dresses at prices varying from very reasonable to "how can they afford to sell it for this?".

I hope to have photos up soon, but along with all the other things that have been happening lately, either my router, DSL modem, or ISP is flaking out on me, which is making it harder to stay in SL and take pictures. Roseanne Roseannadanna was right.

I apologize in advance--even when I have photos, it's going to be a bear to make the short skirt versions usable for me, because I go to extremes about leg length, which makes glitch pants stick out beneath the hem of skirts (long skirts, too, but it's less noticeable).

UPDATE: I've managed to get photos with one outfit from Bodice at least. It's NSFW, so it's after the break.

Couple designs their dream house with Google Sketchup--are they part of the "3D elite"?

From The Tennessean:

Using Google Sketchup, a 3D modeling program usually used by architects, engineers and other design professionals, not homeowners, [Philippe and Thao Jeanty] drew the plans for their home and all of its high-tech, low-environmental-impact features on a computer screen.

 So, were these folks part of that "elite" that knows how to use 3D design software? Um, no, not as far as I can tell. Philippe is a physician; the article doesn't mention what his wife's occupation is. They ran into problems, but got quick answers when they asked questions on support message boards.

When mesh comes to the main grid, a lot of people who've spent time on the beta grid will already know how to use it. Others will learn, just as they have for sculpted prims. There is no elite.

UPDATE: The link to The Tennessean is broken; check out USA Today instead.

Apologies

I've not been on for a while... finally made it back to the Minoan Empire for a short time today. RL has been rather demanding lately.

I hope I'll be able to visit more regularly before long.

Must-read Crap

How to stop concurrency fall off and grow Second Life again from WHAT IS THIS CRAP? Be sure to read the comments, too.

Drunken Drow Wench contest

The Drunken Drow is running contests; one is to determine the Drunken Drow Wench. One votes with one's L$ for a candidate, and the one who garners the most donations (which all go to Relay for Life) wins.

My dear friend Susyn Stenvaag is with Team Dream to Live. She's a wonderful lady, in SL from back in the time when women often made their own prim breasts, which she did, and still does too.

I hope you'll consider voting for her. The candidates' photos are all up in a tent near Elvenshire 163, 23, 24; Susyn's photo is almost directly opposite the tent entrance. (While you're there, be sure to explore; Elvenshire is a very interesting place.

Natty Narwhal: T minus three weeks and counting

"I see you shiver with antici...... pation." --Frank N. Furter,. RHPS

Yay! Only three weeks until Ubuntu 11.04, "Natty Narwhal", is released. The beta is out now, though you should not install it on a computer you depend on. As with previous releases, we have a countdown graphic on the blog.

Civiltà Cattolica on hacking

I didn't expect this, any more than I'd have expected the Spanish Inquisition in the Monty Python sketch... but Father Antonio Spadaro has written an article on hacking (in the original sense, thank you very much, and Fr. Spadaro quotes ESR on the distinction!) for Civiltà Cattolica. I don't know of a link to the article proper, but Techworld has a post about it.

I know what I'll do for vacation--I'll work!

Working at a Renaissance fair, so I will miss the chariot races, alas. The charioteers of the Minoan Empire are a noble (and fun-loving) bunch; best of luck to you all.