Changeling Turkey -- The Life and Times of a Minor Local Celebrity

The Dangerous Islands by Séamas Cain

noreply@blogger.com (grizzlysgrowls@gmail.com) — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 09:38:00 +0000

It turns out an old friend of mine published a book a while back, which I look forward to reading when I can acquire a copy.

   The Dangerous Islands by Séamas Cain is an unusual coming-of-age tale. The novel describes the experiences and emotions of a young man living through the era of Civil War in Northern Ireland from 1965 to 1998. The hero of this novel, an Irish-American like Cain, undergoes a journey of the mind as well as a journey of the body, in a process of self-realization in another country. Indeed, Cain based many of the protagonist's activities on his own thoughts, dreams, and experiences in Northern Ireland in that era.
     Says Cain, “In my youth, in Northern Ireland, I was active in the Civil Rights Movement, People's Democracy, and later the Peace Movement. My experiences from those times were filtered into the composition of The Dangerous Islands. Indeed, much of the novel was written in Belfast or Limavady and Dungiven — though I am a Minnesota Irishman.”
     The Dangerous Islands is a moral history of the Irish and Irish-American activists of the generation of the 'Sixties. Or, more accurately, it is a history of their emotions and their enthusiasms. Thus it is a non-classic coming-of-age tale. It is a story of self-education and self-development, with convictions and disillusionment. But it resists all pigeonholing, for it is also a novel of ideas ranging across literature, philosophy and politics.

Seamas was the director of Blackthorne Repertory Theatre back in the '70s when I was a young actor and playwright of sorts. He's a talented and imaginative poet and playwright (no "of sorts" about it), and I'm sure this will be a worthwhile read. Hopefully I can get the Duluth Public Library to grab me a copy; it's a bit out of my financial means at the moment.

Let me know if you read it, maybe I can borrow your copy when you're done.

Griz

Hey, we're on the SL Destination Guide now!

noreply@blogger.com (grizzlysgrowls@gmail.com) — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 03:34:00 +0000

What you thought you saw

noreply@blogger.com (grizzlysgrowls@gmail.com) — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 02:52:00 +0000

Just heard about this on Science Friday podcast, and went to see it on their website. You know, you may not be seeing what you think you're seeing...

Family Values

noreply@blogger.com (grizzlysgrowls@gmail.com) — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 03:36:00 +0000

I have watched with interest the primitive and rather perverse convulsions pushing for a Minnesota constitutional amendment to define marriage as between "one man and one woman."

They don't actually say which one man and one woman, but I suppose they have some idea. Hopefully they don't mean a man and woman who, like so many, will later decide to be divorced from their partner "till death to us part," or find some other one man or one woman to have occasional casual sex with. Anyway...

I note that those on the Moral High Ground -- over there, across where I'm standing -- say it's all about Family Values. I am in favor of family values, having grown up in a rather large Family I deeply and profoundly value. If any of those folks want to say I don't value families, they can explain why, the second or third time they pick their bruised and battered butts up off the ground after attempting to say so.

So, Family Values. Great stuff.

Alright, I'll buy that. It's all about Family Values.

I do value Families. I am also struck by the idea that it is entirely possible that a gay guy (I am profoundly straight) might also value families. For that matter, a couple of gay guys might also. Lesbians, or couples of lesbians, might also value families. For that matter, it becomes rather obvious they do value families -- they want to create a family, with someone who they love and care for deeply. They know that much of society, especially those steeped in Christian Love and Muslim Peace and other violent and intolerant emotions will abuse them viciously, possibly injure or kill them, and they still want to create a family. A greater love, and so on.

In fact, after centuries of abuse for not being willing to enter a committed relationship (expected to be Between One Man And One Woman) they are willing, before God and Everyone, to form a committed relationship... and some folks want them forbidden to do so.

These are folks who value families deeply and profoundly. They are willing to face whatever obstacles, pay any price, bear any burden, support any friend, oppose any foe, to ensure the survival and success of their family -- because they love and are loved, and nothing is more important to them. That is, the definition of every worthwhile family in the history of humanity.

And I should be against this... because of Family Values.

And don't even start with me about polyamorous families. Not only do they love each other, not only are they willing to pay, bear, support, oppose, and so on, they have a fundamental advantage over anyone you care to name as to Family Values. They can, collectively, actually afford to support their children. They have X number people working together to produce enough income to support their families. Back in the '50s and '60s, my folks managed to support us 5 kids. Back in those days, two working adults could support five kids. Now, I really doubt it.

"It Takes A Village To Raise A Child." Yeah, what she said.

So, what are we really talking about here? Legalizing committed relationships? They already have committed relationships, and no government had to give them permission to have them. What these constitutionalists are trying to preserve is the special treatment given to those allegedly committed relationships that involve One Man And One Woman. They want to preserve the few remaining tax benefits to those liable to sexually reproduce by accident. And they want to preserve the Cash Cow of religious corporations over the past millenia, the idea that they can sell the permission of god to have sex over the long term with one's chosen partner.

But I digress, and tend to growl and foam at the mouth. Bottom lines:

Committed relationships are committed relationships, and families are families. They should respected and acknowledged, whatever the details of their internal relationships. (And what's all this obsession with the sex? Shouldn't that be private?)

No special privileges should be accorded any particular flavor or flavors of committed relationship or family, as long as that is what they are at their hearts.

Trying to require government endorsement of any particular flavor of committed relationship or family is shameful. Before you go grab the strawman, there are some sorts of "family" that are exceptionally abhorrent, and should be treated exceptionally -- because they are exceptional. But those exceptions already are unlawful.

I value families. If people who love each other and are committed to each other want to form a family, I hope they will. And I hope my Constitutions, federal or state, won't be perverted to attack these families. Probably will though. It's the Government, and they'll likely screw it up. Maybe not. You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one....

Time travellers

noreply@blogger.com (grizzlysgrowls@gmail.com) — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 12:41:00 +0000

Authors say ideas for stories are easy, and I suppose they are. They're authors, I suppose they'd know.

Had an idea about a direction for a story I will never write, and probably doesn't need to be written. It's really just a view of other stories from just off to the side a bit. Whenever they do a story about very long space voyages, they point out the long delays of communications after a certain point. The space traveler may only be heard months or years later, and might likewise not hear comments for months or years.

My first thought was that, if the traveler recorded interviews on leaving earth, and traveled fast enough for time dilation, sending those recordings back on the stream could be of historical interest. Then it struck me, an ever more delayed outgoing message, with ever more delayed reactions and comments -- reminds me a lot of my experience of podcasting.

And I wondered... if you did that sort of story, with a focus on the traveler being a podcaster, would there be interesting implications there? There's that historical-interviews thing from early in the trip, sent out later. As the distances and times became greater, the audience would be listening to a perspective years or decades different than their own. Their comments would be "futuristic," I suppose, to the podcaster. But when they were heard by the audience, they might be from their own youth, commenting on how they felt about the shows back then. And they would be hearing perspectives, not only from the past, but from a fairly young person from the past.

And I am puzzling over whether I feel that this is related to the current state of podcasting. Certainly many of us either started older than the 18-30 target demographic, and if we weren't many of us are now. With few exceptions, comments to podcasts are scarce, and voice comments even more rare. So when we receive a comment, it can certainly seem to come out of the blue, and often refers to something we said a long while ago.

Can't claim to be that "young person from the past," really. But inside my own skull I'm still pretty much that 18-year old geek in high school just discovering computers by typing on a Decwriter sending across phonelines to a college's timeshared computer, or posting to CompuServe, or to the BBS networks. I miss all that, and feel somewhat lost without all that stuff I actually understood.

So that may be a time-and-space-travel story that doesn't need to be written. Or it might be we're writing that story every day. Or both.

Thoughts?

Something of an honor

noreply@blogger.com (grizzlysgrowls@gmail.com) — Sat, 28 May 2011 03:06:00 +0000

Back when Christchurch in New Zealand had their big earthquake, I was quite moved to see the video and think about how frightened and unsafe everyone felt, and left a comment on their website. Later I got a nice email that they wanted to use my comment in the Actual Paper. Very cool, I thought.

Being the arrogant, self-absorbed fella I am, I went looking for my comment on their website. Turns out they've gotten hundreds of comments of support, including 343 of them from the US. I scanned through all of them.

Mine is 342 of 343.

I also mentioned one of my (many) favorite authors P.J. Ballantine. But yes, in the end, it's all about me. ;-)

Seriously, it's good to see they're rebuilding and doing better. And I hear they're getting tourists again. Sure wish I could be one of them.

Oh, wait, all about me again...

Ich Bin Ein Cantabrian.

Better?

Second Life Partner: I accept!

noreply@blogger.com (grizzlysgrowls@gmail.com) — Fri, 27 May 2011 08:44:00 +0000

Hi Grizzly Silversmith,
Congratulations! Your proposal has been accepted by Samantha Silversmith!
Personal Message :
I love you very much and I always will, I would love to marry you.

"You got married?!?!?" I got that a lot lately. It was just the other day that Samantha were wed in Second Life (SL). It isn't a legally-binding marriage out in Real Life (RL), nor is it particularly binding in SL, only by choice. There's no Community Property in SL, and in fact it's rather difficult for more than one person to share ownership of anything. And you can't really have kids -- kinda, but not really.

But it's important stuff, at least to us.

Samantha has this rather remarkable habit. She tells me frequently she loves me. I like this. I think this is a Good Thing that I haven't gotten so very much. And I want more of this. I tell her I love her, too, as often as I can manage, though I'm not that sort of demonstrative fellow. And I try not to let her down too often.

I am on the Autistic spectrum, and some things (like actually talking to people) are quite difficult and quite exhausting for me. My day job is spent talking to people all day, and this wears me out. So I often get home and basically crash, even when I am supposed to go on Second Life and do something. I feel bad about that. And I do my best. But she has been remarkably tolerant of me.

I consider myself often, having known myself for 52 years now, and I am dumbfounded as to what she sees in me. I am humbled by that. As a DJ in Second Life, I'm in a moderately unique position. In SL, most of what you "hear" from most folks is just text -- clever or not clever, needing to stand on it's own. I have the sort of voice where people say, "You oughta be on the radio!" And as a DJ people actually hear my voice, and I suspect that gives me a more personal impact on folks in Second Life. And yes, I am basically saying "chicks dig DJs." ;-)
It is obvious in SL if not in RL that what one knows about someone is not necessarily something one Knows. But we've talked on Skype, so yes, she's definitely female, and I've seen her picture, so yes, she's definitely attractive. She's also X years younger than me, which at my age, is rather attractive in itself. And she's seen my picture -- and still loves me. Baffling.

"You got married?!?!?" Yeah. Yeah, it appears I did. Thank you, dear. (smooch)

Griz

Just something I read somewhere.

noreply@blogger.com (grizzlysgrowls@gmail.com) — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 21:17:00 +0000

I would comment on this blogpost I found, but Keka the author actually said it about right. I was unemployed for two years, and now I'm back working, and I think her post explains rather neatly how I've been feeling, even being seven years younger.

Keka's blog, The Animal in Me

Let the kids deal with it later

noreply@blogger.com (grizzlysgrowls@gmail.com) — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 02:22:00 +0000

Okay, so, Japan's nuclear reactor situation is perfectly fine. I believe personally, after one of the 10 worst earthquakes in recorded history, and a tsunami that has killed tens of thousands of people, the safety systems have worked exactly the way one would hope they would act, and the reactors are actually quite safe. For now.

Of course, even without the earthquake and the tsunami, the reactors are still producing waste that will be toxic for thousands of years. And it's in containers designed to hold it for maybe 100 years, at best. And that's true of every reactor I know of on the entire earth, even the best of them.

So, yeah, we're perfectly safe from Japan's reactors at the moment, and all the other reactors, at the moment. But our children or grandchildren or -their- children or grandchildren will be faced with dealing with all these 100-year concrete barrels we built to hold our indestructable highly-toxic nuclear waste.

And we have a Governor in Wisconsin who's willing to set back Democracy by a couple centuries because of some (arguably) bad negotiating by his predecessors a couple decades back.

So...

If we're destroying the economy and safety of our children, grandchildren, greats and great-greats, do we still get to call it all "safe?"

Twitter, Revolutions, and Theory of Mind

noreply@blogger.com (grizzlysgrowls@gmail.com) — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 18:49:00 +0000

I have Asperger Syndrome. I am self-diagnosed; the diagnosis didn't exist when I was a kid in the '60s, and I've seen no reason to seek a formal diagnosis. But I am reasonably confident of it.

One feature/symptom of Asperger is called "Theory of Mind." I don't like the term. It doesn't strike me as communicating what it refers to, but that's what they call it. In my case, I find that when someone says some thing on the Internet or about anywhere else, especially in a public context, I automatically believe (1) it is true and (2) it is what Everyone believes.

I am not unintelligent, and intellectually I know this is not true. Once I take the time and make the effort to think it through, I probably understand that just because one person says something doesn't mean Everyone believes it. But I tend to initially accept that. We tend to have trouble differentiating between what You believe and know and what That Other Person Over There believes and knows. It's particularly a problem in cases of bullying. When I was a kid and was bullied by one guy, I'd assume that everyone felt the same way about me. It isn't healthy and it isn't practical, but it happens that way.

So. I was just listening to a podcast review of Evgeny Morozov's book, "The Net Delusion," while reading a couple of blog reviews of the same book. And I noted in one the comment that the recent Iranian protests, claimed by some to be a democratic uprising driven by Twitter, actually were not and could not be driven by Twitter -- there are only some 20,000 users of Twitter in Iran. Seems valid.

But there's another side to that. Many of us in the US and the Western World only heard about the protests via Twitter, with a few TV news reports -- many of those heavily quoting Tweets in real time. We heard of violence, we heard of the firm resolve of the protesters, and so on, and so on....

From no more than 20,000 people out of the millions of people in Iran, or even the thousands in the protests. In fact, we mostly heard from a couple of dozen folks, and maybe fewer than that. And from this we assumed the ideas, intent, motives and commitment of the protesters, and by extension the same of the people of Iran. We have seen essentially the same thing happen in Egypt. I don't have a figure for how many Egyptians use Twitter, but even so, we are only hearing from a relative handful of people even out of that segment of the population -- and we are absolutely not hearing from The People of Egypt in any realistic sense.

We assumed by our flawed "theory of mind" that what we were being told was true, and we assumed what we were told was what The Protesters thought and believed, what The People of Egypt thought and believed. But what we forgot we were hearing was a relative handful of fairly well-off, educated, urban and somewhat tech-savvy people.

And those people could have any motives from a universe of motives for what they told us and what they claimed to feel and believe. We don't know. We also don't know what percentage of the Twitter posts came from folks no where near the protests. We don't know how many (if any) came from political forces within the government of Egypt. We don't know how many came from the governments of other countries. We do know that it is not that difficult to obfuscate the source of a comment on Twitter, or essentially any other online source.

So we stand with the positions of The Protesters. We stand with the democratic hopes of The People of Egypt. Or do we?

How do we know? To paraphrase a line from a Harrison Ford movie from years ago.... What's the last thing you read on Twitter that you know is true?

I had the weirdest dream...

noreply@blogger.com (grizzlysgrowls@gmail.com) — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 16:54:00 +0000

Just woke up from one of those dreams.

Started out, I was in this technical school of some sort, not sure what for. I recall having to put on a white lab coat at one point. Anyway, at one point I was supposed to be getting dressed for my next class, or possibly heading home from school, and I couldn't find my clothes, and wasn't wearing shoes. Struggled my way through the crowds trying to find them. Everyone else appeared to be where they were supposed to be and had what they were supposed to have, and were crabby at me (angry would be too strong a word) for getting in their way when they knew what they were doing and I didn't.

Then I was in a restaurant, possibly the schools cafeteria. I finished eating, and reached for my wallet, and tried to pay with my credit card. It was declined, but I was sure I had some cash in my wallet. Couldn't find any, but my wallet was full -- full of play money from some game. There sure was a lot of it, and I pulled it out and piled it on the counter, but I knew it wasn't good for paying for lunch, and I kept digging for the real money I thought must still be in there. Never did find it.

Then, suddenly, I was out of school, and I was in the middle of a big mostly-outdoor industrial plant. Very dirty environment, I recall. No idea what I was supposed to be doing, but this was apparently what I'd gone to school for. Had an idea which direction I was supposed to go, but there was this big hill to climb, it was apparently covered with hazards, sharp metal and dangerous chemicals and heavy equipment, and people running that equipment, all quite upset with this guy wandering barefoot through their plant with no idea what I was doing. I wasn't happy myself. About halfway up the hill -- just about to be run over by a small train -- I woke up.

Two things stuck me. One: I spent a couple of years working in a more dangerous plant than that, and it shouldn't have bothered me that much, though in the real plant I had some idea what I was supposed to do.

And two: The dream wasn't very symbolic at all. It was mostly literal. I went to school. I spent my time there not quite understanding what everyone else was learning, and not feeling like I was learning anything. My internship consisted of being a DJ in Second Life. (Apparently I'm pretty good at that.) I got a diploma, and I was out. I know I have a little bit of real money somewhere, but mostly I have play money called Lindens, with which of course I can't buy a cup of coffee.

And I find myself barefoot and unequipped in the middle of an industry where I'm expected to know what to do, where it seems everyone around me already knows, surrounded by hazards I don't understand, and not sure what direction to go, other than vaguely "uphill." And I'm already supposed to know, or what the hell am I doing in the middle of this big industry?

These days, I don't feel like I know how to do what I've already done for several years. About the only thing for which I feel qualified is being a DJ in Second Life. They tell me I'm good at that. But that gives me a wallet full of play money, sometimes a lot of it, but not enough to buy a cup of coffee.

And this is the part where the ending goes.

So where the hell was I? UPDATED

noreply@blogger.com (grizzlysgrowls@gmail.com) — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 18:34:00 +0000

UPDATE: So now I find it. Naturally. It was a blogpost. And shockingly... I don't actually read blogs much.
..... ..... ..... ..... .....
Just heard a podcast mentioning that JC Hutchins stopped podcasting. I hadn't heard, and was a bit bewildered. I mentioned this on Twitter -- and Hutch seemed a bit hurt that I hadn't heard, and seemed to think I was being cruel in my comments about it. I think it's more likely an artifact of 140 characters; I'd be tweeting for the next couple days to be understood.

First of all, true, I am sort of disappointed that he isn't podcasting anymore. I liked several, but not all, of his books -- not crazy about anything resembling horror. I simply would never have been aware of his books without podcasting. I haven't actually sat down and read a dead-tree book other than textbooks in several years, and frankly, reading textbooks in school this last year was kind of a freaky experience, as if I didn't really remember how to read a book. I'm all about the audiobooks now. This is, in part, because my eyesight isn't what it was.

I'm all about podcasts, too, maybe too much so. Last time I counted I was subscribed to over 200 podcasts including audiobooks. I often fall asleep with my podcasts playing. This sometimes results in rather disturbing (not -that- kind of disturbing) dreams about podcasts and podcasters, including a dreamed conversation with Mur Lafferty, which turned out to be her reading on Escape Pod. Funny thing, she looked completely different in the dream, and I knew that wasn't what she looks like, but I still knew it was her. (Nothing inappropriate, just the kind of friendly conversation I hope we could actually have at a Con someday.) Then I woke up. I do hate to unsubscribe from anything, but I can't say I've actually heard all the episodes of all the podcasts to which I'm subscribed.

Add to that, Mr. Hutchins stopped podcasting way way back, during what was the busiest time of my schooling, when I wasn't listening to many podcasts anyway, and producing only a few of my own, sad to say. I graduated from school, got a diploma, and remained unemployed, so I'm not sure I wouldn't have been better off skipping school and not skipping the podcast episodes. (I'm kidding, Mom.)

I don't resent JC Hutchins leaving podcasting; people do stop alla time, after all. It's still an open question if I have quit myself. If my tone was at all snappish, I apologize. It was in response to a rather snide comment suggesting I wasn't a "dedicated fan" because I missed his swan song. I was and am a fan, but I have that life thing I've also been trying to succeed at. I wouldn't say I approve, either, because I don't really know his reasons, and I only know he quit because of a passing comment on someone else's podcast. Went off to his website, tried to figure out how to find where he explained it all and waved bye-bye, and couldn't find it. So I commented on Twitter. and apparently engendered some bad feelings. Still haven't found that last podcast, and still hope to. It's entirely his decision, but I'm curious. He says things well -- you may have noticed -- and I'd be interested to see how he'd say this.

I certainly wish him all the best, and I strongly suspect that's what he'll get, because he's a very talented guy who's gotten good opportunities to exercise those talents. I can think of a half-dozen different very good reasons he might leave podcasting. I was simply wondering about the actual reasons.

Further deponent sayeth not.

Griz

Second Life Customer Service

noreply@blogger.com (grizzlysgrowls@gmail.com) — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 05:51:00 +0000

Chat Started: 11-24-2010 00:45:52
Chat Log:
NikiaM: Thank you for contacting Second Life Support, my name is Nikia how may I assist you today?
You: Hi. I wanted to ask about performance here in Pavane, where I own about half the Region.
You: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Pavane/194/170/241
You: It's periodically getting -very- bad here, probably over the last week or two mostly.
You: Pretty much has to be me, vast majority of the Stuff here is mine.
You: But it's Mainland, so it's not something I can check for myself.
You: Iknow restarts are hard to get, and may well not help. Any way I can get help finding what's mainly causing the performance hit?
NikiaM: please bear with me
You: Me, too, I have a big Skating Party going here. :)
NikiaM: thank you for your patience
NikiaM: http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/How_many_avatars_can_I_have_on_my_region_at_once_without_causing_serious_problems_with_lag%3F
You: There are only 12 here now, an not all mine.
You: Mainland allegedly can handle up to 40.
You: And it's still bad with only two of us here.
You: The requested page title was invalid, empty, or an incorrectly linked inter-language or inter-wiki title. It may contain one or more characters which cannot be used in titles.
You: Your Wiki's response to that link.
NikiaM: please copy and paste in search
NikiaM: rather than clicking on the link
You: Ah, had already read this article a while back.
You: Already knew about that stuff. Everything was running fine till about a week ago -then- went kerflooie. I need to know what change caused the problem.
You: Generally this article is about has helpful as a doctor telling me, "might be brain tumor. Or indigestion."
You: And it's focused on how many Avatars I can get away with having in the Region. Doesn't tell me what the problem is with -two- in the whole region.
You: Got any better answers why I'm paying full-sim prices for about 1/10 the performance, or can you refer me to someone who has one?

(Pop up indicating I've been disconnected, and the system is trying to reconnect...)

BethA: Thank you for contacting Linden Lab Support, My name is BethA.
Please bear with me, I may be helping other residents.

(several minute wait on hold)

I will be with you as soon as possible.You: You there yet?
You: Or are you the person the other agents give the customers they don't want to bother with?

(click)

NOTES: Was I snappish? Yep, old guy with 6 years of CSR experience, laid off when my employers closed and left town.

Was the article she linked to good? Excellent, I recommend it, it provides a good and informative answer to a question I wasn't asking.

What would have been a Good Answer? "I know that article is general, and I know someone at Linden Labs has access to tools to answer your specific question. But I don't have those tools, and I don't have a way to refer you to the person who does have those tools. Sorry." Honest and accurate. So, why didn't I get -that- answer?

Griz

Welcome to Minnesota... here's your shovel...

noreply@blogger.com (grizzlysgrowls@gmail.com) — Sat, 13 Nov 2010 03:07:00 +0000

Issued by The National Weather Service
Duluth, MN
3:29 pm CST, Fri., Nov. 12, 2010

... WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 6 AM SATURDAY TO NOON CST SUNDAY...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DULUTH HAS ISSUED A WINTER STORM WARNING FOR HEAVY SNOW... WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 6 AM SATURDAY TO NOON CST SUNDAY.

* TIMING AND LOCATION: SNOW WILL LIFT NORTH OVER THE SAINT CROIX RIVER VALLEY AND INTERSTATE 35 CORRIDOR SATURDAY MORNING... RAPIDLY ACCUMULATING FOR INLAND LOCATIONS... THROUGH THE AFTERNOON.

* SNOW ACCUMULATIONS: WIDESPREAD SNOWFALL TOTALS OF 8 INCHES OR MORE CAN BE EXPECTED INLAND FROM LAKE SUPERIOR. THIS INCLUDES THE LOCATIONS OF AITKIN... HINCKLEY... MOOSE LAKE... CLOQUET... HERMANTOWN... OVER THE HILL IN DULUTH AND ISLAND LAKE IN NORTHEAST MINNESOTA... AS WELL AS SIREN... SPOONER... AND SOLON SPRINGS IN NORTHWEST WISCONSIN.

LOCATIONS ALONG THE IMMEDIATE SHORE OF LAKE SUPERIOR... INCLUDING DOWNTOWN AND LAKESIDE DULUTH... AND SUPERIOR... CAN EXPECT RAIN SATURDAY WITH NO SNOW ACCUMULATION.

* MAIN IMPACT: THE WEIGHT OF THE SNOW... COMBINED WITH STRONG WINDS MAY BRING DOWN TREE LIMBS AND POWER LINES. IN ADDITION... TRAVEL WILL BECOME DIFFICULT DUE TO SNOW COVERED ROADS AND PERIODS OF WHITE OUT CONDITIONS.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

THIS WINTER STORM WARNING IS FOR HEAVY WET SNOW THAT WILL MAKE TRAVEL DIFFICULT. KEEP A WINTER SURVIVAL KIT IN YOUR VEHICLE... INCLUDING A FLASHLIGHT... FOOD... AND WATER.

NaBloPoMo Days 2 & 3

noreply@blogger.com (grizzlysgrowls@gmail.com) — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 16:52:00 +0000

Day 2 Tuesday. I voted. I'm in Minnesota's 8th Congressional District. Waited to see the results on Wednesday.

Day 3, Wednesday. As far as the Election results are concerned.... Wordless Wednesday.
And it is a damn good thing I don't discuss politics, because these days, nobody listens to anyone unless they already agree with them. Anyone else they just scream at and insult.

My take away? To paraphrase Gary Larson: Welcome to Minnesota. Here's your accordion.

I am hugely pleased by the response to the Collective Feed. It's lovely to see so many participating this year. I am even more pleased because I just maintain a simple list of blogs on my website, Yahoo Pipes and Feedburner do all the heavy lifting.... and I get to look important. ;-)

Griz

NaBloPoMo 2010 Day 1

noreply@blogger.com (grizzlysgrowls@gmail.com) — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 22:57:00 +0000

Okay, so here is my first entry for NaBloPoMo 2010. Am I liable to make it this time? Doubt it, gonna be a busy month, but I'll make a start. I did manage to complete National Blog Post Month -and- National Podcast Post Month (NaPodPoMo) both in 2008, but that was a fluke -- after the 30 podcasts, blogging seemed like cheating. :)

I got the NaBloPoMo Collective Feed all updated with the new folks that wanted to participate. I didn't even count em, lessee... 28? Wow. Utterly amazing, that. A few technical stumbles there, but I think they're all sorted. even remembered how to sort the list by name. http://traffic.libsyn.com/grizzly/nablopomo.html

Went downtown this morning for a Temp assignment, my first work in about two years (school was in there, but even so). Got to the place I was supposed to work, assignment canceled, everyone go home... ah, well. Next time.

Meanwhile, "Eugenics and Other Evils" is perking along on my Stories from the Hiber-Nation podcast, and just dropped on Podiobooks.com, so I have Something In Podcast Form up through December. Not even going to think about NaPodPoMo this year. Should be busy doing that work thing. I DJed a big Halloween party at Phat Cats on Second Life. Pretty good turn-out. Now I have a lot of paid-for music I won't be able to use for another year. And here comes the Christmas Party season. Such is life.

If y'all on NaBloPoMo have any glitches in the feed, give me a holler over on the Ning group, I'll do my best to get them fixed promptly. Wonder if this sort of thing is a good job skill?

Griz

November 2010 Collective Feed

noreply@blogger.com (grizzlysgrowls@gmail.com) — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 22:25:00 +0000

It's that time once again! (reply at http://www.nablopomo.com/group/collectivefeed/forum/topics/november-2010-collective-feed)

If you'd like to be on the NaBloPoMo Collective Feed (http://feeds.feedburner.com/Nablopomo), first check the expiration date for your blog at http://traffic.libsyn.com/grizzly/nablopomo.html ,
the current Feedlist (at any given time). If your blog is already there
and doesn't expire till after the end of the month, no worries. If it's
there and expired or expiring soon, let me know you want your entry
updated.

To be added, reply to this discussion with:

The name of your blog,

A shorter name (to fit in those brackets at the beginning of your title),

The URL of your RSS feed,

The URL of your blog itself.

By default your blog will be ignored 45 days after you last told me to
update it last. Only your last post shows up in the Feed at any given
time. And posts over 31 days old are ignored in any case. This is
intended to keep the feed both timely and compact.

Thanks for your interest.

Back when I dreamed

noreply@blogger.com (grizzlysgrowls@gmail.com) — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 09:21:00 +0000

I just got on Hulu and added every episode of a very old TV show called "Lou Grant." It was a spinoff from the Mary Tyler Moore show, the main character played by Edward Asner, her former boss at the TV station in Minneapolis who ends up being City editor for the fictional LA Tribune.

One thing I note about the show, that used to be true about a lot of the shows from my era, including a number I watched earlier on Hulu, like "Adam 12," "Dragnet" and "Emergency," all Jack Webb shows. The folks on Adam 12 and Dragnet were cops, and on Emergency were firefighters. On Lou Grant they're reporters, and Lou's the City Editor as I said. And they have their quirks and foibles, their enthusiasms and dislikes. But bottom line, they're real people, really rather ordinary, like most of us. They're people who have jobs, and they care deeply about doing their jobs well. They have the usual personal concerns, food shelter health and family in whatever order, and the job is intended to provide those things. But when they're on the job, they're on the job, and when you're on the job, you do it right, because that's what you do.

Might be a bit about The Greatest Generation (as they call my folks' generation these days). Maybe. Think about it, a whole country of people leading their ordinary lives, doing their ordinary jobs. And they certainly had their wild moments and got up to mischief now and again. But when it came right down to it, when it was really important stuff -- maybe when it was For the War -- they just didn't screw around. Young guys like my dad, in their twenties, sowed their wild oats, drank and smoked and got up to all kinds of trouble. And then they went off and saved the world, and did it right, because that's what you do when your job is to save the world. And then you come home, and all you've got is that regular-guy sort of job. And you still do it right, because that's what you do when it's your job. Even if you're not saving the world.

I've also seen plenty of TV from just after that era. And from my memory, TV went through a phase where all the characters were over the top. Certainly seems to be the case these days, too. The message seems to be (and seems to have been for the last few decades) that people will do the right thing. But they'll do whatever the most extreme version of The Right Thing will be. The bad guys will do the wrong thing, but they'll only do the most extreme version of The Wrong Thing. And in their lives outside of doing the right/wrong thing, they'll lead their ordinary lives in the most extreme fashion. and I think that's the wrong message.

Bottom line, we still need to be that way about work. We're all just regular people, except maybe Tom Cruise and John Travolta. Whether or not you have what you think is an important job, you do it right, because it's your job, and that's what you do. It isn't about whether your job all by itself is important. It isn't at all about what other people think about you. Another example from TV, Hulu again, watching "House." Wilson has a situation where a guy who's life he'd saved earlier needs a kidney or something. House gets on Wilson for agreeing to donate one. Why do you want to give this guy a kidney, save his life, he's a jerk!

But it wasn't about what House thought about the guy, or even what Wilson thought about the guy. It was about how Wilson saw himself. He saw himself as a guy who saves people's lives, even asshole's lives. He did it because that's what he does, that's who he is.

So, back at Lou Grant. Seeing the very first episode of the show reminded me of being back in High School, working on the school paper -- and frankly kinda sucking at it. But I still miss those days when I dreamed of being a reporter, and doing it right, and doing it well. Cause that's what you do.

Thoughts?

Image making

noreply@blogger.com (grizzlysgrowls@gmail.com) — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 06:58:00 +0000

Just Googled "Grizzly Smith." Very fashionable to Google one's self, isn't it?

Found something amusing/ironic/funny/something like that. The pro wrestler Grizzly Smith just passed in June, and much of what Google gives you is about him. But in "Images for Grizzly Smith," The first three are him, the 4th is me, and the 5th and 6th are him again. I suppose there is something of a resemblance.

Google. Gotta love it.

Talking at cross purposes...

noreply@blogger.com (grizzlysgrowls@gmail.com) — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 23:38:00 +0000

Fell asleep with SL on again today. I end up DJing till very late, then working all night trying to get the whole tour balloon thing working. Hard to do on the Mainland, since the land is all owned by dozens or hundreds of different people. While I was asleep, I got an IM from the guy who did the visual design of the tour balloons I'm using, or at least I -think- that's who it was. He seems upset, and he was Offline by the time I woke up.

Tried to type him a notecard, but I'm a bit lagged, so typing in SL is hard. Also, my eyes are getting worse, and it's hard to read the type in SL. Took a while to get it typed. Anyway, thought I might be saying something important to more people in SL, so I copied it here. Easier to type here, so I'm revising and expanding a bit in this version.

I XX'ed out his name, since he might take offense, but I left his brand in. He does -very- nice designs, and his work is worth plugging. :-)

[13:54:52] Xxxxxxxx Xxxxxx: AR'd for Unwanted Advert spam. You know, if enough people find it as annoying as me, you will know about it.
[13:56:38] Xxxxxxxx Xxxxxx: It also appears you're using my brand to sell land.. now I realize youre nothing but a leach and my annoyance has turned to pitty. GL kid.
[15:37:05] Grizzly Silversmith: I don't have any land to sell, really. Got time to hear some details?

Remarkable how much of a pain in the butt SL is for trying to actualy communicate... Anyway, sorry you caught me falling asleep with SL running, again.

So, first of all, what unwanted advert spam? Not sure what you're referring to. I've been working my self to sleep getting these tour balloons working right. If there's something I need to fix, it'd help if you'd tell me what it is.

Using your brand to sell land? First of all, even looking at your profile, I'm not sure what your brand is. Secondly, I'm a DJ who's also trying to promote my little dance club out in the middle of the mainland, or that's where I started, anyway. I'm trying to-dump- land in mass quantities. I wanted to buy some -little- lots on the road to put the balloons, and I ended up buying -big- pieces, filling up my tier. One patch of PG land I bought for 2 lindens per meter, and had to sell to a speculator for .55 lindens per meter. Yes, -point-five-five. Can't afford more tier. And I want more land here in "my" sim of Pavane, so I can turn it into Something. (And as the vast amounts of abandoned land in Pavane finally are available, I want -those-.

I deeded the land in the largest remaining roadside patch to one of my groups, so some young friends of mine could open a club called Hat Trick. There's three of us working on it, and Hat Trick is a sports term for hockey in the US as well as Cricket in their country, as it turns out. Still considering moving Ours out to the road and getting rid of all this profoundly ugly land in Pavane. The whole middle of this continent is bare rock. What the hell were the Lindens thinking there?

I'm guessing you have something to do with the balloons, maybe that Antiuque Artistry thing? Then I'm sorry I left your brand on; I wanted to make sure folks know I didn't build the things, just modded them. They're pretty cool balloons. I would have done better with those eight-passenger ones, but my girlfriend wanted the cuddly one. :-)

I started out trying to have balloons from patches on the roadside in to my club, Ours. You'll note that's the main "brand" on the balloon, the name of my club. The express-to-the-club balloon idea doesn't work; too many parcels to cross in between, with too many permissions set. A couple -almost- work. Not well suited to mainland.

Ended up building the circle tour, first because it seems kinda fun, and second because I think the Mainland is the Last Best Hope for SL overall. Everyone's isolated out on their islands, and all the people who checked "explore" in their profile can't explore. Search sucks for exploration. You can explore mainland, you can stumble across stuff, there's actual Serendipity here. And there can be community, too. Biggest weakness in SL, nobody really talks to anyone else. Not with too many people scattered across too many islands.

You can really -explore- on the mainland. You can stumble across stuff. The imaginations of hundreds of people are on display here. And no one sees them -- because Nobody Goes to the Mainland. Nobody Goes to the Mainland, because it's supposed to be laggy, but it -isn't- laggy -- because Nobody Goes to the Mainland.

I've been talking about this in my Blog, and I've been talking about this on my podcasts. You should listen sometime, if you're not too busy jumping to conclusions.

I did mention to the one passenger I've had that the balloons are a great way to find land to buy, and there's a lot for sale -- mainly because it's true. I used the balloons, in fact, to help find the land that I've used for Waystations for the balloons. I'm trying to promote the use of the balloons, too, but I don't really know where to start with that. And I'm trying to get people behind the idea over all, including the folks who are trying to sell land here, because it benefits everybody for more folks to see the mainland, including them -- maybe especially them.

I was hoping at first to just have -one- balloon on a long route clear around the continent. Way too hard. If I wander off the track a little bit, I hit someone's no-object-entry setting on their roadside land and the balloon is deleted. So I ended up with a lot of land I didn't much want to buy, and broke the route into six 100-waypoint-or-so stretches. Probably better that way. Would take a -very- long time to go clear around the mainland, and probably no one would want to take the whole ride.

A side dream, if you will. I've kept the balloons announcing waypoint numbers, so that people who like the Circle Tour idea could even advertise their builds as "near waypoint X on the Circuit La Corse Balloon Tour!" Probably won't happen, but A Boy Can Dream.

So, that's my Evil Plan for World Domination and getting rich on SL land speculation. I'm mostly trying to not get more poor, play with some fun technology, and give folks something neat to play with themselves. If that's Evil, they've changed the definition since I was a kid.

As for trying to sell off the overpriced roadside land I got stuck with in mass quantities trying to build this thing, without dumping it and losing all the money I had to put in, yeah, I'm trying to do that. Better than abandoning it. I hate abandoning land. Got a bunch of land I want to buy in Pavane that I can't cause someone got in a hurry and abandoned vast swaths of it. You should look elsewhere in the blog for the story of the adult land I got screwed while trying to sell off. I recently abandoned the sizeable remainder -- it cost me 6.5 lindens per meter to buy Back When -- because I was tired of the bad memories, and because I needed to buy all that land for the balloon project.

Next time you want to know what I'm doing, try asking me. And next time you think I'm doing something wrong, try asking me to fix it. I learn how to do things that way. And I like to learn.

Good luck in your future endeavors in SL,

== Griz

http://grizzlysgrowls.com
http://blog.grizzlysgrowls.com

FURTHER NOTE! It struck me much later that the guy just might have been IMing the wrong person, and got me by mistake. I note that when I tried a search for -him-, I got an error back from Search.

A sad story in The Emerald City

noreply@blogger.com (grizzlysgrowls@gmail.com) — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 01:24:00 +0000

Recently, some of the coders on the Open Source third-party viewer for Second Life, called Emerald, put in code to allow it to be used for a Distributed Denial of Service. Initially Linden Labs took Emerald off the approved list, then gave the Emerald Dev Team a list of demands for changes in Emerald. One of the demands was that the Dev Team not disclose the contents of the list of demands.

http://blog.modularsystems.sl/2010/08/25/ll-requirements-for-emerald/

Emerald's trust-credibility was shot by the folks who put in the malicious code. Linden Labs' was shot by... oh, make your own list. I don't see that the Emerald team has a choice on this, there is essentially only one market for what they make. Emerald -has- been transparent, it just happens they can only be transparent on why they can't be transparent on this.

I think the people to demand transparency from are the Labs. They won't do it, but they're the people to tell.

Blame the idiots who put in the malicious code for the start of all this. I wonder what happened to that whole "Open Source means so many people see the code so nothing bad can happen" expectation that's supposed to make Open Source work?

And I wonder how the hell the Labs can expect credibility when they won't speak openly about their demands on this. Or, at least, explain why they won't allow disclosure. It's bad business all around. It doesn't need to be made worse.

Emerald is part of why I stay in SL. If that's gone, I'll be stuck with the second-rate viewer the Labs provide. Will I quit SL over this? Doubtful, but I'm already tending that direction anyway. So we'll see.

The end of "a Minor Local Celebrity"

noreply@blogger.com (grizzlysgrowls@gmail.com) — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 23:25:00 +0000

Went across the bay to Superior to stop in my favorite bar for a beer in my usual large mug. Looked around -- no ashtrays. I remembered some mention of the laws in Wisconsin eventually following Minnesota in banning smoking in most public places. And after a Google search I find that's what happened on July 5. Anyplace where people might work, any public place, smoking is banned. So as a smoker, I'm a 3rd class citizen.

I originally took on the "Life and Times of a Minor Local Celebrity" subtitle because I'd been singing so much karaoke people actually -recognized- me, people who were otherwise strangers to me. But karaoke happens in bars, and I"m not welcome in bars anymore. I actually continued to go to bars in Wisconsin, even though I live in Minnesota, because I was allowed to be myself there. Now I'm no longer worthy, apparently. Now I'm an evil sinner to be shunned.

I've read a disproportionate fraction of smokers are older people, lower income people, and people of color. I qualify as the first two. Ironically, if the government passed any law attacking those groups as such, they'd get burned at the stake. "But they're smokers! Everybody hates smokers!"

So I guess that's okay then. Enjoy your beer. I'll be going now. Glad drinking your beer without a cigarette makes you happy. It makes me unhappy. Too bad, huh?

No, please keep the preaching to yourself. I'm old, I earned this. You don't want me there, then I"m not there.

New subtitle: "Life and Times of a New Media Celebrity." New Media I can do from my own home, where I can be myself. Never was a very public guy, anyway.

Welcome to Second Life -- here's your Accordion.

noreply@blogger.com (grizzlysgrowls@gmail.com) — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 19:06:00 +0000

PISO'S JUSTICE: The story goes that Piso was a Tribune in ancient Rome. (I gather they don't have Tribunes in modern Rome.) One day he tried and convicted a man for murder, and sent him off with a Centurion to be executed.

On the way to the execution, the Centurion spotted the supposed murder victim walking by. So he grabbed the guy, and went back to Piso with both.

Piso sentenced all three to death:

The convict because he'd already been convicted;

The Centurion, for violating the lawful order of a Tribune;

And the supposed victim -- for causing an innocent man to be executed.

I owned a 9008 sq m here in Fuson, one big parcel. marked it for sale 54096 lindens, then decided to subdivide it. Divided out a bunch of 512-meter parcels, then had one 256 meter parcel. Marked it for sale 6 lindens per meter. The server decided this parcel was connected to the remaining, not yet subdivided parcel (it isn't), and marked -all- of it for sale for the price of the 256 meter parcel. Somebody's land-buying bot bought it immediately, of course. So I got screwed for over 50K lindens.

Me

Total size of the original parcel before I started subdividing it was 8190 sq m. I still own the 6 512-meter parcels I'd finished subdividing out. The new "owner" showed up, and wanted to sell me the land back. (sigh) Attached image shows my remaining land in green, that stupid 256-meter parcel in the green patch, and that big-ass unsubdivided parcel in brown (I think it's brown, I'm part colorblind).

2010-08-03 18:49:49

Me

I'm told that what -probably- happened, I subdivided out all the -surrounding- parcels, but didn't -separately- subdivide out the 256 meter parcel. The Server didn't recognize that it was now physically separate, treated it as part of the larger parcel. (sigh) And of course, somebody's land bot jumped right on that...

2010-08-03 18:51:59

Me

Further note. The original 8190 meter parcel was owned by my group, Hiber-Nation Residences. I had the Group sell it back to me for L$0, at which point the system decided I now owned too much land, and my Tier went from half-tier to full-tier. So over all, I ended up losing about $200 US in maybe a half-hour. Not my best day.

2. CORRECTION AGAIN: Actually, I had 8190 allocated to the group, but there's that, what, 10 % discount when you own land through a group?

8190 X 1.10 = 9009 sq m.

The patch that Linden Labs sold in error was 5680 sq m.

Linden Labs contention is that they don't interfere in person-to-person land deals. That is exactly what they did here.

My Offer was 256 sq m for 256 X 6 lindens = 1536 Lindens. Linden Labs modified my Offer to 256 + 5680 sq m = 5936 sq m for 1536 lindens, and then sold the land for that, directly contravening their policy of not interfering in land deals.

With out Linden Labs modification of the deal, what do we have? Offer: sell 256 sq m for 1536 lindens. Counteroffer: buy 5936 sq m for 1536 lindens. No Mutual Meeting of the Minds. No contract, under real world contract law.

I expect the counter-argument that the -apparent- error was caused by misinformation provided by the visual interface, since the visuals clearly indicate the 256 meter parcel was entirely separate. I will provide the response; Linden Labs' -product- is the 3D visual interface that you're now claiming is not Linden Labs' responsibility?

This sale was created by Linden Labs themselves, and Linden Labs intervened in the sale and sold my land for a price they set themselves. Linden Labs response, I expect will be, "That's not a bug, that's a Feature."

NOTE: If you're wondering about the title of the post, here's a link that might help: http://www.pages.drexel.edu/~kaminsmj/welcome.jpg

UPDATE: Linden Labs' response has been --- no response at all. "If we ignore him long enough, he's sure to go away." Uh huh. Right. This is really surprising.

Well, Duh!

noreply@blogger.com (grizzlysgrowls@gmail.com) — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 14:40:00 +0000

Dunno why I didn't think of this before. Not the sharpest knife in the drawer...

I've had a nice yellow "Listen" button at the top of my Podcast page for a year or two now. It points to my main Grizzly's Growls RSS feed, which has practically everything I do. I've also known that the Default Feed for each of my books from Podiobooks.com has all the chapters for that book, from first to last (that's the important part). But just now it finally struck me, I could put a Listen button next to each book on the Grizzly's Growls website, linked to that books feed... and a casual browser to the website can go ahead and listen to the book. From beginning to end. With one click.

Only took me three years to figure that out.

Duh.

Where am I at now?

noreply@blogger.com (grizzlysgrowls@gmail.com) — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 13:49:00 +0000

I just noticed that there are now 185 people following my blog. That is a bit embarrassing, because I haven't actually done much with the blog in a very long time. Sorry about that.

A lot of my time lately has been taken up with DJing on Second Life. I am actually a pretty popular DJ there, which is nice. But it's an ephemeral accomplishment. It's not about having done a nice job as a DJ ten, a hundred or a thousand times. Am I being a good DJ right now, or will I be tonight? When it's done, it stops mattering. "What have you done for us lately?"

I have three major podcasts, Grizzly's Growls, Stories from the Hiber-Nation, and The IDSL. It seems The IDSL is done with. I was doing that five days a week before I started school, and I stopped doing it when school began. Never started again when school finished. Yet it seems to have the most ongoing popularity, and the most potential to do something to help me with my hoped-for career in broadcasting. It has a built-in structure to it; There's a specific list of songs in a particular order, and the next song on the list is already determined till I run out. And being unemployed, it sure seems like one I ought to crank up again. But it's time-consuming to do, and the primary resource, the list itself, is derived from a search I did on Garageband -- and Garageband.com is closing down. So the basic plan is kinda screwed.

Grizzly's Growls doesn't really have a topic, a format, a schedule, or much of anything else to define it. It's just me -- as Evo Terra terms this style of podcast, "Some dork with a microphone." Not a bad description. Unlike The IDSL, it really doesn't have a structure, and there's no way to know inherently what comes next. So it's easier to do in some ways. All I need to do is Record Something and post it and I have done Grizzly's Growls -- not well, but it's done. But it's harder, too, because every time I have to Decide what to talk about.

Stories from the Hiber-Nation has is like both. It doesn't have a structure till I find a book I want to record. Then, when I pick a book, the show is structured till I finish the book. Then I have to Decide again. Right now that one is "hanging fire," because I know several I really ought to record, but once I start I have a whole stack of chapters I have committed to do for that book, of course. That can feel daunting, looking at that whole pile of chapters to record.

And of course I end up taking those books and posting them to Podiobooks. That is and isn't a separate project. The book content is already there by the time I get to the point of producing the Podiobook. In fact, these days, I usually process each chapter for Podiobooks chapter by chapter while producing it for Hiber-Nation. I put together standardized intros and outros, take off the HN intro and put on the Podiobook intro and so on, save all the prepared Podiobooks chapters in a separate directory, all -while- doing chapter-by-chapter for HN.

I have a remarkably small amount of spare time for a guy without a Day Job, though. Again, the DJing stuff. Second Life adds an extra motivator, in that I get tips from the audience. Sure, it's just a few Lindens, the SL equivalent of money. But it's something -- and at the moment, no one in RL (Real Life) is paying me to do much of anything. The places I DJ for expect me to show up on schedule. There isn't an RL employer who even cares I"m out here, far as I can tell.

Ditto for the podcasting, really. In the three years I've been podcasting, I've gotten one donation. And that was a couple years back. It's flattering to have people listen, an honor, really. It's still remarkable to me that a couple hundred people actually care to listen to what I have to say. That doesn't happen for me in Real Life. But if there were a "tipping" system for podcasting, I suspect I'd feel more motivated. An average tip in SL might be L$100, one hundred Lindens, the equivalent of maybe 40 cents. In a huge evening, I might get a couple thousand Lindens -- maybe eight bucks US equivalent, for five or six hours of work. But it's something from there, as compared to nothing from anywhere else. It's a motivator.

If there were such a system in podcasting, I'd likely do more of it. It's not an expectation; podcasting has traditionally been done for free and the content offered for free. But if there were a mechanism to simply give a micropayment for appreciation, like tipping in SL, now that might help keep me motivated. No multiple clicks, no logging into your Paypal account, just click, here's 40 cents, thanks, nice work.

If I can find a practical way to do it, I should record my podcasts -in- SL. That way tipping in SL would provide a motivator for getting the podcasts recorded. And if I can get all that lovely technology to work together, it would be possible to record from Voice Chat in SL into the podcast, -and- stream the show into my Shoutcast stream, so that it would be hearable around SL... Lots of stuff has to work together for that, though. Another perk, it'd be Something Happening in SL, which is the kind of attraction that one doesn't find often in SL.

I'm not saying it's the only way, complaining it doesn't exist, or demanding that it must. I'm just saying that if there were such a thing, I suspect I'd get more work done. Cause I'm really not doing enough podcasting, not anymore.

(sigh)