Caledon Oxbridge Q&A for 2013-12-29

15:01 Tali Rosca Greetings and welcome to the QA at the eve of the year.
15:01 Casey Herberg will I be able to follow the presentation in chat, or is it audio?
15:01 Tali Rosca As tradition dictates, the deans of Oxbridge gather Sunday afternoon to answer question.
15:01 Martini Discovolante chat.
15:01 Tali Rosca It is all in chat.
15:02 Tali Rosca We each have our area of expertise, as you can see here: http://www.caledonoxbridge.org/qna_index.php
15:02 Tali Rosca -Though as Marion Questi announced at last QA, he is stepping down as Dean of Engines, so in the new year, I inherit that title.
15:02 Tali Rosca But for now, tonight's QA is open for questions about Oxbridge, Caledon and SL. Anybody?
15:02 Meora (menchor) did Caledon lose another sim?
15:03 Ravelli Ormstein i have not heard anything like that
15:03 Meora (menchor) maybe it was moved
15:03 Tali Rosca Me neither. Which would that be?
15:03 Larkylouz I have seen Des on ISC talking about losses, rearrangements and such, a number of times lately.
15:03 Meora (menchor) the one South of Kitiwickshire
15:03 Martini Discovolante they move, they become homesteads... whatever its needed to balance.
15:04 Wordsmith Jarvinen Recently .... Cape Wrath was lost but what was Caledon Sound moved into its place.
15:04 Tali Rosca So yes, in that sense, something is missing south of Kittiwick.
15:04 Meora (menchor) I noticed because the airships were traveling over it and now there is a crash
15:05 Tali Rosca Caledon is in pretty constant flux, though, so it is not entirely uncommon for sims to appear, disappear and move around.
15:05 Tali Rosca Did the CAT route go over Sound?
15:05 Meora (menchor) yes
15:06 Tali Rosca I assume Jorge is aware of it, then, but it may be worth poking him.
15:06 Tali Rosca Jorge Serapis maintains the CATs and their routes.
15:06 Meora (menchor) he hasn't fixed the Southend route either but its not running
15:08 Wordsmith Jarvinen Actually, I believe it was Loch Avie that replaced Cape Wrath and Sound moved to replace Pensance as Pensans
15:09 Tali Rosca Loch Avie is up North now, at least, bordering Winterfell.
15:09 Wordsmith Jarvinen Right, where Wrath had been the connector before.
15:10 Gronk Seriman Another thing that is not working...www.caledonoxbridge.org. I get a "Page not found" error at the moment.
15:10 Tali Rosca So yes, there's been a bit of reshuffling. It's not entirely new, though,
15:10 Ravelli Ormstein btw, Caledon Rothesay got a redesign in the last weeks, it is worth a visit
15:11 Larkylouz Seems to work for me, Gronk
15:11 Tali Rosca The website is working for me currently, but it seems there is some trouble with a blacklisting on *some* network path.
15:11 Larkylouz Kintyre is always beautiful, latel.
15:11 Larkylouz *lately
15:11 Tali Rosca Wordsmith, do you still have problems with the site?
15:12 Martini Discovolante works forme, refresh your browser, perhaps
15:12 Wordsmith Jarvinen I do. With the holidays, the network people have not gotten back to me.
15:12 Wordsmith Jarvinen The problem seems to be with paths on the AT&T land network.
15:13 Tali Rosca Hm, ok. But they are on it. Let us leave it at that for now, then, and hope they get it sorted out. I'd imagine that's what you're (not) seeing, Gronk.
15:13 Gronk Seriman ...and I use AT&T as my service provider, darnit.
15:13 Tali Rosca That makes a lot of sense, then.
15:14 Wordsmith Jarvinen Miss Gronk, it might be helpful if you would complain to your ISP. It is not your computer. It is not the website. Neither is the website IP address blacklisted.
15:15 Wordsmith Jarvinen My belief is that some node in the AT&T network routing is blacklisted.
15:15 Elfbiter Skysmith (elfbiter) Unless the ISP has some reason to blacklist the site.
15:15 Larkylouz It no doubt has something to do with the elephant in the room. . .
15:16 Wordsmith Jarvinen It would show up in the lists if that were true (like spamhaus etc). It doesn't.
15:16 Wordsmith Jarvinen Ssssh. ;)
15:16 Elfbiter Skysmith (elfbiter) Oh dear......
15:16 Tali Rosca Wordsmith has had troubles for a while, so he has exhausted all the obvious explanations by now, I think.
15:16 Gronk Seriman To add to the confusion, AVG, my antivirus has jumped in to handle website resolving. And it's an AVG notice that is telling me the error.
15:17 Elfbiter Skysmith (elfbiter) False positive?
15:17 Davier Faith Which operating system, Larky?
15:18 Wordsmith Jarvinen Right now, I can access the website, but have to do it from a coffee house, library, medical office, ....
15:18 Martini Discovolante National Monumnet
15:18 Wordsmith Jarvinen nods. ;)
15:18 Tali Rosca Let us save the dedicated troubleshooting to after the QA. But it sounds like it could be worth to coordinate a report.
15:18 Elfbiter Skysmith (elfbiter) IIRC there were some complains about AVG firewall blocking SL couple of years ago...
15:19 Tali Rosca So let us move on to other questions, before we end in firewall setup and DNS hosts.
15:21 Tali Rosca ...or, we can return to DNS settings...
15:21 Allie (allievanyar) Giggles..
15:21 Tali Rosca (That was a threat)
15:22 Davier Faith What is the process for presenting a class here, and would you have need of a second class on securtiy (avatar, land).
15:22 Tali Rosca Word, take it away!
15:22 Davier Faith security*
15:23 Martini Discovolante we have avatar safety class.
15:23 Davier Faith I see that. Hence the word "second." I see it's only scheduled once on the calender....
15:23 Martini Discovolante once a week.
15:23 Davier Faith Yes.
15:24 Tali Rosca It is traditionally one of the more popular classes, though, and it's possible there could be material enough to two slightly differently slanted classes.
15:24 Davier Faith I feel it's one of the most important classes, especially for new residents.
15:25 Wordsmith Jarvinen The process is basically to give me an outline of the class content and student outcomes. And some basis for your ability to teach it and understanding of Oxbridge and Caledon purpose and culture.
15:25 Wordsmith Jarvinen Which sounds more formal than it actually is.
15:25 Martini Discovolante but still important in spirit.
15:26 Davier Faith I understand. I'd probably start by contacting Miss Kidd and find out what topics she covers, and see if there's other areas I can cover.
15:27 Tali Rosca That goes essentially for all classes and ideas.
15:27 Wordsmith Jarvinen Feel free to add any comments, particularly on the culture aspect, Martini.
15:27 Martini Discovolante the culture of Caledon? and of Oxbridge?
15:27 Elfbiter Skysmith (elfbiter) Kidd also has the Land class that covers some of the land security issues.
15:27 Tali Rosca People usually segue in from having been around Oxbridge for a while.
15:27 Wordsmith Jarvinen Basically, we want to ensure that the class is taught for the benefit of the students and not that of the instructor.
15:27 Martini Discovolante and she is working on a second , i believe.
15:28 Davier Faith The benefit of the instructor? I don't follow you.
15:28 Nikki (nikkivorsoisson) Commercial sdelf-promotion
15:28 Wordsmith Jarvinen Some might view teaching a class as a tacit advertising opportunity.
15:28 Martini Discovolante we do not allow things like security orbs here in Caledon.
15:28 Davier Faith Oh, I see.
15:29 Martini Discovolante we do not and never have had any sort of police.
15:29 Wordsmith Jarvinen Instructors do have the opportunity to place an ad on our boards, but not as part of the class.itself.
15:29 Larkylouz Lindal teaches 3 classes. One on shopping, too.
15:29 Davier Faith There is no such thing as "police" in Second Life.
15:29 Martini Discovolante there are those that would like to appear as such.
15:30 Tali Rosca ...though many like to claim so, in various constellations.
15:30 Davier Faith Yes, that's a common scam.
15:30 Red Quixote I'm not sure if it's a 'scam' so much as a 'delusion'
15:30 Martini Discovolante :)
15:30 Davier Faith Perhaps both. :)
15:31 Tali Rosca I think I've seen it go both ways, really.
15:31 Martini Discovolante liek it illusion of "privacy" in SL :)
15:31 Elfbiter Skysmith (elfbiter) FAlse authority, anyway.
15:31 Martini Discovolante like the*
15:32 Davier Faith In that case, maybe I'll just "hang out" in caledon more, before I jump into things.
15:32 Tali Rosca It's always a good place to start.
15:33 Tali Rosca Generally, the professors are drawn from Caledonian residents or at least regulars.
15:33 Davier Faith I understand.
15:33 Martini Discovolante we are first an foremost part of Caledon
15:33 Tali Rosca I was about to say, Oxbridge teach about SL, but we are an integral part of Caledon.
15:33 Tali Rosca That is part of Oxbridge's identity.
15:34 Davier Faith I used to be part of an involved Oval Office sim, hence the look and feel. It's since closed, and defunct.
15:34 Wordsmith Jarvinen Much like any RL university has a culture and identity.
15:34 Davier Faith We held a number of classes there, and it was a shame to see it go.
15:35 Ravelli Ormstein sorry to hear that!
15:35 Tali Rosca We are not strict on dress code in Oxbridge, or in Caledon as a whole, for that matter, but we *are* a Steampunk fantasy nation.
15:36 Tali Rosca It is what drew people here in the first place.
15:36 Davier Faith Ah, mostly an RP community?
15:36 Martini Discovolante light RP
15:36 Nikki (nikkivorsoisson) Very light rp.
15:36 Tali Rosca I wouldn't so much call Caledon an "RP" community, as simply enjoying a shared aesthetic.
15:36 Elfbiter Skysmith (elfbiter) Occasional formal language :-)
15:36 Ravelli Ormstein if there is RP, than outside of Oxbridge, but only a lil bit
15:37 Wordsmith Jarvinen Particularly in Oxbridge the RP is a suggestion, but even staff don't always stay in role.
15:37 Martini Discovolante but we are all here, or very nearly all here becauseof love of the vicoorian/steampunk aesthetic
15:38 Tali Rosca Pretty much, yes.
15:38 Davier Faith So socially based, but rooted in this thing we call "steampunk" aesthetic.
15:38 Larkylouz has a question when the time is right.
15:38 Wordsmith Jarvinen Which also brings with it a sense of civility. There is also a land covenant in Caledon to make it see more a community.
15:39 Martini Discovolante we offer a home for some highly creative people, many are here for that alone
15:39 Tali Rosca It is time to cite the motto: "Tolerans, Civilis, Innovus, Laganum"
15:39 Davier Faith Content creators?
15:39 Wordsmith Jarvinen the motto of Caledon is essentially, Tolerance, civility, Innovation, Cake.
15:39 Ravelli Ormstein nods
15:39 Davier Faith Hah, cake. :)
15:39 Tali Rosca I think that about covers it, though, so let us move on. Larky?
15:40 Davier Faith Much obliged, Mr. Skysmith.
15:40 Larkylouz I would like to hear comments on Profiles that challenge the G-rating. Obviously, one does not censor the groups anyone cares to join. I assume I should limit my Puritanism to the comments, name and photo on the about page?
15:41 Martini Discovolante Ravelli looked into that a bit today
15:41 Ravelli Ormstein first, we have a rule at Oxbridge: "Profiles must be PG as well... this applies to all of SL, not just PG sims."
15:41 Tali Rosca I think the profiles are actually rated now, by standard LL procedure.
15:41 Martini Discovolante same process used for the ads?
15:41 Martini Discovolante and Search?
15:41 Ravelli Ormstein so if someone is around with a non G-profile you may ask him/her to change or leave
15:42 Martini Discovolante rav, that used ot be the SL rule
15:42 Tali Rosca Group titles in particular is something we often ask people to tone down.
15:42 Larkylouz Ah. I have been warning people, only, unless they are way out of line. And I've seen some that I've A/R'd for sheer crassness come back time after time.
15:42 Ravelli Ormstein and there was a rule by SL, yes, i think it was part of Community Standards, have to look it up
15:42 Martini Discovolante of course rather impossible to contain.
15:43 Martini Discovolante but here we CAN ask that all group tiotles be g-rated
15:43 Nikki (nikkivorsoisson) All *active* group titles?
15:43 Wordsmith Jarvinen And eject if that doesn't happen
15:43 Wordsmith Jarvinen The one they are actually wearing.
15:43 Martini Discovolante especially since LL decided that Group titles OFF be the default.
15:43 Davier Faith I know, personally, if I see questionable or especially explicit groups, it does make me pause to consider the character of the individual.
15:44 Tali Rosca A fair bit of newbies are not aware that they *show* a group title at all, though.
15:44 Ravelli Ormstein well, i would still AR such profiles
15:44 Larkylouz The question came up for me re: an avi who had a fairly tasteful breast-showing photo. I would not have been offended in the least, anywhere else.
15:44 Martini Discovolante Many new persons come in here completely unaware that they have "Pirate Peet's Peener Palace VIP" over their head.
15:44 Tali Rosca Does that place exist?
15:44 Larkylouz :^) Yes. I've shown a few how to turn things on and off.
15:45 Red Quixote say that tree times fast ;D
15:45 Martini Discovolante no-- that is a tamer one i made up.. i canna repeat the ones i have seen lately
15:45 Ravelli Ormstein yes, when it is a brand new resident then we should explain how to remove the tag or whatelse, and what could happen by keeping it
15:45 Red Quixote *three times
15:45 Elfbiter Skysmith (elfbiter) No doubt at lest the _equivalent_ exsiss in SL :-)
15:45 Larkylouz Thank you for the comments.
15:45 Tali Rosca But it actually rather comes back to the whole thing about Caledon as a community.
15:46 Davier Faith I think one thing to consider, which we talked about at my previous sim, was that if you're part of an organization, you represent them anywhere you go...
15:46 Martini Discovolante of course, if anyone is actively soliciting in their profile, they certainly may be informed of our G-status
15:46 Ravelli Ormstein well said, Mr Faith
15:46 Tali Rosca If you feel like you truly have to show that side of yourself as the primary in-your-face presentation of your profile... why are you even in a Victorian steampunk sim in the first place?
15:46 Elfbiter Skysmith (elfbiter) Or recruiting for their vampire clan....
15:47 Meora (menchor) the vampires are worse
15:47 Larkylouz Well, as we say in the wilds, 'some folks got no couth'
15:47 Martini Discovolante many know us only as a new-person place... they have not looked at us any further than that.
15:48 Wordsmith Jarvinen And, it is entirely possible to set a group to "don't show in profile". So they can accommodate without having to leave a group.
15:48 Davier Faith Another thing newbies don't usually know about...
15:49 Wordsmith Jarvinen Right, but staff should be aware of.
15:49 Tali Rosca It's not so much a matter of being prudes (Victorian reputation nonewithstanding), but more that it's just not *necessary*.
15:49 Larkylouz So, I should be asking people not only to make their About page 'PG', but also their groups? That seems to walk a thin line. Many folks object to BDSM, but how many kids under 18 even know what that means?
15:50 Larkylouz Tali, I was poking fun at myself. I am much more 'prudish' here than I am elsewhere.
15:50 Martini Discovolante Larky-- most are not here long.
15:51 Martini Discovolante it may be more trouble than it is worth.
15:51 Wordsmith Jarvinen I'd say base it on explicitness...
15:51 Tali Rosca Personally, I'd say that as long as their profiles are not essentially advertising, I'd just let things go.
15:51 Elfbiter Skysmith (elfbiter) Very often I cannot get the profiles to load...
15:51 Larkylouz Thank you. Tali. I think I may be close to the lines I need to be.
15:51 Martini Discovolante and frankly--- i will assist anyone in finding the SL that they seek, but never feel shy about reminding any one that we are a g-rated region here
15:51 Larkylouz Sometimes the web version works betther, Mr. Skysmith
15:52 Elfbiter Skysmith (elfbiter) YEs
15:52 Tali Rosca I think I can speak for most people here when I say that we're far less shocked than most people would like to think we are when they are "daring".
15:52 Martini Discovolante chuckles.
15:52 Ravelli Ormstein well, many regular visitors come to us because they know that we take care of such things
15:52 Larkylouz I usually explain that we are trying to keep confused newbies and the odd underage kid safe, not censor their SL.
15:53 Ravelli Ormstein they just feel safer here than anywhere else
15:53 Meora (menchor) lots of places send their newbies here
15:53 Ravelli Ormstein excellent :-)
15:53 Davier Faith Good point Tali, but on the other side of the coin--newcomers are quite easily shocked, and seeing something like that in a "safe place" such as Caledon, to me at least, is an infraction and a responsibility in part by the management team.
15:53 Martini Discovolante :) and when people choose us becauseof our G-rating, i have to honor that.
15:54 Tali Rosca Hence, obvious group titles and in-your-face profiles should be toned down.
15:54 Elfbiter Skysmith (elfbiter) Well, violating the vielded weapons rule is more common.
15:54 Tali Rosca If you go digging in somebody's 40 groups, don't be too shocked by what you find.
15:54 Martini Discovolante our "management team" is quite well versed in doing so.
15:54 Larkylouz heee
15:54 Meora (menchor) sometimes a group is much tamer than the tiele would indicate
15:55 Martini Discovolante not many impressionable new folk know how to dig far enough to turn over the rocks.
15:55 Tali Rosca Heh, yes, there is sometimes a sport in coming up with outrageous names.
15:55 Larkylouz I am not easily shocked or offended; less so after a time in SL.
15:55 Larkylouz But I am a mother hen here!
15:55 Elfbiter Skysmith (elfbiter) Sometimes newcomers do not even know what the name they selected means...
15:56 Martini Discovolante indeed, Mr EB.
15:56 Davier Faith True.
15:56 Elfbiter Skysmith (elfbiter) I have seen couple of newcomers hurrying to register another account when I told their name refers to... carnal activities...
15:56 Davier Faith I still don't think taking away last names was a smart move, it only encourages uglier account names.
15:57 Elfbiter Skysmith (elfbiter) Since they cannot change the username
15:57 Ravelli Ormstein perhaps LL just should ask to consider a better matching account name before they press the SUBMIT button - just let them think a minute
15:57 Martini Discovolante and LL does not make that clear in the enrollment process.
15:58 Martini Discovolante that that is YOU R NAME.
15:58 Wordsmith Jarvinen Some newbies come by with names that are going to be obviously limiting.
15:58 Martini Discovolante wb. Tali
15:58 Ravelli Ormstein (it seems she is back!)
15:58 Ravelli Ormstein (it seems a dean crashed)
15:58 James MacCloude (mac6572) wb
15:58 Meora (menchor) thats the advantage of display names
15:58 James MacCloude (mac6572) now she's gone
15:59 Martini Discovolante oh dear.
15:59 Davier Faith I don't see display names as an advantage, honestly.
16:00 Allie (allievanyar) Hum.. for me I like Allie showing then AllieVanyar...
16:00 Nikki (nikkivorsoisson) Ditto (Mutatis ...)
16:00 Davier Faith It always felt like a post-fix after they ditched last names.
16:00 Wordsmith Jarvinen Well, I think it's last week's Q&A transcript that shows an unreadable name followed by a readable one in parens.
16:00 Tali Rosca Ok, *that* was rather unprovoked. Back now.
16:00 Martini Discovolante the primary name never goes away. that should be made clear up front.
16:01 Allie (allievanyar) I would still like Allie better the Allie Vanyar..
16:01 Davier Faith Stop crashing, Tali. :P
16:01 Martini Discovolante goodness Tali! who greased the revolving door?
16:01 Elfbiter Skysmith (elfbiter) Connection cuts again?
16:01 Tali Rosca Should I rant about display names?
16:01 Martini Discovolante :)
16:01 Nikki (nikkivorsoisson) Yes, please!
16:02 Martini Discovolante waste of resources?
16:02 Davier Faith Only if you rant about unusualy characters, that all the cool kids are using.
16:02 Davier Faith unusual*
16:02 Tali Rosca I can do that!
16:02 Elfbiter Skysmith (elfbiter) Those who _think_ they are cool.....
16:02 Nikki (nikkivorsoisson) :)
16:02 Tali Rosca It seems we're at the end, though, so perhaps it is time to wind down?
16:03 Tali Rosca ...if I am even here. I am lagging badly.
16:03 Wordsmith Jarvinen A good starting rant for next week?
16:03 Elfbiter Skysmith (elfbiter) You are
16:03 Davier Faith Starting rant. *laugh*
16:03 Tali Rosca Any last comments?
16:03 Nikki (nikkivorsoisson) Thank you, deans.
16:03 Allie (allievanyar) Yes.. Thank you..
16:04 Red Quixote well... the way I see it,.. that last bit wasn't a 'question' but a statement
16:04 Larkylouz Thank you for the feedback, Deans.
16:04 Wordsmith Jarvinen Thank you all.
16:04 Ravelli Ormstein (another dean crashed...)
16:04 Ravelli Ormstein it was great that so many of you have been here today
16:04 Davier Faith Thanks for the Q&A folks.
16:04 Tali Rosca Ok, that turned into a rather chaotic ending seen from my perspective.
16:04 Martini Discovolante thank you all for attending.