| 15:02 |
Tali Rosca |
Let's start. |
| 15:02 |
Tali Rosca |
Welcome to the weekly QA. |
| 15:02 |
Tali Rosca |
As usual, you can see our area of expertise here http://www.caledonoxbridge.org/qna_index.php, but we can generally pitch in with knowledge about Caledon and Second Life. |
| 15:02 |
Tali Rosca |
It seems we're fairly shorthanded tonight, but we'll do our best to keep up. |
| 15:02 |
Tali Rosca |
So any questions? |
| 15:03 |
|
Wordsmith Jarvinen Adds a straw hat just in case the deans have to resort to vaudville. |
| 15:04 |
Kyle Chalice (wolforphenoc) |
With the building contest having just finished are there any other events in the pipeline? |
| 15:04 |
Meora (menchor) |
any comment on the change at the Lab? |
| 15:04 |
Tali Rosca |
I'm actually not up to date with the general event calendar. |
| 15:05 |
Tali Rosca |
We plan to run the building contest again in a month. |
| 15:05 |
Mentadent |
What is "change at the lab" pls? |
| 15:05 |
Wordsmith Jarvinen |
No events that I'm aware of in the pipeline, ... YET. |
| 15:05 |
Wordsmith Jarvinen |
Rod Humble left LL as CEO. |
| 15:05 |
Tali Rosca |
We'll get to the change at the lab. It's one of those "general topics" I like to throw in when we lack questions. |
| 15:05 |
Mentadent |
lol |
| 15:06 |
Mentadent |
ok |
| 15:06 |
Larkylouz |
http://aetherchrononauts.org/ |
| 15:06 |
Larkylouz |
That's a good place to go for Steamlands events |
| 15:06 |
Larkylouz Resident |
Ese es un buen lugar para ir a eventos Steamlands |
| 15:06 |
Tali Rosca |
Realistically, we don't know anything more than anybody else. |
| 15:06 |
Josain Zsun |
and Yahoo buying & closing Cloud Party |
| 15:06 |
Tali Rosca |
As for comments on it, that's largely personal opinion about whether Rod Humble did well or poorly. |
| 15:07 |
Tali Rosca |
Sheesh, you're taking all my good general topics! |
| 15:07 |
SecondGoldy |
be right back folk.Nature calls |
| 15:07 |
|
ℇmmɑ Ɱaybe (phillysmaybe) sneaks in quietly |
| 15:07 |
SecondGoldy |
folks* |
| 15:08 |
Kyle Chalice (wolforphenoc) |
Why is there a floating cube near me? |
| 15:08 |
Wordsmith Jarvinen |
I believe the ArchDuchess noted a Linden stopping by Oxbridge the other day. Whether or not that's indicative of LL interest is hard to say. |
| 15:08 |
Tali Rosca |
I put up a spot. |
| 15:08 |
Tali Rosca |
...so we can see the shadow. |
| 15:08 |
Kyle Chalice (wolforphenoc) |
Or am I hallucinating again... |
| 15:09 |
Tali Rosca |
Lindens drop by every now and then. |
| 15:09 |
ArchDuchess of Muscles (jayleden.miles) |
Governance6 |
| 15:09 |
ArchDuchess of Muscles (jayleden.miles) |
It was after an alleged griefer. |
| 15:09 |
Elfbiter Skysmith (elfbiter) |
Governance was here during that weeks-long griefer spell. |
| 15:09 |
Tali Rosca |
Ah, that is just business as usual, then. |
| 15:10 |
Tali Rosca |
The governance team is not a bigfoot sighting. They do roam SL. |
| 15:10 |
Larkylouz |
LOL. That's who stopped by, Mr. Skysmith. I'd never seen one before and thought it was a newb posing as one |
| 15:10 |
Larkylouz |
Wasn't here very long at all |
| 15:11 |
ArchDuchess of Muscles (jayleden.miles) |
By then it had been dealt with...EM's were on. |
| 15:11 |
Elfbiter Skysmith (elfbiter) |
The only Linden I have ever spoken with. |
| 15:11 |
Wordsmith Jarvinen |
The do respond to griefing reports. |
| 15:12 |
Tali Rosca |
Most Lindens rarely roam the world under their Linden account name. |
| 15:12 |
Tali Rosca |
They use alts. |
| 15:12 |
ArchDuchess of Muscles (jayleden.miles) |
Yeah or they'd get too much grief |
| 15:12 |
Larkylouz |
:^) |
| 15:12 |
Tali Rosca |
Or at least not a moments rest, grief or just general attention. |
| 15:13 |
Tali Rosca |
As Josain mentioned, Cloud Party is shutting down. So Friday saw quite some upheaval in the virtual worlds landscape. |
| 15:14 |
ArchDuchess of Muscles (jayleden.miles) |
The format seemed limited though...so not surprised. |
| 15:14 |
Tali Rosca |
If anybody do not know it, Cloud Party was another virtual world, and generally considered the closest competition to Second Life. |
| 15:14 |
Elfbiter Skysmith (elfbiter) |
They apparently have a period where people can download their stuff. |
| 15:15 |
ℇmmɑ Ɱaybe (phillysmaybe) |
wasnt that in your browser? |
| 15:15 |
Tali Rosca |
I am actually surprised that they shut down *so* hard. |
| 15:15 |
|
Tali Rosca nods. "Cloud Party ran without any downloaded installation, yes." |
| 15:15 |
ArchDuchess of Muscles (jayleden.miles) |
nods...figured the buyout would lead to expansion. |
| 15:15 |
Wordsmith Jarvinen |
It may be as much an indication of Yahoo reassessing focus. |
| 15:16 |
Tali Rosca |
They obviously need the "3D in a browser" team. |
| 15:16 |
Tali Rosca |
And the Cloud Party team was just an easy package deal. |
| 15:16 |
ArchDuchess of Muscles (jayleden.miles) |
though...maybe that is the plan...shut it down, revamp...rerelease |
| 15:16 |
Tali Rosca |
I would be much surprised if we didn't see *something* along those lines from Yahoo. |
| 15:17 |
Tali Rosca |
But it could be any sort of 3D chat room. |
| 15:17 |
Kyle Chalice (wolforphenoc) |
Why do I see it just being an IM client with 3D chat rooms? |
| 15:17 |
Tali Rosca |
Remember, say, the recent technology demos of using a webcam to drive an avatar's face. |
| 15:17 |
Larkylouz |
Are other big name www companies like Yahoo involved in virtual worlds? Google, MSN? |
| 15:18 |
Tali Rosca |
I'd think something like that would be up Yahoo's alley. |
| 15:18 |
Tali Rosca |
Google had Lively a while back, but they shut that down. |
| 15:18 |
Meora (menchor) |
they have thus far failed to make a hit |
| 15:19 |
Tali Rosca |
However much people criticize Second Life, it has been here for a decade, while the field is littered with other attempts. |
| 15:20 |
Tali Rosca |
Blue Mars, Lively, Glitch, Cloud Party. |
| 15:20 |
ArchDuchess of Muscles (jayleden.miles) |
Its a difficult field. |
| 15:20 |
Wordsmith Jarvinen |
The more exciting the graphics, the higher the hardware to drive it. |
| 15:21 |
|
Marion Questi raises his hand. |
| 15:21 |
Wordsmith Jarvinen |
Marion? |
| 15:21 |
Tali Rosca |
Neither Lively nor Glitch were graphics heavy. |
| 15:21 |
Marion Questi |
May I ask who won the Snowblind contest? |
| 15:21 |
Tali Rosca |
Garth Goode, with his penguin-powered reindeer roaster. |
| 15:21 |
Meora (menchor) |
Ha ha ha hahahaaa |
| 15:22 |
|
Marion Questi laughs. |
| 15:22 |
Marion Questi |
It was a great build...:) |
| 15:22 |
ArchDuchess of Muscles (jayleden.miles) |
Garth is an excellent builder |
| 15:22 |
Wordsmith Jarvinen |
That is an .... inventive .... concept. |
| 15:22 |
Tali Rosca |
I think it fit the Caledon style well, so it's a deserved win. |
| 15:22 |
Marion Questi |
And second? |
| 15:23 |
Marion Questi |
Or was that announced? |
| 15:23 |
Larkylouz |
Howl. I loved that build. |
| 15:23 |
Tali Rosca |
Moment, let me find the log. |
| 15:23 |
Tali Rosca |
To get the full names correct. |
| 15:24 |
SecondGoldy |
thanks folks it was really informative gotta run now. |
| 15:24 |
Tali Rosca |
"in 3rd place with 54 points is Wulfriðe Blitzen with her cold weather hygienic tea and coffee urn" |
| 15:24 |
Tali Rosca |
"in 2nd place with her human humidor on platform 2 is Evil Sociopath Beware on 58 points." |
| 15:25 |
Wordsmith Jarvinen |
tc M Goldy. |
| 15:25 |
Marion Questi |
Good for them both! |
| 15:25 |
Tali Rosca |
Garth scored 65 |
| 15:25 |
Marion Questi |
Thank you, Deans and Mr Sorrowman for making this happen. |
| 15:26 |
Tali Rosca |
We hope to make it a recurring event. |
| 15:26 |
Tali Rosca |
The turnout and attention was certainly encouraging. |
| 15:26 |
Tali Rosca |
With all slots taken, and a good amount of votes. |
| 15:27 |
Larkylouz |
It was fun to check in and see what appeared. |
| 15:27 |
Marion Questi |
I judge it to have been a great success. I hope you encourage more public events. |
| 15:28 |
Tali Rosca |
We could perhaps have a lecture here with the builders talking about what they did; why and how. |
| 15:28 |
Tali Rosca |
Though we didn't get around to arranging that this time around. |
| 15:28 |
Wordsmith Jarvinen |
I'd be partial to that. |
| 15:29 |
Tali Rosca |
And yes, even though he isn't here now, a big thanks to Sauce for his work on this event. |
| 15:29 |
Wordsmith Jarvinen |
Indeed. |
| 15:29 |
Marion Questi |
Perhaps a guest lecture on their approach to building in second life. |
| 15:30 |
Tali Rosca |
Omy! Now I see *my own* shadow! |
| 15:30 |
ℇmmɑ Ɱaybe (phillysmaybe) |
oh i really liked the voting hud btw |
| 15:30 |
|
Marion Questi chuckles quietly. |
| 15:30 |
Tali Rosca |
That seemed to work well, all things considered. |
| 15:31 |
Tali Rosca |
We had a few glitches now and then when things lagged. |
| 15:31 |
Tali Rosca |
But we would have had that with any type of communication between two SL objects. |
| 15:32 |
ArchDuchess of Muscles (jayleden.miles) |
Even avatars! |
| 15:32 |
Wordsmith Jarvinen |
Aye. Even those. |
| 15:32 |
Marion Questi |
I must say the voting HUD was a marvel! |
| 15:33 |
Tali Rosca |
Sauce did all the scripting on that one. |
| 15:33 |
Wordsmith Jarvinen |
A talented fellow. |
| 15:33 |
Tali Rosca |
-I was backseat driver :-) |
| 15:33 |
Marion Questi |
Clever and talented.. |
| 15:34 |
Tali Rosca |
For the technically minded, I really liked the use of llCastRay and then checking the owner to determine what build you were looking at. |
| 15:35 |
Larkylouz |
That was very handy, Tali. |
| 15:35 |
Tali Rosca |
We used an "Olympic style" points scoring where you earned points for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place, to avoid everybody just voting for a single, known name. |
| 15:36 |
Tali Rosca |
Giving the "good, but not my friend" builds a better chance :-) |
| 15:36 |
Wordsmith Jarvinen |
That, mathematically, tends to give a better result. |
| 15:37 |
|
Larkylouz wants to ask an off-subject question when there is a break. |
| 15:37 |
Tali Rosca |
I think now would be a good time. |
| 15:38 |
Wordsmith Jarvinen |
Fewer times when votes are split and a less popular result ends up on top as a result. |
| 15:38 |
Tali Rosca |
We're just rambling here :-) |
| 15:38 |
Larkylouz |
I'm curious about TAli's comments about seeing her shadow. Is there some new technology, or are you joking? I can't tell. |
| 15:38 |
Tali Rosca |
I wouldn't call shadows a *new* technology, but it requires high graphics settings. |
| 15:38 |
Larkylouz |
That's what I thought |
| 15:39 |
Larkylouz |
Just curious. |
| 15:39 |
Wordsmith Jarvinen |
It also relates to a question on COUG a bit ago. |
| 15:39 |
Larkylouz |
Yes? |
| 15:39 |
Tali Rosca |
Preferences/Graphics, you need the "Advanced Lighting Model" checkbox. |
| 15:39 |
Wordsmith Jarvinen |
The groundhog / dean analogy. |
| 15:40 |
Larkylouz |
LOL. Okay, I wasn't awake! I even took part in that conversation. <rolls eyes at self> |
| 15:40 |
Tali Rosca |
And then you can choose what shadows you'll see; none, from the sun, or sun and "projector" light sources. |
| 15:40 |
Tali Rosca |
As for the groundhog/spring reference, you may have missed it earlier when Des zoomed by ISC: |
| 15:40 |
Larkylouz |
I'm familiar with that from photography. I just haven't had enough chocolate to think clearly yet., I guess. |
| 15:40 |
Tali Rosca |
Spring will soon come to the lower lands of Caledon. |
| 15:41 |
ℇmmɑ Ɱaybe (phillysmaybe) |
yaay \o/ |
| 15:41 |
Kyle Chalice (wolforphenoc) |
I miss the warmth of the sun |
| 15:41 |
Larkylouz |
No, I just saw Wendyslippers. But he has been talking about that for a few days. |
| 15:41 |
|
Larkylouz knows places in RL where the sun is bright and the snow is deep. It is possible. |
| 15:41 |
|
Larkylouz *likes* snow |
| 15:41 |
Meora (menchor) |
he lives in California and is not used to winter, lol |
| 15:42 |
Larkylouz |
:^) |
| 15:42 |
|
ℇmmɑ Ɱaybe (phillysmaybe) is sick of snow now :/ |
| 15:42 |
Elfbiter Skysmith (elfbiter) |
*looks out of his window and sees snowy trees* |
| 15:42 |
Wordsmith Jarvinen |
Southern California at that, not that CA has had any winter at all this year (in snow or rain). |
| 15:43 |
Kyle Chalice (wolforphenoc) |
Hmmm, if there is space for another question, as I've been out of SL for almost a year now are there any places that have popped up you'd recommend I go take a look that I may not have come across searching normally? |
| 15:43 |
ℇmmɑ Ɱaybe (phillysmaybe) |
hmm but is the legend true? about the shadow of a cat? |
| 15:44 |
Tali Rosca |
I'll forward that question (about any good places) to the crowd. -Perhaps as a general chat outside after. |
| 15:44 |
Larkylouz |
In the US, it is the shadow of a groundhog. :^) I expect cats would mind winter more than groundhogs, however. |
| 15:44 |
Tali Rosca |
I'll mention, though, that we have some Caledonians exhibiting in the "Interim" exhibition at LEA. |
| 15:45 |
Meora (menchor) |
go kill some air karken |
| 15:45 |
Tali Rosca |
French and Martini. |
| 15:45 |
Meora (menchor) |
kraken |
| 15:45 |
Tali Rosca |
As for the legend about the shadow of the catgirl... I'm sorry, I have to admit that I made that one up on the spot :-) |
| 15:45 |
Elfbiter Skysmith (elfbiter) |
:-) |
| 15:45 |
ℇmmɑ Ɱaybe (phillysmaybe) |
oh noo Q_Q |
| 15:46 |
Tali Rosca |
The group announcements can get a little monotonous. |
| 15:46 |
Wordsmith Jarvinen |
And bored cats tend to stir things up. |
| 15:46 |
Larkylouz |
ROTFL |
| 15:47 |
Kyle Chalice (wolforphenoc) |
I can personally vouch for that |
| 15:47 |
Marion Questi |
Yes, for a limited time there is air kraken hunting on LEA28. |
| 15:47 |
ℇmmɑ Ɱaybe (phillysmaybe) |
:) but it will become spring soon even without shadows |
| 15:48 |
Tali Rosca |
28, it is. Thanks. |
| 15:48 |
Tali Rosca |
I couldn't remember the number- |
| 15:48 |
Meora (menchor) |
I suggest a machine gun |
| 15:48 |
Tali Rosca |
You can visit LEA28 without taking on the air kraken, though. |
| 15:48 |
|
ℇmmɑ Ɱaybe (phillysmaybe) suggest snow as it is deadly :p |
| 15:49 |
Kyle Chalice (wolforphenoc) |
But a machine gun stops it making good Calamari |
| 15:49 |
Tali Rosca |
I am somewhat reminded of the Swedish chef making donuts, but this is a tangent. |
| 15:49 |
|
Meora (menchor) had a bad time with air kraken on the Caledon Quest |
| 15:49 |
Tali Rosca |
Other questions, before things get silly? |
| 15:50 |
Larkylouz |
with a machine gun? LOL I hadn't heard that one! |
| 15:50 |
|
Josain Zsun enjoyed Sitting on the balloon and baiting the kraken. |
| 15:50 |
Elfbiter Skysmith (elfbiter) |
_Before_ ? |
| 15:50 |
ℇmmɑ Ɱaybe (phillysmaybe) |
maybe some info on the ehm LL and W9 form adventure? |
| 15:51 |
Tali Rosca |
I am not entirely knowledgeable about that, being European and largely letting you Americans sort it out. |
| 15:51 |
Tali Rosca |
Des had some trouble, but it's sorted now. |
| 15:52 |
ℇmmɑ Ɱaybe (phillysmaybe) |
oo.. ok thats good to hear |
| 15:52 |
Wordsmith Jarvinen |
Ahh. Good. So that did get resolved. |
| 15:52 |
Tali Rosca |
It seems LL does not actually need the *W9* form as such; only the associated personal identification. |
| 15:52 |
|
ℇmmɑ Ɱaybe (phillysmaybe) is european to.. for the record :) |
| 15:53 |
Kyle Chalice (wolforphenoc) |
Being a Brit I have to ask what is a W9 form? |
| 15:53 |
Tali Rosca |
The problem was that LL needs some tax documentation, and asked people to fill out a "W9" form about it. |
| 15:53 |
Elfbiter Skysmith (elfbiter) |
One of the numerous IRS forms, I assume. |
| 15:53 |
Wordsmith Jarvinen |
Basically a form that one business paid another. |
| 15:53 |
Tali Rosca |
That is actually the problem: It is not a *business*. |
| 15:53 |
Tali Rosca |
And since Des runs Caledon as a business entity, legally, the W9 form was inappropriate. |
| 15:54 |
Tali Rosca |
And it would actually be fraudulent for him to file it as such. |
| 15:54 |
Wordsmith Jarvinen |
Or the way the set it up was -- not allowing for what's called an S Corporation. |
| 15:54 |
Tali Rosca |
So obviously, he didn't want to do that. |
| 15:54 |
Tali Rosca |
But it turns out that LL apparently didn't need it as a *tax form*, only as documentation for your identity. |
| 15:55 |
Josain Zsun |
If & when LL get around to doing something, they tend to leap without looking. |
| 15:55 |
ArchDuchess of Muscles (jayleden.miles) |
It wasn't a real W9 just a look alike, but enough so Des thought it was...and yes, the W9 would be appropriate for him, however, his assumption is what complicated it cause he would need to fill it out as a business not an individual and they wanted individual. |
| 15:55 |
Wordsmith Jarvinen |
They do at that. |
| 15:55 |
Meora (menchor) |
or explaining what they want it for |
| 15:55 |
Tali Rosca |
Whether that will ultimately turn out to be true, or if Des gets tax trouble later when LL forwards it incorrectly remains to be seen. |
| 15:56 |
Tali Rosca |
Thanks for the clarification. As I said, I am not entirely up on US tax law :-) |
| 15:56 |
ArchDuchess of Muscles (jayleden.miles) |
Business would used an EIN instead of SSN though on the form...which is what Des wanted to do...but LL didn't want his EIN. |
| 15:56 |
Wordsmith Jarvinen |
Basically, the federals don't want something like SL to be used for money laundering. |
| 15:56 |
ArchDuchess of Muscles (jayleden.miles) |
I'm American and neither am I...I'm just repeating Des. |
| 15:56 |
ArchDuchess of Muscles (jayleden.miles) |
grins |
| 15:57 |
Meora (menchor) |
you forgot the swear words |
| 15:57 |
Tali Rosca |
If people have enough of a cash flow, they need to be identified. Using that form. |
| 15:57 |
Elfbiter Skysmith (elfbiter) |
Federal or California-specific law? |
| 15:57 |
ArchDuchess of Muscles (jayleden.miles) |
I edited! |
| 15:57 |
Meora (menchor) |
Federal |
| 15:57 |
ℇmmɑ Ɱaybe (phillysmaybe) |
well.. glad it melted as the snow will in springtime n__n |
| 15:57 |
Meora (menchor) |
its $20,000 or 200 transactions |
| 15:57 |
Elfbiter Skysmith (elfbiter) |
Or county-specficm for all I know... |
| 15:58 |
Larkylouz |
Post terrorist Federal law, to be specific. |
| 15:58 |
Tali Rosca |
In fairness, I think most governments would find it a little dodgy to move $20,000 around anonymously. |
| 15:59 |
Josain Zsun |
Isn't that what was discovered with Bitcoin? |
| 15:59 |
Wordsmith Jarvinen |
Pretty much. |
| 15:59 |
Elfbiter Skysmith (elfbiter) |
Bitcoin does seem to be popular with drug dealers... |
| 15:59 |
Kyle Chalice (wolforphenoc) |
and anything else you don't want traced |
| 16:00 |
Tali Rosca |
But bottom line is, the "W9 controversy" boiled down to a misunderstanding about what LL actually wanted the information for. |
| 16:01 |
Wordsmith Jarvinen |
Well, W-9's do have a standard purpose. |
| 16:01 |
Tali Rosca |
...and LL was apparently not exactly good at explaining that. |
| 16:01 |
Marion Questi |
It was my understanding that the essence of Bitcoin is that every transaction can be traced. |
| 16:01 |
Tali Rosca |
Anyway, our hour is up. |
| 16:01 |
Tali Rosca |
Any last questions? |
| 16:02 |
Kyle Chalice (wolforphenoc) |
Not so much Marion, it can only be traced to an extent, if you keep the trade purely in bitcoins it's near impossible to know the source |
| 16:02 |
Kyle Chalice (wolforphenoc) |
It's only traceable once you convert it to a real world currency or vice versa |
| 16:03 |
Wordsmith Jarvinen |
Adjourned then? |
| 16:03 |
|
Tali Rosca nods. "Adjourned" |
| 16:03 |
Marion Questi |
Thank you Deans! |
| 16:03 |
Elfbiter Skysmith (elfbiter) |
Bedtime for me. |
| 16:03 |
Kyle Chalice (wolforphenoc) |
Thank you Deans (for the lack of stand up) |
| 16:03 |
Wordsmith Jarvinen |
Thank you all for coming and participating. |
| 16:03 |
ArchDuchess of Muscles (jayleden.miles) |
Thank you, Deans |
| 16:03 |
Larkylouz |
Thank you Deans |
| 16:03 |
Elfbiter Skysmith (elfbiter) |
Be seeing you |
| 16:03 |
Friends of Caledon Oxbridge Donation Medallion |
Larkylouz Resident gave a generous donation to Friends of Caledon Oxbridge to help support classes, tutorials, & tier at Caledon's Oxbridge |
| 16:03 |
Evil Sociopath Beware (cymbal.constantine) |
I just got here.. my bad timing |
| 16:03 |
Gronk Seriman |
Thank you Deans! |