Genus Project Wins DMCA Suit, Reopens Today

By Bixyl Shuftan

Good news for fans of Genus Project. They've won the DMCA suit against them, and will be opening today, Friday September 4. The suit, the second filed against them, was made on July 4, just hours after the store reopened following winning the first.

On the Genus Discord channel, owner Anna Ivanova would explain how the case was made.

"The person who did this thought out his plan very well. ... So what happened exactly? This person, I am sure, is ... an experienced Second Life user. Basically, he copybotted my mesh from the game. And then, having some editing skills, he used Photoshop CS6 to create the ad ... on April 5, 2020 (shortly before filing a fake copyright complaint against me), and uploaded this product to be sold on a third-party site.

"He called himself by my name and said that he had been developing mesh for a very famous game studio for 13 years. ... The ad was ready ... Then they came up with a fake address, fake phone number, fake lawyer from NY, cuz it's not even in the database. They came up with a text about the alleged studio itself, that they have been doing business for 13 years, and a list of claims they have against us. In the end, they ask (us) to remove all Genus content from ALL of the inventories, so that even a trace of mine will not remain in ... SL - no store, no products - nothing."

Unfortunately, while finding out how the culprit pulled off the forgery took only a short time, getting the DMCA shutdown resolved would take time, and help from lawyers, "The most disappointing thing to me in this whole situation is that I and my 5 lawyers were ignored for several months. Nobody wanted to answer me, all my letters were unanswered - no feedback at all. My lawyers received only references to the old letters and a copy of this complaint. And of  course, nobody answered us from those fake addresses and phone numbers. After months of silence,we were finally able to achieve the result. A very famous and strong American lawyer took up the case, for which I am immensely grateful to him. I have received return-on-sale approval for all my items and there is no longer any DMCA against GENUS Project. All charges were dropped. All copyrights for my work are registered. All complaints and DMCA that are sent to me from now on will be invalidated. LL is notified of the registration of rights and trademarks."

Anna would state, "The thought I was a thief caused depression in me ... But I'm not used to giving up. ... I was treated unfairly, and realizing how easy it is to frame the real author of works, it's just insane." Her advice to serious content creators in Second Life, "I ... shout out to everyone who engages in creativity and creates something, you should register the copyright for each of your work(s), so that no one can ever, ever, do the same to you."

She would have a message to the person whom filed the DMCA takedowns, "I assure YOU I will not give up trying to find YOU. ...  And to YOU, I say this. If you hate me and my brand so much, then don't be a coward and tell me about it personally. If you want to compete with me, then learn how to work like me and do it honestly and professionally. Otherwise, you are a nobody for me, not a rival, not an enemy. Just an empty spot - nothing. I am not afraid of weak people. ... The responsibility that you have taken upon yourself is so huge, you could end up in jail."

Her final message was to her customers and other supporters, "I love you all and I am proud that we are ALL a big family. Me, you, everyone who loves Genus. I will reopen the store tomorrow. Until then, let's celebrate this beautiful day."

On Discord, there were numerous well-wishes from fans, "Yay!!!! Welcome back! We've missed you!" "I am so glad that Genus Project is back in action!! This is a happy day." "i am so glad you back and all sorted and i hope you catch whoever is doing this cause i may be being paraniod but i got a feeling they gone after **** too seems strange they are down now i think this is some major lame troll." "I want to personally say, Anna, I am so terribly sorry for (what felt like an eternity to both you and us) the countless months of undeserved stress that you've endured.  I am happy to know you can breath a sigh of relief, even if a little.  As you already know, your supporters, have been in your corner the entire time; having faith you'd persevere.  We are proud of you for, NOT GIVING UP, though...it wasn't easy.  It proves just how good and STRONG you are!  ONLY POSITIVE LIGHT from this point on, Anna.  YOU ARE A TRUELY A SHINING STAR!"

And so after being down for months, Genus Project is back in business, to stay this time. For them, what looks like the end of a long nightmare. For others wanting to be serious content creators in Second Life, a cautionary tale about what can go wrong.

Hat Tip: Ryan Schultz

Bixyl Shuftan

Second Life Store Hit With Two DMCA Shutdowns, Second Hours After Reopening

By Bixyl Shuftan

Since Bento mesh came out, there have been a number of products based on it. Among them are the avatar heads by the Project Bento store, which blogger Ryan Schultz describes as "highly successful." Unfortunately in April, they were hit with a DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) takedown order.


Recently, we have received a DMCA complaint against us for the first time from another Second Life creator. According to the rules,we need to delete our content before the end of the proceedings. Our lawyer is currently filing a counter-DMCA complaint. It has all our files created for second Life, and we hope the situation will be resolved soon. 

The author of the complaint is unknown, but when we receive the response from Linden Lab, we will send the case to court. 

We ask you to treat this with understanding, these are forced actions that we must take to ensure the security of our intellectual property. Please note that content will not be removed from your inventory, it will only be removed from the Genusproject Resident inventory. During the closing of the store, we will stay in tough in social networks (discord and Facebook) as well as in the world group. Thank you for your attention and understanding. 


So for a time, the store was closed until the issue was resolved. According to Ryan Schultz's article, there were some angry accusations by fans of Genus that one of their competitors was behind the takedown. But several brands stepped forward to deny the claims, and Genus themselves while thanking their fans for their support strongly urged them not to spread rumors. It never was revealed whom filed the DMCA takedown order.


First, I would like to thank everyone for supporting Genus and taking the time to help each other and form a solid community in this group. Second,Genus is temporarily closed until the DMCA claim is reconciled and Third.Sadly i need to make this clear. All will be banned from group & sim if you disrespect Genus Project  or  speak negatively about another creator or mention their products  that do not support Genus Project Brand. In a world where you can be anything. Be Kind.  Be Safe - #Be Strong.


Finally on July 4, the store reopened. But only a few hours passed before Genus was hit with yet again another DMCA takedown order. The staff would announce the news on the Linden forums, and their Discord channel.


While we had hoped the DMCA business was behind us, we have received another notice from Linden Labs that we must remove our inventory and our store.  As we have not been given info regarding who initiated this the first time, we are left to assume it is the same person and that it is someone with no actual claim.

We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused anyone - your patience, support, and loyalty to our brand is not something we take for granted.  It is unfair to ask you to stand by us and stand with us as we fight this, but nothing about this situation has been fair.  Please understand that we cannot provide details we don't know and we ask that you keep rumors and accusations down while we work with our lawyers and with Linden Labs to prevent this from happening again.

And if whomever has filed this is reading?  Please understand that filing these claims does more than hurt us as creators - it prevents us from giving customers the support they deserve.  It stops us from releasing updates and letting customers get redeliveries.  That is who you are hurting the most.


As Schultz would put it, "It would now appear that The Genus Project is now going to be involved in a long and costly court battle before they can sell their products again. A major player has effectively been knocked out of the Bento mesh head market for the foreseeable future, and perhaps permanently. This is going to affect not just the team at The Genus Project, but it is also going to impact all the content creators who created skins and cosmetics for this brand of mesh heads."

As before, it is unknown who filed the takedown order, or why.

Sources: Genus Discord, Ryan Shultz, Linden forums  

Bixyl Shuftan

Blau Rascon and The Second Life Avatar Index

By Cyfir (cyfiremmerich Resident)

Blau Rascon currently maintains the Second Life Avatar Index and works at Kinzart Kreetures. I recently had a chance to interview him- regarding the Avatar Index as well as KZK. The Avatar Index can be found here:

https://theavatarindex.wordpress.com

----

Cyfir: What inspired you to create The Second Life Avatar Index?

Blau Rascon: From mid-2011 through early 2013, I was a writer at a similar site called Second Life Avatar Review Files (SLARF). I loved writing for SLARF, but when I was brought on at KZK, we decided that it would be better if I retired from writing there to help avoid any conflicts of interest. I stayed on as a senior staff member, but the site got quiet not long after. SLARF is now inactive, and currently only available to visit through the Wayback Machine. I was pretty bummed to see that - it was a really good resource, and I had hoped it would go on for longer.

I put out a poll last September to see how the community would feel about me starting a similar site, and the response was very much in favor. The first three entries were published on September 25th. It feels good to be writing again!

Cyfir: Can you tell those who don't know what the site is about?

Blau Rascon: The Second Life Avatar Index is a website dedicated to cataloging avatars - primarily, but not exclusively, anthropomorphic / "furry" avatars. The goal is to have a place where people can come and browse avatars, discover new creators, or share entries with friends.

Given that I currently work for an avatar company and know that there are some who would be uncomfortable with a competitor's employee writing reviews of their avatars, I don't write traditional reviews; rather, I present data points about an avatar, in an effort to be as neutral as possible in my writing.

Entries include a text section describing the avatar's features and details, a gallery section including turnaround images, HUD images, and an imgur album of detail shots and GIFs of animations, and a video including a 360 turnaround and a demonstration of an avatar's functions and features, if applicable.

Cyfir: How has it been received by the community?

Blau Rascon: So far, the feedback has been pretty positive! I've gotten some IMs from folks that were pleasantly surprised to see their works on the Index, which always makes my day.

Cyfir: What are your plans for the site in the future?

Blau Rascon: I plan to move the site to its own host in the semi-near future, which would allow me to do some more neat things with plugins that I can't currently do while hosted on Wordpress. One of the ideas I had was to make a calendar and allow avatar creators to add events like release parties to it, and I'd like to see if that could work someday.

Many people would like to see mod parts / modkits on the Index - I'd love to add them in, but for now, I'd like to keep the site focused on full avatars. There is definitely an interest there, though, so I'll be revisiting the idea when I can!

Cyfir : You also work at Kinzart Kreetures. Can you tell us what you do there?

Blau Rascon: I do a little bit of everything - beta testing, troubleshooting, moderating, demoing, keeping things organized, and so on.

Kat is often not logged in to SL while working to keep himself focused, so I help handle most in-world things while he's unavailable.

Cyfir: Is there any upcoming news you would like to share from KZK?

Blau Rascon: There have been some long delays due to in real-life events, but we're working on finishing up the bug-fixing and preorder bonuses for the Direwolf hybrid avatar we released a few months ago. No set dates for these, but we're doing our best to get them out soon.

As thanks to our community for sticking by us through these rough times, we're doing a pretty neat project. Together with the community, we're designing an original anthro avatar that will be given away for free. We're doing several phases of polls to determine the details. The species basis is still being narrowed down, but as of writing this, the species will be a hybrid of "Eastern Dragon" and "Canid - Misc / Extinct". There will be more polls coming to determine things like whether or not it'll have wings, what kind of tail, what kind of legs, and so on. I'm excited to see what will happen!

If folks would like to keep up with the project or participate in the polls, they can join our in-world groups or our Discord.

Cyfir: Is there anything else you would like to share with the Second Life community?

Blau Rascon: I'd like to tell folks - keep making cool stuff! And even if you think you can't draw, or model, or mod, don't be afraid to try. You can learn a lot just from tinkering!

And something more personal, drawing from recent family events - please consider donating blood and/or bone marrow if you are able to. There are many people that need the help!

----

I personally think that the Avatar Index is a great resource for those wanting to browse different avatar options and I’m looking forward to seeing what the free avatar will be like from KZK!

Cyfir

Viewer Developer's Remarks on Resource-Intensive Avatars Sparks Debate

By Bixyl Shuftan

Last month, Hamlet Au interviewed Black Dragon developer NiranV Dean about what the viewer maker felt was an underdiscussed cause of lag: avatars that use of a lot of resources to process. While it's no secret that the more avatars in an area, the worse the lag can get, some of the more popular mesh avatars are more taxing than others. He went as far as to state they used up far more processing power than characters in computer games.

"Maitreya starts with 80,000-100,000 — only the base body. Belleza was something like 200,000+ last time I checked. Modern games use roughly 20-40k for an entire character. A few games use more, obviously, but 20-40k is standard today. So with 100-200k you can imagine how much more straining avatars are. And they are just bodies — [not counting]  clothes, no hair, nothing."

NiranV's solution, he felt, was for users to refuse to buy these polygon-heavy avatars, and to look for ones that have less. One example he gave was the Snokra Snake avatar, which used less then 28,000 polygons, which could be reduced to about 15,000, while "the Maitreya body without hands, feet and head has 125.000 triangles. Belleza has even more." Hamlet himself felt that on average makers of popular furry avatars had done a better job of making quality mesh avatars that didn't use massive ammounts of polygons than makers of popular human ones.

There was no shortage of comments, especially in response to the first article. Some readers stated that high quality/low impact human avatars did exist, including one made by a furry product designer. But not everyone was on board for looking for an alternative. There were comments that decent human avatars had to have all that complexity to look good. And one felt "the barn door is open and the horses are out," saying these high complexity models for better or worse had become the standard and not many would "willingly use what they perceive to be a frankly less-beautiful product." Cassie Middles had a video with tips on how to improve performance either when wearing one of the avatars in question or being around them.



Between the links, there are a lot of remarks in the comments, including a few insults when the debate got heated and a few Not Safe For Work pictures. There's much information and opinions, but what there isn't is a clear-cut solution that satisfies everyone.

Among my friends in Second Life, one is proud of her appearance, and if it uses up a few more resources fine with her. At one point, she complained about people "jellydolling" her and not voting for her in party contests because of it, though no comments about it lately. Others have also mentioned using Maiterya for their avatars. I've also talked a friend who commented his screen would lag like heck, until derendering one particular avatar, then his frame-rate per second would shoot up to 20 fps. One sim moderator told me she had to deal with complaints about one renter's horses which were getting the blame for the lag, when it was really high-detail avatars hanging around at the social spot.

What do you the readers think? Feel free to comment below (but no insults please).

Sources: New World Notes, Black Dragon Viewer, Cassie Middles

Bixyl Shuftan

Reader Submitted: Partial Furry Ban

By Lia (Female Winslet)

On August 2, I visited The Lounge: Jazz By The Bay. I was promptly asked to leave by the host on duty, Benj Mimulus, a member of the furry community, because I was wearing a quadruped avatar. The Lounge bans feral furry avatars. The owner, xaphyre.ansar, confirmed this partial furry ban and that feral avatars will be asked to leave.

Upon arrival at The Lounge: Jazz By The Bay, my first impression was that the venue was small, possibly a recently opened club. DJ Speelo was playing reasonably good tunes, although his mic work needs improvement. He seems to interrupt tunes haphazardly and sounds as if he is shouting over the music. I had been there before in an anthro form, and this was all what I had experienced before.

Mr. Mimulus immediately began sending me instant messages telling me that formal dress was required. Confused by why he would be telling me this, I said I understood that and I was using a quadruped avatar. He again told me that formal dress was required. I pointed out that quadruped avatars typically do not wear clothes. He again reiterated that formal dress was required.

It took me a few minutes to realize why Mr. Mimulus kept telling me that formal attire was required. Until then, my experience had been that clubs either do allow furries or they don’t. And the typical dress code at a formal dress venue, if furries are allowed, is something like the one at Sweetheart’s, which states "4 legged furries must wear fur and 2 legged furries must be fully clothed please."

Eventually, I realized that the problem at The Lounge: Jazz By The Bay was with my avatar. Because quadruped avatars do not normally wear clothing, Mr. Mimulus wanted me to change avatars, not just clothing. I told him that I do not change avatars for anyone except myself, but I would leave if my avatar posed a problem for him. He confirmed that he would like me to leave, and I did.

I reached out to xaphyre.ansar, the club owner, to describe what had happened. I asked if it was correct that quadruped avatars are not welcome at The Lounge. She confirmed it was, explaining the policy this way: "[W]e discriminate against anyone not wearing clothes[.]"

Discrimination against furries is nothing new in Second Life. Frank’s Place is a particularly infamous example. But this was my first experience with a partial furry ban, in this case one affecting only the feral members of our community. It was also the first time that I have seen a furry choose to work enforcing a ban on members of his own community.

I hope that the club owner will recognize that discrimination is not the way to go. Until then, I hope that furries and our friends will boycott this club. And I hope that Benj Mimulus will stop enforcing a discriminatory ban against a part of his own community. He should never have taken this job and, if the policy does not change quickly, he should resign and go work in a place where all are welcome. As a furry himself, his active participation in discrimination against his own community provides xaphyre.ansar with a degree of cover to claim that the partial furry ban is okay.

Lia

Editot's note: the picture is of the avatar in question at a club that is happy to have well-behaved visitors, regardless of appearance (as long as larger ones are careful where they step).

Reader Submitted: Collection of Places That Restrict Furry Avatars

By Lia (Female Winslet)

The sole purpose of this list is to help furries be able to explore Second Life without running into hostile receptions, including bans or being asked to leave because of their avatars. I understand that some owners may feel their restrictions are justified by a desire for historical accuracy, a certain ambience, or other reasons. The reasons for the restrictions are irrelevant and I do not pass judgment on them. I only note that they exist. However, because I do not want to reward these policies or encourage harassment or other bad behavior, I will not provide landmarks to their locations.

I have reviewed the TOS and this list appears to be completely legal. However, I want it to be very clear that this is ***not*** a list to be used for harassment, punishing, or otherwise acting badly. This is a list of places to avoid so that you don't get instantly ejected, banned, asked to leave, etc. No aggressive acts against any of these locations. If that becomes a problem, I will end this list.

The vendor, the list, and the script are copy and trans, but no mod. This way you can distribute copies of the list if you so desire. But the admonishment not to harass cannot be removed.

For questions, corrections, or to report other places that should be on the list, contact Lia (female.winslet). If you are an owner whose location has been erroneously included, please contact me to let me know and I will correct the list.

Adult Tropical LATINO BLUE BEACH RESORT
============================
From the place profile: "No avatars under 60 days aloud [sic], no child avatars, only human avatars."

Aux Bains du Paradis
==============
From the place profile: "Human avatars only."

*BDSM RAINTREE BDSM*
================
From the place profile: "HUMAN AVATARS ONLY*

Berlin 1920
========
Excerpts from the SIM rules:
Our rules;
-1920s clothes only
-Realistic avatars only

-Animals shouldn't talk, walk on 2 legs, be half human, etc. And yes... in Berlin people didn't have wings, pointy ears, claws, vampire teeth, etc, except on stage.

Bogart's Jazz Club
============

This is a part of Frank's Place, which is one of the more well known anti-furry spots. Please see the entry for Frank's Place.

Cage and Cell Club
=============
From the place profile: "Human avatars only."

Club Texas
=======
The rules posted on the community forums include "No Furries."

The Dreamer's Island - Surf
===================
From the place profile: "Human avatars only."

Fairweather Beach
============
From their place profile: "Human avatars only."

Feral Woods Beach and Farm
===================
From their place profile: "Human avatars only."

Frank's Place
=========
Franks The Elites and Franks Place Jazz Club do not allow non-human avatars to use these facilities. You may be ejected and banned if your avatar has any "non-human" features (tails, cat ears, ect.).

Frank's also has a notable reputation for homophobia.

The F**k SPOT - Gangbang and Bukkake Room - Human Avatars Only
==============================================

They put it right in their name. 'Nuff said.

Gianfar Peaks of Pern
==============
Pern roleplay community. Furries are okay as long as th-ey are not engaged in the roleplay at all. But only certain canon feral avatars are permitted to engage in the roleplay.

Golden Sunset Beach
===============
From the place profile: Normal human avatars only[.]

Grandpa's Interracial Warehouse
======================
From the place profile: "human avatars only."

Gregfield 1 and 2
==========
From the place profile: HUMAN AVATARS ONLY!

Hook-Up Hall - "Let's Hook-Up" = %100 Human Only
===================================
From the place profile: %100 Human Avatars Only

House in the Woods
=============
From the place profile: Adult human avatars only.

House of FED
=========
From the place profile: FED Home of human only sadists and victims.

Isla de Amores
==========
From the place profile: Human avatars only. No children or furries.

Libentia
=====
From the place profile: Human avatars only. Exceptions; wings and mermaid and mermen.

~ The Lounge: Jazz By The Bay ~
======================

Cocktail/evening dress only. Quadraped avatars are deemed not compliant with the dress code because quad avatars do not wear clothes, so quad avatars are asked to leave. Anthro furries are allowed. Since there are multiple clubs with similar names, to be clear, this one is a jazz club founded by Xaphyre.Ansar. Xaphyre.Ansar confirmed the policy and called it discrimination.

MacLeod's
=======
From the place profile: Human avatars only.

Manatee Naturist
===========
From the place profile: Human avatars only.

Masters/Mistresses Harem
==================
From the place profile: "Human Avatars only!"

Playa Perdida
=========
According to their place profile "Adult human avatars only[.]"

Pleasures XChange @ Serendipity CMNF
===========================
From the place profile: "Respect and tolerance is expected. Only human avatars."

Ramshackle Gentlemen's Club
====================
From the place profile: "...NO animal Avie or Child Avies Human Avatars Only..."

Ritz New York City
============
Club owner says furries are "a problem" and not welcome at her venue. This is a venue created specially for RFL fund raising and RFL official policy does not tolerate this type of discrimination. Current status is unclear.

*Secret Life Lounge*
==============
From the place profile:

STALLION JAZZ CLUB & HUGH'S BOUTIQUE
============================
From the place profile: "HUMAN AVATARS ONLY."

Tom's Prisoners
===========
From the place profile: "Male human avatars only."

Tranquil Tiki Island
============
From the place profile: "Human avatars only and no weapons allowed."

Turtle Coast Adult Beach
================
Sim rules do not allow furry avatars. Neko is reportedly fine. Apparently sim management may be somewhat lax in enforcing the policy.

U N I F I E D - Adult MEN/MALE AVATARS Only Culture Connections:
==================================
From the place profile: Adult Human Male Avatars Only.

White Horse Hollow
=============
Quote from sim rules:
~~~~ What is not allowed in our sims:
Bronies; Furries; Trolls - not welcome


Lia

* * * * *

Editor's Note: There was a small miscommunication with Lia when she handed me the list, I thinking she intended this for publication. As it turned out, she didn't. But she was okay with it.

Faces (That We See)

By Gemma Cleanslate

Thought provoking is what I would call the exhibit in Lea23. Ilyra Chardin (Ilyra Chardin) in collaboration, with friends has created a project named “Faces.” It involves you, and me. 

The entrance room has pictures and poems and comments about people and life , in real life and in Second Life , from people we know or have read about. We are all people behind an avatar. Some we come to know well because they want to let the two worlds meld, others do not so we know them as Second Life residents only. The portraits reflect the varied choices we make as a persona in the virtual world. The words on the wall remind us of the connection between our persona and the real person behind the face. Read it all well. The information in the slide show of a survey from 2015 is part of the basis for what is going on here I would suggest.  

Every visitor is invited to join in a writing contest . Look on the posts for information and rules. After checking out everything out in the anteroom walk through a door of your choice and begin your journey in creating your story . The information pack in the anteroom that you pick up will help you . Choose the scenario you like best as a basis for your story and begin to create. A map in each folder will guide you to the sites that offer options for thought.

Or, just go visit and explore the venues that are out there. I  took a tour of all the venues and your choices are many. You might approach the venue from one angle or another and come up with a completely different thought about what you wish to do. In one of the folders there is an interesting insight into Trolls. I found it really so interesting just looking at all the various sites that Ilyra has created.

I loved all the sites and saw so many options. It will be so interesting to see the stories that develop. There is much to think about in this installation. Just visiting each site caused me to come up with several possible stories of characters I know here or in real life.

As an example of this is from the folder at the hospital, “Did you know that 81% of those surveyed reported that someone close to them was in the hospital in real life during their time on Second Life?  Fifty-one percent reported that they were in the hospital at least once during their time on Second Life.  Eleven percent reported that they had a child during their time on Second Life.  84% reported a death of someone close to them during their time on Second Life.”  I have had both experiences. 

I am not sure if I will have time to write for the contest but am thinking about it. I have to get going on Christmas and winter places for you to explore! Visit and explore the region and the many environments created for you.

Gemma Cleanslate
  

News and Commentary: "Fat Shaming" Publicity Stunt By Store Draws Protests, Traffic

By Bixyl Shuftan

Trolls have harassed stores throughout the history of Second Life. But it's not often when it's the store that does the trolling.

The "No Fat Chicks" meme has been around for some decades, both an insult to women of large size and a suggestion that the speaker is both shallow and insensitive. As it's usually men with juvenile streaks in their mentalities that use it, I was surprised to hear about a store that had a sign with the slogan, and an image of a black outline of a large woman with the international "not allowed" red slash sign. Beside the sign was another offering free "No Fat" shirts made for the store's (thin) female avatar.

Looking at the profile of the owner, I found this description:

Fat in your body! Fat in your a**! Fat in your boobs! Fat in your brain! Fat! Fat! Fat!.... OMG!!!!
STOP IT! PLEASE!
Remember that real beautiful girl Is the slender and graceful, and not looks as a fat pig!
Stop to be fat! Back to graceful!

Yours truly has seen a few female avatars in the past several years sporting what could be called a "Kardashian" look, large behinds and thighs. While there are ways to suggest the more extreme forms of this kind of look are less than realistic, this is hardly the way to do so and expect people to listen. On the Second Life Friends Facebook page and New World Notes, there were pictures and descriptions of protests of women avatars, both large and otherwise, at the store. While yours truly came at a time there weren't any, there was someone at the store who told me there had been, "Yesterday there was a protest here, it's a horrible shop. Today I came to see if there were people protesting."

But have the protests backfired? The presence of the women were certainly an increase in traffic, which does get noticed by the inworld Search function. So they may have inadvertently ended up drawing shoppers to the place. There was a sign at the store placed by the owner that appeared to be aimed at the protesters.

Thank you very much for promoting my brand, my store and my products! Before I was need to pay money for to raise a traffic, but you do it for free! Please continue your flash mob! Do not stop! I love you all!

So if one can look however they want to, why would these girls chose to be plump? Yours truly can think of a few reasons. Maybe they don't want to look like everyone else. Maybe they're plump in real life and see wearing a thin avatar as being less than honest. Maybe they're trying to avoid being IMed for sex repeatedly. In any event, it's their avatar, and with a few exceptions such as racial stereotypes, they can look however they want to.

And it's my impression most men would prefer a woman with a few extra pounds and a sweet disposition than a thin woman who's a rhymes-with-witch.



Image Credit: Fia Wycliffe

Bixyl Shuftan

Little Issues: Explaining The "Fox Reporter" Look.

By Bixyl Shuftan

Most of what I write about is at least mildly serious, such as charities, or a location someone spent a great deal and time and effort to make. But occasionally there are certain trivial but amusing, nagging, or both, issues that aren't going away from your mind. Especially when someone keeps reminding you.

As a fan of science-fiction and fantasy, I've had as my look a "furry" avatar from the start of my Second Life experience. Initially, it was the starter "ringtail" that was available as an option for a beginning avatar at the time. But once I had the cash for another, after some thought I chose upon the Luskwood red fox avatar. I had roleplayed a felinoid in a sci-fi game a few years before. But after reading Tiffany Ross' "Cyantian Chronicles" in which the foxfolk in her story universe had one of the more detailed and interesting, sometimes tragic, histories of the peoples there, perhaps it was time for a change. That the red foxes in the Cyantian stories were traditionally soldiers or blue collar workers was the reason for the fur color.

At first, I would wear a green shirt, which was a leftover from my days in the "Runescape" MMO (what I played before "World of Warcraft"), along with clothes similar to what I wore in real life, a brown jacket and slacks. I had to skip the shoes as my feet were just too big. But after I landed a job in James and Dana's Second Life Newspaper, I used my first pay to get myself a white fedora and tan leather overcoat. Since I was a reporter, I wanted to look like one. And so, I went about in the classical 20th Century reporter's look. And with the most popular news channel being Fox News, well, that helped add to it with the "fox reporter" catchphrase.

Over the years, I would get other avatars, from Lusk stripped skunk to Kani bunny to AX hyena, to black human, and many others, which I change to on occasion. But the Luskwood red fox has continued to remain my main avatar. I sometimes change to other clothes while still being foxy, such as the red Victorian era suit I occasionally wear at the Steamlands, or a black jacket and jeans while on a motorbike. But usually I can be found with the fedora and overcoat. Although all of my avatars, aside from the human, are PG nude due to the coat of fur, I always go about with at least a pair of shorts in them, except for the mesh tinies and micro fox, which I have yet to find pants for.

Most people are happy with this look, calling it neatly dressed. But one friend for some time has been nagging me a bit, "Why do you wear clothes?"

Although she on occasion has on a full dress, she prefers going about with very little clothes. If someone had a coat of fur, even a short one, she feels realistically would mean he or she couldn't wear much for long. The overcoat and long slacks, she feels, would realistically lead to me quickly overheating. So she feels the coat and pants have to go.

I disagree. For one, this look was popular even indoors in the days before air conditioning. People just dealt with the heat. And in the colonial era when Europeans went to travel about, or take jobs, in places in the tropics, while a few were "going native," most continued to wear their existing clothes meant for a much colder climate in the hot tropical sun. Even if they didn't see the locals as "savages," it was simply the thing to do.

Tiffany Ross would also say a few things on the matter in her comic forums some years ago. The furry people of her fictional world of Cyantia didn't have a nudity taboo, but most who lived in cities and towns still wore clothes in public. As she saw it, clothes allowed her Cyantians, as well as humans in real life, a chance to distinguish themselves as individuals, even for those who aren't fashion snobs. Plus it helped distinguish themselves from those who went "feral" and abandoned civilization, and their clothes.

And of course, if you're standing upright, your "family jewels" are more exposed to things like low branches and flying rocks. So some kind of cover is needed to prevent what realistically would have you bending over in pain.

So the clothes stay. While you may see me in something other than the coat and fedora on the fox on occasion, or an avatar other than the fox such as the skunk at some Relay events, if anyone sees me stark naked in public, it's from a computer glitch.

As for why always a male avatar, aside from when my friends raise an enormous amount of money for charity, that's an issue I've already discussed in December 2013. As for why I haven't replaced this avatar that's been around for over ten years, that's another story.

Bixyl Shuftan

Furry Discrimination

By Grease Coakes

Sometimes in Second Life I just want to chill and hang out at one of the many dance clubs in Second Life. Maybe to work on a writing project with a live DJ jamming tunes for me or goof off talking with friends. Electronic Music Informer is a good source of various music clubs to whatever music genres. Until one day when I walked into a club that was against furries which surprised me, as the majority of human clubs accept me for who I am.

So I find a club at Anaconda (42/32/22) that was playing hip hop. I was accepting that they were playing different music. It’s boring to hear EDM or electric dance music all the time. I was there for less than a minute and suddenly I got an IM from nowhere

Šassy Hausмaηη - Ivory  (Sassy Lexenstar): WE NEED TO CHANGE HUMAN PLEASE
Grease Coakes: why?
Grease Coakes: Furries aren't allowed?
Šassy Hausмaηη - Ivory  (Sassy Lexenstar): NO FURRY
Šassy Hausмaηη - Ivory  (Sassy Lexenstar): NO
Šassy Hausмaηη - Ivory  (Sassy Lexenstar): MOM WILL BOUNCE YOU
Grease Coakes: That's racist :O
Grease Coakes: I don't understand why don't you allow furries?

When I went there a second time without reason she booted me to a safe haven here at the Vilania sim. What really surprised me is that I was banned there just for being a furry. When I tried to go there to get more answers I ran into a message that said, “Teleport failed You are banned from the region.”

So not only did I not get a reason of why furries are not allowed at this club, I was also banned. That’s sad that in Second life that I ran into a racist club. It’s bad enough to see racism in my first life. Second Life should be a place to chill and relax and if I choose to be a walking talking fox then so be it.

I’m part of a group called  “Furs Against Social Inequality.” I shared my story within the chat group and got some swift responses.

Second Life should be a better environment then the real world to hang out at a club with or without your friends. It’s unfortunate although rare that there are clubs in Second Life that don’t allow you if you’re different then the human norm. Second Life is a fantasy where you should be allowed whomever you want. It’s a shame I found a club that wasn’t okay with that.

Grease Coakes

Editor's Note: The Newser has reported on avatar discrimination a few times in the past, a recent commentary in January examining them.

The Primal Passions Club

By Bixyl Shuftan

If you're looking for a club that appeals to the wilder side, one place to check out is the Primal Passions Club. Located in a castle in the Zoxen sim the club promises to offer a unique adult experiance to mature-minded residents.

Co-owner Rayven Avalira described the club as a place for residents reguardless of appearance "to come and explore their more primal, feral and fantasies of every type and kind in a safe environment, along with meeting other like-minded individuals." Of it's orgins, "I had the idea of having my own club for awhile, but the idea for this one specifically came from when I met and married my Lion Beast Coeles, it was him who opened up a far wider world ... showing me the many possibilities of different species to explore and see what called to me." Second Life being a virtual world where one's appearance was more or less what one wanted to be, there was more out there than just a differance in skin color. One could find a lover of a different sapient race out of science fiction or fantasy.

"We then embarked on the many pleasures together from erotic, to carnal, to exploring the many ways of lust with not just each other but also with other playmates ... we wanted to bring the wide world of pleasures we found to together, to others in a safe place where all are respected and admired for their individuality and uniqueness."

Another reason for creating the club, not all places welcomed nonhuman avatars with open arms, "I have heard stories from others in my travels in SL that some places are not very friendly to mixed couples of human and furred. I also noticed to many clubs are speciests and discriminate by not allowing you in if your a non human, which angered me. To me all are equal human or not, its the personality and the one in the avi that matters over the avi to me, and vowed Coels and my place here, would never be speciests ever."

"I hated it when I found a great club, to only have them tell my non human friends they cant be there. Second Life is supposed to be this huge place of creativity and coalition of ideas and fun, but what fun is it if your excluded from a club, because you choose to be a beast, or furry or demon or other fantasy creature?"

Of the design for the club, "I always loved old castles, and how they can seem  so dark and foreboding on the outside, to reveal such elegance and beauty inside. Making one realize you can never judge the outside until you seen the beauty within. Hence the underlying hidden message of Primal Passions, don't judge till you seen the beauty with in." There is much inside to see and explore, "We have the main club area, a dungeon, a separate chambers skybox, a lapdance area, it is meant to make one feel at home while enjoying the many pleasures of our dancers and escorts, have fun with events and the variety of DJ's. I made sure to have a bit of something for everyones taste from romantic to BDSM." The hidden areas have beds, some made for normal human-sized avatars, others for when one or more partners is much larger in size.

But the secret beds aren't the only kind of fun to be had here. Rayven says the club plans to hold at least three events a week, "We play mostly from classic rock, rock, metal, etc genres, But all of our DJ's will gladly play any requests our guests have that they would like to hear. We are also hiring male and female dancers, escorts and dj's and hosts of all species, including human."

"We also intend to hold live concerts here as well," their first one planned being an Iron Maiden Tribute concert, "courtesy of Rockshoppe Concerts. The stage set is being built up outside as we speak. I would love to see a large turn out of course, as to me concerts are a great way for people to mingle and meet and strike up friendships and possibly far more."

Rayven's partner and the other co-owner of Primal Passions, Coeles Tentigo, had more to say about the club and why it came to be, "One of the big things here in Second Life, in my opinion a little silly, a number of sex clubs do only what can be easily done in real life, the same six pack abs, the same music, the same old thing. This doesn't make much sense to me ... so many possibilities. The people coming here will find a much different experience."

He described the club as "running under the 'Four-F System': fun, friends, 'farking,' and fantasy." Coeles expressed puzzlement as to why so many residents stick with ordinary human avatars, "you can become anything, so why become the same? I suppose there's the familiarity, but after a while it becomes boring. This place allows you to expand your horizions ... I think that's pretty awesome."

But just because a club caters to nonhumans, Coeles felt it doesn't necessarily mean it's ideal. He found some of the older furry clubs as having a number of  "immature individuals in the labor scene, bouncing around. That's fine for them, but we want to do something more mature." Coeles added, "we won't stand for any drama. We are very zero drama in that respect."

"We want to appeal to people who want to expand their fantasy, whether it involves demons, angels, or any other being from your imagination." Coeles did note there was one exception to their welcoming avatars of all kinds: child avatars are not welcome under any circumstances, "we're strictly an adult sim."

Coeles wanted Primal Passions to appeal to "eroticism, moving away from some of the simplistic aspects to some of the more complex, story driven, creativity, imagination ...not the wham-bam stuff." In a sense, the club will offer residents to become part of an erotic fantasy/sci-fi story, "You have an event, you meet up with a creature like me or her (Rayven), you'll get a much more deeper immersion, become part of things more adult oriented, storytelling cross-genre, eroticism, creativity, ideas never previously considered, real sensuality."

"If people come here and think it's going to be a demonic f**fest, it's not going to be that. The customer's going to come away with such an experience, they'll be telling fifty friends about it, something different and unique. I think people coming here (to Second Life), their imaginations have been stretched, but many of the clubs here don't cater to that we go for a much more memorable experience, more immersion for the senses. We're doing something different, catering to the unique." For those whom find certain creatures interesting, Coeles says they plan to encourage to have a variety of appearances in the audience from many fantasy/sci-fi races, "the more the merrier."

Coeles felt the experience would cause some visitors to have a moment of realization, "Wait a minute, I've spent my entire virtual time being just an ordinary human being. There's so much more here that I can be." Of his "Four-F System, if more people lived by that, there would be less trouble. If you want in here, check your drama at the door. If you have a problem, there's various ways of dealing with it without getting others involved. This will be a safe environment that you feel comfortable with, that you can experience new things without being judged and have fun amongst other adults. You don't have to be worried about being called, 'weird,' it's okay. It may not be the taste for everyone, but it will expand the horizons of many."

Coeles explained, here are some guidelines to the roleplaying, "no one's going to grab you and take you, unless that's what you want. There may be storylines in which people play the part of a character getting corrupted." Besides the roleplaying, "You can touch the dancers if they don't mind it. There will always be a chance for live interaction. If someone's going to be a problem is when the interaction ends." Rayven commented, "If people want to get it on on the dancefloor, I'll rezz a bed. It'll just cost so much an hour."

Coeles once again mentioned the no-drama rule, "if they're going to be idiots, we don't want anything to do with them ... it may put off a few people, but," they want the club to be enjoyable for all. Bloodlines is restricted, "no random biting. If someone wants to become a vampire, that can be worked out." The use of the "Onduty" male attatchment is definately *not* welcome. "If you can't play by the rules, you'll be shown the door, everyone else will go on without you, and you won't be wanted back."

"It's going to be interesting to see how it all works out, there may be a few little mistakes, but once people see what we're all about, good roleplay, individuals being comfortable with expressing themselves, people happy to visit a spot that caters to adult roleplay by mature adults."

"I would go to a lot of clubs, talk to people, a lot of people were so bored, 'there's nothing to do.' I'd talk to them about mine," Coeles stated while some weren't interested in his club, others were, "There's going to be a lot of fun to be had. The clientel, people who are going to be respectful adults ... if you want to get interactive and the dancer's fine with that," one can. "We have the rooms, the skybox, the dungeon."

Coeles mentioned another reason for the place was for, "an escape from the depressions of reality." It might be one's personal real life or, "the things that go on in the news. Seems you can't turn on the TV without hearing about someone get his head cut off by some maniacs. You can come here and escape and relax and de-stress, enjoy a higher level of sexual pleasure."

"Some things that other clubs don't allow, we do. We aim to be unique. Second Life is supposed to be this collaboration of ideas. So why be stuck only as a human all the time? Explore your fantasies in a safe environment. That's the beauty of virtual reality, your avatar can't truly be hurt, you're in a safe avenue where you can explore. For instance, I was at an Africa sim and had fun exploring the place. I can't do so in reality as Africa's too dangerous a place to visit."

Rayven commented, "The beauty of SL is you can do things here that you can't in real life. ... The first time I met him was interesting, I was a little scared. I was still 'trapped in that box.' When he got me in that bed, I wanted more. He opened a curiosity that just won't go away."

Coeles and Rayven noted that they have an open relationship, "The world needs a little less jealousy, less posessive, ... everyone has a great time. The madness of jealousy, I just don't understand it."

They noted that they're open to suggestions, such as to what events to have, "all people have to do is drop us a notecard."

"Why a castle? Well the way Coeles and I are, it's like beauty and the beast. Everyone's equal here in this place while having a good time. Something different from the run of the mill club in Second Life. If you're uncomfortable, you can turn around and head out the door, and no one will think any worse of you."

"So be ones pleasure music, concerts, sexy dancers and escorts, we have it all here, for all to enjoy regardless of species. ... This place is meant for all, as Coel and I see the beauty in all the other avatar species, and would love for them to all come and enjoy themselves here. Coel and I have also many secret things in the works that will also set us apart from all other clubs in Second Life as well. So many will want to stay tuned as to what those are and when they will happen here. To all the creators of all the other avi species, we want to tank them for the vison and creativity in helping to make Second Life a far moere diverse and beautiful place."

The Primal Passions Club is in the Zoxen sim.

Bixyl Shuftan

Avatar Social Network : The First Facebook for Virtual Worlds ( and Second Life, of Course)

By Wesley Regenbogen

Avatar Social Network ( http://www.avatarsocialnetwork.com ) is owned and operated by AP Holdings. It’s the first social network that doesn’t ask for your real life name, but asks for your Second Life name or any other virtual name you might have in other virtual worlds. They offer a free registration process. Also they offer a peaceful and friendly environment where people can share, create friendships, post photos and can be friends with each other. This is all supervised by admins and moderators, though.

Once you are registered, you can start posting, sharing and do other activities on the website and get credits for doing something on the website. Once you get a certain amount of credits, you can be rewarded in-world ( Second Life or another virtual world you are registered in ). This is why the website is a fast growing community for virtual worlds and games and where members are truly appreciated not by the rewarding system itself, but by other members as well.

You can also sign up with Facebook and Twitter, which is a bit odd, because Facebook and Twitter are more related to Real Life, right? Nevertheless, this new virtual worlds oriented social network does seem to be growing ever since it has been created. There is the ability to create groups, I created two already, while writing this article. You can also post your thoughts on the forums and you can also create your blog there. Posting videos and adding your virtual world employment to the social network are also possible. There is even a section where you can give or receive gifts. You can search with the “Search” feature, which is obvious, of course. You can add your own pages to the social network as well.

Chatting with your friends, similar to Facebook, is also possible, as well as sending private messages to each other. Playing games on Avatar Social Network, the so-called ASN Games are also available. This is more like what you can do on Facebook as well.

Well, to make a long story very short : Avatar Social Network is the Virtual Facebook for every avatar around the globe, whether you are in Second Life or another MMO or game, you want Avatar Social Network to get credits, both on the site and in-world, to get you started !

You can find Avatar Social Network ( ASN ) ATMs around in Second Life, but I don’t know if there’s a Avatar Social Network place within Second Life.

Wesley Regenbogen

Introducing Katzu

By Becky Shamen

Before learning about Second Life, I was developing skills at making animated videos, for teaching purposes. Upon seeing samples of my work, a friend suggested I check out SL. The dragon in the video was named Katzu Kwattle (Quetzalcoatl) and his mission was to teach the principles which are the ancient foundation of every religion on earth.

One of the main reasons for joining and staying in SL was that it might provide pictures and animations that could be used in teaching the Ancient Wisdom. Over the last four years, we have developed avatar's personas to fill this mission. The exotic dancer (stripper), Becky "Sha" Shamen, becomes an enlightened member and supporter of "Community". With her theory that "Heaven is for Heroes", she becomes an explorer/Journalist, encouraging readers to embrace their inner Indiana Jones and go exploring in SL. Over time, several alts have been developed, in the hope that these could springboard to better prepared teachers. This process of spinning out new alts began with "Bach Shamen", Sha's brother. A separate account was used because, although Sha could change her display name to male, the account name would show his real name was Becky. We should note here that, many males, she had met, said that females had it easier than males, in regards to earning money and finding love in SL, so this added to the reason for trying a male avatar.

For about two months, Bach made slow progress, with getting L$ and girl friends, disproving the M/F theory. Then, he got sidetracked by the very means of his advancement. Wanting more wealth and friends, he turned from his inner mission to follow his older sister's path. Sha's brother morphed into her little sister. This "new" character served no purpose, other than just being a copy-cat, so eventually faded out of SL.

As a reporter, Sha felt that a male avatar might be better suited to some of the sims and adventures being covered. Since snapshots of him would not show names, she made a male alt, within her own account and called him Joshua Xavier. Josh appeared in a number of articles, under Sha's Newser Byline. Ultimately, a new SL account was opened for Joshua and he soon changed his display name to Josh X. Of note here, although Sha and Josh share the same oneness with this writer and have similar qualities, they have distinctively different personalities and sometimes even disagree on things.


Now, as his own man, Josh is also a reporter for the Newser. As a Scientist/Philosopher, Josh's stories span a different end of the spectrum from Sha's and may even fall off the scale of what will fit in the Newser. For writing "off the scale" stories, Josh would need to create his own, larger than life alt. After reading Xymber's article on SP Dragon Guardians, it seemed a good idea to reincarnate Katzu, into SL.

Josh did some detective work and tracked down Spider's shop on MP and inworld. At L$2,899, it was more than he could afford, so Sha sent him the needed funds. After the Friday night theme party, at Cutlass, Josh logged off and went to the marketplace.  Returning to SL, he opens the package and puts on the new avatar. Right away, we discover this avatar is way more complicated than just switching from human to furry. Knowing it would take weeks to perfect, we were still eager to take it out for a test drive. We changed the color of the belly scales, to match the original, christened him "Katzu Kwattle" and headed to Cutlsss, to find stragglers and compare the size and manuvering differences. Our friend Val was there and we had a long chat, as I played with finding good camera angles to capture the dragon that is the same height as the club's walls.

Although Josh and Katzu can't be on SL at the same time. using two viewers, either can meet up with Sha. Such meetings are hard on our notebook computer and both Katzu and Sha have more than average draw weight, as avatars go. Still, we wanted to see if it could be done, so Katzu came on, using the SL Viewer and Sha came in, using the Nirans Viewer. With great effort, we set up a snapshot of Sha, dressed in colors of fire for an upcoming theme, interviewing Katzu as to who he is and what his mission will be. That conversation shall not be given here, but shall reverberate in the writer's mind, in the weeks that follow.

Within days, we learned that it was much easier to navigate and take pictures of Katzu, when he walks on all four, a.k.a. quad mode.

Getting used to this avatar is like learning a new software or viewer. In the long run, his high cost is offset by not needing other accessories like clothing, shoes and hair. It comes with two HUDs that allow changes to looks and movement. The AO has many preset animated gestures and even 12 animated grunts, giving him a limited dragon vocabulary. The #3 grunt sounds, unmistakably like HELLO. By clicking the AO off, he will follow  the regular AO or dance HUD and drop back to quad with a click of the mouse.

You may or may not see any Katzu stories in the Newser, but they will turn up at ShaAdventures.blogspot.com from time to time. A hint of his mission can be found in the fact that Katzu calls himself a Makara, rather than a Dragon.

Becky "Sha"  Shamen

A Trip to the Avatar Fitness Club

By DrFran Babcock

In my First Life I am called upon often to read and evaluate research, and I get to read a lot of it. I was very surprised to find that a study was conducted at the University of Kansas (see reference at the end of this article) using Second Life™ as a support for weight loss. Since the most common resolution for the New Year is to lose weight, this could not be timelier.

 I figure folks are not really interested in me providing details of the research, but I am sure you would like to know what they researchers uncovered. Basically, two groups of sedentary people were put on packaged food weight loss programs. One group had actual face-to-face support in a group and the other group had virtual support groups held in Second Life™ that used voice.  It was found that the face-to-face group lost more weight, but, the Second Life™ group maintained their weight loss for a longer time—in my opinion, a far more important indication of success.

With this in mind I tried to track down support groups in world, and I found an amazing location for all things fitness and health: The Avatar Fitness Club, or AFC.

The Avatar Fitness Club

The club is a project of the Cooperative Extension (news article ). DrFran is quite fit (cough, cough) so she sent Morleena in a skimpy bikini to explore the site. The build is set up to be a virtual health center, and contains aerobic equipment, a weight room, yoga room, swimming pool, and more. She was happy to see that there are actual support groups starting there that are held in the AFC Lounge on Fridays at 1:30 PM SL time. If you are interested you have to IM Jaye Jeffries to reserve a spot. Jaye is in school in First Life, studying Exercise Physiology, so he is a perfect candidate for this kind of venue.

It is true that just having your avatar run laps and lift weights will not do a thing, but wouldn’t it be nice to talk to other people who are working on weight loss while your avatar motivates you to do exercise in First Life?

Morleena ran on the treadmill, swam a few laps, lifted weights, and did a bit of yoga. She didn’t go to a support group, because there was none at the times she was there, but there were a few avatars using the equipment.

So, are you feeling as if you’d like to get rid of those 2013 holiday pounds? A trip to the Avatar Fitness Club might be just the push you need to motivate you to make some changes for your health. I suspect that if enough people join the (free) group, that the owners of the club will add some more support groups. After all, the research does seem to indicate that talking about weighty issues does help keep off the weight.

You can find the Avatar Fitness Club here: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Morrill3/207/72/27

 DrFran Babcock

(Click Here if the video fails to load) 

Sha's Thoughts: Josh on His Own

By Becky Shamen

 This is the new member of my avatar family. His name is Joshua Xavier, but it didn't start out that way. He began as an alternative costume for Sha, after hearing from males that it was so much easier for females in Second Life. Like wearing a furry, she would wear him and go about experiencing the flip side. The problem was, the disguise had one flaw, in that, even when attempting a made up name tag, people could still see the real name of Becky. To get around this, a second account was opened, using the gender-free name, Bach Shamen.. Bach made a great start as a man and even attracted some girl friends, As Sha's younger brother, he lacked a mission of his own and was caught up in fulfilling the dreams of other males, making money and finding love. After proving that SL men could make money and date pretty women, he returned to the nest, so to speak, by becoming Sha's sister, almost a twin, save a darker shade of hair. For a while, they worked at the same club, on alternate nights. Since the computer could only handle one at a time and there was little difference between them, Bach soon fell out of use.

When Sha became a news reporter and adopting characters to fit the sims  and lifestyles of the places being explored, it began to make sense that some stories are best told from a female perspective, while others from the male's. Sha's male avatar was dusted off and used in two stories, as a narrator for topics that required no exploration to write and were suited for a more authoritative speaker. By using trick photography, the two could even seem to be two separate people. He was given the name Joshua Xavier, to give maximum polarity from his progenitor.

When a new account was opened, Sha donated L$3000, to let him shop for macho clothing, like airship captain, knight in shining armor, and leather jackets. Perhaps there will even be a motorcycle in his future. As yet, there is no sharp line between what stories will be taken by Sha and Josh, but in general he will gravitate to the science/philosophy, mental end of the spectrum, while Sha shops the feelings, desires, heart side of the street. It will be an educational experience for their player/writer (moi), developing the flip sides of the coin.

Becky "Sha" Shamen

Sha's Thoughts: Second Life and ESP

By Becky Shamen

In our article on DNA morphing machines, we talked of a future that allows us to imitate second life, by changing real bodies as easily as we do our avatars. Is this a two way street? Are there some real world abilities that second life needs to learn?

We explore our worlds. using our senses of sight, sound, smell, touch and taste. Any of these can, with practice, be improved. Alas, in the virtual world of Second Life, we seem to be limited to sight and sound. Are there techniques, we can employ, that will enable us to refine our senses? In the real world, there are additional, higher octaves of our five senses, which are collectively known as the sixth sense, including clairvoyance (seeing) and telepathy (hearing). We all have these abilities, but few learn to use them fully. Our extra-sensory-perceptions tell us things, about others, that we are unable to explain how we know. We use expressions like; He gives off good vibrations, Her smile lights up a room, He was green with envy, so angry I was seeing red. Those that have developed these higher senses, called "seers", explain that we all have energy fields surrounding our bodies, called auras. The etheric aura radiates information about our physical health. The colors in our astral aura reveal our moods and desires. Our thoughts create objects which float about in the aura. By looking at these "thought forms", a seer can tell what things you spend the most time thinking about. Like our basic senses, these higher senses, with practice, can also be improved.

In Second Life, most of the things that others know about us are seen, in the choice of avatars and the words we type in chat. If you have a computer that can handle Voice, you also get to hear how they sound. How is it that, with such limited data, we can, almost instantly, tell that a demon or big bad wolf is someone we would like to be friends with, or that a cute little pony might not be invited to your parties? Does the energy in our auras find it's way through the internet and into our avatars?

In real life, there are two compliments that I often receive. The first one is, I have great legs and, looking in the mirror, I have to agree. The other is, I light up a room, but that's not as easy to see. In Second Life, I buy my avatar's shape and skin in the same stores as others. I find most people I meet to be extremely friendly, helpful and generous and wonder if others, wearing the same shape and skin, get the same attention. I do have one unique feature, that might set me apart. I made a custom texture for my eyeballs, which I have never shared, so am the only one in SL that has them. The eyes are the smallest detail on the avatar and, more often than not, I am dancing on a pole. Unless people are zooming in on my profile picture, my eyes can hardly be the reason for being so popular. I begin to suspect the light, that people sense in real life, may have found it's way into the virtual world.

In Real Life, any senses beyond the standard package of five would be considered to be ESP. On the other hand, in Second life, having only sight and sound to guide us, there is a far greater range for potential ESP. This writer's opinions are but one drop in a vast ocean of players. We must leave it up to our readers to answer these questions for themselves. Does ESP exist in Second Life? Can we touch, taste or smell things there? Out of tens of thousands of players, is some small percentage of them able to see the higher realms? Do avatars have auras? Can we communicate with each other, telepathically, without using our keyboards to chat? If you have answers, contact me and I'll be all ears, especially when I'm in bunneh mode (grin and wink).

Becky "Sha" Shamen