Drama couldn't make up crazy stories like the following example.

The richest of the rich in Silicon Valley are actually throwing money around the GOP in order to defeat Trump from receiving the nomination.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3483046/Silicon-Valley-bosses-Republican-leaders-secret-talks-stopping-Trump-s-bid-White-House.html#comments

Meanwhile their own hometown ballet company closes its doors due to lack of funding.

http://www.contracostatimes.com/breaking-news/ci_29610630/silicon-valley-ballet-shuts-down

This is the attitude of the tech elite for you in spades.  It also highlights my continual theme that these people are insane and they truly believe that they will reach the "Singularity" rapture.  They fully expect to live forever inside machines.  In fact they hate their own bodies.

So it is no surprise that an art form celebrating humanity and the beauty of human bodies would fail to thrive in their vicinity.

Here is another contrast in photos that says it all...

Techs would rather watch this...life in simulcrum

Over going to the theater to celebrate beauty like this...

These people are truly without culture and they flail around trying to create it anew.  In the process destroying everything that makes us human.  And this is all due to the fact that they hate that their own bodies.

This was cross posted at my non-tech blog

The Third Cat

THE THIRD CAT from gorrr aka. Mosmax on Vimeo.

This was featured on New World Notes today in honor of the passing of filmmaker Chris Marker.

The machinima was created by Max Moswitzer in collaboration with Chris Marker.  It is a love note to "The Third Man" but this time around, starring Chris Marker's lovable feline.  It also features some of the most spectacular builds in Second Life.

Of Screenshots and Machinima

Due to new TOS changes for Second Life, I will no longer be snapping screenshots.

There are problems in the TOS which exposes creators in SL to data scraping.  This has led to a clash, (long in the creation) between screenshot/machinima people with creators.  And one that is being exploited by Linden Lab to "liberate" IP property.

Most screenshot hobbyists work under the notion that they are inside a world that has real life analogues such as the public street.  I was once of the same mind.  But this is not the case in Second Life or any of the virtual worlds.  The artwork inside World of Warcraft, Warhammer Online, Aion, Farmville and Second Life is proprietary material.  We are allowed to screenshot these worlds for our own pleasure.  However that allowance does not extend to claiming ownership of these pictures.  They are not ours, not even if they look professional and fanciful.

Linden Lab's new TOS, which will go live on April 30, 2010, grants mass approval for screenshots and machinima regardless of the creator's wishes.  Not only that, if the owner of these various items lives on Linden Lab mainland, they don't even have the option to prevent screenshots/machinima.  This can only be prevented if the resident lives on a private estate that prohibits such practices.

Of course this has caused heated discussions all over the Second Life blog and news pages.  The clashing between creators and screenshot/machinimists hides the fact that Linden Lab itself can now showcase VR creations that they did not commission in order to sell their platform.  They are implying through the TOS that anything created with their tools is theirs.

So far, the official lab blogs have been quiet.  And the main point of the problem is still hidden by battles between residents.  I'm hoping that a revised TOS will be issued before April 30th which will be beneficial to the rights of the creators.

Venison Arts

Good furniture is the basis of an SL home.  But it is art that makes it very personal.  I'm always on the look out for galleries.  There are galleries that specialize in reproduction prints.

And then there are original artists working inside SL that create prints from their own artwork.

Venison Arts is one of those places.  The art prints have dark fairy tale and nature themes showcased by lovely illustration work.  I now have a collection from the gallery and I'm always saving up for a few more prints.

The shop is located in a small skybox and decorated with a romantic victorian vibe.

You can visit and purchase your own original pieces here:
slurl.com/secondlife/bondar/242/27/3407/

Venison Arts also has a website in which an SL owner can order real prints for their physical homes too.
http://www.venisonarts.com/va/gallery/