IT'S OVER

Yes, the helicopter show at Tag Airport is over. But what a show! Airport Owner Zipperhead Wurgle was heard to say that his traffic ratings soared, and those are honest traffic ratings. He said that his numbers were higher than ever, and that he plans to make this an annual event. The displays were incredible, and although I missed the flying events, I understand that they were well-attended and enjoyed by all.

I am going to close by posting a few more pictures from the show. I hope you enjoy them.




Zipperhead Wurgle, owner of Tag Airport and sponsor of this fantastic helicopter show.




A Milestone Huey in RNZAF (New Zealand) markings. Notice the 'sugar scoop' IR suppressor, which was an early attempt to prevent enemy shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles from obtaining a lock on the helicopter's hot turbine exhaust gasses.




Yet another Bell UH-1D 'Huey' helicopter; this one is owned and displayed by D.A. Admiral, of the popular Dogs on the Run aviation group (aka DOR).




Sikorsky S-51, by Patrick Lawson of Real Flight aircraft corporation.




Boeing-Vertol CH-46 'Sea Knight', also by Real Flight.




Sikorsky S-64 Skycrane (civilian version of the CH-54) in the colorful Erickson Air Crane markings; this one is by Real Flight (Patrick Lawson). This helicopter is displayed with its underslung fire-fighting module.




Another view of the same helicopter. It's hard to tell what the white box is in the background, but I think it is a new Russian helicopter. It's Mesh, which does not load properly in my older-but-less-laggy browser. Oh, well; some day we will all be forced by LL to use the newer browser anyway, and then I'll get to see what it was supposed to look like. :)




Yeah, a big Russian helicopter. My friend couldn't tell what it was, either. I'm sure it's really good though.


I'm looking forward to next year's annual helicopter show at Tag Airport. I was sorry to see it all come to an end, but perhaps there are other events planned. Stay tuned right here to be the among the very first to find out!
'Til next time...

~Jamie~

Helicopter Show: I WAS WRONG!

LMAO... Not many times will I admit that I was wrong (I'm close to being perfect), but just this one time I'll admit that I was mistaken. What did I do? On one the pictures I posted on a previous entry, I erroneously attributed credit to the wrong builder. Oh, Well. Anyway, the CORRECT builder is P2nda Skall, and some of his products can still be found HERE.

I searched for an in-world store, but I had no luck. His airport appears to have been closed, at least for now. If anyone has a LM for his new location, please let me know and I'll post it here. At any rate, here is the picture that I wrongly credited to another builder:





Here is a close-up; you can plainly see the builder's mark. My bad.

Meanwhile, as long as I've begun another post, I'll share a few more photos of the show.




Above, a view of another variant of AMOK's popular UH-60 Blackhawk. There are many like it, but this one is mine. :)




The AT AH-6 'Little Bird' is shown in the picture above. It features a menu to change the color from black to Desert Tan.






The above two pictures illustrate the amount of detail that went into Milestone's fantastic CH-54 'Skycrane'. This helicopter has the ability to actually carry an external load in Second Life, providing for a considerable amount of entertainment value, as well as for a lot of fun!






More Milestone detail, this time in their Bell UH-1D 'Iroquois', better-known as the venerable Huey. Several versions are available, this one being the USAF rescue version.




Above, a cute little pink girly copter. Not everything has to be all military and war-like.




Not quite sure what these are (above), but I have to assume that they are different versions of a Mesh helicopter of some sort. (As seen through an older and less-laggy viewer)




Overall, this has been quite a show. It will continue today through Sunday morning, so if you have been following along but have not had a chance to visit, you still have some time. Again, here is the location of Tag Airport.

Enjoy


~Jamie~

Helicopter Show, Part Deux

So far, the helicopter show at Tag City Airport has been a huge success. I have visited the show several times, and there's always at least a few people there. Each time I go there, it seems as if there are even more helicopters on display. I suppose I should have counted them, but maybe that's something YOU could do. Let me know what you come up with. At any rate, I'm sure the number will be impressive.

As promised, here are more photos from the show. Enjoy!




The Sikorsky Sea King (above) is another helicopter from Pretender Broome. Like his orange one shown in my previous posting (to which I supplied a Marketplace URL), this helicopter is only L$150, which is a steal by today's standards. I'm adding one to my collection; I think you should too! Very nicely done.




Above: Another EC-135, this time by Creatif Design. A prospective helicopter buyer in Second Life really does have a lot to choose from.




The colorful fire-fighting version of AMOK's popular UH-60 Blackhawk series is depicted above.




This is Real Flight's Sikorsky S-51, made by Patrick Lawson, and available on Marketplace.




Above is the gunship version of Milestone's excellent UH-1B/C. As I said before, Milestone's helicopters have flight characteristics far superior to all others available in Second Life. Did I mention that they're a lot of fun?




Spartan's BIG CH-47 Chinook (above).




Shown above is the Hughes TH-55 from P2 E Teles. The interesting thing about this tiny helicopter is that it has a drop-down color-change menu, so you can easily personalize it, even if you don't posses building skills.




The USAF UH-1D shown above is yet another great Milestone helicopter. There is an entire series of these, including different military branches as well as civilian versions. You owe it to yourself to get at least one. These are a lot of fun to fly, and they include two versions in the box: one has the good script, and the other has the more standard SL-type script that most other helicopters use.




Some colorful helicopters; I have no idea whose.




My display area. Yes, I own quite a few helicopters. There is no better time than now to start your own collection. If you have any questions on where to get these or any others, feel free to contact me in-world, and I'll do my best to send you in the right direction.

Until next time...

~Jamie~

Helicopter Show at Tag City

Let's All Go to the Heli Show!

I was given a notice yesterday that there would be a helicopter show at the relatively new Tag City Airport, so I thought I would go there and have a look. I had heard mention of this new airport before, but I had not actually taken the time to visit, so this was going to be all new for me. Once I arrived, I saw that many helicopters were already on display. While wandering around, I met the owner of the airport, Zipperhead Wurgle. He was very pleasant and invited me to add to the display.

Being a huge rotary-wing aficionado, I didn't need to be asked twice. I picked an open spot and set up a few of my favorites, being careful to select ones that were not already on display. I must have timed it just right, because the sim began to fill up shortly after I added my own display. Nearly every helicopter manufacturer in Second Life has been represented, including a few that I was not aware of (yes, I ended up spending more of my hard-earned L$). I went around and took pictures to show what a large gathering this is, and I'll post of few of those pictures below. I hope many of you will take the time to come out and have a gander at what's on display; it may surprise you to see the vast number of helicopters that are actually available in SL. Here's the SLURL so you don't have to search for it in-world: Tag City Airport

Overall, it's nearly overwhelming. There are so many different aircraft here that it's hard to know where to start. You'd probably be best-served by beginning at one end and methodically working your way through all the displays. There is no tentative schedule of events, but Zipperhead informed me that there will be some in-flight displays. If I am able, I'll announce these through the group chat (group joiners are set up on the field, if you're not already a member of either 1st Air or Aero Scouts). Hopefully this will turn out to be like a week-long airshow. It should be a good way to meet new friends, considering that most people there will have the common interest in helicopters, or at the very least, in aviation itself.



Above is an overall view of the airport. You can see that much of it has been filled, but there is still some open space available. Contact Zipperhead Wurgle in-world to make arrangements if you have something you'd like to display here.




This is the EC-135 Eurocopter, made and sold in SL by Apolon.




This is another version of the same helicopter, the EC-135, but this one is made by Tig Spijkers. The advantage to Tig's helicopters is that they are 'mod', meaning that if you are a skilled builder in SL, you can change things on it, like perhaps the colors, if you're so inclined. Second Life is all about choices, and there certainly are plenty of them available.




Here we have a Piasecki H-21, a helicopter first built in 1949 and later used by the United States Army in the early stages of the Southeast Asia Wargames in Vietnam. This one is built by Jade Kangas.




The helicopter above is made by Pretender Broome. I had never heard of this builder before, and he has no mention of his products anywhere in his profile. I finally found his online store by searching Marketplace, and was pleasantly surprised to see that this helicopter costs only L$150. This aircraft flies strictly by 'mouselook' (be sure to invert your mouse in 'preferences' before trying to fly it), so for me that is just a bit different. Nevertheless, it's a wonderful build, especially for the price, and I think it's a good candidate for for a first helicopter for anyone wanting to become involved with rotary-wing aircraft in Second Life. It deserves a place in everyone's collection; get yours HERE.




Above: A UH-60 Blackhawk variant by IKI Heavy Industries; their store can be found at Yumix.




Oh, check this out... it's one of the old Cubey Terra helis from the Golden Age! Yes, these are still available, but you'll have to get yours online from the Marketplace. I posted a link to his page in an earlier article. I think it was in one of the Mesh rants, I can't remember. Well, you DID read it, didn't you?? LOL, go have a look; I'm not going to post the same link twice. This helicopter is another classic, and for the price you can't go wrong. (OK, it's near the beginning of THIS article)




THIS, my friends, really is a true classic. It's the Milestone Bell 47. I have to tell you that the scripts that Milestone uses in his helicopters are unique, and they account for the fact that his helicopters are the VERY BEST you can get in SL. Milestone's helicopters are the most fun to fly, I just can't say enough about them. If you buy just one helicopter, it should be a Milestone. You won't regret it. All others pale by comparison.




Another great Milestone helicopter, this one is the CH-54 Skycrane. It's expensive, and I would not recommend it as a first heli by any means, but it's a wonderful build, and it's worth every penny. It's also available in a civilian version, for those who are not interested in playing with military helicopters. Like I said, SL is all about choices.




Yet another classic Milestone helicopter is the UH-1B/C Huey, made famous during that Vietnam War we have all heard about. I really like this one. I have bought several.




The above helicopter is a bit less military looking, and is reminiscent of the old Bell 47. This particular one is made by Judy Dressler, whose products can also be found in Marketplace.


I'm going to end it here, for now. I have a lot more pictures to share with you; perhaps I'll do another installment of photos from the helicopter show. At any rate, please take the time to go have a look for yourself. You have nothing to lose, aside from more of your hard-earned L$, but even if you do decide to spend some of it on a helicopter, I think you'll find that you've opened up some new horizons for yourself. At the very least, you might make some new friends. Take care, and maybe I'll see you at the show.

~Jamie~

---THE DIFFERENCE---

Let's get this out of the way. The brain is a difference engine, not a similarity engine, and any time someone
tries to assuage you with feel-good similarities, they are trying to get you not to THINK about differences.
Proponents of LLMesh have tried to minimize the difference between LLMesh and sculpty by claiming that all objects
in SL are technically "mesh". While this may be semantially true, it's a similarity with a distinction. The
technical mesh is differentiated from LLMesh because LL used a generic term for something specific. Ideas are
manipulated in semantics by people selling something, so if it helps to shut up their pedantic technical
BS, use LLMesh instead of "mesh" as something that was introduced into SL that it wasn't originally
designed to accommodate, as opposed to generic "mesh" that doesn't offend platfoms that were designed for it.

All objects in SL are made up of essentially triangles. Legacy prims have more restrictions on the relative
locations of triangle points than sculpties (rigid UV maps). LLMesh allows more triangles in unrestricted
locatons (non-rigid UV maps). Without getting into the problems LLMesh has in interacting with stuff and code
that had a different premise when it was originally designed, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that each
stage from legacy prims to sculpty, to LLMesh, more information must be used to describe each object. More information
is more data to store and manipulate, more data is more memory and time to process, and more memory and time to
process is more lag. This is really a HUGE no-brainer, yet how many times did the mesh zombies (some refer to them
as "mesh Nazis) tell us that mesh doesn't lag?

However they want to parse it semantically, SOMETHING FREAKING LAGS! Do any of us care whether it's llMesh that lags,
or the leprechauns in the code that don't like LLMesh? Whether they could articulate why, everyone KNEW when LLMesh
rolled out, they lagged where they didn't before, and crossed borders badly where they didn't before, and crashed
where they did't before. And it was the introduction of LLMesh that did it. Don't let them make you feel better
about LLMesh by making you feel stupid. It's their favorite tactic. For the rest of this blog, when I say "mesh"
I'm talking about LLMesh, the particular flavor of mesh foisted upon residents by LL and the people who stood to
benefit personally by selling you stuff made of it.

All the technical BS comes down to this...LLMesh lags because LL tried to stuff a round mesh peg into a square
SL legacy hole. The problems arise because apparently LL didn't recognize the hole that THEY originally made was square,
and  when problems immediately ensued, they proceeded to carve on the hole by an endless series of updates and roll-backs
(that they call another update so you won't know that they screwed up).

Yet, after repeatedly having ther semantic arguments proved wrong or irrelevent by prima facia anecdotal evidence that the most
right-brained non-techie could see with their eyes shut, the mesh zombie answer to the lag was "spend money for a new
computer like I did".  Which is pretty easy for them to say, because many of them got the money for their updated computers
from YOU, by selling you stuff that was harder for them to make before mesh. See a pattern forming here?

The problem here is not that all mesh is equal, or unequal. The problem is not a technical or semantic issue. The problem
is WHY they did it, HOW they did it, and WHO really benefitted from it.  While they juggle those three balls in front of
you, they are trying to get you to focus on the fact that the balls are all made of the same crap. Just because you don't
know all the intimate technical details of 3D rendering doesn't mean you don't know human behavior, and THAT is what it's
really about. While LL is telling you to pay no attention to the lag behind the curtain, don't forget it was the Elite
Content Creator class who sent out the flying mesh monkeys.

The Problem with Bots

Those of us who have been in Second Life for any length of time most likely know what 'Bots' are. Linden Labs defines Bots as avatars that are controlled by a computer, and not by a human. I think most of us have seen these before: an avatar that may or may not have a complete profile, but they are always seen standing (or sitting) in the same spot, sometimes for days at a time. Typically, they will not answer if you say something to them. This is because they don't even know you're there. They are not being attended by a person at a keyboard. They are on 'auto pilot,' so to speak.

WHY would anyone want to do that, a new-to-SL person might ask? The answer is simple: TRAFFIC. A sim owner, typically one who owns a store to sell his goods in-world, generally and understandably wants to have as many people as possible visit his sim. One way people find out about places to visit in Second Life is through the Search function. Destinations are listed in order of traffic rating, with the highest numbers being first, or at the top.


TRAFFIC

Traffic is measured by the number of visitors in a given sim, and by how long they stay at that sim. If traffic numbers are low, Search will not show that particular sim in a favorable position, and people typically choose the top choices, so one way of getting to the top is by cheating. This can be done by placing bots in that sim, which are unattended avatars that stay logged in for extended periods of time. Bots like this can be seen at certain "airports" (or stores disguised as airports), for example. They are used at other places too, such as at clubs, but since this is an aviation blog, we'll just stick to the discussion of their use at airports.

Another way people find good places to go is by checking the map and looking for green dots. Unless actually shopping, most people prefer to go to places that appear to be inhabited rather than just any random empty sim. Having bots present in the sim creates the illusion that the place is busy, when in truth it may be quite dead. Once you arrive, however, you've been lured in, and you are only helping the owner further increase his traffic numbers. You get there, look around, and you cannot find any of those avatars that showed on the map. A closer look might reveal that they are up on a platform out of sight, or maybe even sitting underwater, and they never once move from that spot nor will they answer you if you speak to them. They wouldn't even notice if you bumped into them, because they are not really there. These are bots, and their use as such is a blatant violation of the LL TOS.



The avatar shown in the above photo has been sitting underwater like this for days. He doesn't answer chat or IMs, and he never moves from that position. Occasionally he will apparently get logged off, but he always comes back later in the same spot. Why would anyone spend their time in SL doing absolutely nothing? Well, it's a bot, but a cleverly disguised one, with a complete profile and everything. Not clever enough, though; he is obviously not being operated by a real person. He is fraudulently boosting traffic statistics. Either he is getting rewarded in one form or another, or he is just an alt of the owner. I suspect the latter. Oh, and YES, he has been reported.


POLICY

"Well, so what?" you ask. Here is the thing: it is most definitely against the LL Terms Of Service policies to use bots as a method to fraudulently boost traffic statistics. Here is a link to the Official LL Bot Policy. Please take a minute to read it. It is very enlightening. Notice that this policy specifically states that these rules apply to both Mainland estates as well as to Private estates. Penalties for violation of said policies can be quite harsh.

There are legitimate reasons for using bots too. One such use would be in a clothing store where a live model is being used to demonstrate clothing outfits. What qualifies these bots is the fact that they have applied for what is known as "Scripted Agent Status," which automatically causes them to NOT impact traffic numbers. That's right, these bots do not count as traffic statistics, and are not there for that purpose at all. Obviously, they are being used to model the clothes. The only exception here would be the use of an actual live model, an avatar who is controlled by an actual person sitting behind a keyboard. Odds are this type of model is getting paid for their time, as well, which brings us to another touchy subject: Camping.


CAMPING

Camping in SL is not nearly as common as it once was, but it does still exist, although its use is frowned upon by LL. No, I'm not talking about camping like with a tent and roasting marshmallows over a campfire. Camping, in this instance, generally means the act of remaining in one spot and not interacting with the rest of the world, often leaving their actual computer unattended, for the purpose of earning L$. They can use a special 'camping chair,' which gives a payout in L$ (usually at a very low rate, maybe L$1/hour), or they can work by special agreement, either being paid in L$ or with 'free' products (airplanes, clothing, anything). All they have to do is remain in the sim for long periods of time.

At one time, Linden Labs used to pay land owners a premium based on these traffic numbers, and camping chairs were often set up for the purpose of populating the sim. The money earned by the land owner far outweighed the money paid out, so it's easy to see why this arrangement would be so popular. It was also good for the n00b to be able to sit and gather a bit of spending money. That all changed though; on June 13, 2006 the LL payout system for high traffic areas was phased out. Linden Labs had always been strongly against this abuse of the traffic system, and they were finally forced to change the rules. The same traffic system is still in use today, however it is unclear as to how long this will continue, given the amount of abuse it is still subject to.



This avatar is different; at least she moves around from time to time. While not a true bot, she is more of a camping bot, since she seems to be controlled by someone who may be at work and occasionally checks on her.

She used to stand at the sim landing point, but in time realized that she was annoying people, so she moved to this new spot, where she always stands. Sometimes she will rez an aircraft to make it appear that she is actually doing something, but when auto-return deletes her plane, she is left standing there again, all by herself. She look like she is 'away' in this picture, and she is, technically. Away status takes a while before it kicks in, but she will rez a plane and then immediately toggle AFK. Yeah, it's a bot, of sorts. Did I report her? Nah. It's her loss if she has been convinced she should spend all her time standing here. Who knows, maybe she gets free planes. Or maybe she is just another shill's alt. Oh, and check out her fancy Mesh outfit... LOL


ABUSE

Abuse of the system is even easier now, with the advent of smart phone clients that allow anyone to log on to SL from a remote location, not tying up valuable computer resources of their own. Why is it bad, though? Well, first of all, it's cheating. Stealing, actually. They are stealing from Linden Labs with their fraudulent methods, and indirectly, they're stealing from YOU, because it will only serve to increase costs, which will be ultimately passed down to the consumer. It also increases client-side lag. Among the things that can increase client-side lag (meaning the lag in YOUR computer) are prim clutter, particles, highly-interactive games (yes, the combat games), and LARGE NUMBERS OF AVATARS. Add this to an already laggy region and Mesh Lag, and you can see why border crossings have become increasingly difficult in recent months.

Yes, I know; LL keeps 'fixing' things, but they are not totally to blame. Why allow selfish land owners to add to your problems though? They aren't doing it for you, they are doing it for themselves. They are taking from YOU and padding their own pockets. It's all at your own expense, whether money-wise or resource-wise. Bottom line, it's dishonest, pure and simple. Do you really want to do business with someone who has shown dishonest principles? I certainly don't.


FILE A REPORT

The right thing to do is to report the abuse any time you see it. That's what I do. FILE AN ABUSE REPORT, it's very easy to do. All you have to do is click the 'Help' tab and select 'Report Abuse.' Be sure to fill it out completely or they will not investigate. You aren't telling on a fellow avatar, you're preventing abuse that ultimately affects all of us. Think of it this way: if that land owner is trying to cheat LL, what do you think he would do to you, as a potential aircraft buyer?

Thanks for listening.

~Jamie~

THE BLOB, or Dealing with Mesh as an Avatar

In my previous blog entry I said I would discuss further the impact of Mesh in other aspects of Second Life, more specifically, with regard to avatar appearance. Before I get into that, I wanted to quickly mention a few things.

First things first

First of all, you may have noticed that I linked to a couple of 'old school' builders' Marketplace pages. If you didn't bother to check them out, I wanted to point out that the Cubey Terra pages offer several freebies. This is stuff that we used to have to pay for, but now he is giving it all away! A few things are still pay-only, but nothing is above L$500, including his classic Stearman biplane, and his classic helicopters.

For the creators in SL, he is offering his original TCS combat system FULL PERM, meaning that if YOU want to create a combat system of your own THIS is the place to start. Did I mention that it's free? Either way, you simply cannot go wrong; at least pick up the freebies before these classics are no longer around!

The same thing goes for the Mifune Thibaud page. This is classic stuff, and while his planes are not free, someday they may no longer be available. Both of these builders are icons in the virtual aviation industry, and their wonderful planes belong in everyone's collection.


Second, I wanted to say that anyone who wants to add to the discourse here can post their comments in the 'comments' section at the bottom of each day's blog entry. Alternately, you can send me a notecard with your feedback, and with your intent to publish a reply, whether it supports my statements (which, by the way, are only my opinions, based on fact and observation), or even if the reply completely disagrees with my views. I promise I won't censor out any opposing comments, providing that they are not too venomous in nature, and I'll try to be fair regarding any requests I receive to post points and counterpoints. Bear in mind, please, that I may decide to prune some of the more lengthy ones for space considerations, however I do not intend to quote anyone out of context. BTW, anonymity here doesn't fly. If it's not clear who you are in SL, you don't get your say, that's only fair. No anonymous attacks, sorry. :)

Please do not send me any free planes with the idea that you'll get a favorable review here, because that is not going to happen. If I do decide to review anything here, it will be totally unbiased and based on its own merits. There are some people in SL who masquerade as 'test pilots' to get all the newest planes free as soon as they come out, and who then proceed to shamelessly push said products on everyone they see. I see these people all the time (they are known as 'shills')... YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE, and so do the rest of us. If you ever see me, and I recommend something to you, it's going to be based on personal experience with that product.

The Blob

Does anyone remember "The Blob"? Check the link, it was an old (1958) horror flick, and incidentally it was Steve McQueen's first leading role. It's about a town that was attacked by a shapeless blob-like creature from outer space and the hero's efforts to save the town from imminent destruction. Typical fare, I know. The reason I even mention it at all is because I am trying to make the point that here in Second Life, we too are under attack by blobs. More specifically, Mesh blobs.

WTF, you say? I laugh... You already know that I am one of the holdouts who cling to their old viewers, and I cannot properly see Mesh with that viewer. Then why don't I switch to a newer viewer, you ask? Why should I, so I can see what YOU bought?? Heh, I explained all that in the last post; go back and re-read it if your memory is short.

As I did mention earlier, many of those who are Mesh-enabled have been configured with the V2 versions only because LL has made them the default viewers now. It's not that they made a choice, it's just that they used what was given to them by Linden Labs when they first logged on. Therefore, unless they are TOLD about it, they may have NO IDEA that those of us with the normal viewers might see things a bit differently. QUITE a bit differently. OK, SOME of the older members here have chosen to (or have been pressured to) switch to the new version in one form or another. These people do know what I am talking about, and many of them still won't wear mesh clothing or hair. That's because they know what they would actually look like. Let me give you a few examples, just in case you really don't know what I'm talking about:



These two (above) are most likely proud of their new hair. Unfortunately, they are wearing blobs. Does it matter? I don't know; do they care about their appearance? I would think so, or they wouldn't spend the money on it. As long as they THINK they look good, that is all that matters, right?



(Above) Aww, this one is so happy with the new dress she just bought! The thing is, she just paid for a blob. Does she know that? Probably not. Do WE know it? Yes, if we have the older viewer. Should we tell her? LOL, that's up to you... is she your friend?



OOOOH, nice legs! Too bad we can't see how cute she is, right guys? So, just get the Mesh viewer then. That's not ALL we'll be able to see, either (the guys here all know what I'm talking about; more on this later).



I bet this guy (above) thinks he looks like a bad-ass. LOL, not to me. It looks like he is wearing a stack of camo'd hat boxes. Maybe they're Kevlar.



Vas ist das? A flight suit? (above) I think it is, but I can't tell by just looking a it. As long as HE is happy with it, it doesn't really matter how others see him. Until LL forces all of us to use V2, there will be many of us who will still see Mesh this way.

Why does it matter?

Appearance-wise, it DOESN'T matter, unless you care about your appearance, and I honestly believe that most of us DO, or we would never be spending all of our hard-earned Linden dollars on hair and clothing. I think that some people have blocked the thought that other people can't see what they bought as they intended, but I do not believe that most people use SL as a source of personal gratification. People DO care about what others think, and about how others see them. I think that many of the newer people here just do not realize what Mesh looks like to the rest of us... but there is more to this than just appearance. Please bear with me for a moment.

The Emperor's New Clothes

Does anyone remember this old Hans Christian Anderson fable, The Emperor's New Clothes? Please take a moment to click on the link, it's short and takes only a few minutes to read. Remember now? He was tricked into thinking he was wearing a wonderful new fabric, yet he was walking around nekkid in public. No one dared to say anything negative, so he continued to walk around with nothing on, and not knowing, until one young boy spoke up.

This reminds me a lot of what goes on in SL. It seems that some people are fearful of peer pressure, and some fear retribution from those who strive to control things. If they say anything negative about Mesh, they will be banned or otherwise discredited, maybe through group chats or by other subversive means such as griefing. Oh this doesn't apply only to Mesh; the same thing has been known to happen regarding many things, but for the sake of argument (THIS argument, anyway), we will apply the idea to the topic of Mesh, at least for now.

Anyone who has been around at all knows that Mesh clothing does not conform to the standard LL avatar form. In order to have these clothes fit properly, the owner has to either wear Alpha mask layers to hide parts of their body that would otherwise poke through the clothing (yeah, guys, you wish!), or alternatively, the wearer must actually CHANGE HER SHAPE to fit the clothing! I, for one, am not about to compromise my shape just to wear a specific item of clothing. Yes, I know, many clothes include several sizes to try on, but ultimately, you're going to either have to change some of the appearance sliders or end up going with the Alpha layers.

Why is this a bad thing, you ask? Well first of all, altering your shape can be a PITA, especially if you have it set to just the way you want it (I'd have to say that this is more of a girl problem than a guy problem). Another thing is, going back to knowing that some of us cannot properly see the Mesh outfits... since the clothes are not actually worn on the body in the same way that LL clothing is, YOU MAY APPEAR NAKED to people with the normal/older viewers. Don't believe me? Check this out:



I'm sure she has NO IDEA that she is half-naked at a public airport. Yeah.

That's only part of it. Here is the part that all the guys know but won't tell you: since the Mesh clothing is not worn on the skin, like the old legacy clothing, anyone can cam in under your top and perve you! Yeah, once again, LL has set it up so the pervs have the advantage. Not only can they look up your dress as before, now they can cam down inside your blouse.

There is even a movement in SL where some creators want to standardize shapes to make it easier to design and manufacture mesh clothing. You don't believe it? See for yourself: Standard Sizing

Again, please feel free to comment. This subject affects all of us, not just SL aviation. If you want to comment you'll have to sign in. It's free, and you'll be able to express your own opinion, even if it's wrong (JUST KIDDING!)

Next time I'll see if I can come up with a slightly different topic. Until then, fly AWAY from the lag!

~Jamie~

Is Aviation DEAD in Second Life?

I have been asked this question many times in the past. The first question that comes to mind here is 'Why would anyone think it's dead?' There could be several reasons for this, but let me begin with the reassurance that NO, I don't think aviation is dead in SL. Granted, aviation has CHANGED a lot in recent months, and it might seem dead to those who have been in-world long enough to remember how it used to be... I'll call it the Golden Age of (SL) Aviation. Sounds wonderful, doesn't it? Well, it was.

The Golden Age of Aviation

Those of us who have been a part of Second Life aviation for a while most likely have fond memories of Abbott's Aerodrome. As a RL pilot,this was one of my first destinations in SL once I figured out how to walk/fly/teleport. It was an exciting place, with all sorts of expensive (to a n00b) planes and helicopters to dream of someday owning. There was a runway with automated air traffic coming and going, which added to the overall appearance of a busy real world airport. Free demos lined the runway and filled the main hangar as a temptation to those who would slip the surly bonds of Earth, and dance the skies on laughter-silvered wings.



The first planes were simple by today's SL standards, and to cheat the LL vehicle limit of 32 prims, many of the more detailed planes were 'attachers', meaning that the extra prims needed for a better appearance were worn by the avatar as an attachment. Some of these planes are still available today if you search Marketplace for Cubey Terra or Mifune Thibaud. Mifune pioneered the limited use of sculpts in his builds to save prims, and today the use of sculpts is in far greater use by most builders. As a result, we have seen a vast improvement in appearance over the years.



More recently, however, came the push from some to go to what is known as 'mesh'. Touted as being 'better' than either sculpted or prim builds, problems began to arise once mesh-capable viewers became introduced. First of all was the problematic Viewer 2, which was actually released by mistake. The person who designed this viewer completely redesigned the interface in the process, and despite firing this designer shortly after the public release of V2, Linden Labs chose to move forward with it anyway. The biggest complaint from the general SL population was that V2 was completely different from what everyone was already accustomed to, and would require seasoned users to relearn SL all over again. The second problem was that the viewer was actually slower, and textures seemed to take a bit longer to load.

Linden Labs went ahead and made V2 its default viewer, and anyone who came in as a new user after its release automatically signed on and learned with V2 from the beginning, so they really didn't know any different. This was all a part of LL's plan, I'm sure. They were more concerned with accommodating the new users than they were with the concerns expressed by people who had already been using the 'normal' viewers for years. This created a divide.

Anyone who knows me knows that I am Old School when it comes to viewers. While I'll freely admit that I have tried V2 and similar compatible viewers, I always went back to the older type (I currently use Phoenix, but we'll see just how long that will work before the changes render it obsolete), partly because I did not want to relearn how to use the SL interface all over again, and partly because I found the new viewers slow and laggy, particularly when trying to fly a virtual aircraft from one sim to the next.

The proponents of Mesh will holler that 'I need a new computer'. Hah, you have no idea... I have upgraded to one of the most up-to-date PCs available, with an excellent graphics card set up specifically for gaming. It's not my computer, trust me. It's SL. Every time they make a change it is painfully obvious, as things get even slower and even laggier. People complain about it being SL. Well, it IS SL, but it's not that they have screwed something up, per se; they are busy trying to make Mesh work with their limited resources, on antiquated servers, and with a platform that was never designed for aviation to begin with.

I suppose it's evolution. Once things are normalized and everyone has the same viewers, it won't seem as bad (or at least we will all be suffering equally). Personally, I prefer my older viewer. Oh, I didn't mention this part: I hate Mesh. There, I said it. Some of the shills who are reading are SHOCKED that I would DARE to say anything against Mesh. I would venture to say that most of the people in that mesh boat are ones who have no idea what mesh really looks like, at least to the rest of us, and they probably actually wear mesh clothing, as well.

Mesh: The OTHER White Meat

What do I have against mesh, you ask? Well, the way it looks, to begin with. Anyone who still uses the old browser can only see Mesh as a conglomeration of colored blobs and or boxes. Apparently Mesh is nothing more than a trick, a series of textures applied to the sides of an eight-sided prim (or a box with a notch out of it), manipulated by the newer type viewer to appear as something that it really isn't. The proponents of Mesh claim that it's 'better'... LOL, I fail to see why it is any better than the old style builds. Yes, I have seen it using a newer viewer, and the rendering doesn't look any better than the textures looked on the non-Mesh aircraft. Why is it 'better'? What is the actual advantage of Mesh? Oh, but it's easier to make... Ah HAH! NOW we're onto something.



(Yes, that is an airplane in the above picture. I believe it's an F-4 Phantom. THAT is how Mesh REALLY looks!)

"It's easier to make"

So, now we have come down to the REAL reason the proponents (i.e. BUILDERS) and their shills are pushing so hard for Mesh: IT'S EASIER TO MAKE. What ever happened to honest builds, where the builder tweaked and tortured prims in-world to actually BUILD something? All Mesh is is a bunch of textures applied to a few prims, and they call it a build. The way I see it is that the buyer is getting cheated because they THINK they are getting an object that has been lovingly created, when in fact, it has been shown that at least one popular builder was discovered to have been uploading pre-made textures from a known online source, calling it a new build, and charging just as much for it as he would a build that he actually did make. In my book, that's kinda shady.

Another issue with Mesh is that it is inherently laggy. Mesh is known for having border-crossing issues. Most of us have seen Mesh planes stuck and abandoned on sim borders everywhere, and I have personally watched them come to a full stop on crossing and then finally reluctantly cross to the next sim. Some of the more honest mesh owners will even admit to these things, but many succumb to peer pressure and do not want the stigma of having badmouthed Mesh to be associated with them (lest they be banned from certain stores and airports).

There are other issues with Mesh that have nothing to do with aviation, and I will address those at another time. Meanwhile, until LL requires all of us to switch to a Mesh-enabled viewer, I'll be flying something a bit better, using a faster and better viewer.



Please feel free to leave a comment. If I like what you say, I might even paste it here, for all to see. I'm not opposed to differing opinions. After all, I could be wrong (but I don't think so!). Until next time,

~Jamie~