Alphaville Herald

Plexus Linden Gives Second Life Superman Copyright Dance Lessons?

Cozy, classified relationship and implausible deniability

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

[UPDATE: portions of this story have been removed by SixApart staff in response to a DMCA copyright infringement claim - the editrix]

Did Plexus Linden encourage Second Life's copyright-challenged Justice League Unlimited to tap dance around potential IP infringement issues with a wink and a nod, while promising the JLU in-game super powers? JLU leader Kalel Venkman's vigorous pursuit of whack-a-mole takedown actions against sites hosting the leaked JLU wiki are beginning to make sense, as a picture emerges of wannabe game cops desperate to gain favor with the Linden staff, and at least one Linden playing copyright favorites over the objections of his co-workers.

Readers are cautioned that it is possible the leaked chatlogs have been subject to tampering - or revisionist history and wishful thinking on the part of the JLU. There is certainly no lack of misinformation in the JLU’s formerly secret wiki. But Herald researchers point to troubling chatlog passages in several files (BrainiacWiki_Mal-W/default_260.html, BrainiacWiki_Mal-W/default_261.html, and BrainiacWiki_Mal-W/default_286.html) that suggest a cozy secret relationship between the volunteer virtual crime-fighters and the Lab staff charged with enforcing rules in-game.

The first clue that Plexus was deeply invested in the JLU’s existence, despite potential trademark and copyright problems, is found on the page where Kalel Venkman discusses the JLU’s copyright problems and possible solutions (Periwink-whatmall/default_475.html):

“We have been asked by Socrates Linden to take steps to comply with rules about trademark and/or copyright infringement. We have also been told by Plexus Linden to please continue just as we have been, explicitly with respect to our use of well-known characters, as it may be used as a way to get DC Comics and other publishers to take a positive business interest in Second Life. These are directly conflicting instructions.”

Why would Plexus advise the JLU to continue despite the Socrates' copyright concerns? Kalel Venkman mentions that “other GTeam members are taking notice of his 'use' of us and considering the same” suggesting that during the fall of 2007 Plexus Linden had hopes of forming an unpaid player-based junior GTeam to assist the Lab employees. But Plexus was aware that the Lindens should not be seen directly endorsing the JLU, based on both charges of player favoritism and copyright problems - so with a wink and a nod a thin gauze of plausible deniablility was to be constructed.

JLU Wiki Leak: Second Life Abuse Report Frenzy

Real and imagined offenses against the laws of the Metaverse?

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

[UPDATE: portions of this story have been removed by SixApart staff in response to a DMCA copyright infringement claim - the editrix]

Resident conflict in Second Life is to be expected as quasi-anonymous avatars with different meta-games and loyalties play off each other, but detailed information about the extent of the problems have been hidden -- until now.

A partial snapshot of the leaked JLU's incident reporting system [after the jump] is fascinating reading - although some may question the standards of evidence and judgment the superhero paramilitary employs. Despite evident JLU bias, the volume of incidents lends some credibility to JLU claims that they file approximately 1/6 of all abuse reports. But does the Second Life community really want - or need - spandex tights clad role players filing complaints on their behalf and in secret?

The potential for mischief is worrying. Apparently I have been classified as a griefer by the JLU after placing flowers for banned accounts at a memorial for the dead as part of an story on crowdsourcing grief. Do all superheros suffer from a serious irony deficit?

Incidents in the JLU database range from reports of "particle emitting penis objects" in a sandbox to "taunting and harassing residents at a Linden Welcome area" to "Memmer of Woodbury U. Keeping an eye on him." For those that wish to play virtual cops fighting crime - or at least particle spam - membership in the JLU must be rewarding police play work.

Perhaps the most telling incident report is "Day old female av, demanded help rudely, showed very negative attitude, was verbally unpleasant but not obscene. Demanded a lesson in buying lindens so she could buy an airplane. Did not like answer, was abusive but not obscene, could not AR".

Don't you just hate it when you can't file an abuse report on a day old player?

Role-Play Superman Tries Coverup Of JLU Wiki Leak

Kalel Venkman claims dozens of copyright takedowns -- says Chan community corrupts minors

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

According to correspondence provided to the Herald, Kalel Venkman claims to have succeeded with copyright complaints to several dozen web sites redistributing the Justice League Unlimited “Brainiac Wiki”.

The secret wiki was leaked after Venkman’s JLU faction was infiltrated by a Second Life player with ties to a rival group which Venkman’s JLU role play superheros fight using a program of mass abuse reports and ongoing surveillance - including collection and correlating real life information on enemies.

However, not everyone is accepting Venkman's copyright claims at face value.

A Canadian web site administrator who prefers to be referred to simply as “Sean”, says Venkman has harassed his ISP for 48 hours with what Sean believes are baseless copyright claims being used to coverup the leak of JLU’s 1700 page wiki. After examining the wiki contents, Sean is  unimpressed, telling Venkman, "It looks like you're using scare tactics and some stupid misinformation to protect some stupid wiki about some inane online game that's chock full of information you will never legally own. this claim is completely and utterly illegitimate, I have nothing more to say to you, you don't own the content”

What upset Sean? Perhaps Venkman’s complaint to the ISP is a bit overplayed, since it goes well beyond copyright issues. The threat of harm to minors through Chan and Anonymous culture and fear of gang DDOS attacks on the site are given as reasons to remove not only the wiki, but the entire site, as Venkman's complaint says in part:

Linden GTeam and JLU - Improper Conduct?

BrainiacWiki papers claim Lab staff leaks to role play game cops

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

[UPDATE: portions of this story have been removed by SixApart staff in response to a DMCA copyright infringement claim - the editrix]

A troubling pattern of what may be Linden governance team staff collusion with the Justice League Unlimited is beginning to emerge after the JLU's BrainiacWiki papers were leaked to the internet at large by the Wrong Hands infiltration group. Linden staff coaching on abuse reports, sharing alt account identities, apparently using JLU's database and avatar scanners - the list goes on and on. Perhaps most telling are claims that the JLU accounts for 1/6th of all abuse reports on a weekly bases as of the summer of 2009. Have some Linden GTeam members decided to take sides in the game - and keep the volume of abuse reports artificially high by indulging the JLU with special favors and special access? Fueling the faction wars between the JLU "superheros" and the supervillain griefers might be a form of game moderator job security after all.

Given the volume of the papers - imagine trying to report on an encyclopedia - it is likely to be some time before all of the gems have been uncovered. For readers without their own copy of the JLU BrainiacWiki papers here are some highlights:

Plexus Linden using JLU database and wearing JLU avatar key logger

Justice League Unlimited's BrainiacWiki Papers Coverup?

Kalel Venkman now playing whack-a-mole with file sharing sites

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

The leaked Justice League Unlimited "BrainiacWiki" papers have been yanked from 5 file sharing sites - an apparent coverup attempt by embattled JLU loyalists wielding copyright infringement claims - but it may be too late for this sort of damage control given how widely the wiki has spread. 

Kalel Venkman - an unhealthy interest in tights and surveillance?

The JLU is a spandex tights fetish and role play paramilitary organization which - if the leaked wiki is to be believed - compiles detailed dossiers on Second Life residents the JLU considers enemies. This is all part of the JLU's gameplay - a charming combination of ongoing surveillance of other players, a centralized database and enemies list, and a concerted effort at influencing Linden Lab staff and the in-game abuse report system into permanently banning other players.

Justice League Unlimited Secret Wiki Unmasked by The Wrong Hands

Roleplay police recruit copies, distributes 1700-page wiki  - JLU superhero threatens DMCA, legal action

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

[UPDATE: portions of this story have been removed by SixApart staff in response to a DMCA copyright infringement claim - the editrix]

The Justice League Unlimited's secret Brainiac wiki used to track suspected griefers, record JLU meeting chatlogs, and plot strategies to entice the Linden game gods into banning players was published to at least 5 public file sharing sites Friday. Based on what the Herald has seen of the 1700-page wiki's contents, this leak is a potentially crippling blow the the JLU, as the inner workings of the controversial anti-griefer group are on public display, along with significant amounts of misinformation and hints of what might be improper Linden Governance Team collusion with the JLU.

all ur JLU sekrets r belong to teh interwebs - thanks to Haruhi Thesbian and The Wrong Hands group

Word of the JLU papers' release has been circulating all weekend, but Justice League leader Kalel Venkman was unaware of this until Sunday when a new JLU recruit thanked the group for providing unfettered access to the gameplay superhero police manual. The recruit - Haruhi Thespian - tells the Herald that she was surprised to be allowed to join the JLU after a 4 day waiting period and then be given access to the Brainiac wiki - without a non-disclosure agreement.

Thespian says that this was part of what was apparently a planned operation by a group called "The Wrong Hands". Group infiltration followed by betrayal will be familiar to Herald readers as a standard part of virtual world gameplay.

Crackdown on Third Party Viewer Encrypted IMs?

Emerald Viewer's OTR at odds with SL Community Standards and ToS?

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

The grid is aflutter with wild rumors in the wake of the Lab's announcement of an impending crackdown on third party viewers. One source pointed the Herald to what is claimed to be an e-mail sent to the Emerald Life developers. If legitimate, the letter is likely to raise some serious concerns as it puts ability to encrypt chat on the same level as unauthorized content copying.

Is the Lab unhappy with the encrypted private IMs that Emerald enables? Experienced residents assume that the Lindens occasionally take the opportunity to monitor player IMs - but widespread use of third party viewers with OTR (Off The Record) features could curb that activity.

Look for a lively discussion of what is a legitimate expectation of privacy in Second Life as the third party viewer controversy grows.

[text of the alleged e-mail after the jump]

Silver Hawk Leaders Split After Mercenary Brother Commandos Alliance

Command shakeup leaves Lockjaw and Fanzos in charge

by Metallicoe Keng, war correspondent

Last Friday, two of Silver Hawks leaders, Bicket Burt and Dayna Laville resigned from their positions in Silver Hawk leaving Corwin Lockjaw and Fay Franzos in control of SH. The Silver Hawk military that once stood on two SIMs now resides on the one full SIM: Silver Side. I caught up with Dayna Laville on Silver Side Bay, the SIM she reclaimed from Silver Hawk after she left last week.

Silver Side - home of Silver Hawk

Metallicoe: So Dayna, what was the reasoning behind you leaving Silver Hawk?
Dayna: I didn’t like what Corwin and Fay wanted to do, and I was tired of arguing. A conflict of interest, you could say.

Metallicoe: What direction did Fay and Corwin want to take SH in? What caused the arguments?
Dayna: We always argued, but the thing that did it was the MBC Alliance. That was the breaker.

Metallicoe: The Mercenary Brother Commandos? Why did you disagree with the prospect of an alliance with them?
Dayna: No input about it. I found out from a notice. Then had to ask one of my officers about it…

Lonely Hyena Seeks Second Life Soul Mate

Will Erk Gloom find true love in the metaverse with a Herald personal ad?

by Pixeleen Mistral, Matchmaking Affairs Desk

Single hyena loves romantic walks and cuddling in the den - looking for a special someone who is open-minded, not easily offended. Hoping for SL companionship -- maybe more. Seeking M/F/Bi/Fur professional career-oriented hyena who shares my interests and twisted sense of humor. No drama! Attention grabbers, clingy avatars are turn offs. You must be at least 18 years old, preferably adult verified. Good taste is important -  avatar height and weight should be proportionate, demonic eyeballs or bright colors are fine, but cruxes should not be mutated further than their original shape.

Even virtual hyenas need love. Last week Erk Gloom called to introduce himself and tell me he was feeling kinda blue - his online romantic life was a shambles and the Lindens had banned his SL partner -- could I help?

Normally I refer these sorts of inquiries to a well-known self-proclaimed metaverse expert admired for infallibility at the expense of consistency, and a sympathetic, gentle touch.

But - bad luck for me! My fave-rave anti-techno-communist/collectivist was offline, and when Erk mentioned Leda Swanson, I stopped cold.

Every year on June 3rd, the Herald staff hold a silent vigil in a deserted, silent snow sim to commemorate Leda Swanson’s transformation into a furry -  a grim reminder of how an uncontrolled furry sex addiction can lead to the depraved depths of hermaphrodite hyena sex.

Thinking about Leda and her sad fate brought back some painful memories - but I couldn't blame Erk for his interest in the Leda Swanson's transformation story. The hyena can't help it.

When Erk asked for an introduction to Leda, I had to tell him that after her transformation, Ms. Swanson had disappeared without a trace, but there was still hope. Google teaches us that targeted Internet adverts can work miracles, and the Herald tops the charts in virtual hyena readership. Perhaps a carefully crafted personal advertisement would help.

Ex-Copybot Merchant Ignores BuilderBot Threat - Says Piracy Will Continue

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

Reformed Copybot reseller Nimrod Yaffle shrugged off the BuilderBot threat to the in-world L$ spacebux economy and promised to continue selling his own pirate creations - flintlocks, bandanas and leather baldrics. The vote of confidence was in sharp contrast to the whinging content creators that swarmed RightAsRain Rimbaud’s blog monday, after the publicity-starved Rezzable entrepreneur sucessfully trolled the grid with threats plans to release an open source BuilderBot - a sim-wide copying tool  that can be used to move sims from Second Life to other grids such as OpenSim - and provide off-world backups of sim-spanning environments.

Nimrod Yaffle's pirate content will continue to be sold - despite the copy threat

Entirely predictable drama followed Mr. Rimbaud’s announcement, simultaneously inflating Rezzable’s visibility puncturing it’s reputation, as concerned content creators saw the possible BuilderBot release as reckless endangerment of the Second Life economy, and their own bottom lines. Those with weaker ties to the Second Life in-world economy argued in favor of freeing content from the Linden Lab’s servers, pointing out the Lab’s less than stellar abilities as a data custodian. The tempest was tamed tuesday, as Mr. Rimbaud backed away from earlier statements that an open source sim copying tool would be a universal good, handing BuilderBot’s opponents at least a partial victory.

The war of the content copying bots is far from over however - so I sought out Nimrod Yaffle, to see how the content piracy threat might affect his pirate content business. Nimrod Yaffle’s background in marketing the original DRM busting CopyBot - which he resold for a 10% commission  - and the quality time he spent in Linden Lab’s cornfield prison uniquely qualify him to comment on the BuilderBot situation.

Plurk Players Warn Against An Internet Casanova

Don't date guys who think brushed out perms are hot, and evaluate their success on the number of levels their EQ2 elf -❋Łƚƪą❋

by Dr. Penelope Hydra - Internet love and sex expert

It all started so innocently. A Plurk line began by Delora Starbook that said, "Hi Dancien!" (Graves) turned into a 1300-reply plurk thread ripping into a would-be Second Life and Internet casanova, Sands Leavitt. Insults flew, ex-girlfriends jumped into the fray and even worse - questions were raised about Sands' boasts that he is good looking.  Photographs of Sands from Sands himself are a bit grainy - perhaps the lighting in the basement was lacking. Are these the signs of a true ladies' man?

None of this drama will make sense without understanding that Sands has a reputation for preying on women online.

What kind of women? The gossip says the more emotionally gimped they appear to be, the better - he's been known to skip over the pretty young single Second Life girls - yes, they do exist - to obsess over a married woman with children. Some claim his last four girlfriends have been married with children and the ones who are not don't last long with him. Sands will find new victims, send countless complimentary messages, kiss their feet, and won't stop until he has decided that he "has" them -- after spending many energy points talking the woman's real life significant other down while talking himself up, all to secure a better position in that woman's life.

Some of Sands' targets tell me that he has no problem giving out his cell phone number to women - but his work location is something he keeps more secure. While he has been known to get women he's had relationships with on webcam, he has never been seen on webcam himself. This raises the question of whether the pictures floating around the internet of Sands aka, EQ2 Zhouyu The Great, from The Highlight are real.

If the woman breaks off an affair with Sands, the insults fly. He's been known to call his ex's "whores", "trash", "leftovers", and worse. No matter who broke the relationship off, Sands claims he was the one who broke it off. Internet romantic breakups can be rocky enough without this sort of abuse - so beware.

Sands often mentions the girl's children after breakup. He sends one of these children (Ex #4 in the plurk threads below) gifts. As an internet advice columnist, my professional opinion is that mothers should reject the presents, or at least put then through in the dishwasher - there may be meth residue.

Excerpts from the record-setting plurk thread:

The Awful Truth About Internet Dating!

by Dr. Denise Levertov, virtual advice columnist

---

dear dr. denise:

i'm lonely, desperate, and thinking of dating on the internet.
my friends tell me I'm crazy, but what is the worst that could happen?
is there anything I should watch out for?

 - miss lonelyhearts

---

Dear Miss Lonelyhearts,

I sense that you have self esteem issues and have been disappointed before - or your keyboard's shift key is broken. In either case, there is a series of instructional videos that I think you should watch to familiarize yourself with what you will be facing.

- Dr. Denise

All the Cyberlebrities Ask: Uri, Where da Party At?

Photo from Josh Fouts

by Pat the Rat, from the Cyberlebrity Watch Desk

I recently read a critique of the Herald in which we were taken to task for being self-absorbed self-hyping wankers. I confess, I don't see this at all. Anyways...

Joshua Fouts, the Chief Global Strategist for Dancing Ink Productions (hereafter DIP) is everywhere in Metaplace these days. DIP in turn is most famous for their CEO and creative director, Rita J. King, who in real life is hotter than any avatar will be until we achieve Singularity (sadly for Uri, she has a rock on her finger the size his Subaru WRX STi; even if he sold the Herald yacht he couldn't afford *that*). But I digress yet again. Josh's most  recent post on DIP's Dispatches from the Information Age details the Studio 54 circa 1977 atmosphere swirling around Uri's place in Metaplace. As Josh reports, Raph stopped in to ask Uri for some help with a tough Lua scripting problem, and then Tish Shute (immortalized by Prokofy Neva as "The Chirpy Whitewasher from Ugotrade") dropped in and offered to whiten Uri's wash, metaphorically speaking. Is it like this every day? Only the Cyberlebrities know for sure.

SHOCK! Spamhaus Blacklists Linden Lab - E-mail Reputation Ruined!!!

Real Life heartbreak: metaverse postcards blocked, love letters lost

by Tenshi Vielle

Are you wondering why you haven't been able to send in-world to email postcards recently? The answer could be that Linden Lab's mail servers have been added to the Spamhaus real-time black list - a move that flags e-mail from Linden Lab and Second Life as über-spam, ruining the Lab's mail service reputation, leading to a cold, heartless rejection by many e-mail service providers.

The exact range of Second Life server addresses that have been blacklisted can be found here:

GoDaddy.com Whacks NicholasMafia.com Website!!!

Abuse reports lead to Nicholas Mafia website suspension

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

Ego and pride are an essential parts of the SL mafia lifestyle - and rival gangs are quick to take credit for any misfortune that might befall their enemies. This could explain why an “associate” of the Nicholas mafia was eager to contact the Herald to set the record straight on the story of a rickrolled mafia website - a story the Herald was tipped to by an apparent enemy of the mafia - NICHmafiaISDAlaughingSTOCKofSL.

Not only was the Nicholas mafia representative eager to explain how rickrolling the site was an intentional ploy by the mafia to grief visitors, he and went on to explain how their domain name went missing, supplied documentation of GoDaddy.com’s suspension of the site and DNS name, and explained why the Nicholas mafia feels justified in going far outside SL gameplay to publish detailed personal documentation in an effort to defend their women from unwanted attention of rival SL mafia members. It must be very special to be a mafia wife.

This strange tale took a turn toward the bizzare hours after the Herald broke the rickrolled mafia web site story, when the www.nicholasmafia.com site began displaying detailed personal contact information on what many believe to be the real life typist behind Zito Corleone - an enemy of the Nicholas mafia. Not long after this development, the Nicholas mafia’s web site became unreachable. Mafia and griefer groups speculated - had an enemy gang taken over the site?

Open Life Users Banned from Second Life?

Running outlawed clients could end in tears

by Miley Stewart, Open Life correspondent

According to numerous reports, users of the OpenSim-based Open Life are receiving IP-bans from Second Life. Multiple residents have reportedly been unable to access Second Life after joining Open Life. The reason for such bans is currently unknown, as Linden Lab could not be reached for comment. Linden Lab, Inc. currently does not offer support or correspondence services for basic account holders.

Possible reasons for the bans range from conspiracy theories to behavioral issues.

Many OpenSim users create accounts under the same name as their Second Life identities. Rumors abound that Linden employees have created accounts for the purposes of finding similar names to ban the accounts from the Second Life Grid. A number of OpenSim users such as Lalinda Lovell, Prokofy Neva, various Woodbury members, and Nikola Shirakawa have a reputation among parts of Second Life for causing community problems. It should be noted that all such users still are able to maintain accounts in Second Life, however.

According to technical sources, the most likely explanation for the IP bans is that Linden is issuing bans because of client software being used. The use of some viewers such as the Patriotic Nigras' ShoopedLife has been known to be just cause for a Second Life account to be banned. The use of the popular program Second Inventory may also be a reason for the bans.

Nicholas Mafia Website RickRolled!

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

The Nicholas Mafia's web site http://nicholasmafia.com/ has apparently been compromised and now redirects to the always popular RickRoll'D video on YouTube. The Herald was alerted to this late last night when the comment spam grew at an unusual rate with comments on various Nicholas mafia stories all coming from an author named "NICHmafiaISDAlaughingSTOCKofSL".

The Nicholas Mafia has previously claimed responsibility for taking the notorious PN griefers web site offline with a DDoS attack, so this may be the latest episode in an on-going battle between an SL-based mafia and an SL-based griefing group. Apparently the griefer gang war meta-game is now being played both inside and outside of Second Life.

The Google cache still holds the previous version of the mafia's web page.

In any case, it is safe to say that the Nicholas Mafia are no strangers to love, you know the rules, and so do I...

Shock from Prok! Is Pixeleen Mistral the Inventor of the Interwebs?

McCahill admits self-identity

by Idoru Wellman (Herald Bureau of Personal Identity)

For three years now the most pressing question facing denizens of the interwebs has been the real life identity of Herald editrix Pixeleen Mistral. Is she, as Mark Wallace once surmised, actually one of Prokofy Neva’s spare personalities? Is she, as others opine, the girlfriend of uber-philosopher Peter Ludlow. Or is she, as still others conjecture, really a Linden? Last year, many readers (including yours truly) were convinced by an expose written by griefer Deadly Codpiece in the prestigious Augusta Georgia Pennysaver News, in which he made the case that Pix was actually Herald founder Urizenus Sklar. But now in an extended rigorously argued thought piece involving many long chat logs, Prokofy concludes that Pixeleen is not Prok, nor Uri, but one Mark McCahill of Duke University. If McCahill’s wikipedia page is to be trusted, he is a techie who led the development team for POPmail, led the team that developed Gopher at the University of Minnesota, worked with Tim Berners-Lee on codifying the standard for Uniform Resource Locators, was on the team that developed GopherVR and is currently working on the Croquet project. Reached for comment, Mr. McCahill would admit only that he is self-identical.

Obviously, if true, this would explain much. It would explain why the Herald has consistently had the most technologically sophisticated analysis of virtual worlds as well as the consistently informed updates on the Croquet project (most recent being here). The time sink that is the Herald would explain why Croquet is going nowhere. And then of course there is the clincher: Prokofy just knew that Pixeleen would be the same age as her. Hey, wait a minute….

*Sigh*. In the hall of mirrors that is the interwebs, the world may never know.

Post 6 Griefer -- N3x15

Candid conversation and explicit photos of former PN griefer

[In what seems to be part of a public relations campaign by ex-griefer N3x15, Bunny Brickworks and I were recently able to conduct an in-world interview with the one-time PN leader, scripter, and troublemaker. As we marveled at the irony of interviewing a former PN leader in the Dominatech Restrained Life store, N3x15 explained why he left the PN, as well as his interest in OpenSim, how D3adlyc0dec lost his trust, and how seriously the FBI takes griefing. Bunny also managed to convince N3x15 to pose post-6 Grrrl style - with surprisingly explicit results. - Pixeleen]

Bunny Brickworks, N3x15, Pixeleen Mistral

Pixeleen Mistral: What prompted this apology letter and community service work?
HelloThar Erin: I left the PN ages ago due to the fact that continuing to be in the PN is obviously immature and would affect my ability to obtain a job.

Pixeleen Mistral: so what destroyed the PN?
HelloThar Erin: Laziness, distractions.
HelloThar Erin: PN isn't completely dead, it's still being lead by Frizzlefry. But I think its beating a dead horse.

Pixeleen Mistral: what are you planning next?
HelloThar Erin: Uh, I hope to build security systems for OpenSim, and maybe even SL itself.

N3x15 Ashamed of PN Griefer Thug Life

Notorious griefer issues public apology to SL residents and Linden Lab

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

Renouncing his griefer thug life with the notorious PN griefing gang, N3x15 has posted a public apology, in which he promises to make amends to Linden Lab and their customers who “have experienced a great volume (approximately 200+ accounts worth) of griefing, trolling, and real monetary loss”.

N3x15 explains his sins in detail, saying “I have done some disrespectful, stupid, disgusting, and sometimes even downright vile things during my tenure as the Patriotic Nigras griefing group’s webmaster, coder, and occasionally even temporary leader when times were rough.  I have promoted discrimination against social/racial groups, destroyed virtual land, seeded malicious products, crashed servers, spammed wikis, eliminated groups and individuals from the grid, initiated false-flag campaigns against groups, scouted for potential targets, conducted surveillance on targets, coded ban evasion clients, and numerous other offenses”

Evan Reuters Says "Linden Can't Be Trusted With Your Credit Card" ?

Please cancel the "Reuters" surname. It's not worth the hassle

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

Reuters names no longer worth $500 USD?

Reuters may no longer be reporting from Second Life, but Linden Lab does not seem willing to let go of one Reuters staff member’s billing information, and is now enhancing Evan Maloney’s real life by posting $500 USD charges to a credit card the Lab assured him last year would only to be used for verifying Evan Reuters’ virtual identity - if a series of e-mails posted to a Second Life developer mailing list can be believed.

This sad tale is detailed in the RegAPI mailing list archives today and last january where a plaintive Evan begs the Lab to stop charging his personal credit card for the exclusive rights to the Reuters surname in Second Life. What a terrible price to pay for a corporate vanity.

Evan appeared to take last year’s last name billing mishap in reasonably good humor, but today’s unauthorized charges seemed to leave him in a less pleasant mood, as he posted an e-mail titled “Linden can't be trusted with your credit card information” to the RegAPI developer mailing list, and suggested the Lab cancel the Reuters surname [full text after the jump].

Despite the “no billing information on file” notation on Evan Reuters’ profile, the Lab is finding even more creative ways to enhances revenues - perhaps the 66% OpenSpace land price hikes weren’t enough to cover M Linden’s new staff salaries? How will a Reuters name deletion affect the fate of the 17 avatars in Second Life named Reuters - or Reuters position on the hand picked Second Life Showcase? We await Evan's response to our inquiries, and wish him the best of luck in getting a credit posted to his credit card in time for the holidays.

The MegaPrim Spite Fence of Bear Sim

Why is LL powerless to remove “friendly greetings” left by Torley Linden’s wife Ravenelle?

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

Linden wife and contractor Ravenelle's megaprim wall blocks the Bear InfoHub view of one resident's business

When you teleport to the Bear sim InfoHub, you won’t see Lias Leandros’s business - it is hidden behind a 40 meter tall virtual spite fence created by Ravenelle Zugzwang and located on Linden property. While these sorts of fences are a reasonably common symptom of resident disputes in some neighborhoods, it is unusual to see Linden Lab’s land being used for visual blockades. However, with game gods all things are possible, and Ravenelle Zugzwang has a special relationship with part of the Lab -- she is married to Torley Linden. This suggests Ravenelle has a nearly infinite capacity to tolerate Torley chirping, "Friendly greetings!". Could this be what pushed Ravenelle into a visual smack at Lias Leandros business?

According to an account published by Ms. Leandros here, the virtual fence appeared about a year ago, after repeated abuse reports by Ms. Leandros against the Bear InfoHub for unfair use of sim resources. With a capacity of 40 avatars on the sim, and a large group of regulars that park at the InfoHub, the sim lags and sometimes fills to capacity making it difficult or impossible for Ms. Leandros to run her DJ and club employee training school business.

After a long running campaign of abuse reports and complaints to the Abuse Report Team, the Community Team, and the Linden Concierge, Ms. Leandros was eventually offered the option of tearing down her buildings and moving to another sim - an offer she declined. Within days, Ravenelle Zugzwang has erected her 40 meter wall on Linden-owned land, sending a not so subtle message -- it's good to be married to the Lab, and tier paying customers can like it or leave.

Presumably this sort of message will go down well with the education and corporate clients the Lab is now courting - assuming they can get someone to marry into the Linden family to get inside information and special treatment. Run of the mill players will have to get used to surprise 66% land price increases - but look on the bright side - as the Lab hires staff, the pool of potential marriage partners grows!

SL Military Yiff ‘N Tell

"At least you weren't recording this or anything"

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk & Vegna Fouroux, military correspondent

Christoph Naumova - leader of the Vanguard Militia - has been frantically denying he was involved in a fur phone sex seduction posted to YouTube last week. At stake is Mr. Naumova’s reputation and leadership authority, now threatened by the emo yiffing documented on YouTube -- a gay fur scene that might undermine his authority as supreme leader of the Vanguard military.

You want to spend all night with fennecy? Rawr... narf... nahm nahm... are you pawing?

Under the leadership of Mr. Naumova, the Vanguard military has developed a win-at-all-costs reputation which apparently led the Merczateers military to mount a counterattack via the newest weapon of mass reputation destruction - YouTube.

The YouTube video was apparently posted by Uildiar Kuhn - a prominent member the Merczateers. Herald reporter Vegna Fouroux contacted Mr. Kuhn for comment:

Vegna Fouroux: Many members have claimed it was a fake, in all honesty now, was it?
Uildiar Kuhn: no

Gossip, Rumors, and Cooking School

by Idoru Wellman, staff writer and professional cooking student

rumors and gossip gathered from generally reliable alt accounts

Pixeleen dashed out of the Herald offices saying something about secret preparations for the SL Herald 5th year anniversary party later this month -- and could I deal with the tips and gossip column? I didn't mind that much - my wild mushroom risotto was not working out, and I'm used to dealing with the Herald scut work like cleaning out the nest Jimbo Quality used to sleep in back when we let him in the Herald offices.

Beside the party preparations, Pixeleen said she was busy facilitating the liquidation of some collateralized debt obligations offered by several Fur and Gorean Investment banks specializing in Second Life rental properties in Ravensglass, FurNation Hell, and Fort Longcat sims - apparently each investment was supposed to hedge the risk of default in the others, but then Hamet Au published one too many Linden Lab puff pieces which strained investor credibility to the breaking point further destabilized the futures market leading to a stampede of european Tinies shorting Stroker Serpentine’s SexGen stock in the Wapanese overseas markets, which caused the L$ spacebux denominated secondary hedge fund market to go into a powerdive -- or something to that effect.

So I’m taking a break from working on the wild mushroom risotto they taught us in class today to type up the gossip column. If this doesn't work out I'm going to try making a local specialty: grits and arugula.

Will SexBed Dispute Lead to Nuclear Conflict?

Angry furs plot revenge - Stroker Serpentine ejects all users from SexGen Users Group - a Serpentine alliance with fur leader Nexxus Ambassador?

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

---

“Stop freaking out like rats on acid and actually find out what can be done to HELP corsi” - Almira Leopold

---

Harsh words were barked, squeaked, meowed, and yowelled in furry community chat Monday, as angry supporters of Corsi Mousehold suggested taking the trademark battle for SexGen Sexbeds to Stroker Serpentine -- with suggestions of a nuclear showdown and organized abuse reports as possible avenues to defend Ms. Mousehold. While calmer heads in the anthropomorphic animal community suggested planning raids in group chat was not wise, the possibility remains that angry furs, or agent provocateurs pretending to be furs may detonate sim-crashing nukes in Mr. Serpentine's sim to retaliate for allegedly orchestrating a suspension of Ms. Mousehold over the weekend and assorted trademark enforcement actions.

While many will deplore resorting to sim crashing and mass abuse reports as retaliation, the fur community has an understandable concern for the stability of the flow of L$ spacebux from Ms. Mousehold’s SexGen store in Gar -- anything that might hurt business at the store could limit funding for tier payments in the Furnation sims. At least that is what appears to be is going on based on a chatlog relayed to the Herald offices late monday evening [chatlog after the jump].

Tension were high over the weekend and increased further as the news that Stroker had ejected all customers from the SexGen Users Group - cutting his estranged business partners Briggi Bard and Corsi Mousehold off from a potential repeat customer list which Serpentine, Bard, and Mousehold had jointly built up in happier days as part of the SexGen business. Mr. Serpentine told the Herald monday evening that around 80% of the former SexGen user group memebers had moved to an Eros user group for which Mousehold and Bard do not have adminstrative access

Even more surprising was the possibility of a Serpentine alliance with Nexxus Ambassador - a furry community leader and potential rival of Mousehold’s -- a possible case of "the enemy of my enemy is my friend"? We cannot discount the possibility that this was purely a social call, but Mr. Serpentine told the Herald he was talking to Ambassador when we inquired about the decimation of the SexGen User's Group.

Virtual Sex Industry Mud Wrestling Continues

Corsi Mousehold suspended for “disclosure” after posting SexGen contract chatlog in-world?
SL Sexbed Industry's Dirty Laundry -- Part 3

by Pixeleen Mistral, Irrational Affairs desk

Just how messy the SexGen trademark disagreement between Stroker Serpentine and Corsi Mousehold has grown became clear when my iMojowire 3g went off this afternoon. Corsi Mousehold had located a screenshot of an IM chat with Andrea Faulkner and sent a copy of the screenshot to the Herald. In the chatlog, it appears that Stroker’s deputy Faulkner relays words of Stroker’s agreement to allow independent sale of the SexGen platinum bed.

the chatlog - closeup and transcript after the jump

While the undated chat does not explicitly grant Mousehold the right to use the SexGen trademark, it contains a suggestion that Mousehold had filed a DMCA takedown notice against Mr. Serpentine’s business - presumably for unauthorized use of content -- most likely animations or scripts used in the SexGen sexbeds.

Mob Boss Zito Corleone Missing, Presumed Banned

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

Zito Corleone - none found

The gang war between the Nicholas mafia and wise guy associates of Zito Corleone may have taken a deadly turn. Mafia Don Zito Corleone has suddenly gone missing from the Second Life people search - apparently the result of some sort of account ban or LL disciplinary action.

IMs to Corleone confederates Shaemus McLaglen and Leah Coleone have gone unanswered, and there is speculation in the underworld that the Nicholas mafia may have raised the stakes after taking offense at Zito's boast of Linden connections in a recent story.

Did the Nicholas gang maneuver the Lindens into banning Zito - or was Zito's removal self-inflicted? When will this shocking wave of gang violence end?

Scout Detritus -- SLebrity Autobiography

by Scout Detritus

"We chased all the Proks outta there, started buildin' shit, they said they liked us, and that we could stay and make our money..."

I started SL as a confused and bewildered wide eyed noob as I realized that SL was an endless possibility sandbox...I could be and do anything I wanted from minute to minute and it was awesome. It has changed so much since I first landed here, but I still have a lot of the same friends, as well as the same sorts of interests. SL keeps getting better every day.

My name comes from my favorite literary heroine in Harper Lee'S To Kill a Mockingbird...To me it is fitting...I think of myself as an adventurous and giving person that is well liked in many of the social spaces I travel to in SL. I have friends that are furries, goreans, and pubbies...and I have strived for tolerance of everyone I meet. I am hardly ever complacent myself, I spend most of my time between two shapes and hundreds of different avatar's and looks depending on what or where or even who I am at any given moment.

In the few years I have been playing this game, I have owned and built several sims, started a few businesses, joined in Roleplay, and designed, built, and coded anything I ever dreamed of bringing to life on screen (lol Ravenglass Fridge). I am both a W-Hat goon and a Woodbury Channer...I believe that in order to enjoy SL you have to do whatever makes you happy, and I pick and choose my life accordingly.

Corleone/Nicholas Mafia Gang War Escalates

Corleone underworld starts organized Abuse Report campaign against Nicholas mafia
Corleone associate claims connections to game god Philip Linden

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

Zito Corleone: assclowns get no respect and the Lab is paying attention

I was listening to the Jay-Z’s American Gangster album on my iMojowire 3g when the Roc Boys track was interrupted by an alert - a public-spirited source had forwarded a chatlog of what appears to be mafia Don Zito Corleone conferring with mustang Letlow.

If this log is accurate, it includes some true gems - such as mob boss Corleone and Letlow comparing notes on how to effectively abuse report members the Nicholas family, which Linden Lab staffers they have influence over, and claims of mafia connections to Philip Linden and Lab staff in charge of account bans.

Will Zito Corleone’s attempt to organize the underworld to fight the Nicholas family by coordinating abuse reports work? How will the Nicholas family retaliate? Which Linden Lab staffers are in the pocket each of the respective mobs? We may never know the full story - but what appears to be a serious metaverse gang war is now underway.

W-Hat Goon's Land for Rent in Baku Sim

Intlibber Brautigan, Woodbury helping keep W-Hat afloat?

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

rent where Plastic duck got his first ban - and the first mega prim was created

Metaverse urban renewal experts and history fans may want to look up IntLibber Brautigan at the Woodbury University suite at the Tampa Marriot Waterside during the SLCC this weekend - it seems that Mr. Brautigan has secured the rights to rent mall space in both the W-Hat sim retail area and the W-Hat land in Baku sim - both sites where the goons have gained a certain level of notoriety for controversial builds - and possibly other activities.

While controversy may upset some, it also creates traffic as curious onlookers come to gawk and anti-griefers come to abuse report imagery they find objectionable. High traffic creates opportunity, but the burden of with endless tier payments to Linden Lab has resulted in a new direction for Baku - an attempt to cash in on the traffic and offset the Second Life land tier payments.

Uri meets Pixeleen -- In Real Life!

by Urizenus Sklar

Pixeleen not only rocks Jurassic technology, but is self-identical

It wasn’t easy. Month after month of failed attempts at google stalking. Stringing together clues from the writings of Prokofy Neva and Deadly Codec. It was all for naught, until three months ago I caught a break. A man named Louis Cyphre contacted me and gave me an address in Minnesota. I caught the next plane to Minneapolis but was too late – Pix had moved on. Further inquiries among her neighbors pointed me to North Carolina. Armed with my new batch of clues and some additional information from Mr. Cyphre, I followed her to North Carolina, to a string of abandoned apartments, always arriving on the scene just days or even hour after she had moved on leaving behind nothing more than an empty bottle of Jolt or a duct taped canine. And then the trail ran dry once again. But just as I was about to give up, I had the good sense to crash a tri-delt sorority party at UNC, where I met a sorority sister named Epiphany that looked for all the world like Lisa Bonet, and who not only knew Pix, but provided me with directions to Pix’s cabin deep in the woods. I mean really fucking deep in the woods. And there I found her.

Bunny Gets Banned -- No Roleplay At the Hair Fair

Herald Post 6 photographer is tossed out of Hair Fair on her little fluffy tail!

by Kris Dibou


Willow Replacement's profile is not broadly offensive - but taking her at her word is

The Herald's own little Bunny Brickworks was bouncing down the bunny trail at the Hair Fair 2008, frolicking through the freebies and spending L$s like they were a fictional spacebux currency, until the fair turned foul. Here is how Bunny describes the scene:

---

This Bunny girl was strolling along hair fair, collecting freebies, buying some stuff. all nice! when suddenly a girl stood behind me. I am a profile whore and checked hers and it was like 'I am a dirty slave and need punishment. anyone who wants to abuse me sexually, just send an IM, I deserve dirty treatment as you please', and suddenly another chick showed up

Willow Replacement: greetings Mistress Helke
Helke Duettmann: how are you?
Willow Replacement: silly cow is allright, Mistress Helke
Helke Duettmann: You have no right to call me "mistress"..as I am not your mistress..
Helke Duettmann: ah..
Helke Duettmann: and i trust silly cow is well?
Willow Replacement: 1ce upon a time, but silly cow likes to still refer to You as Mistress, Mistress Helke...

THAT CHICK REFERRED TO HERSELF AS SILLY COW!

Willow Replacement: silly cow is ashamed for doing so, Mistress Helke
Helke Duettmann: as well she should be

---

Lion and VIrtual Woman’s SL Luv Moves To RL

Taser, duct tape, handcuffs, and BB gun set the mood for a very special romantic encounter

by Pixeleen Mistral, Romantic Affairs desk

Philadelphia’s NBC10.com describes a Second Life romantic relationship moving to real life, in a heartwarming story about how Kimberly Jernigan, a 33 year old Durham, NC postal worker drove hundreds of miles to rendezvous with her SL boyfriend, a 52 year old Delaware man. According to DelawareOnline the couple met in Second Life, where Jernigan is a “virtual woman”, and the un-named Delaware man is a lion.

Second Life resident Kimberly Jernigan's dog Gogi has developed an allergy to duct tape - and Second Life love [photo courtesy of New Castle County Police]

Sadly, Ms. Jernigan’s romantic plans ended in heartbreak when her second attempt at kidnapping her Second Life ex-boyfriend were thwarted - the virtual lion was spooked when he saw a shadowy figure inside his home and a red laser playing across his chest. The lion-hearted victim had been subject to an attempted abduction two weeks earlier - apparently the result breaking off his SL romance.

After the victim fled the Tazer and duct tape wielding postal worker, he called the police, who investigated and found his ex-girlfriend’s dog bound in duct tape in his bathroom.

When informed of the news, spontaneous “Stop the Fursecution” protests broke out in Second Life, and the in-world economy speculators prepared for a rare growth spurt in sales of tazers, handcuffs, dog buscuits, and duct tape to the furry BDSM communities outside Ravenglass sim.

LL Targeting W-Hat Goons?

Tardimal avatar maker hit with 3-day suspension for verbal abuse - on his own sim!

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

If Kyro Kilian is to be believed, certain Linden Lab employees may be running alt accounts or doing instantaneous favors for special friends by swinging the ban stick when the gameplay turns sassy.

One of the first messages I got on my brand new black iMojowire 3G phone last week was from Kyro tell me that murmuring the f-word on your own sim could be grounds for a 3 day suspension.

While the punishment seems disproportionate to the crime, it is possible that the Lab is hoping to run a goon pacification effort in hopes of further disneyfication of the metaverse. Another possibility is that something else about the W-HAT sim offended the alleged off duty Linden, and “verbal abuse” was simply a convenient excuse.

Because there is no public record or oversight of the Lindens’ bans and suspensions, here in the hall of mirrors that is the interwebs the world may never know the full truth.

[ after the jump: the text of Kyro’s message ]

Nanao Mahfouz Ejected From Alliance Navy!!!

Former Admiral to pursue other interests, spend more time with family

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

Mr. Mahfouz studies his civilian options in an elaborate heads up display

As word spread of the ejection of former Admiral Nanao Mahfouz from the Alliance Navy last weekend, the big questions in the Second Life militia community went un-answered. What will Mr. Mahfouz do next? Is the Alliance navy's base in Dorien sim in danger of Mr. Mahfouz selling the land? What caused the disagreement?

Seeking answers, I made a visit to the AN base and managed to take one picture of Mr. Mahfouz before I was killed - but learned that Mr. Mahfouz was turfed out of the navy due to long standing disagreements on leadership direction.

Pixeleen Mistral: Was there some sort of change in AN command?
Nanao Mahfouz: And what about them? You've come groveling back here hoping for another story you can twist into some sensationalist scandal to attract more avid readers?
Dexhen Helios: holster

Pixeleen Mistral: well - I'm a reporter, and there are these rumors that you are out of the AN command Nanao - but the sources are all outside the AN
Nanao Mahfouz: No, I know who you are, reporter wouldn't be the appropriate title.

Shock!!! Pixeleen Mistral is Urizenus Sklar?!

Special to the Herald by staff reporter Idoru Wellman

The supersleuths at upstart interweb newspaper The Griefer Herald believe they have unlocked the secret identity of Second Life Herald managing editrix Pixeleen Mistral.

She is... wait for it... none other than Herald founder Urizenus Sklar.

Asked to comment on the story, Urizenus admitted that he was identical with himself, and Pixeleen concurred that Uri was indeed identical with himself. Meanwhile, further information has come forward suggesting that Urizenus, a.k.a. philosopher Peter Ludlow in real life, might also be identical to Prokofy Neva, Thomas Pynchon, Francis Bacon and d3adl3yc0d3c.

Urizenus Sklar - identical with himself

These amazing revelations sent a flurry of internet sleuths scurrying on identical identity quests - all seeming to lead toward the rumored Interweb Illuminati -- a shadowy cabal that some believe runs the metaverse as a sort of über FIC, while at the same time appreciating a really good coq au vin and the importance of getting just the rightchampagne vinegar when making béarnaise sauce.

Could this be proof positive of a conspiracy which Prokofy Neva is only now starting to suspect exists? Is Tizzers Foxchase in on it? As Uri/Peter/Pix/Prok/Tom/Francis/d3adl3y are fond of saying, in the hall of mirrors that is the interwebs the world may never know.

Alliance Navy Landowner SL Incest/Ageplay?

ex-Admiral's Nanao Mahfouz's double tool leads to chatspy trouble

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

If the whispered rumors are true - and the over-the-top chatlog is real - the position the Alliance Navy leadership finds itself in must be excruciating. Former Admiral Nanao Mahfouz was allegedly involved in roleplaying incest ageplay with Jezabeth Poutine when a bullet with a scripted chatspy bug was fired into the home where the couple was enjoying some interactive creative writing. The bugged bullet relayed the chatlogs out of the love nest, and the drama began.

Jezabeth has had some wild adventures with Nanao

Cyber sex is as common as lag in Second Life - but certain conventions are generally observed. Cyber in open chat is frowned upon as an invitation to trouble, and Linden Lab takes an extremely dim view of anything that appears to encompass sexual ageplay. But when the improvisational literary lust is rising, some residents are known to shortcut safe-cyber as their muses invent, and then engage in some rather sordid scenes. The virtual sex chat narrative is dutifully logged by Linden Lab as it is relayed between participants, and other residents with the right sorts of virtual spyware can share in the fun - then pass the logs on. And this brings us to the story of a certain Admiral in the Alliance Navy.

The logs of the Mahfouz-Poutine encounter include detailed descriptions of Nanao’s impressive physique - with a penis, a second penis, and a tail. Also impressive was the consistent use of plurals in descriptions of Nanao’s twin tools - staying in character is the first rule of roleplay - though what sort of soldiers the Alliance Navy has been recruiting could be a subject of speculation.

[WARNING: If you are (i) at work or (ii) under 18 or (iii) easily offended by things like incest ageplay STOP READING NOW!]

Disaster Averted - Lab Will Not Fix Bugs

Prospero Linden confirms double prim land bug -- twice!

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

The inexplicable inner workings of Linden Lab were on display in the aftermath of shocking revelations of an impending SL server update. As reported earlier, a planned update and bug fix could result in massive prim return, devastating Gorean slave quarters, baby unicorn stables, and possibly causing some 100-position sex beds to go missing. Clearly, the future of the 3D Internet was at stake. Experienced, pragmatic residents quietly returned excess prims to their inventories and went off to go play WoW, as a precautionary measure.

However, the Lab then confirmed the bug and changed its direction, as Prospero Linden stated not once, but twice that the double prim land bug exists - and went on to say that it will not be fixed this week. This may mark the first time the Lab’s notoriously slow response to bugs was greeted with cheers by the long-suffering residents of Second Life.

Linden Lab scholars remained divided on the question of how the mixed messages about double prim land bugfixes occurred.

One theory is this is a symptom of disagreements between the developer and support factions within the Lab. The developer faction would like to keep the server software as neat and tidy as possible to increase the likelihood of salary bonuses for releasing new features.

Double Prim Land Bugfix To Scrog SL?

Aim gun at foot, pull trigger, DDOS your own game

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

Shocking rumors were flying in the metaverse tonight suggesting that a Linden Lab bug fix later this week could result in a serious case of massive prim return - and possible self-inflicted denial of service on “your world, your imagination”. According to usually reliable sources, Linden Lab is fixing a bug in the Second Life server code dealing with object bonus - or "double prim" land - which allows sims with object bonus set over 1.0 to have more than 15k prims.

Normally, object bonus land is only intended to redistribute prims from one parcel to the rest in the sim - a selling point for some land owners. Because Second Life has an virtual land scarcity economy, artificial limits on building complexity help drive sales of virtual “land” - and many real estate agents market sims that allow for more complex builds than normal to differentiate their offerings.

Unfortunately - if our sources are to be believed - the game gods are “fixing” a problem that allowed for excessive numbers of prims and complex builds on object bonus lands. Later this week, when the bug fix is put in place, sims with object bonus over 1.0 will have significant returns of prims when a rolling restart updates the server code - leading to massive grid wide object return.

SL and POS Laptops from the Recyling Bin

Cheapskates cheer happy news from Linden Lab

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

According to an e-mail forwarded by an anonymous tipster to the Second Life Herald offices today, Linden staffer Dave Parks has mixed news for the Second Life development community, refusing to support new features on older graphics cards but also saying “cheapskates of the world... Second Life will still run on that POS laptop your boss let you take out of the recycling bin at work”.

Here at the Herald, we are not sure if we should take this e-mail at face value -- particularly since the Lindens have told us how important it is to provide unlimited free access to SL, lest some potential metaverse resident be turned away from King Philip and Emperor M Linden’s garden of cyber delights. We cannot discount the possibility of a faked e-mail, but if the goal is bringing SL to the widest possible audience, shouldn’t the Lab gladly support “pandering” to people with 3 year old graphics cards? Dave, please tell us that there is some hope for a better experience for the more elderly computers - or maybe just publish detailed hardware recommendations for SL?

It seems likely that Mr. Parks was just having a bad day - but suggesting “if you don't care enough about graphics to keep and maintain an up to date system, you shouldn't expect to experience significant graphics improvements” does seem a bit harsh. Particularly when the top-of-the-line MacBook Pro has been suffering from graphics card freeze-ups for over a year.

Still, the Lab works in mysterious ways, and hope springs eternal among the fanboy community - and those who guess which graphics cards Mr. Parks currently favors.

[full text of Dave Parks’ e-mail after the jump]

LL's Super-Secret Corporate Facebook Network

Facebook might not be totally secure from SL residents

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

Philip Linden's page in the secret Lab Facebook network

After a time in the virtual news business a reporter starts accumulating stories that might be better left untold - and in the name of maintaining a generally civil society these stories are only mentioned inside the exclusive SL press club bar after a few rounds of Grey Goose martinis. But something happened that forced my hand. This blog entry by occasional Herald writer/conspiracy theorist Mr. Prokofy Neva makes claims that may not be entirely correct.

For once I am going to defend Linden Lab. I am generally known as a critic the Lindens, but this time I cannot stand idle as the good name of the Lab is besmirched with the accusation that it has an alleged griefer on staff.

Mr. Neva believes he has strong evidence that the Lab hired a Woodbury University student (indistinguishable in Mr. Neva's mind from a hardcore griefer) as a “Governance Team Policy Tester” based on what he sees in Facebook - an infallible, unimpeachable source of truth. Mr. Neva’s Second Thoughts blog blares lurid accusations:

The Lindens put a Woodbury University on to the staff? In the Governance Team? as a Governance Team Policy Tester? with the title "Chief Executive Resident?" Does he deliberately grief to see how the system works or something?

But the truth is much, much simpler. Have you ever heard of really bad security?

It came to the the Herald staff’s attention months ago that Facebook’s security might leave something to be desired. Any enterprising resident of Second Life can easily join LL’s Super-Secret Corporate Facebook network - this has been common knowledge since December. Intlibber Brautigan left a note on LL’s corporate Facebook page suggesting that they close the e-mail security hole on December 25th. Longtime residents of SL will not be surprised to learn that the last time our source checked, the Lab simply ignored this security issue - an approach entirely consistent with their prevailing corporate culture.

Kissing a Pony Naga - Amber Linden's Shame!

Not invited to the March 15 Linden Lab party? Blame it on the Valentines Day party.

Half pony, half snake Kayi Laa prepares to kiss Amber Linden on Valentines day

While some believe the Lab is limiting saturday's party to concierge-level residents because the Lindens love virtual land high rollers, the motivations behind the Linden's party plans are much more complex -- a story only the Herald could bring to light.

On Valentine's day, the Lab had a party open to all residents, celebrating how much we all love the free labor volunteers that selflessly assist the venture capitalists starving waifs who bankroll Philip Linden's dream. Yes, we all <3 volunteers - and to celebrate their uncompensated labor, a number of telecommuter Linden staffers made themselves available for PG-level kissing in-world. When you get paid by the hour, does it really matter if you are repetitively clicking a kiss animation or answering yet another unhappy resident?

As I arrived at the party, a disheveled Moo Money wandered past me muttering something about "ewwww... he was all hands". This may partly explain Ms. Money's recent virtual marriage to Ms. Molley Mayflower - some stability in e-relationships is a worthwhile goal.

Moo Money is now in a stable e-relationship with Molley Mayflower

After the obligatory crash and re-log the scene finally rezzed, and I walked over to the kissing booth where Amber Linden was holding court in her best party dress. Jimbo Quality really missed out this time - he has had a HUGE crush on Amber since she danced with him last fall - but perhaps the prospect of Amber kissing pretty much any avatar who wandered by was a bit much for Jimbo's delicate nature.

New, Improved Copybot Demonstrated

Remote-controlled bot copies prims, linksets, textures, clones avatar profiles and outfits & saves copies to the user's hard drive

by Proper Prim

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[UPDATE: Apparently a similar (or perhaps identical) copybot is being sold on slexchange here. Should slexchange remove this user-created content? Might the Lindens decide to have a word with bot creator Marki Young? As we watch this story unfold, I'd like to thank Herald reader Miki for pointing us to the slexchange page. Perhaps Herald reader Robin Linden will will have something to say about this at some point? - the Editrix]

click to enlarge slexchange sreenshot

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In partnership with d3adlyc0d3c, last week I began conducting an investigation into reports of rampant content theft across Second Life. Some of these claims included allegations that Copybot was being used- allegations that many of us did not believe initially.

Unfortunately for content creators in Second Life, Copybot DOES still exist and is more advanced than ever. Several sources have told the Herald that Copybot had never left SL in the first place as many had hoped - instead, copybot engineers concentrated on a series of improvements to the original model.

'Not only did Copybot continue to function and evolve in SL over the course of the past year, but trying to break it is a futile excercise as it is entirely impossible for Linden Labs to ever prevent individuals from being able to use this or similar functionality' our source told us Thursday afternoon.

After the initial interviews, d3adlyc0d3c was able to acquire a copybot from certain SL 'underground' contacts - he then used the bot to create a youtube video demonstrating some of the capabilities of this software. In the video, we copy one of Apotheus Silverman's large complex builds. After the video was done, we threw the copy away, Apotheus - honest.

Fighting the SL Way - Copy & Resell For Free

Content theft in Second Life on the rise
Don't like someone? destroy their business

by Tenshi Vielle, fabulous fashionista

Resident content theft runs wild while Philip and Robin Linden have gone missing

Content theft has been absolutely rampant in Second Life lately. It's like scabies - once you think it's gone, a whole new bunch of the little jerks pop up.

First we had Nicky Ree's dresses stolen by ADiva, shoes by Enkythings primjacked, then there were a bunch more smaller ...ALLEGED... thefts - a Brasilian user ripped RaC, Redgrave, and a host of other skins, cackling the whole way that no one could stop him. Designers chased him around the grid in a desperate attempt to squash him down, protesting and contacting sim owners to get him shut down. The problem was, he moved around faster than the designers could count and tended to be hard to track.

New 'Permissions Exploit' Uncovered - Drama Ensues on SLX

by Proper Prim, staff writer

a possible source of drama

For a few days now I have been monitoring a situation on SLX where users have discovered objects being sold that one user described as utilizing 'a permissions exploit'. What is the nature of this exploit? A script loads an avatar’s profile from the web, parses the html on the page for the link to the profile image displayed, thus retrieving the UUID of the image.

A number of residents are outraged because of this, some of whom began using legal terminology and throwing around phrases like 'copyright violation' and so forth. Why would residents be concerned about merchants selling objects that temporarily display customer's profile images as they walk by?

I was able to catch up with resident Adromor Wierwight for a short interview about the situation. Adromor was 'warned' by SLX administrators for being so heated that he apparently violated the SLX “respect” policy by referring to several of the users as 'whiny and petty'. Here is what Adromor had to say:

Ex-Superhero on Woodbury, Griefing & JLU drama

Pierce Kronos reveals he "left the JLU in disgust" in exclusive interview

by Proper Prim, staff writer

A great deal of controversy has been circulating around the Justice League Unlimited of late raising questions about how much is real and how much has been manufactured - is someone is trying to troll and defame the JLU? To learn the truth, I created an alt and went inworld and asked the JLU for interviews for some time before Pierce Kronos finally (hesitantly at first) came forward to talk.

I went into the interview with a long list of questions. Could the teen grid allegations have any merit? Is Kalel Venkman really an 'unbearable power hungry fascist' as some have described him? What is the purpose of the JLU? What part did JLU play in the Woodbury University situation and Tizzers Foxchase's permanent removal from Second Life? Near the end of the interview, Mr. Kronos announced that he had 'left the JLU in disgust' but also made it clear that there are still those in the JLU whom he likes, respects, even admires and that he will in no way betray their trust by disclosing any sensitive information as Nikola Shirakawa, another former JLU member, once had.

After speaking at length with Mr. Kronos about work, life in general, griefing, Second Life, the PN and the JLU. Pierce seems to be a good guy and I am convinced that not all of the allegations circulating are true - and I suspect that the ones that are true have nothing to do with him. While Pierce wasn't been entirely forthcoming about his reasons for leaving the JLU, I admire the fact that he has shown his enemies respect by keeping his quarrels private. It is unclear if Mr Kronos intends to continue endeavors as an anti-griefer from outside of the JLU or if he simply intends to settle down and live quietly - either way we wish him the best of luck!

IBM Jilts SL - Now Dating ActiveWorlds!?

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

Activeworlds, conference calls, and interactive web pages - but no SL

It is hard to know exactly what to make of this, but a reliable source pointed us to the Kauffman foundation's web site where this page http://www.kauffman.org/3D announces a "3-D Internet for Learning Summit" hosted not on Second Life - but on ActiveWorlds.

It would not do to speculate on what Philip Linden thinks of this development - but speculation is sure to follow as the announcement promises "a first-ever public demonstration of IBM’S privately-developed capability" where participants will "experience a real-time, seamless and simultaneous environment that combines telephony, wiki and virtual world environments. This will allow global participants to collaborate in building some of the next-generation capabilities of the 3-D Internet."

This summit is to be open to all - and the Herald expects strong representation from the furry and babyfur metaverse demographic - assuming fur avatars are avalable in ActiveWorlds. The event will take place February 19th and 20th, 2008, in three spaces simultaneously - a toll free conference call, within IBM's Active Worlds based Extraverse, and on the web through an interactive wiki environment.

Super Hero Super Drama!

Justice League Unlimited declares Green Lantern Core founder an enemy of the state

by Nikola Shirakawa

“Cid is way too friendly with people who are morally dubious despite his holier than thou attitude” -Kara Foley

Stunning news from an early December Justice League Unlimited meeting. In a shocking turn of events, Cid Jacobs, the founder of the Green Lantern Core, an anti-griefer group with a long history of good service, and great conduct, has been labeled a hostile by Kalel Venkman’s Justice League Unlimited anti-griefer group. Among the reasons for this new label?

“He hangs out with Nikola Shirakawa and doesn’t seem to think that the RL raid on my house was really griefing.” -Kalel Venkman

That’s right, because Cid Jacobs was friendly to Tizzers Foxchase - somebody Kalel and his flock doesn’t like - Cid is now an enemy. What does this mean to Second Life at large? Well, you’d better be double checking those friends lists, because if you’re caught talking to somebody on the JLU hit list, you just might find yourself labeled a griefer.

As to the RL “raid” on Kalel Venkman's house? Tizzers Foxchase and some other /b/tards that happen to live close to Kalel in real life, decided on Halloween to knock on Kalel's door while in costume and trick-or-treating. That’s it. They knocked on his door like any other trick-or-treaters, but what was the proper punishment for this heinous crime?

Designers Running AttackAlts? - Fashionista Shock!!!

Why the Brutal Honesty blog cannot keep their mains clean
Ana Boogiewoogie sez: Amelia Abernathy = Tina Travanti & Elexor Matador = Lothian Utorid

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

I’ve been having a hard time writing this story - probably because it bothers me to see SL society descend to a level of nastiness that exceeds an overflowing cat litter box left fermenting in the sun next to a dumpster serving a French Quarter Gorean slave whore house. Should the payback for writing a story questioning the originality of an SL jewelry design be months of Brutal DisHonesty blog taunting capped off with a call for stalking? Apparently so, for anyone who frequents the SL fashion scene.

Maybe my problem is that I find it hard to justify supposedly upstanding, faux-friendly designers using internet sock puppets and secondlife-swiftboat blogs under alt accounts, when what is at stake is selling the pretend jewelry and clothes we dress our avatar dolls up with. The griefers keep reminding me that SL is serious business - enter at your own risk or GTFO. After over a year on the goon and griefer beat for the Herald, nothing really surprises me anymore - but I still get disgusted.

So - cut to the chase - earlier this week, the SL Herald’s iMojo wire was delivering a steady and credible stream of chatlogs from Ana Boogiewoogie suggesting that prim jewelry designers Amelia Abernathy and Elexor Matado are the “brains” running the über nasty Brutal Honesty blog as a beatdown vehicle to payback whomever they want to go after - while keeping their main accounts pristine, fresh, and clean. When contacted for comments prim jewelry designer Mr. Elexor Matador said, “Well, I'm not going to address it, to be honest. I've had enough drama over it for the last few days”.

Tenshi Vielle Announces Candidacy For SL President

LL warns candidates against ageplay - Front runner Jimbo Quality left lagging on prim baby kissing issue

by Balsamic Klim, CNN iReporter

In a completely unexpected move, Tenshi Vielle spent this morning announcing her candidacy for SL President to anyone who will listen, torturing poor souls at both the SLU forums and her own blog.

"I’m announcing my intentions to run against Jimbo for the President of Second Life position. (No, there really isn’t a position, but we’re running!)

I’ll be kissing prim babies, filming crappy sex tapes, and if you want you can join my in-world group, “TENSHI ‘08!” - you can either be part of my campaign supporters (”Tenshi ‘08!!) or security (Presidential Security) or my smear campaign. (Tenshi SUCKS!!!) I attempted to invite Lothian Utorid from BH into my smear campaign last night and he said, “Why would I want to be part of your smear campaign?
Hello? Helloooo?”. Poor bastard doesn’t seem to want to connect the dots that he’s already a part of it.

Anyway, come join up! It’s total bullhockey, and you can have a tag that says I rock or I suck - take your pick. Yes, I am feeling a little egotistical today - why do you ask?

KEEP UP WITH THE CAMPAIGN! Tenshi ‘08 blog! We have free tshirts!"