The entry deadline for the hat contest is now Friday, October 10. The awards party will be Saturday, October 11, 12-2pm SLT, at the Wyre Fairgrounds, http://slurl.com/secondlife/Wyre/108/208
Building community online
A fascinating article about community management at Flickr, but many of the points made in Nasty as they wanna be? Policing Flickr.com could as well be applied to virtual worlds as well.
The essence of Champ’s job, she says, boils down to defending this imprecise but holy “spirit of Flickr.” Indeed, imprecision is an art here. The list of community guidelines is an assortment of lawyer-vexing instructions like “Don’t be creepy. You know the guy. Don’t be that guy,” and “Don’t forget the children.” If you’ve spent any time online, you instantly recognize these to be meaningful and clear edicts. Champ is only half joking when she says her is responsibility is to keep things from “encroaching on Flickr’s serenity.”
Crossing borders
CaleCon (and SLCC) are not the only times people who have known each other only in virtual worlds meet in the physical world. Such contacts range from informally getting together with a group of friends to consumating relationships. Siri Woodget’s blog has a charming post written by guest blogger Andrijah Beardmore.
What I did discover is that Colleen’s hair is not quite so spiky, and that Siri is a bit more outgoing, among countless other little details. But the thing is, neither was in any way too different from the avatars they control on a daily basis. For the most part, they are the same people, even though their actions may not be the same – but then again, who does the same thing in both worlds.
Their experience is quite similar to what many of us experienced at CaleCon, and similar to what I experienced a year ago when my friends Asha, Bromo, nox, and I hung out for a weekend.
A beautiful handfasting
Today her Grace Gabrielle Riel and Lady Azul Draken were married in a ceremony conducted by Hypatia Dejavu.
The brides were lovely.
There was, of course, dancing after, in the courtyard of Carntaigh.
And what would a wedding reception be without cake and bubbly?
Hat contest
Inspired by my friends in the Consulate of Europa Wulfenbach, I wish to announce a CONTEST for best hat. Because, of course, one can never have too many hats.
Two competitive divisions:
Tipjar hats
- 30 points for ostentation
- 30 for cleverness of thank you reply
- 30 for special effects
- 10 at judges’ discretion
- Please note that points will be deducted for tipjar hats deemed unusable.
Hats to wear
- 30 points for ostentation
- 30 for versatility
- 30 for special effects
- 10 at judges’ discretion
- Please note that points will be deducted for hats deemed easily lost (because, of course, any plan where you lose your hat is a bad plan.)
- Hats should be gender-role-free
- Two classes: Tiny and Tall
To enter
Hats should be named “tipjar – contestant name,” “tiny – contestant name,” or “tall – contestant name” and dropped on the judges, Otenth Paderborn, Frau Annechen Lowey, and Baron KlausWulfenbach Outlander, no later than Friday, October 10. Entries should be copiable, and in the case of hats to wear, modifiable, but need not be transferable. Contestants may enter in multiple classes.
Winners
Winners will be announced here and at an event to be held Saturday, October 11 (12-2pm SLT at the Wyre Fairgrounds; winner need not be present to win). Cash prizes will be awarded:
- L$ 1000 to highest scoring tipjar
- L$ 1000 to highest scoring wearable hat for tinies
- L$ 1000 to highest scoring wearable hat for talls
- L$ 1000 to contestant with highest combined total score
- L$ 1000 to highest scoring entry
Upcoming chaos
In light of the upcoming seasonal adjustments to local clocks, I have added a page (linked above) that will show you what time (and day) it is in various parts of the world. (Radio Riel staff live in the United Kingdom, various time zones in the United States, and Australia. It’s not always even the same day!)
These clocks are courtesy of the useful site, World Time Server. FYI, you can also enter “time in wherever” into a Google search field, and it will give you the current time in that location.
CaleCon reflections
As I waited to cross back into the United States (a very long wait, but a blessedly easy interaction with the customs official), I looked back with great joy on the days I spent with my fellow Caledonians at CaleCon. (Behind the cut is a long post with several photos.)
Continue reading “CaleCon reflections”
Gridnaut!
Tonight I received my group membership in the gridnauts, and have successfully TPed between Linden Research-owned simulators and Open Sim simulators owned by others. Yay!
Social media
A wonderfully succint definition by CoyoteAngel Dimsum on Twitter:
social media are “presence by other means”, and that includes Twitter, IM, and SecondLife
Trying out Twinity
I’ve been trying out Twinity, and they have a contest that will start on Thursday. Voting will last for a week on locations that have been decorated over the last two weeks for the contest.