Second Life made me learn...

Another week, another Monday challenge from Strawberry Singh (which of course I complete late)... and again, one that tickles my interest. Because it makes you look back and reflect. This week's challenge says:

Meme instructions: Share things that you have learned because of your involvement in Second Life, either personally or professionally. Don't forget to leave a link to your post in the comments so others can come by and read your answers as well!

I think that it's interesting, to begin with, to read Strawberry's answers. They can give you ideas of things you wouldn't have considered as "I have learned this because of what I do in Second Life". Those are her experiences, and I find interesting the conclusions. She first mentions learning Photoshop and Wordpress, which are technical things, and in my experience, quite useful if you work in an office. Learning tools is always good, and it makes easier to learn other tools in the future.

What technical knowledge that I didn't have before have I acquired, because of my SL experience?

There are two major programs here: GIMP and Blender.

It's true that I know GIMP since long time ago (I know someone that was a GIMP developer at the time, and he introduced it to me), but I never went past cropping images. Nowadays I understand better what I'm doing, and how to achieve what I want to do.

Thanks to having started learning Blender, I started learning something that I wanted since almost twenty years ago: 3D modelling and animation. Of course, I'm not saying I'm an expert here (in fact, being an expert is quite far from the truth), but thanks to my work in SL, I've started learning the foundation of something I've been wanting to do since more than half my life.

I have also learned some rudiments of Audacity and working with sound clips. Makehuman, for human models. Filter Forge, to help me in creating textures. QAvimator, which was the first animation software that I used for SL.

I cannot list Blogger, Wordpress or similar here, because I've been a web developer for some years. But that is okay. The important is that while I've been in SL, I've continued to acquire technical knowledge. It has done good to me in that aspect.

I cannot forget this: I have learned English. Sure, I learned English at school and then high school, but I never got a real chance of putting it to practice. To me, that wasn't learning but "learning". I got the chance of really learning English in SL. Since then, I feel I can communicate better, and I even dared teaching in voice, in SL. If life required from me that I move to a country where people speak English, I have good chances to survive. (As long as I don't crack jokes.)

After talking about the technical knowledge she's acquired because of what she does in SL, she explains something even more interesting: What she's learned in the personal.

She mentions (and explains) budgeting and curbing my shopaholicism, customer service and growing a thicker skin. I'm listing them because I want to come back to the last one. First, let's see... What have I learned in the personal?

I think that I'm more diplomatic than I was when I'm behind a screen (Face to face, it seems that I continue to be the woman that will have her face broken some day, in some situations). I think I've learned to be more patient when dealing with others (although not always).

There's one good thing, to me, about treating people behind a screen. It gives me time to read and re-read the exact words that the other person said, no what I remember they said. It gives me time to bite my tongue (although not always I achieve this). It gives me time to think about what to answer. It gives me the chance to rewrite as needed, until I'm sure I will say what I mean, before I hit the Enter key. This, of course, helps a lot with customer service. I have no CSR, so I deal with it myself. I understand that customers, at times, contact you in a situation of frustration, and giving yourself time to answer, and review it before it's final, is a good thing.

I also think that I've broadened my horizons, understood how much variety of characters you find in people, how many different interests... and I've realized that both worlds, RL and SL, are always big enough to hold all the people, in all their diversity. Thanks to my experience in SL I've learned that not understanding why others like what they like means just that. It doesn't mean that your tastes or morals are better. It just means that you don't understand why others prefer other things than those you do, and you should not raise yourself as some kind of Internet White Knight trying to prove them wrong in their tastes/preferences/even kinks. I've learned how great is to live and let others live. I may not understand why others do other things, but that's all about it. And it's none of my business what they do with their private lives.

Notice how I say think, italics, instead of a straight think. Why am I doing this? Because I want to emphasize that I think I've learned those things, no that I have learned them. We're referring here to personal qualities, I may be very well wrong about them. I always say this: We are the worst judges about ourselves, and I am not going to make a exception with myself. So I think I've learned those things, but any of you could prove me wrong, and show that I have not learned them. Hence I think I have learned those things.

Of course, I have met some people that remind me, there are good people in the world. No matter we talk about SL or RL. And this brings me to her last answer. Strawberry says that thanks to SL, she's learned to grow a thicker skin. She talks about how nasty some people are, because they are hidden behind a computer, safe from our reactions, and how nowadays she doesn't feel much bothered by people who are nasty.

To the last thing, all I can say is, good for you. People on the Internet have no more power over you, than the power you give to them.

To the first thing... I don't completely agree.

Dark Fairy 3, in Flickr

Let me repeat something I've said above:

I think that I'm more diplomatic than I was when I'm behind a screen (Face to face, it seems that I continue to be the woman that will have her face broken some day, in some situations).

If the people are brave when they're behind a screen argument was completely true, then it's not possible that I continue to be the same reckless thing face to face (like I said, in some situations), while more moderate when behind the screen. Do you think I wouldn't tell you, face to face, the same things I've told you online? Test me. But some people won't test me, because they know, they cannot censor me like they do with all the mechanisms that the online world gives. (And of course, they will lie about the whole situation. I'm old enough to know the game.)

I am not saying, though, that many brave mouths behind a screen aren't actually cowards when confronted face to face. There are many of these real life cowards, oh yes. And it's fun to see their faces when you confront them in the real world and ask them to repeat what they told you in a forum. (I told you; one day, someone will break my mouth).

But not all brave mouths online are chickens in the real world. They can actually be moderate when online, and you would not want to listen to them face to face. You may think you don't want to hear them because omg the insults, but actually, the cases I've known are people who have the bad habit of telling the (always painful) truth, without using a single insult. Which, like if magic, turns into lots of insults in the mind of the person who didn't want to hear the truth.

There's another point I disagree with: That because we are in SL, we are anonymous. We may be anonymous right as we sign up: nobody knows us yet. But as time goes by, many of us develop a certain level of attachment to the virtual identity we've created. Many of us let the real us slip in our avatar's life and actions, make connections with other people. Once you have friends and a (virtual?) life, you feel that any words directed toward your avatar are directed to you. The real you. When Auryn Beorn writes something, it's the woman behind who does it, and she does exactly as she did when she signed with her real name in other forums. When someone says that Auryn Beorn is an idiot, I, the woman behind, know that the kind term of appreciation is directed to me. I also know that idiot is a boring choice, and I am the one who gives power (or not) to the person that called me idiot, by showing my reaction (or lack of).

Think about it: If we were really anonymous, why would people care so much about what's been said about their avatars? Because we aren't that anonymous. Knowing you isn't a matter of knowing your real name, where you live and your blood type. Knowing you is a matter of knowing how you think, how you feel, how you react. And you lose all anonymity as you interact with other people and let your real self slip in.

I haven't extended all I wanted in this topic, but I'm not doing for now because I know I could be writing for days, and at this point, not even my mother would be reading me. So let's continue talking about what else I think I have learned in the personal.

Something else I think I have learned is that many people seem genuinely surprised about how people can play games, be manipulative, etc., in SL, like if that never happened in RL. And it makes me think, a lot, about my own life.

I have never seen a behaviour in SL that I hadn't seen before in RL. In fact, the people I've known in RL are a lot worse than what I see in SL.

In SL I've been backstabbed. In RL I've been so tenfold. In SL I can barely trust people. In RL I trust even less people. In SL I've been betrayed. In RL, the wound is open for almost a decade, and it feels like it will never stop bleeding. The cruelest people (to me) have been my RL family and almost all of those I believed to be my RL friends.

So I think I have learned that people online aren't that bad as they can be in the real world. In fact, while people are online, they aren't hurting someone next to them (ok, there may be exceptions). They are distracted. I often say, half in jest, half serious, that smart politicians sure love Twitter, because while people are complaining in Twitter, they aren't on the streets fighting for their rights.

I think I have also learned to say no, and stay firm about it. It's something that translated to my real world, and I'm quite glad of it.

I also think I've developed an even worse sense of humor, because I can now make puns in two languages (to the horror of those that know me in RL, and know English).

I think I've let grow an artistic side of me that was repressed, and this is doing me good.

And this time, without think, I have learned that I really type too much. So I'll be leaving this here, because I can think of many more things to say, but at this point, half of you are sure sleeping =)

Have a great day! :-)

OUTFIT CREDITS

Mesh body: Lara, from Maitreya
Mesh hands: Lara's hands, from Maitreya
Mesh feet: Lara's feet, from Maitreya

Skin: Romy, Asia, from Glam Affair
Eyebrows: Romy Brow 01 E, from Glam Affair
Lipstick: Romy Lipstick Goddess 01, from Glam Affair
Eyes makeup: Romy Darkline 02, from Glam Affair
Freckles: Cassiopea Cosmetics, A (tn), from Glam Affair
Eyes: Phantom Eyes, Black Swan, from Dead Apples

Hair: Yunie (Garnet), from D!va
Headpiece: Isabella Headpiece, Black Gold, from Eudora 3D
Panties: Lycia, Black, from Baiastice
Necklace and earrings: Arabella Wild Pearls, from Maxi Gossamer
Corset: Anastasia corset (Night), from Junbug
Anklets and leg bands: Black regalia silks, from Angelwing
Wings: Titania Fairy Wings, from Deviance

Pose: Dark Fairy, set #3, Black Tulip (mine), coming for Oneword on March 1st

Have you ever...?

I think I'll be reviewing my personal policy about participating in Strawberry Singh's challenges, and maybe (just maybe) I'll join in some more than I used to (which was a number close to zero). This week, she proposes the Have you ever... in Second Life? challenge (questionnaire?), and since it looks fun, here I am, jumping in.

Meme Instructions: Copy and paste the following questions and answers to your post, delete my answers and input your own. Don’t forget to leave a link to your post in the comments so others can come by and read your answers as well!

1. Have you ever owned a sim in Second Life?
   Yes, the sim where the store, and home, are currently located.
2. Have you ever created content in Second Life?
   I would say so! (I do scripts, mesh, animations, textures, poses...)
3. Have you ever driven a vehicle in Second Life?
   Yes. That's how I found out that the sickness motion I experienced while watching my brother playing Doom, wasn't limited to it. And why one won't easily see me in a SL vehicle :-|
4. Have you ever gone sky diving in Second Life?
   No.
5. Have you ever played a sport in Second Life?
   If "Ooopsie, Platform Freefall" and "Strip Greedy" count, then yes!
6. Have you ever gone clubbing in Second Life?
   Many won't believe this, but... Yes. I can even name a club in SL! Ambrosia.
7. Have you ever fangirled/fanboyed someone in Second Life?
   I don't think so. Heck, I didn't fangirl in RL, one time when I had to meet with a TV celebrity because of an activity I was doing at the time. I even got him to take a beer while talking, and we laughed a lot :-)
8. Have you ever taken a picture of your avatar in water in Second Life?
   Yup. Water was my natural element during my first months in SL, because I found a rez area in a mainland sim. So while unpacking things and learning the interface, of course, I took pics. (Then, I have a water corner at home, where I take minimalist shots).
9. Have you ever taken a picture of a sunset in Second Life?
   I think the question would be... Have you never? I've done. I wonder if there's anybody that has not taken such a picture.
10. Have you ever taken a nude picture of your avatar in Second Life?
    Me? Naked pictures? Never! This photo and this other photo are NSFW figments of your imagination, and all the others I've never published, even more.
11. Have you ever dated in Second Life?
    I... would say so. Waves her hand to Ansel.
12. Have you ever had or attended a wedding in Second Life?
    Just one, because the guy is a good friend from RL (He poledanced for me in SL, in a horse avatar, after trying to cheer up an AI dog, poledancing as a dog). I'm partnered for long time now (SL-wise at least), together for even longer too, and a wedding wasn't among our plans. I don't feel comfortable at weddings in RL, and I felt odd at that one wedding in SL too. Except when they released the spiders on the dance floor. Then I felt more like at home.

This picture is from 2010. Please forgive my photo skills back then.
13. Have you ever drank, smoked or taken drugs in Second Life?
    Yes to drinking (Ansel and I love sharing wine), not to the other ones. I don't smoke nor do drugs in RL, and I don't find it appealing either in SL. I've had a history of breathing issues and long time sickness over second-hand smoke, and even virtual smoke makes me feel uncomfortable.
14. Have you ever engaged in sexual activity in Second Life?
    Me? Sexual activity in Second Life? Looks to the side. Then to the other side. What can I say! These things happen! (Yes. I've engaged in sexual activity in Second Life. As often as I can.)
15. Have you ever been to Bukkake Bliss in Second Life?
    No that I know. I've been to a free sex dungeon or something like that, back when I was still some kind of new to SL, the summer of 2009. Why? Am I missing on a fun place?

That's it! I've tried to avoid just short "yes" or "no" answers, so you have further blackmail material. Have a great day!

Things you need to know about mesh bodies (Part 1)

This article was published in Fusion Magazine, February 2015. Click for the magazine!

Who hasn't heard about mesh bodies nowadays? Like mesh hands and feet did before, they improve the appearance of our avatar, making it quite smoother than the default SL avatar. If you're interested in acquiring one, or even if you already have purchased one (or more than one), this mini series will clarify a few key concepts.

Daily, I see questions about what can/cannot be done with mesh bodies, or wondering if scripts could do things to them that are simply not possible. I also see questions about appliers, and particularly, the Omega applier. My goal is to take the mystery out of all this.

First of all: What is a mesh body? Technically, a mesh body is a set of linked SL primitives of mesh type, containing data about the geometry defining it, how this geometry should conform to the SL avatar and changes in some sliders (rigged mesh), and the textures to be applied.

It is important to realize that mesh objects, no matter how complex their geometry, are still seen as fancy boxes by the server, fancy boxes that have several faces that can be easily textured by scripts.

Figure 1. This is a mesh body too. Not so fancy, but it illustrates the idea of several linked objects and faces that can be textured
Also, mesh bodies are made of more pieces than the very simple concept shown in the picture. One of the reasons is because of the alpha zones and the fact that each mesh primitive may have up to eight different faces to be textured. If a ninth face is needed, then another mesh primitive has to be used. But let's not confuse ourselves with this yet.

Before that, let's talk about the naked skin shown on a mesh body. Later in the series we will get into clothing and the alpha zones.

Within the modelling program, whether this is Blender or others, we have several ways to texture a mesh. But because this mesh will be later exported and uploaded to SL, the mesh needs to be unwrapped. What does this mean? It means that we have to lay flat our mesh object (so textures can be created), creating a map, or guides if you will, indicating which point of the mesh will be textured by which pixel of the texture.

In order to create a texture that will fit that mesh object, we have to use these guides, painting by following its shape. We may hear that those guides are the UVs of the mesh object. It's good to be familiarized with the general idea: The UV of a mesh can be understood as the guides used to paint the texture. Of course, this is a very simplistic explanation of the term UV, but remember: the purpose of this mini series is understanding some basic concepts. We don't need to know all the technical details in order to learn what can be achieved with mesh bodies, and what cannot be.

Each creator of a mesh body could use their own UV if they wanted to. But this would be a nightmare for skin creators that create skin appliers, to begin with. Suppose that we have three different mesh bodies, and three different UVs for them, as this picture shows:

Figure 2. Three different arrangements of UVs done with Makehuman
Now, suppose you're a skin creator, you have ten skin tones, and you want to offer appliers for the three mesh bodies, so your customers can purchase the appliers that fit with their body. This means that you should work the ten tones over three different UV configurations. It sounds like a lot of work!

Instead of this, what mesh body creators do (at least, the creators of the four mesh bodies I've tried), is to unwrap their mesh bodies so they conform to an already known UV that saves a lot of work to skin and clothes creators. This UV is the UV of... the default SL avatar.

Figure 3. The UVs of the SL avatar upper and lower body
Still, making skin appliers is no click and go. Each mesh body has their own appliers system, which means creating a different set of HUDs per body, and skin creators could also need to retouch the tones of their skins, fix mistakes, then upload them again.

Actually, when I've said "at least, the creators of the four mesh bodies I've tried", that wasn't 100% accurate. There's a mesh body from the four I've tried, Belleza Venus, which has different UVs for hands and feet than the UVs of the SL avatar. This means that skin creators making appliers for the Venus body, have to redo the textures of their hands and feet, in all the tones they consider they will be supporting. This may also have consequences for clothes creators making appliers for this body.

We will continue in the next issue, but before closing this first part, I'd like to point one consequence of all we've explained here.

We've pointed out that some body parts, like the Belleza Venus hands and feet, do not conform to the UV of the SL avatar. There is no script solution for this. A script cannot magically transform one texture conforming one UV, to a different texture conforming another UV. A script can apply a texture onto the faces of a mesh. And that's it. The texture needs to exist. This means, the creator has to create and upload it.

This is why not conforming to the UV of the SL avatar is a bad idea. There's already a lot of work to do creating appliers for all the systems and brands a creator decides to support. Giving them more work than necessary is not a good idea.

Now, yes... See you in the next issue! Enjoy your SL.