Second Life is a GAME

Second Life is the most insidious game of all.

We quickly push away from the 'game' label because there are no clear protagonists or antagonists. There is no universally defined objective. Without these essential elements Second Life just doesn't fit the 'I-win-you-lose' model of contemporary gaming.

The truth is that when you enter into Second Life for the first time you do so as a loser. You are born with the absolute minimum amount of resources. Just enough clothing to be 'decent'. Just enough Linden Dollars to get you hooked on the economic drug of this most insidious game.

In order to "prosper" you have to game Second Life. Materialism and economic wealth in Second Life mirror the values of the capitalist societies in Real Life. In a true ironic twist there are no 'natural resources' (to my knowledge) in Second Life. It is not possible to 'farm' or grow 'food'. I seriously doubt that there are Gold or Diamond mines. I do not see any 'pulling-oneself-up-by-one's-bootstraps' opportunities in Second Life that parallel Real Life.

Second Life is all about stuff. "He who has the most toys wins."

Hats, Buckles and Boots

Rent-a-Bums worked the Locash Cowboys show last night at the Big "E" Rivermont Lounge. Was pleasantly surprised by the energy and showmanship of Chris and Preston.

I don't do magic!

...and here is the simple reason why. Seth Godin shared the following line with us in his post Notable...

I believe she is good at the standard but limited in considering the notable.
(Attributed to one of Seth Godin's co-workers.)

I don't do magic because I am unable to manifest anything as wondrous or mystical as that which swirls and eddies around me all the time. This line, "I believe..." is a prime example. In the course of one sentence the speaker was able to convey a concept so involved that it broaches on the magical.

Something borrowed.

Seth Godin posted the following Painting fakes. I enjoyed it so much I just wanted a copy for myself.

Ed shares this story with us, via a friend of Pablo Picasso.

I was staying with Picasso in his studio. Every day, dealers would come by to authenticate paintings they were trying to sell... they would ask the painter if the painting was real or a fake.

A dealer came by one day, Picasso glanced at it and without hesitating said, "fake." Later that day, two more were identified as fakes.

The second day, a different dealer came by. Picasso hardly looked up. "Fake!" he bellowed.

After the dealer left, I couldn't help myself. "Picasso, why did you say that painting was a fake? I was here, in this studio, last year when I saw you paint it."

Picasso didn't hesitate. He turned to me and said, "I often paint fakes."

Up to my A..a..a..ankles in alligators!

Frustrated!!!

I have been fighting fires for the last two and a half weeks... Not literal fires, thankfully, but those pesky jobs that land high enough up the priority scale that they demand immediate attention. I have been coming home drained, mentally exhausted. If I get to come home at all. Seems some of my fires are 'extracurricular' (Now there is a wonderfully strange turn-of-phrase. One of my fires was the Parents Open House at the High School my daughters attend.)

So I unwind, have dinner, and then I put my feet up, open GoogleReader and read all the wonderful items that really diligent knowledgeable dedicated bloggers write. That is when I get really really frustrated.

Not that my writing is all that good. But I should be practicing. I should be putting fingers to keyboard. Instead I look down at the swirling dark waters that are rising now up to my waist and I remain ever vigilant for the beady eyes of the next lurking alligator.

Feelin' good?

In one of those moments of lucid awareness, apart from the daily 'work' process, I came to realize that people need to feel good.

Well d'uh, Papa?!?! You just beginning to figure that out?

Certainly that are the creature comfort feel-goods. Food, shelter, and clothing are essential. Then come the higher order feel-goods; spouse, family, friends and community. Personal self-worth and respect go a long way as comparison values to promoting feel-goods.

Maslow writes the following of self-actualizing people:

• They embrace the facts and realities of the world (including themselves) rather than denying or avoiding them.
• They are spontaneous in their ideas and actions.
• They are creative.
• They are interested in solving problems; this often includes the problems of others. Solving these problems is often a key focus in their lives.
• They feel a closeness to other people, and generally appreciate life.
• They have a system of morality that is fully internalized and independent of external authority.
• They judge others without prejudice, in a way that can be termed objective.

In short, self-actualization is reaching one's fullest potential.

Papa, that sounds pretty complete for an individual. So what is missing?

Maslow speaks of "...[embracing] the facts and realities of the world (including themselves) rather than denying or avoiding them." This offers a clear clinical, intellectual view of the world but it leaves out one important element that I believe people 'need' in order to feel good.

Where is Hope in the value schedule cited above?

In one of those moments of lucid awareness, apart from the daily 'work' process, I came to realize that people need hope to feel good. People need to have a sense of value that extends beyond the "...facts and realities of the world..." A sense that something greater than ourselves will continue beyond the limits of our lives.

Were hope not present then I believe the suicide rate would be dramatically higher. This might well be the reason that according to the World Health Organization, "in the last 45 years suicide rates have increased by 60% worldwide."

I suggest that as we, the world society, move into clinical and intellectual realms that have do not have facilities for accommodating hope we doom ourselves to greater and greater levels of dissatisfaction. When I am dissatisfied then most certainly I am not ... Feelin' good.

My idea of a company party

Wowsers! Whiteboard infinity - Only in China...



SUN's Sin-Yaw Wang makes me envious...

• 500+ People party
• two hours of talent show by employees
• 4 MCs that rival professional show hosts
• stage with professional grade video, sound, and lighting systems
• And the foods! All 14 courses that include shrimp, chicken, beef,
  mutton, pork, fish, soup, vegetable, fried rice, noodle, dessert, and a
  cup of tea at the end. I found myself trying to have extra bites even
  way after I was full.

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Rent-A-Bum Redux

The old saying goes... Rent-a-Bum, it is cheaper than marrying one.

---

When last we met little Timmy had fallen down the well at the abandoned farm and Lassie was trying to convince the Department of Social Services to not arrest Timmy's parents for neglect and child endangerment... No, wait that is an entirely different story.

---

Da Bums, a rag-tag crew of itinerant struggling, starving musicians, strong women, out of work riggers and one Manager of Information Systems were being disbanded, sorta. The Bums management was going to be assimilated by the local Corporate Big Business Consortium. Bums were told that in order to keep working they would need to apply for membership in the CBBC. Some of them did, others didn't. I didn't!

And then I got a call...

...and then another call...

The show must go on.

The contract stipulates that for load-in and load-out there will be a crew of a specified number of people. Some venues fulfill the terms of the contract by hiring day laborers. Others try to get by reassigning busboys and dishwashers. The real merit in hiring the Rent-a-Bums is that we are a highly trained, disciplined, cohesive team. As the saying goes, 'This ain't our first rodeo.'

So it seems that the Bums are officially/unofficially back in business.

Sort of a typical Bum day... (4+ hours the night before assembling the stage.)

08:00 Load in the Lighting Company
Set up trusses, rig chain-fall motors, hang lights, pull cabling
Set up Front-of-House (FOH) control console
Hang black back drop
Set up two follow spots

10:00 Load in the Sound Company
Set and wire bass bins (speakers) 4 per side
Stack and wire Mids 4 per side + 2 side-fills
Set and wire power distribution system
Set drum riser, backup vocal riser
Set monitor speakers
Set and wire microphones (~20+)
Set and wire Monitor World control console
Set and wire FOH control console + Effects racks
Pull FOH snake (64 line wire bundle from Monitor World to FOH)

13:00 Load in Video Company
Set up video display screens

Pipe & Drape (Black for backstage, Red+White+Blue for VIP sections)

14:00 Load in Band Gear
Assist Road Crew in setting up Drums, Keyboards, Peddle Steel, etc.
Assist Road Crew in wiring/mic-ing instruments.
Focus lights

15:00 Headliner Sound Check
Band members tune, check all instruments, play portions of songs
Set sound levels on all microphones, levels on all monitors
Band practices songs, portions of songs.

15:45 Set stage for opening act

16:00 Finish setting the House
Complete Pipe & Drape
Carpet runners taped down over FOH snakes

18:30 DOORS! - the House is open.
Monitor backstage area, insure only authorized personal access
Monitor Bus Parking, insure only authorized personal access

Escort Talent hotel room/bus to Green Room

Fan management during Meet-n-Greet

Escort Talent from Green Room to [back]stage

20:00 Showtime!
Provide stage security (in case fans want to get on stage without permission.)
Provide backstage security

20:45
Clear stage of opening act equipment
Set stage for Headline Act

22:30 Shows over...
Escort Talent to Green Room/Bus
Monitor Bus Parking, Fan Management

Pack band gear, load into bus bays (or truck)

23:00 Tear-down
Disassemble all sound equipment, pack into road cases
Disassemble all lighting equipment, pack into road cases

00:00 Load-out
Load Lighting road cases and trusses, spotlights, Geni lifts, etc. into truck
00:30
Load Sound road cases into truck

01:00 End of a very long day...
Go home! Well, you don't have to go home but you can't stay here.

(4+ hours later that day disassembling the stage.)

Plate o' Nachos

I woke up this morning... HUNGRY.

Probably had something to do with the fact that I worked hard yesterday for Rent-a-Bum (more on that later) loading in, setting up, crewing/security, tearing down and loading out...

wait for it... Miss Loretta Lynn


So this morning I scanned the pantry and the refrigerator. A little voice whispered, "Nachos".

I asked rhetorically, "For breakfast?"

As I often do in these matters I made a note of it and went back to scanning. I even spent a considerable amount of time straightening out the Pa^2 Linux (old) and the Pa^2 GNU (new) situation ( more on that later as well, or just go and explore.)

Hunger reared its head again.

Re-scanned the pantry. This time the whisper was more like a FREIGHT TRAIN....Wooowooo ... NACHOS!!!

So I began to start to commence to initiate a plate... o' nachos. This, if you don't mind my saying so are the fruits of my labors...

I am not a Pro Blogger, I am a Professional Blog Reader.

Three very good reasons I'm not a Pro Blogger...

1. If I had to write I would starve!
2. My current job, my livelihood, doesn't depend on blogging.
3. I am not engaged in a business that I need to promote or represent via a blog.

I am a Professional Blog reader ( a professional who reads blogs )

Yes, I know that was just a matter of a little linguistic slight of hand (mouth?) but after the smoke clears and the mirrors are removed the import remains: I, as a professional, read blogs. As a Systems Administrator it is essential that I maintain an up-to-the-minutes perspective on the world of technology.

I was the guy at my office that subscribed to every trade journal (slick) that I could find a blow-in card for. They were killing millions of trees just for me. It was normal for me to receive 1 or 2 slicks per business work day. That works out to ~28 trade slicks per month. There was paper-based information overload, not to mention waste basket/recycle box overload.

Then it was e-mailed technical briefing/product/service newsletters. Zettabytes and yattabytes of electrons gave up their little negative charges, figuratively speaking, to over-stuff my e-mail in-box. Now I was receiving weekly newsletters from roughly the same number of sources (e.g. 28 sources times 4 weeks equals 112 newsletters.) I spent more time deleting than I did reading.

Blogs are the answer to information overload. First is the timeliness of the available information. Professional and business blogs, as well as personal blogs, appear to be updated in near-real time. Second it the usual brevity of the information offered. The medium has shaped the message. Blog postings are short, sweet and to the point.

Google Reader Trends indicates...From your 101 subscriptions, over the last 30 days you read 3,397 items. More correctly I have scanned nearly 34 hundred items. Subscribing to blog feeds has allowed me to manage and process information in a much more efficient manner. I am able to spend less time and have evergreen information on the technology world around me.

...that is why I am a professional blog reader.

Bloated Numbers, BAH!

BigNameSoftware (BNS) claims that its browser is regaining market share... Sheeeeesh! That is a nice way to SPIN the story... here is an example:

IE 7 Tops 100M Download Mark

An article which I will only read the title of...

IE 7 is not a choice!!! IE 7 is a security patch.

People have to download it to maintain a 'secure' system.

Microsoft softens the blow, sorta...

Mary Jo Foley in her post

Microsoft to offer Vista ‘Family Pack’ discount for Ultimate users

sites the possibility that if a home user buys a full license of Windows Vista Ultimate (~$399.00 MSLP) that Microsoft will sell two additional licenses at a price somewhere between ~$49.00 and ~$99.00.

399 BLOWS!!!

49-99 seems just about right.

The Rhino Virus, NOT an endangered species

Living now for the past 11 days in my sinuses, just behind one eye or the other, creating that 'spot' at the back of the roof of my mouth... it hurts to breath, hurts to blow, hurts to swallow... conclusion: I have a cold.

B, the Saint, asked if I was going to go to the doctor. Now, lemme think. Even though my employer has one of the best health plans going... If I did visit a physician I would...

1. Take time off from work.
   
2. Drive across town.
3. Wait
4. Fill out a form, again.
5. Wait
6. Ushered into an exam room.
7. Upon cursory inspection be told that my blood pressure is high.
8. Explain, again, that it is always elevated when I am stressed by the prospect of seeing a doctor.
9. Be retested for blood pressure, follow-up note in chart, again.
10. Told that Doctor will see you shortly.
11. Wait
12. Read the cute anatomy chart.
13. Wait
    
14. Read the new and improved nutrition chart.
15. Wait.
16. Greet the doctor. Remove my shirt.
17. Endure the cold stethoscope, front and back.
18. Say 'Ahhhhh' for the tongue depressor.
19. Hear Doctor confirm my self-diagnosis: rhino virus. "You have a cold."
20. Hear Doctor confirm my self-treatment plan: Plenty of fluids, rest and a commercial antihistamine to dry up the runny nose.
21. Hear Doctor confirm, "There's alot of this going around."
22. Hear Doctor confirm, "There really isn't any effective treatment for the rhino virus. You just have to let it run its course."
23. Hear myself thanking doctor.
24. Stop by the receptionists desk.
25. Sign forms.
26. Wait.
27. Hear myself thanking the receptionist.
28. Driving back across town.
29. Figuring out what I can eat for lunch at my desk since my lunch hour is over.
30. AND... hearing my Health Plan being billed $350.00 USD for the visit.

AND... My health care plan would pay it.

And this, good children, is why the overall cost of health care is soooooo high!

P.S. If I were even more typical I would have gone to the Emergency Room and they would have billed my Health Plan $750.00 USD.


Technorati Tags: Health Costs

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Identity Theft is not only for Credit Cards or Green Cards

Until Mordaxus mentioned it in his post 'That's Funny' at Emergent Chaos I would never have given the possibility of "Medical" identity theft even the slightest credence. Who in their right mind would want my sordid medical history? But wait... what I lack in health my employer more than makes up for in Health Insurance.

[Update: Additional Link - Hospitals Becoming Popular ID Theft Target ]

Bill Gates and Vista Vision

Thanks to some enterprising soul I was able to watch the majority of the CES 2007 Keynote address hosted by none other than that perennial CES Keynote Dignitary: William "Windows" Gates...

I am impressed with the direction that Microsoft has chosen in presenting its flagship product before the Consumer Electronic Show. Hype and multimedia glitz - sound and fury signifying little, to paraphrase the Bard. Appealing to the home user, the gamer and the family-picture-scrapper Windows Vista will be your link to your friends and your life. With a click the mouse or X-Box controller you can determine what your friends are doing and with whom. Even driving in your Ford you can enjoy the ubiquitous Microsoft connectivity.

In the course of the 66 minute presentation I think I heard the Office suite mentioned...er, uh, once... in passing.

[Amendment: Bill mentioned Office ... twice... in passing.]

This makes me very happy. Microsoft has declared its intended area of focus; Middle America. That leave business waving like a limp flag and serious computer users looking for a serious computing environment. I am excited because it appears that in going after the emotionally driven, vain 'Meriken middle market Microsoft is finally declaring itself to be the second seat OS that it really is.

ID Cards and REALITY

Bruce Schneier in his article ID Cards to Stop Bullying decries the use of ID cards.

It's important that schools teach the right lessons, and "we're all living in a surveillance society, and we should just get used to it" is not the right lesson.

Mr. Schneier should spend a prolong period of time in a public school! Bruce should be exposed to the egregious behaviors and attitudes of today's young people. The 'surveillance society' that Bruce refers to has less to do with privacy and more to do with safety. Having two daughters in a urban/rural American High School gives me certain insight into this matter.

At first I thought it outrageous that a full-time law enforcement officer (with his 'drug' dog) would be posted in a high school. Then it became obvious to me that this isn't My High School - of nearly 35 years ago. Today students carry photo IDs for the same security reasons that any company or institution requires them. This is not an invasion of their privacy but an attempt to insure the integrity of their personal experience in a public institution of higher learning.

Mr. Schneier:
Do you drive? Do you have a picture license to operate a motor vehicle?
Do you travel? Do you have a picture license to leave and return to you home country?

While I agree that the indiscriminate use of personal information, including a personal image (picture) is not appropriate I cannot say that offering a negative criticism, "...is not the right lesson." is productive either. What is the 'right lesson'?

New Year's Resolution: 1400x1050, of course...

I learned long ago not to bother with New Year's Resolutions.

Seems that we insist once a year on holding ourselves to a standard. Why? Because we believe we can change. We believe that we can control our lives as though we were sitting behind the wheel of a car; turn the wheel right, go right; turn the wheel left, go left. The only real hitch-in-the-git-along of the car analogy is the "Do you know where you are driving to?" question. Usually if you are after a gallon of milk the directions are pretty clear.

Seems New Year's Resolutions are a bit more vague than a gallon of milk. Or, they are a bit more complex in their implementation than just a drive to the convenience store. Either way they more accurately reflect the true nature of the human condition. We are frail, compromised, and indecisive. [Oh boy, should I receive ugly comments about this...] If on the other hand were were truly strong, whole and complete, as well as clearly decisive we would have addressed "Resolutions" on a daily on-going basis.

Therein lies the key to this entire matter: it should not be a matter of a "New Year's Resolution" but rather a simple matter of today's resolution. Our endeavors should not be lofty grandiose goals. Rather we should focus on the moment of our lives. We can affect significant change in our lives not by scheduling it for a week from next Tuesday but by making small, minor adjustment right now.

Right now...I am going post the first Pa^ Patois post of 2007...right now.

[Note: 1400x1050 is the most excellent resolution of this 15' R52 IBM ThinkPad.]

Season's Greetin's

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

The very best of the season to you and yours this holiday season.

If Chris Locke says... (The Notoriety of Fame)

< andy_rooney > Didja ever notice that cool things aren't cool until cool people make a point of saying they are ... well... cool? Didja ever notice that Chris Locke is the purveyor of things with high cooliocity factors. In fact Chris Locke is the very picture of cool. Didja ever notice that? < / andy_rooney >


H/T to another Master Cooler - Frank Paynter


Technorati Tags: Chris Locke, Frank Paynter, Cool

This is why America (USA) is great!

The constitution of the United States of America guarantees Newt Gingrich the right to speak his mind freely about the things he strongly believes. Quoted in the The New York Sun publication, Gingrich: Free Speech Should Be Curtailed To Fight Terrorism Mr. Gingrich makes what he believes is a strong case for the curtailment of that same right.

"This is a serious, long-term war," the former speaker said, according an audio excerpt of his remarks made available yesterday by his office. "Either before we lose a city or, if we are truly stupid, after we lose a city, we will adopt rules of engagement that use every technology we can find to break up their capacity to use the Internet, to break up their capacity to use free speech, and to go after people who want to kill us to stop them from recruiting people."

Newt, you are absolutely right! We, as a nation, should "break up their [your] capacity to use free speech" for the overthrow of this great nation and all that it stands for.

UP with Newt Gingrich!!! DOWN with Free Speech! Oh, wait, I just abdicated my right to say that...sorry. I retract everything.


Technorati Tags: Constitution, Freedom of Speech, 1st Admendment, Freedom, Newt Gingrich

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