New strain of Mad Cow disease?

Get up to date with previous cases of Mad Cow disease: click here, here, and here.

Therian scientists have identified what is possibly a new sub-strain of Mad Cow disease. If you recall, a previous strain of the disease dubbed "Bordemvine Spongy-tummy Encel-apathy" caused all manner of unsightly behavior and extreme weight gain in avatars. In its previously recorded attack, it had crossed the very boundaries separating online virtual worlds! Although this most recent outbreak remains, for the moment, confined to There, physicians are deeply concerned over the disease's incredible adaptive abilities and resilience to all known treatments. Leading Therian Physician, Doctor I. C. Shivers notes: "The disease is adapting faster than we can devise new treatments. This behavior has the best scientists in There baffled and extremely worried." Symptoms of the disease include irrational, unprovoked outbursts with the intent of annoyance, weight gain, and possibly a hatred for this very world we live in! The disease continues to target younger avies, though scientists are worried about it adapting further to affect all avatars indiscriminately.

With this new sub-strain of the disease, younger avatars are overcome with a condition known as UHSS: Uncontrollable Hyperactive Salesmen Syndrome. Witnesses have reported three avatars in the Duda Bay area selling off their entire inventories to passing travelers! Upon visiting this area to investigate, dihtri and myself were immediately overtaken by those three poor souls, who promptly began with their latest sales pitch. 911, the first avatar who approached us, began by asking if we wanted to buy a PAZ containing a skyscraper for only 7,000 therebucks. As a bonus, he offered to throw in a free mansion! Dihtri and I were overcome with awe at this impressive deal!

Jon_Quixote: only 7k!! WOW!!!
Dihtri: :O
Dihtri: rofl
Dihtri: why only 7k?
Jon_Quixote: Holy cow can it possibly get any better?!?!

He was soon followed by two other avatars, Cole1231 and Tusaki, at which point he informed us that it CAN, in fact, get better! He offered to sell us the PAZ for only 11,000 therebucks!!

Jon_Quixote: WHAT a deal!??!
Dihtri: Does it Slice and Dice?
Jon_Quixote: Is it self-sharpening?
Dihtri: does it cut pennies in one single blow?

Dihtri and I were so overwhelmed with the amazingness of this deal that we almost bought three of them! We couldn't believe our ears! Just before we succumbed, however, we had a brief moment of clarity when we realized something was gravely wrong with this situation. We surmised that the disease must be able to excrete a specific hormone which induces the buyer's urge in anyone who is exposed to it! I had to take action quickly and there was only one thing I could think to do to contain the situation!
The afflicted avatars were taken to a nearby facility where they underwent extensive testing and extremely painful examinations. Physicians confirmed our suspicions about the mind-affecting hormone and immediately began devising treatments to protect us. Inoculations will be distributed over the next seven days at El Templo Del Pollo. Nurses will also be standing by at key locations throughout There to provide further access to inoculations. Sane avatars are reminded to remain that way. Avoid any unnecessary exposure to those already infected with the disease and, as always, wear proper protective equipment. Should you or anyone you know become affected by the disease, do not induce vomiting; seek medical care immediately.

Jon Quixote was There.

TGIF

Click to enlarge:

It's Friday!! Time to relax! Just hang out and let the juices flow to your head :)

Hangin' with the big man inside a tree. Oh yeah, we cool.

Hey guys... I could use a hand here......Guys?

Yes, it was I who let the dogs out.(Thanks Shalia, RossD, and MelissaD!)

Jon Quixote was There.

Escape from Lesser Tuma

So you decided to explore the ruins at Lesser Tuma. You crossed the broken bridge, hopscotched over toppled pillars, and the roof almost collapsed on your head, but you survived it nonetheless. Then you found the open coffin and leaped inside. Which open coffin?

That open coffin.

You found yourself inside this dark, empty room with nothing but a bowl of soup and your diminishing wits as you realize... there's no way out! I now present to you eight easy steps for escaping from the escape-proof room in Lesser Tuma.

STEP 1: Get yourself stuck in the room. Yes, jump down through the coffin. Trust me!
STEP 2: Calmly check every wall and pillar for exits. Did you find the invisible pillar?
STEP 3: Run around like a chicken with your head chopped of when you realize: There are no exits.
STEP 4: Summon a friend who will try to knock you through the walls with a paintball gun. When that fails, try to take out a hoverpack or buggy to escape. When that fails, move on to step five.
STEP 5: Eat your soup. All this escaping business has you very hungry. You need to keep up your strength.
STEP 6: Notice that the zone is open for third party hosting. Host an event entitled "Get me out of Lesser Tuma!!". Invite your friends. Notice that you are unable to change permissions in the zone and, therefore, any vehicle trick that may provide an easy escape is out of the question.
STEP 7: Using a chair or seating group and two long 45 ramps, stack the objects in such a way that it allows you to poke yourself up through the ceiling and walk up the ramps and out of the room. You're smart; you'll figure it out.
STEP 8: Clean up the mess you've made.

Jon Quixote was There.

Big Eights!

The Big Eights. When "Big Eights" is used as a greeting, what does it mean? What does Big Eights itself mean? There are eighty eight keys on a piano, a well known fact. This, in itself, creates meaning for the Big Eights. Big Eights becomes a symbol of musical harmony. Those eighty eight keys of a piano are able to create beautiful music and inspire peace within individuals. That peace is capable of transcending the boundaries of the inner soul when more than one individual is affected by it. It becomes harmony among individuals, harmony of life. Big Eights, however, is more than just musical harmony; it is expressed everywhere you look. It is harmony in nature, from the smallest particles to the largest organisms. Harmony across the globe. Harmony of the planets and their movement within our solar system. Harmony of our solar system around the core of our galaxy. Harmony of galaxies bound by the cosmic forces we have yet to understand. The harmony is never-ending; infinite.

The plot thickens...

Turn those eights on their side: The mobius strip - Infinity. The universe is infinite. There is a never-ending, harmonious cycle of events occurring at this very moment all around you. To better understand this cycle, one can look to the Law of Conservation of Matter/Energy which states: Matter/Energy can neither be created nor destroyed, but can only be converted from one form to another. This means there is a finite amount of matter/energy in our universe which is infinately changing. The constant conversions of matter/energy add stability to life.

Turn the page...

Stability is important in life. Without stability, plants and animals would die off completely. Life would not have the means to sustain itself. Chaos would ensue in the cosmic sense. Big Eights symbolizes this stability. It is stability in the environment which allows organisms to nurture themselves, grow, reproduce, die, and feed other organisms. Stability in the environment is conducive to stability of the mind and spirit. Stability of the body, mind, and spirit brings us back to harmony. It is an infinite process using a finite amount of matter/energy.

It's so simple...

The mobius strip visible in the Big Eights represents an infinite process. The path of the mobius strip can be traced forever into eternity, yet there exists only a finite amount of material to be traced on that path. It is an infinite object existing in a finite amount of space. Following the infinite path itself down whatever road you choose, be it the conservation of matter/energy, or the infinite cycle of life and the universe, will take you through complex and incomprehensible thought patterns. It will bring forth unanswerable questions, unexplainable events and consequences, and will bring you face to face with the infinitely complicated nature of the universe. And yet it is one of the simplest things that can possibly exist. It is the Big Eights.

Too few people in There have insight into the philosophical implications of Big Eights. To some, like icedoll, it is just a shirt they should have bought when they had the chance. Others don't even know of the shirt, never mind the meaning behind it. In my search for better understanding of Big Eights, I found two people in particular who were the most helpful.

The first was Mackie. She told me that she has heard the phrase "Big Eights" used by truckers, perhaps to imply "safe travels". Wow, I thought. That adds a whole new perspective to Big Eights as a greeting! Not only can it relate to the harmony of the Eights (eighty-eight keys on a piano), suggesting harmony on the road and thus "safe travels", but it also relates back to the mobius strip as a way to say "see you next time."

The second person who offered me perspectives on Big Eights was sunny1. She suggested that Big Eights can be related to numerology: the four directions and the four elements of the world add up to eight. She also noted that if you untwist an eight you get a circle, which many cultures use in building practices. Native Americans used the circle to design their tee pees, Eskimos use it to defy the wind and hold in heat, and dome homes are based on the circle due to its inherent strength. The circle also is representative of wholeness or completion.

Although I was able to gain a great deal of insight into Big Eights from Mackie and sunny1, it is clear to me that even the simple recognition of the phrase "Big Eights" as you pass a there_test avie wearing the shirt, for example, is limited to a very small percentage of Therians. To most, it is absolutely meaningless. Time for a Big Eights revival across Theria?

Jon Quixote was There.

Blinky gets a lift!

Mr. Blinky has gone and propped himself up high on a pedestal of sorts. He's still at the same location on New Kansas, though he's a few meters higher now. Someone has managed to get a lockbox clue up in the air and placed Mr. Blinky up on top of it. Who is this someone? Why did he do this? Does he want Mr. Blinky to get a sunburn?! ::cough::Art_Stone::cough::

Blinky seems to be enjoying his new-found perspective. I found him gazing out northward to the mountains on Kansas almost as if he were trying to look through them at the ocean that lies beyond. Could Blinky be considering another change of scenery? Perhaps we'll wake up tomorrow and find him standing on Comet Island. I think he has his eyes set on Tyr! But does Blinky even know Tyr exists? He has never been beyond the confines of Saja until just recently when he moved to New Kansas. If you look hard enough, surely you can see that longing in his eyes. The brief excitement he experienced on New Kansas is fading quickly. New adventures await! Yukon Ho!

Jon Quixote was There.

Goodnight There

What a perfect spot to lay down for the night. This is a really comfy couch! I'm in the Ventrella Cafe on Caldera. I had never noticed before, but the pictures adorning these walls appear to be concept art of what the early designers must have had planned for There. One picture appears to be an early tiki themed village. Karuna? Tiki Cove Plaza? Well, it turned out great. Goodnight, There :)

Jon Quixote was There.

Flying in formation

Saturday night was the Yacht Club's informal hoverboat flotilla for Oktoberfest. The Hairier Legion Flight team led the pack around the outskirts of Comet Island. Flying in formation with them was a ton of fun! Stungthumbz rode in Fox One, leading his team throughout much of the flight. On occasion, actually... more often than not, he was knocked far off course by Penguin16, who was too incapacitated to fly his hairier straight. A particular helicopter flown by DJ_Rick also caused problems for the other Hairier Legion team members trying to hold formation. A few major collisions took place throughout the flight. I was able to avoid all but one encounter with the helicopter. My shuttle still got away relatively unscathed by comparison to some of the hairiers. The official Yacht Club Massive Hoverboat Flotilla is the last Saturday of the month, as always, and I can't wait for it! Eye candy below, click to enlarge.

Jon Quixote was There.

Mad Cow disease hits Second Life!

To read about previous cases of Mad Cow disease, click here and here.

The dangerous strain of Mad Cow disease dubbed "Bordemvine Spongy-tummy Encel-apathy" by leading Therian Physicians has once again mutated and this time crossed server boundaries into Second Life!! "We believe we may have found a possible explanation for the disease's sudden ability to transcend server boundaries and infect additional virtual worlds, however it has become extremely difficult to find a living host to study who is infected with the disease." says world-renowned physician, Doctor I. C. Shivers. Apparently, the already brutal disease has further mutated into something even more horrific. It now possesses the ability to infect avatars from completely different virtual worlds! Scientists blame this recent behavior on a small group of Therians who felt the sudden, inexplicable need to reject their previous way of life and move to Second Life. The stresses on their bodies due to the crossover were tremendous, allowing the disease an opportunity to escape and infect others in the Second Life community.

One such avatar was so irrational that she disfigured herself in order to pass as a Therian. She was seen roaming around Paiz proclaiming her superiority over all Therians. Consistent with previous documented cases, she was harassing newbies; criticizing their choice of virtual worlds, sprinkled with some profanity here and there. Luckily, There recently installed a profanity filter. One thing that could not be suppressed, however, were the obscene names she chose for her avatars. As staff member Greeter_Ice banned one of the infected avatars, the virus would duplicate not only itself, but its entire host to continue the harassment. Scientists believe the virus uses harassment as a means of subduing victims it wishes to infect. The disease-stricken avatar was quoted saying such nonsense as "U NEED TO QUIT THIS GAME NOW play SECONDLIFE.com im wanring people". One of the most prominent side effects of this new strain is the inability to speak anything that makes any amount of grammatical sense. Scientists have adopted a name to describe this specific case: The "basket case".

"Avatars who have succumbed to this level of mental deterioration are far beyond hope." claims Doctor I. C. Shivers. The afflicted avatar was promptly put out of her misery. Screenshots of this incident were withheld due to their disturbing content. Therians who find themselves in close proximity to an infected Second Life avatar are reminded to beat the avatar over the head with the nearest heavy object. You'll be doing them a favor.

Jon Quixote was There.

Diving for therebucks!

Icedoll hosted an Alpine Slide down the mountain at Avie Sacrifices last night. I'm still covered in bumps and bruises from over thirty slides down that mountainside, but it was a blast. The object was to land inside a lobster trap at the base of the mountain. Icedoll, sponsered by the University of There, awarded 1,000tb's to anyone who made it inside, and gave us the option of donating that money to the Hurricane Katrina Relief Fund. By the end of the event, I had made it into the trap a grand total of five, count them, five times!! Some people were able to make it in seven or eight times! I, however, was 5k richer and donated all of it to the Relief Fund, which goes directly to the Red Cross. The total amount of donations came to 80,000 therebucks! That's just pennies shy of 45 US Dollars!! Wow!! Screenies below, click to enlarge.

Jon Quixote was There.

Burp-A-Thon

The air is still clearing from tonight's belching contest held by Wikked_Wench! The event was part of Oktoberfest, sponsered by the University of There. Over twenty people showed up during the course of the three hour event and belched for 10,000tb's! The event was held at the Oktoberfest grounds on Comet Island and at one point the belching was so intense that four neighboring PAZes totally collapsed! The hoverboat landing pad and three houses were crushed beneath the massive forces produced by dozens of diaphragms! The winner of the contest, and the 10k, was dj_candy. TequilaMarie came in close second for a 3k prize and a "cutest burp" award, and 2k, was given out to Dihtri. What amazed me, however, was that the girls at the event out-burped the guys, hands down! :O That's some serious belching power!

Listen to the winning burp!
Listen to the cutest burp!

Below are some screenies :D Click to enlarge.

Jon Quixote was There.

Thoughts on a visit to Second Life...

Before I begin, this is a rather a-typical entry for me to make but I feel it's something that merits the space.

Having said that:

I've seen a lot of posts in There's forums lately where members voice concerns over There's future, comparing There to Second Life, and, of course, suggesting that we "catch up with second life". I've been in There about ten months now, but I have also tried Second Life in that time. I want to say it was at least half a year ago. I was giving a newbie the grand tour of There and, as it turns out, she was a Second Life resident. She wanted to return the favor by showing me around Second Life. I tried (but failed) to turn down her offer, as I really didn't care to try out Second Life; I was enjoying There plenty. A lifetime membership then was $5, with a 1 week trial (credit card required). So I tried it for the full week, had some fun, but in the end decided it wasn't worth the five dollars. So I happily returned home to There and didn't think another thought about it until just recently.

Reading and hearing so many complaints about There vs. Second Life, I began wondering if there is something to what these people are screaming about. So, three or four days ago I signed up for Second Life which is now free as everyone I'm sure knows (credit card still required). My first thought as I appear in-world: Ack! I forgot how stiff-necked these avatars look! My second thought: Who walks like this anyway?! My third thought: Oh yeah.. I can fly!

Having tried Second Life for a few days now, the way the avatars stand and move about haunts me constantly. I just can't get over it. I started to do some exploring, but truth be told it's very difficult to explore in Second Life. Textures can take forever and a day to download and buildings take minutes to fully appear. You can actually fly inside a building without realizing it and have a wall appear in front of you. Then while you're rubbing your nose the ceiling appears and traps you in. It is also very choppy graphics-wise, and no amount of fussing with the graphics settings would fix that. Now my machine is a pretty darn good machine, if I do say so myself. AMD Athlon XP 3200, 1 gig of RAM, ATI Radeon 9800 Pro w/ 256 megs of RAM. So, I gave up on exploring.

I decided to try building, which I had not done the first time around. I have to say, this is the one thing about Second Life that really amazes me. The fact that you can build and script to create almost anything you can imagine is just incredible. It does have limitations, however. Vehicle handling is terrible by comparison to what we have in There. I know I just couldn’t live without my freestyle board and the insane death-defying tricks it allows me to do. You can do tricks on a board in Second Life as well, but the fluidness of motion and the ease with which you execute chain after chain of tricks in There is absolutely unparalleled. There gives us all these vehicles which are designed to handle well and be fun. Second Life’s vehicles are created entirely by members with no professional experience in scripting those kinds of objects in a virtual world. So anyways, I plopped a shape down on the ground and began molding it. I tried making a telescope out of a cone I had dropped, but that didn't work out so well. So I made a bubble and wore it. My anti-lag bubble :) No, it didn’t work. I watched others creating these amazing structures then adding animation to them and it awed me. It really is something. And it doesn't cost a thing, unless you upload a texture, which is (and I may be mistaken) 10L? I think that comes out to a few pennies in USD.

Lag. To expand upon that: lots of lag. Second Life has lag much worse than There. If you fly too fast you'll wind up going right through the next mountain, rubberband a bit, then hop backwards and smash your face into it. If you try to land too quickly, you go straight through the ground and end up doing a little hopping dance and can’t land. That is apparently a fairly common occurrence. Only way to fix it is to relog. Flying vehicles cause a tremendous amount of lag. Ever been on a yacht club flotilla? All those boats in one area causes a significant amount of lag, but believe me there's no comparison to what Second Life will do to you.

I met someone who helped me out a bit, showed me a few tricks and how to do simple things like add a landmark. She had tried There on the three day trial and hated it. Among the list of complaints, she claims Second Life has better people. If you read through these forums and read all the drama, I'd have to agree. But in-world, I have never known nicer folk than those I have met in There. We have a real community atmosphere in-world which, sadly, seems to get lost much of the time in the forums.

Second Life also has its own social scene. It allows for a great deal of avatar customization. Pretty much anything you can imagine your avatar looking like can be made into reality. You’re also able to create custom emotes (hugs). But, in my opinion, the appeal of such things is all but destroyed by the avatars themselves. Their bodies are too rigid. They do change stances if you stand still, but it is not at all fluid and looks unnatural. The camera also defaults to a position rather far away from your avatar. While this allows you to see more people in your view, you can’t see enough detail on their avatars. Facial expressions are completely lost. I much more prefer There’s chat groups.

Another big thing Second Life has going for it is money. Almost every newbie in There asks “how do I make money?” And then we have to tell them the bad news. Try and explain to someone you know who doesn’t play There how much money you spend on pixels. In Second Life most people create things and sell them to make their money. Plus, even the free accounts have a weekly, though small, allowance (provided you log in).

Far be it from me to argue, There does have its bugs that need to be worked out (Sorry, we are still getting data for your request) and a long list of features that we are still waiting for, but good things come to those who wait. I have been here a relatively short period of time by comparison to some, yet even I have seen great additions to our world: New islands, features, bug fixes, level-up gifts and content. All these things have happened and will continue to happen.

To all those who threaten to leave if There isn’t immediately tailored to your whims: Leave. You’ll be back. Once you see other virtual worlds and realize how good we have it by comparison, you’ll come home. In fact, I suggest that everyone reading this give Second Life a try, just to see for yourself what I mean. Those who began in Second Life are able to look past its shortcomings and enjoy the wonderful features unique to their world. But as for me, I was spoiled by There.

To the There staff: You’re doing a bang-up job! Thank you!!

To everyone else reading this: Thank you for your ears.. eyes?

Forever There,
Jon_Quixote

Th* L*tt*r '*'

During th* b*ta t*st of th* n*w Th*r* cli*nt, Samsyn sugg*st*d w* add th* l*tt*r '*' to th* chat filt*r fil*. Now, I know h* was just joking, but I w*nt ah*ad and did it anyway. Just to s** what would happ*n. You know. R*s*arch. I'm sur* that som*day som*on* will us* this r*s*arch to improv* th* liv*s of Th*rians all ov*r th* world. Click to *nlarg*.

Jon Quixot* was Th*r*.

Hold on to your lugnuts, it's time for an overhaul!

Big update coming our way tomorrow. After the update we'll have a brand new profanity chat filter, a real estate place menu, a new buggy rating system as well as a fix to the disqualification issue when you fall out of your buggy during a race, and two other important racekit fixes: The race/watch popup when you enter a funzone has been removed, and tracks no longer publicly record the fastest lap times on vehicles other than the operator's chosen vehicle type. '''yay!! As per tradition, in order to ensure a successful update, there was a mass sacrifice up at Avie Sacrifices (The highest peak in There). I missed it, but still gave my offering to the There g0ds before logging off for the night.

Jon Quixote was There.

P-A-R-T-Why??? Because I gotta!

MJ, Buff, and I partying at JoAnn's house. :D She bought one of those new dance floors, only this one's... well see for yourself! Click to enlarge.

Jon Quixote was There.

'Tis the season to be creepy

It's never too early! Honeycupps set out a wonderfully horrific paz near Caprica City, New Kansas last night. She was kind enough to give me the grand tour before locking me up in the foggy basement, saving me for dinner.

Teleport link: Honeycupps Halloween Haunt

The house you see within the paz is, according to honeycupps, a rare one by carcus called "THE HOUSE" with only eight copies in-world. Allow me to have your imaginations for a moment and I will do my best to show you the unnatural scenes honeycupps has created.Upon entering the paz, you are greeted by a spooky graveyard haunted by newbies who never matured into members and the corpsified remains of Therians that were. Chills begin to run down the length your spine. You tiptoe through this field of horrors, careful not to disturb any of the graves. You see a gate in the distance leading to a stairway which disappears upwards into total blackness. Against your better judgment, you proceed towards the gate. A cloaked figure blocks your path. As you approach... AHH! Did it get you?You continue past the gate, up the stairs and you are engulfed in darkness. You're walking blind. A house begins to appear through the thick blackness around you. It is not a welcoming sight by any means; the exterior walls are rotted and discolored. As you walk through the door, the fog from outside seems to follow you in. You panic, and dodge into one of the nearby rooms. AAH! Watch out! Are you still with me here?You head for high ground, figuring perhaps it is safer up there, but you're gravely mistaken. Evil figures surround you every corner you take. They haunt you, they chase you, laughing, taunting. You scramble back down the stairs, looking for an exit. Watch out for...! You trip and stumble down into the basement. The door locks behind you. You stand up, dusting yourself off, and for a moment the darkness is somehow calm, soothing. But this is the last place you want to be. The fog soon seeps through the cracks in the door and chases you further into the black. There's no escape, no room to run. You're cornered; trapped. Something grabs you! You're thrown into a cage and locked up like a lab rat! You panic and scream for help! You search the darkness for the figure which caged you. Through the thick fog you see red. Blood red! It's... it's...!

Jon Quixote was There.

Miss Blinky?

Mister Blinky found a girlfriend? Justin thinks so. This avie appeared in-world not too long ago and was bumped into the no dropping zone at Paiz. "tellis" has no skin tone, just like Blinky. However, she has lip and hair texture, unlike Blinky. Also, she's not nearly as old as Mister Blinky. You can tell from both her profile and her DOID number. Now, I have my suspicions about who the person behind the avie is. And I think I'm right and can make a pretty good case for it. But I won't make that case here. :) It is, shall we say, for me to know and you to find out. How? Same way I did. What, I didn't mention that either? Oh, well you have your work cut out for you then. :)

Jon Quixote was There.

Are you sure this is how Sean Connery said he mixes his martinis?

Jon Quixote was There.