Bores of Second Life

I was in Second Life yesterday on an extended photoshoot. The object was to do all the shots necessary to finish the current chapter of Return to Second Life. The more or less succeeded (might need one or two extra shots later today maybe). In any case I'd used several avatars and help the help of friend in setting up and modelling the shots (thank you Janey!). Just at the end I swapped over to Laurel, who happens to be a member of the UON Student group, and was in the University of Newcastle SIM cleaning up objects in the sandbox there after the shoot (it will clean itself automatically, but it's bad manners to leave junk behind).

Just as I was about to leave, I encountered this AV, who was (in inworld terms) 7 foot tall, dressed as a bourgeois fashionista and had the most annoying AO I've ever encountered (see image blow at left)! The AV was constant in motion, gesticulating and looking around as it they were looking for someone better to talk to.

I realise that it's just a set of expensive clothes / shapes / skins and AOs, but I found the only way I could cope with this distraction was to set the rendering to WIREFRAME (above right). Nothing looks terribly serious in that mode! Despite the fact that the person was a crashing bore, he was a sociology student (I assume student, maybe he was faculty) who suggested that suggested that SL was about Cultural Capital.That may or may not be the case, but as a Fine Arts student myself, I found it mostly deadly dull. 

Finally, after a couple of hours, I made my excuses and left. It was a very late night last night, something I didn't really want. So it goes.

Barnsley Skies

The skies around Barnsley fascinate me - especially either side of sunset.

Also, I needed to mow my lawn today! That XEna at the left wondering if I was going to start the mower again (I did). 

Comparisons

Went shopping earlier in the week can came home imitations of certain brands (top is what I bought, bottom is what they're imitating). The Coles brand was pretty much like Nutrigrain, but HOOPS wasn't quite like Cheerios - not enough sugar!

Uncanny breakthru?

From Digital Trends:

Researchers from the university of California, San Diego, have discovered that a mismatch between movement and humanoid traits could be causing the uncanny valley effect, or the uneasiness we feel when we look at humanoid robots or CGI creations.

The uncanny valley is a theory that attempts to explain the feeling of uneasiness or creepiness we’ve all experienced when we see a video game, movie, or robot that looks extremely human. Video games, movies, and robotics are continually present us with creations that look more and more human-like.

(more on the linked page)