|
Suzi_Avonside✦ @Suzi_Avonside
Caerdydd, Cymru
Offline
Wedi bod gwmpas am sbel... Ers 2010 yn achos OSG |
Threads
View context
That old trope about virtual world women being men... I'm sure there are some in Opensim /Second Life who play as a sex other than their RL sex, but as you say, what's the issue? However your basic premise is somewhat false as anyone can use voice morphing technology to change their voice.
like(0)
View context
I think that's certainly possible... But the pricing is off the scale! Take a look at the pricing structure: https://unity.com/pricing#plans-individualsand-teams
Costs like that put the cost of developing a home-grown Opensim solution in perspective. Personally I felt that the $60k EchoVoice wanted was a big ask of the Opensim community.
like(1)
Costs like that put the cost of developing a home-grown Opensim solution in perspective. Personally I felt that the $60k EchoVoice wanted was a big ask of the Opensim community.
View context
Discord is a popular work-around, but is sub-optimal (no spatial sound or lipsync) and there are questions about how secure user's personal data is. Discord is a little vague about whether it keeps recordings of people's conversations etc. according to this article: https://www.makeuseof.com/is-discord-safe/
like(0)
View context
That pretty much means the same thing as time goes on the number of people with keys will reduce. As it is, Vivox is still pretty restricted unless a paid (very expensive) service is used, as the free version is restricted to 5 avatars.
like(0)
View context
There are no other options, that's the whole point. Vivox is less and less an option for voice in Opensim. FreeSwitch is basically a non-starter and any of the other work arounds, (Discord, Skype etc) are clunky and sub-optimal. Towards the end of my comment I highlighted a general need for funding for other aspects of Opensim that need support.
like(2)
Also, at least some of us refuse to use a corporate-owned, proprietary, closed-source piece of proven spyware for voice. Especially if it has flaky Linux support on top, or it's actually Windows-only.
liked(1)
That was a primary concern of mine when I was considering voice options for a project I was involved with in 2014. Voice was a necessity, but Vivox being proprietary and closed source wasn't actually a deal breaker, but the fact that it eavesdrops was.
liked(1)
View context
I think that part of the problem there is that virtual worlds are so niche. Second Life can afford to pay its developers and also for a Vivox licence. Opensim suffers from a malaise common to opensource/libre projects in that too many mistake the free for free as in free beer rather than freedom. Another common error is to view opensource as hobbyware, which it most certainly isn't. Far from Openlife's view that the opensource community is full of passionate people selflessly giving up their free time to bring us amazing software the truth is that they are passionate, and they do do other work in order to keep a roof over their heads and their families in clothes and food etc, but they'd far rather that people donated money to their projects so that they could give up their day jobs and focus on their projects and bring us much better versions much sooner than is currently the case.
I currently run Ubuntu MATE 22.04 on all my machines, and each time I download and install it on one of my machines I make sure I donate the recommended $2.50 to the project. No one expects those who cannot afford that to pay, but those that can afford to pay that small amount should really do so, in my opinion.
like(3)
I currently run Ubuntu MATE 22.04 on all my machines, and each time I download and install it on one of my machines I make sure I donate the recommended $2.50 to the project. No one expects those who cannot afford that to pay, but those that can afford to pay that small amount should really do so, in my opinion.
View context
I think Jupiter covered that with his Option one - basically it ain't happening, there are no opensource programmers out there willing to work on this project. So the only viable option is to pay for a project.
like(1)
Well, there might be open-source programmers willing to work on this, but the professional kind who demands payment. Just because they're paid, doesn't mean their code will be proprietary and closed-source. Novell has paid devs, Red Hat has paid devs, Mozilla has paid devs, Canonical has paid devs...
What you're unlikely to find is a spare-time hobbyist dev willing to develop something like this from scratch for zilch. Maybe if they're passionate about it. But seriously, OpenSim is completely unknown in the open-source community.
like(0)
What you're unlikely to find is a spare-time hobbyist dev willing to develop something like this from scratch for zilch. Maybe if they're passionate about it. But seriously, OpenSim is completely unknown in the open-source community.
And if this is the only solution, I'm afraid that with each update, there will be a need for payment. Without contributors who are free from economic ties and are driven by passion, every update will always require an expert. Essentially, we'd be funding a company rather than a project – a company that hires an employee, and for what? To have a voice channel in OpenSim that might not work correctly after the first viewer update. It might be better to try with FreeSWITCH at this point.
like(0)
The viewer issue would remain even if FreeSwitch were used, and good luck finding anyone willing to sort that mess out.
There is no reason why, once a voice module were developed that it couldn't be maintained and updated as and when needed. That might well require some payment for the person doing the work, what would be so wrong with that? No one is free from economic ties, we all have bills to pay etc. Even if someone could be found to do it just for the kudos and because they operate solely on passion, they would still only be able to devote some of their leisure time to it, so it would likely a) take a very long time to get to a working stage and b) any updates, bug squashing etc would likely become very delayed, And then what about the documentation?
Passion can't be eaten, and doesn't pay the bills!
like(0)
There is no reason why, once a voice module were developed that it couldn't be maintained and updated as and when needed. That might well require some payment for the person doing the work, what would be so wrong with that? No one is free from economic ties, we all have bills to pay etc. Even if someone could be found to do it just for the kudos and because they operate solely on passion, they would still only be able to devote some of their leisure time to it, so it would likely a) take a very long time to get to a working stage and b) any updates, bug squashing etc would likely become very delayed, And then what about the documentation?
Passion can't be eaten, and doesn't pay the bills!
View context
I've deleted Harper Held's comments (and blocked them) because their initial comment was intemperate and abusive towards me and made assertions based on their very liberal and incorrect interpretation of what I wrote.
Fort clarity, of course no one should feel obliged to contribute more than they can genuinely afford, and nor should they feel any kind of guilt because they are not in a position to contribute. However, whilst I know some people are really struggling, (and I have been there) most people can afford to contribute small sums, including very small sums, if that is all they can afford.
In Wales we used to have a University of Wales, and the very first university college was funded mainly by ordinary working people contributing their sixpences and shillings. The system of healthcare now used in the UK was based on a healthcare system set up by coal miners in a part of Wales where they each contributed a small sum each week so that they and their families could receive comprehensive health care. It's quite amazing what a lot of people, all contributing a small amount can achieve.
like(2)
Fort clarity, of course no one should feel obliged to contribute more than they can genuinely afford, and nor should they feel any kind of guilt because they are not in a position to contribute. However, whilst I know some people are really struggling, (and I have been there) most people can afford to contribute small sums, including very small sums, if that is all they can afford.
In Wales we used to have a University of Wales, and the very first university college was funded mainly by ordinary working people contributing their sixpences and shillings. The system of healthcare now used in the UK was based on a healthcare system set up by coal miners in a part of Wales where they each contributed a small sum each week so that they and their families could receive comprehensive health care. It's quite amazing what a lot of people, all contributing a small amount can achieve.
I understand. It has happened in my posts as well – blocking those who are offensive. It doesn't make sense to comment in an offensive manner, even when there are differences of opinion. However, I don't share your viewpoint on this project, as I explained in the comments further below.
liked(1)
View context
FreeSwitch theoretically works, but is not spatial and there is no lip sync. I know the Moses project settled on it as it was something that they ran themselves and didn't have the security issues that Vivox has. It's supposedly quite difficult to set up, which is hardly ideal.
like(0)
Well I have been having to use discord to chat with friends in world, but it would be so much better if we didn't need to invite people to join the voice channel in Discord. Would be nice for people to enter the region and talk to each other without needing to faff about with Discord, Skype or whatever. Spacial audio at this point is purely a luxury that I can live without if it means we can talk in world.
like(0)
View context
I don't agree with you about Medicens sans Frontieres, who do vital work, often in very dangerous parts of the world, and who are far from idiots. However, I wish I had your confidence that a solution can and will be found. Whether we like it or not, the primary focus of any viewer is likely to be Second Life, unless of course the Opensim community will cough up the necessaries.
like(2)
No Glenn, your comment was off-topic and a rant irrelevant to this thread. Far from being cancelled, you haven't had your 'free speech' rights restricted or denied because you're still free to go and rant somewhere else. I have deleted comments from other people too on this thread for being irrelevant and off-topic. You will note that all of your pertinent comments remain.
like(0)
It absolutely was not, but in your mind, because you disagree with it, you label it "OFF TOPIC". Very tyrpical of an uneducated, ignorant weak minded individual. I assume you will now label THIS comment as "racist"? And of course cancel culture it.
With that addressed, I did not discuss your Frontier Sand Medicine idiocy that you found so convenient to address FIRST. You never fully read the reply and merely focused on one part thus formulating in your uneducated mind, that part was all that mattered. No matter, I will now indulge in your own tactic and give you back the Sandy Medicine you so deserve and cancel culture you. I cannot even understand the gibberish Welsh nor do I speak French. But I do speak German and Mandarin, in case you want to claim mental superiority. Please GFY very hard and I no longer value your opinion or care about your concerns. E.S.A.D. Got it? Great!! FYVM.
like(0)
With that addressed, I did not discuss your Frontier Sand Medicine idiocy that you found so convenient to address FIRST. You never fully read the reply and merely focused on one part thus formulating in your uneducated mind, that part was all that mattered. No matter, I will now indulge in your own tactic and give you back the Sandy Medicine you so deserve and cancel culture you. I cannot even understand the gibberish Welsh nor do I speak French. But I do speak German and Mandarin, in case you want to claim mental superiority. Please GFY very hard and I no longer value your opinion or care about your concerns. E.S.A.D. Got it? Great!! FYVM.
Glenn, your initial response is still there, and I was responding to you mentioning Medicens Sans Frontieres and simply stating that I disagreed with your dismissal of an organisation that does a lot of good work saving people in zones of the world where those doctors and nurses quite literally risk their lives to help people.
I did read your reply, and stated that I was in agreement.
Your subsequent off-topic rant was irrelevant to the thread.
As for being an 'uneducated, ignorant weak minded individual' It's not me who is throwing their toys out of the pram, nor making extremely xenophobic comments, nor indeed, attempting to insult your intelligence...
I never assumed that you valued my opinion in the first place and you don't know what my concerns are anyway, because Glenn, you don't know me.
You are a disagreeable, nasty little man with a lot of anger issues. Get some help.
I'm not going to delete your post, as it serves far better to show to others what a thoroughly unpleasant person you are.
like(0)
I did read your reply, and stated that I was in agreement.
Your subsequent off-topic rant was irrelevant to the thread.
As for being an 'uneducated, ignorant weak minded individual' It's not me who is throwing their toys out of the pram, nor making extremely xenophobic comments, nor indeed, attempting to insult your intelligence...
I never assumed that you valued my opinion in the first place and you don't know what my concerns are anyway, because Glenn, you don't know me.
You are a disagreeable, nasty little man with a lot of anger issues. Get some help.
I'm not going to delete your post, as it serves far better to show to others what a thoroughly unpleasant person you are.
And YOU don't know ME. Nor do you even have the ability to identify properly or distinguish between discussion, topic, subject or rant. But I am sure you will presume I am a mental-midget making late night "rants" when the answers aren't what you want to hear. Of course, another perpetually wrong judgement that I am angry or whatever flavor of the week name you will call me like oh um "xenophobic" because you have nothing else to offer in a discussion. Let's throw in some other perpetually wrong labels you internet warriors love to call everyone, how about: Nazi, Homophobe, racistphobe, regliphobe, skankaphobe, ageaphobe, genderphobe? Did I miss anything you would claim exists in Daniel Webster's big book?
Your presumption that I am angry, another perpetually wrong one. Thanks for the unqualified medical diagnosis and treatment suggestions. I am sure your basket weaving degree at community college qualified you to make that diagnosis.
And lastly, ANOTHER perpetually wrong presumption that I am "little" No, sorry Charlie, I am a 6 foott tall, 190# military veteran.
I will close this by adding, your idiotic Frontier Medicine Sand whatever the hell that is, I presume means DOCTOR WITHOUT BORDERS, is am NGO scam in which 90% of the money never reaches the MASH units for treatment and the idiot doctors are merely morons with suicidal tendencies. Go watch some videos of their heads being chopped off. I would recommend testing your theory by walking in the South Bronx at 4 am loaded with cell phones and nice sneakers, see how much a donation will help you. Then come back here and be their cheerleader, assuming you go get educated first so you can provide accurate information.
Now that we got THAT OFF-TOPIC part out, the original topic, I refuse to contribute to or answer anymore and now knowing you have read that I will cancel culture, case is now closed. FYVM, cya wouldn't wanna byahh buh bye.
like(0)
Your presumption that I am angry, another perpetually wrong one. Thanks for the unqualified medical diagnosis and treatment suggestions. I am sure your basket weaving degree at community college qualified you to make that diagnosis.
And lastly, ANOTHER perpetually wrong presumption that I am "little" No, sorry Charlie, I am a 6 foott tall, 190# military veteran.
I will close this by adding, your idiotic Frontier Medicine Sand whatever the hell that is, I presume means DOCTOR WITHOUT BORDERS, is am NGO scam in which 90% of the money never reaches the MASH units for treatment and the idiot doctors are merely morons with suicidal tendencies. Go watch some videos of their heads being chopped off. I would recommend testing your theory by walking in the South Bronx at 4 am loaded with cell phones and nice sneakers, see how much a donation will help you. Then come back here and be their cheerleader, assuming you go get educated first so you can provide accurate information.
Now that we got THAT OFF-TOPIC part out, the original topic, I refuse to contribute to or answer anymore and now knowing you have read that I will cancel culture, case is now closed. FYVM, cya wouldn't wanna byahh buh bye.
I think you just proved my point - you are a nasty, disagreeable little man, and thin skinned too! Do you also happen to be a Trump supporter? Just asking...
And, so sorry to disagree with you Glenn, ( I know how fragile the ego is of men like you) but we are all coming to see exactly what kind of man you are. All the verbal diarrhoea* proves what a thoroughly nasty and small-minded person you are.
*UK English spelling :)
like(0)
And, so sorry to disagree with you Glenn, ( I know how fragile the ego is of men like you) but we are all coming to see exactly what kind of man you are. All the verbal diarrhoea* proves what a thoroughly nasty and small-minded person you are.
*UK English spelling :)
View context
Will you please learn: opensource does not necessarily mean it's free of cost to develop. All projects have at least server costs, and some projects pay their coders. Some opensource applications or operating systems charge for the software, and all opensource means in any real sense is that the code is open for everyone to read, modify, change, make sure there are no nasties hiding in it etc.
EchoVoice is an opensource project, but in order to actually get the project delivered before we all shuttle of our mortal coils professional coders need to be engaged, contracted to do the work, and PAID.There are also other costs, such as running servers etc.
like(2)
EchoVoice is an opensource project, but in order to actually get the project delivered before we all shuttle of our mortal coils professional coders need to be engaged, contracted to do the work, and PAID.There are also other costs, such as running servers etc.
Sure, open source means everything you've mentioned. However, it largely depends on the usage license with which the software is initiated. Anyway, I don't see it being useful to pay for a startup that will eventually become a competitor to Vivox. I find a project in the style of FreeSWITCH more useful – open source – where, just like with OpenSimulator, anyone can download the code and reshape it to fit their needs. This would attract a large number of free and interested programmers, much like what happens with many Unix or GNU/Linux-based software.
The server wouldn't be centralized, but each user would have their own, independent from others. So, each grid would have its own voice server. This doesn't incur development costs because I can manage the repositories from my PC, make changes from my PC, and test the software on my PC without requiring sums like $60,000 – and this would be multiplied by the many contributing users. If someone is needed to do this, so be it.
If FreeSWITCH were simpler, it would be ideal to pursue that project. I tried to run it on a Windows server, but with very limited results. Adapting a voice service for viewers isn't simple, but in my opinion, the best solution remains starting with a solid open-source software under the GPL license, integrating the necessary modules (and if needed, moving towards LGPL). This way, everyone can host their own voice server on their machine, decentralized from the rest. Instead of giving money to a project that centralizes voice servers, it creates a completely different type of project and supports a startup that, no matter how open their code might be, aims to have control over the users of its services. OpenSimulator is not like this. If I had to choose, I'd prefer to pay for services from a company like Vivox; at least I know it's reputable and already present in various gaming services, including professional tournaments and Second Life.
However, fundamentally, all GNU/Linux systems are free – they're all cost-free. What you pay for is consultancy and support in the pro versions. GPL licenses are genuinely respected there :)
like(0)
The server wouldn't be centralized, but each user would have their own, independent from others. So, each grid would have its own voice server. This doesn't incur development costs because I can manage the repositories from my PC, make changes from my PC, and test the software on my PC without requiring sums like $60,000 – and this would be multiplied by the many contributing users. If someone is needed to do this, so be it.
If FreeSWITCH were simpler, it would be ideal to pursue that project. I tried to run it on a Windows server, but with very limited results. Adapting a voice service for viewers isn't simple, but in my opinion, the best solution remains starting with a solid open-source software under the GPL license, integrating the necessary modules (and if needed, moving towards LGPL). This way, everyone can host their own voice server on their machine, decentralized from the rest. Instead of giving money to a project that centralizes voice servers, it creates a completely different type of project and supports a startup that, no matter how open their code might be, aims to have control over the users of its services. OpenSimulator is not like this. If I had to choose, I'd prefer to pay for services from a company like Vivox; at least I know it's reputable and already present in various gaming services, including professional tournaments and Second Life.
However, fundamentally, all GNU/Linux systems are free – they're all cost-free. What you pay for is consultancy and support in the pro versions. GPL licenses are genuinely respected there :)
The server wouldn't be centralised with EchoVoice or a project based on that as Mumble is a voice server that is run independently as a service by each grid wanting that particular voice solution.
You could set up a voice project tomorrow, and you might, if you were very lucky, attract some interest, but finding people who are ready and willing to code for free will be the difficult bit. Most GNU/Linux distros have a handful of coders who do the work. Only the distros that are backed by major corporate players (IBM, Red Hat, Mandriva and a few others) have significant numbers of coders working on the code as they can afford to pay them.
And whilst there are projects that are, as you say, driven by passion, most of those projects are also pretty up front in letting people know that financial contributions help to allow them to do more work in the project they are passionate about and less working for an employer on stuff they do just to make enough to pay the bills. Maybe if we, the users were a little bit more passionate about making a small donation every time we download and install some of their software they'd be able to give up the day job and concentrate on doing what they are passionate about, and delivering us super and well updated new versions of the software we love? By not contributing when we are able we're basically expecting the developers to pay for the software we use. It might be free to us, but it costs them a considerable amount. Most of the projects run purely on passion have just one person behind them, usually doing a mountain of work and struggling to keep up. Opensim has just one developer when not so very long ago there was a team of developers. There are various reasons for that, some of them social, but I would think that the need to make a living and have a life outside of the day job have a lot to do with the scarcity of people developing independent modules for Opensim.
The healthcare most people in the UK receive is free (at point of need) but that doesn't mean it's without cost. We all pay for it from our taxation, and it's a really good deal, and everyone has comprehensive health cover.
like(0)
You could set up a voice project tomorrow, and you might, if you were very lucky, attract some interest, but finding people who are ready and willing to code for free will be the difficult bit. Most GNU/Linux distros have a handful of coders who do the work. Only the distros that are backed by major corporate players (IBM, Red Hat, Mandriva and a few others) have significant numbers of coders working on the code as they can afford to pay them.
And whilst there are projects that are, as you say, driven by passion, most of those projects are also pretty up front in letting people know that financial contributions help to allow them to do more work in the project they are passionate about and less working for an employer on stuff they do just to make enough to pay the bills. Maybe if we, the users were a little bit more passionate about making a small donation every time we download and install some of their software they'd be able to give up the day job and concentrate on doing what they are passionate about, and delivering us super and well updated new versions of the software we love? By not contributing when we are able we're basically expecting the developers to pay for the software we use. It might be free to us, but it costs them a considerable amount. Most of the projects run purely on passion have just one person behind them, usually doing a mountain of work and struggling to keep up. Opensim has just one developer when not so very long ago there was a team of developers. There are various reasons for that, some of them social, but I would think that the need to make a living and have a life outside of the day job have a lot to do with the scarcity of people developing independent modules for Opensim.
The healthcare most people in the UK receive is free (at point of need) but that doesn't mean it's without cost. We all pay for it from our taxation, and it's a really good deal, and everyone has comprehensive health cover.
View context
Thank you Safine :) If only more people could engage the bit of grey matter between their ears and look at issues the way you have here. I have in the past written similar cost breakdowns to illustrate the power of numbers. Your kind of thinking is the kind of thinking behind how we fund our healthcare system in the UK, so many people all contributing a small relatively amount.
like(1)
View context
The breakdown of what the $60,000 will achieve is outlined on the EchoVoice project webpage. It seems a lot, but professional coders cost money and the only certain way to get anything done in good time is by paying people properly and them working as per contract. And that $60k is just initial funding, it would require more to fine tune the project.
Payment is necessary because people have rent to pay, food to buy and kids to support. You seem to misunderstand what opensource is about. The app developed by the various projects might be free of cost to you the end user, but they are not free in the sense that people have to be paid, and servers also cost money. The opensource definition of free is more in the sense of liberty rather than free of cost. There are many paid for opensource projects, amonsgt them Red Hat Linux, Mandriva Linux and many other applications. And as far as Opensim is concerned, IBM was quite heavily involved in the early days, and their developers most certainly don't work for nothing!
Finally, sure, a voice module could be developed through voluntary effort, but that begs the question, why hasn't it already been done? The answer to that is largely because Vivox was the go to for most who wanted to use voice because it is 'free' and relatively easy to set up. Part of the reason why Opensim isn't as developed as it could be is because it's not paid for, and thus far any attempt to set up a scheme to put the project on a more planned footing with a roadmap and proper funding has been stymied by the complainers who begrudge coughing up a small amount of cash.
like(2)
Payment is necessary because people have rent to pay, food to buy and kids to support. You seem to misunderstand what opensource is about. The app developed by the various projects might be free of cost to you the end user, but they are not free in the sense that people have to be paid, and servers also cost money. The opensource definition of free is more in the sense of liberty rather than free of cost. There are many paid for opensource projects, amonsgt them Red Hat Linux, Mandriva Linux and many other applications. And as far as Opensim is concerned, IBM was quite heavily involved in the early days, and their developers most certainly don't work for nothing!
Finally, sure, a voice module could be developed through voluntary effort, but that begs the question, why hasn't it already been done? The answer to that is largely because Vivox was the go to for most who wanted to use voice because it is 'free' and relatively easy to set up. Part of the reason why Opensim isn't as developed as it could be is because it's not paid for, and thus far any attempt to set up a scheme to put the project on a more planned footing with a roadmap and proper funding has been stymied by the complainers who begrudge coughing up a small amount of cash.
View context
What is a collider? is it just a massive invisiprim rezzed at a certain height? Forgive my ignorance, but I'd like to know as I too experience quite a few visitors who think it's okay to fly in a no fly region. Most of my region builds are built specifically to be viewed 'first person shooter' style walking and it's a bit galling, to say the least to have visitors think they've truly seen the region when all they have done is rather cursorily flown over it, missing most of what there is to see.
Many of us work tremendously hard to create rich, immersive environments where we have built with a particular way of seeing it in mind. Flying over this kind of creation is to miss what the artist intended the viewer to see.
like(1)
Many of us work tremendously hard to create rich, immersive environments where we have built with a particular way of seeing it in mind. Flying over this kind of creation is to miss what the artist intended the viewer to see.
View context
As the general consensus here suggests, there is no 'ideal' height, but with all my builds I point out that avatars taller than 2 metres in height will not be able to enter my buildings. I also build all my buildings to scale, and make no allowances for the default viewer camera angle, but there is an easy way to get the 'first person shooter' camera angle: enable Advanced settings in the viewer and choose Show Debug Settings. Once there, type in 'CameraOffsetRearView' and there you can set the Z co-ordinates so that the camera view angle is more natural than the default 45 degree camera view.
As for avatar height, the average female in the USA today is just under 5' 4" (1.265m) and with a bit of work the avatar shape can be made slim and pleasing, so I personally don't understand when some claim that taller avatars look 'better'. They might look better against the usually comically oversized furniture, houses and vehicles, but most of those can be resized with the possible exception of buildings as most seem to have been constructed taking the default viewer camera angle into account.
But there again, it all depends on why one is in virtual worlds in the first place. For me, and those like me it is to build virtual environments that are as realistic and true to life as possible, despite sometimes falling foul of the technical limitations imposed by doing such. For others, it's about having a fantasy virtual life, which doesn't necessarily demand that everything conforms to realism. Both are perfectly valid, though I do sometimes wonder about those avatars that have reached considerable age who still have legs that form two-thirds of body height and who are stick thin, and whose arms are about a third too short. Very few of us conform to the classic proportions used in much western art, but I think a simple look in a full-length mirror, or even one's reflection in a shop window would suffice to give an indication of human proportions to serve as a basis for credible avatar creation.
Ultimately it's about having fun, so best not to worry too much about what is the ideal avatar height or shape.
like(6)
As for avatar height, the average female in the USA today is just under 5' 4" (1.265m) and with a bit of work the avatar shape can be made slim and pleasing, so I personally don't understand when some claim that taller avatars look 'better'. They might look better against the usually comically oversized furniture, houses and vehicles, but most of those can be resized with the possible exception of buildings as most seem to have been constructed taking the default viewer camera angle into account.
But there again, it all depends on why one is in virtual worlds in the first place. For me, and those like me it is to build virtual environments that are as realistic and true to life as possible, despite sometimes falling foul of the technical limitations imposed by doing such. For others, it's about having a fantasy virtual life, which doesn't necessarily demand that everything conforms to realism. Both are perfectly valid, though I do sometimes wonder about those avatars that have reached considerable age who still have legs that form two-thirds of body height and who are stick thin, and whose arms are about a third too short. Very few of us conform to the classic proportions used in much western art, but I think a simple look in a full-length mirror, or even one's reflection in a shop window would suffice to give an indication of human proportions to serve as a basis for credible avatar creation.
Ultimately it's about having fun, so best not to worry too much about what is the ideal avatar height or shape.
View context
I was being ironic - as an anarcho-syndicalist think Rothbard and other libertarians stink, it is their economic ideas that have created the mess much of the world is in today. You are fond of reminding us that 'communism' (undefined) has killed so many people, but you'd be wrong, as it was totalitarian rule under people like Lenin and Stalin that caused so many deaths, but even those shocking figures pale almost into insignificance compared with capitalism that has killed countless millions and continues to kill millions to this day. in the past 13 years neoliberal capitalist economic policies have killed somewhere near 200,000 in the UK alone - or maybe I should say that that figure would still be alive today but for neoliberal economic policies that prioritise the obscene wealth of the few over the lives of the poor and disabled.
liked(1)
I see that your comparisons are very messed up, in modern anarcho-capitalism, there is no trade unionism, government and much less political parties, who dictates the rules is the people for the people, it is a free agreement of employees and businessmen, thus generating the free market, so do not confuse anarcho-capitalist with anarcho-syndicalist, Murray Newton Rothbard was an American heterodox economist of the Austrian School, historian, and political philosopher who helped define the modern concept of libertarianism. He founded and was the main theorist of a strand of anarchism based on the free market, called anarcho-capitalism.
like(0)
Please learn proper English comprehension. I have made no comparisons whatsoever in my comment, merely critiqued an economic system for its clear points of failure and debunked some of the cut & paste brain-dead criticisms of socialism/communism.
I know who Rothbard is as well as Friedman and that fruitloop Rand. It is their ideas that opened the door to Trump, Bolsonaro and Orban.
I could go on, but I won't as it would serve no purpose and besides it would bore everyone else here to tears. For those who may be interested, there is this article which communicates far better than I can just how batshit crazy, and just plain nasty Rothbard was:
https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Murray_Rothbard
Make your own minds up about this supposed illuminary who was in favour of child labour, racism and suppression of the poor. And just for good measure, he was misogynist too.
like(0)
I know who Rothbard is as well as Friedman and that fruitloop Rand. It is their ideas that opened the door to Trump, Bolsonaro and Orban.
I could go on, but I won't as it would serve no purpose and besides it would bore everyone else here to tears. For those who may be interested, there is this article which communicates far better than I can just how batshit crazy, and just plain nasty Rothbard was:
https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Murray_Rothbard
Make your own minds up about this supposed illuminary who was in favour of child labour, racism and suppression of the poor. And just for good measure, he was misogynist too.
View context
Stick with Lenin in a pirate hat Hyacinth! It might be less authentic, but it's a whole lot funnier - and would show how awake your visitors are if they even notice!
like(2)
View context
Amazing landscape that I enjoyed wandering around. I wasn't so impressed with the architecture as it seemed to me more reminiscent of Central Europe and North America rather than the Celtic Fringe. Though the builder emphasises Alba, Eire and Cymru, they are strongest on the Irish traditions. I'm hoping that this is just a result of this being a new build in its early stages and that as it progresses more from the two other countries will be included. Personally I can't offer any suggestions for traditions from Alba, but do know a little about the traditions and mythology of my own country, Cymru: the builder will find a wealth of material in the collection of tales known as the Mabinogi (usually known as The Mabinogion, an incorrect title that is itself a part of 'tradition').
The greatest contribution to European culture from Wales is the Arthurian Romance. which though itself not created in Wales, (it is a truly European co-production!) is firmly based on tales found in the Mabinogi.
It's early days, and I shall definitely be revisiting this build. It has the potential of become something really special, especially if more authentic architecture can be built/found. Unfortunately there aren't many buildings available in Opensim that reflect what you would find in the real Celtic Fringe today, or indeed in times past, so this comes down to something you need to do for yourself.
Apart from the architecture (which is a matter of personal taste anyway), I enjoyed my visit to this very atmospheric place. Well done! I thoroughly recommend a visit.
like(2)
The greatest contribution to European culture from Wales is the Arthurian Romance. which though itself not created in Wales, (it is a truly European co-production!) is firmly based on tales found in the Mabinogi.
It's early days, and I shall definitely be revisiting this build. It has the potential of become something really special, especially if more authentic architecture can be built/found. Unfortunately there aren't many buildings available in Opensim that reflect what you would find in the real Celtic Fringe today, or indeed in times past, so this comes down to something you need to do for yourself.
Apart from the architecture (which is a matter of personal taste anyway), I enjoyed my visit to this very atmospheric place. Well done! I thoroughly recommend a visit.
View context
Surely it should be Canadian songs given that it's a Canadian public holiday? The UK doesn't celebrate Victoria Day, (which is the 25th May, not the 22nd).
like(1)
Oops, my bad, it's also somewhat celebrated in Scotland, where it's supposed to be 24th May, but Edinburgh celebrates it on 22nd May, (and Glasgow combines it with the Spring Bank Holiday, 29th May. So maybe Scottish songs as well as Canadian? Many in today's Scotland may not be too happy with being lumped in under the UK label.
liked(1)
View context
I contacted Heart Botanicals on the e-mail address supplied on their blog, and this was the response:
"
Hello Suzi,
Any item/product that is listed under this link ..... https://www.kitely.com/market?store=3351293
is legitimate and uploaded to the Kitely Marketplace by myself and Dolly Heart 🙂
Hope this helps.
Best Regards,
Lilith"
like(1)
"
Hello Suzi,
Any item/product that is listed under this link ..... https://www.kitely.com/market?store=3351293
is legitimate and uploaded to the Kitely Marketplace by myself and Dolly Heart 🙂
Hope this helps.
Best Regards,
Lilith"