Second Life 8

Today we come back to the Second Life and I introduce you several interesting places, which I have found as tips on New World Notes blog.

Although I am not a believer, I was always fascinated by the church architecture and church interiors. One of such church stands on Visit Mexico 3. This sim is one part of three sims that you take in Mexico of old Mayas, Olmecs and Aztecs.



The dragoons appear everywhere also among human avatars, but you could be the dragoon avatar. It is simple. Fly to Aggro!



Sea is a source of a life, but you can also live there. Explore the undersea deep on Vernian Sea.



The word templum means temple in Latin. The templar knights were named after temple and formerly they was the biggest and the most powerful Christian Knights Order in the middle age. The whole name is The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon (Latin: Pauperes commilitones Christi Templique Solomonici, French: Ordre du Temple or Templiers). The Order was founded in year 1118 or 1119 as consequence of the first crusade to the Holy Land (1096-1099). The word obscurum means dark. And Templum ex Obscurum is something, what you have to see. My pictures are only feeble rehashes, but movie on YouTube is much better.







Teleports:

Visit Mexico 3
Aggro
Vernian Sea
Templum ex Obscurum

(Source: Wikipedia.org)

Jazz Tornado on DVD

Today’s article is bit nostalgic. It was forgot and lost somewhere in my PC, this I have decided publish it. It will be not about SL, but about RL.

Some figure is tossed in space and time. He is running from one end of platform to another. Die-hard expression by keystroke and singing. Use of an instrument to let out sounds others than usual ones. Absolute and visible connection and fusion with music. An eye looks. Face expression. Interesting articulation. Super band and even strings. Exactly said quartet, which is something usually connected with classical music. Eruption of feelings, enthusiasm, passions. The euphoria of crowd is rising up to the ecstasy. Everything is crowned gorgeous surround and viewer atmosphere. Unrepeatable, two-hours experience, even if mediate one.

It is 1st July 2004 and the viewers are slowly coming and sitting in an auditorium banked with the beauty. We are in Blenheim Palace, which is family residence of Duke of Marlborough. Of course, we are in the United Kingdom of the Great Britain and the Northern Ireland. Suspense is rising. An after that, it is erupting. Pure and incredible jazz.

Stage shot and the young man in jeans and in sneakers is coming. He has a glass with half-drunk red wine. He is entering the stage and is emptying this glass with last sip to the bottom. And then it is beginning just the first bust. The viewers are slowly but surely getting to the boiling. When next song is coming, where the piano is becoming to totally other instrument, crowds are wild about that.

I never seen and heard such a thing yet. The piano is transformed into the percussion, when the sounds of bonga are mixed with other similar drums from somewhere from the heart of Africa. Own player then resembles a shaman in ecstasy. The shaman, who is dancing and drumming with hands all parts of the piano – sides, edges, upper board or string inside. Even he is lying down under the piano and is using his sneakers to give out some sounds. When he is regularly playing on keys, so he is not sitting, but staying, also by singing. Finally, he is jumping onto the upper board of the piano. Just genius.

So, this all can be found on DVD that live record of the concert in Blenheim Palace and then it is intercut by short clips and by interview from U.S.A. tour. You can find also several bonuses – clips to several his songs. That all I saw at one evening without any break (2hours) and I could not fall asleep.

And who is he?

His name is Jamie Cullum.

Bots or Robots

Today, I got the idea from one article on New World Notes named SL Bots Often Violate 2 of Asimov’s 3 Laws of Robotics. Who is Asimov? What are these Three Laws of Robotics? And what have got any bots to do it with it?

Firstly, Isaac Asimov was born in Russia, but his whole family emigrated to the U.S.A. in 1923. He became American citizen and therefore he is considered as Americat sci-fi writer. By the way, he never learned Russian and also he ever seen neither Russia nor later Soviet Union. He belongs together with Robert A. Henlein and Arthur C. Clark to big trio of sci-fi writer.
Asimov is author of Robotics Laws, which in some time became a dogma of sci-fi literature. The Laws describe the rules, which the robots have to obey. These laws were first time mentioned in short story "Randaround" published in journal Astounding in March 1942. We can find it also in collection of short stories "I, Robot". Three Law of Robotics say:

1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
2. A robot must obey orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

Later the Zeroth Law was added. This Law created organic robot Daneel R. Oliwaw in the book Robots and Empire.

0. A robot may not injure humankind being or, through inaction, allow humankind being to come to harm.

During time, people tried to replenish or to modify The Laws. One can mention two Bulgarian sci-fi writers Lyuben Dilov or Nikola Kesarovski that created another two laws:

4. A robot must always prove its identity as a robot.
5. A robot must know that it is a robot it itself.

On the other hand, Second Life bots are created to artificially boost landowners’ traffic stats and aid other anti-social behavior takes up tremendous resources and distorts legitimate activity metrics.

The author of above mentioned article that some actions of bots allow to harm human being – contradiction with The First Law.
Or you cannot enter to your homesim, because the camping bots totally occupied it – contradiction with The Second Law.

The whole problem is very extensive and it is intensively discussed in many forums and articles. I recommend also to read the comments of readers below above mentioned article. For example according Lindens, bots are included in the user hours and Lindens estimates that about 10 to 15% of the hours do come from bots.

The bots don’t bother me personal. I met them seldom and when yes I get out them. And what you?

(Sources: New World Notes, Wikipedia)

Ancient Enemy from the Deep of Time

Recently, I have written here about a world day of fight against AIDS and about a symbol of this fight. Also recently I have found some news about age of HIV on the web. Here it is.

Researchers at Stanford University report discovering an ancient predecessor to HIV that evolved in primates millions of years earlier than previously thought.

The researchers studied gray mouse lemurs, native to Madagascar, and discovered they carried several lentiviruses, a family of pathogens that include HIV and the simian version of HIV common among other African monkeys. A genetic analysis and geographical studies showed the lemurs carried the lentiviruses for at least 14 million years and possibly as long as 85 million years.

Scientists had previously believed that the simian version of HIV has existed for fewer than 1 million years.

"[This discovery] points to the direction for future research, that we need to establish how widespread these viruses are," Robert Gifford, an infectious disease researcher with Stanford, and lead author of the study, told The Guardian. Many simians, such as mandrills, sooty mangabeys, and green monkeys, carry lentiviruses without getting ill.

That knowledge could be used to protect humans from transmission of other HIV-like viruses still confined to wildlife and pave the way for treatments or vaccines for HIV that target portions of lentiviruses that have not mutated or evolved over millions of years, the researchers say.



(Sources: Wikipedia.org, Gaywired.com, YouTube.com)