Economics

I recently rediscovered a Flickr group that I created some time ago for the posting of pictures of the sort of harassing, usually advertising, builds that plague the Mainland and cause all sorts of heated discussion on the Official Forums. Given that I spent a little while writing a Description that supposedly sums up its nature and purpose, I shall simply repost it here:

I began to write an entry on the following issue yesterday, but quickly found that it was degenerating into a number of personal anecdotes and supposedly-witty commentary when it should have been short and to the... oh stop it! You are doing the same thing again!

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p>It seems to me that I have been seeing more and more complaints along the lines of the following in forums recently, regarding errant and sometimes utterly fraudulent land-lords and -ladies - which is when one thinks about it peculiar, as it is not as if the official forums are more used these days, far from it.

Alas, due to a severe attack of the vapours, I have been unable to complete any Journal Entries recently, and therefore wish to post (for your edification) the thoughts of my semi-estranged semi-clerical brother, Cardinal Malaprop, who sends me letters from the Vatican on unpredictable occasions. At least he claims that they are from the Vatican, though I suspect that he is merely skulking in the Whitechapel backstreets somewhere and occasionally stealing some incense to scent the missives.

A couple of events have recently caught my somewhat bloodshot Eye, and from that particular organ made their way slowly along my Nerves and Sinews towards the Fingers, from whence they now emerge in the form of Words. As the First and Briefest Matter, the Electric Sheep have demolished their previous Aethernet Establishment "SL Boutique", and in its place now stands "shop.onrez.com".

As one with a long term interest in both Automated Information-Collecting Agents and the Analysis of their Data, I was most fascinated to see the arrival of the Sheep Labs Search, created by the Electric Sheep Company. Actually, I was a little startled, as it suddenly arrived without warning on an Easter Monday during which many people are not present, already filled with all sorts of information concerning products.

Automata and Homonculi

I am indebted to a Concerned Reader, who has left a comment on a previous post regarding an automated method of searching for and purchasing land requested via the libsecondlife project Consultancy page.

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blockquote>land troller • A method for using libSL for trolling Land sales.

I have been left somewhat drained of inspiration in Second Life recently by continual catastrophe and general malaise, and I have been thinking of alternative Models for Industry, as I am of course in constant need of funds, as are we all. Caledon is not free, you know.

Despite my general antipathy towards the production of custom builds, I was thinking that I might offer a service whereby a customer would suggest a specific model of firearm, and I would endeavour to create a replica. I have stated before that I find such things quite relaxing, though it can be quite a bit of work.

Ah, one other thing that I have been doing recently with regards to Commercial Affairs is the setting of my sold products to "transfer" rather than "copy" (where appropriate - vehicles, for instance, must be copy, given the extraordinary number of accidents which can befall them).

One practical result of this is that people may now visit Ordinal Enterprises, see items which they are not that interested in themselves but think would be absolutely perfect for someone else, and purchase them as gifts without having to bother me about it.

This Journal rarely comments on Matters of State in Second Life - the potential effects of the latest proclamation of King Philip, for instance, or the issues of the economy caused by the moving of stipends to Thursdays and making them payable only in cucumbers.

I would not like anyone to think that this is because I have no interest in such things, or am unable to comment upon them. Such topics are, though, absolutely nothing to do with why I continue to write.