Weapons

As a final element of the rebuilding project that has been taking place on my Caledon property recently, I have been Doing My Bit for the Safety of the Island.

Sea Defences on Vimeo

I did mean to put up a video of this previously, only, well, I didn't. By the way, when it says "cover one's ears" it is advisable to do so.

I am afraid that the musical accompaniment really is rather obvious.

And what is the problem now? Here I am in the middle of a commercial discussion and the entire world turns grey and ejects me. Honestly, one cannot help but take these things personally sometimes.

Oh God, I simply cannot help myself.

I have been most remiss lately in... well, in all forms of activity. I find myself paying no attention to my own commercial interests, and instead doing very little of import. Last night I forced myself to box things up, take promotional photographs and so on, and I can thus announce that the .45 Shansi and the Beehive Launcher (which I believe I mentioned before) are now available in Second Life, some months after they were actually finished and ready.

I was, a little while back, alerted by Ms Torley Linden to the fact that there are residents wishing to use the SLurl as a tool when referring to places in Second Life, but finding it awkward, slow or otherwise inconvenient to do so via the web form. I have thus built a small item that should help - something I call a "slurlchatter".

This is simply a HUD device that sits there and, when touched, will tell you a SLurl for your current location. One merely then has to cut and paste this SLurl into whichever document one is creating. It can also be commanded by speech - say "/121 Caledon,128,128,128" and it will give one an appropriate SLurl for that specific place. It is available for free from SLExchange or SLBoutique, or, as usual, from my humble establishment in Caledon.

Another item that I have been working on, I am in something of a quandary regarding. With the removal of the "PVP Abuse Tool" within Second Life there has been some demand for alternatives; a collision sensor has been released for free by Babbage Linden, but of course one problem with collision sensors is that they only respond to actual collisions.

I would like to briefly announce my latest product, which some people have made enquiries about - the Ordinal Derringer.

(more photographs to be found here)

This is not a strict reproduction but instead is modelled on the .410-calibre over-and-under pistols known as "Derringers".

In recent days I have modified the operation of the cannon of my Gun Balloon, to add effects that I find rather pleasing: there is now a two-stage particle effect upon impact, consisting of a brief yellow/red explosion and a longer-lasting plume of smoke, and more importantly, the shell itself produces shrapnel.

I have been informed several times in the last week that my Touring Dirigible in Caledon has been found in peculiar places. Some of these places are understandable - say, trapped in a tower which has grown somewhat since I last plotted the course - but some are frankly inexplicable. For instance: even given the vagaries of the physics engine, how could a dirigible find its way inside the top floor of the Academy, when it is actually too large to enter?

I suspect that some person has been taking pot-shots at my balloon. This is not a pastime that meets with my approval.

One thing that always amazes me that anyone has ever heard of me in Second Life at all. I fear that I shall never get over the idea that anyone might remember my name or, for that matter, know it without me having met them or annoyed them in some way.