New Google Tool Yields Interesting Results

Using Google's new tool, Google Insight, you can zero in on a population's interest in a particular subject.

Smoke without Worry

Advances in Nanotechnology Lead to Healthy Cigarette

Nanotechnology has paved the way for a healthy cigarette -- one whose filter can absorb every impurity and release small doses of oxygen to the smoker, which doctors say will keep the smoker alive on average 5-10 years longer than a non-smoker.
This technology reportedly cost Big Tobacco $1-$2-billion dollars to develop and was years in the making. It is code-named "Last Laugh." It is expected to reap big rewards for Big Tobacco, which saw its fortunes decline dramatically when it was sued by several states in the '90s for malfeasance.
Essentially, the space-age filter is made of micro fibers, which can convert--or invert--toxins into pure oxygen. This has even health nuts taking notice.
"It will allow former smokers to return to their first love, smoking. It will allow lifelong non-smokers to finally puff up. It will allow us to market to grade-schoolers now," said Chief Technological Officer, Bill Wade.
"Really, the only thing about smoking that will stay the same is the smell," Wade said. "We found smokers are very nostalgic about the smell, so we didn't mess with it."
Wade said the smell of cigarettes will now be associated with "health" and "longevity," instead of the more negative associations of the past.

Event

New Addiction

My posts may be spotty for the next couple of weeks because of a new addiction called Team Fortress 2.
I rate this "ESE": Extremely satisfying escapism.

SL/at "Hippie Pay Island"

Hadda Doobie: i walked past 72 of you here and not a single one of you is wearing a shred of tie dye

Morgantown Voom: hadda im not a hippie

Hadda Doobie shouts: you should all be arrested

Morgantown Voom: lol

Morgantown Voom: if it makes u feel better

Morgantown Voom: I dont got no shoes on

Hadda Doobie: how is your hair?

Hadda Doobie: nice and neat?

Morgantown Voom: bald lol

Hadda Doobie: ok lol

Hadda Doobie: you are excused

Morgantown Voom: hahahha

[a guy wearing tight white shorts walked by]

Hadda Doobie: i can't believe some of you are wearing preppy tennis outfits here

Morgantown Voom: hahahaha

Doba Despres shouts: i may not wear tye dye but i'll be dayam'd if i'm ever gonna wear anything preppy!

[Then he saw him]
Hadda Doobie: dude, that crocodile on your shirt




Cat Tomorrow shouts: Hadda: who made you the hippie fashion police anyway?
Hadda Doobie shouts: is that an IZOD??

SL/Ol' McDonald's

My first chance to talk to a Serbian in roughly two weeks...

I remember Milo telling me there was a McDonald's in Serbia (which has since burned down due to rioting). I wanted to ask about the McDonald's as soon as I could.

Patric Styrian: How is Serbia?
Konza Roundabout*: like always...bad
Patric Styrian: are you there right now?
Konza Roundabout: yes, im in Belgrade
Patric Styrian: is the mcDonalds back up yet?
Konza Roundabout: hahahahahaha
Konza Roundabout: i hate them
Konza Roundabout: i mean not McD
Konza Roundabout: hypoctrites
Konza Roundabout: they're destroying and tomorrow will eat big mac
Patric Styrian: true
Konza Roundabout: they didn't destroy pizza hut
Patric Styrian: i wonder why not
Konza Roundabout: i dont know
Konza Roundabout: stupid Serbs didnt know that hut is also american
Patric Styrian: poor things
Konza Roundabout: yea it's kinda..i feel sorry coz of ppl
Patric Styrian: as an American, i can't show my face there right now
Konza Roundabout: lol
Patric Styrian: i dodged milo earlier today
Konza Roundabout: we will say that you r from Kosovo
Konza Roundabout: :)
Patric Styrian: i like spelling Kosovo
Konza Roundabout: ahhh
Konza Roundabout: why must it be so complicated here
Patric Styrian: according to milo, serbia is surrounded by countries it dislikes and distrusts
Konza Roundabout: not really
Konza Roundabout: dont trust milo
Konza Roundabout: he's radical
Patric Styrian: milo and i share a house, and i remember coming home and seeing portrait of slobodan milosevic on wall
Konza Roundabout: pih
Konza Roundabout: i was in prison 1998
Konza Roundabout: political dissident
Patric Styrian: did they treat you well?
Konza Roundabout: what u think?
Patric Styrian: well, we have some prisons over here that are considered white collar
Konza Roundabout: ppl in america don't go to prison because of their political opinions
Patric Styrian: well, some do for not paying taxes
Konza Roundabout: hahaha
Konza Roundabout: yea
Konza Roundabout: you can even find hundreds of pages about our situation on net
Patric Styrian: one day and night, i'm going to do nothing but read about serbia
Patric Styrian: better yet, i think i'll give serbia an entire weekend
Konza Roundabout: ahh you dont have enough time for it in your life
Patric Styrian: i want serbia monday-tuesday, albania tuesday-wednesday, Bosnia wed-th...
Patric Styrian: i never will have time for america
Konza Roundabout: well you will finish albania in one week
Patric Styrian: lol
Konza Roundabout: Serbia is toooo old
Patric Styrian: Serbia is very young in our eyes
Patric Styrian: they haven't caught up to our technology yet, so they are young
Konza Roundabout: ahhh
Konza Roundabout: we don't have many kids
Patric Styrian: no?
Konza Roundabout: nope
Konza Roundabout: we r duying
Patric Styrian: awwww
Patric Styrian: i hope serbia can hang in there
Konza Roundabout: i dont know...first time since shit started i cant handle it anymore
Patric Styrian: conflict gets old
Patric Styrian: boring
Patric Styrian: predictable
Konza Roundabout: i want to come to usa
Patric Styrian: i want to go to holland
Patric Styrian: holland is full of nice people on here
Konza Roundabout: my best friend is living in amsterdam
Konza Roundabout: they all get high
Patric Styrian: mmm
Patric Styrian: country seems to run itself
Patric Styrian: everyone can get high there and country gets away with it
Konza Roundabout: And you can buy weed when you r not sick
Konza Roundabout: ;)
Patric Styrian: they allow weed there for when you're perfectly "well"
Patric Styrian: and it makes you "weller"
Konza Roundabout: yapo

*a pseudonym

Graphic

This graph seems to prove that news outlets prefer covering "money" more than "love" or "sex"; whereas, people doing searches overwhelmingly pick "sex" over "money." Love comes somewhere in between.

SL/Before my screen went black

SL/At nude beach

Zooming in to see if those are tattoos or clothes.

Virtual Reality IS Reality, says famed Inventor

In a recent interview and speech, inventor/futurologist Ray Kurzweil said the following will happen:

* Ordinary machines will achieve human-like intelligence in the next 20 years.

* We will have the option of having tiny robots transplanted into our brains, which will increase intelligence.

* Every part of our body will have an artificial counterpart enabling us to live longer.

* Virtual reality will compete with "ordinary reality" as a viable alternative.

These advances will come from a mind-boggling "billion-fold increase in the price-performance of computers in the next 25 years," he said, combined with computers getting vastly smaller. How small? "100,000 fold smaller" (according to the BBC), which "would lead to blood cell-size devices... that can go inside our bodies and keep us healthy and inside our brain and expand our intelligence."

These "blood cell computers" would be able to "produce full immersion virtual reality from inside the nervous system," he said.

"Virtual will compete with reality," Kurzweil was quoted telling the Game Developers Conference.

Here is a neat summary of what Kurzweil said about virtual reality:

"In virtual worlds we do real romance, real learning, real business. Virtual reality is real reality.

"Games are the cutting edge of what is happening - we are going to spend more of our time in virtual reality environments.

"Fully emergent games is really where we want to go. We will do most of our learning through these massively parallel interactions.

"Play is how we principally learn and principally create."


After posting this, I saw these headlines--all quite randomly.

SL/Great Names/Bertrand Russell

SL/Event

SL/Headless/@ Mystic Academy

"Hadda, have you really lost your head or is it my viewer?"

"Try waving your hand over my neck."

"?"

"Try clicking on my face. You will find out."

Jane Atkey: yeah - nothing there

Hadda Doobie: happened about a week ago

Hadda Doobie: severe lag storm
Jane Atkey: how terrible!
Hadda Doobie: the first thing i did was check for a penis
Hadda Doobie: i could breathe easier after that
Jane Atkey: Did you have one before? A lot of avatars don't.
Hadda Doobie: of course
Hadda Doobie: first thing i did inworld
Hadda Doobie: maybe it's karma

[It was a very spiritual place]

Vojvodina Amiot: temple?
Hadda Doobie: i had two temples
Jane Atkey: So what brings you to Mystic, Hadda?
Hadda Doobie: i was never very spiritual with my head
Hadda Doobie: now that i've lost it, i'm way more spiritual

Castle then Kicked off Alien Ship

Yeehaw

Dance

SL/Nice Breakdown

SL/Reuniting with LaeMi/It's been a Very Quick Year

It's been one year since I met Yetrates at LaeMi's swamp.
LaeMi lives in a mountain near the swamp. She gave us a slide show of what she's been up to these past few months.

Here she is with a purple face, which she said was from a Linux-based glitch that lasted about a week. I said I thought she was holding her breath.

This is from LaeMi's first day in Second Life. LaeMi is such a quick learner, I bet the fire behind her was built by her. She said it belonged to someone else. I asked her if she remembered how to get there. She said she did. I told her I wanted to see if that fire was still burning.

LaeMi said she was wearing original "Linden Hair" in the pic. I asked her where the hair was today. She said it was in her folder. "Nostalgists never delete their original Linden stuff," I joked. LaeMi said she hung out at that place because she was new, on a slow DSL line and it was quiet. I heard the Lindens are going to add insects once lag is no longer an issue, I kidded. So much for the quiet.
She is still wearing that same collar, incidentally. On her first day in Second Life she said she found the collar on the ground and has worn it ever since. Someone's throw-away is her treasure. I said it was the perfect size for her neck.

This is a very cool pic. I call it "Narrowly escaping injury."

It's a very cool pic.

This one is called: "Three women standing around a campfire roasting wieners." (You can enlarge the pic to see it.)

LaeMi said it was done to send a warning to a bunch of griefers who were using certain body parts against them.

--

At this point Yetrates said she had to go to bed, since it just turned Friday her time (The Netherlands). I said it wasn't necessary for me to go to bed yet, since it was just 6pm Thursday where I was (in Florida). LaeMi said it was 9:00am Friday where she was (in Australia) so she didn't have to go to bed either. We both felt sorry for Yetrates.

SL/Welcome Area War

All was calm at the Welcome Area except for the usual arguments.

Then the UFOs came. And they kept coming. Just when it couldn't get any worse, Richard Simmons was added to the mix.
This pic from eyewitness SpaceMan Wormser shows the UFOs at an earlier stage, pre Richard Simmons.

After Richard Simmons, came a third, more bizarre wave, showing off a grinning Tom Cruise (sorry, no pics).

Someone screamed "Who is responsible for this??!!!"

I didn't know, but I yelled: "Try using the Focus key on Tom's face, then following it around, and see where it goes. Maybe it will lead you to Xenu!"

SL/more Smoke

I kept spinning in circles until it formed a ring of smoke around JT.
"Ewww," said JT. "Contact high."
He didn't believe in smoke.
"C'mon," I said. "Do your long hair proud. Take a huff."
He said he was waiting for Iron Maiden to get back together.
"That's the sole reason for your long hair?" I asked him.
"Yes."
I heard a rumor that the drummer of Iron Maiden was found in Second Life quite by accident by another band mate, and they are planning to reunite, but only in Second Life.
"I heard that too," he said.
I am not too familiar with Iron Maiden, I must admit.

Patric: What is your favorite song by iron maiden?

Jeremy Fitzgerald: run to the hills

Patric: you have to put quotes around it, as i'm unfamiliar with their material

johnthomas Jun: power slave and die with your boots on

Patric: are you talking to me?

Jeremy Fitzgerald: lol

SL/Plans

I want to create a "Chessboard Queen" avatar and say this about her:
"She was Queen of the chessboard--moving like a knight. She was superhuman."

I also want to create a mouth made of cotton for an upcoming stoner art exhibit.

Germans occupy the beach until roughly 2pm SLT, when the Americans take over

A German woman had some cross words for the fat American when their times overlapped. But it ended peacefully.

SL/Lunar @ Clothing Optional Beach

The sun was more intense with WindLight installed.
"My doctor says no more than 2 hours in Second Life at a time."
Lots of people were at the beach. There were all kinds of tattoos, including some exotic ones.
"My take-out carton has that exact same character!"
Nude people were everywhere.
"I may not have the biggest penis here, but I guarantee I have the biggest butt."
He tried hitting on one woman. Finally she went (Away). He kept pursuing her until she went (go Away).
Everyone was in shape, except him. "My body is the equivalent of two or three people," he conceded. "Needless to say, I am being pressured for a premium account."
There were the usual warning signs all over the place: "Warning: Don't Forget To Put Clothes On Before Teleporting."

SL/Discussion

Bringiton: rl i am rejected by people...sl i am accepted
Marra: sl is easier for the most part
Hadda: i am accepted by furries in rl, rejected by them here
Sudie: hahahaah
--

Sudie: I'm curious what people might be thinking about when they make their avis...
Hadda: i started out with lots of tattoos, and finally whittled it down to none
Bringiton: lol
--

Hadda: i didn't have a foot fetish, but i developed one thanks to second life
Marra: What do you mean a foot fetish?
Hadda: well, feet are so well crafted
Hadda: it's mind boggling
Marra: oh do u crave them in rl?
Hadda: i can't stand them in rl, but i study them in sl
Dizzy: lol

SL/Experimenting with smoke

If you smoke a joint in Second Life the smoke will follow you around. It won't last very long, but you can definitely tell where you've been.
It also applies to vehicles and animals. Riding in a bus I saw my smoke contrails as we sped down the road. I ran up and down the aisle, trying to affect the physics, but the smoke behaved as it should: It drifted up or down, depending on which direction I ran, and which direction the bus was heading (but it especially favored going up).
Riding an elephant provided similar results.
I wondered if this applied to sudden movements too, like sitting in a chair located about 20 meters away. My experiments showed a trace amount of smoke remained after a sudden movement like sitting in a far chair.
I wondered it if it applied to teleporting short distances too.
I got no trace of pot smoke after teleporting from point A to B. No matter how short the distance, the same results. That sucks, knowing you can't appreciate a good smoke in the quantum state.

SL/

Overheard/Ethiquestion

"If you crash, but your body is still here, do we have the right to mess with it?"

Second Life Spawns New Word

A petition was made to the Oxford Dictionary for the addition of a word found in nite clubs all over Second Life: "Byeall"

SL/Headless/The Presence of Bots in the Neighborhood

/

/

/

/

/

/

/

/

/

/

/

/

He had to rely on the kindness of strangers since it was a very popular camping bench and he didn't have a head.

Hadda Doobie: someone help me to my seat

ZenWarrior Fuosing: help?! thanks for the laugh! lol

Sinrod Skinstad: what seat?

[the bench was full]

Hadda Doobie: someone needs to figure out how to stretch that bench out another 2-3 feet and they'll be rich

Sinrod Skinstad: lol

/

[one guy claimed that bots were taking up precious room on benches]

ZenWarrior Fuosing: at least one bot was using an invisible shield which covered half the bench, that's why it wasn't working when I clicked it

Hadda Doobie: is that why i sat on him?

--

Hadda Doobie: i met a bot on here who said he was halfway to becoming human

Sinrod Skinstad: good for him

Hadda Doobie: he said he was going to become more "human" than we are

Sinrod Skinstad: lol

Hadda Doobie: is that possible?

SL/Double-takes

Items for sale in Second Life can range from the ridiculous to the sublime. Some blur these distinctions.

/

/

/

/

/

/

/

/

/

/

/

/

/

/

Bonus: Here's a description of an actual place.

SL/Headless/Crashing Formal, then crashing

It was a formal event. He didn't have a head, so he arrived with his fly open. The men looked resplendent in their suits and ties. He didn't have a suit because he couldn't wear a tie. The man on the stairs was security, and was trying to prevent him from entering, but he was a very slow typer, so brushing past him wasn't a problem.
Halfway up the steps the sim crashed, so the guests' reactions couldn't be recorded.

Real Resume

The owner of a local company sent this along. This is an actual resume he received the other day.
(Highlights are his.)

SL/Great Ideas with Clubs

Wrath Paine had the idea of having alts with the last name "Morrisey" (in honor of the singer) show up at various clubs in Second Life in Flash Mob Style. Basically, a call would go out about an event (via IM), and all these Morriseys would suddenly show up.

It was all the more intriguing since Morrisey is an "alternative" singer and these are alts.

Meanwhile...

Conifer had the idea of starting a group in Second Life to explore forgotten or deserted dance clubs. As she points out, they're everywhere in Second Life, so we might as well take advantage of them. She's organizing revelers to visit these (sometimes elaborate) structures to party in. She's not interested in tacky, poorly designed clubs--she's interested in "beautiful, or at least imaginative clubs, from glittery rave halls to steamy industrial stomping pits."

As a bonus, she says these events will be lag free.

SL/Headless/Still looking for a head

He was in a nite club scoping out a future head.
There was only one way to do his homework...
By taking lots of photos.

.

SL/Love

Reventon Piaggio shouts: I LOVE MELMEL BAGLEY!!!!! I LOVE MELMEL BAGLEY!!!!! I LOVE MELMEL BAGLEY!!!!! I LOVE MELMEL BAGLEY!!!!! I LOVE MELMEL BAGLEY!!!!! I LOVE MELMEL BAGLEY!!!!! I LOVE MELMEL BAGLEY!!!!! I LOVE MELMEL BAGLEY!!!!! I LOVE MELMEL BAGLEY!!!!! I LOVE MELMEL BAGLEY!!!!! I LOVE MELMEL BAGLEY!!!!! I LOVE MELMEL BAGLEY!!!!! I LOVE MELMEL BAGLEY!!!!! I LOVE MELMEL BAGLEY!!!!! I LOVE MELMEL BAGLEY!!!!! I LOVE MELMEL BAGLEY!!!!! I LOVE MELMEL BAGLEY!!!!! I LOVE MELMEL BAGLEY!!!!! I LOVE MELMEL BAGLEY!!!!! I LOVE MELMEL BAGLEY!!!!! I LOVE MELMEL BAGLEY!!!!! I LOVE MELMEL BAGLEY!!!!! I LOVE MELMEL BAGLEY!!!!! I LOVE MELMEL BAGLEY!!!!! I LOVE MELMEL BAGLEY!!!!! I LOVE MELMEL BAGLEY!!!!! I LOVE MELMEL BAGLEY!!!!! I LOVE MELMEL BAGLEY!!!!! I LOVE MELMEL BAGLEY!!!!! I LOVE MELMEL BAGLEY!!!!! I LOVE MELMEL BAGLEY!!!!! I LOVE MELMEL BAGLEY!!!!! I LOVE MELMEL BAGLEY!!!!! I LOVE MELMEL BAGLEY!!!!! I LOVE MELMEL BAGLEY!!!!! I LOVE MELMEL BAGLEY!!!!! I LOVE MELMEL BAGLEY!!!!! I LOVE MELMEL BAGLEY
BigCash Hotshot shouts: Reventon STOP THAT PLEASE
Devilish Gears shouts: okay, we get it!!! geez
Adora Galthie: ffs
Hadda Doobie: true love is when it shoves other peoples' sentences off screen

SL/Mature PG

Hadda Doobie: no nudity here
Hadda Doobie: no naked pixels here
Adora Galthie: lol
Hadda Doobie: I got around the PG limitation by secretly wearing pubic hair on my face, and no one was the wiser
Adora Galthie: Tsk
Hadda Doobie: sorry, stoned

SL/Meet Hadda Doobie

...He's headless

/

/

/

/

////

/

/

/

/

/

/

//

Kanako Yokosuka: how can i change my appearance?
Hadda Doobie: you aren't allowed to change your appearance for at least one week after arriving inworld
Hadda Doobie: i know, i was born with a beard
Droog Voom: lololol
[Someone pointed out Hadda's lack of a head.]
Hadda Doobie: i had a head when i first came inworld
Hadda Doobie: but we had such a severe lag storm recently I'm grateful this much survived
Atom Cryotank: have you explored much?
Hadda Doobie: i started to explore when the lag hit and they took me to a hospital
Dooble Voom: not a UFO? you had no missing time??
Hadda Doobie: missing limb
Droog Voom: ahhhh much better
Hadda Doobie: i don't miss my head
Droog Voom: dats the trick
Hadda Doobie: i still have a penis
Droog Voom: ahhhh

SL/Encounters in Welcome Area pt. 39/no advertising

A gentleman was wearing a title above his head which indicated he wanted to be messaged about a new club he was managing, called "The Shop." "They are recruiting early," Soy noted.

To get his attention, Soy said "I was going to IM a woman about a new nude disco she was opening today." That got everyone's attention, including the manager's. Soy continued, "No one is allowed in her club unless completely nude." Nobody batted an eyelash at this information. Soy concluded, "It's the only form of discrimination that's still allowed."

Finally, one woman said something; she said she was dialing her lawyer.

"What for?" inquired Soy.

"Habit," she insisted.

"Call me instead."

"What's your Second Life number?"

"F2 F3 F4 - F9 F1 F9 F8"

SL/the ol' seated on the sofa prank

The discussion was about twittering and blogging.
Someone asked for the defintion of "twitter," and I said "neverending nervous typing."
/
There was limited seating. The host apologized for the lack of seating, and I apologized for taking up so much room on the couch.
I got up from the lying position and used a fake "sit" animation from my inventory. It looked like I was "sitting," but I really wasn't. I positioned myself on the end of the couch. /
Now where's my first victim?
Here she is.