On a side note:
I hate coming down with a cold. Guh. Been a long last couple of days. Maybe tomorrow will be better.

Whad I do? Whad I Doooo? (In Pete puma voice) (Grabs some aspirin while his head still vibrates. Thinks for a minute and notices his own head vibrating like a Bobble head doll) Good thing I'm a fan of cartoons (including the old ones) Wait a minute! Vibrations at a resonant frequency can travel long distances. Assuming a transmitter in the tail of the right length when the robo elk takes a dump thus raising the tail at the proper angle.... yes!!

Now if only I can remember what the question was.

ow.

Elk antlers? Hmmm, perhaps yes. (starts muttering to himself about Larger surface area, easier to hide wiring inside, and then wanders off to think. Meanwhile his friends look at him, and recognizing the lost expression on his face knows he's deep in thought and kick back for the results.)

Well first you start with these guys.

http://www.interorbital.com/TubeSat_1.htm

For about $8,000 you can have your own private satellite. Sure it'll only be in orbit a few weeks but that's all you need and it's already setup for data transmission. So mount your transmitter into something that looks like a caribou (the antlers make great antenna incidentally), send up your signal to your private satellite and then receive it in the privacy of your own lair back at home. Ain't modern technology wonderful? (chuckle)

ooopsss...

Durn it. Now I'm gonna have to stop the "remote controlled caribou with the camera and satellite broadcasting equipment" project I've been working on. Shucky Darn.

Forgive me for jumping in But I believe this one doesn't fit into the Grey category. It's a cross between a Predator and a Alien from the movie series. Both of which are completely fictional and modern day movie contrivances.

Fascinating read none the less. I'll need to look through this more carefully when I have a chance.

Mr BOOT sir? I don't quite understand.

I did work with both the smallest SAM (Surface to Air Missile) and the largest SAM the Army had. The shoulder fired heat seeker Redeye, and a computer operator for the Nike Hercules Missile. It was odd using a vacuum tubed analog computer that was 3 years older than I was. Hehe. Good times though.

When I was in the Army back in 80-83 I was in Air defense artillery. Or as I liked to think of it, I gave enemy paratroopers a good reason to jump. (chuckle)

Considering that I cruise around in Virtual Worlds (like Inworldz) typically as a horse I'm well acquainted with them. Dunno any that go by the name of "Charlie" though. Then again I have a seat that is just a little "too low" for my legs so I get them often. (chuckle)

But.. but..but... never mind (chuckles)

(Boggles at trying to figure out the last few posts and gives up )... eh?

My apologies if I've been quiet things have been very crazy lately.

A brief background maybe in order:

I'm unemployed and staying in a house with 3 other people. Kathy, her son Phillip and his girlfriend Laura. Over the last several months laura was pregs. I am not related by either blood or relationship to any of them. Kathy (57) and I (50) are simply good and well trusted friends.

Life changed on Thursday. To be brief, Laura's water broke on Thursday and on Saturday Aug 13th Little Damien (yes that's his name)was born. Sometime today, the Father (Phillip), Mother (Laura) and child will be coming home.

Lackage of sleep had been a problem all around and hopefully after the little guy is home things may settle down.

I'm the unnoficial "Grandpa". Note the unoffical part. The "Sperm donor" (as Kathy called him) vanished shortly after Phillip was born and Laura has a Mother in law but no mother and I've never asked about her Dad. I suspect not good things so I leave it alone. I guess I'll just do the best I can and take comfort in the fact that I have a set of earplugs and a bedroom door closes. That will need to do.

Concerning webcam,
I have one but its right now sitting upside down in a empty coffee mug. Yes I skype but haven't used the webcam yet. It's a very old model and was last used about 5 years ago. Naked? Only used for that once years and years ago and that was interrupted by a drive by shooting at her place years ago. Who knows, with the right person then yes sometime. As it is on my end I'm hairy enough I'd have to worry about it locking up or bursting into flames or what have you.I guess when it comes to things like that I'm a bit shy at times. Can't believe I wrote that. Let alone plan on having it stand as is to live or fall on it's own merits. Gonna hit the post reply before I become coherent enough to regret that last part.

Hello! I'm so very new at this that it isn't funny. I'd like your input please. I've tried to cover some of my interests as best as I can and included one particular thing that people who are interested in me should know about as well.

Take care and please let me know what you think.

I'm thinking that if you tried it right around the time of that Episode then yes indeed it could have been swamped. Lots of people trying it because of the TV program etc. That would explain it. Used to do the Facebook scene myself but burned out totally on the Farmville and other games. So I left Facebook entirely.

ok, if it was a year or two ago then thing shouldn't have been too out of date then.

Hmm, Winxp is fine (that's what I run)
Cable modem is fine (that's what I have)
ok, so the program didn't finish loading. On thing that I've found out about on xp systems is to have the Visual C++ (2005) run time installed. And it's updates. That's created some problems for people in the past.

ok, a thought is that since you don't have the log in info anymore (unless you wrote it down somewhere) you may wish to start over.

Re-register on the site, and download the viewer program and try again after making sure you got the visual C++ runtime installed. Over the past year or so SL has been using what is called "Viewer 2". It supposedly easier to use for the new person to use. However to be honest the Interface (how to do things)... well to be honest.... sucks. I have used the Phoenix viewer successfully in SL and it seems to work pretty well. Be advised it's not officially supported by Linden labs (the people who own SL) but the general consensus is pretty good.

Here's a download link.
http://www.phoenixviewer.com/

So re-register on the main website. Wait for the confirmation e-mail and see how it goes from there. and if you can't log in wiht the Sl viewer then give the Phoenix viewer a try. I wish you luck. In the meantime you may find some tutorials on how to move (arrow keys)chat, (Lower left of the viewer) to be helpful.

Edit to add:
Another possibility is that the grid might have simply been down. That happens from time to time.

thanks for the welcome everyone. It makes me feel good.

ok, mind I ask a few questions to try to nail this down?

1) How long ago was this?

2) Did the viewer fire up and you couldn't log in?

3) Did the viewer program fire up at all or did it crash and burn?

4) What is your OS? Windows? Mac OS? Linux?

5) What type of internet connection do you have?

6) are your drivers up to date?

It's a multi-step process. First you sign up on the main website. Then you receive a confirmation e-mail. Check your spam folder it might go there! During this process at a bare minimum you choose a first, last name and a password. Assuming you receive these you use these to log in so choose carefully!

I would also recommend that you goto You-tube and check on some tutorial videos. They may be of help as well that's what I did. Most places like SL or IW have an FAQ to where you can get further info to debug your problem.

Thread started. hope you enjoy.

Hey there and thanks for reading this in advance. In advance I also want to say that I'm more than happy to answer any and all questions.

I'm a big fan of virtual worlds. What I mean by that is a world that is setup on various computers and setup in a Grid of connected areas. To separate What I mean by Virtual worlds from such things as World of Warcraft (the best known example)is user generated content. In such things as WoW, items, terrain, avatars etc are pre-made. In a Virtual world (such as Second life) almost everything you see is made by someone. Homes, vehicles, avatars, pretty much everything is made by the people in it. Also a big difference is that in things like Wow, there are set goals, quests, etc. In a Virtual world (hereafter called a VW)there aren't any set Goals or win conditions. Pretty much the imagination is the limit. you can chat, dance, get to know people, own land, build a home (or buy one) pretty much almost anything. To access each you need to install a program (in the VWs case called a Viewer). This program accesses the main grid and is how you do things. Something else to remember and keep in mind. There are pretty much NO NPC's. EVERY avatar you see has a person at the keyboard on the other end. Just like this forum. No Bots. Or at least in IW.

Mostly I'm going to be talking about my experiences in a grid called "Inworldz" It's where I spend most of my time online and have now there for over a year. I also have about a year and a half in Second life experience but I call Inworldz my home grid now.

Inworldz is less famous than second life and is in fact a much smaller grid and is in Beta right now. Not everything works and there are often bugs in what does work from time to time. It's sort of like comparing a small town to a big city. Second life is more mature and has a much larger surface area to wander around and explore but you can get lost. IW however is much smaller and the population is composed of mostly people who have left SL (for one reason or another)thus has a smaller but experienced population. Also it's small enough to where you can get to know people and be known without being drowned out in the crowd. It's also got an efficient grapevine system and a person's reputation is important. A good reputation for honesty for example will go far and people talk about both good and bad people. You are required to be (in IW anyway) 18+ to enter. While IW at this point doesn't do verification (too easy to circumvent) being underage will get you bounced from the grid for example. Oh in case anyone is wondering..... yes "adult" activities do take place. Just don't start off asking where the "sexxors" is ok? We're adults. Best to act like one if you catch my drift. Cool? Things like that will come at a later time. In fact Second Life has a well developed adult industry catering to such but it was never my scene really.

ok,I've drifted a bit with this however there is a lot to cover and it's gonna take more than one post I can tell that already.

So how about a video break?
At the following link you'll find a few videos that I made in IW. They are a couple of months out of date but do cover what's possible. I would recommend the "Tour of my house in Inworldz". Pretty much almost everything you see in that video (about 99%) was made by me personally.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lt-GTt_Ocpk

Just copy paste it into your browser and it should take you there. Also on my channel you'll find some other videos as well dealing the the underwater maze I built at the Snake River sim. For clarity please note that the build no longer exists (had to give up the land)so it's more for history sake than anything right now.

ok, enjoyed the Video(s)? I hope so.

Some Basics:
================
Money:
yes there is a full fledged economy running. People buying, selling and trading. I for example sell such things as wearable vehicles, original artwork (made by me), little books for your library at your home, some chairs, hot tubs, etc whatever I feel like.

ok, what's it called and how to get it?
====================================
ok, in SL it's called Lindens and you can buy them directly from linden labs for roughly 250 lindens per Dollar.

In IW it's called the Izzie and it's 500per dollar.

minimum purchase for each is 5$ at a time.

you can also earn the local currency by getting a job,selling things, owning land and renting it out to others, etc. Oh and please don't beg for money. It turns people off really fast. It's very easy to get around and do things without spending any money at all in fact.


Basic Avatar types:
============================

Got some pictures showing only some of the basic ones.

Standard Human:
==================
The most common kind you'll find. Everyone starts as one. Clothing, skins, shapes, and various accessories are free where you start out at in IW. There are some stores located at IDI (Inowrldz desert island) that contain donated goods from people who made them free for anyone to use to outfit themselves.

Here's a picture of a dance party that I attended several months ago.



Furry:
===========
Usually a upright Bipedal animal with intelligence. They come in a very wide variety of shapes and types. In IW they are a rarity at this point due to the grid size being small. IN SL there are entire community of them. This is the most common avatar that I use in fact. Despite the looks I can do almost anything that a normal human avatar can do.... including dance.



Tiny:
==========
Sort of like seeing a children's book come to life. These avatars come about knee high to a normal human avatar. Unlike some of the other avatars, they require special seating to prevent them from being "unfolded". to get the avatar that small the basic human shape is folded at the knees and elbows. So they literally walk on their knees. Here's a pic of me in my Tiny avatar form.



Others:
============
This would include Elves, Fairys, Dragons, Aliens and pretty much anything the imagination can make.

My Home brew dragon avatar for example:



Well, my aching wrists and fingers are telling me that it's time to take a halt for now until I can continue this. Please feel free to ask questions and I'll try to answer them as best as I can.