M0lly's Musings

Quality Software Assurance

Well, it's 10.30pm my time, and I can't login to Second Life. According to the Grid Status report on the SL website, they've 'closed logins to allow the database to recover'. Sounds fabulous. Actually, it sounds silly. If the damn database is that fragile, it needs help.

In RL, I've worked in IT (amongst other things, LOL) for over 25 years. My speciality, if one could call it that, is Breaking Things. I'm pretty good at it. I used to get to break things for real, now I tell other people how to break stuff. Some of my ex-staff Break Things for some of the biggest companies in the world. And boy, can they break stuff <grin>.

My current role is reviewing, designing and rebuilding all of the testing standards, guidelines and processes for a Really Large Company (unfortunately, one that is still stuck in the Dark Ages but, baby steps, baby steps, we'll get them there.)

I was reasonably incensed to find that I couldn't login to SL, and that coincidentally this just happened to be about ten minutes after I'd downloaded the latest Release Candidate upgrade. Now, working in software quality assurance, or as the rest of the world calls it, Testing, for so long, I don't believe in coincidences.

I do believe in testing. So, in one of those moments, you know, when fantasy and reality actually collide, I had a vision of working for Linden Labs (from home in my pjs, forget getting dressed up in heels and makeup if I'm in MY office at home) and heading up a Rescue Mission to sort out their testing. Because my view on it, to be honest, is that it's pretty crappy, and I"ve been watching for a while now. Sadly, I can't take off the Testing Hat when playing games, which is tragic and probably indicates I need to either get a life or a real job.

So I headed on over to the Linden Labs employment pages - well, what else is a girl to do when she can't log in and buy shoes - and looked at all the jobs they've got vacant. Imagine my utter fascination to learn that they don't have a single job, for Testers. I'm beginning to think this may well explain why the thing is crashing ten minutes after a new release. (No, really? Really.) They've got something called a Quality Assurance Engineer, and I got a bit excited about that til I read the job spec. Which is full of techie terms and engineering references and reinforced my viewpoint that, in all seriousness, someone needs to grab a few senior Lindens by the ears and go 'USER ACCEPTANCE TESTING', (well, along with automated test harnesses, no, not the ones you've got, some really sexy ones and boy do I have a framework for you), some SERIOUS SVP (for the technically minded amongst you, that means the S,the V, AND the P, not just bits thereof) and probably a major overhaul of the integration and infrastructure testing as well, not to mention a spot of SERIOUS configuration management. Oh, and I really think they way they're developing code could do with a look-see (I've got suspicions about branching that are probably well founded.) Maybe some decent gateway testing? Hmmm, we could probably... I need to stop, or I'll have redesigned their entire development and testing process (the one I'm not sure actually exists) for free, LOL.

But what would I know? I'm just an avatar that hangs out in SL and writes about fashion.

Hey, Philip? If you're listening, talk to me. You guys need a grumpy old av who's been testing for 25 years and has seen it all - not to mention tested most of it!  Catch me inworld. LOL.

Hair Fair 2008 - Prim Manners

Well, I have ventured, survived, and spent. Far too much, it must be said...  As expected, it was a little like swimming through glue. But worth it - there are some fabulous new styles and even I, with a really specific set of criteria, managed to come home with 15 different do's.

I like to wear my hair short, and I like my hair to be silver, or grey. This is indeed the way it is in RL - LOL - and I'm not about to start kidding myself in SL, either. But the designers don't do grey or silver very well, I suspect its not popular, in a place where youth, beauty and the pursuit of the Barbie Body is the goal of a huge percentage of avs - and so I bravely continue to hunt and hunt and once in a while, up pops a little gem to reward me.

This Hair Fair, it was House of Heart's Shelby. I'm in lurve.... its a viciously different style, but I really applaud the designers for going out there and doing it. And in some lovely shades of grey and silver, as well.

The big whinge though, is.....

You do tend to see it all in SL, but every so often you just shake your head and go.. 'God, people are ignorant.'  And I mean ignorant in the sense that they just do not give a rats arse - to put it elegantly - about anyone other than their teensy little selves.

I ventured off to Hair Fair with an avatar rendering cost of 1prim. Yep, that was 1 prim. I was wearing jeans and a t-shirt - a gorgeous new release from Celeron Voom called Japan, but a t-shirt none-the-less - no shoes, no accessories, and a skin that includes hair. Despite repeated calls from various people on the sims, to reduce prims, not to mention a notecard on arrival that was pretty damn specific, my Hall of Shame has to go to the following avatars who clearly don't think that everyone else's experience is important at all, and completely ignored any requests to reduce.

Here, btw, is the 1prim wonder... after which you'll find the Hall of Shame.

And no, I don't actually care if you read this. I hate to point out the obvious, but if the senior editor of SL's premium fashion magazine can wander around with no shoes and a rendering cost of 1 prim, darlings, so can you. Truly, NO-ONE was looking at you - except me, and I was looking in stunned disbelieve at your ignorance, not your gorgeousness.

Emma Rope 3794

Maxima Nikolaidis 4614

haruha Mayo, 4635

juniorknight Carter, 4749

Vixen Babenco, 4830

sweety Mizser, 5103

Shug Gurbux 5423

The second prize for sheer ignorance is awarded to...

navina Waco, with a whopping 6790 of incredibly tasteless bling, attachments, flexi's and appendages.

Unbelievable as it may seem, this is totally eclipsed by the appalling performance of Alyosha Abaleta, who at a phenomenal 8057 prims, seemed to think it was ok to be out on a full sim, with everyone struggling against lag.

Do us all a favour, don't come back next year.

 

PHOTOFASHION CONTEST...

Primperfect and Orange Island have announced a fabulous fashion photocomp - see Competitions, on the right, for details.

Flora, Fauna, and Fashion!

Much to my amazement, I've been asked to sit on a judging panel, for a fabulous sounding photocompetition. I'm looking forward to it immensely and am honoured to have been asked. What fun - and fun, as we know, is the raison d'etre of my Second Life, and I hope, just about everyone else's.

Its certainly different! Primperfect Magazine and Orange Island have teamed up to run a five day, themed fashion photocomp, with the general idea being that:

Each day a new themed location will be announced. Designers, models and photographers are urged to team up and create gorgeous imagery around the theme, having until the next day to submit their entries.

You can find all the details here:

http://orangeprimperfect.blogspot.com/

http://primperfect.net.au

In the meantime, a little heads-up - the five days 'themes' (but not their locations, these will be announced daily) are:

1. Monday -- Swinging Sixties
   . . . a time when established values were challenged, when music exploded and fashion went crazy. Can you sum up an amazing decade in a single photo? That's today's challenge - but our groovy destination should help you!
2. Tuesday -- Living By the Sea
   There are many ways of living by the sea - and we've chosen one of the most stylish for today's destination! Grab your best nautical gear, or go for romance under the stars ... but create a photograph that would make anyone wish they were here!
   
   
3. Wednesday -- An Isle East
   Today we're looking to the East ... not just the mysterious remote East of legend, but the thriving, vibrant culture of the modern Orient, conscious of its proud history. Can you take a picture that captures all the flavour and spice of a key Eastern land? That's your task for today!
   
   
4. Thursday -- Art Fantasy
   What is more fantastic than the dreams of the artist? Today we take you to explore the mysteries of a sim that captures the mind of an artist. Will you learn the secrets of the island and capture them in your photograph? Explore the power of fantasy - and bring dreams to life.
5. Friday -- All That Jazz
   Let's chill and listen to some cool jazz. Or maybe the jazz will be hot and the jive will be jumping. Drop in, hang out and make your choice of how you will reflect that raciest of racy times ... the Jazz Age.

Now, sadly, I can't enter, LOL, but I'm certainly going to be dressing the part each day!  Can't wait to see what you all come up with. I had quite a bit of fun pottering around putting on costumes, LOL.

There are just days....

The tidal wave of content theft and the amount of contempt - not to mention publicity - that it is currently getting should, in my opinion, result in two things:

Cleverer thieves, and less of them. But no. This one, that came to my attention today, is so blindingly stupid you almost have to laugh about it.

Avenue Model Academy run training courses, have a well crafted blog, and issue notecards, as you do. A stellar lineup of instructors and facilities, makes it one of SL's best.

SL Model Academy, on the other hand, appear to have taken 'imitation is the sincerest form of flattery' and turned it into 'imitation is the greatest form of stupidity'.

Not only is SL Model Academy's blog about as close as it's possible to get - and you have to wonder how much work went into making it the same, as opposed to just designing your own! - but now they've taken things to a new low.

They've taken to issuing a notecard with their curriculum, fees, and instructors on it. Problem is, it's Academy's notecard with the heading changed. So stupid, in fact, is this action, that they forgot to change the name of the person to pay the fees to. So they've copied the lot, sent it out, and left it with the $L still to be paid to the head of Academy Models. You've got to wonder.

Check out Academy's Blog - here - for the full story, comparisions, and what you can do to help.

http://avenuemodels.wordpress.com

Check out my Slide Show!

Landing Strip August 08

And Thanks for all the Fash(ion)

I had spent a bit of time pondering the topic for Landing Strip this month and as usual, hadn't come up with anything at all by the time our dearly beloved leader was seen sitting quietly in a corner, rocking and sobbing. She's a bit thingy about deadlines for some reason not immediately clear to those of us who are not the business owners of what is of course the best fashion magazine inworld and one that must always be released on time...

Should I discourse on Hair That Sticks Out of Your Throat? Another diatribe on Why Bling is Incredibly Tasteless Not To Mention Causes Lag?  How about a favourite topic of mine in both worlds...

Why I Am Always Wearing Something Dodgy When I Bump Into Someone I Want To Impress - or at least someone with a blog who may then be moved to go on about the incredibly dowdy M0lly Dench... "and my dear, you have NO IDEA what she was wearing!!"

All of the above notwithstanding, I did my usual hoover around the fashion blogs on the net (either searching for inspiration, or procrastinating, depending on your viewpoint) and then, indubitably, I found the topic for this month.

I refer of course to the earth-shattering news to be found on the Linden Lifestyles blog - my personal favourite and one that I credit with interesting me in SL fashion in the first place. If it wasn't for Salome and Sabrina, I don't know that I'd be doing this job. Because I really did think to myself... "If fashion is this much fun, I want some."  I picked up the Jill In A Box starter kit when I got here. I looked to them for advice and guidance (and what NOT to do.) I'm now Senior Editor of RUNWAY Magazine. I doubt they realise that it's because of this blog that I actually have this much fun in my SL.

It is with incredible sadness that I quote from Linden Lifestyles - "...but this time we’re finally pouring the last few drinks, closing the doors and sweeping out the sawdust."

Thank you. Thank you, thank you. Thank you for the fun, the memories, the biting wit. Thank you for the first glimpse at things we absolutely Had to Have. Thank you for the advice, the gossip, and the quest to ensure all newbies are well dressed. Thank you for the reference material - if anyone ever wanted to know where to go to find a Carmen Miranda hat, or a skin that just happened to be made of plywood, or the best eyes in SL, or the latest cowboy boots sans bling or thigh high boots that didn't make you look like an attendee at a tranny convention -  (I quote, of course, directly from the site) -  Linden Lifestyles was your source of all fashion knowledge and a spectacular jumping off point into the vast pool of SL fashion.

I also think that the girls have no idea how much they influenced not only the look of the majority of avatars in SL, but the way in which so many of us approached SL fashion. It's supposed to be fun. It's paper-dolls for grown-ups, and it's more populated with people with incredible talent and a sense of the fun and the fabulous than it is with the minority who take it incredibly personally or incredibly seriously - Salome and Sabrina pointed us in the right direction and pricked the ego-bubbles of the just plain silly - and amused, entertained and informed the rest of us along the way. If ever there was a pair of avatars who deserved the award of SL Fashion's Most Influential, these two are it.

I'm going to close with a selection of my all time favourite quotes from the site. Because some of the funniest comments I've ever seen anywhere in SL can be found on the Linden Lifestyles blog. Blessedly, the girls are keeping it up and running for a while, but just won't be updating any more. Such a shame. There's now a hole in my day which was previously spent dribbling over some of the latest releases and unusual finds on the site, not to mention holding my sides and hooting with laughter. Now what do I do?

Dear store owners: Assault by pop-up notecard is bad enough, but…greeter robots? Yes, you want to “inform” shoppers, but these things will drive a pacifist to the nearest Arms Depoz quicker than you can say “grassy knoll.”

Speaking of talking body parts, we’re convinced that talking pregnancies are a conspiracy from the far right. That issue aside, not a single person in SL is as absorbed in your fake pregnancy as you are. We can all tell you’re psudo-pregnant; we don’t need your belly to remind us every three minutes. Whether your fake fetus is resting comfortably or not, whether you’re tired or hot or need a cookie or are giving birth to the Olsen Quintuplets, nobody but you cares. Please, both of you, shut up already.

Our culture has reached an emotional nadir when some people are so desperate for attention and validation that they scream “look at me” by setting themselves on virtual fire. Yes, bling is cute for the first ten seconds, but after that you look like a magpie tangled up in Juicy Fruit wrappers. /bling off is the new black. Get with the program.

I immediately pressed the “tackle target and steal clothes” button. A few seconds later, realizing said button was merely a figment of my fashion imagination, I decided to take the direct approach and ask Mandy where she acquired her peasant blouse and breezy skirt goodness.

If there is a weak entry in this set, it comes in form of the included puffy beach sandals which, despite being a little too Miami Beach early bird buffet special for my tastes, are perfectly cute in their own way. Oddly, they are created for feet in size 19 which I must admit avoids that odd “indented at the ankles” look you get with regular size zero shoes.

And finally, what I consider to be the best 'interview' ever held in SL. One can only aspire to such greatness. Hats off, ladies, hats off.

1/ You two look umm, very close.

We are. For $500,000L and one hour, you can find out just how far close extends. Next.

2/ What do you look like in real life?

We look exactly like our avatars of course. We’re 5′11 and perpetually 21. We have perfectly flat abs, Barbie breasts, and legs longer than the Mississippi. Don’t you?

3/ Do the two of you really spend that much SL time shopping?

Yes. More, actually, because we’ve both taken to SL shopping in our sleep.

4/ So do you both just buy everything you see?

No. Despite inventories that might cry otherwise, there is still a great deal of SL merchandise that we don’t own… yet. Sabrina is actually a rather picky bargain hunter who enjoys finding the best deals, while Salome leans more toward the conquistador style of target-and-acquire-at-any-price shopping.

5/ Is this all just a scam to get free clothes?

Of course not! We’re also hoping for free shoes.

Thanks for the memories, girls. I wish you all the (virtual) happiness in the world.

Landing Strip August 08

And Thanks for all the Fash(ion)

I had spent a bit of time pondering the topic for Landing Strip this month and as usual, hadn't come up with anything at all by the time our dearly beloved leader was seen sitting quietly in a corner, rocking and sobbing. She's a bit thingy about deadlines for some reason not immediately clear to those of us who are not the business owners of what is of course the best fashion magazine inworld and one that must always be released on time...

Should I discourse on Hair That Sticks Out of Your Throat? Another diatribe on Why Bling is Incredibly Tasteless Not To Mention Causes Lag?  How about a favourite topic of mine in both worlds...

Why I Am Always Wearing Something Dodgy When I Bump Into Someone I Want To Impress - or at least someone with a blog who may then be moved to go on about the incredibly dowdy M0lly Dench... "and my dear, you have NO IDEA what she was wearing!!"

All of the above notwithstanding, I did my usual hoover around the fashion blogs on the net (either searching for inspiration, or procrastinating, depending on your viewpoint) and then, indubitably, I found the topic for this month.

I refer of course to the earth-shattering news to be found on the Linden Lifestyles blog - my personal favourite and one that I credit with interesting me in SL fashion in the first place. If it wasn't for Salome and Sabrina, I don't know that I'd be doing this job. Because I really did think to myself... "If fashion is this much fun, I want some."  I picked up the Jill In A Box starter kit when I got here. I looked to them for advice and guidance (and what NOT to do.) I'm now Senior Editor of RUNWAY Magazine. I doubt they realise that it's because of this blog that I actually have this much fun in my SL.

It is with incredible sadness that I quote from Linden Lifestyles - "...but this time we’re finally pouring the last few drinks, closing the doors and sweeping out the sawdust."

Thank you. Thank you, thank you. Thank you for the fun, the memories, the biting wit. Thank you for the first glimpse at things we absolutely Had to Have. Thank you for the advice, the gossip, and the quest to ensure all newbies are well dressed. Thank you for the reference material - if anyone ever wanted to know where to go to find a Carmen Miranda hat, or a skin that just happened to be made of plywood, or the best eyes in SL, or the latest cowboy boots sans bling or thigh high boots that didn't make you look like an attendee at a tranny convention -  (I quote, of course, directly from the site) -  Linden Lifestyles was your source of all fashion knowledge and a spectacular jumping off point into the vast pool of SL fashion.

I also think that the girls have no idea how much they influenced not only the look of the majority of avatars in SL, but the way in which so many of us approached SL fashion. It's supposed to be fun. It's paper-dolls for grown-ups, and it's more populated with people with incredible talent and a sense of the fun and the fabulous than it is with the minority who take it incredibly personally or incredibly seriously - Salome and Sabrina pointed us in the right direction and pricked the ego-bubbles of the just plain silly - and amused, entertained and informed the rest of us along the way. If ever there was a pair of avatars who deserved the award of SL Fashion's Most Influential, these two are it.

I'm going to close with a selection of my all time favourite quotes from the site. Because some of the funniest comments I've ever seen anywhere in SL can be found on the Linden Lifestyles blog. Blessedly, the girls are keeping it up and running for a while, but just won't be updating any more. Such a shame. There's now a hole in my day which was previously spent dribbling over some of the latest releases and unusual finds on the site, not to mention holding my sides and hooting with laughter. Now what do I do?

Dear store owners: Assault by pop-up notecard is bad enough, but…greeter robots? Yes, you want to “inform” shoppers, but these things will drive a pacifist to the nearest Arms Depoz quicker than you can say “grassy knoll.”

Speaking of talking body parts, we’re convinced that talking pregnancies are a conspiracy from the far right. That issue aside, not a single person in SL is as absorbed in your fake pregnancy as you are. We can all tell you’re psudo-pregnant; we don’t need your belly to remind us every three minutes. Whether your fake fetus is resting comfortably or not, whether you’re tired or hot or need a cookie or are giving birth to the Olsen Quintuplets, nobody but you cares. Please, both of you, shut up already.

Our culture has reached an emotional nadir when some people are so desperate for attention and validation that they scream “look at me” by setting themselves on virtual fire. Yes, bling is cute for the first ten seconds, but after that you look like a magpie tangled up in Juicy Fruit wrappers. /bling off is the new black. Get with the program.

I immediately pressed the “tackle target and steal clothes” button. A few seconds later, realizing said button was merely a figment of my fashion imagination, I decided to take the direct approach and ask Mandy where she acquired her peasant blouse and breezy skirt goodness.

If there is a weak entry in this set, it comes in form of the included puffy beach sandals which, despite being a little too Miami Beach early bird buffet special for my tastes, are perfectly cute in their own way. Oddly, they are created for feet in size 19 which I must admit avoids that odd “indented at the ankles” look you get with regular size zero shoes.

And finally, what I consider to be the best 'interview' ever held in SL. One can only aspire to such greatness. Hats off, ladies, hats off.

1/ You two look umm, very close.

We are. For $500,000L and one hour, you can find out just how far close extends. Next.

2/ What do you look like in real life?

We look exactly like our avatars of course. We’re 5′11 and perpetually 21. We have perfectly flat abs, Barbie breasts, and legs longer than the Mississippi. Don’t you?

3/ Do the two of you really spend that much SL time shopping?

Yes. More, actually, because we’ve both taken to SL shopping in our sleep.

4/ So do you both just buy everything you see?

No. Despite inventories that might cry otherwise, there is still a great deal of SL merchandise that we don’t own… yet. Sabrina is actually a rather picky bargain hunter who enjoys finding the best deals, while Salome leans more toward the conquistador style of target-and-acquire-at-any-price shopping.

5/ Is this all just a scam to get free clothes?

Of course not! We’re also hoping for free shoes.

Thanks for the memories, girls. I wish you all the (virtual) happiness in the world.

Landing Strip July08

A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Fashion Show

I was pottering around on some of the fashion blogs the other day, as one does, given that the sheer abundance of riches in SL fashion design means that anyone attempting to TP around all the stores, all the time, in search of new gorgeousness, is likely to collapse and die from sheer exhaustion, when a comment leapt out of the page - perhaps technically that should be screen - at me, and made me stop and think for a while about the meaning of it all. SL, that is, rather than world peace and the dwindling bilby population, and whaling, and possibly the use or not of nuclear power to offset dwindling coal reserves, and the latest Brangelina brats....

The comment was related to the possibility that everyone in fashion in SL was taking themselves all too seriously. That got my attention quick-smart. Mainly because I've wondered about this myself in the last month or two.

So I've been thinking about this ever since, especially the intrinisic validity of that statement, being an avatar who really does think that fun is the whole point of my existence in SL after all. I mentally wandered about my last month and revisited the bits that could be construed as fun, and then the bits that couldn't.

I'd have to say that fortunately fun was the leader on balance. Without getting too deeply into the philosophy of fun, which is even worse than getting into the philosophy of quality as anyone who has ever read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance can attest, I'd have to say that fun is one of those things you need to define for yourself. Not everyone, for example, would find compering the RUNWAY Bridal Revue fun. Especially not if they'd never compered anything in SL before. But despite the sheer terror of knowing that a system crash is far worse than say, your microphone failing in RL, and never being entirely sure that a crash is not imminent for a variety of reasons, and despite the agonies of the damned over What to Wear - especially given that a full sim tends to bring the Prim Police out in droves and this, combined with the fact that SL's leading fashion lights will be critiquing what you are wearing, is a nerve-wracking experience, and despite being so short that one has to request a step to be built behind the podium so that one does not disappear, and despite a feral peacock called Gavin who was detemined to have ones' shoes for lunch, it really was fun. 

The backstage conversation relating to the parallels between losing ones' compering virginity and the loss of ones' real virginity (lots of waiting around, not knowing where to put anything and hoping you don't look ridiculous) will live on in my memory as one of the fun highlights, as will nearly being decapitated by the largest wedding dress in history, ("Don't turn for your poses in that, darl, its too dangerous!" being the quote of the day) the griefer who ran and hid UNDER the largest wedding dress in history and could not be extracted, the sheer terror of not knowing if the next model was going to come through the door on cue and the  panic an hour before start time when one of the male models had to be replaced and the designers of the outfits weren't on line... it really was fun.

Fun too, this month, was scouting out locations for The Edge shoot, and deciding in a clearly insane moment, that a Wild West Bordello would be a good look. Finding myself on the Deadwood sim - clueless about role play sims, I was shadowed everywhere I went by a couple of gun-toting cowboys and had to do a very quick change into circa 1876 clothing to keep from spoiling everyone elses' fun (and they appeared to be having it) - and the amusement factor in popping over to investigate another potential bordello and spotting the sign "Nudity is allowed on this sim" and wondering if that was an optional choice or if this was another role-play I needed to panic about, was also fun.

Spending a happy afternoon finding 1920's flapper clothes for a party was fun, as was a friend giving me a giant, pink, phallus-shaped vibrating pogo stick.  A conversation with our CEO on whether nipples should or should not feature in the lingerie shoot - not, was the eventual answer though the conversation leading up to that was hysterical - and roaring with laughter over my attempts to join in at a dance party and finding I'd clicked on the 'roll sensuously about the floor and behave like you belong in that Bordello' poseball.

Do we take fashion too seriously, I wondered? I don't know about everyone else. All I know is that the team at RUNWAY have an enormous amount of fun, all the time. Sure, we take our deadlines seriously, we take representing our designers seriously, we take encouraging our models and doing the shoots seriously - or do I mean professionally? - but overall, the guiding theme throughout each month as we put this together is fun. We've stayed neutral through a couple of stoushes where people clearly were taking things very seriously, we've tried to showcase new, up and coming designers, we're having fun putting our new model through her paces (will she make it, will she not?) and we've dealt with models who double book (now, in this case, is this the model not taking it seriously or is it us taking it too seriously?) and we've had the odd disappointment, the odd triumph, and overall, lots of fun.  So, I would have to say that I totally agree with the blogger who pointed out that the fun in SL is having fun in SL.

After all, if you're not having fun, why are you here? 

Landing Strip June 08

When is a fur, not a fur?

Another month, another moral dilemma. And, it involves fur. Oh dear, I hear you say. Indeed. That, amongst many other things, is just what I said myself.

In another, less environmentally responsible time, when all manner of creatures had no rights at all and that included small furry ones, furs were a status symbol, a luxury item, and one of the most desired items on the planet. Fur - of course - was originally a necessary means to a keeping-from-freezing-to-death end and a by-product of our most basic need, nutrition - but with the advent of man made fabrics (or at least fabrics man could weave, knit, and cobble together as opposed to making out of recycled
plastic ashtrays or whatever it is that that horror, nylon, is made from) furs moved from the strictly practical to the totally unaffordable - at least with the smaller and less populous creatures.

Any woman who, as a little girl, ever snuggled into their grandmothers' fur coat - long relegated to the back of the cupboard for fear of egg- throwing activists - will never forget the silky soft sensation sliding sensuously... I need to stop this train of thought immediately.

Now, I would be one of your most ardent anti-fur exponents in RL. I can't imagine wearing something that had to die horribly (or even humanely, for that matter) in order for me to wear it. But, this is SL. What to do?

Given that the average pixel is neither cute, endangered nor requires clubbing into submission - though many of the designers of my acquaintance may beg to differ on that one - does the acquisition of a fur anything in SL contravene one's ethical stance on RL fur? The meaning of 'faux' becomes quite convoluted and leads to even further confusion as -  is a faux-fur really a faux-faux-fur, and does that make fur actually faux-fur after all if its constructed in SL?

I have pondered mightily and don't think I'm any closer to a conclusion. Is fur really fur in SL? Is it the concept of fur? Is a graphical representation of a photograph of fur that is alive and well and wandering
about happily in RL, morally reprehensively or easily defensible? Do we have to engage with our designers  to enquire whether the item we covet was constructed from photographs of dead fur or alive fur? Would our designers be even faintly interested in such a dialogue or would we find ourselves in
an even worse position with outraged designers and virtual egg-throwing activists?

The whole thing moves into fresh fields when you consider such items as tiger-skin rugs, moose heads on wall plaques, and even stuffed parrots in cages. Considerations of good taste aside - I mean, moose heads are hardly a style desirable in either world, even in hunting lodges - if you wouldn't have it on your RL lounge room floor or wall, would you have it in SL?

A difficult dilemma indeed. I have given it as much consideration as I actually can without twisting my brain into irreparable convolutions and I've decided that, much like RL, it will have to be a personal choice and a reflection of one's own ethics. I wouldn't do it in RL, so I won't be doing it in SL either. I'll just have to think with nostalgia of the feel of those furs from when I was a little girl - and remember I'd rather live in a world where everything from the littlest furry to the biggest hairy - is safe,
protected, and able to live free. And that includes my Second Life as well.