Eat, Pray, Love my Ubuntu Netbook

Amazon has made a kind of a silent success with the Kindle reading tablet.  Apple has got a lot of publicity for its music distribution system, but the Kindle is a bit more anonymous.  

What I did not know until a coworker told me the other day was that Amazon also distribute the Kindle reader as an application for iPod/Pad, Mac, Android and Windows.  In effect, what Apple did for music distribution, Amazon has done for books.

The service is really fascinating.  Amazon.com has, at the time of writing, 580,208 titles in the Kindle eBooks store.  There are 6,091 titles published the last 30 days alone, of all kinds: "How to write a sentence: And how to read one", "The Day After the Dollar Crashes: A survival guide for the New World Order" and "Two to love [nights in bliss]" all listed in sequence if you wish.  It's like a kind of treasure hunt in an old book store, the only difference being these are new titles!

When you find a book that seems interesting, you can download a sample (the first few chapters) and read a bit, just like in a real bookstore.  The only difference is that you can be anywhere; on the train, bus, airport or the beach.  Never again a day with no book to read!

Sadly, both Apple and Amazon have chosen to ignore users of Linux.  But there is a difference:  Using Wine it is possible to run a lot of windows applications on Linux, and while iTunes runs badly in Wine (if at all), the Kindle reader flows like a breeze on even a slow netbook.  And when we talk about books, a netbook is really the second best thing after a real kindle tablet....

After getting a preview or buying a book, it is synchronized to your home folder in the Kindle reader.  

Lyra, my MSI Wind Notebook, is running Ubuntu 10.04 Netbook Edition.  It's a tiny 10" 1 kg thing, not very fast, but each time I try to put it away on the shelf to use a more powerful computer I find myself returning to it in within a week.  Its just so functional when it comes to surf, email and write on that I can't seem to live without it.  And I am sure that Kindle will make it even more indispensable.

Amazon has made a very functional GUI.  When you are reading, you can put the book up on full screen, so that nothing else disturbs the mind.  Instead of scrolling you turn the pages one after another, and that really makes for easy reading.

There is one major difference between iTunes and the Kindle book store:  While Apple has abandoned their copy-protection scheme, Kindle books are only usable on readers connected to your Amazon account.  There seems to be ways to break this scheme, but I guess it's not really worth it.  With books selling for less than US10, it's less than half the price of buying the same soft-cover book in Norway.

I am now starting on chapter 5 of "Eat, Pray, Love", the first eBook I have purchased on Amazon.  (Btw, the literal Norwegian translation of the title is "Eat, Love, Live"; I suppose Pray is not really as catchy here in Europe as it is in the US.)  Anyway, Lyra and me will hit the sack really soon now; I think I want at least one chapter before I close my eyes:-)

17 of 52 - Exploring ReactionGrid

You have to be a virtual world enthusiast to hang a building on a chain like that:-)

A while ago I stubled over the ILiveISL blog written by Ener Hax. I liked it so well that I had to take a look at her estate, Enerville, and liked that so much too, I actually considered moving there. Then the very next day, Ener announced the closedown of her estate.

Just sad.

But then she started to write a lot about the OpenSim based ReactionGrid. Pictures on her blog suggested interesting things. So, when she announced the opening of Enclave Harbour I took the first interstellar taxi to reactiongrid.com to register myselves there. Registration certainly was easier than LL's, and for sheer luck the Rainbow viewer that I mostly run had an entry for ReactionGrid, so before you know it I landed on a welcome plaza, like a handsome noob again:-)

One of the core administrators sat napping in his chair... hmm wonder how this grid runs when they sleep at work?

Yes, this seems to be the entire grid!

A short Map TP later (it's REALLY NOT a big world you know) landed me on a beach full of junk. Hmm.. and I thought Ener was so environmentally aware, running her estate on solar power...


I stumbled around a bit, found a road, and then the first signs of a civilization.

Admiring the view at the top of the lighthouse

I did a bit more exploration of the 16-sim estate.

What will be in here, I wonder?


Where are the martians that landed here?


They are not warming themselves by the fire...

Some rough scripting still; steering this boat seems a bit different when lying with my head beneath the seat LOL

Ener has done some great builds, like this sun-deck-on-a-gigantic-flower thing:


And the start of a commercial center:

Still a rather empty world, 590 unique logins last month; seems too much to hope for a waiter to bring my icecream

The entire estate has 1 - one - shop, but it's a nice one:-)

No wondering where you are!


There are wind power...

...and solar power plants

But somehow, the place is not as peaceful as I imagined. Seems the estate is under siege, could it perhaps be some L***** **b agents flying around in that UFO, eagerly awaiting for a moment to crash the party? Anyway, the gun is constantly following it, so I guess they are serious with security around here:-)

Solar-driven gun? What happened to "make SLove, not waReaction"?

Finally I ran into Ener. Not just a great builder, she was also a most welcoming and nice person.

A really cool avatar lady!

She TP-ed us over to where Nickola was building a learning path. We ended up talking and having fun (well, the two ladies was the most fun I have to admit, making fun of my counties fjords and some very unhealthy canadian food I promply forgot the name of LOL), but it was a great time!

One noob and two pioneer gridnauts

Nickola had made a nice ride, which I had to admit already had tested.

I am glad the default avatar had such strong arms:-)

It was a great evening even if there hangs a shadow above me: my best friend in SL has suddenly vanished from the grid. I so hope she is fine. Please come back.

9 of 52 - Dream or reality?

It's 5:30 in the evening; I close the lid on my computer; the fairytale world inside it dwindling from sight. Stretching stiff muscles, I change into running gear and exit my front door.

Outside, it's dark, but the fresh snow makes everything seem alight. The wide river I run along is frozen, leaving a huge stretch of fresh white snow. At the other side mountains are raising, dark trees covered with white snow leaving a ghostly impression.

As I run, focusing on my steps on the slippery soft snow beneath my feet, consciousness dwindles, the world shrinks to breath, snow and thoughts. It's like I'm flowing through the cold and snowy air, my feet taking control, my mind drifting back to my secret hiding place.


Suddenly, an impossible view is in front of me: It's like the fabric of reality is ripped, and through the teared material I can see people dancing among the palm trees on a sandy beach, the red setting sun is shining in my eyes. And as I fly against the hole into that other reality, I see you standing in the opening, bare feet on the warm sand behind you touching the snow in front of you. We look at each other, shockingly recognizable through totally incompatible images, and yet there is this deep feeling of a bond stretching between worlds.

I hug you close to me; your body feels so real against me; warm and soft, slightly shivering against my cold tights and nylon jacket.

Whoever is the master of this universe has noticed the damage in her creation, and has started to close the gap between realities. In the flash of a second we both know that I must choose: The beach or the snow; the dream or the reality. You pushes me gently back, and as the opening dwindles from sight the last thing I see before falling face down in the snow is your eyes, smiling against me. Then my consciousness slips and I know no more.

I wake up by the feeling of a warm and wet tongue on my face; someone shouting “... there is blood everywhere, call an ambulance!” The dog whimpers as I manage to lift my head off the snow and the hidden stone it rested on. “He must have slipped and fallen, hurting his head. Don't move mister, the ambulance is on its way.“

Next time I wake up I lie in a hospital bed; apparently I floated between life and dead for several hours. A doctor later told me he believed I unconsciously made a choice to return to life; only I know that she made the choice for me.

I can't wait to get home and open the lid to my dreamworld again:-)

Blog Comments and Sexism

2nd Sex: Message From a Second Lie Christian: "Morgan Lavarock"

Lillie Yifu is a renowned blogger, builder and artist. Yes, she is controversial. So what? Most great artists are. But I guess its her uncompromising feminist attitude that bothers men like the one calling himself "Morgan" just now.

He tries to imply that no-one cares about what Lillie writes, based upon the number of comments on her blog. But if the guy behind "Morgan" had ever tried to blog, and actually had managed to attract some readers, he would have known that the ratio between readers and comments are rather large. If I discount those made by close friends, I barely get comments on this blog. But Google Analytics tells me that I actually have a few readers from more than 20 countries.

Yes, I do cherish every comment, perhaps especially from my friends:-) But the truth is, people behaves like me, reading a lot of blogs and seldom commenting upon them. Even if we value them highly.

Back to the core issue: Provocative feminism. The simple truth is that discrimination, harassment and violence towards women is the single biggest problem facing the world today. From Islamic fundamentalists in Afghanistan killing woman out shopping at the marked, and claiming the right to rape their wifes. To government officials in Norway that thinks female nurses should have lower wages and higher pressure at work than male engineers.

All over the world, we find woman working hard to preserve the society, while men are out making war and tearing it down. Sure, the picture is not all that black and white, but the overall trend is undeniable: The world would be a better place if woman ruled.

So, even if one is like "Morgan" and does not bother to be a gentleman for its own sake, its important to state clearly that all human beings should be treated with respect. And asking people for sex in the third sentence is not a sign of respect. Its harassment, and everyone has a right to report that. The fact that someone chooses to explore their second life identity by playing an escort does not change that fact.

Or is SL the ultimate romantic comedy?

I always gets all sentimental at Christmas time, so what can be better than sliding Love Actually into the DVD player while wrapping presents and enjoy the most well made, top actor, silly but oh so charming combination of sticky sweet romance and holidays celebration.

But I do wonder: In the end, is SL an even more ultimate but a bit darker love comedy? More of the Romeo and Julie type where where everybody ends up dead instead of coming back from the US with 3 hot avatars LOL sorry, girls:-)

Peace we can believe in?

I am not sure weather to laugh or cry, having wathced a clearly embarrassed Barack Obama accepting the Nobel Peace Price, not for having done a lot of peace work but for just leading the US on a slightly different course.

Slighly less warrior like; slightly more climate aware; slightly less capitalistic.

Don't get me wrong; Obama is my second favourite US president in my living time (the definite first place holder plays the sax and actually accomplished a lot), and I really think he has a shot to be a great president. I believe his motivation is sincere, BUT he is also very concious of the limitations of his office and do not go further in his changes than the general public of the US will accept. So, it may be that at the end of his term, there is still a war going on in the middle east, partly fuled by a US supported, war mungering Israel. It may still be war in Afghanistan, fuled by a western alliance that makes war but can't manage to build peace. 50 million US americans may still lack decent health care (not to mention the health care issues of the non-US americans). And US patent laws may still stiffle the IT industry to ensure the richest get even richer.

I hope he can make a difference. I believe he has a good shot at actually accomplishing something. But he had deserved the opportunity, in 8 years from now, to be acclaimed for what he actually changed in the world.

Very few people in the world have the power to force the will of the president of the United States. But the Nobel Comittee have proven they have. They get the opportunity to bask in the glow of a popular president. Instead of taking the opportunity to put the spotlight on forgotten warriors of peace. That also worries me a lot.


But enough gloomy thoughts:-) A famous saying from the sixties is "make love, not war". And our second life is really full of that. Love, that is:-) Yes, a bit war too, but in our fantasy world, love is actually dominating. So maybe next year, Mark Kingdom (aka M Linden) will be received in the Oslo City Hall, accepting the Nobel Price on behalf of the peace loving population of Second Life? LOL, now, is that a mind blowing enough thought on a lazy friday afternoon?

Anyway, congratulations Mr President, and welcome to Norway!

My Invisible Love

When driving to work today, I decided to ditch the usual commercial radio and instead I put my favourite CD into the slot: Anne-Sophie Mutter and NY Philarmonic playing Beethovens Violin Concerto.

Beethovens music is beauty incarnated, and when performed with almost delusional perfection by this talented German artist it never fails to move me. Starting with a tender theme it grows to an almost unbearable race between the lead violin and the orchestra, and when the drums hits the end of the third movement I feel almost shaken, and needs silence for the 10 minutes left of the drive.

Small drifts of fog blows above the green fields in the sunrise, and apart from the asphalt the world is beauty too!

Gleman Jun has an exhibition here called .:Italian Art:. Convey depth through lightness that gives me some of the same feelings as Beethovens music. Out of square building blocks he have made a "gallery" like I have never seen before: Simplicity raised to its own form of beauty. And filled with art that I think I will spend a long time looking at this weekend.

Its not a large build, but there are surprises around every corner. Walking over seas of frozen blue liquied you encounter living prims grouping to pictures or just floating around, like colorful fog in the morning.

Oops: Someone has broken Philip's image of the world. /me wonder who pushed this frame over the edge:

Why all this talk about beauty? Honour's rant yesterday made me think a lot.

There is much I don't know. Invisible friends are hard to grasp. But if the world is made on purpose by such a one, at least I know she loves beauty. Why else would she have given us ears and eyes that not only convey us information about what's going on around us, but gives us pure joy from music and art?

In fact, if she exist, she is not just a friend. She is the love of my life.

And I need no one to tell me about the love of my life. I will know her deep in my heart. And if you come to my place and try to tell me you know her better, I will laugh in your face. And if you tell me I must behave so and so for her to love me, I will bury your sorry ass under a 256 Megaprim cube.

So instead of preaching to everyone: Put on some Beethoven, take a ride around the art schene of SL, and try to find the love of your live. She may be weeping because you have actually forgotten her.

Drama Dolls Dramatic Opening

Warning: Nekos on the beach!

The cat - or should I say the Dolls - are out of the closet. Those of us who have been involved in this project have looked forward to this day for a long time. Indeed, there are some who could not wait and did not refrain from breaking and entry to be the first to report the news:-)

Warning: Drama from the future!

I can hardly blame them. As I said in my previous post, I fell in love the moment I saw them, and looking back at what I got then the Art of Honour has only improved with time.

What are Drama Dolls? To quote Honour herselves:

Have you been dissed in SecondLife? Had a lover cheat on you? Or maybe a perfect stranger held you up to public ridicule by posting your photo on a blog and making fun of your hair/skin/shape or clothes?

Well now you have an alternative to stalking behaviour or public scenes. You can have your pain acknowledged by the perpetrator and, most importantly, get a heartfelt apology.

Words are our basic form of communication. And while our emotions often define how we are, our words tend to define how we want to be.

And they are our means to get there.

The dolls actually respond to your words. OK, you know it’s just a simple computer program, but you can accept that attention of any form helps you feel better when formulating your sentences.

They help you identify the doll with the person hurting you by both taking his/her name and character (we have a large variety of dolls, you should be able to find one that reminds you of the actual person).

You get an apology to acknowledge your hurt.

Lastly, you will watch the doll meet its end. It’s a bit dramaticJ

This is not about revenge, although I am sure some will get a certain satisfaction watching it happen. No, just like the punishments that you may get in a court of law in the outside word, the important thing is getting an acknowledgement. In RL, the society acknowledges your hurt by judging the one responsible. When using Drama Dolls, you get to witness justice be done.

Warning: Elves about to make out on your lawn!

But SL is luckily not all about drama. There is love and friendship in abundance. So of course we have the DollCozies!

I'm here to hug you!

A bit simpler but oh so cute creations you can trust with your message to someone you care about. When clicked they will say your message while it plays some animations to let the recipient know how you feel.

When animating these dolls I first had a vision of making them really look alive, something akin to an AO that makes you shift your weight from leg to leg, turn your head and do other things that may or may not be natural in the situation*. But after some experiments, it really did not feel right, because they are dolls, not avatars. And it would distract from their purpose: To make you attentive to your own emotions, inspire you to formulate them into words, and have an ocean of time to listen attentively to you. So, apart from when they are responding to you, there are only tiny movements


When the dolls are done delivering their apology, they "disappear - quite dramatically! :)" (to quote Honor's specs to me). Actually, they go through quite an ordeal:-) These sequences was fun to make, I am rather excited slash nervous to hear how you like them!

I was very conscious not to animate the dolls as though they where going through agony and pain. You want to use them to move on, not to nurture feelings of revenge. Its more in line with comics: Cat chases mouse, mouse drops a grand piano on the cat, cat shakes it's head and they both start running again.

Because SL, even with all its drama, should be a fun place to be! So take the cab to Drama Dolls and find your favorite!


* Update 08.07.2009: This posting contained a link to the most touching and revealing blog about the joys and perils of living in SL that I know of. Nightflower left SL almost 6 months ago, and now her blog is gone too. I delete it from my blogroll with great sorrow. Take care, Night!