Comparative numbers

Relay for Life (Corporate Teams) [sampled from 100-team, 300-team and 1500-team categories]:
Wal*Mart: $1,384,614.46 (9674 participants)
Starbucks Employees: $116,550.32 (1494 participants)
American Airlines: $213,838.81 (965 participants)

Relay For Life National Partners (Non-Corporate Teams)
US Jaycees: $134,346.20 (1255 participants)
Parrot Heads in Paradise, Inc.: $72,304.78 (418 participants)
Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc.: $36,843.62 (444 participants)

Relay For Life of Second Life - Convio (out-world) Fundraising:
130 Teams registered
407 Participants
US$14,899.62 raised

Relay For Life of Second Life - in-world Fundraising:
L$60,324,956 (~ U.S.$263,361)
Avatars: 1913 (who knows how many alts? [shrugs])

Steelhead Salmons
L$217,000 in-world (last year L$113,000)
US$800.00 out-world (#5!)

My Darien Mason ticket

(Ref: The Seneschelf Speaks)

Summary:	Request to reconsider avatar banning
Ticket Type:	Technical Issue
Technical issue:	I've logged in, but there is a problem
Inworld Issue:	Avatar
Did you check the Knowledge Base?:	No, I did not check the Knowledge Base
Preferred Language:	English
Details:	I would like to request a reconsideration of the banning of Darien Mason. Darien was conducting extensive roleplay and did not mean to violate TOS, only to tell his stories effectively; he certainly did it inadvertently and without malice, intent to defraud, or any other possible malign actions. His absence leaves a huge hole in the societies of multiple sims (Caledon, Steelhead, New Babbage to start). He is very sorry for causing a problem, and wishes to come back with the single account under restrictions if you would take mercy on him (and all of us) and let him do so. Please do reconsider it. He adds so much to Second Life.
Reference Ticket number:	4051-6388684, 4051-6457938

The tracking number for your new ticket is #4051-6460234

But... it was in Brigadoon!

You have received a message from Second Life:
Your object 'cavorite' has been returned to your inventory lost and found folder from parcel 'Caledon Rothesay' at Caledon Rothesay 125, -1 because it went off-world.

Calan Mai hapus!

Cribbed shamelessly from Wikipedia:

In Wales, May 1 is a holiday known as Calan Mai or Calan Haf, which means the first day of summer. Celebrations start on the evening before, known as May Eve, with bonfires; as with Calan Gaeaf, the night before (Nos Calan Mai) is an Ysbrydnos, or "spirit night," when spirits are out and about and divination is possible. The tradition of lighting Midsummer bonfires happened annually in south Wales until the middle of the 19th century. It is the Welsh equivalent of the Goidelic Beltane.

Customs

• On Nos Calan Mai or May Eve, villagers gather hawthorn (draenen wen, literally whitethorn) branches and flowers which they would then use to decorate the outside of their houses, celebrating new growth and fertility.


• In Anglesey and Caernarvonshire it would be common on May Eve to have gware gwr gwyllt (playing straw man) or crogi gwr gwellt (hanging a straw man). A man who had lost his sweetheart to another man would make a man out of straw and put it somewhere in the vicinity of where the girl lived. The straw man represented her new sweetheart and had a note pinned to it. Often the situation led to a fight between the two men at the May Fair.


• Being the time between Summer and Winter, Calan Mai would be the time to stage a mock fight between the two seasons. The man representing Winter carried a stick of blackthorn (draenen ddu) and a shield that had pieces of wool stuck on it to represent snow. The man representing Summer was decorated with garlands of flowers and ribbons and carried a willow-wand which had spring flowers tied on it with ribbons. A mock battle took place in which the forces of Winter threw straw and dry underwood at the forces of Summer who retaliated with birch branches, willow (helygen) rods, and young ferns (rhedyn). Eventually the forces of Summer would win and a May King and Queen were chosen and crowned, after which there was feasting, dancing, games and drinking until the next morning.


• May Day was the time that the twmpath chwarae was officially opened. The Welsh equivalent of the Irish ceili is a twmpath. Through the summer months in some Welsh villages, the people would gather on the twmpath chwarae, (literally, tump for playing), the village green, in the evenings to dance and play various sports. The green was usually situated on the top of a hill and a mound was made where the fiddler or harpist sat. Sometimes branches of oak decorated the mound and the people would dance in a circle around it.


• Dawnsio haf, summer dancing, was a feature of the May Day celebration, as was carolau Mai, May carols, also known as carolau haf, summer carols or canu dan y pared, singing under the wall (songs being often of a bawdy or sexual nature). The singers would visit families on May morning accompanied by a harpist or fiddler, to wish them the greetings of the season and give thanks to "the bountiful giver of all good gifts." If their singing was thought worthy, they would be rewarded with food, drink, and possibly money.


• Common drinks during Calan Mai festivities were metheglin or mead. Sometimes it was made of herbs, including woodruff, a sweet-smelling herb which was often put in wine in times past to make a man merry and act as a tonic for the heart and liver. Elderberry and rhubarb wines were popular and the men also liked various beers.

References:

• Trefor M. Owen. Welsh Folk Customs. Gomer Press, Llandysul 1987


• Marie Trevelyan. Folklore and Folk Stories of Wales. EP Publishing Ltd, Wakefield 1973


• http://www.applewarrior.com/celticwell/ejournal/beltane/wales.htm, electronic version, by Hilaire Wood.

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calan_Mai"

Vaporware

Electra is a very fine computer (or should I say "difference engine"), but of course there's More out there. I wasn't feeling very good today; my concentration was not of the best, so I started playing with computer configurators on-line.

With the new CUDA developments between nVidia and BOINC, I'd love to have a quad-core dual-GPU system to do double-duty between SL and numbers-crunching. I'd be able to process six workunits for BOINC projects while I wasn't in-world. And with dual video boards, apparently I'd be able to process SL stuff with breathtaking speed (or so Dave suggested back when we were building Elektra).

My problem is that I can't read this shorthand they have for descriptions. How can I tell if it has two video slots, or USB ports on the front of the case, or how much cooling is optimal, or... lots of stuff. I need a Rosetta Stone.

Even if it is just for wistfulness.

Steelhead Salmons 2009

Last year, as a new team starting late with a captain having no clue what she was doing, Steelhead contributed L$113,000 to the efforts to fight cancer.

This year, the Salmons get to reach out to First Life as well as second, and we have a GREAT START.

Join us in fishing for a cure! Follow us on the Steelhead Ning as well.

YAY! I'm an official VKC trainer!

For those of you (all one, apparently) who might not be familiar with it, the Virtual Kennel Club was founded by Enrico "Rico" Genosse to promote adoption (OK, "sale" if you want to be all OOC about it) and training of dogs ("canidroids") which he built and scripted.

In no particular order, the VKC adopts out Bloodhounds, Irish Wolfhounds, Labradors, Australian Shepherds, Rottweilers, Chihuahuas, Bichon Frises, Newfoundlands, German Shepherds, Dobermans and Chow Chows. (You can't get the hyenas any more unless somebody's feeling really generous.)

Watch the film: VKC... The Story Begins
When Steelhead's Port Harbor was being pre-booked, I wrote to Mister Genosse about opening a dog park in Steelhead - and instead, he suggested I run it! We worked out arrangements to pay for the land, I started landscaping it into a space for people to enjoy the view as well as the dogs, and eventually when our schedules synched up, he gave me the Trainer test and the contract!

Without trying to make fun of Mister Genosse, it was kind of funny. The current trainers, especially Rosanna Himmel, did a really good job of preparing me over a series of about four training sessions. The test was to teach the dog a trick - pick up a frisbee, go around a pole at one end of the space, then cross back, go around/over/through a fence and drop the frisbee on the other side. First thing I asked was if I had been made a friend of the the test dog, a very handsome Chow Chow. This would allow me to give the dog commands almost as if I were his owner. Ooops. He fixed that quickly.

Then we got the spare frisbee out of the way.

See, VKC dogs can "see" objects when they've got active scripts in them, like Uni Ninetails's trees for instance. The post that the dog was supposed to circle was set like this, but somehow it acquired a very odd name -- the same one I was wearing at the Steelhead "Phantom of the Opera" masquerade dance! Rico thought I was joking when I told the dog to "go the mushroom of the catacombs", but honestly, that's what the post said. I don't even think I was wearing my RPTool.

He had some tricky bits - the dog wouldn't "go" to the post, after the name was fixed, because his "go" command had been changed! I spotted that and fixed it quickly, then taught the dog some marks, locations for the dog to remember and be able to be directed to. A little more fiddling and plotting on my part, and the chow nicely left where I was standing, circled the post, headed for the fence, stopped where he was to drop the frisbee, circled around the other end of the fence and returned to me with a nice little playful rollover to finish.

One problem - he didn't take the frisbee. "chow take frisbee" (dogs don't like capital letters). No response. Well, well, well. Another sneaky challenge! "dog forget take" - this should have removed a taught, overlaying behavior and returned "take" to the default action. Except... now the dog didn't do anything. "chow help" - this lists all the dog's marks, instincts, tricks and status. "chow list take" - no response at all.

Ooops. This broke "fetch" too, of course, because "take" is part of "fetch". It was more adventurous of a test than we expected! We found a script bug! He said I passed. :D

Now my beautiful park will be opening Friday - we'll take about an hour for final setup with proper signage and such, then the public is welcome at 5 PM, just enough time for people to check things out before Steelhead's Mardi Gras dance at 7. AND there'll be a special VKC event on Saturday too!

Oh, and for no good reason at all:
Adopshun by lolcatz - Not so grate acksually

Relay For Life in Second Life has officially begun

HOW TO BE A GREAT
RELAY FOR LIFE
TEAM CAPTAIN!!!

• Ask people you like to be with and who you trust. Choose greatness!



• Have a team kickoff to recruit new members and get things going



• Set a team fundraising goal of at least $100/person or $1000 for the team
  • fundraising year around will lead to more success and less burnout
  
  
  • don’t forget to plan some on-site fundraisers for the day of Relay
  
  
  • see the Encyclopedia of Fundraisers for great ideas get creative with FUN-raisers that the whole team can help with and enjoy


• Select a co-captain to help you


• Organize your team by forming team committees
  • Lay out team fundraisers on a calendar and discuss team members responsibility for each
  
  
  • delegate
  
  
  • trust and support your team members


• Communicate, communicate, communicate!
  • have regular team meetings
  
  
  • copy and distribute the Relay newsletters
  
  
  • do a team newsletter
  
  
  • call and email with updates, good news (“Kimberly just got a $20 donation!”), reminders about fundraisers, upcoming team meetings, etc.


• Attend team captain meetings or send someone in your place
  • pass along information you get at team captain meetings
  
  
  • keep your team informed about incentive prizes, rules, games, contests, etc.


• Make sure you turn in your registration fee and form by the deadline. Don’t forget to turn in any other forms needed by the Relay committee.



• Motivate, excite and enthuse your team
  • dedicate your team’s efforts to a cancer survivor share information about the American Cancer Society programs and services that you receive at team captain meetings
  
  
  • be their cheerleader and their biggest fan!
  
  
  • ask survivors that you know to come to Relay and walk in the Opening Lap
  
  
  • hang Relay posters, banners, balloons in your office


• Take up the fight against cancer and volunteer to help with ACS programs and services. The ACS is always in need of volunteers. There are many opportunities for you and your entire team to get involved – from driving cancer patients to and from treatment to educating others on the importance of prevention and early detection to helping with the American Cancer Society’s legislative agenda by becoming a grass roots advocate.



• Have a Team Wrap Up Party
  • review the team’s activities, fundraisers, etc. to find out what worked well and what could be improved
  
  
  • distribute/announce any awards your team won.
  
  
  • you can even have your own awards for your team’s Top Fundraiser, Most Laps Walked, etc.
  
  
  • start planning for next year’s Relay !


• HAVE FUN ! !

A sim to keep an eye on (or watch in terror, as appropriate)

Caliburn Susanto, Friend to All (really, he's a great guy!) posts previews of the new Arkham sim -- and invites people over.

Take a look here!

A RL Tiny!

From ABC News: Fifteen-year-old Jyoti Amge of Nagpur, India, is the "world's smallest girl," according to the Indian Book of Records. She was born Dec. 16, 1993, and now measures just 1 foot, 11 inches tall, and weighs 11 pounds. Doctors say that it is unlikely that she will grow any taller than her current height.
(BARM/Fame Pictures)

http://a.abcnews.com/images/Health/fame_jyoti_080408_ssh.jpg
http://a.abcnews.com/images/Health/fame_jyoti_2_080408_ssv.jpg
http://a.abcnews.com/images/Health/fame_jyoti_3_080408_ssh.jpg

(She needs a "Mind Below" sign, or at least a helium balloon....)

A view of Avaria

I've had occasion (see the Mushroom Hunters' Ning for why) to tromp around a lot of Avaria recently, and this well-done slideshow of photography both from the floating buildings and the widely-varied environment on the ground really does a beautiful job of showing off this astonishing land.

(What, a cavern? I've missed something?!)

P.S. Good soundtrack.