“In Los Angeles, they don’t want you to fail, they want you to die.” ~ David Geffen

Some must-read facts from Information is Beautiful about the royalties that are paid to the creators of music. There are still loud talking points about how copyright infringement hurts artists, but the numbers tell the tale — music is really still the domain of the middle men.

Online Earnings For Musicians

Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit them quickly, and get on with improving your other innovations. ~ Steve Jobs

I have been using viewer 2.0 for a few weeks now and I’ve gotten over my initial “zomg wtf” reaction. What I’ve come to realize after many deep breaths and perspective reboots is that it doesn’t suck. It just sucks for me. The interface is, for the most part, much more intuitive for anyone who hasn’t been brain-trained for the last 5 years to the old format. There are several long-awaited perks and although the majority of the changes are cosmetic at first pass, there does appear to be some genuine thought put into the overall.

It’s a good viewer for consumers. If, however, you’re a builder, a performer, an educator, or anything other than a shopaholic fashionista bot, 2.0 doesn’t have it going on. Search in general is beyond useless; event listings are atrocious; building tools are all over the place. I could go on, but many before me already have.

That 2.0 coincides with the new TOS and third-party viewer policy has created a palpable rift between the creative community and Linden Lab. You can’t plan that kind of fail. Much as they like to pretend they don’t need us, Linden Lab does, in fact, have a vested interest in trying to engage the creative community; we are symbiotic organisms.

I’ve been thinking about how to repair the chasm that feels almost too vast to span. My first response tends closer to the “…and the horse they rode in on” variety, but then there comes the “how do we fix this” instinct. I know I don’t read a lot of blogs and I’m not plugged in like Sean or Grace to all the buzz that is SL, but it seems to me that the blueprint LL should be following is already out there.

Apps and Add-ons could fix the whole damn taco.

If LLab really wants to exert more control over content within SL without alienating the coding and creative communities, then they should be looking toward something like an iPhone app store or the Firefox Add-On library, or at least find a way to establish relationships like Blizzard has with sites like Curse, Wowhead, etc.

Establishing a virtual trading post for viewer-based add-ons would open up the opportunity for third-party developers to focus on small-scale improvements for different communities instead of re-inventing the wheel with full-scale viewers. There could be an endless variety of add-ons for the live music community, for educators, for business, for role players, etc. Instead of the hack-arounds we have in-world, the open source community could provide users with the options we need to go back to enjoying our SL again.

Like it does for every other major player in the digital media marketplace, this type of modular system would return all us busy bees to the hive; contributing to a whole, instead of breaking off into camps (kinda like, you know, a community). Further, this type of hub would allow LLab to approve or deny, providing much-needed guidance for the development community to understand what should actually be considered out-of-bounds. A rejection would set precedent to follow. They could require verified users only be allowed to upload Apps to provide a “paper trail” of responsibility. By taking an iPhone App store type percentage of sales for elements or a minor distribution fee for non-profit offerings, the system could pay for itself. Having it all based on the L$ would re-enforce their status as a viable micropayment system.

Obviously, I’m not a code monkey and I have no idea how app-friendly 2.0 is. And that begs the question — if 2.0 wasn’t designed to work with the community in this way, why not? What direction are they moving in? Does LL really want control or responsibility of their own efforts? Do they care about the integrity of their product, the loyalty of their partners, the quality of the experience they’re offering their customer base? Or, do they just want to offset liability as much as possible and demonstrate a profit with as little effort as possible? These questions could be answered by sitting down and hashing out how to bring the community back into the fold instead of sliding chair out from under them over and over.

For those of us trying to understand the schizophrenic nature of LL’s business choices and priorities, we’re beyond hoping for the best and fearing the worst — we need a gesture of good faith and we need to see a genuine sign of something akin to leadership, improvement, commitment to some set of ideals – ANY set of ideals.

Like it or not, Linden Lab — you’re a social format; you’ve established a community. Multiple communities, in fact. You can go on alienating us and keep striking out at bat, or you can open your eyes and take a page from what’s already working for the rest of the virtual marketplace. You can give your users a quality product, allow developers to offer improvements on it, and keep everything under your umbrella. We are all waiting for you to pull this thing together; you can still surprise us, but that window gets a little smaller every time you behave in an arbitrary manner that alienates and destroys what you should most be trying to nurture. You can unite or you can watch the important moment pass. Turtle or innovate.

Whatever you do, give me back my damn right-click create. Who the hell removed that and why are you paying them?

April is the cruellest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain.
~ T.S. Eliot, “The Waste Land”

Aphrodisia Outfit From Wishbox

*Editorial Note* Although I generally try and photograph review outfits in the studio, it is difficult to get good studio images with white dominant outfits. In this case, I felt using display images that demonstrate the effects of different daylight settings would be more helpful to consumers.

One of the reasons I’ve rejected the label “fashionista” in SL is because, although I enjoy wriggling my avatar into virtual fashion, I am far more interested in playing pixel paper dolls than I am in paying attention to trends and latest styles. I do believe that fashion – good fashion – can be both a visual art and an act of meaningful expression. Like most commercial arts, however, too many people think they’re good at it when they’re not and everyone from producers to promoters to critics to consumers wants to claim authority over it. Factor in the whole gaggle scrapping to remain relevant in a competitive market and you’re going to get the inevitable mediocrity of mainstream and drama.

The reason I know I’m not a fashionista is because my first priority in playing dress up is “pretty” rather than “compelling.” Sure, ideally, I aim for a marriage of the two, but if I have to choose, I take pretty everyday of the week and twice on Sunday. Compelling can be thought-inspiring and stimulating and controversial, but it can also be ugly. When it comes to such things, I lean heavily toward the Oscar Wilde side of vanity and weakness. And if you think that is slightly shallow the only response I can offer is…guilty as charged.

However, it is this playful attraction to dress-up pretty that brought me to the absolute delight that is Wishbox‘s Aphrodisia.

Aphrodisia - Front View

Although intended as a fairy or elf outfit, Aphrodisia is so unabashedly Spring-friendly that I don’t think just the mythical folk should get to lay claim over it. I opted for the white and pink which consists of the ruffled top and cascading half-skirt generously garnished with a plaited sash and belt of sculpted flowers (I suspect, but cannot say with complete authority that these are roses and lilies from the full-perm Arctic Garden flowers line).

The movement on the flexi bust ruffle and skirt drapes are nicely done. The ruffle on the top breathes and floats lightly, as do the upper layers of the skirt, while the lower layers of the skirt have a bit more bounce and wiggle. The overall effect is well done and makes it surprisingly suitable for dance or frolic animations.

Aphrodisia - Risque Side

What makes the outfit risque is the fully exposed slit up along one side of the skirt. While I have no problem with wearing personal outfits that offer glimpses of deliciously bare skin, I generally don’t wear them in pubic. However, even if you are a hint on the modest side for your public clothing, the execution of the Aphrodisia is still on the “good girl” side of public decency. It gives the impression of vixen with a brazen display of inner thigh and *ahem* cheek, but it completely covers all the key bits, even during movement.

Aphrodisia - Modesty Layers

Stripping the outfit down to its modesty layers allows you to see how the nips and bikini areas are sheltered in the perfect way to provide a semblance of scandal, while keeping your personal secrets well under cover. Granted, the ensemble will never pass for prim, but it’s Spring and even the trees are flirty, so why shouldn’t supple pixel flesh get a little time to strut its stuff?

Aphrodisia - Back View

The outfit comes with a modifiable complimentary shape, but I had no problem fitting it to my existing shape. All the sculpts have touch-to-resize scripts that allow you to +/- in intervals of 1, 5 or 10 and they also feature a “restore” feature that resets them to the out-of-box sizing. They do not allow you to modify prim by prim, however.

Along with the outfit itself, there are two accessories that are “must have”s in my opinion. They can be found in a different part of the Wishbox main location near the Thumbelina fairy outfit. Both of them are flower accessories that use the same roses and lilies employed in the Aphrodisia sash and belt.

Wishbox - Fairy Garter

First up is the “Fairy Garter” which attached by default to the upper left leg. It can also be resized, but doesn’t appear to have a restore function. The white/pink version of the garter matches perfectly to the flowers in the “Blushing Ivory” version of Aphrodisia, but I didn’t see flower sets that would match the other two Aphrodisa options called “Paradise Green” and “Blackbird Pie” so you might want to check on this for yourself prior to purchase.

Wishbox - "Happy Foibles" Wreath

The “Happy Foibles” wreath attaches by default to the mouth and can be resized, but not restored. It also has a feature to remove scripts once you’ve sized it, but always be careful and remember to take a copy before removing scripts. The wreath can be found in the same section with the garter and has the same color combination options, as far as I could tell.

In closing, let me just say if you’ve ever had the desire to look like a girl out of a Mucha illustration, I suggest you skip your happy pixel toes over to Wishbox and give Aphrodisia a long, considering look.

Detail Items
Hair – Maitreya Green II (Pecan)
Shoes – Shiny Things SM Jane wedge (White)

Where & How Much
Aphrodisia Outfit (Blushing Ivory used in review) – L$550
“Happy Foibles” Wreath (Pink used in review) – L$175
Fairy Garter (Pink/White used in review) – L$150
Wishbox

http://slurl.com/secondlife/BraveHearts/194/161/30