/me groans.

Okay, fair warning here: anyone who really knows me knows I don't like to beat around the bush or soften things up for anyone. I actually do try hard to say what I mean and mean what I say and sometimes truth just plain hurts. So, I'm getting ready to offend a lot of people and you could be among them.

First I want to say I am sick and tired of the "you are intolerant' crowd because to use the very word is to proclaim yourself intolerant. The word itself is an oxymoron when used as an accusation. And only morons will ever throw it around that way.

With that said, I will boldly proclaim myself more tolerant than anyone else I know. I see something I don't agree with, I might whine and bitch about it but that's more or less the end of it. I won't demand you change whatever it is I think you are wrong about. For example: Linden Lab proclaiming the letters S and L as a trademark. I proclaimed that I will not recognize "SL" as a trademark of Linden Lab, but I haven't demanded they stop using it.

See? I'm "tolerant".

Homosexuality is another example: I have no problem with it. Whatever you do in your own home is your business and none of mine. What I actually do have a problem with is you always trying to rub it in my face by forcing a public discussion of it like I have a need to know.

Keep it to yourself, please and we'll all be just fine. See? I'm tolerant.

I also am sick and tired of the "media" agenda and biases. It's more than a month since the British Petroleum oil gusher under the ocean. Yet I don't see people lambasting and blaming Obama or his administration. If it happened only two years ago, impeachment proceedings would be in progress for Bush AND Cheney. I find many liberals to be two-faced hypocrites of the highest order. Unfortunately most of the established "media" is riddled with those versions.

For instance: how they seem to all be anti-semite, anti-christian and pro-muslim. (Yeah, lower-cased intentionally).

It seems the former two get all the apathy but we "must learn to understand and embrace" the muslims. In fact, that idea is running rampant through our schools. They are brain-washing our children beginning at the youngest ages. "Holiday Tree" instead of "Christmas Tree" for example. Remember students: "Christmas" means "Christ" which is bad, bad, bad! Holiday is a truncation of Holi (Holy) Day, and we can't have that, so we'll actually change our grammar rules for this one word that states a single vowel followed by a single consonant will be used in the long form and, instead we will pronounce it Hahl-ih-day from now on.

Look, I respect your right to practice and exercise whatever your choice of politics and religion. Really, I do. In fact, I wouldn't even mind you trying to convert me to your side of it all. But if you're going to do that, try an inclusive approach. Try doing it in a way that appeals to me. If you're convincing enough, you might even make some headway.

However, there is no constitutional or even "human" right to not be offended

So, if I offend you, tough nuts. Leave my presence and go somewhere happy-go-lucky for yourself and leave me be. The same is true with regard to anything Linden Lab does to piss you off: don't like it? Then GTFO. After all, it's one thing if I am the outsider who comes into your presense and offends you. Then - and only then - you are right to tell me to go away. But don't you dare come to my home and tell me I offend you. GTFO.

So when I get an offline (or any line) that looks like this, my hackles go up real fast (and please note, these thoughts of mine have always been thoughts of mine. This IM only gave me a reason to actually write about it):

[1:33] SALLY [redacted]: hello
[1:34] SALLY [redacted]: plz u made islamic texture in dragon
[1:35] SALLY [redacted]: iam moslem
[1:35] SALLY [redacted]: plz clear it it's bad for our religon
[1:35] SALLY [redacted]: we r about 20 person here
[1:36] SALLY [redacted]: we wont that
[1:36] SALLY [redacted]: plz
[1:36] SALLY [redacted]: clear it when u r online
[1:36] SALLY [redacted]: thx for your time

Thanks for my time? Do me a favor and go jump in a lake or something, because you can kiss me where I sit. "Moslim" is bad for "Christian" - you offend so how about you remove your religion? (One statement is just as bad as the other.)

Who the feck are you to tell me to change something of mine because it offends you? Why don't you, whom I have never met, just come into my house and tell me to change the paint because the color of my bathroom walls are "offensive" to you?

My knee-jerk reaction? "Kiss my ass, get the feck out, don't come back and I'll help you with a full-sim ban-hammer on all my sims and other properties". No, I didn't follow-through with my knee-jerk want. I might be stupid, but I'm not dumb. Rather I sent a simple IM back:

Sorry, I can't do that. I suggest you simply don't visit anymore.

That's it. Simple and pithy.

Of course I should have just sent a typical Steve Jobs email reply:

No.

----
Sent from my iPad.

And I said what I meant and meant what I said.

©2007-Present, Andr'Deco & Pixietale Studios, DBA Socially Mundane; Common Sensible

Okay, not Linden Lab's words. Mine.

It's no secret that with the Second Life Viewer version 2 there are leaps ahead in features and leaps backward in performance and stability. The same is true with the entire "search" function on the grid and because it's a direct link, on the web-side.

There are a lot of complaints from the usual, typical minority about it and the complaints are the same old tired arguments that couldn't hold a single ounce of water.

Ciaran Leval, God bless him and his passionate, albeit always seeing the glass half-empty self, has blogged about the current search result situation as it applies to the Second Life grid.

He makes many good points and I, overall, agree with what he says and complains about. However, to take the "discussion" just a tad further, I reply to Ciaran's post with this (forewarning: /rant on)

Ciaran is absolutely correct that there is a "disconnect" between Lindens and "users". And because of this user comment example:

" Search is up the creek many people are loosing there rl incomes..."

...I choose to side with Linden Lab in the "disconnect" aspect. They must be getting sick and tired of this ridiculously stupid argument. It's one reason why if I were offered a job with Linden Lab I'd likely not last the week because I'd surely tell it like it is to a lot of these self-serving, entitlement-attitude, give me everything for nothing or else people.

Yes, search is hosed and it shouldn't be. Yes, I side with "users" in regard to how search is broken and absolutely must be fixed. I also know better than to take anything Second Life so seriously as to generate heartburn over any of it.

Like the Lindens, I agree it is NOT a show-stopper (in Ciaran's original post, he mentions that a Linden changed the Jira bug report from "show-stopper" status to a "critical" status). In fact, I'm really not even sure it fills the "critical" category. Any dumb-ass fool who reaps their "RL income" from Second Life (illegally, I might add as they are not reporting income taxes) - deserves what they get for placing their livelihood at the mercy of a company who's sole purpose is to make a profit by running a game. As for getting what you pay for, you are. Else you wouldn't still be there. It's as simple as that. And I am willing to bet that most of those who like to throw out the "losing my RL income" dud likely doesn't even have "payment information on file" - fekking losers, all of them.

Search is broken. Search needs to be fixed. But, it is a moderate problem at worst. Events should be listed first. They are of a time-sensitive nature. If you don't see what you are looking for (when shopping for products), turn on the elementary thinking cap and click on the "Places" tab.

Big.
Fat.
Duh.

Of course everyone has a right to be a complete helpless imbecile. So let them. If you are running a business on the grid then find other avenues of publicizing and stop relying on the search mechanism. It's business. Run it like a business. You must be proactive in obtaining customers. But you rather "build it and hope they will come" and when they don't you blame Linden Lab.

It's like blaming your car manufacturer for the pothole that popped your tire because the road wasn't paved right.

Certainly search is important. But it's more important for the shoppers and that is who the algorithms are targeted at. Not the business owners. Adjust your stupid listings so it works correctly instead of expecting Linden Lab to bend over backward to make things work for YOU.

Linden Lab is Apple and You are Adobe. Screw you, Adobe. You want to work with Apple then you follow Apple's rules, adapt so it works according to their house or get the feck out. Same with you second Life "business owners": work with the system, don't expect changes to the system just so it can work with you. Pretty damned conceited of you to think your are anything other that a statistical number, dip-shit.

Take it.
Or leave it.

Search results certainly shouldn't be your main method of contact with potential customers, especially if your are really so stupid as to rely on the income of pretend money from a pretend business to fund your real life. In such cases you actually need to get a real life! SRSLY!!!11!!1!

But then again, people stupid enough to do that are also stupid enough to do things wrong and (crybaby sounds with violins here) rely on Linden Lab to do everything for them, rather than doing for them damned-selves.

Including changing their own smelly diaper. Such is the problem with the Second Life and Real Life societies. Entitlement attitudes.

Proof-positive: Greece economy (too many hand-outs from the government, which the people are too stupid to rely on instead of doing for themselves, so the government ends-up running out of other people's money.)

Unlike Greece (and the U.S. and the E.U.), Linden Lab (rightfully so) doesn't give a rip-shit about you and your piddly little problems. Especially if your too stupid to figure out that Second Life is for "entertainment purposes only".

In summary:

• Search appears to be borked because "uR dOin' it WroNG!"
  
• Deal with it. Live with it. Love it.
  
• Adapt and move the feck on.
• Do for yourself.
  
• Don't rely on someone else who owes you nothing.
  
• GTFU¹ and get a real job in the real world instead of being a lazy-ass and trying to get something for nothing all you entitlement-attitude idiots.

(/rant OFF)

Ciaran's original post.

I was so alarmed when I saw Ari hasn't updated even once this whole month, I sent him an email. When he didn't immediately reply my email, I got even more alarmed and sent a tweet. Ari, you must understand the enormity of this; I hardly ever use Twitter, because I hate it! :p  He didn't respond to that, either. I was about to go into major panic mode when he finally replied my email, two days later. Phew. *stops hyperventilating*

So, I'm going to post something I meant to post months ago... in January, to be exact. I'm the queen of procrastination. I've procrastinated over my Master's thesis for two years. ("How far have you gotten?" "Err... I haven't collected any data yet?") Nevertheless, I'm currently aiming to finish the darned thesis by the 3rd quarter of this year, so I guess it's also fitting that I finally write the post I had always planned to write here.

Luckily I already have the picture loaded on my server, because my Internet connection is being a bitch (it's ok to use words like that on your blog, right, Ari? *bats eyelashes*). Or rather, my ISP is being a bitch. That's what I get for living in a Third-World country. The connection's been horrible for about two months now. I can't get inworld at all. Just as well that I took the picture for this post back in January. When I intended putting this up. Uh-huh.

Ari's always given me grief about my avatar not having enough flesh, even after I fattened her up a little. The guy is super hard to please! In a fit of pique, I decided to try making Quaintly as fleshy as he could ever wish for. Be careful what you ask for, you might just get it!

Happy now, dude?!! *sticks tongue out and quickly makes a dash for it*