Caledonianism, Enterprise and Bubbles

Recently I have been spending most of my time in Caledon, where one can be assured of good and polite conversation and fine design. I do occasionally pop back to the mainland when I wish to design something that explodes, but not too often these days.

I referred earlier to my confusion as to what to do with the plot; this has not really disappeared. Mr Desmond Shang, the landowner, provides every resident with their choice of one of his fine houses - I originally selected the Fogg Residency, which is extremely impressive but also, well, far too large for me, really. For a while it sat there, intimidating me with its immense open spaces, and while I made some pathetic efforts to furnish it, it became clear that I was unlikely to ever do so in a manner that would satisfy me.

There are those that have an instinct for interior design and the building of furniture, and I am afraid that I am not one of them. I can also be both ridiculously perfectionist and extremely tight-fisted. I was aware that I would not be able to build enough quality furniture of my own to decorate the place, and I was not prepared to spend the time and Linden Dollars necessary to select and buy it from others. (One might contrast all of this with Mr Gould's fabulous work on the Manor nearby - well worth seeing.)

I therefore removed the Residency (do not be concerned, it is still in my inventory and shall doubtless find its way out at some point in the future) and engaged in some extensive landscape gardening.



The relatively flat terrain of Caledon has now developed a small hill, atop which is a lighthouse. I think that a lighthouse is a more suitable home for an inventor, really. As noted on the photograph above, the top deck, designed for socialising, supports one of my Champagne Waiters (now for sale) and a small table, though should really also have some chairs and perhaps a telescope. The lamp itself detects the rise and fall of the sun and, once it dips below the horizon, lights and begins to rotate. Inside the tower one can find transit chairs to take one to the different decks, as well as a vendor of my free items.

The issue that I have at the moment is that I have decided to begin a small career as a merchant, and really, the inside of a lighthouse is not a particularly good commercial environment. It is difficult for a customer to look around without their viewpoint going outside of the tower and their being presented with a blank stone wall, unless they enter mouselook, that is, in which case they lose many of the camera controls that they are used to. Baffling one's customers is not a terribly effective commercial strategy and thus I think that if I am to sell any of my creations, an exterior building might have to be, well, built. For the meantime I will be placing them in a separate vendor.

For posterity, here is a short list of other things that I am working on or plan to release soon:

* A non-physical ground vehicle script, enabling a design to be more stable and controllable than current ground vehicles in Second Life (which are, well, not) and also of greater than 31 prims. This works fairly well but unfortunately ignores the presence of other objects, which is amusing but not that desirable. I think it may emerge that physical vehicles and flattish terrain are the best solution. Given this, I expect that I shall be putting out the script for general inspection as a freeish item.

* A bubble machine, and associated scoreboard which counts the number of bubbles popped. I may have mentioned this earlier; it was a toy that I was working on a while ago and recently remembered. I find it rather diverting and others have as well. This will be appearing at my home area and in the appropriate vendor.

* I have also put my Steampunk Car up for sale, a large and unwieldy vehicle that nevertheless some people expressed an interest in. I think the wheels need a little work, as they are currently unsupported by spokes of any sort and look a little bizarre.

* The Cranial Pistol, a concealed device mounted on the side of the head. Upon entering mouselook, an protective monocle and barrel appear, and one can fire a series of small, somewhat inaccurate projectiles. This will be another that I shall be selling closer to market prices.

* I shall also be putting out the Mk909 Engine Rifle, which I really must stop fiddling with and just sell for heaven's sake.

* I had a request for a simple chat relay script - a chat relay is a device that allows the owner or another person to listen to speech from an area that they would not normally be able to do so. For this end I here publish two scripts - a simple chat relay, and an advanced chat relay which detects whether the owner is offline or within range of the relay device already. Be warned! Simple as it is, this script can be used for surveillance, which can land one in trouble should those being eavesdropped upon not appreciate it. Pay attention to propriety and simple good manners.

* And probably a number of other things which I have entirely forgetten.

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Oh, I nearly forgot! The makers of SLurl have now officially incorporated my SLurlBuilder page into their site - thus no longer will one have to visit scrappy Geocities in order to access it. I have added a SLurl for the Lighthouse at Caledon to the side of this journal in honour, and hope to continue using this fine service whenever referring to a place in Second Life.