Who Are You? (Alts in Second Life)

I am writing this post for newbies and veterans of Second Life. I think everyone needs to take a look at this article to educate and alert yourself to potential damaging aspects of SL.

Story time... I had a friend in SL. Someone I used to be involved with pretty closely. We'll call him Woody (I'd say we'd hide the name to protect the innocent, but I assure you there is nothing innocent about him). Woody was the partner of a very close friend of mine. She and he, and Alatrina and I were involved in running a Bloodlines clan together. We had many friends that were involved but so often we were working together in leadership. One day I found out he had disappeared and wasn't coming back, creating some hurt and troubled feelings within the group. We were sad for his partner because she had come to love and rely on him. It was a very hard situation for all of us to deal with for many reasons. As time passed we learned to live and flourish the way we were.

Months later Woody appears out of nowhere and everything seems fine. There were some sketchy details about all of the reappearance but we chalked it up to rumors and the SL drama mill. I always had a suspicion or two, but sometimes I am just skeptical by nature. I was happy that his partner had him back, because, of course, we want our friends happy.

Turns out he is about to disappear again and he breaks everything off. Then we find out that Woody has another alter ego in SL that he is playing as the whole time, and rumors of this ripple through our group and again there is hurt and speculation. So many people were affected by Woody and his alter ego which we will call  Damon. His former partner and my friend is torn up yet again, and begins to take blame because she thought it was her fault that he was doing all of this.

Long story short, people were hurt unnecessarily by his desire to play people who trusted him as a mentor and a friend. Real people who sat behind the keyboards of their computers and had built a relationship with this charlatan.  What kind of person has so little respect for those around him that he feels like that on some level it is okay to manipulate people.

An "Alt" is an additional character created by a person in Second Life that is running in tandem with an original character that is created by the same person.  They are used for different reasons. I have a friend who is a builder, and she created an Alt to work along side her character so that she can try out poses as she develops a product. That is probably the least destructive use for an Alt that I have encountered.

I never had a desire to create an alternate character. I never felt like it was a good use of my time or resources to do so. The more I am in SL I find that Alts most often create more trouble than they are worth. I encountered another scenario just recently and nothing really good came from the experience. I learn from my experience, and I have learned that Alts are most often a tool of a deceptive and selfish person. Selfish because rarely are there good outcomes when the secrecy is revealed. Most often there is very little consideration as to how others are effected by such manipulation.


 As you walk through SL know that there are real people that walk there beside you. Real hearts to be broken and real feelings to damage. I write in hopes of helping people to think about all aspects of SL but in this case there are real people's emotions at stake. If you find you are affected by someone who has been playing with an Alt you need to know it isn't your fault that there is conflict in such a situation. Frankly, the person that created and plays as the Alt is the one that has brought all of the turmoil on themselves. Truth is, you and your feelings were probably never seen as important, or at least important enough to consider at the onset.

I don't write this article to scare anyone, but I do want people to be aware of the fact that there is an element in SL that doesn't always have the best intentions for your well being.There are indeed predators out there who will hurt you without little regard to your person.

I would love to hear your feedback, and please feel free to pass this on for others to read. I feel it could be one of the more important things that we inform ourselves on if nothing more than to be aware. As always, I wish you a safe and informed as well as a fun and enriching Second Life.

- Stone

To See Or Not To See...That Is The Question

Last week Stone and I were dancing at Franks Jazz Club. We kind of have a routine when we're dancing and first on the list is taking pictures. We both enjoy it and I'd like to think we've gotten pretty good. (see article on Kohld Creations)

Some of the things that we always find aggravating and certainly gets in the way of good pictures are all the dance balls, those annoying ads hanging all over the place and especially that couple that is in the way of that beautiful sunset being just the background you want.

All of a sudden it dawned on me...DERENDER! I excitedly told Stone and he replied "why didn't we think of that before".

I don't know how much Stone has used the derender option but I used "derender" quite a bit when we lived on a beautiful piece of land and then the landlord put another house right in our view.

Derendering makes anything in SL "disappear" and you can choose to do this permanently or on a temporary basis. Temporary only lasts as long as you are on the sim. Once you TP out and back in, things are back to their original state.

But a warning comes with this too. You can derender an avatar, which could be ugly if it's someone you don't want to disappear. You can also permanently derender an item that you did not intend to. That is why you need to be careful and exacting.

Note: I use Firestorm but most of SL viewers have simular steps...

Put your cursor arrow on the item you want out of the way and right click. The usual option wheel will come up...click on "more", and then on "more" again. Locate "derender" and click. This will bring up the choice of "blacklist" or "temporary".  Know what you want to do and be careful.  I would suggest you select "temporary" the first few times you try.

 So that takes care of when things are there that you don't want...now, what do you do about things that should be there and are not?  This you may have less of a chance correcting.  I don't know if you've noticed, but when Sims are busy, it can take a while for everything to rez in. Gotta love all those partial people hanging around; you have random heads, arms or invisible clothes.  

I have to say, more than once, especially on a busy Friday evening at Franks, I have spent most of the night dancing with the man I love in the form of his head and two hands. Yep, that's all.

When those times happen, we have to let the other person take the pictures for the evening, but there are things you can try before giving up.

Try pressing on alt...ctrl...and the letter "R". Sometimes this will rez stuff in if you're just stuck and need a little push.

Try right clicking on something...just this act alone sometimes makes buildings and other structures appear. Once they do, just hit your escape key to stop.

And finally, if it is a particular person or item, right click on them and then "more"..."more" and finally "tex refresh" (of course "derender" is right next to it so be careful)

And if none of these work then you can try logging out and returning, but if the cause is lag, you just have to wait it out.

 Remember....

MORE, MORE, DERENDER, TEMPORARY OR BLACKLIST

and

MORE, MORE, TEX REFRESH

P.S. I've tried to derender an entire house. Each tiny little piece must be derender. Quite the pain and the result should be worth all the effort it takes.

Kohld Family Enterprises - What's Under the Umbrella ella ella ella....

I wanted to take a minute and talk about some of the things that Alatrina and I have devoted a lot of our time to in our SL journey. Alatrina and I had a mutual love for helping others in the Second Life community. We started a group that would be an umbrella to encompass those vehicles that lead to that end. We ended up calling that group Kohld Family Enterprises.

Kohld Family Enterprises started when we were in a Bloodlines group. We were helping others get better at the game with personal tutoring. Even before we had our own clan there were areas we knew we felt important that others didn't seem to emphasize. So, we included Kohld Day in Hell (Our Bloodlines Group) under the umbrella.

In addition to that we started doing Photography and Graphics work. In addition to that Social Network Consulting and Business branding was a focus. Kohld Creations came into existence.

Kohld Creations has done several projects for others including Club RLC and their "Rays of Hope" Drives. We have done work for them two years running and they have raised thousands of dollars for Leukemia research. We have been pleased and honored to work with them.

One of our more recent clients started a great furniture store in SL called Outside the Box! Kasslina, Moonglow is a talented furniture designer that we have had the pleasure to do some graphics work for.

One of the newest ventures of Kohld Creations is a store in Marketplace. Kohld Creations will be a showcase of some of the things that our company offers to residents of Second Life. We do custom logo and graphic work and have the ability to make them appear on just about anything you may want to display it on.

In short, Kohld Creations is the creative arm of Kohld Family Enterprises.and is skilled in many areas that could enhance things you do in SL. If you ever need a photographer, Social Network Marketing Specialist, Graphic Designer, Copywriter, Blogger, or Management and Marketing Consultant we have expertise that can assist you.

The Blog you are reading is another product of Kohld Creations and Kohld Family Enterprises. It was designed to give ideas and information to the new and old in te Second Life community. We hope that if anything you find in this blog helps you or you find a topic interesting share it with your friends throughout SL.

Well, that's not all we do, but that gives you an idea of what we have to offer right now. If you have any questions about any of these items we mentioned we would invite you to contact us. Inworld you can find us by name as Stone Kohld(Dlunatic66) or Alatrina (Alatrina Resident) and we would be more than happy to set up an appointment to consult with you.

We look forward to hearing from you and making new friends.

- Stone and Alatrina

Sometimes you need to get Outside the Box!

It's been a long time since I have written here and I am sorry. When Alatrina is actually with me in Real Life I have a hard time going to Second Life. Regardless, I wanted to take an opportunity to tell everyone about a great store that is opening in Second life.

Outside the Box! is a store in Second Life that sells great furniture at a great price.With Kasslina Moonglow being a great friend and a client I have seen the store develop in from the beginning.

She has done such a great job putting fascinating themes and eye catching designs together it really has turned out to be a spectacular area in addition to having great furniture.I would definitely take the time to look around; she has some great new ideas.

Like I mentioned before she opens her store tomorrow and the location is right here !

Baby We Were Born to Run - Bikes in SL

One of the great bikes I won on the Turlaccor 

MM Board

My wife Alatrina has an addiction that I really enjoy, but I give her a hard time about it because it's who I am. However, in the long run, an addiction to lingerie is definitely a win - win situation for me. I'll let her tell you about it in a future post perhaps.

Seems I have gotten hooked on something in SL these days that I have found to be a lot of fun and challenging as well. I love to look at Motorcycles in Real Life but I have never really gotten past the looking stage. However, in SL that is a totally different story. Al and I are always looking for something to do together, and one day (Yes, it happened just like that) all of a sudden I said, "Hey, let's go see what this Motorcycle thing is about."

Since then I have been hooked. I spent a few days looking around. I don't know if you have priced bikes but I have found them to be quite a pricey habit if you want more than one. Trust me, if you like this you will want more than one. I tried several bike companies and I settled on one I felt like, for the buck and the ride, it seemed to win hands down over all the others.

Turlaccor Bikes and it's Owner Turlaccor Mode are a class act. I love the showroom and the way it's set up. When you get into bikes you will find that as in the real world there are many varieties of bikes. Turlaccor has set up their Sim in such a way that you can test all of their bikes in an environment where you can see what you like best before you buy. Truth is, there are other companies that do this too (Such as Q's Bikes) but I just prefer the way that the Turlaccor bikes look and handle.


The thing that I love most about Turlaccor is their service. They find ways to reward those who invest in their product and I appreciate that. They have Midnight Mania (MM) boards that you can win great free stuff on. So, I tried my first bike through them that way and I have bought other bikes since then. If you join their group they do great limited time sales as well on their Marketplace Store. I have gotten some great deals on great bikes that way as well. It's hard to beat cutting edge technology and great prices. The variety is amazing as well; they have anything from Vintage Indian styles to top end Sportbikes.

My growing Bike Collection from Turlaccor..

If you are new to Motorcycles, there are tons of resources out there in addition to MC's (Motorcycle Clubs) where you can find out more as well. I am always available to contact if you have any questions. If you have feedback we would certainly appreciate it as well. Please feel free to leave comments or drop me an email. Al and I are always happy to help people. That's why we do what we do.

Enjoy the Ride throughout SL

- Stone

How To - Mass Communications

I have been in SL for quite awhile now and it seems sometimes I forget how difficult some things are to learn. Then again, some people may never even think to use certain features. Today we are going to show you how to open a chat conference with your friends. There may come a time that you are at a great concert and you want everyone to have an opportunity t be a part of it. One of the easiest ways to do this is to open a conference window and tell everyone all at once.

Also, understand that I use Firestorm and other clients (SL Viewer, Singularity, Black Dragon, etc.) might be a little different. Most clients have similar options and may just take a little searching. But most will have this option for you to utilize.

Now again some of this may be a little different for you. With my setup my tabs for windows are primarily on the bottom. Along that row of tabs you will find your "People" tab.

Once you locate this tab you will click on it. It will then open up your people group window.

 You will see your groups and friends window pop up. The next step is to hold down your ctrl key and with your left mouse button click on the names of the people that you want to speak with in a group together.Ctrl + A should give you the option to select all your friends. Just like usual for keyboard tricks. Then click the thing that looks like a gear and choose "IM" from the Drop Down Menu that you see.

Finally, you should see a window open up in your chat groups that will probably be labeled as "Multi person chat" If you click on the expand arrow as shown in the third image you can see the people that appear in that conference. Click on that arrow again to shrink that window so you have more room for viewing. You can close out that chat window when you are done with is by simply clicking the "X" that appears in the upper right of your chat window.

This application applies to removing mass amounts of frien

Anyds you have no desire to remain friends with as well. You can also offer a mass call and Teleport this way as well. I do want to go on record and say that Mass Teleports annoy the crap out of some people and you may want to avoid it. Sending mass teleports too often could make you the victim of a mass unfriending. Just remember to be considerate of those you are friends with in SL.

If you have any questions or comments please feel free to leave them below. If you have any questions about how to do something in SL Please feel free to contact me for assistance. Maybe I'll blog about it if enough people could use the help.

Have a great week!

- Stone

Seeing Past the Signs - Things May Not Be as Advertised

At first glance you might be thinking this will be a post directed at shopping in Second Life or Marketplace. I want you to realize right off the bat that this isn't the direction at all. Bear with me and let me set things up. It will all become quite clear.

I have spent a lot of time studying human nature in Real Life and Second Life and some things have been very clear to me. Much like the Great and Powerful Oz used all his antics to make himself look like something he wasn't people in life find ways to distract you from their true human nature by creating hijinks of their own. Much like the curtain was pulled down before Oz I want to take a few minutes to talk about the smoke screens people use to create a slight of hand to distract you from the real truth.

Many times if you look in someones profile you can read these cues right away. I have read a lot of profiles. Alatrina and I often talk while we are dancing about what someone writes to describe themselves. When we are at a dance club that can be quite the source of amusement. If it's in their profile it's easy, but often cue words come up in what people say as well. When you learn to listen in conversations you will hear things that people are trying to sell you on while they are tucking the bad aspects of their human nature behind their back or up their sleeve.

Does this make me a cynical person for looking for these things in a person's behavior? It is said in the Social Sciences that over 90 percent of the person's message will be revealed by body language. Second Life has pretty much removed that aspect of another person and their message so you have very little to go by to determine the actual message. This is why I pay attention to some details, or cues. Being in sales for many years in addition to studying Psychology has made seeing some of this more easy for me. It bothers me when someone gets hurt because they were duped by another person. If I can do something to rectify that I am more than happy to.

When someone tells you that they "aren't" something or that they "don't do" something many times they are trying to tell you not to look at the aspects of their life that will reveal they actually are. Often a person throws cues in their profiles or you will catch these phrases.

- I am not into Drama.
- I am all Woman
- I am not after a relationship

The "drama" reference is often the big one. You hear that a lot, but it always seems that person is often all fettered up in the middle of a giant fiasco where someone is at odds. As a matter of fact I had a conversation with someone who was an alt (Someone with a previous character) in Second Life  and some of the conversation revealed cues right away that made me think that this person wasn't all that interested in my well being. First,she talks about the fact that she just isn't about all the drama in SL and that in itself wasn't a red flag, but when I find out from someone else that she was involved with our group before and was an "alt" that flag started to wave. So, in my best judgement I could use I went ahead and unfriended her. I found out in a few short minutes she realized this. she was talking to someone else about it creating some reenactment of activities in a Junior High School Lunchroom. All she had to do was ask me and I would have been more than happy to tell her. Instead, she decides to go behind the scenes and stir things up. Talking to people that never needed to be involved in the first place. I was absolutely right in this situation.

There is another one that is important to watch for. Second Life is a place where people have the opportunity to experiment with things or lifestyles that they may not really be involved in at the Real Life level. Many people will play with Alternate Lifestyles and most often have no large amount of modern day experience if any at all.  Often you will get people that advertise a lot of information about the fact that they are a Dominant or Submissive when in fact they don't really have a ton of experience in the area. I have found with the real people less seems to be more in the way they discuss or advertise it. Remember, just because someone has Dominant or Alpha or Submissive or Bottom in their profile doesn't mean they understand what they will be doing to you emotionally if they take things too far. I have found that most of the most genuine in this lifestyle do very little advertising of it in their profiles. Often they are the most unassuming people regardless of their desire for the Top or Bottom in the D/s spectrum.

Cue words like "I am a submissive but I am no doormat" will probably reveal one of two things. The first is they have been hurt before and you are probably on the verge of being  held responsible for what someone else did. The other is that they will use their position to control the relationship at some point 9also referred to as "Topping from the Bottom"). Is everyone going to be like that? Probably not, but it's a strong possibility.

I am not trying to turn everyone in Second Life into cynics, but I do want people to be aware that some people are in this as a game and they are merely trying to play a very convincing role. I posted an article on that subject called "The Tale of Two Peoples". It will give you insight on the two different types of people in Second Life and the goals they both have. Not everyone in SL is out to hurt you, but it's much easier to hurt people here because there are fewer cues or warning signs you have to rely on. As the old saying goes, "Forewarned is Forearmed".

I would be more than happy to discuss these concepts with anyone. I love for these articles to be viable talking points for starting dialog on important subjects. My desire is to make Second Life a safer environment for everyone and easier to operate in for new people to the realm. I look forward to hearing from you.

Be careful out there!

- Stone