Social Oddities.

First odditie: My last post..  Arabella’s comment.  It was not unique, and it was echoed by about 3 different people to me as well in private.  I am just completely confused… when did we get to the point that someone being nice made them a person to be warry of?  I’ve had people saying I need to keep a eye on him because he might be a rapist and.. just all of the most horrible accusations you can think of.

This got me thinking of what sort of phenomenon is going on here.  Historically, and personally, I do not feel that this suspicion should be natural.  (keep in mind though, that I am naturally suspicious of everything).  My first assumption was that perhaps this was brought forth by some subconscious racism, but after further consideration of the character and backgrounds of the people who have advised me off this, I am convinced this is not the case.  The only other reasoning that I can think of, is the “too good to be true” phenomenon. Where people have conditioned to expect that there is always a catch to something.  Kind of makes me wonder if this is part of the reason people are so suspicious of me?  Maybe if i stop doing stuff for free I can gain peoples trust :P.

Second Odditie..  this one was probably my fault.  I was at work, a girl walks in from outside, head red and sweaty, shes completely exhausted, and asks if I have a cup or something I can get her some ice or water in.  I apologized that i didn’t and told her that she might be able to buy something next door, they have cokes cheap.  She left, and I kinda felt bad telling her to spend money, I really hate feeling like I was advertising, specially when she was in need.  A few minutes later she came in and had a cup and asked if I could fill it up with some water for her, so I ran over and did that, but I also wanted to give her a couple bucks so she could buy a drink next door.  I kept reaching in my pocket for a few ones but all I could grab was a five, and since I was in a rush to get her the water, and because I was having a very generous day from other peoples tips, i decided that was fine and made her take that too.  And that’s where it got really awkward, because she asked if i meant for her to have it..and i had to say yes, go buy yourself something.. and then she asked if it was from me.. and I had to confirm that too.. and the whole time i really wish she would have just said thanks so much and ran off, I didn’t want to have to direct the recognition at me so much.  And then to make things even worse she told me i was really sweet and thanks, at which point i couldn’t take it any more and I told her to leave (in a half joking voice so I wasn’t rude), and luckily, was saved by a phone call I had to answer.

Oh, i just got done helping Laura plant 17 trees. Exhausted.

Nicest Neighbor Ever.

So we really have the nicest neighbor ever.  He has been offering to let us use his tools, giving us some really good advice about the neighborhood, helping out Laura change oil, just, really anything he can.

I looked out from my bedroom this morning and he was outside smiling on his riding lawn mower mowing the grass that I have been procrastinating. (Apparently he asked Laura if he could earlier)

Aside from that, he also kicks ass because he has a gold grill, and drives a ice cream truck filled with sub woofers.

Bad People

This is going to be pretty general, and applies to allot of the negativity you see hanging around emerald.

The main thing that I wanted to clear up is that everyone on the emerald team is a separate person, with separate pasts.

We do different things aside from emerald.

Skills does the CDS stuff.

Fractured, Phox, and Skills do the ONYX Stuff.

I do the PAR stuff.

etc etc.

We come together to work on emerald, what other people do outside of emerald is frankly not my responsibility.  We are not each others mother.  Everyone in emerald dev is there because they contribute productive time, and that is what matters.

So if you like to make blanket assumptions like “I think [Person X] is bad, therefore emerald is bad!”;  you really should consider that everyone is in emerald dev who is not “bad”  has the responsibility to ensure that emerald is not “bad” either.

If anyone in dev went crazy and tried to add something to emerald that was harmful, there would be a serious whiplash, it would be exposed immediately by the other devs.

Defence

To make things clear.  If i defend someone, it does not necessarily mean that:

I agree with anything they have ever said.

I am OK with anything they have ever done.

It only means that I disagree with whatever I am defending them from.

Paths

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I was brainstorming for a while on the way home from class, concerning the paths that humans naturally decide to take to get from point a to point b. I have consciously considered this way back sense middle school, and have tried to make my walking path as efficacy as possible, basically, a straight line.
However after careful analysis I have unfortunately found that as much as a try, the moment I take my mind off of this plan.. my feet start to wander, and ( I assume ) revert back to a natural style of path finding. I move in a slight curve one way or the other.. depending on… lots of parameters perhaps.
Humans, when you get down to it, are more than intelligent enough to be frustratingly random and unpredictable, but the beauty of randomness is that with a bit of statistics, you can actually predict general trends.
I think that when it comes to choosing a path to travel, the standard deviation is much less, because it is considered a simple natural thing to do, almost like… we were born knowing how to choose a path. And when you consider the more basic human trends.. we tend to act more and more similar.. the less we think about something. If you consider that this lower mental state, is one that can be found in most animals, then this tends to agree with my theory as well, as careful study of their paths shows that they all act extremely similar, and most are very predictable.
So here are some basic ideas… I believe that finding out the path that humans will take can be done mathematically and programmatically. We all know that humans don’t naturally make sharp turns, our bodies are not build to move like this, when you come to a hallway, you don’t just stop and make a 90 degree turn, even though it would be more efficient, you instead naturally keep your momentum and move in a arc. However, I do not want to focus on the paths that people take… when there is already a path laid down before them, people tend to follow what others have done before, and this removes the effect that I am interested in.
So consider and instance where humans break away from what is paved down before them, and see how they act. I believe based on the direction they have started facing, and the direction of the location they want to go, they choose a arc based on their velocity and a natural constant to face that direction. Though.. this is not precise. From a long distance away from your target, you only turn enough to get within a certain constant range that makes you feel like you are sufficiently heading towards your target, and this gets more and more refined as you get closer to your target. This effect is based upon our vision and perception.
Furthermore.. variations in the slope of the surface you are traveling across also naturally (subconsciously) affect your path. Humans tend to follow the easier path in a downward slope as much as they can take advantage of it, similar to how race car tracks are tilted at the curves to allow sharper turns.
Now of-course, if you are considering a path that is obstructed, there is also some math that goes into how you naturally avoid running into a tree, without even thinking about it. I believe allot of this is based upon your natural vision horizon, how much you hold your head up and look ahead, and what you believe to be way points in your path.
This is a field that I believe more effort and study should be devoted to understanding. We are in a age where technology and industry are dramatically shaping our lives. Most every path you take is laid down before you, paved sidewalks, straight hallways, roads, etc. For people new to cities, this.. natural effect takes a toll on how comfortable they are, and even more so the longer they remain, they need a way “out”. This natural path being constrained is why i believe people prefer a wide open country to a city. Based on whatever more hard research provides, the level of comfort of humans can be improved by placing objects that feel like way points, or obstructions, or changes in elevation, to help bring together the paths humans feel natural, to the ones they need to take. This also has military advantages as well. If an enemy is moving from one point to another, sure you can take their velocity into consideration and bomb along that trajectory, but if you had a precise way to know the exact curve they would take, you could improve accuracy , reducing the area of effect needed, and thus the cost of weapons used. In guerrilla warfare this would be especially handy, where strategically placing obstructions would naturally allow you to precisely choose the arcs troops take.
More precise math behind natural effects would also greatly improve cinema, making fly overs feel more natural and less dizzy or uncomfortable, or any camera path for that matter. Not to mention the improvements and the feel of reality when programming artificial intelligence.

So yeah… that was my brain this morning.. takes a hell of allot longer to squeeze it out onto a keyboard than I hoped it would.

Surprise Flowers!

So.. we have this old ragly looking tree right outside our kitchen window..

A few days ago.. amazing flowers started shooting out of it!

I love it..

(bonus points if anyone knows what this thing is)
Edit: after a bit of research.. it turns out that this raggedy thing, is actually a sakura tree o.o (cherry blossom)
Just.. clearly one that has forgotten its glory days in the Japanese palace.

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Encryption in SL is LEGAL

Way back in the day that the Third Party Viewer Policy was being discussed, it was mentioned (perhaps by an unofficial source) that encryption within second life might be an issue.  The grounds for this being that a side effect of having secure communications, is that it can become too secure, and remove any administrative oversight from Linden Lab.  (A worst case scenario being that LL wouldn’t be able to stop or detect two individuals age playing withing their IMs)

I do regret that privacy can help illegal activity, but I also see that the lack of it can help them much more… (there is a reason any web site having to do with money or personal information uses http-s , and encrypted line to prevent primitive sniffing)

The good news is, that LL has decided that encryption is legal, and does not violate the Terms of Service , or the Third Party Viewer Policy!  Once arguments concerning it were brought to light, it was quickly dropped from the discussion, and it was made sure that no restrictions on its use were included i the TPVP.