Written 5 November, 2008
Ruth and Casper
The Release Candidate viewer has been having more and more problems of late. It seems sticky, somehow; it’s just nonresponsive. I get long periods with the spinning hourglass in which the world stops. When I right click on an avatar, more often than not the pie menu doesn’t come up. And I crash frequently—when I try to take a snapshot, when I’m camming around, when I open a menu box, and sometimes, apparently, just for the hell of it. Bam! SL just disappears.
Last night I loaded the Nicholaz EC-F viewer. It had been a while since I’d started it, and I was surprised when I saw my old friend Ruth.
We all know Ruth, of course; she was the default avatar for people who were unrezzed. Short and dumpy, she looked not unlike sexologist Dr. Ruth Westheimer—hence the name.
Everyone knew what “You’re Ruthed!” meant. It meant your feet overflowed your shoes, your avatar hair stuck through your prim hairdo, and your clothes fit you poorly. You looked like an ugly Ugly Betty.
Ruth was despised, but she was at least familiar. Awhile back, however, Ruth was replaced by a cloud of gas. Nowadays unrezzed avatars that once showed as Ruth appear as clouds of gas.
Lacking a name for this cloud of gas, people have been saying things like “Hey, you’re a cloud of gas!” or “Why are you a cloud of gas?” But last night I heard a name which will soon enter the Second Life lexicon.
Casper.
“You’re Caspered.” Has a ring to it, doesn’t it?
The Release Candidate viewer has been having more and more problems of late. It seems sticky, somehow; it’s just nonresponsive. I get long periods with the spinning hourglass in which the world stops. When I right click on an avatar, more often than not the pie menu doesn’t come up. And I crash frequently—when I try to take a snapshot, when I’m camming around, when I open a menu box, and sometimes, apparently, just for the hell of it. Bam! SL just disappears.
Last night I loaded the Nicholaz EC-F viewer. It had been a while since I’d started it, and I was surprised when I saw my old friend Ruth.
We all know Ruth, of course; she was the default avatar for people who were unrezzed. Short and dumpy, she looked not unlike sexologist Dr. Ruth Westheimer—hence the name.
Everyone knew what “You’re Ruthed!” meant. It meant your feet overflowed your shoes, your avatar hair stuck through your prim hairdo, and your clothes fit you poorly. You looked like an ugly Ugly Betty.
Ruth was despised, but she was at least familiar. Awhile back, however, Ruth was replaced by a cloud of gas. Nowadays unrezzed avatars that once showed as Ruth appear as clouds of gas.
Lacking a name for this cloud of gas, people have been saying things like “Hey, you’re a cloud of gas!” or “Why are you a cloud of gas?” But last night I heard a name which will soon enter the Second Life lexicon.
Casper.
“You’re Caspered.” Has a ring to it, doesn’t it?
1 comment:
This is brilliant! I'm off to spread the new lore!
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