Here’s a sneak peek…

If you looked closely at the last post, you’ll see that I developed a technology which logs in and manages a considerable number of bots (stress test ran 300 of them simultaneously).

If you look below, you’ll find that I have the source code to Landbot Merlin’s application.

It’s a little bit dated, but research I have been doing in other areas of performance optimization has been useful in allowing me to figure out what will make it faster.

Now, remember, I have not one, not two, but FOUR servers.

So, let’s do some math… 300 bots per server times 4… I will be able to run… 1200 landbots!

Do you think you will be able to get a good land deal?

I’ll ask Merlin next time if it’s ok to open source it

THE HOUR OF YOUR DEMISE
IS NEAR AT HAND!

AN UNHOLY ALLIANCE WAS FORGED
IN THE CRUCIBLE
 OF YOUR CRUELTY AND MISTRUST.
NOW MAY YOU REAP THAT WHICH YOU HAVE SOWN.

Here’s why…

Each day throughout the project, I would be interrupted from any kind of work or productive activity on the numerous projects I have been working on by about 10 people who would, in a group, claim that I was scamming the public landbot project, telling me I can’t program, getting me basically unnecessarily angry for about an hour.

I could try to explain to these people that I am a busy person, that would take time.

I could try to argue with them when they just want to waste my time, that would take time.

I could tell them to fuck off, which is what I typically have had to do, in which case people then label me immature and evil or whatever

And after an ordeal of 10 people giving me shit, it takes me about an hour to get back to a normal frame of reference (software development does require a degree of concentration)… Then let’s add that up over the course of the project… And hell, let’s say that I was a $10 / hour employee at shoe factory…

Now, if you are better at math than Yohan Pintens, you’ll quickly be able to determine that the amount of money stolen from this project by these loudmouths, their accusations, and gossip, exceeds anything that I was compensated on the project.

And FWIW, I am not a $10 / hour employee at a shoe factory. My rate from now on is $1000 USD per hour IF I AM WORKING FOR ANYONE THAT SUCKS.

Ask yourself… would you make any effort whatsoever for people who repeatedly abuse you? For people who you have previously dealt with and known to be liars and frauds who will do anything to get an advantage?

Would you empower them with tools or capabilities that they would more than likely use to continue to perpetuate their abuse onto others?

Should anyone EVER respond to harrassment by giving in or working harder?

The mob mentality I encounter on a daily basis in the group is indicative of the most sinister and despicable aspects of humanity.

They spread their impatience, lies and stupidity to one another on blogs, in groups, and in-world. Their behavior can ONLY merit being screamed at. Their behavior is not to be rewarded with kindness or tolerance. They are undeserving of MY TIME.

It seems to me that the notion of a landbot only brings out the worst in people. Their greed, their lack of trust, their fear, and their hatred. Their insecurity, their stupidity and rumor mongering.

I have been as honest as possible on this blog in indicating that my time has been BOOKED SOLID for the past several months. Anyone who has been in SL for long enough knows that a free moment is something one has to fight for. People have criticized this process because it isn’t getting done ‘fast enough’ for them, their criticism delays the project and forces me into ridiculous imbroglios. Their opinion is based on a lack of information, a lack of understanding, and a lack of thought.

This, of course, is a waste to me.

Rest assured, there will be another landbot on the grid as soon as my busy schedule permits. This landbot will have all of the advantages and performance enhancements of any other landbot AND MORE. 

But the question of whether or not these people deserve it remains.

BECAUSE I HATE THEM.

During the project, my friend, Jesse Malthus, a dear friend who was a part of my daily life in-world and as a part of libsl, a kindred spirit, a kind soul, and a fellow programmer who was also working on a competing landbot, died in a car accident. It fucked me up, along with a lot of other people in SL who knew Jesse and cared about him. He was only 17. Shit like that shouldn’t happen. Jesse was a great kid. We all miss you, Jesse.

I told Thai that I needed to stop for a bit and cope, and Thai Racer was so fucking greedy that he insisted I just keep working on it.

I took time out to get to know Jesse’s mom, to attend the funeral, to talk to other people who knew and cared about Jesse.

Thai’s impatience and evil are the reason why his landbot project wasn’t delivered. Eventually, the bullshit just got to be too much, and I refunded his money.

Fuck you, Thai. You are a greedy piece of shit, and a complete douchebag to sit there and go around talking shit about me. I hope you rot in hell.

We are reaching a key turning point, and a meeting with Land Shepherd was needed to determine how we will proceed in this project. There are decisions to be made here, running a landbot is a daily task which requires maintenance and upkeep, and there are questions, do we want to facilitate propagation of a lot of landbots by open source, or to run a system ourselves.

Additionally, some people may think that I am interested in indefinately working on this project, but the truth is it is a financial loss for me to do so, it was from the beginning, I have other priorities and far more interesting things to do…  And add to this the collective stupidity I am having to endure on the part of people who simply, IMHO, are undeserving of my time, I am expressing my displeasure and potential mechanisms to discontinue my involvement. I just don’t like a lot of them and it’s really not a good motivation for me to open source something that they will abuse in the same way they feel free to abuse me. Shame on you, btw.

Below is a log of the conversation, some edits were made, largely to remove my list of friends logging in (because you’d harrass them) or long lists of land search results (the point is made with a few lines)
[21:28] FWord Utorid: ok so the search component is now working 100%
[21:28] FWord Utorid: and the servers are up and running
[21:28] FWord Utorid: oh sorry
[21:28] FWord Utorid: so tiny i don’t want to smush you
[21:28] FWord Utorid: i am working on doing some testing on buy code
[21:29] Land Shepherd: oh cool, that’s a list of land for sale?
[21:29] FWord Utorid: yes

[ sl viewer crashed, so i am using the bot to type ]
[21:31] Angelica Losangeles: tp is wacked
[21:31] Angelica Losangeles: ok the TOP10 preset
[21:31] Angelica Losangeles: shows the land that is cheapest on the grid
[21:31] Land Shepherd: TP is always wacked lol
[21:31] Angelica Losangeles: yes
[21:31] Angelica Losangeles: for all sizes
[21:31] Angelica Losangeles: that is a BIG issue to work around on the bot
[21:31] Land Shepherd: yeah
[21:31] Angelica Losangeles: searching for land is done, though
[21:32] Angelica Losangeles: also, i am working on a distributed system
[21:32] Angelica Losangeles: oh look fword was logged out

[ snipped land search results ]

[21:32] Land Shepherd: looks good
[21:32] Angelica Losangeles: ok.
[21:32] Angelica Losangeles: let me finish the crashed viewer :O then i will brb
[21:32] Angelica Losangeles: lol
[21:33] Land Shepherd: ok hehe
[21:33] Angelica Losangeles: ok. so the next step, which is the list, is basically to do some testing on buy code.
[21:33] Angelica Losangeles: and i have code for purchasing, code for deed to group, code to buy for group
[21:33] Angelica Losangeles: but it needs testing to be sure it all works
[21:34] Angelica Losangeles: ina has chopped up a couple of 16m parcels on her estate
[21:34] Angelica Losangeles: so we won’t need to do anything with that, i will just have to be able to work it out
[21:34] Land Shepherd: ok
[21:34] Angelica Losangeles: also today found out one more method of speeding up bots
[21:34] Angelica Losangeles: which I am going to have to research
[21:35] Angelica Losangeles: and also found a couple of other ways of keeping them from logging out
[21:35] Angelica Losangeles: but the real questions come down to
[21:35] FWord Utorid: how we will manage the process
[21:35] FWord Utorid: basically the issue is this
[21:36] FWord Utorid: open source, i think we would be facilitating a mechanism for abuse. if the way the people have been treating me in this process is an indication, it would be potentially disasterous

[21:36] FWord Utorid: if you are firmly for that, then fine, we will, but i think we ought to do a group run bot instead
[21:36] FWord Utorid: and have tightly controlled source
[21:37] Land Shepherd: What kind of peer review can we have for the source code?
[21:37] FWord Utorid: well
[21:37] FWord Utorid: the question on source code comes down to this
[21:37] FWord Utorid: if people are going to be getting copies
[21:37] FWord Utorid: then it is open source
[21:37] FWord Utorid: you can’t trust people not to share
[21:38] FWord Utorid: if it is closed source, then we provide reporting on what land is bought and so on

[21:39] Land Shepherd: Well, I discussed this with the group awhile ago, and they were all in favor for open source. That was two months ago though. Maybe we should have another meeting.
[21:39] FWord Utorid: i will not be present
[21:39] FWord Utorid: ok
[21:39] FWord Utorid: i have grown weary of the bullshit a lot of them have been putting on me for having other things to do in my life, and it shows.
[21:40] FWord Utorid: i have tons of things to do and don’t need the assault
[21:40] FWord Utorid: so meet with them and determine a resolution
[21:40] Land Shepherd: okay
[21:41] FWord Utorid: it basically drains my energy to sit there daily and get bitched at
[21:41] FWord Utorid: ok anyway
[21:41] FWord Utorid: something more pleasant
[21:43] FWord Utorid: my thought on open source
[21:43] FWord Utorid: is to release the old code
[21:43] FWord Utorid: let them fix it up if they want
[21:43] FWord Utorid: because i have code that can load up hundreds of bots
[21:43] FWord Utorid: and I’m not releasing that
[21:43] FWord Utorid: people would abuse it
[21:44] Land Shepherd: How would a group run landbot work? Someone would have to manage all of that.
[21:45] FWord Utorid: yes, someone would. not sure how that would go, maybe that’s something to discuss.
[21:45] FWord Utorid: basically, there would be funds distribution issues.
[21:45] FWord Utorid: and tier costs to maintain
[21:45] FWord Utorid: and also some land would probably be unfavorable to own.
[21:45] FWord Utorid: and writing code to rule all of that out would be more work and time
[21:47] FWord Utorid: so we can check the code in for the previous version if that’s what ‘everyone’ wants, and go from there, or we can pursue a group managed approach.
[21:47] FWord Utorid: if we don’t release code, the abuse will come back to me, if we do release code, the abuse will be on the system.
[21:52] Land Shepherd: Yeah, I don’t know how a group run landbot would work. That’s a big change. First though we need a landbot that is operational, then I guess we’ll have to decide about the rest.
[21:52] FWord Utorid: the code provided was operational
[21:52] FWord Utorid: ok
[21:52] FWord Utorid: i’ve done a lot of work on planning an entire operation
[21:52] FWord Utorid: but as i said… i don’t see the benefit of continuing without an answer to that question
[21:53] FWord Utorid: these people have been abusing me for quite some time
[21:53] FWord Utorid: for me
[21:53] Land Shepherd: ignore them
[21:53] FWord Utorid: that’s easy to say
[21:53] FWord Utorid: but keep in mind i have a life to live and other projects to work on
[21:53] FWord Utorid: it does get old to have them constantly calling me a scammer
[21:53] FWord Utorid: or running around and basically putting me down
[21:54] FWord Utorid: i have a LOT of work to do on **************’s project
[21:55] FWord Utorid: anyway
[21:55] FWord Utorid: at this point i do recommend you have a discussion with whomever with regards to what the process should be
[21:55] FWord Utorid: the important thing to keep in mind is this
[21:55] FWord Utorid: maintaining a landbot is an ongoing project
[21:55] FWord Utorid: things change in sl very frequently
[21:55] FWord Utorid: libsecondlife changes frequently
[21:56] FWord Utorid: every day yohan and elanthius have to monitor new developments in the technology
[21:56] FWord Utorid: for me, the costs will soon reach a point far outweighing any compensation
[21:57] Land Shepherd: lol
[21:57] Land Shepherd: I can’t give you any more money though until there is a working landbot
[21:57] FWord Utorid: i understand. i don’t want any money.
[21:57] FWord Utorid: find out from them what it is they expect and we will determine a path
[21:58] FWord Utorid: it may be best to simply open the old code and part ways, i’d do some cleanup on the documentation, and at least the next phase would be off to a good start.
[21:58] FWord Utorid: but really
[21:58] FWord Utorid: i mean
[21:59] FWord Utorid: i had sl & rl work to do, christmas, moving, many other things, and … i just don’t need the abuse any more. who does?
[21:59] FWord Utorid: maybe if you were at the recieving end of it you would understand.
[22:02] Land Shepherd: I’ll chat with some of the people who paid into it besides myself. They were all for open source for a variety of reasons. I was the only one who voted for closed source because I wasn’t too sure of how open source would go.
[22:02] FWord Utorid: ok. it’s a key point to determine before moving forward.
[22:02] FWord Utorid: i will continue with testing things and other items that are on the published agenda.
[22:04] Land Shepherd: ok, I’ll see what they say
[22:04] FWord Utorid: ok.
[22:05] Land Shepherd: okay, so what are the options again? If its open source, what can you produce? What will you make if its closed source?
[22:06] FWord Utorid: if it is open source, we will release the old code
[22:06] FWord Utorid: if it is closed source, we will need to determine what the requirements are for a group managed process, and go from there
[22:06] FWord Utorid: the old code can and will likely be corrected to produce a working product, as the land search function is still operational, and there are likely only minor changes needed.
[22:08] Land Shepherd: So there will be the old code release for open source and nothing else?
[22:08] FWord Utorid: as it is now, i do not see myself continuing to reward the behavior of those people in the group who have basically played the grinch who stole christmas and continually assault me with their rumors.
[22:08] FWord Utorid: i cannot see releasing something that can ultimately harm the community.
[22:08] FWord Utorid: if we release the old code, then i will help to get it to an operational state.
[22:09] FWord Utorid: the efforts i have made thus far have largely been in the area of getting things set up and documenting the process.
[22:09] FWord Utorid: and of course defending myself and having meetings.
[22:10] FWord Utorid: people have turned this into their opportunity to invade my life and that’s unacceptable.
[22:11] Land Shepherd: Who is doing that? Nimrod?
[22:11] FWord Utorid: every day I am getting bombarded by IMs or hearing that someone, somewhere, is basically putting me down for my involvement in this project.
[22:11] FWord Utorid: the group becomes this huge collection of insanity
[22:11] FWord Utorid: calling me a scammer
[22:11] FWord Utorid: saying I don’t know what I am doing
[22:11] FWord Utorid: etc
[22:12] FWord Utorid: ls
[22:12] Angelica Losangeles: * LAND: 405 results.  ————————————
[22:12] Angelica Losangeles: * LAND: 480 results.  ————————————
[22:12] Angelica Losangeles: ~~ 8.3 L$/sqm L$133 16sqm secondlife://Saint Clair/38/142/0
[22:12] Angelica Losangeles: ~~ 8.3 L$/sqm L$1600 192sqm secondlife://Birchwood/58/212/0
[22:12] Angelica Losangeles: ~~ 8.3 L$/sqm L$2000 240sqm secondlife://Raimondo/117/49/32
[22:12] Angelica Losangeles: ~~ 8.3 L$/sqm L$800 96sqm secondlife://Neverov/188/54/0

[ land search results snipped ]

[22:12] FWord Utorid: i do know what i am doing.
[22:13] FWord Utorid: i am just busy, and the distraction and the harm they are causing with their nonsense is not worth it.
[22:13] FWord Utorid: would you work at a job every day where people are calling you a criminal and a liar?
[22:13] FWord Utorid: I wouldn’t.
[22:13] FWord Utorid: if they will abuse me, they will abuse the landbot.
[22:14] Land Shepherd: OK yeah I understand that, its just I don’t know how closing the source will change things. They will still abuse you most likely.
[22:14] FWord Utorid: yes.
[22:14] FWord Utorid: it will simply limit the ability to abuse the system.
[22:14] FWord Utorid: and it will define the nature of what we are doing more clearly.
[22:15] FWord Utorid: one thing most definately needs to be corrected, and that is abusing the IM group to attack my integrity.
[22:16] FWord Utorid: you have seen today and through efforts on the website that I am attempting to get this all resolved.
[22:16] FWord Utorid: the notion that I am a criminal or that I am trying to cheat you needs to be eliminated.
[22:16] FWord Utorid: I am not a prison warden. I do not have to control the unruly inmates.
[22:17] FWord Utorid: anyway, i’ve said enough at this point.
[22:17] FWord Utorid: the decisions on how we are to proceed need to be made, and not by me.
[22:18] FWord Utorid: the decisions with regards to my involvement in the long term will need to be made by me, but i would like us to get to a point where we have some closure of the first phase and a change in the status quo of the current way of doing things.
[22:18] Land Shepherd: Yes, I understand. I just need as much information as possible to answer their questions and so forth.
[22:18] FWord Utorid: ok sure. let’s talk about how a group managed effort would go
[22:19] Land Shepherd: yes, this would be run on the servers you have rented?
[22:19] FWord Utorid: yes.
[22:19] FWord Utorid: i have access to four servers now
[22:19] Land Shepherd: Would the bot avatars be public? Or does everyone need to add their own avatars?
[22:20] FWord Utorid: hmm… well… there is a need for clarity on my part. essentially, if it is necessary to pay for premium monthly in order to buy land for a group
[22:20] FWord Utorid: if it is not necessary, then we could use any avatars.
[22:20] FWord Utorid: if it is necessary, then we would need people to contribute their avatars to be run in the process.
[22:21] FWord Utorid: there would need to be some way to pool funding and to pay the group tier
[22:21] FWord Utorid: i am not sure how that would operate
[22:21] FWord Utorid: i do not want to be responsible for their funding
[22:21] FWord Utorid: it is clear to me that they can do nothing but bicker and blame about anything financial
[22:23] Land Shepherd: Here is a thought. What if this thing was run like a regular landbot operation but people just invested into with tier contributions? Then they would get a share of the group dividends.
[22:23] FWord Utorid: so some sort of assurances would need to be provided
[22:23] FWord Utorid: ok
[22:23] FWord Utorid: if we were to do it that way, then you would need to manage the finances
[22:23] FWord Utorid: i don’t want more bs.
[22:23] FWord Utorid: and there is an issue
[22:24] FWord Utorid: if you looked on yohan’s blog
[22:24] FWord Utorid: he’s lost money in the past due to miscalculations
[22:24] FWord Utorid: sometimes the bot may buy land that is not desirable simply because it meets price requirements
[22:24] FWord Utorid: it would take a bit of work coding it to make it possible to avoid such things
[22:24] Land Shepherd: He said he switched the order of the search and ended up being the highetst priced land instead of hte lowest priced.
[22:25] FWord Utorid: if (price > acceptableprice) { donotbuytheparcel(); }
[22:25] FWord Utorid: he has been making a point of criticizing me to other people for my coding skills and he chose a poor way to search for land.
[22:26] FWord Utorid: that is … good to know… that he is fallable in so many ways.
[22:26] Land Shepherd: no one is perfect
[22:26] FWord Utorid: considering we are essentially competing with him, it is good that he’s not.
[22:27] FWord Utorid: ok
[22:27] FWord Utorid: so
[22:27] FWord Utorid: the issue of finances and managing the process
[22:27] FWord Utorid: if this is a group run operation, then there is going to be a need to monitor it
[22:27] FWord Utorid: also, if there is finance on the project
[22:27] FWord Utorid: accountability on my part would come with a price, as does bandwidth and so on
[22:27] FWord Utorid: people involved in the project will need to be appraised through some form of reporting
[22:28] FWord Utorid: so they know they are receiving their earnings fairly and so on
[22:28] Land Shepherd: yeah
[22:28] FWord Utorid: and there will also need to be some sort of a process if losses are incurred
[22:29] Land Shepherd: sounds very complicated, I’m not sure if its possible given the level of mistrust
[22:30] FWord Utorid: well, yes. none of this is simple.
[22:30] FWord Utorid: for me, one of the requirements perceived was to be mindful of the interests of the community, at least from an abuse perspective.
[22:32] FWord Utorid: that’s why I am posing the question now before we go any further with this.
[22:33] FWord Utorid: while I do not appreciate the abuse I am taking in this process, we will find a method for resolving a first phase. at that point, either i can continue, or someone else can pick up, but it’s a loss for me either way.
[22:34] FWord Utorid: Yohan works on his landbot every day.
[22:34] Land Shepherd: well, at least you tried and learned some new code in the process anyway. Yeah, takes a lot of tweaks he says.
[22:35] FWord Utorid: The only person I am genuinely concerned with in this process is you.
[22:35] FWord Utorid: You have been patient and I appreciate it.
[22:35] FWord Utorid: I want to make sure we can get something to you that is useful.
[22:35] FWord Utorid: That’s why you have the code to the old program.
[22:36] FWord Utorid: and why there is some code and documentation on the website.
[22:36] FWord Utorid: I am not sure what other questions people might have about running this in the long term
[22:36] FWord Utorid: but a successful landbot project IS a long term endeavor with things to be maintained daily
[22:36] FWord Utorid: it is not something that you write once and it continues to work.
[22:37] FWord Utorid: That is why I abandoned the project the first time, the fellow didn’t want to invest the time and effort to do it as a business.
[22:37] FWord Utorid: people think that it’s a free lunch but it’s not.
[22:37] Land Shepherd: Is this Thai Racer you mean?
[22:37] FWord Utorid: Yes.
[22:37] FWord Utorid: there were a number of other issues in the process that were problematic.
[22:38] FWord Utorid: But the two key issues were, it is an ongoing process and things change daily with libsecondlife, and he lost interest in that.
[22:38] FWord Utorid: The program was tested to the point where it was working, and as I understand it, he never downloaded it.
[22:39] FWord Utorid: I refunded his investment capital, but I did expend time on the project.
[22:39] FWord Utorid: anyway, if you have more questions about a long term approach, let me know.
[22:40] Land Shepherd: ok I’ll get back to later about this, could take awhile to get everyone’s opinion though.
[22:40] FWord Utorid: as with all business there are always risks.
[22:40] FWord Utorid: ok
[22:40] FWord Utorid: i will post this to the blog if that’s ok?
[22:40] Land Shepherd: post what to do the blog?
[22:40] FWord Utorid: our communication on this process.
[22:41] Land Shepherd: Why?
[22:41] FWord Utorid: I think it will help people to understand the nature of our concerns.
[22:41] Land Shepherd: What are the concerns?
[22:41] FWord Utorid: that we are putting time and thought into how this could impact the community.
[22:42] FWord Utorid: an explanation that it is an ongoing process that involves risk will also help to explain things.
[22:43] Land Shepherd: ok, no problem. I don’t know if it will help them understand though.
[22:43] FWord Utorid: that’s true. but better to communicate openly. it will be on the blog this evening.
[22:44] FWord Utorid: talk to people, let me know what the consensus is.
[22:45] Land Shepherd: okay, well have a good night then
[22:45] FWord Utorid: you too land shepherd.

They have been nothing but rude, tossing accusations, critical of programming skills when they really have no idea how well or poorly I code, a waste of my time and energy, and in many cases, downright stupid (hi, we want something from you, and therefore we will treat you like shit).

Therefore, I have decided that the objectives of the project should be altered.

Initially, the intent of the project was to produce something that was beneficial to the ‘public’.

Since my overwhelming perception of the ‘public’ in this instance is represented by the scheming soulless land barons, whose only interests really lie in edifying their own ego, or lining their wallets at the expense of those less fortunate, (essentially EVIL), then the project shall be converted… to EVIL.

Those of you who have helped this project to find the right path, the one that leads us all to darkness and despair, may delight.

Special thanks to Yohan Pintens, a brilliant software developer who fails at second grade math, ( http://landbot.wordpress.com/2007/12/26/landbots-make-mistakes-too/ ) ,  for inspiring this change of position, and for the provision of tools and information which will assist this project in undermining everything you enjoy in SL, the way you’ve tried to do to me.

Imagine the worst of all possible futures. This is the one we will be working on now.

Thanks for your support.

If you’re going to give me shit because of that…

FUCK YOU.

Just because I care about my girlfriend and HER needs more doesn’t mean I don’t know how to write software.

FUCK YOU.

(now back to our regularly scheduled programming)

While I do not excuse the impatience and lack of understanding represented by a vocal minority who seem to feel that this is an opportunity to criticize my capacity, talk behind my back, disturb me during breakfast with ’is it done yet’, accuse me of being a scam artist, or to seek out people who may wish to represent a negative view of me, I *do* apologize to those of you who have been waiting patiently and offering support where needed. Those of you who are clearly on missions to bother me, dispute this process, or otherwise waste time have already heard my thoughts and will soon enough cease to be of any importance.

That said, the process of managing a software project is one that I always believe you should put a great deal of thought into before releasing something to the public to use. Gather requirements, understand the needs, develop the product, test it thoroughly, ensure proper equipment and plan maintenance, have redundancy and backups, and make some pretty graphics and a help file so people can use it.

Users of Second Life can identify with this: the stress of attempting to log in and it’s unavailable, the loss of inventory items, tons of other different kinds of pain and suffering that emerge from a service that was imho pounded out and pushed out the door with what I perceive to be the ‘success at all costs’ mentality. I do enjoy SL, and I am happy to have it in spite of it’s flaws, but there is much to be said for planning a process and giving thought and consideration to the people it will affect. If you’ve ever felt anxiety at trying to use SL, you’ll know what I mean. It can be a wonderful world, or it can be an enfuriating and nerve-wracking nightmare.

Now, I’ve pontificated enough, I am going to bullet point what we have accomplished thus far:

• introduced the concept to the public and gathered information on their thoughts with reference to the project
• this weblog as a source of information now contains diagrams of the operation of the project as well as code snippets which DO work for land search (and will soon be demonstrated)
• code for a previous project (which DID work and was a complete landbot) was cleaned up and handed over to Land Shepherd for evaluation
• a great deal of research has been done and the key advantages held by other landbot operators have been identified and are gradually being converted into assets for this process
• we now have not one, not two, but FOUR servers available to run the project. two located in California, two located in Texas, both locations grant us the opportunity to have redundancy and backup in our process as well as rapid access to Linden Lab simulators. Some of these are supplied by businesses which are being compensated for the server, others supplied by a couple of friends who are interested in seeing this process succeed
• key elements of the tasks remaining are now documented

That’s a very brief encapsulation what has been done so far on this process.

The short term future is as follows:

• more information on the task list which will enable delegation of certain tasks and hopefully provision more rapid completion
• initially our objective was to POSSIBLY open source the entire project. (some code was made public on this site previously). A number of key concerns on the impact of making an application of this sort publicly available were expressed. We need to communicate on this and conclusively determine what we would like to do and properly consider the best interest of the public, Second Life, and this project. It’s not entirely clear to me who gets a say on this.
• Issues of information to provide, how finances and expenses on the continued process will be dealt with, who gets to know and decide what need to be determined
• breaking in the server and setting up test harnesses for the application is the first step on running an ongoing process

Ok. That’s a lot of typing, but hopefully everyone is up to speed on what’s been done, what’s being done, what’s planned, and we can begin to move forward and get this show on the road.

Immediately, I plan to communicate with Land Shepherd as soon as we can coordinate and will have more for you here as the opportunity presents itself.