What is this music Eddi?

It's the opening music for the credits of the Donna Reed Show, one of the great American family sitcoms from the golden age of televison in the 1950's and 1960's. Families were always white (although in the 1970's the color barrier came down in the United States with blockbuster sitcoms like Goodtimes and the Jeffersons featuring african american families), mom did not work outside the home, and she made sure to wear her pearls in the kitchen as she made chocolate chip cookies. I think a thing for these shows as my name Eddi Haskell gives away (explanation farther down on the right hand side of the blog). I also had a thing for the hot daddy, Carl Betz.

These shows are soothing for me, and I have had a hard week. I've been busy sending documentation, screen shots that I've saved as HTML files, to various legal authorities in two countries in the form of jpegs. Its been a chore.

I've also had to tell my real life mom that her privacy was compromised through traceable and threatening comments left on my blog by Jason Feingold, and through threats published by InV Daily, but she handled that news well. Lucky for me I live near her, and was with her every night this week. I'm not really worried but it IS my mom! You can read about it in earlier posts this week (and yes, its true, those of you who read the comments know what I'm talking about starting with the Christmas Party feature attacking me).

The authorities are insisting on me sending everything I have over due to my cyberstalking and harassment incidents that you read about on this blog earlier this week, and which I must be quiet on now.

I found this music soothing, and I put it up. But it reminded me that humor can serve a role even in the hardest of times.

This is not a funny story that I tell you now, but it did cheer someone up. One of my best friends died of AIDS a while ago. He was a 210 pound athlete, and at the end, he wasted away to under 80 pounds. Thank God medication is now here that can prolong lives and control this disease.

Towards the end, he wanted me to come over and keep him company. I did, and there was nothing to do. But there was a Donna Reed 24 hour Marathon on on Nick at Nite. So we watched it for a few hours. We were both huge fans.

Later that evening, all these people started coming over. I was sitting in a chair next to him, and the television was off. Everyone was just staring at him, and saying nothing. He looked at me. And I knew it was time to put Donna Reed back on. He was bored. I was not thinking well at the time.

Now, everyone then kept on saying 'EDDI HOW CAN YOU DO SUCH A THING? YOU CAN'T PUT THAT ON! THAT IS SO THOUGHTLESS!" to me under hushed tones. He was also African American as were many of his (and my) friends which added to the confusion. I put this lily white sit com on for him to watch.

He heard someone yell at me in the kitchen that I was so thoughtless they would leave the house, and my friend was laughing under his breath, although in great distress, for several hours that night. He told me the next day watching his friends reactions to him looking at the show was one of the funniest events of his, unfortunately to end the next week, life.

So humour does have a role in everything. Even our hardest times.

All the best, Eddi

One Big Difference Between the U.S. and the U.K. Cybercrime Filings

I always thought that the U.K was allot more intelligent in terms of administration then the U.S.A.

It reminds me of the old joke, when asked if they celebrate the Fourth of July in Britain, the answer is of course we do, we call it Thanksgiving.

In the U.S.A. you must first go to your local authorities to report Cybercrime (and the F.B.I. if it is cross state). You usually cant go to the alleged suspects home police department- you local police or investigative authorities must do this for you.

In the U.K you can file complaints directly with local authorities. You do not have to go through your local police. If you have collaborating evidence like IP addresses.

Please keep this in mind if you too wish to file a complaint of internet stalking and harassment.

On this note, it has been suggested to to keep silent on this subject by the authorities involved. And I've promised not to put up posts for a few days anyway!

Filing Cybercrime Reports in the UK

My County Sheriff's office just advised me to file directly with British Law Enforcement officials, showing them the life threatening comments that came from the person behind Jason Feingold along with the 200 threats over the past four months since they are coming from the U.K.. They are all traceable to a specific IP and service provider. Although this information was given to the FBI they felt that a direct file from me also made sense. I am a British Citizen, and this also should help matters. I will keep you informed of progress. I am providing this information to you in case you need to take similar actions to protect yourself.

My FBI Filing Concerning Jason Feingold, Ammon Pera, and InV Daily

I want to tell all of you about my experience with the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation. I could not believe how helpful they were. If you yourself feel harassed or stalked, you may wish to do the same thing.

I called the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation North Miami Office in late December when real life informaiton on my mother was posted in InV Daily along with threats (ring ring in front of her name). These were comments left as "anonymous" in the posts attacking my Chistmas party.

You cannot file a complaint against a threat against an avatar, or as an avatar. You can as a real life human being.

The threatening "comments" from the real person behind Jason Feingold were increasing at this time. I spoke to them about this too, along with the fact that I had the IP address for every comment that came in.

A real life agent picked the phone up immediately after I was transferred and could not have been more helpful.

I gave the agent all information I could about who I thought was involved behind this, how threatened I felt, and asked what to do next.

The agent said that since this matter crossed state lines, it was a matter for the U.S. FBI

They told me to make sure to open a case with my local law enforcement authorities (I did this in October) and contact my state attorney general. Lucky for me, Florida has some of the toughest internet cybercrime laws in the United States. We have specific cyberstalking laws in place here. You must include all this information on the form for the FBI. I then got verification that my information was filed.

After taking down my information they directed me here. If you dig deeper into the comments (it says fraud) there is a section for internet harassment.

I must warn you, this is kept in a national database and is not the subject of games. If you make a complaint, your real information is gathered. Do not joke around here. You yourself actually then create a record about you listing all your complaints.

On this note, I will be going silent on this blog for a few days, but will be inworld enjoying Second Life. As I have said, this is one avatar who is not going to be intimidated by InV and will stay in this game.

The FBI then emailed me a verification form. I am able to update it with information.

Linden labs has been notified of this filing.

Status of the Police Investigation against Ammon Pera, Jason Feingold, and InV

Yesterday, after four months of Internet stalking and harassment by the real life person behind Jason Feingold, a second life avatar, the local law enforcement officials opened a formal investigation.

Two threats to my physical harm that came in the past few days by Jason including one that said "I had 48 hours left to comply with certain demands", and another that implied that "I would be attacked in my home and had better lock the doors", I was told by my local law enforcement officials that an investigation would be open tracking these traceable threats- I am able to trace any blog comment to a specific IP address.

All these threats came from an IP address in the United Kingdom. They are traceable to a specific user.

I was told in early October when I met with the police that the threats had to be more specific, which they were, over the past few days.

Over 200 threatening messages in the form of traceable comments to a specific IP address in the United Kingdom have come in to me since early October by Jason. these have all been turned over to the law enforcement authorities

In addition, the publication that Jason writes for, InV Daily has been posting information containing real life information on certain family members, including my near invalid mother, in an effort to intimidate me (constant posts said ring ring (her name), implying telephone harassment.

Jason knew my mother was in a bad automobile accident when we were friends, it is one of the reasons I moved to the United States from the U.K. three years ago.

I think these posts have come down by now. The law enforcement authorities told me this activity was clearly a matter for investigation, since it was run for the purpose of staking and harassment.

I will tell you about the US Federal Bureau of Investigation Filing in a future post.

I will keep you apprised of this investigation in this blog.

All the best, Eddi

Photo of the Day: Venice in Second Life

Just wanted to show a cool pic of the Venice sim that has been shut down from what I hear. We'll miss it!

Happy Australia Day to All My Aussie Friends

Monday, January 26 is Australia Day! But it will start in Australia at 6 am SL time on Sunday, January 25 due to the time difference. I wish I was an Aussie, I've been there twice and can't wait to get back! Yes, the guys are super hot.

In no order, and I might have spellings wrong (need to correct this) but you are the best! And if I forgot any let me know!

Chester Howley
Surfboy Wollongong
Moxy Waffle
Butch Adzebills
Luca Mielziner
Jewell Munro
Rhodes Rasmussen
Nicci Lane (please come back to SL we miss you!)
Zanara Zakova
Muhu Janus
Owen jacobus
Jaspar Recreant
Devlin Fellstein
Sarcophilus Halderman
Muhu Janus

Ummm Kazan, I would not be on SL if you were not here your the best and

and of course, my partner and the most amazing guy in Second Life, Jago Constantine. These flags over Brisbane are for you!

What It's Like to Be Me

As many people know, my partner, Jago Constantine is rather easy on the eyes. I photo many of the scenes in our review blog, Sex Aficionado. Here was our photography session last night when Jago and my friend supermodel Musique Gable were demonstrating a kiss animation for a future review. Watching scenes like this can be a bit frustrating but it can be hot too! One thing about Jago, he certainly knows how to make Second Life interesting!

Scribus Free Page Layout Program

I've been using Scribus for over a year. It is a professional page layout program that is similar to Quark Xpress and Adobe Pagemaker, but being open source, is free.

In the real world of magazine publishing, doing one page can take a graphic artist over an hour. By not being exact and measuring to eye, I can do a sign, poster, or logo in an hour of minutes. I am showing some examples here of some of my layouts. I found Scribus incredibly easy to learn how to use Its very intuitive. You then export your pages as jpeg images, and upload them as textures to Second Life (note: I am sure there is a more sophisticated way of doing this, but this seems to go the fastest. Make sure to download Ghostscript before you download Scribus, as it will let you have access to more sophisticated fonts for your layouts.

How I love England!

I'm planning another trip back to the UK soon in the spring. As many of you know, I lived there for a while before I moved back to the U.S. As much as I love London, I especially like getting out in the country side, seeing the market towns, the year -round green. So beautiful! There will always be an England for me!

Make sure to check out Sex Aficionado

I am being rather naughty.

Happy Rez Day to Me!

A New Era Begins for All of Us!

Martin Luther King Day

Today is Martin Lurther King day in the United States. It is a national holiday.In case some of you don't know, Martin Luther King was an African-American civil rights leader who was assassinated in 1968. His most famous speech, and one of the greatest speeches of all times, is the speech from the March on Washington in 1963, the famous "I had a dream speech". You can hear the speech through the link if you never have heard it before. I am also playing it on my playlist below for today.

Before the civil rights movement took hold in the United States in the 1960's, African Americans, were extremely discriminated against in the United States. In fact, in the Southern States, they went to segregated schools, could not use the same facilities or restaurants as white people, and had to sit in the back of the bus or any other transit facilities. Until the late 1960's cross-racial marriage was forbidden in many Southen States legally.Tomorrow, we celebrate the inauguration of a new charismatic President, Barack Obama, who has a dark skin and a father who was born in Kenya. The United States has come a long way (but has a lot still left to do) in moving ahead with Martin Luther King's vision. But let us all reflect on how we treat others, inworld and out, in honor of this great man.

Caught With My Pants Down!

Oh no! I am caught with my pants down in Sex Aficionado! You will have to read all about it!

Visit the Artlife Sim Before it Closes

Make sure to visit the amazing Artlife Gallery located on its own Sim at Baie St. Anne. It may be closing at the end of the month, and the art and ambiance are amazing. Make sure to check this one out -- it is an amazing use of the Second Life creative medium, even if you are not looking to buy any art.

Remembering Andrew Wyeth

The great American lanscape painter Andrew Wyeth died last night at the age of 91. He had fallen out of favor in the art world in our modern times, but was very much in style when his most famous painting Christina's World was finished in 1948. When I attended college at Pratt Institute in New York, he was my favorite water colorist. His sense of light and composition, and usage of the natural materials in such mediums as gouache used to inspire me when I painted my own compositions. Let me be honest with everyone and say that I was surprised this guy was still alive. But still, I think his work is still so great I wanted to mention him in my blog. Thanks for a great opus you are leaving us Andrew, your memory will live on forever!

The work above is an acrylic called Carry he made in his later years held in a private collection.

Photo of the Day: When to Sharpen an Image

This photo of a Monastery in the Wildcat Sim was taken at a very high resolution (about 3300 times 4200 pixels) in regular mid-day light, saved to my hard drive as a jpeg. The ability of the latest SL client to save images as jpegs and not bitmaps results in much smaller and more flexible files that do not require an additional step of conversion.
I then used a dark red filter (available once again in my favorite free program, Picasa) to come up with a warm black and and white image and sharpened it using the special effects edit feature.
Sharpening is good with many monotone, and some color architectural and graphic-sensitive images but can look bad if overused. Experiment with your special effects and keep several versions of processed shots to decide which achieves the look you are after.

Satus Report on Jordyn (JC) Carnell

JC seems to be doing well after his recent surgery, and should be back in SL in a few days! Make sure to leave him a get well comment in his Midcourt blog He is checking them regularly!

What is this music Eddi?

It's Club Life 2008 by Phil Hewson. He's a big UK based club DJ. You can check out more of his music through the link. I liked it so much I decided to feature the entire album on my blog for a few days.

Photo of the Day: Temple in Thyra, Should You Use Photoshop?

Using Adobe's Photoshop, the premier program for photographic retouching and image manipulation is a matter of choice. Certainly, when wishing to switch backgrounds, move images within a frame, or introducing special effects it is unsurpassed. However, many landscape photographers on Second Life do not use it, the reason being that image processing detracts from the increasing "virtual realism" of the Second Life medium. Although I can use Photoshop, I make it a point not to since I am here to record realism in Second Life.

Take a look at this photograph of Scottie Menges Temple on the Thyra Sim (which i believe is no longer standing. Look at the light effects, the colors, the three dimensional depth. This was taken with no processing at a high resolution. I see no need to touch gorgeous scenes like this up with Photoshop, and know what many professional artists and publishers feel the same way! But Photoshop does has its purposes if used correctly! More on this in future posts!

Resident of the Week- Eddi Haskell

I'm resident of the week in The Metaverse Messenger, one of the largest newspapers on SL! Here's the article, and Ill reproduce the interview below.

NAME: Eddi Haskell

OCCUPATION IN SL: Photographer. I have two galleries.

One on Thunder Island, and one on Attol.

Fund Raiser for http://www.breadandjams.org/,

a homeless shelter in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

My blogs are:

http://eddihaskell.blogspot.com/

http://sexaficionado.blogspot.com/

DATE JOINED SL: January 22, 2007

What is your favorite thing about being a resident of SL?

Its a tie between being creative with my photography, publishing, and building here, and being with my amazing partner, Jago Constantine. He is the center of my existence on SL.

What is the one thing in your inventory that you would be the most devastated to lose?

All my photographs whatever file format they are in.

The are a record of my two years in Second Life. What is your favorite location in SL?

My home. Its surrounded by waterfalls and palm trees, and its very restful.

What would you like the outside world to know about SL?

You can learn a lot here about yourself, and about real life relationships. You can discover a creative side of you you never knew you had And yes, it is a Second Life for many people.

What one thing about SL would you change, if you could?

I wish I could go busy on IM without offending people I feel compelled to answer all of my IM's, and they can be a distraction when you are trying to be creative.

Do you have an SL partner? If so, tell us a little about him/her.

I partnered with an amazing Australian, Jago Constantine, on November 28, 2008. We are planning to marry in late January. jago is kind, considerate, very smart, very creative, and the reason why I have continued here after two years. We are designing skyboxes and have a new blog we are doing together, Sex Aficionado.

What do you hope to see in future SL upgrades?

Speaking avatars, with real lip movement. The Beta version looks very artificial now. And better voice in general. The current voice technology is very susceptible to down time. And SL needs to do a better job in enforcing Terms of Service violations to make this a safer environment for all of us.

Who is your favorite person (non-partner) in SL, and why?

Oh, i don't have one. There are many people who make SL very special for me, including Maeve Kilara,, Nicci Lane, Ummmm Kazan, Jaho Yalin, Jazz Burt, Danr Raymaker, Sebastiaan Volmer, Axl Schridde, I can go on and on. I have a very large friend's list, and i value all of them. I happen to know all of the above for a very long time, and can be myself with them at all times.

DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE LINDEN? IF SO, WHO AND WHY?

Blue Linden, simply cause his sense of graphics, photography, design, and community is excellent.

PIE OR CHEESE, AND WHY?

Pie cause it has sugar in it and it helps me be hyperactive and get a lot of things done quickly.

What it this music Eddi?

The first song playing on my playlist is the famous ending of Richard Wagner's opera Das Rhinegold (the Rhine Gold in English), the first Opera in Wagner's enourmous four part Ring Cyle, Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung). Although Wagner is highly controversial, mostly due to his strong anti-semtic beliefs, there is no doubt that he is one of the great genuises of modern civilization. This sublime music depicts the entrance of the Gods into Valhalla, the great castle in the sky by walking over a rainbow. I have heard the Ring Cycle in its entirety (over 18 hours of Opera) over 6 days in Seattle, Toronto, and Glasgow, and individual operas in other cities. It really requires stamina to sit in a small opera house seat, especially if you are over six feet tall. I'm not sure I can do it again, but the Seattle Opera is putting on another Ring Cycle in August 2009. Although tickets are not cheap, this is a once in a lifetime experience. Tickets will sell out fast.
I found this really good animation of the end of Das Rhinegold on You Tube- check it out if you like the music .

Get Well Soon Jordyn Carnell!

If you have not heard, Jordyn (JC) Carnell had some emergency Gall Bladder surgery on Sunday, and will be our for a while. You can read about it hear in his Midcourt blog. JC is one of my favorite people on SL. He has a huge number of friends, and throws great rez day parties. He is one of the reasons why I stay in the game. He will need a two week recovery period. We wish you all the best JC and hope to see you back soon. Luv ya JC!

My viewing stats for 2009 - Am I doing well?

I started this blog in late November 2008. Here are my stats for the first 11 days of 2009. I guess week 2 is not over, and my numbers will increase. I'm not sure how well I am doing, but I think this i pretty good for a newbie! I am aiming at 2500 page hits and 1000 unique visitors per week by June 1, 2009. Lets see how fast I get there! This blog will continue to contain photography and video tips, information on fun happenings, my own rather twisted sense of humour, and information on other things I am doing in Second Life!

Our Italian Slybox is for sale!

I just finished building this Italian Renaissance skybox. You can see it on Attol through the link below. It is based on Jago Constantines' Quincunx skybox. You can see additional pictures of it through the link below. We are selling them for 800 linden each. Please contact me if you are interest in buying one by leaving me a note card in world. We will be releasing a Vampire skybox soon, and if you want a base skybox to texture yourself please leave Jago Constantine a message inworld. We just started a new blog, Skyboxes by Jago, which you can link to to find out more information.

Victorian Bridal Village

I took this photo of this young couple as they eloped today in Victorian Bridal Village. What a lovely shot. What can be more romantic? The bride's stunning wedding dress cost only one Linden and can be purchased on SL Exchange, the creator is LadyContessa Barbosa. The wealthier groom is wearing over 1500 linden of Redgrave products. The bride told me she was low on cash at the time. The groom grimaced and said "honey, its only for one day, an SL Exchange freebie will work just fine!".

Photo of the Day: Color or Black and White?

Here we go again readers! Here is a photo of my new Australian Outback Gallery -- designed by Ummmm Kazan -- in Attol Sim. By the way, I am not sure how much longer this Sim will stay open as is, so make sure to check out this outback town and take a visit to the Gallery - the link is contained on the right . These shots were processed with Google's free Picasa program. my current favorite since it is so easy to use, and allows you to post pictures online very easily - there is a link on the right again.
The color version was taken using the "desert sunset" setting in advance sky, at the bottom of the world tab (advanced environmental editor). I took this pictures at a very high resolution, over 3200 wide, and saved them as JPEGS to my hard drive before I did the editing. The processing in Picasa was some very minor cropping and light readjustment, done automatically.
I then went to advanced effect and converted it to a dark red filter black and white, and sharpened it with another advanced editing tool. Which one do you prefer? Its a matter of taste, but in this case, I actually think the color version adds more depth and realism.

Believe the Impossible!

Yes friends, for the first time in my two years in Second Life I am appearing with a member of the opposite sex! Please check out this link to our new blog,
Please make sure your children and small animals are away from your monitor, as this blog does contain X-rated content!

Photo of the Day. Berlin Cathedral. Color or Monotone?

What looks more realistic when doing a Second Life landscape or architecture shot? Color or monotone? This is a photo of the Marienkirche church in the Berlin Sim, using some very basic processing in Google's Picassa. I mentioned the use of Picassa in an earlier post since it is fast, easy to use, and does some very good effects, such as sepia and other tone conversions, sharpening, and fast collage and still video making. I prefer the older feel of the sepia conversion. It is a matter of personal taste, but black ad white and monochromatic images frequently look more realistic on Second Life.

My Two New Galleries Are Open for Business!

Please check them out. The links are on the right. Eddi Haskell Photography at Attol in the Australian Outback sim, and Eddi Haskell Photography at Club Thunder!

THE SHOCK! THE HORROR! EDDI GOES X-RATED!

Yes readers, it's true! I have gone X-Rated. Jago and I have started a new blog, called Sex Aficionado. You can see the X-rated picture of Jago and I - the link is on the right.

Jago made these cool shirts, and you can get one from visiting one of his vendors- you can check out the locations in his blog- the link is on the right.

Even more shocking readers will the the picture of me with a member of the opposite sex later this week. I won't spoil the surprise, but I can just hear the "Yeah right Eddi!" coming through right now. Get ready for more excitement!

Cool Photos Using Advanced Sky Editor

These cool photos were taken using the Gelato setting in the advanced sky editor (you can access this under the "time of day" settings at the bottom tab in world- where it says environmental editor. The standard client was used.
The photography is of the area around our house. I do not use Photoshop, and these only had very minor light readjustments in Google'e Picassa. Check out my Picasa photography albums, the link is on the right and my work is available for downloads.

The Real Eddi Haskell

Eddie Haskell was one of the key characters in the classic American sitcom from the late 50's/ early 60's Leave it to Beaver.

Yes, my name is missing an "e" after Eddi -that name was taken when I signed up.

Here is what Wikipedia has to say about Eddie. Hmmmm- sound like anyone familiar? By the way, Wally was cute. He's in this video with Eddie.

Eddie Haskell was the smart-mouthed best friend of Wally Cleaver. The character, played in the original series by Ken Osmond, has become a cultural reference, recognized as an archetype for the behind-your-back rebel. Eddie was the kind of friend parents such as Ward and June Cleaver wish their children would limit association with, but need to have to gain learning experiences. Ward once remarked that "[Eddie] is so polite, it's almost un-American.

Even today, the phrase "Eddie Haskell" is known to refer to an insincere brown-noser. He was known for his neat grooming —hiding his shallow and sneaky character. A weaselly wise guy, Eddie could be relied upon to connive and instigate schemes with his friends—schemes for which they would be in the position of blame, if (and usually when) caught.

BTW, I joined the virtual world "Twinty" as Arnold Ziffel. If you dont know who Arnold is, hes another famous character from a 60's sitcom. More about this later.

Collages in Picasa 3

I have a bit of a confession to make. I never use Photoshop. Although the ability to edit is unsurpassed, it simply takes too long. Instead, I use basic picture editing in Google's Picasa 3, available as a free download. Actually, I prefer Picasa's ability to do monotone conversions, they are amazingly well done.

Picasa 3 also allows you to create very fast web albums through simultaneous synchronization with the Picasa editor. (mine are available to see through the link on the right), still movies (my Club Thunder video below), and custom photo collages very quickly. I never have likes collages, but I have created some today. Here are two one that i created out of the Club Thunder stills. In terms of ease of use, nothing beats Picasa.

New Club Thunder Video (see You Tube Channel Below)

Here is a new Club Thunder video I produced. Syriana Paine was DJ on December 30. It was a fun leather party, and owner hosts Jonathan and Vanyel made sure that everyone felt welcome as usual. By the way per one anonymous comment, I checked, and a collection of stills with music can be considered a video. I am using a new, very easy to use video making program included in Picasa 3, available from download for free through Google. All you do is plus in some stills from your web album and an audio clip. I usually use more advance feature- rich programs to do my sill videos, but this one was just so simple. The music is from Ibiza 2008.

You Tube: Happy Second Life New Years 2010!