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Deep in Club Escotia, at the foot of "Craigh na Dun"
Lives a family of Sasquatch who are musically in tune.
We set up some equipment, for dancing and for sound,
And invite our hairy friends to join us dancing round the pond!
So pack up your umbrella, put on your dancing boots
We plan on dancing in the rain, the MUSIC is our roots!

Why nudists can't blindly trust ratings, part 2: Language and culture barriers
tl;dr: Sims with Adult ratings but General liberties (= no nudity) aren't always run by older, conservative, uptight Americans who hate kids. They're often run by people who aren't native English speakers, who don't know that "Adult" has a meaning beyond "grown-up" and whose culture completely demonises nudity.

* * * * *

I've come to the realisation that there's another factor in why ratings can't be trusted, neither in general (when Adult sims have the same liberties that General sims can have) nor on OSW (when the OSW rating is different from the in-world rating): We're from different countries with different cultures and different languages.

This clashes with the culture of Second Life which supposes that everyone is an American or even from Northern California. OpenSim is still forced to hold on to this because neither Ubit nor the viewer teams have the development capacities to deviate from it.

An American will know by heart right off the bat what "General", "Moderate" and "Adult" may mean. The official definitions are more or less only there to specify the meanings. But it may be somewhat less clear for a Brit, a Canadian, an Australian etc. unless they've fully picked up American culture. It doesn't help that most grids by far don't have their definitions of the ratings written down anywhere. Why write down what "everybody knows"?

It's even worse for people from non-English-speaking countries. This may come as a surprise, but not exactly few of them can only use OSW by running the entire website through Google Translate. But when Google Translate translates "General", "Moderate" and "Adult", it neither necessarily gives out the same translations as in the viewer, nor does it necessarily give out a translation with the same associations as Americans have with "General", "Moderate" and "Adult".

For one, this is why particularly sims run by people with a different native tongue than English tend to rate their sims differently in-world and on OSW. On OSW, they have Googlish for "General", "Moderate" and "Adult"; in their viewer, they have more sensible translations by people who actually know that language. And they may fail to see a parallel between these. Not knowing what to choose, they end up just clicking on something because they have to.

I'm German so I can explain it to you from a German point of view. The first problem is that, like in many other countries with many other languages, there are no words for content ratings. Literal translations of "General", "Moderate" and "Adult" don't sound like content ratings to a German, a Swiss or an Austrian. "Adult" means "grown-up" and only "grown-up" and nothing else. It refers to the age of a person or an animal or so. It does NOT refer to content. And it contradicts neither what "general" means in German nor what "moderate" means in German. The German translations of "general" and "moderate" don't contradict each other either.

In just about every other language in the world that isn't English, it's the same.

By the way, "Adult" is still "Adult" in the viewer if you set it to German, it isn't translated because that'd make less sense rather than more. It's "erwachsen" in Googlish, though. As I said, that means "grown-up". "Moderate" is "moderat" in both. "General" is "generell" in the viewer and "allgemein" in Googlish.

If you want to make clear in German that it's a content rating, you'll have to use USK codes (or FSK codes for those born before 1980). However, they don't really line up with American content rating systems, and neither really line up with the Second Life content rating system. Second Life Adult is either German USK18 or "banned in Germany". Second Life Moderate is German USK16, USK12 or even USK6 depending on the region, and yet, the region itself is always strictly 18+.

So much for the language, now comes the culture. Linden Lab's home is already somewhat liberal. There are much more restrictive and prudish places in the USA to the point where a little bit of visible areola is seen on the same level of naughty as hardcore porn and outright BDSM.

Outside the USA, it's more extreme. And I'm not even talking about places where women even have to fully cover their faces in public, lest they get sentenced to death. Not even Europe is as homogenous as some Americans believe it to be. In most areas of the world, nudity is a big no-no. The results range from being forced by law to cover up a lot to very daring beachwear that's just barely legal.

Denmark, in contrast, doesn't have much of a problem with nudity and allows public nudity as long as it isn't explicitly sexual. AFAIK, the same goes for the Netherlands. In Germany, public nudity is allowed a) as long as it isn't sexual and b) as long as nobody is disturbed by it, so it's slightly more complicated. But Germany also has a long tradition of nudist movements, especially FKK (Free Body Culture).

Now let's take this to in-world. A Dane may pretty well build a sim that's rather Danish in style, give it a General rating so that it's for all ages, but allow non-sexual public nudity everywhere. They won't be able to do that in Second Life, but in OpenSim, especially on their own grid, they can get away with it. It just mirrors real-life Denmark.

There's an actual Moderate-rated German nudist sim on the Hypergrid that both absolutely requires everyone to be naked and at the same time allows the presence of child avatars. Yes, this leads to naked child avatars. An American will cry out "paedophilia" and "child porn", as will people from other places in the world. Bad enough that a nudist sim is only Moderate-rated, it should be Adult-rated.

For a German, it's just your standard run-of-the-mill nudist camp. It isn't like kids must cover up on real-life German FKK beaches while grown-ups must not (FKK usually means strictly nudity as in you must NOT wear clothes). By the way, sexual activities are strictly forbidden on this sim, just like real-life FKK beaches and camps strictly ban public sexuality, just like real-life FKK fans never get tired of explaining that FKK is absolutely nothing sexual, full stop. Most people from outside Germany still won't get it.

Next, let's add rating misunderstanding to the mix. So someone from one of those more prudish places around the Mediterranean builds a sim. As for the rating, there are three choices: "doesn't sound like a content rating" (General), "doesn't sound like a content rating either" (Moderate) and "something with grown-up that doesn't sound like a content rating" (Adult).

The only reason to pick a rating, namely "something with grown-up that doesn't sound like a content rating", i.e. Adult, is to declare the sim adults-only and keep kids out. There's no other apparent difference between these ratings. Again, unlike an American, a French or an Italian or a Greek won't necessarily know by heart that Moderate is naughtier than General, and Adult is naughtier than Moderate. So they pick Adult if they don't want kids on their sim and randomly either General or Moderate if they don't care. Apart from the child avatar policy, everything else is strictly kept on the same level as General.

Add to this that not all grids are run by Americans. Even if they were, they'd still have different standards. Someone from NYC, Tulsa, Berkeley or Seattle would run grids on somewhat different rule sets. But someone from abroad may have even more differing rules and standards. The smaller the grid, the wilder the rules and standards can be, also because nobody can control a personal grid than the grid owner.

There's no stopping a Dane from declaring public nudity legal even on General-rated sims on their own grid. But there's also no stopping someone from completely banning nudity even on Adult-rated sims and redefining the Adult rating as "grown-up avatars only" but otherwise General on their own grid because that's their understanding of the Adult rating. And as it seems, there's no stopping someone from doing the latter on most public grids either.

Pagane: Good scientific work. It can even grow into a dissertation ... But please, as long as we pretend to be stupid !!! Absolutely everyone here is fully aware of at least the two extreme positions of "gene... 3 years ago

Wir feiern 7 Jahre TPW mit einem bunten Musikprogramm mit verschiedenen DJs. Mit dabei: DJane Loru, DJ Richi, DJ Kai und Plattenschubse Marina


Rudi Bakerly: Herzlichen Glückwunsch liebes TPW. Wir wünschen Euch viele weiteren erfolgreichen Jahre. Macht weiter so. 3 years ago

360d-view in Novale's Maple Grove, near the Sugar Shack
https://flic.kr/p/2nbFpKC

Happy Birthday TPW
Where: TPW-Club
When: 3 years ago [2 Apr 2022 10:00 SLT]

Wir feiern 7 Jahre TPW mit einem bunten Musikpprogramm mit verschiedenen DJs. Mit dabei: DJ Kai, Plattenschubse Marina, DJane Loru, DJ Richi und DJane Skadi.

my "pièce de résistance ", so far: animated peacock with unfolding tail!



Peter: lol, thanks sweety! damm, thats been ages we had a chat:)) 3 years ago
The Red Hen presents DJ CLAN 1PM MONDAY
Where: Club Escotia
When: 3 years ago [28 Mar 2022 13:00 SLT]

DJ Clan is absolutely positive (more or less) you won't guess this week's Trivia Contest. Spinning all his favorite songs, he will drop clues along the way... be sure to drop some bits into the prize pot, we have over 8k bits there now, but WINNER TAKES ALL!

es gibt wieder zwei neue Komplettavatar Fairys in meinem Fairy Shop
there are two new Complete Avatar Fairys in my Fairy Shop


Misty_Falls: very pretty ... great job !!! 3 years ago
I Love You
We sort of took over from Stark 10 months ago ... was a mad rush to get land available for many ex Stark residents who had no where to go ... many have remained and are valued residents and friends. Some have left and we will be releasing their land to others in 2 months unless they come back. We started with an 8x8 var and now have a 4 more 4x4 vars all interconnected to the zeta ocean. We have events 3 or 4 days a week and its all 100% clothes optional ..

Pagane: Grid is inaccessible for 100% of small grids based outside of USA. Zetaworld must understand that to register domain only to play a game outside of USA is not easy and is not cheap. Stupid sentence th... 3 years ago
Clan LIVE at our own special CARNIVAL! 1pm FRIDAY
Where: Club Escotia
When: 3 years ago [25 Mar 2022 13:00 SLT]

It's always a treat to hear Clan sing,
This you know is true!
Surrounded by lions and monkeys and bears,
All we need now IS YOU!

Really a group effort on this show... Customized costumes and decor you won't see anywhere else! Watch Esse do tricks on horseback, with curated animations from Webby's workshop ;) There may even be a Big Foot sighting.. so come share the fun of our one-of-a-kind freak show! Special thanks to Essensual McMahon, Chris McCracken, and Clan's Band aluminati (lol) RainO Magic for their ideas, prims, scripts and support!

Suchst du schöne Deko Ideen für Ostern? Dann bist du hier genau richtig.
Searching for some nice easter decoration ideas? Come over and have a look.

Just going to leave this here


Rudi Bakerly: und wieder ein Haufen Freebies. And again , many freebies 3 years ago

Party at Club Equinox begins now, DJ Golbez is spinning.


Xaria Aubrey: Half-time, one hour remaining. 3 years ago

The time has arrived it's Monday,
Twenty four hours later than Sunday,
With Spring in the air, we think that it's fair,
That ye'all come along for a fun day!

P.S. Set your viewer to SHARED ENVIRONMENT to see the gorgeous skies made with EEP by Jimmy Olsen and Cliff Hanger! WOW!!!

Concert Lou Ness à l'Event Space
Where: EventSpace
When: 3 years ago [18 Mar 2022 14:00 SLT]

Un événement à ne pas louper ce vendredi 18 Mars à 22h00,
Lou Ness en concert live à l'Event Space,
Un spectacle à ne pas rater !
Le taxi: hop://sv3d.fr:8002:EventSpace/128/128/23

Nuevamente esta online ARAUCANA , muy feliz!!! por eso, Ven a disfrutar el Futuro.


TinaBey3d: Gracias a la generosidad de Ken savage. esto es posible ire "modernizando" de a poco los ambientes .. ven a disfrutar . Mucho free por cualquier rincón de la regio. saludos. 3 years ago

...Hair Peace...
.......Bed Peace......
..........Peace On Earth.........

March 15, 2022


Antonia Ling: My Installation in Opensim was inspired by John Lennon and Yoko Ono. Maybe not everybody know this Story from 1969. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bed-ins_for_Peace 3 years ago
Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay with DJ Clan! 1PM MONDAY
Where: Club Escotia
When: 3 years ago [14 Mar 2022 13:00 SLT]

Clan is at the dock of the bay, come along and hear what he has to play,
Music that has got that beat, we're pretty sure you wont be sitting in seat,
Shake off your winter blues, join the competition listen for clues,
Seven thousand gloebits or so, could you really wish for anything more ?

Did you always wonder where to find an octagon shape for ur building and hadn`t found anywhere on metaverse? No need to look for it anymore! Here comes a FREE and FULL PERM basic geometric shapes pack (*) for you.. Thx for my friend @Areum Yeoshin (AMV) who had asked me for a hexagon shape and gave me an idea? Why not make it for others who are in search of such odd shapes here.. And i Said.. why not :) hope u like it.

(*) For obvious reasons, some shapes like square or ring shown on pic are not there as its easily done by any prim.

Jimmy Olsen: *****3D MUSEUM ******BASIC GEOMETRIC SHAPES 14MAR22 UPDATE!!******* Added more 31 interesting shapes inside box. Also on both solid and hollow versions for ur building! Available for FREE and FULL PER... 3 years ago
Ukraine themed clothing at the Tropicana Freebie Mall
We wanted to show our support for the people of Ukraine in their time of crisis. One or two blue and gold items quickly became over a dozen and we're still making more.

Stop on by and take a look. There is a link to helping charities in the store. Neptune's Mall, Tropicana Freebies (355, 194, 23)

Jupiter Rowland: Klarabella Karamell has also made some Ukraine-themed clothes, mostly based on her own original meshes, and I'm not sure if she is done yet. Find them on the top floor of the Kaufrausch Mega-Store in... 3 years ago
What on earth? Or maybe not earth... I found this little robot drone like thing. It's eyes are lit up, it has a rotating radar antenna on top, it has flashing lights, and a jet blue exhaust.
It also plays many different robot sounds. I thought wouldn't this be cool if people could rez it at their welcome centers and it flew around. So I made it fly around using another script i found.
Oh, did I mention the lasers? It shoots blue lasers... Get it at Free Magic on cyberdatastorm.com. :)

Lone Wolf: Love it! 3 years ago
Please Join us for the Flamingo Club Grand opening
we present 10 am-12 pm 2 hrs with Zoree and Remy live singers they will amaze you with their wonderful voices blending together and each will do a solo set too.
12 pm-2 pm We welcome back our own DJ Jon Temple for 2 hrs of his carefully chosen music to continue our entertainment
Your Taxi below
hop://gentlefire.opensim.fun:8002/Lampadusa/128/128/23

Adore: it was a blast thank you Topsy and the Jon and singer Zoree and her and Opensim Visitor 3 years ago
????? ?? ???? ????
Where: DISNEY-LANDIA
When: 3 years ago [12 Mar 2022 14:00 SLT]

★·.·´¯`·.·★ ? ?? ????? ? ★·.·`¯´·.·★
(っ◔◡◔)っ ♥ Saturday 12.03.2022 ♥
˜”*°•.˜”*°• H 14.00 SLT E H 22.00 IT •°*”˜.•°*”˜

Alltime fav of mine, the otter
a new animesh family, or, at least a start♫

IMA Evening Hypergrid Community Meeting
Where: IMA Outpost Alpha
When: 3 years ago [9 Mar 2022 17:00 SLT]

When: 9 Mar 2022 17:00 SLT CANCELLED
Where: grid.metaversedepot.com:8002:ima outpost alpha
Magnolia Gardens, IMA Outpost Alpha

This is an informal weekly HG community question and answer session (reverse webinar) hosted by Infinite Metaverse Alliance (IMA).

*Video, audio, and chat may be captured for those who cannot attend.*

To learn more about IMA, visit our main website at http://infinitemetaverse.com [[Category:Social]]

NEW 2 Outfits !!!!!


Chris Horn: push 3 years ago
New! Amazing! Pegasus stargate that actually rotates and dials other sims and grids!!! PLUS this one has a working DHD, the dialer device in front of the gate in the photo that talks to the gate and actually will dial the place for you!!! NOW FREE AT cyberdatastorm.com:8002:Free Magic COME GET YOURS TODAY!!!

Zaidium: Coool 3 years ago
DJ CLAN at Area 51 - CYA Headquarters at 1PM Monday!
Where: Club Escotia
When: 3 years ago [7 Mar 2022 13:00 SLT]

It's all a mystery the work we do, fighting to save the planet,
From alien life to plasma formations, we hope we get it right darnit,
So help us save the world from destruction, and grace the world with care,
Come help us fight the bad guys, and find the truth out there!

DJ Rachel's "Women of the Blues" Special event Tonite at 7:30!
Where: Wyldwood Bayou Rockin' The Blues
When: 7:30 tonite right after DJ Riker!![5 Mar 2022 19:30 SLT]
DJ Rachel has a special treat for you all tonite! She has collected a fabulous sel;ection of Blues..all sung by women! The Ladies of Blues are incredible and have been pioneers of music from the early days and are as HOT as ever! The music of the women in this list will stir your soul, rock your bones, lull you to sweet peacefulness and raise your blood pressure to the roof! Come join DJ Rachel and the Blues Tribe tonite!
wyldwoodbayou.com:8002:Wyldwood Bayou Rockin' The Blues

Kith Whitehawk: It's halftime with the sexy, talented of Women of Blues...and of course..our sexy and talented DJ Rachel!! Come on down! 3 years ago

Im playing live today at Event Plaza (OsGrid)
Singing a few new songs, hope you can make it tonight :)
hop://login.osgrid.org/Event Plaza
MAP: hg.orgrid.org:80:Event Plaza


Gavezdois: Bom show para você, João! 3 years ago

opening Song and the crowds are already forming, come on down still a lot of dance floor left and more if we need it :-)


GalaD: Was amazing had loads of fun!! 3 years ago
Having some fun with a visitor to Redlight City out on a pair of Suzuki road bikes.
Great fun, especailly on the long straight road into the main City.
I'm now planning to put more roads in the region for visitors who fancy a bike ride.
There are many great vehicles availble to drive or ride in the City, especially the 50's cars.

Verna Avril: Strange I don't remember riding a bike or ever being at that location but the photo looks like I may have been. 3 years ago
DJ Kith's HOT Kountry Hits tonite at 6:00 at Hot Daddy's!
Where: Hot Daddy's Dance Dock
When: 6:00 tonite [28 Feb 2022 18:00 SLT]
Dj Kith's HOT Kountry!! WAIT!! WHUUUTTT???? Kith and Country in the same sentence?? LOL! It's no secret that Country is probably DJ Kith's least favorite musical genre! Knowing that little fact....the Blues Tribe has encouraged...umm...suggested..well...FORCED him to leave his comfort zone of the other 6000 genres and spin the hottest country tunes ever at Hot Daddy's tonite! Kith is an incredible DJ and makes every genre of music his very own and there is no doubt that even the biggest Country outsider, even Kith, will walk away tonite loving this music! Kith will bring us the very biggest hits from the hottest country artists and really, no matter what the genre...we love DJ Kith! Come one down to the ranch..I mean the Dock and join in the ho-down in your favorite country clothes and get Kountri-fied with DJ Kith!
wyldwoodbayou.com:8002:Hot Daddys

Harmony Beningborough: Absolutely LOVING this KOUNTRY party!! Like I knew you would Kith, you ROCKED IT!!!! You got KOUNTRY in your blood! LOL!! 3 years ago
Mardi Gras deuxième partie!! (Mardi Gras Part 2!! ) DJ Riker and DJ Rachel! Starting at 6:00!
Where: Wyldwood Events 3 N'Awlins District, French Quarter, Bourbon Street
When: Saturday night starting at 6:00PM! [26 Feb 2022 18:00 SLT]
It's Saturday Night!! What better place to go on a Saturday night than Rockin' the Bl;ues' MARDI GRAS!!! Ohh as usual...we are having more fun than should be legal!! Mardi Gras opened last night, and we hope you were there but whether you were or not....We are partying in the streets again tonite with our 2 awesome DJs Riker and Rachel! The streets are ALIVE with color and music in N'Awlins here on Wyldwood Bayou and tonite these DJs will spin the most fun Mardi Gras tunes and blues you have ever heard! We've got the Jambalaya and Gumbo simmering, the Beignets baking, and the King Cake frosted for your partying pleasure! Costume is the best way to make the most of Mardi Gras in any world or you can come as you are but DO wear your dancing shoes because I can tell you...You're gonna need them! "Laissez les bons temps rouler"!! See you there!! DJ Riker at 6:00! DJ Rachel at 7:30!
wyldwoodbayou.com:8002:Wyldwood Events 3

Kith Whitehawk: DJ Rachel is on stage now!!!! This party is ROCKIN'!! Come on down!!!! 3 years ago

shasiya dynasty.farm: NEW HUCOW milking sys 3 years ago
Bienvenue à Mardi Gras (Welcome to Mardi Gras 2022!!) de DJ Macy and DJ Kith, tonite starting at 6:00!
Where: Wyldwood Events 3 French Quarter Bourbon Street N'Awlins District
When: Opening Party tonite at 6:00 to 9:00! [25 Feb 2022 18:00 SLT]
It's the party we have been waiting a whole year for!! MARDI GRAS!! Wooohooo! Wyldwood Bayou is based on New Orleans, and what's the biggest event there every year? Mardi Gras! And NO ONE celebrates Mardi Gras the way Rockin' the Blues does!! Tonite, DJ Macy and DJ Kith open Mardi Gras with their most fun and festive tunes of the year! Cajun and Zydeco with some seriously awesome blues...just the way they do it in New Orleans! The way to have the most fun at Mardi Gras is to dress up but you can come as you are! Mardi Gras costumes are flamboyant and colorful....as flamboyant and as colorful as the Blues Tribe themselves! Eat King Cake, sip absinthe! Dance in the street the New Orleans way! We love Mardi Gras and we love you! Come and be prepared to experience Mardi Gras as if you were really there! Guaranteed...this is as close as you can get to the real thing! See you there! "Laissez les bons temps rouler"!!
DJ Macy at 6:00! and DJ Kith at 7:30!
wyldwoodbayou.com:8002:Wyldwood Events 3

Harmony Beningborough: Wooohooo! DJ Macy is ready to open Mardi Gras!!! Everyone come on down! Rockin' the Blues' Mardi Gras Celebration is bigger and brighter than ever this year! :) 3 years ago
Flying the Ukrainian flag on the Brand New 100 Sim Fun Region.
Also standing with you at this terrible time.

I will be posting more about the new Completely modified Adventure Bay region
which includes FemDom City. Stay tuned. More to come.

Michelle Hartley: I have just updated the original picture to show the colors of the Ukraine covering the front of the Adventure Bay Welcome Building. 3 years ago

Next....: Ma Unichorn....with baby, of course ;)

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