Cameras and Observers

The camera men, tracking the changes happening on the dumpster site.

There are as many as 3 camera men controlling and recording the trash deposit and trash decay, if SL isn't failing or they fall asleep. They sit in various corners and at different heights and provide company for all visitors to the dump site.

camera_man_004.jpg
Camera Alter is the oldest of all camera men. Overseeing the dumpster from the southeast corner the perspective is from above, capturing most of the action happening on the site. Being the loneliest and the highest of all camera man, no movements can be observed suspended motionless in midair.

camera_camel_w.jpg
Camera Camel sitting very low pretty much underground, only the camera sticks out. Every minute a photo is being taken, followed by a shutter sound while both hands go up as an indicator of the action.

blinker_portra.jpg
Camera Blinker sitting higher up and looking West over the Dumpster site. This observer is the most infrequent one to spot as a camera man.

None of them will respond as they are just sitting there without comments or duties. We only exploit their vision without controlling them.

Jan 8th, a conversation, coincidentally recorded by Camera Camel

The offspring concept mentioned on Dec 28th didn't work, only in theory and in preliminary tests did it function. For some inexplicable reasons as soon as it should work in a real-life situation, it doesn't. Why? The only way to test this is to sit and wait the actual amount of time until the object is decayed, as in the simulated short time version it always works fine. So until now we had been waiting, but still there is no over-sized bee or nuclear reactor offspring coming out of a wheel. But again, as we have to find ways to reduce waste, this is just a side project.

Currently the dumpster is being filled up by a variety of visitors, some regularly and some infrequent. Many of them don't drop the decay script on their objects which will eventually lead to problems with the prim numbers.

What is the dumpster?
One of the advantages of the camera men just became apparent today, when Evryonesfriend Dojoji and Josephtd Hobble arrived at the dumpster and had a conversation about their impressions. By chance the conversation took place pretty much in front of Camera Blinker and went like this:

<hi #808000>[17:09] Evryonesfriend Dojoji: so whatcha think?
[17:09] Josephtd Hobble: prety cool
[17:10] Evryonesfriend Dojoji: this one has tons of scripts to look at
[17:10] Josephtd Hobble: is this where everything goes when u emty ur trash
[17:10] Evryonesfriend Dojoji: this is where evrything people voluntarily drop and dont destroy goes
[17:10] Evryonesfriend Dojoji: so ya, this is the trash bin of SL
[17:14] Josephtd Hobble shouts: hey a pool table</hi>


Jan 16th 2008

Another conversation Camera Camel had recorded, it is a bit cryptic and hard to understand, but below is an image of the two. This is an excerpt the entire dialog can be found here.
It is true that Camera Camel is halfway buried underground and that neither one of the camera men shows their face as the head is stuck inside the camera box.

<hi #808000> [14:01]…
[14:11] Nereida Reina: are u taken photos?
[14:11] Katherina Kanto: no
[14:11] Katherina Kanto: i am not
[14:11] Nereida Reina: is him
[14:11] Katherina Kanto: i thought it was u
[14:11] Katherina Kanto: him?:??
[14:11] Katherina Kanto: who??
[14:11] Nereida Reina: camera camel
[14:12] Katherina Kanto: what is that?
[14:12] Nereida Reina: a person
[14:12] Nereida Reina: whit a camera
[14:12] Katherina Kanto: where is him??
[14:12] Nereida Reina: again
[14:12] Nereida Reina: he is there
[14:13] Katherina Kanto: go to the mall and then tpt, please
[14:13] Nereida Reina: go to the shop

</hi>

But at least sometimes someone recognizes their attendance and wants to communicate with them, as happened with Vanda Hawker who was recorded during the same time.

<hi #808000>[17:10] Vanda Hawker: come down and talk to me
[17:11] Vanda Hawker: Camera Camel. Can u take out five minutes to chat?

[16:06] Vanda Hawker: Yo Camera: What's up? It seems u r always busy.
[16:12] Vanda Hawker: Hey I am lonely. No one wants to talk to me…
</hi>

It doesn't make much sense so, as they are just passive recorders. Sometimes we feel we abuse them and exploit their helplessness, but then again, when asked they won't respond.
One of them, Camera Blinker discovered a way out of there and became something of a flying eye. We don't know how this happened, but one day that's what he was.

Jan 18th 2008

There is something strange about those camera men. They are there and they are not there. Through their eyes we have access and surveillance of the dump, but they don't respond the way a surveillance camera does (except maybe for tracking movements).
Yet if something happens and we happen to see it through the eyes of the camera men, we can be there instantly. So we are there as much as we are not there. Right?

<hi #808000> [22:22] Sanjen Destiny: Uh.
[22:26] Sanjen Destiny: Stuck? Or do you just have a strange sense of entertainment.
</hi>

Our new bodies inhabit this duality of presence and representation of absence, yet we have to be present at the site of the camera men's transmission.

Jan 27th 2008

When skipping through the recordings of the camera men and in particular the ones taken by Camera Camel, it becomes apparent how many visitors are not ashamed to get naked in front of a camera.
Why go to a dumpster to do so?
The trash we find might be able to tell us why. Most of them leave the packaging of their new and usually sexy cloth on the dump.

camera_man.txt · Last modified: 2016/02/15 21:12 (external edit)
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