Typos of the Week, June 28 through July 4

10. [18:28] JoshuaStephen Schism: smooth cirmisn'a;

9. [19:40] Ireland Nirvana: ELtong JOnn

8. [12:40] Geoff Novi: Amarmaix

7. [22:38] Lotus Ceriano: abomnablew
[22:38] Browman Griffith: abonibble
[22:38] Thornton Writer: abdominable
[22:38] Stevie Llanfair: Aboninable

6. [19:24] Olmstead Fanshaw: whati schernoboy;

5. [2009/07/03 17:34] Chaddington Boomhauer: nitgoerne

4. [19:39] Sal Zulaman: What is paiulanfi

3. [2009/06/28 19:49] Mako Kungfu: what is scnadla

2. [13:53] Maelstrom Janus: pterodactylsd
[13:53] Laertes Parx: ptsrodcatyl
[13:53] Cully Andel: ptesdadat

1. [19:08] Biker Galthie: frachw sc9tt ie67]

Samantha Poindexter hosts strip trivia Friday nights at 8pm SLT in Rhianna sim.

10. [06:27 PM] Billy2Times Krams: 6. "AS HE CAME INTO THE WINDOW
IT WAS THE SOUND OF A CRESCENDO
HE CAME INTO HER APARTMENT
HE LEFT BLOODSTAINS ON THE CARPET"
[18:28] JoshuaStephen Schism: smooth cirmisn'a;
=> SMOOTH CRIMINAL

9. [2009/06/29 19:40] Trin McMinnar: Clue 1: Born Reginald Kenneth Dwight on 25 March 1947.
[19:40] Ireland Nirvana: ELtong JOnn [or eL-Jo, as he's going by now]
=> ELTON JOHN

8. [2009/06/28 12:40] Lebn Bucyk: It was probably the native language of Jesus
[12:40] Geoff Novi: Amarmaix [he spoke it in France]
=> ARAMAIC

7. [2009/07/04 22:38] Lette Ponnier: What synonym for horrible is also often used to describe the Yeti?
[22:38] Lotus Ceriano: abomnablew [blue Yeti]
[22:38] Browman Griffith: abonibble [edible Yeti]
[22:38] Thornton Writer: abdominable [Yeti with a six-pack]
[22:38] Stevie Llanfair: Aboninable [YILF]
=> ABOMINABLE

6. [2009/06/28 19:23] Honey Potez: 1986 NUCLEAR EXPLOSION IN THE UKRAINE (CITY)
[19:24] Olmstead Fanshaw: whati schernoboy; [Blasted with radiation at a young age, Nik Blonsky soon developed supernatural superpowers! Now he fights crime. He is... Schernoboy!]
=> WHAT IS CHERNOBYL

5. [2009/07/03 17:34] Cinna Xaris: 18 - THE TYPE OF GRASS KNOWN AS KENTUCKY BLUE GRASS IS SLOWED BY HIGH CONCENTRATIONS OF WHAT CHEMICAL ELEMENT IN THE SOIL OR FERTALIZER?
[2009/07/03 17:34] Chaddington Boomhauer: nitgoerne
=> NITROGEN

4. [2009/06/28 19:39] Honey Potez: 1989 ARTIST WITH THE #1 HIT "STRAIGHT UP"
[19:39] Sal Zulaman: What is paiulanfi
=> WHAT (OR WHO) IS PAULA ABDUL

3. [2009/06/28 19:49] Honey Potez: (GROUP) "The Warrior" September 22, 1984
[2009/06/28 19:49] Mako Kungfu: what is scnadla
=> WHAT IS SCANDAL

2. [2009/06/29 13:53] Mako Kungfu: Q. In 1971, Hammer Films put out a teaser poster for a film in which Zeppelins battle against WHAT extinct flying reptiles?
[13:53] Maelstrom Janus: pterodactylsd
[13:53] Laertes Parx: ptsrodcatyl
[13:53] Cully Andel: ptesdadat
=> PTERODACTYL

1. [19:08] Trin McMinnar: The Star-Spangled Banner was written by?
=> [19:08] Biker Galthie: frachw sc9tt ie67] [if you were trying to decipher this, just put your right hand on the row of keys above where they're supposed to be, and two-thirds of the typo will suddenly make sense]
FRANCIS SCOTT KEY


I'd also like to give an honorable mention to this one:
[18:28] Rach Borkotron: smth cifkjDFSHL;dsj'

It's also "Smooth Criminal," like Josh's at #10, but it was such a disaster that I had to ask Rach if it were deliberate. Obviously, it would defeat the purpose of the typo feature to use intentional "typos." She assured me that it was genuine up until the caps lock kicked in, but thereafter it was indeed a joke. Either way, it had me snickering.

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Event Profile: Charitable Bliss

I'll start by confessing that I put off checking out Charitable Bliss because the L$15-per-question payout did not constitute an especially persuasive pitch. And to be sure, with only around fifteen questions during the game, this is not the event to go to if you're trying to pay your rent. But curiosity won out, and as it turns out, the event fills a particular niche that might appeal to people hoping to ramp up their trivia karma.

In many ways, this is a pretty standard game: the questions follow broad themes (I was there for flag trivia and for television trivia), and as at Destiny's, longtime players will find them familiar; the crowd is perfectly nice and the music perfectly enjoyable; the sploder is perfectly splodery.

Charitable Bliss's distinguishing element, though, is right there in its name. This club's events are all geared toward raising money for the real life charities they support, currently the Breast Cancer Foundation and Autism Speaks. The club provides several means of contributing to these causes. You can donate money directly, of course, at displays on the premises. If you'd like something for your trouble, however, you can purchase women's clothing priced at L$25 per item provided by QT Clothing, including lingerie, casual apparel, and breast cancer ribbon pasties. Finally, if you'd really like some bang for your buck, you can participate in the ongoing silent date auctions for members of the staff, both male and female. Receipts on the walls indicate that they've managed to raise approximately US$65 for St. Jude and US$90 for Big Brother/Big Sister in recent months, which calculates to over L$40,000 in contributions.


Bliss's other main feature is to hook people up. From owner Jasmina Kline's description: "Looking for a date? Or true love? Charitable Bliss is here to help. People from all over come to our club to find true love. Whether it be a blind date, a charity date auction, or just to hit on the dancers. Everyone is welcome." (As an aside, this makes me want to conduct a dual interview with Jasmina and David Tuck, the other club owner on the circuit who aspires to be matchmaker to the masses.) So if courting members of your preferred sex(es) through out-answering, out-smartassing, or out-typoing them (or letting them do the same to you) hasn't been working out for ya, then maybe they can be of assistance over that-a-way.

As far as the trivia itself goes, as I said, there are no bells or whistles, no gimmicks, no huge payouts or goofy costume themes. The events have live DJs and dancers (not the stripping kind as far as I'm aware). Jasmina begins the game at half past the hour and moves at a brisk but not rushed pace thereafter. Both times I was there, the questions wrapped up in under 45 minutes. The time slot coincides with Double Standards' usual weekday slot, but the trivia is scheduled only two days a week, Mondays and Thursdays, so that with DS's currently abbreviated schedule, only one of those days poses a conflict.

Sample questions from the TV theme event:

[2009/06/29 16:39] Jasmina Kline: Q: What company was the original sponsor of I Love Lucy?


[2009/06/29 16:45] Jasmina Kline: Q: What is NBC's longest running soap opera?

[2009/06/29 17:05] Jasmina Kline: Q: What popular TV personality claims he was once fired as a weekend TV weatherman for describing a storm as having "hailstones the size of canned hams"?

Drop in at Charitable Bliss if you get a hankering for it, but take note that if my previous visits are any indication, the trivia will likely happen between 4:30 and 5:15, so don't arrive at 5:00 expecting a full hour to go. Those who are not specifically there for the trivia will still be around, and they're certainly fun to hang out with, but in case that's not you, just saving you that potential disappointment. I began with the admission that I am a bit of a payout snob, but after learning of Charitable Bliss's non-profit focus, I felt humbled. If you need someplace better to drop your lindens than the latest hair mega-sale -- possibly the lindens you just won from Jasmina -- Bliss provides an option.


The Specs:
=> Location: Charitable Bliss, http://slurl.com/secondlife/Kensington/50/18/502
=> Times/Days: Mondays and Thursdays, 4:00 to 6:00pm SLT
=> Host: Jasmina Kline
=> Prizes: L$15 per question, 17 questions were asked the last time I was there

Answers to sample questions:
=> Philip Morris
=> Days of Our Lives
=> David Letterman

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Typos of the Week, June 21 through June 27

Small change to the format here this week. I've included the original questions for the ones I was there for. When you send me typos, if you send me the questions as well, I'll be happy to include them.

10. [17:36] Lette Ponnier: et to berute

9. [13:13] AnaMaria Quintessa: lisetine

8. [19:28] Cully Andel: firs id insturvoit

7. [20:04] Mongoose Chemistry: odillias

6. [20:06] Olmstead Fanshaw: clyudesda;e

5. [12:29] Gingo Gumbo: em porere

4. [12:35] Laertes Parx: ultrarioelt

3. [13:55] Trebor Shelman: bocyvle]

2. [20:22] Josie Hammand: bratkes

1. [18:28] Karmel Kips: lithe ampliufiacation dfeom stimulated emisstion of ratioatn

Laertes, me, and Ruth: Shakeys at Sharon's. (I'm trying to figure out why my photos get cut off on the right side, though... this framing is not meant in any way as a slight to Ruth!)

10. [17:36] Cully Andel: WHAT WERE THE ALLEGED LAST WORDS OF JULIUS CAESAR?
ET TU BRUTE (or as I apparently would have it, "and to Beirut!")

9. [13:12] Lebn Bucyk: The Great Pyramid is made of this sedimentary stone
LIMESTONE (but wouldn't it have been fun if it were made of Listerine?)

8. FIRST AID INSTRUCTOR

7. ILIAD & ODYSSEY (the producers are trying to save money by making one epic instead of two)

6. CLYDESDALE

5. [12:29] Lebn Bucyk: Amaterasu, the goddess of the sun, is said to be the ancestor of what modern personage?
EMPEROR

4. ULTRAVIOLET (as spoken by Scooby Doo)

3. BICYCLE

2. BEATLES (don't try to answer while craving potato pancakes)

1. [18:27] Cinna Xaris: 16 - WHAT DOES LASER STAND FOR?
LIGHT AMPLIFICATION BY STIMULATED EMISSION OF RADIATION (well, she spelled "stimulated" right anyway.. we know where her mind is)

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Announcements - Seeking Contributors

So y'all might have noticed (or maybe not) that my productivity has fallen in the past couple of weeks. I've also been cutting back on trivia time a little, so if you miss me at events that I used to come to religiously, it's because I have a dissertation that needs attention sometimes, too. :)

I've been meaning to ask this for a couple of weeks now, but I'm interested in getting additional contributors to this blog for two main reasons. First, because keeping up a regular posting schedule is time-consuming, and I kind of knew I wouldn't sustain the energy forever; and second, so my opinion doesn't get presented as quite so monolithic on those topics that are opinion-focused. My views are merely that, and it might be good to bring in some point-counterpoint.

If you're interested in blogging on this page, please contact me in-world, and we'll chat about what kind of stuff you want to write and how often you think you can contribute. If you even have just one article you want to post, I'm happy to talk with you about it. If I don't hear from anyone (or possibly even if I do), I'll probably begin asking different people around the trivia circuit to interview each other or something of the sort, just to get things mixed up around here a little bit more.

Thank ya much, and I'll see y'all around!

Typos of the Week, June 14 through June 20

10. [10:14] Maelstrom Janus: morrooocop

9. [10:19] Claudia Mefusula: napoliena

8. [9:51] Cully Andel: ni moisrute

7. [22:32] Biker Galthie: kaadggikoo

6. [19:35] Rekeorb Wezzog: got a machinehead begtter than ther ereatst

5. [20:01] Olmstead Fanshaw: what isd emopire statrtbj;ls
[19:42] Olmstead Fanshaw: whati staeche\

4. [10:31] Weniki Oh: beetlel baileuy
[10:31] Karmel Kips: bettel bnalit

3. [12:31] Lette Ponnier: kzahstan
[12:31] Lotus Ceriano: kaxzaksatn

2. [19:45] Rach Borkotron: shoiuld i give up or should i just keeseine pavementsp cha

1. [11:41] Starla Gurbux: clho0rlophil



10. Morocco
9. Napoleon
8. no moisture
7. kangaroo
6. Got a machinehead better than the rest
5. What is Empire Strikes Back/What is teacher
4. Beetle Bailey
3. Kazakhstan
2. Should I give up or should I just keep chasing pavements
1. chlorophyll

Up For Discussion: Timing

I observed not too long ago that most trivia games run at a pace of ten to twenty questions per hour, usually filling two-hour event blocks. There's a huge difference between these extremes in terms of how the rest of the time gets used. A good host can make a game enjoyable regardless of the amount of time between questions, and some games seem to drag regardless of actual pacing. And of course a critical factor is whether trivia is the only thing taking place at the event or if there are other activities keeping players occupied, like sploders and dancing.

I've occasionally heard people complain about the pace of slow games, whether it's about starting too late, waiting too long between questions, or sitting through a forty-minute intermission that was supposed to be fifteen. These complaints are rare among trivia regulars (besides the one about the forty-minute intermission, which is an ongoing joke), and pretty much only trivia newbies lack the tact to do it privately. But I've never heard anyone complain about a game moving too quickly, which makes me wonder why most hosts tend to opt for games with sparser question formats.

When I started doing impromptu trivias, I made it a point to try wrapping up the twenty questions within an hour (though bonus questions extend past that) because they take place in my garden, not at a club, and there's pretty much nothing else going on there except the trivia and watching the turtle walk around when I happen to have it rezzed. Also, the concept behind them recommends it: I'm asking people to come over at the last minute for trivia; I'm not going to make them wait for it.

There are reasons for slower pacing, though, and one of my other games -- Chaos Trivia/Truth or Dare -- falls at the other end of the spectrum for that, and a lot of effort goes into managing the pacing of this game for exactly that reason. There's much more going on at Chaos than trivia: when a player gets a question right, he or she wins the opportunity to challenge another player to a truth or dare. Some of these are quick (such as the dare to shout across the sim that you want to have sex with a chosen person), while some are much longer (those who put the most effort into the dare to IM something erotic to three people in the group tend to spend a lengthy chunk of time composing their messages).

My cohost Reke Wezzog and I try to move things along by paying attention to how much time is elapsing and by allowing people to complete longer dares while we continue asking questions, but much of the pacing depends on the players, the truths and dares involved, whether people are afk when they're challenged, whether a person completing a truth is a slow or a fast typist, the time it takes to find props for certain dares, etc. As a result, it's not unusual for ten or more minutes to go by between questions, though we try to keep it closer to five. In addition, I've recently begun turning my typing animation on while hosting Chaos specifically so that I don't appear to be silent or absent when I'm typing in between the times when something is more clearly taking place or when I'm answering a truth question. I started doing this when I noticed that players who use typing animation make it easier for us to gauge timing because we can tell if they're finished completing a truth or a chatty dare.

The point, though, is that the best pacing for a game is relative and hinges on a number of factors, at least when there are factors other than the trivia to take into account. Nonetheless, the questions remain: What's your pacing preference, both as players and as hosts? Does timing affect which games you choose to go to? If you host, are you conscious of pacing and/or did you use it as a factor in designing your game? If you prefer a more relaxed pace as a player, why?

Jasmina Kline hosting trivia at Charitable Bliss

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Event Profile: Destiny's Lounge

Yesterday, my efforts to attend new games brought me to a little place called Destiny's for a DJed event with dancing, sploding, and trivia hosted by Loraine Alter. What made the strongest impression on me there was the warmth and friendliness of the group. There were few familiar faces there and none who stayed from beginning to end, but the club's staff and regulars were very inviting and amiable. I had a nice time dancing and talking and will probably return sometime for that reason alone.

The event took place on a little "pirate bar" pier (if you've been to an event on Marine Park's Big Sky Bay sim -- the northern sim -- it's the same structure). DJ Mudge Ashbourne fed the stream, guests fed the sploder, we all clicked the dance kitty to boogie, and eventually the trivia kicked in. There were twenty questions with no particular theme, and for a correct answer, you had your choice of either L$20 or the opportunity to ask a staff member to remove one item of clothing. Since I didn't know any of the staff, it was an easy choice.

As for the questions... here's where I confess that I felt a little overexperienced there. There are some trivia events that attract a lot of very good players, and since we're a social group, too, we sort of gravitate toward each other and to those games. There are other events that seem to be more "grassroots," in a sense. A host at a club or a cafe decides to incorporate some trivia into the normal event. The regulars have fun with it, maybe one or two stand out and have a knack for it, but there's still a big difference between what this type of game is like compared to one in which a number of the players rely on trivia winnings as their primary (or only) source of income in SL.

When I go to those sorts of events, I find myself sitting on my hands a lot (to borrow a friend's favorite phrase). At this one, most of the trivia were questions I'd heard before, probably a couple of times each, a few of them word-for-word. I made it a point not to answer two in a row, and still I took enough of the questions that others at the event began commenting (though not enough to attract serious plinking). But like I said, they were very friendly people, and several invited me to come back and bring friends. Earlier today, I received a notecard from the host about the next event because it was to be at a different location and I didn't join the group for announcements. That kind of effort to reach out is impressive.

Sample questions:

[2009/06/15 13:25] Loraine Alter: What organization elects the 15 judges of the World Court?

[2009/06/15 13:35] Loraine Alter: What socialist writer's last words were: "Last words are for fools who haven't said enough"?

[2009/06/15 13:43] Loraine Alter: Who did Henry VIII have beheaded for witchcraft and adultery, along with her wolfhound?


The club was filled not with trivia sharks answering these questions but with people who just wanted to have a good time and one guy who evidently located Loraine's resource on the web and was copy/pasting the answers (correct spelling, everything capitalized, just the right amount of time between the question and his answer). I would be curious as to how the place would change if more hardcore trivia players came to take advantage of the friendly atmosphere and familiar question topics. Most of the regulars would likely get shut out of the running on the questions as the competition picked up, but I'm not certain whether the increase in attendance would make up for that, where the club is concerned. Are more people always a good thing if they change the whole vibe?

Of course, my profiling the event makes that more likely, though I'm not expecting a mass exodus, since other trivia events take place at that time of day. But if you're looking for a new crowd or a new setting, even just for a day, or if you would rather have a staff member (males and females were present) remove an article of clothing over taking lindens, check in with Loraine and all of Destiny's babes. You probably won't be humming the Jeopardy! theme song in your head on any of the questions, but the social atmosphere is as friendly as could be.

The Specs:
=> Time/Day: Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays, 12:00 to 2:00pm, though the trivia didn't start until nearly 40 minutes after the hour when I attended.
=> Location: Destiny's Lounge, http://slurl.com/secondlife/Darling/114/79/22 ... different events take place in different parts of the sim, so check your mini-map when you arrive and follow the green dots
=> Host: Loraine Alter
=> Prizes: L$20 per question for 20 questions, though you can elect to have a staff member remove an article of his or her clothing instead of the money

Answers to questions in the article:
=> United Nations
=> Karl Marx
=> Anne Boleyn