HiPiHi 50012sp1, no, thank you! - 我非常感谢你，我目前没有兴趣hipihi

Two days ago I received a message from HiPiHi.

They still do not know that I cannot read Chinese...

亲爱的HiPiHi居民们：

为了给大家提供更为稳定和优质的服务，公司在2008年3月20日00.00进行服务器机房的迁移，预计将在3月21日08:00对外重新运营。

重新运营后，旧的客户端将不再可用，请您立刻下载新的客户端。 下载点>>>

或点击以下链接直接下载：
http://www.hipihi.com/download/HiPiHi_world_50012sp1.exe
为此给广大用户带来的不便我们表示歉意，感谢您的支持与理解，谢谢。

如对以上问题有疑议，请发送EMAIL至support@hipihi.com
友情提示：请先删除旧的客户端后，再安装新版本客户端。

HiPiHi 团队
2008.3.20


Is it so difficult to send English messages to foreigners...?

I started the upload of the file this night at 1:00am before going to bed, it said that it would need about 6 hours to finish and here is what I got this morning when looking at the upload manager...

9:00am

11:00am

2:00pm

No need to say that I cancelled the upload.


长征, sorry, The Long March is still the only way to reach the podium of the next Virtual Games.

Beware the ides of March.
William Shakespeare, "Julius Caesar", Act 1 scene 2
Greatest English dramatist & poet (1564 - 1616)

Je hais les modes d'emploi (bis) ou L'enfer de l'information ordinaire par Christian Morel

Il y a quelque temps je déclarais ma haine féroce des modes d'emploi et voila que je tombe dans le Télérama de cette semaine sur un article faisant l'éloge du livre de Christian Morel, L'enfer de l'information ordinaire : Boutons, modes d'emploi, pictogrammes, graphisme, informations, vulgarisation.

Prémonition?

Je n'avais aucune connaissance de ce livre jusqu'à présent, mais je pense que doit flotter dans l'inconscient collectif cette hantise du "mode opératoire" illisible qui nous fait penser que nous sommes des débiles profonds qui essayent maladroitement de sauver les apparences.

Cet article de Télérama écrit par Nicolas Delesalle aurait pu être écrit par moi, mais si nous sommes tous deux sur la même longueur d'onde en ce qui concerne le fond, il m'est bien supérieur quant à la forme.

Et en plus il titre "C'est du chinois", ce qui me fait penser qu'il va me falloir aller voir du côté de HiPiHi, car ils ont diffusé à tous les résidents (je rappelle à mes nombreux lecteur que j'ai trois avatars qui sommeillent là-bas...) un service pack que je meurs d'envie de télécharger sur mon ordinateur.

Mais Daneel m'a un peu refroidie avec son dernier post et je ne sais pas si je ne vais pas attendre après les prochains Jeux Olympiques avant d'aller faire un tour de côté de la Grande Mur...aie!

Non décidemment, les modes d'emploi ce n'est pas mon fort, alors quand ils sont écrits en chinois, ça devient vraiment de l'hébreu.

Un marché est la combinaison des comportements de milliers de personnes répondant aux informations, à la désinformation et à leurs caprices.
Kenneth Chang

That's it, that's HiPiHi!

The solution is so simple...
I only needed to right-click on my album, choose 'Open the link in a new window' and copy the link of the new page (http://www.flickr.com/photos/sofianmannonen/sets/72157603542714589/)
Now I can show you my album where I store all my picks about HiPiHi

All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence; then success is sure.
Mark Twain, Letter to Mrs Foote, Dec. 2, 1887
US humorist, novelist, short story author, & wit (1835 - 1910)

HiPiHi version 40013

Last night I fancied having a walk in HiPiHi before going to bed, but surprise! a new version was available and I had to upload it.
I clicked on the left button, I will never know what the right one was for.
upload

At first the upload seemed to be performed, very slowly, with this little enigmatic box, my Installation file remaining "silent", so I went downstairs to watch a movie in my lounge while the small bar made its way.
strange upload

Almost two hours later I could launch the "normal" installation.
very strange upload

First attempt: failure!
But I am used to that and I am not so easily discouraged.
no response from the server

After two failures the third attempt is the good one, even if I still have this naughty message.
As always I can't see anything, so I go in my system settings and choose 'Clear' instead of 'Normal' image, and that's all.
no response again

As I do not have much time I only want to see if the inventory problems are fixed.
Apparently they are, I can open all the folders now and I can rez all objects without freezing my whole computer with a memory overrun.
The first folder in the Backpack (what we name Inventory in Second Life) is dedicated to several rocky forms and a statue (actually an Easter island statue)
first folder

In the second folder, where there are plenty of items, you can find all you need to decorate your home surroundings, or build a Museum, or a Theatre, or whatever you want to build anyway.
second folder

second folder bis

second folder ter

The third folder contains what you need for inside your home, but I must admit that the TV set is really imposing...
third folder

In the fourth folder you get a jungle with live and dead vegetation, the colors are really bright and diversified.
fourth folder

Your home is in the fifth folder with some outdoor equipment.
fifth folder

In the sixth folder you get the Chinese army surplus, some advertising outfits and various means of transportation such as a kind of gondola.
sixth folder

There are two isolated items at the end of the list.
The first one is a little blinking plaque where you can read HiPiHi; in my previous visits I remarked that I could teleport with this plaque to one specific location, maybe a HiPiHi help center, but now my repeated clicks do not give any result.
The second item is a small green arrow that disappears when you close the edit window and reappears when you open it again...
two last objects

I don't know what really these two items are for, but I will be more cautious in the future, because after having tried several times to click on them, here is the apparent result:
cleaning the place
Maybe I should read the documentation...?
Anyway it's not a problem so far as I intended to clean the place before building my own world on my land.
my new surroundings
The question is: how long will it last...?

Always be wary of any helpful item that weighs less than its operating manual.
Terry Pratchett

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Dégoutée...

Marre, marre et plus que marre!
J'ai voulu aplanir un morceau de mon terrain afin de pouvoir passer car j'étais bloquée, et voilà le résultat!la maison volante
Tout mon terrain est maintenant plat comme une limande et ma maison flotte dans les airs!
Cela fait deux terrains arasés par mes soins, si vous avez du nivellement à faire chez vous vous pouvez m'appeler, je fais ça en un tour de main.
J'avais dit que je ferais une trève mais je crois que là ça y est, les chinois ont fini de m'achever, leur système est vraiment trop compliqué pour moi, et ce n'est pas uniquement du fait de leurs idéogrammes, eux au moins il ont une certaine esthétique et c'est plutôt distrayant de découvrir ce qui se cache derrière.
Peut-être que je suis trop bien habituée à la (relative) facilité de création dans Second Life et comme une enfant gâtée je m'imagine naïvement que tout va être aussi facile partout.
Erreur, erreur...
Vous qui pensez galérer dans Second Life quand vous n'arrivez pas à formater et aligner vos objets, alors venez faire un tour dans HiPiHi afin de relativiser un peu vos déboires.
Et dire qu'ils ont construit la Grande Muraille...
Au fait, en parlant de Grande Muraille, est-ce que quelqu'un sait s'il y en a une reproduction "chez nous"?
J'espère que non, les copies c'est pas mon truc et je ne suis guère intéressée par les Paris bis et Amsterdam bis que l'on peut trouver sur SL.
A part Dublin bis, oui mais là il y a de la bonne bière.

C'est au pied du mur que l'on voit le mieux le mur.
[Jean-Marie Bigard]
Extrait du sketch Les Proverbes chinois

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Une nouvelle chinoise en perspective

Ainsi donc Ann, tu as décidé de me rejoindre dans HiPiHi alors que je me proposais d'abandonner (temporairement) ces lieux inhospitaliers.
Je me réjouis d'avoir une agréable compagnie même si, je te préviens, nous ne pourrons pas faire là tout ce que nous avons l'habitude de faire dans Second Life.
Je veux parler bien sûr de faire les boutiques, tu avais compris.
En Chine tout est bien plus "rustique" qu'aux States (pour combien de temps...?) mais l'intérêt est justement là: de grands espaces inexplorés, le silence, la solitude...
Afin de t'éviter de t'arracher les cheveux au départ, voici quelques petits conseils d'amie.

Tout d'abord, si tu ne veux pas que ton avatar soit une silhouette décharnée, toute noire et sans tête, tu dois modifier tes paramètres de langue (eh oui, tu vas en Chine et là-bas c'est le chinois qui est parlé...)
Bon d'accord, après ce paramétrage tu vas certainement avoir des soucis avec quelques caractères, mais celà n'en sera que plus rigolo.

ORL
RPC

Ensuite, si tu ne veux pas que tes principaux boutons de commande soient en idéogrammes chinois, ce qui rendrait tes aventures encore plus délicates (certains diraient intéressantes...), tu dois opérer un petite modification dans un fichier.
Cherche le dossier HiPiHi dans Program Files et va dans Local Settings.
Tu dois avoir 1 au lieu de 0 (ou -1 quelques fois)

Pour changer ce paramètre, ouvre le fichier avec le Notepad, remplace le 0 par 1, puis sauvegarde et ferme le fichier.

LS

Dernier réglage à faire si je ne m'abuse: va dans le dossier Compatibilité des Propriétés de HiPiHi et coche la case Désactiver les services de texte avancés pour ce programme que tu trouveras dans les Paramètres de saisie tout en bas de la fenêtre.


properties

Evidemment je te dis tout cela en français alors que tu as tes informations en allemand sur ton ordinateur, mais je ne doute pas que tu sauras les traduire sans difficulté.
Si j'ai oublié quelque chose ou dit une grosse bêtise je pense que mon ami Daneel me corrigera, il a lui même fait un article dans son blog qui m'a beaucoup aidé à démarrer (voir Bien débuter avec HiPiHi)

Quand tu arriveras enfin dans HiPiHi tout ne sera peut-être pas gagné, il te faudra encore batailler un peu...
Tu risques d'abord de ne pas te voir ni de voir les autres avatars, dans ce cas pas de panique, essaye ce qui suit:
Tu vas dans System settings (le bouton en bas à droite) et tu cherches le dossier Image.
Là tu as 3 choix de définition: Clear, Normal et Vague, essaye alternativement les deux premiers et ça devrait marcher!
image settings

image settings bis

Enfin fais-toi une première amie, moi en l'occurence, en me cherchant dans...Search!
search me

Tu verras mes infos en chinois et un peu en anglais (ne te fie pas à mon âge, c'est pour tromper l'ennemi...) et tu pourras te téléporter chez moi, cool non?


A+:-)

Je suis abasourdi par le nombre de personnes qui veulent "connaître" l'univers alors qu'il est déjà suffisamment difficile de se repérer dans le quartier chinois de New York.
[Woody Allen]

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HiPiHi: end of the episode

Time to say good-bye to HiPiHi.
This morning I made a last try but it was hopeless...
Since I uploaded the new version I have been having problems with creating objects, my computer does not like that and it goes on strike, occupying my memory for its own and entire usage.
I am now fed up with closing and reopening the application with always the same result.
Yet I removed the old version, I checked several times my hard disk, including a defragmentation that was not really necessary according to Mr XP.
Always the same outcome, many time dedicated to this issue, too much time indeed and without any idea if this problem can be solved at all (maybe it's not my computer that is in question...)

Anyway, I decided before leaving to pay a visit to Daneel, I also hoped to be able to see wangxiang's island, and...
Daneel's place
As I am curious I wanted to see on the map where Daneel was located.
Well, we are not really neighbors...
the map
I wanted to take a snapshot of the house and its surroundings, but the map that I had previously shooted was still here in the middle of the pick...
This kind of detail is really upsetting in the long run.
damned map
After several attempts the map has gone and I can show you the whole panorama.
new Venice?
I hope Daneel has got a bathsuit in his backpack.
or future Atlantis?

Everyone is necessarily the hero of his own life story.
John Barth
US novelist & short story author (1930 - )

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Some news from HiPiHi

Last Sunday evening (December 9th), before coming back to Basle, I wanted to have another "short" visit in HiPiHi.
Actually I stayed a little more than I expected...
My aim was indeed to register my "real" name, Sofian, so as to have the same one as in Second Life.
Sofian's first visit

When arriving my first idea was to pay a visit to my "sister" Sofi, but unfortunately it was Antlantis city and only the HiPiHi plaque was proving that someone was one day residing here.
at Sofi's

Nearby I found a land in the mountain and I "bought" a parcel with hills and hollows.
Sofian's settlement

I didn't try to "terraform" my land as I still does not understand how it works...
Sofi made an attempt and she only succeeded to flatten her land!
The red segments are fine and surely useful, but nothing happens when I titillate them.
Perhaps I should use chopsticks...?
terrain

Some statues from Easter Island are available in the backpack, so I used them to demarcate my territory.
SE corner

NE corner

NW corner

SW corner

A 10000-square meters surface is a good one, and for free, you only have to apply and that's all!
I have no idea if we are limited with the number of prims as we are in SL, it looks like we can put on our land as many objects as we want.

Now, here are some snapshots directly taken from HiPiHi, with some strange effects as you will see...

I wanted first to come into HiPiHi with the French language in Regional Options, only to see the result as I was informed about some odd outcomes.
black avatars

black and headless

Thrilling isn't it?

Now when I restaured my previous parameters the result was a little more comforting.
Of course I was always dunk in immense sea, but at least I had human form.
Lost, but with good-looking lost appearance.
with Chinese language

Well lost is maybe not the exact term, can we be lost if we are two in the same situation? And after all we have the map.
another lost avatar?

Anyway floating in HiPiHi is an experience that you should live at least one time in your whole second life.
The lapping is really relaxing, you feel in another dimension, in case you wouldn't know that you already are in another world.
under water

Uh-oh you should recognize this one, don't tell me you don't.
Sofi's only remaining item

Now on my new land...
Sofian's land

...and with my landmarks.
erecting landmarks

Admiring the moon above the remote mountains that can't be reached (the moon and the mountains, although I am not sure if we can't go onto the moon...)
on the balcony

I often have problems with the snapshots, they seem to stay sometimes in the "paperboard" and are not systematically crushed by a new one; I already noticed this problem with the copy/paste function when I wanted to translate some Chinese words by transferring them in Google: in the chat area my previous copied words were unpleasantly interferring with what I was writing.
imbricated snapshots

Adding objects is not really difficult, you only have to be very patient...
Furthermore, some folders can't be opened, which is rather frustrating.
adding mossy rocks

I am happy with the result, not with the snapshot (I can't control my camera as I would like to do) but with the house and its immediate surroundings that I spent almost two hours to achieve.
OK some of you would have finished in ten minutes what I did in two hours, it's not a reason to laugh your funny arse off.
the house is finished

Maybe you think you already have seen this one?
Look at closer and tell me which are the seven differences with the other one.
misty landscape

I am pretty proud of this one, unfortunately I noticed too late the message from HiPiHi, but never mind, it's funny to see my remote landmark hovering over the top of the hill...
overview

Actually you must know that there are earthquakes in HiPiHi, land is moving and when you put an object somewhere you cannot be sure that you will find it at the same place half an hour later.
land is moving...

Anyway it has no importance at all, all this is doomed to destruction and evaporation with each version upgrade...
Today all is gone and I will have to rebuild my house.
I am not complaining, all this is virtual and my real house is still upright.
Not everybody in the world have my fortune.

Nothing travels faster than the speed of light with the possible exception of bad news, which obeys its own special laws.
Douglas Adams, "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy"
English humorist & science fiction novelist (1952 - 2001)

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