Home security orb -- is it necessary?

Another noobie question... I rent a home on someone else's property. I've read threads about people entering other peoples' homes, and I supposed stealing stuff?? Can they do that? Or can they not take stuff they don't "own?"

I already know my locked doors won't keep people out -- my SL gf showed me how someone can get in. Too easy. So she suggested a home security orb if I really felt like I needed one.

First question... Do I really need one?

If so, I have the following questions...

- Who makes the best one?
- Is one sufficient for a two-story tree-house-style home? So no land to protect, just the home.
- Can I set an access list so my gf can come and go without being on my landlord's access list?
- Can I hide the orb inside another object, such as a bed or a potted plant?

Thanks!

No you don't NEED one. Nobody can steal from your house. You can use one if you want to keep people out. HSS is pretty good and not expensive. You can find them on SLX.

Hey, they're better than using ban lines if they're resticted to the space within your home.

Most security orb devices can be set to different ranges, so you can set it for as small a range as you need. They tend to work in 3 dimensions like a sphere so if you set it to 20 meters it will be a 20 meter sphere around the device.

They can be hidden inside of other things, and if the prim itself is modifyable you can reshape and retexture it all you like.

Most of them have ways of configuring access, like a 'friend list' or a 'white list'. They usually have a 'black list' or 'enemy list' too

You mention a landlord - if your land is group owned, or your land is owned by someone other than yourself, this will be a problem. For a security orb to work right, it *must* be owned by the same owner as the land. That means it must be deeded to group if the land is group owned.

I won't say who makes the best because I have limited experience in that area.

As to whether you need one or not? Only you can answer that question. Nobody can steal your things though, and they can't vandalize your home or wreck up the place. If you don't mind the occasional stranger dropping in for a visit, then you probably don't really need one.

-Atashi

Nope, people can't steal your stuff unless the objects are set as 'free to copy'. Even if so they can't steal your original object, but they just get a copy of it. This has nothing to do with land access though but is only about how the permissons of your objects are set. You can right-click on the object, choose Edit from the pie-menu and check the permissons of your object.

Anyway, there's no need for a security orb unless you want to limit land access of the land for yourself and your friends only. If you rent land and are granted rights to change the settings of the access list you can use it instead (the same applies if you own land) but I don't recommend it personally as many don't like the red banlines that appear around the property when you use that access list. I think they look ugly and you tend to hit them when you fly. If you don't have rights to use the access list of the land parcel, you might have to buy a security system if you want to limit access.

I hope for a new way of limiting access though without any banlines around your property. You can read about this in this post:

/327/62/219981/1.html

I have one, because my landlord doesn't want us putting using the built in ban list functionality on the land. So it's there merely to boot anyone who comes by being an ass. So far, I haven't needed it.

No one can 'steal' stuf that is placed normally in your SL home. They might be able to buy it and take it if the item has mistakenly been set to 'sell original' at a low price. Or they may be able to use some exploit. But theft isn't the reason for using an orb. The big advantage is ensuring that no stranger interrups your private, intimate moments, and that no griefer can repeatedly attack you.

I have had good luck with both the Psyke's orb and the Omega Security Systems orb. The Omega system is my current preference, as you can restrict it's effect to a rectangular area within a parcel, without having to subdivide the parcel.

Any decent orb can be restricted to a specific radius of effect. So you could set it to a 15M radius and cover a two story tree house quite well. Good orbs can limit effect at parcel boundries as well, so they don't affect outside the parcel, even if the radius of effect is set beyond the parcel edges.

All orbs that I have seen will allow you to establish an access list (who can come and go), an admins list (who can control the orb), and a ban list (who is to be kept away). With the omega system, you also get two HUD's that allow you to control the system from anywhere in the sim, and often beyond, and you can give one of those HUD's to your girlfriend.

Orbs usually can be made invisible, so you don't have to stare at them. Some, like the Omega system, are a fairly low-key wall panel unit. Yes, you can hude them. Most are voice controlled and some can be controlled by a HUD.

I use an orb in lieu of ban lines...works great and I can add as many onto the OK list as I like. I can also turn it on and off easily.

I have a HomeSecurity Orb and I haven't ever really 'needed' it.

As everyone here has said...noone cane take your stuff.....the most that might happen is some new AV will wander into your house not really realizing there's such a thing as 'private property' in SL. LOL But, that said.... Orbs are very convenient and they work great and they're not as off-putting as those ban lines that everyone refers to. If you want some kind of peace of mind for those more private moments at home....Orbs are great.

It all depends really on how you view your SL home .... what kind of privacy is important to you...is it going to ruffle your feathers if someone wanders into your territory? Unless it's a griefer (in which case you'd need to let your LL know immediately) noone can really do you any harm. I've got to the point where I have my land & homes open to anyone...I really don't care...I'm hardly at my SL house...and what's the point of it if noone enjoys it anyway. So.. anyone can hang out at my house, in fact it makes me happy if I get an unexpected guest.

To answer your question:

Who makes the best home-security orb? Check out Psyke Phaton's products - they're some of the best out there for residential use.

No, someone can't steal items from your home. So 'theft' is not really a good reason to secure your parcel.

In a residential context, privacy is a common reason to want to turn on an Access List, or enable a home security orb.

Beware of the 'tragedy of the commons', however. Lots of folks come to SL to explore, and if everyone had their access list turned on, there'd be nothing to see.

Of course, as in individual, you have every right to enable an access list (aka whitelist) on your own property. Just consider what would happen if everyone did it to the maximum. Banlists are a very contentious issue in Second Life, and there opinions of every variety on the subject.

The moral of the story: Try to be a good neighbor. If you have to restrict your parcel for privacy reasons, try to be careful to be reasonable about it. IMHO, you're better off using a home security orb rather than an Access List, because orbs can be customized to fit your parcel, and give warnings to folks who may innocently pass by.

/me looks up, fluttering eyelids

Am *I* on your OK list, Freckles?

Thanks Travis, you just talked my out of it! I appreciate your comments.

I don't need one, don't want one, and hate it when other people use them. I'm not about to go snooping in someone's house, but if I accidentally cross over their property line, I get the world's rudest and scariest warning about getting kicked off the land in about 8 seconds.

Basically why we have one set up in our home.

I wish all SL residents followed commonsense good neighbor policies but, unfortunately there are a lot of boors in both worlds.

Case in point - we have a skybox on our rented land. The few times I have seen a name pop up on my Mysti AV radar before either leaving involuntarily or being sent away by our orb, I always pull up a profile.

Each time the profile lists a slew of sex/escort clubs. Ok...whatever.

However, once the person who flew into our range and hovered there a bit before being dispatched had THREE groups that were all (I'm not kidding) "voyeur groups" - inviting people to join who enjoyed being peeping Toms/Thomasinas.

As long as there are morons like that on SL, we will keep our security orbs.

I have the ultimate security orb.. I just don't do sex in SL.. if I were going to though, I'd just stick my ban lines up for the duration... my bed is in the center of my property, a far anough from every border that you wouldn't be able to hear me from outside my property.

I don't like voyeurs regardless what I am doing in the privacy of my home. In RL I can close the drapes. Unfortunately SL does not allow that same level of privacy.

lol, that's not the only reason to have them.

It does, but at a price. You have to get a private island.

I dont have one simply cause I don't mind people seeing my home, especialy since I'm currently using it as a base for my business as well.... but.. I also just realized I don't really do anything in my home lol.. I build, and hang out with someone every once in a while..

If you only want to eject (or ban) people who are being a pain, simply ask the land owner to grant you ejection and banning rights in the group (if you can deed objects to a group you already have those powers through scripts anyway so it wouldn't make sense not to grant them).

Eject/ban aren't clumsy or subject to lag if the sim is having a bad day and there won't be any unnecessary drain on the sim caused by a security orb. You also get freeze thrown in as a bonus .

If you do opt to go with an orb, get one that actually makes use of the land system by ejecting people (or tp'ing them home) instead of orbitting them and that puts them on the land ban list instead of simply adding them to the orb's list and then continually orbitting/ejecting them if they venture too close again.

My orb will teleport them home. At least that's what it says it will do.

I have yet to try it, but I think freezing the asshat, turning on damage, and then using a shotgun point blank would be way more fun. And leave a more lasting impression on the uninvited guest. Could one be AR'd for that?

yes? Maybe if you post warning signs....

Two little stories about why I have a security system.

1. I log in one evening to find a couple using my nice new sexgen bed. I ask them to leave. The guy says "#$%* you! Get out of here!" I point out that he is in my house using my bed... To which he responds "So what! Get the #$%# out of here, and leave us alone". At this point the girl TP's out, the guy starts getting really abusive about how I have now driven off his girlfriend.. *Freeze, Ban*.... More abuse.. *Mute*

After this and a few more morons I bought a weapons system.. I did not know about security systems yet..

2. My wife and I are having a nice private moment.. This guy uses the sit trick to get past the locked doors.. Walks into the bedroom and stands there watching us.. I tell him to leave.. He ignores that and asks to join us... I get a bit abusive myself and tell him to leave now! He says "No I am going to stay and watch, it is SL and I can do whatever I want!"... Whereupon I say "Your right!" *Freeze, cage, damage on, burn, then obit the burning body, ban, ignore*

Basiclly there are a lot of people wandering around that just don't get it.. Have zero respect for anyone else, and feel they have a "right" to do anything they want..

After this last episode I asked around and bought a good security system, and have used it ever since..

I was wandering the other day looking for a little more land (I cant stop!) and found a nice little plot.. to be promptly told I was going to be ejected by a neighbour's security orb. I hit ignore just cause I didn't feel like accepting it =P 10 seconds later I was told I had 15 seconds left to leave. 15 seconds later.. I was told the same thing. THat just kept happening. I even wandered into their land, and found an object to check owner of (Land set to group) to tell them both that it was overreaching its bounds and that it wasn't even working. She said that it was a problem the creator hadn't yet sent her a fix to...

So.. what was the point of having it active at all at that point?

Security orbs only provide an illusion of protection against voyeurs. If "Disable Camera Constraints" is selected under the Client menu, you can move your camera to any point within your draw distance--which can be set as high as your video card will let you.

BTW--"Disable Camera Constraints" is not in the system to facilitate voyeurism. It's extremely valuable when working on large builds and has applications in machinema, too.

I have a homebuilt security device that I turn on if I'm in residence and I want a bit of privacy. This means I don't need the much-maligned banlines. I actually enjoy visitors most of the time, apart from clueless noobs with freebie parts barging me about on my own land, or ignorant morons who can't be bothered to reply when I politely greet them.

I don't leave my security on if I'm away (unless I forget). I also have a couple of settings for it. Firstly, something more like a greeter, that lets a visitor know they are on private land (and lets me know someone is nearby). Secondly, escalating warnings that give an intruder reasonable time to leave before they are ejected.