[Source Code]Get a users profile picture

[/b]

I acknowledge first of all that there truly is much data about users we need to keep private (I work in the IT health industry in RL.) That being said, beyond that, it's quirky how even one person's definition of privacy will be inconsistent. The same person who objects to a photo of them, will then likely turn around and bore you to tears for hours with details of their personal life :} Ah, human foibles, even when they are electronic human foibles :}

Yep, this has already been suggested & discussed and I will implement such a system in the next version, probably end-March.

However, as this script is Open Source, there is no reason why you or anyone else can not do it and post the script here for all

http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/User:debbie_Trilling

Here's a rough sketch, not tested, just typed out in Windows notepad. Note only a sketch, so any purists who want to refine it, just do it! grin.

The question string can be refined of course. Maybe get a Microsoft lawyer to write it :}
_____________

integer Timeout = 10;
key ToucherID;
key ToucherID_Yes;
list MENU_MAIN = ["Yes", "No", "Cancel"];
integer CHANNEL_Dialog = -141415;
string MsgMainMenuHeader = "May we introduce you based on the picture and information in your profile?";
string URL_RESIDENT = "http://world.secondlife.com/resident/";

CancelListen() {
llListenRemove(listen_id);
llSetTimerEvent(0);
}

_________________________

default {
state_entry() {
// "";

}



collision_start(integer num_detected) {
listen_id=llListen(CHANNEL_Dialog, "", NULL_KEY, "";
ToucherID = llDetectedKey(0);
llSetTimerEvent(Timeout);
llDialog(ToucherID, MsgMainMenuHeader, MENU_MAIN, CHANNEL_Dialog);
}

listen(integer channel, string name, key id, string choice) {
if ( ( choice == "Cancel" ) || ( choice == "No" ) ){
CancelListen();
}
else if (choice == "Yes" {
CancelListen();
ToucherID_Yes = id;
llHTTPRequest( URL_RESIDENT + (string)ToucherID_Yes,[HTTP_METHOD,"GET"],"";

}
}

http_response(key req,integer stat, list met, string body) {
// as per already posted above
}


}

You can, but once you've asked, all the magic leaks out!

Ah, but what if you pose it as a Norma Desmond moment... have the question say, "Mr DeMille is waiting -- are you ready for your closeup? Just you, the cameras, and those wonderful people out there in the dark!"

At the gay dance clubs, the script would likely blow up with everyone wildly trying to click YES at the same time.

LOL (just kidding.)

Saddly true.

The laywers, their minions, advisors, admirers, clerks and kin would have all magic in the worlds replaced by permissions, regulation and legislation.

if LL ever releases the last name 'thing' I'll certainly be getting an alt and placing that quote in the profile =)

someone rezzed one of these in the sandbox the other day, and it was fun for a couple of minutes, until I was struck with one unnerving thought.. that even days later I still can not solve.


So you can show my profile pic.... Why would you WANT to?

I changed my profile pic and of course, it didn't update the display. (surely the search data is cached and probably takes several days to be respidered.)..

So.. what good is this technology? (aside from freaking out noobs with "ZOMG You stole my pic!"

There are many uses for this. Artists, entrepreneurs, club owners, store keepers, live concert performers and others the grid-wide are finding many innovative and creative uses for it.

Others are not trying to find a "use" for it; they are simply enjoying it. Because it is fun. The duration of that fun may differ from person to person, but nevertheless it is. Moreover, not everyone shares the same "unnerving thoughts" that kick-in to ruin that sense of fun.

Only once have I come across someone who's feels that the sole purpose for the technology is using it for " freaking out noobs with "ZOMG You stole my pic!".

Others have more positive contributions with which to use the technology.

My guess would be the usual, "Because they can." LOL

k.



"Because we can, LOL" seems to be the only GOOD use anyone I've talked to can find for this thing. it's like "yeap.. that's your pic.. right there.. there it is..." If it were dynamically updated that at least might be useful in an odd way (allowing people to use their profile pic as a sort of broadcasted whiteboard).. or some sort of graphical noteboard (I'm reminded of my old webcam pointed at a postit-pad that simply said "went to school".

I'm just not seeing much of a use for showing the pic, beyond "for the lulz" or "because it's possible". It's cool we can scour the search results for data, but I can't think of anything useful to do with this particular function.

I suppose you could do something with online status indicators and tipjars.. but the current use of the Profile Pic is pretty diverse (with some people using pics of friends and logos and things off the web, rather than pics of their actual avatars. And many many people have NO user pic set at all.) Like I say, I just don't see this being as useful as, say "submit a photo"... easier I guess, but as Rezzed.Net shows, if they don't have a pic set, bad things can happen if you rely on it without some kind of fallback to a default image if none is found.

So, any of you come up with uses for this that don't amount to "Because we can, LOL?" (+/- LOL)... I'm actually quite interested to know if anyone has thought up a PRACTICAL use for this.

But doesn't that kind of thing apply to pretty much every single object in Second Life? We don't need buildings, there is no weather and objects can hang in the air unsupported. Or furniture, because our avatars only pretend to use it. Or clothes, skin, hair, accessories, Ruth has that covered. Vehicles? We can walk, fly, teleport. Animations? An avatar can manage just fine in a T pose. Vendors only exist to exchange the stuff we don't really need. Scripts are only there to manipulate all this unnecessary stuff. It's a whole world made of parlor tricks, it's just something to accept as part of the package =)

Since Day1 (25/11/2007) it has never been promoted as anything other than a *toy*. So, no, the Damned Thing can not be forced into that limited slot that you appear to feel is necessary for something to justify its worth.



Precisely.
The history of art, science, innovation and technology is full of examples of creative and talented people doing things "because they can", with no thought for practical application, profit or other commercial use. These things normally follow on later, if at all.

But the "practical" and the "because they can" arguments miss the point entirely. It is a *toy* that many people enjoy, derive pleasure from and are happy to have, regardless of others' misgivings.

The possibility of a *toy* giving enjoyment, pleasure and happiness, no matter how brief or fleeting, is all the justification it needs of its worth, imo.

It is intended as *fun*. If someone doesn't see that & trys to force upon it attributes it was never designed to have, then they are likely to miss the point and get themselves tangled up in all sorts of silly "arguments"

I agree with the "because they can" point. And I wonder if the same rules that apply to the profile picture would apply to the profile text itself? As I understood it the issue with the texture was that the texture UUID was being extracted, which wouldn't normally be available anywhere, but surely anyone can read the text of someone's profile?

On the other hand I am rather sad to see what appears to be so much effort by scripters into finding breaks in the system that can be exploited to guarantee a near-exclusive market, rather than doing neat things that use the functions in the way they're intended to be used. How much effort did weapons makers put into finding the "crush" trick with twisted spheres, and that will all be wasted when Havok 4 finally arrives?

"I'm actually quite interested to know if anyone has thought up a PRACTICAL use for this."



... Like what?

Read the whole of this thread and you will get an idea of some of the things some people are doing.

And this thread: /54/1b/225692/1.html

Visit SLX and see the variations.

Are they "practical", in the sense of being useful or meaningful? Perhaps not, but why should they be?

Are they fun? Almost certainly...

Is the degree of innovation and creativity higher than the level of "freaking out noobs with "ZOMG You stole my pic!"? Yes; in every case

Ae these creations popular? Yes, definately

Does anyone have to justify the objects that they choose to create to you or to anyone else? The answer is a resounding "No"

I built a DJ-System where our DJs can «log on». As soon as they do, their Profile-Pic (and their name) is displayed on the DJ-Manager... They all find it pretty nice...

[edit] I used parts of Debbie's Script to do this... So the pictures aren't just displaying randomly... but I found the technique pretty useful

Could you PLEASE grind your ax on someone ELSE?

I just asked "what is it good for?" All you've done is bite my head of for "daring" to suggest that there might BE a use for it. you've quoted and requoted the things I've said like they're some sort of insult against you and your mother. All I wanted to know is.. "what might this be used for? because I can't think of anything and I'd like to hear what ideas others are coming up with."

I would have to say one practical use would be just to get your panties in a bunch.

/me with a smile - there was quite some bashing about this script, Winter... So Debbie's reaction is kinda understandable

meh, I just wanted some ideas for how it might be combined with other ideas to "improve existing products" or that perhaps discussion of its potential practical applications might "suggest new products".. I like to make things.

I can certainly think of uses beyond simply making people laugh, though they're not terribly serious ones, given that profile pictures can be of anything or nothing.

For instance, in a cyberpunk RP sim, you could have floating police blimps with screens showing the picture of anyone who was currently being chased by police androids. Or, you could sell a greetings card which, when opened, had the current profile pic of the sender in it. Or an av scan radar device could have profile pictures of the people that had been detected, rather than just dots with their name.

My apologies, Winter, if I misread or misinterpreted your posts; perhaps reading them as "it is only good for..." (a statement) rather than "what is it good for?" (a question)

So I'm sorry if my tone was unnecessarily or unduely defensive.

Nevertheless, the fact stands that people are finding creative & fun uses for the underlying techniques, and some of these can be found in the threads previously referred to, and the online SL shopping sites.

Maybe something along the lines of a next gen prize chair, used in conjuction with the particle name chain script?

Believe me, no one is gonna complain if it shows thier pic and they win a prize at the same time

are beds in SL 'practical'? no they are all about aesthetics. yet you see them everywhere... possibly the single most sold item in SL.

my imagination envisioned this as a greeter for my friends club, which pops up the pic and a public message welcoming the person in (as well as informing people someone new was there, their name and their pic (similar ideas have been presented in the thread)

is it absolutely practical? no, not really... it's most flash and aesthetics, but then so is a virtual world built on the premise of being anyone you want. practical and SL don't belong in the same sentence.