While perusing the Modeling Certification wiki page I noticed an interesting requirement being proposed ... "over-sized prims," specifically, megaprims. The fact that these essential building tools would be mentioned as a must-know for all professional content creators comes as no surprise to me. I use them constantly as do most of my peers. But would Linden Lab actually make them a requirement for certification? That would really surprise me because of the somewhat uncomfortable history the lab has with megaprims.

Folks have requested larger sized prims for as long as I can remember. I personally made a request almost two years ago on the official Second Life forum, but to no avail. Then along came a guy named Plastic Duck.

Welcome to the third episode of On the Inside, Second Life Insider's Official Podcast! This episode features our interview with Plastic Duck, the notorious alleged griefer and neg-rater. You may think you know all about him, but what he has to say might surprise you. Joining me on this episode are Aimee Weber and moo Money. As always, feel free to leave your questions and comments!

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Most people who know me, know that I'm a fairly light-hearted person who doesn't take life, or Second Life, all that seriously. That's not to say I'm not passionate about my friends, family, and work here in Second Life. I have a great deal of love for SL and get a tremendous amount of satisfaction in what I do here. But core to my personality is the need to keep things in perspective. I cringe every time I'm told that I am "famous." Also, I have only a limited amount of energy to commit to forum debates before I get giddy at the absurdity.

But what must one do if they look at Second Life with all the life-and-death seriousness of Russian Roulette? How can you take the experience of sitting at home on your comfy computer chair in your fuzzy bunny slippers while looking at the cartoonish images on your computer screen and express the dire, apocalyptic consequences when virtual events don't go the way you want them to?

The answer is Hyperbole!

One of the more colorful and contentious figures in SL's three and a half year history is Plastic Duck, later known as Gene Replacement. While it took a little doing, I was able to sit down with him and have a bit of a talk about himself and about Second Life.

He took the third-place prize of Avatar of the Year (2005), bestowed by the Second Life Herald. He's been flamboyant, artistic and edgy. He and some 59 others were famously purged from SL. Some consider him to be a rampaging rakehell, some a leader of a griefing army, some a sort of renaissance technojester, a dark god of ornithophobia.

Truly a lot has been said, done, understood and misunderstood, rumored and misconstrued. So...I didn't ask him about any of that sensationalist nonsense directly. Instead, I wanted to find out more about the man behind the duck.