Holiday freebie at K2 Gallery

Kristine has put out a very nice etched glass artwork freebie at her gallery. It features a stylized tree with two dark red ornaments and "kinetic" snowflakes (they fall slowly in the background). Stop by and grab it! (Make sure you check out her other pieces too!) It looks more awesome in person than this photo.

K2 Gallery

K2 Gallery - Etched & stained glass in Second Life

Taking a break from my last few rants against Linden Lab & their XStreet foolishness, I'm featuring an artist and her gallery! I first became aware of Kristine Kristan when we connected via Twitter (@Krix). She's funny, edgey and makes a cute kitty too. When I met her for the first time inworld, I found out she's also a wonderful etched and stained/fused glass artist in both real life and Second Life! Her virtual etched pieces have amazing details and often look like they are four or five layers deep.

Click on the photos above and below for full size pictures so you can see how much detail is in her work.

If you are looking for that perfect piece of art for your home or business or just want to see some very cool stuff, visit Kristine's K2 Gallery soon. She does custom work too!

K2 Gallery

An Open Letter to Linden Lab over its XStreet SL policies!!

This is essentially the contents of a notecard I passed to Pink Linden after yesterday's Linden Lab Commerce Team Office Hours (the 4pm session).


PREFACE:

Premise 1: Linden Lab runs and develops Second Life to make money for Linden Lab. I have nooo problem with this. In fact, as long as you do it in a legal, moral, ethical and sustainable way, do more of it!

Premise 2: Linden Lab has some stated Linden ethics for operation (the Tao of Linden) that, at times, seem to be in clear conflict with #1.

Premise 3: There are good people who work at LL and there are also some ego-tripping control freeks who treat residents and their ideas as nothing more that dog doo.

INTRODUCTION:

If you are reading this, you are probably aware of the "Roadmap for Managing Freebies" as published by Colossus Linden in the official SL blogs.

If not, the announced changes are:

• minimum commission charged on all items of $3L or 5% whichever is greater (vs 4% on everything)
• listing fee of $10L/month per item for any item listed at $1L or more
• listing fee of $99L/month per item for any item listed at $0L

The rationale for the changes is to "improve the shopping experience" by reducing "clutter" on XStreet SL.
Per Colossus:

We've received feedback from our users that the volume of free, cheap (L$ 10 and under) & stale listings in the Xstreet SL Marketplace did not make for an optimal experience for shoppers or merchants.

There are several problems with the above statement, the least of which is that Linden Lab really did not solicit feedback from ordinary USERS of Second Life. I can't think of a single user who would honestly say, "OMG, free and cheap items on XStreet are negatively affecting my shopping! I don't want them!"

LL certainly didn't discuss the proposed changes or problems with any shoppers that I know AND they only mentioned the changes in passing to a very small subset of merchants during a well-hidden office hour session (which only 40 people can attend due to SIM capacity).

In fact, most XStreet SL merchants, including myself, were completely caught by surprise over the announcement. There was never any attempt to solicit feedback through normal mechanisms (like polls or emails). Yes I'm a merchant, and yes, they have my email, and no, not one communication with me.

ACKNOWLEDGING PROBLEMS:

First, there are problems with shopping on XStreet but the solutions offered by the Lab will NOT address the real fundamental issues created by poor design and organization of the site. Using fee increases to solve structural problems may be more about short term profits than about actually making shopping better for users and encouraging long term, profitable growth in the XStreet SL marketplace.

While the protest against the new fees has been incredibly loud in the blogs, there is still a committed group of larger merchants with higher priced items who are strongly in favor of the fees. Probably since they will be the least affected by them and/or they will decrease the competition and/or they are part of what Prokofy likes to call the Feted Inner Core (people close to Linden Lab who get special privileges). Still, it's short-sighted.

UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES:

What may actually happen from the fee changes are:

1. A massive reduction in the number of good freebies available. Many merchants who are giving back to the community will no longer be able to afford keeping their freebies active on XStreet SL. There are many great building tools, HUDs and AOs that are only available as freebies because their creators GPL'd them. It will become harder to find some of these items since they will only be inworld. The result will be less new content (ie. from loss of building tools).
2. Freebies will now be used purely as advertising items. That's bad.
3. No more or a lot fewer demos for hair, skins and shoes. Many merchants have to have demos because their products aren't compatible with all avatars.
4. Increased prices in general due to the listing fees and minimum commissions as merchants have to recover costs somewhere.
5. Increased competition from other third-party shopping sites. Already many merchants have left XStreet and/or have relisted their items elsewhere.
6. Reduced overall sales from XStreet SL if merchants leave completely.
7. A lowering of confidence in using Second Life as a platform for new business ventures as the rules constantly change.
8. One unintended consequence will be moving a lot of freebies into the $3L class where the item's sale effectively zero's out the minimum commission. HOWEVER, merchants may not realize that ALL these $3L sales will be triggered and reported to the avatar. $0L sales can be excluded from your popups.
9. Should sales simply move to the $3L - $5L mark, XStreet will STILL be faced with a "clutter" problem.
   
10. $10L per item per month is too much and it unfairly impacts sellers of low end items such as textures which often sell for $10L - $20L and are an important part of the overall shopping experience on XStreet SL. XStreet SL is an awesome site for selling and finding textures!! My guess is that once the fees go into place, texture sellers will be gone from XStreet completely.

SOME ALTERNATIVE SOLUTIONS:

So what could LL be doing instead of blindly increasing fees? Here are some of the suggestions that have been floated:

• More categories and better categories.
• Separation of freebies and demos within search (exclude them or include them in results).
• Improved search (right now, it returns a LOT of irrelevant items). Add search by merchant, size/color, custom price ranges, title ONLY, perms, etc.
• Allow multiple items within single listings (for example, color or size choices). This by itself would cut the clutter in the hair and apparel categories dramatically.
• Better organization of the website itself. For most people, XStreet SL has become a more difficult place to shop since LL integrated it with the main website.
• Real merchant storefronts with sub-URLs that show a merchant's entire line.
• "Sticky" over-18 mature content selection.
• Better listing tools for merchants.
• Eliminate "stale" listings by expiring any item that hasn't sold for three months and deleting listings that can't be delivered for more than a month due to a missing magic box.
• Allow real seasonal listings (Christmas, Valentine's Day, etc.).
• Allow merchants to list products with actual keywords (limit of 10) instead of indexing to the description copy (which is easily gamed).
• Stronger enforcement of keyword spamming and alt abuse of ratings.
• Add a shopping cart and wishlist feature.
• Integrated logins and logouts across ALL SL web content.
• Fix broken delivery problems.

All of these solutions would "improve the shopping experience" without tampering with the existing economics of XStreet SL as Linden Lab is about to do. Yes, some may take a little work on the Lab's part and some will take a lot! However, in the end, if they make XStreet SL more successful, they'll reap the profits from increased sales. FURTHER, the Lab could THEN justify some level of increased fees since everyone will be benefitting.

What was telling from the office hours was that Linden Lab unveiled a plan to add a Wishlist feature by integrating XStreet SL with Facebook. Of all the priority problems XStreet has, this was surely one of the lowest on the list to be solved. Yet, the Lab chose to put resources behind it. WHY?

LISTING FEE ALTERNATIVE IDEAS:

Even IF the listing fees are still viewed by the Lab as a first solution, they could be better structured that what is currently proposed. For example:

• Tiered listing fees as a percentage of the item's listing price with a $5L minimum. I think 2% would be reasonable. List an item for $50L, it costs $5L. List one for $1000L and it costs $20L and so on. Any price change would trigger an new listing fee so you couldn't game it by listing low and repricing. I believe this approach would generate MORE $L for Linden Lab WITHOUT penalizing the low price merchants.
• The only distinction between a freebie and a regular listing is price. It should be subject to the same listing fees above as regular items. $99L because an item is free is just silly. There are many good reasons for freebies that outweigh their possible negative affect on search.
•  Listing fees should be charged bi-monthly instead of monthly.
• Any solution MUST have a flag as "demo" feature or any easy way to link a demo to the main product so you can remove DEMOs from search. Honestly, they are more annoying to me than the freebies.
  

FINALLY:

This is a huge risk for Linden Lab. As currently outlined, the fee increases are a MAJOR change and not an incremental one. They can't be tested. If the fee increases drive a lot of merchants out of XStreet SL, it will be very difficult to bring them back. 

I am convinced that, if the Lab were to approach this with smaller fees and a less drastic change to handling freebies, the outcry might be tempered, the risk of failure lowered and if it proves successful, they can insert another increase later. It will be about "what the market can bear".

Are the current economic times right for drastic, random and ill-considered fee increases? I don't think so.

Office Hours with Lindens AKA Land That Time Forgot!

I might just be tilting at windmills now over the changes Linden Lab is proposing for XStreet SL but I have this masochistic streak that just won't let go. So yesterday I attended the 4pm SLT session hosted by Colossus (Big Ava - Big Ego) Linden and Pink (Bunneh Cute So I Can't be Evil) Linden.

There were about 40 avas there including some well known merchants. One thing was clear -- save a few "Linden Shills", most of the attendees were not in favor of the new fee structure and pretty much everyone would far prefer LL devote resources to fixing things that are actually broken vs. adding new features into XStreet SL that may or may not have  real world benefit.

Yet, like good foot soldiers on the front lines, Pink & Colossus with, assistance from Grant Linden and those shills I mentioned tried valiantly to keep their picked topics on track.

1. Making the XStreet SL Homepage look nicer
   
2. Wishlists via Facebook
   
3. Merging inworld accounts with xstreet accounts
4. Improving search

With the exception of improving search, wishlists have never been on anyone's radar screen that i know. And while the homepage is a muddle, that too is pretty low on the priority list for most merchants.

Fixing search, improving merchant tools and getting rid of or modifying potential sales killing fees might just be a teeny weeny bit more important. But noooooo, we had to wade through a dull presentation of here's how we're going to screw you and why you'll like it. Any attempt to discuss the fees was dealt with by the obvious cold shoulder or by answering different questions that weren't asked. Lovely. It was a total dog & pony show only you didn't even get to ride the pony or pet the dog.

What we also saw where some strategically placed Linden Alts whose roles were to support Pink & Colossus with timely fan-boi comments.When an alt starts saying "well I know you Lindens have to get to dinner", you know the conversation is being "managed" to the extreme.

NONE of the tough questions any of the merchants posed regarding the new fees or how the would be handled were ever dealt with. In fact, they became officially "off-topic" about 1/2 way through the event. I think my funniest moment came when Pink asked if there were any other shopping sites we individuals thought were good examples for SL to use in developing XStreet SL.

I said yes followed by (something to the effect), "ONREZ, they had real store fronts, easy listings, search that worked, a simple interface, multiple select items. But then you bought them and shut the place down." I got a fair measure of applause and agreement over that.

The rest of the event was mostly Pink & Colossus figuring out new ways to dance around the same old issues. Even some valiant attempts at re-opening the process for new feedback went nowhere. Linden Lab is interested in your input only when it matches their carefully nurtured and insular world view.

So I wouldn't count on any brilliance out the Commerce Team. They've set their sites on a vision that goes no further than the tip of Mark Kingdon's nose. Like it our not, our shopping and selling experience is going to roll in whatever they decide, regardless of the sheer number of intelligent and reasonable people who've offered great suggestions as alternative paths. Disappointing yes. Unexpected no.

Any future office hours,  please bring your box of popcorn.

XStreet SL Changes Protest Kit

One of the many suggestions from other merchants that I found intriguing was to attend the next Linden Lab Commerce Team office hours in silent protest. You eat popcorn instead. The idea is that Teh Lab is not going to do anything based on what you say and you're screwed anyway so just register your displeasure.

For those that want to take this approach, I put together a little kit:

You get two t-shirts hastily made by me (full perms) and a bucket o' Protest Popcorn with a munching gesture (also full perms but only partially made by me). There's also a nice notecard with some thoughts, ideas and other crap in it.

To get your free kit, visit my mini-sky-shop here and snag it for yourself:
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Alope/248/185/601

Linden Lab Office Hours for XStreet SL

All merchants who are concerned over the Lab's current direction with XStreet SL should attend one of these sessions. The official "topic" of discussion is "TBD" (haha). I plan to be there for at least one of them.

DATE:  Tuesday December 15th (next Tuesday), 2009
TIMES:
   -  Session 1 =  10am SLT
   -  Session 2 =  4pm SLT
   -  Session 3 =  8pm SLT
PLACE:  "XSTREET SL Garden Park" :   http://slurl.com/secondlife/Xstreet/34/95/22
TOPIC: TBD

Here are a couple of freebie protest T-shirts on XStreet SL if you want to wear one to the office hours:


https://www.xstreetsl.com/modules.php?name=Marketplace&file=item&ItemID=1943184

https://www.xstreetsl.com/modules.php?name=Marketplace&file=item&ItemID=1944400

*Snickers* - Cobalt Butterfly Outfit

This is one of the first full outfits I ever made and sold in SL. I'm wondering how it stands up to current offerings. Personally, I think it's still pretty nice. The only thing I can see that could be improved a tiny bit is some very light fringing on the edges of the prim skirt. Comments welcome!

New Outfit - Inga Wind *Lorelai*

It's time I blogged about something less depressing than Linden Lab's latest ventures into stupidity soooooo -- here's another fashion writeup!

This new outfit from Inga Wind reminded me a little of a gondolier in Venice so that's how I shot it!

Unfortunately, I can't show as much detail as I'd like since it's a natural Windlight photo and not in my usual studio setup. Anyway, like all of Inga's outfits, this one is beautifully done with lots of attention to small details. It's also a departure for her since the outfit comes with HAIR (in both hat and no-hat versions)! And OMG, it's very nice hair! Not sim-crashingly prim-heavy and detailed like Damselfly but very pretty and it moves very naturally. Very similar to one of my regular hairs so it's a keeper regardless!

On to the other parts. The heels are dreamy by themselves with cute little bows and the pants have prim cuffs that blend in perfectly. The jacket uses a system skirt to flare the bottom which is a very clever idea although it can create very slight mismatches in color depending on the lighting. My only criticism is with the prim mini-skirt. Being a single sculpty, you have to be careful about your poses since your legs will stick out the sides in certain positions. But then, that isn't a whole lot worse than regular flexi prim outfits either.

Another winner for Inga Wind!

Outfit includes top, pants, glitch pants, prim mini-skirt, jacket, hair (with & without hat), hat and shoes.

Update template for my blog

Just curious as to what people think of the new look.

The "Merchants roundtable" in Second Life

In case you don't know, the "Merchants roundtable" in Second Life is a special non-public section of the official Linden Lab blogs where residents who sell things on XStreet SL supposedly discuss things related to XStreet SL. This is a short detailing of my experiences there.

First, a pet peeve of mine: failure to use the possessive form of a noun. It should be Merchants' Roundtable and, if you're following the naming conventions used elsewhere on the LL blogs, Roundtable should be capitalized. Oh well.

Second peeve, the LL blogs suck. They are extremely slow to load. The editor is buggy and the insert cursor is hopelessly jumpy. Threaded view doesn't page forcing you to look at thousands of posts in one long screen. Navigation is obtuse and, unlike the regular SL forums, there is no easy-simple-normal way to see all the sections for posting at once.

OK, 'nuff said about that.

My adventures into the Roundtable started when Colossus Linden dropped his bombshell "Roadmap for Managing Freebies on XStreet SL" into the PUBLIC section of the Commerce Forums blog. A friend pointed me to the post and after reading it, all I could see was red. As if the issues over Openspace SIMs, adult content and third-party viewers weren't enough, here was Linden Lab once again springing more half-baked ideas on the Second Life Community using what can only be described as the most arrogant, condescending, confusing and poorly-worded corporate double-speak I've ever read coming from a Linden.

I'll leave the furor and fallout over the post itself aside. Enough's been written on the official blogs and elsewhere about the consequences and merchant reactions to fill several novels. What really ticked me off was the Colussus announcing the Roadmap as though it was something most merchants wanted and that the whole idea was based on resident feedback!! Ackk!!! No one asked me for feedback. I hadn't heard of a single merchant saying, "Hey, LL, give us listing fees so we have to increase our prices."

Then, reading through the huge volume of (overwhelmingly negative) replies to Colossus, I saw another seller mention the "Merchant roundtable" forum. Huh?? I've been selling on XStreet SL since it was SLX and I'd never heard of that section. Nothing ever showed up in my Merchant control panel on XStreet about it. I follow the blogs & official SL Forums pretty regularly and this was news to me.

OK, so how do you get in? Hmm. Searching the SL website is no help. No answers there. So, another person in a similar situation asks the question -- how DO you get in? Answer? You have to file a support ticket! Then Pink Linden will give you the magic key. Yeah that's obvious.

I dutifully filed my ticket (and it's not really obvious which category the ticket is under) and, to LL's credit, I had access about 24 hours later. However, I've heard several stories about people who've applied and actually had their SL profile accounts messed up. Instead of getting access to the Roundtable, they've been shut out of the blogs entirely (bugs).

Now, once I'm in, here's what I found (and that's really the whole point of this long-winded diatribe):

• A small but highly vocal "clique" of LL fan-bois & fan-grrls who possess the critical thinking and communication skills of a crayon. As a relatively newbie looking at how they post, I get the impression that they are more interested in currying favor and privileges with the Lab than actually paying attention to what the long-term ramifications of these new policies might be.
  
• A small but highly vocal "clique" of anti-LL residents who possess the critical thinking and communication skills of a crayon. Many of these people will see evil in everything the Lab does.
  
• Thoughtful discussions easily derailed by both cliques.
  
• Almost ZERO participation by LL employees. They start threads, comment maybe once, then disappear.
• A huge volume of rather spammy posts by two LL fans in particular who seem to have more interest in getting their advertising sigs repeated as often as possible versus actually contributing. No, I really don't need to know how great a creator you think you are and I don't need or want your fake food for my non-existent dining room or kitchen!! These two also manage to give new meaning to the word condescending.
  
• Lots of "atta boy" and "I agree with this" posts.
  
• Lots of extremely rude posts with foul language. I'm sorry but putting s*** into a sentence doesn't help your argument one bit.

My impression is that the Roundtable is like a grade school class where the teacher has left it unattended -- spitwad fights, hair pulling, yelling & screaming. It certainly isn't the professional, well-mannered island of logic I had imagined when I first requested access.

Oh well.

Some new ideas for XStreetSL

I posted the jist of this in the official SL Forums (not the blogs) as a reply in a thread about XStreetSL. See what a couple of glasses of wine will do to one's creativity? :D

I've thought more about the whole idea of listing fees, commissions and maintenance fees and have decided that, if Linden Lab makes needed improvements to XStreetSL, then charges like these could be justified. But, they have to be done in a way that doesn't (as the proposed fees do) unfairly penalize the low price, volume seller at the expense of the high-priced merchnts. And, there has to be a way of dealing with demos (since they are required by hair & skin shops) and freebies (especially those that give back to the community).

So first we start with improving XStreetSL (XSL).

1. Being able to combine multiple items into one listing is mandatory. This means color, size and possibly prim count variations. Obviously, this means custom selectors. XSL could charge a reasonable premium for such listings but it's really a mutual benefit to the merchant, customer and LL. Fewer listings = more convenience = less clutter.
2. Search must be improved. Search on title, search on description, search on both, boolean operators that work, etc.
3. How about a shopping cart and wish list feature for customers? Not critical but would be welcome by most.

OK, once this is done, we put in a listing fee, maintenance fee and commission structure that makes sense. If you take the eBay model, this means listing fees increase as the price of the item goes up, listings expire after xx days and can be relisted and the commission is tiered to selling price. How about something like this:

1. Charge an up front listing fee of 5% of the item's selling price or $5L whichever is greater. Sell something for $50L and the listing fee is $5L. Sell it for $1000L and the fee goes to $50L. This could also be tiered based on price points (a la eBay), ie. the more expensive the item, the lower the listing percentage.
2. Lower the sales commission to 4% flat (or some percentage). Or tier it based on selling price. 
3. Listings expire after 60 days. 30 days is too short. People can elect auto-renew any time.
   
4. Price changes trigger a new listing fee. This would keep people from trying to game the system by listing for a low price then raising it immediately to a higher one.
5. Anything priced less than $5L must go into designated Freebies and Demos areas. No exceptions. Demos must be marked clearly as Demos. If they aren't it's a violation.
   

I'm not sure what the exact amounts & percentages would be but it seems to me this approach would level the playing field a bit and not penalize freebie sellers.

LL proposed $99 for maintaining a freebie listing is just evil. $10L as a minimum ongoing fee is punitive to low price merchants and discourages offerings diversity. Doing this on top of the 5% commission is the equivalent of saying, screw you customer -- screw you small merchants. Add the fact that LL tried shoving this down everyone's throats based on a few office hour sessions where the outcome was already decided is sad but typical lately.

Unfortunately, instead of doing a little creative thinking or customer listening, I think LL is now simply focused on short-term money grubbing. Combine that with a real "not invented here" attitude at Teh Lab, and I think my ideas are doomed to the waste bin.

Inga Wind - *Minuet* Outfit - NEW

New outfit from Inga Wind. Includes hat, belt, boots, sweater, pants and vest. I just love the details on the vest complete with dangly ties and pocket piping. Tres, tres chic!

All prim parts are script adjustable resize with delete option.
Inga Wind Fashion

Collusion on changes to XStreetSL?

 Colossus Linden created a second thread https://blogs.secondlife.com/message/40027#40027 in which he steps deeper into the muck by confirming residents' suspicions that this was an ill-thought-out adventure after all. The programming isn't in place (but it will be in 60 - 90 days), the methods of notification to merchants aren't decided, possible improvements to search aren't locked down, and they haven't confirmed whether an "inactive" listing will be charged a listing fee or whether the item has to active for the $10L fee to kick in.

As a number of people have also noted, one goal is to completely segregate the real freebies from the rest of the market. Which means that demos of products, like shoes or hair, won't be found in the same category as the product itself. Some surprisingly naive statements by Collossus make it clear he doesn't understand GNU or GPL licensing which forces people not to charge. In trying to avoid the minimum commissions, one would have to charge $3L for an item to break-even. If you don't charge something period, you have to pay a $99L/month listing fee. There aren't too many who'll pay that just for privilege of giving it away. LL calls it a "marketing fee" -- I call it a get rid of freebies altogether fee.

In his post, https://blogs.secondlife.com/message/41989#41989, Brokeback Kaul pulled out the salient points from transcripts of Colossus office hours where all these changes were supposedly vetted. (Note that hardly anyone in the Commerce Community knew these office hours were even being held.) What we see read is Colossus pushing the Lab program forward at each session while a few larger merchants chime in with unconsidered agreement. One in particular, Rachel Darling, sees the whole exercise as a first step to getting rid of freebies and small merchants period. (She's now on my list of merchants to avoid.)

And still, the Lab hasn't figured out how to do very basic color or size selectors, or to create a search system that actually worked -- both of which would cut down on 90% of the clutter. If we can't solve it through technology, we'll charge more and see what shakes out seems to be the attitude.

The death of XStreetSL?

Is Linden Lab going to unintentionally kill XStreetSL? It seems that way. They just announced a new fee structure that will certainly hit merchants and customers alike. First there are new listing fees. Freebies will cost the merchant $99L/month and regular items will cost $10L/month. Then there's a new commission structure of $3L or 5% whichever is greater on every sale. The rationale from the Lab for these changes is that it will reduce clutter and "improve" the shopping experience. I quote:

We've received feedback from our users that the volume of free, cheap (L$ 10 and under) & stale listings in the Xstreet SL Marketplace did not make for an optimal experience for shoppers or merchants.

Huh??? Free and cheap items aren't a good experience for shoppers?? That's corporate double-speak if I've ever heard it!

The real problem with XStreetSL is not the items, it's the site itself. Search doesn't work right so you get junk no matter what operators you use. Keywords are spammed. And, most importantly, there is no way of organizing items that vary only in color or size into single listings. So if a seller wants to offer a dress in red, blue, green, yellow and purple, each has to have its own listing. There are other things that could help like allowing seasonal listings (no penalties for takedowns and relists), better categories and even moving freebies off the main site.

But, instead of solving the underlying problems, Linden Labs has chosen a route that makes little or no sense from a business perspective but certainly is probably a lot easier to implement. "Let's charge a bunch of fees and see if we can make more money and have XStreetSL clean itself up!" Poof, no more freebies. Poof, marginal merchants are gone. I've never had a problem with the post-sale commission of 5%, but the upfront listing and maintenance fees will discourage innovation and new products.

And, it's obvious that Linden Lab has NOT been listening to either its merchants or customers. The outrage being expressed by both on the Lab's official blog and forums has been deafening. Many merchants, like myself, have already started deactivating their listings. Some may move elsewhere (some options include Slapt.me, Meta-Life and Apez.biz). Some may close up completely. Some may move completely in-world. Or some, like me, may keep a few items on XStreetSL while the remainder are in-world. I have already deactivated some 60 items in preparation for closing out most of my XStreetSL presence.

I have to believe the end result will be a greatly reduced XStreetSL shopping experience and one dominated by large merchants. A lot of really creative "nichey" items will go away. And, with the reduction if freebies, I think general traffic is going to crater. I can't tell you the number of times I've wandered through looking for freebies and bought something expensive that looked cute. But now, no more. Linden Lab MAY end up with a few more incremental $L but I doubt it. The real losers here are the Second Life residents.

Inga Wind - Night Fae - Fairytale Formal

I'm totally blown away by this new semi-formal from Inga Wind. There's just an incredible amount of detail from the starry sparkles to the oh so slightly peek-a-boo tummy. The ragged edge prim skirt has to be seen to be believed!!! Includes optional wings, feather boa, shoes and a short skirt version. There's even a wearable "magic wand" that emits particles to match the "snowflakes" in the dress!

Inga Wind Fashion

Inga Wind - Winter Fae Outfit

As you can probably tell from previous posts, Inga Wind is my favorite designer. For style, elegance and details, few can touch her work. "Winter Fae" is no exception. This fairly tale dream includes tiara, shoes, short & long dress options, magic wand and flapping wings. Wearable as costume or as formal. (The twisty buttons in the middle are my fault from the pose I used.)

If I have ONE criticism of Inga's work, it's that most of her items are no copy/no mod/xfer. I prefer copy/mod/no xfer.

Inga Wind

Forever Liliana - Enchanted Butterfly - Freebie Cocktail Dress

Keeping on my freebie theme, here's a little number I picked up a few weeks ago and just got around to unpacking! OMG, it's wonderful. Simple, elegant, flirty, risque and perfect for driving your SO crazy. :)


Most of the items in this store are under $150 so it's very affordable fashion.
Forever Liliana

$10L Babydoll from Elemiah Designs

This little number features extreme cuteness, fluffiness and a fuzzy purse. Available in turquoise or red! For only $10L, how can you go wrong?

 Elemiah Designs

Inga Wind - *Azure* Outfit

I'm not sure how to describe this. Cowgirl formal? Colorado chic? Denim gypsy? Whatever, it's stunning! From the embroidery to the stitching and lace skirt, once again Inga Wind proves she is the master of detail! Complete outfit includes shoes, jeans, mini-skirt and midi-skirt versions! Wow! 

• Hair - Damselfly "Svelty"
• Jewelry - Exodi "Santa Fe"
  
• Boots - Decoy "Jully"
  

Inga Wind Fashion

Inga Wind - *Rebecca* Outfit

Yet another amazing outfit from Inga Wind. Rebecca in ivory with gloves, shoes, gauzy prim skirt (sit script included) and streamers. Hair by FS, jewelry by Alienbear. http://slurl.com/secondlife/Pitreavie/182/200/40

aDiva - Freebie Costume "BloodRed Bitch"

This amazing outfit came from a lucky pumpkin at the aDiva Couture Main Store. OMG!

Costume: aDiva Couture
Boots: DECOY Jully
Hair: Damselfly Svety
Skin: Snickers Rose Tan

Inga Wind - *Jade* Outfit

For my first real post other than my whine about bit.ly, here's a new outfit called *Jade* by my favorite designer, Inga Wind! It has a fun folksy / dirndl feel to it without being too precious or over-the-top St. Pauli Girl boobs-in-the-beer-stein.

Inga gets the illusion of amazing detail out of patterns and prims unlike just about anyone I've seen and her shadows are the most carefully crafted I've ever seen.

Here's the slurl to Inga's store.

Hair is Damselfly Pya, skin is *Snickers* Rose Tan (my own concoction) and jewelry is a freebie from Beloved!

bit.ly problems

For the last two months I have been getting an error whenever I try to Tweet a shortened URL from bit.ly: "There was a problem posting your request. Please try again." Not only that, but it won't even let me delete my Twitter account to see if I can re-add it to get the tweet from bit.ly feature back to working.

If anyone has any ideas why this is happening or what I can do to fix it, I'd appreciate it. I use Firefox 3 on Windows XP Pro.