Happy New Year!!!

Yay! 2011 is coming to a close and given the state of the economy in real life and Second Life, it can't  come any too soon. Hope your 2012 is much, much better! Hugs to all!

BIG SALE: Nymph Couture closing shop

Nymph Couture, like many in-world stores, is closing its doors and moving exclusively to SL Marketplace. So, for a limited time, everything in the store has been reduced to $25L or less. First a warning. Lots of things look to me like re-colored template items and really only worth $25L at most in the first place. However, there are a few gems lurking around. One I particularly liked was Kountry Kutie -- a complete outfit with top, undies, ripped brown jeans, belt and hat on every layer imaginable. It's very well done with realistic textures, shadows and some nice sculpty work on the hat (even if you will have to heavily mod your hair to keep those strands from poking through).

If you're selective in your shopping, you'll have fun unearthing other great outfits and items like I did at Nymph Couture. There are some guys skins and items too although I didn't have a chance to really look at them.

SLURL: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Corrupted%20Innocence/198/96/26

New outfits from Inga Wind

It's been awhile since I've blogged about much of anything. What with holidays and all, I've been too busy for second life. Darn that real life! Anyway, Inga Wind sure hasn't been idle. Three new outfits in two weeks!
Two of them are nice re-colors of existing outfits and one is completely new. First the new one called Pavonine --  sort of a 20's flapper look mixed with Las Vegas or French showgirl. Although everyone know peacocks are male, this stunning outfit is perfect for channeling your inner Rockette! The colors are striking and the detail in the feathers is wonderful. Includes all shown including shoes. $800L ($450L for Wind group members)

Next up is a re-color of one of Inga's older outfits called Evelyn. I have modeled Evelyn in green and red and frankly, I think the new Silver version is the best of the series. Worn with black pearls or hematite, it's girly girl casual done right. Complete outfit as shown includes the cutest little bowling shoe style flats. This has become one of my favorite daily wearables.

$350L ($250L group price)

And last we have Millie in Pink-- another re-color. Also available in black (see left), Millie is a great example of how a recolor can often look totally different than the original! Millie in Pink including shoes and neclace is $400L ($200L group price).

SLURL TO INGA WIND: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Pitreavie/192/223/375

Thumbnail images for Second Life Viewers?

As I was scrolling through my collection of Second Life outfits, I realized I was hopelessly lost as to what was what. While I try to rename folders so they are more meaningful than "Charlotte in Blue", I still can't remember what the outfits actually look like. So I thought...what if you could have an arbitrary image assigned to a folder and the viewer or server or whatever would convert it into a thumbnail? The idea being you could visually see what the outfit looked like in its folder. It might even be helpful for builds or full avatar folders.

However, I'd only want to see this feature if it didn't appreciably affect viewer performance and if it could be turned off and on, or made into a different "view" on Inventory. Thinking further, if you could name an image (not always possible though) with a convention like thumb_myimage, the viewer would know to make it the thumbnail for the folder.

Anyway, I made a JIRA new feature request for it here (vote for it if you like the idea):
https://jira.secondlife.com/browse/VWR-27168

And here's a link to my topic in the Second Life forums if you'd like to discuss this there:

http://community.secondlife.com/t5/Second-Life-Viewer/New-feature-Thumbnail-images-for-folders/td-p/1167227

Random gripes about Second Life Viewer 3

OK, I've spent about two weeks off & on with Viewer 3 and all I can say is, the next version of Firestorm can't come any too soon! Keep in mind my comments are coming from having stuck with old style viewers including Phoenix and Imprudence up until now.

I can't see how Viewer 3 could EVER be considered easier for a newbie to use let alone anyone who wants to make or build things in Second Life. The user interface is just awful. I'm especially frustrated trying to create a new item of clothing. With Phoenix and the old versions of the SL viewer, you can edit appearance, create the new item, upload a texture for it, drag the texture into the item, save and done. With Viewer 3, uploading throws the texture directly into inventory and naturally, trying to retrieve it throws you out of appearance edit mode. Who is the idiot who thought that would be helpful?

Plust there's the obscure little gear that actually triggers the Edit appearance or create new clothing item. Stoopid.

Your World, The Linden Lab Way
Viewer 3 Confusion

And communicating via IM/group/local chat has become a mysterious artform. No longer simple windows for each conversation or a nice single window with tabs. Instead I'm having to pick through bottom bar notices that open wildly different views to chat depending on who or what I'm doing. On top of that everything take up soooo much screen space it totally gets in the way of the SL experience. You know, your world, your way. I have a nice big widescreen monitor and SL now looks like a mass of info windows with your 3D experience relegated to an unviewable background half the time.

Oh and those slide out windows? Nice Linden Lab that half the information on them (like inventory) isn't visible unless you either undock them or scroll. That's easier for newbies how?

And setting up my microphone for voice? That was real easy to find -- not. I mean WTF?? Input/Output Devices? Huh? That sounds more like something to do with Xcite attachments than anything to do with my microphone or voice.

How about worn items not showing the folder they come from? Ugggh. My usual routine is to ADD items to my outfit then REMOVE the old outfit by clicking the top level folder. Well that can't be done because WORN items doesn't show what folder they come from. So now you have to REMOVE them one stupid article at a time.

I'm sorry Lab rats, this M-inspired monster hasn't improved one bit other than the back-end features like mesh and finally being able to build with megaprims. The interface just flat out sucks.

It's Oktoberfest in Second Life!

Don't I look cute? Spaten dunkels anyone?

OK, I'll admit it. I love Oktoberfest events in real life and I love trachten (Bavarian / Austrian peasant clothing) -- especially dirndls and those poofy half-blouses that are often worn as separates. Call me strange but on my last trip to Europe several years ago, I bought a totally cute pair of red edelweis-style walking shoes in Switzerland. My friends thought I was nuts!

So today, after seeing an ad for a local Oktoberfest event, I thought hmmmm -- what does Second Life have to offer? Using Linden Labs awful excuse for search plus terms like dirndl, oktoberfest and biergarten, a few promising spots turned up.

After visiting several, I didn't find much in the way of any genuine duplications of the big giant Munich Oktoberfest with its massive beer tents. However, a sort of mini-version is available at Munich City. There are some rides, an outdoor biergarten and a number of temporary tent vendors set up in the midst of a very cool German town build.

The best part was finding a FREEBIE vendor for something like 20 different dirndls!!! OMG! Dirndl heaven! Yay! I grabbed almost all of them. The one shown in the photo is called Dirndl Walli and you get the flexi skirt, blouse, glitch undies and underblouse. The details are excellent and similar outfits go elsewhere for upwards of $300L - $450L (although usually with more layering options). I added the socks (the gray around the toes is a lighting glitch), "Jane Fire" heels from Tesla and a freebie red wood ball necklace and earrings.

Here's the SLURL to Munich City. Look for the dirndls on a long wooden cart. They say $120L on the boxes but they are actually all set to $0L. Whee! There are also several merchants with low-priced trachten including lederhosen, men's alpine wear and more dirndls.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Munich%20City/12/222/41

So what Oktoberfest places, events or things can you recommend? I'd love to hear about them. PROST!

New fashion line crashes Target website

I admit, I like shopping at Target. They carry Gillian & O'Malley bras (which I love) and Calypso St. Barth at great prices along with some, usually, cute seasonal clothing items. Plus, a lot of their home decor stuff fits my budget and style. Hey it's not Nordstrom's but it stretches the budget a lot.

So like a lot of people, I was intrigued by the news that Target was going to be carrying some Missoni items at Target prices. For those who don't know, Missoni is a high-end Italian design house whose clothing articles can easily jump into the thousands of dollars.

So being the online shopper doodle that I am, I went to Target's website and this is what I found! (OK the stuffed doggy is too cute by half.)

Anyway, Target's website has been crashed and offline for almost a day now and the news even made it to the NY Times. NY Times: Demand at Target for Fashion Line Crashes Web Site

Oh well. It's not like I really NEEDED new clothes is it??

P.S. And I owe Target another thanks for introducing Pomplamoose (the band) to the universe via those wonderful Christmas carol commercials!!!! If you haven't seen/heard their cover of the Angry Birds theme on video, you have not lived!!!

Pomplamoose -- official Youtube site

Vinyl Cafe - a mixed bag

I've done some more random shopping and one of the places I've been looking at is Vinyl Cafe -- a combination coffee shop and women's clothing store. The reason I noticed them is because they are heavy promoters in FashCon and in one of the freebie fashion groups I belong to in Second Life. They have an ongoing  "Dollarbie a Day" promotion that, well, you guessed it -- offers up one outfit daily for $1L. Now don't get me wrong -- anyone willing to sell things for $1L can't be criticized too badly. Even if only one out of 10 outfits you buy at that price is a hit, you're only out about 5 cents.

What IS a problem is when you go for the dollarbie item, by something more expensive (even if still inexpensive) and those items turn out poorly. Or where the package photos have been doctored to make the outfits look much different than they are on rezzing. Which, in my opinion, is the case with Vinyl Cafe.

The good.

I'll start with two decent outfits. While neither of these will make you think of Redgrave, Wind or Blaze, they aren't bad. The first one is simply called Teal Bubble Dress and it's a group member dollarbie. The shadows are good and the textures line up ok. The use of the sculpty prims to make the skirt is interesting and different. And it's offered on undie and regular layers.

Next up is the $25L Bikini in Orange. Not too original with names but again, the details are fairly good. Biggest complaint is that like most things at Vinyl Cafe, it's only offered on one layer (underwear). That makes it really had to mix and match with other items. Further, it's not much better than most of the freebie bikinis out there. No shadows to set the straps off or make anything look more realistic. It's just kinda flat.

The bad.

On the right we have a $25L outfit called Sequin Vegas Dress Gold. This  picture actually makes it look better than it is in person. It uses two fixed cylinder prims for the skirt that won't fit anyone's body. I tried 3 different shapes and even with about 20 minutes of stretching and fiddling, nothing worked. Plus, as you can see from the photo, none of the textures line up and when you move, your legs jump in and out of the skirt with every step. While some skirts CAN be done with fixed prims (I designed a pretty cute go-go skirt using a single prim), it has to be very short or it will look like hell if you move. The top itself is a real simple template job that doesn't match at the shoulder seams.

And again, the top and bottom are only offered on one layer. WHY? It takes all of an extra 2 minutes to put the textures on undie layers.

And the uglee.

This is an OMG moment. The package makes this "Babydoll Yellow" top look totally cute. Rezzed it's completely different. That's because you never see it from the back or know what size it is. The colors on the avatar layer are darker than those on the prims so the effect is like your babydoll is glowing orange and suddenly ends at a dark halloween pumpkin halter. In addition, the package model must have been an 8' amazon because as a top, the babydoll is way too big for any normal body. And the prims are just basic 1/2 cones with no attempt at making them flow with each other or even hide the texture on the ends. So they all look like 1" thick pipes or something. Seriously, this is worse than the worst of the old "New As" series of 2006 barbie dresses.

Again, one layer only, $25L.

I wouldn't have as much of a problem with any of these if the photos on the packages weren't so doctored to make them look better.

Anyway, if you're willing to wait out the occasional find on their dollarbie a day deal, go for it. But until they get serious about the rest of the items, I'd pass. And yes, I'm unjoining the Vinyl Addicts group. :(

SLURL to Vinyl Cafe: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Vinyl%20Cafe/54/205/21

What happened to Aubrey Oday's boobs?

She was lovely without the implants. Why we do this to ourselves I'll never understand. I certainly wouldn't. It got me thinking. Certainly it's a lot safer to do this via the sliders in Second Life than in real life.

Full story here:

http://entertainment.blogs.foxnews.com/2011/08/22/what-happened-to-aubrey-odays-body/

Photographer stands up to bullies

This is a great story. Shows someone taking personal action and a moral stand rather than relying on others to do it for them.

http://holykaw.alltop.com/photographer-stands-up-to-bullies

I feel like a princess!

OK technically I am a princess. In Tiny Empires. And my self-given tag for my own small fashion group is Odd Princess. So when I looked at the snapshot for a new outfit from Inga Wind called "Ariel", I thought, hmmm this looks kinda "princessy" (I like that word). It wasn't until I wore it that I realized how really incredible Ariel is.

From the extremely detailed silk-look embroidered bodice to the flexi-prim lace over-dress and back bow, Ariel will make any princess or wannabe princess look spectacular. I'm showing three shots of Ariel below. Two in the original white/cream and the other in the recently released olive. As always, click on the photo for the full-size.

Ariel is available in 5 color ways - white, black, red, blue and olive -- and includes tiara and matching pumps. Price is $950L but if you join Inga's group, you can get the olive version for $550L (and maybe the others, not sure). For those who already own an older version of Ariel, Inga is offering updates for $100L for 2 days.

The white version shown is the older style while the olive is the newer one.

Click for SLURL to Inga Wind

Namaste brinda Allen

I have traded a few posts with brinda over the years in both the official SL forums and in SLU. I had no idea she passed away until I read Lalo Telling's blog.

Two tributes to her spirit...

http://lalotelling.squarespace.com/likeitis/2011/8/11/namaste-brinda.html

https://walkingwithavatars.wordpress.com/2011/08/14/what-you-leave-behind/

Sniffles.

Inga Wind "Mistress of Textures" strikes again!

Inga Wind's "Latisha in Sand"

Two new outfits from Inga Wind prove once again that she is a master at making highly detailed and delicate clothing textures. First, I'm showing off "Latisha in Sand" a frilly sort of prom / cocktail dress with a bodice and prim skirt that is to die for. Click the image for a full size view and look at the embroidery details in the top and skirt. Ladies, I don't think it gets any better than this in SL. The prims move perfectly and I can totally see myself slow dancing the night away at some Jazz club wearing this.

Now for Kaira. Again a marvel of texturing and lighting. From the details in the belt to raw silk look of the fabric, this is amazing. It's a lovely "lunch with the girls" outfit with enough style to double as an informal cocktail dress.

Price for Latisha is $600L including shoes shown. Wind group members can get it for $350L. Jewelry is by ~~DS~~ (Derek Sienkiewicz Inga's business partner). Hair is Damselfly Pya and the skin is my own custom made.

Kaira is $400L ($250L for group members) and also includes shoes shown. Jewelry is Exodi.

Inga Wind's "Kaira"

Legal battle over virtual critters in Second Life!

Came across this article via Tweet from @SlashMorgath.

You Can Lead a Virtual Horse to Water, But You Might Get Sued Along the Way

It's timely cuz I recently found out that a longtime friend of mine in Second Life is really, really into Amaretto Ranch Breedables. She did the Ozimals bunnehs for a while (and they are too cute for words) but moved to horses when they came out. I have to say, from seeing them in virtual person, they are very cool. Being ridable makes them even better.

The concept of virtual pets that you have to feed and maintain has been around forever (I have a hamster on my iGoogle page) so I don't see what Ozimals original complaint was all about. Which I guess is the point of Amaretto's countersuit.


Blech.

One pair of shoes, many looks

When I came across this article, I immediately thought how close the concept is to "Second Life".

http://designtaxi.com/news/35250/One-Pair-of-Shoes-Many-Looks/

My guess is that the cost of just the basic foundation is going to be more than buying each as a separate style but it is creative! What next? Color changing prims?

Amazing $1L jewelry!

By now most of you know I'm a big fan of Inga Wind's fashion designs. What I did NOT realize is that her business partner, Derek Sienkiewicz, is a very accomplished jewelry designer. What's even cooler is that most of his work is available at Inga's main store for only $1L per set. Yep, that's $1L for complete matching sets that include earrings and necklace but often go further with bracelets and belly chains.

Look at the details in these two pieces from the Abigail set by ~~DS~~. Not only are the prims perfect, but the heart is point-and-click color change. I like red but blue, green, gold, silver and others are options as well.

There are about 20 different sets available inside the main entrance to Wind on the wall to your left as you walk in. Believe me, they are all as nice as the ones shown above. My only caution is that right now, the sim at Pitreavie is really laggy. So set your draw distance wayyyy down and have patience while things rez -- or find an off-peak hour to visit.

Inga Wind - http://slurl.com/secondlife/Pitreavie/195/249/375

Prims and other items lose creator name

A few days ago, one of my old shapes I created from scratch and use constantly suddenly started giving a "Failed to find body part in database" error when I tried to wear it. Fortunately, my backup alt had a copy which I was able to use. HOWEVER, I noticed on both copies in inventory, that the creator was listed as Uknown. Wearing the backup shape (full perms to me), did nothing. Using Imprudence, I should have been able to export it. No luck.

In checking other shapes (most derivative of my original one) ALL of them are now creator unknown. In fact, when I mentioned the issue in the SL Merchants group in-world, several others suddenly found their prims had changed from themselves as creator to Unknown.

As a merchant, this causes several major problems. One, it appears that I really didn't make the items when in fact I did. Two, people who might want to refer a friend to something I created will not have that information in their version of the item, And finally, I cannot export the item using an inventory backup tool (ie. as in Imprudence) because I am no longer the creator.

So, I opened a JIRA on it. Please check your own creations for this glitch and if you find them, let LL know in the JIRA and/or via support ticket.

https://jira.secondlife.com/browse/SVC-7123

No pseudonyms in Google+?

Is Google Plus's real name policy a good idea? See what ReadWriteWeb
has to say. http://rww.to/qK27Ru

As someone who would like to use only her Second Life identity with the service, I agree with RWW's take. Lord knows we don't need another Facebook.

Hair Fair -- A Charity Affair

My friend Jim Alphabeta just reminded me that the Second Life Hair Fair is still going on and the proceeds all go to a very worthy cause -- Wigs for Kids -- which provides wigs for children going through chemo and other issues where they lose their precious locks.

In spite of my usual reservations about the lag, Jim says it wasn't bad at all. So here's the linky to the list of exhibitors.

http://fabfree.wordpress.com/2011/07/01/hair-fair-2011/

There are lots of freebies to be found but make sure you buy SOMETHING since the cause really is a good one. Ends on 7/15.

A very nice photo of me by Dale Innis

I dunno. I think this is a very good picture of yours truly. For me personally, it captures the essence of what I've tried to put into my avatar. What do you think? Oh yeah, I love the dress. (Garage)

New items from Inga Wind

First I'm gonna show off "Millie" from Inga Wind Fashion. Attention Second Life designers!!! THIS is how you do black. You make it verrry dark grey so you can have both highlights and shadows without losing details. Inga is a master of texturing and it's seeing this outfit in person that shows you just how good she is at this stuff.

Outfit shown includes necklace, shoes and belly chain. Millie is $400L regularly and only $200L for her group as a new release -- a great reason for joining her group.

Next up is a new version of "Pearl", which I would call prom queen with attitude. :)

The ruffled bodice is sooo grrly chic and the unusual color combination of mustard yellow and purple/pink really make this an eyecatcher.

Pearl also comes in a more monochromatic "sand" color which for some, may be more appealing.

As always with most of Inga's creations, Pearl comes with accessories including matching shoes and tiara. Pearl is $600L regularly but only $350L for group members!



SLURL to Inga Wind Fashion

Anatomy of a Spam Viagra Purchase

I thought this was fascinating in light of an earlier blog post about what sort of email others saw in their SPAM folders. Plus, the original article's headline was too delicious to not repeat. :)

http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/editors/26785/

My original blog post about SPAM here.

Blondin Linden Leaves Linden Lab

As I recently tweeted, I missed this little personnel change and only found out about it belatedly by reading an article on Inara Pey's blog (Blondin Linden Goes). Yikes. It totally made me relive my own experience fighting the move to Zindra because Blondin was the key communicator for all things Adult Content related!

Just to clarify, I'm no prude but then I'm also not really a consumer of explicit content. However, the way Linden Lab handled the whole thing by forcing adult content to a new X-rated zone was just st00pid. They could have easily made a new, true G-rated area and simply kept Mature the way it was. Mature was already the anything goes zone.

My own little protest of the whole silly affair was to create a couple of really risque items, put them up in my skystore and then apply for a move to Zindra. Like stoopid magic, I got my wish and wound up with a waterfront double-prim 512. I stayed there for a month or so, then sold the land off for 10x what my old 512 was worth. I actually bought a mid-water 512 from the person who bought my Zindra land.

Anyway, to those who said "good riddance" to Blondin, I say you don't know half the story. Here's what I replied to Inara's blog post....

Somehow this doesn’t surprise me but then nothing that happens in and around Linden Lab surprises me any more. I actually had the chance to interact via email and back channels a bit with Blondin and he really was between a rock and a hard place. I sympathize fully. He got twisted internally by his superiors. He would try to do something the community wanted, say it was going to get done and then have the rug pulled out from underneath when the higher ups would backtrack.

Yes he acted as the corporate shill but then that’s what he was paid to do. From someone at his level, it’s pretty much ALL you can do. Which sux because employees like Blondin are the ones on the front lines with the community. Amanda and others often seem to see the community (aka customers) as annoyances who don’t “get” it — whatever their definition of “it” is at any given moment. Ick.

EEEK!! More Bare Rose Madness!

Lilin Outfit from Bare Rose

My infatuation with Bare Rose just HAS TO STOP!!!! Sigh. I went back there yesterday to find a costume for an event and yeesh, ended up buying three more outfits. And I didn't end up with anything for the event! The funny part about it was that I wore a different BareRose outfit --- which everyone loved. And then when I mentioned it was from BareRose, it was like -- ohhh, the "Wal-Mart" of Second Life.

Well poooh on that. BareRose items are all originals, they aren't copybotted, they are exciting and they are reasonably priced. OK they are actually very inexpensive for what you get. That's just fine with me!

On to the outfit details. This one is called "Lilin" and, like most B@R fantasy costumes, it comes in several flavors -- black, red and purple -- all in the same box. Woot!

The red version is absolutely fabulous with wonderful details such as the skeletal fingers reaching across your tummy and the fire-y ribbons dangling off the breastplate. As my friend Lalo noted, it sort of has a barbarian Viking look to it. ("What's in YOUR wallet?")

Lilin also comes with risque options that expose your nipples and nether regions. Sorry, this is a PG blog so I'm not gonna show ya piccies of those!

Anyway, you'll find this somewhere on the massive Bare@Rose wall of stuff for only $150L.

Hair: Bewitched "Izzie"
Skin: Snickers
Boots: Lyra Knee Highs

SLURL: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Bare%20Rose/147/12/41

Alpha sorting and masking in Second Life

Oooooh, sounds fascinating doesn't it? Yeah right! You're probably saying to yourself -- WTH Snick??  What's this got to do with fashion or anything else in my Second Life experience?? Let me try to explain.

Second Life Alpha Masking and Sorting Illustration

Have you ever noticed when looking at an object in SL that you can't quite tell what part of the object is in front or in back? Here's a quick illustration I made in SL to show you.

Alpha sort demo

This is supposed to look like two disks crossing each other. C is how it should look. A & B show how it actually looks in Second Life from two different angles.

I made the object using two flat, square prims with a filled circle texture applied to the front and back faces. The circle texture has an "alpha mask" which effectively hides the unwanted parts of the image. 

Second Life renders the masked part of the image as transparent. Without the mask, the square corners would typically show as white. (D shows how the texture itself looks in Photoshop. The dotted line is the outline of the mask.)

What's happening in A & B is that Second Life can't decide which part of the object should be in front and which should be in back. So you get that weird flashing look where parts of the object normally in back will suddenly jump in front depending on your viewing angle. You'll see this problem in everything from prim trees to prim skirts and outfits. Even worse, try standing in a building with lots of windows. Sometimes it will look like objects that are physically OUTSIDE the building will look like they are inside and vice versa.

We need answers!

So why am I writing about this? Simple. Linden Lab has known about this issue since forever; they seem to have the ability to MOSTLY solve it; and yet, they haven't done so. A simple case in point is that Linden trees do NOT show the sorting problem YET Linden trees use alpha-masked textures. I won't bore you with all the technical details (frankly, I don't fully understand them myself), but I will point you to the JIRA issue that was created almost 3 years ago. I got involved in the issue because it affected my fashion designs and dammit, I wanted it fixed!

https://jira.secondlife.com/browse/VWR-6713

Three years and still NO Lindens assigned to work on it. Three years and numerous solutions offered by residents but no action. In fact, reading between the lines from some posts by Lindens participating in the JIRA discussion make it sound like one of their proposed fixes could be worse than the original problem.

So if you'd like your Second Life builds, outfits and general experience to be better, please view the JIRA issue above, log in and VOTE for it. You can also drop in a comment such as "Fix this now." Maybe then the Lindens will take it seriously.

Tiny Empires in Second Life

OK, I'll admit it up front. I'm hooked on Tiny Empires. For those who don't know, it's a HUD-based MMPG you play inside Second Life. There's not much to it. You buy/sell land, earn gold, build on your land, answer riddles now, read info texts, take part in polls -- all with the goal of trying to accumulate land so you can move up in your kingdom's hierarchy.

It's kind of like Amway where the more people you sign up as your subjects, the higher and faster you can go up the chain. I am a fallen princess in Tiny Empires. When I left Second Life for about 4 months to take a RL break, I lost about 6 subjects and all the land they had. So I went from being a Princess to a lowly Marquise. Now I've worked my way back to Duchess and am probably a month or two away from being a Princess again.

Depending on what kingdom you belong to is key to enjoying the game. I've been in three different ones now and each had its own personality. One was very focused on recruiting and snagging as many people as possible without much social interaction. Another was back-stabbing and crazy. My current kingdom, White Horse, suits my personality perfectly. The people (and King Tremor Trefoil) are mellow, kind, generous, fun and really interested interested in helping people along.

If you find a good kingdom, the chat, activities and friendships can be as good as anything you'll find in Second Life. And it's not like raising rabbits or chickens or doing an intense role play thing (although you can if you wish). TE is very light in its demands on your Second Life time -- which makes it perfect for a busy chica like me. You can get as intense about it or you can float merrily along. :)

Getting started

If you are interested in playing Tiny Empires, feel free to contact me in world (Snickers Snook -- send me a notecard if I'm not on) and I can get you started with the free, 14-day trial HUD. If you decide to continue playing and wish to join our kingdom (or hopefully my line hehe), depending on your situation, we can help with a discount on the full HUD ($799L regular price).

Here's the website for the game: http://tinyempires.com/

You can also pick up the free HUD in my store at: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Cherry%20Park/95/230/24
It's on the wall to your right. However, if you do go straight for the HUD, please IM to let me know you've started. You'll need a liege so we have to make sure you are tagged to the right person. :) I also want to make sure you have the latest tips & tricks etc.

Happy empire building!

UPDATE: -- I've left the old blog post intact but things have changed dramatically since I posted this. I'm no longer in White Horse and was pretty naive about realities when I was there. There are good people in the kingdom but suffice it way, I'm no fan of the king period. Regardless, I have since worked my way up to Vicerine of the very fun Queendom of Hirilorn and am pleased to call Queen Aabbi my friend.

Ultimate dog tease!

This has been flying around the intertubes all day. So far, four different friends have sent it to me. It is funny and totally cutes. :)

New exclusive outfits from Inga Wind!

Inga Wind has created four new outfits for a contest called Claim the Fame. As usual, they are all scrumptious! What's different is that each comes in a male/female pairing.

I'll show you just two of the outfits. First is Penelope with yours truly as the model. Aww poor me, I look so unhappy in this shot. Oh well. I'm definitely not unhappy about the outfit -- it's wonderful. As usual, the textures are amazing and the prim parts match perfectly with the system pieces.

The second on the right is the matching men's outfit "Bartleby". Now I can't vouch for her guys things since I've never tried them on. :) But if they're anything like her ladies outfits, it should be divine!

For a look at the other outfits, check out Inga's blog at http://ingawindclothing.wordpress.com. Then hop over to http://slurl.com/secondlife/Kult%20District/56/80/27 where you can pick any of them up for just $400L each (that's 1/2 her normal price).

A mini treasure hunt at Latex Station

OK, first let me say that I am not really into fetish wear! ("Yeah right Snick, uh huh, sure.") Really I'm not!! But occasionally things jump out at me and I have to check them out. Today, a notice came in from "Latex Station" in one of the fashion groups I belong to announcing a mini-hunt for "Best in Black" $20L outfits. I opened the notecard, looked at two of them and thought, wow, these are actually very cool (in a slightly naughty way).

Sooo, off I went. First thing I noticed was the store's build. Fittingly, it's a space station with tubes, glass and steel everywhere. Very well done. I likey. Second thing is that while the items being offered at the $20L price are scattered throughout the store (4 women's and 1 men's outfit), they are not hidden in totally obscure places like some hunts. You just have to find the regular version of the outfit, locate the tiny black ball below it and buy the black ball. After about 20 minutes I found all 5 outfits. Don't try to cam the place and buy that way....you'll run into glass walls that prevent you from selecting or in some cases, seeing, the black ball.

Anyway, all five outfits are all very well crafted with their regular items priced around $700L. There are lots of very unique designs so take your time looking as you hunt!

UPDATE - The store owner just IM'd me to say she is planning on doing these hunts for the next few weeks and not just through May 9! My avatar stands coyly corrected.

SLURL to Latex Station: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Meincassel/182/192/636

Another shopping trip to Bare Rose

I was really into Bare Rose when I first started on Second Life, especially since they had a great section full of freebies and low cost items. I remember getting stockings, undies, tops and all sorts of things to fill out my wardrobe. But that was then and now is now (ooooh, how profound). :)

Out of kitty kuriosity, I went back to B@R a couple weeks ago and OMG, now I can't get enough. I'm up to 10 outfits and may still buy a few more before my shopping fix is satisfied. Today I'll feature two of them.

The first is sort of a Judy Jetson sexy go-go Little BoPeep look called, generically enough, Sheered Mini Dress. For $170L it comes as shown with funky matching heels, collar, stockings and gloves. Plus, you get five colors: blue (shown), purple, pink/red, green and dark (sort of gray black). Wow! Could a bargain get any better than that?

You can also take off the white jacket layer bodice for a racy, see-through hello headlights look. That would be the Judy Jetson BoPeep slightly slutty look. :)

Next up is Black Petal. Also at $170L, this very detailed and sexii outfit is guaranteed to drive the boyz wild (or grrlz if you roll that way). At least when I wore it for the first time in public, my IMs suddenly went from 1 window to 5. =^_^=

What really impresses me about Black Petal is the use of the system skirt layer to produce a nice transparent lace mini-skirt effect without making your booty look huge! That's my regular shape and, as you can see, I think it looks terminally cute.

It's only supplied in the one color (black) but it may be available separately in white. Shoes do not come with it (shown are Gothic Booties from :DbNR:).

Finding these outfits at B@R's main store can be a real treasure hunt in and of itself. These two are located on the main giant wall of women's fashions. Be patient and let everything rez before you start hunting things down. At these prices, it's worth it. And as usual, you can click on the piccy's for full-size shots.

SLURL to Bare Rose HQ

A Second Life Shopping Spree

Maker's package

I needed a break in RL so I jumped onto Second Life and decided to what any fashion grrl would do. I went shopping!! My first stop was at a new shop called Ella Onda Fashion. I was "suckered" in with a notice from one of the SL fashion groups I belong to. It promised new designs and the prices were pretty low (about $60 - $90L). So off I went.

I looked carefully at the package photos but couldn't tell much from them since the sizes were all fairly small and the resolution seemed like it was at 256x256 or something. I finally found an outfit that looked  cute and bought it for $99 (see Gina at right)

What a disappointment! While the texturing was OK in most places, the straps and side panels looked very painted on. Plus the outfit (in two colors black & red) was only supplied on pants/jacket layer with very simple and not quite matching miniskirt prim inserts for the crotch area. Blah. (Thanks to Lalo Telling for pointing out, obliquely, that I really needed my own photo of the outfit to show the problems. Click on any of the images to see in original size.)

Close-up of Gina Outfit

In looking at their other items, I recognized a few template store-in-a-box type outfits including a retextured version of those tired old lace up booty shorts. Feh! What can you say -- the price is right. Sort of.

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Tuscarora/77/139/23 <-- Ella Onda if you dare

Bare Rose - Quality at a Great Price

Now I was in need of a real fashion fix. Feeling a bit frisky, I decided to head for Bare Rose having not visited there for at least 6 months. And OMG, I went crazy and bought 5 outfits including a very wild one I didn't really pay close attention to. More on that in a sec...

For the price, I don't think anyone can touch Bare Rose for quality, style and a totally unique look.

TongPu in Pink (at left) is total Japanese Kawaii-style (cuteness) at its best. I am a sucker for pink (Hello Kitty) and this outfit about made me wet myself! The texturing is phenomenal, the prim parts fit and match perfectly AND it comes in red along with the pink in the box!!! The hair poofies are to die for and the upright collar ads a touch of aggressiveness than goes beyond simply cute.

All for only $160L. (The shoes are color-changing platforms from HOC.)

So, this just puts that $99L outfit all to shame doesn't it?

Now continuing on with my B@R spree, here's the funny one.

Another pink outfit caught my eye and without batting a virtual lash, I bought it. Only when I tried it on at home did I realise it was a bit more risque than my usual fare.

It's called Deka Ribbon and it's supplied in black and pink. Naturally, I'm showing you the pink. And you'll notice I'm wearing the strategic nipple covers because I'm usually a very modest kitty and this outfit is really designed to be worn bare breasted. :P

Hopefully I'll find a matching lace bra or something for it but for now, what you see is what you get.

Bare Rose really has a way with unique prims. From the hair flirts to the ribbons, collar and cuffs, it all makes for one very smashing outfit. Price is, once again, only $160L and includes both pink and black versions.

When I get time, I'll post up the other outfits I bought.

In the meantime, if you haven't visited for awhile, stop by Bare Rose!

Bare Rose Tokyo -- Bare Rose

New Dresses from Inga Wind - Keisy

Inga Wind has just released her Keisy complete outfit in 4 new colors -- blue, silver, sand and my fave color PINK!!! Yay!!! What I really like about Keisy is that even though there is a lace texture layer on top and bottom of the skirt & dress prims, they don't compete with the main prims for attention in SL.

You really have to see this outfit in-world to appreciate the details. It's an embroidery festival! And did I mention I love pink??

Keisy comes with both cocktail and formal lengths as shown plus basic matching heels and a cute little hairpiece. Price is normally $1250L but Inga's group member price is $650L.

Hair is Pya by Damselfly, skin and shape are by me. :)

Inga Wind Clothing SLURL

The Redzone Saga

For the past month, like the guy in the Geico commercial, I've lived under a rock -- at least as far as Second LIfe is concerned. I won't bore you with all the reasons but it's mostly due to my interests in Second Life shifting from content creation to just enjoying and being with friends. It's also because I'm more caught up in real life (as we all should be).

Anyway, today when I logged in, several of the merchant and fashion groups were literally buzzing with chatter around "Redzone" and the banning of it and its creator, zFire Xue (and his alt TheBoris Gothly)
from Second Life. Normally these groups are slow (ok they're dead Jim), but today it was like a non-stop stream of consciousness flow. Yikes!

I've been marginally aware that Redzone is/was a product supposedly designed to prevent copybotting and that many merchants in SL used it or CDS to patrol their stores. But as I started reading the group chatter, the terms "password theft", alt exposure, privacy violations, etc. kept showing up and it all started sounding very spooky.

Being a curious kitty, I did a little research. All I can say is OMG! It's like a geek version of the Sopranos.

It turns out Redzone was probably little more than an elaborate scheme to facilitate password theft, griefing, alt exposure (and maybe blackmail), credit card theft and data mining. According to several blogs and forums, zFire Xue is a convicted felon in real life.

Today, after being presented with all the evidence by a very activist anti-Redzone crowd, Soft Linden and Linden Labs stepped in with a modified Terms of Service to make sharing alt information without consent a violation, banned zFire and his products, and shut down the sim they were on.

Sadly, as Theia Magic points out in her blog, this won't end the problem because the very thing that makes programs like Redzone work exploits flaws in how Second Life handles streaming media and audio. Those flaws aren't likely to be fixed any time soon meaning anyone with mad skillz can make their own Redzone. Plus, the idea that copybotting can be solved through the methods supposedly used by Redzone and others is just silly. Anything that must be rendered on the local PC can be captured and copied. Deal with it.

Anyway, it all makes for interesting and distracting reading. For an incredibly detailed summary of issues, events and stuff, read the SLUniverse summary thread here. It will turn your brain into cottage cheese.

New Release from Inga Wind - Naida

I know it's been a long time between posts but fun, family, friends and holidays have taken a front seat to bloggy posts. So nyah!! :P

Anyway,  Inga has released another of her wonderful fairy outfits -- this time with a water/dolphin theme. Naida in Blush (shown below) is the first in the series and has been followed by a version in silver. It's absolutely magical!!! Sort of a cross between harem silks and a filmy formal, Naida comes with matching shoes, tiara wings and an animated dolphin you can ride should you decide to get wet.

As usual, the detail is exquisite and the textures all line up perfectly from top to bottom. If I had one very small nitpick, it's that the dolphin detail above your belly button is a bit hard to discern. Regardless, it's a truly wonderful outfit that gets oohs and ahhs wherever you go. I'd love to see it in aqua and pale yellow!

For members of Inga's group, the outfit is $500L, regular price is $950L.