Cassie: Winter Cuteness from Inga Wind

Perfect for a day at the ski slopes or just wandering around in the snow! Cassie comes in gray, black, brown & red (shown). Price is $450L (10% group discount) and includes a full range of mesh sizes plus resizable boots!

SLURL to Inga Wind Clothing

Colbert tackles NSA spying in Second Life

Pretty funny stuff. Read the original post on Joystiq.com and watch the video cut via the linky below.

http://www.joystiq.com/2013/12/17/colbert-tackles-nsa-spying-in-second-life

As Massively commented, we can excuse the ancient and lame joke about Second Life participants not having a first life only because the rest of the bit is pretty funny. I only wish that voice actually sounded that good.

Spies infiltrate online games including Second Life

From the New York Times....

Not limiting their activities to the earthly realm, American and British spies have infiltrated the fantasy worlds of World of Warcraft and Second Life, conducting surveillance and scooping up data in the online games played by millions of people across the globe, according to newly disclosed classified documents.

So all those avatars with the last name "SecretSpy" may really be -- secret spies. But seriously, how much money can you really move through WoW or Second Life? Most people have a hard enough time getting their money out of SL into Paypal legitimately let alone doing it on the sly. :P

Full story here: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/10/world/spies-dragnet-reaches-a-playing-field-of-elves-and-trolls.html

Alpha Mask bug triaged by Linden Lab

The bug I reported via the JIRA (see link below) is apparently serious enough that it has been "triaged" by Alexa Linden. I believe that means it's a "must fix ASAP" sort of thing.

http://snickitty.blogspot.com/2013/11/weird-transparency-alpha-in-second-life.html

Weird transparency / alpha bug in Second Life

Second Life citizen, Tempus Heart, read an article on my blog that I wrote a long time ago about alpha channels, alpha sorting and transparency. He was experiencing odd behavior with some of his own creations where the alpha channel, instead of rendering at some % transparency, would go completely black. So, thinking I was an expert on the subject (big mistake LOL), he contacted me in-world.

After finally understanding what he was talking about and doing some of my own tests, I've confirmed that there's some sort of bug present in Second Life's rendering that's causing textures with very light transparency (say 10%) to lose that transparency and go completely black. But ONLY in the presence of 100% transparent pixels! Talk about esoteric.

To illustrate the problem, I put three boxes with different transparency texture samples in front of plywood cylinders with a dark blue solid background behind the whole mess. The textures on the prims were done in Photoshop as solid black layer shapes with each "band" having its own layer opacity setting and saved as PNG files. (Click on the image to see full size.)

The top box illustrates the problem. There are three bands in the box. From left to right they should be 100% black, 0% black (100% transparent) and 90% black (10% transparent). As you can see, the 90% band has gone completely black.

Now if we take away the 0% black (100% transparent)  band (2nd box), the 90% black band renders correctly.

Just for reference, I've added a stepped box at the bottom with bands ranging from 0% black to 100% black showing that with multiple transparencies, the box renders correctly.

Weird huh? Anyone have any clues as to what's going on? Tempus has tried various viewer settings (Firestorm) and lighting combos to no avail. It seems to be a server-side baking issue. I'm seeing the same behavior on Cool VL Viewer.

Reported as a JIRA bug here: https://jira.secondlife.com/browse/BUG-4601

Judge OKs Second Life Virtual Money Class Action Settlement

OK, this is news! A friend of mine tipped me to the article (thanks Ravin!).

http://www.topclassactions.com/lawsuit-settlements/lawsuit-news/5293-judge-oks-second-life-virtual-money-class-action-settlement

I wonder if this is helping drive the recent changes to the Terms of Service?

Sentiments still hot against Linden Lab changes to SL TOS

In spite of Peter Linden's recent letter trying to spin away the recent changes to the Second Life Terms of Service, negative sentiment of creators remains high with no signs of letting up.

Some threads of interest:

First, two from Tateru Nino's Dwell On It blog. In both, she tries to explain why the TOS changes aren't that bad and why they make sense from a legal perspective. IMO, she kinda misses the point which is that the whole thing was one big "eff you" to the paying customers of Second Life. Read through the comments that follow to pick up the general tone.

http://dwellonit.taterunino.net/2013/10/31/second-lifes-new-tos-makes-perfect-sense/

http://dwellonit.taterunino.net/2013/11/04/thoughts-rights-linden-lab-need-tos/

I don't think Tateru expected the firestorm response she got. I think Desmond Shang's response is very telling and probably accurately represents the feelings of many creators in SL:

http://dwellonit.taterunino.net/2013/11/04/thoughts-rights-linden-lab-need-tos/#comment-1487990

Then there are these thread on Wagner James Au's blog:

http://nwn.blogs.com/nwn/2013/10/second-life-terms-of-service-uccsl-peter-gray.html

http://nwn.blogs.com/nwn/2013/10/second-life-terms-of-service.html

Like Tateru's threads, you need to read the comments to get the tone.

Further complicating the whole situation is what the heck Linden Lab is going to do with Desura. Many content creators are concerned that their items will suddenly get ported to Desura without their permission, intent or support. Thus, some of the preemptive strikes by removing existing content before whatever happens, happens.

New Country Music Club Opening in Second Life

A good friend of mine, Kernian Segal, is opening a Country-Western club in Second Life. He swore they'd never do it again but, uh, they are doing it again.

Canyon Country's grand opening  is scheduled for November 3 starting at 2pm SLT with live blues and live country acts. Kernian tells me the club IS the sim and vice versa. There are no shops, malls or other junk to get in the way. I love the open air get down and party look!

Canyon Country

So check it out! Here's the SLURL: Canyon Country at Dead Rose Dark

See y'all there!

Getting In Touch With Your Inner Sexual Deviant

After reading this article on Forbes, all I could think of was OMG, there are so many parallels to Second Life.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/daviddisalvo/2013/10/24/getting-in-touch-with-your-inner-sexual-deviant/

Product Review: Myrano Remembers (Second Life HUD)

I'm filing this under "strange things you may not know you need" for your Second Life experience. A wearable HUD for Second Life, "Myrano Remembers" (by MrMark Benmergui) captures and recalls events, avatar interactions, chat and your own experiences as you meander through the grid. It's a strange concept at first glance, so first to the nuts and bolts and then I'll discuss why you might want to actually do this!

How it works

To start, you simply wear the HUD. The default attachment is Upper Left but that spot always gets my Tiny Empires HUD so I moved Myrano to Upper Right.

On first use, the HUD will ask for permission to interact with your controls. This allows Myrano to continue working in non-script areas. Say yes (you only have to do this once) and the HUD will initialize for a few seconds followed by an unassuming button that simply says Remember (see photo). Myrano is now capturing things you do, say, go to, etc.

At first, there won't be much to Myrano. For it to be of any use at all, it needs to collect stuff. Lots of stuffs. The more the better. It looks for things like avatars near you. Activities you're engaged in. Parcels you're on. Think of it as a Second Life radar on steroids. As you experience things in Second Life, Myrano records it.

Myrano Main Menu

To interact with Myrano, you click the Remember button which shows a menu of options that allows you to recall your experiences or avatars that you see most often. You can also tell Myrano what you or other avatars are doing if it hasn't figgered it out for itself. For example, you might be cuddling, standing, chatting, kissing (some of the defaults) or you can create a custom activity ("pixel sex" anyone?)

Myrano recalls these interactions in narrative form to you via private chat. You might read something like : "You met Frankie Shoebox at Blackhearts Cafe months ago, dancing with Julie Hatrack. You have also seen him shopping at Jimbo's Mall." This is a bit of a simplification but should get the idea. As Myrano records experiences, the storylines it spins out get more detailed.

There are two versions of Myrano...a "Pro" model which sells for $2700L and a "Starter" version for $1500L. The pro model has more features including recalling payments, looking at social networks around a particular avatar and others. Even at $2700L, the developer says the Pro model outsells the Starter 5 to 1.

Why would I use Myrano?

Good question Snick! It's one I've struggled with. While MrMark lists a number of applications for Myrano on his Second Life Marketplace listing, some of them are a bit alien to me (like identifying stalkers or helping to see if an SL lover is cheating on you*). One that does resonate is for SL club owners, shop owners, DJs and hosts who want to have more personal interactions with their customers. Knowing that Frankie Shoebox is one of your regulars who is often seen just sitting around might help you tailor your interaction with them. Recalling details about people just might give you that edge in customer service that brings a person back for more. Myrano can also help you with that dreaded SL social circumstance where you can't remember someone at all that you only met a week ago.

* Example: finding out that someone you don't know is constantly in the same sims you visit.

Limitations of Myrano

The biggest drawback for me with Myrano is that it doesn't keep track of what you are doing in chat or IM. While it knows avatars that are near you and the places you are at, it won't have a clue that you are busy chatting with Julie Hatrack in IM. Since most of my SL interactions are via IM and Group Chat, this limits the usefulness of Myrano for me personally.

Another concern you may (or may not) have is privacy and security. Myrano stores all of its interactions on a server outside of Second Life that's maintained by the developer. You simply have to trust him to keep your information secure. Please note that I have absolutely no reason not to trust MrMark -- he seems like a very sincere and dedicated programmer.

Conclusions & buying

While I see potential applications for Myrano, it's not really for me and the way I interact with Second Life. However, if it strikes a chord with you, you can buy it inworld at MrMark's store or via Second Life Marketplace.

Euro Motorcycle Grrrl!

Fancy yourself a Bond girl? Well here's your chance for the latest Euro-chic outfit from Inga Wind. Available in red as shown plus blue, purple & silver! ZOOOOM!

$400L as show with helmet, boots and accessories. Group members get 10% off.

Click here for the SLURL to Inga's shop: Inga Wind Clothing

Second Life content not valuable outside Second Life

Wagner James Au and others make an interesting argument about the revised SL Terms of Service. Basically it's that since Second Life content is not very valuable outside of Second Life, what's the big deal about giving up your rights to stuff to Linden Lab?

See http://nwn.blogs.com/nwn/2013/09/second-life-content-tos.html

While I appreciate this POV in practical terms, it's bad precedent and has potential to undermine the core of the Second Life economy which is based on trust. Trust that Linden Lab has no interest in taking original content and selling it themselves. Trust that you can change your $L for $US or whatever. Trust that LL values its creator community and the marketplace that comes out of it. All that seems to have been TOSsed aside (bad pun yes).

It further raises suspicions about the future of the SL economy when most reasonable people see no good reason for Linden Lab doing this OTHER than trying to prepare the company for sale or making wholesale changes to the way Second Life itself operates.

The question is less about WHAT they did and more about WHY they did it and WHY NOW.

More Linden Lab Terms of Service (TOS) uproar

Don't know if this is going to go anywhere but there's a blog purporting to represent a number of creators in Second Life who are either leaving, pulling their content and/or refusing to upload new content until the TOS are changed.

No posts yet other than an announcement.

http://unitedcontentcreatorsofsl.wordpress.com/

Second Life top creators leaving over Linden Lab new TOS

I wouldn't call it a mass exodus but longtime and well-known creators, Tuna Oddfellow and Shava Suntzu, have packed up their toys and moved out of SL over Linden Lab's new, highly draconian Terms of Service.

Read more on Wagner Au's blog:

http://nwn.blogs.com/nwn/2013/09/second-life-protest-over-tos.html

And on Shava's blog:

http://www.shava.org/2013/09/24/second-life-so-long-its-been-good-to-know-ya/

This has the potential to be a real s***storm for the now, utterly tone-deaf Linden Lab.

New Kickstarter Project - Photos of Brooklyn by David Dyte

The Second Life Ddyte

One of my bestest friends ever from Second Life, David Dyte (aka Ddyte Darkstone or Ddyte Resident in Second Life), has a real life Kickstarter project going! First some background....

David is a transplanted Australian, mathematician, baseball nut and foodie who's made his permanent home in Brooklyn, NY. Ever since I've known him (for what years now??), it seems he's always taking pictures both in SL and in RL. I've seen his work evolve from really cool shots of buildings, odd signage (neons & displays) and baseball-themes to include more candids and gritty, interesting street scenes. And, his skills at composition, color and mood have become insanely good!

I once commented to him in an email that he was getting good enough to turn pro (or words to that effect). Well, turns out that, in a sense, he has!

 The project is called "As Seen In Brooklyn: One Photo Book, 56 Neighborhoods" and it's a photo essay that tries to capture something interesting about each of the 56 "neighborhoods" in Brooklyn. In David's own words,

The "real" David Dyte! So cute!

"I set out to document my adopted borough by walking through each and every neighborhood with my cameras, photographing everything that caught my eye. There are familiar sights: trendy restaurants in Cobble Hill, Cyclones baseball on summer evenings in Coney Island, tattoos and live music in Williamsburg, shipping containers lining the waterfront in Red Hook. There are also thousands of hidden vistas, like a sleeping angel perched on a gravestone in Canarsie and shimmering, century-old glass half buried on Bottle Beach."

The reason for the Kickstarter is to fund the printing costs for the book. While $60 is the minimum for a hard copy, you can donate as little $15 to get an eBook version or any amount you like just for appreciation's sake.So far, it's a rousing success! With 24 days to go, David has raised $1700 more than his $3000 goal for basic funding! WTG!!! (Maybe with the backing of my all powerful Snickers Doodles blog, he can reach $1,000,000. J/K.)

Anyway, here's the linkie:

David Dyte - As Seen in Brooklyn: One Photo Book, 56 Neighborhoods

 I'm sure you'll like his work! So send money! :)

OMG - BEST FORMAL EVER!

Coralee by Inga Wind

OK, you all know one of my bestie designer friends is Inga Wind. And yes I love to feature her designs on my blog because, frankly, she makes awesome clothing. Also, her tastes and mine are well matched. While in real life, I'm usually running around in a tank top, shorts and sandals, in Second Life I love European upscale couture. And that's what Inga does best.

I have formals from a mix of designers including Blaze, Nicki Ree, aDiva, Last Call plus some cool old outfits from Simone. I'm pretty picky about what I keep in inventory. If something doesn't look quite right or doesn't move correctly when I'm dancing, it gets tossed. So when Inga sent me her latest mesh creation called Coralee, I was sort of yeah, yeah, it looks wonderful in the photo but how will it work when I move in it?

Coralee - Back View

So first thing I did was put it on, do the usual shape tweaking and went straight to Sweetheart's Jazz club. First dance and I was totally amazed. This is the positively the best formal I have ever worn. Period. It moves gracefully, flows like hot butter and the prim bottom pieces seamlessly blends into the mesh dress and the mermaid styling is so elegant without being stuffy or Barbie-ish. (Yes, I just made up that word.)

Anyway, like most of Inga Wind's items, this includes some very cute strappy shoes which you won't see unless you're walking or the dress bottom flies up from movement.

OK so the amazing thing? The price!!! It's only $230L. INGA!! GIRLFRIEND! What are you thinking???? This just kills some of my Blaze formals that are four times as much!! Sigh. Anyway, Coralee comes in Purple (shown) along with black, silver, gold, pink and red. Outfit is complete with necklace, dress, shoes and includes 6 different sizes.

Go buy it before she takes my advice and raises the price. :P

SLURL to Inga Wind Fashion: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Pitreavie/173/191/409

UPDATE: Someone mentioned they wanted to see the back so here it is! Click on the image to see it full size.

Linden Lab buys game distributor Desura

From TechCrunch....

Linden Lab is continuing with its mini-acquisition spree in gaming: it has just announced that it is buying Desura, a Australia-based digital distribution service for PC gamers. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed, but it follows on from the company’s acquisition of LittleTextPeople in February 2012 and Blocksworld in January of this year.

Full article here: http://techcrunch.com/2013/07/10/second-life-maker-linden-lab-buys-desura-for-games-distribution-plans-to-keep-it-open/

It seems to me like the Lab is just kinda flailing about looking for something but not sure what that something is.

Mandatory Firestorm viewer update!

Just in case you haven't logged into Second Life and/or live in a virtual cave, the folks at the Phoenix / Firestorm Project have put an immediate login block into v4.4.1 and are requiring all Firestorm users to update immediately to 4.4.2. Some debug code was left behind in 4.4.1 that is apparently hammering Linden Lab's servers.

Read more here: Mandatory Firestorm 4.4.2 update

Salsa sweetness from Inga Wind

Just a quick post about a new, awesomesauce outfit from the prolific Ms. Inga. I'm calling it a salsa dress but it's a bit more versatile than that. Inga's package photo is about as accurate as anything I would do myself. So trust me, it looks the same worn as it does here. Shoes, as usual, are darling and include a HUD for tinting the skin to match yours.

As with all meshies, you will probably have to adjust your shape a bit to match yours. In my case, boobie size went up to fill out the M size.

Dalia is available in 5 colorways -- Dark Taupe, Black, Red, Silver, Gold, Total price is only $250L.

REMINDER - Group members of Wind get 1/2 off on new releases for 2 days after the announcement. But, you can't just join and buy since new membership is closed for those 2 days. It's REALLY worth it to sign up so you can get the next new outfit for 1/2 price!

Here's the SLURL to Wind: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Pitreavie/168/186/408

New fantasy SIM tops for photos

A friend passed along the landmark for a new SIM (Sandalphon) a friend of hers has built saying I had to take a look since it was so cool for pictures. Well, she's right. It is gorgeous! I put on my elf avatar just to stick with the fantasy theme and popped over to take a few photos. Now I'm sure there are some awesome things I could be doing in Windlight to make things even more interesting but I think what you see with the owner settings is very cool!

My only (small) criticisms are that some of the land features that look like you can walk over are phantom prims. Many spots that would be great for posing aren't because you disappear into them. Plus, there could be a few more physical mounds and hills. But, to be totally fair, the builder has done an amazing job on a single SIM. It really feels much bigger than it is. Anyway, enjoy! Click on any photo to see full size. LM at the end of the article.

So check out Sandalphon here: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Sandalphon/8/124/26

Let me know what you think!

P.S. This SIM is rated Adult so you must be age-verified. I didn't see anything that would warrant that setting (no naughty things) but I suspect it's because the owner wants it that way!

Burning down the house!

It's hot in here!

So I just got an invite from a friend to Second Life house warming party and just had to show you a picture of it! Very clever. And yes he's the creator. Click it and the mini-house lights on fire and gives you a folder with the invite! Nice!

Wish I could show you the before (which is just the house by itself) but once you click it, there's no going back. :P

UPDATE: The creator says I can mention his name so I will. :) Yay for Ghosty Kips. Also since the item is copy, the original will still be in inventory after you drag it out.

Feeling jumpy? It's cute I swear it!

Drew in Sand by Inga Wind

Just a quick hit & run article to show off a new completely cute mesh denim jumper from Inga Wind. Per her usual naming scheme, it's called "Drew in Sand" which means her idea of "sand" is my idea of charcoal. Oh well. The details are fabulous and it comes with shoooozzzz. Also available in blue, red and khaki. Price is $250L but for two days CURRENT group members can buy it for $125L.

SLURL to the store: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Pitreavie/173/191/409

My post in Second Life Forums gets deleted by mods

So I made a short post in the Second Life Forums General Discussion section that linked to my blog article titled "Linden Lab losing focus?". Almost a week after I put it up, the topic was suddenly removed by a moderator along with some 20 replies. And the replies were as interesting and divergent as one could want including several pro-Linden Lab perspectives.

The reason I was given for the removal (in PM) was that I had linked to a third-party website (my blog) which was a violation of the Community Guidelines. Well feel free to read them yourself. I couldn't find a single thing mentioning third-party websites or otherwise -- only that one can't put up a link to something that promotes a product or service.

Now I have done this in the past -- put up a post with a few comments and a link to the full article on a topic. Sometimes it's my blog, sometimes it's someone else's or even a news article. Others do it too, often blatantly commercial. It's kinda like why in the hell bother with a URL feature in the Forums if you can't use it!

Plus, as most of you who follow me know, I don't even have this blog monetized for ads. It's strictly something I do for fun.

So hmmmm. I suspect it was more the fact that the TOPIC was negative about Linden Lab. OK, that's fine. I could actually somewhat respect that as the decision factor. But couching the topic deletion in non-existent Community Guidelines was, IMHO, lame.

So does anyone know what the moderator structure of the Forums is? I can't figure out who has mod rights and where you might appeal. I asked the moderator who pulled the post directly why it was a violation when there was nothing in the guidelines suggesting it was.

No reply so far.

Troobles. Ugly virtual pets from Linden Lab.

As commented in the Second Life Forums, these have to be the saddest looking VPs out there. Seriously Linden Lab?? Someone spent time developing these? Mommy pig talks and Daddy pig can act as a security orb. Wowee!

Oh but they are free for a limited time on Amazon.com. I can't wait. Read all about them here. Or not.

Lottie -- summery, butterfly magic

Lottie by Inga Wind

There's a story behind this outfit. When I first got it from Inga Wind, I absolutely loved the print (Inga has a thing for butterfles) and I loved the styling. Plus the wedgie sandals! OMG. They are freaking amazing!

Alpha gap

What was driving me crazy were the alphas! Now most mesh outfits require a certain amount of shape tweaking to get your curvy parts to fit the mesh. But in my case, no amount of tweaking to my boobs would hide some gaps between the alpha and the top.

You can see the little transparent spot above showing the gap. If I set my sliders so the gap would close, the tops of my boobs push through the top. Not a pretty picture (down guys, it looked stupid).

So I sent Ingathe photo evidence and voila, she turned around new alphas in about an hour that solved the problem perfectly! They were just a bit too large. Shrinking them to cover less skin area made a huge difference!

Lottie Sandals by Inga Wind

OK so what you get with Lottie is the dress as shown with sleeves, plus a very cute prim butterfly chest attachment and the sandals!

Now are these not the cutest things on the planet? Want want want for real life! Click them to see the detail close-up. I could have adjusted the skin tone via the included HUD to be a little darker to match my skin tone, but out of the box, it's pretty darn close. (Yes they are the feet included type.)

Lottie showing included hair wreath.

So all this cool stuff sells for $250L ($125L if you are a group member and buy it within 2 days of release). But wow, I'd pay $250L just for the sandals!

As usual, here's a SLURL to Inga's store: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Pitreavie/173/191/409

NOTE - OMG I forgot to wear the hair wreath for my photo. Here's Inga's package photo showing the wreath!

Linden Lab losing focus?

I paid a visit to Linden Lab's website today (basically I was lost on the Second Life website looking for a link to the grid status page) and, to my surprise, I found four new projects sharing equal billing with Second Life: Patterns, Creatorverse, dio and Versu (Living Stories).

Call me stupid, but after reading through the descriptions of each of these, I had a very serious "what the hell are they thinking" moment. Then after playing with dio (was it named after Ronnie James Dio??) and looking at the others more in-depth, my feelings of doom, despair, defeat and dread only grew.

Dio, it seems to me, is nothing more than a do-it-yourself, point & click version of the old computer text game, Colossal Cave Adventure. I wasn't old enough at the time to know about or play Colossal Cave, but I've read enough references to it that I think I'm safe in saying that dio seems like much the same thing. Which begs the question, why? Why cobble up a full beta site for a game concept that's 40-years old? Why put resources into it? Where did this silly idea come from? And they're going to use ad revenue to drive it? Is the target audience 60-something bookworms?

Next up, Versu. OMG boring. I do a lot of writing for a living but the thought of doing interactive stories on an iPad totally underwhelms me. If I'm going to write something, I'm going to use something with a real keyboard. If I'm going to read something on a tablet, it's going to be a real book by a real author. Or I'm going to be browsing Coldwater Creek or Zappos. I can think of 100's of things to do on a tablet before I'd consider something like Versu. :P

Creatorverse - on multiple platforms no less. So you get to put cartoony, 2D shapes and things in motion and watch them do shit? Woohoo! Sign me up Rodvik! I guess it's kind of like Flash for the unskilled. Well the unskilled part fits me but exactly what am I supposed to do with something I create? Show my friends? "Hey Justin, check out this cool rocket I made on my iPhone! Can we get married now?" "Lookie here Flo! I made a happy pink poodle out of circles that runs in place. Isn't she cute?" I mean seriously Lindens? This creates revenue?

And finally Patterns. Make your own giant canyon or mountain that looks like a crazy quilt and walk or fly around it. Gosh, where do I sign up? Oh hmmm. Maybe at www.SecondLife.com where the mountains you make actually look real and not like something in a Torley Linden nightmare.

All this seems like a grasping at nonexistent straws if you ask me. (Well you didn't really ask so I'm telling you.) Maybe some of my blog readers can tell me the silver linings or paths forward in these ventures. Is this sort of creative direction coming from Rodvik Humble or further down the food chain? I welcome your comments!

Linden Lab releases alpha of Materials Project Viewer

From the Linden Lab blog:

The Snowstorm project is happy to announce that we have a Materials Project Viewer available for alpha testing of support for Normal and Specular maps on Second Life objects!  When generally available, this will enable content creators to make much richer looking materials with less geometric complexity.

Read the entire piece here:
http://community.secondlife.com/t5/Tools-and-Technology/Materials-Project-Viewer-Now-Available/ba-p/1962691

Total mesh cuteness from Inga Wind

I give you Inga Wind's latest creation --- "Alison". It is amazingly cute. I've been wearing this off & on since I got it and it just looks fab. It even makes my (normally small) boobs look more, uh, boobalicious. Oh and the wedgie sandals!! OMG! I'd pay for these separately but they come with the outfit and match it perfectly. The skirt portion is a tiny bit meshie (ie. stiff) but that's not really an issue since it dances and walks very well.

Alison looks exactly like the package photo above.

Alison is $200L including 5 sizes from XXS to L, alphas for dress, dress & shoes and shoes, and belt. Includes mesh shoes with full feet and HUD for skin matching.

SLURL to Inga Wind Clothing: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Pitreavie/173/191/409

Magic Box retirement in Second Life

Linden Lab just announced a date certain scheduled phase out of Magic Boxes starting April 3, 2013. For those that don't know, Magic Boxes are holdovers from XStreet SL / SL Exchange and used by merchants to deliver products in-world from off-world Second Life Marketplace purchases. Each Magic Box holds copies of the inventory items being sold and they must be rezzed somewhere in-world in order to work.

Most merchants have already converted to Direct Delivery which puts purchases directly into the buyer's Received Items folder without the need for a rezzed box. However, a lot have not. The new policy gradually removes Magic Box capability over a two week period ending on April 16. After that, anything relying on a Magic Box will be delisted from the Market Place.

For full details, read the official announcement: Magic Box Retirement

Blogger, Twitter, gadget & widget fails

Just now I noticed that my Twitter stream was no longer showing up in this blog. At first I thought there was something wrong with the "gadget" (in Blogger-speak) I used to display it. After fooling around with no luck, I gave up and searched. Lo and behold, Twitter has disabled the use of all 3rd party Twitter streaming tools including my gadget. You have to use Twitter's widget.

OK fine, whatever. So I head to Blogger's add a Gadget thing. Guess what? It's broken. All you get is a pop-up that says "Oops, something is broken." with instructions to try refreshing, deleting cookies, clearing cache, etc. OK, tried all that. It's still broken.

And naturally, when I go to see if there's any way of plopping Twitter's widget into my page directly, I'm totally lost in a swamp of CSS, HTML, macros, etc. in the Blogger template I use. I tried pasting the official Twitter widget code into a likely looking spot but, naturally, it didn't work. Arrghh!

So thank you Google for not keeping Blogger working and not providing any easy way to report bugs.

UPDATE: 

Thanks Ghosty & Peter for showing me how to do this using a pre-defined Gadget called HTML/Javascript. Pretty simple to do -- just paste the Twitter code into it. However, it's totally not obvious since you have that "Add your own gadget" link on the left that absolutely does not work.

CasperTech bans 26 users from vending system

Casper Warden just sent out a notice in Second Life for CasperTech vending systems support group stating he has globally banned 26 users from the CasperTech network, including all vendors and rental units. The users, all related in some way, were found to be selling stolen content on the marketplace.

I IM'd Casper but he must be buried in messages after announcing this since he hasn't replied. And of course, due to SL Terms of Service and the possibility of getting into legal do-do, he's not going to disclose any names.

I find it interesting that he's doing on a small scale what Linden Lab often won't do period.

Nice rant by Tateru Nino

Worth a read:

http://dwellonit.taterunino.net/2013/01/04/thats-just-plain-embarrassing/

I see the clueless fingers of Rodvik Humble on this.