Weekly Tweets 2012-08-26

Posted on by August 26, 2012
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Inspiration: The Crystal Egg, by H.G. Wells #STEAM7 #SecondLife

Posted on by August 19, 2012
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And now, at last, some time this week to work on my offering for the upcoming STEAM Hunt 7.

The theme this round is “Time and Space,” highlighting the work of H.G. Wells, who got a little steampunk love (and a surprisingly effective gender change) in a recent story arc on the aetheric vidshow “Warehouse 13” last season.

There was, until a year ago, a little and very grimy-looking shop near Seven Dials, over which, in weather-worn yellow lettering, the name of “C. Cave, Naturalist and Dealer in Antiquities,” was inscribed. The contents of its window were curiously variegated. They comprised some elephant tusks and an imperfect set of chessmen, beads and weapons, a box of eyes, two skulls of tigers and one human, several moth-eaten stuffed monkeys (one holding a lamp), an old-fashioned cabinet, a fly-blown ostrich egg or so, some fishing-tackle, and an extraordinarily dirty, empty glass fish-tank. There was also, at the moment the story begins, a mass of crystal, worked into the shape of an egg and brilliantly polished. And at that two people who stood outside the window were looking, one of them a tall, thin clergyman, the other a black-bearded young man of dusky complexion and unobtrusive costume. The dusky young man spoke with eager gesticulation, and seemed anxious for his companion to purchase the article.

via The Crystal Egg by H.G. Wells | Rediscover Reading

Right, then! The ideas that I’ve had swirling in my mind for the duration of an enforced absence from Second Life during my adventurous vacation can finally be virtually realized.

There may be some opportunity for a real Easter Egg-style joke, too. The prize has to be placed by the 30th, but this time I’d like to finish it far enough in advance to post a sales texture on the STEAM blog (many other creators are well ahead of me on this).

What I have in mind could be a simple few prims, or it might become pretty elaborately textured and animated. I’ll start with the simplest option see how it goes. My idea for the elaboration (which would act as a display pillar or plinth) might end up becoming a separate new sales product. Either way, now that I’ve finally read the story (Internet access was tricky when we were traveling, and I was incubating ideas anyway), I see the way forward.

Finally: The Dratted Jade Cane Is Now Scripted And I’m Going To Bed

Posted on by October 17, 2012
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Sharp-eyed consumers had noted the rather good deal offered with the simple cane-friendly AO that I had offered for free on the Marketplace; rather than build a “demo” cane, I threw in an older unscripted cane that had always sold rather well (at a lower price than the scripted ones that worked well with Posture is Everything’s Gentleman Jim AO, which I recommend highly).

This deal, being free and at no cost, zero virtual ducats, was selling rather briskly. Or “Raw-THER” as Papa was wont to say.

Sad to say, but all good things must come to an end. An unscripted jade cane with a large DEMO box attached is now included with the free AO HUD that uses cane-friendly full perm animations that I’d collected.

A new version of the jade cane, with slightly richer textures and some slight changes in size and rotation, is now available. It is scripted to be compatible with my own simple AO and also works well with the more complicated rotations demanded by PIE’s Gentleman Jim AO. I shall be adding more images later, but for now I pronounce this product GREATLY IMPROVED!!

Greatly Improved Jade Handled Walking Stick

And now to bed.

via Second Life Marketplace – @DF@ Ivory-Headed Walking Stick (c/m/nt) with NEW AO

Weekly Tweets 2012-08-19

Posted on by August 19, 2012
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Future Dolphin Viewer Will Not Have OpenSim Grid List or commandline parameters – DRAT

Posted on by August 19, 2012
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Back after a longish vacation, and went to log in using Dolphin to be greeted with the “You are using an unsupported version of Dolphin Viewer” message – the developer, Lance Corrimal, does update frequently and I had missed several week’s worth (or maybe a month’s worth) of small and large updates.

Went to the Dolphin site and noticed this, which I had been expecting given the recent announcements by Linden Labs (I’ve been able to stay current with LL and SL news via aetheric handheld while wandering around the Great Northwest).

I’m sorry Lance won’t be able to provide forked versions as Firestorm has said they’ll do; I like Dolphin (it still has a working Flickr upload button for snapshots). Gradually, I’ll end up using Firestorm OS and Firestorm SL more often than not (especially when they finally get their upload button fixed). Users who don’t need to access Open Sim will continue to use Dolphin, and happily. I will, too, for Second Life. I will miss some features I’d gotten used to while fooling with my standalone grid. However, the lack of an import/export feature was hampering, so I was headed in the direction of Phoenix or Imprudence anyway. I’m also thinking this is not necessarily a bad thing; Lance leaves a pathway open for anyone that might like to develop his viewer for Open Sim. And forked versions of Firestorm, as Inara Pey notes, means that the Open Sim version team can develop features and capabilities that are geared for the OS community.

One reason to continue using Dolphin – it’s got special features for machinimators, although for photography I still prefer Firestorm’s lighting/environmental floater.

I’ve installed the latest version of Dolphin (not a clean install, I don’t feel like messing with setting up my preferences yet again) which will still have OS support

I am writing to Dolphin users to advise that in the current development code for Second Life, Linden Lab has removed support for connecting to other grids. This is due to licensing restrictions imposed on Linden Lab for the use of Havok libraries (needed for pathfinding, mesh uploads etc).

This means that in order for future versions of Dolphin to access OpenSim, there would need to be a separate version with its own maintenance path.

Since Dolphin is a one-person project, I regrettably do not have the time to develop two parallel versions of the viewer for 3 operating systems.

So, please note that effective with the next release, the Dolphin Viewer will no longer have the list of OpenSim-based grids on the login screen, or the following commandline parameters –loginpage, –loginuri, and –helperuri.

via Dolphin Viewer – A Viewer for Virtual Worlds

Linden Labs Has A Problem When Even @Torley Has A Sad:POSTS KEEP DISAPPEARING. NOT IMPRESSED.

Posted on by August 16, 2012
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20120816-174720.jpg See image at http://bit.ly/Nnnpby – Second Life

torley.linden I completely empathize when efforts don’t appear to get visible results — and it’s frustrating that my.secondlife.com isn’t under “active development” as pieces break down. Its future is undetermined due to more pressing priorities at the Lab, but I’ll continue to share your feedback to show why it matters. Lindens would rather know how you feel than silence, and the opposite is true too. 🙂 Sometimes it takes a long time for something to get fixed (like http://bit.ly/N0K1Zz ) but don’t give up!

Link: POSTS KEEP DISAPPEARING. NOT IMPRESSED. http://bit.ly/Nnnpby – Second Life

Builders Gotta Build. Blenders Gotta Blend.

Posted on by August 16, 2012
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As my RL vacation ends I look forward to building again, and will try to comprehend Blender once again. Every time I make a start, I get stymied by class schedules; it seems best to just go the tutorial route as below.

It took me about three days to learn how to do in Blender, albeit clumsily, pretty much anything I can do with prims, starting from having looked at Blender a couple of times and thought WTF. I expect it’ll take me the rest of my life to learn how to do it really well, though.

For what it’s worth, it was a combination of the Blender Cookie Basics and Gaia Clary’s Coffee Cup tutorials that kick-started me.

Link: Mere prim & Magnificent Mesh! – SLUniverse Forums

Weekly Tweets 2012-08-12

Posted on by August 12, 2012
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  • Typist became hikist and went here. http://t.co/wb0f1B9i #
  • @isfullofcrap Myst FTW! You! Shall Not! Starve! #
  • @sandeepparikh A sad day for the Sikh community, and for all people. May the world learn more about this peaceful and tolerant faith. #
  • NOW can I finally get my freaking jetpack? It's the future already! #
  • BRRRRR-IIIINNNG! RT @Darien_Mason RT @StephLaberis: WORST NIGHTMARE CONFIRMED. http://t.co/mvxXCVrH #
  • Or is that JPL Mohawk Guy?RT @doctorow RT @jukevox: NASA Mohawk guy has a Tumblog: http://t.co/lERMaenQ #
  • Muppetry nominal. RT @Darien_Mason RT @rosscott: Okay this shot from @MarsCuriosity actually explains a lot. http://t.co/3DQPElhK #
  • @Darien_Mason @stephlaberis TELEPHOOOONNNNE!!!! #
  • @xeni There were plenty of women in Mission Control, WTH? And HAPPY BIRTHDAY. Many MANY happy returns. #
  • @StephLaberis I am still laughing about this. Also NASA Mohawk Guy. #
  • @boxleitnerbruce Life on Mars sort of confirmed within a few minute after first pictures. Credit @StephLaberis http://t.co/awXo0pD5 #
  • @StephLaberis You should report your sighting… http://t.co/3Vpixrdm #
  • @Eye_on_events The YipYip 'shop was originally posted by @stephlaberis #
  • Another day outworld with limited 'net access. OTOH, there might be moose. Meese. Moosen. #
  • @isfullofcrap My sister's in that one, she puts that shit in everything except wine. #
  • Typist bids farewell to the Silver Valley and family, on to more adventure in Glacier Park. #
  • ATVs are a big thing in the Idaho Panhandle. With a dog box in back labeled "TIMBER" or "Chipmunk Chaser." Street legal in RL #
  • @m_ethaniel will try to be inworld, on MDT here. Hope all ok. #
  • @HolocluckHenly Thank you! Fair winds inworld to you. #
  • According to @lizzwinstead Rove stumping in Mt Bachelor OR. He was just in Whitefish MT, touring Western GOP golf resorts? Via jet? #
  • One advantage RL beverages have over #SecondLife drinks: no sip script required. http://t.co/6IwYmjbf #
  • No, I dont mind if you peek at the typist. RT @GinnyRED57 I checked in at The Craggy Range Bar & Grill on #Yelp http://t.co/Zp3aQ7fw #
  • So it's R-Money and R-Ayn, then. Dear seniors, this nice young man is coming for your Medicare. http://t.co/M2bDM1q0 #
  • It's just too easy. R-Money and R-Ayn, "I've got my stack, screw you, Jack." #Ryan #selfwritingslogans #
  • @MorikoInshan Hear you on that. #
  • @upwithchris @maddow The R-Money/R-Ayn ticket can't lose with the base. Can't win with any other demographic. #
  • They're not the Comeback Team, they're the Setback Team. #rMoneyrAyn #Ryan #uppers #
  • RT @fullofbalogna RT “@toodle52: Paul Ryan Booed By Seniors At Town Hall Meeting in Milton, Wisconsin ttp://t.co/SrY3je53 via @youtube” #
  • Correction: Every TIME RT @upwithchris Romney corrects himself: "Every now and then I'm known to make a mistake." #uppers #
  • Amercia! Greet your Wayback Team! Now, if you'll all step into the machine, we can undo a century of progress. #Ryan #rMoneyrAyn #

Weekly Tweets 2012-08-05

Posted on by August 5, 2012
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Edited: Blue “Chagall” Glass Wall Fountain $L75 at #SLMarketplace

Posted on by October 17, 2012
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Another new fountain – this was sitting in my workshop for a while:

The base image is one I’ve had in my inventory for years – picked it up in a hunt somewhere. I can’t identify it for sure, but it looks similar to Chagall’s stained glass artworks – he’s got a lot all over the world, but I’m most familiar with the ones at the Art Institute of Chicago. So “Chagall Wall Fountain” it is.

It sat for a while as I was doing other things and getting ready for a big adventure, and then today I had a little time to play around with making a frame (that I’ll use again for other projects).

I’m pretty happy with the way it came out – the projector lighting effect is fun to turn on the first time. It’s in the gold “lamp prim” on one side of the fountain, so that the other side can be toward the wall or even inset as a window. The water sounds are pretty standard – at some point soon I’ll use a different one I have.

It’ll be in my shop in Steelhead St Helens, or on the Marketplace. Come play with it!

Here’s what this one looks like with the lights off and the projector ON – showing the image as if illuminated from behind.

Second Life Stained Glass Wall Fountain - blue Marc Chagall-like image

Blue “Chagall” Glass Wall Fountain with scripted sounds on/off and volume controls.

  • You can reduce the sounds to 1/4, 1/2, and 3/4 volume as well as mute by touching the glass.
  • Turn on projector lighting by touching gold lamp one side only, other side is normally lit.Turn it into a nice window by hollowing a wall to the right size and stretching the fountain to fit.
  • You must have graphics settings at Ultra with lighting and shadows on for the projector effect to be visible.

See Torley Linden’s recent video for how to set up your graphics preferences.
If you have questions on this product, please IM me, I receive them all via email.

10% of the price of this product will be donated to support the Anglican Cathedral in Second Life on Epiphany Island.

via Second Life Marketplace – @LC@ Chagall Wall Fountain w/Projector Lighting