Happy Holidays

Nayeli, December 2011

An interesting year comes to its end. I want to say "Thank You" to my friends. I have experienced loyalty, support, friendship and love, from those close to me, from those who i thought were close, and still are, apparently, and from strangers.
Yes, of course, 2011 had also its fair share on people one rather wants to see leaving than coming. But should i honor them with going into details here? Rather not. They just don't deserve it.

So, let us focus on those good and nice encounters, on the friends. I wish all of you blessed holidays and a prosperous 2012. Let us look forward to what 2012 holds, in challenges, surprises, experiences.
And i would love, if next year, at the same time, i can still count you in as my friend.

Have a great 2012 and all your wishes may come true,

- Mama Allpa doctors and midwives
- Ava & Family
- Marvin and Lacey
- slut & vb
- Jarethe
- my star
- all who i met through this long year of 2011in nice ways, as there are customers, clients, co-developers, other creators, friends, lovers, etc etc

Yours Truly

Dark Den re-opened

Remember the times when DD was a smaller area with fast and short RP storylines? No meters? No big background story?
Since i have been asked, more than one time, to go back to that stage, i took half of the sim "Mama Allpa" and made a new draft for Dark Den, considering developments that took place in SL meanwhile, like RLV for example. The result is the new Dark Den, on the sim Mama Allpa.

DD 2011

Bst viewed with Firestorm due to the weather settings, but also a nice view in the standard viewers. "Victims" should have their Relay on "auto". No worries, you won't get trapped endlessly in simple RLV devices that strip you naked...
We developed something nicer: a RLV capture gun. Description here: http://darkden-in-sl.blogspot.com/p/rlv-capture-gun.html
Also, the Roleplay certification is back! Description here: http://darkden-in-sl.blogspot.com/p/passport.html
Inspectors from former DD certifications can please IM me if they are interested to also be inspector in the new setting.

So, the setting is made, the visit is up to you :)

see you there!

height script

Tired of discussing what is the correct height? Realistically?
Copy and paste this script into a prim and let others just walk against that prim, maybe as non intrusive doormat or similar...

(Update January 6, 2012:) the script below has a bug. Read the comments, or see the corrected version here: http://yournymph.blogspot.com/2012/01/giants.html )

default
{
    state_entry()
    {
     
        llSetText( "", < 1,1,1>, 1 );
    }


    collision_start (integer total_number)
    {
        key avatar;
        string name;
        vector size;
        vector pos;
        string saeheight = "";
        float heightfeet;


        avatar = llDetectedKey(0);
        size   = llGetAgentSize( avatar );
        name   = llDetectedName(0);
        pos    = llDetectedPos(0);
       
       heightfeet = size.z * 3.28083;
saeheight = (string)((integer) llFloor(heightfeet)) + " feet ";
heightfeet -= llFloor(heightfeet);
saeheight += (string)((integer)(llRound(heightfeet * 12))) + " inches";
        llInstantMessage(avatar, "you are " +saeheight + " tall, that equals " + (string)((integer)(size.z*100)) + " cm");
        if (size.z*100<150)
{
        llInstantMessage(avatar, "Your size is small. This is just a hint. Nothing else.");
}
       else  if (size.z*100>200)
{
        llInstantMessage(avatar, "Your size is very tall. This is just a hint. Nothing else.");
}
       
        size.x = 0.5;
        size.y = 0.5;
     


    }
}

The Colour Factory

Accidentally i came across this small jewel of art. A gallery, live music, friendly folks, all in all a very relaxing spot and a joy for the eye:

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Anango%20Isle/201/191/34

Go there!

Start of the show

I wanted to take more pictures, but  i forgot, as it was one of the nicest things i have seen ever and pictures won't do justice anyway...

The calendar where you can see the events starting is here:
https://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=tyrehlbyk@att.net&ctz=Am

I was at "not a knot" and will make it a point to watch the others too.

Location:
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/LEA6/95/224/3903

Marketplace

Received a 1star rating, and followed it up...
the dialog stands for itself, i wil not comment on it further...

Me:: and why do you want your money back?
Customer: becaz i dont want to have a baby nomore becaz my hubby cheated
Customer: so now im returin all the baby stuff
Customer: ect
Me:: and.. uhm.. that is my fault how?
Me:: you know...
Me:: i am working hard, ...
Me:: and the HUD works
Me:: and you can get a baby with another man
Me:: whatever
Me:: but giving me 1 star is like,you blame me for your fate
Me:: is that fair?
Customer: well i dont want the item nomore
Me:: ok, but that is not my fault, you can delete it then, can you not?
Me:: i mean, i am providing here a service
Me:: and you can use it later or not
Customer: i was mad immma rate it but then i have to get my money back
Customer: no i dont want to use it later
Customer: becaz im gay now
Me:: and.. sorry.. but..
Me:: how is that my life?
Me:: i mean
Me:: i did sell you a HUD
Me:: and this is not a game, you bought something
Me:: can you go and buy a car in RL
Me:: drive with it
Me:: and give it back just so?
Customer: well yes if the owner of the car have a reason   not to drive it becaz the parner is not there nomore and now the onwer is gay
Customer: then she will want to refun the car

New machinima

HUD stuck? part II - the odyssey continues

Please now, everyone who has a HUD (and, really, this is then the absolute exception, most HUDs run just fine): now there is a ticket in the so called "Jira", where Lindens can keep track of errors.
So, please go to this website: https://jira.secondlife.com/browse/SCR-211
It describes the error.
Add a comment. The comment should include:
The viewer you are using
the region you noticed that the HUD crashed

Please do this ONLy if these points are true for you:

1. You are using the female HUD
2. the female HUD was working fine already for you for some days
3. your female HUD stopped responding to clicks, simply so, from one moment to the next.

Do NOT use this link for any other issues you might have with the HUD.

Thank you for your support.

Inworld shopping vs. Marketplace

Sometimes, one finds really dedicated designers of fashion. They run a blog, have free  group gifts, list items in Marketplace, their inworld shop is of decent design, their stuff is of good quality, for a fair price. Last friday then i came across a blog entry of one of my favorite designers, that she closes her location.
While one can say on one hand, that this is business, i think, this is not a nice development. The designer mentioned above will now offer her items on the marketplace. Which is a shark pool.
The option, that clients can rate items was meant well, for sure. But what does one find more than often? Quality stuff rated poorly, like 1 star, because the buyer did not understand what they bought or just did not like the design how it was made, personally. Or, lets face it, just wanted to bitch. I myself have collected enough experiences of the bad sorts at Marketplace that i tend to not pay so much attention to the "stars" given to a product anymore.
I even found top notch freebie items, that received a 1 star rating.. with reasons like "the delivery failed". On a freebie, 0L$. Yes.
Today, i thought, when i look now for a new outfit, i will again go shopping inworld. It takes more time, yes. But well.. if i simply accept that soon all is on the marketplace, then i will soon miss the next good shop inworld... recognize the work, those creative people put in to make your experience in SL more colorful.. buy inworld.

Just my 2 cents

HUD stuck?

At the moment it seems, that in the Grid there is some kind of bug, as the very reliable Female HUD fails to stop working on a very selected few people. It is less, far less, than 1%, but still a bugger. If you encounter this problem:

• HUD works absolutely fine 
• Suddenly, after TP or relog, it does not accept any touch/click anymore and stays silent

then please help us and LL to find out the cause. To do so, please go to this link:

https://support.secondlife.com/create-case/ (eventually you need to login to that website).

Fill out as follows:

What type of problem are you having?

Technical Questions

Technical Questions

Scripting Issues

* What are the names of the script(s) that you are having trouble with?the script "Presidente" in the HUD Mama-Allpa (F) V2.11* What region were you in when you experienced the issue?

---

* Please describe the issue.The item does not react on "touch" events anymore. Also, other equipment that would be able to receive messages from this HUD, claim, that there is no HUD. So it appears that the HUD is not sending out messages anymore either
You will then receive a ticket number. Please send that ticket number to me via IM inworld, YT Recreant, and i will replace your HUD. Important: do NOT delete the broken HUD, as LL needs it eventually to investigate the cause
Thank you for your help.

Ashleey 1 star rating

Background: Ashleey rates my product 1 star. She is entitled to that. I have no problem with it. THe problem i have is this:

• She ignores any reason why what she wrote spam is not spam
• She deletes her 1 star rating as soon as it gets topped by a 5-star rating, and rewrites her 1-star rating, jsut to stay on top.
• She adds each time then, that i ignore her. Which i truly did not.
• She also starts now to delete her 1-star rating and rewrites them, when comments of others to her, that she behaves petty and malicous, are not to her likes. Then she reposts again,, 1 star, telling, i am ignoring her.

If you want to help in this matter, flag her comment as spam or flaming, and report her inworld via help - report abuse, harrasing - defaming individuals.

Thank you.

From the August 7th rating i have no screenshot, as i did not expect this to happen. It caught me truly off guard. I started to document on her 2nd assault, August 15th. Here, i will place the screenshots. I can provide the ratings and comments as textfile upon request.

Proof:

August 15th - her rating 1star

August 18th - after she deleted August 15h, and reposted

August 21st - after she deleted August 18th, and reposted

If you want to help in this matter, flag her comment as spam or flaming, and report her inworld via help - report abuse, harrasing - defaming individuals.

Thank you.

Some days...

...i ask myself... where this will all lead to. Really.

Last week, someone rated my HUD 1 star. Ok, Happens. I am not amused and happy about it, but, hey, they are entitled to their opinion. I responded, Jarethe responded, the issue was eventually solved... and i get from a different client a 5-star rating. Made me happy and smile. And i find, 1 day after the 5-star rating? The 1-star rater having deleted hers and reposted it, just to stay on top of the list.
That is malice.
Today then i log in and find a Notecard, with somewhat "i have drama with my BF because i have set myself to pregnant, and he thinks now i am cheating on him". I expressed that i am sorry but that if there are trust issues in the relation, the HUD is not to be held responsible for it, one should rather look into the deeper cause, not blame a scripted gadget...
and am being called a dumb cow by that person, for it.

I have more of that. This is just, a bit over the top all.

Viewer 2.8x - the new features - fasten your seat belt!

I am currently on viewer version Second Life 2.8.1 (236154) , which is downloadable here under the chapter "Beta". Now, i am not sure if i really found all new things, but let me tell you those novelties, that i really liked:

Privacy settings for parcels
When you enter land, you see on the top bar the restrictions that apply, like "no build" or "no scripts". New now is the sign for privacy:

the eye with red circle

 It means, residents outside the parcel can not see any person inside the parcel - and vice versa. Chat on channel 0 (normal chat) is also blocked. This means for example, your private house is really private. Perving by cam  is past. Also listening as 'innocent bystander' outside the parcel is futile now.
To enable it, one needs viewer 2.8, the setting works then for any viewer.
How to enable it as land owner: go to "about land" and disable the checkbox that marks your parcel as "public" - so, the opposite then is "private":

Estate windlight settings
Phoenix user know this feature already, as  parcel description one can set up some keywords, and then all phoenix viewers woud interpret that and set up the light and water accordingly. Lindens took this thought and allow now, for the whole region (sim) to set up similar. The setting can only be done by Estate managers (Sim owners and their proxies) and can be seen by 2.8 Viewers.
How to set this up:
Go to Region/Estate, and there the tab "Environment":

I need to play with this one myself a bit more, as not all effects seem clear yet to me, especially in combination with the build-in windlight editor, but, a nice toy to set an atmosphere, for sure!

The Profile
it changed from its structure quite some, and has a feature, which i find quite interesting. One can leave notes in the profile of the other person, called "Feed".

Here i left a feed on my friends profile... interesting, i think.

These were some of the new features, i am sure there are more. But these wil lhave the most visible effect on the residents, in my opinion.

Sim Hunt - in the .. hospital?

Solved! 

S-URL: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Deviant/88/213/15

Today we are visiting a sim where the owner is known for the toys that come from there, mostly D/s related. On arrival, one lands in the shop. And since these items are really very easy to identify, i do not take  a screenshot from there, but walked outside the store, up the road...

click to enlarge (goes for all pictures here)

and it is a loooong road....

the road is followed by a loooong stairway.. although there is also a lift

Well, it is labeled "for difficult patients" - and even tho i give sometimes those close to me some headache, i am not that difficult.. so i walk...

at the top of the stairway...

lets take a break and have a smoke, for the condition. and it is a hospital, so, what can happen?

The building is very well done, really. It has no "toys" inside tho, but, the design is worth a visit nonetheless.  I do not know, when exactly it was made. I found it myself only last year, but friends told me it is much older.

You do NOT want to know what is inside the refrigerator. I recommend by the way, to have speakers on, for the sound effects. They are not "shocking" but add nicely to the mood.

Watch for the details, they are well made. Here the shadows and the skull, for example.

I did not do that!

Should i book a bed here for the night?

But be careful and mind your step!

There is so much to see....

So what is the name of this sim, that is adult rated, that sells in its shop toys to "torture the submissive slave" - so they say...

As always, the first correct answer gets 100 L$ :)

If you know the place, comment the solution in here, this blog, with the "comment" function.

Sim Hunt - Another one

Solved :) It is Midian City, indeed. Congrats to the winner! (see comment at the bottom of this entry)

Time flies fast.. not only the days between the posts in this blog..
Sometimes, roleplay areas experience a hype - and get forgotten one day. The reasons can vary and it is not my place, to ponder about these. I just found, today, when entering the Roleplay-level of this area, a poster, that has its origin in 2007:

Click to enlarge - this goes for all pictures

Those protest-posters were all over in SL, back those days, before the ratings of General, Mature and Adult came into place. It was then, the reaction to a blog post by the Lab, to keep an eye open and to report acts that are "Real-life images, avatar portrayals, and other depiction of sexual or lewd acts involving or appearing to involve children or minors; real-life images, avatar portrayals, and other depictions of sexual violence including rape, real-life images, avatar portrayals, and other depictions of extreme or graphic violence, and other broadly offensive content" (Quoted from the Linden Blog).
This was way before the rating of sims.

Anyway, we get off topic... this sim has then obviously not really been majorly updated after that, as the picture shows. However... it is still for me a reference in design. That was before sculpts took place, or RLV was available.

However, leaving the arrival area, and entering the "playground" i get suddenly a pop up message, telling:
"Please be advised the sim will be rebooted August 1, with tweaks to rules and backstory.
Join the -XXX City- group and check the notices for more details.  In the meantime, you are welcome to RP here under the old rules!" (XXX is the name of the area, and since this is a hunt, i censored that out)

here i received the message

When the lights are set right, the decorations fit, then a street can set a mood:

The sim has many well equipped roleplay areas, like for example, a clinic:

offices:

restaurants:

and some more. but also many "dummy builds" which are jsut decoration and not having any interior.

So, which cyberpunk roleplay sim is this?

As always, add your guess as comment to the blog post here, the first correct answer will win 100 L$

Sim Hunt, the next Quest

The S-URL to this place is http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Swedish%20Institute/71/212/31

MadDog gave the first and correct hint!

For a new location in the sim hunt watch this blog.

Greetings today from ....... well, from where, is up to you to find out :)
Hints: try to read in the text for keywords that you enter in search. As last weeks Quest gave 0 hints, i took today an easy target. Really.
The rule: 7 days from publishing, the first who names the place as comment to the blogpost wins 100L$.

Here we go....

The project is another RL-SL connection, to transfer impressions from a RL location to SL. The G-rated sim appeared quite busy when i arrived and it is established already some years.

First thing that catches ones eye on arrival, is:

Two red horses

So, let us walk on and see what this place has to offer...
Near the arrival point is the first official building of the place, designed nice and bright, offering a warm welcome to each visitor...

with cupcakes even... or how they are named in that country...

The entire design is nordic fresh...

Ok, here was a twist... a sauna, as it is typical for the country, on a PG sim...

But it cleared up fast, inside the build one can purchase towels to wear, for free

There is a dog, named "Olle"...

And i guess, these were enough hints... so:

Where is this located?:

Solved: For Fun and Giggles: Sim hunt - and you can win cash even!

The S-URL to this place is http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Insel%20der%20Information/131/26/23

The keyword "library" in search would have brought you there pretty fast :)


For a new location in the sim hunt watch this blog.

Ok, something new came to my mind today. I can travel through SL and write down locations with S-URL into this blog. Like so many travelblogs do. However, i will now do something differently. I will visit locations, take pictures, and then you have to find out, where it is, exactly.
The focus here is on the fun. Your effort will be rewarded by yourself, discovering SL. And, well, a small compensation. The first one naming the right location as comment to this blog, gets 100 L$. Cash is not the main motivation, hence, "only" 100 L$.
If a location has not been found out by you, dear readers, within 7 days, i wil write the location as comment, then the 100 L$ for said place are lost, of course.

Nuff said, here comes our first target:

This handsome guy is named Aristoteles

He is not alone :)

The building has been setup approx. 2008

The interior is .. "functional" .. coughs

Very.. functional

It is one of those attempts of RL institutions to just go to SL because "everyone does".. and then they missed to add some value to their presence. Traffic is like 0, or below 100 points, means, at the day at least, where i have been there, all in all less than 100 minutes someone has been on that island in the past 24 hours. That is.. dead.

tons of "books"....

Like these bookshelfs... really a lot of them here, and not one e-magazine or something like that. Just pretty prims, empty.
But ok, i found some stuff, scripted, that added value... like:

old books that turn pages on click

Such, one would normally only see behind thick glass in a museum. Here, at least, one can read through the pages, provided, one can read those letters...
Also, events still seem to take place here...

The event calendar shows an event from May 24 2011

Hmm, funny....

The same picnic blanket as in the Duran Duran sim... 

So, these were the hints for this "hunt"...

Which sim is this?

Travelling SL - Duran Duran Universe

Google News can be a neat thing. I have set a filter to get News related to "Second Life" or "Linden Lab" and other keywords. So, one day, a headline caught my eye, about the music group Duran Duran, going to SL. The complete news is here. Today then, having some spare time, i decided to pay a visit to said location, and there we go...

four sims are currently the DDU - Duran Duran Universe

I have spend 2 hours, taking my time, exploring this and that corner, and found it, all in all, quite enjoyable. Some impressions of the trip:

Walk over the red carpet

If you ever wanted to feel like a celebrity, the red carpet is there, right for you. With yellow press.

Art-installations

Some spots reveal what they do only when you "hop onto that poseball" or get close to the scripted item. So, it is essential, that you really walk and click and try and explore. If you fly, or walk through in a rush, you will miss out on many details.

Cinema

Some of the architecture is nice. Like the cinema.

Inside the cinema

A small downside is, that there is some decoration without any value to the installation. Examples:

Picnic without sit-option (the fruit plate says "Fruits of Gor" btw :) )

High Prim chairs without any sit animation inside

But these are really minor points. Overall, the installation is fun to explore...

Find something hidden

Mix some music

Or play some on the band equipment

There is a lot more to see, but, well, go, check yourself?
S-URL: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Azizi/67/9/26/?title=The%20DDU