Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Meme: My Three SL Wishes

This week Strawberry Singh setup "My Three SL Wishes" for her meme challenge and wrote very eloquently about her desires. My first thoughts were very shallow and simplistic compared to her lofty wishes. Be sure to check out her thoughts here and I'll wait for you.

Ready? Go back and read them again if you want because I'm not sure I'm entirely ready. I had to think over night and I really don't feel as if I'm completely free of my comparatively simple mindset ... still thinking about nit-picky viewer changes or things that would for the most part benefit me and few others. Keeping in mind the inherently ephemeral nature of wishes, here are three that I'll commit to for now.


The Isle of Lesbos is BACK! I wish *sigh* ... If I could afford it, I'd bring back the Isle. It was home to so many women over the years; a safe haven and a family. More than likely there are many fine places similar to the Isle, but I have trouble bringing myself to even search for them because the Isle meant so much to me. Increasing responsibility helped me gain confidence, let me exercise my creative side, and made me interact with other people, thus building my social skills. Bonus? I have to admit that it was a real treat to have full run of the place, doing pretty much what I wanted regardless of the prim count. And need I point out that I met my SL wife there? We've been together for many years thanks to the Isle. Of course, there's the enduring friendships, too, particularly with my "sister" Threshin and her innumerable alts.


An end to lag is a big wish! That's not likely to happen. I've done what I can afford to do so as to reduce client-side lag and in a couple years, provided Second Life is still around, I'll likely try to upgrade my computer one more time in effort to do my part. Sadly, there are so many people, I'm sure, who try Second Life, get hit with lag, and leave, not knowing that they have at least some control. Of course, primary control rests with The Lab. They've tried educating Residents in the best ways to reduce lag (such as using the right size texture for a build) but it doesn't always work. Incompetent builders and Residents that insist on having hugely laggy avatars are a  major problem. Maybe it is time to revisit how the world is built behind the scenes ... new rendering engines, a more efficient script language, and a better way to handle textures and traffic loads.


If only my pixy alt, Zyx Flux, was real. I logged her in the other day ... the first time in a while ... and it was refreshing to be this little free spirit again. Like many Residents, when I log in as a different "character" (AKA Alt) a new part of me comes out. I'm still me, but she's a different part of me. It is so hard to describe. I just sat here staring at the picture above for several minutes while writing this post at a loss for words, unable to express what it is like. Being blue, by the way, totally rocks. I'm seriously thinking of changing Uccello to be blue, too, if I could find a way to match my mesh hands/feet to my pixy skin (most of my characters have the same blue skin that Zyx has in their inventories). There is something to be said for Pixy Power!

Only three wishes? There are a number of viewer enhancements I could think of, bits of land I'd like to own, skills I would love to have, and .... well, I could use unlimited wishes. But who couldn't? What are your top three (for now)? Let me know in comments here or use comments to point to your blog so I can visit.

Friday, April 26, 2013

What a Difference 6/10th of a Decade Makes

Just this morning I was organizing some files when I ran across a picture from 2007. What the heck was I thinking? The hair was mis-adjusted, the skin was horrible, and I wore neko ears with my human ears exposed. At least the eyes were of good quality.


Compared with a picture from just yesterday, the older picture is even more ... well, you can see for yourself. Of course, since then I've spent thousands of $Lindens on new skins, hair, and clothing. What really helps, though, is that lighting has vastly improved. Windlight along with the ability to blur backgrounds and to adjust picture quality could probably make even some of the worst pictures better.


Who knows what another 6/10ths of a decade will bring? Maybe full mesh bodies that don't show texture stretching flaws. Perhaps Windlight that lets water and air behave as if it was in different climates. Even higher photo resolutions? Probably as graphics improve and memory costs plummet.

Second Life is poised to either whither or bloom at this time, if you read some of the "news" blogs. From what I've seen of the past, the future is pretty bright and I look forward to it.

Monday, April 22, 2013

"Why Do I Blog?" Meme


Hot on the heels of today's blog post about Invisi-bots (as pictured above) and just in time to keep me from folding lots of laundry, it's the Weekly Blog Challenge from Strawberry Singh –– Why do I blog? Here's what she has to say and now for my meager responses ...

How long have you been blogging? The Poultry Report dates back to April 24, 2008 but I briefly had another Second Life-related blog before that and I've had personal blogs since I could access the Internet. Little-known secret time ... when I showed an aptitude for writing and seemed to enjoy it, my brother gave me writing assignments on varied topics and I'd post them on one of his several blogs. He and I know which ones I wrote but others can only guess. Writing was one of the many forms of therapy used to help rebuild me after my pre-teen traumas.

Why did you start blogging? Being unable to speak, writing was a way to better communicate my thoughts than was (and still is) the grammar limitations of American-Sign Language (ASL). Thank goodness for the iPad I can whip out to scribble out my exact meaning even to people that know ASL. Blogging extended from this activity like many girls keep a diary, except mine is public (well, not my RL blog, which I admit I haven't touched in a long time).

How many times a week do you post an entry? As often as seven or more times a week and as seldom as whenever I feel like. Sometimes I get too busy in Real Life or really have nothing to say about Second Life. Since I started using My Second Life fairly heavily my posts here have suffered.

How many different blogs do you read on a regular basis? About Second Life? Probably about ten, most of which are show in the Blogs I Follow list on this blog. I read many Real Life news and tech blogs, but some personal blogs and such. Sometimes I think my life is nothing but reading.

Do you comment on other people’s blogs? Whenever appropriate, yes, I will comment on someone's blog. Usually when I don't have anything intelligent to contribute.

Do you keep track of how many visitors you have? Every now and then I'll look. I used to worry about that sort of thing, but I write for me. If I write for other people then it becomes work and the joy disappears. Usually I look at my numbers when Daniel Voyager brags about his. As of this moment ...

Page Views Today: 153
Page Views Yesterday: 119
Page Views Last Month: 4,421
Page Views Total: 98,035

Google/Google Search is how most people find my blog followed by a movie pirating site. Most of my visitors are from the United States and the next largest group is from Poland. I have slightly more visitors from China than I do from Australia. My visitors prefer Firefox as a browser and Windows as their operating system. After all these years I've had only 322 comments on the blog and I bet half those are mine. Google AdSense hasn't generated a single penny for me. At least nothing I've seen.

Did you ever regret a post that you wrote? No, not really. If I wrote it, I'll own up to it. I've apologized for bad grammar, typos, and even some hurt feelings, but I've never deleted or regretted a post.

Do you think your readers have a true sense of who you are based on your blog? Some readers have told me details about myself that have amazed me. Apparently I'm very transparent despite all the How To Be Obtuse classes I've taken.

Do you blog under your real name? Yes. Uccello Poultry. *snicker* It's not secret that my Real Life first name is Caitlin. I'm rather pleased that the only place my full Real Life name appears online is in a list of names engraved on a NASA space probe plaque. Good luck finding my RL blog.

Are there topics that you would never blog about? Details about my Second Life sex life and my complete lack of a Real Life one. Wait ... I guess I just blogged about .. *grrrrrrrr*

What is the theme/topic of your blog? Real Me. Digital Life. Virtual Spaces. For the most part I focus on Second Life and my place therein. Once in a while I rant about Real Life or technology.

Do you have more than one blog? If so, why? Yes. Because I don't live 100% in Second Life (dammit).

What have you found to be the benefits of blogging? Blogging is a creative outlet. I love to write and edit and re-write. Blogging has also helped me meet some fabulous people in-world, I've been given (without prompting) some nice things by people who think I blog about fashion, and there are times I'm given early access to places by people who have been fooled into thinking I'm a "real blogger" about Our World.

So, why do you continue to blog? So, Strawberry was desperate for a 14th question and this is the best she could come up with? Better question: What would you do if you couldn't blog? I'll let you think about that.

Invisi-Bots


As posted on my Second Life feed here about a month ago: "Invisible avatars in Hau Koda. Each hast the Harmless-Light-Legal group tag. Each has a kinda 'anime' profile pic (See Rasputin Kriwer for example) and a very basic Bio. No groups shown or Picks. Most were born in April or May 2008. None replied to IMs."

Based on an on-going and recently updated discussion in that thread, the avatars appear to be successors to the "Movie Star" bots that have recently littered the landscape (see here and here). You may recall that I posted about the one pictured at left on my blog here over a year ago. Visiting the site today I found that she moved a little ways up the road (to SLurl), is now invisible like those pictured above, and now has the Harmless-Light-Legal group tag. Her profile has been updated with a cartoonish main picture and "I am VERY much in love with someone. Do NOT ask" in her biography. Further exploration shows that the bots in Hau Koda (SLurl) are gone.

These aren't your typical Infohub bots as I blogged about here. I've yet to be spammed by one in any location nor have my alts. To me they are a mystery still and I'd love to get to the heart of it. I wonder which Linden I could talk to about them. Until I can find out, I think I'll visit various Infohubs and roadsides to gather data.

Here's what I got in about an hour of traveling and writing with my alt that is in the Movie Star group:
  • TimLaurin Resident is invisible at Castle Valeria (SLurl) but he isn't sitting and his group tag is "JUST SPAM" ... but he didn't spam me. Lizzie Brunswick, a fully-visible avatar kitted out with freebies did.
  • Lots of bots in Zebrasil, but they are labeled as such and are protesting Bloodlines RP players. The bot anmed Damati Resident actually starting pushing around Rickcampos Resident, an avatar that was offering to "bite' everyone in the area.
  • Vectix Brooono (Harmless-Light-Legal) was invisible and sitting in the Scenic Ambat Infohub (SLurl) and might have been the one with an object that spammed me for the + PHOTO OF THE MONTH + group, but blocking the owner didn't block Vectix, so it might have been an object hidden near by.
  • A bot named NocNRoo Resident and sporting a Meeroo avatar didn't spam me at Hyles Swamp Infohub (SLurl) but another bot (visible and with the group tag Owner !! 2BS !!) name Jerome Grau did spam me with a group invite for a gaming place.
  • GREEDBOT Resident didn't spam me in Moose Beach (SLurl) for the gaming place for which he was tagged. Totally n00b in appearance and standing under a dock, I bet he wasn't earning his pay.
  • Navik Daxter at the Pooley Stage (SLurl) is a typical, quiet Harmless-Light-Legal bot.
  • Nadia Arum, totally visible, automatically offers membership to a nude beach when you arrive at the Ferry Terminal and Infohub in Barbarossa (SLurl), but the five invisible Harmless-Light-Legal bots are quiet.
  • Harmless-Light-Legal bot Oxide Grossberg is quietly sitting in full invisibility at the Degrand Infohub (SLurl).
  • I seem to have been following Indira Xue from place to place. According to the Real Life Biography in her profile, "If you like to have someone who send groups invites for your groups. I am for hire. I am online 24 hous a day. 7 days a week. For price info send a im to me or to saskia bode." I asked "I seem to be following you from infohub to infohub. Are you the resident behind the Harmless-Light-Legal invis-bots?" but got no reply.
All-in-all an amusing way to spend my lunch time while eating a sandwich, but now it's back to serious stuff ... watching movies on Netflix.

Sunday, April 21, 2013

SL10B: Another Press Release!


It’s that time of year when we celebrate the anniversary of Second Life – and this year, the tenth anniversary of the founding of Second Life, will be very special.

This year we will have 20 sims for builds and stages and fun and freebies, and we invite you to be part of the festivities.

The theme of the event will be: Looking Forward, Looking Back.

~~Some key dates for your calendar:~~
April 15 Volunteer/Performer, Exhibitor Applications open
May 20 Volunteer/Performer, Exhibitor Applications close
May 27 Sims open to builders
June 16 Grand Opening

June 23 Official Birthday day
June 23 Final day of performances
June 29 Sims close to the public
July 01 All builds to be dismantled – sims go offline

Many of your classic favourites will be back. There will be a cake. There will be a main stage, and other stage venues. There will be gifts to take away – which may well include a (non-Linden) souvenir bear. There will be an auditorium for talks and presentations. And finally, there will be a time capsule into which you can put your past year’s best creations.

 ~~How can I be part of this?~~
You can volunteer to create your own celebratory plot, as Exhibitors are invited to show off their community and its special nature to others. You might prefer to join the team of Hosts welcoming all the visitors and handing out gifts, helping find locations, mentoring any newcomers who might need extra help and making the party happen.

Maybe you’d rather join the rock concert atmosphere and be a Stage Manager or you are a DJ or Live Performer and would like to share your talent from one of our stages. Or perhaps you want to share your passion and knowledge as a Presenter through a lecture or roundtable discussion in our Auditorium.

Others of you might be interested in Security or Public Relations. We’re looking for your energetic participation in all of these roles.

 You are invited to sign up for one or more of these areas (yes, you can volunteer for everything if you like). Orientation and Training will be provided for many of the roles. Expect that some time will be required prior to the event for that purpose.

~~How can I stay informed?~~

Read the SL10B blog – there will be regular updates and information posted there! You can also follow us through various social media:

Our Facebook Page – https://www.facebook.com/groups/SL10B/ 
Our Twitter stream – https://twitter.com/SL10B
Our Flickr Group - http://www.flickr.com/groups/2187760@N21/ 

We also have an information group inworld - "The SLB Community" (without the "") - it's free to join so sign up inworld to hear announcements there before you hear them anywhere else.

You can see more information about SL10B on the Designing Worlds TV show at 2pm SLT on Monday 25th March - watch it at: http://treet.tv/shows/designingworlds/episodes/sl10b-launch or http://youtu.be/POfi8sOZzvg (it will go live at 2pm SLT).

And you can see some of the backstage planning at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zve9vmtWmaw

More details will be following soon, so watch this space!

Thursday, April 18, 2013

SL Names Meme


Strawberry Singh is back with another meme this week: SL Names. I find this challenge interesting because of the on-going push by residents to bring back surnames and the battles I've had with my own name.

What’s your SL name? Uccello Poultry.

What made you choose this name? When I came from the Teen Grid I gave up that avatar and thought that I could get the same surname as my brother, CC Columbo, but it wasn't available. My next goal was to be funny and Poultry fit the bill (pun intended) out of the otherwise lame set of choices. I thought about using my Real Life given name, Caitlin, but decided to extend the humor and looked up "Bird" in several languages. The Italian "Uccello" was the prettiest and I remembered from Art History that there was a famous painter by that name, so I went with it. So I'm Bird Bird, if you think about it hard enough. I have an alt that uses the Bird Bird scheme, too, and I locked up Uccello Resident when surnames were dropped.

What’s your SL nickname, or what do most people call you? (if applicable) Most folks call me Uccie or whatever happens to be in my Display Name at the time. I've been called Cell and several unprintable things. My wife calls me Kitten and Pet.

What’s your SL display name? Why do you choose to have one? (if applicable) Right now my Display name is Uccie Poultry-Seale. My wife has Angela Seale-Poultry set as hers. See? Cute married couple stuff.  Don't ya hate cutie couples? For special occasions I'll change so on St. Patrick's Day I sometimes go by Caitlin O'Mgosh or Caitlin O'Really or something-else hopefully amusing. Halloween, Christmas, and other holidays see some fun, too.

Do you like your SL name? If you could change your SL name, what would it be? Oh, would I ever like to change my name. I've asked often and vociferously, even offering to pay a fee. As 99% of Italian residents point out to me –– even when I beg them not to do so –– uccello is an uncouth slang term despite what all the dictionaries read and 99% of the Italian residents don't have the decency to just shut up about it. Otherwise they are lovely people and the language is beautiful, but get out of the gutter sometimes, huh?

Anyway, I envy the names that some of my alts have ... Zyx or Xandah or even Caitlin. I'd still like the surname Columbo. Right now my brother uses the Display Name CC Poultry so we can be family. I also envy the names of a couple of his alts.

What’s the craziest/funniest SL name you’ve ever seen? and What’s the coolest (your favorite) SL name you’ve ever seen? Here is a list of "Really Cool Avie Names" that I've been collecting over the years ...

MEN
Chekout Lane
Cut Wiener and UnCut Wiener  (Twins I met shopping, really!)
Crow Diesel
Des Gruntled
Dred Looming
Elvis Presley
Euclidean Surface
Frigid Cryotank
Glucose Sideways
Grim Thespian
Harry Potter
Hiro Protagonist
Manure Sack
thisnamewassurprisinglynottaken Resident
Too Yootz
Totally Unsustainable
Wrong Wright

UNKNOWN GENDER 
Eph Yue
Imnada Waffle
Missing Person
MyBrains Gottfried
Ooo Ah
Station Vhargon

WOMEN
Accountant Adzebills
afterhours Parkin
Alaska Loon
Alittle Lunasea
Alluring Fairey
Always Leakey
AprilShowers Becloud
Barbie Princess
Bendand Stoop
Bohemiann Rhapsody
Bunsons Burner
darkNtwisted Dreamscape
Card Holder
Comes Nitely
Coupon Clip
Delicate Quandry
DitaVon Theas
Downlovers Lane
Eaten Gumbo
Erie Waffle
EveryOther Thursday
F3ckme Babii
Fence Stradling
Forbidden4 Males
Fukmi Sideways (Fukmi got hassled by the lab about a year after getting her account because one resident objected despite Fukmi being a real life name. She got her account back, but the frustration was too much for her to take Second Life seriously anymore.)
Good Chemistry
GoSpeed Racer
Holland Antwerp
Honest Waffle
Howmuch Decosta
Iamin Love
Icy Wiener
Immm Back
Imnotgoing Sideways
Incoherendt Randt
iwannadou Later
Jealous Rage
Kantbe Thursday
Keen Salamander
LargeScreen Television
Lickmelikea Lollipop
Loving Fairey
Makits Oh
Malfunctioning Gynoid
Manefest Destiny
Meying Prantis
Milf Acronym
Much Later
My Onlyone
Never Later
NothingBut Magic
notso Bleac
Now Moo
Nut Case
OfeelMe Nitely
Ohhh Mai
Ona Waffle
Oonariannabelladavoratrelundara Chronometrist
Parallell Parks
Perkins Trenchcoat
PR Etzel
Raeleigh Liotta
Rainy Thursday
Really Ordinary
rogue camel
Rumour Mills
Sandie Harbour
secondlifename Resident
GossipGirl
Seenknot Hird
Shesnotmel Memel
Shoobe Doobie
Sleepy Harbour
Speghetti Ragu
Spoon Nestler
Suffa Jetcity
Taste Honi
Tender Littlething
Time Guardian
Tiny Runningbear
Twist Easley
UwillLuvmethe Dayafter
Vende Latte
Very Adamant
Weebit Offcourse
Whatcha Eaton
Wife Stepford
Woody Yue
Wouldyoulike Mayo

Notice how most require a surname to work. Very few "Resident" names are that clever, really. I mean, anyone can write something funny, but it takes brains to look at a selection of surnames and be witty. Many of the Linden Department of Public Works (LDPW) Moles are very, very witty. Check out some of the Past and Present Moles of the LDPW here.

Got some comments? I'd love to see them.

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

The Enginehouse


For your consideration, another wonderful Linden Department of Public Works (LDPW) build, The Enginehouse in Pavonia (SLurl) by Garden Mole. Apparently the LDPW has a fair fixation on creating power plants, but unlike those you'll find in the Protected Waterway (SLurl) or the various dams and similar projects throughout Our World, The Enginehouse is warm and quaint and a delight to explore. Traveling southeast away from the build is a platform from which you can rez your own train and then a cozy little bar a bit further down the tracks. But visit those after you wander around and enjoy this little treasure from our Mole friends.




Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Bay City Fashion Week

BAY CITY FASHION WEEK

Mid-Century fashion designers feted

BAY CITY, SL (15th April, 2013) - The Bay City mainland community is hosting a select number of the top vintage, mid-century fashion designers for a Fashion Week from April 20-29 in the Bay City Fairgrounds in North Channel (SLurl).

The designers featured were chosen based on their designs fitting within Bay City's theme: the American urban experience, between 1940 and 1965, perhaps best typified by Chicago circa 1950 and marked by a distinct deco influence.

Invited designers include Schadenfreude, Sonatta Morales, Misha Kerang Designs, FIN, Robin (Sojourner) Wood, Eclectica, Volstead, 1-800-BETTIES, Ingenue, Purplemoon Creations, Rhapsody, Vita Bella, Delicate Sensibilities, and Pure Poison.

Bay City is a mainland community, developed by Linden Lab™ and home to the Bay City Alliance. The Bay City Alliance was founded in 2008 to promote the Bay City regions of Second Life™ and provide a venue for Bay City Residents and other interested parties to socialize and network. It is now the largest Bay city group, and home to most Residents of Bay City.

For more information, contact Marianne McCann at marianne.mccann@gmail.com

Super Hero Topless Tuesday!


Topless Tuesday seems pretty trivial a day after the Boston Marathon bomb attack. Certainly most of my readership doesn't live close enough to be affected by the incident, but I'm about an hour north of Beantown so the TV and radio coverage is non-stop. FedEX, UPS, and airlines are reporting service disruptions for the region as packages undergo more scrutiny and travel routes are monitored. It goes without saying that many locals were at the annual event so it is hard to not have at least tertiary contact.

The terrorist(s) – and it is terrorism even if it is just one person setting off a bomb as part of a pointless argument – win a point for this round, but we can't kowtow to them by letting this permanently curtail our lifestyles. So become a superhero by overcoming despair. Celebrate Topless Tuesday, go to lunch, meet with friends, play with your kids –– continue your life or else the bastards win more than one round.

Sunday, April 14, 2013

SL10B: Applications Opening 15 April

Work has started on the SL10B regions! Notice that Bear Island is back this year!
Appllications for Exhibitors and Staff open Monday, April 15th.

From a press release: (emphasis added)

As Exhibitors are invited to show off their community and its special nature to others.

You might prefer to join the team of Hosts (greeters) welcoming all the visitors and handing out gifts, helping find locations, mentoring any newcomers who might need extra help and making the party happen.

Stage Manager or you are a DJ or Live Performer and would like to share your talent from one of our stages.

Or perhaps you want to share your passion and knowledge as a Presenter through a lecture or roundtable discussion in our Auditorium.

Others of you might be interested in Security or Public Relations. We’re looking for your energetic participation in all of these roles.

Visit the official blog at http://slcommunitycelebration.com/blog/ for an application on April 15th. Applications close on May 20th, but the sooner the better!

Our Facebook Page – https://www.facebook.com/groups/SL10B/
Our Twitter stream – https://twitter.com/SLBCommunity
Our Flickr Group - http://www.flickr.com/groups/2187760@N21/

On a personal note, I won't be exhibiting this year. With the Isle of Lesbos hidden away for now I don't have a sponsor. Not that one is needed, but I don't have a clue as to what I'd do as an individual. I do plan on being an Exhibitor Assistant, helping when the regions open to builders on May 27. What I'm doing after that, I don't know as I have no idea how things are organized. I might be a Greeter (now called Host) or angle to be with Security. I've been asked to but one thing and that is secret for now.

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

The Dragons of Broken Leylands


Broken Leylands (SLurl) is home to some engaging caverns and where you find these entrances to the Underworld, you find dragons. At least when I was there the rocky nooks and crannies were crawling with these amazing reptiles. Being Irish, I can't help but be fascinated with them. Celtic dragons, of course, left the Isles during the time of Saint Patrick or were imprisoned by him. As the snakes return to Ireland, though, I fully expect the dragons to be seen again soon. Until then I'll haunt their homes in Second Life.





Special thanks to Kennylex Luckless for finding this spot to explore.

Monday, April 8, 2013

Another Post, Another Meme

No, no, no, I haven't been blogging much. No time, thanks to Real Life. Serious stuff, but I won't bother you with it. Suffice to say I've found some time today and wouldn't you know, I learned about a new meme-challenge from Strawberry Singh: 10 SL Firsts. Read her's here but first check out mine ...

My first best friend in SL is Threshin Barnett. We would get in synch so much that often we'd meet for the day and find that we were dressed alike.
01. First SL Friend: To keep things simple, I'll stick with the current Uccello Poultry "character" on the Main Grid. Really, I started SL on the Teen Grid and remember quite a few people from there, few of which, however, actually transitioned to the Main Grid.

CC Columbo, my brother, in Nangrim waaaayyyy back in the day. Graphics were so bad that the grass wouldn't rez as green. This was probably 2008 when we had about 1024 square meters or so between us – enough for a nice pond. Eventually, we owned about 3/4 of the region before selling out to a Brazillian casino days before gambling was banned. But we are back and you can visit us any time (SLurl).
Of course, I met up with my brother, CC Columbo, right away and begged him to let me have a Premium account so I could have my own land. No dice, but he did let me let me set my home to his land in Nangrim (this spot, to be precise). I met a few people there including Dusty Jamberoo whom I still know today.

02. First SL Kiss: That would be Kala, my brother's SL girlfriend at the time. Yes, I know *facepaw* I had taken her to the Isle of Lesbos to show her around and she kissed me. We didn't go any further than that, but it was a funny parallel to an RL situation that won't ever be discussed again.

Wow ... didn't think I had any pictures of Mary left since the PC crashed and we switched to Macs. Sadly, the backup discs won't work with the Mac so everything is gone.
03. First SLex time/place/partner: Mary. I think. It was so long ago now. The first opportunity I had though, was with a gay male neighbor in Nangrim. Long story made short ...

I started my Main Grid existence as a male because I didn't want to deal with men hitting on me. Actually, at that point, I still hated (yes, hated) almost all men (family excepted) in general due to my RL experience with them. So I was chatting with a guy with land next to ours when he invited me into his gypsy caravan and tried to make out with me. Yep. He was gay. I didn't even have an AO at that point. I was less than a week old. Very next chance I got I flipped the "gender" switch in the shape editor and went shopping.

04. First SL Partner/Girlfriend/Boyfriend/Wife/Husband: Mary, and I'm sure now. She left me without telling me, having started up a relationship with someone else. That lasted about two weeks and she tried to come back. HA! Fat chance. Still, she was special.

Angela and I go steampunk now and then.
Today, I'm married to the wonderful Angela Seale. We've been together since September 2007.

05. First SL Job: Modeling, what else?!? Back in the day, one's first job was either modeling or dancing (read: Hooker). I didn't get paid as I modeled stuff for my brother's shop. I've done some modeling since for Bare Rose (I won a contest where the prize was to model one outfit), LapGirl, and various art photographers (read: nudes!).

Many regular readers know I also worked at the Isle of Lesbos. As I joke I used to run about with a "Threshin's Secretary" tag as if I was the Isle manager's 2nd banana. One day Threshin Barnett gave me the Isle Secretary role. To that point I had been a Jill-of-All-Trades for the Isle, though my first real work there (and my first for-pay work anywhere) was as an event hostess.

06. First SL Creation: A cube. It is a tradition I started ... rez a cube and date it then stuff it away somewhere safe ... whenever I create an avatar. After that? The first real thing I made was a set of earrings.

Meeting with Zed Linden about blogging for The Lab.
07. First Encounter with a Linden: That's hard to remember. I really don't know, but I am happy to say I have a few as friends now. And Moles!!

I was so excited to "meet" Vint Falken once though she wasn't really there. I sent this pic to her and she sent back a nice IM. We conversed once in a while but never became friends. She's the first SLebrity that comes to mind when I thought about point #08 below but she wasn't the "first" well-known resident I'd met to that point.
08. First Encounter with an SLebrity: I guess everyone is a SLebrity in one circle or another, but if you define it as "a big name most people know" I'd have to say Janeforyou Barbara, the owner of the Isle of Lesbos. She was one of the forces behind the early LGBT community in SL having created the first resort for women in SL.

I see Miss Jane, Shilo, Eveie, Threshin, Me, Mousra, Aryon, and many more here.

09. First SL Sim you fell in love with: Really hard to say. I've always been a Mainland girl, but the Isle of Lesbos was the first Estate-type sim I fell in love with .... relaxing, beautiful, no male pressures, and wonderful women who became my SL family.

10. First SL Blog Post:
I've had many blogs prior to this one. In fact, I just finished deleting one so I could start afresh. What i would like to do with this blog is report on things i do in what seems to be my primary life, the Second Life™ world (*SL). So this won't be so much about me as about who I am through what I do and where I go.
That is how I started "Another Attempt," my first post on The Poultry Report on April 24, 2008.

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

The SL Pet Peeves Meme!

The renowned Strawberry Singh is out with a new meme: SL Pet Peeves. Read her's here and look for your favorite Second Life bloggers to give their own lists, too. Here's mine, starting with a Topless Tuesday pic. Yes, I'm mixing memes, but I am a professional.


1. Inappropriate use of Full Bright. Once in a while it is a handy feature. The HUD frame I used for the pic above is set to Full Bright. Most HUDs look better that way. Whole buildings DON'T! Plants DON'T! Most jewelry doesn't. Outdoor signs like on a building can benefit from this feature but Full Bright needs to be modified to allow gradations to be of real use.

2. The Camera Controls don't allow fine adjustments when graphics quality is increased or when additional graphics features are turned on. For this photo, for example, I had to turn off Lighting and Shadows to use the Camera Controls then turn on eye candy again shoot.

3. Residents that assume all conversations must be in Instant Message. Really? If I'm within 5 meters of you, talk to me in Main Chat as if we were near one another in Real Life. And let me include my wife in this ... she will mix the two even if we are alone anywhere other than in our apartment. Yes, yes, you wanna say something naughty and suggestive, I understand, Ange, but whisper it maybe? I get real confused since the strokes trying to follow one conversation in several places. And this goes for the rest of you, too, 'cept for the naughty bits. That's a no-no unless I start it.

4. The Viewer. Really, I do miss the slide-out panes for Inventory, Outfits, etc, and if I can't have them back then I want the friggin' windows to remember where I last put them. I prefer the Official Viewer to any Third Party Viewer, but that doesn't mean I like it 100%. A few items in my March 20 post on this blog mentioned the viewer a few times along with other things I want in Second Life.

5. Inventory permissions need to let me give away my stuff. If I buy a blouse iRL and decide I don't like it after a while, I can sell it or give it away. Why can't I do that iSL? Yes, some articles of clothing will let me do that, but I think all items should be transferable. Of course, all things would be No Copy (if the creator chooses). The Residents should start a serious debate on this subject.

But, this is only Tuesday. Tomorrow I might have other peeves. If my wife whispers just the right naughties to me I have no peeves at all. You can be sure, though, that I'll feature any future pet peeves on this blog, so keep reading.

A Lame April Fool's Post

Yesterday's post on this blog, "Linden Realms Upgrade!," was an April Fool's Day prank. Apparently a lame one as no one believed it. Well, win a few and lose a few. Last year's prank, "Announcing Correspondent Mole," caught a few and made still others research a bit to debunk it.

I'd like to thank my brother, CC Columbo, for participating this year. I was watching him run about in Linden Realms and got inspired so I had him take a screen shot then I 'shopped it to paint some pink gems purple. After, he uploaded the pic and made a HUD with it so he could take a snapshot in-world and post it to his MySL feed with the proper Visit Location coordinates. He even faked some dialogue between himself and LR Linden, the avatar that you sometimes see running around Linden Realms. You can see it here then if you check the rest of his snaps here you'll see that he posted other pix as cover.


Maybe the gems I painted weren't realistic looking enough. Maybe the premise was too far fetched. It is hard to judge what makes a really believable prank. Hopefully I'll be better next year. Until then, keep having fun in Second Life!!

By the way? Kennylex Luckless pulled off a really good Linden Realms prank yesterday. See it here.

Monday, April 1, 2013

Linden Realms Upgrade!

In an effort to revitalize Linden Realms, the in-SL game where Residents run about completing quests and capturing gems to trade for in-world currency, The Lab has recently added signs with note card givers that explicitly review the game rules and, according to LR Linden, juggled about the ratio of gem colors, increasing the number of orange gems in play while decreasing the number of pink ones. Regulars know that the orange ones are worth more L$ when trading in gems at the Portal Workshop.

From what I learned in a chat with LR Linden this morning, other changes are in the works, too: new quests and increasing the number of ultra-rare blue gems, among other (read: Secret) updates. Blue gems, like the generally rare green ones, aren't involved in quests but are traded directly for cash. What I find more exciting, however, and is totally denied by LR Linden, is the introduction of purple gems as seen in this screen shot of an in-world snap my brother made last night:


I bet they'll be used in one of the new quests. Or maybe gathering them will provide some way to appease the Rock Monsters so you can pass them more easily. Not that this challenge is very .. er .. challenging to start with so I could be wrong. Maybe they will be extremely rare and have a high L$ value since the blue gems are changing. Maybe someone far more creative than I can come up with something far more creative than I can. LR Linden admitted that the game is being almost completely refreshed and that they had hoped to have it out for the first of the month, but like other LDPW projects, the work has fallen behind schedule. In any case, I'll keep you updated as I find out more.