Archive for the ‘Second Life’ Category

(Click images to see them full size)

Second life always seems to be full of fun things to do and see. A couple of years ago, a few friends and myself visited a place called Bedrock. I hadn’t been there since, but just last week I decided to see if the place still remained and to my amazement, it is still there!

Bedrock – Flintstones Town (SLURL)

The place is signposted, but if you are like myself and Dailyn (who was on this visit with me), then you will ignore the signs and just wanna wander around.

Now don’t get me wrong, maybe a couple of years ago, this place looked amazing. By todays standards, it’s not nearly as great! It could do with a total revamp, maybe making use of sculpted prims and less dance balls and throw in an intan dance machine instead. etc.

However, the little touches that made me smile are still there and brought back a smile to my face at least. Yeah I am easily amused. But, check out the stylus on the record players. Simply class

Then of course there is the bowling alley! Again, nothing great and not exactly free to play, but it all adds to another fun time at Bedrock. Most annoyingly is having to use cam view to bowl and then having to come back out again to pick up the next bowling ball. Not good by todays standards! Sort of stuck in the stone age!!! ahem! Moving on…

Classic or what! Elephant fire engine! Which would be needed if this next guy didn’t do his job right I guess…

It is indeed all very primitive stuff! Even down to the textures and prims! But hey, you do get a gift store to spend your L$ in too. Wanna dress up as Fred? Nah! Me either…but you can if u wanna! Or you could do what myself and Dailyn did….just pose behind the cardboard (well..prim) cut-outs. A-la postcard from the beach style!

Finally, after a hard day of yabbadabbadoo’n, what could be more relaxing than spending some quality time with your partner at a drive in movie?

Well it was great to see the old place still existed. And it did bring back some memories, but in all honesty, the magic of seeing it first time a couple of years ago had gone. SL has progressed a lot in the last couple of years for sure.

But if you have nothing better to, grab your loved one by the hair, after hitting her over the head with a club of course, and drag her with you and have some happy Bedrocking fun.

Bedrock – Flintstones Town (SLURL)

Hey gang,

As much as we all love Greenlife Emerald, I have to report a bug that might be of interest to anyone using the wobbly boobies feature (see previous blog entry below or click here –> Breast Physics and other features)

Full details can be found here –> [EMERALD] WARNING! Don’t lose your shapes!

A semi serious bug in the experimental breast physics has been identified that can cause you to permanently lose your body shapes!

If you edit appearance while the feature has been enabled, or is enabled, there is a rare chance that your shape will become permanently broken and missing from database.

Changing shapes while it is enabled, or has been enabled during that session, has also been reported to cause them to go missing from the database.

I feel you should pass this info onto anyone you know on Emerald Viewer.

However, I have since been told the following:

[10:22]  Venus Petrov: Yes i saw that in the group chat.  if you clear cache and relog, it fixes it.

[10:31]  Caitie Beaumont: there is a slight workaround
[10:31]  Caitie Beaumont: most shapes are mod so the thing to do is make a note of your numbers and create a new shape
[10:31]  Caitie Beaumont: keep it safe in your inventory

Couple of things to try there then until the bug is fixed

For those who like to play SL and have not yet moved over to use Emerald, I thought I would list a few good reasons why you really should.

I won’t be listing all the features, you can find out all you need to know by visiting the Greenlife Emerald website –>  Modular Systems Website.

However, before you all think “why should I?” here are some good reasons to change from using the normal SL Viewer to the Greenlife Emerald viewer:

- Built in sim wide radar (No lag as it is built into the viewer – See EVERYONE on the whole sim)

- Built in AO (YES!!! FREE and built in) (Video Tutorial here –>  AO built into GreenLife

- Loads of Windligth settings (so easy to change to a nicer looking view, see below)

- Enlarge folks profile pics (even the RL ones) to see them full size PERVS! lol

- Change your draw distance without going into prefs. A god send!!

- Encrypted IM’s anyone? Oooh yes!

- Wobbly boobies! (Need I say more guys? Videos below)

- Hide the teleport screen! Chat in IM etc. while you tp, Love it.

- Built in IRC (internet relay chat) for the geeks out there who remember IRC

- Teleport History (One of my fave features of Mystitool now redundant thx to Emerald)

- TP to Cam! (Oh yes! and VERY fast and no need to rez an object to do so)

- Stop any animation your AV is running. Not just the STOP ALL, choose which one(s) etc.)

- 100% transparency and extra prim shapes when building. Easier prim torture!!!

Bouncy Boobs for y’all lol

Need more proof???

Oh I could be here all day typing a list of what is so good about it. Needless to say, there are plenty of great reviews and tutorials out there already. For those reading here tho, when you visit the download section, you shall require only 2 of the 3 files for your OS. Windows, Macs and Linux supported.

As I am a Windows user, I can only tell you that Emerald runs fine on XP, Vista and Win7. And I have to admit, it’s much smoother than the normal SL viewer ever was. Although, I do know some folks who report it to be not so good on their pc’s!

You will need the add-on voice pack plus either the standard or optimised versions of the viewer. Optimised is best suited to those with good graphics cards and high-end pc’s. Personally I have tested them both on a quad core and dual core and didn’t notice much difference, if any!!! Optimised runs fine, so I stuck with that in the end.

Back to the downloads….You do NOT need all three files. I suggest if you have a recent pc of dual core and above, download the add-on voice pack and the optimised version. You can always download the standard one later and try it if you find the optimised one unsuitable.

I also have to say, for those still wondering, you do NOT need SL installed for Emerald to work. It basically is SL! But with loads more features. It looks the same, works the same, but with the extra touches that make your SL experience a little bit nicer and easier at times.

I’ve been using it for months now and can safely say I will not be using the normal SL Viewer anytime soon. In fact, I uninstalled the normal one altogether! With new features being added to Emerald all the time and faster than LL can catch up, there is no need to ever revert to the normal SL viewer.

If you are a Mystitool user, imagine SL without that! That is kinda how to describe SL vs Emerald viewer. Not to mention Emerald already has some things Mystitool offers like tp2cam, radar, stop anim(s) and tp history etc. BUT FASTER! I still use Mystitool tho for the other features. Anyway, never mind mystitool Hud for now…back to Emerald ….

If you are into your photography, or just want good looking graphics, you can easily change them in emerald. No more fiddly adjusting settings. Choose from the bottom right of the viewer from tons of variations.

As a builder on SL, a very handy feature is the ability to always set the rezzed prims to the same group as the land! How many times have you build something for your store, only to realise later it has been returned due to the wrong group tag! Arrrrg! Well no more! I love it. I can wear any tag I wanna and build knowing that my items are all tagged properly YAY! Whether the normal SL viewer has this feature now, I am not sure. But I was glad to see it on Emerald.

I guess sin time, most features will find there way to the normal SL viewer as the source code is open source. So it’s just down to LL to get their ass into gear. But, no matter how fast they add Emerald features to their viewer, Emerald bounces back with even more. 

There is just so much to it. And with each release the features grow and grow. Don’t just take my word for it. Download it, install it and the add-on pack (required for voice) and see what you think. You will not be disappointed.

Finally to finish this entry off, a good forum for all your SL questions and answers can be found here –> sluniverse

Since I have been Working at the Ambrosia Dance Club for 10 months now, I have learned that it is by far "the place to be" on Second Life. So many clubs come and go on SL, so why has Ambrosia stood the test of time? Only one sure way to find out, and that was to chat to the man himself, Phil Kearny.

(click images to see them larger)

-Hi Phil, when did you first come to Second Life?

A: Well, I was reading a magazine in September of 2006 and it discussed a new video game where the character could be anyone or anything and start another life.  And I thought to myself, well that sounds cool.  So, i decided to try it.   I logged into to orientation island and found myself smashing into a bunch of other disoriented people and said to myself this is the stupidest thing i have ever seen.  I recall shutting down and going for a bike ride.  Then a week later i was bored and I decided to give it another try and here i am three years later.

-Did you have a vision back then of owning the number one club on Second Life?

A:  I had a vision of getting off Orentation Island.  I had no idea of what Second Life was about or anything for that matter.  I only had one friend for the first two months and I wandered around SL like a gypsy.

-When did Ambrosia first open its doors?

A: Ambrosia first opened up in December of 2006 to not a lot of fanfare.  Originally it was named Facets and had a very limited costumer base.  Like 0.

-How much has the club layout and look changed since you first opened. How did it look then, compared to now and what inspired you to make the changes?

A: Originally the theme was a lot of white marble and Grecian Statues, hence the name Ambrosia, which of course is nectar of the Gods.  The look of the club has always been essentially the same.  The textures have changed but its always featured the same sunken dance floor.  Change was always inspired by experience and a desire to make the venue as user friendly as possible.

-You must be proud of owning such a great club and mall on Second Life?

A:  I am happy to have created a venue where people feel comfortable and at home.  There are those who disagree with the way i run things at Ambrosia but I really don’t care. I never had partners so there has never been anyone to ever answer to for failure or success.  It has been a convoluted path to the present and there have been and continue to be many learning experiences.  There is not a great wealth of knowledge to draw on as to the proper way to run a pixel night club.  So I have had to learn from experiences as I go along.  I am happy to have a lot of great people who make the place what it is.  Really, I do nothing.  The DJs, dancers and live performers make the place what it is.

-The Ambrosia Dance Club is featured on the Second Life website. Also, Ambrosia is featured via Search, Showcase, Music right there in Second Life. This surely says the club has been a hit with the Lindens. Do you find they come by the club often? I know that Philip Linden was there one night I DJ’d…

A:  We had visits from quite a few Lindens over the years.  The best Linden sighting was of course recently when the CEO of Linden Labs and the Founder , M Linden and Phillip Linden, showed up during a live performance by Maximillion Kleene. There are a bunch of pics on the Ambrosia web site of that.  Kind of like spotting a Sasquatch.

-The shopping Mall is also very large. Stores for both the female and male avatars. I noticed it’s all quality top names too. Was this intentional to stop all those noobs from dropping in and walking around in their usual naked form, as they tend to search for freebie stores?

A:  Since I have tried to establish Ambrosia as an upscale club devoid of the usual cheesy second life elements, it is only appropriate that the mall reflect that upscale look.  There are a wide range of retailers and each of them are carefully screened to make sure that the quality of the goods sold fit in with the theme of the Venue.  You wont spot any Genital or Weapons stores at Ambrosia, or low quality designers.  I prefer to select vendors who have a quality product because Ambrosians have come to expect that in everything when they come here.  People who give their all whether they are live performers, hostesses or designers.

-With Ambrosia having such high traffic, with NO Bots present ever, does this make you proud when so many other clubs reply on bots to boost their ratings?

A:  It has not been an easy path.   Almost all the clubs rely on one form of gimmick or another to artificially boost their traffic and make it appear that their club is popular.  There is nothing to prevent me from doing the same nefarious tricks.  it would be so easy to run software and plant 6 couples dancing on the Ambrosia dance floor 24 hours a day,  Sometimes I think I am stupid for not doing so since almost every other  venue does it.  The system seems to reward dishonesty.  What is the point of having a club with fake traffic.  An Ego Boost?  The reality is clubs that boost their traffic like that are robbing people.  They are robbing their patrons of an experience and they are robbing the retailers by convincing them that they have a shot of selling things in their worthless malls.   And they make Second Life suck quite frankly.  Because Second Life without real people is boring.  Without the people, its just an excuse to sell folks a bunch of crap they don’t really need. 

-Finally, Ambrosia is well known for its Halloween partys. So what can you tell us about this year’s party, without giving too much away…?

A: Its going to be hot.  Get a good Costume.

Thanks for your time Phil.

Andy Gee! – GEE!MiX

How could I NOT post this! Been playing this for months in the clubs on SL,

so what the heck, here it is for those who just don’t get SL.

Would this make you sign up? who knows…..