SLinterests

I'm sitting here resting after updating my Second Life profile. I still detest the web based profiles, but there's now a new tab for "interests". Apparently, that's supposed to help you find others with the same interests so that you can ...well, I am not sure. But our Glorious Leaders will probably think of something. I've been amusing myself by making new categories of interests. So, now you look at my profile and BOOM! you know that I am interested in being a professional wedding guest just like that. And someday, I will find others with the same interest and we will form a gang and wander the grid, crashing weddings very politely and dressed appropriately.

The Two Suns of Second Life

I call this picture Two Suns. It's SL, so anything can happen. 

OK First? I wanted to point you to two blog posts that I enjoyed reading today: Mitch Wagner's "Is Poor Communication Killing SL?" and Dale Innis' genius post about Second Life as a chicken farm.

Awesome, yes?

Anyhoo, I was just sitting here in my "work chair" thinking about the great ideas and feedback I got when I ask ed for input into the Second Life Blogger group a few weeks back. Thanks! 

I'm working on a few things for the group -- which, of course, would all be easier if group chat and notices worked.

I'm trying to find a workaround for the broken group communication tools (Rodvick? Are you reading this?) by reviving the old Google Groups account the group used to use. I asked Zoe (the group's original founder) to make me a manager of the account. I'm still trying to figure things out with it, but it might be another way we can communicate as a group. I've never used Google Groups much before so, pretty please, have patience with me as I learn it.  

I'm also working on a group Headquarters/clubhouse. This will be an experiment -- I want to see if it would be used by members and what it might be used for. 

Stay tuned for more news. Also, isn't it about time for another Second Life Bloggers Group Meet-Up Party? It sure is! 

We Ducked All Night Long

There is nothing as nice as a good, fast duck and a big finish! We needed some entertainment last night, so Jerremy and I went at to Quackerstate Duck Racing. Although this picture appears to show me in the lead, Jerremy won the race. That man has skillzzzzz!

The Even-More-Basic Viewer

Have you read about the new beta Basic Viewer? You can read about it here (Raul Crimson's blog) and here (Alicia Chenaux's blog). It's a stripped down version of the viewer intended for new users. It lacks such "confusing" items as inventory, landmarks, voice, avatar customization and movement controls.

Well, I have created what I call the The-Even-More-Basic-Viewer. It's by far the easiest viewer to use EVER, in my humble opinion. Here's how you can try it out:

Step 1: Find a Second Life user in your geographic area. 
Step 2: Ask their permission to come to their house and watch over their shoulder while they do stuff in world and explain what they are doing.
Step 3: Profit!

I feel that The-Even-More-Basic-Viewer is better because the new SLer has the opportunity to learn about things like inventory, building, commerce, griefers and Windlight settings with a set of  training wheels of sorts.

The only downside of The-Even-More-Basic-Viewer? Finding someone who is willing to admit in RL that they use SL.  Enjoy.

Irish by Injection

Neither my RL self nor my pixel self are Irish. But Jerremy does have some Irish in him. So, I'm Irish by injection! Oops! I mean by 'extension'! Wow. Sorry. I think that's the Irish Coffee talking

I have all of my bases covered to avoid pinches in both worlds today: I'm wearing lots of green for St. Patrick's Day. I'm even shopping for shiny new St. Patty's Day prim foods since I'll be eating an Irish pot luck lunch at RL work. 

I don't know about you guys, but this post was just what I needed: a dirty joke and a drink!

SL People Amaze Me

More than 250 Second Life creators are busy putting out their items for the Pacific Crisis Fundraiser which is raising money for AmeriCares. The event starts tomorrow, Wednesday, March 16th. I took a look at things that had been put out so far and you are going to find oodles of incredible things to buy  -- poses, clothing, skins, hair, jewelry, furniture and more. All of the creators have put out at least one item for which 100% of the proceeds goes to the charity. 

I am awed by the speed at which this got organized and it really shows the capacity for caring that the SL community has.

Linden Lab Relief Bear for the Red Cross

Want a way to help the people affected by the recent earthquake and tsunami? Buy a Relief Bear from Linden Lab on the Marketplace! I got mine! Isn't he adorable?? 

Per the product description: 
"Our thoughts are with all of those who are suffering in the devastation caused by the earthquakes in Japan and the tsunami in the Pacific. We encourage all Second Life Residents to support the relief efforts however they can, and we would like to help.

We have created a couple of special Linden Bears (one sitting, one wearable) and set them for sale. We will donate all proceeds from sales of our bears to the Japan Earthquake and Pacific Tsunami Relief efforts of the American Red Cross."

They are available in 3 denominations: $300L, $1000L and $3000L. Way to go Linden Lab!

How do you catch a unique avatar? Unique up on her.

I had been having a very hard time without my MystiTool. I had the overwhelming feeling that someone was going to sneak up on me all the time.

I explained before that I rarely used any other MystiTool features besides the radar - I like knowing who is around me. But the script cost seemed to outweigh the benefit. However, the level of paranoia caused by not knowing who was nearby made me seek out something new. 

I found another HUD called the Statis. I checked it against the Mysti and the script use seems a lot lower, so I have been trying it out. The free version only has a radar and a lag meter. I could do without the lag meter since if I'm lagging, I know it. But it's free. And now I can find something else to be paranoid about.

The IRS has a sim?

Yup. It's true - the RL IRS (the Internal Revenue Service) has a sim in Second Life. I found it after I finished up my RL taxes to give to my RL tax person so that I won't go to a RL prison for tax evasion. I decided to see if I could find any tax related things in SL.

You can get tax help and apply for jobs here. And once you are done doing boring things, there's a night club where you can dance and win prizes in a trivia contest. While you're here, you can pick up gifts like jewelry and watches - which is kind of ironic, since the IRS takes away all the money I could use to buy myself jewelry and watches. 

A New Orleans Morning

Mardi Gras is coming up soon. Jerremy and I aren't having a party this year. That makes me kind of sad because our party was so great last year. But RL has been too busy to even consider it. So instead, I'll be exploring the Mardi Gras/New Orleans themed sims. Maybe I'll even expand my horizons and find some Carnival themed sims.

I miss throwing parties more often. Our last one was our Hell themed one for Halloween. Finding time to prepare for that was challenging for us, to say the least. (We still refer to the part of our sim where we built our party room as Hell.) I still have a theme without a party in my head: The Love Boat -- which I may have talked about on this blog before. I will find an occasion to do this party theme, if it kills me.

Hmmmm... I look a little cross eyed here. It's the angle, I swear. I haven't had any adult beverages yet. (Where is the waitress with my beignet and coffee?)

Give me the group scoop!

The SL Blogger group needs some revitalizing, IMO. I really don't want it to fade away -- we have a killer logo, for Pete's sake! We can't waste that!


The group was started ages ago - before I first rezzed. It was one of, if not the first, group I ever joined. It was a group formed for social interaction and to promote the "vocation" of blogging about SL. Blogging in SL has changed a lot since then. There were relatively few bloggers and there was really only one blog feed. Today, there are gazillions of bloggers and lots of feeds! 


So, in the interest of keeping the group fresh and interesting and above all valuable to be a part of, it needs to evolve some. 


What would make a group for bloggers valuable to you? What do you need as a blogger? What can you contribute?


So, if you blog about SL -- no matter what kind of SL blog you have or even if you are a member of the group - please tell me the things you'd like the group to be. It wasn't founded as a "chatty" group - but I have heard from a member or two that chatting would be welcome. There has been extremely low attendance at some of the recent blogger parties -- what would help increase this?


What would make a group for bloggers valuable to you? What do you need as a blogger? What can you contribute?


Communication through in-world channels is challenging at best. Should we find some alternative means to talk to each other and share information? What alternative means?

There are some things the group could do: have a space at the next SL Birthday party sims, build a group headquarters as a hangout/meeting space, hold a convention, host a session at the next SL Convention. etc. I am sure there are other ideas, too. But they all take time and most of all participation. Are you up for that?


Comment here, email me or send me a note card in-world! Thanks!