Pandorabot & Actorbot Add-On

Disclaimer: I am reviewing my own products in this post. They're cool relatively inexpensive products though so I forgive myself :)

The Pandorabot from Restless Studio is not your typical chat bot. Yes, it chats with you in local chat using an artificial intelligence programmed at pandorabots.com in the AIML programming dialect. However, the Pandorabot will also query Wikipedia for appropriate responses, check your spelling, send email, greet new arrivals, and deliver a notecard, landmark, and user guide. All for L$245 and consisting of only a single prim (the perched 3D sculpted parrot Pandorabot is 12 prims). If you don't have a place to rez objects there is a wearable 3D sculpted parrot Pandorabot (11 prims).

For an additional L$150 the Pandorabot can be integrated into an Actorbot to create a realistic 3D animated avatar bot that includes all the Pandorabot features as well as the programmability  of the Actorbot from Sine Wave. The Pandorabot Actorbot Add-On kit consists of a Pandorabot V4, an Actorbot integration script, and a script that can be used to position your Actorbot on a prim and animate it according to what is in that prim. Watch a demonstration Pandorabot Actorbot in this short YouTube video and visit the Restless Studio demonstration Pandorabot Actorbot.

Both the Pandorabot and Actorbot Add-On come with extensive documentation available in PDF online and plain text inworld. Here's a few photos to give you a sense of the Pandorabot look:

Pandorabots are available on the Second Life Marketplace (search for "Pandorabot Missy Restless" or just "Pandorabot"). The Pandorabot Actorbot Add-On is also available on the Second Life Marketplace (search for "Pandorabot Actorbot").

The PDF documentation for the Pandorabot and Actorbot Add-On is available online at http://www.scribd.com/missyrestless . There is also a Pandorabots Blog with lots of How-To's, many more pics, and updated info/links.

J's Black Leather Corset

J's black leather corset and the previously reviewed front lace-up bra are two of my favorite items in Second Life. Sexy and stylish, well made with detail and a comfortable feel.

Corset from J's Main Shop
Rings & nails from Mandala
Hair from LAQ

Zaara Larin Skirt & Son!a Top

I love the beautiful ethnic clothing and designs at Zaara but sometimes have difficulty working them into an outfit. I'm always elated when I find something that compliments her exquisite work. The Larin skirt from Zaara was giving me a hard time - I absolutely love it but couldn't seem to find the right top. Then I remembered the cute colorful top from Son!a I had bought long ago. Ta-da! Now I'm happy.

This RL/SL composite photo uses a background photo of the interior of a convent in Mexico.

This composite uses a background photo of a groin vault in the portico to the church of Santa Maria Maggiore at Guardiagrele in the Abruzzo region of southern Italy. Both background photos are from the Wikimedia Commons and released under a free license. The foreground snapshots and digital photo editing are by me.

Hair from LAQ
Top from Son!a
Skirt from Zaara
Prima sandals from Kalnins

A Cheap Way to Buy Land in Second Life

A friend asked me for advice on buying land in Second Life. My reply might constitute a jumping off point for discussion of ways to acquire land in Second Life without incurring prohibitive costs. Here's my fairly brief advice on buying land in Second Life:

There are lots of ways to get land - all complicated and a hassle. Also not cheap. You could rent from someone. That is cheaper in the short term. But, rentals vary wildly both in weekly rent and prim allotment/size/quality. Buying can be just as cheap as renting but is more complicated. There's two kinds of land - the mainland controlled by Linden Labs and private estates. I own a parcel on the mainland. [Ed. note I just don't even mention Homesteads]

What I did was get a Premium account for $72/year. You can read about the account plans at http://secondlife.com/whatis/plans.php A premium account gets you benefits one of which is 512 sq m of land you can buy "tier free" meaning you pay no monthly fees. You also get 1000L signup bonus and 300L per week stipend. So, it works out cheaper than the alternative which is free basic account and leasing private land. But private islands are way way nicer than the mainland.

Here's the cost breakdown of what I am doing:
(assuming 250L = $1.00)

Premium membership $72 per year = 18,000L per year
Signup bonus (first year only)              -  1,000L first year
Weekly stipend 300L/wk                     - 15,600L every year

Net cost of Premium account = 1400L/year or $5.60 the first year & $9.60 subsequent years.

That is a generous estimate. The actual exchange rate is more like 260L per $1 and then when you want to turn your Lindens into US dollars there is a fee. So, it works out to be a bit more. Still, under $10 per year for the right to buy 512 sq meters. Then you have to find the land you want either at auction or resale. I don't know how much 512 goes for now but probably a few more bucks like maybe $5 but that is a one time cost as long as you maintain your Premium account.

The other thing wrong with my cost analysis is it assumes you cash out your Lindens. Actually you end up spending them on clothes and cool gadgets :)

That's my intro to buying land in Second Life on the cheap. I might also add it is possible to find Premium account holders who are also private estate owners/renters - those folks don't need their 512 sq m mainland tier allotment. If a mutually beneficial agreement can be reached, private estate Premium accounts can join a group land purchase and deed their 512 sq m to the group thus increasing the amount of tier free mainland available for purchase. The key words in that last sentence are "mutually beneficial" and "tier free".

Comments ? 

Michele Merkin Pool Party!

Michele invited me over for a pool party at her palatial estate. So much fun hanging out in RL in my SL avatar but Michele's hair is really starting to bug me. I'm soooo jealous.

Michele Merkin Hot Tub Party!

My close personal friend and fellow supermodel Michele Merkin stopped by last night for a late night hot tub. With all the string bikini wearing and unwearing and Michele's hair flying in my face I only managed to snap this one photo. Jealous much ?

Photography & Digital Photo Editing by Missy Restless. Michele Merkin photo released under the GNU Free Documentation License (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Michele_Merkin_1.jpg).

Micro Bikini SL/RL Composites

The Micro Bikini from Bare Rose turns out to be one of those stunning OMG gotta have that items that ends up hardly ever getting worn. I cannot recommend this sexy two piece that comes in a variety of colors for a couple of reasons. First, it's very difficult to adjust the horrible prefit and, since the items are no copy, no backups can be made in case you make a mistake. Second, since the top is a prim attachment, significant body movement causes the top to uncover what it is covering for all those that have enhanced physics enabled. The bikini does, however, make a nice piece for static modeling as demonstrated in these composite RL/SL photos:

Shoes from Kalnins
Micro Bikini from Bare Rose
Rings, nails, & Bangle from Mandala
Hair from Calico Ingmann

Background photos from the Wikimedia Commons.

Crepuscular Resistance

The Resistance G208 outfit from Graves, Lala Moon hair, and WD-S Fetish Chrome boots modeled standing before crepuscular rays over a steaming hot spring:

The UPC Code tattoos on front and back as well as the pistol holsters left and right are all part of the Graves Resistance outfit.

Hair from Lala Moon
Outfit from Graves
Boots from WarDooM Shoes

Background image of crepuscular rays over the steam from a hot spring in Yellowstone National Park courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Ahimsa the 5th Element

A short clip of Ahimsa and I dancing at Organica set to the Diva opera singer from the movie 5th Element. I'm wearing the white sheer knit outfit from Cubic Effect that I reviewed earlier on this blog. It's one of my very favorite outfits but maybe not as cool as whatever that is that Ahimsa is wearing :)

Second Skin Labs Windlight Presets

Second Skin Labs has a free download of many excellent Windlight presets. The installer can be downloaded at:
     http://www.secondskinlabs.com/Downloads/downloads3.html
After downloading this Windows executable, open it and select the installation folder. For instance, using the Phoenix viewer you would browse and select the folder:
    C:\Program Files (x86)\Phoenix Viewer\app_settings\windlight\

Once installed, login to Second Life and select one of the newly installed presets by navigating to the Advanced Sky Editor:
    World -> Environment Settings -> Sky Settings
Click the pulldown menu to the right of "Sky Presets" and select one of the entries. I am particularly fond of the Barcelona preset.

Unfortunately, the selected preset does not persist over login sessions so you have to do this every time you login to restore your favorite preset. Let me know what your favorite presets are!

Follow Me / Tweet These

Is it ok to review your own products ? Hey, it's my blog, I say yea! Plus the Interwebs are equal parts porn, cats, and self aggrandizement. So, here's my latest creation - the "Follow Me" transparent pants layer and "Tweet These" transparent jacket and undershirt layers.

This is the pants layer "Follow Me" worn over some underpants layer shorts in my inventory. Any underpants layer will work in conjunction with the Follow Me pants layer or it can be worn without underpants if you wish to, um, highlight your assets.

The "Tweet These" transparent jacket layer can be worn over either an undershirt or shirt. Similarly, the "Tweet These" undershirt layer can be worn with a shirt or jacket. Either can be worn alone as a tattoo. Fun, huh?

All three layers of the "Follow Me / Tweet These" clothing decals are available on Xstreet for 50L.

Phoenix Second Life Viewer (Emerald Succesor)

I am trying out the newly released Phoenix viewer for Second Life. This viewer project was hastily formed when the Emerald project self destructed, hopefully leaving behind the individuals whose actions resulted in the project's demise. Read about that all over elsewhere.

Emerald users will be quite pleased with either Imprudence or Phoenix. Both are based on Emerald source code. The Phoenix viewer, however, is nearly identical to the final releases of Emerald and contains all of the features Emerald users are accustomed to. On the other hand, some users may prefer to grant their trust to the Imprudence team which has not been involved in any way in any of the questionable activities that resulted in Linden Lab banning the Emerald viewer. Imprudence is also very "Emeraldy".

Support for ogg vorbis audio streams in Phoenix is the principle reason I am using Phoenix as my primary viewer. Imprudence 1.4.x may provide ogg vorbis support in the final release at which time the choice between 3rd party viewers sanctioned by Linden Labs becomes more of a toss-up.

[UPDATE] Phoenix 1.5.1.225 was released containing fixes, performance improvements, and the ability to display friends' chat in a different color. However, the team also lost a couple of developers including lead developer Dimentox Travanti  over "a difference in opinion on how the project and team should be run". It would appear the Phoenix team continues to suffer from a fractured and possibly unstable team dynamic. Perhaps we will learn more in the next few days but for now the promised "transparency" looks like nothing more than corporate double-speak to me.[/UPDATE]

I configure the Phoenix viewer with the following preferences:

Main Menu at top left of Phoenix window

Edit -> Preferences

General ->
    check "Show Start Location on Login Screen"
    Rating "PG, Mature and Adult"

Network ->
    Maximum Bandwidth to 1050 kbps
    Disk Cache Size to 1000 MB

Web ->
    check "Use external web browser"

Graphics ->
    Quality and Performance to Ultra
    (this setting depends on your system's graphics capabilities)

Audio & Video ->
    Enable Streaming Music When Available
    Enable Streaming Media When Available

Text Chat ->
    Chat Font Size to Large
    Chat Color -> You -> cyan, Chat Color -> IM -> green
    check "Color text in chat from my friends in a different color"
    uncheck "Play typing animation when chatting"
    check "Use machine translation while chatting"

Popups ->
    uncheck "Automatically view after accepting"

Skins ->
    select "Silver" from the drop down menu of skins
    (I tried "Dark" but Silver is a lot more readable)

Phoenix ->
    TP Login ->
        check "Double-click Teleport"
        check "Make name Tags of the same client be the same color"
        check "Disable Teleport Screens"

    IM ->
        leave "Enable Autoresponse" unchecked
        check "Autorespond to non-friends"
        compose an autoresponce message
        check "Send an item along with the response"
        drag an inventory item you wish to send to the bar
        check "Vertical IM tabs"

    Chat ->
        uncheck "Hear typing sound when people type"
        check "When 'Receive group notices' is disabled ..."

    Misc ->
        check "Always rez objects under the land group if possible"
        check "Disables minimum camera zoom distance"
        check "Show a message when someone takes a snapshot"

    Build ->
        check "Embed an item into the newly created object"
        drag and drop a information notecard to the bar

    Page 2 ->
        Effects ->
            check "Enable enhanced physics on avatar breasts"
            Breast mass:      84
            Breast rebound: 11
            Breast max vel:  85
            Breast friction:   11
            Breast min vel:   15

        SpellCheck ->
            check "Show misspelled words in red"

Apply -> OK

File -> Quit
Run Phoenix again, login and check your preferences

Main Menu at top left of Phoenix window

View -> uncheck "Movement Controls" (who uses them?)

Phoenix -> check Show Advanced
    check DoubleClick Teleports
    check Enable Autoresponse

Advanced ->
    check High-res Snapshot
    check Quiet Snapshots to Disk
    uncheck Limit Select Distance
    check Disable Camera Constraints
    Character ->
        Character Tests ->
            make sure "Go Away/AFK When Idle" is unchecked

Toolbar at lower right of Phoenix window

Inventory -> Sort -> uncheck "System Folders To Top"

Finally, I would like to thank all the talented, dedicated, and hard working volunteers that create, distribute, and support these 3rd party viewers. Emerald, Imprudence, and now Phoenix have enriched my Second Life experience. My only question to these teams would be why the ex-Emerald development teams do not collaborate on a single Emerald based viewer. Why does there need to be Emergence, Imprudence, and Phoenix ? Seems like an inefficient and triplicated waste of effort. Anyway, Enjoy!

Imprudence Second Life Viewer

I'm trying out the Imprudence Second Life viewer after the Emerald "team" hit the self destruct button. FYI, read some really juicy Emerald comments by Nelson Jenkins. At this moment (4-Sep-2010) Imprudence is my choice of viewer since Emerald, Emergence, and Phoenix are not on the approved 3rd party viewer list. The only problem I have found with Imprudence thus far is an annoying chirp which sometimes occurs with the audio stream.

Anyway, Imprudence is based on Emerald source code and Emerald users will find it nearly identical although lacking a few features and some settings moved to different places/names. Still, it is an excellent replacement for Emerald and even has breast physics! About the only Emerald feature missing that I used a lot is the avatar radar. UPDATE: Imprudence has avatar radar in the Mini Map - just click the down arrow in the lower left corner.

A cool Imprudence feature is some sort of song id thing. When I teleport somewhere that has media playing and I have my media player turned on then I see the song and artist identified in local chat. Neat! [I am told this was also in Emerald but I never saw it]

You can read a detailed list of Imprudence features on their wiki as well as a list of features entering the experimental releases.

Here's my first round of instructions/recommendations/settings for Imprudence:

 Install Imprudence 1.30 or later
    http://imprudenceviewer.org/wiki/Downloads
   
Edit -> Preferences ->

    General -> check "Hide my name on my screen"
    Input & Camera -> check "Disable camera constraints"
                                 check "Disable minimum zoom distance"
                                 increase "Camera transition time"
                                                (when slow    pans desired)
    Network -> increase Maximum bandwidth to 2048
                                  (or as appropriate for your connection)
                     increase Disk cache size to max (1000)
    Web -> click "Use external web browser"
    Text Chat -> click "Large" Font Size
                        (never seems to do anything but I keep hoping)
                        uncheck "Play typing animation when chatting"
    Communication -> check "Vertical IM Tabs"
                                              (requires restart to take effect)
                                 I turn on logging of Local Chat
                                    (if you do this be sure to clean your logs
                                     regularly as Local Chat logs grow quite
                                     large very quickly)
    Skins -> I click the Silver skin
    Advanced -> check "Disable teleport screen"
   
Debug Settings
============

1)  Make sure View -> Advanced Menu is checked

2)  Advanced -> Debug Settings

3) In the Debug Settings window type in the following:

    EmeraldBoobFriction
    value 14.000
    EmeraldBoobHardness
    value 17.000
    EmeraldBoobMass
    value 83.00
    EmeraldBoobVelMax
    value 86.000
    EmeraldBoobVelMin
    value 16.000
    EmeraldBoobXYInfluence
    value 0.100

Make sure EmeraldBreastPhysicsToggle is set to TRUE
When setting these parameters it is not necessary to press ENTER after entering values, the settings take effect immediately when typed. Also, after initially typing in EmeraldBoobFriction the subsequent parameters can be easily found by clicking the little down arrow to the right of the parameter name in the Debug Settings window.
    
See http://imprudenceviewer.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=621 for a discussion thread on Imprudence breast physics settings.

Further Settings
===========

Advanced -> Quiet Snapshots to Disk
Snapshot -> click "Save to your hard drive"
                    check "High resolution snapshot"
                    check "Keep open after saving"
                    check "Auto-refresh"

Imprudence 1.4.0 and later (experimental)
=============================

Advanced -> Main -> check "Increase rez speed via draw distance stepping"

Advanced -> SpellCheck -> set Base Language and add additional dictionaries if needed; configure AutoCorrect Options

Cyber Shark Machinima

My first true attempt at creating Second Life Machinima (machine cinema), a 2 minute video of a cyber shark swimming in circles at the University of Western Australia Sim. Recorded with Fraps and edited with Windows Live Movie Maker this machinima will be entered into the UWA 3D Art & Design Challenge machinima contest MachinimUWA II: Art of the Artists. 

The video is titled "Yearning For The Sea" and uses "Open Sea Theme" from the movie "The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou" as the audio track. I just fell in love with this beautiful mangled displaced creature and felt like it was constantly struggling to free itself from whatever magical binds held it and swim headlong to the sea that perpetually taunts it on the not so distant horizon.

Quantum Matrix 3D Math Art

Second Life artist/builder Gingered Alsop has recently created a new device that automates the generation of beautiful mathematical 3D sculptures. Called the Quantum Matrix, these creations must really be viewed firsthand to fully appreciate. I'll attempt to present here a few snapshots, a video, and several links to view a demonstration of the Quantum Matrix. The Quantum Matrix will be on display at the University of Western Australia 3D Art & Design Challenge. Go see it!

This is a video I made of photos Gin and I took at her lab.

Parameters for prims and mathematical equations are provided via notecards to a sophisticated LSL script to generate these awesomely beautiful works of art.

Gin owns Phi Designs which runs an in-world store with demos. See my review of the Chamber, a particle lab by Phi Designs.

Many more photos of the Quantum Matrix (those used in the video above) can be seen at my Flickr photostream.

 The artist herself! Photo taken by Gingered Alsop. Gin is way super smart, funny, sweet, nice, and as you can see, cute!

Phi Designs' Particle Chamber

If you'd like to produce those pretty sparkly effects you see in art galleries and cool clubs but you are not a programmer then Phi Designs may have just what you're looking for. The Chamber is a particle lab & particle generator that comes in several versions.

The Chamber Versions

• The Emitter is a low cost (L$49) personal particle generation system that is attached to the avatar. It is a single particle emitter which can accept new patterns available as add-ons.
• Chamber Lite is a 19 emitter system of particle generators to create exotic visual effects. The Lite version can also accept new particle patterns as add-ons and costs L$499. Chamber Lite documentation can be found on the Phi Designs blog.
• Chamber Professional is a 19 emitter system of particle generators and includes all additional pattern add-ons. Additional emitters can be added to the Professional edition. Features include the ability to create additional spin devices, your own patterns, modify existing patterns, and a 26 page user guide. Cost of the Professional edition is L$4999.
• Chamber Pro Builder a version to support the use of generated particle systems in your build is currently in development.

The demonstrations of the Chamber are very impressive. It seems almost anyone should be able to use this product to produce dramatic visual effects without having to know anything. The availability of low-cost versions for personal use is a plus.

The Chamber's ease of use and availability in low-cost versions are two good reasons to prefer it over Jopsy Pendragon's Porgan.The Porgan is also an excellent particle generation system, has been around for a long time, and is built by SL's preeminent particle technician. Additional info on features of the Porgan are available in the Porgan user guide. At L$999 the Porgan is probably more suited for the programmer techie and less so for personal use.

For further information and demonstration of the Chamber you can view a YouTube video of the Chamber, visit Phi Designs demonstration store in-world, or visit the Phi Designs website.

Phi Designs products are also available on Xstreet.

Emerald Enhanced Physics

Want to view more realistic breast movement in Second Life? Note, many residents I have talked to about this are confused. These settings control what you see, not what others see. If you disable enhanced physics on avatar breasts in your viewer that is no guarantee others will not see your breasts bouncing - that is solely dependent on their viewer settings. Similarly, if you enable breast physics it does not mean others will see yours jiggling - it just means you will see theirs.

To enable and configure enhanced physics on avatar breasts follow these steps.

1. Download, install and use the Emerald Viewer http://emeraldviewer.net/
2. In the Emerald Viewer, edit your preferences "Edit -> Preferences"
3. Click on the "Emerald" tab on the left
4. Click on the "Page 2" tab at the top
5. Click on the "Effects" tab
6. Check the box "Enable enhanced physics on avatar breasts"
7. Adjust the physics settings (the default settings did not work well for me). The following settings are similar to what I use but are probably toward the "too jiggly" end of the scale - you may wish to experiment:

• Breast mass:       90
• Breast rebound:  11
• Breast max vel:   85
• Breast friction:    11
• Breast min vel:    15

   8. Click "Apply" then "OK"

You may need to relog for the updated preferences to take effect.

Come watch me dance!

Hahahaha!

Amazing Balloon Dress Designer

Rie Hosokai designs high fashion out of balloons. These are truly amazing and, even though not Second Life creations, I wanted to include a link to her website so people could see the awesome.

The Lighter Side of Wikipedia

So you don't think Wikipedia is awesome ? You may also believe it to be dry and totally devoid of humor. Bzzzt! Check out the synopsis of Baby Got Back for proof of awesomeness.

Still not convinced ? Ok, buckle up for a long bumpy ride through the Lamest Edit Wars of Wikipedia! Here's the intro illustration and caption for this article:

An unidentified clerk (center) tries to bring to an end a great edit war involving dozens of respected editors. At her feet, three bewildered newcomers are seen caught in the middle of the dispute.

The visually oriented (or those averse to reading on and on and on and on) may prefer this graphical representation of the lamest Wikipedia edit wars.

The talk pages at Wikipedia are consistently hilarious. Here people seem to just say whatever pops into their heads, pertinent or not. Take, for instance, the August 19, 2010 entry on the talk page for The Beatles Wikipedia article (unedited, just as it appears):

The things are ever so complicated and i have to say all stories surronded this band, I saw James Paul McCartney a real leader as memeber who kept on the group together,he plays a lot music instruments, was a good student at primary school, he composes easily,i know he depressed after the dissolution, John Winston Lennon was a leader as an author at especially the beginning, i know he liked poetry and did the school of arts,i know he wanted to leave the group after meeting Yoko Ono, George Harisson was a reserved person but i see him very keen, he was the younger, i know he couldn't put more than a song in an album, john tell him how to write a song in a same mood...Paul didn't want to help him one day they were disputing when they recorded Let it Be,he introduced the indu music, one day he said they could run a danger by meeting people like kennedy ...Ringo started in 1962, i know he stayed in bed during two years , he worked at a factory of wood, eight days a week was his elocution, paul john and george helped him a little... he wrote with george uctopus garden.he wanted to be actor. Brian Epstein was their manager and george Martin their arranger productor. I saw a film when they begun in Hambourg, they were really different, i saw Lennon and McCartney always fussing and fighting each other about the drummer, McCArtney was on horse lennon was mixing with feelings, they were with pleasant wommen.... there was Breaks durring Let it be session.... Later yoko forbidden julian for some mock up... I think lennon later was tired for commitments...his solo songs had a very sensed I think McCartney didn't want to be involved as a singer, he is not like that ..but he was right in a certain point of view. He said in Beatles he was free how to write songs.i apreessied flaming pie and drivin rain....he did hearted work in a classiacal album, but it's not the pain to be accidented with a taxi when he say i appressiate your own song.

Need I say more ? Wikipedia - awesome & funny!

The Dating & Robot Problems

A Venn diagram depicting the "Girl Paradox" has been going around. I thought I would improve it a bit, extend it to include males as well as females, then take a similar approach to the problem of robots. First, here's my dating problem diagram:

My dating problem diagram, it seems to me, works equally well for boys, girls, gay, & lesbian or whatever human dating. Now let's see what happens when we take a Venn diagram to robots who do not follow the three laws of robotics:

Request to Second Life Vendors

Dear Second Life Vendors,

Please, please, please, whenever possible, make your products "Modify/Copy/No Transfer". Many products are set "No Copy/Transfer" or "No Copy/No Transfer" making it impossible for the consumer (me) to make a copy of the item(s) in my own inventory. This has a few deleterious effects:

• I cannot make copies of an item for inclusion in other folders. For instance, I like to create "outfit" folders containing all the items worn/attached for a particular outfit. This makes it relatively quick and easy to change outfits. Items that are "No Copy" have to be hunted down in whatever folder they reside.
• No Copy items that contain scripts like a resize script either must continue to contain the lag inducing scripts after use or the No Copy item can no longer be modified after the scripts are deleted from the object(s). The owner of the item must make a difficult choice between being able to continue to use the scripts or reducing the resource consumption of the No Copy item.
• The owner cannot make a backup copy of her purchases in case they become damaged or lost.

The first of these (making copies for inclusion in outfit folders) is somewhat alleviated by the My Outfits feature of Viewer 2. Residents who use Viewer 2 now have the ability to create symbolic links to items in their inventory and these links can be used in various folders. However, many of us do not use Viewer 2 and do not yet have the ability to create symbolic links.

The second and third objections apply to all viewers and are really the most important reasons to make your items "Copy/No Transfer". Lag inducing scripts should really not be left in an object after it has been modified/resized. Of course, in some products the scripts are really what makes them valuable - here I am talking about stuff like hair and shoes which usually come with resize/color scripts which, once used on a copy, can be deleted. This reduces lag and should be a high priority for all residents, vendors included.

The ability to make a backup of your inventory items should be a right, not a privilege. I've had many items simply disappear due to server or sim weirdness and through no fault of my own.

Some products may reasonably need to have Transfer permissions. Items typically purchased as gifts need to be transferable. In these (relatively rare) cases, if the vendor does not want to allow their product(s) to be freely redistributed/resold, then they must also make them No Copy. I understand this and I am not suggesting that ALL products be sold "Copy/No Transfer". However, the vast majority of products are used strictly by the purchaser and not subsequently transferred to another resident. Even items which are frequently given as gifts can be released in two versions - "Copy/No Transfer" and "No Copy/Transfer" so the buyer can select which is preferable.

As for the Modify bit, I just do not understand why some vendors sell products like a skirt that is No Modify. Do you think all our butts are tiny like yours? Maybe you are trying to protects us from ourselves? Unless your product requires No Modify for some reason, please make it Modify so that I can resize or alter it in other ways to suit my particular needs.

Some vendors may believe that setting Copy permission on a product makes it more likely or easier for CopyBots to illegally copy and redistribute their product. This may have been true in the past, I do not know. However, currently, I know of no evidence to support this belief. My guess is this is an erroneous belief carried forward from years ago. If you know of any factual evidence or technical support for the fear that Copy items can be illegally copied please let me know. I cannot believe this is the case since most of the reputable and successful vendors in Second Life sell their products "Copy/No Transfer".

I do occasionally purchase No Copy items but, if I am aware in advance an item is No Copy it does effect my buying decision. Basically, a product that is "Copy/No Transfer" has higher value for me than one sold as "No Copy/Transfer". So vendors, simply by correctly setting the permissions on your products you can increase their value and thereby increase your sales.

Thanks for listening,

Missy Restless

Borgfest at Organica

As we were dancing and chatting to the psy psounds of DJane Qee at Organica, a Borgfest broke out in local chat! Here is a sampling of what went down that fateful night at Borganica:

[2010/08/07 1:41]  Nebulae Sands: borgasm?
[2010/08/07 1:41]  Misha Otaared: borgification
[2010/08/07 1:41]  Ouija Turbo: mmmm exotic borg
[2010/08/07 1:41]  Nebulae Sands: baron von borgonavon...makin copiessss
[2010/08/07 1:42]  Misha Otaared: feeling borg and listless
[2010/08/07 1:42]  Ouija Turbo: lets not go overborg here
[2010/08/07 1:42]  thomtrance Otoole: the borg the merrier .....
[2010/08/07 1:43]  Mollie Broek: i'm a little borged up
[2010/08/07 1:43]  Ouija Turbo: ALL A BORG!!!
[2010/08/07 1:43]  thomtrance Otoole: is a lapsed member of the borgeouisie ......
[2010/08/07 1:43]  Mollie Broek: smokin too many borgs
[2010/08/07 1:44]  Ouija Turbo: ARE YOU DOWN WITH THE BORGS ASIMMILATION NATION?
[2010/08/07 1:44]  Misha Otaared: mmm, that borg is smokin
[2010/08/07 1:44]  ahimsa Balut: borg-a-burg
[2010/08/07 1:44]  Mollie Broek: is borged to tears
[2010/08/07 1:44]  Misha Otaared: iceborgs ahead! hard astern!
[2010/08/07 1:44]  Ouija Turbo: flat as a borg an never been nailed?
[2010/08/07 1:45]  Mollie Broek: All you need is Borg
[2010/08/07 1:45]  Misha Otaared: some borg to look over me
[2010/08/07 1:46]  Mollie Broek: My Borgfriends back!
[2010/08/07 1:46]  Ouija Turbo: this borgs for you
[2010/08/07 1:46]  Ouija Turbo: if you got the time i got the borg
[2010/08/07 1:46]  Missy Restless: I miss Borg W. Bush
[2010/08/07 1:47]  thomtrance Otoole: remembers the crash of the Hindenborg .......
[2010/08/07 1:48]  Ouija Turbo: ever had borganzola cheese?
[2010/08/07 1:48]  Mollie Broek: it's borgasmic
[2010/08/07 1:48]  Misha Otaared: borg-a-rama
[2010/08/07 1:49]  Ouija Turbo: aaaaah RUN *points and moves mouth fast* ITS BORGZILLA
[2010/08/07 1:49]  Misha Otaared: maybe your memory borgs are down
[2010/08/07 1:49]  thomtrance Otoole: is a fan of Ernest Borg9
[2010/08/07 1:50]  Ouija Turbo: @)~~WeLcOmE wElCoMe~~(~~~~~ To BorGaNiCa
[2010/08/07 1:50]  Mollie Broek: Borganica is never boring
[2010/08/07 1:51]  Misha Otaared: at borganica, disco is futile
[2010/08/07 1:51]  ahimsa Balut: Borgbusters
[2010/08/07 1:52]  thomtrance Otoole: who wants to play borgammon ???
[2010/08/07 1:52]  Ouija Turbo: naw get out the checker borg
[2010/08/07 1:52]  Missy Restless: Cool tune, who is that on the borgan ?
[2010/08/07 1:53]  Misha Otaared: the chess borg got implants andbecame a chest borg
[2010/08/07 1:53]  Mollie Broek gives a dog a borg
[2010/08/07 1:54]  Ouija Turbo: i dun wanna work or play i just want to borg on a drum all day
[2010/08/07 1:55]  thomtrance Otoole: I went to Atlantic City and strolled along the borgwalk .....
[2010/08/07 1:55]  Ouija Turbo: i could use a borger an fries
[2010/08/07 1:55]  Mollie Broek: spaghetti borganese
[2010/08/07 1:56]  Missy Restless: what, no borg and beans ?
[2010/08/07 1:56]  ahimsa Balut: spaghetii alla carBORGnara
[2010/08/07 1:58]  Mollie Broek: "resistance is futile...we are your borgasm
[2010/08/07 1:58]  Ouija Turbo: to borg or not to borg that is thequestion
[2010/08/07 1:58]  Misha Otaared: bad borgs, bad borgs
[2010/08/07 1:59]  Ouija Turbo: hey wuts the BOrG Idea here????
[2010/08/07 2:00]  ahimsa Balut: wants a cannoliborg
[2010/08/07 2:01]  Missy Restless: Would you like to follow my sl fashion borg ?
[2010/08/07 2:01]  thomtrance Otoole: Goldborg and Hashimoto opened a sushi restauant called.... So Sue Me .....
[2010/08/07 2:04]  Misha Otaared tries to figure out a way to us brown v. borg of education, decides she needs more caffeine before she can tackle tht one
[2010/08/07 2:04]  ahimsa Balut: thats borgtempting
[2010/08/07 2:05]  Ouija Turbo: borgle the mind that does
[2010/08/07 2:05]  Misha Otaared: borgle up for safety
[2010/08/07 2:05]  Ouija Turbo: simply mind borgalling
[2010/08/07 2:06]  Misha Otaared: anything to make a fast borg
[2010/08/07 2:06]  Ouija Turbo: i got my surfborg surfs up dude
[2010/08/07 2:07]  Ouija Turbo: was gonna wake borg but dats for kooks
[2010/08/07 2:07]  Misha Otaared: after cosmetic surgery, she was no longe flat as a borg
[2010/08/07 2:08]  Ouija Turbo: don't even get me started with my boogie borg
[2010/08/07 2:08]  Misha Otaared: and forget about booger borgs....
[2010/08/07 2:09]  thomtrance Otoole: opens a new Organica Borg and Breakfast ......
[2010/08/07 2:09]  Ouija Turbo: i think waterborging is cruel
[2010/08/07 2:09]  Misha Otaared: he had terrible borgside manner
[2010/08/07 2:10]  Misha Otaared: you made your borg, now sleep in it
[2010/08/07 2:11]  thomtrance Otoole: thinks we should plant some borganvilla here....
[2010/08/07 2:12]  Ouija Turbo: anyone down for a ride in my winnieborgo?
[2010/08/07 2:12]  Misha Otaared: kudzu: borg in disguise
[2010/08/07 2:12]  thomtrance Otoole: only if you have borgels and lox
[2010/08/07 2:13]  Ouija Turbo: Farfinborgin
[2010/08/07 2:13]  Misha Otaared: i do love me those borgie nights
[2010/08/07 2:14]  KitOfPirate Core: ^^; my mind is borgaling!
[2010/08/07 2:14]  Ouija Turbo: hey anyone wanna give me a borgjob?
[2010/08/07 2:14]  Misha Otaared: i would buy more borganic produce if it wasn't so freakin' expensive
[2010/08/07 2:15]  Ouija Turbo: don't make me borgup all over you
[2010/08/07 2:15]  KitOfPirate Core: ^^; i luff madonna's musicvideo clip.. borgerline!!
[2010/08/07 2:15]  Ouija Turbo: ill borg that for a dollar
[2010/08/07 2:16]  thomtrance Otoole: borgerline??? dooooood...that was totally borgus .......
[2010/08/07 2:17]  M8 Parx: Borgiurnoo Italia !!! -____-
[2010/08/07 2:17]  Ouija Turbo: lost in borgirata ville
[2010/08/07 2:18]  Missy Restless: I wish I could use all my L$ to pay the borgage on my house
[2010/08/07 2:18]  Misha Otaared: i always take so much borgage whe i tavel
[2010/08/07 2:23]  Ouija Turbo: i think i want to get a job with the borger patrol to enforce the borger
[2010/08/07 2:25]  Ouija Turbo: ever watch that soap opera.... the borg and the beautiful?
[2010/08/07 2:25]  Misha Otaared: to borgly go where no one has gone bfore
[2010/08/07 2:25]  Missy Restless: I can feel the borgone energy pulsating thru me in this sound - omg, i think i might be borgulating!
[2010/08/07 2:25]  ahimsa Balut: tuborg
[2010/08/07 2:26]  Missy Restless: Yes! i'll have two borgs please
[2010/08/07 2:26]  Ouija Turbo: an with that i am all borged out *hops in his boat starts the outborg motor seting sail for borgneo*
[2010/08/07 2:27]  Misha Otaared: borgneo!
[2010/08/07 2:28]  Lennox Dollinger: All AHBORG!!!
[2010/08/07 2:29]  Missy Restless: I like to vacation in Outer Borgnolia
[2010/08/07 2:29]  Ouija Turbo: did not vote for oborgma
[2010/08/07 2:29]  Misha Otaared: so much for oborgmacare
[2010/08/07 2:29]  Ouija Turbo: its an aborgination I say
[2010/08/07 2:30]  thomtrance Otoole: this could only happen in Caliborgnia ~~~~
[2010/08/07 2:31]  Ouija Turbo: wasn't that song called "under the borgwalk"
[2010/08/07 2:32]  Missy Restless: I loved the movie "Outback" starring Ernest Borg 9 as the old aborginal shaman
[2010/08/07 2:32]  Ouija Turbo: wasn't that movie broke borg mountain sad?
[2010/08/07 2:33]  M8 Parx: need smoke, MarlBorgro or Camel ? ^^
[2010/08/07 2:35]  Missy Restless: yes, it's like one of those old broadway shows that goes on and on - sorta like Borgy and Bess
[2010/08/07 2:37]  Ouija Turbo: hated gettin kicked in the borgs
[2010/08/07 2:40]  M8 Parx: what a borgdello

Missy Profiles

Here are a few of the profiles I've used.

Drama Slave:

I love drama! And gesture spam, OMG, I get moist watching my comments scroll up into space when a spank fest breaks out! I get so HAWT when the sophisticatd Goreans reveal to me how becoming a humiliated sex slave will unleash my true nature. I think it's really neat that my friendship can be used as a means of advertising events and sales! Plus, I don't need to have EVER spoken to you before you ask me for friendship. In short, you can see how much I love SL so please feel free to have sex with me.

Lag Laughter:

Hi! My goal is to reduce lag by emitting cheery phrases and seriously funny one liners. Lick lag with laughter!

I would also like to be able to find a way to get rid of a good chunk of my bloated inventory. Maybe invite me to your rez day party and I will re-gift one of my freebie outfits ?

I am not a dom or a sub or a slave or a master or a vampire or anything like that. I'm a fun loving girl who likes to dance and chat and hang with friends. I also love learning new stuff about sl so turn me on! 

Blogs:

Hi! I've started a Second Life fashion and product review blog at http://missyrestless.blogspot.com and a Second Life Nudes blog at http://slnudes.blogspot.com

Check 'em out and tell me what you think. Feel free to critique, make review recommendations, point out what you like, any and all feedback appreciated. If you have products/clothing you wish to see reviewed or want to be photographed just let me know.

Blogs (revised):

Hi! I love the music of Rodrigo y Gabriela - http://www.muzu.tv/rodygab

I love myself so much I've started a Second Life fashion and product review blog at http://missyrestless.blogspot.com


Does that mean I am a heavy metal flamenco loving narcissist? What is the difference between apathy and ignorance? I don't know and I don't care. 

Photography:

Hi! I love it here.

I am creating digitally enhanced photographs of models and sl nature settings. See my Web tab for my Snapzilla photo gallery. I have an in-world photo gallery and studio, Restless Studio. My photos are available on Xstreet - search for "Missy Restless". I also provide professional photography services by appointment - IM me or drop a notecard.

I worship beauty, nature, truth, and love. And anything that makes me laugh. I am single and bi-sexual.

Questions:

Wanna spend "time" with me ? Show me how to:

- Rotate a notecard with my profile in determined on which group tag I am wearing
- Create dynamically generated animated fractal tattoos
- Detect scripts listening to local chat, e.g. chat spy scripts
- Make significant Lindens outside of real estate sale/lease
- Reduce lag by emitting cheery phrases and seriously funny one liners
- Share my iTunes library in SL
- Make obnoxious gesture spammers spontaneously combust in a pyhrric tower of Woot's and Wolf Howls

Who I Would Do:

Girls - yes!
Guys - maybe if you're really funny and super smart
Animals & children - no
Creatures, furries - probably not
Elves, fairies, mythical creatures on a case by case basis
Dragons - OMG!
Plants and unicellular organisms - you wish

Etiquette:

I believe in etiquette (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etiquette) and manners (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manners). Not as a matter of rule or dogma but because the use of manners can make a guest feel comfortable. That is, etiquette and manners are one way to show someone you care about how they feel. The lack of manners is an indication of either ignorance or apathy regarding the welfare of others.

Everything here by Missy Restless and not Samuel Clemens although it may seem otherwise.

Template Girl!

I used the free templates for clothing creators from Robin Wood to put together this outfit. Add some crazy hair, an adventure hat, a nice tie, fluffy boots, and some loosely wrapped clothing to cover those sensitive areas and Voila! you have a mad mathematician's dream girl.

UV suit from Texture Tutorials in Livingtree
Straw adventure hat from Paris Metro
Crazy hair from Bliss Couture
Flexi tie from Essential Soul
Sweet Wrapped Nothing skirt and top from Second Moon
Boots by SF Design

Photography by Missy Restless

How to Make Money in Second Life

Money, Money Everywhere & Not A Linden To Drink
There are a lot of sites out there that try to give you the lowdown on how to make money in Second Life. That is, how to get Lindens, the virtual currency used there. Most of the tips you will read are aimed at new users (noobs, newbies) and include things like camping and picking money trees. Rarely, if ever,  will you find a site that provides advice on how to actually make any real money beyond the maybe 50L a day you can make camping and picking. Working for tips as a dancer or host is hardly any better at somewhere between 300L and 1000L per day (that's like $1 - $4 per day, U.S.). Let's do a quick overview of the various money making activities a Second Life resident might engage in. The actual tips are at the end.

Camping & Picking Money Trees
New residents find themselves with a generic avatar, few clothes, no dances, no animation overrider, stiff hair, few accessories, and zero Lindens with which to purchase any of these. A common way to bootstrap up as a newbie is to camp and pick money trees. Camping is becoming more and more difficult to find as Sims mature - you basically get paid a small amount for registering with a camper board and being there for some length of time. Money trees are exactly what they sound like - trees with money in the branches. Young avatars can locate money trees and pick the bills from the branches. These activities can earn you enough to at least get started purchasing low priced items plus you get to explore looking for money trees or looking around the Sim where you are camped. It's kind of a neat way to start and I got a feeling of satisfaction having bootstrapped from nothing and finding cheap affordable fairly nice clothing, hair, animations, and skin. But you will never make anything appreciable camping and picking plus once you are over 30 days old the money trees are no longer available.

Dancing, Hosting, & Escorts
Clubs are all over SL, closing and opening frequently. If you've improved your avatar looks sufficiently and have an engaging personality or know how to "emote" then it is not difficult to find a job in a club either as a dancer or host. These jobs, as do most every job in SL, have no salary and you work for some percentage of your tips - usually around 80%. Escorts can make even more in tips if you are willing to provide those services. All of these activities can make enough per week to sustain a rental and buy higher end clothing, skin, etc. Escorts who are willing/able to provide voice and cam services can make significant hourly tips but once you are doing this you may as well be working in an RL webcam service making 10 times as much. Working as a dancer in a club can be a lot of fun. Pick a club where you enjoy hanging out with clientele whose company you do not find abhorrent. Club jobs make a subsistence level of Lindens in tips (if you're good at it) and afford you the opportunity to meet a lot of people, make friends, and have fun.

Slave Market
There are actually slave auctions in Second Life. You can sell yourself for a fair market bid, pocket the Lindens, and do the bidding of your new Master. This, to me, seems like desperation but I am willing to entertain the possibility that for some it might actually be enjoyable. However, I would not recommend it. If you really do want to become a slave I recommend creating an alt for this. I subscribe to the philosophy of Kurt Vonnegut Jr. expressed in the opening of his novel "Mother Night" - you are what you pretend to be. I have known more than one friend who went from dancer to slave and none of these stories have turned out well. I would say the risk far outweighs any benefit and the benefit is meager unless slavery is your pleasure.

Virtual Real Estate Speculation & Event Planning
There are many ways to make money in Second Life. The primary big-time earners buy, develop, lease, and sell virtual real estate. This takes a significant investment and considerable effort but can potentially produce an excellent profit. Another highly profitable venture can be event planning but here we are not talking about the kinds of events most of you are familiar with (live music events, art gallery openings, rez day parties, weddings, ...). The money is in event planning and coordination for the Big Boys like IBM, Carnegie Mellon, University of Texas, etc.

DJ Premo Pop & I'm A Genius Skin Designer
For the overwhelming majority of us - those that do not have $50,000 laying around to invest in virtual real estate speculation and those of us who are not super-connected with Big Boy event planning - it's really very difficult to earn any appreciable amount of Lindens inworld. Perhaps you could become a really good DJ at a very popular club or design high-end skins but again, not something most of us will find ourselves doing.

Shopkeeper, Resell Vendor, Xstreet Products
One accessible route to money in Second Life is the sale of products. It really only takes a little time to learn how to create products in Second Life and the only limits are those of your imagination and SL scripting/building tools. Alternatively, you can simply resell other people's products for a hefty commission. Unfortunately, it seems most residents do not purchase what I have thus far created and the vendor reseller market has been over-saturated. Add to that the weekly cost of maintaining a storefront and you have a formula for Linden loss rather than profit.

I will say that the only SL activity that has created a steady profitable revenue stream for me personally is my Xstreet product sales. This requires some effort setting up but very little maintenance overhead and zero cost. Even though Xstreet sales may seem slow to zilch even one product selling infrequently can create a profitable revenue stream. Creating content is intrinsically worthwhile - you are contributing to both the evolution of Second Life and your own skills. It seems to me that content creation is the activity of choice in Second Life. However, unless you are creating high-end content like ultra beautiful skins, luxury vehicles, particle generators, battle huds, etc. then your revenue expectations are likely to be little more than that of a good dancer. Content creation, for me, is an end in itself and not a road to riches.

Photographic & Publishing Services, The Arts
Many residents with photo editing skills, desktop publishing backgrounds, or experience in the arts attempt to leverage these skills in Second Life. Competition in SL photography is fierce. It seems everyone thinks they are a photographer and the ease with which snapshots can be taken creates a fairly low barrier of entry. I managed to make about as much as a photographer as I made dancing but had to work a lot more at it. Turns out that photo editing skills in real life that pay upwards of $60 per hour make as little as 500L for a week's work in SL. Clients will contract for services then simply lose interest or not pay. I get a lot of kicks out of doing couples photo shoots, spending a few days editing the photos then by the time I return to the client with her beautiful partner photo spread they have broken up and she doesn't want the photos.

Publishing is even harder since most publications are distributed freely and the call for portfolios, catalogs, brochures, and other publications is thin. Generally publishing services can be considered an augmentation of a photography studio and not a source of revenue in and of itself but rather a way to offer your clients a full set of services. One way to utilize publishing expertise is in the creation of stand-alone books for sale on Xstreet which can potentially provide a long-term source of revenue.

Artists abound in Second Life and there is a wealth of fine art produced inworld. However, of all the activities reviewed here, being a Second Life artist probably provides the least revenue/worth ratio. It seems SL residents just do not support the arts to the extent that a valid business model can develop out of the arts. If you run a gallery don't count on making money.

The Tip
So, here is the tip. Don't try to make money in Second Life! Basically, it's a feudal economy with a few very rich land barons and a mass of peasants working for a percentage of tips at various menial jobs designed to draw traffic to a Sim in order to rank higher in search results in order to create traffic for the malls which generate revenue for the land barons.

The Real Tip
Here is the real tip - the best way to get Lindens in Second Life is to purchase them with money you earn in Real Life! I can spend 15 minutes finding loose change around my house and buy more Lindens with that than I could earn in Second Life in a day's work. The exchange rate is usually somewhere around 275-285 Lindens for $1 U.S. so maybe 2800 Lindens for $10 or approximately one hour's work at a San Francisco minimum wage job.

Second Life Premium Account
If you do end up deciding to purchase Lindens then you may want to consider the Premium Annual Second Life account. This is $72 per year and comes with a one-time first-time signup bonus, a 300L per week stipend, 512 sq meters tier free, a free Linden Home, and premium Support. That's about $56 per year of Lindens with a premium account. So, you are really paying about $16 per year for the other benefits. If you plan on owning or renting land and putting up a house this makes a premium account an excellent deal especially if you can manage to live on 512 sq meters since then you avoid all monthly tier fees.

Reduce Lag, Remove Scripts

Lag or latency in Second Life can be reduced by residents diligently removing resize/recolor scripts from hair, shoes, boots, jewelry, and other attachments whenever possible. Most apparel or attachments that enable the user to resize or recolor the item include scripts which, once used, can be removed. This reduces Sim latency and can provide the user with a better real-time experience in Second Life.

Before deleting scripts, make a copy of the original script enabled item. Most vendors provide items like shoes and hair with "Modify/Copy/No Transfer" permissions. This allows the user to make a copy of the original as a backup in case you ever need to go back and resize/recolor/reconfigure the object. Unfortunately some vendors provide their products with "No Copy/Transfer" permissions which makes it impossible for the user to make a backup copy. In the case of "No Copy" items the owner is forced to decide between keeping the script functionality or reducing the lag induced by the item. Vendors who do not provide copyable items should read my Request to Second Life Vendors.

Once a backup copy has been made (if possible) and the product has been resized or otherwise configured to taste, you can delete the script(s). This is usually accomplished by simply clicking a "Delete", "Delete Scripts", "Remove", or somesuch button in the item's resize/configure menu. Most vendors will include a notecard with specific instructions for how to remove any scripts. Often this entails issuing a command on a channel the item is listening on. For instance, scripts in Kalnins shoes can be removed by issuing the command "/76 deletescripts" in local chat.

Inventory Management - Cleanup

As I approach my first rez day I realize that almost everything I accumulated during my first 6 months in Second Life is rarely, if ever, used. The clothing I got mostly sucks. I've replaced the AO with a better, more sophisticated, unified AO/Dance Hud. Pretty much everything I use I've acquired in the last 6 months or more recently.

It's probably a pretty good bet that the average avatar could delete everything in their inventory over 6 months old and never miss a thing. Of course, I am not suggesting that but I would suggest a regular and thorough purge of all inventory items no longer useful. SL inventories, especially for us avid shoppers, grow quite rapidly.

My current inventory contains over 16,000 items and I would guess I may use or refer to less than 5% of that. I like to keep all my landmarks (organized hierarchically), many of my notecards (for reference), animations & gestures, etc. but regularly delete as much as I can. Honestly, I wish I were more ruthless in my inventory cleaning. If I were starting all over again I sure would not have picked up so many freebies but I guess it's all a part of the great big learning curve that never ends.

One other aspect of this inventory cleanup tip is to get a good backup system. Invest a little time and money into storage boxes of some sort. Offload as many intentory items as you can into an out-of-inventory storage system, preferably one that can be accessed out-of-world. I use the OD Inventory Management System but cannot really enthusiastically recommend it. The cost is a one-time L$2600 with no monthly fee and a web-based out-of-world access/search system that is pretty cool but the actual process of creating the boxes is tedious and error prone.

Other systems are available, most expensive and some with a monthly fee. The Bright Inventory Box and aptly named Inventory Box look like two less expensive alternatives that might suit most people's needs.

Getting Dressed - Camera Focus

To easily see yourself from all angles as you dress, focus your camera on the center of your avatar. To do so,  hold Alt and left-click with your mouse on a point near the center of your avatar. To zoom and rotate your view around that point, hold the mouse button down and continue to hold Alt while moving your mouse; move the mouse up and down to zoom, left and right to rotate. Alternatively, you can use your viewer's camera controls. You can press Esc at any time to return your camera view to behind your avatar.

This seems like a simple tip and it really is but I have saved so much time dressing since I learned and put this tip to use. I really appreciate a very simple but useful trick and I hope you do to. Here is a fairly useful list of Second Life keyboard shortcuts. Enjoy!

Getting Dressed - Use a Pose Stand

Use a nice pose stand with a pose that reveals all angles and pieces of clothing well. I sell a pose rug I created for L$25 but any good pose stand will do and many are freely available.

Why did I create my own pose stand ?

• I didn't like the goofy looking pose almost all pose stands come with (the 180 degree turn with arms out)
• I found it often necessary to turn off my AO to use a pose stand as the pose stand script would simply try to override the standard sit animation and not the one my AO was using
• I wanted a pose stand available at all times in my home but I didn't like having the stupid pose stand sitting there looking like maybe it was a teleporter so I wanted something that looked nice in my room

So, get a good pose stand (or pose rug in my case) and use it. A pretty simple tip.

Feeling Frisky

 

If I'm feeling a little frisky I just put on my fluffy boots, a tank top, short shorts and I'm ready to play. Even if I'm not feeling all that frisky this combination usually gets me in the mood.

 

What can I say? I'm easy :) Or, anyway, when it comes to the outfit inducing the mood, I guess I'm a pushover for a pullover top and short shorts. I get a lot of compliments whenever I wear these fluffy boots from SF Design plus they seem to energize my whole look.

 

I love these shorts from League. Cool how the wings logo wraps nicely around my butt. Makes me feel like I'm ready for anything.

Tank Top from Ema's Secret
Shorts from League
Bangles from Son!a
Boots by SF Design
Hair from sWEET HAIRs
Sunglasses from Kalnins

Photography by Missy Restless