This preempts anything else I had planned, 'cos it's kind of that important. From Dare Munro:

The bad news:

My little beast of a computer has finally given it up - it has died on the table several times now and is barely functional.

The good news:

So, on that note, I am announcing the 'Dare Needs a New Computer' sale!

In order to keep running SL and keep doing what I do, the little beast (now 5 years old) MUST be replaced. So I am having a sale for the next few weeks - every few days I will add a room to the sale (as I am able) with hundreds more outfits and more all on sale for 199L (or less). One whole room is ready to go now with almost 100 designs in every color.

Here

In other news - this computer crisis has left me WAY behind in filling gift card orders, but if you have one pending or know someone who does - rest assured they will all be filled as I am doing a few a day as long as the computer holds out.

Cross your fingers for me - I hope to be back at full capacity very soon.

yours faithfully,
- Dare :)

(from the events album)

So what does this mean? Well, first and foremost: SALE AT DARE. Which, like, rarely happens.

But more than that, I know this pain. I wouldn't have the nifty computer I'm typing from now had a dear friend not come through for me. When computers die, they tend to die hard, and if your business is mostly (or even entirely) virtual, this is a BIG problem.

(from the events album)

Dare's not the only one this is happening to, either. Amesha Jewell, the mind behind Aeva/Heartsick, had her computer die a horribly painful death. So friends of hers are organizing a fundraiser, first couple weeks of May.

(from the events album)

I know, I know, timing. We all just spent our hearts out supporting Fantasy Faire. But these are also important issues--and issues that, if not solved, will result in one or both makers losing their livelihood, if not their sims. And that's too great a sacrifice when for around a grand US, you can get a pretty functional machine with some bells and whistles to help out along the way.

(from the events album)

Help if you can, appreciate the art of creation doesn't matter if the medium of creation has evaporated, and spread the word.

(Worn: Heartsick's "Enchant/Illusion" skin gift from a few years back, in Very Berry; Curious Kitties' "Honeybee" eyes from a spring festival last year, I believe; Alice Project's "Delirium" hair in Red/Black from the last Twisted hunt [gacha prize for this color, I think\; and Dare Designs' "Apparition" outfit in Violet from the new sale [but remember, go to the link above for the special sale room]. All shots taken in Evensong Woods, the last hour or so it exists on the grid.)

So...innovations and inventions, both baffling and unique. Clip post? Why, yes, we are there again.

First, a bit on nail polish. No, not Ciaté's chalkboard manicure (though I, along with many, many others, am dying to find out how that works). But no, I'm talking about the Blow Monkey.

Seriously. They couldn't have come up with a better name than Blow Monkey? Don't misunderstand me, nail dryers of various kinds have been out for decades, and it's not a bad concept--nail polish takes a long time to dry, and if you're doing a full set--with or without fake nails adding to the drying time--it's not the worst idea to find the concept one approves of most, picking up the reasonable device within that concept, and adding it to one's manicure routine.

But...Blow Monkey. Blow Monkey. Really?

There's still a few left on Amazon, if you're really curious.

Moving to science, this is made of awesome and win. And SCIENCE. Seriously, if the ITER project works out, we could crack the secret of fusion power in my lifetime. From "it can't be done, what are you thinking?" to creation, that's impressive beyond reason.

"These fashionable totes are constructed with two main items: a roll of duct tape and a stapler."

No. No, they're not. Seriously, pick up a damn needle. Because I guarantee you, that won't hold up to a trip to the library, let alone groceries. And if all you want is some big oversized trendy thing to toss sunglasses and a paperback into, then go on Etsy like everyone else and pay too much for one. It'll last longer anyway.

Moving to childcare, how about a redesign of the baby spoon? And really cleverly done, too--not only did Spuni launch this campaign on Indiegogo, but they then decided to take their concept into the real world via fabrication printing. So, crowdfunded--which they made--for a product which will revolutionize infant feeding, no lie, and they're taking over part of the Brooklyn Navy Yard complex for manufacture--which has, for literal decades, been a decaying, unsafe series of structures slowly falling into disrepair.

Technology meets reclamation meets child-rearing improvement. I am so on board for this.

I just want to toss this out there while we're on quirky redesigns. It's more "aww, cute idea" than revolutionary and must-have, but still.

Moving to crafts, there's apparently a small-time resurgence in making ninja peg people. Now, while that can be cool and quirky and fun all on its own, I personally have this sudden temptation to make up a dozen little peg ninja at a time, then leave them on my travels out and about. It's like guerrilla crafting...only with ninja toys!

And have some Lego Iron Man 3 posters, while I'm thinking about it. What else do I have lying around...

Oh, right, I've been thinking of doing a series on various aspects of Fantasy Faire, but this year got away from me in spades. Which is kind of sad, because I promised a friend I'd do a review of at least her sim's Faire booth.

How'ver, I'm thinking this may be a good starting point for an entry on its own anyway--what RP sims in SL are getting it right, for the most part? So expect an upcoming entry (hopefully sometime next week) on that topic, so feel free to keep an eyestalk out.

And I'll leave you with the fiftieth episode of Your Grammar Sucks, which is a madcap twenty-odd minutes of skit comedy, bad grammar, baffling YouTube comments, live performance, and fan contributions. Well worth the watch. (And while you're there, have a listen to the Epic Rap Battles' second-season finale, which featured Rasputin vs. Stalin--with amusing cameos along the way. It truly deserves the term "epic".

This is the Face of Fear.

Wearing hair, also, utterly failed to help the Face of Fear.

To that end, though, TRUTH is having a hair sale, until May 3rd (which is why I linked the Face of Fear). Good luck getting in--the sim crashed at least twice just due to the total insane tonnage of women on the grid fighting to get in, the lag is unreal, frequently the sim next door maxes out just from people pressed against the invisible Wall of No, and just to add to all the joy, a lot of the avatars in there aren't actually buying anything, they're just camping. For reasons I do not have it in me to understand, but which are frustrating beyond all reason.

[15:19] Gxxxxxxx Xxxxxxxxxxx: Pardon but as a public service announcement to the ladies I had a rather pushy noob bug me repeatedly with

[15:02] rxxxxxxx: hello
[15:03] rxxxxxxx: wanna make-out?

[15:19] Gxxxxxxx Xxxxxxxxxxx: ask me that, so I sucked a passing kraken out of the skies of middlesea and hit him with it after he failed to get the message and set him north towards winterfell :)

This does seem to be a novel way to deal with unwanted amorous attentions.

[15:19] Gxxxxxxx Xxxxxxxxxxx: you might want to avoid on sight if you don't have anything heavy to hit and eject him with as he seems quite blind
[15:20] Bxxx Gxxxxxxxxx: Thank you, Mr Xxxxxxxxxxx!
[15:22] Bxxx Pxxxxxxx: Were you in middlesea at the time?
[15:22] Emilly Orr is quite fond of your response, though.
[15:23] Dxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: I take it you did not want to make out?
[15:23] Gxxxx Bxxxxx: Say it with krakens. Always the best way.

Indeed. Tentacles really can't be misinterpreted as a friendly greeting if they shotput you across the sim.

(from the events album; chattering at the gathered New Babbageans...Babbage-ites? Babbagelings?) at the Aether Salon.)

So...the Aether Salon happened! And I didn't die! Yay for not dying.

(from the events album; taking a few moments to relax and calm in Custard Developments)

Let me explain that, for benefit of people not me.

Starting with the loss of my last SL job, and dovetailing annoyingly neatly into the last SL relationship that vanished into disturbing ether, I've been pulling back from the grid. My friends know this better than anyone--apart from folks I talk with on the CaleCraft server, and occasional chatter in various groups (occasionally including ISC), I've talked to barely anyone I know in at least a year, if not more than. I won't say "crippling social anxiety" is the descriptive I'm going for, here, but I'm a self-made hermit at this point. Not only do I rarely leave my skybox, except to shop (much of which is done silently), but I rarely want to leave, for any reason. It's in large parts equal combinations of depression and simple grieving; some losses run deep. But it hasn't stopped me detaching so much from people who care for me, and whom I care for, that when I see them pop online, there are times I disconnect from the grid just on general principle. (Not because I'm trying to avoid anyone; more because I just don't want to pretend to be giddy and happy and well-adjusted if I'm not feeling those things on any given day.)

So...this was an opportunity in two very real senses: one, to share some of my views on steamwave with the community at large, and two, actually get out there and talk to people. Both were rather terrifying.

(from the events album; taking a few moments to relax and calm in Custard Developments)

But as you can read along in the transcript from the Salon, it didn't go at all badly. Behind the scenes, of course, I was terrified, I was nervous beyond all dreams, I was thoroughly convinced this would be a tragedy of epic Shakespearean proportions, and I was coming off of two weeks of intense stress, insomnia, and pain issues at home, so...to say I wasn't in the best mental or emotional state to take this on is, again, a nigh psychotic understatement.

But it went well. More to the point, because becoming a presenter meant joining the group, I discovered I'd actually like to make more of these things. They are a genial, affable, respectful crowd of Steamlanders, and I both thank them for attending my spate of babbling disguised as educated opinion, and of giving me really great questions to answer after. And according to the Baron, we managed a fairly decent turn-out during the SLRFL Steamlands pub crawl, so...I consider that a success as well.

All in all, I'm actually pleased with how it turned out, and I didn't expect to be, which was a rather refreshing change.

(Also, the last two pictures are from the upper reaches of the Custard Developments sim, above the Oroborus Clockwork Lounge. Do go see, it's a fascinating build.)

Bizarre conversation from a friend:

[6:30:08 PM] Axxxxxxxx Rxxxxx: just got a second "you're not a vampire, i've got the hud and it tells me so" conversation
[6:30:53 PM] Emilly Orr: ....
[6:30:55 PM] Emilly Orr facepalms
[6:31:07 PM] Emilly Orr: Yep. People still stupid on SL.
[6:31:15 PM] Axxxxxxxx Rxxxxx: yep
[6:31:39 PM] Axxxxxxxx Rxxxxx: guy's like "Oh, you're not? Would you like to be?"

Yeah, see, for anyone wondering why I posted that little excerpt? Because you can be a vampire without an inane HUD telling you you are. That's the freedom of roleplay--claim it, it's yours, play it right, people will play with you. They don't need HUDS and special blood-draining figures and bite protocols to actually be someone, they can just be that someone.

Personally, if you need a HUD to tell you what you are or aren't, you're deficient in imagination anyway. Live a little. Throw the HUD away. Find out what you want to be. I guarantee you it doesn't involve an over-scripted, over-programmed multi-level-marketing device.

New JIRA going around, and this one is plainly...crackheaded. Here's the text of the complaint (because I can't honestly call this a requested feature):

With the rash of accounts being hacked lately, it still surprises me how easy it is to purchase Lindens through the viewer if you happen to have PIOF. You only need to click in the upper right hand corner and fill in any amount, and as long as it's approved, the transaction will be processed. First off, I no longer see the point of having PIOF in the profile, but can make people more of a target.

Second, what I propose is that when you click on purchase Lindens, a second window will pop up asking you to enter ANOTHER password [separate] from your Second Life password to confirm the order. While it is an extra step, it still doesn't make purchasing Lindens difficult, making your personal info a tad bit more secure.

I realize how frustrating getting our accounts hacked--in any world--can be. It feels invasive, it feels as if we've lost our safe havens, and it is genuinely hurtful and angering. I get that. I've been hacked, so believe me, I get that.

But this won't help. Let me say that again because it sounds vaguely important: THIS. WILL NOT. HELP ANYONE.

In fact, it's only going to make the program worse. Say Ms. Paine actually pushes this through, via some incomprehensible act of Linden. What happens? Everyone gets a second password to choose.

In the interests of public disclosure, the worst password of all time--that's remained on the worst passwords lists for at least two years running, if not longer: password. I'm not even kidding. Past that, the next five worst passwords? 123456, 12345678, abc123 (or its "hipper" variant, abcd1234), querty, monkey, and letmein.

That's not even bringing up the other standards, lower on the list--the ones that start with god and move to sexy and make us all glad we live in a culture where eight-letter passwords are the norm, not three-letter ones.

I'm not saying this to be funny in the least. Some folks on the internet order the extra bushel of dumb to go with their dumb; it happens because not everyone is bright (which includes bright people). In general, people just don't think these things through, and that's not even just an idiot factor--everyone has moments where they react blindly, and rarely in good ways.

To make this personal, I consider myself fairly internet-savvy--but when the Gawker family of blogs was hacked, I had to scramble to protect the rest of my data. Why? Because I used the same damn passwords for about 75% of my accounts.

Even now, years after the incident, I still have my password-protection program of choice yell at me when I choose a password for one site that I've used for something else. Which means yes, I'm still making those bonehead mistakes.

But let's go back to the JIRA--how would having a second password save most people? With programs like Secondlife Money Hack distressingly easy to find, plus people using simplistic--and easily guessed--passwords, how would a second password save anyone? Average Jill or Joe on the grid--or, in the grid's case, average BIGTEXANSTEVE or sexiigirlii9518 on the grid--is going to be told they need two passwords. I guarantee you that at least eighty percent of everyone given this boon will wrack their brains for a solid week before having the a-ha moment--they'll supplement their perfect password--"sexmoneygod111"--with their new protect-everything super-sekrit password--"1234512345"--and everything will be fine!

Tell me again how this solves the problem.

Tell me again how this even addresses the basic problem, which I guarantee you, is not payment info on file. (And if you read that even halfway seriously, from her JIRA description, you realize she's also sidewise saying that payment info on file should be dropped from the SL bio anyway, because of "targeting".)

I fully grant, I don't get a lot of the people out in the world, any world, and I certainly don't always understand the things they view as extreme problems. But this? Even just restricting things to Second Life, alone, this isn't even in the top five problems SL has! It's not even in the top fifty!

You want to know how to stop the rash of hacked accounts? Make the accounts harder to access for the criminals, not the account holders. If you really want to protect account information, attach everything to an individually-generated keyfob account number which rotates every eight days and can only be accessed by the account holder answering three security questions every time they want to make a transaction.

Because that would work. (Though again, I guarantee you people would bitch about it, because most people want things simple. Point; click; access; move on with our lives. But that's the trade-off, innit? We can either have ultimate security systems which are arcane to use, difficult to hack, and impenetrable for non-accountholders...Or we can have the point-and-click world. We seem to want the point-and-click world, and that's fine--we just have to accept that that comes with certain security flaws.)

Come back and talk to me when you figure out a way to protect SL info that doesn't make it harder for people to buy things on the grid, and I'll likely tell you you may have come up with something that will work. Because ultimately, too many of us want the convenience of buying Lindens on a whim, whether that's what we should want or not. And no amount of secondary passwording is going to make it any less easy for criminal types to do criminal things on the net.

Found at MAJD:

(from the shopping album; flat mesh kitteh avatar!)

The flat kitten avatar, in simple black and white.

(from the shopping album; flat mesh kitteh avatar!)

Here's it from the back...

(from the shopping album; flat mesh kitteh avatar!)

And yeah, it really is completely flat.

You'll need to find it in the store (but that's not hard) and pay nine Lindens to get it (that's not hard, either). Only drawback? The little cardboard cutout cat made it look like I'd actually be a flat, corrugated cardboard thing. Instead, I'm a flat black and white thing.

Still totally worth the Lindens. You'll need to be able to see mesh to see it, but when it walks, it's got a built-in "hopping" AO, and it's just fun to move around in.

Speaking of mesh, got a tip from a friend today to make mesh rez in faster . This was seen in one of her group chats, so I'm just reprinting it word for word:

Q. Part of the mesh product is invisible!

A. This is generally due to a cache issue. If right-clicking the area where the mesh should be doesn't force it into view, just clear your cache and relog (cache clearing is under your Preferences). This will fix almost any mesh (or graphics in general) visibility issue.

Q. I sometimes don't see mesh clearly from far away, or areas with lots of mesh won't fully load for me.

A. Try increasing your "Objects & Sculpts LOD" (under Preferences), and raise the number of mesh objects you can view at once by following these steps:

1. Open Advanced menu by going to Preferences > Advanced > check the "Show Advanced Menu" box

2. Go to Advanced and Debug Settings

3. In the Debug Settings window, choose "MeshMaxConcurrentRequests" from the drop down menu.

4. Change the value from the current number to 100.

You should now instantly be able to see any missing mesh items. This setting persists through logins but may reset when you install an update to your viewer.

Which is all well and good, until the conversation that happened just after:

[6:29:26 PM] Fxxxxx Axxxx: I note that raising MeshMaxConcurrentRequests is, from what I remember, not the *best* plan. I think it causes issues with the client/server. Because the problem really is that a request gets stuck. SO all it does is push the problem down the line.
[6:30:21 PM] Axxxxxxxx Rxxxxx: I dunno of anything better, short of writing better code in the first place
[6:32:23 PM] Fxxxxx Axxxx: Pretty much. The best solution is a relog/cache clear.

So...take with a grain of salt? In that the "solution" may make the problem worse.

From a random profile seen by a friend:

Internet in 10 years from now: We no longer ask "where are you from" but "what is your timezone?"

Hells, we're there now.

(Epilepsy warning?)

(from the loss album; reflections wandering the Twisted: Delirium hunt stops.)

I held onto you for as long as I could but today
you fell away
now all I hold are the memories we barely made


Is a year long enough to let go? Is a year with no questions answered something I just need to accept? I'm not good at accepting that I'll never know. I keep wanting to push.

I think the time to push is over, though.

(from the loss album; the Twisted: Delirium asylum before the end game.)

I stood on the edge of your bridge until I felt the rain
push me away
my confusion left me fast as the vertigo came

The problem is, I keep running into things--ideas, concepts, dreams, nightmares...The little gifts, the things that make my life work, old letters, old memories...Everything still hurts.

Maybe I need to accept that, too. It hurts less than it did. Give it another year, it will hurt even less.

All it's going to take is time.

(from the loss album; the Twisted: Delirium asylum before the end game.)

what I believed to be true, it was only a dream
that lived in me
I just projected it over your beautiful screen

Directions can be tricky. Especially when, at several points over the past year, I knew I was moving, but I lacked any sense of direction. Was I moving closer to the loss, walking away? Was I on the path or lost in the maze?

I still don't know.

(from the loss album; the Twisted: Delirium asylum before the end game.)

I self-medicated my way through this mess that we made
so I could stay
there was nothing, but I waited, I waited

I think it's all coming up now, hitting this hard again now, because the life is currently being pared down to what works, what doesn't, and what needs to change. That I never wanted anything to change is, again, something I'm just going to have to find a way to cope with.

There's a way to cope with it. Because otherwise, there's no point to any of it, no point to accepting what happened, no point to my attempts to understand, my failures to comprehend. I refuse to accept, absolutely refuse to accept, that there's no point to this long, strange spin into the coldness of the outer reaches.

(from the loss album; the Twisted: Delirium asylum before the end game.)

this was my mistake
broken are plans we made
so I will be traveling any place
'cos anywhere's better than here

I have to accept there's a reason why I'm here, and there's a reason why it's now. (Echo from the head, old Buffy episode quote: "Because now is the time my mom moved here." Maybe it really is that random. There's no purpose, there's just occurrence.)

(Do I really believe that?)

(from the loss album; the Twisted: Delirium asylum before the end game.)

here we rest in peace
rubble beneath the feet
I shouldn't have followed you anywhere
'cos anywhere's better than here

And looking for fixed landmarks, when my entire system is in flux, in the grip of deep change and alteration...it was never going to work. But just because something won't work doesn't stop many of us from trying to make it work this time. Because doing a thing that has failed to work in the past, ever, doesn't mean it won't work now. Right?

(Or at least, that's how we think of it. And we're always wrong.)

(from the loss album; the Twisted: Delirium asylum before the end game.)

where is the space I could move?
where could I rest my head?
there's nothing left for me here

And it's so easy, it's always been so easy, to identify the polarities and hold to them. Black, white, no shades of grey, no misinterpretions, no complications. Yes or no. Fail or win. Love or...don't.

The problem with such binary thinking is that it misses the very valid, very real states of the in-betweens. Black, white and grey after all, and most of life's decisions fall into the grey. It's never either/or, after all--it's always either/or/and.

(from the loss album, and the Twisted: Delirium hunt's end game.)

it's hard to leave behind
the one thing that made me feel alive
so I slide from paranoid to paralyzed

That's one of the real problems in all this. Over-analysis only goes so far, after all, and a one-sided debate still doesn't have all the answers. And it's so easy to pause, "just for a while", and realize only months later all we were doing was standing in place. Afraid to move forward, or back, or...at all.

(from the loss album, and the Twisted: Delirium hunt's end game.)

this was my mistake
broken are plans we made
so I will be traveling any place
'cos anywhere's better than here

Just keep moving. Just keep breathing, keep acting, don't stop, don't overthink. But I overthink; it's what I do, it's what I've always done. If there is any great truth to me, it's that I analyze everything to death, and maybe past it. I'm not good at letting things go.

Even things that hurt me.

this was my mistake
broken are plans we made

I have to stop reaching for what could be. Given time, given understanding, given answered questions...none of which I'm going to receive, save for time...maybe things might change. "Maybe", in this usage, is soul-destroying poison. It doesn't keep hope alive; it embeds me in resinous denial, waiting to ossify.

I don't want to ossify. If I'm broken, I'm broken; so be it. But I don't want to freeze in place, hurting, untrusting, unwilling, afraid.

I have things to fear. I have things to make me suffer. I don't need more.

(from the loss album, and Twisted: Delirium's final room.)

here we rest in peace
rubble beneath our feet
I shouldn't have followed you anywhere
'cos anywhere's better than here

I've rested, I've tried to heal, I've pushed it all inside to remain trapped in the glue of my doubts and my deepest regrets. I tire of the taste of them. There is no part of me that doesn't want back what I had, but ultimately, I do not have this now, and wishing will never return it to my heart and my arms.

It's been a year. I've mourned a year. It's time to stop mourning and move on.

(Song is Anywhere But Here by the Sick Puppies.)

[20:08] pxxxx Cxxxxx shouts: WHY DO YOU GUYS HAVE DUCKS ON YOUR HEAD

Some days, people worry me more than others.

In and amongst preparations for Sunday's Aether Salon, more reflections on shopping naked.

Because it's still confusing.

Take this lovely fur, f'rinstance:

(from the shopping album; apparently furs shop naked, too.)

I won't lie; she was dead cute. The bow, the spots, the poses in her AO...she was just adorably winsome, start to finish. But she wore a bandeau top and gloves, the bow, and...nothing else.

And see, here's my thing with furs: yes, I know animals don't wear clothes. Even some anthropomorphic animals don't wear clothes. But there's a vast difference between "not wearing clothes because I'm covered in fur", and "not wearing clothes even though my fur is so short you can see genitalia". Am I the only one who perceives the definite difference between those two states?

I don't even feel I can link directly on this blog the set of shots I took and animated, just to show you the pose variation, because barring this one (rather perfectly) figleafed image, ALL of the rest I'd have to edit!

Or how about...her:

(from the shopping album. Some things you cannot unsee.)

I...don't even know where to begin. Her proportions are off, and I'm not just talking about her implants. Her color coordination sense is...deeply impaired.

(from the shopping album. Please don't do that again.)

And keep in mind, I'm not even talking about the implants here. Some women want tits the size of planetoids; okay, whatever. That's your thing, that's your thing, it's not about to change.

I'm more talking the distortion of the system avatar.

Like...the fact that she doesn't have curves, here, she has ANGLES.

Just to enhance the point:

(from the shopping album. Yeah.)

This is a crop of the above image, so you can see exactly what I mean. Even if you want a large rear--or large anything--you want to do your best to ensure that it fits the concept. Because human beings are not angular, we're rounded. This? This is not rounded. This is pushing the system mesh until there's literally nowhere else to go. This is forcing an avatar to be as large as it can be with zero care how that looks to anyone else.

(from the shopping album. Yeah.)

It's like she doesn't even notice--or worse, doesn't even care--how much she's distorted the underlying shape.

(from the shopping album. It's just not getting better.)

Maybe she finally realized how little her boots go with the rest of her? Your guess is as good as mine, unfortunately.

From a new (to me) mesh store called PILOT:

(from the shopping album; inspirational mesh art from PILOT)

Because days like today, we need a reminder.

This currently retails for L$150, has a total mesh prim count of 1, with a combined mesh impact count of four, and comes with a delectably minimal shadow layer that adds depth to the heartfelt message.

That's all I've got right now, I'll work on updating past (and future) entries late tomorrow, or the next day.

[19:34] Jxxxxxx Gxxxxx: feijoa, cherimoya, pomellos, are you all living in the rainforrest?
[19:34] Sxxxxxxxx Gxxxx: no
[19:34] Jxxxxxx Gxxxxx: we dont get that there fruit here in Maine
[19:34] Jxxxxxx Gxxxxx: we have apples, oranges and lobster
[19:35] Emilly Orr: ...lobster is a fruit?
[19:35] Emilly Orr: Since when?
[19:35] Dxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: I want a lobster tree
[19:35] Jxxxxxx Gxxxxx: yes, it is the national fruit of Maine! :-p
[19:35] Pxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: its a thing
[19:35] Pxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: lobsterfruit
[19:35] Dxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: but things go better with coke

Let's just say Caledon chat was strange today, and leave it at that.

So, I had some other things planned, but kept finding myself dragging my feet over getting the entries finished and posted. I'm not uninterested in the topics, I will at some point finish those entries, I'm just still dealing with the last vestiges of prior heartbreak.

It takes me a long time to recover from things. You'd think a year-plus would be enough time, but...yeah. No. Not so much.

Plus, my mind is now trying to chew over effective ways to present the upcoming Aether Salon to which I was invited. clear back in....gad. February?? And while I'm still trying to figure out what I want to SAY, and if there's anything about steampunk music I want to update for this blog, I haven't mentioned it because it seemed....well. Impossibly distant.

This is why stress is a bad thing.

Anyway, my presentation will be in the Babbage Palisades district of New Babbage, the Sunday after next, 21 Aprille, at the nearly-ungodly early hour of two in the afternoon, SLT. (Hey. Professional night owl, and that's the law--go to bed during single digits; get up during single digits; and we nicely avoid most instances of the Nasty Bright Thing.) All I know right now is I will be there; I will likely likely be extraordinarily caffeinated; and I'll do my best to keep tangents to a dull roar.

In the meantime, welcome to our next edition of Shopping Naked: Why Is This a Thing?

(from the shopping album; censored because her 'dress' is pretty damned much openwork netting.)

This is a serious question on my part. All the various and myriad stores, maturity ratings, roleplay styles, fetish styles, looks, avatars, and structures on the grid: but unless you're a professional nudist, why would you--why would anyone--decide to shop naked? I don't get the urge, plain and simple.

(from the shopping album; censored because her 'dress' is pretty damned much openwork netting.)

And no, I don't know what was wrong with her hair. And believe me, she didn't port in and port out, so she didn't have time to rez. I watched her for a good ten minutes, trying to figure out whether she was wearing some mesh object that just hadn't rezzed in (she hadn't; besides, the Lola's Tango implants she's wearing are mesh), or if her hair was also mesh, and had just gone buggy around the edges.

But nope. Neither of those things were true. Maybe she just really doesn't understand how hair works on the grid. It's obvious enough she doesn't know how to stand...

Sadly, that may answer the first question, as well: she'd spent all of thirty-eight days on the grid.

[19:36] Mxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: ok, this isn't a snipe hunt type of deal is it? The only lobster I'm aware of is the kind that is served on a plate with butter with a side of steak
[19:36] Sxxxxxxxx Gxxxx: its the fruit of the local land or sea in this case
[19:36] Pxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: crunchy
[19:36] Jxxxxxx Gxxxxx: oh a surf and turf....
[19:36] Dxxxxxxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: It is ISC After Dark [Mxxx]....
[19:36] Axxxxxx Gxxxxxx prefers it in tacos
[19:36] Axxxxxx Gxxxxxx: lobster, that is
[19:36] Pxxxxxx Rxxxxxxx: fruits du mer
Yeah, still strange.

Apparently in the next coming update to Minecraft (currently in beta-like, "snapshot" form, there will be...leashes on chickens? But why? That's what I don't understand. Why do we need leashes on chickens?

[07:48] ɕʆɑгιɕҽ ɲιɠɧȶωιɲɠ (cxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx): ( ¨*•.¸(¨*•.¸´•.¸ցɾҽҽէìղցʂ! աҽӀϲօʍҽ էօ ƒƒʂ
[07:48] ɕʆɑгιɕҽ ɲιɠɧȶωιɲɠ (cxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx): ìƒ ì ϲɑղ հҽӀք քӀҽɑʂҽ Ӏҽէ ʍҽ ҟղօա¸.•´¸.•*¨) ¸.•*¨)
[07:48] ɕʆɑгιɕҽ ɲιɠɧȶωιɲɠ (cxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx): Txxx, Bxxxx, Axxx and Emily
[07:48] ɕʆɑгιɕҽ ɲιɠɧȶωιɲɠ (cxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx): ( ¨*•.¸(¨*•.¸´•.¸ցɾҽҽէìղցʂ! աҽӀϲօʍҽ էօ ƒƒʂ
[07:48] ɕʆɑгιɕҽ ɲιɠɧȶωιɲɠ (cxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx): ìƒ ì ϲɑղ հҽӀք քӀҽɑʂҽ Ӏҽէ ʍҽ ҟղօա¸.•´¸.•*¨) ¸.•*¨)
[07:48] ɕʆɑгιɕҽ ɲιɠɧȶωιɲɠ (cxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx): Dxxxxx
[07:49] ɕʆɑгιɕҽ ɲιɠɧȶωιɲɠ (cxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx): ( ¨*•.¸(¨*•.¸´•.¸ցɾҽҽէìղցʂ! աҽӀϲօʍҽ էօ ƒƒʂ
[07:49] ɕʆɑгιɕҽ ɲιɠɧȶωιɲɠ (cxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx): ìƒ ì ϲɑղ հҽӀք քӀҽɑʂҽ Ӏҽէ ʍҽ ҟղօա¸.•´¸.•*¨) ¸.•*¨)
[07:49] ɕʆɑгιɕҽ ɲιɠɧȶωιɲɠ (cxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx): Txxxxxxx

I have a major problem with this. I know the store in question just hired their first shopgirl, and I get why they're still working out the meet-n-greet protocol. And yeah, repetition of the basics, especially if a crowd of avs all beam in at once, it gets a little mentally dunning. I get that, too.

What I don't get? Typing out your standard meet-n-greet IN GODDAMN UNICODE. I like the store, I'm a member of the store group, but seriously, if Miss "ɕʆɑгιɕҽ" keeps this up, I'm SO never going to the store when she's there. I'd be too tempted to throw sharp things towards her head.

(from the shopping album)

I'm trying to come up with a reason why the Doctor would be at Patchwork Heart. I think I'm failing.

Maybe he was shopping for Peri?

(from the shopping album; what is considered "Victorian" on the wider grid)

No, really. Because a rodeo belt-buckle and a laced neckline plunging to my hips makes me think of Victorian things, right? Some folks just fail to grasp the Victorian era.

From a random profile:

if I disappear without a word, roll d100:
01-20: my net went off
21-60: my client crashed
61-81: my PC crashed
81-99: I was lost in some other thoughts and never noticed you were there
00: I just don't like you :D

That is a great, great, random roll table.

From another random profile:

If I am building please do not bother me unless you are already on my friends list.
If I am building and you want to get your freak on, no.
If I am building and want to flirt, no.
Once again if I am building do not pester me unless you are on my friends list.
You have been warned.

Seems fair enough.

(from the shopping album; Virtual Attire's interpretation of Lolita)

I want to know what about this outfit qualifies it as or "Loli". Seriously. Someone point it out to me, I don't see it.

I get the "pink". It's obviously very pink. Many things from Virtual Attire are. I just don't understand how in any reality that outfit becomes EGL wear.

(Oh, and I'd note again, that pouty, fish-lipped, flat-hipped, splay-kneed shape: WHY is this so popular these days? I don't get that either.)

F(from the shopping album)

And...this happened. Apparently, shopping naked is a trend now?

"Chrome just recently decided to change its menu behavior to accommodate fat fingers."

I'm not pointing this out because of the 'fat fingers' line; what they've done is actually applied a bit of redesign to make using a Chrome browser on touchscreens (like the iPad, mainly, but also other iDevices) vastly easier, with significant separation between the actions under the Chrome options menu.

Which is all well and good, but what about those of us who don't have touchscreens? Hence, the article mentioned at the top. It's a pretty clear, step by step tutorial on how to get rid of the new 'wider', more separated, options menu. (Though keep in mind: if you're actually USING a touchscreen, DO NOT DO THIS!)

This is going to revolutionize movie-making, no lie. There's a video on that site by Vincent LaForet, who's currently testing the MōVI to see just what it's capable of. In a few years, I think we'll all be able to see. This could be the end of shaky-cam footage forever.

In July of 1956, the Barstow family won an all-expenses-paid trip to Disneyland, and recorded their entire trip. In 1995, they put all the film stock together and gave it a narration. Normally, home movies are not the purview of the Library of Congress, but because this short film was so impressively detailed, both in terms of narration and visuals, it was named part of the National Film Registry by the Librarian of Congress. Prestige, indeed.

On another topic entirely, the Deformutilation blog has a short, but beautiful, entry on various reliquaries said to house the bones of saints. (Again, as with all links from the Deformutilation blog, while you will have to click to agree to viewing adult content to get to this entry, this entry contains nothing that is overtly sexual, or overtly violent. Just bones, and the richly ornate cases they are kept in, in churches around the world.)

The Firestorm viewer has found itself in something of a quandary--within the next two weeks, they say (and I'm fairly sure they're pretty on target for it), server-side baking will become a reality on SL. At that point, all viewers that are not up to date with the code changes (hint: that would be Phoenix, for those stubborn Phoenix users), will stop seeing avatars correctly (which is assuming they can see them at all).

So it's your choice--do you want to see other avs on the grid enough to update? Because one way or another, you'll have to, to stay with the changes (or walk away entirely).

Finally, do you like tentacles? Do you live aboard some alien, biomechanical integration of unholy flesh and distressed metal? Make your bleak existence a little brighter. You can thank me later.

More scenes from a hunt.

(from the scavenging album)

The bubbly tilted carousel from World's End Garden.

So I found out--on the last day of the RMK Gothic sim's Bunny hunt--that seven of the various tickets had wrong SLUrls in them. One of those was World's End Garden--the actual location to redeem tickets was on the RMK sim itself.

(from the scavenging album)

But at the time that I shot these, I still thought it was somewhere on the World's End sim itself. I wandered everywhere amidst the glowing flowers, and while I didn't discover the book, I did thoroughly fall in love with the sim.

(from the scavenging album)

There are two parts: these three pictures I'm showing are of the garden next to the beam-in point. Towards the center of the sim, there's one of Miss Wrigglesworth's Anywhere doors; find that and you get access to the seaside portion of the sim.

And somewhere up there, for at least a few more days, is a jar of stars that contains a special dress. (Plus, it then becomes a simple jar of stars that one can hold, so really, there are two gifts in one.) That, also, is worth the wander, but even if you don't find the jar, drinking in the sheer beauty of the sim may be enough on its own.

(from the scavenging album)

Intruder alert! Land of Nodd's T-Rex was not the only danger, apparently!

Thankfully, their Turret was not awake, or I'd have been in real trouble.

This is full of awesome and goodness. And zombies. It's filled with zombies. But it's well worth watching.

(At least if you like zombies.)

As part of the current Jack in the Box promotion involving bacon--the one with the most disturbing ending line ever--they've launched a "secret" menu item: the bacon milk shake. It comes in two sizes, the now-you've-eaten-enough-for-the-whole-day, 773-calorie, sixteen-ounce "medium", and the inducing-your-own-funeral, 1081-calorie, twenty-four ounce "large" size.

So, if you are still interested in risking fatal coronary disease, what does it taste like? Well, according to the Serious Eats blog...really disgusting, actually.

The trip point for the reviewer seems to lie in the Torani bacon syrup used as the flavor base. We don't know exactly what's in the bacon syrup, but we do know that it contains soy and wheat, but no natural bacon extract, and can be safely consumed by vegetarians. So whatever Torani ended up adding to this bottle to make it taste like bacon...it's not bacon.

And in Jack in the Box's latest novelty shake, that difference becomes staggeringly--and apparently unpleasantly--obvious.

And there is a sim named Psilocybin. That is all.