Ishtara

As far as the spam goes, the problem with the moderation is that it's not 24/7. As soon as the mods leave their cubicles, the spammers show up.

What really makes the avatar are Elvina Ewing's drow armor and clothing items from Caverna Obscura. They're completely sculpted, with amazingly detailed textures. Edited to add: https://marketplace.secondlife.com/p/Drow-Warrior-Armor-20-set-by-Caverna-Obscura/701898 "This is a bold attempt to create the most beautiful and gracious female armor available in SL." I think it's safe to say that she succeeded. The complete armor with cloak and chain mail looks even more amazing. Some parts of my modified set (everything is modifiable btw) are from her "Priestess of Lloth" outfit: https://marketplace.secondlife.com/p/Priestess-of-Lloth-Outfit-by-Caverna-Obscura/1603240 And her other items are definitely worth a look too. I see that she has been quite busy recently. I think I need to do some serious shopping

Wilhiam Hydraconis wrote: I see you finally found Riddick's eyes. But why are they not worn in your eyesockets ? Oops. That always happens after a teleport My attachments end up in the strangest places.

/me waves to Seicher *edited for solicitation*

I know IGEstar from various MMORPGs that I've played in the past, and I'm not really surprised that they're spamming yet another MMO. Their currency sales are a ToS violation in all MMOs out there, and buying from them can get one's account deleted. Pretty much the same goes for SL. At the very least, buyers will have their L$ withdrawn and their accounts put on administrative hold for a while.

Pamela Galli wrote: I would rather have the ratings than not, but I would not be crushed it they did away with them (but doubt they would). However, the ONLY way to keep something from being gamed is to make it not count. So my preference would be keep reviews, but not count them in the search rank algorithm. Banning this product -- well, that will work only if LL is willing to play policeman, which they have not shown any inclination to do regarding much else yet. They are not doing a very good job with monitoring keyword abuse, and that is supposed to be verboten. The same goes for monitoring campers or "models", or cash-for-profile-picks systems. I agree that reviews are a useful resource for the customer. Reviews can also a be abused, but if there is no rating, or a rating that does not affect the search ranking, there is little incentive to try and game the system. The search ranking should only be affected by sales numbers, which would be rather costly to game. Needless to say that price changes should set the number of sales to zero. And I'm still waiting for a minimum price of perhaps L$50 and the promised hosting fee for freebies.

Robert Galland wrote: [...] I know that they are already looking into the idea of making it easier for purchasers to give ratings. I have not received many ratings since the new MP went into effect, yet have received IM's from purchasers talking about how much they love the product they bought from me. If they took the time and initiative to IM me, I think they would take the time and initiative to write a review on the MP if they could find that easily. [...] That reminds me, I didn't give a single rating on the new Marketplace, and I use to buy a lot there. The old XStreet site did a pretty good job at reminding me of unrated items. Once a month, I'd take the time during a forum visit (the forum being on the same site helped too) to rate all my recent purchases. I don't even know how to rate on SLM.

Has there been any spam from the L$ exchange site that starts with an E lately? The current spam is from a different website. Perhaps LL already have a filter in place for the E-spammer and only need to add some keywords for the IGEstar spam. I remember those IGEstar goons from my Vanguard and Age of Conan days btw. They're infamous for spamming the forums and ingame mail systems of MMOs. Needless to say that their activities constitute a ToS violation in other MMOs. Most MMORPG publishers prohibit the sale of virtual currency and items for real currency.

I always look like an elf, but I have a fantasy role-play avatar too. This is my Drow look:

Resort to Information Censorship.

Cato Badger wrote: Rank Is Conspiracy? I was looking for the "Like" button when I read that. It took me a while to realize that I'm in the wrong forum.

*sighs* Everything is being gamed in SL. There are also agencies that rent out campers, systems that pay for profile picks, and so on. I guess it was only a matter of time before somebody had this idea. The rating system has always been gamed in one way or another and should be completely done away with.

It could also be that the embellishment image comes with an alpha mask, which saves you the work of creating your own mask or selection. Click the Channels tab in the Layers / Channels / Paths window. If you can't find it, go to "Windows --> Channels" in the menu. You should see the channels RGB, Red, Green and Blue. If there is a fifth entry, which is usually named "Alpha 1", you already have a mask that can be turned into a selection. To do so, go to "Selection --> Load Selection" and pick the name of your alpha channel from the list. Then press ctrl + C (or go to Edit --> Copy), select the destination image, and press ctrl + V (which is the same as Edit --> Paste).

Select your jeans image, and then pick "Image --> Image Size" from the menu. Note the dimensions, then switch to the other image, select "Image --> Image Size" again, and enter the same values. As for the white background, you probably have several layers in your image. A white background layer and a layer with the embellishment. If not, you need to create a selection around the embellishment, for example with the magic wand or the lasso tool, press ctrl + C to copy the selected area, select the target image and press ctrl + V. (There are also more precise ways to create a selection. You might want to google for a tutorial on Photoshop's quick mask mode, or the pen tool to create paths). PS: The final image should be 512 x 512 pixels large before uploading, although some designers use 1024 x 1024. The larger size is supposed to give a slightly better image quality, since the SL client does a very good job at resizing, but large textures also lead to a longer baking time (baking = composing the avatar texture from skin and clothing textures).

I was about to write that my avatar is entirely fictional, but that is not true. If you see an avatar with full lips and a round face, or thin lips and a long, square face, you can be quite certain that the operator behind the avi shares these facial features to some degree. Anything else just wouldn't look right to them. Like all people, I also find my own facial traits attractive, and will inevitably end up with an avatar face that looks a bit like myself. I use various avatars as models for vendor display photos, and when I put a pair of glasses on one of them a while ago, I was utterly astonished and creeped out by the fact that she looked exactly like my older sister.

...or you could simply list your products on the Marketplace You don't need any seed capital to create a successful SL business. There is no need to let others cash in on your talent. Just my two cents.

Oops... I didn't realize in which thread I was posting. Put it down to sleepiness and the fact that I'm all out of coffee. I can't think clearly without caffeine. (There, now it's back on... erm... off track. I think).

Keli Kyrie wrote: Oh Ishtara you are taking all the fun out of it. This is Second Life and we can make LWL mean what ever we want. Yes, of course I already took some freedoms when I nominated Scylla and Nat as members (although I'm not entirely sure where ).

Wikipedia wrote: Ladies who lunch is a phrase to describe slim, well-off, old-money, well-dressed women who meet for lunch socially, normally during the working week. Typically, the women involved are married and non-working. Normally the lunch is in a restaurant, perhaps in a department store during shopping. Sometimes there is the pretext of raising money for charity. Thanks, but I'm not sure if I'd fit in there :smileyvery-happy: This is rather something for Scylla and Nat Just kidding. It sure is a funny idea though.

I really like the rainbow function. Should have tried that one first.

Knowl Paine wrote: One rule Cold glass looks exactly like Hot glass This color thing is pretty cool. And the things you can do with html code are really cool (I didn't type all the color codes though. Here is a great website. Check the "html" box before you generate the code).

valerie Inshan wrote: Eeeeeeek!!!!! Egad!

SL is not just about sex! And it's not a game either!

Weather for Aurich, Germany: Temperature: 6.7° C / 44.2° F Hi: 7°C Lo: -5°C Rain: 0.0mm Gust: SSE 9 Wind Chill: 5°C Humidity: 30% Dew Point: -10°C Avg Wind: 9 SE Pressure: 1034.46mb Rain/Month: 0.00mm Sunrise: 6:05 AM Sunset: 5:19 PM Edited to add some photos of the local weather: (Yeah, I know... I could just have gone with "sunny and cold" too. But I probably have low-grade OCD or something )

Natural looking, healthy teeth are also very attractive: