jwenting

Dresden Ceriano wrote: Trifina wrote: Thanks Dres, I'll try those. I figured out it's the "Advanced Lighting Model" in Firestorm that gets switched on when you go to 'Ultra'. Yes and the thing about it is, if you turn Advanced Lighting off, your alphas will once again work for you, but anyone else that has it turned on will see the same thing you did before you turned it off... something to keep in mind. ...Dres the alphas work fine, but many of them don't account for areas near attachment borders. I've had to replace my mesh feet because they, even though they fit perfectly without advanced lighting, are about 5% too wide when I have advanced lighting turned on. but only on two out of the 3 shapes I use them on. Go figure.

if you want similar, I think Magika has something that comes reasonably close in style. As to copybotted stuff, it's rampant indeed. Was once given a box with over a hundred Redgrave skins, all full perm, not even the names changed. Months later found that same box in several freebie stores, notified Redgrave about it but 1) never got a reply and 2) weeks later those boxes were still in those stores. Seems some store owners are rather lax to go after copybotted items, even old ones (maybe in the mistaken that they make free advertising, were I a store owner I'd not want people getting the idea my stuff is outdated that way).

Madeline Blackbart wrote: Axholio wrote: Syo... from looking at your picture - are you playing the part of an elf? Or is this how you are in IRL? Madeline did you create your avatar to look like you look IRL? Do you guys dress the same as RL? Do the same activities, etc...? My apologies. If I could dress that way I would. Having a fantasy avatar doesn't mean that I'm role playing. there's no role there. It's just a avatar look I like I'm still exactly the same person I am in real life. I think your confusing having an avatar with playing a role. Would you say that people who play WoW are role playing? Would you say someone who plays a racing game is role playing? How about someone who is playing a scifi shooter? I highly doubt it there just avatars people have in a game. It's not a role per say just a object made to look pretty. nothing wrong with that. I always tell people, and to a large degree that's true, that I roleplay RL and in SL am my true self. In WoW, yes. Some people RP there. Many of them do it some of the time, some near fulltime (though more often than not that RP boils down to little more than "ugh, me go beat up enemy now"). Not as much as some MMOs, more than most, and of course more on the dedicated RP servers that enforce names and behaviour to a degree (similar to dedicated roleplay regions in SL enforcing behaviour, mode of dress, and sometimes names). Whereever there is a story, people will enact characters (invented by themselves or others) in that story and thus play a role. Difference with SL is that in large part you can create your own story as well as your own characters.

Lucretia Brandenburg wrote: For a lot of long term residents, yes, the noob look is a turn off. For others, it's an opportunity to help a new resident out with tips on shopping for hair, skin, eyes, clothes, etc. As an aside, I've noticed that REALLY old timers, from the dawn of SL tend to have the same look they had years and years ago, because to them, I believe, SL is not about looking good, it's about content creation. in part. For many people there look has become their persona, major changes to it just feel wrong. I've been in SL only for a year and a half or so, and am already starting to feel that way. Haven't changed my shape in a year, and skins not in months (had been looking for "me" there for a long time, now found it, change only between different shades depending on whether I want a tanned, deep tanned, or pale look for the occasion. Content creation is important to me too, but nothing wrong with looking good doing it and oh, I've met very few for whom the new avatar look is an instant turnoff, unless that new avatar starts sending ims around the moment they tp in that come down to little more than "I want to have sex with you" (yes, I'm a greeter in an adult sim that's on the destination guide, so we get them right off the starter island. They do that without reading the sign about not solliciting sexual favours and profiles reading that no, we're not having sex with you). But that's the behaviour putting us off, not the looks. All of us are more than happy to help people start out their SL looking decent, up to and including sometimes taking you by the hand for your first shopping trip.

welcome Tell people what you're interested in and good chance there's someone who can point you in the right direction. And as said, search can be your friend.

Trinity Yazimoto wrote: what about being allowed to use prepaid card ? given the impossibility to trace those, they're the main reason the TPEs had to stop operating in the first place...

Luca, LL has every incentive for a return to having TPEs, they bring in quite a bit of income for them. The cutoff was forced on them, and I'd not be at all surprised if they will try to work with them (at least with the bigger ones that have the option to get the legal documentation done, which will cost some especially for foreign companies) to get them back on the grid.

Drake1 Nightfire wrote: jwenting wrote: Drake1 Nightfire wrote: Entropia is owned by MindArk which is based in Sweden and not subject to US laws... maybe not, but any money entering LLs infrastructure through them would bring liability on LL. They'd need a license to operate a financial service in the USA in order to restart operations. How would money go from Entropia to SecondLife? They are NOT interconnected. You can not buy L$ in Entropia or Entropia$ in SecondLife. was responding to the idea that a non-US company would still be allowed to trade in virtual currency for a US based virtual world in general, not a specific case.

Aethelwine wrote: Amethyst Jetaime wrote: One more time people. LL had to do what they did or face serious consequences. Don't believe that? Here is an article with links that gives more information on this from a RL virtual currency legal analyst that backs that up. If you follow the links to his blog he gives further links to the actual laws and regulations that you can read for yourself You will probably see any game or virtual world where people can exchange RL money for virtual currency or vice versa make similar moves if they do any business involving the currency going into the the US or out of the US. The regulations went into effect in March and business have 6 months before the treasury department starts prosecutions of those not in compliance so they would be well advised to have their legal ducks in a row well before then. LL probably is just he first company we've heard of to do this but others will have to follow suit. That still leaves the issue of why now and why do it like this? the guidance and articles you have referenced make clear there will be no consequences for not following the regulations until August. Closing the exghanges now is not forced by the US Treasury. It is a decision the lindens have taken to do this now and a decision they have taken either negligently unaware of or uncaring for all their customers who now have no means to buy linden dollars or convert them back in to their local currency. The exchanges could not legally continue to operate unless LL were to accept legal responsibility for any monetary fraud perpetrated through those exchanges. LL of course doesn't want that, so they had to shut them down. Or rather publicly state in the TOS that the exchanges are not authorised (and thus that LL takes no responsibility for them) to operate on the grid. If they want to act offline from the grid, LL couldn't care less no doubt as that'd be outside of the scope of LL.

Amethyst Jetaime wrote: Actually the regs are legally binding right now. When congress passes a law it is then up to the executive branch , in this case US Treasury which FinCen is a part, to write the regulations regarding enforcement. It can be challenged in court on the grounds it is unconstitutional or that the regulations do not reflect the law. The US government has a constitutional right to regulate currency and interstate and international trade. There is nothing in these regulations that appears to contradict the actual law either. These regulations were written months ago and the public was allowed to see and comment on them prior to them being officially published. Generally during the comment period anything that might conflict with the law or constitution is pointed out by the battery of lawyers, constitutional scholars and citizens that review them. As Perrie said it would be a long legal battle at this point and in this case and I am pretty sure you'd lose. or as in the case of the destruction of earth as mentioned in the Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, the planning documents were on public display in a locked filing cabinet in a flooded basement without access stairs in a locked room with a sign "beware of the aligator" on the door Such things happen. Especially with the veritable deluge of laws and regulations spewing out of government agencies all the time a lot of them get overlooked by the general public and interested parties alike, often even by those needing to sign off on them, until it's too late to stop them being enacted. All of which doesn't make them any less of a real problem once enacted of course, nor make their legal standing any less real. EU have a similar, though less serious, issue going on right now. A new 5 Euro bill was introduced early this month, without anyone seemingly knowing in advance except those working for the central bank and printers. Result is that most stores refuse accepting them, not recognising them as legal currency (pictures were only published on the day they were put into circulation, or later), and automated systems set up to detect fake currency similarly discard them as fakes (and bad ones).

Drake1 Nightfire wrote: Entropia is owned by MindArk which is based in Sweden and not subject to US laws... maybe not, but any money entering LLs infrastructure through them would bring liability on LL. They'd need a license to operate a financial service in the USA in order to restart operations.

Another are not yet mentioned is the Fruit Island estates and the linked Eden estates (the latter naturist in nature). Some pretty nice marinas and a lot of open water (not sure how much, I think >100 connected regions).

Penny Patton wrote: LL's position on the topic has always been that sex toys in a G rated sim are fine so long as they're kept out of sight and not advertised. What's in your private skybox is not what LL's adult policies are looking to regulate. If it's out in the open in a public space, like an adult club or such, then by all means report it if you must. If you're poking around in someone's private residence and stumbled upon them, well nobody likes the self-appointed morality police. technically, that's the written rule for M rated land, not G rated land. In reality, LL have better things to do than go around banning residents for having a bit of naughty furniture in their private homes on G rated land, especially as doing so would cost them a lot more income than they gain from the person reporting the issue (who more often than not is some lowlife without even payment info, a leecher who never pays a dime to use the services of LL yet sees fit to play all high and mighty moral police over those that do, then complains when LL has to resort to things like advertising on the forums to make ends meet. People like that are the reason my M rated homestead is set to group access only and hidden from search. OOOH, we've a few sexbeds and cuddlerugs, someone like OP would no doubt object to that (no need to go look for them, we've both upgraded to A and increased security even more by adding orbs over some of the land in addition to the group access settings).

Alicia Sautereau wrote: There is no way, there is no api, all exchanges are on their own from this point on So not lsl yup, thanks to the DoJ making LL legally liable for all transactions through their system even if performed by 3rd parties...

and you may also want to restrict access to the parcel, or at least to the building containing the items (please don't block waterways, too many banlines on water already).

well said. I try to keep the land I rent prepaid for at least 2-3 weeks at all times for precisely that reason (and right now it's prepaid for over a month). Get to know the people involved if possible, talk to existing renters and get their experiences. And READ and UNDERSTAND the durn covenant, ask the agent questions about it if you're not sure. Like, if it says "no clubs" does that mean you can't have a danceball up in your living room for yourself and a few friends (yes, I've seen that, most agents would not think twice about such use however). If it's themed land, you may have to get permission from the agent to place your buildings and other stuff on the land. Again, read and ask, put them up on a skyplatform first (also to check fit) and make sure that's high enough to comply with the covenant as well. If there are restrictions on terraforming, comply please. I'm currently in a dilemma as a neighbour has put up a 70m tall hill in violation of the covenant and not been online in over a month after she did so (with a bit of luck her rent will run out and her land be reclaimed in the next few days, sometimes having a very nice and accommodating landlord can make them not take action against violations).

the others are not a nice juicy target for DoJ hawks sniffing money. And there's the political angle, which party did LL sponsor most in the last elections? If the GoP, they're now on the Holder hitlist, just as are Gibson guitars (among others).

RL, can't stand them. In SL, I see them more as body paint. Can be nice at times, depending on the outfit (or lack of one) that you match them to.

Solaria Goldshark wrote: 11.1 You may terminate your Accounts at any time. .....good grief! This time they have gone to far! Now I'm really mad!......when did they slip this little gem in there? The nerve!!! about 10 years ago

Lucretia Brandenburg wrote: Why would I want to hurt LL? Whether they are complying with new US Federal regulations, trying to protect themselves from fraud, or trying to bring in more of a profit (or any combination thereof), LL is a business, SL is how they make their money. Why shouldn't they change TOS to benefit them? I hope they upgrade the Lindex so that there are more ways to pay for the small number who absolutely cannot use this service. For those who would rather not, or choose not to use it, if SL is important to them, they can live more cheaply in SL, create their own content, join groups and hunts that offer high quality freebies, seek employment in SL, troll the clubs looking for contests to earn Lindens ... but if using Lindex is an option and they don't want to use it, why blame LL? Why would anyone want to boycott using currency? Oh yes, I want to lose the land I rent, I want to not be able to purchase things for myself or friends, or to tip DJs and hosts at events, I want to not have any money to put in a RFL or ACT donation kiosk to support charity efforts that are important to me. Oh yes, and I want to work for free and not have my SL employer pay me. The notion is absurd. LL has a history of taking a "no skin off our noses if you don't like the rules and choose to leave" attitude. I don't see this being much different. And it also seems that the furor is indeed focused in the forums. Of several dozen Europeans I've spoken to inworld regarding this none of them have any problems using Lindex, and most were unaware of TPE. sadly there's a group of people here on the forums who'd love to see SL shut down, if you have to go by their posting habits. I'd not be surprised if at least some of them are employed by competitors to LL... Those people of course want to stop residents buying L$ as that would mean reduced income to LL, both directly and indirectly as those L$ go to store owners and land owners who pay LL real money in tier payments and upload fees. As a European myself, I've never had trouble using Lindex. Excellent rate, charged directly to my CC which in turn gets the interbank Dollar/Euro rate which is a lot better than doing a USD transfer from my bank to some 3rd party exchange. I've known about TPEs for a long time, especially the constant problem people were having with most of them getting them to actually transfer the L$ after payment for them, sometimes having to wait days or weeks (and in more than a few cases never getting the L$ at all, when using Lindex I always get my L$ in minutes at most).

Muletta wrote: Thank you for link, I don't understand all it says, so am I wrong about the changes have been made because of new rules from the Goverment of USA, or have I understood it right? yes, LL would have been legally responsible for any and all money laundering and other transactions with money gained from criminal enterprises through their systems. IOW if someone used a one time debit card bought using cash gained from a robbery to buy L$ from say Virwox, LL staff could have been arrested and put on criminal trial for that.

Six Igaly wrote: I do business with LL for over 6 years now, I pay them some money each month, they provide me this great platform. This means, I do business with THEM! Not with any 3rd party party. Maybe it is time for all those people that do no other then complain and scream about LL to move on. (B)EAT IT! well said. Wouldn't surprise me if all those complainers (or at least the majority) never spend a dime in SL, just leech on camping chairs, then complain that prices are too high (and now that they can't use a shady 3rd party to get that money out of SL and into their bank accounts).

WolfBaginski Bearsfoot wrote: It strikes me as odd that some exchanges claim Linden Labs set a deadline of Monday to shut down. others have shut down instantly, and others wanted clarification. Is there anyone we can trust in this business? Most except Anshex probably just want to make people blame LL for everything, when Anshex is working with LL to get things settled... Remember Anshex == Chung == a very big partner to LL. If they can't legally continue (and that's the point, LL are forced by LAW to do this) there's very little the others can do. Until they can work out ways to prevent money laundering through their systems, they won't be able to resume operations. And that's tricky. Too easy to have one account buy L$ from a bank account in the Bahamas, transfer the L$ to another account, and have that account sell the L$ to get funds on a bank account in Switzerland.

Hermione Lefevre wrote: I guess you never been on Marketplace, seen something you like and wanted to buy it...thats how money is made..from shoppers like me and others. And you can do that. Buying L$ from LL takes seconds, minutes at most if the servers are under high load. Might take longer if PayPal are in the middle, but that's through to no fault of LL. I've never had a problem with that, get used to it. the 3rd parties were shut down because of US government threats to hold LL legally liable for money laundering performed through those 3rd parties. If and when they can guarantee such doesn't take place, and want to bear the legal burden themselves, no doubt a way can be found to bring them back. If they don't want to bear that burden, instead wanting to have LL shoulder it for them, that's to me at least enough indication that they're fully aware they're partners in criminal enterprises and have no interest in acting to prevent that.

Czari Zenovka wrote: CatWoman1234567 wrote: Wow! I didn't know that could happen on here. Thanks for letting me know before I actually tried to do anything on here. I don't know why the real world has to be so tough, but you'd think we could at least create a virtual world that's O.k. I guess it's great for them. They get your money and you get nothing. Now what to do? I guess that's why some people wonder the streets alone. Not even love can save them because someone will just come along and take that too. Just wanted to post to you and other new residents to SL and not getting into the OP's specific incident: Just like there are unscupulous copybotters in SL, there are unscrupulous people (I won't even deign to call them landlords) who buy or rent land (depending on mainland vs estate) for the sole purpose of getting a renter, taking the first rent, then ejecting/banning/muting renter - rinse/repeat. It's so totally wrong but where a quick buck is to be made, there will be people in RL or SL who will attempt to work the system. However, there are way, way more ethical, honest, and VERY hard-working landlords, be it one parcel or a chain of sims, who are AMAZING in how they treat their tenants. IMO, being a SL landlord is one of the hardest jobs in SL due to the loonies they sometimes have to deal with. Yes, this can be seen in reverse - renters who try to scam landlords. Correct. I've dealt with several myself. And they (especially the smaller ones) are hurt by the bad reputation they get because of the scammers. I rent from a small one myself, that I know has been in business for at least the last 5 years solid, and that I've worked for in another of their ventures for the last year, and I've been told by several people I should move my business to "a reliable landlord" by which they usually mean anyone in the Chung enterprises. Don't get me wrong, the Chung's are indeed reliable, I co-own a homestead we rent from them and their service is great, but to assume that anyone who doesn't have at least several hundred regions for rent is by definition a bad landlord to rent from is idiotic.