Rufferta Mainlander

We ain't dead yet. I prefer the online Second Life Destination guide to the inworld Destination Guide because it offers more options; however, I've found hundreds of other places inworld that offer their own destination guides. Here are two: Expedition Central above Chilbo (arrive flying in case of prim drift). The Cultural Community Hub at Inspiration Island. You might also try googling "(insert name of your interest here) in Second Life" and seeing what comes up. Welcome back!

Chin Rey wrote: Is that the guy who describes himself in his profile as "An architectural lunatic in Secondlife who is called [name omitted}, with his pure soul on this field"? Reply: Yes. Chin Rey wrote: But to be fair, there is a very good chance the reason for the similarity is simply that both are based on the same stock photo so we have to be very careful not to judge anybody without more info. Reply: You are quite right - I did plug the jpgs into Google Image Search with no result, but that doesn't prove anything. Also, there is always the possibility that he innocently bought the 'old man' statue from someone else, since his specialty seems to be designing buildings, and refurbishing full-perm mesh furniture. Thank you, as always, for being the voice of reason. I will go back to re-arranging deck chairs and submitting JIRAs.

I've seen the items called "Mesh People" or "3D Models" or "Mesh Avatars." The person who copied at least one of them called them "Prop Avatars". They can be scripted to give a response and can serve as NPCs (non-player characters) in games, and some can be animated. I've used similar static sculptures as props for photos because they hold still very nicely, and I've seen a lot of them used to help give life to inworld shops. The ones at the Birthday Celebration were being used as part of several displays, but I don't fault the exhibitors for using them. As far as I know, the person who copied them did not have an exhibit at the Birthday Celebrtion. The original creator is listed as Dileoo Kirax or Ub Yifu. He used to run Mesh Gallery in virtual Paris but it is empty now. Some of the original models are still on the Marketplace at The Clone Factory. The person who made the copy of the "old man" is selling a set of 24 "prop avatars" for $999 inworld, and I do not know how many of them besides the "old man" are copies of other peoples' work. The only reason I am mentioning this is because the person who copied the "old man" sculpture has a large inworld store full of furniture, buildings, and other things and I feel bad that they are still here and apparently thriving while the person he stole from has left Second Life. I felt that something needed to be said. 

I was impressed by some of the "prop avatars" at SL13B, so I went to the inworld store of the person who was labelled as their creator. One of the models in the store was identical to a high-prim art piece that has been around SL for a long time, but the creator has moved most of his business to another virtual world. I contacted the original creator thinking that perhaps he had come back and changed his name, or that he had given permission for his sculpture to be copied in mesh, but he said 'no', that someone had just copied his work, and that was one of the reasons he had left Second Life. I suppose you could argue that taking a high-prim sculpture and recreating it in lower-prim mesh involves a certain amount of work, and after all, the person who copied the model did add some details to the suit and painted the tie a different color, but to me it just isn't right. Since I'm not the creator there is nothing I can do about it, except to make a note never to buy anything, ever, from the person who copied the work.

Just for information, rather than close a Premium account you can ask for the account to be changed to a regular account.

I AR'd one today - Pretty hopeless I guess, but the ad completely covered a sim so that, on the map, you couldn't see the SLRR Railroad lines. The property owner apparently only owns about 56,000 of the region 65,536 - the rest was "Protected Land" and my reasoning was that those big floating ads shouldn't be allowed to obscure the roadways, railways, and waterways that are supposedly free for all to use. If I could have AR'd for "Ugly build" I would have done that, too.

Aethelwine wrote: The last time I hit a banline at slow speed my boat bounced right up the side and across the top of it. I wish it did that everytime! Maybe a clever scripter could make a vehicle detect banlines and do that reliably? People using fast eject orbs and banlines at ground level around waterways and roads are devaluing their own property and those of their neighbours on the same route. Linden Lab should think about changing the covenant for parcels in locations like that, but until they do the owners are entitled to do so, even if they hurt themselves and their neighbours. Yes, when I look at "Land for Sale" I often find ban lines on near-by parcel borders. What I'm wondering, though, is if anyone has thought to educate our new residents about ban lines and security orbs? I remember how, when I was first here, I used to have my feelings hurt when I was bounced off a banline or met a security orb with the message "You have five seconds to leave or you will be ejected...." I think some of the new advertising Linden Labs is doing is excellent, and the New Resident Experience is pretty polished, but is there anywhere that anyone tells newbies "You will find that some residents erect banlines and set up security orbs to restrict access to their property. You can set your controls so that you can see the banlines, but if you accidentally teleport to the wrong location and get sent home, please don't take it personally. Oh, and don't accept packages from strangers."?

Parhelion Palou wrote: I suggest this: Suggestions This topic was also covered in another thread, especially the last page: https://community.secondlife.com/t5/General-Discussion-Forum/social-islands/td-p/3036612/page/4 Wow! Thank you - I didn't know that there was a Suggestions Box. BTW, I was on Social Island #7 because the map indicated that that one had the least visitors at the time. I think that true newbies will be assigned to the Social Islands randomly. Yes, this is a great improvement to older learning centers, although I found it a bit grandiose. When I was first learning I spent a lot of time at Virtual Ability Island, which had a much more homey feel.

I just visited Social Island 7 because I wanted to see what the new user experience is like. I was impressed with some of the tutorials - the maze, the boats, and the parrot, but the navigation path wasn't clear and when I got to the "Prize" area there wasn't anything I wanted to buy with the 'special' lindens I got from completing the tutorials. Worst part was, the first time I went out the portal marked "Popular Places" I ended up underwater in Isabel. I was able to fly up to a dock and walk past a large cyclinder marked "Under Construction" to some place labeled "Orient Help Group" with four boxes of "freebies" and ads for different businesses...Looking on the map I found I was apparently supposed to have landed at the Isabel Info Hub, but that really wasn't much better. I went back to the Social Island portals three more times. Once the "Popular Places" portal wasn't working, but gave me a landmark to Pfaffenthal 1867 , (Pfaffenthal Vauban (169, 25, 29) - General )- which was much more interesting, and the second time through the "Popular Places" teleport gate I ended up in Caledon Oxbridge, which is one of my favorite places so that was a good choice. I tried the "Art" portal and ended up in a rather depressing installation which I will not name. So, it seems like the portals from Social Island 7 send you to random destinations, and unless you remember to make a landmark of the teleport hub at Social Island you may or may not end up somewhere that will make you want to further your experience with Second Life. I had heard that the each telehub would give you a notecard of similar places to visit, like a list of art installations, or a list of popular places. Has anyone else tried them and gotten different results? So, who would I contact to suggest improvements to the new user experience? I can't see anywhere on the abuse report where it says "Linden Labs sent me to a dorky place with no way to get back."

Managing inventory can be a real problem. I took a class from Toady and three of the best suggestions were to: 1. Go to a sandbox and open your inventory window. Then, looking at that window, generate a second window. That makes it easier to move things from one place to another. 2. Learn how to search, make new folders, and collapse all folders. 3. Sort everything out at the end of each day (I wish!). This is only part of it - I would recommend checking Builder's Brewery and Happy Hippo to look for announcements of their next "Managing Inventory" class. Now I should go organize things....

The land is owned by one of those big real estate empires. I did IM them, but my past experience tells me my IM will be ignored. I read the book - the author does seem to think they are some kind of Robin Hood hero. So sad. I went to the publisher's headquarters - it is on land owned by the same big real estate empire whose land one of her signs is placed on. Unfortunately, she had auto return on, or I would have put up a megaprim house.

I was bicycling through Lugubris today (192,251,42) and noticed a large sign offering a free handbook for squatters. The profile of the person listed as owner states they have lived in Second Life for over nine years, and it makes me sad that someone like that would be encouraging others to freeload. Checking further, I found that the sign was erected on a small spot of land that was being offered for sale --- by somebody else!

My opinion is that you don't need to do anything.You don't know why the other person bought the land, or if they were planning on building at ground level. I think it is thoughtful of you to ask, but I wouldn't worry. One thing this points out, though, is that land buyers should always check to make sure that the 'beach front' or 'water front' property they want to buy is not behind some 'water for sale' property. I once thought I had bought some waterfront land, only to find that the entire bay was private property, with no clear path to sail. One thing that would be nice would be if the Lindens let any abandoned 'water' property become maintenance land.

I think this is all a plot to make us leave so that we will go to Sansar. First they made everything laggy, and scheduled 'unscheduled' maintenance for the most inconvenient times. When that didn't work they installed some program that periodically goes in and removes random items from your inventory. They let griefers run wild, and when you retaliate by blasting a griefer out of existance then it is you that is banned! When educational institutes moved into Second Life, lured by discounted tier, the Lindens raised their tier in mid-semester. Plus, no one warned the educators that maybe it wasn't a good idea to put their campuses right next to the "All Night Hootchie-Kootchie Palace". People who loved sailing got upset when the Lindens started selling plots in the water because there was a land rush, and then the Lindens didn't open new sailing channels. And the railroads? I've been told that the Lindens at one time were talking about taking out some software that made the railroads possible. And small businesses? First they set up the Marketplace so that businesses that have never set foot in Second Life can compete with businesses that have established "brick and pixel" showplaces inWorld, at the same time giving volume discounts to the big landowners so that landlords with less land found it hard to compete. When mesh was introduced making things became more difficult for the average person. Deferred maintenance: For example, the Magellan's Quest Quest board has been "temporarily out of service" for several weeks now, even though the Magellan Quest is still listed in the destination guide* And surely the fashionistas will leave now that only their best friends can see their glorious selves... Lindex inflation? That should take care of anyone who was making a living out in Second Life. Did I leave anything out? ------------------------------------------------ Before everyone yells at me I would like to say that the above is my attempt at humor. I intend to stay in Second Life, because, with all its flaws, it is the best virtual world I know. *The "Destination Guide" is an attempt to make sure that nobody ever meets other people.

I may not need a new computer after all! After trying all the suggestions for improving the Second Life viewer, I tried using Firestorm and things seem to be working better. It's taking a while to get used to the slight difference in controls, but I thought I would mention it in case other Mac owners might be having viewing problems.

I've teleported to Crankshaft every few days over the last week, and I keep get "Temporarily Out of Service" on the game kiosk. Wonder if maintenance is waiting until Fantasy Faire is over, or whether the Lindens are just waiting to see if anybody notices before they retire this? Yes, I enjoy Mad Pea and other games, but there was a certain silly charm to the "You're getting warner..." and other messages you'd get while you were playing the Scavenger Hunt.

Thanks! I found it at http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Okhotsk/82/155/31- there are a lot of interesting builds in that area. I will add it to my list of mole builds. Please feel free to send me a notecard with any places that are your favorite mole builds.

Kayle Matzerath wrote: There is way more than just artifacts around The Moles made the Portal Park, the Cornfield (new one) , Winter Wonderland, the Halloween Tour, PaleoQuest, Linden Realms, Learning and Social Island and pretty much all the Premium Gifts.  Quite right - I still continue to discover large and small builds created by the moles - yesterday I found "Harry's Island" where the space pigs crashed It is actually in Mohr, not Bay of Space Pigs. If you want to visit, it is at Mohrr (173, 208, 25) -There's also a mud hole.... When I posted that information under "Destinations" someone sent info on yet another site! I recently bought a 1024 near MoleMart and hope to eventually turn it into a park honoring moles (and honorary moles) and providing landmarks to their builds. If anyone has a favorite mole build please notecard me with the slurl. Oh, and I also need an heroic statue of a mole for the park - something like the above poster used as propaganda to recruit moles... I'd also like to add that the best 'mentoring' I've gotten in Second Life has been advice given to this and other alts over the years on these very forums. Thank you.

I had been reading about Second Life history and I found a reference to "Bay of Space Pigs". Supposedly it was so named because space pigs had crashed near there. Finally found the island - It is actually called Harry's Island and it is in Mohr, not Bay of Space Pigs. If you want to visit, it is at Harry's Island, Mohrr (173, 208, 25) -

I have an item on the Marketplace "How to Find Free Textures in Second Life - Version 4", and a short article at http://wartybliggensthetoad.blogspot.com which covers the same ground. If you could send me a link when you have your site completed I would appreciate it. Probably a notecard is best. Rufferta Resident

Gavin Hird wrote: A Mac that does not have integrated (Intel) graphics will perform better with SL than one with, but all of the current models will be able to run SL from the Air, minis, iMacs to the Pro models. Thank you - I'm not sure what that means, but I will print it out and show it to the tech when I have saved up enough to buy a new computer.

Polenth Yue wrote: A tourist place would be useful. I like the idea of giving more context to destinations. Maybe having a map of each continent, showing where the recommended destinations actually are. I didn't really understand that SL had a world map with continents when I was new, as getting to places was all by teleporting. Yadni used to have wonderful maps on his junkyard walls (sigh) showing the development of Second Life. I'm sorry he left Second Life; however, there is an excellent map museum at: New Kadath (36, 32, 21) and a lot of other good resources.

CheriColette wrote: That sounds useful Ruff...have you approched the land owner/get permission for your TI center? I have two small parcels near travelled routes (land and sea) where I've decided to put little parks, but I'll put in low-key Information kiosks as well and see if anyone uses them.

Thank you!

While the Welcome centers like NCI offer a lot of support and information, and the Destination Guide lists many interesting places and experiences, I couldn't find anyplace that offered what I was thinking about -- a place that could offer a general overview of the Mainland, and lists of out of the way places where noobs could visit without being bounced by a security orb. I feel that there are a lot of "tourist spots" that aren't being advertised because it would not be a good business model - much easier to keep things running if avatars are not dispersed. For example, it was quite a while before I learned about the wonderful network of pods and public- transportation. Teleporting from place to place is fine, but to me it is like visiting the sights of a large city like London or Paris by only using the Metro - you get there, but you don't have a context. I was thinking of putting up a "Tourist Information" center on a plot next to one of the pod routes, but don't want to re-invent the wheel. Any ideas?