Casidy Silvercloud

October 21, 2023

Mesh and animation creation tools inworld.

Neither is reasonably feasible anytime in the near future (or ever, probably), of course, for all kinds of logistical reasons. Still, it would be lovely if I could just, as someone else said, work on creation while still inworld the way we used to with prims and to some extent even sculpts (with maps already uploaded into sl, that is).

Yes you can build with mesh, once it's uploaded, edit, and create, but all that initial work is done outside of sl. It does hamper collaborative building somewhat.

Prims made it super easy (aside from texture creation), sculpts still had some out of world involvement (beyond texture creation) but still allowed for far more collaborative work than mesh does currently. I love mesh, I'm glad we have it, but it did take a lot away from this aspect, which of course not everyone was into to begin with. Sandboxes were once something spectacular though for sure, because of it!

Animations are just a whole other thing. It would be cool if we could make them all inworld too. I know we can't, and I understand it would likely be a logistical nightmare, but wouldn't it be neat if you could go to a sandbox with a bunch of other people and just start working on animations right there in front of them? Or better yet, if you don't know how to make them, go to a sandbox and watch someone else make them and teach you how, getting to be a more immersed participant in the whole process?

The same could easily be done with mesh too, if we had better built in creation tools. That's exactly how I learned to create anything in sl (first with prims, then sculpts), and taught some others how as well. It was an exciting time for me!

That might be the "forever a student even if I'm a teacher" in me, who admittedly gets very excited at the mere idea of learning new things, or even teaching them. I'm told it's a sickness (I don't believe it). I still learn new things, every single day, I just miss that more immersive aspect that was way more prominent years ago.

Yes I know, the whole of sl is "mesh" anyway, don't muddy my hopes and dreams with silly particulars!

October 21, 2023

39 minutes ago, xDancingStarx said:

The 5 stars are of course meant to mislead people, what else? Assuming otherwise is just off reality.

Obviously some people think it's meant to mislead people and some people may use it for that. But, my point is that it will not be effective and it IS NOT effective. It does not do this, regardless of how the person doing it intended for it to behave. That is a huge part of why it cannot be compared to phishing attempts because they have a certain success rate, guaranteed, always, and it can be documented as such. They also cause all sorts of irreparable damage, there is no such thing as an innocent, harmless, victimless phishing attempt. This is not that.

39 minutes ago, xDancingStarx said:

Furthermore, saying that only "dumb" people would fall for it (which isn't true as explained) doesn't make a good argument for having this practice allowed either,

I never once said people should use it as a marketing tactic, in fact, I have said multiple times it's not a good marketing tactic (ineffective and stupid as such), and won't accomplish what anyone thinks it will.

39 minutes ago, xDancingStarx said:

But people are allowed to be dumb and still get protected from scammers

Unless that product is not at all as advertised in its description and title, no one is getting scammed. No one is taking your information. No one is stealing your money. No one is doing anything to harm you (unlike phishing, yet another reason they are not alike). It's not a scam. It's a stupid marketing choice for anyone who does use it as that, not a successful one, but it's not a scam.

You're applying words and descriptions here that don't fit, and don't apply. It would apply if someone had a product name or description that was misleading, and you'd have reason to report that (which is why LL gives us that option!). The store name, however, is a horse of a different color. It's not a product name or description, it's a store name. Does everyone with the word "star" in their store name sell star-related products? Doubtful. Are they scamming people by using the word star in their name? No. Apply that to any other naming tactic people have tried and will try. A store name is not a product, it's a store name.

I'm not trying to just be a jerk, but his is a mountain out of a molehill situation. The comparison to phishing just isn't reasonable. Even though phishing is intended to fool someone, it really is something completely different (and quite serious) in function and even intent.

October 21, 2023

1 hour ago, xDancingStarx said:

The only intent is to mislead and trick people into thinking that the product has a 5 star rating. Only a few days ago I tried reporting a store for this, but a corresponding report option is missing.

If that is the intent, it's stupid, and not likely to work. In the event it does work on someone, that person is far more gullible than they should be and likely needs some handholding on the internet for a while.

I'm sorry but, who in the hell actually believes that means the product is 5 star? I have some friends who aren't the sharpest tools in the shed, a couple fries short of a happy meal even (self included at times, we freely admit our shortcomings, lmao) and there is no way I, or they, would see those stars and think "oh this MUST be a five star rated product". I would think absolutely nothing of it, because people use unicode all over sl so much that none of it has any special meaning (and certainly none related to quality of anything).

Maybe I'm using rose colored glasses here but I can't imagine anyone in sl is actually that dumb when they see the five stars, lmao. Dumb about other things, sure, aren't we all dumb about some things? But that, no, that's just preposterous.

And also, trying to report a store for using those five stars, even if it's dumb, is just as preposterous and time wasting for LL, stop that crap, report real problems with the mp!

October 20, 2023

I haven't seen anyone doing that. But if people are, I don't think it's devious, I think it's stupid, lmao. This goes double for anyone trying to use it as some sales tactic.

Unicode is so prevalent in sl, in store names, user names, display names, notecards, gestures. Although individual icons, smileys, flowers, hearts, stars, whatever mean exactly that, they won't carry the level of importance and significance to make any sort of impact on sales.

Sl, like rl, goes through weird trends, if this is another well, it could be worse, lmao. It's not a good marketing tactic if that's the goal, though.

October 20, 2023

I just ctrl highlight, right click, delete (or hit delete on keyboard) in a single window.

A good example is when I go to a store and get a bunch of their freebies. A lot of times, the packages have lms in them. I don't need five hundred of that, or even one, I can find the place myself, lmao. So I type in the name of the place (or whatever I'm deleting), in the drop down select only lms, and then bam, all the lms, within the folders are right there. I just go down the whole inventory ctrl and clicking each one as I go, then delete. If I feel I've highlighted too many or I'm a bit laggy, I hit delete before moving on to the next batch. I do the same with scripts, notecards and anything else. Sometimes I don't have a specific thing to search so I just go with notecards in the dropdown, scroll through them quickly to see if necessary. If not into the trash they go. It's how I've done things since day one.

I have never dragged anything to the trash folder, or opened two windows to delete things. Even if I'm just deleting one item, I either right click and delete, or highlight and delete on keyboard. Either way works fine and doesn't require me dragging anything (potentially grabbing anything else in the drag, my mouse being the peculiar rodent it is). Before I empty the trash folder I double check to make sure I didn't chuck anything I want to keep. It takes me almost no time at all, and I have a pretty big inventory atm, bigger than it should be for sure.

I do think there are better ways to sort inventory and make it more user friendly, but deleting things isn't something I'd consider user unfriendly, it's pretty straightforward and has been since at least when I joined. Other parts of inventory are definitely not user friendly, but I too don't have the answers for that.

October 20, 2023

There are a whole lot of places that cost even under $50l a week, and it's pretty easy to make that doing all kinds of things in sl. You don't even necessarily have to be GOOD at any of them. Even the fishing, coin hunting, gathering, farming, and other such things can earn you some money. It's not a lot, but if you can earn at least $25L a week doing it, with minimal work I might add, you can get yourself a nice little skybox dirt cheap. Keep doing it and you'll earn more and eventually you can move out of the quaint little home, into something bigger.

All of those sl jobs that say you need a "nice avatar", ignore them, because nice is pretty subjective. I've seen some of these people that work those jobs, nice is definitely subjective.

Now there are a bunch of free bodies, heads, clothes, shoes and ways to glam up, glitz out, buff or whatever else you need to do to make an avatar look really good. Even system avs look way better today than they did in 2009, without having to spend a single real life cent (or your equivalent). Still, most places you can get a starter job, the main requirement they have is your av's age. That makes sense though, as in those first 30-ish days, you may decide sl isn't for you, then you'll leave them in a jam if you leave. Spend your first 30, 60, even 90 days figuring sl out, making your avatar, exploring, deciding if you want to stay here more permanently or not.

A "physical house" is the least of anyone's problems when they first come into sl.

October 20, 2023

4 hours ago, Rat Luv said:

Peeve 👎

SAME! This has actually been happening for about a week, and then today, they ramped it up with the "video will be blocked in 3 views" bs with no way around not turning that blocker off (so the refresh, etc. won't work anymore on it)

They finally defeated one of my blockers, jerks. But, I have others they haven't defeated yet!

I will block any dang ole ad I want to block youtube. Good luck trying to stop me!!

October 20, 2023

2 hours ago, Leora Greenwood said:

Dear Casidy, teachers like you are a blessing to every child you encounter and never doubt that they will remember you and pass those blessings on to their own children. I am also totally in awe of you that you had the guts and determination to fix your own furnace; I cannot even imagine it! You totally rock!!

I appreciate that, really! I truly love my job, every last second of it, especially the chaos (which we have in abundance, lmao). I am so glad that I chose to completely start over in a totally different field too, even if I'd make far more in another industry. It hasn't been easy, and it definitely won't be easy, but it's so very rewarding. Plus most of my students stay in the same school for at least a few years after I have them, so I get to see them progress and grow each year, which is just awesome. I look forward to spending many, many more years doing exactly this and loving every moment.

The furnace, well, I appreciate that too, but it's mostly out of necessity and not really desire to do it myself, lmao. If I don't fix things, they probably won't get fixed, or certainly will have to wait much longer than they should to be fixed. That's what I get for trying to be an adult, though. One day, I might just be one! The jury's still out on that though.

October 19, 2023

Re-watching the show Lost here, lmao.

I figure anything I watch today should match the day's chaos, and Lost fits that bill pretty well. At least until dinner is finished.

October 19, 2023

Another pumpkin patch trip success today!

We had a rough start to this adventure. I nearly had to cancel the trip altogether because of some unforeseen circumstances, but managed to figure it all out in the end. The morning started off rough, I wasn't sure how the day would go, to be honest. It was cold, it was muddy, children were very unhappy grumpy guses for all sorts of reasons. It was chaotic, but we did it! Even the hardest of little grumpy hearts is magically softened the moment you step into the patch. Then chaos ensues and you have 22+ children all trying to run in a different direction, a couple of chaperone moms who were definitely not prepared for the madness, and a whistle to bring them all back to reality. Yes, a whistle (it rarely works, I'm surprised it did, lmao).

Also, I took a leap of faith and ordered the motor for my furnace. Now I will sit with crossed fingers that it's actually what I need and will work. The part number has changed since the fabrication of my furnace, which only further complicated everything ten-fold. The information about my specific furnace isn't even all that readily available, or complete, for that matter, because again, manufacturers change things unnecessarily. I even got the motor out myself. It required heavy use of expletives, some banged up fingers and a couple cracked tiles and a dinged wall (my bad), but it's out.

Long story longer, hopes and dreams, it will work. I'll have spent about half of what it costs to have someone else fix it, and who knows how much more it would cost to replace the whole furnace (far more than I have, certainly).

October 18, 2023

2 hours ago, Ceka Cianci said:

Please say it's not Spectrum you are switching to. Those guys are terrible.. We switched back after 6 months with them because we couldn't stay connected for more than 5 minutes at a time.. Worst customer service and internet service ever..

UGH, don't even get me started on spectrum. WORST ISP EVER!!!!

It's the only option here, now that time warner is no more, and it's just dreadful. Because it's the only option, it gets to be dreadful whenever it wants and there is absolutely no recourse here.

"Oh, your net has been out for a day, so sorry. We'll fix that, eventually". They even stopped giving credits for persistent outages and issues. Which I didn't think was possible, apparently, 'tis so, and such acts are merely the company being nice, how kind of the, NOT.

Wind blows, a bird looks at it wrong, someone pushes a wrong button, and you can almost guarantee it'll go out, just because.

October 17, 2023

I had a weekend of no delights, so, some delights for today.

I figured out the part that's needed for my furnace, though there's a bunch of other not so fun stuff involved. I know now and that's a delight in and of itself, no matter what peeves come with it.

One of my students had a great day and it's fabulous. All they needed was a bit more room for making mistakes and figuring things out. Today I got to hand them their first 100% paper (ever!) and the sheer delight was enough to warm the whole day. Even other kids were excited for them, because sometimes the struggles are real and people around you feel them too. Honestly, that shared delight just made the whole delight even better. I really love my job, even through the crazy. Trust me, some days crazy is a blessing, even if some weeks it's the norm, lmao.

The knot on my head has gone down and not so obvious now, still smarts though.

I didn't blow myself up trying to fix the (gas) furnace! I mean, that's probably the best delight, right? The furnace isn't fixed and won't be for a while, but, I'm still standing and so is my house! Go me!

October 16, 2023

On 10/14/2023 at 9:41 PM, Ceka Cianci said:

I'm trying to remember more things that it might be also..If I can think of any I'll post them.. I hope tomorrow is a better day for you.. I would have broke down in tear just in the morning part of a day like that. you're pretty tough..

I definitely appreciate the help, really!

Sunday did not go any better than Saturday, lmao. It's definitely the blower motor and getting that fixed/replaced is just a whole separate swarm of angry bees. At least I know it's bad before winter hits, so I have some time. It'll still be a bit cheaper than a whole new furnace, although not by much, anything saved is better than nothing saved.

Oh well, that's what I get for having a house isn't it? The joys of things breaking unexpectedly is all part of the process. It hasn't killed me yet, so I must be doing something right.

My adulting still needs some work, but I'll get there, eventually.

October 14, 2023

So, only peeves. I'm having, a day. I am defeated and giving up for the evening.

It's cold and stormy, that started the day off icky. Derp tripped me, hit my head on the counter, so that was a swell morning. Went to go to the store, total flat tire. How you say, when it hasn't moved since yesterday and was fine then? Oh, some idiot cut it, apparently (this is where I yell at myself for not having one of those fancy ring cameras, isn't it?). Got the spare on, called a friend who works at a shop who was able to get me down to get a new tire. Okay, so things are getting a little better right? Rough morning, but I can do this, even though I've already spent more than I have to spare. Got to the store, did my shopping, came out and some wingnut hit my car, not super hard, just a couple dings but, come on man, I park at the back of the lot!! So angry me goes home, I'm a crab, it's time for some food and a nap, or movie, or something, I dunno, something. Went to turn on the heat, because it's cold. Furnace turns on, gets itself all warmed up, then turns off. Wtf. It's not an old furnace. So I do everything I can. I am not really as inclined in this area as I'd like to be. I get by and I can do basic household and appliance maintenance, but I am not a repair person and it's only by sheer luck I haven't yet blown my house, which is old, up. Still, I tried, all day, everything I could possibly try. The damn motor for the blower is just shot I think. I don't know why, this is my only reasonable conclusion at this point, as nothing else explains it. I have tried everything. Now I can either call someone to fix it, or order the part myself, but the problem with that is that it has to be to very specific specs, or some *****, and I have no damn idea what I am doing in that department. Either choice is going to cost more than I have to spare. Also either choice is going to require I get someone more knowledgeable than myself over here to make sure anything done is done right, and that's a whole separate issue for me.

I am doing my best adulting and my best SUCKS today. I'm angry, I'm tired, my hands hurt (don't even ask!) it's friggen cold, I have a headache and I am just DONE.

Also, no delights, so, that's just pissy now isn't it? I don't want any silver linings. I want to win the damn lottery.

Today is not my day, tomorrow doesn't look promising either.

October 13, 2023

11 hours ago, LittleMe Jewell said:

The racoons where I live are big and mean. One got in a fight with one of my Huskies years back. The Husky won (though he did get a few cuts here & there), but that sucker was almost the same size as the Husky and those claws were like razor blades.

Aww poor pupper! The ones here can be pretty big too, but they are rarely ever aggressive in the least. They'll stand around and look at you pretty stupid, might even come up looking for food, but that's about it. Derp has never been bothered by, or chosen to bother, one of them. We have a lot of animals around here though, and most seem to behave pretty civilized, for animals. Even the bears that randomly come through aren't aggressive, unless someone or some thing forces them to be. It's a little bit weird at times, and also a bit dangerous for them to be so accustomed to humans.

October 13, 2023

Today's delight, no school, lmao. Normally I would be bothered, but it's Friday (the 13th no less!) and I have things I need to get done today. I have one event to attend later, but that's it. Yay!

October 13, 2023

On 10/11/2023 at 8:03 PM, Leora Greenwood said:

TIL: that "trash panda" is slang for raccoon. I had never heard that before so thank you!

Oh, lmao, yes we've always called them that. They get a little unruly from time to time, and odd, but they're mostly harmless. I leave them to their trash panda ways and they, usually, leave me to my human ways.

October 13, 2023

I say it all the time! Mostly it's just to myself, but that still counts.

I have said it in sl and rl I don't know how many times. Derp hears it probably at least twice a day, but that's because, dog.

October 13, 2023

4 minutes ago, Randall Ahren said:

You're so cruel. Does the driver ed teacher force the students to practice driving stick?

They don't, but they should!

October 12, 2023

7 hours ago, Love Zhaoying said:

I assume they'd have a tablet. You know, for reading and stuff.

Lmao

We use chromebooks in class for some things, mainly because we have to and its just that day and age. I'm far from opposed to technology use, even for children. I lean heavily on the promotion of responsible use, though. Kids this age don't exactly understand responsibility fully, let alone how to regulate it on their own.

They try to convince me to let them use the chromebooks for other things, lmao. None of my classes, or students, has ever come up with a compelling reason. They couldn't anyway as they're set up to only allow certain apps to run. We use them very minimally, mainly just for the experience of using them. When they get into upper grades a large amount of the work is done on them, both in class and at home. I don't give them their homework on them, which is why they don't get to leave the classroom.

I am very much a hands on, paper, pencil, textbooks and workbooks sort of teacher. It gets some snark from other teachers, but that's ok. My kids can still do their work when the internet is down, a device breaks, or the power is out (if they needed to anyway).

I don't care how well students can type, my kids are still practicing cursive writing!

October 11, 2023

11 minutes ago, Ceka Cianci said:

Our three boys don't have one yet and probably won't have one until they are legally old enough to go and get one themselves..

It's been working great so far..

I understand why a lot of kids have them, although these kids really are too young to be bringing them to school (and some definitely should not have them at all). I do get it being a necessity on some levels, for certain occasions. Math class isn't the time nor place for tik tok, though. Some high school aged siblings also managed to convince some of them that they don't have to know (or know how to figure out) the answer to anything, they can just look it up.

It's the whole dependency on it that bugs me the most. They see their parents attached 24/7, at home they probably spend a lot of time in front of a screen too. Not to mention social media teaches them that kids, people really, around the world have their phones with them all the time, even in school.

If I had kids of my own, they would NOT have a phone at this age. The internet is vast, and not entirely safe, especially for children. My classroom is a safe place where they can ask for help, not know the answers and spend time being the children they are while developing good educational habits! A phone is such a big responsibility for such little kids.

October 11, 2023

Ok, one delight for every peeve. I only shared one peeve, but today I'm very peeved, so I need extra delights.

Derp found four golf balls on our walk today. I cleaned them when we got home, because, of course I keep them, duh! Now I'm listening to golf balls roll around the kitchen floor, hitting appliances, everything in sight, and listening to a derpy dog get all extra derpy. Happy derpy dog snorts are quite entertaining.

Derp hasn't quite figured out how to throw a golf ball properly yet. I suspect I may have to turn them into a "not in the kitchen toy", should that happen.

It's the little things, right?

My next delight, early this morning I saved a trash panda that got himself stuck in a live trap in my garage. Before you see live trap and get mad, hear me out. The live trap wasn't set, lmao. It was actually on its side just sitting in the garage until the next time I need to use it (mostly used to TNR feral cats). So the trash panda somehow got in the garage AND fell into it, then couldn't get back out.

He's fine btw, and not the least bit angry, just kind of stared at me the whole time, lmao. He got some food and went on his merry little trash panda way. Maybe he's derp in trash panda form.

October 11, 2023

On 10/10/2023 at 11:54 AM, Love Zhaoying said:

Pet delight: The growth the dermatologist removed from my head was found to be benign.

YAY! So glad to hear that! Waiting is never fun.

October 11, 2023

This is the first year I have to institute a phone pocket policy, I'm a little bummed by it. It's really not going well. I'd be a little less bummed if they were older kids and not all 8 and under, though still not happy. I've had to take too many away and set up too many parent meetings. It's just not cool. We're barely into October, we have a whole school year to get through still!

These are the parents who walk into the school for a meeting while looking at their phone, playing on it while they wait the whole five minutes for me, not turning it off or looking away from it for the meeting, then screaming at you because you won't let their darling play on the phone like they do at home. "But they get good grades" "It's the only thing that keeps their attention". No parent dearest, it's the only thing that keeps your attention. Loads of things can keep your child's attention if you put in the teeniest bit of effort and put your own screen down first.

My students are all awesome, really, they're doing their best and I love that (even when things go awry). Their parents on the other hand, need some serious work!

Monkey see, monkey do, your little monkey will copy you! I put that on a letter I sent home Monday, parental behavior is off the charts this year, so sad, but another peeve.

October 11, 2023

14 hours ago, Tara Innis said:

If you message me and you are not on my friends list, you get a single line that Invites you to enjoy my sim and has a link. I feel that the person contacting me as a non-friend is initiating the conversation.

If all non-friends get from you, regardless of why they contacted you, is essentially an ad for your sim, I could see why it's spam to some people. If you're a creator, merchant, landlord (anything that might require contact) like that and your customers cannot contact you without getting the ad, it's going to be seen as spam and likely some will find it annoying or obnoxious. They might even decide whatever business they had with you is pointless now. If people are just contacting you out of the blue, or just casual conversation and they get your ad, it probably won't be seen as spam, even if they find it annoying or obnoxious.

I don't think I'd be bothered at all really, unless there was a serious issue I was trying to contact you about. Then I might be peeved that your response is basically a "please hold" message, and I find those annoying, lmao. Then again, I don't randomly message people just for chit chat.

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