Madelaine McMasters

Emma Krokus wrote: 75 fps? Wow - I'd be in heaven... (and a better internet connection....) And it's interesting to read of yours and Madeline's experiences of running other os's on a mac without too much hassle... Oooh that's thrown a spanner in the works! Hmmmm... Emma But if you've no need or desire to run Mac OS, you can do the same on a Windows PC, which can run the same virtualization software. People run Linux in a window on Windows all the time.

WADE1 Jya wrote: Perhaps for some of us it depends what you started from with computers. What was the first computer you spent a lot of time on? Mine was a mac, and I've stayed with mac ever since. PC never felt engaging to me. So naturally the first computer I spent loads of time on was mac. I actually can't use PC I realise lately... because I just don't know how anymore! Everything feels in the wrong place for me and it just looks foriegn & intimidating. At a friends house if they have PC I always have to ask them how to do simplest thing on it like how to change what music is playing :catvery-happy: One thing I don't get is why is UI of PC always so ugly and require 5 steps where mac does it in one? If it looked prettier & didn't seem to be making thing more complicated on purpose to appear very serious business, I would probably have a PC also as it would be useful to me as a software developer ....from time to time. The first computer I spent a lot of time on was Dad's PDP-11. I couldn't move it, so had to wait for him to leave his office to use it. He finally got me a terminal, so I could chat with him from my room, not his. When he brought home his first Macintosh, I was able to move it, and did. He never got it back. If people grew up with Windows, I don't recommend they switch unless there's a compelling reason. My Mother has a Mac, iPod, iPhone and iPad. I've got all of those things too. I got my elderly neighbor an iPad so she could video conference with her sister in California. The neighbor kid got an iPhone so I could easily find him when he needs a ride. All of our households run Apple Wi-Fi. I am Ms. Tech support for everyone. It would be just too difficult to manage a disparate array of devices and operating systems, so I stick with Apple. I imagine the same thing happens to Windows owners, if to a lesser degree.

Feldspar Millgrove wrote: If you're trying to decide on a Mac v PC, please be informed that "less software choices" is not a true statement. The Mac can run both the Apple operating system ("OS X") and Microsoft Windows at the same time, using virtual machines. You can run all the Mac software, as well as any Windows software, at the same time. You can also run Linux programs at the same time. I routinely run all the Mac applications at the same time as Windows programs (such as Visual Studio, Visio, Office, and various programs you've never heard of) and all of Linux (again, programs you never heard of)...all at the same time. You get a Windows START menu in the Mac's normal dock (launch bar). Click click click it just all works. You can't do that on a PC. For years, I ran my engineering software on Dell and HP computers and everything else on my Macs. I tried VirtualPC to run Windows on my PowerPC Macs, but that was just dreadfully slow. When Apple finally switched to Intel processors, virtualization became practical and I moved entirely to Apple hardware. It is very nice to be able to double click an engineering document and have it launch Windows and the appropriate app, then double click a marketing document and have it launch Pages on Mac OS. I can then cut and paste things between my Mac and Windows programs, and have all my backup duties performed by the Mac. There is no need for anti-virus software on the Windows virtual machines, as they are not allowed on the internet. I surf only from Mac OS, which also hasn't needed anti-virus software. It's also been a blessing to be able to archive an entire Windows working environment in a virtual machine image. My clients generally run Windows, and so it's nice to be able to hand them a self contained copy of my entire working world on a thumb drive. My NDA obligations make it desireable to sequester client working environments and virtualization makes that very easy. Keeping separate working enviroments also reduces my need to remember where everything is. Client A's virtual machine contains all of client A's work, and only client A's work. The only thing you can't do on the PC is run Mac OS. Every other advantage of virtualization applies. I do recommend virtualization for consulting engineers like myself, who have similar needs, or for engineers who must archive a certified development environment for regulatory reasons. It's a lot easier to put a virtual machine image on a thumb drive, drop it in my purse and take it to the bank safe deposit box than to do the same with an entire PC. I've also not yet found a way to e-mail a PC to someone.

Feldspar Millgrove wrote: High end Macbook Pro works great for SL. (Better than any of the PCs I have, and better than running the Windows version of SL on the Mac hardware.) Ancient 2009 Mac Mini runs SL more or less OK, but it seems to get hot. I get 75 FPS on three simultaneous instances of Firestorm on the Macbook Pro. If I run a lot of them (say, nine instances) then the fans come on and the FPS goes down but it's still usable. I get 30-50fps on my 2012 iMac (3.4G i7, nVIDIA GTX 680MX, ultra settings), but I'm running a 2560x1440 pixel display. I would not recommend the MacBook Airs or 13" MacBook Pros (Retina or non-Retina), as they do not have dedicated GPUs. The The 15" MacBook Pros contains an nVIDIA GPU and quad core i7. The Retina version must push four time as many pixels and so may not perform as well as the non-Retina version. SL doesn't support Retina (afaik), so there may be no advantage at this time to running SL on a Retina model. That said, the Retina displays are gorgeous when apps can take advantage of all those pixels. All MacBook Pros are expected to be updated to Haswell processors in the next few months, which should dramatically increase battery life. If one is not in a hurry to get a Mac laptop, wait for this upgrade. The next version of Mac OS (Mavericks), expected this autumn, will support OpenGL 4.1. The current version (Mountain Lion) supports OpenGL 3.2. I recall reading that the Mac version of the SL viewer runs OpenGL2.1, and so doesn't take advantage of all the new bells and whistles in 3.x and 4.x. If the Windows viewer runs a newer version of OpenGL, that could explain the claims of better SL performance on Windows machines. This should translate into better performance on a Mac running Windows under Boot Camp, but that seems to disagree with your personal experience, Feldspar. I've never run SL under Windows on my Macs.

Dillon Levenque wrote: Rhys Goode wrote: I like the explanation in the wiki http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Linden_Lab_Official:Residents'_privacy_rights, especially the part about printing out the conversations and posting them on utility poles. "Disclosing private Second Life conversations Sharing or posting a conversation inworld or in the Second Life forums without consent of all involved Residents is a violation of the Terms of Service. NOTE: This does not include posting of chat to social media sites or other websites. Posting such logs on web pages, emailing them, or printing them out and posting them on utility poles in the "real world" -- are all actions beyond the scope of the Second Life Terms of Service. ; while that might be illegal, but those laws must be enforced by the proper law enforcement agencies." LOL. I had to go read the wiki page just to make sure you weren't kidding: I'd never even noticed that comment although I've probably seen that paragraph quoted twenty times. I kinda like the idea. You could add IM logs to Yard Sale posters and things like that :-). ... glares at Dillon.

Drake1 Nightfire wrote: claudiasoftcloud wrote: I just try to be neutral your statement indicates that furries are annoying burdens to the general population of SL. Drake, did you mean that you interpretated her statement to indicate that furries are annoying burdens to the general population of SL? My interpretation is different.

LepreKhaun wrote: * The viewer also has its own "frame rate", which is dependent on many factors outside of SL, including the internet connection at the time, video card and processing power of the client's computer, and (possibly) the sun position in Delhi at the moment. I have been carefully watching my SL frame rate and I think I can narrow the "India effect" you've described, LepreKhaun. While the Sun position in Delhi probably does have some influence, it changes both slowly and predictably. I've noticed that that my frame rate drops precipitously every time a miracle is performed in the name of the great Guru Raghavendra Theertha. This correlation isn't sufficient to allow me to theorize that it's actually my iMac providing the motive power for the miracles, but I'm sure someone else will draw that conclusion. I've also noticed that my RL neighbor walks over to visit every time I try to slip into SL. It's a mysterious world we live in, LepreKhaun... be careful. ETA: If you listen to Guru Raghavendra's mantra long enough, low frame rate will be the least of your aggravations.

Hippie Bowman wrote: Morning Maddy! Is it flooding where you are? Hugs! I've got puddles all over the yard and in the woods. Nothing terrible, but the mosquitoes have been banging against my windows, pleading for life preservers. I have to mow my lawn every three days or the neighbor dog gets lost in it.

Good morning, Hippie! While Val had to go all the way to the South of France for an ocean-view vacation, I simply had to wait for all the rain to bring that view to my own back yard...

I'm also a lifelong Mac owner, and use Windows professionally, as most of my engineering software tools run under it. I don't evangelize for the Mac, it's simply the environment I prefer. Pam is right about the viewer not being optimized for the Mac, and that some helpful SL tools require Windows. If you own a copy of Windows, you can install it directly on the Mac, using "Boot Camp" or you can run it under a virtualization tool such as VMWare Fusion or Parallels. Running Windows virtually, as I do, will not give you the best performance, but is very convenient. For best speed, you'd boot into Windows and run it natively. Mac OS would be unavailable until a subsequent reboot into it. There is some advantage in having the the OS and drivers come from the same company that makes the hardware. I found keeping my HP and Dell computers up-to-date to be frustrating at times, particularly when the finger pointing started. I'm all Apple now, so there's only two fingers to point, theirs and mine. The most stable and hassle free Windows computers I have ever used are... my Macs. If something in my Apple world goes to hell (it does, but rarely), I know exactly who to call. The current crop of higher end Macs (both portable and desktop) use nVIDIA GPUs. The low end use integrated Intel GPUs. The soon-to-be-released Mac Pro will use a pair of ATI (AMD) GPUs. I've heard that nVIDIA plays better with SL. My previous iMac had ATI and worked fine. There's a lot more selection available in the PC world, and many desktop PCs are accessible enough to allow for some amount of future upgrading. If your budget is unlimited, your best Mac future proofing will come from buying one that has everything you think you'll need for the years you'll have it. Macs are closed (with the exception of adding memory in the 27" iMac and the upcoming Mac Pro). That said, if Thunderbolt ever takes off, all current Macs will have the ability to expand externally into expansion devices using that standard.

Czari Zenovka wrote: I realized I wasn't getting the intent of my post across. That happens to me all the time, and can take a week and 10,000 additional words to... well hell, even that doesn't seem to get my intent across.

Czari Zenovka wrote: Madelaine McMasters wrote: Czari Zenovka wrote: for me dancing is a lot about great conversation Back in my IRC days, the best conversationalist I knew (call him my dance partner) was 93 years old. I was 28 or so at the time. One might be too young for a great conversation (though I've known some four year olds that could give me a run for my money), but I don't think you can be too old. *Sighs* I'm really wishing I hadn't posted that. Explanation: I totally agree with you on age "in general." The "in general" part is due to why I put the 40+ RL in my profile. (I checked my profile notes for that time - I keep all former profiles notecarded) and it was 40+ not 45+. I have ammended that on my original post. I have been in a number of SL *and* RL relationships where the man was significantly older so that in and of itself is not an issue with me. After my divorce, the man I dated off and on for six years was 15 years younger than I. My SL partner of 3 years was almost 20 years younger. We didn't speak of age until we became more serious. I thought he was closer to my age based on the way he spoke and comported himself; he was surprised at my age, saying that he thought I was probably around mid-20's...lol. Longevity runs in our family and the women tend to look at least 10 years younger than their chronological ages. As I was a "late-bloomer," I tend to be younger thinking in many ways. I agree with the adage "You're only as old as you feel." My partner had a variation on this: "You're only as old as who you feel." :matte-motes-wink-tongue: The main reason I finally put that line into my profile years ago was that my partner and I had just split and, although really enjoying dancing in SL, I dreaded the thought of going alone and feeling like I did at Jr. High school dances. Because it was a known place to meet new people, I went to the old Sweethearts, rather than to a place that mostly couples frequent. Sweethearts was also a magnet for newbies, especially newbie young guys. I was asked to dance a lot, but many of the IMs began, "Hi, how r u?" and/or "Hi, I'm 22, how old r u?" I did accept dances from them, but generally the l33t speak continued or the question about 1 min. after beginning to dance was: "Let's go have the sexx0rs." (Phrased in various ways.) I finally put the 40+ RL in my profile hoping to cut through all that and save everyone time. It did work. Not that some men in this age group eventually wanted the "sexx0rs" but at least they asked after perhaps several separate meetings and were a bit more creative in their "proposal." Ok, hope that clears that up...lol. Golly, I hope you didn't think I was finding fault in your logic. I have "Feynman, Earhart, JS and PDQ Bach...) listed in my profile in the hopes that people who read it will understand that my favorite organ is the brain (though I can also swoon over ).I've not had a relationship since incinerating my first SL self nearly three years ago. Most of the couples dancing I've done since then has been by my invitation, using the swing dance "Over and Out, in which the lead tosses the other in the air at some point. Whether I lead is a decision I don't make lightly. If I see a wall flower at a place where I can rez the dance balls, I'm likely to lure them into the lead, then chastize them for trying to kill me. My parents were much older than typical (Dad 50, Mom 43 at my birth), and I was home schooled. I don't have a lot in common with my own generation and maybe not even the one before mine. So it's difficult for me to use age as a guide, either for others or myself. I use interests instead, but with the same goal as you... great conversaton (at least to start ;-)

Czari Zenovka wrote: for me dancing is a lot about great conversation Back in my IRC days, the best conversationalist I knew (call him my dance partner) was 93 years old. I was 28 or so at the time. One might be too young for a great conversation (though I've known some four year olds that could give me a run for my money), but I don't think you can be too old.

Melita Magic wrote: Czari Zenovka wrote: I've been wracking my brain as well to think of her name... Gabrielle. I thought you did not name her on purpose. I've also wondered what became of Scylla, and SueEllen, and - I saw Carole posted recently - another forum old timer. I don't recall Gabrielle, she must be from before my time (spring of 2010). I haven't heard from Scylla in ages, but presume she's gone and finished her graduate work and is now teaching. Suella peeked in back in April to say she's still busy fighting the Tories. Carole is back? When did that happen?! ;-)

Tex Monday wrote: Madelaine McMasters wrote: I just looked George Hamilton up in Wikipedia, to see if I can figure out how I know of him. I've never seen any of the movies he's done, but he is familiar to me. He's comfortable being silly, so I shall continue swooning. He's done a bunch of movies...most of which people haven't seen (unless they're like me...). He used to be known as the Tannest man alive, maybe that's how you know him. (ETA...Doonesbury comics used to make fun of him. He was Zonker Harris' idol..that's of course if you've ever read Doonesbury) Anyway...here the link to his IMDB page ..maybe that will help http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001313/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1 Thanks! I might have seen him in a Columbo episode. I watched reruns of that in college. Mom and Dad loved Sinatra and the Rat Pack and I know he mingled with those guys. I love Zonker. I have a soft spot for the "not fully there" characters in any story. Jim Ignatowsky of "Taxi" was another favorite of mine, as was Howard Borden of the Bob Newhart show.

6-24-5613 Thirty six hundred years after the return of Twinkies to grocer's shelves, the first package of the resurrected snack food finally reaches its "Best Used By" date.

Hippie Bowman wrote: Yikes! Very Late and busy today! Good morning everyone! Peace! I thought you'd fallen down a well. How nice to see you, Hippie!

Tex Monday wrote: Solaria Goldshark wrote: Madelaine McMasters wrote: If I had to live on beets, immortality would be an even bigger curse than for the carnal vampires. ....how about wine? Immortality might be tolerable with a nice Bordeaux......sounds vegan to me I never drink wine either. Well, almost never. I did drink half a bottle over dinner 22 years ago and woke up engaged. Exactly the same thing happened to my ex-hubby that night!

I just looked George Hamilton up in Wikipedia, to see if I can figure out how I know of him. I've never seen any of the movies he's done, but he is familiar to me. He's comfortable being silly, so I shall continue swooning.

Perrie Juran wrote: Czari Zenovka wrote: Loralinda wrote: Come on now people, you gotta remember not everyone is a writer in sl, lol. Give these folks a little leeway. There are noobies who don't know the basics in sl and need a little help. Being a noobie in SL has nothing whatsoever to do with one managing to speak/write understandable English, provided the person is a native English speaker, of course. I find it interesting that many ESL residents speak better English than some native speakers. I've been hearing about the "Dumbing down of America" for years...a quick glance through the forums confirms this. ETA: This was not directed at the OP; just a "general" comment. I sometimes feel embarrassed that I do not speak a modern second language. And sometimes I do get the impression that there are more ESLers than 'Mericans who speak a second language. However, I don't know cold hard statistics on this. When I honeymooned in Europe, almost everybody we met spoke English. The Dutch spoke it better than we did, the English worse. There was a foreign language requirement at my engineering school. I knew ein bisschen Deutsch, but C, Fortran, and Basic also qualified, so I squeaked in. I am impressed by ESLers who've not only mastered the language, but the idioms and culture as well. My Maid of Honor is Iranian and a great storyteller, both in English and Farsi (so I'm told) ;-)

Czari Zenovka wrote: Hitomi Tiponi wrote: Please note that July 9th is stated as the 'tentative' date for the 'start' of the rollout. This will be a gradual rollout to servers to make sure that there are no unanticipated problems. It will also give residents the opportunity to compare the performance of their viewers between SSA enabled and disabled regions. Based on past experience, I'm pretty much expecting "unanticipated problems." I guess that would make them ancipated problems, actually. Misanticipated?

Tim Flynn wrote: Thank you for the intial tips! I'll check that out when I can get on my PC next, likely later this afternoon! I have zero scripting experience, but I guess I may end up having to learn one way or another. I learned one way and it was tough. I suggest you try another. ;-)

Hi Tim, Texture animation seems the best (only?) way to get the look in that video, which is an object in which only part of the surface is changing in brightness. Create a series of images of your object going through the fade sequence in Photoshop or whatever tool you use, then tile the images into a single texture and use a texture animation call to make it go. Here's a YouTube tutorial that may help. In this tutorial, you'd replace the 16 256x256 tiles in the 1024x1024 texture with 16 images of your thing in various stages of dimming. Good luck!

OoJesusoO wrote: Lets say you don't give out any information about your RL what so ever when you talk to others inworld nor post any information leading to your Facebook/twitter pages and you don't give any information in your RL section of your profile neither. Basically, what happens IRL stays IRL and your identity is a mystery. So, my question is are there some ways creepers may try to access this information or mistakes others make leading to having their information out in public such as where the live? If so, what are they and how can you prevent it? Beyond picking up information you knowingly provide in your profile, feed posts, public chat, IMs. links to external stuff, etc, there are more subtle ways someone can learn more about you. These methods require significant effort on the part of the creepers so you'd have to be worth the effort. The methods I describe do not solely apply to SL. Any link posted here is a potential vector for, at a minimum, obtaining your IP address, though not your username. Unless you know a link is to a reputable site, like YouTube, you can't rule out the possibility of your IP address being logged if you visit. Here in the forums, we are often given exciting opportunities to help students with their research by participating in surveys. Those surveys might ask for SL identity, which could then be linked to your IP address. If you are the cautious sort, it's not a bad idea to examine the survey URL before participating. If it's not a link to a university or one of the larger survey engines (SurveyMonkey for example), then tread carefully. If you are going to be wary, be particularly wary of embedded links that . If you do participate in a survey, be careful about revealing personal information and think twice about replying with "I took your survey" or "I visited your blog" in any thread linking you to a URL of questionable integrity. Even if you didn't reveal your SL username in the survey, your reply in the thread puts your username on the list for matching to captured IP addresses.It's also possible to obtain IP addresses and user names of residents who use media streams. Media is streamed to your viewer from servers linked by the media URL given to your viewer by any sim you visit. A nefarious DJ or sim owner can obtain a list of IP addresses and usernames that use parcel media and, over time, spot correlations that allow linking a particular username to a specific IP address. Getting your IP address doesn't generally allow someone to find you in RL, but it can narrow their search. Many modern cameras, particularly those in cell phones, can tag photographs with EXIF metadata containing GPS coordinates. Posting a snapshot of your cat napping on top of your computer can reveal your RL identity. There are tools for removing EXIF metadata and you can disable recording of location data in the camera itself. Perrie Juran wasn't aware of this on that fateful day he posted a picture of himself in a tutu with an alley broom on his head. He thought that hiding in plain sight, boasting to be a Martian, was the best way to avoid detection. But vanity and an iPhone revealed him to be a resident of Cydonia.

Dillon Levenque wrote: I don't much like puns, mostly because I seem to have acquired friends in both RL and SL who can supply them at speeds I can't match, so if a punfest breaks out I am left with nothing to do but groan. Or cry. Here, I got a chance to craft a whole paragraph around one (albeit a rather obvious one, given the subject). I thought that for once I, Dillon, had achieved a pun extraordinaire. But no. You had to just flat out call me on it, as though I'd made a typo. I know that in time I'll get over this but it won't be easy. Can I have a tissue? ETA: Besides, it could still work. Coulda been a frozen steak. I bet a frozen New York Strip would do the job. Imagine the irony. ...hands you a tissue. Avoid the damp corner where I wiped my eye after your frozen steak irony.