Madelaine McMasters

7-29-2009 One year after joining Second Life, Wisconsin native Madelaine McMasters is berated by her widowed Mother for allowing the family estate to "go to pot". When the younger McMasters notes that the advancing greenery is "not pot Mom, it's kudzu", the elder McMasters replies "Kudzu, schmudzu! Get off your fat ass and do something about it.". The younger McMasters immediately turns her back and escapes to her Second Life island, where her partner berates her for allowing their tropical hut to be overrun by noobs in search of sex furniture. When Ms. McMasters points out that their island has no sex furniture, her partner exclaims "Get off your fat ass and do something about it".

7-27-2012 The great US drought of 2012 claims another victim, as online gaming company Zynga, creator of Farmville, watches both its user base and share price wither on the vine. 7-27-2012 Chik-fil-A announces an all you can eat buffet for Boy Scouts who prove they're "all man" by belching "God Bless America" in tune.

Tracy Redangel wrote: So we can upgrade directly from Snow Leopard to Mountain Lion? I still haven't upgraded to Lion . Also, I quickly glanced at the price, and it's only about...$20 for the upgrade? Well that's a big improvement over the days when it would cost $100 to upgrade, woot! Yep, I upgraded one iMac directly from Snow Leopard. The $20 gets you a license to upgrade five (I think) computers. I upgraded all mine from the same single purchase.

I just switched all my Macs to Mountain Lion and I'm liking it. It seems just a hair faster. I've noticed no change in V3 performance. And good grief Val, with all that lovely French cuisine around you, why would you eat at McDonalds?! ;-)

Anti-aliasing will help, but if you are looking close up at low-rez textures, there's not much you can do. Hi-rez snapshots on my Mac are about 5000x3000 pixels and a panoramic view of my home in Forgotten City can be breathtaking, with every stone and brick clearly delineated. But, if I cam in to examine a single brick, which might be a 128x128 texture, it's a fuzzy mess. Unlike RL, SL does not often reveal hidden beauty when you get out the microscope.

valerie Inshan wrote: LOL Maddy! I have to say that finding this picture on Google made me laugh for 10 good minutes, and still laughing looking at it right now! I think I won't delete this one from my photo album! Yep, I imagined your delight over finding that pic. It really is a keeper. I hope that poor kitty got lots of TLC after the ordeal.

valerie Inshan wrote: WTF??? Who gave you permission?!!! That is a violation of my intimacy! *sighs and grumbles* I hate to show my nudity in public. But nothing can stop me from loving you guys. Big hugs and meows!!! Plplplplplplplplpl!!! (she says, spitting out a few tummy hairs while laughing). We're not crazy about you showing your nudity in public either, Val. But we love you just the same.

I'll be there. Snugs has threatened to attend as well.

Hippie Bowman wrote: Madelaine McMasters wrote: valerie Inshan wrote: Good morning Hippie! Yay, it's a bright and sunny Thursday, woot, getting ready for the weekend! Hugs and love ya! This frustrates me, Val. I can't blow raspberries on a fuzzy tummy! Good morning, Kids!!! Hippie grabs his portable shaver and shaves a nice area on Val's tummy. Will that do Maddy? Peace! ... puckers up and dives in. Thank you so much, that'll do, Hippie!

7-26-2016 Penn State's football program celebrates its return to bowl game eligibility by hosting "Nittany Nipple Night". Drunken students doff their school shirts and Jell-O wrestle for season tickets. 7-26-2020 The Texas State Legislature passes the United States' first mandatory concealed carry law. All Texans over the age of fourteen are required to carry semi-automatic handguns. The Texas Rangers promptly relocate to Juarez, Mexico and rename themselves the "Hombres Asustados".

valerie Inshan wrote: Good morning Hippie! Yay, it's a bright and sunny Thursday, woot, getting ready for the weekend! Hugs and love ya! This frustrates me, Val. I can't blow raspberries on a fuzzy tummy! Good morning, Kids!!!

Lia Abbot wrote: We have a cat that licks you when it wants attention. Trouble is, I think her tongue is made of sandpaper. Oooh, I wouldn't mind that behavior in a companion. I'd just stock up on aloe lotion.

Val, that dog reminds me of a colleague's office pooch who was very demanding of attention. If you didn't give her a scritch behind the ears, she'd head butt you until you gave in, and her nose was sharp! After a day working with him on a project, I went home with bruised thighs from the dog's persistent prodding. Emmett, Val might not bite, but I've been known to nibble... so watch it!!! Happy Wednesday, Kids!!!

Charolotte Caxton wrote: Madelaine McMasters wrote: They had me right up until... "She's trading her MG for a white Chrysler Le Baron" Those are cars I take it? I don't think I'd take either of them... well maybe an old MG.

I've got perpetual rain/snow falling in front of my lighthouse and nowhere else. I enjoy feeling like Joe Btfsplk ;-)

Charolotte Caxton wrote: Cake is pretty cool They had me right up until... "She's trading her MG for a white Chrysler Le Baron"

7-24-2012 On the 115th anniversary of Amelia Earhart's birth, TIGHAR researchers, hoping to find evidence that Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan landed at Nikumaroro Island, head back to Honolulu after encountering unexpectedly difficult exploring condictions. Meanwhile, Earhart welcomes Sally Ride to the hereafter, where they both suit up and go barnstorming through the heavens. 7-24-2012 Pope Benedict XVI denies rumors that he and Joe Paterno were college fraternity brothers.

valerie Inshan wrote: And you sure are a lady Lia. Here you go, hugs you my sweet pal! Lia's a lady? She's always seemed more like a princess to me, Val. Hugs and Hi, Kids!!!

Hippie Bowman wrote: WOW am I late today! Hippie pokes the fire! Good day everyone! Hugs! Peace! Good afternoon, Sleepy! Hi, Kids!!!

7-23-2012 Hippie Bowman sleeps in and is scooped my Madelaine McMasters. 7-23-2013 Responding to increasing evidence that workplace dogs reduce stress, the US Postal Service introduces "Postal Pooches" to accompany carriers on their appointed rounds. The experiment quickly produces even stronger evidence that dogs truly don't like mailmen.

Perrie Juran wrote: Madelaine McMasters wrote: I recall reading long ago that the ten second limit is there to discourage copyright violation. I don't know if the length was negotiated with RIAA or the like to avoid scrutiny. Preview times at places like Amazon and iTunes have been negotiated up over the years (iTunes is at 90 seconds now, from the original 30 seconds), so there might be wiggle room. That's providing LL has an extra body available for such negotiations. It is possible in the aftermath of the Napster debacle that LL was concerned about getting sued. But briefly summarizing, the reason the original Napster was shut down was because based on the evidence the Court found that their primary purpose was to enable copyright infringement. (Yes, I know there is more to this and it's a broad generalization). However, Linden Lab enjoys safe harbor protection under the DCMA. The RIAA and such would have to prove that the purpose of the longer sound file was to enable infringement. But by comparison, by enabling Mesh, Linden Lab made it very easy for people to copy mesh builds from other services (i.e., steal them) and import them into Second Life. They don't appear to be too concerned about getting sued for enabling this. And based on comments I am reading in the Forums, especially the Merchant Fora, it's going on a lot. Honestly, I think the original limit had more to do with available resources (computing power, bandwidth, etc.) than copyright concerns. I do remember Torley making a comment several months ago that he couldn't understand why in today's computing environment it was still only ten seconds. Ten seconds of 44.1KHz WAV audio consumes 882Kbytes, about the size of a 1024x1024 texture. That would be an issue if longer recordings were allowed, although open source encoders were widely available at the time of SL's design (Ogg Vorbis, etc), so they could have encoded down to a tenth of that easily enough if they desired. There are countless DJs in Second Life, playing music for hire via licensed streaming services (and countless violators streaming from their personal collections). Had LL allowed uploading of audio clips long enough to allow DJ sessions directly from SL servers, and the corresponding trading of sound files , I think the RIAA would have peered over their glasses. Mesh has far more strategic value to LL than sound clips, and the gaming industry doesn't speak with the might of the music industry. So it's not suprising to me that LL can play faster and looser with mesh than audio. LL's early decisions were made during a time when they appeared to be operating proactively (and perhaps biting off more than they could chew). I believe they are now operating reactively, and neither bite nor chew. It's interesting that Torley doesn't understand why the product he sells has such limitations. I could understand that this is all a mystery to us. It should not be a mystery to LL.

I recall reading long ago that the ten second limit is there to discourage copyright violation. I don't know if the length was negotiated with RIAA or the like to avoid scrutiny. Preview times at places like Amazon and iTunes have been negotiated up over the years (iTunes is at 90 seconds now, from the original 30 seconds), so there might be wiggle room. That's providing LL has an extra body available for such negotiations.

7-21-2012 After 21 people were treated for second and third degree burns to their feet while fire-walking across hot coals at motivational speaker Tony Robbins' "Unleash the Power Within" event at the San Jose (CA) Convention Center, Mr. Robbins lawyers announced that his famous protective mantra "cool moss" would be changed to "wear shoes".

Charolotte Caxton wrote: Actually, if you hear her at all, just run. ~ \:catindifferent:/ You'd look divine in that gown, C.