Torley Linden

@Kadah Thanks, I've escalated that problem to our Community Platform team. If anyone else is having the same image upload issue as Kadah, please say so. @George *blush*

I was definitely able to reproduce Suspiria's bug as shown in this thread. I'm reporting this!

Gotcha, thanks for clarifying that, I'm going to try to make this happen on an alt account.

@Kadah Thanks for the screenshot, which browser is that in? Does anything happen if you try to click "Image Upload" or "Image Options"? I saw that briefly before but haven't been able to reproduce it. It worked for me on an alt account (Torley Olmstead) on Chrome on Mac OS X.

I was just watching The Water Horse this morning! I needed that to relax. You've captured some picturesque vistas. Also, feel free to embed using the video icon on the formatting toolbar — it looks like a little filmstrip:

Friendly greetings everyone! It's awesome to be back. Some bits I hope will help: @Maureen Right now we're not allowing that due to security issues, see Yoz's explanation in http://community.secondlife.com/t5/Everything-Else/When-trying-to-use-images-I-get-this/qaq-p/704209 As for the future, I don't know. @Marx Let's just say we had some fun with alt names when testing. @Yoshi YESSSS! Definitely worth highlighting and using extensively. @Holocluck Not sure of that yet, I notice the default RSS feed for this post has comments. Hm, worth researching. @Ghosty Some web browsers show a special icon or other indicator that enables subscriptions. Various newsreaders like Google Reader also have feed detection. @Lexbot You can definitely upload avatar pictures, but they're not shown in this section — look in Answers or the Forums to see early examples. For how to upload avatar pictures, or read the text instructions I linked above in Maureen's reply. @Sling Oh, we have a Community Feedback section.

Yes, what Maureen pointed to is correct. Also, see Yoz's explanation in http://community.secondlife.com/t5/Everything-Else/When-trying-to-use-images-I-get-this/qaq-p/704209 I AM ALIVE

I see your badge. http://screencast.com/t/ztuCxb5X Did you already refresh/clear cache?

Also, be sure to check out the Forum Archive.

Maybe we can share funny YouTube videos? That tends to go over well.

I was in Second Life, of course.

Yup, be sure to check out the Community Help area for more answers to questions... (Hm, this is tricky that hyperlinks are the same color as body text. I'm making notes of CSS improvements as we go along.)

Suspiria, cool to see you're already playing with backgrounds — I didn't know we had a cosmos option. Some of the text is hard to read, tho. I suspect explaining how image uploads work on this new system will be a really hot question. I've also got a video tutorial which explains this (specifically, changing your profile avatar pic) and other anticipated hot points, watch for our announcement on the blogs soon today. Speaking of, time to beautify my profile.

Thanks guys! I stand — or dance — correct, there are some parties you just don't wanna stop... even if you're all liek QGGSAGEHGSADSGDAHSDDSHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE @Homeless I have this tendency to blurt out encouraging things to my virtual self!

Hey guise I took some pics! Sum moar here

As a Second Life Resident, you have a profile that you can customize to share more about yourself. It's opt-in and can be a lot of fun to fill out. Why bother? Many fellow Residents surf profiles, and if you're open to making new friends, a completed profile makes you a much more fascinating person to get in touch with. As you may know from Q Linden's post announcing Viewer 2.5, this new version of Second Life has profiles stored on the web. The following video chock full o' tips will help you learn what's changed as Linden Lab continues to evolve how you express your virtual identity. If you want text instructions and more info, Check out the "Web profile" wiki help page Feel free to edit and update it to make it awesomer! Remember, we're moving to a new community platform so this may get ported over as-requested. Also, you know how much I love followup and to set expectations so you understand what our intentions and plans are at Linden Lab. I'm constantly asking our company gurus for goodies I can share with you. After all, I live and breathe SL; the same stuff that bothers you bothers me too. I've read some comments to the tune of, "Is that it for web profiles?" No! Since this is only the first instance of web profiles, there's usability stuff in a sort of "in-between" state that Linden Lab hopes to improve in the future. For example: Web profiles tend to load slower than old-style sidebar profiles, so there's room for performance increases. Some stuff hasn't been migrated to the web profile yet — like you can't edit a classified in the web profile yet, so the behavior of hopping back and forth is confusing. But plans are hatching for better integration. Having both a web profile and the sidebar open at the same time takes a lot of screen space, and that could be tightened up too. And the odd moments of quirkiness shown in the video. Again, I emphasize: this is just the beginning. Stay tuned for improvements, but right here, right now (like ), the above tips should help you get the most out of web profiles today.On a misc. fashion note, "Where did you get your eyeshadow, Torley?" Some of you have also asked this, as featured in my recent videos! I had been looking all over Second Life for eyeshadow in my fave pink + green colors, and this is "Fruity Fresh" by Miasnow Myriam. It can be bought on Twomoons Island: Check out the Destination Guide for more rad Second Life places and send your suggestions to our Editorial Team (which I'm on)! ... Finally — for now, the ending of one chapter and the beginning of the next — this is my last blog post on this Jive system before moving to the new community platform. I'm giving a gracious thankyou to each and all of you lovely Residents who've benefited from these Tips & Tricks, and hope you'll join me in TnT's next incarnation. (I also need to figure out how I'm going to preserve and promote the still-useful archives.) See ya on the flipside after the read-only freeze! In the meantime, stay awesome in Second Life and I look forward to meeting you in-avatar...

@Jura and Crim Correct me if my memory here is incorrect, but I thought the Flycam indicator was removed because it didn't disappear when the rest of the UI was hidden and making machinima? Not unlike how typing Alt-Ctrl-Shift-H leaves the "Hippos!" text. Well then, sounds like a better solution then would be to have the little Flycam text visible when the UI is, but hide it when the UI is hidden. Can you please file a bug @ http://jira.secondlife.com ? @Rufus Two SpaceNavigators? Oh gosh that sounds EXTREME. I actually have two of them but haven't tried that yet! And yes, please do add other yet-undocumented info you find to the wiki, it exists to receive your knowledge so others may know! Thank you.

Bustin' a move on the virtual dancefloor and losing control is all fun and games — until you try to stop and yet your avatar just keeps on doing the electric boogaloo. When you find yourself in such a socially awkward situation: Go to Me menu > Movement > Stop Animating Me FREEZE. This applies to all animations, not just dances: if you teleport and find yourself magically-yet-uncomfortably sitting in midair, that's another opportune time to use Stop Animating Me. (Although I see that less than I used to, let me know what your experiences have been.) Context: Normally, you can click a Stop button in an animation window or command an inworld object (like a dance ball) to cease. If all else fails, you have Stop Animating Me. This feature has moved various places over time, but in 2.4, Linden Lab decided it was useful enough to bring out from the confines of the Advanced menu, so here you are. Then, get back to intentionally dancing.

Whether you're in a corporate environment or have a few computers connected at home, your network likely includes firewalls, which prevent security intrusions and other kinds of unauthorized access. If you're trying to connect to Second Life behind firewalls that are too restrictive, you may be blocked unless you open ports and otherwise allow the necesary traffic through. If this has happened to you and you don't know which ports to configure, check out: Configuring your firewall to allow access to Second Life Obligatory disclaimer: don't "play" SL at work unless it's on company business (like me, hah!). Thanks to Kyle Linden who recently provided me with updated details. Speaking of, I should also emphasize: over time, firewall details change, so if you've used the guide to connect successfully, you'll surely want to bookmark it if something breaks in the future. Please let us know your feedback in the comments!

@Winter I haven't found a cheaper 3D mouse; somewhat like Wacom tablets, more affordable alternatives would be healthy to make devices more easily accessible. @Aeronya Thanks for sharing your PS2 experiences. Game on! I actually linked to Lifehacker's "macro" tag which shows ALL articles they have about macros. (See the right sidebar; they recently updated their interface; the new layout has some bugs.) Some prefer Autohotkey over PhraseExpress, so thanks for mentioning that. @Jura I didn't know that still worked! Thanks! Specifically, it applies to "3DX-700028" (aka "SpaceNavigator SE I referred to above) on https://www.3dconnexion.com/buy/shop/view/ListView.html @Medhue The stomp pedals TOTALLY SAVED ME when doing lots of rapid filming just yesterday, I was jumping between two computers (setting up alts for animations) and having a bigger target to hit when I wanted to record/stop worked so well. As for a pen, have you tried the Wacom Bamboo series, or higher up, Intuos4? @Boroondas I was ignorant about that because I don't use Linux, I've edited the original post. Thanks! @Elite Garry's Mod is wild, I laugh so hard at those YouTube videos showing all the ways you can build contraptions. It's been years since I've visited a Future Shop. Hope it works for you!

What gadgets can I use to control Second Life? At a minimum, you need a keyboard and mouse to use Second Life. But they're not the only options. While it's largely uncharted territory, some experimenting with other input devices — or even maximizing what you already have — can yield great results. In other words, taking an hour to customize your controls can save you many more hours down the road. (Even more adventurous in our history, see The Rig and Hands Free 3D.) For example, most mice (including popular Microsoft and Logitech models) already have drivers that let you map extra buttons to keyboard shortcuts. Some builders I know mapped side buttons to Link (Ctrl-L) and Unlink (Ctrl-Shift-L) so they can quickly modify sets of prims when building. For awhile, I mapped a side button to Ctrl-Shift-S for taking a snapshot — until I figured out something even better (more on that in a bit). We'll check out more gadgets later in this post. What's the next step up from keyboard shortcuts? Macros! With a macro, you can execute a whole sequence of keystrokes from a single keyboard shortcut. And in turn, you can make a single mouse click trigger that macro. There are various macro programs out there; on the Windows side I like PhraseExpress, but I recommend checking out Lifehacker for lots of info you can precisely apply to Second Life. Ever feel like the keyboard and mouse are too stiff to see what's going on? While it isn't the most publicized thing, many machinimatographers (moviemakers) and other fans of smooth motion are fond of the SpaceNavigator (learn more about usage), which has been marketed as a "mouse alternative" and makes it easier to zoom through scenes because it was built with 3D in mind. While it's been awhile since Linden Lab declared official partnering with 3Dconnexion (makers of SpaceNavigator), the setup still works the same way on Windows & Mac (not Linux) in the latest Viewer (2.4 as of this writing) and what you need to do is: Install the SpaceNavigator drivers. Plug the SN into a free USB port. Start the Second Life Viewer and login (it's easier to test when you're inworld). Go to Me menu > Preferences. In the PREFERENCES window, click the Move & View tab. Click the Other Devices button. It should recognize the SpaceNavigator by name here. The default settings work fairly well and all the fields may look scary, but here's an example setup which is good for capturing inworld sporting events. Notice it disables Pitch Scale (0.00) so you don't get flip-flopped upside down when tracking motion: An odd thing about the specific SpaceNavigator model that I have is that it's gone up in price over time. This is because the "cheaper" ones some of us got ages ago were a "PE" model: functionally the same hardware-wise but lacking the same level of tech support — something to consider if you use the SN with other apps. Typically, you can find the "SE" model for under US$100 on Amazon and other places, although if you hunt around on eBay, you may be able to score one closer to US$50, which is what the old price was. The SpaceNavigator isn't the only USB input device compatible with SL: I've heard from Residents using XBOX 360 controllers and other gamepads and joysticks. None of these have been certified to work for sure, so before you go exploring, I recommend doing research for pre-existing experiences and buying from somewhere with a good return policy. What other input options are worth considering? Not long ago, I acquired a Scythe USB Foot Switch to solve a problem: taking photos and videos when my hands are busy with the keyboard and mouse! Now, all I have to do to grab some footage is STOMP! It's a lot of fun, the Foot Switch seems to be built pretty well. Mine is the 3-pedal model and looks somewhat like a guitar stomp box. I got it for about US$44 from Newegg; cheaper 1-pedal and 2-pedal versions also exist. The setup software is really crude but you can map it to most keys on your keyboard. One drawback is that I could only find Windows-compatible software, although interestingly enough, it retains the keys in memory so you might be able to set it up on a Windows machine (or Boot Camp install), then plug it into a Mac. I'm unsure of Linux compatibility. In my specific (read: geeky) setup, I've been using the F-keys at the top of my keyboard as PhraseExpress triggers. That way, I can have the Foot Switch setup so: The left pedal is mapped to F11 - Starts/stops movie capture in FRAPS. The middle pedal is mapped to F10 - Triggers PhraseExpress macro to (1) take a snapshot to disk (good ol' Ctrl-`), (2) hide the UI and take another snapshot to disk, and (3) send a postcard. Whew! I did this because postcards are flaky and I wanted to have an easy copy of the hi-fi original. The right pedal is mapped to F12 - Takes a picture in FRAPS. Note that the F-keys themselves are pretty much arbitrary and I've configured this simply as I feel comfortable. I'm still exploring the possibilities and these are very specific needs, but specific needs are often the most timesaving for one's particular workflow. And you can always adapt these principles to your own processes. Can you remap Second Life's keys? Yes, you can. It's not the most user-friendly but it's not brain surgery, either. What you need to do is open a text file and change some lines. I previously wrote the "Keyboard mapping" help page to show you how. Have a question or a tip about using input devices with Second Life? Ask/answer away in the comments!

Hey, wouldn't it be nice if you could directly login to a friend's pad or hangout spot? Guess what? We've got that in Viewer 2.5 Beta! There are a couple preferences boxes you need to check, and I've got you covered from start to finish, so download the 2.5 Beta and watch this video to see exactly how to make this work for you: Here's da lowdown from Q Linden: Logging In to your Favorite Locations A long-standing feature request has been the ability to access some of your favorite Landmarks from the login screen, so you can quickly teleport to places inworld. In the Viewer 2.5 Beta, we've added a preference that gives you access to the Landmarks on your Favorites Bar from the Login Screen. To use this feature, go to Preferences > Privacy and select the check box labeled, "Show my Favorite Landmarks at Login." If you log off and then restart your Viewer, then you'll see a list of your Favorite Landmarks in the "Start At" drop-down box on the login screen. Also, when this feature is enabled and you share a computer account (login) with other people, they will see your list of Favorites if they run the Viewer 2.5 Beta. Subtle tips: This works on an account-specific basis. Changing the Username at the login screen shows that account's favorite locations, if you have Show my Favorite Landmarks at Login enabled. The Start at dropdown shows your fave landmarks in the same order they appear on the inworld Favorites Bar — drag 'em around to sort. Alternatively, if you trigger a SLurl to launch the Viewer, it can also log you in to another place. The more you know, right? Do you ever feel like you're collecting frequent teleporter miles? Share your favorite SL travel tips in the comments!

Yeah, the smorgasbord of in-Viewer aspect ratios drives me bonkers too. BUT! Something I should highlight because you mentioned this: If they want to go square, then any Snapshot used will be squished. That really is not acceptable. Someone needs - if they are going to keep the AR to 1:1, to allow some simple editing program to select the square from the rectangular Snapshot. That would solve ALL squishing forever. Done. If you upload an image to your web profile, while it will appear to crop it as a 1:1 square, you can click it to zoom in and see it at the correct aspect ratio. Like this (click to embiggen):

@Winter I continue to be glad you followup and call out longtime hopes that have actually happened. This is no longer on a Duke Nukem timeline and — good gosh, that neck point, yeah, it's weird a lot of neck-y things like necklaces get attached to Chest or Spine, since that doesn't quite match common positional expectations. I don't know if/when that will happen. @Medhue Yup, that's a good trick to search where you're wearing something (one of my alltime faves). Thanks for bringing that up — it's just confusing that you have to switch tabs from My Appearance to My Inventory, but we're been discussing future ways to better structure outfit editing. @wolffang Go to Me menu > Preferences, click Chat tab, UNCHECK Play typing animation when chatting. Another classic fave of mine, maybe I should do a reminder tip. @Sunder I don't know what % of Residents are on PPC, but on a parallel Mac thread, we made the decision to discontinue Panther (OS X 10.3) support awhile back just because so few people used it and we had to move forward for easier compatibility testing. http://bit.ly/es3exo Also from Apple's vantage, Snow Leopard doesn't support PPC, so in that sense, it's a matter of time and I do hope you find an upgrade path that works for you!

@Ansariel Yes! I've shared many Resident suggestions in that vein. To this day, I still hear requests for a "minimalist UI" mode which would be well-suited for socializing, exploring, and examining content you've created without all the build and other windows in your face. For a more direct line about your suggestions, you can reach the "Snowstorm" Team through here. @Yanik Freedom of choice. Some people LOVE notifications, others HATE 'em. I can be a voracious chatter at times, other times I need peace and quiet to research inworld activity.