Alobar Valeska

I've been an SL club owner and a DJ for going on 12 years, and I agree with just about everything you said. Now, in fairness, at this point in my SL life, my poor little club has only one set per week (me, because I just can't let go of the club, and I get to play whatever I want), and I do one other set a week at another venue (where I also play whatever I want, and the people seem to love it). I only play blues-rock, blues, and classic rock (in more or less that order). Hopefully, my love for and whatever "expertise" I have in those genres comes through -- you either love me, tolerate me, or tp the hell out after 2 or 3 songs I've never understood DJs who can do 2 hour sets in any given genre, but some are quite successful at it. It took me about 3 months to realize that an SL club will never pay for itself, let alone make any kind of profit. You own a club because you love it, you're bored and have nothing else to do with your money, or you have mental health issues (or all three). I've known DJs who say they DJ in Second Life to supplement their real life income. For me, 1000 lindens for a 2 hour set has always been sort of the mark of a decent set. That's $US4. That would take a lot of sets to make a significant impact on your RL income. At my outside set, nowadays, I often draw 30-40 people and make 3 - 4K lindens per set -- that absolutely blows my mind. Good DJs don't play for the money - they play because they love the music and love playing the music they love for people that love it, too. For me, a tip is a sign of appreciation for the music. A kind word about the set and the music is often worth as much as a tip, too. My host is my partner (or whatever we want to call her). We're a good team - we banter, we tease, we joke, and she's an integral part of the show. She watches the chat, and keeps me informed of requests and other comments I should be aware of while I'm not paying attention because I'm doing important DJ stuff. She makes visitors feel welcome, tells them where to find the dance balls, and tries to keep the conversation lively. Maybe 3 or 4 times during a 2 hour set, she'll remind people to tip the DJ and venue -- it's in chat, so easy enough to ignore, if it really bothers you. Maybe once or twice in a 2 hour set, I'll remind people during a voiceover that she has a tip jar, too -- that's easy enough to ignore, too. It does, however, often generate a few tips that we might not have received without those limited reminders -- you can't argue with success. I've worked with other hosts who do nothing more than spew gestures and beg for tips -- they're mostly a waste of time and bandwidth. I don't do that anymore. If you're at a set with a good host, tip them, dammit. The good ones work harder than the DJs. Bottom line is, whether you're a DJ, a host, or a guest -- if you're not having fun, take it the hell home or go somewhere else. Or post a rant on the SL forums, if you feel like it

I'm not terribly concerned about song info not displaying (but glad we're working on a fix) -- tonight, however, on a Magnum region, I logged into the Shoutcast board and started streaming, and after a few minutes the board reverted to the previous radio station. Logged back into the board, and a few minutes later it reverted again. Not sure if this is related, or a new issue, or just me having a strange night. Turning the board off, and just plugging into parcel media seems to be the fix for that issue

And, if you wouldn't put up with it, and they did it anyway ... what would you do? Refuse to teleport anywhere?

Orca Flotta wrote: Why o why do so many people still believe in the old and wrong solution of clearing the cache? Because it works. This myth that clearing your cache is not a solution to any number of problems is just that - a myth. Quoting Firestorm developers does little to support the myth. What do the Firestorm developers insist on when you upgrade? A clean install. What does a clean install do? It clears your cache. As far as I can tell, with the whole "interest list" thing, the cache has become basically useless, anyway. I reload pretty much everything every time I land, and it loads at about the same rate whether I have just cleared my cache, or left it alone. What I do know is, that when I have certain problems, clearing the cache helps. So, for the love of christ, please stop with the "don't ever clear your cache" BS ... if it works, it works.

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Seems like lots of regions are restarting (at least main channel and Magnum.) Nothing in gird status. Roll backs?

Ah! So that's the constraint I disabled Never thought about that. Thanks.

Steve Oval wrote: Can someone please recommend a good translator. My partner is Spanish and although her English is not bad ( My Spanish is non existent ) she does like to use a translator at times. The one she has is a free one and murders everything she says. Is there a good one? The free Metanomics translator, or the built-in translator in Firestorm work as well as any I've seen. As others have pointed out, there's skill involved in communicating with a translator. It's almost like you have to learn to speak "translator": Perfect spelling, simple grammar, short sentences, efficient punctuation, and a lot of practice.

Sylvan Turbo wrote: So i've been experiencing this problem since 3-4 days ago. Music on most SIM keeps going in and out while i am listening to it. I've been performing several tests on my connection, which lead me to believe that isn't an issue with my ISP provider, cause i been achieving maximum download/upload speeds as usual. I've been checking also for virus (but i been always protected and never had an issue with them before). I've asked other folks if they were experiecing something similar but no one seems to have the same issue, so i am not sure.. What's happening to me? Everything seems to be fine to me... I do play other games, download things as usual but just have problems in SL. If it happens on different sims with different streams, I would think it would have to be your connection. Try dropping your bandwidth in your viewer's network preferences down to 500 and see if that makes any difference.

For years, I've thought that the maximum draw distance to see other avatars was around 600 metres, so I always took care to build my "private spaces" at least that distance from the nearest structure. Recently I've discovered that draw distance for perv-camming extends to at least 3000 metres. Is this a recent change, or have I just been confused all these years?

ImaTest wrote: Alobar Valeska wrote: Malanya wrote: Aren't dj's expected to provide all their own stuff, and streams, don't they cost? I expect DJs to have their own streams. A 50 person stream costs around 1500 lindens a month. Beyond that, a DJ would have to have their own "stuff" ... otherwise, they couldn't really call themself a DJ. No it doesn't, lol. Streams are getting cheaper and cheaper in sl. They're quite easy to come by at much lower rates than they've ever been before. Okay, if the word "around" isn't vague enough for you, change it to "up to".

Dillon Levenque wrote: Oh, I quite understand that. You seem to be one of those people who think those who have differing opinions are stupid or uneducated. Your shows must be a delight. I prefer clubs that make it clear the venue gets no percentage of the entertainer's tips by letting said entertainers place their own tip jars. That way I can tip the entertainer for the entertainment and the venue for providing it. I have also noticed that clubs that do it differently often get less talented entertainers. I never cease to be amazed at the trivial things people obsess about and the conspiracy theories they develop around those things. If a DJ or host agrees to a percentage cut with the club (which again, I don't take - they get 100% at my club), what business is it of yours? Why on earth would you even think about it, let alone care? The tip jars I use give the performer multiple options for notifications of tips, including a popup dialog box that makes it almost impossible to miss a tip and fail to respond appropriately. They're integrated into the overall decor of the club, which I think looks better. Having a consistent placement of tip jars reduces the number of "where's your tip jar?" questions by regulars and return visitors. Tips are recorded in a database so I can track history and trends, and produce pretty charts and graphs, which I enjoy looking at. And I can take a look on the web and see how a performer is doing tip-wise at any given moment, and compensate for that out of my own pocket. Regarding the delight of my shows, I think some folks find them delightful, others mediocre, and still others probably hate them. Probably like most DJs. You can't please everyone.

Suspiria Finucane wrote: Alobar Valeska wrote: No club would survive without those efforts. I realize that you may feel a year or so is survival, however, I would venture to say that 99% of the clubs created in SL haven't survived the almost 7 years I've been in SL and there may be a few that have survived 10 years. IMO clubs are a dream of some to get rich quick without realizing that it is actually a business. There's a reason why 95% of business owners fail in the first 2 years. I'm sure the attrition rate in SL is even higher. I'm pushing 4 years in my case, but to me it's not about the money (if it were, I'd qualify as the biggest idiot in the history of business.) It's about the music, and the friends you make, and the folks who enjoy the experience. ETA: And forgive me, if I don't bow to the 2 1/2 years earlier that you made it to SL before me. I do realize the importance of that and have the appropriate degree of rez date envy.

Amethyst Jetaime wrote: Just another reason that clubs that think they are doing DJ's favors letting them work there are full of it. The club would have to pay for all that if they didn't have DJ's. And what would a DJ have to pay for if it wasn't for the clubs that invite them to play there? Tier, building, tip jars, shoutcast board, scheduiing, hosts, managers, advertising, etc.? Get over your sycophantic DJ worship and realize that, as I said before, this is a symbiotic relationship. DJs who think that they're doing the world a favor by their presence are no less obnoxious and counterproductive than club owners that think that they're doing the world a favor by hiring DJs. This is not about DJs vs. hosts vs. club owners. This is about everyone coming together to work to provide a positive experience to everyone involved. Attempting to drive a wedge between the people that ought to be working together to do that is not helpful.

Malanya wrote: Aren't dj's expected to provide all their own stuff, and streams, don't they cost? I expect DJs to have their own streams. A 50 person stream costs around 1500 lindens a month. Beyond that, a DJ would have to have their own "stuff" ... otherwise, they couldn't really call themself a DJ.