Melian Catronis

I have a question about being offworld. I am currently without a computer of my own and can only access the forums from the public library. Will my accessing the forms/account dashboard only prevent my avi's extinction, or must I log in inworld occasionally to save myself? How long do I have to keep from going extinct?

I simply don't get it when someone refuses to share where they got a particular item. What's the big deal? I happen to love a particular designer, who just seems to make clothing that looks like it was made for me, and if someone asks me where I got something I wore, I tell them because it might translate to a sale for that store. If I have a LM I even give that out too.

Love sucks. And for those who say 'those who don't have love have never let it in'...BS. The simple fact is there are more people out there willing to lie, use, and manipulate those who do love than those who don't. The worst of the lot are the ones who assure you by saying, 'I would never do that to you'. When they say that, ladies and gentlemen, they're already doing it. So, go ahead and believe in love, if you choose to believe in it. Go ahead and believe you are deserving of love, because you probably are. But does that mean that you will find it, or that you are destined for it? Think again. I'm not getting suckered into believing a lie anymore.

I guess this would be the most obvious of answers, but if you bought your skin from a store they might have a pale version of the same skin. Lots of skins come in tint variations, so you may be able to simply buy a lighter version of the same name.

Melita is right--makeup is a face tattoo and if any clothing uses a part of the face to attach, it will come off when you apply the makeup. You should check out your attachment points. As for appearing naked to others when you see clothes, I have that problem a lot. Rebaking will usually fix it before you go out (have to do that in a low-lag area; waiting to get to a club and someone telling you you're naked doesn't work very well), but you keep having this problem the Character Test will fix it.

I'm glad that helped. It is a royal pain to do a Character Test, I hate doing them. Sometimes though that is the last resort before submitting a Help Ticket. Character Tests will fix most serious avi problems (like the Ooompa Loompa look you had), and more often than not, if the Character Test won't fix it, then only the Lindens can.

Raven, you didn't mention if you'd tried the Character Test, where you load up a default avi and then reassemble yourself one part at a time. If you've never done it, do the following before you do the Character Test: --make notes of the type of shape, eyes, hair, skin, clothes you are supposed to be wearing now. It would be a good idea to make yourself a folder with all these items while you're at it. --Go to the Advanced Menu on the Phoenix Viewer. Under 'Character' there should be a listing for 'character test'. Then choose male or female. An avi will load from your inventory. --Replace your items one bit at a time until you are back to the avi you want to be. Hope this works for you.

I just wanted to post this because I think so many who are starting out fail to understand that Windlight settings can be your friend in photography, even when you're not trying special effects. I took this at a now-defunct sim called Epica, using the 'Moony' WL setting.

"Cheap" being a relative term, I wanted to show off this dress. I am a fan of G Sloane Couture in Cedarwood, and this dress was a Monday Mania item I bought for L$50. You should always look at stores that offer these special weekly deals if you're looking to dress well 'on the cheap'. But one of the reasons I love this store is that you can get beautiful dresses there for less than you find with many stores in SL. Styles of dresses and gowns that can cost L$500-L$1,000 at some stores can be as low as L$300.

I am fiercely loyal to Redgrave skins. The only concession I've made to my RL person on my avi is my skin, which is pale with freckles, but has an underlying ruddiness (the benefit of Irish ancestry). I was fortunate to find this kind of skin at Redgrave, with visible freckles, and a strange added benefit--my SL skin has a beauty mark in almost exactly the same spot as all the women in my RL family. Total coincidence, yes, but it's there. With that being said, I absolutely swear by Amacci's eye makeup tattoos. It's really one of the best values in SL when you can find makeup that looks as great as theirs.

You don't have to do a major lighting of your face ala a floodlight. There are soft face lights that don't emit so much light, but will help get rid of the shadows. And yes, in photography WINDLIGHT IS YOUR FRIEND. Not just for the atmosphere, but for facial lighting.

Sometimes it's just a matter of tapping your fly button to float up, then touch back down. In that case you'll simply land on the floor without the sunken feet.

There are some startup clothes you get with your avatar as a rock chick, they're not bad really. Then you can adjust. As far as physically making your avi less curvy, you can slim down your hips and stuff with the sliders. You can even make yourself flat chested if you want.

SL has posted a solution for this problem. It involves simply agreeing to log into a different destination. Here are the instructions: http://status.secondlifegrid.net/2012/01/28/post1553/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+SecondLifeGridStatus+%28Second+Life+Grid+Status+Updates%29

I see other's profile photos are large enough to see, but mine is not. What dimensions do I have to blow up my pic to in order for it to be large enough to see in the forums?

The question is also what it is you define as 'not so girly', but you can also customize yourself to get what you want in the long run. I wanted an avatar that was curvy in shape but tall, but it took some looking and asking around before I found a shape builder who didn't automatically think of tall females as broomsticks (as if they'd never heard of the likes of Cindy Crawford, for instance). Once I got the demo and realized I could work with it, I bought it and customized the proportions I wanted by using the sliders (menu-appearance). My advice to you is to ask around before you buy things. Like others have said, insist on demos first, to see if you like it. Keep in mind that some shapes won't work well with some skins, and some skins and shapes are better at certain heights. But lots of the control for your actual look belongs to you. Don't be afraid, take your time, and get what you want.

I have a male alt and I have generally been frustrated with finding skins for him. Applying a default shape from the Library and altering the facial features I developed a look for him that I like, and the demos I've tried tend to change his facial features considerably.Or I get frustrated with the skin tone, or it's not what I really want for him, etc., etc. Believe me, it's easier to find skin and shape for females. If you get all sorts of demos and really don't find the skin or shape you want, you can try out the different shapes already loaded in your inventory, and you can change your default skin tones and facial features using your sliders until you get a look you generally can live with.

To make yourself approximately 6'0" you need to actually make yourself about 7'0" in SL. The size issue is pretty common when you first rez--I wanted to make myself my RL height, which is 5'0", and after about the fourth time of being told 'we don't allow child avis in this sim' I realized I needed to adjust my perspective. I had to make my avi about 6'0" to be proportionally 5'0" inworld. Nowadays I've adjusted my height up to where I'm somewhere between 6'11" and 7'2", depending on who's measuring. The taller avi makes my clothes fit better.

I have a couple of pictures I'd like to possibly share here but they're snapshots within SL. I know there's a way to convert them so they can be saved to disk but I've never heard how. btw, have to admit after looking at the shadow/DOF thread my skills are nowhere near that, but I still like what I'm doing.

This is the pose I'm looking for:

Does anyone in SL either sell the Planking animation in SL or know who I can have custom make it for me? I'd love to bring it into SL if it's not already here, plus in SL we can come up with some awesome locations for it.

Right now I'm partial to Redgrave, and in particular to the Chloe2 skin. This may be one of the only instances for me where RL and SL cross over--the Chloe is pale but ruddy and I've even had some SL friends look at my skin closeup and they've commented they can actually see freckles. And even though I only prefer one Redgrave right now, I have demo'd a few others and have noticed the richness of the skin tones and have concluded if I want to go darker in the future, they would be who I buy. One important point though, especially if you're new: being nice, someone is bound to give you skins to wear. For a long time I thought I was wearing a Redgrave skin and I IM'd the store asking for a similar skin for my male alt, providing the name of the skin and a picture. The Redgrave owner IM'd me back and politely pointed out the skin I was wearing was a known copybot. So please....when you decide you want a new skin, in order to support merchants in SL and potentially avoiding trouble in the future, buy only from the main store so you know the skin you're getting is legit. A lot of the resellers are selling you copybots.

I recently took up surfing in SL, first starting at Hoodoo and lately hanging out at Braata Beach. I was wondering if anyone else hangs out at other places, which places they prefer, and why? As I am clearly enjoying myself, touring the SL surf spots would seem the next logical step. Thanks.

I was wondering if there were any Good Friday observances planned that I didn't see in the Events calendar? I only saw one at a time I cannot attend today, so I was wondering if there were others.