Randall Ahren

The US is so broke, Haiti is going to start holding relief concerts for America.

The vast majority of people lead lives of quiet desperation. They've become domesticated animals, waiting for their masters to feed them. The greatest thrill in life is mastering the ability to survive and thrive without the help of overlords who pretend to look out for our best interests. Whoever you are and wherever you are, it's time to forget about all the ways you've been promised safety and comfort. Write your own personal declaration of independence starting today. Freedom is the ultimate addiction. It's a fire that draws us like moths. You circle it, singing your wings from time to time until finally you can stand it no more and take that fiery plunge. Whether the fire destroys you or purifies you, depends on who think you are. The economy in SL is big and spans the globe. I'm not sure how large it is, I've seen reports that puts it at over half a billion in USD. Deficit or recession, that's a lot of Linden dollars being exchanged. It's raining soup. Grab a bucket and get some of it.

Wow, you've been a member since 2007. I sent you a landmark for the ferry terminal at Barbarossa. It's an infohub, but there are a few people there willing to chat and in my opinion is the most interesting infohub. It's an island and a pretty small one. You can get a free sailboat there over by the boat house building. Take the sailboat over to the white dock on the opposite side of the island (it's a short walk) and rezz it and see if anyone wants to go sailing with you. Ferries stop there, but it's a boring ride. Ignore them. Think about joining some chatty groups. NCI is good, especially NCI Spam, which is for chatting. If you chat too much in the main NCI group you'll probably get scolded. It's supposed to be for answering questions from residents.

In a dream, an angel said to me that if you're bored, it will be a failure of imagination. She then placed the world gently in my hands. I woke up and found myself here.

You can run Radegast on a netbook and that will keep you connected with SL throughout the day if you like. Moreover, even though you can't see anything, your avatar looks perfectly normal to everyone else. You can also access SL through a browser by going to textsl.org and that will allow you to stay connected. It won't work on a Kindle though and I much prefer Radegast.

Did you try restarting your computer? Assuming that you did already, are you using a Windows machine? Do contrl-alt-delete and bring up the task manager and see what's running. Is there a Second Life process running? If so, right click it and select "End Process". Did you try alternative viewers, such as Phoenix, Firestorm, Singularity, Imprudence and so forth? Do you have the same problem with each?

NCI is similar to the Phoenix/Firestorm support group, but is focused on general help for new citizens (residents) rather than just on specific viewers. The way NCI handles disruptive people is that they they have a few moderators that will intervene if someone is causing a problem in group chat. I think the Phoenix/Firestorm group handles problems the same way. The Phoenix/Firestorm group seems to me to be far more active when it comes to group chat help requests. I suppose new residents could automatically be made members of NCI, which might help with retention. If the software is too difficult to use though, I don't think help in group chat will do much for retention. People will just get frustrated, logout and not return despite well intentioned help if the software is too difficult to use or too buggy.

How many meters do you have your balloon running above the root prim of the VRC train? When you unsit from the VRC train, the train is supposed to stop. There is some code about waypoints in the VRC train script. It is in the subroutine called "LocomotiveMoveTo". You input a waypoint and rotation and the train moves to that point. Waypoints are generated in the sensor portion of the script based upon the current position of the train and the detected position of the guide.

Use a V1 type viewer for its superior searching abilities, such as Phoenix or Imprudence. Click search, select land sales, and choose mainland. Set parcel size to 512 sqm or greater and then go have a look at the different parcels that are for sale. You could also take a look at the auctions. There are a few 512 sqm parcels currently being auctioned:

I wouldn't worry about the number of prims. Hair typically has around 200 prims, which seems like an insane number to me when compared to the number of prims you get with a 512 sqm plot (117 prims). For the scripts, click on yourself and select "more" and then "s.count". If you're under a 100 scripts , you're good to go. That's on the low side for a woman. They seem to average about 300 scripts and the most I ever seen was 910 scripts, but she looked great, especially her hair. You want to look good or worry about script counts?

How about the Magnolia Cottage @90 prims? It is one of the best sellers:

Five horses in a Linden home would be weird. I would go for one of the two story homes in the Meadowbrook theme and keep the horses upstairs.

The forums are replete with stories from renters of being mistreated and cheated by landlords. If you don't want to get cheated, pay in arrears, not in advance. Alternatively, sign up for premium membership and get one of the Linden homes.

Why don't you use Phoenix? That solves most problems.

Sounds like the DNS connection problem: http://bit.ly/lBBt7N

Yes, but the sex isn't nearly as good.

That's like asking for a hamburger with no patty.

I guess I'm about an 8. Don't really like to talk about RL, but it creeps in. What do you say if someone asks you where you're from as a conversation starter and you don't want to say? Third planet out?

Not that I know of. Think of tier as property tax. You can't even own land outright in the real world. If you don't pay the assessed property tax, the government will seize it from you.

I have a similar problem with Windows XP. V2 and Firestorm do something to my network connection. I have to reboot my routers after using V2 to get my internet connection back. I solved the problem by going back to Phoenix. It has the added advantages of using less CPU cycles, includes the feature of "restore to last position" which V2 variants lack, and better search.

Gadget Portal wrote: When is doing something only halfway a good thing? Perfect is the enemy of good according to Voltaire. In other words, pursuing the best solution may end up doing less actual good than accepting a solution that, while not perfect, is effective. Moreover, a halfway solution now is better than a perfect solution later if the perfect solution will not be available after your competitor has taken 90% of the market. Ask Mr. Jobs if he would have handled the pc war with Microsoft any differently in retrospect.

You seem to be in an angry state. Consider the situation logically, not emotionally. You have suggested that if one cannot make a 3D application that can load textures, then perhaps it's time to look for another line of work. Have you considered the converse? That if one is not happy with a 3D application, then perhaps it is time to look for another application? If the SL viewer disturbs you, you can change the viewer or you can your state. We use SL applications because there is no better alternative. Hence, the logical conclusion is a state change.

Your concluding paragraph is very impressive. I may have to add that to my profile. However, while everything has already been said, not all has been heard. @Dillon, the line about cherry trees I believe is originally from a poem by Pablo Neruda, a Chilean poet, but worded slightly different about what the poet wanted to do to his lover: Quiero hacer contigo lo que la primavera hace con los cerezos. I have also seen the English translation used in a song. I want to do with you what spring does with cherry trees. @Tiffy, congratulations on your 300th post! @Lanas, short lists are better. Mine was too long. Long lists tend to exceed my input buffer. Yes, enthusiasm is contagious. @Deltango, the main point of your blog post seems to be that anonymous accounts made everything worse. Possibly, but it does pose less of a barrier to entry for new residents. @Ceka, your post reminded me of a question I think about sometimes. If you could be fantastically attractive but consigned to lousy sex as it is in SL or just be ordinary but have much better sex, which would you choose? I think I would go for fantastically attractive. Sex just doesn't take that long. @Mayalily, I especially agree with your item #9. In fact, I should really be doing something else with my time, like going to the gym. @Phil, you're going to have let me on the decent money secret so that I can justify all the time I'm spending online. @Suella, I misunderstood your signature. I see there were Xs by the pixel stuff. Silly me. Sorry for the short replies. I seem to some sort of RSI problem from the porn. Anyway, it's not really porn, it's more like erotic art. As Mayalily pointed out, the best artists are in SL.

Your post reminded me of something important that I left out regarding what I believe about SL. Unless they're Brokeback Mountain types, cowboys should not cross swords in group activities. @Tiffy, I understand. Being successful brings responsibilities. I suggest one more entry for your list: I believe all work and no play makes for a dull resident. Sometimes you need to cut loose and howl at the moon. Get yourself one blue eye and one brown eye like Immy and some elf ears like Ishtara and take a walk on the wild side. You can be a merchant and rave every once in a while.

I thought you might be interested in seeing the inspiration for this, which is this old Reebok ad entitled You Are What You Believe. Even though I am replying to the last post in the thread, this reply is intended for everyone. The commercial was directed towards women and there are some pretty funny lines in the ad. One woman says she believes in cowboys and another says that she believes construction workers wear their pants that way on purpose. The ad ends with the line "I believe there's an athlete in all of us." Accordingly, I would like to add one more line to the OP: I believe there's a builder in all of us. On the issue of V2 and display names, I guess I can make my peace with that. Ending the first name, last name sign up procedure though was pretty cruel. And yes, I think it is bad to spend to too much time on SL and become addicted to it. Get outside and get some exercise like the women in the commercial. As the mountain climber says in the ad, the thinner the air gets, the clearer your head gets. Life is short, play hard.