January 2012 – Ciaran Laval

January 29, 2012January 29, 2012

SL is still amazing

I know I haven’t blogged in awhile, but today a note card was passed my way that I want to share with you.
First I want to explain why this note card hit me the way it did. Last night I was reading a chat window of fellow bloggers and one person went on to say how SL has become a pit. That it has lost its shine. “This place is rapidly turning into a shit hole of a has been.” His summation of SL, obviously, was not good. I just closed the window as I didn’t want to listen or read the negativity anymore.
So, today a dear friend of mine passed out a note card which follows:

Phoenix McGann
One of the things I loved about performing online in Second Life was the opportunity to touch the lives of people all over the world. SL is a godsend to some…particularly those with disability or disease that confine their world. In SL they could run, dance, and soar through their imagination…doing things the weight of real life would not permit. One of these wonderful, joyful spirits, Phoenix McGann, passed on recently. For several years Phoe battled courageously with late stage Parkinson’s Disease. But nothing could stop her. SL allowed an outlet for her indomitable love of life. She was an amazing, crazy woman. Funny how people you’ve never met can sometimes touch your heart so. She was a Shantu fan from the very beginning…over 5 years ago. She was a wonderful human being. I’ll miss her.

This Thursday, Feb 2 at 7pm SLT I’ll be singing in SL for a tribute for her being put on by people who loved her. I hope all of you will find the time to stop by and celebrate here life. A landmark and further details will follow.

Shantu

So next time you want to “rag” about SL and what it DOESN’T do, remember what it does do too.

Till next time,
Your friend, Jez

January 26, 2012January 26, 2012

Avatar Draw Weight

I’m a big fan of Linden Lab engaging in a go green campaign to try and encourage people to create and build more efficiently. However these things are often misunderstood, lead to finger pointing and can spoil people’s fun, so can overly complex avatars with lots of attachments but we should be encouraging freedom of expression.

However, it’s always good to have measures to look at, which brings us to the replacement for Avatar Rendering Cost, now it’s Avatar Draw Weight. This will display a score for your avatar, and other avatars around you. I’ve never been a fan of this score displaying the scores of other avatars as it can lead to finger pointing … wait I already covered that! To check your own draw weight, go to preferences, enable the advanced menu and then from the advanced menu, go to performance tools and select “Show Draw Weight For Avatars“.

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January 24, 2012January 24, 2012

What’s In A Name Yet Again!

“Lastly, I really do regret I that spoiled ‘Ciaran Laval’ s night away from the pub. The way this election is going he may find me there before long.” – Sir Norman Tebbit, April 19th 2010.

The above quote is relevant in the name stakes because it demonstrates I have a persistent online identity outside Second Life circles, although what I was ever doing on The Torygraph blogs whilst sober still remains a mystery, what Sir Norman was referring to is that I’d stated on another blog post of his that I was stone cold sober and agreeing with him, it was a scary evening.

Which brings us to the latest episode of the nym wars and Google +, which rears its head in the shape of form of Google’s Bradley Horowitz suggesting a new and more inclusive naming policy is being r0lled out. Now before you get too excited you need to tread carefully here, Violet Blue, who was very involved in the nym wars because her name was considered to be fake (it isn’t) has posted over at Zdnet suggesting that pseudonyms still aren’t welcome. However Violet seems to be getting a tad confused, Bradley Horowitz is talking of one name nyms, rather than normal looking nyms and this is where it all gets confusing.

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January 23, 2012January 23, 2012

Flags, Inventories, Mesh Deformer and Direct Delivery

There are a couple of items that Linden Lab could do with a little help on and the Adult Community on Zindra are talking of holding a flag competition, although rules on communication make this a little tricky. First of all the Linden Lab help wanted. Linden Lab have now, for a couple of weeks, been seeking feedback on the upcoming direct delivery system for the Second Life Marketplace, details of the direct delivery beta can be found here…. that post really should be a sticky, anyway, Linden Lab need some feedback.

I appreciate that merchants are human too and have time constraints but this is a big change with regards to how people list items on the marketplace and feedback, good and bad, really will help …. ok it should help! There’s a project viewer download and some instructions to read, but if you find the time, try and provide some feedback.

Moving on, both Inara Pey and Tateru Nino, who is poorly and I hope gets well soon, point to a request from Linden Lab regarding a new project viewer that has a simple inventory, the forum post is here….another post that should probably be a sticky. Simple Inventory, as the name suggest, is a simplified inventory, it’s a feature that never quite made it into the basic viewer that was doing the rounds, so if you do get a chance to look at it and post feedback, remember that it was done with new participants in mind.

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Duran Duran — The UFO Club