OMG Helpful: Care and Feeding of the #SLMarketplace Magic Box

Posted on by February 9, 2012
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The information in this post from DGP4SL Blog is extremely helpful and I really, really wish I’d known some of this before, as I’ve been somewhat (okay, alotwhat) cavalier about my Magic Boxes.

Especially helpful: turns out its a good idea to have duplicates, in case your “main store” sim is offline.

I’d never known how to get the Marketplace to update their list of servers: you have to go a bit “old skool” at the SL Exchange site. So THAT’s why it’s still live…

That’s all well and good but how does the Marketplace know which Magic Boxes you have? The answer to that question is a bit more complicated. Since the Magic Box was originally created for the old XStreet SL (and before that it was called “SL Exchange”) web site, you actually have to use the old XStreet SL site in order to “teach” the Marketplace about all of your Magic Boxes.

Link: Care and Feeding of the SL Marketplace Magic Box : DGP4SL Blog

Weekly Tweets 2012-02-05

Posted on by February 5, 2012
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Rep. Cliff Stearns, #SHAMEONYOU for “Investigating” #PlannedParenthood. Poor Women May Die, They Have A Right To Life Too

Posted on by February 1, 2012
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In September, Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.) launched an inquiry to determine whether Planned Parenthood uses public money to fund abortions. Planned Parenthood receives federal money but cannot use it to provide abortions.

Komen has a long history of providing funding to various Planned Parenthood affiliates for such services as manual breast exams and referrals for mammograms and biopsies to check suspicious lumps for cancer. Although that money is not used for abortions, the Komen Foundation may have yielded to demands from antiabortion groups to sever its ties to Planned Parenthood.

Link: Komen breast cancer charity severs ties with Planned Parenthood – chicagotribune.com

Susan G. Komen Foundation Elbows Out Charities #DontThinkPink

Posted on by February 1, 2012
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This angers me, too. A friend’s partner died of liver cancer yesterday, and a RL family member is… probably not going to be around for the Relay For Life survivor’s lap in July.

This is unjust; it stratifies cancer charities into “worthy” and “unworthy” if small charities can’t use the phrase or even the word “cure” for their events.

I am still collecting links and trying to verify any relationship between Relay For Life, a charity of the American Cancer Society, and the Susan G Komen Foundation.

I will no longer be buying products using the Susan G Konen foundation logo, ribbon, or color.

I hate pink, anyway. Nasty color. But now I will associate it with injustice and intolerance, not to mention arrogance.

“I used to give money to Komen all the time, but now I’m just kind of wary of them,” she said. “I’m not buying Yoplait yogurt or anything that has the word ‘Komen’ on it. They seem to have forgotten what charity is about.”

Link: Susan G. Komen Foundation Elbows Out Charities Over Use Of The Word 'Cure' – The Huffington Post

NPR.org » Komen Charity Ends Grants To Planned Parenthood

Posted on by April 17, 2013

This is disturbing and so very wrong.

The nation’s leading breast-cancer charity, Susan G. Komen for the Cure, is halting its partnerships with Planned Parenthood affiliates — creating a bitter rift, linked to the abortion debate, between two iconic organizations that have assisted millions of women.

The change will mean a cutoff of hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants, mainly for breast exams.

Link: NPR.org » Komen Charity Ends Grants To Planned Parenthood

It May Begin With A Plywood Box, But May End With “NOOOOOOOO!”

Posted on by January 31, 2012
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Thanks to Mar’s SL For Nowt post, I was motivated to sort a lot of textures scattered through many folders – some were class downloads, some were unnecessary product ads from hunt gifts and purchases, a lot were unsorted textures from packs, some were retrieved from my indespensable ETO texture organizer and never sorted into project folders or storage.

All well and good, except that at the end of the night, I accidentally retextured the organizer itself with a standard texture grid – ALL the buttons, forward/back buttons, categories, the lot.

NOOOOOOOOOOO!

I was up until 2am fixing it.

But with a little GIMPing and texture offset (don’t ask) I managed to make an acceptable repair. Sorry, Eridanis Boccara, I had to hack your excellent ETO to bits, but I wasn’t sure I’d be able to update/categorize my most recent backup with exactly the same textures I’d already boxed up and deleted from inventory. Because, I’d already, um, boxed the boxes in deep storage, and they’re not sorted by most recent anymore.

Why are you still reading this crap? More importantly, why are you still reading this, Crap?

Anyway, if I get around to re-rezzing the boxes and re-sorting into the backup, there’s an easy unpacker addon script Eridanis sells for the free ETO v747. Check the shop at Little Blue sandbox. There’s also a sculpt addon (which is where I got screwed up, messing with the texture ETO applies to sculpt maps for display).

In the meantime, Mar’s tip for filtering by type is a great way to sort in manageable chunks.

I also sorted a TON of items that were in a “Steampunk Home” folder that was a catch all for hunt items.

Hi, peeps! I hope 2012 is treating you well, both IRL and in SL, and I want to ask you a question:
Are you sorting?
“Huh?” I hear you mutter. “Sorting what?”
Why, your inventory, of course! Didn’t you make that New Year’s Resolution to finally get a decent filing system going and to ditch all those newbie things you grabbed in your first days in-world? And what about that promise you made to yourself to keep on top of trashing all the extra stuff that comes with each retail therapy/lucky chair-hopping/freebie-nobbling spree?

Link: Mar’s quick guide to: The Importance of Sorting : SL for Nowt

Be sure to read the excellent inventory sorting advice Mar gives, she’s spot on.

I sorted a lot of old STEAM 4 hunt gifts folders (I’m that far behind, but making good progress). I’ve already implemented a system of sorting folders with special characters, which makes it easier to find things for building, photographing, or wearing. And I’m getting into the habit of sorting textures into project folders, storing them in ETO and deep backup when done.

Screenshots after the jump, the method is based on various “inventory control” classes.

Continue reading →

Weekly Tweets 2012-01-29

Posted on by January 29, 2012
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  • @TLEclipse They're just jealous of your superpowers. #
  • @MoodyLoner Hang by your thumbs, and… #bobandray #
  • @cliffschecter O chalks up another abject apology. Bad guys of the world, prepare to be mollified with extreme deference. #Obama #
  • @MoodyLoner While you're at it, convince my sister to stop using my Facebook wall as private email (under her g-kid's login). #
  • RT @BradReason Boots Cats! Beefy Boot Cat Bees! http://t.co/1KrcqPws #
  • RT @m_ethaniel L$250 – Clover's Kitchen Football Chip Bowl: Are you ready for some FOOTBALL? Clover's Kitchen is… http://t.co/MfWm05yG #
  • @MickeyETC Probably a glitch, seeing chatter on it by somebody else. #
  • Hey, followers! Here's a contest: who's the least convincing spambot? #
  • Oh, yeah. "Flesh" tone. A color not found in nature. #ThingsWhitePeopleInvented #
  • Oh, why don't Adelson and Ailes just pick a card or flip a million dollar coin? #thebuyingofthepresidency #
  • Beware PMs from hacked accounts… #

The Jaegerdraught Hunt: Be A Jäger! #SecondLife #GirlGenius

Posted on by January 23, 2012
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20120118-085011.jpg

Congratulations to the Consulate of Europa Wulfenbach for putting together an extremely fun hunt, and for making “The Big Time” on the Second Life Destinations page. An entire sim, Inverbrackie, is devoted to wild, wacky, and wonderful builds, and members of the Consulate group and their friends have contributed everything needed to put together a Jägermonster avatar (read Girl Genius! Right now!).

My young ward, Bugginia, will probably be embracing her inner Jägerkin, as she had a LOT of fun tromping around in the snow dodging snowballs (courtesy of wizardess Ordinal Malaprop) and inspecting the carnage typical of a lava-based power station staffed by mutant snowpersons.

What makes a hunt like this more fun? It’s personal, not too big, full of in-jokes and references to the Girl Genius “gas lamp fantasy” webcomic, and the clues are hilarious. Bug was rendered helpless with hysterical laughter as she followed the comical clues.

Also, it’s achievable; it’s all in one sim, and the difficulty level sits in the sweet spot between “challenging” and “EVIL.” You do have to be pretty close to see the little golden Wulfenbach plaques, so “camming”from any distance is useful for spotting landmarks only (the sim is laid out like a hilly maze, wonderful for ambushes).

Bug looks forward to drinking the Jägerdraught, which will either kill her or turn her into a drop-dead gorgeous Jägermonstress.

Link: The Jaegerdraught Hunt | Second Life

Weekly Tweets 2012-01-22

Posted on by January 22, 2012
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Tiltviewer: Awesome 3D Display Of Your #Flickr Stream Except It Requires Flash #iPadSad

Posted on by January 18, 2012
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Thanks to a pointer from @LindaKellie, I explored the downloads, scripts and recommended tools for Second Life at Ferd Frederix’ incredible site Phaze Desmesne.

This Flickr viewer thing is so very shiny. I had already spent days looking at the scripts, then realized thanks to a link from Linda Kellie’s free sculpts page that there were awesome sculpts and links to free tools at Ferd’s site.

I can’t wait to play with this later, but I’m on an iPhone and this requires Flash.

Thanks, Ferd! It’s people like you and Linda Kellie who keep inspiring content creators (just look at the flappy dragons).

Now you can show off your Flickr stream in a cool 3-D view. No coding needed, and it works as a link in Facebook, WordPress, or even an iframe. No web site is needed, so you can email the link or post it to any blog, and you can use it on a shared media prim or in your profile in Second Life!

Link: Second Life Flickr stream