Another year!

I happened to notice that I've passed another anniversary for this blog when I updated to today.   So...Yay!

A whole new world.

I'm sorry, but it is a technology ramble from me today.  

I recently built a new PC with a considerably newer and more powerful graphics card.  The entire PC has more of everything, faster cores, more cores, more ram, solid state HD, etc. etc.  The one thing it doesn't have is MS Windows.  Since I was trying to do power on a budget, this is a good thing, I could spend more on hardware and nothing on the OS.  MS Windows as we all know is most definitely not free.

I've been dabbling with Linux for home use for several years now.  And I've found that since I don't play PC games much, the only things that really kept me "bound" to the Windows band wagon were Netflix and an old copy of Paint Shop Pro from Jasc software that I just loved to use for editing graphics files.  Firefox & Chrome, Office and solitaire are the programs I otherwise use the most.  And they come free for, or often included with, most distributions of Linux.

Well, I can watch Netflix other ways now, though I still haven't found a way to do so in Linux that works for me.  And I've committed myself to learning to use GIMP a powerful free graphic program.  With my issues addressed I have only installed Linux as the OS.  But, like JayR, I am trying out multiple viewers in different distributions.


I have Linux Mint 14 xfce 64 bit, running Singularity 64 bit.  Everything installed relatively easily.  And I am able to run SL at maximum graphics settings at about 19fps.  Not a great frame rate, but smooth enough for my purposes.  It seems fairly stable, and I must say that Singularity seems to be the best mix of the new and the old I've tried.  The interface looks close enough to Phoenix that I don't notice any differences.  But at the same time, it seems to handle multiple tattoo and alpha layers, add, etc.  There is one new control that is much like the Firestorm easy pop up slider, though it lacks the Z-axis adjustment, so you still have to go into preferences to change that just like in Phoenix.

I have also installed Ubuntu 12.04 LTS 32 bit (I tried the 12.10 install but something in updates made it bork and I haven't quite figured out how to fix that yet.)  This time I stuck with 32 bit because as far as I can tell Firestorm does not have a 64 bit version yet, and rather than kludge things up with a 64 bit OS running 32 bit compatibility stuff, I just stuck with 32 bits.  Yes I know it's like running a sports car with a economy car engine, but as it turns out, for my principal concern, it doesn't seem to matter that much.  Even though both Mint and Ubuntu are running proprietary graphics drivers, the frame rate I get in Ubuntu at Ultra graphics setting is essentially the same.  And so far, while Singularity/Mint 64 has crashed on me twice, Firestorm/Ubuntu 32 has not!

So, that's why it's a whole new world for me.  New viewers, new OS, and now I'm running SL at Ultra.  And while going up that one notch did not make  huge difference, I am seeing things I did not see before, or seeing things I saw before in new ways.

Here's to hoping we all continue to enjoy all our lives.

The wear'n o' the green...And red.

St. Patrick's day rolled around again, I was able to spend a bit more time in SL than is often the case on this particular Holiday.  And I ended up wearing two different outfits, one for my morning visit that was decidedly skimpy, and one for my evening visit that wasn't.  The skimpy one is from Belly Dance goddess, the not, is from all sorts of places.  I do enjoy putting together an outfit from multiple sources, this one was both garish and fun!

Then I couldn't sleep, so I was up so late it wasn't St. Patrick's anymore.  So I changed out of the green and into something else.  I found a great little freebie corset.  It's mesh and is yet another example of things you'd have a hard time doing as well any other way.

Here's to another year in SL, and to hoping you're enjoying both your lives!

Smash'n Fashion

I recently toured the Fashion for Life...Mall?  Exhibit?  I'm not sure what you would call it.  It was a collection of gorgeous builds full of stalls by many many many of the vendors of fashion in Second Life.  It took me more than two hours to make my way through the entire thing, and that was in a very determined not to linger sort of way.  In each stall were a number of items that if purchased would contribute to the Relay for Life charity.  I mostly just looked at those and tried to ignore all the other things, but even doing that it took a long time!  But I'm not complaining, it was actually great fun!  And I picked up a couple of things I rather liked and helped the charity.  I also appreciated the really nice builds, included here are some shots of just some of the really nice vista offered.  Clicking any of these images should enlarge them for your viewing pleasure.

As I toured all these lovely spots I was wearing some hair from W&Y, a dress from Celoe and some shoes from Baby Monkey.  If you get a chance to contribute to Relay for Life, I'd recommend it!  One, it helps out those in need, two you end up with something neat to wear or use.

The maid in the library...

I just finished and put another complete avatar kit out at Pair A Dice.  This time a maid costume and feminized male avatar.  I made the shape and the boy bits, and some few other parts.  Everything is fitted and color matched.  I think it looks rather fetching.

This snapshot was not taken in the library, it's in the sim owner's bedroom.  I though the color scheme worked better there.  There is a library in the mansion at Pair A Dice, but the library I want to mention is the Linden Labs library shared by all of us in Second Life.  I've been exploring it recently and there are a lot of items there I don't remember seeing when I was new about four years ago.  The hair in the snapshot above for instance, or the pirate hat in the previous post.  Before you run off and shop for something, you should really give inventory a quick search.  There are all sorts of interesting things there you might not realize.  And they are much much nicer than the crude basic prim and clothing layer stuff I remember from my first days.  Sculpties and flexies abound.  Many of the items in the library are full perm, but some of the best, like hair and shoes, are not transferable.  So you have to go looking for them yourself.

Hope you are enjoying both your lives!