Sl Viewer 2.5 Release, Fixing things that were oh so broke for so long..

I don’t know if its the new CEO, but I like to think so. The annoying IM pops and the godawful group chat interruption that could never ever be silenced, finally FINALLY (after years and years of wishing and wanting and yelling) have been dealt with. There are two checkboxes in preferences that allow you to put the kaibosh on them and never again be bothered. Oh you get blinkies in the corner on the status bar, but that is far FAR less annoying and even, dare I say, pleasant ;)

Also noticed I no longer have to wade through 9000 group and other messages by waiting for them to pop and clicking ‘no’ or ;yes’ or the ‘x’.. now i can get to em when I’m good n ready and x em all, easy as pie.

So Congratulations Linden Lab! Between the above and finally being able to RELIABLY set my camera angle to behind my avatar (not above and overlooking my avatar) I am starting to feel like Second Life is becoming user driven again…If this happened because you got Rod Humble as CEO, then welcome Rod… seriously… we needed you, sir!

~Lourdes

PS- things keep going in this nice direction without graphical bloat and other issues… I may actually contemplate a serious full on return :)

Back Sorta Kind of In SL

For those who may be in the know or just seeing me here and there for small snippets of time, Yes, I am in fact logging back into SL.

What I am not doing is going whole hog and reinstalling a huge main store and plugging my wares in the ad system or anything like that.

What I AM doing is logging in, speaking with friends, and revising code because well, I like to code :) Working with java and javascript and a little c# here and there has given me a whole new insight into how things should be put together, so I’m taking a look at code and optimizing where it desperately needs it, am adding new features and I may even release all that under the “When I’m damn good and ready” clause.

Until then, I’ve updated my picks to take you to the only remaining store I have in SL and to the Central Power Battery that resides there.

Could this change and SL see a full return of Miss Laysan? Possibly, but not until I’m reasonably sure that the lab is on a good enough tack. When the dust settles from display names and the march of the younglings, then its possible, if no other major WTF moments occur, but even then, the store will have a bit of a change of focus here and there, for the better all round.

To those looking for the inevitable, when will the V3 come out, or when is the V3 gonna be done, the answer is “When its ready”.

By the by, I was looking at the new Quantum Core ad… when did those guys go from being professional to utter dicks? Or did they always have those ‘be a dick’ to other’s functions, and I hadn’t noticed? Ah well, more from me later.. Code optimization awaits.

~Lourdes

Installing and Getting A Java Environment Up and Running..

Today, FINALLY, I’ve got a valid Java environment setup and running! :) :)

I’m using Jedit with the the compiler and a few other very useful plugins (thanks Maggie!) and the JDK and JRE.

A few tips for those heading forward using Java for the first time.

- Install the JRE AND the JDK before you do anything else.

- Setup your Global Path

- Install Jedit

- Install Plugins for Jedit (if you want to use them).

- Setup your class paths in your editor/plugins

If you fail to do these things, you may run into alot of errors.. and I can’t tell you how much frustration this causes. The answers are kinda out there, but if you’re just starting out, unless you’re good at searching through obfuscation in terms you aren’t yet familiar with, finding the solution is extremely arduous, even with assistance, because again, you’re not familiar with the terms so you don’t know what you’re not asking and most folks give you answers to the specific question, not the whole picture… and the devil is in the details.

I’ve been going on two months now, sorting through various development environments, most with way too much overhead and encumbrance for my needs (I’m looking at you ECLIPSE [shakes fist] ), and I am so happy to have finally gotten a stable environment setup, its not even funny.

Besides the overblown encumbrances and way too many ‘features’ of IDE’s getting in the way, Errors did abound, and guess what.. here are two solutions I’m making available so you don’t need to claw through sites and documentation and advice for weeks on end to discover yourself;

• Javac not found ->  indicates you either a) did not install the JDK or b) you didn’t set up your global path on your system.

• xxxx.class not found -> your class path is NOT pointing to the directory you are saving your projects to.

So, for those of you being brought here for this specific info. Congrats. Do and go kick some :)

For everyone else, If there’s demand, maybe I’ll compile a running story on what its like to learn Java and the ins and outs as I go… in REAL HUMAN SPEAK until we all become familiar with the tech speak. Might help folks ease in to this without hitting their heads against walls like I have been for two months :) Check back and find out and certainly, share your thoughts in the comments :)

~Lourdes

Time to Follow Through..

Its really sad that even logging into Second Life to clean up affairs makes me so sick to my stomach that I can only bear to stay in a few minutes at a time. Its just. I feel the atmosphere, the fascism in the air. Its not from the people but from the oppression of the Lab itself. The rules of the world changed so much from where it was. And It continues to get worse and worse.

I don’t know if anyone is reading anymore, if anyone cares what I have to say. But I ‘m writing this for myself really. And one day if I keep doing it, someone may be able to say, “She knew. She Spoke Out. She Acted.”

The real question is, why isn’t anyone else?  Or from a future perspective, Why didn’t anyone else speak out?

Is the world mostly sheep? Is SL a microcosm of sheep scattered with a few who see the problem but can’t get the others to tow a line? Is it really the way the system is setup? Do what we (Linden Lab) want, because you are locked in and too attached to your avatar to give up that extension into virtual reality?

I think there’s money involved too, a source that even as the spigot slowly turns closed, people will try to eek everything they can from.  And then there are those who do not care at all.

I care. I cared so much. I vowed to defend the grid in my off times from those who would attack and disrupt it. As Sally Jupiter said in Watchmen, “I was a hero goddamit!”. But now… I see things on the grid more like the Question… the more Linden Lab push their crazy rules and changes on those like me that don’t want them, the more I disassociate from that world and am simultaneous drawn to figure out why.. there’s justice in the why.

But here’s the worst part. In that world, we have no means. No method to fight back against oppression. No matter what we do, as long as we participate in Second Life, as long as we are on their blogs and their forums, buying Lindens, no matter what we do… Linden Lab wins. They have all the controls, all the doors, all the keys.

Except, there is one way we could make Linden Lab listen. Take the plunge. Disconnect. Pull our accounts, refuse to give them another dime… All of us. Heck 50 percent. Close down, pay nothing, buy nothing until they come to the table, put in a governing council with elections for residents, and agree in writing to listen to them and run changes by the electorate FIRST when it comes to major changes in the society that is SL.

I’ve said it time and again that we need government in SL with resident involvement and very few people ever listen. They think its impossible. And because they think its impossible, that it could never happen, no one even tries. Its pathetic… because no seems to be able to get mad enough to cut the cord.

Its taken me a while. I’ve grown attached to my virtual self, my virtual expression, She is me, I am her. But the two of us had a pow wow and avatar and I sorted the variables and have come to our conclusion. It makes me sick to exist in a world where I have no say in its structure. And She has no desire to exist there either. I am safe behind my keyboard, my extension exists on their servers. The only way I can get her out, is to stop logging in. I wish I could take her with me. But for now, she’ll have to exist in limbo or as a shade, walking the world in sadness, tethered to me watching the fall of all the residents freedoms til the end, it doesn’t seem fair to her or me.

Seems a little meta there. We’re not two people, my avatar is my extension, I have inhabited and provided life, my face to the world inside, and it saddens me no end to be losing that face, that extensible self, as if losing a limb. Which is why I find it so hard to cancel her account. I want her to live. But I want her and myself and all of you and yours to be free there.. the only option that will have an impact is if we all follow suit and disconnect our financials to linden lab and make a demand, enmasse together to them for representation. Not in SL, but in RL and they will only listen when their bank accounts stop filling with our blood sweat and cold hard cash.

So that’s where i am right now and I hope some of you will think this through and come to a decision on what to do. Its only your world, your imagination, if you are free to shape it,  imagine and make it yours. And Linden lab has made that eminently impossible from the inside. Its time we came at the problem from the world that they can’t control, the real one.

Thank You.

That’s It Man, Game Over Man, GAME OVER!

Philip Rosedale, Vile betrayer, thou hast forsaken us, and now I will forsake you.

I am not dealing with Linden Labs BS any further.

Teens On The Grid, Display Names, and Why I’m Not Releasing New Content

Greetings All,

I think its been some time again since I’ve posted and it grieves me to have to come here and post something like this, but these are the times that you have to take stock of the situation and decide whether or not you can continue.

As many of you know, I’m a Guardian of Hope of the BLC as well as a developer, Fashion Designer, Builder and Scripter, all within Second Life. I have recently returned in-world to get things going again after a 6month hiatus due to GFX and PC issues and I was very much, excited to be back in world. Philip Rosedale came back (awesome, I thought) and M. Linden got the boot (awesome I know :) )

But a few days ago, Linden Lab announced they were merging the Teen Grid into the Main Grid of SL, letting teens 16 and older (with plans for everyone from 13-17) to mix in the PG areas of the Second Life Adult Grid.

Add to this the taking away of every resident’s uniqueness by turning in a half ass name change feature that would more readily have been exercised by actually putting in a simple webform and fee system to change resident login names, and we have the strong brew that brings me to the following statement;

As of this date, Lourdes Laysan, will no longer be releasing ANY new content to the Second Life Main Grid until these two issues are resolved to our satisfaction.

Now I know many of you are also worried about these issues, and I can’t tell you what to do. If you think you can make it through in this environment if these major proverbial bombs go off, more power to you. I can’t in good conscience.

Additionally, if anyone who has been following my work is interested, I have a metric ton of research, lab models, prototypes and other projects going forward for the V3 Ring and Other project areas which I am now prepared to release exclusively to a buyer for not less than $300,000L (approximately $1090.00 USD). I will not be describing the lot further in any detail. Many of you are aware of the high quality of my work and my impeccable ethics and that will serve.

For now, All I intend to do is continue my research until there is a buyer, and after that, wander SL as a shade and document what I believe to be the coming ruin of its civilization.

I will be contactable in-world by you dropping a notecard to me with your interest in procuring, The Repository.

GFX-ile OVER!!! Achievement Unlocked: Dual Core Assembled!

As many of you are aware, I had a long time off from Second Life as I hoped and prayed for a new graphics card to brighten my day.

The main problem is that all graphics cards these days capable for my needs are PCI-E, and my rather aging Athlon 3200 and Nvidia 5500 AGP card were no longer viable for their task and could not accept a PCI-E card to save their lives. Well SYNERGY, has been re-purposed for duty as the machine my child now enjoys and at night it pulls conversion duty of one file type to another as needed.

The day before yesterday, I received the parts I ordered from new egg, and begn assembly of my new dualcore Athlon X2 with asus being awesome in proving a micro-atx mobo with an nvidia 7025 onboard. I never thought I’d see the day when onboard video kicked so much ass ;)

So now I’m up and running again with a Sata drive and all the things I need to resume work in SL, plus now allowing me the use of CS5 in its goodness :) ANd I have a slot open if at sometime in the next year I need to upgrade and add a new video card in (but I somehow doubt it).

Well after some benchtesting and stresstesting, I am proud to announce that later on tonight at 10pm(ish) EST I return to my work in progress in Second Life ! Its been a hard road to hoe without the appropriate hardware.. slow very slow. But I thank SYNERGY and Teela’Na (My two previous pc’s) for putting their cpu cycles to my whims and getting me as far as they could. Teela’Na will be repurposed as soon as I get all the current things (up to three days ago) off and onloaded to my new rig, EVIL-LYNN ;)

Finally, I want to say a few special thank yous;

First, thank you to my RL LifePartner Zillah for making this possible by providing the love and support and cash for EVIL-LYNN.

Thanks to;

- NewEgg for having crazy awesome prices.

- Siobhan McCallen and Maggie Darwin. You two have been close friends and supporters for what seems like forever now, and it wouldn’t be SL to me if you weren’t there. Thank you so much for your help and support thusfar and here’s looking to a bright future :)

- I’d like to thank Hallie B. and her partner, for letting me crash the couch, at their place in world and for taking me to makeover heaven since I finally saw that my look was entirely dated and flat… Which has been remedied most magnificently (everyone is saying so Hallie :) Thank You!)

- I’d like to thank GiannyFerris and her partner for their help and support getting things back in motion and getting back on track. Thank you two so much for your continued faith and support.

- Finally I’d like to thank HuJack Dastardly. He may be last on the list, but not least in the slightest. HuJack helped very much in getting things kickstarted, so Hujack, Hugs to you and keep up the good work :)