Are Second Life’s Jelly Babies Breaking SL?

As I have pointed out more people are talking about Jelly Babies and the coming RC Second Life Quick Graphics Viewer version 3.8.6.305942 movement toward being the main viewer. Of course some know what they are talking about and others don’t.

erratic / ava sweater & meg leggings

erratic / ava sweater & meg leggings
High or low ACI?

I think – Jelly babies will take over SL soon (AKA how linden lab is planning to break second life) – falls in the ‘doesn’t’ category. utilizator404, the author, believes the Lab is breaking SL by introducing the Avatar Complexity Information (ACI) feature. I disagree, but I can see how some may consider the appearance of Jelly Babies as a problem. The opinion that Jelly Babies breaks SL is as valid an opinion as any. I just don’t agree with it. So, I’ll rebut it.

In the article an assumption is expressed that the Lab is not fixing the root causes of lag; failure to optimize the viewer, not changing how the viewer uses video memory, failure to use all the features of new video cards, and no use of Direct3D (a Windows only graphics render engine).

Most of 2014 and 2015 has been spent optimizing features of the viewer and SL servers. If you follow Inara’s or my blog you already know that. If you have only read the release notes of the Linden and third party viewers as they are released,  you know that numerous fixes for how the viewer use memory have been made. From the Third Party Dev’s meeting we know more are in progress.

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Second Life: Business & Drama

Second Life™ is so much like real life. All the same problems, challenges, and drama present in RL are seen in SL too. Now we have the Maitreya Monopoly… First the drama story then the tech that makes this all so silly.

One Reason

One Reason

It seems blogger Sophee Mojo is unhappy with Maitreya or more accurately Onyx LeShelle the creator of Maitreya. The unhappiness has its root in the limited selection of clothes currently available for the Maitreya Mesh body or more accurately the limited set of designers. Sophee points to the developer’s kit for Maitreya that lacks ‘weighting’ information as a deliberate move on Maitreya’s part to control the clothes market. So, the unhappiness is expressed as complaints and accusations. Continue reading

Comparison: Mesh Bodies

The site MeshBodyAddicts.com has new reviews and comparison charts of the mesh bodies available in Second Life. So, if you are shopping, this is a good source of information. See: Reviews: Isteni, Tonic & Dude SLink!

Visage Head Becky

Visage Head Becky

As of now there is no Render Complexity Information in the reviews. With the Complexity Feature on the way (See Quick Graphics viewer in Alternates) I think this is a huge oversight.

If you have wondered about the Omega Applier, see: Omega Solutions.

Slink Male Body Released

Mesh Body Addicts has a post on the new Slink male body.  See: SLink Male Body is OUT & the new MBA Sim! Expect a MBA review soon. Slink’s announcement is here: The Slink Physique Male is now @ Slink.

New Slink Male Body - Sept 2015

New Slink Male Body – Sept 2015 – Its Hot…

With the release of this body comes support for Omega Appliers. They say,

With this body I have introduced Omega support. This means you will need to purchase the Slink activator from the Love -n- Lust Designs marketplace store and use it with your Physique body and your Omega HUD.

If you have male hands and/or feet there is an update. Go to the store and get updated. The change is they now use Omega appliers.

Many Slink items for males are discounted until September 18th. Visit the store to see those.

Second Life Fashion Week 35

Second Life™ has fashion. From outrageous high fashion to clubbing to street slut and into the depths of humiliating bondage there is fashion in SL… whatever your taste or lack of… I’m more into what Kate del Castillo or Jessica Biel might wear, Latino and an American actresses, respectively.  There is a look I go for… whether I achieve it or not is debatable.

Dolls and Demons - Feedly Page

Dolls and Demons – Feedly Page

So, while I’m not a fashion writer, I am a bit of a fashion follower. So, finding the blog Dolls and Demons is like finding candy. Alles Klaar is the blogger and says:

This [Dolls and Demons] is a place of virtual fashion dreams and the occasional nightmare, with lots and lots of quirkiness in between. It’s a place that I call home and one that I hope you will visit too.

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Second Life’s 10th Annual Hair Fair

The trailer is an 8 minute video… a bit long.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzMPLRpgK8k

You probably know Hair Faire is an event to benefit Wigs for Kids. You can visit in-world here (SLURL). The fair ends July 26th.

As usual the regions are full to capacity, about 40 people. Peak use in SL is about 2 to 3 PM PT. The minimum use time is about 2 to 3 AM PT.

Second Life: How Fashion Reviews Can Reduce Lag

In Second Life we have way more standard size rigged mesh than fitted mesh. Every so often I find a standard size mesh something that fits me close enough I can tweak my shape and get a near perfect fit. The Iffyta  AliKat’s Groovy Bikini, shown here, is one of those things.

One of the things missing from promotional material is the Draw-Render Weight of items. Including it would help people reduce lag. Like demos help us decide if we want to purchase. Anything over L$99 without a demo is a no purchase item, as far as I am concerned.

Iffyta Swimsuit Draw Weight

Iffyta Swimsuit Draw Weight

My avatar as shown has a Draw Weight in the SL Viewer of 85,478 (red) with the suit and 82,616 without. That means the suit adds 2,862. I think that is pretty good. You can also see the polygon count in the top is pretty good. In the bottoms it looks a bit high to me. But, for less than 3,000 points I won’t complain. My prim-flexi hair has a Draw Weight of 47,000±.  Continue reading

Pete and Xiola Linden Interview

Canary Beck has an article: Pete Linden Shares Linden Lab’s Sophisticated Approach To Marketing Second Life At SL12B. It is based on a video of Pete and Xiola at SL12B’s Meet the Lindens. She is making the point that the communities idea of the Lab not marketing Second Life is simply wrong. But, she makes no comment on how well, or not, they are marketing SL.

Cozey Contemporary in monotone

Cozey Contemporary in monotone by Wendz Tempest, on Flickr

I suggest reading Canary’s article. I think it gives a good idea of what the Lab says it is doing. But, like many things what we think we are accomplishing and what we are accomplishing are often different. Looking in the search engines on ‘fashion’… it just ain’t happening.  Continue reading