Happy ...

Today is not just New Year's Eve, but its the Rez Day of the one I love Angela Seale. She came into Second Life in 2006 and we got together not quite a year after that. She's my friend, partner, wife, and mistress ... all that and more. Here are just a few of my favorite Safe-For-Work pictures of the two of us.

This was a piece I cobbled together from stuff I found on the Interwebs to decorate our home. She's the blonde.

Angela (top) likes to prank, like landing on people upside down.

Who doesn't like shopping with their best friend? Tell you a secret, though ... Angela doesn't like to look funny.

Cuddling with Ange at the Lesbos Memorial Park. She's fond of purple, btw, and a very good cuddlier.

She's a very, very good cuddler. When she holds me in-world its like we are really together.

Happy Rez Day, Baby! And Happy New Year to everyone. I hope your 2012 is as special as my Angela is to me ... warm, loving, and full of fun.

Role Play with Benefits (NSFW)

For many reasons, Second Life (SL) has been my social life for some time now. At present, I help care for my step-mother 24/7/365 and prior to that I practiced hard at being invisible. Anthrophobia (fear of people), Androphobia (fear of men), and a touch of Agoraphobia (fear of outdoors), and other therapy-required issues have kept me very alone, family notwithstanding. Today I have almost no problem going outside, being near people is well-handled by the occasional tranquilizer, and I don't leave the house unarmed (legally ... I have a concealed weapon permit because although I know that I won't ever be held against my will again, it could happen ... gotta love paranoia, right?).

One avatar here is me and one is an alt. Looong story.

So, let's put one and one and one and one together: SL is my social life. I have a "wife" in SL. This blog often has pictures of my avatar's bare backside. The Isle of Lesbos, where I "work" in SL, is well-known as a nookie center for lesbians. Yes, I have sex in Second Life.

Never having had phone sex, I can't verify what folks tell me -- that SL sex is like phone sex with pictures, but I get the idea. Essentially, its two people helping each other masturbate long-distance over an electronic medium, but instead of a phone, they use avatars in a virtual world. Its role play with benefits.

I won't document here what my SL sex life is like beyond saying it is rich, varied, and better than satisfactory. Once every Blue Moon I manage to have Real Life (RL) sex and if could do that regularly I'd probably give up SL sex. There are people who document their SL sex lives, though, and in great detail, often in their profiles. And I'm afraid to look at the "feeds" in many an avatar's profile for fear of what I might see (Scaredaothershankypankyaphobia). And others go even further.

For example: Janet Waverider (as seen on Boobpedia; very NSFW). Holy Crepes! I don't exactly hide what I do or who I do in SL, stopping way short of putting details in my profile, but I can't imagine putting myself on a site like Boobpedia (it is voluntary; I checked). Don't ask me how I came across Janet's page on that site (porn happens). I've never seen SL mixed in with RL in this fashion. Sure, there are SL sex blogs (I've never intentionally looked at one) and its hard to travel Mainland SL without finding a public sex place.* But in my many years traveling Our World, this was a first for me. Usually, SL sex isn't quite like that despite Voice availability and external Web cam services.

Could it be the anonymity that SL sex offers? Probably not in Janet's instance as her Boobpedia page links to detailed RL information. But I think the idea of being able to behave as you wish in a virtual world, with drama being the only consequence, lures people into forms of SL sex they'd never consider otherwise especially since they are as anonymous as they want to be. Others, consciously or not, use anonymity to express feelings, urges, and desires they could never hitherto express. I see a very high number of "Rezbians," for example, women who tire of the male/female relationship and find it more comfortable to be with other women, with or without sex. You may have heard one woman tell another "I'm so lesbian for you." In SL, its easier to have a Womance** ... one woman comfortably loving another woman for who they are inside.

Certainly there are be other examples of how blindfolded relationships play out in Second Life, but back to how it is documented ... do you have a secret stash of pictures? Do you blog about it? Does your Real Life significant other (or others) know about it? Or are you open about it at all? And how likely are you to reply to this post?

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*Really, SL public sex places are usually just public statue gardens since most folks mere stand around as noobs bump and hump them. But that's another blog post I've been thinking about.

** I couldn't find what a female "bromance" is called so, I came up with that. I think I'm the first to use it.

Things Honour Didn't Tell You

This morning I've had a bit of quiet time that I could use to catch up on things, like visiting the wonderful places that Honour McMillan recommends on her blog. It has also been a time to remember how sneaky she is and that as a former* CIA (Canadian Intelligence Agency) agent, she keeps secrets. For example, in her post "On Dragons, Puzzles & Former Friends in Second Life" she completely fails to mention -- probably intentionally since it might provide valuable intelligence -- that one should look at the map for an overview or to fly up really, really (really, really, really) high to look down upon the landscaping.

Mighty impressive, these Linden Moles, huh? Oh, and she could have mentioned that reading the book upon landing in Cape Ekim (SLurl) might be handy. And did she mention the eggs at all? No. Makes ya wonder, huh? Huh? Huh, I say! (Well, ask, really, since it is an interrogative.)

Visit and visit soon, but remember, I might not tell you all there is to know, either. Just look about very carefully.

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*Are agents ever really (really, really) former?

What's In My Closet: Latex for Christmas

Normally one thinks of wool, fur, and natural fibers during the winter months in the Northern Hemisphere. For my wife, Angela, she thinks of latex, it seems. She bought two outfits from Graves (SLurl) for me and a promise of more when we can go together. This the the G204 Enigma Cat Suit with Alpha Boots and its my have of the two. Here are the other particulars of the outfit for those who care:

Hair: Magika PCF Red Aina (SLurl) special Hug Japan edition
Weapon (on my back, not in view): Sexadoll ingram M-11 back holster from LPP (SLurl)
Jewelry: The G204 collar modified with Open Collar Scripts; custom-made wedding ring; PrimOptic Finesse glasses (SLurl)
Location: Little Mos Eisley (SLurl)

She also bought for me the Graves G203 Enigma Body Suit. Each has variations that either leave some skin exposed or cover it with a semi-transparent latex/mesh mix (as shown above).

I hope you got some fine things for  Christmas (or whatever holiday you celebrate) like I did, but I also hope you that you stayed safe and were able to enjoy good company.

Merry Christmas!!

Many folks seem to be disappearing early because the holiday is on a Sunday and the idea of taking a four-day weekend is too tempting, so here are my holiday wishes a bit early.

Beyond presents, which I admit can be lots of fun despite that I'm not good at receiving ('tis better to give, so it goes), I hope everyone has a safe and loving Christmas. Enjoy your family if you can be with them or find a family and join them instead (ask permission, first, if they be complete strangers in a home you've never seen, of course). Give of yourself and you'll receive far more in return.

Lost the Feelin'

Nope. I haven't felt like blogging. Haven't felt like doing much of anything. Christmas sort of does that to me since my father passed away many years ago. Then, just in the last few weeks, the father of a friend passed on, too, and I was treated like I was part of their family at the funeral.

This is a bad time of year for my mom (whom I take care of), too, and that just worsens my mood. She goes from depressed to hyper manic in a heart beat. Example: "We aren't going to decorate!" was the mantra for a month then one afternoon "You have to get things decorated; we have only a few days!!" That was on top of trying to get several other things all deemed to be ultra-high priority to her done at the same time.

To top it all off, there is frakin' snow on The Isle of Lesbos. SNOW! I hate snow. My boss lives in Key West so she things this is marvelous. And her boss is Norwegian. They have snow 366 days a year.

Did I mention that I hate snow?

The Abranimations Advent Gifts (available here) cheer me up, though. Like this penguin avatar from today pictured below. It is so cute and it comes with a fishie to slap folks with!

Slapping the Meeroos at Lesbos with this fish cheers me up.

Normally I don't like to get presents, but Advent gifts in SL are something different. Lots of places have them and many are featured on freebie blogs. I don't go to many, but the Abranimations one is always fun and they are always so generous.

Really, there's no reason to be depressed. Life is actually rather good, I suppose. And Second Life is certainly a highlight. I'll buck up soon, probably after the holiday and after the Isle goes green again. That will be exciting because of some surprises. I'll post pix. In the mean time, I'll just slap people with my fishie and make the best of it.

Now Tell Me That Mesh SUCKS

"Mesh Sucks!"

Seems to be that's all I hear. I think it is because too many people are invested in hating the Official Viewer, for one, so they stick with non-compatible viewers. But I also think it is because too many people focus on clothing. Sure, clothes and avatars made with the mesh feature have some limitations, but other things can be made with mesh ... something too many people forget. Check out this statue:

Large lawn ornament, small statue w/2 cute Animations, or teeny tabletop-size: L$280 each. 

To think that statue is but four prims worth (it acts like one prim, but all mesh objects have a "weight" that is the workload their resolution requires and can be equated to a number of prims). Even in scultpies I bet it would be at least double that value and it wouldn't rez nearly as quickly.

Hatzfeld Runo, of Tiki Lounge & Tiki Tattoo, has an entire branch of his store devoted to mesh creations if you'd like to see what a real artist can do with  Second Life's latest feature. Maybe like this drinks giver ...

Two Prims! It's only Two Prims!! OMGsh that's fabulous. L$280 and it offers a choice of two different drinks on touch.

Virtual People are Real People

Go look at "Portraits of Online Gamers Next to Their Alter Egos" on PetaPixel now. 'nuff said.

This has kept me from blogging

THE AIRSTRIP, a new club (of sorts) I've been working on instead of blogging.

Aside from Real Life monopolizing my time, I've been working on a new build (shhh ... mostly secret!) and having a blast, especially now that I've finished the custom, blinky neon sign.. When it's done, there will be an air strip for WarBug mini-planes, kyoot little flyers that you can rez on demand then blast friends out of the sky ... or hope they don't do the same to you. Federal Aeronautic Administration regulations state that for every X-number of hours you spend in the air, you must spend Y-number of hours at rest. So where to weary pilots go? Strip clubs! Every airport I've seen has at least one near by so I thought, "Why not?" and made one. Still a few bits to go, then link everything up, deliver it to the client, and take flight when it is installed. Or dance on the pole some more *grin*

Privacy Concern?

Just a few minutes ago I popped into Welcome Island Public3 (SLurl) where I was looking to see what changes might have been made based on the most current viewer. Soon, I have to start work on a Welcome Area for someone and I figure I might as well borrow from The Source. Upon exit, though, Main Chat showed that I might have had my privacy violated ...

[16:32] Teleport completed from Welcome Island Public3 (43,140,24)
[16:32] To teleport to locations like 'F R O S T', click on the Places button, then select the Landmarks tab in the window that opens. Click on any landmark to select it, then click 'Teleport' at the bottom of the window. (You can also double-click on the landmark, or right-click it and choose 'Teleport'.)
[16:32] To contact Residents like 'CC Columbo', click on the People button , select a Resident from the window that opens, then click 'IM' at the bottom of the window. (You can also double-click on their name in the list, or right-click and choose 'IM').

Some God-endowed script looked into my Landmarks list and grabbed a random site (Frost, which I featured on this blog last April) to recommend that I visit and then peeked into my Friends list and picked out a name (my brother, in this instance) of someone for me to contact. Which leads to a couple questions:

1. If I was a new resident, what picks would the script have made?
2. Isn't this a sort of privacy violation? Who I know and where I go shouldn't be open to the perusal of others.

If The Lab can do this, I'm guessing that someone else might be able to create a script that can do the same thing. Does anyone know what sort of security The Lab has on a Resident's stored information?

New Premium Gift! [Updated]

Months after announcing a monthly gift for Premium Residents in Second Life, The Lab has finally gotten around to putting out a second one out at the various kiosks (click here for a location list). It is a fine-looking sailing boat, as you can see in the pic below. Hopefully it will encourage Residents to try the rather nice vehicle sandboxes available to Premium Residents (click here for a list of Premium Sandboxes).

If you are a Premium Resident, you probably received an email about the new gift so you can click the "A Sailor's Guide" links for other places to sail. The gift also comes with several landmarks for sailing locations. I'll try to find the nice sailing tutorial my friend Dusty came up with and post it here so you can get the most fun out of your boat if the included instructions aren't enough (just leave a comment).

The boat is very, very nice. A HUD lets you customize some textures as well as gives you control of how the boat is operated (wind vs. motor, for example), and other aspects of your experience. It appears to be well made by the Linden Moles (of course ... the Moles rock!). One really cool bit is that after you sit, simply click the boat and your avie moves from pose to pose to pose, one of which is perfect if you get seasick. Is the boat worth the membership fee? Probably not, but if you are a Premium Resident, then you should certainly take advantage of this freebie.

[Update] My friend Dusty contacted me with more info:

• The Linden boat seats up to 11 avies at a time.
• The Wind mode is "dumbed down a bit" so you have no real control over how the sails interact with the wind. So it's sort of like an Auto Pilot.
• Sailing classes or tutorials aren't really needed, but they might be if you upgrade to another boat, like the FREE Nemo 2 at Dusty's place (and other locations). 

I've sailed the Nemo 2 that Dusty recommends and it is more fun because you have to read the winds and make decisions. If I just want to party with folks, then the Linden boat would be great.

Behold, the Power of Boobies

Just the other day, my friend Honour McMillan wrote a nice piece about how a skin can dramatically change your look even if you don't touch the sliders for body part size. I searched long and hard for my skin so I would look like "me" but I still had to adjust my nose as it became too thin (see this for my first pic with the skin).

Other body parts can make a huge difference, too, especially the often mocked but enormously (see the puns?) prim boobs usually called "implants." I have a couple sets myself, for a few reasons, one of which is that with them I can go beyond the slider maximum to have the same size boobs in Second Life that I have in Real Life (no, you can't see the RL ones unless you are really, really clever enough to figure out where they are online).

But I don't normally wear the implants. Maybe it's me, but I can't get them to look as real on me as other girls manage and clothing has been impossible to figure out. But when I heard about the Prim Boob Clothing Hunt (start here), I thought I'd take a bit of my free time and give it a whirl. If I got one good outfit from it and learned more about how these things work, then I'd be ahead of the game.

The third outfit (Viper Overalls from Vooh Designs; SLurl) is fabulous! Take a look ...

That's pretty much my RL size there. Maybe a bit bigger. Hard to judge, but they are close to "right."
I'm in the hangar at WarBug Headquarters (SLurl), a fun place to fly mini-planes and get some great bargains on unusual things. You can also buy the planes or try the prize chair to win one.

Can't get away with this at all in Real Life. Well, maybe a bit. I have a shirt like this from the garage my big brother owns and I wear it kinda like this when I'm there helping out now and then ... the one place I play the tease.

Yes, "the girls" are hard to fit in either life, but in "meatspace" I don't dress like this. In public I wear bulky hoodies, dark clothes, and whatever I can to de-emphasize my figure because the attention I usually get has not been positive. In the media, it may look like lots of fun to be a really busty lass, but anonymous gropes, hostility from less-blessed women, and other problems often outweigh the benefits (I think they look fabulous!).

But in Second Life, I can flaunt "the twins" with fewer of the negative consequences. Sure, men still verbally "grope" and the scorn for big breasts (via sliders or implants) can still be strong, but Our World generally seems safer. Why? Perhaps because most of the people I hang out with know me there is are fewer problems. Who knows? It just works, so get whatever body parts are "you" and enjoy.

Tis (nearly) the Season

Visiting the Team at The North Pole Sleigh Ride (SLurl).

Clueless Again

Real Life is ...

Well, it is being creative (close HTML Sarcasm tag) thus my in-world time has been minimal. But I helped winterize the Isle of Lesbos (putting up Christmas decorations, mostly), completed a major build, and then starting/finishing a minor build. No idea what it is. You tell me.

It is not a spaceship, though the thingy in the middle made me keep thinking of the bridge of the Enterprise.

My intent was to build an underwater habitat. Last year I made a start on a fairly realistic tube design with a moon pool and everything as if working divers would use it. But I got bored and wanted something more along the lines of this picture to the left (click for a larger view) but without the glass roof. So I started with a torus and my love of symmetry took over. I started with support beam concepts, trying a half dozen before setting on the first one I tried. Then I eyed the torus hole in the middle and I thought "Aha! A platform of sorts!" without extending the thought to "Why a platform?" and I was off. After that a new idea for making stairs grabbed me ...

The Platorm, AKA "Uccie's Vexation" is done.

And now it is done. I think. The numbers are right. The maths are correct. The symmetry "on paper" is unquestioned. So why is the one side off by what would be a centimeter or two in the Real World? Don't look too closely at some of the seams on what is my right side in this picture above. Sure. I'm one of the few people that looks that closely at seams. After all, I'm the one who textures unseen prim faces. I'm that picky.

But after throwing in some steampunk-y textures/colors, I still have no idea what this is supposed to be. It could be an undersea habitat (with no means of getting in since it has no Moon Pool nor a submersible dock). It is maybe large enough for a club of sorts, with a space for a DJ or small band in the middle (or a stripper pole and lounge seats). I dunno. But even as I write this I've had like three or four new ideas. Who knows what I'm going to be doing next week.

Sekret Spy Cam!

I've been fighting Real Life to cram in some Second Life time for the my current build projects so I haven't been blogging lately, but an envelope filled with pictures was on my desk when I woke up today -- pictures from sort of Sekret Spy Cam that must have been following me while I was building late last night. Well, rather than succumb to potential blackmail, I'm going to proactively publish the PG-rated shots (no, you can't see the other ones!) here thus diluting the chances of anyone trying to get my last L$47 through nefarious means. I have nothing to hide, but I think I'll wear clothes while I build from now on (safety first, girls!).

Looking past my tushie, you'll see there is at least one reddish room inside the build.

That appears to be a ladder over my shoulder? What kind of structure uses ladders?

Hey! That looks like hay! Could this be some sort of barn-like structure?

If it is a barn, why does it have a nice spiral staircase around a stone column and a nicely-glazed fancy window?

This build is almost done anyway -- end of the month, I think -- and I'll get started on another. I've already finished a prior build and I think there is a third one on the list. I don't remember. I wish my would-be blackmailer had left a reminder.

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Blackmail: 1550s, from black + M.E. male "rent, tribute," from O.E. mal "lawsuit, terms, bargaining, agreement," from O.N. mal "speech, agreement;" related to O.E. mæðel "meeting, council," mæl "speech," Goth. maþl "meeting place," from P.Gmc. *mathla-, from PIE *mod- "to meet, assemble." From the practice of freebooting clan chieftains who ran protection rackets against Scottish farmers. Black from the evil of the practice. Expanded c.1826 to any type of extortion money (source).

Premium Membership Discount

If you want this discount, click here.

Our friends at Linden Lab want more folks on Premium Memberships, something I've often recommended if you have an economic stake in "the game" (see this post) though I have found no benefit when it comes to technical issues (see this post for an example) so when I saw a blurb at the sign-in screen about a 50% discount I leaped in to get one for an alt ... and stopped.

Of course I read the fine print. It looks like a savings of some three U.S. dollars or there abouts. So really, now is that a worthwhile savings?

New Damian Fate Avatars *Updated*

Now in your basic Inventory (Inventory > Clothing > Initial Outfits) are some werewolf avies made by Damian Fate (read about them here). They are "mesh" so you will need a modern viewer (i.e., not most 3rd Party Viewers).

The vampires are from Lorac Farella at Pulse (SLurl). I hope to have a detailed post on each of these soon.

Time Flies

Time flies when you are having fun, the saying goes, but it also flies as the holidays grow closer and you need more time to get things done. I've got a billion mostly pleasant Real Life things to do and like an idiot I agreed to build stuff in SL for an upcoming project. The latter should be pleasant, but a while ago The Lab separated a sub-pane some important tools from the Edit/Build pane and now building can be a downright laborious.

Click the Options button in the Edit/Build pane to pop out the Grid Options sub-pane.

Like many, I often switch between World mode in building, where the movement of a prim is along the X, Y, Z axes of the region you are in, to the Local mode where prim movement is along the X, Y, Z axes of the prim based on it's rotation in relation to the region's axes. With the option setting in a separate pane more time is needed to do the switch -- sure, just moments, but it adds up -- and the object remains selected as long as that sub-pane is open, even if the Edit/Build pane is closed. Sloppy, sloppy.

Fae Dragon

At the Isle of Lesbos "Dungeons and Dragons" event today, someone admired my Anubis Dragon Hatchling from the Isle of Wyrms. I tried to find it on the SL Marketplace for them to get some specs but the only "hatchie" there was the Fae Dragon ... and I fell in love. So I had to splurge and get one for my wee pixy alt, Zyx Flux. My goodness, is it cute!

Zyx, surveying her domain, the Secret Garden at the Isle of Lesbos.

The flying animation is awesome! The legs retract unlike the Anubis hatchie that my "regular" avie wears.

It took a while to get the coloring right ... my pixies are usually a certain shade of blue. I love the wings as leaves rather than the dragonfly-style the humanoid pixies have. There is no manual in the box so I'm going to have to guess what a few of the HUD items do. It should be fun experimenting.

Maybe I'll get my "young adult" pixy Zyx Resident the next size up, the Wyrmling .... hmmm.

New Attachment Points

While reading through the Release Notes for today's update of the Official Viewer (see them here), an enhancement to add two new attach points on the avatar -- the Neck and the Root -- is listed. Hooray! Read more about the enhancement here.

Now, if I could install the update without first deleting the old install, I'd be happy.

Projected Light

The other day I ran across "How to Light Second Life Photos the Graphic Dix Way" posted on New World Notes which directed me to a great tutorial on Second Life lighting (direct link here). I had long forgotten about the projected light function of the light prim feature and had get to a sandbox to try it again.

Adding graffiti via Projected Light emphasizes boobies (erm ... s'what the graffiti says)

Since the tutorial is so complete and you are going to read it anyway, I won't go into detail here about how to use projected light, but I would like to make a add a few points, not the least of which is that if you include avatars in the shot your subject(s) needs to have prim eyes. The Lighting and Shadows feature in the Graphics preferences renders texture-only eyes as milky white orbs and that is not attractive to most folks. Additionally, don't be discouraged if the texture picker box in the Edit pane looks X'd out as if you can't choose it. Go ahead and click. Don't like the texture you chose? Then try another one, but I found, however, you have to close the Edit pane for your change to take effect. Also keep in mind that the prim will no longer act as a radiated source so you'll have to rez others to light the rest of the build -- keeping in mind that they also light the projected image and may wash it out. Finally, a legitimate use for Facelights (assuming you don't have more than six light sources in view at the time as Second Life can only show that many at once). While you are on Features tab in the Edit pane, note the FOV function for later and the Focus function. The latter can give your projected image a blurring at the edges. Ambiance has no affect that I can detect. Lastly, if you are trying to project onto a prim that is set to Full Bright, give up. It won't work. Same with Glow.

Last point is about the mechanics of the source prim influence the size and shape of the final projection. Check out this info graphic:

Aside from the position of the prim along it's Z-Axis, rotation is key, too. If you don't rotate the prim at all, it will project on the floor. Setting the Y-Axis to 90 degrees projects the image to the west (thus 270 degrees would be eastward, and so on) and another 90 degrees on the Z-Axis makes text read left-to-right.

So those are my helpful tips. Now get out there and build! Feel free to post links to your pix in the Comments of this post. I'd love to see them.

St. Illuminatious Cathedral

For several days I've been aching to write about St. Illuminatious Cathedral (SLurl) by Abel Dreamscape but have been thwarted by Real Life and other in-world projects. Today I made the time and I hope you make the time after reading about it here to visit this amazing site.

Let's get the basics out of the way. St. Illuminatious Cathedral is some 4075 prims without furniture and easily fills an 64 meter by 120 meter area with a height that almost strains draw distances, just over 102 meters. Like the real world edifices that inspired this structure, it is mind-blowingly big. And the beauty of the build is equal to or greater than it's size. You must see this to believe it. Here is the gratuitous, specially lighted and composed picture you'd expect.

Look very closely and you'll see a nun clad in all white in the main entrance. That is my 1.88m (6.16 ft) avatar. Take a breath and think about the scale here.

I could have taken more beauty shots like that with different Windlight settings and various tweaks and ... frankly, none showed the real beauty. Here are some detail views, with comments, that I hope give a better idea of how gorgeous this build really is.

This could have been a simple texture as it is about 15m above ground level and most folks wouldn't look that closely, but it is all prim. Looking from ground level as you move left-to-right it makes a difference as the block wall shows through the details making the depth real, not implied.

Look at the little "spires" ... they are all over the place. To me, this just shows the builder's love of being faithful to the source. There is a lot of love in this building.

Very skillful use of sculpts. Mr Dreamscape sells the parts in a Builder's Pack, by the way. Not like I'd have the skill to use them. *sigh*

Flying buttresses. Flying Buttresses! Holy Canoli, they are even faithful to Real Life architecture. Sadly, though, there is no "real" rainwater drainage system, gargoyles aside, but adding the little tunnels and all that would raise the prim count horrendously, I imagine.

The towers are stunning inside and outside. Look at the spires and the windows and the slats and the ... I'm having an Architecture-gasm. If you ever see some 'idiot' with binoculars outside a cathedral or other such structure in RL, it might be me. I love looking at all the little details.

One of the towers has bells. Big Bells. When you visit, look closely at the support arms. The clappers are odd, but not something I haven't seen.

Right. You have to climb into the bell tower, stand in a certain place, then cam in to see this detail of the ropes. Builders who bother with this level of detail are really passionate about their craft.

The staircase to the bell tower. There might not be any furniture included with the cathedral if you buy a copy, but the building is not bereft of decorations. Look for all the candles and you'll see what I mean.

Wonderous vaulted ceilings plus fabulous columns equal amazing beauty.

Above the altar space. Impressed yet?

An arcade beside the altar space, true to Real Life architecture again. And there is one outside under the flying buttresses on what is traditionally called The East End.

More beautiful stained glass in the transepts.

Again, this could have been a flat texture, but detail is important in a build of this majesty.

This staircase leads to a walk above the choir area.

Details are important, of course, but when you mind turns to mush you'll go back to saying "wow" as you focus again on  the scale of the cathedral

If you are like me and you really need your own copy of this magnificent build, it is available in-world or on the SL Marketplace for a mere L$45,000 ... about L$44,600 more than I have right now.

V3 is Here

What looked like a simple update to the Official Viewer turned out to be a full update to v3 and the new GUI.

If you like v2 and hate v1, don't upgrade.

It is out of Beta and is running live. Here's the Release Notes with no mention of the GUI change.