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.