SL profiles down

"SLProfiles - we'll be back soon - BIGGER BETTER LOUDER!

8/1/07 - Our ISP declared bankrupt and has disconnected all their servers without us even having a chance to download all our content. Since they also took care of all our backups, we have no way to "quickly" restore everything.

Since our dedicated server was located in a different state, it will be shipped to us and should arrive here by Friday. At that time, I'll be restoring ALL the content of that server and push it to this new server. If the server IS indeed here by Friday, then I'm hoping to be back online by Saturday August 4.

I'm very sorry about the inconvenience this is causing but I promise you that I will do anything in my power to get all this resolved as quickly as possible!

Yo Brewster - Admin"

I was trying to reach SLprofiles since yesterday, but found out now, why I was not be able to log in on their site. It seems that everything related to Second Life encounters some kind of problems.

News from the Linden Blog

Classified Advertisement extension in Second life

"Due to our inability to enable search for an extended time period this week, we have pushed the expiration date of every advertisement that was in the classifieds as of 17:00 PDT yesterday forward by four days. While we realize this is not of much help to those who had timed events, this does partially address our break in service. You can of course edit any current classified advertisement to be more timely if you choose.

Thank you!"

I don't work directly with the search bar, to look after possible events, but I can imagine that, all organizers of coming events in the next few days, will suffer from this.

Nevertheless I think that they will be inventive, to find other possibilities to spread the word.

But the good thing is, we are being informed by the Lindens.

Not all commercial investors have the same opinion about this, as Grey Blankes was commenting this message:"

1. Grey Blankes Says:
   August 1st, 2007 at 9:51 AM PDT

   "I do have to say its nice when i dont have to pay to renew a 36,000L ad when nobody can see it…NOT this is what your supposed to do LL.

   Moreover think how long search worked but TPs were down or items were lost. I pay 785USD a month in regions alone…planning to compensate me for the innability to put the regions to their intended use in spite of your ineptitude. Yea I thought not. How about my customers, all 14,000 of them who at one time or another have been subject to random non deliveries due to a loss of communications.

   How about compensation for me? You do know that due to your failure to deliver a stable service it can cost me anywhere from 1000USD to 2500USD a month depending on the stability of SL that month. Tell me why I shouldn’t complain. Tell me where in the ToS it says you can take moen y from a customer and not deliver a service they paid for. Lawyers agree,

   “taking of money for a service that is not rendered to satisfaction despite agreements to service is subject to at minimum refund for any all all instances service was not available.”

2. 16 Grey Blankes Says:
   August 1st, 2007 at 9:58 AM PDT

   I guess what I’m saying is you cant legally make someone pay for something they didn’t get no matter WHAT the agreement or ToS say.

   So what exactly am I suggesting? Prorated fees and payments for any and all durations that service is less than 100 percent available. If you think that you don’t have to do that, you may want to hire a different lawyer to draw up your terms of service. State and Federal laws provide protection for this very reason, and moreso they encompass that the laws cannot be overridden if a lawsuit was ever to be filed, making your current ToS obselete.

So let's see what will come out of this.....still confident that Linden will sort it out eventually. And probably facing a new issue, ;)

W00t! Second time in a row!

For the second time now, this blog, Looker Lumet, has won the Second Life Topsites monthly award.

And after two months, I definitely can say, that it pays off. I have more readers coming to my blog, and I also noticed that from these new viewers, there are some who find it interested enough, to visit my blog again.
So it is thanks to my visitors that I won this prize. Thank you all.

There was some discussion in the beginning of "SLtopsites", what means this site would have.
Well, I must admit, Richard Palace has learned, I was contacted and paid immediately, and the "SLtopsites" brings some of the blogs in the spotlight. Thanks to this ranking, I have already found several new interesting blogs.
Of course there are still other possibilities, as I have explained before, which don't have a direct link on your blog, and where new visitors will also find your blog, if it is displayed.
But, not to start the whole discussion all over again, besides commenting other blogs, I still think this "SLtopsites" is an interesting way of getting known and explore new blogs. And not only for the winner.

Looker Lumet in the Avatrait Gallery

Since the end of June, I have my pictures exposed in the Avatrait Gallery.
This gallery is also to be found inworld, but it is at this site that some pictures of mine are shown and sold.

"Avatrait is not Flickr or Koinup, or any other photo sharing site. The Avatrait Gallery is for the artist who welcomes a monetary value being placed on, and sought for, their artwork" as Greg Houston, one of the founders and owner, was saying in his email to all the artists.

The pictures that you will find here, are chosen by the owner, and I think that, in the future, also other works of mine will be shown here.
Feel free to visit the site, and look around at all the Second Life artists who have their art exposed here.
The Avatrait Gallery even exists in RL too, as they will have the opening this weekend in Evanston Illinois.

The works, our works, they are selling will be treated especially, to secure the shipment to the customer, and to enjoy it as a normal framed painting or picture.
"We take your uploaded image and run it through a software system to enhance clarity and definition. (We do not change or alter the image). We then print the image on photograph weight paper through one of our high resolution four color printers. After drying, we mount the print in a matted custom black frame (three sizes available), and window the frame with high grade, non- glare, Plexiglas that will not break in shipping. "

It is an honour for me to see my pictures are to be sold at this site, and hope other work of me will be shown soon as well.

Code Red Gallery opening in Second Life

CodeBastard Redgrave will open her new gallery upcoming weekend on 08-03-2007 with live dj.

Well, I look forward to see the artists, who will show their work there. The gallery will present works for sale from very talented SL artists: Marquez Tone, Hiro Edelman, Mairead Fitzgerald, HolliVals Allen, and of course Codie herself. Still 5 other to confirm.

As she says on her blog the new Art Gallery is integrated with Code Red Lounge, but also adds an additional story for more art exposition and lounging.

"On this 3rd and 4th of August 2007, we will hold a monster 24h bash, with a fat DJ lineup from 5PM LST on friday. There will be 12 talented DJs playing all styles of music, you guys will never hear such a various set. Lineup to come on this post later."

Interesting event to come this weekend.

UPDATE 08-01-2007: Code Red Gallery DJ list from Nadine Nozaki

Gridwide Slowdowns in Second Life

Even when I am not online, I receive messages that there are severe problems on the grid. Frontier Linden reported issue's yesterday and Saturday, but it appears these problems are not solved yet. Worse, they are growing, with other new issue's.
"Teleporting" is not working properly, "Search" doesn't work.......
"We are experiencing gridwide issues at the moment. Resident may experience slowdowns or failures of search, mapping, teleporting and asset operations. Inworld L$ balances may show as Loading".
Last Saturday we even got the message "Access denied" in the login screen, which is resolved by now.

The best thing to do at the moment is, or don't log in, or if you are logged in, don't make any transactions whatsoever, and wait till they solve the problem(s).

I think we may expect a new update very soon now.;)

I hate my job.....

Today it is my first day at work after the holidays, and thought about a joke that I read some weeks ago. It will keep me on track, for a while at least.;-)

When you have an "I hate my job" day, try this: On your way home from work, stop at the pharmacy, go to the thermometers section and purchase a rectal thermometer made by "Best Thermo". Be very sure you get this brand.

When you get home, lock your doors, draw the drapes, and disconnect the phone so you will not be disturbed during your therapy. Change to very comfortable clothing, such as a sweat suit and lie down on your bed. Open the package and remove the thermometer. Carefully place it on the bedside table so that it will not become chipped or broken.

Take out the material that comes with the thermometer and read it. You will notice that in small print there is a statement: "Every rectal thermometer made by Best Thermo is personally tested." Now close your eyes and repeat out loud five times: "I am so glad I do not work for quality control at the Best Thermo Company."

Me and my car

I was looking for a nice car, but did not expect to see this one between all the vehicles in Second Life.
The SLR Mercedes Mc Laren is a beautiful car, loved and possessed by some famous persons in RL.
I did not buy it though, as you don't need a car in SL, to my opinion. So I wonder if these magnificent replica's in SL, will find a buyer after all.

A little horror story

Have you ever visited a scary, spooky house?
I did, and if it was scary.........it surely was.
It was a night as every other night, without clouds, the moon was shining through the trees. And there it was, a house. I could see light on the porch. There must be someone at home.
We were walking down the road to the house, knocked at the door, but, ....no one to answer.
The door was not locked, so we looked at each other, and decided to give it a try. From the moment we entered the living room , the zombies, coming from everywhere, were attacking us, biting us, they didn't stop. No one could run, every one of us got bitten.
At that moment I even ended up on the operation table, where the zombies bit me several times. There was no defense possible.
They took me upstairs where I underwent the worst thing I have ever seen. The zombies had put a fire battery in the house, and put me on it. And it was hot, I can assure you that.






After being smoked, I still lived after the fire, I was put on a table with a saw, to cut me half through. What an experience, two of me....... Blood was splattering against the walls.
But at the end, I survived, no one was hurt, it was only second life. Ooof, it could have been the worst nightmare ever, but it wasn't.;)

My first building experience or Building Tutorial for Newbies

I thought it was time to start building some things on my own, to be creative with something else besides taking photographs. So I started to build my own fireplace, keeping in mind, that I don't have any wood to burn.
You create and edit a block, with the size you want, and you stretch it, as long and wide as you like. Then you do CTRL+D, to copy that item and move it upwards. You pay attention to the positions of both pieces. Than you edit another block, and make it your "motherboard". You stretch it and make it the same size as the height of the two blocks that you have edited before, to use it as back wall.
You move it to the back side of your fireplace.
Once that is in place, you can click on each different part, and go to "Texture", to put a texture on your project. You look through your inventory, to see if you have any useful texture to put on.
Mine wasn't good enough, as the flames, which I put later on, where coming through the back wall.
These flames where also freebies, and intended to wear at your hand. I have put four of these in my fireplace (without any wood). One flame has 2 prims, so four of these would not make it too high in total prims.
When you have put those flames at their position, you click every single item in edit, keeping the CTRL button down, and taking the back wall as last item, as that is your "motherboard". You go to "Tools" and link the items. And you have your own fireplace.
Easy huh!?