Yxes Muses

Sounds like a poorly quoted line from an old movie, I know. But it does express how I’m feeling lately about the latest “feature” the folks at Linden Labs have shared with the residents of Second Life.

I’m referring to the feature called Avatar Rendering Cost, that is found only in the “Release Candidate” version of the SL “viewer” (or client, as the many of us call it). It is not-so-fondly referred to as ARC, and it is (as my Podmafia co-host might say) EVIL ! It is a “rating” system of how many points of ‘rendering energy’ an avatar is creating, caused by what type of hair, skin, clothing, and other “attachments” that avatar may have on.

Without going any further in the technicalities of this ARC feature, I will say, it stinks! And why does it stink, you ask? Well, I’ll tell you, in my very humble, but honest opinion, exactly why it stinks. It discriminates against the beautiful, the stylish, and the creators of that style and beauty. I think this has sent a very bad message to all the residents that have now discovered it, to go after friends, family and neighbors, and point their virtual finger at them, and judge them to be bad avatars if their ARC is too high.

Hence, the title here, dear reader…. Don’t hate me cuz I’m beautiful. I am an avatar with a need to be stylish, fashionable, and in the know as to who is the best designer of “whatever” I need or want in SL. I, along with tons of other stylish and beautiful avatars, feed the economy of SL by spending lots of our Linden dollars on new clothes, hair, shoes, boots, jewelry, and other attachments every week! The designers of same continue to create new and more wonderful fashions and accessories for the proficient consumer, such as myself. It’s a wonderful cycle of supply, demand, and supply some more. Every one was happy with this, and thriving in their own little way, in Second Life.

And now, we have ARC. A seemingly fun tool, at first, but it has quickly become a weapon of those who are less creative or fashionable to seek out the avatars that are “in the red” with ARC numbers of 2500+. I, myself, was victim of such an “episode” a few weeks back when it was pointed out that I rated well over 6000+ ARC points!!!! Like this is bad to look good, professional, and put together?

I did have some fun with this ARC numbers game, though, before I decided that I really don’t like this feature. At one of our live podcast sessions, a few of us were trying to see just how high this ARC number could go. I put on every high prim attachment I had in my inventory, until I ran out of places to put any more. By the time I finished this exercise, I was over 16,000 ARC points, and *I* didn’t crash any sim, or anyone’s viewer!

I don’t think I’ll worry too much about what my ARC number is, nor will I be taking up any sort of hunt to point out to anyone else what their number is. I will continue to support the economy of SL, and contribute to the aesthetics of my environment, to the best of my ability. And, most of all, I plan on having fun doing it all.

End of this “tongue in cheek” rant!

*giggles*

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

I have to laugh at the title of this post, as it just seemed kind of catchy for what I would love to share with you now. If you just happened to listen to our latest Podmafia podcast (#46), you heard us talking about the Giant Snail Races in Second Life. You also would have heard that I have had a giant snail customized just for me, and I will soon be “in training” to enter the Relay For Life Giant Snail Races, hosted by RacerX Gullwing.

Isn’t she beautiful? I wanted to post a few pics here since we talked about it on the podcast, and it’s tough to really describe a picture that gives you a good idea of just what we are seeing. I was happy when Gomem commented that the snail looked like Yxes, as that is the general statement I was trying to make, even without the stiletto heels. HeHe!

If you are interested in seeing the Giant Snail Races, they are a regular SL TV show, on SLCN.tv, filmed live on Saturday mornings, and archived as podcasts on iTunes and the SLCN podcast pages. If you would like to race in the Giant Snail Races, check out RacerX’s picks for a landmark to the race track. You can pick up your free snail there, too. And, if you are interested in getting any customized “attachments” for your basic racing snail, I would love to recommend you find Salem Sella, in Second Life, and have her create the “you snail”. Tell her Yxes sent ya!

Now, I think I need to go find some “snail racing shoes”!! hehe

cya soon,

Yxes

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

I think I have finally gotten all the moving done now. My Photo Gallery is now all moved into, the pictures all hung, and ready for people to come see what I’ve done up on the top of Mt. Yxes, over on the BlaksleeWorld island. The SLURL, you ask? well, that would be easy to share here:

http://slurl.com/secondlife/BlaksleeWorld/45/21/86

This is a picture of my new gallery.  Isn’t it sweet?  It’s just a medieval cottage that I’ve converted into a gallery, and it really works out pretty nicely.  Please come by anytime and see my new place, and check out my photography.  I do hope to have a grand re-opening of the Yxes Gallery very soon, but I would love your visit anytime!

Another news item, in the world of Yxes, is all about the Open Mic I’ve hosted, with Rich Desoto, for over the last year on the Los Arboles sim.  It, too, has moved over to BlaksleeWorld, at the Lonely Yak Texas Roadhouse.  Talk about an incredible first night at the new venue, we were nearly packed to the max!

http://slurl.com/secondlife/BlaksleeWorld/206/234/23

This new venue for our Open mic is so perfect, and so exciting, and our opening night was a HUGE success! And I’m looking forward to bringing you many more fun open mics and great SL talent!  Do come by, to listen to some great music, and party with some fun people.  We do this every Monday evening, 6-8 pm SL time (but not on US holidays!) I have a few pics to show you just how cool this place is!!

So, don your dancing shoes, fill your pockets with Lindens and come on over to the Lonely Yak Texas Roadhouse for some great music, great fun, with great friends.  We have a group, too.  Join up so you get our weekly announcements. It’s called Roadhouse Open Mic.  

Ya’ll come back soon, ya hear?

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

HA! I’ll bet! Well, I know I’ve been gone from you, my sweet lil blog pages, for way too long. I’ve been trying to organize my “inventory” these last few days. I am referring to my “inventory” that I have in both Second Life and Real Life (How come I still feel the need to capitalize those terms? hmmmmmm….)

Anyway, let me explain this complexity real quick. I probably have a small to average sized “inventory” in my second life’s account, not quite 25,000 items, and I think it’s a fair estimation to state that nearly 1/2 of that is pictures I’ve taken in SL over the last 2 years.

Oh, btw, Saturday, the 3rd of May, was my 2nd “rezz day”, and I spent the entire day & night clearing out my pictures files both in RL and SL. No party, no dancing, no cake, and not even multi-IM conversations!! In fact, I think I broke a record of some sort, of spending over 9 hrs in SL, without a single word to, or from, anyone. I did get one really fun gift, when I first logged in, and chatted with Caleb for a few while I set up the “patrolling flamingo” at my gallery. Somehow, knowing my gallery now has a security flamingo helps me rest easier at night. Thanks so much, Caleb. I’ve named him Pinky!

So, how about I get back on topic here? oh, yeah…. so, I spent the night going through my entire SL Photo Album file, and Textures file, sorting pictures by category, naming them, and transferring nearly 100 to my hard drive. I have plans to make a few more “slide movies”, as well as using them for posting to my blogs. Earlier, in the day, I had done pretty much the same with my “Pictures” file on my desktop. I had to do some transferring of huge files from one hard drive to another, so I went out to do errands, get some lunch, hit my Starbucks … the regular Saturday stuff!

I guess I did a virtual spring cleaning, and I’m still working on getting things even more organized. I finally figured out how to network my Vista computer to my other XP computers, so now I have the access to older pictures, files and programs that I’ve been missing these last few months! wow! I’m on a roll here. hehe

Now to see if I can do the same networking trick between my MacBkPro and the Vista… that should be interesting!!

I will also be catching up on the news and happenings of Yxes with you very soon, dear blog (and readers!)… so, be on the look out for the next installment of Yxes Muses….

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

How come, when I post something here, the first time, it saves real pretty and formatted like it should be, and then when I go to edit something on it, the whole post becomes one, big, fat paragraph!!????? what am I doing wrong???

any helpful hints on the best usage/style/etc of wordpress will be gratefully accepted!! and that worked for s**t !! arrrrrrgh!

thanks,

Yxes

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

I would really love to share with any that might be interested some more pictures of Arizona! I have updated my “World of Yxes” site with an album of the Superstitions Mountains. One of the prettiest places in these parts!

I also posted a small album with pics of my “pets”! Including the now famous “podcasting” cockatoo, Serio !!

come ck it out, when ya can!

((hugs))
Yxes

Bookmark It

Hide Sites