Category Archives: Features

After A Night Of Zombie Killing

Zombie Killers Love Their Babies Too

I should have probably bathed myself before washing the baby, being covered with the undead blood, as well as a bit of mine and that of some various human collateral damage. But I got her bathed and off to bed before I decided to shower up and relax a bit myself. Continue reading

Getting Ready for Halloween

Trying On Her Costume

So I took her shopping and got her a Halloween costume. What is the point of having a pixel baby if I can’t dress her up like the wee doll she is? Exactly. THAT WOULD BE MADNESS!! MADNESS I SAY. Continue reading

It’s TIME TO GET READY FOR HALLOWEEEEEEEN

Holiday Baking

I really really like Halloween in both lives. Crazy decorating, lots of treats, there is no end to my enthusiasm. I started breaking out my fall/Halloween awesome decorations this past week and decided that some baking is definitely in order. Continue reading

Bathing Beauty

Calm Start

Trompe Loeil has a new release out that I’m in love with. It coordinates perfectly with the bed I blogged the other day – and it’s called the Morning Light bathtub.  It’s loaded with animations for singles and sexy times for couples and has really nice looking water texture (Don’t you hate shitty water textures? Seriously? Why do they still exist?) that made me very relaxed.

Luckily, it also has a clock for decoration so I don’t lounge too long.

Morning Calm

Hey you know what? It also has some single “alone time” animations. So if you’ll excuse me…
Privacy

Tub, basket and clock from Trompe Loeil – Morning Light Bathtub. It’s gorgeous.

October Sky

Ah…October.  Welcome back, so happy to see you again.

A new season means a remodel of my SL home and land, and Autumn is my favorite.  I love those grey skies, chilly mornings, colorful leaves…everything!

For my new outdoor space, I wanted to make it cozy and warm with plenty of options for entertaining.  Have you seen the backyard cinema set by Cheeky Pea and Pilot at Collabor88?  It’s amazing!  I’ve seen something similar on Pinterest and dreamed of having something like it one day, so I’m excited to make it a part of my SL!

(click for larger image)

The Metamorphosis House by Vespertine is cozy and mid-century fabulous, and I tried to reflect that with my decor. I love that there is an abundance of furniture on the grid to work with the theme.

(click for larger image)

It’s a chilly, rainy morning here in the real world. I’d love to be snuggled up in this house with some hot cider, a good book, and soft, crackly music playing on the turntable. Magical!

****DETAILS****

House: Vespertine “Metamorphosis House”
Skydome: Turnip’s Homes & Stuff “Spring Skydome”

Outdoor…

1
Scooter: 19MC “D-Hello 1.10”

2
Mailbox: modified from a Nordari house
Apples: Artilleri “Bucket of Apples” (from “Autumn Decor”)
Pumpkins, etc. in Crate: LISP Bazaar “Harvest Box” (from “Autumn Festival in a Box”)
Bicycles: What Next “Plain Bicycle”
Firepit: What Next “Autumn Porch Firepit”
Chairs: Nordari “Wooden Poetry”
Table: Y’s House “Cafe Table”
Radio: Artilleri “Lopolito Radio”
Doors: modified from a Nordari house
Garland: What Next “Fall Garland”
Ivy: Frog’s Garden “Ivy – Black”
Leaves on Patio: What Next “Autumn Ground Cover”

3
Pumpkins: Artilleri (from “Autumn Decor”)
Birdbath: Vespertine “Bird Bath”
Leaves in Birdbath: LISP Bazaar (from “Autumn Festival in a Box”)

4
Cinema Set: Cheeky Pea and Pilot “Backyard Cinema” (Sept. Collabor88)

5
Tent: North West “Vadya Inside/Outside Tent
Firepit: DIGS “Agustin Fire Pit”

6
Stone walkway: MMG’s “Stone Path”
Trees: Forest Floor “Elm – Thin”
Leaves on Ground: 3D Trees “Fallen Leaves”
Walls/Fence: modified from house

Indoor…

1
chandelier: The Loft “Painted Chandelier”
Art: Vespertine “Silent Memories 1”
Art: Vespertine “Silent Memories 2”
Art: Second Spaces “Chloe Home Office Maps”
Art: North West “Painting – Barraud”
Wall clock: Cheeky Pea “Mainstream Clock”
Sofa: The Loft “Frezza Sofa”
Cat: Shop Seu “2 Prim Cat”
Side Chairs: The Loft “Wareham Side Chair”
Rocking chair: Mudhoney “Laura Chair”
Rug: LISP Bazaar “Hodgepodge Rug”
Coffee Table: The Loft “Frezza Coffee Table”
Tray: The Loft “Lacquered Tray”
Games: Second Spaces “Pile o’ Games”
Round End Table: The Loft “Frezza Side Table”
Lamp on End Table: Mudhoney “Abby Table Lamp”
Floor Lamp: Cheeky Pea “Vita’s Lamp”
White End Table: The Loft “Side Table”
Flowers on White Table: The Loft “Frezza Baby’s Breath”
Console Table: The Loft “Frezza Rustic Console Table”
Lamp on Console Table: The Loft “Roxanne Lamp White”
Candle Cages: The Loft “Candle Cage”
White Vase Cluster: The Loft “Roxanne Vase Cluster”
Art Under Console Table: Second Spaces “Regan Art Print”
Book Clock: The Loft “Book Clock – Snow” (at Arcade)

2
Map: Pilot “Traveler’s Map 2”
Record Player: LISP Bazaar “Funky Lispette Record Unit”
Speakers: LISP Bazaar “Urchin Speakers”
Cat: Shop Seu “2 Prim Cat”

3
Television: LISP Bazaar “Vintage TV”

4
Bed: Art Dummy “To Sleep Platform Bed”
Screen: The Loft “Painted Screen”
Ottoman: LISP Bazaar “Pansy Puff”
Rugs: LISP Bazaar “Hodgepodge Rug”
Wall Shelf: The Loft “Circle Shelf Ash Oak”

5
Piano: LISP Bazaar “Piano – Smooth Wood”
Flower: Mudhoney “Marigold in Vase”

6
Chair: LISP Bazaar “Hodgepodge Chair”
Record Player: LISP Bazaar “Groovy Lispette Floor Player”

Under the Hood: The Debug Settings

It’s not that every conversation in Second Life turns to Debug Settings, but every conversation about Debug Settings draws everyone’s attention. It’s like getting a car and poking around under the hood, we are afraid to experiment. We pay attention and take notes, and try to remember the tips that are shared.  I have collected a fair number of tips and arrange them in reference to why you might use them.

For a comprehensive list of Debug Settings, check out the Second Life Wiki. Berry did a recent post featuring her favorite Debug Settings.  If you have more debug tips, please add them in comments. I would love to add them to this list.

Update: Lette Ponnier wrote a response providing some context and clarification about how some of these settings can reduce performance. I agree, when I am not taking pictures, I change many back to default since I don’t need that level of detail anymore. I had thought that the categories provided enough context to make that clear, but value her clarification.

Mesh is not showing up properly

  • Meshbytespertriangle: 128
  • Meshmaxconcurrentrequests: 128
  • MeshminimumByteSize: 1

Sculpts are not showing up properly

  • RendervolumeLODFactor: >3

Building

  • MaxDragDistance – limit how far a select prim can run away
  • UISndObjectCreate – Leave it blank to make the build sound go away.

In-world Experience

  • PlayTypingAnim – False (turns off typing)
  • The camera and focus offset settings for a more realistic experience (see Nalates article)
  • NearMeRange=sets the search range for nearby avatars
  • Inventory Linking = True (allows you to paste links to inventory)
  • RenderUnloadedAvatar – Load avatars in your view.

Machinima

  • ZoomTime = increasing this makes the camera move more smoothly

Photography

  • YawFromMousePosition = 0 (stops your head following the mouse around the screen!)
  • RenderAutoMaskAlphaDeferred=True (Use alpha masks where appropriate, in the deferred (‘Lighting and Shadows’) graphics mode)
  • RenderAutoMaskAlphaNonDeferred=True (Use alpha masks where appropriate, in the non-deferred (‘Lighting and Shadows’) graphics mode)
  • RenderDynamicReflections=True – makes shiny objects reflective (unsupported graphics feature that will crash some folks and isn’t exactly bug-proof)
  • Render Glow = Sometimes you want to turn this off because the glow washes out your photo. However, it does not always get rid of all the glow for some reason.
  • RenderGlowResolutionPow – lower this number to reduce the glow
  • RenderDynamicLOD – Set it to “FALSE” to get a more natural distance in a landscape.
  • Torley Linden has an overview of all sorts of settings for photos.
  • Depth of Field settings and camera tilt from Second Life Wiki

Performance

  • RenderAppleUseMultGL=True (The default it False but for Mac users on new machines, it should be set to true)
  • ToastGap = 0
  • RenderFarClip = allows you to enter draw distance numerically instead of with a slider. Sometimes setting this to 0 and then back up can make a slow-rezzing place rez faster.
  • noinventoryLibrary=True – gets rid of the Inventory Library


It’s FAIR to Fool The Eye

Fool The Eye_001

Trompe Loeil has released a gorgeous new bed – called Morning Light Cupboard that is cozy and makes me READY for cold weather, for the FAIR event. It comes in a variety of colors to suit your decorating needs, but I fell in love with the White Peony which has a very wintery window to look out of. Continue reading

A Cartoon Girl on a Saturday Night

Single Girl

My pixel self is fairly tranquil. She lives a solitary, calm and quiet life that is the opposite of my RL and I like her that way. I started off her Saturday night with a jaunt to the market to pick up something for some dinner for one. Continue reading

Because You Gotta Have Faith

Well I guess it would be nice, if I could touch your body.
I know not everybody, has got a body like you.
But I gotta think twice,
Before I give my heart away, and I know all the games you play
Because I play them too.
PXL Faith_002
Well I need some time off, from that emotion
Time to pick my heart back off the floor
And when that love comes down without devotion
Well it takes a strong girl baby, but I’m showing you the door,
Because you gotta have Faith…
PXL Faith_003

George Michael’s song has been running through my head ever since PXL Creations launched it’s newest skin release, FAITH.  I opted to put Gidge in the freckled version of the skin with her favorite pinks and purples for make up and I’m pretty sure she’s as cute as a can be.

You need to go demo this skin, it’s hitting a sweet spot of youthful beauty yet mature sexy that I’m loving.

Come on, you gotta have Faith.

I’m also showing you the gorgeous new release from Trompe Loeil which is a beautiful gilded bed that comes in an array of colors of bedding to suit any decor.

“I’ve reconsidered my foolish notion, well I need someone to hold me but I’ll wait for something more. Because I’ve gotta have Faith.”

Now go shopping.

Hair: TRUTH – Astrid – Swedish

Skin: PXL CREATIONS – Faith – Natural Tone – MEB – C1 Freckles
Lipstick: PXL CREATIONS – Faith – Pink Lips
Eyelashes: Amacci – Tattoo Layer 6
Eyes: Poetic Colors – Coral Reef
Poses: Sweet Lovely Cute
BED: Trompe Loeil – Gilded Bed in pink – NEW RELEASE

Panties – Vintage no longer available.

Fabienne – A Palace for A Kept Woman

My Universe

The Fabienne skybox is the latest release from Barnesworth Anubis for Collabor88. It’s amazing to me what architecture can inspire in a person. While the name, Fabienne, put my brain in a very salty Pulp Fiction sort of place, upon rezzing it and seeing the beautiful build, I slipped into a very different frame of mind.

It reminded me of the sort of place a kept woman would live. Lol.

It has a masculine elegance and with just a touch of feminine grace that truly reminded me of a place that a man would BUY – for a woman. Barnesworth is going to kill me now I can just feel it. Continue reading