Talia's second life

2009-09-22T19:03:00.003Z

Schedule for events at the Worlds' End tavern , Tanglia Romantics and Castaways beach club

Monday 21
2pm PDT : Best In Swimwear at Castaways

Tuesday 22
2pm PDT : Viking Event with DJ Noma (best in old school armour/battledress)

Wednesday 23
2pm PDT : Grease Monkeys With DJ Stephanya (anything motoring related)

Thursday 24
2pm PDT : The Thursday Session With DJ Amilyn

Friday 25
2pm PDT : Fetish Wear Event
5pm PDT : Faerie Court at Tanglia Romantics With DJ Kwaidan

Saturday 26
2pm PDT : Sci Fi Event

Sunday 27
2pm PDT : Formal Wear at Tanglia Romantics

This Weeks Events

2009-09-16T14:48:00.002Z

Schedule for events at the Wolrds' End tavern and Tanglia Romantics

Wednesday 16
2pm PDT : Angels & Demons With DJ Stephanya

Thursday 17
2pm PDT : The Thursday Session With DJ Amilyn

Friday 18
2pm PDT : Oriental Event With DJ Talia
5pm PDT : Princes & Princesses at Tanglia Romantics With DJ Kwaidan

Saturday 19
2pm PDT : Gothic Event Yarr talk like a Pirate Day

Sunday 20
2pm PDT : Formal Wear at Tanglia Romantics

This weeks events

2009-09-08T18:50:00.002Z

Schedule for events at the Worlds' End Tavern ,Castaways and
Tanglia Romantics

Monday 07
2pm PDT : Best In Swimwear at Castaways

Tuesday 08
2pm PDT : Bad To The Bone Event With DJ Noma

Wednesday 09
2pm PDT : Cops & Robbers Event With DJ Stephanya

Thursday 10
2pm PDT : The Thursday Session With DJ Amilyn

Friday 11
2pm PDT : Hobo Event
5pm PDT : Pirates Event at Tanglia Romantics With DJ Kwaidan

Saturday 12
2pm PDT : Masked Ball

Sunday 13
2pm PDT : Formal Wear at Tanglia Romantics

This weeks events

2009-08-31T20:53:00.000Z

Schedule for events at the Worlds' End Tavern , Castaways and
Tanglia Romantics

Monday 31
2pm PDT : Best In Not Much At All at Castaways

Tuesday 01
2pm PDT : Post Apocylptic Event With DJ Noma

Wednesday 02
2pm PDT : Wild West Event With DJ Stephanya

Thursday 03
2pm PDT : The Thursday Session With DJ Amilyn

Friday 04
2pm PDT : Heroes & Villains
5pm PDT : Animal Hearts at Tanglia Romantics With DJ Kwaidan

Saturday 05
2pm PDT : Witches & Wizards Event

Sunday 06
2pm PDT : Formal Wear at Tanglia Romantics

This Weeks Events

2009-08-17T20:50:00.002+01:00

Schedule for events at the Worlds' End tavern , Tanglia Romantics and Castways.

Monday 17
2pm PDT : Best In Swimwear at Castways

Tuesday 18
2pm PDT : Best In Black

Wednesday 19
2pm PDT : Pirates at Castways

Thursday 20
2pm PDT : The Thursday Session With DJ Amilyn

Friday 21
2pm PDT : Freaky Friday (anything odd or off the wall)
5pm PDT : Superfolk at Tanglia Romantics With DJ Kwaidan

Saturday 22
2pm PDT : Underwater Event

Sunday 23
2pm PDT : Formal Wear at at Tanglia Romantics

This Weeks Events

2009-08-10T20:13:00.002+01:00

Schedule for events at the Worlds' End Tavern ,Worlds' End Castaways and Tanglia Romantics

Monday 10
2pm PDT : Best In Not Much At All at Castaways

Tuesday 11
2pm PDT : Best In Purple

Wednesday 12
2pm PDT : Fairies, Elves and Pookas

Thursday 13
2pm PDT : The Thursday Session With DJ Amilyn

Friday 14
2pm PDT : Psychos & Their Victims
5pm PDT : Mystery Event (tba) at Tanglia Romantics With DJ Kwaidan

Saturday 15
2pm PDT : Tanglian Gothic

Sunday 16
2pm PDT : Formal Wear at Tanglia Romantics

This Weeks Events

2009-08-03T16:35:00.001+01:00

This week we have a new venue at Castways on Tanglia beach.

Schedule for events at the Worlds' End Tavern , Tanglia Romantic and
Castaways

Monday 3
2pm PDT : Wet T-Shirt Event at Castaways

Tuesday 4
2pm PDT : Silks & Tuxedos

Wednesday 5
2pm PDT : Military Event With DJ Stephanya

Thursday 6
2pm PDT : The Thursday Session With DJ Amilyn

Friday 7
2pm PDT : Hitchhikers Guide (all things alien)
5pm PDT : Mystery Event (tba) at Tanglia Romantics With DJ Kwaidan

Saturday 8
2pm PDT : Bikers & Badasses Event With DJ Pristeen

Sunday 9
2pm PDT : Formal Wear at Tanglia Romantics With DJ Etoile

Bing and Google search review

2009-07-30T16:01:00.007+01:00

I noticed Microsoft were advertising Bing, saying it gave specific answers. I thought I would do an informal search engine comparison

Here is my first real-life test. I am trying on skins with a friend and notice that the eyebrows look huge. I want to say "That skin has Breshnev eyebrows", but can't remember the name. Using the search term "Russian General with huge eyebrows" gives no sensible results on Bing or Google although I do get a lot of raised eyebrows. So I try for "Russian Generals" and both show lists but no mention of shaggy eyebrows. Switching to images and Google shows Breshnev in the 11th picture. Bing may have it on the first page, but the page is infinitely long and its a long way down, which is cheating. Bing made wrong assumptions about what I was looking for such as Roman Generals or Russian Leaders but it didn't spot that I was looking for eyebrows. Plus that reference to Roman Generals is way off the mark since Romans were big on being clean shaven.

Second test. I knew Romans were clean shaven, but wanted to check it. Searching for "ancient romans shaved" Google got it second answer and several answers below that. Bing was a very naughty search engine, decided that since the ancient Egyptians shaved off all facial hair including eyebrows that it would ignore the first word of my query,"Roman" and that "shaved" was the key word and tell me about Egyptian shaving practices. Hey, if I had wanted 'shaved' it would be the first word, but I put 'Roman' so pay attention Bing!

Google just answers what you asked, making no interpretation. Bing is like an over clever friend who upon being asked what the weather is tells you about pressure differences between land and sea, how clouds are formed, types of precipitation, etc. Bing assumes what you want to know and can make the wrong assumptions.

This Weeks Events

2009-07-28T21:31:00.003+01:00

Schedule for events at the Worlds' End tavern and Tanglia Romantics

Monday 27
2pm PDT : **No Event**

Tuesday 28
2pm PDT : Pyjama Party - Under The Covers With DJ Noma

Wednesday 29
2pm PDT : Neko Event With DJ Stephanya

Thursday 30
2pm PDT : The Thursday Session With DJ Amilyn

Friday 31
2pm PDT : Rock Star Wannabe's With DJ Talia
5pm PDT : 'Pyjama Party' at Tanglia Romantics With DJ Kwaidan

Saturday 1
2pm PDT : "On A Wing And A Prayer (anything related to flying) With DJ Pristeen

Sunday 2
2pm PDT : Formal Wear at Tanglia Romantics With DJ Etoile

For more information contact Pristeen Barbosa or Lexa Sands.

This Weeks Events

2009-07-13T18:05:00.002+01:00

Schedule for events at the Worlds' End Tavern and Tanglia Romantics

Monday 13
5am PDT : Formal Wear at the Worlds' End Tavern
2pm PDT : Best In Lingerie

Tuesday 14
5am PDT : Best In Lingerie
2pm PDT : Best In Latex

Wednesday 15
5am PDT : Best In Latex
2pm PDT : Doing Time (prisoners, guards, & folks who should be locked up)

Thursday 16
5am PDT : Doing Time
2pm PDT : The Thursday Session With DJ Amilyn

Friday 17
5am PDT : ** No Event **
2pm PDT : Nice 'N' Sleazy
5pm PDT : 'Angel, Light & Dark' at Tanglie Romantics with DJ Kwaidan

Saturday 18
5am PDT : Nice 'N' Sleazy
2pm PDT : The Four Elements

Sunday 19
5am PDT : The Four Elements
2pm PDT : Formal Wear at Tanglia Romantics with DJ Etoile

Events - Relay For Life starting Saturday July 18th.

2009-07-11T19:06:00.003+01:00

Below is the Schedule for the Relay For Life Theme Laps.

Saturday, July 18, 2009 (All times are SLT)

Noon - Opening Ceremonies
1pm - Survivor / Caregiver Lap (pre-registration required)
2pm - Team Spirit Lap - Team Shirts & Banners
3pm - One World - International Outfits Lap
4pm - One Hope - Rainbow Lap - The Hope of a New Day.. The Promise of Calm after the Storm. Wear all the Colors of the Rainbow and Celebrate One Hope
5pm - Power Hour Lap - 60's outfits
6pm - Tackle It - football, rugby or any sports clothing. Let's tackle cancer together - united we can beat this.
7pm - Western Theme Lap
8pm - Bald Is Beautiful Lap
9pm - Luminaria Ceremony (only for Luminaria participants)
10pm - Magic Lap - Wizzards, Magicians, Fairies - Make A Wish and Day we will beat cancer.
11pm - Tacky Tourist Lap

Sunday, July 19, 2009

12pm - Midnight Masquerade
1am - Health Matters - Maybe you are a banana, or an organge, or a carrot. Live A healthy life - we can all make a small change that improves our life.
2am - Crazy Shoes Lap
3am - Meet A New Friend Lap
4am - Silly Hats Lap
5am - Tinies, Furies, Tails & Wings
6am -Fight Back Ceremony
7am - Caring & Curing Lap - Dr, Nurse, Scientist - Working together to beat cancer.
8am - Coffee Curlers, Slipers & PJ's
9am - Here Comes The Sun - Dress for a day at the beach. Always remember to protect yourself from the sun on land and sea even on a cloudy day
10am - Formal Wear Lap
11am - Closing Ceremonies (Teams Lap to follow)

Relay for Life 2009

2009-07-11T17:17:00.018+01:00

Last year I was honoured to take part in Relay For Life 2008, fundraising for American Cancer Society. This is its' fifth year in Second Life and to date 220,000 USD has already been donated.
Last year Sara Carr and I built an entire sim, this year we have a smaller plot for our display of about an eighth of a sim.
The theme is "One World, One Hope" and our plot is based around research for cancer treatment and cures, the Hope part, and that many of those have been discovered in various exotic and mundane places within the World, the World part. We are trying to show various creatures and especially the environments in which they live and breed. Living organisms such as Sea Squirts, Primrose, Yew, and mud loving Bacteria, many of which have developed their own forms of cancer prevention.
On the right is part of the build as of today. To give you an idea of scale, you can probably see me above the Andes in South America; the moon surface is 60x60m and the earth at the back takes up another 60x60m, I am hovering above the moons horizon and only half way into the build.
More information about American Cancer Society

This Weeks Events

2009-07-06T22:51:00.002+01:00

Schedule for events at the Worlds' End and at Tanglia Romantics
Monday 6
5am PDT : Formal Wear at the Worlds' End Tavern
2pm PDT : Best In Not Much At All

Tuesday 7
5am PDT : Best In Not Much At All
2pm PDT : Pick Any Colour And Cover Yourself In It !

Wednesday 8
5am PDT : Pick Any Colour And Cover Yourself In It
2pm PDT : Mall Of The Dead (zombies & suchlike)

Thursday 9
5am PDT : Mall Of The Dead
2pm PDT : The Thursday Session With DJ Amilyn

Friday 10
5am PDT : ** No Event **
2pm PDT : I'm Such A Noob ! (your best/worst newbie look)
5pm PDT : 'Egyptian' at Tanglia Romantics with DJ Kwaidan

Saturday 11
5am PDT : I'm Such A Noob !
2pm PDT : Gothic Event

Sunday 12
5am PDT : Gothic Event
2pm PDT : Formal Wear at Tanglia Romantics with DJ Etoile

Friday Night Music

2009-07-03T23:21:00.003+01:00

Friday's fright night down at Worlds' End, so whether you're a character from a horror or slasher movie, some sort of crazy psycho, or a walking nightmare of your creation, we want to see you at your scariest.
My scary set for the event:-

Muse - Apocalypse Please
Venetian Snares - Ongyilkos Vasárnap
Tom Waits - Dead And Lovely
Muse - Hysteria
Muse - Plug in Baby
Primal Scream - Miss Lucifer
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Supernaturally
Cristina - Is That All There Is?
Kosheen - Catch
Kosheen - Hide U - John Creamer & Stephane Kremix edit
Muse - Supermassive Black Hole
Jimi Hendrix - Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)
King Swamp - Louisanna Bridge
Sugababes - Freak Like Me
The Stranglers - Something Better Change
The Kills - U.R.A. Fever
Alice Cooper/Rob Zombie - Hands Of Death (Burn Baby Burn)
Kosheen - Hungry
Rob Zombie - Living Dead Girl
Marilyn Manson - Tainted Love
Zombie Zombie - Driving This Road Until Death Sets You Free
LCD Soundsystem - Get Innocuous!
LCD Soundsystem - All My Friends (Franz Ferdinand Version)
Syntax - Pray
Syntax - Little Love
808 State - Lopez (Direct Neural Mix By The Propellerheads)
Daft Punk - Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger
Grinderman - Love Bomb
Tool - Schism

This weeks events

2009-07-01T06:56:00.000+01:00

Schedule for events at the Worlds' End Tavern and Tanglia Romantics
Monday 29
5am PDT : Formal Wear at the Worlds' End Tavern
2pm PDT : Best In Lingerie

Tuesday 30
5am PDT : Best In Lingerie
2pm PDT : Best Furry

Wednesday 1
5am PDT : Best Furry
2pm PDT : Angels & Demons

Thursday 2
5am PDT : Angels & Demons
2pm PDT : The Thursday Session With DJ Amilyn

Friday 3
5am PDT : ** No Event **
2pm PDT : Nightmare On WET Street (psychos, slashers & naughty people)
5pm PDT : 'Summer Romance' at Tanglia Romantics with DJ Kwaidan

Saturday 4
5am PDT : Nightmare On WET Street
2pm PDT : Egyptian Event

Sunday 5
5am PDT : Egyptian Event
2pm PDT : Formal Wear at Tanglia Romantics with DJ Etoile

Hair fair 2009 review

2009-06-24T12:58:00.009+01:00

When I arrived I couldn't see the relationship between hair and sweets (candies). The landscape was a bold display of sweets and candies, the stalls displaying the hair were gingerbread houses, cake shops and bun shops. There were buns with large textures and sculpties to get the shapes of squirted cream and other unecessary confectionary that all created lag, without helping to show off the hair.

I didn't get to see much of the hair as the landscape had soaked up all the bandwidth and prims, leaving most of the hair displays showing gray.

I bought a lag pack at the Hair fair that suggested I remove all attachments and all scripts to reduce lag. I thought it should have said "We don't give a toss about your lag because our sim looks so freaking cool."

This is a list of things I would consider.

People will want to come back to some shops, so allow them to create landmarks. Hair Fair stopped you from noting where shops were or passing on landmarks to friends.
Allow people to teleport anywhere so they can go back to a shop.
Split the sims with walls to reduce view distances.
Add some landmark feautures for people to navigate by.

*** ADDED 30JUL09 ****
Alpha Aur gave a longer review and post at Not Possible IRL. I was at the hair fair...

This weeks events

2009-06-22T21:44:00.004+01:00

Schedule for events at the Worlds' End Tavern and at Tanglia Romantics

Monday 22
5am PDT : Formal Wear at the Worlds' End Tavern
2pm PDT : "You're not leaving this house dressed like that!" Event

Tuesday 23
5am PDT : "You're not leaving this house dressed like that!" Event
2pm PDT : Nekos & Kittehs

Wednesday 24
5am PDT : Nekos & Kittehs
2pm PDT : Back To School

Thursday 25
5am PDT : Back To School
2pm PDT : The Thursday Session With DJ Amilyn

Friday 26
5am PDT : ** No Event **
2pm PDT : Wrap Up Warm, It's Midsummer !
5pm PDT : 'Love In Space' at Tanglia Romantics with DJ Kwaidan

Saturday 27
5am PDT : Wrap Up Warm, It's Midsummer !
2pm PDT : Pirate Party

Sunday 28
5am PDT : Pirate Party
2pm PDT : Formal Wear at Tanglia Romantics with DJ Etoile

WET-Henge Saturday 12:30 PDT

2009-06-19T19:24:00.003+01:00

From Talia's second life

Saturday we will be holding our Midsummer Event.

Saturday 20

**Midsummers Eve Solstice Party**
12:30pm PDT : Best Grunge/Rocker Costume with DJ Talia
2pm PDT : Friendly Fire - Glamtastic band, performing live !
3.30pm PDT : Best In Leathers or Latex with DJ Steph

Sunday 21
5am PDT : Best In Leathers or Latex
2pm PDT : Sunday Romantics, Best In Formal Wear Event at Tanglia Romantics

For more information contact Pristeen Barbosa or Lexa Sands.

I will be playing:-

New Order - Blue Monday
Spandau Ballet - Chant No. 1 (I Don't Need This Pressure On)
U2 - Desire
David Bowie - White Light - White Heat
U2 - Get On Your Boots
Cansei De Ser Sexy - Let's Make Love And Listen To Death From Above
Primal Scream - Country Girl
Muse - Knights Of Cydonia
Astralasia - Spirit of the Age (Original 12" Remix - 1993)
Faithless - Insomnia (Monster Mix)
Faithless - God is DJ

This weeks events

2009-06-08T12:43:00.001+01:00

Schedule for events at the Worlds' End Tavern and at Tanglia Romantics

Monday 8
5am PDT : Romantic Wear at the Worlds' End Tavern
11:30am PDT : Motown Magic @ Romantics, with DJ Marcus
2pm PDT : Best In Lingerie

Tuesday 9
5am PDT : Best In Lingerie
2pm PDT : Cross Dressing Event

Wednesday 10
5am PDT : Cross Dressing Event
2pm PDT : Harum Scarum (come as anything wild or dangerous)

Thursday 11
5am PDT : Harum Scarum
2pm PDT : The Thursday Session with DJ Ami

Friday 12
5am PDT : ** No Event **
2pm PDT : Colours Of Your Country
5pm PDT : 'Lousy Day' at Tanglia Romantics with DJ Kwaidan

Saturday 13
5am PDT : Colours Of Your Country
2pm PDT : Funky Clubwear

Sunday 14
5am PDT : Funky Clubwear
2pm PDT : Sunday Romantics, Best In Formal Wear Event at Tanglia Romantics

Amazons, hunters and prey event

2009-06-03T18:53:00.003+01:00

The tribes are gathering tonight at Worlds' End for our Amazons, Hunters & Prey event. But what part do you play in it all? Amazon, a lone hunter (male or female), or hapless prey?

There'll be a contest for the best costume, (min. entry fee L$10), and DJ Steph will be dancing around the fire and banging out the tunes for us. :)

Talia I will be playing a 1 hour music set from 9 to 10 GMT and here is a track list.

The Go! Team - Panther Dash
Joni Mitchell - The Jungle Line
Santana - Jungle Strut
Fine Young Cannibals - Good Thing
Gorillaz - Dare
Kosheen - Hide U
Led Zeppelin - Kashmir
Santana - Incident At Neshabur
Peter Gabriel - shock the monkey
David Bowie - Beauty And The Beast
The Secret Hairdresser - verse, Chorus, Miaoow
The Chemical Brothers - It Began In Afrika
Adam Ant\Boz Boorer - Jungle Rock
Steppenwolf - Born To Be Wild

This weeks events

2009-06-01T18:42:00.003+01:00

Schedule of events at the Worlds' End Tavern and Tanglia Romantics. Monday 1JUN09 to Sunday 7JUN09.

Monday 1
5am PDT : Romantic Wear at the Worlds' End Tavern
11:30am PDT : Songs & Melodies From The 40's @ Romantics, with DJ Marcus
2pm PDT : Best In Swimwear

Tuesday 2
5am PDT : Best In Swimwear
12.30pm PDT : WET Pub Quiz
2pm PDT : Pajama Party

Wednesday 3
5am PDT : Pajama Party
2pm PDT : Amazons, Hunters & Prey

Thursday 4
5am PDT : Amazons, Hunters & Prey
2pm PDT : The Thursday Session with DJ Ami

Friday 5
5am PDT : ** No Event **
2pm PDT : Best In Latex
5pm PDT : 'Movie Night' at Tanglia Romantics with DJ Kwaidan

Saturday 6
5am PDT : Best In Latex
2pm PDT : Sci-Fi Event

Sunday 7
5am PDT : Sci-Fi Event
2pm PDT : Sunday Romantics, Best In Formal Wear Event at Tanglia Romantics

Schedule by Pristeen Barbosa, Manager of Worlds'End tavern

Short music set for Science Fiction

2009-05-18T12:08:00.007Z

This is a 45 minute music set for Science Fiction played as a warm up for a Lexa Sands Industrial music set. It starts off slow, then builds.

Seventh Wave - Camera Obscura (From Psi-Fi)
Curved Air - Back Street Luv
Lunabee and Swan - The Great Illusion
Joystick - intro
Joystick - Welcome to the Factory
Timo Maas - To Get Down
Propellerheads - Spybreak!
Propellerheads - Bang On!
Astralasia - Spirit of the Age (Original 12" Remix - 1993)
Cyantific Vs. Logistics - Flashback
Primal Scream - Swastika Eyes

A few tracks may be hard to find. Seventh Wave, Psi-Fi can be found as a Japanese Import or German re-release. The two standout tracks are Camera-Obscura and Star Palace of the Sombre Warrior.
Joystick - Welcome to the Factory can be bought as a downloadable album and I reccomend it as there are fantastic songs and beautiful vocals by Coco Love-Alcorn; you can sample it on http://www.last.fm/music/Joystick .

This weeks events

2009-05-18T12:04:00.003Z

Schedule of events at the Worlds' End Taven and at Tanglia Romantics. Monday 18MAY09 to Sunday 24MAY09.

Monday 18
5am PDT : Romantic Wear at the Worlds' End Tavern
11:30am PDT : Dixieland Jazz at Romantics
2pm PDT : Best In As Little As Possible

Tuesday 19
5am PDT : Best In As Little As Possible
2pm PDT : Best In Orange

Wednesday 20
5am PDT : Best In Orange
2pm PDT : Petrolheads (best in anything car or motorbike related)

Thursday 21
5am PDT : Petrolheads
2pm PDT : The Thursday Session with DJ Ami

Friday 22
5am PDT : ** No Event **
2pm PDT : Headbangers (best heavy metal look)
5pm PDT : 'Elemental' at Tanglia Romantics with DJ Kwaidan

Saturday 23
5am PDT : Headbangers
2pm PDT : Witches & Wizards

Sunday 24
5am PDT : Witches & Wizards
2pm PDT : Sunday Romantics, Best In Formal Wear Event at Tanglia Romantics

This weeks music recommendations

2009-05-14T11:55:00.003Z

I found out some people look at my blog to discover different music.

Here is this weeks reccomendations.

Lunabee and Swan. Lunabee is a Belgian musician who has many solo albums. Her music is full of fantastic melodies and beats, subtle, savage, and beautiful. Jo Swan is a vocalist who has been in the music business for some time, principally with the group Ilya. Jo Swan heard Lunabee's muisc and offered to add vocals. Her vocals are tender and tinged with black humour. The result is quite amazing though it has taken me a few listens before it truly grew on me.

My next reccomendation is a bit of an oddity (no surprise there), the soundtrack to Grandma's Boy (2006). I don't know who chose the music, but it is full of great music tracks from groups I had not heard of.

Tanglia builders

2009-05-14T11:32:00.001Z

These are the people who have had most to do with making Tanglia what it is:-
Pristeen Barbosa - Manager of Worlds' End Tavern who schedules the events, conceives, builds, and organises the scenery, keeps order and is overall fantastic! Enthusiastic, organised and one of my best friends in Second Life.
Lexa Sands - Runs our two music and games servers which are located in France and Las Vegas, programs all our various gadgets, helps Pristeen to build.
Talia Jiang - Owner of Tanglia. Overal concept and running the Island.

From Talia's second life

Left to right: Talia, Pristeen and Lexa

Schedule of event

2009-05-14T11:15:00.004Z

Very late, but here is the schedule for this week.

Schedule for events

Monday 11
5am PDT : Romantic Wear at the Worlds' End Tavern
2pm PDT : Best In Black & White

Tuesday 12
5am PDT : Best In Black & White
12.30pm PDT : WET Pub Quiz
2pm PDT : Best In Lingerie

Wednesday 13
5am PDT : Best In Lingerie
2pm PDT : Freaky Uniqueky (best weird/wonderful av or costume)

Thursday 14
5am PDT : Freaky Uniqueky
2pm PDT : The Thursday Session with DJ Amilyn

Friday 15
5am PDT : ** No Event **
2pm PDT : Dressed To Kill
5pm PDT : 'Spring Fling' at Tanglia Romantics with DJ Kwaidan

Saturday 16
5am PDT : Dressed To Kill
2pm PDT : Gothic Event

Sunday 17
5am PDT : Gothic Event
2pm PDT : Sunday Romantics, Best In Formal Wear Event at Tanglia Romantics

Freaky uniquey

2009-05-14T10:47:00.002Z

Last night we have a new DJ starting, Stephanya Constantine an already popular DJ in Second Life who blew us all away with her music. Pristeen Barbosa made the most incredible scenery inspired by Alice in Wonderland.

From Talia's second life

I played a small half-hour music set with a freaky and unique feel. Mostly unusual tracks that I thought were still excellent.

Vermillion Lies - Circus Fish
Steve Harley - Mr Soft
Siouxsie & The Banshees - Peek-A-Boo
Blondie - Rapture
The Arcade Fire - Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)
David Bowie - Rebel Rebel
Moloko - Forever More

Guitar Heroes

2009-05-08T13:55:00.004Z

At Worlds'End Tavern on Saturday, time to get out your guitars and strike a pose as a member of a band. Grab your guitar or dance animations and boogie to the music, vote for the most entertaining performance and possibly win. Choose your music from the following list or request your favourite track to rock to before the event starts. Sorry but I cannot add any music once the event has started.

We will have The Tangles backing you, our Worlds' End Tavern backing group.

David Bowie - Fame
David Bowie - Golden Years
David Bowie - Golden Years
David Bowie - Rebel Rebel
Deep Purple - Burn
Deep Purple - Highway Star
Dire Straits - Sultans of Swing
Elastica - Connection
Fleetwood Mac - Shake Your Moneymaker
Fleetwood Mac - The Green Manalishi (With The Two Pronged Crown)
Jeff Beck - Dirty Mind
Jeff Beck - Rollin' And Tumblin'
Jimi Hendrix - All Along The Watchtower
Jimi Hendrix - Foxy Lady
Jimi Hendrix - Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)
Led Zeppelin - Communication Breakdown
Led Zeppelin - Whole Lotta Love
Manic Street Preachers - Everything Must Go
Manic Street Preachers - Kevin Carter
Muse - Stockholm Syndrome
Primal Scream - Rocks
Santana - Black Magic Woman
Santana - Jungle Strut
Stray Cats - Rock This Town
Skunk Anansie - Twisted (Everyday Hurts)
Stereophonics - Madame Helga
T-Rex - 20th Century Boy
T.Rex - Get It On
The Jam - Town Called Malice
The Mooney Suzuki - Alive & Amplified
The Music - Freedom Fighters
The Noisettes - Scratch Your Name
The Pretenders - Brass In Pocket
The White Stripes - Ball And Biscuit
The White Stripes - Seven Nation Army
U2 - Vertigo
Weezer - Hash Pipe

Remember to IM me, Talia Jiang, in Second Life or leave a comment here.

Kaelson's Shadowfax Chilli

2009-05-04T22:03:00.002Z

1 pound ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped/diced
1.5 tbsp chili powder
.5 tsp black pepper
.5 tsp cayanne pepper
1 tsp curry powder
1 tsp hungarian hot paprika
2 tsp molasses
1-3 tsp hot sauce (depending on hotness of sauce and desired hotness of chili)
1 6oz can of tomato paste
1 10oz can of diced tomatoes & chilis
1 15.5oz can of hot chili beans
Some sliced jalapenos
Pasta of some sort, if desired

For the cayenne and black pepper, I use a premixed blend called Hot Shot

I recommend you start boiling the water for the pasta before you start anything else.
Brown the ground beef, drain.
Add all of the other ingredients, except the pasta, stir it up and simmer, stirring every commercial break. (i.e. every fifteen mintues or so) Once onions are cooked, the chili is done.
Serve over pasta.

1 pound ground beef or horse meat, preferably legendary
1 medium onion, chopped/diced
1.5 tbsp chili powder
.5 tsp black pepper
.5 tsp cayanne pepper
1 tsp curry powder
1 tsp hungarian hot paprika
2 tsp molasses
1-3 tsp hot sauce (depending on hotness of sauce and desired hotness of chili)
1 6oz can of tomato paste
1 10oz can of diced tomatoes & chilis
1 15.5oz can of hot chili beans
Some sliced jalapenos
Pasta of some sort, if desired

For the cayenne and black pepper, I use a premixed blend called Hot Shot

I recommend you start boiling the water for the pasta before you start anything else.
Brown the ground beef, drain.
Add all of the other ingredients, except the pasta, stir it up and simmer, stirring every commercial break. (i.e. every fifteen mintues or so) Once onions are cooked, the chili is done.
Serve over pasta.

Events 4 to 10 April

2009-05-04T22:01:00.001Z

Schedule for events at the Wolrd's End Tavern and at Tanglia Romantics

Monday 4
5am PDT : Romantic Wear at the Worlds' End Tavern
2pm PDT : Best In Swimwear

Tuesday 5
5am PDT : Best In Swimwear
12.30pm PDT : WET Pub Quiz
2pm PDT : Wet T-Shirt Event

Wednesday 6
5am PDT : Wet T-Shirt Event
2pm PDT : Demons, Monsters & Nightmares

Thursday 7
5am PDT : Demons, Monsters & Nightmares
2pm PDT : The Thursday Session with DJ Amilyn

Friday 8
5am PDT : ** No Event **
2pm PDT : Best In Latex
5pm PDT : 'Spring Fling' at Tanglia Romantics with DJ Kwaidan

Saturday 9
5am PDT : Best In Latex
2pm PDT : Guitar Heroes

Sunday 10
5am PDT : Best In Purple
2pm PDT : Sunday Romantics, Best In Formal Wear Event at Tanglia Romantics

Kwai's sweet

2009-05-04T21:50:00.004Z

Kwaidan Shikami's Lemon Bars.

1 and a 1/2 cups of graham wafer crumbs
3/4 cups of flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup melted butter or margarine
* Mix above ingredients well. Keep 1& 1/4 cup for topping. Spread the rest on bottom of an 8-inch (20 cm) square pan. Press firmly with hands.

* In a bowl, prepare:
1 can Condensed Milk
1 tsp grated lemon rind (optional)
1/2 cup lemon juice or 2 juice from lemons

* put on top of crust, then add remaining topping. Cook 15-20 minutes at 350 F (175 C) and cool.

Kawidan's Peanut Butter Squares

1 cup margarine
4 cups icing sugar
1 and 1/2 cups smooth peanut butter
1 cup graham wafer crumbs
1 bag chocolate chips

* In a large saucepan add icing sugar, peanut butter, and crumbs. Blend well.
* Melt margarine and while still warm pour over dry mixture. Mix well.
* Spread onto cookie sheet and smooth out. Spread quickly before cools.
* Melt chocolate chips, spread across top.
* Freeze for 15 minutes and cut into squares. If too cold, thaw some, if too hot, freeze some, to ease cutting.
* Freeze when done and store.

Sugar Pie

1 and 1/2 cups brown sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 can evaporated milk
1 well beaten egg

Mix well, put on low heat on burner for 5 minutes so ingredients get blended. Pour into an uncooked pie crust, and back at 400 F (200 C) for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 300 F (150 C) for 30 minutes.

Kael's Accidentally Greek Steak?

2009-05-04T14:39:00.005Z

Today we were talking about food. Kaelson Muliania asked whether this sounded any good.

[14:12] Kaelson Muliaina: So, I have the meat marinading while I see if you guys think my new plan has any merit
[14:12] Talia Jiang: OK kael, listening
[14:13] Kaelson Muliaina: About a pound of beef, marinaded in vinegar and oil, chopped up, cooked in a skillet with some of red onion
[14:14] Kaelson Muliaina: Then, a side of tomatoes with olive oil, basil, and a little bit more balsamic vinegar
[14:15] Talia Jiang: Are you asking advice?
[14:15] Kaelson Muliaina: Yeah
[14:15] Kaelson Muliaina: Does that sound good?
[14:15] Talia Jiang: I would brown the meat first, then take it out soften the onions then add the meat back in
[14:15] Kaelson Muliaina: Not cook them together?
[14:16] Talia Jiang: The onions need about ten minutes alone for caramelisation
[14:16] Talia Jiang: You can add sugar to onions to speed it up
[14:16] Talia Jiang: Its the conversion of the sulphurs to a sweeter fuller taste
[14:17] Talia Jiang: When the onions have turned more yellow you know that they are ready
[14:18] Kaelson Muliaina: Hoooo! (I start playing VHS or Beta, Night on fire)
[14:18] Talia Jiang: If you want a more bitter taste use butter instead of oil
[14:18] Kaelson Muliaina: I like this song
[14:18] Talia Jiang: Me too !

Ardeesha's Lamb Curry

2009-05-04T14:31:00.002Z

We often have food discussions while dancing. This is the first of our recipes by Ardeesha Algoma.

well you chop 2 large onions a few cloves of garlic ,3spanish green peppers
chop them and fry in a tablespoon of oil
add a smaal piece of fresh chopped ginger
one tin of tinned tomatoes chopped
add a tablespoon of turmeric
and desert spoon of garam masal in
a liter of water with about a kilo of lamb
if you can get fenugreek leaves it fab with lamb
Talia Jiang: sounds lovely
and corander to garnish
cook for about one hour slowly

Western Event at Worlds' End Tavern

2009-05-02T22:09:00.003Z

Had a wonderful time playing music at Saturdays event, which was Western themed. MistyMelody and Figment having a good time and being very funny.

Minova did an amazing scenery and I will be posting photos soon.

Here is the playlist for tonight.

Deep Purple - Stormbringer
Black Strobe - I'm A Man
Steppenwolf - Born To Be Wild
The Mooney Suzuki - You Never Really Wanted to Rock 'n' Roll
Grinderman - Depth Charge Ethel
Jeff Beck - Rollin' And Tumblin'
Fleetwood Mac - Shake Your Moneymaker
The Beat - Mirror In The Bathroom
The Jam - Down In The Tube Station At Midnight
Primal Scream - Rocks
The Music - Freedom Fighters
John Mayall Feat. Eric Clapton - Key To Love
The Doors - Roadhouse Blues
The loveGods - Sadie Mercedes
The Noisettes - Sister Rosetta (Capture The Sprint)
The Music - Breakin'
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Six Barrel Shotgun
The White Stripes - Let's Build A Home
The White Stripes - Jumble, Jumble
The Automatic - Monster
The Fratellis - Chesea Dagger
Manic Street Preachers - Kevin Carter
Stereophonics - Madame Helga

Aurora Metaluna at Tanglia Romantics

2009-04-22T20:33:00.004Z

From Talia's second life

Aurora Metaluna is new to Second Life, but has been a singer since age three and has never stopped. She sings with deep emotion in a voice that is emotional, vulnerable and strong.

Warm up to St.Georges day

2009-04-22T19:52:00.002Z

From Talia's second life

As a warm up to St George's Day, tonight we're having a 'Best In Anything English" event. So whether you fancy youself as a Templar Knight, a grubby little chav, a bowler hatted toff, or some other hackneyed stereotype, we wanna see it. With DJ Pristeen playing some amazing music.

Toons Writer and Tanglia Romantics

2009-04-22T19:27:00.002Z

From Talia's second life

Toons Writer is from Port Sunlight, Wirral, UK.... just across the River Mersey from Liverpool. Toons started playing guitar at age 14 and writing his own music at the age of 15. He does mostly 70's Rock, but broadening his horizons and his own musical style too... His influences include Alice Cooper, Jimmy Page, T.Rex, Mike Oldfield, Slade.

Shannon Oherlihy

2009-04-20T18:29:00.008Z

From Talia's second life

Shannon Oherlihy (Shannon McMahon) played at Tanglia Romantics today and we hope to have her as a regular singer. She plays guitar and her clear, emotional voice floats through the music. Playing live she sounds like a studo recording, absolutely perfect.

She will be a regularl at Tanglia Romantics.

Music list

2009-04-20T18:16:00.007Z

Tonight I will be playing at Worlds' End Tavern, for the "Best In Not Much At All" event, starting 10pm UK time.

My groups of the day are Syntax and Fluke.

The music set is:-

Puretone - Addicted To Bass (Original Version)
Faithless - Mass Destruction
Fatboy Slim - Ya Mama
Fatboy Slim - Weapon Of Choice
Groove Armada - I See You Baby
DJ Tiësto - Adagio For Strings
Faithless - Insomnia
Pendulum - Visions
Pendulum - Propane Nightmares
Pendulum - Granite
M83 - Don't Save Us From The Flames
Syntax - Pray
Fluke - Tosh (Gosh)
Fluke - Switch/Twitch
Foals - Red Sox Pugie (Henrik Schwartz remix)
Muse - Plug in Baby
Klaxons - It's Not Over Yet
The Go! Team - Panther Dash

Tanglia Oak tree

2008-08-05T22:39:00.004+01:00

The Tanglia Oak is designed to be used in a forest either with other Tanglia Oaks or mixed with other Tanglia trees. The tree is not symmetrical and rotating it will give several looks avoiding monotonous forest. They are also modify and can be shrunk up to half their original size to give some variation in height.

The trees come in singles at 120 L$ or in packs of five at 300 L$. They are priced to be economical when making large forests on simulators and they are wider than normal so that they can be planted further apart so you use few trees to cover a large area.

Graphics are hand drawn and include artificial depth cues to create a feeling of distance. This enables you to make a deep looking forest. Other items will be added to the range to create beautiful forests economically.

A Night at the Opera

2008-04-06T13:40:00.002Z

We redecorate the Worlds' End Tavern twice a week for events. Pristeen Barbosa, Lexa Sands and me (Talia Jiang) build sets beforehand and place them about an hour before the event. The walls, curtains and theatre box are made by me for A Night at the Opera which was held in early April.

My portfolio

2008-03-30T10:39:00.002Z

Here are samples of my builds so that people can see what I have done in the past.

After a year

2008-03-20T19:10:00.001Z

I have restarted my blog for Relay For Life in Second Life.

Events, good or bad

2007-03-23T09:30:00.000Z

Two weeks ago we decided to increase our traffic by running events at my tavern.

Traffic is a mysterious Linden figure that works out how popular your piece of land is. Nobody seems to know how it is calculated but seems to involve how long people stay on a piece of land and how large the land area is. The most important thing is that places with high traffic appear nearer the top in searches and will hopefully attract more people.

Events are listed in the Second Life Search (under the events tab) where it shows events that are in progress and about to start. We ran an event each night and I collected data for twelve events from 10MAR to 22MAR07 (13days). I also have pre-event data from the 22FEB to 9MAR07 (19 days).

I don't pay my dancers a wage nor do I take a percentage. They dance for enjoyment and tips. Most of my dancers are trained to dance, they also help newbies, chat, role-play and take part in combat. Yes, its a weird combination but Tanglia is an odd place.

The question is “What was the effect of the events on traffic and tips”.

Answer: Traffic did not increase and tips dropped to 45% of the pre-event average.

A lot of our dancers stopped coming during events. Before events we would regularly have ten or more dancers; for events we have 5 or less. The events also killed off the chat which is such an important part of the mood of the Tavern.

I need to talk to my dancers and see where we go from here. My own feeling is that events are not in character with what we are trying to do.

I am hoping to start lessons in basic building, adjusting clothing, how to be a dancer and so on. I wanted to do that anyway, but will be interesting to see what happens with traffic.

The crinkly bits - Landscaping

2007-03-12T15:19:00.000Z

In Second Life many landscape are bland and uninteresting, smooth simple curves and rounded ridges. Well real-life landscape has crinkles!

Crinkles can be added using the landscape brush. Use the medium or small brush depending on the size or your hill or vallley.

I usually start by adding ridges; using the raise brush, start sweeping it from side to side at the bottom of the ridge and work upwards making the side to side motion smaller and smaller. Repeat this a few times till you have a good looking ridge.

Move along to where another ridge will look good then raise another one until you have a decent set of ridges. High hills have fewer ridges spaced further apart.

Add dips and hollows between the ridges using the lower brush and starting at the top this time work downwards.

After a bit of practice it is easy and fund to do.

If you want to see how it looks, visit Tanglia and enjoy the Welsh style coastlines.

Story telling in Second Life

2007-03-09T09:14:00.000Z

We have always had a tradition of telling stories from mans earliest history from cave paintings, verbal tradition, plays and the written word.

A world like Second Life gives us a new way of story telling. I have been visiting various places in Second Life like the Goreans, Elven Palaces, Middle Earth and Vampire haunts. These are all places where stories are created and told. I have been involved in many scenarios in SL, short collaborative story telling with language, gesture, music, sound-effects, stage-settings, props, poses and costume.

Second Life provides a wonderful place to tell short stories. There are examples like Machinima (films made using games) and writings, but mostl is hidden. Very little story telling is recorded and most tales are lost straight away. Many of us do not realise we are involved in telling a story, after all what is true in Second Life?

Raising the land

2007-03-08T12:54:00.000Z

The Second Life Islands come almost flat with no trees. To create the landscape I had to raise the land, then sculpt it.

The photo shows me raising the land. I started by placing posts to mark the height I wanted. The posts are 10m high with a line through the middle at 5m. Then I selected the piece of land and raised it, doing the following.

raise a little to clear the sea floor.
flatten the land
raise and lower it till it comes halfway up the marker pole.

There is a deep gap between the two land masses, use the same method between the two raised sections.

Next time I hope to discuss the crinkly bits - coastline and hills

Worlds' End Tavern

2007-03-07T15:56:00.000Z

The Tavern in Tanglia is called Worlds' End. Its name has so many meanings for me.

Tanglia is my Island in Second Life and Carlotta Batra (my Partner) and I have created many fantastical places which represent some of the amazing cultures in Second Life.

The name comes from a Sandman* story about an Inn that provides sanctuary for people to gather when their own world is ending and they wait to go back to the new world. They pass the time telling stories sharing an insight into their world and lives.

I am bit cynical and to me Tanglia gives an insight into a Second Life world that may be ending to be replaced by a more commercial world. The Tanglia Island is telling my story in the landscape, buildings and things that happen there. I am sharing an insight into a world I fear will end.

*Sandman by Neil Gaiman

[Postscript 9MAR07: People will always take a piece of the story with them and some will make the stories live again. We all have a need for stories, whether we believe they are real or know they are not. As we move from world to world there are some who will carry the stories with them and retell them for another generation.]

Pristeen - body shape

2007-03-06T19:14:00.000Z

I finally mangaged to put another body shape on sale. This is the Pristeen shape and hase been used by Pristeen Barbosa for over a month during which we improved the face. Her overall look comes from her sense of style and skill at choosing accessories, but she does look good in whatever she chooses.

I started the shape by copying the body and face of a slavic model. During the copying I make many adjustments so the body shape and face will look good in Second Life.

I check how the body moves by walking round and also how it sits and lies down. The body shape can make some clothes and movement look bad.
The places that mess up are:-

deep wrinkles round the nose.
black shadows under the breasts
black shadows round the buttocks
poor facial animation.
straps at the top of the breasts that wrinkle when moving.
scalp that pokes through the hair.
stomachs that fold
shoulders that dislocate when rasing arms
hips that dislocate when sitting

For the first four checks I set my daylight setting to Noon. The noon lighting in SL is harsh with light coming from one direction and it shows up creases in the face or shadows on the body. I check the facial animation with the smile and wink gestures.
Hair is checked with three different makes; ETD Ponytail without bangs, Adam and Eve Glamour and Cake.
To check the top of the breasts you need vertically and horizontaly striped tops, preferably not by a good maker. A good maker knows about the problems of distortion and you will find that the pattern and cut avoids the problem areas which are the tops of breasts and just below the ribs. When the avatar poses you cannot get rid of distortion but it can certainly be reduced with good body design.
To check for distortion around the shoulders, stomach and hips I use the free karta and bara animations.

Pristeen is shown with House Jiang Pristeen body shape, Canimal Fetish Uberlight skin, ETD The Bob hair and !WRONG look 1 clothing.

The Body Shape is available from House Jiang in Tanglia.

World's End Inn

2007-01-23T13:09:00.000Z

I want my Second Life estate to be social and friendly. A place where people can gather, talk, chat and go do things together. I am used to running a guild in other games, having a good friendly atmosphere, doing things together, talking and having fun.

After going through a lot of names, we decided "The Worlds End" was a great name, summed up its location and had so meanings.

We talked about running a pub and I started building one a couple of days ago. My design is for four buildings linked together with a dance-floor in the middle. While building I was thinking of a typical old british farmhouse. A central old building with newer buildings added on. A family home that had been expanded over the centuries as it grew, different styles and sizes of building added as needed.

The above photo is nothing like my building but it does shows the typical European style of oldest building in the center with extensions added to extension and that is the look I am after.

The photo is from here

Slartibartfast

2007-01-22T14:36:00.000Z

Had a lot of fun landscaping and building a pub.

I was landscaping a large region so I tried a few ideas and discovered a new things. I will describe these on another entry together with screen shots.

I started by drawing a landscape map with key locations marked with positon and height. I took about 3 hours as I included the buildings. Then I went to the sim and created poles 0.5m x 0.5m x10m high and applied a builders texture marked off in meters. I located each one of the poles at the key locations, copying the position and heights off the map.

Using the landscape dialogue, I select a rectangle of land, flattened it and then changed the height till it came halfway up the poles. I kept doing this till most the land was the correct height. Raising the land had left deep narrow 4m valleys between each of the rectangles of land. I selected these as a 4m wide selection, flattened them, changed the height and then smoothed it.

Now I had the basic land heights and moved onto making the landscape look more realistic. I imporved the landscape with a simple technique I discovered and I will describe that and the pub in another entry.

I quite fancy doing Cornwall, I wonder if they can use me on Earth Mk. II?

Club deleted from Tanglia

2007-01-21T11:27:00.000Z

Nachtwlf and I opened our club, Broken Hearts, in November and at the same time several friends opened their clubs too. Today Carla and I went to see how they were getting on.

I had been to the opening night of the pub Coyote Ugly and there was a happy Country and Western atmosphere. The wooden bar had been built near the middle and 4 girls were dancing on it wearing shorts, stetsons and tied shirts. Amusing comments going back and forth and everyone joining in to create a party feeling. Today it had been turned into a bleak blue and white cube that was more suited to toilets than a club. There were dance bases and slot machines along the wall. No atmosphere even thought there were people there.

Kinky Kitty was doing quite well, but there was only one dancer and people were arriving and then leaving. When more dancers arrived, it got going. Carla and I were griefed there, I saw a guy out the corner of my eye and before he was 8m away knew he was out to cause trouble. He was walking straight towards us even though he had to walk at an angle to do it. He bumped us apart and started verbal abuse. In my own club we had a lot of people just out to cause trouble, maybe 2 or 3 a day.

There is another place we go, which is just a pub, but there are always people there and it gets busy. It probably doesn't make much money but its always fun to go there.

When we got back to Tanglia, Carla and I had a long talk. We decided that:-

A club is hard work as we need to interview and employ, events must be arranged, DJ's booked.
Most places will be griefed at some time so security or some way of dealing with those people is needed.
Clubs do not make money. The employees make a moderat income, maybe 3,000 L$ to 6,000 L$ per day and they have to work long hard hours to get that kind of money. If a club takes 10% from tip jars, the income will will get about 600L$ per day.
Money is to be made in shops and selling things, especially clothes and skins.
Gambling is potentially a big money earner but again needs a lot of work.

We decided to scrap the club part of Tanglia and run a pub there instead. We will run a few shops, but keep the shop area small to start with.

I have scrapped the whole Island map and started again. The pub will be in the SE side of the Island with the dance floors below. If you want to see what they look like, go to Empathy in Whitefish. On the SE side we will get sunrise and sunset and see more of the moon. I will make the place romantic and beautiful.

The remaining 3/4 of the Island will be hunting and capture with two forests and swamp and lakes between. The SW forest will be evil and the NE forest soft and gentle.

I will put up some maps when I have them drawn out.

Tanglia discovered

2007-01-19T09:25:00.000Z

My Island was delivered today.

TANGLIA is here!

I have started by printing out the Island plan and building the floors for the buildings. There won't be a lot to see, but awhole lot of building to do.

Just waiting for Carla to get here so she can be the first here, then I am opening it up to friends.

Personality test INFJ

2007-01-17T10:48:00.000Z

I have always been interested in personality tests and discovering the drives and needs of others, so I can understand people better.

I found the this test useful in understanding myself.
http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes1.htm

Seems I am intuitive, introverted, feeling and judging.

My personality is described very well here:
http://keirsey.com/personality/nfij.html
http://typelogic.com/infj.html

Island may take a while

2007-01-17T08:45:00.000Z

Seems we may have a long wait for the Island of Tanglia to be ready. Linden Labs took two months to prepare my friends Island. Talking to Babeth Kaupas, co-owner of the "A and B" region, it was 2 months between their Island going from Pending to Fulfilled. Pending means that the Island is paid for and that it is scheduled to be built. Fulfilled means that it is built and ready to be used.

I have great people ready to help me build, Laya, Carli, Maya and Carlotta. The extra time will allow me to develop the terrain map in more detail, build some key parts and start on the textures.

Momoko Body

2007-01-15T14:17:00.000Z

I opened my new shop House Jiang today. It sells a Japanese/Asian body-shape, hair, eyes and clothes.
Shown here is the body-shape including, hair, eyes and clothes by Antilo; All available from my store in Whitefish 32/96.
(The skin is a free skin from Tete a Pied).

My new business

2007-01-15T13:01:00.000Z

I help my friends get the looks they want, acting as body maker and personal shopper. I have created a Dita Von Tees lookalike, Japanese Manga style and several bodies based on real-life models. I enjoy making body shapes, its like sculpting but using sliders to add or remove parts of the body.

I have always know which designer or style will give the looks they want, but it takes ages collecting the skin, hair, eyes, clothes and accessories from the different stores scattered around Second Life. My store will sell everything you need in one place with everything matched and co-ordinated. No need to adjust the prims on your hair or alter belt sizes to fit.

My first shop sells the Momoko Japanese/Asian body-shape and is a one stop shop for everything you need; look for House Jiang in SL Classifieds or on SL Boutique. Also go to Whitefish (32/96).

(The clothes are ready but not for sale yet)

Tanglia - Island

2007-01-13T10:09:00.000Z

My Island, Tanglia is now Pending and will be ready soon.

Stages are:
Not started - You have reserved a region but not paid for it.
Processing - Region is paid for but in a queue waiting to be processed.
Pending - Region is in the process and will be up soon
Fullfilled - The region has been put up.

Times for me were:
Processing to Pending (4 days)
Pending to Fulfilled (7 days)

Can't wait to go there and start building!

Tale of the ancient resident

2007-01-11T08:49:00.000Z

The Second Life update was aborted yesterday as problems were identified at a late stage on the Beta Grid. When I logged on, the main grid was suffering from the old problems; failed teleporting, grey shapes, invisible friends, missing hair. I needed to vent my frustration so here is Second Life in the style of Samuel Taylor Colleridge.

It is an ancient resident,
And he stoppeth one n00bie.
`By thy flex hair and glittering eye,
Now wherefore stopp'st thou me ?

Down dropped the frames, the speed dropt down,
'Twas sad as sad could be:
And we did chat only to break
The stillness we could see!

Day after day, day after day,
We stuck, nor breath nor motion;
As idle as a screenshot
On a Second Life promotion.

Green dots, green dots all around,
Yet no avatars I see,
A prisoner trapped in a crowd,
Bald, naked, shorn of finery.

A speck, a mist, a shape, I wist !
And still it neared and neared :
A name tag! my friend I see you now,
As past they plunged and veered.

He went like one that hath been stunned,
And is of sense forlorn :
A sadder and a wiser man,
He rose the morrow morn.

Apologies to Samuel Taylor Colleridge and The Tale of the Ancient Mariner

Men have two emotions: hungry and horny. If you see him without an erection, make him a sandwich.

Update day 10JAN06

2007-01-10T11:23:00.000Z

Today is update day.

I am usually logged into the Test Grid where I see a few friends, but I spend most my time designing clothes in Fireworks. I have pencil sketches I am slowly turning into clothes.

Fireworks was a Macromedia program for designing web graphics but gradually aquired nice painting and texturing features. Drawing is vector based with everything positioned in pixels. I test the designs in the free Avatar Viewer where I spend most my time aligning seams and patterns. If a seam does not line up, its a question of nudging one of the vectors by a few pixels and testing again.

Lag

2007-01-10T11:02:00.000Z

SL was bad yesterday.
Teleports timing out, items not resolving, slow updates and with only 19,000 people logged in. Sometimes I had no hair, sometimes it appeared between my legs alongside by boot. A lot of time the scenery was a dull grey, people were invisible yet I was still being bumped by them.

I ordered two items from SL Boutique and they were not delivered in-world.

I find Second Life becomes almost impossible to use during those conditions and we had this for over two hours yesterday.

The odd thing is that it can be fixed manually by the Lindens, suggesting hardware issues or maybe 'bad stuff' happening on some of the sims and needing to be cleared up.

Tanglia

2007-01-09T08:28:00.000Z

Second Life confirmed that my Island is on order and will be called Tanglia, which are the last three letters of my last and first names with a T added at the front.

I had problems ordering the Island as the purchase price was higher than allowed for a single transaction on my credit card. Then I found out that Second Life starts by taking money from your credit balance before debiting your credit card. After adding money to my balance I successfully placed the order.

Carla and I started designing the club, finding that we can make it smaller than we expected (24x32). The smaller size makes it feel cosy and will allow us to place more buildings in each area, taking up less of the sim.

I am designing the sim in 4096 (64x64m) blocks and have started allocating what will go there. There are 16x4096 blocks. At the moment we have:-
2 - Club, pub and function rooms
1 - Mall and beach
2 - Shops
11 - Roleplay area

The role-play will include fighting and capture and we need to look at combat systems for this. It will be one of the HUD (Heads up Display) and scripted weapons systems, so only those wearing the combat meter will be affected by weapons fire.