Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Tacky Christmas Shapes Up


Written 30 November, 2010

Tacky Christmas Shapes Up

So, Sweetie comes in world yesterday and sees what I've done on Mischief and says, "Wouldn't it be great if those ice floes were in the shape of a snowman?"

And now they are.

The circular structure at center bottom is a humongous (100 meter) tent.

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Whimsical Mischief Tacky Christmas



Written 28 November, 2010

Whimsical Mischief Tacky Christmas

Okay, we froze most of Whimsical Mischief and I've put out all my full-bright, high-prim, tacky Christmas prims. Soon Sweetie's and Leaf's Christmas stuff will join mine.

Muwahahaha!

Keep track of it all by jumping here.

How to Properly Peel a Banana



Written 28 November, 2010

How to Properly Peel a Banana

Chimpanzees know how to do it. Macaques and capuchin monkeys know how to do it. A few people know how to do it. But most of us don't.

I, for one, have been doing it wrong my entire life.

Bananas, as you may well know-- or maybe you, having seen them only on the display tables at the supermarket, don't-- grow with the sharp ends pointing upwards. And for the technically-minded among us, the clusters of bananas at the market aren't bunches, but hands (for fingers, get it?). A bunch of bananas is pictured at blog top.

So anyway, if you're like me, you've always held bananas with the stalk pointing up and peeled them from the apparent top. As any baboon could tell you, that's wrong, wrong, wrong!

For the past some years I've used a kitchen knife to make a cut at the base of the stem; that to avoid mashing the top (actually, the bottom) of the fruit. Before that I would use a thumbnail to slice through the peel lengthwise.

But there's a better way to peel a banana-- from the official top rather than the cultural top. That is, hold the banana by the stem (how clever, it has a handle!), with what you;ve always considered the bottom at the top. Now just pinch and pull away a section. Then another. Easy, isn't it? And the banana isn't damaged at all. See here for a tutorial.

Which just goes to show, when it comes to men and monkeys, there's no doubt who is smarter.

Cartoonanimals Monkey Top Jar

Bing 'em, Danno

Not Your Father's
Steve McGarrett
Written 28 November, 2010

Bing 'Em, Danno

ZenRascal wrote, in a recent comment to this recent post:

"... stand back as she reels off ridiculous ideas."
"... I imagine they'll involve slingshots, robots, and exploding lipsticks."
Chey, you (and sweetie) are a riot! Seems like just yesterday you were searching high & low for a mysterious dunking bird. And now this!!! LOLOLOL How do you do it? How do you keep cranking out all this wacky stuff?? LOL Whimsy indeed!!!!
Zen, Sweetie and I were ridiculously flattered by your comment. Thanks for having a sense of humor that appreciates our sense of humor.

You must understand-- we can't HELP making up this stuff. We try to stop. We need an intervention!

Take, for instance, tonight. We had returned home after visiting friends. We were eating soup made from leftover turkey and a margherita pizza while we watched the new Hawaii Five-0 on my laptop.

At some point I stopped the stream.

"I can't help myself," I said.

The 5-0 team had just egregiously mishandled evidence in a murder case-- picking it up without gloves and dumping trash from a vacuum cleaner on it to get a print.

So I sang (to the tune of the theme song, of course, and as best I can remember   the words):

We're Five-0 policemen
One girl and three guys
We do our own lab work
Don't need no CSI
We make it all up
As we stumble along
It's TV so it's
Okay if it's wrong
We're just actors
Messing up our liiiiiines

Which caused Sweetie to sing about Dano's relationship with his ex-wife:

She lived in New Jersey
Married to a cop
Now she's in Hawaii
And she loves to shop
She's got a fancy house with a gate
When Danno visits
She likes making him wait
She is British
She had a bad divoooorce

Before I could start again, Sweetie sang another verse:

There is product placement
In nearly every scene
I drive a brand new Chevy
And wear Levi jeans
My cell phone
Is in every scene
My searches
Are done always in Bing
Because Google
Was a dollar shoooort



Every few minutes one of us would have to pause the show to add another verse:

My name is McGarrett
I am a macho man
I like to pick on Danno
Just because I can
I take my shirt off
My tattoo to reveal
He's haole
And I am a Seal
Dad was murdered
I'm an angry maaaan

And so it went until the show was over. We were hemorrhaging verse, and laughing our asses off, and we absolutely couldn't stop. The damn song is STILL stuck in my head.

Now, the new Five-0 is so ridiculous it lends itself to parody, but anything, really, can set us off.

So it's not that we have trouble coming up with absurdities. It's more about not being able to help ourselves.

Whimsical Wonderland


28 November, 2010

Whimsical Wonderland

Well, the snowstorm had the predictable effect-- so Sweetie and I just went ahead and decorated for Christmas.

Whimsy's Paths are Snow-Covered and Treacherous
Ash From the Volcano Pele Has Already
Discolored the Snow
Polar Bears Appeared From Out of the Blue

So, Too, Did Mysterious Giant Christmas Ornaments

Friday, November 26, 2010

The Snow is Starting to Stick...


Written 25 November, 2010

The snow is starting to stick...

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Happy Thanksgiving!


Written 25 November, 2010

Happy Thanksgiving!

It's Thanksgiving Day in the United States. All across the country, turkeys are browing in ovens, stuffed with sage or corn bread or chestnut dressing. Green beans casseroles are baking, potatoes are being mashed, and yams are being candied. Giblet gravy is simmering on the stove, and cranberry sauce sits in dishes. It's almost time to pop in the dinner rolls!

Our own dinner is about an hour away. Soon the kitchen will be bustling as Sweetie and I make last-minute preparation in anticipation of good eating.

I'm thankful today for the many bounties and blessings in my life, and in yours. I hope you all, wherever you are in the world, have a wonderful day.

On the dark side, there's heavy rain in Whimsy as a cold front rolls through.

Monday, November 22, 2010

Every Airship Dock Needs a Dirigible


Written 22 November, 2010

Every Airship Dock Needs a Dirigible

It only makes sense that since we have a dock for lighter-than-air craft, at least one airship should be moored to it.

I would have loved to have rezzed Carrah Rossini's wonderful Selene craft, but at 166 prims I thought it best to save it for special occasions. Carrah's Nereide flying submarine weighs in at 104 prims, but I thought that was a bit heavy, too, for basic decor.

For thirty-five Lindens, I bought a dirigible on SL Exchange. Made by ikaros Kappler, it's a physical vehicle that seats six avatars. It had no gondola, however, so I put it aside with an idea of perhaps modifying it later.


Then I thought of Cubey Terra's airship. I've had it forever, since 2006 or possibly very early 2007. It seats four, can be flown, and is modifiable. Unfortunately, out of the box it looks like this:


Technically speaking, Cubey's airship is a blimp instead of a dirigible because it has no hard frame, but I ran with the title because dirigible sounds so much more sophisticated than blimp. Don't you think?

Cubey's ship allows for a custom side panel and tail decals via script, but fortunately the vehicle is modifiable. I tried several textures on the surface, and finally selected a circus tent fabric I bought somewhere.I applied it to the applicable prims, added a side panel Sweetie made when we first got Whimsy, and spent some time adjusting everything. Here's the result. I'm happy with it.


It looks good above the store, and uses only 27 prims.


Every Store Needs an Airship Dock


Written 22 November, 2010

Every Airship Dock Needs an Airship Dock

Sweetie installed an airship dock up at the new store area because, you understand, one never knows when a dirigible will come by and want to tie up. Loaded with grey-haired virtual shoppers on a senior outing, no doubt.


She tweaked the textures and added, of all things, an orrery. It was a nice touch.



We've not yet figured out how to get folks to the top, as there's no entry to the center and climbing up the outside would be difficult due to the encircling rings.

I've three ideas for moving folks to the top.

1. Teleport them. I could install long-distance teleporters which would whisk folks to the top in a flash.

2. Raise the build about three meters and install a bottom section with a door. Let folks enter and climb to the top on one of Gypsy Paz' great ladders.

3. Cut the prims that circle the main shaft and put a ladder on the outside.

All of these are practical, but lack that certain je ne sais quois-- that bit of essential Whimsy that characterizes our sims.

I think tonight I'll poke the muse. I'll oh so casually mention to Sweetie I've been thinking of an absurd and impractical way to get folks to the top of the tower and then stand back as she reels off ridiculous ideas.

I can't of course tell what her ideas will be, but I imagine they'll involve slingshots, robots, and exploding lipsticks.


New Construction on Whimsy

The New Home of Chey's Flights of Fancy Store
Written 22 November, 2010

New Construction on Whimsy

A year or so ago Sweetie and I began talking about a new space for Whimsy. It was to be high in the sky and would serve as an orientation center for the sim and a home for my Flights of Fancy store. And, of course, since Sweetie was involved, it had to be BIG.

Sweetie had grand visions which she tried to articulate, and which I couldn't quite visualize. I tried several things with floating platforms, but she didn't like them. She tried several things, and I didn't like them. Then one day I did some obscene things to a 100x100x100 m sphere and made a shape she could live with.

Sweetie added a roof and walls, and, extending the walls below the floor, she created a huge cavern below. She threw out some planter thingies and told me her job was done. Now it was my turn.

It took me several months to persuade her to unlock the wall and roof prims so I could tweak the textures on the sides of the prims just the TEENSIEST bit. Sweetie seldom concerns herself with details.

Even when she had unlocked them, though, I never got to work. Until yesterday.

First, I put some finishing touches on the strange little thingie I had made while Sweetie was manipulating megaprim roofs. I meant it to represent our sim: some science, some magic, and a touch of whimsy.


Then I turned my attention to the planters. I placed four of them and filled them with (at Sweetie's suggestion) trees from Botanical Straylight. Then I added grasses, flowers, and Japanese lights.


Now it was time to work on the landing area. I wanted the Flights of Fancy store to predominate here. I pulled out a box packed with signage from my old store and set to work.


I placed a store sign on the ground, turning it 100% transparent, and then set the top to 43% transparent. I added signs for my blog, and for the until now dormant Flights of Fancy blog, and hung two animated signs on  a big tiki post. Continuing the tiki motif, I made a billboard and stuck on all the small print stuff: join the group, store policies, and a sign explaining permissions of my jewelry.


A word on the design: for the building, Sweetie selected simple stone, glass, and metal textures. They're not exciting, but their drabness accentuates everything else. And so I filled the plain stone containers with bright trees and flowers. I think the signs-- when I make them-- will pop, too.

Wanting something to tie the build in with the theme of the sim below, I decided to use posts in a tiki design. As I add content, the boards will fill up with bright signs.


I thought it a good day's work.

The Space is HUGE!

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Sweetie Tweaks the Whimsy Teleporter



Written 21 November, 2010

Sweetie Tweaks the Whimsy Teleporter

When Sweetie saw the new teleport sign, she knew exactly what to do with it.

She had me move it between the columns at the foot of the entryway and hang it from chains. She put brass collars on the posts on either side (that took some GIMP work, as the texture we wanted had an aluminum finish.

Now visitors come to the sign as soon as they start to walk. By framing it between the posts, it's much more attention-grabbing.

Sweetie's eye is like that.

Chey's Hair Base

Written 21 November, 2010

Chey's Hair Base

I have a long head which is not attractive when I'm not wearing prim hair.


Of course, I almost always AM wearing prim hair...


... But it's not pretty when I'm not.


I was happy to get a freebie at the Hair Fair, a primless hair appliance that covered my bald head. It came from Made by Waka Flow, it covered my balditude with short, brushed back hair, like so:


Unfortunately, the freebie was the wrong color, and non-modifiable. I IMed Waka, who speaks no English. Eventually she led me to the display in her store and I picked up a fat pack in sll sorts of colors, including the off-black version shown.


Now when I accientally lose my hair or can't stand a hideous demo in a store and take it off and throw it on the floor and stomp on it, my temporary baldness is covered.

You can find the hair here.

It's a big store and the product is lost among a myriad of styles. Alas, I don't have the coordinates. So good luck.

Making the Blue Whale

Chey Contemplates Her Baby Blue Whale as the Giraffe Watches From Afar

Written 21 November, 2010

Making the Blue Whale

Ferd Frederix has some fascinating tools on his web page; see here. He has a small program that will display images in the Second Life cache folder in a web browser and a single script that will let the user manipulate prims in any complex object (aka Puppeteer). There's a zip file with all of Emerald's Windlight settings for users of Viewer 2.x, a powerful translator, a script that will generate speech from text, a tutorial that will allow Viewer 2 users to play their mp3s in Second Life without eating lots of bandwidth or paying someone for the privilege, and a tutorial for some nifty ripping water (Viewer 2 viewable only). But my favorite tutorial is a multi-parter called The Blue Whale Project.

The tutorial is detailed. You start by downloading a series of textures and sculpty textures and putting them in a prim. You add a script, run it, and before your eyes a small blue whale is generated. You must then drag copies of the single fluke and fin, add a root prim, and link everything. Then you add a prim for riding the whale and drop in a swim script from the tutorial.

 It took a while, but I finally got the root prim oriented so the whale wasn't standing on its flukes or dragging me upside down through the ocean.

The next steps are to add prims for the spout and a splash; then scripts must be placed in the flukes, tail, and fins, and those prims manipulated to make up and down swimming motions. A separate script animates the flukes. Finally, the whale is taught how to swim.

I got lost on my first attempt. The whale moved, but it seemed to have epilepsy. Tonight I started again and got most of the way through the tutorial.

The whale is small now, but my plan is to drag it large in Viewer 2.3, which, I understand, allows the creation of megaprims to 60 meters. I'm sure I'll have to play with the particle scripts to make the spout and splashes work properly. I'll keep you informed, dear reader, of my progress.

Ferd's pages are wonderful, but the texture program worries me. It doesn't display usable textures, but it does display their Unique User ID's; with a script, that texture (including sculpties) can be placed in a script which will apply it to a prim. This effectively allows texture theft. Ferd says he has alerted Linden Lab about the problem in their security, but decided to publish the program nonetheless.

Saturday, November 20, 2010

The Whales Cavort, The Albatross Soars

Click on this picture for full effect
Written 20 November, 2010

The Whales Cavort, The Albatross Soars

I awoke this morning to find I had been logged in all night. I just forgot to push the big red X at the upper right.

I had set dawn before going to bed, and the scene from the deck at Whimsy Kaboom was lovely: pink sky, blue water, whales breaching and sounding, an albatross highlighted against the sky, and Whimsy in the background.

I took these photos before crawling back into my warm bed.



New Signs for the Whimsy Train


Written 20 November, 2010

New Signs for the Whimsy Train

I love Kitto Flora's train. It's so very cleverly scripted.

Although the engine is non-modifiable, it's possible to add custom logos to the sides of the boiler and the cab.

Since 2007 the sign on the side of the boiler has read Avatar Mobilization Unit. The background of the sign was jade, at first, and then brass. Last night I reworked to signs to be the same color as the engine (I have the engine in Black, Red, and Green. I also have Kitto's Christmas train, which already has the perfect logo-- as you'll soon see).

Well, the logo doesn't QUITE match, since the boiler is glossy and the logo isn't-- but it's close enough.

The photos show me at the train's starting point on Whimsy, at dawn, with the new boiler sign clearly visible on the green train. Doesn't Whimsy look lovely?


Chey and the Whimsy Tipbot Inspect the Green Train

Friday, November 19, 2010

Runaway Giraffes



Written 19 November, 2010

Runaway Giraffes

Our sim neighbor Leaf has put a herd of giraffes on the Whimsical Mischief sim, which can be found south of Whimsy Kaboom and west of Whimcentricity.

Leaf's had the giraffes for a long time; I remember seeing them sailing through the air toward the horizon even when we were both on Dreamland's Forsaken sim, which would make them more than three years old. So I know they have a tendency to escape. Still, when I was standing in my home position on the deck on Kaboom and saw movement on my periphery (just like in first life!), it freaked me a bit-- not as much as the time Dodgeguy came into my house dressed as a snowman, but still...

When I turned, of course, it was one of Leaf's giraffes. It had crossed the sim line fro Mischief and wound up bouncing against the deck on Kaboom. Virtual giraffes being stupid, it didn't think to turn left or right, just kept trying to move forward.

A day or so later a second giraffe got loose; this one migrated clear across Kaboom to the northern border; no doubt it would have kept on going if there had been a sim to Kaboom's north.

This giraffe is having a merry time wandering through the rain from one little island to another and occasionally wandering into the ocean to see if the sim border has moved.


I think perhaps population pressure is forcing the giraffes from their habitat on Mischief (Leaf has quite a herd set out on the extinct volcano there), or if perhaps the giraffes are young males forced out by the bull giraffe (are there bull giraffes? To Wikipedia after this), or maybe they're searching for food.

----

Okay, Wiki says male giraffes are indeed called bulls; older males are called stink bulls because of chemicals in their fur. I've not noticed any odor, so I assume the escapees are young males or females.

I wonder how virtual giraffes taste.

Whimsy Gets a New Teleport Sign



Written 18 November, 2010

Whimsy Gets a New Teleport Sign

Long ago I modeled the teleport sign at Whimsy's entrance after the U.S. National Parks Service's signs-- you know the ones, and if you don't, just look above.

Here's the sign:


Awhile back I made replacement icons in brass, but got frustrated and never finished. Tonight, I rallied myself and completed the job.

Here's the new sign, complete with lighting for effect:


The new sign looks better (to me, at least), and supplements the icons with the names of the various destinations.

What frustrated me upon my first attempt was Bob.

Yes, Bob again.

All the destinations worked fine, but whenever I would teleport to Bob's location, I would return to find the teleport sign a meter or so out of place, hanging in mid-air.

I tried EVERYTHING-- resetting the script, changing the vector of the destination in small ways, moving the Bob prim to the right side of the sign instead of the left, even hauling out a brand new prim-- but no matter what I tried, the Bob sign wound up out of alignment.

Sweetie tells me this is because there's a zone of protection around deities. Maybe so.

Tonight I selected an entirely new location-- further from Bob, but with him still within sight-- and it worked! Shhh, don't tell Sweetie!

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Running Cooler

Written 16 December, 2010

Running Cooler

Sweetie's computer has been running much better since she removed the processor fan and blew out the vanes on the cooler with compressed air. It's at 66F now, with Second Life running, woo hoo!

Her sound card (she has a plug in card) is making a popping noise, but is working. Tomorrow I plan to clean the contacts.

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Total Protection For Your Total Protection

To see our other Whimsurance policies, click here and here.


Total Protection For Your Total Protection

Written 13 November, 2010

Whimsical Virtual Insurers and Guarantors

"It's not just INsurance; it's WHIMsurance!"
  
-----

TOTAL PROTECTION FOR YOUR TOTAL PROTECTION

Special Rider for Users of Security Devices, Anti-Inspection Shells, and Red Fences

This is a special Whimsurance rider for users of home protection / security / privacy devices, those who set their land to exclude individual avatars or certain classes of avatars, and those who choose to shield their avatars behind security prims.

We at Whimsical Virtual Insurers and Guarantors understand that privacy in Second Life is entirely in your mind. Anyone can see what you are doing virtually anywhere you go. We don’t at all understand why you think you are "protecting" yourself with all those expensive, lag-inducing gadgets and annoying red  fences when nobody knows who the fuck you are in real life, but we respect your right to be stupid and will cover under this rider most of the liabilities you might incur in the use of your privacy and anti-inspection devices.

If you are sued for abuse reported by an avatar who is unseated from their vehicle when they hit your "Red Fence of Friendship," YOU ARE COVERED!

When an avatar gets bounced from your property before they have time to fly away and, upon being unexpectedly teleported home, discovers their virtual spouse in bed with their virtual best friend, YOU ARE COVERED!

When your 5000-prim anti-inspection device is penetrated by every avatar who knows how to use the camera or the pie menu, YOU ARE COVERED! No, wait! You’re not covered, because you’re a dumbass! But if an avatar is serious injured while attempting to penetrate your shield, YOU ARE COVERED!

When your security device causes an avatar to lose expensive no-copy attachments, YOU ARE COVERED!

When an avatar is damaged due to excessive bouncing between your red fence and the red fences of your neighbors, YOU ARE COVERED!

Special Note: "YOU ARE COVERED!" does not mean you will receive monetary compensation. You are merely covered.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Red Fences

This policy extends coverage to red fences lawfully erected in accordance to rental agreement, land ownership covenant, estate rules, and Linden Lab's (R) Terms of Service.

Coverage shall not apply to red fences erected in contravention to any of the above, nor to non-standard red fences constructed from unauthorized huge prims, nor to red fences powered by sources other than the main grid, for example nuclear power plants, alien technology, unlawfully impressed Gorean kajirae, character-played livestock, hamster wheel camping chairs, or the use of large numbers of blindingly high-powered face lights.

Collisions

This policy provides protection in the event of first-party or third-party vicarious damages caused by collision with a covered red fence (see definition above).

In the event an encounter with your lawful red fence causes the unseating of an avatar from his or her vehicle, our risk management specialists will attempt to mitigate the loss to the collidee and reduce the likelihood of a claim. The specialist will take the following steps:

1. Cheerfully assuming Second Life has returned said vehicle to the avatar's Lost and Found folder, thereby eliminating the possibility of a claim.

2. If said vehicle has not been returned to the collidee within a reasonable amount of time (seven years), we will provide a cheerful and reassuring note to the collidee advising them to wait patiently and perhaps hold their breath until said vehicle reappears in their Lost and Found.

3. In the unlikely event the collidee is still pursuing damages, we will provide them with a high-quality vehicle of equal value, as determined by our adjusters, accounting for deprecation, the amount of virtual wear and tear of the lost vehicle, and whether the vehicle was in overall good taste.

4. In the unlikely event a lawsuit ensues, we will promptly review the claim and deny it on the basis of the following exclusions: UFOs, vehicles driven at night, vehicles driven by avatars under the influence of alcohol or other drugs or wearing scripted collars which surrender control of their avatar to someone else, freebie vehicles, and vehicles which require more than one region to rez.

5. If a collision with your red fence does result in litigation, your claim will be carefully evaluated by our panel of experts before being categorically denied.

SECURITY DEVICES

Personal Security Devices

This rider does not cover misplacement or accidental deletion of your security devices, nor transfer of your device to another avatar, nor does it guarantee your poorly scripted and ugly security orb will actually work. We are not responsible for griefing, theft of your virtual inventory or identity, unauthorized terraforming of your land, unlinking, dismantling, or turning physical of your home, or elopement of your virtual spouse with any avatar who contrives to get past your security device or manages to wreak havoc in the seven seconds between arrival and ejection. Nor are we responsible if you manage to eject yourself or your virtual spouse, partner, or concubine from your property.

If your security device causes loss or damage to the intruder's (we like to call your orb’s victim an intruder, because it sounds good in court) HUDS or other attachments, our risk management specialists will attempt to mitigate the loss to the collidee by taking the steps outlined above. They will then categorically deny the intruder’s claim. If the intruder continues to press for a settlement, we will add them to our grid-wide anti-litigant database, which will automatically eject them from any region covered by our policy.

If the ejection causes the intruder to lose attachments or causes embarrassment by an unexpected teleport home (see example above), we will ask the intruder if he or she is covered by our personal loss policy. If not, we will give the intruder a raspberry and laugh our asses off.

EXCLUDED DEVICES

Grid-Wide Security Devices

If your security device adds names of banned avatars to a database which subsequently bans them from multiple sims, shame on you. We explicitly don’t ensure those devices, mostly because we’re in most of the databases.

ANTI-INSPECTION ORBS

If you wear an anti-inspection cocoon because you fancy yourself a fashionista and wish to prevent others from using Second Life’s Inspect feature to find the names of the creators of your hair, clothing, shoes, and accessories, let us first say you’re not “all that.” Face it, you look like ten thousand other avies, probably with too-big boobs, too-big hair, too-expensive shoes, and too-short skirt. That oily skin is butt-ugly, your hair has an alpha problem, and those huge prim eyelashes never resolve in others’ viewers anyway. In other words, why bother?

Besides, you should be ashamed at making the server render hundreds of prims to heighten your sense of self-importance.

Since anti-inspection devices work only with newbies who haven’t yet learned to control their cameras, we will not cover touches, pokes, or camming of your inspection device. Nor will we compensate you for the deep feelings of inadequacy and insecurity that caused you to purchase such a device in the first place. Finally, we’ll deny your claim for personal anguish caused by that two-week old avatar who just penetrated your anti-inspection orb and announced to all present the creators of your prims.

However, if an avatar should become frustrated and grief or cage you or other avatars or become permanently virtually cross-eyed, or terminate his or her account due to inability to pierce your anti-inspection shield, you will be covered.

COMPENSATION

Coverage does not equal compensation. If your coverage is triggered by a covered event, we will courteously take your claim, file it away in our inventory, and inform you within two weeks of a server-side inventory loss. Since we will have no record of memory of the event (our agents receive special training in memory loss as well as inventory loss), you will not be compensated.

Monday, November 1, 2010

Fall Has Fell

Written 1 November, 2010

Fall Has Fell

Suddenly it's November. The unseasonably warm October is behind us, and a characteristically cold November 1 is upon us-- at least here in New York, where I am staying for some weeks.

The last posts of the Bob saga were difficult. First, I had managed to weave a complex story that left no easy way for me to write myself out of. Second, Sweetie's desktop is running a fever. The graphics card is at 97 degrees Celsius as I write this, with only the browser open. When I log into Second Life, the temperature goes to 108.

According to SpeedFan, something (I suspect it's the processor) is running at 127 degrees. Whatever is hot, Second Life is moving like molasses, with frame rates about .6 second.

On the other hand, the computer is still working okay with Chrome and has a comfortable chair, so I've been writing here and going across the room to log into SL on my laptop to take photos to illustrate my blogposts. I then paste the photos into the post I'm working on, walk across the room, and resume work on the desktop.

Sweetie was feeling ill this weekend and was often lying on the couch watching video on my laptop, which slowed the process somewhat. I was seriously beginning to think I wouldn't get the Bob Saga finished in time for Halloween, but she rallied and went into muse mode and stimulated my imagination and I finished in time--- just.

The next time I go off an a ramble like The Bob Saga, someone just shoot me, please?

I'm about to have a peek inside Sweetie's desktop to see if I can determine the cause of the overheating. I'm pretty sure a fan has failed. It was making a dying fan noise for a while, and then it stopped. I suspect it's the processor fan. Her computer has a single core chip, which is apparently one that doesn't work without an operating cooling fan. I think the GPU is hot because of proximity.

So hopefully, $10-$20 bucks for a new fan and Sweetie's desktop will be back in business. Then I can attend to the many things I neglected while doing the Bob thing.

The Bob Saga: XXXXI: Bob's Triumphant Return



Written 1 November, 2010

The Bob Saga

XXXXI: Bob's Triumphant Return

All's well that ends well.

The Head of I'mSoNotADiva Bartlett is in transit to art prison.

Neelix Nesselrode and Sleezy Spinosa were quietly married at the Cathedral of Wyrms. Neelix has a new job announcing giant snail races on Treet TV.

Golemdum is now a trustee at the robot sanatorium on Whimsy Kaboom.

AlexHayden Junibalya was recently appointed The Queen's Own Rakehell.

Sweetie and BonBon Michelin are collaborating on a book about the history of the beignet.

After 41 posts filled with absurdity, ridiculousness, and variations on AlexHayden Junibalya's name, I'm taking a much-needed vacation in a tropical paradise. That would be Whimsy, my home.

And Bob? Our 30-foot, 40-ton, deified granite Paleolithic drinking bird is back in place, supplying energy for all of Whimsy.

Thank you, readers, for putting up with all this.