Posts filed under 'Commentary'
Things I hate about Viewer 2, in no particular order
Note: I actually wrote this somewhat ranty piece on Viewer 2 (in its greater substance, at least) several days ago, shortly after I more or less promised to do so. Unfortunately I was then unable to commit any time to testing out the StarLight skin recommended by Otenth Paderborn as I had also promised. Hence the regrettable delay in actually publishing this. (more…)
Post Category: Commentary
July 29th, 2010 at 11:30pmRyan Darragh
Where does the time go? My apologies for recently being rather more absent than present. I had a bit of a domestic crisis that demanded my attention, at first because there were things that had to be done to restore order, and then because there was something shiny and it was difficult to look away. I realize that was fairly cryptic; I shall elaborate.
Our TV blew up. Not literally—there were no sparks, or in fact anything dramatic. I suppose it would be more accurate to say that it gave up. It was a ProScan 27” tube TV, fantastic in its day and it had served long and well. But it was old and tired and ready to make its way to the clearing at the end of the path. There were signs—it had been flickering a bit for a while, and some noticeable geometric distortion had crept in. Oh, and once or twice it dropped into black-and-white mode, as if it simply couldn’t muster up the energy to do color. All this said loudly and clearly that an internal power supply or some such was just about done. Finally last week, it just quit one night, about 10 minutes from the end of Top Chef. Ouch! (more…)
Post Category: Announcements,Commentary
July 16th, 2010 at 08:32amRyan Darragh
Welcome to the third installment of my Hair Fair 2009 coverage! Although I didn’t set out with a theme in mind, upon reflection it seems to me that the styles here are all nicely suited for summer, with its plethora of outdoor activities and generally casual vibe. I hope you’ll like at least some of these styles as much as I do. First, though, some brief editorializing, as I can’t seem to help myself. Feel free to read through or skip on down to the pretty pictures.
Nothing consumes me like editing hair. (I know, I ranted before on the topic of scripted vs. moddable hair. But this is different, so please indulge me. I’ll keep it short, I promise!) When a hairstyle calls for significant custom tweaking to fit my avie, it’s a serious undertaking. The result can be me falling into a Zen-like state, zoning out and not really being aware of things around me. Things like music playing, the phone ringing, and announcements that it’s time for dinner. You know…stuff like that. (more…)
Disclosure: Seen in World: Yes | Review Copy: Some | Friends List: No
Notes: On Ryan: "Antonio" skin by Funk Schook (FNKY!). Eyes by Garbage Prototype (Random).
Post Category: Bryce Designs,Commentary,Hair,Hats,New Items,SHAG,Simply Britnee
July 23rd, 2009 at 09:00pmRyan Darragh
I know, I know–we all bitch about stuff in SL all the time. I include myself when I say that. I have to say, though, that SL has been more than usually rocky for me lately. Between one undesirable symptom and another, it seems like I have to work extra hard to get anything productive done. (Having fun is another matter.) In that spirit, I submit the following holiday musing. It can be sung to a tune you doubtless know well; I’ll spare you the recitation of all twelve verses.
The Twelve Days of SL Christmas
On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me:
twelve viewer crashes,
eleven failed attachments,
ten rolling restarts,
nine script errors,
eight missing textures,
seven rezzing failures,
six sudden logouts,
five failed TPs,
four amorphous clouds,
three lagfests,
two capped IMs,
and a hairstyle up my ass!
Not to be taken too seriously. Yes, as a matter of fact I have been drinking. If you aren’t having fun, you aren’t doing it right.
A happy Christmas to all!
Post Category: Commentary
December 25th, 2008 at 10:46amRyan Darragh
In fact, if my IMs-to-email do not deceive me, I’ve been double-tagged. Looks like Grazia got me first, followed by swaffette. Now in all honesty this is the kind of thing where I usually just roll my eyes and hit Delete, but these are nice people, everybody else seems to be playing along, and I don’t want want to get the reputation of being a spoil-sport. Plus, it could be fun. 
So here we go.
The Rules
- Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
- People who are tagged need to write a post on their own blog (about their eight things) and post these rules.
- At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
- Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.
Oh dear. I guess you’re going to learn more about me today than you may have wanted to know. Read on…at your peril. (more…)
Post Category: Commentary
December 4th, 2007 at 07:54pmRyan Darragh
By now you have probably already heard about the “CopyBot” and all the associated uproar. If you haven’t, you can read more about it on the Official Linden Blog (direct links here and here). It’s not my intent to politicize this blog, even just for today, or to takes sides here on the issue. My role here is that of fashion critic, which is pretty small in the big scheme of things. :) But this is clearly having an effect on the SL we know and love, and is of concern to designers and content creators whose work we admire, enjoy and purchase. So, to let current events pass without comment or at least observation seemed somehow inappropriate. As much as possible, I’ll make this about my own personal experience. I’ll also try to keep it brief. (Right now all my friends are singing a rousing chorus of “Good Luck with That!”)
(more…)
Post Category: Commentary
November 15th, 2006 at 03:40pmRyan Darragh
Celebrity Trollop’s post over at our sister site prompted me to take a look a the Second Life statistics page. Her entry is an interesting discussion about spending patterns and retail pricing.
What caught my eye in the new stats is the “In World Business Owners Monthly Profits.” Yes… I am one of those people that gets excited by statistics because they bring tidy order to the world – if this isn’t you the rest of this may be boring.
Looking at just this past month of September 2006, it is interesting to see that 10,356 residents made any profits from the sale of items. LL defines Monthly profits as:
“The Monthly Profit estimate excludes the sale or acquisition of land investments. Linden Lab fees are not yet charged. Note that some businesses accept payment outside the Linden Dollar economy and those numbers are not included in these reports.”
If we compare these stats to the number of residents that logged in during that same 30 day period (234,898), it shows that 4.4% of the active population are making profits… not bad. However, if we look a little further and break it down, there is a distinctive line drawn in these stats. Looking at the chart you see that the number drops rapidly to only 766 residents making more than US$50 a month in profits, or about 1 third of 1 percent (0.33%) of active residents in the last 30 days.
This flies against all of LL’s marketing of SL as a money making platform, with only the smallest fractions of residents making enough to cover even moderate tier costs. Even in the post by LL announcing the new stats they reiterate this false point:
To put it simply, if you have ever thought, oh, only a few people actually make money in Second Life, here is ample evidence to the contrary.
Hopefully new and struggling content creators won’t take this as a disheartening statistic, but rather help them understand that, like Real Life, success does not come easy, and those with talent and drive (and time to spend in-world) can succeed. SL is not a get rich quick scheme and you must apply the same RL entrepreneurial thinking and work hard. The flip side might be that success in SL might portend an acumen for business in RL.
Post Category: Commentary
October 3rd, 2006 at 09:59amNicholas Shaftoe
Got kicks? Adidas slam dunked the Second Life sneaker scene today by establishing a presence on the grid. The Adidas island was developed by one of the top design groups in SL, Rivers Run Red. Now you can rock some serious kicks for the virtual you! Adidas a3 Microride Astronauts and High Jumpers are currently in effect (and the sneakers actually do something when you activate their features).
Adidas has definitely scored with this hot reality mix. It’ll be on point when you can jack in, order some kicks, and they touchdown at your home a few days later (it’s not an impossibility). For now, my presence on the grid remains fresh and clean with legit pairs of Adidas on my feet.
This is some next level Sneakerplay ALL DAY for the sneaker pimp in you. Rock these joints in this reality and the next! Also, big shout outs to the companies getting respect in this post: Adidas, Second Life, River Run Red, and Sneakerplay.
Disclosure: Seen in Word: Yes | Review Copy: No | Friends List: No
Post Category: Commentary,Designer Reviews,Shoes
September 16th, 2006 at 11:15amBushidoBrown Hightower
If you haven’t heard about the death of Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin yet, I’m sorry you heard it here first. While some may say it was inevitable, I am very saddened by the news. He may have been a bit reckless, but his contributions to wildlife education are boundless and will no doubt continue through he immortal medium of television.
Callie Cline felt the same sense of loss and has created a Steve Irwin tribute t-shirt for a minimum L$100 price which will be donated to the Steve Irwin Foundation.
In her own words:
the shirts will be sold in packs of 2. one man’s, one women’s. they will be sold only at FUNK in Elpenor and Feri Beckenbaurer’s Mall, in Feri’s main shop.
They will be sold for donations ranging from 100L to 10,000 L.
I would love to see thousands of SL citizens wearing them from now until his funeral, which may be a national funeral in Austrailia.
If you purchase the shirts, please take your photo with your friends (or alone) and send them to me and I will make a card collage to send to the irwin family from the citizen’s of second life.
Disclosure: Seen in World: Yes | Review Copy: No | Friends List: No
Post Category: Callie Cline,Commentary,New Items,Shirts
September 6th, 2006 at 10:47amNicholas Shaftoe
Welcome to The Second Man, a blog about clothing, skins, and other style for male avatars in Second Life. The forums have been filled recently about laments for the lack of good men’s clothing in Second Life. I agree the options are currently limited, but there is a fair amount of quality clothing out there that folks may not be aware of.
The link to the forum posting above shows that there are as many different tastes in styles as there are men. The female clothing designer community in SL often says “I would make more stuff for men if I knew what they wanted” which invariably leads to every guy responding with their own personal taste, which must be overwhelming, causing the designer to throw up their hands.
My suggestion to these designers is:
- Make what YOU think looks good on a man. Most men need fashion help, and will wear any thing they KNOW a woman finds sexy.
- Find a fashion concious man to use as a consultant. Ask him for pictures and ideas.
- Don’t get stuck on trying to design something that will suit everyone. You don’t design women’s clothes that way. You have a certain style, and certain women shop for that style. Same is true for me.
- Don’t understimate the men’s market thinking we don’t shop. We do, and as the population grows there will be more of us.
Post Category: Commentary
August 17th, 2006 at 11:47amNicholas Shaftoe
