(pic provided by Jenny since I don't have nVidia 8)
The awesome Jenny Thielt wrote instructions on how to enable dynamic shadows on the Second Life 1.23 Release Viewer (re-posted here with permission):
Enabling Dynamic Shadows on the 1.23 Release Viewer and any viewer based on the 1.23 version.
Make sure you have a DirectX 10 compatible card (eg. nVidia 8 series or newer)
1. Make sure Atmospheric Shaders is on (windlight pretty skies and clouds)
2. Open the Advanced menu (if you dont have it yet press ctrl+alt+d)
3. Go to Debug Settings…
4. type renderuseFBO
5. Change value to TRUE
6. type renderdeferred
7. change value to true
8. Welcome to the world of dynamic shadows.
To disable dynamic shadows all you need to do is change the renderdeferred value back to false. (you can also change the renderuseFBO value to false too if you want)
Did you read the latest blog post about new improvements and fees? I’m super excited about Animesh! I can’t wait to have clothing and curtains that sways gently. As usual, there is some uproar about the fee for processing credit increasing from 1.5% to 2.5%, but that’s just the cost of doing business. Linden Lab could easily charge for a “business license” of $1,000USD a year and people would pay it, as long as they’re able to profit from their SL businesses.
In the decade that I’ve been in SL, I have not seen a single brand quit over ‘fees’ – but some do make a bunch of noise, and quit when they stop making a profit. My favorite brands aren’t going anywhere, as long as we keep supporting them with our lindens!
Speaking of favorite brands, What Next is easily one of my favorite home decor brands at the moment. The Colonna Hot Chocolate Station from What Next is giving my home such cozy autumn feels. I’m looking for a new bedroom set, if you guys have any suggestions, let me know in the comments!
New Tiny Bird hair!! I’m wearing the Girl Anachronism, Love Letter to Japan, and Love Letter to Japan II in Flour hair color. These are adorable…..!!!
Tuli has also just released some cute & casual clothes. I’m wearing the worn denim capris paired with the wide collar shirt in White and wide sleeve shirt in Tangerine.
I wanted to wear a handbag with my look today but it was on the same attachment as my collar, so I lost that in the picture below. Still, I love this look and the white hair goes great with this skin tone.
What I’m Wearing:
MMSLightDIVA-Makeup1 Paper Couture – Glass Flower Necklace Zero Number – Flip-flops NILE (Drowsy sim freebie!!) Tiny Bird – Girl anachronism (Flour) hair Tiny Bird – Love Letter to Japan (Flour) hair Tiny Bird – Love Letter to Japan II (Flour) hair Tuli – wide collar shirt (white) Tuli – wide sleeve shirt (tangerine) Tuli – worn denim capris (light)
Courtisane – Sacoche (Bag)
Redgrave has a fantastic selection of prim lashes! I have some older ones from last year and they were no copy, mod, transfer. A couple of days ago I visited Redgrave to check out male skins, and I noticed that all the lashes and eyes are now copy, mod, no transfer.
I wear Trin’s Alpha Layer all the time now, to remove system lashes permanently. With system lashes gone, you can adjust lashes to fit almost perfectly.
These are a few of the lashes that I picked out — there’s a huge selection of subtle and more dramatic ones, too. Lashes are amazing… never leave home without it! I know some people prefer tattoo lashes cos it requires no fitting but if you can spend a little time fitting prim lashes, it’s worth the effort.
I’m wearing the Mozz Aegyo Teeth tattoo (included in skin pack) over my skin and it blends beautifully. This tattoo layer has clean alpha around the teeth and will work over any skin in SL without covering up the entire lips. I’m a big fan of these because I can keep the original lips on the skin and also not worry about whether or not the new lips fit over my skin.
Second Life just announced a new membership plan called Plus, which gives residents the right to own mainland and that’s it. Is it worth the money? I compare these new plans by only looking at the benefits that interest me, such as the land allowance, the stipend, and the perks that come with linden homes. I was shocked to find out that the Plus plan does not include a linden home, and the price is nearly equal to the Premium plan.
Thumper’s dad was wrong. I know we all learned “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say nothin’ at all,” whether from Bambi and Thumper or our parents. Gogo asked whether we agreed with that statement the other day. I absolutely disagree.
There are situations where casting about for something nice to say is ludicrous. Yeah, that Ted Bundy may have been a serial killer but he sure had nice hair. Tell me something nice about slavery. If people followed that guide, the world would be in a terrible state. We need the people who say something about terrible things. They are the ones who change the world.
However, I do think the saying is applicable a lot of the time, but I also think most people misunderstand it. Most of the time when people say “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all” they really mean, “If you have even one negative thing to say, shut the hell up.” To that, I can only respond with…
First, let’s review a few terms because some folks need a new dictionary. I went to the OED.
Criticism: The art of estimating the qualities and character of literary or artistic work; the function or work of a critic.
Critique: An essay or article in criticism of a literary (or more rarely, an artistic) work; a review.
Dirt: Scurrilous information or gossip; scandal.
Opinion: What one thinks of a person or thing; an estimate of character, quality, or value.
Review: A critical appraisal of a product, service, etc., intended for the guidance of consumers.
What Gogo offers at JuicyBomb and what makes her a successful blogger is that she offers criticism. She has asked herself who she wants for her audience, the designers or the consumers and has chosen the consumers. There is no unearned praise in hopes of getting more promotional items from designers. Designers are not her audience.
However Gogo is Thumper after all. I have yet to read a blog post from Gogo where she does not have something nice to say. Even the posts that resulted in shit storms of hurricane force included several positive comments about the items being critiqued. It’s just that some people think that only positive opinions are allowed, but they are wrong.
I like the way Gogo critiques items in her blog. She does not say “this is crap.” I think we should all know by now that if something was crap, she would not blog it. Have you ever seen her shoot herself looking terrible? It’s not going to happen.
Gogo does not dish dirt. She does not make allegations about people sleeping with each other for one reason or another. She does not allege copyright theft or make insinuations about people’s integrity. She does not offer scurrilous information or gossip or traffic in rumors.
Gogo offers criticism – in the artistic sense. She assesses the good and bad qualities of an item and reports them as accurately as she can. When something is objectively wrong, such as the fabric not lining up at the seams or the inside being alpha so that people see gaping holes from different angles, she reports that. If something is subjectively wrong, she points out that this is based on her personal taste which may not be the same as yours. If she does not like mature skins or big eyes or bold prints, she admits out that her critique is based on personal opinion and that mileage may vary.
Of course, criticism stings. Even if it is something minor and even if it is wrapped in layers of praise. It is human nature to ignore the 93% good and focus on the 7% bad. That’s why we lock our doors and hire policemen. We are hardwired to focus on the negative. However, I think that means we miss a lot of opportunities. Especially if we are designers and creators.
Criticism when it is well done, when it is specific and detailed, is the most useful tool a designer can have to improve and grow. It is a gift, if only people would stop complaining long enough to unwrap it. The most successful creators in Second Life are not stagnant, they improve constantly. They send out works in progress for advice. They listen to criticism and separate the objective from the subjective and use it to make their products better.
