End of An Era

I'll be posting mostly via blogHUD! now, so if you want to read more about my adventures, you'll need to check out my new blog: http://anyanavarita.wordpress.com/

Profile song quote - changed 5/9/09

This is the quote that was in my profile until today:

If you're filled with affection

you're too shy to convey

Meditate in my direction

feel your way 

from "You're The One That I Want" from the movie Grease

Tips & Tricks Friday - 02/13/2009

Since it's Friday the 13th, I thought now might be a good time to talk about vampires.

Vampires are one of the larger subsects of SL humanity.  There are vampires in nearly every sim, though most hang out at malls or freebie areas looking for newbies to target.  Some are friendly, and some can just attack you, though it's the SL way - you'll get an animation request that you can either accept or decline.

I was approached by a vampire at Free Dove shortly after I created Anya.  He was nice enough, so I took the opportunity to grill him about the vampire "slifestyle."  He took me back to his lair and showed me the communal blood tank and explained the vampire ins and outs.  He explanied the biting process, as well as the conversion process.

I did submit to being bitten, since he was only taking a small portion of my humanity (what's 5% among friends).  He did try to push me becoming a full vampire and part of his clan.  He even bought me the vampire hud, which I have had a lot of fun with.

Should you become a vampire?  That's a personal decision.  Though I enjoy vampire stories and am friends with vamps in SL, it's really not for me.  The constant hunting for blood and converting new clan members seems like a lot of work to me.  There is also a lot of rejection involved, so no thanks.

Should you let a vampire bite you?  Again, this is a personal decision.  I did it because I didn't see the harm in it, and actually, the benefits have been pretty good.  Vampires use HUDs to scan for potential victims, so if you've already been bitten, this will be indicated on the scan and the scanning vampire will move on to a fresh target.  No sense biting someone who has already been bitten.

Vampires may be considered a nuisance, but then so are some "normal" avatars.

To find out more about vampires in Second Life, check out The Thirst: Bloodlines.

Shoes

I love shoes in RL and in SL.  The great thing about SL shoes is: they always have your size.

That's why, when I see junk like this:  

I kinda want to scream.  Toe overhang is unacceptable in RL and in SL.  Sorry, anonymous feet.

So do your shoes look weird to you?  Don't worry, it happens to all of us.  I had the same problem until someone took pity on me and told me how to fix it. 

There are two things you need to do:

1.  Go to Edit Appearance.  On the Shape tab, click the button for Legs.  Scroll all the way to the bottom to feet, and set size to zero (0).

2.  Most shoes include a shaper.  You should always wear this with the shoes for proper fit.

Monday Quickie - 2/9/09

How can I log in at the same place everytime?

One of the coolest and also the most annoying things about SL is that you log in to where you log out from.  

Say you're at that big hunky stud's place when you sign off, and you want to avoid the awkwardness of reappearing naked in his bed the next time you sign on, you can change where you reappear when you log back in.

The option to choose where you want to log in each and every time is located on the Edit menu under Preferences, on the General Tab.

You can select "Home", "My Last Location" or specify the region where you would like to start.  then click Apply.  Be sure to check the box "Show Start Location on Login Screen" so that you can see where you'll be logging into.

The next time you see your login screen, it will have a drop down menu under your avatar name that allows you to choose where you want to appear.

Tips & Tricks Friday - 02/06/2009

Today's tip is about communications, specifically offline or out-of-world communications.

My best recommendation to you is to set up a gmail account for your avatar.  This is a simple process, and very effective since your avatar name probably isn't being used by someone else with a gmail account.

1.  Creating an avatar e-mail address.

Go to gmail and click "Sign up for Gmail" in the lower right hand corner.  You can use your avatar name as your first and last name, and then use your avatar name as your login name.  For instance, mine is anya.navarita (@gmail.com) and I have my first name as Anya and my last name as Navarita.  That way, when communications come to me via this e-mail address, I can still maintain my real life (RL) privacy.

Because this e-mail keeps your anonymity, you can even put it in your SL profile.  That way, your online friends can contact you at their convenience.

2.  Forwarding your avatar e-mail for easy retrieval.

Once you have set up your gmail account, you can either log in to it to retrieve your messages, or you can have the messages forwarded to your primary e-mail account.  The way to do this is to click on Settings in the upper right hand corner, then choose the tab marked "Forwarding and POP/IMAP". 

The easiest way to do this is in the first section.  Click the radio button next to "Forward a copy of incoming mail to _____________ and ___________________."  Fill in the first box with the e-mail address where you want the mail forwarded, and then choose your other option from the drop down menu.  (I keep a copy in the Gmail Inbox for reference purpose.).  Once you click "Save Changes" any e-mail sent to your new Gmail will forward to the e-mail address you specified.

3.  Responding to offline messages from e-mail.

Yes, it can be done, and it's simple, too!  Log in to your avatar e-mail and choose the message you want to respond to and just click "reply".  I delete everything out of the message box (reply quote, signature, etc) and start with a fresh screen for a response.  This will show up in the other avatar's IMs, but you will also show up as offline.  Good for when you want to respond but don't have SL available to you.  Normally you can respond to the message for a day or two before the reply-to becomes invalid.

Thanks to all my new followers.  I was happy to see I had a few when I logged in to post this morning.  I hope you are finding this information useful!

Monday Quickie - 2/2/09

How do I keep from getting logged off for inactivity?

First, open your "Advanced" menu on the toolbar by using :

• PC - Ctrl + Alt + D
• Mac - Ctrl + Alt + D

Then click the Advanced menu, choose Character and then Character Tests. If there is a "x" next to "Go Away/AFK When Idle" click that option. This will remove the "x" and the option. You can go back the same way to check it.



If, after doing this, you are still being logged off for inactivity, you may want to check with your Internet Service Provide (ISP). I've left myself logged in for more than 24 hours with this option.

Tips & Tricks Friday - 01/30/2009

A lot of learning about Second Life comes through trial and error. I've had plenty of experience with that. Every Friday I'm going to be posting tip and tricks to get the most out of SL, and to make it a more fun and drama free experience.

Today's Tips & Tricks is for Groups.

Groups are a great way to find out about events going on in SL. To find a group with your interests, just click the Search button at the bottom of your viewer, then click the Groups tab. Search for a keyword of interest and then scroll through and read about the groups.

Some groups allow you to join right away with no fee. Some charge a nominal fee, and some are invitation only. If the group is invite only, contact the group owner to plead your case.

Once you join a group, the group name will show up in your profile and on the Groups tab in your Communicate box. Many times your membership comes with a "tag" that will show up above your name on your avatar.

Groups are great ways to meet people, but they are also ways your online activities can be tracked by others. To maintain your privacy, here are some tips:

1. Changing your avatar tag. Go to the Groups tab in your Communicate box. To change the tag, just click "none" or the group you want to be associated with at that time and click "Active". Sometimes you need to have your group tag on to participate in group activities or rez objects on group land. Just go back to the Groups tag and activate the group. (edit preferences thing here)

2. Keeping groups private. If you don't want anyone to know about what groups you are in, it's easy to make that private. Just go to the Groups tab in your Communicate box, highlight the group name you want and click Info. When the group info box opens, uncheck the box that says "List group in my profile" next to it.

3. Group notices. You can stop from receiving group notices by going to the Groups tab in your Communicate box, highlight the group name you want and click Info. When the group info box opens, uncheck the box that says "Receive group notices" next to it.

Groups can be a great way to find friends and activities. Have fun out there!

Welcome!

This is my first post as SL Reporter (self-appointed title). I'll be reporting here on my explorations of Second Life. If you don't know what Second Life (SL) is, it's an amazing virtual world full of cool things to do and people to meet.

I've been in SL since Summer 2008, and Anya was created in December 2008.

In world, you can contact me via IM or notecard as Anya Navarita. My e-mail is Anya(dot)Navarita(at)gmail(dot)com.