There I fixed it!: The case of the amazing alpha killer and the IM eating Monster

OKay, if you've read any of my recent posts than you know I am having some massive issues with rezzing n SL lately.

 I have been unable to change any clothing at all. When I attempted to use system layers or alpha items would either not show up or the wrong alphas were showing up! I thought maybe it was a weekend issue so I attempted to change from a blazer to a sundress this afternoon. Both items were mesh with alpha layers. The dress alpha never showed up. The blazer alpha refused to go away. I relogged, cleared cache, changed locations, and nada. Nothing helped. I even took everything on me off and tried just system clothing. It took my system shirt a full 2 minutes to even show up- and even then only on my end. My system pants never showed up but a pair of mesh shorts I had worn 2 weeks ago attached themselves out of the blue. It's been REALLY odd.

Over the past few weeks I have barely logged on because I have no interest in being unable to change clothes. I told my husband I was seconds away from giving LL and SL the finger and going on my merry way. It was that frustrating. I spoke to numerous people who had me do all sorts of odd things- none of which made any difference what so ever.

In a fit of despair I started poking around my preference tabs. Maybe something during the update got messed up? It couldn't hurt to look.

While browsing my graphic preferences I noticed something interesting.

The section halfway down that says Alpha Mask Rendering. I don't generally dig around in my preferences too much so I have never noticed this. My first thought when reading the 2 options was "What the heck is Advanced Lighting Model?!?!"

I was kind of curious if the fact that they were both checked was the reason I was having issues? So I snooped some more!

Under General Graphics I saw this:

On the left, under Shaders, second from the bottom. When this is checked it turns on Ambient Occlusion, shadows and the like. I like shadows but I decided to see what unchecking it would do- if anything.

Immediately ALL my textures rezzed properly! What the heck?! So I toggled it again and left it checked this time. My issues were still gone.

So conclusion: If you have alpha or rezzing issues like me- Toggle the Advanced Lighting Model check box and see if that sorts you out!

Please let me know if this helps anyone out there. I'm still scratching my head.

Another mind boggling issue is my lack of offline messages. I recieved an IM this afternoon from a friend who pretty much told me off for ignoring her. I was pretty surprised because well, you all know that no one ever really ims me. I had a mega case of what the heck? The last known logs I had were from April and it was me contacting her with no response. I haven't been on much since then so I was pretty surprised to learn she had left me numerous offline ims. I never got ANY of them until her offline today. That's a whole new ballgame for me to figure out. So.... if you actually took the time to IM me and never got any responses: wait 24 hours, try again, catch me when I am online (be quick!) or send me a notecard. As far as I know, I get those!

Gah SL is a crap shoot lately.

The Great Confession

I've been such a bad blogger lately! Oops. I totally missed last week's meme, and am already a day behind in this weeks! Someday I will get my shitaki together, maybe...

BY the way my auto correct tried to change Shitaki to skidmark... just to share.

So, it's Confession Week y'all?! Share 1-10 of you deepest Second Life secrets! Annnd GO!

1. I justify all my purchases with "I can blog it!" : I hate to spend anything in SL. There have been times where I will buy something I don't actually need" just so I can  blog it". I almost NEVER do. I always have the best of intentions and sometimes I even take pictures, start a post and then forget about it. I do this a LOT.

2. My shape is a fraud: I've harped before on how much I love my shape! I've even gone so far as to say it's MY shape. I'm such a fraud. The shape I've worn for close to 5 years?- That shape is originally my husband'/s creation. He had a fantastic female avatar and I always looked like a creepy beanpole with giant boobies. FInally he offered it to me (or i begged..) So in truth, the only "mine" thing on my avatar is my face. For shame.

3. I'm a hoarder: My overflowing inventory is organized to the point of being anal. I have folders>sub-folders>sub-sub-folders. I also have a million "boxed" items. I have this fear that is I delete anything I may someday need it. But really, when am I ever going to wear that totally system outfit from 2008, or that skin I tried to make in 2009? NEVER

4. Profiles are for stalkers like me: We may have lost touch, or had an epic fight. But guess what? Chances are I still read your profile from time to time to see what you are up to, if you are still around or if you have fallen from grace. It's a compulsion.

5. Stalking 2.0?: So I rarely leave my platform for anything other than shopping or event reviews. I do go to one club. I secretly know someone who works there. They are from my past and we didn't end out friendship well. I liked the club before I realized she worked there and was unwilling to give up a place with people who actually know who I am and greet me! She imed me a few times and I have acted like I have no idea who she is. :O

6. I'm BORING: I complain about not having friends or being invited places. If I'm being honest though? I hate going out a lot- my internet is crap and I tend to get slow. Also when people IM me I tend to let conversations trail off to nothing. Most of the time beyond "Hello" and "How are you?", I have nothing left to say unless you have something to contribute.

7. I have a volcano temper: I'm really easily angered when supposedly simple things in SL don't work. When I can't get to an event, or your vendor is offline or your MP never delivers my item- I can get super bitchy. Mostly to myself and occasionally on here. I can EXPLODE with rage until I realized I am getting mad at pixels on my  computer and then I feel like a dumb ass. I secretly hate when someone IMs me about my store- in a bad way. If my vendor is not working, or something is wrong- I have no issue fixing it. Heck that is what I'm here for. On the flip side of this I've also have someone IM me in a superior manner trying to tell me how I should be running things, why my vendors are not to their liking or something that really is not their concern- It pisses me off.


Alright I'm tapping out! That was a pretty hard list of things. Okay, okay- confession bonus? Sometimes I read your blogs to get ideas for my answers. Sorrrry. Or not. This post makes me sound like some psycho person. Awesome sauce. Whatever, that's me folks!

Worn: Grace top from Kanou. There are a whole bundle of colors now.

I'm not wearing any pants! Sorry. Actually I do that a lot.. Confession # 9?

Quick Update

I've been having some problems with SL for the past few weeks.

My inventory loads incorrectly; things have been going missing. My clothes are not rezzing. The last few changes to outfits I have tried for 2 weeks now have left me stuck with random alphas from long ago clothing, blurred skin or just totally grey.

This has been happening a lot for a few weeks . I mentioned it previously. Last month my walk, 2 stands and my favorite sit stopped working. As in I received an error saying these items didn't exist. I've been using a lot of the same animations for YEARS.

What I'm trying to say is... To anyone who recently invited me to an event, gave me a review copy, or asked me to review something: I'm sorry. I currently am unable to even so much as change my outfit. I don't know what is happening here. I've been trying to get things sorted out. It gets better and then goes back to bad again. I promise to talk about your items when things are a little easier! I have NOT forgotten you!

[Blossom] is currently on hold as well. It's been too hard to rez something that I might not ever get back. My store and MP remain open of course!

Hope everyone is having a lovely weekend!

You Can't Handle the Truth !!!

I FREAKIN' MADE IT!

After over 2 weeks I have FINALLY made it to Truth. The sale is still on!

 (PS. Alicia I totally blame you for this! I haven't logged on to SL in 36 hours and was going for another full day until I saw your latest fashion post. Saw hair and ran like a little child head first into SL)

So I made it. Squee. I've been standing here for almost an hour and nothing is changing from the grey mess I see. FML. I've snagged demos of thing I can't even see. I might be wearing mens hair for all I know.

What I fia most amazing is the fact that I haven't actually bought a hair from Truth in probably over a year. It's not that I'm not a fan..I just tend to get stuck on a hair and wear it until it literally goes out of style. Plus I hate shopping for hair the most. so Yeah.

I'm too sexy for my hair...

 Behold the hotness of the... sheesh it looks like a spider leg. As you can see the building rezzed, mostly. The ceiling and opposite walls were not showing up. The vendors and people are mostly grey. I've bought 20 demos and only got one. YAYYYYY And then you crash. It would seem my avatar is now trapped in the sim. I can't log on and it hasn't logged me out yet. Amazingly enough, just before I crashed the entire store rezzed crystal clear- figures!

Maybe I should have just stuck to not logging in at all.

Dear Mr. Hawks,

Please, for the love of god, have your sale extend to your MP page. All I want to do is give you money for things I really don't need. and I just can not seem to.

Regards,
Trapped

Also, when people ask me why I have such hater-ade for mesh attachments like tatas, heads, hands and lower limbs. THIS is why.

 

When you walk by me with no head or legs It's like something out of a horror movie. No thanks. Then again none of my attachments are currently working so I'm bald and maked..with no AO. Winning!

I made it in again after 20 minutes and crashed immediately. It's not worth it. I'm going back to RL now.

Wish You Were Here!

If there is one thing I can always count on in SL, it's the seasons. No matter how horrible and cold it might be outside it's always paradise here whenever I want it to be!

Today marks the beginning of the first ever 2013 Sand & Sea Expo! If you are looking to turn your home into a beach oasis then this might be the place for you. The event takes place from 3pm SLT Today May 2nd - May 5th.

You'll find everything from home/beach decor to novelty items, beach wear and undersea fantasy mermaids. The event takes place on 2 since. Both sims are filled with sand dunes, palm trees and docks. You'll notice that many of the items shown as decor can be found at various vendors around the sims. Both sims consist of above water and under water displays.

Beach Landing Point

Underwater Landing Point

You'll do well to notice that each vendor has been asked to place a shell out. They have generously donated free items for these shells. All you have to do is click to receive a free prize. There is one catch though. Sometimes when you click you may be told to try back in 2 hours. Not every click receives a gift but you can always try again later. The old catch and release. Draw me in, deny me and draw me back again. Good luck. Also, keep an eye out for tons of free goodies. in addition to the shell prizes I noticed a few vendors have also offered up additional group gifts, or freebies.

You'll be looking for:

 For more information on this event, a list of vendors and a list of bloggers you can check out the website - HERE-

Big thanks to Cortez for pulling this all together!

My Three Wishes

I've been on a bit of a break from SL recently. I still logged in a bit but not nearly the amount I normally would. I've been focusing on RL a lot. This is the first day I've had the time and need to sit down for a while. You know I can't miss Monday Meme even if I am a day late!

No pictures today sorry!

Topic of the day: My 3 Second Life Wishes!


1. I wish tier was more affordable.

I really want a sim. Pretty bad actually. I know this is a big one for a lot of people. Hubster and I have talked about owning our own sim for a long time. We just have never been able to do it! One, we don’t want to spend that type of money. Two, is we did we would probably have to invite other people just to afford it. I think this is really hub's dream projected onto me. He went in the open source grid and set up a HUGE spread. I think it was like 8x8 sims or something. It sucked not having all of our awesome stuff though! I made myself a blue skin to import and ran around naked. Fail!!!

2. I wish servers allowed an infinite amount of people.

This is a sore topic for me. Let me tell you a story: There once was a budding princess who dreamed of beautiful hair. Her favorite wig shop was having an amazing sale! All the other princesses in the land were invited except for her... Oh wait. My bad. This is a true story. Seriously I have NOT been able to get to the Truth Hair Sale. AT ALL. I am so annoyed by this. It's been over a week. I've tried going to Truth District and all different times of day. Nada. I hate when this happens and we all end up ramming sim walls to get in. I'm always that loser who misses out and never gets in.

3. I wish I could take a decent photograph.

My photography seriously sucks. Probably about as much as my editing. I always look at tutorials and try to execute what I've been shown. It never works. I actually have a really good computer do. It was specifically built for me to play in SL. I just don't have the eye. That and most tutorials are for photoshop. I don't afford that so I use GIMP. HELLLLPPPP

Oh.. Bonusssss *DING DING DING* You've won another wish!

4. I really wish I had some friends. Real ones.

I miss having a group of people I talk to on a regular basis. I have exactly one person who IMs me at least 3 times a week. Good person with one minor set back. It's a dude in a female av. That's cool I don't care. But sometimes I wish I had a female friend I could share things with. Sometimes I just need to talk and I dont have anyone. To continue sounding emo.. I am sooo alone. Sometime I feel like if I just closed my store, shut down this blog and left SL no one would even notice or care.


Boo hoo. 

On the flip side of things the recent meme on why we blog inspired me to finally start my RL blog. I've been documenting the progress of my journey to a healthier me for the past week. It's something I always wanted to do but felt was pointless. I started her up after I passed my 40 lb loss so far. I have a waaaaay long way to go, but I'm doing it- and I'm, doing it RIGHT. Not that any of you care about my RL haha. Amazingly though? I already have a stream of readers and commenters. I have about 3/4 the amount of followers I have here and I've had this blog for almost 2 years. I also have a handful of non- following readers, comments and "likes". I was absolutely shocked by the outpouring of support. So that's where I've been :)

Until sometime laters! Hugs!

Why do I Blog: An Monday Meme

Meme instructions: Copy and paste the following questions and answers to your post, delete my answers and input your own. Try not to swear at Berry in your head for having so many questions this week and don’t forget to leave a comment in this meme’s post so others can come by and read your answers as well!

1. How long have you been blogging? Since July 2011
2. Why did you start blogging? The fall before the magazine I had worked for closed. During my time as a writer there I found I was able to really let myself go and vent sometimes. I had held hope of the mag coming back, but it didn't. I really wanted a way to express myself, vent and connect with others. So I decided to join the mash of blogs!
3. How many times a week do you post an entry? That varies. When I have a lot to say and show I could blog every day. Other times I just need a break or have nothing new to post so I shut down for a while. With these Monday Memes I've been able to at least get one a week!
4. How many different blogs do you read on a regular basis? A lot! I have a standard set of blogs I enjoy on fashion and freebies, but I am also in love with story blogs!The mnore I read entries from other memes the more I 'collect' other blogs. This is pretty much true for RL as well.
5. Do you comment on other people’s blogs? Occasionally. Most often I'm shy about it, But When I feel something I do try to show it. Same goes for RL. I wish more folks would reach out and connect.
6. Do you keep track of how many visitors you have? Most often, I do. It's pathetic but I get a thrill out of knowing people actually READ what I write. It's nice to know that I'm not just out here talking to myself sometimes.
7. Did you ever regret a post that you wrote? Sometimes. I know there are times when I rant in anger or may write something snarky. Sometimes I'll feel guilty afterwards. Most often I'll start to write a blog like that and never actually publish it. It let's me vent without actually exposing my insane qualities to others :P!
8. Do you think your readers have a true sense of who you are based on your blog? Who knows! People see what they want to see.
9. Do you blog under your real name? I did a long time ago. I was having a lot of high school angst and dealing with my mom's illness. I needed an escape outlet. There are times I wish I could find that blog again. As for now I only blog under my Second Life name.
10. Are there topics that you would never blog about? Some, I'm sure. I try most not to disrespect anyone. I also try to avoid topics I can't connect with. If I don't "feel" it, it's hard to be truthful.
11. What is the theme/topic of your blog? Uhmmm. I guess Second Life too. I mean everything within the blog has to do with something in SL. I rarely write about RL so.. yeah. OKay then!
12. Do you have more than one blog? If so, why? Nope! I've been debating something in RL but not yet. I sometimes find there is too little of me to spread around as it is.
13. What have you found to be the benefits of blogging? It’s helped me connect with others! I'm met a lot of people and found a lot of places I probably never would have otherwise. It's let me expand as a person as well!
14. So, why do you continue to blog? I ask myself this a lot! There have been a lot of frustrating times that I came close to throwing in the towel. But there's always something to say or share. 

This is actually a pretty decent meme to bring up a topic I've been trying to bring up.

In the past few weeks I've been getting a lot of traffic. I love this. It makes me feel good to know someone out there is reading my words. I never think of myself as a writer or a photographer- Heck I'll be the first to admit I pretty much stink at it. SO it makes me feel all happy inside that even one person bothered to read something I put out there, let alone came back for more! OMG.

That being said, I've noticed an increase of...I guess requests is the best way to put it. I'm loving that people want to consider me for review copies and events. That is SO awesome. I'm really honored to share in other's excitement! There is, however, one type of notice I don't love as much. I've been getting a LOT of people who send me random IMs. A lot of them want me to read their blogs, give them free items from my store without going through the proper channels or sell me advertising. I'm all for finding new blogs. I even love giving bloggers items I've made. I have rules about how I do it and an IM out of the blue from someone I don't know with a list of items is NOT how I do things! I also don't like being targeted in some free advertising scheme though. New bloggers need all the help they can get but I find it uncomfortable when someone sends me something like "I want you to subscribe to my blog. Please read me". This feels like begging and it makes me NOT want to read someone's blog.

So.. I guess what I'm trying to say is... Please feel free to connect. Please feel free to consider me if you think we are truly a good fit. Please don't beg me. Don't beg to sell me items or advertisements. If I want them I am capable of finding them on my own. I don't know. I hope that came out okay. I don't want to offend people, but it needs to be out there. okay. Yeah. Until next time lovelies!