It’s Time to go

This past year has been a tumultuous time for me, in both a physical and a virtual sense. I’ve lived through some terrible highlights (if that’s the appropriate word) and will carry those scars for the rest of my days.

I’ve met some incredible people, developed new friendships, reinforced old friendships, and also discarded some friendships.

I’ve lost a child forever. I’ve lived through a 7.1 earthquake and about 4,000 aftershocks. I’ve seen the world tumble and turn. I’ve seen the nastier side of a corporatised VW company. I’ve seen a fledgling VW grow, step by step.

I’ve seen the best, most brilliantly heartening side of human nature in all its amazing compassion. I’ve seen the darkest side of people’s souls, I’ve seen despair and anguish.

I’ve seen shady diplomacy peeled back on the world stage and the reactions to it.

I’ve seen exuberant creativity flourish wherever there is even just one person. I’ve seen exquisite art appear as if by magic. I’ve seen and heard musicians sing the BLUES.

In other words, I’ve lived through the year. I’ve been blessed to have contact with so many people who have enriched my life simply by their acquaintance.

I’m about to start a further step in my voyage, moving to another country. Naturally, I do not know when I will have internet access, or if I need or want it. I suspect I will want access as I have lived with the internet and watched it grow from a wee thing to an all-encompassing behemoth that it is today.

However, my blog will be untouched I suspect for some time. I may come back, specially as winter approaches around June next year. Until then, keep as well as you can, cherish your loved ones, and stop and think for a minute just once in a while…whatever happened to that funny Arabella?

Arabella Steadham

Bring Out the Panther In You

Durga Designs operates in both Inworldz and Secondlife. This design is new to both…

Outfit comes with two lengths of skirt, I’ve shown just the short version here.

I’ve also added the two-teeth necklace and pouch necklace

Fable hair is from Emo-tions

Credits

Outfit: from Durga Designs

Jewellery: All jewellery including earrings from Durga Designs

Hair: Fable hair from Emo-tions

Skin: by Pulse

Poses: from Luth Brodie at Crux

All items are available Inworldz

FORMER LINDEN JOINS EMERALD TEAM

Following on from yesterday’s news, it is with pleasure that I can now announce the addition of a new member to the Emerald Team.

Qarl Fizz, formerly known as Qarl Linden has joined us. We know you will join us in making Qarl welcome, and look forward to his contribution to the Project.

You can read it here

About Emerald Today

Today, an odd message appeared on the emerald log in screen, thus:-

MOTD: We are now going to force a release that doesn’t work upon everyone. Enjoy being naked.

This is inaccurate and disruptive, and simply reflects the mood of a former dev on the team. This dev has now left, and the message removed.

As with any team, the Emerald dev team consists of a wide range of very diverse people. All are dedicated to seeing the best viewer possible presented to you, the user. Once in a while, team members leave for a range of reasons. It is rare for a tantrum to accompany their departure, however there is as you can see, a first time for everything.

A pleasant consequence of this is the return of a key member of the team, so you may look forward to a vibrant, productive and creative team once again.

A new Release Candidate will be available very soon, likely tomorrow SL Monday. Please be assured the Emerald Team is alive and thriving, and will continue in this way.

More information about the Emerald viewer can be found at The Emerald Blog

Introducing a New Third-Party Viewer Directory and Policy

From Lindenlab….

Today, in addition to the Viewer 2 Beta, we are announcing the launch of the Third-Party Viewer Directory and the Third Party Viewer Policy governing third-party viewers in general. Last year, we announced these efforts in blog posts on Our Content Management Road Map and Upcoming Third-Party Viewer Policy. Since then we have collected a great deal of important feedback from Residents, merchants, and third-party developers alike, all of which has helped guide our development and decisions on the new Third-Party Viewer Directory and Policy.

The goals of the policy and program are to:

* Prevent Residents’ passwords from being stolen
* Protect Residents from griefing and other harmful conduct
* Guard against intellectual property infringement
* Preserve our ability to provide you with high-quality service
* Involve the community in evaluating third-party viewers
* Create a visible repository for alternative viewers with novel and interesting applications

Read it all here

2.0 IS HERE!

The new viewer 2.0 is out now! As a beta release, you can get it here

Here’s a quick look:-

Obviously I still have to tweak my settings somewhat. I am showing you the interface to give you an idea

Best advice I can give – download it and play with it before jumping to conclusions. And enjoy!

Warning: Politics

Late this evening my time, that is 5am SLT, the US President, Barack Obama, was streamed live into both Secondlife and Metaplace. Ths stream was his speech to the Ghanian parliament.

I was priveleged to be able to be at Annenberg in-world to see and hear this. Most of the audience were Americans, but there were many people from around the world. As an Australian, it was quite an experience to be there.

My apologies for the quality, it was very crashable.

We were awash with Lindens, as you can see if you peer closely.

Further large photos can be seen at my flickr page here