My favorite Groups

Today, on Lessons with Rowan.. I wanna talk about SL groups. Yes.. I know.. we can only have 25.. and it sucks.. but I've been around log enough to remember when we could only have 10. THAT sucked, k?

I have about 23 groups that I'm a part of. Some are groups for everyone, some are groups just for rentals and such. Some are for fun, and some are for profit. Lemme tell you about some of the BEST groups in SL at least in my opinion.

#1. Fabulously Free in SL The group was started from the FabFree blog and now has over 7000 members. We share freebie spots, dollerbies, good sales. There are quite a few designer (ahem) in this group and they send out special freebies when we hit the next level of members. I know there are some GREAT ones coming for reaching 7000 members.

#2. Fashion Emergency Started by the Great Six Kennedy of Gurl 6, this group has 3000+ members. Can't find something to wear? Ask the girls and guys of FE. Not alot of notice spam, and sometimes we're a little.. risque in our chatter. But these people know their stuff!

#3. Fashion Consolidated One of the MUST have groups for designers and people who like fashion. TONS of notices, occasional free stuff and no chat. They have strict rules on the designers who get to send notices, so you won't get 4 notices a week from the same person.

#4. New Citizens Inc 11000 people. Ask any darn question in here, and you'll prolly get an answer. NO Spam! No advertising. Tons of free classes on how to make a prim shoe, to how to buy land, to event promotion. There are a bunch of NCI areas in world, each one trying to help newbies and oldbies alike make their way. I'm a proud supporter of NCI!

#5. She's So Unusual Shoes Update Group The inworld version of my mailing list thingie. Nothing special about it, but sometimes I make up funny titles for you to wear. What? It's my blog and I can list any group I want!

That's all for now. What are some of YOUR favorite groups?

Boooots!

I love making boots when it starts getting cooler. Check these out
The Sweater Cuff Boots. What do you think of the sweater texture? I think it looks good.. but heck.. I made it. Sweater Cuff Boots are $195L and transfer only.



Look! New Lucky Chair goodness. Yummy.. Breakfast.


All in the store, boots are in the front, Breakfast pumps in the Lucky Chairs upstairs.

Two New Styles

Two new styles coming atcha!

First up, some more cute flats! Not enough flats in SL, ya know. Plaid ruffle flats! $95L transfer only



Then we have some more gothy like platforms. Stars Mary Jane Platforms. $195L Transfer only.




All in the front of the store, waiting for you!

Last Chance for Halloween!

Yep. I'll be pulling the limited edition shoes and the halloween lucky chair styles Saturday night at Midnight. Get them now!

Happy Halloween!

Hey Boys and Ghouls! New shoes are coming and you don't even have trick or treat me!

Two new Limited Editions! Will only be available until Nov 1st! Each pair is transfer only and $195L



I'm putting my Lucky Chairs back out with some spoooky and not so spooky new shoes.


My Midnight Mania board is BACK

And Come update your picks at the new store and gets these in return.


Monday is the last day of my Yay We Moved Hunt!

Come on down to the store.

Yay We Moved Hunt!

So.. if you aren't in my mailing list thingie, you probably didn't know this.. but.. I moved! I left Thistledown, my old spot, to a great new spot on Agard near a bunch of other stores. Lovely little streets.

Took awhile to get all my shoes, minus the retired ones, into the new store... whew! Last count.. over 400 pairs. Imelda eat your heart out. I think everything is easy to see, and see to walk around. I love the stairs.. they are interesting.

So to get you all out to see the new store, and to update your LMs.. I'm having a little old hunt. 4 unique pairs of shoes will be put in tiny boxes and hidden in the store. You find, you purchase for $0L and they're yours. I WILL be moving them randomly throughout the week. I'm mean like that. I know. Hunt starts Monday Oct 12th at 12:01am and lasts to Monday Oct 19th at 11:59pm SLT. Make sure you subscribe to my mailing list thingie, cause I've got some at my usual crazy halloween shoes in process. WOOT!

Light and You!

You might wanna make yourself comfy. This is a long and informative post.

Let's talk about light. The SL Knowledge Base says light

"Only six lights are supported for hardware lighting. The shaders support eight lights, but one is reserved for the sun or moon, and another for a 'backlight' which approximates reflected light from the sun or moon. The list of lights used is determined as follows:

1. A list of nearby lights is generated.
2. This list is calculated once per frame.
3. Six lights are chosen from the list. Priority is based on the effective intensity of each light at the viewer's Avatar. Dynamic lights are given slightly higher priority.
4. For each object:
• With the 'Nearby Lights' setting, all lights are always used."

This means that only 6 sources of light will be rendered and they are usually the ones closest to you. So if you have 8 balls o light hovering around your head, you are pointless. Yay You!

Lighting Tips

There's a lot of versatility in the lighting system, so be creative, experiment extensively, and keep inventing new uses for lights!

• If you set Intensity or Radius to 0.000, or set the light's color to black, you might as well uncheck Light because it's visually the same as turning the light off.
• Remember, ANY prim you've made can be turned into a light. No matter what shape or size, its light properties can be set independently.
• If you want your object to be visible in the dark, but not give off light (like a computer monitor or a soda machine) you can check the Full Bright checkbox on the object's Texture tab.
• Lights in motion are dynamic and follow their source prim. For example, carry a lantern in your hand and find your way in the darkness. Or use light prims in a vehicle, perfect for adding that film noir touch to a skittering airplane. Physical objects can also be lit: roll a big glowing red ball down a hill and giggle with glee!
• Common sense: the darker it is around you, the more lights will stand out. If it's high noon, you won't see many lighting effects, but as dusk approaches, the local lights will increase.
• Like other special effects in Second Life, use lights wisely. Please don't light everything; it not only diminishes the highlights and contrast that a few finely-placed lights can add, but it also slows down performance for yourself and fellow Residents too.
• Why six realtime lights, as mentioned above? Because the OpenGL specification which SL uses allows for eight lights in a scene. Specifically in this case: six lights, one for the sun/moon, and one for the backlight representing reflected light. Static (non-moving) lights will be "baked" so you can still see the effect they have on the area. For this and more behind-the-curtain details, please see the related OpenGL technical document.

I think I might even tattoo that on certain people's foreheads. Oh BTW. I'm really good at knowing you're wearing stolen hair, shoes, or other items.. you know how?
This is my friend. Advanced - Rendering - Info Displays - Light. It will show you every prim in the area that is giving off light. It will also show you a yellow cube of how FAR the light is radiating.

This is me.. this is me showing you stolen hair! Yay! Wow.. you learned something NEW today.. enjoy!