PostHeaderIcon @Torley moonlights here. :)

PostHeaderIcon Chick Magnet... >:)

PostHeaderIcon #LindenLab on-track with #Viewer2; Crybabies and whiners go crawl back under your rocks.


So I finally grabbed the beta version of the official Linden Lab Second Life viewer 2.2x. I read through the release notes and decided to give it a go. There are still a couple of outstanding bugs, but they are minor (for example: mouse-hovering over anyone then the green "i" and clicking does not bring-up the context menu. But right-clicking still works).

Rezzing seems much, much faster. Does V2 beta 2.2 include Snowglobe code? I don;t know, but it really does feel like it. Also, a few additional long-awaited features, such as "double-click to teleport" (turned on in the debug menu). This was the single one and only feature of Emerald I missed when I dumped that viewer in Januray 2009. Then I found it in Imprudence and always happy for it. Now that it is in the Official viewer, I will use Imprudence even less.

The simple fact is: no matter what the crybabies whine about: Viewer 2 is a good viewer. Who the hell are they who complain about it to say what is right and what is wrong? If it doesn't work for you, then don't use it, shut-the-feck-up and move on and leave those of us who do like it enjoy it in peace. But even as Linden Lab tries to placate these "I am greater than thou" crybabies, they will get no reprieve. The crybabies will continue to bitch about how "bad" Viewer 2 is and how it should be burned and Linden Lab nailed to the wall over it.

For example: the whiners try so hard to justify their bitching by proclaiming that side bar takes up too much room and therefore blocks their view of the virtual world. Of course any 5-year-old can figure out how with a single-click, the sidebar disappears entirely, but these crybabies apparently can't figure-out this function even exists, much less how to make it work. No, they proclaim the sidebar should be detachable.

Hurray! You get what you wished for. V2 2.2 beta now has a detachable sidebar. However, when you detach it, it takes up more room than the sidebar proper and is not as easy to "put away". Fortunately Linden Lab has made it very difficult to accidentally detach. But of course the whiners and crybabies will go ahead deriding Linden Lab over something else about the "horrendous-should-be-burned" Viewer 2.

Linden Lab: good work here. Keep on the same track you are on because all the loud-mouth whiners who proclaim Viewer 2 is a piece of shit are all bullshitters who wouldn't dare eat their own dogfood. They bitch about Viewer 2 all day long, but choose to use a third-party-viewer all day long and wouldn't use any of your official viewers no matter how perfect it is. They hate for hate's sakes, so turn a deaf-ear and a blind eye toward those dip-shit hypocrites and just keep on doing what you're doing. After all, if I were to spew the same filth about their chosen viewer then they'd turn on me like a pack of rabid dogs. In short: they all are irrelevant, no matter how authoritative they appear to be or sound in their other blogging diatribe. You bloggers of whom I speak already know who you are.

Viewer 2 Developer team: keep going because it's those of us who actually appreciate it and like what you are doing who are remaining quiet about it so we don't give the same impression of blithering idiots the way all those loud-mouth, greater-than-thou whiners and crybabies do.

via AriBlackthorne.com

PostHeaderIcon They’re Mobile!

PostHeaderIcon The Only Way to Go!

PostHeaderIcon Emerald Development Team Make Use of Ill-gained User Information

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PostHeaderIcon Comparing Windows XP to Windows 7, and @Torley's Mac vs. Windows Comparison of #SL #Viewer2...

In short: Got Windows XP and thinking of bumping "up" to Windows 7? Save your money. As for the Second Life Viewer 2 comparison between the Windows and Macintosh versions... new comparison coming soon. Now, back to our regularly-scheduled programme...

I just plunked $200 down at technet.com, which allows me to legally download and use everything Microsoft makes and sells from their "business" units, including every version of each from the current and all the way back. So, I downloaded and installed Windows 7 (Ultimate) for the very first time and I agree: it is a vast, massive, stunning improvement over anything "Vista".

However, like the majority of commercial enterprises, I had downgraded my Vista back to Windows XP and have been utterly happy-go-lucky because of it. Even before Service Pack 1, I had felt and proclaimed Windows XP as being the first version of Windows Microsoft "got right". I understand that even though Windows 7 is "selling like hotcakes" (primarily through attrition - as people buy new computers) - it still has not achieved the number of "seats" that XP still enjoys, primarily through commercial users, though it is catching-up slowly.

So I plopped Windows 7 onto my Macintosh via VMWare Fusion 3.1. I see it has the same interface as Vista (which I gave a full vetting for 11.5 months before I was fed-up enough to return to XP). However, other than the eye-candy, I can so far see absolutely no compelling reason to spend any money upgrading from Windows XP to 7. None. Zip, zilch, nada. Seriously, Windows 7 runs as fast as XP (apparently) but not any faster. At least not that can be seen by the naked eye or felt by the user (benchmarks are really moot unless you are an uber-geek who thrives on information useless to the overwhelming majority of users.)

In addition to spending the bucks for Windows 7 (I don't actually have to buy it because I get it free with my Technet subscription) there is the issue of first backing-up everything on my XP computer, installing Win7 from scratch, then restoring all my backed-up stuff, reinstalling all my software and setting preferences and then... dealing with the learning curve of a new interface. Windows 7 offers no real benefit for going through all this headache and time.

My point: Windows 7 is not a compelling upgrade from XP. Why try to fix what isn't broken? Vista on the other hand is definitely broken. My recommendation is if you have a Windows XP disc and key: downgrade. Now. You'll hate yourself for not doing it sooner. If you don't have XP with a valid key, then and only then: upgrade to Windows 7. But if you do, wipe-out Vista completely and start from scratch.

++++++++++

This scenario does, however, present me with an unique opportunity:
I will install and test Cryptic's "Star Trek Online" and Linden Lab's "Second Life" and compare them in the following scenarios:

  • How do they compare when running native in Windows between XP and 7?
  • How do they compare in XP between native hardware (Bootcam) versus virtual machine (emulation via Fusion)
Additionally, I will in the next few weeks run some fascinating comparisons on Linden Lab's Second Life software in what will certainly be the most accurate comparison ever done between the different versions. I will compare Viewer 2.1, Imprudence and Snowglobe in the following ways:
  • Windows version native in Windows XP (Via bootcamp - native hardware to Windows XP)
  • Windows version native in Windows 7 (Via bootcamp - native hardware to Windows 7)
  • Macintosh version native in OS X
  • Windows version in Windows XP emulation via VMWare Fusion (Fullscreen)
  • Windows version in Windows 7 emulation via VMWare Fusion (Fullscreen)
  • Windows version in Windows XP emulation via VMWare Fusion (windowed in OS X)
  • Windows version in Windows 7 emulation via VMWare Fusion (windowed in OS X)
Because every single one of these tests will be happening on the exact same hardware (not just comparably-equipped separate hardware, but the exact same machine - exact same configuration in all instances), it should prove to be a fascinating comparison among all scenarios, even more accurate than Torley Linden's comparison between the Mac and Windows version of Viewer 2 (which was not a very precise test, but a great effort just the same).

Because I am out of town the week of the 20th, I will begin these tests on my return and most certainly post my results here.

PostHeaderIcon Amazon Headbutts with Apple...nice!

PostHeaderIcon Iceland - Ísafjörður

PostHeaderIcon Sunset

PostHeaderIcon Simplified.

Nice.
(Found via Grace McDunnough (link above))