Torley's Blog

Join us for the Winterfaire Grand Tour, through January 5, 2009 in Second Life

Festive holidays are upon us, Second Life is experiencing widespread snowfall, and Residents are decorating and celebrating. While our individual cultural traditions are diverse, Residents have created their own, homegrown fun, throughout our shared virtual world. It’s a cheerful sight to see so much gleaming snow, with delicate snowflakes falling….

Here’s a recap and look at what’s ahead!

Winterfaire Grand Tour, through Jan. 5th ‘09

Winterfaire runs until Jan. 5, 2009, and along with the many Resident-built and hosted locations and events to keep you busy and having fun all around Second Life, we’ve also got some delightful Linden-hosted events for you to join in as well. Click here for details on our:

  • Showcase Hot Spots!  Daily updates through January 2nd
  • Snowman Building Contest, Dec 23rd, 11 AM-1 PM at Rainier on the Teen Grid!
  • Don’t Miss It! Residents vs. Lindens Snowball Fight, Dec 23rd and 24th

Look for your favorite Linden targets at the annual Residents vs. Lindens Snowball Fight in the following regions: Egan, Hatton, Moritz, and Prancer. December 23rd Noon til 10pm and December 24th, Noon til 7pm.

24-Hour Music Festival, Dec 27th!

I-World Island by you.

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Getting griefed isn’t fun, but this enlightening video tutorial sure is. I collaborated with our peacekeeping Governance Team to teach you how to file effective abuse reports so you can have a happier Second Life.

Action-packed griefing and conflict resolution tips are shown, and so are effective ways to use tools we provide — like how to mute annoying noises. Press play and be on your way!


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In less than 10 minutes, you’ll learn:

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I’ve got a double treat for you today — 2 (two) tips of the week! They’re both followups re: questions I got about Here island o’ Enlightenment, which you should, like, totally visit if you haven’t already. ;)

Have you ever wanted to use a custom texture when clicking the Default button in the texture picker (instead of ol’ plywood?) Save time, builder! Here’s how:


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And now, I show you how to make a glowing neon sign which will surely stand out. This features some principles I’ve covered in past vidtuts, but can be watched standalone if you’re new to my video tutorials, so enjoy:


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If you’re on the free ArtRage version, you can download the transparent canvases to use. And remember, this is just one example of infinite possibilities you can do — I get you started and greatness is yours to claim.

Send your creations to me, Torley Linden, and I look forward to them soon!

-Torley Linden http://torley.s3.amazonaws.com/little-watermelon-eye.png
Did you know you can download all 600+ Torley Textures in a single zip pack? CLICK HERE to learn more & get ‘em!

You are Here
You are standing in a field filled with watermelons, next to a giant Torley head which bids you “Friendly greetings!” Attached to one of the melons is a leaflet which practically begs you to, well, leaf through it.

> read leaflet

I’ve an island named Here which you’re most welcome to visit! (Yes, you read that right.) Here is my inspiration brought to life in Second Life: you can watch video tutorials inworld, try some of the lovely stuff I rave about in-context, and get excited about creative possibilities. After all, the best way to understand Second Life is to experience it.

Ever wonder what motivates me on the job to amplify your awesome? Check out this video tour, learn more about what I do for you, and listen to stories of my experiences:


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Whether it’s giving terraforming a go in my "landbox", knowing why click actions are so useful for interacting with objects, and picking up a copy of my FREE Torley Textures (there’s almost 600 of ‘em!), I’m sure you’ll find something and more to enjoy, Here in Second Life.

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^ Pardon that subject line isn’t more specific, so here’s the story: every week, I hear from Residents about “cool tools” that help smooth Second Life situations. Not necessarily bugs per se, these are utilities that add value and make existing things easier.

we could be advanced dungeons and dragons players for all you know
(Photo taken at Rustica)

And since I’m Resident Enlightenment Manager, guess who’s job it is to spread the word, so that you’re Enlightened and aware of this awesomeness?

This episode features a Viewer Cheatsheet, Avatar Databank, and YouTube-in-Second Life aid… more details after the jump!

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HATE reading? LOVE reading yet want to watch me excite you about what’s new in Second Life 1.20?

To commemorate the debut of Second Life 1.20 as the main viewer (following its graduation from an enduring Release Candidate), guess what I’ve got? Awwww yeah, it’s a video! Both a tutorial and a tour to show off the highlights — what’s important for you to know about.

It takes less than 8 minutes, so push play and enjoy the ride:


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For additional info, BE SURE to check out the fab, illustrated “1.20 WELCOME PAGE OMG!!1” page that Ramzi Linden’s lovingly prepared.

Update: also see my comments in response to your feedback.

Related resources:

-Torley Linden http://torley.s3.amazonaws.com/little-watermelon-eye.png  
     Watch Video Tutorials inworld:

     Enlightening Experiences

YAYZERAMA! Back by popular demand, it could only be a matter of time before another round of QUICKTIPS arrived. This series is warmly treasured by Second Life Residents for delivering the goods — not counting intro/outro, ;) each tip is 2 minutes or less, so even if you don’t have a lot of time, you can choose what you’re interested in and learn! From basic need-to-knows to strangely handy advanced features…

This is Torley with QUICKTIPS VOLUME 7. LET’S ROCK AND ROLL!
 

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Voice Chat: Customize Speech Gestures
Harmony Linden got me thinking: I haven’t yet seen a custom speech gesture pack. Has anyone made one? In the meantime, watch this to get started. Do backflips and belly laughs while you enunciate, for all I care.

Voice Chat: Turn on Lip Sync
Make your avatar’s lips move while talking. One of the coolest “hidden” features we have; you’ll need at least version 1.20 (not the existing 1.19 viewer) to play with this. Don’t forget to check out the documentation!

Camera Options sliders in action
What do they do? I’ll show you!

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[UPDATE – 2008-07-20 @ 5:55 PM PDT] Video tutorial downloads, previously broken due to Amazon S3 service issues, are back now.
 

Second Life scripting goes from elementary to extremely advanced. I know firsthand that many of us are curious, but fear getting started. I’m here to shine a light on the fact that there are tutorials and exceptionally easy-to-use tools to smooth your path into Linden Scripting Language!

Today’s tip focuses on Ann Enigma’s Autoscript, a wonderful tool which has made a difference for many Residents. With a few clicks, you can make a script, then examine and edit it further. Only problem is: it hasn’t been getting enough exposure, so a lot of people who could’ve been helped by it… didn’t know it existed!

THAT CHANGES, NOW.


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00:15 – What is Autoscript?
00:55 – Make a webpage-loader script
02:05 – Autoscript script usage text instructions
03:41 – Make a notecard-giver
07:36 – Stop a script
08:17 – Modify a script by combining multiple actions
13:17 – Wrap-up and encouragement

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I get lots of requests to do more content creation tutorials — how to make stuff you can show off, share with friends, and sell. I know there’s common worries that getting from point A to B seems harder than it actually is, so I’m here to help you squash those fears flat.

In today’s tutorial, you’ll learn just how easy it is to use ArtRage — a 3rd-party program — to expressively paint a shirt that’s all yours. ArtRage is superb for making organic textures that look like natural media, such as paints, pens, and pencils. It’s also one of the key tools behind my popular series of FREE! Torley Textures, and has a free version (for Windows & Mac) you can get started with in minutes.


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[UPDATED on 2008-07-08 @ 10 AM PDT]

Our beloved Residents of Second Life! <3

Recordings of Mitch Kapor’s keynote are available:

» Download MP3

» Download video (MP4 format, plays inworld)

Special thanks to CeeLo Linden for the better-quality audio recording!

Opening introduction and closing notes are by our own Robin Harper (aka Robin Linden), Vice President of Marketing & Community Development at Linden Lab.

These recordings are available on our Podcast too.

We’ve also got a text transcript, and if that’s too much to read, Dusan Writer (thank-you!) did a text summary with pictures.

Download the 2 clips featured in the video:

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