• 14Dec

  Cuddlefish Junction Group Freebie ~ Inky Shirt

  Cuddlefish Junction No Comments

  

  

  Did you know there’s a Cuddlefish Junction group in Second Life? No? Well now you do! It’s free to join, and you’ll get a cute Lil’ Cuddlefish group tag to wear! Plus, I’ll send out group notices for new products and special group-only freebies to share the love with you!

  In fact, I’ve just set out the first group-only freebie at Cuddlefish Junction: an Inky Shirt! It features an ink drawing of the ever-adorable Cuddlefish on the front, and the back reads: Because we’ve all got an inky little tentacle inside us at times.

  You can get it now, so come on by!

  Tags: cuddlefish

• 14Dec

  Cuddlefish Junction ~ Shrooms

  Cuddlefish Junction 1 Comment

  

  This is the last of the product features for Cuddlefish Junction! It’s been fun, and I look forward to seeing you at the grand opening party this Saturday, December 15 at 8PM SLT!

  

  Today’s featured product are my favorite Shrooms. No, not that kind of shroom, silly! These ones are for sitting on. Each Shroom is lovingly sculptied and hand-textured by none other than myself, and engineered for maximum comfiness. They come in packs of 8 different colors and shapes, and they’re mod/transfer, so you can give your friends a shroomy gift in their favorite colors!

  Each pack of 8 shrooms costs a paltry L$200 — that’s L$25 per shroom for the nicest fungus your avatar’s tushy has ever met!

  And now, I hear the people clamouring: “Where is this magical Cuddlefish Junction? Please tell us, Jacek!”

  The grand opening is still a day away, but you can drop by the modest Cuddlefish Junction islet in Second Shores (117,228)! You might find me there working on more fiendish creations, or you can see Squidmobile up close and personal! (Sorry, he won’t let you ride — he’s a bit shy around strangers. I’ll take you out for a spin if I’m not busy, though!)

  Tags: cuddlefish

• 13Dec

  Cuddlefish Junction ~ Scarf

  Cuddlefish Junction No Comments

  

  This is the second of three product features for my new Cuddlefish Junction store. I hope you join us for the grand opening party on Saturday, December 15 at 8PM SLT! I’ll post the SLURL on Friday; or just send me (Jacek Antonelli) an IM in-world if you need a TP on Saturday.

  

  Today, we have a very stylish and comfy scarf to keep your avatar’s neck warm this winter. It’s hand-twisted from 100% imported cashmere prims, and can be tinted to any color you desire — and like the wings from yesterday, it’s mod/copy, so you can make a color-coordinated copy for every outfit in your closet!

  My friends are always bugging me: “Your scarf is just too cute to keep to yourself. Share the love, Jacek! Share the love!” Now you too can feel the love for just L$100, starting this Saturday, December 15 at 8PM SLT.

  Check back tomorrow for the final product in our preview series, plus the much-ballyhooed SLURL to the store!

  Tags: cuddlefish

• 12Dec

  Cuddlefish Junction ~ Wings

  Cuddlefish Junction 2 Comments

  

  This is the first of three product features (‘cuz I only have 3 products right now!) for my new Cuddlefish Junction store. In case you forgot, it’s opening this Saturday, December 15 at 8PM SLT, and I hope you come party with us! (SLURL will be posted on Friday.)

  

  Our first product is… wings! But not just any wings… super cute flexi wings, with original designs by me! If that’s not enough to get you excited, you should know that they’re mod/copy, so you can resize them, tint them, etc., and keep a different style for each outfit!

  Bonus: they’re just L$200 each, or L$600 for the pack with all four designs. That’s like… *counts on fingers*… a 3/4 bulk discount!

  Tags: cuddlefish

• 10Dec

  Cuddlefish Junction – New Store! Opens 12/15!

  Adventures, Cuddlefish Junction 1 Comment

  

  After much ribbing and prodding by my friends, I have yielded to their demands and decided to open up a store in SL.

  Cuddlefish Junction will be opening for business Saturday, December 15 at 8PM SLT! I will cut the metaphorical ribbon and set everything for sale at that time. And then there will much dancing, laughter, and merriment until everybody gets tired and goes home! Yay!

  I’ll post more pictures, SLURLs, and other awesomness as we approach that date.

  Hope to see you there!

  Tags: chibi, cuddlefish

• 09Dec

  8 Jacek-tastic Things

  Adventures, Musings 1 Comment

  Ack! I’ve been tagged! *shakes her tiny fist*

  Oh well. Let’s see… 8 random things about me…

  1. I like sailing. In SL, anyway. I haven’t had an opportunity to try in in RL. My new favorite SL sailboat right now is the Flying Fizz, although the Flying Tako has a dear spot in my heart. (Squidmobile isn’t a sailboat yet, so it doesn’t count.)
  2. I don’t smoke, drink alcohol, or use controlled substances. I don’t even drink caffeinated beverages anymore! My dark, twisted mind is 100% natural, baby.
  3. I run Gentoo Linux on my desktop box. I think there’s a Windows XP install buried on some partition somewhere, but I haven’t touched it in years. On a side note, ‘XP’ looks like an emoticon for blowing a raspberry with your face scrunched up in disgust, which is quite apropos.
  4. I’ve made (at least) 14 patches to the SL client since it became open-source. I haven’t been keeping track, but 14 is my guess based on scanning my svn logs. Not all of the patches have been applied by LL yet, though.
  5. I keep my fingernails trimmed extremely short. Toenails too, but I’m less obsessive about them as I don’t see them as often.
  6. I have a degree in 3D computer animation. But, my interests there more generally span the intersection of art, programming, and human interface. Also tentacles.
  7. A cat lives with me. She sticks around out of gratitude for rescuing her from the Humane Society. Also, in recognition of our humble offerings of kitty chow and warm blankets. (Really, though, she’s very sweet and attention-needy.)
  8. While travelling around the country, I once met a grizzly bear by the riverside. I wrestled him to the ground and bound his paws with my bootstraps. After he had calmed down, I untied him and taught him to read and write English (he already knew Canadian French, naturally, so it wasn’t too difficult). He then joined me in my travels for several years, and we had many adventures together.

  Now then… victims. *giggles maniacally*

  1. Chryso!
  2. Mera!
  3. Reina! (whose blog is BROKEN, NEGLECTED, and GERMAN. For shame!)
  4. Alex!
  5. Torley!
  6. I can’t think of any more!

  Tags: silly

• 07Dec

  It’s the people, silly!

  Musings No Comments

  Why are MMOs popular? Because you get to do fun stuff with your friends! Whether you’re slayin’ dragons in WoW or dancing it up at a club in SL, the experience is all about the people you’re doing it with. Even if you’re off soloing mobs or hiding out at your pad building a cool new hat, the real thrill is when you get back together with your friends and wow them with your new abilities or gear.

  So, what’s the diff between an MMORPG like Wow and a VW (virtual world, not Volkswagen) like SL?

  In WoW, Blizzard decides what you and your friends can do. If killing monsters and harvesting 20 of their eyeballs isn’t your thing… well, that rules out a lot of the content in WoW.

  In SL, you and your friends decide what you can do! If clubbing isn’t your thing, you can go sailing, or shopping, or yes, even killing monsters and harvesting their bodily organs!

  But no matter what you’re doing, it’s always more fun with a friend.

• 05Dec

  1.18.6 RC – The Double Deuce

  Gripes, LL policy woes, Passions No Comments

  Linden Lab has rolled out a new release candidate today with two of the most talked-about features since Windlight! That’s right, age identity age verification and the new web-based authentication method are here!

  Did I say most talked-about features? Maybe a better phrase would be most lambasted features. There’s a lot of talk about these new mis-features, sure, but not in favor of them. Opinions range from “they won’t work”, to “they’re not working”, to “even if they did work, they wouldn’t accomplish what LL claims they will”, to “thank god they’re not working, the damn things are security risks”.

  But Linden Lab is not in the habit of letting insignificant little things like the scathing criticism from their customers, the people who put the Life into Second Life, ruin their master plans. Onward, valiant policy-makers! To death and glory!

  It’s a good thing I’m still doped up on Windlight, or I might be really upset.

• 01Dec

  Jacek’s Guide to Aspect Ratios

  Gripes, Guides, How-Tos & Tips, Interface 8 Comments

  This should help anyone who wants to make images to be displayed in the SL (classifieds, picks, etc.) and not have them be horribly stretched or squashed by Linden Lab’s inconsistent use of image aspect ratios. I don’t bother to cover aspect ratios for textures to be used on prims, as the proper aspect ratio in that case depends entirely on the prim’s dimensions.

  If you’re making an image for…

  • a classifieds listing … use 10:7.
  • a parcel snapshot … use 10:7.
    (But know that it will be stretched horizontally in people’s picks.)
  • your own pick … use 16:9.
  • a 2nd life profile … use 4:3.
  • a 1st life profile … use 1:1.
  • a group insignia … use 1:1.
  • an invitation or ‘view me’ image … use powers of 2.
    E.g. 64, 128, 256, or 512 pixels wide/high.

  List of Aspect Ratios & Notable Places They Appear

  • 16:9 (1.78:1) — Profile (Picks)
  • 3:2 (1.5:1) — About Land (Options / Snapshot)
  • 10:7 (1.43:1) — Search (Classifieds, Popular Places, Land Sales, and Places), About Landmark
  • 4:3 (1.33:1) — Profile (2nd Life)
  • 1:1 (1:1) — Group Insignia, Profile (1st Life)

  Corrections? Questions? Tips? Leave a comment!

  Update, Dec 6:

  • Torley pointed out that Profile Picks are 16:9 (1.78:1), rather than 7:4 (1.75:1) as I had previously thought.
  • Lex Neva pointed out that 40:28 is equivalent to 10:7.
  • I’ve also corrected About Landmark, which displays at 40:28 (1.43:1), rather than 4:3 (1.33:1). Accordingly, I’ve changed my recommendation for parcel snapshots to 40:28 instead of 4:3, as it does not seem to be displayed anywhere at true 4:3.

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