Places to go in Second Life - Siren's Isle

Sunset on Siren's Isle

Over the weekend, I wanted to do some exploring, so I pulled up the map and looked for a good place to begin. I hadn't cruised the Blake Sea in a while and I love to be on the water, so I started plotting a course from the northern coast of Corsica down and around the islands to see if it was going to be doable. I think I could have made it, but it would take a while and I didn't have a lot of time.

I decided, instead, to teleport to Windlass where I knew there were rez zones. Once there, I dropped my boat in the water and made me way over to Siren's Isle.

There's always a gathering of residents at Siren's Isle, some in boats, a handful on the island itself, flying overhead and swimming underwater. You never know what you'll find when you get there. On this recent visit, I saw a woman riding a dragon, a Ninja Turtle flying a helicopter, several boats, people fishing and one man in a three piece suit, pacing back and forth in the shallow waters. 

I donned my bikini and stretched out on the deck, listening to the gulls and the waves crashing into the shore. The gentle rocking of the boat, the sunset, the two ladies quietly fishing off the back of their pink and white vessel all adding to the ambiance. 

Siren's Isle used to have a serious griefer problem, but I haven't experienced any in recent months. That's a chance you take anywhere residents gather. 

From here, you can set off in any direction to explore the open sea. Just make sure to keep your mini map open to help you navigate. I usually check the big map every once in a while to make sure I'm still on my chosen course. 

Exploring is probably my favorite pass time on the grid. What's yours? I'd love to know.

We'll talk again real soon. Keep living your best Second Life.

Neighbor Wars and Running Hot

Well this is a lovely view I logged on to this morning. 

There's been something going on between my next door neighbor and the one that lives between them and the sea. It's a pretty little corner of the world, when there aren't random parcel boundaries popping up. It's usually not an issue, I normally de-render the textures and move on. 

This time, however, the resident with the "group only" banlines on my eastern border has extended an invisible prim all the way across and in front of my ocean access. 

I swear I haven't done anything to tick anyone off. It's not a huge deal, but I do enjoy taking my boat out on occasion. 

I've sent some friendly IMs, I'll keep you posted. 

The issue of sketchy neighbors is one of the reasons so many people choose living on private estates. There are rules to keep the peace, no one bothers you and stuff like this doesn't happen. When I was leasing my homestead, I had missed having neighbors to say hello to. I loved seeing the random boat pass by, watching helicopters pass overhead. 

I missed Mainland. 

Unfortunately, it's the handful of residents that have a small stroke if one leaf of your palm tree extends over the shared parcel line, causing them to over react by dropping giant structures to block views, that cause issues on mainland regions. It's usually the folks who spend most of their time in a skybox or log on for an hour once a month. 

I don't get it.

Anywho, moving on.

I'm loving the new Firestorm update. I know some have reported problems, but with the exception of the first time I tried it, it's worked amazingly for me. The only problem I had was my laptop overheating whenever I logged on to Second Life. I tried to fix it, googling and scouring the forums, but I couldn't find any recent information. I decided to order a cooling pad to see if that would help. The next day, I was scrolling through Twitter and saw a post about energy conservation and how limiting your FPS would reduce the workload on your system. 

I was so excited to find the tweet that I didn't pay attention to who posted the information. I wish I had, if you happened to see it, let me know in the comments so that I can give the person credit.

With the new update, my FPS had shot up to well over 100, so it sort of made sense that this could be causing my problem. I went to preferences, graphics, then rendering and limited my fps to 60 (I assumed that should be plenty for whatever I happen to be doing) and my system temp immediately dropped. 

It was too late to cancel the cooling pad, but I figure it will come in handy when taking pics in Black Dragon (which also tries to melt my computer) or recording with OBS. 

Since the update, I've experimented with some drives along LL routes, using my favorite Supernatural inspired SL version of Baby (if you know, you know,) with few issues. As usual, it depended on the region but for the most part, I had a much improved experience. I also toured the Sharp continent on horseback, taking my new Teegle Irish Cobb out for ride while snapping a few pictures and checking out some land.

Do you have any harrowing neighbor stories? Have you had issues with the new Firestorm update? I'd love to see them in the comments below!

We'll chat again soon. Keep living your best Second Life!

Starting Over... Again

 

Hey Ya'll! It's been a while, hasn't it? Let's catch up.

The strip club was short lived. I stand by what I've said all along. Don't open a strip club in Second Life. The market is too saturated. Why, then, did I open one? I'm not sure. I guess the best answer is, after years of working in the industry, I wanted to try it my way. I leased a homestead, threw my heart (and money, lots of money) into it and gave it a shot. 

So, that's closed. 

After shutting down the homestead, I grabbed a couple of parcels on the water until I could figure out what I wanted to do. In the mean time, I kept my eye out for some good abandoned land where I could rebuild, start over and rethink my SL. 

If only it were this easy in the flesh and bones world.

I settled on this 4096. The reasons it was abandoned were apparent. It's a corner parcel with limited terra forming. It's on an older continent so although it's partially beach, the sand texture is that greyish brown color. I was able to cover it with some land form mesh, add some beachy vibes and create a nice little home. It doesn't technically have ocean access, but I have one neighbor without ban lines, giving me access to open sea for my boating adventures. 

I think I'm finally settled. For now.

Easily Entertained

Please excuse the shadowy "glass" prim on the right. My neighbor left it behind when she packed up her house and fled, after the crime scene tape incident.

I get so excited when I see moving dots over the ocean on the mini-map. There's barely anyone ever around Faravari, so I run to my deck to check it out, like I've been shipwrecked on a deserted island for six months. With draw distance settings at the max, I still don't see them until they make the turn onto the narrow, protected waterway leading south.

Unless, of course, they run aground on the tiny, neighboring island.

And they do it a lot.

It's the little things that keep me entertained on boring afternoons.