So I’ve been collared but not in the way you might be thinking. The Arcade SL is back on June 1st and I’m shamelessly teasing you with these collars from Ladies Who Lunch (sorry, don’t kill me). The collars and cuffs to match can be seen on Faint’s flickr. They will come in a variety of prints and colors. I love the rare hoot with the owl, it’s so intricately done but my absolute favorite was the chain on this Grey Throne. All of them are beautiful and can easily be added to any outfit as the perfect accessory.
The skin I’m wearing is the latest from Glam Affair, called Cleo. However, I just spoke to Aida a little bit ago and she told me that Cleo will not be released for another couple of days, so hopefully after the weekend you guys should be able to go by and pick up a demo. Cleo is a very beautiful skin, available in six tones. The gorgeous Magenta Devinna did an excellent job of showing you all of the 12 makeups, 6 brow options, 3 freckle layers, 3 gloss layers and finally the extra special 3 nose layers. You can really customize this skin! Click over to Magenta’s post for all the details.
Credits:
*Skin: Glam Affair – Cleo – India – 11 A by Aida Ewing (to be released after the weekend)
*Hair: Vanity Hair:Diavolo-Expresso by Tabata Jewell
*Mesh Ears: [MANDALA] Steking EARS by Kikunosuke Eel
*Collar: [Ladies Who Lunch] Collar (Grey Throne) by Faint Paulse (Available @ Arcade June)
*Outfit: GizzA – Glam Rock Suit by Giz Seorn
When I first noticed the major flickr changes yesterday I absolutely LOVED them! They looked similar to the changes Google+ recently made. However, now that I’ve been using it for a day or so, there are a few things that are kind of bothering me a little bit that I wanted to talk about; so I’ve decided to make a list of things I like and dislike.
What I like about the new Flickr!
The pictures are MASSIVE. You’ll notice this one on the other list as well but I’ll tell you why I love this, it’s making them stand out more and look even more beautiful. I’m faving more pictures than I did before because of this reason.
I miss my collections but I do like how the sets are displayed.The sets are only an easy click away and are displayed with a nice big picture. They are easily modifiable in the “organize” option of flickr.
Easy scrolling of contacts’ pictures. I’ll admit that before the new flickr, I very rarely clicked through to look at my contacts’s pictures. However, now flickr has made that a lot easier by eliminating a bunch of steps and clicks. I’m actually enjoying just continuously scrolling through the main page looking at all the gorgeous images my contacts create.
Newer and sleeker design. The old flickr design was getting old and boring compared to all of the sexy new changes that were happening on other social networks. I really do like the design, it just seems so much more current and the scrolling option makes it easier to see more pictures a lot faster.
Sexy new Android App – Today my flickr app started updating itself and I got a little scared because I must admit I am quite attached to it. I absolutely love the update though, it’s very smooth and fast and easy to use.
Cover Photo idea is totally hot! I love the idea of the cover photo. All of the major social networks have them now (Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Youtube, etc..) and it’s about time flickr stepped up. I love looking at what pictures people choose for their cover photos as it can tell a lot about a person.
This is my current cover photo on flickr. I estimated the cover photo size by creating it at the following dimensions: (2000×300) I will probably play around with it some more to see if I can get it to look more polished but for now I believe that ratio + dimensions works well.
What I dislike about the new Flickr!
Fewer image and blog hits. Now that the pictures are MASSIVE on flickr, more people are scrolling their contacts’ pictures and that has made the faves on the pictures increase. However, now less people are actually clicking on the image to see what’s written in the description. What does that mean? That means less views for the individual picture itself and also fewer clicks on any links listed in the description of the image, thus decreasing blog hits. A lot of people also share quotes or poetry with their images that add more to the experience of viewing the image and now that people are less likely to click over, that experience is lost.
I miss the white space. As you can probably tell by my blog theme, my plurk background and a lot of my pictures, I love white backgrounds and nice, clean white spaces. Now everything is black on flickr. This is not a huge deal, but for example if you click over to this image on flickr, you’ll see that I designed it with the previously white flickr background in mind so the avatar would stand out better.
Pro accounts can no longer be purchased. If you were a Pro member from before, than you are lucky to be grandfathered into it, however if you weren’t now the only option to get an ad-free experience is by paying double the price that Pro was for an ad-free account.
Massive pictures may be a bit too massive and inappropriate. Now we all know that I have nothing against nudity and some of my favorite pictures I’ve taken are my nude ones. However, seeing a massive huge penis or vagina or boobs across my screen can be a bit jolting. I’m thinking of changing my account status so safe search is on, but I’m not really sure I want to do that. Plus, a lot of people don’t set their content filters correctly anyways. I did a Flickr Content Filters Tutorial a while back that may help you understand them better if you are not familiar with them.
Not sure if I want to keep my Pro Account. I discussed this with my plurk friends earlier. Basically free accounts have everything a pro account has except for unlimited uploads, storage, bandwidth and also stats. The ability to replace a photos is now also available for free accounts. This has got me wondering if it’s really worth it to stick with a pro account as I can’t imagine I would ever exceed all of the benefits of a free account. So I’m not sure and it’s a bit of a dilemma. However, I have until October to decide as I’ve got pro till then and I can see what I want to do after that.
Why I’m not going to leave Flickr for another photo sharing site.
I’ve heard some buzz of people leaving flickr for other photo sharing sites such as Pinterest, DeviantArt, ipernity, 500px and more… I actually do have accounts on three of these sites and I have to tell you, the community is just not the same as flickr. I have been a member of flickr since July 2007 and I have so many memories there. If you scroll back to my very first images on there (please don’t :P) you will see how horrible they are but I would never ever delete them as they show my past and how much I’ve grown and progressed. They include images of friends and loved ones I’ve met over time and fell in love with, along with all the fun comments I’ve shared with them over the years. If I leave flickr, I will lose all of that!
Flickr to me is more than just another social network. It’s the first social network that I ever joined with my SL avatar and was the first place I started sharing my SLife on, even before my blog. It’s like a second home to me and I’m just not ready to leave it. Flickr has been a very huge part of my Second Life journey. So, even with all my complaints about the new changes, I still love it dearly and I’m definitely not going anywhere.
Earlier this morning I asked people on plurk to share their flickr links so we can have a flickr link exchange and that plurk has exploded with everyone adding each other. If you’re on plurk, please feel free to add your flick link to this plurk as well.
So these are my thoughts about the new flickr. Overall I must admit I am very happy with it. I do wish for certain changes but I know that nothing is ever perfect so I’m willing to work with it. What do you think of the new flickr? Is there something you would like changed?
Today I thought it would be a fun idea to do a meme where everyone can share a bit of their talents.
Meme instructions: Blog a tutorial and teach me something that you think I might not know about (even if I do, doesn’t matter, do it anyways). The tutorial can be something within Second Life (how to build, create tattoos or clothes, pick up guys at info hubs, tie your virtual shoelaces, whatever…) or something in Photoshop or on any social network (just focus on something sl-related somehow). Make it informative, make it hilarious, make it whatever you like! I’d just love to learn something from you that you may be good at and are willing to share. Remember to leave your link in this meme’s post so others can come by and learn too!
I decided to teach you guys how to create animated gifs using photoshop that you can use in your blog posts or on plurk.
I did a video tutorial, but you guys totally don’t have to do that for your tutorials, you can just write out the steps. I’m going to try and do that myself below as well. This is the link to the video: http://youtu.be/fQ_suHnRnWk
Steps to Creating Animated GIFs using Photoshop CS5
Create a new document and put each frame of the animation on a different layer.
Open the Animation window, by going to the Window menu and then choose Animation.
Modify each frame as desired, if needed.
Select the delay time for each frame.
Save your GIF. From the File menu, choose “Save for Web and Devices” and choose GIF from the drop-down menu. Select Preset GIF 128 Dithered and hit save.
Please note that animated gifs do not work on Flickr, so I had to upload this week’s picture to my blog itself, I usually host my blog pics on flickr. So that’s my meme and tutorial for today. You can find more of my tutorials on my Tutorials page.
Please remember that you can participate in any of the memes at any time. You’ll find them all under my Blog Challenges category along with other memes and challenges I’ve done over the years. If you do an image for your meme and put it on flickr, feel free to share it in the Blog Memes Flickr Group.
I’m a day early with this meme again as I’ll be in meetings on Monday. I might be posting the memes for the next several weeks a day early as my real life will be a bit hectic as the school year ends. Thanks for participating and I hope you guys have a productive Monday! <3
EDIT: A few people have messaged me asking what I used to record my screen as they would also like to do a video tutorial. I used Camtasia but there are a few other free options such as Camstudio, Fraps, Jing, etc… and people are sharing more in this plurk.
Credits:
*Skin: Glam Affair – Margot – India 02 – Dark brown (@ Collabor88 May)
Eyes: Mayfly – Deep Sky Mesh Eye (Desert Dawn, w4) by Arkesh Baral
Mesh Eyelids: Slink Mesh eyelids by Siddean Munro
*Hair: /Wasabi Pills/ Selene Mesh Hair – Chocolate by MissAllSunday Lemon
Top: Peqe – Crop Top (S) by Inex Hax (@ Catnip Carnival) (slurl)
Necklace: Cae :: Catnip :: Necklace by Caelan Hancroft (@ Catnip Carnival) (slurl)
Pose: Adorkable Poses: Zoo by Adorkable Peapod (@ Catnip Carnival) (slurl)
So the title of today’s post is a bit of an inside joke with me and my plurk timeline. If you’re on there and know it you’re probably shaking your head and laughing at me right now. If you’re not on there and don’t get the joke, consider yourself lucky. :P
In other news (and the main reason for this picture) Glam Affair has finally released SLink appliers for both hands and feet. I am so incredibly happy about this, you have no idea. All of my favorite skins have appliers out now and my life is so much easier. There’s just one more skin that I would love to have appliers for and that is Glance!
I’m also loving all the nails people have been making with this kit. The ones I’m wearing in this picture are actually free from League. They are so well done, I love them. She made them both for hands and feet and they are absolutely free!
Finally, I wanted to give a big thank you to my friend, Mr. Ghosty Kips, for sharing a really important debug setting with me this morning that I found very useful. The setting is windlightUseAtmosShaders. Have you guys ever had the missing prim issue where parts of your jewelry and/or clothing may be missing and you need to keep right clicking on it or relog to make it appear? Well, if you set this setting as true, that should fix the problem. Here’s a link to the picture he shared with me where he shows you how to add this setting to your quick preferences in Firestorm. You can then easily toggle it whenever you have the missing prim issue. The following picture is mine from the official viewer that I use:
This helped me rez my ring properly and hopefully it’ll help you guys out too so I thought I’d share it.
Have a great weekend! <3
Credits:
*Skin: Glam Affair - Margot - Europa 01 - Light Brown by Aida Ewing (@ Collabor88 May)
*Eyeliner: -Glam Affair- Couture Eyeliner no.03 by Aida Ewing
Eyes: Mayfly – Deep Sky Mesh Eye (Desert Dawn, w1) by Arkesh Baral
Hairbase: [LeLutka]-HAIRBASE BlondeFun by Thora Charron
Hair: [LeLutka]-BOUFFANT tresses – BlondeFun by Thora Charron
*Lingerie: Countdown.Zsi Zsi Lingerie Nude by Antoniaxp
Ring: Paper Couture Diamonds and Pearl Ring by Cora Lu
*Mesh Feet: Slink Mesh Feet (Av) Flat S by Siddean Munro
*Mesh Hands: Slink Mesh Hands (av) Casual by Siddean Munro
*Appliers for Hands & Feet: Glam Affair SLink Appliers by Aida Ewing
Appliers for Nails: *League* Natural French Manicure Applier for Slink by Nena Janus
Pose+Prop: [LostAngel] Shoes Structure Multipose by Evangeline Cortes
“…Where are you, my beloved? Do you hear my weeping
From beyond the ocean? Do you understand my need?
Do you know the greatness of my patience?
Is there any spirit in the air capable of conveying
To you the breath of this dying youth? Is there any
Secret communication between angels that will carry to
You my complaint?
Where are you, my beautiful star? The obscurity of life
Has cast me upon its bosom; sorrow has conquered me…”
-Kahlil Gibran
This gorgeous mermaid outfit was given to me on my rezday by a dear friend. I’m absolutely in love with it so I had to take some pictures. I’ve been pretty much wearing this the whole week and having a lot of fun shooting at this stunning location.
The lovely Garvie Garzo of meadowWorks gave me a little sneak peek of the new location for the meadowWorks store which will be open on May 24th. It’s absolutely beautiful, my pictures do not do it justice. It’s like a magical underwater city. MeadowWorks will also be having an amazing release at The Home and Garden Expo (RFL event) around the same time.
Credits:
*Skin: Glam Affair – Margot – Europa 05 – Light brown by Aida Ewing (@ Collabor88 May)
*Jewels: Zaara Swarit Shell necklace & Hiral Shell Earrings by Zaara Kohime
Mermaid Outfit: .erare.syren.pretence. by Thora Charron (DEMO on marketplace)
Poses: *~*HopScotch*~* Say Feesh! by Chandni Khondji
Location + Props: meadowWorks by Garvie Garzo
