Disillusionment

"This Is a terrible invention, it ruins all the hardwork people had to go through to make our necklaces" - Sinjo Drakes, regarding LinkRez

"As are all my items - these are 100% Hand placed prims - No Prim bot link rez generators used." - Mhaijik Guillaume, posted the same day LinkRez was released

Sometimes, the closed-mindedness of people just drives me to despair. People who seem to lack vision or appreciation of progress. Or, the hard work it takes to make progress.

I wonder if these people in the 1400's would have railed against Gutenberg as well? Granted, it's an imperfect analogy, but, like LinkRez, a printing press is only a tool. For beautiful lettering, it still requires that the movable type be envisioned, crafted, and carved. It still requires that somebody with literary ability create the content of what is printed. It allows ease of production far beyond what could be done by scribes laboriously copying pages by hand. And, like LinkRez, absolute crap can still be produced when the user lacks talent.

When I first announced I was working on LinkRez, one of my first comments started out "First off -- this really is NOT a Necklace Generator," to recognize that a mere tool did not make a user into a creator. Creativity, skill, and artistic vision will always be the most important aspects in content creation, not the possession or use of the tools.

Still, it's hard not to be disillusioned and discouraged by some people.

LinkRez bug -- multi-prims and geometric centers

Thanks to a user report, I'm aware of a major bug in LinkRez, but a fix is done, and I'm just trying to do a few other tweaks, and give other users a chance to find more bugs, before releasing it.

Basically, it turns out that:

• llSensor() returns the position of the ROOT prim (used in the sizing board)
• llGetPosition() returns the position of the ROOT prim
• llRezObject() rezzes to place the position of the GEOMETRIC center of all prims in a linkset

This doesn't cause a problem if links are SINGLE prims. And it doesn't cause a problem if a necklace chain link is made up of multiple prims, but the root prim is near the 'center' of the linkset.

But, if you use a multiple prim chain link, and the root prim happens to be 'off center', LinkRez will rez the prim 'shifted over' a little bit. Not acceptable. It wasn't caught earlier, because all my test links are either single prims, or linksets where I happened to choose a 'center' prim as the root prim.

Anyhow, the fix was trivial, which was to replace all instances of llRezObject() with llRezAtRoot(), which is based on the root prim position of the object being rezzed, rather than the geometric center.

I wanted to make a few other minor tweaks, so I'll hold off on sending out an update.

This is also a good chance for users to suggest any other (minor) enhancements they'd like to see.

LinkRez Reviews and Comments

LinkRez Reviews and Comments

• Just working through the LinkRez Tutorial. Boy, am I impressed! Not only is the jewelry great, but the programming level is fantastic. I didn't know your could do such things in LSL. I have some similar operations I'd like to do, and knowing that it's possible will be an inspiration. - WJ
  
  
• Hey! I just wanted to IM you and THANK you for making such a fun and amazing tool! this LinkRez is a blast to use, super easy and I can't believe the fun I'm havin just playing with it! WHOOT! - BM
  
  
• omg! is seems like all i dreamed about! :) the creator is a magican... the most usefull tool i ever bought - DY
  
  
• just wanted to say i think your link rez program for making necklaces is one of the best programs i have tried yet in sl - SV
  
  
• Great product. ... I am afraid to even think what a math mind like yours looks like inside ..so I will just say ... GREAT JOB !!! - A
  
  
• I have bought alot of things around SL that either didn't work straight out of the box, broke shortly after starting to use, or was just flat out poor quality, but the LinkRez has NONE of these issues! It not only does what it says it does, it couldn't produce better results in my opinion! It is super easy to use, and I had created 3 necklaces that were better quality than anything else I had ever made within 1 hour!
  Instructions are pretty straight forward and easy to follow. So long as you read them, you should have no problem getting beautiful, stunning results!
  A+ Product! - SL
  
  
• I am an owner of your linkrez. AWSOME piece of equipment -RL
  
  
• the price is great, I started playing with this already...got so excited I tp'd right to your store and forgot I was half dressed and had prims sticking out all over me (work related I assure you)So far I love it thank you thank you! - PP
  
  
• I've been working with Link Rez and Ged, you knows I love it! - EN
  
  
• It's something unbelievable! -T
  
  
• This is so wicked cool! Good stuff! - RC
  

(If anybody does NOT want me to share their comments with others, let me know, and I'll happily remove it.)

LinkRez v1.01, minor update

I released a minor update to LinkRez. If you purchased LinkRez v1.0 and did not automatically receive the update, please contact me.

Changes:

• added a new sizing board option, for "edge placement" of necklace links
• added a dialog menu to more conveniently choose notecards (thanks to Justa Meness for suggesting this!)
  
• pose-stand rezzing bugfix
• renamed the components inside LinkRez that users should NOT be changing with a "zzz-" prefix
  

The LinkRez Tutorial Part II, lesson additions 6b and 8b, describes these changes.

Also, I've made LinkRez available at SL Exchange.

Linji Haven Public Commons

There's been some more progress with the public spaces of Linji Haven. In addition to some better paths connecting all the stores, Linji now has a Public Commons, Linji (103, 99, 43), complete with a nice koi pond, courtesy of Sierra Mills (which, incidentally, she sells in her store, Simply Sierra's, in Linji).


Linji Haven has become quite the little commercial center, with a good number of really creative people. Here's a picture of the Linji Haven directory in the Commons.


Some residents haven't given me store logos yet, and some stores are still in progress, so not pictured are:

• Muse jewelry (Caliah Lyon)
• Image Health & Wellness (ImagineIt Lane)
• Taffy Apples (Taffy Allandale)
• D-Skin (DynamiteTanaka Payne)
• LUSH studio (Scarlet Singer)
  

Since getting LinkRez out, I've had time to catch up on some small projects and other things that have been languishing on my To Do list. One was to take the public signboard that estate manager Sierra Mills created, and script the directory to be more useful. I wrote an "object giver" script and combined it with the public WarpPos() teleportation hack, and loaded up each of the shop logos in the directory.

If you click on a logo, you can:

• "Get LM" (replaces "Touch") to have it give you a landmark to the store
• actually, it'll give you ALL notes, objects, and landmarks that are loaded in the prim
  
  
• "Teleport" (replaces "Sit") to have you instantaneously teleport to the landmark
• I plan to update the script, so that if there are multiple LM's in the logo prim, it'll pop up a Dialog window and let you choose which location you'd like to teleport to

It'd be silly, but I could also script the signboard to randomize, or keep alphabetized, the various store logos.

LinkRez v1.0... released...

I've released LinkRez v1.0, available at ScriptThingies Linji (151, 230, 67) -- I hope you all like it! I guess we can call this the grand opening of the store, too.

If you don't know what LinkRez is, it's a necklace chainlink generator -- check out this link for lots of information. Then, stop by the store and try out the LinkRez DEMO, which lets you see some the tool in action.

If you buy LinkRez, be sure to pick up the L$1 purple "LinkRez Tool Box #1", which contains a bunch of practice micro-links, already sized, as well as LinkRez program notecards, to get you started more quickly.

Join the open membership "Script Thingies" group, for announcements and user-to-user product support.

And finally, keep an eye out for a "L$500 rebate program" for LinkRez purchasers, who are willing to share an interesting prim or linkset.

Phew, I'm tired... But it's a good tired. LinkRez is finally out!

A real-time demo kiosk for LinkRez

Getting very close to a release! One thing I wanted to do before releasing LinkRez was to have a display model that people could click on to actually see the tool in action, in real-time.

It took me a few days, but I wrote a little dialog-driven "control" script, to allow users to choose one of nine or so necklace programs for the LinkRez Demo to run, to generate necklace chains. Please go on over to Script Thingies, Linji (151, 230, 67), and try it out!

One note though -- because it is actually DOING all the calculations to create the necklaces (not just rezzing previously generated necklaces), while running, it's probably inflicting some serious load onto the Sim. Because of that, I prevent it from rezzing a second necklace until the first one (they're temp-on-rez) has disappeared. So, it could take from 30 seconds to a minute, before you can try out a second necklace.


Lastly, I've created a new group -- "Script Thingies." Because we're limited to a maximum of 25 groups, it doesn't make sense to create a new group for each product. Instead, I plan to make all scripting product announcements to this new group. If you're a member of the LoopRez Users group, please feel free to quit that group, and join Script Thingies instead.

a quick necklace

Some of the testers have been reluctant to try out the LinkRez notecard programs, but I'd really like to encourage users to realize that they're really quite flexible, and not that hard to write.

Here's an example of a necklace that took me maybe 40 minutes to create, almost from scratch. There are some imperfections with the sizing / spacing, but those are all fixable within the notecard program (I was just too lazy to do it right). And afterwards, I was able to custom-fit them to three different avatars, within a few minutes.



The centerpiece was made separately, by using the BRACELET setting to rez the sapphires in a simple circle. I then linked the ring of sapphires with a large diamond, and made that a separate link, called "diamondcenter."

The notecard program looks like this:

ODDLINKS
LINKTYPE FLAT

LINK diamondcenter~13.5~<180,>~<-0.00003, 0.00011, 0.03778>
LINK diamond 1.9mm~1.861572~<180,>~<-0.00002, -0.00005, 0.00946>
LINK diamond 5.7mm~5.699158~<180,>~<0.00001,>
LINK round sapphire~1.861572~<180,>~<-0.00002, -0.00005, 0.00946>
LINK diamond 5.7mm~5.699158~<180,>~<0.00001,>

REPEATUNTIL 80
LINK round sapphire~1.861572~<180,>~<-0.00002, -0.00005, 0.00946>
LINK diamond 1.9mm~1.861572~<180,>~<-0.00002, -0.00005, 0.00946>
ENDREPEAT

LINK silver tube~6.164551

Translated, line-by-line, the notecard program reads:

• use an odd number of links, so that the center piece will be centered
• rez the center piece, then a 1.9 mm diamond, then a 5.7 mm diamond, then a sapphire, then another 5.7 mm diamond
• then, repeat the following, until we're almost at the side of the necklace, 80 degrees from the front
• sapphire
• 1.9 mm diamond
• then, rez a silver tube
• since we're now at the end of the notecard, just finish up the necklace using the silver tube

The gap between the centerpiece and the next small gem could be fixed by editing the "size" of the "diamondcenter," probably from 13.5 down to 13 mm would work well.

But the point of this exercise wasn't to generate a perfected necklace, but just to illustrate that it took less than an hour of time to generate a fairly decent necklace. And that once generated, it could be resized to custom-fit most any avatar.

time to open a store...

For months now, I've been relying on the generosity of Natalia Zelmanov, who allowed me to sell LoopRez Deluxe out of her original store in Rieul. Recently, Natalia has just opened a new, VERY nice, and MUCH larger store, Sirena Hair & Fashion in West Sunset (160,50,22). She is again being kind enough to let me provide LoopRez from her store. I owe so much to Natalia.

Still, I suppose there comes a time when I really ought to have a spot of my own. Thanks to Sierra Mills, who designed and gifted this store to me (I do seem to like to surround myself with talented individuals, don't I?), when LinkRez is ready for release, it'll be made available in a brand new store...

Script Thingies...


I'm a bit of a sentimental sap sometimes. The look and feel of the sign is a nod to the days when I first started dabbling with computers. The word "thingies" is popular to a certain individual who I owe a lot to. And the backdrop of the sign might be familiar to some... My very own geeky inside-joke tributes, all rolled together.

I still need to make it possible to exit the store without falling off a cliff, to be able to actually walk to the store instead of flying to it, choose a landing spot, landscape a little around it, etc. But it's getting there. Still, what a silly concept, for me to have a store, what with basically my SINGLE product. Well, at least my product line will double soon.

Incidentally, the store will be available for purchase, from Sierra Mills. It's a bit primmy (as is most anything Sierra does), but I like its clean lines, don't you?

Mainland Sim Rental Charters

Peronaut and Linji Sim Parcel Availability

• parcel availability information, including pictures and landmarks, can be viewed at the Script Thingies store in Linji
  
• if you would like to rent a parcel
• pay the rent box on the parcel
• we will invite you to join the appropriate group, giving you the group abilities listed below
• if there's a delay adding you to the group, we'll increase the rental period paid for
  
• if no parcels are available, post a request to be added to a waiting list here, and you'll be notified in advance
  

--== Mainland Rental Sims ==--
Linji and Peronaut

Owner: Ged Larsen (ged(dot)larsen(a)gmail(dot)com)
Estate Manager: Sierra Mills

This is the charter of the Linji and Peronaut Sims (last updated 2007-June-1). The complete group abilities list and update history is also provided. Current status and parcel availability will also be posted on this page.

The goal of these mainland rental sims is to provide:

• an unthemed mixed-residential and low-impact commercial oasis on the Mainland
• a community of like-minded individuals who believe that the Mainland can still be a beautiful, wonderful, minimal lag place to enjoy Second Life
• the lowest price possible

To insure that the Sim can maintain it's zoning guidelines, it is a rental only community. Estate Managers to contact for more information or problems: Ged Larsen and Sierra Mills


ZONING GUIDELINES

Residential and low-impact commericial

Guidelines:

• be considerate
• low-impact commercial welcomed
• small events encouraged
• no Casinos, no Clubs, no Camping, and no Crap (ad farms, lag hogs, incredibly ugly builds)

Lag control

• try to use efficiently-written scripts, without loads of listeners and scans
• try to use the minimum-sized texture that gives you good results

Spelling it all out

Really, if you're just being considerate of others, you don't need to read these details. If you are trying to use this list to find loopholes of what you can get away with, this community is probably not for you.

And, if you and ALL your neighbors are OK with it, bending the guidelines is fine too. Just see "Conflict Resolution".

• restrict build heights to twice the distance from the nearest neighbor's parcel boundary
• a 2:1 build height tool will be provided to you to help you determine whether you are within bounds
  
• IF you and your neighbor agree, you are free to violate this rule
• however, agreement should be obtained BEFORE building higher / closer than allowed
  
  
• try not to obstruct your neighbor's views
• no major eyesores
• no excessive particle effects
• no flashing / rotating / neon signs
• no banlines (banning specific avatars is fine)
  
• no walls or fences that completely close off your land
• skyboxes shouldn't be visible from ground level builds
• no non-consensual combat
• events should not be so large and frequent as to cause problems for other residents

COMMUNITY

Goal: it would be wonderful if instead of a bunch of separate carved out parcels, we had a community. Of course, this can never be something dictated, but all suggestions would be welcome.

To promote this:

• walking paths to encourage foot exploration, sitting areas, and parks will be constructed, as possible
• shared resources (e.g., pre-fab buildings, landscaping objects, resident creations, etc.)
• an up-to-date list is maintained here
  
• suggestions welcome for additional community purchases (copyable items)
• ALL new tenants will be offered the chance to ask for a COPYABLE item up to L$1,000 that I will purchase and make available to all tenants
• any other suggestions would be welcome!
  

CONFLICT RESOLUTION

• I want to remain as absolutely hands-off as possible, hoping that the simple rule of being considerate towards others will minimize conflict. And, I hope that people will be as open-minded and accepting as possible of other people's tastes. But, conflicts happen.
  
• if 3 members of the community have a grievance against another member, and a Peronaut Estate Manager agrees, then the grievance must be addressed.

RENTING

• NO up-front "purchase price," "deposit," or joining fee
• depending on how often tenants let their leases lapse without giving me sufficient warning, this MAY be amended to a ONE week deposit that will be FULLY refundable, if I receive ONE week prior notice
  
  
• rental rate: L$390 per 1,024 square meters per week
  
  
• prim allotment: 234 prims per 1,024 square meters
  
  
• extra prim allotment, based on availability: L$195 per extra 117 prims per week
  
  
• rent to be paid weekly, in advance
  
• there will be no grace period for late rent
• if there are people on the waitlist when the rent expires, I may immediately reclaim the land and offer it to a new tenant
  
  
• full refunds of remaining rent, with no penalty, if one week advance notice is given
• otherwise, a maximum penalty of 1 week's rent will be assessed
  
  
• no plans to increase rent
  
• I may raise rent if LL's mainland tier prices increase
• I may raise rent if the US$ to L$ exchange rate changes dramatically
• If this were to happen, current tenants would have the option to cancel their leases with full refunds without penalty
  
  
• no requirement to be a Linden Labs "premium member"
  
  
• no support for sub-leasing
• you will be able to add others to the Peronaut Group, but they will be regular group "Members" without the "Resident" abilities that tenants will have (see below)
  
• however, on a case-by-case basis, estate managers can grant "Resident" abilities to multiple people who are sharing a parcel
  
  
• I've tried my best to make these rules as FAIR to you as possible
• NOT asking for deposits
• NOT asking for a minimum amount of initial renting time
  
• likewise, I would very much appreciate your consideration as well, especially being given as much advance warning as possible, even if you are just THINKING about leaving the Sim; advance warning is REALLY helpful for me, to give me time to try to identify other tenants, start planning parcel changes, etc.

GROUP ROLE ABILITIES FOR RESIDENTS

The group role abilities listed below are my attempt to give maximal flexibility to Peronaut Sim residents, while trying to keep inadvertent disasters to a minimum. They may be adjusted, as necessary.

Group Roles

• Owner (Ged Larsen)
• Estate Manager (Sierra Mills)
  
• Estate manager has all abilities EXCEPT:
  - assign members to any roll
  - assign and remove abilities in roles
  - deed land and buy land for group (might be OK?)
  - abandon land to Governor Linden
  - set land for sale info
  - pay group liabilities and receive group dividends
  
• Resident
• this is the baseline role that ALL renters will get, listed below
  
• Regular Member
• residents can invite people to join the group, who can then set objects to the Peronaut group, avoiding auto-return
  
• they will NOT, however, have access to most other Resident abilities
  

Group abilities, complete list

Membership

• Invite People to this Group (ALL)
• non-owners can only invite people to the plain "member" status
  
• Eject Members from this Group (ALL)
• non-owners can only eject people who have plain "member" status
• Toggle 'Open Enrollment' and change 'Signup Fee' (OWNER)
  

Roles

• Create New Roles (OWNER)
• Delete Roles (OWNER)
• Change Role names, titles, and descriptions (OWNER)
• Assign Members to Assigner's Roles (OWNER)
• Assign Members to Any Role (OWNER)
• Remove Members from Roles (OWNER)
• Assign and Remove Abilities in Roles (OWNER)

Group Identity

• Change Charter, Insignia, 'Publish on the Web', and which members are publicly visible in Group Information (OWNER)

Parcel Management

• Deed land and buy land for group (OWNER)
• Abandon land to Governor Linden (OWNER)
• Set land for sale info (OWNER)
• Subdivide and join parcels (OWNER)

Parcel Identity

• Toggle 'Show in Find Places' and set category (ALL)
  
• Change parcel name, description, and 'Publish on the Web' settings (ALL)
• Set landing point and set teleport routing (ALL)

Parcel Settings

• Change music & media settings (ALL)
• Toggle 'Edit Terrain' (OWNER)
• Toggle various About Land > Options settings (ALL? or ON REQUEST?)

Parcel Powers

• Always allow 'Edit Terrain' (ALL? or ON REQUEST?)
• Always allow 'Fly' (ALL)
  
• Always allow 'Create Objects' (ALL)
  
• Always allow 'Create Landmark' (ALL)
  
• Allow 'Set Home to Here' on group land (ALL, regular members)

Parcel Access

• Manage parcel Access lists (OWNER; no general banlines allowed)
• Manage parcel Ban lists (ALL)
• Change parcel 'Sell passes...' settings (ALL)
• Eject and freeze Residents on parcels (ALL)

Parcel Content

• Return objects owned by group (OWNER)
  
• Return objects set to group (OWNER)
• Return non-group objects (ALL)
• Landscaping using Linden plants (ALL)

Object Management

• Deed objects to group (OWNER)
  
• Manipulate (move, copy, modify) group-owned objects (OWNER)
  
• Set group-owned objects for sale (OWNER)
  

Accounting

• Pay group liabilities and receive group dividends (OWNER)
  

Notices

• Send Notices (ALL)
  
• Receive Notices and view past Notices (ALL, and regular members)

Proposals

• Create Proposals (ALL)
• Vote on Proposals (ALL, and regular members)

---

Update history:

• 2007-June-1: consolidated from Linji Haven and Peronaut Sim Covenants, rental rate decreases, removed up-front fees, asked that I be notified as much in advance as possible if you are planning to let a lease expire, updated communal resources, removed information specific to sim (i.e., number of sq m set aside for parks)
  

Linji and Peronaut Sim rent rate drops

I am proposing a rent drop in the Linji and Peronaut Sims, that will affect all tenants having parcels smaller than 4,096 sq m. Since this affects the Covenants, I'd like to consolidate the two covenants (which are already very similar), into one covenant, for easier organization.

The original rental rate structure was based on a simple premise: match the US$ monthly mainland tier rate set by Linden Labs, converted to weekly L$ prices.

Because the mainland tier rates improve as you own larger amount of land, rental rates per square meter of land were dramatically better for tenants renting large parcels. Also, because the tier rates occurred in "steps," I needed to choose rental rate "steps" as well, which limited all rental parcels to increments of 1,024 sqm (i.e., 2048, 3072, and 4096 sq m). This made for reduced flexibility of carving out parcels.

Proposal: simplify the rate structure to a simple L$ per square meter per week, matching the "best rate" currently enjoyed by tenants holding 4,096 sq m parcels. The following table shows that rental rates will decrease by from 2% to 18%. The prim allowance will remain the same: standard 234 prims per 1,024 square meters.

With the rent drop, current tenants in both sims will have their "days remaining of paid rent" adjusted upwards proportionally, rounding UP by 1 day, and subsequent payments will be at the lower rates.

Area (sqm)	Current L$/wk	Current L$/1024sqm/wk	New L$/1024sqm/wk	% rent drop
2,048	L$954	L$477	L$390	18%
3,072	L$1,273	L$424	L$390	8%
4,096	L$1,592	L$398	L$390	2%

The simple ratio of L$390 per 1,024 sqm per week will make it easy to figure out rental rates for parcels that are not even multiples of 1,024 sqm as well. Rental rates of additional prims, as available, will remain the same (actually, a piddly 2% price drop), and be calculated at the same proportional rate: L$195/week for an additional 117 prims. And, as stated before in the covenant, I intend that there will be NO rent increases, unless Linden Labs raises the mainland land tier rates. (Actually, if the L$ to US$ exchange rate changes SIGNIFICANTLY, which is hasn't for months now, I'd also have to adjust rental rates, upwards OR downwards.)

For the smaller parcels, I think these rental rates will be amongst the best in Second Life. And for larger parcels, the rates are still competitive.

I'd like to consolidate the covenants for the two Sims as well. The covenants of the Linji and Peronaut Sims are identical, except that with Peronaut, the wording for build heights is that you have to obtain approval from your neighbors BEFORE you build beyond the 2:1 height limits. Strictly speaking, this is not a difference, because in cases of conflict in the Linji Sim, the build height rule would be used anyhow.

I will give everyone a few days (perhaps till Monday) to speak out with any objections. The new consolidated covenant will be posted here, too. Otherwise, I will go ahead as planned. Comments?


PS - if you are curious about the financial ramifications for me, the sim owner, and the future stability of the Sim: the rent drop WILL, obviously, decrease the "margin" that the sims can operate without generating losses. But, I've long ago decided that "profits," in order to recoup the sim auction costs, will not be achievable regardless, so, if I can operate without losses, I still want to provide these "clean" oases on the mainland.

And, I hope that these lower rates will keep occupancy both higher, and more stable. I don't like being a landlord, and I don't like scrambling to find tenants. I'd much prefer to live, and have my own shop, in Sims that have a stable and familiar set of faces :) This is more important to me than the fairly meager "profits" (pretty pathetic, actually) that the rental business can generate.