I Always Say Never

I always say never. I stopped blogging. I stopped for almost 2 months. But here I am!

I've also said "I'm never using mesh avatars."  But I'm here to tell you I experimented with an alt. Then recently took the plunge and went full mesh with my main account - Zoe Connolly. Thousands of Lindens later it's a done deal and you know what? I love the new look. I'll keep the old look in "storage" but the new me is now - me.



Anyway, while I was NOT blogging I took steps to make my Second Life easier.

STEP 1) I deleted the accounts to most of my Alt Army. Now I'm down to an Alt Squad.

 My intention is to upgrade all my alts to mesh and it would be ridiculously expensive and wasteful to upgrade all of them, especially when they're rarely used. It's also a little security risk to have so many accounts that could possibly get hacked. So Zoe's army is now Zoe's squad.

STEP 2) I've reorganized my inventory and have deleted old folders with items that either aren't used, cannot be used due to scripting issues, or so old I can't remember why the hell I bought them in the first place. In some instances it's a combination of the above.

I'm streamlining everything I can. I've reduced the number of alts and also reduced the inventory of "Zoe Connolly" and her alts. 

At present I have no land tier to worry about so all my SL funds can now go to Mesh Av upgrades, accessories and clothing.

I was chatting with a couple of friends via Twitter and was excited about the idea of posting about my transformation from my "stuck in 2009" look and the new 2015 Mesh look. The mesh upgrades are super intimidating at first but if I can overcome it, so can anyone. The biggest part of the change for me was the sense of loss I felt. Changing looks so drastically was upsetting at first, which is why I resisted for so long and also why I wanted to start with an Alt account I used infrequently. 

I have a few post ideas planned including Inventory management, favorite mesh items, favorite new motion capture AOs and a series about the complete transformation of my Alt Zabrina McMahon from 2007 look to 2015 Mesh.

Below is a pic of Zabrina from a few days ago. Her most recent item is her hair from 2011 and skin from 2009. The rest of her...shape as well as clothing are from 2007. Her shape by the way is what I call "classic Zoe" shape. The one I've used since January 2007 and it's official name is "Sexy Alice" from a store I'm not even sure exists now.

 More mesh-goodness to come. SLater!

Thanks SL Go. You were fantastic!

Many thanks to OnLive and the kind folks at SL Go who were very generous with their time. You set a great standard in exceptional customer service.

I'm still reeling from the news about the near end of SL Go. The service lasts until April 30, 2015 and then it ends. 

When the last of my high-graphic SLGo photos are posted here, my blog will end activity. It will remain dormant until I can afford an upgrade. 

In the meantime, I'll be here and there in SL and on Twitter.

More Activity in SL, and another Blog Milestone

 
As previously posted here, a better experience in SL means more activity and more blog posts. Yay!

As of this writing, I stand at 75 blog posts, surpassing my 2010 total of 68 posts by a comfortable margin.

The next milestone will be 108 blog posts for 2015. This would beat the total number for 2010 through 2014 combined.

Thanks SLGo!

Here's my blogging milestone

Listed are the Year,  and number of blog posts...

2007, 265 posts (started SL January 21, 2007 - later I discover the joys of steampunk and aviation in SL)

2008, 562 posts (definitely my most active year in SL as well as blogging)

2009, 155 posts (decline in my SL experience as aviation gets more difficult)

2010, 68 posts (further decline as RL family and work take center stage)

2011, 20 posts (the perfect storm of RL family, work, and a crappy SL experience)

2012, 13 posts

2013, 1 post

2014, 5 posts (by November all my land is sold off and I very seriously consider a complete exit from SL. In mid-December, all that changed with the announcement of Firestorm on SLGo)

2015, 41 posts - all in January.

It's clear -- not only am I back inworld regularly and consistently, but I've returned to blogging at a reasonable pace. I missed both, and I have SLGo to thank for my happy and productive return.

My Blogroll

I've been very busy rebuilding the sidebar blogroll of current Second Life blogs. If you'd like yours added, please add your URL to the comments of this post. Thank you!

Blogs must be active with posts within the last 60 days. Give or take ;)

My Blog

I've updated the subheading:

The Insatiable Zoe Connolly. Intrepid Pilot, bold Time-Traveler, and fearless Crime-Fighter in the Virtual World of Second Life® - A woman bridging the gap between gritty adventure roleplay and fashionable styles for 2015.

And I've cleaned up the blogroll. I've added some active titles and deleted any blog that wasn't updated in the last 12 months.

Merry Christmas

and Happy 2015

I'm not exactly sure when, but I'll return to blogging here sometime in 2015 this week. In the meantime I'll also contribute to my brother's blog "Using a Virtual World" so watch for that too.

I've been inspired and fired up about Second Life again since Phin, a few friends, and I have tried SLgo from OnLive. Take advantage of their 7 day trial like we did. It's pretty amazing.

NING network groups

Sadly, this is the day when NING stops supporting free groups and deletes any network group that did not choose one of their new "fabulous" tier plans.

I really REALLY loved NING and I'm sad to see it go down this road.

I'm not sure of the exact hour when such NINGs will be shut-down, but I wanted to express my sincere appreciation for the time we all had on these groups... Not only to the kind folks at NING, but to all my wonderful friends and colleagues... to all of us who shared our little corner of Internet space.

GOP in Second Life
Royal Caledon Air Force
Second Life Bloggers
TimeForce 10
Virtual Girls With Guns

My only solace in all this is... I get to reduce my social media footprint and free more time. I'll still be here on this blog, plus the ever present and growing Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and of course... my lovely YouTube. Yay, YouTube!

I think that's about enough social media for me. So goodbye NING! Like many lost people and things in Second Life, it was so good while it lasted.

UPDATE!
I've received word that midnight this Friday evening August 20th/Saturday morning August 21st (PST/SL time) is to be the final moment for all free NING groups.



~ Zoe Connolly

More Downsizing... More Time and Friends

In addition to stepping-down as active RCAF Air Marshal, I will now retire from the Second Life Bloggers inworld group. From what I understand, the NING Second Life Bloggers group will be deleted sometime in August 2010.

Choosing Tymmerie Thorne as my successor was one of the best decisions I made. My worst being the migration of memberships from NING to Grouply. The resulting hate and vitriol that came out of that mess was the final straw for me.

Let me be very clear, I am NOT leaving Second Life. I'm just retiring from a few organizations that have become more of a burden than fun, and when I first signed-up for SL it was all about fun for me.

I can tell you that "herding cats" is no fun at all. It's draining and exhausting to manage your RL AND manage so many virtual groups in SL. What on Earth was I thinking? I learned I'm no Supergirl, that's for DAMN sure!

At the height of my inworld activities I made as many friends as I lost. I mention losing friends because many are gone from SL now. Many were close to me, at least I thought so at the time. I was too busy to notice they were slipping away from me, and too busy to notice when they left SL. When I did notice it was months later. I thought I'd never have regrets in SL but that is my great regret... Not having the time to be a good friend.

So I intend to go back to my roots...

A "Girl with Guns" exploring SL, logging many adventures and posting to her little inconsequential blog.

See you on the Grid my friends.

Response from Mark Robins, Co-founder/CEO, Grouply

To All Second Life Bloggers:

The following is an email response from Mark Robins to my email sent Sunday May 9th and featured in Update 2 of my post "The Grouply Mess"

Mark Robins is the Co-founder/CEO of Grouply
Dear Zoe,

Let me start by offering my sincerest apologies for the negative experience you and your secondlifebloggers members had with Grouply.  I, myself, run several online communities and understand the time and effort required to build trust and engage your members in order to make a community successful.  If what happened to you were to happen to me with any of my communities, I, too, would be angry and upset. We are taking this incident very seriously.  I would like to offer a quick note of explanation as to what happened and to let you know what we are doing about it.

Our intention with the Grouply-to-Ning migration tool was to provide disenfranchised Ning Networks a quick and easy path to a new free home on Grouply.  In fact, Grouply has become the new home for many groups that originated on other systems, particularly Yahoo Groups and Google Groups.  As you may be aware, Yahoo and Google Groups are very email-centric, and most users receive all system updates and message postings as individual emails.  In fact, this is the default setting on Yahoo and Google Groups, and due to our history with these systems, it became the default setting for new groups on Grouply.

Of course, in retrospect, this default setting does not make sense for groups migrating from Ning, as Ning users are not accustomed to interacting with their networks via email.  As you know, when the first few people posted to the new secondlifebloggers group on Grouply, some members became upset with the emails, didn’t see the “unsubscribe” link in footer, and replied back to the “discussion” requesting to be unsubscribed, causing still more emails to go out.

Setting all users to receive all postings as individual emails by default was clearly a big mistake on our part.  We have now fixed the migration tool; members of migrated Ning networks will no longer receive individual emails by default.  We have also made it a lot easier to unsubscribe to such emails if you do decide to “opt in” and receive them.  The very first line of each email now reads “Click here to stop receiving these emails”.  Click the link and you are instantly unsubscribed.

I know these changes are of small consolation to you and your group members who already suffered through the “old” model.  However, I wanted you to be aware that we are treating this issue with the highest priority, that we learned from our mistakes, and that we have taken and will continue to take corrective actions.

There is one other item I wanted to address, Zoe.  In your email you mentioned that you couldn’t find a way to delete your groups from Grouply.  Actually, Grouply does provide a button to delete your group.  It’s on the Management Menu page on the far right of the “Your Group” section.  Click here for a screenshot.  Clearly we need to make this more obvious, though.  We are working on this now.

Zoe, I know the chances are slim, but if you are ever interested in giving Grouply another try, I would do everything I could to ensure your success.  I would personally help you get your groups up and running.  I would also offer you the full set of Grouply Pro premium features at no charge for the lifetime of your groups: http://blog.grouply.com/premium-tour/ .  If you check around, I believe you will find that Grouply’s feature set is unmatched by any other offerings.  Here’s our Feature Directory: http://blog.grouply.com/features/ .

Again, Zoe, I am terribly sorry for this incident.  If there’s anything I can do that will help to set things right, please let me know.  My cell is (cell number removed), and you can call anytime.

I wish you and your groups continued success.

Regards,

Mark

==========

Mark Robins
Co-founder/CEO, Grouply
(Contact information removed)

The Grouply Mess

To all Second Life Bloggers.

I was horrified when I turned on my blackberry and read all the emails this morning. My deepest and sincerest apologies on the whole Grouply matter. I had no idea it would turn into a spam machine. My blackberry was loaded with spam as well as messages pleading for help and not a few angry ones, but rather cargo plane loads!

Obviously Grouply is NOT the solution.

For a temporary fix I've disabled ALL messages on all my Grouply groups until such time as I can delete all of them. Any help with how to delete a Grouply Group would be appreciated.

Again I'm so very sorry for the disruptions. I had no idea that Grouply would do this. It WAS very unprofessional of me. I did NOT do my usual Due Diligence on such things.



~ Zoe Connolly


UPDATE:
Our best solution is just to use the inworld group version of Second Life Bloggers. I won't make any attempts to save the NING or migrate to another online site.

I've reset the inworld group to "Open enrollment"

UPDATE 2: 
My email to support@grouply.com

I'm writing you because there is no obvious or simple way for me to delete my Grouply groups similar to the way NING is able to immediately delete.

I had migrated content from my NING groups to Grouply and was horrified when I noticed email after email of very angry bloggers. Frankly I'm angry as well. I had no idea Grouply was "Opt-Out" and would start spamming members who had not even officially crossed-over to Grouply.

Please immediately delete the following groups

http://rcaf.grouply.com
http://secondlifebloggers.grouply.com
http://timeforce10.grouply.com

Your policy has irritated nearly 1500 bloggers, micro-bloggers and podcasters and I suggest you may want to take greater consideration toward privacy issues and website usability. Make your site easy to opt-in AND opt-out, including adding an easy way for group owners to delete entire groups.

As a final note, here's something I wrote on my blog to my own members of the Second Life Bloggers group. And there are MANY unflattering blog posts about Grouply out there now. It is unwise to poke a stick at such an animal ;)

http://zoeconnolly.blogspot.com/2010/05/grouply-mess.html

Seeking a swift solution,

~ Zoe Connolly

UPDATE 3:
A Call To Action!


Support me in my request to delete http://secondlifebloggers.grouply.com

send an email to support@grouply.com mention this post and express yourself.

UPDATE 4:

I'm working on an inelegant but effective solution...

I'll delete all members from each group, make sure that the groups are closed and invitation only, then leave all 3 groups once I verify that all other members are gone and settings are setup to disallow anyone joining.

Whew!

UPDATE 5:
All member profiles have been deleted and the Grouply versions of SL Bloggers, RCAF, and TimeForce 10 have been set as invitation only. No invitations will be sent and no memberships will be accepted.

UPDATE 6 (10 May 2010):
Now satisfied that all member profiles have been deleted and the Grouply versions of SL Bloggers, RCAF, and TimeForce 10 have been set as invitation only - with no invitations sent and no memberships accepted - I deleted my own account today. Grouply... You're dead to me!

Response from Grouply...

Per your request, we have deleted your Grouply account, including all
personal information.

We constantly strive to improve our product. May we ask why you decided
to delete your Grouply account?

Please reply to this email if you have issues or questions.

Thanks for trying Grouply.

The Grouply Team

Skyboarding back...

I'm happy to report I'm not leaving SL or SL Social Media.

Mind you... I'm not going crazy with it either.

But I feel great after meeting some like-minded aviation friends at the aerodrome today, and by-golly it just might all work out for the best!

I'll see you around the Grid and the SL Social Media Bubble.

Event coordinator/activities director needed for SL Bloggers InWorld Group - Second Life Bloggers

Event coordinator/activities director needed for SL Bloggers InWorld Group - Second Life Bloggers

I'd love to find an event coordinator/activities director for my InWorld SL Bloggers Group. This dedicated Candidate would likely take over the whole group from me within a few months.

I'll continue to run the NING Group while someone else handles everything in my old inWorld Group.

Is anyone out there interested? Send me your application.

Event coordinator/activities director needed for SL Bloggers InWorld Group - Second Life Bloggers

The Heliograph: Deviant Art: Skyships II

From Rafael Fabre...

The Heliograph: Deviant Art: Skyships II



"Flyby" by Avatar Z Brown, coloured by Amarynceus

"....One of the favorite entires, statistically speaking, tend to be those with large amounts of graphics, and especially those with airships and Steampunk technology. Be it for inspiration or admiration, returning to the purest form the genre (and turning away from other unsavory political issues in the SL Steampunk world), I am displaying some of the more recent entries in Deviant art, a hotbed for new and emerging artists.

"On Patrol", by Zenzen

I have listed the title of their work and their "nom de plume" below each picture, so if you desire to see more of any individual's work, simply turn to Deviant art, and search on the artist in question, at: http://www.deviantart.com/...."

For more click The Heliograph: Deviant Art: Skyships II

Through the Filter of a Victorian Aesthetic: New Babbage Airship Regatta

From Edward Pearse....

Through the Filter of a Victorian Aesthetic: New Babbage Airship Regatta




The first heat: Light craft


For more click Through the Filter of a Victorian Aesthetic: New Babbage Airship Regatta

Zoe Connolly's Christmas Party

An invitation to all my friends in Second Life, including members of Extropia Defense Force, Girls with Guns, Royal Caledon Air Force, and the Second Life Bloggers.

I'm throwing a Big Band/Swing Party featuring both Christmas and non-holiday tunes from the 30s and 40s as well as "new school" swing from a more recent era ;)

7:00 PM (19:00) SL time Saturday December 13th
Connolly Aerodrome in Caledon Penzance

Radio Riel DJ (Sir Lordy Sir) Duke Edward Pearse (RCAF Vice Air Marshal and splendid SL Blogger within the Victorian Steampunk Community) will be spinning the tunes Saturday evening.

How to Texture Like a Pro (Parts 1, 2, and 3)

Karl Reisman of Tumansky Heavy Industries, has written a series of posts about the fine art of texturing in Second Life. Using aircraft in his examples, Karl takes us through each step of the texturing process Here's the compilation so far....

Tumansky Heavy Industries Blog: How to Texture in SL Like a Pro: Part 1

Tumansky Heavy Industries Blog: How to Texture Like a Pro Part II

Tumansky Heavy Industries Blog: How to Texture Like a Pro Part III

SL Bloggers Christmas Party 2008

(Zoe and Phin on Christmas Day 2007)

Like last year, I'll be holding our Christmas Party in Caledon.

This year it will take place Saturday December 14th.

I'll have more details about the start time and exact location as it becomes available.

Also invited are EDF, RCAF, and members of Girls with Guns.

IL-2 Machinima - Nordic Revenge

a new IL-2 film from jafaem

The Heliograph: Airship Races in Antiquity this weekend!

Passing this news along (curtsy to Rafael Fabre)

The Heliograph: Airship Races in Antiquity this weekend!



('My Airship', by Shawn Kun, Deviant Art)

Received this message during my efforts to construct an edifice..

Welcome to the second Antiquity airship race! This year, there are two classes, physical engines and non-physical engines.

Again, these crafts must be steampowered, whether that be or prop or steam jet (as long as it is steam). The first race starts at 12:30 SLT in Antiquity, on Saturday, the 22nd of November.

1st prize in both races is L$5000.

The 'Physical Engine' class will run first, followed by the 'Non-Physical Engine'.

The course will be available prior to the race start.

Good luck to all!

For more information, please contact Sion Tendaze in-world.

The Heliograph: Airship Races in Antiquity this weekend!