Caledon Oxbridge General Q&A for 2020-05-24

15:01	Carl Metropolitan	Come sit down everyone, so you are all in chat range.
15:01	Carl Metropolitan	It is 3 PM, SL Time, and it is time to start.
15:01	Carl Metropolitan	Welcome to this Sunday's Oxbridge General Q&A. Andrea and I are here to answer any of your questions about Second Life, Caledon, Oxbridge, Steampunk, Linden Lab, Virtual Worlds, and anything vaguely related to any of the above. I'm also good at trivia questions.
15:01	Carl Metropolitan	If we don't know the answer, we can Google it. In other words, we know where to look, or at least can probably put you in touch with someone who does know the answer.
15:02	Carl Metropolitan	Normally Andrea would do some announcements of social or fundraising events involving Oxbridge now, but she's on vacation I think. Does anyone else know of any such?
15:02	Phrynne	I have a note from Wordsmith about Oxbridge funding.
15:03	Carl Metropolitan	Oh. Please read. That's very important.
15:03	Phrynne	Current balance: 307,824 $L Nominal Base 225,000 $L Tier for 53 days 43,536 $L Nominal goal 268,536 $L Surplus 39,288 $L Congratulations. We only need to bring in another 5497 $L to be able to pay estimated stipends for the rest of the quarter plus the next tier on 1 July.
15:03	Phrynne	In other words, the fundraising is doing very well—please keep it up!
15:03	Phrynne	And that's all.
15:03	Larky (larkylouz)	Good to hear.
15:03	Carl Metropolitan	That's good news.
15:04	Soup Jonson	Every Saturday at 2PM SLT there is What are You Reading? And Thursday at 11AM SLT the is Writers Meeting.
15:04	Carl Metropolitan	Thank you Soup
15:04	Oxbridge Donation Coin R1 (Alternate Lecture Hall)	Kara2016 gave a generous donation to help support classes and tutorials at Caledon Oxbridge Gateway.
15:04	Carl Metropolitan	And thank you for the fundraising update, Phrynne.
15:04	Carl Metropolitan	And thank you Kara for the donation!
15:06	Carl Metropolitan	The only SL related news I have is that the most recent server update seems to have created some issues with profile pictures in some situations. Or so I am told, at least. Nothing terribly new there. It is not like it took all our shoes and attached them to our butts randomly in teleports!
15:06	Carl Metropolitan	If you are an ancient oldbie like me, you may remember that infamous SL bug that lasted for ages.
15:07	Frigid Cryotank	It's not doing that... but it's preventing me from reliably retrieving profile images via script.
15:07		Zaida Gearbox (zaida.gearbox) sits between two of her favorite Stormholders.
15:07		Lightweaver Balan tries to pick one out the many.
15:07	Frigid Cryotank	*not only doing that...
15:07	Phrynne	Which infamous bug? There have been a few.
15:07	Lightweaver Balan	Indeed.
15:07	Zaida Gearbox (zaida.gearbox)	I was just wondering the same....
15:07	Ember (emberell)	I was under the impression that SL was more bugs than features.
15:07	Carl Metropolitan	The shoe up butt in teleport bug I had mentioned in the previous sentence.
15:07		Larky (larkylouz) grins.
15:08	Soup Jonson	Oh my.
15:08	Carl Metropolitan	That was a real bug. I was not joking.
15:08	Cychwynn	Ha.
15:08	Lightweaver Balan	really?
15:08	Daklie	Poor people with big shoes RIP
15:08	Carl Metropolitan	Yes. It was.
15:08	Lightweaver Balan	Must have missed that then.
15:08	Ember (emberell)	SL just needed to kick some butts.
15:08	Zaida Gearbox (zaida.gearbox)	i've been in SL since 2007 and i don't remember it.... hmmmm
15:08	Lightweaver Balan	If the shoe fits...
15:09	Daklie	Fits where o.0
15:09	Carl Metropolitan	It happened early in my SL time. Maybe in 2006?
15:09	Lightweaver Balan	Ah before my time.
15:09		Soup Jonson fears 'The Shoe in The Butt Bug'
15:09	Kara2016	Ouch.
15:10	Elfbiter Skysmith (elfbiter)	Different from Shoe in the Mouth bug?
15:10	Carl Metropolitan	Let's move right into questions. Since we have a lot of people, I'm guessing we have quite a few. And just remember, there really are no dumb questions. I've been here since 2005 and I am still learning stuff I did not know.
15:11		Carl Metropolitan turns on the crickets sounds.
15:11	Ember (emberell)	As far as last names go, I think it's possible to get them again now for premium users, isn't that correct?
15:11	Carl Metropolitan	Yes, Ember.
15:12	Ember (emberell)	I haven't tried so my self, have there been any issues with it?
15:12	Carl Metropolitan	But if you want a different last name, or a new one, you have to choose them from the list like in the old days.
15:12		Ember (emberell) nods.
15:12	Carl Metropolitan	It is about 50USD (which include a month of Premium membership)
15:12	Itxchel20	I am new to SL and started attending courses at Caledon Oxbridge today so I have a lot to learn. I am interested in SL as a teaching and learning tool and wondered if anyone has information about Educational Groups, learning activities ideas for 16-18 year old learners doing vocational and academic courses... looong question :)
15:12	Carl Metropolitan	You can change your First Name too using the system.
15:12		Ember (emberell) nods. "Thanks Carl."
15:13	Carl Metropolitan	Itxchel. Let me think about that. I wish you had been here in March as there is an annual conference in world, devoted to just that sort of thing. Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education.
15:13	Larky (larkylouz)	Itxchel20, I have some information on groups of educators. I'll send it your way.
15:14	Frigid Cryotank	There's the ISTE crowd... and something that start with "V"...
15:14	Carl Metropolitan	Thank you Larky
15:14	Carl Metropolitan	Thank you Frigid
15:14	Carl Metropolitan	https://www.vwbpe.org/
15:14	Carl Metropolitan	There is likely some non-conference related info at that URL above.
15:14	Itxchel20	Thank you :) Please bear with me with the private chat answers, I am still getting to grips with the chats :)
15:15	Itxchel20	Really appreciate the info and help. Looking to introduce SL at the college where I work and putting together a proposal at the moment.
15:15	Carl Metropolitan	Check out www.iste.org for more information on ISTE, too.
15:16	Carl Metropolitan	People may be taking a new look at SL as an education resource due to the Coronavirus shutdowns and the continuing move to online education that was happening even before that.
15:16	Soup Jonson	I will also pass along invitations to you for the Library group and Literary Events.
15:17	Carl Metropolitan	Also, Itxchel, even though Oxbridge is not related to any RL education institutions, we are always happy to offer our help to providing orientation and help to students or teachers coming in to SL.
15:17	Zaida Gearbox (zaida.gearbox)	Soup runs the best book discussion group in SL
15:18	Carl Metropolitan	If you need an organized tour of the tutorial for a class, just talk to Wordsmith or Phrynne to arrange it.
15:19	Phrynne	Just limit the visitors to fewer than 20 at a time, because Oxbridge has a limit on people.
15:19	Itxchel20	Thank you :) Yes, will definitely be contacting to arrange a tour, soon I hope all going well :)
15:19	Elfbiter Skysmith (elfbiter)	Note that avatar limit of Oxbridge is 20.
15:19	Carl Metropolitan	Did we give you a good start on that question
15:19	Itxchel20	I am here! just answering in the chats.
15:19	Carl Metropolitan	That's right Elfbiter
15:19	Carl Metropolitan	Okay.
15:19	Itxchel20	Yes, fantastic start and really helpful. Thank you to everyone who sent me information. I appreciate it.
15:20	Itxchel20	Good to note the avatar limit, will take that into account.
15:20	Carl Metropolitan	If you arrange ahead you can split up orientation groups into a manageable chunks for us.
15:20	Itxchel20	Sounds great! I am in the process of getting this proposal through and once all is approved, I will do that.
15:20	Carl Metropolitan	We can also provide the locations of other free orientation areas that have a higher limit, if you need.
15:21	Phrynne	You see, when the region gets 20 people, it shuts down the borders and the teleports, and nobody can come in until someone leaves.
15:21	Itxchel20	Yes please!
15:21	Itxchel20	Love this site and I have started the courses but definitely want to see as many examples of educational institutions as possible
15:21	Carl Metropolitan	ISTE and VWBPE should help find those.
15:23	Carl Metropolitan	I also dropped a notecard with other places that provide help and classes for new people in SL.
15:23	Ember (emberell)	Carl, could you send me a copy of that too?
15:23	Carl Metropolitan	Okay. I think we have buried Itxchel in help
15:24	Carl Metropolitan	It is just the notecard from the poster at the start and end of the tutorial, Ember.
15:24	Ember (emberell)	Thank you.
15:25	Carl Metropolitan	Phyrnne did you give her a copy of the non-English SL tutorial list? If not Can you?
15:25	Carl Metropolitan	And with that, let's move on to the next question.
15:25	Kara2016	raises Hand
15:25	Carl Metropolitan	Kara.
15:26	Itxchel20	Hi, still here :) Yes lots of great help, will need to catch up with all the messages later so I don't miss anything :D
15:26	Kara2016	Just wanted too know if anyone has had a problem posting pictures to Flickr?
15:26	Carl Metropolitan	I don't use Flickr. can anyone else help her?
15:27	Kara2016	For the last two weeks I have not been able too post pics, and I get a message saying there is a problem connecting.
15:27	Lightweaver Balan	didn't they change Flickr and really mess it up?
15:27	Lightweaver Balan	A friend of mine ranted about it
15:27	Kara2016	i have no idea.
15:27		Lightweaver Balan nods
15:28	Elfbiter Skysmith (elfbiter)	Trying to post through SL?
15:28	Lightweaver Balan	Much like what happened with MySpace I believe.
15:28	Kara2016	I am trying too find a signin space on the web page even though I can access my account’s photos
15:28	Carl Metropolitan	This is what Flickr has to say in their help section:
15:28	Carl Metropolitan	https://help.flickr.com/fix-upload-issues-with-flickr-BJgMh3Xok7
15:29	Kara2016	Thank you, Carl
15:29	Carl Metropolitan	Also, If there is something in the SL client or Firestorm client that links SL to Flickr via some API, try going directly to the Flickr website.
15:29	Carl Metropolitan	Companies change and discontinue APIs all the time.
15:30	Carl Metropolitan	API = Application Programming Interface.
15:30	Larky (larkylouz)	For what it is worth, I just uploaded a photo with no issues.
15:30	Carl Metropolitan	Wikipedia: "An application programming interface (API) is a computing interface which defines interactions between multiple software intermediaries. It defines the kinds of calls or requests that can be made, how to make them, the data formats that should be used, the conventions to follow, etc. It can also provide extension mechanisms so that users can extend existing functionality in various ways and to varying degrees. An API can be entirely custom, specific to a component, or it can be designed based on an industry standard to ensure interoperability. Some APIs have to be documented, others are designed so that they can be "interrogated" to determine supported functionality. Since other components/systems rely only on the API, the system that provides the API can (ideally) change its internal details "behind" that API without affecting its users."
15:31	Carl Metropolitan	Just another bit of TMI from Q&A :)
15:31	Carl Metropolitan	Next question?
15:31	Larky (larkylouz)	I didn't try to do it via SL. I wasn't aware that was an option. While there is a large contingent of SL photographers on Flickr, I know of no formal connection between Flickr and Linden Labs.
15:32	Carl Metropolitan	I was not aware of one either, but I know there is a Flickr button as an option on Firestorm.
15:32	Elfbiter Skysmith (elfbiter)	That has never worked for me.
15:32	Carl Metropolitan	I have not played with it.
15:32	Elfbiter Skysmith (elfbiter)	As in through viewer.
15:34	Carl Metropolitan	Let's move on to the next question. I think we have covered the Flickr issue to the best of our ability.
15:35	Carl Metropolitan	I see Daklie is typing away...
15:35	Larky (larkylouz)	The button you mention seems merely to open Flickr in your browser.
15:35	Carl Metropolitan	Thank you Larky.
15:35	Daklie	maybe =)
15:35	Daklie	When loading a high demanding area whats a good way reduce lag ?
15:36	Carl Metropolitan	Reduce the number of avatars fully rendered.
15:36	Carl Metropolitan	And lower the draw distance.
15:36	Carl Metropolitan	Both greatly reduce the amount of data that has to be sent to your computer and run though your graphics card.
15:37	Carl Metropolitan	You can do both from the Preference window
15:37	Daklie	How does one lower rendered members?
15:37	Carl Metropolitan	On the Graphics tab.
15:37	Carl Metropolitan	Are you using Firestorm or the Second Life browser?
15:37	Daklie	Am using SL.
15:38	Carl Metropolitan	In the SL browser, go the "Me" menu (I think) at the upper left hand corner of your screen
15:38	Carl Metropolitan	Then look for the Preferences selection and click that in the menu to open the Preference window.
15:39	Daklie	I’ve found it thanks
15:40	Carl Metropolitan	You can limit the "complexity" of avatars displayed on that page and also limit the number of avatars fully displayed.
15:40	Ingo (tkb158)	I keep my draw distance at 128 m. I'm near sighted in RL, so might as well be so in sl.
15:40	Carl Metropolitan	I would suggest an upper limit of 100,000 to 125,000 for Avatar Complexity.
15:41	Carl Metropolitan	You can always right click on an avatar and tell SL to render that avatar fully.
15:41	Carl Metropolitan	128 draw distance is a good one.
15:42	Carl Metropolitan	Usually you will only need a higher one for photography or just if you happen to have a very high end computer and fiber connection to the Internet and like to have long views :)
15:42	Daklie	Yeah by default its maxed out my graphics, but so laggy high traffic areas.
15:42	Elfbiter Skysmith (elfbiter)	I monitor regions, so...
15:43	Carl Metropolitan	Turning down maximum number of avatars fully rendered really helps that.
15:43	Carl Metropolitan	So does putting in a lower upper limit on Avatar Complexity rendered.
15:43		Ingo (tkb158) nods.
15:44	Carl Metropolitan	Okay. Next question?
15:44	Daklie	I know for next time. In an attempt to fix it I tried remembering keyboard shortcuts for last class and I couldn't remember them correctly so now I have two giant holes in my avatar chest.
15:45	Carl Metropolitan	That is unrelated Daklie.
15:45	Daklie	So you don't know how to fix that?
15:45	Daklie	I think it was CTRL SHIFT and 1
15:46	Carl Metropolitan	Those are from applying an alpha layer to the SL system body or using a HUD to hide stuff on a Mesh body.
15:46	Carl Metropolitan	What body do you have?
15:47	Daklie	Everything was working fine till i tried to fix the lag, its Maitreya.
15:47	Lightweaver Balan	Holes are usually alpha related.
15:47	Carl Metropolitan	Okay. Go to your HUD for that body and look for a tab that has something like "Show/Hide" or "Alpha Cuts". You are looking for something that has a silhouette of the body with sections you can turn on and off by clicks.
15:48	Daklie	I’ve just checked my HUD and its fine, can you see my avatar chest?
15:48	Carl Metropolitan	Those are there because some mesh clothing for mesh bodies is not perfectly fitted and you need to be able to hide some of the body so it does not poke through.
15:48	Carl Metropolitan	No. I can't.
15:48	Carl Metropolitan	Is there anyone here with a Maitreya body who can help Daklie in IM?
15:49	Carl Metropolitan	If so, please IM her.
15:49		Elfbiter Skysmith (elfbiter) have yet to find suitable mesh clothing for this body shape.
15:49	Carl Metropolitan	I also know there is an active Maitreya body help group. Let me look it up.
15:50	Carl Metropolitan	Okay. Search for "Maitreya Lara Friends" in Groups.
15:50	Ingo (tkb158)	I'm with ya, Elfbiter. I can't find any men's clothing to fit this avatar, either.
15:50	Carl Metropolitan	That is the group I was thinking about.
15:51	Carl Metropolitan	The group descriptions reads, "This group's primary purpose is to help one another with matters related to the Maitreya mesh body. We are a creator friendly group. Discussion of any form of content theft or texture ripping will not be tolerated. THERE IS A ZERO-TOLERANCE POLICY ON THIS THIS GROUP IS NOT FOR THE PURPOSE OF PROMOTING PRODUCTS OR BUSINESSES ! Discussions of Politics and Religion have, on too many occasions, caused problems. We ask members to avoid these subjects altogether."
15:51	Carl Metropolitan	It is free to join.
15:51	Carl Metropolitan	Any other questions?
15:52	Carl Metropolitan	I may need to get a mesh body just to be able to answer stuff like that directly.
15:52	Carl Metropolitan	Though a male one :)
15:52	Lightweaver Balan	Oh Carl...be a girl [wink].
15:52	Soup Jonson	Carl is doing great handling these meetings!
15:52	Lightweaver Balan	Its way more fun..
15:53	Carl Metropolitan	As far as the issue of people who have mesh bodies and have issues finding clothing, all I can say is to keep an eye out on what bodies different clothing makers support.
15:53	Carl Metropolitan	There is a network effect at play here.
15:53	Carl Metropolitan	On the other hand there are some nice free mesh bodies available too.
15:53	Carl Metropolitan	Some even have people making clothes for them.
15:54	Carl Metropolitan	Thank you Soup.
15:54	Kara2016	When I buy clothing, I look at the label. It tells me what the clothing will fit.
15:54	Carl Metropolitan	We have people working on a class on avatars including mesh bodies, but it is not ready now.
15:54	Carl Metropolitan	I know Wordsmith has mentioned it.
15:54	Carl Metropolitan	Okay. Any final questions?
15:55	Carl Metropolitan	Alright.
15:56	Carl Metropolitan	Thank you all for coming to General Q&A tonight.
15:56	Carl Metropolitan	We will be back here next week (hopefully with Andrea, too) at the same time and location.
15:56	Lightweaver Balan	Thank you.
15:56	Carl Metropolitan	See you all soon!
15:56	Cychwynn	:) Thank you all.
15:56	Phrynne	Thank you, Carl.
15:56	ierosie	Thanks!
15:56	Larky (larkylouz)	Thank you Carl
15:56	Suki (sukiosudako)	thanks Carl!!
15:56	Zaida Gearbox (zaida.gearbox)	thank you
15:56	Kara2016	have a pleasant evening all.
15:57	Carl Metropolitan	And remember, you can always get help in the Caledon Oxbridge University Group (COUG).
15:57	Carl Metropolitan	Just ask!
15:57	Ingo (tkb158)	Great job, Carl! Thanks!
15:57	Carl Metropolitan	Goodnight!