C++ and LSL

I've begun learning C++ programming. When I visited the LSL Wiki and read some example scripts, I realized how close LSL and C++ formatting are. This may not come as a surprise to most scripters in Second Life, but I'm fairly new to programming. My strong skill is working with images and graphics, not miles of code. Still, it's pretty cool to realize that what I learn from LSL can be easily applied to other, more widely used programming languages. What was your favorite early scripting discovery? As always, hit that comment button!

SecondLIFE Magazine Hit's Virtual News Stands

That's right kids! Second Life has a brand new news magazine. Appropriately name SecondLIFE Magazine, it covers many great stories and has a new issue monthly. If you haven't already, visit http://secondlifemag.visit.ws/ to read the online edition, or pick up a copy in-world at Goshua Lament Design, Ebisu.

Exploring the Package Contents

As you Mac users / app hackers may know, you can view the contents of a package (application). In Second Life:Contents:Resources:trial, I found a bunch of web page files with intersting contents. Here is the contents of purchase.htm:

"With a paid membership you can buy, sell or trade land and objects. Whether you want to become the wealthiest purveyor of highspeed jetpacks or are looking to buy the perfect custom tattoo for your avatar, the Second Life economy is booming. But you've got to be a resident to start building your fortune. Upgrade to a Second Life membership now and go shopping or put some wares out for sale."

Are you not allowed to buy, sell, rate, own land, teleport, script, and all of those other things in the trial?

Forum Redesign

The Second Life Web Forums were recently redesigned. It was a major update, removing the mature discussion forum, rant forum, and the "Real World" forum. The scripting forum, which contained over a year of collective scripting, was accidently deleted. According to Linden Lab it was an accident. Probably the biggest change was the elimination of the General Discussion forum.

I am a Macintosh user and only own Macs. When I first read about Second Life in a brief mention in Macworld magazine and heard that a Mac version was in the works, I was overjoyed. I visited the site, signed up for the Mac beta, and explored. What I really liked about the Second Life website was that even before I played, I could read New World Notes and browse the forums. I felt like I reconized and knew some of the players even though I had yet to log on for the first time. Reading the forums let me hear about such places as the Cordova sandbox and the Globe Theater, which was intersting enought to fufill my crave for SL until the beta came out.

The new forums are more confusing and will be less friendly to new and prospective players. I'm a little sad to see the old forums go, but I'll get over it.

oVend

When I first heard about the oVend vending machine system, I was awed. It was everything I needed in a vendor and more.

oVend is a web administered, auto updating, networked vending machine. It was created by SL resident Adam Zauis. You can set the items via the websites, put those items in catalogs, and deploy those catalogs to multiple vendors. It's really easy compared to other vendors to manage multiple machines.

You can check the vending machine out (and buy some of my creations) at Goshua Lament Design, Ebisu. oVend is currently in a 1 month beta period. Check it out if you use a vending machine or have some spare time.

Touring Balloons

Today I did a small tour with 2 people around the sims and dropped people at their vairous destinations. I tried to use the Linden balloon in the Ahern welcome area but it didn't work. The startup command of the balloon didn't enable the physics. Ballooning, as I am quickly discovering with my fine Hank Ramos Balloon, is a great way to meet new people. Do any of you like balloon tours? Post your thoughts in the comments.

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