Sunday, June 26, 2011

Wear, Add, Replace

There are a surprising number of new residents who go into Appearance mode in order to change clothing. Each time I see someone do this, I just want to shout out how much more easily they could do it from their inventory. If someone has a comment about why they are using the Appearance editor, I'd love to hear it. The best I've been able to come up with on my own is that the Linden "outfits" are stored under that tab and if those outfits are all that you've got when you start, it seems logical to change there. Any suggestions?
I'm posting my video about wear vs. add in the hope that it helps.

Wear, replaces what you are currently wearing on that layer or attachment point (in the Kirsten's viewer, she's actually used the word "replace" in the menu, in place of "wear").
Add, adds it over top or to the same attachment point.

The video below explains
Please click on the video and watch it in HD and full screen for the best experience

Hope that helped...especially the shoe form (clothing layer) part.  Don't go out without it.

I've also included Torley's video on the sidebar appearance menu.

If you were confused about this, I hope this helped.

Saturday, June 25, 2011

samantha's Journey - Discover Your Inner Submissive

Not Just Any Neko
I blog a little about the Brothel and what we do there. It is after all what I do, who I am, I suppose. If you've followed many of my posts, you will have seen some videos about the process our girls go through to become a Toy.

I have to admit that I'm put to shame by the lovely writing style of one of our recent submissives. She tells a compelling story of her journey, the ups and downs of the life she is exploring and hopes to become a part of.
Just between you and me, I think she'll do very well.

Please read her account here.
I hope you will continue to follow her journey, I know I will.

Friday, June 24, 2011

Toy Training - Secondlife - Toy Slaves Brothel Wiki

I've been off and on, over the last couple of weeks, working on the wiki.

Toy Training - Secondlife - Toy Slaves Brothel Wiki

Here's my first Training Page post. The site is very much a work in progress, isn't that the definition of wiki? Now here's the post...

We hope that this page and the pages after it will make your experience with us more interactive. We get between 4 and 10 new girls accessing training everyday, weekends are particularly busy, Going through the process seems a little daunting at first, but hopefully being able to access the training materials while outside of Toys will make it easier for you.

In this section of Our Wiki, yes...isn't it great...Our Wiki, you'll find the same information available in world. You will still need to be in world to actually use the mock up of the club found in Portal 1. Also necessary to complete are the physical challenges in Portal 2 and learning to use the equipment available in Portal 4. We've included the information from the notecards for all the training portals in the wiki. Our hope is that this will give you time to review these at a more leisurely pace. I joined Toys nearly 3 years ago and while the process was different back then, there was still the excitement of joining this new adventure and every delay, every notecard seemed only to keep me from meeting that goal. No wonder then, that girls rush through them missing important information.

So here it is, all in one place. You will need the link you received in the training portal to access, the pages beyond this one. To start, here's the So you Want to be a Toy Slave video.

Use the back button on your browser to return to this page after the video.

We would love to have your Comment[[1]] about the experience; some suggestions for what you might include are:
1.      Liked, this
2.      Disliked, this
3.      Had trouble with, what
4.      Didn't understand, what
5.      Could be better, how
6.      General comments
These are only suggestions of things you might say, we welcome any comment...positive or negative

See you in the club, Welcome to Toys!

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Jennnna Jameson / Second Life Porn Star/Producer/Director

When I first joined Second Life, there were two default avatars, the boy next door and the girl next door. If ever you hear someone in world say they been "Ruthed" they are referring to this default avatar. Before you ask, I have no idea how the name came about. Being Ruthed means you have been taken back to the default avatar, it is also a way to correct errors when you load. Thank goodness most people never experience it, but, I have helped girls to recover from it on occasion. 
While it was traumatic for them, no real life therapy was required in any of the cases.

Linden Labs has gone a long way since those early days to improve the avatar choice and now there are many many choices. But still, one of the first things people want to do is modify their look and that is my jumping off point for this post.

Jennnnna Jameson, now known in SL as Emanuelle Jameson (we won't get into it right now) is a respected voice in the porn community in Second Life. You'll find her blog filled with commentary and links to some of the best available erotic machinima. Don't let the blonde hair fool you Jennnnna is one sharp lady.

Madame Aprille has allowed Emanuelle (me going PC, sorry) to film on some of Toy Slaves play areas. The results have been incredible. One, that we are most proud of at the Brothel, can be found below.

If you are a new resident to Second Life or just contemplating joining our little world  and want to see what can be done with your avatar, check out Jennnna's blog.


and, here is one of her films, La Cagna Ricca...  Don't worry it's in English


Second Life avatars come in all forms, shapes and sizes, but, I have to admit the number of beautiful people found in Second Life outstrips Hollywood, Monaco, Brazil and Australia combined. But then, those places don't have Furries, Aliens, Vampires and Anime, do they? 

Come visit us in Second Life, it's free to join and so much fun!

Kittin Ninetails: RLV 2.7.2 for Mac and Linux

Restrained Love Viewer

I hope that somewhere in one of my posts, I've turned you on to using Restrained Love or RLV for short.

Marine Kelley's collaborator for the Mac and Linux versions is Kittin Ninetails. The link is to her blog where Kittin has posted an update to the Mac & linux RLV versions here:


It's amazing the work that goes into these updates. Since the advent of the Linden Labs viewer 2.0 about a year ago there have been updates on updates. Personally, I find the v.2 viewer easy to work with and much more intuitive than the prior versions. It just takes some getting used to.
But, I'm off topic, what I wanted to point out was, how hard the third party viewer people work just to keep up.
Thank you to all of them.

I hope you will visit Kittin's blog, even if you are an Evil Empire user, she has much to offer beyond the Mac and Linux stuff, her opinions, her help and even her store.

Try RLV, I think you'll like it.

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

GETTING STARTED IN SECOND LIFE


GETTING STARTED IN SECOND LIFE


Probably after the "What do I do now?" question, the next most common is "How do I ..._____?" Linden has done a great job of teaching the very basic things in the intake process. The process is short, thank goodness; when people think of joining our community, they don't want to spend hours learning how. There is, however, still a lot to learn once you finish it. And the Linden training says nothing about Adult.

This post is mostly taken from a note card that I give to new residents when I see them arrive in the club. Just by their arrival, I know that they are adult verified (we are an adult sim, you cannot visit without first being verified by Linden) and that they have their viewer set to advanced. Otherwise, they could not receive the informational notecard or the free clothing, hair, shapes etc. I send.

Here are some web resources to help you learn about SL (Second Life).

Linden Labs (the owners of SL) started a new user interface in the Spring of 2010. You might hear some of the residents complaining about it, but, it is the default viewer and likely the one you received on coming to Second Life. It's a perfectly good viewer; the complaints are mostly about learning something new.

One of the best things about it is it's contextual help. You are probably used to that from the web, but, the browser help in Second Life is much improved over the previous viewer. There is an excellent video about it here.


Torley Linden, who did the video you just watched is probably the most recognized voice in Second Life. He has hundreds of tutorial videos covering how things work. His video tutorials are great!

Look at the Quick Start guide he mentioned in the video. I did a short unofficial video about it.

Next, is the official site for videos. There are many video tutorials on lots of topics. Under the index look for "Beginners" first, but don't stop there. There's lots of  stuff non critical to you for now, but, it will show you the fascination that keeps most of us here in Second Life. There's just sooo much to do!
Not just Torley, but, many residents of Second Life have created videos you can find on You Tube and other sites.



But you are going to want to get started, so, come to the club where you will find RESOURCES YOU CAN USE RIGHT AWAY AT TOYS. For tutorials and free stuff check out the abandoned XXX Theatre at the top of the stairs near the escort boards in the club. We've converted it to a new resident welcome centre.

You'll find an animation override (it makes the Linden walk smoother, among other things) and a cock (yes gentlemen, you'll need one of those). 

I have some information on this blog too. Dealing with how to sign up, become adult verified and how to set your viewer to "advanced" in order to search for adult themes and sex in Second Life. Please check through the archive posts.


A common question we get  is how to work poseballs and pay residents? Go figure, we're a brothel after all. Here's a short video on that.


Another common question, usually after someone has heard one of us speaking at Toys is, how do I turn on voice? Here's a short video.


Why not take a brief video tour of the backstage part of Toys (our role play/sex areas). What you see around the club in the storefronts is only a representation of the larger areas, villas, beaches, castles and dungeons we offer. As Madame Aprille will be proud to tell you, we have 5 islands (sims), 200 girls, 20 dominants (probably 30 by now) and 3 clubs.
See more about it here.


We have a website too. http://www.toybrothel.com


Besides voice, there is a lot of media in Second Life. You probably have it all set up already. We've included a video.


Most residents personalize their profile with pictures and places visited, groups joined and things they like. It's easy to do.


The getting started tips at the following website were written quite some time ago but are still valid, however, many of the addresses have changed, moved or disappeared. 


We hope you find these videos helpful. They are really only a start. But, with these basics, you are good to go. there is sooo much more, but, you have time to learn. For now, go and enjoy, there plenty of time for the rest later.

Thank you for visiting Toys Slaves and enjoy your Second Life

Friday, June 10, 2011

Disabling Face Recognition in Facebook

I have never been a big fan of Facebook, even less so of the things that people post there, thinking it's somehow private or uninteresting to all but a few close friends. Proof positive that this is not true is the recent election in Canada where people were ejected from the Prime Minister's town hall type meetings on the basis of items shown on their Facebook page...in the most egregious of these incidents a university student who was attending meetings of the 3 major political leaders trying to get a sense of who to vote for. 
She made the "mistake" of posting a picture of herself with the opposition leader which, when seen by either the national police force or the political party wags, got her removed, before the meeting even started.

All of this just highlights the need for you to take control of the privacy settings on your Facebook page.
Here's a link to an excellent article on how to do just that. It was a comment on the most recent controversy surrounding "facial recognition software" being used by Facebook. 
I'll offer no opinion on the conspiracy theories surrounding the things Facebook does. Put on your big girl panties and decide for yourself, but, at least take your own security in hand.

Here is a starting point...


You Need This Setting to Search Adult Sites in Second Life

I hope some of the things I've written here have been helpful. Even more, I hope that I've piqued some people's interest and maybe convinced them to try Second Life.
 It really is a place that allows you, actually encourages you to do things you might never be able to do in Real Life. I read a quote I think is on point and I would like to share it here...


No matter how pleasant and fulfilling your daily life is, sometimes you need to escape from your role as responsible adult, dutiful worker or dedicated family member. The more stressful that role is, the further it is from your own deepest impulses, the more you need an escape from the limitations of everyday life. Some people use alcohol, drugs, or gambling to transcend their ordinary lives, but these activities generally prove to be both destructive and unsatisfying. But the escape provided by a rich fantasy life can be constructive and extraordinarily fulfilling. Instead of destroying true intimacy, shared fantasy increases it. Instead of harming the body, sexual release helps it. Instead of stifling the needs of your true self, fantasy allows you to express and realize your deepest needs and in the process, fantasy brings forth a new, stronger reality.
                                                 …… Mistress Lorelei

The quote is from... The Mistress Manual (a good girls guide to female dominance) 
by Mistress Loreli
It is available from most booksellers and at Amazon in both print and e-book versions. 
The quote mentions sexual release, but, seems true even out of that context. It just struck me as true.

But clearly I'm now off topic.
I am posting a video today about switching the mode on the Second Life viewer from Basic to Advanced. I think almost everyone switches very early...the Basic mode has been described as tourist mode by some and it is very limited in the experience. 
I hope you are not one who has been turned off by the limited experience using the Basic viewer, the solution is as simple as the click of a drop down menu.
Many in the Second Life Adult Community express concern at its lack of Search and therefore access to the adult side of Second Life. 

If you are wondering how, this video is for you. If you are just now thinking of joining our little community, maybe, this will help you to discover all of it.
As always, I do my videos in 720 HD, so the quality is good enough to view full screen. I've included the script below the video, pause the video if you need to look at something more closely. 
I hope you enjoy.

Click the video, choose 720HD and full screen

Now, the script...

Welcome
When you first join Second Life and download the viewer you’ll find yourself in the Basic mode.  In order to experience the whole of Second Life it is necessary to take off your training wheels and immerse yourself in the community by changing to the Advanced mode.

It is quite simple to make the change.  You will know that you are in the basic viewer by noticing the drop down on the sign in screen or if the interface looks like this.  You’ll recognize the Destinations button and the default avatars.  Instructions for changing to the Advanced viewer are available under the How To button, click it and when the window opens click the drop down and choose “switch to advanced mode” the instructions are there, but, don’t worry I’m going to show you how.
First we will need to exit the viewer.

Now, we will open Second Life to change the mode that we use.  You only need to do this once, Second Life will remember in the future. In the drop down, change the mode to Advanced…the pop-up advises that you need to Quit for the change to take effect.

Now open Second Life again, when it opens at the sign in screen you will see that you are now in Advanced mode; sign in as usual.
When Second Life loads you will immediately see a few changes to the interface. You now have available to you, Inventory, Search and a Menu Bar. On the sidebar is a link to your customizable profile, an inventory for things you collect or buy and a place to store complete outfits.

Something you didn’t have in the Basic viewer was an opportunity to explore any areas, excepting those chosen by Linden to be on the Destinations bar. Notably missing was the majority of the Adult community in Second Life. Prepare yourself, there is so much to see.

Finally the Menu Bar, it gives you access to preference settings (more customization) and many more functions. The Advanced and Develop menu items only show up if you choose them in preferences and have very specialized operations, unnecessary most of the time.
I hope you find this video helpful and…thank you for watching

See you in Second Life