Author Archives: ZoHa Islands

PUPs Aren’t Always Cute

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Computer virusThere is a great article on Ask Bob Rankin’s blog (that’s a clickable link there) about unwanted software that is installed on your computer. Bob Rankin describes it as “‘PUP’ [Potentially Unwanted Program] means malware; it’s software that I never wanted, didn’t deliberately install, and that makes my life more difficult.”

Bob goes on to say, “The consensus among definitions of ‘PUPs’ is that they sneak into your system; they ride on the coattails of legitimate programs, or pretend to be something they are not, or don’t fully disclose some of the things they’re going to do. Dirty-underhandedness is the hallmark of a PUP. There is no “potential” about its undesirability; I don’t want sneaky software on my machine, period.”

Apparently political correctness has extended into the software developer world, as Bob mentions that the term PUP, or Potentially Unwanted Program was invented to avoid offending their creators. Bob states that its true name is “malware” — which by definition is a term for “malicious software,” and which refers to software programs designed to damage or do other unwanted actions on a computer system. While not all PUPs are developed for malicious purposes, they are often there to perform unwanted, even if benign, actions on your computer.

This makes me think of when I do updates for Adobe Flash Player or other such programs on my computer. I tend to click quickly through all the “do you agree”s in order to just get it done, but the Adobe Flash Player surreptitiously has the box pre-checked for “Yes I want to download and install this MacAfee Security Plus program” and if you click too fast, you’ll get that program installed on your computer. I think that the PUPs that Bob is referring to in this article are more insidious than that, but it is a program that is unwanted by me, which I then immediately delete. Caveat emptor when downloading updates.

In this lengthy but well worth reading article, Bob talks about PUPs, their purpose and how to avoid these relatively harmless but annoying software being downloaded onto your computer, and how to get rid of them if they are there.

You can find the article in full, click on this link: Alert: Potentially Unwanted Software

I remain respectfully yours,
~ Suzanne Piers, ZI Social Media

“Phaze”ing Out of Second Life

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Phaze_011One thing you quickly learn about Second Life, is that nothing is forever. Our favorite stores, designers or builders come and go, leaving behind heartbroken residents. Running a business in Second Life is expensive and time consuming, not to mention the hassles and grief you get from disgruntled, drama-prone customers. Creating can be rewarding and fulfilling, but not always easy.

One such business that is moving away from Second Life is Phaze Demesnes, a unique collection of creations that include amazing flocks of low-lag birds, the owl that hunts rabbits; untold numbers of dragons, horses, and unicorns; the unusual avatars like goats, elephants, and a tiny dragon; and all the geeky toys like the Einstein Eye that watches avatars; not to mention the masterwork, the Universal Translator that works in SL in any language, and so forth.

Phaze_001A sad story with a silver lining during the Second Life holidays this year: even though the Phaze Demesnes sim is closing down at the end of the year, its creators, Fred Beckhusen (Ferd Frederix) and Debbie Edwards (Wavingirlsav Voom) are giving away all their creations free at Phaze inworld in Second Life through the end of the year. (The orange words are a clickable link to the inworld location.)

Phaze has been in Second Life for 5 years and was featured in the Destination Guide with this description: Phaze is a magic land of water, dragons, fairies, demons, unicorns and robots. Follow the paths that lead to dozens of quiet, romantic spots in a colorful and relaxing landscape. Find the dragons to ride and the demons to fight in the arena. Chat with the animated talking trees, statues and paintings.”

However, Phaze is not disappearing completely. Ferd and Wavy are taking their generosity, humor, and creativity into their own grid Outworldz, an opensim, at the end of the year.

Phaze_010You can contact Fred and Debbie through their website for directions how to get there. You can also keep up on Phase Demesnes’ future on its Google Plus page. as well as @Ferd_Frederix on Twitter, Fred Beckhusen on Facebook, and Fred Beckhusen on YouTube.

(Credit: Second Living: Baysweetwater @ Home blog for information in this article)

Please keep in mind that anything in orange is a clickable link!

Hurry, before the end of the year! You only have a few days left before Phaze is . . . well . . . Phazed out.

I remain respectfully yours,
~ Suzanne Piers, ZI Social Media

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays!

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Christmas is not a time nor a season, but a state of mind. To cherish peace and goodwill, to be plenteous in mercy, is to have the real spirit of Christmas.
~ Calvin Coolidge

We at ZoHa Islands would like to take a moment to let you, our valuable customer, know how thankful we are for your support of our business. Without you, we wouldn’t be doing what we love.

We wish you all a safe and happy holiday.

~ ZoHa Islands Management and Sales team.

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SLGo Now Compatible with Firestorm!

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Onlive is pleased to announce that SLGo now offers you a choice between Linden Lab’s SLV or the popular Firestorm viewer on PC and Mac. If you’re already a subscriber, simply launch SL Go on a PC or Mac, and you will be presented with a choice of viewers.

Onlive is a pay-as-you-go or monthly subscription service that allows you to access Second Life from a PC or Mac and have a high-fidelity Second Life experience with amazing graphics quality, full shaders, shadows and full motion capability. This allows people with older or low-powered computers to be able to access Second Life, where they may not have been able to do so before.

Now, SLGo on PC and Mac offers access to the full Firestorm Viewer interface, including edit menus, inventory, preference settings and chat management. All viewer customizations are saved from session to session, even if played on a completely different device or platform.

SL Go is offered via a monthly subscription at $9.95 USD per month for unlimited access. You can also choose to purchase by the hour. OnLive does not associate any SL Go information with Second Life. Second Life users, personas and avatars remain private. OnLive values your privacy in Second Life.

SLGo also allows you to access Second Life from your tablet, although the interface is significantly different.

If you’re not a subscriber, get started with a 7-day free trial here. (the orange word is a clickable link).

I remain respectfully yours,
~ Suzanne Piers, ZoHa Islands Social Media Manager

AMD Graphics Card Driver Updates Wreak Havoc

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Second Life residents who use AMD grphics cards are probably already aware of the ongoing issues with AMD’s Catalyst drivers. The most recent updates to these drivers conflict with the ability to see rigged mesh in Second Life. This problem is related to the 14.9.2 driver update deployed by AMD. The fastest way to fix this problem is to have hardware skinning disabled. There is an article on this bug in the JIRA that can be found here.

I am reposting pics from the Living in a Modem World blog that clearly show the problem on the left, and the fix on the right by disabling hardware skinning:

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In her blog, Inara Pey has written an article about an additional work-around for Windows users with an AMD graphics card.

In her post, Inara outlines steps that Yoho Waco, a contributing writer to her blog, came up with in order to get around this problem. AMD sends out these driver updates to the graphics cards automatically, and so one of the solutions is to roll back to an earlier version of the drivers to enable users to see mesh again.

But for those who wish to use the latest Catalyst or Omega drivers for their cards, this workaround should fix the mesh rendering issue. Yoko uses uses Windows 7 64-bit, but Inara’s article indicates that the basic approach should work with all versions of windows, 64-bit and 32-bit.

Like Inara, I have a Nvidia graphics card, so I was not able to test these steps. But if you have an AMD graphics card and have been experiencing problems seeing mesh, I encourage you to review the article and follow the steps found there.

The complete article can be found by clicking here: AMD Catalyst™ drivers: additional Windows workaround.

This is a perfect example of how Second Life residents come together to create a solution to a problem that benefits all. There have been and will continue to be a lot of negative things about Second Life. But I love how this community pulls together to help one another.

I remain respectfully yours,
~ Suzanne Piers, ZoHa Islands Social Media

Linden Lab Seeks Input from Residents

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When asked “What’s the one thing Linden Lab could do that would have the biggest impact on further improving your Second Life experience?” residents responded with a resounding request to have a way to communicate suggestions for improvements or ideas with Linden Lab — from different approaches for the way things are done today, to brand new features that could dramatically improve their experiences, to seemingly small things that could have a big impact. As a result, Linden Lab has created a page on the Second Life website for residents to use to share suggestions.

The Feedback and Suggestions page (clickable link), allows residents to submit thoughts, ideas, and suggestions for improvement. You can also find this page by going to the Second Life website and clicking on Help and finding New Feature Suggestions in the drop down.

Just sign-in with your Second Life account, select the topic or category that is most appropriate, and describe your suggestion in the text box. Once you submit, you’ll see a confirmation page and receive an automated email as well. Linden Lab has indicated they will not be able to reply to individual suggestions, but that each idea will be routed to the appropriate Lindens and each one will be reviewed and considered.

Linden Lab is always on the lookout for ideas as they continue to surface in social media, direct conversations, or via JIRA, but this new page should make it easier than ever for any Second Life Resident to share suggestions directly with them.

Linden Lab emphasizes this is not a portal for support requests, bug reports, and other inquiries. Residents should continue to use the Support and Downloads page and the JIRA to report problems or get support (hover your cursor over the orange text and you can see the clickable link).

I remain respectfully yours,
~ Suzanne Piers, ZI Social Media Manager