From Space’s Kitchen: Berry-licious Meeroo Pie!

In honour of Space opening a store on the Delta sim selling Meeroos she has come up with this fun recipe. After you try this recipe you can walk the meal off by taking a stroll down the dusty Delta road down to her shop called Space Roos – Fine & Fancy.

Surprise your friends and guests with this delightful, delicious fairytale-dessert!

1 mega-prim pie pan, buttered and floured.
12 gal. Meeroo berries, fresh
18 cups brown sugar
6 cups white sugar
26 pounds butter (1/2 for crust)
5 cups golden raisins
3 cups walnuts
8 adult Meeroo’s ( or 15 baby roo’s)
10 lbs. flour.
5 cups cold milk

Mix white sugar, 1/2 butter, milk and flour into pie crust, divide in half, line pie pan with one. Place Meeroos in the pan, cover with brown sugar, golden raisins, walnuts, and meeroo berries. Cover with top crust. Bake in 350* oven for 1 hour.
Happy guests, when well-fed immortal meeroo’s pop out of pie!!!! Yay!

Firestorm and Phoenix…. with Mesh support!

Hi, it’s your resident geek again, with an update on Firestorm (FSM) and also on Phoenix (PHM)… with mesh support.

FSM beta was released back on Sept 6th and a very important update was released on Sept 11. I strongly suggest those who have not updated to the FSM Sep 11 Update do so ASAP, especially if you are a sim owner and need to do sim restarts on occasion, due to a bug in the old FSM code while using the MetaHarper skin, that could leave your region in limbo upon a restart and will require a call to LL to fix it. Details here.

First, to get it out of the way, PH will get mesh support in the near future (no ETA yet), according to Jessica Lyon (PH/FS Project Manager). Mesh will be ported from the CoolVL project and it will be basically a hack job… Jessica has mentioned on her entry on the Phoenix Project main page, that it will likely be buggy and probably the last major update to PH, but it will buy you time to transition more orderly towards FSM. Read Jessica’s entire post here.

As much as I loath to recommend buggy software, I would expect the PH team not to release PHM until all the major ones are ironed out and the viewer is relatively stable, therefore I will recommend, for those of you who are not ready to go FSM yet, to upgrade to PHM when it is released… after all, who wants to wear a pretty mesh dress that moves more realistically when you dance and have half of the Riverside audience see you naked with a giant football attached to your hand?

Now back to FSM. For those brave enough to try it, please be aware that, by the FSM team’s own wiki, there are a number of issues that could, to some, be show-stoppers, such as:

a) Nvidia graphics cards with relatively recent drivers (newer than 260.99) have a nasty, random bug that may cause any V2 newer than 2.8 or any version of V3 (FSM is V3-based) to crash on login with an error code 8 (Driver lost connection to Display), the screen goes black, then recovers. LL is working on it and, for those interested in following LL on its quest for redemption, you may check the following JIRA SH-2240; the assumption is that once that issue is resolved, the next iteration of FSM after that code merge, would be free from the bug. By my informal count, GTX 400-series and 200-series seem to be affected more than 500-series.

ATI cards are apparently not affected by this bug but, if you are, go to your graphics settings and disable “Basic Shaders” and then login. Some have commented that, once logged on, you can re-enable Basic Shaders and you may be fine, but I have not been able to re-enable them successfully on my GTX 460M,so your mileage may vary. Basic Shaders can be found in:

Preferences > Graphics > General > Uncheck Basic Shaders.

b) Non Prim parts of the avie flicker in and out of visibility. Reported by several, but I have only seen it on some sims and also mostly on skyboxes, high up in the air (1000m high or more). Sometimes, changing the angle or zoom level might make body parts be visible again, only to disappear once more when you move. This is documented on the following JIRAs (probably also related to SH-2240, above): JIRA SH-2268 and JIRA SH-2322

As a workaround, you may disable “Bump Mapping and Shiny”. Though not explicitely stated so on the JIRA, I found by trial and error that this helps temporarily when on an affected parcel. You can re-enable it later when you TP back to an unaffected place. Bump Mapping and Shiny can be found at:

Preferences > Graphics > General > Uncheck Bump Mapping and Shiny

For a full list of LL issues affecting V3 and FSM follow this Wiki link

On the plus side, issues with settings not being saved across viewer restarts (pie menu being an obvious one) are now fixed and the spelling checker has now been enabled! woo-ho! no more “teh” for me!

Also, FSM has ported “Viewer modes” from V3 but expanded it into a concept we can actually use. There are three basic modes that you can select before logging in: Phoenix, Viewer 2 and Hybrid. Phoenix and Viewer 2 modes are exactly what they claim to be: Settings for making the viewer behave, though not necessarily look, closer to either Phoenix or Viewer 2. Hybrid, on the other hand, is the new mode designed to take some of the best features from both Phoenix and V2 and merge them into one… you can say that Hybrid is basically “Firestorm” mode. I suggest experimenting with all three modes until you find the right one for you. Please note that changing modes will require to close and reopen FSM for the changes to take effect.

Once you have loaded FSM, go to the marketplace and look for Mesh outfits. True “Mesh” outfits, vs “fishnet” outfits (that are sometimes called “mesh” too at the markeplace), can be identified by some legend in the description text that reads “Viewer 3 compatible” or “Needs Mesh-enabled viewer” or some similar capion. If you do not see this, it is probably not a true Mesh outfit.

Once you get your Mesh outfit, try animations such as sitting, walking and dancing and watch the outfit follow you as you move, rather than just fall down through the chair, as with the current long coats or skirts. There are other items advertised as mesh, such as objects and sculptures, with full Mesh avies to come soon.

Just remember… those not on a mesh-enabled viewer will not see your outfit and will probably just see a giant football or a cube attached to some part of your body, so if the outfit comes with an alpha layer to cover your naughty bits, make sure you wear it!

If I still have not scared you to death with the issues list, give FSM a try and have fun!

Aly.

From Space’s Kitchen: Snickerdoodles

…from the kitchen of Riverside chef Space Farslider.

Snickerdoodles!

The snickerdoodle is a simple yet classic southern cookie. It is perfect for parties, lunch boxes, and snacks at anytime of day! From Wikipedia: “The Joy of Cooking claims that snickerdoodles are probably German in origin, and that the name is a corruption of the German word Schneckennudeln (lit. “snail noodles”), a kind of pastry. A different author suggests that the word “snicker” comes from the Dutch word snekrad, or the German word Schnecke, which both describe a snail shape. Yet another hypothesis suggests that the name has no particular meaning or purpose and is simply a whimsically named cookie.”

1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 3/4 cups sifted all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Southern Comfort - Snickerdoodles

Preheat the oven to 400*F. Combine the shortening, sugar, and eggs in a mixing bowl; mix well. Combine the sifted flour, cream of tartar, and baking soda and add to the shortening mixture. Mix well. Shape the dough into 1 inch balls. Combine the 1/2 teaspoon of sugar and cinnamon and roll the balls in the cinnamon-sugar. Arrange the balls 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until light brown. Makes 3 dozen. Eat em’ all up!

Riverside Wildlife Cont’d.

Thankfully, even as things slow down and we enter the languid times of summer when people get to relax and unwind, to shake off the stresses of the workaday life, to bask in the sun and do what one wants when one wants. Given that chance, thankfully they just get weird. Lending themselves to another edition of the Riverside Wildlife.

Ray, Cid, Booboo (Guerch) and Zellarotti all came to the Pier to celebrate Moonie's and Hy's rezzday.

 The one thing you can always predict with Riverside folks is that they are going to be nice people. Music lovers. Friendly. And odd. Plain odd.

Moonie modeling her special wedding teeth. Photo by Hammer Pinelli.

Good choice Moon. Choosing the wooden white teeth was a much better idea than the tobacco coloured set.

The people of the Riverside really form a cohesive and supportive community too. When one of us suffers there are many that step up to help. So when Vali was at his wit’s end trying to keep Piffy away from the Dr. Pepper, Mac Ronas jumped into the breech to help the poor  man out. Being from Texas, Mac knew all about ropin’ and this went a long way to keeping Piff on the straight and narrow. Vali is doing much better now. Thanks Mac.

Mac Ronas is here supporting Piffy though her 12 step program. Dr. Pepper is very addictive. We all support Piff in her efforts. So far the intervention has been a success.

You know? For years I heard about all these Elvis sightings. Elvis in Walmart. Elvis in Burger King. Elvis at the DMV. I always thought they were all nuts. Until this past summer on the Pier. We have had 2 Elvis sightings alone. With pictures to prove it too.

Elvis in touch with his feminine side and his green side.

Due to all the inter-SL intrigue it was felt necessary that the Riverside had to hire our own spy to survive. So after much planning and hand-wringing we went on Marketplace and bought Agent G his own spy suit so that no one would recognise him. I have to say he blends right in to any background.

Agent G at Riverside getting his mission details.

His first mission was a huge success. He slipped into enemy territory and returned none the wiser. Oops! I mean they were none the wiser….Agent G seen here skulking…..

Master Skulker...Agent G. Photo by Jordan Morganrote.

Other issues we have to deal with can vary. Some are more short term. For instance the bean incident illustrated in this photo of Alysson Velaystar.

Too many beans can be a huge problem. Thank God she wasn't near the grill when this happened. She tried to blame T-Bone but the evidence was too much. Photo by Possum Elan.

Other things are more of a long term nature. Some things happen time and time again.

Owl in trouble. Again.

Mostly, however, the Riverside is full of many great people who are very good sports with wonderful spirits that make this community something special. For instance….

Yes, that conehead in the picture is a young Moonie. She has come a long way from those days.

Another rezzday person, Hy Gynoid with a then and now pic. You figure out which is which.

Now and then Hy.

And how about DJ Web, an American, celebrating Canada Day in style…..

I have to say you are lookin' mighty sharp eh!

All in all, we are having a blast on the Pier. We hope you are too.

Rockin' The Mudbug Pier!

Blues Starter Kit: Part 9

In his Prime.

There was always going to be one obvious item on my list of great yet accessible blues. Perhaps no one guitar player has influenced as many as this man did in the past 25 years. He has been gone for nearly 19 years (on August 27th) and is still as influential now as when he was alive. Stevie Ray Vaughan was solely responsible for the blues revival of the 80′s. When “Texas Flood” came out in 1983 the landscape changed.

I don’t think I need to rehash his whole story as he is familiar to most music fans but I thought maybe I would relate how is recording career started. In 1982 Stevie and his band Double Trouble were invited to play the Montreaux jazz festival where they were soundly boo’ed throughout their show. Not everyone was turned off though as David Bowie and Jackson Browne were very impressed. Bowie quickly offered Vaughan a job and he ended up playing on one of Bowie’s most successful records ever, “Let’s Dance”. Browne offered Stevie and the band free recording time at his studio.

Soon after super talent scout John Hammond Sr. (who was partially responsible for discovering Billie Holiday, Count Basie, Charlie Christian, George Benson, Aretha Franklin, Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen) arranged a recording contract with Epic Records. The band then used Browne’s offer to record “Texas Flood” in less than a week. The rest they say is history.

“Texas Flood”, was released just shortly after Bowie’s “Let’s Dance” appeared. Vaughan’s reputation had grown quite a bit, in the music business, from his involvemnet with Bowie, but “Texas Flood” was to become a phenomenon for a blues record. It reached number 38 on the charts, and crossed over to album rock radio stations. Vaughan was offered the job of lead guitarist on Bowie’s “Let’s Dance” tour but he chose to stay with Double Trouble.

Thus the ninth item on my list, in no particular order, is Stevie Ray Vaughan’s “Texas Flood”. The impact of this album was immense. Blues was no longer getting any attention and Vaughan was basically unknown. This record changed all that, climbing into the Top 40, made Vaughan a genuine star and put the spotlight back on the blues.

Texas Flood

1 Love Struck Baby (Vaughan) 2:24

2 Pride and Joy (Vaughan) 3:40

3 Texas Flood (Davis, Scott) 5:21

4 Tell Me (Burnett) 2:49

5 Testify (Clinton, Taylor) 3:25

6 Rude Mood (Vaughan) 4:40

7 Mary Had a Little Lamb (Guy) 2:47

8 Dirty Pool (Bramhall, Vaughan) 5:02

9 I’m Cryin’ (Vaughan) 3:42

10 Lenny (Vaughan) 4:58

Rolling Back Nvidia Drivers

NOTE: If your computer has an ATI card, this is not applicable to you.

I have heard rumors for the past few weeks that there’s an issue with recent Nvidia drivers that may cause you not to be able to login into SL anymore, as the viewer may crash with an OpenGL error stating that OpenGL lost connection, “Error 8″ is displayed in the box. So far, this is confirmed on Viewer 2 and the latest GeForce v280.26 for some users, but apparently not everybody seems affected by it.

The symptoms are as follows: The viewer takes a longer time than usual to load, to the point of appearing “frozen”; it will eventually flash a black screen for a few moments and then come back with a popup message stating that the display driver crashed and was restarted. “Error code “8″ will also be displayed.

If you have an earlier driver, you might want to wait until the issue is resolved on an upcoming GeForce driver or viewer 2 update. I do not use Phoenix, therefore I am not sure whether it is affected, but so far, Firestorm seems OK with the latest Nvidia drivers.

So far, the only Nvidia driver versions that are confirmed NOT to have this issue are:
275.33
270.61
266.58

Older versions are OK too, I just listed the three most recent “release” versions that are known to work well.

If you have already updated and are experiencing this issue, please check the link below to find any of the known good drivers. You will need to know your video card model.

http://www.nvidia.com/Download/Find.aspx?lang=en-us

You may follow these steps to check your driver version and roll back if needed.

1) Please note that if you are:

a) Not using an Nvidia card (ATI, for instance)
b) Not affected and you can still log to SL with Viewer 2 or your viewer of choice
c) Have not seen “Error 8″ while trying to logon to SL.

Then you do not need to follow these steps and there is no need to roll back at this moment.

This guide is meant for Windows only, if you are on a Mac, please check the page below, for possible issues with OSX Lion. The page is meant for Phoenix, but it might be worth taking a look, even if you are on other viewers, if you are experiencing the same symptoms.

http://wiki.phoenixviewer.com/doku.php?id=mac_os_x_10.7_lion_problems

2) If you already know the video card model that you have, please skip to “3)”, below.

a) To find out the card model, right click on the desktop, then select “NVIDIA Control Panel”, then, under “Performance” on the left, click on “View System information”

b) If you cannot see your video card model under “GPU” double-click on “GPU” to open it, your video card model will be right under it. Please write it down.

c) To view your current driver version, click on “Software versions” and look at the “GeForce Video” entry. If your version is 275.33 or earlier, you do not need to downgrade your drivers unless you are experiencing an “Error 8″ while trying to logon to SL.

3) If you already know whether your OS is 32-bit or 64 bit, then move on to part “4)” below. To find out whether your OS is 32-bit or 64-bit, check the following:

a) Click on “Start > Control Panel” then click on the “System” icon.

b) Under “Windows Edition” take note of your OS (Windows 7, Windows Vista or Windows XP)

c) Under “System”, look at the “System Type” entry and take note of the syste type (32-bit or 64-bit).

4) To download your drivers, go to the web page below and fill in the appropriate fields with the information that you have collected. Once done, click on the “Search” button to get a list of files.

http://www.nvidia.com/Download/Find.aspx?lang=en-us

Try these files, one at a time:

275.33
270.61
267.76

When downgrading your drivers, the system may ask, half way through the installation, whether to replace newer files with older files, you must click on “yes” every time you are asked, as there is no button to say “yes to all” on the popup window.

Even if the system does not ask you to reboot after installing the drivers, it is a good idea to do so before trying to logon to SL again, this is meant to reduce all traces of the previous driver from memory.

I hope this helps whoever is having issues logging in to SL right now.

Aly.

Making the Switch to Firestorm

Please welcome a new addition to our blog. Aly will now be providing a regular contribution about SL’s technical issues and solutions  for us less computer literate. We hope to continue to build the blog with more items of interest. One more example of the Riverside being a community not just a club. Welcome Aly!

Hi True Bluesers!

For those who don’t know me, I am Alysson Sophie and I am a hostess at The Riverside. A short while ago (as I write this) Ray asked me to write a recurring piece for the blog and, being the computer geek that I am in RL, I accepted after very little coaxing.

This series will be, for the most part, related to tech and how it affects SL. For my maiden voyage into blogworld, I have decided to write a small piece on a viewer that is currently being the talk of town: Firestorm.

Firestorm (FS for short) is a Viewer-2 (V2) style viewer made by the same team that brought us one of the (if not THE) most popular third party viewer in SL: Phoenix. FS is meant to implement a Phoenix-like interface on top of a V2 base code to allow all those nice features Linden Labs will release in the upcoming months, such as Mesh support and the already-released “body physics”, tattoo layers and multiple attachments that show correctly on most viewers as opposed to show up floating near you.

There has been a lot of rumors going around about whether LL will “ban” non-V2 based viewers by the end of the year; this is not quite accurate, rather, LL will stop supporting non-V2 based viewers for next-generation features. In other words, LL will not guarantee that the new features they implement will not break older viewers. I believe that Mesh will be the “big one” that will convince most users to move to a v2-based viewer.

Mesh will not “break” older viewers in the sense of making them crash or act up, but it will not display correctly in them. Far from being just a minor visual glitch, it will render the mesh completely shapeless, as the pictures in this link will show:

http://wiki.phoenixviewer.com/doku.php?id=MeshEnabled_vs_NonMeshEnabled

While FS will have some some features Phoenix lovers have come to expect, like pie menus and no sidebar (both optional, for those who still prefer the default v2 style) some others are missing in the current version and might not be in the final release, such as full screen mode (removed from V2 completely by LL, not the FS team) and the skins will likely not look like Phoenix at all, but rather like a heavily modded V2. Other Phoenix viewer goodies are already in FS Beta 2, such as area search, improved radar, client-AO (improved over the Phoenix one, but I have not played with the new features yet), viewer tags, extended build tools, translator and yes, RLVa is also implemented. While the spell checker isn’t implemented yet (darn you, my typonese!) I am still hoping it will make the final feature cut.

Finally, for those who are still unsure about running multiple viewers on their computers, fear not, FS will install to a different folder than your current viewer and its cache will also be installed to a separate location, therefore, it will not interfere with your current setup and you will be able to switch back and forth between them until you have decided whether FS is for you. In order to help those migrating from Phoenix to FS, the Phoenix-FS team has released video guides and a text guide to help you make FS behave as closely to phoenix as possible. Though this guide is written with Phoenix users in mind, I believe it would help other v1-style viewer users, like Imprudence, Hippo or Ascent as well and they even have a support group in world that has merged with the Phoenix support team.

Migration videos: http://www.youtube.com/user/phoenixviewersl

and here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3y4PH0rczJQ

Migration guide: http://wiki.phoenixviewer.com/doku.php?id=phoenix-to-firestorm_migration_guide

Support groups in-world: http://www.phoenixviewer.com/support.php

Comments and questions welcome. Just click the link below.

Thank you and happy exploring!

Riverside Wildlife continued….

Well, its finally time for another instalment of the Riverside Wildlife. Its been awhile and for that I apologise. I am going to try and I do mean try to put out more shorter articles here if I can. I also hope we can get a few more contributors.

Recently, we needed a host for DJ Filo Tani and we were having trouble finding one as everyone seemed to be busy until our very fine DJ Mac Ronas said he would help out.

The red hair was a really nice touch! Pic by Jordan Morgenrote.

He really did work that dress. I have to say he did manage to pull off the look. From what I hear he used Neet on his legs and had a Brazilian in the  bikini area but just didn’t have time to deal with the beard and the ‘stache. Here he is helping Filo out by keeping him running. I think he likes you Filo. Run Filo! I hear less hair makes you more aerodynamic too.

Filo keeping a couple of car lengths distance from Mac. Pic by Cayleen Linette.

We have had so many great times here. As you can see even the local fauna has to get up and shake it some times.

These guys just make me laugh.

Mr Pickle made a visit too. His banter was a little salty but he played great music.

ColoradoVlasic Manen

Some times people sent you pictures and you have no explanation for them. I guess it was a very hot night and people’s brains fried. Doesn’t anyone know the river is about 10 feet from the club?

Take me, take me to the river...

Wow talk about your split personalities. Makota? Dackenzie?

Mac and Dakota. I hope the conversation went well.

Anyone know who this is? I thinking he was spying for one of the other blues clubs. He smelled a bit of Bear spray….

Nobody notices me. Muahahaha! I will report back to my boss and we will rule all of SL Blues. Nobody can stop us now!

Until next time have fun and we hope to see down at the Riverside making your own photo ops. If you have any interesting pics send them to me. Thanks Ray

Riverside DJ Battle Turns Into Something Special!

Last week, when I challenged MoonMaiden Horner to tunes at 20 paces, I had no idea this musical duel would turn into something way bigger than we could have even hoped. The original intent was to have some fun playing some contrasting music and to make a few Lindens for Relay For Life.

The favourite Moonie "WMD" Horner and the challenger Raymond65 Docherty. Photos by Sinsaber holgado.

We did expect a good turn out because the trash talkin’ was going back and forth pretty regular and people were chatting about the battle. Facebook was busy with posts about the contest and it was being promoted as well. Then the Relay For Life people got involved as well. It all added up to lots of hype beforehand. To be honest, I was nervous. I haven’t been nervous before a show in a long time. I just hoped we could provide the kind of entertainment for which everyone was hoping.

Then before I knew it, it was Saturday night. When I arrived at 7 PM. Mac Ronas had a house full. He always does. (Following Mac is one of the best gigs in SL.) The thing is the crowd kept growing. We had over 60 avatars on the sim a few times during the set and over 50 almost the whole show. It was a sight to see. All of these True Bluesers at the Riverside to witness the musical brawl. Sage Allegiere was there to referee the bout. The crowd was hungry and wanted my blood. I was told many times Moonie was gonna kick my butt. I was starting to believe them.

A full house in support of RFL. Photo by Greywolf Redyard.

 

Then it started. I came out hard with one of my best punches. I missed but it didn’t matter. Everything changed right then. The war became a show of Riverside community. The crowd started donating to RFL like crazy. Soon, the battle dissolved into a celebration of music and life. It was really amazing to see.

Some people started telling about loved ones they had lost and the donations flowed even more. It seemed that whenever someone opened up a loss it touched someone else and they contributed a story or more Lindens. In all we raised over 200,000 Lindens or $800 US. An incredible achievement in two short hours.

The winner....

We all have important people we have lost in our lives. Mine is Eileen. She was my best friend’s mom when I was a kid. She was the one that I developed my love of music from. She was always playing Ray Charles, Otis, Aretha and BB King. She sure loved those old soul records. I would like to think that after last night she was smiling somewhere.

Thanks to each and everyone of you. This will go down as one of the Riverside’s finest moments.

Riverdancin’ on St’ Paddy’s

Cornelius Tenenbaum, one of the Riverside's resident Scotsmen, celebrating Irish style.

Once again the Riverside had a new location and once again we had a great time. We had great crowds, fun people and the in this case the spirit of St. Paddy’s was invoked and everyone really embraced the Irish theme. We love providing new locations for these events. So we’re glad to see that people enjoy them.

Even the elves showed up for this event. Are elves related to leprechauns?

I arrived quite late to see a full house and lots of people having a really great time.  Thanks go to Cay for taking over the theme and decorating for St. Pat’s because I was lost and the direction I was headed would not have upheld the high standard the Riverside aims to achieve.

Jazzy Megadon-ning the green and looking very festive.

We will have more events coming up soon so keep your eyes open. In the meantime I am going to squeeze in another pic or two.

Mrs. Mark and Mr. Butchie came down to the Riverside for Paddy's Day too. For those that aren't aware Mark and Butchie are married now. Congrats to the two of you!

For those of you that wondered why we didn’t see the leprechaun the answer may lie in this next picture.

I believe with good reason that Mackenzie ate the leprechaun.

I could hear her jingle as she walked by. Good luck digesting all that gold he had in his pockets.  Happy St. Patrick’s Day folks!