Ditching the default walk in SecondLife

One thing that bugs the daylights out of a lot or people in SecondLife is the way avatars move. Many of us use Animation Overrides (AO’s) to get a better way of walking, sitting, swimming, flying and even falling. I’ve seen AO’s costing several hundreds of Lindens but there are also a number of AO’s that are either free or cost just L$1. If you want you can also get your own animations and add them to your AO. I’ve put together my own custom AO with animations from a few sources and it’s actually pretty easy to customize one.

Yesterday’s tutorial on the New Citizens Inc. blog shows how you use an Animation Override. If you all would like I can see about writing a tutorial on how to customize your AO with animations you can get from around SecondLife.

I do want to recommend that you be careful when accepting an AO from a stranger. They may include scripts that steal your Lindens and can also cause other problems. You can get reputable AO’s from enough stores and freebie sims in SecondLife so you shouldn’t need to take an AO from a stranger unless you intend on trying to pull a single animation out of it to put in your own AO.

[UPDATED] Dodgers beat the Angels with zarro hits

[Updated to include additional links. -Peng]

I’m trying to keep my blogging about the Dodgers to a bit of a minimum, but after last night’s game I have to post something. In only the fifth time since 1900 a major league team won without a single hit, Chad Billingsly and the Angel’s Jared Weaver were locked in a pitching duel with Weaver keeping the Dodgers off the base path and Bills allowing three Angels to get on base, but the 5th inning made this a game for the history books.

Matt Kemp hit what Dodgers’ announcer Vin Scully called a “little squirt job [with] English all over it” and Weaver picked up an error as he missed the ball, keeping his no-hitter alive. With Blake DeWitt at bat Kemp took off for second, but Angels’ catcher Jeff Mathis threw the ball past both shortstop Erick Aybar and his backup, second baseman Howie Kendrick, and Kemp knew a good thing when he saw it. He kept rolling on to third, where he was looking for a scoring opportunity just to get the Dodgers on the scoreboard. DeWitt hit the 1-1 pitch deep into right field but Vladimir Guerrero was ready for it. As soon as the ball hit Guerrero’s glove Kemp took off for home, but Guerrero’s throw was just a little late and the Dodgers got their only run of the night.

For more info on last night’s game, which clinched this Freeway Series for the Dodgers after Friday night’s 6-0 shutout of the Angels, you can read the Dodger’s recap. You’ll also want to check out the highlight reel from the game, as well as the LA Times’ coverage of the game and Bill Plaschke’s rather dumbfounded column about the nahhh-hitter. Do we dare hope for a sweep, or would that tempt the whatever from high atop the thing?

Updated 3:48pm: I found two other stories about this I wanted to pass along. The first is from the Dodger’s blog and it lists the other hitless wins, as well as a list of ho-hitters since 1950. And if you like Alyssa Milano’s work in Who’s the Boss?, Charmed and My Name is Earl, as well as the other things she’s done, you’ll love her post THIS IS WHY I LOVE BASEBALL. The lucky woman was at Chavez Ravine for the entire game, and I love her excitement over the game. Yes, I’m jealous that I couldn’t be there for it myself.