Au revoir, OnRez

I had been thinking of reopening my store in SecondLife when I heard that LindenLabs had bought both OnRez (my preferred retail partner in SL, formerly known as SL Boutique) and Xstreet SL (formerly known as SL Exchange). As soon as I saw it I thought it was bad news, and I’d been meaning to post a note about it here but RL kept getting in the way.

I have to say that I’m very disappointed that we’re losing OnRez, and not just because I had things set up with them already. I had looked into Xstreet back when they were still known as SLX and I had decided that setting up products and shopping with Xstreet was a pain in the rear, and while I had some of my tees available through them using them was definitely not a preference so I closed my account with them. Silly me.

But LL has once again decided that they know better than their users (see also Dazzle, voice and Age Verification) and the site with the better seller experience seems to have lost. Now before I can start selling my shirts online I have to find a new vendor system since the OnRez vendors will go silent at 5 PM Eastern Time (2 pm SL Time). I have Xstreet’s magic box, but now I have to find a vendor to help me show my products inworld. Peng used to use Apez and I think I’m going to have to check them out. I hear their free vendors took a surcharge out of every sale, but it could end up being easier to work with than Xstreet.

I doubt seriously that I’ll have my store reopen in time for Valentine’s Day, but I’ll see about getting at least my SL tees available for the start of spring. Of course my Bad Moon Rising and Lagalicious tees won’t go back on sale since I already know LL won’t appreciate the humor of the tees. Granted, they won’t like how Peng and I used the hand logo, but I don’t like some of their decisions and this businessperson would put them back on sale if not for the fact that LL would probably ban me for selling them.

You probably won’t see the inSL logo on my shirts anytime soon. Every time I change an image for a tee, whether it’s a new template for a tee or a promotional picture to sell a tee, I have to pay an upload fee. I really don’t feel like having to create over 50 new promo images just to include the SL branding.

Alas, poor OnRex, we know you well. I hope some of your devs end up coming out with a more user friendly retail system than what Xstreet has. Like a better mousetrap, the better stsyem will definitely get customers.

Peng’s links for Thursday, 4 December

• Stefano Forenza: Has Torvalds finally won? The father of Linux once said that he’d have won if Microsoft ever makes an app for Linux. Some people might say that the availability of a beta version of Moonlight, GNU/Linux port of Silverlight, means Torvalds got his win. But Stefano isn’t so sure.
• Jono Bacon: Governments And Free Content Policies. The current website for president-elect Obama used to protect their content with a traditional copyright. But not anymore. Jono has the details, if not the scoop.
• xkcd: xkcd store. You love reading the strips. You may even have some of them on your fridge or the wall of your cubical. Now you can slap it on your clothes. If you order by the 12th you’ll get it by Chrismukkuh Eve if you’re in the States. If you’re in the EU they’ll try to get it to you in time, but you need to order soon.
• TualatriX: Ubuntu Tweak became Brothersoft Editor’s Picks! Congrats to the gang at Ububntu Tweaks for their latest, and very well deserved, honor. And he says the next version “will come soon.”
• Uwe Hermann: Playing Starcraft on Linux using Wine. I wasn’t sure how big a deal this is until I mentioned it to a Windows-loving roomie and big-time gamer, and he was impressed. That tells me that I need to post a link to the story, especially since it’s a tutorial.
• Dr. Horrible News: DVD Launch on Amazon! Earlier this year we had the joy of enjoying a three-part video written specifically and produced for the web by Joss Whedon and company. The DVD is finally coming on the 19th of December, and it will include “Commentary! The Musical!” I can’t wait. Amazon also has a behind-the-scenes clip you can watch for free. Now if we could only buy a CD or tracks without having to go through iTunes. Do I need to have Jayne Cobb have a talk with Joss about it?
• Biella Coleman: FLOSS Manuals. I’m going to cheat here and tell you that Beilla has a very short post about an easy way to get manuals for a wide range of free and open source programs. You definitely want to go get the links from her. And my little blurb about her post is longer than her post is, but she’s got the links you want.
• Nick Ali: Linux Basics Classes at Micro Center. If you need a nice introductory course to using GNU/Linux you better get to MicroCenter and reserve a seat. Nick’s got the date and links.
• MJ Ray: Do Your Shop Photos Leak? Do you take pictures with a digital camera and then post them online? You may be sharing more information than you realize.
• Mozilla Developer News: Firefox 2.0.0.18 users to be offered a free upgrade! Firefox 2.x will soon reach the end of it’s support, and the Mozilla devs are giving users one more chance to use their upgrade mechanism to get Firefox 3 without having to manually download and install it. Although this is one user who is damned sorry to see Firefox 2 reach the end of its security updates, and I can’t promise it won’t be used from time to time. The interface is still better than Firefox 3’s because it doesn’t need remove-ons just to keep the default behavior that Firefox users have been using for so long. And Firefox 3.1 is going to bring the need for even more remove-ons. Sometimes I hate Mozilla devs with the heat of a thousand nuns because of some of the add-ons they fold into the base product. What the hell happened to using add-ons to add new behaviors rather than removing them?

Peng’s links for Monday, 20 October

We’re just 10 days away from the release of Ubuntu Intrepid and I’m seeing some great reports from people who are trying the betas. I do have an update on the possibility of a thread about upgrading to Intrepid’s kernel while staying in Hardy but first let me share a few pages that I think you’ll enjoy.

• Steve Pearce: “sound-juice” Changes in Intrepid Ibex. There are a number of changes in the Sound Juicer cd ripper that’s included with Ubuntu Intrepid, and one of the biggest changes is that it now prefers to use .oga rather than the generic .ogg. While I appreciate the specification of Ogg Vorbis (.oga for audio) or Ogg Theora (.ogv for video) some apps are having some issues with it. Steve looks at the issue and lists media players that have problems with the .oga extension.
• Nick Ali: Ubuntu Halloween Pumpkin and US Store. Nick’s found a new Halloween pumpkin decorated for our favorite Linux distro, plus he has news that some of us have been waiting for: Canonical has opened up an Ubuntu Store in the US! Now we won’t have to pay overseas shipping for our Ubuntu gear. They don’t have the Hardy tee that Nanci and I loved so much earlier this year, but hopefully they’ll have tees for Intrepid. Of course I have to see about getting either their messenger bag or backpack, although their backpack is still north of $100. Is it just me or is that a ton of money to spend on a backpack?
• Updated Link: Nick Ali: apt-get wife. Too bad I didn’t know about this twenty or so years ago, but I wouldn’t have known what apt-get is, let alone Bugzilla. Now I still laugh my arse off at it.
• Steven Rose: Sound Juicer missing in Intrepid… It looks like Sound Juicer may not be on the LiveCD for Ubuntu Intrepid. It’s probably due to space constraints, the same reason why the Java for OpenOffice.org isn’t on the LiveCD either. Since I use the DVD iso I don’t have an easy way to confirm whether it’s there or not.
• Debian Package of the Day: memstat: Identify what is using up virtual memory. I’ve long wanted a program like this. Right now I’ve been using the System Monitor to try to see what’s sucking up RAM and CPU cycles, but this app makes it even easier! It’s in Ubuntu’s repos so there’s little excuse for not installing it NOW. Trust me, you’ll be glad you have it.
• Caspar Clemens Mierau: Your mom runs Ubuntu? Join the team? She doesn’t yet? Help her. And join the Team! My mom’s still back in ‘Nawlins, and I doubt she’s moved to Ubuntu, but if your mom runs it or might if you’d help nudge her along there’s a new Ubuntu Team you should join.
• Cnet’s Digital Media: Move over pinochle, Web stimulates aging brains. There really is a benefit for doing more web searching as you get older according to a UCLA study. So fire up your favorite search engine, it’s time for your daily mental calisthenics.
• Onkar Shinde: Rufscript – A nice handwriting font. I’m a bit of a font fiend, and it’s really hard to find a nice handwriting font. After seeing Rufscript I had to install it. It’s one of the best handwriting fonts I’ve ever seen, and the next time I need one I know exactly which font I’ll try first.

The last two times Ubuntu got ready for an update I was able to report on a thread over at the Ubuntu Forums about moving to the new version’s kernel without doing a full upgrade, thanks to the efforts of UF member walkerk. He hadn’t written a thread for moving to Intrepid’s kernel while staying in Ubuntu Hardy so I asked him about it a few weeks ago. Alas, it turns out his plate has been too full to allow him to do it sooner, and today I got a private message from him that pretty much kills it for this time around.

It’s a little late at this point w/ Intrepid coming out. I guess there will be some people that choose not to upgrade so perhaps I’ll create the thread…

Let me first test it on one of my machines…

While it did end up working on his own machine it is pretty close to Intrepid’s release, and just starting a thread like that will create large demands on his time and energy that simply can’t be supported this time around. So it looks like if you want to check out Intrepid’s kernel you’ll need to either snag a disc image and burn it so you can check it out for yourself or simply wait for it to be officially released next Thursday.

Peng’s links for Monday, 7 July

I think it was a good thing I took the weekend off after Saturday’s final post. Yesterday Comcast crashed so hard that we were without not just Interweb but also cable and phone all day long. Luckily we had some things saved on the DVR or else the three of us would have been bored out of our gourds. It finally came up after nine last night making Comcast offline for around a dozen hours, but I haven’t been able to see any reports on what went wrong. If anyone knows what happened to Comcast in the Malden area please post it in the comments.

• Alan Pope: Is that a Paul Smith shirt? Alan wore the tee that Nanci and I want and got a great response from one of the other parents at his daughter’s ballet school.
• Dante Díaz: How to Install Linux Media Center Edition step by step. Yes, Virginia, there is a Linux Media Center Edition, and Dante’s vid shows how to install it on a KDE-based distro. I suspect it will be similar on GNOME desktops.
• Bill Dwyre: Where have you gone, Ernie Banks? Do you remember baseball’s double headers? I don’t mean the ones caused by rainouts, but the ones that give fans the chance to see two games in a single day, usually around a holiday. Dwyre remembers them, and wonders why we don’t have them anymore, as do I.

I do have one other thing I want to blog about, but it deserves a post of it’s own. But before I close this post I have to pimp my new favorite place to get coffee in Boston. I love Starbucks, but I also like having a place closer to home to be able to get a cup of joe as I hop on the subway every day. I used to get my coffee from Mike’s Donuts in Forrest Hills Station but after three straight cups of coffee that weren’t what I ordered, as well as trying to talk with the owner but having to wait while they took care of customers I decided to find a new place to get my coffee. It’s too bad, too, because I’ve known the owner’s wife for over a decade but when I told her I’ve had problems with getting coffee the way I ordered it she didn’t even take the time to find out what was wrong.

I finally tried Java Jo’s, which is not just across the street from the station but also on the side of the station that bus drops me off to get on the subway. I found it was more like a Starbucks than a Dunkin’ Donuts (Mike’s takes your order, and hands you a supposedly ready to drink cup of brew), but I don’t mind putting my own cream and sugar in my coffee, especially when the cream is cool enough to make the coffee immediately drinkable, an issue that prompts me to ask for a little ice in my coffee from Mike’s although lately they don’t fill that part of my order well. Which is part of why I tried to speak to the owner in the first place. The owner likes ice in his coffee, and his wife, who runs the Forrest Hills store, respects a customer’s wishes in that respect. Alas, her employees don’t have the same idea of customer service that she has. I still get coffee at Mike’s on the weekend and on holidays, but only because Java Jo’s doesn’t open as early on weekends and I’m on the road pretty early seven days a week. After having to go without Java Jo’s coffee over the recent three-day weekend I really missed my proper cup of coffee as I got on the subway.

One thing that makes Java Jo’s even better is that their coffee, a rich, bolder coffee than Mike’s sells, is so good that I don’t have to run through Back Bay to hit Starbucks in the morning any more. And their food is delicious, too, so you may want to take advantage of their catering service for your office one day.

If you’re in the Forrest Hills/Franklin Park area of Boston and you’d like a good cup of coffee or some delicious food check Java Jo’s out. You’ll thank me for it.

Amarok Neon, blog bot, Do and new tees. Oh my!

I’m going to roll three bits of info I saw on Planet Ubuntu into one post, and I think I’m going to have something for just about everyone.

By Popular Demand: Cancer Sucks Girlie tee now comes in pink!

People love my Cancer Sucks Girlie tees, but there’s one thing I keep hearing. “Is it available in pink?” I kept having to say no, but no longer.

Valentine’s Day tees are HERE!

The all clear for rezzing no copy items has been given by Linden Labs, and the rolling restarts are just about done (my store is in one piece and everything is working, thank goodness), so I just activated my Valentine’s Day tees so they’re available for purchase.

I’m taking the original version tees out of my store

I know when I announced that I was recreating most of the tees I sell in SecondLife that I’d be leaving the original versions of the tees on sale, but it’s getting to be just too many tees of the same designs to manage easily so I’ve had to decide to removes the original versions of my tees as of tomorrow.

We have new tees at Nanci’s Naughties

I’ve been working on a collection of new tees based on a new template, and I wanted tohold off on releasing them until I could release them all, but I wanted to get some available while the sale is going on so I just made the ones I have finished available for purchase.

Christmas tees are now available, plus we have a sale going on

Nanci’s Naughties got two new shirt designs for Christmas, plus we’re having an after Thanksgiving sale tat will go through the weekend.