SL Food 4 Thought

Stuff Store - A Very Pleasant Experience

2011-05-10T21:52:00.002+02:00

Not wanting to turn this into yet another shopping blog, however, I couldn't avoid but mentioning this great new store. The oddity that unites this post with all my other posts is, that this shop is owned is a very able, talented and helpful man, Crias Rowlands. He not only attentively responds to IMs (without requesting notecards, because his IMs are capped due to popularity (OMG how I hate that in profiles, but that is for another post)). He also has amazing sculpted stuff in his Stuff Store. I had some trouble with the notecard in my newly purchased radio from him and he immediately sorted it out. Go and check it out Stuff Store - Main Store, Lionheart Kiara (95, 204, 28)!

Invasion of the Giant Females

2011-04-20T21:45:00.003+02:00

Have you seen them yet? For quite a while now I feared that I was getting paranoid. I started spotting them all over the place. They are about 2 1/2 metres tall and look just ... wrong! First I thought I was once again suffering the SL-small-bug that I looked so dwarfed beside them. Thankfully it is official now! There are even campaigns in SL against them. I came across this picture in a shop yesterday and the relief I felt was so intense. I am not imagining things, they are here, they come in great numbers and they are ... wrong (on so many different levels). Could this be the new generation of female avatars that had their origins in a male mind? *shakes her head and tells herself "No, no, no, their boobs would be bigger"*

Pacific Crisis Fundraiser - People of SL You Are Making Me Proud!

2011-03-17T22:32:00.004+01:00

Last night I briefly TPed to the Pacific Crisis Fundraiser in the World of Beauty sim. It was crowded and very very laggy. I hung around near the landing spot for a little while and followed very angry conversations of some smart people trying to get less smart people to trim down on their prims and scripts to make life a little easier for everybody. Needless to say the less smart people kept answering back and hadn't got a clue what they were talking about.

However, what impressed me most were the floating texts above the donation boxes. At that stage approx. 42K Linden had been donated. What impressed me further was the fact that 100% of the profits of the impromptu set-up are going to the victims of the earthquake/tsunami in Japan.

I saw the items which are for sale on several blogs today and decided to go back. My chin dropped when I saw the amount at the donation box only 24 hours later at a staggering 135K Linden. WOW! I cannot help to feel proud of this community that acts so fast.

My dear SL co-inhabitants, don't mind the lag. Strip down your scripts and prims and go. Go to Pacific Crisis Fundraiser! Shop, donate, be proud, be helpful, be generous and be touched!

Miracle !

2011-01-10T20:39:00.002+01:00

Funny thing happened. Just yesterday I received a questionnaire from The Dressing Room and one of the questions was, if I had ever had a bad experience with one of their vendors .... Now, that was a strange coincidence. I explained my current experience with Ricielli and ... oh wonder ... today I received a little surprise upon log-in. The owner herself had send me the missing item.

Thank you Ricielli! Why the wait?

Update - Riciellie

2011-01-08T19:38:00.002+01:00

For all of you that read my last post. No news is bad news, or should I say it the other way round? After sending my second notice to the customer support person, still no news. No goods send. Left the group. Deleted the Landmark. Ah well, I am sure they aren't bothered about that either.

Good resolutions 2011

2011-01-04T22:04:00.002+01:00

I haven't written anything in this blog in a long time. Partially because I forgot my login details. I also forgot the username and password for the ymail account I have linked to this blog *blushes*. After spending an hour of my brand new 2011 retrieving and recreating passwords I finally made it.

Back to new years resolutions. Somehow they always end up being something that reduces pleasure and increases the pain in the ass. They are not for me. However, for the sake of this blog and any sane reader, I intended to be positive. Yes...right...I inteded. Fruitless, they won't let me. Once again I hit the customer service wall of SL so it seems. By that I don't mean Linden themselves who always send me politely phrased automated mails. No, once again one of SL's many proud vendors just PI..ES ME OFF.

I have bought things in the past from this shop for good money. They also sell at 'The Dressing Room'. A fabulous place where many good designers sell one or two articles for one or two weeks at a spectacularly low price. So of I went after the last group announcement that the newest offers have arrived. Needless to say that it was jam-packed. This went hand in hand with SL's hang-over-performance since the new year was bound to cause trouble. I bought, I crashed, I never got the goods.

Not shy, I send an IM and a notecard with my transaction details to the vendor and her support side-kick. NO politly phrased automated answer, no IM, no goods. Now most of you, and under normal cirucmstances myself, would say "Hey, keep your pants on, smoke a cigarette, only 70L" only then, it turns into a matter of principle and that I had previously spend a lot of money in this vendors shop. I sent another IM today. Still polite. Curious if I am going to hear back. I will keep you blogged...

Unlucky Chairs

2010-02-16T23:18:00.002+01:00

I like spending money on my avatar, but just as in RL, I like to win something nice in SL every now and then too. I have a few nice LMs that I hit every now and then to hit the lucky chairs. Usually I end up buying some stuff too, because they have nice outfits. However, there are only few things, that annoy me more than ugly noob outfits in lucky chairs and chairs that do not deliver the goods.
Today, again, was one of those days. I hit one of my favourite shops at the moment 'Delirium Styles', great outfits and always some nice new items. They also host 4 lucky chairs on the second floor with changing outfits for men and women.

Today was the second time that I got lucky, or should I say unlucky, on one of their chairs with the same outfit. First time round, it wasn't delivered. Since it was free, I said nothing and hoped for a second time round to get lucky. Second time round was today, and what shall I say? Unlucky again, no delivery. So I contacted the AGM by IM and told him that I didn't get my prize for the second time. He politely explained to me that it was due to Linden troubles and lag related issues... That was the end of it. Now you tell me, what you would have done, if it had been your shop!

Cheers to the Happy and Friendly People of SL (Pulse Skin)

2009-12-10T21:32:00.002+01:00

I remember in my first days, weeks, months in SL, I was overwhelmed how friendly and helpful people were. Somebody showing me the ropes of editing or even dressing, somebody else giving me a present of a dress that cost 1000L$. Sometimes we forget this, but there are reminders over and over SL of this kind of people.

I purchased a skin recently from PULSE (http://slurl.com/secondlife/Twisted%20Bliss/198/174/28 ...love their skins and eyes). Only yesterday my friend Berta commented on the look of the nipples of this particular skin. Criticizing the look of them ... she is a fussy bitch ... Anyways, totally by coincidence, a few hours later I received a folder from somebody I didn't know. Like any careful citizen of SL, I didn't immediately accept it, but IMed the person that gave it to me, despite the fact that it said 'Pulse Skin'. It turned out that Lorac Farella, the wonderful creator of those skins, felt just like Berta, "i hated the nipples..." and "omg..i have no excuse..i was blind..they were HORRIBLE!" (her own words). It turned out that she felt so strongly about it, that she created a new version of the skin I had purchased and was now handing it out to everybody that had gone and bought that same skin.

I am impressed, I am happy, I will buy there again and I am certainly going to recommend her shop, not only for the great quality, but also honour her with the Cogar-Ninetails-Award-For-Outstanding-Customer-Service!!! (Not that that really means anything to anybody and there is no financial price tied to it, but hey, it meant a lot to me.)

This is close to my heart!

2009-11-22T23:08:00.003+01:00

(Just click on the title to be rerouted to the article I am referring to)
I found this blog a few weeks ago and also left a comment since I also encountered the evil twins of SL. If you happen to come across my blog and also encountered them, why not write a comment on the above mentioned blog. Interesting how some people believe they can get away with shit in SL. I am delighted that finally there is a posting to tear down their (not even impressive) skins and show them for what they are. Read through the comments and you get an idea. Post a comment if you had similar experiences. Most of all, if you have some notecards with their terrible outbursts, please report them to Linden.

Sex Island - SL standards, somethat difficult to understand

2009-11-03T21:28:00.004+01:00

Yesterday a good friend TPed me to a rather confusing place to show it to me, but it seems that we have to live with this confusion, since the Lindens have applied somewhat strange rules upon us.

The name of the place was Sex Island. What can one expect from a place like that? I think we all have more or less the same idea...all of us except the Lindens, or what their rules turned the place into, if the manager can be believed.

The first thing that struck were several boards placed around the beach bar and dance floor (and beside the stage with several stripper poles). These boards displayed the rules, which are:

- No nudity
- No exposed penis
- No foul language
- No public sex
- No harassement
- Be respectful

Where I am greatful for the first and totally agree with the last two (despite never having had a problem with the last points myself thanks to the mute button), I found the other rules a little strange for a place called Sex Island.

My confusion grew when looking at the covenant: '"Sex" is where fantasy becomes reality! Are you here by accident, curiosity, or do you just love sex and think about it 24/7? Whatever the reason, you have come to the right place! There is never a shortage of new faces, and if it has to do with sex, the odds are you will find it here.

Can you really fulfill a real life fantasy in SL? Not quite, but you can come very close. Explore Sex, and you will see the endless opportunities that await...

Oh yeah, guys, if you get teleported here by a girl, it's safe to say she has impure thoughts about you (i.e. you got the green light, so make your move).
Enjoy :-)'

Somebody seems to have forgotten to update the information, since age verification came its doubtful existence.

I couldn't help but start a conversation with the manager on the floor, a very friendly girl from the US

Me: How does the stripping work with no nudity?
Manager: Only dancers working on the poles can get naked.
Me: And Linden dont mind?
Manager: As long as they are on a pole, no.
Me: You are kidding now....
Manager: I'm dead serious lol and I dont ask anymore, Cogar. I just accept it because it doesn't make sense to me.
Me: And what difference is there to being naked on a pole?
Manager: On a stage or pole they are working, entertaining.
Me: LMAO
Manager: My thoughts too, Cogar.

I guess we have to live with this sort of place now. And SL has proven in the past that after a little while, nobody seems to question senseless rules anymore. I wonder, what I would think about this if I was joining today and saw rules like this. Seems I have been around for too long.

A Heartfelt Welcome!

2009-10-29T14:12:00.003+01:00

When recently shopping in SL, as I do, I was surprised by the lack of friendlyness in some SL shops. I happended to drop into Damiani Fashion Design. Man, those guys must have made really bad experiences, that every arriving potential customer is a threat. The official greating in the blue box is:

"Welcome to Damiani.In respect of other content creators we do inspect you.We do not tolerate content Theft of any kind.No nudity is allowed on the sim except in the dressing rooms found central of the main Skin Hall.No Antinspect allowed and no violence.Please Report us inventory offers of any Kind made to you.Skins and Shapes are no transfer,try demos before purchase as we do not refund. Your Damiani Team"

If you then proceed to accept one of their notecards, you get the following:

"-Damiani Policy
you purchase the right to use these skins but you are not allowed to alter any texures, you are not allowed to use any tools or software to save any textures of a Damiani skin to your harddrive.You are not allowed to distribute any of our work to other residents.
All skins are no Transfer,no exceptions
No Damiani Skin is sold outside of Damaini
The Skins are copy and modify,you may modify the tone using SL appearence, this does NOT mean you can copy a skin to your Harddrive to modify it ( from Linden Lab-The penalties for copyright infringement under U.S. law include damages in amounts up to $30,000.00 USD per work and in cases of willful infringement up to $150,000.00 USD per work.)
Damiani Skins are made only by KaoZ Koba and Pompeja Rossini. and only sold by these
-We keep all Transactions so we know at anytime who has purchased a Damiani Skin.save your Transaction to a notecard or Harddrive as we refund lost purchases to those that prove us to have bought a Damiani Skin-"

I do appreciate that there are losses in business in SL due to content theft. However, reading these notices, makes me wonder, if I am allowed to wear the purchased skins???

If they are that pissed off with their customers, why bother doing business at all?

Tipping shops!

2009-10-25T19:55:00.003+01:00

It is a mystery to me how some things in SL just take on their own dynamics. Just think talking preggers bellies, spankers creating chat lines, F-button crazes etc. and we all think nothing about it.

One thing I recently noticed (it has probably been around for a long time, but I never paid any attention) are tip jars in shops. I do accept that SL is a weird and wonderful world and it is good that not all RL rules apply to it. After all, that is why we joined this nut house, isn't it? However, some rules still do apply for me. Especially when it comes to L$. Since I buy them with real money, I tend to spend them like real money. It never occurred to me, to walk into a shop and tip the owner of the shop, just for having a shop. I find this particularly irritating, when the goods are of minor quality (not to say, they are absolute crap).

I love the creativity of SL and am for supporting great creative minds for what they are offering our community in SL. Some shop owners do a fantastic job in supplying not only a shop but also a mood, an atmosphere, an experience and they deserve our gratitude.

All you other shop owners, please answer me this question: Why, oh why, would I tip you for having a shop, that gives me things in exchange for money??? I really don't get it....

Blog picture!

2009-10-25T19:51:00.002+01:00

I would like to thank my best SL friend Berta Lilliehook, for creating this great picture of me, representing this blog. Thanks hun! She does the most amazing pictures, tying RL and SL images together. Check out her Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bertalilliehook/

Welcome

2009-10-25T11:47:00.002+01:00

This is my first blog, so please bear with me. I have come across some great blogs about SL over the months/years. However, very few made me wish to leave a comment until recently.

I read an article about a couple in SL, who frequently upset other members of SL with threats and bullying. I felt the need to start my own blog to give those people a voice who have been bullied and who wish to speak out and warn others about what happened to them. Furthermore to threatening, they also cheated people out of money. So the other intention of this blog is to create a 'buyers beware' opportunity for everybody. And since we don't just want to complain, I'd like to publish names and shops that offer the opposite: nice people, great customer service and friendly support!

I hope this blog will find some takers and interest at least some of you.

If you have any comments, ideas, or would like to raise my attention to something that happened to you, please send me a message to cogarninetails@ymail.com. I am looking forward to them.