“In a controversy, the instant we feel anger, we have already ceased striving for truth and have begun striving for ourselves” ~ Abraham J. Heschel

Today, Linden Lab announced they will be banning log-ins from the popular, but discredited Emerald Viewer. The official statement can be read here but I managed to get a copy of the more accurate (and entirely imaginary) rough draft.

Finally Getting Rid of Those Damn Kids
The Pitfalls of Not Offering The Best Possible Product To Our Own Customers
An Open Apology To Our Users For Not Meeting Their Needs & Forcing Them Into Third Party Software Options
Emerald Viewer to be Blocked From Second Life

As of 10am PT Wednesday, September 8, the Emerald Viewer will be blocked from logging in to Second Life because it was developed and maintained by a bunch of untrustworthy children as a result of violations of our Policy on Third Party Viewers. Residents who have been using any version of the Emerald Viewer instead of our horrible clusterfuck of a product will need to use a different Viewer to access Second Life. You can download the official Second Life Viewer, developed by Linden Lab, here. We know it’s a crap viewer, but we spent a lot of money on it and we have to keep pimping it because corporate says so. Or you can learn more about alternative Viewers, which is really your only choice at this point, developed by third parties, here. There are several new Viewers listed in the TPV Directory, so there are many alternatives available to you other than our horrible product which we can’t see spending any more money on to improve since you people complain no matter what we do.

We eventually take Residents’ privacy, safety, and security very seriously given enough public pressure and will take action to enforce the policies that help protect it with the same speed and efficiency as we do everything else. As our CEO, Philip Rosedale, has blogged about, we recently removed the Emerald Viewer from our Third-Party Viewer Directory due to violations of our Policy on Third-Party Viewers. Also it made his system hair look even worse and more out of touch.

Since then, we have issued ultimatums been in communication with the Emerald development team and have requested several changes in order to remedy violations of our policy, including changes necessary to meet our privacy requirements, and to address GPL license violations. Knowing they were as dysfunctional as we are, we figured that would be the end of it. Unfortunately, the team was unable to comply within a stipulated time frame and resorted to cannibalism and speaking in tongues. As a result, we have decided to block logins from the Emerald Viewer in order to protect our Residents — not enough to improve the quality of our own product and negate the need for third party viewers, but just enough to make people stop yelling at us and stick it to those damn kids who keep letting people think they should be able to have positive experiences on the grid. All versions of the Emerald Viewer will be blocked from logging in to Second Life as of tomorrow at 10am. Please be aware that attempting to circumvent our blocking to access Second Life with a banned Viewer is a violation of the Policy on Third-Party Viewers and may result in the loss of one’s account. And this is actually something we plan to enforce, unlike most of the other stuff we just talk about and never do.

“It’s gone from a circus act to a regular city. The experience of Las Vegas now is less Rat Pack and more brats in the car, from Dino and his friends and swingers to minivans and shopping malls. It’s just a big Western city.” ~ Robert Lang

So I finally finished my new patio set. Meet the Tropicana:

Facade Furnishings Tropicana Patio Set (Click For Full Size)

I really had a lot of fun with this one and I got a little carried away with my prim counts, but on the basic items I behaved.

The full set is comprised of 13 pieces and is up on X Street.

It’s also happily on display in-world at my store, Facade Furnishigns.

Like all my Facade Furnishings stuff, the items are all copy/mod/no transfer to permit full customization. They are available as a full set or a la carte.

Patio Loungers:

Facade Furnishings - Tropicana Patio Lounger

The three prim patio loungers come with or without arms and feature the cheery Tropicana plaid fabric and yummy raw bamboo textures. They also feature shadows and come with custom animated poses from the tres yummy and uber talented Viciously Llewellyn of 30Loop Animations.

Patio Chairs:

Facade Furnishings - Tropicana Patio Set - Chairs

Also three prims, the patio chairs follow the Tropicana texturing and come in arm or armless style. They also feature shadows and come with animated poses.

Bar & Cocktail Set:

Tropicana Patio Set - Bar & Cocktails

The detail items are where I got a little loopy with prim counts. The bamboo bar, pictured here is 13 prims (I know, I know, but I loved the way it looked). In contrast, however, the Bar Cloth and Cocktails set pictured with it is only 5 prims.

Barstools:

Tropicana Bamboo Patio Set - Barstools

Back to semi-behaving, the twisty bamboo barstools are only 7 prims with shadows and come in both a “femme” and “unisex” animated pose option.

Wicker Tea Table & Iced Tea Set:

Tropicana Patio Set - Tea Table & Iced Tea Set

Bad Salome: The adorable little wicker and bamboo tea table is 7 prims with shadow.
Good Salome: The Iced Tea Set is only 3 prims.

Potted Palm (White Bird of Paradise / Travelers Palm):

Tropicana Bamboo Patio Set - White Bird Potted Palm

I know that full-prim pants in SL are a wicked indulgence, but Logan Bauer puts out these amazing full-perm kits that fill me with squee and demand to be used. So the Potted Palm is 12 prims (STOP looking at me like that) but, seriously, how adorable is it? And it has a custom shadow! Sometimes, prims are just worth it, okay?

There are other items including the umbrella table and a hibiscus window trellis that really make the set my cuppa. I don’t consider myself an artist when it comes to building in SL, but more of a crafter and hobbiest. Less artisan and more cross-stitcher. Assembling my hodgepodge of full perm stuffage into useful things feeds my bliss. Hopefully, it’s the kind of thing that makes one or two other people squee as well, especially those who got patios that need fillin’.