Been busy

http://www.electricvenus.com

Beta testing open

...

PX2 Closed until further Notice

Due to the current climate in Second Life I am not prepared to make any new items that can be stolen by anyone without risk of punishment from LL.

Sorry to all those who supported and encouraged me durning the short time I produced stuff.

The shop will remain open - but I wont be adding new items until LL decide to punish thieves and show us they are punishing thieves.

W
10/4 out

challenge to phillip

http://forums.secondlife.com/showthread.php?t=125506

Dear Phillip
From the transcript of your meeting with content creators it is clear that you are under the impression that proof of document origination is not viable through layered original psd files.

While this method of proof is used in other areas all the time, you are unwilling to accept this as proof as you believe it is reasonable to assume the documents can be faked.

Transcript here: http://forums.secondcitizen.com/sho...p?t=1672&page=2

With this in mind I offer you a challenge - quite a simple challenge.

I provide you with a flattened image here and you use your photoshop skills to reverse engineer this document into a layered photoshop document that can fool people it is the original when being compared side-by-side to the original psd.

To be generous I will also allow you to get help from one other person. To be even more generous I will give you 7 days to complete this, a normal thief wouldn't have so much time.

An impartial jury of 4 people will be set up upon completion of the task to evaluate the final psd's and to be fair to both parties we should choose a further 2 people each.
These people should have good knowledge of graphic production though, this is the only real stipulation.

Here is the image to re-create:


I look forward to seeing your results as do many content creators.

The point of this exercise is to find out just how easy it is to re-create layered photoshop documents from a flattened image.

Red floral set

This is a 9 piece set I released today, lingerie and swimwear.
There are too many thongs in SL
This set contains bra, vest, bikini top, bikini bottoms/panties, garterbelt, garterbest without panties, gloves and 2 pairs of stockings.



Tonight I also installed an update for my selling boxes. Michael Revere was kind enough to add a banlist to my Vendomatic system, so texture thieves beware - you might soon find yourself unable to access any shops in SL.
This was an idea I came up with a few days ago and made sure I had Linden approval.
Thank you Torley :)

Other recent releases include Le Tartlet, which is my take on the classic French floozie.
I released this in time for the world cup final between France and Italy, sadly Fance didn't win :(

My letter to Phillip Linden

Dear Mr Linden
I am quite new to SL, I love it and I saw its potential immediately.
I can honestly say there is nothing I don't like about SL except this issue - and to be honest I worry a lot about it.

I am writing to you regarding the hot debate surrounding the theft of designers work (textures and artwork) within SL.

I read that you said you wont waste time creating inadequate solutions which I think is a fair comment, but what I would like to offer is simple information, information you can use should you decide to get pro-active on this issue.

In many cases where I and my partner have successfully had websites taken offline for artwork theft, it has been a simple and fast procedure that is done through sending one e-mail to the web host including;
1. Attached original files
2. A brief statement claiming the artwork is mine and proof is provided.
3. Attached digital copy of my signature.

I hope to see something like this implemented into SL so I can continue enjoying it.

Defining textures.
Textures fall into two clear categories as defined below.

A. "Generic" textures.
Examples: Brickwork, grass, wood, marble, fabric patterns.
These files are originated either by photography, illustration or a combination of the two (e.g. retouched photographs).

B. "Artwork" textures.
Examples: Clothing garments, avatar skins
These are not simple, flat, repeating images.

For example in the case of clothing garments each garment comprises;
1. A texture - the fabric pattern
2. Shading - highlights, shadows, creases and folds
3. An alpha channel - the pattern or cut of the garment.

When combined these three elements create a unique piece of artwork that is next to impossible to be accidentally duplicated.

How to prove ownership.
The proof of ownership of a texture doesn't have to be a complicated issue.
In the case of an ownership dispute LL could issue both parties to provide 'original' artwork.

All designers work in 2D digital artwork programs for example Photoshop and paintshop.
When creating textures or digital artwork every designer will work with a layered document with different graphical elements on different layers - finally saving as a flattened .tga file for SL upload.

This layered file is the 'master file'. A thief will never have access to this file and its contents.

In the case of 100% photographic textures, digital cameras record info in all images taken, often referred to as metadata. When the creator uploads to SL as a .tga file this information is stripped, so only he/she has access to this metadata as someone who makes a copy, makes a copy of the .tga file in SL - not the original.

The genuine designer will be able to provide an original 'layered' document. e.g.. a Photoshop .psd file or paintshop equivalent.

The thief simply cannot provide this document.

In extreme cases the thief may try to fake a layered document, but this would be easy to spot for anyone with experience in graphic software.

As a final measure LL can check file creation dates, where the original will always show that it was created earlier than the fake.

The cost to LL
For this to work LL would need a minimum of one person dealing with these issues that should have knowledge of, and access to graphic software - Photoshop, paintshop etc. A 'texture detective' if you will.

When a theft report is sent, a generic mailing asking to submit original artwork in a zip file should be issued to both parties.

where no artwork is sent, the case should be handled as it is at present.

When artwork is submitted it goes to the artwork detective, who can use professional judgement to determine the real original and the fake. Further action can then be taken based on their decision.

I feel its important for me to re-iterate that these steps only need to be taken when original artwork is submitted, if the original owner cannot provide a master file then the "case" should follow the current system - thereby reducing un necessary time and cost to LL.

Although this mail is a bit long and I appreciate you are very busy, I hope you managed to read it or even pass it on to a relevant person. I have tried to convey how simple this solution can be, and its a solution that is used in other areas, e.g. website theft etc.

Keep up the good work on SL

regards

Wanda Rich

SL transparency bug

How annoying is this? Very!

I don't know how long this bug has been around or what the problem is (model or map) but it seems impossible to match edges with transparency.
I've matched plenty of item edges without problem when they are 100% opaque or 100% transparent, but when you stray from those numbers you get white lines along edges.



As a test for anyone, make a 512x512 document and fill the alpha with 50% black. Then fill the standard layer with white or black.
Now apply it as a pants texture and a shirt texture.
Make sure all the edges are at the maximum setting and look at the holes along the edges :(

A bigger image as jpeg compression makes it difficult to see;

Finishing the new store

I'm really happy with the new store and I have got a lot of satisfaction from building it.

Exterior:

As you can see i've used a nice dark blue colour scheme with neutral pale touches in the decor and floor.
I went a bit mad outside with plants and flowers from Dolly and Lilith's Garden Centre. They have really nice things in their outdoor centre, if you are looking for plants then you must visit the place!
The second floor is my own private space for creating and hanging out with friends.

Interior:


I decided to be more graphical this time, using typography on the walls in the same colour scheme instead of big signs all over - which works quite well I think.



This time I've also removed floating text from all the boxes - this is an eyesore to me and I think its nicer without (especially for my neighbours).

I invested $2000L in a JEVN system but alas it was one big problem for me (you can find my review on slexchange if interested) so I went back to the cheap and cheerful Vendomatic system by Michael Revere. This is by far the best system I've seen in SL so far for selling out of single boxes. I contacted Michael and asked if it was possibile to get the system modded to not show floating text - in 5 mins he sent me an updated version - so I'm a real happy bunny again :)