Friday, August 31, 2007

New Publishing Partner: Findingblog.com!

We would like to thank Findingblog.com for offering their directory service to help get the word out about slmt.blogspot.com.

If you would like to help, feel free to link to us, make SLMT your home page, or tell your friends!

Thanks,

Lionel
Second Life Merchant Times

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Monday, August 27, 2007

Get Slacking at Renegade Warehouse


My lack of skateboarding ability never stopped me from wanting to look good in slacker clothes, or hang around in slacker places. Imagine my delight to find Renegade Warehouse, an extremely well themed little clothes shopping district in the Berard Sim.
Atmosphere is everything at Renegade Warehouse. From the holes in the asphalt and squalid sewer ditches downstairs, to the very vending machines, the owner Kaejo DaSilva has put together an entirely pleasant SL shopping experience. I’ve run across very loyal shoppers every time I’ve visited Kaejo’s place.


Even the vending machines are in theme here

As someone who could live practically anywhere but chooses to stay in Los Angeles, I must admit to being drawn to the seedier side of life occasionally. A stroll past the very well executed wall tagging, squeaking rats and burning fire barrels at Renegade Mall fulfills the best of both worlds for me. It’s a lot like an adrenaline driven slide through parts of LA. This shopping mall will be a refuge from the glitz and glamour for this little slacker girl for some time to come.


My favorite Tee is that one right there....

During my first weeks in SL I practically lived in a couple of shirts purchased here. I found the prices to be very reasonable even by Second Life standards. The men’s clothes are as well done as the women’s. Nothing like a tattooed man in the right tank to get a girl’s blood circulating in the right direction….



In short, if you’re looking for sexy and casual clothes for men and women in a fun setting, you can’t go wrong at Renegade Warehouse.

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Sunday, August 26, 2007

For A Taste Of The SL Orient And More: Builders' Eden

Best Aabye on her Best behavior.

Big Tigers, Little Prices. L$5 apiece.

Best Aabye is the first SL player from China I've met. She's been building up her land, first into the free-rent Agent Shop, and now, Builders' Eden.


Builders' Eden is a triple treat: a mall, a contest/events area, and my favorite, Agent Shop. The mall features Levnia.C, Where Worlds Collide, JcoCool Oh's Shop at http://www.exiang.net/, and plenty of available space at L$120/week for 30 prims.

The contest area is for the public and mall vendors alike. If you join the group Agent Shop, you'll find Best throwing design contests for cool product ideas! The first design contest is for a trophy (which ties in very conveniently with the award ceremony :D ). Prizes run around L$200. Agent Shop members are also encouraged to host their own events in the contest area!

Last of all, Agent Shop is a free-rent zone, commission-based melting pot/vending spot with a unique method of merchandising. Aspiring tenants are given Best's own Magic Boxes, which hold a product and product image, and pays Best 30% when an item sells. They are then set up on a grid system. You don't have to have a mad line of products, or sell only super-expensive items. Getting an item set up for sale usually takes 5-10 minutes. I have to admit I like not being stuck with a rent tab at the end of every week and getting booted out on a slow week. Plus the no-rent option frees up money for better advertising.



If you want some items with an exotic flair, come to Builders' Eden. No duty fees either!

Best and her assistant confer in the background as their Wonder Chairs churn out L$ and the Contest Board awaits new entrants.

Best's able assistant shows off a dress at her shop in the Builders' Eden mall.

Captivating items like this await you should you find yourself homesick.

A great balance between free available vendor space and imported products.

I have no idea what those things with the pointy ears are, but I want one. Maybe several.

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Richardson Photography: RL Photography, SL Value



I stopped in Alex1 Richardson's photography shop today and found a great selection of RL art, professionally framed and arranged in a spacious gallery setting. His subjects, taken from nature, are portrayed in deep, lush colors and his photos make fine adornments for an office, club, home or other structures.




Prices are great, ranging in the low L$100s, and even better, Richardson sells L$500 gift certificates for just L$450. On a budget lower than that? Not a problem! He also sells L$250 gift certificates for L$225 and L$150 certificates for L$140.

Richardson Photography can be found at http://slurl.com/secondlife/Foale/99/190/28.

If you want to see more of his works, Alex1 also has an exhibit at Hope Capital (http://slurl.com/secondlife/Hope%20Capital/223/131/64).

Richardson Photography also sells originals for art collectors, with prices ranging at about L$6000-7000 for the only copy in SL. Again, owner Alex1 Richardson would be glad to respond to all questions in-world, and he would be glad to meet you today. Please stop on in and tell him SecondLife Merchant Times sent you!

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Saturday, August 25, 2007

FINALLY! A Good Place To Get A SecondLife Job

Ever try to apply to a single employment posting? You may as well throw a straw at a thimble while everyone else starts throwing bowling balls. Usually the IM-overwhelmed staff turns you away, or worse, ignores you completely.


James Blusterberger contemplates being treated like chopped liver after being turned away for a dancing position.

Then you have to go through Search one more time, picking through a cloud of keyword spam-enhanced advertisements. Good luck to you, sir or madam!

Fortunately, there is a solution. Second Life Jobs. Start your search easily by profession and take it from there! Avoid wearing out some poor frazzled staff member whose best answer to all your questions is a canned notecard.

Check it out today if you want extra income in SL: Second Life Jobs. And tell 'em Lionel Oliva sent you. :D


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Sunday, August 19, 2007

SecondLife Native Americana: Red Rock Mesa


For an unforgettable visit, owner Boondoggle Gruppman invites the SL public to Red Rock Mesa Sanctuary in Fucosa and Lunaris. Come walk among this expertly landscaped, attraction-dense Native American marketplace while enjoying the music of nativeradio.com!

This is one of the first sims I've been in where the points of interest spread out evenly to the vanishing point. When you are close up, Red Rock remains a visual delight. Check out the outsider art, Native Spirit Drums and Hopi pottery by Boondoggle, and Native paintings by Maria Duke! If you need to step away for an hour or so, this is a perfect place to unwind. And if you need longer, Dennis Slocombe runs the Red Rock Inn Bed & Breakfast! Best of all, more is being added to Red Mesa, including live events, a cantina, and more ruins.

Hopi bowls and Native art.

Boondoggle builds yurts for housing, and if you need a custom yurt he would be glad to work with you. He also offers landscaping services, with priority given to Native American themes.

To see just a tiny sliver of these unforgettable sims, visit http://slurl.com/secondlife/Lunalis/80/230/98.


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Friday, August 17, 2007

If You Have A Fashion "Oops", Fix It Up At LilolOops!


If you want to look smart, fresh, and oh-so-sassy, teleport your sexy self to Lilo Jun right away! She's got all the accessories you could ever want for your female avatar. She's redone the basics with a hot, well-varied selection of T-shirts, dresses, shoes, pants, even HUD earmuffs and color-changing backpacks.


You want something different, you get it at LilolOops!

Can't fit into something like this? Lilo also sells avatar parts to match!

She may have washing machines here, but the clothing quality certainly won't leave you out to dry!

Pants so hot, lawns wilt when you pass by in a pair.

These shirts are just the right Thing!

Aye, them be some sexy leggins!

BRAND NEW! Color-changing EARMUFFS!

ALSO BRAND NEW! Color-changing BACKPACKS! :D

Skirts and shoes, just go ahead. Choose.



LilolOops can be found at the following locations:

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Reignier/74/145/35

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Ganesha/179/110/22

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Le%20Cimetiere/149/162/62

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Anushka/152/52/103

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Hadong/7/153/148



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Portal to... More Portals...

The quest that began with the Techno Mages wonderful build at Blue Lagoon (Hyles) led next to Scripted Doors and Windows by Lee Ludd. For all you builders out there, novice or seasoned professional, Mr. Ludd’s shop is a “must-see.”




The scripts that operate these doors are very good. I appreciate being able to walk right up to a door and have it slide open without fuss… it makes me feel like I’m being treated like the royalty I am (LOL).

As if that weren’t enough, the artwork on some of these doors is lovely. There are a ton of choices similar to what you’d find in an upscale RL home, but there are also exquisitely crafted pieces of art.

I was also impressed by the purchasing scripts for the doors and windows. At the point of sale you get to decide whether you are purchasing single or double doors. Also, you can gain automatic discounts if you’re buying in bulk, which could be quite handy for you budding landlords out there.

In short, what started as a research trip for SL Merchant Times ended in a purchase for my own modest home. Ahem. Make that four purchases, as I couldn’t decide between the artwork, and decided that I’ll cycle my front doors based upon my moods, which can change quicker than the score at a Dodgers game.


Hmmmm... which one goes with these shoes?

If you find yourself in need of (or desire for) a lovely set of doors, visit Mr. Ludd’s shop. You won’t be disappointed.

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Thursday, August 16, 2007

Tooter Claxton Avatars & Vehicles

A shop as good-looking as its products.

To be honest, I don't buy many avatars. I kind of like the one I've got, but while checking for a skeleton avatar, I found a virtually photorealistic avatar shop arranged masterfully on... a tent trailer, of all things.

Here I found, marketed as vintage magazines, a selection of humorous avatars. I've never seen a plucked chicken avatar, lizard, lounge lizard, pink elephant, fly, rat, beer guy, voodoo doll, Brunnhilde (aka the renowned opera singer), eye beast, skeleton, walking hand, or even (perhaps because I never call lately) My Aunt. But they're all here, all of them high-quality and backed up with sample images before you buy. Prices range from L$50 to L$250. I tried out the Little Bug avatar and one girl wanted to squash me and another noob chased me around without saying a word for two minutes. To say they evoke a reaction is an understatement.


Clever.

Shown here is the Walking Hand avatar. I almost bought it, but settled on a rusty airplane for L$10 (I got what I paid for, though I would have paid to be able to slip a Collide Go Boom script inside and send it to the bottom of a hill in a pile of prim wreckage). The other vehicles there, including the Thunderville motorcycle, are sleek-looking vintage vehicles any gruff burly guy would be glad to call his own. I didn't test them this time around, though I have my eye on that low-riding Thunderville.

Tooter Claxton's mini-shop (with landmark to the main store) can be found at http://slurl.com/secondlife/Anushka/186/70/102

The main store can be found at http://slurl.com/secondlife/Oculea/182/217/49, next to Tooter's up-and-coming project, Salon des Clochards Riches.

Thanks to Mr. Claxton for visiting SLMT and I'll be back for the Thunderville! :D

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Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Welcome To The SecondLife Merchant Times!

Hello and welcome to the SecondLife Merchant Times, a blog devoted to the best, most unusual businesses in SL.

We have upgraded our template and will be transferring posts over from our backup site at http://slmt2.blogspot.com. We hope to move four posts a day but in the meantime if you would like to visit it, please do so. Thank you for visiting SLMT and we hope to see you again soon! Ace reporter Traci Yiyuan is hard at work on the next feature!

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Go Fly A ... PEACH?!? Eccentricities by vanettda Lassard

Today it was a hop, skip and a jump from unusual to eccentric to refreshingly bizarre. Where I landed was vanettda Lassard's store, Eccentricities.

Eccentricities in Straminsky. Eccentricities in Straminsky. Extra mincities in... Dang it!



Great creations from the Spirit Lodge, The Sultan's Bed, and Breakwater Shop Space to the Furry Home, Roman Hideaway and Upscale Shop! And the SLX link takes you to even more!

After walking into the store area I saw some freebies, including popcorn bowls, a primitive avatar (no, the avatar wasn't primitive... just prehistoric!), and fairy wings. Clicking on the SLX link, I saw:

"That's right ... a flying peach, complete with seagulls and spider threads. It is not a complex build nor will it change the world, but let me tell you when you hang with a few of your friends inside the flying peach it is hard not to do so with a smile on your face.



Some friends of mine refer to it as the "un-sky box."

Buy the Flying Peach and get the optional deck and couch for FREE.

The Peach comes with three parts; The Flying Peach itself, a peach leaf deck with railing, and a couch.

Why the couch? Well, it's like this; I tried to build a perfect door for the peach but each attempt took away from its overall "peachiness." so one day while I struggled with the balance of the universe I decided to sit on the leaf and think this problem out. Since the peach as a whole (there is a circular couch with poses inside) is linked together I was magically transported to one of the linked poses inside.

I found the door! So now I was sitting inside my wonderful transparent peach ... but how do I get out?

Yep ... a couch strategically placed on the outside of the peach.

Sit on the leaf to get in ... sit on the couch to get out. No messy scripts!

Of course the whole set up is copy/mod so you can add as many poses or scripts as you want. As a matter of fact, you can remove the deck, ditch the couch, drop in a vehicle script and FLY the SL skies in a one-of-a-kind-aircraft.

Personally I just like to sit with my lady and watch the sunsets from 800m. Peaceful, alone, and wonderfully unique.

* Lots of custom one-of-a-kind textures
* Copy / Mod
* 55 prims (even less if you ditch the deck and couch!)
* Great place to sit and hang with friends.
* Don't like transparent vistas? Select inside texture, set trans to 0 and you will be surrounded by a beautiful star scape!

Feel free to IM vanettda Lassard for more information or a private viewing.
Or visit vanettda's blog for all his building updates!



Eccentricities can be found at http://slurl.com/secondlife/Straminsky/184/48/502

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Update: Satir Textures

Pardon our Satir-ical take on this fine textures store in the retro-post I had to make (dated 8-5-2000). Hopefully these snapshots should help cleanse the visual palette and show you what the store has to offer:

Architectural magnificence: Satir's specialty.

Superb texture quality for the aspiring builder.

Ideal surfaces for covering castle walls.

Around 250 well-done textures in all await your appraising eye at http://slurl.com/secondlife/Yass/14/243/302. Satir's Textures is conveniently located in JC's Cove. Visit the Cove for pottery, particles, textures, fine buildings, aviation gear, superhero avatars, and a copy of the SecondLife Merchant Times!

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