As much as I enjoyed having a Second Life version of Elyran Telecom, I felt that, on January 3, 2021, it was time to lay the pet project to rest after 4 years, as it was getting in the way of my friendships on SL.

However, Elyran Telecom is defunct only in Second Life, and I've since decided that its future lies in games like Starbound, Minecraft... and programs like RPG Maker XP, which I've rediscovered in my Steam library. It's worth mentioning that RPG Maker XP was gifted to me in 2018 by one of my best friends on both Discord and Second Life.

I figure that, with RPG Maker XP, I could make a "virtual tour" tech demo map of Planet Vasti, thus including Elyran Telecom as one of many buildings one could walk around in and talk to non-player characters (NPCs). When it is complete, I will offer it for free on my website, just like the photos and music that I offer on my profile. Of course, I still have yet to locate the assets that I would like to use with RPG Maker. I will still use Second Life to develop my fictions' characters, though I'm also considering using the snapshots I take in SL as character art in the RPG Maker project.

(I'm sorry I'm up so late... the time was 1:21 AM Eastern when I wrote this, but I couldn't fall asleep.)

It saddens me to say that, after 34 years of service, my Panasonic T325 typewriter is no longer functional. Several spokes on the cup-wheel have broken free during this month's testing, rendering the typewriter almost completely unusable. Since replacement cup-wheels are rare and overly expensive, I plan on harvesting the parts that I want from it, and recycling the rest. Someday, when I have a little more room to put stuff, I'll probably get another electronic typewriter.

The typewriter was my oldest piece of office equipment, a title now given to my Handspring Visor PDA from 1999. I will definitely miss the Panasonic T325.

As some of you may already know, on the night of Christmas we lost a dear friend and loving family member: Evan Stutman, better known as Sirocco Moonkill. He was 36.

Evan and I had been online friends for 10 years; we met while chatting on Second Life and became fast friends. He and I had a lot in common, from having a mutual birthday (December 13), to having interests in wolves, video games and Pokemon. Evan's kindness never went unnoticed in our group. He was always there for us in both the good times and through some of our toughest times of our lives, and our friendship was honest and true.

I am truly grateful and honored to have known him. I will miss him beyond measure. Godspeed, Evan.

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Please stay safe, everyone.

And don't eat too many Christmas cookies. XD

There have been many Christmas cassettes that my parents would play on the home stereo while decorating the house or in our minivan during our travels, and there is this one album that has stuck with me all the way into my adulthood. It's called The Gift: Acoustic Offerings for the Holiday Season, and it was recorded by Eric Tingstad and Nancy Rumbel in 1985. My parents' copy of the cassette was digitized in 2006 and subsequently burned to CD, so that my siblings and I may have copies of our own. I have also had the pleasure of finding a cassette copy of The Gift more recently at a library book sale, literally months before the pandemic began.

The good news is, the full playlist can be found on YouTube. :3
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?li.....Pi-wzV4Kkg9d84

On previous birthdays, I've written a sentimental look back on my life. This year, I've decided to set aside those sentiments and write something very nerdy.

Over 12,000 sunrises and sunsets have occurred since my birth on December 13, 1986. How I came about that calculation:
- I used a website to help me quickly calculate how many leap years have occurred between 1986 and 2020. Those leap years were 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, and 2020.
- Since there have been 9 8 leap years since I was born, I multiplied 9 8 by 366 and got 3,294 2,928 days.
- Since there have been 25 26 regular years since I was born, I multiplied 25 26 by 365 and got 9,125 9,490 days.
- Adding it all together, my initial total is 12,419 12,418. As I was born late on a Saturday night (11:11 PM, if you want to be precise), I subtracted one day from that total for a grand total of 12,417 sunrises and sunsets since December 13, 1986.

I admit I had previously never been a fan of mathematics, though in more recent years, I would say that math has grown on me. ^^;

Recently, I've been offered - by my sister-in-law - a free upgrade from my iPhone 6s to an unlocked iPhone 7 that she discontinued using in favor of a better model. I was a bit apprehensive at first, not knowing how much data I'd have to back up from the old phone, but the apprehension was quelled by the fact that iPhones and iPads with iOS 11 and later, offer a simpler and more direct means of migrating data from old devices to new ones; all it takes is to set the old device next to the new one, and following the prompts on both screens. As such, my migration went smoothly, and all that was left to do was take the SIM card out of my 6s, and put it into the 7; thankfully, my SIM card ejection pin was on hand. So far, I'm loving the iPhone 7, despite the absence of the internal 3.5 mm headphone jack like on my old iPhone 6s.

Incidentally, the iPhone 7 is the seventh phone I've ever owned since I began using cell phones in 2004.

After having my old and very basic chair for over 5 years, I decided to order a new office chair on Staples' website, and little did I know that it was actually on sale; regular price was about US$130, but I paid US$80. Assembly couldn't have been easier, and it's quite comfortable with its mesh back, adjustable tilt tension, stationary arm rests, and sumptuously padded cloth seat. Overall, I'm very pleased with the chair.

After many weeks of taking care of clients' computers and other electronic devices (hence my slowness with uploading new content), I've finally gotten around to posting my two excerpts from my ongoing literature project, The Tekana Galaxy Chronicles. I've also reformatted the original Word documents to make laying out the pages easier for me, though you will probably not notice much of a difference in how things look. Nevertheless, I'm happy to announce my first page to feature downloadable content: https://rinelyran1977.wixsite.com/e.....dia/literature

I'll of course let you know as I begin uploading more stuff for you guys.

My website is now live, and I've also added a link to it on my profile page, in case this journal gets lost in the shuffle.

Come check it out at: https://rinelyran1977.wixsite.com/e.....n-visual-media

I haven't uploaded any content as of yet, as I'm still learning the ropes on WIX. Let me know what you think of my website so far. :3

I am pleased to announce that I now have a free website with WIX. I am still polishing the design of the front page and I haven't yet published it, but hey, I think I'm off to a good start. I also decided to implement a mobile layout in addition to the standard desktop layout.

I am also considering posting more than ZX Spectrum art on the site as well, stuff like 3D models, pixel art, Second Life snapshots, and my literary work. However, due to possible copyright concerns, my music will remain here on FA, because I'm not sure how WIX would take to cover versions of video game music and whatnot. I just don't want to take any chances with uploading my music to my website, after having had a takedown on DeviantArt due to alleged "copyright infringement". It's also worth mentioning that DeviantArt is indeed owned by WIX.

On May 14th, I initially proposed a plan to offer selected SL snapshots for loading on the Sinclair ZX Spectrum computer from 1982, a plan which I've since revised to include more systems than just the ZX. This revised plan would give a more in-depth look at what Retrospecs - the app I planned on using to generate the ZX Spectrum image programs - is capable of producing.

Today, after my having been delayed by three weeks of work, I decided to email the developer of Retrospecs about what users can and cannot legally do with the art exported from Retrospecs. He indicated that users are free to use the generated art as they see fit, and though users are encouraged to mention that the art was generated within the Retrospecs app and add a link to the developer's website, crediting is absolutely not required. As for me, I think it's only right that I credit him for making my project possible.

So now, my next step is to set up a website where I can host my Retrospecs creations, as well as any custom palettes that I've created. I'll keep you guys posted as things move forward.

So I have been playing around with the Retrospecs app for iPhone and iPad, when I thought, "Hey, I should make some of my Second Life snapshots available for loading on the Sinclair ZX Spectrum."

For those who don't know, the Sinclair ZX Spectrum was a popular, budget-friendly, British 8-bit computer introduced in 1982, and discontinued in 1992. The ZX Spectrum's most popular means of loading and saving data is via data cassette, and thus I would be converting a few of my SL snapshots to four formats. And of course, I would be offering all four file types for free.

- .PNG - To be used both as a preview of the SL snapshot, and as an ordinary image file to be viewed on any modern computer.
- .WAV - To be recorded to a cassette or played directly from a computer or media player (e.g. iPod, iPhone, Android phone), to an actual ZX Spectrum computer.
- .TZX and .TAP - To be loaded within an emulator, in case one wants to experience the ZX Spectrum but has no access to or cannot afford a working unit. Also can be loaded onto a tape emulator for a smartphone or tablet, or onto any specialized emulation device that plugs into the Spectrum's tape input and output.

If you would like to try it out for yourself, Retrospecs is available initially for free on the iOS App Store, and offers just a few filters to whet your appetite; when you're ready to get more out of Retrospecs, a one-time in-app purchase of £3.99 ($4.88 US) will unlock everything else. In my opinion, the in-app purchase is definitely worth the $5.

Retrospecs is compatible with iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad devices running iOS 9.0 and newer. At this time, an Android version of Retrospecs has not been released, though the author is considering porting it to Android.

I'll start by saying that I have just finished gleaning DeviantArt for resources such as paintbrush shapes and backdrops, and so I would like to ask you a favor: if you also use Krita, what are your favorite free paintbrushes, backdrops and other resources that are compatible with Krita, and where might I find them?

Your feedback is very much appreciated. ^w^

On Friday, April 10th, my new laptop arrived safe and sound, and I've spent the better part of the past week getting things set up the way I would like them:

- My Windows 10 Pro retail license, which I originally purchased in 2016, was successfully activated, despite being previously activated on my old Lenovo laptop.

- Tons of Windows Updates were installed until there was nothing left to update.

- Basic office software like LibreOffice and Adobe Acrobat Reader were installed.

- Music software was installed, and my project data, audio samples, and patch library were transferred to the hard drive that was once part of my iMac. The last of my project data and patch library were transferred over as of last night.

- Music library was transferred over, and my iPad and iPhone are now associated with the new laptop.

- Steam, Starbound, Firestorm Viewer (for Second Life), and Discord are now installed.

Like the Volkswagen Passat that I share with my RL girlfriend/SL wife Elly, I'm forever learning new things about this computer. ^^;

As he was raised by Czech and Slovakian parents, my maternal grandfather would say: “Christos voskrese!” (Christ is Risen!)

...And we would reply: “Voistinu voskrese!” (Indeed He is Risen!)

So today, my iMac decided to start randomly shutting itself down. I went to look up what might be the issue, and according to iFixit (my trusted source for repairing computer equipment), the power supply unit (PSU) is faulty. To replace the PSU for the iMac (it’s a proprietary part), costs $200. I was like, “Yeah... no.” Instead of wasting $200 on a new power supply for a 10-year-old computer, I opted to instead put the $200 toward paying off the Lenovo Flex I mentioned earlier, and I did indeed go ahead and order it on Amazon.

With all that being said, I will be without a computer for a while. I do apologize for any inconveniences that this may have caused you. I will definitely keep you all updated.

I've been pretty busy this afternoon getting things set up, so I can resume working on new music for you guys to enjoy. Nevertheless, the Windows side of my iMac is all set up and good to go.

I've also taken some time to reconsider who will be able view my submissions. From January 1st, 2019 up until today, only those who had put me on their watch list were able access my profile; now, anyone can access it, regardless of whether or not they have an account on FurAffinity. I did this mainly to make things easier for some of my Discord contacts, as not all of them have an account here on FA.

If you notice anyone trying to be dishonest with my work, please let me know right away.

Some great news to share with you all.

I have recently rediscovered Boot Camp, a feature for macOS that allows Windows to be run directly on Macintosh hardware. To me, this is an important rediscovery, as from a performance standpoint, software like VMWare and Oracle VirtualBox just don't cut it for audio work, although the said software is great for managing old hardware like my Palm PDA and TI-83 calculator, to name a couple examples.

So far, I've installed my copy of Windows 7 and all the necessary drivers for my iMac (known by Apple as "Boot Camp Support Software"), and in the following weeks I'll have all the necessary system updates and my music software installed, as well.

As for the successor to my Lenovo G500S laptop, I've selected another Lenovo portable, the Lenovo Flex. The Flex is a "convertible" laptop, meaning it blends the functions of a tablet PC with those of a traditional laptop. The model I've selected has a quad-core Intel CPU, 8 GB of RAM (same as my old laptop), 512 GB of solid-state storage, 2 USB 3.0 ports, 1 USB-C port, and an HDMI output, among other features.

More info on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-Flex-.....dp/B0868JGLR3/

On March 27, 2020 at 7:58 PM Eastern Daylight Time, the Lenovo G500S laptop that I've had since October 2013 has officially bitten the dust. I will be out of a laptop until I can earn money to purchase a new unit, and I'll be working from my Mid-2010 iMac for the time being. Thank God for backup computers.

On a good note, however, the drives are still very much functional. I will see about creating a virtual machine from my solid-state startup drive, on my iMac, so I can continue where I left off.

In response to the stay-at-home order regarding the Coronavirus - an order issued by the governor of Ohio - I've been wanting to make use of some of the items I've been collecting on Second Life since I opened my account on May 21, 2012. That's when I decided to build an office out of an old club skybox I bought some years ago. Having been met with the frustrations of getting furniture positioned and objects placed just right, I sought a solution that would take the sting out of re-rezzing my skybox, so I found the CasperTech Rez2 system. This awesome little freebie makes it so much easier to create building rezzers just like the pros do, and it only takes seconds to rez everything, not hours.

https://marketplace.secondlife.com/.....z-Free/1579760

In the box, you get a script, an anchoring prim, and an easy-to-follow instruction manual in English, French, and German. If you are interested in using the Rez2 system, my suggestion is to append something to end of the item names, to make it easy to discern them from the rest of your inventory. In my case, because I have an older version, I added " - Rez-Free" to the end of the items for my skybox.

I recommend that you try it out for yourself; it just might make your life easier.

I also apologize for making this sound like a sales pitch. XD

Now that I've gotten used to recording with my Samson GoMic USB microphone...

I was going to write a review of the microphone, but I thought that I'd let it speak for itself through recording sound effects (SFW only), which would then be offered for you to use freely in any of your audio projects. Crediting me for the sound effects would be optional.

I'm also considering offering some of the impulse response files that I have created myself. An impulse response (IR) file is like an audio sample of a real-life acoustic environment like a church, concert hall, or even a guitar amp cabinet, and you import the IR file into a plugin called a "convolver", which reads the audio file, and recreates that acoustic environment through computer software. I use IR files a lot when I give my drum samples that 1980s feel.

It's close enough to January 1st, so I'll post this now...

I am now accepting commissions for editing any Second Life snapshots that you may have. The pricing is on a pay-what-you-wish basis, with a base price of ten Linden Dollars (L$10) to a maximum of L$500; if you've been on Second Life long enough, you'll know that the L$10 will cover upload fees. For the actual edits, I will be offering anything from very basic to very advanced, depending on how complex you want your edited snapshots to be. Examples of snapshot edits can be found here.

If you're interested, feel free to leave a shout or a private message. If you have Discord, I can be gotten a hold of there as well.

Today is my 33rd birthday... I don't feel any different than when I was 32. ^^;

So I was sorting through my archive of digital photos, and I found a picture my brother had taken on the morning of my first Black Friday experience, and the photo shows me at Walmart, in line at checkout with a boxed red/black Nintendo DS Lite. I went to get info on the picture, and it turns out that it was taken on November 27, 2009 at 5:16 AM (Eastern). I originally bought the DS Lite as a replacement for the original-style Nintendo DS, which had fallen off of my nightstand and broke the center hinge earlier that month.

Ten years later, the DS Lite has seen a couple chips of paint, and the L and R buttons got a little bit finicky over the years (oddly enough, they start working normally for about 3 hours after blowing into them), but other than those very minor issues, the system as a whole still works flawlessly. In more recent years, I decided to add a screen protector the to bottom touch screen, to help prolong the life of the touch screen. I just happened to have a screen protector was too small for my Handspring Visor PDA, but big enough to be cropped down to the screen dimensions of the DS Lite. I've also found a DS flash cart for just $5 at a consignment shop, though I probably will only use it for music, photos, homebrew games and programs, just to be both safe and legal.

Today is  shino.muramasa's birthday, so be sure to give her plenty of birthday hugs. Happy birthday, Ell.