4 of the BEST (Part Deux)

Jeepers has done it again. You can now pick up 4 of the BEST brown shoes from Jeepers, in one convenient and reasonably priced package. Included are a pair of brown DB desert boots with crepe soles, a pair of Kool Kats 2-tone brown suede slip-ons, a pair of cocoa brown Vader's sneakers, and to top it off, a pair of brown Trashville harness boots. All 4 for L500. Deal!

Waiting for marketplace.secondlife.com...

If you've ever had the misfortune to use the Second Life Marketplace, you'll have spent much time staring at these words down in the bottom left-hand corner of the screen: "Waiting for marketplace.secondlife.com..."

I've finally completed something I've been putting off for ages: updating the Jeepers Marketplace. This is no insignificant task. I have almost 400 different products to be entered into the Marketplace system. And each step of this process is made more tedious and laborious because of the ill thought-out design of the Second Life Marketplace.

Take the Manage Listings page. Marketplace allows you to have up to 100 items per page. Fine. But why place the "Next Page" button at the foot of the page, instead of at the top of the page? Do I really have to scroll down through every item, on every page, just to click the Next button? This is bad page layout, and there's no excuse for it.

Here's another example: Why does the first column in Inventory default to the Date going from earliest to the most recent entries? This is not the most convenient or useful way to order a list. Now, listings can be ordered differently, but it has to be done every time the page is updated. This is when those words appear "Waiting for marketplace.secondlife.com..." Why can't items be re-ordered permanently in a way that suits the user?

Here's another completely unnecessary step that could have been eliminated with good design: Every time you want to upload an image, you are taken first to this insert:-

This pop-up informs you of the requirements for uploading an image: minimum and recommended dimensions, aspect ration and file type. Important information, but do we need to be reminded of it every time we upload an image? Only after we "Click here to select an image to upload" are you allowed to proceed.

I have always enjoyed the time I've spent working in Second Life. There's a certain amount of virtual physical labor exerted in the creation process. This is as it should be. A lot of that time is spent moving objects around on the screen, using the keyboard and mouse. Second Life was built on the untold millions of hours that individuals have spent creating this incredibly rich, diverse world. I like the fact that there is an investment of time spent in creating objects in-world; that is as it should be. For without effort, what merit has reward?

Which is why marketplace is such an insult to users. Every wasted click in Marketplace is a click I could have used doing something else in Second Life. This seems transparently obvious, and leads inexorably to the conclusion that the people at Linden Labs don't give a shit about Second Life's users, otherwise they wouldn't have created such a crappy Marketplace. QED.

Jeepers Shoes for Men on the Move!!!

"In a moved that has stunned Industry insiders, Jeepers Shoes for Men has moved its main store from the Shoes sim, to the nearby Men sim. Distance-wise, it's 3 sims west; you can almost see it. Size-wise, the new store has a smaller footprint, but feels spacious. Old customers will feel right at home, newcomers will be surprised at the sheer variety of shoe styles and colors to be found at this venerable men's shoe-store. Steely-eyed Epy "Trench" Trenchmouth said "Jeepers is proud to be with the Men, (and a big shout out to Xplorer and Draco for their help)".

It's true shoe fans, Jeepers has a new home. And guess what, it's even better than before! A smaller store means less walking, and longer hours and shorter lines make shopping fun again! To celebrate the opening of Jeepers Shoes for Men at Men (170, 159, 37)[SLURL/men/70/159/37/], a complimentary pair of Orwell black suede Monk Strap shoes await the visitor. Don't delay. Update your Landmarks.

New Strike 2 Bowling Shirts!!!

Big news on the SL bowling scene: Strike 2 Bowling Shoes have been named official footwear of Bergsons Bowling, Second Life's premier supplier of bowling equipment.

To celebrate this benediction, Jeepers has added new colors to the already extensive Strike 2 line of bowling shoes including Brown & Gold, Gray & White, Green & White and Purple & Violet.

In response to many requests, Jeepers is delighted to announce the introduction of Strike 2 Bowling Shirts. These brightly colored, vintage, unisex bowling shirts are decorated with embroidered designs on the back and come in shirt length and jacket length versions. A total of 16 different designs are on display at the Jeepers Main Store. Custom orders for your team are welcomed, just contact Eponymous Trenchmouth for details.

Bye bye Subscribe-O-Matic

As you know, my Group updates are infrequent. Up til now, I've been using the Subscribe-O-Matic system to handle membership. I just discovered that since I haven't posted for 5 months, it will cost me L10000 to update my subscription. So I'm deleting my Subscribe-O-Matic inviter, and going back to using Second Life Groups to communicate with my fans.

Marketplace Update

Second Life Marketplace is a mess. If you do a Merchant search for Eponymous Trenchmouth on the Second Life Marketplace (https://marketplace.secondlife.com/stores/2235), you will now see a warning banner across the top of the page:-

I have placed this on the page, because one third of the products shown don't belong to me, though some of they have my photos. I have deleted the contents of my online Merchant Inventory, item by item, all 440 items, but this strange page cannot be removed. Thank you migration team, courtesy of Linden Labs.

My solution to this apparently unsolveable problem is to create a brand new Jeepers Marketplace (https://marketplace.secondlife.com/stores/150189), with fully functioning features, owned by Wilde Potato, alter ego of Eponymous Trenchmouth, Cobbler-in-Chief, Jeepers Shoes for Men. At which point, I should point out that there is in fact a financial disincentive to customers wishing to use the online store. Jeepers much prefers you to come on down to the old store, and feast your eyes on all those lovely shoes you never knew you needed, until now...

Introducing Wilde Potato

Hello, my name is Wilde Potato, and I am the alter ego of Eponymous Trenchmouth, Cobbler-in-Chief, Jeepers Shoes for Men.

I will be the figurehead of a brand new Jeepers Marketplace with fully functioning features, replacing the inoperable and apparently undeleteable old marketplace owned by Eponymous Trenchmouth.

For all matters concerning shoes, please contact Eponymous Trenchmouth.