The Guardian for this meeting was Agatha Macbeth. The comments are by Agatha Macbeth.

Agatha Macbeth: Yay
Wol Euler: all on yer own?
Agatha Macbeth: No, you're here too :p
Wol Euler smiles.
Agatha Macbeth: Actually I was last week
Agatha Macbeth: I left after half an hour
Wol Euler: :(
Agatha Macbeth: New skin?
Wol Euler: I was still flying then
Wol Euler: yeah, the newest from Pulse
Wol Euler: trying a set of demos
Agatha Macbeth: ooh let's see
Wol Euler: okay
Agatha Macbeth: Wow you look completely different
Wol Euler smiles.
Wol Euler: I think it's the cheek highlight, gives me strong cheekbones
Wol Euler: and tapers my chin
Agatha Macbeth: mmm
Wol Euler: good makeup can do wonders :)
Wol Euler: even in SL
Agatha Macbeth: This is true
Agatha Macbeth: Your eyes look different especially
Agatha Macbeth: I've had the same skin for ages now
Wol Euler: I look a bit like Bjork :)
Agatha Macbeth smiles
Wol Euler: that icelandic je ne sais quoi
Agatha Macbeth: You did when you had that pigtail hair on
Wol Euler: looks quite a bit younger than my usual skin, now that I come to study it
Agatha Macbeth: Mmm
Agatha Macbeth: It *is* a female skin I take it?
Wol Euler: :-P
Agatha Macbeth: Just wondered
Agatha Macbeth: Maybe it's the short hair
Wol Euler: well, I could take off the skirt and prove it :-P
Agatha Macbeth: Ah, but you can wear a male skin with a female shape and vv, no?
Wol Euler: of course
Wol Euler: but they look odd
Agatha Macbeth: Well some people contrive the odd look
Wol Euler: unless made to be androgynous, like the Excess skins
Agatha Macbeth: Yep
Agatha Macbeth: I'm sure Fracturelings have done it :p
Wol Euler smiles.
Wol Euler: no names.
Agatha Macbeth: Of course
Agatha Macbeth: I came to Storm's session earlier, only two of us then too
Wol Euler: the 7am?
Agatha Macbeth: Yah
Agatha Macbeth: He was telling me all about his virtual flying
Wol Euler: ah :)
Wol Euler listens.
Agatha Macbeth: Apparently there are SL-like things where you can be just a pilot
Wol Euler: virtual worlds dedicated to flying?
Agatha Macbeth: Fly a plane the safe way
Agatha Macbeth: Yep
Agatha Macbeth: So Stormy says
Agatha Macbeth: He says he spends more time there than SL these days
Wol Euler: hmmmmm
Agatha Macbeth: Apparently he has (or used to have) a pilot license in RL
--BELL--1315
Agatha Macbeth: Have you tried any other worlds apart from SL?
Wol Euler: only game worlds
Wol Euler: actually one other non-game
Wol Euler: which was in beta test at the time and never made it to go live
Agatha Macbeth: Oh
Wol Euler: it was pretty crappy, so no loss
Agatha Macbeth nods
Agatha Macbeth: I have been on Opensim, but wasn't impressed
Wol Euler: opensim 2013 is just SL 2006
Wol Euler: *still*
Agatha Macbeth: Yes, seems primitive
Agatha Macbeth: But I have no real desire to go and check them out
Wol Euler: nor I
Agatha Macbeth: I'd miss my SL inventory for a start
Wol Euler: true
Wol Euler: I'd miss my appearance :/
Agatha Macbeth: Yeh
Wol Euler: just a sec, I've just noticed how filthy my glasses are. back in a bit
Agatha Macbeth: 0.0
Wol Euler: there, much better!
Agatha Macbeth: You can see now?
Wol Euler: *clearly now, yes
Wol Euler: :)
Agatha Macbeth: Now the rain has gone
Wol Euler: exactly :)
Wol Euler: I knew you'd get it
Agatha Macbeth: You can see all obstacles in your way then?
Wol Euler: well, most of them
Agatha Macbeth: Mind you avoiding them is another matter
Wol Euler: exactly
Wol Euler: some of them come disguised as good ideas
Agatha Macbeth: Ha
Agatha Macbeth: 'Hello, I'm a fake good idea'
Wol Euler nods.
Wol Euler: "pleased to meet you, come on in"
Agatha Macbeth: When are you flying off again?
Wol Euler: the 19th I think
Agatha Macbeth: Hardly seemed worth coming back
Wol Euler: well we have a competition due on Jan 18
Agatha Macbeth: Hope your mother is coping alone
Wol Euler: and no way to do that in only 16 days in January
Agatha Macbeth: Ah right
Wol Euler: she's struggling a bit, but being brave about it
Agatha Macbeth: Aww
Agatha Macbeth: Must be strange for her
Agatha Macbeth: A bit empty
Wol Euler: very
Wol Euler: that is the biggest problem, I think
Wol Euler: that empty house
Wol Euler: no orders to fulfil
Wol Euler: except her own
Wol Euler: nobody's needs to care for
Wol Euler: except her own
--BELL--1330
Wol Euler: I imagine that being very hard
Agatha Macbeth: Maybe she should give SL a go :p
Wol Euler: given the way she struggles with Apple Mail (after ten years, still) I don't think that would work
Agatha Macbeth: Oh my
Agatha Macbeth: I find gmail quite good
Wol Euler: I don't think that the software is the problem :)
Agatha Macbeth: No, right...I meant it works for me :p
Wol Euler: yes, noted :)
Agatha Macbeth: hehe
Wol Euler: I was turned off Google Mail by the fuss about RL identities. Fuck that.
Agatha Macbeth: Hmm
Agatha Macbeth: Haven't encountered any probs there
Wol Euler: they did back down somewhat
Wol Euler: and there are still "false IDs" on Facebook, i.e. people using avatar names instead of RL names
Wol Euler: imagine that!
Agatha Macbeth: Really?
Wol Euler: so they say
Agatha Macbeth: Good heavens
Wol Euler: I can't imagine it myself.
Agatha Macbeth: Me either
Agatha Macbeth: I'm sure the head of MI6 must be on there somewhere
Wol Euler nods.
Wol Euler: look around for people denouncing it strongly, they are definitely in-world
Agatha Macbeth: Denouncing what?
Wol Euler: whatever :)
Agatha Macbeth: Oh
Wol Euler: have you never noticed how often, almost invariably, the people who denounce gay sex get caught having gay sex?
Agatha Macbeth: Well...
Agatha Macbeth: To be honest no
Wol Euler: ah :)
Agatha Macbeth: You mean like politicians?
Wol Euler: you must be watching a different news feed
Wol Euler: mmhmm
Agatha Macbeth: Right
Wol Euler: seems to happen to them very often
Agatha Macbeth: Well they are all hypocrites anyway
Wol Euler: seems to go with the territory
Agatha Macbeth: Indeed
Agatha Macbeth: Poor dears
Wol Euler snorts.
Agatha Macbeth: I see **** and **** on wonder where they are?
Wol Euler: is this OF night?
Agatha Macbeth: Last night I think
Agatha Macbeth: **** would be on too and **** probably
Wol Euler: true
Agatha Macbeth: For all we know they may be having a romantic get together ;-)
Wol Euler raises an eyebrow.
Wol Euler: it's possible ...
Agatha Macbeth: Well they are about the same age I think
--BELL--1345
Wol Euler: I think **** is a few years younger
Wol Euler: perhaps take this bit out of the log?
Agatha Macbeth: Yeh
Wol Euler smiles.
Wol Euler: I think she's 7 to 10 yrs younger than him
Agatha Macbeth: Makes me wonder if anyone actually reads them any more
Wol Euler: I guessed her age as 62
Wol Euler: eliza does, not sure who else
Wol Euler: reminds me that I haven't posted my logs from last weekend yet :(
Agatha Macbeth: Yes Liz would :)  /me waves
Agatha Macbeth: Was anybody actually here?
Wol Euler: nope
Agatha Macbeth: Shouldn't take long then
Wol Euler: hehehe
Wol Euler: yeah, it's the starting, not the doing, that hangs me up
Agatha Macbeth: Anybody heard of Arch lately?
Wol Euler: not in ages
Agatha Macbeth: Hope he's alright
Agatha Macbeth: I know his health wasn't the best
Wol Euler: last in SL on October 1
Wol Euler: yeah
Agatha Macbeth: I seem to remember him briefly turning up at a meeting a few months back
Wol Euler: so many people have disappeared, or slowed down
Agatha Macbeth: It's just saddos like us who keep coming back :p
Wol Euler nods.
Agatha Macbeth: 'I have a life, honestly'
Wol Euler: "get a life" "What? I already have two"
Agatha Macbeth: Indeed
Agatha Macbeth: You only live twice
Agatha Macbeth: Or so it seems
Agatha Macbeth: How's WoW these days?
Wol Euler: busy :)
Wol Euler: working on a new healer
Wol Euler: (new class, never played a shaman before)
Agatha Macbeth: You don't know what you're missing :p
Wol Euler: where am I missing it?
Agatha Macbeth: Well wherever you haven't been doing it...
Wol Euler: ah
Wol Euler: so, just about everywhere. gotcha.
Agatha Macbeth: There you go
Agatha Macbeth: Makes perfect sense
Wol Euler nods.

Agatha Macbeth: What does 'lossless' mean in respect of pictures?
Wol Euler: that it was compressed in such a way as to avoid degrading the picture quality
Wol Euler: which JPEG (for example) does not
Agatha Macbeth: But PNG does?
Wol Euler: if you zoom in on a JPEG it's full of distortion
Wol Euler: indeed
Agatha Macbeth: Would there be a difference in the file size?
Wol Euler: I'm not sure
Wol Euler: JPEG is tuneable, you can choose how strongly to compress = how strongly to distort
Wol Euler: whereas I believe that PNG is single_shot, you do it or you don't
Agatha Macbeth: Ok
Wol Euler: at the extremes of JPEG compression there would be huge differences
Agatha Macbeth nods
Wol Euler: it's an older format, it dates from the days when storage was expensive and scarce
--BELL--1400
Agatha Macbeth: GIFs are a pain - many things don't recognise them
Agatha Macbeth: Consequently they have to be converted first
Wol Euler nods.
Wol Euler: and it's a copyrighted format, so in theory using it in public leaves you open to a cease-and-desist lawsuit
Wol Euler: or a claim for damages
Agatha Macbeth: Oh man
Wol Euler: yep
Agatha Macbeth: Dunno why people still use them
Wol Euler: because it can be animated :)
Wol Euler: I know of no other reason
Agatha Macbeth: Ah
Wol Euler: you can string two dozen images to gether in order in a gif, and it will play them as a short jerky film
Agatha Macbeth: Like those things you see under peoples' names in forums?
Wol Euler: exactly!
Agatha Macbeth: Gotcha
Wol Euler: other than that, I know of no reason to use GIF
Agatha Macbeth: Then there's BMP
Wol Euler: bitmap
Wol Euler: ancient
Agatha Macbeth: Think that's bitmap
Agatha Macbeth: Yeh
Wol Euler: goes back to 8-bit graphics
Agatha Macbeth: Wow
Agatha Macbeth: Memories
Wol Euler: which have recently become fashionable again :) retro
Agatha Macbeth: Speccy colours
Agatha Macbeth: Or C64
Wol Euler nods.
Agatha Macbeth: And the test card
Agatha Macbeth: That was where I learned red and green make yellow :p
Wol Euler smiles.
Agatha Macbeth: I always wondered why RGB scales went up in powers of 2
Wol Euler: oh?
Agatha Macbeth: Yeh
Agatha Macbeth: 0-7
Agatha Macbeth: 0-63
Agatha Macbeth: 0-255
Agatha Macbeth: Never seen a 0-127, but maybe there is one
Wol Euler: ah, I see
Wol Euler: integer sizes
Wol Euler: 0-7 is four bits
Agatha Macbeth: Hmm
Wol Euler: 0-63 is six bits
Wol Euler: etc
Wol Euler: again, back to days when storage was expensive and scarce
--BELL--1415
Agatha Macbeth: Still tired?
Wol Euler: yeah, I think I'll head off
Agatha Macbeth: Ok
Wol Euler: approaching midnight here
Agatha Macbeth: Just as you get right, you'll be off again :(
Wol Euler: ha, very true
Agatha Macbeth: Poor Wollie
Wol Euler: I'm meeting Keris and Elaine for dinner tomorrow, they are here for a few days to see our world-famous Weihnachtsmarkt
Agatha Macbeth: Oh great
Agatha Macbeth: They are in Switzerland?
Wol Euler: they live there, but they are coming to Stuttgart
Agatha Macbeth: Not far to go then
Wol Euler: yeah, not quite two hours by ICE
Agatha Macbeth: ICE ICE baby
Agatha Macbeth: Anyway
Agatha Macbeth: Schlaf gut ♥
Agatha Macbeth: And thanks for the hat
Wol Euler: danke, dir auch ♥
Wol Euler: my pleasure
Wol Euler smiles.
Agatha Macbeth: ^.^
Wol Euler: heheh