Newbie Here - Some beginner questions

Amnesia Fhang is cool. Sounds like you had an accident with the nitrous at the dentist.

You don't need to install any other clients to get to the beta grid (when you are able to). CTRL SHIFT G at startup will create a dropdown menu of grids to log into, and you just select Aditi. Agni is the main grid.

Amnesia Fhang is a great name - keep it!
But get some alts - they are useful when you get trapped in relationships and stuff.

So with these Alts etc.... should they be similar names? Or totally different? How often would I need to use one?

Depends. If you want the alt to be connected to you, meaning everyone you meet will know it's our alt, then name it similarly. If you want it to be anonymous, or travel in different circles, give it unrelated names. As far as when to use it, that depends on what purpose you created it for.

Don't worry about it. You can make an alt if or when you decide you really need one and then choose whatever name takes your fancy. It's not obligatory to have any. Their inventories, L$ balances etc are completely separate.

--
Aes

The reason why I said create one now and park it is that she may want it for a job or some other function where they'll only accept an aged alt of say 30 or 90 days. Not much use creating one there and then if that's the case.

I could point Amnesia in the direction of a nice little income which would more than keep her in texture uploads but they want aged avatars.

Welcome Amnesia! If you've got some graphic design background and familiarity with Photoshop, you're going to have a lot of fun here. And CS4 is just the bee knees for working in 3D painting (you might still want to get the free clothing previewer, as it will give you a better idea what things will look like in SecondLife). If you haven't found them already, here's where you can find the SL Avatar models (look for Robin Sojourner's post #7 and follow her link):
/109/27/178887/1.html

Oh, and if you want to change your name (although I like Amnesia Fhang, too), I'd do it now before you get so many friends and inventory items that it becomes more trouble than it's worth to switch accounts. Funny thing is, you get used to your SL name--I had no intention of being a two R Virginia, but two years later, Virginia with one R looks odd to me.

Thanks Virrginia! I would say I'm quite familiar with CS4... I get on well with it. I am going to play about with textures etc tonight and preview them (before buying credits etc). I'll let you know how I get on.

Also, Sassy.... I'm a he, not a she

Hmmm Amnesia is kinda a name I associated with female. I suggest you have a sex change in sl then. The "ia" ending of teh name is a feminine ending. You could have an alt called Amnesius - which rather sounds like a big sneeze!
I don't think I could have sex with an "ia" ending male (my measure of attraction starts with the name which means I am pretty shallow)
Anyway, tell us more ...

Haha! I came up with the name as it was after a famous night club called Amnesia. I think I saw it on a film when I was about 12 years old... and have never been there. I've always had this alias and you are the first person that has thought I'm a female....

Well, looks like I might need to change it now to something like Amnesius (as you've mentioned)

One user thought Amnesia was a female name . . .

Pep (Wants to encourage more heterosexual male designers to produce male clothing - but that was another thread)

You've lost me lol

Actually I think we all thought you were female - notice the pronouns throughout the thread - men are getting rarer here - its coz its teh end of teh hunting season

Definitely need a name change then... just as i was beginning to like my name too!!

Lol people will say we cant go on meeting like this

Quoted because you really need to see this.
I have not used the free one Rha mentioned but I have used AV Painter extensively. I highly recommend it. It will work with photoshop files and layers and I go back and forth between the two while making clothing. It is well worth the money in my opinion. (4 quid or so)

The beta grid is nice to use for uploads too. You get 50,000L$ to work with (can not be converted to real money) for uploads and testing. Once you have all the seems and alpha layers working the way they should, uplaod to the normal grid one time. I seldom do this, actually, and occasionally it comes back to bite me

For the most part, the population is open and helpful with any questions you may have. If you want to know how you do whatever, just ask either here or the builders forums down the page a little.

And welcome to Resident Answers

Actually, I thought you were male, reading your original post. Then someone replying referred to you as "her" and I thought, "maybe I missed something", and also thought of Sister Mary Amnesia from the musical "Nunsense".

I guess I'd agree with the idea of a sex change...make Amnesia a ditzy, scatterbrained female. Create an alt. Name him...oh, "Steve". Or "Manolo".

You could call your shop "Unforgettable by Amnesia."

Welcome to Second Life! Amnesia's a fine name. [Edit: oh... whoops... I thought you were female too! Well it's fine at any rate but you'd probably get some confusion by other residents if you remain male.]

And if you become a big name designer....you'll definitely want an alt so you can have some privacy.

Re: The name

I made an alt to do all my building with. That way, if I would not be intrupted with customer service requests while on a date. Whether you look at it as an alt for play and main for work or main for play with an alt for work, the end result is the same. So go ahead and run your store with Amnesia and make another avatar named Dash Riprock or what ever for when you need a little time off of work.

You will need a female model for product photos anyway.

Ha! This is an incredibly fun game.... who thought at 21 years old I would be having so much fun, and I haven't even started properly playing it yet lol.

Okay, sorted then... my "fashion designer" name is Amnesia Fhang

Now to think of my "normal" name.

However, if I only use my "normal" alt for walking about/chatting/interacting... Will I not lose points, or will people look at the character and think he is inexperienced etc?

Can anyone think of any variations of Amnesia that may make it sound like a guy?

I'm struggling to think of a decent name, I need to get the thinking cap on!

Edit: Khan Wulluf or Tailor Ethaniel

(Both are based on my actual name). What do you think?!

Nope you won't lose credibility points. Many, many people have business accounts and then "play around" accounts. I'd give Amnesia a credible shape, hair, skin, etc just in case you need to meet with clients or other fashion industry people, but you probably won't need to spend a lot of cash on her.

A male version of Amnesia? I'd say don't worry about a similar male name; just choose a good name for your male account, and not something like "Bigschlong Fhang."

[Edited to add that you can always note in both accounts' profiles that your other alt exists for business/pleasure and to contact that other alt for whichever purpose suits.]