Contacts List: Complete "Invisibility"....Concealment

I'm not a noob and I've searched high and low for knowledge base info on this, but to no avail.

So can anyone tell me for sure, how to become completely "invisible" to people on your Contacts list. I don't mean physically, I mean online presence in SL.

When you uncheck a friend's name in that list can they still see, anywhere else in SL, that you're still online?

I know there is a slight delay in the Profile when unchecking, but what about if you do a People Search for someone? That usually tells you whether someone is online or not. If that friend's box is unchecked in the Contacts screen, I would have thought that if they do a People Search, they will still be able to see there that you are online.

Also, what if they send you an IM when you are hidden but still online? Won't that show you are still online too?

Sometimes I just want to do my own thing without anyone bothering me which, yes I admit it, effectively means deceiving friends. Not very friendly right (ain't I a punk?) but surely many of us have been there at some point haven't we?

You can't totally conceal your presence in SL. Even if you uncheck visibilty in the friends list, you are still visible in group profiles. Anyone you share a group with can see your online status.

There are scripts to detect anyone's online status. You can't hide. Even if you could, you could still run into that person. So you have these choices: Either teach your friends to respect your privacy, ignore their IMs or use an alt.

And all anyone has to do is check your online status with a script and there is no way at all to hide from that.

you will always show on the SL web friends list....

That's why people use Alts ..

While I know I'm going to sound really flip here, there is a way to accomplish what you want to do. Don't log in to SL at all.

Get yourself a copy of the opensim software, set up your own sim hosted on your own machine, and log in to that sim. You can do anything you want to do as long as it doesn't involve interacting with anybody or anything that is not on that sim, and nobody will know a thing about your presence or what you're doing.

Adolwyr, try a polite message in your busy mode. Far from perfect, but might help you get some peace.

RockAndRoll - so what can you actually DO there, then?

Melita, you can build things there. Do some scripting work, to the extent that the opensim software supports LSL (its level of support is incomplete). Create clothes and upload textures to see how they look without spending money on textures you don't actually want to keep. However you can't go shopping or engage in social interactions unless the people you wish to interact with are given the needed info to also log in on your specific private hosted sim.

Probably not the desired answer but the only way possible to actually accomplish the stated goal of invisibility. Logging on as an alt is an option too like other people have said, only once again that alt account will not be invisible either.

Thanks RockAndRoll.

Can you transfer things you make in OpenSim?

some things, depending on the software you use....

however all of that can be done on the beta grid too, (shft+g from the logon screen, choose aditi from the new drop down menu) and those import export tools that work on opensim <-> SL work there too. (and they just did a datbase refresh so if you're av is more than a few weeks old, you're in there, beware that they use passwords from the time of the last refresh, so it might not be your current PW you need to use.

Just get an alt ie another avatar in SL

Its simple and much easier to transfer things you make between your various avatars than trying to transfer things back and forth between SL and opensim.

Thanks for all the useful feedback, people. It certainly answers my question. Thanks!

I do have a supplementary question following on from the suggestion of creating an "alt" avatar. Sorry if I'm being dense or didn't read all the answers properly, but...

Do you need two PCs to be able to bring each avatar into SL at the same time in order to pass or exchange transferable possessions between the two?

Or can you bring them both in on one PC and if so how do you switch control between avatars?

Thanks so much to everyone for the prompt and constructive advice. I do appreciate your interest and time

Thanks Tiffy...this is a great idea. It certainly keeps them informed and offers an explanation rather than just for them to be aware of me seeming to be mysteriously (sinisterly even) lurking around in SL behind the scenes, so to speak.

Instructions for running multiple viewers (the second life program) logged in to multiple accounts on one computer are at http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Help:Running_multiple_instances_of_the_Second_Life_client

if you add --muliple to the command line in the shortcut, you can use two clients at once, each logged onto a different account, at the same time, from the same PC.... warning this can be very tough on your vid card if it's not high end... to reduce that strain, minimize the SL window you aren't using that second.

other command line options can be found at...
http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Client_parameters (might I suggest, noprobe, port and login as well for speedy starts)

ETA argent beat me to it, but the parameters link is useful

1. Get an alt.

2. Don't log in.

These seem to be the best, perhaps even only, ways of doing what you want.

Did someone say that you still show up on someone's online friends list at the website, even if you are on invisible in-world?

What is the sense of that option, then? (I am usually in invisible lately because I have been stuck into building.)

There is no sense to any of Linden Labs "privacy" options.

Others have already explained how you can bring multiple avatars online if necessary. However, it really isn't necessary to have the recipient online (as long as you don't move so much stuff at one time that their messages get capped).

Bring on the avatar with the stuff to transfer, pull up the other's profile, and drop folders or pieces of inventory on the line at the bottom of the profile. You will get a message that the avatar is not online and the inventory offer will be saved or something similar. Log off, and log on the other avatar. Accept the inventory offers.

(You can also pay one account with another by pulling up the profile. This can be done either through search or through one avatar offering friendship and the other accepting.)

ETA: I just realized - if you have a lot of stuff to hand over, you could rez a box, put the items in the contents, and give the box as a single item instead...

Thanks again you geniuses one and all!! *lol*

I can have multiple avatars (I only really want a second one though) and I have MULTIPLE options on how to switch my stuff. Excellent!!

I don't think I would want to move a lot of stuff at a time, so Nic Writer's instruction seems the simplest and least resource-demanding to me. Thanks a bunch, Nic!

And thanks again to everyone who has taken the time to share their knowledge and experience with me...I mean us.

Great teamwork!

I've tried having an alt finish up building something I'm working on. I've really tried.

But invariably, I forget to set one permission on passing an object/script to the alt, which requires logging in and out and in again. Only to be met with the "WB" IMs when I come back in just to reset permissions.

So nowadays.... if I'm busy... I just respond really.... really..... slowly...... to IMs....

People generally tend to get the picture.

Glad to help when I can. I know some answers, but frequently I don't know the whole answer, and luckily someone usually comes along who can fill in the rest. I know the folks here have sure helped me learn a lot about SL!

That's the problem I have with alts. My main has all my textures and tools and partial builds!