Novica & Forum Members Tips & Product Reviews Pt 11

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  • RGcincyRGcincy Posts: 2,805

    If you haven't bought all the new PC+ items in the Still New Releases, you can use 3 of them to trigger the 24% off gift card offer before buying any of the more expensive items from the PA sale. I just did that myself. If you already bought all the PC+ items, you can rebuy them (it will reduce your discount slightly but still a good deal).

  • NathNath Posts: 2,712

    And  for the hurricane watchers here, Leslie is finally hitting land. In Portugal.

     

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  • RGcincyRGcincy Posts: 2,805
    Nath said:

    And  for the hurricane watchers here, Leslie is finally hitting land. In Portugal.

    I wonder how often that happens?

  • FishtalesFishtales Posts: 6,038
    RGcincy said:
    Nath said:

    And  for the hurricane watchers here, Leslie is finally hitting land. In Portugal.

    I wonder how often that happens?

    Oftener than you would think, even here in the UK.

  • ChoholeChohole Posts: 33,604
    edited October 2018

    Here in the UK we get left over hurricans and tropical storms that the US throws our way.  We also get our own storms with their own name.  THe current one is called Callum  and bringing a lot of rain with it. 1 known fatality so far.  It is affecting most of the UK to a certain extent but Wales has had the worst of it, particularly South Wales.   (Chohole lives in South Wales, but luckily at 1200ft)
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-45838058

    Post edited by Chohole on
  • nattaruknattaruk Posts: 518

    According to Copernicus, the European Union Earth Observation Programme, Hurricane Leslie is the most powerful storm to hit Portugal since 1842.

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,859
    Chohole said:

    Here in the UK we get left over hurricans and tropical storms that the US throws our way.  We also get our own storms with their own name.  THe current one is called Callum  and bringing a lot of rain with it. 1 known fatality so far.  It is affecting most of the UK to a certain extent but Wales has had the worst of it, particularly South Wales.   (Chohole lives in South Wales, but luckily at 1200ft)
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-45838058

    sad  So sorry to hear about all the destruction and loss of lives. Beautiful area too, based on the photos. North the dog has the right idea- stay on high ground during that mess. 

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,859
    edited October 2018

    Interesting, from our cable company (who does internet and tv, we just have internet)  It's mind boggling, they are talking damage in MILES, not neighborhoods. The other thing to consider- local authorities have to let them in to the area. I hadn't really thought about that. They may be ready to go but kept out of the area. 
    FLORIDA: 

    • We have approximately 26,500 customers who are without service due to widespread power outages, downed cable lines, and damaged structures.
       
    • The temporary loss of Mediacom broadband and phone service in the Sandestin area is due to 14 miles of severely damaged fiber between Highway 77A and Southport. In a second area east of Panama City, we have more than 25 miles of damaged fiber that is obstructing video transmission from Gulf County to Walton County. We are working on a temporary solution to hopefully restore high speed data and phone services to Sandestin, and Santa Rosa beach areas by late today. Video services will take longer as we work on another solution to restore these services.

    Then in Georgia- 
     This status covers Bainbridge, Thomasville, Tifton, Valdosta, Albany, Americus, Columbus, Cordele, Fitzgerald, McRae and surrounding areas.

    • We have approximately 36,000 customers who are still without service due to widespread power outages, downed lines, and damaged structures. Customers continue to have services restored as commercial power is restored to their communities. We are continuing to assess our system for damage, and have started repairs in areas where it is safe, and we have been given access from local authorities.
       
    • Our operations remain closed in Bainbridge GA, and surrounding areas until further notice as these areas sustained catastrophic damage. We expect to finish assessments and begin restoration activity as we are able to gain access to hard hit areas in southern Georgia.

     

    Post edited by Novica on
  • I'm in Central NJ and it's nearly six years since Sandy.  There are still displaced people and broken infrastruture.  There was damage to the NYC subway system that is still being repiared/  We lost power about thirty minutes into what seemed like the storm.  Twenty days later we got it back.  The cell towers that weren't damaged lasted about three days - most were back up within five days.  The storm was followed by two snowstorms including subzero weather.  We had natural gas, but no elecdtiricty to run the fans.  Motels and Hotels were booked almost to Ohio.  It was a case of a massive storm and an area supremely unprepared. There was a re-evaluation of what constitued a low-lying area, but it got political as insurance costs rose so much. You guys in the South are much more prepared, but this was a big one and the storm surge was massive. 

    An odd fact .. a good deal of Manhattan is below sea level...  certainly most of the subway system South of midtown.  They constantly pump the system to keep it dry.  When the pumps failed, some of the subways filled with seawater. 

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,859
    edited October 2018

     You guys in the South are much more prepared, but this was a big one and the storm surge was massive. 

     

    Anything as massive as Sandy, prepared doesn't mean squat :) For Michael, they had days and days on every coast of Florida, Alabama, and Louisiana to ponder a hurricane hit, but other than evacuations and getting teams in place, not much else to do no matter how bad the storm is predicted to be. Sandy was amazing in scope and size, I felt so incredibly sad for all the losses. I do remember now that you mention it, about the snow afterward. One blow after another. 
    Edit: Do you notice no one ever talks about Texas and Harvey, or the Keys?  They're still rebuilding, but not a peep about them. 

     

    Post edited by Novica on
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,859
    edited October 2018

    I want to point out a horse that I showed you a couple years ago (I redid it with shaders) and it's on sale, and also a materials pack for it. Dirt cheap. The horse looks great as a figurine on a shelf, coffee table, or as a kid's toy!

    Hailey's Comet  and Starburst (Which I'm buying. Just Iray Uber Base it.) 

    Anyone else find some great deals on old stuff that can be shadered and look great?

    Post edited by Novica on
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,859
    edited October 2018

    Wow, that went 65% off with another one in the cart. If you have City Chic Too these materials are pretty. (Went 65% off with the horse in the cart ) 

    Post edited by Novica on
  • NathNath Posts: 2,712
    nattaruk said:

    According to Copernicus, the European Union Earth Observation Programme, Hurricane Leslie is the most powerful storm to hit Portugal since 1842.

    And only the third to hit as a hurricane. It's not entirely unheard of, but it is rare.

  • NathNath Posts: 2,712
    Chohole said:

    Here in the UK we get left over hurricans and tropical storms that the US throws our way.  We also get our own storms with their own name.  THe current one is called Callum  and bringing a lot of rain with it. 1 known fatality so far.  It is affecting most of the UK to a certain extent but Wales has had the worst of it, particularly South Wales.   (Chohole lives in South Wales, but luckily at 1200ft)
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-45838058

    Well, yes, quite a few storm depressions that cross the Atlantic are the remains of hurricanes. What is rare is for them to hit Europe with the typical hurricane structure (with the eye) still intact. That is only possible if the sea water is above a specific temperature apparently.

    And then there are medicanes: hurricane-like storm systems in the Mediterranean, Greece had one just recently.

  • NathNath Posts: 2,712
    Novica said:

    I want to point out a horse that I showed you a couple years ago (I redid it with shaders) and it's on sale, and also a materials pack for it. Dirt cheap. The horse looks great as a figurine on a shelf, coffee table, or as a kid's toy!

    Hailey's Comet  and Starburst (Which I'm buying. Just Iray Uber Base it.) 

    Anyone else find some great deals on old stuff that can be shadered and look great?

    ooh, love the horse! (I have another robotic horse somewhere in my poser directories, but this one's cool too)

  • mori_mannmori_mann Posts: 1,152
    Novica said:

    Interesting, from our cable company (who does internet and tv, we just have internet)  It's mind boggling, they are talking damage in MILES, not neighborhoods.

    I can see how that makes sense, as the wires (or the glass fiiber come is a wire, more or less) stretch in miles, not in neigbourhoods :)

  • IceDragonArtIceDragonArt Posts: 12,548

    We arrived home safely last night.  While the area that we stayed in was originally supposed to be in the center of the eye at landfall, it veered enough to the east to miss that area almost entirely.  There was almost no damage and they neve lost power (we evacuated on Tuesday afternoon, as things were still up in the air and we were not in a position to ride out a bad storm with no supplies etc).  We flew out of Northwest Beaches International Airport which is just past Panama City Beach.  Amazingly the airport took minimal damage but the closer we got to the airport the more damage was evident.  We lost our internet connection about halfway there (we were using google maps to find our way back to the airport). and we started seeing some damage to roofs as well as numerous pine trees that were litterally snapped off about 4-6 feet up.  Lots of people coming in to help out as well.  We ran into someone who had lost their entire home and expected to be displaced for at least 2 months.  We ended up giving that family all the food we had left over, and I was grateful that we could help even a little bit.  Also very grateful that we were lucky enough to stay out of harms way.  Its incredibly difficult to see and I can't imagine losing everything like that.

  • RGcincyRGcincy Posts: 2,805
    edited October 2018

    The only coupon I really got much use from on Friday's sale was the one for shaders, picking up a bunch from my wishlist. One I really like is Rialto Glassworks Shaders and Props for Iray Here's a few vases featuring a number of the shaders. There's so many to choose from it's hard to pick. Let's me be a glassmaker without the heat!

     

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    Post edited by RGcincy on
  • L'AdairL'Adair Posts: 9,479
    RGcincy said:

    The only coupon I really got much use from on Friday's sale was the one for shaders, picking up a bunch from my wishlist. One I really like is Rialto Glassworks Shaders and Props for Iray Here's a few vases featuring a number of the shaders. There's so many to choose from it's hard to pick. Let's me be a glassmaker without the heat!

    Those are gorgeous! I got that one, too, as well as Bea Griff's Whatnots 2 Iray Shader Presets and Textures, (and three more not glass related!) I can hardly wait to use them both. (Real Life, however, has other plans for me right now…)

  • Carola OCarola O Posts: 3,818

    Bea Griff's whatnots 2 is wonderful! I have that and use that in several of my renders. Wanted the Rialto one too, but wasn't able to pick it up :( oh well, it will be some other time :) Looking forward to see your renders RG and L'Adair !

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,859
    edited October 2018

    Oh here we go with price changing by the minute. So the PC+ sale has started. A lot of the DOs were at 80% off that were in the featured stores, then they popped to 33%, then switched again. If you see a price you like (80% works for me!) check out fast if you're not sure.  Daz is tweaking prices at the moment. (2am Central)  I'm not sure what they're supposed to be, so I didn't take any chances. There's a lot of different promos at the moment. (Of course the BYOB bundles are all old stuff, not interested.) 

    Post edited by Novica on
  • L'AdairL'Adair Posts: 9,479
    Novica said:

    Oh here we go with price changing by the minute. So the PC+ sale has started. A lot of the DOs were at 80% off that were in the featured stores, then they popped to 33%, then switched again. If you see a price you like (80% works for me!) check out fast if you're not sure.  Daz is tweaking prices at the moment. (2am Central)  I'm not sure what they're supposed to be, so I didn't take any chances. There's a lot of different promos at the moment. (Of course the BYOB bundles are all old stuff, not interested.) 

    Actually, I'm quite pleased with today's offers. It looks likes someone has been paying attention to our posts this past year, (Jack and the PC+ crew, maybe.)

    Yes, there are a lot of older products in the BYOB 8, But there are 237 items to choose from instead of 2 dozen. There are a few G2 items in there, and plenty of props that are mostly generation independent. Then there is the BYOB Horror category, any 5 items for only $3.99, and every single product in there is a DO, not PC+, (although the discounts have been adjusted so they all come up as $9.95. I suspect that is due the to store coding and the only way they could get the offer to work.) I was saying just a week or so ago that I'd be willing to pay $3.99 for a BYOB of higher priced items. I was thinking about some of the more recent/expensive PC+ products, but this is nice, too.

    There are two PC+ releases today, one horror/Halloween themed, (really nice set includes the dress and hair!) and another Wiinterblack "room" from Jack. So if you're a member and aren't into the horror genre, there's still a reasonably inexpensive PC+ product you can get today to trigger the higher discounts elsewhere.

    And here's the big one. If you're not a member and want to join, you can get a 20% discount on annual membership. However, if you are already a member, you can renew for 50% off! Now 20% doesn't sound like much, and it really isn't. But if a non-member buys a non-discounted quarterly membership, and then renew at 50% off, they will pay $3 more and get 15 months instead of 12. Not bad at all.

    Also, the big bundles are back to being 10 items for $9.95, and not a single $1.99 product in there. (Last year there were only 8 items in the bundles and the price worked out to about $12.95 with a new release in the cart.)

    All of that said, I'm not a fan of horror, so the $3.99 byob has no interest for me today. I already have 5 of the 10 items in the big bundle, and 4 of the 8 in the freebies bundle. My membership is already paid through the end of 2019, In fact, there's not a lot in today's sale to tempt me. But I'm still really pleased with what I see, and confident what's left of my store credit will all but disappear by the time this event is over.

  • Yes, I tried to make it more varied.. bigger categories, bigger selections.. non-'themed' items...glad to see it acknowledged, thanks.

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,859

    Yes, I tried to make it more varied.. bigger categories, bigger selections.. non-'themed' items...glad to see it acknowledged, thanks.

    No complaints on the variety. I just don't see most of the selections because I already own it, but even then, there's a lot of offers. Great job out of the gate. 

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,859

    Yes, I tried to make it more varied.. bigger categories, bigger selections.. non-'themed' items...glad to see it acknowledged, thanks.

    No complaints on the variety. I just don't see most of the selections because I already own it, but even then, there's a lot of offers. Great job out of the gate. 

  • L'AdairL'Adair Posts: 9,479

    Yes, I tried to make it more varied.. bigger categories, bigger selections.. non-'themed' items...glad to see it acknowledged, thanks.

    You're welcome. smiley

  • jakibluejakiblue Posts: 7,281

    I'm not feeling it, to be honest, for the first day. But then, as a long time PC member who just recently renewed, I truly don't expect the anniversary sales to have much for me, as I generally have most of it already. The free megapack has only one thing i don't own, and it's something I don't want. The 9.99 pack has two things i don't own, but i don't want either of them either. I'm a fan of horror items so got quite excited at seeing the BYOB for that...but there are only 11 items there for me and all of them are V4 which I'm not in the slightest interested in. The other byob one, nothing on it is in my wishlist....I'm thinking of maybe grabbing some buildings, but they are all old ones, and I have so many buildings anyway, that they really aren't all that important. The alien corridor for free if you buy a new release is ok, but then I have SO MANY CORRIDORS AND HALLWAYS already, plus i can't even see the full images as its link goes straight to the main landing page of the site. (and tha'ts from the sale page, from searching for it in the store)

    So yeah. I know it's pretty awesome for newbies and almost-newbies, and I KNOW you can't please everyone all the time, I get that, truly. But nothing today is exciting me and making me think I HAVE TO HAVE IT. So I'll just sit back and see what the following days bring.  

    L'Adair said:
    Novica said:

    Oh here we go with price changing by the minute. So the PC+ sale has started. A lot of the DOs were at 80% off that were in the featured stores, then they popped to 33%, then switched again. If you see a price you like (80% works for me!) check out fast if you're not sure.  Daz is tweaking prices at the moment. (2am Central)  I'm not sure what they're supposed to be, so I didn't take any chances. There's a lot of different promos at the moment. (Of course the BYOB bundles are all old stuff, not interested.) 

    Actually, I'm quite pleased with today's offers. It looks likes someone has been paying attention to our posts this past year, (Jack and the PC+ crew, maybe.)

    Yes, there are a lot of older products in the BYOB 8, But there are 237 items to choose from instead of 2 dozen. There are a few G2 items in there, and plenty of props that are mostly generation independent. Then there is the BYOB Horror category, any 5 items for only $3.99, and every single product in there is a DO, not PC+, (although the discounts have been adjusted so they all come up as $9.95. I suspect that is due the to store coding and the only way they could get the offer to work.) I was saying just a week or so ago that I'd be willing to pay $3.99 for a BYOB of higher priced items. I was thinking about some of the more recent/expensive PC+ products, but this is nice, too.

    There are two PC+ releases today, one horror/Halloween themed, (really nice set includes the dress and hair!) and another Wiinterblack "room" from Jack. So if you're a member and aren't into the horror genre, there's still a reasonably inexpensive PC+ product you can get today to trigger the higher discounts elsewhere.

    And here's the big one. If you're not a member and want to join, you can get a 20% discount on annual membership. However, if you are already a member, you can renew for 50% off! Now 20% doesn't sound like much, and it really isn't. But if a non-member buys a non-discounted quarterly membership, and then renew at 50% off, they will pay $3 more and get 15 months instead of 12. Not bad at all.

    Also, the big bundles are back to being 10 items for $9.95, and not a single $1.99 product in there. (Last year there were only 8 items in the bundles and the price worked out to about $12.95 with a new release in the cart.)

    All of that said, I'm not a fan of horror, so the $3.99 byob has no interest for me today. I already have 5 of the 10 items in the big bundle, and 4 of the 8 in the freebies bundle. My membership is already paid through the end of 2019, In fact, there's not a lot in today's sale to tempt me. But I'm still really pleased with what I see, and confident what's left of my store credit will all but disappear by the time this event is over.

     

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,859

    @jakiblue   I sent you a PM with some of the 80% off items, in case any of those appeal to you. I haven't checked lately to see if those are still the prices though, it was about three hours ago when I shopped. :) 

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,859

    BTW, before we get too deep into the PC+ sale, I'd like to take a moment and thank all the talented PAs for their discounts in the PA sale. I know we get spoiled with 60%, 70% etc off, but new products at 50% were much appreciated too. The quality and variety of the products was excellent.  Thank you! 

  • RGcincyRGcincy Posts: 2,805
    L'Adair said:

    Those are gorgeous! I got that one, too, as well as Bea Griff's Whatnots 2 Iray Shader Presets and Textures, (and three more not glass related!) I can hardly wait to use them both. (Real Life, however, has other plans for me right now…)

    Oh, I got that one too but haven't tried it yet. I mostly bought shaders and morphs recently, so need to start spinning some dials too.

This discussion has been closed.