World of SL

The Diary of Fifi: Fifi

2008-09-08T02:15:33+00:00

At some point in the evolution of society, the way the land is developed started to get out of control. Cities grew outwards at an increasingly rapid rate, as developers became attracted to out-of-city sites which had more land available at cheaper prices than the “Brownfield” sites.. run down industrial estates inside the congested cities.

So there was born the concept of planning permission.

Now planning permission is a very intricate and professional business. You have to produce 600 page documents to develop 24 square feet of land, and you have to buy the planning official a dinner, some Cuban cigars and a gold necklace for his wife. Heaven help you if you’ve ever said a bad word against the planning official.. you can kiss your chance of developing the land goodbye.

And so Second Life has finally laid down the law and said “No!” to Ad-Farms on the SL mainland. Gone shall be the blighted sights of rotating adverts offering the finest in webcam girls, cheap land and, for some odd reason, marketing techniques.

Jack Linden makes the interesting statement that ad farms will still be allowed, albeit in a limited and monitored capacity. The start of planning control in Second Life, perhaps? How long before Linden Labs decide to restrict skyboxes to 500m and above to give us back the skies? Or go one step further and restrict snow covered land to Alpine architecture and tropical land to Tiki themed buildings?

Now let me be clear - I don’t like ad farms at all, and I’m glad they’re going. But I ask if this is the start of something.. Yes, the residents have been crying out for a solution to the ad farms problem for a long time. But the SL residents are a fickle bunch, and will just move onto the next problem.. and then the next.. and so forth..

Feel that pang, there? That could well be a little piece of your SL freedom withering away..

Corduroy: Remix.

2008-09-08T01:56:12+00:00

Big Booty Big Money’s Twilit Grotto Dress (mint)

Anyone who knows me knows that I rarely buy a whole outfit that I can only use once. Meaning… I don’t like to buy things where I can’t use the pieces separately! While I was on my mini hiatus in -coughs- Aruba… Evie released the Twilit Grotto Dress in 8… yes 8 cutesy colors. She’s a machine I tell you! Anyway, what makes this dress worth buying (besides the fact that it’s adorable) is that the top which comes on both shirt and jacket layer is easily what I call a ‘remix’ piece. You can use it in other outfits! Check it out!

See?! Totally worth your money <3 GO! Go get your remix on!

xoxo,
Pu.

Seven Ultra Lounge: myStyle

2008-09-08T01:56:08+00:00

Who: Yvette Quijote

Occupation: Nothing and everything. My husband and I build architectural replicas as a hobby, but don’t sell them. Too primmy.

Favourite item you’re wearing: I love my high waisted pants from Shai. Lovely.

Favourite store: Casa del Shai. Whatever else I buy, I return to my basics from her collection.

Best-kept SL secret?: Not sure how secret they are, but Alt7 for music and Inspire Space Park for relaxing.

Into: I joined in 2006, met some great people, and use SL to keep in touch with them. We try to approximate what we would do in RL as best we can- hang, chat, dance. I build when I’m inspired. I would cause trouble more often, but I get caught.

How did you hear about Seven Ultra Lounge?: Fashion Planet of SL.

3PointD: Glitchy Links

2008-09-08T01:31:41+00:00

goldenfiddle | Lindsay and Sam at The Charlotte Ronson Spring 2009 Fashion Show

"helpless"

(tags: lindseylohan model actress hollywood samantharonson fashionweek)

None

BlogHUD: My Favourite Pastime

2008-09-08T00:51:18+00:00

After a day of exploring and experimenting snuggling up with my love Drewcyla is the perfect end to a day.

posted by Lunellaa Destiny on Hardrada using a blogHUD
blogHUD map and teleport permalink

BlogHUD: Giant Mushrooms

2008-09-08T00:33:05+00:00

I added giant Mushrooms all around the tree etc...hopefully SL lets me upload a snapshot.

crossposted to Summer Seale

posted by Summer Seale on Faerie using a blogHUD
blogHUD map and teleport permalink

Your2ndPlace.com: Virtually Back

2008-09-08T00:04:47+00:00

After about 2 months without broadband and, therefore, access to Second Life in any meaningful way - I'm back. And I've been wandering around, bouncing from server to server even as network issues anchored me here and there. The client crashing, too, made me feel right at home. It was almost as though I had never left. In fact, it was exactly as if I never left. If sims were programmed to have tumbleweed blowing through when nothing is happening on it, I'm sure I would have seen lots of tumbleweed.

Mainland land prices are so low that I actually bought a 512 m² parcel yesterday just so I'd have a place to rez things - it cost me 2500 Linden. I was pleased to see that land prices are even lower today (1950 Linden dollars for the same size parcel). Behold the power of the Second Life land economy - better known as 'virtually gone'. I lost 2 bucks in one day and I didn't even invest in an Exchange... if anything, the land market is more of a ponzi scheme than anything that Linden Lab has banned - but it's a 'free market'. Funny, that.

So I wandered around. A Brazilian avatar with a translator accosted me as I found an avatar I liked (Brain from 'Pinky and the Brain') and asked me where to find employment. While tempted to tell him that the door next to his computer might be a good place to start, I told him to use the search button. He then tried to sell me a Dodge Viper for 190 Linden. I suppose I would have felt more inclined to help the guy out if his avatar didn't look like it got teleported in from Carnival in Rio de Janeiro.

iheartsl community blog: angkor

2008-09-07T23:09:11+00:00

Bandana Day!

It’s Bandana Day and first thing I did when I signed on to Second Life® was take off my lovely wig and put on this vibrant and lush bandana from Exile. Luckily I snapped it the other day so you can see it in all it’s glory. With my Retro-Ecto outfit supplied by Linden Labs, I headed out for a day of exploration, stopping briefly at Angkor Wat before running over to see the progress on Vogel’s new store, sadly still unfinished but looking good. The vendors are up, there’s just nothing in them.

****STYLE NOTES******

Bandana: Exile -fired up red/purple bandana
Ecto-Retro Cloud: Linden Labs

Prim Perfect: Issue 2 - from the article on Caledon at the RFL

2008-09-07T22:52:28+00:00

The Second Issue of The Primgraph is now available!

Our featured sim this month is the dazzling Coeur region, which replicates pre-Revolutionary France with great artistry. Not only is it beautiful, it is an open and welcoming place – deserving of the title ‘A Place for the Heart’.

Our other material of general interest includes an interview with Erasmus
Margulis, Earl of Carradale and leader of Relay for Life’s Team Caledon, by
Miss Saffia Widdershins; on a related note, Mr Ederyn Clowes continues his
hobby of recording Second Life world ephemera with an article on Caledon’s
Relay for Life campsite.

Sir JJ Drinkwater forwarded to us a selection of material from the factual book London Labour and the London Poor, by Mr Henry Mayhew, which we here reproduce. In addition, our continuing feature ‘Exiled on the Grid’ finds Mr Denimore and his errant nephew exploring the Amsterdam sim, and ‘Clio’s Mirror’ reflects on the year 1891.

The Primgraph: Issue 2 - from the article on the Coeurs

Our Arts and Culture section continues with its emphasis on the written word (writers on visual arts and music are encouraged to step forward) leading with the thrilling continuation of The Mysteries of London. We are pleased to present Dame Kghia Gherardi’s description of her ‘Essential Poets’ series, which she has graciously permitted us to print here; and as before, Sir JJ Drinkwater reports on The Caledon Library’s newest acquisitions. Miss Henrietta Sowle’s charming remarks on cookery are also continued, and I have reviewed for you the novel The Shanghai Tunnel by Sharan Newman.

Miss Zadira Barzane returns with an overview of some autumn fashions, and we are pleased to introduce Miss Ceejay Writer, whose plea for courtesy and friendliness on behalf of New Babbage is sound advice for the residents of any sim. We have also received Mistress of Propriety’s thoughts on deportment, a topic that is, alas, rather opaque to many – that is, until now.

Our Technology section includes Mr Roberto Viking’s article about Nikola Tesla, pioneering electrician, and we are also delighted to present Miss Siri Woodget’s article reprising her Caledon Library exhibit on Lady Lovelace (also known Augusta Ada King).

How do I get my copy of The Primgraph?
Well, there are various ways to get The Primgraph!

The Primgraph: Issue 2 - from the article on Caledon at the RFL

You could buy a copy from OnRez or SLExchange to be delivered to you inworld.

Best of all, you can join our Subscribe-o-Matic group. These are located at historical and steampunk sims across Second Life (for example, you’ll find ones at all the Caledon inforhubs). And if you can’t find one [...]

Rikomatic: Congrats to Coreina Grace & Jade Lily on getting engaged at SLCC!

2008-09-07T22:37:28+00:00

Here's the perfect metaverse romance: At the Second Life Community Convention in Chicago last year, Global Kids' own Coreina Grace (aka Meghan in real life) met in the flesh her friend SL developer Jade Lily (aka Keith in real life). They apparently hit it off because they began dating and then moved in together soon afterwards.

Coming full circle, last night, one year later, they got engaged at SLCC 2008!

Congratulations to Meghan and Keith! I couldn't be happier for you guys.

Mixed Realities: The development of the metaverse moves as slow as molasses

admin — 2008-09-07T22:19:53+00:00

So I did not make it to the big virtual worlds events of these last days: the Virtual Worlds Conference and Expo in Los Angeles and the Second Life Community Convention (SLCC) in Tampa (Florida). Did I miss much? Of course I did. Both gatherings facilitate inspiring contacts and discussions. But just looking at the headlines, there was no major breaking news this week - at least not in the sense of “breaking news” which would also be picked up massively by non-specialized media.

The Second Life bureau of Reuters quotes education specialist Chris Collins (Fleep Tuque in SL) as saying:

The development of the metaverse moves as slow as molasses. I don’t expect much change at all.

The convention organizers said only 400 people attended SLCC this year, half of last year’s attendance in Chicago. Blaim the weather, the economy, the fact that far fewer businesses from outside the virtual worlds industry attended.

There is this shift going on, away from mass-marketing projects to more low profile collaboration projects. Business collaboration is being identified by chairman Philip Rosedale of Linden Lab as one area where more use will be made of the possibilities of Second Life, but also education is a major theme. Especially during this convention, where educators had their own conference, the Second Life Education Community Conference (SLEDcc). Three tracks were organized, during three days educators shared projects and experiences.

Companies tend to be somewhat secretive about their collaboration projects in virtual environments, even some universities prefer to remain low profile. Is this because they consider this as important competitive developments, or because they don’t want be embarrassed if the experiments fail?

However, there is a lot of activity by educators who embrace web2.0 technologies and practices such as rss-feeds, tagging, wikis, blogs and other techniques which help to make geography collapse. Second Life and even virtual environments as a whole are just part of the toolkit of those educators. To give but one (spectacular) example: the upcoming Connectivism Course, which uses lots of web2.0 tools to bring together hundreds of participants from all over the globe (almost 1,900 people signed up until now). This course will also be discussed in Second Life, and it will be interesting to see how we will be able to use this virtual world in the context of the course.

Virtual Worlds Conference and Expo could not complain about fewer attendees: the conference was attended by 1,300 people, up from 1,100 at last year’s show in San Jose, so Virtual Worlds News reports (Virtual Worlds Management, owner of the blog, is the organizer of the conference). You can find complete coverage on the Virtual Worlds News site.

Roland Legrand

BlogHUD: Fabulous Frangipani Sale!

2008-09-07T22:12:35+00:00

Frangipani has an *AMAZING* sale and you will kick yourself in the head many times over if you miss it. The kick will be all the more effective if you wear a pair of these yummy boots behind me- Vendetta and Vixen are on sale at a measley L$50 a pair! But that's not all, hair starts at L$20 a pack..no I'm *not* kidding, and the clothing is also included. I picked up this trench dress for a mere L$10! ( It was on a sale wall anyways, but the majority of the clothing is at very silly prices!) You can kit your avi out in uber chic fashion for nowt at these prices..the hair, dress and boots that make up the outfit that I'm wearing cost a total of L$80 for the lot!

posted by Kitty Otoole on Iladil using a blogHUD
blogHUD map and teleport permalink

The Connolly Telegraph: Doings around the Steampunk Sims

Jvstin Tomorrow — 2008-09-07T21:57:00+00:00

Some more reports of doings in Caledon and the other steampunk sims covered by the Connolly Telegraph and the Primgraph:

Eladrienne tells us on A Stroll Through Caledon about Steelhead's Fairy Tail exhibit and festival.

Zoe Connolly, as befits her aviatrix personality and interests, has been blogging recently about air combat simulations in Extropia.

Over on the Heliograph comes word of an upcoming event: The Engineer's Ball. Saturday September 13th at 6 PM SLT in New Babbage. This sounds like a lot of fun...

BlogHUD: Sadiya and Supervisor

2008-09-07T21:30:08+00:00

Watching Sadiya build the stairs. Hehe. Aren't we a pair?

posted by Summer Seale on Faerie using a blogHUD
blogHUD map and teleport permalink

iheartsl community blog: Muse Art Walk 4 by you.

2008-09-07T21:18:30+00:00

I’m in an artsy fartsy mood today, so I headed out to the Muse Art Walk to appreciate the creativity of others. I am always amazed by the unbelievable talent of artists these days, so it is no surprise I was blown away by the beautiful exhibitions at Muse…

Hop on over to Fashion Ascension for more…

Metaverse Journal: The Watch - virtual worlds in the news

2008-09-07T21:04:22+00:00

1. The Denver Post (USA) - Club Penguin gets it right. “The newspaper industry is constantly bewailing its need for a new economic model, as the Internet upends the old one. Maybe it could take a page from the Club Penguin Times. The Club Penguin Times, after all, is more widely read than New York’s Daily [...]

Crap in the morning: SpaceNagivator

2008-09-07T21:02:23+00:00

I havee watched at least two people have gone to Amazon and bought the SpaceNavigator after trying it out on my system and know of five who will be buying them after seeing it in action. Just wondering why the 3DConnexion folks didn't have a presence at SLCC. This is a must-have device for SL, eh. They could have had a drawing for some free ones, or had a few demo untis and sold at a discount or something. I really ought to put up an Amazon Affiliate link to it on the sidebar at this rate.

Rikomatic: Tuna Oddfellow's virtual magic performed live at SLCC Tampa (video)

2008-09-07T20:47:20+00:00

Today we got to see Tuna Oddfellow performing his "virtual magic" at the Second Life Community Convention in the bar of the Marriott. Trippy, cool stuff!

Pixel Scoop: Something Fishy

2008-09-07T20:34:56+00:00

Ok, please do pardon the appalling pun in the title. My imagination is currently on vacation and is expected back next week. Anyway, I was perusing SLX, as you do when those “network problems” recur and you can do nothing else other than poke pins into virtual Linden VooDoo dolls, and I came across arguably the [...]

Torley: Very nice trip-hop remix of my solo piano piece "Swayless"

2008-09-07T20:29:48+00:00

Awhile back with solo piano 7 — now downloaded over 100,000 times on the Internet Archive — I encouraged prospective remixers to do their best and take my works in new directions. I was more interested in experimental/glitchy remixes still retaining strong melody than, say, 4/4 straightahead dancefloor looping, but Maximus Fowler of Maximus Productions has come up with the best of both worlds! Listen to his remix of "Swayless" which you can DOWNLOAD (MP3, no crap DRM!):

Download audio file (12050)

and here's the my original which you can also DOWNLOAD:

Download audio file (Torley-166-Swayless.mp3)

What I particularly enjoyed about his take was the bleeps and stutters he added at points; somewhat reminiscent of the transcendental collaborations Ryuichi Sakamoto + Alva Noto mastered, with a twinge of BT's This Binary Universe (one of my faves). Always luv influences coming back in a fresh way!

Also impressive is the fact I played the original without a metronome so it wasn't guaranteed to be at a locked tempo, but Maximus mostly kept it in-sync AND added all sorts of creative variations: sine wave beeps, a gentle brushed beat with plenty o' changes, and even subtle horns.

Sounds like it could be on one of those Buddha Bar or Euphoric Chillout compilations. ;D

GREAT STUFF, THANX MAXIMUS!

Have you done a remix of my music? Let me know… I may very well have to tell the world about it!

Awhile back with solo piano 7 — now downloaded over 100,000 times on the Internet Archive — I encouraged prospective remixers to do their best and take my works in new directions. I was more interested in experimental/glitchy remixes still retaining strong melody than, say, 4/4 straightahead dancefloor looping, but Maximus Fowler of Maximus Productions [...]

The Connolly Telegraph: At last - The Primgraph #2

Alesia Markstein — 2008-09-07T19:50:00+00:00

The Primgraph's second issue is now out, after some regrettable delay. You can acquire a copy through the Primgraph Group inworld, through vendor kiosks at various locations inworld, or by going to the excellent Calaméo interface.

In this issue we ...

visit the gorgeous Couer sims;
learn about Nikola Tesla from Mr Roberto Viking;
consider the importance of hospitality with Miss Ceejay Writer;
become better acquainted with Mr Erasmus Margulis, through Miss Saffia Widdershins' extended interview;
review some new autumn fashions with Miss Zadira Barzane;
reprise the Caledon Library's exhibit on Augusta Ada King with Miss Siri Woodget;
learn the fate of that intriguing young man in The Mysteries of London;
... and more!

Also, in order to get to know our readers better, I will hold an informal salon at Tatiana's Tea Room in Provence Coeur next Saturday, September 13 from 3 to 5 p.m. SLT. Please join myself and some of our writers to discuss past and future topics in The Primgraph ... and any other subject that piques our interest!

And thank you for reading The Primgraph!

VTY,

Mrs Alesia Markstein, Editrix

iheartsl community blog: Caj

2008-09-07T19:25:20+00:00

A Star is Born…

Not really. I was busy yesterday building a concert stage for a live concert by Maht and his friend Ethan later this month and wanted to check out the spotlight placement so I hopped on the stool and took a few snaps. As you can see the spotlight falls behind, not in front of the face, so folks at the concert will have a clear view and can snap photos without any trouble. However, if I were a rock star, I would be perfectly at home on the stage with always perfect Adam n Eve leather pants and this adorable top from CHI. Keep reading →

BlogHUD: Mushroom Boles

2008-09-07T19:12:05+00:00

Added some mushroom boles as the canopies over the terraces. =)

crossposted to Summer Seale

posted by Summer Seale on Faerie using a blogHUD
blogHUD map and teleport permalink

CodeBastardRedgrave.com: On peer pressure

2008-09-07T18:49:50+00:00

To the risk of sounding melodramatic, I’m confronted for the first time in my superstar life to a situation I would rather have avoided all over. You know, it always sounds easy to be the cool, fun loving sex symbol of the grid, but it comes with the social pressure of everyone expecting you to jump in every bandwagon that passes by, no matter if I want to participate or not.

In this case, we’re talking of putting yours truly through a slave auction, for my pixelated body to be sold to anybody for a whole 24h. Well that last detail is really a bummer for me. I may seem to be online loosing my time and procrastinating, but I already have very limited online time to take care of my lovers, do my art, take care of my sims, among every other social or creative activities I attend to. I may be the only one in SL with no alts to play around with multiple viewer instance, and after all, there’s only one Codie.

Also, it may sound weird coming from me, I know. But I have very little personal interest in doing such thing.

On the pro side, seeing people fighting to bid on myself may be good for my ego as some say I may reach a very high price, and the money would go on charity, which is my only real point of interest.

On the con side, it’s 24h of precious time slipping out of my fingers, it’s something I have no thrill or appeal of doing, it seriously bruises my Domme ego, and already causes some drama because I’m not exactly excited about this type of party fun.

The thing with this type of social pressure is, I’m damned if I do, and I’m damned if I don’t. In all honesty, I would have rather totally dodged it, and just do what I do, go online, have fun, make love to my sweeties, and do constructive stuff. Why not just have party with no pressure or social obligations? Not only I already lost my weekend on it, but I may have to deal with another 24h to distribute it in chunks to whatever who “buys me”.

Popularity is a double edge sword. I’m not there to amuse you. I’m there to do my work and be happy. And I currently am not happy to be put in such situation. Know that if I finally crack under the pressure, it’s not to please myself.

So I’m confronted to a choice I don’t want to take, to the risk of sounding uncool and selfish and dodge the party and the auction all over, or swallow the load and deal with something I have no interest of doing in order to please the crowds. Both of them leaving a very bitter after taste in my mouth…

I’m doing some serious rethinking about my role in the Secondlife community, it may be time I get a few alts and pull Codie back a little, next time I may be better prepared to deal with such cases.

iheartsl community blog: pris by you.

2008-09-07T18:49:42+00:00

pixelulika.wordpress.com

Roy: We’ve got a lot in common.
Sebastian: What do you mean?
Roy: Similar problems.
Pris: Accelerated decrepitude.

Went to the Kowloon sim and got inspired to wear my Pris outfit, made up of various parts, including a freebie skirt I got from SLexchange. Hair from Deviant Kitties

Second Life Herald: Gotham: City of Heroes - And Villains, Too

2008-09-07T18:48:32+00:00

by Lavinia Carver

Gotham

Just randomly browsing round the metaverse can actually prove useful. I found that out a little while ago, when I stumbled upon Gotham. I had first seen Gotham when it was mid-construction, so it didn’t look too good. It also took forever to build, so I personally thought it would take FOREVER to open.

I am not in any way fascinated by the whole superhero or super-villain thing. I’ve never read a single comic, DC or otherwise. Really the whole appeal was that this was as close to a modern day, realistic RP that I could get without having the mafia, magic, etc. involved.

Arkham Asylum, where many a villain has resided at some point of time

For those of you who have never heard of Gotham, (who hasn’t? Even I knew Batman!) it is the city of residence for one of the world’s most famed superheroes: Batman. Of course, the sim is not restricted to Batman only, it involves the whole DC universe and anything else you can make up! (if it doesn’t suck)

The Iceberg lounge, Gotham’s largest lounge and club

If you’re interested in rping, just search Gothamand it should pop up. Now, DON’T FORGET TO READ THE RULES. The owners and managers of the sim expect you to read them, and give almost no leeway on violations of those rules. If you’re just looking to go and pretend to be Batman for a while, forget it, two people already ARE Batman.

Wayne Manor, residence of Bruce Wayne, billionaire

I was unable to get an interview with any of the managers or owners due to a communication issue that cannot be fixed at the moment, but I can give new players a couple hints. First of all, this sim uses DCS2, so I suggest you find $75L and buy a DCS HUD and the free fist fighter at least. You can’t just go in and pretend to be a superhero or villain, you need to contact one of the managers to start talking about an audition. I have no idea how it works, because I’m happy with my civilian role. You’ll have to start as a civilian, but don’t let that discourage you. You can still go rob the bank or help stop a robbery in progress, just don’t do it until you join the group and have made yourself known to the city rp-wise. I actually would suggest starting as a freelance reporter at the Gotham Gazette or an officer at the Gotham City Police Department. You can just go to those and apply, but there is no audition for those, just fill out the form and follow the directions. That way you can learn the ropes of Gotham and really get in the swing before you shoot for the big stuff.

Overall, Gotham is a great sim, and the people on it are great too. Every one of them will be willing to help you out if you’re in a fix, or at least all of the ones I’ve come across. Lavinia, over and out.

Reuters: Users gather for a smaller, less corporate SLCC

2008-09-07T18:39:17+00:00

SECOND LIFE, Sept 7 (Reuters) - As they have every year for four years, the Second Life faithful tore themselves away from their computers for a weekend of real-life travel to celebrate Linden Lab’s virtual world at SLCC, the Second Life Community Convention.

But this year far fewer of them came out.

SLCC was in Tampa this year, and some said hurricane fears were keeping people at home. Others blamed a sluggish real-world economy and rising airfare prices. Event organizers said only 400 people attended SLCC this year, half of last year’s attendance in Chicago.

Notably absent from the conference were any real-world businesses from outside the virtual worlds industry, or the consulting firms that only last year built Second Life presences for real-world brands. “We invited the Electric Sheep Company and Rivers Run Red, but both apparently decided they didn’t want to attend,” said SLCC organizer Peter Lokke (Second Life: Crucial Armitrage).

“In terms of external business use of Second Life, what we see now isn’t marketing but businesses using Second Life for things like training and meetings,” said Linden Lab’s Glenn Fisher at a panel on SLCC’s sparsely-attended business track. Unlike last year’s conference in Chicago, most of the discussions revolved around issues of relevance only to in-world L$-based enterprises.

Fisher argued businesses were still using his company’s virtual world despite the lack of attendance at SLCC. “Businesses are keeping it quiet because they see being in Second Life as a competitive advantage.”

Second Life founder Philip Rosedale kicked off the event at a Saturday morning breakfast where he was received with warm but not ecstatic applause.

“Last year when I was here I had the ‘Missing Image’ T-shirt,” Rosedale said, alluding to his apology for bugs at SLCC 2007. “I think we made pretty good progress.”

The Second Life community has its own ideas. New Linden CEO Mark Kingdon followed Rosedale and asked the crowd: “We’re working hard to improve stability. Are you seeing that?” But Kingdon’s question was met with a stony silence from the crowd.

A handful of sessions about open source attracted large crowds with people sitting in the aisles and standing in the back of the room.

But the breakout star of SLCC was the burgeoning virtual world educational community. Second Life’s teachers ran three tracks simultaneously all weekend and held an extra full day of sessions on Friday before SLCC formally started. The educators had their own parties, programs, and event name (”SLEDcc”), acting as a conference-within-a-conference.

While the interest of real-world companies and the consulting firms catering to them has waned, most attendees weren’t bothered. Talks formal and informal ran all weekend, with attendees bragging to each other about scoring invites to the exclusive Linden Lab corporate party. And on Saturday night, Second Life dressed up for a night of kinky fun at Kevin Alderman’s (Second Life: Stroker Serpentine) annual “Leather & Lace Ball.”

But even Alderman’s masquerade ball reflected the more modest nature of SLCC this year. Fewer partygoers dressed up in costume than last year, and there was nary a furry in sight.

Nicolas Barrial (Second Life: Nick Rhodes) claims to have been among the first 1000 users of Second Life and the first French national with an avatar. He traveled 14 hours from Paris to Tampa for the event.

Barrial reveled in the chance to link with friends old and new. [...]

sered Second Life: Gridnaut Bear

Sered — 2008-09-07T18:33:44+00:00

Those who succeed in building their own Open Grid beta enabled OpenSim and teleporting from there to Linden's Vaak region (on their Aditi betagrid), get to call themselves "gridnaut". Gridnauts can claim a trophy bear, allowing you to show off your OpenGrid prowess in the Second Life main grid :) I got mine from Whump Linden a couple of days ago. This is how it looks:

I like it. Too bad I can't get one in real life!

sered Second Life: Two OpenSims

Sered — 2008-09-07T18:33:44+00:00

Yesterday I finally finished my OpenSim environment again. There's two installs now on my server: a plain OpenSim install for the kids, and a Open Grid enabled one for myself. I didn't know for sure if two installs would work, but it seems to be fine so far.

It even seems you can run two installs on one database. I accidentally forgot to change one database value in the OpenSim install for my kids, which caused their content to end up in the same database as my OpenGrid install. Result: I suddenly saw my sons' newly built house pop up on my Open Grid island!

I'm planning on leaving the kids' standalone OpenSim alone for a bit. It's good enough the way it is; no need to upgrade every couple of days. That's what I can use my OpenGrid install for!

My son at his new underwater villa:

Reuters: Blog: What will the next year bring for Second Life?

2008-09-07T18:33:23+00:00

A year ago at the Second Life Community Convention in Chicago, Reuters asked: What will the next year bring in Second Life?

Some of those predictions didn’t come true. Jeska Linden’s hope for open-sourced servers didn’t happen (although OpenSim is doing something very similar), and Izzy Linden’s prediction of 20 million avatars didn’t materialize (total registrations just topped 15 million). Other forecasts, like whether Second Life residents enjoy better sex or a more stable environment than they did a year ago, remain a matter of personal opinion.

But with an eye towards the future, once again Reuters asked SLCC: What will the next year bring in Second Life?

Philip Rosedale, founder of Second Life.

“More use of Second Life to support education and business collaboration.”

Dick Dillon (”Coughran Mayo”), Addiction Recovery Professional

“OpenSim is a reality which is coming. The Second Life Grid isn’t the only place avatars will hang out.”

Chadrick Baker, virtual worlds consultant, former Linden Lab employee

“It depends on what Linden does! I see Linden having some serious competition.”

“Phoenix Linden” (declined to give real-life name), Linden Lab employee

“We’ll go six months without a central server crash.”

Jordan Bellino (”Tizzers Foxchase”), self-identified griefer, banned from Second Life

“The metaverse is a very good mirror of the old Web 1.0 world. Linden is like AOL or Prodigy, eventually no one company will have central control.”

Mike Lorrey (”Intlibber Brautigan”), Second Life land owner/entrepreneur

“Linden has to adjust to no longer being like AOL. They can be the central bank and patent office of the metaverse, or they can go by the wayside.”

Helen Mosher (”Helenn Indigo”), New Media editor of Signal at AFCEA

“Second Life is emerging as a collaboration tool for government.”

Patrick Edwards-Daugherty, CEO of Pleiades Consulting

“We see virtual worlds going in the same direction the World Wide Web did. A company like Reuters will be able to host its own virtual world without relying on Second Life.”

[...]

Prokofy Neva: Moth Temple Infohub

Prokofy Neva — 2008-09-07T18:25:43+00:00

I haven't had as much time to blog in recent weeks, not only because of the start of the school year and extra work, but because during those times I'm on SL or am thinking of SL, I've been working at the new build by Jessica Ornitz at the Moth Temple in Iris.

This project has taken two years to come about, in the way that things in SL can take forever because basically, nobody pays us to be here lol. Back in 2006, suddenly the land around the Moth Temple in Iris, one of my favourite places in SL with a brilliant Asian temple built by Xenon Linden, went up on the auction. This was about the time the Lindens were starting to auction off all that unused telehub land I guess. Of course, originally, they had talked about having NO telehubs at all in the New Continent (as Hetero-whatsis was called then, the atoll continent with sims names for types of moths). But then it turned out there was absolutely nothing technically difficult about putting up a telehub whatsoever. It was literally a matter of putting out an object, and hooking it up as the teleporting position, as we all do on private islands ourselves. The object didn't even have to be visible.

When it was seen how hard it was to sell land and have any commerce on a continent without telehubs (the Lindens were delayed apparently in their p2p and map pinpointing implementation and weren't quite ready), they were forced at first to put one in at Iris and one in Hyles -- and later more. They were hoping to prevent urban sprawl or mall lag (which is one of those fictions of SL) so they sequestered about 10,000 m2 around the temple. The first buys on that sim went to malls anyway, but one was a very tasteful and nice mall exactly in the same atoll textures, but it went belly up as malls often do. Suddenly, the Lindens put that 10,000 m2 up on auction, and in 3 separate pieces (thanks!) making it a chore to claim. Clubside Granville, who has pumped a great deal of time and money into SL, stepped up to the place and bid on the auction, having to bid against another guy who owned some land on the sim and said *he* wanted to make a preserve, and bid so that it wouldn't become "a mall" even though we told him it wouldn't -- annoying. Miraculously, Clubside was able to secure all three pieces and we dubbed it "Moth Temple Preseve" -- but there it sat for two years.

Well, first I tried to find a volunteer builder, as I really didn't have any funds. I was hoping to get Rez Menoptra, who had done this amazing build over in Waved (sadly, now gone, even though it was sold to a store owner who did keep it for awhile). His style was perhaps "too modern" for the ancient primitive temple build, but I thought it might be an interesting contrast, and he would know what to do with the space. At first he said he might consider it, as he loved the atoll sims, but then it was 2007, the year of numerous big corporation contracts and Rez was hugely in demand by the Electric Sheep and others where he put up even more amazing builds, most of which are now lost in the electronic sands of time...

For some unknown reason, the Lindens pulled all the lanterns and all the moths that used to come out every night at like 7:48 at dusk to cling to the light. I have no idea why. I asked about it; no one knew. Eric Linden, their maker, was gone from Lindenhood -- and didn't have that account anymore that had once owned them. Rez came up with one pole and lantern that he had somehow gotten from a Linden -- but it wasn't copyable, and the moths didn't come out...Sad...

I put up an old Spanish galleon and some orientation stuff and some markers for the Land Preserve and had to call it a day. I didn't have the money or time [...]

New World Notes: Lanna's List for September 4 -10: SLCC, Global Handshake Fair, Fractured Fairy Tales, and more...

Lanna — 2008-09-07T18:18:13+00:00

Image by Tauri Tigerpaw Charlanna Beresford’s weekly round-up of upcoming SL events… Surf’s up in Second Life! If you’ve been thinking about trying to surf in SL, there are fantastic ongoing opportunities to learn to surf. There are surfing weekly...

Dolmere Talamasca: Yet More SLCC 2008 Pics

Dolmere Talamasca — 2008-09-07T18:03:54+00:00

Here are a few more that have come in. Crap Mariner jumped on stage to end the night by singing his version of Hallelujah with Cylindrian Rutabaga.

The crowd watching Crap & Cylindrian on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Crap & Cylindrian on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Crap Mariner & Beladonna Memorial on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

They were broadcasting the evening into SL on Artropolis. Here's a shot of Lyndon Heart playing side by side with Lyndon Heart playing :) Nice!

Lyndon & Lyndon on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

At the SLCC Concert on Flickr - Photo Sharing! Kyle, Holli, Crap.

Lyndon Heart & Cylindrian Rutabaga on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Flithy Fluno on Flickr - Photo Sharing! The Filthy one McNutter making some abstract art during the proceedings. Expect this piece to sell for high dollars. Perhaps you should get your bid in sooner than later :)

Lyndon Heart on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Gwampa Lomu taking photos on Flickr - Photo Sharing! This is apparently Gwampa Lomu being creative with his picture taking angles. In the background I believe we see SeanMcPherson Senior in his kilt with Feline Slade beside him and... not sure about the fella in green.

Crap Mariner on Flickr - Photo Sharing! We should have a captioning contest for this grin!
"Yeah, I delt it!"
"What? You heard that over the music?"
"Ah, I found my next victim and I'm looking right at him!"

Crap, the Man, Myth & Legend on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Up Crap Mariner's nostrils on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Crap & me on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Some more that popped up of Filthy's creation and process:

Filthy Fluno spontaneous art on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Filthy Fluno's art workspace on Flickr - Photo [...]

BlogHUD: Bandana Day!

2008-09-07T17:42:14+00:00

Today, September the 7th, marks the end of the 2008 Hair Fair. It is also Bandana day, where we all take off our hair for charity. All proceeds go to Locks of Love. I bought several!

crossposted to The Fashionable Feline

posted by Kira Zobel on Rezzable Discover using a blogHUD
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Rikomatic: Rafi's feedback to Linden Lab on improving Second Life for educators

2008-09-07T17:33:53+00:00

Here's Rafi Santo giving his feedback to Linden Lab during a session today in Tampa at the Second Life Community Convention on how to improve Second Life for educators. Claudia Linden was there carefully taking notes of everyone's comments during this feedback session. It's great to see a concrete example of how that the Linden gods are listening to the educator community in SL.

Seven Ultra Lounge: Sunday @ Seven

2008-09-07T17:30:30+00:00

12:00PM to 3:00PM PDT/SLT

DJ Rance Alva in the “Ultra Main Room”: Live mix - Hip Hop and Electro.

1:00PM to 4:00PM PDT/SLT

DJane Bianca Darling in the “Ultra Main Room”

3:00PM to 6:00PM PDT/SLT

DJane Isabelle Santos in the “Ultra Main Room”: Open rotation.

9:00PM to 12:00AM PDT/SLT

DJ Sanguinius Constantine in the “Ultra Main Room”: Live mix - Dance and Club music.

Admission: L$165 3-hour land pass. Open to VIP Members.

Teleport to: City of Palermo (112, 99, 27)

BlogHUD: Looking from Platform

2008-09-07T17:09:08+00:00

Looking at the stonehenge from the first floor platform at the foot of the tree.

crossposted to Summer Seale

posted by Summer Seale on Faerie using a blogHUD
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BlogHUD: Stonehenge

2008-09-07T17:06:09+00:00

I just made a stonehenge in maya, complete with textures baked in maya, for the landing point. Check out how cool that looks.

crossposted to Summer Seale

posted by Summer Seale on Faerie using a blogHUD
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BlogHUD: You can't miss such a nice place !!!

2008-09-07T16:54:10+00:00

Your house on a tree where to get comfy after a nice evenig near a camp fire on a beach near a waterfall, trees, plants, all this paradise created by a talented RL graphist, isn't it a dream ? 20000 $L may appear a big amount of money, It certainly worth it. Don't hesitate, and even if it is just for a walk, come and visit it. One can rarely see such landscape on SL. If you want to know more about it, send me an IM.

posted by Laurent Bechir on Koh Lanta using a blogHUD
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Linden Lab: 2008 Hippo Award Winners Announced

2008-09-07T16:24:55+00:00

We’re pleased to announce the winners of the second annual Linden Lab Innovation Awards, known as “the Hippos,” which honor the exceptional, and varied, work done by open source community members.

Rob Linden presented the awards at a mixed reality event that linked an inworld gathering of nominees, attendees of the Second Life Community Convention in Tampa, FL, and others tuning in via audio stream. See the wiki for the full text of his presentation and a review of the last year’s highlights.

Winners were selected by a panel of six Linden judges who studied each nominees contributions and rated them for both for impact and positive influence. The judges all came away awed at the breadth of cxontribution and felt they were just scratching the surface. Today’s list of winners includes only a small portion of what is fantastic about this community. While we’re not sure we’ve recognized everyone we could, we’re very confident that we should give special recognition to these individuals.

And now, the winners…

Best Documentation
In this category, we wanted to find someone who contributed lots of great documentation and helped build a community of fellow writers in a helpful and friendly way. This is an area where a lot of people do a lot of great work — people like Gellen Glenelg, Strife Onizuka, SignpostMarv Martin and Catherine Pffefer — and, in fact, we had to declare a tie.

One of the winners tirelessly translated hundreds of pages into Japanese on the wiki, expanding the universe of Second Life residents, builders, and contributors in the process. The other was equally impressive with French translations. The work that these two residents have done has greatly expanded the reach of the ecosystem. The 2008 Hippo Award winners for Best Documentation are Asuka Neely and Gally Young.

Best Organizer
We split Best Organizer into two categories.

A. Best Issue Tracker Organizer
Organizing our issue tracker, aka “PJIRA” is a category in its own right. We had several really worthy contributors in this area: Ellla McMahon, Lex Neva and WarKirby Magojiro. However, we found that our winner could not be beat in raw, productive, obsessive compulsive organizing. The 2008 Hippo Award winner for Best Issue Tracker Organization is Harleen Gretzky.

B. Best Working Group Organization
Working group organization is also a very important asset to the community, and we have an embarrassment of riches here, too, including Zha Ewry and Saijanai Kuhn. Our winner in the category has been not only a good organizer, but a blog author and an implementor. After the first meeting of the Architecture Working Group, despite not being there in person like many people, he wrote what was probably the best summary of the meeting and what was discussed, which educated a lot of people about what AWG is about. He also has been instrumental in the creation of the PyOGP reference implementation for the open grid protocol. The 2008 Hippo Award winner for Best Working Group Organization is Tao Takashi.

Best Code Contribution
For this category, we were looking for the best feature or other code contribution. At first, we looked more closely at utility, but we also looked at how it was contributed. Runners-up included McCabe Maxstead’s “classic” viewer skin and Seg Baphomet’s OpenAL contribution. [...]

Rikomatic: What happens at Strokerz Ball stays at Strokerz Ball (not really)

2008-09-07T15:38:24+00:00

"Hi, I'm Stroker Serpentine, and I'm a pervert," announced the bald man with devil ears. So began yet another incarnation of "Strokerz Ball" at SLCC 2008.

Infamous adult industry purveyor Stroker Serpentine threw another of his raunchy bachannals at the Second Life Community Convention last night, in a sweaty, dark party room in a Tampa mini-mall last night. The party for me lacked some of the wild abandon and energy of last year's SLCC party in Chicago. Maybe it was the placement away from the SLCC hotel site, in the middle of a more family-friendly cluster of restaurants and bars. Or the general decrease in attendance from past years.

Still there were all the elements of a Stroker party: folks in outlandish, fetishy costumes, lewd dancing, heavy drinking, a raffle of various ridiculous sex toys, and pounding music provided by a host of SL DJs. Not really my cup-of-tea, but really interesting to see Second Life residents in the flesh just cutting loose.

Rikomatic: Metanomics' Beyers Sellers explains "Why Johnny Can’t Rez" at SLCC / SLEDcc '08

2008-09-07T15:25:45+00:00

Beyers Sellers, Professor at Johnson School at Cornell University and host of the popular "Metanomics" talk show in SL, gave a really neat keynote address on “Why Johnny Can’t Rez.” Beyers addressed the difficult issue of how to convince your higher-ups and colleagues to support your virtual education project. It was a nice capstone to the addresses by Intellagirl Tulley and Barry Joseph on education in SL. Beyer’s main message was that to get your administrator to release the pursestrings to fund your virtual world education project, you need to help them fulfill the goals of the institution.

My notes on Beyer's talk follows...

Beyers described the three basic questions to answer for your administrator are:

How does this help me accomplish my goals or the goals of my institution?
Why are VW’s the best way of accomplishing those goals?
What are the costs and risks?

1. How does this help me accomplish my goals or the goals of my institution?

It’s important to frame your approach based on the goals of your administrator. Get the documents that frame the institutional goals, get the history of that process, and find out what the administrator wants to do personally.

2. Why are VW’s the best way of accomplishing those goals?

What is it that VW’s are particularly good at in comparison to competition (i.e. a RL classroom, another online solution). I have identified three:

a. Presence in Place:

SL offers synchronous communications with presence. Avatars provide for a lot of non-verbal communication.
You can pitch this to a marketing dept well. VW’s are closer to a personal connection. They allow people to share an appearance.
Example: At my institution, we have an interest in connecting them to the space of the campus. SL is good at accomplishing that.
Example: Another group working on a “Virtual Congress” : replicating the Congress building, congressional offices and K Street where all the lobbying happens.
Serendipity: the possibility that someone might be in the same space as me and we meet. That won’t happen in a webinar.

b. Constructive Cacaphony

SL provides many avenues of communication and they can all happen at once. This can be overwhelming, but also very rich: i.e. speaker to audience, audience to speaker, IM, public chat, links, etc.
This has the potential to make the virtual experience BETTER than real life.

c. Creative Collaboration

SL offers possibilities for collaborative work that is unique and powerful. I.e. avatar creation, machinima, games creation.
Example: Wikitecture : collaborative architecture
Example: Peggy Sheehy’s work on narrative

3. What are the Costs and Risks?
It is very unlikely that your VW project is going to be mission critical to your institution. It’s likely to be extending something that you already do, but doing it better or cheaper. You want to argue that it is cost effective and not too risky.

Costs:

In a virtual conference, we found that the organizer wasn’t going to save a lot of money compared to a physical conference. Conference organizers typically pay for the room, food, drink, etc.
Where are the savings? Largely [...]

BlogHUD: Peek-a-boo Pillory

2008-09-07T15:21:15+00:00

I am in the Stockades trying to raise money for the One Campaign. The script is broken, or not turned on, but...not much of a response to my pleas for help.

crossposted to DrFran Does SL

posted by DrFran Babcock on Raglan Shire using a blogHUD
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BlogHUD: Giant Tree Back

2008-09-07T15:06:11+00:00

The back of the island with the waterfall etc....

crossposted to Summer Seale

posted by Summer Seale on Faerie using a blogHUD
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BlogHUD: Giant Leafy Tree

2008-09-07T15:00:10+00:00

Giant Tree with leaves and sparkles and some more landscaping. =) You gotta see this thing to understand how cool it is gonna be. =)

crossposted to Summer Seale

posted by Summer Seale on Faerie using a blogHUD
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BlogHUD: aEoLuS Waves and I

2008-09-07T14:36:19+00:00

The abominables storm the Raglan Shire Medieval Festival. aEoLuS dropped a snowman on me, and I thought Raglan would be the place to show it off. Friends Awen, Mutley, and Lulee watched on in feigned horror.

crossposted to DrFran Does SL

posted by DrFran Babcock on Raglan Shire using a blogHUD
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BlogHUD: more playing with presets

2008-09-07T14:30:11+00:00

Check this out!

crossposted to nicki_clary

posted by Nicki Clary on Nowhereville using a blogHUD
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iheartsl community blog: cute_024

2008-09-07T14:27:38+00:00

I stumbled upon this beautiful garden and decided to take this pictures with this stunning outfit from

Bare Rose. I think it was a perfect setting with the wings and the Rainbow in the background…. I am still having a sale 25%-50% on all my merchandise in my main store KatKreation by Katlene Niven, so go check it out cause the price is right….

Outfit: It’s Only A Paper Moon By B@R

Hair: Kira-White by FD

Skin: Brooke-Medium by Belleza

Facelight: By B@R

Eyes: Light Blue by *Lee Zu Baxter*

To go to my Store

BlogHUD: Playing with Torley's Sky & Water Presets

2008-09-07T14:27:09+00:00

Check this out!

crossposted to nicki_clary

posted by Nicki Clary on Nowhereville using a blogHUD
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iheartsl community blog: retributionfall

2008-09-07T14:25:50+00:00

Skulls, Wire, Roses & Bones Week (Pt. 1)

Today I was doing some shopping, hunting down a few specific accessories (and buying outfits along the way, of course) when I noticed that I have a startling number of items with either skulls, bones, barbed wire or roses, including several new releases I was dying to blog - easily enough for multiple posts over the course of a week. Hence, we kick off “Skulls, Wire, Roses & Bones Week” with the spectacular Yukio Kimono from FallnAngel Creations and the fun and flirty Bloomer Set by KaoSome. Interestingly, neither of these outfits can be described in terms of color as they are detailed patterns and textures instead. For the full article, more pictures, all the details and limos, visit One Perfect Piece.

The ARCH: Keystone Bouchard

2008-09-07T13:32:19+00:00

This video is now officially my favorite Second Life machinima of all time (not just because they mention Wikitecture ;-) Their use of hybrid machinima is incredibly well done, and the way they portray the architectural possibilities of virtual space is very inspiring; emphasizing a kind of virtual architecture not exclusively tethered to physical replication, [...]

BlogHUD: Nice view of the shore

2008-09-07T13:18:09+00:00

Check this out!

crossposted to nicki_clary

posted by Nicki Clary on LagNmoor using a blogHUD
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