Author: John

Welcome to the weekend! It was another Friday night in The Empire Room at Copperhead Road. Paul and Jilley greeted guests whilst I wrangled details for the upcoming road show at the RFL’s Home and Garden Expo on Monday at 6pm SLT. Huge thanks to DJ Corri for filling in for DJ Gunner. Here is what the show looked like! And have a read from those who chose to participate with the choreographer’s perspective of their dances.

==========================================
Nara
“I Dreamed a Dream” from Les Miserables
A beautiful ballet to a legendary song.
1. Why did you choose this song to create a dance to? What was your inspiration?
Les Miserables has always been one operatic that has moved me. I cried most of the way through it being fortunate enough to see a live production. The emotions it conveyed was totally heart wrenching. This particular song was one that…

An attempt to delve into the significance of death in a person’s virtual realism brought me to the Second Afterlife Cemetery. Opened to the public on 8th March, 2008, the cemetery isn’t just limited to role play.

“My father was cremated and I move around a lot, it gives me a place to go ‘visit’,” replied an individual when asked about why they decided to remember their real father by renting a memorial space in a virtual cemetery.

“It’s a way to honour their presence that I feel every moment in my life and it gives me great strength to sit in front of their virtual grave,” explained another renter.

To such people, a little parcel of land in the cemetery either encapsulates the lacuna created by the demise of a loved one or reinforces that soul’s importance even in their permanent absence or both.

A part of Second Afterlife…

Did you know you can create an array of images?! I just learned this. And the really exciting part is that you can rig up Processing to look through your Sketch folder to get the names of images to load into that array.

Saturday, May 12th, I went simploring again. I picked “2ᴇʟᴡƎ“, a homestead designed by Miuccia Klaar and Squonk Levenque, from scoop.it SL Destinations. I also read two blog posts about “2ᴇʟᴡƎ“, one from Kate Bergdorf titeled “2ᴇʟᴡƎ” (read here) and one from Maddy Gynoid “Simtipp: 2ᴇʟᴡƎ” written in German (read here).

The landing is on a skyplatform with a chequerboard pattern, You’re welcome by a little robot “SiM DRONE S.5 whispers: Welcome Diomita, thanks for bringing some colors in 2ELWE! Make a phone call for a notecard.“

Landing Point and first impressions of “2ᴇʟᴡƎ”

In fact there is a sofa, a few trees and a phone and the phone gives you the above mentioned notecard. The notecard contains no information about “2ᴇʟᴡƎ” itself, it recommends to keep the sim’s windlight settings and proposes a few alternatives.
From the…

DiXmiX Gallery – Giovanna Cerise

Clinamen (clīnāre, to incline), is the name Roman poet and philosopher Titus Lucretius Carus gave to the unpredictable swerve of atoms, as a means of defending the Epicurian view of atomism. It is also the title Giovanna Cerise has chosen for her latest installation, now open at DiXmiX Gallery (you’ll find it in the The Atom club / event space within the gallery building).

Clinamen is the second recent exhibition by Giovanna which offers a philosophical lean (no pun intended), following as it does From the Worlds to the World (see here for more). It’s a piece that has broad philosophical foundations. There is Lucretius, as noted above, and the ancient philosophical science of atomism – the belief that nature consists pure of atoms and their surrounding void, and that everything that exists or occurs is the result of the atoms colliding…

Seanchai Library

It’s time to highlight another week of storytelling in Voice by the staff and volunteers at the Seanchai Library. As always, all times SLT, and events are held at the Library’s home at Holly Kai Park, unless otherwise indicated.

Sunday, May 20th

13:30: Tea-Time with Tolkien

Join Corwyn, Kayden, and Caledonia in Ceiliúradh Glenon Holly Kai for more from Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings” Trilogy. This week: The Mirror of Galadriel and the Passing of the Grey Company.

With water from the stream Galadriel filled the basin to the brim, and breathed on it, and when the water was still again she spoke. “Here is the Mirror of Galadriel,” she said. “I have brought you here so that you may look in it, if you will.”

The air was very still, and the dell was dark, and the Elf-lady beside him was tall and…

Bay City Fairgrounds set for the 10th Anniversary celebrations

Bay City celebrates its tenth anniversary on Sunday May 20th, and the Bay City community is marking the day with a another special time of festivities and fun to which everyone is invited!

Activities will kick-off at noon SLT with a parade line-up at the band shell in Bay City – Harwich. At 12:30 SLT, the parade will make its way down Route 66, and proceed to the Bay City Fairgrounds in the North Channel region. DJ GoSpeed Rasere (GoSpeed Racer) will be providing the music throughout the parade, which will be followed by at live concert from 13:30 SLT onwards at the fairgrounds.

The line-up for the concert this year comprises (all times SLT):

• 13:30 – 14:30:  Parker Static-Riley (Parker Static) – Parker started singing at a very early age; being in a musical family her passion for singing…

ONI Zen – click any image for full size

ONI Zen is a new adult / BDSM-oriented region within Second Life aimed at offering those with an interest / genuine curiosity about the BDSM lifestyle. It’s a subject that may not be to everyone’s interest or liking, so if this is the case, you might want to skip this article; but keep in mind specific adult activities are confined to specific areas of the region – such as the dungeon area and skyboxes – rather than being on public display.

However, before we get into the region itself, a few words on a couple of things.

There is a tendency in Second life – and the world as a whole – for the uninitiated to view BDSM (bondage, discipline, sadism and masochism) and D/s (Dominance and submission) as being one in the same – and that both are closely linked…

Village of Ahiru – click any image for full size

Village of Ahiru is a full region themed along Japanese  / Edo period lines (although the time frame for the region isn’t specifically the Edo period, as evidenced by things like the bicycles to be found scattered along the extensive paths and walks within the region).

The main landing point, located in the sky above the region offers an introduction to the setting, noting it is a mixed public / private location with a number of rental properties to be found within it. However, providing the privacy of those renting is respected, visitors and photography are both welcome, and for those wanting to get a little more in character, two vendors at the landing point offer free female and male kimonos.

Village of Ahiru

Ground level is reached via a map teleport board. This lists all of the public areas…

We all have blood. We all feel. We all matter. We are all different.

– Shyla the Super Gecko (KriJon)

Our Digital Selves: My Avatar is Me  is a new video documentary by Draxtor Despres, which officially unveiled on Thursday, May 17th, to coincide with Global Accessibility Awareness Day.

It’s a powerful 74-minute piece which, as Draxtor himself notes, “Was supposed to be a slightly extended episode of The Drax Files World Makers,” but which, “ballooned into a dense investigation into the power of living vicariously through an avatar in Second Life and next generation virtual worlds like High Fidelity and Sansar.”

The documentary grew out of a desire to follow the work of Tom Boellstorff and Donna Z Davis (respectively Tom Bukowski  and Tredi Felisimo in Second Life). For the last three years, Tom and Donna have been engaged in a National Science Foundation funded study formally entitled Virtual…

A Little Bit of Soul – click any image for full size

Occupying one half of a Full region, A Little Bit of Soul is group design offering a huge amount to see and explore.  Running from west to east across the region, it presents what might be seen as a build in three parts, all of which flow together to offer a unifies setting.

At the western end is a built-up area which encloses the landing point. Split into two parts, it encloses the landing point within a plaza-like square surrounded by boutique-style businesses, some of which have town style houses built above them. Footpaths run around the shops on two sides, one of which forms a small road lined with more shop fronts with living spaces over them, while the other offers a way to a waterfront area.

A Little Bit of Soul

This small precinct offers a…

Soul2Soul Med – click any image for full size

In February 2018, I wrote about a visit we made to two Homestead regions designed by Minnie Blanco (Minnie Atlass): Soul2Soul River and Soul2Soul Bay (see here for more). While I’m somewhat hesitant about blogging regions that are intended for rental purposes, but both Soul2Soul River and Soul2Soul Bay were so beautifully designed and offered sufficient public spaces, I felt comfortable in writing about them.

Since then, Minnie has added a third region to her group, Soul2Soul Med. As the name implies, this homestead region has something of a Mediterranean theme to it. Once again, the region in part offers properties for rent to those looking for a home; although at the time of our visit there were only three such properties on the region, leaving the greater part of it open to public exploration.

Soul2Soul Med – click…

Using a projector and “reflective” surface in SL to creator a mirror in our living room at home. Note how the “reflection” changes as the viewing perspective moves

Second Life lighting projectors are an extremely useful capability that can be put to a wide variety of uses. I first covered their basics far back in 2011. Since then they’ve been notably easier to use (and that original article was subsequently updated to reflect this).

In 2016, for his art display, Mirrored Garden, at Holly Kai Garden (see here for details), Silas Merlin demonstrated a means to create mirror-like effects in Second Life, with a number of “mirrors” mounted around his sculptures “reflecting” them and the garden in which they were being displayed. I’ve since seen a number of SL artists use a similar approach to add depth to their work, and in April 2018, Adeon Writer offered…

Raglan Shire Artwalk 2018

Raglan Shire, Second Life’s Tiny community once again throws open its doors to people from across the grid as participating artists and visitors to the annual Raglan Shire Artwalk.

This year marks the 13th Artwalk, which opened on Sunday, May 13th, and runs through until Sunday, June 17th. 2018. The event offers an opportunity not just to appreciate a huge range of art from both the physical and digital worlds, but to also tour the Shire regions and enjoy the hospitality of the Raglan Shire community.

Raglan Shire Artwalk: CybeleMoon (Hana Hoobinoo)

A non-juried exhibition, the Artwalk is open to any artist wishing to enter, and has minimal restrictions on the type of art displayed (one of the most important being all art is in keeping with the Shire’s maturity rating). All of this means that it offers one of the richest mixes of SL…

Seanchai Library

It’s time to highlight another week of storytelling in Voice by the staff and volunteers at the Seanchai Library. As always, all times SLT, and events are held at the Library’s home at Holly Kai Park, unless otherwise indicated.

Sunday, May 13th 13:30: Tea-Time with Tolkien

No heroes today!  Indeed, no sword-wielding men, knife-bearing Elves, or axe-tossing Dwarves this day! Today’s Tea Time celebrates the Elders of Middle Earth – so old they can just remember when the young Elves arrived and began re-naming everything: Beorn, Tom Bombadil, Treebeard.

We visit two of these Elders, with selections from “The Fellowship of the Ring” and “The Two Towers.”

Join Corwyn, Kayden, and Caledonia in Ceiliúradh Glen on Holly Kai for more from Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings” Trilogy.

Monday, May 14th 19:00: The Nitrogen Fix

2000 years from now, the Earth has acid oceans, mutating exploding…

Kultivate Sensuality Exhibition: Reycharles Resident

Open from Friday, May 11th through until Sunday, May 13th, 2018 is the second annual Kultivate Sensuality Art Exhibition. As the name suggests, this is very much an exhibition of adult-themed art, so may not be everyone’s cup of tea.

Located on a sky platform, the exhibition presents the artists work in a series of individual gallery spaces set around an events square. Some of the artists have opted to simply display their art unfettered (so to speak, and pardon the pun); others have opted to dress their display spaces in keeping with the themes of the exhibition.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the female figure predominantly features in the art of display (there still seems to be something of s shying away from public exhibitions for full made nudity in the art world, even allowing for the Adult rating available in SL). There are exceptions…

Ce Soir Arts: Xanthe Firehawk – Mystical Spring – The Awakening of Spring (centre)

Art exhibitions in Second Life come in all sizes – from those that are region-sized, through ensemble gallery complexes exhibiting work by multiple artists to small boutique-style galleries, either run by the artist or curated and offering a focused exhibition featuring the work of a single artist.  Two exhibitions falling  into this latter category are Ce Soir Arts, and VOIR Gallery. They are currently and respectively hosting modest exhibitions by Xanthe Firehawk and Storie’S Helendale (GlitterPrincess Destiny) which are both well worth taking the time to visit.

Mystical Spring at Ce Soir features nine images by Xanthe celebrating the arrival of spring. They range from pure landscape settings through to beautifully created avatar studies that richly capture the mysticism and romance we sometime embody within thoughts and images of spring.

Ce Soir Arts

On May 25th, 2018 the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) comes into force. While an EU regulation, the GDPR not only applies to organisations located within the EU but it will also apply to organisations located outside of the EU if they offer goods or services to, or monitor the behaviour of, EU data subjects.

The GDPR applies to all companies processing and holding the personal data of data subjects residing in the European Union, regardless of the company’s location. As such, it not  only Linden Lab, who hold data on Second Life and Sansar users in the European Union, it can also impact those operating a business through Second Life and who collect data on customers which is stored outside of the servers operated by Linden Lab.

In preparation for the enforcement of the GDPR, on May 9th, 2018, Linden Lab issued a preliminary blog post on their…

The new “/sit 2” animation- VR Chat release

Monday, May 7th saw the arrival of the May 2018 Sansar release, entitled the VR Chat release. As the name implies, this release includes the long-awaited option for those in VR mode to see text chat from those around them. Alongside of this is Twitch integration, a further avatar sit option, and other nips, tucks and updates.

As always, full details are available in the release notes, this overview just highlights some of the key features / items in the release. In addition, a small update was issued on Tuesday, May 8th, 2018.

Initial Notes

• As with the majority of Sansar deployments, this update requires the automatic download and installation of a client update.
• Changes to the avatar inventory support means that on logging-in for the first time following the update, users will be placed in the LookBook (Avatar App).

Terrain…

Designing Worlds is celebrating its tenth birthday in 2018, and as a part of the celebrations, the team are hosting a special Designing Worlds show in conversation with Linden Lab CEO Ebbe Altberg (aka Ebbe Linden).

The show, to be broadcast on Monday, May 28th, 2018, will be about Second Life, and focus on the Lab’s high-level roadmap for the platform, published at the start of April.

As with the recent Linden Lab Town Hall meeting, questions to be put to Ebbe are being sought from Second Life users on the subject of the roadmap and Second Life in general.

If there is a question you would like to have asked during the recording of the show that links to the upcoming updates and improvements to Second Life noted in the roadmap blog post, or a general question on Second Life and its future, please submit it via the form…