April 2014 – Page 6 – Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld

Raglan Shire 2014 Artwalk: call for artists

Posted on April 20, 2014May 3, 2020 by Inara Pey

The Raglan Shire Artwalk is one of the staples of the SL art calendar. With 2014 marking the Walk’s ninth year, it will take place between Sunday May 4th and Sunday May 25, 2014 (inclusive).

Every year over 100 artists and residents in Second Life display 2D and 3D art across a number of exhibition spaces across all the regions of the Raglan Shire cluster. 2D art is displayed on hedgerows in and around the regions, offering visitors the chance to view pieces as they explore the Shire, while sculptures and 3D art is displayed in a number of designated areas across the regions.

Those wishing to exhibit their work at the 2014 Artwalk are invited to complete the Artist Registration Form, which should be submitted for inclusion no later than 21:00 SLT on Sunday April 27th.

A part of the Raglan Shire Art Walk 2013

There is a full set of guidelines and requirements for participation in the event, but in brief:

The event is a non-juried show
Artists can display more than one piece if they wish
All the above art forms are welcome, but should be rated PG / G – so no nudity, please!
Group membership will be required in order to display work
Questions and enquiries should be forwarded via note card to Artwalk Director Karmagirl Avro, or Artwalk Assistants Dagmar Klaar & Liandras Jameson.

Key Dates

Sunday April 27th: Applications close at 21:00 SLT
Thursday, May 1st: Notification of exhibit space location issued to artists
Friday, May 2nd / Saturday May 3rd: Artist set-up days
Sunday, May 4th: ARTWALK OPENS
Sunday, May 25th: Artwalk closes
Sunday, May 25th (after 18:00 SLT) / Monday, May 26th: Takedown of works.

Of ravens, faeries, ballads and cruises

Posted on April 20, 2014 by Inara Pey

It’s time to kick-off another week of fabulous story-telling in Voice, brought to Second Life by the staff and volunteers at the Seanchai Library SL.

As always, all times SLT, and unless otherwise stated, events will be held on the Seanchai Library’s home on Imagination Island.

Sunday April 20th

As it is Easter Sunday, Sherlock and John Watson have decided to put their feet up at 221B Baker Street and invite Caledonia, Corwyn and Kayden round for a spot of tea. I understand they’ll all be back on the case next Sunday!

Monday April 21st, 19:00: More Sci-Fi Adventures

With Gyro Muggins.

Tuesday April 22nd, 19:00: The Raven and the Storyteller

Aoife Niphrendil reads from A. Gouedard’s novel, an enchanting tale of the travels of a Raven called Wilf and Moon the Storyteller, both of whom are immortal, and of the people and events they meet on their journey. The stories told are set within the book as their journey unfolds, and in the tradition of fables and stories within a story.

Wednesday April 23rd, 19:00: Tír na nÓg

Tír na nÓg (“Land of the Young”) is, in Irish folklore and mythology, one of the names of the “otherworld”, in part a supernatural realm of everlasting youth, beauty, health, abundance and joy. It is also the title of the first volume of Marni L.B. Troop’s The Heart of Ireland Journals.

In looks, the Faerie are folk little different to humans, other than their pointed ears, although they are vastly different in other ways, and Casey is a princess among them.

She is horrified when a stranger from Iberia arrives on the shores of Ireland, home of the Faerie, believing them to be the gods of his people, but the kings of the Faerie respond to his overtures by having him slaughtered.

Thus the Faerie kings bring down the vengeance of the Iberian people upon their own folk, and war comes to their land. Caught in the middle, and herself in love with an Iberian called Amergin, Casey tries to find a way to bring peace between the two peoples so that they might live together. Unfortunately for her and her beloved, things do not go as she had hoped.

Join Caladonia as she continues reading this intriguing faerie tale.

Thursday April 24th

16:00 The Ballad of Donny Granger

The Ballads of Donny Granger, Book One is the first full-length illustrated novel from the mind Stephanie Mesler, also known in Second Life as Freda Frostbite. Want to know more? Then join Freda at the Seanchai library!

19:00: Goin’ Crusin’!

With Derry McMahon and Silvershade.

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Please check with the Seanchai Library SL’s blog for updates and for additions or changes to the week’s schedule. The featured charity for March and April is Project Children: building true and lasting peace in Northern Ireland one child at a time.

Take a walk in The Wild Side

Posted on April 20, 2014August 12, 2014 by Inara Pey

Heartseed: The Wild Side, April 2014

One of the things I love about creating in this medium is that you can express the energy so easily.

– Jedda Zenovka

Heartseed: The Wild Side is a Full Sim Art series immersive environment which opened on LEA6 on April 12th and will remain open through until the end of the month.

Precisely how to describe the region is a little hard – other than to say it is a most fantastical landscape, one which extends both above and below the water. So I’ll let Jedda Zenovka, its creator, carry the load, description-wise:

Animism is the spiritual belief that everything is alive. I try to recreate this within the digital domain. Cybertech designs that fuse naturally with organic forms; water, sounds, plant-creatures, inter-dimensional entities that blend into the ocean forest ecology of my environments so that it is impossible to tell where one ends and another starts.

Take a wander through a textured cyboriginal landscape which evokes healing emotions and crystallises into moving, living sculptures; descriptions of ideas and experiences inspired by both human life of aspirations and necessities and with the practicality of hands-on permaculture in the rain forest.

Heartseed: The Wild Side, April 2014

From the landing point, one steps out in to what might at first appear to be a fountain and water feature of a formal garden; it is not until one is fully outside of building that one fully appreciates the sheer alienness of what is presented here: a rocky landscape upon which the strangest plant life grows, some of it seemingly part plant, rock, some of it sculpted into anthropomorphic shapes, much of it appearing as if it has perhaps evolved from underwater life, and has found a new home on land.

Look up, and you’ll see more strange – if not bizarre – forms sitting still in the air or moving through assigned orbits; inanimate objects which are both animated and filled with a life of their own. Here and there electrical discharges flicker across this strange landscape like cybernetic will o’ the wisps while other plant-like forms flicker in and out of existence.

Heartseed: The Wild Side, April 2014

The cumulative effect of all this is to create a dream-like environment which can be degrees be soothing, filling with the gentle chiming of prayer bells but which can in places offer s hint of something darker, such as the rows of odd television-like formations, each with what appears to be a disembodied head within it.

The dreamlike feel of the installation isn’t accidental, as Jedda’s description explains:

While our minds and imagination evolves into the digital domain, our hands and naked feet remember the earth and other elements from which we are made. Dreamtime in this sense is the crossing over of two worlds; vision becomes solid and solid becomes visionary. It is instinct and the heart which guide us into and through this journey. The freshness of water, the spirit of a particular plant or mineral, is crafted into new form; the artist becomes the living conduit through which such essences express themselves.

Heartseed: The Wild Side, April 2014

Exploring here take takes time – several items are interactive (including the trained attack fish, which can be set to chase others!), and there are number places where one can simply sit and enjoy the immersion – a music stream offers a suitably cyber-istic background for those who like to have more than just the ambient sounds around them while exploring. A particularly interesting interactive piece can be found at the end of one of the pier-like walkways, where visitors can sit and have their camera slaved to a script which will either move their camera through a series of “live” views of the installation, presenting a tour of many of the different elements in the build, or which allows the visitor to select specific views of the installation, moving their camera directly to the selected point.

And speaking of the piers – don’t forget this piece extends underwater as well.

This is quite fascinating build, and if you like your art with a twist of the unusual and a hint of organic cybertech, taking a walk in The Wild Side may be just for you!

The SL11B Community Celebration announced

Posted on April 19, 2014March 16, 2020 by Inara Pey

SL11B, the Community Celebration marking Second Life’s eleventh anniversary, has been officially announced, with a blog post which reads in full:

The event will be held from Sunday June 22nd – Sunday June 29th—seven days of amazing exhibits, music, conversation, debate, firework displays, games, puzzles, sports and everything else the wonderfully inventive communities of Second Life™ can pack into seven days and 11 sims.

Actually, even that won’t be the end of it, as the sims will be open for a further seven days for everyone to explore.

A'stra Main Stage from SL10BCC, create by Toady Nakamura and Flea Bussy — My monochrome rendering of the A’stra Main Stage from SL10BCC, create by Toady Nakamura and Flea Bussy

The theme for this year is a line lifted from Winston Churchill’s 1943 address to the American people, while visiting Harvard University: the empires of the future are the empires of the mind. Why this quote? I’ll let event PR lead Saffia Widdershins explain:

Last year’s theme was “Looking Forward, Looking Back,” but we focused mostly on looking back, and rightly so, as 10 years was an important milestone and a perfect opportunity to reflect back on where we came from.

This year it’s time to look forward; to imagine where we are headed.

When Winston Churchill said this in 1943, he could not have imagined a virtual world like Second Life, but now, more than seventy years later, his words have come true in this new world that we have created.

If there’s one thing that makes SL unique, it’s our community of users. Users from all corners of the globe come together under a single umbrella to build a community that comes from our minds and our imaginations. Everything we see, touch and use in Second Life is a product of our imaginations, our minds, and our community.

And this year, at the SL11B Community Celebration, we want to celebrate precisely that!

Details are understandably sparse at this point in time – this is, after all the initial announcement – but rest assured, more details will be appearing as the plans start to come together.

I’ll be doing my usual coverage of the lead-up to the celebrations and the week of festivities itself, as well as covering any other SL11B activities which may be going on across the grid that I get to hear about.

For those wishing to keep bang up to date with the news on SL11BCC, click the FOLLOW link on the blog!

The art of surfing

Posted on April 19, 2014October 15, 2024 by Inara Pey

Spanish Wells, April 2014

Surfing is one of many sports related past times available to all of us in SLn and it is something I’ve tried and enjoyed from time-to-time while bouncing around the grid. So when I read Ziki’s post about Spanish Wells, a surfing sim that has been landscaped by none other than Cica Ghost, I took the time to hop over to take a look; and I can honestly say that anyone who appreciates Cica’s work or who likes surfing is going to enjoy this whimsical creation.

Spanish Wells belongs to Shannon Cardalines, and she’s worked with Cica to create an environment that offers considerable space for surfers, complete with a crescent island where Cica’s creations sit.

Spanish Wells, April 2014

The latter comprise a series of sand sculptures, including a slightly wobbly looking castle that – aside from its size – would not look entirely out-of-place were it to be found at Cica’s Little Village. The scale of this castle and the other sand sculptures on the island suggest it has been the playground of a giant with a bucket, although I rather suspect the sand man standing almost in the centre of the island, spade in hand and bucket of sand near by, may actually be responsible!

Around and between the sand creations grows wild grass, beds of white flowers and tall, dark trees. The local wildlife comprises a number of quirky birds which are instantly recognisable as Cica’s delightful handiwork, together with an oversized lizard that looks to be in more of a playful mood than being out after mischief.

Amidst all of this are places to sit and / or cuddle, either on your own or with a friend or close companion. For those wishing to enjoy a little music during their visit, Ziki informs us that Ingwë Weames has proved a dedicated music stream – and some of it is certainly apt for surfing!

Spanish Wells, April 2014

With regards to the latter, should you wish to have a go riding the waves, wander down to the edge of the beach towards the middle of the crescent and touch the flowerpot there. You’ll be offered a choice of boards. Select one, sit on it, then paddle out to the waves. When you catch one, you’ll start surfing and then it’s a case of riding it back into the shallows.

For those who enjoy seeing things from above, there’s a hang glider rezzer up in the sand castle, offering visitors a chance to fly around the island and out over the water. While up in the castle, don’t forget to admire Shannon’s own surfing awards and cups, gathered from competitions around the grid.

Spanish Wells, April 2014

All told, this is a great little find, and for those looking for something to do as well as having somewhere new to explore might want to add Spanish Wells to their list of places to visit.

Patterns: of UIs and passwords

Posted on April 19, 2014June 8, 2021 by Inara Pey

Update, October 9th, 2014: Linden Lab announced that development work on Patterns has been discontinued.

In March I reported on plans to overhaul the Patterns user interface at some point in the future. These plans took a step closer to being revealed on April 5th, when Sandoval Curse (aka HappyHappyGaming on YouTube), keeper of the Patterns community on Curse, issued an initial sneak peek at the current updates to the UI. The changes are both extensive and appear to be exceptionally well thought through.

While the video comes with a warning that it shows elements of the UI from a Patterns nightly build, and are thus subject to possible change, what is presented suggests that the team are looking to make using Patterns a look easier and the ability to move between elements of the UI and modes of operation a lot more fluid, while at the same time offering a less cluttered build / play space.

The changes to the UI are evident right from start-up, with the log-in panel moved over to become sidebar on the right, which also doubles as a game mode launcher once a player is logged-in.

The new log-in panel looks set to become a sidebar for both logging-in to Patterns and for launching game modes (click for full size without so much screen cap blurring)

Once logged-in, the panel allows the player to select from world building, continuing game play, accessing the Patterns tools (I assume these are the shape forge and the substance editor) and change their settings.

Selecting any of these options many display a further slide-out panel. For example, clicking on the world building option displays a list of available worlds in the Cosmos the player can use as a template, together with options to select either single (default) or multi-player modes.

Selecting existing worlds as templates when building worlds is a lot slicker (click for full size without so much screen cap blurring)

Inventory and shape / substance management has been completely overhauled, with a new inventory bar at the bottom of the screen which allows for much easier toggle between shapes, materials and models, as well as offering a cleaner drag-and-drop panel when applying materials to shapes, etc.

The new inventory bar allows easier toggling between shapes and elements / substances. Where appropriate, it appears to open a panel for easier drag-and-drop of materials and substances onto shapes — The new inventory bar allows easier toggling between shapes and elements / substances. Where appropriate, it opens a panel for easier drag-and-drop of materials and substances onto shapes (click for full size without so much screen cap blurring)

In-world game controls have been revised somewhat, making shape and model manipulation easier as well as trying to make it easier to move, rotate or delete things. I might be wrong in saying this, as it is hard to tell from the video (and any settings Sandoval uses), but it looks as if the default third-person camera angle may also have been revised.

According to the video, not only may things change between now and the UI being released, but there is a lot more still to be demonstrated, and a further sneak peek video is promised. This being the case, and in lieu of being able to fiddle with things directly, I’ll leave you with Sandoval’s video.

Password Recovery

Nalates Urriah has a piece up on Patterns password recovery, drawing on a video posted to YouTube. The short version is: there isn’t a password recovery option. The support team’s advice, should you forget your password is to create a new account. However, this isn’t necessarily as bad as it sounds. Passwords are only required to access the Cosmos. You can still play offline without logging-in. What’s more, even if you do create a new account and password, you should still have access to all the worlds you have built yourself, whether playing offline or when logged-in to the Cosmos.

If you forget your Patterns password (or user name), you should be able to create a new account and still access your existing world builds (tested usin Patterns build 0.06a via Desura and Steam) — If you forget your Patterns password (or user name), you should be able to create a new account and still access your existing world builds (tested using Patterns build 0.06a via Desura and Steam)

The only pain I can see with this – and admittedly, I’m no longer a regular Patterns player – is that if a player is well-known as a Patterns world builder, any worlds you upload to the Cosmos after an account change will obviously be linked to the new account name, and so may not be instantly recognisable to other players. Also, those who regularly play in the multi-player mode will have to advise other players of any change in order to ensure they receive invitations into games.

	Myrdin planet M on A short personal note and…
	hectorC2 on A short personal note and…
	Susann DeCuir on A short personal note and…
	tboellst85bf1d0ef9 on A short personal note and…
	Vanity Bonetto on A short personal note and…

Month: April 2014