January 2015 – Page 9 – Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld

Mistero Hifeng at LEA29

Posted on January 12, 2015 by Inara Pey

Come fosse...niente - Mistero Hifeng, LEA29 — Come fosse…niente – Mistero Hifeng, LEA29

As I wrote back in October 2014, Mistero Hifeng is a remarkable artist, straddling the physical and virtual. His sculptures and 2D art are visually stunning, mixing the real with the surreal, and I’ve been and an admirer of his work since first noticing it on a number of regions around SL.

An awardee of a full region under the Linden Endowment for the Arts 8th round of Artists in Residence, Mistero has just opened his exhibit on LEA29 to the public.

Bordered on two sides by tall cliffs and open to the sea on the other two, the region somewhat resembles the half region given over to his gallery and sky store: a watery environment with sandbars and small sandy islands, across which his sculptures are ranged, some of them resized to quite large dimensions, making them both easier to appreciate and also quite intimidating in scale.

Questa vita cosi imperfetta - Mistero Hifeng, LEA29 — Questa vita cosi imperfetta – Mistero Hifeng, LEA29

For anyone who has seen Mistero’s pieces, some of those will doubtless be familiar: the katana wielding chess pieces of Voltare, the haunting faces and figures of Chiuso nella gabbia di un’eta’, the surreal Quante volte ho detto al cielo io, the unsettling Prendimi L’anima, and so on.

However, there are also some newer pieces here as well, such as Come fosse…niente…, and Per Te, both of which I found particularly striking and evocative. Standing, or should I say gracefully arched, over some of the pieces is the imposing figure of Veglio su di te, while scattered across the water is a series of untitled female figures standing beneath umbrellas.

Per Te - Mistero Hifeng, LEA29 — Per Te – Mistero Hifeng, LEA29

I will confess that I couldn’t entirely escape a slight feeling that I was visiting a commercial extension to Mistero’s gallery, which I’m sure is not the artist’s intent. However, leaving this niggle aside, there is no denying that the additional room offered by a full region does allow several of the pieces to be impressively resized and displayed, as noted. If you have never seen Mistero’s work before, this is perhaps an ideal way of acquainting yourself with it

VWBPE 2015: Ebbe Altberg, a final call for papers, and sponsors

Posted on January 12, 2015March 16, 2020 by Inara Pey

The 2015 Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education (VWBPE) conference will take place in Second Life and OpenSim between Wednesday, March 18th and Saturday, March 21st inclusive.

VWBPE is a global grass-roots community event focusing on education in immersive virtual environments which attracts 2200-3500 educational professionals from around the world each year.

In the context of the conference, a “virtual world” is an on-line community through which users can interact with one another and use and create ideas irrespective of time and space. As such, typical examples include Second Life, OpenSimulator, Unity, World of Warcraft, Eve Online, and so on, as well as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest or any virtual environments characterised by an open social presence and in which the direction of the platform’s evolution is manifest in the community.

As well as keynote speakers, activities include presentations and workshops which span all of education from primary through to post-graduate levels. 2015 marks the eighth year in which the conference has been held.

The theme for this years event is Crossroads, and the event’s opening speaker, as many already know, will be Ebbe Altberg, Linden Lab’s CEO.

VWBPE 2014 marked one of Ebbe’s earliest public appearances before users in an open forum. Over a period of 90 minutes, he demonstrated his willingness to engage directly with people when he took an unscripted questions-and-answers session (full transcript) with the 200 people in attendance or watching the livestream. Since that time, and throughout 2014, he continued to meet with a wide range of groups and communities – including representatives of the education sector.

With the Lab now engaged on both enhancing Second Life to the best of its abilities and in developing a new virtual world(s) platform, there is liable to be a lot of interest in what is said during his presentation.

Final Call for Proposals – Reminder

The VWBPE attracts a wide range of speakers from the education sector, non-profit organisations, the arts, and so on. As noted in the original announcement that Ebbe would be opening the event, there is an open invitation to anyone who would like to make a presentation or run a workshop. However, the clock is now counting down.

If you are intending on submitting a proposal for a presentation or activity at this year’s event, please remember that the closing deadline for proposals is Wednesday, January 14th, 2015 (extended from December 14th, 2014). Proposals should be submitted on-line via the VWBPE Conference Central site (registration required), and guidelines are also available.

Sponsorship

As a volunteer-based event, VWBPE depends upon sponsor support, and 100% of all sponsorship goes directly to funding each year’s conference to cover expenses such as the provisioning of information systems, development of video and machinima (and associated archives), live video streaming, social activities, professional building (mesh object) design and construction for virtual venues, graphics design and swag bags for attendees. No-one involved in the organisation of the conference receives a salary or stipend.

Several levels of cash sponsorship packages (US dollar value) are available for those interested in supporting the conference. Details of these, and the benefits of sponsorship, can be found on the conference sponsorship page.

In the jungle, the mighty jungle…

Posted on January 11, 2015April 9, 2021 by Inara Pey

My apologies to Makeahla and Mz Marville. I was supposed to have posted this on Saturday, January 10th, but i managed to sidetrack myself into fiddling with other things.

Makealha Jungle is a new series of regions (three open to the public, the fourth – Another Hangout – forms Makeahla’s own home, and may be closed in whole or in part to visitors as result) which officially opened its doors to visitors on Saturday, January 10th.

As I noted in my preview tour, kindly arranged by Mz Marville, who is responsible for the overall design of the regions, Makeahla Jungle is intended to be a place where people can visit and relax, take photos, etc., while also considering the natural world around us – including the l=plight of some of the species represented within the regions. In this, a particular reference is made to the northern white rhino, ceratotherium simum cottoni, of which only five now remain in the entire world, and the species will soon pass into extinction; the easternmost of the three public regions – Makeahla East – is therefore dedicated to the memory of the northern white rhino.

The opening for the regions was marked by a special ceremony and party afterwards, and people are now free to explore the regions and meet the animals within their borders. Rezzing is open for those who wish to place props while taking photos – but do please clean-up afterwards. There is no special group to join for rezzing rights, or fees to be paid.

Also, to mark the opening of the regions, there is now a photography competition running through until January 31st, 2015, with a L$5,000 prize pool on offer. The rules are straightforward, as quoted below:

3 entries are allowed, we are looking for artistic expression, and the feeling of fun in nature when judging. The contest is open to landscape or avatar photography. Contestants must keep in mind that any photography taken / entered, if chosen grants Makeahla Jungle authorization to use the work as they see fit.

Entries should be made via the Conserve Landscaping Flickr group. Judging will take place on or around February, 1st, 2015.

In the meantime, I’ll leave you with a delightful rendition of The Lion Sleeps Tonight by Ladysmith Black Mambazo and The Mint Julips.

Of bards, shipwrecks, shadows, hikes and the wealthy

Posted on January 11, 2015January 25, 2015 by Inara Pey

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

As always, all times SLT / PDT, and unless otherwise stated, events will be held on the Seanchai Library’s home on Imagination Island, or at their Kitely Homeworld.

Sunday January 11th

12:00-14:00: An Afternoon of Shakespeare

Guaranteed to bring a little warmth to a winter afternoon, a presentation of pieces by William Shaespeare.

Join Corwyn Allen, Aoife Lorefield, Derry McMahon, Kayden Oconnell, Dubhna Rhiadra, Bear Silvershade, and Caledonia Skytower for a special presentation of scenes from some of the bard’s plays and readings of his sonnets.

18:00: Magicland Storytime: In Search of the Castaways

Teenager Mary Grant, sets out with her younger brother, Robert, and chaperoned by Captain Jacques Paganel and led by the comically intrepid Lord Glenarvan (and his crushingly handsome son!), to secure the rescue of her shipwrecked father. Adventure, intrigue, romance and betrayal are all to be encountered before Captain Grant’s children succeed in their task.

In Search of the Castaways was a 1962 film by Walt Diney studios starring Hayley Mills, Wilfred Hyde-White, George Sanders and Maurice Chevalier as Captain Jaques Paganel. It was based on Jules Verne’s 1868 novel, Captain Grant’s Children, which was in turn re-issued following the film, but itself retitled In Search of the Castaways.

Join Caledonia Skytower in Magicland Park, she she brings this engaging tale to life.

Monday January 12th, 19:00 Jack of Shadows

Gyro Muggins continues reading Roger Zelazny’s 1971 novel which mixes science-fiction and fantasy, the title of which is an homage to Jack Vance.

The story takes place on a tidally locked planet – that is, one whose rotation about its axis precisely matches its orbit around its parent body, thus the same face is always presented to the the parent body (just like our own Moon always presents the same face towards Earth). Given that that parent object in this case is the planet’s Sun, it means that one side of the planet exists in perpetual daylight – and is the seat of science; while the other lingers in perpetual night – and has become the seat of magic.

It is from the latter that the protagonist of the story – Shadowjack – comes. Even among his own kind, he is unusual, for the manner in which he draws upon his power; something which can, in the right circumstances make him exceptionally potent. However, when placed in either complete light or complete darkness, he is almost powerless. Jack’s only friend, Morningstar is doomed to what is effectively eternal punishment unless Jack can cross between the two realms of light and dark, combining his abilities with the power of science. Thus Jack must risk being lost in total light or total darkness in order to to rescue Morningstar. And if he fails, who might rescue him?

Tuesday January 13th, 19:00: A Walk in the Woods

By his own admission, Bill Bryson isn’t the world’s greatest adventurer. This being the case, you’d think he’d have serious misgivings about undertaking this particular “walk in the woods”, as he disarmingly calls it: taking the 3,500 kilometre (2,200 mile) Appalachian Trail – a journey which would take five months to complete.

Travelling with his good friend “Stephen Katz”, the book is both a humorous guide to the trail and a set of serious and insightful comments / discussion on the trail’s history as it winds its way from Georgia (where Bryson was living at the time the book was written in 1998), to Maine. These discussions cover a broad range of subject including the sociology, ecology, trees, plants, animals and people of the states through which the trail passes (Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine).

Join Kayden Oconnell as he dons his walking boots, takes up his hiking staff and opens the cover of this Bryson classic.

Wednesday January 14th,19:00: Beggars Day Book Two: The Caged King

Caledonia Skytower continues reading MJ McGalliard’s second novel, and the sequel to Beggar’s Day Book One: The Beggar Prince.

The Kingdom of Galaway has a law that every ruler must work a year and a day as a commoner; thus were readers introduced, through the first volume, to the kingdom and some of its notable inhabitants, including King Willy, Prince Larry, the scheming Percy, desperate to see himself on the throne, and the chicken-stealing crone Cruith.

Now, in the second volume, Vikings, hidden illnesses, ancient family squabbles and unplanned pregnancy are but a few of the changes in Galaway. Cruith is part of a conspiracy, Willy invents a new wagon, apples seem to be in the mix, while everything seems to revolve around a baby horse. And I haven’t even mentioned King Monaghan.

Intrigued? Then why not hop over to Seanchai library to hear this entertaining tale which, incidentally, is illustrated by one Judith Cullen – aka Caledonia Skytower!

Thursday January 15th

Explore: The Great Gatsby Preview, Kitely

Drop in to the Seanchai library’s homeworld on Kitely and from there pay a visit to the first presentation in the Library’s new EXPLORE the Stories Behind the Art series. Here you can explore the world of the Great Jay Gatsby, central figure in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s acclaimed 1925 novel.

Explore the Great Gatsby Online is a unique collaboration between Seanchai Library and the Tacoma Little Theatre (TLT), Tacoma, Washington state. TLT will be presenting Simon Levy’s stage adaptation of The Great Gatsby, directed by Dale Westgaard, to live audiences from January 25th through February 8th. In conjunction with this, as I recently previewed, the Kitely facility will present a range of in-world activities focused around the novel, providing the opportunity for both those seeing the play and virtual world travellers to further explore Gatsby’s world.

This preview offers virtual world users the opportunity to do the same, ahead of a season of official events. I’ll also be providing a special overview of Explore the Great Gatsby ahead of the preview as well.

19:00 Winter Dreams, Second Life

Join Shandon Loring for an evening of themed tales.

Friday January 16th, 19:00: Explore the Great Gatsby, Kitely

Join the staff of Seanchai Library as they present the first reading from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s magnificent novel.

Saturday January 17th, Seanchai Kitely

09:00: More Winter Dreams

Shandon Loring continues his journey through tales themed for the time of year.

13:00 Explore the Great Gatsby

If you missed the début reading here’s a further chance to join the staff of Seanchai Library as they read F. Scott Fitzgerald’s magnificent novel.

—–

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 January / February is Project Children, teaching and building peace in Northern Ireland, one child at a time.

A little bite of the Big Apple: Battery Park and the waterfront

Posted on January 11, 2015April 9, 2021 by Inara Pey

Montauk New York (Flickr) – click any image for full size

A long time ago – in SL terms – I wrote about the NY Healthscape exhibit at SL8B, and in doing so, made mention of their base of operations in SL: the 20-ish regions of New York.

Established in 2008, NY HealthScape is sponsored by the Southern Tier HealthLink, New York, a non-profit organisation that is bringing electronic information from hospitals, doctors, etc., together into a comprehensive patient record, available to both health practitioners and the patient. As such, and over the years, the regions in SL have been used to develop both a community and to provide a means of reached out to those who might otherwise be unwilling or unable to access healthcare information.

At the time of 2008, NYHS had introduced a series of Quest Homes, interactive tour or hunt inspired installations on the NY HealthScape sims which allows for themed health information to be delivered in a game format. These allowed visitors to participate in a quest / tour of the New York regions, collecting points which could be redeemed for prizes along the way, with health information also being provided as well.

SouthernTier New York (Flickr) – click any image for full size

Developed over the years by a team of individuals led by Panacea Luminos, and which has included well-known SL residents such as Skylar Smythe and Followmeimthe PiedPiper, the NYHS regions offer visitors the opportunity to explore part of New York city and the wider New York state in something of an historic context. Don’t expect to find towering models of the Empire State Building or the Chrysler Building, but do be prepare to wander from SoHo through Battery Park, along the banks of the Hudson as they once looked, and reach points such as Montauk and the Hamptons, or up state towards Ithaca and the finger Lakes. Along the way, there are famous landkmarks to be seen, trains and trams to be spotted and the occasional 1930s-style taxi rumbling by.

As they date from 2008 onwards, the NYHS builds are not “modern” in the sense that they rely on prims rather than mesh – but this should not put anyone off visiting. undeed, I’d say the fact that the builds haven’t all being overhauled and replaced by mesh is entirely in keeping with the historic nature of the community, and itself offers a slice of genuine SL history.

WaterWayWest New York (Flickr) – click any image for full size

My favourite parts of these regions are those representing the coastal / waterfront areas of New York and New York state. At Battery Park, for example, you can wander along the waterfront and admire the art on display, visit Castle Clinton and wander westwards to the famous Pier A, offering a view of the Statue of liberty out in the sound. Or you can go east, across a miniature reproduction of Brooklyn Bridge into the SoHo / Greenwich village like TriBorough region, and onwards to Coney Island’s famous Cyclone Roller Coaster (Panecea has a things for roller coasters – one was the theme for the SL8B event where I first met her 🙂 ).

Further west from TriBorough lie LISound, Montauk and Harbour, all of which represent various parts of New York state and it its coastline. Here again are some famous sights to be found and appreciated, such as the Montauk Point lighthouse and the the Long Beach Bar “Bug” lighthouse – both seen in the sketch at the top of this post. Or, if winter sports are more your thing, you can head northwards and enjoy a little skiing in North Country; just be aware of the footpath crossing the end of the ski slope!

SoHo New York (Flickr) – click any image for full size

All told, there’s a lot to be seen, and plenty of opportunities for photography. Rezzing rights can be obtained by joining the land group; as always, if you do join and rez, please clean-up afterwards.

The King and I

Posted on January 10, 2015January 30, 2015 by Inara Pey

No, this isn’t a homage to Yul Brynner, although as the song goes, Second Life could well be a show with everything, even without him… The “King” I’m referring to is the DSA King Air C90 GTX, which has – after some considerable deliberation and bouncing around – become the latest aircraft I’ve added to my collection.

To be honest, it wasn’t actually the ‘plane I started out to get; I actually wanted something a fair bit smaller, given I already have the PBY 6A Catalina, and initially started looking at single-engined ‘planes. But for various reasons, I found myself drifting away from that choice and heading back into twin-engined territory, initially looking at Erick Gregan’s Cessna 421 (which came highly recommended, and looks to be a most excellent aeroplane).

However, as I live “on the water”, so to speak, I was drawn to DSA’s Beechcraft C90 GTX and Baron G58, as both of these are “combo” aircraft: you can switch between standard undercarriage or floats with a single command. In the end, and again on recommendation, I opted for the C90, although I suspect I’d have been happy with the G58.

The C90 is actually a big aeroplane; particularly when up on its floats – the picture of me doing a naughty and sitting on the wing probably gives you an idea of the size, if you’ve never seen this ‘plane before. 100% mesh, it weights-in at 96 LI, which is quite hefty – but it is packing a lot – and a physics weight of 11.7, which is slightly less than that of my MD-900, and almost one-third that of my Kv23H. It is supplied copy / mod, and is suitable for repainting, if desired (and a range of optional paint kits are available in-world from Josh Noonan – and I can personally attest to the quality of his work.

DSA Beechcraft King Air C90 GTX - a closer look at my paint scheme — DSA Beechcraft King Air C90 GTX – a closer look at my paint scheme

Indeed, the very first thing I did on getting mine, other than going for a short familiarisation flight, is repaint it. As I liked elements of the default colour scheme, I decided to stick with this as a base, and then work-in my traditional red and white. The model supports the use of local textures, which means you can play to your heart’s content creating and trying colours, and a full set of textures in JPG, PaintShop Pro and Photoshop formats can be downloaded from the DSA website.

To apply textures when working on things, simply blank a copy of the ‘plane then select the required face, then select and apply the texture from you heard drive via the viewer’s Local Texture option in the texture option of the Build floater. Note that The fuselage and the wing textures are used several times, and you’ll have to make sure they are applied to all the faces using them. For example, the fuselage texture needs to be applied to the fuselage (best to select the face by clicking on the tail), the rudder, and the nose wheel doors. When you’re happy, upload your textures to inventory & apply, or use the painting note card in the ‘plane.

DSA Beechcraft King Air C90 GTX - this is a big turboprop — DSA Beechcraft King Air C90 GTX – this is a big turboprop

I went for a very personalised look, as the photos here show, complete with my usual G-NARA registration and a bit of ego-pandering with a stylised “I” on the tail and on the winglets. I also added a touch of shine to the fuselage and wing textures, to give them more of a polished finish.

Flying-wise, this is a ‘plane aimed towards the more “realistic” end of the market (my one disappointment with the Catalina is that the flight system is rudimentary). DSA aircraft aren’t perhaps as advanced in this area as some other makes, but they are still pretty comprehensive. A detailed HUD is supplied, and commands can be given in chat as well. One thing that is missing for those who enjoy procedure, is a need to carry-out pre-start checks (battery, magnetos, etc.); “lstart” and “rstart” will kick the respective engines into life once seated in the pilot’s seat, although the Engines button on the HUD will run through a more complete (and automated) pre-start check and engine start-up. This will also enable navigation, strobe and beacon lights for you, as well as close the boarding door.

... with a comfortable interior — … with a comfortable interior

The C90 handles really well in the air, and can be shared between pilot and co-pilot (the HUD is copy / transfer, so you can share it with friends) – make sure you both activate the co-pilot option on the HUD. Range is limited by fuel, and the plane comes equipped with a full fulling station (43 prims, which I presume works with any DSA ‘plane), or a convenient jerry can should you need to set down somewhere to refuel. Another nice touch is the inclusion of an instrument landing system (ILS), although I confess I’ve yet to actually try this, and documentation is supplied on the DSA website, rather than with the aircraft.

A slight irritant I have found is that this plane doesn’t handle water ramps at all well; with the wheels for the undercarriage deployed, it seems to require a decent run-up to a ramp at full throttle. Even then, getting ashore is far from guaranteed, and should you do so, there is the inevitable desperate throttling back before you go careering too far across an apron. Ironically, the C90 cannot make the relatively shallow ramp I have at home at all.

Also, the HUD also seems sensitive to region crossings; In the 4.5 hours I’ve been flying the plane, I’ve had buttons vanish from the HUD when clicked just after a region crossing, only to reappear on their own a short while later or at the next crossing. This is a niggle, but not a major problem.

DSA Beechcraft King Air C90 GTX - guess where? ;-) — DSA Beechcraft King Air C90 GTX – guess where? 😉

At L$5500 (at the time of writing), this isn’t a cheap light plane to have – but you do get the floats / wheel combo, and the mod options are all good, paint-wise. Overall, I’ve found the C90 more than pleasing to fly – the ramp issue following water lands notwithstanding; and particularly like the fact you can swap between floats and “standard” undercarriage mid-flight. OK, so not terribly real, but adds a certain flexibility when flying :). While this may not be the ‘plane I set out to get, I certainly have no regrets over buying it, and I’ll likely be swapping back and forth between the C90 and my Catalina quite regularly.

	Inara Pey on A short personal note and…
	Inara Pey on A short personal note and…
	Inara Pey on A short personal note and…
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Month: January 2015

Mistero Hifeng at LEA29

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