Month: February 2015

To visit a Misty Isle

Posted on by Inara Pey

Tuck's Misty Isle, Devonair; Inara Pey, February 2015, on FlickrTuck’s Misty Isle (Flickr) – click any image for full size

I was led to Tuck’s Misty Isle by Hans Inshan, who posted some gorgeous photos she’d taken on the Bitacora Vajera blog. While I can’t hope to match Hans’ photographic skills, I nevertheless wanted to hop over and see the island for myself.

The Tuck in question is Little Tuck, aka Pete Applemoor – a fact which came as something of a surprise to me as Pete, IIRC, visited my Fallingwater inspired build a number of times while it still existed in Second Life. As such, it became a delight to explore his region.

Tuck's Misty Isle, Devonair; Inara Pey, February 2015, on FlickrTuck’s Misty Isle (Flickr) – click any image for full size

This is a rugged, wooded isle with fortress-like high cliffs guarding the majority of its shoreline, the landscape within split by a deep river gorge that curls its way from a set of high falls  through the heart of the island to arrive at the sea. Those reading the region’s description will learn the Misty Isle was once the domain of an ancient civilisation, the ruins of which can be found throughout, and is now the home to fae, pixies, elves, merfolk, nymphs and more.

Evidence that the place is still occupied can be found in the well-worn trails and tracks that lead the visitor inland for the landing point, and up into the hills: torches burn brightly along the edge of the paths, and all the bridges are in good repair. So someone must be around to keep the former lit and the latter safe for others to cross.

There is also a sense that some of the ruins still see use, and the small island floating serenely in the air just off the coast, reached by one of the aforementioned bridges, speaks of a powerful magic still very much at work here. In fact, keep your eyes open as you explore, and you’ll find places where you can experience the power of the magic yourself as you float over the water at the foot of the falls or above the the island’s single wooden village.

Tuck's Misty Isle, Devonair; Inara Pey, February 2015, on FlickrTuck’s Misty Isle (Flickr) – click any image for full size

Wildlife can be found throughout the island – foxes, bears, deer, pelicans and more, and along with them can be found places to sit or dance or simply enjoy the view. After all, as the description tells us, this is a place for contemplation and for enjoying the company of those close to us.

Tuck’s Misty Isle does exactly what it says on the tin: offers a place to relax in, explore and enjoy, whether on your own or with a friend or two. Rezzing is open if you want to have a prop or two when taking photographs, but do please pick things up behind you. And do consider showing your appreciation for any visit you make through one of the numerous donation points scattered across the island – it all goes towards keeping it open for all to enjoy.

Tuck's Misty Isle, Devonair; Inara Pey, February 2015, on FlickrTuck’s Misty Isle (Flickr) – click any image for full size

Related Links

 

Previewing a walk through SL’s history

Posted on by Inara Pey
The Greatest Story Ever Told - LEA17
The Greatest Story Ever Told – LEA17

During the Round 6 of the Artist In Residence (AIR) series at the Linden Endowment for the Arts (LEA), Sniper Siemens produced a wonderful retrospective on Second Life, looking back over the platform’s history from 2001 through until 2014, with a small peep at what might be coming.

At the time of that exhibition, Sniper had just two weeks to get everything together and create the installation. as a result, as delightful as it was, much was left unsaid.

Now, as a pert of the AIR Round 8 submissions, Sniper has returned to the LEA to present a re-worked and expanded look at SL’s long and tangled history with The Greatest Story Ever Told, which officially opens to the public at 15:00 SLT on Saturday, February 7th, 2015. Having been given the opportunity to have a preview walk through the installation, I can say that it is, quite simply, superb.

As with the original, the visitor is taken on a chronological walk through SL’s vast and tangled history, only here the journey starts in 1999, and instead of walking through a watery domain, one is lead through a wooded landscape along a series of paved footpaths which allow the platform’s history to unfold as one progresses along them.

The Greatest Story Ever Told - LEA17
The Greatest Story Ever Told – LEA17

And history is quite literally everywhere, right down to the names of the paths themselves, which start off evocatively enough: Battery Street (complete with a model of the Lab’s offices there), which is followed by Da Boom, Natoma, Ritch, Zoe – all the names of some of the original 16 regions which comprised Second Life at its “birth”, and which were themselves drawn from the names of streets around the Lab’s original base of operations in Linden Street, San Francisco (and the fact that several of them are all the locations of eateries / hostelries was, I’m sure, entirely coincidental 🙂 ).

The paths lead the visitor chronologically through SL’s history, with information boards, images and interactive elements, together with a small army of little residents and Lindens, encompassing key events and changes. The information provided is drawn from a number of sources, including the Second Life wiki and the wiki’s History of Second Life pages. Several of the boards make for interesting reading, as they present information written at the time some events were unfolding, thus given them an added sense of presence.

The Greatest Story Ever Told - LEA17: recalling the days of the paid teleport hubs
The Greatest Story Ever Told – LEA17: recalling the days of the paid teleport hubs …

As with the original presentation, both technical and social changes are documented, with many of the “blanks” in the original now completed. As a result, a much richer picture of Second Life is painted, the good and the bad, the ups and the downs, and some events are put into their proper perspective – such as the FBI’s 2007 look into certain activities in SL. Nowadays, this is often seen causing the Lab to later ban gambling on the platform. However, as the information provided in The Greatest Story Ever Told reveals, this really is a case of post hoc, ergo propter hoc., and the circumstances of both the investigation and the reasons for banning gambling on the platform are quite different.

The path eventually leads the visitor to 2015, and a brief look at what the Lab’s next generation platform might hold for us. It is followed by a little Linden and resident holding a sign: This is not the end – a clever play on the fact that this isn’t the end of the installation, as the path leads on to a retrospective of the Burning Life (now BURN2) event in SL, and in a more subtle touch, to the fact that the new platform doesn’t mean Second life is coming to an end.

The Greatest Story Ever Told - LEA17: ... and correcting the misconceptions around the FBI's 2007 investigation of certain activities in SL ...
The Greatest Story Ever Told – LEA17: … and correcting the misconceptions around the FBI’s 2007 investigation of certain activities in SL …

There is a lot to take in with this installation; not only through the information boards and images and little vignettes one passes, but also in the overall way in  which everything is presented. Take, for example, use of high walls along two sides of the installation which, while preventing any overlap between it and the neighbouring installations, combines with the setting of The Greatest Story to remind us of something of SL’s “walled garden” reputation. Then there is the way in which many technical elements intrinsic to SL’s development are also presented: windlight, projected lighting, mesh, materials.

All told, this quite simply a brilliant expansion of the original concept, and I’m really pleased that Sniper has been given the opportunity to revisit the subject, expand upon it, and in doing so, has retained the same touch of humour in many of the individual pieces presented within it. The Greatest Story Ever Told is a genuine delight, something everyone should find the time to visit and walk through.

Given the nature of the installation, I’ll leave the final words here to Sniper:

The History of Second Life is the story of all us.

Every single person who has decided to be part of it must to thank a small group of peoples  that one day they saw  a vision. If today you can rez a prim, drive a car or dance in a disco, it is possible  thanks to  this small group of people. Many others have continued to maintain it and develop it, even without a remuneration. So, learn to respect those who allowed this and enjoyed  the best Second life.

The Greatest Story Ever Told - LEA17
The Greatest Story Ever Told – LEA17

As a reminder: the Greatest Story Ever Told – SL History 1999-2015 opens to the public at 15:00 SLT on on Saturday, February 7th. Note that teleports may not work until then.

OnLive open SL Go Island

Posted on by Inara Pey
SL Go user? Now you can get help and personal assistance through the SL Go Island - and it's a good place for escaping the worlds, as well!
SL Go user? Now you can get help and personal assistance at the SL Go Island – and it’s a good place for escaping the worlds, as well!

Important note: The SL Go service is to be shut down on April 30th, 2015. For more information, please read this report.

On Wednesday, February 4th, Dennis Harper, OnLive’s Product Manager for SL Go kindly invited me to preview the new SL Go island in Second Life, which is designed to offer users of the the SL Go service a in-world place they can visit should they need assistance.

SL Go Island officially opens its doors for business at 10:00 SLT on Thursday, February 5th, 2015, and is modelled along similar lines to the Firestorm Support Island, which originally opened in August 2012 (see my review on it).

The idea for such a in-world venue was originally suggested during the special Firestorm Q&A meeting, alongside the idea for the SL Go support group, which launched in January 2015.

The landing point offers information and clickable signs for obtaining assistance - and more
SL Go Island: the landing point offers information and clickable signs for obtaining assistance – and more, with the SL Go greeter bot standing alongside

SL Go island offers a rural environment, with the landing area acting as the support hub. Here information boards and signage provides initial assistance.

A main board offers basic information, while thee signs hanging from it will take visitors to the OnLive Support web page, the support forum, and – for those who have yet to try it, a link to the SL Go sign-up page. A further sign allows SL Go users who have not already done so to join the in-world SL Go support group.

However, it doesn’t end there. On the table under the main noticeboard sit s small silver bell. If a member of the SL Go support team isn’t already on the island (they all tend to spend a fair amount of time there) or near the landing point, ring it, and personal help should be forthcoming.

SL Go support staff can frequently be found at the beach bar ....
SL Go Island: support staff can frequently be found at the beach bar ….

The rest of the island, all of which has been designed by  OnLive web engineer and Second life resident Jersey Silent, is given over to walks among the trees and down to the beach. Here sits a bar (providing support is thirty work!), and if folk aren’t around the landing point, they can generally be found here. There are also a number of spots scattered around the island, make it a welcoming place for those who wish to sit and relax.

SL Go Product Manager, Dennis Harper, in-world
SL Go Product Manager, Dennis Harper, in-world

“I really like it here,” Dennis said to me as he and Jersey showed me around. “If you want to find me, I’m usually at the beach bar, it’s a great place to relax, although there’s a cool swamp on the other side, which is also nice to visit after a day at the beach. But we’ve tried not to make it anything fancy – just a place to hang out.”

“But don’t forget, for the fastest and most timely support for SL Go, visit us on SL Go Island!” He added.

Wandering the island with Dennis and Jersey, I  couldn’t help but notice the care take to keep things open, relaxed, and as welcoming as possible. Jersey’s Landscape blends content from a number of designers who are bound to be familiar to many visitors, and she’s taken a huge amount of care to provide open spaces and quiet little spots for visitors to enjoy.

So – if you’re an SL Go user and need help, or if your curious about SL Go, or if you just want somewhere new to wander and spend time in, SL Go island may offer the perfect solution!

Back by popular demand: the Linden Lab snowball fight

Posted on by Inara Pey
Winter Wonderland - race track, rinks and Ferris Wheel
Winter Wonderland – race track, rinks and Ferris Wheel – and a Snowball arena, where the Lab invites everyone to join them for a fun-filled snowball fight on Friday, February 6th.

On Wednesday, February 4th, Linden Lab announced the return of the Linden Lab Snowball Fight, together with the official announcement on the Fun Booth Fun Contest I’ve also blogged about under separate cover.

Ebbe, Get Your Gun! - my first encounter at the park was a snowball gun toting Ebbe Linden!
Ebbe, Get Your Gun! – my first encounter at Winter Wonderland was a snowball gun toting Ebbe Linden – now the Lab is inviting everyone to join them in some fun on Friday, February 6th!

The snowball fight announcement reads:

Come pelt some Lindens and fellow Residents with snowballs in a frozen field free-for-all at Winter Wonderland. That’s right – between 10 AM SLT and noon SLT on Friday, February 6th, we’re holding a meet-up in world at the Snowball Warzone. Get your free snow launching weapon, gather your posse, and prepare to say hello to some Linden friends for a full on flurry of snow-slinging fun.

The snowball fight, once a mainstay of wintertime fun involving the Lab and Second Life residents has been sorely missed over recent years, and the recent opening on the Lab’s new Winter Wonderland experience, which I previewed / reviewed  at the end of January, brought with it renewed requests – such as this one from bizpfeffer –  for the snowball fights to be re-launched.

Well, the Lab has heeded the requests!

So, don your winter woollies, get your weapons at the foot of the stairs leading to the Winter Wonderland Snowball Warzone, and then … lock’n’load with plenty of snowballs!

Related Links

Lab runs a photo booth competition with L$19,000 prize pool

Posted on by Inara Pey

photo-boothAt 10:00 SLT on Wednesday, February 4th, 2015 the Lab launched a new photo competition with a total prize pool of L$19,000.

The Photo Booth Fun Contest challenges SL users to submit their own photo booth theme pictures – the sillier the better – for a chance to win one of the following Linden dollar prizes:

  • Grand Prize – 10,000 Linden Dollars (estimated value at US$40.00).
  • First Prize – 5,000 Linden Dollars (estimated value at US$20.00).
  • Second Prize – 3,000 Linden Dollars (estimated value at $12.00).
  • Third Prize– 1,000 Linden Dollars (estimated value at $4.00).

To help inspire people with ideas for entries, Xiola Linden has scoured the web far and wide and set-up a Pinterest page full of images showing possible ideas and the use of props to make truly memorable / silly photos. But remember – the images are for inspiration only! The judges are looking for entrants to be as creative as as silly as they can get.

To enter, simply create your snapshot and then upload it to the contest page linked-to above and at the end of this article, using the Entries tab on that page (you must be signed-in to the forums for the button to work).

For full details on the rules of entry, general conditions, eligibility for entry, prize information and so on, please refer to the contest’s official rules and conditions.

In a new move for the Lab, winner will not be decided on the basis of a popularity vote. Instead, a specially selected jury, comprising a mixed panel of Linden Lab representatives from the Lab’s marketing and community relations team and a number of Second Life residents will judge the competition.

As noted at the top of this article, the contest is now open, and entries can be submitted between now and 10:00 SLT on Wednesday, March 4th, 2015.

So happy snapping and good luck!

Related Links

Firestorm Tool Tip: getting the most from Auto-Replace

Posted on by Inara Pey

firestorm-logoJessica Lyon was back on Tuesday, February 3rd with another Firestorm Tool Tip Tuesday video, and this one focuses on the use of the Auto-Replace function, and how it might well be more useful than people might appreciate.

As explained in the video, Auto-Replace can be found under Preferences > Chat > Text Input in Firestorm, and generally under chat in other viewer supporting the same Auto-Replace functionality. It is shipped with two lists: Spelling Corrections, which offers corrections for common spelling errors, and Abbreviations (which is the list I actually use and have customised myself).

The Auto-Replace function in Firestorm
The Auto-Replace function in Firestorm and the supplied lists

The Abbreviations list converts commonly used abbreviations such as bbl, afk, gtg, etc., into their long-hand equivalents (be back later, away from keyboard, got to go, etc.), just by typing-in the abbreviation followed by a space.

So far so good, nothing especially exciting there. But did you know, using Auto-Replace you can:

  • Create a custom greeting you can use when working as a greeter or host, or simply on meeting people?
  • Combine abbreviation entries to create statements?
  • Use abbreviations to display SLurls and URLs in chat without having to type them long-hand?
  • Export  / import your lists so you can share them with friends or easily copy them between the computers you use with SL?

If you didn’t – then this video is certainly for you, as Jessica reveals all!

Note that you can use Auto-Replace like this in any viewer that supports the same Auto-Replace functionality as found in Firestorm, including the official SL viewer.