Note: this vision of Pandora Box of Dreams has closed.
Lokhe Angel Verlack (Jackson Verlack) has opened the latest in his Dreams series at Pandora Box of Dreams. I’ve been following the progression of his builds since I came across the second iteration back in April 2015 (although I admit missing the opportunity to blog the iteration immediately prior to this one after my visit).
For this, the fifth Dreams iteration, Lokhe has opted to again reflect the season, and is given us a distinctly autumnal environment in which to wander, sit, contemplate, and dream. And it is an absolute delight.
Subtitled Dreams of Secrets, it offers visitors the familiar starting point, up in a skybox which gives a small flavour of what is to come as you sand in a small walled garden, the leaves of the birch tress a rich gold, and a footpath leading to a door in the wall. Touch this, and you’ll be transported the to ground.
Now the first thing to note here is do please have local sounds enabled; the sound scape is as rich as the landscape, and offers additional depth when exploring. Also, have a play with the windlights; I used [NB] – Misty Day – 5pm for the images here, but the region really does lend itself to a wide range of options and times of day.
The grassy path continues from the door, and following it, you’ll wind through more laced with the colours of autumn, and come to a flight of stone steps leading downwards to a dirt track which you can follow – or you can branch off, climb more steps and just wander under the trees and through the long grass.
Whichever route you take, you’ll find much to please the eye: leafy groves, coastal views, the odd building or two, quiet streams and brooks crossed by little wooden bridges, and plenty of places to simply sit and ponder or spend time with a companion.
This is another fabulous build in a series that has proven to be eye-catching and immersive with each iteration, and quite possibly the one I’ve enjoyed the most so far. Highly recommended.
Is there a Link between Project Sansar and “Created Reality”?
Ciaran Laval and I have been using Twitter to further ponder a domain registration in the name of “createdreality.com”. It was originally taken out in June 2013, which under the usual two-year registration policy means it possibly expired around June 3rd, 2015. However, on July 9th, 2015, it was renewed through Ascio Technologies, the company used to register the projectsansar.com domain.
The domain registration renewal followed a trademark registration submitted to the USPTO by the Lab for the name “Created Reality”. This occurred on May 22nd and is summarised here.
The timing of both is possibly interesting, given the domain name had been allowed to lapse (although this could simply have been admin oversight), and the trademark filing came 2 weeks after Lab had confirmed “Project Sansar” to be the new platform’s code-name, thus ruling out “Created Reality” as simply being an alternative code-name for the platform.
The domain createdreality.com was registered through the same service used to register the projectsansar.com domain
So, does this mean “Created Reality” is the new name for the Lab’s Next Generation platform? Well, maybe – but maybe not.
On the one hand, it is interesting that the Trademark filing came after the code-name for the platform had been decided. However, this isn’t necessarily indicative of anything; the Lab could simply be covering the bases as they consider various names for the new platform.
More to the point, while the name “Created Reality” may doubtless describe the platform’s function in presenting spaces where people can create their own virtual realities, it does actually read rather, well, bland.
The createdreality.com domain administrator: Linden Research (Linden Lab)
Countering this, however, is the idea that the new platform is apparently geared towards being a “white label” service in which in which creators can build their own branded spaces, and then promote / market them directly to their potential audience, complete with sign-up portal, etc.
As such, the users of the environments created on the platform are perhaps more likely to know the environments by their various names, rather than collectively by the name of the platform on which they run. Thus, the platform’s name might be less front-and-centre than is the case with something like Second Life. Although that said, I’d personally like to see something a little more dynamic by which to know the platform.
Right now, the Lab is saying little on the subject of “Sansar” or “Created Reality”, with Peter Gray only informing me that the platform’s name is still “being determined”.
However, if we place the “Created Reality” trademark alongside the one for “Sansar” – the latter being quite distinct from the trademark filed for “Project Sansar” – it would seem we have a couple of the names the Lab have been ruminating on for the platform’s eventual title. Could there be more lurking out there in the form of trademarks and / or domain names?
The DSA G58 Baron sans floats – my latest light aircraft
So, I’m a bit of an SL aviator, as I’ve blogged in the past. Over the course of the last 12+ months in particular, I’ve become quite partial to DSA aircraft, having both the C90 King Air GTx and the C33 Debonair. I particularly like this make due to the ability to swap between wheel and floats for the landing gear without having to swap the plane in and out of inventory.
As a result of various things, I found myself at the weekend debating whether to add another DSA ‘plane to my collection – and if so, which one. I was caught between the Model 17 Staggerwing biplane, the Spitfire and the G58 Baron. In the end, on Sunday, the latter won out – although the Staggerwing could well be a future acquisition!
No. 1 on the runway at Juneau, about to start rolling …
The G58 is another twin-engined plane, sitting between the Debonair and King Air in size, offering seating for up to 5 avatars + the pilot. It’s a smart-looking, clear design which hasn’t really aged over the decades, and comes supplied in DSA’s usual offering of the default black / red / white Beechcraft colours. Having converted to using VetronUK’s paint and scripting options my ‘planes, I also grabbed a paint pack and Vetron’s float rocking and enhanced lighting scripts for the Baron.
Vetron paint kits are simple to use; drop a script into the plane, wear the HUD, click a button to add the paint scheme, then use the Advanced option to add materials to various surfaces, and add any other options supplied with the kit (the Debonair paint kits, for example, allow you to re-texture the cockpit dash with a new set of controls, while the King Air’s kit allows you to switch between the C90 and C90 GTx variants). A full set of maps are supplied full perm with each kit, making customising them easy.
The cabin obviously isn’t as expansive or plush as the King Air, but seats up to four in the back
For the Baron’s paint scheme, I didn’t stray too far from that supplied by the kit: just some small tweaks, the addition of my own registration and familiar monogram, plus a little work on the floats so that they better matched the rest of the ‘plane.
The enhanced lights and rocking scripts (L$25 each) simply drop into the ‘plane (make sure you purchase the scripts designed for your aircraft). The lighting script greatly enhances the aircraft’s nav, strobe and landing lights, while the rocking script is Linden Water sensing, and when on water with the floats deployed, adds a rocking motion to the aircraft as well as the sound of water lapping against the floats, etc. When on land, the rocking ceases (although I’ve found the sound continues to loop).
If you’ve flown any DSA ‘plane, you’ll know how the Baron handles: very well. The HUD is the usual DSA offering and works exactly as expected. In addition, the Baron share’s the Debonair / Bonanza engine sounds (and, indeed, paint templates). Once in the air and trimmed, with the yoke set to wide, the Baron is again great fun and graceful. It handles region crossings with the usual DSA aplomb and accepts aerobatics well, if you’re so inclined, and perhaps with a little more grace than the King Air.
The Baron (front) and the King Air in their “matching outfits” utilising VetronUK paint kits
In buying the Baron, I had it in mind to maybe swap it with the King Air as my main twin-engined ‘plane, and then perhaps swapping the Deb for the Staggerwing. However, with only 7 LI difference between the Deb (39) and the Baron (46), I ended up retiring the Deb to inventory instead. Plus, I simply adore the King Air, so I also gave it a new Vetron paint finish, again with my own small touches, so it and the Baron share similar designs. Sort of her-and-her outfits, you might say 🙂 .
Updates for the week ending: Sunday, September 13th
This summary is published every Monday, and is a list of SL viewer / client releases (official and TPV) made during the previous week. When reading it, please note:
It is based on my Current Viewer Releases Page, a list of all Second Life viewers and clients that are in popular use (and of which I am aware), and which are recognised as adhering to the TPV Policy. This page includes comprehensive links to download pages, blog notes, release notes, etc., as well as links to any / all reviews of specific viewers / clients made within this blog
By its nature, this summary presented here will always be in arrears, please refer to the Current Viewer Release Page for more up-to-date information.
Quick Graphics project viewer updated to version 3.8.4.304916, on September 10th – provides the new Avatar Complexity options and the new graphics preset capabilities for setting, saving and restoring graphic settings for use in difference environments / circumstances (download and release notes)
Project (HTTP updates) project viewer version 3.8.4.304871 released on September 8th – provides improved performance and stability. Impacts include: asset uploads, AISv3 inventory manipulation, VVM, Experience management, LSL compilation, Simhost event polling, etc. (download and release notes)
Cool VL Viewer Stable branch updated to version 1.26.14.6 and the Experimental branch updated to version 1.26.15.5, both on September 12 (release notes)
Mobile / Other Clients
Pocket Metaverse updated to version 1.9.4. on September 8 – core updates: iOS 9 compatibility
NASA and the Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) at John Hopkins University kept their promise a little earlier than expected.
With the resumption of image and data transmissions from New Horizons, at the start of September, they had indicated that Fridays would henceforth, and for the course of the next 12 months, be known as Pluto Friday, the day on which the latest raw images from the mission to that distant tiny world and its companions would be released.
However, the first set of images came a little sooner than advertised: on Thursday, September 10th, and they continue to show two tiny worlds which continue to astound and have planetary scientists rethinking much about their understanding of dwarf planets.
“Pluto is showing us a diversity of landforms and complexity of process that rival anything we’ve seen in the solar system,” New Horizons’ principal investigator Alan Stern, from the Southwest Research Institute in Colorado, said in a statement. “If an artist had painted this Pluto before our flyby, I probably would have called it over the top — but that’s what is actually there.”
Charon, Pluto’s largest companion, as seen by New Horizons on July 14th, 2015, from a distance of some 464,000 kilometres (290,000 miles), revealing a rich and diverse range of surface features (image: NASA / JHU / APL / SWU) – click any image for the full-size version
The images render details as small as 400 metres / 440 yards per pixel on the surface of Pluto, and reveal features that have scientists agog with excitement; so much so that at a NASA press conference, the images were summarised thus, “it’s complicated!”
In them, we can see a rich complexity of features: nitrogen ice flows which have apparently oozed (and might still be slowly oozing) out of mountain ranges and across broad plains; mountain ranges which are themselves reminiscent of chaotic regions on Mars and Jupiter’s Europa; complex valley systems which might have been carved by the action of material flowing across the planet; and even – perhaps most curiously of all – what seem to be wind-blown fields of dunes.
A synthetic perspective view of Pluto, based on the latest high-res received from New Horizons presents a view of Pluto from around 1,800 km (1,100 mi) above Pluto’s equatorial area. Towards the bottom of the image is the cratered and dark region dubbed “Cthulhu Regio”, and above it, the bright “heart” of Pluto, the “Tombaugh Regio”, with the icy plains of “Sputnik Planum” prominent. The images used to create this view were captured from a distance of 80,000 km (50,000 mi) from Pluto (images: NASA / JHU / APL / SWU) – click any image for the full-size version
What is also particularly striking about these images of Pluto is the way that they reveal some of the oldest (geologically speaking) regions yet seen on the planet sitting right alongside what are the youngest locations on the planet, adding further emphasis to the idea that Pluto has been, and might still be, an active world.
But what about those dunes mentioned above? If they are indeed what the images released on September 10th suggest, Pluto has once again served up a surprise.
“Seeing dunes on Pluto, if that is what they are would be completely wild!” William McKinnon from the mission’s Geology, Geophysics and Imaging (GGI) team, said, “because Pluto’s atmosphere today is so thin. So either Pluto had a thicker atmosphere in the past, or some process we haven’t figured out is at work. It’s a head-scratcher!”
The dunes of Pluto? This image, representing a portion of Pluto’s surface some 350 km (220 mi) across, shows some of the planet’s older, chaotic terrain at the bottom, and an enigmatic field of dark, aligned ridges that resemble dunes toward the top. The image was captured from a distance of 80,000 km (50,000 mi) from Pluto (images: NASA / JHU / APL / SWU)
More is also being discovered about Pluto’s atmosphere, which is also proving to be a lot more complex than had originally been thought, having many more layers within its thin haze than had been thought. However, these layers of haze have allowed the science team to glimpse surface features which might otherwise have remained unseen as sunlight caught by the haze over the terminator – the divide between the day and night sides of the planet – cast a soft glow over part of Pluto’s night side. When enhanced through careful processing, this glow could be used to reveal what lay below.
It’s time to kick-off another week of fabulous story-telling in voice, brought to our virtual lives by the staff and volunteers at the Seanchai Library. As always, all times SLT, and events are held at the Library’s Second Life home at Bradley University, unless otherwise indicated.
Sunday, September 13th 18:00: Pinocchio
An 1883 illustration from the original Le avventure di Pinocchio, drawn by Enrico Mazzanti and coloured by Daniel Donna
Caledonia Skytower settles down at Magicland’s Golden Horseshoe to read selected adventures from the famous story of Pinocchio, the wooden puppet who comes to life through the granting of a wish, and who then has various adventures and misadventures along his path of life.
It’s a story we’re all familiar with in one way or another, and probably largely as a result of the 1940 Walt Disney adaptation of the tale, which is rated today as both one of the finest Disney features made, and one of the greatest animated films of all time.
But, how many of us are familiar with the original Adventures of Pinocchio, published in 1883 by author Carlo Collodi? For those all too familiar with Disney’s rendering of the little puppet who wants to be a boy, there is much in the book that is familiar – but also much that is very different.
So – what will Caledonia bring? Pincchio’s adventures as seen through the eyes of Disney, or as put to paper by Collodi – or perhaps a mix of both? Or will she cast her net wider?
What happens when you gamble your own future on the far future, and opt to have your head and brain frozen in the hope that one day, perhaps centuries to come, it – you can be revived?
That’s exactly what Charles Otis decided to do – only things don’t turn out so well. Found discarded but still in a cryonic state, his brain is purchased sans head and installed in a deep space ore carrier as its primary processor.
Until, that is, he is discovered and rescued by those sympathetic to his plight. And so the story takes a turn to matters of the legal status of a disembodied brain, restored for a specific purpose and of unknown origin; paid for, and – at least they would have it – owned by the corporation that purchased the brain, and which has little interest in any past identity the brain might have had.
Tuesday September 15th,19:00 Not That It Matters
AA Milne by Howard Coster, 1926
Corwyn Allen concludes AA Milne’s 1919 collection of humorous essays. Best known for his tales of Wnnie the Pooh, Christopher Robin and the 100 acre Wood, Milne in fact wrote widely in bother fiction and non-fiction.
Here he passes observation on wide range of topics, starting with a reflection upon his own writing, “Sometimes when the printer is waiting for an article which really should have been sent to him the day before, I sit at my desk and wonder if there is any possible subject in the whole world upon which I can possibly find anything to say.”
With considerations ranging from why a gentleman’s collar might squeak, or the fact that Isaiah most certainly didn’t carry a notebook, with assorted thoughts on goldfish and daffodils along the way, this is a book of essays wide-range in topic and content. Some of it may, nigh-on a century since the essays first appeared in this book, appear dated and as solidly dated and trapped forever in the opening decades of the 20th century. Other are perhaps as relevant today in their insights and commentary as they were when freshly written. All of them come with Milne’s familiar humour and jovial observations.
Wednesday September 16th 19:00: The Penderwicks on Gardam Street
Caledonia Skytower opens the pages of Jeanne Birdsall’s 2014 volume about the Penderwick family, the second in the series.
When the four Penderwick sisters learn that, encouraged by his sister-in-law and the wishes of their late mother, their father is going to start meeting other women, they fear the worst, and so enact the Save Daddy Plan. They set their Dad up with dates he won’t get on with, while he, also not overly convinced of things, goes out on pretend dates.
However, things start to change as the sisters meet and get to know Ben from next door, and his mum, Iantha. Added to the mix the adventures and challenges each of the four sisters face, and it turns out to be quite a series of events and changes for the Penderwicks – one of them very much turning out for the best.
Thursday, September 17th
19:00 The Banshee’s Comb
With Shandon Loring.
21:00 Seanchai Late Night
With Finn Zeddmore.
Friday, September 18th Avast! There Be Pirates!
Coming on the eve of International Talk Like a Pirate Day, Seanchai Library brings us a deck full of salty tales of plucky plundering, piratical plots and more! Arrrrrrr!
11:30 Saturday, September 19th, 11:30: Folktales at Seanchai IW
to mark the opening of the new Community Library Estate, and their new Exhibition on Folk Tales. Shandon and Caledonia will tell stories at 11:30 am followed by a Dance Party at Noon.
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 August / September is Water for People, “When one person or one family has clean, accessible water, their lives are changed. But when entire regions and countries have water, the world is changed.”
Pandora Box of Dreams September 2015 (Flickr)
Pandora Box of Dreams September 2015 (Flickr)
Pandora Box of Dreams September 2015 (Flickr)
Pandora Box of Dreams September 2015 (Flickr)
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 