On February 6th, residents and Lindens met in-world for what proved to be a challenge met with gusto and delight: the first in-world snowball fight involving Linden staff in a fair while.
As I was able to report from the front lines (when not picking myself up off the floor and dusting myself down after getting splatted by a certain Mr. Gibson Firehawk … several times 😛 ), the event was held in the Winter Wonderland created by the Lab and the Moles to help demonstrate the forthcoming experience keys / tools.
But will Strawberry “Snap Shot” Singh be on-hand this time? …
Well, with Winter Wonderland liable to be closing its doors in March, due to springtime arriving, the gauntlet has been once again laid down, with a challenge handed out to one and all for a further snowball fight – only this time it comes from the Firestorm team!
The challenge was given out in a Firestorm blog post, which reads in part:
The Firestorm team wants to do it again! Snowball fight pt 2! For those who couldn’t make it to the first one this is your chance to get involved and have some old school fun! We have extended an invitation to the Lindens as well and hope some of them will join in too.
February 6th proved to be a huge amount of fun for everyone involved, something which even recalcitrant weapons vendors and a healthy smattering of lag amidst the snow could do little to dampen.
… and who might find they’re in need of a bit of a sit-down amidst all the excitement? (And will hot cocoa also be available this time?)
So… if you missed out the first time around, or if you want to do it all over again, be sure to be in-world at the Snowball Warzone in Winter Wonderland by 13:00 SLT on Sunday, February 22nd!
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.
Monday February 23rd
06:00: The Emerald Atlas
Cata Charisma continues his reading of John Stephens’ The emerald Atlas, the first volume in his fantasy trilogy for young adults, The Books of Beginning.
Having been passed from pillar to post through orphanages, three siblings, Kate, Emma, and Michael, find themselves lodged at the home of one Dr. Stanislaus Pym. Kate, the eldest of the three is driven by a promise made by her mother, that if Kate protects her younger sister and brother, then their family will be one day reunited.
But in their explorations of Dr. Pym’s house the three of them find their way into the basement, where they come across a mysterious door and a equally mysterious emerald-covered booth, entirely without text. When an old photograph touches the blank pages of the book, however, the three are immediately transported to the time and place depicted in the photograph. Her they find themselves in a realm populated by witches, henchmen, giants, dwarves and more – and one Dr. Stanislaus Pym, a good deal younger than when they last saw him in his house…
19:00: Starswarm
Starswarm Station is a remote research station established to study strange alien life. The planet on which it is located is the home of the starswarm, intelligent plants living under the planet’s shallow lakes and seas, and roaming bands of centaur-like creatures dubbed “haters”.
The station is also home to Kip, a teenage boy living under the guardianship of his “uncle”. However, as Kip begins to discover, he has another guardian: Gwen, an AI system his mother had been working on, prior to her death, and which communicates with Kip via a small implant placed inside his brain at birth.
Gwen knows far more about the planet and the lifeforms it harbours than Kip could imagine. It also knows a lot about the company that runs the station and, for all intents and purposes, “owns” the planet on which it sits.
Slowly, Gwen reveals these various truths to Kip, including his own destiny. But in doing so, it puts Kip, and potentially the entire station, at risk.
Join Gyro Muggins as he commences a reading of Jerry Pournelle’s 1998 novel intended for teenage readers but which offers an interesting look at subjects such as neural nets and living computer systems.
Tuesday February 24th, 19:00: The Cailleach is Back!
Aoifie Lorfield returns with more tales of the old hag, Cailleach Bhéarach of Irish, Scottish and Manx mythology.
Wednesday February 25th, 19:00: Selections from The Islandman
Born in 1856, and a native of the Irish-speaking Great Blasket Island just off the coast of County Kerry, Ireland, Tomás Ó Criomhthain heeded encouragement to write about his life and times as a fisherman and crofter on a (then) somewhat remote island.
By doing so, and despite only a moderate education (schooling only occurred within the island’s tiny community if / when a school teacher came over from the “mainland”, and even then, schooling would oft be interrupted when the teacher returned home to take a husband), he wrote with astonishing richness about ways of life which have long since passed into memory or have been changed forever.
His writings appeared in two books published during his life, published under the anglicised version of his name, Tomas O’Crohan. These were Allagar na h-Inise (Island Cross-Talk), which included his writing from between 1918 and 1923, and An t-Oileánach (The Islandman), from which Caledonia Skytower reads selections.
Thursday February 25th, 19:00: Lost Worlds
Travel back to 1941 and the pages of Fantastic Adventures with Shandon Loring, as he reads P.F. Costello’s short story, People of the Pyramids.
It started, as all good adventures often do, in Cairo’s bazaar, when Neal Kirby is encouraged, somewhat reluctantly, into a shop if trinkets and curios. Once inside, he discovers a knife of great beauty. But he’s not the only one with an interest in it; the beautiful Jane Manners appears to be able to lay claim to it.
Only she, in turn, appears to be in the clutches of the cold, calculating Max Zaraf, the man who had ostensibly offered to help finance her attempts to complete her late father’s work, but who now seems to be in control of things, much to her distress. So when she manages to pass Kirby a plea for help, who is he to refuse?
He may not have a fedora, a bull whip or an encyclopaedic knowledge of archaeology, but when it comes to ancient mysteries deep in the desert, untrustworthy businessmen lusting after power, and the rescue of a young, beautiful woman, Neal Kirby proves he’s every bit as capable as people going by the surname of “Jones”!
Explore the Great Gatsby: explore the installation one last time and then say farewell by dancing at Gatsby’s mansion
This special facility, built is a partnership venture with Tacoma Little Theatre’s production of The Great Gatsby draws to a close.
Take the opportunity to tour the locations, drop-in to the Fitzgerald Gallery and listen to selections of the story being read over the stream. Then be sure to attend a special closing dance at – where else? Jay Gatsby’s mansion.
Saturday February 28th, 12:00 Noon SLT, Second Life: Seanchai 101
Join Caledonia Skytower in this special Seanchai Library workshop, downstairs in the fireside room. Participants in this workshop should come with 100 to 120 words from a piece of literature, preferably written by someone else, not memorized and not prepared in any way. Please remember that Seanchai is on a moderate sim when choosing your material.
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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 January / February is Project Children, teaching and building peace in Northern Ireland, one child at a time.
MadTone – LEA26: The drum stage, where the Saturday, February 21st performance by DRUM will take place
Drumming – good drumming – is an art form, be it using a modern drum set, steel drums, native American drums, African drums or any other form of drum. I first became fascinated by it (although I don’t play the drums) via Japanese Taiko drumming, particularly as a result of listening to Kitaro, and love the sound created by, and skill involved in, ensemble drumming of all kinds.
On Saturday February 21st, at midday SLT, we can all enjoy a demonstration of cultural drumming from around the world via a special performance by members of DRUM.
“DRUM’s goal is to bring the world to you via the power of drumming,” Phoebe McMillan says of the ensemble’s intent. “Our aim is to have fun and to create incredible, beautiful rhythms – live. Right now our performances consists of 11 different drum cultures, Taiko (Japanese), Native American, African, Latin, Indian, Mallets, Stomp Wall, Rusty Barrels, African Ghost, Steel Pan drums and our newest set, Brazilian.”
Members of DRUM – which stands for Divine Rhythms of Universal Music – have collaborated to create the unique sounds, drums, and animations that allow them to perform live in-world, with each performance uniquely its own. Appropriately enough, they’ll be performing on the huge drum stage located over the MadTone installation at LEA26, with Lorin Tone hosting the performance.
As noted above, things kick-off at 12:00 noon on the 21st, so be sure to arrive a little ahead of time to get yourself set for what is sure to be a unique and entertaining event, which is not going to be one to miss.
Watching the sunrise over the 2015 Sci-Fi convention regions (click any image for full size)
With an official opening ceremony slated for midday SLT on Friday, February 20th, 2015, the six regions of the 2015 Second Life Science-Fiction Convention, organised by the SL Sic-Fi Alliance, are now open and will remain docked in Second Life through until March 1st, 2015 inclusive.
The theme for this year’s events is that of Sci-Fi resorts, and the names of the six regions, selected by popular vote on the part of residents, reflects this:
Pern Sound (Red Sector) – Named for the planet Pern, central to Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonriders mythology, and the third planet orbiting Rukbat.
Magrathea (Gold Sector) – Named for the homeworld of the legendary planet builders in Douglas Adams’ Hitch-Hikers Guide to the Galaxy, and perhaps best remembered for mice, missiles, whales and petunias. Oh, and a designer called Slartibartfast as well, of course…
Fhloston Paradise (Purple Sector) – Named for the luxury cruise where The Fifth Element’s Corbin Dallas, together with the Fifth Element, Leeloo, must retrieve the first four elements.
Sihnon (Green Sector) – The third planet orbiting the White Sun, and one of the two major planets of the universe created by Joss Whedon for his television series Firefly. It is also the home of the person from whom I took my name: Inara Sierra 🙂 .
Space really is the final frontier for this year’s SL Sci-Fi convention
Each sector has its own teleport hub (provided in the links above), allowing for quick and easy hopping between regions – although most people will likely want to explore on foot once they’ve arrived. However, do remember that, in a change from previous years, the 2015 convention doesn’t only take place on the ground – there are booths to be found overhead as well, out “in space”, adding to the sci-fi feel of activities . So keep your eye out for teleports and other means to go skyward to destinations (and don’t forget the Zocalo from Babylon 5 is under the waves of Pern Sound).
One way of getting around is via the convention taxis, tours, and shuttles. The taxis are self-fly, can carry up to three people and can be rezzed at any of the taxi stations like the one I used in Pern Sound. I found a starting point for the dragon tours in Magrathea; I didn’t notice any others in my travels, but might have missed them. The shuttles offer a kind of convention auto-pilot “bus service”, ferrying people around (and over) the convention regions.
Who said Sci-fi has to be all star ships and deep space? This year’s event carries with it various hints of retro in both displays and in some of the imaginative booth designs
When exploring the regions, one will find an interesting mix of merchants and role-play groups (see the exhibitor list for details) and, for those engaged in the scavenger hunt, quite possibly the stars you are looking for (so to speak). A programme of entertainment has been put together for the convention, starting with the aforementioned opening ceremony, which will take place at Merciless Ming’s. There will also be live entertainments, DJ, film screenings and more, with full details of all goings-on to be found via the convention’s Events Calendar. In addition, information givers located next to the major telehubs also provide a run-down of the current day’s events for those arriving in any of the regions, if they wish to find out what’s going on and when.
Whatever your interest in science-fiction, be sure to set your phaser on fun and head back to the future with a visit to the SL Sci-Fi convention, and as this is a Relay for Life event, keep an eye-out for RFL-related vendors and kiosks as you explore.
Saturday, February 21st through to Saturday March 7th inclusive marks the 2015 Paint it Purple campaign on behalf of Relay for Life of Second Life.
The campaign is aimed raising awareness and excitement as the official launch of the year’s fund-raising season draws near, by encouraging residents to paint the grid purple, the official colour of RFL of SL.
So how does it work? The official description of the campaign explains how:
Make sure you find all your purple clothes, hair, accessories, and even skin! Plant purple trees on your land, paint your walls purple, colour your grass purple, and hang purple signs, banners, streamers, flags, and balloons. Be sure to tell anyone who asks, “why all the purple?” that it’s for Relay For Life and invite them to learn more and possibly join the Relay family!
To get people started, you can pick-up the official Paint SL Purple kit at the American Cancer Society Island. Packed with purple freebies, it’s the perfect way to get started on celebrations and get ready for the relay season itself. You can also get the kit by contacting Nuala Maracas or Leala Spire in-world.
There will also be an official Paint it Purple Kick-off Party to launch the campaign.This will take place at a special Paint it Purple Party venue located over the American Cancer Society Island, and will run from 16:00 SLT through until 21:00 SLT. DJ Dee Wolfe will get things started, and will be followed by special guests Satin & Erin, before DJ Dianne Wycliffe closes the party out with two hours of music from 19:00 SLT through until 21:00.
Paint it Purple will kick-off with a special themed party starting at 16:00 SLT on Saturday, February 21st, 2015
Hosting a Paint it Purple event in support of RFL of SL yourself? Be sure to use “Paint Second Life Purple” ( or PSLP) when listing it as an event, so that other people can quickly and easily see it when checking the event listings.
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.
The theme for this, the 8th VWBPE conference is Crossroads, and the organisers have released an update to remind people that the first set of crossroads regarding their involvement is approaching, with deadlines drawing near.
Important Dates
VWBPE Exhibition submissions extended – but must close on Friday, February 27th
Exhibition space is available at the main VWBPE venue in Second Life, providing the opportunity for exhibitors to display and promote their products and / or services in 3D. Spaces within the exhibition area are limited, and will be provided on a first come, first serve basis, with priority being given to educators, community organizations, and non-profits.
2015 Thinkerer Award nominations set to close on Sunday, March 1st
Named after its first recipient in 2014, Thinkerer Melville (Selby Evans in the physical world), the Thinkerer Award is presented to an individual whose deeds and actions have shown consistent selfless service towards the promotion of learning, community, and educational practices, and who exemplifies the spirit of cooperative development within immersive environments.
Nominations are currently open for potential recipients of the 2015 award, and those interested in nominating someone are directed to the Thinkerer Award nominations guidelines for further information.
Post-Conference Tours – submissions close on Friday, February 27th
Explorations – the VWBPE post-conference virtual tours – provide an opportunity for educational leaders to share their visions of education beyond the traditional classroom setting, by offering tours of their virtual environments to their VWBPE peers. These tours have historically generated the greatest excitement in the spirit of inspiration and sharing, and and promise to do so again, both through them and through the use of social media tools.
Those wishing to present a tour of their virtual environment can find the guidelines and submission requirements for doing so on the VWBPE Explorations page.
The Programme and Calendar
The conference calendar is now available, and can be seen on-line (use the Go To options to advance to March and the conference, if necessary).
Conference events will commence at 13:00 SLT on Wednesday, March 18th, with the opening keynote address by Ebbe Altberg, entitled Education in Second Life and in the Future. This will see Ebbe share his thoughts on the value Linden Lab places on the education market, some of the compelling educational uses cases he’s seen during his tenure as CEO, and his perspective on how virtual experiences and education will be important to one another in the future.
Following the opening keynote, and throughout the four days of the event, the conference will present a mix of keynote addresses, presentations, talks, discussions and more, covering a broad canvas of education and virtual mediums.
Attendance
Attendance at the conference is free, and the attendee registration page is open. For those who which to support the costs involved in staging VWBPE events in both Second Life and OpenSim, can also opt to register using one of the Crowdfunder options available via the registration page.
Sponsorship
Best Practices in Education are at the forefront of a technically revolution that is creating inspiring innovation in the classroom; a revolution which is adding momentum to the intersection where academic learning meets a student’s willingness to engage in simulations which build moral character, leadership ability, and critical thinking.
Be a part of these exciting trends by helping support a conference for educators who use leading edge tools and techniques in the classroom. The VWBPE conference reaches over 3000 educators from around the world who are advancing these educational techniques.
Donations are used to help create open-sourced, peer-reviewed archives which extend well beyond the 3-4 days of the VWBPE conference, as well as permit teachers and educators to learn how to work with changing technologies in the classroom.
In addition, your brand recognition will expand well beyond a simple 4 day conference given that it will be part of the public record and accessible through the US Library and Archives. You can view past conference proceedings at the Journal of Virtual Studies.
There is no better investment than in educating the future leaders in advanced education, so learn today how to become a sponsor for the 8th Annual Best Practices in Education Conference.
But will Strawberry “Snap Shot” Singh be on-hand this time? … 
… and who might find they’re in need of a bit of a sit-down amidst all the excitement? (And will hot cocoa also be available this time?) 
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 