About 45 million years ago, Germany was part of a warm subtropical set
of islands, teeming with life. In this warm, greenhouse environment
reptiles were enormously successful, reaching larger body sizes than
mammals and pushing into new ecological roles. Explore the fascinating
environment known as Geisletal with Dr. Alex Hastings as he presents some of his research from his fellowship at Martin Luther University in Halle, Germany.
About 45 million years ago, Germany was part of a warm subtropical set
of islands, teeming with life. In this warm, greenhouse environment
reptiles were enormously successful, reaching larger body sizes than
mammals and pushing into new ecological roles. Explore the fascinating
environment known as Geisletal with Dr. Alex Hastings as he presents some of his research from his fellowship at Martin Luther University in Halle, Germany.
It was thirty years ago this month that the Berlin Wall, a symbol of the Cold War and the failure of Communism, was opened and began to be taken down. For years, the city of Berlin was divided, the state of East Germany keeping it's subjects behind a barrier of concrete, barbed wire, minefields, and guards with orders to kill anyone trying to flee. Hundreds died trying to cross it before it the guards began letting people through and over in in November 1989. For Baby Boomers and Generation Xers old enough to know, the fall of the wall was history in the making, a revolution without a shot being fired. But for younger generations, many know little to nothing about it. In November 2008, a Christo Larsen built a Berlin Wall exhibition in
Second Life, detailing the history around The Wall. The article was
originally published in Second Life Newspaper that month.
From Draxtor Despres on February 1, "If you are 40 years of age or under and grew up in Germany you have
internalized the music and sound effects concocted by Nnoiz Papp’s
physical-world alter ego. He has been part of the team that breaths
life into the longest running German animated series 'Sendung mit der
Maus' and their spin-off shows since 1984 but did you know he literally
has a Second Life, full of music that is a completely unique melange of
classical and electronic styles?
"Since his early days as a
professional musician, Nnoiz mixed classical, pop and jazz genres in his
repertoire but also in his choice of instruments: he was an early
computer music pioneer in Germany all the while studying the oboe at the
esteemed Cologne School of Music.
"Since 2007, Nnoiz has been
touring SL and in both worlds/lives he embraces the latest in modular
synthesizers, never utters phrases like 'in my day music was so much
more [fill in superlative]..' and his house seems more crammed with
musical gadgets than Robert Moog’s garage in the 60ties.
"Invoking
Wendy Carlos, he processes Bach and Haendel with a breath controller
and while active in the local music scene Nnoiz only in the virtual
world can he connect in real time with a different global audience on a
different stage sometimes several times a week.
"And while
technology is improving at a rapid pace with input devices that increase
immersion - if you look closely you will see Nnoiz use a Leap Motion in
one sequence - the secret sauce of good old Second Life seems to be as
tasty as ever: empower people to share their creativity with as little
interference as possible.
For those of the Baby Boom and Gen X generations, Europe was a different place in the recent past that it was now. Following the Second World War, Europe was divided by the Iron Curtain, the Soviet Union and it's satellite states keeping it's people in with barbed wire, minefields, and border guards with orders to kill. The most visible spot was the Berlin Wall, which was set up around West Berlin, a spot of territory inside East Germany where citizens could live under a democracy. After it's construction, many died trying to cross it. In November 2008, a Christo Larsen built a Berlin Wall exhibition in Second Life, detailing the history around The Wall. The article was originally published in Second Life Newspaper that month.
From Thursday May 30th to Sunday June 2nd, the 1920s Berlin Project will be holding special events to celebrate four years on the Grid. The following was on the 1920s Berlin blog:
On the 30th of may, 4 years ago I opened the first version of our
1920s Berlin sim, it became a much bigger success then I could have
imagined and has managed to survive longer then anyone could have
predicted. To celebrate the sim's birthday and how well the sim is doing in general, we’re having a few days of fun! The schedule may change at any time, but at the moment it looks a bit like this:
Thursday 30th May: Keller party, small scale. We’ll drink,
hand out some freebies, dance, chat and invite everyone who wants to to
get up on stage to tell about their discovery of Berlin, their life
here, to perhaps sing, do a trick or show off another talent.
Friday 31st May: The Grand Anniversary Dance at unter den Linden
Saturday 1st June Relaxed Rules Day 11:00 Tea Dance 12:00 Pool party 14:00 Eldorado evening – Revealing new building
Sunday 2nd June Kids Day! Special class, playground games, football game
More things will be added and there will be a few surprises too…
