Walk Around The Grid: Jason and the Argonauts

 

In her latest "Walk Around The Grid" article, Netera Landar checks out an event by Drama Libre. The club took on a Hellenistic look as the party theme was "Jason and The Argonauts." Things took on an interesting look with Ancient Greek hoplites mixing it up with mythical creatures. 

 

Read Netera's article in Design.  

The Coke Bottle At Cutlass

 

When someone you care about passes away, what they leave behind becomes more precious. That's certainly been the case of Rita Mariner and her Sunweaver Estates, most of which have had their future up in the air since the announcement of her death. But it's not just her objects involved. There's one small object at Club Cutlass that is easily overlooked, but to those who know the owner is a reminder of a dear friend. 

 

Read more in Design. 

 

Press Release: Virtual Ability Thanks Linden Lab, Announcing: Wheelchair Design Contest

 

On behalf of the Virtual Ability community, I would like to extend our sincere thanks to Linden Lab for their generous L$250,000 donation announced at the recent SL23B Golden Ticket Giveaway event.

Since 2007, Virtual Ability® has been a peer support community helping people with a wide range of disabilities thrive in Second Life. One of Virtual Ability's core values is giving back to the Second Life community. We are delighted to announce that we will pay Linden Lab's generosity forward and use their donation to fund Mobility Without Limits, a contest to create original virtual wheelchairs for use in Second Life. By funding prizes that will go directly to Second Life creators, we hope to help strengthen the broader virtual world community while expanding the range of mobility options available to residents.

This contest will invite Second Life creators to design innovative, full-permission wheelchairs that enhance mobility, self-expression and roleplay for residents. A total of L$250,000 in prize money will be awarded across several categories, including:

•           Everyday Mobility
•           Racing and Sports
•           Fantasy and Sci-Fi
•           Mobility for Every Avatar, featuring wheelchairs designed for tinies and other non-standard avatars

Additional details about Virtual Ability’s wheelchair contest Mobility Without Limits will be announced soon. We look forward to seeing the creativity this contest inspires. If you have any questions, please contact Eme Capalini.

Virtual Ability's Second Life community is supported behind the scenes by our real-world nonprofit organization, Virtual Ability, Inc., a 501(c)3 charitable organization. To learn more about our work, please visit https://www.virtualability.org

Once again, thank you to Linden Lab for their generous support and for recognizing the work Virtual Ability has done to help make Second Life more welcoming and accessible for everyone. We are honored to be part of this remarkable virtual world.

Gentle Heron
President, Virtual Ability, Inc.

 

SLEA - The Quiet Between Worlds

 

The Second Life Endowment for the Arts (SLEA) gets a number of art exhibits and exhibitions. Recently Netera Landar stopped by a particularly exceptional one. Located in SLEA8 and created by a team led by Nemesis and Nyx Marville, it has several levels where one can enjoy the music, remember those you lost, or simply spend some time alone to let your mind relax. 

 

Read Netera's article in  Design. 

Advertisement: The FREELY Couples' Shared Motion System

 

By Bixyl Shuftan
 

For couples in Second Life, there are a number of things they can do together. They can dance at clubs under a couples danceball . They can sail in a boat seated together.  But they can't usually do much else. A very few parks offer a couples walk poseball, but this isn't an option in almost all of the virtual world. And nowhere can you swim together (an option merfolk pairs should enjoy), or fly together (an option a couple with winged avatars should like). 
 

With this in mind, Wisdom d'Avi Σ (Wisdom Davi) has come up with a solution that can be used most anywhere: FREELY.
 
I interviewed Wisdom, and her partner Oxi (KingOfNorway Oxidor), about the system. She would describe it as, "FREELY is a PG & adult shared motion system for couples that transforms movement into connection. It lets couples move in perfect sync — walking, flying, swimming, running, dancing, and being intimate…. with smoothness and effortless control." Oxi commented, "Basically it allows a couple to get on, spend a couple hours doing whatever couple do and never have to get off it. It's also condifugable, That is, you can add about as many animations as you want." Wisdom added, "peeps will be able to add their own anims and actually change their menu, etc."
 

Oxi described how it could be used, " You want to sit and watch the sunset, fly to the nearby island, stroll through the woods and find a nice glen to sit down and talk, sit on a bench by the path, without having to jump off, swim across the lake and walk out the other side, sit on the couch and watch TV and then walk upstairs to the bedroom, (it's) a relationship builder... you just never have to let go." "FREELY is easy on sim crossings," Wisdom added. Oxi went on, "Oh, and by the way - its has shared control. So either partner can control the motion, and the animation selection." 
 
Oxi did go on to say there was one catch, "It does have the limitation that it has to be rezzed and sat on. So in venues that are no-rez, it cannot be rezzed and used. But if already on it, you can use object entry."
 

A couple could use FREELY to dance. I asked how many dances did it have. Wisdom told me it had 28, though Oxi stated more could be added. He went on to say, "It has an autopilot so that you can chat while walking."

At one point, they decided to demonstrate. There was a demo FREELY on the wall nearby, and they clicked, rezzed it, and got on. They did a few dances at first, showing different styles, Oxi commenting, "ow, I dint even know I could do those moves...." Then they switched over to walking mode, going down the street in sync. They then looked for a bench to sit on, Wisdom commenting, "Actually we can use the bench sit to also sit on the wall, but that takes a little practice. To sit on a bench or furniture you need to walk up to it lock FREELY and choose the correct sit pose, then use the arrows for fine alignment" Oxi remarked, "The thing that is nice is that you are not at the mercy of the bench animator. The sitting animations are all in FREELY. So they work on any bench, or bed, or steps, or wall."

At one point, Oxi had to step away from the keyboard, This left Wisdom in charge. She walked down the street, then to the beach. She then went to demonstrate the swimming animations, but there was one detail, "I can't undress Oxi," so the clothes were left on. Eventually they came back to shore, and soon after Oxi returned, and Wisdom explained what happened, grinning, "We went for swim babe. You're all wet."
 

They did say that it there's a significant difference in height between the two people using FREELY, there'd have to be some one-time manual adjustments made. Also, "The idea that it needs rez able location may sound like a limitation, but I have discovered that there are lots of places that are rez able, and also the mainland has REZ zones, which makes mainland exploration really appealing. Also, many really nice sim allow you to join their group free, so you can rez."

 

Wisdom would explain that FREELY also had intimate pose menus with Adult animations, "It's Intimacy in Motion. ... It works in skyboxes, and dungeons." But since the Newser is a Safe For Work publication, there couldn't be neither pictures or very detailed explanations. 

Wisdom explained that FREELY was still being worked on for some small improvements, "We are working on a couple little improvements to make it totally shared experience and some smoothing of the animations."

Of the price, the non-demo version is 3968L.  
 
As for how Wisdom came up with the idea, that is it's own story. 
 
So for an all-purpose, modifiable, and very versatile couples motion system, consider FREELY by Wisdom d'Avi.
 
Bixyl Shuftan 

_________________________

For more information on FREELY visit the website https://gridwise.company/freely

Step into FREELY’s world at the following demo locations:

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Locus%20Amoenus/54/21/24/
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/London%20City/192/245/24
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Solace%20Dreams/64/22/22
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Guanacaste/235/21/25
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Noir%20Wen/58/90/23
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/FairChang%20Ensenada/219/253/22
 

Cafe Lilardo

 

Friday February 6 was the grand opening of a small new club, Cafe Lilardo. The kickoff party lasted for seven hours with several DJs and attracted dozens of people. Owned by Ardo Topaz who runs it with the help of LilyBethPatterson, I would have a few words with them as the party was winding down. 

 

Read more in Design.  

 

Kondor’s Art Café

 

Netera Landar recently went to the grand opening of a new exhibition at Kondor’s Art Cafe, located at Kondor’s Art Center. She also viewed Hermes Kondor's art collection, as well as getting a chance to talk to the artist, and heard just what was meant by the location being an "art cafe." 

 

 Read Netera's article in Design. 

 

Meeroos Addresses It's Pet Issues

 

Longtime residents will likely remember the Meeroos, even if they never got one. Introduced in 2011, these cute virtual pets known for their wanting to snuggle were very popular then. Almost fifteen years later, they're still around, with a smaller but still active fanbase.  Recently a friend of mine who owned some started telling me about trouble. But after several days, there was finally a response from someone in the company behind them.

Read the story in Design. 

Netflix Buys Avatar Maker For VRChat, Smaller Worlds

 

There's been a development that will likely make it more difficult for people in VRChat and similar virtual worlds to get new avatars. According to an article in Techcrunch, Netflix has purchased the program "Ready Player Me." For those who haven't heard of it, it's an avatar-creation platform for various virtual worlds and games.

 

Ready Player Me was founded in 2014 in Estonia. Over the past decade it has raised over 70 million US dollars from investors.  It has a staff of twenty, who will all be joining Netflix. It's services, including Player Zero, will be going offline on Saturday January 31st. 

 

The Techcrunch article stated Netflix "plans to use the startup’s development tools and infrastructure to build avatars that will allow Netflix subscribers to carry their personas and fandom across different games." 

 

Scott Hayden in "The Road to VR" called the purchase "a blow to one specific group of people, namely VRChat users." Ryan Schultz felt while this would inconvenience users of the popular next-generation virtual world, at least it had a Marketplace for avatars for people to chose from. From his point of view, it would be the users of smaller virtual worlds that would truly be hurt as those platforms, "which wholly rely on Ready Player Me’s services ... are now going to have to scramble to find and implement a replacement in very little time."

 

Hat tip: Ryan Schultz

 

Sources: Techcrunch

 

Bixyl Shuftan 

 

The Dickens Project Art Show

 

The Dickens Project is a yearly event held by the Seanchai Library, celebrating the story "A Christmas Carol," with numerous activities, smaller events, and experiences. Among these is the Dickens Project Art Show. Open until January 5, there are a number of pictures on display. Netera Landar went over, and had a few words with the coordinator, Stevie Morane Basevi.

 

Read Netera's article in Design.  

The Lost Gallery

 

Netera Landar recently went to the opening of an art exhibition going on to January 3, "The Lost Gallery." Set in a wintery outdoor area, the place was "beautiful and realistic." She would talk to some people and take a few pictures of the displays. So which artists were there and what did they have?

 

Read Netera's article, and see the pictures, in Design.

 

Addition: Part of the article was accidentally left out earlier. It's now up. 

The Pharmacy

 

There are many clubs across Second Life. But Netera Landar found one that combines the songs of today with the atmosphere of the 1920s speakeasies: The Pharmacy. She would have a few words with Pet Pinklady, the owner and manager of the venue. So what did Netera think?

 

Read Netera's article in Design.  

 

Tiki Grove Resort Welcomes Singers From Around The World

 

The Newser welcomes back Netera Landar, and she recently sent us an article about a venue with a number of live performers, the Tiki Grove Resort. She was at one of it's events, and afterwards had a few words with it's owner, Sarge Darkwyr (SgtPinback Darkwyr). So what did she think?

 

 Read Netera's article in Design.

 

Early Christmas Shopping at Dench Designs

 

While it may be early November, already stores have Christmas decorations out.  Gemma Cleanslate went to a longtime favorite, Dench Designs. It has plenty of Christmas decor, including some bargains, and also has some decorations for Thanksgiving. 

 

Read Gemma's article in Design 

All Hallows at Moochie

 

It's finally October, and more Halloween-themed places are showing up in Second Life. Gemma Cleanslate took a look at an old favorite: All Hallows at the Moochie sim. There she found a Halloween trail to follow, filled with spooky sights. But that wasn't all. There are scary vendors to pick up something, a trick or treat game, a theater, and more. 

 

Read Gemma's article in Design.

 

More Halloween Shopping: Khargo and Halloween Town in Portland

 

With October approaching, some people are getting ready for Halloween early. And Gemma Cleanslate has been looking for a few places that can cater to them. She found two. One is Khargo, which had plenty of skeletons. At Halloween Town in Portland, you can take a tour and shop as you go along. 

 

Read Gemma's story in Design.  

 

Early Halloween At Dench Designs

 

September may have only just begun, but for some people already they're getting ready for Halloween. Gemma Cleanslate decided to check out a few stores which have decorations for those getting ready for the spooky season. So which ones did she see, and what did they offer?

 

Read Gemma's story in Design. 

Wind Phones in Second Life

 

Have you ever heard of a "Wind Phone?" For those who don't know, it's a way for those with lost loved ones and close friends to speak to the departed over a phone that's not connected to others, but presumably the words would be "carried by the wind" to the spirit they're aimed at. The idea started in Japan, and eventually spread to other places. And eventually, it came here to Second Life.  Klaus Bereznyak went to take a look at the phones here, and talk to one of the people behind them.

 

Read Klaus' story in Design. 

 

R&N Photography And Art Gallery

 

The staff of Club Lion recently opened an art gallery on their sim. On Thursday July 10, they held a party to officially open it, as well as celebrate the birthday of one of the staff. Bixyl Shuftan was there, and took a few pictures.

 

Read and see more in Design.

 

Reader Submitted: Scenes From The Relay Weekend

 

The Relay Weekend was earlier this month, but the memories, and pictures, remain. Among those who attended was Sunbeamer Kamida Delec. Kamida would share a few of the pictures she took. 

 

See the pictures in Design.