Prim Perfect: Issue 10 - June 2008 by Saffia Widdershins

Prim Perfect â&#x20AC;˘ June 2008

Prim Perfect • June 2008

From the Editor... HI EVERYONE – AND WELCOME TO THE JUNE ISSUE of Prim Perfect! This month, our magazine is a little different. Instead of featuring a single sim of the month, with residential properties, we are focusing on the opening of two commercial sims. Commercial? Yes. But sims that both offer tremendous experiences for the visitor – not to mention a wealth of goodies to buy. In late February, one of the best-known designers on the grid, Maxwell Graf, slipped largely from public view. Four months later, we can see the results of that comparative seclusion: Maxwell Graf’s twin new sims of Rustica and LagNmoor. Located right next to Arcana Nuevo, arguably one of the most famous places in the Second Life world, Rustica is an outstandingly beautiful build – and we have the pictures to prove it! Another long established builder also realised her dream this month. Gwen Carillon is a well-established artist in Second Life, and it is not surprising that her lovely immersive sculpture, “Rebirth”, recently won the category “Best In Second Life at the Tech Museum of Innovation”, San Jose, California [http://www.thetech.org/]. But she went from the awards ceremony (and a meeting with Philip Linden) to building her own island sim where she will be able to take her lovely work with crystal designs (and others) to new heights – literally! We have feature articles on both of these new sims, and interviews with their creators. And we also look at the opening of the new PRrim Designs store – and see how Prad Prithivi and Rrishanna Regina are moving in interesting new directions. And our star competition will give two lucky readers a chance to win complete sets of furniture by Maxwell Graf and Gwen Carillon! Also this month, we have two fascinating builds for our Landscape of the Month and our Reader’s Home of the Month. For the Landscape of the Month, Alesia Markstein reports back on the utterly fascinating exhibition that was Not Possible in Real Life. And we feature interviews with three of the creators too.

And M0lly Dench embarks on a journey through time and space with a Time Lord and his intrepid assistant to bring back an account of one of the most fascinating builds in Second Life – the Etheric Travelling Cabinet. Plus we return to the Galaxy, the fabulous three-sim liner designed by Bill Stirling, to find out what Bill and his team have been up to since we visited for the launch, a year ago. Then we have news of a series of live concerts sponsored by Prim Perfect, Associated Northcliffe Digital and Radio Riel. All through the summer and autumn, we have arranged for the top live performers to pay tribute to their favourite artists on Tribute Island. Find out who’s playing, who they’ve chosen to pay tribute to – and when you can see them! And we have the start of a new regular column that we’ve been promising ourselves since the magazine began. So far we’ve looked at lovely gardens - now we’re going to suggest ways in which you can create one of your own! This month, our new gardening correspondent Kaye Robbiani looks at two major trends in Victorian gardening – and the female gardener who drew them both together. And her article is illustrated by pictures from her own garden, as she shows you how you can achieve these effects in Second Life. Then there’s also news of an important new group you can join – as Bailey Longcloth suggests a way in which store owners and customers can make better contact with each other through Homestyle Consolidated. Our Charity News tells you all about the opening of Nonprofit Commons 2, the new island managed by Techsoup. All this – plus advice for newbies about megaprims, our regular Treasure Hunt, News from the Grid, Readers’ Letters, a fun quiz by our own MoodyLoner Korobase (who also solves several problems by proffering advice about SLetiquette) ... and more! E

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Prim Perfect • June 2008

ARTICLES

Sim of the Month 20 Everything New Is Old Again at Rustica 28 Uniting the Elements 34 Life on the Ocean Wave - a Year On Interviews 24 Maker of Magic: Maxwell Graf 30 Creator behind the Content: Gwen Carillon 38 Master of the High Seas: Bill Stirling 72 Garden of NPIRL Delights: A Question of Economics 74 Garden of NPIRL Delights: Hieronymous Bosch Meets Jules Verne

Special Features 42 Creativity without Limits 56 Making Musical Memories: The Tribute Island Concerts 58 Homestyle Consolidated

COMPETITIONS 46 Win a Complete Set of Furniture! 66 And We Have a Winner!

Star Competition Winner for Issue 9

80 Prim Perfect Treasure Hunt

The Table of Contents and advertisements in Prim Perfect magazine are hyperlinked in the PDF version.

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Prim Perfect • June 2008

Wednesday, June 18, 2008 • Issue 10

REGULAR FEATURES 06 News from the Grid 12 The Giving Tree

Charity News

15 NonProfit Commons Expands!

Charity News

48 Anniversaries in Second Life

Prim Perfect Quiz

50 The Etheric Traveling Cabinet

Readers’ Home of the Month

60 Meta Makeover News: June 54 So What’s All the Fuss about Megaprims? Advice for Newcomers 68 Delighting in the Garden Landscape of the Month 76 Garden History Comes to Second Life! Gardening in Second Life 83 How Do I?

How Do I get Future Copies of Prim Perfect? How do I Advertise in Prim Perfect?

76 [ON THE COVER]

83 Calling all Designers

and Builders 68 Basic Etiquette Problem Page 89 Advertiser’s Directory 90 Credits

Visit Prim Perfect online at: http://www.primperfect.net and http://primperfectblog.wordpress.com.

Prim Perfect highlights the opening of Rustica. Cover photo by Vera Canning. [page 20]

Prim Perfect • June 2008

RE G U L A R F E AT U R E

News from the Grid Our New Offices Prim Perfect Publications is delighted to announce the opening of our new headquarters on Oliveto [http://slurl.com/secondlife/Oliveto/213/177/22]. We are still keeping the Prim Perfect office in Venice, which has a stunning beautiful location in the tower (just follow the signs and walk up to the balcony [http://slurl.com/secondlife/Venice%20Island/128/129/22]). And there’s the Meta Makeover office in Northpoint too. But the new headquarters is where we will be drawing all our products and projects together.

Beautifully designed by Jeremey Ryan of Barefoot Designs [http://slurl.com/secondlife/ Snafu/94/107/37] with input from Dellybean North of True North Designs [http://slurl.com/ secondlife/Goun/186/59/37], we think we have found a wonderful home to plot our future projects. So watch this space!

Celebrating Second Life’s Fifth Birthday! We were delighted to be asked to contribute to Second Life’s Fifth Birthday celebrations – and honoured to be given a large plot where we have built two exhibition halls: one celebrating the issues of Prim Perfect, and the designers involved, and the other saluting the designers who have taken part Meta Makeover, our SLCN home makeover show. We are still frantically adding exhibits at the moment, but we hope to have a variety of things

to see and explore, including two reconstructions: one of the Orkney fishing/teleworker’s cottage featured in Issue 9 of Prim Perfect (designed by Kittie Munro), and the other the swinging sixties house (designed by Salome Strangelove) which appeared on Meta Makeover’s London show.

There’ll also be displays of all the issues and episodes and, in the Prim Perfect building, small displays of the work of the designers who were featured in the magazine each month. And there will be a wishing fountain and a café where you can drink a cup of coffee (or something stronger) and relax, or dance the Charleston instead (a wonderful new dance created by Maar Auer of Metaversal Arts). The buildings were created by Jeremey Ryan, based on the design of our new headquarters, and assisted by Dellybean North. We think we have a really terrific exhibition for you to come and see! Many of the team are planning to be around the build as much as they can, so do drop by and say hello to us! We have received news of several launches this month ...

Usonia http://slurl.com/secondlife/Clear/94/114/124 UsoniaDESIGN is a new architectural furniture and decor retail establishment. Named after Frank Lloyd Wright’s vision for a designed uto-

Prim Perfect • June 2008 pian community, the aim of the store is to make high-quality designed furniture and accessories

available to the general Second Life population at reasonable prices. If you like clean, modern styles, check out Tobias Convair’s Usonia.

them at the Second Life Birthday celebrations!

Temasek - Discover your Singapore swing http://slurl.com/secondlife/Temasek/238/100/24 Now there’s a chance to discover the culture, history and ecology of Singapore at Temasek! Temasek has been designed and developed to give visitors a variety of opportunities to experience something of the flavour of Singapore. In Real Life, Singapore is an island-nation in Southeast Asia. It is only about 700 square kilometres that’s about eight times larger than Manhattan in New York. Singapore lies one degree North of the Equator, and as a result has a tropical rainforest climate. The island of Temasek in Second Life has been configured to reflect the real-time weather in Singapore.

GREENE concept http://slurl.com/secondlife/Beachwood/176/207/60 Ivanova Shostakovich and Peter Stindberg want to bring unique and original furniture and accessories into SL. Highest quality, with lowest possible primcount at an affordable price is the goal. The name “GREENE concept” hints at Ivanova’s favourite color.

Highlights include the Peranakan shophouses, the fishing village (Kampung Laut), the mudflats and the museum at Fort Temasek. The name ‘Temasek’ is taken from the Javanese language, and means ‘Sea Town’. The estate is managed by Raymaker Land Management, under Veritas Raymaker.

SL Shakespeare Summer: Giving Shakespeare a Second Life Their first item is a series of large upholstered stools (or sofas without backrest). They will be able to seat four avatars and are ideal for casual business lounges, offices or living rooms. Because of their similarity in shape to jelly doughnuts or bismarcks, Peter and Ivana dubbed them “Berliner” (which is the name of the pastry in Germany). Ivanova created some wonderful textures, including denim, cotton, suede, a quilted blue, and of course a green(e) texture. She did lovely work on the details, including a realistic upholstery feel, stitches and seams. The “San Jose” benches are for informal meetings, seating up to five avatars. The designers see them in lounges, clubs, offices, exhibition spaces – and we’ve already seen one person using

Radio Riel, Riel Events and The Caledon Library are proud to announce that they have received a grant from the Foundation For Rich Content to produce a special project, entitled “SL Shakespeare Summer”. During June, July and August, the three project sponsors will hold a week of events focused on a Shakespeare play. At the beginning of each week the Caledon Library will hold a play discussion. Throughout the week Radio Riel will provide programming inspired by the play or related to Shakespeare and his works in general. On the last day of the week, Saturday, Radio Riel and Riel Events will hold a themed, two-hour Ball in a setting recreated from the play. Music at (continued on page 87)

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Prim Perfect • June 2008

AD V E RT I S I N G F E AT U R E

Welcome to the revolution in sim design and setup! Have you ever thought, “I wish I could just click a button and my whole sim would build itself” or “I wish I could change the look of my sim for a party or event I’m having and then easily change it back”. The designers at Liquid Heat have been working on a solution to make life easier for residents in Second Life that want a professionally designed and built sim, and at a fraction of the cost. The answer they came up with is Liquid Void. The partnering team that makes up Liquid Heat is Erin Burks and Slade Christensen. Between the two of them, they have amassed years of experience in building interactive 3D environments, texture creation, scripting and design. With their primary business being custom sim creation, they were in a perfect position to fill the gap in the market between custom sim creation and sim owners going it alone, trying to find prefabs that fit well in theme together and then having to terraform and come up with a realistic layout. When asked what is so special about Liquid Void, the creator responded, “We created Liquid Void for the many land owners that have begun purchasing and renting out entire open space or void sims. With Liquid Void, they can have an attractive and useable sim up and ready to rent out within 5 minutes. There are also a lot of people that are either buying or renting their own void sims and this is the perfect base for them to be able to quickly start enjoying their new home. “Everything that comes with Liquid Void is copy and modifiable, so if they want to they can set out more trees or additional houses. We were always very aware of prim useage when we were building the sims, so all of the sims in the Liquid Void line will only take up approximately 50% of the prims available on the sim, leaving lots left over for the owner’s personal decorating. English Countryside is the theme of our first Liquid Void and we will be adding more themes in the near future. This will allow our customers to choose from a variety of themes for their sim or purchase multiple themes. Because they are so easy and fast to set up they could be walking along a country road through a medieval forest one day and fighting their way through a tropical jungle the next day, all on their own sim.” You can view the first of the Liquid Void sims English Countryside at Liquid Heat. Stay tuned for their next release, a tropical rainforest themed island with a full sized volcano, decked out as your dream home.

Liquid Heat Beauty/132/128/50

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Prim Perfect • June 2008

CH A R I T Y N E W S

The Giving Tree by Sue Stonebender

Sue Stonebender writes about the Giving Tree programme she has created on her sim, Ad Lucem [http://slurl.com/secondlife/Ad%20Lucem/ 25/110/81]. The Giving Tree is a “micro lending” tool and a simple extension of the “Ubuntu” program that I began cultivating in 2006. The intention is two-fold: 1. to give back a percentage of the profits that I make through my business in the Second Life online community to first life people and communities in need, and 2. to create simple ways of inviting other

Second Life community members to join me in that uplift. This is my way of reinvesting some of the goodness that has been invested in me through my online business, and inviting friends and customers to do the same.

How Does it Work? There are currently two ways that the Giving Tree program allows people to make small investments into the working poor: 1. Buying the Giving Tree When you purchase your own Giving Tree, 50%

Prim Perfect • June 2008 of the price goes directly into the lending pool, from which I invest in the efforts of small business people through Kiva, an online person-to-person microfinancing program. As this pool increases, we are able to help even more. As the people I invest in repay the loans, the money is returned to my lending pool so that I can reinvest it into someone else. This way I have a constantly growing resource and one that allows me to help more and more people become self-sustaining. 2. Purchasing a Leaf to Sponsor a Specific Person When I choose business people to invest in in developing countries, I also invite friends, customers and guests to do the same. I place an easel beneath the Giving Tree (in the courtyard of Tallulah’s Café on my Ad Lucem SIM) with a picture of the person I am currently investing in, a notecard to explain why I have chosen them, and a link back to their page where you can learn more and see that I have invested in them. When you buy one of these leaves it will then glow and your name will appear above it as a tribute and a thank you for your sponsorship. You will also get a picture of the person you sponsored along with a notecard about them and a link to their project. As each project is completed, I will send the leaves to each sponsor, and I will place another Giving Tree out on the sim that honours the business person we sponsored and the names of the people who helped make that happen, as a visual cue to help us see our growth and progress, and as a thank you to the people who helped make it happen.

Why Kiva?

[http://www.kiva.org ] I believe that a hand up is better than a handout, and that it needs to be both transparent and accountable. I believe that planting many seeds of uplift in small and meaningful ways helps people become self-sustaining and strengthens both the economic and social fabric of communities. Micro-lending is the most direct and personal form of uplift and has the capacity for constant renewal. When I sponsor someone through Kiva, the money that I invest in them is repaid over time. This money becomes available to me again as credit that I can reinvest into someone else. This feels like a wonderful way to “do something” because it is a constantly self-renewing form of help. It’s also important to me that when I invite friends and customers to participate in the projects that there is both accountability and transparency. I want them to see that the money they

spend on the Giving Tree leaves goes directly into the person that I am investing in myself. Kiva allows me to find credible investment opportunities, and to show who I have invested in.

About Kiva

[http://www.kiva.org/about] We Let You Loan to the Working Poor Kiva’s mission is to connect people through lending for the sake of alleviating poverty. Kiva is the world’s first person-to-person micro-lending website, empowering individuals to lend directly to unique entrepreneurs in the developing world. The people you see on Kiva’s site are real individuals in need of funding – not marketing material. When you browse entrepreneurs’ profiles on the site, choose someone to lend to, and then make a loan, you are helping a real person make great strides towards economic independence and improve life for themselves, their family, and their community. Throughout the course of the loan (usually 6-12 months), you can receive email journal updates and track repayments. Then, when you get your loan money back, you can relend to someone else in need. Kiva partners with existing expert microfinance institutions. In doing so, we gain access to outstanding entrepreneurs from impoverished communities world-wide. Our partners are experts in choosing qualified entrepreneurs. That said, they are usually short on funds. Through Kiva, our partners upload their entrepreneur profiles directly to the site so you can lend to them. When you do, not only do you get a unique experience connecting to a specific entrepreneur on the other side of the planet, but our microfinance partners can do more of what they do, more efficiently. Kiva provides a data-rich, transparent lending platform. We are constantly working to make the system more transparent to show how money flows throughout the entire cycle, and what effect it has on the people and institutions lending it, borrowing it, and managing it along the way. To do this, we are using the power of the internet to facilitate one-to-one connections that were previously prohibitively expensive. Child sponsorship has always been a high overhead business. Kiva creates a similar interpersonal connection at much lower costs due to the instant, inexpensive nature of internet delivery. The individuals featured on our website are real people who need a loan and are waiting for socially-minded individuals like you to lend them money. E

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Prim Perfect • June 2008

CH A R I T Y N E W S

NonProfit Commons Expands! by Coughran Mayo A mixed-reality event with streaming video of a live real life panel at the recent NetSquared conference in San Diego was the kick-off for a day of festivities as the NonProfit Commons group celebrated the opening of its second full sim in the Second Life world. The new island, Aloft NonProfit Commons [http://slurl.com/secondlife/ Aloft%20Nonprofit%20Commons/98/68/24] is up and running, part of the archipelago that includes The Justice Commons, International Island, Public Diplomacy Island, Annenberg Island and Network Culture. The new sim became available when one of the original NPC tenants, Taking IT Global, won

the Starwood Hotels contest, in which Starwood donated the island which they had used to build their Aloft Hotel example for market research. TIG then came to TechSoup (the group that manages the original NPC sim, known officially as Plush NonProfit Commons [http://slurl.com/secondlife/ Plush%20Nonprofit%20Commons/128/176/26]) for assistance in developing the new island. On May 28, Aloft NonProfit Commons was ready to be unveiled. In San Jose, CA – and in real life – the NetSquared Conference was going strong. About fifty of the NetSquared attendees gathered in a room at the Cisco Systems expo center

Prim Perfect • June 2008 to listen to the “real” people behind several of the avatars who have been developing non-profit offices at the two NPC sites. Kali Idziak (Community Voicemail), Ozma Malibu (Floaters), Coughran Mayo (Preferred Family Healthcare), Jani Myriam (Transgender Resource Center), and Rik Reil (Global Kids/Yahoodie) each in turn spoke about the value that involvement in Second Life and particularly at the NonProfit Commons has brought to them and their organisations. Longtime stalwart NPCer In Kenzo kept things on track by moderating the session. In the meantime, over at

Aloft NonProfit Commons, their avatars gathered around a presentation table in the amphitheatre, and along with a few dozen more AVs in the bleachers, watched the video stream as it played in Second Life. Many of the onlookers were delighted to get to see in real life some of their longtime friends and collaborators whom they had previously only known in avatar form. The Netsquared audience in turn was given a lot to think about by the very thoughtful presentations of the real life presenters. After the mixed-reality event was finished, avatars got down to the serious business of fun

Prim Perfect • June 2008 at Aloft! An entire day of dancing, music, tours, and free gifts awaited the dozens of visitors who arrived off and on over the next several hours. Rumour has it that at one point there were 75 avatars present, and the shoulder-to-shoulder dancing lends credence to this tale. Outstanding musical performances were presented by the likes of folk guitarist Cylindrian Rutabaga, guitar virtuoso Lonnie Nightfire, the incomparable blues singer Noma Falta, ever-funky Thumper Boucher, the scintillating singer/songwriter MichelleD Ecksol, guitarist and singer Freestar Tammas, real life recording artist and Second Life star Louis Volare, and folk/ jazz vocalist Vienna James. In between dancing, and enjoying the music, a variety of fun activities that are a regular part of Aloft life were available, including skydiving, hang gliding, canoeing, swimming, underwater soccer, and more. Visitors walked about the island, and compliments on the buildings and the beautiful landscaping were commonplace. The thirty-five Aloft tenants showed off their spiffy new offices, each having filled their space with interesting and infor-

mative posters, videos, slide shows and displays. As a bonus, every tenant had at least one giveaway so the enterprising (and inquisitive) visitor could walk away with quite a bit of “swag”! The Aloft tenants, by the way, are a mix of groups originally at Plush along with a lot of brand-new tenants, so there is a good mix of experienced groups, with the pot sweetened by the energy and fresh ideas of newcomers. In addition, the movement of a few “veterans” from Plush NonProfit Commons has opened up some additional office space on that sim, which is rapidly being filled by non-profits from the NPC waiting list. Non-profit groups are truly becoming a force to be reckoned with in Second Life, and the NPC is definitely a premier place (now places) for a non-profit to make a home! With a fabulous fireworks show at the end of the evening, everyone involved agreed that this had been a singular event. Congrats to NPC, TechSoup, and all of the hard-working tenants and supporters who made this a truly successful launch. Aloft NonProfit Commons is officially open, so if you missed the big event, come visit soon. E

Prim Perfect â&#x20AC;˘ June 2008

SIM O F T H E M O N T H

Everything New Is Old Again at Rustica by Simeon Beresford and Kghia Gherardi

SAIL WEST FROM ARCANA NUEVO AND YOU WILL find the new regions of Rustica and LagNmoor. If you avoid the pirate ships and man-eating sharks along the way, you will discover Maxwell Grafâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new home for his furniture store, Rustica. Join me for a tour of this incredible new build.

If you choose to teleport to Rustica rather than trust the waters, you will arrive in a small courtyard. On your first visit, I suggest you resist the urge to rush down the grand staircase into the store. Instead, fly up to look at this build from above. You will be rewarded by

Prim Perfect • June 2008 fairyland scenery. Rugged outcroppings and pine forests hold up the many-faceted jewel of Rustica - a whimsical castle created from Maxwell’s imagination. Fiery beacons, parapets presenting dramatic views, illuminated clock faces, and delicate bridges invite you to explore. And above all, there is the attention to detail that has always marked Max’s work, but taken to the grand scale you have always wanted to see.

Pause to look at the weathered copper and crumbling facades, which mix well with the modern features you’d expect to find in any converted castle. It gives the impression that it has been converted and rebuilt to meet the demands of its inhabitants at different times and with different needs. Fortification, theatre, command post, rich man’s playground, furniture store ... It is a living, breathing, and evolving building. Land anywhere and pick a door. Wander through. Eventually, you will come across Maxwell’s lush furniture offerings. At last they have been given the location they deserve. The setting is as romantic and grand as the furniture itself. Whether you enter through the narrow sally port, by a secret passageway, or by descending the grand staircase at the entrance, there will be a detail to catch your eye. Monkish vaults, arrow slits, a theatre with the sea as the backdrop and unexpected garden nooks will greet you around every

RUSTICA MAY BE MAXWELL GRAF’S DREAM, BUT HE has not been dreaming alone. At his side, listening and encouraging him, is the charming Lyyric Fei. Maxwell calls Lyyric his “muse”, and while that role is vital to an artist, she also has a less ethereal role in their partnership: She skillfully handles the customer relations side of the business, helping Rustica to grow in her own way. Enter the Rustica castle and you will often hear a greeting and an offer of assistance from Lyyric. Because of automated vendors, stores in the Second Life world do not require attendants; having the human element that Lyyric provides adds a level of warmth to Rustica’s atmosphere. She enjoys wandering the store with customers and helping them to see how Rustica’s creations will make their Second Life space, in her words, “more perfect”. With the expansion of the business, Lyyric has taken over more of the daily operations. She handles the “how do I” and the transaction questions, freeing up Maxwell so he can focus on creating. Both seem pleased with this division of labour. Lyyric discovered Second Life in 2006 when a friend from another online game introduced her. The community, the content, and the visuals captured her. Like many of us, she feels her second life is what she’d like her real life to be. When she met Maxwell in April 2007, Second Life became more than a game to her. In her words, she “met the human inside”, which in turn changed how she perceives others and how she bonds with them. Connecting with people is very important to her – which is why she is so good at making people comfortable at Rustica. Lyyric also wants to contribute to the “wonder and dream effect” of the Rustica experience. Maxwell has infected her with a desire to create furniture. She struggles to master the artistic vision – and the prims – but she perseveres. She works equally hard at helping Rustica grow and evolve, looking for new ways to showcase the store, improve sales, and share Maxwell’s creations with Second Life. Lyyric’s vision for Rustica is as strong as Maxwell’s. When I asked Lyyric what she’d like people to know about her, she replied, “I believe in Dreams ... I think with my heart ... I believe in the universal balance of all things – and laughter is the most important part of everyone’s day ;)).” Rustica is the product of both Maxwell’s and Lyyric’s dreams, and they have been very generous to share it. E

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corner. “Trees. Rocks. Waterfalls. Grass. There is a canyon under the store, tunnels all over, secret doors”, Maxwell remarks. “Things a proper castle should have, you know?” These details mark this build as Maxwell’s as much as the architecture: A face carved in stone, the patina on copper railings, the etching in the shades over the ceiling lights. Look, for example, at the detail on the stream the gushes forth to form a waterfall. See how the water emerges dirty with soil, the sediment falling out as it tumbles down, so by the time it has plunged over its many falls, the water is fresh, pure, and clean. Deliberate details are everywhere. The build also demonstrates the humour and wit you are accustomed to in Maxwell’s furniture. A swim through the water gate that divides the castle reveals tangles of seaweed, schools of fish, an octopus and other surprises. Secret doorways have been added for tinies. Pose balls can trap you in abandoned storage boxes supported by pulleys and hanging by a thread storeys above the water. A cannon fires on the bridge between LagNmoor and Arcana Nuevo. Rustica is as much fantasy-lovers’ playground as it is a modern gothic castle. The build’s colour palette is both artistic and deliberate. “After all the snow on the mainland sim”, Maxwell explains, “I wanted the overall palette here to be very earthy - greens, rich browns, dark reds. Warm. That naturally led to having it look organic. Cracks, rocks, things breaking

down”. And Maxwell has succeeded magnificently. The sim exudes the warm, earthy appearance of a middle European summer. Is this castle on the Rhine or further north among the pines and spruces of Scandinavia? Who knows? But the stony soil puts forth greenery in abundance, and the rain has aged these walls. No flat, cardboard cutout, this, but something that has seen and weathered the worst the centuries can throw at it. And survived for the most part. We know that it is in good hands, that the owners in their never-ceasing battle against time will restore it. And they will take the opportunity to improve it, add a feature, and make it a bit more modern with the addition of a generator or an elevator. Maxwell has created the illusion that as it has moved through the centuries, the castle has always moved forward, never back. Oh, just go see it. You won’t regret it. E

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Prim Perfect • June 2008

INT E RV I E W

Maker of Magic: Maxwell Graf by Kghia Gherardi MAXWELL GRAF IS AN ARTIST – AND IN THE SECOND Life world, he has found a perfect canvas for creating his lush, inviting furniture. His work combines detailed realism with a willingness to embrace the possibilities provided by a virtual world. As a result, his store, Rustica, is strewn with couches, chairs, tables and beds that are sophisticated, whimsical, and inviting. Maxwell is pure energy, a bit larger than life, and he is gregarious with a personality that suits the swashbuckler apparel he often wears. Talk to him for even a few minutes and you will discover he is passionate about virtual worlds, both as a creative environment and as a place to grow a business. Like many driven artists, he has a clear vision of what he wants to create with Rustica. He is planning for two or three years down the road, not simply the next few months. This type of long-term planning stands out in the often temporary, constantly changing virtual reality. Maxwell began building Rustica almost from the moment he joined Second Life in October 2006. Within a week of arriving, he was working on a castle in LagNmoor on the mainland. The castle served as a workshop, a gathering place for friends, and eventually as the store. As the furniture became more popular, the lag and performance issues of the mainland started to take their toll. At the end of May, Rustica opened its doors at a

new location on its own sim. Maxwell designed the environment at Rustica to evoke a specific response. It starts with the name of the store. He chose Rustica because he “wanted it to say not only something about the items there, but to suggest a particular aesthetic – something old, familiar, well worn – and in doing so evoke a comfort level that I feel should exist in a piece of furniture”. When he is designing furniture, Maxwell wants the same sense of comfort. “I want to think of setting my ass down in that chair before I even get home, you know? I know that chair. You know that couch or chair; it was in your Grandfather’s study, or in your mom’s front room, or in the sunny corner of that great lake house. It’s a memory of the feeling of it, both tactile and emotional, that I wanted to capture somehow. If I could, I wanted it to exist throughout the store”. A vision this intentional doesn’t just happen.

Maxwell has put “an obsessive lifetime’s worth of research into it”. He loves “ancient things, antiques, castles”. Beyond this fascination, he

Prim Perfect • June 2008 studied furniture and dealt antiques for years. His hands-on experience, making cabinets and tables in his workshops, comes through in the crafting of his virtual builds. Virtual worlds obviously do not provide centuries of craftsmanship to learn from, and most of the work is experimental until Maxwell figures out a methodology; the platform

also can add its own complexities to the creation process. Nevertheless Maxwell prefers building in Second Life. “It is so much nicer to make furniture here. I can execute designs quickly, without killing any trees or making a mess”. The move from mainland to island is simply the next step for Max. He anticipates expanding Rustica beyond Second Life. “Generally, I’m positioning myself and preparing to expand into the OpenSims grids, first to get this build to repeated outside of SL, then transitioning gradually into web-based sale for residents of OpenSims. I could perhaps leave Second Life altogether if the masses decide to go to [OpenSims]”. As someone who sees the growth of virtual worlds continuing, Maxwell states, “I think content developers need to be the first wave, after the groundbreakers and research scientists, of course”. Until he is ready to make the transition to the OpenSims, Maxwell has plenty to do. He plans to finish existing furniture sets that were delayed while he built the new sim. Then there are the prefabs he wants to create. Further work on the new sim. More furniture. With his palette of sculpties and textures, we can expect more of Maxwell’s beautiful creations for years to come. E

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Prim Perfect • June 2008

SIM O F T H E M O N T H

Uniting the Elements by Saffia Widdershins

LIKE A POLISHED JEWEL SHINING IN AN AZURE SEA, the island of Elements in Design has an impressive and original beauty that can be appreciated from a distance or close up, as the visitor revels in the complexity of the work, from the lofty pearly towers that jut up to the clouds to the tiny and delicately intricate prims that make up the glorious jewellery on sale in the store.

it. As the creator, Gwen Carillon, explains, it is about looking at the world ‘wholistically’ (more, even, than holistically) ... and not in segments. Thus, this stunningly beautiful build draws together different elements of Gwen’s work, in one stunning build that draws on her love of opalescent materials, building up the effects of the elements, united by the Spirit that drives the place.

The island draws together different aspects of the artist Gwen Carillon’s work: Elements in Design houses, Elements Furniture & Home, Elemental Muse Jewelry, Dreamscapes Gallery of Art and The Crosstime Pub. But Elements in Design [http://slurl.com/secondlife/Elements%20In%20Design/145/129/29] is not like your usual store (or mall, even), or like your usual sim – and the clue to that lies in the name. The Sim’s focus is on the unification of the Five Elements: Earth, Air Fire, Water and Spir-

“We are part of the world – the Elements – not separate from them”, explains Gwen. “And the Elements are part of us”. Gwen’s challenge was how to best represent easily the concept of conveying the unity of Elements joined by Spirit. “That was the most exciting, yet quite possibly the most daunting aspect!” she admits. To start with, she took aerial photos of her sim and together with her assistant Aisling Siclair, she brainstormed a plan, using prims to map out areas.

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“Aisling was my right hand through the entire process”, Gwen says. “I also owe thanks to Yankee Lockjaw for all the scripting, support and other things that needed to be done. Moon Adamant came up with the idea for the elevator design”. As for the stunning textures and colours, those were already in Gwen’s head as she conceived the build. “All I had to do was to rezz them!” she says, making it sound rather easier than we suspect it was! She confesses cheerfully to being a prim addict. “If I’d had unlimited prims, I would have layers of tortured (till they screamed) prims detailing everything! I would have rivets and nails and dowels and ... and ...” She breaks off, laughing. “I would be swimming in primminess”, she adds simply.

But for Gwen, the most important aspect of the new build was that it should feel alive, and she has certainly achieved this in the diversity of elements drawn together in the build, as you will see whether you are on the perimeter of the sim, taking a stroll around the upper walkways, or standing in the centre, looking around at the terrific displays. The art gallery is, perhaps, the most stupendous area, with a display of Gwen’s vibrantly realised kinetic creations. But this harmonises beautifully with the other work on display around the store – whether the delicate jewellery or the large pieces of furniture. But, of course, one of the most characteristic areas of Gwen’s work is the use of crystal. This shows in the build

– in the towers, in the pathways and in the fantastically dizzying staircase! But there is also the range of furniture that stretches the boundaries of possibility – her crystal pieces. Some are harsh and angular, like the dining room set, yet with comfortable poses for any avatar who sits in them. Others feature beautifully sensuous curves, like the cupped petals of the special flower chairs. Altogether, it harmonises beautifully. Let’s leave the final comment with Gwen: “I feel that although the new Elements in Design still has a long way to go before I can say it’s complete, it already has its soul. This is the home of my heart.” E

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INT E RV I E W

Creator behind the Content: Gwen Carillon by Saffia Widdershins

JUST AS ELEMENTS IN DESIGN [http://slurl.com/ secondlife/Elements%20In%20Design/145/129/29] is far from being the usual furniture store, so Gwen Carillon, its owner and creator, is far from being an average content creator. There is a passion that underlies everything she does – whether it is creating some of the most striking and lovely pieces in the Second Life environment, or in creating her jewellery or pieces for her gallery, or dj-ing in her own pub, or in her work, as a leading member of the Content Creators Association, in ensuring that the issue of IP theft is addressed with the urgency and importance that it needs. But it took a long time before Gwen actually entered Second Life. She first heard of Second Life back in 2004 from her real life friend Robin (Wood) Sojourner but it was two years before Robin was able to, in Gwen’s words, “drag me” into Second Life. She finally gave it a try in May of 2006 and was unable to believe she had waited so long to get here! It was not long, however, before Gwen turned her thoughts to creation. In real life she is an artist (although she admits she hates calling herself that!) and professional jewellery designer, with photography as a passionate hobby. Thus, when she came to Second Life, she was already creating art and jewellery in real

life, and it seemed natural to her that the first thing she did on coming onto the grid was to build. It was not long before she opened the first Elements in Design in August of 2006. However, she has few fond memories of some of her early builds! “The first thing I built was a lounge that still sells”, she explains. “But the second was a very ugly couch. That’s hidden away in my inventory. The funny thing is ... that ugly couch seems to be the one thing that the Second Life asset server never seems to want to lose!” Over the last two years, she believes that her skills in designing for Second Life have improved. “I think that becoming more versed in Photoshop has helped tremendously”, she says thoughtfully. “I seem to be getting more and more into detailed work and I’ve played around with some more con-

Prim Perfect • June 2008 receiving the Best in Second Life Award for her interactive sculpture, “Rebirth” at the Tech Museum of Innovation, San Jose, California [http://www.thetech.org/] on June 4, 2008. Phillip (Rosedale) Linden was present to support the opening of the new exhibit “The Tech Virtual”. Philip had left the event, but came back because he had mislaid his bag. “Let me help”, offered Gwen. “Now, have you tried clearing your cache, logging

temporary designs. Mostly I get my fantasy fix in my sculpture so I can do some real lifelooking furniture without going through fantasy withdrawal. As for building? The more you build the better your builds get”. The source of her beautiful designs lies within Gwen herself, and she finds great satisfaction in seeing a build that existed only in her mind becoming realised and, indeed, rezzed. “My builds are a part of me”, she says. “I see the builds in my head and translate them in my head to prims. I don’t do much research. In fact I avoid it. I don’t like other images crowding out and confusing what I see in my mind. I prefer to follow what my mind sees”. But as well as the act of creation, Gwen feels passionately about protecting that creation – for all creators. She was instrumental in the foundation of the Content Creators Association after her textures were stolen in December 2007. “After talking with Arwen Eusebio, it became clear that content creators needed more support, so we founded Content Creators Association on January 1, 2008”, she says. “The Content Creators Association (or CCA) is focused on providing information on both legal links and practical recourse, to all creators of original content, as well as giving support and a sense of community”. At the same time the Association endeavours to help raise community awareness on the issues of Intellectual Property theft and rights. “From my perspective, I wanted some good to come from my bad experience”, Gwen explains. “I didn’t want other creators to have to go it alone. I had help, so I’m paying it forward”. But Gwen’s life is not all serious work – and an important part of her store is The Crosstime Pub, where Gwen enjoys dj-ing for her friends. And her sense of fun was to the fore when she met Philip Linden recently, when she was

out and then back in? Tell you what – let’s do a roll back!” E

Gwen and Philip - taken after the round table discussion at the Tech Museum of Innovation, San Jose, California on June 4, 2008. Philip, being a creator himself, is a staunch supporter of creative content. Gwen spoke with Philip on the topic of Intellectual Property Rights. He assured Gwen that Linden Labs would look further into these issues, learn more about the Content Creators Association and how to best to support content creators’ IP rights. As a side note, Gwen said she didn’t drool over the handsome Philip Linden, but she wanted to.

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SIM O F T H E M O N T H

Life on the Ocean Wave a Year On by Saffia Widdershins

ONE YEAR AGO, WE VISITED THE THREE SIM-LONG cruise liner, the Galaxy, at the time of its launch ... and we were bowled over by what we saw! The SS Galaxy [http://slurl.com/secondlife/Galaxy%20AFT/ 60/44/22], is the only full-size, full-scale, and full-featured virtual cruise ship in Second Life. Anchored in the Sagittaria Estate, the SS Galaxy spans three sims with more than eight decks of fun and entertainment. Proudly carrying on the tradition of luxurious, glorious, and sophisticated floating palaces of the world, the SS Galaxy offers an array of amenities and activities on board, and a variety of staterooms and suites to choose from. She is the largest single build project in Second Life, and the longest in measurement anywhere at 650 metres. The Galaxy was sim of the month in our June edition in 2007 and now, a year on, weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll be returning to join in the celebrations!

Prim Perfect • June 2008 On the weekend of July 21-22, there will be two days full of fun and activities on board the ship that can truly claim to be one of the most amazing attractions in Second Life. Day One will be open to VIP ticket holders and Galaxy cruise residents only, with a Black and Gold Gala (VIP ticket holders only) featuring the Paisley Beebe Jazz Trio and Louis Volare in concert. Day Two is open access to allow everyone to enjoy the Galaxy cruise experience. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to Relay for Life [http://www.rflofsl.org/] and Project Children [http://www.irelandsl.org/ south-texas-celtic-music-assn/project-children/] charities. More recently, the Galaxy has been the subject of a Meta Makeover programme [http://slcn.tv/meta-makeover-bill-stirling] in which Zandi Moe of Organized Confusion [http://slurl.com/secondlife/Zandis%20Folly/138/57/28] made over a VIP cabin. And we visited some of the amazing facilities on the ship, such as the leisure centre and the Japanese restaurant.

Once again, as last year, it’s the breathtaking attention to detail that is so very appealing – whether it is the amazingly detailed plates of sushi created by Satu Moreau, or the meals set out in the main restaurant, or even the yoga towels set out for the regular exercise on the foredeck. Apart from the breathtaking build, it is the staff that makes the experience so special, as they organise events to build on the real experience of being on a cruise ship – whether helicopter trips, the balls and dances in the Zodiac ballroom, the pool parties, the sky diving or the skeet shooting. Bella LaSalle, the Director of Staffing & Hospitality, agrees. “I think the greatest thing about the Galaxy is the variety of amenities

Prim Perfect • June 2008 and activities. Each sim has a main area for events, all with a different feel”. The other strength, she feels, is the team. “We have a great team of dedicated staff onboard who enjoy making guests feel welcome and entertained”. Bella herself has been with the ship since the beginning, as has her Second Life husband and Head of Security, Arkady Yost. “We were involved since before building began in February 2006”, Bella says. “My husband and I were the first couple to wed onboard in the Chapel and it was an awesome experience”. Having been involved since the beginning gives Bella a unique perspective on the Galaxy’s strengths. “I’d have to say I’m most proud of my colleagues and staff”, she says. “We have had a lot of people come and go, and being one of the original few still remaining it’s great to see people come and stay and really grow and become family. They have all put so much into it and I’m really proud of all of them and the way we represent the ship”.

But it is not just the crew who make the Galaxy what it is. The residents too build the sense of community, as Arkady explains. “I am impressed by how helpful guests and residents of the ship have been. When we’re working, or in some cases, when I’m dealing with a griefer, the residents themselves also look out for one another. It’s a great sense of community pride”. But as well as having a regular group of residents the Galaxy has, a little to Bill Stirling’s surprise, become a holiday destination within Second Life itself. Couples come not just to be married in the chapel but – having been married

elsewhere – they come for a honeymoon cruise. Or maybe they will choose to celebrate a rezzday, a birthday or an anniversary with a short Second Life cruise. “We weren’t expecting this”, say Bill, “but it has been one of the most interesting developments over the year – that we have become perceived as a real cruise ship, offering short breaks”. But, of course, the Galaxy is more than that. Arkady sums it up: “The Galaxy is historic, in terms of Second Life and in general, virtual worlds. We have the biggest cruiseship in SL history. We could have settled for that. But the staff are fantastic, and the guests are too. It breathes so much life into the ship. We’re always updating activities, adding new things here and there. It’s an ever evolving process”. And long may it evolve – so that we can come back and see the Galaxy in another year! E

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Prim Perfect • June 2008

INT E RV I E W

Master of the High Seas: Bill Stirling by Saffia Widdershins One year ago, we interviewed Bill Stirling, creator of the Galaxy, just as he prepared to launch his fabulous three-sim cruise liner. Now, as he – and we – prepare to celebrate the Galaxy’s first anniversary, we caught up with him again. Bill first became involved in the Second Life world way back in 2004. An interior designer in real life, he quickly saw the possibilities of Second Life for creating 3D models of real-life design projects and even, a few times, for client walkthroughs. His first ventures in Second Life, however, were not buildings or interior design, but airships, which he explored through the SL Zeppelin Co. He started to sell zeppelins of various sizes, based on the opensource flight script. And thus began a fascination with Second Life transportation that moved on from zeppelins to the fabulous monorail system that runs around Sagittaria, and, of course, culminated in the fabulous cruise ship, the Galaxy. His first ventures into transportation were rather less successful, however. “The airship is one of my dreams and fetishes”, he says, a little wistfully. “But I soon found that because I can’t script, I was not a very good aircraft maker.” Instead he turned to more solid, land-based designs. Having built his first Glass Pavilion on his

512 Firstland, his first significant build was a prefab home, commissioned by Lady Stirling. Soon he expanded into creating other prefabs, many of which are still on sale in his store and on SLExchange – as are some of the zeppelins. His first major expansion was the Sagittaria Estates – a nine-sim community of residential islands, linked (unsurprisingly) by a quite phenomenal level of public transportation. The development actually started by chance when Bill acquired the first sim, Nunki Kai, from a client who had to give up his Second Life ventures due to real life. At the same time, Bill was blessed with his first baby boy in real life. “I built the Archer House as a stress reliever while my wife was in labour”, he says. “I helped her too, of course!” Then, in the weeks after the birth, Bill started work on Nunki Kai. Thus, both the Archer House and Sagittaria were named after his baby boy,

Prim Perfect • June 2008 who is a Sagittarius. “I think I may have misspelled the word ‘sagittaria’ though!” Bill admits, laughing. The Sagittaria Estates went from strength to strength – a luxurious residential community with the different islands developing different characters, and with Bill developing a variety of buildings within them – such as the Nunik Kai Club House and Lloyd’s Tavern on Al Nasl. “I built throughout 2006”, says Bill. “People really enjoyed the environments there – the downside was that I was not able to build fast enough to meet all the demands.” A large build that dates from this time is the Polis Observatory. Originally conceived as a ballroom, when the client pulled out, Bill decided to change its function radically, and installed a telescope (designed by Szabo Horn) and worked on a mechanism to open the roof to the night skies. On this project, Bill worked with Satu Moreau as the texture artist. She extracted the stone and details texture from the real life Arc de Triomphe in Paris. This is an ongoing working relationship – currently Satu is the sushi chef on the Galaxy, and has designed all kinds of sushi dishes for the Galaxy’s Japanese restaurant. We encountered her there recently, in fact,

when we recorded an episode of Meta Makeover. The episode is worth seeing for that alone – for Satu’s avatar is a six-foot-high octopus, waving a nasty-looking meat cleaver and bestrewn with sticking plasters. “Most of the staff have been here a long time”, says Bill, “but you can be sure that every time Satu comes aboard, there will be a new staff

member on the desk, zealously determined to reenforce our strict ‘no weapons’ policy. And Satu will have to explain that she’s the sushi chef!” The Galaxy was born as an idea two or three years ago. Bill’s goal was to create a realistic ocean liner with all its amenities and attractions. He saw that operating a cruise ship would be like running a hotel, mall, and nightclub all added together, and that organising the crew and staff

Prim Perfect • June 2008

would draw upon all his real life skills, experiences, and resources. One year on, although there have been some departures and replacements, overall the staff have remained the same – a tribute, perhaps, to Bill’s skills. Not only that – but the Galaxy itself is clearly flourishing as an institution. But that does not mean that the Galaxy today is where Bill would have expected a year ago. Indeed, he laughs aloud at the thought. “The Galaxy turned out to be much more than I had expected”, he says, “both in terms of the build and her operations. With three sims of entertainment and residential structures, the build constantly requires adjustment and updates to meet Second Life’s market demand. And operating the ship like a real cruise [ship] has proven to be a serious task, even with our wonderful and dedicated team of directors, managers, and staff. But with one year in service, I think we are getting close to have the ship in trim, in a way of speaking.” The greatest success of the Galaxy, Bill feels, is the near-real cruise experience they have created. Bill explains, “Our residents and visitors constantly tell us how realistic the Galaxy is, comparing it to a real cruise ship. We have even got a real life cruise agency (Cruise Planners) as one of our sponsors because they and us believe the Galaxy is a great

marketing tool to introduce people to a real life cruise vacation, or to remind those who have been on a real life cruise how wonderful it was, as many of our guests have told us.” Bill is delighted with the overwhelming positive feedback from guests. As an environmental creator, knowing people enjoy the Galaxy is truly priceless to him. And he believes that most of the Galaxy’s staff would say the same. Bill still has dreams for the future – and these are ambitious! One of the innovations of 2008 has been the cruises the Galaxy has undertaken, so that each month they ‘dock’ next to a different sim with a strong regional or cultural identity: Ireland, Mexico, Scotland, and Switzerland (presumably the ship was mysteriously transplanted to Lake Geneva or Lake Constance). “We are always looking for interesting places to port with”, says Bill, “to bring our community to them. But in our experience, we need to find locations that [are] well organized and represented in SL. We share the port location’s events and activities with our own community, and these process requires planning and coordination. It’s not much fun if we just visit a static sim without much to do for our passengers!” And in the future, if they have the money, Bills plans are even more ambitious. “We would like to see the Galaxy actually move in SL!” he explains. “What I mean by that is to relocate the 3 sims physically and dock with visiting locations each month, extending our current ‘port of call’ concept to a even more realistic level. Residents of our suites and staterooms can wake up next morning and find themselves, and the ship, docked at a different location to visit. True you could just teleport from one place to another, but what’s the fun in that?” But as well as the excitement of new plans, Bill remains proud of what has been achieved – and of the people who made it possible. “I am most proud and appreciative to the team and staff of the Galaxy”, he says. “Building something of this scale is one thing but operating her is another story. The team really does a first class job to make the ship into a truly special experience for all those who visit and stay. Without them, the Galaxy would be just another empty monument of a dream. The efforts of our team and staff turned the Galaxy into a living community that is beyond my original vision. Galaxy team, if you are reading this, thank you.” E

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Prim Perfect • June 2008

SPE C I A L F E AT U R E

Creativity without Limits by Jvstin Tomorrow

FAR TOO MANY FURNITURE STORES SEEM TO SUBSCRIBE to the “if I can rez a cube, then I can sell modern furniture” school of thought. I’m sure all our readers can recall owning at least one chair with corners so sharp they would bruise your avatar if you sat down on it. Thankfully, designers (and the technology) have been steadily improving, giving us the beautiful creations that regularly grace the pages of Prim Perfect. However, truly beautiful contemporary design takes a special amount of skill. Since the lines are often simple and decoration kept to a minimum, flawless proportions, superb textures and an organic sense of style are the subtle factors that distinguish a truly excellent piece. Among those with real talent for modern design are Prad Prathivi and his partner, Rrishanna Regina, of PRrim Designs. Prad and Rrishanna have recently launched a new store on Southsea [http://slurl.com/secon-

dlife/Southsea/153/84/25] that creates a clean and elegant space where their furnishings can truly stand out. The very sleek styling meshes well with its function as a retail store, offering easy movement and intriguing lines of sight from one section to the next. In recognition of its excellence, the new PRrim Designs location has been nominated for the “Best Shopping Sim” competition sponsored by Paisley Beebe’s “Tonight Live” show on SLCN-TV. Unlike many creators in the Second Life world, Prad is not an independent entrepreneur. From the beginning, his partnership with Rrishanna has been a fruitful one. Prad is a real life architect, so of course his background in design and familiarity with such designers as Alvar Aalto, Santiago Calatrava, and Frank Lloyd Wright has enriched his in-world creations. Rrishanna, on the other hand, discovered her design gifts for the first time in Second Life. Now, her innate taste

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and talent in furnishings and decorating complement the larger-scale architecture that is Prad’s natural habitat. Between the two of them, they produce a surprisingly prolific stream of creative products, especially considering that Second Life is not a full-time commitment for either. To see the full range of the PRrim Designs style sense, though, it is helpful to take a look at their home on Matanzas [http://slurl.com/ secondlife/Matanzas/76/26/37]. Unlike the cool straight edges of their retail location, their home (though no less contemporary) features warm wood, curves, water, and plants. Prad is clearly a designer who doesn’t let a single motif control his thoughts. Each piece is thought out and chosen to be in harmony with the needs of the people who will use it. His home, Prad says, was a turning point for him. “I started to break the mold when I designed this house. It was a new experiment - something bold and organic. Since

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then, my builds have become a lot more creative and flowing”. Prad hints that there may be more in store. “We’re going to develop our ranges of prefab homes in the near future ... For the longer term, we have more traditional furniture and homes in

our sights, as well as expanding into botanicals, marine, and looking at animations and poses. We hope to provide a shopping experience that provides the very best in SL, all in one place”. A tall order, but a very good start. Prim Perfect is looking forward to whatever comes next. E

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Prim Perfect • June 2008

STA R C O M P E T I T I O N

Win a Complete Set of Furniture! THIS ISSUE WE HAVE TWO STAR PRIZES! You can win a complete set of furniture by one of our two star designers of the month - Maxwell Graf or Gwen Carillon. One lucky reader will win a complete set of Maxwell’s fabulous Cafe du Blonde collection, which is a bit more contemporary than his other items. It is made in maple with a honey blond finish, accented with nickel legs and granite tops. It is done in a style that suggests hints of art deco and art nouveau and

can transition well with a variety of interiors. The other lucky reader will choose from the full range at Gwen Carillon’s Elements of Design store. Will you go for Gwen’s strikingly beautiful realistic work, or will you indulge in her stunning crystal collections? Now that you’ve read all about our designers and their fabulous new sims, Prim Perfect is delighted to be able to offer the star prizes, courtesy of Maxwell Graf and Gwen Carillon!

Gwen Carillon

Maxwell Graff

Prim Perfect • June 2008

How do I enter? You need to answer the three questions below. All the answers are somewhere in the magazine - so read it carefully and you will find the answers you need! 1. What famous sim (already featured in Prim Perfect last year) is located next to Maxwell Graf’s new sims Rustica and LagNmoor? 2. Gwen Carillon draws together five different elements to create her new sim, Elements of Design. Four of them are Earth, Air Fire and Water. What is the fifth element? 3. Who is the Ward of the Etheric Travelling Cabinet (our Readers’ Home of the Month)?

Then send your answers to primperfect@ gmail.com - together with a completion of this sentence (in not more than 15 words)... “I always read Prim Perfect because…” Mark your email subject as: Star Competition – June/July 2008. Include in the email the name of your avatar. Do NOT IM or notecard anyone connected with the magazine. The winner will be the person who answers all the questions correctly and also supplies the best tie-breaker sentence, in the opinion of the editorial team. There is NO cash alternative.

Closing date: 20th July 2008

Prim Perfect • June 2008

PRI M P E R F E C T Q U I Z

Anniversaries in Second Life by MoodyLoner Korobase

WELL, WE’VE JUST CELEBRATED PRIM PERFECT’S rezz day, and the Galaxy’s anniversary is coming up, and the Second Life world itself will be celebrating five years, so naturally we turn this month to the subject of celebrations and anniversaries. We’ll go through some questions and see if we can figure how important your Second Life is to you, compared to your real life.

2. For my real life birthday, I a. had a party with cake and ice cream and presents, just like a Hallmark card. b. had a get-together with a few friends. c. don’t celebrate birthdays or didn’t do anything. d. took over a club and had a party. With presents. In Second Life.

1. For my rezz day, I a. haven’t had one yet or didn’t do anything. b. had a get-together with some Second Life friends. c. took over a club and had a party. With presents. d. took over a club and had a party. With presents. In real life.

3. I save my biggest celebration every year for a. my spouse’s birthday or our anniversary. b. my birthday. c. my rezz day. d. Second Life’s anniversary.

Prim Perfect • June 2008 4. I celebrate a. more birthdays and anniversaries in real life than in Second Life. b. about the same number of birthdays and anniversaries in both real life and Second Life. c. more birthdays and anniversaries in Second Life than in real life. d. all birthdays and anniversaries in Second Life, because I don’t know anyone in real life. 5. I know and celebrate a. my friends’ birthdays and anniversaries. b. my friends’ birthdays. c. my friends’ rezz days. d. my friends’ rezz days, and the anniversaries of the day they first left Help Island. 6. I spend time with my family a. every day. b. every weekend. c. every day – they have avatars too. d. With my what? Scoring: 1 for each a, 2 for each b, 3 for each c, and 4 for each d. Add up your scores and consult the table below. 6 to 10: You are grounded in reality. Wellgrounded. A little too well-grounded. Sure, you won’t be in any danger of being called “that weirdo who’s always playing Second Life”, but your Second Life friends (assuming you have any) all call you “Ol’ Whatstheirface”. Come on inworld. We’re having a party. You’re invited. 11 to 15: Like many of us, you have an active social life, yet you maintain a balance with Second Life and you’re active in the community in-world as well. You must send me an IM and let me know how you do it. 16 to 19: Now you approach the stereotypical Second Lifer. You may hear the occasional comment about balance and food and pants, but on the whole you’re able to function in society and function in Second Life. 20 to 24: You are a pillar of the Second Life community. Very much so. A little too much so. Sure, you won’t be in any danger of being called “that loser n00b”, but your real life family and friends (assuming you have any) all call you “Ol’ Whatstheirface”. Log off and come outside and play. We’re having a party. You’re invited. E

Prim Perfect • June 2008

RE A D E R S ’ H O M E O F T H E M ONTH

The Etheric Traveling Cabinet by M0llie Dench

YOU ARE STANDING, QUITE INNOCENTLY, IN Caledon Victoria City. It is a delightful spot, centrally located for a range of excellent Victorianthemed shops, and the famed Jack and Elaine Whitehorn Memorial Library. And then you hear a strangely familiar rhythmic, muted roar ... with an element of electronic gears grinding ... “But that ... it can’t be ... not here ...” Behind you is an innocuous 1890s police box ... but surely it wasn’t there a moment ago? Step inside ... and suddenly you are transported to one of the most remarkable homes in the Second Life world. For the telephone box is much, much larger on the inside ... Sound familiar? It may do if you are a fan of Dr Who, where the Doctor’s habitation and mode of transport (the TARDIS) is contained inside a British police telephone box (circa 1960 vintage, though). But this is not exactly the same. For this is not the TARDIS – it’s the Etheric Travelling Cabinet, otherwise known as the ETC – and the property of quite a different Time Lord and his companion. And when I heard it materialise behind me in Caledon Victoria City, I stepped inside the box with a sense of excitement and anticipation. For of all the amazing recreations of all the amazing things that have been recreated in Second Life, I’d heard that this was one of the best. It was my unimaginable privilege to be a guest of none other than the Time Lord himself and his travelling companion and assistant, on my journey

throughout the ETC, complete with a nice hot cuppa Brew of Omega and a personalised and guided tour. Professor Oolon Sputnik and Terry Lightfoot met in Bazzerbill Eccleston’s “Land of Who”, and this roleplay then evolved into that of a Time Lord and his travelling companion/assistant. Given that both of them were Whovians, the next and only step was to take the dream of a working TARDIS and make it happen. Oolon and the builder, Sen Pixie, formulated the basic shell of the

ETC, with a steampunk console and rotor, library, and four adjoining rooms. Oolon takes up the story of how it all came to be, and is quick to credit everyone who had a hand in making the experience – for experience it is, as opposed to a place to go – as rich and satisfying as possible. “Christmas two years ago, my real life spouse

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asked me would I like some property built in Second Life as a kind of a gift. It was a natural progression to go for a TARDIS, but something a bit different from the normal canon Who stuff and suitable for our ongoing role-play which now included many of our friends from Caledon. These are friends who have been influential in the growth of the ETC over the past year or so. They decided to base the core on a skybox formula and combined it with rezzed exterior builds around the grid, with teleports back to the skybox, to give both role play potential and a permanent base to ‘explore’ from. At ‘Land of Who’ I’d seen an advert for Sen Pixie’s ‘working’ TARDISes”. They now have over 30 points in themed sims around the grid on where appears assorted TARDIS exteriors, from the classic Police Box to sarcofigi and Granfather Clocks (some made by Oolon himself). “Sen and I got together and built her (the ETC) together to our role-play specifications including details like The Eye of Harmony, a Zero Room, and basic brief of ‘Jules Verne/Tesla/Steampunk/ Tea & Cake etc.”, explains Oolon. “Sen did the main build and I provided bespoke textures (an ongoing process). The company, ‘Hands of Omega’, run by my good friends Sen and DALEK Drillon, in my opinion produce the finest system for replicating a TV ready and virtually photo real Dr Who experience”.

Sen, in fact, produces a wide ranges of TARDIDes, and her full range can be seen at her premises on Artificial Isle [http://slurl.com/secondlife/Artificial% 20Isle/91/131/22]. The main character in this story is of course not the Professor, nor the assistant, but the ETC herself. Sentient and splendid, Terry and Oolon speak of her affectionately and lavish love, attention, and the finer things in life upon her. The build has an amazing atmosphere to it, where you feel you are instantly at a favourite relative’s home, or pottering about a museum which is just full of nooks and crannies and interesting things to see and do – warm, inviting, and fascinating. Trying to identify a genre for the build is just plain impossible, and really not worth attempting for more than a quick minute. “Naturally”, says Oolon, “the ETC is primarily Steampunk in bent. I’ve been dabbling in Steampunk LRP for about 10 years and my RL wife is a costume designer who draws a lot from the genre. The collected Victoriana has come from all over the grid but mainly our friends in Caledon. “It’s sort of evolved over time, but our overriding intention has always been in the steampunk style”, Terry adds. “A bit of Jules Verne meets Doctor Who. And of course we crashed in Caledon, so there is a strong Victorian influence

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throughout the ETC, although I, as a Sidhe from the 21st century, have my modern influence in some areas of the ETC. Especially in my room of course. And I do like art from all periods so you might find quite a bit of modern art strewn through out, and especially the Gallery and the Park room”. She goes on to explain, “The real beauty here is the ETC’s fun mix of areas, and how they all work off each other. Its inherent eclecticism. Its otherworldliness, and yet familiarity. Terran and Galleyfreyan, Victorian and 21st century. Victorian settees and cushions on the floor with the British flag on them. Funky modern colors, big posters in my room, Victoran wood panelling in contrast. Food machines, navigating doo-das that I have no idea how they work. Time Loooooords rezzing their TARDISES in the pool room unexpectedly. All the pictures around the door of the ETC, memories of our friends in those images, music posters from different eras, the personal feel of our TARDIS. It’s very lived in and personal. It really DOES feel like a home to me. A second home (or playground, if you will) of imaginary characters and adventures that stimulate my creativity and make my RL life feel richer for it. I’ve met people here that may very well be my friends for the rest of my life. And I’m very grateful for all its history”. I couldn’t have put it better myself and decided not to try, though it should be worth noting in passing here that the pool room does not involve billiard balls but one of the lushest and loveliest swimming holes on the grid. The basic build encompassed the Control Room, with the steampunk console and rotor, the bar-lounge, the assistant’s bedroom, originally upstairs, and the Zero room, a place in which Time Lords take time out for meditation and isolation from the universe. However, in the

way of these things, the ETC has changed, evolved and grown. Oolon explains: “Miss Ladybird, a 1930s lounge singer who travels with us from time to time, virtually demanded the pool room. The bar was an early ‘must have’ for her too, and provided a place for Oolon’s previous regeneration to play piano. Miss Kiralette Kelly, our neko Ship’s Cat and former maid (if you count flicking a tail around as dusting) does like a bit of fish, and inspired us to investigate the idea of an aquarium just to make her smile”. The feel is indeed very ‘Jules Verne meets Dr Who’, with a Caledon influence and elements from all over the globe. Or, indeed, grid. I asked Oolon where inspiration came from and how it then translated to the ETC. “Some came direct from Doctor Who canonicity, some didn’t, and ... I think one trip to The Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester was certainly an influence (and defiantly taking a

camera provided the mother lode of texture elements). I’d say our aquarium was inspired by a trip to Sea World in Florida (this was designed by us but filled with the kind assistance of Mr Kaikou Splash at Spash Aquatics [http://slurl.com/secondlife/Gooruembalchi/112/176/71]. It feels Lived In. Oolon likes a bit of clutter. The place needs

Prim Perfect • June 2008 to look like it’s been a bachelor pad to a rather bookish and staid but tidy TimeLord for some 300 years. Also, Terry is Sidhi (one of the Fey races) and a shape changer. Our long-running plotline means we are ‘trapped’ here and the ETC doesn’t allow us to return home (another dimension and the ‘real’ world of Gallifrey and the Whooniverse). The ETC has grown to make Terry feel more comfortable here, providing her with her own place to meditate and our secondary control room. Some elements are very ‘natural’ as a result, though this perfectly suits the organic nature of TARDIS and adds to the interior’s sense of unpredictability and its ‘timelessness.’” The Control room is the centre of the ETC and a tribute to the creativity of its owners. It duplicates essential features of the Whovian canon, and yet wears its steampunk colours with enormous pride. It was fascinating to see the apparent outside on a monitor – seeing not the outside of a skybox, but whichever exterior location the adventure was taking the ETC to. And the controls themselves had a dazzlingly bewildering but wholly convincing complexity, playing no small part in reinforcing the sense of the ETC as the core entity here. The ETC is now significantly larger (as all good TARDISes should be) with the addition of the aquarium – a tunnel with doors that really do snap shut faster than you’d think – which leads to Terry’s space, now relocated from upstairs, and a spectacular park (as Terry calls it) or Conservatory (as Oolon calls it), which is a vast space of trees, flowers, art, and nature, with its additional purpose of housing the Secondary Console – essential for those dangerous moments when the Primary Console fails. Apart from her own room, this park (“Conservatory!”) is Terry’s favourite. “The Park and the Gallery room leading up to it, I love as a sidhe”, she says, “because of the art and all the nature. Of course, to Oolon it’s mostly important because it’s actually the Secondary Console room and used in case of emergencies or malfunctions of the Primary Console room. He doesn’t seem to share my fascination for nature, despite the fact that he’s a genetic specialist of sorts. He seems to come at it from a

more scientific and technical angle. But I suspect that he does enjoy the calming effect it has on his grumpiness. I know I do!” What is very surprising, amongst a build full of surprises, is that the actual prim count is not that high. Oolon explains that they originally started on 2 x 512 m2 and that the guide to interior items has been “low prim with a few indulgences”. The addition of plots throughout the sim, deeded to the group, has meant that the prim limit has slowly grown as they’ve bought more cheap land around the sim. And to get, as Oolon puts it, “this level of cluttered content, you need good (per-

sonal) textures and then to spend the prim count on items of cinematic value”. For Terry, the most pleasure is derived from seeing her friends in the ETC, and the fact that it evolves and changes and is always in progress. “I really enjoy when people come over, enjoying themselves in the different spaces and atmospheres of the ETC. That’s the real satisfaction ... seeing your friends having fun in something you helped to make”. For Oolon, the most pleasure is derived from a similar thing. “People saying ‘Er, but, it’s bigger on the inside ...’ on first arrival ... No, seriously, cinematics. The ETC feels lived in because it is, and she has a million cinematic nooks and crannies to view from. I like the way our friends like her too. People come here to visit and to ‘get away’ from the politics and hassles of the wider grid. I feel it’s worked as she has the theme I was looking for, that Victorian Steampunk clutter, with surprises :-).”

Prim Perfect • June 2008 I ask – probably unwisely – about what else highlights the beauty of the build. Oolon was slightly indignant, but at pains to explain it to me. “She’s not beautiful. She’s the ETC. What she has, I think, is personality. There is a group of friends [that] meet and explore from here. She was designed to be made of memories, and she is. Friends have rooms inspired by them in her. Their own poses and cushions and painting are dotted around. She has a lot of tricks up her sleeve. Hidden rooms, effects, moving panels. It says a lot to me when someone else’s avatar is actually related to this build. Not us, but the mechanical TARDIS (or ETC) itself”. This person is The Ward of the ETC, the ‘punchcard princess’ Miss Cornelia Rothchild from the shores of Caledon. I was fortunate enough to be able to seek Ms Rothchild’s views – as a relative of the ETC – on this statement of Oolon’s. Cornelia met Professor Sputnik and Miss Lightfoot one day when they passed over her property in Caledon in a hot air balloon. Becoming friends, and going on adventures in the ETC, led to her being ‘adopted’ by the ETC, as she is a wind-up girl. She is Oolon and Terrys ward, in effect, as a result of this. She has

her little rug and pillow under the Control Room where she pops in and takes time out from the pressures of other worlds, and she, unlike Oolon, finds the ETC beautiful as well. “The Control Room is really the area I think of as ‘motherly’. It’s all warm embracing wood and comforting, deep textures”, she explains. “I think she is absolutely beautiful! The Professor isn’t bad, either.” A truly remarkable place, with truly remarkable avatars. The importance of peace, tranquillity, fun and usefulness have combined to create a space which is of great importance not only to those that ‘sail in her’, but to the cultural history of Second Life itself. The last word, I think needs to go to Cornelia, to sum up one of the most interesting and enjoyable times I’ve yet had in Second Life. “I think it is used, and that’s what makes her beautiful. It isn’t a grand build designed to be admired and then torn down, or a house someone erected and decorated for show, or a pretty shop (pretty shops are nice, but in the end, they are just shops). It really is a home that has been slowly added on to as its story develops”. I have no doubt that it will continue to do so. E

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Prim Perfect • June 2008

SPECI A L F E AT U R E

Making Musical Memories: The Tribute Island Concerts by Saffia Widdershins

PRIM PERFECT IS DELIGHTED TO BE PART OF AN exciting new musical venture. Together with Radio Riel and Associated Northcliffe Digital (the online version of the Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT)), Prim Perfect is sponsoring a series of live music concerts, featuring the very best musical artists of the Second Life world, paying tribute to the artists who have inspired them. Each concert (held on alternate Fridays during the summer and autumn months) will feature a live performance of an hour to an hour and a half, together with music from Radio Riel. The majority of these will run from 1 to 4 p.m. SLT; the one featuring Paisley Beebe will run from 2 to 5 p.m. SLT. These are sure to be very popular events – so make sure you get there early!

The Concerts:

June 27 – Louis Volare’s Tribute to John Lennon (see http://www. louislandon.com/). July 11 – Cylindrian Rutabaga’s Tribute to Eva Cassidy (see http://cylindrian.wordpress.com/). July 25 – Mankind Tracer’s Tribute to Syd Barrett (see http://www.mankindtracer.com/). August 8 – Noma Falta’s Tribute (to be decided) (see http://www.myspace.com/nomafalta). August 16 – BubbaC John’s Tribute to Elvis. August 22 – Joaquin Gustav’s Tribute to Astor Piazzola (see http://www.purevolume.com/joaquingustav). September 5 – Atomic Blondie’s Tribute (to be decided). September 19 – Paisley Beebe’s Tribute to Ella Fitzgerald (see http://www.paisleybeebejazzbird. blogspot.com/).

October 3 – Louis Volare’s Tribute to Frank Sinatra (see http://www.louislandon.com/). More about the concerts, the artists and those they are paying tribute to will appear on the Prim Perfect blog [http://primperfectblog.wordpress. com/] over the coming weeks.

Why Tribute Island? It’s been created as what it says – a Tribute. And that means it combines a place to both remember and reflect, and to salute those who have gone before and given us knowledge, and beauty and even sheer unadulterated fun. So, you can enjoy your Fay Wray fantasies, or visit the cinema complex to remember your favourite films (and those who created them) – or even visit the film studios and play a part in their making. You can pay tribute to your favourite poets or dance under the benevolent gaze of favourite musical luminaries such as John Lennon, Elvis and Dudley Moore (a noted jazz pianist). But you can also visit memorials to ordinary people caught up in the horror of war, or terrorism, or sheer ghastly accidents. To me one of the most moving parts is a detailed recreation of an London Underground station, with plaques of the names of those who died in some of the most recent (last thirty-five years) and horrific incidents on the London Underground: the bombings of July 7th 2005, the King’s Cross Fire back in 1987 and the Moorgate crash of 1975. And there’s emphasis on commemorating ordinary

Prim Perfect • June 2008 people, throughout the island. Every exhibit contains a link – sometimes leading you to discover more about the individual or the event that is commemorated, but also supplying links to the website Lasting Tribute [http://www.lastingtribute.co.uk/], an amazing UK site where you can leave a tribute to well-known people you have admired, or create or join a tribute to people who may be less well-known in the wider world, but have nevertheless touched your life in important ways. One of the most moving places on the island is the war cemetery. In earlier wars, soldiers were buried in cemeteries where they fell, and we have the vast graveyards that commemorate the fallen in France – and others from more recent conflicts around the world – small cemeteries in the Falklands, in Aden, in Malaysia ... even in Iraq, marking a previous British occupation (up till 1952). Now, of course, the bodies of the soldiers are returned home to grieving families, and one doesn’t really guess at the scale of what is happening. But on Tribute Island, the war cemetery commemorates the British soldiers who have lost their lives in the recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan – over 200 in Iraq and 100 in Afghanistan. It’s a deeply moving place – made more so by the poppies placed around the Centotaph by friends and families

57 who have visited and left their own tributes. Tribute Island was built during October ’07 by Associated Northcliffe Digital (part of the DMGT Group), with the senior design consultants and master builders of Wind Meta Works. It’s UK-centric, reflecting the nationality of its main creator, Nikk Huet, although many of the tributes reference international figures – such as the stepping stones which salute a variety of American musicians, including Nina Simone, Tupac Shakur and Barry White. And, despite its corporate input, it’s also a very personal choice by Nikk as to what to feature – which is no bad thing. At the very least, you will find yourself learning a variety of new and fascinating facts about people and events you may know well – and some that you’ve never heard of. And – especially if you visit with friends – you may well find yourself in the sort of ‘lists’ discussion, in which you can decide who and what YOU would put on your own personal Tribute Island. Actually, you could find them commemorated on Tribute Island itself – Nikk has asked that if anyone has an idea for a tribute they should contact Nikk Huet inworld. And you can also see a video on the Island here: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qugPEjEfdsU]. E

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SP E C I A L F E AT U R E

HomeStyle Consolidated

by Bailey Longcloth and Saffia Widdershins

AH ... THE GROUPS ISSUE. EVERYONE WHO HAS been in the Second Life world long enough has experienced it. When you first arrive, twenty-five seems plenty ... but then you start to settle down and find your favourite stores ... and activities ... and clubs ... and then you rent property ... Suddenly, you’re staring bemusedly at your groups list, and wondering whether to sacrifice your favourite shoe store (which has such great updates) in favour of the new club started by your friends, who will be hurt if you say no. And for store owners, it’s just as bad. They want to build up a client base that they can tell about new product releases and special discounts - but they know that they are likely to be dumped when another more exciting-looking group comes along. It’s sad but true that we all have a disastrous habit of crying, “Oh, shiny!” and pouncing on the next new thing. Some stores are getting round this by using systems such as Subscribe-O-Matic - which is great. But some people like the group system, with its blue pop-up windows, as a highly visible way of communicating - and the group system allows feedback and information exchange, too, through group chat. And Subscribe-O-Matic does depend on your visiting the store in the first place to subscribe. It doesn’t encourage you to to explore and discover that out-of-the-way little shop selling those gorgeous window blinds that will look just perfect in your new house! So Bailey Longcloth has come up with an idea ... and Prim Perfect is backing this one all the way! “I’ve been a resident in Second Life for a year and a half”, she explains, “and I’ve gone from

renting a small plot of land with a small purchased castle to owning my own sim and building my house. Along the way I’ve searched for furniture and a house, asked around for ideas, got help from friends and eventually learned how to build myself. “In all that time I’ve realized that there isn’t a group out there bringing home industry sellers and buyers together. Not all of us are builders; we need to seek out that special piece or that one of a kind house that will become home. Yes, each store has a group for store notices but if you’ve never been to that store or don’t have an open slot for another group, you won’t know what awesome items they may have”. With those thoughts in mind, Bailey has created HomeStyle Consolidated. “It’s a group for both creators and buyers”, she says. “Creators will have a larger audience to share their wonderful ideas, and buyers will have access to designers and creators they may have never seen”. So are you a builder who wants to announce a new store opening? Did you just create a script that will revolutionize the lighting industry? Are you a landscaper specializing in large or small land plots? Did you just create a new line of furniture that you want to shout out about? Do you want to know what all the new trends are? Do you want to know the newest innovations? Just bought land and don’t know what to do with it? If you answered “Yes” to any of the above, then HomeStyle Consolidated is the group for you! Search for “Homestyle Consolidated” under groups and click “JOIN”. E

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Prim Perfect • June 2008

ME TA M A K E O V E R

Meta Makeover News: June by Saffia Widdershins

THIS IS THE PLACE WHERE YOU CAN CATCH UP on the latest news of our TV programme, produced in association with SLCN TV.

So What Is a Meta Makeover? Meta Makeover is one of the new range of shows from SLCN [http://www.slcn.tv/], the Second Life world’s very own cable network – brought to you by Prim Perfect Productions, the people behind Prim Perfect Magazine and the Prim Perfect blog. It is shown every two weeks, on Sundays at 12 p.m. SLT, where we make over a Second Life

home! The programme is presented by Saffia Widdershins, the Editor of Prim Perfect Magazine [http://www.primperfect.net/]. On each show, we take a house and make it over, deploying up to three skilled designers – who might tackle a room each, or a floor, or a garden. They’ll be interviewed about why they’ve made the choices that they have – with the delighted (or appalled) owner having a chance to say what they love or loathe about their new home. Meta Makeover is filmed before a live audience at the SLCN studios in Northpoint at 12 p.m. (i.e.noon) SLT. If you would like to be part of our audience, all you have to do is to drop into Northpoint between half eleven and twelve and take a seat in the studio. All our earlier shows are available on the SLCN at: [http://slcn.tv/programs/meta-makeover], and available for download from iTunes as a podcast (just go to the iTunes store and search on Meta Makeover - it’s free to download, or to subscribe to the podcast).

Recent Shows

Episode 7 – All about swinging London – with added Beatles and Sushi!

Prim Perfect • June 2008 Did she do it? Well, you’ll have to watch the show to find out! The programme was presented by Saffia Widdershins, the Editor of Prim Perfect Magazine – and in the studio she also talked to Spike Harturian, Estate Manager of the London sims, and to London Director Timber Oceanline, who told us about ways in which he’s cut down on lag in London. And we also show you something of life in the London sims – and we have a very special cameo appearance in the show too. So don’t miss it! But why the picture of sushi? Well, the challenge facing our designer, Salome Strangelove (of Facade Furnishings [http:// slurl.com/secondlife/Seven%20Veils/121/50/23] and Linden Lifestyles [http://lindenlifestyles. com/]) was to create a fantastic home using only slightly more prims than we found in one of Satu Moreau’s wonderful plates of sushi served in the Japanese restaurant on the Galaxy in Episode 6 of Meta Makeover! That’s right. You’ll find 106 prims on a plate of Satu’s sushi … and Salome had 120 prims to make over a whole house!

Episode 8 – Can Carter find the home of his dreams? Our task this week was to create a home for Carter Giacobini, owner of the Fire Island sims. Carter, despite creating a amazing community (and he told us something about that in the show), had never found a house that could become a home. Despite the stunning beauty of some of the houses he’d owned, Carter became notorious among his friends for never being able to keep a house for very long – and the reason was that although he’d owned some stunning places,

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he’d never found one that could become his real heart’s home.

ative [http://slurl.com/secondlife/ScarletCreative/146/98/22] to help us! Did we do it? Well, the party at Carter’s house might give you a clue. But you’ll have to watch the programme to find out!

Upcoming Schedule

Sunday 15 June – The Loft return – to make over Paisely Beebe’s studio! Sunday 6 July – A very important show: we’ll be having a studio discussion on the issue of IP theft, and telling our viewers what they can do to help designers defend themselves against this. Sunday 20 July – Show to be arranged. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So, our challenge this week was not just to furnish Carter’s latest house … but to find a place that could become his real home in Second Life. And we enlisted the well-known contemporary designer Charlotte Bartlett of Scarlet Cre-

Would you like your home to feature on Meta Makeover? Send an email to us at metamakeover@ gmail.com with three or four pictures of your home attached, and stating your reasons why you would like a makeover. Every two weeks, we shall select one lucky owner from our postbag and invite them to be our next Meta Makeover! E

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Prim Perfect • June 2008

AD V I C E F O R N E W C O M E R S

So What’s All the Fuss about Megaprims? by Prad Prathivi

MEGAPRIMS ARE PRIMS WHICH ARE LARGER THAN the standard size, which is 10 meters on any given axis. They can vary in size from being just over this limit, to spanning several sims! These megaprims (also sometimes referred to as “Super Prims”) can have uses in construction, but are somewhat notorious for being used in griefing. Where did the megaprims come from? Well, since the early days of the Second Life world, residents have been begging Linden Lab for prims

larger than a 10 meter axis. They ignored the appeals, but then along came Gene Replacement, who created his own client viewer to connect to the grid to exploit that fact that prim sizes were governed by Second Life’s own client. By creating his own viewer, Gene was able to create prims at whatever size he wished. He created and released a handful of megaprims before Linden Lab repaired the exploit by placing the prim size limits on the server side software.

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So why can’t Linden Lab just remove the limits on prim sizes and let us use these megaprims? Surely it would save us in our eternal (losing) battle against that dreaded prim count limit? Well, there is a reason, which lies in the physics engine of Second Life. When you move around in Second Life, the prims you interact with have an effect on your avatar – you can walk on a prim, bump into a prim and hit your head on a prim too! All this is thanks to the physics engine which makes Second Life a more realistic experience. However, the larger the prim, the more resources it must use to calculate the physics involved. So this leads to a problem – a megaprim’s use can free up several prims to be used elsewhere in a build, but it can also rob a sim of its resources, causing that dreaded “lag”. Therefore, if you plan to use megaprims, there will need to be some sort of balance. A way to get around using a megaprim without using sim resources would be to make it “phantom”. By making a prim phantom (by right clicking the prim, selecting Edit, and then More > Object tab > check Phantom), you’re essentially making it so you can no longer walk on it, or make your avatar

interact with it. This is advantageous as it uses fewer sim resources, but the obvious downside means that this is limited to sections which do not have to be walked on. So megaprims save you from having to use a large number of standard prims. They can also be adapted and manipulated from the object menu – you can transform them into different shapes, make them hollow, tapered, twisted ... all the things you’d do with a normal prim. You can even apply a sculpt map to them and make megaprim sculpties! So what’s the future for megaprims? Well, after numerous attempts to remove them from the grid, Linden Lab appears to have conceded that they are here to stay. However, their official policy is that megaprims are unsupported. Have a problem with one, and they’ll simply tell you to remove the offending megaprim. Andrew Linden has been quoted as saying “Megaprims are a mis-feature ... a bug that many people consider a feature”. Love them or hate them, megaprims form an important part of building in Second Life, and will continue to be used in many of our favourite builds. E

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STA R C O M P E T I T I O N W I N N E R

And We Have a Winner! by Saffia Widdershins

KELLILEE KANTO WINS last month’s star competition! Last month we introduced you to the gorgeous Isle of Orkney sims, and showed you our star prize – a beautiful fisherman’s cottage (but now owned by an Orkney teleworker) with lovely views over the harbour, furnished with style, wit and faithful attention to Orkney and Scottish detail by Kittie Munro. There are wonderful references to the Orkneys throughout, and to the work of the famous Scottish designer Charles Rennie Mackintosh. Even the books on the bookcase in the dining room area have

plenty of little jokes to savour - Kittie’s attention to detail is wonderful! The owner of the Orkneys, Tim Mersereau, generously allowed us to offer a month’s rent-free accommodation in the house as our star prize. Kellilee Kanto won the competition with her slogan: “Prim Perfect is a true labor of love.” Kellilee told us how excited she was to win and this was her first time participating too! We hope that she will have a wonderful month, staying in a very special house and exploring one of our all-time favourite set of sims - the Orkneys! E

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Prim Perfect • June 2008

LAN D S C A P E O F T H E M O N T H

Delighting in the Garden by Alesia Markstein

“Fall from Grace from Heaven To Earth then descend into the depths of Hell” by Gaynor Gritzi (Heaven section).

YOU ARRIVE ON COBBLESTONES IN A GREEN-SHADY wood. An iron fence borders the path, but is it there to keep you out, or the forest in? Eerie lights flicker among the trees – and you remember that this is an exhibition, set up for your delight and entertainment. It is Not Possible In Real Life. The path leads past a sign that offers a HUD and a quartet of notecards about the exhibits in the Garden of NPIRL Delights. Continue along the path, and a branch to the right brings you to a flying boat that whirls its passengers through a tour of the sims and returns them to the starting point. Over 110 artists (or “content creators”, as

the tour narrative would have it) contributed to this exhibition. Sprawling across four sims (Rezzable Create, Rezzable Design, Rezzable Discover, and Rezzable Explore), the project offered them a chance to explore three themes: the Underworld, Earth, and Paradise. Every response was different. The installations range from the loving realism of TheDove Rhodes’ “Nature’s Ground” section of Peace Paradise to Crap Mariner’s blunt force allegory “Flush Twice, It’s a Long Way to Heaven”, with a lot of territory in between. You teleport into flame - no, into mobile frac-

Prim Perfect • June 2008 tal images of fire and smoke. A column of fire drifts upward, not exactly in time with the modern Indian music that also surrounds you. You are, it seems, in “Psychedelic Hell”. Tuna Oddfellow’s piece [http://slurl.com/secondlife/ Rezzable%20Create/201/190 /22] makes use, his notecard says, of a single image of a flame, mutated into different forms and colors. This is one of many pieces in the Gardens that rewards manipulation of the camera view and the environment settings of the Second Life world - not to mention the sound. It’s important to have that turned on. Both the HUD and the provided notecards include the artists’ names, the titles of the works, and the SLURL coordinates for each exhibit. It is also possible to follow a green-and-white spiral path “Labyrinth” by Darkle Sands. amongst the exhibits, but in that case it can be very difficult to tell where the “entrance” is - and there appear to be at least a few installations that can only be accessed through teleporting. Arriving here, you find a rotating floor and a most peculiar set of granite-look sitting-room furniture. Turning around, you realise that those two large boulders look like ... skulls. And there is a path leading that way, into the valley of the shadow of death. Perhaps this would be better viewed at the Midnight setting? Or perhaps not. In either case, soror Nishi says you are “In My Head”. These are, indeed, things that could not exist in real life. Visiting “In My Head” [http://slurl.com/secondlife/Rezzab le%20Design/81/84/22], with its unearthly flora and freestanding eyeballs, is another example of this. (Midnight, by the way, is indeed the best time to examine this one.) Not all the installations include a notecard dispenser, but all of them do have a comment notebook. To use it, however, you need to have registered with the Rezzable Productions website - a nearly painless process that can only be accomplished at the Dance Floor site [http://slurl. com/secondlife/Rezzable%20Design/217/89/22] and back at the Dump entrance to the exhibition grounds (located before the forest entrance). It’s also worth it to get the opportunity to explore Rezzable Productions’ many other Second Life enterprises. Here is an experience that isn’t immediately immersive - you land on a platform of pastel stripes and view “Lily” by Ravenelle Zugzwang.

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“Purgatorio” by DB Bailey.

instructions on your environment and sound settings. By all means follow them, proceed to the installation proper, and listen carefully. It’s hard to say whether a plummy announcer-voice saying “Welcome to Purgatory!” is funny or unnerving ... but a number of the other things you will hear are both. “Purgatorio” by DB Bailey (sound design by Douglas Story and Desdemona Enfield) seems to be an exercise in irony [http://slurl.com/secondlife/ Rezzable%20Explore/42/114/55]. The pastels are also an artistic exercise, according to Mr Bailey, who says he is “trying to develop a painterly style that takes the cartoon edge off of SL.” It is, indeed, a much less garish display than most of the others in the Gardens, though no less thought-provoking. Bring a friend, and you can try dancing the Tango, the Dip, the Charleston, or do a little Swinging. Just ignore the Damned Souls Audio Feed down at the end. And make sure to explore thoroughly you might have a chance to meet God! If this isn’t calming enough for you, or you’re still suffering from a bit of sensory overload, try a visit to Vidal Tripsa’s “Extropian Spa” [http:// slurl.com/secondlife/Rezzable%20Create/43/86 /30]. Described by the artist as “an oasis of futuristic harmony”, the small, elegant building offers a chance to dangle your aching feet in cool water, soothe your battered eyes with its gentle symmetry, and listen to some quiet music. Now you’re ready for another dose of the more challenging material. Odd, insectile sounds assault your ears, and you are surrounded by ... lengths of coaxial cable, sprouting from the ground like grass. Clambering uphill through

“Lily Throne” by Ravenelle Zugzwang.

these strange growths, you find a squat, treelike structure emitting branches of red and blue energy. You realise there are four subsidiary structures attached to it, two of which seem to be broken. But each of them contains images or animations that make you quite uneasy about the notion that “The Singularapture Is Near”. That reaction is undoubtedly what artist Truthseeker Young intended with this work [http://slurl.com/secondlife/Rezzable%20Discov er/26/238/54]. This is one of the more unnerving

Prim Perfect • June 2008 exhibits in the Gardens - but far from the only one that tests the audience. Don’t forget that “Stop All Animations” will do exactly that. You arrive and - wait, are you upside down? Sideways? ... No, it’s an optical illusion. You climb

“The Singularapture is Near” by Truthseeker Young.

gent artistic statement [http://slurl.com/secondlife/Rezzable%20Design/197/107/91]. You won’t even have to sit down for it. The preceding is only a sample of the delights to be found in the Gardens. From this handful of installations, one can glimpse gigantic flying beasts, secret pavilions, mysterious buildings, and abstract constructions that beg for further investigation. Many of these works are difficult and troubling - possibly even offensive to some - but there are also many that are simply beautiful. Peace Paradise is one of these [http://slurl. com/secondlife/Rezzable%20Explore/176/166/2 2]. With four sections by four artists, it is worth exploring all on its own. The “Nature’s Ground” section by TheDove Rhodes is an exquisite landscape, equipped with gathering places. The teleporter will take you to the other three, when you’re ready (follow the arrows) (there is also a fifth section, identified as “Music Circle”, which seems to have only a functional purpose). “Riverside” by Mordecai Laasonen offers a pleasant futuristic section of parkland, suspended 400 meters in the air. Similarly suspended are Anti Clip’s marvelous and accurately named “Forest” (make sure to look for the moon) and Tesserian Shosta’s “Oasis in the Desert”. Like many of the installations, these are designed for small gatherings of friends, not just for distant admiration.

the spiral stairs, trying not to watch the upsidedown-arches spinning around, and ... there’s nowhere to go? No, wait, it’s the “invisible floor” trick. Not to mention the “looks solid but isn’t” trick. And if you click on that poseball over there, you’ll be “standing” sideways .... Optical illusions are a favorite theme of many artists, and Darkle Sands has created an entertaining one with “The Labyrinth” [http://slurl.com/secondlife/Rezzable%20Explore/ “Fields of Green with odd looking trees” by Strawberry Holiday. 183/102/803]. Like many of these installations, this one would be fun to visit with The Garden of NPIRL Delights shows something a group of friends. You might want to wear a flight of Second Life’s possibilities for artists and those enhancer of some kind, however, in case you fall off who enjoy art. Exciting, interactive, viewable from an edge that’s a good 700 meters up in the air. any direction and from heights limited only by your If you’re in the mood for something less sub- draw distance, these exhibits are worth as many tle, consider contemplating Crap Mariner’s pun- hours of your ‘second life’ as you can spare. E

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INT E RV I E W

Garden of NPIRL Delights: A Question of Economics

by Saffia Widdershins and Diva Regina

ONE APPLICATION OF THE IMAGINATIVE, somewhat surreal motifs of NPIRL is to bring to life a real-world reality that taxes the imagination. For many of us, terms such as “hyperinflation” and “economic crisis” may only cause us to blink before we hastily turn the page. Second Life world resident Economic Mip has used the illustrative power of Second Life to help us visualize the enormity of the impact of the runaway inflation of the Zimbabwean dollar.*

“My inspiration at first was the idea that hyperinflation is a horrific, hellish experience for the common people.” So he used the rather fanciful possibilities of deliberately unrealistic design in NPIRL to drive home the enormity of the situation to the viewer. The structure’s building blocks are stacks and stacks of currency. Various scattered bank notes are available for sale at a cost that, at least at one time, approximated their exchange value. So pick up a frame-ready $500,000,000 bill

Prim Perfect • June 2008 note: The final results of the recent elections in Zimbabwe, which have been punctuated by unrest, have not yet been determined.) Notecards at the doorways contain a scathing condemnation of the leadership of Reserve Bank Governor Gideon Gono: “Without your dedication to running the nation into the ground, printing of quadrillions, and funding of violent thugs this exhibit would not have been possible.” Although some might feel it would have been great to see more illustrations of the impact of hyperinflation on the life of the people themselves, the exhibit does in fact provide web links to enable the visitor to find out more, further enriching the experience. In its stark presentation, this exhibit demonstrates the speed at which the well-being of an entire country can go careening out of control. E for a mere $L52. (Look for the one that’s titled “Not even worth the upload cost”.) Although Economic has no direct ties to Zimbabwe, he is highly aware of the impact of government policies on the population. In his view, the horrific inflation is a symptom of the shortcomings of a perpetual presidency. (Editor’s

*When first instituted in 1980, the currency was approximately on par with the British Pound (which, for reference, will currently buy approximately 550 Linden dollars). On May 15 of this year, Zimbabwe currency was worth a little less than 1 one-millionth of a Linden. Three weeks later, it had further fallen by a factor of 10 to be trading at $9,566,814.63 ZWD to the Linden dollar. This is all after the removal of three zeros in 2006.

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INT E RV I E W

Garden of NPIRL Delights: Hieronymous Bosch Meets Jules Verne by Saffia Widdershins and Diva Regina

AMONG THE SIGHTS THAT MIGHT SEND YOU searching for a stronger phrase than “wildly unique” is the free-form re-creation of Hieronymus Bosch’s masterpiece, “A Garden of Earthly Delights”. Far from earthly, Bosch’s fantastic dream has been brought to virtual life by the team of Kheph777 Enoch and Eladrienne Laval. Already quite surreal in its painted form, Bosch’s vision has been brought into three dimensions with a distinct Steampunk twist. But you won’t see much of the dark and rusty machines you might expect when you hear the word “steampunk”. The catchphrase for this project was “aethereal steampunk”, which Eladrienne describes as “light and beautiful while using traditional steampunk principles.” They likened the concept to the Eiffel Tower – steampunk in materials, massive in scale, airy in structure. “I think we’ve had the Eiffel Tower in mind to some extent throughout this build”, says Kheph. He described some of his own creative thought process in carrying out one of the underlying themes of the original painting. “It’s about what people are doing to get into heaven or hell – why not build an Industrial Tower of Babel?” That tower presides majestically over the sim, but it isn’t the only fascinating eye candy you will find. In order to bring off a build of this magnitude, there had to be incredible teamwork. They had little more than two weeks from beginning to launch,

and it was “build, build, build”, says Eladrienne. The talented designers bring distinctive approaches to this build, but instead of giving birth to disharmony, their strong cooperation used the strengths of each to create a harmonious whole. Many are familiar with Kheph’s massive mechanical creations. Though best known as a clothing designer, Eladrienne displays significant building talent on this project, as well as the zest for great textures you might expect. The strength of their collaboration is apparent when they talk about how they went about creating such a massive and detailed build. Since Kheph generally built in the morning and Eladrienne in the evenings, “We never knew what the other one was going to do the next time”, laughed Eladrienne. Kheph agreed. “There are parts that belong to each of us, but we both ultimately had input on each aspect.” Neither particularly likes working with a specific blueprint. They developed a strong common vision and each carried along toward that vision in an organic way while tweaking one another’s work as they went. Few teams might be as comfortable sharing the creative process, but though it was their first common build, things worked very well for these long-time acquaintances. Although the display will only be up for a limited time, they hope a permanent home may be found for it someday. So do we. E

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GAR D E N I N G I N S E C O N D L I F E

Garden History Comes to Life in Second Life! by Kaye Robbiani

RESIDENTS OF THE SECOND LIFE WORLD WHO ARE inspired by the past often look to period-themed or roleplay sims in order to express themselves. The Victorian-Steampunk sims of Caledon offer such an experience. Here, one finds a polite, genteel nineteenth-century community complete with many outstanding examples of Victorian architecture and inventive ingenuity. But historical accuracy is not limited to building design and polite conversation. Caledon is home to many gardeners, horticulturists and botanists, who strive

to recreate authentic examples of nineteenthcentury gardens. Then, as now, good garden design meant different things to different people. Victorianera gardens ranged from highly formal estate gardens featuring geometrically clipped hedges and beds complete with terraces, statuary, and fountains to small cottage gardens overflowing with an exuberant abundance of fragrance and colour, to the wild or natural garden, made popular by the writings of Mr William Robinson

Prim Perfect • June 2008 in the late nineteenth century. This latter style promoted the use of plants arranged in a way that mimicked nature by using a wide variety of hardy plants that were well-adapted to the site in which they were planted, and which bloomed in succession over the seasons to create a dynamic, everchanging garden. Mr Robinson also advocated planting the more remote areas of a property, including the woodland. Quite a debate erupted between Mr Robinson and his camp, comprised mostly of plantsmen and naturalists, and many of the architects who designed not only homes and other structures but also the gardens which surrounded them. At that time, landscape architecture was not a separate discipline, and the architects who planned gardens often had little or no training in horticulture. One of Mr Robinson’s chief opponents was Sir Reginald Blomfield, a British architect who designed many prominent structures and gardens in and around London. In his book, The Formal Garden in England, he railed at “modern landscape designers” in general, and William Robinson in particular, for their lack of “architectural sense” in their garden designs. While this debate had no clear winner, and continues in some form even to this day, it became clear to many that both positions had something unique to offer to garden design. Miss Gertrude Jekyll, who was probably the most influential and pre-eminent garden designer of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, did not feel compelled to choose one side or the other in her designs. She was an extraordinary plantswoman, and she teamed

up with a promising young architect, Mr Edwin Lutyens, to create some of the most famous and enduring gardens in Great Britain. As a team, they combined the best of formal garden architecture with outstanding plantsmanship and appreciation for nature. Miss Jekyll’s gardens often led from formal terraces, fountains and pools through courtyards and paths to lovely natural woodland gardens. Miss Jekyll’s gardens were the inspiration for The Gardens at Morgaine, in Caledon Morgaine [http://slurl.com/secondlife/Caledon%20Morga ine/211/106/22]. There, a manor house is surrounded by gardens. Walking out of the house on the right side, one enters a small courtyard which leads into the formal garden. On the right is an Elizabethan-inspired knot garden comprised of intertwined low hedges creating beds filled with blooming lavender and daffodils (copyable, from Tesh Garden Center [http://slurl.com/sec-

Prim Perfect • June 2008 ondlife/Wisteria%20Lane/65/92/24]). Behind the knot garden is a wall fountain. The main part of the garden is a well-groomed lawn surrounded by flower borders, with a fountain in the center, and shaded by a sculpted oldgrowth tree (Botanical [http://slurl.com/secondlife/Straylight/182/52/25]) through which sun and moon beams shine. At the far end of the garden, brick steps lead onto a tiled terrace which is used for dancing and entertaining. The formal look of the terrace is enhanced by a row of Italian cypress trees (Botanical) on one end, and evenly spaced flowering cherries along the side. Many of the textures used in the creation of the hard elements in this garden, such as the brick wall separating the dance terrace from the lawn, as well as the courtyard pavers, were taken from photographs of structures found at The Elizabethan Garden on Roanoke Island, North Carolina [http://www.elizabethangardens.org/]. On the other side of the house, the garden takes on a very different feel. A stonework patio just outside the dining room door affords a view of the wild, woodland garden and the waterway beyond. Dragonflies flit among the cattails, and a wind chime is heard from the old shade tree

growing out of the side of the mountain. The garden is planted with hardy shade plants such as hydrangea, astilbe, ferns, and hostas, with lavender, iris, and galanthus (snowdrops) in the sunnier areas at the edge. Although the garden was designed and planted, it has the appearance of a wild woodland area. There is no manicured lawn here. Instead the old tree is surrounded by high, deep green grass covering a natural mulch forest floor (all available from Botanical) This garden has been named the William Robinson Memorial Garden, in honour of the author of The Wild Garden. The creation of a historical garden begins with research. The works of many garden writers from the nineteenth-century contain detailed planting plans as well as a wealth of horticultural information. Many of these are available at the Caledon Libraries in the Gertrude Jekyll Gardening Collection, including many of the works of William Robinson and Gertrude Jekyll. Miss Jekyll’s books continue to be popular to this day and “hard copy” reprints are available through many sources, such as Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble, not to mention the local library. Full text aetheric editions are offered through the Caledon Library. E

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Prim Perfect • June 2008

TRE A S U R E C O M P E T I T I O N

Prim Perfect Treasure Hunt

THIS IS YOUR CHANCE TO WIN a wide range of prizes from the Prim Perfect prize cupboard, generously donated by store owners and designers from around the grid!

What do I have to do to win these goodies? You need to visit all the stores on the list below, and look for the item of furniture next to their name. When you find it, check out the number of prims in the item.

How to find out the prim count You can find out the prim count by right clicking on an item. Then select edit. Make sure that the edit window is fully open (by clicking in the bottom righthand corner if the simple edit menu is showing - as in the first diagram). When the edit menu is fully open and the General tab is showing, then you can read the prim count. Finding the prim count.

What next? Make a note of the prim count - and then go on to find the next piece of furniture! When you have found all eighteen (or as many as you can), send it to primperfect@gmail.com - together with a completion of this sentence (in not more than 15 words)… “Prim Perfect is…“ Mark your email subject as: Treasure Hunt May 2008. Include in the email the name of your avatar. Do NOT IM or notecard anyone connected with the magazine. The winner will be the person who finds the most tokens. In the event of a tie, the winner will be decided on the basis of the tie-breaker. The winner will choose which of the prizes he or she would like, then the runner up chooses next ... etc.

Closing date: 20th July 2008 Which stores do I need to visit? See the illustration on the next page for the stores - and the furniture you need to find! E

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Prim Perfect • June 2008

How Do I get Future Copies of Prim Perfect? PRIM PERFECT CAN BE OBTAINED either in the form of a Thinc book for inworld reading, or as a downloadable pdf (the address will be printed in the Thinc Book and on the web-site and blog). The magazine will be published every month - but in addition there’s a web-site [www.primperfect.net] and a blog [http://primperfectblog. wordpress.com] which is updated almost every day. Both of these are intended as dynamic tools to promote design in Second Life, in addition to the magazine. One of the things we’ve just started on the website is a Directory for Designers and Builders within SL. Our aim is to build up an added-value database - the directory entry will include a pic-

ture, a little about the store or designer, a SLURL, and frequently a comment from Prim Perfect too, saying what we liked. The magazine will be available to buy from kiosk vendors throughout SL, and also from Prim Perfect’s office in Venice Island and their offices in Oliveto. If you visit a store where you think Prim Perfect should be available and it isn’t, please ask the owner to contact Prim Perfect about installing a vendor. We’d be happy to oblige. You can also sign up to join the Prim Perfect Subscribers Group. This will deliver the pdf address and a copy of the Thinc book to you as soon as the magazine is published. If you want to do this, IM our Circulation Manager, Zadira Barzane.

How Do I Advertise in Prim Perfect? SUBMIT ADS TO saffia.widdershins@gmail.com as highest quality JPGs or full color PNGs. Provide a Click-through URL (can be a SLURL). If one is not provided we will assume one is not wanted.

Stats We are aiming to create a regular readership of 15,000. We’ve already been mentioned as one of the fastest growing blogs in Wordpress’s top twenty.

Prices 2 Page Spread: L$12,000 Full Page: L$7500 Half Page: L$5000

Quarter Page: L$3000 Eighth Page: L$2000 A 10% non-refundable deposit will be required to save ad space. Special rates available for stores that have Prim Perfect vendors and/or regular advertisers!

Design Your Own If you wish to design your own ad, there are a few guidelines to follow. These are available on our website: www.primperfect.net/advertising. htm. Ad submission deadline for Issue #11 is 16th July 2008.

Calling all Designers and Builders! PRIM PERFECT IS CREATING an online directory of builders and designers as part of our ongoing commitment to serve the cause of design in Second Life. You’ll find it online at: www.primperfect.net/ designers.htm. If you are a builder or a designer, don’t delay

- send us a paragraph describing what you do, a small pic (256X256 is ideal) and a slurl or email address. If we know your work, we will give a value-added comment! And if we don’t know your work, why not contact us as tell us all about yourselves? Prim Perfect is always eager to meet and work with new designers!

Prim Perfect • June 2008

PRO B L E M PA G E

Basic Etiquette

by MoodyLoner Korobase

Q: I need help. Nobody likes me. That poofer I rezzed as a joke (with the obscene pictures on it) got me banned from my favorite sim, nobody accepts my friend requests, and people call me a griefer. I don’t like this game. What do I do? A: Don’t laugh. I’ve been asked this. Yes, we’re going to talk about basic etiquette. The Second Life world is a freeform MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game) with a major difference from games you may be used to playing online: The world, characters, and objects that you see are all created by other

players. The point of the game, insofar as there is a point, is determined by the collective culture created by all of the players. Think about that for a moment. You can’t become “successful” in Second Life by grinding your skills or getting rare drops, you become successful in Second Life solely through your interactions with other players. That means that even though one of the core tenets of Second Life is tolerance, you must also put thought into how you deal with other people here. With that in mind, here are MoodyLoner’s tips for not being despised in Second Life:

Prim Perfect • June 2008

1. Pants are important. Think of all the places in the real world that you’re allowed to run around without any pants on and still be taken seriously. Yeah, there are about that many in Second Life. 2. Grammar counts. Putting in the effort to spell correctly and use proper grammar will pay off in the long run. People will make allowances if you’re a poor speller or your English is poor, but you’re not texting to your friends here, either. 3. Put some effort into it. Take time to understand the tutorials. Hit some freebie stores and work on your avatar. This is pretty much the Second Life equivalent of combing your hair and making sure your socks match – the default avatars are so horrible and there is such a wealth of options for changing your character that it really helps if you do something to try to improve your appearance. No, you don’t have to go buy an Isle of Wyrms dragon avatar. Just do something. 4. Be polite. Most of the time, you will be in a sim owned and operated by someone else. You don’t have to grovel like a Gorean slave girl, but some form of politeness is appreciated – you are a guest in someone’s virtual house. And griefing it is like taking a big crap on their living-room

carpet and setting it on fire. Griefing isn’t giving people “lulz”, it’s telling the world that you’re fourteen years old and your parents have failed at raising you. 5. Ask. If you don’t know what’s going on, then politely, respectfully ask. Most people, given a show of honest interest, will be more than happy to explain whatever incomprehensible activity they are engaged in, or point the way for you to find more information. You won’t learn anything if you don’t ask questions. 6. No means no. If someone is too busy, or not interested, they will tell you “no”. This is not a personal affront to your character, morals, or avatar. Sometimes – quite often – people may be unwilling to drop what they’re doing to deal with you. As in the real world. Try again later. I hope these tips will allow you to start fresh in Second Life, and that you will learn that there is an enjoyment in working with people that overshadows the transient satisfaction of bothering them and disrupting their Second Life. Besides, if a social phobic like MoodyLoner can find such a rewarding Second Life, just think of what you, with your advantages in social skills and lack of phobias, can accomplish here.E

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Prim Perfect • June 2008 (continued from page 7)

the Ball will be primarily Classical, with some Early, Celtic, Folk and Shakespeare-themed music. The week should leave people with an understanding of the play and Shakespeare, and enable people to truly experience the play in a unique way. June 15 - 21 / A Midsummer Night’s Dream July 13 - 19 / Romeo and Juliet August 10 - 16 / The Tempest For specific event dates and times, check the Radio Riel website at http://radioriel.org. Tune in to Radio Riel by placing http://music.radioriel.org in your parcel music, or by opening the URL in a media player. Radio Riel is an Internet radio station, on air daily. They play an extensive variety of music for listeners with eclectic tastes. They also provide music for a wide range of special events. Riel Events is an event planning company whose goal is to help clients put on unique events - whether for business or entertainment. The Caledon Library is a fully-realized community public Library with multiple services, based in the Independent State of Caledon. The SL Foundation for Rich Content is a group in Second Life that exists to foster diversity and richness in content and events in Second Life. As part of the Midsummer Night’s Dream celebrations, Saffia Widdershins took part in a radio performance of a scene from the play – the quarrel between Helena, Hermia, Lysander and Demetrius, which is being broadcast on Radio Riel as part of the Shakepeare season.

across from Sweetbay Halt (a wonderful Cotswold railway halt, just like they used to make ’em) to Pip’s fantastic 1950s diner, pauses for passengers to embark or disembark, and then turns around for the return trip. Hop aboard - there are seats in the steam engine or two different coaches. I love the observation car, which has elements of one of Pip’s lovely greenhouses! It’s definitely a fun way to see the buildings and other creations of Sweetbay Designs.

Pemberley comes to The Loft http://slurl.com/secondlife/The%20Loft/170/128/28 The Loft, recently featured on Meta Makeover, has just released some exciting new prefabs – two variations of the sought after traditional brownstone: 729 and 730 Pemberley.

The photo shows Podruly Peccable as Demetrius, Saffia Widdershins as Helena, Fuschia Begonia as Hermia, and Mordecai Scaggs as Lysander with Gabrielle Riel as Titania.

All aboard the Sweetbay Express and Oyster Creek Railway! http://slurl.com/secondlife/Sweetbay/154/230/31 If you like little steam trains, you will love the Sweetbay and Oyster Creek Railway. It trundles

For those of you familiar with Bethany Heart’s work, you may recognize the concept of these brownstones from The Villages at Pemberley. With inspiration taken from their namesake, Bethany has completely updated the textures, entryways, staircases and prim detailing. The 729 Pemberley

Prim Perfect • June 2008 has a footprint of 40×30 and offers a cool, monochromatic concrete interior for stylish, modern brownstone appeal, while 730 Pemberley has a smaller footprint of 25×20. With its hardwood floors and fire escape, this prefab takes a more traditional approach to the beloved brownstone. Look for a complete furniture pack available for the Pemberley prefab in the near future! To purchase the Pemberleys visit us at The Loft [The Loft 169, 128, 27] and see how much more we have in store.

Bay City Bustle http://slurl.com/secondlife/Bay%20City%20-%20 Falconmoon/79/65/25 Late May 2008 saw the opening to auction of, and a frenzy of bidding for, land in the new mainland region - Bay City - which consists of approximately 20 sims situated to the west of Barcola and the Nova Albion shopping/office community. The Bay City development is a product of the Linden Department of Public Works, geared toward reinvigorating enthusiasm for creative and themed urban building on the mainland while increasing the enjoyment for residents and visitors to the area and avoiding the frequent pitfalls of parcel chopping, ad cutters and the dismal, disorganized builds that often litter the mainland. A statement from Governor Linden descibes his hopes for Bay City: “We hope that the Residents of this new city will produce interesting and attractive structures, in styles appropriate to the period 1930 to 1960 when most of our buildings were erected. In any case, the Residents of Bay City will form a unique and bustling community”. The area features a wonderful environment of canals and angled roadways connecting all the sims. It is easily navigable, with many public parks and amenities including a delightful

steampunk-style water ferry, a street trolley along Route 66, wide roadways for driving vehicles, and fun places such as a working bowling alley and the fabulous Bayjoux Theatre! Don’t forget to explore the Mole archeological site in the Falconmoon region when you visit, and try not to get lost in the underground labyrinth! Being a fan of art deco and very interested in promoting the theme, Dellybean North of True North Designs braved the auction frenzy and eventually managed to secure a few building parcels in Bay City - Falconmoon.

She and building colleague Jeremey Ryan of Barefoot Designs have created a charming block of buildings suitable to the era including Bay City Builders - a modern art deco build which will be used for promoting art deco builds/facades which can be purchased and used by parcel owners; the Acorn Building which houses two shops and a garden apartment; and the Metropol Building built by Jeremey, which currently houses Urban Mode, a joint storefront for Jeremey and Dellybean to promote deco-themed furnishings and lighting for office and home. E

Prim Perfect • June 2008

Advertiser’s Directory a’bode Antique Artistry Garden and Home Baron’s Bay Creations Beck’s Bygone Days Castle Q CORN Creative Fantasy Home & Garden Cristalle Properties Elements in Design Fire Island Fort Serenity Waterfalls Galaxy iliveisl Real Estate KitStar Designs Liquid Heat Metaversal Arts Shop PRrim Designs radio riel Regent Estates RiverSong Gallery Rustica Scarlet Creative Shopping SL SkyBeam Estates Snook’s Garden Centre Sofia’s Temasek The Loft True North Design XAN SHOUTcast Radio

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Prim Perfect â&#x20AC;˘ June 2008

Credits Publisher and Editor: Saffia Widdershins Advertising and Client Relations Manager: Diva Regina Art Director and Designer: Perry Applemoor Researcher and Reporter: MoodyLoner Korobase Copy Editor and Reporter: Alesia Markstein Gardening Correspondent: Kaye Robbiani Photographer: Vera Canning Additional Graphics: Kittie Munro Additional Articles by Kghia Gherardi, Alesia Markstein, Jvstin Tomorrow, M0llie Dench, Prad Prithivi, Bailey Longcloth and Coughran Mayo Bloggers: Saffia Widdershins, Qwis Greenwood, Jvstin Tomorrow, Diva Regina, Alesia Markstein, Bailey Longcloth and Kghia Gherardi Our thanks go to all the designers and other people across the Second Life world who have given advice and support to help us produce this 10th edition of Prim Perfect.