Rez Magazine Autumn 2008

Welcome to Rez Autumn 2008 Our 4th in-world book! Rez Magazine is now over one year old and what a year it’s been. Of course before we go any further we have to thank you, our loyal and devoted readers, without you all this wouldn’t have been possible. Voodoo and I founded Rez with the ethos for a creative platform with no ties to the advertising linden. We wanted to invite similarly minded creative people out there to come join our growing magazine. I’m pleased to announce that this book has the first of these new creative minds, in the shape of Neuron Bandit. Neuron is our source for the artist in SecondLife and his first article for Rez is featured in this magazine.

We continue to bring you researched and (hopefully) interesting articles from our world of Second Life. Of course we also work hard behind the scenes and have grown quite a collection of in-world vendors for you to place in your homes or workplaces around the grid. Our group membership has grown significantly in the past few months and we have also opened a new flagship office at the Boxapixels sim. We were proud to attend the Autumn Writers Exhibition at Cookie; the exhibition remains a dear place in our Rez hearts as it was our first ever event.

This edition is our biggest yet, and features our favourite articles since the last in-world book. Voodoo raises some interesting and pertinent question about Linden Labs gambling ban, as well as covering some of his favourite in-world board games. He also features a followup to his Bear request and also speaks to the massively talented creator behind Barerose. Trinity on the other hand interviews the man behind The Lava Pit about it’s comeback and the controversial comeback attempt by someone else. She explorers the best bridges on offer in Second Life and she also takes a time out to speak from the heart about the Linden Lab recent announcement affecting OpenSpace sims.

We hope you enjoy the read and continue to support your favourite Rez Magazine for the future years!

Trin and Voo

Happy Halloween from Rez

Don’t be Bored, Get Board (Games)

by Voodoo Buwan

If the recent scandal over on Facebook regarding the popularity of Scrabulous, and the subsequent actions by the makers of Scrabble to make sure they got the spotlight from the huge number of users, has taught us anything, it’s that online board games are as much fun, if not more, as real life ones. With this in mind, I decided to check out some inworld versions of popular games, to find out the best and worst on offer.

Seeing that Scrabble was the inspiration for this little consumer test, I decided to find a product to give you the entertainment of the word based game while in SL. The best and most popular version appears to be SelbyWord

by Moore or Less Creations. At 1499$L it is one of the pricier games in our list, and at 229 Prims it is unfortunately the most prim heavy, meaning that those with only small plots of land probably won’t even want to bother thinking about buying themselves a copy, and rather go to one of the inworld pubs which allow you and up to 3 friends to use theirs. On the plus side, SelbyWord does come with a full manual, instructing how to set the game up, and explaining the rules and how to play, which is fortunate, seeing that, possibly due to the trouble the makers of Scrabulous got into, SelbyWord has some fairly big changes from your standard Scrabble. The introduction of half score spaces and scoring being based on where you place tiles, rather than the tiles having intrinsic scores are fairly interesting innovations, but the fact that the scoring has changed so that you only get points for the tiles you put down rather than for the words you make, is frustrating for anyone who enjoys the original game to the point that you may decide to not even bother.

The next game is actually one that I have at my own SL abode, Chess from The SL Chess and Sudoku Club, rezzing at a reasonably mid range 73 Prims, and priced at only 390$L. The board does come with useage instructions but no rule explanation for those who might not know how to play the game, such as which pieces can go where, although it does stop you making an incorrect move with a piece. Unfortunately unlike the previous game, this is limited to only two players, meaning it might be a good choice for you and your significant other to play on a quiet night. The board is relatively simple, opting to go for a 2D display, rather than making more prim hungry three dimensional little pieces; and has a easy click piece, then click destination interface, and apart from trying to figure out which is the King and which is the Queen, is no problem to use.

Simple is not a word I would necessarily use for the inworld version of Ludo I found, named “Avatar Don’t Worry” and made by Takeshi Newman Games. The board game itself is only 18 Prims, making it the lowest prim game in the selection, but can be bought with a table and chairs for it, but since the game alone is 650$L, while adding the extremely basic furniture adds another 75$L to the price, I personally would just place the board on a table of your own instead of forking out for the frankly ugly table and chairs. The game comes with no instructions whatsoever, which is a massive shame, since it’s been a while since me and my friends had played this, so when we sat down to play, we were kinda having to figure it as we went. We were doing ok at recalling the rules, but were fought every step of the way by the games horrible controls, thus leading to us missing turns, or not understanding why the lag riddled die sent me 3 spaces, when I still saw a 6 on it from the last person’s turn. It got so bad that, to be honest, we couldn’t make it through one game, and gave up.

Another game which we unfortunately had more rule problems with was Mah Jongg by Chiyosuke Wise. This game narrowly took the prize for most expensive, at a princely 2000$L, and was second highest on the prim count, at a hefty 199 prims. So, why bother, you may ask? Well, it is very well built, and although it has no instructions, it does work with a free HUD that it gives all of the 2-4 players. However, here is where we get the point that this might not be the best review. You see, none of my party had any experience with this game, so the lack of instructions made life a little tricky. Learning from last time, we looked up websites with the rules (such as http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahjong), but for some reason the more we thought we had got a grip on the rules, the more we scored badly and were thrashed by the computer player. However, what I can say is we did have fun trying to figure out the massively complex rules, and anyone who does understand how to play, and has the money and space for a table, will probably have even more fun with this finely created game.

I hungered for something a little simpler and less confusing at this point, and fortunately found Connect 4 by AZT. Now this game, although unsophisticated, wins the top prize of price, at a mere 300$L for a Transfer/No Copy version, although it’s 1000$L for the Copy/No Trans one and Gambling version costs even more. However, we’re concentrating on the home use one, so with it’s price crown in place, and coming in second on it’s prim count by just one prim (19 in total) this wins the award for being user friendly regardless of size of wallet, or size of your land. As you would expect being basic in price and basic in prims, it’s fairly basic in design, but then, it’s thankfully also basic in rules, meaning that you and your other player should have absolutely no problems using it, which is good, since there are useage instructions but no actual rule documentation. I will say, that if you can’t understand the

rules of Connect 4, you probably can’t also figure out how to download and log into SL, so that’s not really a worry. So, taking into account price, prims, and ease of use, we have our winner...

Only we don’t. You see, Connect 4 is a joy to use, and is a superb buy that any resident should get many hours of happy use out of. But, my recommendation for best board game is not the cheapest (at 1995$L it’s the second most expensive), and is not the least prims (it comes 4th out of 6 on our list, at 103 Prims). It does at least have instructions, and a superb user interface that helps guide you along, but has no rule book par se.

So, why is my recommendation out of all the games, the Second Life version of Monopoly called SLopoly, by K.R. Engineering? Well, for one very important reason... It’s the most FUN! In fact, our very own Trin has now become thoroughly addicted to this game, complete with it’s SL specific styling, with all the properties being renamed to popular sims, the train stations being replaced by infohubs, and the chance and community chest cards all talking about things inworld we will all be familiar with, such as “You won Best in an Arbitrary Colour competition, collect 10$L” or “The Asset server lost your item. Linden’s look up from their desks and do nothing about it, Lose 100$L”. The game supports anything from 2 to 8 players, and can provide hours of frustration or joy, and either way, will keep you coming back for more. If you aren’t convinced, have a go for yourself on the copy I have out at our Monema Office. Oh, and if your friends are all too busy to play, you might well be able to convince Trin to try to kick your ass at it.

The Lava Pit rises from the ashes

by Trinity Dechou

I’m sure many people have often wondered what distinguishes one place from another. In Second Life there is a plethora of clubs; what makes one place stand out from all the rest? Is it is the decor, the build, the themes or does it come down to the people who go there?

Regular readers of Rez will remember I tracked the demise of Durell Celts Lava Pit; a club originally devised by Lord Leafblower and Aava Jeego. The original Lava Pit closed early 2007 and Durell, one of the many members attempted to reintroduce the club. In my controversial and scathing article I noted that the reincarnation of this formerly successful club was rather disappointing.

Since that article was posted, Durell’s version of the club has gone, leaving no trace on the Second Life network. However, Lord and Aava’s Lava Pit has still left its mark even with its suspended absence. That was until September 2008 when The Lava Pit once more opened its doors under the careful wings of the original owners.

The new Lava Pit has a completely different build, different decor and somewhat different themed events. However, whilst the club itself has had a complete makeover the experience remains and same and the new prims have recaptured that genuine family feel. Clearly in answer to my original question, this club stands out from the others because of the people; particularly because of its owners.

I caught up with Lord Leafblower and asked him to explain The Lava Pits journey to date.

Trinity: What did you think of the resurrection club provided by Durell Celt Lord: It is unfortunate that I agreed to hand over the name and legacy of the club at that time. Contrary to the hype and promises made by the new owner, the resulting place added nothing to the earlier successes and popularity of the original. The Lava Pit was about Lord Leafblower, Aava Jeegoo and all the friends, without those personalities there, it wasn’t The Lava Pit.

Trinity: The Lava Pit on Kiva Island closed early 2007, why have you decided to bring the Lava Pit back to SecondLife now?* Lord: Well, to understand why we brought it back, you need to understand why we closed it.

By March 2007, working and personal life for both of us was getting extremely busy. At that time we had already started to think about the forthcoming Boxapixels company and Lava Inside products were just starting to be produced. We were no longer able to commit as much personal time to being in SL as we previously had been.

Secondly The Lava Pit had gotten away from its original small, friendsbased hang-out. It had become another overloaded club in SL with gambling, contests, virtual-sex and all the trimmings that come with those aspects. It was totally out of control! And that’s entirely my doing as I got carried away with the success of the place.

Another reason was purely personal. The Lava Pit had become too well known. As a result I was the target of constant abuse in IM, notecard drops and whatever other mechanisms from complete strangers. There are quite an extraordinary amount of people that want to be pissed off at anybody seemly ”doing well” out of Second Life. The constant stream of abuse grinds you down eventually even if you try to ignore it. A lot of misinformed people seem to think that so-called ”clubs” in SL are making money for the owners.

They couldn’t be more wrong :D establishing, promoting, maintaining a successful club or hang-out in Second Life can cost a fortune.

Anyway, those are the major reasons that we closed it down. It went out with a bang, at a popularity high-point and I was happy with the decision.

So 1.5 years later, I felt like I wanted to re-open The Lava Pit, but bring it back in the style of the ”original” small Lava Pit that started on mainland in September 2006. That was small, a low membership count, some mad friends, randomly having events and so on... it didn’t need to be occupied 24/7 and was a no pressure situation for us. I had originally started the place in 2006 as I got frustrated at the ”rules” of The Shelter. I couldn’t find a place that was a friendly hang-out without being analy retentive. So, true to the nature of Second Life, I figured I would make one.

Now I hope that the new place will become that thing once again.

Trinity: How has the response been to the new Lava Pit? Lord: When I sent out the invitations to the ”opening” to the people I wanted to know about it, the up-take was practically 100%. So that was kind of fun.

The response to the ”change” of the place is mixed, but generally people like the place, the new style, the new look and the original idea.

There is no active promoting for The Lava Pit going on, and the events are not regularly timed, so it’s difficult to compare it’s attendance and acceptance with the previous place. The objective is totally different, and there is no camping, so... =)

Trinity: The design of the club has changed significantly can you tell me why?* Lord: The original Lava Pit on mainland was built in ignorance. I didn’t really know my way about building in Second Life so well. So the result was basically a box with stuff in it. It grew of course.

Then by the time I bought Kiva Island and put the new Lava Pit there I was in such a rush to get the place moved, that I just built a Bigger Box :D If you remember, the place was constantly evolving, but I never really liked the build as it was so ad-hoc.

The new Lava Pit today is how I would have liked it before. It’s round (ish),

small enough to not be intimidating, but large enough to cope with 20+ people.

If you make a big club place, you need to fill the spaces to allow it have any kind of “atmosphere”. That invariably leads to a large place full of unrelated crap that follows no theme or style =) So it was good to avoid that.

The newly opened Lava Pit has set out with very different themed events.

Opening night was “Worst in whatever” and one of the most notable events since then was “Big Fat Av”. I wanted to know Lords inspiration for these events and what some of the feedback had been to the particularly non PC themes.

Lord: I’m not sure there is any inspiration other than “be controversial”, but I will explain a little about why they are as they are.

Well the place has one rule, ”don’t piss each other off, everything else is OK!”.

That rule is a bit subjective, what pisses one person off, makes another laugh.

So I thought, the owner should at least be able to piss everybody off! =) No but really, the main reason was being utterly bored with the mundane ”Best In ” contests that are done to death in Second Life. Best In Black, Best In Leather, Best In Blaaaaa and so on. So I vowed never to have a ”Best In” contest, and that lead to some unconventional and controversial events like ”Big Fat Av” and so on. The funny thing is, the people that attend those events have split their sides laughing at themselves and their friends. And *that* is what it should be about. Anybody getting on their high-horse about ”immoral event themes” needs to take a deep breath and worry about something serious in life =) Lava Inside, club products range, was born on Kiva Island alongside the Lava Pit. Even after Kiva Island closed, Lava Inside continued to grow. Lord added a Lava Inside main store to his estate which also includes The Lava Pit sim, Boxapixels Sandbox and Mall and the under development Leafside Heights weapons area. I asked Lord about the growth of these sims and the creations born from the original Lava Pit.

Lord: Lava Inside grew out of two things. Firstly my programming skills in RL and secondly the need for devices and gadgets for the Lava Pit as it was growing. Lava Inside started to take over my SL time away from The Lava Pit. It was nice to see some revenue coming from efforts in Second Life rather than just being a money ”pit”. Then it just kept growing as I thought of other things to create and sell. Now, Lava Inside is a thriving supplier of items in Second Life.

Leafside Heights is a new project and still under work. It is a free-for-all weapons area with damage and push enabled. But rather than just be a weapons sandbox I wanted it to have some theme and atmosphere. So I thought it would be fun to build it as a run-down urban place. It’s a fun playground =)

The Lava Pit was certainly held sacred in the hearts of its many members in SecondLife. It is responsible for my personal development here. Like so many, the reincarnation of the club under new ownership, clouded the wonderful memories of THE Lava Pit. I certainly believe this particular club owes its success to the people and I for one am very happy to see it back where it belongs. Here ends The Lava Pits happy ending.

The New Gaming and The Ban That Isn’t?

by Voodoo Buwan

It was only when I was re-reading my most recent article, on board games, that I realised that something didn’t sit right. When writing about AZT’s Connect 4 game, I had mentioned that there were three editions of the machine on offer. One that was transfer/no copy, for personal use, one that was copy/no transfer, so that one person could set out many copies of the game for all to play, and a special version, whereby the people playing each had to pay to play, the winner gets more than they put in, and the owner of the game gets a cut, which I referred to as the “gambling version”. When re-reading this I was suddenly whisked back to over a year ago, when I was writing for another site, and found myself at the Linden Village, surrounded by angry people waving placards, covering a protest against the then recently introduced ban on gambling in Second Life, in line with the United States’ “Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006”, a comprehensive and enlightening explanation of which can be found here. So, has gambling resurfaced in Second Life despite the rules? Is this new gambling legal? Or is Linden Labs actually not bothering to enforce their own policy?

Looking to further investigate this, I went into the search menu, and tried looking for further evidence. I found no results for “casino” or “gambling” under the classified tab, but when I looked under “gaming” I found a host of places offering cash prizes for playing various games, such as Golden Palace whose advert features a picture offering “The Real Casino Feeling”, Fortuna Games who have an ad featuring a photo of a real life Casino, $$Redness Gaming$$ and many many more besides. Considering that casino style gambling is strictly not allowed under the US laws in force in SL. One thing that all of the gaming places that came up in the search had in common was that they offered residents the opportunity to play a game called Zyngo, with the promise of big cash prizes. So, I figured the best way to investigate this a bit more would be to contact the creator of arguably the most popular and widely used Zyngo machines inworld, Aargle Zymurgy, to find out about how his machines have become such a phenomenon, and how they are allowed to exist at all:

Voodoo Buwan: Am I right in thinking that Zyngo is your invention?

Aargle Zymurgy: Well the game itself actually existed outside SL, and I’m not the only implementer. I played a competing version when I first got in SL, but was appalled how badly it ran. So, I set out to make my own with all the features I thought games here should have. Pretty much everything I put in Zyngo was immediately grabbed by other game designers.

Voodoo Buwan: Roughly how many people are making Zyngo games inworld?

Aargle Zymurgy: Currently, I think just 3 of that style. 3 besides me, that is.

And under different names Voodoo Buwan: Have you been surprised by just how successful Zyngo is in SL these days?

Aargle Zymurgy: I’m always surprised here. :-) Voodoo Buwan: One thing I’m curious about is how the gambling ban in SL affected you, and your sales?

Aargle Zymurgy: In January, 2007 when I started work on it, if you asked me if I’d be doing what I’m doing now, I wouldn’t have believed it. I’ve only had 2 months with declining sales: one was just after the initial gambling ban, things were a bit uncertain for everyone then.... the skill-based games were still secondary to gambling equipment at the time. After that settled out, things were fine. The other was during this past month with the US economy apparently in some turmoil. I’m hoping that smooths out too. :-) Voodoo Buwan: You’ll have to forgive me for not being an expert on how the game works, but can you explain how Zyngo is less gambling, and more of a skill game, than say, Poker?

Aargle Zymurgy: well, ok, I’ll admit up front most people find this answer confusing... especially if you mention poker. No-one is saying poker isn’t a game of skill. However, it’s specifically dis-allowed in SL. so, you can’t really bring that into any comparison. No, substitute “craps” in your question, and it can be answered. I have a general rule in game design: if you only choice is to play or not play, then it’s a gambling game. Otherwise, there are other factors. Back after the initial gambling ban, I did a classic test on the game.... it was done to whist 150 years ago... I set up a dozen zyngo games what all played identically. Same numbers, jokers, etc. came up every time and that way, I was able to get a group of players and established that some definitely played more skillfully than others. I did the same with Quince.

From that point forward, I was just careful with the whole issue.

Voodoo Buwan: Have you had any discussions with Linden Labs regarding all this? Did you have to prove your point to them?

Aargle Zymurgy: I DID prove my point to them. But, at this point, the Lindens still don’t do “approvals” of games. However, their governance team knows the developers and knows we know the rules.

Voodoo Buwan: So they have monitored the situation, and know it’s all above board?

Aargle Zymurgy: I regularly attend the g-team meetings. I send courtesy copies of my games to members of the team. plus to a few of the developers.

It seems a few of them like my games. LOL... I had one here on this little island to check a script I had left out for testing purposes for the dev team, and I had a new game in development nearby.... he was distracted playing the new game when I arrived. And I love that..... I like when people get addicted to my games.

Voodoo Buwan: So would that be your advice to anyone else looking to develop their own game inworld? To get to know the governance team, and to work with them?

Aargle Zymurgy: Well... hm... that’s another tough question..... I’ve helped new game developers before... but it’s a tough market to break into now.

One did a very nice game, but couldn’t attract any interest or get any sales.

Voodoo Buwan: So, it’s a bit of a sealed market?

Aargle Zymurgy: I wouldn’t go as far as saying that. But there are some definite top dogs in the market. I brought Lamorna (his Business Partner) with me back when I was just beginning. She got making board games which do very well. Prior to that point they were poorly done and in the last year, she’s done well with arcade games, too Voodoo Buwan: So, with good work, and perseverance... anything is possible?

Aargle Zymurgy: I like to think so. I think I did quite a few things right, but to some extent by accident and some things I just did that were right without expecting results.

I found myself somewhat enlightened from my conversation with Aargyle, but there were still some outstanding issues. His statement that his games were exempt from the rules due to the skill aspect relates to the part of the Act relating to what is a bet, where it’s stated that a bet is “the purchase of a chance to win a lottery or other prize the award of which is predominantly subject to chance”. The use of the word “predominantly” is the important

one, although Aargyle was incorrect on one thing, namely when he states that: “No-one is saying poker isn’t a game of skill.” The article I previously referenced explains that the issue is not whether there is some element of skill, but rather that: “Most U.S. jurisdictions apply the Dominant Factor test to determine if a contest is a game of skill or a game of chance. That test looks to which elements predominate (51%) in determining outcome of the game.

If the elements of chance predominate, then it is a game of chance, notwithstanding that skill elements are important, but not predominant.”

This Dominant Factor test is akin the the test that Aargyle describes, but apparently the mathematical analysis on games of Poker are not seen to stand up to prove that the skill factor is more than 51%.

I decided to see if the creators of any other gaming equipment could offer a little more clarification, especially since another part of my conversation with Aargyle that had left me curious was the fact his checks with Linden Labs seemed mostly due to him knowing them, or them knowing him. If he hadn’t known them, what would have happened? I had heard of the reemergence of Sploders, the raffle balls used in clubs, touting themselves as “Legal”. With this in mind, I messaged Brandi Cazalet, the owner of the shop Sploder Craze:

Voodoo Buwan: Hi there. I’m wondering what makes the Sploders you sell at Sploder Craze legal, by the rules of the gambling ban?

Brandi Cazalet: They do not pay out randomly like the old sploders did. The payouts are based on a cycle and I freely give the cycle

Voodoo Buwan: But surely this is still a chance situation rather than a game of skill? How does the cycle stop it being a game of chance?

Brandi Cazalet: The reason it is a game of skill is because the way i have it set up. I freely give the cycles to those that buy the sploders. They should post the cycles in their clubs. It tells the participants exactly when they should pay in, of sorts, because the winners are based on what point they play in the game. So the cycles are posted and it is more strategic to pay in at the correct time it doesnt just pay automatically Voodoo Buwan: So it’s like a race to be, for example, the 8th person to pay in?

Brandi Cazalet: Well not quite like that, lol, but for example, in the first sploder game played the first person in would win a certain percentage... and each person after that would win a certain set percentage. They know exactly what they will win, based upon when they pay in. It pays 9 winners each game. Then on the second game those percentages would change so they are not the same every time.

Voodoo Buwan: Ah, I think I understand Brandi Cazalet: I tried to get them certified thru linden labs, but they tell me they don’t do certifications, but they are aware. I have been here for a long time:) Voodoo Buwan: Did you have to go to them, or were they keeping an eye on you?

Brandi Cazalet: Nope. I’ve never been contacted by anyone. I freely imed several of the Linden employees on the action team, because I did not want to do anything wrong, back when I opened. I never heard back from any of them and they have never been to my shop. I have been open about 8 months... sold probably 3 or 400 but I im’d every one of them with nothing in response. I have never had any confiscated either so i guess they are ok with me being here And there is the biggest question out of all of this. Are Linden Labs paying attention to all of this? They set out a ban, in accordance with the rules that apply to them, since the servers that host Second Life are in the US, and the law applies whether the player or the provider of the “site” are based in the US. However, are they actually actively doing anything to enforce it? And since most of the Lindens are programmers or customer service representatives, rather than lawyers or police officers, how can they enforce the law correctly? Could someone with enough knowledge make a decent enough arguement to talk rings around them, and their governance team, to convince them that there is no need to worry about certain gaming? Or,

since they are not doing official “approval” of games, are those investing in the creation or usage of these new gaming machines running an enormous risk, since Linden Labs could turn around, and confiscate their equipment and funds at a moments notice? Or, ultimately, did Linden Labs create the ban to show that they are trying to comply with the law, and give them a level of deniability, but don’t have the inclination or manpower to enforce it? And are we worrying over nothing? I wish I had the answers, but until then, it’s not just the people playing Zyngo or chucking money into the sploders who are taking a risk, with the hope of financial reward.

And Even More Bears!

by Voodoo Buwan

Those who’ve been paying attention may have recently read my article on Linden Bears, where I pointed out that it seems to be becoming more common that people with the surname Linden are now choosing to have someone build their Bear (the gift that they give away, that’s meant to represent them), rather than taking the time to make them personally. At the end of the piece, I explained, by making a bear of my own, that making something personal and cute is not that difficult, and put out a challenge to other sl residents to make their own bears, and send them to me, to show the Lindens how it’s done. I’m delighted to say, I’ve not been disappointed.

First of all, I nagged our very own Trinity Dechou to make a bear. Eventually, she put together this adorable plush toy, which due to it’s little ears, has a mole-like charm. It comes complete with a replica of Trin’s favourite sniper rifle, and if you’re wondering what it’s reading, well, it’s a lil copy of everyone’s favourite Rez Magazine, of course!

Not wanting to be outdone, Trinity’s partner and master builder, Aimee Trescothick, put her skills towards bear creation, and sent me this ethereal animal, with amazing use of glow, and a swirling inner beauty, giving it an amazing ghostly beauty. Oh, and I’ve heard of a special version that only Trin has, with a glowing heart inside.

My partner, Allanah Tomsen, also rose to the challenge, creating this Koala-like red and black bear, which she specially scripted so that when you click it, it gives you a notecard with a hug for you, since there are never enough hugs going round, and this hug you can keep and treasure, much like the bear itself.

Meanwhile, Tucor Capalini had been working on themed bears as prizes to go with the carnival stalls he’d been designing (which you can buy here.. I particularly recommend the Clockwork Orange Bear).

When he heard about my bear challenge, he designed this superb Tucor Bear, complete with his signature visor, and some rather fine flexi hair.

Neko Cummere Mayo sent me this fabulously feline cuddly toy, as a simple bear would not have embodied her kitty tendencies. This adorable teddycat has Cummere’s crimson hair, and a happy little flicking tail.

Squirrel Wood sent me this very existential “Bear Inside”, a kind of Schrodinger’s Bear, where as long as you believe that there is a bear is inside the impenetrable box, then there is.

Tal Chernov’s avatar is that of a furry polar bear, who wears cyberpunk goggles, so that his bear represents him more most, being in fact, almost a miniature version of himself. And at over 100 prims, there has been some definite time and effort put into constructing this adorable albino.

I even received a bear from an SL Legend, the King of the Hobos, Orhalla Zander. In between the many projects he has going on, he also found time to make one of the cutest bears I’ve seen. This chubby little cardboard box dwelling bear is definitely all hobo, with the happy go lucky scamp sporting a cheeky wink, a can of beer, and Orhalla’s trademark barrel outfit.

However, the bear which has brought the most sheer joy was this Magician Bear by Joeseph Albanese. As well as being a fantastically cute bear in his own right, the delight comes when you click on his wand. The little fella attempts to dazzle you with a magic trick, but unfortunately sets his hat on fire. Once he realises his mistake, he then conjures a magic fire extinguisher (more successfully this time) which you can click to put out the fire, and save his hat from fiery doom.

So there you go. Once again the residents of SL show just how creative they can be when a challenge is thrown down. I only hope more people rise to the challenge. After all, one thing I’ve learned from this whole experience is how great it is to be given a little bear that someone has taken the time, effort and thought to build. So why not give your friends a bear today? I think they deserve it!

The Art that is ‘Second Life’

by Neuron Bandit

The definition of ‘Art’ is in itself is a rather complex, personal and debatable issue. My personal reflection of the word in its simplest of terms would be…

‘Art is the expression of thought, emotion, opinion and observation, by stimulating one or more of the five senses in order to communicate these experiences to another.’

We have five senses in which to interpret our environment and communicate with each other. We can express ourselves in many ways including music / singing, writing / poetry, imagery / video, dance and sculpture.

There are many ways to create a picture, or to compose music, even the choice of words in our writing, expresses the mood, personality and education of the author.

Ok so where am I going with this?

Second life is a virtual, digital reality that runs in parallel with our everyday lives.

This is a great platform to meet, socialise and express ourselves with people that in all likelihood we would never have the opportunity to befriend. A consequence of this flexible system, it brings a great many people closer together.

Closing the boundaries set in place by physical constraints, we can meet people from all nations within a few virtual footsteps, and maybe a TP ;) This system (being internet hosted) maintains a separation from reality and creates some very important changes to the way we communicate to each other. We only have two of our senses within the realms of our sl. ‘Voice chat’ is now a popular tool to communicate, however this is a relatively new feature and many residents still choose not to use it including

myself. My point being it is one thing to read discussions in your chat bar, but quite another to sense the tone in which it was said. This highlights that our communication options are limited from our everyday existence and sl citizens have adapted to accommodate these limitations.

Second life stimulates the creative sparks / motivations within us, whether in our imaginations, the objects we build / texture or the avatars we shape and dress. We are from conception expressing ourselves by designing our appearance and the very environment that we live in.

More so than in our real lives, having been given the power by God (Lindens), to have a full body make over, (change species in some cases) Fly down to the nearest B&Q, buy bits to make your house, TP back to your land, instantly erect your new home, just in time for your ‘best in neko’ disco party at 8pm ;) Situations that simply couldn’t exist in our reality are readily created, further increasing artistic potential.

I am an artist myself, and I look around sl appreciating an environment saturated with creative and artistic self expression.

Stop for a few moments and think about what you are experiencing. Everything has taken thought, consideration and time to bring it into existence.

The construction of a building or the texture applied to its walls, it says something about the creator, or their intention for presenting it this way.

Here are two contrasting ways that residents have chosen to present their locations, both creating different atmospheres and for very different purposes.

An aerial photograph of Svarga shows off the majestic structure that dominates high up, on this beautiful nature reserve.

This shot from the crack den contrasts that of Svarga in atmosphere and mood, not quite my holiday preference; having said this beauty is not the purpose of this location.

We cannot even take the natural for granted, landscapes, trees, grasses, lakes and skies are all creations from our fellow residents.

The Lindens created the canvas and supplied us the tools to paint our picture. Many of us have our own small piece of the larger picture, those places we call home. It is here we personalise our piece of the jigsaw. We design the homes we’ve dreamt of, then decorate and furnish; making them our comfortable space :) Just like the real world we all have varying likes and dislikes and so the final painting continues to expand.

Creativity is such a fundamental part of our sl, that without it there would be no second life to live.

For us to use it we must first build it!

For us to enjoy it we must texture and script it!

Only then can it be appreciated!

The key that unlocks the gates to the vast, rich content flowing over the grid is in the minds and imaginations of those of us that call it our home.

Trin and Voo go Loco (Poco)

Trinity Dechou: Following on from my previous article and experience of Loco Pocos Island, I suggested to Mr Buwan (fellow explorer) that Trin and Voo should attempt to do the infamous Loco Pocos Treasure Hunt.

Voodoo Buwan: As a break from the norm for our little Trin and Voo jaunts, on this particular excursion, we decided to drag our respective significant others along for the ride Trinity Dechou: I was appointed (by myself) to lead this little expedition so I arrived at the Loco Pocos Main Store (as the adorable red Loco Poco Fox) and teleported the equally adorable Loco Pocos Gray Cat, namely my partner, Aimee Trescothick.

Voodoo Buwan: Myself and the beautiful Allanah Tomsen met up with Trin and Aims, but of course, we decided to go all non-conformist. Allanah wore a non-Loco Pocos black cat avatar, although with a very cute Loco Pocos hat and trainers, while I turned up in my tiny Cosmic Boy avatar, a self customised piece, created mostly using the Seisaku Kit from Kuroboro Works.

Trinity Dechou: We quickly wandered the shop to pick up any essential equipment for the adventure; this is where Aimee decided it was essential to purchase a tank for the trails. Having been mercilessly mowed down by the tank a few times, we decided to start off our adventure.

Voodoo Buwan: We headed down from the main shop, to the roots of the massive tree that dominates the island, and started searching for the notes from some long forgotten Pirate, which would guide us on our way Trinity Dechou: We spotted a shipwrecked boat and decided this would be a good place to start our adventure. Once we all fell aboard we began looking for these hidden books which detail the history of the island, and its inhabitants. Allanah exclaimed that she had found the first book and we all set off trying to find her.

Voodoo Buwan: I was amazed at how our feline counterparts were coping so well with all the water!

Trinity Dechou: Having rescued the kittens from the water, while voodoo tried to guide his cosmic boy creation into the first room, we all stood waiting for our snapshot as he arrived on the floating door and prepared to strike his cosmic pose.

Voodoo Buwan: Boy did I look cosmic! However, I looked less impressive when we went to find the other book on this boat, as it required falling through a grate, which everyone else managed with ease, while I got my massive planetoid sized heed stuck in the bars.

Trinity Dechou: We decided with two wet and angry Cats, and the huge headed Cosmic entity, that we had had enough of the boat so I lead the party back to dry land. Aimee decided around this time she no longer wanted her camouflaged tank to blend in, and she changed her tank to a tan appearance.

We stumbled upon a REALLY tiny village and decided to stand around in an intimidating fashion.

Voodoo Buwan: Oh how I envied the little mushroom houses! Tiny is good, but I can’t wait until someone invents the miniscule!

Trinity Dechou: Before Aimee flatted the pretty village we wandered round the island further and discovered a rather tricky and hidden book under a little ground bush.

Voodoo Buwan: It was at this point, that the primberrys reminded Aims that tank fired primberry bullets. Which she then spent most of the rest of the trip shooting us with. Ignoring this, we battled on, eventually finding an entrance into the giant tree itself.

Trinity Dechou: As Allanah, Voodoo and myself tried to find neutral ground away from the tank we fled up the tunnel and arrived in a large open space with falling starts and yet another book. Aimee ceased firing for just long enough while we grabbed a quick pic.

Voodoo Buwan: Once we got the photo, everyone headed out, while I predictably fell into the pool there, for the fishermen who frequent that room. After spending a couple of minutes running as fast as I could on my little cosmic legs to catch up, I was told that Allanah had to go deal with some rl things, but that we should carry on.

Trinity Dechou: Offering a towel to the soaked Cosmic Boy we happened upon another tunnel this one filled with portals to other worlds. After collecting another book we took the fiery red portal into a lava filled world.

Voodoo Buwan: This is where the real fun began, as not only did these magic portals give the chance to find more books, but also to get special prizes!

These prizes didn’t come easily, as you have to complete challenges to earn them. In this particular zone, you had to hop from rising and falling platforms, above molten lava, from one side of the room to the other

Trinity Dechou: Having watched the tank clad Aimee leap gracefully over the platforms I decided to try. Having failed miserably I decided that I didn’t have the skills to attempt these challenges. I however turned my attention to Cosmic Boy. As I watched him rise and fall with much amusement I decided others had to bare witness to this debarkle and I shot a movie; guest star Cosmic Boy! Voodoo Buwan: Yes, laugh at Voodoo’s complete lack of co-ordination!

Trinity Dechou: I have done on many, many, many occasions. It is only fair our fans should see this in real time too!

Voodoo Buwan: Yeah, well at least I tried! Anyway, eventually, we both gave up, and instead figured out that if we stood near the treasure chest, while Aimee made us feel inferior with her platform hopping skill, then when she opened the chest, we could quickly grab the treasure for ourselves too!

Trinity Dechou: This then involved amusement of its very own. While Aimee and I were both in Loco Pocos Avatars, attaching Loco Poco accessories is no issue. However if you are a rebel, like cosmic boy, the accessories don’t really fit.

Voodoo Buwan: Yes, while Trin’s av sported a flame Mohawk perfectly, I looked like something had caught fire inside my noggin.

Trinity Dechou: As Voodoo decided this really spoiled his whole look, we teleported to the next area, this one has a settlement of houses. We headed into the blue house. Cosmic Boy decided he needed to lay down following the whole lava experience, and Aimee posed with her turret through the fire.

Voodoo Buwan: I needed a brief time out in a comfy bed, to recover from various 3rd degree lava burns, and internal Mohawk scorching Trinity Dechou: From the settlement the group headed to a lovely boat and yet more treasure, providing we could crack the code to open the box.

Voodoo Buwan: We cam’d around the boat, to find the various clues, showing us the meanings behind the strange symbols above the chest. Once we uttered the magic word, we all gathered a delightful Pirate Hat to wear

Trinity Dechou: When you have a Loco Pocos Avatar you also get the Loco Pocos HUD. With this HUD you can change the colour of your attachments.

Aimee decided her current look suited the black, I chose the white, which left the very manly cosmic boy the default pink hat.

Voodoo Buwan: Hey, I’m secure enough in my cosmic masculinity to carry that off! Anyway, job done, we headed to the next zone, a maze of sandwalled catacombs for us to find our way through. Problem was that Trin had been struck by an attack of the lag, so Aimee and I strove on while she sorted herself out.

Trinity Dechou: Now being the profound genius that she is, Aimee headed straight to the end. Meanwhile Voodoo and I were sucked into the swirling sand as we kept taking the wrong turns. What is they say about men not looking at maps? My excuse was the lag.

Voodoo Buwan: Now, while I tried again and again, and earned the sense of achievement that comes from managing something yourself, Trin waited until I was done, and then got her girlfriend to come and guide her half blind lagging ass to the treasure room, in what some would call cheating

Trinity Dechou: Personally I would call it an act of love. I was struggling and my lovely partner came back to rescue me... this is not cheating.

Voodoo Buwan: Cheating!

Trinity Dechou: Having made it into the treasure room (by any means possible) we each collected our swag bag and posed for yet another picture.

Having finished all the portals we headed back down the tunnel and out onto the island once more. We made our way over to the lighthouse and decided to walk the tall circular staircase to the top, to take in the view and have one last snap.

Voodoo Buwan: Well, to be slightly more accurate, as our scene and this adventure closed, Trin was looking out at the gorgeous view, while Aimee chased Cosmic Boy around the top of the lighthouse, shooting primberrys at him from her wee tank.

Trinity Dechou: That’s because you accused her of helping me to cheat, which clearly is an inflammable comment.

Voodoo Buwan: Hmmmm Trinity Dechou: Why must you always have the last word?

Voodoo Buwan: As if I would

Barerose Uncovered

by Voodoo Buwan

There are certain brands in SL, that pretty much everyone has heard of.

Businesses and products that have become so popular everyone will be aware of their work, if not have something by them in their inventory. One such brand is Barerose (or B@R as a number of outfits I own have stamped upon them). Operating out of their main HQ at The Bare Rose sim, Owner and Designer June Dion produces a wide range of clothing for both men and women, all at highly affordable prices. One thing that sets Barerose apart from the rest, apart from their long standing in the sl community, is the high standard of design on the textures, along with the variety of styles and colours contained in each pack. To learn a little more about what happens behind the scenes at such a massive operation, I managed to get June to agree to meet with me, along with general manager Tori Heart, who also helped with the discussion, since my Japanese is a LOT worse than June’s English: Voodoo: So, when did you you start Barerose?

June Dion: 3 years ago, when I starting SL after while :) I guess 2005 Aug Voodoo: What were your reasons for starting to make clothes?

June Dion: Because I shop lot in SLX. I spent $30 in a day, and thought should make by own X) Voodoo: Do you have any experience in design in rl?

June Dion: No but just could use photoshop so, I tried to make it, and still learning about design and art :)

Voodoo: Barerose has become one of the biggest brands in SL. Did your success surprise you at all?

June Dion: Yes didn’t know such a big, as you can see, our logo is very simple, I was just enjoy to make clothes and didn’t thinking it gonna be so big store Voodoo: What would you say has been the secret of your success? After all, there’s a lot of competition out there?

June Dion: Like Tori here, we are working with staff together, only alone, couldn’t make it :) and just keep think how to make smile for people as we can possible Tori Heart: I think you can say that June makes clothing very affordable at super high quality. For instance, almost all her sets come with 3, 4, 5, or more colors all included. Most places give you 1 color, and she always tries to keep her prices low under 200L. Most are even cheaper 180L or less. Plus she makes it fun to shop at her store. For instance there’s a raffle ball in all our stores that give away free clothes, we have fun parties and events. Since our clothes is transferable, can share with friend or can combination with another clothes too :) June Dion: There is another fun they can get, also made it easy to change color. If it take time, I will release separated, like Kimono released today.

Voodoo: What would you say your aim is with Barerose?

June Dion: Hmm how can I say, can be clothing store as entertainment, if we can be.

Tori Heart: You mean have clothing and entertainment together?

June Dion: yes X) Voodoo: Think that says it very well. Has the success of the business, and the sims, brought many challenges, and if so, how have you tackled these?

June Dion: Not so much difficult with our friends help, and don’t I start something if I haven’t time or budget. But idea is most hard to get, Tori Heart: Ah trying to decide on an idea of clothes?

June Dion: Ya, and things like SIM environment and such :) Tori Heart: One thing, too, Voodoo, June builds all her own stores too. Shes quite the builder on top of designer and all 3 of the sims are different too.

June Dion: Yes we have casual section, formal section, goth section, japanese section and couples section on another SIM, but people come hq mostly X) Voodoo: One thing that comes with popularity is that with more people wanting to come and get your products, the lag increases...

Tori Heart: One thing we cant control is that the more success June has the more people in the sim, so its a sl issue to be sure, but we try to keep the lag to a minimum as we can. For instance, on the black cat sim there are 3 other stores of ours: a couples store, a branch store, and a haute couture store, so people can shop there as well. Plus white wolf sim, which is Japanese and goth only. So they don’t have to shop at just one store, there’s options =) Voodoo: Finally, what advice would you give to anyone wishing to follow in your footsteps and become a designer in sl?

June Dion: Just enjoy to building what you like, it’s key to doing what people like. And love lot of stuff as you can possible, if not just try :) Tori Heart: June is a great person to emulate for success, her pricing and customer support would be great to follow.

A bridge too far

by Trinity Dechou

Some of the worlds finest examples usually stand proud and tall, dominating a position and looking down on us all. I doubt many of us would be able to look at a bridge and have no feeling about it whatsoever; even if that feeling is from the purely practical point of view that the structure carries you from here to there. For bridge enthusiasts (of which I am one) around the world, bridges can invoke many different thoughts and even emotions. From the finer details of how it’s been constructed to how it can symbolise a physical and sometimes even emotional journey to the other side.

With these thoughts in mind I decided to use my SecondLife to embark on an exploration of bridges. From the large, well known, showcases bridges, to the smaller lesser known structures.

One of the best recognised bridges in the (real) world is the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

In SecondLife this bridge is located at Ponderosa as part of the Australian themed sims.

In excess of 1,000 prims this virtual representation of this immense bridge is wonderful, my only complaint is the area lacks its world famous Opera House. However from a ‘things I’d like to do before I die’ point of view, I was able to walk up the Sydney Harbour bridge and I never even left my seat.

Another unmistakable giant in the world of real life bridges is the Brooklyn Bridge in New York. I found the SL version of this bridge on slexchange and following an IM to the creator was given a landmark to view this in-world. This bridge can be bought for 17,000$L and utilises over 900 prims however it is

frankly astounding. The attention to detail is flawless; from the cables with particle emitting lights to the support towers and even a city skyline in the background which all go together to paint a rather exceptional picture.

For my next SecondLife Bridge I decided that while the two structures mentioned above were indeed stunning they were not something most of us could have on our homes or islands very easily. So instead of looking at bridges over 1,000 prims I brought the limitation down.

Any connoisseurs of finely primed boats in SL will be very familiar with the name Maximilian Milosz and his inworld location at Max Marina Yacht Club and MaxMarine. A short walk from the Marina I discovered a beautifully detailed foot bridge which is under 200 prims but manages to look more like 600. Like his boats Maximilian has paid particular attention to the structures fine details and textures. Custom textures create the correct light for the footbridge and the right amount of steel shine used to make it stand out. It’s a beautiful example of something that looks rather understated on first appearance and exceptionally well made upon closer inspection.

My journey of discovery then took me to one of the Rezzables Sims. Connecting Cannery Rezzable to Dump Rezzable the bridge here is a Bascule bridge, or swing bridge, although it’s not scripted to act in such a way here. This bridge is less than 100 prims and fits the whole theme of the surrounding area perfectly. On my travels I did find some bridges that were dropped into place to fill a gap, this cannot be said for the structure at Rezzable.

I went off in search of sculpt natural bridges next and came across a rather fine example of such at SkyBeam. The bridge here made entirely of sculpts and using less than 45 prims also has the added excitement of some poseballs for romantic sunset/ sunrise watching.

You can even click the ‘dive’ animation and watch as your avatar takes a giant leap of faith into the water below.

As I was beginning to tire from my trails I wanted to stop off at another bridge you can buy for your SecondLife land and one that has been seen consistently popular on SLExchange for the past few weeks. At Skye Castles Homes you can view the Skye Faery Bridge. This bridge captures the essence of any good bridge and also the purpose of SecondLife. For me a bridge does represent an emotional and physical journey, this example also encompasses some fantasy into that practical journey. With lights and even wings in my very humble opinion this bridge captures the best of both our worlds.

Here ends the great bridge journey for the meantime; however there are many bridges out there for us all to see. Some are to be visited and some to be bought, I hope you have a look the next time you’re wandering and hopefully you find a bridge which makes you think.

Voodoo: Virtual Time Lord

by Voodoo Buwan

Regular readers to our fair magazine, will remember that once not that long ago, I set out on a Phileas Fogg worthy trip around the world, using Second Life locations to get me from one bordering country to the next. Well, recently I have been yearning for another such quest, seeing as how much fun that expedition had been. However, seeing that I’d conquered the globe, I needed a new challenge. After some careful consideration, I decided that this time, rather than travelling in the conventional sense, this time I would take a journey back through time.

First things first, as any experienced traveller will tell you, the most important thing when embarking on any journey, is preparation. Therefore, to embark on my chronological mission, I would need the correct equipment.

Fortunately, I discovered the “Pack to the Future” courtesy of Loftvoker, complete with a Flux Capacitor, a hover board, a sports almanac from the future, and the keys to a Delorean (if only I could remember where I parked it).

If Doctor Who taught me anything, it’s that any time traveller worth their salt, needs a youthful companion to accompany them. With this in mind, I lured the lovely Allanah Tomsen along to assist me, through a clever use of a freebie Tardis that I once picked up on my travels. So now, with the right equipment, and my eager helper, we set out into the mysterious past.

To start off, we decided to make a small jump, back half a century to the 1950’s. We typed our destination into search, picked a random desination, and shot into the past. Or rather, we teleported to Artilleri, a stunning sim, and location of the main store from which the sim gets it’s name. As many of the most fashion concious in SL will be able to tell you, Artilleri produce some of the most stylish and well made retro and rockbilly clothing you can find inworld, drawing on 50’s and early 60’s style for their inspiration. As well as being able to pick up some of this superb clobber, on the sim, you can pick up some well built funiture from the period, as well as just enjoying the gorgeous builds on the sim, with the main store styled like a classic American diner, and a kitcsh bowling alley and drive in movie theatre to enjoy.

Leaving this time behind us, we decided to aim a little further into the past this time, heading back to the 18th Century, to a time when Pirates sailed the seven seas, getting up to all sorts of skulduggery as they did. To explore this time, we ended up at Buccaneers Reef, a swashbuckling themed sim. They have many Pirate Ships for you to enjoy, one that serves two purposes, as a giant aquarium and dancefloor, and undersea one for those of a mermaid persuasion, a chillout ship with a large hot-tub to relax in, and one out in the sea, which for some reason is full to the brim with almost every s&m toy you can find inworld. However, the main appeal of the sim, would be the pub, with regular musical events, and games for the patrons to enjoy, including arm wrestling, which Allanah and I had fun playing (even though she wiped the floor with me).

From there, we decided to get even more ambitious with our time leaps, this time ending up in Medieval England.

I’ll admit that at this point, we got a little touristy, stopping to pose with the soldiers who proudly stood welcoming us to the sim, and wandering around the beautiful buildings and gardens. There are a smattering of shops, but the real joy of this place is in the sights to see, from the rustic houses and gorgeous plants, to the majesty of the looming castle that dominates the area.

Our trip was becoming one feast for the eyes after another, as we now headed back from AD to BC, as we arrived in Ancient Eypt, on Pharaohs Isle, a desert sim replete with Pyramids and other buildings from the time.

However, as we wandered into the Sphinx, we discovered a catacomb of tunnels, leading us all over the sim, into mysterious rooms covered in authentic hieroglyphics and statues, and also a little not-exactly-period nightclub, which at least gives you the chance to “Walk like an Egyptian�.

I finally set the SL time machine back as far as it could go, taking us back to prehistoric times, courtesy of Spirit Stonehenge. At first glance, the sim has a plethora of standing stones and lush greenery, although at times, the overuse of the sculpty stones lends towards creations bordering on Flintstone-ish.

Also there are certain items, like a hot-tub and beach furniture, which are completely out of place, and threaten to ruin the feel of the theme. However, as with the sim before, the true joys of the sim come when you venture underground. A series of linked caves, complete with cave paintings and animal skin decorations give a great caveman experience, and the Love Cave is filled with some very sweet and romantic poseballs for you to share with your special someone.

At this point, my SL Time Machine went haywire, and Allanah and I found ourselves thrown forward to the Future. Or rather, we ended up at Future. So, what can I report from Second Life’s very own Future? Well, worryingly enough, the Future sim is owned by big business, with Nokia, Electolux, CNN, Organic, and Popular Science magazine all having builds there. On a more positive note, the work here is breathtaking, and shows a very positive attitude from these companies to the future, and to SL’s part of it. From Popular Science creating accurate SL replicas of new renewable energy solutions, to CNN’s new hub, where they film reports from inworld (check out Allanah and I playing newsreader below), and invite residents to submit their own stories from around the grid; and finally Electrolux’s amazing light bulb lounge, showing off the awards for inworld innovation, given to some of the biggest names in inworld creativity. And that seems to sum up what the Future sim is all about: Innovation. And if that is what we have to look forward to in Second Lifes’s future, I think we are in for some fun times indeed.

Walk in fields of gold

by Trinity Dechou

I should imagine any serious (and even the not so serious) Second Life explorers among us are aware of AM Radio’s Far Away. The virtual Wheat fields opened their doors nearly a year ago and since then they have grown in size and locations.

The whole drive behind AM Radio’s work is to raise money for Heifer International, and using Second Life, he most certainly has.

Heifer International was founded by Dan West, a farmer who spent time handing out rations of milk following the Spanish Civil War. As he did this work he realised “These children don’t need a cup, they need a cow.” Heifer International was born with the mission to offer livestock and accompanying training to manage and maintain the animals and surrounding land. At the forefront of the foundations main goal is “pass on the gift”; simply put a cow will provide milk for a family and every year produce a calf, this ‘gift’ can be passed on in order to benefit neighbours and others in the community.

AM Radio initially set out with the goal to raise $500, enough to purchase one heifer from money raised in Second Life. Now one year on he has raised over $4,600 and has secured more than enough money currently for over 9 heifers.

He currently stands in the top 5 contributors for the charity.

The Wheat fields have grown, as well as having The Far Away and space at NMC Arts Lab, a newer temporary location as opened at The Refuge and Expansion.

Immediately it strikes you the latest area is similar in theme to the first. It contains very well built and detailed structures, including some favourites such as the prim power cables and train.

However the area here is spread over two sims and therefore the available prim counts are higher so we bear witness to some new structures.

Following the road and line of power cables you arrive at a small settlement.

Inside the house is decorated with highly detailed pieces, including the microscope & telescope pictured below (both of which are freely given out when clicked on).

Also another new structure here is the Gasoline station. Sitting at the crossroads junction where you arrive the build certainly has ‘wow factor’.

Further down the road you can see the now famous old train. Be sure to click on various parts of the train to experience some of the in-built poses.

Finally at the end of the road you can find information about Heifer International. You can buy a plot of wheat and even the train, of course all money going to Heifer International.

If you like the original Far Away, you will not be disappointed with this area.

Unmistakably the main achievement by AM Radio is the experience; not only can you wander amongst some of the most beautifully crafted prims in Second Life, but you can also help a charity to make a difference.

Ruth, We Hardly Knew Ye

By Voodoo Buwan

It’s happened to all of us. You log into Second Life only to find, or to be told by those witness to your arrival, that rather looking your usual dapper, stylish and mighty fine looking self, you have shrunk, men have transformed into women, and you are sporting a very unchic light-brown basin bob hairdo that is interfering with the coiffured prim hair that you spent hours choosing.

You sigh, and realise that once again, you’ve been “Ruthed”. However, with the release of the latest SL viewer, this humiliating inconvenience has now been resigned to the history books. Linden Labs have now corrected this phenomenon. With this in mind, I thought I would take a moment to acknowledge the passing of something that has been a part of our Second Lives for as long as many of us can remember.

Being Ruthed was the affectionate term for what happened when an avatars appearance had problems updating, and therefore reverted to the default avatar shape, that of a short female, proving that as with foetus’ in rl, we are all born female, and our sex is decided in gestation (or on orientation island anyway). It was usually resolvable through going into the “edit appearance” menu, and then closing it again, in effect refreshing your avatar shape, but there were times that even this couldn’t save you. There are rumours that the name Ruth comes from an early Linden avatar, but the term became so commonplace, that one of the sims dedicated to the SL 5th Birthday event was called “Ruthed”.

Ruthing meant that when you went wandering from sim to sim, there was never a shortage of sexually ambiguous avatars, as bearded men suddenly developed breasts. (Pic by Tid Kidd)

Women weren’t any safer, as prim hair became swallowed by the Ruth bowl, and they suddenly shot down in stature. (Pic by Restless Roizman)

Of course, nothing spoilt your attempts to look dark moody and gothic, than a good Ruthing (Pic by Strawberry Holiday)

It’s never more difficult to chat up the ladies than when your nipples are suddenly jutting out of the tank top designed to show off your manly muscular frame. (Pic by Tid Kidd)

And nothing would spoil the romantic impact of a SL wedding, than when all the guests are giggling and resisting the urge to shout out “You may now kiss the Ruth!” (Pic by Restless Roizman)

Of course, it’s all well and good for me to laugh at the misfortune of others, but even such powerful SL superstars as Trin and I were not immune to that attack of the Ruth (me more than most, to be honest) (Trin pic by Voodoo Buwan, Voo pic by dana Vanmoer)

Lastly, I’d just like to mention, that although being Ruthed is a thing of the past, the Lindens have kindly added the Ruth avatar to all of our default Libraries, meaning that even though she may be gone, Ruth will always live on, in our inventory.

SecondLife SingaLong

by Voodoo Buwan

There are many live musical events happening all over the grid, almost every night. However, almost every single one of them features one or two people, singing either covers, or their own little compositions in a rock or indie style, usually while playing a guitar, and while there are some very talented performers out there, after a while a lot of the acts can seem to get a little... samey. And at worst, it can get downright boring. Yet still, I tend to search on, seeking out these acts, hoping to find one of the rare gems in the mix.

It was on just such a night that a random group notice drew me to Circe Broom’s Cairo Theatre where I found something truly different. A performance by Kazoo Twang and Lizzie Ryba, seen above with their piano accompanist Leemiguel Arguello and occasional guest performer Harmonica Sorbet (Kazoo is the redhead, and Lizzie is the blonde), drawing on the rich musical tradition of English Music Hall which entertains with such warmth and humour as to make you feel drawn in to a party full of fun, laughter, more than a little drink, and above all else, music. To explain the performance a little better, and give us a little more background, I met up with Kazoo and Lizzie in Kaz’s personal garden (for some reason, Kazoo is the one with the bear head): Voodoo: Ok, so firstly, could you describe your act for the uninitiated?

Kazoo Twang: Old time music hall Lizzie Ryba: Brit style Kazoo Twang: English burlesque Lizzie Ryba: Sing-along Kazoo Twang: Crowd participation - sing-a-long. Or type-a-long!!! lol Singing for those who cannot hold a tune in a bucket!!!

Lizzie Ryba: And just a barrel of laughs. Well we have a ball don’t know bout anyone else lol. Kazoo Twang: Singing for those who cannot hold a tune in a bucket!!! and just a barrel of laughs

Lizzie Ryba: Well we have a ball don’t know bout anyone else. lol Kazoo Twang: Spontaneous audience appreciation!! Voodoo?? You do!!!

Lizzie Ryba: We try to get everyone involved cos that’s the fun of it all Kazoo Twang: Lizzie and I know each other from rl theatre http://www. playhousecheltenham.org . I have performed in SL before. I came here with friends from an online music site - www.macjams.com. I ran into Circe recently and she asked me to perform again. I asked lee to accompany me again - he used to live here and has played piano on some of my uploads at macjams. Lizzie got involved when....

Lizzie Ryba: I went to see Kaz perform and enjoyed it. We were going to London the following week in my car, and got talking bout what we could do together. I suggested we could do some of the music hall numbers we knew Kazoo Twang: Music hall is always popular at our rl theatre Lizzie Ryba: And it went from there Kazoo Twang: Circe loves us, and ppl come back!!

Lizzie Ryba: I have to say I have never enjoyed myself so much as I have in gigs Voodoo: Lizzie, had you originally come to SL with musical aspirations in the first place also?

Lizzie Ryba: Nah!! Kaz told me bout SL, and so I came, and haven’t looked back but never for one moment did I think I would perform here. I’ve been on stage for real, directed musicals etc Kazoo Twang: She played bloody Mary in south pacific!!!

Lizzie Ryba: But SL different ball game Kazoo Twang: You should see her acting in front of the microphone - it’s a riot!!

Voodoo: How does performing in SL differ to being on stage in rl?

Kazoo Twang: You don’t have to worry about yer make-up!!

Lizzie Ryba: Mind u finding the right cossie is fun. I love shopping in SL!!!!

Kazoo Twang: Lizzie loves to shop - another day ... another costume!! It’s easier to make up songs about the audience - in rl they don’t wear their names over their heads!!

Lizzie Ryba: We love the improvisation of it all Kazoo Twang: She doesn’t get tips - she sees them as hair and shoes!!!

Lizzie Ryba: Yeah new meaning to the words shop till u drop Voodoo: How have you found the music scene in SL? Do you go and check out any other acts?

Kazoo Twang: I have enjoyed watching the music scene grow in SL? Lizzie Ryba: Kaz does more than me but I am beginning to check out other things Kazoo Twang: I remember when Circe and slim warrior were the only promoters Lizzie Ryba: Particularly those that Circe promotes Kazoo Twang: I think we do something rather more special than singing to a karaoke machine. it may not be perfect but it is most definitely LIVE!!!!

Lizzie Ryba: too right Kazoo Twang: Also - we don’t have to learn lines in SL :)))) Lizzie Ryba: Just have to keep finding the bits of paper u lose Kazoo Twang: Less lines - more paper!!

Voodoo: What do you hope to achieve through your performances here inworld?

Kazoo Twang: More hair and shoes!!!! LMAO. Spreading a little personalised happiness. More pink and fluff in a grey and miserable world!!!

Lizzie Ryba: And giving a bit of laughter around. If we are enjoying it others will too Kazoo Twang: And I think that ppl love that we are having such a good time and also they like those old songs. They are like comfort food, full of memories of grannies and aunties Lizzie Ryba: Keeping the traditions going Kazoo Twang: Fun!! We like fun!!

Lizzie Ryba: What is SL for if not for fun. No boundaries in SL they say.

Kazoo Twang: And ... I think the Americans appreciate the English traditions, and love a cock.. ney accent Lizzie Ryba: Or indeed a British accent whatever lol Voodoo: And finally, what advice would you give to anybody thinking about getting up onstage and performing themselves?

Kazoo Twang: Do it!!!

Lizzie Ryba: Go for it Kazoo Twang: Have fun and do it. If you cannot do it in your secondlife where and when???

Lizzie Ryba: There is a saying in our theatre - its JFDI - just fucking do it Kazoo Twang: I teach this drama stuff in rl too, and it is a case of - just go for it!!

To experience the party for yourself, head over to the Cairo Theatre on Friday at 1PM SL time. Tell em Voodoo sent you! ;)

Trin Editorial: OpenSpace Sims I first walked the SecondLife grid a little over 2 years ago. Introduced by a friend I was almost instantly hooked. Like many I lapped up the SecondLife experience. Did all the right things and even the ‘in’ things. Now almost 2 years later, I’m seriously considering leaving.

I started in the virtual world by working in a fairly successful club. At this place I found many of the very good friends I have now. When this club moved to it’s own sim I was able to have my first taste of a virtual home. I, at the time played SL with my RL partner. We were in a position were RL living together was impossible and for a moment, we could capture the ability to live together in sl, it perhaps isn’t RL but it was the closest we had. I spent 5 happy months ‘working’ in my friendly ‘pub up the road’ and living in my beautifully manicured home with my partner. I progressed with her to a rented 1/4 sim where we grew our home.

Suddenly my partner passed away, and in the very tricky, and complex real live situation I was able to find sanctuary in my secondlife. A small number of friends knew about our relationship, and as the shocking news spread of her death, more and more were told. I was unable to lean on many people in RL because of the complexity of this relationship, however unquestioningly our SecondLife friends offered a support network that was unimaginable. I can genuinely say that without this unconditional support, I wouldn’t have been where I am now, RL or SL. In order to fill my days with things I began to write for a well known news site. I also began to estate manage a friends sim. During this time I was reintroducted to someone I’d known at the old club - Aimee Trescothick. Aimee helped with the rental sim and we found and grew our friendship. Using the medium of SecondLife we both realised that we fitted together. We explored together, did work together, had fun together, spent time with friends together. Ultimately we moved in together in SL and met in RL. The love you imagine, the kind that sells millions of dollars worth of tickets at the box offices around the world, I was exceptionally lucky to find. We discovered we fitted together in RL also. I owe SecondLife an awful lot; the support network, the confidence building and of course the love of a woman.

I learned in SecondLife how to write. I know that sounds rather strange, but writing is something I’d never tried before. SecondLife gave me the

confidence to try, I found it was something that gave me enjoyment. From the news site I founded Rez Magazine with Voodoo. Rez is a passion of mine, a truly independent medium for us to write about many things in SL. It gives me the freedom to ‘be my own boss’ and to cover the things I want too in the way I want too. I opened my Rez Office on the 1/4 sim in a building made by Aimee. Together it was a culmination of lots of work.

From the 1/4 sim, we moved to a rented OpenSpace Sim. The main purpose of this sim would be our home. It might be pixels held on a server in San Francisco but hitting the ‘go home’ button actually means something.

To climb into bed and virtually cuddle, means something. Spending time perfecting the look of home, means something. It is called Your World, Your Imagination, and the ability to create your ‘dream home’ here, for me at least, is exceptionally appealing and fundamentally needed. We would create our home, but we would firstly create our dream wedding setting.

Having complete control on this island, we would take time to create the area that we wanted to marry in. To virtually stand up there and in-front of the collected friends speak of our love for each other. Sounds perfectly twee doesn’t, but after-all isn’t that the beauty of secondlife?

Aimee and I spent 6 months creating what WE wanted. Arranging the finer details, and asking the relevant people if they would do us the honor of being our bridesmaids, reverend, best man, or the guy who gives (a) bride away.

The invites were beautifully crafted and sent out, the flickr group created, even a windlight recommended preset has been made. Two weeks before our ‘I Dos’ Linden Lab announce the changes in Open Space pricing.

In my two year existence as Trinity Dechou I have been in the middle of drama on a few occasions. VAT price changes, club related drama, estate drama, recently IP theft (unfounded) allegations and now this. I love SecondLife, I love the people in SecondLife. I love the beauty of SecondLife.

I love the creation in SecondLife. However, all this drama, all this stress.... isn’t this supposed to be fun? It is no longer fun.

In the last two years I remember LL increasing the private estate tier rates, introducing VAT and now this. You will never own your land, you might think you do, but the power belongs to the self appointed Linden Gods. We fight for what we love, we fight for what we believe in; there is only so much fight in us all and I think I’ve run out of fight.

At this moment there is hysteria and panic. Many people are ‘homeless’.

Linden Lab did that, no one else. I see no benefit of their action other

than making many residents homeless and even questioning their life here.

The powers that be have effectively killed off many of their residents and murdered the land market with one fell swoop.

I do consider leaving, strongly. However a few things hold me here at the moment. Rez Magazine is one, but how long before LL govern the freedom of speech, surely it’s within their mandate (somewhere). Friends of course being another. I owe so much to these people, my developed relationships, the people who have touched my heart, and hopefully the hearts I have touched. It would be with a VERY heavy heart I pressed logout for that last time, believe me. Thankfully Aimee and I are more than SL, and we don’t need it. It would change our relationship, as it is still heavily used as a way to spend time together in the evenings but it’s not essential.

In a nutshell, LL have sucked the enjoyment out of SecondLife over the past two years. The harsh reality that these people can do as they please with no way for us lowly residents to shape the change.

IF I stay it will be for my friends, not Linden Lab.