Rez Magazine - Summer 2008

Welcome to Rez Spring It seems as though time has flown since the last in-world edition. We have made some major under the hood changes to the running of Rez. We now use a hippoGROUP for our group messages not wanting to further fill the in-world group quotas for our very loyal readership. This function has of course seen the members and readers grow immensely.

We also brought the blogs all under into the rezmagzine domain, making it easier to track readers and also less complication for direct linking.

We’ve also introduced the ‘New at Rez’ blog which features short stories of things Rez is doing. This of course includes our sponsorship of the SL Book fair and SL Shakespeare, along with information regarding our attendance at SL5B. During the last season we have had some major articles which all go hand in hand to the increase in readership and visitors to the site. Trinitys Dazzle articles raised some support at a time when very few covered the issues on the new UI changes, and Voodoos Insilico article was featured on Hamlet Au’s respected New World Notes site. Both are included in this in-world edition of Rez. This edition also has a special ‘pull out’ supplement surrounding the Second Life 5th birthday celebrations. Voodoo trawled the many sims, searching out interesting characters, places and content to bring us the very best (and worst) from this years celebrations.

We also have some articles by Trinity on the 3D Connexion Space Navigator, Loco Pocos and an interview with Chou Chou and Voodoo looks at American Election information available in Second Life and also delves deep into the Linden Bear.

We hope you enjoy the read and would like to take the opportunity to thank each and every one of you for your continued support; without it our jobs would be much harder.

Regards Trin & Voo

Loco Poco Your Second Life

by Trinity Dechou

It is often the case when wandering the Second Life network you begin to feel like everything is ‘old news’. You feel like you have been there, done that and seen everything there is to see. Suddenly along comes a unique new experience. Loco Pocos is such an experience.

Not only a full range of innovative products but also an interactive, informative and exciting island to explore.

Loco Pocos is the brainchild of Damien Fate, an experienced and wellrespected content creator in Second Life. Loco Pocos, which roughly translated means “crazy tinies”, are highly modifiable and customizable Second Life avatars. The avatars are fully sculpted and come complete with a HUD, which allows for full personalization and also complete control over the avatars appearance, gestures and sound sets. Out of the box Loco Pocos are very reasonably priced with a large range of base animals. The store offers accessory options, which automatically work with the HUD for those wishing to further their enhancement.

Loco Pocos is however much more than your average store, as Damien has said, “Sims can be so much more than just a store, avatars can be so much more than just prims.” The main centre of the island is the magical tree named Rokeden and the whole island centers on a story, that of Captain B. Bonnik. Bounty hunters gain more insight to the island and its inhabitants. The treasure hunt is an extremely

clever and interesting way to spend time, it captures the explorer’s imagination and each new level offers a new task to complete, from deciphering codes to jumping across lava pits with falling platforms.

It is obvious from the island and the beautifully crafted avatars that Damien has spent a long time working on this unique user experience. I managed to speak to him and asked some questions about this concept.

Trin: What was your inspiration behind Locos Pocos, both the avatars and the island?

Damien: I always try and bring new things into Second Life and wanted to create a new way to customise avatars, as luck had it I was contracted to build a small avatar for an unrelated project (which I can’t discuss yet) and it got me thinking about applying this idea to tinies.

Loco Pocos was born with the creation of the first one, Benny (the rabbit), with Benny I worked for around 2 months on implementing new ways to customise an avatar that is fully sculpted and a whole new expression system.

After increasing the Loco Pocos avatar range to 10 avatars I decided I need a store for them, but I was so confident in the avatars and the product in general that I wanted more than just a store, a whole island with an experience as rich and exciting as the avatars themselves.

Trin: Who is Captain B. Bonnik and what was the inspiration behind his story?

Damien: Captain B. Bonnik is one of the individuals who found the island and the giant legendary tree, the Rokeden. There was no individual source of inspiration for his story other than the island itself and what would a greed driven pirate like himself get up to on the island. I just kept in mind certain facts about the island (which are known only to me) in mind when I wrote the story, it practically wrote itself. The name B.Bonnik is a play on “Bubonic”, the infamous plague.

Trin: Can you tell me about the work involved behind the creation?

Damien: I wouldn’t be able to count all the hours of work that went into the project, but I can say I lost a lot of sleep! The avatars were 3 months work, and the island was 2 months work. All were completed mostly in my spare time until the week run-up to the opening date, in which I worked 15 hour days for over a week to meet the deadline and make sure the product was ready. I had a lot of help from some awesome beta testers who worked with me for a month and ofcourse my wife, WashuZebrastripe was there to keep me going!

Trin: What has your feedback been?

Damien: Feedback has been insanely positive, I always knew that Loco Pocos avatars and the island were special, and had confidence in them - but nothing could prepare me for how overwhelmingly enthusiastic people became about them at first sight. Loco Pocos has been mentioned on blogs all throughout the internet, with some very passionate followers such as Torley Linden and Gabby Panacek who were so excited that they contributed greatly to the project’s publicity.

Trin: What is the development plan for the future?

Damien: I plan on releasing new content every week, this weekend (Saturday 18th July) I will be releasing 10 more avatars, male and female versions of a Fox, Warthog, Mole, Squirrel and Rat along with a new kind of accessory for Loco Pocos, pants! The following two weekends will see more accessories being released.

In a month or so I will begin to expand the island experience, it currently takes around 2 hours average to find all the journals and complete all the puzzles, I look to double that adventure time with the next expansion.

Loco Pocos is unlike any other store or island; it is a very memorable experience in Second Life. The question is not should you buy a Loco Pocos avatar but when should you buy a Loco Pocos avatar, it’s an experience everyone should have.

Special thanks go to: Group Photo: ABBA Svanska, Aimee Trescothick, GarboBurrel, Felicity Burt, Randal Kline, Twigy Camel and Damien Fate Photographs: Aimee Trescothick Interview & Movie: Damien Fate

Bears, bears, bears!

by Voodoo Buwan

People tend to talk about Second Life as a game. I would argue that as an assessment, there are some fairly major flaws in Second Life’s gamelike qualities. When you look at games, and more specifically computer games, they all have several things in common, which SL tends to lack.

There are rules (which even though the occasional law is made, there are not strictly in SL) and directions. There are challenges (whereas the big challenge in SL is not ripping your hair out when the lag takes home) and objectives, and if anyone inworld thinks there is an objective to the “game” they are likely to wildly differ (everything from being a celebrity, to making money, or just getting laid). There are tasks to undertake, and items to collect. However, I must stop on this point, as there are items that you can collect in SL. There are items that many residents thirst for, whether they be furry, gorean, businessman, escort, builder, performer or even just a casual wanderer. An item that you can only get by speaking to one of our Linden parliament, and asking them really nicely.

The Linden Bear.

Recently I attended Djai Skellerup’s superb 2 hour set at the SL5B sims, and whilst there, who should turn up but Kate and Tofu Linden. As everyone, Djai included, was getting excited about such celebrities in our midst, I thought it would be a good idea to shout out, “Everyone!

Get bears!”. Two minutes later, and without any further word from me, Kate Linden dropped a bear into my inventory. I was so chuffed that I kept going on about it until my significant other asked Tofu very politely for his, and kindly received it, I think partly to show that it’s not that tough to get a Linden bear, and shut me up.

However, it was only when we got these bears home and rezzed them, that I noticed something a little strange....

You see, the point of the Linden Bear is that it is a piece of individual expression, encapsulating the spirit of that particular Linden, in bear form. The thing that was weird about both of our bears, was that both of them had not been built by the Linden who gave them to us. Kate’s hadn’t even been built by a Linden at all! With this in mind, I decided to check out if this was a widespread phenomenon. So I headed over to the Linden Bear Museum Upon arrival, I started to right hand click all the bears on display, and check who was listed as creator. I am sorry to report, that while Torley, Spike, Plexus, Niko, Cogsworth, Trinity, Ekim, Mia, Nicole, Catherine, Ethan, Michael, Teagan, Colton, Dee, Rowan, Garry, Alexa and Dusty Linden all made their own bears; Kate, Tofu, Twilight. Data, Everett, Robin, Lexie, Colton, Amber, Lawrence, Wilder, Kona, George, Sally, Sabin, Babbage, Cyan, Benjamin, Lotte, Izzy, Zee, Belinda, Zero, Bunny, Liana, BigPapi, Jeska, Echo, Jeremy, Jello, Jack, Prospero, Bub, Charlie, Governor, Philip, Pathfinder, Coco, Aric, Sidewinder, JP, Cupid, Kosmo, Liana and Glen are not listed as the creators of their own bears. This means that out of the bears checked, only 30% of them appear to be made by the Linden who’s name they bear, and that number can go down a little more, since Teagan appears to have gotten someone else to make her new 2008 bear for her. I also hear on the grapevine that even the enigmatic M Linden is having someone else make his bear for him. It should also be noted that quite a few of the bears were created by either Nicolle or Mia Linden, which at first gave me the image of these two having “Linden Bear Maker” somewhere in their job description. It was then suggested to me by my lovely voice of reason that maybe Nicolle and Mia make a basic bear, and then give it to the other Lindens to customise, and maybe I am being a little unfair about

how many of them might not put the effort in to make their own. Which is a fair point, except for one minor detail... WHY? What is so hard about making a bear from scratch???

I am not an expert builder. My personal constructions have perhaps most kindly been described as “Old School”. And yet, even someone with my basic abilities can manage to make a bear, entirely from fresh prims, and a few choice textures found in my overfull inventory. Like so:

Notice if you will, that my little Voodoo Bear is similarly bespectacled with a pair of funky goggles, has a similarly omnipresent cigarette in it’s mouth, and I even managed to make little recreations of the tentacles that I so often wear. To add a little bit more Voodoo to the Voodoo Bear, I even stuck some bloody pins into his tummy. So, there you go. One Voodoo Bear, made entirely by me, personalised, and all complete in under an hour. So, not that hard then.

Which brings me to my challenge, dear readers! Let’s show them that making a unique, and interesting bear is achievable by anyone. When you have a spare few minutes, put together your very own bear, and send me, Voodoo Buwan, a copy inworld. In exchange, I will send you a Voodoo Bear of your very own, and if we get enough, we will showcase some of the best in this very magazine. Who knows, I may even bestow a prize for the best resident bear I receive. So come on, bring on the bears!

Pay To View?

by Trinity Dechou

You would have to have been in a virtual coma in Second Life to have not heard of or been to one of the many Rezzable Sims, however major changes are afoot.

The UK based company is responsible for over 25 sims including some of the most interesting and innovative places around. Ranging from the Glow inspiring world of Tunnel or Light, the dark mysterious place at The Carnival of Doom, the wonderful and inspired creations from the Greenies to the amazing statues and creations at Black Swan The company announced recently on their blog that they would begin to charge for sim access. The first sim with this new ruling is Black Swan.

Rezzable indicate this is something they have considered for a long time following the disappearance of major corporate sponsors.

Admission to Black Swan is priced at 199 $L and comes in the form of a watch which even tells you the time! This admission is not pay-per-visit, you buy the device once can return as many times as you like, however for many 199$L can be a lot of money and also enough to stop newbies experiencing the amazing creations on display at Rezzable. As you land at Black Swan you arrive into a skybox to be greeted with a message telling you how to purchase an authorisation device. Then you tp down to Black Swan using the enter button (NB I like to be a rebel, tried to

go down without my shiny watch got the following message: Sentry Drone: You have 2 minutes before being escorted from the sim. Please purchase a Black Swan Watch in the entry hall if you wish to explore further.)

Black Swan is the first Rezzable sim with an admission charge; however the company say they would look to introduce this to other sims in the future. Rezzable say they are exploring “the right revenue model for virtual world content”. The company has indicated they are aware this might limit the visitors to the sim but hope the high quality content on show makes it worth the expense.

I have embarked on discussions regarding this development. Opinions vary, thoughts are this move is desperate and will not work; that Rezzable are closing access to their ‘portfolio’. Of course the underlying question during those whole process is ‘can second life be profitable?’

Major sponsors have pulled the plug on their funding for Rezzable, why?

Are Rezzable doing the ‘right’ thing? That of course is very much up for public opinion. Will this move provide the income stream needed? The answer to that question will follow once this development for admission charging has time to settle down and accounts are processed. Rezzable

are testing admission charging on one of their premier sims in SL, this will give a good indication of income and arguments against. Perhaps they are closing access off to one of their portfolio sims, however if Rezzable need the money to keep said portfolio open surely they should attempt to charge rather than risk losing the presentation all together?

As this has only just been announced there is a lack of public response to this. If you feel so inclined leave us your reply or visit http:// rezzable.com/blog/rightasrain-rimbaud/the-end-world-as-we-know-it and leave them directly for Rezzable. However, before you run off I’d like to forward MY personal response to this move.

Rezzable have brought a completely new dimension to content creation in Second Life. They have given us multiple sims with new innovation that make the vast majority stand back and simply say ‘wow’. The other main point about Rezzable is the fact they give back, not only through content creation but also for instance the recent Race for Life Relay, they donated the sims to RFL. Personally Black Swan is most certainly on my all time favourite Second Life locations, 199 $L for a watch to view it over and over again, where do I sign?

Dreamy Chouchou

by Trinity Dechou

Occasionally you find things in Second Life that jump straight out of the screen and grab you. In this case the leap of faith was taken through my speakers.

Captivating an audience at U21 Global earlier was a band called Chouchou. I am sure you have heard the name or seen the pictures, after-all the Chouchou sim is one of the most photographed places of late. However if you are like me you might not have heard the music.

With a haunting voice juliet Heberle (lead singer of Chouchou) could be likened to Morcheeba in tone and makes the listener drift off into a quiet relaxing place, which to do in Second Life is sheer and complete escapism.

After the concert I managed to speak with juliet and asked her about Chouchou Trinity Dechou: Firstly, can you tell me a little about ChouChou? juliet Heberle: Chouchou is a Japanese music group existing only in SL. It’s formed on July 2007 for searching new possibilities of music.

Trinity Dechou: Did you play Second Life before forming ChouChou? juliet Heberle: Arabesque, the other Chouchou, and I started SL together about a year ago, but we didn’t know what to do at that time like everybody else. We tried little bit of everything like creating objects, making textures, building something and so on. Then one day I thought maybe doing the radio program could be interesting, so I started my

own radio program which is in Japanese only. And arabesque said, “why don’t you sing songs for your radio show?” He composed music for me, and that’s the begining of Chouchou. :) I had never sang as a singer before we formed Chouchou.

Trinity Dechou: What does Chouchou mean? juliet Heberle: It’s a french word meaning favorite, but we also love the sound of it. And we both like Debussy, and Chouchou is the nickname for his daughter.

Trinity Dechou: You said above you had never sung before you started ChouChou. Did you have any problems or fears singing? juliet Heberle: I’d never sung in front of people as a singer, but I’ve always loved singing, so it was fun. :) Trinity Dechou: Do you find that singing and performing in Second Life helps your confidence? juliet Heberle: I think so.

And we’re not presenting only music, but also spaces, atmospheres and stuff. *to see this visit the Chouchou Sim* Trinity Dechou: How can people find out more about Chouchou, other than visiting the sim? juliet Heberle: We have our MySpace, official blog and our group “Chouchouholic”

Trinity Dechou: You said above Chouchou only exists in SL, no plans to take that into RL? juliet Heberle: Well, recently, a Belgium record company really liked our music and asked us to release an album from one of their record label. It’ll be very small production, I guess, but we’re very excited about that because it’s going to be our first album. We never know about the future. We’re going with the flow, but so far, we only perform in SL. And we kind of like it because performing only in SL is very unique, we think. :) Trinity Dechou: What kind of feedback have you had from the residents of Second Life when you perform? juliet Heberle: People always loved our performance, and we’re so glad about that.

Some people have said to me they felt like they were in dreams during the show.

Trinity Dechou: Your performance sounded very professional, what technical aspects do you have in place to ensure that level of sound quality, and do you sing live? juliet Heberle: arabesque composes and edit all the song of Chouchou.

He is very talented composer and particular about sounds and qualities.

All of our songs are created with lots of sounds and instruments except sign 0. And some of them are electronic sounds and edited for each song. Each of them is very important, even if it’s a very tiny clipping noise. And with all of that, we present our music. In some of our songs, vocals are also edited and have effects to perfectly go with each songs.

Those songs are impossible to sing in live, unless I have my private PA or something. :) But other songs which don’t have so much effects on vocal, I sing in live.

Trinity Dechou: Where and how regularly do you perform in Second Life? juliet Heberle: I guess, 2-3 times in a month. :) We alsways send group notices for our performances at our place. :) But we usually don’t send notices for other performances requested from other people at other places because of the limitation of the number of access to the sim.

Trinity Dechou: Excellent, Thank you very much for taking the time to speak to me juliet. juliet Heberle: Thank you so much. :) http://www.myspace.com/chouchouholic http://chouchouholic.blogspot.com/ http://slurl.com/secondlife/Chouchou/180/163/21

The Virtual Ticket?

by Voodoo Buwan

These days, no matter where you are in the world, you can’t turn on a news broadcast without being bombarded with information or talk about the upcoming United States election, which has now been narrowed down to the race between John McCain and Barack Obama to see who will end up in the White House, running the biggest superpower in the modern world. It’s understandable why you can’t escape these going’s on, as like it or not, this election will effect everyone worldwide.

Whether it’s because your country has a “special relationship” with the states, or that they view your nation less favourably, or even down to the fact that as the biggest corperate power, their decisions have worldwide reprecussions on everything from climate change and investment into renewable energy, to global economics and third world debt. Perhaps one international location more affected than most would be our little virtual world. Despite the fact that SL is very much a community populated by people from every corner of the globe, the fact that Linden Labs is an American company, means that laws passed in the states, can and do have a huge impact on the rest of us, whether we are American citizens or not. Some of the biggest issues of the last year, from the gambling ban to age verification, have been driven by US law, and applied to every resident whether US law applies to us or not.

With this in mind, I set out to have a little chat with those who proudly identify themselves as Democrat or Republican in SL, to try and see if SL was on the agenda in this election, and what the outcomes could mean for all of us.

I started off by heading over to the base of the Republican Party of SL (http://slurl. com/secondlife/ Cosentino/203/29/23), where I met with three

high rankings members of the organisation: Tomasi Benelli, Robb Rail and Villie Messerchmitt and sat down with them for a chat: Voodoo: US law has a high impact on SL, as Linden Labs is an American company. What is the Republican attitude to SL? Tomasi Benelli: I’m not sure how to answer, as we can’t possibly speak for every one of our members. Individuality is one of our strongest foundations Robb Rail: I don’t think there is an official view of SL from the Republican Party in RL Villie Messerchmitt: Former Republican Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich comes to SL and gives speeches. So at least some top republicans are starting to see SL as a tool to get our message out.

Tomasi Benelli: It definitely appears that way. We are starting to see more activity from real life politicians in SL. Whatever adds to making contact with people is always a positive thing.

Robb Rail: But on the other hand some Republicans misunderstand SL, like the Representative that recently came out against SL as being potentially damaging and wants to ban it from libraries and schools, so it is mixed.

Voodoo: So, from a Party perspective, it can to be a useful tool?

Villie Messerchmitt: I believe it will be a useful tool. I have discussed with party leaders in RL about holding WV meetings in SL. Those that are tech savy like the idea, but the older ones are not sure. With high fuel prices in a rural state, that will be away to hold more meetings Robb Rail: And with voice added, SL has the potential to be great for political meetings that otherwise would be inconvenient because of distance Tomasi Benelli: It makes it possible to be thousands of miles from each other yet in the same room.

Voodoo: On that line, this election we’ve seen the candidates trying everything they can to get the word out, even appearing on wrestling shows... Any chance Mr McCain will come to address SL? Robb Rail: There is always a chance, but I think it is more likely that a

surrogate for McCain will show up in SL, if anyone.

Voodoo: I suppose the ultimate question is, why should a US SL resident vote Republican?

Tomasi Benelli: Because they are US citizen first, then SL citizens Robb Rail: Same reason a non SL US resident would or should vote Republican, lower taxes - which the idea of taxing SL keeps coming up so that may be even more important to SL people. Belief in personal freedoms over government interference.

Voodoo: So, does that mean the Republican party as a whole was against things such as the gambling ban, which had such a big effect here?

Robb Rail: No idea, but in general Republicans are against regulation, so it isn’t too far of a reach to think that the gambling ban was against Republican ideals Tomasi Benelli: I think that any time government says you can’t do something that has no particular moral issue attached, it’s a violation of the constitution.

Voodoo: Finally, what does being a Republican in SL mean to you?

Tomasi Benelli: It means to me that I am being myself. I feel that Secondlife should accurately portray your own real life self.

Robb Rail: To me being a republican in SL is much the same as being one in rl, except that SL brings me into contact with more liberals than in my rl. Which is good because it gives me a chance to test my conservative theories by debating them, which only enhances my Republicanism in RL, plus SL allows me to meet with Republicans from across the country and to see how different and yet alike we are.

From there, I decided I needed to get a counterpoint argument, as with most things in politics, when you only speak to one side, you only get one part of the argument, and everything seems to make perfect sense.

So, I got in touch with the Democratic Party of SL (http://slurl.com/ secondlife/Black%20Art/236/114/38) and spoke to two of the organisers for that group, Blue Revolution and CJ Escher, to put the same kinda questions to them:

Voodoo: US law has quite a big impact on SL, since Linden Labs is a US company. What is the general Democrat attitude to things like SL? CJ Escher: To be honest, I don’t think it’s on the political radar.

Blue Revolution: I would concur.

CJ Escher: There are blips with the gambling issue and taxation, but I don’t think if asked any of the candidates they wouldn’t know what a virtual word is. Unless they read Snow Crash.

Blue Revolution: There is a lot of potential for uses in SL but for the most part people concentrate on RL when it comes to political campaigns. There was an episode on one of the TV series last week a friend was telling me about where one of the victims was a 28 year old who played a 14 year old avatar who ran a sex club. That seems to be how the media is portraying things.

Voodoo: Do you feel that they are generally embracing new online technology, or is there more concern about these things?

CJ Escher: I would not think there would be any real experience, however, Obama effectively used Twitter and Clinton had a Twitter account but didn’t use it to any real difference.

Blue Revolution: It was during the 2004 presidential primary that we saw a transformation in the Democratic Party on the power of the internet. When Howard Dean raised something like $50 million all the candidates started to flock to it.

CJ Escher: Yes, Ron Paul and Howard Dean have used it to raise money, but they haven’t really figured out to galvanize that power and turn it into real votes.

Blue Revolution: Dean, and also Obama, are able to show that having millions of small donors can effectively compete with the people who bundle together the max contribution in the thousands.

Voodoo: So, not a huge chance of Mr Obama coming to SL to try to canvass votes?

Blue Revolution: I wouldn’t think so. But there is an opportunity for the Democratic Party to do things in here like having the Dems Abroad meet in here. That would be a way for them to canvass votes and get organized.

CJ Escher: I think there is a real opportunity. It’s a great place to start discussions and do some online fundraisers. I think the combination of online efforts like Act Blue and SL can work well.

Blue Revolution: CJ and I actually hosted a fundraiser for a Congressional candidate. (http://www.actblue.com/page/ sldemocrats4markpera). The nice thing about some of these online fundraising tools is that it allows people to create their own fundraising pages and invite friends, family, colleagues, neighbours to contribute.

CJ Escher: I think a lot of people are uncomfortable talking to their neighbour in RL about their political views, but SL offers more freedom.

You can express yourself with the fear of any type of repercussions in RL. As with everything, the Internet is empowering action at the individual level. And that’s true. In RL I always see stories about people who say they thought they were the only Democrat in a neighbourhood until they see a sign pop up in someone’s yard. SL is an opportunity for people to feel less isolated.

Voodoo: Would you say that spreading the word is what being an SL Democrat means to you, or is it something deeper?

CJ Escher: I think of it as a way to support the Democratic Party in my Second Life the way I support it in Real Life.

Blue Revolution: Personally, I identify myself as a Democrat more along the lines of an FDR Democrat.

Voodoo: Finally, I suppose my ultimate question is, why should a US SL resident vote Democrat?

CJ Escher: Have you read the news for the past 8 years :-) Blue Revolution laughs.

CJ Escher: I think the state of the US economy and the world situation

speak very elloquently to that point.

Blue Revolution: It’s really a difference in philosophy. Is government there to provide protections and opportunity for businesses, or is it there to protect and provide opportunities for people like you and me?

The Democratic Party is the party of the people.

CJ Escher: I don’t think most people say they were better off than they were when Bush came to office. Change can be a good thing. I think also the Demcratic party offered 2 different perspectives than have ever been seen an election. Modale/Ferraro (sp) was the closest. But this has been a very different year.

Blue Revolution: We’re seeing a real race for a change.

CJ Escher: The fact that some disenfranchised groups in the US really see an opportunity for someone like them to be President says a lot too.

Blue Revolution: And now we’ll see how Senator Obama works to unify the Democratic Party. Voodoo: And you do you think Democrat in Office would be good news for all of us in this American based virtual world?

CJ Escher: I don’t know that it will make any tangible difference in SL. There may be more tech RD, but it will be interesting to see. SL has never seen a Democrat in office. It was born in 2003. I’m old. I was around then.

Blue Revolution: Yes, a Democrat in Office would be good news for virtual worlds. Republicans view taxes as a disease and want to cut them, selling off American infrastructure to private and foreign corporations. Democrats view taxes as investments. With investments in our country’s technology, research and development, as well as the information architecture, everyone in the world will benefit. After all, didn’t Bush trade nuclear technology for mangos?

There is certainly a lot to take into account, when watching how this election unfolds, but of course if you are less interested in who’s coming in, and are either mourning or celebrating the end of George Dubya Bush’s time in office, you might want to pop HERE to pick up your free clock, which will count down to the change of power in the oval office, and a new chapter for us all.

Is Dazzle too dazzling?

by Trinity Dechou

“We’re pleased to announce First Look: Dazzle, a “refresh” for the Second Life viewer’s appearance which makes the UI (User Interface) more accessible and pleasing.” – Second Life Blog Hailed by some as the new friendly user experience that Second Life desperately needs, Dazzle is a new brighter User Interface. It uses new buttons and symbols and has many ‘under the hood’ changes to ease customisation in the future. With a barrage of complaints however, is Dazzle all it’s cracked up to be?

Dazzle UI

Old UI

The original blog

entry, posted by Torley Linden set out the following questions and relative answers: What if I don’t like Dazzle?

This is understandable, particularly because Second Life’s UI has basically been the same for several years. Change can be hard if you’re accustomed to the way things currently look and have been with us for awhile…. we’ll pay attention to your constructive criticism and use it to refine Dazzle further” Will I be able to revert to the older UI? When Dazzle is in the main viewer, then no, you won’t be able to revert easily.

On the surface many people like Dazzle however, with more and more posts, comments and worries being voiced at Benjamin Linden’s (Director of User Experience) office hour and on the JIRA, in answer to Torleys previous question – What if I don’t like Dazzle? Simply we don’t know the answer; no one appears to be listening to the very ‘real’ health issues it brings to the fore.

Dazzle was mentioned originally in February and has been in development since then. I spent a few hours researching the effects a bright user-interface can have on its user, ie you! I was quite shocked at the results I achieved in a matter of hours; a company like Linden Lab SHOULD have access to this information as freely as I do, especially considering there is a department qualified in User Experience.

“Whether characters are legible or not depends on contrast, that is, the difference in brightness between the text and the background.” Ergonomics for Beginners: A Quick Reference Guide by Jan Dul. “Dark colors maintain the focus on the images - bright colors can distract the eye and take the focus away from the images.

Adjusting to the varying degree and the frequency of light changes can cause eye fatigue, headaches and mood swings. “ – Agfa Healthcare The Benefits of Color and Style “In short, to avoid dazzling and prevent eyestrain (your own or your users), try to keep all surfaces at the same brightness by matching the

overall brightness or dimness of your screens to the office environment.

If users typically use your software in brightly lit offices or if they type from bright source documents, use light or off-white backgrounds. If your software is used in dim or dark areas (air traffic control towers, for example), use dark backgrounds. If you can’t find out what the background will be, you might want to include two backgrounds, one light and one dark, with your program.” – Fast Consulting There is no template in place for the average Second Life user, many people are in-world at night, in a darker environment, with less or no natural lighting. However corporate companies and some residents play during the day time in areas of high natural lighting. As shown from research in this model ONE UI is not sufficient and two should be provided.

Another consideration you should bear in mind when looking at Dazzle is the blue on blue colour scheme. As stated in the Fast Consulting reference work “Your eyes cannot focus clearly on blue”.

Since yellow and green wavelengths come into focus at the retina, they require the least accommodation from the eye (this is the reason for so many yellow and green monochrome monitors a few years ago). Red wavelengths, on the other hand, come into focus a little behind the retina and therefore seem to “pop out” of the background. Since blue wavelengths come into focus in front of the retina, blues seem to fade into the background. – Fast Consulting There are far better colour combinations for the use of blue; “On the HSV Colour Wheel, the complement of blue is yellow; that is, a colour corresponding to an equal mixture of red and green light. On a colour wheel based on traditional colour theory (RYB), the complementary colour to blue is considered to be orange” – Wiki

Second Life will be made skinnable in the future, ie users can include their own colour combinations to suit themselves. A wonderful step forward but surely Skinability should happen before people have no option but to use Dazzle? According to the Viewer Roadmap the answer is no, Dazzle takes priority over everything else.

Linden Lab is placing great strain on their customers. With over 6 million user accounts the global cross-section MUST include people with colour blindness and migraine sufferers to name but a few.

“Some history behind this: over the years, we’ve heard a lot about how difficult SL can be to use, notably how scary the “old-style” UI looks.

Cryptic icons, low contrast, and “things you click on that don’t do what you expect them to do” are all frustrating to newcomers, and at last — Dazzle’s here, because we want to make it easier for you.” – Second Life Blog I am sure many agree with the sentiment above, however ‘scary’ and ‘frustrating’ are not in any medical journals I can source. Migraines, colour blindness and fatigue associated with bright User Interfaces are however.

The JIRA issues are gaining support but still nothing is being done about the prompt arrival of Dazzle. In a hope to grow the awareness please have a look at them, and be sure to vote. http://jira.secondlife.com/ browse/VWR-5080 & http://jira.secondlife.com/browse/VWR-5059 As we go to print Ramzi Linden has posted comments on the JIRA – “I know there is a perception in these comments that Linden Lab has not been listening -- in fact we have been considering this issue, designing and tackling parts of it internally. I’d like to disambiguate a few issues that are highlighted here: (1) color blindness and color contrast/Eye strain: In tests, the Dazzle palette does pass software color blindness tests... in other tests of legibility, the palette is weak on foreground/background contrast. We have been designing revisions to the color to address that issue.”

“In the meantime, Residents have already generated custom colors which change Viewer 1.20 to a nearly identical look & feel of 1.19.1.

These are installed in less than a few minutes.”

In response to Ramzi it has been commented that asking the average non-technical Second Life user to replace .xml files is frankly ridiculous and by no means ‘user friendly’.

With relation to the colour blindness tests users have asked for clarification on the settings used ie if these tests were carried out in office environments or in darker bedrooms using night settings in Second Life, as yet there has been no clarification on this issue.

Sources Agfa Ergonomics for Beginners Fast Consulting JIRA http://jira.secondlife.com/browse/VWR-5080 & http://jira.secondlife. com/browse/VWR-5059 Second Life Blog Wiki

Dazzle they listened Just when you believe Linden Lab the creators of Second Life do not actively listen to the paying residents they never cease to amaze you.

Whilst facing one of the biggest PR Disasters of recent times, Linden Lab have taken a miraculously large step back and have reassessed their desire to enforce Dazzle, with no alternative option, upon the residents of Second Life.

As I documented in April (http://www.slnn.com/index.php?SCREEN=ar ticle&about=dazzling-dazzle), Dazzle caused major concern across the Second Life network. Its bright user interface could be held accountable for eye strain and migraines, also not ergonomically suitable for those users with varying degrees of colour blindness. The complaint was not

specifically against Dazzle it was against the inability to easily revert to the old style, or for a user friendly option to skin the client, if Dazzle affected you with the health issues mentioned above. With a massive amount of votes and comments on the two Dazzle specific JIRA entries (VWR-5059 http:// jira.secondlife.com/browse/VWR-5059 & VWR-5080 http://jira. secondlife.com/browse/VWR-5080) it now seems that Linden Lab have actually listened to the worried residents.

In the latest Second Life Blog post Ramzi Linden has announced the release of RC11 with 39 crash fixes and the news that Linden Lab will not ship the Release Candidate until it has working skin-ability.

“To start, we are now developing a solution to VWR-5059 - “Ability to switch between the new/old theme” - and will ship that before finalizing the official Second Life Viewer 1.20.

Therefore, in the coming weeks please look for a couple other iterations of this Release Candidate, but perhaps not as frequently. We will deliver an RC12 and RC13 before finishing this 1.20 Release Candidate cycle.”

Linden Lab may have taken their time but I am sure I and the hundreds of non Dazzle supporters are both in favour and in shock at this latest development.

Potential PR disaster almost averted.

Introduction Once a year, the residents of Second Life, both us lowly mortals and the Lindens, take time out of our usual comings and goings to reflect on the fact that another year has passed us by, and reflect on what’s changed, what we have achieved, and the plans we have been building for the future. And, as Second Life itself reached the grand old age of 5 years old, land was put aside to showcase the very best innovations and designs, host events featuring the talented musicians and artists who live here, and of course, to throw some mean parties so we can all blow off some steam, and celebrate this world we are helping to develop. This year, Rez Magazine was there in the thick of the things, with yours truly taking a special interest in the goings on, and spending most of my sl time wandering the SL5B sims, speaking to exhibitors, attending functions, and generally taking in the sights. Our presence was so prevalent that we were the first reporters to get official SL5B press passes (and definitely the only I saw wearing it). As such, it goes without saying that a few choice articles came out of my time at the 5th Birthday sims, which we decided to collect here for your entertainment. So, if you missed out on the festivities, you can get an insight into the kind of things that were going on; and if you were there, you can reminisce about the cool stuff that was on offer. Therefore, without further ado, Rez is proud to present our special SL5B supplement. Hope you enjoy it!

See you all at the 6th Birthday!

Voodoo Buwan

Animateth the Smacketh Down

by Voodoo Buwan

Anyone who knows me, will know that I’m not the sportiest sort.

Sitting around watching teams of grown men attempt to take a ball of some nature, from one end of a place, to another end, is okay for the occasional viewing, but hardly a worthy distraction from the games I can play myself. And as for taking part, that would involve being away from comfortable chairs and my intravenous (although sometimes frustratingly laggy) Internet connection. However, there is one kind of exception to my general disinterest in all things sporty. Not sports, but rather sports entertainment. For the uninitiated, I’m talking about professional wrestling.

Therefore, imagine my delight, when wandering around the SL5B sims, to discover an exhibition of wrestling inworld, being put on by SL’s very own brand of raw, impact driven, slobberknockery. The superstars of SLCW, or SecondLife Championship Wrestling, flinging each other around the ring, smacking each other with steel chairs (and anyone else who happened to get too close), all for the entertainment of those watching. And since their exhibition was part of the Metaverse TV exhibit, it seems that an audience is not something they are lacking.

Intrigued, I decided to seek out the organiser and manager of this inworld promotion, Ivan Halfpint, at his office at the SLCW Arena, to find out a little more about bringing the world of sweat, spandex and suplex’s to the virtual world of SL:

Voodoo: So, How did SLCW come about?

Ivan Halfpint: Well basically I have always been a wrestling fan so when I entered SL back in Nov of 07 I looked for wrestling sims. I only found one - and it was basically not holding any matches or doing anything productive - so I offered to help him manage the promotion - it didn’t materialize so I said the hell with it and started my own. Our roots are much more humble than our current setup. We started in a very tiny arena.

Voodoo: Have the logistics of setting it all up been very tough?

Ivan Halfpint: Well it hasn’t been hard at all really - my business partner Alpin Criss developed the wrestling system that we use and it is very fun and always under construction - besides that all we had to do was rent a piece of land and throw up a building.

Voodoo: How does the wrestling system work?

Ivan Halfpint: Basically it is gesture based - Alpin animates the gestures - there is an attack and a ‘sell’ - so one person picks the move and starts the attack and the person they are attacking is automatically animated to sell the move.

Voodoo: The animations are particularly good. Are they based on rl wrestling moves, from things like the WWE? Ivan Halfpint: Yes they are all based on wrestling moves that are real not just WWE - but some have an amateur background - and some are some old style moves that haven’t been seen in some time - both myself and Alpin are fans of old school wrestling - not so much the new WWE stuff.

Voodoo: Have you had a good response from people? Are there a lot of SL wrestling fans?

Ivan Halfpint: It has grown well beyond our expectations - the response has been amazing - we have grown from literally having just a ring in an empty field to becoming the largest fighting promotion in SL - we hold weekly shows and have a weekly TV program on http://www.metaverse-

tv.com/ Voodoo: Yes, how did the web TV deal come about? Did they search you out?

Ivan Halfpint: Well it was the oddest thing. I mentioned the wrestling promotion on a web forum and one of the guys from the TV station seen it and thought wrestling on TV would be a good idea. After some meetings we reached an exclusive deal and the rest is history.

Voodoo: If someone wanted to get involved and become a wrestler, what should they do?

Ivan Halfpint: Just drop by the lobby and pick up an application. We are always looking for new talent and it is alot of fun.

Voodoo: And apart from the chance to smack someone with a chair without getting reported for griefing, is there the chance to win anything else?

Ivan Halfpint: It’s non for profit but we do offer a 500L$ pot for the wrestler who has the best match.

Voodoo: Finally, are there any tips you would give to anyone else looking to set up anything similar?

Ivan Halfpint: I would say be aware it is pretty time consuming - so don’t try and do everything yourself cause either #1 it will be done half assed or #2 you will get totally burned out. Besides that just have fun with it - don’t be afraid to try new things - and always have lots of patience - you need it.

Reach for the Sky(Cat)

by Voodoo Buwan

Quite a while ago, I was hanging around in one of SL’s many art galleries, and across a completely empty room, a female avatar wandered into view. The name above her head rang a very small bell, so I decided to go over and have a chat with her, to see where I knew her from. It turned out she was an inworld photographer, and I had seen a couple of her pics in the official SL Flickr Group. We chatted for a bit, then out of nowhere, I got a little notice saying she wished to hug me.

“Bit overly familiar, but no harm in it” I thought. Next thing I knew, I was upside down, with my head stuck in the floor, and Skycat Ranger was taking a photo of me, to post on her own Flickr stream, while falling about on the floor laughing with glee.

I generally don’t talk much in Rez about people already on my friend list, because I would be loathed to be accused of favouritism, but while having one of my wanders across the SL5B sims, I stumbled into a gorgeous little gallery of enhanced inworld photographs, and when I saw Skycat’s name on a giant leaf above the door, I decided that to do a story was less about boosting a friend, and more making use of a contact who is doing something amazing. In other words, as is becoming my mantra at the moment, giving respect where due. So, the moment I noticed her come online, I dragged her down to her exhibit, amongst the giant blades of grass and ladybirds made for her by the clown prince of SL, Jay Prospero, and had a chat with her about her work, and her own personal sl experience:

Voodoo Buwan: What originally brought you to SL? SkyCat Ranger: I was playing a game called “Doufus”. I was a fisherman, had to sell the fish I caught and make potions for killing magical beasts to move up. It almost got like work lol. I went to wikipedia to look up a potion and SL was mentioned. So I went and never sold fish again. My first night I met a joker and a ninja shooting, so we shot each other all night Voodoo Buwan: And what made you decide to start snapping pictures of your adventures?

SkyCat Ranger: I actually remember when I learned you could. I was sitting with the joker, jay, on a bigger than life bear. I learned how and haven’t stopped. SL has awoken my sprained soul in many ways, art being HUGE. Voodoo Buwan: A lot of your pictures have some amazing effects on them. How do you achieve that?

SkyCat Ranger: I got PS (Adobe Photoshop) in Oct 07 and literally just started clicking buttons. I now make unusual flowers and cityscapes with it. Default tools that are designed for other purposes. I’m to scatterbrained and busy to watch tutorials and I am going to make myself do it. Most people with training take years to learn SP. I know what I don’t know, but its ok, I’m having a blast.

Voodoo Buwan: So, you very much just kinda learn by doing, and make it work for you?

SkyCat Ranger: Exactly. I really don’t know why I love it, but I sure do.

Possibilities are endless and I think I love the surprises. It has also opened anther

universe of people from SL I met on flickr.com that I admire and have been helped by many. At first I was intimidated, but I found these SL flickr people to be fantastic.

Voodoo Buwan: So, has Flickr become an extension of your SL? SkyCat Ranger: Yes, I may spend more time there. My SL life and close friends have grown and changed and I found my niche. I met a photographer on flickr named SkyShaper from NY, and he helped me figure out what kind of RL camera I should get, and now I have over 300 RL pics on flickr also.

Voodoo Buwan: So, how has the feedback been to your SL photos, generally?

SkyCat Ranger: Well, responses are always positive (not boasting here).

I welcome any response though. A lot say, how do you come up with new pics, from PS that is. All I know is, I open a picture and have a blast. None are preplanned. My prob is, flickr could be a full time job, responding back. I try not to focus on responses or amount of views.

Voodoo Buwan: Just be true to yourself, yeah?

SkyCat Ranger: Yes and I’ve never sold any, I’m afraid it would change it. Hey, but open to offers lol Voodoo Buwan: Do you use any inworld tools to help get your photos?

SkyCat Ranger: I do a like to find “in depth” shots, as I recently learned about setting snapshot to “in-depth”.

Voodoo Buwan: Do you use a photobooth, or do you prefer to find places inworld to use?

SkyCat Ranger: Both, but I don’t have a photobooth that works at this time or a place to keep it. I get my best shots at my friend Jay’s area

then I add flowers whenever possible. I also do alot in a flickr SL group called “picture pile ups”. We edit each other’s pictures and I learned so much by doing that, sneaking my flowers in lol. But to answer you, I prefer SL to a photo booth, but it has its place.

Voodoo Buwan: Any advice on how to find the best places to photograph?

SkyCat Ranger: Well I heard there is a list but I don’t know where it is.

I always use search and type what I’m thinking of, or if I go to a store, I check rest of the sim out. Friends and helping others I’ve run into the most unexpected pictures. Although when I was little my nickname was “Greta Garbo”. “I vant to be alone?” It’s fun to fly off alone and see and find.

Voodoo Buwan: So, what has being a photographer in SL brought to you?

SkyCat Ranger: Good question. It’s brought me confidence and joy and excitement but mostly awoken my sprained soul, and now I wish I could fly in RL to take pictures. I have a set of churches from SL, like 67 or so. I was surprised to find so many. I now do that in RL, and with doors in SL too. I also have a set of more than 100 cool signs in SL and doing the same in RL. Voodoo Buwan: Finally, what advice would you give to any budding shutterbugs in SL? SkyCat Ranger: Have fun and the pictures will come from that attitude, and join flickr groups. There is help and encouragement out there. Oh, and Torley Linden has great tutorials on the SL website, which can really help.

Do’s and Don’ts from SL5B

by Voodoo Buwan

I’ve been spending an awful lot of time the past few days, wandering around the SL5B sims, taking in the sights, and enjoying what’s on offer.

However, I do feel the need to point out some of what I consider to be stylistic faux pas, not because I feel I am some form of God sitting in judgement over you all (although....), but rather to try to make sure to celebrate some of the best exhibits, and give guidance to some of the worst, so they might think twice before doing the same thing for SL6B. With that in mind:

DO... make a professional

looking and stylish building, showcasing what you do inworld, like this superb exhibit by the Metaverse Messenger, with sample articles from every year they have been going inworld.

DON’T...

chuck a couple of ugly towers up, with massive images, adfarm style, then decide “Sod it, that’ll do, let’s go down the pub”

DO...

use sculpties to create gorgeous things, the likes of which were never possible before, like these almost painfully cute lil animals created by “Have a Happy Mood”.

DON’T...

slap a bunch of blobby looking sculpties onto your exhibit to act as an entrance, making it look like a giant felt rather unwell, and vomited over the front of your build.

DO...

show off how cool the products that you make and sell inworld are, like in the fantastic DCS combat arena, where fighters demonstrate just what the combat system can do in the custom built battle area, along with using the healing hospital table, and training areas.

DON’T...

try to cheekily get past the fact that you aren’t allowed to sell at the SL5B sims, by offering exclusive weapons, then making everything in your exhibit a landmark giver, that takes you to the place where you can buy these items.

DO...

use some glow to make your builds stand out, with an almost magical quality, like this excellent creative piece by the talented Strawberry Holiday

DON’T...

use so much glow, that your exhibit happens to blind anyone who happens to glance at it twice.

And above all else....

DO...

try to make your exhibit fun and enjoyable for anyone who sees it, like this tribute to the Lindens by Grim Babies, and the detailed and well constructed stand by Rezzables’ aways entertaining Greenies

Jelly and Ice Cream, anyone?

by Voodoo Buwan

You’d have to have your head severely stuck in a virtual bucket to not know that it’s that time of year again, and Second Life is gearing up to celebrate it’s 5th Birthday, in a massive event, including the best and finest from all walks of virtual life. Only, it’s not been that simple.

Unfortunately, Linden Lab, in their great wisdom, decided that certain residents were too risky to be exhibitors and show what they have been up to, at this event, meant to display what we have done in our world, with our imagination. And at the forefront of these who would be allowed to visit the celebration, but not have their say there, are one of the most needlessly controversial and misunderstood groups in our virtual world, those with child avatars.

This has lead to the creation of KIDS5B, an independent splinter event, happening simultaneously to the main event itself, and allowing the kid groups of sl to show what they’ve been up to. It’s a fantastic looking place, with boats, rafts, funfairs, railroads, skateparks, sweets, and so much more that it would keep even the most attention-deficit inflicted kid amused for hours. To allow a little more understanding into the precise roots of the event, and what’s going on there, I caught up with Daniel Regenbogen, one of the organisers:

Voodoo Buwan: Would you like to explain why you felt the need to splinter off from the main 5th Birthday celebration?

Daniel Regenbogen: Well, that wasn’t exactly our own decision. On May 30th, I heard that contributions by some kid avatars, like Loki Eliot and Marianne McCann, were rejected from SL5B, simply because they showed the life of kid avatars. I sent a mail to M Linden that was answered by Robin Linden, telling me that kid avatars would be allowed to visit, but not to contribute to the SL5B exhibitions. This angered many kid avatars, and out of this anger the idea of doing our own celebrations, Kids5B, was born.

Voodoo Buwan: Was any reason given as to why kid avatars would not be given a voice at the event?

Daniel Regenbogen: No. To quote Robin Linden: “I want to be clear that child avatars are welcome to attend the celebrations, and we look forward to seeing you there. We believe a community sponsorship, however, is not in the best interest of the event or of Linden Lab, so we have to respectfully decline your participation at that level.” We guess it is because of some sensational media coverage about sexual ageplay.

LL decided to cover their butts instead of taking a stand to support their paying customers.

Voodoo Buwan: How difficult has it been mobilising the child avatar community to organise this?

Daniel Regenbogen: Not difficult at all! Within 24 hours the group was started and the 1st SIM was made available by a sponsor. Work started almost instantly (and it had to, with only 3 weeks to go there was no time for lots of talking and making big plans). The support from the kids community was and is simply amazing. Sure, some had a different opinion about how to deal with LL’s decision, there was some stress and drama involved, but in the end I think we all came together and worked together to make Kids5B happen.

Voodoo Buwan: Have you had many people wanting to exhibit here that you considered inappropriate, given that this is a kids event?

Daniel Regenbogen: No, we didn’t have to send away anybody. I think one of the reasons for the amazing support and participation is, that within the kids community many are fed up with the fact, that many people who see a kid avatar for the first time jump to the conclusion that there is some kind of weirdo or pervert behind the avatar - and they see Kids5B as the big chance to show what being a kid avatar really is for lets say 99 percent of all kid avatars. So, no, we didn’t have to turn anyone down feeling that what he wanted to show here would be not appropriate.

Voodoo Buwan: So, this event is not only a chance for kid avatars to come together to celebrate sl, but also an opportunity for everyone else to get a better understanding of what it means to be a kid avatar in SL? Daniel Regenbogen: Definitely! When LL decided to not allow us at SL5B, they actually gave away a chance to allow all residents to better understand us. Kids5B, as much fun as it is for us ourselves, is also a big invitation to everyone, kid, teen, adult, human, furry, robot, dragon, whatever. We are hoping to see many visitors from outside the kids community. I think there is no better way to get to know each other than to celebrate together and talk with each other. We are looking forward to that.

Voodoo Buwan: Finally, have you had any reaction from Linden Labs about this project? And would they be welcome to come visit?

Daniel Regenbogen: I don’t know of any direct reaction. Thanks to all the support from residents from all backgrounds, LL changed the decision, and kid avatars now are allowed to exhibit at SL5B. Kids5B has a little “cultural center” there, that also works as a gateway to Kids5B. We offered the same to LL, to put up a gateway from Kids5B to SL5B, but to my knowledge, there was no reaction to that offer at all.

Of course, everyone is welcome to visit us, and we would be happy to see a few Lindens here, too. On a final note: I’d like to thank each and everyone who helped with making Kids5B happen - you are amazing!

And also a big thank you goes to everyone who supported the rights of kid avatars in forums, blogs, mails to LL and so on. It really made a difference.

Space Navigating your way through Second Life

by Trinity Dechou

Always striving to improve your Second Life experience, we at Rez, like to look into all areas of the virtual experience. From changes of Trademark usage, to WindLight content creation, we try our best to leave no stone unturned.

Today I will hopefully uncover a little gem being realised by more and more people i.e. the 3Dconnexion Space Navigator. In the past, to use the Space Navigator you had to tweak the hidden Joystick Flycam options under the ‘Advanced’ menu of the Second Life client. The Wiki page (http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Space_Navigator) did offer some insight and a well documented user, Tenebrous Pau (http://teneverse. blogspot.com/2007/07/blog-post.html) offers his settings for the device which he has been using for a year now. However 3Dconnexion, a Logitech company, have been working with Linden Lab to bring support for their popular Space Navigator product to Second Life. This support has been implemented in the 1.20 Release Candidate.

Ok, this all sounds very exciting but I hear you ask; what is a Space Navigator and how will it make my Second Life experience better?

The Space Navigator is a 6-axis input device. It allows the user to pan, tilt, zoom and rotate efficiently from one single input with far

superior accuracy than that of a standard mouse. With the new Release Candidate, users can control their avatar with the navigator; you can walk up a hill, tilting the device to seamlessly enter into flight, pushing down again to smoothly get two feet back on the ground. Intended for left hand usage you can also guide your avatar with your left hand while typing with your right or using your mouse to interact with the UI. That’s just avatar control, with the Space Navigator you can do much more. Now found under the ‘View’ menu you can activate the Joystick Flycam option and with the default Space Navigator settings you can control your camera with the device as well. Never before has the movements of Second Life been so seamless. Also, of course, a very nifty tool for the Machinima creators out there with fluid soft movements all controlled from the one device making it easier for absolute novice movie directors out there to have a go.

I was lucky enough to see the Space Navigator in action under the old Joystick Flycam settings and agreed it was a lovely device, however when 3Dconnexion announced actual support for Second Life, I decided that I REALLY needed yet another input device.

Having ordered from amazon.co.uk (http:// www.amazon.co.uk) I waited excitedly as my package arrived. Similar to a child at Christmas, I tore the box open, installed the drivers, downloaded the Release Candidate and away we go.

The first thing that struck me was the build quality, this is a very weighted object (in fact could be considered lethal in the wrong hands).

From amazon.co.uk (http://www.amazon.co.uk) the device retails at £37.65 ($52.25 amazon.com http://www.amazon.com) which as an extremely reasonable price for such a piece of kit, how many of us have paid upwards of £40 for a mouse?

I installed the driver CD onto my iMac and launched Second Life.

Using the Release Candidate I had no further settings to input or install, I hit login and waited for my world to arrive. To begin with the Space Navigator takes a very short time to get used too. Having the

ability to walk and fly so easily and seamlessly is, for me, an amazing achievement, but one you need to learn to control. Trin did have her fair share of bumping off things to begin with! Having used the device for a short time now and gone on the short learning curve I really cannot see ANY reason why everyone using Second Life shouldn’t have one of these. It makes you feel more connected with your camera or avatar.

Out of the box the Space Navigator works well, it should be remembered however you can use your preferences to alter some settings to suit yourself. One strong piece of advice is to turn off build mode before you attempt to build with the navigator; otherwise you might end in a disastrous mess (this can be done by un-ticking ‘build’ in the ‘Joystick Setup’ window of the ‘Input & Camera’ preferences tab, see below). There are also two buttons on the side of the Space Navigator which allow, with a bit of tweaking, the ability to jump and enable Flycam mode.

Obviously, being newly supported it is not without fault, there are a few subjects on the JIRA (https://jira.secondlife.com/browse/VWR-6363) (most of which are small niggling flaws with the software rather than big intrusive issues), which will be fixed and implemented to help future Second Life viewers. There is also a “3DConnexion Space Cadets” group

in-world for users to gather, share information and help one another.

Of course it should also be noted that this little gadget isn’t just for use in Second Life, it also works in such applications as Adobe Photoshop, Autodesk AutoCAD, Autodesk Maya and Google Earth to name but a few.

Read up on the device, admire its beauty, bask in the splendour of an evolved integration with Second Life and most importantly go buy one, now.

Resources: Beast Linden Demo Movie (http://www.3dconnexion.com/solutions/ sl_video.php) JIRA (https://jira.secondlife.com/browse/VWR-6363) Space Navigator website: http://www.3dconnexion.com/3dmouse/ spacenavigator.php

The Future’s Neon

by Voodoo Buwan

Life’s pretty funny sometimes. Just when you’re feeling that you’ve hit a rut, and that nothing will surprise you anymore, something comes along and proves you wrong. Second Life is no different. Recently, I’ve been wandering the grid, and more and more became despondent.

With a few notable exceptions, I seemed to be travelling through almost identical sims, with the same houses, the same basic stores, thirsting and longing for something to jump out at me. Something new.

Something different. I started to believe that this was it. I’d pretty much seen all there was to see in SL. Sure, there were new interesting little variations, but that’s all they were, variations on a theme.

So, I started to try to imagine what I was looking for. And I guess the thing I really thirsted for was detail. There are some great builds around, and most of them have nice little objects and features, but, usually due to prim allowances, the details are always minimal, and almost all the places I went to looked like they’d been thrown up in a couple of days. Where was the effort? Where’s the craftsmanship? SL is full of amazing people, with wonderful ideas, but those ideas get made, and then they move on to the next idea, rather than taking the time to fully work that idea to perfection. Ideas are all well and good, but without the workmanship, they are but amusements, after a while. And, I’m as guilty of this as most, to be perfectly honest.

Then, out of the blue, an old friend of mine, who back in the day often pointed me in the right direction of new and interesting places inworld, dropped a landmark on me, without a word of explanation.

When the landmark image rezzed, I’ll admit that I thought it hadn’t been

taken inworld, and it piqued my curiosity enough for me to head over to INSILICO (153,131, 3615) to investigate further.

Upon arrival, I was taken aback. You see, this was exactly what I was looking for, and without a word of asking, my friend managed to read my mind, and send me directly where I was seeking. INSILICO is a visually gorgeous futuristic metropolis, where neon signs shine through the darkness, television billboards flash and flicker, and spotlights glare through the mist. High textured skyscrapers tower into the night, while on the ground level, with a reserved smattering of stores, descend down, level after level, each one revealing new things to see.

And impressive as the environment is, the closer you look, the details never fail to impress. The full prim allowance of the sim is utilised to glorious effect, along with an impressive use of sculpties, to mean that no corner has been cut. Not only is the detail intricate and well constructed, but also utilises functional innovations at the forefront of sl scripting, like the voice activated wall mounted web browser, which you can use in the public bar, a watering hole where the denizens of this place, along with many folks travelling through this futuristic landscape, can get together to shoot the breeze.

It was here that I met Skills Hak, the creator and owner of the sim, and managed to get a few words, to try to get a better idea of the woman behind this impressive project: Voodoo Buwan: So, how did this place come about?

Skills Hak: Funny thing is it started with just being a store for my own products and it was so much fun building it, so I had to get my own sim.

More prims more space etc… and I added another building and another one… then I thought it would look good if the whole place would look like a city. it wasn’t planned at all, just flowed.

Voodoo Buwan: What would you say your influences are with the build? There’s a definite “Blade Runner” feel, but any other input?

Skills Hak: Actually I wasn’t thinking about a movie or book when I made it. Its just what I think what a city of the future would look like. of course we all watched blade runner hehe so I guess there are certain influences, but I’m trying not to use any ideas from movies or books actually. it should be something new Voodoo Buwan: Is it all your own work, or have you had much assistance?

Skills Hak: Apart from some objects like chairs etc, its all self-made yes.

Or like the bottles here. That’s a bit stressful cause I have problems with letting other people work here, when it comes to building lol. I know its silly but I want to keep that high standard Voodoo Buwan: So, with the project being so personal, was there much thought put towards trying to make the place customer friendly, what with it essentially being a business district?

Skills Hak: The shops are here only to pay the tier and I want to keep the business part as hidden as possible cause I want to start with the rp as soon as possible. We have big plans for roleplay here and are working on a theme atm Voodoo Buwan: Ah, so it’s going to be a lot more than just a mall then?

Skills Hak: Yes if I could I would get rid of the mall completely and only have some shops for my friend, integrated into the RP. I keep the shop and apartment tiers as low as possible too and only accept top notch creators. I don’t want it to be a mall hehe.

Voodoo Buwan: You mentioned a theme. Can you tell me more about that?

Skills Hak: Yeah we are working on the background atm. The theme is quite futuristic: The year is ca 2100 and the city is one of many floating in the sky. The city is built 3600m high in the sky because the ground is covered in a toxic gas. Since the atmosphere collapsed its impossible for humans to live down there. Every city is connected to its own reactor

farm on the ground via long cables and actually only androids work down there. The cables are heavily guarded against “rebel cyborg” groups and eco terrorists. We have alot of parties already and some of the brands here will play a role too, like the Gemini cybernetics which will be an evil weapon concern Voodoo Buwan: So, your vision is more important than being a financial success then?

Skills Hak: I just want to build my “vision” (lol sounds cheesy) and play in it. My financial success I want to have with the products I make, not with a mall.

Voodoo Buwan: So, are you finding it easy to merge other people’s, and brands, input into your vision.... it sounds very thought out Skills Hak: No I think its really hard and I only let very few people work on it like Erik commons who does a project from saijo city here. An institute that uses human brains as information filter, but can’t really talk about that one yet hehe. There will be a redlight district, cyber combat arenas for different melee sorts, an artificial park, apartments all over the city, underground clubs… We are going to have a combat evolutions fight club here too… but all in all I just want to have a nice community. I’m not really into combat myself, Its more about the build and art here and the rp makes it alive.

Voodoo Buwan: Just one more question.... what advice would you give anyone considering trying to follow in your footsteps, and wanting to set up their own place?

Skills Hak: Hmm maybe patience, as I don’t have that. Well, hard to give any advice. Its important a sim grows on all ends at the same time.

Not only the build, but the group management, rp things, financial stuff… And don’t be afraid to say no if others are asking to be involved, but don’t 100% get what you’re doing. If you have a vision do it alone!

Diana Allandale

by Trinity Dechou Diana Allendale (Diana Hunter in RL) is a published real life Erotic writer. She specialises in BDSM novels having spent a long time researching on the internet and finding she could never find what she wanted; a friend challenged her to do better. That she did and Secret Submission was her first, in a long line of published novels.

I met Diana through the Book & Publishing Islands SL Book Fair. I attended a talk given by her where she talked people through writing Erotic Fiction. I must admit this is a subject I hadn’t given much thought too, however I found Diana an extremely interesting person. I managed to grab her for a chat about her writing and how she uses Second Life to research.

Diana, thanks for taking the time to talk to me, can you give us a little bio of you and your novels?

I became interested in writing stories with bondage and D/s themes when she found a dearth of them on the web. Nothing I read seemed to have the romantic element she knew was possible in such relationships.

Each book I write contains a kernel of truth or deeply held conviction from my own life, but don’t ask me where truth ends and fantasy begins…I’ll never tell! When not writing, I am either at my loom, weaving thread lines of a different sort, or playing Mommy-taxi to two teenage children. Married for over twenty-seven years to the same man, I am grateful for all the wonderful encouragement he gives.

Why Erotica and why BDSM? I’d written two other novels (one in the fantasy genre and one historical

novel) that I couldn’t seem to sell anywhere. Those still sit on my shelf looking for a home. But then I wrote what became my first published novel, Secret Submission, really without any eye towards publishing, but more for my own exploration of an extreme look at the BDSM lifestyle.

I had several questions about the Dominant/submissive dynamic I was struggling with and writing the novel helped me to find some of those answers. Only when it was nearly finished did I discover the website for Ellora’s Cave Publishing. Taking a chance, I sent my query and they asked for the first three chapters and a synopsis. I sent them in...they bought it and my career in writing erotic romance was born.

Why did you come into Second Life?

Believe it or not, I came into SL for the express purpose of promoting my RL novels. I’d heard an article on NPR in which they stated that IBM and Toyota and Ford were all creating in-world presences to market their goods. I figured, “Well, if the Big Boys can do it, so can I!” So I downloaded the client (version 11 way back then!), created my avatar and entered an entirely new culture...one with communities and protocols and rules of behavior that blew my mind. I spent the first two months just wandering, wide-eyed and naive. But I learned and, thanks to some wonderful mentors, opened my first shop just shy of my second month being in-world.

Does Second Life help you to research for novels?

While I have an in-world serial that is set in Second Life, my RL books don’t mention the virtual world...yet. So the crossover is only one-way so far...RL imported into SL. My in-world persona is there to promote my RL books.

That said, I do run an ALT that I use for the occasional foray into some of SL’s seedier sims. Under her guise, yes...I do go searching for... inspiration <grin>.

Does Second Life help you to grow your name and book sales?

This is a hard one to answer. My gut says, “Yes, definitely.” But I have no proof. I tend to be data-driven in life, but I’ve found when it comes to promotion as an artist dependent on royalties, there’s no such thing as reliable data. Because bookstores (both brick-and-mortar and online retailers) have pay schedules that usually don’t line up with the

publisher’s dates to cut royalty checks, it’s impossible to tell if one promotion worked better than any other on any given month.

Website hits are another indication, but since much of what’s on my website is also in my SL bookshops, most people from SL don’t bother with my website. As a result, those hits are in a fairly static state.

LOL...That’s the long-winded way of saying, “I have no clue if SL has increased my sales or not!” I like to think they HAVE made a difference, though!

You do book readings and give workshops in SL, firstly do you have a regular venue?

Actually, I have several. My writing workshops (which, btw, are NOT erotic in content, but are more geared towards writers who just need a little creative push), are held each Tuesday on Book Island and will be throughout the months of June and July.

I also give readings of my works in-world at the Island of Pain and at Alvargi...I swap Thursdays so that every other week I’m in the other sim. Then I have solo readings I do once a month in places such as the Zurich Opera House and over at the Nudist Paradise. The easiest way to keep up with me inworld is to join Passionate Books, my in-world group.

I send notices just before each reading/workshop; I also send out a newsletter at the start of each month with all the upcoming dates.

And, secondly what kind of feedback have you had from Second Life residents?

I came into SL to promote my books...and found instead a world of friends. So many of my readers have become true friends of mine through this new medium called a virtual world. People have taken me into their hearts and welcomed me into their communities in a way I never, ever expected that day in October 2006 when I first rezzed into SL. I am so glad I heard that radio broadcast on NPR that chilly day... and so glad I made the leap into the unknown. I owe a HUGE thank you to all those who come to my readings, who give their talents to my writer’s workshops, who stop by and visit my shops and then send me a quick note afterwards. It’s their feedback that keeps me coming back in-world.