New World Notes

WEEKEND OPEN FORUM

You know the drill: got grassroots content/events/projects you want to promote, issues you want to air? Post and discuss in Comments. Also, I've heard of several interesting weekend happenings which didn't make it to Rik's Picks' desk in time-- if you post their details by tonight, I'll try to highlight them on the front page.

Update, 3/25: 

- Laetizia Coronet points us to an extended write-up on the opening of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Neufreistadt (part of the Confederation of Democratic Simulators) featuring works by some renowned SL artists.

- A reader announces Ritalia, a new in-world group formed to "re-think the Italian national tourism portal Italia.it", meeting March 31 on Vulcano island.

- Arkin Ariantho announces another group, Not for Profit Organisations in SL, which "includes such activities as offering networking opportunities, providing training, sharing resources, and developing collaborative ventures."

Also, several interesting weekend events were announced in Comments; if you attended, offer your perspective on them there, too.

THE WORLD FROM MY WINDOW: STARAX MEMORIAL IN DA BOOM

Starax self-portrait donated by SuzanneC Baskerville

Legendary creator Starax Statosky may be gone from the world (but still quietly roaming it from time to time as another avatar), but his heritage lives on.  Rockwell Ginsberg made sure of that, by turning his land in ancient Da Boom [direct teleport here] into a kind of Starax gallery.

Onder's Game: Duck Hunt SL, Pop-A-Rama, Tombstone

Onder Skall reviews some of the grid's most intriguing games

This week we'll take a look at three games that are in the early-release stage and show a lot of potential. We're on the cutting edge of what's new and exciting in Second Life games here. These are games that either have just been completed or, in one case, aren't even available to the general public yet!

Join me as we shoot some ducks, play a giant board game, and a trip to the Wild West!

ALL ABOUT MY AVATAR: SLADE ONIZUKA

For the last few years, Slade has been a renowned crafter of exoskeleton-based avatars; we fell out of touch for a time, but while doing interviews for the book, I caught up with him in the legendary city of Nexus Prime, in his ornate apartment jutting out of the city in mid-air.  Onizuka told me about his new avatar, the identity he's trying to project with it-- and its role as a shield from certain aspects of SL culture.

Rik's Picks for March 21-25

Rik Riel's weekly round-up of upcoming SL events...

For all of you lovelorn avatars out there, CupidSL presents a series of singles mixers to meet that special someone.  Organized by US state in the real world, apparently the point is to make a love connection with someone you might meet in the flesh as well as in pixels.  Thursday evening from 4-7PM PST, residents who hearken from Vermont, Maine and New Hampshire have an opportunity to meet up with other folks from their region. Friday evening is Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut.  Head over to the CupidSL mansion on Gregwired Island (60, 118) to attend or find out other meeting times for your state. (Sorry ladies, I'm taken!)

Also coming up this week: avatars in tights, aliens speaking, bad monster movies, chanting, cheese and much, much more...

THE WORLD FROM MY WINDOW: THE MOSQUE OF CHEBI-- AND MUSLIMS IN SECOND LIFE

Drown Pharoah at the mosque's entrance

For his World from my Window entry, Drown Pharaoh told me about the Mosque in Chebi, next to a Christian cathedral, and of course, that led to a broader conversation on the place of Islam in Second Life.  His utterly fascinating insights on Muslims in the metaverse, after the break.

ALL ABOUT MY AVATAR: CIRR MARAT (TSL)

CAM-501 in Mainframe

I first spotted Cirr Marat showing off his teen grid space station, so when I noticed he'd sent in a submission to my Teen Avatar Expo, I lept to check it out.

"This is the second version of the avatar I made since a few months after joining [Teen Second Life]," Cirr Marat, 16, tells me.  "It has the 'official' name of CAM-501-- Corvian Automated Mechanoid 501. The 'Corvian' part came from old plans for a multigadget that never came to fruition, and 501 is just an arbitary number. It's a robot bird. Not a robot fish or a robot fly, as some people seem to think, but then, the bird parts aren't really that obvious.

300 LINDEN

Earlier today, Tateru blogged about the official 300 site in Second Life, and Zizzer Enui just pointed out another connection between the mammothly popular film and SL:  before building a network of underground caves in Second Life, Qarl Fizz/Linden helped create the amber waves of Spartan grain, and beautified the bricks in the well that the Persian messenger is kicked into, after Leonidas quietly informs the gentleman about this being Sparta, etc.   In a totally fascinating post, a Linden writes about his last day job-- as a computer graphics artist on the year's biggest movie thus far.  Read it all here.

Tateru's Monday Reality Mix

Silverscreen's reading room for the film 300. A visual feast.

Tateru Nino's weekly take on mixed reality...

300. You'd have to live under some kind of a rock to not know all about it. Everyone's talking about it. Well, everyone except the people I know, anyway. Will the big Internet meme go from Ninjas versus Pirates to Spartans versus Persians? Well, the 300 hype hits Second Life, and I crawl out from under my rock to go take a peek.

We also take a look at French band Air; two more European cities jumping into Second Life; crowdsourcing searches; plus a rework of our mixed reality metrics to give better comparisons between mixed reality and native content, all after the fold.

LOSING VOICE

And so with more than 400 votes tallied, the wisdom of crowds says voice chat will not be broadly adopted in the coming year.  Altogether, 57% believe that total regular use will be 45% or less of Residents.  I personally suspect the smart money is on "Only for specific events".