New World Notes

Night Moves: We Need a Few Good Men... To Take My Survey on Second Life Sex!

Nightflower Reports on the Reality of Virtual Love & Relationships for NWN

Last week, I posted the results of my survey on SLex from the women of Second Life. The results were a bit surprising, suggesting that most women don't come anywhere near fitting the oversexed homewrecker stereotype perpetuated by outside media coverage. Quite to the contrary, they seem to be a fairly committed lot, the vast majority of them experiencing SLex exclusively within committed relationships.

I closed that post with the promise that I'd focus on men next... so guys, here's your chance. Don't be outdone by the ladies -- almost 200 of them turned out to describe their SLexual habits. Care to break their record? Then take the survey HERE.

But don't stop there. Leave your thoughts and experiences of Second Life sex in the Comments below -- what's it like for you? Who knows, I might call on you for an interview!

New World Cinema: New TRON: Legacy Teaser, Now Daft Punkier and "Derezzed"!

TRON Legacy, the upcoming sequel to the geek classic (which we talked much about here), has a new teaser video now flavored with Daft Punk coolness, and entitled (you'll love this), Derezzed:

As noted earlier, "rez", originally coined for the first TRON, has since become common jargon in Second Life for "instantiating an object". Far as the movie, I was skeptical with the first trailer but I'd now say my ass is fairly well kicked. I do sort of hope someone makes a Big Lebowski mash-up, so when Jeff Bridges hops onto the still-rezzing battle craft, he seems to say, "This aggression will not stand, man!"

Hat tip mahalo to Kimo Sink.

ColeMarie Soleil's NWN Machinima Featured on Wired UK!

Wired UK has a nice write-up based on ColeMarie Soleil's New World Notes post on the Miyazki Laputa tribute in Second Life on Monday, highlighting the lovely machinima she took of the place. Coley and I are curious if "Jonas Ackerland", the name of someone ranting about SL copyright infringement in the comment thread, was really written by the famous director of Madonna and Lady Gaga videos. I'm guessing not, but I do think Jonas should hire ColeMarie to shoot machinima for his next video.

Nemo Sinking: Second Life's Jules Verne-ian Steampunk Masterpiece Closing on October 29!

Steampunk clock says time is running out to see Nemo!

Click this SLurl to visit NEMO in Second Life, which you will want to do by October 29. That's because the beautiful 3D tribute to Jules Verne (which I wrote about here), will close on that date. The creator, Sextan Shepherd, tells me he needs to close it for cost and creative reasons. For one thing, he says, "I put my business aside during these last six month, to focus on Nemo, and renting two full sims is something I can't afford for the moment." For another, he has done with it all he set out to do:

How To Be a Sexy Halloween Succubus in Blue Mars

Speaking of Iris Ophelia (and don't you know we just were), she has a eye candied post on a succubus avatar for Halloween in Blue Mars (where we're both currently consulting.) She shot this fashion spread in the Blue Mars city of ARAF, by Arzach Mills, who based it on the work of his friend, a famous Turkish artist. Speaking of costumes, there's still time to submit fashion Blue Mars photos for BLU$, and enter the Friday contest Iris is judging. Details for both here.

Buying Virtual Fashion Like Renting a Movie -- More From Johanna Blakley's Interview With NWN's Iris Ophelia

Culture maven and USC think tank director Johanna Blakley continues her interview on virtual fashion with New World Notes' Iris Ophelia. (Part one is here, and Johanna's insights on Second Life fashion here.) Iris talks about cultural influences on Second Life fashion (such as Mad Men, as she demonstrates at right with her Joan Holloway avatar) and makes this intriguing analogy:

JB: Can you talk a little bit about why people are so willing to spend money on clothes in SL and what people are getting out of that investment?

IO: I liken it to renting a movie. You know you aren’t buying it to keep, because Second Life won’t be around forever, but you pay and get your enjoyment out of it while you can. I think of Second Life shopping as more of an entertainment expense in that sense. It also explains why most people are hesitant to buy any Linden Dollars when they first join. Why rent the movie if you can just buy it for a little more money, or in this case shop for physical goods instead? After a certain point, most SL users find their particular answer to that question...

Read the rest here. I'm biased to agree with Iris, but I think that's a keen perception of spending patterns in Second Life (or for that matter, any other virtual world with fashion.) What's your take?

Coming Soon: Harbinger, a Mixed Reality Machinima Horror Mini-Feature With Scary Premise, Great Voice Acting

Set for a Halloween debut, Harbinger from machinima veteran Phaylen Fairchild promises mixed reality thrills from a eerily plausible premise. Here's the morbid and moody trailer, incorporating great voice acting and real world video footage:

The movie was inspired by Phaylen's own experiences online: "As technology evolves and the veil is lifted on anonymity in virtual worlds, people have developed this false sense of security," she tells me. "I remember the rules of chat rooms as a young adult, rules that every responsible surfer lived by for their own protection. They never gave real information, not their name, not specifics of any sort and certainly no confidential details. That's all changed now that we inhabit and operate 3D avatars. People are much more comfortable today. The guard is down. I kept thinking, 'Man, all it's going to take is one crazy.'"

With Harbinger, Ms. Fairchild looks like she's delivered the crazy. More on the machinima after it debuts on October 30 (hopefully.) Mark it on your calendar... in blood.

Much thanks to Toxic Menges, no machinima slouch herself. Toxic's tip turned me toward this terrific terror!

Coley's World: Beautiful Tribute to Miyazaki's Laputa: Castle in the Sky Made High Above in Second Life

ColeMarie Soleil explores Second Life's arts scene for New World Notes

Hayao Miyazaki's classic anime Castle in the Sky now has a beautiful tribute in Second Life, created by a Japanese Resident named Robinn Magic. Last weekend I got a sneak preview:

Laputa was originally a fictional place from the book Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift. His Laputa inspired Miyazaki's anime Laputa: Castle in the Sky, which centers on a floating city. Robinn Magic has been inspired by Miyazaki's take on the story, meticulously recreating some of the most lovable characters from the film, and adding a fun and somewhat challenging little puzzle with a nice Easter egg -- a hidden robot with wearable head -- planted somewhere in the build.  Here's how to explore it:

Blue World Style: How to Rock a Kawaii Neko Cosplay Look in Blue Mars

Over on the Blue Mars blog, which Iris Ophelia and I are developing as Avatar Reality consultants, Iris has tips on rocking a Kawaii Neko cosplay look for Halloween in Blue Mars (in a French maid outfit no less.)

Linden Launches Second Life Web Advertising Network -- Think AdSense for SL

Linden Lab is Beta launching a Second Life Advertising service for its many sites, sort of an AdSense for Second Life users. Very interesting idea -- wiki entry with tutorial video here. Thanks to Cold Spitteler for the tip!