SL7B - Helping Others

Today is the last day of events at SL7B but again, the exhibits will be open for another week. Today's theme represents one of the things I love about SL and that's the fact that residents don't forget to reach out and help others through support/fundraising/awareness and/or education about real life issues.

I won't pick an Exhibit of the Day today because these are all worthwhile endeavours and deserve your attention. I've already mentioned SecondAbility Mentor but I'll show you the other "helping" exhibits I've found. I apologize if I missed anybody!

The first is certainly well known in Second Life and that is the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life (note the hunt I mentioned yesterday).

Alcoholics Anonymous has a very strong and supportive presence in Second Life.

The Boomer Esiason Foundation and the CF University receive support from Novartis and community members.

No known cause and no cure yet for ALS which has cost me a friend in RL. They're reaching out in Second Life too.

The Wounded Warriors project uses SL in significant ways and the US Military Veterans' Center has a number of initiatives underway.

The Glade Cafe is the center of the Multiple Sclerosis Help and Support Group.

One more note, I could swear I saw an exhibit by Operation Squeegee but couldn't find it again (arghh) however they will be officially underway July 1 and I'll pass on the information before then. (update: you can find information on Operation Squeegee at SL7B here)

If you want to help or need help or just want some information go visit these exhibits and see what's going on. They help make us one community. :)

SL7B - Whimsy Wonder and Weird (part 2)

The bad news is that tomorrow will be the last day for events at SL7B...the good news is that the exhibits will be open for another week so you have lots of time to go visit. I'll try and post more interesting sites in the days ahead. But today we'll conclude the Whimsy tour.

You may have heard of the developments in technology which will allow us to control our avatars with our brain waves. Well The Information Age, Inc. is working on that and has a free Computer Interface Headset just for you!

Apparently they didn't have bird avatars in mind when they were thinking of Brain Computer Science. I don't know if they work but my neighbours started doing some strange things so I quickly took them off and started knitting with an innocent insouciance.

The Planet Earth: Bat Cave is really cool. I'd show you some photos from inside it..... but it's dark. It's a bat cave.

If you're at all intrigued with sound you have to visit FreeWee Ling: Resonance. There are a couple of fun interactive sound creators on the ground and a full sound installation up above. This wasn't designed for a bird either - I could hear some melodic chimes but mostly I seemed to have recreated the sound of thousands of vuvuzelas. I think I might be spending too much time watching World Cup. :)

This next exhibit really requires V2 - it's not the only one at Sl7B which relies on that functionality but it's the only one so far that made me want to relog and change viewers. It has a really neat free avatar gift and a gorgeous metal being in the middle.

Go visit the TeleOctoscope by L1Aura Loire and Maya Paris!

My choice for Exhibit of the Day is Voices - Aequitas. Imagine a forest of semi transparent objects and imagine wandering through that forest. As you pass by one of the "trees" a voice of an SL resident speaks to you.

Let me share just a bit from the accompanying notecard:

After months of research and brainstorming, an idea developed to collect voices from SLers and create a forest or field of sound to explore. The collaboration went far beyond the initial group of artists working on the project to encompass at least 200 people willing to share a small part of themselves by contributing a 10 second sound byte of their voice. The collaboration grew to include the 6000 visitors that explored the field, because without the visitors to hear the voices, it wouldn't be much of a project.

We wish we could bring the magnitude of the entire project to the SLB7 celebration, but unfortunately, there isn't the space, nor the prims. So we offer a small taste of the experience as our example of an unexpected collaboration.

If you do nothing else at SL7B...go experience the Voices project. You won't regret it!

SL7B Whimsy Wonder and Weird (part 1)

SL7B is full of fun - in fact I love too many of the fun bits to do it in one post. So more in this category will follow. The first today is Capricious by windyy Lane. This is a beautifully designed and executed piece with a twist.

Combine umbrellas (which you get as a gift) and poses and you have pure whimsy. You can stack multiple friends on top of yourself with varying poses for a truly magical moment.

Bodied Words gives you and your friends the chance to spell out a message with your avatars. You acquire the letter shape and then (if you are willing) send a photo of your message to pallina60 Loon.

The instructions are thorough. :)

I thought Typote Beck's installation was cute and since it's close to the first two it's well worth checking out. Studio Egg is a nice addition to SL7B.

One of the most complex/intricate builds I've seen at SL7B is Reaching Through The Barrier - the SL7B Ball Machine. I loved watching the balls move through the machine - very clever.

These two seem forever separated - maybe if they tried sitting on one of the balls they could finally meet?

My pick for Exhibit of the Day is very unassuming. In fact I only went into Ye Olde Planetarium because I could see a free motorcycle (only usable at SL7b, sorry) and I have a friend with a thing for them. However, I climbed the circular staircase in the center and found magic.

There is a planetarium up above with the usual kind of seating - but it also has two animated pose balls which allow you to float around inside and control your movements. I love SL. :)

SL7B - SLathletics

I'll reveal a little secret here...I was planning to include the SL sailing community in this themed post. However, I couldn't find any representation from them at SL7B. I refuse to speculate on their motives but I will say I'm disappointed for a number of reasons. I also wanted to find some information on the new football league. They don't seem to have participated either. Ah well.... (mind you if I'm wrong and either of these communities are represented at SL7B please let me know and I'll pass on the information).

SL isn't all shopping and dancing and shopping. :) You can get involved in various activities as well and sporting endeavours are certainly available. If you go to Golf you'll find information on just some of the great courses around Second Life and it's fun (frustrating but fun).

Martial Arts are popular in Second Life and they're represented at the event. The ImperiuM Dojo has an exhibit (and really nice people there to chat with). If you ever wanted to learn how to use the katana - these are the folks who can help.

I told you yesterday that you can get your own demo horse at Sl7B. Go to this exhibit to find out some of the horse-related activities you can join. The Horse Events Group includes Sea Horse Races (and you can get free sea horses at their site), Barrel Racing, Bronco Riding, Pony Polo and more!

I live in Canada and it's all hockey all the time. Why should SL be any different? For information on the Global Online Hockey Association go check out their exhibit.

My nomination for Exhibit of the Day is an old favourite of mine. The Giant Snail Racing organization is well run (from what I can tell) and seem to work hard to improve the "sport".

Their exhibit is fun and well built and you can get a free mini snail with your own flag on it. Well worth checking out. If you've never seen a Giant Snail Race you owe it to yourself to go.

SL7B - Interactive

Today's theme is "interaction". This is certainly not a exhaustive list of interactive exhibits at SL7B - but it includes some things I found that I think you should check out. I start with the Tram System that will take you on a 55 minute tour of all of the SL7B Sims. Just look for the bobbing blue arrow (you'll find one close to wherever you are on the site) and rez a tram. It's a good way to get an overview of everything that's available.

This next photo probably looks like some interesting intricate piece of art - and it is. It's also the underside of a giant skirt.

Eshi Otawara fell in love with M Linden's doodles at the UWA Show and worked with him to create a Doodle Lace Dress which you can wear. If you're not familiar with Eshi's work (and even if you are) you'll really want to try this on.

The AKK Horse Ranch Annex will give you a demo horse for your very own to use and enjoy. I love horses!

Caro Fayray has created the exhibit Organic Machines and I had a lot of trouble pulling myself away - which had a lot to do with the blues she plays on the top level.

I don't want to spoil it by revealing too much here, but I will tell you she has the coolest transport mechanisms I've seen yet. Her "brief" description of the build is as follows: "Collaboration between man/machine/nature/organics with interaction from the visitor." Turn your sound on (unless you're sqeamish and maybe even then) and yes, there's room for dancing to the blues on the roof.

My friend Raul Crimson has built "Identity Crisis?" and it deserves your attention. While you play the old game of changing somebody's appearance ask yourself what it says about you if you see the person differently because of the result of your actions.

His "Changing Noobs" is fun.....just watch it for a while and see what happens. :)

Raul wasn't there when I visited but he's pretty - so I'm including a photo for your enjoyment (that's Ganymedes Costagravas in white).

As much as I enjoyed all of the builds in this post, my pick for Exhibit of the Day goes to the SecondAbility Mentor Unexpected Collaborations Experiment.

I have a personal connection I guess - in RL I spent 10 years walking with a cane (and great difficulty) because of rheumatism and arthritis - except in my case it turned out to be food allergies. So I was curious about their build.

Their notecard explains:

Your mission, should you choose to accept it is to begin by:

* Locating someone on your radar (preferrably someone you don't know) OR

* Explore on the SL7B sims and find someone to participate with you (again someone preferrably that you don't know)

Each of you sit on one of the two cupcake flowers to the left of the Unexpected Collaboration Experiment sign where you will receive a notecard for the next step.

Primary objective: Collaborate and have fun!

Now that's just cool - and although you could do it with somebody you know, it'd be much more fun meeting somebody new. :) I heartily recommend you visit all of these exhibits - and explore SL7B. I'm having a blast!

SL7B - A Tour of the "Sacred"

I try to group my journeys through SLB's and Burning Life into some sort of theme for posting purposes. It makes the results a little less disjointed.....I hope. Once I've chosen the theme, I then seek out exhibits that would naturally be included which means I fly around a lot and see things I wouldn't otherwise come across (and gather more ideas for themes and lm's for future posts). Today's theme was suggested by the DJ Stage - which looks less like a stage location to me than a futuristic religious building of sorts. So a search was on for something we seem to like a lot in Second Life......temples.

This build is the Temple of the Plywood Apple and commemorates the introduction of sculpties on May 20, 2007. It's very well done and the group "Starbase Alpha" which created it deserves a lot of credit for the design and execution.

I met Damian Firecaster at the Temple who was representing the group and convinced me to go visit and see the "best starships in SL". I've put that on my list of things to do. :)

The Mermaid Temple has some great sculpties as well and the Mer-folk are named in the exhibit which is a nice way to give a sense of the feeling of community they must have.

The Sentinel Mountains is a group of sims I'm not familiar with - but their Temple of Luna is a nice build and they have a really cool free gift.

I met Faolan Valerian there and, although she didn't mention it, Sentinel Mountains is in her picks so I probably should have asked for more information on their work. They have more than one exhibit in the area so check them all out.

Every now and then at SLB or Burning Life I see something that thrills me and I'm not always able to articulate why. Behind a copy of an article entitle The Sacred Geometries of Wizard Gynoid is the Flowering of Life. This is my choice for Exhibit of the Day - if you see nothing else today at SL7B, please go spend some time here.

I'm going to share the notecard that accompanies the exhibit - it will explain things better than I can. What I will tell you is that standing and watching the transformations unfold is mesmerizing.

The Flowering of Life

This exhibit is an impromptu and unexpected collaboration between Wizard Gynoid and Polagirus Paragorn. As such it dovetails nicely with the theme of SL7B. (Desdemona Enfield helped out too.)

The "Flower of Life" is thought by some to be a good example of New Age Fringe Theory. Others believe that is central to an ancient discipline called Sacred Geometry.

The Flower of Life is said to be very ancient. Examples of its construction are found on Babylonian and Egyptian temples. The construction of the Flower of Life leads to the Isometric Grid and Hexagonal polyhedra, like the two-dimensional Star of David and the three-dimensional Merkabah.

We show here that ultimately the Flower of Life leads to higher levels of complexity which can culminate in the object commonly called the cubeoctahedron.

Buckminster Fuller held this object in very high regard, calling it the Vector Equilibrium.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synergetics_%28Fuller%29

In Sacred Geometry, the "Seed of Life" is formed from seven circles being placed with sixfold symmetry, forming a pattern of circles and lenses, which act as a basic component of the Flower of Life's design. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flower_of_Life

Idle notes:

• Blogger and Safari really don't get along very well but I keep trying to convince them to work together. If/when you see things that are messed up it just means I've failed. Again.
• I often look at posts and think "Why am I publishing this?" Bevan convinced me today that even the stuff I think is a waste of time proves useful on occasion to somebody else. Thank you Bevan. The rest of you are stuck with me now. :)

Philip Linden Opens SL7B

It was a lagfest. A crush of avatars crowded into hear Philip Linden's speech opening SL7B this morning but to my mind it was worth it. At one point I counted 195 avatars in the 4 sims around the stage - many had been there since the event opened just to ensure they could hear him when the time came. There were voice/sound problems as always. But again, I think it was worth it.

You can read or download the full speech and I suggest you do at least one, but the critical part was this...they're redoing their plans and I suspect many things will be put on hold.

I think that Second Life — addressing that sort of core experience problem — I still think of Second Life and the past few years as being something like this: Second Life is this wonderful, beautiful city — once you're in it and you're having this amazing immersive experience, you're just totally blown away with it. But the city itself is surrounded by huge walls and a moat. It's like a medieval city. To actually get into it you have to invest an enormous amount of time and energy getting across that moat, and over the walls, and into this amazing new world of people inside that are waiting inside. And I think that in our excitement about the success of Second Life — in its amazing initial growth and the amazing things that you guys have done and that we've done together — we were getting ahead of ourselves a bit as a company and this is what we really talked about in this restructuring. We were building these sort of rickety — we were in many cases building these bridges and scaffoldings that sought to get different types of people across that moat and over those walls, whether we're talking about international Residents, or the community welcome areas, or enterprise or education users — we've been sort of building these little, thin bridges that try and quickly get everybody kind of over that wall and into Second Life. And of course, you can understand why we'd do that, because it's just so fantastic an experience once we can get people there.

But I think what we have to do — what I know is the kind of thinking that's informing our planning process going forward — is ask whether instead we can stop doing those many, many peripheral, highly usage-specific things to get people in here — and instead just take a step back, look at the basic problems that we are all faced by, and by fixing them, fill the moat. Tear down the walls. Stop trying to build over them. We have a product here that can deliver an unbelievable experience to everyone if we simply make the basic pieces of that experience work. Whether we're talking about how many people can stand together in a meeting like this, or how to put clothes on, or manage your inventory, or build basic objects inworld, or how voice works, how parcel media works, live music — all of these basic features are things that are amazing experiences when you can have them, but they're not easy enough yet. They're not — they just in many cases don't completely work, and we — it's so easy to get ahead of ourselves as a company and forget that. So going back to those basics and just trying to make this thing work for all of us is what you can expect to see from us next.

I feel very positive about the things Philip had to say and I can't disagree with the objective of making what's here work well before sticking a bunch of other things to the world. I'll miss some of those other things in the meantime but fixing what's driving everybody crazy already seems like a really good plan. :)