Friday, September 28, 2007

Miss Belgium Second Life 2007-2008

Yesterday, the elections of Miss Belgium Second Life 2007 took place at the New Mardes Club in the Belgian Sim.
As expected, a lot of people attend the show, or at least tried to attend, as, you can imagine, the lag was terrible.
I was asked to sit in the jury, which was an honour for me, together with Spinneke Jewell, owner of the Spin Lounge Club, and Ron Curtes, of the Mardes Club.
As I was sitting on the stage, I could see everything from the first row. That is what I thought. But as soon as the crowd was getting in, the lag was enormous. Ron did crash several times, and I even missed the first part of the show, I did not even knew how many contestants there were.
I could not move, could not take any picture, and even Spinneke did not want to talk in IM, afraid as she was for crashing in the middle of the show.
When AnnSophie, organiser of this event, asked to start voting on the contestboard, the board crashed, and everyone had to vote with a notecard.
Nevertheless, we may say, that it was a major event in the virtual history of Belgian's Second Life, with a great success and a beautiful winner.
Everyone will have to take his lesson after such an event, to take precautions, when possible, for the lag, and certainly forbid the repeatable gestures, which were very annoying some times.
Congratulations though to the organisation, because it was a very beautiful event, and congratulations to all the contestants, but especially to the winner, Ninake Benelli, miss Belgium Second Life 2007.

You will be able to see all the pictures of this event at my flickr stream, in the set of Miss Belgium 2007.

Doing business in Second Life?

That would be something. Not having these traffic issue's every morning. Starting whenever you feel like. Having fun for work. Earn your living by playing. waw!!!!
And yet, this is not a dream, this could be a reality. Just find the right job in SL, and you are working at home, behind your screen, without having the costs of an extra car, wasting time in traffic, worrying for not being able to attend a meeting somewhere, due to traffic, etc......
It is possible, but only a few of us are doing it.

"When Greg Verdino of Melville gets up to go to work, he no longer makes a dash for the Long Island Rail Road to commute to Manhattan. No, as chief strategy officer of a new marketing company called crayon, on many days he sits down at his home computer and logs into a 3-D virtual world called Second Life."

And he made it.....and how.
"Roll your eyes if you will, but one Second Life resident who deals in that world's virtual real estate has become a millionaire - that would be in U.S. dollars, not the local currency known as Linden dollars."
Large companies, too, have created their own islands where employees collaborate on projects and meet with clients, as well as where companies are running simulations, testing concepts, connecting with communities and raising awareness of new products or services. Among them: IBM, CMP Technology, Sears, Mazda, Coca-Cola and Starwood Hotels.

Sometimes we read about it in the paper, hear it on the news, but it is true, you can earn your money by playing in Second Life. But of course, it is easier said than done. Just as starting your own business in RL is. But the virtual world does make it easier for the smart ones among us.

"Second Life reports that it has 9.6 million registered residents, though some bloggers are quick to point out that not all are likely to be active visitors. As of Sept. 20, 474,434 residents had logged in over the previous 14 days, according to statistics posted on the site. And in the month of August, 639 new islands were added, bringing the total to 9,834.
It's just one of a number of simulated 3-D Internet environments, including Active Worlds and There, that make up what's known as the "metaverse," defined on Wikipedia as "environments where humans interact (as avatars) with each other (socially and economically) and with software agents in a cyberspace that uses the metaphor of the real world, but without its physical limitations."

There is a market out there, and there is potential. Just finding the needs and exploiting them guarantees the success in SL.
But it is not only the avatar itself, or the human behind it, who need to find the market. Many big companies are employing in Second Life, as there are, IBM, Manpower, CMP Technology.
So you too, can find a job in SL.
But beware, don't look like a jerk, at an interview for a job in SL. Dress for the occasion, just as in RL. There are somehow hilarious moments with these interviews, as the next examples will tell.
There are plenty of drawbacks and glitches, some related to learning to maneuver an avatar. An interviewee at one of the job fairs put on by TMP, the recruitment advertising firm, ended up flying into the interview room, instead of walking. Another, not knowing how to sit, ended up standing the whole time. And yet another mistakenly handed the company representative a beer can instead of his resume.

I would be happy to hear if someone recently changed his RL job for a job in SL. And what are the real benefits, or what is the catch? As an addicted SL "player", it is maybe something to think about, always being among friends., never to worry about the traffic, getting in time at meetings....;))

Read the original article here.

Thursday, September 27, 2007

How does Second Life relates to RL?

After reading the blogpost of Chloe Streeter, I was starting to think how my second life does fit in. How it relates to RL.
"SL is a place of fantasy and wish fulfillment. It’s a place where we are free from the constraints placed upon us by the real world. Not only can we choose how we look, but we can choose roles to which we have no access in our real lives."

For some of us , role play will make everything true they wished for, for others it is only a search for themselves, to find out their real "me".

In the comments of this article, Wolf Hartnell (also read his blogpost!) wrote an interesting view on this topic, which I believe, is a pretty good definition:

"Life is (among other things) an ongoing journey in self exploration. The trouble is that we are so emotionally invested in causality. We see our present selves as being determined by our past decisions, and so we hold onto that past far more than we should. Second Life offers a tantalising opportunity that few allow themselves in RL - a new beginning, a chance to be another “me”, or even many different “me”s. For those who are most “settled” in their RL selves the differences are often subtle and SL merely a wonderful way to meet new people. For those who wonder, not necessarily unhappily, what might have been, or who else they could be, SL offers the chance to try and find out.

Most psychologists agree that fantasy is often a healthy way to explore ourselves, provided that we retain a sense of core identity throughout and are ready to learn and grow from the experience. It’s a dangerous path though, because what happens if we find out that we (and others) prefer some other version of “me”. The strong will take that and change their lives. The others? Well we have probably all met one or two of those in SL - perhaps its truest “residents”, lost to RL but for food and sleep. And what do they do when their SL fantasy turns out not to be what they wanted either?"

It is a dangerous thing, Second Life, as you can read in this article and in the comments of this article. You must be very strong to keep both worlds completely separate. For me it will keep being interesting to meet new people and still learning different things, which I was never able to do, before I logged into this virtual world. But to be honest, it is a difficult, dangerous world, where, every day, if you are not careful, can encounter situations, which you did not want to happen, because of misinterpretations and wrong communications, and makes your second life a nightmare instead of a wonderful fantasy world.

Real World Store features cutting edge virtual art.


Press release

Evanston, IL – 09/26/2007

Virtual world images by the artists of Avatrait.com are soon going to be emerging in the “real world” environment of One Of A Kind, an exclusive fashion retailer on the north side of Chicago (944 W Irving Park).

Avatrait.com is a company that is bridging the gap from virtual worlds such as Second Life (SecondLife.com) into the homes and offices of tech-savvy art fans around the world. Taking the “virtual photography” of in-world artists and designers, Avatrait.com produces ultra-high definition prints of the in-world images as framed works of art.

Second Life is an on-line environment that has nearly ten million members and boasts an in-world economy currently in excess of a million US dollars a day. According to forecasts by Gartner Research, within the next four years, fully “80% of active Internet users (and Fortune 500 enterprises)” will have presences in a “virtual world”.

Avatrait.com has created in-world galleries for a growing slate of virtual world artists, and offers high-definition hard-copy prints of these works, available in various sizes. A notable selection of this art will be featured at One Of A Kind. However, these real-world print services are not limited to the featured artists, as soon any “resident” of Second Life will be able to have their own “snapshots” of in-world scenes made into gallery-quality prints as well.

The full array of talented Avatrait artists’ work can be viewed both on the web at the company’s site, Avatrait.com, as well as in Second Life at their in-world gallery: “Avatrait Gallery, Simuality (36, 210, 36)”

For more information:

btripp@simuality.com

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

The new Spin Lounge

Due to a technical malfunctioning of Second Life, Coolz0r and Spinneke had to rebuild their club again. In a very short time they have managed to put up a new club, so, where, every Sunday the Spin Lounge is the place to be in Second Life.This Sunday will be a very special evening, with a guest GOA DJ, and the dancers will all have new outfits, especially for this occasion, the re-opening of the Spin Lounge.
I can imagine that some of you don't know what GOA is, so I took the liberty to put an explanation from the Wikipedia : "Goa Trance is a form of electronic music and is a style of Trance music. It originated in the late 1980s and early 1990s in the Indian state of Goa and is distinctive, as most forms of Trance music were developed in Europe. Goa Trance enjoyed the greater part of its success from around 1994–1998, and since then has dwindled significantly both in production and consumption, largely being replaced by its successor, Psychedelic Trance or Psytrance."
In the near future, some of these events in The Spin Lounge will also have as theme, the 80's.

Those who never visited this club before, now it's the time to explore what you have been missing for all these Sunday's, as this club only opens on Sunday.
The tp for the Spin Lounge can be found on the island of Strawberry.(Strawberry Beach)

See you all on Sunday!!!!!!! (01.00 PM SLT)

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Rock band OASIS in Second Life

"UK rock band Oasis is opening its official online space in the virtual world Second Life (SL) , September 24, and is kicking off with a preview of its latest release, a feature-length-plus, limited edition double DVD entitled ‘Lord Don’t Slow Me Down’."
"From Monday, visitors can watch the DVD’s trailer as they browse around the space, pick up free goodies such as a virtual t-shirt and coffee table book, have a look at stills from the production and pre-order the double DVD itself for real world delivery by Amazon. The real world release of ‘Lord Don’t Slow Me Down’ is scheduled for October 29, 2007 by Big Brother Recordings in the UK and Big Brother Recordings/Universal internationally."
"Alan Haymes (SL avatar: Doctor Hickman) of NBH explains: “The Oasis space mirrors everything you’d expect in the real world, but with the added advantage that it’s accessible to visitors from all over Second Life at the touch of a simple teleport button.”
Emma Fulford of Universal Music adds: “Oasis fans can be found in all corners of the ‘real’ world and we wanted to make sure that their Second Life counterparts also enjoy what promises to be one of the decade’s greatest rock documentaries and live concerts.”

The Oasis SL store can be found at SLURL Blue Horizon/81/153/26.

Full text here.

Blogger party 09-23

Last Sunday, there was another monthly Second Life blogger party. Unfortunately I could not be present from the start, but was just in time to take some snapshots. I probably missed the best part, but will try to be present from the beginning at the next party.


Thank you Myg and Alex who hosted the blogger gathering this time.

I post some pictures in this blog, but the rest is to be seen at my flickr stream.

Monday, September 24, 2007

Did you know...

.....that the scripter Zynx Zabelin has created recently a flexible skirt in Second Life,which makes it possible to sit on a chair, without having those prims going through the object. Even when the avatar walks, the dress will remain nicely where is is supposed to be, without having your legs coming out of the dress.

Nyte Caligary, the designer who sells the Sensidress, will have quiet busy days, as everyone is interested in this magnificent creation.
And it was not Second Life, if not someone claims to have created this already back in January.
It still remains quiet an achievement and a progress in second life.

Anyhow, you can check the preview of the dresses at Nyte 'N' Day's blog.

Miss Belgium Second Life - Finals


On Thursday 27th September, Miss Belgium will be elected in the New Mardes Club.
The elections will start at 20.30 hrs, local Belgium time (12.30 PM SLT).

Friday, September 21, 2007

When will Windlight come out again in Second Life?

It was supposed to be in August, many of us are waiting for it. But we still need some patience.

Some of us wondered if it will come back again.

Firstlook:Windlight is coming back!!!

I read this article in the updates from Torley Linden:

"Hopefully in a few weeks. I earlier hoped it would come out by the end of August, but it doesn't look like we'll hit that. The WindLight Team has been very busy fixing bugs (including those I've reported), and today, we just launched an internal testing round for Lindens (because previously, it was mainly just the WindLight Team using it). I apologize for the delay because I know how anxious a lot of you are, particularly from comments I've been getting on my snapshots.

Also for emphasis, you should know (if you don't already) that WindLight isn't just about "pretty skies" — performance improvements, rendering optimizations, and code cleanup to improve the viewer are an important part of it too. It's a false dichotomy that we spar between bug fixes vs. new features, and I am dogged (and obsessed) about improved performance & stability (aka P&S) for Second Life."

Thursday, September 20, 2007

Virtual Arbitations in new ToS of Second Life.

Second Life's Terms of Service have changed on Tuesday, allowing residents to settle minor disputes with the company via binding arbitration by a variety of means, including legal proceedings inside Second Life itself.

"The new updated TOS, which are the terms and conditions on which Linden Lab provides access to the Second Life environment, give Residents the option of resolving claims for amounts less than $10,000.00 USD through a proceeding conducted by telephone, online, or based on written submissions. With this proceeding—called “binding, non-appearance-based arbitration”—we aim to save Residents both time and money by eliminating the need to appear in person at the arbitration hearing to resolve small claims." said Robin Linden in a blogpost.

The goal is of allowing Residents to resolve small claims quickly and inexpensively. The updated TOS gives Residents the option of resolving small claims through an arbitration proceeding that doesn’t involve a personal appearance by the Resident or Linden Lab.
The new dispute resolution procedure does not apply to Resident-to-Resident disputes.

It was a whole slice of bread, as we use to say in Belgium, when I tried to log in on Tuesday, reading the new ToS, while I wanted to get on the grid as soon as possible.
Finally I did accept the terms, otherwise I could not get in.;))

But seriously, I think it is good thing of Linden Lab, to give the opportunity to residents to solve those problems inworld. They will realize that the population is growing very fast, and so are the disputes, that there was a real need to solve "minor" problems inworld.

Now I am interested to see how they will solve disputes between residents. This has nothing to do with the new T0S, but I was surprised to hear yesterday from a friend, that all her belongings are taken by the landowner without even warn her, that the land will have another destination, and that she will have X days to move out.
Now she lost the rent, she already paid, and all her belongings. Can you imagine that this is possible?
All concerned residents have sent an abuse report to the Linden. Now wait and see, how this will be solved, and if it will be solved.

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Operation 'Pink For Life'

With this article I would like to contribute to a good cause. I think it is worthwile to pay a little attention for this event, which is completely supported by Concept.SL in second life.

"In a sequel of last year's operation "100 women for life" which gathered 126 famous women in favor of breast cancer fight, the cancerology Institute, Gustave Roussy, first European research center in cancer research, is launching in October 2007 : "Pink For Life". This operation is organized to raise awareness about breast cancer, during Pink October, international month for the fight against breast cancer.

October 9 and 10, 2007 on the Champs Elysees (Paris), will be organized an exhibition followed by an auction of exposed items. Items are donated by famous fashion designers and luxury brands. All Items and artistic creations will share a common point: they have to be pink !
Come visit us with your friends, dressed in Pink of course !

ConceptSL organizes the Second Life side of this event :
The staff of ConceptSL will duplicate real-life exposed objects in Second Life. The virtual objects will be exposed in the exhibition hall of our Second life island : Elyseum customized for the operation. The virtual exhibition will take place October 9 and 10."

"To facilitate the RL objects reproduction and the setting up of the
SL exhibition, the "Pink for Life on SL" operation will take place
at the same time as the RL exhibition : Oct. 9 and 10.
Instead of the "auction sale" of virtual goods we will give away
pink ribbons "Pink for Life on SL",and set up a donate box in the
exhibition hall to receive donations in L$.
We are offering the SL designers community a chance to help in
setting up all this by "lending" their pink objects, which will
be exposed along the RL reproduced objects.
Selected designers will also be put forward during the entire
operation on our website : ConceptSL.com
In order for us to reproduce a maximum of RL objects, and to
enable more SL designers to submit their creations, we are
extending the submission deadline to October 4th. Please send
pictures of your objects to fashion@conceptsl.com
(If you intend to participate please send an IM to Yogi Huldschinsky
to facilitate the organization).
As usual you can find all the details on the dedicated webpage :
http://www.ConceptSL.com/igr.php
P.S. : we are still looking for models and stewards/stewardess
to wear the clothes during the exhibition and also to answer
visitor's questions.
If you are interested, please send us an email :
contact@conceptsl.com"

The official launch of KOINUP

Koinup will now be official launched and is a new way to upload your pictures, and what is interesting, also your machinima. The users will not have a limited space to upload their pictures, what is a good thing, compared to Flickr, where you have to pay to extend your capacity. This new network will not only be used by Second Life residents but also by other virtual life program residents. It has been running now for several months, and now they are ready for the official release.
An upcoming feature is the cross-post tool. You can upload pictures to Koinup and automatically this work will go both in your Koinup page and in your Flickr page. And every time you post a work in Koinup, your page in Twitter will be updated.
Read the Official press release:



Koinup: Share your virtual life
The first social network dedicated to photos, stories and machinima created by virtual worlds citizens

Milan, Italy. September, 2007. After four months of public beta, Koinup srl is pleased to announce the launch of Koinup (http://www.koinup.com), the first social network entirely dedicated to your virtual life.

Koinup (http://www.koinup.com) is a social network for all residents of all virtual worlds. In Koinup you can create your profile and publish pics, videos (machinima) and stories that you created in virtual worlds as Second Life, World of Warcraft, IMVU and also games as The Sims 2 and many others. In Koinup you can meet people from yours and other virtual worlds and you can express yourself in the way you love.

Koinup is a unique websites for creations made in virtual worlds. Each member of Koinup can benefits of almost unlimited storage space (for free) and publish tons of photos and machinima. In Koinup you can share your virtual life and experiences and express yourself by publishing all kind of artworks.

Virtual worlds, mmorpg and metaverses are the new frontiers of internet entertainment and creativity. Each day milions of people spend their time in virtual environments and use these innovative spaces to express themselves and to create art, photos and videos. Metaverses as Second Life and World of Warcraft are reaching the 10 milions of registered users and many other games features more than one milion of active users. The great part of this audience is made up by creative members that use virtual environments to express themselves. Some major virtual worlds are entirely created by their residents, some others provide their members useful tools that encourage the creations of photos, videos (machinima) and other kind of virtual manufacts.

Koinup is a suitable place for all these creative virtual users. Here are some example of machinima, pictures and stories uploaded in Koinup by its users:
Machinima: http://www.koinup.com/works/on-videos/coolest/
Pictures: http://www.koinup.com/works/on-pictures/coolest/
Stories: http://www.koinup.com/works/on-storyboard/coolest/

Koinup srl is a web company based in Brescia (Italy).
Koinup founders are Pierluigi Casolari (CEO) and Edoardo Turelli (CTO)

For press contacts:
Pierluigi Casolari
press@koinup.com

http://www.koinup.com

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Griefer attack all over Second Life!!!!!

Yesterday evening there was a severe griefer attack at several places in second life. Even Linden Village did not escape.
I was at the time trying to reach my friend Eaglewolf's island, when the griefing began. I couldn't move and write, and was asked by a note of 'Senojrraf Farrjones', whose account is already been deleted, if he could animate my avatar. I logged out, and tried again, and then I saw a friend of mine, who was asking through the same note if they can animate my avatar.
The first time I did not realize what it was. But after a while I received a help from Eagle. He was completely captured, could not move, and even his shirt was taken off!! He was afraid of being completely robbed, but this did not happen, happily.
I was looking for help at the Linden's, but they were of course busy with something else at that time. I even find someone who could help me, but did not want to, because she did not know me!?
Now I read in the Second Life News Paper that even the Linden village did not escape from the same attack.
Perhaps now they will realize that we were not joking, as many of our friends did.
This was again a very strange experience. So now we know that even in second life, we are not safe for all kinds of attack. Beware......

Where are the days....?

I have been posting an article about this a long time ago, but yet, it is strange, to see how few views I get on my flickr stream these days.
Even though I have over 16.000 views in total, what I think is pretty neat, the last month, I have to determine that only a couple of people are interested in my pictures lately.
I know there is a lot of competition out there, but I don’t think my pictures are that bad, for having only 0 to 20 views, where I have pictures of second life, which are not even that good, which have nearly 3000 views, not to speak about the favorites. Some of my colleagues would say that the favorites are more important than the number of views, which is correct, but if you have not any views, it will be difficult to be marked as favorite.;))
It will not keep me away from a good night sleep though, as long as I enjoy taking snapshots, and posting them, and make other people happy with it. Which I know I do, so…..
But still, I was wondering what would be the cause of it. The time I wrote the other article, was in the middle of June, where a lot of students were studying, which could be an explanation. But in the meanwhile the views were up again, with every picture more than 200 views at least, without a problem.
Now I only post for some people, who I know are interested, for my customers, for my models….
This blog article is just a way to express myself, how I feel about this, but is not a complain or what so ever.
I only hope that the views will raise again like in the good old days, because, and I can not deny it, gives me some kind of satisfaction.

Did you know...

......that you can hide objects, like poseballs, while taking snapshots. If I only knew that some days before, it would have helped me a lot at the second life wedding of Elise and Yves.

1. Client -> Rendering -> Hide Selected
2. Select any poseballs and obstacles by holding shift and selecting them — be careful not to select anything significant!

Thanks to Smiley Barry who put a comment on Vint's blog.

Monday, September 17, 2007

We have a winner!

We have a winner for the Second Life Group Logo Contest, unfortunately it wasn't me.;)
Congratulations to Vint, as she is also the professional one amongst us, and her design is indeed the best one, no doubt.
I was the runner up, which makes me quiet happy, although there was nothing to earn for the second place.;))
Thanks to all my voters!!
The complete results can be seen on Zoe's blog.

Wedding of Elise & Yves @ Second Life's Bruges

Just one day before the official opening of the virtual Bruges in Second Life, Yves Welles and his love Elise got married in the new city hall.
And, as it was supposed to be, witnessed by a lot of avatars who where invited to join this special occasion, everything was in place. This must have been a wonderful experience to Elise and Yves, one they will never forget.
Two SL photographers where asked to put this occasion into an unforgettable collection of snapshots. Vint Falken and me were honoured to do the job.
It was not the most easiest job that I have done so far. The place was very laggy, and I hate that. My camera was most of the time not at the scene, where it should be, and to get it back in place was terrible. And then there were these poseballs.
Have you ever tried to take snapshots of something, while the place is full of poseballs, and trying to avoid these, or having the balls secured at a minor important spot?
Well, finally, I think we both did a fine job. But I would like also the opinion of you, my readers of this blog.
The complete set is to be found on my flickr stream.

Sunday, September 16, 2007

Virtual Bruges in Second Life

Finally!!!! It is open for the public! The beautiful Belgian city Bruges in Second Life. And the result may be there. Convince yourself by visiting the place.
I you have never been to Bruges in RL, it is now the time to have a look what this town, at 20 km from the sea, has to offer through Second Life.
They have done a marvelous job. I have tried to put them in a snapshot, so you all can have a sneak preview of Bruges, the Venice of the North.

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Heaven and Hell in Second Life


Heaven and Hell
is a beautiful place in Second life. Great opportunity for taking snapshots. You can see some of the results here.

Birthday party for Spinneke at her Spin lounge

Last Sunday there was a party in the Spin Lounge, as every Sunday. But this Sunday, it was something special. Spinneke Jewel gave a birthday party with a very big strawberry cake, where she was dancing on.
The Strawberry cake was obvious as the Spin Lounge is situated in a sky box of the Strawberry SIM, where some of the visitors have their home, like me.
Coolz0r and Spinneke were dressed up for the occasion, and gave the best of themselves to make this evening, one you would never forget in your Second Life. And I think they succeeded, although it will be very difficult to remember, as all Sunday evenings at the Spin Lounge are unforgettable.
Happy Birthday, Spinneke!!

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

9/11 Memorial in Second Life

Without words.....

Upon request: 9/11 memorial event
9/11 memorial monument and exhibit

SL Blogger Logo contest

Just a small reminder. Voting for this logo can only be done until September 16th, 12.00 PM SLT, so hurry up, and don't forget to vote for this. Unfortunately only for second life bloggers.;))

"Voting for the best SL Bloggers Logo is now open for members of my Second Life Bloggers Group.

I'll accept votes via IM, notecard, and email zoeconnolly (AT) gmail (DOT) com"

Monday, September 10, 2007

Miss Belgium Second Life

Virtual tourism in Bruges, Belgium

Press Release

Second Life, 7 Sep 2007. When planning your next city trip, you might include Bruges, Belgium, on your list this year. But before visiting Bruges, don’t forget to visit Virtual Bruges in Second Life. Virtual Bruges is a reconstruction of the historic city of Bruges. Walk around in a 3D virtual representation of a central part of Bruges and explore the old houses and monuments before planning your real life city trip.

During your visit of Bruges in Second Life, ask other Second Life residents information about what historical places to visit, which shops and restaurants to try out. You might not yet taste the food in virtual Bruges, but you can select those restaurants that are in a nice environment.

Created in 2003 by Linden Lab, Second Life is a virtual world where people all over the world meet each other to exchange ideas, property and other digital goods. Also 3D representations of houses and stores can be recreated in Second Life. Several other companies such as IBM, Sun and ABN-AMRO have opened islands. Even sports events, such as the Wimbledon tennis championship, were recreated and the matches were played again in this virtual environment.

Residents of Second Life can participate in events the will be held in Virtual Bruges, rent a house or the more business-minded residents can open a shop in one of the houses. To rent a house or shop, contact AnnSophie Maertens in-world. The island (􀀃) will be open for the general public on 15/Sep/2007.

On this opening weekend you can participate in the following events:
- 15 September 2007 :
9 am slt fashion show styled by the designers in the sim with live dj
12 pm slt live performance of the Belgian band Grensgeval

- 16 September 2007 :
9 am slt live performance of Dann Numbers
12 pm slt live performance of Phoenix Fisseux
1 pm slt fireworks

During the whole weekend there will be a egg hunt: you can win 20 x 125 linden dollars to spend in the shops in Bruges.

For being updated about the sim, the shops, the events and special offers feel free to join the secondlife group Bruges lovers.

Virtual Bruges in Second Life is created by Louis Platini, a long time resident, who recently brought vacature.com, a recruitment service company, to Second Life. Several other people have helped with this project by creating one or more houses: Peter13 Petermans, Magdalena Vella, Khady Amat and Arnout Sequent.

For more information contact Louis Platini in-world or visit the website http://www.louisplatini.com

Sunday, September 9, 2007

SL Blogger Logo

Initially, I was not planning of submitting a logo design for the contest of the Second Life Bloggers, because I am a photographer, and not a graphic designer, although some would say that all photographers are graphic designers. But I had an idea, and thought it would be nice to go for it. Why not?
I had three major thoughts for this design. First thought is that we, bloggers, are sending a message to the world. Therefore I picked the signal that we know from the grid, when we use Voice. I had to change the color, for not making it too bright.
Second thought is that we all write, so a pencil is obvious.
The third thought is that all the bloggers are posting about Second Life, so I used that logo in the background. As many other, not official sites, are using the logo of SL, I think we also can use it for this purpose. We are not stealing a logo, we only use it, as it is the base where all this started. Without SL, we, and certainly me, would never have posted through a blog. (Never say never again;))
The logo will be displayed at Zoe Connolly' place, and all bloggers can vote for the best logo.
"Group members will vote on the winner. Contest Entries will be displayed at the new Connolly Telegraph and Second Life Bloggers Headquarters in Antiquity Cove. Click here for the SLurl to Zoe's parcel in Antiquity Cove."

Friday, September 7, 2007

What is happening with the SL bloggers?

I have been posting about it some times already, and it keeps coming back. The pressure is apparently too high for some of us. As Veronique nicely put in a comment: another one bites the dust....
For the past months I had to delete several blogs from my favorite links. And I did not notice it before I went to look for it. So, no blog, no article, no goodbyes, nothing.
I know it is difficult, I know you all (you bloggers) think nobody is interested in what you write, but that is not true. There are some people who are interested, maybe only a few, but that is enough to keep the spirit alive. If you have something to share, why not share it through your blog.
You started a blog, so we assume you like to blog, to write articles, you like to tell the world what you are thinking about something. And that is a good thing. I am over it now. I know what my interest are with this blog. And I will keep blogging, as told in previous posts.
But I would like that others do the same. Why did I put a link on my blog? Because somehow, I found they had something to tell, and I was reading their blogs as well.
And why did they not tell their readers they were going to stop? Did they leave SL for ever. Did they just stop the blogging?
It is not because I have someone in my links, that the writer is also in my friendslist in Second Life, as Tiana Meriman also was wondering about offering friendships to one other. She also have changed her point of view concerning blogging, and it did become her well, at least I think so.
So I would like to ask to my readers, if you know what happened to Bailey Toland, Jooney Jatho and Tameryn Banshee, please let us know.

Wednesday, September 5, 2007

Rankings of Second Life blogs

I was telling before that rankings are not that important to me anymore. That it is difficult to maintain a good average, without having a lot of time to spend on good articles and finding the sources for that.
Well, I have to admit that I still check every day some ranking lists, to see if I am still there. To see how I can improve, despite what I said some days ago.
Blogging seems to be attractive to me, as I keep blogging regularly, but kept my time, spending on it, as low as possible.
In June and July my blog was on top in SLTopsites, but apparently, now, another blog took over the lead, and found a way to maintain there. I can imagine how he does that, but for me, that is not the way. Yet it is still interesting to be on top of that list, when looking at the hits for my blog.
Then, there is another ranking where I was paying attention to. The Blog Top 40 of Second Life.
It is maybe not very SL like, even the top blogs are only referring to other blogs, so they don't write articles themselves. But yet, it is still an accomplishment to be in that top 40. Some fellow colleague bloggers are in that list from the very beginning, as they are Vint Falken and Dolmere Talamasca. Other well known blogs are also mentioned. And I am proud to tell you that I am still in that list, among those 40 top blogs.
Since a couple of days, the SLtopsites is on that list. I wonder what they are blogging about?;)) So, what value has this site? How many blogs are taken into acoount for this ranking?
I was checking some friends out, where they were, and found out that there must be over 1000 blogs, taken into this ranking list. So, I am well aware, that some day, I will be nr.1000 or so, but for the moment this blog is within the top 40. W00t!!
To my opnion, it is another ranking, but with no value. It is fine to be in the top 40, but when I see other blogs, posting regularly some articles, not to be in the top1000 of that same list, and blogs, only mentioning other blogs in the top 40, then I have my questions...
It must be fun, to post articles, not an obligatory work. That is what I am doing right now, to post an article about something that came to my mind. And not searching, and spending time , just to find something to blog about.
Now, I take the time when it is there, to read my friend's blogs. Maybe not the same day, but I will read them.
And when it comes to ranking, well it is good to be up there, and I will keep checking them, and try to stay where I am, but being realistic, there will be a day when it is finished.
In the meanwhile I keep having fun on the grid, taking snapshots, and blog about my thoughts.

Tuesday, September 4, 2007

Did you know....

...that another schoolyear is to begin in Second Life for Ontario's Loyalist College to prepare young Canadians for jobs as corrections officers and prison administrators. It is in fact a role play where they can simulate the worst cases in prison.
Thanks in part to schools like Loyalist College, Second Life is set for its biggest ever back-to-school rush. About 300 colleges and universities have established a presence in Second Life, and thousands of students at other institutions are expected to visit the virtual world, equipped with shiny new laptops and speedy broadband connections.

"Nipplegate" in Second Life?


I have read the past few days several blogs about that nipple affair, I think I am doing the right thing now, to support my fellow bloggers in their quest against the Linden Lab, once again for a stupid decision.
I can make a list here of all blog articles, but it was finally the article of Nadine, which persuaded me to blog about this too.
In fact it is all about the words of Iridium Linden, in a conversation to GavinLeigh:


"[10:10] Iridium Linden: Hi GavinLeigh. Thanks for your note. I did tell Vicero that bits (ex: nipples) could not be shown in a PG sim. Perhaps we can reassign your plot to a Mature Burning Life sim. I'll investigate and get back to you. Or perhaps you can make the breast without so much detail. I know that's a lot to ask, but let's see if we can find an alternative first."

This was supposed to be Art, and apparently nipples are forbidden in Art by the Lindens now.
So now they are definitely losing control. They don't know what to do anymore. We are in a mature second life, as all residents are above 18, or should be. And now they are saying that nipples are broadly offensive?
Is this not a bit too far? We are talking about an Art structure, a statue, with breasts and nipples. As my colleagues already said, Venus de Milo should not be seen in a PG SIM then! Do you understand what I am trying to say? No? Well, neither do I.

Monday, September 3, 2007

Campingspots in Second Life

I was told yesterday that you have to pay now a days, for camping spots. That is, you pay a certain amount, and you will have to stay at the same spot for a particular time before you start earning some L$.
Where are the days?
I remember, when I started second life, that I was camping too, for my first L$. It could take several weeks, before I had some L$, enough to buy me a very cheap item, and then camping again, for the next item.
I know, some of my friends are still camping, but me, personally, no thanks. I don't have the patience for that, and I hope I will never have to camp again for a few Lindens.
Well, I was checking out the SLtopsites, to see if by any chance I had won the monthly award for the third time in a row, ;)), and thought, why not visiting last month's winner Kabalyero's blog.
And here I found something that can be interesting for some of those friends who are still camping.
Check it out, the list of camping spots in second life, thanks to Kabalyero, maybe they will become history in second life, as the camping rates are dropping down by the minute, as it seems.
  1. Club Innocence, Narugo (228, 215, 76) - Current rates are 3L$/10 minutes (Dance Pads and Cage) and 2L$/10 minutes (Camping Bench).
  2. Lucilin Castellum Shopping Street, Lucilin (139, 75, 25) - Great camping rate of 4L$/10 minutes but it will require you to response to a dialog box query every 2 minutes or so.
  3. ! ACID CREBIZ, ACID CREBIZ (140, 214, 21) - Awesome Korean Sim. Camping rate is 3L$/10 minutes but it’s always full of people.
  4. DIVA Mall -Shops for rent 200L$/, Valkyrie (44, 71, 66) - They have various camping rates. The highest is 4L$/10 minutes and the others have random rates of 1L$ to 3L$/10 minutes
  5. RedDragon - Mall & Club, Bug City (50, 59, 24) - Camping rate has gone down from 3L$ to 2L$/10 minutes
  6. Sunbelt Software Island, sunbelt software (168, 239, 22) - Camping Towels are at the beach and the current rate is 2L$/10 minutes
  7. Lora`s Paradise Club, Dodam (179, 149, 301) - This is a great club that offers 1,000L$ as contest prize. The camping pads pay 2L$/10 minutes
  8. Business & Shopping , Tamaqua (72, 113, 23) - Current rate is 2L$/12 minutes
  9. Turkiye, Turkiye (125, 165, 23) - This is a Turkish sim so you might not understand most of the people there. The current camping rate of their Camping Benches is 2L$/12 minutes
  10. !All New Universal Square Mall, Omega City (47, 181, 32) - High camping rate of 4L$/ 10 minutes but you are only limited to 24L$ a day
  11. *** -={{ BDG }}=- BiGG DoGG GAMING -={{ BDG }}=- *** - Club VIPs get 3L$/10 minutes camping rate others get 1L$/10 minutes
  12. Psyche.Love.Butterfly.Perfumed., Prospero (50, 159, 25) - Current rate is 1L$ and 3L$/10 minutes
  13. The Hive,Waterfront Lane, Wasp, Wasp (173, 137, 74) - Rate is at 2L$/15 minutes
  14. Botany Bay Treasure Hunts campi, BotanyBay (150, 113, 22) - Camping rate is at 5L$/15 minutes and they have this Treasure Hunting thing going on
  15. Turtle Cay Residents, turtle cay (180, 210, 22) - If you are desperate then you can camp here for 5L$/30 minutes

Discovering other artists in Second Life

Thanks to the Cannery Gallery, I discovered some artists, who I did not know before.
In fact this artist's picture is chosen for the same theme in the gallery as mine. I am talking about Tiffany Flintoff. And the picture that is shown is beautiful, it really is.
Now, I was searching for a blog article, when I saw that she offered friendship to me at flickr. So she found me too.
Now, I answered with my friendship, of course, and checking out her other pictures, I admire her skills to post process the pictures.
I leave it up to you what you think about her works, but I know I will be checking her blog and pictures frequently.

Sunday, September 2, 2007

My new place


As you know, I recently bought a little island in Second Life, and put a house on it. It is not totally finished yet, and I am still trying to make it look like a real island, but I already wanted to give a preview.
I am planning to put a small exhibition of my pictures downstairs, and upstairs the living area's.
I am quiet happy with the place, that I share with Inex Dix, my lovely partner in SL.
As we are still adjusting it from day to day, and as we see the prims getting out of control, we need to finalize it very soon, otherwise I will not have anything left for trying something out.;))