Virtlantis: Lifelong Learning In and Out of Second Life

By Wesley Regenbogen

Introduction of VIRTLANTIS and a bit of a history behind VIRTLANTIS

Started off as another project ( a 2D project on the web ) in 2006 on the web to provide a platform that was somewhat the same as the current VIRTLANTIS project in Second Life. Kip Yellowjacket joined Second Life on October 29 th, 2006. He saw the potential and operated a 2D project named SLEnglish in the beginning, but soon afterwards he started using the VIRTLANTIS name in Second Life. Unfortunately, the 2D project didn’t go well and thus Kip Yellowjacket decided to focus his project on Second Life.

What is VIRTLANTIS all about and how many people are behind the project ?

VIRTLANTIS main goal in the beginning was to provide language learning in Second Life. But other skills and other cultural oriented activities soon developed afterwards. And art is also part of the project and people can talk about any subject.

In the beginning when Kip Yellowjacket joined Second Life many language teachers also joined the virtual world, and they wondered what Kip Yellowjacket was up to. He explained them what he was creating and they joined up with him to offer language learning activities.

When VIRTLANTIS started in Second Life, he was the only one on the project. But over the years he met people in Second Life and they offered to help him with his project on a volunteer basis. The core project team consists of 10 people that help him with the VIRTLANTIS project. This includes activity organizers and people that help him with VIRTLANTIS in different ways. This number is not consistent, because people can help and then leave for a while and then come back again.

Kip Yellowjacket also helps other language learning communites in Second Life and outside Second Life as well. The main goal is that people can connect with each other.

VIRTLANTIS currently has only one island in Second Life, but they have had two in other virtual worlds. They have the capacity to expand in Second Life as well.

Kip Yellowjacket is going to relaunch an activity, a story telling project, soon again .He created a character called “Wiki Composer,” who was born in Second Life and doesn’t know anything about real life or so-­called first life. He interacts with the participants of the story telling project.

VIRTLANTIS is not the only language learning project in Second Life, but it’s the oldest and the most active one.

Where can you find more information about VIRTLANTIS in and outside Second Life ?

VIRTLANTIS has a Facebook group which is called simply “VIRTLANTIS” of course and also there’s a group in Second Life called “UWA VIRTLANTIS.”  The UWA VIRTLANTIS was created with the help of the University Of Western Australia. The group UWA VIRTLANTIS has (at the moment of writing) 1743 members, although it’s hard to see who’s active and who isn’t.

They have other groups as well in Second Life, as SLenglish, the 2d project he was working on before starting VIRTLANTIS. Their main goal is connecting people together and they help each other with language learning or other subjects that VIRTLANTIS offers.

How does VIRTLANTIS deal with visitors from other time zones ?

VIRTLANTIS has many events taking place at different times.

The visitors come from the U.S. and other parts of the world and also people from Europe.

Even visitors from China and Japan come to visit VIRTLANTIS.

The Facebook group can be found here :

https://www.facebook.com/groups/VIRTLANTIS/

Their website is : http://www.virtlantis.com

Their main SL group is called : UWA VIRTLANTIS

What are the future visions for VIRTLANTIS ?

Kip Yellowjacket’s dream with VIRTLANTIS is too keep it active in any way possible. He also has a plan B and C that he could implement in the case they need to leave Second Life or go elsewhere. He also plans to explore Project Sansar in the near future as well, although their focus remains on Second Life. They also explore other grids, but Second Life is their main location.

Music Island is the music location of VIRTLANTIS and the music in VIRTLANTIS. It is a part of VIRTLANTIS, it’s owned by another partner of the VIRTLANTIS community. They provide music events and live music events on a regular basis.

Kate Miranda is the organizer of the Music Island. She offers music events in VIRTLANTIS.The music stream, relaxing music in VIRTLANTIS, is provided by a Shoutcast stream.

Virtual World Talks, a future project of VIRTLANTIS

Kip is also working on another project that will launch in the near future called “Virtual Worlds Talks”. It’s kind of a TED Talks in a virtual world, he is going to create in VIRTLANTIS soon. Keep posted about that in the near future. He also makes use of video content in Second Life and outside of Second Life.

Kip Yellowjacket provided me with a notecard with more information about VIRTLANTIS :

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Below are just a few talking points on the subject of language learning in Second Life.

Please feel free to suggest other points which might be useful for promoting discussion.

*This list was compiled a few years ago. Feel free to add to it or suggest amendments.

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Why is SL an interesting platform to consider for language learning/teaching?

­ multinational/multiethnic/multilingual platform

­ social networking in 3D

­ a sandbox for highly immersive experiential learning (most any conceivable educative scenario

can be simulated/carried out)

­ a multitude of manipulatives

­ English is lingua franca (metalanguage of SL)

­ greater potential for retention due to word (etc.) to image/action/experience association

­ instantaneous virtual travelling (RL locations in SL, etc.)

­ SL is a less intimidating place to seek out casual conversation

­ both native & non­native interaction possible

­ wide range of accents, pronunciation, and language usage

­ identify with avatar, objects and others

­ express and experience personality

­ relate emotionally to peers and mentors

­ easily join and/or form groups to meet likeminded persons

­ potential for community building and SL ­­> RL carryover

­ existence of support groups/mechanisms

­ both formal and informal learning can be experienced

­ educative congregating (e.g. coffee house socializing)

­ drive­thru assistance (MClearning)

­ quests, storytelling, games, roleplaying

­ holodecks (instant simulation, situation­based learning)

­ lectures, presentations, RL­like lessons (mostly stationary)

­ team­teaching & collaborative projects

­ platform difficulty (learning curve) necessitates communication

­ SL + ESL skills training

­ (de)evolution of teacher status (hierarchy has no place, all are learners)

­ (de)evolution of teacher role (more of a facilitator than ever)

­ volunteerism (eagerness to participate)

­ SL supplements (web 2.0...facebook, twitter, etc.)

­ in­world tools & resources (continuous creation and development)

­ in­world blogging/twittering (BlogHUD, SLTweets)

­ LMS integration

­ SL as blended learning component vs total solution

­ free membership (premium/paid account isn't absolutely necessary)

­ can "possess"/participate in things which are not easily affordable in RL

­ private/public text and voice communication

­ offers opportunities for introspection/self­examination and observation of others

­ can log out at any time (controlled experience)

­ a burgeoning community of educators

Concerns?

­ skeptical vs gung­ho adoption

­ platform performance & technical disrupters (lag, etc.)

­ human disrupters (griefing, etc.)

­ multidistraction environment

­ digital native vs digital immigrant

­ SL learning curve (lack of clear objectives, self­determined experiences)

­ sl time sponge vs rl schedules

­ game vs "serious environment"

­ noob phobia

­ know­how hoarders, traders & sharers

­ reliability and other collaboration difficulties

­ time zone confusion

­ free vs paid (non­commercial vs commercial)

­ determining teaching format/ideal group size (1­to­1, small...5­10, large...10 +)

­ low number of pre­defined activities

­ certified vs non­certified teachers (various linguistic backgrounds)

­ student/teacher as research subject

­ lack of good in­world assessment possibilities

­ multiple levels, needs, learning styles, etc.

­ in­world content (copyright vs creative commons, etc.)

­ confidentiality (recording chat, etc.)

­ higher ed concerns

­ text manipulation not SL's forte (absence of dynamic text)

­ dealing with typos and missing punctuation

­ no dominant standard (American, British..., etc...Globlish)

­ active vs passive correction

­ net & sl lingo (abbreviated vs non­abbreviated language)

­ concurrent communication with natives and non­natives (sometimes problematic)

­ pro­text, anti­voice vs pro­voice, anti­text & adopters of both

­ RL escapers vs RL/SL combiners


VIRTLANTIS location in Second Life :

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/VIRTLANTIS%20Community/177/155/22

Interview with Kip Yellowjacket :
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/nlgswT68EV4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
(click here if the video fails to play)

Pictures from Virtlantis Facebook page

Wesley Regenbogen

Jay's Club

By Wesley Regenbogen

The idea behind Jay's Club is a very extraordinary one.

JayMaze Yao’s real life son died 10 years ago. His son was a real life DJ and he loved music. It was his life. About a year later, 9 years ago, he created his avatar in Second Life, in memoriam of his son. His son's DJ name was DJ JayMaze. So JayMaze Yao decided to put it as his first name in Second Life.

He made the venue like a tribute to his real life son whom died in real life. Even the photos in the club are from his son. A noble cause, don’t you think?

Jay’s venue consists of a club, ballroom and live stage. JayMaze Yao was the creator of most of the venue, and he decorated the place by himself. Jay’s Romance ( the ballroom area ) was built by Dorothea L. It was created a few months ago in November 2015.The venue plays different genres of music, with different clubs having different styles. Jay's Club offers rock / blues / oldies / and today's music. Jay's Romance has Jazz and Ballroom music, and formal attire is requested here. Jay's Mainstage offers music of all genres.  Sometimes live artists will come and play at one of the clubs.

The venue's staff communicate to their visitors through group notices, the events page in SL, and in the schedule. And you can find also find more information in JayMaze Yao’s profile.

Personally, I like this club. It is a nice tribute to JayMaze Yao’s son. JayMaze Yao did a very nice job in creating this tribute for him!

So, if you want to join the fun, head over to this location in Second Life :

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/SCACCOMATTO/82/81/701

Wesley Regenbogen

Club WELGELEGEN ( Club The Right Spot )

By Wesley Regenbogen

Club “WELGELEGEN’ "roughly translated in English as "Club The Right Spot," is a nice Dutch club and it’s part of a whole sim. The club was created by Laila Streeter and Han Fallen, who remain it's current owners, and was opened on February 27^th, 2012. They mostly play music from the 70s, but also other music is played there as well.

Laila and Han and both did a nice job decorating the club and the sim as well. There’s an indian town that they recreated, which is a nice addition to the club. The club’s theme is country and cowboy related. This is a cool theme for a club, if you ask me. Although, I’m not a country music lover myself, people might enjoy this place if they are country music lovers. When you enter the club, you are able to configure the welcome thing on the floor to your personal taste. This is quite unique, I think. It could be that you need to be part of the group to be able to change it, though. 

On the sim it’s also possible to take a boat trip. Just click on the boat and you can drive the boat around. This is cool, because I haven’t done that before in Second Life. I must say, it’s an experience. I wasn’t good at it at first, but I’m sure the more I do it, the better I will get at it. There is also the ability to drive a steamboat or a canoe.

There are no events planned, but sometimes there are rezzday parties held at the club. But when when there are public holidays such as : Christmas and New Year and other events, like Carnaval and an Aprés Ski party, they organize parties for them as well. Laila and Han communicate their events ( in Dutch only ) in their group, called also “Club WELGELEGEN”. They also can be found on Facebook, as the owner Han Fallen has a personal page on Facebook. But Han  let me know that they are working on a website and also a Facebook page for the club too, so that will be made in the near future.

Personally, I think the club is nicely decorated and I like it that they made a whole sim in that theme.

So, if you are looking for a club and a cool sim, head over to :Senses Cove (34/128/36)

I hope to see you all there once. But remember this is a Dutch club, so mostly Dutch is spoken there.

Wesley Regenbogen

Dancefloor Alandra

By Wesley Regenbogen

Dancefloor Alandra was created back in 2007 by Fig Valeska, and was then remade in 2010. Shortly afterward, the place was offline for 2 years. On March 9^th, 2012 the club was re-opened in its current design. The current owner is DJDien Bailey.

The interior is special because it’s a spinning long playing record where you are standing on. It really moves, so you are both dancing and moving around. Your avatar seems to move on it and the same time you are still standing there. The rotating long playing record is really fascinating and intriguing at the same time. The nearby scenery is nice too. The club is on a sandy beach, with a half-sunk pirate ship nearby. Pretty neat.

There are live DJs playing most of the time and they usually take song requests. The music played in the club is mostly oldies and the 80s. This is a 100% Dutch club, so the language spoken is Dutch.

The club only uses group notifications as a form of communication for their members inworld. But they have a Facebook page as well where readers can find more information and view photos of the theme events.

The club is part of a sim where there are many things to do on a number of beach islands, although I have just visited the club itself for now.

Here’s a list of the evening theme events that will take place in Alandra in 2015 :

JANUARY : 03 – It’s cold outside, right?, 10 – Old Holland, 17 - Angels & Devils, 24 - D.I.S.C.O., 31 - Police academy

FEBRUARY : 07 – Star of the Evening , 14 - Elvis Look-a-like, 21 - Robots, 28 – Geezes, you look ugly

MARCH : 07 - Russian Night, 14 - Travo-Night, 21 – The Prehistoric Era, 28 - Flower Power

APRIL : 04 - Your Mum Party, 11 - Tiroler Evening, 18 – Mexican Nights, 25 - Moulin Rouge

MAY : 02 – Star of the Evening, 09 - Moustache party, 16 - Hollywood, 23 – Rasta Time , 30 - Jungle Fever

JUNE : 06 - Zombies, 13 - Black & White, 20 - Tiny Party, 27 – Silver Party

JULY : 04 - Disney party, 11 – The Flying Dutchmen, 18 - Hawaii Party, 25 - Monsters Inc.

AUGUST : 01 - Star of the Evening, 08 - Casino, 15 – Animal party, 22 - Egypt, 29 – Fairy tales

SEPTEMBER: 05 – Foam Party, 12 - Gangsters, 19 - Underwater World, 26 – Party Evening

OCTOBER : 03 - Sports, 10 – Back in Time, 17 - Indians, 24 - Pirates, 31 - Halloween

NOVEMBER : 07 – Star of the Evening , 14 - Dungeons and Dragons, 21 – Gala Evening, 28 - Beauty and the Beast

DECEMBER : 04 – Sinterklaas ( Santa Claus - on a Friday ), 12 - Gold Party, 19 – Christmas Evening, 28 – New Year’s Eve (on a Monday )

Personally, I think this place is special because of the unique dancefloor they created. Another club to add to my list ( just kidding, I don’t have a list ).

So, If you are a Dutch speaking person reading this, we could meet in the club and have fun there !

You can visit this club at the following location :

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/TierraSanta/57/201/22

Wesley Regenbogen

Club “The Limit “

By Wesley Regenbogen

On Monday March 2^nd, 2015 at 10 PM Dutch/Belgian time, the club called "Club The Limit" opened up it’s doors. I was present at the opening and took some screenshots of the evening.

"The Limit" is a new club owned by Ðσυｲѕєη (doutsen) and Angel (angel51.claven). The club was built by 0031 Resident in February 2015. Doutsen also decorated the club. 

When the club isn’t open, there is a web radio playing. Mostly there’s a live DJ playing when in the evening Dutch/Belgian time. At the DJ booth there is a panel with information about which track is currently playing. The music that is played ranges from the 60s music until the music that is played nowadays. 

The booth panel has the Dutch and Belgian flags, which indicates the join venture the people made to create this club. The language spoken is mostly Dutch, but when English people come in they start to talk English too, so, this means the club is an international club as well.

They have a group which you can join to keep up-to-date about events. This is the only means of communication with their fans that they use at the moment.

Since this is a new club there aren’t any special events planned yet. But they have theme evenings like a disco night, country night and a pirate night. At the moment of writing this article, they were preparing a beach party evening. I will attend that after finishing this article.
 

Personally, I think this new club needs some attention, because it’s a new club and I hope they will have a bright future ahead. The club’s atmosphere is always good and the avatars that visit the place are nice people. We must embrace those new clubs and hope they will stay in Second Life. This is an awesome club that I can add to my list ( nah, just kidding, I don’t have a list ) of clubs.

So, what are you waiting for to visit this new club ? I hope to meet you all there one day.

The club is searchable through Second Life Search and on the Second Life Events page. To visit Club The Limit you need to go to this location :

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Appalachian/208/107/24

Wesley Regenbogen

The Magic Of Trance Club : A Club for Trance Lovers !

By Wesley Regenbogen

 The Magic of Trance (MOT) Club is an open air club, which only plays trance music. The club was created by Maluyy Resident in December 2012. It was always Maluyy’s dream to create a place where trance lovers would unite and enjoy the best trance music out there. Her goal was to create a “trance family” and a community of trance lovers all around Second Life. 

There are always live DJs that will play in the club. They have a group called “Magic Of Trance Gang”, so Trance Lovers will enjoy this group and get notified when there is an event or something going on. The “Trance Lovers” group is also a group created by the owner. The “Magic Of Trance Gang” group has 2000 members and the “Trance Lovers” group has 1000 members at the moment of writing. Aside the in-world group, they also have a Facebook group and page and there are boards in the club that announce an event too.

The club gets an average visitor traffic between 17.000 and 20.000 visitors a day and they aren’t open 24/7 yet. Maluyy Resident thinks this is a victory, because they aren’t a generic music club, but a specific music genre.

On Friday February 13^th, 2015 there was a Valentine’s Day event, where 12 DJs  played 12 hours with the best trance music. They are also going to support the “SLuminosity Beach Festival 2015”, created in SL by DJ Dave Cold. It will be 70 DJs and 4 stages, a great Trance Event. It will be held during the period 10-12th April 2015. MOT Club will support it because they are a Trance Community without any barriers.

Personally, I like this trance club a lot, because it has the best trance music and the fact that the club is also streamed live through the internet, through their website. So, maybe we could meet up in the club some day and enjoy the club together.

My favorite club list has grown once again. But that’s because there are great clubs in Second Life that I happen to find everytime.

You can find the MOT club at this location :

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Relaxation/36/133/25

Their website can be found at: http://www.magicoftrance.com/ . You can listen to the livestream from the website too ! Or you can add it to your webradio software program and play it from there.

* * * * * 

On another note, some sad news about “Club Transation” which I reviewed a while ago. The owner notified me that the club has been closed, due to real-life problems, the owner told me. He also closed down the group which came along with the club.

It’s sad to see a club go away, but I hope the owner goes well now in real life. I liked this club very much and when I visited, I always had fun and enjoyed the music.

Goodbye Club Transation !

Wesley Regenbogen

Ville de Coeur

By Wesley Regenbogen

 The “Ville de Coeur” sim was created in 2008. It was originally part of the “Duché de Coeur” sim. But they separated themselves from it in early December 2014. “Duché de Coeur” focused on the late 18^th Century and and early 19^th Century scenery. "Ville" changed into present day scenery in October 2014. It is owned, and was designed, by Ayla Guisse and Bedrich Panacek.

They also have a horse carriage system in place that will bring you to the different regions of the sim. I have tested that out and I must admit it’s a cool way of transporting your avatar through the sim. The village also offers bicycles built for singles as well as couples for visitors and they even have rezzable horses to explore the sim. Besides the carriages system they also have a rowboat system in place to float around in sim. The water around has a “flow” in it and the current will carry the boats through the locks designed to represent those at the “Canal du Midi”. There you can also find easy to use sailboats.

The Bibliotheque is run and operated by by Farzaneh Eel. The music which is played within the sim is adult contemporary in most regions of the sim. But they also play these musical genres : Blues, Jazz, and instrumental movie and classical music. They try to bring live singers to the place as wel, including : Thera D, Abygail Hastings, and many others. They also hold special music presentations every few weeks. Last November 15^th, 2014 there was a “Blues Festival” which took place at the “La Place des Lumieres” place in the sim, just before their separation from the "Duche" sim. A Venetian festival will be held on February 15^th, 2015 and also Phil Setner will perform on February 17^th, 2015.

Ayla and Bedrich also designed the upcoming region Coeur D’Azur, the newest region that will be opened to the public on Valentine’s Day ( February 14^th, 2015 ). When the new “Coeur D’Azur” region is opened at Valentine’s Day there will be a Michael Bublé Tribute Show at Noon SLT. Ayla also added a winter themed sim. She is currently working on the “spring” themed sim as we speak.

They have the group called “Ville de Coeur” where they notify members about the upcoming events and they also have a website which can be found at http://www.coeurvirtualworlds.com .

A video shows aerial shots of the village :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjFeNREJAOo

In my personal opinion, this place is the perfect spot for you love birds to celebrate Valentine’s Day together. But nevertheless, it’s a nice place to explore and have a look around.

There are a few landmarks for this sim :

Coeur Info Center for visitors :

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Aquitaine%20Coeur%20Nord/173/35/35

Citadel Gardens :

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Aquitaine%20Coeur%20Nord/79/23/31

La Place des Lumieres ( place where the video is taken ) :

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Aquitaine%20Coeur%20Nord/141/44/35

Ville de Coeur – Harbor Square :

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Aquitaine%20Coeur%20Nord/66/64/25

Wesley Regenbogen

Club Infinity

By Wesley Regenbogen

Club Infinity is bizarre. It’s advertised through the Bloodlines site, but it’s not a vampire based club, but i. They are Bloodlines friendly and they have a Bloodlines haunt set up to draw in visitors.

 Club Infinity gives a free reign for artistic music talents. During the weekends they focus on playing Electronica. During the week they focus on playing play Classic Rock, Pop, Top 40, Country, Rock and Roll, Heavy Metal, Hard Rock, Electronica, and more. They also have live DJs that play in the club. 

They also operate a a BWA phase system for those ravers out there. That phase system syncs up the clubs color-changing properties with certain accessories that club people can wear. That way the club and the what the people are wearing change color at the same time. The club has some nice seats where you can relax if you want to stop dancing. What’s more is that there is a pillar in the middle with “iStyle” on it, whatever that means, and above it is a sphere thing, that’s a dance ball and near the DJ booth, there is also such a sphere thing that you can use to start your avatar to dance.

They organize contests throughout the week. For this and other information about the club, you can join the group and get daily information and there are also searchable through the Second Life Search pages and also through the Bloodlines website. They have many groups, are listed in SL Events and Bloodlines Events. There is no Facebook page, apparently.

The club was created and decorated by Analemma Faerye and opened in October 2013.

In my personal opinion : Yet another club to add to my club listing. Although I’m not a vampire in Second Life, I like this club because it has a nice interior and the music is very good. I already joined the group to keep myself up-to-date on the events that could be coming soon.

Every club I find has something special, it seems. This club has pillars that are formed by water and below the pillars there is a thing where the water stays in. Very cool feature, if you ask me. Never seen it in other clubs before.

And the Club Infinity logo is also special, because it’s a cool design.

The fact that they have Bloodlines linked to them, well, it's kinda weird. But, hey, we are not vampires, so, we don’t have to worry, right? 

I mean it, really, stop laughing. 

You can Club Infinity at this location :

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Mystic%20Aurora/229/219/38

Wesley Regenbogen

Club Transation

By Wesley Regenbogen

About a month ago, Fin Silversmith & Hardrain Tigerpaw created a club called “Club Transation." This club plays Trance, Electro, Dance and Techno music and they have DJs that play in the club most of the day.

Sometimes they have an event, like for example Christmas or Valentine’s Day or another event in real life and they decorate the club accordingly. Hardrain Tigerpaw created the decorations in the club, and this person did quite a nice job, in fact. Fin Silversmith runs the club.

What makes this club special is that it’s located below a clothes shop, which offers male and female clothes for every occasion. It specializes in bridal clothing, but on demand, the tailor makes clothes for anyone. This is quite unique, because I haven’t found a club and a shop in one place. The Quest Qlub had shops and rental areas too, but not above or below each other. It's an interesting concept to see that both places are merged together, creating a unique place. Hardrain Tigerpaw owns and runs the shop.

The shop is nicely decorated and you can walk around and buy from within the shop, but they also have Second Life Marketplace site where you can buy clothing from too. So, this means that you can visit the club and when you are done partying, you can visit the shop and buy some new clothes, if you want to.

The club holds a photo contest where residents can win a L$ 2500 gift voucher and also L$ 500 for the best club photo of themselves and their friends.

The Club Transation group has 58 staff members and 57 VIPs at the moment of writing. They don’t have a website nor a Facebook page, but it’s “under construction” the owner told me. You can find the club through Second Life Search and their events are listed on the Linden Lab Events page and they have a group as well. But you can also just visit the club and ask the staff for more information about the club.

I hope you enjoy your stay in Club Transation and we can meet there sometime, another nice club that I can add to my list of clubs to visit, it’s a large list if you check my previous articles. Since it’s a new club which has been opened since begin of January, it deserves a visit.

You can find Club Transation at this location :

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Magical%20Rainbow%204/225/34/55

Wesley Regenbogen

The Avatar Fitness Club

By Wesley Regenbogen

Avatars can actually work out in Second Life!

I recently found the “Avatar Fitness Club,” which was unexpected place to find in Second Life. Owned by Thynka Little, the place was created in September 2012 as part of the project of Cooperative Extension a non-formal community education network run by universities around the USA. (http:// www.extension.org). The place is located across the Reality Check Café. When visitors come from the pub across the street, they get the message with options on how to burn the consumed calories again. High-energy Internet radio stations play tunes in the club, though it is suggested residents turn it off before entering the Yoga room. In the lounge area where people can relax, it turns off automatically.

There’s a swimming pool as well and also a room where you can work out on many work out machines. At the entrance there’s a large trampoline ( or springboard ). You can’t look near it. There are seats when you enter the club as well.

The owners have two professionals who give programs at the club : Leia Kedem, a registered dietician from University of Illinois Extension, and Jason Jarred, an exercise physiologist from Australia. They motivate people to “work out” their avatar by giving L$ 1 every 20 minutes. In January they will together be offering a 4-week series of classes called Post-Holiday Shape Up. Registration information will be posted in the club later in December.

 I later talked to Thynka Little. She said to me, ”Cooperative Extension in the USA is a nationwide network of universities offering research-based community education on various topics, such as: nutrition, agriculture, small business, youth development and personal finance. Their educational programs are delivered in traditional methods, such as workshops, publications, and broadcasts; and also new ways such as social media and virtual worlds.”

The place was developed by 3DFox Design. (http://www.3DFoxdesign.com). Readers can find more information through these channels : SL events calendar, Google calendar, club signage, group messaging, Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/avatarfitness ) and on YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nO-WM3TwIMo ). Residents can also contact Luann Philips, by emailing the project manager luann.phillips@extension.org.

Personally, I like this fitness club very much, but I must admit I haven’t “worked out” there yet. The fact that this place is part of real life research, makes this project very interesting.

You can find the place at this location : http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Morrill3/208/94/24

Wesley Regenbogen

The Quest Qlub

By Wesley Regenbogen

The Quest Qlub sim is an open air club with a beach nearby, and many things you can do around them. This is a place where people from the Netherlands and Belgium come and enjoy themselves, but other residents are also allowed to join in, of course. 
  
The sim was created by Lovely Zwiers in September 2014.. They communicate with their visitors and members of the group through the group ( and group chat ), with notes and their Facebook page : https://www.facebook.com/thequestqlub?fref=ts

On the latter, they describe “The Quest Qlub sim” as "a beautiful place to enjoy music, to dance and relax with your friends, to play Greedy and to have fun.” It surely is the place to enjoy the music and to dance and you can relax in the seats that are at the club! They try to make everyone feel like home.

The Quest Qlub is nicely decorated and the place has a unique setting as well. The decorations were done by Lovely Zwiers and Quistis Shippe. The DJs play dance music, pop rock, and of course take requests from the crowd.  They have a new contest every week. They also have themes that they decorate the place with, like : Rock&Roll, Halloween, etc. They also have live performers like Yip Jannings and Nadine Morani.

There is a nearby beach and lots of shops, and there is even a The Quest Rentals, where you can find a place to rent if you are looking for a home in Second Life.

If readers want more information they need to consult the Facebook page, mentioned above.

In my personal opinion, the place is the best place I found where people from Holland and Belgium enjoy themselves. But as mentioned earlier, everyone is welcome to join in! So, I conclude with these words : Everyone, come and join us at The Quest Qlub and have fun!

To visit this place follow this link :

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/The%20Quest/62/195/21  

Wesley Regenbogen

Note: Earlier the date the club was created was given as 2004. That was a typo, the correct date being 2014.

The Hope Driftwood and Dreamscape Ranches

By Wesley Regenbogen

Hope Driftwood’s Ranch 
 

 Recently, I wrote about the closing down of the The Full Circle Club. The owners found another business in Second Life : ranches in Second Life and also breeding virtual horses in Second Life.
 

It was the first time I saw horse raising in Second Life, boy was that an experience ! Hope Driftwood and Christopher Dreamscape both own a ranch in Second Life where they own a number of breedable horses. Christopher told me he also breeds virtual dogs All those animals that have been coming to Second Life. This trend has been going on for some years, so, well, I must say that it’s a nice thing.

The two don't run a single ranch, but two. Hope Driftwood owns a ranch called “Hope Driftwood Ranch." Christopher Dreamscape owns a second ranch called “Dreamscape Ranch." Both of them created their ranches themselves, with helpers helping to decorate Hope Driftwood. The communication for Hope Driftwood Ranch is done by plain old notices and word to mouth.Her ranch can be found through Second Life Search and everyone is welcome to visit it! She on occasion plays music for the horses in the ranch as well. There are a few upcoming events: "Snap," "Drop," and "Panel Auction."

Hope Driftwood told me her ranch had a number of helpers, which she considered her Second Life family: Benji Darkfury, Red Darkness , Rosie Darkness, Ayasha johnannes, and Neaven Snowfield. There was also, "My brother rancher and other helper Christopher Dreamscape. This started out as a family based ranch! I Started doing horse a couple of years ago when i was on a diffrent avi. I was Playing Rosie Darkness at the time. Dakota Snowfield and Benji Darkfury taught me a lot! I love horses both in real life and Second Life. This is my dream! I get horse's and breed them with my daughter Sunny and Sister Cherry! But I Love to make friends and Ride my horses!" 

Dreamscape Ranch

The Dreamscape Ranch is owned and was created by Emma Dreamscape (emmalee69) and Christopher Dreamscape (christopher410) on the 23^rd October,2014. The decorations at the ranch were made by Emma. 

Both ranches support the Relay For Life, and they play to hold events to raise money for the charity. They will most information about that soon.  You can look up the ranches through Second Life Search.

In my personal opinion these ranches are very well made and are just perfect for everyone who loves horses, either in real life or only in Second Life. It’s the first time that I encounter a ranch in Second Life, though. I wish Hope Driftwood and Christopher Dreamscape the best with their ranches.

Hope Driftwood told me the whole process about breeding virtual horses, and I must admit it must be a difficult process.

On a final note, I was made an offer for a virtual horse, but I haven’t decided yet, LOL !

Hope Driftwood Ranch can be found here :

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Yakamo/114/195/22

Christopher Dreamscape’s Ranch can be found here :

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Marshall/49/242/23

 Wesley Regenbogen

Club Moonshine

By Wesley Regenbogen

Club Moonshine was created by EveleenJewell Resident and she decorated the place by herself. She created the club about 2 months ago, so word about the place is just getting out. She had another club earlier for one and a half years, but she had to move. 

Normally you would find a club in a closed building, but this club is in the open air, no ceilings and no walls other than a hedge. This is kind of weird, but that makes it unique. There are seats in the corner of the club, if you want to relax a little, or take a break from the dancing during parties. There are trees in the club as well, and the dance floor is in the middle of it. As December approaches, there will be a winter theme soon.

The audience is mostly Netherlands or Belgians, so this means that the language spoken is Dutch and English. But Americans also join in the club to dance. The music that is played varies from DJ to DJ, but mostly they play following genres : pop/rock and oldies and top 40 music. And of course they try to play every request. The club is not always open, but has hours when the DJs are present and playing music. 

In my personal opinion, this place is very nice and you can really relax and chill in the club, or just dance to the music. Enjoy your stay at Club Moonshine, and maybe we will meet each other there someday. I can speak Dutch, so to the Dutch readers, please talk to me if you are in there. 

EveleenJewell has her own group and as special group for events. If readers want more information about the place they can contact her or they can join the group for more information.

If I can help to get the club more known, I’m glad to help out. You can find the place at this location :

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Scott/88/19/27

Wesley Regenbogen

The International Space Museum

By Wesley Regenbogen

Spaceflight in real life has been a thing where many people have been wondering about and are interested in it. So am I. So I found this place in Second Life called the “International Spaceflight Museum.” It was created in September 2005, according to their Facebook page, and they provide full-scale models of spacecraft of 12 different countries, not just from America and the Russians. You can compare a 360-meter tall Saturn V Moon rocket with the Mercury-Atlas, which is sitting next to each other.

You can also ride on a rocket and orbit the Earth and walk the platforms around it. When you walk around on the platform you will see the other planets and just right-click them and then just select “Teleport” and you will be teleported to the planet in question. When you go to the planet Mars, you can even teleport to the ( virtual ) Mars surface and look around there, it’s a small area, but you can walk and see the rovers and get more information about them.

This museum isn't sponsored by NASA or the U.S. government, but cared for by volunteers. It’s operated by the ISMuseum, a Texas non-profit corporation.Any donations you give will help keep it running.

They also have a Wiki page available with more information about the place itself : http://www.ismuseum.org/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page. I didn't see future events listed on the wiki, although there was the Space Week recently. The nearby Spinthrift sim hosts music performances every Sunday at 8PM, and the National Space Society holds weekly meetings every Monday at 3PM at their sim.

In my personal opinion, I think this is the best space museum in Second Life. It’s really amazing that you can really fly with a rocket into space here. It’s also quite amazing that they actually recreated it all so realistically. There are a lot of things to see, too many to list here. I suggest you check them out when you visit the place yourself.

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You can find the location in Second Life at :

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Spaceport%20Bravo/25/80/23

Wesley Regenbogen

The Star Trek Museum

By Wesley Regenbogen

 Ever since the first episode of Star Trek was aired on television many people have watched the series and became a fan of the science fiction story about Captain Kirk and his crew wandering around in the Universe, “to boldly go where no man has gone before”.

After the original series ended, many other series were made and a few spin-offs too. I wasn’t a real fan myself, but the episodes that I watched were amazingly well made and you really felt like you were also in space with Captain Piccard and his crew in the “The Next Generation” series, which were aired in the 90s.

Now, in Second Life there is a Star Trek Museum in which you can all learn about the different species and also get to know more about the series and get background information as well. The Museum was created and developed by SL STARFLEET, which is the counterpart to the real life organization STARFLEET: The International Star Trek Fan Association, Inc. This unique organization has over 240 chapters worldwide, which links up to 4000 members around the world.

Within the Star Trek Museum you have different areas to vist, there are too many to list here. But there is a database on the official website of Star Trek : http://www.startrek.com/database_article_navigator. There you can find more information about the characters and the crew of Star Trek and much more.

The current curators of the Star Trek Museum in Second Life are  Sabri Piccard and Wabisabi Matahari.

There are many locations you can visit : Embassies, Visitor Center ( start location ), Science Museum, and much, much , much more. There is even a balloon tour available. There are too many places to list them all here. More information about all the locations can be found on this website : http://www.sabrizain.org/startrek/

On their Facebook page I found this quote regarding the places you can visit in the Star Trek Museum “SL's best collection of Everything Star Trek - Full size USS Enterprise, dine on gagh, fly in a shuttle, visit a Vulcan town, a Klingon home, Science Museum, swim with George and Gracie. Visit: http://slurl.com/secondlife/New%20Eridani/133/80/36.

In my personal opinion the Star Trek Museum is the place for Trekkies or Trekkers to visit and enjoy their stay in the museum. It’s nice to actually wander around in the Star Trek history and get to know more about the series itself.

You can find the place in Second Life at this location :

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/New%20Eridani/133/77/36

Wesley Regenbogen