Sneak Peek at the RFL Track

The Relay For Life Weekend is almost here, and the buiders have been busy at work across the forty-plus sims. I was able to get an early look at the track, and take a few pictures.

 The completed "Sunbeamers" plot at RFL Research, which was written about a couple days ago when mostly complete. Now, the new team's flag has been added, and proudly flies over the exhibit.

Read more about the Sunbeamer plot (here).

Still in RFL Research, at the Breedables plot, with one of the critters playing about before curling up for a nap.

 Just south of the Sunbeamers was "Team Lag's" build, a 50's bowling alley.

Inside, one can do a game of bowling, and stop at the soda joint for ice cream.

To the north was the designer sim RFL Screening, by Photon Pink.

The space had been empty just a couple days earlier. The builders worked fast. As I saw a couple avatars flying around, they might not have been finished.

RFL Spirt was also a designer sim, a forest with lots of lanterns, by Lemondrop.

Well, not just lanterns, but also some noodle bowls.

One corner of the sim had a marina by "Sail For Life." There, one can bid on a boat for charity.

 Or you can take one out into the RFL Reflections water sim.

And where there's water, there's sometimes a lighthouse.

In RFL Strength was the Knights of Avalon plot.

The "Rocky Beer Brigade" plot. The holographic sign says, "Sanctuary Rock proudly presents The Track Into The Future to live long and free of cancer."

The Goreans For Life plot. Somewhat infamous for their community's mature roleplays, the team consistantly ranks among the top fundraisers every year. Their build is made of amusement park rides and wooden ships.

The "Teletus Titans for a Cure" build, the fourth plot in RFL Strength.

A quick trip to the RFL Hope sim in the southeast corner of the track revealed this gearwork build.

To the north in RFL Hero was this exhibit, "Knowledge is the Key."

That's it for now with the Relay plots. If you want to see more, the sims will be open to all members of the Relay For Life Volunteers group tomorrow at 2PM SL time. And after the Opening Ceremonies tomorrow at 10AM, the sims will be open to all for the Relay Walk.

Bixyl Shuftan

Visiting Down Under: SL Australia

By Grey Lupindo

      Recently I took a trip to SL Australia, located at Australia (165, 82, 28).  This sim is owned by a group of Australians who wanted to have an Aussie meeting place, as well as a place where people from other countries could come and enjoy life down under.   They have created a fun as well as informative site.   

       One of their notecards states that Australia is the sixth largest country in the world.   Like its RL counterpart, SL Australia is also very big, with lots of unusual things to do and see.     There’s a lot of free transportation to help you get around, including a monorail, bicycles, jet skis and more. 

         I started out at the Sydney Opera House, where I also found information about the Sydney Harbour Bridge and some other landmarks.   From there I biked across the plaza to the stores.    

       The shopping area is small, but it had some unusual stores.  “Stellar”, located on the corner sells, among other things, both drapes and vampire ears.    Another unusual store is “Dingo Mojo” where you can buy Aussie plants, including an Aussie Beer Tree that gives out bottles of beer.   They also sell lorikeets, cockatoos and other Australian birds.

         Located in the middle of the shopping area is Ritchey Sealy Art Studio, which is owned by a RL Australian artist.   In SL he is Ritchey Jacobus, and he has been a resident for over 6 years.  His studio is very large and filled with paintings of Australian beaches, the sea, and some towns.    They are all for sale at a very reasonable price, $50L.   My favorites were of life in Moruya, a town that I had never heard of but looks like an interesting place.  When I visited, Jacobus also had paintings on display behind one of the monorail stops at Australia (175, 6, 47).  Here there were paintings of other aspects of Australian life, including kangaroos.  It’s always interesting to see a RL artist come into SL, especially when the subject matter is different and as well done as these paintings are.

          In RL the Great Barrier Reef is located on the northeast coast of Australia and is home to exotic sea life.  In SL Australia you can rent scuba equipment from a dive shop located near Australia (37, 96, 22).   I rented their equipment for $20L for 10 minutes, which was plenty of time for me.   Although the coral and plants were pretty, I saw a Great White Shark that sent me topside.   But for braver residents, the equipment can be rented for longer periods of time.   When the HUD is worn, gauges and other instruments appear.   I have never used scuba equipment in RL so I don’t know how authentic this HUD is.   But it was fun, at least until I saw the shark.  Inside the dive shop is a stylish wet suit that is a freebie, whether or not you rent the scuba equipment.     

            Jet skis are available for free so I hopped on one to tour the harbor.     While I was touring I spotted a diving cage exhibit that looked interesting and a 7 Seas fishing area located at The Shed, Australia (75, 180, 21).   I stopped to fish long enough to catch a Common Green Clownfish and an Uncommon Ultra Violet Mutant.   But I decided to save the diving cage for a future visit.   I had had enough of sharks for one day.

           I stopped by the Dingo Bay Hotel, which appears to be brand new.   There were plenty of tables and chairs, a dance ball and lots of room to use it.    No one else was there when I visited, probably due to the time difference between my RL location and RL Australia.   There’s a sign where anyone who is interested can get notices of upcoming events.  

         My vacation time was nearly up, but I wanted to ride the monorail before I left.  I climbed the steps to the platform and waited for a train.  It came quickly, but I had trouble getting into it.  I slipped between it and the railings on my first try and landed in the harbor below.   I climbed back up and waited for the next train.  This time I boarded by going directly into a seat instead of trying to walk into the train car.  This approach worked perfectly.  The monorail is great.  It shook and made noise just like a real train.  It goes pretty fast, and you can get a quick overview of the site.  

       I rode the monorail around a couple of times without any problem.    As I rode, I could see that there were many other places that I will have to return to visit.    I plan to do that soon.

Australia (165, 82, 28)

 Grey Lupindo

Last Look at the SL10B

By Bixyl Shuftan

From June 16th to June 30th, the Second Life Tenth Birthday took place. An exposition as well as an anniversary, numerous exhibitors put up a number of builds. Although some were basically advertisements for stores, many showed much creativity and amusement. Earlier, we looked at several exhibits (Click here for the link). With the show now over, here's a few more.

The outside of the Auditorium, with it's large SL10B logo.

Caledon, a steampunk-themed community, had an exhibit. This one was specifically around Caledon Oxbridge, which has a newcomer-helper area.

Raglan Shire, Second Life's largest and most well known community of "Tinies," had one too, next to Qwark Allen's telescope. It had a few freebies, some comments by residents, and a slide down from the top. And at the top was a giant waffle (for those who don't know, there's a repeating gag among tinies about waffles).

A better look at Qwark Allen's telescope. Great for observing Saturn's ring around the collar.

A park area near the entrance.

A "ghost lion" also at the park area.

The "Now and Then Avatar Portrait Project," with the starter "Furry" avatar I first entered Second Life in.

And here's my own "Now and Then" picture. Actually, the "Fox News" look I'd had since about eleven months after coming to Second Life. While I've gotten other avatars, this remains my everyday look.

"Some things never go out of style."

DrFran Babcock's "Classy Souvenirs" build. I took one of the early maps as a memento.

Near DrFran's place was a mad scientist's lab.

A giant Fedora hat in one clothing store's build.

This exhibit near the "7Seas" build was about how to make a ring sculpture from a prim. It offered a freebie ring avatar.

This build from "Arcadia Asylum" you could take home, at least this part of it. Among the freebies given away was a copy of this. At least it was according to the picture. I forgot to open it to make sure.

"Kiddie Park," a child-avatar themed build. One's attention goes to the "Do Not Enter" building. But there was a hole in the roof, which allowed one to see in without entering. The interior remarked, "Isn't it amusing that the human mind automatically wants to do the things we are told not to do ... we're all like children inside after all."

The "Flying Saucers From Outer Space" build. This was made partly to advertise a radio show tribute.

I dropped in about the time Geo Meek was rehearsing one of the episodes. Unfortunately, the role of the old lady in the trailer park went to him, "what a drag."

From the Gatcha Arcade exhibit, one could get a landmark to their location of the month where one could put 100 Lindens into a game, and get a mesh sugar glider avatar. They can move about like a human or furry avatar, and they have some great flight animations.

A display of avatar progress throughout Second Life's history, from the "primitar" avs of Linden World to the mesh avatars of today.

The Roma build, from Second Life's Ancient Rome-themed roleplay community, which resembled a coliseum.

Inside was a workable chariot, which one could get on and ride around it. 

The "Elf Circle" exhibit.

One of the water sim exhibits, a mousegirl catching money falling from a tree.

Asterion Coen, a man who worked with some noteable builds in the past such as the NOAA sim and it's onetime neighboring "Virtual Earth" neighboring areas, had an exhibit there. Just press a button, and a build like these lunar vehicles would appear.

Asterion and I chatted for a while. It was his opinion that Second Life was lucky to have made it to ten years. Linden Lab, he felt, just didn't have the business sense to get the Grid more of an audience that it had, and poor decision making had driven businesses, and thus revenue, away.

And the center of the SL10B grounds, the cake stage, seen from above.

For more pictures on SL10B, check out the Flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/groups/slcommunitycelebration/pool/.

That's it for now, our last look at the Second Life Tenth Birthday. It was a joy covering it, and we're looking forward to number Eleven.

Bixyl Shuftan