New Infohub and Pod Station Launches in the Heart of Historical SL

By Klaus Bereznyak

A new info hub and yavascript pod station launched earlier this month at Da Boom. Announced via the Pod Rider's group on the 4th September 2019, this hub is right in the ancient heart of Second Life, in the first ever region to appear on the grid in November 2002 before the official release in June 2003.

 If the construction of the hub looks 'old school', that's because it is. The tower-form example of characteristic SLArchitecture is constructed using original, pre-2003 prims created by Philip Linden.

Although a work still “under construction” the hub looks open for business. It has a clubby feel, with the second floor being a dance floor, perhaps nodding to the fact that this site was formerly occupied by the popular Alt-Zoom dance club.

The ground (or water) level features a museum of SL history and the docking for pod tours that depart from here. The museum is having fresh material added every day, and currently displays some maps showing the development of the grid and some artifacts of early primmage from bygone SL. At the moment visitors can hop on a yavascript ferry service (F3) which goes through many interesting regions of Micronesia to terminate at Aluluei. The trip takes about 15 minutes.

 A pod can also be rezzed for the longer S1 Historic Second Life route. The regions radiating from this zero point on the grid are the very earliest to come online in Second life. It’s very rare for them to become available for sale and the terrain is noticeably dynamic since they do not have the terraforming limits imposed on later regions. The first 16 regions, known as the San Francisco regions, were all named for real-life streets close to the original Linden offices.

 Jessie David, the creator and manager of the new infohub is almost as old as the prims that make up the building, having rezzed in April 2003, making her one of the first 10,000 residents.

 Da Boom infohub has a group for event announcements and gifts. I anticipate it will be a great starting point for any of our readers who want to discover more about the fascinating history of our world or any oldbies who fancy a little reminiscing.

SLURL: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Da%20Boom/63/3/21

 

Klaus

Editor's Note: Six years ago, DrFran Babcock did an article about Da Boom around the time of Second Life's tenth anniversary.

The Borobudur Temple

by Marcel Mosswood

Borobudur as one of the seven wonders of the world, is in Second Life! Now you can see the temple also with the Prambanan temple. Marcel have the opportunity to interviewed Aryluke, the owner of the Borobudur Temple sim, in the middle of the fresh tropical view of the sim.

Marcel: Hi Ary, what inspired you to build the Borobudur sim?

Aryluke: I am very glad to share our local content of heritage to more people all around the Second Life virtual world. So in 2013, I and my friend spent two months to build the Borobudur and also Prambanan Temples.

The Prambanan Temple

Marcel: Can you tell us a brief about the Borobudur in real-life?

Aryluke: Borobudur is the largest Mahayana Buddhist monument in the world, built around 750 AD. Located on in the island of Java, Indonesia, 40 km (25 mi) northwest of Yogyakarta. Discovered by the British in 1814 under Sir Thomas Stanford Raffles, the magnificent temple is a three-dimensional mandala (diagram of the universe). This structure is square shaped with four entry point and a circular center point. It is decorated with 2,672 relief panels and 504 Buddha statues, a visual representation of Buddhist teachings.

Marcel: What about the Borobudur sim in Second Life, including the Prambanan Temple and the environment surrounding the temples?

Aryluke: We built the sim with real-life concept, everyone can visit and see those stunning stoneworks in real-life around the tropical environment I've tried my best to perform.

Marcel: Please introduce your team members in building the sim.

Aryluke: I build this sim myself, started with the terrain level and rezzing all the pieces of stuff. It took 2 days but before that my close friend Passie (Pascale Boucher) the creator of Brussels Sim which was very famous before, helped me a lot to build the temples and monument. My faithful friends Kiara and Benq, and some local Indonesian friends also supported me in promoting and fund raising as well. We really enjoyed working hand in hand until finally our sim was elected to be shown in SL Editor's Picks in 2013.

Marcel: OK, is there a regular event for the public that is held on Borobudur sim?

Aryluke: Not yet with the new Sim, we had some with the old such as exhibition, 'open mic' cafe for language practice, photography, etc.

Interesting to visit and enjoy the beautiful sim of Borobudur Temple? Here is the LM:

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Gentility%20Land/236/170/48

Marcel Mosswood

The Museums of Archaeology

While greeting at the Virtual Worlds Best Practices in education I met Qvintvs Petilivs Secvndvs   (SeverusAlexander Resident). I learned that he is an owner of the Museums of Archaeology in Second Life. I decided to visit the museum since it was completely new to me.

What a wonderful place this is for those who have an interest in history in general and those who love to visit regions with builds that are enticing,builds related to the past or to places we never expect to visit in real-life.

The Hub is the landing place where there is a gift shop featuring lovely ancient items that come from the various museums, a library filled with enough information to possibly acquire a degree. Some is on notecards , some on the web. Pick up a hud there when you land,that will guide you to the venues. There are also teleports at every stop.

I went to the Orbis Romanus first to visit an ancient urban area and view the monuments . At the entrance there is a map showing all the areas in the build. As you pass through the gates you feel the change of the of the time as you enter the ancient city . This would have been a wonderful way to learn about the building and columns of the past instead of looking at a flat book page. Listen to the sounds of the city as you walk. Information balls are on every build along with pictures of reconstruction and the original site of the building. It is an education!

My next stop was at the Ortem Project where you will see a collection of amazing inventions of the Roman times. A hall filled with all the armor and uniforms of the various times of the Roman Empire along with time maps of the progress of the growth of the Empire.Upstairs are examples of the very modern looking inventions for building and movement from that era.Some of this technology is still visible in our world today. Outside, near Caesar’s bridge  is a rezzer to see some of the tools  yourself. I rezzed a crane that really looked familiar, even close to the large cranes we see today,  and then rezzed an Elephant pulling an onager with troops behind.

From there I visited the Vatican Library , an imposing replica of a  beautiful hall of the library in Vatican City. Next I went over to the Mindan Museum. The story of the Minoan civilization of Crete and the Aegean Sea is told on boards around a build of the Palace of Knossos that shows the architecture of the time rediscovered in explorations of Crete in the late 18th century. See how lost history is recreated here .

The Chateau de Chenonceau is a replica of a famous castle on the Loire in France. Cedric Hansome donated his Second Life build to the museum when he retired to real-life. The grounds and the out buildings are charming . The Chateau itself is filled with period furniture and lovely art pieces. Roam the halls, climb the stairs, and open doors to view it all.

My last visit was to the Viking era Royal Residence at Tisso , Denmark. The contrast between this and the chateau are almost a shock when you arrive. A much different style of building and life .Outside the wooden wall there is a little library where you can see the reconstruction of the original site . There is so much detail to discover in this marvelous library that I will leave for you to find yourself. It would take reams of paper to describe everything .

QVINTVS said about the sim, “  I founded it and have some good friends, who are excellent builders. So I have the ideas and the archaeological groundplans and usually I am the person who gives the conferences mostly. And yes, sometimes a friend of us, also archaeologist, she is prof. at an American university, brings her rl students there sometimes.” It is well worth a visit go and experience . 

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Buttercup%20Isle/128/113/3001

Gemma Cleanslate

The Yamato Memorial

By Bixyl Shuftan

Although the age of the battleship has passed in naval history, they still have quite an impact on people. For Japan, the battleship that is the most symbolic to them is the Yamato. It (along with it's sister ship the Musashi), was the largest and most heavily armed battleship in history. In April 1945, with the war going badly for Imperial Japan and islands near Japan threatened with invasion, the ship was sent on what was essentially a suicide mission to stop the American offensive, or at last cause as much damage as possible. But the ship was spotted before it could make it's way to it's target area, and after repeated bombs and torpedoes hit, the ship finally sunk, taking with it all but 280 of it's crew of about 3300. The Imperial Navy would never again launch another major operation. After the war, the ship's loss was remembered as a brave but futile act by sailors trying to defend their homeland. As the name "Yamato" is sometimes used as a poetic word for Japan, the sinking of the ship was seen by some as a symbolic end for the Japanese Empire. The ship remains part of Japanese culture, appearing in film, anime, and magna, such as in "Space Battleship Yamato" or "Star Blazers," when the Yamato is rebuilt as a spaceship.

The ship was written about in Second Life Newspaper in March 2009. Maddy Gynoid would later state that the ship was built in 2007, entirely with "classic" prims. But by March 2012, the ship was gone. But on September 2013, it was back. That would be the last the Newser would hear about it for a while. Recently, the Newser was alerted to a story in the "Real Virtual" blog by Maddy Gynoid that the ship was returning after it was apparently gone for a year. So I decided to stop by.

The SURL I saw in Maddy's story took me to the Yumix Ocean sim at (66/173/21), which borders the place where the Yamato is just to the north. Appropriately enough, the sim is called "Yamato Memorial." To my surprise, I saw the owner of the Yamato's neighboring sim, Yumix Writer. "Sim of a battleship restored two days ago," she told me. She pointed to Maddy's article, saying when he found the ships, the sim had just been created and was still inaccessible. But heading over, the area could be entered without trouble. The only limitation was that one can't teleport onto the battleship or any other ship in the sim, but only onto a small island in the northwest corner at the sim at Yamato Memorial (25/222/21)

The ship takes the length of the sim, and it's nationality is clearly distinguished by the Imperial Japanese flag, and the chrysanthemum symbol mounted on the bow of the ship. The ship is heavily armed with nine 46 cm (18.1 in) 45 caliber Type 94 naval guns on three turrets as the main armament, the largest kind ever mounted on a warship, Each gun was 21.1 meters (69.3 feet) long and weighed 147.3 metric tons (162.4 US tons), and could fire shells at targets 42 km (26 miles) away. The ship also had six 155 mm (6.1 inch) guns in two smaller turrets, and 24 127 mm guns. There are also many anti-aircraft guns on the ship.

There's a good amount of detail, such as the rifling of the main guns.  And one can make their way to the bridge with ladders. The inside of the bridge is somewhat lacking, but the detail elsewhere makes up for it. The Yamato can only be called a first-class build.

The Yamato is joined by other ships in the area. Next to it is the Imperial Japanese carrier Akagi. Both the Yamato and the Akagi were part of the Imperial task force in the Battle of Midway, but the battleships never saw any action while the carriers were sunk. The carrier has a small tower and bridge, and a number of planes on the top flight deck, a mix of fighters and torpedo bombers.

Besides anti-aircraft guns, the Akagi also has cannon: ten 50-caliber (23 cm) guns, six of them located in swivel mounts in the back. Why would a carrier have big guns? The ship had been built in the 1920s before it was fully realized how much of a disadvantage a carrier would have in a ship to ship duel without planes. The ship's main smokestack is located in an odd position: mounted on the side of the ship and angled downwards.

There are three other smaller ships in the vicinity. Also in the Yamato Memorial sim is a cargo ship and a Fubuki-class destroyer. These ships have been called the first modern destroyers, dangerous opponents in a fight even against much newer ships. The ship has both guns and torpedo launchers. To the north in Yumix Small Town is a Takao class heavy cruiser. Besides a distinctive bridge, the ship has five turrets with ten eight-inch (20.3 cm) guns.

In the past, there was a seaplane on the Yamato that could be boarded and launched from the catapults in the back. There was also a display of photographs in the interior, though could only be seen by panning around. Unfortunately, neither is available this time. But the ship is still very well done. The island to the northeast does have a gun that can be fired if one wears a HUD, as well as a small balloon launcher. It has a seaplane that can be boarded, but not flown. The northwest island has an Imperial tank, another anti-aircraft gun, and a bunker.

It seems that the Yamato has been used for some events. Maddy once found the ship all decorated for someone's wedding. He himself felt a battleship as the setting for a wedding was a little odd, "a wedding in front of the mouth of a 46cm gun is a bit brutal, but who knows."

The Yamato, and the other ships, were made by Masakado Allen. Besides his ships, he also has a page on Marketplace selling warplanes.

Mentioning the ship to friends, some wanted to see the vessel, fans of the "Star Blazers" anime, history buffs, and others.  So if you and your friends have a love of history, ships, and especially both, head on over and see the builds for yourselves.

Yamato Memorial (25/222/21)

Sources, Wikipedia, Real Virtual 

Bixyl Shuftan

Reader Submission: Second Life Museum of Nuclear War

By Fritter Enzyme

Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right.  Real life has been an active place lately in the area of nuclear threats.  Some truly scary people have their fingers on the button.  I am not feeling the love.

SL is a place of fun and fantasy.  Beauty abounds, find friends, role play, dance and get away from the realities of life.  But just like real life, it is all in here.  Educational opportunities, religion and even hate groups.  Museums of all kind.  Some to celebrate life and art, some to commemorate disasters, past or future.  This one covers both.  What damage we have done, both in usage and in testing of thermal nuclear weapons.  What damage we can do.  What we hope will never be.  Who has them, and who they can reach?

When you see a small red pyramid, click on it for a Wiki link, giving you the design, history, capacity and more for the things around you.  There are so many places to TP to, control rooms, missile silos, defense systems, drones, even Sputnik makes an appearance.  Tour a nuclear reactor.  See the rods cooling.  Click and get the information.  Learn about the Manhattan Project.  The Cuban Missile Crisis.   And North Korea.

The spot I leave for last is very important.  Real drawing made by survivor children.  This is real.  They tell quite a story, if one takes the time to listen.  Please save it for last.  But please do go.
The gallery of children’s drawings after Japan was bombed is particularly disturbing to view.  Their depictions are heart breaking, to say the least.  Skin melting off of people, faces in flames, skeletons laying in the streets.  These are the real witnesses to horrors unimaginable to us, and children to boot.  And, maybe, never got to see adulthood.  Their horrific artwork is the epitome of the whole museum.

This site might not be cheery and cute, but touch the truth that is there.  We have done some damage.  The next round is the last.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Xemia/37/218/22

Fritter Enzyme

Editor's Note: While the atomic bombing of the Japanese Empire was controversial from the start, in these politically-charged times, it is possibly more than ever. Critics charge the bombings never should have been carried out. Others respond that the alternative was to continue the conventional bombing of Japanese cities, which would have resulted in about as many or more dead. And then there was the planned invasion of Japan. Given the fierce resistance at Iwo Jima and Okinawa, it was estimated that the invasion would have cost about a million American dead and wounded, and four million Japanese.

"My Father's Place" at Aero Pines

By Bixyl Shuftan

"My Father's Place" was a music venue in Long Island New York which ran for sixteen years, from 1971 to 1987, with about 3000 musicians performing close to 6000 shows, some broadcasted over radio, some recorded. In Aero Pines park, the music club has been recreated, where visitors can listen to music and dance, read up about the real club's history, and more.

My Father’s Place (MFP) presents a live video webcast series from Long Island, NY. Featuring original musicians and songwriters, as well as famous recording artists. At the Virtual MFP venue, you can experience live mixed-reality shows, explore interactive photos from the book, listen to archived shows, watch the WLIR documentary, play rock trivia, dance, and mingle at the bar.

Dropping by recently, even though this was a time of day fewer people are in Second Life, there were several people inside. Most were dancing away, playing the trivia game, "Question 35 of 50: The band White Snake was rumored to be named after the lead singer, David Coverdale's….?", or both. There were also a few people outside nearby doing some fishing. Near the front door was a display of the myfathersplace.com website, showing the times of broadcasts from Glen Cove, New York. On the inside, the place was done much like a real life club, with a bar area separate from the dance floor, with stools, a few booths, even a couple 80's video games. On the wall were a number of pictures of the real life location, and a little history.

"There was a time in Long Island's cultured history when the whole world looked here for the next big trend in Rock n' Roll. This was between 1974 and 1980, the heyday of My Father's Place, a cabaret in Roslyn and Michael Epstein, known as Eppy, ran the whole shebang. Along with My Father's Place, which opened on Memorial Day in 1971 with a concert by Richie Havens, a confluence of entities created a scene that would influence music for decades to come." The New York Times, August 27, 2001.

Cindy Bolero, the owner and manager of Aero Pines, was also there. "It's kind of (a) live venue and museum," she told me, "a 3D version of the legacy rock club's book and documentary." She went on to say of their broadcasts from Glen Cove, "Every couple of weeks we have someone famous. So far this summer we had the real China Crisis from Liverpool, Denny Laine from Wings/moody blues last week, coming up Mike Peters of the Alarm." She mentioned the Facebook group so far had close to 10,000 fans.

Cindy's big challenge was getting fans of the venue who hadn't been in Second Life before to the place, "Been working hard at getting it easy for noobs. ... The 3D venue is still experimental. The hardest thing to do is get new users to Second Life, but these guys have a lot of enthusiasm. ... Secondlife viewers are the deal killer. Too complex and overwhelming, frustrates new users, they don't come back. Things need to be simple, simple, simple. Linden Lab wont do anything about it. ... and they wonder why its still less than ten percent stay and play. ... the complex interface keeps it from being more popular with the masses."

She went on about the club, "I feel its not just another club either. We stream bands, which is rare in Second Life because it takes a crew to live mix and shoot. We also stream famous artists, but its a challenge getting them to understand the virtual bar and get them to talk to the avatars. And its hosted by famous music promoters and radio station DJs that have a name in the industry. They are based in New York and I had much history to learn, but it is parallel to what I was doing in the 70s and 80s here in the San Francisco market. Basically when we were all in our 20s and 30s working in the music industry, We dealt with the same artists, and same music industry ecosystem of  'Band plays club, Newspaper does reviews, their record in the stores, and their record on the radio.' Now I'm trying to bring them up to speed with social media, live video webcasting, online label, activities to promote that, and that wacky virtual bar they wanted to try. Many many challenges on this journey. We've had an artist deny the video webcast at the last minute because their agent was paranoid about something or other. Meanwhile a whole crew just set up everything. We don't make music. We showcase new and famous talent. We meaning the MFP productions team.

"The history is the My Fathers Place rock club (300 seats)  from 1971-1987 featured pretty much any band or artist you can think of in that era. Just search a band with My Father's Place. Like 'Police My Father's Place' or The Ramones 'My Fathers Place.' Or Billy Joel, who got his start there as well as Bruce Springsteen. And even through the disco years they stayed a rock venue. Doing a historical build in SL is a lot like doing a documentary. So this is basically a reboot of how things were done and how entertainment companies are trying to survive today.

"What I was getting to, is back then the club got too famous for its size. So the famous underground rock radio station started bringing a truck and did live broadcasts. And since then much of the recordings have been released or bootlegged all over the web. You can say they were the first 'sharing' social media by broadcasting the shows live so more could listen."

Cindy eventually had to head out, "I'm excited to be a part of something that may actually give virtual venues a boost outside of Second Life."

For more information, check out the website, http://MyFathersPlace.com , or the Facebook group:
 https://www.facebook.com/groups/FriendsOfMyFathersPlace/

Equus (50/129/29)

Bixyl Shuftan

Antiquity

By Becky "Sha" Shamen

 During our time as a Newser Reporter, we have explored many areas of the Second Life Grid. Our writing style was strongly influenced by a movie seen in childhood. Bambi's friend, Thumper, was told, by his mom, "If you can't find anything nice to say about somebody, don't say anything at all." When we hear of a possible location to write about, our first trip there is a short visit, to get an intuitive feeling of the land and it's residents. Intuition is hard to put into words, but within a half hour one of two thoughts will enter our mind. It's either, "I can't wait to tell readers about this adventure," or "there's no story here."

   If you were to put all of the sims in the grid together, it would form a square of 610 square miles. By comparison, a single sim is only about .39 sq.mi. and there are currently 24229 active sims on the grid. So, how does this reporter find these small areas that are fun adventures, in such a big world? Newser staff meets once a month and the Editor, Bixyl Shuften, usually provides leads to potential sims. Another source is the Destination Guide, but this can be hit or miss when looking for a fun place, and Sha has frequently wondered how much the sim owner had to pay to get a mention in the guide. One of our favorite search techniques is to open the World Map and pan and zoom around the grid. We look for sim clusters which suggest community minded residents. The layout of the terrain, streets and buildings will give us an idea of the level of the ideal and practical skills that have developed in these communities.

   Studying the map, we found a 13 sim cluster. Each of the sim names began with "Antiquity" and there were massive buildings on many of them. We knew, before ever setting foot there, this would be a Great Adventure.

We select an open field on the North Western sim. The landing puts us at the foot of Mount St. Bruno, so we climb to the top for a better view of the country to be explored. There is a gathering spot on the top of the mountain; a clue that the natives might be friendly. From up here, it is clear that it will require several visits just to get a look at everything, so we start walking South, with plans of zig-zagging through all 13 sims. 

 

As our exploration began, we notice there is another person about 2000 meters up, showing up on radar. Minutes later, this same individual sent an instant-message, which was very unusual. She said that she had seen our name on her radar and it seemed to be a name that she was familiar with. After thinking a bit, she recalled that it was the name of her favorite Newser Reporter, who had inspired her to go on many new adventures of her own. We continued chatting, while taking notes in the buildings that Sha was inspecting. Then the message sender informed us that she was a local resident, named Cosette Rouages, who's job was to write scripts, used in the builds. She was very excited that her favorite reporter was there to do an article about Antiquity. After a bit more chat, she invited us for a look at "the other half" of Antiquity. 

 

It turns out, at the 2000m altitude, the sky platforms cover the entire 13 sims. A TP up and we spent hours talking and becoming friends. She also wanted to arrange for a private tour, with the owner of all the sims, Jacon Cortes de Bexar. Both of us live in the same real-life time zone and as 4:30 am rolled around, we agreed to meet again, soon. It would be necessary to return several more times, to take in all there is to see and do.

 

   There hadn't been many notes or pictures taken, on the first visit, but that is par for the course.  The plan now was to attend an event at Cutlass and head back to Antiquity after. As we came on line to prepare for the evening's events, there was already an IM waiting to be read. This time, it was from the owner, Jacon Bexar. Cosette had told him all about our meeting and he wanted me to come for a private tour. As soon as my event was over, we headed back to our original LM  in Antiquity. After landing, Cosette appeared on radar, at ground level, standing in a small group.  The welcome committee was made up of Jacon, Cosette and two other Ladies. 

 

After introductions and other pleasantries, Jacon would TP the group to his latest master build, a scale replica of Buckingham Palace. To date, this build has taken three and a half years and even every texture is from the real palace. Through out the tour, there are easels set up, with photos of the original. Jacon says, be sure to look up at the ceilings in each room. Each is a unique work of art. We told Jacon that the most difficult part about writing an article on Antiquity would be to avoid starting every sentence with OMG or WOW. When our readers visit Antiquity for themselves, they can wear out their own list of expletives.

 

   Back at ground level, I traveled to all the sims and took lots of pictures. Since this is an article and not a book, it will include some photos and brief comments. If space is limited for the article, the full length original and all the photos can be found at shaadventures.blogspot.com

 

The Antiquity Cathedral made me a bit nervous, because there is an autobot (the sim's name for bots that respond to you, not the cartoon robots) cardinal at the altar and he kept turning in her direction. I eventually got the courage to stand in front of him and explain, to the empty pews, her theory that god is a cyclops.

 

In the Royal Antiquity Theater, I took a seat in the balcony. I wonder if it would be giving my age away, if I said, as kids we went to movies in theaters as fancy as this one.

 

One shop sold a collection of "autobots," in period clothing. Many have a menu. I was tempted to go back and buy a maid that offers a glass of wine and a list of other services.

 

A harbor in the Argyle sim could be your next SL job, if ye be Pirate Friendly. Arrrrr!

 

Standing under the dome of the Texas State capital building, I recalled seeing a movie with Burt Reynolds standing in the same spot.

 

I paused in a Texas one room school house, brushing up on Texas history and spitball making.

 

There are groups to join, like for Export Import Co., a pirate group and an Equine group. On the Marie Galante sim, there is even a large area for Merfolk.

 

I rode my own horse on the trails that cover several of the Eastern sims. I have an AKK horse and now have a great place to take him on walks.

 

They have monthly horse events, like cross-country, fox hunt and chariot racing. 

   Having made videos in Second Life, I couldn't help but notice, everywhere I went, the beautiful scenery all looked like perfect backgrounds for new SL videos. I loved the various music streams that are encountered. They were soothing and energizing. The few highlight given above are less than half of the list of noteworthy places. By all means, Antiquity goes on my list of "Must See" locations.

We bid ye to have a Great Adventure in Antiquity,

Sha

Titanic – The Night To Remember

By Deaflegacy

I have been wanting to write an article about the Titanic for a long time now. When editor Bixyl Shuftan gave me a chance to write about the majestic ship, I jumped at the chance. I visited the location of the ship rebuilt in Second Life, as well as a museum exhibit that recently opened. Each time was a remarkable visit.

* * * * *

“Teleporting into the sim, one arrives at the dock. It's a few steps to the entry ramp to the ship, the start having an overhead sign "RMS Titanic, White Star Line." Besides walking up at one's own pace, there's a couple's walk animation that a pair can use to go about the ship.

Heading to the right once you get up to the ship, one can go to the bow and with a friend re-create the "I'm King of the World" Scene. Or one can go about exploring the ship, whether on the outside, inside and both. There is much attention to detail, notably in places like the stairways with crystal chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. Going about, some of the cabins seen also had fine details. The sim's website stated here, "you can be a passenger and experience the romance and luxury of a bygone era." That the ship succeeds in doing. There is also a Titanic Museum, "A Second Night to Remember," on the port side of the top deck.

Second Life being what it is, there have been some compromises made. To help with expenses, a shopping area has been set up where one can get a selection of dresses and jewelry, and some tuxedos. The very bottom of the ship is the engine room. But only on rare occasions can one see the engine up and running. Most of the time it's packed up to cut down on lag. There is also a pool, and a wedding area. At the bow of the ship is the ballroom, where live musicians perform for dace parties. One can dance in the ballroom, or on the deck outside.

The ship is owned by Mara Menges, who bought the ship from it's builder, with Guus Menges as co-owner. The dress code is formal, with the crew reserving the right to bump off the ship those who won't answer requests to change. Animal avatars (also known as ferals to some) are also banned. This does not mean nonhuman characters are always disallowed as neko and furry avatars dressed in formal wear are welcome.

The Second Life Titanic was built by Reborn Wingtips, or Morphius Barbose as he was known at the time of it's construction. A sign on the bridge stated the ship is 254 meters long, slightly shorter than the real-life Titanic's length of 269 meters, and 60 meters high. It consists of roughly 4,500 prims, not counting the furniture.

Reborn stated on the sign, "Titanic has been a build of passion. I studied it in school years ago. Claude Kirshner made land available free of charge for me to build it here in Second Life. Obviously I couldn't create the ship to detail as prims don't allow it. Plus Second Life has tier fees, etc."

"It has taken six months (for the ship) to reach its current condition. This is the fourth or fifth build. I needed to take a few steps back to make one step forward a few times. Later on as the Titanic was nearing completion, the build was discovered by Kallisto Estates, who have generously jumped at the opportunity to provide a sim to sheer Titanic with the world."

" … I think I was in college when we did a big study on the Titanic in Social Studies, covering every aspect, even some things that weren't commonly known. There was a rumor that there was actually a cursed mummy onboard. Even now if I try to imagine being on the ship that night, I get a chill, the humble men, the fear, the desperation. What was God's involvement that night? That's my biggest question."

At the time the article was written, "this particular week marks the 100 year anniversary of the sinking of the real Titanic. Over 2100 visitors came to the ship on April 12th, which was also the day of the "Last 1st Class Dinner on the Titanic" event for European visitors. On Friday the 13th, there will be another such event for American hours at 5:30PM (reservations required). Saturday the 14th has the Steerage Party, from Noon to 2:30PM SL time, 2:30 PM being when the ship hit the iceberg (reservations required)."

Bixyl Shuftan went on to explain that on Sunday at 1PM April 15 would be the memorial service. This event was planned to take place outside the ship at the Titanic memorial on the sim's land, and was is open to all with no dress or avatar code on this occasion. In an article on the Metaverse Tribune, Mara was described as creating the memorial after having met the great-grandson of Captain James Smith, "she discovered that many of those who were lingering at the memorial were relatives of witnesses or survivors."

“There is also a souvenir shop where one can get a memento of their visit to the ship. Considering the history of the ship and how its memory is kept alive by numerous books and movies, such as the one by James Cameron a few years ago, this is one build that is unlikely to be forgotten, and a place one may end up returning to again and again."

The entry point to the Titanic sim is at Titanic (128, 191, 134). For more information, one can check the Second Life Titanic's website at http://www.titanicsecondlife.nl/.

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Since the 2012 article was written, there have been a few changes. The shopping area at the docks is larger than it was then, more clothes and a few cars. But it remains a location where parties can be found in the back of the ship at scheduled times in the day. 

While I was not able to find anyone to talk to, searching around I did find out about an art museum exhibit in "The Vordun" art gallery called "A Night to Remember." Those entering are handed a HUD that has the name of one of the passengers. Mine was second class passenger Mrs. Irene Corbett. The exhibit described the construction of the ship and the excitement among the public whom saw the ship as an engineering marvel. It would show the contrast of the conditions of those of those traveling first class and those third, "The Edwardian culture was one of great class separation, and nowhere was it more apparent than the Titanic." And it would describe the danger of ice at the time, show pictures of the wreckage discovered in 1985.

At the end, the exhibit would reveal the fate of the passengers and crew. There, I would find that the name on my HUD, Mrs. Corbett, was among those whom had not survived, among those who met their end in the icy sea, deceased at age 30.

The exhibit is at Fancy Decor sim (78/98/32). This is a new exhibit, and it should be around until October. Emery Milneaux is the curator of the building, in real life a freelance artist specializing in graphic design.

Bixyl did very well in writing about the Titanic in his 2012 article. I do not wish to draw attention away from the ship. It is the last thing I'd do. What I want to do is remember. Titanic and that fateful night when it sank, taking over 1,000 passengers with it. All because there were not enough lifeboats. It was a terrible night back then, and still is today, regardless of how much has happened in the past century. To this day, the ship has proven to be unforgettable. We will always remember the ship.

Titanic (128/191/34)

Reference: “The Titanic in Second Life” (April 2012)

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