Welcome to 2009

I'm going to try to do better. Really!

I am planning on creating a short series of tutorials to give insight into the lighting tools in SL, that will help you make better pictures. I will publish them here.

Here is a picture I took, using only Second Life lighting. This is a raw picture with no post-processing at all.

Over the next week or two, I will publish tutorials to introduce you to various lighting techniques using light sources, the SL sun, and the environment editor. Hopefully, it will help you create the best possible pictures.

Thirty Five!

Thirty Five artists from the Avatrait Gallery have combined their efforts for a phenomenal show. The show opens Saturday, November 29th at 1PM SLT. Location is the new sim: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Evoluon/95/116/141

Artists include:
* Ariel Brearly
* Barrowness Beaumont
* Betty Tracer
* Cienga Soon
* CodeBastard Redgrave
* Corbett Howard
* Daequix Scarborough
* Damon Varriale
* Devaughn Aabye
* Flory Watanabe
* Gabrielle Sinatra
* Galatea Zabelin
* Heroine Nouvel
* Hio Taringa
* iam yumako
* Jordan Giant
* Joshua Morane
* Keiko Morigi
* Kimberly Mirabeau
* Kimico Jewell
* Lano Ling
* Looker Lumet
* Mecca Merosi
* Monroe Snook
* Pilgrim Miles
* Rob Danton
* Ryker Beck
* Sebcaen Ulysses
* Shoshana Epsilon
* Stephen Venkman
* Tamsin Congrejo
* Turlututu Chaffe
* Zinc Karas

I'm in a MALL!

For Official Release!

What happens when a big group of SL designers decide to take matters into their own hands and build a mall just for them?

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Thistledown/25/89/23

Secluded Cove Boardwalk is a quaint seaside boardwalk on the Thistledown sim featuring a unique build of mixed shops. Each shop is filled with a SL designer's goods, including:

Awesome Designs
Tea Lane
She's So Unusual Shoes
Dark Mouse Jewelry
Haven
IC Skins
Light Motif
Calla Hair
Genesis
Ingenue
Image Reflections
Flirt
OPIUM Everyday
Second Wave Apparel
Eolande's
Tea Monster
EarthStones
enkythings
Light Motif (<- MINE!)

And many others!

Our HUGE Grand Opening begins Nov 1st at noon SLT with a ribbon cutting ceremony.
The Public is encouraged and definitely invited to come see the build, the stores, the ambience and enjoy a fun day at the Boardwalk.

These are the official logo, an inworld picture of the boardwalk and grand opening ads. Each ad features different designers.

Thank you,
Secluded Cove Boardwalk

Rowan Carroll, Boardwalk official

Fixed but not fixed

Once again LL states their problems for the day are fixed, but 5 minutes later, people still can't log in. *sigh*

'Nuff said.

What does "broadly offensive" mean?

Ok, imagine this ....

You are an artist.
You are creating a photo study of the zodiac.
One of the pictures is "virgo". (Gasp!! A virgin!)
How are you going to depict a virgin? Probably a young girl? The picture was deemed "broadly offensive by LindenLab. (If you are easily offended, you should not visit the link.) Picture is here.

Now, I will admit that I don't find the picture offensive. I know the model -- she is well over the age of consent. Furthermore, there is nothing pornographic about it.

I also know that the picture was at SL5B. The site had thousands of visitors. No one complained about Loki's art. It was at the Cannery for some period of time. ONE person complained. LL had a look at it and told Loki to remove it or risk being suspended. Given all the visitors, and ONE person complained, how is this "broadly offensive"? We're talking about one tenth of one percent, perhaps! DAMMIT, Linden Lab, THIS IS ART!

More details can be found on Loki's blog: http://loki-popinjay.blogspot.com

On a personal front...

On a personal front, I find myself suddenly unemployed. I was the head of R&D for a 200-person company. The R&D was software development, primarily. If you know of anyone who could use my talents, please let me know.

At least I'll have more time to work on SL5B for the next two weeks.

Fringe Festival Information

In the wake of all the changes and uncertainty with the SL Birthday celebration sponsored by Linden Lab, several of us have decided to create a new group to run the Resident birthday celebrations next year. Instead of calling it a "fringe festival" it will be the Resident Birthday Bash.

Although our goal for 2009 is to create our own event to celebrate Second Life's birthday, we want this to become a cross-metaverse event, as well. Furthermore, if we have the resources, we would like to make this a venue to run Resident events throughout the year. With that in mind, we have created a parent organization: Virtual Resident Events.

Look for kiosks to join the Resident Birthday Bash group. They will be scattered around SL5B, as permitted. The kiosks will allow you to register your interest (it's not an SL group, so it won't take an additional slot), to get information, to offer to volunteer, or to donate. (We'll get back to you on donations, since we aren't allowed to accept lindens on SL5B property.) Don't forget, you can donate lindens, but you can also donate the use of your sim(s). In kiosks that are not on the official SL5B list, the kiosks themselves will accept lindens for donations.

The current organizers of this particular event are (in alphabetical order) Pyrii Akula, Shoshana Epsilon, SignpostMarv Martin, and Will Web. Welcome to the Resident Birthday Bash.