June 2011 – Page 2 – Ciaran Laval

June 24, 2011June 24, 2011

The Emperor’s New Spaceship

Last night, your dashing hero (that’s me) battled lag, viewer updates, being unable to move safely and risky teleports to catch a glimpse of Rodvik at Second Life’s eighth birthday celebrations (AKA SL8B). Rodvik didn’t make a speech, he seemed to have saved his speaking for a Massively article (well worth a read). He also didn’t sing, despite Inara Pey’s encouragement. I did ask Inara to encourage Rodvik to get on stage and break out in a chorus of “Alex Mcleish’s Claret and Blue Army” but she refused on the grounds of bad taste… umm some Villa fans would agree.

However whilst Fedora Jones was singing, Rodvik arrived, to much chatter, only for me to ask Inara where the bloody hell he was because I’d only came to see his toga! However I was to be thwarted, as I discovered that amongst mutterings about nanobots and taking over the galaxy, Rodvik had turned into a Spaceship!

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June 22, 2011June 22, 2011

Looking a Gift Horse In The Mouth

As I am not certified for a SL press pass, I look to the SL press for news and information on things happening at Linden Lab, I used to look at the main blog but that seems to be in sore need of some care and attention. The forums aren’t so bad, and the mesh forum for those interested in mesh, is interesting viewing, even for those who don’t like mesh, it’s interesting viewing! However for general information I keep an eye on the SL press and SL Press member extraordinaire; Inara Pey, has an interesting post regarding SL8B, or more to the point about the lack of Linden involvement at SL8B. I agree with the main thrust of Inara’s post, to quote in part:

“SL8B represents a marvellous opportunity for LL to reach out to the user community and communicate with us – so where are they?

I’m not talking about glad-handing or getting involved in in-depth discussions about who, what, when, where, how and why; rather I’m talking about getting up on stage and giving an overview of what is coming down the road, thing like:

What is happening with Viewer 2?
What is Mesh going to look like? (Given many haven’t see the results from the Beta Grid)
What is happening around service improvements like Group chat and server-side lag issues?”

The SL8B Blog itself is on its own blog, containing far more information about happenings than Linden Lab’s own official blog, have they outsourced the birthday event or something? I know Linden Lab officially take a hands off approach to SLCC.

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June 20, 2011June 20, 2011

Qie Niangao’s Train Display At SL8B

When I was a lad, like many a lad, I dreamt of one day being a train driver and although that dream has long since faded, there’s this magical theme with trains still, which makes it a perfect subject for this year’s SL8B. The bonus here being that Qie Niangao has made a display that not only captures that magic, it also allows you to simulate riding a train inworld as well as promoting the Virtual Railway Consortium and Second Life Rail Road (SLRR).

The display starts with a simulation of a toy train which you ride.

Then before you know it you’re inside a train carriage, with sound and shaking.

I caught up with Qie Niangao to ask him more about the display, the Virtual Railway Consortium and the SLRR.

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June 20, 2011June 20, 2011

Cheerio Courtney

In between Blondin and Amanda leaving Linden Lab, another community based Linden left, Courtney. There have been rumours that Courtney and Amanda might have left over the SL8B logo issue, although in the case of Courtney this seems unlikely as the word on the street is that Courtney left on June 10th after handing in her two week’s notice.

People move on, it’s a fact of life and like Blondin and Amanda, one would hope that Courtney has moved on to better things. Courtney I didn’t know as well as Blondin or Amanda (whom I didn’t really know either), I don’t recall Courtney holding any office hours. However what I do recall about Courtney is that she was enthusiastic, positive in the face of negativity and seemed to enjoy herself.

I can recall at the Valentine’s event that I gave up trying to get a kiss with Courtney, who was sporting a pair of wings, because there was a bloody great queue to get on the pose ball with her.

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June 18, 2011June 18, 2011

Alex Through The Looking Glass

Alexia Cournoyer's SL8B build

Alexia Cournoyer, owner of The Art Thing has an interesting exhibit ready for SL8B which involves magic, scripting, building and art! I’ve been speaking to Alexia through the time she has been bringing this exhibit alive, as well as talking to Alexia’s scripting assistant, Sorvats Kappa of SGK scripts. The theme of SL8B is the magic of Second Life, so my questions during the interview did touch upon that magic and whether it exists. Now being a Drow Wizard I don’t need any excuse to dress up, but for this interview with the charming Alexia I decided human form and Wizard garb was the best bet, so I hid my face under my wizard’s hat and got on with the interview.

Alexia’s theme is quite clearly inspired by Alice Through The Looking Glass, hence the name! However the garden also been populated by some of Alexia’s other works of art, so when you do go visit take your time to look around the entire build.

I started with the basics by asking Alexia how long she had been a Second Life resident: “1751 days – 6 weeks short of 5 years, and I still remember my first day like it was yesterday” replied Alexia, did that first day feel magic I asked: “No but it was setting the scene, I’ve only glimpsed the magic a couple of times down those years but it’s mighty powerful stuff, I see the magic as being behind a door and very rarely will you find the right key to open it, but when you do, it’s breathtaking.”

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