In Extra Extra, our Gemma Cleanslate describes an encounter with one of the merfolk she and DJ Quark had. Did she put it behind her, or give in to the siren song of fashionable aquatic avatars?To read the story, go to Extra Extra.
Showing posts with label avatars. Show all posts
Showing posts with label avatars. Show all posts
Gemma and the Mermaid
In Extra Extra, our Gemma Cleanslate describes an encounter with one of the merfolk she and DJ Quark had. Did she put it behind her, or give in to the siren song of fashionable aquatic avatars?To read the story, go to Extra Extra.
Linden Labs Purchases “Avatars Unite” Social Network Site “For MMOs”
On January 29, M Linden announced on the Second Life blog that Linden Lab had acquired “Avatars United.” They were now the owners of the “web-based community site designed especially for avatars” through buying the company that runs it, “Enemy Unknown” of Sweden, “We’re proud to announce that they are now part of Linden Lab.”M Linden explains that “Our goal is to extend and support the great work done by so many on their SL-related blogs and Web sites, because they are a powerful network in themselves. We want to give you more tools, feeds, and connection points to build even more richness and depth into the experience of SL.” Buying up Avatars United, M Linden says, “will soon start to give Residents new and better ways to connect with each other and with the rest of the world.”
Of those with no connection to Second Life already on Avatars United, M Linden says they will continue to be supported, “we're committed to keeping this ideal of a place where avatars from multiple worlds and games can come together.” They also promise to respect the privacy of those “who keep a strict separation between SL and the rest of the Web.”
Taking a look at the website, one can put up pictures, install applications, or give gifts to others using Avatars United own virtual currency, as well as posting updates. There do seem to be a few minor bugs, such as the "Feed Reader" application not being able to work quite right.It is noteable that M Linden’s blog post states that among Linden Lab’s future plans is “Optional registration and sign-in using credentials from other properties (Facebook, Yahoo!, etc.)” For those who have been asking for integrating Second Life with popular social networks, a welcome move. Looking at the comments to the blog post, one called it, “the first thing since Havok4 that I’ve seen done right.”
One question is how Avatars United will compete with other social networks that already have large numbers of Second Life residents, such as Flickr, MySpace, and SLprofiles. Time will tell how Linden Labs’ move into social networking turns out.
For the complete blog post and comments, Click Here.
“Avatar” in Second Life
James Cameron’s science-fiction movie “Avatar” has taken cinema by storm, setting box office records in the United States and elsewhere across the world. Inevitably, people began making avatars of the alien “Na’vi.” Whenever there’s something big in science-fiction, people are drawn to begin with to recreate it here. With “Avatar,” there was a certain irony to it. There’s the movie’s name, making the “Na’vi” in Second Life “Avatar” avatars. And just like the humans in the movie create “avatars” to go about in an alien world in an imersive and personal manner, people have been doing so with “Na’vi” avatars here in the Metaverse. And of course Second Life avatars tend to be much taller than normal human anyway.Many of us have already seen the familiar blue, thin humanoids showing up at clubs or other places. As it turns out, there have been efforts at more, trying to recreate the world of Pandora in Second Life.
Probably the most detailed of these Pandora areas is the Pandora Magic sim in Second Life. The entry area has a few freebies nearby, notably the rp combat system. Portals can take you to shops, or straight down to the planet. And given a little time to load, it is a most beautiful sight. Trees standing tall in the air, luminous plants and creatures providing colorful light - notably when seen at nighttime, flowers that make “crunch” noises and temporarily vanish when you walk near.And of course there were a few Na’vi avatars about, walking here and there. There was also a couple embracing in a leaf boat moving slowly along a river. There were other cuddle poses throughout the sim, for any couples going here for a stroll in the woods. Supposedly some people after seeing the movie are depressed about not being able to visit Pandora for real (Click Here for CNN article). Logging into Second Life and going to Pandora Magic would certainly be one way to ease these down feelings.
Pandora Magic and its sister sim Pandora Hellsgate are the location for a German Na’vi roleplay group, though they don’t seem to have a problem with visitors going about the forest. The language at the starting area was German, though some notecards had English translations. Most of the chat heard was not in English, but there was one who did, commenting, “I think the reason Second Life has gone AVATAR crazy is because the movie related to us in a big way. A lot of us log in to a new body and a new world with unimaginable possibilities. SL is the outdated version. (laughter).”Going into Search and typing Na’vi or Pandora, one will find other sims. Checking some of them, none led to a forest as lush as Pandora Magic’s, but there were some other roleplay groups. Angels Sanctuary had a Na’vi forest, which while not as detailed as Pandora Magic was better than most other "Avatar" places I saw. Two places had the same design space station, with a free human Hardsuit and 1L hovercraft, though except for demos the Na'vi avatars were a little costly. And some areas, while a nice place to stroll, seemed to have nothing to do with the “Avatar” movie, or were just a place to sell expensive avatars and props.
So if you’re someone who’s seen the movie and wants to relive it, or just want to see a little of what all the hype is about, Second Life offers places and things for you.
“kîyevåme, eana-txim.”
“(See you soon, blue-butt).”
Bixyl Shuftan
Second Life “Avatar” Advertising Campaign?
It seems that not only has Linden Lab started doing some advertising for Second Life, but they’ve decided to take advantage of the hype over the highly popular movie “Avatar.”
Seen here and here on Flickr (special thanks to inacentaurdump and gogolita), the advertisement banners show a thinly-dressed blue lady with blue skin in front of a wilderness area with a moon rising in the sky behind her. The caption reads “Free AVATAR.”
The woman is not technically a Na’vi avatar. She isn’t wearing tribal clothes, and has no pointed ears or catlike features. But the connection to the movie is obvious.
Peter Linden has been asked about the ad, and had the following response:
"While we’re certainly fans of the Avatar film and of blue avatars (not to mention pink, green, yellow, and robot avatars), we do not want to cause any confusion between Second Life and the movie with this advertisement, and we plan to change it to avoid any misunderstanding."
The advertising campaign does seem to have made the desired results. After slowly declining for much of 2009, their “user concurrency” numbers suddenly rose. Tateru Nino of the “Dwell on it” blog had her own comment about Linden Lab’s ad campaign in comic form. The Lindens will probably want to take their time before removing the ad.
Linden Lab isn't alone in taking advantage of the "Avatar" bandwagon. Social network IMVU has also come out with their own banner, featuring a blue woman with the caption "Get Your AVATAR."
It is notable that a number of people have created various Na’vi avs up for sale in Second Life. While there are a few cheap and demo ones, most cost hundreds, even thousands of Lindens. Some Pandora roleplay areas have sprung up in some sims as well.
Bixyl Shuftan
Sources: New World Notes , Massively
Seen here and here on Flickr (special thanks to inacentaurdump and gogolita), the advertisement banners show a thinly-dressed blue lady with blue skin in front of a wilderness area with a moon rising in the sky behind her. The caption reads “Free AVATAR.”
The woman is not technically a Na’vi avatar. She isn’t wearing tribal clothes, and has no pointed ears or catlike features. But the connection to the movie is obvious.Peter Linden has been asked about the ad, and had the following response:
"While we’re certainly fans of the Avatar film and of blue avatars (not to mention pink, green, yellow, and robot avatars), we do not want to cause any confusion between Second Life and the movie with this advertisement, and we plan to change it to avoid any misunderstanding."
The advertising campaign does seem to have made the desired results. After slowly declining for much of 2009, their “user concurrency” numbers suddenly rose. Tateru Nino of the “Dwell on it” blog had her own comment about Linden Lab’s ad campaign in comic form. The Lindens will probably want to take their time before removing the ad.
Linden Lab isn't alone in taking advantage of the "Avatar" bandwagon. Social network IMVU has also come out with their own banner, featuring a blue woman with the caption "Get Your AVATAR."
It is notable that a number of people have created various Na’vi avs up for sale in Second Life. While there are a few cheap and demo ones, most cost hundreds, even thousands of Lindens. Some Pandora roleplay areas have sprung up in some sims as well.
Bixyl Shuftan
Sources: New World Notes , Massively
The “Wingless” Free Avatars
When I first came to Second Life, alongside the newbie human avatars as choices for one’s first look was one nonhuman, the old ringtail avatar Luskwood donated to Linden Labs. I did find a few free furred avatars in my newcomer period, but aside from the purple kitty avie, nothing seemed an improvement until I had the cash to buy a better avatar.
Later, I heard the newbie ringtail had been done away with as an option. So where could a newcomer go to get a furred av, particularly one with a quality look?
It was about that time I found out an answer: the Wingless Avatar package, a collection of quality avatars once sold, now free for the asking.
The Wingless Avatar package is a gift to the residents of SL from the avatar designer Wingless Emoto. He once sold his avatars through a retailer, but a dispute occurred and the business partnership dissolved. Unfortunately for Wingless, the contract signed stated he could not sell the avatars in the deals with him through anyone else. So Wingless decided to make them freely available, people able to grab a package at locations, or transferable from person to person. Some carry them not to wear, but to pass to newcomers to SL or those around for a while curious about furry avatars or wanting a different look. Some locations have individual Wingless avatars up for sale for 10L. But this is against the wishes of Wingless Emoto.
And the package has an impressive variety of avatars. There are many colors, red, white, blue, pink, rainbow, etc., of both wolf and fox-type avatars, both being popular furred av varieties in SL. There are also a few hyena and horse avs in the package. Rezzing the box on a sandbox and unpacking it, one gets a folder filled with each avatar, boxed. One has to rezz and unpack each avatar.
Each of the avatars come in both male and female skins. Modifiable, the avies offer a choice of either plantigrade (walk on the heel like a normal human foot) or digitgrade (walk on the ball on the foot) lower legs. The latter looks more exotic, though sometimes one can see the shadow of the invisiprims, and long pants worn end up looking cut off with a ring of fabric around the ankles. There is an option for small or large hands/paws. For the wolf avs, A Customization HUD gives you the option of showing canine teeth or not, and choosing the color of eyes, paws, claws, and the inside of ears. Another HUD, “Control,” allows for options for twitching ears, wagging tails, blinking eyes, and blushing.
It should be noted one doesn’t *have* to wear the whole avatar. I have seen some kitsune-style nekos who told me their ears and tails came from Wingless avatar parts. As there are several styles of hair that come with the av, this means a few free hairpieces. A good place to look if you need one in a hurry upon getting a av with no hair.
The Wingless Avatar Package can be found in a number of locations, from freebie shops to avatar stores, though in any place in SL with some furs among the residents, it shouldn’t take long to find someone who has it and get a copy.
A truly great package of free avatars.
{edit} A package of Wingless avatars can be found near the front door of Dana Vanmoer's store in Caprona (93, 92, 31). {/edit}
Bixyl Shuftan
Later, I heard the newbie ringtail had been done away with as an option. So where could a newcomer go to get a furred av, particularly one with a quality look?It was about that time I found out an answer: the Wingless Avatar package, a collection of quality avatars once sold, now free for the asking.
The Wingless Avatar package is a gift to the residents of SL from the avatar designer Wingless Emoto. He once sold his avatars through a retailer, but a dispute occurred and the business partnership dissolved. Unfortunately for Wingless, the contract signed stated he could not sell the avatars in the deals with him through anyone else. So Wingless decided to make them freely available, people able to grab a package at locations, or transferable from person to person. Some carry them not to wear, but to pass to newcomers to SL or those around for a while curious about furry avatars or wanting a different look. Some locations have individual Wingless avatars up for sale for 10L. But this is against the wishes of Wingless Emoto.
And the package has an impressive variety of avatars. There are many colors, red, white, blue, pink, rainbow, etc., of both wolf and fox-type avatars, both being popular furred av varieties in SL. There are also a few hyena and horse avs in the package. Rezzing the box on a sandbox and unpacking it, one gets a folder filled with each avatar, boxed. One has to rezz and unpack each avatar.Each of the avatars come in both male and female skins. Modifiable, the avies offer a choice of either plantigrade (walk on the heel like a normal human foot) or digitgrade (walk on the ball on the foot) lower legs. The latter looks more exotic, though sometimes one can see the shadow of the invisiprims, and long pants worn end up looking cut off with a ring of fabric around the ankles. There is an option for small or large hands/paws. For the wolf avs, A Customization HUD gives you the option of showing canine teeth or not, and choosing the color of eyes, paws, claws, and the inside of ears. Another HUD, “Control,” allows for options for twitching ears, wagging tails, blinking eyes, and blushing.
It should be noted one doesn’t *have* to wear the whole avatar. I have seen some kitsune-style nekos who told me their ears and tails came from Wingless avatar parts. As there are several styles of hair that come with the av, this means a few free hairpieces. A good place to look if you need one in a hurry upon getting a av with no hair.The Wingless Avatar Package can be found in a number of locations, from freebie shops to avatar stores, though in any place in SL with some furs among the residents, it shouldn’t take long to find someone who has it and get a copy.
A truly great package of free avatars.
{edit} A package of Wingless avatars can be found near the front door of Dana Vanmoer's store in Caprona (93, 92, 31). {/edit}
Bixyl Shuftan
Relay for Life Avatars
Planning on giving some Lindens to Relay for Life, but you’ve been thinking of getting a new avie? Well, why not do both? Some builders have put items up for sale for charity, with all proceeds going to Relay for Life. Among these are some avatars made by various creators.Click HERE to continue.
Interview with Lomgrem Smalls
If you’ve ever been at Luskwood (or the Cutlass Club), you may have noticed a resident so small, it’s hard to find him without looking for his nametag. This would be Lomgren Smalls. Having long been known for his six-inch high avie, and to a lesser extend occasional custom work on micro (and mega) avatars, he has made a little real-life news recently. I recently had a chance to talk with him.
Bixyl Shuftan: Where did you first hear about Second Life?
Lomgren Smalls: Well, I had heard about it several years ago, back when I hadn't even thought of joining. Probably a good three, four years, maybe more than that. I think it was probably during 2006, because that was my first year being at the El Goonish Shive forums at Keenspot (El Goonish Shive is an online comic).
Bixyl Shuftan: So what got you to take a look?
Lomgren Smalls: Well, I joined the Trillian Astra alpha back in early Jan 2007, or maybe Dec 2006. Trillian Astra is ... an IM client aggregator of sorts. It allows you to connect to multiple IM Networks. AIM, ICQ, Yahoo, etc. One of the first people to add me as a friend on the Astra network was a furry on here already, and finally convinced me to go ahead and try Second Life.
Thus, my born date is late January 2007 ... but when I tried it ... it was so laggy that my avatar never loaded. So I gave up on it again. I finally decided to try again on March 3rd, 2007. Made it in, things loaded, and from there, met new friends, etc, and haven't left.
Bixyl Shuftan: Sounds like things went well once you started.
Lomgren Smalls: *chuckles* As well as can be expected with SL.
Bixyl Shuftan: When did you first start building, and how did it lead to your work on avatars?
Lomgren Smalls: Heh. I started building and learning right from the start. My very first stop was Luskwood, on the recommendation of my friend from Trillian Astra. After a couple of days, I visited the Ivory Tower of Prims to learn about building. I remember thinking at the time that it'd be cool if I could build, but I never expected to be able to do this well at the time. I was building silly, simple little things at first for practice, like tables, chairs, the usual. And then I got it into my head to build something steampunk. So, me being the crazy kitty I am, I started on it as a major project, building in Perry. This actually took only a week for me to do, even back then ... and my first actual month in SL hadn't quite finished yet. Here's a pic, just check the date
Bixyl Shuftan: Thanks.
Lomgren Smalls: The picture was after it had been refined a bit and I was trying to package it for possible sale. But the last part of the original that I have was built and finished on Apr 1, 2007. I have tweaked it since then.
Bixyl Shuftan: Looks good
Lomgren Smalls: So, I was building from the very beginning. It took me about 6 months in SL to learn enough to make the original base of this av. But the main thing about me and building ... I love a challenge, and seeing just what I can do.
Bixyl Shuftan: Yes, looking at you, it's obvious someone did quite a bit of work on how small one could make an avatar. How did this begin?
Lomgren Smalls: Well, back to the El Goonish Shive forums, it was there that my online persona became a 6 inch tall male anthrofeline, if you want to describe it formally. So, naturally, one of the things I wanted to try and do in SL was make myself, well, myself. One of the first things I got was the original NorthStar micro, with help, as a kit. It was actually twice my current height, about a foot tall. But I customized it and eventually learned enough to make it move. I then took what I learned with that and made my own. Including my own animation and such to get it to work.
Bixyl Shuftan: How long did it take before it was fully ready?
Lomgren Smalls: Well, probably 20 hours at least, but I keep tweaking it and such. That was figuring out the scripting and figuring out how to shrink the head and tail down properly. The rest was me using the NorthStar micro as a pattern and trying to figure out how to improve upon it.
Bixyl Shuftan: I take it your micro was a hit with everyone on first sight?
Lomgren Smalls whispers: Hehe. A lot of people liked it, and I still get questions on "where did you get that?" and "how did you get so small?"
Bixyl Shuftan: *chuckles* What have been some of the more unusual reactions to your micro?
Lomgren Smalls: *chuckles* Well, they've ranged from the innocent to the adult... so... I've seen a lot
Bixyl Shuftan: Those who've read the paper for a while will recall you've also done work on macro avatars, super-large ones.
Lomgren Smalls: Yes, I've done some work on megas before, mainly to see just what was possible. Most people were saying even a 30 meter av was impossible. But, me being a builder, I knew what link limits and root prims were, and how they affected things. So, I was able to design and piece together a statue-style mega avatar that was ... a lot larger than anyone expected was possible.
Bixyl Shuftan: If I recall corectly, you built a mega-vixen about 224 feet tall
Lomgren Smalls: It was actually for Halloween, because I was becoming known as a micro ... and I built the vixen for a friend, and I made a mega version of my own regular av, around 65.5 and 68 meters tall, respectively.
Bixyl Shuftan: Did the work take about as long as your micro?
Lomgren Smalls: The vixen was built over the weekend before Halloween 2007, quite literally. My avatar was finished the Monday before. I recall Halloween being on that Tuesday
Bixyl Shuftan: Yes, I remember seeing her a few days later at Luskwood. Needless to say, she left quite an impression. ;-)
Lomgren Smalls: *grins*
Bixyl Shuftan: How easy is it to move in the megas?
Lomgren Smalls: Not easy. You literally have to fly them around. And hover, making them appear to stand on the ground.
Bixyl Shuftan: Do they lag a lot?
Lomgren Smalls: Not really. They are made of normal prims.
Bixyl Shuftan: So what other work have you done since then?
Lomgren Smalls: I do all sorts of work. I build stuff other than avatars. Everything here on my property, for instance. I've also built stuff for friends, castles ... let's see. I've done commissions, for micros, other avs... one of them was for The Phantom Creeps robot used by Rob Zombie in a few of his videos. So, just in general, a little of everything. Most recently, I've been finishing up some work on a couple of micros that I can actually sell, Relay for Life.
Bixyl Shuftan: What can you tell the readers about those?
Lomgren Smalls: Well, they're going to be based a lot on my current outfit ... because this is my "Relay for Life" outfit. The main difference is that the head actually is built by me, instead of being a shrunken version of the Luskwood Cat. I also have a female version of the av in progress, just needs a little more work.
Bixyl Shuftan: I've seen another micro done by you. About how many macros and micros have you made for others?
Lomgren Smalls: Macros ... let's see ... maybe 2-3, if that. Micros ... closer to 8-10.
Bixyl Shuftan: Changing the subject, you recenly got a real life job through SL. How did you hear about it?
Lomgren Smalls: Well, I had been looking for a better job for a while. And my friends here in SL knew about it. So, through a couple of the online Second Life papers, they learned of an on-SL job fair being held by the state of Missouri. And they told me about it
Bixyl Shuftan: Yes, and your getting the job made a little real-life news as well. The articles stated your micro made quite an impression.
Lomgren Smalls: Yes. I know people probably think I'm crazy for going to a job fair as a micro, but to me, it makes sense. 1: it's who I am. 2: It shows what I am capable of doing. Of course, I was dressed for the occasion, wearing a dark gray tux.
Bixyl Shuftan: Have your new fellow employees spoken much about Second Life, considering how you got the job?
Lomgren Smalls: A bit, yes, as I've talked to them about it. They're happy with me working there, I'm happy working there, my boss/etc are happy with me.
Bixyl Shuftan: Great ... As I recall, you were also on local TV news.
Lomgren Smalls: Yes, a couple of times. Never expected to be on TV at all. *chuckles*
Bixyl Shuftan: Besides the RFL avatars, any future plans that you'd like to share?
Lomgren Smalls: Well, I plan on making non-RFL versions (of the avatar), and hopefully making a version 2.0 of the av someday in the future.
To those who haven’t come across them, articles about Lomgren getting his state government IT job can be found HERE , HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE (short story with video), and HERE (a longer video with Lom in the second half). Lomgren mentioned there were others, but they were mostly taken from the articles above.
Bixyl Shuftan
Bixyl Shuftan: Where did you first hear about Second Life?Lomgren Smalls: Well, I had heard about it several years ago, back when I hadn't even thought of joining. Probably a good three, four years, maybe more than that. I think it was probably during 2006, because that was my first year being at the El Goonish Shive forums at Keenspot (El Goonish Shive is an online comic).
Bixyl Shuftan: So what got you to take a look?
Lomgren Smalls: Well, I joined the Trillian Astra alpha back in early Jan 2007, or maybe Dec 2006. Trillian Astra is ... an IM client aggregator of sorts. It allows you to connect to multiple IM Networks. AIM, ICQ, Yahoo, etc. One of the first people to add me as a friend on the Astra network was a furry on here already, and finally convinced me to go ahead and try Second Life.
Thus, my born date is late January 2007 ... but when I tried it ... it was so laggy that my avatar never loaded. So I gave up on it again. I finally decided to try again on March 3rd, 2007. Made it in, things loaded, and from there, met new friends, etc, and haven't left.
Bixyl Shuftan: Sounds like things went well once you started.
Lomgren Smalls: *chuckles* As well as can be expected with SL.
Bixyl Shuftan: When did you first start building, and how did it lead to your work on avatars?
Lomgren Smalls: Heh. I started building and learning right from the start. My very first stop was Luskwood, on the recommendation of my friend from Trillian Astra. After a couple of days, I visited the Ivory Tower of Prims to learn about building. I remember thinking at the time that it'd be cool if I could build, but I never expected to be able to do this well at the time. I was building silly, simple little things at first for practice, like tables, chairs, the usual. And then I got it into my head to build something steampunk. So, me being the crazy kitty I am, I started on it as a major project, building in Perry. This actually took only a week for me to do, even back then ... and my first actual month in SL hadn't quite finished yet. Here's a pic, just check the date
Bixyl Shuftan: Thanks.
Lomgren Smalls: The picture was after it had been refined a bit and I was trying to package it for possible sale. But the last part of the original that I have was built and finished on Apr 1, 2007. I have tweaked it since then.
Bixyl Shuftan: Looks good
Lomgren Smalls: So, I was building from the very beginning. It took me about 6 months in SL to learn enough to make the original base of this av. But the main thing about me and building ... I love a challenge, and seeing just what I can do.
Bixyl Shuftan: Yes, looking at you, it's obvious someone did quite a bit of work on how small one could make an avatar. How did this begin?Lomgren Smalls: Well, back to the El Goonish Shive forums, it was there that my online persona became a 6 inch tall male anthrofeline, if you want to describe it formally. So, naturally, one of the things I wanted to try and do in SL was make myself, well, myself. One of the first things I got was the original NorthStar micro, with help, as a kit. It was actually twice my current height, about a foot tall. But I customized it and eventually learned enough to make it move. I then took what I learned with that and made my own. Including my own animation and such to get it to work.
Bixyl Shuftan: How long did it take before it was fully ready?
Lomgren Smalls: Well, probably 20 hours at least, but I keep tweaking it and such. That was figuring out the scripting and figuring out how to shrink the head and tail down properly. The rest was me using the NorthStar micro as a pattern and trying to figure out how to improve upon it.
Bixyl Shuftan: I take it your micro was a hit with everyone on first sight?
Lomgren Smalls whispers: Hehe. A lot of people liked it, and I still get questions on "where did you get that?" and "how did you get so small?"
Bixyl Shuftan: *chuckles* What have been some of the more unusual reactions to your micro?
Lomgren Smalls: *chuckles* Well, they've ranged from the innocent to the adult... so... I've seen a lot
Bixyl Shuftan: Those who've read the paper for a while will recall you've also done work on macro avatars, super-large ones.
Lomgren Smalls: Yes, I've done some work on megas before, mainly to see just what was possible. Most people were saying even a 30 meter av was impossible. But, me being a builder, I knew what link limits and root prims were, and how they affected things. So, I was able to design and piece together a statue-style mega avatar that was ... a lot larger than anyone expected was possible.
Bixyl Shuftan: If I recall corectly, you built a mega-vixen about 224 feet tall
Lomgren Smalls: It was actually for Halloween, because I was becoming known as a micro ... and I built the vixen for a friend, and I made a mega version of my own regular av, around 65.5 and 68 meters tall, respectively.
Bixyl Shuftan: Did the work take about as long as your micro?
Lomgren Smalls: The vixen was built over the weekend before Halloween 2007, quite literally. My avatar was finished the Monday before. I recall Halloween being on that Tuesday
Bixyl Shuftan: Yes, I remember seeing her a few days later at Luskwood. Needless to say, she left quite an impression. ;-)
Lomgren Smalls: *grins*
Bixyl Shuftan: How easy is it to move in the megas?
Lomgren Smalls: Not easy. You literally have to fly them around. And hover, making them appear to stand on the ground.
Bixyl Shuftan: Do they lag a lot?
Lomgren Smalls: Not really. They are made of normal prims.
Bixyl Shuftan: So what other work have you done since then?
Lomgren Smalls: I do all sorts of work. I build stuff other than avatars. Everything here on my property, for instance. I've also built stuff for friends, castles ... let's see. I've done commissions, for micros, other avs... one of them was for The Phantom Creeps robot used by Rob Zombie in a few of his videos. So, just in general, a little of everything. Most recently, I've been finishing up some work on a couple of micros that I can actually sell, Relay for Life.
Bixyl Shuftan: What can you tell the readers about those?
Lomgren Smalls: Well, they're going to be based a lot on my current outfit ... because this is my "Relay for Life" outfit. The main difference is that the head actually is built by me, instead of being a shrunken version of the Luskwood Cat. I also have a female version of the av in progress, just needs a little more work.
Bixyl Shuftan: I've seen another micro done by you. About how many macros and micros have you made for others?
Lomgren Smalls: Macros ... let's see ... maybe 2-3, if that. Micros ... closer to 8-10.
Bixyl Shuftan: Changing the subject, you recenly got a real life job through SL. How did you hear about it?
Lomgren Smalls: Well, I had been looking for a better job for a while. And my friends here in SL knew about it. So, through a couple of the online Second Life papers, they learned of an on-SL job fair being held by the state of Missouri. And they told me about it
Bixyl Shuftan: Yes, and your getting the job made a little real-life news as well. The articles stated your micro made quite an impression.
Lomgren Smalls: Yes. I know people probably think I'm crazy for going to a job fair as a micro, but to me, it makes sense. 1: it's who I am. 2: It shows what I am capable of doing. Of course, I was dressed for the occasion, wearing a dark gray tux.
Bixyl Shuftan: Have your new fellow employees spoken much about Second Life, considering how you got the job?
Lomgren Smalls: A bit, yes, as I've talked to them about it. They're happy with me working there, I'm happy working there, my boss/etc are happy with me.
Bixyl Shuftan: Great ... As I recall, you were also on local TV news.
Lomgren Smalls: Yes, a couple of times. Never expected to be on TV at all. *chuckles*
Bixyl Shuftan: Besides the RFL avatars, any future plans that you'd like to share?
Lomgren Smalls: Well, I plan on making non-RFL versions (of the avatar), and hopefully making a version 2.0 of the av someday in the future.
To those who haven’t come across them, articles about Lomgren getting his state government IT job can be found HERE , HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE (short story with video), and HERE (a longer video with Lom in the second half). Lomgren mentioned there were others, but they were mostly taken from the articles above.
Bixyl Shuftan
Tiny Outpost
I heard about a place that had quite a big variety in tiny wares, the “Tiny Outpost.” So I went over to take a look at the place for myself. And the Outpost indeed has quite a variety for sale. Not just avatars, but clothes, animations, and other accessories as well.
When I first arrived at the Outpost, I was greeted by a tiny bunny named Qyhat Harbour, and welcomed me there, saying she was the assistant to Enktan Gully, the owner there, “We did our best to bring as many of the Tiny merchants together,” she told me, “Many in Second Life are not aware of tinies or tiny avatars, but they make up a good number in the Second Life population mass.” She told me the Tiny Outpost was to introduce tinies to new and old players in Second Life, and to “provide an international venue for all the different Tiny creators to showcase their wares in one location. ... we have the largest grouping, from Japan, Germany, Italy, USA, and Canada, to name a few. It’s a dream come true.” Enktan Gully himself was from Belgium, and as it was past his hours he was not available that day.
The place had stores of the main two tiny avatar makers, “Wynx Whiplash who has been around for some time, and newcomer, Damien Fate, who is making waves with his innovative style and new designs. We have them both at the Tiny Outpost, along with some of the most haute couture designers of the Tiny world.” Besides the big two, the place had other Tiny avatar makers, such as some Japanese ones. And most of the buildings were the same style, giving the place the feel of a fantasy village.
While looking around, a friend wanted to shop around where I was after she IMed me and I told her. After I ported her over, Qyhat came over, and answered all the questions she had about tinies. Looking around, there were more than just avatars, but an impressive variety of clothes, including some miniature versions of high fashion, animations for both Whiplash and Loco avies, furniture, homes, and other accessories. The place greatly exceeded all other tiny shopping areas I had seen in both size and variety.
I made an appointment with Qyhat to see Enktan Gully, and met up with him the next day, appearing as busy as ever with hammer in hand. He agreed to sit down for an interview.
Bixyl Shuftan: So how did you get your start in Second Life?
Enktan Gully: During my first months in SL, I was mostly exploring the world, learning how things worked, what the possibilities were ... I didn't have much experience with computers or the Internet, I had never chatted with someone online before, so it was quiet a learning progress for me. After some time, I got interested in creating things, went to the Ivory Tower to learn about building and started out making some simple furniture. I bought my first land and made a little shop to sell this furniture.
Bixyl Shuftan: When did you first get the idea of making items for Tiny avatars?
Enktan Gully: Well, I don't make items for tinies in fact, I've been making some fantasy items like mushrooms and wishing wells but not specific for tinies. But I liked to be a tiny, although I wasn't part of the community, I was kind of a lonely tiny. About 6 months ago, I was looking for a manager for my shoe business. That's how I met Qyhat, she became my manager and found out she was a tiny too.
And I had land here, wanted to do something with it, but something special. I wanted some kind of mall, but a themed one. Qyhat suggested why not rent it out to tiny creators. That was a great idea, however it was not easy to get done as it's more difficult to sell tiny stuff than regular clothing and such. I spoke with Wynx Whiplash, I adore her avatars and asked her if she was interested in the idea. She was very enthusiastic, and came immediately aboard. As she is one of the major tiny avatar creators, I got confidence the idea might actually work. So I started contacting all the others, and to my big surprise many of them wanted to come here. In fact, the Outpost got completely filled even before we opened.
Bixyl Shuftan: That does sound like a very enthusiastic reaction. How did opening day go?
Enktan Gully: That was a lot of fun, we had an official opening, I made a speech, and then we had a DJ and we danced for a couple hours. It was a very nice experience for me as I've never been together with that many tinies. It was like a homecoming (laughter). I found the tinies are really nice people and they have something special going on, hard to describe, but they have a strong community.
Bixyl Shuftan: So how have things gone since opening day?
Enktan Gully: Well of course I realized that if the merchants had no sales the Outpost would never survive. So we started a few projects to help them with this. We made a group where all the merchants could announce their new releases. I also made a section for tinies in the Dollar Store. Soon we will release the first issue of the 'Outpost Herald,' a newspaper with issues about the tiny world, and of course free ads for our merchants. And we keep on working at the outpost itself, making it really looking nice and cosy.
Bixyl Shuftan: Yes, I thought it looked quite creative.
Enktan Gully: I tried to have something different yes. There was all kinds of trash floating around on my neighbors land, so I decided to build walls around the Outpost. I made a nice background picture to put on them, depicting a forest/mountain landscape. And even with any building in it, the feel was right from the start.
As I didn't want to interfere with Raglan and the existing tiny community, the name “Outpost” was very suitable. And so I started to create buildings that could be in such an Outpost, I tried to be original in this, that it would be somehow outstanding as a place. Tenants could rent one of the buildings I made or place their own building. It still needs work though, but all this takes time, as many things in Second Life do. And I have my shoe business to take care off too. The shoes are the major part of what I do in Second Life.
Then there's also the magical garden, right next to the Outpost. In the garden, I have my mushrooms and a few other items. I want to expand this garden in the future, but again time is needed for this (chuckles).
Bixyl Shuftan: Sounds like you have some plans for the future.
Enktan Gully: Always many plans, yes. Too many I suppose (laughs).
Bixyl Shuftan: Anything else that you'd like to say to the readers?
Enktan Gully: Special thanks to all the tinies that have been supporting the Outpost, their enthusiastic joining and positive input have been an overwhelming experience.
And of course many thanks to Qyhat, without her there wouldn't be an Outpost.
And so, the interview ended, and the owner of this unique shopping area went back to business.
“One thing that I think is important here, Second Life is not a game, but it's very healthy to consider it a game when you are in business here. It's not always easy to sell goods, or have your project work. Taking it too seriously might take the fun out of it. And after all, one should feel good with what one does in life, Second Life or real life, no big difference.”
Bixyl Shuftan
When I first arrived at the Outpost, I was greeted by a tiny bunny named Qyhat Harbour, and welcomed me there, saying she was the assistant to Enktan Gully, the owner there, “We did our best to bring as many of the Tiny merchants together,” she told me, “Many in Second Life are not aware of tinies or tiny avatars, but they make up a good number in the Second Life population mass.” She told me the Tiny Outpost was to introduce tinies to new and old players in Second Life, and to “provide an international venue for all the different Tiny creators to showcase their wares in one location. ... we have the largest grouping, from Japan, Germany, Italy, USA, and Canada, to name a few. It’s a dream come true.” Enktan Gully himself was from Belgium, and as it was past his hours he was not available that day.
The place had stores of the main two tiny avatar makers, “Wynx Whiplash who has been around for some time, and newcomer, Damien Fate, who is making waves with his innovative style and new designs. We have them both at the Tiny Outpost, along with some of the most haute couture designers of the Tiny world.” Besides the big two, the place had other Tiny avatar makers, such as some Japanese ones. And most of the buildings were the same style, giving the place the feel of a fantasy village.While looking around, a friend wanted to shop around where I was after she IMed me and I told her. After I ported her over, Qyhat came over, and answered all the questions she had about tinies. Looking around, there were more than just avatars, but an impressive variety of clothes, including some miniature versions of high fashion, animations for both Whiplash and Loco avies, furniture, homes, and other accessories. The place greatly exceeded all other tiny shopping areas I had seen in both size and variety.
I made an appointment with Qyhat to see Enktan Gully, and met up with him the next day, appearing as busy as ever with hammer in hand. He agreed to sit down for an interview.
Bixyl Shuftan: So how did you get your start in Second Life?Enktan Gully: During my first months in SL, I was mostly exploring the world, learning how things worked, what the possibilities were ... I didn't have much experience with computers or the Internet, I had never chatted with someone online before, so it was quiet a learning progress for me. After some time, I got interested in creating things, went to the Ivory Tower to learn about building and started out making some simple furniture. I bought my first land and made a little shop to sell this furniture.
Bixyl Shuftan: When did you first get the idea of making items for Tiny avatars?
Enktan Gully: Well, I don't make items for tinies in fact, I've been making some fantasy items like mushrooms and wishing wells but not specific for tinies. But I liked to be a tiny, although I wasn't part of the community, I was kind of a lonely tiny. About 6 months ago, I was looking for a manager for my shoe business. That's how I met Qyhat, she became my manager and found out she was a tiny too.
And I had land here, wanted to do something with it, but something special. I wanted some kind of mall, but a themed one. Qyhat suggested why not rent it out to tiny creators. That was a great idea, however it was not easy to get done as it's more difficult to sell tiny stuff than regular clothing and such. I spoke with Wynx Whiplash, I adore her avatars and asked her if she was interested in the idea. She was very enthusiastic, and came immediately aboard. As she is one of the major tiny avatar creators, I got confidence the idea might actually work. So I started contacting all the others, and to my big surprise many of them wanted to come here. In fact, the Outpost got completely filled even before we opened.
Bixyl Shuftan: That does sound like a very enthusiastic reaction. How did opening day go?
Enktan Gully: That was a lot of fun, we had an official opening, I made a speech, and then we had a DJ and we danced for a couple hours. It was a very nice experience for me as I've never been together with that many tinies. It was like a homecoming (laughter). I found the tinies are really nice people and they have something special going on, hard to describe, but they have a strong community.
Bixyl Shuftan: So how have things gone since opening day?
Enktan Gully: Well of course I realized that if the merchants had no sales the Outpost would never survive. So we started a few projects to help them with this. We made a group where all the merchants could announce their new releases. I also made a section for tinies in the Dollar Store. Soon we will release the first issue of the 'Outpost Herald,' a newspaper with issues about the tiny world, and of course free ads for our merchants. And we keep on working at the outpost itself, making it really looking nice and cosy.
Bixyl Shuftan: Yes, I thought it looked quite creative.
Enktan Gully: I tried to have something different yes. There was all kinds of trash floating around on my neighbors land, so I decided to build walls around the Outpost. I made a nice background picture to put on them, depicting a forest/mountain landscape. And even with any building in it, the feel was right from the start.
As I didn't want to interfere with Raglan and the existing tiny community, the name “Outpost” was very suitable. And so I started to create buildings that could be in such an Outpost, I tried to be original in this, that it would be somehow outstanding as a place. Tenants could rent one of the buildings I made or place their own building. It still needs work though, but all this takes time, as many things in Second Life do. And I have my shoe business to take care off too. The shoes are the major part of what I do in Second Life.
Then there's also the magical garden, right next to the Outpost. In the garden, I have my mushrooms and a few other items. I want to expand this garden in the future, but again time is needed for this (chuckles).
Bixyl Shuftan: Sounds like you have some plans for the future.
Enktan Gully: Always many plans, yes. Too many I suppose (laughs).
Bixyl Shuftan: Anything else that you'd like to say to the readers?
Enktan Gully: Special thanks to all the tinies that have been supporting the Outpost, their enthusiastic joining and positive input have been an overwhelming experience.
And of course many thanks to Qyhat, without her there wouldn't be an Outpost.
And so, the interview ended, and the owner of this unique shopping area went back to business.
“One thing that I think is important here, Second Life is not a game, but it's very healthy to consider it a game when you are in business here. It's not always easy to sell goods, or have your project work. Taking it too seriously might take the fun out of it. And after all, one should feel good with what one does in life, Second Life or real life, no big difference.”
Bixyl Shuftan
"We Don't Allow YOUR Kind Here!"
You're looking around, having just found a place to explore or maybe somewhere to shop when all of a sudden you're rudely told to leave. Not because of how you're acting, your clothes, nor is this a roleplaying sim, they just don't like your shape.More in PEOPLE.
Glitches and Crashes a personal view
Since Christmas older residents have had a strange sense of da ja vu. Crashes every 5 minutes, the "black body" as your avatars textures refuse to load - a return, in fact to the "bad old days". Now for us old timers this is just a minor irritation, in fact many of us suspected that it over enthusiastic staff parties at first, combined with the usual in rush of new residents.I think most of us expected things to settle down and get back to usual once the holidays were over, but, in fact the strangeness continued. In fact in the last few weeks things have started getting really strange.
The first clue was a friend who burst onto my im panel in a flurry of swear words - some of which even I didn't know (you have to admit, Second Life is educational). After she calmed down I managed to ask what was wrong, it seems she had just settled down to some quality time with her significant other, their first quality time in a while, everything was going well when she crashed - annoying but it happens and can be laughed off, but on relogging she gets the "region has begun log out process your account wont be available for 5 minutes", annoying but as this seems to be a default glitch she clicked ok and tried again - success! Except she had been logged in, naked (well more or less naked, if you know what I mean - she had been on a spending spree in Insolence), to an info hub FULL of people... quickly she got her friend to teleport her home, ahh oh well, a funny story, except 5 minutes later the scene was repeated only she got logged in to a different region. In the space of 45 minutes she had crashed, and been logged into to anywhere except where she wanted to be SEVEN times, it somewhat killed the romantic mood. I laughed, I admit, and put it down to just one (or two) peoples misfortune, but I started paying more attention to the chatter in the bars, seems my friend wasn't alone, the crashes were happening to everyone, more and more of the time - my own personal record was twelve crashes in an hour. Still switch to another viewer and things improved.
Unfortunately that wasn't the end of the surprises LL had in store, used to these old style glitches and ready for something new? Linden Labs is proud to present the newest glitch...phantom land! A friend owns an island, a lovely island - and was most disturbed to log in and find herself sinking, at a quite genteel rate, into the ground. After a quick look around she logged out thinking it must be one of those, "clear cache, log back in" glitches...but no, after a relog she was still up to her neck in her beach. A quick phone call to LL and many apologies later it is explained that the servers in AZ are having issues. (Really, servers, which need to be kept cool, being housed in a desert and they are having problems - fancy that). Linden Labs, did manage to relocate the phantom island so the actual island was there and the phantom was just off the coast.
And now I come to the final and most distressing glitch, not a new glitch by any means but refined to a level rarely seen before. Missing inventory.
Usually a few items go astray and you clear cache, log back in and bingo - there it is, but not in this new more fiendish version. Suddenly the hair you are wearing isn't in your inventory, it doesn't exist, it is still there, everyone can still see it, but you can't take it off or replace it, or detach it because it isn't in your inventory (only funny if the neon pink pigtail demo is being worn by someone else when it happens).
A friend of mine has the interesting problem of three quarters of his inventory vanished - but only on his home computer, on his works computer everything is still there, a complete reinstall of SL didn't help and the official response to LL help line was "That's odd, don't really know what to recommend", honest, if nothing else.
Another friend had all the outfits for a photographic shoot vanish - for a week, in a flat spin she asked me to take charge of the men's outfit, on the day of the shoot, I had given out 2 of the outfits when I crashed. On my return I was missing almost four thousand of my inventory items including the last suit - relogging, clearing cache - nothing worked, the suit was GONE. A frantic call to the designer and a replacement was found. Twenty four hours later, the suit (and the other four thousand items)were back. A curious twist to this is something I discovered, after my brush with missing inventory I decided that really, twenty five thousand items is a bit much (don't look at me like that, shopping is my hobby and I was a lucky chair addict), so I pruned, I spent a morning doing nothing but deleting things. I emptied my trash, I cleared my cache and I logged out, pleased that now I was down to under twenty thousand items. Imagine my dismay when I logged back in later that day to find all my inventory there exactly as it was before my mega clean out. The moral might be, don't organise your inventory, leave to run wild and let it surprise you.What is the cause of the sudden instability of our beloved SecondLife? I can't answer, obviously LL are aware of the problems and are working on the fixes. Meanwhile, my best advice is only make sure you are wearing something at all times, and preferably something that preserves your modesty and you like enough to wear for a while if the worst happens.
Facebook ban on avatar names
Many people sign up for online social networks using their Secondlife avatar names and use these networks as a way to keep in touch outside of SL but beware 'Facebook' is cracking down on fake identities.The Sydney morning herald tells the story of Sydneysider Elmo Keep (real name!) who was banned this month for violating their terms of service only regaining her account when she could provide government issued ID.
So beware if you have signed up with your avatar name especially if that name is in anyway unusual - I think I would be OK but many avatars names are very different - but then so are many real life names too :)
Dana Vanmoer
source: Reuters
Eye on the blog - Lindens roll out new default Avs
We have seen these for the last week or so appearing in our inventory library and the designers have done a wonderful job, most of these are eminantly wearable and instant.Most of us would not object to looking like this on a regular basis. Of course some will cause eyebrows to raise and can you imagine a newbie - someone without any experience of 'wearing' prims - trying to change from the box-bot to a human?
Saying that its great fun to see even if its hard to imagine LL with a sense of humour these days.
I would guess that some, like the Adam n Eve designs, are aimed at the corporate market - instant business man or woman
, a good idea? I would say no as a huge part of having a secondlife is learning to be an individual, these ready to wear avatars are great but i can just imagine a corporate business meeting with a room full of newbies looking 
like this LOLGreat designs a lot of work has gone into the avatars, congratulations to all those chosen. I won't take anything from them they have come up with some really good designs - but maybe some of the selection is not newbie friendly, we shall see.
Here Be Dragons
Second Life is amazing for the variety of inhabitants that live here. Avatars of all types are roaming the continents, Humans , Furries, Birds,Insects, Comic strip characters, Aliens, Eyeballs, and my favorite , the Dragons!!
Read more about these fantastic residents in our PEOPLE section
By Gemma Cleanslate
Socially Speaking Part 2
How close is your SL Social Circle? Read our People section for Dashwood Dayafter's view.
It happened to a friend of a friend of mine...
Can you turn your back on yourself? Check out our Explore section to understand what is up with Dashwood Dayafter
Giving a Clue to the Clueless
I could only snicker when I read this piece from Wired titled How Madison Avenue Is Wasting Millions on a Deserted Second Life. It gives some credibility to the idea that its writers are better at buzzwords and superficial looks at technology than actual depth.
The poor man paints a broad, negative and mostly superficial picture of Second Life, without having a clue of its inner workings. He says it is empty with nothing to do and that big brands such as American Apparel and Coca-Cola are failing here. Let's help him to understand a few facts.
The grid is not empty. Sure, the total number of users is inflated, only active users should be counted. That's one thing. But anyone who took a bit of time to discover SL knows better than a feeling of emptiness (in human presence) and of nothing to do. In RL, people come and go from home to other places. A place that's empty right now will perhaps be packed in an hour. It applies to SL.
If the guy took the time to learn anything, he would have known that it is possible to build, create, dance, broadcast, meet people, etc.
The point where he fails the most is about business success. He takes the example of a few multinationals such as Coca-Cola and says that they are not getting traffic. That's for sure. I remember going to the sims of American Apparel, Adidas and Armani to find them empty... but also BAD.
Companies that throw money at a sim in SL often think that being present with their flagship products will help them succeed. They do not realize that they often do not adapt them well, such as designing a quality texture to replicate the quality of their clothing. Make me choose between a bad replica of an American top and a gorgeous, well-crafted one at Mischief and I'll buy the latter.
And then, RL brands fail at promoting their activities in ways that are easy to reach within Second Life.
I found the Adidas sim by typing the sim name. My numerous searches in the search engine failed miserably. They didn't even care to buy a L$50 classified, which would have been easy enough to find! How can you attract customers if you do nothing to reach them?
In short, brand power does nothing if you don't have product quality and do not learn how to fetch people. Did Coca-Cola and Adidas build their RL brands by sitting on their butts and waiting for people to come to them? Of course not. Why would they expect it to work in SL? Nonsense.
If companies want a presence, they have to find meaningful activities to make their sims compelling and market their efforts.
Is that too hard to understand?
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