M&M Creations: New Look, Same Commitment to Quality

Second Life Newspaper recently met up with 10 Goosson of M&M Creations about what has been happening at her store. “M&M Creations just keeps steady and growing as usual,” 10 explained, “We’ve lots to talk about and show Second Life residents. I’ll make it a short list.”


* The scenery screens have been deleted. After three years of selling those, the interest and needs were gone.

* Part of the main mall has been taken by the tree shop with all trees repacked with a temporary rez. So click, see and buy, or leave. Easy and much better than walking over the entire island and not being able to find what you are looking for.

* The flowershop, same story. The flowers have all been repacked, and some new shapes (sepals) have been added, with temporary rez as well. I dusted all flowers this way and was surprised about what I've created last three years.

* The landscaping shop has had a small transformation as well. It's filled, again a fast and easy way to see all builds rezzed, by using the good TP-system to visit the object you want to see.

* Marcthur is still releasing the Antique builder-packs. Those seem to be very popular.

* M&M Fashion will get more time and attention. Full Permission outfits with all materials used are very new in Second Life. Especially because all creators are so anxious about their goods being copied or stolen. We ignore the fear and keep making new things Full Permission to help designers of any level with good stuff to create great objects/outfits.

* It was time to create a new Tutorial: Fit & Wear Fashion Sculpts. A lot of questions about it and it isn't easy. So this tutorial is almost finished.

* In the line of this new tutorial, I will give the other three (and the new one of course) in-world and will schedule these. So there will be a long running event in June: Tutorials. So, classes, classes and classes (this time on our islands platform with the possibility to rez, all people who will participate, can build right at the spot)

* I changed the island that much, only a few parts are recognizable as they were.


- The fairyland is more wetlands and has a huge cave with colorful scenes, all fantasy-flowers, fairy-like landscaping items, etc., are rezzed. I'm still amazed I built this all myself and I wonder around at midnight. The stage is wide and open next to the seaside with some quiet, hidden, corners to relax.

- We embraced Annika Designs with her low-prim builds (caves, waterfalls) so she has a part to rez a few of her great builds.

* Marc is also renewing the oldies. The cherubs have lighting shades and a very special copper texture. They look amazing.

* New fashion sculpts are made of course. Some of those oldies are renewed, because they needed the newest skills of the creator (grin).


10 only had a little time to chat, so she was soon on her way, heading to one of her classes to offer free lessons.

Always evolving, M&M continues to offer shoppers high quality sculpted outdoor products, and 10 Goosson is still personally helping those new to building to become better at it.

M&M is at the Double MM sim: Click Here for the SLURL.

Bixyl Shuftan

30K Linden Contest at Bosphrous

Virtual Bosphorus announces a new contest to win 30K Lindens just by shopping at our mall!

Bosphorus/203/127/22, May 15, 2010 - Virtual Bosphorus & FC Inter is offering all those who shop at our mall a chance to win 30K Lindens. It’s easy, just shop and get a chance to win! Send your purchase receipt from your transaction history showing your purchase was from Bosphorus in a notecard with your full name to John Zelnik, and you will be placed in the drawing!

EXAMPLE: 05/13/2010 15:04:52 c394eae4 Source: Eve1209 Quintessa Region: Bosphorus

The more you purchase, the more times your name will be entered into the drawing, so make sure to send each receipt in a separate notecard.

The winner will be announced on June 28, 2010, with plenty of supplementary prizes and gifts if you don’t win the 30K. So start shopping today!

The Virtual Bosphorus Sim offers virtual soccer to SL residents, boasting a state of the art soccer arena. Partnering with F.C. Inter SL, Bosphorus offers residents a soccer academy to teach virtual soccer, as well as soccer leagues and championship matches that are sanctioned by real life clubs. Additionally, the Bosphorus sim offers world class shopping, with over 50 stores, including such well known designers as UK Couture, Myth and Bliss just to name a few.
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Bosphorus/203/127/22

Contact:
Eve1209 Quintessa
Marketing Manager
Virtual Bosphorus
email: evequintessa@yahoo.com

Tellaq Avatar Creations

One complaint about Second Life that occasionally comes up is the lack of ethnic avatars. Quality ones seem especially hard to find. One man here started up a skin store to do something about it: Tellaq Avatar Creations.

The store is two buildings, one for male skins, one for female. The mens’ area had the larger selection (for now), and had mostly black skins. But there were several white ones as well, in addition to an Asian look. Both buildings had a lucky chair, giving people a chance to win one of the skins.

Tellaq Avatar Creations is owned by Tellaq Guardian. “I am a graphics designer in my First Life,” he explained, “Seven months after I got into Second Life I tried (making) my first skin. First reason for making the Afro skin, I couldn’t find any good black skins for myself. As you can see in the store, there are many Afro skins.”

Tellaq remarked that his choice of his name in Second Life was a joke, “ ‘Tellaq’ means a cleaner guy in a Turkish bath. He cleans the customers inside (grin), helping them to clean their shoulders and (places on) their back where they can’t reach.”

Tellaq has a total od 48 avatars in his store, but only for the moment, “I am working on forty Afro women now.” He plans for a total of ninety avatars in the near future, “It will be done in two months.”

Among the avatars, his favorite is “Derrick,” which he created first and still wears most of the time. He also feels especially proud of his work on “Kid,” “Francis,” and “Vincent.” Comments by others about his skins encouraged him to make more, “Their comments made me do better things. They said I was number one (smile), and (had) the most beautiful Afro skins when they saw this. ... They gave me the fire to do (more).”

Tellaq had not been planning on making a store when he started, intending to make just a few skins, but the complements by others spurred him to make more, “I wasn’t planning to do it. I was just having fun in Second Life.”

Tellaq had no plans to sell anything but skins, “Except skins and shapes, I don’t really plan to do anything else.”



Tellaq Avatar Creations is at the Tropical Breeze sim at (49, 62, 23)


Bixyl Shuftan

Giving in Second Life

The season for giving is here, and I wondered what opportunities existed in SL to help others. So I visited Aloft Nonprofit Commons (143, 81, 31). There I found a huge number and variety of causes from many different countries.

In addition to Aloft, there are 3 other connected sims: Plush, where weekly meetings are held; EcoCommons for environmental concerns; and HealthCommons for health related nonprofits.  All of the areas can be reached by teleport from the main hub.

At the hub you can take a tour by horse carriage or magic carpet. The carriage didn´t want to work for me, but the carpet ride provided a quick tour of the basics. I hopped off about mid-tour to walk around the different shops and offices.

There is also a large display that lists all of the organizations and their location. This is the best way to find a specific group and get there quickly. The list is not alphabetical. However, once you find the group that interests you, it is easy to get there. A click on its number causes its location to be listed in your historical chat, where you can quickly teleport to the site.

The variety of causes was extensive: animal rescue and protection groups, museums, hunger and health groups, Sierra Club and child protection groups. Whatever interests you, there is probably a group for it here. Being a furry, I was especially partial to the Mountain Lion Foundation, which is still under construction, and the Sierra Club, which is build in a tree house.

Kiva, a group that works to end poverty by giving loans, has a large presence here. "Turning Lindens into Loans" is their motto, and their shop is filled with photos of the people they are helping. I didn´́t see any wreathes for sale at this shop, but they are selling them at Winterfest through Xstreet, and the money goes to support their cause. On the second floor, they had a donation barrel, too, where you can drop off items for re-sale.

Another group, NSW Animal Rescue organization from Australia was selling rugs for $49L. The rugs have photos of different types of dogs, and you can buy one to show your support for your favorite breed.

The Aloft sim has lots of fun things to do. Horses for Healing gives you a horse that you can ride as you explore the sim. There is a picnic area, hang-gliders, and a swimming pool, too.

I went back 3 times, and I still haven´t seen it all. It is a great place to give and have fun, too.

Grey Lupindo

Cariama: a new vending system

Why should you pay a commission for your sales when using a vending system?

Major vending systems are based on commission, however at Cariama we have decided that sales should not been commissioned at all and if you put up your products for resale, you decide how much to give to resellers. So simple, sales commission at 0%, and you may compare with other vending systems.

Moreover, the shopping experience should not be limited to Second Life world® since different Opensimulator worlds exist. Cariama proposes to expand and benefits from sales in those Opensimulator worlds.

Several features have already been implemented in Cariama: multiple avatars are sharing the same Cariama account, products are sold inworld with vending machines and via the website, collections and stores are created, and customers’ statistics are given (fees may apply for certain statistical tools).

The revenues of Cariama come mainly from advertisement. Banner and product ads appear on a majority of Cariama pages and in the different virtual worlds. That gives the most exposure possible for an efficient online advertisement campaign for your products, services, blogs, forums, or any websites. With a simple auction system and depending your budget to make a higher bid, you can now take advantage to expose your products.

Cariama brings you all those opportunities and as a seller you will gain major profits. Sell inworld and via website, at no cost.

You can preregister now and receive news till Cariama is launched: website http://www.cariama.com, and in Second Life world® http://slurl.com/secondlife/Alpha Centauri/215/240/27/.

 

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Cariama is a new vending system for virtual worlds. The system gives Second Life® and Opensimulator residents the opportunity to buy and sell their products and services with a single interface sharing inworld and website features. Cariama is committed to an original concept that unites the goals of customer value: no commission on sales. The strategy of Cariama is geared towards sustainable growth based mainly on advertisement.

For more information, see Cariama online at http://www.cariama.com

Headquarters: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Alpha Centauri/215/240/27/

Contact: Kay Noble

Email: kay@cariama.com

Slapt.Me the alternative to Xstreet?

Since the Lindens bought Xstreet I have heard many whispers and many people unhappy with the monopoly that it has created for the Lindens and now, with the new rules, many more will be looking for that alternative.
Let me introduce Slapt.Me run by residents that have actually listened to what the customers want and tried to create it for you.
Constanza Amsterdam, Lord Sullivan, Kosta Cela and Bykoff Sontse, long term SL residents launched the Xstreet alternative in April and, although still having a few teething troubles when I tried it out, I found it as easy to set up as Xstreet but very different.
Slapt.Me offers featured listings and split profit enhancement, which works on percentage instead of prices. You will also find its own Forums where you can read what others have thought of it and place your own suggestions. There is also a WIKI to help you understand the site although as an XStreet merchant I found it very easy to set up.
You can request a terminal to put on your own land and there is also a place where you can store your first Slapt.me box for free if you do not own any land.
Is this a viable alternative to Xstreet? The speed at which its growing says just maybe it is.
Visit for yourselves and feel free to leave your comments and experience below.
Dana Vanmoer

Edo opens 'Ekho' fashion town

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Ekho/127/7/21

Tanglewood City Skymall’s Grand Reopening Celebration

Second Life has many malls, but how many can boast having their own sky-high waterslide?

On Thursday June the 11th, the Tanglewood City Skymall will have it’s Grand Reopening Ceremony. The event will last from one minute in the morning after Midnight to 2 AM Friday the next day. The mall will have numerous attractions. “It’s a mall with hand picked designers,” Skymall manager Kaii Kiranov explained, “We will be having 26 hours of DJ or live music. And the main event will be the Cher and Carm Show, broadcasting live from the skymall from 2pm to 4pm SL time. Lots of other stuff too, like a treasure hunt, prize giveaways, and more.”

“Oh and there is the 250 foot high waterslide in the mall. Hee-hee.”

Kaii explained the owner of the mall, Defbiggiec Gagliano, had owned another previously, and built the place to correct what he saw as shortcomings in the old mall. Here, “he made the stores much bigger for lots of shopping room, and he created his plans around catering to designers. That is number one here. We hand-picked and invited everyone here. First, they had to be way above average in their work. Second, they had to be really nice people. So, it took a long time to find these designers. ... For example, Gaia Phoenix and Rita Groshomme from Curio ... this is a really big deal that Gaia put her whole line of skins in our mall.” They also sell the Twisted Titlers seen at parties, “The picture of me and my twin sis was taken by Phia from Twisted and Spoiled for a poster she did for the fur coat in the picture. She told us we could use it for our shop.”

The Skymall is appropriately named, 300 feet in the air. It has three floors, curved rampways allow access to one another. Much of the upper two floors are see-through grillwork, while the bottom floor has a transparent center to allow a view below. There are a few Relay for Life posts, and XstreetSL exchange terminals, as well as Metaverse Exchange their newest competitor, “going through beta testing right now.”

Kaii explained that the designers even have a say in what rent levels were, “Defbiggiec Gagliano tried to think of everything he could to make this mall cater to the designers here. ... Every shop has a Landmark lot that they can use to TP customers directly to the front of their shops. ... very few malls, let alone skymalls make arrangements for direct TPs to each store.”

“On the shoppers side, they can rez what they buy anywhere in the mall. There is a huge shopping area in each store to make camera use easy. We advertise the first and third levels separately, and they each have their own Landing Zone. We also do what we call Dance Shopping Rave Parties in the stores themselves to get customers in front of the merchandise. ... We do ask designers to support our efforts in anyway they feel motivated to do. We want to draw them to participate, not require it. They only have to do one thing, that is list their (store) in SL Search.”

Regan Becloud, the owner of the Artists’ Lounge Cafe, explained that Defbiggiec had started small, buying just, “a little bit of the land on the sim. Then more, and more, and more. And soon, we owned 2/3 of it.” Defbiggiec eventually bought the rest. ”He had this fabulous idea to make the skymall, became his pet project. Originally, there was not going to be a waterslide. He was making a track up there for bikers. And I had been hoping to get bike shops in the mall, maybe with demo bikes people could ride on the track. However, while it sounded awesome, it didn’t work so well. You’d go shooting in the air, and crash into the ground below. Def got POed, and we got a waterslide instead.”

The beginning of the waterslide ride is way up over the mall, 550 feet in the air. The easiest way to get there is a teleport on the mall’s first floor. To go down the slide, one clicks on the small red ball at the entry, and when an inner tube appears sit on it and go down. Gravity then takes care of the rest as you sloosh downwards. One may get stuck while going down, but all one has to do is nudge the tube left or right. The trip ends at the mall’s first floor, where one can TP back up to start all over again, or “stay in the tube for a spirited game of bumper tubes with your friends.”

Regan then explained how her cafe came to be, “I was telling Def ... about how I had gone to a cafe and how in real life I want to open a cafe for the arts. *Not a club,* a cafe, to hold poetry readings, have live music, comedians, filled with books people can read, good coffee, and some interesting snacks, filled with artistic, open-minded individuals. And how that would be cool to have in Second Life. So he said, ‘Go for it Regan,’ and I made the Cafe. That is my baby, and everything there goes through me, just so ya know. Hee-hee.”

The Skymall will also have a movie showing at a temporary theater. And not just any movie. The Tanglewood City Movie Theater, sponsored by Dream Garden, will be showing the Rocky Horror Picture Show from 7 to 9 PM SL time, hosted by Roguewolf Vollmar. “The movie will have a synchro-start at 7:15 sharp,” Roguewolf explained in a notecard, “so don't come late and miss the Time Warp! We encourage audience participation from all so break out those rice emitters and noisemakers and all things associated with this cult classic.” In avatar, Rougewolf had this to say, “Well, when we have hosted the movie before in a club, it was well received as many had not seen it, and many (who) have, we could emote for those and give a very real ... experience in Second Life. And many bring props they have themselves to the show.” Several prizes will be given out to some random viewers.

The music and dance schedule is as follows:

Thursday, June 11 SLT/PDT

00:00 - 01:00 - DJ Kaii - Dance Shopping Rave Party at Shabby Cat

01:00 - 02:00 - DJ Kaii - Dance Shopping Rave Party at The Tenk Tank

02:00 - 03:00 - DJ Kaii - Dance Shopping Rave Party at Rathwynn’s

03:00 - 04:00 - DJ Kaii - Dance Shopping Rave Party at F.A.B.

04:00 - 06:00 - DJ Eifa - at The Artists Lounge Cafe

06:00 - 08:00 - DJ Kaii - Dance Shopping Rave Party at Curio

08:00 - 09:00 - DJ Kaii - Dance Shopping Rave Party at Boom

09:00 - 12:00 - DJ Mina at The Artists Lounge Cafe

12:00 - 14:00 - DJ Mshenny - Dance Shopping Rave Party at Aqua

14:00 - 16:00 - The Cher and Carm Show at The Artists Lounge Cafe

16:00 - 18:00 - DJ Kizza at The Artists Lounge Cafe

18:00 - 19:00 - Onehempcat

19:00 - 20:00 - FacelessApe *LIVE* at The Artists Lounge Cafe

20:00 - 22:00 - DJ or Live Act

22:00 - 23:00 - Grif Bamaisin LIVE at The Artists Lounge Cafe

23:00 - 24:00 - DJ Ricky at The Artists Lounge Cafe

Friday, June 12 SLT

00:00 - 02:00 - DJ Poise at The Artists Lounge Cafe

Prizes will be given out at the events, as follows:

Rathwynn's Arms & Armor - Two Boxed Sets of Medievil Weapons valued at $L1400 each. To be given away between 12:00am and 1:00am SLT.

Strapped - 3 great gifts to be given away between 1:00am and 2:00am SLT.

Shabby Cat - Gifts to be given away between 2:00am and 3:00am SLT.

F.A.B. - 10 prizes to be given away between 3:00am and 4:00am SLT.

Curio - Hair and Fashion - 5 Fat Pack Gift Certificates Valued between $L800 and $L1600 To be given away between 6:00am and 8:00am.

BOOM - 6 prizes to be given away between 8:00am and 9:00am SLT.

AQUA - Up to 40 prizes to be awarded between 12:00pm and 2:00pm SLT.

Gala Skins - Gift Certificate for a Fat Pack of the newest line of Gala Skins valued at $L3000. Will be given away between 2:00pm and 4:00pm SLT during the Cher and Carm Show, which will have prizes given out every 15 minutes.

Prizes to be awarded at various times in the Artists’ Lounge Cafe.

100+ Prizes from stores including:

AQUA
Poised
Curio
F.A.B.
Shabby Cat
AbbeyDawn
Twisted Sisters
Tenk Tank
JJs Designs
Tesoro Jewelers
Neko Gear
Princess Gear

There will also be freebie vendors in various stores in the skymall.

The Tanglewood City Skymall is at the Tanglewood City sim, the entry area at (88, 110, 302).

"Be sure not to miss this!!! Come to the celebration, tell your friends, tell the world!!!"

Bixyl Shuftan

SL malls - DC District Style

With the launch of my new wedding line and the *DANA* brand I have been looking for mall spaces all over SL, BUT I do not accept invitations I always go by reputation and recommendations from other designers (before i get flooded with invites), I have store at Narkissos shopping village and Skybeam plus a small outlet at Dutch Delights as well as my main store now I was looking for visibility and somewhere that cared about your business not just filling the spaces.
After speaking to friends I went to look at DC District Mall and found a thriving shopping sim with many designers i recognized like, My Precious, AZUL, Nardcotix, Zhao, Allure, Vanity hair, Pheonix rising and many many more.

D.C.District Fashion District Package

Rent 2 weeks and get 2 weeks free only on first sign up .
Participate in events by sponsoring one ,and the dj keeps repeating your store name over and over during the event .
We own a Second Life Gateway -400 new residents born there daily - have a freebie box placed there with a item from your creations and include a landmark to all your stores ( Free only to DC District merchants)
Give us a full perm logo texture and have a direct tp from our landing spots to your store
Provide us with a banner and we will host it on our website for 1 month free
1 month free advertising on Dc District Radio station
Free use of our modeling agency to do fashion shows for you provideing you use our models .

This place is a breathe of fresh air in a world that seems to think that if you have a plot of land you can stick a mall on there rent out spaces and forget it exists except as a way to bring an income.
Click the logo above to visit.

Dana Vanmoer

Clever ideas - Designer Showcase Network

DSN as its known or Designer Showcase Network is one of those ideas where you think 'Why hasn't someone come up with this before?'

What is it? how does it work?
The Designer Showcase Network connects content creators with potential customers. Subscribers of the network receive a randomly selected promotional sample each day. This takes the pressure out of visiting shops and grabbing freebies, and potential customers can check out the sample at their leisure in the comfort of their own place. The aim is to bring targeted potential customers to a store, thus generating more sales.

For subscribers its very very simply - find a kiosk like the one you see here outside my main store - and click it, you will be asked via menu which channels/categories you are interested in, simply select and sit back and wait for your free samples. Do that multiple times for different channels.
It really cannot be simpler.

If you are a designer and wish to offer a sample to the subscribers then you will need a starter kit available from XstreetSL or the Clever Things shop in Takalo, you do have to pay for it but for now its a one off fee and its not really much considering the advertising possibilities, setting it up took me about 10 minutes but only because I needed to make a new AD to put into it. I decided it would be a good test with my new main store redesigned and wedding line just starting. I will let you know if it helps sales - since the line has not been launched anywhere else yet. (oops did I just launch it?)

Actually I am impressed with the system and the professionalism of the designers, I hope it works. For more info you can read the website HERE or try it out yourself by clicking any you see around the grid.
Dana Vanmoer

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

12 hours left to shop til you drop !

Today is the last day at the Clothing Fair 2009 - in 12 hours will be the shutdown - Use the last chance to visit the shops of over 170 of the best top fashion and clothing designers
A lot of designers are dropping their prices up to 50%
The prize ball on the entertainment sim will be spewing prizes out every 5 minutes from 8am SLT until 8pm tonight!
Silent Auction closes at 8:00pm SLT when the winners will be announced.
The Photo Contest closes at 6:00pm SLT when the judges will start deliberating.
The final Fashion Show of the Fair will be at 6:00pm SLT.
A packed day of Entertainment with live shows on the center sim
including: dakota7z7 Pluto, DimiVan Ludwig, Matthew Perreault, Etherian Kamaboko, Grateful Stryker, srv4u Conacher, gospel set, AcousticEnergy Nitely, Charles Coleman and Max Kleene
Join US in the biggest clothing fair of the year!
http://slurl.com/secondlife/The%20Mediterranean%20Sea/170/116/24

Narkissos Fashion Village brought to you by Styles of Edo

Springing from a wish to help his friends and new designers to SecondLife Narkissos Fashion Village is born at Pegasos.

Offering 12 high grade fashion stores in luxury surroundings within a short distance of Tyche, Styles of Edo main store.

Find out more HERE

Get Down to Earth, with Lutricia’s Luxuries

A store with a mix of clothes and other items, whether you’re looking for something with family in mind, or if you want something on the darker side, Lutricia’s Luxuries has plenty to offer the Second Life shopper.

Check out the story in DESIGN.

Mystery

A sim with a number of places to explore and things to do, Mystery is a winter wonderland that will be a pleasure to see this Christmas. Whether it's the themed parties on the riverboat club, shopping at the bazaar, or exploring for secret areas, there is plenty of fun to experience.

Check out the story in Explore.

Are we less human here?

Time to get on my soapbox again. I am getting more and more irritated with people's behavior when they are shopping around. People seem to think that for a handful of Lindens, shop owners should drop on their knees and do just anything they want.

Let's look at a few issues that boil down to respect.

The first would be the "upgrades for life" scheme. Too many stores offer free upgrades to their products to make sure that customers buy them, even for major new versions. This creates entitlement. Whenever someone flies around the grid to shop, they feel that once they cough up L$500, they should get future versions for free.

This is an insult to content creators who take a lot of time to create products with skills that most SL users do not have. How many freebies do people think they are entitled to when they spent only a couple of dollars on something that took hours or days to create?

Then, there is a problem with too many shoppers who expect services-based business owners to be available for them at all times. In a photo studio, such people need their picture taken "right f---ing" now and won't take an appointment for tomorrow as an acceptable answer. We, people who do photography, should stand in for 12 hours in case they show up, and be ready to spend an hour to shoot with them. Then, we should deliver the pics the same day, at L$500 for a package of several pictures, of course. Otherwise, we are too expensive and not available enough to meet their demand.

One more problem that nags me is how shop owners are treated. If a content creator is around and trying to help you, it might be polite to thank them for their time before teleporting elsewhere. I find it to be the understatement of the day when saying that politeness never is a problem!

This brings me to ask you, dear readers, a question. Why do people lack respect towards others around this grid? Would they treat anyone like that in RL? Would they ask them to work hours on retail or artistic creations for $2 when we know that teens flip burgers at McDonald's for more money? How much would they appreciate it if they faced the same behavior themselves?

Do expectations have to be deprived of realism because there are avatars and a virtual world between people? Are we less human in here?

Great news for M&M shops

M&M shops are moving!
This means Mysteryland and Mysticland have vanished and will be rebuild in the future.
M&M Shops and M&M Trees are still intact, accessable like you're used to.
The good news is M&M Shops and M&M Trees will also move to a new island, location is unknown for now.
No extreme lag and slow downs, easy walking and rezzing of all sculpted shapes and a smooth connection between the 2 shops without sim-borders.
M&M will keep you informed and SL-Newspaper will have all updated landmarks available, you can't miss it!

Before the great move; Great plots (all 1024 m2) for sale on Montsoreau and Seyanforth
Contact Marcthur and 10 Goosson for more information.

Last Call for Last Call

Last Call by Dazzle Haute Couture will be ending the sale of all clothing created by Ginny Talamasca, Katterina Dagostino and Devyn Carmicheal . When this historic sale is over, it's over.

To Err is Human...

…to forgive, divine. This idiom speaks to the humanity in all of us. We all make mistakes, and hopefully when I make them, I will be forgiven.

These Boots Are Made For...

When I began my Second Life, there was so much to see and do, so much to learn, so much love. Except for boots. The boots that I saw, both on avatars and in stores were huge ungainly affairs, with chains, and straps, and enough bling to blind any unsuspecting avatar close to you.