A Marine's Story

At the Second Life Veteran’s Tribute, the most prominent feature that appeared again from last year, and before, was the Memorial Wall. SLVT Volunteer Wildroses Pevensey informed me, “We have some new blocks that are in the newer section of the wall this year, a drummer boy from the Union Army. He lied about his age and enlisted when he was 14.” Volunteer Wellhung would later tell me he was a family relation to one of the Flying Tigers group.

Wildroses went on, “We also have a block of veterans, submitted by one of their brothers. He comes every year to honor them. There are ten of them. His name is Laken Titanium. Never have I been brought to tears, every year I see him, I cry.” She sniffled a little, “His devotion is amazing, very very amazing young man. ... He will talk about it to honor them, I am sure. ... He does roll call every year.”

As as fate would have it, Wildroses spotted Laken online. She told me where he was, and I began walking in that direction. As it turned out, Laken was wearing a costume, “Sorry ... Last thing I was wearing when I was last on.” Noticing my title, he asked a little about the paper. We talked a bit, joined by a HarleyQuinn Paulse, Sumaryo Asamoah of the JG 52 group, and then Wildroses. “Hello Wild,” he greeted her, “been too long.” HarleyQuinn mentioned, “Last year I remember, Laken and a few other veterans doing a salute to his fallen brothers. It was pretty moving. Another friend of mine had to walk away, couldn’t take the memories ya know.”

Laken then offered to show me the stones of his fallen comrades, “All of them were with the unit I was with during my time in the Marine Corps. Would you care to meet them? I am sure they would love a visitor to tell their story.” We then walked over, and saw the names, each similar in appearance, notably that they all fell in Iraq not long apart.

“Pfc. Christian D. Gurtner, 19, was killed April 2nd by a non-combat weapons discharge in Southern Iraq.”

“Pfc. James R. Dillon Jr., 19, died of a self inflicted gunshot wound in Kuwait.”

“LCPL Reppuhn died as a result of enemy action in Al Anbar Province, Iraq, took a bullet through the neck.” Laken hesitated, “watched him bleed out in front of us. He was 20 and just married before deployment.”

“Sgt Davis was a fine Marine. He instilled in all of us, but me especially, honor courage and commitment. (He) just had his 2nd son, killed Jan. 6 by enemy action in Anbar province, Iraq.”

“PFC Hanson, Sgt Williams, LCPL Butterfield, CPLP Baucus: all died the same day, a day I won’t forget. All four were in a building that collapsed from a nearby explosion. Baucus ran back into the building to get other personnel out after firing the initial rounds that stopped the VBIED - a truck with explosives. It detonated causing lots of damage to surrounding buildings and wounding several people, trying to evacuate the building with my other Marines. He lost his life trying to preserve that of others.”

“HN Kenyon's vehicle was hit by a roadside IED. He was our Corpsman who take care of us. Yet nothing we could do for him when his vehicle was destroyed, no way to fix a mangled corpse.”

“The next day, LCPL Newman and Cpl Galvez, both killed by sniper rounds from a mosque that we were not able to engage because of civilians. That happened a month before we were due to come home, and a day after losing Doc Kenyon.”

“LCPL Harris, he was killed in a house doing his job. A grenade exploded at the top of a staircase, in which I wasn't able to pull him back in time. He was 23 and just had a child 3 weeks prior.”

“LCPL Weaver was another example of a fine Marine, one of the finest I served with in my time in my squad. He passed away four days after being shot by a RPG, blew up behind him setting him on fire.”

Laken paused before speaking again, “Sadly, many just see names on a wall. I cannot. These were my brothers, my friends, my family, who came to do a job most wouldn’t, or couldn’t, do. I miss them every day. On many occasions, I wonder, why them and not me. I will never know that answer. ... maybe to tell their story so others may not forget, because I know I never will.”

“People say I am a hero for serving. No, not at all. These are the real heroes. They are my heroes.”

“So please, tell this story, their story.”

“ I appreciate it as I am sure these fine Marines appreciate it as well. Because coming back to this, I remember them as they were. And they will be here every year, somewhere, always, on Veterans Day. Even with tears welling up, I know they didn’t do it for nothing.”

“Everyone in Second Life knows somene on this well, if their name is up here or not. We all know someone doing the unimaginable somewhere, protecting our rights of living and breathing as a human race. Beyond religion, politics, race, or creed, someone somewhere has died for a belief we have, be it Democracy, Socialism, Marxism, or Capitalism.”

“I have seen many names from others, here from other countries, serving for what they believed right. Even if I don’t have the same belief, they deserve to be remembered. Because with this job, this duty to one’s self and country, takes such dedication, it may cost you up to and including your life. And life being as precious as most vets see it, its what we sign up for. This is something we can’t forget. It’s something we won’t forget.”

“That is my story, but mostly, this is the story of everyone on this wall, a place to be remembered. This is why I came here every year to reflect on these great men and women who paid the ultimate price to protect what they believe. I forget who first said this quote, but it holds true in this instance, ‘ I would rather live and die on my feet, then live and die on my knees.’ ”

Bixyl Shuftan

Scenes of Halloween Weekend

The Aussie club "The Pocket," at Freestar Bay, having a Halloween Party late Friday Night.

Cellandra Zon, who runs The Pocket. Talk about going topless.

Saturday Night, the Cutlass Club at Sunweaver Air had it's Halloween Party.

And the fog when seen at "midnight" was pretty spooky.

Luskwood's Halloween party was Sunday, and the LM to get there led to this spot on the ground at the Perry sim.

And it led to a treehouse hundreds of meters in the air, which looked cool when viewed at "Midnight."

There was music by DJ, a few trivia contest questions with cash prizes, and a new avatar released. It's among the first with Mesh features.

On Monday, Halloween Day, the Queen of Hearts club at Mystery had afternoon and evening costume parties.

Later that evening, after the "treaters" had gone home on the East Coast, and still going house to house in the west, "The Happy Vixen" at the Purrfection Estates had a Halloween party to celebrate.

Happy Halloween Everyone.

Bixyl Shuftan

Gracie Kendal’s “1000 Avatar Project“ Almost at 2000

Recently, I met up with Gracie Kendal, the artist behind the 1000 Avatar Project. She was on her photo studio platform over the coyote sim, with pictures of numerous avatars around four high walls, along with a number of people waiting to be photographed, many socializing before and after it was their turn. They, or someone they knew, had answered a notecard she had sent out.


I would love for you to be part of my project on online identity/anonymity. I am shooting portraits today, come on by and hang out, chat and be part of my project. I have over 1221 portraits so far of some of the most amazing people I know. My goal is now 2000.


And among the people waiting to get their pictures taken, were the residents of the Sunweaver Estates, and friends.“Nydia, are you ready?” She asked Club Zero owner Nydia Tungsten just after I arrived, and the white vixen stepped into Gracie’s hemisphere photo stand. Among those whom had gotten their pictures earlier, builder Lomgren Smalls, and Club Green Meadows owners ReCoyote Minds & Perri Prinz. There was a waiting list board for residents in line,”If you are here and want to participate click enter on the waiting list.” As soon as Gracie was finished with someone, the name was gone fron the list and the rest moved upward. Those wanting in clicked on the board to wait in line.

The 1000 Avatar Project was started almost a year ago. Someone asked if this was a second project of Gracie’s, “thought we were doing Round 2. (grin)” “Nah,” Gracie answered, “same project just going for 2000.” “Good luck Gracie - I know you'll make it no problem. (smile)” “Thank you, Menubar. (smile)”

For the photoshoot, Gracie asked her subjects to b ewhatever avatar and wear whatever outfit in Second Life they felt best represented them. They could also have on any AO, or any kind of pose or dance, “You can use any pose, dance animation, gesture, etc. youd like. (smile)”, though did ask that any facelights be removed. Nydia chose to wear a fine dress, “I wanted to look my best for Gracie.” Others also chose their very best outfits, although others chose everyday wear. The pictures themselves sometimes caused Gracie’s computer to pause a moment, and she sometimes had to take a second or third to get just the right pose.

Gracie took pictures of both the front and the back, but those on the wall were of the backsides. With the furred avatars, there were jokes that Gracie wanted a better shot of their tails. Gracie’s explained in the notecard the backside pictures were partily an artistic statement of Internet aynamonimity, and partialy because users usually saw the behinds of their avatars most of the time.

Gracie told me that she had found out about Second Life through her family, “My real-life aunt and uncle had read about it in SPIN magazine. They came in and thoughth it was so cool. especially the art and music scene. They told me I should bring my paintings in. So I came in, and loved it. I think they regret telling me. (laughter). ... but I needed it at the time. I was suffocating in real-life, and this place let me breathe, weird as it sounds.”

“I was working on my Masters degree, living with my Mom and Stepdad at age 33. I had my own place, but was going to study abroad for a year so moved in with them to save money. Then that fell through so I was stuck living with them. It was very stiffling. Then my Dad passed away. It was tough all around. ... I can say SL saved me. But luckily I am finding my way back.”

Of her experiences in Second Life, “I had the usual heartbreak, blah-blah-blah. But it has been an amazing experience. I went to Europe and met some Second Life friends, which was so very cool !” Of her previous work, her most noteworthy was her "My Life as an Avatar" project, “which is what I did my Masters thesis on. That is about my personal relationshiop with my avatar. And before that, in Second Life I was known for my paintings. (smile)”

As time went on, more avatars came by. One appeared as a winged demonness, “since it’s Halloween.” Eventually when the last person on the platform had their picture taken, Gracie began putting the new photos on the highest row of blank boards. When a row was filled, she put a new one over it. And as more people arrived, she resumed taking pictures, staying until her shoot was over.

One can read more about the 1000 Avatar Project at http://1000avatars.wordpress.com/. One can also read about her "My Life as an Avatar" project at http://graciekendal.wordpress.com/.

Gracie Kendal’s next shoot is today, Monday October 24th at Noon SL time, high over the Coyote sim at (102, 156, 1430)

“Meet me at the installation!! Hope to see you then!!!!”

Bixyl Shuftan

Dahlia's Second Life Adventures

One thing about Dahlia Jayaram, she loves Second Life Adventures. Should you choose to interview her you will be doing it from a hot air balloon.

Dahlia completed the tour of the Blake Sea and Island communities in January and February. It's her favorite location because of the beauty of the sims she passes. She flew us past one of the bigger airports in SL. I leaned over carefully, not afraid of heights, just sim crossings.

"My first adventure was the Great Sailing Adventure in late 2009. It went from August to October of that year," she said while we hovered over Hollywood Airport. "I sailed from the southeastern most aspect of the Blake Sea and Island Communities around all the connected continents. I sailed everyday for six weeks."

Dahlia navigated the hot air balloon south toward Fort Sumpter stating that this was a very active travel area and that the Blake Sea was created for this reason. She began her balloon adventure in Jan. 2010 after finishing the sailing adventure in Oct. 2009.

As we fly over a popular pirate hide-out she jokes about the cannons facing toward the sea and that the pirates never thought about an attack by air. She navigates the balloon NW at speed 5 and tells me that like her sailing adventure, she'll write an Second Life book that covers it all while she continues her exploration on with the seventh continent of Corsica. She's written seven adventure books already.

"Have you ever seen the 3-sim long sailing boat, the SS Galaxy," she asks me, while directing the balloon southeast. "There are wedding chapels, exercise rooms, ballrooms, rental cabins, retail, helliports and I can go on."

Dahlia informed me that others have been inspired to have similar adventures. She considers that a great compliment and is happy that she's encouraged others to open their eyes to see beyond their usual boundaries.

Dahlia notices storm clouds and lightning ahead. She cautiously changes her hot air balloon's speed.

She tells me that after her sailing adventure, she wanted to find a way to include all of Second Life's regions that the sailing one could not. This is because not all continents are connected by a common body of water.

We hear the thunder as we enter the Temasek sim and we're hovering over the SS Galaxy again. A few sim crossings force me into the sea and we seek a more secure area to continue our conversation.

"The balloon adventure began Jan. 1, 2010," she begins to explain. "Because the Great Sailing Adventure could only include five of the 11 continents, I wanted to find a way to explore them all. Air seemed the next interesting way for me. I wanted to know more about the development of SL, so I wanted to start at the very oldest/first sim ever made and then fly to each continent in the order of their creation."

She considered it would make a natural progression. While she was still in the middle of one of the continents, a new one was created. It was established for new residents who wanted a free house and was named Nescera.

She anticipates her balloon adventure will be completed by the end of 2012. She has six more continents to explore.

What's next? Maybe a long distance swim. She's not sure.

Netera Landar

Burn2: The Burning of the Man

On Saturday at the Burning Man festival, it was part one of the closing ceremonies. It was time for "The Burning of The Man."

The real-life Man at the Burning Man festival in California could only be burned once, of course. In Second Life, it was brought back twice in order to accommodate the world-wide audience: European, American, and Australian/Asian at 11:30 AM, 7:30 PM, and Sunday 3:30 AM respectively.

"The Man," outlined by green neon tubing, is set ablaze.

"The Man" is soon completely on fire.

Before long, the structure begins to fall apart.

Onlookers cheered as "The Man" burned, "WHOOOOOOOT!!"

One wag sang a parody of "The Weathergirls," "It's burning man... hallelujah! It's burning man!"

Just the feet are left standing.

And this is what's left of "The Man," fallen half-burnt timbers, and a smaller bonfire.

Debbie Trilling shouted, "Pile logs on the fire to keep it burning. No logs, and it will die to an ember!" And pile the logs on people did.

The remaining fire was kept going for a while.

Debbie Trilling uploaded this recording of the burn on youtube.

Next: The Temple Burn

Pictures by Bixyl Shuftan and Gemma Cleanslate

Burn2: DJ Healer and Oberon Onmura

When it comes to Burn2 and DJs, one can’t go wrong with Qwark Allen. He invited me to listen, sending me a TP, and arriving at the desert I found myself in a platform high in the air with over a dozen avs around, Qwark in a sleek steel skin, resembling a “naked robot.” He was certainly one of a kind.

So who else was out there? One of my neighbors told me about another Burn2 DJ: Healer Ladybird. Before the festival, I went over and had a few words with her. She had been logging on since 2007, “I was never into games online but SL hooked me (grin). I used to go to real-life desert raves and was always fascinated with the DJs.”

She had wanted to DJ herself in real-life, but didn’t have the money. She searched for a place that played “underground” music, and found a club called “Piranha.” “They had live DJ that played all genres. .. It became my home ... I hung out there for almost a year until the owner there who was also a DJ, she said if I wanted to learn how to DJ she would let me play there (grin). So she helped me. I got my software & music and practiced like crazy for like 3 months. And I debuted at the club in Feb 2008 (grin).”

She had been attending Burning Life/Burn2 for the past four years, DJing for the past three. She had seen her share off odd sights there, “Even Barack Obama was at my set (grin), well his avatar.” She went on to say the name was a bit misspelled. A favorite build of hers was when someone built some “oil pigs” in the ground that were actually oil rigs.

On Saturday Oct1, the night after the opening day of the festival, she was DJing for a small crowd under a tent, playing psytrance to a small crowd, mostly women. This wasn’t the biggest music event at the desert, but Healer was having fun all the same.

Healer Ladybird’s next event is tonight October 6th.

“I always wanted to DJ in real life, but never got the chance to and SL has given me that chance. It’s my passion, I love to play my music and I hope they like to listen. (grin)”

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

A couple days later, I was walking around, taking in some of the sights of the exhibits. Some were colorful, some were odd-looking, and some were odd looking and colorful. On my mini-map, I noticed a cluster of avatars at one exhibit, so I went closer to investigate. The exhibit, at the corner of "Rod's Road" and "7." wasn’t too colorful, a pale olive color. But there were several people inside, and a couple girls went up to another man sitting up front, one saying, “I brought my bestest friend to see it.” They soon left, and the man, a Oberon Onmura, looked to me, “ Hello Bixyl, enjoying the Burn?”

I asked Oberon what kind of exhibit this was. He answered, “Well, I'm one of the invited artists. So this is an art installation ... It turns on when someone enters.” I posted out the avs already in there. He chuckled, “Oh no, they live there. The ones in there now are bots, the ‘actors on the scene.’ “

And it wasn’t long before someone else did walk in, and things changed. the lights inside looked different, and some odd music came on. Oberon explained the music was chanting Croatian monks. Maybe it was those bots, but the scene reminded me a bit of some UFO abduction experience.

There were other sights that night, but this was the one that came with its builder.

Bixyl Shuftan

Bid4aCure Date Auction Nets 276K for Diabetes Research

On Sunday Sept 25th, the annual Bid4aCure date auction took place. Held at the Temprus sim, the event began at 11AM and went on for a few hours. A few dozen men and women took part, standing on stage while the bidding took place, sometimes with Jocelyn Sands who helped organize the event. While they were on stage, a song that the participents helped pick played for the audience. Money raised went to the American Diabetes Association and Diabetes UK.

The entrance to the event had a small art exhibit with a few displays. One titled “A Drop in the Bucket” showed a huge container of blood, with drops trickling in from above. But those dops had people inside, symbolic of the charity’s theme. Besides the dates up for bid, there was also a “silent auction” held beside the theater, with a number of clothes, skins, and other items up for bidding.

When Shana Kosco was up for bid, the music she chose was hard rock tunes.. She described herself to the audience as “loves art, and BEER.” After some laughter, she joked, “At least no one has talked about my tequila habits.” Someone commented, “A date with Sahana will not be boring, that is for sure.” She went for several thousand Lindens.

EricSteffensen Mistwalker was bid to the song “So Cliche.” He was won by B&B owner Bundy Xue, whose venue took part earlier this year in the "Jam for Genes" fundraiser. Bundy herself was up for bid soon after, dancing on stage to the tune of “Crazy B*tch.” With the winning bid at 10,000 Lindens, she responded, "Skeat says I define a expensive chick." Baxter Hyun was bid on to the tune of "I Ain't Got Nobody." His winning bid was 5K by Panther Miklos. Leira Vaughan went for more, Duncan Bagley putting up 20K for her.

Musician Mack Humbridge performed a little of his music during his bids, with a few of his fans in the audience dheering a bit, one calling out an “It’s a Mack Attack” gesture. Another musician, Edward Lowell, just performed quieter guitar music. One whimsical fellow held a sheapard's crook and rezzed a bunch of sheep around him. This was just a sample of what went on. No doubt the antics continued during the whole event.

Nazz Lane, whom once worked for Second Life Newser’s predecessor SL Newspaper, went for 7,000 Lindens by Briawinde Magic. Talking to him after the date auction, he told me a total of 396,791 had been raised, “Not as much as bigger fundraisers, such as the Relay for Life, but we’re happy with the results.“

Bid4aCure’s website showed a total figure of over 700,000 Lindens raised just after the date auction. They have continued to hold events, and recently their season total passed a million Lindens.

To read about Bid4aCure's date auction in 2010: Click Here.

To go to the Bid4aCure website: Click Here.

Bixyl Shuftan

Pooky Amsterdam’s Talk on Virtual Worlds and Science Fiction

On September 15th, the Constellation sim hosted a talk by Pooky Amsterdam. She IMed her friends, “Greetings and salutations. I will be giving a small talk on the use of Virtual worlds for science fiction. Hope you can make it.” Getting to the SURL she provided, the location was a small auditorium with some Star Trek banners around.

Pooky addressed the audience, “As it has been said that we didn't create the universe, so we can not fully understand it. Yet we have created the virtual world, in which we can create anything imaginable. This is done with what are free building tools, here n the 3D world of Second Life. While much is recreated to reflect the outworld reality of the residents lives, there are opportunities for fantasy, science fiction and historic role play which are met. Enthusiastically talented, the creators of Second Life's vast and stunning array of virtual goods and content contribute much.”

“The legacy of science fiction has inspired many people to carve out tracks of the grid for space bases, futuristic cities and to sell everything from starships to transporters. All while wearing the latest 2520 fashion. While books give much for our minds eye to describe, it is thought out before us. Being able to immerse in a 3D world with other people provides a level of visual storytelling which is unique to us. And that can be unique every day.”

“A number of traditional media programs have spawned new virtual worlds like the upcoming BattleStar Gallactica, Star Trek, and Star Wars – Clone Wars. What Second Life provides is a way to create a new vision and interpretation, not just re-create and to role-play within it. There is a pool of resources within peoples minds that can and is crafted into being. That they can also be manifest virtually & sold is an incentive and this encourages a new way of investing in the future here.”

“There are designers and builders in Second Life creating assets and adventures which reflect the same design traditions of classic sci-fi, yet made out of prims, sculpties or now mesh. They also provide a great backdrop and wealth for films. Films can not be made without sets, costumes, props and all that makes for great visual story-telling. I feel lucky to be part of this kind of creative world which inspires.” Pooky then gave the audience a link to her own work in science-fiction, “Time Travelers” - http://www.youtube.com/user/pookymedia#p/c/0/gaR4nCQuSno

Pooky continued, “Science Fiction has allowed us to dream the future in ways that go beyond a somnambulist experience. The future set apart from now allows us to see our humanity from a distance, recognizing where we are heading, and how we are getting there. Writers such as Huxley, Orwell, Asimov and Heinlein have sometimes expressed it's darker side to a wide audience which has embraced these warnings, recognizing our weaknesses, along with our strengths in them.”

“I believe we are fairer people for having been exposed to those writers who can target our inherent humanity within any and every futuristic scenarios imaginable. Science Fiction has long served as a place where intelligent creation of mental experiments – the way a writer can create a word image to have the reader “experience” - what the writer is talking about. Has flourished, allowing us to lose ourselves in a world to which we don’t actually belong, but can actualize!”

“As we live our lives within worlds where the infinite is possible, and we are no longer grounded by physics of a gravitational sort, as we create literally out of electricity, our imaginations are unleashed. We are able to see ourselves not in just the minds eye, but in an actuality we feel because we are immersed in it. Is there more value in a story that is outside of ourselves, a book as it were that you can put down? Or is it in an actualization of a story we put ourselves into each day, allowing that story to be molded and shaped by the others we encounter during it. Both are valid, both are immersive as well, and you put down the book, or turn off the computer. We are writing the stories of our lives, and within the spaces we both carve out and inhabit in Second life, we are preparing for this future.”

“Now we can play and act out in public through roleplay games that are intensely personal and private. Where books can reach millions with concepts and ideas, our daily activities on the grid might not have the same reach, but honestly who cares? This is a form of exploration in story line, in allowing the reader to become the creator as well. As we read the text others generate, we incorporate them into the plotline we are actually living. When you roleplay in a Science fiction universe like Second life, the tools for creation go beyond the text -”

“When we recreate our adventures in a science fiction world as an ensemble we are crafting a collective story, a shared one that we replay not again in the solitude of our study, but in the arena of our friends and relationships. I don't see a time when the private reflections and true luxury of enjoying a novel or story alone will fade. We are cerebral creatures us humans, and do like to be mentally engaged. The stories we live daily – the trip to the doctor, the job we must attend to, the calls from our families we don't put on hold- this is the fabric of what will wind up to be the novel of our lives, and the pages we turn are the ones we fill up everyday. Our keepsake memories are on an interior roll of film we can play endlessly, or until another memory takes its place somehow.”

“We engage in science fiction here though in a way that would have been impossible 100 years ago because of what we can see and do here, because of the amount of projection of self into the daily film of our lives, for surely we are starring in our own cartoon movies everyday. Where what we saw was generated by masters of Hollywood special effects in the past has now been replaced by a much much broader contingent of creators, people we know. People who might not be working for Pixar, or Lucsfilms, but who are working and creating the components of a vision they have. And all within an expertise they develop.”

“Where what we saw was generated by masters of Hollywood special effects in the past has now been replaced by a much much broader contingent of creators, people we know. People who might not be working for Pixar, or Lucsfilms, bu who are working and creating the components of a vision they have. And all within an expertise they develop. Often training themselves, at all hours of the day or night to put that extra touch on that which our community sees and uses.”

“We don’t have one person writing the scenario we all act out upon. We aren’t really Keanu Reeves, or Laurence Fishburn, though we can get avatars who look just like them, and we can inhabit them as if they were really speaking. Then again Keanu Reeves is an actor, his part in the Matrix while replayed in Netflix and millions of DVD's is a finite story. Ours do not have to be, ours are evolutionary because they are scripted by us. We make this transformative jump into an other here, and our imagination is forced to deliver more upon the text – than we are when we read and our minds are compelled to imagine what we read. We are not following a narration, We are the protagonist, we are the hero or anti-hero.”

“Here we are seeing & being what we read – and so with these visuals intact, both a part of us and in front of us we must take our imaginations to the next level. This kind of role play experience, and dynamic venue creation and participation undoubtedly leads to story telling in a vast and dynamic framework. Then there is storytelling for those who rent as engaged let’s say.”

“A new computer program has been proposed called the The Infinite Adventure machine which generates fairy-tale plots. Based on structuring Russian folk-tales to 31 basic functions, TIAM aims to question the limitations and implications of attempts at programming language and narrative. Because the program is unable to deliver a finished story, rather only a crude synopsis and illustrations, users have to improvise, filling the gaps with their imagination and making up for the technology's shortcomings.”

“Sounds like another day in the life of lag on a role play sim. The story and narrative are part of the history of humankind. Without the great writers of literature, among them Homer, Shakespeare, Sir Walter Scott, Isaac Asimov, Vonnegut and so many many others we would not be able to examine the kind of human relationships we have through the characters of great story-telling.”

“What we have now is the ability to become those heroes in a fiction of our own making, allowing for the belief in our own romantic heroism to upgrade the fabric of our daily lives. And when we dream at night, we dream of this future we share with one another daily. As we can lose ourselves in the story we are acting out, we can gain value in the epic tales of battle or the smaller private moments we find illuminate the larger picture – Such is the attraction because we can and do project larger image of ourselves and in the world everyday. It is critical that we hold onto authoring these narratives for ourselve, and not allow others to dictate them to us. This is a great freedome and draw for virtual worlds in this arena of science fiction.”

“What if stories could tell themselves? A see an electronic billboard glowing in the darkness, with a massive auto generated section of news that no one is reading. Recently – I found Narrative Science, a tech start-up based in Evanston, Ill. that can take data from a wide variety of sources and turn that data into newspaper and magazine articles. The technology application generates news stories, industry reports, headlines and more — at scale and without human authoring or editing. Narratives can be created from almost any data set, be it numbers or text, structured or unstructured. And of course thought of - SF great Philip K. Dick who foresaw this development in the 1960's. In his short story If There Were No Benny Cemoli, he describes a vast underground computer system called a homeostatic newspaper which is computational journalism.”

“Philip K Dick was a genius writer, who was recreated as an android after his death, with an eerie likeness to the author, the robot featured award-winning artificial intelligence that mimicked the writer's mannerisms and lifelike skin material to affect realistic expressions. The voice software loaded with data from Dick's vast body of writing actulaly allowed the robot to carry on natural-sounding conversations, with biometric-identification software and advanced machine vision allows the robot to recognize people -- even in a crowd -- read their expressions and body language and talk to them.”

“Until the head was left on a plane during the junket for Through A Scanner Darkly – He was missing for years. The missing head of the Philip K. Dick android was discovered in St. Petersburg, last year and confiscated in an Interpol sting against the Russian software piracy syndicate ‘ Little Bear.’ “ (chuckles in the audience) “They were using the head basically as a portable hard drive to transport pirated ebooks, movies, games, and data between Russia and South America," said Detective Andrei Supernov. ‘ I think they thought it was funny.’ The head will be returning to the United States next week, where it will be rejoined with the body.”

“These are folk lore tales in a sense of heroes whose afterlives will generate stories to come because they were authors who reached many. We are also authors and our stories ring true with our authentic journeys. We are authoring them, we are actively in them - we are using new technology to tell us the story.”

“Innovega is working on display technology using contact lenses that enhance human vision to directly see near-to-eye objects like electronic micro-displays. This technology can be used to make see-through augmented reality displays using transparent OLED and LCD displays. With the abilities we have to create an unlimited array of virtual objects, and with the cost effectiveness that allows for legions of people to have access to the tools of creation there is no doubt that we will be using this 3 Dimensional space to advance prototypes outworld. While we have recreated much of the past, those of us on the frontiers of science recognize the value of these tools.”

“While I believe in butter more than guns, and ploughshares, more than arms, I understand that the Military has been responsible for advancing technology on many levels, and we have a debt to that. My greatest hope Is that the underlying deep nature of our humanity finds the positive, creative and beneficial to humankind as we can meet across borders within virtual worlds, eliminating hatred which comes from the fear of the unknown, and increasing our levels of tolerance and patience for eachother. Allowing us to live through our technology in peace and fulfillment.”

“Combining the various creative talents of us all, and that sounds like a good ending to the story we live every day.”

Pooky took a cew questions after her talk. Gandalf Nakamura asked, “How do you think that virtual worlds will envelope? Will they become more of a social network, or a place to gamble and to relax? Pooky answer included, “I think of virtual worlds as providing an antidote to loneliness … I think work is being done in that field.” Urza Flux asked, “How has Second Life developed your interest in Science Fiction Ms. Amersterdam?” Pooky answered, “It has helped me develop an interest in past sci-fi ... I've always liked sci-fi … can live as futuristically as we want.”

Bixyl Shuftan

Hurricane Irene Stories from Second Life

No other country is as heavily represented in Second Life as the United States, and millions make their homes near the East Coast. So when Hurricane Irene smashed onto the coast on August 27th and 28th with it’s wind, rain, and flooding, many of us were affected in one way or another.

Among those in the path of the storm, yours truly. And remembering Hurricane Isabelle several years ago knocking out power for a week, I was worried this would happen again. So I made sure I had enough canned food & bread, batteries for the flashlights, gasoline for the generator, and uploaded a few articles onto the Newser ahead of time. I also had a number of books to read, plus pencil & paper if I wanted to write (or draw).

On the day of the hurricane was dark skies, thick clouds, and the strong breeze made the trees sway when I looked out the window. And the rain, at times it fell normally, others heavily, and water pooled in places in my yard. I basically hunkered down at my house, watching the local news and going about my business on the computer, keeping in touch with friends in Second Life, not sure if I’d be knocked offline at any moment. The storm was its windiest about 3-6PM SL time (6-9 PM local time), but power stayed on until a bit after 6:00, just when I was starting to think it might not fail.

But power wasn’t out for long. Before sunrise, I woke to the sounds and sights of power coming back on. And it stayed on. In the morning, I went outside and saw no damage but fallen tree branches, which I spent about an hour cleaning up. I wouldn’t be spending a week offline after all. But it wasn’t that long ago I had to spend a lot of money to fix up the house, including cracks in the ceiling that came about after a bad storm. It’s possible the storm might have shaken the house up for future problems down the road.

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Others in Second Life had their problems. Grease Coakes lived further up the East Coast. “I didn’t go through a lot,” he told me, “it was just windy and rainy. I stayed inside, ... with food supplies I was fine. My neighbors didn’t think much of it. They were more unnerved by the earthquake. ... I’m used to rainy weather, but in all my life, that was my first earthquake.I thought the hurricane was overhyped by the media. It might have been worse in other areas, but here it was no big deal.” Grease lived some distance inland.

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SL Newser reporter Gemma Cleanslate was in the hurricane’s path in the northeast, “No wind or rain damage, but power out for about ten hours.” But many tens out thousands nearby were without power, “The town next to me, (power) will not be up for a week, they said. ... Our library was *full* of people to say, charging cell phones, just hanging around (chuckle) people we never saw before.”

“I think Vermont is really suffering, never expected this massive flooding. And the Connecticut River is going going to flood a lot. One farmer, a woman, who is about 45, took over her dad’s farming a few years ago and if the river floods her fields in the meadows, it will be devastation to all the corn down there. She had a bad harvest last year. This may be her last.” The farm was near where Gemma worked,”She almost quit then.” Later, Gemma told me the field was a total loss, “My farmer lady lost all her corn in the meadows. First timt I have had no corn for Labor Day weekend.”

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Reporter Xymbers Slade was also in the northern part of the hurricane’s path. He wasn't close to shore, well inside New York state far from the ocean, but still he was affected. He didn’t lose power from the wind knocking down power lines, but from an exploding transformer. When he called to see how long it would take, he was first told by the power company they didn’t know, then was given the impression his area was considered “low priority” and might have to wait a while, possibly more than two weeks. Hearing that made him feel, “Not happy. Not happy at all.” He was able to get limited access online from his public library, but couldn’t do much more than tell his friends to wait.

Fortunately, power was restored in a few days,and he was able to log back on the Grid. Xymber's Livejournal entry can be read Here (caution, adult language).

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Perri Prinz, DJ at Sunweaver Air and Club Zero Gravity and Internet Fantasy writer featured on Book Island, also ended up losing power from Irene. “As hurricanes go,” she posted in her journal, “it wasn't terribly impressive. Basically it rained a lot, but there wasn't a lot of noisy wind like I'm used to. And we had not a bit of property damage. I had gotten about 3/4ths of the way through my show at Cutlass when the power went out, and it stayed out for three days or so. But they were rather cool days. So we didn't miss the air-conditioning.”

Perri being imaginative, she wasn’t really bored, but listened to the radio and pondered, posting a few of her thoughts in her Livejournal entry later, “Another stray thought that cropped up over the outage was how easy it was to get on without electricity. Three days to do nothing but sit and dream. ... And I wondered at those who think it would be some tragedy if we suddenly had to do without all our electrical toys - like life just couldn't go on without them. How silly.”

Eventually power did come back, and it was back to Second Life, back to Book Island, back to DJing, and back to her friends. Perri's whole post can be read Here.

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Mystery hostess Monique Corbeau lived around the New York area, and told of some of the damage there, “New York got hit bad. We had very large waves, the winds were crazy. Trees went down. No electricity yet for most of us where houses flooded. Even when it passed, we still had the winds. Most of the Island, in some spots, still no electricity. My son’s (workplace) has none. ... My husband’s (workplace) has none too. We have friends who don’t have any. My house doesn’t either, staying with family until it comes back. ... Hoping for electricity tomorrow, they said it might be days.”

“We never get hurricanes, or even tropical storms, so it was bad for us. ... The news was talking about it for days. They evacuated us fast and good.” Asked if her neighbors took it seriously and got supplies, “yeah, when you went to get supplies, there was no more. So I left being by the water and went inland to family. Just their houses were flooded. One friend in Virginia, he said tree, floods, still no power for him. A tree went through his house. ... He said thank God he was at a shelter and not home.”

“We need to be better prepared next time. So many homes destroyed, and insurance companies won’t help.” Asking her for details, “will drop you, they say. Don’t like the sound of that. They say your coverage for floods might not be covered. ... We have (flood insurance), but they said it’s for a certain kind of flood. ... That’s all the news said. I guess we’re not under flood insurance for hurricanes because we don’t get them. ... Most don’t have cell service or phones right now.”

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Live singer Debi Late, who performs in Second Life, was south of me in one of the barrier islands in North Carolina where the hurricane first hit the coast. She described details on her Facebook. Starting Thursday August 25th, she began posting about it, including weather maps of where the storm was and it’s projected path, “I'll be online as much as possible until power and/or internet service go kaflooey this weekend. We're expecting a pretty direct hit from Hurricane Irene. I'll keep you all posted on how we're doing!!” The hurricane was just one thing she posted about, others being about a cold, which caused her to cancel a show, and about the armed forces. Her friends posted her messaged wishing her well, and not to take chances, “Please be safe, Debi.” “I’ll be thinking about you.” “I’ll keep you in my thoughts and prayers.”

Although she could evacuate to away from the storm, her husband was “essential personnel,” so she stayed in the area. She did make the decision to leave her house to go to a shelter, “starting to wrap my head around packing all the important things in my house and taking them to the fire station where we will ride out Hurricane Irene. But I suspect my house will be very wet after this. So, computers/photos/scrapbooks/the works, is all getting relocated, today.”

The hurricane being downgraded got her attention, but she wasn’t taking chances, “Looks like Irene is weakening a little. But it'll still cause flooding of our area from the west. So I'm still leaving my house and hoping I don't have too big of a mess to clean up when I get home.” By evening, the move was done, “We're at the fire station now.... it started raining just a little bit, around 6 or so, nothing major here, yet. That'll happen starting in the wee hours of the morning.”

She got up early Saturday morning to check things, “We're having winds around 60 - 65 now, I'm hearing power is flickering. But this building has a generator, so we'll be ok. And the modem is on a UPS so I'm still online.” By late afternoon, water was being blown back onto the island from the west, “guess I'm going to have a wet house to return to.”

On Sunday evening, the hurricane far to the north, she posted, “We got our butts handed to us with this one. It was nasty, but we're alive. My house is flooded, but, it's stuff and wet clothes. No biggie, folks. We'll just relocate to something. Living in the fire station now. I know lots of prayers were working. Just popping in on someone else's computer ...” Two days later, she had concluded her home couldn’t be saved, “Our house is going to be a total loss, had about 2 1/2 feet of flooding in it. I'm working to salvage everything that's still dry, then we'll work on finding somewhere to live. ... This was the worst storm ever to hit our island.”

Needless to say, logging onto Second Life was out, “I won't be singing in-world for quite a while, till I'm back online and in a house at some point.”

But friends wanted to help out. Among them, “Just Because” clothing store owner Annie Melson. She posted, “Terk and I are wanting to help Debi Latte and her husband rebuild their life after the hurricane. I put up donation vendors in my store (link provided) to help Debi. EVERY cent will go to her. I'm also in the process of making a special outfit where all proceeds will go to helping Debi and her husband rebuild. Please donate! We love you, Debi!!” She was putting aside her work on her mens’ clothing for the fundraiser outfit.

I sent Annie a message asking about her helping Debi, and she later answered, “Yes, I have placed donation kiosks in my stores and another location to raise money to help Debi and her husband, and I'm creating an outfit that all proceeds from that will go to her as well. My husband, Terk, is also contacting others to help organize some special events to help bring in funds that way too. I'd like to get more kiosks out there so I'm willing to place the kiosks anywhere anyone will let me place one, and I've talked about it on my facebook page and group notices to help bring awareness. We just really want to help Debi and Mike as much as we possibly can. She's a good friend and an incredible person, and she deserves any help that can come her way.”

Annie’s store is at Taupo (60, 180, 36)

So for Debi Latte, sadly her experience with Huricane Irene is not yet over. Hopefully she’ll be able to get a new home soon. For those with a Facebook account, you can read her posts Here.

Sources: Debbi Latte's Facebook page, Symphonic Rock Productions, Xymber's Livejournal

Bixyl Shuftan

Interview with Avination's Cindy Darkstone

While at the Avination aniversary celebration, I looked for someone to interview to ask a few questions about this other grid. Who answered me was Cindy Darkstone, the founder of the "From Second Life to AVN" group. So we met up later on the Avination grid, yours truly using his not-so-foxy Avination account Bixyl Sands.


Cindy Darkstone: Ask away and I will answer any questions you have. (smile)

Bixyl Sands: Sure. Where did you first hear about Avination?

Cindy Darkstone: From my friend Azzkicker Darkstone, he was in Avination just about the first day.

Bixyl Sands: When did you first come here?

Cindy Darkstone: Feb 6th 2011

Bixyl Sands: How did your experience here go?

Cindy Darkstone: I have been in the opensim grids since Aug 2007, so for me it was as I expected it to be. It was running well, and had some functions the other grids didn't have at that time.

Bixyl Sands: What functions did it have others didn't?

Cindy Darkstone: In Game Currency, Enhanced Permissions, Search, Groups and many estate land functions.

Bixyl Sands: I recall you saying you were in Second Life. How does Avination compare to it?

Cindy Darkstone: Many of the same types of functions are available in both SL and Avination, but the cost of the land is much lower, the access to the grid staff is much better, security and customer protection is much better also.

Bixyl Sands: What would you say Avination's biggest challenges have been?

Cindy Darkstone: I would have to say the growth has been a challenge to keep the software and servers able to handle the large volume of users and assets, but the grid staff has done well since Feb to upgrade and enhance the software to accommodate.

Bixyl Sands: What places would you reccomend newcomers go? Which for those familiar with other virtual worlds such as Second Life, and which ones to people completely new to virtual worlds?

Cindy Darkstone: It is hard to say, but the Avination Welcome sim has a mall and also staff there to help with any questions at all times.

Bixyl Sands: For those looking for a good place to explore, what places would you reccomend?

Cindy Darkstone: That is a good question.. I am a member of many groups, and we get notices of new events and fun places to vist, like now I am at Pappy's Club and Melanie the grid owner is the DJ for us.

About this time, Cindy got bumped offline. But we met later to finish the interview.

Cindy Darkstone: In Second Life, there are many people doing the same things. Here there are less people, so less are doing what you do. So (there is) a better opportunity for many to create a business. (smile) Also I am (the) co- Founder of Galaxy Corporation. I operate the AVN division. My SL name is Cindy Vichan. I am not as active in SL anymore, but my partner still is working the SL shopping centers we have. I run the AVN Galaxy Corporation office and services.

Bixyl Sands: What does Galaxy Corporation do in Avination?

Cindy Darkstone: We sell skins, shapes, clothing. We have a game called Galaxy Token Game, where people play and get tokens to be used for renting land, stores and purchasing merchandise, shopping center stores, pre fab buildings, and we are building a directory type system to help people find places in the grid.

It was about this time Cindy had to go, and we went our separate ways.

Bixyl Shuftan

Ludo Merit and the Prism Walk

The best way to interview people at a grid-wide Second Life event is simply to do a shout out. I'd taken pictures of SL8's birthday party on my real-life vacation. I wanted only those interested in networking with me to come forward so I said in the group chat, "Who wants to be interviewed?" One of the first people to reply was Ludo Merit.

The concept for Merit’s Prism Hero Walk was created in the late 1980s. She first considered her idea a game.

"But as I developed it in Second Life, I began to see that my 'market' is not gamers, but helpers and those who needed help," Merit expressed. "I played with the idea for years, and then I heard about SL and came here specifically to develop it."

She read Sam Keen's "The Passionate Life' and Max Luscher's "The Luscher Color Test" at the same time and put the two together. Shortly after she read about Joseph Campbell's hero journey and went to the Mythic conferences in Georgia, she merged the colors of the hero journey with Sam Keen's life stages.

"Because we are all heroes, and each of these steps is a step in the life of a hero according to Campbell, it's called a hero's journey rather than an individual's. The journey was created from myths and legends from all over the world.

After teleporting to the Prism Hero Walk sim, read the directions inside the building on the floor. Begin by standing on the brown square. Click on the picture on the wall to get information, which appears in local chat. There are 11 more and the colors represent the following:

Brown tells of your parents’ unconditional love and need to protect you. It helps you to understand why you leave the safety of your home to explore.

Yellow declares a child's need to explore. You make friends and discover they have different approaches to play and lifestyle.

Gray symbolizes the beginning of rebellion and finding one's own path.

Purple is the age of self discovery. Drifting, dreaming and setting goals.

Red has you coming forward to take your place in society. You have to prove you’re worthy of a quest.

Chartreuse places you into your quest and down the path of obstacles.

Black signals loss and the desire to get it back.

Aqua is returning from the journey, tired, scarred and having personal growth.

Green names you as an experienced member of society. You are now known for your wisdom.

Orange has you recognizing the fact that change is necessary.

Violet symbolizes the jester/fool who is not afraid to express him or herself.

Blue leads you to the realization that your quest has ended and now you can focus on yourself.

"People who read and answer the questions for themselves, I hope, see that their lives are very much like the Campbell hero life," said Merit. "Most of all, know that you are a hero, that we all are heroes and every kind of hero is needed.

To get to the Prism Heroes Walk, head to Prism Lila (60, 59, 22)


Netera Landar