Category Archives: NEWS

Going West In Second Life

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Inspired By The Experience!

Posted by Inara Pey
Les Salines, February 2023 – click any image for full size

Shawn Shakespeare suggested I might like to drop into Les Salines, the latest region design from the pairing of Tolia Crisp and Dandy Warhlol (Terry Fotherington), offered under Tolia’s Frogmore brand. And for those who like westerns, it might well hit the spot.

Apparently located on the edge of the “Mojave Desert Refuge, Arizona”, Les Salines offers an interesting and curious mix. On the one hand, it has all the look and feel of the Old West: a town sitting on a desert plain, its wooden buildings lining a couple of rutted tracks, the earth packed and hardened by the passage of uncounted hooves and wagon wheels. Sidewalks are little more than boards fronting the various businesses and laid out over the bare earth between them – doubtless offering little in the way of dry footfalls when the rains decide to pay a visit.

Les Salines, February 2023

Frogmore presents Les Salines: A full region, wild west adventure from Tolla Crisp and Terry Fotherington. Everyone is welcome at Les Salines and Frogmore group members have rezz rights. The town is jam packed with details with visits to the saloon, bank, blacksmith, photo studio, general store, hotel, and much much more! Be sure to check in with the sheriff as well! Everyone is also welcome to join their photo contest and a notecard is available at the landing.

Les Salines Destination Guide entry

A sign indicates the town was founded in the 1860s; but precisely what caused settlers to establish it is unclear, but a mine (or quarry) might be responsible, perhaps being the site of a gold mine; or perhaps, given the local waters, it became a natural place for stagecoaches heading west to pause in their journeys; or perhaps that same water made it a suitable point where the locomotives could quench their huffing thirst.

Dominated by a large hacienda overlooking the town (and another a short distance away, apparently long deserted, Les Salines may equally have grown up as a result of a rail head being established here in order to ship cattle eastwards for and the hungry bellies of America’s growing cities.

Les Salines, February 2023

Whatever the reason, the town, with its fancy signage facades over its various businesses, has clearly seen better days. Their walled flanks and flat roofs all look tired under the heat of the Sun, and stage and brush is starting to intrude into the heart of the town, suggesting its population might be in decline.

The founding of this town is just one of its mysteries; another is the period it represents. On the one hand, the buildings, the stage and reliance on horses and wagon points to a time perhaps in the latter part of the 19th century – say the 1880s or 1890s. This is perhaps supported by the photographer’s studio (photography having moved west in the decades following the US Civil War) and the presence of the rail lines.

Les Salines, February 2023

However, the train sitting on them appears to be hauling fright cars from a more recent era, whilst the overhead cables which switchback their way down the main street look more akin to carrying electrical power than in echoing the taps of a telegrapher’s touch on his key. Not that any are actually hooked-up to any of the buildings their poles stand alongside as they zigzag over the street.

 

Further mystery is added by the fact that while the Mojave sits mainly within California, it does extend out and east into both Arizona and Nevada – although the Desert Refuge (aka the Desert Wildlife Refuge / Reserve, founding in 1936) sits within the Arizonan corner of the Mojave (a place also, and coincidentally, home to the infamous Groom Lake and also Nellis Air Force base.

Les Salines, February 2023

Of course, Les Salines doesn’t have to reside anywhere in the US west (hence the sign noting in sits on the edge of Nowhere!), but these little suggestions give the setting a sense of mystery and mixed age when allow the imagination to run free when visiting. They also offer lots of opportunities for informal RP for those so minded – although the primary aim is to present a photogenic location; and as the Destination Guide notes, there is a lot to see, indoors and out.

I will note that with shadows enabled I did find my viewer struggled a couple of times when flycamming and / or loading textures, but on the whole, Les Salines makes for an interesting and engaging visit.

Les Salines, February 2023

SLurl Details

Les Salines (rated: General)

Have A Great Week From All Of Us At Zoha Islands/Fruit Islands

Love Made in Second Life

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Meet Ajay and Syn

Can real people find true love in a virtual world? It’s happening every day in Second Life and our “Love Made in Second Life” series explores how romance and long-distance relationships can thrive in the metaverse!

Ajay McDowwll and Synapse Zabelin met in Second Life, fell in love, moved together in the physical realm – he from Mississippi, she from Florida where they still are today-  got married and, spoiler alert: Ajay and Syn are still together today, after almost 16 years!

The story begins on the original Help Island, where Syn volunteered when newbie Ajay dropped in. They struck up a friendship and the rest, as they say, is Second Life history!

We asked them more about the history of their relationship.

How long have you been together?

We met in 2007 and have been married since August of 2009.

What was the initial spark where you kind of knew that you were possibly “meant for each other”?

Ajay:  Honestly, I can’t remember some sort of “Aha!” moment.  I’ve been divorced twice, and I was very straightforward with him that I was never getting married again because picking an appropriate spouse was clearly not in my skill set.  Syn was okay with that; he said he’d still be right here.  And he was… and he is.

Syn:  I knew when I would log in and felt disappointed if she wasn’t inworld.

What does Second Life mean to you?

Ajay:  SL’s influence on my life is wide-ranging, from social activities to music, to creativity… I can actually build things inworld!  I loathe Blender with the fire of a thousand suns and still, rage quit it regularly, but using the built-in tools SL provides, I’m able to create any number of things.  Shoot, I finally actually put something up on Marketplace (there is one entire item in my store), and someone who doesn’t even know me purchased a copy!

For the arts scene, the diversity of both visual artists and musicians in SL who perform live is phenomenal.  Many of these people have become acquaintances and friends in the physical world also, thanks to random meet-ups and organized events like the SL Live Music Jams.

Syn:  SL is a creative outlet, a place to meet new people with varied interests.

What advice would you give others who meet someone in SL and are not sure if they should pursue a relationship?

Ajay: What I would say is it’s totally reasonable to give an SL relationship the same chance as you would a relationship that started in the physical world. You already have one thing in common, and SL is a stronger tie than just bumping into someone in the produce section at your local grocery store.

Syn: Go slow. Friends first, then the rest will happen if it’s in the cards for you.

You guys left SL at one point. Why?  And why come back now?

Ajay + Syn: We left SL primarily because we were newly married, I had young kids, and we just had a lot to concentrate on in the physical world, both with our relationship with each other as well as our respective jobs and the children’s schedules and academic needs. But we maintained our premium membership so we always had a home to pop back into and it was that home that brought us back into SL.

I checked my email one day to find a note from Quianna Greymist of Angels asking about the 1024 we had, and if we were interested in selling. It turned out that all of the land surrounding our plot (512 for each of us) had been purchased by Angels, and we were literally on an island in the middle of a runway.  We came back inworld to complete the land sale in October of 2019, looked around, and asked each other, “Why did we ever leave?” 😃

Nearly a decade’s worth of stipend being saved up made it very easy to update ourselves to mesh!

Love Made in SL.png

Video Production by Draxtor Despres
Logo by Marianne McCann

Have a great week from all of us at Zoha Islands/Fruit Islands

New Website Tracks Genuine Second Life Activity

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New Website Tracks Genuine Second Life Activity, Filtering Out AFK Users & Traffic Bots

Bonnie Site Second Life traffic

Most active sims in Second Life as of 1:30pm PT

BonnieBots is a new website tracking genuine Second Life activity, and the homepage is an incredibly useful guide for finding SL sims with real, active users — as opposed to traffic bots used by many sim owners to artificially appear popular.

“The biggest complaint we hear is, ‘I logged in and couldn’t find anyone else,’ or some variation of, ‘Seemed abandoned’,” as site owner Bonnie Belle explains. “The Destination Guide is worthless. Official traffic numbers just take you to ‘AFK” places or worse’.”

“We wanted to do better.”

A developer in real life, Bonnie’s solution is elegant: Create better bots. Hence the site’s name.

Here’s how:

Bonnie bot in action

Above: A Bonnie bot, tirelessly on patrol

Bonnie’s bots explore the Second Life grid, counting the number of avatars on each sim. That data is then collected by Bonnie to register daily activity trends.

Bonnie bots avatar distribution

She shows me data on a specific sim (at right) to explain what she means.

“Take Lagoon Retreat right now. They don’t seem like they ever run bots. Must be an event there.

“If 40 avatars sit on a sim 24/7, let’s assume that isn’t a busy sim, that’s just AFK avatars or bots. So instead we show change in avatar counts. If 40 people joined that sim in the last hour, that sounds like a sale or a good party. And it works 30% of the time maybe.

“I have fun finding new sims that way and seeing what the happenings are,” Bonnie adds. “It doesn’t play favorites or require any moderation to keep up-to-date. That’s perfect for a lazy developer like me.”

And no, Bonnie says she’s not doing this to start an SL analytics consultancy or something like that.

“There’s no business aspect,” as she puts it. “We’re just bored and really like Second Life. We think it’s fun and interesting.

“We hope the information makes SL more enjoyable especially for new users. And we just think it’s all kinds of interesting. Now everyone can see the abandoned land, not just land barons. That’s a win in my book.”

The only people who might not benefit from BonnieBots might be traffic bots — and Bonnie herself:

“One of the Bonnies was banned for ‘gaming traffic’… [but they] don’t stay at a location long enough to game traffic.

“We get a lot of messages from people threatening to file abuse reports for stalking. I think people see Bonnie at two different sims and assume it’s an ex-lover following them.

“But we’re trying to communicate more.”

Much more here.

Have A Great Week From All Of Us At Zoha Islands and Fruit Islands.

A statement against war in Second Life

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Guernica: a statement against war in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
London Junkers: Guernica – January 2023

The greater portion of humanity’s history can, unfortunately, be told in terms of conflict and war. Whether driven by territorial desires, religious zealotry, political expediency, or inherent ethnic / racial divides, wars large and small, tribal, national or international have pockmarked the stories of successive civilisations. With the 21st century just into its 23rd year, we have already witnessed some 27 significant conflicts and wars around the globe – roughly twice the number seen within the first two decades of the 20th century.

Little wonder then, that London Junkers has chosen as he latest installation – opening on Wednesday, January 11th, 2023 at 13:00 SLT – to bring back Guernica, his 3D reproduction of Pablo Picasso’s famous oil painting, regarded around the world by many through the years as the most moving and powerful anti-war painting in history.

For those unfamiliar with the painting, from mid-1936 through until late 1939, Spain was torn apart by a civil war between the then-Republican government (notably aided by Soviet Russia and by Mexico) and the Nationalists, lead by a group of generals who had failed to seize power in a coup d’état in mid-July 1936 and were aided by Fascist Germany and Italy.

London Junkers: Guernica – January 2023

As a part of that conflict, General Francisco Franco called upon the German Luftwaffe’s Condor Legion and the Italian Aviazione Legionaria to bomb the small – but to the Basques, historically and culturally significant – town of Guernica. Ostensibly, the raid was to deny retreating Republican army use of the town’s bridge to cross the Oka River. However, the use of incendiary bombs later the later raids carried out by the German Condor Legion and which set the town ablaze, does suggest the the bombing was intended to break the spirit of the Basque army.

The attack levelled almost all of the town, with it and the strafing of roads and streets by fighters was seen as a war crime. On hearing about the raid at his home in Paris, Pablo Picasso was horrified. Already been commissioned by the Republican government to produce a painting for the Spanish pavilion at the 1937 Paris International Exposition (and to raise funds for the Republican cause via exhibitions around the world), he decided to express his outrage at the murder of women and children – both of whom he saw as “the very perfection of mankind” – through a painting commemorating those lost.

London Junkers: Guernica – January 2023

In all, the painting – over 7.5 meters long and around 3.5 meters high – took Picasso 35 days to produce, and while it was the result of a commission by and for his nation’s Republican government, and he was himself an anti-fascist, and thus vehemently opposed to the likes of Franco, Hitler and Mussolini, he saw the painting as a means to express his overall abhorrence to the war and the effect the actions of both sides was having on his homeland.

The Spanish struggle is the fight of reaction against the people, against freedom. My whole life as an artist has been nothing more than a continuous struggle against reaction and the death of art. How could anybody think for a moment that I could be in agreement with reaction and death? … In the panel on which I am working, which I shall call Guernica, and in all my recent works of art, I clearly express my abhorrence of the military caste which has sunk Spain in an ocean of pain and death. 

– Pablo Picasso

Interpreting the painting tends to be subjective; while there is clear symbolism throughout, some of which is clear – such as the woman on the left mourning the loss of her babe-in-arms; the woman with arms upraised to the right, the lick of flames both above and below her, the fallen, dismembered soldier -, so to is there symbolism (or metaphor) which is harder to discern. The presence of the bull and horse, for example; both animals have enormous significance in Spanish culture, and would appear to have significance here – but Picasso himself warned against reading too much into their presence other than, perhaps, as symbols of his nation.

London Junkers: Guernica – January 2023

But that said, the overall horror and destruction, the pain, death and sorrow that surround war is all too clearly evident throughout the piece. As such, when visiting London’s installation, I strongly recommend viewing it from far enough back so you can see all of the piece in a single frame such that it might be viewed as the original. From here all the nuances of the piece can be seen, such as the way the horse’s nose, nostrils and teeth offer a stylised human skull, for example. By moving / camming close helps to bring individual pieces within London’s interpretation of Picasso’s work, allowing us to ponder their meaning.

This symbolism also extends to the landing point / event stage for the installation. Sharing the same black / white / greyscale tones as the painting, this area features two Junkers dive bombers (not actually used in the Guernica raid, but utterly symbolic of the terror of warfare), swooping down on the stage. Between them, a dove – the symbol of peace – sits trapped within a sphere, a symbolism which speaks for itself. Above this sits the trunk of a tree, representative of both the line of Gernikako Arbola, or [oak] Tree of Guernica – a central facet of the Biscayan people (and by extension, Basques as a whole); and the third tree in the series (1858-2004), which  miraculously survived the bombing of the town. Finally, two board on the stage provide, respectively, an introduction to the installation and London’s own indictment of war, in the form of a poem, might be read.

London Junkers: Guernica – January 2023

When writing about the original presentation of this installation in 2012, I noted it might be said that the bombing of Guernica washed away the last vestiges of the romanticism so often afforded war through word, verse and idealism. Sadly, it did not bring an end to war itself, as witnessed by the events that followed on the heels of the Spanish Civil War, and all the conflicts since, per the opening comments of this piece.

In this, and given all that is occurring within Ukraine in particular (and before it, Georgia), the return of Guernica to Second Life at this time helps reminds us that so long as we are driven by the need for power, for dominance (and dominion) over others and in elevating politics and / or religion above our fellow humans, the innocent will continue to suffer under the yoke of war.

SLurl Details

Second Life Avatar Featured in Legendary Opera House

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On The Continued Cultural Reach of the Virtual World

Cao Fei Vienna Opera House China Tracy Second Life

In case you missed it over the holidays, the New York Times’ story on the use of contemporary art displayed in major opera houses casually mentions that “the Chinese-born multimedia artist Cao Fei is showing a female avatar — a dystopian, pale-white head so imposing that signs have been put up all over the [Vienna] opera house to alert spectators to its presence.”

That avatar is actually China Tracy from Second Life — she still has an active account in SL, look her up! — who’s been showing up in Cao Fei’s art projects since 2007:

In a really great early machinima (watch below):


Also in a virtual real estate sale at Art Basel in Miami.

And then a whole city in Second Life which was then depicted in several top galleries and art museums, including the New York MOMA.

Cao Fei SL art

And so on. This is another key way in which Second Life continues to be a model for the Metaverse. While say Roblox and Fortnite have much larger user bases, you will see little evidence of them in culture outside gaming. And definitely not in a top art museum or opera house.

Because in the end it’s not just about raw user numbers, but cultural reach, and what is often called “thought leadership” — a perspective that influences how the broader society thinks and engages with the concept of virtual worlds and the Metaverse in general. (And, yes, I’ll be writing much about that in my book.)

Top photo credit: Andreas Scheiblecker/Museum in Progress

Have A Great Week From All Of Us At Zoha Islands/Fruit Islands

Second Life Regions Report 2021 To 2023

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Good news to start 2023 of with is that Second Life has been positively been growing since 2021. During the past few years Private Estates have increased by at least one thousand regions and Linden Owned regions have increased by at least 500 regions.

Hopefully region growth will continue though 2023 and we will be blogging any major changes during the year ahead. Stay tuned for those updates in (March, June, September and December 2023) on our blog.

Below are the region counts from 2021, 2022 and now 2023. More growth in 2022 it appears and hopefully there will be growth in 2023/2024. It’s not known if 2023 will any easier than 2022 was with the cost of living going up globally (risk of another recession). We will have to wait and see what happens.

Total Regions

  • 3rd January 2021: 25, 555
  • 2nd January 2022: 27, 231
  • 1st January 2023: 27, 659 – (1812.66 KM)

Private Estates

  • 3rd January 2021: 17, 024
  • 2nd January 2022: 18, 332
  • 1st January 2023: 18, 370

Linden Owned

  • 3rd January 2021: 8, 531
  • 2nd January 2022: 8, 909
  • 1st January 2023: 9, 289

All data supplied via the Second Life grid survey.

New Grid Statistics 2023

Second Life Main Grid size as of 1 Jan 2023

Ownership Total General Moderate Adult Offline Total Area (km�)
Total 27659 2580 17254 7821 4 1812.66
Linden Owned 9289 1583 7299 407 0 608.76
Private Estates 18370 997 9955 7414 4

1203.90

Have A Great New Year From All Of Us At Zoha Islands/ Fruit Islands

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