Second Life Residents Come to Nepal’s Aid

Join Hands

One thing that I love about Second Life is the way its residents come together to help when there is a need. There are many annual events for causes such as Relay for Life, Feed A Smile, and many other charitable organizations. SL residents continue to give generously to help those less fortunate than themselves, often raising hundreds or thousands of RL dollars for various causes.

The devastating earthquakes in Nepal over the last couple of weeks have left that country in shambles. Valsnia and Ruby Ornamental, two Second Life residents and bloggers, have recently formed Join Hands, a virtual group they would like to see “make a difference to the real world we live in. Not dedicated to a single mission but the spirit of Humanity.” As the inaugural activity for Join Hands, they are organizing a four-day fund-raiser in support of the people of Nepal following the devastating earthquakes.

Fashion for Food SL is an event that has been organized in order to raise money to donate to the UN’s World Food Program (WFP), which focuses efforts on bringing assistance and relief to the outlying regions of Nepal. This will allow Nepal’s government to concentrate in coordinating their efforts along the Kathmandu Valley. The WFP estimates that US $116.5 million is required to provide food for 1.4 million people for a period of three months – that’s US $27 per person per month.

Fashion for Food opens at 2:00 p.m. SLT on Wednesday, May 13th. The opening event is a special fashion show by SCALA™. It will be followed by an after-show party hosted by DJ Seashell Dench from SCALA™. Clothing and jewellery from participating designers can be purchased from the vendor boards throughout the region, with all proceeds of sales, as well as all donations received going directly to WFP in support of their work in Nepal.

Designers from across Second Life are donating to and participating in the event: 69Park Ave GQ, Amarelo manga, Ana Markova, Astralia Alice Tartaglia, Aura Yeu, Ayiki, – AZUL -, Baboom Couture, CIRCA Living, CORPUS Motion, Dulce Secrets, ~ghee~, ~~ Glitter Girls ~~ and In-Pose, Glitterati by Sapphire, Hawker’s House, ImmateriA, J’adore poses, JCNY Collection, .:JUMO:., K E L I N I Haute Couture, Lazuri. Look @ Me Design, LUXE, Lyrical Bizarre Templates, Mâchoire, M&M Clothing, Me Sew Sexy, Moondance Boutique, NYA’S Shop, No 7, Petit Chat, Prey, Prism Designs SL, PROMAGIC, RAPTURE, Athena Couture, SF designs, Silken Moon, ::SG SLackgirl ::, Snowpaws, TASHI, Totally Random, Vestige Poses, Xen’s Hats and Zanze. All proceeds of the sales through the vendor boards will be going to support the WFP to deliver food to the people of Nepal.

Indian Paradise is the region hosting the event, and it has been designed to re-create an environment which has been shattered by an earthquake, offering a glimpse of the devastation in Nepal. The fashion show and events area is located towards the center of the region, while paths winding around the region take you past the vendor boards, which will be available throughout the four day event.

The planned schedule of events for Fashion for Food is as follows:

• Wednesday, May 13th, 2015, 2:00 p.m. SLT: Fashion Showcase by SCALA™Models

• Wednesday, May 13th through Saturday May 16th 2015: Outfits and jewellery from the participating designers are on sale throughout the region, with all proceeds going to the WFP

• Thursday, May 14th, 2015, 12:00 noon SLT: DJ Bonie Facio

• Saturday, May 16th, 2015, 2:00 p.m. SLT: closing party with SCALA™ DJ – Seashell Dench

Fashion for Food is being largely organized by the Indian community in Second Life in support of their neighboring Nepal, with the event region being sponsored by Indian Paradise. Note that if you would prefer to donate to the WFP’s work directly, you can do so via their Nepal relief work page. Click on the following link to go to their page: Nepal Relief Work Page

You can find the landmark to Fashion For Life by clicking here (won’t be open until 2:00 p.m. SLT on May 13th): Fashion For Life SLURL

Research for this topic came from the blog Living In a Modemworld

Please come out and support this worthy cause. If you cannot attend events inworld, please consider donating either to WFP directly, or with Lindens in SL through Join Hands.

I remain respectfully yours,
~ Suzanne Piers, ZI Blogger/Social Media

Oculus Announces Rift Launch in 2016

Oculus has announced their plans to debut their highly-anticipated VR (virtual reality) headset in the first quarter of 2016, saying that it hopes to “transform gaming, film, entertainment, communication and much more.”

It is anticipated that VR headsets will revolutionize virtual environments such as Second Life (it is my understanding that the “Second Life II” is being built with virtual reality in mind) and High Fidelity, the VR virtual world project currently in alpha testing by former SL CEO Philip Rosedale.

Oculus is probably the most well-known name in the pool of Virtual Reality headset makers, as their Rift headset has been in development for several years. Until now, most virtual reality technology has come in the form of prototypes and development devices shown at trade shows and high-profile announcements. Rift’s launch has been highly anticipated, with some analysts speculating that if Oculus didn’t hurry up and launch, that other companies such as the Vive, a brainchild of a collaboration between Valve and HTC, would edge them out as a contender.

Meanwhile, Sony announced intentions to launch its own virtual reality headset for its PlayStation 4 video game console, called Project Morpheus. Samsung has also thrown their hat in the ring, with their announcement that they plan to launch Gear VR, a version of the headset made to be compatible with Samsung smartphones.

Oculus itself was the brainchild of a virtual reality enthusiast Palmer Luckey, who co-founded the company in 2012 after a mix of money and encouragement from industry veterans. Oculus held a crowdfunding campaign through Kickstarter that generated more than $2.4 million in pre-orders for its prototype. Facebook bought Oculus for $2 billion in 2014.

According to an article on CNET.com, “Analysts say they aren’t worried which company launches first. Part of the reason is that the resources and investment necessary to attract game developers to make specialized content, as well as the cost of research into next generation technology, leave a lot of opportunity for deep-pocketed companies to duke it out for a while.”

Here is C|NET’s review of the Oculus Rift headset.

Click here: C|NET’s First Look at the Oculus Rift Crescent Bay Prototype

Click here for complete article on cnet.com: Oculus to launch long-awaited Rift virtual reality headset in 2016

I remain respectfully yours,
~ Suzanne Piers, ZI Blogger/Social Media.

Spring Homestead Sale!

Zoha Islands General Pictures_005

Have you been considering ZoHa Islands as your home? Looking for a full homestead in the best estate company on the grid? Now is the time to make your move!

Zoha Islands is having a spring cleaning sale on FULL Homesteads!

Your price: $7250L per week!

PLEASE READ ALL RULES AND LIMITATIONS BELOW!!

• Regular price: $7696L per week. That’s a savings of $446L per week!

• A full homestead is 65536 sqm and has 3750 Prims – it comes with full Estate Rights to change sim rating, terrain textures Etc.

• It can accommodate up to 20 avatars at a time. This is perfect for residential homes or lower Traffic stores and businesses.

Rules & Limitations:

To be eligible for this pricing you must meet the following criteria:

• New or Returning Residents of Zoha Islands only. (Friends & Family referrals) Even if you just want to come back!

• Upgrades – i.e. you own a half homestead and want to move to a full homestead rental for more prims/land

* Be in good standing with your rental payments, i.e. not be late on a weekly basis

Restrictions:

• If you currently own a homestead, you cannot claim the lower price or ask for it, unless you are buying an ADDITIONAL homestead in addition to your current rental.

• If you own a homestead and purchase an additional one at the sale price, and you give up the original one down the road, the $7250L price will no longer be valid and your tier will revert to the same as your original one.

Contact one of our Sales Agents or Estate Managers today and grab your homestead at this amazing price before they’re all gone!

Come to our Sales Office by clicking here: ZoHa Islands Sales Office.

If you’re a current resident looking to upgrade to take advantage of this amazing price, simply ask for help in group chat.

I remain respectfully yours,
Suzanne Piers, ZI Blogger/Social Media

Viewer Managed Marketplace In-world Feedback Session on Fri., May 1st!

Linden Lab is hosting an in-world feedback session tomorrow (Friday, May 1, 2015) at 11:00 a.m. SLT! Read more here:

From the desk of Jessica Lyon, Project Manager for Firestorm Viewer:

“If you create and sell content in Second Life and you haven’t heard of the upcoming “Viewer Managed Marketplace” changes; listen up because this impacts you! We’ve all ranted at some point or another that Linden Lab doesn’t listen to our feedback enough. Well things have changed and LL HAS been listening and asking, but getting very little return from it. Now is your chance to have a voice, be heard and be part of the development process! While this is not a vote, the expression still fits “If you don’t vote you can’t complain”.

“This Friday LL is hosting an inworld feedback session in hopes to hear from merchants and viewer developers about the upcoming marketplace changes. If you aren’t familiar with Viewer Managed marketplace there is plenty of information available. LL Links below! Please try out their beta and provide feedback on Friday!

“LL Invitation to their feedback session. Click here to request invitation

“LL Info about the beta launch including a Torley Video! — Click here for info and video

“Members of the Firestorm team will be there and we hope to see some merchants too!”

Jessica Lyon
Project Manager
The Phoenix Firestorm Project, Inc.

The post on Firestorm’s Website can be found here: SL Marketplace Merchants Listen Up!

If you’re an in-world merchant, consider going to the link provided and requesting an invitation to Friday’s feedback session!

I remain respectfully yours,
~ Suzanne Piers, ZI Blogger/Social Media

Machinima In Second Life

One of the things in Second Life that fascinates me the most is machinima.

Machinima is the use of real-time computer graphics engines to create a cinematic production. Most often video games are used to generate the computer animation, such as Second Life. Machinimists use external software and 3-D mouse to capture gameplay in Second Life, and then edit it, add music and effects much like regular videographers do.

Second Life’s Facebook page posted a machinima that is extremely well done. I love the effects. I thought I would post it here for you to enjoy!

I remain respectfully yours,
~ Suzanne Piers, ZoHa Islands Blogger/Social Media

MadPea’s UNIA Game is Open!

Unia
MadPea has really outdone themselves with this game. I have not yet tried it, but plan to this weekend when I have some time. This is their most complex game to date, and it operates much like an MMO, with a combat HUD and everything. They call it an “MMO within and MMO” and it is likely to be their best yet!

Please see their website for full details on how to participate in this game. I highly recommend reading it, as it is very complex, but so exciting!

See you in UNIA!

Click here to read more! How To Play UNIA!

I remain respectfully yours,
~ Suzanne Piers