Tag Archives: ZoHa Islands

Landscape Designer Extraordinaire: Antinéa Torok

by

Antonea Torok

One of the most frequent questions that ZoHa Islands staff receive from residents, is “How do I get my parcel (or sim) landscaped? Will you do it for me?”

Unfortunately, ZoHa Islands staffers don’t usually have time to help residents with making their property look amazing. However, Second Life has many talented landscape designers, and one of the outstanding ones is Antinéa Torok.

Antinéa Torok

Antinéa Torok

Antinéa has been in Second Life for well over seven years. She is partnered in Second Life to Callum McAuley. She has a wonderful, self-depracating sense of humor. Antinéa speaks French and English. Her talent for building and design is evident in her breathtaking Flickr page.

I highly recommend that you check it out. You can find it by clicking on this link: Antinéa’s Flickr Page.

If you are in need of an amazing sim designer, please contact her inworld and she will discuss your landscaping and designing needs.

In addition, she is a ZoHa Island resident and all around good egg. 🙂

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

Meet Your ZoHa Islands Staff 2015!

by

About a year ago, I did several posts on getting to know your ZoHa Islands staff. We have had people come and go since then, although fortunately we have a great core group of people that have stuck with us through thick and thin. We have also been fortunate enough to have some new people on staff and I thought it would be good to get to know them, too!

LoveeDi Resident

Q: How long have you been in SL?
A: 10 months

Q: What drew you to SL in the first place?
A: I have friends that are here.

Q: How long have you been with ZoHa Islands, and what is your job?
A: I’ve been with Zoha about a month or so and I am an Estate Manager

Q: Have you held other positions with ZoHa Islands?
A: Sales Agent

Q: Have you worked other places in SL? If so, what are they?
A: I owned a club where I also acted as DJ and Host. I was a Host for Brimstome and Kountry Korner. I currently own and auction house and act as Auctioneer called Midwest Breedables.

Q: What do you like to do in SL? Do you have any favorite places?
A: I love breedables of all kinds, and can usually be found at an auction house or shopping with friends.

Q: Tell me a little about your RL, if you’re comfortable doing so. Are you married, kids, hobbies, etc?
A: I am married to my best friend and have been for going on 4 years in September. We have grown kids and grandkids which are my pride and joy, the grandbabies are my world in RL. I enjoy playing on the pc, movies and reading reading reading. Im a city girl turned country from Texas and love to fish and boat.

–•~~❤~~•–

Christara Hallstrom

Q: How long have you been in SL?
A: I originally came to SL in August of 2005. Since then I have created several different avatars in order to do different things within SL, such as clothing creation, building, roleplaying, and more.

Q: What drew you to SL in the first place?
A: I actually heard about SL because of the boyfriend I was with at the time. His parents were having troubles because of this game so we checked it out. I immediately was drawn to it. SL is my escape as well as my means of social interaction. I am a functioning agoraphobic. SL allows for me to get out in the world with less anxiety and panic attacks. Many of the people that I have met have become a huge factor in my RL and I have met several people from here that have become like family to me.

Q: How long have you been with ZoHa Islands and what is your job?
A: I started ZoHa Islands back in November of 2014. I started as a sales agent and then in January of 2015 I became an Estate Manager.

Q: Have you held other positions with ZI?
A: Sales agent

Q: Have you worked other places in SL? If so, what are they?
A: Well, I have been in SL for almost 10 years. I have worked in clubs as a host, dancer, and DJ. I have managed clubs as well as owned them. I have my own clothing store as well as a building store. I have worked in sales, management, and advertising for a variety of businesses. I have been an estate manager at another company as well as had my own successful wedding business. I can honestly say that I have done a lot of things and I am sure there will be a lot more to come.

Q: What do you like to do in SL? Do you have any favorite places?
A: I love to build and making clothing. If I am not working, I am usually on my sim trying to build something new or work on making new clothing for #themeshproject avatars or mesh clothing for everyone. I do tend to visit friends, but like in RL, I am a homebody. I love to just hang out with those I am close to and just chill and listen to music. Occasionally we fish, play greedy, swim, dance, and more.

Q: Tell me a little about your RL, if you’re comfortable doing so. Are you married, kids, hobbies, etc?
A: I am not legally married and dont plan on it anytime soon. I do not believe in marriage after my first one failed miserably. I currently have a polyamorous relationship and love it. I have some wonderful kids, both biological and not that I would not give up for the world. If I am not in SL, which is rare, I am usually gardening, walking, or spending time with my friends and family. I am very down to earth and laid back. I am the same in SL and am true to myself.

–•~~❤~~•–

Wendy Kinsella (misswendy.divine)

Q: How long have you been in SL?
A: Over 10 years.. Dec 22, 2004

Q: What drew you to SL in the first place?
A: My friends and I came here from The Sims Online game. Don’t remember who it was that actually found SL but we came in a group of about 15.

Q: How long have you been with ZoHa Islands, and what is your job?
A: I’ve been with ZoHa Islands since Nov, 28, 2014, and I am an Estate Manager

Q: Have you held other positions with ZoHa Islands?
A: I started out as a Sales Agent

Q: Have you worked other places in SL? If so, what are they?
A: Years ago, I had my own Internet radio station that was popular in SL, as well as other online games. We had many DJs and Producers, all bringing music to the best places in SL, before DJs were all free agents. Over the many years I have been with SL, I have had a lot of different jobs. I have worked at a lot of clubs in SL as a DJ, a Host. or a Manager, of some kind.

Q: What do you like to do in SL? Do you have any favorite places?
A: My big love in SL is my MC. I belong to a Motorcycle Club and it is a great bunch of people. No matter where you go in SL, if you are dealing with people, sooner or later you will have some kind drama, sooner or later. What I like about the bikers is that usually, if a biker has a problem with you, they come to you. I like people who are up front. You can visit our club by clicking this link: Motorcycle Club. Also, I am into Pet Peddlers Breedable Fish. They are a lot of fun and the people that breed fish are the friendliest group I have met in SL. I have done a lot of different breedables and I love the way the fish breeders really team together. Click this link: Breedable Fish

Q: Tell me a little about your RL, if you’re comfortable doing so. Are you married, kids, hobbies, etc?
A: I live in Texas, USA.

–•~~❤~~•–

If you see any of these three lovely ladies around ZoHa Islands, give them a shout out and say hello.

Stay tuned; I will be profiling other new staff in the coming days and weeks.

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

OnLive Sold, SL Go To End April 30th

by

Sadly, a product that was filling a gap for people with older computers and people who wanted to access SL on their tablets is being discontinued.

The folks at Firestorm announced that OnLive issued a press release revealing that their company has just been acquired by Sony, and that Sony will not be continuing the SL Go service. In fact, it appears Sony has purchased OnLive for its patent portfolio in cloud gaming for their PlayStation product only. OnLive has stated that they will continue the SL Go Service until April 30th and that any new subscriptions will be free until their last day.

See the article on Firestorm’s website here: OnLive Sold, SL Go To End April 30th

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

Unia: Unleash the Monster Within

by

Squee!!

As those of you know who read this blog regularly, I am a huge MadPea fan. They just finished “Buried.” Coming up on April 20th is Unia. I cannot wait!!

Unia by MadPea

(p.s. I hope you realized that Wednesday’s Post was an April Fool’s joke by Linden Lab. 🙂 )

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

Linden Lab Announces 2D Side Scrolling Project Viewer

by

April 1, 2015: Second Life’s Official Blog posted about a new Project Viewer! They are introducing 2DSS Mode — or 2D Side Scrolling Mode. Think Mario Brothers in Second Life.

Screenshot of 2DSS Viewer

Screenshot of 2DSS Viewer


Linden Lab states:

“There’s been a lot of excitement recently around our integration of the Oculus Rift with Second Life. The addition of HMD (head-mounted display) mode offers a new level of immersion for 3D experiences, but what about people who want less immersion?

“Today, we’re happy to announce a new way to explore the wide variety of community-created experiences in Second Life, without the complexity of the third dimension: 2D side-scrolling (2DSS) mode. Without the third dimension, you can enjoy Second Life just like your favorite 8-bit games from the past!

“Note: while this new mode is compatible with HMD mode, we do not recommend trying both simultaneously. If you were to turn your head 90 degrees while doing so, the world may simply disappear from view – causing a rather jarring experience that might make you feel a bit foolish.

“The new 2DSS mode is available as of April 1, 2015, and you can now download the Project Viewer to start enjoying some retro-future fun in Second Life!”

Download the Project Viewer here: 2DSS Project Viewer

Hurry! This viewer will not be available after April 1st!

I remain respectfully yours,
~ Suzanne Piers, ZI Social Media Manager

Second Life is Alive and Well!

by

I know I have been doing a lot of reposting of articles lately but there are a lot of good ones out there.

Second Life’s Facebook page posted a link to an excellent article recently posted in an e-Zine called “Good,” about the life cycle of Second Life, and that despite it’s detractors, Second Life is alive and well and thriving! It’s really nice to read some positive things about Second Life, instead of the usual articles decrying that SL is nothing but a den of iniquity and ruiner of RL marriages and relationships.

It also has some interesting information about SL. For instance, did you know that SL was inspired by the Metaverse in Neil Stephenson’s 1992 seminal sci-fi hit Snow Crash?

The article talks about SL’s rapid rise to fame: “From 2006 to 2009, optimism about this new space reached a fever pitch, with dedicated reporters, travel guides, and hundreds of businesses clamoring to get in on the excitement of a whole new universe within our own. Researchers flooded into this alternate world as well, examining all the ways one could use Second Life to, say, help Asperger’s patients develop their social skills in a specially tailored, therapeutic safe space.”

The article also refers to the notion that SL became a dystopian, dirty, and absurd world in a post-2009 crash as humans fled back to the predictable dynamism of the real world.

But then the article takes a hopeful turn. It states:

“Though that’s not quite the whole story. In truth, Second Life remains quite alive, clocking a million active users per month as of 2013 and up to 13,000 new users ever day. The site may actually have a larger, more stable population as of today than it did at its 2006-to-2008 peak of popularity and respectability. Yet we don’t hear about this continued vibrancy in Second Life, mainly because it’s no longer thought of as a space for general populations to enhance their lives. Instead it has generated a second life of its own as a uniquely attractive hub for globally dispersed subcultures to join together. These groups can create whole worlds that unite them, transcending role-playing and turning their ideologies into a comprehensive society.”

You can find the article in it’s entirety by clicking on this link: Second Life is Staying Alive.

And try getting that song out of your head after reading the title of the article. Excuse me for now; I’m going to dust off my Bee Gees album!

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