More Pictures from the Neighborhood
I know I haven't been posting much of substance lately. An online friend and I have been working on a semi-secret project for the past indeterminate time period, and I don't want to give away any details until we're ready. But, trust me, it's quite nifty (if I do say so myself). Watch this space!

But enough of that. At the... Ahem... Request of Walker Spaight, editor of everyone's favorite muckraking SL rag, here are some pictures of the eye-wateringly impossible (and just downright slick) in-game headquarters of the Second Life Herald. Actually, I'd wanted to include some pics in the last batch, but I couldn't figure out how to get the whole thing in frame without it being too fuzzy to see when they were shrunk down to viewing size. But, dopey me, it didn't occur to me to just crop the pictures differently until late last night. Sigh. Well, I guess the day wasn't a total loss. I learned something.


The Herald Building

Looking down the corridor at the Sci-Fi Desk
Posted by Moriash Moreau at 11:06 AM - 1 comments

 
Pictures from the Neighborhood
During my lunchtime SL visit, I took a few stereo images of some of the builds in and around my plot in Louise. These are all in cross-eyed stereo format.

This first one is Ingersoll and Bard Aesthetics in Abitibi, just across the sim border from me. This is the main storefront for Laura's art and Chrestomanci's microprim jewelry. (I also have a little widget vendor in the back.) It's not really this barren. I had to turn off the trees, because it was windy out and the swaying was messing with the perspective.


Here's one of the picnic tables in the Garden of Mo. On top is a picnic basket that dispenses sandwiches and drinks. (For a limited time, there are also copies of my HoloReader versions of Eastern Standard Tribe and Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom, if anyone is interested in getting copies in that format.) In the background is my little pond, and a couple of the building's for OmegaX Zapata's SL University project.


Here's my wishing well. (Modeled after a RL version built by my dad.) I'd planned on making it the entry to an underground house, but I never could get the teleports and the camera views to work out properly. It tends to ruin the illusion of being underground when your camera keeps revealing that your "cavern" is in fact 300m in the air. Behind the well, nestled in the weeds, is the Grave of Hope. I was having a really bad day when I built that. I really should delete it someday.


This is Rising Water, built by Bix Stavinsky. It's located in Abitibi, just north of the Garden, and east of OmegaX's Librarium. The pictures don't do it justice. The walls and stairs look like soap bubbles, or perhaps oil on water. There's also some nifty ice covered ponds on the broken ground below. I've always been partial to this build, and I wish Bix would return to finish it. Unfortunately, Bix hasn't been on since early May. I'm going to be sad when this land reverts to Governor Linden.


Here's a random prefab marble mansion in southern Abitibi. The white tablets at upper right are for-sale markers for Anshe Chung's real estate concern. They've been there for months. Large chunks of Louise are occupied empty rental plots and small fly-by-night apartment buildings. Louise and Abitibi just don't seem to be very hot properties. They're located at the "end of the world," which is sometimes desirable for houses (because areas outside of sims appear as water, making world's edge land appear to be oceanfront). But their location at the edge of the grid, in combination with the distance from the telehubs (over 800m), also places them far from the normal flight paths. As such, clubs and retail ventures seldom last long in my neighborhood. That suits me just fine. With any luck, no new sims will be added to the east any time soon.


An attempt at a treehouse in southeast Louise. You can see a bit of the Herald tower to the right, and the front of the Librarium to the left. The land in southeast Louise has had a particularly high turnover rate. In the last few months, it's had several pre-fab houses, gaudy first-builds, ill-conceived shopping centers, and closed-before-they-open clubs. In fact, there's a neat little swamp-themed shopping center just a bit south, based on the new continent fishing village library buildings. (I would have photographed it as well, but it's currently littered with unphotogenic red and white Rent-o-Matic boxes.) I don't expect it to last long.


Another view of the Librarium. I air brushed out the second hand on the clock, to conceal the elapsed time between the left eye and right eye images (about 15 seconds). You can see a bit of Rising Water to the right, as well as a partially built tattoo shop (the reddish mound on far right that looks a bit like a mantle clock). The latter has been rebuilt three times now. At least they don't have a giant revolving sign this time.


Here's the Second Life Interactive Theatre. This is apparently another abandoned build. I haven't seen the builder in quite a while. Too bad. She had some interesting ideas about improvisational theatre and other drama-related activities. This was her First Land build (512 square meters), and was thus necessarily small and intimate. She had plans to build a larger stage when things took off. Hopefully, she'll come back soon. SL theatre has had a dismal track record so far, and it'd be nice to see someone make a decent attempt at it.


And, finally, here's a view of SkyPod 3 by the light of a blue moon... Which is somehow reflected white... On the nonexistent water that appears beyond the camera cutoff range. Still, it's kind of a neat picture.


Posted by Moriash Moreau at 11:27 AM - 1 comments

 
Nothing to Report
Yeah, I know, it's been a bit quiet around here lately. Nothing worth mentioning has been happening in SL lately. (And by the standards of this weblog for what is worth mentioning, that is really saying something!) I've been killing a bit of time with the EVA Project, but mostly that has just been scrambling to follow everyone else's work. Eventually, I plan on getting caught up enough to actually contribute something of substance to the cause. So far, my discoveries have been minor and/or trivial. I guess we'll see.

In the meantime, here's a random picture (cross-eyed stereo view) of a dark alley in Nexus Prime, "the Cyberpunk City of the Future." Someone has clearly watched Blade Runner one time too many. Nexus Prim is located (appropriately) in Gibson. It's one of the oldest projects in SL, and is well worth the time to visit. I guess I'm a sucker for theme builds. I'd suggest you either expect to teleport out or bring a phantom attachment with you, though. Once you're inside, it's dang near impossible to find your way out.


Posted by Moriash Moreau at 11:36 AM - 0 comments