Monday, November 23, 2015

The LEA 3 Entrance


By Gemma Cleanslate


You know that I visit the LEA sims often to check out the installations in each of the artist regions. Sunday I got a notice that Eupalinos Ugajin installed a bar near the entrance . Knowing his fun loving ways I went over to take a look. Though  looking like a normal drink serving one  it gives some interesting items when you click.  I say go see and collect. The ‘drinks’ are from friends of Eupalinos.  He also dropped some of his other pieces in the area that are interactive so click away. He always has fun items where ever he builds. I had fun opening the gifts and using them. 


I love his artist statement “My work explores the relationship between postmodern discourse and skateboard ethics. With influences as diverse as Kafka and Joni Mitchell, new insights are synthesised from both simple and complex layers. Ever since I was a student I have been fascinated by the traditional understanding of the human condition. What starts out as triumph soon becomes corroded into a carnival of futility, leaving only a sense of unreality and the inevitability of a new reality. As shimmering forms become frozen through diligent and diverse practice, the viewer is left with an insight into the darkness of our world.” Food for thought. 
 
I took a picture of the entrance to the LEA welcome area that shows most of the regions that are complete and  are open for visiting and this is how it looks when you start from the entrance . I enjoy doing that because you can tp right from the posters for each sim by clicking to get the slurl. You can choose your site to visit.
Gemma Cleanslate

Friday, November 20, 2015

Saving Prims


By Becky "Sha" Shamen

In December, 2015, this writer will celebrate six years in Second Life. For much of that time, I have been an active member of the Sunweaver Community. Being an active member entails more than just showing up for all the social events. A good citizen receives much from being a member and, in return, gives back his services to the rest of the community. They do this by helping those in need, showing a positive and joyful attitude and enhancing the local economy, by renting homes and shops on the community's sims.


Aside from location, key factors for renting are how much will it cost and how many prims will be allowed in the rented area. Regardless of how many prims are allowed, by the time your home starts feeling like your personal piece of heaven on earth, you'll be wishing for a few dozen more prims. Over the years, I have found a number of ways to save prims, while still decorating to get my home to be an extension of my personality. I'd like to share some of what has been learned, in this article.

A good way to personalize your home is to add pictures on the walls. Pictures of your friends, adventures you have been on, things you have built and classic paintings you love can say a lot about the resident, but, at one or two prims each, will quickly eat up your prim allowance. One of the first ways to reduce the number of prims is to make a texture that contains multiple pictures, frames and the transparent space between them included. Doing this, you can cover an entire wall with pictures, using only one prim.

Nice furniture also takes up prims. Fortunately, many shops offer low or one prim furniture, complete with animations. One of my favorite vendors is "Primpossible" and they have a number of great items for furniture and landscaping.

More recently, I have discovered other ways to save prims on displayed pictures. While researching an article, about the Lionheart Community, I walked around all the sims, to take in the atmosphere, chat with the locals and do a bit of shopping. While on the Ahadi sim, I found a shop, called "The Frame House". They have a large assortment of ornate picture frames. Each frame costs L$200 and is only 2 prims. You can edit the contents of the frames to contain dozens of your own pictures and it will then display them, like a slide show. I bought one, then, and have yet to find any limit to the number of pictures that can be added. When I returned to the Frame House, to research this article, I decided they would be a good way to display some of the countless avatars and costumes in my inventory, so I bought another frame. The Frame House also has two photo back drops, for singles or couples. Each has many background photos and poses. I go back often, just to take more pictures.

There is another slide show, that I have, which serves the same purpose while adding a social gathering place. It's called, "Victorian Magic Lantern Show" and is 7 prims. It has a fancy projection screen, 6 benches (seats 12) and a steam powered slide projector. The best part is, this slide show is FREE. You can find it at the Marketplace at the AleyMart merchant. They have 1328 items and they're all FREE. If you want to see their products in world, head on over to  Arcadia Asylum, on the Mieville Pond sim. Be prepared for an adventure there. Everything is unique and interesting. Every time I visit there, I come home with a dozen new toys.
"Sha"




Monday, November 16, 2015

The Brooklyn Bridge at LEA25


By Gemma Cleanslate


I think almost everyone in the world may have heard of the Brooklyn Bridge. If not, it is a very famous bridge that connects a Brooklyn, a borough of New York City, to Manhattan. It has a rich and interesting history.  It is always busy with foot traffic, taxis, cars, buses and other forms of transportation. People often try to sell it to an unsuspecting target. 
The Bridge has been beautifully recreated in Second Life, in LEA25. There is a lot going on over there that you should see and experience. It is the collaborative effort of a group of SL  artists and each has inserted their own pieces next to, or on the bridge and in the sky.  At the landing point you will find information cards with all the artists information. Misprint Thursday sent me  the artist’s names : Alpha Auer, Bibbe Oh, Maya Paris, Mikati Slade, Simotron Aquila, and of course Misprint herself. You can find out all about each one and their past art in the notecards.
“The Bridge is a mixed reality project which will happen in two phases.  The first phase of the project includes the installation of virtual art on the virtual Brooklyn Bridge. The second phase of the project includes mixing the images of the virtual view with the real images and views of the Brooklyn Bridge.” is the description of the project as a whole. 
It is all interactive so be sure as you cross the span you touch all that you see. Be careful though! I wondered why I  touched "OohBabyKittyCatYeah" as I dangled high above the span upside down! I will let you read about part 2 yourself.( I have to figure it all out) 

Gemma Cleanslate

Monday, November 9, 2015

Garden of Dreams


By BloodyKitty Resident

Welcome everyone to this sim, which is called, "Garden of Dreams" or *GOD* for short. This land is owned by a group of the same name, and is located in the region of, Garden of Dreams, ironically. Now there isn't any specific event or true theme going on but it's simply a place to relax and enjoy the beautiful Fall scenery. Whether your alone or with friends there are special places to sit with and without animations, basically poseballs. My friend basically brought me here so kudos goes to them for showing me this beautiful place. 

From what it seems this sim is a good size and has a good amount to explore if you like taking slow walks along the trails and green grass to find new things you may of seen or may not of. Now while I haven't explored it all, I still recommend it as a hangout place for yourself or even bringing a few friends along who can appreciate scenery and relaxing music. The awesome thing I find is that in the description of the tp you can buy Skyboxes as well as shrubby like shrub, landscape, trees, flowers, and all kinds of architecture in general. While I haven't bought anything from Garden of Dreams due to me not needing it yet I still recommend looking at the items on sale as a gift for yourself or someone else.

Like I said before, this is one beautiful place to go if you want to escape the hassle of annoying people on voice chat, trolls, or even just everyone in general if you are going alone here. Now while I have nothing against people who are on voice chat, I find them to be annoying sometimes and it's very awkward when your typing and their using their mic. Besides all those small problems of my own you should come on down and take some time to lay in the grass!
 
Garden of Dreams (126/35/91)
 
Bloodykitty