Immerse Yourself in the Art Box

“Art Box' - fully recreating famous photo's & paintings in 3D so your Avatar can star.
Photograph your own recreation - you become both the artist and the art!" That is the description of the Art Box in Klaw, by Violet Sweetwater and Frankee Rockett.

I spent some time there having fun! You arrive on level one. TP to level 2 or level 3 and you can choose a picture that you like from a host of choices. 

Click the picture and you will tp to the set and there you can put yourself into the picture and click away! It is great fun and you will love the choices.

There are new additions every week I understand. 

Here are some of the photos and paintings I chose. Get over there and have some fun!! http://slurl.com/secondlife/Klaw/6/21/46 .

Gemma Cleanslate 

The Cool VL Viewer

The computer I've been going about Second Life in has been the same one I've been using since regularly logging on, for a bit more than five years. Windlamp wasn't around when I got it, let alone mesh. And it seems more and more, I've been finding mesh objects where I go, whether it be clothes and hair, vehicles, or as part of a build. Problem is, the viewers I've been using, Singularity and Imprudence, don't support mesh. And the objects appear as ovals and shapes instead of clothes or whatever else they're supposed to. The latest version of Phoenix that I've been using can see it sometimes, but it's buggy. When I had a chat with Tonya Souther, the head of the development for Team Phoenix's Apple viewers, she thought my computer was probably too old for the latest Phoenix viewers.

So I've been getting by with what I have for now, trying to put a little money aside for a new computer, eventually. But with a mortgage on my house while earning a laborer's salary, easier spoken than done. And given the current economy, I've been more reluctant to part with my money than ever. While there is the option of a cheaper PC computer, I still have memories of my old one taking a long time to start up, and of course the time for virus checks and defraying. And then there's Windows 8 of which I've heard can lock up a computer to the point it becomes useless and has to be thrown away. Maybe the sour luck I've had with machines over the years has made me edgy.

But recently a friend, Lomgren Smalls, told me about a viewer that should help, the "Cool VL Viewer."

Formerly known as the "Cool SL Viewer," the developer Henri Beauchamp explained on his website he first created it in response to Linden Lab being unable to "account in a timely manner all the patches and big fixes which the open source community provides." He made the first version in November 2007, and has been updating it since, sometimes more than once a month. Besides the Apple version, there are Windows and Linux viewers as well. Cool VL isn't among Linden Lab's approved list of viewers, but I was willing to take Lomgren's word that giving it a try would be a good idea.

In the case of the Mac Viewer, clicking on the downloaded software will result in a window popping up, where the viewer can observe the prioress while it either downloads the Snowglobe DMG from Linden Lab's servers, or if you already have it in the same location, it skips ahead and uses that. It takes the Snowglobe files, and makes them part of the viewer, "Once it's done, you can copy the Cool VL Viewer app where you want it," such as applications.

Once it was downloaded and done with, I double clicked and brought it up, logging in … and it worked!  Everyone took a little time to becloud as usual. But the man in the mesh avatar, instead of rezzing into a bunch of squares and shapes came out more or less normal. He didn't come out perfectly, instead of hair I saw a couple of knobs on his head. But still, the difference was like night and day. Going about, I could see cars and other vehicles where I once saw just shapes. So it would seem the viewer was a success.

The viewer isn't perfect. In one area with lag, some mesh items I happened to have on couldn't be seen. But others in the place commented they too were having problems due to the lag. And of course the viewer settings may need to be reconfigured to what one prefers, such as IM tabs appearing top to bottom on the window instead of left to right. The "Preferences" offer a "Cool Features" tab as well. It *may* handle lag slightly better than Singularity. I have yet to see how it does for flying or air combat.

There has been some talk about Linden Lab essentially shutting down Viewer 1-based third party viewers in some months, which is for another article later. But until such an event, Cool VL seems to be just the viewer for those older computers that can't handle V2 or V3 based technology or Phoenix.

The Cool VL site is at http://sldev.free.fr/ . 

Bixyl Shuftan.

Content Creators’ Conflict Leads to Fundraiser

     A conflict involving allegations of copyright infringement and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) have resulted in one resident’s creations being removed by Linden Lab, and her friends and fellow content-creators holding a fundraiser to assist in her.   They also hope to focus attention on the issues raised by the DMCA.   The One Voice Fundraiser is being held at Mesh (18, 131, 22).

     The controversy is between Gala Phoenix, owner of Curio Skins, and Hush Darkrose, owner of HUSH Skins.  The issues involve not only copyright and DMCA law, but also international law and the impact on SL.   The RL people behind Phoenix and Darkrose live in different RL countries.   

     According to information posted by Gala Phoenix at http://curioonline.org, she initially filed a “take-down” notice against Hush Darkrose because she believes Darkrose’s skins infringes on her copyright.   Darkrose filed a counter-notice and also copyrighted her skins in her real-life country.   Darkrose then filed a lawsuit in her country against Phoenix, and filed a notice of the action with Linden Las.   Phoenix failed to take any further actions after filing her initial  take-down notice.  

      If all of this sounds really complicated, it’s because it is.  Once court actions are initiated, the law requires specific responses, usually within certain time limits.   In addition, under the DMCA process, when Linden Labs receive notice of a lawsuit, they require that the products at issue be removed while the court action is pending.  The result is that Gala Phoenix’s skins have been removed from SL, even though she was the one who initially filed a “take-down” notice against Darkrose.   Darkrose was the one to filed in court, and sent notice to LL of that action.    At this point there has been no decision as to which party infringed, or if there was, in fact, any infringement at all.

      Many content creators are taking part in the fundraiser to help Gala Phoenix and also to let the SL community know about this process.  They feel the action taken by Darkrose is unfounded, but the process to fight it is expensive and it could happen to any of them.   Eku Zhong provided the location for the fundraiser.  Over 50 different creators are taking part, with 50-100% of the proceeds going to help with legal fees.   Gala Phoenix estimates those legal fees will be over $20,000.00 (US).   The fundraiser will be held from July 9-16th.

Grey Lupindo

Jukebox Build-Off Winners

There were six contestants in the Jukebox building contest sponsored by The Virtual Museum of Architecture, located at Purdue University (207, 113, 26).    As you may remember from previous articles, their Spring Build-off theme featured 50’s drive-ins.   The theme proved to be so popular that they decided to hold a mini Jukebox building contest. 

Elaara Wylder-Hansome (elaara.wylder) won first place with her fun design.  Elaara never expected to win.  She said, “I was excited just to take part!”   Her entry features lots of neon in colorful pink, blue, green, yellow and purple that rotates and changes.  Records move and drop down, too, just like the old jukeboxes used to do.   (Or so I’m told.)     

One of the criteria for the contest was that the jukeboxes had to be able to play music.  Originally the requirement was to play a 50s stream, but that was later modified to require that it could play a song that was provided.    Neither Elaara nor I could remember the name, but it’s an upbeat, familiar-sounding rock-n-roll tune.  I couldn’t resist dancing a bit.  

Neural Blankes won Second Place, and Third Place was awarded to Toxic Darkmatter.   Darkforest Dean (rottin.dean) created a jukebox with six selections in it, including Doo Wop and a Rockabilly station.  Jolie Serendipity and Djinn Dasmijn, who coordinates the contest, also competed.

The winners were selected by members of the VMA, who voted for their favorites.  The competition was tough as all of the jukeboxes look great.    They are on display now, along with the drive-in trophy designs, inside the VMA building.

Grey Lupindo

Rasmuson Gallery of Alaskan Artists

A few days ago I visited the Rasmuson Gallery of Alaskan Artists, located at Rhetorica (203, 235, 86).  The SL Rasmuson Gallery eliminates the miles and miles that separate us in RL and lets us experience the people and their art that we might otherwise never get to see.  In RL it is located at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks.   In SL, a quick teleport takes you to an open-air, multi-story gallery filled with light and connected by a virtual flowing river.       

The current exhibit highlights the winners of the 2012 Individual Artists Awards.   There was a simultaneous event held in RL and SL on June 5 when the Rasmuson Foundation announced the winners.   This was the sixth year that they have held the event in both RL and SL.    According to their press release, the SL location was projected on a big screen at the RL event located in Anchorage, Alaska.  

 The 2012 Distinguished Artist Award was presented to Kes Woodward from Fairbanks for Visual Arts.  He received a $25,000 Award.  He was born in South Carolina and moved to Alaska in 1977.  He is a Professor of Art Emeritus at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, where he taught for twenty years.  In October 2004 he received the first Alaska Governor's Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Arts.

Fellowship Awards of $12,000 each were presented to   Da-ka-xeen Mehner, Visual Arts; Jack Dalton, Presentation Interpretation; Tommy Joseph, Visual Arts; Karina Moeller, Music Composition; Kat Tomka, Visual Arts; Brendan Harrington, Visual Arts; Sonya Kelliher-Combs, Visual Arts’; Philip Munger, Music Composition; Morris Palter, Presentation Interpretation; and Laura Bliss Spaan, Media Arts.

As you walk through the gallery, there are photos and notecards of the featured artists and exhibits of their work.  The art is beautiful, and the artists are a very diverse group.  Da-ka-xeen Mehner, who was born in Fairbanks, describes his parents as Tlingit/N'ishga (mother) and Hippy/American (father).  His work examines his multicultural heritage as an urban Native American in Anchorage and as a rural Hippy in Fairbanks living without electricity, running water or phones.  He is an Assistant Professor of Native Arts at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and the director of the UAF Native Arts Center.

Tommy Joseph, of the Eagle Moiety, Kaagwaantaan Clan, has been a Northwest Coast carver for over twenty years.   He carves totem poles, masks, bentwood boxes, and more.  He is now working on Tlingit battle dress and armor.

Karina Moeller is an Inuit performer from Greenland, but has lived in Alaska for 16 years with her three children.  She has toured all over the world with the Greenlandic Theater Silamiut and with the Alaskan group, Pamyua.

Philip Munger debuted as conductor in 1963, and he also helped start the South Seattle Youth Symphony.  Currently he is Interim Director of the Anchorage Civic Orchestra.  He has been on the faculty of the University of Alaska Anchorage since 1995, and he has also been named to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Bugler Hall of Fame. 

Laura Bliss Spaan is a visual storyteller, journalist, and independent filmmaker whose work has been nominated for Emmy awards.    She frequently focuses on the Eyak people.  “More Than Words” tells about the last Native speaker of the Eyak language while “Parlez-Vous, Eyak?”, her most recent film, follows the Eyaks and a young man from France who is helping them to learn their language.  She is currently working with the Eyaks to create new stories in their own language using archival audio and film.

Kat Tomka is a Professor of Art and the Program Director for the Painting program at the University of Alaska Anchorage.  Her art work has been exhibited in West Africa, London, Germany, Canada, the Czech Republic, and throughout the U.S.   

Brendan Harrington was born in Massachusetts and raised in Kodiak and Juneau, Alaska.  Throughout most of his life he has combined working as an artist and as a commercial fisherman.   He lives in Kodiak, Alaska now, but he lived in Germany for a while.  In addition to exhibits in the U.S., his drawings and paintings have also been exhibited in Europe.

Mavis Muller is a "story weaver" from Homer, Alaska, who combines basketry, poetry, and storytelling. As she weaves baskets, she tells about the plants, trees and landscapes and how they are carriers of messages and blessings.  Her baskets have also been exhibited in museums, art galleries, and juried art shows. 

Rosemary McGuire is a writer from Cordova who focuses on contemporary Alaskan life.  Her work has appeared in Quarterly West, River Teeth and ISLE. She has been recognized by Association of Writers and Publishers and The Atlantic Monthly. She has written two books which have been excerpted in literary reviews.

Last year's event was filmed and will be part of a film being produced by Pooky Media, a SL company.  The film is expected to debut this month and will show how the Rasmuson Foundation is using SL to promote Alaskan art to a world-wide audience. 

Grey Lupindo

Behind the Scenes of SL9B

(June 3, 2012) The big bash for the SL9B that is set on 20 sims is almost ready to open the plots to building.

Since I have been involved in training on how  to help exhibitors get settled on their plots I have a tiny peek inside. Crap Mariner has done a wonderful job of manicuring the lawns and all the missing roads are back in place (not sure how they became missing).  There is some dust in the air from the building of a stage for the DJ and their music. I hope the wind is low next week. 

The main stage is spectacular.  I cannot imagine how the choice of exhibitors is going. I think there were over 480 applicants and only 300 plots!! Scary job to choose. The last I knew there were so many people who applied for something: 200 greeters, 200 DJs, 250 live performers, and more.  Training is going on daily for all volunteers to help us know how to make this the best party ever! There is an electric feeling when we get together with the other volunteers .

Though as you can see from some of the pictures the instructors tried to make us comfortable and happy, plying us with food and drink as we lounged on the empty plot. Monday the building will begin and I cannot wait to see it as the sims fill up. There will be many other things going on for the SL9B and there is to be a hub where other events will be displayed. You wont have to miss anything going on anywhere. 

Get Ready to Party! 

For more information, check out the SL9B website: http://sl9b.wordpress.com/ 

Gemma Cleanslate

50's Drive-in Build-Off Winners

The Virtual Museum of Architecture celebrated the fun of 1950’s drive-ins at its Spring Build-off this year.   The two winning designs can be seen at Purdue University, Virtual Museum of Architecture (208, 113,26).  Mickey Wizardly won First Place in the Pro Division with “Betsy’s Drive-in”, and Toxic Darkmatter won First Place in the Novice Division for “Double T Drive-in.”   

     Both designs featured colorful neon signs and the popular 50’s colors of turquoise, hot pink and black and white checked floors.  Cars and motorcycles are parked outside, and “Betsy’s Drive-in” includes some “squawk-boxes”, too.   Signs from the 50’s, tempting malts on the counter, and a rock-n-roll tune playing inside the “Double T Drive-in” added extra fun and authenticity.
 

      In front of each drive-in is the winner’s trophy, which was created by Doe Silverspar.  The trophy, entitled “Skating”, was the winning design in a mini-contest held about a month before the drive-in build-off.   I chatted briefly with Silverspar about designing and building in Second Life.  She has been involved with this activity since she joined SL in September, 2007.   She suggested that residents who are interested in building join Builder’s Brewery.  “They offer top notch classes constantly, and the classes are free,” she said. 

      Builder’s Brewery, as well as over a dozen other SL businesses, sponsored this year’s event.   Djinn Dasmijn was the Build-off Coordinator.  

Grey Lupindo