360° Snapshot At Firestorm Viewer

 
By Marcel Mosswood

I was very excited when I got the chance to try out Firestorm preview 65562 (future release) which one of the advantages is the 360° Snapshot. This Firestorm feature can make 360° snapshots like a 360° camera in real life. The result is really good!

People often compare 360° photos with videos, they think that 360° photos are nothing special because it is better to watch videos than 360° photos. In fact, 360° photos have many advantages over ordinary videos, especially if they are used for content marketing because of their immersive nature. With 360° photos, you can watch in any direction and point the screen in any direction you like.

Prior to this version, the 360° snapshot version can be enjoyed in the Firestorm VR Mod version 6.5.3, while this version 65562 is not a VR Mod version and is still a preview, at the time I’m writing this article, it is not yet available on the official Firestorm website, maybe it will be available soon.

This is the result of a 360° Snapshot I made in Imagiland, my region on OSGrid 

 

Making a 360° snapshot in Firestorm 65562 is very easy. First, make sure the graphic settings on your Firestorm are ultra so that the results will be satisfactory.

Click on the snapshot icon, then click the “Take 360° Snapshot” button at the bottom right

 

Then select the desired quality. My advice is don't hesitate to choose the Maximum one so that the resulting image is good. You can also check “Hide all avatars” so that the avatars don't appear in the photo. But if you want to show the avatar(s), don't check this box. Then click on “Create 360° Image”, and then click on “Save as” to save the snapshot on your hard disk.

After that, you can upload it on Flickr, Google Photos, or Facebook to share your snapshot with friends. Hopefully, in the near future, this Firestorm will be available for Second Life.

Marcel Mosswood

The Winter Burn 2022

 *
By Bixyl Shuftan

From Friday January 28 to Sunday January 30, the Winter Burn took place in Second Life. While the main Burn, or the "Octoburn" as it's sometimes called is held in October, there are a few spinoff events at other times in the year. They are based on the real-life "Burning Man" festival held every summer in Black Rock Nevada.

The theme this year was a new and unusual one: Gingerbread Houses. 

Mia Wallace messaged me some days before the event. She was in a gingerbread man avatar.

She showed me around the Winter Burn grounds around Deep Hole.

 This mutant vehicle had a nice large seat.

On Sunday January 30, I dropped in. There was a music concert going on at the event area.

BGSinger Hermit was the performer for this particular hour. 

The audience had a variety of avatars.

Also in the audience were builder Nance Clowes, and artist Moya Patrick.

 Golan Eddie, noted for leading the team of volunteers during the resident-run Second Life Birthday events.

At one point, fireworks went off.

Someone was taking one of the mutant vehicles, a sleigh pulled by a gingerbread man on fig newton feet, out for a stroll. 

Changing my viewer to show a night sky, "The Man" was showing icicles. 

I spent a little time exploring some of the grounds.

Moya's gingerbread house exhibit.

With the theme and the snow, some of the exhibits would have fit right in with a Christmas event.

"Do you wanna build a snowman?"

Gemma Cleanslate was there, and submitted a couple pictures of exhibits as well.

From tires, to dough, to haunted marshmallow to robot.

There was plenty of fun. But we won't have to wait until October for more Burn2 fun. With Spring comes the Burnal Equinox, and another spinoff. Stay tuned for details.

Bixyl Shuftan
 

Macy's Christmas Parade and The Christmas Expo

 
By Gemma  Cleanslate

So the shopping goes on. There are still many places to visit if you are looking for more trees, wreaths , scenery, or outfits. I will never get to all of them and I am pretty sure you won’t either. I still have a few recommendations though. Here are some reminders first.

Frannie DJ has put away all her Thanksgiving day parade floats and now has her Christmas Parade out. It will stay open until Christmas Day . Santa is still there at Macy’s store and there is still ice skating going on. I stopped over to see some of the floats which are as beautiful as ever. Don’t miss it! There is snow on the ground and the trees are glistening with ice formations on the limbs.

https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Steamy%20Shores/72/206/700

Remember to visit The Christmas Expo. This event is raising money for research for the American Cancer Society and has so much going on!

There are parties and raffles and Breedables, sales and auctions, and so many shops with goodies to continue your search for décor and outfits.

If you get there before the ninth, you can enter the snowman (and snowwoman) making contest. The regions are beautifully decorated just for exploring.  

The Expo website at https://slchristmasexpo.com/  will tell you everything you need to know. This SURL will get you there : https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Christmas%20Expo/55/128/23

Also, the Shop and Hop event opens Wednesday at 9am . Get ready for so many shops in one place on 12 regions with 240 merchants. Extreme lag in the early days, but it will be open until January 2 of the new year. I am sure there will be gifts at most shops.

Gemma Cleanslate
 

Christmas Shopping: Snuggles Holidays and Stormwind's North Pole

 
By Gemma Cleanslate

Shopping at Snuggles Holidays is always easy. The grounds are massive but so well organized it is easy to find the theme you are looking for. 

Huge signs indicate the sections where you will find it fast. Here you see animal scenes next to the snowmen areas. Many themes, floral, Santas, Elves, mice, ”cute,” and more are available .

The indoor decor building is also huge and filled with goodies for the house. From trees to wall decor and globes grace the shelves. I am so impressed by the card section here. The cards are also well organized to make the shopping easy. The humour section is fun just to look at and read. Across the way is a great selection of gift boxes. There is so much to look at here save some time for perusing. There is a huge selection of teddy bears with music that are so cute .

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Snuggles%20Holidays/21/168/28

There are several North Pole venues in Second Life that appear during the Christmas season. One that has all things Christmas for sale is set in Stormwind and looks like a shopping area of a European town. When you land the first thing you see is the large Fire Department. A stop there will let you furnish your fire department with great scenes for your winter department. Opposite that is the quaint Post Office with it’s mounds of mail piling up for Santa. Animated elves were mailing some as I watched.

Inside the massive town gate I found a sled rezzer to travel around the streets. I gave up quickly when I almost took out Santa riding around on his bike causing him to knock over a snowman on the corner.Each shop holds its own treasures for sale. I stopped in to the outlet which must hold older scenes but has bargains for those who love them. Elves are everywhere as you wander .

I was charmed at the wreath shop that holds so many wreaths with animated Santas and other season’s figures  in the center with various gestures. 

I had to fight the urge to buy one but I know I am out of prims at my houseboat after decorating. Don’t miss this shop! You might like to stop at the large skating pond in the center and take a spin with  free skates .  

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/StormWind/211/7/1728

Gemma Cleanslate
 

Christmas Shopping: Dench Designs and Khargo Market

 
By Gemma Cleanslate,

We are being urged to get out there and get our Christmas shopping done now both in real-life and Second Life. Black Friday has passed. I set out to find shopping areas where you can get going on decor for the region or home and have some fun doing it.

One of my favorite shops to visit is Amanda Dench Christmas Store. Just arriving puts you in the right frame of mind. The little cottage with the mailman delivering cards is one of the first things you see in a light snow falling and glancing up there is the man in the red sleigh . Nearby are many outdoor decor on the snow. Christmas music plays softly adding to the feeling even though it seems early to be doing the shopping.

I head inside where there is a lower floor filled with more decor . I am trying not to shop but the first thing I see is a new Santa with a bag of boxes waving at me and into my bag he goes.  I stop nearby to dance with one of the animated dancers but resist buying one.

Oh well, I know upstairs there are loads of freebies waiting. The Advent calendar is set up and ready to begin when the time comes, December 1. The usual gifts are arranged and on the wall a wealth of real bargains to grab. Check out the cute animal carousel while you are there , as well as other decorations to enhance your region or home. Prices here are really bargains. When you visit you will see why it is one of my first stops.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Rookery/13/32/224

Khargo Christmas Market which has been open since 2009 is a lovely wintry shopping experience. The outdoor decor is spaced along a walkway that makes it easy to envision is on your own land. Try out some of the interactive  pieces. I helped fix the igloo but saw it has many animations to choose. If I had room I might like to have the teacup carousel that spins with the words Merry Christmas on each cup.

Inside the shop you will find all sorts of decoration for your home, art for the wall, fireplaces, Christmas shelves , and tables. I found a candy cane giver for the wall at home and may go back to get it. The shop is bigger than it looks from the outside with many rooms to check out. 

I tried out the Christmas bulb with a choice of resting for singles or cuddles for couples . I was tempted but resisted! There are so many decorations to look at . Plan some time to walk around both outside and inside the shop to see it all. A lot of work goes into planning out this venue.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Yellowstone%20Falls/180/114/22

Gemma Cleanslate
 

Crystal Craze

 
By Gemma Cleanslate

One of my friends, RoxyLee Rayna , who owns the Requiem  region in Second Life told me about a new fun game that owners are using to stimulate traffic. She was having a great time trying it out and recommended that I take a look at it.

I went over to the Headquarters to check it out. It is called Crystalcraze and is mainly for raising traffic for owners who want that to happen. 

The greeter announced:

 “Welcome to CrystalCraze Headquarters, Gemma Cleanslate!
CrystalCraze is a new and exciting SL hunting game currently still in pre-release testing!
Did you know that there is a HUD for CrystalCraze?
You can get it from the sign on the wall to your left.
[08:49] Second Life: CrystalCraze  has given you this landmark:
CrystalCraze HQ
I'm going to send you a LM just in case you don't have one yet.”
 

The headquarters is walls are filled with information on how to play to make any new player feel secure. There is help also. I joined the group that turned out to be a very busy chat and notice group . To try it out I got myself a Hud and a basket for carrying my crystals. There was an area there for practice. Joining the group and starting the game give one a bonus of 200L to get started. It is fast moving and has unexpected events held randomly by the owners to give players a chance to grab crystal or clusters of crystals on their property.

I also met Aɴɢᴜs (anguschill), the creator of this game and found it is still in beta but moving along very well. He explained how it worked and we went off to check out an event. It is great fun chasing crystals. I am pretty good at it because I still run in the Linden Realms for their crystals at times and this game is reminiscent of the realms and yet different. I asked about the traffic aspect of the game and he told me “Yes, they do get traffic, pure traffic stats, but also visitors to their creations of course. I mean there are a lot of traffic games out there. But with CC the idea was to have very active traffic. people who actually engage with landowners builds while looking for clusters and collecting crystals instead of just camping or standing there fishing in one spot.”

With permission, here is an example of a call to an event ...

“09:37] CrystalCraze:
Arlequin Carter is hosting a 2X CrystalCraze event for 15 minutes!
Head over there and join in on the fun!
Teleport to FRANCE Entraide & Amitie - Build & Script"

Notices come fast and furious at times, one after the other

I know that the owners love it too. I checked with my friend Roxy who has been using it for a few months to see how she likes it and she told me ,, “oh  that's great  Gem .. All  good for me.. love the game too .. is  fun and rewarding . I have clusters and Crystals at my sim and is a good traffic booster more than the other games..100% quote me” and about the creator of the game she said “He works really hard  and is a nice friendly person too  which helps  with  games”

Watching the calls for 15min events I can see the other owners of the parcels feel the same way and have fun doing it. It is a great way to make lindens for all the participants “ Angus makes a low profit but I think he created it because it he has a lot of fun watching and engaging with the players and the owners . I recommend it to anyone who is looking for a way to get more traffic and also to avatars who are looking for a way to make lindens. Go try it! 

Check out the website to see the rules and places that have crystal hunting  and more information  https://crystalcraze.zeezeo.com/index.php  , and then visit the headquarters. Good luck and have fun!! Run!!  

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Eduisland%202/64/7/1000

*Update*  The web address for more information recently changed to : https://crystalcraze.net .

Gemma Cleanslate