Tech -- Culture -- Humour
Second Life Insider have run a story providing some information on some challenges WSE may be facing. The grid is down presently so we can’t contact LukeConnell Vandeverre for clarification but we’ll attempt to do so later in the day.
Update: Reuters are now running the story based on a WSE announcement confirming the theft.
The Pond are promoting a rental land auction in conjunction with advertising on tradingpost.com.au.
The reserve amounts are quite reasonable and it’ll be interesting to see what the level of interest will be. What will be even more interesting will be what businesses or residences will end up there. There’s a key sentence in the information provided: “BigPond reserves the right to make its own judgment about the suitability of any potential tenant of The Pond”. You can assume Optus won’t be allowed to set up shop on The Pond….
The full notecard available in-world reads as follows:
“The Pond – Residential Land Sale Process
On the 26th July 2007 we will publish some web “For Sale” pages on TradingPost.com.au, which will allow you to offer a MONTHLY TIER amount for your preferred Lot in LINDEN DOLLARS .
A link to the relevant URL can be made by touching the in-world Info Map at the central information site. You can also search the Trading Post in the Entertainment & Electronics > Video & Computer Games categories.
An offer will imply acceptance of a minimum rental period of three months at the rate offered. After three months you, the tenant, will continue to pay the same monthly Tier in LINDEN DOLLARS.
These Trading Post web pages will have a reserve price associated with each Lot, which is the minimum Tier offer we will accept for the Lot.
RESERVE PRICES (Monthly Linden Tier)
Some lots are slightly different sizes, yet have the same reserve price.
L$ Tier Meter2
$10,800 8,192
$6,750 4,096
$4,050 2,048
$2,160 1,024
$1,350 512
If you want to make an offer, you will need to register with the Trading Post. To register as a buyer you need to have an acceptable email address.
No credit card details are required for registration, unless you cannot provide an acceptable email address. BigPond will not have access to your email address or personal information at any stage in the process.
We suggest that you using your Avatar name as your user-name on the trading post (eg. Very_Mulberry or ThreeD_Raymaker), but this is not a requirement. If your Avatar name is not the user-name used for bidding, then it is up to you to make your Avatar name clear by including it in conditions attached to your offer.
We will keep the offering process open for 7 Days. During this offering period, we will periodically review, reject and respond to any low offers, allowing you to place a new competitive offer if you desire. BigPond cannot guarantee that any offer that is not explicitly rejected will be accepted.
At the end of 7 Days, Thursday 2nd August at 18:00 AEST, offers will be closed. At this time BigPond may accept an open offer for each property, which will most likely be the highest offer. BigPond reserves the right to make its own judgment about the suitability of any potential tenant of The Pond.
BigPond will use the Avatar Name details provided with the winning offer to contact the Avatar in world via IM, at which time the Property Statement, Residential Agreement, and General Terms notecards will be given to the Avatar.
Payment of the monthly Tier at the Land Vendor by the Avatar will constitute acceptance of the terms contained within documents.
Upon payment, BigPond will transfer ownership of the Lot to the Avatar, for their enjoyment for the duration of the tenancy.
Tier payments are required monthly in advance, and can be made at the Land Vendor in-world.
Full Terms and Conditions incorporated in the Residential Agreement and General Terms will be available for viewing at the Information Stand in-world, as soon as possible.”
The ABC have taken home a ‘C+T Award’ at a ceremony at last week’s SMPTE conference. The award was in the Rich Media category for ABC Island.
The ABC’s announcement of the win was as follows:
” ‘We are delighted to receive the inaugural C+T Award for Rich Media as recognition of ABC Innovation’s strategic approach to virtual worlds,’ said Abigail Thomas, Head Strategic Development.
‘ABC Island is the ideal place for us to work with our audiences to discover what they want in this environment and to tailor our presence accordingly.’
In March 2007, the ABC became the first Australian broadcaster to establish a presence in Second Life. Since then a number of events have taken place on the island including a simulcast of a 4 Corners program exploring virtual worlds and an open forum in partnership with the Australia Council for the Arts.
ABC Innovation also received a nomination for the Broadband Production Template in the Rich Media category.
The C+T Awards were devised by Content+Technology magazine to recognise innovation in products, production and projects throughout Australia, New Zealand and Southeast Asia.”
On ABC-related news, a voting box at the ABC Island Sandbox is showing some support for an Enough Rope interview with an SL theme.
Thanks to Wolfie Rankin for the heads-up.
Leben, Lieben, Geld Verdienen translates to Live, Love and Make Money and it’s a book co-written by Australian SL developer Jana Gillespie.
The book is directed towards beginners who already have some experience in SL plus newcomers. It is a comprehensive guide on how to create manipulate and generally how SL works. There will also be a DVD accompanying the book that will have videos and resources. Of course, unless you can read German there may not be a lot of reasons to buy the book but I’m told an English translation may be in the works.
(Disclosure: Jana Gillespie’s business, Big-Bit, advertises on SLOz)
Kookaburra Pub on Eragon was the scene for widely known Aussie SL resident Wolfie Rankin’s ‘rez-day’. Well over forty people turned out for the surprise party:
I asked Woflie what has meant the most to him in his first year of SL residency:
“I think getting Eragon and finding so many lovely friends and supporters, everyone in their own way helped me in so many ways and I’m extremely grateful”.
More photos of the party at: http://flickr.com/photos/quadrapop/
Sapphire Technologies are an Information and Communications Technology recruitment company running out of Australia and New Zealand. They’ve launched their Second Life presence on Vedior Asia Pacific. It’s a fairly standard office building with podcasts, free t-shirts and lots of desks with computers linked to the Sapphire Technologies website. The ability to meet up with recruitment consultants in-world is being touted and there’s certainly plenty of space for interviews.
It’s the sort of presence that’s unlikely to get a lot of repeat visits aside from employers or prospective employees interested in ICT recruitment. That said, there is a pool table on the top floor for use after a hard day at the Sapphire virtual office and a small sandbox.
The Contempo Institute is a gallery space holding an opening party on July 19th at 7pm SLT (Midday this Friday the 20th Australian Eastern time).
The exhibition is titled The Body Graffik and it showcases 2D works by four artists working with the human form. Additionally, they are showing two works by Australian artist Reni Voom: Metal Sea and the Touchable Autumn.
Reni’s take on his work and the exhibition:
“If I had my life over again I’d be a computer programmer;
If I had my life over again I’d be an architect;
If I had my life over again I’d be a graphic designer;
If I had my life over again I’d be an animal trainer; Dogs? No, more likely ducks. (Maybe I like animation rather than animal training);
If I had my life over again I’d be a bird or a goat;
If I had my life over again I’d be a scientist who studies obscure quirks of nature;
If I had my life over again I’d be a child for life;
If I had my life over again I’d be a mathematician who could fill a chalkboard with complicated equations and formulas. And understand what I have written, of course. (I’ll need a bow tie for that job).
Second Life offers an opportunity to dabble in all these fields of experience. I enjoy environments where my learning curve is steep. The ease of building within virtual reality allows me to visually brainstorm, experiment with ideas and, if luck is on my side, bring works to a stage of resolution. It happens faster in here than in real life.
Second Life is not separate from the real world, it’s an extension. I’ve spent years working in the fields of ceramics and printmaking Both these mediums combine my interest in Visual Arts and Science. Two years ago I finally completed my Bachelor of Fine Arts. My honours year was spent exploring the nature of rust and decay.
My challenge in my first series of work, as a Second Life groupie, is to create objects that evoke the sense of touch though visuals and sound. Often in galleries in real life we have to stand back from the art and experience the work passively. I want you to walk into, touch and attempt to knock over my pieces.
Enjoy.
Reni Voom”
Orion Keynes Design is one of those Australian businesses that keeps on keeping on. It’s just had a relocation and expansion of product offerings. Furniture is the mainstay but there is also a small range of buildings. And refreshingly, not a dunny or Hills Hoist to be found.
The Greenies House is one of those builds that comes from nowhere and just astounds you with its originality, attention to detail and pure whimsy. We don’t want to take too much away from experiencing it yourself, but the pictures say it all:
Builds like this define the opportunities virtual worlds provide. Thanks to SL Insider for the heads-up
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