Friday, June 30, 2023

Nyx's Art for Space

Every grid in Opensim has its niche, its look, its personality, and with few exceptions they're all growing or evolving one way or another. It is a treat to explore each one! 
Creating a brand new region as a public venue can take a lot of time and talent, and maybe you've thought once or twice - "Argh... I wish I could just get a really top notch builder to come in and make a really unusual venue sim."
Jazzland, on Pangea
Here is an option that might appeal! 
Nyx Breen
Nyx Breen has been making  Virtual Art creations for nearly 18 years. 
He started in SL where he was the top monthly winner in the SL-UWA Build and Art contest.  
Here in opensim, he's been busy building both on Alternate Metaverse Grid, and at the Pangea Art and Culture Festival. A hypergridder at heart, Nyx has over the past few years also participated in the OSCC (Opensim Community Conference), OSgrid's  Anniversary, the Hypergrid International Expo, and more. 
The Safari has been to visit many of his builds, so if you're a long time reader of this blog his name will be familiar to you, and our experience has always been very positive with little lag and some amazing immersive experiences. 

Lorenza's Ladies of Lit

 Lorenza Colicigno's build on sim NoiLab in Craft is the coming together of a project dear to her heart which she calls "A room of one's own - Ariadne's Labyrinth". A long name for a big build you can enjoy in diverse ways: exploring this region just for fun, because it's full of treasures with a feminist twist, or if you're in the mood for a deep dive, take a moment to soak up some serious info on women who by and large have gotten a raw deal in the pages of literary history.The build is a walk in the park, matching humor and elegance of style with a thought-provoking trail through time. It's got a circular feel - the landing point, and first writerly mentions (Hellenic lit) are a stone's throw from the Enlightenment-age Ca' Rezzonica
Castle of Isabella Morra Valsinni
Buildings abound, some of them are general representations of houses in different eras, some are much more specific, like the hilltop home of 16th century poet Isabella Morra

Tuesday, June 27, 2023

Summer on Novale

 Novale, the Canadian landscape region, is up and ready for summer visitors. The islands have largely retained the form and features we've all come to love, with additions and tweaks both to the decor and the scripts, just as you'd expect.
Dabici Straulino  and Kelso Uxlay  are the imaginative inventors of this wonderland. They reccommend you use 'Shared Environment' which, just in case you don't know, is quickly achieved by clicking on the 'Quick Preferences' button at the bottom ov the viewer, and then clicking on the X next to Personal Lighting - that will remove any custom settings that may still be hanging around your sky. It's always interesting to see in what light the builder intended their world to be seen.

Monday, June 26, 2023

Patty Paranoid and the Failed TP

 It's an inconvenience that we have all experienced. 
G. de Digulleville: Pèlerinage de vie humaine, Pèlerinage de l'âme
National Library of France
You're all ready to hypergrid out of a place, ready to jump from here to there, and a little window shows up saying 'Teleport Failed' and asking you to go to the website of the destination grid, and the simple one click gesture suddenly takes on a positively Medieval flavor. 

Here's an example of the pop-up you'll see when trying to go to Kitely. You only have to do this once, on your first visit to each of the grids with this system set up. 
You may have heard people deride this event as a sort of authoritarian 'douane' or Checkpoint Charlie. Some may tell you it's an invasion of privacy, as you're asked to authenticate your avatar.
Before you - no, not you ! because you're not nuts ! - before your pal Patty Paranoia starts screaming conspiracies, let's answer a couple of questions: 

Sunday, June 25, 2023

Arts and Friends - Coming Soon


 Victoria Logan's art collective on OSGrid is opening at the beginning of July, and it's not one to miss. The build is on a region named Arts & Friends which couldn't be more appropriate. 
The landing point at Zona de Arte, a small black and gold skybox just above a mountain-ringed lagoon, is immediately enchanting, but also a huge contrast to the gallery you are about to visit. The theme of this show is 'Mujeres que ispiran...' - women who inspire, for their courage and talent. Time to TP down and see who's being feted below...
From the black and gold, to the greenery and rainbow colors of the region below. Landing on a central island, you'll find tps to all the exhibits, plus the dance zone and a cafeteria. Art appreciation is hungry work.

Monday, June 19, 2023

Osgrid Auction

The OSGrid Auction is coming ! 
This year, the  grand sales event will be from 25 September - 1st October. 
That means, if you're a creator, builder, scripter or texture maker,  now is a good time for you to create something original to contribute to the mix. The items are gathered now, put on an exhibition region where everyone can take a good look, and then auctioned off for real money to support the costs of keeping the Test grid of opensimulator on the rails.
Auction organizer Caro Fayray was on the sky platform on Echo 1. The platform is empty as of now - so - is it too soon for people to begin building, and contributing their creations to the Auction?
Caro Fayray: Not at all,  stuff can  be given anytime:)
Coordinating any big event can be a hassle, but Caro seems to take it all in her stride with unflappable good humor. Is it a complicated job?
Caro Fayray: getting  people  to  commit  and give  me stuff in  advance is a challenge,  I  have to   bug  a  lot, and  I  make over  100  textures  for all  the boards, then the Auction Lots that fit go  here, if  not, I  have  tps  to see the original  item. There is no limit on the size of the items put up for sale. From smallest  jewellery  to a complete oar  is fine:)  but  items  have to be  unique.

Sunday, June 18, 2023

Bogus Curry's Grid Talk

 Bogus Curry's Opensim story is a long one. He's something of an opensim oldbie, and his avatar is pure Legacy, with warm brown eyes, and some interesting tattoos.  
We met on sim grid Talk, on Dorena's World. The region is a delightful assortment of elements, with everything from beach huts to menhirs to sea monsters and windmills, all put together by Anachron Young, the grid owner, along with the eponymous Dorena Verne.
Grid Talk region on Dorenas-world