Vinyl, Copters, Oz... and Socks

          Three stops, on three continents this week, and three places you should definitely visit. HG Addresses and details at the end of the post.

Aime Socrates: first time here Roff ?
Roffellos Kisses: for the safari yes but i have been here this area befoe
Aime.Socrates: safari is a great experience, if you survive you are strong
Roffellos Kisses: lol well I like to explore so its a perfect thing for me to tag along on
Thirza Ember: so 3 continents this week... Europe, America, then Australia... I need some sandwiches
Aime.Socrates: Billy..you know a lot about our first destination..right ?
Billy.Bradshaw: yes, it is my home :)
Aime.Socrates: insida a laptop..funny idea
Billy.Bradshaw: I am a funny kind of guy :)
Aime.Socrates: great! world needs this kind of guys nowadays
Billy.Bradshaw: the days of sat surrounded by noisy computers has gone for me
Aime.Socrates:Opensim way Of Life: just to be cool

        Pretty soon, quite a crowd had arrived. Some old friends, some new people either to our grop, or to opensim. Anyone is welcome, just drop by ad say hello, or don't say anything if you're shy. No-one will mind.

          First up, TGrid. It's not for nothing that Billy wears headphones around his neck, they guy knows his tunes, and he had some pretty good ones available for us this time. So here we were, about 18 of us on a laptop... and the question seemed obvious, why?

Billy Bradshaw

Billy.Bradshaw: It is cheap, low power and kind of a challenge to maximise performance.. I guess. A short while ago someone asked  what 'T' represented. At first I thought it represented 'Test', however looking back 'TGrid' began as Team Grid
Sunbeam Magic: awh T for Team I like it !
Lucy Afarensis: One can have a lot of power in a laptop

Selby Evans: I am getting a cheap laptop -- will see what it can do
George Equus: Billy, only waiting for my server to fry, not showing any signs yet though.. a 8 Y old HP server laptop - been up 24/7 for 5 Y  now. Only me on regions, so is OK.
Billy.Bradshaw:  this is cheap George, and nearly 10 years old, 
Alya VonZ: Have ran a 3x3 VAR on a laptop
Billy.Bradshaw: The grid has been continually operating for about 5 years. 
Technicals: The entire grid management and this single region are hosted on a Toshiba laptop.
32 Bit platform with 2GB memory and a dual core processor
Linux CoreOS operating system stripped to include esentials features.
The only upgrade is a 64GB SSD (solid state drive)
Convenient low power, and built in standby power facilities.
Some tweaks to enable the machine to operate with the lid closed.
Network:  Domestic installation. approx 40 upload / 100 download...when no one else is streaming a movie :)
Alya.VonZ: Had a toshiba before, after 5 years was not much it could do
Billy.Bradshaw: Alya, it can run an Opensim grid
xSIBERIAx ILFREDDOPURIFICA: i have 0.4 upload and 2.3 download... yes, i can lol
Drang Po: ran opensim on a raspberry pi :)
George Equus: Windows 7Pro 64bit stripped to the bones, only running server on mine,

Aime Socrates: 20 dancers on a laptop..seems a great idea
Alya VonZ:  I see, lol, maybe if I was more knowledgable ...it is mainly computer power that you are interested in Billy? or Computer tech.
Billy.Bradshaw: for techs these experiments are fun. OpenSim Version is Dev/Master 0.9.1 (includes the latest additions from the core developers)
Opensim requires the dotNet framework for services. dotNet framework is a Microsoft creation, an Opensource variant for Linux and iOS from the Mono Project. Around 1 year ago Microsoft open sourced their dotNet framework and has superceeded The Mono Project. TGrid runs on what has become known as CoreCLR and built using the Roslyn 2.0 compiler.
George Equus: And Linux now  runs on Windows too  :) Who would have thought...
Billy.Bradshaw: For techs, the console is quiet and well behaved, I am amazed - everyone appears rezzed nicely. btw, my RL job is a network administrator, so maybe I am doing things differently...
alex54 Salamander: i have 3 unknowns here
Roffellos Kisses: 9 unknowns sighs

Billy Bradshaw: Unknowns are due to your viewer continuing to chat to the region you have just left, bit of a timing lottery
Alya VonZ: I do play with mesh sometime, but..I prefer building inworld, whole reason that I am here in the first place...  like shopping on marketplace, very handy but....I prefer to shop inworld
Drang Po: networking Opensim is a lot easier then Blender :)
 xSIBERIAx ILFREDDOPURIFICA: well drang.. i have learn blender i 6 month.. i think really, is not very very difficult... only you have work so much on it :P
Drang Po: if we want our content to improve then we do need to make it so that anyone can learn to build with it.
Sunbeam Magic: Totally agree Drang
Lucy Afarensis: Blender seems a lot like photoshop in that I have been working with photoshop for 20 years and still don't know half of what it will do
Thirza Ember: we need a community chat where people can get advice to solve mesh problems

Selby Evans. I want whatever he's drinking.

Selby Evans: Here is blender G+ community: 
Thirza Ember: Billy, what do you think the future of small grids will be? You think everyone will have their own grid one day?
Billy Bradshaw: I think it could be the future If we can package the installation. I have been working on the data storage aspect, it seems overly complicated.  Ferd's contributions are impressive
Selby Evans: Link to  ferd's installer:  by Fred Beckhusen (aka Ferd Frederix).
Lucy Afarensis: I could not get it to connect to the hypergrid. Although I think it is the fault of coax cable.
 Sunbeam Magic: I think I saw where Fred just upgraded that installation and fixed a few querks
Alya VonZ: might try it for the fun of it, even though I rent a VAR now!
Billy Bradshaw: I believe the core devs are beginning to see the significance of hypergrid. I have seen some Opensim contributions relating to hypergrid from some unexpected developers. 
Thirza Ember: OpenSim is old technology. Without a sense of community, and the ability to travel between grids, it really is obsolete. it's the community that keeps it relevant. A creative, 'hobbyist' community, like this group here.
alex54 Salamander: yes
Billy Bradshaw: ++
Lucy Afarensis: agreed although Opensim is still very new as an artform and has a long wayto go before it explored completely

Sunbeam Magic: that seems a lot like the Business World concept, without the 'small business man' our local environments would be a disaster ...
Billy Bradshaw: Community is everything, techs come and go.. look at the Amiga community
Drang Po: A viewer with built-in mesh tools would be something. if they have it.
Billy Bradshaw: The recent and important updates to OpenMetaverse libs came from someone who has not contributed before, so things still happening
Sunbeam Magic: what's really great about all of this MAGIC is we can visit many many different worlds at our fingertips

Max Hill

          And then it was time to go.
Thirza  Ember: time for Digiworldz
Billy Bradshaw: great data... thank you everyone
Truelie Telling: Billy, I wish I had been able to get here earlier, but what a nice place!
Alya VonZ: was great to be here, thanks for sharing Billy:)
xSIBERIAx ILFREDDOPURIFICA: bye billy and thank you so much :)
Lucy Afarensis: Thank you Billy its been fun and interesting
Sunbeam Magic: Great stimulating conversation Billy , thank you for having us !!!
Aime Socrates: Ty Billy to have us all here tonight !
alex54 Salamander: thanks Billy
Billy Bradshaw: I will follow on the rest of the tour

            Next up, Digiworldz. This is a HG Friendly grid, but our destination is generally only accessible to DigiWorldz residents. We were delighted to be able to visit Pangea, a 7 x 7 VAR region.  Our host TR Lifter was waiting for us, and we rezzed in the city center of an impressive build that took about 6 months to put together.
Alya VonZ: wasn't this the grid where Hogwarts was build?
TR Lifter: Yes ;)

TR Lifter

Thirza Ember: does everyone know TR? DigiWorldz's answer to Captain America, Iron Man and Superman all in one
Sunbeam Magic: Not to mention vehicle races, space shuttles and waves and so much more TR does it all

TR Lifter: Just a crazy creator by heart, lol ;)
Thirza Ember: how many years you been in virtual worlds, TR?
TR Lifter: 10 now, Thirza :) and 5 years in Open Sim. The first grid I started working at was 3rd Rock Grid. I became co-owner :) Then, Terry started DigiWorldz and hired me to administer the grid:)
Alya VonZ: Very slick city, and no lagging because of its size, I've read that above 4x4 stability is challenged

TR Lifter: yes I was careful in its design to insure maximum performance
Billy Bradshaw: does this represent a real city?
TR Lifter: no just a figment of my imagination. There are some rezzers if you wish to cruise around, follow me!

alex54.Salamander: the Helicopter flies really good
Truelie Telling: oh good sound effects on the heli... heli went good for a little bit but stopped going anywhere quickly... that first few moments were exhilarating, hehe
Lucy Afarensis: Mine ran out of gas too
TR Lifter: all of these are v.1 engines* :)
Thirza Ember: no gas engines here!
TR Lifter: Nope! Ether powered! :)
Lucy Afarensis: all pixel power ?

TR Lifter: Pixels and Ether; a great way to start the day! :)
Roffellos Kisses: ahahaha
Thirza Ember: how many regions does digiworldz have?
TR Lifter: We have almost 500 now ;)

Lucy Afarensis: sounds like a good buzz
TR Lifter: Keeps me on my toes; for sure, lol ;)
Thirza Ember: yes, is that a good size? would you like it to be a lot more -  obviously, as a commercial enterprise, more is good... but from an admin maintenance viewpoint, how does that work?
TR Lifter: It gets a bit overwhelming sometimes, but, nothing I cant handle :) The more; the merrier!! :)
Alya VonZ: lol, it is a total different avenue then the Tgrid:)
Thirza Ember: that is kind of the joy of open sim. You can have people with very different purposes all using the technology
Alya VonZ: yes
Aime.Socrates: good vehicles

Thirza Ember: Are your vehicles available on other grids, TR?
TR Lifter:  No I keep my vehicles in Digi Only ;) I used to sell in GCG, but, discontinued about 3 months ago ;)
Thirza Ember: TR, what would you most like to have if you could wave a magic wand and bring in some new tool, or feature, to opensim?
TR Lifter: Stability; that is all I wish for Open Sim; that is the thing it is lacking most ;) Once that is resolved, OS will begin to flourish :)
Thirza Ember: do you think the future of open sim is lots of smaller grids, like digiworldz, or 3rd rock, rather than one big grid?
TR Lifter: Yes :) Eventually, we will all have our own web spaces. OS is the beginning of such ;)

George Equus: A very well done region I must say, Attention to detail
TR Lifter: OCD does that to me, lol ;)
Thirza Ember: Most of DigiWorldz is open to hypergridding, this region is an exception, we know. Can you tell us more about your grid? What's in the future for Digiworldz?
TR Lifter:The main land will be a fun place to explore once done. Will be ready by Summer. 49 regions is a lot to get together ;)

            We took a quick look at a historic building on Pangea, Whispers, TR's first club, with bright colors and a fabulous dance floor, but we were out of time, couldn't stay to do it justice... we needed to be off, away on the ether once again. To MoonGlow, on the other side of the world.

Thirza Ember: eden cat bonsoir!!
Eden Cat: hello, je suis bloquer
Truelie Telling: everything's rezzing good for me here: but chat lag is ridiculous
 xSIBERIAx ILFREDDOPURIFICA: ops...I'm stuck
Lucy Afarensis: lag ?
Thirza Ember: so this is a load test on a small grid in australia! we are far from home, so if your hair didn't make it, don't worry!
Aussie Envee: not sure how we will go for lag 

xSIBERIAx ILFREDDOPURIFICA: oh! we are in australia now????
Alya VonZ: sofar so good
Lucy Afarensis: no lag for me and I'm in arizona
xSIBERIAx ILFREDDOPURIFICA: ok now i can move
Thirza Ember: George's trousers are here, so it's not too bad
Aussie Envee: there is 19 regions in Moonglow... all sims are free, we have about 30 members. We are also connected to Metropolis and Osgrid. Everything here is copyable...

Aussie Envee

xSIBERIAx ILFREDDOPURIFICA: all sim free?
Alya VonZ: love this building:)
Aussie Envee: the building was a freebie off the net and I added to it and improved it,  this is the main meeting area,  out the side is the dance club.
Thirza.Ember: on region 19. Aussie made a super Tour for us. It is a path with pictures. You click on the picture to get a notecard, and learn about australia. Aussie is also a brilliant DJ and music guy, he is as talented as he is generous.
Truelie.Telling: and fun
Aussie Envee: later there is dancing at event plaza OSGrid if anyone wants to go
xSIBERIAx ILFREDDOPURIFICA: ehm...what time is in australia now?
Aussie Envee: its 9.13am
xSIBERIAx ILFREDDOPURIFICA: wow... just 14 hour of difference from italy lol
Truelie Telling: stick an arrow thru the earth, from Nashville it lands in Australia
George Equus: Don't do it True, please, Earth will deflate  :(

Thirza Ember: Group photo please!!!  omg George has on his tropical suit, and Roff has no legs.
Roffellos Kisses: my bum was getting scratches on this floor
Billy Bradshaw: Roff can afford to lose legs, he's 10 feet tall
George Equus: Very long legs at that.

Thirza Ember: I'll tell you what, George's socks are testing my graphics
George Equus: Is Australia Thirza, getting  warm..
Billy Bradshaw: Billy wonders what FB facial recognition would make of these group pics
Thirza Ember: so Aussie, how many of your residents are australians?
Aussie Envee: none lol
Thirza Ember: is it true that not many australians are in virtual worlds?
Aussie Envee: there is a lot of aussies in Osgrid

           We went off to do the new Picture Path on Moonglow 19. It's a little tour of Australia, a new feature on the grid, where you learn something interesting about the land and its culture. Roffo and Angelic, new to the Safari, managed to make it to all three destinations, an impressive feat, and probably the first time a new couple has achieved this. And they didn't even mind us teasing.
 Angelic Kisses: I enjoyed it ....I love exploring and it's much more fun with a group
         Siberia was particularly amazed to learn about the wild camel population, turns out they have wild camels in Arizona too. There was something quite wonderful, in a place as 'empty' as opensim often seems to be, to have people from Arizona and England, Tennessee and Italy, France and Sweden, Holland and Australia, all together learning and laughing in a tiny grid far away. And mocking George's socks.

George Equus: There, I took them off. Happier now?
Thirza Ember: noooooooo put them back
Truelie Telling: they were the highlight of the room
Thirza Ember: they are our lucky safari socks the grid didn't crash, see
Aussie Envee: no you all did well
Truelie.Telling: and Aussie, thanks for hosting us
Aussie Envee: you are all welcome to come back any time


HG Addresses
TGrid   hg.viewtwwo.net:8600:Welcome
Pangea on Digiworldz   login.digiworldz.com:8002:Pangea Open by arrangement. visit login.digiworldz.com:8002:Welcome   and apply to TR Lifter for access
MoonGlow  moonglow.uk.to:9000