Safari Breaks the Code

            Well, maybe not the code, but for sure we broke Neiferleaf, at least for a little while. Yet, would it really be a Safari if there was no crashing?
             Exactly.

             Back after a two month break, over 40 people joined - or tried to join - the Safari this week, a sign that the interest in opensim destinations remains as strong as ever. Two really interesting places were our goals on this our 155th outing - Vibel grid, and CitizenFour on Osgrid - complete HG addresses at the end of the post.

             Roland Francis invited us over to see his absolutely gorgeous grid, Vibel. Based in Belgium, this grid has an elegant, serene, fantasy theme. Our main destination was Neiferleaf region, a co-production of Cata Raven and Roland Francis.

Cata and Roland

          There's a wood, a town, a castle and lots of romantic and imaginative corners, including musical roses, sound-making leaves, the suspicion of a witch in the misty woods of Branwen, and even some bears. 

Branwen

         There is a Lord of the Rings flavor to the regions, but they have their own style and genius. To learn more about the grid and its attractions, do visit the Vibel grid blog

Cata Raven, dressed as the Witch of Branwen

       There was some impressive lag on Vibel, but on the other hand, 42 people from 27 grids will do that to a small grid. Many of us couldn't tp directly to Neiferleaf and found themselves on a nearby region instead - which, as Chip Angelvi pointed out to me, was just as good to look at. Coming from one of the Compagnons d'Ignis, that is high praise indeed! One nice feature of the WestLorien build is the rainbow waterfall. The unicorns hide when you approach, it's lovely.

Cataplexia Numbers did the Dee-Janing for the event. Cataplexia and her partner Peter have a region over on OSgrid called Koryphon where they have some lovely dance clubs, and offer spiritual learning, healing and recreation, setting your Chakra to rights and so on - divine!

Peter Barlow and Cataplexia Numbers

Roland Francis: Cataplexia just made my day how professional she was in entertaining people while lagging can't thank her enough - she has "what it takes" !  Many can play good tunes, but on top of that she was the perfect host where I was struggling - so now I learned the benefits of having a sound stream available (!!!)

      We all really enjoyed the music, and, after we crashed and came back, even Chat Lag disappeared, allowing us to enjoy the dancing and cam out to see the interesting parts of the build without missing a beat - one of the best things about virtual worlds is the way you can multi task.
            Selby Evans took the opportunity to make a brief video of the region, just to add to the fun.

         But what's the backstory of Roland's opensim experience? I went back the next day and asked. 
Roland.Francis: I have been visiting OSGrid and the other grids at a regular pace since 2009-2010, then there was a new trend with inworldz and a few other grids pulling attention, I guess that was also the time the Kitely was born. I'm a curious guy with a soft spot for virtual worlds, obviously, so I kept scouting, but only touching surface. The reason was that I was not at all happy with the stability and what I saw back then in terms of content - it seemed more like either basics (say pre-SL-2006) Or copybotted sl items. Then I left for years, only to drop in all virtual worlds, SL on top for 3 hours per session max, every 2 or 3 weeks, just to keep in touch with everything until I started discovering how stable 0.8.x of opensim had become and how Diva's Distro opened up new possibilities to host a single private sim...

Roland Francis

          When asked about the lovely look of Neiferleaf, which they were able to put together in an amazing two weeks, he acknowledged the increase in interesting content, items found on the internet and all around opensim which can be customized, improved and elaborated on.

Roland Francis: when you contribute as much added value as you can -imho- we all move forward on a pace that even Linden Labs will fall short for and grow beyond that  that is my true hope *aspiration, more than just "hope*... Of course, nothing compares to unique creations like Taarna's shoes and clothes and Cherry's wonderful creations - not all of us are THAT gifted, but we can use what is being offered and give something back that is higher quality on top of that... make simple things, enhance existing things, and share the knowledge.  I learned in a year 5 times faster and 100 times more then I did in my entire SL experience.

          And so on to our second destination, on OSgrid. 
         Posh Prim invited us to explore his region called CitizenFour. For those hardy, determined souls who survived the Neiferleaf lag and made it to this place were well rewarded by an extraordinary concept and interesting artistic expression of admiration for the world's most famous geek, Edward Snowden. 

        We arrived in a parcel called 'The Hate Won't Win'  and that name gives you a clue about how Posh sees Snowden, as a force for good, an icon, and, when you stop and think about the intricacies of hacking computer code, almost a mystical figure, in a way.

Posh Prim (right)

posh prim: ok now i will tell you a bit why i build this sim.. want someone hear it lol xSIBERIAx.ILFREDDOPURIFICA: sure
Sunshine Szavanna: yes pleaseee
posh prim: OK, the most knows what a leaker is..
Bwild Parx: my bike tire got a leak
Billy Bradshaw: bust pipe?
posh prim: the most known is E. Snowden. He and his girlfriend used the nick citizenfour, that's the name of this sim.

Thirza Ember: does snowden still live in Russia?
posh prim: the last info was that he is in russia with his girlfriend
Thirza Ember: girlfriend, vodka, internet - all you need
Bwild Parx: thirza, sounds like a candle burning at both ends and the middle
posh prim:  also I think most know what a code is... I build some symbolic of two codes, the IT code (bits,byts) and the Universal code
Thirza Ember: that is what makes this region so unique, the architecture tells the story of the code
Bwild Parx: what's this 'code' being talked up
Thirza.Ember: Bwild, if we tell you, then we have to kill you
posh prim: the universal uses the number PHI and IT code use it too, that's why i set in the middle of the sim the symbol of number PHI
Thirza Ember: anything that involves Pie, I am in favor of it
posh prim: not pie, PHIE
Jessie Campbell: that's pie with a lisp Thirza
Thirza Ember: what is PHI ...I am so ignorant
posh prim: that PHI was also use by building pyramids thats why this club is in the pyramid
Bwild Parx: sounds like a fishy pie
George Equus: 3.1415.........
posh prim: that's pie george
Jessie Campbell: I think he means just PI, the math term
Thirza Ember: I don't think so... I'm guessing the watchtowers represent cyber security.

posh prim: pie / 2 = phie. The number phi is also a factor to math the real universe .. to find the one code
Jessie Campbell: and the one code refers to what...??
George Equus: 1.618 … golden ratio
posh prim: correct george
Thirza Ember: I'm writing all this down...
Lucy Afarensis: hehe
Bwild Parx: tc all, im off to finish a gun script
Lucy Afarensis: happy shooting
George Equus: golden ratio is very useful... Parthenon for one thing...
posh prim: yes
Lucy Afarensis: the number is 42 I have heard
posh prim: but not for the normal for users the most where phi is use is for high bank transverse building a key on key one code
Thirza Ember: so, encryption is a little bit mystical... ancient, and modern
Sunshine Szavanna: I have music *-* WoOoHoOo *-*
Jessie.Campbell: I got music

Thirza Ember: Posh, what made you a fan of snowden? What was the first thing you liked about his work
posh prim: that he get the data and give it free so we all knows what goes on at the big world of data
Jessie Campbell: I agree
posh prim: the first was to set a memorial for ed but to set only a memorial was not much, so i tried a bit more and give a bit universe to it,  i mixed by phi the since on the universal code of the real universe (moving planets here) and the IT code in between of the code that ed gives out. For some ppl it is a bit critical to talk about ed, but he risk his life and lost his social life
George Equus: He can't be talked about enough.
Thirza Ember: Posh, how did you discover opensim
posh prim:: too i was at sl before, but - mm all change to pay pay pay.. so i search for some better .. so i found several grid.. but i land here

Thirza Ember:  ooo i found the clock...I think you have done something extraordinary here... to make a region based on both an eternal mathematical concept, and also on an important part of world events... it's very unusual
posh prim: hi foxx welcome to the club
Foxx Bode: changed quite a bit since i was here last :)
Thirza Ember: i love the fact you can dance and listen to music, and at the same time learn interesting stuff in open sim
        ...it was getting late.
Lucy Afarensis: Typist is off to mix a drink
Sunshine Szavanna: byebyeee all time to go ty for the great safari
xSIBERIAx.ILFREDDOPURIFICA: it is the hour X for me... the bed call me and i don't can tell no... XD thanks posh! good night to all and see you!!!!

HG Addresses
Neiferleaf region on Vibel ..............     grid.vibel.eu:8002:neiferleaf
Posh Prim's tribute to Snowden ......     hg.osgrid.org:80:citizenfour