Happy Birthday Mobius!

Happy 10th birthday Mobius grid! A big party occasion, and why not? Well this is opensim, so anything can happen...

The grid was experiencing some technical difficulties so we all crashed a few times, nothing drastic, after all you just need 2 minutes' patience and three clicks of a mouse to get back where you were, hardly a hardship, and it was certainly worth it for the chance to celebrate the event and to see the fab fireworks.

The constant crashes were a good opportunity to return to the Mobius freebie shop, and to run into more Mobians than is usual for a safari gal just wandering the metaverse - so, why not make the most of the opportunity?! I asked a range of people how they feel about the grid, from newcomers, to those who have been away for a long time, to others who have been around here a great deal.

Name Check

 Yeah, what is in a name?  Full Name, Default Name, Display Name, Username, Modern and Legacy... 
Originally when you joined Second Life, you chose a first name - it could be anything you wanted that wasn't wasn't too obviously rude or copyright infringing. Then you picked a last name from a list of about 50 possibles. This surname list was gradually refreshed, so that people who joined around the same time would often find they had 'cousins' - think of the improbable art trio of Selavy, Bryn and Saveme Oh, all linked by that surname, if not much else.  

It was a golden age of witty and punny creativeness, and a huge dose of crass daftness also. Many of the Last Names invited a play on words, and people rose to the challenge with great choices like AM Radio, Hok Wakawaka, or Rolling Shuffle. I bet you can remember a few good ones, put them in the Comments if you want. 

It's painless and quick to change display names in SL

So far in Second Life's impressive 20 year lifespan, there have been over 11,300 Last Names (here's a list of them). That includes both the ones suggested by the Lindens, and custom names people have requested. Some of the earliest Last Names were Baskerville, Prudhomme, Jetaime, Sideways, and Binder. Interestingly in the first four years of SL, only 360 different Last Names were available, each being retired after a few days or weeks, apparently at whim.
Back in 2010 some big name changes happened in Second Life. New account holders had to pick just one name, and whenever legacy form-filling required a second name, they all used the same one - 'Resident'. 

The Daqtheion Empire

By light, we see light

It's a little bit Alice Through the Looking Glass, a touch Whovian, a smidgen Minecraft, and plenty Mobian; it will find worlds unique to your mind and echo them back to you, with interesting sidelights. But of course, whatever allusions fly, this is  the Daqtheion Empire, and the mindworm of Knight Knox, the creator of Phos, a region of crystals and cubes, space and sounds, towers and tunnels and teleports and trees.

If you want to fall in love all over again with Opensim, then take a trip to Mobius and visit this region; this is no game, it's an expression of art, on an imperial scale, in the magnificent opensim style of immense space coupled with total freedom of movement. HG Address, as always, at the end of the post... You make your own adventure.

A Mobius Spring

Springtime is here on Mobius Grid with lots of good news and innovation! 

The unusual and colorful Mobius grid, inspired by all things Sonic the Hedgehog has recently re-opened its doors to OSGrid  gridjumpers, just in time for their Easter Hunt event, held on their big Welcome sim.  Grid address, is, of course, at the end of the post. 

The look of the Easter Hunt game is unmistakable and charming - this is Cream, an NPC who is part of the fun. Green Hill Zone is the sim most visitors know best, but don't neglect a visit to Lunaria, the gallery sim  belonging to Luna Lunaria, in all its violet glory.

Along with its signature look, Mobius Grid is all about innovation and making the best use of all the features the Viewer offers, so when you arrive you can participate in an Experience rather than just going around doing your own thing.

Safari goes Looking

This week for our first destination, Mobius Grid wanted to do something special to mark the 16th anniversary of the launch of the Dreamcast console, an iconic piece of gaming equipment that changed the virtual lives of many a young(and-not-so-young)ster. We were looking for some gamer fun, and we found it.

A party ? You better believe the Safari wanted in on that! To try to blend in on Mobius, which is in layman's terms a 'Sonic the Hedgehog-themed world'  most of the safaristas donned appropriate furry attachments, some like Jessie Campbell and me for the first time. 

Safari Watches Witches and Work in Progress

          There were two official destinations this week, but the hard-core Safaristas ended up on a third, and there was a lot more tail by the end of the adventure than we started out with. Addresses at the end of the post.
          First, off to Kitely, to get an idea about their regular WIP (pronounced whip) event, where builders and inventors can show off their latest Work In Progress.

 Serene.Jewell: So welcome to the Hypergrid Safari! So it's simple - you stand, you rez something and you talk about it.  It is one hour long only! Everyone will get 5 minutes today, I call the time when your time is up. We don't have many presenters so you will be able to jump in at the end. Nara Nook [aka Malone] is First!
Nara.Nook: I'm using Aine Caoimhe's PMAC system to make the cafe in the Greyville Writer's colony more interactive.

          Nara explained how the cat keeps writers company, and can be easily modded with poses and animations. It looks complete, but is a work in progress because she is still looking for animal animations, rather than the human ones she is currently using (although they looked great to us). The audience loved it.