Moonletters Considering New Writers

Posted on February 8, 2010
Filed Under On The Web | Leave a Comment

BY EDITOR SHAUNA SKYE

Do you enjoy reading this site? Have you ever thought you might like to write for us, but were too shy to ask?

Moonletters has some fun writers at the moment, but I will, however, consider one more person to join our staff for weekly columns.

This writing position is volunteer, but yes, people do read this site.

No, I don’t mind if you’re a new writer just starting out. The main thing is that you enjoy Moonletters, and like to write about topics related to Second Life that fit into the categories in our right hand column. (Scroll down a bit.)

Though this is a volunteer blogging position, I do ask that you be reliable if you volunteer. If interested drop me an email at ShaunaSkye@gmail.com.

Note: The picture is from Moonletters back when it was a hardcopy fantasy publication. The artist responsible for the moon writing a letter was Dennis Preston. (I found someone had scanned it on the net, and thought I’d share.)

Know Where People Get Their Clothes

Posted on February 7, 2010
Filed Under Newbie Help | Leave a Comment

BY EDITOR SHAUNA SKYE

Have you ever seen clothes or shoes you thought were cool, but you didn’t want to ask the person wearing it where they got it from? Well, guess what. There’s a way to know without having to ask!

That’s right, you can usually learn where your fashionista rival shops without having to flatter them by asking for the landmark.

If the item the person is wearing has a prim attachment, such as a skirt, boot, hat, shoulder pet, etc. it’s simple.

Once you have the creator’s name view their profile and look under picks or classifieds. You will usually find the store listed under one of these.

This doesn’t work 100% of the time because sometimes people leave Second Life and abandon all, or do not update their profile. However, if a person has actually put forth effort to create an item in Second Life, it is likely they will have some means to get hold of their creation.

Being able to know the creator of an item someone wears without having to ask can be useful in other ways too. Those who enjoy a bit of Sherlock Holmes may understand why this is.

Paypourri: Hello, Goodbye!

Posted on February 6, 2010
Filed Under Art, Culture, Education, Fun Places, Special Events | Leave a Comment

BY CHIEF STAFF WRITER PAYPABAK WRITER

Don’t miss this weekend’s CommUNITY Faire at 4 Bridges: music, poetry, funfair, light show. The press release promises: “A stunning display of fireworks, live original music and dances for earth and sky. Brought to you by an international cast from Sweden, UK and USA,” including: Junivers Stockholm – SL’s own composer and performer; Jannne Janus – Firework supremo; and performers – Medora Chevalier (Costumes, choreography) Szvanna Anatra, Cogito Ultsch, and Millay Freschi.
Imagine the World You Want to See. Catch the Dream!

One of my favorite clubs is going to close soon, so please stop by and say farewell to Inter’Zone! Orlanda Cortes can’t afford to keep it going but will continue to create things on a smaller scale in SL. She is very gifted! A big blow out party is planned but she hasn’t gotten back to me on the details . . . a demolition was part of the plans when we last chatted.

I happened to run across the Jet Propulsion Labs NASA sim, Explorer Island, the other day and was impressed by how much they have crammed onto one island. Of course, the price they pay is in lag time, very fierce considering there’s so few prims left! A veritable forest of rockets provides a visual history of our space program. Videos and exhibits present a lot of information as well, so plan on spending more than one visit to take it all in. My favorite was their planetarium that you can adjust to see the night sky wherever in the world you live. JPL has been in SL since 2006, but I got a distinct feeling this sim hasn’t been updated since 2008 because of the notecard given out. Nonetheless, if you are a space buff, this sim is for you!

Visit inworld: Inter’Zone and JPL NASA Planetarium

Free Chimera, AO, Skins, Shapes

Posted on February 5, 2010
Filed Under Fashion, Hair, Skin, Free or Cheap, Interesting Items, Newbie Help | Leave a Comment

BY EDITOR SHAUNA SKYE

I’ve been in Second Life since 2007, so I’m not one to usually be thrilled by freebie places. Most of the stuff I already have, or in the case of clothing I wouldn’t be caught dead in it. However, this freebie place Madame1111 Quintessa took me to had some things I didn’t already own.

Chimera: Believe it or not I didn’t have one of these yet. What is a chimera? It’s an object you put dances inside of. You wear the object on your head usually (it’s invisible) and to dance all you have to do is click your head. Your friends can also click your head and they will be dancing in step right along with you. A chimera lets you become a mobile dance machine.

Male & Female AO: An Animation overrider is something one can hardly do without in Second Life unless we want to walk and stand like a bunch of dorks. An AO can give some personality. I tested the free AOs here and they’re better than some I’ve seen people pay for.

Shapes & Skin: Ok the shapes and skins are not exactly unique, but one in particular is quite good for the men (I’ll let you be the judge of which that is) and the skin is certainly decent, much better than the freebie skin going around back in the day. Hey, it’s worth a look if you’re a newbie or wanting to quickly create an alt avatar for yourself.

There’s also various other things here. The half naked man beating his chest on the balcony at Moonletters HQ was acquired here. (It’s Tarzan, ok?). Also some little cutesy animated things like jumping mice, cartoon flowers, poofers, etc. I was going to say the freebie clothing is mostly the typical Barbie-sleaze trash, but on second glance I see a couple of cute things mixed in, and some halfway decent stuff for newbie men–so I won’t be too harsh.

Visit Inworld: FREE S E L E C T I O N

Yabba Dabba Do!

Posted on February 4, 2010
Filed Under Fun Places | 2 Comments

BY STAFF WRITER JELLIE ARROWMINT

That’s right, as the title says above, I have been and checked out the Bedrock sim.

My mate Annie Anton said, ‘Jels, you gotta see this place’ so that’s just what I did!

Wow the colours hit you first. Not quite sensory overload, but almost; heck this place resembles the home of Fred et al so I shouldn’t have expected anything else.

I tell you what though this place does have everything, from a Bedrock Tour in Gazoos spaceship to a drive-in movie where you can watch many a genre of film. If you fancy one that’s not on the list then IM Tigey Honey or Aries Bricklin and it’ll be sorted for you. That’s the great thing about this place. The owners want you to enjoy yourself, and ok, it does cost $25 to go bowling or play mini golf, but that’s not very much and you gotta give something back to the creators of this marvel!

Spend a romantic time with your beloved riding the Ferris wheel, or snuggling up in one of the houses. Fred and Wilma didn’t seem to mind, and Dino? Well, he was strutting his stuff at the dance hall–it was very surreal!

Want a Fred Flintstone all to yourself? Pick one up at the Boutique that’s just behind the firehouse. I’m gonna get me some jammies next time I’m there. (You can never have enough jammies.)

Take a walk to the pier, hold a meeting in the water buffalo lodge and see if your mug shot is on a wanted poster at the police station.

One of my favourite places here is the firehouse. I love Elly the Elephant! Hee hee, so cute! I was gonna take a pic of me sliding down the fire pole, but you go so quick that you have no chance–great fun though!

One of the downsides to this place is the lag. It is big and doesn’t always rez quickly when there are lots of people online. But having said that, it is worth a visit

Unless you have hours at a time to spare, you may have to pop back now and again, but do. Tale along a few mates, catch a flick; oh and get your picture taken as Annie and I did–sorry Annie, it had to go on here! Uh oh, looks like I’m in trouble, so before I skedaddle I better tell you about the quarry where you can help out a bit, and don’t forget to pick up your free Bedrock sedan.

Visit Inworld: Bedrock

Free High Quality Skin

Posted on February 3, 2010
Filed Under Fashion, Hair, Skin, Free or Cheap | Leave a Comment

BY EDITOR SHAUNA SKYE

If you’re looking for some nice male or female skin, Cybernetic has free ones available.

These are located on the top floor. I only took a quick snapshot for you, but skin covers the wall all around, so there’s much more to see.

Though free, these are higher quality than many of the expensive ones you’ll find.

Note: My friend Madame1111 Quintessa told me about this place. She often shows me cool things inworld, and will be joining Moonletters staff in the near future as a reporter.

Visit Inworld: Cybernetic Skins

Featured Blog: When It Changed

Posted on February 2, 2010
Filed Under On The Web, Opinions/Gossip/People | Leave a Comment

BY CHIEF STAFF WRITER PAYPABAK WRITER

A number of the blogs I’ve recommended in the past have been about the dazzling places in SL and provide dazzling pictures. But lately I’ve been dazzled by prose! Not that Virtual Neko and Not Possible in Real Life didn’t have great writing, too, but it was the pictures or illustrations of the wonders of SL that were foremost attractors. Vaneesa Blaylock provides pictures of her performance art but it’s her writing and attitude that recommend her most. And Lauren Jone’s When It Changed is all about words first and worlds second … but those worlds are pretty cool, too. Her SL avatar is Senban Babii and she tells great stories about her explorations in SL as well as in other virtual worlds, relating them to first life in a thoughtful and self-objective manner.

Great samples include the history of hippos in SL, an examination of two cultural perspectives via the lens of SL, and the evolutionary aspects of multitasking. You may not agree with everything she writes but she writes good, and for me, that matters. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that she’s also a Transworlder, SL Blogger, and Second Life Neko! Give her a look!

Jellie Arrowmint’s Real Life Blog

Posted on February 1, 2010
Filed Under On The Web, Opinions/Gossip/People | 1 Comment

BY EDITOR SHAUNA SKYE

Moonletters staff writer, Jellie Arrowmint, has set up a blog which will feature her short stories, reviews, poems, playlists and more. She has done this under her real life name, Rachel Ellie, so if you’d like to see the woman behind the Second Life avatar give her blog a visit.

You can, of course, still read Jellie’s SL ramblings here at Moonletters.com every Thursday same as always. But if you want to read Jellie/Rachel in between that time, now you can!

Visit on the Web: Rachel Ellie’s Blog

Hey, Hey, He’s the Monkey

Posted on January 31, 2010
Filed Under Interesting Items | Leave a Comment

BY EDITOR SHAUNA SKYE

Ok, so he’s a chimp, not a monkey. I discovered this primate on animal island. He looked up at me with his little chimp eyes while holding a tipping hat. Had he been a beagle puppy I may have given him all of my lindens, but as it was I just giggled.

Chimp Champ is fairly amusing. Not only does he look cool, but he can follow his owner, do a jump, make screaming noises, and great a friend (no, that’s not my typo; on his menu the button says “great” instead of greet).

Chimp Champ is entertaining. But what he’s best at is holding the money hat. Will people be more apt to cough up lindens to this chimp rather than a boring old tip jar? I think they might. I plan to take full advantage and exploit this little guy to see if it works. I bought him for 899 lindens so now he’s my hat holding slave. Yes I know, not cheap–but just look at him!

I know some people get excited over fashion, cars or gadgets; and hey, I’ve been known to spend a little more time in the Japanese clothing stores than most people. But really, if you want to know where I truly lose my mind it’s in stores with animals. To date I own three dogs, five cats, several hamsters (one giant and eating a cheese bigger than your head), a parrot, owl, donkey, piglet, flying pig (you didn’t think they existed but I have one), butterflies, bunny rabbits, fish, a tiger and a walrus. Not to mention numerous shoulder pets, and pocket pets.

Now I have a 16 prim chimp asking you for lindens when you visit Moonletters HQ. I named him Davey after that little British guy from the Monkees.

You can get your own screeching tip jar if you like, but I must warn you there’s some awesome stuff on this island. If you are like me and tempted to buy all animals when you see them, you may need to close your eyes.

Visit Inworld: Animal Island

Is There a World-Renowned Medical Institution in the House?

Posted on January 30, 2010
Filed Under Art, Culture, Education | Leave a Comment

BY CHIEF STAFF WRITER PAYPABAK WRITER

“When we put up www.mayo.edu, there were only 10,000 web servers in the world.” Those are the words of Svea Morane, Web Admin for the world-renowned Mayo Clinic, who has worked there more than 34 years. I met this far-sighted avatar via the usual SLynchronicity of wearing so many titles in SL: as customer service rep for MechanizedLIFE, handling a problem Svea had with a CalendarCog Event Board. Of course, I didn’t know he was a visionary at the time, but I quickly threw on my Moonletters Writer title and went after this wonderful story! You can go to the clinic’s Website joining the monthly total of 13 million visitors and learn just about anything about modern medicine and the mission of this extraordinary institution. I kept wanting to jump up from my keyboard during our tour and put a bag to my nose and mouth to keep from hyperventilating! I haz a SCOOP!

The sim is brand-spanking new! Built by Oura Scribe under Svea’s direction, this excellent replica of the main campus of the clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, was built in six days …”from water to what you see” complete with glass sculptures and piano that represent significant landmarks identifying it as none-other-than. The sim was built to spark “internal discussion about ways Mayo clinic could use virtual worlds.” The tour Svea gave me took in the five goals he set for demonstrating what he felt were key concepts in going from Web 2.0 to Web 3.0. The goals were to simulate what goes on at Mayo in first life, re-purposing educational content, facilitate collaboration in virtual conferences and meetings, explore new ways of providing patient care, and invite interaction with “alumni” in less formal surroundings.

These book covers can be clicked on to retrieve the Webpage where full descriptions and order information can be found.

It is not yet the patient-focused sim that Svea envisions but one for getting a tiny portion of the 50,000 staff members using it and developing ways in which a patient-focused sim can function. Then they will build that amazing place next door along with one for their graduate school. Svea feels that we’ve reached a similar point like back when they opened that first Website, “believing this technology will be valuable and helpful … and finding the right places to apply it, so we have winners and not games.” He also said, “having a Google calendar display will be critical to our success,” a wonderful endorsement of the MechanizedLIFE product that brought us together.

There's a whimsical side to this proof-of-concept sim: this North pole sign is not authentic.

He went on to say: “I care a lot about helping patients and finding better ways to provide care. So we will explore these tools to see how it helps. Along the way, we have made all kinds of associations with many groups and people in SL who share those goals.” And to prove he wasn’t just spouting from the PR brochures: “and having good live music does not hurt !”

I am not providing a landmark since this island is more of a proof-of-concept sim than, as Svea stated, a patient-focused place. You won’t find it on searching, either. I just think it’s great to know that this kind of thing is going on and hope you do, too.

keep looking »