Liverpool Hope's Virtual Open Day

My daughter, Young Ms K, is currently going through the process of looking at universities, to get a better idea where she might want to go. The various universities hold open days, when prospective students can come along for an in-depth look and ask suitably penetrating questions (like: "How much is beer in the students' union?" and "Where's the nearest curry house?"). This is all fine and dandy, but it does mean potentially travelling the length and breadth of the country to get around all the uni's of interest. Wouldn't it be more convenient if the university came to you?

Well according to this article on the BBC News website, that seems to be what's on offer from Liverpool Hope University, who are setting up a virtual open day on Second Life. This Thursday, visitors will be able to meet with students (and faculty?) on the virtual campus. To quote from the article:

Dr Charlie Blake, head of media, film and communications at the university said: "The Open Day will be an innovative and exciting interactive experience for our visitors. Student Ambassadors have already created their own virtual characters that will be on hand throughout the day to talk to prospective students and offer them advice about studying at Liverpool Hope University."

OK it's not a replacement for actually going there, in the flesh, and seeing what's what. But it is a nice idea in any case. From the sound of it, the site has been built by students. This is quite common for university builds, and is often the work of Digital Media students.

A number of UK universities have sites in Second Life, including: Edinburgh; Coventry; Leeds Metropolitan; University of Warwick; Brunel and many more.

Second Oldham

Tonight's flying visit was to a sim whose first life counterpart is (very approximately) in my neck of the woods: Second Oldham. This is a relatively new sim - and part of the small cluster of Manchester sims that also includes Urbis.

It is great to see such unglamorous places as Oldham getting a presence in Second Life. Oldham is a town of over 100,000 inhabitants, situated in the county of Greater Manchester, to the NorthEast of Manchester itself. While there is evidence of habitation in the area since Neolithic times, it was not until the Industrial Revolution that Oldham moved beyond a few ramshackle dwellings. The first cotton mill opened in 1778, and the town grew quickly as cotton spinning became the boom industry. The decline started with the cotton famine of the 1860s, brought about by the blockade of the Confederacy during the American Civil War. But it was a gradual process - the last mill final closed in 1998. Along with cotton there was a successful coal industry - also now deceased. In the post-industrial age, Oldham is now struggling to redefine itself.

It is using Second Life as a vehicle for informing people about developments in the town, and to promote the town's industry and leisure opportunities. The sim itself is largely empty - with one corner taken up by the Second Oldham complex. A path leads visitors from the main dome, past an exhibition area, auditorium and finally a sandbox (not actually open to all-comers). It all feels quite 'early days' and may change significantly in the coming months. Certainly, there is a large slice of sim that is currently unoccupied. While the complex is nicely constructed, I think they are failing to use the exhibition space to best advantage. At the moment, there is a rolling display of 2D images regarding proposed new construction in the town. It would be nice if this was also modelled in 3D. Perhaps that is to come.

Anyway - as ever - a few snaps for you:

Warwick University Maths

A short post tonight, with a few snaps, of Warwick University Maths island. The island is located in the huge, sprawling cluster of largely educational sims to be found in the North-East part of the grid. I am very slowly, and highly intermittently, making my way through the cluster and as this island belongs to one of the relatively few UK universities involved in Second Life, I thought I'd take a look. It's also interesting that this island belongs to the Mathematics Department, rather than, say, Art & Design.

The University of Warwick (to give its proper name) is a campus university, establishlished in 1965, in the West Midlands (UK). It has around 16,000 students, a third of whom are postgrads. According to wikipedia: "A recent survey by The Times resulted in the campus being voted the best in the UK by a national poll of university students." The Warwick Maths Insitute website was playing up when I wrote this, but I did find out that the Second Life island is the brainchild of Dr Dave Wood, Director of Undergraduate Studies and Teacher of Hard Sums - and known as Ee Maculate in SL. As far as I can tell, Dr Wood is doing the build himself.

The island is still under construction, and is in a very 'skeletal' state. The main elements of the island are in place: a number of large, hollow polyhedra, connected by pathways. However, these have little (or no) content at the moment, while there are a number of buildings that are still only half-complete. There is a 3D map of the island, so you can check out what is planned.
Oh, and there's a bar / coffee bar (along with a campfire area) that is complete - and presumably provides Dr Wood's students and/or colleagues with somewhere to meet.

Here's a few photos for you to peruse:


And a less formal meeting area:

Company Island - A Work In Progress

This week I have not been quite as active in blogging interesting (or, indeed, not-so-interesting) sites in Second Life as I would normally be. Partly, this is due to a number of RL commitments that have reduced the time I've spent in Second Life, and partly it is due to my continuing work on the company island.

You may recall that we actually acquired the island at the end of December. Since then, when the opportunity has arisen - and the creative juices have been bubbling - I've been doing a "first fix" to get the island into a state where it is of practical use within the company. I don't expect most of the buildings to survive through future reconstructions. Looking at the experiences of a number of friends I am expecting maybe a couple of such reconstructions before we are all happy with the final result. I'm therefore keen to capture the island in its current state - and besides, I've not had much opportunity to go elsewhere recently.

The slideshow below features a number of buildings and a few open spaces... oh... and a giant TV. OK, I think I must've got the idea for the TV from Prados Azules, though I readily admit that mine is very simple and basic compared to theirs. I can't pinpoint any specific influences for the other buildings - but perhaps you can see them more clearly than me. The chairs in the "boardroom" will one day be a tolerable recreation of the real world ones, found at our training facility outside Paris - though, to be fair, they aren't bad now.

So, in the absence of a more usual post, here's my pictures of the company island - a work in progress:

Hard To Find Records

OK, I know, this one has been around for months - well, since August as far as I can determine. But as part of my ongoing mopping up operations near some of the Rivers Run Red client islands I happened on this site and went for a look. I have mentioned before, if I see on the Map that a sim name consists solely of initials I will give it a go, since there is a strong chance that it will prove relevant to this blog. That is, it will be a company, education establishment or non-profit organisation. And this island illustrates my point: HTFR. The initials stand for Hard To Find Records, a UK-based online store [with an offline outlet in Birmingham] that specialises in... umm... hard-to-find records, and more broadly, DJ equipment in general.

These hepcats, with their zoot suits, winklepickers, moptop haircuts and spandex pants appear to have shown a 23 skidoo in the direction of your regular build firms, and have mashed up their own happy house/grindcore sim, ina metapunk styl-ee, innit.

Right, that's quite enough of that...

The sim is modelled on a turntable, with the HTFR shop in the centre. The initials have been cleverly worked into a range of mountains, and so are visible from the Map view. The main features of the online shop are on display in the virtual shop -vinyl, T-shirts, equipment, including lights, speakers and decks. The place is staffed by rather convincingly rendered "cutouts" - though it wouldn't hurt them to smile once in a while, would it? There's also a sound stage, sandbox and maze. A number of virtual items are available for a fee - though I didn't spot any freebies, apparently there is a shop T-shirt available. The T-shirts didn't appear to work for me, but I could buy speakers and other items if I so chose (I didn't). Most items have links to corresponding pages in the HTFR website. In a telling pointer to the gender split in DJ'ing - and much to my surprise - there are a number of places where you can get your photo taken with a young lady, though the latter is only a cut-out.

I rather like this place. A pro-builder would probably think it could do with a bit of polishing, but it's got some nice ideas, nicely executed. I also admire the fact that it appears to be entirely self-built. While it may not win many awards, perhaps it could scoop a small prize in the indie section ( I can almost sense my grave being spat on for using the word "indie" here!). I get the impression of a friendly, enthusiastic shop that is embracing Second Life to see if it works, and 'cos it's fun to do. Good luck to 'em.

Not many snaps - but here you go...

Al Pays Tribute

The latter part of 2007 has witnessed the creation of a number of memorials: 9/11; Vietnam War Memorial and Armistice Day. One memorial site that had escaped my notice until today is the Tribute Island sim.

To quote from the notecard: "Tribute Island is all about celebrating the lives of the people we've lost and loved. People who have inspired us, entertained us, selflessly protected us, and who have filled our lives with sound and colour. Frome the British Army, Navy, and RAF, to the political, scientific, and Hollywood greats." The island has a number of zones, taking in all of the classifications mentioned plus many more, including: artists; musicians; authors and scientists. The information hub provides a useful map, or you can catch the monorail that stops at various points around the island. I hopped on at the Underground station, which includes a commemorative plaque to those killed in the 7/7 London Tube bombings.

Here are a few of the many memorials here - starting with a map and aerial view, and a glimpse from the monorail:


Military memorials:


Artists, Picasso and Man Ray:


While here are Orson Welles, Gene Roddenberry and Isaac Asimov:


Some are less serious than others - here's Faye Wray and Peter Cushing:


As you can see from these snaps, there is no formal style, as many of the memorials are personal tributes. As a result, the island, at first sight, looks a bit of an eyesore. However, once you've overcome this initial jarring effect, I think you might find it a very absorbing place. There are so many people, from all walks of life, remembered here. Each tribute also links off to pages on an associated website, where more information can be found and comments left.

If you wish to pay tribute to someone not already represented here then you can. As another notecard informed me: "We’re a free-to-use installation space where you can leave a lasting tribute to ANYONE who’s passed away within living memory (since 1950). Just keep your contributions PG, and (for sim security so that we can keep the sim locked down tight) provide a link to an entry on our website (www.lastingtribute.co.uk) so other people can leave a tribute too."

The island owners also host a variety of events which you can discover by joining the island's Second Life group. Apparently there are various freebies and other "easter eggs" dotted about the place. All in all a fascinating example of "user generated visualisation" and a novel idea. I recommend you pop along. In terms of numbers, there is a bias toward British dead, but this is not intended to be a uniquely British site and there are tributes to people from all around the World - as you can see from some of the names above.

BBC World

I must have blinked and missed the announcement of this one, since I stumbled across the BBC World island, unsurprisingly called BBC World, completely by accident. BBC World is the BBC's international news and current affairs television channel, and boasts the biggest audience of any BBC channel. It broadcasts worldwide, 24 hours a day. If you've stayed in any hotel room outside the UK, the chances are this has been one of the channels on offer. It also seems to be the first Beeb channel to set up a permantent residence in Second Life, though the Beeb has dallied with the virtual world in the past for specific events.

I gather this site has been in Second Life for about a month, as I found a press announcement dated 5th October that declared: "BBC World holds its first ever Second Life press conference and introduces The Internationalists." It then went on to explain: "The Internationalist campaign is a global advertising and direct marketing campaign, created to introduce [BBC World]’s unique audience to the media trade. The Internationalists are the conscientious consumers, big spenders and opinion leaders populating the world, who are committed to global issues and life-long learning."

So let's take a look at it...



Broadly, the island is divided into a number of areas corresponding to the main subjects covered by the channel: finance; travel; luxury & lifestyle; technology and business & international. There is also a large outdoor meeting area, the World Plaza, that can be used for hosting events. The site is strongly branded, and nicely built.

While here you can also visit a pirate island, that is currently a lot less entertaining than it might sound, and the BBC tower transmitter, which is surprisingly rather more entertaining than it might sound. Why? Well it seems that aliens have a peculiar fondness for the transmitter tower. So much so, in fact, that they are trying to dismantle it and take it home.



The map also shows a jetski ride, but I failed to find it.

But what about the freebies? I found a couple of things, though there may be more. First off, there is a small Buddhist meditation area on the island, where you can help yourself to some freen Buddhist robes. However, if bling is more your thing, you can also find his'n'hers watches, with adjustable blinky bling.

One odd thing, the island is immediately adjacent to Conference Island, despite having no connection with it that I am aware of. Conference Island provides facilities for companies without a Second Life presence to arrange meetings and presentations. Its main feature is a rather good Scope Cleaver bespoke building.