Friday, November 30, 2007

Princeton University's Alexander Beach Sim Opening - 11/28

Princeton University's
Alexander Beach Grand Opening Celebration
November 28th, 2007

Sim Owner/Management - Persis Trilling
Sim Architecture & Design - Scope Cleaver
Photography - Isolde Flamand
DJ of the Event - Doubledown Tandino





























Wednesday, November 14, 2007

You know you've been in Second Life too long when... (by Doubledown Tandino)

Yes, if you're in second life a lot, you begin to look at the real world a bit differently. When you're out in the real world next time, take note, because....

You know you've been in Second Life too long when...

Your friend calls you on the phone and asks you to do something, and you say "Stop spamming me!"

You begin to clean your house and keep looking for red, green, and blue arrows to move things.

You go outside and see an overcast cloudy day, and think to yourself, "I wish they'd roll out Windlight already"

You go out to a club and after 30 seconds want to go to another club.

You would rather be called by your avatar name.

You are now going by your avatar name.

You think it's normal now to go out in public wearing a tail

You see a house for rent, and your first thought to ask the landlord is "how many prims"

You notice your wrists start to float up every time you talk

You're walking through the city and you think to yourself "I could build this"

You want to have sex with your loved one, so you tell her to "get on this poseball"

You get into an argument about 10 cents and then feel the president must be informed about this and the person you argued with must be banned from the country immediately

You stop and stare at anything gray and think you'll see it better eventually

You think to yourself "what's the point of the internet" and "what's the point of email"

You decide to have a yardsale on your front lawn for a month straight

You start wearing anything you want to a business meeting

You think at a club that if you start dancing, 19 other people will do the exact same thing



... more to come soon when i think of em

Orange Presents Identity Summit: Avatars and Identity - November 15th & 16th



On Friday, November 16, Orange Island will host a series of discussions by Second Life residents and community leaders on the nature of identity and avatars. Panels will address such topics as non-human avatars, avatars as personas, and avatars as personal brands. Speakers joining us on these panels include: Ordinal Malaprop, Torley Linden, Celebrity Trollop, Michi Lumin, and Forseti Svarog. In addition to the panels, open-ended discussion is encouraged during exhibits throughout the day. Everyone is welcome to listen, share, and discuss these fascinating issues.

Leading in to the Identity Summit, Orange Island is hosting an Avatar Showcase on the plaza at 10am Thursday November 15. Residents are invited to present their most unique and interesting avatar in this two hour event. The top three avatars will have their portraits made and displayed during one of the gallery exhibitions during the following day's discussions.

Orange Island is a community site sponsored by Orange to foster and encourage resident collaboration, innovation, and creativity. The Identity Summit is only the first in a series of Orange Presents discussion days, and is part of a robust events schedule that includes classes, games, exploration, and discussions. To get involved with the Orange community in Second Life, stop by the island and talk to the staff: Fandango Milena, Fab Outlander, and Moe Anderton. Events announcements and community opportunities are sent via SL group, Orange Island, and posted on our blog, http://www.orange-island.com/

Contact Adri Saarinen (adri@metaversatility.com) or Haver Cole (haver@metaversatility.com) for more information.

Identity Summit Schedule

Thursday, November 15

10am -12pm – Avatar Showcase
(participants are encouraged to register with Haver Cole (haver@metaversatility.com ) prior to the event to ensure they will have a chance to present.)

Friday, November 16

9am – 10am – Avatar as a Personal Brand
Speakers: Torley Linden, Celebrity Trollop, and Saeya Nyanda
Moderator: Haver Cole

10am – 11am – Open Discussion on Avatar and Brand Identity

11am – 12pm – Persona and Identity Transparency in Business
Speakers: Ordinal Malaprop, Forseti Svarog

12pm – 1pm – Open Discussion and Gallery Showing of Avatar Showcase Winners

1pm – 2pm – Non-Human Avatars
Speakers: NeoBokrug Elytis, Kumi Kuhr, Michi Lumin
Moderator: Adri Saarinen

2pm – 3pm – Open Discussion and Gallery Showing of You and Your Avatar photos

3pm – 5pm – Wind Down Mixer and Discussions
Music and entertainment by DJ Doubledown Tandino

Music Venue Guide of Second Life - Send Submission Entries

Current SLMC Group Discussion HERE
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Hi All,

Several weeks ago I posted that one of our main takeaways from SLCC was the desire for a music venue guide - kinda like the back pages of the Village Voice with listings of clubs that regularly host live shows in SL. I am happy to report that we are nearing launch of a music venue guide for secondlife.com and are now pre-selecting submissions. If you are interested in having your venue included in the music site at launch, just send me an email with the form below filled out.

Please note this will be an editorially controlled area of our site and that submission does not guarantee inclusion in the directory. We expect to open up submissions to all Residents by the end of the year but at this time will only be accepting submissions on a limited basis. Since I already mentioned it on this list a while ago, I thought it was appropriate to give the music community a 1st crack at this...please let me know if you have any questions.

Thanks!
- Jesse
Jesse@lindenlab.com

SL Name:
SLurl to your venue:
Website (optional)
Image URL (images should be 500x325 .jpg format)
Description of 150 words or less:

Finally, please choose up to 3 categories from the following list: :

* Alternative Rock
* Blues
* Classical Rock
* Classical
* Country
* Dance & DJ
* Folk
* Hard Rock & Metal
* Jazz
* Latin Music
* New Age
* Other
* Pop
* R&B
* Rap & Hip-Hop
* Rock

Thursday, November 8, 2007

BMI in SL - "Pay the Piper or Face the Music?" by Justine Babii of SLNN

Via Second Life News Network

Pay the piper or face the music?
by Justine Babii
November 07, 2007

SUNSET BEACH - If you own a venue or club in real life that hosts DJs or bands, then you are probably familiar with Broadcast Music, Inc. or BMI. BMI is an organization that has arranged to handle licensing fees for over 350,000 creators of music, the songwriters, composers and publishers of more than 6.5 million musical works.

If you own a club or similar venue in real life then, you pay fees to BMI. Those fees gives your DJs the right to play the copyrighted music and bands to play cover songs for those compositions that BMI represents.

If you own a club or other venue in Second Life, you might not be familiar with BMI yet, but there’s an excellent chance you will be in the near future.

Currently, DJs in Second Life are not required to pay performance rights organizations such as ASCAP, BMI, or SESAC, but that may change in the near future. The current legal climate for Second Life DJs is that they are providing a service and are being paid for that service; thus, are exempt from having to pay for licensing.

Similarly, no one has pursued Second Life club owners for licensing fees to date. The idea that there is no actual venue, or alcohol sales, or significant revenue from advertising probably makes the individual club owners not worth the effort to pursue. There is, however, much going on in the world of digital music licensing that creates a considerable gray area.

And it is this gray area that will make for an interesting year in the Second Life music business. Currently, internet radio stations are embroiled in a contentious dispute with various entities over the costs of broadcasting copyrighted music over the internet. The outcome of this battle could well determine the next steps that BMI and similar organizations take with regard to music performed in Second Life.

In May of this year, the United States Royalty Copyright Board approved an increase in rates internet radio stations would have to pay in order to broadcast songs. Viewing the new rate structure as crippling and potentially in conflict with other pieces of legislation, such as 1998’s Digital Millennium Copyright Act, the internet radio industry immediately challenged the decision in court and a protracted battle has ensued.

In addition to the challenge, a bill called the Internet Radio Equality Bill was proposed in the House of Representatives seeking to ameliorate the rate increases suggested by the Royalty Copyright Board. How this battle plays out may have some effect in Second Life.

In what is purportedly an unrelated development, music licensing giant BMI arrived in Second Life during the summer of 2007 as part of an arrangement with Funky House Club owners Charming Babii and Danni Dollinger.

Dollinger said in a published interview with DJ Doubledown Tandino, “We are sponsored by BMI London. Our plans are to promote new talent and Artists in Dance Music.”

“BMI wants to promote artists from the dance scene ...and they want to do it with [Funky House Club]. They want to sign [and] discover artists (artists including writers, DJ´s, & producers) in SL and RL and promote them in SL and of course in RL. We are making our island into a dance scene,” he also said.

Dollinger then added that “We are planning to hold monthly events where Dance Music Artists can play their tunes to a live audience. At the moment BMI and Gibson Guitars co-sponsor the Wavelength event at The Blarney Stone here in SL which is a live simulcast from Hammersmith London (the Regal Rooms). The Hammersmith monthly event is for Piano acoustic artists.”

The plan didn't work, as the Funky House Club was closed not long after the interview was published on Tandino's blog. Charming Babii, according to his profile, is now associated with a new club, the Sands House and Jazz Club.

SLNN contacted Ham Rambler to speak to him about his working relationship with BMI, but he was travelling. BMI still sponsors the Wavelength events. His business associate Sitearm Madonna had this to say:

"Ham Rambler totally supports live music and musicians and audiences and venues in SL. He is passionate about music in RL and great music ANYwhere.. he is the perfect matchmaker :)"

Futhermore, the clubs on Dublin, The Blarney Stone and Fibber Magees, host DJs every day

There is no evidence of an association between BMI and the Sands House and Jazz Club, and neither Babii nor Dollinger are among the fifteen or so members of the Broadcast Music Inc. (BMI) group in Second Life. Neither would respond to requests for interviews for this article.

The Broadcast Music Inc. (BMI) group was founded by Raj Roviana, who in his profile explains that he works for BMI in London. His profile encourages the music community to join the group, as it says ” If you are a songwriter, composer. or music publisher then please join our group: Broadcast Music Inc. (BMI)." Mr. Roviana did not respond to requests for an interview.

Though there is clearly the potential for exciting opportunities with this relationship, this synergy between an established force in the music industry and Second Life clubs creates some fear and anxiety for many club owners and DJs alike.

The primary fear is that bringing the groups that license music into some clubs and not others will create a network of “licensed” clubs and freeze out clubs that are not licensed by threatening them with performance fees.

Occasional RL musician and Second Life businessman Hammer Flanagan said, “Many of us believe [BMI is] in world to evaluate, to scope it out if you will. As there are no laws to my knowledge regarding streaming music in Second Life, some of us believe they are in here to simply find out what’s going on so perhaps in the future they can try to build a formal streaming music law, to their advantage."

"I feel that Funky House had no idea what they were doing. Their club might benefit in the short term from publicity and whatever perks BMI is offering, but in the long term, unless someone points out to BMI that club ownership here is often a hand-to-mouth operation that couldn’t afford licensing, they may have started the end of all this wonderful variety of streaming music we hear here and see it replaced with the bland corporate suit rock that predominates in American terrestrial radio.”

Thursday, November 1, 2007

DJ Nexeus Fatale - The Holiday Season - DJing for a Cause (DJ Services Free For A Cause)



Nexeus Fatale


The Holiday Season - DJing for a Cause (DJ Services Free For A Cause)


10.30.2007 03.55.pm

This holiday season I’ve wanted to find an interesting way to give to others or help raise awareness important causes. After the success of the ASpiRE! Pink Charity Ball, the idea became crystal clear. Although With the official holiday season about a month away I’ve decided this year I would like to start my own initiative called DJing for a Cause. Throughout the holiday season I am offering to donate my DJing services to any group, event, foundation or individuals who are holding an event for a meaningful cause. These events must be philanthropic in nature (such as fund raising) and has to embody the Holiday theme of giving to others.

As a DJ, we have the ability to place an emphasis on issues that impact our world, our society, and provide much needed attention to important issues such as help for the homeless, natural disaster aid, and aid to important health issues such as cancer, AIDS/HIV, and Altheimer’s. Second Life has such the potential to bring awareness, help and really focus on new, creative ways to help those needs (a great example is the Second Life - Relay for Life). This initiative, DJing for a Cause, is really my way of giving back in a new creative way that really shines the attention on issues that often get lost in the daily virtual (or even real life) grind. While this initiative will start in Second Life, I hope in the future it expands to a much larger audience (then again my goals are lofty!)

If you have an event that you are interesting in using my services and it matches the requirements for the DJing for a Cause Initiative, send a message via the contact page and select the “DJing for a Cause” option or send me a message in Second Life. After contact, the appropriate arrangements will be made.

This holiday season let’s see if we can’t help but to give back.
-Nexeus Fatale

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Second Life Insider