Friday, February 27, 2009

SL Shakespeare Company's Twelfth Night, Act 1 - Open-Ended Run Photography Contest on Koinup!

SL Shakespeare Company's Twelfth Night, Act 1 Open-Ended Run Photography Contest on Koinup!

Show Invites You to Collaborate on Fan Art To Win L$100,000 in Prizes!

It's the story of a shipwrecked girl who goes undercover as a eunuch in the crazy love-charged land of Illyria. The SL Shakespeare Company's long-awaited open-ended run of Twelfth Night, Act 1 is anon! This opening act evolves to reveal the love triangle that silly girl-castrato Viola gets herself into. The unabridged first act contains ample fun—opportunities for you to hear Sir Toby Belch belch, delight in a tempest wrecking the Illyrian coast, see Duke Orsino jump off a balcony into a bed of violets, and much, much, more!

But, what's more fun for you is perhaps our invitation for you to join us in creativity (with booty)! Koinup and the SL Shakespeare Company have teamed up to offer a photography contest with prizes totaling L$100,000 for artwork derived from the SL Shakespeare Company's open-ended run of Twelfth Night, Act 1.

Don't delay! Catch a show, snap some shots, make them good, and enter to win! Drop by any of our performances on Sundays @ 1 PM PST and/or Tuesdays @ 6 PM PST at the SL Globe Theatre. Performances are free except for the last Tuesday and Sunday of each month.
See below for more info on special performances and sessions!

Main Contest

Any artwork that is significantly and evidently derived from any imagery from SL Shakespeare Company's Twelfth Night, Act 1 Open-Ended Run may be entered in the main contest. Details subject to Rules below. Prizes will total to: L$10,000 cash and L$40,000 in sponsored merchandise. Select winning entries will also be published in the magazines and newspapers listed below.

Unedited SL Photography Special Category

Photography of our production taken directly from Second Life with no post-editing also qualify for our Unedited SL Photography category. Details subject to Rules below. Prizes will total to: L$5,000 cash and L$7,500 in sponsored merchandise.

Avatar Photography Special Category

Photography that especially focuses on actor avatars of our production is also eligible to win in the Avatar Photography category. Details subject to Rules below. Prizes will total to: L$5,000 cash and L$7,500 in sponsored merchandise. While all entries that focus on a single avatar will be considered for this prize, Special Photography Avatar-Only Sessions will be held on:

  • Saturday, April 4 @ 1 PM
  • Saturday, April 18 @ 1 PM
  • Further details TBA!

"Variations" Mini-Contests

Starting in April, certain performances will show a "Variation" from our main production. For example, we hope to try an all-female production, a switched-gender production, and perhaps also a (strictly unofficial) popular culture-analogues production. We will be holding a special April Fool's Day performance on Wednesday, April 1, featuring premeditated bloopers. Each "Variation" will be accompanied by a mini-contest. When finalized, mini-contest details and deadlines will be posted here. Photography taken at a "Variation" performance will qualify as entries for both its qualifying mini-contest and the main contest, above. "Variations" prizes will total to L$5,000 cash and L$25,000 sponsored merchandise.

Judges

  • AM Radio - Legendary Artist
  • Ananda Valeeva - Editor, Inner World Magazine; CEO, Surya Isle
  • Beyers Sellers - Talk Show Host, Metanomics
  • Dana Vanmoer - Co-CEO/Editor, SL-Newspaper
  • Eshi Otawara - Artist; Builder; CEO/Designer, Eshi Otawara (formerly Chambre du Chocolat)
  • Frolic Mills - Editor, Best of SL Magazine; Co-CEO, Best of SL Enterprises
  • Ina Centaur - Artist/Builder/CEO/Designer, Ina Centaur; Executive Director, sLiterary
  • James Kjeller - Photographer; Gridnaut
  • Prad Prathivi - Co-CEO/Builder/Designer, Amodica; Co-CEO, The Crown and Pearl
  • Rightasrain Rimbaud - Photographer; CEO, Rezzable
  • Saffia Widdershins - Owner/Editor, Prim Perfect; Producer/Presenter, Meta Makeover
  • Sarah Nerd - Legendary Land Baron
  • Tara5 Oh - Photographer; Blogger
  • Vint Falken - Photographer; Blogger

Prizes Summary

Main Contest (also includes unedited SL photography): L$10,000 cash and L$40,000 sponsored merchandise

  • A grand prize winner will win L$10,000 cash and L$10,000 sponsored merchandise.
  • Ten Runner-up's will each receive L$3,000 sponsored merchandise packages.
Unedited SL Photography-Only Contest: L$5,000 cash and L$7,500 sponsored merchandise
  • A grand prize winner will win L$5,000 cash and L$2,500 sponsored merchandise.
  • Ten Runner-up's will each receive L$500 sponsored merchandise packages.
Avatar Photography Contest: L$5,000 cash and L$7,500 sponsored merchandise
  • A grand prize winner will win L$5,000 cash and L$2,500 sponsored merchandise.
  • Ten Runner-up's will each receive L$500 sponsored merchandise packages.

"Variations" Contest: L$5,000 cash and L$25,000 sponsored merchandise

  • Rolling deadlines. Details TBA. Check back on this page in April.
Sponsored Merchandise include highly-coveted (and some limited-edition) production valuables, such as set pieces, props and wardrobe items. Select winning entries will also be published in the magazines and newspapers listed below:
  • Best of SL Magazine
  • Inner World
  • Prim Perfect
  • RezLibris
  • SL Newspaper
  • sLiterary Magazine
Winning entries will be noted on koinup.com and the SL Shakespeare Company Twelfth Night blog at http://TwelfthNight.SLshakespeare.com/blog

Judging Criteria

Entries will be judged based on three simple criterion:

1. Clarity of Expression
2. Skill and Technique
3. Creativity and Uniqueness

Judges will appoint a numeric value between 1 and 10 (10 being the maximum score) for each criterion. The highest cumulative average of the sum of each criterion from all participating judges wins. We may also be highlighting entries that score well in each particular criterion.

Directions

  • Sign up for a Koinup account to send in your entries. (Registration is free and quick.)
  • Take photos of any SL Shakespeare Company performance of Twelfth Night, Act 1. These occur every Sunday's @ 1 PM PST and Tuesday's @ 6 PM PST at the SL Globe Theatre. Most performances are free, except for the ones that occur on the last Sunday and Tuesday of a performance month. Attendance will be limited at the ticketed performances.
  • Special unscheduled performances may occur. We will be running weekly (or bi-monthly) "mini-contests" in sync with "Variations" starting in April. Details to be announced soon on this page and also on our blog at http://blog.SLshakespeare.com
  • To enter a photo, send it into Koinup.com and tag it with: slsctwelfthnightcontest
    All the entries here
  • To enter a photo in the Unedited category, please also add the tag: slsctwelfthnightuneditedcontest
    All the entries here

Rules

  • All contest entries for the main contest must be received from March 1, 2009 to June 15, 2009.
  • Imagery must be taken from the above mentioned production(s).
  • Cast, production staff, and judges are permitted to submit to the pool, but their entries will not be judged.
  • All submissions to the contest must be posted to Koinup.com and tagged with: slsctwelfthnightcontest
  • Submissions to the Unedited category must also be tagged with: slsctwelfthnightuneditedcontest
  • There are no limits to the number of entries you may submit.
  • Entries that win a mini-contest may also win the main contest.
  • Entries submitted to the Unedited contest may also be submitted to the main contest. Entries that win in one category cannot win in the other. In the unlikely event that there is a tie between an Unedited entry and a post-processed entry in the main contest, the grand prize will be split.
  • To facilitate fair judging, please do not watermark or put logos or signatures on your entry.
  • The decisions of judges are final.

Poll of the Day - Which Music Styles are Missing or Lacking the Most in Second Life?

Poker - Marilyn, Humphrey, James, Elvis, Doubledown



http://www.koinup.com/DoubledownTandino/work/117251/


Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Valleywag shuts down but still publishes another doomsday prediction of Second Life


Via Gwyneth Llewelyn

Hiro Pendragon pointed me to the latest bit of Valleywag nonsense, where you can see that once more the End of Second Life® is predicted, falsely claiming that everybody has lost interest in SL except educators.

I was angry when publishing the comment which I reprint below (because, well, if I were a moderator at Valleywag I would probably refuse to publish it), but thankfully Hiro was quick enough to point out that Valleywag itself is being shut down:

"But the reason for Valleywag’s shutdown was Denton’s notoriously doom-and-gloom vision of the future–Internet ad spending will decline a full 40 percent, he predicts–and Valleywag was one of the company’s less lucrative titles."

That article further explains that Valleywag was not “hilarious enough”. In fact, the few times I read it, I never noticed any sense of humour in it. Writing once about Second Life’s impending doom might be fun once, if cleverly done, by a good funny writer — like the ones at the Onion or the Register. But Valleywag was never fun. People took it seriously. There is never even a hint that it’s supposed to be “funny”, although, arguably, some found it funny. Not enough, apparently. In fact, you always get the sense that the people writing the articles are furious because everybody else has success and they haven’t. On the last article cited above, you can almost feel the contempt (Germans call it “Schadenfreude“) he has for Reuters’ Eric Krangel.

read more | digg story

Monday, February 23, 2009

8 Reasons Why Second Life is Excellent (and why ValleyWag is Full of Crap and Wrong About Second Life)

8 Reasons ValleyWag is Full of Crap & Flat Out Wrong About Second Life
via http://www.secondlifeupdate.com/

"Yesterday ValleyWag wrote a poorly constructed post declaring Second Life dead and trashing education and teachers...

Here are 8 Reasons ValleyWag is Full of Crap & Flat Out Wrong About Second Life

1. Video Production Tool - Second Life is hands down one of the best machinima video production tools around including advanced 3d video production tools for making movies and many examples of professional commercials made in Second Life.

2. Conducting Scientific Research and Model Simulations - Volcano eruptions, scientific research, and even forensic analysis conducted in Second Life to solve real world crimes.

3. Limitless Things to Do - Just take a look at the Virtual World Experiences section of this blog or a Video of Different Second Life Activities - Including skateboarding, surfing, horseback riding, scuba diving, ice skating, skiing.

4. Better than PS3 Home and World of Warcraft - Read the 10 Reasons Second Life is Better Than PS3 Home and the Ten Reasons Why Second Life is Better than World of Warcraft.

5. Virtual Education is a Good Thing - Umm hello? Why do you think there are so many profitable online universities? Isn’t cutting costs and educating people a good thing? Oh that’s right you have no respect for teachers. Apart from traditional virtual education in Second Life there are also sailing video tutorials and similar projects made every day in Second Life.

6. Business for Profit or Business as Gameplay - Some people actually enjoy running a low stakes virtual business in their free time for fun.

7. Business Meetings - ValleyWag even admits that businesses and organizations are actively holding virtual meetings in Second Life. This includes showing Powerpoint presentations in the virtual world and even alcoholics anonymous meetings.

8. Second Life is an MMORPG Game Development Platform - Second Life is being actively used to create new massively multiplayer online role playing games, mini games are created in Second Life such as virtual soccer. "

read more digg story

Sunday, February 22, 2009

metaLIFE's Exclusive VIP Gala & Networking Event - Sunday February 22nd 12pm- 2:30pm (slt)


Sunday February 22nd
12pm- 2:30pm (slt)
@ The new metaLIFE platform in Second Life

metaLIFE's Exclusive VIP Gala & Networking Event

The Plan:
11am :: metaLIFE partners are welcome to come to the platform to set up their metaKIOSKs to prep for the event
12pm-1pm :: Guest Arrival, Cocktail Hour with DJ Doubledown Tandino // Nujazz
12pm-1pm :: The metaHUD quiz & contest for prizes
12:30pm :: Presentation from metaLIFE's Robbie Kiama
1pm-2pm :: Live Musician SRV4u Conacher - The Bluez Preacher Man // Funky Soul & Party Rock
2pm-2:30pm :: DJ Doubledown Tandino // Funky House
2pm-2:30pm :: Fireworks Pyrotechnics Show by hexx Triskaidekaphobia
2pm-2:30pm :: The metaHUD quiz & contest for prizes

Dress:
Formal Hip Chic

The new metaLIFE is here to serve you and all of the Second Life community. A sleek new design to display all of the basic and advanced features of the metaLIFE system. The metaLIFE platform will be used to show off new and exciting features, as well as be used as a connection & networking center, a place for presentations, demonstrations, discussions, and events.

If you have products for sale in metaLIFE, you are welcome to rez your metaKIOSK to display at the event.
** Of Course: The metaHUD quiz for unique metaPrizes! **

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Club Moments in SL - Photo Caption Contest

What do Doubledown Tandino, Tasty Hax, a pornographic magazine, animated nipples, and a chicken all have in common?

They were all up on stage at the Sin City Music Club on Friday night in this photograph.

From time to time you catch a random second life party moment that defies words... or does it? \


We are looking for the best caption to go along with this photo.
Post your responses in the comments.
This Photo Caption Contest is for a $1000L Ravelong Club Shop Gift Card.
Winner will be announced in comments in a few days.
Stay tuned for future Photo Caption Contests brought to you by Ravelong.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Radiant Bliss Music Project Open Stage Grand Opening - February 19th, 2009 - Starts at 8am (slt)

Radiant Bliss Music Project Open Stage Grand Opening

February 19th, 2009
Starts at 8am (slt)

It's the party everyone is talking about! Cat Carfagno's highly anticipated beautiful new build is home to Tasty Hax's Radiant Bliss Music Project Open Stage. This musical event of varried electronic genres from an all-star line up of DJs will be filmed for a short movie and media reporters will be present. Come enjoy the sights and sounds!

☀RADIANT BLISS MUSIC PROJECT NEWS☀
A new area will open for all Radiant Bliss DJs to play any time! This special event opens the Radiant Bliss Music Project area and celebrates builder Cat Carfagno's rez day! This new area will be an open stage for Radiant DJs to play any time, just drop in, start a party and send notices in Radiant Bliss group! :D

❤OPENING PARTY is 8am THURSDAY FEB 19!!

❤This beautiful area is made with love and brilliance by Cat Carfagno, Lenne Larkin, Halriasa Aeon & Yenta Semyorka.

❤Special thanks to Night Harrop & Federica DeCuir/Haad Rin & Dogstasy Media Hosting!

DJ Schedule (slt):
8am Frederick Heberle
9am Coggy Nikolaidis
10am Jobe West
11am Nox Larsson
12pm Tasty Hax
1pm Artec Amat
3pm Doubledown Tandino

Please contact Tasty Hax with any questions :)

---




More pics of the party here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/28681865@N07/

Art Is Alive and Well in the World of Second Life - Over 600 Art Galleries Confirmed As Growth Continues

Art Is Alive and Well in the World of Second Life
Over 600 Art Galleries Confirmed As Growth Continues

On Feb 16th, the Galleries of Second Life list published by Sasun Steinbeck broke the 600 mark with 455 general galleries, 101 photography galleries, and 46 erotic galleries cataloged on her well-known list. Contrary to fears of a mass migration of creativity out of Second Life, this demonstrates that art is continuing on a steady growth curve for the benefit and enrichment of all the citizens of Second Life.

“I’ve been maintaining this list since may 2006, and I’m extremely happy and proud to see us reach this amazing level of growth in the art world of Second Life,” said Sasun Steinbeck. “This is truly a milestone event.”

Sasun Steinbeck uses a sophisticated scripted network of kiosks throughout Second Life that she designed and implemented to automate the collection of current data on all of the art galleries in Second Life, enabling weekly updates to be published via notecard and a gallery tour HUD distributed by the kiosks as well as her blog. This is her 96th edition of the list.

The current edition of the Galleries of Second Life list can be found at http://sl-artgalleries.blogspot.com

For more information, please contact Sasun Steinbeck in-world.

---
On Second Arts

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Doubledown's TV Picks - "Important Things with Demitri Martin"



Happy Valentine's Day

Important Things with Demitri Martin:
http://www.comedycentral.com/shows/important_things/index.jhtml

Demitri's Stand-Up Jokes with Guitar:

Friday, February 13, 2009

Sin City Grand Opening - Friday, February 13th, 2009 - 11am-1pm (slt)

Friday the 13th - Valentine's Eve
Starts at 11am (slt)

The Sin City Grand Opening Party
with your hosts Maryjoanne Sideways and LucyLou Nightfire and DJ Doubledown Tandino spinning the most erotic explicit hardcore house music out there. Plus there will be a Sin City treasure hunt during the party.

SIN CITY SLURL: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Amydria/94/172/2

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

The Rendezvous: Valentine's Edition - Thursday, February 12th, 2009 - 8am-10am (slt)

THURSDAY - FEBRUARY 12th
8am-10am slt (or for 2 hours starting after the grid is back online)
with DJ Doubledown Tandino

♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡ February 12th - Valentine's Edition
Join us for a very special Love is in the Air Valentines edition of
"The Rendezvous" where DJ Doubledown Tandino presents music of modern love.
AMBIENT - DARK - CHILLOUT - DEEP
LUSTFUL - ROMANTIC - MODERN
HEAVENLY - TANTRIC - ELECTRONICA
Madonna, Portishead... William Orbit, Moby...
B.B. King, Jazzanova...Enigma, Enya, Air...
Norah Jones, Jos Stone...Thievery Corporation...

MUSE ISLE: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Muse%20Isle%20NorthWest/56/40/25

THE PRIZE: 1 RENDEZVOUS Couples Animator 3.0 drawing (value $3800L, must be present to win)
THE GIVEAWAY: Hug-n-Kiss HUD 3.0 for ALL who arrive.

PRESENTED by: RDV Animations & The RENDEZVOUS Couples Animator 3.0
Walk, Run, Fly, Dance, Swim, Canoe TOGETHER at Muse with the NEW:
RENDEZVOUS Couples Animator 3.0
RENDEZVOUS Meet-n-Greet 3.0
RENDEZVOUS Hug-n-Kiss 3.0
RENDEZVOUS Stand-Alone Adventure Canoe 3.0
Available now: SLURL: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Muse%20Isle%20NorthWest/56/40/25

A gathering of music & minds at Muse Isle!
"The Rendezvous" every thursday, 8am to 10am!
Come check out the eclectic music mix streamed live by DJ Doubledown Tandino into Muse Isle.
Deep House, Nujazz, Funk, Chillout Electronica, & TripHop


Friday, February 6, 2009

In a Strange Land: Second Life Academics Grill Pathfinder Linden

In a Strange Land: Second Life Academics Grill Pathfinder Linden
photo courtesy of Olivia Hotshot

Location: Montclair State University Virtual Campus


It was a collegial and jovial grilling, of course, at yesterday's Second Life Education Roundtable.

Pathfinder discussed a number of topics and debunked a few myths. We got to hear about why the teen and main grids are not going to merge anytime soon, as well as why it's a mere SL rumor that premium members will be able to join up to 100 groups.

Of more use to us, he talked at length about how Linden Lab is making eduction a priority in their business plan.

The full transcript is long (and transcribed from voice--expertly by Mirt Tenk and mOOn Jaecies). I've added in-text links to various topics our presenter and moderator (AJ Brooks) discussed.

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Primer on Organizing a Mixed Reality Event

( Via Aliza Sherman via Dusan Writer )

Dusan Writer writes:

Primer on Organizing a Mixed Reality Event
Web Worker Daily recently published a nice summary of the key elements needed to set up a virtual world event intended to happen simultaneously with a real world event. Aliza Sherman, the author, is familiar only with Second Life, where she has held two events.

There are eight key points that Sherman recognizes:

1 - Get Virtual Help: Sherman suggests help from talent in both the real and virtual worlds

2 - Know the Lay of the Land: In other words, co-own an island in Second Life. This helps immensely when clients come to you lacking their own SL land.

3 - Think 3-D and Interactive: Offer 3D notecards (in addition to the standard billboards) that avatars can pick up and stick in their pocket. Er, inventory.

4 - Think Promo Items (Freebies): Give away things like virtual t-shirts, or, if the promo is for a food company, virtual food that the avatar can eat. Yay freebies!

5 - Show the Virtual Event in the Actual Conference Location: Self-explanatory, really. Set up a few laptops and if possible project onto a large screen.

6 - Stay on Message Virtually: As in the RW, staying on message applies virtually as well. Hosts can keep avatars from being distracted by the novelty of Second Life or other virtual worlds by communicating key messages.

7 - Hire Security: “It is so easy to build and create objects in Second Life, and it is just as easy for a troublemaker - or “griefer” - to do the same at your event,” writes Sherman. Security can eject griefers quickly and effectively.

8 - Spread the Virtual Word: Playing on the advent of SL bloggers, an event can attract decent word-of-mouth through SLers writing about it in-world.

read more digg story

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Doubledown's TV Picks - Life on Mars

Life on Mars is an American remake of the BBC series. A present-day car accident mysteriously sends a detective back to the 1970s.

Everyone loves the show; it's 1973 all over again! The music, the attitude, the swagger. Starring Jason O'Mara, Michael Imperioli, Harvey Keitel, it's currently in Season 1 airing on ABC and can be seen on http://www.abc.com/.





Make sure to check out the soundtrack too.