Cadeling Garden at the end of the sea

Cadeling Garden, by Ling Serenity and Cadel Abubakar, is a place in Second Life to contemplate, to muse, to meditate, to lose yourself in thought while absorbing the plain and simple beauty all around.

Shallow peaceful water

The whole island is slightly underwater, flooded, but the current flowing around you only adds to the charm.

Flowers, plants and trees adorn two small buildings

The scenic spots are connected by stepping stones with four and twenty blackbirds, and some seagulls, overhead.

Fanciful works

There are flowers, plants and trees adorning two small buildings, a giant birdcage and lots of open space with places to sit and swing.

Cadeling

One building houses Ling’s and Cadel’s artworks from real life.

A rainbow of flowers

The other building is Ling’s Bird Next Door shop with appealing goods.

Kokeshi Queen

Two signature landmarks grace this lyrical place: the large Kokeshi Queen statue and the words in the water.

A poetic imagination on the water

Kokeshi Queen is the logo, the trademark, the symbol for this place.

Words in the water

The words in the water are the lyrics From the Top of the World by My Brightest Diamond, an underground rock band mixing opera, cabaret and chamber music with rock.

At the end of the sea
There waits my wind
To carry me

Through storms we will sail ahead
Just to gaze at the top of the world

From the bottom of the world
We looked up and saw the moon
And gazing at it then we fell
In love,  in love

So we made up our minds
To arrive smiling
Yet we made up our minds
To touch the height of life
And find out what we felt for it
How we felt for it, How we felt for it

From the top of the worlds
We looked up and saw the sun
And gazing at it then we fell
In love, in love

Swing at the end of the sea

Cadeling Garden SLURL

Second Life Destination Guide – Cadeling Garden

Ling Serenity/Melina Moreno real world website

Ling Serenity’s Flickr photostream

Melina Moreno’s blog

My Brightest Diamond on Myspace

My Brightest Diamond discography

Osama bin Laden's compound at Abbottabad, Pakistan

A metaverse development team, Avatrian, drawing on data from Google Earth and media sources, created in Second Life and opened to the public a replica of Osama bin Laden’s compound in Abbottobad, Pakistan.

Flying toward the Abbottabad Compound

In real life, the U.S. government had concluded a years-long manhunt for the leader of al-Qaeda and architect of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C.

Nearing the Abbottabad Compound

The news that perseverance had paid off and justice had been accomplished by the U.S. Navy SEALs was dramatic.

Approaching the Abbottabad Compound

Was it a journalist’s inquisitiveness, joy over the retribution, simple morbid curiosity? For whatever reason, I was drawn to to the virtual world recreation for a first hand look.

Inside the Abbottabad Compound

What I found there was a true-to-life recreation of bin Laden’s compound at Abbottabad.

Blackhawk at Abbottabad Compound

It depicted the stealth Blackhawk helicopters, including the one destroyed by SEALs after it crashed.

The destroyed Blackhawk at Abbottabad Compound

The U.S. had not warned Pakistan in advance of the raid and the helicopters were able to fly unnoticed to the compound from a base in Afghanistan.

Abbottabad Compound through the Blackhawk cockpit window

Walking around inside the house and grounds and peering inside the chopper weirded me out, gave me the willies. I expected to have to duck for cover at any moment. When a bunch of other tourists arrived, I took my notes and photos and teleported out as quickly as I could.

Junkpile in the Abbottabad Compound yard

If you are intrigued, it will be worth your time to visit. Here’s the SLURL to teleport there.

Download this PDF:  How to Get Started in Second Life.

See the SEAL raid at the Abbottabad compound in the Avatrian machinima.

Read more about the Abbottabad replica in Second Life at the Avatrian website.

More photos can be seen at the Avatrian Flickr site.

The Avatrian Studios home page.

The New World Notes story on the Abbottabad Compound.

New World Notes followup on the Abbottabad machinima.

New World Notes comment on news re-creations in Second Life.

Stone in the Abbottabad Compound yard

More Second Edition photos of the Abbottabad Compound:

Ninja Princesses

Being a hybrid teacher means Ines is teaching not just with bricks and mortar, but also with bits and bytes. And, in this case, with comic book art.

In real life, Ines teaches upper primary science – biology, chemistry and physics in grades 4-6. She is certified for what they call flat classrooms, which means teaching and learning using Web 2.0 for collaboration among educators connected across the globe.

Nonsense Dragon Story

She asked her students to imagine flip comic books.

“It wasn’t just lots of creativity, it was also lots of work, dedication and patience from my grade 5 and 6 students,” she says. “They spent hours with their team to plan the script, to hunt for places and costumes for best shot, to edit the snapshots, to add text, to make them into flip book in SL and to exhibit it to the world.”

Inside the showroom with pages, snowman and fireplace

I visited her students’ colorful comic exhibition in a quaint little wintry cottage on Geo island.

Click here to visit the flip comics exhibition

Three Ninjas

“Would people still dare to say that they didn’t learn anything just because they were having fun doing it?” Ines asks. “Would people also still dare to say that they didn’t socialize because they were in front of their computers?”

Amusement Park Tragedy

Ines says she is using technology and “magical pixy dust” in her classes to create “just 1 percent scientist and 99 percent happy, fulfilled, content and loving human being” while defying the law of gravity “every now and then.”

The students' colorful comic book exhibition is inside this cottage

She describes her students as “avatars of any shapes and sizes, including dragons, robots, vampires, fairies and Lady Gaga.”

The Birth of Bermuda Triangle

“Give children tools to learn and lots of freedom then they will show you their creativity,” Ines says.

The Tale of Two Heroes

Here’s more info about Ines, her projects and the Deutsche Internationale Schule on the Web:

Teaching and learning in Second Life by Ines Ogura

Video: Flip Comic Making in Second Life

Video: Solar System in Second Life

Video: Moon World in Second Life

Deutsche Internationale Schule – Jakarta

A comment about Ines

Flat Classrooms

Second Classroom

Immersive World Book Fairs

A gallery of photos of the flip comics exhibition:

Protesters on the Egypt sim in Second Life

Take, for instance, the ancient land of Egypt in the real world, which has been in turmoil for the last week with tens of thousands in Cairo and other cities marching in street demonstrations, rallies, acts of civil disobedience, riots, and violent clashes that began on National Police Day, January 25, 2011.

Passionate speech is heard in the Egypt region

Bringing together media and society, the protesters and their supporters have been demanding on TV and YouTube, in newspapers and on posters, on Facebook and Twitter, an end to police brutality, state of emergency laws, corruption, high unemployment, food price inflation and low wages. They want free elections and free speech.

Demonstrators mill around on the Egypt sim in Second Life

With 22 SL million residents — only 40 percent from the U.S. and 60 percent from elsewhere — it’s not hard to imagine the Arab world demonstrations spilling into Second Life.

A resident with multiple points of view

An Egyptian named ammtory Aedipo, living in the United Arab Emirates, owns an SL region named Egypt.

The region depicts the ancient land of Egypt

For the past week, Egypt in Second Life has been crowded with protesters from around the world, displaying protest signs, waving flags, and talking endlessly about the uprising in real-life Egypt.

Flags, posters and protest signs

Shutting off the Internet in Egypt in RL hasn’t stopped interested picketers around the world from teleporting into Egypt in SL.

A call for free elections and free speech

What do they talk about? The latest news from Egypt, how to circumvent the Internet shutdown, how people they have heard about in RL have been mistreated, and how good President Mubarak has been for the country over 30 years.

Second Life media-on-a-prim intermingles real life images

Turn up the volume and you can hear popular Arab music on the audio stream and rants from both sides in voice chat.

The real world viewed from within Second Life

As you stand on the Egypt region of SL, with avatars walking around, dancing, waving flags, thrusting posters and cheering the news, you see in the mind’s eye how closely it must be simulating the verbal strife in RL Egypt. You can feel not only their heartache but also their elation.

Pro-democracy anti-Mubarak posters at Terra Egypta

UPDATE (February 5, 2011): The demonstrations in the virtual world are spreading. While Second Life’s Egypt region displays pro-Mubarak signs, a larger four-region commemoration of ancient Egypt called Terra Egypta is displaying pro-democracy anti-Murbarak posters.

An ancient Egyptian mural simulated at Terra Egypta

Here are some key travel and information links:

Egypt SLURL

Terra Egypta SLURL

The acronym SLURL is short for “Second Life URL,” a Web address. SLURLs are direct links from the Web to locations inside Second Life. When logged into a Second Life account with an SL viewer open, clicking one of these SLURLs takes you directly to the named location.

New World Notes (February 4, 2011): Ancient Egypt Sim in Second Life Welcomes Anti-Mubarak Protestors (As Pro-Mubarak Banners Festoon SL’s Egypt)

New World Notes (February 2, 2011): Anti-Mubarak Speech Banned From Second Life Egypt UPDATE: Now PRO-Mubarak Signs Also Appear in SL Egypt

New World Notes (January 30, 2011): Egyptians Worldwide Gather in Second Life to Share Resources, Information, Support for Uprising

Betterverse (February 2, 2011: Owner of Egypt Sim in Second Life Bans Avatars for “abusing” Mubarak

CNN iReport (February 1, 2011): Support For The People At Egypt Sim

Download PDF: How to get started in Second Life

The waterfront at Sailors Cove

Who doesn’t love those quiet, quaint, charming small New England towns? Recently I happened onto the authentic New England village of Sailors Cove on Fishers Island.

Sailors Cove is one of the most dynamic and beautiful sims in Second Life. This is an old salt’s delight — at the heart of more than 30 navigable regions in Second Life with classic New England and tropical island themes.

Passionate Books shop at Sailors Cove

These sims – part of the United Sailing Sims of Second Life – are designed for low-lag sailing and seaside living. Their motto is Sailing Comes First!

Leavitt Building at Sailors Cove

The owners and managers are sailors with a real concern for sailing. They say their’s is “the best place to sail and live in SL.” Residents use the plethora of sims for sailing, yachting, flying, concerts and parties.

At Sailors Cove you will discover all of the joys of a quaint New England village, the incomparable rugged rocky coast and a wonderful sense of history.

Boats in slips at Sailors Cove

Whatever pulls you to the ocean, this view of New England has it from quiet coves, to sandy beaches and a coast full of spectacular rock cliffs pounded by waves.

Sea Glass Gallery at Sailors Cove

These SL residents knew how to mold their seaside town into a beautiful scene and peaceful atmosphere.

The Seawall at Sailors Cove

You may remember the pleasure I expressed after I came across an extraordinary vision of reality in the Japanese fishing village Hosoi Yu Ch’un at Hosoi Ichiba on Virgin Island. I felt the same when I arrived in Sailors Cove.

The Chapel at Sailors Cove

As one of the most interesting and beautiful places in Second Life, Sailor’s Cove really is a preservation archive you have to see soon.

Moonlight reflected on Sailor's Cove

Yes, you can walk around the Cove, go into the buildings, poke around in the corners and buy stuff in the shops. Explore to your heart’s content!

Click this SLURL to visit Sailors Cove: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Fishers%20Island/19/112/24

If you’re not already a resident of Second Life, you will want to register for a free account, avatar and viewer so you can log in.

Here are some photos I shot during my visit:

Some Sailors Cove Web links to follow:
Sailors Cove Flickr gallery: http://www.flickr.com/groups/sailors_cove/
Sailors Cove sims Flickr group: http://www.flickr.com/groups/677939@N20/
Sailors Cove sims Flickr photo pool: http://www.flickr.com/groups/655539@N25/pool/
A Sailors Cove video: http://treet.tv/shows/livekick/episodes/ep005
Sailors Cove blog: http://sailorscove.wordpress.com/
Sailors Cove sims blog: http://slsailorscove.blogspot.com/

A very enjoyable place to try out skating surrounds the home of Timeless Photography in Kalamata. The folks there have turned their sim into a most delightful and relaxing winter wonderland with huge ponds for public ice skating.

It’s free and open 24/7. Free skates are available.

This kind of skating is fully automated with plenty of snow everywhere.

I captured some video on the skating pond at Timeless Photography park on Thanksgiving Day. Stone’s Thanksgiving Skate can be seen on YouTube.

Second Life partners Chief Blackhawk and Trixee Trotter have their photography studio and in-world business offices and home on the sim.

They both are Master Photographers certified by Team photoLIFE. You know…SL profiles, business publicity shots, wedding photos, pix of couples, advertising photos, rez day parties and the like. They also specialize in videography, including 3D model videos, videos of weddings and commercial videos for entertainers.

Their gallery displays extraordinary photographs. They have benches to sit on and a nice water fall while you listen to music and enjoy the surroundings.

Here are some still photos I shot during my visit:

Here are some of Timeless Photography’s Web links to follow:
Flicker photos
WordPress blog
Blogspot blog
YouTube
Vimeo
More videos

Users move about the on-screen environment and interact with each other via their digital representatives known as avatars, which are persons in Second Life. Communication is by text and voice chat.

As a virtual representation of a user’s real-life self, the look and feel of an avatar is limited only by the individual’s creativity.

Portraits of Some Second Life Residents Stoneflower Photography Studio in Second Life

The ultimate social networking

A free downloadable Second Life Viewer enables residents of Second Life
to interact with each other through their on-screen avatars, providing
an extraordinarily advanced level of social networking.

Everything you may find and encounter in the SL community has been created by the users.

Video: What is Second Life?

It is important to note that the user account registration is free and the downloadable viewer software is free.

Universities in SL

Many higher-education institutions are engaging this multi-user environment to enhance student learning by establishing virtual campuses and learning spaces and by encouraging the exploration of the seemingly endless variety of virtual environments designed and created by SL residents.

The UNCP in SL campus has been open and growing since 2007. We encourage you to visit and explore ways to incorporate the UNCP in SL campus in your teaching, learning, service and scholarly creative activities.

How to get started

Here’s a web age that explains how to register for a free Second Life account and download the free Second Life viewer software so you can visit, among other things, the UNCP in SL campus:

How to get started in Second Life

http://tinyurl.com/5b66rf

Some other Second Life resources:

Second Life main website

http://secondlife.com/

Free account sign up

https://join.secondlife.com/

Computer system requirements

http://secondlife.com/corporate/sysreqs.php

Download the free viewer

http://www.secondlife.com/community/downloads.php

Second Life Showcase — Education and Nonprofits

http://secondlife.com/destinations/learning

SL Education Wiki

http://www.simteach.com/wiki/index.php?title=Second_Life_Education_Wiki

SL Educators Listserv — The SLED List

https://lists.secondlife.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/educators

New Media Consortium — NMC Campus Observer

http://sl.nmc.org/

International Society for Technology in Education — ISTE in Second Life

http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/Membership/Member_Networking/ISTE_Second_Life.htm

Fishing boats beached in village cove

Here’s why this could be the most peaceful place in all of Second Life…

Hosoi Ichiba is an old-style Asian market with luscious oriental gardens surrounding a peace garden for meditation and quiet reflection. It’s a wonderful place to sit, relax and contemplate. (More about the market in a companion post here.)

Freshly caught fish drying on a rack in the village

On the day I happened to visit the quaint fishing village there was a lovely Cherry Blossom Festival and Relay for Life public service event for the American Cancer Society.

Fish traps on a cart in the village

Can you hear the water dripping as this cart’s cargo dries?

Baskets drying on a porch in the village

The hot Sun dries and cleanses these baskets, readying them for another day’s catch.

Boat beached next to a house in the village

The breeze waves the cloth hanging as a kind of front door of this typical village house.

Swinging rope bridge

Swaying to and fro as you lope across these sturdy knotted planks.

Abandoned boat beached at village

Amiryu Hosoi’s creations have been called “the most beautiful sims in Second Life.” For me they certainly are among a tiny handful of the very best.

House in fishing pond with Asian water lilies and lotus flowers

There are hidden bounties behind the village’s tranquil facade. It oozes bucolic charm and is surrounded by lush vegetation and the beautiful blue-green waters of the Second Life ocean. Those are Asian water lilies and lotus flowers floating atop the water.

House walkway through Asian water lilies and lotus flowers in fishing pond

Every day at Hosoi Yu Ch’un new catches of fresh fish and a variety of crustaceans can be seen tossing helplessly in baskets and crates before being taken to market and sliced into succulent cuts of sashimi.

Houses on water with Asian water lilies and lotus flowers

Sometimes the quietness of swaying ocean waves is transformed briefly when events bring many visitors to the Hosoi Ichiba market. For instance, the charming show staged in September 2008 by the Yoshiwara Oikya Geisha School, a training school for women. Such events commemorate the market’s heritage.

Blue sampan and footbridge

I’m hoping Amiryu Hosoi will offer a sea-produce fair on Virgin Island sometime soon. I can just imagine stands offering thousands of cuts of fresh sashimi and other local products, as well as the usual festival food. I’m pretty sure I would pass up the tentacles and endangered sardines, but others might love them.

Blue sampan and sailing ship

Tourists from all over Second Life would have a wonderful opportunity to go home with lovely souvenirs from Hosoi Ichiba on Virgin Island.

Houses with a footbridge across a stream

In the real world, a sleepy fishing village in Japan — previously famous only for its mackerel — gained renown in November 2008 when Barack Obama was elected president of the United States. The Japanese fishing village’s name is Obama.

Boats beached in village cove with houses

In California, according to the U.S. National Park Service, Terminal Island — also known as East San Pedro — was acknowledged in the years before World War II as a typical Japanese fishing village. Until February 1942, a community of about 3,000 Japanese Americans lived and worked in the area of Terminal Way and Tuna, Cannery, Albacore, and Pilchard streets. According to the park service, development of the fishing industry in Southern California resulted from their pioneering efforts in gathering, drying and canning abalone at White Point, and fishing for albacore off San Pedro.

Red gates

The red gates are torii commonly found at the entrance to a Shinto shrine. Sometimes they are found at Buddhist temples. A torii has two upright supports and two crossbars on the top, and usually is painted Vermilion red. Torii mark the boundary between the sacred shrine environment and the normal world. Some shrines have many torii, as below. Sometimes a person who has been successful in business donates a torii in gratitude.

Learn more about Hosoi Ichiba on Virgin Island:

See my second post about Hosoi Ichiba on Virgin Island.

Here is a link to a Flickr set of my photos of Hosoi Ichiba.

Here is the Hosoi Ichiba blog.

The stunning machinima about Hosoi Ichiba that won the first Hosoi Ichiba Machinima Awards.

Here’s a machinima about the Little Yoshiwara Geishas at Hosoi Ichiba.

Here’s the SLURL direct link to Hosoi Ichiba on Virgin Island in Second Life.

There’s a discussion of Shinto in Wikipedia.

Information about the Relay for Life charity.

What is this place anyway?

Townscape memorial to singer/songwriter Harry Chapin (1942-1981).

Who are they?

They are human beings from more than 100 countries around the globe with concentrations in North America and the UK.

They range in age from 18-85 and are 60 percent men and 40 percent women. The average resident is in her or his mid-30s.

Interior of Borg Cube in the Second Life sky where “resistance is futile.”

Are these people computer geeks?

No. In their real lives they are , like the popular 1945 Hoagy Carmichael song, Doctor, Lawyer, Indian Chief. They also are artists and musicians, architects and programmers, policemen and firemen, political activists and leaders of religious flocks, housewives and househusbands, college students and their professors, business owners and store clerks, retirees, active duty military overseas and their spouses back home, and game players, to mention only a few.

You name a group and it is likely to be represented in Second Life. Unless, of course, the group is under 18, and even then they can enter Teen Second Life if they are 13-17.

Student center at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke.

Some people ante up.

They all can get in free, although there are a few who pay a small monthly membership fee.

Why would anybody pay for something they can get for free? Because there is that one thing you can’t do without the premium membership. Own land.

Campus directories at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke.

The urge to be creative drives the need to own land in Second Life. After all, the virtual world is whatever you make of it, and to display your handiwork permanently you need land to put it on.

Everything you can imagine can exist in Second Life. That makes it not only a spectacular place to visit, but also a great place to build things that other people will use.

Stone’s Point Park is a vast public facility keynoted by its lighthouse.

The question is, “Then what?”

SL creator Philip Rosedale is said to have noted, “You can get everything you want on the first day. What’s interesting is what you do the next day.”

While most residents shop, explore mountain tops and ocean beaches, and hang out with friends in houses, parks or nightclubs, there are those who want to create something, to build and script houses, furniture, cars. clothing, and endless variety of objects even including avatars.

Waterslide Waterpark with the seaside photo gallery in the background.

Residents love to share

For those with no previous experience in 3D building, there is a plethora of classes where a new resident can learn how to construct stuff.

The fact is building is easy using the built-in tools, and there are lots of classes taught by residents every day and self-guided tutorials to help you learn.

Here’s some good news: you will own anything you create. SL residents retain the so-called IP rights over their in-world creations.

Stone’s Point Academy is the Second Life Center for Scholarly Research in Social, Political. Economic, Scientific and Literary History.

The people who do spend huge amounts of time building and scripting things do it to increase their enjoyment of the SL experience.

Some even have the desire to operate a business selling goods and services out of their own buildings. They not only profit from the experience, but a few make substantial financial profits. On the other hand, many don’t sell their creations. They give them away so others can have pleasant experiences.

Familiar tools.

Second Life includes easy-to-use building tools to create stuff in much the same way you might create a presentation in PowerPoint or modify an image in Photoshop.

Architects love it because real full-scale structures can be replicated and demolished in seconds. But you don’t have to be an architect. Many an ordinary citizen has built his or her dwelling from scratch in Second Life.

Stone’s Point Academy operates this Bathysphere Research Station on the ocean floor at Stone’s Harbor.

So, land lets you have an on-going presence in-world. Even if you’re not online, your acquaintances, friends, family members and customers can stop by to look at your production, leave you a message or even spend money in your shop if you have one. That makes SL sort of a home away from home.

By the way, you don’t have to build on land just because you own it. You can just live, work and play on it as you found it. if you do choose to acquire land, however, you will pay Linden Labs a monthly maintenance fee based on the amount of land you own.

What have I built?

It’s 455 days and counting for me in Second Life. What in the world have I done with those 39 million seconds?

• 39,312,000 seconds
• 655,200 minutes
• 10,920 hours
• 65 weeks
• 1 year, 2 months, 29 days

Well, I spent some time learning how to build things and then the rest of the time building a bunch of stuff.

Last year, master builder Lillyanne Lustre, owner of L.Lustre Designs, helped me learn. Lilly’s prizewinner

The photos in this blog entry are visual samples of several of my complex constructions. These are parts of the dioramas that are my places in the sun after 455 days in Second Life.

SLURL & Gas Co., Pumping Station #3, in the Dust Bowl 2013.

Second Life fills the bill when you happen upon those RL times that remind you of the way Harry Chapin put it back in 1972, “Anywhere’s a better place to be.”