CyberSim for the WIN!

Quincey Dagger has been a tenant of ours for quite some time, and although I never quite understood what he was talking about when describing the project his group CyberSim was working on, it definitely sounded interesting and important, (I'm part Geek, but there are many things that still go over my head.)

He and his students joined a competition sponsored by the U.S. Army Research Laboratory, (pretty cool in and of itself!) They've been working for months, (and Quincey himself, much, much longer,) to get their entry finished.

I was told tonight via an IM that they had won the whole shebang! I logged on to congratulate him and his av was standing at "away" in his little storefront ;) I assume he's sleeping somewhere, but that's ok. They have all worked SO hard, and more than deserve a good night's sleep! :)

Congratulations Quincey and his team, CyberSim, on winning First Place and Grand Prize at the 2012 Federal Virtual Worlds Challenge at the Defense Gametech Users’ Conference, sponsored by the U.S. Army Research Laboratory!!!

The distinguished CyberSim project leader and winner, Quincey Dagger

This is part of their work area in Virtual Soho. 
Maybe has something to do with virtual graffiti? I'm still not 100% sure ;)

I made a little banner for his storefront, hee-hee ;)
Don't kill me Ara! EEP!

If you'd like to know more information about the competition, click here!

SL MetaBiz Resident Review of Soho!

As a native New Yorker ...

by Shangreloo Kuhn, March 07th, 2012

As a native New Yorker I've been to Manhattan, and to SoHo.. and though the virtual SoHo sim is not an exact replica of SoHo, it does capture the ambiance of the area nicely. Neighborhood shops are small storefronts with trendy lofts and apartments overhead.

Exploring the narrow streets, you'll find small galleries filled with fine art that you can purchase. You'll be impressed with the works of artists like Araminta Kroitschov, LemelonRouge Onyett. and SandraLee Palianta. They are well known in Second Life art circles, and all have galleries in SoHo. These are not the huge impersonal galleries that host the works of a dozen or more artists; these are smaller and host one artists at a time, with many being owned by the artists themselves. You might even be lucky enough to catch the artist hanging new work in his or her gallery, and gain additional insight into his or her work.

After hitting the art scene, you can relax with friends in a neighborhood pub. Smoke filled pubs like the ones in SoHo are the stuff Jack Kerouac novels were inspired by; you're sure to meet some of the locals here and find some interesting conversation.

If the pub's not your style, relaxing in one of the parks may be just what you need. You'll find park benches waiting, all you'll need is a good book.

SoHo is a mixed commercial/residential/art district, so you can live where you work.. or work where you live. Rentals are available, but a check of the rental board shows that they are going fast! There won't be spaces to rent for residential or commercial space soon in this popular sim, so get in while you can!

Source: http://www.metabizlist.com/directory/8478322/Virtual_Soho_.html

Snowstorm in Soho!

I was telling Ara Monday how bad Soho needed an out and out blizzard. I was envisioning blasts of icy cold sleet and snow, trees swaying in the wind, and such little visibility you'd have to use your mini map to survive.

Alas, I'm not that talented :/ I figured the least I could do was to welcome our renters with a nice, fresh, 3' deep blanket of snow, (freshly shoveled by yours truly of course.) Can't have our renters and their customers sliding all over the place :)

So here's a little selection of pics from this morning's excitement :)

The laying of the snow was quite interesting, but far easier than I thought it would be! Each doorway had been shoveled before the next wave came along.

Grab your mittens and head over to Soho! Even the snowman got snowed in! The holiday tree on the right still has some great gifts left in it for anyone who comes and clicks it. I checked and there's still one 1-prim piano (with duets!), a few pieces of lovely art work, full perm textures, two guitars and a rideable reindeer!

Alas, after a shoveling for a while, too many people came through and muddied everything up. Oh well. It's still snowing. Maybe the footprints will disappear ;)

Here I am falling on the ice under the snow. You should see the shiner that caused.

I'd blame the ice again, but really I'd just left the bar. No, I don't think 10am EST is too early for a few drinks, thank you very much.

Back to more shoveling. Have to take good care of our guests and renters ;)

Haha, what good is knowing Blender and PhotoShop if you can't use them to have fun?

Anyway, on to the other stuff...

We currently have no retail/gallery spaces open, but can possibly make room for anyone with enough determination to wait a few days. Write Araminta or me and we'll see what we can do.

We do have a bunch of very nice residential spaces open though, so if you're looking for a loft, apartment, condo or row house in a quiet part of the city, stop by the rental office or shoot one of us an IM and we'll give you a tour :) There are rental office TP's all over the city, and "Virtual Soho, Manhattan" can easily be found in search.

If you're looking for some great art and/or shopping, here's a list of our stores and galleries in no particular order. Look for the teleporter box in the main plaza at the landing point for easiest access:

Maxi Me - fun Steampunk gadgets and other specially scripted, "how'd they do that?" types of items

LeMelonRouge Gallery - watercolor paintings and clothing

PrimPossible - one prim living rooms, dining tables, and pianos, filled with more (PG) animations than you'd ever know what to do with.

Ha('s) Art - Ha Imako has three locations in Soho, specializing in paintings, photography, and clothing

Earane Custom Scripts and Products - Poly is an awesome scripter and currently has some of his art-related items on display

Kury's Bunter Lampenladen - very cool lamps

The Unnamed Guitar, Tattoo and Clothing Shop - this is hopefully self explanatory ;)

Annah DeCuir Art Gallery - equine photography

Bar Soho - also commonly known in RL as the "Ear Bar"

Virtual World Phone - a cross-worlds phone company, (No, really! You can call your deserter friends over in InWorldz!)

Vividblack Museum - rotating art exhibits from some of SL's finest

Cybersim Game - still fairly new, but I've been told it involves avatar "feelings"(?) I'll have to get back to you on that.

The Art Institute of Pittsburgh's Online Art Gallery - stellar student work by their digital photography class

Werbung - information center

Kit's Collection - art from KG Shine Theatrical Productions

Roadside Art Gallery - works by Camelia Despres

Sandralee Palianta's Gallery -  large scale paintings

Soho Park

Ex Libris - library reading room

Sweet Jasmine Sushi Restaurant - no reservations required :P

%Percent Furniture & Lighting - vintage and retro goodies for your home and office, all made by me! *squee!*

I've got to go put some ice on this shiner. Hope this blog post finds everyone warm and well :)

-Plato