I have put a video on you tube of a quick walk through some of the Wimbledon demo from back in June.
It was not a major machinima production but just to preserve the “old” ideas before we use the space for anything new and improved.

Here come Nissan to SL courtesy of the electric sheep and Tequila\.
I had to go to bed early last night, so I was not on the grid, not on Second Life. This was because I had a customer session to go to in London, which needed a 5:30 am start to get up and going. That also meant I was not on SL until 1pm here in Southbank.
So the phrase the early bird catches the worm really does not apply to this case.
As I logged onto SL and my Firefox Sage RSS feeds whirred into life I was sent a note by the Counting Sheep Group and saw the Out to Pasture post, telling me Nissan had now opened an island, and in SL had sent a nice car to me.
I have an affinity for all things automotive, especially having been part of the IBM Vauxhall web team for many of the formative years of the web. So I was straight over there (after I had rezzed my own car to check it out).

This is more of a stop press post as I have not explored yet, but saw this wonderful device as I arrived.

Yes a car dispenser. Lovely idea, and very well implemented. On its own it was worth the visit.

Well it all started on time, DNA Prototype took to the decks at the Aloft hotel party area.
The invited guests gathered, danced and talked whilst the music streamed in.
All Pictures from Snapzilla

I dont usually do nightclubs anymore, so it was good to let epredator potato throw some shapes.
A few of us synched with Satchmo Prototype, he had a dance machine installed in his head, so a simple click of the green noggin and away went your avatar dancing.
We had quite a range of invited guests at the event, some new faces and some of the usual crowd.
Algernon Spackler was there to, as was Juiceof Prunes, though strangely, and this is one to watch out for, JuiceOf just happened to be at the hotel when the event got locked down. So she was not on the group list but still had access to the island. It felt cool to have someone accidently gate crash. I am guessing the access control is checked on entry?

Anyway lots of people and of course a Smurf were there

Ben folds turned up, in SL and on an audio feed. He was clearly gobsmacked by the reaction of the crowd and both the craziness and immersion. There were a few technical hitches requiring text chat “is this thinng on”, but SnoopyB and some of the Sheep were in a RL office with Ben. This added a great deal to the dynamic, and these mixed mode events bring people together more.
They were clearly enjoying themselves too.
Ben played some music from his new album which sounded great, and answered some questions.
The crowd jostled for postion, but respected the stage.


When asked about whether he was a Second Lifer Ben decided to show his technical prowess by playing some of the ringtones he had downloaded to his phone in RL.
This was hilarious and sort of set the tone (no pun intended) for the next part of the evening.
I did comment how ironic it was as when people who have not got the metaverse bug yet as “So why would anyone by virtual content” I usually use the “Why does anyone by a mobile phone ringtone”.
Anyway it was time to head over to the Sony BMG media Island for its first event. TPing a crowd over led to a little confusion but we all made it I think.
SnoopB and Ben had chairs on a stage, but the potential for amusing antics took hold and the party dynamic got a whole lot more interactive.
I think you can see from this product placement where this might then go.

Ben had his Duff beer attached, this eventually causes you to reel and fall over, in this case off the stage so it looked like crowd surfing. He is in this shot somewhere, I think he fell on Algernon.
Another person shouted that Ben had fallen on them and they would never wash this avatar again.

Next thing we know Ben has removed his shirt and dived into the audience with a lightsaber. I was laughing so much that I did not take any more pictures. Apart from Algernon decided to sit and watch from the stage. It was 3am UK time though.

Anyway, a successful and once again varied event. Another set of anecdotes to add to the “back in the early days of the metaverse” after dinner speaking material for when I retire.

A while back I had seen the Electric Sheep Media Island before it was branded to any particular media. It was at the time a huge build and one I often showed people to understand the scale and potential of SL.
Now it is the Sony BMG island, and there is a lot of content to see and experience. They have come up with some very nice ideas too.
A loft apartment and Club area

A Fan shop with tshirts, and singles to buy

A legacy area, which one of my favourite all time artists, the late great SRV, appeared as the first picture in the legacy building.

They have also created some very engaging artists rooms. From a single atrium you enter themed rooms for each of the very diverse performers. You get to listen to the track and/or sit and watch the video. It felt very good, Dna Prototype happened to be there at the time too, and it was great to be able to congratulate the crew on the build.


AudioSlave

Ben Folds

Christina

and Cheyenne Kimball all under one roof.
Having popped into the night club and loft I also bumped into Ben Folds


Once its fully open I suggest you go and take a look.

Well done everyone and good luck with the event thats about to start.

I am sitting here waiting for the 7pm EST US start time for the Ben Folds event that I was lucky enough to get an invite to.

It will be a late one, midnight until 3 am UK time, but it makes it feel more rock and roll.
It is across several sites which is all quite interesting, both the Aloft hotel and the Media Isle by the Electric Sheep

Given Yossarian had his translator featured in wired I thought I should also pop along and see the Wired office in Second Life at the MillionsOf Us island.

Its a suitably unusual build being staged as a printed circuit board and computer components.

Aside from having the obvious but fantastic content, with a rich source of Wired covers to choose from this office appeared to have an old style projector screen. A nice little change from our flat screen TV’s


The millionsofus island also had once of those quirky Toyota Scions. I have not got mine yet, but feel I need one.

A magic number has been reached on Second Life
Philip Linden has written a nice thankyou to us all on the official blog.
There are some more stats around this on New World Notes too.
Whilst people can argue over the statistics, there has been a massive growth in people and companies exploring this instance of a metaverse.
Milestones like this are something we all can feel part of, and that is why some many of us are being productive in this environment, a feeling of belonging, whilst at the same time being out there a little bit.