As you know, I’ve been frustrated many a time by trying to find clusters of bots cleverly hidden under the ground, and yet invisible. Or so the mini-map would have you believe. But a little bird told me that no, the little “above you / below you” dots are not accurate for things at very high altitudes… 4082 meters, for example.

So I picked an obvious cluster of green dots, transported there, and confirmed that I couldn’t see anything underground. Then I turned on my avi sensor, and flew up, and up, and up until I hit an invisible wall. It was easy enough to get around, it didn’t cover the whole region (so why did they bother?). A little further up, there it was… a box full of amorphous cloud bots.

So now you know. Happy hunting!

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Caledonie%20Island/161/15/4096

I’ll start by apologizing for my abrupt disappearance. I never intended to go this long without posting, but a few things happened in RL and SL that caused me to get out of exploring mode for a while.

In RL, I joined the ranks of IT management, and getting used to my new responsibilities put me in a different mindset. Exploring, you see, is a time consuming thing. Normally, I enjoy it, but I’d set myself up for making it a chore by giving myself a goal of doing 3 -4 posts a week. Coming home after my newly stressful days, the last thing I needed was for SL to become work. So I decided to slow down ad post when I could.

Then… I got the building bug again. It’s something without deadlines that I can do where I’m accountable to no one but me, I can work as little or as much as I want to. But mainly I re-discoverd Caledon and I felt like just had to try my hand at building Steampunk items. So I did (though you’ll find them to be rather… quirky).  I’ve been building stuff ever since… I opened a store and even built a club next door where I run a weekly dance.

Anyway, I’m alive and well, I’ve got the hang of the new job and I’m much less stressed. I may even start exploring again

If you want to see what I’ve been up to, come visit the store (Goode Inventions) in Caledon SouthEnd. My new club, Sprockets, is right next door. I hold a Jazz Standards dance every Thursday at 7SLT. See you there!

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Caledon%20SouthEnd/172/166/23

When you land in the Delta Project your in the middle of a massive structure floating 2500 meters above the ground.  It’s an RP combat sim with a very interesting (under construction but fun to look at) dance club, plus the usual retail spaces hawking uniforms and weaponry. But if you wait a bit for things to rez you’ll see a sign for the Space Park. The Delta Project structure surrounds a “space anomaly” where you can relax.

It’s a creative little gem. You’re on a green little asteroid, covered with what appear to be space trees. Nothing on Earth has leaf clusters in the shape of soft cubes, anyway. Relax on a topiary couch (or did it grow that way?) and watch the planets spin by.

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Delta%20Project/125/125/2470

My friend Pati recommended that I take a trip to the island of Cu Mara, and since she is a woman with fine taste (i.e., she considers me a friend) I set off to check it out. We’ll take a look at that another day, but what blew me away were the islands next door, to which Pati had yet to venture: Templum ex Obscurum and Crucible.

These have to be two of the most hauntingly beautiful and atmospheric places I’ve seen in Second Life. As near as I can tell there is no purpose for them other than looking amazing, which in this case is purpose enough.

Templum es Obscurum is pretty evenly divided between a massive temple (seemingly carved from the living rock) and the roiling waters that separate the temple from Crucible to the north. The water seems to glow in the moonlight…

…which in turn seems to have taken over the trees. There are places to sit that are at once dark yet full of light.

Crucible is more straightforward, but no less fascinating. You wander a dark and wild landscape upon the site of an ancient castle, which would appear to be completely abandoned were it not for some mysterious lights along the path.

You can almost sense the age of the stones around you, and the countless years that have left them in ruins. Its enough to make you want to engage in a little exploratory roleplay, as a hobbit or ranger discovering a long forgotten kingdom.

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Templum%20ex%20Obscurum/117/185/22

This isn’t the best planetarium I’ve seen, but it does have the advantage of being a) big and b) in three dimensions.  There’s no information about whether the stars are in their true relative positions or if this is just pretty.  You sit in seats up among the stars, which makes for a nice effect.

Alas, the planetarium equipment on the floor is merely cosmetic. It doesn’t do anything except look like planetarium equipment.

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Tokai03/225/150/22

I’m taking a few days off for the holiday. I’ll be back soon with fresh explorations, so keep checking back. Cheers!

We had a holiday building contest down at the Shelter (build something in a Christmas theme in an hour). I won third place with my “Santa Coronary.” I’ve cleaned him up a bit (hey, you can do only so much in an hour) and stuck him outside the store as another freebie for you. Becuase if you like flagpole licking and dead reindeer, you’re just twisted enough to want one of these, too.

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Vigdorova/152/180/84

Just in case you haven’t had enough nightmares this month…

I happened to get a picture of these folks shopping for the (in)famous Buttlight in my store, when I thought of the perfect bit of ad copy:

You know, there’s no Hallmark card that says to the one you love, “You’ve got a fine ass and the world should see more of it.” For that, you need a Buttlight.

This is just one of the many reasons why the world is lucky I haven’t persued a career in advertising.