Day: November 18, 2020

Second Life Creator Spotlight: The Latest Releases from Bee Dumpling and Solas NaGealai of Silvan Moon Designs

This is the first post in a new category I call the Second Life Creator Spotlight, where I focus on the work of the many talented fashion designers and content creators in Second Life. Due to a miscommunication, I had not received any new releases from Silvan Moon Designs for quite some time, and then, suddenly, I got a whole bunch, all at once!

Bee Dumpling and Solas NaGealai, the owners of Silvan Moon Designs, do such amazing work that I wanted to showcase three of their recent releases. Silvan Moon Designs (SLURL to their in-world store, SL Marketplace, Flickr) specializes in historical, fantasy, and role play outfits. Both my main Second Life avatar, Vanity Fair, and my medieval roleplay avatar, Scarborough Fair, own dozens of their truly wonderful dresses and gowns! (Yes, those are their honest-to-God legacy names; I got extremely lucky when “Fair” was available as an SL last name for only a two-week period back in April 2008, and I immediately snapped up both names!)

Just one past example of Bee Dumpling and Solas NaGealai’s beautiful work for Silvan Moon Designs: the fantastical Iracebeth of Crims Gown (please see this blogpost for more pictures and details)

The fabulous Prima Donna gown comes in three parts: a corset top, a full skirt, and a lovely extra touch: separate, detachable sprigs of holly to add to the skirt, perfect for your next virtual Christmas celebration! This gorgeous gown comes in seven different colours: amethyst, black, crimson, emerald, sapphire, turquoise, and violet (shown here), and fits the Maitreya Lara body.

This gown features a laced-up back, and a huge bow on the skirt. Just add a fan and some opera glasses, and you’re ready to turn some heads at your next party!

The romantic, puffed-sleeve Princess Buttercup gown can be worn alone, or with the included translucent overskirt, and is available in the following six colours: blush, mint, periwinkle, pink (as shown below), teal, and white, at L$450 each. This gown comes in sizes to fit both Maitreya Lara and Slink female mesh bodies.

Finally, we have the Seventh Oracle gown, which also comes in sizes to fit Maitreya and Slink. This gown is the same design and price as the Princess Buttercup gown, but it comes in black with your choice of six jewel-tone accents: black, cobalt, crimson, emerald, purple and teal.

Once again, you can add an optional translucent overskirt, in the same accent colour as the gown:

By the way, Solas and Bee appear to be in the middle of a complete redesign of the sim where their stores, Silvan Moon Designs and The White Armory, are located:

I went through the entire store, looked and looked, but I could not find the display or the price for the Prima Donna gown! So, if you are wandering around lost, and cannot find any of these gowns, please send a notecard to either Bee Dumpling or Solas NaGealai (a.k.a Solas Enchantment), and I’m quite sure that will be happy to assist you!

Here’s your taxi to the entrance of Silvan Moon Designs.

Vanity Fair is also wearing:

All pictures except the last one were taken at the Angel Manor Estate in Second Life.

UPDATE Nov. 19th, 2020: I have been informed that the Prima Donna gown is currently for sale at the Enchantment shopping event (the theme is Phantom of the Opera, and there is also a free hunt!). Thanks to Gwen Enchanted for the tip!

UPDATED! Pandemic Diary: November 18th, 2020

Today is officially Day 248 since I began working from home for my university library system because of the coronavirus pandemic. I am still on holidays this week; I “go back to work” on Monday (while remaining firmly ensconced in my apartment). All my days are blurring together; I thought it was Thursday today until I doubled-checked, and it’s Wednesday! Today I am focusing on cleaning up my apartment, doing the laundry, and putting a mountain of dirty dishes through my dishwasher (and, of course, doing a bit of blogging; this is already my third blogpost of the day, and it’s not even 10:00 a.m. yet!).

The good news is that a tentative agreement has been reached between the University of Manitoba and the faculty association. It still has to be voted on, but if the union membership votes to accept it, it means there will not be a strike by U of M professors, instructors, and librarians this year. And, in the event that the proposal is rejected and there is a strike, I have received assurances from a union negotiator that there is an option to participate in the strike 100% virtually, so I do not have to walk a picket line (which is a huge relief to me, since I am at high risk of a severe case of COVID-19 if I should become infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus).

And the Valve Index VR kit I ordered is scheduled to arrive via FedEx sometime today (and, of course, I will be at home to receive the package)*:

Now begins the formidable task of rearranging everything in my apartment to create the room-scale virtual reality space I have always wanted! This will involve throwing out some furniture and books I no longer want to keep, rearranging my stock of rice, flour, canned goods, face masks, hand sanitizer, and other pandemic preps which are currently scattered all over the place into one compact area, etc. I expect that this will take me quite a while; I am a notoriously lazy, lax housekeeper (“slob” is such an ugly word).

Meanwhile, I am absolutely feasting on the schadenfreude as I read news reports about the infighting among the remaining Trump staffers who have not already been fired via Tweet or jumped the rapidly sinking ship, and chortling over some very funny editorial cartoons, such as this gem by Canadian editorial cartoonist Michael de Adder:

“I see losers…” (a reference to the 1999 Bruce Willis film The Sixth Sense)

And I howled with laughter at these two:

Yesterday, I had my first telephone conversation with the lawyer who will be drawing up my will, plus a financial power of attorney, and a healthcare power of attorney. And I have been in touch with all six key contact people whom I want to know my wishes and requests in the event of any emergency involving me (COVID-19 or otherwise).

Now I just need to sit down and write up detailed instructions to share with all six people. For example, I will be giving one of my trusted contacts, whom I know from Sansar and Second Life, my username and password for the RyanSchultz.com blog, so that in any emergency situation, he will be able to post a message if I cannot do so. Doing all this gives me some sense of relief; I am finally taking care of things that I have been putting off for far too long. At least in that area, my anxiety is starting to subside a bit (but I still keep the Lorazepam handy, just in case).

I am—dare I jinx it by saying it out loud?—feeling happy. Or at least, happier overall than I have felt in a long, long time.

Photo by Alexander Krivitskiy on Unsplash

Well…okay…not that happy. (But you get the picture.)

Stay healthy, stay safe, and stay sane in these trying times!

UPDATE 1:52 p.m.: Well, I just checked the news and my happiness has evaporated. In an update to the anti-mask rally held in the Mennonite Bible Belt town of Steinbach (which I first wrote about on November 14th), CBC News reports:

RCMP confirmed on Saturday that several people, believed to attendees at a rally in the city that day against COVID-19 measures, stormed into Steinbach hospital’s emergency room, creating a scene. Mounties said people have come to the hospital, taking photos and yelling at employees.

“I feel just really upset. I think it undermines the message that we are giving,” said Dr. Glen Drobot, a Winnipeg internal medicine doctor who recently worked on a COVID-19 ward at St. Boniface Hospital.

What the fuck?

What the fuck???

WHAT THE FUCK?!??

And on top of that, Manitoba’s top doctor is upset that stores are advertising Black Friday sales:

With Black Friday coming up, Manitoba’s top doctor is urging Manitobans not to take part in Black Friday sales and shop only for essential items.

Speaking on Tuesday, [Dr. Brent] Roussin noted several businesses have already started advertising their sales for one of the biggest retail days of the year, including in-person sales happening on Nov. 27.

“I think I want to be really clear here; with the numbers, this is irresponsible,” he said after announcing seven more COVID-19 deaths and 270 more cases of the virus in Manitoba.

“We can’t accept this. We’re in code red in Winnipeg right now, we have people dying every day, we have our health-care workers telling us that they’re reaching their limits. This isn’t the time for having a large, in-person sale for non-essential goods or services.”

Yes, this is the actual, honest-to-God news today. I am starting to lose my faith in humanity, folks. If we are only as safe as the stupidest people in our society, then we are in deep, deep trouble here in Manitoba.

And things just keep getting worse and worse by the day:

Manitoba health officials announced 400 new COVID-19 cases and 11 deaths today as the number of patients in hospital continues to climb and strain the health-care system.

There are a record-high 249 people in hospital, with 40 of them in intensive care.

The five-day provincial test positivity rate also reached a new high of 14.2 per cent.

The COVID-19 outbreak in Manitoba is now the top news cluster on Google News:

I might just go back to bed and pull the covers over head. *sigh*

UPDATE 3:20 p.m.: And here’s a chart to show you all just just how quickly things have gotten out of control here in Manitoba (source: National Post newspaper, COVID-19 denial going strong in Manitoba as experts say hospitals near capacity, Nov. 18th, 2020):

*Update: My Valve Index VR kit arrived this afternoon. Hooray!

Call for Papers and Proposals: The 7th International Conference of the Immersive Learning Research Network (iLRN 2021), Taking Place in VirBELA from May 17th to June 10th, 2021

I recently received the following email, containing details on the next iLRN conference, which will take place in the virtual world of VirBELA:

The 7th International Conference of the Immersive Learning Research Network (iLRN 2021) will be an innovative and interactive virtual gathering for a strengthening global network of researchers and practitioners collaborating to develop the scientific, technical, and applied potential of immersive learning. It is the premier scholarly event focusing on advances in the use of virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), mixed reality (MR), and other extended reality (XR) technologies to support learners across the full span of learning—from K-12 through higher education to work-based, informal, and lifelong learning contexts. 

Following the success of iLRN 2020, our first fully online and in-VR conference, this year’s conference will once again be based on the iLRN Virtual Campus, powered by VirBELA, but with a range of activities taking place on various other XR simulation, gaming, and other platforms. Scholars and professionals working from informal and formal education settings as well as those representing diverse industry sectors are invited to participate in the conference, where they may share their research findings, experiences, and insights; network and establish partnerships to envision and shape the future of XR and immersive technologies for learning; and contribute to the emerging scholarly knowledge base on how these technologies can be used to create experiences that educate, engage, and excite learners.

Note: The 2020 iLRN conference drew over 3,600 attendees from across the globe, making the scheduling of sessions a challenge. In 2021, conference activities will be spread over a four-week period so as to give attendees more opportunities to participate at times that are conducive to their local time zones.

Papers and proposals may be submitted to one of 10 program tracks, the first nine of which correspond to the iLRN Houses of application, and the tenth of which is intended for papers making knowledge contributions to the learning sciences, computer science, and/or game studies that are not linked to any particular application area:

  1. Assessment and Evaluation (A&E)
  2. Early Childhood Development & Learning (ECDL)
  3. Galleries, Libraries, Archives, & Museums (GLAM)
  4. Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Access, & Social Justice (IDEAS)
  5. K-12 STEM Education
  6. Language, Culture, & Heritage (LCH)
  7. Medical & Healthcare Education (MHE)
  8. Nature & Environmental Sciences (NES)
  9. Workforce Development & Industry Training (WDIT)
  10. Basic Research and Theory in Immersive Learning (not linked to any particular application area)

For further information, please refer to the digital flyer or the iLRN website.

Inquiries regarding the iLRN 2021 conference should be directed to the Conference Secretariat at conference@immersivelrn.org. General inquiries about iLRN may be sent to info@immersivelrn.org

The iLRN 2020 conference was amazing, and I hope to see you at iLRN 2021!

Dr. Tom Boellstorff’s Research on Virtual Cultures in Pandemic Times: You Can Take Part in a Survey About Your Use of Animal Crossing and Second Life

How are you using virtual worlds during the coronavirus pandemic?
(today’s styling credits for Vanity Fair can be found at the end of this blogpost)

Wagner James Au, of the long-running virtual worlds blog New World Notes, reports on a timely research study being undertaken by Dr. Tom Boellstorff, a professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of California, Irvine:

The study is led by my pal Tom Boellstorff of UC Irvine, who’s easily among the most preeminent academics with a focus on virtual worlds. (He’s the author of Coming of Age in Second Life, among many other related works.)

“I’ve been conducting various research projects in Second Life for almost 17 years now,” Tom tells me, explaining the genesis of this study. “A couple years ago, I completed a study of disability in Second Life, and after that wonderful research experience moved on to some other projects (I’m actually finishing up a book on the Intellivision video game system from the early 1980s, which is great fun!) But then when COVID-19 hit, I decided to return to Second Life to see how COVID-19 is reshaping online interaction. I was lucky enough to get support from the National Science Foundation that means I have three wonderful graduate research assistants. Until next April we are conducting research in both Second Life and Animal Crossing. It’s a wild ride, setting up research with very little warning, but it’s been a great experience for all of us.”

(I have written about Tom before here, here and here on my blog. You can watch Draxtor Despres’ full hour-long documentary about Dr. Tom Boellstorff’s earlier research on ability-diverse users of virtual worlds, Our Digital Selves: My Avatar is Me, on YouTube. I can recommend this film highly! Drax did a great job.)

According to the webpage describing the research project:

This research project is about how COVID-19 is reshaping online interaction. As many have noted, what we call “social distancing” is really physical distancing. Due to the pandemic, an unprecedented number of people have been socializing online, in new ways. Better understanding these new digital cultures will have consequences for COVID prevention: successful physical distancing will rely on new forms of social closeness online. It will also have consequences for everything from work and education to climate change.

We are a research team using the methods of anthropology to study online social interaction. Anthropologists use in-depth qualitative methods, in particular participant observation, interviews, and focus groups, to understand culture—the meanings, practices, and relationships that make up the “common sense” of our everyday lives. People often think of anthropologists as people who travel to “exotic” or “remote” cultures, but the methods and theories of anthropology can be used to study culture anywhere in the world. That now includes online cultures.

Our research takes place entirely online, focusing on two virtual worlds: Animal Crossing: New Horizons and Second Life. We work as a team in these two virtual worlds to understand how people are using virtual worlds in the wake of the pandemic. Central to the project is that there is not just one way to be online. Virtual worlds are places where individuals interact with avatars in online environments. They have different characteristics than social network sites like Facebook, streaming websites like YouTube, or chat programs like Zoom, though they share some features with all of these. Better understanding how people are using virtual worlds in the wake of the pandemic might provide innovative strategies for preventing viral transmission, by forging new forms of social closeness in the context of physical distancing. It might also help us better respond to the transformed social lives we are all destined to encounter in the wake of COVID-19.

Among the preliminary research findings is the following:

At least some of the time, virtual worlds can be a way to be alone, not a way to socialize. Due to the pandemic, many people are living with family members and roommates, and have less privacy than before. Virtual worlds can be places to get away from this. In other worlds, the pandemic has led not just to social distancing, but what we might term being “socially packed.” Virtual worlds can provide a different kind of “social distancing” to counter this loss of privacy.

Here’s the Animal Crossing: New Horizons survey and the Second Life survey. Each survey should take 10–15 minutes to complete. If you play Animal Crossing or use Second Life, please take part in the surveys!

Vanity Fair is wearing:

Thank you to Wagner James Au for the heads-up!