voyeurism

illustrating dynamic shadows in Second Life (Bowness Island Space Elevator)

this short clip was taken at Bowness Island, which is the future site of a Field Studies Centre; the structures on the island are still under construction.

you are looking East, and the moving shadows indicate that it's late in the afternoon.

the shadows are cast by the Space Elevator, which is a fully working simulation of a Space Elevator in geostationary orbit.

note how the tram-car also casts its own shadow on the water, and itself moves in and out of the Elevator's shadow :-)

illustrating Depth of Field in Second Life

for just over two months, 3D graphics performance on the MacBook Air has so bad as to render most games and worlds unplayable.

all that has changed with today's release of Mac OS X 10.6.8 :-)

combined with Second Life Viewer 2.7.2, 'shadows' and 'acceptable performance' are no longer incompatible terms on the MacBook Air :-)

to boot, Depth of Field is a workable possibility, too - as can be seen from the following screenshots :-)

Destination Guide -> Strange and Mysterious -> The Crooked House

The Crooked House

Visit this recreation of Robert A. Heinlein's "Crooked House" by Seifert Surface. Explore the interconnected rooms of the house, which is modeled on a four-dimensional hypercube. Learn more about the story behind the house's creation at http://pdx.be/efe8.

Visit in Second Life

Destination Guide -> Art -> Mathematical Art

Mathematical Art

Don't forget to say hello to the giant turtle at this Escher-inspired build by Furia Freeloader and the nearby mathematical sculptures by Seifert Surface. Furia's full-scale model in 3D can be rotated along three axes, while Seifert's artwork touches on knots, fractals, surfaces and the 4th dimension.

Visit in Second Life

SL8B automated tour routes - the map

here's the map of the routes of the automated tours that are running at SL8B.

the pic is taken from Daniel Voyager's blog, and he says the complete circuit of each half takes about 30 minutes - feel free to hop on and off.

i'm gratified to see that not only does the route pass by the exhibit of the Space Elevator at Bowness Island, but it also passes along two of the exhibit's four sides (ie, it makes a right-angled turn at one of the corners of the exhibit) :-)

visit Seifert Surface's 'The Crooked House' :-)

back in 2006, Seifert Surface conceptualised and set out to build a realisation of Robert A Heinlein's 'Crooked House', modelled on a four-dimensional hypercube :-)

since then, The Crooked House has been covered in Boing Boing, as well as visited by physicist and theoretician Garrett Lisi.

it is thus my singular privilege to have been able to work with Seifert to host The Crooked House at its new location :-)

map of Blake Sea air routes

spotted at SL8B, at the SL Transportation booth :-)

Mathematical Art

Come visit Mathematical Art at Da Boom :-)

Mathematical Art features a realisation of M C Escher's 'Relativity' by Furia Freeloader, and mathematical sculptures by Seifert Surface.

Furia's full-scale model in 3D can be rotated along three axes; Seifert's artwork touches on knots, fractals, surfaces and the 4th dimension :-)

it's cooler in the shade :-)

hurrah!

with today's release of Viewer 2.7.1, shadows finally work on my MacBook Air :-)

Joint Helicopter Patrol of Sansara

there will be a Joint Helicopter Patrol of the Sansara continent later today. here is the route:

both Anton Airstrip and Lily Airstrip will be among the many stops en route - a warm welcome to all guests!

participants in this year's patrol include the Second Life Coast Guard and the Flying Tigers, among others.

:-)