Life To Life June 2009

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Life to Life Magazine SECOND LIFE… Because One Life Is Not Enough In this issue Welcome… We’re new! A Look at Fashion SL DJing Tips Newbies War Memorial Camping for Lindens! JUNE 2009

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The first edition on Life To Life magazine.

Transcript of Life To Life June 2009

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Life to Life Magazine SECOND LIFE… Because One Life Is Not Enough

In this issue

Welcome… We’re new! A Look at Fashion SL DJing Tips Newbies War Memorial Camping for Lindens!

JUNE 2009

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Contents

Welcome to Life To Life Magazine ..............................................................................................3

Grace Winnfield’s Fashion Show.................................................................................................4

From Newbies to Notre Dame .....................................................................................................7

In Remembrance Of ....................................................................................................................9

DJing in SL for Beginners .........................................................................................................11

To Camp or Not to Camp ..........................................................................................................16

Hello Readers and Advertisers, Thank you for reading, and advertising in, Life to Life Magazine. If you are hosting a Second Life event, which you would like covered by our writers, please contact me. All articles and photos are copyrighted © 2009 to John Flieg. The Life to Life Magazine™ name is trademarked. Please contact me for permissions. Please visit our website: http://www.lifetolife.co.cc John Flieg Owner [email protected] June 2009 issue re-released Edited by Jasmine Lerner Editor [email protected].

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Welcome to Life To Life Magazine

Are you new to Second Life, or have you been here for years? Whether you are a newbie or a seasoned resident, this Magazine is for you. We feature all Second Life stories of interest. Do you have story? Write it, and send it to me. I want to meet you. Is there something you have always wanted to know, or an SL activity or event that you are curious about? If so, let me know, and we will send out one of our top reporters to investigate. Do you want higher traffic numbers for your business? Advertise with us and get your name known throughout SL. Send me a blog. I want to know what you’re thinking about, what you like to do, what you want to find out. Our goal is to give you the best of what SL has to offer. I am always looking for great stories. If you’ve always wanted to be published, IM me. Read the articles and give us your comments. Visit the sites featured and let them know that you read about them in our magazine. Subscribe to Life to Life Subscribers Group, and let your friends know about us. Our magazine is free, it’s yours, and it’s written by SL residents for SL residents. I look forward to talking with you. Angelica Nakajima Executive Manager Life to Life Magazine [email protected]

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Grace Winnfield’s Fashion Show

By Haych Goldshark and Sicila Parx

[May 16, 2009] On entering the fashion show, one is captivated by the magnificent decor of the beautiful building. After looking at its extravagantly designed arches, attractive pillars and detailed engravings, your eyes are drawn to the fine looking, huge and extremely meticulously detailed paintings covering the ceiling. Then there is the large, striking circular stained glass window to the rear of the building, showing its exquisiteness, fitting flawlessly within its surroundings Once you have managed to take your eyes away from the grand decor, your focus turns to the gorgeous people present at the event. That was just the beginning. The ultimate fashion show was about to begin! Presented beautifully, the show was magnificent. There were absolutely stunning ladies dressed in gorgeous and extremely detailed gowns with material that just floated like feathers being lifted by a light summer breeze over their delicate skin. With many different dress styles and numerous elegant designs, the show featured some of the most dazzling and striking ladies clothing fashions available today.

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Both uplifting and refreshing, the fashion show was a complete success, filled with a houseful of spectators enjoying this elegant and beautiful fashion display. The models walking down the catwalk, while displaying confidence and elegance, showed that they too were enjoying every moment. This event was organized and presented by Grace Winnfield, a ladies exquisite clothing designer. We interviewed Grace who had this to say: “I started in 2006 when flexi prim’s first started. I tried to build and it was scary. So I tried clothes and fell in love with clothes and designing, and I have been designing ever since. It’s so much fun. I absolutely love it! I tried modeling and failed in my eyes. Sometimes I do pop in for one of my shows if a model crashes. But I think I’m kind of too thin to be a model.” “I have done around six or more shows so far. We put on about two fashion shows a year, but we hope to expand and put on many more fashion shows every year. I don’t use modeling agencies, only because it’s easier not too. But I have used around 15 female models over the years, and I try to use the same ones if they are good.” “Mynx is my CEO. She is my absolute best friend and she helps me organize every show, from the beginning, with every detail. She is amazing. I am a ladies clothes designer and a ladies fashion show organizer, but I am not actually a modeling agency.” We also interviewed some of the gorgeous models who took part in this exquisite fashion show. One of the models we spoke to was Rhonda Pennell, who had these words to say: “Well, I started modeling a little bit over a year ago. This is my second show for Gracie’s Girls. She hired me last October for a formal and bridal show. Grace Winnfield is a wonderful person and such a talented designer. I can say that working for Gracie Winnfield and Mynx Carroll is truly a pleasure and most inspiring. The gown I am wearing is called “With Grace,” and is available at *Lurve*. Danielle Idigo designed it. I hardly know anything about designing clothes myself, but I absolutely love wearing the beautiful dresses made by Grace. It would be interesting to try to design sometime; unfortunately, I have been too busy for that. My main interests in Second Life actually are modeling, and in-world photography, portraits as well as landscapes, and artistic works. Perhaps I can open a small gallery someday.” We also spoke with Kendall Larnie, who had this to add: “Grace honestly has some of the most meticulous prim work I've ever seen. During the entire show I couldn't stop staring, it was just incredible.” Lastly, we spoke to one of the other models, Veronica Krasner, who modeled for Grace Winnfield, and this is what she had to say: “I started modeling as a part time activity here in SL, for photographs, when I was one month old, in February 2007. I officially started doing some sporadic runway shows in

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September 2007.” I always recall and thank the people who gave me a chance at that time, when I was inexperienced and less glamorous than now: Sunshine Kit (ex CEO of Fashlink Agency), Calamity Hathaway (CEO of Calamity's Haute Models) and Miguel Rotunno, and his wife, Shalimar Novi (from Miramar Agency). Modeling is a very competitive field. Not everyone who wants to be a model can achieve it. Some go far and some do a decent job, some quit because they get discouraged. I guess to be a good model, you have to be committed, responsible, reliable, and open to changes or suggestions, work as a team with the rest, and be polite to everyone. If I may say one last thing, it is that, rejection happens, and my motto is always “if you fail, try and try again’”. We from Life to Life Magazine say… what a fabulous fashion show and what a great bunch of girls! A job well done, Grace Winnfield, her team, and all of her fashion models.

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Flint/162/93/331

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From Newbies to Notre Dame

By Hunter Benazzi How many times have you stood on a sim and just stared at the screen, slumped back in your chair and declared, "I'm so bored with SL!”? So, you log out with the idea of deleting your account, floating somewhere near the back of your mind. You spend the next few days on Facebook or some other activity, and then it happens...you click the Second Life icon and you're back. Our relationship with SL can be turbulent, and we often find ourselves coming to the conclusion, "it's not you, it's me" - so, we kiss and make up and swear it will never happen again. We decide not to think too much about our recent flirt with other activities, well it's not like we slept together, right? We promise it will never happen again...and yet... So, maybe our relationship needs therapy from time to time. Maybe we need to be reminded of how we used to feel, to bring back some of the old "magic".

I guess I'm in a more privileged position than most, as I'm an SL Mentor, and as such, am able to go to a place that by is now probably tucked away in the deep recesses of your memory... the newbie islands! I go there with noble intentions, to help those poor newbies get a grip on the interface as they begin their romance with Second Life. The truth is, it's the newbies who end up helping me.

It's hard not to laugh when you see them stumble around, fall off the platform, detach their hair, add a box or two to their arms and eventually call for "help!!!!” Even those who arrive and immediately start hitting on all the identical women, bring a sympathetic smile to my face. And, the disappointment in someone's comments that they'd spent quite some time choosing their avatar to be "really cool" only to arrive to find themselves standing next to three identical versions of themselves. Added to that, it takes all of my self-control not to tell them that if they run really fast towards the exit sign, they'll get in-world. However, my flimsy sense of superiority starts to evaporate when I start to see their enthusiasm shine through, their grim determination to understand how IM's work and

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the “whoop” of satisfaction when they manage to change their hair. Then I start to think, "Yeah, you're right. SL is pretty cool!" My reeducation doesn't stop there... "Where can I go now?" …. comes the question, to which I reply, "Where would you like to go?" The responses are extremely varied (and not always welcome) but often, I'm asked if I can show them the place they'd like to visit... and off I go to offer them their first TP. And this is where my education and therapy is completed - to be able to go to so many places that I'd not thought to go myself and to view it by proxy through the eyes of a new "child" of Second Life; the effect is surprisingly strong. So, I'd encourage you all to do something similar - you might not be able to go to the newbie islands, but you can go to public newbie zones. So go along there, find a newbie with a box on their head, help them, and they might just help you back. Second Life, our relationship may be rocky at times, but you know, I think we're going to make it.

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Nightscape/126/166/22

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In Remembrance Of

By Haych Goldshark

The Museum is called “The Vietnam War Memorial”, JJ’S Monuments and Museum in Cannon. This magnificent museum and memorial were established to honor those who are presently serving, those who have come home, and those who have fallen. It also includes the September 11 Memorial, and the Holland Memorial to those who died in the attack on the Crown. On approaching the museum, one is automatically captured by the many pictures present on the outside grounds, displaying soldiers at war, artillery, and flags of many countries, including the USA, UK, and many others. There were also many people present who came to pay their respects to all those soldiers who died, and to all those who fought and made it back home alive. The day I visited the memorial site, there was an outstanding, live concert performance by many bands and singers, performing to honor the soldiers. Jimmy427 Alter established this memorial and museum. Jimmy is an ex-US Soldier and Marine. While speaking with Jimmy, I asked him if there was anything he would like me to include in my article. Jimmy responded by saying:

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“I just want the soldiers to be remembered and honored. I lost my whole company and I want recognition for them… I don’t deserve it for coming back and not going with my men!! I am just a man who wants his friends honored. It’s really difficult to talk about without

tears, but seeing all of these people that have come here today to pay their respects is very moving indeed. I know that my company of soldiers who died and all soldiers who have died, would appreciate this monument, and all of its visitors, past and future, who have come, and will come, to pay their respects.” “Too many lose their lives for our freedom. We all need to remember them, and to try to keep them alive in us. Thank you all for coming.” Jimmy also has a 9-11 Monument of the Twin Towers. I asked Jimmy if he would like to say anything regarding the Twin Towers monuments. He replied: “Just that it was a very sad day, for everyone.”

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Nessie/66/234/322

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DJing in SL for Beginners

By Jordan Horberg

DJing in Second Life is one of the toughest, demanding, and exhausting jobs around. If you’re not good at multi-tasking, this is not the job for you. After saying that, I will admit to you, if you learn the ropes and find a great place to work, it will be the most rewarding and exciting experience of your life! This article is written by a long time DJ who has learned lots, and is very happy to share experiences with anybody. I will take you through the basics, and more difficult parts of DJing, to get you ready for what you will face. First off, you need to have music… and lots of it! Considering you will play thirty songs in a two-hour shift, you need to be prepared with lots of music on hand. I personally recommend that you have a bare minimum of five hundred songs in your library, of “good,” playable music. You also need to consider what kind of music you want to play when you are at a club in SL. I am a Country music DJ, so I have stocks of music by Tim McGraw, Kenny Chesney, Sugarland, and on and on. I will tell you now that no matter what kind of music you like to play and listen to, there will be a club that plays it, guaranteed! Some

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clubs will have certain “theme nights” like 50’s Sock Hop or 70’s Rock Night, depending on where you are. If you work one of these, you should have music that fits the theme, as it makes the experience more enjoyable for everybody. The best place, I find, to look for hot music in the genre that you are playing, is the iTunes music store or the AOL music store. Usually they have Top 10’s of every genre as well, and you can search through their massive achieves to find music. Once you think you have enough music, download more. My first tip to you all is; you can never have too much music! Don’t ever forget that! Staying with the theme of having music, a good DJ will always take requests. I will honestly admit that I use Limewire as my source of downloading. Let’s face facts though, people; Illegal file sharing programs rule the world! At all times, when I DJ, I have my Limewire up and running for any requests that I may receive. Another one of my big tips coming at you; Always, always, screen the music before you play it! I have learned this the hard way. Limewire has a nifty, built-in media player that works perfectly for this job. To turn on the media player, go to the “Tools” button on the top of the page, click it and go into “Options.” On the left-hand side, there will be different categories, click on “Player” or something to that effect. Then simply click “Use Limewire Media Player.” Now, whenever you download a song, double click it and it will play in Limewire, and you can screen it to hear what it sounds like, and to check if it’s the right song. You then just drag and drop it into your output, but we will go over that later. Now that we have all of our music, we need a place to store it, and play it from; these are called Broadcasters. There are a few out on the market, but I recommend SAM Broadcaster from Spatial Audio Solutions. This program costs a lot, but it is worth it, I promise you. Here is a tip; Search the internet for “discounted” versions. That is all I will say about that, because I could get in some trouble. I will be teaching you how to broadcast with SAM, so if you use something else, all I can say is, sorry! When you first open up SAM, it will look big and scary with lots of buttons and doo-dads. You will soon find that these buttons and doo-dads will be your best friends! The first thing you will want to do is import your music library. Some people save it under “My Music,” and some, like me, under their “Limewire” folder. To get all of this music, find the playlist window. It should be in the bottom left of the SAM broadcaster window when you first start the program. Under “Categories,” find “Music (All)” and click on it. Right below that, after you’ve clicked on it, you should see blank space. To add your music, simply click the green “plus” sign, find where you saved your music and, ta-da, there it is. Click all the songs you want to import and you will now have your music library up and ready to go! So, as you can see already, this isn’t as easy as you thought it might be. That’s ok, because with these next bits of info you will be up and ready to DJ in no time! What you need to do now is set up a queue of music for SAM to play for you. There are two modes of playing music; one is manual, which means you do everything yourself. This includes putting the music into one of the two “Decks” and starting the music. The other, is “Auto DJ,” which simply does all of this for you! My tip to you; use “Auto DJ”

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when you have a few songs in a row that you want to play. That way you don’t have to set everything up, and you can spend more time chatting with everybody in SL! To set up your queue, go into your playlist, which you just imported, and find some songs you want to play. When you find some, all you have to do is double click on the song and it will automatically be added to the bottom of your queue. If you want to remove a song from your queue, all you need to do is click on it once, and hit the delete button on your keyboard. To get music to start playing, you need to locate “Deck A” or “Deck B,” these will be near the top when you first start SAM. Drag the first song in your queue into one of the two decks and hit the play button in the deck window. Your music will start to play, and you will see the “seek” bar moving. Depending on your settings, either the next song will start to play automatically, or you will have to do it manually. Look to the top of the screen and find where it will say either “Auto DJ” or “Manual.” To change it from manual to auto, just click it once, and instantly, you go from doing all the work, to none of it! Now that you have music, and know how to play it, you need somewhere to send it, so that others can hear it; these are called “Streams.” Some clubs in SL ask that you have your own stream, and some will supply one. If you need to have your own, here are my recommendations: 128 kb/s 50 Listeners 24/7 Live Support Instant Activation

The stream that I use has those settings and it costs me L$800 a month, which is about the cheapest I could find. Once you get all of your info, you need to create a new “Encoder.” These are found on “Desktop B.” To get to Desktop B, look near the top just below the “Help” menu. When you first start out, you will be on “Desktop A.” Click on B, and the second window down on the left will be your encoders. To create a new encoder, click on the small “plus” sign in the encoder window. This will open a window that will prompt you to select a plug-in. Select “mp3PRO” which is last on the list, and hit “OK.” This will now open up a configuration window. Look for the Quality box. By default, it will be on medium. Make sure you change it to high quality output for the best sound. Below Quality, you will see “Format.” Change this to “mp3PRO: 96 kb/s, 44.1 kHz, Stereo.” This setting is the absolute highest quality that SL can handle. If you find that your stream is losing connection while you DJ, change your encoder to 64 kb/s. When you have finished inputting the correct details, click on “Server Details,” found at the top of the window. By default, it will be on “Shoutcast,”

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which, for most streams, this is where it needs to be. Look for “Server IP.” This is where you need to enter the IP Address of the server. Your club manager, or the company from which you bought your stream, will tell you what it is. For example, my Server IP is “89.38.6.1.” Yours should look something similar to that. Next, enter your server “Port” number, which is usually 4 or 5 digits long. Finally, enter your password, which will be provided. Do not worry about the right hand side of the window as it is for more advanced users. Finally, click “OK,” and you are ready to broadcast! To start the encoder, just press the small “Play” button in the encoder’s window. A quick tip for you; if the stream is owned by the club, DO NOT start it unless it is your shift, or unless you have permission from the owner, as it could kill the current DJ’s stream and wreck his or her show! If it is your own stream, you have nothing to worry about. Feel free to use it whenever! The final, basic thing, I will tell you about is using voice. A good DJ always talks. Make sure you have a “good” microphone that is pleasing to listen to, and does not crackle. Even if this means spending $50 on a good one, it will be worth it. To set up voice, simply plug in your microphone, make sure you have installed the software, and SAM should automatically detect it. On your “Desktop A,” you should see a window that says “Voice FX.” This is where you make all your changes to voice. The voice window is the simplest window to use in all of SAM. All you need to do is press the large “Push to Talk” button, to talk, or the “Lock Talk” button, to lock in voice, so you do not have to continue to hold down the button. You can adjust the voice volume with the “Mic Volume” slider and the volume of the music with the “Music Volume” slider. I recommend that you click on “Auto” beneath the “Music Volume” slider and let SAM auto adjust your music levels. When you are finished talking, simply let go of the “Press to Talk” button or uncheck the “Lock Talk” button. There you have it, the very basic guide to DJing in SL. I recommend that you play around with SAM in your free time before you actually start working in SL, just to be sure you are completely comfortable with all of the functions. If you have any further questions, feel free to IM me in-world. My name is Jordan Horberg. You can also email me at [email protected]. I will say that if you are having problems in-world with sound, contact your boss first, as I cannot fix problems in every club. I hope this guide helps out all of you aspiring DJs looking to make some cash! Have fun spinning tunes, and making lots of Linden!

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http://slurl.com/secondlife/Gallinas/160/57/60

A note from the Editor:

This is our first issue. Stay tuned… we have plans for changes to our format. Yes, this works, but we can do better… and we will!

Jasmine Lerner, Editor [email protected]

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To Camp or Not to Camp By Angelica Nakajima

One of the first questions I asked in SL was, “How do I make money without investing any money?” Out of a slew of various answers, one in particular caught my attention. “You can always go camping.” When I envision camping, I think of tents, hiking boots and fishing poles. This is not my ideal vacation, I must admit. My idea of camping is a log cabin, fireplace, and running water; but in SL, camping defies either of these scenarios. In SL, “camping” means sitting, dancing, or standing in place for money. How much money, you ask? Not much. My first few weeks in SL, I spent camping, managing to earn over L$200. Now anyone who has been camping knows that earning L$200 just by camping means A LOT of camping. My avatar was getting bedsores. But, actually, time spent camping is a great way to manage time in RL. I set my avatar to camp, and worked on something else, not a bad way to take multi-tasking to new heights. Now if you don’t want to pull currency from RL into SL, and you can’t seem to get a job, then camping can be an effective way to earn a few Linden. Have you ever wondered what’s in it for the vendor? I mean, if I were to set up a bunch of camp chairs, what could possibly entice me to pay folks to sit in them? The answer to that is TRAFFIC NUMBERS. What does all that mean? Somebody explained it to me; here’s what I got: The more folks visiting your site, the better it is for business; and to spend a few Linden on camp chairs for your business, I suppose, makes for a sound investment. Do

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vendors actually earn more money by having campers? If you know, write me and let me know! If your business benefits from camping, or if you have found paying campers utterly worthless, let me know that also! I’ll post answers in the next issue. In any event, if you like camping, more power to you. If you want more, you may want to consider getting a job in SL, but that’s another article. If you want to be hired to write it, please contact me. Places to camp: 1. Digital Worlds (209, 54, 25) You can camp here and get L$2 for 10 min or 15 min, depending upon the chair, but the chairs are only available periodically during the day. You don’t have to wear the group tag to get money, but don’t sit in a chair if it is turned off. You may get banned. 2. Galveston (228, 224, 2) Here, you can earn L$1 for 15 min. Don’t forget to touch the dolphin in the pool to stay seated. You don’t need a group tag, but you may get taken off a chair if your avatar falls asleep. 3. Sumi’s Games and Camping (181, 53, 403) The dancing pads run between L$2 and L$3 for 30 min. You need to wear the group tag. 4. !Kissjack’s 4L/4mins pads (108, 14, 21) This place has a dancing pad that pays L$4 for 4 min, BUT, it is on only periodically, and you have to wait in line. You get taken off after 4 minutes, and you have to get back in line for another turn to get L$4. You need to wear the group tag. There are many other places to camp. If there’s one you’d like to share, let us know. In the end, it’s your decision how you want to spend your time in SL. If you want money, and you don’t want to camp, and you don’t want to get a job, then RL cash can go a long way. In a RL arcade, you can spend anywhere from a quarter to a few dollars for each game. A RL few dollars can fuel hours in SL. To those of you who like to camp, remember to check on your avatar occasionally. Many camp chairs or pads will take your av off for inactivity, and you may find someone else dancing on your sleeping av. Worse yet, you may not have earned as much money as you thought you would. You may want to get an AFK (away from keyboard) HUD (Heads Up Display), which allows you to leave your avatar for a while longer, though many places will require you to start over after earning a certain amount of Linden, or after camping for a given length of time. If you don’t have an AFK HUD, IM me, and I’ll give you one for free. So, to all my fellow campers, I give my warmest regards.