The Cavern Club opens

Last night the Liverpool sim launched with an opening gig at the SL Cavern Club. The real-life Cavern Club is a renowned music venue most well known for its relationship with The Beatles. The launch involved a live gig by rock group ‘What The…?’ and a full sim resulted.

“I heard ‘What The…?’ and recognised their Beatlesque sound and asked them to open, also the leader of the band helped me set up the stream”, explained sim owner Deroiste Quijote

Quijote built the sim to recreate the Cavern club in it’s original place and form. “The modern day one is a hundred metres further up and as I play in Mathew Street myself in a band I am always getting asked where the original club was….Well here it was!!”.

“The Beatles played here 292 times and someone thought it would be a good idea to knock it down. I have been building this sim “LIVERPOOL 2008″ since October in various locations,” Quijote said.

There are plans on expanding to an island location in the future.

Check out the Cavern Club in-world

Popularity: 7% [?]

Chebi Mosque

Chebi Mosque, built by Marino Nuvolari is an impressive build modeled on the Mezquita mosque in Spain and it’s a striking resemblance.

The information supplied on notecard about the Chebi Mosque covers a range of information (exerpts only):

“As-salaamu alaykum (Peace be upon you)

INTRODUCTION
A warm welcome to Chebi Mosque. For the benefit of those who use the masjid (mosque) as a place of worship, we kindly request that visitors behave with same level of respect as they would visiting a mosque in real life. It is customary for people entering a masjid to remove their shoes. Your courtesy is much appreciated and we hope you enjoy your visit. Please feel free to return at any time and bring your friends!

LOOKING ROUND CHEBI MOSQUE
Things to look out for during your visit to the Second Life masjid:

Mawdh’a (Fountain)
This is the wall holding the fountains which Muslims use to perform wudu (ablutions) prior to salah. There are two Mawdh’a in Chebi Mosque, inside the main courtyard.

Manarah (Minaret)
The tower situated at the corner of the masjid structure, from which the Muezzin makes the adhan (call to prayer). You can listen to an adhan by clicking play on the music icon at the bottom of your screen.

Mihrab
The ornamental arched niche set into the qibla or wall that indicates the direction of Makkah (Mecca). The five daily salah (Muslim prayers) are made facing Makkah.

Minbar
The steps from which the Friday khutbah (sermon) is delivered.

Qur’an
The Qur’an displays the 27th surah (chapter), called An-Naml (the Ants) in Moroccan calligraphy. If you click on the Qur’an (but not the stand), you can hear an online recital of this verse in Arabic with an English translations.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Is this a “real” mosque?
- Islam is a way of life and people do not stop being Muslim simply because they enter virtual reality. When avatars meet and talk in-world, it is no different to Muslims talking on the telephone - and indeed, one of the officers of the mosque uses the skype telephone service to communicate with other avatars! Chebi Mosque is currently the most important meeting place for Muslims on Second Life - so this is a “real” mosque in many ways. However, it is not exclusively for use by Second Life Muslims. Anyone can visit - at any time.

Do Muslims perform salah (pray) in Chebi Mosque?
- Yes, they do. If you right click on a ball marked “pray” above one of the prayer mats, you avatar will automatically kneel and bow. However, the opinion seems to be that such prayers do not count as fard (obligatory) salah, but are either nawafil (supererogetary) or the equivalent to du’a (a prayer which can be said almost anywhere and in any language).

Is there Jumu’a salah at Chebi mosque?
-There has been in the past. The mosque is open to anyone who wishes to organise Jumu’a, providing all are welcome.

Are there other mosques on Second Life?
-There are three other mosques:
(a) Hassan II. The design is inspired by the Hassan II mosque in Morocco, and is part of an island created by a real life American University:

(b) Fort Malaya. Part of a museum inpsired by an 18th century fort that I gather was the scene of battles between Sultanate, Portuguese and Acehnese forces.

(c) el Second Life Mosque. One of a complex of religious buildings constructed by a real life member of a New York based group which promotes interreligious understanding:

Does Chebi Mosque have an Imam?
-No.”

Check it out in-world

Popularity: 6% [?]

AFL Footy Fever Jerseys

With summer almost over and our cricketers lulling the world into a false sense of security, the beginning of the footy season is now in the offing and fans can prepare themselves by donning their favourite team colours at a little shop I found tonight.

Located at Martinis Bargain Clothes, this small venture caters for AFL team fans. And whilst it does state it is an outlet where you can buy NRL jerseys, that particular section seemed to be still awaiting stock.

At $100 Linden the AFL jersey’s are a little cheaper than their RL counterparts. If you have a hankering to be outfitted and ready to go barracking for your team, perhaps a quick venture to this shop will see you through the season.

As a Rugby fan I didn’t actually find anyone catering for that particular code at a Super 14 level but I did find a place where you can buy a Wallaby jersey. It was located at Taff’s Rugby and the range of footy oriented gear is quite large. With the World Cup not too far away, go the Ra Ra! Oh, they also have the round-ball footy code covered as well.

Popularity: 8% [?]

Flying Librarians of Oz

Had a very informative conversation with Emerald Dumont, an Australian in-world librarian. Emerald has been involved in the establishment of an Australian Library service in SL.

Established on Cybrary City in November 2006 it is being co-ordinated by Emerald, with another 14 Australian library folk joining in.

Emerald cites networking, fun, playfulness, a rapid increase in IT skills and a chance to learn a new interface as some reasons why she is there.

“There are over 900 librarians setting up services on the 7 islands around Info Island”, she said.

“Together we are grappling with customer service issues like whether doors discourage visitors - we are experimenting with removing them totally from our buidings. We are creating links to library resources outside second life, have RSS feeds and search engines available within our libraries, are holding author talks, staffing reference desks, creating displays and offering our libraries as community meeting places. We have even had historical figures, like Henry VIII, talk about their lives”.

Emerald would like to hear from Australians in Second Life about what they want from the library. “As well as providing information, I’d like to see it used as a gathering place for Australians who didn’t want to hang out in pubs. The top floor could be used as a community meeting room, as happens in real life libraries”.

Kathryn Greenhill, the real life librarian behind Emerald Dumont, is giving a talk about library services in Second Life at the National Library as part of its “Digital Culture” series. It’s titled “Flying Librarians of Oz: What’s all the fuss about Second Life and what’s it got to do with libraries?”.

FAST FACTS

Australian Libraries Building
Flying Librarians of Oz talk: 14th February 12:30pm, National Library Lecture Theatre, Canberra
More about the Australian Libraries Building: virtual.librariesinteract.info

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Students tend to use Google or Wikipedia as their first port of call in researching for information these days. Emerald’s library service could change this as more and more library and librarian services find themselves developing an SL service.

In fact, the idea of “Ask a Librarian” could be back in vogue with quality SL libraries like Australian Libraries Building and librarians such as Emerald being available to answer your query.

Popularity: 16% [?]

ABC Island - Construction Begins

Today the ABC Island commenced construction on its newly purchased island. Some initial pictures taken during very early construction today:

An automated tour of the island is available and our forums continue to be the place to submit ideas for the island.

Check out ABC Island in-world

Popularity: 6% [?]

The Australian Film and Television School

The AFTRS have an island that provides an incredible visual experience as well as an educational opportunity for its students and the wider public.

Check it out in-world

Popularity: 7% [?]

Indulge your spaceship fetish

Check it out in-world. Just make sure you’re ready to fly as location is elevated. If you do hit the ground you’ll see a well-known spaceship.

Popularity: 7% [?]

« Previous Page — Next Page »