We here at the Rez offices get quite a few press releases thrown our way, by people, groups or businesses eager to get a spotlight shone upon their achievements or activities here in SL. However, because we take our writing very seriously, and don't want to waste our time, or that of our valued readership, we are very choosy about what we investigate, since we always take the time to go and actually check these things out for ourselves, rather than just posting the press release in the hope it might be good.


Recently one particular press release landed in our inbox that both Trin and I agreed I had to at least go and check out. It was an announcement of the opening of a new sim, created and named after the sl tattoo company AddiXion. What was the reason I had to see this place? Mostly, the use of the word "grunge" in the release. Anyone who knows me, or has visited the Monema Rez Office, will tell you that I like my style a little bit dirty, grubby, torn, broken and occasionally bloody, and this place did not disappoint. The gritty urban landscape laid out before me, with one of the best arranged city areas I have seen, was a joy to behold, wondrously textured concrete buildings, each one containing some true delights for consumers who like their gear a bit grubby, since, as well as being the new home for the eponymous company, the Addixion Sim is the site of the main stores for NEO fashion addict, shooz! and AntiCute, along with having shops for such "grunge fashion" trandsetters as CatNip, Blind Spot, Miaou House, and VIRUS Co. As luck would have it, as I was looking around, the owner, Xion Hax, appeared at the stage in the central square, and I grabbed a few words with him about the place (He's the guy with the mechanical leg, not the giant ant):


Voodoo: How did this sim come about?

Xion Hax: Well, addiXion existed for one year as a rented parcel in a different sim... so it was always in my plans to be a full sim

Voodoo: What was the inspiration for the style of the sim? Personal taste, or are you catering for a market?

Xion Hax: I think both lol... I started making tatts a year ago... so my taste played an important role... but after all people seem to like the concept :) I am into grunge concept anyway

Voodoo: Have you found many kindred sprits to help you along the way or is this more of a personal project?

Xion Hax: I have some friends that we started together, building our businesses, and they are contributing in addiXion by having their shops here, but as far as building and addiXion concept is concerned I’d say that it is a personal project

Voodoo: So, it's very much your baby? Has that lead to any creative difficulties working with people?

Xion Hax: Oh it is definitely my baby...lol. No I think there were not creative difficulties, people seem to understand the look and feel of addiXion and either they love it or hate it :)

Voodoo: How has the feedback been in general? More lovers or haters? ;)

Xion Hax: I feel lucky :) Lovers exceeded haters alot ... I think if someone feels uncomfortable after less than 2 mins he is rezzed here, he flyes away...

Voodoo: Obviously this place is only just open, but any plans in the pipeline for the future?

Xion Hax: Well, for the time being what’s top priority is to well establish addixion as it is now... I have some plans for the future but I think maybe is better to let it settle down and see how it will go :) One step at a time.

Voodoo: Indeed. And can you offer any advice to any budding entrepreneurs looking to follow in your footsteps?

Xion Hax: What’s important for me is to focus on details... Most of the good comments I’ve heard are about the reality feeling that they get walking around addiXion, so what I have to advice is first of all have fun with what u make, choose a certain concept and pay attention to details :). It will pay u off no matter how long it will take.

Welcome to the new section at Rez Magazine. This will be called Trin & Voo Discuss where we will discuss current topics to amalgamate our views and opinions into one article regarding key SecondLife issues. For our first edition will we discuss the recent major push by content creators to call on Linden Labs help protecting their Intellectual Property.

Trinity Dechou: How much of an issue do you believe this could be having chatted to the people you chat too?
Voodoo Buwan: Well, with the effort that goes into artistic creation and people trying to make it inworld as valid virtual business people, obviously this is something which a great deal of folks are going to be concerned about. However, I must say, this is one of those issues that could blow up into hysteria grossly disproportionate to the actual threat it represents
Trinity Dechou: Well I have seen some of the biggest celebrities in SecondLife's posters with slogans such as "content thieves steal the clothes off our backs" and "I’d rather go bare than wear stolen hair". I think everyone agrees content theft is a HUGE issue in SecondLife, however is it an issue that Linden Lab can control? Can they actually do very much and if so at what cost to an already fairly unstable grid?
Voodoo Buwan: Exactly. I think that the spur of those posters you spoke of, especially the "I'd rather go bare" one, are the correct way to go about this. Promoting an attitude of conscious consumerism where the purchase and theft of content is seen as unacceptable, rather than waste the Linden's time in what will be a never-ending and hugely time consuming quest against this kind of violation is the best way
Trinity Dechou: well lets be honest, some of the worlds biggest corporate companies have issues with controlling content theft, none of them have the answer so really is it fair to haul Linden Lab over the coals? Linden lab already state the DMCA on their website but are very reluctant to get into copyright infringement issues.
Voodoo Buwan: And understandably so. If you really want to steal content, it would be incredibly difficult to stop it. To take textures for example, running a successful art gallery on the side myself, I still know that anyone who really wanted to steal one of my pics simply needs to use the print screen function on their pc, and they can easily do this. The only real way that Linden Labs should get involved would really be to deal with any copyright infringers I find, and ban them appropriately. It's unreasonable to expect them to try to figure out a way to stop it happening in the first place.
Trinity Dechou: Yes but then surely that becomes a slippery slope. Say for example, we both have galleries in SecondLife, and you steal my work. I have to prove you actually stole my work and then of course you are allowed to counter claim this. It all adds into a great mix of slippery slopes. I feel for the designers and content creators stuck in the midst of this, but as you have said, surely educating the consumer is the best way forward. If I want to purchase a Nicky Ree for instance, I can admire the quality and go to her instead of someone else doing a similar design for a fraction of the price, having said that however, how many people are actually this honest?
Voodoo Buwan: This is very true. The only problem then becomes, how do you expect the less sl-savvy consumers to know the difference between the real thing, and a cheap knock off?
Trinity Dechou: Well, I think that's a major issue. Also a very hard one to prove, however so is initial copyright infringement. None of us want to see the end of content creation in SecondLife, we have heard of a few designers ending their business because of the hassle it's brought them, I think that's a sad state for SecondLife to get into. However I also (ironically) feel for Linden Lab, who are stuck in the midst of a massive battle regarding the issue. There is no easy way through this and I feel Linden lab will never be 'right'. They can never been seen to do the right thing as far as many people are concerned.
Voodoo Buwan: The whole thing reminds me of the situation eBay has found themselves in over the years. In the beginning, back in the early days of the net, eBay was very much a community thing, built on trust and a mutual benefit of one man unhauling his trash onto someone else who thought it treasure. However, as time went on, and obviously the site grew in popularity towards being the juggernaut it is today, fraudsters and thieves flocked to abuse the system. And while eBay has set a few things in place, apart from banning the offenders reported (who usually return under another name) they have not got personally involved. And yet, despite this risk involved in the system, it has still thrived.
Trinity Dechou: Very much so, it's an issue, as we have said faced by virtually ALL multinational corporate companies, and while we accept content theft is wrong, I believe we both agree there isn't a lot Linden can actually do. As you said with regards to eBay, offenders return under another name, so more and more alts are created with more and more theft.
Voodoo Buwan: Indeed, although this is by no means a get out excuse for Linden Labs to just say "This is just all your problem. Fight it out amongst yourselves". I think one of the things with this issue is that it can't be solved even by us banging our heads together. But I think the point is that simply ranting that the Lindens should wave a magic wand and make theft impossible is unrealistic and unfair. If we are to get on top of this, it is something that we all, residents and Lindens alike, need to work together to try to make it not worth the while of those who seek to profit off the hard work of others

Content Theft Pictures (C) Chez Nabob. All rights reserved.

Social Networking. It's one of those modern buzzwords that you can't escape these days, and with good reason. Sites like Myspace and Facebook have become immensely popular, allowing people to meet, promote themselves, catch up with old friends, keep in touch and much much more. And this is no longer just the domain of the hip down-with-it kids, using it as a way to pass notes to their mates without the neanderthal ignorant grown-ups knowing what's going on. I was saying to someone just the other day, that the moment I knew that Facebook has gotten too popular was when I got a friend request from my mum.

So, social networking is now available for every person on the planet to keep up with their friends, show off their sparkly profile, and let everyone keep up to date on their current status. So, if your real life human can have one, why not your second life avatar? Some people have thought this, and I have seen profile for avatars on myspace, and even a tool to link your facebook page to your sl account. However, some bright sparks have gone a step further, and set up their own social networking websites, specifically designed for sl residents. I managed to grab some time with the creators of the two frontrunners in this new market, Yo Brewster, owner/creator of http://www.slprofiles.com/, and Luc Aubret, the man behind "Rezzednet" which can be found at http://www.rezzed.net/

Voodoo: What was the inspiration behind the sites?

Yo Brewster: After doing some research on Second Life I realized that about 60% of Second Life users have created something in Second Life. I figured that the only way for me to stand out would be to spend tons of money through advertising or to create a site where I could advertise my Second Life creations for free (none so far). I'm not sure this was the best approach since a site like this requires a lot of time and dedication but that was the true reason for starting up SLProfiles.com.
Luc Aubret: I was reading an article about a popular blogger who was kicked off of Facebook for using his nom de plume on the account. Using real names is something I've always liked about Facebook - there's nothing worse than sorting through names like "coitalbunny1979" and "LimpBizkitLover23" trying to figure out whether or not you know that person. But it occurred to me that in the metaverse, many of us think of our avatars as separate people with separate lives, and I figured those people deserved a social networking site as well, and one that was specifically geared to the peculiarities of Second Life. And I'd been drinking a fair bit of beer, which makes every goofball idea seem excellent.

Voodoo: Rezzednet has quite a similar style to Facebook, while Slprofiles has a lot in common with Myspace. What were your reasons behind that? Was that design choice intentional?

Luc Aubret: Well... yes and no. We don't want it to look exactly like Facebook, and we were certainly not attempting to co-opt the image. What we did want was something familiar enough in layout that people would be able to tell on first glance what it was. And we wanted an inviting, inoffensive color scheme that wouldn't pose unnecessary accessibility issues. Most of all, we wanted an uncluttered interface that was direct, to-the-point, and easy to navigate.
Yo Brewster: My goal was basically to create a clean MySpace site for Second Life. Why try to reinvent the wheel when somebody has proven that their concept works? Since our site is truly geared towards Second Life users, many people feel much more at home at SLP.

Voodoo: Luc, one of the successes of Facebook is allowing other people to add open source applications to it. Are there plans to do similar things with Rezzednet?

Luc Aubret: Adding open-source applications like that requires a pretty major framework. We've discussed the idea, and like it, but at the moment we're focused on providing the most direct tools we can to make the site useful and fun.

Voodoo: What is your aim with the site, and judging it by that yardstick, how much of a success has it been?

Yo Brewster: Since we weren't the oldest Profile site on the market, I used to compare member and usage stats with others out there. It was nice to see how fast we were able to become #1 in this rather small market. Financially we're basically not making any money due to the amount of bandwidth we're using but hey at least I got a free trip to Linden Lab out of it! No, the best reward for me and Jaxi would have been the surprise party that was organized by our members last year ( http://www.slprofiles.com/secondlifeblog.asp?a=comments&id=5319 ). It was nice to see that our members recognized how much time we've actually invested in this site.
Luc Aubret: Hell, I was just glad to get it working. Just kidding. Our aim is simply to create an active community where people could come together, network, and share their experiences. Socially, yes, but also professionally (RezzedNet is broken into sub-networks such as Content Creation, Business, etc.). We haven't set number goals or anything like that; we're more interested in the quality of experience than the quantity of users. Of course, a large number of users will greatly improve the usefulness of any social networking site, but we want to make sure that traffic is meaningful. To that end, I'd say we're doing pretty well. We were blessed with a wonderful group of early adopters who helped us work out the beta kinks and establish a strong community. I've read some great blogs, poked around in some really fun photo albums, and attended events posted on our site. You know, exactly the kind of thing the site was designed to do. Personally, I think the biggest measure of success is the fact that the logo graphic sitting on the top of our site was customized by one of our members, Ryker Beck. We found the edited image on her blog and asked her if we could use it. How cool is that?

Voodoo: How has the feedback been from sl residents about the site, and have you had any problems with people abusing it?

Luc Aubret: Feedback has been really great. Our community has been really helpful in terms of providing excellent, useful feedback. While we've had a lot of very satisfying compliments on the site, it's the "what if you tried this?" feedback that we really dig. As for abuse, well... I don't want to jinx it, but we've set up RezzedNet a bit different in a way I think will help curb abuse. RezzedNet is strong on accountability; we use your avatar name as your user name, and ask new users to sign up through an in-world terminal (seriously, it takes like 30 seconds to sign up though) to make sure you have a legitimate SL account. We also have a really open no-censorship policy (go ahead and flame if you like, just don't be a racist, etc.) and our community has rewarded us for that by being really respectful of each other. Of course, we just put in forums, so... let the flames begin, ha ha.
Yo Brewster: Nearly daily I receive kuddos from new and existing members. Jaxi Morrison, our co-admin, does an excellent job in keeping the site nice and clean. Sure we have some minor issues here and there but that's to expect when you're receiving about 2,000,000 page views a month.

Voodoo: What are you future plans for the site?

Luc Aubret: Our first goal was to provide the tools for interaction - blogs, events, forums, private messaging, photos, groups, etc. - and to get the interface just right. Now we're going to be pushing hard for new community members, and working on keeping the community jazzed and active. We're working on making RezzedNet an even more attractive place for businesses and groups to interact with the Second Life public; you can, for example, establish customer groups, schedule open events and advertise them, and announce new products in the forums and blogs. And we're working on even more tools that will help with that. We want to constantly remind users that social networking doesn't stop at editing your profile; you can use hold group discussions, post job listings, find people who know how to do that thing you've been trying to figure out in Blender... We've got immediate plans for a Classifieds section and more long-term plans for instant messaging; video uploads, and lots more. We'd like to see RezzedNet provide as many tools for social interaction as possible.

Voodoo: Finally, why should people sign up for your site?

Yo Brewster: It's the perfect place to find friends or to launch your Second Life business. We're the only profile site out there with so many tools geared to Second Life: Mini Profiles for your Web Tab, List your Apez/SLX/Onrez products for sale on your profile, Free SL Gadget and Online Friends Monitor, Second Life Jobs, Second Life Places, SL Stats, SL T-Shirt Creator, and so on.
Luc Aubret: Because it's awesome. No, really. We're just starting out and we're really excited to be doing this, and we're coming up with new features all the time. The interface is user-friendly and fun. Most importantly, it's not some cookie-cutter script mashup; we're really integrating this with SL wherever we can, so it's designed around this community of people and really customized to work with this online world. Most importantly, though, our community is super-cool, and it's the community that really makes the site. We want cool people to come add themselves to the mix and be part of something exciting and innovative. Plus, it's free, and who doesn't like free?

Oh and btw.... if anyone wants to add me you can find me at http://www.slprofiles.com/slprofiles.asp?id=12207 or http://www.rezzed.net/profile.php?user=Voodoo%20Buwan.
See you all on there! ;)

It occured to me some time ago that business travel regarding the world of Secondlife is very much a one way street. RL businesses come into SL to try to get a little publicity or money out of our little world. Journalists come in to investigate. RL cars, clothes, books and more get reproduced inworld, for our avatars to own. And of course, sl celebrities, even those who are successful business people, are only ever famous inworld. A musician may draw huge crowds inworld, but no one has been discovered from here, and you still end up playing to half empty bars in rl.

Voodoo: You have a very definite style to your designs. Where do you find your inspiration?
Alfred Kabuki: Hehehe... nice question because I was talking before to a girlfriend and she said I should say that I get all my inspiration from her.. It was just a joke, but sometimes she was getting me in the mood to create something... ;) Most of our inspiration we have from stylez we like to wear ourselves... I also get the inspiration of the memebrs ofthe f.a.t. designz team.. because of it's really the team, like henric, betty, juke, iq, and some cool others... that makes f.a.t. to what it is...
Voodoo: So you draw on rl fashion too?
Alfred Kabuki: Yes... I do sometimes shirts in rl as well... so we start also to adapt some of our sl fashion a bit into rl.. So we are starting a rl -shirtshop as well... coming soon also on our new webpage.
Voodoo: Yes, what was the inspiration behind bringing your sl designs to rl? Was it something that people were asking for, or was it something you wanted to do yourself?
Alfred Kabuki: I just wanted to do it myself, because I wanted to do a bit different to others.. not going with a rl label into sl.. ;)
Voodoo: Taking a popular sl style into rl instead?
Alfred Kabuki: Its hard.. but on some things I think it is possible... So we don’t sell tattoos there.... It should be just a little bit rl benefit for others here in sl...
Voodoo: So, did you have any rl fashion design experience before starting F.A.T. inworld?
Alfred Kabuki: yes I designed some shirts before. I love to create things that are used and sometimes loved by others
Voodoo: How has SL helped you expand on your desire to be a designer? Has it just been a new way of getting seen, or has it helped your designing?
Alfred Kabuki: It helped me designing.. yes... but I was designing also before stuff like flyers for parties or also a lot of advertising material for other companies
Voodoo: Yes, your designs have a lot of ties to the underground dance scene, and you seem to have a good following in some of the hipper clubs in sl.. Was that intentional?
Alfred Kabuki: Yes... we are working good together with some very cool clubs... and as well I love the underground dance scene and that gives me inspirations as well.. I love for myself statements like ... “last night I fucked the djs wife”.. not otherwise.. ;) I also always try to break rules somehow.. and try to find a way to make it possible...
Voodoo: Absolutely... a lot of the slogans have a rebellious streak... Have you ever thought of a slogan to put on a shirt, and then thought "No, that's too much?"
Alfred Kabuki: yes... sure... bur here in sl.. is this border easier to cross...
Voodoo: So you can get away with things in sl you couldn't in rl?
Alfred Kabuki: you can try it easier here... to put also harder statements on this.. I have some stuff also in my inv somewhere that I think.. hmmm maybe also to hard for sl... but maybe one day I will also bring them out.. ;)
Voodoo: Has being able to experiment in sl helped you take more risks with the stuff you are releasing in rl?
Alfred Kabuki: yes absolutely. It is a great testing platform... its cool to get some response and feedback here from the peoples...
Voodoo: So, finally, what advice would you give to any other budding designers in sl?

For more info about F.A.T. Designs, visit their blog at http://fat-designz.blogspot.com/ or drop by the inworld store at http://slurl.com/secondlife/Sharlies%20Angels/200/192/459

At Rez we pride ourselves on doing researched informative articles that hopefully interest and excite you. However, occasionally an area does come along that needs no introduction or words.Voodoo & I experienced the latest Rezzable sim this evening. King Rezzable - Tunnel of Light sets your windlight glow blazing. Download windlight and go experience a ride in the teacup!


Check more pictures here.

It is not for me to offer a review of Hamlet, originally written in the early 1600s, people, far better equipped than I have written reviews on the Shakespeare play. I can however offer an insight into the SecondLife version.

The SL Shakespeare Company have been working on the production for a long time and opened just recently with Act 1 Scene 1 extended. The opening of this play sets the scene as Marcellus, Barnardo & Horatio stand watch hoping for a glimpse of the ghost they believe to be the late King Hamlet.


This is the first in hopefully a long run of Acts from the monumental play, the end resulting in a full production. The SecondLife version combines a great deal of behind the scenes work and this is obvious. The actors use voice to speak their lines; however they are backed up with the help of slbots, fabulous skins & outfits, not to mention the amazing set at the SL Globe.

A production on this scale has never been seen before in SecondLife and recognition should be extended to all the actors and set crew. SLbots provide automated announcements trying to help spectators to reduce lag along with some in-house announcements. Ina Centaur takes centre stage and introduces everyone to the production and calls up the curtain.

I contacted Ina and asked her to spare me a few moments for a statement about this achievement and any problems the company faced: