Warm Winter Nights

Koinup is like they state a social network based on user-generated contents. It’s for users who want to share their works with other users. It allows its members to upload their creations and it encourages them to review or comment on other members’ creations. From a general point of view Koinup is similar to other social networks. But it is also unique, because it focuses only on contents created in virtual and synthetic environments as games/mmorpg/3dworld.

I joined the network some time ago and not only have discovered really tallented people, but also made some friends. There is also a showcase with the best places in SL to explore, sellected by the users.

Now they launched a new contest Called Avatar Art Contest. The challenge is to make you avatar look like a painting and you can read the rules here

You can submit your entries from 23rd of October until 3rd of December, so join the community and show to all of us the tallented photographer and photoshoper you are.

Too bad I had already posted the one bellow… I think it could be a good candidate *sigh

Earlier this year LL started a new Land policy which included the Openspace SIMs. At a buying cost of USD$250 and a monthly tier of USD$75, many SIM owners started to buy those to join their anchor islands, mainly due to demands from their rentors.

Now LL has done it again.

Like they state in their blog post “Rather than being employed as open areas like ocean with little or no content and traffic, the majority are being rented out to residents looking for a place to live. Because they were never intended for that level of load this is causing problems. For some people this has meant a less than great experience with performance fluctuations. The overuse of Openspaces has also put additional strain on some of our network and database infrastructure at a much higher ratio than is reflected in the current pricing. So higher traffic to and from the servers along with heavier demands on the asset server, both of which impact the overall experience people have inworld.”

So what are they doing to decrease the heavier demands on traffic and servers? Nothing.

So what are they doing to just ruin everyone’s fun? Everything.

The tier prices will increase 66% (yes you read well S-i-x-t-y  S-i-x percent) i.e. plus USD$50 per month and the acquisition price will be of USD$375.

An increase of USD$50 per Openspace will be unbearable for most of both the residents and landowners (we have a worldwide economy crisis guys, remember?) and I’m sure this is going to make many leave SL for good due to disappointment and many beautiful places disappear, thus making this world of ours poorer and sadder.

I will stay here waiting to see what LL comes up next.

Like I mentioned here, we had a Short Stories contest in Owl’s. Here are the winners:

1st prize (L$ 1,000+publication) – Poulana Tokyoska with “As horas inventadas” (The Invented Hours)

2nd prizes (publication) – Aggio Piaggio with “China – The Dream”

- Fokas Greenwood with “Cinderella Xing”

- Ted Greenwood with “Good Bye Bai Quien”

The delivery of the awards will be made at Owl’s Bay Bookshop on Saturday, October 25th at 02:00PM SLT / 10:00 PM GMT, followed by a party and Best in Chinese Wear contest.

Hope to see you all there and leave you here the covers of the books (click on the pic for larger view).

… can be dreadful. And as I actually don’t feel like doing the tons of work I have at the office I was reading blogs and found this meme in Dyami’s blog, so here it goes:

*Where is your cell phone? desk
*Worst bad habit? smoking
*Hair? long
*Fave food? portuguese
*Fave thing? music
*Dream last night? yes
*Fave drink? Coke
*Dream/Goal? living
*Room you are In? office
*Your ex? no
*Your fear? pain
*Where do you want to be in 6 years? Bora-Bora
*Where were you last night? Owl’s
*What you’re not? cynical
*Muffins? Chocolate
*Wish list item? books
*Where did you grow up? Lisbon
*Last thing you do? phonecall
*What are you wearing? suit
*Your tv? cable
*Your pets? cat
*Your computer? Dell
*Your life? happy
*Your mood? good
*Missing something? holidays
*Your car? Opel
*Something you are not wearing? jewelry
*Fave store? C&A
*Your summer? Great
*Love someone? always
*Last time you laughed? today
*Last time you cried? last week

… not sure they are completly right but here it goes:

What Winter Means

You are very charming… dangerously so. You have the potential to break a lot of hearts. You know how what you want, how to get it, and that you will get it. You have the power to rule the world. Let’s hope you’re a benevolent dictator! You tend to be pretty tightly wound. It’s easy to get you excited… which can be a good or bad thing. You have a lot of enthusiasm, but it fades rather quickly. You don’t stick with any one thing for very long. You have the drive to accomplish a lot in a short amount of time. Your biggest problem is making sure you finish the projects you start. You are very intuitive and wise. You understand the world better than most people. You also have a very active imagination. You often get carried away with your thoughts. You are prone to a little paranoia and jealousy. You sometimes go overboard in interpreting signals. You are a seeker. You often find yourself restless – and you have a lot of questions about life. You tend to travel often, to fairly random locations. You’re most comfortable when you’re far away from home. You are quite passionate and easily tempted. Your impulses sometimes get you into trouble. You are friendly, charming, and warm. You get along with almost everyone. You work hard not to rock the boat. Your easy going attitude brings people together. At times, you can be a little flaky and irresponsible. But for the important things, you pull it together. You are wild, crazy, and a huge rebel. You’re always up to something. You have a ton of energy, and most people can’t handle you. You’re very intense. You definitely are a handful, and you’re likely to get in trouble. But your kind of trouble is a lot of fun.

Today we lost a friend. In both lives.

Just this last Saturday we went to the movies together. Sang loud and clear Mamma Mia together. Laughed and chat at dinner. And today I heard from their parents at the hospital “She just died”.

No one knows why, not even the doctors. Just like a candle blown away by some soft autumn breeze she vanished from our lives when nothing predicted that.

God Maggie, we still had so many things to do. You promised to give a dinner party at your place remember? And the travels we were planing? Now what?

Just this emptiness in my heart and the feeling a part of me is missing.

RIP my friend! I know you will be laughing and dancing wherever you are!

Like  I said before, we at Owl’s Bay like to make you guys happy so we decided to have a Treasure Hunt for you all to enjoy.

There will be 14 Chinese hats spread all over the island, both outside and inside the buildings and even in places so obvious that they may pass unnoticed.

The prizes will range from tatoos to shoes, clothing, games and decorations. Some of them are originals and cannot be found for sale in SL (not yet, at least).

The hunt will start at 02:00 PM PDT here and will be on until October 12th, so that you will have time to get all of the hats and don’t need to do it all at once.

Leave you here a picture of the hat for you to know what you are looking for.

Happy hunting and if you need anything feel free to IM me inworld.