Terra Aeronautics - Virtual vehicles for the metaverse

Looking for something to do?

2008-10-07T10:09:00.004-07:00

As you can probably tell from the new "EVENTS!" link on the left and the poll on the right, we at Abbotts Aerodrome are keen to get some group activities happening. For the freefall fans, I'll start by hosting a weekly skydiving contest on Saturday mornings. You can also look forward to seeing high-speed, timed build-offs, where contestants work to create the best plane/helicopter/jetpack/whatever in 30 minutes.

I got my start in SL hosting events, but back then the Lindens actually gave out L$ to hosts, believe it or not. They'd send you L$500 to organize and host the event, and another L$500 to give out as prize money. These days, I don't need that kind of incentive to want to bring people to Abbotts. I'd like to get together groups of like-minded aircraft and skydiving afficionados for a bit of cometitive fun.

If you have an idea for an event or if you'd like to host an event yoruself, please feel free to IM your idea to me (Cubey Terra) or Arrekusu Muromachi. Be sure to keep your eye on our new Abbotts Aerodrome Events Calendar to find out what's going on in Abbotts!

Can you spot the differences?

2008-09-28T17:50:00.005-07:00

Again, today I step away from Second Life to look at food.

I'm not a picky eater. I'll dig into Kraft Dinner as eagerly as a proper macaroni dish, and not complain that it tastes like petrochemicals. After all, Kraft Dinner has no pretentions of being more than it actually is: crappy dried pasta with fake cheese powder. But sometimes there's a huge difference between what's advertised and what's actually in the package.

Take this example of Lilydale "Latitudes" pre-cooked chicken breast. I assume it's aimed at busy professionals who enjoy a grilled chicken breast in a "chef prepared sauce", but don't have time to grill or saucify anything. Me, I'm just lazy, so I picked up a package of the "fajita" style chicken breast. The photo of a juicy, tender chicken breast with red and yellow peppers was irresistable to a lazy twit like me.

Well, I got my just desserts, and before the main course even. Inside the package was not a whole breast of chicken, but catfood-style chicken shreds in a homogenous goo. Was this package supposed to be in the petfood section? It looks horrible!

Obviously, this is an extreme case of false advertising. The package clearly says "whole chicken breast", but it actually contains pulped and shredded... something. I guess it might have been chicken at some point, but then again, it might just be yak vomit.

Note to self: next time, just buy the chicken and grill it yourself. That or buy the same thing for a fraction of the price from Miss Mew.

Avocado ripening myth

2008-09-23T10:49:00.007-07:00

Today I set aside my Second Life endeavours to explore a myth that's very important to me. Or at least to my stomach.

Picture this: Craving a little guacamole for your chips, you buy a couple of avocados at the supermarket. When you bring them home, your heart sinks when you realize they're hard as rocks! Totally unripe.

But don't give up hope. Assorted experts on the intertubes claim that you can speed the ripening process by placing the avocado in a paper bag. Some say you should put a banana or apple in the bag with it, but others say that's not necessary.

So today I put on my Mythbuster hat and attack this one pseudo-scientifically. I have two very unripe avocados, and placed one in a paper bag (as the experts suggest), but left the other exposed on the counter. Let's see which one ripens faster. If they ripen at the same speed, "myth busted", as Adam and Jamie say. According to the experts, it can possibly take only a day, so I'll post the stupendously thrilling results later.

And yes. This is the kind of thing I do when I'm bored.

UPDATE! - Sept. 25

No changes to report. Avocados still unripe. More news on this amazing experiment later.

SHOCKING CONCLUSION! - Sept. 26

Today I removed the avocado from the bag and discovered that it was ripe enough to eat. And so is the other one. Hmm.

So what can I conclude from this fiasco? Putting an avocado in a paper bag doesn't make it ripen any faster than it's unbagged counterpart. Also: This was a colossal waste of time.

And now: guacamole.

Five years in the metaverse

2008-09-02T17:48:00.000-07:00

Well this is it. As of this week, I have been in Second Life for five years. FIVE YEARS. My first account -- Tillman Terra -- was created in the first week of September, 2003. I abandoned that a few days later because I was spending several hours a day exploring SL, and I didn't want to be an SL addict. On September 6, 2003, I came back to SL and created Cubey Terra, and I never left.

Five years later, I've built countless gadgets and vehicles, founded two airports, and created a virtual franchise with hundreds of locations across the grid. I spent a short time as a Linden liaison and cleaned up way too many replicators and giant penises. I tried to boost interest in SL aviation, and in doing so I gained many new friends, and many new competitors. I took fire from some of the most irrational, vitriolic trolls SL has ever produced, and then learned that trolls really don't matter (don't feed trolls). I've been mentioned and interviewed in various magazines and newspapers, but managed to escape the scandal rags. I've transitioned from a hobby income from my SL creations to a full-time business. I've also found the limits of SL in the fragility of the platform.

It's been a strange five years, and it's taken my real life in a direction I could never have expected. I just want to thank every Second Lifer for the most remarkable five years of my life.

Thank you.

Server update breaks skydiving pods

2008-08-27T11:01:00.006-07:00

Something in the latest Second Life simulator version seems to break my Terra Skydiving Pod. Specifically, when it lands, instead of returning to a ready state as it normally does, it goes into a loop. This affects anyone who operates a skydiving pod in a sim that has been updated to Linden Lab's latest server version (1.24.2.95174). The pods work fine in older versions. You can see the simulator version by clicking Help > About Second Life, and reading the number after "Second Life Server". Each region can run a different simulator version.

I am now working to see if I can change the pod to work around the server's new... "feature", but since I don't know what is specifically causing the problem, it may take a while. Please keep an eye on this space. I'll announce when a replacement is available. Sorry for any inconvenience.

UPDATE: Aug. 29, 2008: Get your free version 2.0 skydiving pod on the top floor of Abbotts Aerodrome! Look for the box in the Freefall Shop.

Fun with the anagram server

2008-08-23T13:42:00.003-07:00

According to the anagram server at Wordsmith.org, an anagram of "Cubey Terra" is "a beery curt", which is oddly accurate. Also in the list: "a beet curry", which sounds delicious.

White Knight 2 revealed

2008-07-28T10:36:00.003-07:00

Today Sir Richard Branson and Burt Rutan unveiled the sleek and sexy White Knight 2: a twin-fuselage, four-engine jet designed to carry a spaceship to launch altitude. Created almost entirely from carbon fiber composite, the gleaming white hull is completely seamless with the words "My other ride is a spaceship" painted by the door.

Links:

Gizmodo.com: "Spaceships: First Virgin Galactic White Knight II Photos"
Crunchgear.com: "Live from Virgin Galactic: We visit the White Knight II"
Telegraph.co.uk: "White Knight Two space rocket in Mojave Desert for testing"

Are you Internet famous?

2008-07-25T11:10:00.001-07:00

Wired.com has created the (mostly pointless) "Celebrity Meter" to gauge just how Internet famous you are based on links and Google score.

Your browser doesn't support HTML iframes. You will not be able to see the Wired Celebrity Meter. Please try with a different browser.

I scored a measily 7... whatever that means. Anyway, I guess I'll have to work harder at becoming Internet famous. Time to release that viral video of me dancing with a hamster with a lightsaber. Or something.

Aerius launches!

2008-06-27T11:07:00.004-07:00

Several times a month, estate owners ask me about my old Terra Airship, and whether it can fly itself in a loop around an island. It seems that a lot of landowners want to use blimps or airships for advertising or for tours, but don't want to spend time piloting them.

At risk of sounding like a Ronco ad, the solution is here. The Terra Aerius flies like a blimp, looks like a blimp, and even tastes like a blimp. OK, I just made that last one up (if you lick the Aerius, I expect it would taste a lot like your computer monitor), but that's because I'm so excited about this one. Why? Because this is my first lighter-than-air vehicle that isn't limited in size to SL's 10 meter maximum. The Aerius is 55 meters long and 20 meters wide. This thing is huge. Not only that, but it has my latest flight script that includes features and detail that I've learned from five years making vehicles for Second Life.

BUT WAIT! THERE'S MORE! Estate owners, you can create your own tours and release the Aerius to fly itself over your islands. The Aerius includes instructions on how to plot a route for the autopilot and has scripted advertisement panels that you can either wear yourself or link to the blimp.

The Aerius is sold with modify permissions, which is rare for vehicles. I want owners to be able to really personalize their blimp. If you have a knack for building or texturing, create your own look and launch it into the SL sky.

Try it today at Abbotts Aerodrome's east landing pad. That's on level four of the Aerodrome tower. It's also available on the web at SL Exchange and and OnRez.

SoL

2008-06-26T23:49:00.003-07:00

Any MSTie knows that "SoL" means "Satellite of Love" -- the home of Joel and/or Mike and the bots. Now you can find them in BlaksleeWorld, where the Satellite of Love has landed at the feet of gigantic statues of Tom and Crow (if they had feet, that is).

For deep hurting, drop by for several streamed b-movies per day.

Link: Squeebee's Mystery Science Theatre

Admiring the neighbour's car

2008-06-22T21:39:00.002-07:00

When I dropped in on my Bay City shop today, I was thrilled to see that someone had bought the plot of land next door. The buyer: legendary automobile artist, Ahkenatan Grommet. I couldn't have hoped to have a better neighbour.

I met Ahkenatan in the Morris sandbox years ago in his first days in SL. Even as a total newbie, he had constructed a gorgeous roadster in exquisite detail. Now, years later, he puts everything he's learned into what I can only describe as the best classic cars Second Life has ever seen. His in-world company, Primouth Motors, will have a shop next to mine in the "Bay City - Handa" region. Ahkenatan says he can't begin construction immediately, but I'm sure his storefront will match the classic style that we associate with a Primouth car.

Link: Primouth Motors, Bay City

Fly a blimp today

2008-06-21T08:39:00.002-07:00

As promised, there is an Aerius blimp parked at the east landing pad on the Abbotts Aerodrome tower. It's available for public flights, so walk up and hop in. You can start the autopiloted tour or pilot it yourself. Fly as far as you like, and as long as you like. When you're done, it will wait five minutes before deleting itself.

The final version of the Aerius blimp will likely be for sale by next weekend at the latest.

Blimpiest blimp in the metaverse

2008-06-19T08:18:00.011-07:00

Second Lifers who visit Abbotts Aerodrome regularly have probably seen me at the east landing pad tinkering with this behemoth, so the secret is out -- if it ever really was a secret. The next big thing in Second Life is literally a big thing: it's a truly ginormous blimp.

This whale of the sky owes its existence to three recent technical developments by Linden Lab, the makers of Second Life. First is the introduction of the Havok 4 physics engine, which makes it possible to enable physics on objects larger than ten meters without risking a disastrous sim crash. Second, at the same time that Linden Lab introduced Havok 4, they increased the permitted link distance beyond 30 meters, which opens the door for much larger link sets (like my blimp). The third innovation was the advent of "sculpted prims*". Where previously an irregular shape had to be crafted by linking together several prims to approximate an overall shape, now we can sculpt a shape in a 3D modelling tool and upload that into SL. Because of sculpted prims, instead of using the eight ten-meter prims that I used in my older airship hull, for example, I can use three enormous sculpted prims.

Previously, a physical vehicle of this size was impossible in Second Life. And note that I say "physical", which differentiates it from other large, moving objects that simulate flight by using a rapid-fire succession of llSetPos function calls to stop-motion their way through the sky. These craft "fly" in the same way that Wallace and Grommit's rocket appears to move through the sky in the animated short, "A Grand Day Out": one frame at a time, but fast enough to almost fool the eye. In constrast, an aircraft using the SL physics engine is capable of smooth, fluid motion.

With the confluence of three technical innovations, at last Second Lifers can make lighter-than-air craft in a realistic scale.

My first attempt at a blimp is the Terra Aerius blimp. It seats four avatars in addition to the pilot, and will include an autopilot that lets you "program" a tour route by entering waypoints into a notecard. This means that estate owners can make the blimp fly at regular intervals on a looping route over their islands. It can also transport avatars from one site to another in a one-way journey.

The Aerius blimp is in its beta testing phase right now, but should be available for free flights in Abbotts by the weekend.

It's really fun to say "blimp", isn't it?

(*"Prim" is short for "primitive". A prim is the basic building block of objects in Second Life.)

Big news

2008-06-16T08:41:00.004-07:00

What's fifty-five meters long, twenty meters wide, and floats in the sky?

More later...

Canadian copyright law worse than DMCA

2008-06-12T13:22:00.003-07:00

Canadian Industry Minister Jim Prentice introduced a new controversial bill today that has recieved strong opposition from Canadian stakeholders and, according to some experts, is worse than the DMCA.

Links:

CBC: "Copyright law could result in police state: critics"

Michael Geist: "The Canadian DMCA: Check the Fine Print"

Facebook Group: Fair Copyright for Canada

Cubey lands in Bay City

2008-06-04T09:40:00.004-07:00

It's been called the Park Place of Second Life. The new Linden "Bay City" features city infrastructure and some of the most highly-valued virtual land ever sold at auction, with some parcels selling for hundreds of US dollars (paid in Linden dollars).

That's why I couldn't resist making Bay City home to my newest shop. Located in the Handa region, my new art deco styled shop is all curves and shiny surfaces, much like one of my earlier designs for Abbotts Aerodrome. I felt it would be suitable for the city's established theme of early-twentieth century architecture.

So what's there to do at my shop besides bask in it's cool blue neon glow? Try out my two new skybikes for one: the Kestrel and Raptor are perfect for exploring Bay City. Just hop on the display models and fly off.

If you prefer to take a friend, you can try out a few of my other aircraft (yes, also free): Futura hover car, CLAWW jet, CTH-100M helicopter, and Starling ultralight. I think you'll find the street is adequate for take-offs and landings, but watch out for those lamp posts!

Link to Terra Aeronautics Bay City: Bay City - Handa (30, 85)

SkyBike update

2008-05-30T08:01:00.004-07:00

Thanks to a heads-up from Aerodrome staffer Millie Thompson, I was able to locate and stomp on a bug that affected both the Raptor and Kestrel SkyBikes. If you use the blue options menus to set the lock, the lock fails to work. The chat command works correctly (e.g., "lock owner").

If you already own the Raptor or Kestrel and would like the update to Raptor 1.2 or Kestrel 1.2, please contact Terra Quan in Second Life. Proof of purchase will be required, of course.

Two new bikes take to the sky!

2008-05-27T19:43:00.005-07:00

If you've visited Bay City -- Second Life's newest urban environment -- recently, then you've probably seen me zipping back and forth along the main drag on one of my latest toys: the Terra Kestrel and Terra Raptor.

Terra Kestrel

Terra Raptor

Basically, riding one of these is like strapping a jet engine to your crotch and blasting into the sky. Well maybe less painful than that, I guess.

If you'd like to try them, drop by the runway at Abbotts Aerodrome and look for the little green "demo" buttons next to the skybike displays.

B.A.S.E. jumping in The Big Apple

2008-05-27T08:28:00.001-07:00

Introducing Terra Quan

2008-05-24T13:53:00.004-07:00

In an effort to provide a quicker response to IMs and emails, I'd like to introduce a new support position. Terra Quan (aka expert aviator and aircraft builder, Arrekusu Muromachi) is now the go-to avatar for any question you may have about anything Terra: aircraft, skydiving equipment, gadgets, and more. If you need help with your purchase, just send a message in Second Life to Terra Quan and you'll get a response faster than if you IM me.

Did the asset server eat your parachute? No worries... Terra Quan can get you a replacement. Need help getting started with your new jet? Terra Quan is an expert pilot too!

Drop a line and say hi!

Hoverbiking in Bay City

2008-05-10T15:45:00.005-07:00

If you haven't yet, go explore the new Bay City area in Second Life. Just west of the city of Nova Albion, the mid-twentieth century styled Bay City is Linden Lab's experiment in providing infrastructure that residents can build on. They've provided not just streets and canals, but factories, a cafe, a movie theatre, a bowling alley, and even a dilapidated "mental hospital".

The roads, incidentally, are great for vehicles. They're straight, level, and at ground level, which is ideal for hovering vehicles. Drop by the vehicle rezzing areas in Molesworth and New Port.

Buy my stuffs kthxbye

2008-05-08T07:42:00.002-07:00

Ever thought to yourself, "Gee, I wish I had an Abbotts Aerodrome tee shirt in real life"? Well, you probably haven't. But I did, and so now you can get the official Abbotts Aerodrome tee shirt at Cafe Press. I have one of these myself (though it has the older logo on it), and it's indeed a high-quality shirt that I'm happy to say covers every part of my upper body that I'd expect to be covered while I'm clothed.

Not only that, but I'm drinking coffee at this very moment out of an official Terrabucks Coffee mug. Mmm. You can really taste the plywood.

Link: Terra Aeronautics shop at Cafe Press

Prototyping the perfect hoverbike

2008-05-02T20:49:00.007-07:00

Someone approached me in Second Life the other day and was astounded that I'd been in SL since 2003. "Whoah, the oldest person I'd met until now was from 2005!" What keeps me in the metaverse year after year? In SL I can create anything I can imagine.

In the past week, for example, I've been prototyping the next-generation Terra hoverbike. This means playing ideas and themes, sculpting shapes in Wings3D, and realizing the creation in three dimensions in Second Life. From there, all I have to do is drop in one of my scripts and I have a fully functional vehicle.

This latest hoverbike is a prototype of a racing bike, destined for a racing sim. It's a first draft, to be revised and improved upon, but I'm happy with the direction it's taking.

It hovers, it's a bike, but... what to call it

2008-04-30T12:50:00.003-07:00

For the last little while, I've spent some time playing with shapes in Wings3D, a mesh sculpting tool. It's easier to learn than Blender, whose UI looks like it was vomited by a team of drunk chimps, but it's still a little tricky. Despite a few setback, the results are encouraging.

My first mostly-sculpted vehicle is this hover bike -- an early prototype now, but in time it should eventually evolve into something that I'll sell. And why would a hover bike need shock absorbers? To absorb all those hovershocks, of course.

So when I do eventually sell it, what do I call it? I already have a Terra Hoverbike and a Terra Skybike. I think I'm running out of names.

Back at work

2008-04-19T09:17:00.001-07:00

Nose to the grindstone, shoulder to the wheel, and other uncomfortable positions: I'm back in Second Life and wading through hundreds of waiting messages. If you messaged me in the last week, please be patient as I work through them all.