Hypergrid Adventurers Club meet #9: Visiting FrancoGrid to see the Eiffel Tower, Avant-garde Art, and Pandora

Today we took a Hypergrid jump tour from jokaydiaGRID to FrancoGrid.

We visited an accurately scaled reconstruction of the Eiffel Tower based on real life architectural plans, an avant-garde art installation, and a recreation of the world of Pandora from the movie Avatar.

Read on for a full transcript and lots of photos of our excursion. Many beautiful sights were seen on this adventure!

For more information about the Hypergrid Adventurers Club and how you can join us, please see our homepage. You can also follow our club’s tweets at #HGAC.

Meeting #9
6 Hypernauts in attendance:

Orchid Jameson
Fons Tuinstra
Mimetic Core
Pim Peccable
Mel Blauvelt
Pathfinder Lester

We begin on the region Pathlandia in jokaydiaGRID.

Pathfinder Lester: like my new friend? I call her “Octy”
Mel Blauvelt: hahaha release the Kraken
Fons Tuinstra: Can she predict the future too?
Pathfinder Lester: she’s a freebie i found on a german grid the other day. feel free to take a copy of her.
Pathfinder Lester: but, mind you, she only speaks german
Mel Blauvelt: Hab kein Problem mit Deutsch 😮
Mel Blauvelt: Well maybe just a little bit – it’s been a while
Pathfinder Lester: ich auch
Pathfinder Lester: been years
Pathfinder Lester: looks like a couple folks are still making their way here, so we’ll wait a few min more before starting
Pathfinder Lester: i love how her tentacles twitch like that
Pathfinder Lester: i remember in Second Life when flexiprims were first introduced
Pathfinder Lester: seemed like everyone was making octopuses that day
Mel Blauvelt: Oh Path, someone asked me about a specific script for Mac in order to run SL viewer on Open Sim, any idea what he meant/where he can find it?
Pathfinder Lester: i find the sound of my horse’s hooves as she walks around strangely soothing. but ifit bugs anyone, lemme know and I’ll make her stop wandering.
Pathfinder Lester: hmm
Pathfinder Lester: there are a number of third party viewers that run on the mac
Pathfinder Lester: and they work with both SL and OpenSim
Pathfinder Lester: Imprudence is one that works well on both Mac and PC in my experience
Pathfinder Lester: http://imprudence.org
Mel Blauvelt: Same for me, he didn’t want to use 3rd party viewers though
Pathfinder Lester: i believe there’s a way to use the SL viewer with OpenSim, but you have to do some manual tweaking
Pathfinder Lester: i never use the official SL viewer anymore, so I don’t know how off the top of my head

After the meeting, I learned how to tweak the Windows version of the official SL viewer to allow it to connect to an Opensim Grid. Make a shortcut to the SL viewer and edit the “Target” box so it looks like this:
C:\Program Files\SecondLifeViewer2\SecondLife.exe -set InstallLanguage en -loginuri (Opensim Grid login URI goes here)

Pathfinder Lester: viewers like Imprudence let you save your account info on other grids, so it’s much easier to be multi-grid with such viewers.
Pim Peccable: when did the octo rez?
Pathfinder Lester: I found Octy on a german grid the other day. she’s attending the meeting.
Pim Peccable: cool
Pathfinder Lester: she’s a freebie, so feel free to take a copy.
Pathfinder Lester: ok, i’ll kick things off
Pathfinder Lester: thank you all for being here, for the 9th meeting of the Hypergrid Adventurers Club…
Pathfinder Lester: as usual, first 30 min are discussion and intros, and second 30 min are a live tour of the hypergrid….
Pathfinder Lester: so please type in open chat whatever you’d like to introduce yourself and your interests/projects….
Fons Tuinstra: yeah, was looking forward to the Eiffel tower
Pathfinder Lester: and if you do NOT want what you say to be posted on my blog with the transcript, just say so in open chat and I will redact your comments
Pathfinder Lester: i’ll hand out the notecard now

— Contents of Notecard —
Before doing any Hypergrid jumps, be sure you have set your Home location and have relogged since you set it. If you don’t, Hypergrid jumps will not work. This appears to be a bug.
Many people find the Imprudence viewer to be very good for using with both SL and other grids. You can find it here: http://imprudenceviewer.org/

*** How to make Hypergrid Jumps in 4 easy steps ***
1) Open your World Map.
2) In the text box next to the Search button, enter the Hypergrid Address.
3) Click the Search button and wait for the map to move to the jump region.
4) Click the Teleport button.

*** Our Starting Location ***
Hypergrid Address: 66.240.233.81:9001:pathlandia
Region Name: “Pathlandia”
Grid Location: jokaydiaGRID (Lower)
************************

Hypergrid Jump #1
Hypergrid Address: hypergrid.reactiongrid.com:9009
Region Name: “HG Gateway 1”
Grid Location: ReactionGrid (Middle)

We’ll be making this jump using of the instant Hypergates on Pathlandia. It’s the stone archway next to the Tardis. Just walk up to the archway and walk through it. You will automatically make a Hypergrid jump to “HG Gateway 1.”

For more information on how these instant Hypergates work, see:
https://becunningandfulloftricks.com/2010/10/29/the-metaphor-of-portals/

Hypergrid Jump #2
Hypergrid Address: 88.191.79.199:9001:Eiffel
Region Name: “Eiffel”
Grid Location: FrancoGrid (Upper)

We’ll make this jump the manual way (see above “How to make Hypergrid Jumps in 4 easy steps.”

This location features an accurately scaled reconstruction of the Eiffel Tower based on real life architectural plans, as well recreations of other classic French buildings.

***
jokaydiaGRID has a Newbie Dome for folks to pick up freebies that can help them get started. If you find any good freebies in your Hypergrid travels that you’d like to share, you can put them in the Newbie Dome. There’s currently a lack of many good outfits and items for male avatars, so it would be great if we could find more items like that to share.
— End of Notecard —

Fons Tuinstra: I collaborate with Maria Korolov on the Hypergrid Business, preparing some books
Mel Blauvelt: Philosopher, board member of Science Circle, from Belgium – interested in interdisciplinary research, computer graphics, blended learning and symbolism
Pim Peccable: I’m here to see new places and people. No projects of my own right now. I would love to help on someone else’s when I have time
Pathfinder Lester: http://www.hypergridbusiness.com is such a great resource, Fons. thank you for helping create such a useful site!
Fons Tuinstra: Maria is still the major writer, but she does need a hand
Fons Tuinstra: she is actally looking for freelance writers
Pathfinder Lester: oh cool
Pathfinder Lester: i will spread the word about that, Fons
Mimetic Core: good to know
Pathfinder Lester: what kinds of books are you working on?
Fons Tuinstra: hard to find writers who also know about the hypergrid
Fons Tuinstra: We are collecting some of the existing pieces to make on ebook on business and the hypergrid
Pim Peccable: Hmm, I should look into that. I can write 🙂
Fons Tuinstra: I know Maria from our time in Shanghai, so cooperaed on very different projects
Pathfinder Lester: i love this part of our meetings. folks always seem to find new collaborative opportunities. 😀
Pathfinder Lester: Fons, are you involved in all with Hyperica?
Pathfinder Lester: http://hyperica.com
Pathfinder Lester: that’s another wonderful resource
Pathfinder Lester: for info about all the hypergridded regions
Fons Tuinstra: not directly, I just give Maria tips when I’m missing regions
Fons Tuinstra: very hard to keep up with the current growth
Pathfinder Lester: oh!
Pathfinder Lester: speaking of new resources…
Pathfinder Lester: Chris at ReactionGrid just created this: http://metaverseheroes.helpserve.com/index.php?_m=knowledgebase&_a=viewarticle&kbarticleid=60
Pathfinder Lester: it’s a list of all the regoins on the ReactionGrid public grid and their hypergrid addresses.
Mimetic Core: yeah, i was excited to see the new list
Pathfinder Lester: it’s dynamically updated, so will always be current.
Fons Tuinstra: very nice indeed
Pim Peccable: That was nice of Chris
Pathfinder Lester: she’s amazing
Pathfinder Lester: she’s finishing up the final tests on Groups for ReactionGrid
Pathfinder Lester: so when that rolls out shortly, groups will work on the ReactionGrid public grid and all the different grids that ReactionGrid hosts (like this one, jokaydiaGRID)
Pathfinder Lester is very excited
Mel Blauvelt: That’s very cool indeed
Pathfinder Lester: always great to see real progress like that
Pim Peccable: very cool. any idea if the groups will transfer between RG and Jokaydia?
Pathfinder Lester: Pim, good question. I’m not sure about that, so I’ll ask Chris next time we chat.
Pim Peccable: I also never tried IMing across the gap
Pathfinder Lester: IM’s between hypergrids don’t work
Pathfinder Lester: not yet, at least
Pathfinder Lester: right now you can only IM with folks on the same grid as you
Pim Peccable: And in my experience, Profile entries don’t move with you yet
Pathfinder Lester: correct
Pathfinder Lester: the ultimate goal is, of course, to make everything work across grids as much as possible
Pathfinder Lester: we’ll get there. 🙂
Fons Tuinstra: still a lot of development work to do
Pim Peccable: Yesm If invetory can come, Profile can. Just have to put effort in it
Pathfinder Lester: if you think about how…..
Mel Blauvelt: oh cool Keystone is on ReactionGrid
Mel Blauvelt: must check out after the meeting!
Pathfinder Lester: hypergrid itself didn’t even *exist* until last year….it’s amazing how much has happened already.
Mimetic Core: very true
Pim Peccable: yes, no rush 🙂
Pathfinder Lester: and with all the growth on all the opensim grids, i think development will only speed up from here.
Pathfinder Lester: nothing drives growth like user growth. 😉
Pathfinder Lester: that’s what motivates many devs
Pim Peccable: Has anyone else looked forward to Imprudence’s Sim Software?
Pathfinder Lester: i’ve only read about it. very exciting!
Mimetic Core: i have compiled it an ran it briefly, but need time to take a hammer to it
Pim Peccable: Indeed, I wonder if RG will jump on very soon after it’s out
Mimetic Core: my little server can onlt take so much
Pathfinder Lester: http://sanctuary.psmxy.org/2010/10/31/18/introducing-aurora/
Pathfinder Lester: that’s a link to lots of tech detail about Aurora (Imprudence’s opensim software)
Pim Peccable: I tried Path’s Sim-on a stick idea and I crashed after 5 min. (My hardware stinks)
Pathfinder Lester: awww
Pathfinder Lester: about sim on a stick….also remember that not all USB keys are created equal….
Pim Peccable: Hmm, goo d point
Pathfinder Lester: some of the cheapers ones are REALLY slow. and that can cause crashes.
Pathfinder Lester: helps a LOT to have a USB key that has fast data transfer
Mimetic Core: it helps to find ones rated for ReadyBoost used by windows os
Pim Peccable: I should try it on my Hard drive next time 🙂
Pathfinder Lester: excellent point, Mimetic
Mimetic Core: they’ll work on macs ok
Pathfinder Lester: Pim, ya that’s a good way to test things.
Pathfinder Lester: so, let’s see…
Pathfinder Lester: why don’t we head over to the Eiffel tower now
Pathfinder Lester: 🙂
Mimetic Core: woot
Pathfinder Lester: everyone have their home region set and all that?
Fons Tuinstra: 🙂
Mel Blauvelt: all set
Mimetic Core: ooh, a new gate!
Pathfinder Lester: ya, new gate to a new jumppoint
Pathfinder Lester: and I’ve been labelling things 🙂

The group walks over to an instant Hypergate on the region Pathlandia in jokaydiaGRID and walks through it.

The group arrives on the region HG Gateway 1 in ReactionGrid.

Pathfinder.Lester: welcome to ReactionGrid
Pim.Peccable: got eiffel in my sights 🙂
Pathfinder.Lester: cool. see you there!
Pathfinder.Lester: i’ll wait for you to jump

The group makes a manual Hypergrid jump to the region Eiffel in FrancoGrid.

Mel.Blauvelt: heya Reynald and Ange
Mimetic.Core: looks great 🙂
fabrice parisi: Hi pim
fabrice parisi: Hi path
Pathfinder.Lester: hello!
reynald raidegrave: hey Pim and Pathfinder ^^
fabrice parisi: nice synchro
fabrice parisi: on time
Pim.Peccable: WOW that big
fabrice parisi: i love twitt for that
fabrice parisi: yes pim
fabrice parisi: but still in progress
fabrice parisi: not finish
Pathfinder.Lester: thank you for meeting us, fabrice and Ange and reynald
Pathfinder.Lester: this tower is amazing. and it is accurate! exactly 324 meters high, just like the RL Eiffel tower.

Mimetic.Core: nice
fabrice parisi: normaly yes
fabrice parisi: but according to builder is 50 % finish
fabrice parisi: 🙂
fabrice parisi: is not me 🙂
Pathfinder.Lester: it is beautiful
Pathfinder.Lester: fantastique
fabrice parisi: the builder is ongoing create another sim for next festival soon here
Ange Menges: We will ask for lights for christmas
fabrice parisi: so is more urgent for him
Ange Menges: lol
Pathfinder.Lester: christmas lights on the Eiffel Tower! 😀
Mel.Blauvelt: hahaha
Ange Menges: he will grumble
fabrice parisi: 🙂
Ange Menges: has no time
Pathfinder.Lester: fabrice, always so many wonderful events on FrancoGrid
fabrice parisi: thank path – what time is on you place ?
Pathfinder.Lester: for me in Boston, it is 9:30am right now
Ange Menges: 15:30 pm
fabrice parisi: ok so Good Morning
Pathfinder.Lester: 🙂
Pim.Peccable: I was wondering if the height was to scale, thanks
fabrice parisi: and congratulation – just see you memo about you new job at reactiongrid
Pathfinder.Lester: thank you fabrice
Pathfinder.Lester: i am very excited
Pim.Peccable: Nice kilt, Fabrice
fabrice parisi: not me – i’am horrible in picture
fabrice parisi: 🙂
fabrice parisi: if you have time
reynald raidegrave: hahaaha
fabrice parisi: let me show a spot where the eiffel builder is ongoing work
Pathfinder.Lester: i like your shirt, reynald. “In Dude We Trust”

Pathfinder.Lester: fabrice, we will follow you. ty.
fabrice parisi: ok the region is called AtopicFestival
fabrice parisi: try on map
fabrice parisi: you see it
fabrice parisi: ?
Mel.Blauvelt: oui
Pathfinder.Lester: yes
Mimetic.Core: got it
Pathfinder.Lester: found it
fabrice parisi: ok
Orchid Jameson: apologies I’m late
Orchid Jameson: scuse sono in ritardo
fabrice parisi: let try to TP if some problem i wait you here
Pim.Peccable: oui 🙂
fabrice parisi: let’s go
Pathfinder.Lester: fabrice, ok
fabrice parisi: take night view
Pathfinder.Lester: see you all on AtopicFestival!

The group makes a local teleport to the region AtopicFestival.

Pathfinder.Lester: oh my
Pathfinder.Lester: look up!
Pathfinder.Lester: it’s beautiful!
Pathfinder.Lester: set your time to midnight!
Mimetic.Core: oooooohhhh
Mimetic.Core: i need one of these…
Pathfinder.Lester: the colors are amazing
fabrice parisi: you see the room with color cube
fabrice parisi: take camera
fabrice parisi: is at up

fabrice parisi: ok
abrice parisi: here
fabrice parisi: is place for next festival
fabrice parisi: called Atopic
fabrice parisi: is start in january from benelux
Mimetic.Core: excellent!
Pathfinder.Lester: wonderful
fabrice parisi: is on build by the same builder who build the eiffeil tower
Pathfinder.Lester: i will organize a special Hypergrid Adventurers Club journey to the festival.
Pim.Peccable: very avant guarde
fabrice parisi: so
fabrice parisi: if you have time
fabrice parisi: we can go to another nice sim
Pathfinder.Lester: yes!
Orchid Jameson: yes please!
Pathfinder.Lester: thank you for showing us around!
fabrice parisi: region
fabrice parisi: PANDORA
fabrice parisi: is on map
fabrice parisi: let go
Orchid Jameson: d’accord Pandora
Pathfinder.Lester: ok
Pathfinder.Lester: see you on Pandora!

The group makes a local teleport to the region Pandora.

fabrice parisi: is pandora island
Orchid Jameson: Is Nini here?
fabrice parisi: nani is creator
fabrice parisi: of this
Pim.Peccable: Nani is East of us
Ange Menges: I dont’ find her lol
fabrice parisi: if you have see avatar – i’am sur you see where you are 🙂
Ange Menges: hidden, Nani
Pathfinder.Lester: this is amazing
nani ferguson: hiya all
fabrice parisi: try to fly
fabrice parisi: better view
Ange Menges: ah coucou
Pim.Peccable: I saw another rendition on SL
Mel.Blauvelt: Got to love windlight in places like these
nani ferguson: welcome in Pandora
Pim.Peccable: this is much bigger
Pathfinder.Lester: Pim, yes, this is a much bigger recreation of Pandora.

fabrice parisi: je te presente nos amis du HGAC
fabrice parisi: adventurer HG club
fabrice parisi: je crois tu les connais deja
fabrice parisi: 🙂
Orchid Jameson: Good to meet you Nani
nani ferguson: nice to meet you 🙂
Ange Menges: so they is so much to see than I can only say : fly a little

fabrice parisi: is time for me to leave – the IRL call me
Mel.Blauvelt: nice meeting you fabrice, au revoir 🙂
Pathfinder.Lester: thank you fabrice!!
Pim.Peccable: thanks for the help, Fabrice
fabrice parisi: so – thank again for you visite hgac friends and hope to see you soon
Pathfinder.Lester: thank you all so much for meeting us and showing us new places on FrancoGrid
fabrice parisi: thank alll
fabrice parisi: by
nani ferguson: see yu Fab
Pathfinder.Lester: i also must go now. but I will come back again to explore Pandora for sure!
Pathfinder.Lester: this is amazing
nani ferguson: ty
nani ferguson: you’re welcome
Pathfinder.Lester: so much detail
Ange Menges: lol enjoy your visit because it’s a private sim and is not open to public
Pathfinder.Lester: oooh ok
Pim.Peccable: even the grass looks awesome
Pathfinder.Lester: then i will fly around quick and take more photos 🙂