Who is afraid of the big black bird?

Blender screenshot - a sneak preview of  Big Black Bird in making. 

Do you have reason to be afraid?  Absolutely when you're a villain in Gotham City or Second Life.  Yes, it is coming to Second Life and it bites.  

Launching soon.  

Code Name "Dark Knight"

This is a screenshot of one of our projects, code name "Dark Knight."  The code name may have been too explicit; nonetheless, the scope has not been fully finalized yet.  It may not live long enough to see the daylight.  You'll never know.

The 3D face, we would be flattered if you think it has the slightest resemblance of Christian Bale, aka the Dark Knight 08, is sculpted in Blender 2.47, a wonderful open source 3D software.  Obama Caricature Mask is our first endeavor in Blender.  The original version of Obama is in fact a portrait style mask.  

The project turned its course when we realized we can't transfer the much desired facial details in the maximum 64x64 pixel sculpt map.  What seems like an easy way out turns out to be a blessing in disguise.  We are proud of our Caricature series.  Let's see what "Dark Knight" will turn out, hopefully it will live up to the name.

Obama Makes History

Source : CNN.com 9am EST. Nov. 5 08

Senator Barack Obama made history yesterday by becoming the first African-American president of the United States. His quest to being elected the 44th president has been one full of drama and pleasant surprises. With full force media coverage for more than a year, i'm sure most of us are pretty familiar with his backgrounds, his struggles and his successes by now.

And i believe many of you must have watched his victory speech. I know several with tears inside their eyes while listening to this great speaker. Obama brings hope and confidence with his powerful words.

"So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism; of service and responsibility where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves, but each other."

Does that sound familiar? It actually reminds me of the famous Kennedy quote, which i presume all of you should know. And this election and its outcome is a truly amazing episode of the history of our generation. I hope we can all move forward starting now.

Congratulations President Obama!

Congratulations President Obama!
Congratulations President Obama!
Congratulations President Obama!

Just couldn't resist the temptation to do this. It feels refreshing after America elected Barack Obama as its new president.

LIYT Workshop: LIYT Firefly 1.02 - Changes Color by Clapping

LIYT Workshop: LIYT Firefly 1.02 - Changes Color by Clapping

Why a ramp?

A rabbit in suit asked me “why a ramp?”

Well, i suppose our project is more of an urban installation in the context of Metaverse where gravity is just another variable.  With that said, the simplest and most direct interpretation of our project is a humble journey, one that is told by the unfolding of the linear promenade, aka ramp, and the playful fall.  The upwards spiraling promenade is our notion of the multi-dimensional front yard; and the fall itself is, metaphorically and literally, the essence of Trick or Treat.  When one reaches the last landing, one falls from the landing and along comes the candy.  The ramp forms the stage for the play.  

The ramp is predominantly shaped to enhance the perspective in order to arouse one's curiosity.  It really is a simple manipulation of geometry in the absence of structural support.  As my fellow consultant friend would put it sarcastically “tight it with a balloon.”  Well, there isn't a need in Second Life.  Since the ramp is played down with black texture, what really stands up is the glowing linings along at the two sides and the mystical fireflies.

Dreams TRICK OR TREAT Part 4

I've been lazy for the last two days. Should have written this piece earlier since the voting is going to end soon. Anyway i'll make an effort to cover all contestants in Second Life's Dreams TRICK OR TREAT Building Competition.

Ciebird McCullough and SamBivalent Spork's Place
Ciebird and SamBivalent are Aisuru's backdoor neighbor. It's again a well designed place. They've perhaps the best way to put pumpkin to use in this contest. I really like how they cut out a door with a huge pumpkin. Look at the picture, isn't it nice? As they said, their place is very interactive. Follow the bright paws on the ground to have a good time. Enjoy the fine details of their construct. And remember to come out with the right exit.

Ciebird and SamBivalent will give you a special mask and pumpkin for Halloween. Check them out!

Arritalon Paine's Place
Opposite Ciebird and SamBivalent is Arritalon's Halloween house. Again another place with fine details. But what really makes it stand out is: its haunted tree (with a skeleton hanged to it). That's the tree i like most in this contest. Creative, nice ghosts and well lighted. And dont' forget to say "trick or treat" in the front door, you'll be pleasantly surprised!

As for the Halloween gift, you'll get a bucket.

Baska Babenco's Place
Baska is the next door neighbor of Arritalon. He harbors a rather simplistic and spacious design. There're one element that i particularly like about this place: the stacking pumpkins. Baska stacks three pumpkins, lighted them and carved the top one to make a face out of the pumpkin. It's something that kids would love to do.

By the way, there's a sign saying "NO CANDY AT THIS RESIDENT" at the door. Does it mean that i ain't going to get my Halloween treat even i brush my teeth? ;)

Red Sunset & Kei Folland's Place
Next to Baska, you'll find Red and Kei. A very grand frontal gate awaiting you here with several white ghosts surrounding at top. Red and Kei's place has a haunted theme. Graveyard, giant spider, witch flying on broomstick, scythe, skull and bones. However, the part i like most is actually two little pumpkin kids carrying bag with "trick or treat" written on it. It gives this place a kid-friendly feel. :)

Meanwhile, they give you a candy bar as treat, but it's out of a cooking pot cooking strange stuff. Perhaps we should not eat it. ;)

Tiger Duesenberg's Place
Finally a place that looks like a real house that kids will probably go in real life (minus the graves). Tiger's place is situated next to Red and Kei. It looks like a regular house. There're nice spherical bulbs on both sides of the pathway leading to the main door. However, i couldn't find any Halloween treat here. Please let me know if there is.

Attica Bekkers & remus Wilber's Place
This is probably the first Halloween house you'll encounter if you use the landmark we give you earlier. They're the next door neighbor of Sunn Thunder. Attica and remus's place give you a welcoming feeling as it's not fenced. Sit on the pot and it'll move around the track. By the way, there's a very special crystal ball that you must see if you visit here. Touch it and it'll tell you different things one at a time. I feel that like getting a fortune cookie at Chinese restaurant. :)

As for your Halloween gift, touch the twirl hat. I check that hat and find that what a long list of random gifts to be given out. I get a oversized crazy straw hat myself. Real funny and nice.

Dreams TRICK OR TREAT Part 3

This is the third installation of my coverage for Dreams TRICK OR TREAT contest. First a picture of how the competition parcels are look like from the air, superman style.
Sunn Thunders' Place
He is our backdoor neighbor. The one with eyes catching textures. His structures are at the same time probably one of the most easily recognizable as you walk into the building area of TRICK OR TREAT. Why? That's because he designs according to a futuristic sci-fi theme, the one and only. It's apparent even from his address: 25 Milky Way. You'll see objects floating and rotating randomly (i suppose) in his front yard. The easiest way to get to his door is by following the round plates, unless you like hopping or flying. Touch the door, a surprise is waiting for you.

One last thing, i couldn't find his freebie; so please point out if you know.

grimreaper Diesel's Place
grimreaper is the next door neighbor of Aisuru. He has the kind of ghostly house that you will find in the woods in fables and fairy tales. Or at least, that's my first impression. Ax chopping wood. Leafless trees. However, what i like most about this place is his ghost. In meta sense, nicely scripted and textured. I like its movment. In fact, it takes me quite awhile in order to get a good shot of the ghost.

His Halloween freebie is a witch hat, exactly the same one as given away by his opposite neighbor, StarBerryLane and Keiran. Are you guys friends?

KickboXtormz Exonar's Place
KickboXtormz is the next door neighbor of grimreaper. Guess some of you may notice how i choose the place to cover now. KickboXtormz holds a similar theme as his neighbor, grimreaper. There's the hanging rope on the tree; ghost coming out from the grave; another one rotating at the main entrance.

And lastly what i like most here: a huge candy bowl! It gives you a snicker as freebie. Remember to eat (wear) it, let it animate you. It's really funny! ; )

Dreams TRICK OR TREAT Part 2

I'm going to continue to talk more about Dreams TRICK OR TREAT building contest in Second Life. After blogging about our own entry in the contest previously, it's time to say something nice about our competitions.

Aisuru Rieko's Place
Our opposite neighbor, Aisuru Rieko, has a truly wonderful Halloween haunted house. In fact, her (i'm assuming the gender based on my best knowledge, correct me if i'm wrong) design has an impact on our decision to go the post-modernistic way to build our LIYT House. We get a glimpse at her house since she finished most of her construction pretty early. It has many wonderful traditional elements you're looking forward to. There's the tree surrounded by cloudy atmosphere; the well textured building; the shadows behind the windows; the witch cat; the rocking chair; the purple birds circling the apple pumpkin etc. We definitely like her house.
Her trick or treat freebie is probably the best of what i've gotten thus far. Check the picture above. Yup, it's the witch cat inside a globe. Aisuru-san, you're being very generous, ari.

StarBerryLane Escape & Keiran Sheperd's Place
They are our neighbor on the other side. They select a bright color texture to set their house in a holiday mood. There're several interesting elements in their house, lots of interactions, scripting stuffs; i won't spoil your fun here. But what makes them stand out is, in my opinion, their maze! The one and only in this contest. It's really nice, except it makes feel dizzy after awhile because of the paper thin walls. I've to do the superman thing to get out. Nevertheless, it's a lot of fun!
Meanwhile, see the hat i wear on my head in the picture above? That's their Halloween gift. And by the way, guys, i'm not sure if that's intentional, you give away your give away and hovering text scripts together with your nice pointy hat ;)

LIYT House @ Dreams

Dreams holds a TRICK OR TREAT building competition.

My friend, AZ Wirefly and i (under another alias, Sora Lefevre) took part in it and completed our LIYT House at contest plot 23. We would like to invite you there to take a look. This landmark http://slurl.com/secondlife/Dreams/153/55/24 will get you to the entrance (the X spot in the picture above). If you teleport to this entrance, walk straight until you see a round platform, turn right, we're at the second house (red square in the picture above).
Our chief architect, AZ, wants to give the house a post-modernistic feel. We also want to convey the idea of less is more (yes, we know that Mies is mainly considered as a modernist). Hence, the basic structures are mainly polygons with most of them squares and rectangles in general. We want to surprise our visitors how the combination of simple shapes can make wonders, though some may think of our house as unapologetic.
Our so-called front yard has a ramp leading to its door. We use it to signify that most city dwellers now live in apartments or condominiums rather than town houses. In our ever crowded world with divisions of labor probably unimaginable to Adam Smith, the actual emotional distance between people lengthens substantially, especially in many major cities, even if we seem so close to one another. We recognize our neighbor's house by its door number rather than its design.
Yet, since the theme is Halloween (and therefore for kids), we soften the image by placing many spherical pumpkins around our compound as decorations. There're also fireflies flying around, making the place like a Wonderland. In fact, the fireflies look so nice at midnight that we forget the count of prims and put as many as a couple hundreds (literally) before Golda Stein of Dreams has to remind us to observe the maximum prim count.
Since second life is not meant to be a replicate of first life (though both definitely have overlapping elements), we let our imaginations run wild! Making things impossible in the real world. This is a bit of a fun house if you would have the patience to follow the path to our door step. Just follow the blinking arrow ;)

Here's a short conversation with a passerby:

GWP: this one is a little different :)
You: glad you say that :)
GWP: it talks to you as well :)
You: hahaah

So, please come to visit us. The voting starts from today till Saturday (Oct 25) 1 pm Linden Time. If you like our LIYT House, please show your support with your word of mouth and don't forget your itchy fingers as usual ;)

Customized Pumpkin for Halloween

This post is late, but still better than never ; )

We're doing customized pumpkin cutout now. You can see our carvings from the picture above. It's our logo "LIYT" and a spider.

It's perfect for Halloween decorations. Surprise a special someone as a Halloween gift.

Now, how do you get your customized pumpkins? Well in four easy steps:

1. Just make your purchase at XSL OR pay AZ Wirefly L$588 in Second Life;
   
2. email to liyt [dot] studio [at] gmail [dot] com;
   
3. title “Pumpkin for YOUR_SL_NAME”;
   
4. describe your request.

You can expect to hear back from us within 24 hours. We'll do our best to entertain your special request.

If you've any further questions, feel free to email us at the address above or just simply leave a comment in this thread. We'll get back to you asap.

More Pumpkins for Halloween

After the pumpkin mask, we're now introducing pure good old pumpkins for your consumption in Second Life. Our homegrown pumpkins come in three varieties: rounded, squashed and tall.

You can use them to decorate your Second Life stores, residents and hideouts. Or even just for fun. Our pumpkins are realistic looking. And don't worry, it's a pumpkin, not a mellon (not something spherical). Come to our Second Life concept store at http://slurl.com/secondlife/Isen%20Fell/186/186/22.

A Place Called Home

Our all too exhausted land search ended with probing a 10x6.4m FACE/OFF poster at the edge of the world called Isen Fell.  

Funny that the first thing i remembered was Neil Armstrong's famous words " That's one small step for man, one gaint leap for mankind. "  Yes, this is cliche.  Yet, it is exactly this unearthly imagination that makes SL so unpredictably fun.

Halloween Smiley Pumpkin Mask

"Trick or treat?"

Does that ring a bell in your memory?

Halloween is fast approaching. We would like to introduce you to our newly sculpted Halloween mask with a cartoonish feel.

By the way, can you tell the difference between the picture above and the one below? :)

Face/Off Poster and Tee

Grab your Second Life face/off poster for free here!

The not-free tee is here.

Now why face/off? If you have watched this movie, you're probably grinning right now. If not, read our blog post below, it may or may not help you to get your answer.

Have a nice day anyway!

Our Two Cents on the Presidential Debate

63.2 million viewers, can you believe it? It must be among the most watched presidential debate in history. You can bet that you're going to get a lot more on the TV and the newspapers. After all, it's a good story, especially to distract us from the chaos of the financial markets. This writer also can't resist the temptation to give his two cents after a few days of hiatus from this blog.

First, I don't recall any memorable lines. There's no “where's the beef” or “it's the economy, stupid!” Second, perhaps I'm retarded (or not as intelligent as those folks), both candidates seem very interested at creating money out of the air. Perhaps they take a course of Magical Finance at Hogwarts (wonder if both are in Slytherin?). Anyway, I'm pretty sure Mr. Buffett didn't take this course while he enrolled at Columbia University many decades ago.

Tax cut and tax increases from the same guy; handing out $300 billion from his magical pocket; Pakistan, Musharraf, Osama bin Laden and a bunch of other who-cares. To be honest, I would prefer to watch the replay of a certain governor on her sexy swimsuit in her prime.

Right now the only prescription is simple: more savings and less expenses. But none candidates are willing to come straight since as the Chinese saying goes “a good medicine tastes bitter”. Neither the black guy nor the old white hair dude are willing to say it out loud for fear of scaring away votes. When you are buying so many made-in-China, why don't you buy this one line as well? The best part is: it's free!

At the end of the day, the question is: are Americans voting for Obama or McCain? Or are Americans voting for Obama of Democratic Party or McCain of Republican Party? If the latter is the case, then the choice should be obvious by now. This is one thing that I agree with Obama (in his secret message).

Besides, America can really use a fresh likeable public face right now in the international arena.

McCain Caricature Mask and T-Shirt

After Obama, who else? ;)

We roll out McCain mask and tee to shove up bipartisan support for ourselves. Kinda sitting on fence. But you may find our true color here and here (XSL sites for the mask and t-shirt respectively).

Obama Caricature T-Shirt on Xstreet SL

First thing first, SL Exchange changes its name to Xstreet SL. Something to do with itself; more to do with Second Life. Read here if you're interested.

Next, we're presenting you our new Obama caricature blue navy tee. It's on sale here.

The tee is a shirt layer item in Second Life; carefully designed to make it look good on you ;)

Obama Mask on SL Exchange

We just put up our first product on SL Exchange.


It's a mask to wear on your avatar on Second Life. You can find it here.

"Remember, remember, the 5th of November. The gunpowder, treason and plot. I know of no reason why the gunpowder treason should ever be forgot."

~ V for Vendetta

Welcome to LIYT Studio

We blogs the progress of our store in Second Life here.