O Tannen Bomb, O Tannen Bomb... A friendly Christmas assault

Merry Christmas, y'all! - Posted by Bettina Tizzy

Jopsy Pendragon cannot resist the impulse to create, and he's had many irons on the fire lately, especially since he expanded the Particle Laboratory and put his ingenious Porgon 1800 (the Particle Organ) on the market.

When it comes to Jopsy, I've come to expect vivid, brilliant particles dancing in the air to music, or self-guided tutorials on how to make them as well as the best particle textures on the grid. But he's not above having a little fun with us!



The Tannen Bomb is a bit of merriment Jopsy started to make on a lark three years ago, and finally got around to finishing on Wednesday. It's a short-lived build, so make your way over there in the next few days, and take advantage of the temporary lift on forced teleports at Teal, too, (teleport directly from here).

In a nutshell... well, nah, I'm not going to tell you exactly what happens. Just go with friends, launch the Tannen Bomb... and let it surprise you.




In this shot, I'm wearing American resident Eshi Otawara's Christmas Edition Smokey Tux dress, and soror Nishi's splendid mistletoe antlers

I am still plagued by that snapshot bug, so I appreciate Jopsy's help with pics.

What!?! Particles for all avatars? Even for those that cannot script?

Posted by Alpha Auer

If you are anything like me, that is completely in love with particle effects and yet incapable of scripting your way out of a paper bag, then Jopsy Pendragon has the solution for you... And what a solution! What a veritable virtual feast this is!



The Porgan 1800 Particle Organ, is a full featured particle generator console with big differences: A fully visually intuitive, three dimensional interface, which allows you to preview your effects in 3D, alerts you to over usage of system, warns you of potential mishaps and errors - all of it in an easy to understand, user friendly and visually appealing manner. Virtually every imaginable variable that goes into creating a particle effect, from colors to wind to age to particle count, can be fine tuned and adjusted through various levers, dials and pickers on the console. Furthermore this beauty of a generative tool lets you use your own alpha channeled tga files.

You can easily create up to three different particle effects combined together creating truly stunningly complex and sophisticated visual effects, superimposed upon one another. Then, with just one click the Porgan will rez a mod+copy+trans version of your combined effect! (or, if you prefer, it will print scripts too!)



The huge difference between this console and all the many particle generators that I have fumbled my way through and never ever gotten the hang of, is that Jopsy Pendragon has involved the factor of human visual memory as a cognitive aid within his design strategy, creating a remarkable interface through clearly individuated input devices, most of which reflect their inherent functionality in their iconography. So instead of rows upon rows of identical looking buttons, which are based upon the assumption that we already know what they stand for, what we a looking at; the Porgan 1800 presents us with an interface that allows us to differentiate visually and to memorize the look as well the location of individual commands. A remarkable design system - indeed one that it might behoove many a real life interface designer from cell phones to TV remote controls to take a really close look at and to learn from.

Well, immediately having purchased my personal console I am now a true convert. And have I been playing with it! In fact, so entrancing is this process that I stand here in dire danger of turning into a complete recluse in front of my wonderful Particle Organ, admiring effect upon effect that I release into the virtual air of my island. I will start rebuilding Syncretia pretty soon and right now it looks like as if there will be oh so many many particles in version 2.0...

Well done Jopsy! Well done indeed!
:-)

You can view, try and purchase The Porgan 1800 at the Particle Laboratory to where you can teleport directly from here.

Jopsy Pendragon to expand the Particle Laboratory

Jopsy Pendragon (aka John P. Crane, rezzed 1/15/04) believes that "It's good to mark the big days with friends and a little pomp =)" and that's precisely what he did last night during a very NPIRL ribbon-cutting ceremony to commemorate his acquisition of the sim "Slate," which borders the sim Ethereal Teal upon which his Particle Laboratory has sat (and grown) since 2004.


Friends assembled on either side of the ceremonial vortex to watch Jopsy cut the particle ribbon

The Particle Laboratory is the mecca for particle lovers and script learners in Second Life®, largely because of the seemingly exhaustive and excellent tutorials available there, as well as its intimate sandbox for "script tinkering." Teleport directly from here, and take the hot air balloon to any of the local destinations offered there. It is also the home of two of the best ongoing particle shows on the grid, including the Cloud Chateau where I got my first taste of particles.

During his speech, Jopsy explained: "Khamon (Fate) has graciously offered to let me purchase Slate as space to expand into, while he takes Fate Gardens to a private region all his own. Teal and Slate have long had a peaceful history..." He went on, "One of the initial projects for Slate will be a sister Laboratory for the Particle lab... focused on Vehicles. =)"



As he cut the particle ribbon, Jopsy proclaimed: "I dub this... Ethereal Slate! The runner up name was "later slater" but that didn't sound as fae ;)"


Particles burst all around us

See also: Jopsy Pendragon's Particles