In continuation of the Hern Worsley Special Broadcast...

Posted by Alpha Auer

Once upon a time, on this very blog I said that it would be a very difficult task to make a nice little list of all the designers I consider to be utterly brilliant in Second Life®, but that if someone brandishing a virtual gun pushed me up against a prim wall and wanted me to give only one name I would probably mumble out "Thomus Keen" in my terrified state. In continuation of this hypothetical scenario what would probably happen next would be that I would immediately add "oh and Hern Worsley of course...". And then if the villain were to yell at me "DECIDE woman!" I would probably have no option but to eat the bullett. (By no means are Thomus Keen and Hern Worsley the only two object designers in the metaverse that I have on my secret list of all time ultimate favorites - there are quite a few choice others in their company as well. But, I am sure you are getting my drift here. ;-)

Between myself and my rapacious tribe of alts we have plundered Hern Worsley's shop AVZ many times over. We do not go all too often because a trip out there inevitably results in a complete depletion of all funds, but then in the end we always do go back and make up for time lost in one massive bulk purchase where we basically clean the shop out of every new item rezed since we were last there. Good job one does not carry shopping bags back home in Second Life, I really do not know how we would possibly manage if that were indeed the case.
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So, I had admired Hern Worsley's imagination, creativity, taste and exquisitely delicate craftsmanship of both form and texture (without which, for me, all the rest is utterly for naught I'm afraid) for the longest time when one day, upon logging in I found that I had gotten a most unexpected present - a dragonaut jetpack, accompanied by a message telling me that Hern Worsley had noticed my general love of jetpacks and wanted me to have this latest of his designs. I immediately proceeded to thank him and during the ensuing conversation found out that not only is Hern Worsley a gifted designer but also a very funny man: When he started telling me that the jetpack was quite a utilitarian object in that it proved to be very useful whenever one wanted to spear a deer I immediately reached for the "Add Friend" button, an offer which Hern very graciously accepted. (And a propos of the deer hunt: One does of course have to sidle up backwards to the beast in order to be able to harpoon it - but really, one cannot have everything in this life and a bit of sacrifice for aesthetics is to be expected then and again, I say).
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There are many many wonders at AVZ, particularly an unbelievable selection of hair, some of which has already been blogged by my valiant colleague Bettina Tizzy right here. The store has recently changed location and is now to be found on its own island. And a trip out there just to admire the starkly black, to me very obviously biologically referenced architecture of the giant beetle/building hovering over the sea is a worthwhile experience in itself.

You can teleport to AVZ directly from here. You can see larger sizes of the dragonaut jetpack here on Flickr.

See also the special post on Poetik Velvets, a spectacular work of architecture by Hern Worsley created for Nur Moo here.

Wondrous solutions provided for most of your virtual discomforts...

Posted by Alpha Auer

Every so often I like to air out my brain. Especially with the nice northerly breeze we always get in the archipelago, the effects can prove to be most beneficial, I find. Thus, I am always on the lookout for seemly brain costumes with which I can flaunt my virtual grey matter and one of my ultra favorite ones comes from Cortech Enterprises.



"Flaunt your largest organ!" So tells us the creator of this wonder, Total Chastity, and continues: "Thank you for your interest in the Cortech Brain Jar, we trust it will provide many unsettling hours of mild distaste and horrified stares from your friends. The speech centres of the brain are linked to two antennae mounted on either side, broadcasting your thoughts as you type (Erm..well, sort of) and the loudspeaker fitted to the front will also show furious activity when your avatar is typing."

However, the aids provided by Total Chastity to all of those vexatious little problems and emergencies that tend to come along in a virtual life certainly do not end with the brain jar alone. The Cortech Jetset, comprised of boots, jetpack and crash helmet, designed by Total Chastity and Pavig Lok and scripted by Goodwill Epoch is yet another indispensable must-have - and furthermore is free for you to run off and just grab one.





Once again the creators inform us that this "is the complete solution to intra sim transport in Second Life®. The package consists of a jetpack, a pair of jetboots and a rather fetching helmet complete with goggles and faintly amusing springy radio antenna. There are two sizes of boots now in the package -- pick the pair more appropriate for you avatar and adjust them accordingly.

SecondLife imposes restrictions on flight above certain heights (around 200 metres). Many people in SL already have flight assistance scripts active in other gadgets (The very popular Mystitool, for example). If you haven't then your jet boots or jetpack may be helpful. Without flight assistance you may have great difficulty flying in certain areas above to 200 metre ceiling."

For those avatars wishing for a more stylish flight solution, the somewhat pricier (but then when it comes to these things one always does get what one pays for, doesn't one?) Cortech Hardware Wings will be just what the doctor ordered:



And finally, yet another free item: For all those lonely virtual hearts out there - your very own petmech shoulder companion/tiny avatar:



You can obtain all of these wonders by Total Chastity at Cortech Enterprises, to where you can teleport directly from here.
;-)