We're excited to announce the latest offering from Icarus Studios:
the =I= NetConnect (Low Prim)!  Try the DEMO in world

Are you "Metaversally Connected"?

Yes? Then you really need the product that gives you an extremely configurable control panel of links to the metaverse and beyond. 

This panel of icons can be set up with links you can set in any order, and even include custom icons and addresses.

It is a prim lightweight at a mere count of six, packed with the features you want and more. Its most outstanding feature is the ability to configure the icons and addresses you want, in any order, using a menu and local chat for input.  You can also add your own custom icons and addresses with the same interface. 

What's more, you're not limited to social networking addresses or even websites; you can even add SLURLs for locations within Second Life.  While the product's default color is black, you can change it to any color you wish, to match your location or your logo.  A permissions feature gives you the ability to set only the owner to submit local chat input, or you can set it to "anyone" to allow helpers to submit local chat input, during the configuration process.

When using the control panel, the user clicks on a button on the panel, and the link will appear in local chat for the user to click and view in a browser. While it is twice the price of the original, popular =I= NetConnect (Single Prim) it is packed with more than double the price in features, an incredibly flexible and powerful tool.

With its built-in features and easy configurability, the =I= NetConnect (Low Prim) opens up a new way to network in the metaverse, not just within Second Life. The configuration is done through a menu dialog with easy-to-follow local chat prompts and user input. An online tutorial is available for quick reference, if needed. 

For Second Life Viewer 2 users, the metaverse can come in-world, with the optional =I= NetConnect Display Screen, which shows the websites or content selected on the =I= Netconnect (Low Prim) Panel, opening up a myriad of new cross-platform multimedia possibilities.

You can see a demo of the =I= NetConnect (Low Prim) in our shop in Mayfair, where it is available for sale.  While in the shop, you can get a free, time limited demo to try before you buy.  You can also find the =I= NetConnect (Low Prim) on XStreetSL.

The =I= NetConnect (Single Prim) is also available in our shop and on XStreetSL.  If you need help deciding which product to buy, consider the following:

Choose the =I= NetConnect (Low Prim) if:
You want to be able to easily add, remove and change the icons and addresses on the control panel. A menu interface and local chat user inputs makes this process easy and painless.

You want the freedom to add your own, custom icons and addresses, on-the-fly.  Just go into configuration mode, make your changes, come out of confguration and voila, done.

You want to let an assistant help you with configuring the control panel.

You want the control panel colour to match your location's colour scheme.

Product info: 6 prims, mod/copy, L$600

Choose the =I= NetConnect (Single Prim) if:
You are a business owner with prim limits and comfortable with editing textures, you can customise the icons texture with the social network and website icons you need. 

You are REALLY tight on prims at your location. This product is only ONE PRIM!

You are in a high-lag location.  You'll appreciate the low rendering cost (only 37!) of the =I= NetConnect (Single Prim) product.

Product info: 1 prim, mod/copy, L$300

Try the DEMO in world

iSkye Silverweb told us of Helen Keller Day in Second Life http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Helen_Keller_Day, where she was spending the day as a volunteer greeter team leader.

Curious about virtual world uses for people with disabilities, we agreed this would be a great thing to attend, and learn for ourselves a little bit about what it is like to be blind or have low vision.

When Leon arrived inworld, Nyx met up with him and they set off to find the Gold Mine, where iSkye had stationed herself in her "HKD Greeter" role. After a bit of hilarity in getting guide dogs untangled, Leon charged into the tunnel, eager to display his navigational skills, with Nyx trailing dubiously and iSkye tossing helpful hints from her post safe on the crates at the mouth of the mine shaft. Immediately, Leon got discombobulated - naturally, Nyx was no help. Retracing their steps, it occurred to them that there were guides and tools to help - might be bright to use those... iSkye passed a notecard to Nyx explaining the build by it's creator, Johnnytreadlightly Nightfire. So with Nyx reading and Leon navigating and several attempts at the challenge - success was finally obtained. Several valuable lessons in assistance were underscored in the gold mine experience.

Sorry to leave iSkye behind, but determined to photograph highlights of the islands and event, Leon and Nyx set out. Finding curious traces of Lindens and an impressive list of speakers throughout the day, the intrepid pair continued exploring, snapping photos of interesting exhibits and sharing impressions about the venue with other people they met along the way.

While iSkye was at the mine, a variety of people came through to visit, and it was interesting to observe the reactions of the visitors. When one couple came, she prompted them about getting their virtual guide dogs, then gave them some basic instructions to start them off. They went inside but came back out after only a very brief time. Apparently that short time was enough for them to get a clear sense of what it means to be blind. Another small group got their guide dogs and went through, had some trouble. iSkye passed them a notecard with some helpful hints, which got them through and they found the experience to be very enlightening, as Nyx did earlier in the day. Virtual Helping Hands, with the capable skills of Johnnytreadlightly Nightfire, built the gold mine on the Helen Keller Day grounds for the express purpose of creating an entertaining but eye-opening (pun not intended) way to raise awareness about the challenges faced by blind and low-vision residents in virtual worlds, and about the usefulness of tools like Max the Virtual Guide Dog to assist them in achieving as equivalent an experience in Second Life as possible.

Leon and iSkye visited a house that was built equipped with the Marco Polo script, another accessibility tool for blind and low-vision residents. As they walked along the path toward the Pavilion, Leon noticed the hands sculpture and iSkye explained the significance of them, how Helen Keller's first word, "water," was a major breakthrough in communication, when she learned to associate water she felt running over her hands with the sign for water, and the vocal sound of water that her teacher, Annie Sullivan, had worked so hard to get her to understand. At the Pavilion, they heard from builders and designers who talked of a 'standard' for building in virtual worlds, and if any RL standards could be applied without being off-putting to the majority of users in Second Life. While visiting the entertainment area at Club Accessible, Leon and iSkye enjoyed different musicians, then ended the day back at the Pavilion to catch the comedy act of Lauren Weyland and the "I Am One" party hosted by TributeTim Kwak and the volunteers of Club Accessible.

Curious and interested in the past and future of the islands and greatly aware of the power of the metaverse to inspire creative minds and hands, it became clear to us how empowering these virtual worlds can be for all of us, particularly when accommodations are in place for those of us with disabilities. Vision isn't limited to the things we can see with our eyes, nor is hearing only in a certain auditory range. In immersive virtual environments with appropriate supports, physical disabliities can disappear (or not - this is the choice of the individual) and the horizons for all of us suddenly become vastly broader through our encounters with each other.

Coincidentally, each of us ended the day by further exploring the work of Bryn Oh - but that's for another post.

=IcaruS= on flickr: Helen Keller Day 2010 in SL

Janey Bracken is someone we appreciate - she's also a fan of the recent AMAZING live production of "Alice in WonderSland" which we enjoyed too much to get enough pictures of - but tried anyway.  Her reporting made us aware of the loss of the beautiful Victoriana which we managed to get some amazing pictures of for posterity AND we're neighbors-ish in Virtual London.

ANYWAY! It is truly gratifying to see that she has visited our in-world shop =IcaruS= at Mayfair - perhaps a few lindens lighter - and come away impressed. Please, have a read on her thoughts SLLondon "Icarus for Real Quality" and get to know her better CNN IReport - Janey Bracken

Over time, =IcaruS= has grown a loyal following of customers, and we've always appreciated feedback about our virtual products.  We're proud of what we do here.  It's ever so lovely to get glowing reports in the metaverse from those we admire. (Flashback: Prim Perfect and SL Men's Style) Our products and ideas ARE eclectic - check us out here icarusstudios.co.uk and here =IcaruS= on XStreet (for a start) and don't hesitate to give us a shout!

Introducing =I= NetConnect the one prim connection control panel for up to twelve social networks per panel.

=I= NetConnect is a highly configurable one-prim display control panel which links multiple metaverse networks within Second Life. Add your own website, blog, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter etc. links to share and promote your personal network choices.

Bonus included for Viewer 2.x users is the =I= NetConnect Display Screen which actually shows the website selected from the control panel in-world allowing for a myriad of cross-platform multimedia possibilities.

ShamblesGuru Voom, prolific educator and self-proclaimed Digital Nomad Scavenger volunteered this review: "Love that a one prim panel will can connect to multiple URLs. A brilliant in-world tool to visualise, quantify and give access to your own Personal Learning Network as well as a convenient way to access multiple websites in a friendly painless way."

Available from our Mayfair address, XStreet or Apez

The sad loss of the Nation of Victoriana in Second Life has been well reported by Janey Bracken and Hibiscus Hastings with some bittersweet videos documenting the sims last hours by Kiko Hunniton With deepest respect for the work of Mayor LittleBlackDuck Lindsay and heavy hearts witnessing the echoes of a once vibrant community, we too did a farewell tour. Our full photo journal is on Flickr.

In anticipation of product improvements for SL v.2, we've reduced the price on our popular SmartArt slideshow presenters.

These picture frames features include a range of transition options (including sharp snaps between - no grey goo!), easy resizing and aspect ratio changing, dispense and lock options, optimized script minimizing lag and elegant frames.

Efficient and lovely in gallery, home or office.
XStreet

Our SL colleague, Chris Smith aka Shambles, was asked to speak at the first Ted Talk to be held in Thailand – knowing the type of presentation he wanted to give, he contacted Leon about helping to record and assemble the in-world portion.

Link to full screen HERE

Naturally, being TED fans already and with the success of previous Shambles collaborations (including the infamous ISI Mash-Up), it was fait accompli – almost ;-)

With a preliminary script from Shambles in hand, we did a refresher recce (aka location scout state-side) to International Schools Island. Getting still photos to work out camera angles lead naturally to creating a storyboard for discussion. Using a range of web tools, pre-production information was securely shared thru several time zones prior to the actual shoot day.

Knowing of the 18-minute “Ted commandment” for the final live presentation, it was a bit of a surprise that it took hours of recording machinima in Second Life with Shambles to get all the footage needed. Naturally, working with Shambles always leads to impromptu tangents ;-p.

With some judicious editing, we did get the Shambles footage assembled with time left for Chris to speak for the live portion in Bangkok conference. Chris also did a pre-record of his lines in order for us to get a full assembly.

From his Bangkok hotel after the event, Chris happily shared with us the success of our TEDxBKK presentation! Check it out!

 

We invite you to stop by our latest address on swanky Regent Street in the Mayfair, London SL district to enjoy eye-catching displays, subscribe to our group for gifts and updates and pick up a free demo of our fully functional, luxury, multi-time zoned watches.

=IcaruS= Luxury at Mayfair

Honestly, we had set out to do a photo shoot of the location for our latest store (more on that later.) We got no further than Piccadilly Circus - a sign there for the concert caught our eye...

Layla, being the sociable one and curious about what sort of crowd this region draws, spent most of the concert battling lag - machinima attempts mostly thwarted.

Which left ascerbic Nyx to photo snap away - bemused by oldies music, good-natured banter and some rather remarkable avatars.

Leon made it for long enough to tease about soppy music and bust a few dance moves himself.

All in all, we're liking virtual London - tho next time we take a break from work we might just head to the pub instead.

Full slideshow on Flickr

Show that you're hitting the holiday shopping season with a mission! The vintage WWI era graphic reads "The Government asks you to do your Xmas Shopping Early DO IT NOW"

Available on Zazzle as Poster, Mug, Shopping Bag,Sticker, Post Card, Tie, Badge/Button and Magnet

Also available in Xstreet

Guy Fawkes Bonfire Temp Rez
"Remember remember the fifth of November, the gun powder treason and plot. I can think of no reason why the gun powder treason should ever be forgot."

With a nod to the Brits and lovers of British tradition, we offer a Guy Fawkes night bonfire. Flames! Smoke! Sound Effects! Guy burning in effigy!

Built with a mono-optimised temp-rez script this bonfire counts as only one prim and is low-lag.

*New for 2009: menu controls and easier positioning* (Easy Instructions Included) In the United Kingdom, the fifth of November is celebrated as Bonfire Night. Combining a celebration of the traditional Celtic New Year, Samhain and a commemoration of the successful foiling of the 1605 conspiracy to kill King James I and blow up Parliament. (Please burn and temp rez responsibly.)XStreet Link

Graveyard
SpoOoky! An eerie mist chills visitors to a quaint Parisian cemetery on Parnassus. Mysteries are hidden in dark corners from which strange noises emerge. Don't be alarmed if strange things happen if you touch anything! Don't hesitate to dance on our graves. Icarus welcomes you.

SPLASH! our breath-taking cliffs encourage multiple dives (and fun photo opportunities) with no special equipment required - don't hesitate to explore Parnassus underwater there is treasure to be found! (don't mind the underwater predators - honestly, they can't hurt you - all part of the fun!)

En Garde! We invite you to visit us parry, photo and share!
Based on work of Reinier Knizia, the famous German game designer,
this fun gem requires stategy and tactics
(the fancy footwork and sound effects are built in)

As well as having the IcaruS shop and IcaruS Studios on Parnassus Island we now have a Treehouse with dance stage and picnic area and an Airship to explore (go to spotlights to find the TP to it):

For all the green fingered types we now supply a gothic/victorian greenhouse
Xstreet link

=IcaruS= is proud to announce that we have taken LaylaMay Magic's =Messa Lingerie= under our wing. To showcase her exquisite eye for detail, we are sending a pair of lace-topped hold-up stockings to each of our members as a gift.

Feel free to drop by the store to see the beginnings of what promises to be a very exciting addition to our range.

Participating in the 2009 Americon Cancer Society fundraiser, Relay for Life in SL: Link to Flickr

Over 270,000 $USD raised in-world

=IcaruS= Patriot Fireworks. we offer a firework launcher that shoots temp.-rez rockets which burst up with sprays of red, white and blue gently cascading sparks at variable heights.
Xstreet link

Philip Linden Speaks On User Types in New Technologies:

(1 of 10) Rest can be viewed on YouTube or Vimeo

In response to a question about corporate uptake in SL, Philip Linden (aka Philip Rosedale) addresses waves of user types that embrace new technologies.

On March 5, 2009 P. Linden (founder of Second Life®) spoke at a live, in-world Train for Success session fielding questions from some of virtual worlds brightest and best.

More detail for SGP Guignol Set in virtual studios. showing path from catacombs to cellar via sewers:

production underway for SGP Guignol Set in virtual studios. more information soon...

Jokadia ''Virtual Classroom Project' and 'Web Video in the Web 2.0 World Jokadia are also running a photo competition, for more details visit the Jokadia link

production of a 3min promo for ISI (International Schools Island) in second life

Second life production of the: NAACE (National Assoc. of Advisors for Computers in Education). http://www.naace.co.uk/
The shot is in two 10min parts
Vimeo Link

coverage of Second Life® in world talk shot live on the subject:
"Second Life® -A Game- or Opportunity for Exceptional Professional Development?"
The talk is in three 10 min parts including the Preamble and Q&A section
YouTube link to main part