Exploring Virtually



On top of the world, Venice @ Prada

A Second Life friend of mine found a beautiful sim and invited me to join him to explore it.  The sim is Venice @ Prada http://secondlife.com/destination/venice-prada.  The scenery here is lovely and is enhanced in sunset setting.  From the waterfront to the quaint village shops and buildings, there is lots to see and do here with an emphasis on "see", as the appeal of this place is truly visual.

Of course, any virtual rendering of Venice would be incomplete without a Gondola ride, and my friend proved to be a good Gondolier aside from getting stuck in some dead ends.  The full moon over the water and the sim's music stream added to a delightful and relaxing ride.

Before and during exploring the village, we stopped and chatted at the numerous waterside cafe tables. I felt like an Italian tourist and had tried to dress the part with my white Stole and designer SL jeans but made a quick change into a dress for dancing. 

The TP sign by the dock took us to the New York Jazz Club (yes, even in Italy, I could feel at home).  The warm wood textures and varnished floors of this dance venue along with its wonderful skyline windows were charming and atmospheric.  The only drawback was that the return TP to Venice was either missing or well hidden, so keep the LM handy if you want to continue your exploration.

All in all, virtually exploring Prada @ Venice was fun and immersive.  I felt like I'd traveled to Italy for a few hours with no jet lag to recover from.

Kindle Fire Hot in the New Year

Okay, so one of  my New Year's resolutions was to write more often for this blog, so I'm trying to catch up.  I hope everyone reading had nice holidays.  Most years, I don't get many gifts that I really use, but this year I received a Kindle Fire.  I wasn't so sure I would use it much either because I like print books.  But, as a librarian, I realize that one must keep up with new trends, so I put the Kindle Fire at the top of my Wish List for Santa.  It seems a lot of other people did, too, as the Fire was one of the most popular gifts this season http://androinica.com/2011/12/2011-holidays-the-best-ever-for-amazon-as-the-kindle-fire-continues-to-be-their-top-seller/. 

I like the size of the Fire because it is very portable, fitting into a large purse or carry case.  The screen is quite readable (although I haven't tried it in bright sunshine yet).  As an Android device, it has some of the familiar options (I also upgraded to a Samsung Galaxy phone recently).  Still, there is a learning curve, as there is with any technical gadget.  The user guide is adequate.  My main goal was to download ebooks.  A nice benefit of being an Amazon prime member is that many ebooks (and also videos and other downloads) are available free.  You are allowed to download one ebook per month if you are a prime member, but not every ebook is eligible under this option.

The Kindle Lending Library at Amazon is quite easy to navigate, but I found Overdrive's Digital Library Collection harder to use.  Consulting both the Overdrive online help screens and our own library's FAQ sheets created by our computer tech, I managed to download my first Overdrive library book.  Since then, I've managed to check out, return, and even place several ebooks on my request list.  Some of this, I discovered through trial and error.  For instance, I thought it would be fine to just delete an Overdrive title from my library, but I later learned that if you don't return it to the collection (using the Manage my Kindle option in at the Amazon website), you might be holding it up from someone who is currently on the reserve list. 

How do I like ebook reading?  Well, I've managed to read over 50 % of the novel I selected, and I still have another 5 days to finish it.  Overdrive loans are two weeks in duration.  Compare that to the library print books I've had to renew several times before finishing them (Overdrive books can't be renewed but can be rerequested).  It seems I can find a little more time to get to read from my Kindle, although maybe it's the novelty for now.  Some other cool options include automatic bookmarks and access to a dictionary for any unfamiliar words I come across in the text.

I would recommend the Kindle Fire to anyone who didn't get it as a gift and doesn't currently have one.  There are many others out there and more being designed, but I would say to try them and see if you like them.  You may be pleasantly surprised.  I was, but it doesn't mean I won't ever check out another print book.  It just means I am getting on the tech bandwagon and having some fun, too.  My library is also purchasing its own Kindle Fire and a Nook for training and demonstration purposes (with possible loaning options in the future).