Snapshots from the Chinoiserie exhibition in Second Life

Telephone Museum

Here’s a nice exhibition in the new Telephone Museum in Second Life. It is found in a skybox above the mainland Dent sim, and contains replicas of telephones, from the earliest 19th century models to the contemporary ones.

The number of exhibits is not great, but everything is displayed in a very compact and concise way – perfect if you don’t have much time available.

There are useful information panels on different time periods. Next to each one you can click the “listen” button, to hear the audio, which is great for those who might have difficulty with reading.

I particularly liked the recording of Alexander Graham Bell, taken from the original wax disks. 

History and technology buffs will love it here! To reach the Telephone Museum, follow this SLurl.

Museum of Sacred Art closes

Museum of Sacred Art has been a wonderful resource for history of religion buffs in SL. Its exhibition covers the world’s main religions, including general information on their geographical distribution, sacred art and architecture.

Now the announcement came that the Museum is about to close, with the exact time set for Sunday, April 5 at 12 noon SLT.

The museum may reopen later in the year, but just in case, do visit while it’s still there: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Bieup/185/50/107

International Spaceflight Museum

Checking out the What’s Hot rubric in the Destination Guide, last night I ended up in the International Spaceflight Museum. Wanting to see more details about the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, I inadvertently teleported there in the middle of a conversation (serves me right, chatting and clicking on things at the same time). Duncan came along, and we had an interesting time looking around.

The ISM sim has been inworld since 2007, as far I could tell, but this has been the first time I’ve heard of it. One indication of its age are the notecards you receive upon TP, advertizing events supposed to take place some time in 2008. The other clue is its somewhat dated appearance, which must have looked amazing back in ’07. In any case, ISM is a fascinating place if you’re even remotely interested in the history of space exploration.

The Museum is located on a spacious sim containing lecture halls and a large number of exhibits, some of which are clickable for added features. There are nicely built models of rockets and satellites, also of different NASA facilities.

ISM is present in the virtual world only, run by a non-profit. It’s one of the better organized ones, too, with regularly updated presence on Facebook and its own wiki. I’m not sure if there are any lectures taking place there these days (the Events page on wiki does not give any information about the 2015 events yet), but the Museum is definitely a place worth visiting and supporting.

Useful links:
International Spaceflight Museum SLurl
ISM Wiki
ISM Facebook page

International Spaceflight Museum in Second Life. http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Spaceport Alpha/49/83/23

Full blog post on http://abinoamsjournal.blogspot.com/2015/01/international-spaceflight-museum.html