Vol. 2, No.11, November 1, 1999
Highlights From This Issue:

 


Active Worlds News, Product Highlights, Contests


More Games! More Fun!

Following on the success of the incredibly popular AWBINGO worlds, we're now pleased to announce the opening of AWCHECKERS! With the help of Checker's Bot you and your friends can play a traditional game of checkers in the elegant new world AWCHEKRS! Hurry up and get some practice in before the first tournament nite!

http://objects.activeworlds.com/cgi-bin/teleport.cgi?awchekrs

Saturday, November 6th at 8:00PM will be the grand opening of AWSPADES! Events will include a contest and lots of fun and games! This new game world will offer the full features of four player Spades in private gaming rooms! Not to mention Bot Players! Come join in the fun!

http://objects.activeworlds.com/cgi-bin/teleport.cgi?awspades

A Galaxy All Your Own!

The Active Worlds Galaxerver - starting from $1,995

Designed for the business that requires a stand-alone World separate from the Active Worlds Universe of Worlds. This product gives the administrator full configuration control over the World. All servers start with 1 million square meters of virtual land, and the price is based on number of simultaneous users and land size.

Designed for both Internet and Intranet applications.

  • All configurations include:
  • All server component software
  • Access to the AWCOM content libraries
  • Remote set-up support
  • Limited, upgradeable licensing agreement
  • HTML, FAQ, and help documentation
  • Technical support documentation
  • 1 year free upgrades

Custom configurations available, please call or email for details.
(978) 499-0222
cof@activeworlds.com

Got A Community? Well AWCOM Wants You...... To Get Registered!

Are you a world owner with a community? Have you and your friends built a community in an existing world? Well AWCOM and the AW COMMUNITY REGISTER wanna hear about you! In the coming weeks, we will be adding new teleports to the AWGate, and building up a teleport park based upon the categories that make up our diverse community. Topics like Art, Entertainment, Games, Lifestyles, and more will be some of the categories we will be listing. If you would like to have your community group listed in the directory, get on over to the AW COMMUNITY REGISTER and get registered!

http://www.awcommunity.org/awcomreg

Bot Of The Month Club!

(courtesy of the Hambots)

Provide automated music for your party or world. This bot changes the midi action in an object in your area, waits for the song to finish, then changes again, from a list of midi URLs located anywhere on the Internet.

To use DJBot, download it from

http://home.sprintmail.com/~ncrowle/djbot.zip

unzip into a new directory, and then edit djbot.ini - changing the citizen number to your number.

Note that DJBot supports a menu when it starts - see the example ini file. You will also need to set the world, the coordinates, and the name of the object (often midispk.rwx) that will change the music. Also, in your world, create the object and put "DJBot" in the description field. The first two letters must be DJ.

Then, run djbot.exe. You will be prompted for your privilege password (enter it). From there, all songs should be read from the playlist (in a random order) in the play list file (see the sample playlist file "sample.txt" in the zip). If you get an error message, check the SDK reason code documentation for the reason.

http://www.activeworlds.com/sdk/reason.htm

If you're interested in finding out more about how to use the SDK, visit the official site for information!

http://www.activeworlds.com/sdk

Think AW Rocks? Then Tell A Friend!

When we updated the web site last month, we added a new feature where you can send an email to your friends to let them know about AW! Since then hundreds of you have invited your friends to come join our awesome community! If you have a friend you want to tell about Active Worlds, then send them a note!

http://www.activeworlds.com/products/share.html

AWWomen Seeks World And Community Development Team

If you are interested in putting your community and world building skills to work, and help develop and informative and social world for women in Active Worlds, then we've got the project for you! To get on the development team send us an email!

community@activeworlds.com

AW Support's Tech Tip Of The Month

Cache Corruption

Have you noticed that a world you regularly visit suddenly looks strange? Triangles where you swore you once saw some flowers or a bench? Or some of the trees and the flowers have black or white backgrounds around them? It could just be that the cache folder for that world has become corrupted. Not to worry, it is an easy fix you can do yourself!

  1. Close Active Worlds
  2. Go to START on the WINDOWS Task Bar
  3. Click on the WINDOWS EXPLORER ICON
  4. Browse your C Drive (or the drive where you have installed Active Worlds) until you come across the directory called Active Worlds. Double click on it to open it.
  5. Inside this folder you will see a folder called CACHE.

Here you have TWO CHOICES -

I'm Not So Sure What I Am Doing Option
  1. Select the folder called CACHE and choose DELETE from the Windows Tool Bar.
  2. Close Windows Explorer, and restart Active Worlds. Return to the world you were having problems with, and redownload the world. This should solve your problem!

    Note: This option will mean that you are deleting all the cached objects and files for all the worlds you have visited, and you will have to redownload all the worlds again.

I'm Brave Option
  1. Double click on the cache folder to open it. Inside of which you will find 2 folders: art and property.
  2. Double click on the art folder to open it. Inside you will find a series of folders that have the names of the object paths of the worlds you have been visiting. Some of the paths will give you a hint of what world they are for - like for Alpha World the path is objects.activeworlds.com/aw.
  3. If you recognize the name of the object path for the world you are having problems with - select that folder, and choose DELETE from the WINDOWS TOOL BAR.
  4. Close Windows Explorer and restart Active Worlds - go back to the world, and redownload the world. This should solve your problem!

If this handy, helpful tip does not do the trick, then send an email to support@activeworlds.com with details of your problem and the world you are having trouble with for additional help.

Worlds/Sites We Recommend This Month

Check out these really cool places in the AW Universe :)

Atlantis, one of the really cool AWCOM public building worlds!
http://objects.activeworlds.com/cgi-bin/teleport.cgi?atlantis

Virtualia, Lucio's Cy Award winning virtual wonderland.
http://objects.activeworlds.com/cgi-bin/teleport.cgi?virtualy

Dantah's Gallery. (aw 20989.6n 15997.8w)
http://objects.activeworlds.com/cgi-bin/teleport.cgi?aw_20989.6n_15997.8w

Zodina's Riddle Castle, Mauz's Historical Recommendation of the Month. (aw 33n 650e 90)
http://objects.activeworlds.com/cgi-bin/teleport.cgi?aw_33n_650e_90


Community Events


From the AWEC Calendar

http://www.awcommunity.org/awec
November 1999 Events

November 1st, 5:15AM VRT METATROPOLIS city-map release-party (cofmeta)
http://objects.activeworlds.com/cgi-bin/teleport.cgi?cofmeta

November 6th, 8:00PM VRT Opening AWSpades (awspades)
http://objects.activeworlds.com/cgi-bin/teleport.cgi?awspades

November 7th, 1:30AM VRT Opening Of Sefron City (AW 54.2N 7689.5W)
http://objects.activeworlds.com/cgi-bin/teleport.cgi?AW_54.2N_7689.5W

November 13th, 8:00PM VRT AWGames 1 year anniversary (AWGames)
http://objects.activeworlds.com/cgi-bin/teleport.cgi?AWGames

November 13th, 11:00PM VRT ZGV's New Art/Artist Exhibition (cofmeta 1000N 30E 180)
http://objects.activeworlds.com/cgi-bin/teleport.cgi?cofmeta_1000N_30E_180

November 13th, 11:59PM VRT PARTY (NsideOut)
http://objects.activeworlds.com/cgi-bin/teleport.cgi?NsideOut

November 14th, 6:00PM VRT Community Show Off (AWCC 26s 2e 240)
http://objects.activeworlds.com/cgi-bin/teleport.cgi?AWCC_26S_2E_240

November 20th, 7:00PM VRT AWEC's Trivia Contest (AWCC 14.6n 20.5e)
http://objects.activeworlds.com/cgi-bin/teleport.cgi?AWCC_14.6N_20.5E

November 26th, 7:00PM VRT Fantasy Land Open House (AW 6928N 7056E)
http://objects.activeworlds.com/cgi-bin/teleport.cgi?AW_6928N_7056E

To let the community know about your upcoming event, please submit the registration form on the Active Worlds Event Committee's web page.
http://www.awcommunity.org/awec

Regular Events
Active Worlds University Classes in Building, Graphic Arts, RWX Modeling, and AW Technologies
http://objects.activeworlds.com/cgi-bin/teleport.cgi?AWUniv

A'tuin Treasure Hunt
http://objects.activeworlds.com/cgi-bin/teleport.cgi?A'tuin

Prayer Meeting, Sundays midnight VRT in Christian
http://objects.activeworlds.com/cgi-bin/teleport.cgi?Chrstian

Astrology & Relationships discussion, Mondays 1:00AM VRT in A1stLove
http://objects.activeworlds.com/cgi-bin/teleport.cgi?A1stLove

Bible Study, Thursdays midnight VRT in Christian
http://objects.activeworlds.com/cgi-bin/teleport.cgi?Chrstian

Bingo in AWBingo, every Wednesday night
http://objects.activeworlds.com/cgi-bin/teleport.cgi?AWBingo

"Tech Talk" with Active Worlds lead developer Roland Vilett, Fridays at 8PM VRT, in AWUniv
http://objects.activeworlds.com/cgi-bin/teleport.cgi?AWUniv_32N_32W


News From The Active Worlds Community


AW Community Register's Show-Off Takes on New Format!

(courtesy of phalaphe)

Just when you though that the Community Show Off couldn't get any better... It did! This month we are happy to announce a new part to the Show Off called the Discussions Section. Each Month a topic will be presented... then we will talk about it. Topics are fun and exciting like: What would you do if you had AWLD's password for a day?

Discussions at the show off are better than in email discussion groups, you get your voice heard immediately, and you get feedback soon after :)

Also if you have a topic you want to be said at a show off, you can email the suggestion to: phalaphe@softhome.net (there is also a mailbox outside of the AWComReg theatre in awcc.) -hope to see you all there ;)

To find out more about the AW Community Register, please visit their site!
http://www.awcommunity.org/awcomreg

AWEC Mystery Tour

(courtesy of AWEC)

AWEC will be having another Mystery Tour sometime in December, and we are looking for submissions! If you know of a neat place that you think people would like to visit, or an out-of-the-way location that is really cool, we'd like to hear from you! Please submit at the following URL:

http://www.awcommunity.org/awec/mystery.html

Get To Know Your Neighbours

We think it would be great if everyone got a chance to get to know some of the volunteers in the community, and to find out why they love AW so much. This month we're highlighting the Gatekeeper of the Month, M I L O! If there's a volunteer you'd like to see us highlight, let us know!
newsletter@activeworlds.com

Meet M I L O!

I live in London, England and am married - and we have a 16-month-old daughter. In real life I am a Civil Engineer and spend most of my time designing new road schemes and dealing with members of the public.

I found AW after learning to use a search engine, typed in 3D virtual worlds, (after a program I saw on television), and here I am. Best thing I like about AW is meeting new people from all over the world, the sense of community spirit, and helping newcomers. Chose my Nickname after the name of my dog, a German Shepherd that absolutely hates Active Worlds :) (takes me away from him). And unlike the chocolate drink (grrrr had all the jokes), is the name of an Ancient Greek Warrior.:)

Apart from that, I luv puters, techno stuff, animals (have the dog, cats, budgerigars, a tropical tank and a Marine Reef Tank. (Always wanted to be a Vet). I enjoy camping, drinking, socializing, playing with my daughter and oh yeah, also riding my bike just for the fun of it. Own a Triumph 900cc road rocket superbike and regularly reach speeds of 160 m.p.h on the way to work (mainly because I am late, having stayed up in AW all night). :)

So, if the wife doesn't divorce me, telephone company cut me off, or I kill myself on the bike, should be in AW for ages to come hehe :)

Well if anyone reads this, good luck to 'em LOL and {{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{HUGS}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}

Awcommunity.org Seeks WebMaster/Mistress

The awcommunity.org, home to many of the AW's community groups like AWEC, AWHS, AWS, AWUniv, AWComReg, Object d'Activeworlds and more is looking for a new volunteer webmaster/mistress. If you're good with HTML and graphics, and think you've got time to donate to this community resource then we've got a job for you!

Applicants are asked to submit a sample of their web work to awcc@awcommunity.org.

To find out more about the AWCommunity.org web site and the groups housed there, visit
http://www.awcommunity.org

Getting Ready For New Years?

Oh, it is getting close isn't it? We've heard rumors about parties and events being planned all over the AW Universe! One of the keys to having a successful event is to make sure you get the word out, and you're listed on the OFFICIAL AW Y2K PARTY LIST!

So, make sure to head over to the AWEC site, the official event coordinators for the AW Universe, and let them know what you've got planned!

http://www.awcommunity.org/awec/

The New Millennium.....What Do You Imagine A GZ Of The 21st Century Should Look Like?

As the new millennium approaches, AWUniv and AWSchool are joining forces to sponsor a cool new contest! Contestants will build their vision of the next generation of a GZ. Will it be futuristic? A wasteland? Brick and mortar or steel and chrome? You tell us!

The Contest will run from November 15- December 15, and the winner will be announced on December 31st. First prize is a PS 8XE world!

To register email

contest@awcommunity.org

by November 15!

Wanna Go Virtual Camping with !Funcamp ?

(courtesy of FunCamper)

You can sign up at

http://members.xoom.com/aw2007/vrcamping.htm

The deadline ends November 30, 1999 - so sign up while you can.

Also on the URL given above has a list of events that this camp has to offer! The times on the pages are not known at this time 'till sign up if finished. So, sign up and join us in this fun Virtual Camping.

Telling Tales About Tales Told

(courtesy of Daphne)

The Horror Tales events in AW and Oct31 over the Halloween weekend were great fun!!! If you missed it, here's your chance to hear the horrifyingly wonderful tales that were told by ActiveWorlds users!!! Visit

http://www.fortunecity.com/westwood/sketch/941/halloween99/index.html

but be sure to leave the lights on!!!

Gotta Problem? Call A Peacekeeper!

If, while you are travelling in AW, you find yourself in distress don't hesitate to call upon the Peacekeepers for aide! The Peacekeepers are community volunteers who are available to help you with issues pertaining to harassment and vandalism, or any other troublesome situation. They are a great resource for conflict resolution and mediation! To find out more about the Peacekeepers, please visit their web site at
http://www.peacekeeper.net
or email them at
peacekeeper@activeworlds.com.

We Wanna Hear From You!

If you would like to write an article for the newsletter or have a project you would like to share with the community through this newsletter, please contact us (newsletter@activeworlds.com) to find out more about participating.


Help/Contact Information


Need Help With AW?

http://www.activeworlds.com/help
support@activeworlds.com

Wanna Take Building Lessons?

Beginners - AWSchool
http://objects.activeworlds.com/cgi-bin/teleport.cgi?awschool
Intermediate/Advanced - AWUniv
http://objects.activeworlds.com/cgi-bin/teleport.cgi?awuniv
Clase de Construcción en Español - Spanish
http://objects.activeworlds.com/cgi-bin/teleport.cgi?spanish
Missing Pieces?
If you can't find the object you need to finish your project, then try one of the many building yards other community members have created! Teleports courtesy of The Real Pops (AW 8985S 187W).
http://objects.activeworlds.com/cgi-bin/teleport.cgi?aw_8985s_187w
AW Object Picture Library
http://members.xoom.com/alphaworld/

Community Resources

Web Sites
The Official Active Worlds Web Site
http://www.activeworlds.com

The Active Worlds Web Ring
http://www.activeworlds.com/awwr

The Active Worlds Community Pages
http://www.awcommunity.org

The Active Worlds Yellow Pages
http://www.8day.com/awyp/default.asp

Active Search
http://www.horrorhorizon.net/search/

Ring of Chaos
http://www.aamie.com/roc/index.html

Newsgroups
AWCommunity
news://news.activeworlds.com/awcommunity

Bots
news://news.activeworlds.com/bots

SDK
news://news.activeworlds.com/sdk

WorldBuilders
news://news.activeworlds.com/worldbuilders

The Wishlist
news://news.activeworlds.com/wishlist

AW Contact Information

Activeworlds.com, Inc.
cof@activeworlds.com

Billing Questions
billing@activeworlds.com

Technical Support
support@activeworlds.com

Community Coordinator
community@activeworlds.com

Newsletter
newsletter@activeworlds.com

@mart
amart@activeworlds.com

Active Worlds Commitment To Education Program
edu@activeworlds.com

Gate Keepers
http://www.activeworlds.com/gks
gatekeepers@activeworlds.com
The Gate Keepers are citizens of Active Worlds who have decided to devote an amount of their own time to helping new users of the system to get used to the software, the environment, and the culture of ActiveWorlds.

Peacekeepers
http://www.peacekeeper.net
peacekeeper@activeworlds.com
The Peacekeepers are citizens of Active Worlds who have volunteered to devote time to aiding new users and assisting all users in disputes and try to prevent harassment of any user by others regardless of the form, be it verbal abuse and harassment, racism or vandalism.

SMILE : ) AWCOM  LOVES YOU!



The staff at Activeworlds.com, Inc.
http://www.activeworlds.com
cof@activeworlds.com