Hawkshead region: an interesting past, apparently long abandoned

[Sayumi Tsunenaga]

This won't be of interest to most people, but if it is and you have anything to add by way of further information, I would love you to post in reply.

Location:

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Hawkshead/81/139/29

HAWKSHEAD AND NEIGHBOURING REGIONS - THE CONTEXT:

After touring around and analysing what I found here, it seems the whole region was planned about 15 years ago as a Japanese Linden village + learning area.  There seems to be no private land in the region, and it is divided into various parcels named for various subdivisions of a Linden village.  Some of the parcels are designated as 'available' or 'open' which implies that maybe at one time they were to be made available, I would say, to planned Japanese Linden staff.  The dates of the parcels seem to range from 2006 to 2010, so this seems to have been a project spanning several years, although it was never taken past the embryonic stage.

This region is just a little to the south-east of a whole chain of 'Linden Village' regions, stretching from Cirano in the north, through to Havenhurst and even Grasmere has some Linden Village parcels.  In these regions the various parcels are often owned by various Lindens, and I wonder if the plan for Hawkshead was for Japanese Lindens to base themselves there as well as providing a learning area for Japanese SL citizens.  (Just to the NW there are three regions called Help Islands and Orientation Island, so having a Japanese-specific hybrid learning area and Linden home bases would make some sense).

However, whatever the plans were, it seems that by around 2010 it had all been abandoned and left more or less as it is now - a whole region memorialising what might have been but never was.  It is also worth noting that Satori continent was built in 2007 as a specifically Japanese continent, so this intended Japanese development in Sansara would seem to have been something of an anomaly and almost destined for oblivion - unless it was intended that Japanese Lindens in association with Japanese new residents would use it as a base from which to then venture off to Satori.

THE VARNISH LANDS AND THE MICHAEL LINDEN BUILDING:

An anomaly is found in a parcel along the western edge of Hawkshead region before broadening into a larger area at the SW corner, in a parcel enigmatically named 'Varnish', and which dates back to 2004.  This name is also applied to adjacent land in nearby Grasmere and Borrowdale regions, all also from 2004, and containing a building placed at the intersection of four regions by the now-deleted Michael Linden 
( secondlife:///app/agent/08779971-74fa-47ea-af19-5bd3eac311c0/about )
who was once the head Mole, and also by Jesse Linden (secondlife:///app/agent/6bf041e8-d6ef-4c8a-a518-7269a18d878b/about )
whose name is applied to some components of the building

The fourth region in which this building lies is Waterhead, and the parcel on which it stands in that region is part of the Waterhead Welcome Area 

HAWKSHEAD'S JAPANESE BRIDGE AND LEARNING AREA:

The Japanese bridge is a focal point of the Hawkshead region, and contains several boards with tutorial information in Japanese.  It seems to be unfinished though, as the boards cease partway across the bridge.  The bridge and boards were created by Michael Linden, and maybe his departure from SL is somehow connected with the incompleteness of the project.

Although the tutorial boards are written in Japanese, an English version can be obtained in a notecard if you click the board.  They teach a few basic movement and viewing techniques in SL, and I am ashamed to admit that after 13 years in SL, there was one of them I did not know previously!

In the middle of the bridge is an interesting marble stone object which is worth sitting on just for the experience.  It plays and annoying tune.  (To get the full effect you MAY need to press ESC after sitting...  but sometimes you don't)

On the far side of the bridge is a parcel named 'Japanese Resident Learning Center', ('Resident' is misspelled, apart from on a small sub-parcel inside it which has the correct spelling) and which contains just a few items, mostly created by a Japanese Linden named Chiyo Linden, who has long been deleted but whose profile may be found at:
secondlife:///app/agent/aa25e1e7-9770-44e1-bb00-c94c2ab05d27/about
(As an aside, it is very interesting to read Chiyo Linden's Picks - it seems that some of them address concerns experienced by all members of the LL team at that time, and they form quite an interesting historical snapshot!)

The objects created by Chiyo Linden are, interestingly, actually owned by Governor Linden, so it almost seems as if they have been placed there as a memorial of the now-long-ended attempt to create a Japanese region here in Sansara.  The objects include:

> a table on the ground at the eastern edge of the parcel

> a 'public microphone' at the western edge, with a Japanese superscript, which was in this case was created by the now-deleted Socrates Linden ( secondlife:///app/agent/916b6021-5ba1-4903-a14c-97d5d10e1296/about ) but owned by Chiyo Linden before being passed on to Governor Linden 

> a vertical wooden post

> a sky platform in the shape of snowy clouds at 300m altitude towards the west side of this parcel (the parcel has a landing point, so you have to fly up to see this), which also includes some Japanese tatami mats, a short video clip playing on a curved screen, and most notably a small white bear wearing a sumo loincloth and called 'Chiyo Linden's Sumo Bear v3.0 SN#0000' (one of the few items on the parcel not called, simply, 'Object', and at 19 prims accounting for nearly half of all the prims on the parcel)

CONCLUSION:

If anyone can enlighten me on any of the history of this region, about how it tied in to the whole picture of the Japanese presence in SL, and about its abandonment, and also the Michael Linden building across the four regions, or about any of the now-deleted Lindens, please comment by replying to my post.

This is what can happen when you start to look at places in SL in too much detail *giggle*

By the way, when exploring lands like this, it can be helpful if your minimap displays parcel boundaries - right click on the minimap and select Show > Property Lines!

[Feorie Frimon]

I’ll post this on my Twitter - I have some pretty involved Japanese friends that may know more!

[Abnor Mole]

Chiyo Linden was a liaison for the lab who worked a lot with Japanese residents. That area was her Linden Village parcel and she would hold office hours there for Japanese speaking residents. She (and the area she built) were lost in the 2010 restructuring of the company when the overseas offices were closed and 30% of the Lindens were let go. 

[Aethelwine]

Fascinating, I had always wondered what the history was. 

[Sayumi Tsunenaga]

8 hours ago, Feorie Frimon said:

I’ll post this on my Twitter - I have some pretty involved Japanese friends that may know more!

Thank you so much @Feorie Frimon- it will be interesting to hear any details they may know!

 

7 hours ago, Abnor Mole said:

Chiyo Linden was a liaison for the lab who worked a lot with Japanese residents. That area was her Linden Village parcel and she would hold office hours there for Japanese speaking residents. She (and the area she built) were lost in the 2010 restructuring of the company when the overseas offices were closed and 30% of the Lindens were let go. 

Thank you for all that background @Abnor Mole- that is exactly the kind of inside information that I was hoping would fill in some blanks.  It seems that my estimate of 2010 as the time when it all stopped was fairly spot on (based only on the most recent parcel creations, really).  It really is interesting that Governor Linden saw fit to set out some of Chiyo's creations, presumably after her departure...  I can only imagine, to create some kind of memorial of what had been there.

I don't suppose you know anything about the Varnish lands across the three parcels, and the Michael Linden building, which seems to be set up as a club with music gear, and a lounge area on the upstairs mezzanine?

Of special interest on that mezzanine area are three very old objects, dating to around the time the public beta started in late 2002:

• A potted plant created by Alberto Linden ( secondlife:///app/agent/3d986d15-3bdb-42e4-56a5-aa020a548a45/about ) on Oct 17, 2002
• A framed picture created by newbietemplate Linden ( secondlife:///app/agent/d929385f-41e3-4a34-a04e-f1fc39f24f12/about ) on December 16, 2002
• A small stack of books created by Eric Linden ( secondlife:///app/agent/a2e76fcd-9360-4f6d-a924-000000000006/about ) on October 14, 2002

None of these Lindens any longer exist, so their profiles can only be accessed from Edit profiles of objects they created, or by using the URI links I have provided, entered into local chat.

[Prokofy Neva]

On 1/28/2022 at 10:43 AM, Sayumi Tsunenaga said:

This won't be of interest to most people, but if it is and you have anything to add by way of further information, I would love you to post in reply.

Location:

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Hawkshead/81/139/29

HAWKSHEAD AND NEIGHBOURING REGIONS - THE CONTEXT:

After touring around and analysing what I found here, it seems the whole region was planned about 15 years ago as a Japanese Linden village + learning area.  There seems to be no private land in the region, and it is divided into various parcels named for various subdivisions of a Linden village.  Some of the parcels are designated as 'available' or 'open' which implies that maybe at one time they were to be made available, I would say, to planned Japanese Linden staff.  The dates of the parcels seem to range from 2006 to 2010, so this seems to have been a project spanning several years, although it was never taken past the embryonic stage.

This region is just a little to the south-east of a whole chain of 'Linden Village' regions, stretching from Cirano in the north, through to Havenhurst and even Grasmere has some Linden Village parcels.  In these regions the various parcels are often owned by various Lindens, and I wonder if the plan for Hawkshead was for Japanese Lindens to base themselves there as well as providing a learning area for Japanese SL citizens.  (Just to the NW there are three regions called Help Islands and Orientation Island, so having a Japanese-specific hybrid learning area and Linden home bases would make some sense).

However, whatever the plans were, it seems that by around 2010 it had all been abandoned and left more or less as it is now - a whole region memorialising what might have been but never was.  It is also worth noting that Satori continent was built in 2007 as a specifically Japanese continent, so this intended Japanese development in Sansara would seem to have been something of an anomaly and almost destined for oblivion - unless it was intended that Japanese Lindens in association with Japanese new residents would use it as a base from which to then venture off to Satori.

THE VARNISH LANDS AND THE MICHAEL LINDEN BUILDING:

An anomaly is found in a parcel along the western edge of Hawkshead region before broadening into a larger area at the SW corner, in a parcel enigmatically named 'Varnish', and which dates back to 2004.  This name is also applied to adjacent land in nearby Grasmere and Borrowdale regions, all also from 2004, and containing a building placed at the intersection of four regions by the now-deleted Michael Linden 
( secondlife:///app/agent/08779971-74fa-47ea-af19-5bd3eac311c0/about )
who was once the head Mole, and also by Jesse Linden (secondlife:///app/agent/6bf041e8-d6ef-4c8a-a518-7269a18d878b/about )
whose name is applied to some components of the building

The fourth region in which this building lies is Waterhead, and the parcel on which it stands in that region is part of the Waterhead Welcome Area 

HAWKSHEAD'S JAPANESE BRIDGE AND LEARNING AREA:

The Japanese bridge is a focal point of the Hawkshead region, and contains several boards with tutorial information in Japanese.  It seems to be unfinished though, as the boards cease partway across the bridge.  The bridge and boards were created by Michael Linden, and maybe his departure from SL is somehow connected with the incompleteness of the project.

Although the tutorial boards are written in Japanese, an English version can be obtained in a notecard if you click the board.  They teach a few basic movement and viewing techniques in SL, and I am ashamed to admit that after 13 years in SL, there was one of them I did not know previously!

In the middle of the bridge is an interesting marble stone object which is worth sitting on just for the experience.  It plays and annoying tune.  (To get the full effect you MAY need to press ESC after sitting...  but sometimes you don't)

On the far side of the bridge is a parcel named 'Japanese Resident Learning Center', ('Resident' is misspelled, apart from on a small sub-parcel inside it which has the correct spelling) and which contains just a few items, mostly created by a Japanese Linden named Chiyo Linden, who has long been deleted but whose profile may be found at:
secondlife:///app/agent/aa25e1e7-9770-44e1-bb00-c94c2ab05d27/about
(As an aside, it is very interesting to read Chiyo Linden's Picks - it seems that some of them address concerns experienced by all members of the LL team at that time, and they form quite an interesting historical snapshot!)

The objects created by Chiyo Linden are, interestingly, actually owned by Governor Linden, so it almost seems as if they have been placed there as a memorial of the now-long-ended attempt to create a Japanese region here in Sansara.  The objects include:

> a table on the ground at the eastern edge of the parcel

> a 'public microphone' at the western edge, with a Japanese superscript, which was in this case was created by the now-deleted Socrates Linden ( secondlife:///app/agent/916b6021-5ba1-4903-a14c-97d5d10e1296/about ) but owned by Chiyo Linden before being passed on to Governor Linden 

> a vertical wooden post

> a sky platform in the shape of snowy clouds at 300m altitude towards the west side of this parcel (the parcel has a landing point, so you have to fly up to see this), which also includes some Japanese tatami mats, a short video clip playing on a curved screen, and most notably a small white bear wearing a sumo loincloth and called 'Chiyo Linden's Sumo Bear v3.0 SN#0000' (one of the few items on the parcel not called, simply, 'Object', and at 19 prims accounting for nearly half of all the prims on the parcel)

CONCLUSION:

If anyone can enlighten me on any of the history of this region, about how it tied in to the whole picture of the Japanese presence in SL, and about its abandonment, and also the Michael Linden building across the four regions, or about any of the now-deleted Lindens, please comment by replying to my post.

This is what can happen when you start to look at places in SL in too much detail *giggle*

By the way, when exploring lands like this, it can be helpful if your minimap displays parcel boundaries - right click on the minimap and select Show > Property Lines!

I can't add much to what is already said here except to say I remember all those Lindens, and back in the day, there was Live Help inworld, where they would answer in real time (there weren't as many residents of course) and so you got to know them. Michael Linden was not only head of the Moles, but was in charge of Governance at one time and would hold office-hours, where he was very helpful -- the Lindens no longer will hold Governance office hours sadly. There are other projects of Michael's stopped midway like a branch of the SLRR railroad in Juanita/Grote (which I actually opposed because it meant ruining the view, and there was other abandoned land nearby that could be used without using that particular old Linden Right of Way (still unused) and the former resident railroad WARR there. 

If I'm not mistaken, the Varnish building was a club where events were held, for example, Concierge parties, back when the Lindens regularly scheduled parties for Concierge level customers. And this actually solves a mystery for me because for a time I thought these parties were held on the sim Varney, which made no sense. But now I'm pretty sure the deal was that they were at the Club Varnish. Others might remember. There was a four-corner sim arrangement there so that way you could maximize the number of avatars to 160 or 176 or whatever. I remember once going to a Concierge party and dancing with Lee Linden. I was intrigued with your reference to the books by Eric Linden, and was hoping they'd be copyiable but they aren't, possibly due to copyright issues (they are covers of RL books). It's like that lost Mole book case that goes with a premium room set which isn't in the Mole Mart but which you can see in some Mole builds.

There was a glorious era of Japanese residents, from which I still have souvenirs but as explained, the Lindens rolled back their international offices and plans when they scaled back after the big business surge of 2006-2007. There is still an impressive Japanese presence in SL as you can see particularly from various merchant events and still-existing communities including for newbies. The idea of making certain sims represent some kind of continent or culture of RL never took off anywhere, it seems to me, they were too big and dispersed and not done systematically and thoroughly, it was more like a few brushstrokes and then residents could take it further. 

Alberto Linden is also the author of the very stylish Corbusier Sofa which is really the stand-out item from the old Linden library. It didn't have animations but if you want a copy, I convexed it and put in a sitting animation. He is also the author of some of the flowers, the hovertext script, the hotel restaurant chair (another rare) and more. Some of it is still in the Library, some not.

Also you can see a Beuy's oak which was a virtual version of the RL project in the parcel next to this.

Edited January 30, 2022 by Prokofy Neva

[Sayumi Tsunenaga]

15 hours ago, Prokofy Neva said:

I can't add much to what is already said here except to say...

Hee hee, and then you go on to add a zillion fascinating expansions of some of the things I mentioned, @Prokofy Neva- wow, thank you SO much, all of that really brings it all to life, such as the Club Varnish and why it covers four regions, and all kinds of details about some of the furniture, Mole builds etc...  I just love what the Moles do all over SL, but I didn't know about any library or Mole Mart (apart from, I did discover some sort of Mole outlet up in eastern Heterocera with just a few L$0 items available)...   so any information or shares will be hugely appreciated!

15 hours ago, Prokofy Neva said:

There is still an impressive Japanese presence in SL...

I am not Japanese myself, despite my name, but I guess I am rather a 'weeb' so I do love to explore the Japanese lands and builds.  As a frequent traveller to Japan (until recent events have stopped that) I love the creative details the Japanese creators put into their builds, they are so faithful to the real thing that actually, exploring in SL can in a small way substitute for travels in Japan.

Thank you for such a huge amount of details which follows your self-deprecating but wholly inaccurate "...can't add much..."  🥰