In the future, science doesn't need to have a purpose -- it just has to look cool. That's my guiding principle in this latest retrofuturistic rebuild of Abbotts Aerodrome. That and rings. In the future, everything has rings!

Here are some snapshots of the progress so far.

The tower, under construction. Unlike real life, in SL you can build towers from the top down.


A view of Abbotts Aerodrome, looking northeast. The hangars will soon be rebuilt as well.


A closer view of the tower, looking southwest. For scale, you can see that there there's a person standing on the walkway. The central structure is a little more than 100 meters in diameter, not including the walkways.


When you teleport to Abbotts, you arrive in this central plaza, located on the hilltop.


Inside the Research and Development building, there is a fine example of science that looks great, but has no purpose. Witness: THE SPINNING THINGS. I have no idea what they do, but boy do they look dangerous. If you can get past those, you can take the elevator a few hundred meters up to the R & D labs.

Starting this week, we are taking sledgehammers and wrecking balls to Abbotts Aerodrome. The current plan is to move all aircraft displays, demos, and sales to the south side of Abbotts, next to the runway. All of our aircraft will be arranged by type, rather than by aircraft maker.

Sadly, this means the end of the Cubey Terra shop, which has stood on that spot -- or hovered over it -- since early 2004. Everything in the shop will eventually relocate to other parts of Abbotts Aerodrome. On the tarmac, you'll find my aircraft. Under the tarmac, in an enclosed dock, you'll find the submersibles.

Arrekusu Muromachi, Cubey Terra, and Shady Fox discuss the model.

At the centre of Abbotts will be the main attraction: a gigantic tower, topped with a large dome. That level -- the promenade -- will include the skydiving centre, the flight shop (clothing, gadgets, and freebies), Terrabucks Coffee, and a stage. Extending outward from the dome are four spoke-like walkways that lead to pads for: a skydiving pod, the airship, a helicopter, and a hot air balloon.

On lower levels are the arrival/departures, and gates to the tarmac.

I personally am very excited at the change, despite the loss of my shop. These changes will solve some of the organizational and layout problems of Abbotts Aerodrome, and should be visually quite stunning.

The schedule so far:

• Fri Oct 27 - All aircraft are on the tarmac beside the runway.
  
• Fri Nov 3 - Existing shops are removed and construction of the tower begins.
  
• Fri Nov 10 - I keel over from the effort.

I've decided to walk from the Ahern Welcome area to the Waterhead Welcome Area. Walk starts at 10:00am today in Ahern. No running. No flying. No vehicles. No teleporting. No lollygagging.

The week's big news is that Reuters spilled the beans. Thanks to their new Second Life News Center the entire world knows about Second Life. Orientation Islands are neck-deep in new arrivals, the peak daily usage has jumped to over 12,000, and Infohubs are overrun with newbie avatars.

The other day, I heard a CBC radio interview with Adam Pasick -- the new Reuters bureau chief for Second Life. He's quite articulate, and seems to have a strong understanding of what Second Life is all about -- that it is not a game. The CBC interviewer, sadly, completely failed to grasp the concept of a shared virtual online environment, and repeatedly referred to it as "fictional", and suggested that any news about the Second Life world would be like writing a movie script.

Here's a tip to anyone in the news media: Second Life lets real people interact as real people in a virtual environment. Events in Second Life are as real as anything on the Web, for example. You might as well claim that Amazon.com isn't real.

I suppose that, like any new technology, it may take several years for it to gain general acceptance. Until then, it will be a curiosity on the news websites. (But then, maybe news websites aren't even real either?)

Second Life also hit the Yahoo.com home page with a Yahoo Tech article, which sent another surge of sign-ups our way. Other mentions of SL in the media include Wired.com, as well a host of regional and local newspapers. Sadly, most of the comments on the Yahoo page are things to the effect of "get a real life, you fat losers". However, most who make those comments don't know anything about SL beyond the one Yahoo article, and even then they failed to comprehend what they were reading.

Be sure to visit an Infohub to say hello to our new residents. If they want go skydiving, send them to Abbotts. Fat losers are welcome.

Excited yet? No? I was sure that headline would work. Here's the part of my blog where I tell everyone about what's new and upcoming. That used to be a regular part of the blog -- once every few weeks I'd post about my latest aircraft or gadget.

Over the last couple of months, however, I've been less than productive. If I were to blame something, I suppose I'd blame a combination of my job (I'll talk about that another day, I guess) and a top secret project in the works.

The top secret project is fabulous, really. I can't tell you what it is yet, but there's nothing like it in SL yet. So you'll have to take my word for it that it's truly nifty. It also suffers from feature bloat. As Reitsuki and I collaborated on its design, we kept adding to our wish list of cool features, and before too long, it became so complex that -- to be totally honest -- I don't know how I'm going to finish it. But finish it, I will. Eventually.

For now it's on hold so that I can finish up a couple of other ideas. Like the one just released last week -- the Terra Wind Rider hot air balloon.

In SL, each region has its own ever-changing simulated wind. It blows in eddies, currents, breezes, and gales. The Wind Rider is designed to drift with that wind, just like a real hot air balloon. You control the burner and air vents to adjust your altitude, and the wind takes you were it will. You can, if you want, override the wind and set your own course.

So that one's finished. You can find it at my shop or on the web shops, SL Exchange and SL Boutique.

Next up, I'm working on the next generation sport parachute. It should have better animation and effects, as well as some surprise new features. I also plan to create a trimmed-down, less expensive version of it that's more affordable to new residents. So keep your eye on the Skydiving Center in Abbotts for that one.

After that? Well, maybe I'll return to work on the top secret project. Or maybe I'll think of something else. Like an aardvark jet. Or a pancake jet pack. Or something.