@BBIAANCS BLOG

Hello there! Welcome to my blog.

Today I explored Amsterdam Netherlands and New York in Second Life. I lived in the Netherlands for my Erasmus studies in first semester and wanted to see how it’d look virtually. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the setting is quite close to in real life. The architecture is quite accurate but the scale is off which gave quite an eery feeling. I purchased a bike and cycled around the city and stumbled across the ‘Red Light District’ which is an area of a town or city containing many brothels, strip clubs, and other businesses. I was shocked to see that Second Life explores mature themes. To even visit certain locations I had to change my avatars’ personal settings to allow myself to enter without any restrictions. I was really curious to see if the Netherlands would be realistic with the coffeeshops ans brothels.

 The area was bustling with active trams, cyclists and I was pleasantly surprised by the audio work that went into this server. I heard the glisening waves of the rivers and city birds chirping every corner.  I compare the virtual space with a photograph I took in Amsterdam and saw that the virtual one is much more imaginative and magical. The river had mutliple hues of colours, lily pads and plants and glowing lights. Compared to the real setting which is quite dull.

 The second location I visited was New York. In this world, it was much more game focused where you could pick where to go in the sever when you spawn. I walked around and saw another player and decided to sit next to them. They went by ‘Zenie.’ They have been playing for a year and a half and considered themself to be ‘new’ in the game. Despite this, I learned a lot about how some of communities work in the game. They opened up to me about their anxiety and that they socialise mostly on this game now. Zenie also opened up about not having self confidence in their appearance and about having a deep stutter voice and that they were much more comfortable about talking virtually. They also use VR headsets. Zenie also taught me about renting spaces in Second Life which really shocked me. I could not comprehend how someone could rent an area but then it made sense to me as they explained how some people want to have their personalised home for privacy and to build on. 

Presentation

My role : I was in the red team for the presentations on Second Life. My role was the lead builder and to edit the slide presentation. I feel that I did a lot of work for the team and played as a leader alongside our assigned leader Eren (Goblinzz). Our theme was Sustainability of the Earth. Our concept was for each member of our team to do a short presentation on their own personal interest regarding the sustainability of the earth. I helped assign these topics to the members who didn’t have any idea in mind.

I decided to have my topic on ‘Rainwater Planters.’ I chose this topic because I have worked on some campaign pitches for a client in Phibsboro who wanted to spread awareness of the rainwater planter and implement them into more peoples’ homes.

Red Team Presentation & Prepared Speech

Hi, I’m Bianca and I will discuss the implementation of ‘Rainwater Planters’ into our homes to help benefit the sustainability of the earth.

Ireland faces many environmental challenges, including:

1) poor water quality in our rivers, streams, lakes and beaches

2) loss of biodiversity, habitat and ecology as a result of urban development

3) climate change.

We all need to take steps to help improve our environment so that we and our communities can support and enhance nature and live healthier lives. We need good water quality for diverse and rich water habitats.

Good water quality is also essential for

1) enriched biodiversity

2) increased climate and flood resilience

3) improved public amenity features such as park lakes.

Rainwater planters slow the flow of rainfall from the roof to the drainage system. The soils and vegetation in the planter can remove pollutants by filtering the water. Otherwise, these pollutants might end up in your local river, stream, lake or beach. 

Typically, water soaks into the soil in the planter. During heavy rainfall, excess water will pond in the planter, which can overflow to one of two locations:

1) an existing gully

2) onwards to another rainwater structure,  like a garden pond.

1) IMPROVE URBAN FLOODING

Rainwater planters help improve urban flooding by capturing and storing rainwater, reducing the amount of runoff that overwhelms drainage systems. These planters act as natural reservoirs, absorbing and slowly releasing water, allowing it to be naturally filtered and recharged into the ground. This mitigates flooding and helps manage storm water in urban areas.

2) IMPROVE BIODIVERSITY

Rainwater planters improve biodiversity by providing a habitat for a diverse range of plant species. These plants attract insects, birds, and other animals, creating a thriving ecosystem. Additionally, rainwater planters reduce the need for chemical fertilizers and pesticides, promoting a healthier environment and supporting a wider array of species.

3) IMPROVE COLOUR VEGETATION

Rainwater planters help to improve colour vegetation by providing plants with a consistent supply of water. This helps to prevent wilting and stress, which can cause leaves to lose their colour. Additionally, rainwater is often free of the chemicals found in municipal water supplies, which can help plants to grow more vibrantly and maintain their natural colours.

MATERIALS 

Timber Stainless Steel

Wood Screws

Timber Battens

Timber Battens

Liner

Gravel

Topsoil

Sand

Downpipe Rainwater Diverter Kit 

Coring Drill Bit

Staining

90 degree pipe

Plastic pipe

Hose pipe

Hose connector

Otherwise, you may purchase some online.

MAKING ONE

Creating a rainwater planter is a simple and effective way to conserve water and nurture plants. Start by obtaining a large container with drainage holes. Place it in a desired location and connect a rainwater collection system, such as a gutter or downspout. When it rains, the container will collect water, which can then be used to water your plants, promoting sustainability and reducing water wastage.

Ciara will now explain the next topic.

While working on the group project, I felt a lot of frustration. The other teammates did not contribute enough. I found myself building and purchasing items for almost everyones builds. I had to build the classroom and find multiple houses on the market for peoples’ builds who only joined last minute. On the last day of presenting, I found myself having to teach the members how to build or even what to build. I helped with researching, reorganising their presentations and assigning people with tasks. Myself and Eren attended all of our scheduled meetings whilst everyone else joined only once of all of them which is roughly 4. I made the postcard, presentation and was the main builder of the project. Nonetheless, I’m satsified with the end result and the build. It was very fun building but not so fun when the team isn’t contributing enough to a group graded project.

Hello there! Welcome to my blog.

Today I explored Amsterdam Netherlands and New York in Second Life. I lived in the Netherlands for my Erasmus studies in first semester and wanted to see how it’d look virtually. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the setting is quite close to in real life. The architecture is quite accurate but the scale is off which gave quite an eery feeling. I purchased a bike and cycled around the city and stumbled across the ‘Red Light District’ which is an area of a town or city containing many brothels, strip clubs, and other businesses. I was shocked to see that Second Life explores mature themes. To even visit certain locations I had to change my avatars’ personal settings to allow myself to enter without any restrictions. I was really curious to see if the Netherlands would be realistic with the coffeeshops ans brothels.

 The area was bustling with active trams, cyclists and I was pleasantly surprised by the audio work that went into this server. I heard the glisening waves of the rivers and city birds chirping every corner.  I compare the virtual space with a photograph I took in Amsterdam and saw that the virtual one is much more imaginative and magical. The river had mutliple hues of colours, lily pads and plants and glowing lights. Compared to the real setting which is quite dull.

 The second location I visited was New York. In this world, it was much more game focused where you could pick where to go in the sever when you spawn. I walked around and saw another player and decided to sit next to them. They went by ‘Zenie.’ They have been playing for a year and a half and considered themself to be ‘new’ in the game. Despite this, I learned a lot about how some of communities work in the game. They opened up to me about their anxiety and that they socialise mostly on this game now. Zenie also opened up about not having self confidence in their appearance and about having a deep stutter voice and that they were much more comfortable about talking virtually. They also use VR headsets. Zenie also taught me about renting spaces in Second Life which really shocked me. I could not comprehend how someone could rent an area but then it made sense to me as they explained how some people want to have their personalised home for privacy and to build on. 

Presentation

My role : I was in the red team for the presentations on Second Life. My role was the lead builder and to edit the slide presentation. I feel that I did a lot of work for the team and played as a leader alongside our assigned leader Eren (Goblinzz). Our theme was Sustainability of the Earth. Our concept was for each member of our team to do a short presentation on their own personal interest regarding the sustainability of the earth. I helped assign these topics to the members who didn’t have any idea in mind.

I decided to have my topic on ‘Rainwater Planters.’ I chose this topic because I have worked on some campaign pitches for a client in Phibsboro who wanted to spread awareness of the rainwater planter and implement them into more peoples’ homes.

Red Team Presentation & Prepared Speech

Hi, I’m Bianca and I will discuss the implementation of ‘Rainwater Planters’ into our homes to help benefit the sustainability of the earth.

Ireland faces many environmental challenges, including:

1) poor water quality in our rivers, streams, lakes and beaches

2) loss of biodiversity, habitat and ecology as a result of urban development

3) climate change.

We all need to take steps to help improve our environment so that we and our communities can support and enhance nature and live healthier lives. We need good water quality for diverse and rich water habitats.

Good water quality is also essential for

1) enriched biodiversity

2) increased climate and flood resilience

3) improved public amenity features such as park lakes.

Rainwater planters slow the flow of rainfall from the roof to the drainage system. The soils and vegetation in the planter can remove pollutants by filtering the water. Otherwise, these pollutants might end up in your local river, stream, lake or beach. 

Typically, water soaks into the soil in the planter. During heavy rainfall, excess water will pond in the planter, which can overflow to one of two locations:

1) an existing gully

2) onwards to another rainwater structure,  like a garden pond.

1) IMPROVE URBAN FLOODING

Rainwater planters help improve urban flooding by capturing and storing rainwater, reducing the amount of runoff that overwhelms drainage systems. These planters act as natural reservoirs, absorbing and slowly releasing water, allowing it to be naturally filtered and recharged into the ground. This mitigates flooding and helps manage storm water in urban areas.

2) IMPROVE BIODIVERSITY

Rainwater planters improve biodiversity by providing a habitat for a diverse range of plant species. These plants attract insects, birds, and other animals, creating a thriving ecosystem. Additionally, rainwater planters reduce the need for chemical fertilizers and pesticides, promoting a healthier environment and supporting a wider array of species.

3) IMPROVE COLOUR VEGETATION

Rainwater planters help to improve colour vegetation by providing plants with a consistent supply of water. This helps to prevent wilting and stress, which can cause leaves to lose their colour. Additionally, rainwater is often free of the chemicals found in municipal water supplies, which can help plants to grow more vibrantly and maintain their natural colours.

MATERIALS 

Timber Stainless Steel

Wood Screws

Timber Battens

Timber Battens

Liner

Gravel

Topsoil

Sand

Downpipe Rainwater Diverter Kit 

Coring Drill Bit

Staining

90 degree pipe

Plastic pipe

Hose pipe

Hose connector

Otherwise, you may purchase some online.

MAKING ONE

Creating a rainwater planter is a simple and effective way to conserve water and nurture plants. Start by obtaining a large container with drainage holes. Place it in a desired location and connect a rainwater collection system, such as a gutter or downspout. When it rains, the container will collect water, which can then be used to water your plants, promoting sustainability and reducing water wastage.

Ciara will now explain the next topic.

While working on the group project, I felt a lot of frustration. The other teammates did not contribute enough. I found myself building and purchasing items for almost everyones builds. I had to build the classroom and find multiple houses on the market for peoples’ builds who only joined last minute. On the last day of presenting, I found myself having to teach the members how to build or even what to build. I helped with researching, reorganising their presentations and assigning people with tasks. Myself and Eren attended all of our scheduled meetings whilst everyone else joined only once of all of them which is roughly 4. I made the postcard, presentation and was the main builder of the project. Nonetheless, I’m satsified with the end result and the build. It was very fun building but not so fun when the team isn’t contributing enough to a group graded project.

Hello there! Welcome to my blog.

Today I explored Amsterdam Netherlands and New York in Second Life. I lived in the Netherlands for my Erasmus studies in first semester and wanted to see how it’d look virtually. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the setting is quite close to in real life. The architecture is quite accurate but the scale is off which gave quite an eery feeling. I purchased a bike and cycled around the city and stumbled across the ‘Red Light District’ which is an area of a town or city containing many brothels, strip clubs, and other businesses. I was shocked to see that Second Life explores mature themes. To even visit certain locations I had to change my avatars’ personal settings to allow myself to enter without any restrictions. I was really curious to see if the Netherlands would be realistic with the coffeeshops ans brothels.

 The area was bustling with active trams, cyclists and I was pleasantly surprised by the audio work that went into this server. I heard the glisening waves of the rivers and city birds chirping every corner.  I compare the virtual space with a photograph I took in Amsterdam and saw that the virtual one is much more imaginative and magical. The river had mutliple hues of colours, lily pads and plants and glowing lights. Compared to the real setting which is quite dull.

 The second location I visited was New York. In this world, it was much more game focused where you could pick where to go in the sever when you spawn. I walked around and saw another player and decided to sit next to them. They went by ‘Zenie.’ They have been playing for a year and a half and considered themself to be ‘new’ in the game. Despite this, I learned a lot about how some of communities work in the game. They opened up to me about their anxiety and that they socialise mostly on this game now. Zenie also opened up about not having self confidence in their appearance and about having a deep stutter voice and that they were much more comfortable about talking virtually. They also use VR headsets. Zenie also taught me about renting spaces in Second Life which really shocked me. I could not comprehend how someone could rent an area but then it made sense to me as they explained how some people want to have their personalised home for privacy and to build on. 

Presentation

My role : I was in the red team for the presentations on Second Life. My role was the lead builder and to edit the slide presentation. I feel that I did a lot of work for the team and played as a leader alongside our assigned leader Eren (Goblinzz). Our theme was Sustainability of the Earth. Our concept was for each member of our team to do a short presentation on their own personal interest regarding the sustainability of the earth. I helped assign these topics to the members who didn’t have any idea in mind.

I decided to have my topic on ‘Rainwater Planters.’ I chose this topic because I have worked on some campaign pitches for a client in Phibsboro who wanted to spread awareness of the rainwater planter and implement them into more peoples’ homes.

Red Team Presentation & Prepared Speech

Hi, I’m Bianca and I will discuss the implementation of ‘Rainwater Planters’ into our homes to help benefit the sustainability of the earth.

Ireland faces many environmental challenges, including:

1) poor water quality in our rivers, streams, lakes and beaches

2) loss of biodiversity, habitat and ecology as a result of urban development

3) climate change.

We all need to take steps to help improve our environment so that we and our communities can support and enhance nature and live healthier lives. We need good water quality for diverse and rich water habitats.

Good water quality is also essential for

1) enriched biodiversity

2) increased climate and flood resilience

3) improved public amenity features such as park lakes.

Rainwater planters slow the flow of rainfall from the roof to the drainage system. The soils and vegetation in the planter can remove pollutants by filtering the water. Otherwise, these pollutants might end up in your local river, stream, lake or beach. 

Typically, water soaks into the soil in the planter. During heavy rainfall, excess water will pond in the planter, which can overflow to one of two locations:

1) an existing gully

2) onwards to another rainwater structure,  like a garden pond.

1) IMPROVE URBAN FLOODING

Rainwater planters help improve urban flooding by capturing and storing rainwater, reducing the amount of runoff that overwhelms drainage systems. These planters act as natural reservoirs, absorbing and slowly releasing water, allowing it to be naturally filtered and recharged into the ground. This mitigates flooding and helps manage storm water in urban areas.

2) IMPROVE BIODIVERSITY

Rainwater planters improve biodiversity by providing a habitat for a diverse range of plant species. These plants attract insects, birds, and other animals, creating a thriving ecosystem. Additionally, rainwater planters reduce the need for chemical fertilizers and pesticides, promoting a healthier environment and supporting a wider array of species.

3) IMPROVE COLOUR VEGETATION

Rainwater planters help to improve colour vegetation by providing plants with a consistent supply of water. This helps to prevent wilting and stress, which can cause leaves to lose their colour. Additionally, rainwater is often free of the chemicals found in municipal water supplies, which can help plants to grow more vibrantly and maintain their natural colours.

MATERIALS 

Timber Stainless Steel

Wood Screws

Timber Battens

Timber Battens

Liner

Gravel

Topsoil

Sand

Downpipe Rainwater Diverter Kit 

Coring Drill Bit

Staining

90 degree pipe

Plastic pipe

Hose pipe

Hose connector

Otherwise, you may purchase some online.

MAKING ONE

Creating a rainwater planter is a simple and effective way to conserve water and nurture plants. Start by obtaining a large container with drainage holes. Place it in a desired location and connect a rainwater collection system, such as a gutter or downspout. When it rains, the container will collect water, which can then be used to water your plants, promoting sustainability and reducing water wastage.

Ciara will now explain the next topic.

While working on the group project, I felt a lot of frustration. The other teammates did not contribute enough. I found myself building and purchasing items for almost everyones builds. I had to build the classroom and find multiple houses on the market for peoples’ builds who only joined last minute. On the last day of presenting, I found myself having to teach the members how to build or even what to build. I helped with researching, reorganising their presentations and assigning people with tasks. Myself and Eren attended all of our scheduled meetings whilst everyone else joined only once of all of them which is roughly 4. I made the postcard, presentation and was the main builder of the project. Nonetheless, I’m satsified with the end result and the build. It was very fun building but not so fun when the team isn’t contributing enough to a group graded project.