Viradu started out as something else . . . something called "The Science Fiction Cafe" in SecondLife.com. It was a small plot of virtual land on which I built a place that people from around the world (staying up in their relative time zones) could "meet in-world" to discuss their favorite science fiction movies, books and ideas. One person even showed up as a Dalek. It was all really very cool.
Overtime, I realized I wanted something more, most humans usually do. Even though SecondLife, our "original mother world", has a virtual economy (the Linden dollar) and you could buy virtual goods creating an avatar-persona, I wanted a lot of my own virtual land to build on and cheaply too. I thought the limitations on number of prims was too prohibitive, after optimizing there was only so much I could build on a small plot of virtual land without spending thousands of real dollars on a virtual island server.
Oh . . . to have my own server . . . to control my own virtual space on the cheap, to custom build virtual worlds! If that's what you want as well, then your reading the right website. Initially, I wasn't interested so much in buying and selling virtual things as building and enjoying them myself, and with others. So along came Opensimulator and OSGrid and HIPPO viewer with my answer. Basically the open source version of build your own for cheap.
Eventually I believe there will be an ecosystem of virtual goods across virtual worlds as industry exchange standards begin to emerge, of which I think Opensimulator will be one (probably using something like the OAR files). Not just a few objects, but whole worlds will be exchanged. Just like here, where you can get a starter virtual world for free. Until then, its the virtual equivalent of the Wild Wild West.
Now its cool again, after lots of hard work, I'm now ready to share my virtual space and what I learned with others for FREE! Viradu exists in cyberspace, connected to OSgrid hosted in a data center for $70 a month, that's ~ .10 cents an hour 24/7/30days. Not many virtual worlds can beat that price. You can see some 2D pictures cycling above, and If your interested you can even visit it (here is how), which proves it is real in some basic sense, if only existing inside a few computer chips.
So I want to share the latest copy of Viradu with you all. But why would I do that, you may ask? Because, I want to promote the adoption of virtual spaces using Opensimulator to build out the richness and complexity of Viradu even more. So I'm initially giving it all away, minus your computer and hosting costs, of course. You can even host your own virtual space over a cable modem (to start). Please add something cool of your own to Viradu so I can share it back to us all in the next distribution.
Please only include your own material (meaning you have the rights to it) and agree to share it freely with all. I ask that you please refrain from sexually explicit material so that everyone may participate. Viradu is themed off of Science Fiction, so stick with that theme! Please take the time to read the Rules, because you agree to them by default of visiting and building in Viradu.
Have some fun! I only ask that you please remember "this is all a grand virtual experiment", at the time of this writing starting and building your own virtual space is still some what complicated and involves solid computer skills and the ability to following some very detailed setup instructions, so if you can do all that, and your up for some challenging fun, I have written up a few articles on just how.
So let's begin with building the virtual! Ready? GO!
All Rights Reserved and Copyright © by Michael McAnally, Viradu.com 2010.