The first time Saturday

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(Edited)

Today started like any other Saturday. Hmm, no that's not true...Today started completely different to every other Saturday I have ever had...Hang on, just entertain yourselves whilst I work out how many Saturday's I've had in my life...Wow...I've had 2649 Saturday's in my life...Ok, so today was one in 2649!

Today was the first time I attended a HiveFest and whilst it would have been cooler for it to be at some exotic destination, and face-to-face, it was, nonetheless HiveFest, and I was there.

I managed to navigate around ok and I think I had some initial microphone issues but before long I ran into my mate @azircon and we started chatting. We were in the main Stage area though and, so we didn't annoy the speakers and listening-crowd, we adjourned to the Lobby which is in fact a vast garden area with a cool campfire to sit around and chat. There we did so, chat I mean.


Here's azircon and me chatting - My apology to you for cutting you off in my selfie, but you know me mate, a bit tech-challenged.

Leading up to HiveFest I've been a bit nervous about the technology and social interactions in this environment but it seemed to work fine and we were able to converse in a similar way to how we would in person. It was really cool to talk a little about hive and about his job which he has kept completely off the blockchain. I think it's ok to call us friends, but after this conversation today I admit that it all felt a little more real. Fancy that...Real in a virtual world!

Throughout our chat people would pop in and out, join in, and then leave as they wished...It was not unlike an in-person meet up and all quite civilised.

I know a few had some trouble and one such was my mate, fellow Australian @riverflows. She had mic issues and her computer was crashing apparently so I did what I could by message on Discord to assist but she just couldn't make it work. @krazzytrukker was there too, but again, he had troubles as his wifi was a bit sketchy. I also got a message from @revisesociology who simply couldn't get it to work. I'm sure there were others also which was a shame. I'm hoping they are around Sunday morning for day two.

Just a word on the day thing...It all kicked off at 3:30am Saturday my time but the event is scheduled as Friday and Saturday, the organisers time-zone I guess. This is why I say Saturday for day one and Sunday for day two.


Some of the teleport locations behind me.

One of the cool things is that there's various locations one can teleport to. One just wanders up the hill past the check in hut, which is where one get's their HiveFest name card, and there's a bunch of these portals. They can be good to explore or maybe use for a nice quiet place for a quiet chat with someone.

I was around the campfire with azircon and a few others when along came a nice chap called Danny Qwoyn, I don't know his hive user tag, who rounded a group of us up to go and tackle the maze via one of these portals. We teleported there and in we went hoping to make our way to the huge pyramid, more Aztec-looking than Egyptian. We were going great and made it about half way and then...I got lost. I don't know if they made it through but for me...Well, I hit the menu and teleported back to the lobby area; The easy way out.

Not one to be content with just that adventure I joined the crew again in the caves via another portal where torches were required to navigate through. Danny the adventurer was there again and he took a photo of us all so it may turn up at some stage. It was cool though, just a bit of fun.

After that adventure I headed off to the NFT Showroom for some culture and artwork. It was really cool.

The NFT showroom is a fairly large space filled with artworks from all across hive with their creators names attached. It was amazing to see so many all collected in the one place and a nice endorsement for the artistic talent on hive! Of course I saw many from people I know as I browsed around.

As I wandered around I ran into a few people I know; I won't tag them as some are very large accounts and it looks dumb to tag people like that. I stood and listened in on their discussions and wandered around a little to explore the quite large NFT Showroom building, even venturing onto the roof as well. Again, it was all quite easy and reasonably enjoyable.

I was at HiveFest for a little over three hours and have to say that despite my initial reluctance to be there I didn't mind it at all. Yes, it would be way better in person...Like way better, but we can't do that and so this is the next best thing. It's been a year of adaptation right?

I'll be back tomorrow for day two and may stay around for a little longer. I really hope that some of those others who struggled to get it to work will be there but if not well...It's HiveFest and with all those hivers in the one place I'm sure I'll find someone to talk to.

Lastly on hivefest...@azircon and I were talking about using AltspaceVR for meetings of a smaller nature. Each user has a home area and it could be a cool spot for smaller groups to schedule times to meet and hang out. I think we'll be investigating that possibility and moving forward it could be something we do once a month or so. We'll see.


After my first time at HiveFest I headed out to do some yard work at home...And you know what? I decided to keep the first's happening on the 2649th Saturday of my life and so when I mowed the lawn...Wait for it...I mowed the lawn from the outside edge to the centre in concentric circles. Yeah I know...Crazy talk. I usually mow in straight lines but what the hell...It's a day of first's! It looks bloody good too! (Not as good as my straight lines though.)

After some yard work I did a session, lifting weights, and now...Burger and a coke and writing this. Legit Saturday? Yeah, I know...Legit.

So talk to me people...Tell me what you're up to, where you're at, what your HiveFest experience was like, if you were there. What's your weekend plan or is it freestylin' this weekend for you?


Design and create your ideal life, don't live it by default - Tomorrow isn't promised.

Be well
Discord: galenkp#9209



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29 comments
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Dear @galenkp, What does it mean in your life when you meet and chat with your friends in a virtual reality world?

A man is currently thinking about the meaning of life for himself and his family while watching the dog's death.

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I don't understand your question, or the statement below it. Sorry.

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Dear @Galenkp, I wish you understand because my english is poor.

Dear @galenkp, What does it mean in your life when you meet and chat with your friends in a virtual reality world?

I wondered why you chat with so many people in virtual space. What value and meaning does the behavior you meet with people on the Hive Blockchain have in your life?

A man is currently thinking about the meaning of life for himself and his family while watching the dog's death.

Do you believe in heaven and hell? A man = your brother in europe

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I attended HiveFest with many others, it's an annual event and was held in virtual reality this year due to the China virus.

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It is interesting to note that Hive users meet each other face to face on HiveFest.

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Glad you had a good 2649th Saturday, I of course had to look, so you were born pretty close to a Friday the 13th. I would guess you are not to superstitious but probably like the number thirteen. Maybe that was why things went so well for you in the VR world while some had a few minor issues.

Hope it all works as well for you in a few more hours for day two. I did listen to one presentation the one from Jarvie about PeakD, seems like some changes in the pipe line. I did play with the new chat system when Asgarth brought that out. A pretty good group I had a few issues with the chat launch and the team had it all fixed and usable for me in just a short time.

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Close, Tuesday 10th, equally fateful as the 13th as I was spawned. :)

Oh yeah, there's a bit going on over there with Peakd, doing some good things. I wanted to thank jarvie for their work personally but didn't get a chance to do so. They are always helpful and quick responders when problems come up and I, along with most others, appreciate it. I tried to test their chat feature but bigtom13 didn't respond so I don't know if it worked or not.

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And still no arms

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Yeah, arms are in short supply seemingly.

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Where was the virtual shooting range at Hivefest? Maybe next time!

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Tell me about it...I was looking for the range but didn't find it...So I contented myself in looking for a snipers hide, taking wind readings and generally just scoping things out...You know, working out what foliage I needed to weave into my ghillie suit. Just the usual. 😂

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From your own apartment, you can shoot rockets to other tower blocks, or throw basketballs over the edge.

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I donno I think virtual worlds are pretty cool too, there's a bunch of different things to do XD Looks like you had fun :)

I still can't get over the arms thing XD

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Yeah, it wasn't too bad. It's an armless world, but that seems not to affect the enjoyment factor.

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Hey Uncle G, Hivefest sounds like fun. I missed the signup deadline for this year, hopefully, I can attend next year. Also, where are yourhands? My Saturday was also kind of eventful.

My elder brother is the Chess coach of Bayelsa state, and he organises monthly tournaments. It is a rapid chess tournament, with games lasting 10 minutes, 3seconds(using Fisher time). I was the arbiter in charge of handling the computer stuff; My work was to organise the list of players, handle the pairings and upload everything to an international chess server that records the matches for ratings.

The price reward for the tournament is small but it attracts internationally rated players because first of all, they could get rating points through the matches, they will play against each other to improve the chess community in Nigeria as a whole and there's also the social appeal of it.

The tournament had 48 attendees, and while the computer automatically does the pairing, I had to do all that clickity clicking to make it work. I also had to learn how to use one cloud-based chess software that uploads data; I think the name of the software is Swiss chess manager or something like that. It syncs with Chess-something.com and then all the magic happens in the cloud.

For me, it was just nice to be in that environment and watch all them geniuses go at it. It was also stressful to learn and then work under self-inflicted pressure because I didn't want to screw everything up due to my lack of understanding of the software. Overall, I'd say it was a pretty good Saturday until I watched Arsenal pull another stinker against Everton a moment ago.

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That sounds like a bit of fun, the tournament, and a much better way to spend time than many other things I could think of. Well done for helping out your brother and I guess the thing for you is you learned something new which is always valuable - Maybe not the thing, but the learning process.

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Yeah. I'm just happy I got to learn and use the software today

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Being content is a nice feeling.

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Hopefully I can attend the HiveFest next year, I imagine you learn a lot about crypto and you can enjoy the journey wherever it is done.

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Hey there and yes, I hope you are also able to attend next year. There is much to learn there, information about new things on the horizon and where projects are situated, but for me the best part was the conversations with hivers I've followed, who follow me or who are completely new to me...It makes hive more real and I really liked that aspect.

Thanks for commenting and I hope you're able to attend.

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(Edited)

I was sooo disappointed! And of course by the time I logged on this morning, it seemed all over, and I couldn't portal to the mainstage. Yesterday I got stuck in the caves because I couldn't pick up the torch. Sigh. I really, really wanted to chat to people, so I like the idea of mini meetings in people's 'homes'. xx

And maybe we should organise an Australian meet up in one of our virtual homes.

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I was there today but didn't see you...In the caves huh? It's dark in there without a torch...Not spooky, but dark. I explored there with a few lads on day one and went all the way to the inner chamber. Kind of cool. I think some of those outer-environments would have been a nice place to sit and chat in peace and quiet, a couple or small group. There's environments in AltspaceVR like that where people can meet up and just chat so I think something will get set up there, or maybe in someone's home space. After Christmas I think I'll see how we go. Start with a few and yeah, maybe an Australian meet up?

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Jamie was laughing that only me could get spooked out in a virtual environment!

Lo9k forward to a meet up x

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We'll get a meet up arranged, a few people...It'll just mean trying to find a time that's suited to most people, but it'll start small anyway, just a few.

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Reading about your Hivefest experience made me smile. It is what I had expected mine to be like.

Mine was horrible...

I was never able to retrieve my badge, teleport, or interact with others. Strange tho, that it works well in any other forum/room other than the Hivefest.

I like the idea of the monthly gathering thing. Keep me in the loop on that.

A few screenshots of my glitchy, laggy, and frustrating Hivefest experience.
IMG_20201219_114945.jpg

IMG_20201219_114957.jpg

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Yeah man, I saw you in the Main Stage area today but you you were MIA. Well, you were there, but not there. I lined up for a big kick in the balls on you but decided to give you a bro-hug instead (despite having no fucking arms).

It's a shame your experience was so bad, but to be honest I think many had issues also. I'm glad it worked for me and I had a reasonable time despite initially feeling a little odd about it all. I'm sure plans will get laid in respect of some sort of catch up in someone's home space or whatever and you'll hear about it.

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