Grey Blackadder

That's me, well, the virtual me anyhow. In RL I'm not quite as tall, and have much less hair. Those are the only differences though, as far as anything else is concerned, I am Grey Blackadder.

Things you ought to know:

I live in Central Scotland with my wife Azure, whom some of you will have met. I graduated from Brookes University in Oxford in 1991 with a BA Hons in Visual Studies and History of Art, and went on to spend the next ahem years lecturing in Computer Graphics and Art and Design History. In 1996 I got involved in the exploration of what was then very new "multimedia technology", including Virtual Reality, and it's application in Education, all of which led to a spell in the private sector, working in Internet technology. After returning to Scotland at the start of the new century (sounds so grand put like that!), I have since busied myself with multiple projects in art, digital technology and the Heritage Industry.

Grey Blackadder and Second Life

I first demonstrated a 3d virtual world (Worlds.com) to a group of 150 students in 1996. The major limitations of virtual spaces then were twofold, bandwidth (56kb Dial-up was standard) and graphics capability. I toyed with VRML, making crude "walk-throughs" of well-known paintings, but the limitations made convincing experiences very difficult. So for a number of years I drifted off into the world of 2 dimensional images and presentations. I did join Second Life in 2003, under a much sillier name, but an upgrade rendered the viewer unusable on my PC, so......

It was an article about the Space Museum in a trade publication that renewed my interest though, and I was back!

So why "Grey Blackadder"?

Can't remember why I chose "Grey" as a first name, but "Blackadder" is a well-known name for me, and not because of the many TV series. I grew up in the Scottish Borders, near three rivers, The Whiteadder (pronounced "Wittadder") and the Blackadder, both tributaries of the Tweed. I learned to fish and tie trout flies on the Whiteadder, a skill which has saved my sanity many times.

....and why are you trying to sell recipes?

I love cooking and I love to share things with other people. Recipes are a way of crossing the void between the online world and the world of atoms as someone called it. I have a lot of fun devising and trying recipes, making the packaging and talking to people in-world about cooking. I sell my products on the basis that if it's free, people tend not to take it seriously.

Ok, how can you be contacted?

If you too have a Second Life persona, drop me a Notecard in-world - like many people my IM's get capped. If not, or even if you prefer it, you can e-mail me at :grey@greyblackadder.co.uk