Your source of news about the people, places, things, and events across Second Life.
The Burn2 plots are going fast! You can find information on the burn this year at http://www.burn2org/ . If you have been there you know what fun the burn in SL can be. Fabulous builds to explore, loads of fun freebies, great entertainment and lots of parties with DJ’s.
Daniel Voyager had some good news for the fans of Burn2 on his blog. It seems there are four new sims for the weeklong event in October. In addition to Burning Man - Deep Hole, there are: Burning Man - Black Rock, Burning Man - Elko, Burning Man - Guru, and Burning Man - Hualapi.
You can find out more at : http://www.burn2.org/.
Source: Daniel Voyager's Blog
This summer, Bryn Oh has a special exhibit on her Immersiva sim: "Virginia Alone." The exhibit tells the story of an elderly lady whom lived alone in her house for twenty years, nearly blind and suffering from mental illness. She knew something was wrong with her, and over the years made numerous tape recordings in an attempt to understand what was wrong with herself. Bryn interviewed her, and made the exhibit.
Grey Lupindo reports on a recent trip to a real-life location brought to Second Life: the Grand Canyon National Park. Here, one can do just about all there is at the real canyon. There are balloon rides, river rafting, horseback riding, hiking, watching from the skywalk, and more.
August comes to a close this week, and with Labor Day comes the end of the traditional summer season. Art lovers will enjoy "The Cube Project," taking place between several noted Second Life artists across 20 sims. And of course there is our usual list of music events, DJ parties, talk shows, church services, and competitions.
See the list of happenings in Events this Week.
In the latest blog entry from last weekend, Linden Lab is going from "Fast, Easy, Fun" to "Fast Action Fun."
The dune buggy is available to Premium Residents only. To access the exclusive Racer’s Gulch, you must be a Premium member, so don’t delay! Additional Premium benefits include a private home, currency payouts, as well as expanded support. Put the pedal to the metal and take advantage this limited-time half-off promotion today.* Already Premium? Get it here.
Hi folks! Tonight, we are starting the monthly Wounded Warriors Benefit tonight now! Tonight we have Waya Snowpaw now, PonDman Haalan 5 PM, Franklee Anatra 6 PM, Frets Nirvana 7 PM and Acoustic Energy Nitely 8 PM! Great lineup ...come on out and support this great cause! 
With Acoustic Energy Nitely taking the stage, the donations had passed the 100,0000 mark, and were increasing. Frets Nirvana then began offering to match the donations people put up, "Who wants to break my bank? ... Double your money! Put it in the helmets. Pay it forward, and it will come back to you."
It's election season, and with the US Presidential race in the news, some wonder what goes on behind the scenes, or simply grumble, "Oh I could do better than that." Either kind of person may be attracted to election-themed computer games. Recently, one appeared on Facebook: Campaign Story.
Over a year ago, a new type of avatar joined the ranks of the furries, tinies, dragons, and humans: the ponies. Although a community of "Brony" fans, as they're also called, experienced a crisis when its sims were taken down, the four-footed residents bounced back and continued to be seen in and out of their new Pony sims, as well as others using the cartoonish avatar on occasion at parties. Recently, a writer for the Newser asked if there was some trouble between the ponies and furries. One pony fan after reading the article contacted SL Newser, and asked for a chance to talk, saying while there was some trouble, it wasn't between the fans of these avatars.
Grease Coakes recently stopped by Bay City for it's car show, "Hot Bay City Nights." Raising funds for the childrens' charity Childsplay, the show offers a chance to get one of a number of cars with the Lindens going for a good cause, as well as other events from a bikini contest, to car washes, to parties.
On 4PM SL time on August 18th came the official close of the Relay for Life: the Wrap-Up party. Taking place in a temporary sim of the same name next to the permanent ACS Isle, it was a chance to reflect on the season this year, and look forward to the one ahead. For those who couldn't be there or had sound trouble, T1 Radio broadcasted the event on the Internet.
Following a poem read in honor of those who passed away from cancer, the Relay Commotte thanked the Relay's sponsors, as well as the Lindens for helping out with things like "last moment requests." There were a number of awards given out. Among them was a "Shapeshifter Award" given to Dwen Dooley for his amusing use of numerous avatars. Genie Ortega was also given an award for her "Squeee!" that spread around the Relay groups. The Purple People Eater" was awarded for it's creator's use of imagination and humor. There was also an award for Best Display Name to David Fangirl.
The Spirit of Relay Team Award went to Team Shadow. The Individual Award went to Zanier Green.
It's a week full of events in Second Life. Right now, Bay City is holding it's "Hot Bay City Nights" auto show, for those who admire a good set of wheels. Stop by the latest art displays for what the artists on the Grid have to offer. And of course, we have listings of a cross-section of book and poetry readings, talk shows, DJ and live music events, church services, and a race.
Earlier this summer, Gemma Cleanslate wrote about the Library of Arcadia. Recently, she heard that the library was due to be closed, but the contents were being set up at new locations. On a tip, she went to one place to have a look for herself to see how Arcadia's works were doing.
A few days ago, Linden Lab Lab made two announcements on their blog. One was about team behind the Exodus Viewer having worked on a project to improve graphics. But the one that's gotten more talk was about making Second Life accessible to users of the Steam gaming platform.
I couldn't find a thread of comments in the official forums about Steam, though there was one in the SL Universe forums. The residents there had mixed feelings about it, many feeling it would bring in easily bored teenagers whom were expecting a top performing system with little patience for the lag. A few thought the only ones whom would stick around would do so only for virtual porn and sex. Hamlet Au whom also talked about the Steam access, had among the most optimistic feelings about it, though the majority of those commenting were less cheerful.
What may be the oldest sim in Second Life with a country western theme, after seven years Salt Creek, home to the Coyote Country Saloon, is up for sale. Jorie Teichmann is the current owner, "I have run it for the past four years. It was up and running for three years before that. … It is the passing of an era unless I get a country western fan to run it."
Not far away was the Black Bart bull ride. Another popular spot, Jorie pointed out, was the chapel, complete with pews and altar, "Lots of folks come here." And another spot people went to was the beach. Jorie also mentioned special events, such as a memorial service to the 10th anniversary of 9-11, "twenty four hours continuous music, all life. All the performers donated their services. We donated proceeds to the 9-11 First Responders Fund."
We came across one other regular, Dearstluv Writer, "A lot of devotion here. It's been quality, not quantity. If you were to move your dreams from real life to SL, it was here. It's just tat the pocketbook wasn't quite as generous." "I just can't afford it any more," Jorie explained, "I wish I could think of more, just a great place."
Some sad news for Australians in Second Life. According to the Metaverse Tribune, ABC Island (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) will be closing it's doors in about a month, on September 22, 2012.
Daniel Voyager had this to say, "ABC Island in Second Life is a dynamic and distinctively Australian destination providing visitors with opportunities to design, create, and showcase objects, discover a hidden underground music club, listen to indigenous stories, wander round an environmentally friendly eco house, experience ABC audio and video in a social environment and attend live screening and concerts."
According to Wikipedia, ABC is Australia's national public broadcasting service, providing radio, television, and more recently online services across Australia and overseas. It is government funded and owned. (http://www.abc.net.au/)
Today in 2012, this year's election doesn't seem to have quite the same impact here. Part of it may have to do with the real-life media spotlight largely off of Second Life. Also the Capitol Hill sim is gone, and with it the most noted spot of neutral ground debates had. And then there's the theme to the election itself. Four years ago, we had a crusty old war hero against a promising up and coming young candidate. Today, the President's once shiny promises have long been replaced by gritty realities, challenged by a candidate whom while competent seems more than a little bland. And of course there's the deepening partisan divide. Drama-shy residents may be more than a little reluctant to get involved in discussions they fear may quickly become heated.
For those interested in participating in political discussion, there are still some places one can go to. For Democrats/liberals and progressives, there is Cafe Wellstone in the mainland Pini sim (56, 78, 45), next to the highway. For Republicans/conservatives, with the closing of the GOP Cafe (formerly the Straight Talk Cafe), their place with the most traffic seems to be The Republican Party of SL Headquarters in the Sunset River sim (180, 198, 23). Second Life Newser does not yet have weekly schedules of either location.
It's a week full of events on the Grid. There are a number of art shows on Second Life, such as Synesthesia and "Exit/Enter." And we have our regularly scheduled events from book and poetry readers, to talk shows, to church services, and music DJ events.
A few years ago, Bixyl Shuftan wrote a much commented-on article about people getting banned from places because of their avatar's appearance. Recently, he was alerted about a protest at the Titanic sim, the protestors saying they were banning furry avatars even though they were following the dress code. But a closer look suggested a somewhat different story.
Any1 Gynoid recently pointed out the latest entry on the Phoenix blog by Jessica Lyon. She explained that Pathfinding, the new tools for smarter non-player characters in Second Life, were going to be rolled out on August 7 which "may have an impact on the performance of your regions, as well as introduce some new bugs." Pathfinding would be running on the sims as soon as they were updated.
Gemma Cleanslate recently went to an active recreation of a Wild West community: Dodge City. In this roleplay area, the residents reenact life in the American West in the 1870s. From Cheyenne braves, to soldiers in Fort Hawker, to outlaws, and of course the townsfolk trying to make a living, the place has many kinds of people, and is still looking for more.
Grease Coakes recently took a look at Diablo 3, a recently released game by Blizzard, the makers of World of Warcraft. The game gets it's name from the main bad guy, Diablo the Lord of Hell. Before facing him, one has to build up one's character. So just how is the gameplay? Read inside to find more.
So what have my neighbors in Second Life been up to when not on Second Life? Two years ago, many were going about in World of Warcraft under their own guild, also called "Sunweavers." Today, I haven't been seeing as much activity there lately. So where have they been going? The answer is Minecraft.
As it turned out, Nydia and the others had built a walled village, named Angels Village, in a private server. Small houses were set up for members who had joined, the beds being where characters would re-rez if they croaked in the game. Crops had been planted to harvest food from, such as pumpkins and sugar cane. And one surprise were the tamed wolves, which helped keep out the monsters that come out at night in the game.
Nydia recommended a few links, such as "How to Survive Your First Night in Minecraft." Another useful link was a page on the Minecraft Wiki for crafting.
