Cartoon of the Day

From "Furry Fashion," another case of the punchline inspired by what the one being photographed spoke. While I also thought of "repenting while wearing sackcloth" when he was standing up, I didn't think everyone would get the reference.

By Bixyl Shuftan

New Year's Eve Party at the Happy Vixen

Want to go to a New Year's Party, but don't necessarily want to be in an event where formal attire is required? Maybe you'd rather skip the fancy lights and chandeliers and head to someplace a little more relaxing, like a beach club. As it turns out, the Happy Vixen beach club is having a special New Year's Eve event. Beginning at 6PM SL time, DJ Akea will entertain the crowd with his tunes. At 8PM SL time, DJ Rose will take over with his music selection.

So tonight just before 6PM, come on over for a New Year's event for the rest of us.

Purrfection Estates (236, 219, 24) 

A Last Look at Steelhead

As we all say goodbye to 2015, for those in the Steelhead community they've also had to say goodbye to their old home, the Steelhead Estates. While one of the sims had been saved, sadly most were not. No more classes at the old schoolhouse. No more volcano parties at Mount St. Hellens. No more parties at the Wulfenbach Consulate building, and no more of the town meetings noted for everything from science news discussed to exploding sheep.

Fuzzball Ortega took posted this picture on Facebook a few days ago, what may be the last picture taken of these lands. He gave them maybe a week until they would finally fade away into the virtual nether.

But as a new year dawns, so does the hope that perhaps the community's fortunes will change. Hopefully new Steelhead sims will arise to join Nevermore / Ravenwood Forrest as new homes for this lively community of Steampunk fans.

Bixyl Shuftan

Second Life Geography

Second Life Newser has wrote about many places on the map, but what about the map of Second Life itself? Becky Shamen takes a look at the larger picture, including some statistics about the Grid.

Read more in Places. 

Shady Fox Ill With Cancer

Sad news for friends of Shady Fox (Russell Schwartz in real life). This personality whom has been a familiar sight in a few places in Second Life, the Giant Snail Races, the Relay for Life, Raglan Shire, and others, has been diagnosed with Stage Four bladder cancer. He has been in the hospital for some time.

If you have been to a Giant Snail Race - Shady Fox was behind the scenes.   Shady is having a very tough time right now with Stage 4 bladder cancer. So, if your team has had a Giant Snail Race - Shady was there !

On Shady's Facebook page, there were plenty of well wishes for him, hoping for his recovery. "It's just not the same without you here Shady. Miss hearing your voice, your laugh and your presence. Shimmer sends out warm hugs and frequent prayers for your improved health." "We sitting here thinking of da fox - have a good day and we put our paws together and pray you feel better ! Merry Christmas Shady!" "Thinking of you and hoping you feel better soon! Merry Christmas." "Shady, thinking of you tonight while Santa gets ready to fly. Sending love and prayers and care on their way to you, and to Randal and all your family, and all the doctors and nurses and staff at the hospital. Big hugs, so much love." "You can beat this foxy! Get better and know you are in our hearts and prayers." "I love you bacon face! Get well soon dear friend. I'm praying for you."

Shady's last post on Facebook was on November 4. He stated he had been diagnosed with a mass on his bladder on September 27, noticing something was wrong with his bladder a month earlier. It was diagnosed as cancer on October 8 after the mass was removed, and chemotherapy scheduled afterwards. His brother has been stopping by his hospital bed every day, and last stated his condition was improving.

Bixyl Shuftan

Events This Week at the Sunweaver Clubs

It's a week of events at the Sunweaver clubs as we say goodbye to 2015 and ring in the New Year. At Cutlass, put your money where your mouth is in "Best in M," shake off those hangovers and lampshades on the head at "Day One" on New Years Day, and get your snow shovels for "Winter Work." At the Happy Vixen, it's a tribute to the progressive rock band "Yes" with "Yes Years," a New Year's Eve event, of which the details are still being worked out, and last but far from least, the SL Newser crew and fans take over the club for their "Christmas/New Years beach party."

Read the schedules in Events this Week.

SL Newser's Christmas/New Year's Beach Party

It's been quite a year bringing you the news about the people, places, and events in Second Life. So we're going to have a little party to celebrate. And this being the middle of winter, time to take a break from the snow, and head to the beach.

It was suggested that some might be too "wrapped up" with Christmas to show up in an event before the 25th, so the event, named the "Christmas/New Near's party," will be on Saturday January 2, 2016. The location will be the Happy Vixen club, and the time at Noon SL time. Nydia Tungsten will spin the tunes.

Purrfection Estates (236, 219, 24) 

Community of the Year

There were no shortage of people whom had an impact on Second Life in ways large and small in the past year. Project Sansar, earlier referred to as "SL 2.0" by residents, was seldom far from out collective minds, wondering how it's eventual release would affect the Grid we've gone about in and invested so much time and effort in for so long. But Sansar isn't here yet, not much is known about it, and residents have gone about their business.

In April, unknown griefers struck the SS Galaxy, and the lack of customer service from Linden Lab led the owners of the ship to retire the ship. It was arranged for the Lab to take ownership of the build, but it was a museum piece, no more would there be a crew and community behind it. These griefers, and the clumsiness of the Lab, caused no shortage of sad faces.

Linden Lab's clumsiness would continue, locking out Flea Bussy, the owner of the noted "Grendle's Children" mall, and bringing it in danger of shutting down as while offline he wouldn't be able to make the tier payments. Fortunately a number of residents stepped in, and helped the store in which Philip Linden allegedly stated, "As goes Grendle's, so goes the Grid."

With the end of SL GO this year, people wondered if this meant they could no longer access Second Life with tablets and older computers. Fortunately there was "Bright Canopy," created by Chaos Priestman and Bethsael Robbiani, which offered to do what it did. It wasn't as low priced, and there were some problems getting it up and running. But eventually they did. Chaos and Bethsael, for preserving access to Second Life via iPads and other tablets, are deserving of runner-up.

Also getting the lockout treatment was TotalLunar Eclipse, the owner to the Steelhead Estates. As he was already having a number of real-life issues, this was the last straw, and he made his decision to take an indefinite break from Second Life, and so his estates would be closing down. This would have killed off many other communities in this virtual world. But the Steelheader's held together. There were a number of offers to help out, and eventually one of the sims was saved., and a new location found for the other club. It was not a perfect ending as the rest of the sims went offline., and many of those in the group moved to other places in the Steamlands. But the community group is still together. Their Relay for Life team is still together. So there's hope that the antics the Steelhead community us note for will continue.

So the residents of Steelhead collectively are named Second Life Newser's "Man of the Year," or in this case, "Community of the Year."

Bixyl Shuftan

Press Release: Prim Drop Set For New Year's Eve in Bay City

BAY CITY, SL (27th December, 2015) - Residents in Bay City are donning their finest and heading to their Fairground in North Channel  on the 31st of December for their annual "Prim Drop" to mark the end of the year. Festivities will commence at 11:30 pm SLT: Festivities will begin with a brief music set presented by Marianne McCann as well as fireworks and other fun. Food and drink will be provided.

The event is themed as an outdoor, wintertime soirée, and black tie attire and/or full dress is recommended. Nevertheless, all Second Life® Residents are welcome to attend and mingle with the uppercrust of Bay City.

This will also be the last event in Bay City this year for donating to Child's Play Charity (www.childsplaycharity.org) .  Child's Play is a 501c3 non profit organization offers online communities such as ours an opportunity to help seriously ill children around the globe during their hospital stays with the purchase of games and gaming equipment.

As of the 24th of December, Bay City has raised L$122,189 for Child's Play Charity through their annual silent auction and tree lighting concert, a Christmas tree sale, and other events.

Bay City is a mainland community, developed by Linden Lab® and home to the Bay City Alliance. The Bay City Alliance was founded in 2008 to promote the Bay City regions of Second Life and provide a venue for Bay City Residents and other interested parties to socialize and network. It is now the largest group for Residents of Bay City.

For more information, or to participate in the event, please contact Marianne McCann.

Cartoon of the Day

Taken at Furry Fashion

By Bixyl Shuftan

Star Wars Tribute Events at Luskwood and the SLCS

Last weekend was the opening weekend for the movie science fiction fans have been giddy about for weeks: "Star Wars: The Force Awakens." And naturally people in Second Life would celebrate with tribute parties. I dropped by two of them, one at Luskwood, the other at the Second Life Cheerleading Squad's sim of Cheertopia. So how were they?

Read the story in Events.

Tiny Carolers at Grendel's

Remember last week's music video from Raglan Shire? There's more Tiny music to come. On Wednesday night, the noted Grendel's Children shopping mall had some visitors, a group of Tinies, or to be more precise, Tiny carolers. Singing with chat gestures, they entertained co-owner Toady Nakamura and others there.

~*~ You Better Watch Out, ~*~
~*~ You Better Not Cry,~*~
~*~ You Better Not Pout, I'm Telling You Why, ~*~
~*~ Santa PAWS Is Coming To Town,~*~
~*~ He's Making A List, And Checking It Twice ~*~
~*~ Gonna find out Who's naughty and nice,~*~
~*~ Santa PAWS Is Coming To Town,~*~
~*~ He Sees When You Eat WAFFLES, ~*~
~*~ He Knows When You Eat CAKE,~*~
~*~ He Knows If You've Been Bad Or Good,~*~
~*~ So Be Good For Goodness Sake! ~*~
~*~ You Better Watch Out,~*~
~*~ You Better Not Cry, ~*~
~*~ You Better Not Pout, I'm Telling You Why, ~*~
~*~ Santa PAWS Is Coming, ~*~
~*~ Santa PAWS Is Coming,~*~
~*~ Santa PAWS is Coming To Towwwwwwwwwnnnnnnnn, ~*~ SANTA PAWS IS COMING TO TOWN! ~*~

 Toady Nakamura put on her own Tiny avatar and joined the bunch, "We're hardcore carolers!!"

 ~*~ It's beginning to look alot like Wootmas! ~*~
~*~ All across the shire you go! ~*~
~*~ Take a look at the village chalet, ~*~
~*~ The snowmen and the sleigh, ~*~
~*~ With candy canes and tinsel all aglow! ~*~
~*~ Its beginning to look a lot like Wootmas! ~*~
~*~ Tinies in every store! ~*~
~*~ But the nommiest site to see ~*~
~*~ Is the waffles that will be ~*~
~*~ Inside your own front door. ~*~
 ~*~ A pair of bunny hop shoes and lazors that shoot ~*~
~*~ Is the wish of Copper and Reign! ~*~
~*~ Dolls that will talk and go for a walk ~*~
~*~ Is the hope of Jillan and Jane! ~*~
~*~ And Kayak and Toady can hardly wait ~*~
~*~ Till Raglan U opens agaaain! ~*~
~*~ Its beginning to look alot like Wootmas ~*~
~*~ All across the shire you go! ~*~
~*~ Theres a great tree name of Steve, ~*~
~*~ That all the tinies can see, ~*~
~*~ He's GINORMOUS, and doesnt mind the snow! ~*~
~*~ Its beginning to look alot like Wootmas! ~*~
~*~ Soon the bells will start! ~*~
~*~ And the thing that will make them ring, ~*~
~*~ When all the tinies sing, ~*~
~*~ Is right within your heart!!! ~*~

~*~ Jelly Beans, Hunks of Cheese, Sugar Frosted Ham. All Deep-fried, Toast on the Side with Wootberry Jam.. ~*~
~*~ Chocolate Cake all wrapped in Bacon, Nachos on a Stick! Come Along, Let's eat some Noms & Hope we don't get Sick... HEY!! ~*~
~*~ Nomming Treats & Sweets, from Our Raglan Shire Buffet, Fills our little tummies, with Food this Holiday! ~*~
~*~ Just singing 'bout it now, Make's our Hunger Rise! We can't wait to grab a Plate & Stack it real High.. Withhh.. ~*~
~*~ Jelly Beans, Hunks of Cheese, Sugar Frosted Ham. All Deep-fried, Toast on the Side with Wootberry Jam.. ~*~
~*~ Chocolate Cake all wrapped in Bacon, Nachos on a Stick! Come Along, Let's eat some Noms & Hope we don't get SICKKKKKKK! ~*~

As they paused for a break, one of the Tinies bumped against the Christmas tree, resulting in many of it's decorations falling to the ground, some breaking, "AAAAAHHHHH!!!!!" And a number of the Tinies scattered. Fortunetly Toady wasn't upset.

Grendel's Children has been in Second Life for several years, noted for it's large selection of discount quality avatars and items.

SL Video: "Second Life Christmas Special 2015"

(Click here if the video fails to play)

By Suzi Anderson of Inworld Films,
"Oh, the weather outside is frightful,
"but the fire is so delightful.
"And since we've no place to go
"Let it snow! Let it snow, Let it snow!"

"snow, winter, Christmas, dancing, ballroom, romance, coffee shop, cave, ice skating, sleds, carousel, cosy cottage, skiing. Free skis at landing point, free saucer sled outside coffee shop.

"Popcorn and candyfloss are available from the hot chocolate stand at the ice skating pond.
"Sim created by Milly Sharple. Filmed in Second Life by InWorld Films ~ Suzie Anderton,
"Very special thanks to Tinchen the Reindeer, Jane the Snowman, Finley the Penguin at LET IT SNOW SIM"

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from the crew of Second Life Newser

Commentary: The Real Santa

We are now in the last week of the year, the week between Christmas and New Years. These end days of the year have come to be known as "The Holidays", but few know that the tradition is even older than Christianity itself. These holidays took root, even before the development of the ancient Roman Empire.  The Etruscans, forerunners of the Romans, had an unusual calendar. Their year was divided into 12 months of 30 days, for a total of 360 days. They knew the real length of the year, so a wise king declared that the extra days were a special time for celebrating and giving gifts. During the year end days, the king would give out small sacks of money and grant pardons to his subjects. Long after his passing, legends of the great king were still being told, at year's end, by countless generations. By Greek and Roman times, the legends of the king had deified him as Cronus (Father Time) and Saturn. Many generations of spreading the name throughout Europe softened it from Saturn-Cronus to Santa Claus. The well known "St. Nickolaus" story was actually fabricated, by early Roman Christians, as a means of turning old "pagan" legends into Christian ones.

Today, with all the commercialization of holidays, the only thing "holy" is your pockets, after buying all the gifts. If you want to have a truly "old fashioned Christmas" and give an inexpensive gift, that will be cherished for a life time, give them your forgiveness. It is the one gift that is as much fun to give AND receive.

Happy New Year

"Sha"

Christmas Town

Christmas time is here, and among the places redoing themselves to be in theme to the holiday is the sim noted for adopting the look of most every holiday of the year. Christmas Town has arrived in the Townies sim. DrFran wrote about the place a few years ago, so I dropped by to see what's changed and what hasn't.

Owned and built by Laura Liberty, much of the place is a village of shops, where you can get lots of Christmas-themed items such as outfits and house decorations. but the most recognizable structure is the ice castle in the southern part of the sim.

Down underground, accessible by a stairway in the northern part of the sim near a stage, is a small slide where one can take a sled down.

Want to make a Christmas card? There was something that offered to help you make a musical one.

For those who like shopping gachas, there was a Christmas themed one.

There was a chair for Santa, but he wasn't around in any of the times I dropped by.

A fun sim to drop by for a little Christmas shopping and fun.

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Townies

Bixyl Shuftan

The Sunweaver Estates

Becky Shamen's exploration article for today is the home of her, the editor, our office, and of course a number of our readers, the Sunweaver Community. So just what kind of place does this community make it's home in? Becky looks at the several sims that make up the core of the estates.

Read Becky's article in Places.

Announcement: Happy Holidays from the Relay for Life

We would like to extend our appreciation for each and every one of you this Holiday season.  Your hard work has brought more birthdays!  A friend of mine with lung and brain cancer. Not expected to make it to Christmas is now Cancer Free!  Our wish is that you keep your passion in this fight.  That your New Year is filled with health, happiness and wonderful memories.

With warmest regards, 

Your RFL of SL Steering committee

Random Padar

Scenes From the Linden-Resident Snowball Fight

Monday December 21 at 10AM was the time of the Linden-Resident Snowball Fight in Second Life. Numerous Lindens, including Ebbe Linden himself, showed up to take on the many residents there eager to pelt those whom keep putting off fixing the bugs, create too many bureaucratic rules, and charge too much for tier. Gemma Cleanslate was there, and took a number of pictures of the melee.

See the pictures in Events.

Cartoon of the Day

Picture taken at the Linden Snowball Fight by Gemma Cleanslate

Dialogue by Bixyl Shuftan

Nine Years Later

"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step," goes an ancient proverb. Every one of us in Second Life, no matter how experienced, had their own beginning. It was about nine years ago, on December 17, 2006, in which yours truly first came to this virtual world. So what were these first few days, with no money and uncertainty about lay ahead, like?

Read more in People.

Mont Saint Michel Remains Up

In a year that's been marked by the closure of some popular areas, one place marked for the end has so far been spared by the Lindens, at least for now. In September, Moeka Kohime, the owner of Mont Saint Michael, a recreation of a Medieval structure that has been a popular spot for visitors on the Grid, announced she could no longer keep paying the tier. It was feared the place would vanish after the end of the month, but it continued to be up in October. In November, Inara Pey found the place was still up. And when I dropped by the place the weekend, the good news continued. Mont Saint Michel was still around.

So why hasn't Linden Lab drop-kicked the sim into the virtual nether like so many other places? Maybe we the residents, at least those of us whom like exploring around, have simply been extra lucky as they haven't gotten around to it all these months. Or maybe the reaction to the SS Galaxy going down has given the Lab pause. Could Moeka have come across more money and resumed tier payments? Or perhaps the Lab is taking with her behind the scenes about purchasing the place? She hasn't provided any new information on the matter.

Perhaps we should just simply consider the place still being around a Christmas present from Linden Lab, and enjoy this extra chance to drop by another time. 

Mont Saint Michel (125, 5, 22)

Who Should Be Second Life Newser's "Man of the Year?"

Time Magazine recently chose it's "Man of the Year," who was actually a woman this time, Germany's Chandellor Angela Merkel. So with this in mind, the Newser will soon be choosing Second Life's "Man of the Year" for 2015, the person, persons, or thing that had the most impact on the virtual world, for good or bad.

Unlike last year, there was no new CEO taking the reins of Linden Lab. So it might be a little trickier for people to come up with one person whom truly stood above the others in their impact on the Grid. But there are no shortage of candidates. Ebbe Linden, last year's winner, continued to make an impact with his interviews to both Second Life and Internet media. But he wasn't the only Linden making news as Xiola Linden often was the friendly face of the Lab in events organized by them. Others in the news were the Crew of the SS Galaxy and the Steelhead Community as their respective sims faded away. There was Chaos Priestman and Bethsael Robbiani, the team behind the Bright Canopy viewer which took the place of the discontinued SL GO which allowed Second Life to be played from a tablet once again. There were the teams behind major events, the Second Life Birthday, Burn2, and of course the Relay for Life. And there was Project Sansar and it's team, that while outside Second Life certainly was never far from it's collective mind of the residents with the speculation about it.

So who do you the readers think deserves the title of Man (or Woman) of the Year? Please give your thoughts in the comments below.

Bixyl Shuftan

Linden Snowball Fight Today

Have you ever desired to pelt a Linden with a snowball? This morning you just might get your chance. A couple days ago on the official Second Life blog, Xiola Linden announced that today, Monday December 21 at 10AM SL time, there would be some of their number in the "Winter Wonderland" area, waiting for any residents to challenge them to a snowball fight.

Come one - come all to the Snowball Arena for a friendly ice battle of epic proportions! We’re bringing back the Official Snowball Showdown - where you’re free to pelt your fellow Second Life Residents and Lindens with a bevy of sparkling snowballs! 

If you missed last year’s battle - now’s your chance to get some snow slinging fun in an icy free-for-all at Winter Wonderland. Join us on Monday, December 21st between 10 AM SLT and noon SLT.
If you’re looking for the latest in snow-slinging arsenal, be sure to grab your free snow launching weaponry from the vendors around the arena. Premium members can unlock even more powerful artillery.
Mark your calendars, assemble your dream team of friends, and meet us in the snow!

Read the blog post in it's entirety here.

Nydia Tungsten's "Twisted Christmas" Party

Thursday December 17 was the day Nydia Tungsten held her yearly Christmas party. But having got her start in Second Life as DJ "Naughty" Nydia, her party had a special twist. It would consist of comic and parody songs. Some were simply funny such as "Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer," and "Christmas at Ground Zero." Others had a bit of an edge to then, such as Shockwave Yarreach's parody "Grandma Got Knocked Up By a Reindeer." And some were so raunchy, we can't even print the names in a workplace-safe publication.

I will be doing a TWISTED CHRISTMAS event tomorrow  from 4 to 6 at Primal Passions, never heard of Naughty Nydia's Twisted Christmas? well lets just say it won't be a "hallmark moment" event  SEE YOU THERE!

The event went from 4 to 6 PM SL time at Rayven Tentigo's "Primal Passions" castle club. The event had originally been called the "Anti-Christmas Party" as a reaction to the over-commercialization of the Holiday to the point the spiritual side of the season was being forgotten. But it seems some people were confused by the event's name, and so Nydia changed it.

Besides the songs, there were a few frisky Christmas cartoons propped up (which we can't show). A number of people dropped by, including Shockwave just in time to hear his parody song, Lomgren Smalls in his signature microkitty avatar, Alleara Snoodle in a white doe avatar (nobody "doe"s it better), Nydia's real-life son Kody, and others.

I did chat with Rayven after the event. She reminded the Newser that the Primal Passions club is an active venue with several events a week and where adults can relax and have fun both during and after the part, the schedule can be found at http://primalpassionsclub.weebly.com/events.html (caution, not all of the pages linked to this one are workplace safe). The castle is at Sunweaver Bay (170, 215, 25)

A fun time was had by all in this chance to have a little cheeky fun with Christmas.

Bixyl Shuftan

Memorial Dance for Rypanthian Abilene

On Tuesday December 15, the Sunweaver/Angel community came together to hold a memorial dance for one of their number whom had passed away a few days before, Rypanthian Abilene. Having left a partner of ten years behind, Felina Fermi, the event was not just in his honor, but also to remind she had a community behind her.

Read the story in Events.

Cartoon of the Day: Dueling Santas

Taken at the "Holidays for Hope" ball. At one point in the party, there were two in Santa avatars on the dance floor. As long as it doesn't go into a brawl that would break the hearts of any nearby kids, when Santas duel: the good boys and girls win.

Bixyl Shuftan

Man Buys Google.com For $12, Rewarded by Company

This Internet news story is several weeks old, but still worth talking about. It seems Google briefly lost the ownership of it's Internet domain name to a man in India, albeit for just a minute.

"I was learning more about the Google Domains interface," Sanmay Ved of Mandivi India would write in LinkedIn, "and typed google.com and clicked search domains. To my surprise, Google.com was showing as available!" He then used his credit card to purchase the domain, documenting his transactions on screenshots, and his transaction was confirmed, making him the new owner of Google's web domain.

But his ownership was brief. A minute later, he received an email stating his purchase was canceled, which Google could do as they owned the registration service, unlike a similar incident with Microsoft and it's domain in the United Kingdom. Some days later, he was contacted by their security team, stating he would get a reward for finding the error. Ved requested the reward go to charity, an educational group that runs 400 schools in India, "providing free education to more than 39,200 children in the slum, tribal and rural belts where child labor and poverty are widespread." Google agreed and doubled the amount.

"I can't shake that feeling that I actually owned Google.com," he was quoted as saying.

Reprinted from "Food on the Table"

Sources: LinkedIn, Business Insider, BBC News, PCmag.com

Bixyl Shuftan

Winter Wonderland

On Thursday December 17, Linden Lab opened the "Winter Wonderland" area to residents. Accessible through the Linden-owned public square Portal Park, the place has much to offer from a picturesque village to a snowball fight arena to a snowboard track, and more. Gemma Cleanslate, fresh from her time at the Winter Expo, went to see the place, and was quite happy.

Read Gemma's article in Places.

SL Video: "Happy Wootmas™ 2015 from Raglan Shire!"

(Click here if the video fails to play)

Posted by on Zayn Till, Dec 17, 2015, "JanosX has once again created an amazing cut out style animated Wootmas™ Card for everyone to enjoy! We hope everyone finds themselves well this holiday season and beyond & wish you a Happy Wootmas™!"

Eye On the Blog: Project Bento

Linden Lab has been working on what is the biggest development in avatar design in many years. On Wednesday December 16, they announced on the official blog details about "Project Bento." With new bones added to the avatar skeleton design, people will not only be able to create more detailed avatars, with flexible fingers and other details, but also fancier ones for beyond human norms, such as wings and tails.

(Click here if the video fails to play)

We are introducing extensions to the standard Second Life Avatar Skeleton that give you dozens of new bones to support both rigging and animation, and accompanying new attachment points! This extended skeleton, which is fully backward compatible with existing avatars, rigging and animation, gives creators the power to build more sophisticated avatars than ever before. 

The extensions for the skeleton include:

• 11 extra limb bones for wings, additional arms, or extra legs.
• 6 tail bones
• 30 bones in the hands (all 10 fingers!)
• 30 bones for facial expressions
• 2 other new bones in the head for animating ears or antennae
• 13 new attachment points associated with the new bones

The Lab went on to say they had developed the project "in collaboration with many expert Resident content creators and with the developers of the most popular tools for creating avatars and animations, so there will quickly be versions of those tools you can use to help take advantage of these changes."

More information on Project Bento can be read in the Knowledge Base. Those interested in testing Bento and giving feedback have been asked to check out the "Project Bento Testing" on the Second Life Wiki page.

The Lab has emphasized that they are taking care to make sure the updates are backwards-computable with existing avatar designs. For now, the changes can only be seen on the Aditi Beta Test Grid, "Once we have finalized the skeleton extensions, we will enable uploads using them to the main Second Life grid and the real fun can begin!"

For the complete blog entry: Click Here. One can also read the thread created in the official forums, and the one created in the SL Universe forums. The comments in the SL Universe thread were overwhelmingly positive, though there were a lot of jokes about the groin bone. In the official forums thread, comments were more mixed, some residents wondering about what the catch was.

Announcement: Star Wars Relay for Life Event On Sunday

Padawans, Jedi Masters, Sith Lords, Droids, Smugglers, and Bounty Hunters rejoice! "Star Wars" is back. To honor this great occasion The SLCS Cheerleaders are having a Star Wars Party to honor the opening of the Force Awakens. It will be a 12 hour concert with all sorts of Cantina Band Singers on stage. All Proceeds raised at this event will go to relay for life. So let's help remove cancer as a weapon of the dark side of the force. Note: costumes are encouraged at this event, so bring your lightsabers.

Below is lineup as it currently stands

9-10 Redhawk
10-11 Phemie Alcott
11-12 Kris Electricteeth
12-1 Madmax Huet
1-2 Matthew Perreault
2-3 Glenn Bunjie
3-4 libertybelle Lyric
4-5 LaidBack Celt
5-6 Sara Maria Philly
6-7 Starfish Ohmai
7-8 Marqs DeSade (marqsdesade)
8-9 Angela McKeenan

SL Cheerleading Squad /  Srooc Skytower Memorial Stadium, Cheertopia (142, 78, 3037)

Kobuk Farshore, Elif Ayiter, Get Top Awards at MachinimUWA VIII: Pursue Impossible

Click here if the video fails to play.


On Sunday December 13, the winners of the MachinimUWA VIII video and art competition, "Pursue Impossible" were selected. Both the best filmmaker and the best sculptor received 60,000 Linden dollar prizes (about $240 USD) In a close vote by the judges, the  top prize for machinima went to Kobuk Farshore.

An awe-inspiring and brilliantly crafted film, 'Pursue Impossible' by Kobuk Farshore of Alaska, took the top spot and its L$60,000 prize for the 8th UWA International Short Animated Film Challenge (MachinimUWA VIII - Pursue Impossible), in a thrilling one point victory over defending champion and four time winner of the UWA film challenges, Tutsy Navarathna, the dominant Frenchman from Pondicherry, India, who delivered a tour de force with the stylish and visionary 'Death of Death?'. The US-Swiss combination of Haveit Neox and Lilia Artis finished 3rd, but also won one of the 2 UWA Special Prizes through their thought provoking offering, 'Tis An Egg'. Indonesian Diana Al Martini was the other recipient of the UWA Special Prize, with a film showing 3 amazing Australians who successfully pursued the impossible, Professor Barry Marshall, Dr Fiona Wood and Turia Pitt.

Top prize for the best artist went to Elif Ayiter (Alpha Auer) for his work "The Bridge." One can take a look at his 3D work at UWA (198, 106, 324), and the main gallery at UWA (20, 175, 247).

For the UWA Grand 3D Art Challenge, 'The Bridge' by Elif Ayiter of Sabanci University (SL: Alpha Auer), Istanbul Turkey widely regarded as among the most brilliant creators in the virtual world, was the winner over Australian Carmsie Melodie's work, 'Achieve Impossible' inspired by Thomas Edison and Nicola Tesla. The UWA Special Prize, selected by the UWA members of this international judging panel, went to Krystali Rabeni of the United Kingdom. Her creation Dream within a Dream' was deemed to the artwork that best encapsulated the UWA essence of 'Pursue Impossible'. Haveit Neox & Lilia Artis proved formidable winning awards across both the film and art challenges. The curator's award, went to someone without whom these challenges might never have come to be what they are, West Australian, quadrapop Lane. The alpha and the omega. It all started with quadrapop Lane in 2009 and its fitting that she is honoured in the last, as the sun sets on the Grand UWA Art & Film challenges in 2015.

 This is the last of the University of Western Australia's yearly 3D Art and Machinima contests, they having announced there will be no more of this particular event, though may have others in the future should funding be available.

For more information, check the UWA blog.

Cartoon of the Day: At the Xmas Expo

Taken at the Christmas Expo's snowman contest. This scene of a dalek avatar next to a "dead" snowman build on the ground just begged for a cartoon. ;-)

By Bixyl Shuftan

Dark Dharma's Haunted Manor

Becky "Sha" Shamen recently decided to explore a place other than the usual Christmas-themed ones for December. Instead she dropped by the Dark Dharma's Haunted Manor. So why explore a location in December which looks more like "The Nightmare Before Christmas?" Becky had answers to this and more.

Read Becky's article in Places.

Nydia Tungsten on the "Anti-Christmas Party"

Tomorrow on December 17 at the Primal Passions Club at Sunweaver Bay (170, 215, 25), Nydia Tungsten will be DJing for the "Anti-Christmas" event, a dance party with a range of music parodies from mild to wild. But it seems there's been a bit of confusion about the event. So Nydia asked for a little time to explain.

Read the story in People.

The Snowman Contest and the Holidays For Hope Ball

This weekend, the Relay Expo had a few last events. One was the snowman contest, of which the winner was declared on Sunday December 13. Later that day was the high point of the festival, the Holidays for Hope Ball. Second Life Newser was at both, and took a few pictures.

Read more in Events.

SL Video: "If I Had You"

(Click here to see the video)

Nydia Tungsten's latest video, done on December 9, "Just me and a few Angels having fun at 'Primal Passions.' I would like to thank the owner Rayven for the use of her fantastic club and urge you all to check it out. And again, as always we make No money from these videos we just do them for fun, we hope you have fun watching them."

For those whom want to see Nydia DJing, stop by the Happy Vixen Beach Club today between Noon and 8PM SL time at Purrfection Estates (236, 219, 24), and the Primal Passions Club on Thursday from 4 to 6 PM at Sunweaver Bay (170, 215, 25).

*Note* We originally had the wrong time for Thursday. It has been corrected.

Calas Christmas Sim

Earlier, Gemma Cleanslate mentioned that the Calas Galadhon Park area had winterized. But she left a description of the special Christmas area for later. Today, she has her article on the Xmas sim there. Designed by Ty Tenk and Truck Meridith, there is much to see and enjoy, and sure to get one in a holiday mood.

Read Gemma's article in Places.

Down South

Kelly BloodyKitty writes today about a new club in the area she used to work at: "Down South." This country-themed club in the Heracles sim has the rustic look of a converted barn. Kelly dropped by to take an in-depth look.

Read Kelly's article in Design.

Fundraiser for Felina Fermi

Yesterday, we reported that Rypanthian Abilene, one of the residents of the Sunweaver Estates, had passed away. His departure leaves a big hole in the life of his longtime friend of fifteen years and partner Felina Fermi, whom not only has to deal with his loss, but that Rypanthian was the one paying for their home. So to help, Club Happy Vixen is holding a fundraising event for her.

The special event for the Happy Vixen will be on Tuesday December 15 from Noon SL time to 8PM. The last the Newser heard, there are still openings for DJs. Those interested in helping out contact Nydia Tungsten or Skylark Lefavre. Nydia and Dusk Griswold will be among those DJing.

The Happy Vixen is located at Purrfection Estates (236, 219, 24). 

SL Video: "The Drax Files: World Makers [Episode 34: Cheeky Pea]"

(Click here if the video fails to play)

From Draxtor Despress on December 9, "The mainstream media likes to point out how 'living online' destroys relationships in the 'real' world but for one American-Scottish couple the virtual world of Second Life became a facilitator: a conduit to finding each other's 'soulmate'.

"'You can absolutely tell who someone is by meeting their avatar in SL' says 3D designer Isla Gealach, who moved in with Ewan Mureaux two years ago after having met almost 8 years ago online.

"Ewan, who makes a living doing land deals and writing scripts in Second Life, points out that by allowing to freely use an avatar identity as proxy for communicating, Second Life is unique in the category of social networks: '…it can cut through societal constraints and gets more to the heart of who you are!'

"Completing the Edinburgh based family is Isla's daughter who at 9-years of age has a solid grasp of the concept of virtual goods. No surprise there, since her mother makes her income by selling home and garden accessories via the Cheeky Pea brand.

"The perceived esoteric nature of her work prompts Isla to use the term intangible rather than virtual when put on the spot about her profession: 'I always respond to skeptics by saying that I make environmental spaces where the experience and the memories people have with my products are real!'

"'As real as anything else!' says Ewan Mureaux.

"And, suddenly, there is virtually nothing more to add...or is there?

"For more information on Cheeky Pea check out http://cheekypeasl.com/."

Memorial Show at Kindness Park

The Winter Expo wasn't the only event for charity going on last week. A week ago on Sunday December 6, there was a show at Kindness Park in the Napa Valley sim. Money donated went to the Mark V. Lee Memorial Fund. So who was Mark Lee and what was going on at Kindness Park?

Read more in Events.