Cartoon of the Day

Taken at the Happy Vixen

By Bixyl Shuftan

Announcement: This Week at the Senchai Libraries

SOME CALL IT "WEIRD." WE CALL IT "FICTION"

And it is what we are all about: legendary journeys, hard-to-believe adventures, forays into imagination.

Check out the stories and the storytellers at www.seanchailibrary.com

All events at Senchai Library at Holly Kai Park, unless otherwise noted
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Holly%20Kai%20Estates/215/44/27

 All stories told in open voice. All times SL/PT

**SUNDAY, September 30that 1:30pm: TEA TIME at Baker Street: The Hound of the Baskervilles, Episode 4- Corwyn Allen,

Kayden Oconnell, David Abbot, and Caledonia Skytower, live in voice.
Tea Time, Hound of the Baskervilles: Baskerville Hall
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Holly%20Kai%20Estates/222/22/2503

**MONDAY, October 1st at 7pm: Ellen Anthony's (aka Gracee Andel) MURDER IS BLISS  continues with Gyro Muggins.

**TUESDAY, October 2nd at 7pm:  John Bellair's THE HOUSE WITH A CLOCK IN ITS WALLS begins with Faerie Maven-Pralou

** WEDNESDAY, October 3rd at 7pm: Theodore Sturgeon's TINY & THE MONSTER concludes with Ktadhn Vesuvino
   
** THURSDAY,October 4th

   ~ at 7pm - WAKE NOT THE DEAD with Shandon Loring. (Also in Kitely!  Find teleport from the main Seanchai World grid.kitely.com:8002:SEANCHAI,  in Kitely)

   ~ at 9pm - SEANCHAI LATE NIGHT contemporary Sci-Fi with Finn Zeddmore.

Press Release: Making Strides Meet and Greet Party

You're invited to join us for our Meet and Greet party as we get ready to kick off the 2018 Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Across Second Life season!

Sunday, September 30, 2018
1pm - 3pm slt
On the grounds outside the Making Strides office
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/American%20Cancer%20Society/192/198/22

Entertainment provided by Trader Whiplash of T1 Radio with special guests from the 2018 Making Strides Planning Committee.

Explore the Making Strides office where we have a special interactive display set up for you to learn about breast cancer, provided by Kaiila Mahoney.

Learn about upcoming events, pick up your MSABC fundraising tools and much more!

Website: https://makingstridessecondlife.org/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/makingstridessl/
Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/groups/makingstrideswalk-secondlife/
Online donations: http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR?pg=entry&fr_id=90614

The SL15B Gift Grab: The Last Gift

After fifteen weeks, The Second Life Fifteenth Birthday Gift Grab, (described in their blog post of the event and briefly at the end of our June 22 article of The Birthday), is coming to an end. The first fourteen weeks have offered gifts from silly string to hoverboards, to crystal balls, to teddy bears, to magic wands, and more. The fifteenth gift we were told would be reserved only for those who had collected every one of the previous fourteen gifts, and was promised to be extra special.

Finally on Monday September 24, the fifteenth and final gift was made available. The clue on the Linden blog was, "The FINAL SL15B Weekly Gift Grab Hint is: Home of the Moles is where this could be. Hidden among things for everyone to see." The clue led to Meauxle Bureaux (152/127/29). The sim was quite picturesque at certain angles.

For those whom had the first fourteen notches on their "Swaganator HUD," the gift was available to claim. So I got it, and headed to a sandbox to see what the grand prize we'd all been waiting for was.

And it was ... a crystal carriage. You could sit on it. But to operate it, you needed the HUD that come with it. Once attached, you could move the carriage around, even fly it in the air. Something that would be fun for Fantasy-themed areas.

And that's it. That's the last of the SL15B Gift grab gifts. Hope you had fun collecting them. Do you have a story about a hunt area that was extra good or bad? Anything to say about a gift that was really great or a disappointment? Send your reader submissions to bixylshuftan@gmail.com

Bixyl Shuftan

SL Video: "Dance Superstar"

(Click here if the video fails to play)

From Furry Alex on August 29 (song in Russian)

Interview With Markus Damone of AllFurRadio

Recently the Newser met up with Markus Damone, the founder and head of AllFurRadio. Although an Internet radio station with most of its listeners outside Second Life, it did get it's start here. Markus talked about how he found out about and came to Second Life, as well as how the station came to be, what caused it to close, and it's restart a year ago.

Read the article in People.

Deepmarsh Sim In Trouble

Late last night, Anne Brightstar told me about a picturesque sim that may not be on Second Life much longer. Deepmarsh, located in the Beck sim, the sim had been owned by River McCallen. But apparently there is some kind of trouble with the payments. Anne told me who to contact for more information. And after I have more, I'll have an update. For now, those who want to check out the sim for themselves, donate, or both, can head to: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Beck/114/148/21

Bixyl Shuftan

Announcement: This Week At The Science Circle: “Fermi Paradox Re: Aliens”

“Fermi Paradox Re: Aliens”

Saturday September 29, 10-11AM SL time

Monthly panel discussion

With this week as subject “Fermi Paradox re: aliens”.

As soon as the participants are known they will be published here

Registration of future panel members and moderation by Beragon Betts

More on the presentation can be read at: https://www.sciencecircle.org/event/fermi-paradox-re-aliens

The Science Circle (61/126/32)

Press Release: Virtual Ability's Annual International Disability Rights Affirmation Conference, October 5 and 6

This year Virtual Ability will hold its annual International Disability Rights Affirmation Conference on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 5 and 6. The theme of this year's conference is "Taking Care of Us."

We are very excited about the presenters we will have this year.

One is from the United Nations (he will speak at 8:30am SLT on Friday). Another is an Emmy award winning filmmaker (he presents Friday at 11:30am SLT). And on Saturday at 11am SLT, we will interview a Section Editor for the New York Times.

Our presenters are from Hong Kong, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, the UK, Ghana and Mauritius as well as the US, so it's a truly international group of presenters. You can see the full schedule here: http://virtualability.org/idrac-2018/

Questions? You can email me (gentle@virtualability.org) or IM Gentle Heron.

Thank you kindly.

SL Video: Inside Avatar Studio With Pooky Amsterdam

Last week on September 19, Pooky Amsterdam was at a discussion at Rockcliffe University. The conversation went on for about an hour, from how people learn in Second Life, to engaging with one another, to how her "The 1st Question" game show got started, to how does one explain Second Life to someone outside the virtual world, "aspirational marketing," how are virtual experiences as a form of entertainment, the possibilities of marketing through virtual reality,and other issues.

Press Release: Homes For Our Troops Benefit This Sunday

Frets Nirvana and US Military Veterans Group announce the 2018 September benefit for Homes For Our Troops in Second Life! 

Frets Nirvana, the premier guitar artist in the virtual world Second Life and the US Military Veterans Group announce the 2018 September benefit on September 30, 2018 in Second Life for the Veterans Support Organization  Home For Our Troops . 

Frets Nirvana states:  “HFOT is a privately funded 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization building specially adapted, mortgage-free homes nationwide for the most severely injured Veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan. Most of these Veterans are multiple amputees, paraplegic, quadriplegic or suffered severe traumatic brain injury (TBI).  Since its inception in 2004, over 90 cents of every dollar spent by Homes for Our Troop has gone to directly support Veterans. DURING THAT TIME HFOT HAS BUILT OVER 240 SPECIALLY ADAPTED HOMES NATIONWIDE FOR WOUNDED VETERANS.”

In 2017 the community in Second Life sent over $10,000 to Homes For Our Troops, thanks to may kind hearts and great Second Life performers. 

Home for Our Troops benefit concerts feature premier Second Life talent monthly at Veteran’s Isle.  The concert on September 30, 2018 is scheduled from 11AM - 4PM PST.  Featured artists will be DJ Waya Snowpaw, The Vinnie Show, Erin and Satin, Austin Moores and Singergirl.

Sponsored by Frets Nirvana and the U.S. Military Veteran’s Group of Second Life.  To learn more about Homes for Our Troops visit https://www.hfotusa.org

Cartoon of the Day

Taken at Envy Nightlife. "The Klotato" demonstrates a two-headed avatar. While that kind of body would have it's problems, given how those in public office often are, certain occupations might come naturally.

By Bixyl Shuftan

Hair Fair 2018

The Hair Fair is back in Second Life. Taking place across six sims, This shopping event offers many hairpieces and other accessories up for sale with part of the money from each item going to charity.

The purpose of the event is to raise money for the "Wigs For Kids" charity, which provides wigs for youngsters whom have lost their hair due to chemotherapy for cancer treatment, severe burns, and other causes. At least 15% of the price of hairpieces goes to the charity. For items like bandanas and "Hair Fair hares," all of the money is donated.

The sims are named after hair colors: Blonde, Noirette, Redhead, Brunette, Cam Sim Foils, and Cam Sim Streaks. .The Hair Fair lasts from now until October 6.

For more information, check their website at: https://hairfair.wordpress.com/

https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Hair%20Fair%20-%20Blonde/197/130/24

Bixyl Shuftan

Memorial Tower to Lumiere Noir

Avi Arrow recently told me about a new structure south of the Ivory Tower of Prims. In the adjacent Zoe sim is a memorial to Lumiere Noir, the man who created the Ivory Tower and it's library of instructions for those learning how to build things inworld. But on August 10, 2015, he passed away. His memorial service later that month was well attended by his friends and admirers. While the Ivory Tower could be considered a memorial to Lumiere, Avi felt there should be something else.

"That is something Lumiere created for Planet Mongo," Avi spoke of the tower, "few things of his have survived as he rarely took stuff into inventory. So, I took the tower and created the base for it and pavilion around it." The base had a few models at the outer edge of what looked like "Flash Gordon" style spaceships. The tower itself had a base with a thin section of glowing blue rings. Higher up were a few larger blue rings rising and lowering around the top part.

To the west a short distance is another structure. This one is brick, and resembles a more conventional memorial building. "The upper area is the actual memorial itself," Avi told me. In the front is a metallic statue of Lumiere's "Spy vs Spy" inspired avatar, with prims between it's hands, "Had one member create his statue which Kennylex also had a hand in making." Inside the building are a number of objects placed together, the memorial "houses the objects people gave to me to place in remembrance of him, at the actual memorial service itself."

And the name of the memorial for Lumiere? Avi told me, "Celebrity Ant Farmer was the last group title he gave to himself. So, his memorial park will be called the Celebrity Ant Farm."

Avi Arrow is working on another project. But details are mum until it's closer to being finished.

https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Zoe/180/252/27

Bixyl Shuftan

Events This Week at the Sunweaver, Montecito Bay, and Furry Fashion Clubs

Here's what's going on at the Sunweaver and Montecito Bay clubs and the Furry Fashion Lounge.

Club Cutlass: Best in 'E.' , Blue and Purple, Flying Away

Happy Vixen: Canines and Raccoons, Best in Purple, Topless Tuesday, Grunge, Mice, Crazy, Computers/Digital, Metal, TBA

Club Zero Gravity: TBA

Momtecito Bay: Taco Tuesday, Musical Expedition, Lem and Em Show, Carolina Shaggin, After Dark, Paws and Claws

Furry Fashion Lounge: Metal and Rock, CAYA, Magic, Creepy vs Cute, Video Games, Tinies, Goth, Rainbows

Read the schedules in SL Clubbin'

Press Release: One of a Kind Luxury House/Club to be Auctioned For MSABC in SL

The American Cancer Society’s Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Across Second Life is pleased to present an ultimate luxury home for auction, with all of the proceeds going toward raising funds for breast cancer research.

“We are thrilled that a top designer has chosen to come alongside MSABC to help us make a difference with this unique opportunity,” says Leala Spire, Strides co-lead. “The quality of the build is exquisite. One lucky homeowner will have an ultimate luxury retreat that includes everything, even down to potholders in the kitchen.”

AXL Pro Design has donated their Technozen Acqua House Furnished Easy, priced at L$79,999, for the auction. Creator Slash Hansome has put everything you could possibly think of when it comes to luxe living in this house and club, and Spire encourages shoppers to explore the house, which will be on display starting on Oct 1.

With a footprint of 128 meters by 128 meters and 4,899 prim, the one-of-a-kind modernist home boasts 93 adult menus, which means there are thousands of possible adult animations.

This new Japanese-inspired house has 4 bedrooms, a bar and lounge, private cinema, jacuzzi room, sauna, gym, three lounges, a kitchen, dining room, office, billiard lounge, a garage, two living rooms, balconies, an elevator and a piano lounge -- all with adult animations. This house has it all, even down to a security camera system, dishes in the cupboard and fully stocked refrigerators and bars! And, for the bold of spirit, there are even two secret rooms waiting to be found.

The outside is completely landscaped and features an adult swimming pool, dock, gardens, patio, parking, a club and helipad. You can even take a walk along its cliff side and discover a natural trail and scenic overlook. For a sneak preview, check out the photo gallery of the house on Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/gp/160579805@N03/vsX30s

You can tour this house starting Oct. 1 through Oct 26. on the Parade of Homes Tour.  Tour HUDs will be available at the Strides office, located on American Cancer Society Island starting Oct. 1: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/American%20Cancer%20Society/192/197/23

While touring the home, get your landmark and details on the Auction Party being held on Friday, Oct. 26 and all the info on how you can place your bid.

If you have any questions about the auction or MSABC please contact Leala Spire or Sandie Loxingly.

Each year, more than a million passionate women, men, and children participate in Making Strides Against Breast Cancer, the largest network of breast cancer awareness events in the nation. The events unite communities by honoring those affected by the disease and raising money to reduce the burden of breast cancer.  Dollars raised through Making Strides Against Breast Cancer help the American Cancer Society fund innovative breast cancer research; provide education and guidance to help people reduce their risk; and offer comprehensive patient support to those who need it most so that no one facing breast cancer ever has to walk alone.

KEY STRIDES DATES

Parade of Homes: Starting Oct. 1, shoppers and homebuyers can pick up a Parade of Homes HUD at the Strides office and then discover some of the great home designers in Second Life, get your new home, and fight breast cancer – all at the same time. The parade of homes will conclude with the special live auction for the AXL Pro dream home.

Out Shop Breast Cancer: Starting Oct. 1, this event will take shoppers across the grid, exploring and shopping at stores in support of Strides. Store-owners will use American Cancer Society breast cancer vendor kiosks to feature special products in their stores. Shoppers will make their strides across Second Life by teleporting from store to store with the Out-Shop Cancer HUD, available at the Strides office.

Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk-A-Thon: Registration is now open for the Oct. 20 walk-a-thon, https://makingstridessecondlife.org/get-involved/strides-walk-2018/. Join fellow walkers on the track or sponsor a walker for the 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. SLT event.

MSABC Gala: The annual gala event will be 2 to 5 p.m. SLT on Oct. 27 and celebrate breast cancer patients, survivors and pay homage to loved ones that are no longer with us. This is a chance to meet new people,  reconnect with old friends, and share stories with others about your personal connection to breast cancer. This is a formal attire event with special live performances. Donations are encouraged throughout the event.

Looking Back at Emeraldgate

Yesterday, Team Firestorm celebrated it's eighth anniversary party. All were happy with the celebration. But eight years ago, the team was rapidly formed in the middle of a scandal that was sinking the team behind the most popular viewer at the time: Emerald. Known as "Emeraldgate," it started in August 2010 when a key member of the development team took advantage of a weakness in the viewer code to launch a Denial of Service attack on the website of someone he didn't like. The aftermath was a drama in which one woman brought people together to lead a new team, while others ended up banned by Linden Lab.

Read the story in Events.

Announcement For Linden Lab's Creepy Crawl And Costume Contest

Since 2015, Linden Lab has held a Halloween-themed venue-hopping event known as the "Creepy Crawl." Late last week, they announced they would be doing so again, along with a costume contest. For those who haven't heard of it, think of a bar crawl in which a group of people go to a bunch of bars, spending only a little time at each one.

Are you ready to have a screaming good time with fellow Residents - all in the name of the spirit of Halloween? While this holiday may not be shared the world over, it is a tradition in Second Life to dress up in your Halloween best and come out haunting for the annual Second Life Creepy Crawl and Costume Contest!
 

It’s going to be a monster mash-up at our Creepy Crawl - where we hop from venue to venue and enjoy some thrilling conversation and fun - with a de-frightfully fun Costume Contest twist! 

 

We are in search of venues to host our stops on the crawl. This year’s Creepy Crawl will happen on Halloween (Wednesday, October 31st) from 10 am - 2 pm (SLT/PT).

 

If you’d like to host a stop along the Creepy Crawl, own a spot that will be decked out for the holiday, and don’t mind if a parade of Residents and Lindens come through, then you might be just what the witch doctor ordered. We’re looking for spots that have entertainment (we like to dance around in our costumes!), are appropriate for general and moderate audiences, and can handle a crowd.

Those venue owners interested in wanting their place as part of the Creepy Crawl need to be sure their place is in the Destinations Guide. If that's been done, they need to fill out this online form. Those selected will be notified after October 15.

For more details, check out the Linden Blog.

A Busy Weekend

There were a few noteable happenings this weekend, such as the Firestorm Anniversary Party yesterday (above). Also, the Hair Fair began, and there were other events.

More on these, and more, later.

Cartoon of the Day

Taken at the Happy Vixen

By Bixyl Shuftan

Team Firestorm's Eighth Anniversary Party

Today, Sunday September 23, is when Team Firestorm, the people behind the most popular Second Life viewer, celebrates their eighth anniversary. Their anniversary was actually on September 3rd, but better late than never.

Holy smokes! Can you believe it? It’s been EIGHT years now since we began this project. Over eight, really, since our actual anniversary date was September 3rd. In those eight years we have accomplished a lot, and we look forward to much more in the years ahead.

But to celebrate the past eight, our events coordinator, Jolie Serendipity, has put together an awesome lineup of performances and a wonderful gift from Kajaera. We are celebrating our accomplishments, yes … but we’re also celebrating YOU—our users—because we couldn’t have lasted a month without the ongoing support from our community, much less eight whole years!

The event starts at 3PM SL time, and goes on to 6PM. The event will have three live performances. at 3PM, the performer is Noma Falta. At 4PM, it's DJ Trick Rembratnt. At 5PM, there's a performance by the Changhigh Sisters Fireshow, "a magical show of Light, Life and Love."

There's also a gift available for Firestorm fans. A free rideable pet horse."WILD KAJAERA has generously created and is donating a unique, beautiful, FIERY, Forever Pet, Mustang Horse for all Second Life residents to enjoy. WHAT A GIFT! It’s so magical that it needs no food to keep it healthy and happy. PLUS, if you want, you can convert it to a breedable (imagine the offspring). Thank you SO much for this gorgeous gift, Kajaera!" The pet will be available at the location for several days after the anniversary party.

The three SURLs given out for the event are:

https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Firestorm%20Dow%20Forest/224/232/3902
https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Firestorm%20Ghost%20Town/19/247/3903
https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Firestorm%20Aerodrome/251/21/3903

For more information check out the Firestorm blog.

Bixyl Shuftan

Announcement: This Week at the Senchai Libraries

THE HIGH STORY SEASON HAS ARRIVED!
It begins in September with Pirates, and will end sometime in late March with some great Celtic adventure.  In between we'll visit the X-Files, Frankenstein, Quilts, Charles Dickens, and who knows what else?  We're off on our annual wild ride. Hang on tight and join us this week in #secondlife, and on our properties in #kitely, live in voice.

Check out the stories and the storytellers at www.seanchailibrary.com

All events at Senchai Library at Holly Kai Park, unless otherwise noted
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Holly%20Kai%20Estates/215/44/27

 All stories told in open voice. All times SL/PT

 **SUNDAY, September 23rd:

   ~ at 1:30pm: TEA TIME at Baker Street: The Hound of the Baskervilles, Episode 4- Corwyn Allen, Kayden Oconnell, David Abbot, and Caledonia Skytower, live in voice.
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Holly%20Kai%20Estates/222/22/2503

   ~ at 6pm: MAGICLAND STORYTIME: The Devious Book for Cats - Caledonia Skytower at The Golden Horseshoe, live in voice.
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Bracket/181/57/30


**MONDAY, September 24th at 7pm: Ellen Anthony's MURDER IS BLISS  continues with Gyro Muggins. (We are pleased to welcome friend Gracee Andel's Sci Fi Detective adventure to the Library)

**TUESDAY, September 25th at 7pm:  John Bellair's THE HOUSE WITH A CLOCK IN ITS WALLS begins with Faerie Maven-Pralou

** WEDNESDAY, September 26th at 7pm: Theodore Sturgeon's TINY & THE MONSTER with Ktadhn Vesuvino.
  
** THURSDAY,September 27th at 7pm - X-FILES: IT'S ALL IN THE EYES! with Shandon Loring and Caledonia Skytower.

(Also in Kitely!  Find teleport from the main Seanchai World grid.kitely.com:8002:SEANCHAI,  in Kitely)

Gift Grab: Week Fourteen

It's near the end of Week 14 of the SL15B Gift Grab, and just a couple days left for what for many is the last item up for the taking. This week's clue is "Once you’ve battled the Dinos and saved the grid, can you search high and low to discover the gift?" Which means head to Paleoquest.

Where the Gift Grab prize isn't too far from the entry area in Paleoquest. In fact, it's clearly marked as the "Free Gift" area, which to those who haven't been there means a different free gift. As usual, while having the Swaganator HUD on, click on your prize to claim it.

This week's prize is the biggest one yet, so you'll want to rezz it somewhere with plenty of room (such as the Ivory Tower sandbox). This is the Crystal Tower. It's empty on the inside, but it could easily be made into a small home or used for some other purpose.

Unless you've collected all thirteen of the previous weeks' Gift Grab's gifts, this will be the last of the SL15B hunt items you can get. For those who have gotten all fourteen, then Week 15 of the Gift Grab, starting Monday September 24 will offer one more item that promises to be particularly special. What is it? Stay tuned.

Bixyl Shuftan

SL Video: "Ed Sheeran Perfect"

(Click here if the video fails to play)

From YKZ Productions on Jan. 4

New Blog Devoted to Virtual Sex and Romance

A new blog features discussions and information about sex, romance, and related issues in virtual worlds: virtualsexromance.wordpress.com. (Note that there is no “and” or “&”).

Sex and romance are among the most popular pursuits in SL.As in real-life, they occasion many questions and discussions, which the new blog will cover.

“I’ve had interesting talks in Second Life about virtual relationships,” said Eugene Rodgers, who created the blog. “For instance, does a person in a committed real-life relationship cheat if they have virtual sex with someone else? And why is BDSM popular in SL? Contributions to my blog should prove enlightening.”

Rodgers is the author of “Femme Fatale Online,” a mystery novel with an unidentified villain who acts through an avatar in a virtual world like Second Life. “She tries to seduce the married hero into a virtual sexual relationship,” Rodgers said. “He agonizes over whether to go along. I first planned a blog to address this and other issues raised in the ebook, but decided there was a greater need to focus entirely on sex and romance.”

Rodgers is restricting the blog to serious discussions and legitimate questions. “I’ll remove any salacious material or improper solicitations that may be posted,” he said.

Blog topics include:
Best places to make friends and go on dates
Questions and advice about virtual relationships
Is it acceptable for a committed person to pursue virtual sex or romance?
Meeting in RL
LGBT and BDSM
Best clothing-free sites
The Future—How will virtual reality affect online sex and romance?
Other Virtual Worlds

Be among the first to raise questions or initiate discussions at virtualsexromance.wordpress.com!

"Dog Food Days" At Linden Lab

According to Inara Pey, Linden Lab is having today the first of their "Dog Food Days" today, Friday September 21. Apparently there's a saying that when a company uses it's own product, it's called "eating your own dog food." The expression may have been a commentary by a Microsoft manager on what his peers felt about using the very product they were making, or perhaps a reference to a British saying of making a mess out of something, and not running away from the dirty work of fixing it. Either way, the idea is for the employees of Linden Lab to use Second Life more often in the ways their customers do, and personally experience the reasons for their complaints.

Alexa Linden is one of the people who came up with the idea, and had this to say about it.

One of the reasons I wanted to have Dog Food Day … it that a lot of people [at the Lab] have still not gone through the process of meshing up their avatar … I’ve done it on all of my alts, and it’s a learning process; it’s not an easy thing to do. And it’s something we need to understand as new users come in, it’s important for us to understand their frustrations, the learning curve, what people are creating, what the quality of content is, etc.

Among some of Alexa's ideas are for those Linden Lab employees who haven't done so to go through the account sign-up process and take their avatar through the Learning and Social Island experience. She also runs an inworld tour for other members of the Lab of public places on the Grid, and is interested in recommendations, "if you have ideas for interesting / photogenic / fun locations, drop her a note card with landmarks."

Source: Modem World

Bixyl Shuftan

The CDS Monastery

In the Confederation of Democratic Simulators, one of it's noted buildings has recently changed hands. Since 2007, The Monastery has been part of the CDS, owned by Arria (arria.perreault). But due to her changing schedule in real life, she had to turn over the building to someone else. In this article, the Newser takes a closer look at this longtime structure.

Read more in Places.

SL Universe Forums To Become VirtualVerse

Many if not most longtime Second Life residents have heard of the SL Universe forums. Sometimes factual with discussions about some of the latest developments and events in Second Life, and sometimes irreverent with some "peanut gallery" discussions, it has been pretty much anything but boring. It's also moved beyond Second Life in topic discussions going to various real-life matters such as politics. Turning 15 years old this November, owner Cristiano Midnight posted on Thursday September 20 that SL Universe was undergoing it's "Third Major Act" in it's history.

So a lot has happened in the past 24 hours. I nearly lost 2.4 million posts and obliterated SLU, got them back, perhaps may have cried a little, then made some decisions about what to do about SLU.

I detailed what I was going through my mind in this post, so I won't repeat it. However, since writing that, I made some rapid decisions that are already in motion.

First of all, I am launching a new site - VirtualVerse, which expands the scope of SLU to all things related to virtual worlds, whether it is Second Life, Sansar, other VR worlds that are gaining in popularity, or game related worlds like MMOs and open world games. I've wanted to become less SL centric, but it has been hard to do that with SL as part of the name.

The SLU forums will be closing within the next few weeks, depending on how long the transition takes. These forums will be archived - they may be unavailable for little while but will come back as a read only forum.

The new site domain is VirtualVerse.one - http://www.virtualverse.one

Why .one? There has been a significant number of new top level domains added, and I considered .cloud, .site and even .ninja, but .one appealed to me the most, since this also is starting over in many ways.

Cristiano's near-loss of so many posts was presumably because of trying to save them as they had become corrupted, according to the post he had made the day before, in which he had pondered the future of SL Universe.

Taking a look at VirtualVerse, the topics were grouped in three categories. "VirtualVerse Related" has topics such as "Site Announcements." "Virtual World Discussion is where you can find the "Second Life" group of threads, other virtual worlds and MMOs being the other two categories. "Off-Topic Discussion" is about everything else, such as "Politics, Religion, and Society." This has the most groups of threads.

Again, thank you for your patience while I've been dealing with all of this - and while I know it is a bit scary to move to an entirely new forum and site, the move ensures that this can all continue. I'm extremely excited by it. I'll go into more detail about why I made this change soon.

Image source: Ryan Schultz

Bixyl Shuftan

Announcement: This Week At The Science Circle: Volcano!

"Volcano!"

Saturday September 22, 10-11AM SL time

By Dae Miami (Dr. William F. Schmachtenberg)

The eruption of Kilauea in Hawaii is the latest example of the active role of volcanoes on the Earth. This presentation will present research on what makes certain volcanoes explosive and others gentle. I will also present research on ancient volcanoes in Virginia. Some of  these volcanoes are well understood in terms of plate tectonic theory. Others as researched by James Madison University geologists are still a mystery to science.

More on the presentation can be read at: https://www.sciencecircle.org/event/volcano/

The Science Circle (61/126/32)

Windows 10 "Warning" Users Not To Use Firefox, Chrome, Pushes Edge Browser

By Bixyl Shuftan

While PC users have been frequently using Microsoft's Windows 10, most pass up it's web browser, Microsoft Edge, in favor of the popular Firefox and Chrome. It's used less than Apple Safari, which is limited to the much smaller Apple computer market. Microsoft's old browser Internet Explorer has gotten a reputation for being slow and buggy, so besides people being used to the more familiar browsers, they may be a little too wary of the old "E"'s problems to try the new one. But rather than try an advertising campaign to convince people to use their browser, it seems Microsoft has instead decided to take advantage of it's operating system to push it's other product.

Lately when Windows 10 users try to download Firefox or Chrome, their installation is interrupted by a popup reminding the user they already have Microsoft Edge, "the safer, faster browser for Windows 10." While Edge may be a fast browser, this popup is not only annoying and frustrating, but it may confuse some less than experienced computer users into thinking the more popular browsers are unsafe.

This isn't the only time Microsoft has been pushy with computer users about choices of browsers. Last year, it's debut of Windows 10 S would not allow users to instal other browsers on laptops.

Microsoft's move isn't just annoying computer owners, but also people in online computer magazines. Matthew Humphries of PC Magazine was polite, "Microsoft, please don't do this. Focus on making your software better, prove to us that it is, and market it as such. You already have the advantage of Windows 10 shipping with Edge." Joel Hruska of Extreme Tech was more blunt, "You are training your end users to expect that with each new Windows release, they must spend time digging through settings to find all the things you stealthily changed and shut them off again. This kind of subterfuge encourages customers to view the update process as fundamentally adversarial, because it requires us to spend time shutting things off rather than giving them a chance to function as intended. It encourages end users to believe the worst about your company’s practices and behaviors. When Microsoft chose to make Windows 10’s upgrade advisor pushier and more aggressive, it didn’t just make people angry; it fed a narrative of distrust and deceit, priming people to believe that MS wanted them to use Windows 10 so it could collect and monetize data based on how individuals use their computers. If you ever wonder why people harbor such suspicion towards Microsoft, take a look in the mirror. It’s because you’ve taught them to. ..."

In the meantime, Windows 10 users grumble about this latest annoyance, which for some may make them wonder if it was worth upgrading from 7 or 8.


Sources, PC Magazine, Daily Mail, Extreme Tech

Bixyl Shuftan

Press Release: DanCoyote’s 12-Year Retrospective Exhibition

2.5 miles of Virtual Art by DC Spensley

Saturday, September 22, 2018, (Second Life, LEA 27)
[http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/LEA27/148/226/39]

San Francisco artist, DC Spensley, will premiere a 4+ kilometer-tall, 40-level, 100-artwork exhibition, in an expansive retrospective of his work in the social, virtual world of Second Life. Featured in the exhibition is DC’s avatar, DanCoyote Antonelli, responsible for twelve years of virtual artworks and performances that have been critically recognized and widely emulated.

DC’s largest artwork, and perhaps the largest in Second Life history, is the Tower of Light – a 4.5 kilometer monolith currently on display at LEA 27. DC Spensley is also the creator and artistic director of the world’s first virtual, aerial dance company – the ZEROG SkyDancers. Linden Lab original, John “Pathfinder” Lester (AKA Pathfinder Linden), compared this genre-expanding, three-dimensional dance to Cirque Du Soleil changing the circus forever. In all his work, DC Spensley, and DanCoyote, have been driven to create art installations and theater productions that are intentionally native to the virtual world, a thesis which DC calls Hyperformalism.

Wagner James Au (AKA Hamlet Linden) in his seminal book, “The Making of Second Life”, has recognized DC Spensley for the advancement of virtual art. DC ’s work has been referenced in mainstream press, including The New York Times, Reuters, Step by Step Design, and Fibreculture Journal, as well in Europe, where DC has a strong following and is referenced in a number of European academic books and art journals. Additional recognition includes New Media venues such as Ars Electronica (Linz, Austria), ZERO1 Biennial (San Jose, CA), Digital Electronic Arts Festival - DEAF (Rotterdam, Netherlands), and the Frye Museum (Seattle, WA). DC won a UNESCO award for virtual architecture in 2007. He has also written extensively about new media art theory focused on virtual worlds in Arts 21 and other publications.
 
About DanCoyote Antonelli:
The avatar DanCoyote Antonelli, as the proxy for David “DC” Spensley in the virtual world of Second Life, was derived from Cervantes’ Don Quixote, in honor of a coyote that Joseph Beuys lived with for a time at the René Block Gallery in New York during his 1974 action, “I like America and America Likes Me”. Apparently nobody realized how close Beuys and the coyote had become until DanCoyote was born.

For more information please contact:
DC Spensley
dc@spensley.com

Cartoon of the Day: Happy "Talk Like A Pirate Day"

By Bixyl Shuftan

Town Hall With CEO Ebbe Altberg/Ebbe Linden

Thursday September 13 was when the latest "Town Hall" event took place. Linden Lab's CEO Ebbe Altberg, known inworld as Ebbe Linden, appeared and answered a number of the questions that had been posted in advance on a community forum thread. The video that Linden Lab made of the event lasts an hour and nineteen minutes, taking a couple minutes to start.

Several issues were discussed. On the issue of last names, Ebbe backed off a bit from Linden Lab's earlier commitment for the option of them to return for newer accounts by the end of the year, "Maybe we'll get that done this year. ... We don't have an exact date or time."

Someone asked why the grandfathered sims from 2016 weren't included in the land tier cut in June this year. Ebbe responded that those taking part in "the 2016 buy-down" benefited if they kept their land for six months or longer, and while grandfathered land might not be as cheap compared to retail as in the past, it was still cheaper. Ebbe went on to say that Linden Lab would likely lower prices again sometime in the future, they were still waiting to see how much of an effect their last price cut had, "when and how much is still undecided." He did say when they did cut them again, they would likely raise other fees to make up the difference. Ebbe went on to say that they preferred that sim owners hang onto their land for a while.

On the issue of why spend so much time with "backwards compatibility?" Ebbe answered it was to avoid breaking things and"When you have an economy in which people buy things ... and then the things they paid money for stop working, people get upset."

On the issue of future transparency on economic data, would the statistics about Second Life once reported by Linden Lab earlier in it's history be done so again, such as the number of  unique 30 day logins, Ebbe answered that they had started to publish again some statistics that they had been quiet about foa while, but, "We probably won't restore all." He went on to say the Lab wants information that helps create business for Second Life, and some info wouldn't be in their best interest if revealed. "It's a balancing act."

On Animesh, Ebbe stated, "Animesh around the corner. ... a few bugs away." On environment enhancements, "possibly in weeks." Of the next Gridwide experience, Ebbe wasn't sure if the next one would be finished before the end of the year. On Linden home improvements, he hoped to release them, either all at once or in stages, later this year. Of plans for Marketplace, upcoming changes included options for "wish lists" and "favorite sellers." Gachas might also be more clearly identified on the Marketplace, "maybe."

The new SSP region was asked about, someone asking, "What does SSP stand for?" Ebbe just joked about it, suggesting the "P" stood for "Plesiosaur," a flying dinosaur. Someone also brought up the empty gaps in the Second Life map, asking why they couldn't just put water sims between them. Ebbe responded, "we can't afford to put water sims in all the blank spaces between sims, and some private island owners might not want us to."

The last twenty minutes were a "Casual Q and A" with questions from the audience. Ebbe stated some questions were best left to Oz and Grumpity Linden, "The more specific you get, the more you lose me" Someone asked if Linden Lab could come up with 24 hour support. Ebbe answered no, "I don't think you would be willing ot pay for that service."

Someone asked if the Lindens personally use SL? Ebbe answered, "I rarely have time to use it like a proper user" as he has ten hour work days. He did say of Second Life, he will "drop in now and then ... get inspired by the stuff you all do." He considered himself more of a "test user" there. Of Sansar, he spends "99%" of his time there in a VR rig, "That's the killer feature for me."

More information on the Town Hall can be read in Inara Pey's article.

Bixyl Shuftan

Second Life Based Furocity Radio Shuts Down

JB Raccoon informed the Newser yesterday that Furocity Radio, an Internet radio station based in Second Life, was shutting down. The station started out in May 2013, and briefly shut down in December 2015 due to a steep increase in copyright royalty rates. It resumed September 2016. But yesterday, September 18, it's owner DJ Cody gave the following message:

Guys, its with a heavy heart, I am announcing that I am shutting down Furocity. Unfortunately I cannot afford to keep it open, I have to take care of the debt I have rather than spending more money on this right now and with my day to day responsibilities I simply don't have the time to give it the attention it deserves. The stream has been down for the last several days and no one has noticed or even reached out. I wish you all the best of luck, I will be shutting everything down by the end of the week. Thank you all for your support over the last several years. its been a good run.

The station usually broadcasted mainstream rock JB stated he and other DJs in Second Life had gotten their start on Furocity. While the station had come back once before, he felt this time it was probably shutting down for good.

*Addition* Furocity Radio started in Second Life, but it's audience was soon an Internet-wide one. JB Raccoon told me "they were licensed through Live365 with hopes of becoming a full 'brick and mortar station.'"

Events This Week at the Sunweaver, Montecito Bay, and Furry Fashion Clubs

Here's what's going on at the Sunweaver and Montecito Bay clubs and the Furry Fashion Lounge.


Club Cutlass: Best in 'D.' Shades of Gray, It's Magic

Happy Vixen: Aliens, Pirates, Bunnies, Australia, Best in Pink, Royal Ball, Mythology, Big Ears, TBA

Club Zero Gravity: TBA

Momtecito Bay: Taco Tuesday, Musical Expedition, DJ Beknos, Vintage Vinyls, After Dark, Punk Night

Furry Fashion Lounge: Wasteland, Candy, Mix and Match, Food, Crazy, Autumn Formal, Rainbows, Fantasy

Read the schedules in SL Clubbin'

Sept. 11 Memorial Ceremony at Yellow River Memorial

It was 17 years ago last week that America suffered it's most devastating terrorist attack. Second Life has a number of memorials to honor those who died. But none of the others is as large as the one as the Sept. 11 Yellow River Memorial, formerly the Stagg Island Memorial. Last week on Tuesday September 11, the memorial held it's first 9/11 anniversary events since it's relocation. Deaflegacy was there, and would write about the emotionally moving ceremony held in honor of those whom had their lives cut short that day.

Read Deaflegacy's article in Events.

European Union Copyright Directive Threatens Virtual Worlds, Internet, With Mass-Censorship

By Bixyl Shuftan

Lately it seems the Internet has been under assault. With the end of Net Neutrality in the United States, some companies have already started throttling traffic. In August, Verizon was caught throttling the Internet connection of California firefighters while dealing with a huge wildfire. One digital rights spokesman spoke of the incident, “If Verizon was willing to do this to a fire department during the state’s largest wildfire, when public safety should have been paramount, it’s easy to imagine what they are willing to do to everyday consumers.”

But unfortunately, the worst seems yet to come, and not from the United States. The European Union recently approved  legislation that has been described as threatening to "break the Internet," As Cory Doctorow explained in "New World Notes" and an "Electronic Frontier Foundation" article. Two parts of the bill, Article 11 and Article 13, have gotten the most attention. Article 11 is the "link tax," which requires platforms such as Facebook and Google to "to pay news outlets for the privilege of linking or quoting articles." Wikipedia, which would be badly hurt by the legislation, called it a threat to "freedom of expression ... online." Gizmodo commented the legislation would, "make it all but impossible for Wikipedia and other non-profit educational sources to do their work because of their reliance on links, quotes, and citation."

Article 13 would mean bad news for Second Life and other virtual worlds that allow users to create content. They would require any platform or website "that allow users to post text, sounds, code, still or moving images," etc. will have to create "upload filters" to compare all uploaded content to a database of copyrighted works, "that will be compiled by allowing anyone to claim copyright on anything, uploading thousands of works at a time. Anything that appears to match the 'copyright database' is blocked on sight, and you have to beg the platform's human moderators to review your case to get your work reinstated."

That the owners of Second Life and other platforms that fall under this bill are headquartered outside the EU won't necessarily protect them, "The EU has treaties with most of the world that allow for civil judgments to be collected in some circumstances; it's likely that future trade-deals with the EU (like the recently completed EU-Canada trade deal) would require that trading partners allow EU companies to sue and collect judgments under the EU Copyright Directive. That means that even non-EU companies could be forced to comply with these rules." And if they got in trouble with the EU over copyright issues, "those companies would not be able to establish sales/support offices in the EU, their executives would face civil and possibly criminal sanctions if they visited the EU, and they would be at risk of losing their ability to receive payments from EU customers."

Developing such a content filter in the first place wouldn't be cheap. "Google spent $60 million developing the ContentID filter system that is only capable of analyzing audio-tracks of video." Something that would analyze everything from pictures to meshes to avatars would be considerably more expensive. It would certainly be beyond the ability of smaller virtual worlds such as the OpenSim grids to pay.

And how good would it be? Most likely it would err on the side of caution, and much content that resembled copyrighted material instead of matching it would also be blocked. A content creator who found his goods blocked would have to appeal to a human moderator, and if that failed, the only recourse might be a lawsuit. Complicating the issue further are "copyright trolls" As Doctorow explained, ""[T]his is a boon for griefers. Since the rule has no penalties for abuse, griefers could claim copyright over public domain works, works that others had created, etc, and block other players from using them -- you could upload every military insignia, the logo of a rival clan, etc."

The bill doesn't go into effect right away. It will go into closed-door meetings between EU and national government representatives, then next spring the language gets voted on, then the 28 member states' governments debate on their own versions of the bill, and there are court challenges. But companies like Second Life's Linden Lab face a stark choice, either pay huge sums of money for filters that will anger their users, or block IP addresses from European countries with such bills. As Second Life has thousands of European residents, this would be a very sad, and costly, move for the Lab.

Sources: The Guardian,SaveYourInternet, New World Notes, Gizmodo, Wikimedia, Electronic Freedom Foundation   

Bixyl Shuftan

Update on Becky Nosferatu's Sister: Success

It was almost a month ago in which Becky Nosferatu's real-life sister was admitted to the hospital for an aneurysm in the brain. Becky didn't have the money to make what could be the last trip to see her, so she called out for help for people to donate a little cash. People in both Second Life and real life responded, and she had enough to make the trip over. Over the weekend, she offered the following statement.

So for those who are in the know, my sister was hospitalized due to a mild stroke that caused an Aneurysm. She's been hospitalized for a month now, due to them not able to get her levels stable enough to have a surgery to REMOVE said Aneurysm.

Long story short; on Tuesday the 11th, she was strong enough to get the surgery and lived through it. I asked for donations, scrambled up any money I could from RL and Online Friends so Monica and I could go see her. She's doing fantastically well, far better than any of the doctors could have imagined and by next week, she will be out of the ICU and being sent to a rehab hospital to get her legs back (She was in a medical coma that had her paralyzed from the neck down for a whole month, mind you) and to heal her tracheostomy wound.

I was only gone for a week, but I can't thank any of you enough that has donated money and linden dollars. That whole week was me preparing to see her, which I did yesterday. They told us that we had to put on like... these weird gowns that where really scratchy and rubber gloves. I left my cane in the doorway so it didn't bring in any bacteria.

 It was painful, for both of us. She, like me, wasn't expecting at all what would happen. She was laying on the bed, on her back. Her hair was wild and there where so many tubes and wires going everywhere all around her. She had her hands wrapped up because of the tube from her tracheostomy, you know, so she didn't rip it out. And she was writhing on the bed. I think she was still really to delirious to understand what was going on, but when I entered, she stopped moving around.
She saw me walk into the room, didn't realize it was me (cause I keep my hair so short now,) and went wide-eyed when she saw me. I took her hand, and smiled and said "hi, sis." She immediately started crying. She mouthed the words... something along the lines of "Why are you here?" Or "Why did you come here?" or something to that effect. I just leaned over and told her "Because I love you." There wasn't anything more needed to be said. We both just started crying and I wiped her tears away with a napkin. I told her that I was so proud of her for getting this far, and that after all that's happened, for her to never stop fighting. She was still... uh... pretty sedated; kept looking around the room and I noticed she focused on Monica a lot. So I looked back at her and she started crying again. I caught the words "She's so pretty" or "She's very pretty," but I couldn't be to sure. I told her I wouldn't be there long, that I flew all the way to just see her and she told me "You shouldn't see me like this." I told her that I would see her no matter what, cause I loved her. Then we both REALLY started crying. By the end of it, I just rubbed her arm and said "You stay strong, you hear? Prove to the world us FAMILYSURNAME are the strongest there is." And I told her bye.

The rest of that day was... hellish. I couldn't sleep, I had allergies and nightmares. Dad and I both where super irritable and our road rage was even worse than normal. But I'm glad I saw her. It made it very real in my head what she went through. What her son and husband went through. And the rest of our family.

This was far more than I intended to write, but, I'm glad she's recovering. And I hope that she gets to go home soon to her 3 year old son and her husband. And I honestly couldn't have seen her, or the family I haven't seen in over 10 years. I feel she'll only get better now, as the stent they put in her did exactly what what they expected. She can only get better from here. She will never be, 100%, but she is still my sister and my family are nothing but super fiery ***holes that don't know when to quit.

Again. I thank you guys far more than what you could ever know.
Becky Nosferatu