Robin Sojourner's Memorial Service

   

Earlier this week on Sunday April 25, Friends and well-wishers of Robin Sojourner met to remember her passing. For sixteen years she had been in Second Life and accomplished much, in addition to her artistry in real life. A number of people had something to say about her, and much was spoken.

Read more in People.
  

DJ Matt At The Fantasy Faire

On Wednesday April 28 at 4PM SL time, the Relay had a DJ event at the Fantasy Fair. The show took place in the Featherfall sim. The DJ was Matt Carlton of Team Sunbeamers.

DJ Matt (Mattie) grew up in the Missouri Ozarks. Having lived near Branson and spending a lot of time there seeing shows and also having some distant relatives that performed for Silver Dollar City, shi was raised on country music, blues, bluegrass and classic rock. Shi still has a great passion for these genres, country being her favorite. Music has always gotten hir though some of the worst times in hir life, and now shi loves to share some of these wonderful tunes with folks here on SL as a Tiger striped 9 tailed fox.

Matt was in a pirate outfit for the event, which was both a "One Team" event as well as a "Bring Your Own Kiosk" one. The event saw avatars of all kinds, humans, furs, nekos, tinies, a gryphon, and a giantess. There were also various antics going around, such as one girl walking around on stilts and occasionally breathing fire. One tiny in a nurse's avatar was walking around with a syringe with a purplish fluid, asking to vaccinate them from the "Purkle Pox."

After about two hours of playing Matt had raised a total of 28,970 for all of the teams involved, including several thousand for Team Sunbeamers. But people continued to chip in. After fifteen more minutes, the amount passed 35,000 Lindens. 

Go Relay!

Bixyl Shuftan
   

Announcement: Artistic Fimicloud Exhibit at CDS Museum of Contemporary Art

    

Please join us on Sunday, May 2 from 12 noon until 2pm for the opening of 3 new exhibitions.

Ground Fl: Retrospective of Artistic Fimicoloud's work
"Fimi" was the avatar for the real-life artist and cancer survivor, Stephanie Koslow. Her subject matter was her beloved Hudson River Valley, rendered in pastels.

"My art, my life, is about looking forward, never looking back – looking back serves no purpose but to break one’s heart when you’re walking a path as difficult as some of us do. So instead I look forward – to that next beautiful sunset on the river."
Artistic Fimicoloud

1st Floor: 2 Sri Lankan Artists, Sanjeewa Kumara & Sujeewa Kumari
We have the honor of presenting the work of these well-known Sri Lankan artists in Second Life, courtesy of Asmita Duranjaya. Kumari explores a dreamy surrealism, while Kumara is fascinated by earth and sky.

2nd Floor: 7 artworks from MoCA's Opening 2006 Exhibition

Music by Fimi's longtime friend, DJ Shockwave Yareach

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Neufreistadt/186/136/181
  

Announcement: This Saturday at The Science Circle - "Big Data, Machine Intelligence, and the Human Cognition"

  

"Big Data, Machine Intelligence, and the Human Cognition"

Saturday May 1

10 AM to 11 AM

There is an interesting convergence of three major technological trends: big data, AI, and virtual humans.  Big data are transforming science, scholarship, and virtually every other aspect of the modern society.  AI may be the most transformative technology ever, and it can help us discover complex phenomena hidden in the big data, that humans alone cannot grasp.  Finally, virtual humans operated by AIs may be the most intuitive and natural ways for the human-AI interactions.

Presentation by Professor George Djorgovski

For more information, Click Here.
 
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/The%20Science%20Circle/67/129/32 
  

Furry Fashion's 14th Anniversary Celebration

Furry Fashion is having an anniversary celebration, it's fourteenth, this Saturday May 1. The first event starts at 2PM SL time , and goes on all afternoon and into late at night with the last event going on to at least 10PM (but will likely go on a little longer).

"Techincally FF's birthday is the 5th," Amethyst Crystal, the owner of Furry Fashion explained, "but the 1st is on a weekend allowing more people to join the contests. Every contest will have the usual linden prize (tho a bit bigger) and there will be mystery raffles all the way through every event. The prizes will range from GiftCards to stores not just FF but to places like Half-Deer, Nomad, DRD and Lore and other prizes will include Mods I'll buy the winner directly from Marketplace. They won't know what they're winning until it's announced to keep it more fun! Fort and I are teaming up for the first event (2pm SLT) to kick everything off.

"If someone had told me I'd still be running FF 14 years later I'd have told them they're dreaming but here I am. I didn't expect to honestly with all the health issues in the past couple of years but here I still am, mostly in thanks to my awesome staff supporting me and keeping things going."
   
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Furry/211/42/29 
   

Cartoon of the Day

 Taken at a Relay event. I never did find out why the pig was dressed the way it was, but it looked like a case of "green legs on ham" to me.

By Bixyl Shuftan

  

Fantasy Faire's Faireland's Quest Now Active

One of the fun parts of the Fantasy Faire, the Fairelands Quest game, is now live and ready to play.  This year's theme is "The Language of Birds."

They lift our spirits. They adorn our world. They are revered as the messengers of heaven. Yet, you might not know that birds and their beautiful songs have long been deep in the fight against the Unweaver.

And now, the Bard Queen is worried.

The Unweaver’s latest bit of malice is taking its toll across the realms. And an ancient deterrent created by birds has fallen victim. Unless an intrepid adventurer steps up to help, the result could be heartbreaking.

To play the game, head to one of the locations in the Fairelands sims it's available, such as Fairelands Junction (71/134/35). You can either get just the basic version for 250L, or the deluxe version which includes an outfit for 350L. Once you get it, you then "add" it, and the container will appear in your hand. Touch it to receive the HUD, your companion Joyus, and if you got the deluxe package you'll get the male and female outfits. "Add" them as well and touch the square that appears on your screen to get the outfit. 

To play the game, add both the HUD and the companion. Once it starts, your first task will be to find the Bard Queen.  So what is she worried about and what does it have to do with birds? Play the game and find out.

The second part of the quest is scheduled to be available to start Thursday April 29, though there have been minor delays in some past years.

Happy questing,

Bixyl Shuftan
   

Focus Photograhy Fair This Friday

    

Focus Magazine and Art Gallery will soon be starting their Photopgaphy Fair. "We will have two entire weeks of vendors, entertainment, and workshops, ALL geared toward the needs and interests of Second Life photographers."

The event starts Friday April 30, with music parties at 12 Noon and 6PM SL time. The event itself will continue to Friday May 14.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Holly%20Kai%20Estates/107/107/3801
  

SL Video: "Fantasy Faire 2021 ~ The Fairechyle Takes Sail"

From Bain Finch on April 25 , “Fantasy Faire’s Live at the Fairechylde series is made possible with support from Spyralle, by Kerryth Tarantal. And our beautiful, new Fairechylde fleet was built by Ketsui Naidoo of Novus Ascending, and Grimoire Hexem. We want to say a very special Thank You to these three Fairelanders for helping us bring our parties to life!”
    

Events This Week at the Sunweaver and Montecito Bay Clubs, The Fallout Shelter, and Furry Fashion Lounge

   

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

Club Cutlass: Best in 'K and L', 60's Flashback, Night Life

Happy Vixen: Africa, Angels and Demons, Pink and Purple, Wolves and Huskies, Barely There, Horned and Dangerous, Canines and Mice, Martial Artists and Fighters

Club Zero Gravity: TBA

Bouncing Bunny Beach Club: Kitsunes and Nekos, Avians (Birds)

Montecito Bay: CAYA, After Dark

Furry Fashion Lounge:  Canines, Paws vs Hooves, Pink, Creepy vs Cute, FF Birthday, Wings

Deathlands Fallout Shelter: DJ Shapes, DJ Wolfy

Read the schedules in SL Clubbin'.
  

Veterans Isle Raises Over 150,000 Lindens For Charity

   
On Sunday April 25, Veterans Isle held it's monthy fundraiser concert. The event, organized in part by Frets Nirvana, took place from about 4:40 to 9 PM SL time.

Here we are kicking off our fourth month of benefits for Homes For Our Troops, and Chapman Zane is already performing to help us get started!  Chap said let me get in some overtime since he is such a hardworking guy ….and dedicated to helping our extremely injured veterans, so we said yes!

Chapman Zane was on stage until 6PM. Then it was Somewhereintime's turn to play for the crowd. At 7PM, Anj Gustafson started his performance. And last but not least was Hogan Baily at 8PM. As the musicians sang, people donated money to two house-shaped kiosks on either side of the stage. At the end up the event at 9PM SL time, a total of 150,435 had been donated to both kiosk combined, or about $600 US dollars.

The concerts usually take place on the last Sunday of every month, though will probably be early in May due to Memorial Day weekend.

For more information on Homes For Our Troops, read the website at https://www.hfotusa.org.

"Thank you everyone for your support."

Bixyl Shuftan
   

Scenes From The Fantasy Faire

Taken at Khol Dracys. This mostly prehistoric-looking sims had lots of dinosaurs. But this one looked like a snow-sculpture from "Calvin and Hobbes." Made out of snow with button eyes and carrot teeth, it looked like it was more dangerous to snowmen than people.

But with the melting snow, would it be a "Snowasaurus Wrecks?"

For more information about the Fantasy Faire, check out the blog: https://fantasyfairesl.wordpress.com/
  
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Fairelands%20Junction/61/101/34  

Bixyl Shuftan
  

Book Discussion: "The Little Ice Age - How Climate Made History"

  
"The Little Ice Age - How Climate Made History, 1300 - 1850"
Author Brian Fagan traces the influence of Earth's 500-year "cold snap" on historic periods and events in human culture.
PRESENTED: in Voice
Location: New Kadath Lighthouse Art Gallery Reading Room

8:30 PM SL time

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/New%20Kadath/52/36/46
  

Reader-Submitted Commentary: Linden Lab's Continued Greed

  
Due to the recent increase in purchasing lindens an added 7.5 percent, which is higher than the sales tax in my state which is neither zero or low, I am forced to cancel my premium account. They cap it at $9.99 however, all this does is make it so those who buy over $150 USD lindens aren't charged more who could probably more afford it.  This mostly effects those who buy between $100 USD and $140 USD, which is what I think a lot of regular users may purchase. Buying more frequently in smaller increments won't help as you are charged $1.49 per purchase on top of this new charge.  

I know Linden Lab seems to think that most people who play Second Life are some kind of at least middle-class pay pigs with huge sums of expendable income. But the truth is, many of us are in fact either working class, unemployed, or like me on a low fixed income due to disability, retirement or similar.   They have raised the cost of premium in the past 2-3 years. They have raised the cost of buying lindens for the 4th time in five years, and they raised the cost of selling them at least once. They have also raised the cut of MP sellers that they takem forcing them to raise MP prices.

I feel that in addition to just plain greed, we are being forced to pay for their failed projects (Sansar) and poor choices moving the servers to Amazon business cloud servers, not even the gaming ones, to save money, which has resulted in a number of bugs and issues. To those whose stores or groups I left, please understand I had no other choice.  

Linden Lab gets away with this kind of horrid move and generally poor customer service to a large degree because they are somewhat of a monopoly in complex immersive adult virtual worlds.  IMVU is geared more towards teens and not really competition.  Avakin seems similar to IMVU.  Inworldz is long dead.  I have tried some other grids but never logged in more than a few times.  I have too much time, relationships and money invested in Secondlife anyway to start over unless forced to do so.  Many people they know who have been here for years almost daily are in a similar position so the Lindens know they can charge whatever they like.   

Oh and the increase on buying lindens comes  right at the beginning of the annual Fantasy Faire, which benefits Relay For Life, an organization that raises money to fight Cancer. So I hope that doesn't affect them raising money.

Kἶէმƈεlἶმ Lմἶղƈօɾἶმlօէε Kεlνმɾl (Kitacelia Resident)
  

DJ Matt's Date Auction For Team Sunbeamers

   
Just after her highly successful hour at the Relay for Life's DJ Competition by the Relay Rockers team in which she raised over 110,000 Lindens, DJ Matt is stepping up once again to raise more for her own team. She's taking part in a charity date auction for Team Sunbeamers.

Team Sunbeamers has another fundraising event. DJ Mattie is volunteering for a date auction. To take part, head over to the BBBC. The auction board is in the back of the club to the side of the DJ booth. To make a bid, pay the board. If someone makes a higher bid, you get refunded.

Instead of Relay kiosks, as the notice says the bids will be made on an auction board. The board is at the Bouncing Bunny Beach Club in SunWaterThree. From the entrance, it's in the back of the club to the right of the DJ booth. There are two amounts listed on the board, the current highest bid and the minimum bid needed to beat it. As this is a Relay date auction, there can't be anything more than PG/PG=13 about it, "I do enjoy Movies, Cuddles, Dances, Parties, Music, Photos, Beaches, and of course Table Games." Matt is also in the time period of her "Bid Me Pink," so if the date is anytime soon, she'll be in pink fur.

The board is open to bids untl Thursday May 13. On that day, DJ Matt will be having a special Relay party at 4PM at the BBBC for the Sunbeamers in which instead of tips, people attending are asked to donate to the Relay kiosks, or bid on the date auction. The auction board will close just before 6PM, and no more bids will be accepted. The winner will then be announced, and notified.

DJ Matt will be DJing this week not just at the BBBC, but at the Fantasy Faire on Wednesday, at 4PM.

Go Sunbeamers! Go Relay!

https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/SunWaterThree/75/56/25

Bixyl Shuftan
  

Weekend At A Glance

 

A number of events happened this weekend in Second Life. The Fantasy Faire had it's first weekend, and there were numerous smaller events that were part of it. There was a memorial service for Robin Sojourner (pictured above), whom it was announced last week had passed away. Veterans Isle had it's monthly fundraiser. And more.

More on these events later.
 

Cartoon of The Day: Bubblegum Bigness

 Taken at Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory in River. Years ago, there were bubblegum commercials saying how their gum could blow bigger bubbles. But what if one lived up to the claims.

By Bixyl Shuftan

   

Scenes From the Fantasy Faire

Among the sighs at FF Valhalla are a pair of huge statues at the mouth of the river there, well over a hundred feet high. They would dwarf most other avatars. But this giant lady stands tall over them.
 
The huge avatar was easily seen from all the way on the other side of the sim. I usually see giant avatars at least once at the Faire. A reminder it isn't just the landscape that's the attraction. Some of the other visitors' avatars can be too.

For more information about the Fantasy Faire, check out the blog: https://fantasyfairesl.wordpress.com/
  
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Fairelands%20Junction/61/101/34  

Bixyl Shuftan 

   

Announcement: Memorial For Robin (Sojourner) Wood, Sunday April 25, 6PM

   
Robin (Sojourner) Wood

24 November, 1953 - 19 April, 2021

It is with a heavy heart that we must report that Robin (Sojourner) Wood passed away after an extended struggle with cancer (phyllodes tumors). She will be remembered for a long history of artwork and instruction.

“She who is remembered, lives”

We hope that you can join us for a memorial for Robin (Sojourner) Wood on her island, Livingtree, on Sunday, the 25th of April, at 6:00 p.m. SLT. We will encourage you to share your stories about Robin’s works in Second Life and beyond.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Livingtree/117/71/24

We understand the timing may not be the best for all Second Life users, and for that we apologize. We encourage you to visit Livingtree at a time of your choosing, and follow the luminaria path for your own reflection and exploration.

Livingtree Island and her stores will remain open for some time.
   

Scenes From the Fantasy Faire

 Been going about the Fantasy Fair sims a little. I've only been to a few sims so far, but have seen some interesting scenery.

Once again, the sim designers have gone all-out. 

And coming across some interesting things. What magic has this roving reporter come across? Explore the sims and find out.

For more information, check out the Fantasy Faire blog: https://fantasyfairesl.wordpress.com/
  
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Fairelands%20Junction/61/101/34  

Bixyl Shuftan 
   

"Second Life Music Video"

 

 From Musicanimate on Jan 2009, "Song by Seth Breitman about finding your path in life inspired by his studies of wisdom of Kabbalah. The clip was filmed in the 3D virtual world of Second Life ."

 

Questions Raised About Second Life's Redesigned Homepage

The Second Life website has gotten a new look. Those going to secondlife.com will see the above image (you may need to log off if you're already logged in), an elven girl with bluish skin and glowing blue eyes and hands with a white dress and gold jewelry. "Explore, Discover, Create," it says next to the woman, "A new world is waiting ... "

Going down the page, there was more:

Expect the Unexpected

With thousands of virtual experiences and communities, you'll never run out of places to explore and people to meet. Music clubs, roleplaying communities, virtual cinemas and more. Second Life is always wonderful, sometimes weird, and 100% wow-worthy. 

 Remote Meetings Redefined

Make meetings fun again with virtual hangout spaces, classes and conferences. For over a decade, leading companies and educators have trusted Second Life for branded social spaces for events and remote meetings. 

Imagine the Possibilities

Shop the Second Life Marketplace to discover millions of items including virtual fashions, home decor, and more. Create and monetize your own creations to earn real profits in a virtual economy powered by Tilia.  

There was a thread about the new page in the Second Life forums. The overall tone of those commenting was mixed to negative. It was noted that the top image didn't really look like an avatar, but was likely the blue girl in their "Behind the Scenes" Youtube made in December about doing a commercial in partnership with Levitate Media (1:14). 

There were a few comments about the filming not being cheap, and wondering where the money came from. One woman commented, "I can see it is really a human. I could not believe it. What has it to do with SL? ... I think how much that video had to cost. The studio, models, rigging, light, makeup and costumes. Where the bleep did that money come from? And for what purpose? Making people logging in to get an avatar, that is impossible to get. I feel like I do in RL when it is discovered that some politician has used money we had paid for taxes, and thought it was going to infrastructure, schools and such. Not to give politicians all sort of luxury. How many new regions has people have to buy, only to cover the cost of making that bleep video?"

Another woman reflected her friend worked at a big company, and over the years they'd made marketing campaigns that didn't do much except burn money, and this reminded her of his stories, "The marketing folks come in with 'tweaks' that will 'reap great rewards'. Sometimes there is a new look involved but that is the domain of another long time employee so not many changes there.   So my friend's company does the tweaks --- which costs the company he is working for a lot of money because what seems like a small thing to the Marketing people is often not a small thing at all.  In the end it doesn't work and my friend's company puts thing back (more money gone) and then the next great sales person comes along === and it all repeats."

This week, Linden Lab changed it's fees for buying Linden dollars, making it slightly more expensive to buy larger amounts. Among the reasons stated was "Developing new marketing initiatives and entertainment partnerships to fuel growth." While this is almost certainly not the sole "new marketing initiative," if the comments in the forums are a guide, it's not raising confidence among the residents.

Hat Tip: Daniel Voyager  
 
Bixyl Shuftan
  

Announcement: This Saturday at The Science Circle - "Panel: Robots And Drones"

   

"Panel: Robots and Drones"

Saturday April 24, 

10AM to 11 AM

From toys to surveillance to autonomous flight on another planet, robots and drones are becoming a part of life in the 21^st century. We are on the threshold of advances in AI and universal surveillance that will bring benefits and risks to society. It is time to discuss the implications of these new elements in our world.

 

A 16-minute YouTube to get you started: Why do Boston Dynamics Robots dance? And could Elon Musk be right that superhuman AI is only around five years away?

Mathew Burr

For more information, Click Here. 

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/The%20Science%20Circle/67/129/32
   

Fantasy Faire Opens

And it's begun. The twenty-one sims of the Fantasy Faire are now open to the general public. Already some of the sims, such as Fairelands Junction where the main entrance is at (61/101/34), are a bit crowded. So expect some lag. You can find the SURLs to the other sims here (link).

Of the Fairelands Quest, the first part should be available in a few days, "Part 1 of the Quest opens Monday, 26 April and Part 2 starts Thursday, 29 April." 

For more information, check out the Fantasy Faire blog: https://fantasyfairesl.wordpress.com/
  
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Fairelands%20Junction/61/101/34  

Bixyl Shuftan
  

Boardgame Beach

  

There's a lot to do and see around Second Life. You can explore around sims. You can take a leisurely sailboat ride down the ocean. You can relax to the music and socialize at a club. But sometimes you just want to sit back and play a game. There's many kinds of games in Second Life, En Garde, Greedy, and more. But there's a place in the virtual world with dozens of many different games: Boardgame Beach. Yours truly had a talk with Aries Oh who owns the area, and she talked about what's there.

Read more in Places.
  

Press Release: HFOT April 25 Benefit

  

Frets Nirvana and US Military Veterans Group announce 2021’s April benefit for Homes For Our Troops in Second Life for April 25, 2021!  

Frets Nirvana, longtime supporter and contact for Homes For Our Troops in Second Life in conjunction with the US Military Veterans Group, announces the 2021 February benefit for the Veterans Support Organization Home For Our Troops at Veteran’s Isle .  


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 313 SPECIALLY ADAPTED HOMES NATIONWIDE FOR EXTREMELY INJURED VETERANS.”

In 2020 the community in Second Life sent  $15,750 to Homes For Our Troops, thanks to many kind hearts and great Second Life performers. THIS PUT SECOND LIFE’S DONATIONS EFFORTS IN THE TOP TEN OF HOME FOR OUR TROOPS DONORS IN 2020!  

23 Veterans and their families received the keys to their forever homes in 2021 and the donations received in Second Life were part of that effort.  Currently HFOT has 62 projects underway for extremely wounded veterans.

Home for Our Troops benefit concerts feature premier Second Life talent monthly at Veteran’s Isle.  The April 25 concert for 2021 is scheduled from 4 PM to 9 PM PST.  Featured artists will be DJ Waya Snowpaw, Chapman Zane, SomewhereinTime, Anj Gustafson and Hogan Baily.

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

Waya Snowpaw 4-5 PM
Chapman Zan 5-6 PM http://us2.ishout.net:8341
Somewhereintime 6-7 PM  http://207.38.89.21:8134
Anj Gustafson 7-8 PM  http://38.96.148.39:9566/
Hogan Baily 8-9 PM  http://us2.ishout.net:8341
   

SL Video: "Giant Relay For Life Cross Country Race from Abitibi to Noyo"

From RacerX Gullwing on March 21, the video of the Cross-Country Giant Snail Race for the Relay for Life the day before, Saturday March 20. Number 647 of the Snail Races, this is different from most as it took place on the mainland over many sims, 40 for this one, and passed by some old but interesting scenery, "In second life, the good players from various corners of the globe band together and run across the second life world to raise money for cancer. Check it out, also we race every week at Gulwingcoast at 10:30am SL/pST on Saturday so come join us! Join us!"

The order of the racers was: Oodlemi Noodle 1, Loopy String 2, Alden Cortes 3, Soaphia Resident 4, BrianTopp Resident 5, Cinders Vale 6, Lobbie Riggles 7, Tindallia Soothsayer 8.
    

Cartoon of the Day: Swimsuit Stubborness

Taken at the Happy Vixen

By Bixyl Shutan

   

Fantasy Faire Opens Tomorrow

 Tomorrow, one of the most popular yearly events in Second Life begins, the Fantasy Faire. This Relay for Life event is known for a number of things, the shopping, the discussions, the Literary Festival, the jail and bails (sometimes with Lindens and Moles), the Fairelands Quest, and many well-designed sims that offer a lot to see. 

This year, there are a total of twenty-one sims to go about. Each of them has a unique theme. The event will go on from Thursday April 22 to Sunday May 9. So there's a lot to see. But don't hesitate to go as the time will be over before you know it. People with older computers may want to wait until late hours as the event is a popular one. But some sims will be more crowded than others. 

Addition: the main entrance is at http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Fairelands%20Junction/61/101/34 .

RFL Team Sunbeamers Reach Jade, 500K Lindens

 

Yesterday evening, Tuesday April 20, the Relay's Team Sunbeamers reached a milestone. The total raised in both online and inworld donations hit the 500,000 Linden dollar mark, and into Jade level fundraising. The equivalent of $2000 US dollars. 

By all means, this isn't going to mean the team will slow down. Having just had their bumper car event (which raised 6400), there's one ongoing Bid-Me event with plans for more. And then there's the Air Show, and the weekly Moon Dance and other Bring Your Own Kiosk events. Team captain Rita Mariner plans to get the team to reach to Sapphire level (750,000 L), and beyond.  

Team Sunbeamers is the Relay team of the Sunweavers community, where the SL Newser has it's office.

As of the writing of this article, the Sunbeamers are twelfth (very close to eleventh) among the teams in terms of money raised, with six other Jade teams.  The three Emerald teams (over one million), are Roos With a Dream, Goreans in Relay for Life, and The River of Life. Third highest is Cure Chasers, which is at Ruby level. Second highest at Diamond is Relay Rockers. And the highest, also at Diamond, is Camping For a Cure. So far they've raised over 2,500,000 Linden dollars, or over $10,000 US dollars.
 
Go Sunbeamers! Go Relay!

Bixyl Shuftan
  

Press Relase: 5th Annual Bid The Lindens Bald Team Rosters

GOVERNOR LINDEN ANNOUNCES 2021 BID THE LINDENS BALD TEAM ROSTERS
Six Teams of Lindens & Moles Compete To Support Relay For Life

Governor Linden announced today the rosters for the six teams to compete in the 5th Annual Bid The Lindens Bald fundraising competition, in support of the American Cancer Society’s Relay For Life of Second Life.  The teams, made up of Lindens and for the 1st time, Moles, have accepted the challenge to out raise their colleagues and “Save Their Hair”.  The top fundraising team will be awarded the scissors with which they will shave the hair of the team with the lowest total.  The competitors have agreed to go bald until the SL18B celebration in June.  The fundraiser will be held May 12th through May 19th in conjunction with the Relay Rockers’ annual RelayStock multi-team event.


The Rosters of the 6 Teams are as Follows:

Team 1:  Alexa, Dottie, Izzy, Mint, Rhea, TJ, Wendi

Team 2: Cammy, Ellie, Kit, Oberwolf, Rocko, Tommy, Whitney

Team 3: Dakota, Evie, Kreide, Obi, Simon, Vanessa

Team 4: Darcy, Grumpity, Kristin, Patch, Spots, Vix

Team 5: Derrick, Hobbes, Maggie, Patsy, Theresa, Volo

Team 6 (Moles):  Abnor, Alotta, Chronos, Dion, Hazel, Itsa, Maximus, Milli, Notta, Spirit


A special Linden Bear has been created to celebrate the event. This very Limited Edition Bear will only be available at the Bid Me Bald Barn during RelayStock to anyone making a donation to one of the teams.

In 2017 Linden Lab took part in their 1st team challenge and since that time have raised more than L$3,000,000 to help the American Cancer Society Save Lives, Celebrate Lives and Lead the Fight For A World Without Cancer. Supporters will be asked to donate to special Relay Kiosks dedicated to each team and located at the RelayStock2021 region adjacent to the American Cancer Society virtual office in Second Life. At 2pm on Wednesday May 19th the kiosks will be totaled and the official Haircutting will take place.

The original Bid Me Bald event was created by the Relay Rockers in 2007 as both a fundraiser and a show of solidarity with cancer survivors. Bid Me Bald recognizes with respect and support that chemotherapy and other lifesaving treatments can lead to side effects, notably hair loss.  Bid Me Bald participants choose to ‘shave’ their heads as an act of support and fellowship with our honored heroes.

For more information about Bid The Lindens Bald visit the Relay Rockers BTLB page

Registered Relay For Life teams who wish to participate in RelayStock can sign up for a tent or VW bus online at relayrockers.org.
     

Robin Sojourner (Robin Wood) Has Died

There was some sad news yesterday. It was announced that Robin Sojourner (Robin Wood) had died after a long illness from cancer. Marianne McCann first gave the news in the Livingtree Island group.

Robin (Sojourner) Wood passed away after an extended struggle with cancer (phyllodes tumors).

Livingtree Island and her stores will remain open for some time. I will continue to help manage this on her behalf, per her final wishes.

I will provide more information when I can.

In her over sixteen years here since coming to Second Life in September 16 2004, Robin was busy in Second Life. She was a content creator, and her products can still be found in her store (https://marketplace.secondlife.com/stores/1021). But she was more than that. She contributed to the Ivory Tower the Texture Tutorial, helping residents to quickly learn how to build at their own pace. She was also an instructor at the Builder's Brewery for years, "Her writings on many topics include texturing hollow prims, how to make clothing, stained glass, and how to work with materials and Alpha channels on Textures." She would also set up the Wiccan Learning Center. In March 2018, she was listed as part of the "Ten Women Who Made a Difference" exhibit in the CDS.

On the ACS channel in Discord, others would talk about her, "Robin was a well-known force for good and kindness within Second Life and her real life. In SL she built a safe space for all avatars, big and small, and created incredibly useful tools that countless residents use to this day. I don't think there's a single negative thing to be said about the woman. She will be deeply missed." "I knew her through her Tarot Deck in RL, decades ago. I found her in SL about 5 years ago. She had such a a calm spirit. ... Another light has left the worlds. ... and may she have peace and the causes of peace." "She ... had her own Relay Team for years! Robin was a dear soul and will be missed."

One can check out her Flickr page at https://www.flickr.com/photos/robin_sojourner/, and her website at https://www.robinwood.com/ .

Addition: Robin also had a blog, with the last entry made by a family member: http://robinwood.com/blog/ .

Bixyl Shuftan
  

Events This Week at the Sunweaver and Montecito Bay Clubs, The Fallout Shelter, and Furry Fashion Lounge

  

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

Club Cutlass: Best in 'I and J,' Lemon/Lime, Barely There

Happy Vixen: A Bug's Life, Red and Black, Cats and Mice, Best in Yellow, Florals, TBA, Ribbons and Lace

Club Zero Gravity: TBA

Bouncing Bunny Beach Club: Jailhouse Rock, Raccoons Ringtails and Red Pandas

Montecito Bay: CAYA, After Dark

Furry Fashion Lounge:  Nature vs Tech, Good vs Evil, Fantasym Cartoons, Neons, Late Night, CAYA

Deathlands Fallout Shelter: DJ Shapes, DJ Wolfy

Read the schedules in SL Clubbin'.
  

Map Issues (Mostly) Fixed, New Sims Visible

After months of not working properly, the Second Life map is more or less back to normal. For months, one couldn't zoom out more than a little without the sims turning invisible. If a sim changed it's appearance, it wouldn't show on the map. And if a new sim appeared, such as the Chalet Linden Home ones that connected Bellisseria with the eastern mainland continents, it would be invisible except for it's name. Naturally, many residents complained, and even the Moles were saying they were inconvenienced. But for month after month, despite the efforts of Lindens working on the problem, including a greater effort after the move to the Cloud was completed in early January, the glitches remained. There were a couple resident-made maps that helped with the panning out problem, but the others remained.

Finally few days ago on April 15, Linden Lab announced on the Grid Status Report that they were on the verge of finally fixing it.

We know it's been a long time! Thank you for your continued patience. We finally have a fix in testing, and look forward to rolling it out soon! 

But it wasn't until yesterday, Monday April 19, in which they announced the work was done.

Hooray! We have a working system for generating map tiles again, along with a few other fixes to maps (zoom). We're still monitoring the results. Thank you for your patience during this long wait, and happy navigating. 

 It should be noted that sometimes the map still glitches a little when used. A time or two when I was trying it recently, sims did turn invisible when panning out or zooming in. But more often, they would appear normally, occasionally taking a little time to rezz. And there are other glitch issues, such as the group chat issues which have made communications between numbers of people a bit difficult at times.

So this means that any sims with big changes, like the sign over Raglan Shire, are now visible. And any new sims, like Bellisseria's Chalet sims on it's northeast, can now be seen. So now planning that boat trip across the Blake Sea or the Straits of Bellisseria will be much easier.
 
Bixyl Shuftan
 

Virtual Ability's Mental Health Conference

  

On Friday April 16, Virtual Ability held it's Mental Health Symposium. The conference had several discussions about different aspects of how the Coronavirus Pandemic has affected peoples' mental health. Gemma Cleanslate was there. She observed two of the talks, as well as looking at some exhibits nearby.
 
Read Gemma's article in Events.
  

Xirana Oximoxi Exhibit at La Maison d’Aneli

  

There's a new art exhibition. In La Maison d’Aneli, the Xirana Oximoxi Exhibit. Xirana's exhibit is based on a children's book she illustrated, "The Secret of the Crystal Mountain." In the story, a family of hippos goes to search for the reason the rains have stopped. Kayly Iali was at the opening, and had a look. 
 
Read Kayly's article in Design.
 

Linden Lab To Change Fees For Buying Linden Dollars, Price Increases For Some

    

For those whom buy Linden dollars in larger amounts, you will soon be paying more. A few days ago, Linden Lab announced that starting Thursday April 22, it will change the way it charges people for buying it's virtual currency for Second Life. Instead of a flat fee for any amount, they'll be charging a percentage with the old fee as the minimum.

Effective April 22, the current flat buy fee rate of $1.49 will be replaced by a 7.5% buy fee (capped at $9.99) applied to the total amount of Linden Dollars purchased in each transaction. The $1.49 minimum still applies. 

So what does this mean? If you buy Linden dollars in amounts of $20 or less, nothing really changes. But buying more than that, you'll be paying more. For instance, someone buying $30 USD worth of Lindens, assuming an exchange rate of 250 Linden dollars for one US dollar, will be charged 7.5% of $30 extra, or $2.25, and so pay a total of $32.25 instead of $31.49. This is an increase of 76 cents. For $50 USD, the fee is $3.75, and paying $53.75, an increase of $2.26.

Linden Lab would explain it was trying to manage having to deal with expenses, such as "Investing in our infrastructure to further improve speed and cadence of update" and "Developing new marketing initiatives and entertainment partnerships to fuel growth,"and wanted to "manage these costs in a way that minimizes the overall burden on our Residents." While it was going ahead and taking some loss, the Lab stated they needed a way to make up part of the expenses.

The fee for buying Lindens last went up in June 2018, from 99 cents. It was the second increase in less than a year, in Novemeber 2017 going up from 60 cents to 99 cents, and in June 2017 going up from 40 cents to 60 cents. Part of the reasons for these increases were the reductions in sim tier charged to residents.

The fee for selling Linden dollars, which is 3.5%, remains unchanged. 

A thread was created in the Second Life forums about the topic, which as of the writing of this article is sixteen pages long. Checking the first few, a few residents complained, "LL are digging their own grave by raising the fee." But most seemed more open to explanations and reserved in their criticism, "It is all a matter of take it or leave it in the end. If you are not satisfied you take your business elsewhere. That is the normal procedure everywhere."
 
Source: Linden blog

Bixyl Shuftan
   

Announcement: This Week at the Seanchai Libraries

 

Join us for stories presented LIVE in Second Life, on Seanchai Library's properties in Kitely.

All events at Nowhereville (203/43/26) , unless otherwise noted.

Stories told in open voice unless otherwise noted. All times SL/PT

* * * * *

*MONDAY, April 19th at 7pm: MOTE IN GOD'S EYE continues with Gyro Muggins.

*TUESDAY, April 20th:

    ~ at Noon: RUSSELL EPONYM, Live! with music, and poetry in Ceiluradh Glen, live on stream.  http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Nowhereville/197/131/21

    ~ at 7pm: Neil Gaiman's CORALINE concludes with Willow Moonfire.

*WEDNESDAY, April 21st at 7pm: Tae Keller's WHEN YOU TRAP A TIGER. This year's Newbery Medal-winner continues with Caledonia Skytower

*THURSDAY, April 22nd:

   ~ at 7pm: Revisiting POETRY OF THE PLANETS, Caledonia shares Holst's music and the poetry written and submitted as part of her 2017 LEA project, in the Glen. http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Nowhereville/197/131/21

   ~ at 9pm: SEANCHI LATE NIGHT, late night contemporary Sci-Fi-Fantasy with Finn Zeddmor
  

Cartoon of the Day

 

Taken at Lover's Peak. This "walker" with a huge cannon got me thinking of what uses it might have in real life besides warfare. Something came to mind where a lot of sci-fi fans gather. 

By Bixyl Shuftan

   

RFL Announcement: Sunbeamer Bumper Car Contest

The bumper cars that were part of last year's Sunbeamer Carnival are back.  This time as part of the Team-munity Challenge. There's no carnival this time. But it's still the same chaotic fun of running around and hitting the other bumper cars. When a car is hit a few times, it will start to smoke. The more often it's hit, the heavier it smokes until it catches fire and blows up (the driver is safely ejected). Sound simple? Not quite. The obstacle walls inside the course change randomly every so often. So one second you may have nothing ahead of you, and then the next finding a wall in front. And to make things more interesting, there are six cannons that onlookers can fire into the course which if they hit a car will damage it like being hit by another car.

 The event takes place Sunday April 18 from 10AM SL time to 4PM SL time. The top bumper car driver will take home 500 Lindens. Second place gets 250L. Third place gets 100L.

The event take place in Sunweaver Eclipse (145/59/22). From 3-5 PM, there will be a special Relay party at the BBBC, where instead of tips people are asked to donate their money to kiosks, notably those for Snow's "Bid Me" event. The second event is at SunWaterThree (75/56/25). 

  https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Sunweaver%20Eclipse/145/59/22