Earlier this month, Brandi Streusel announced on her Discord that she was having to stop her music parties at Club Squeaks.
"Due to my new job promotion, I will not be able to do my morning sets at Club Squeaks anymore. I am going to miss everyone!"
Earlier, Brandi had told people at the club that she would be having to stop the events soon.
"Feels like I've let my fans down," Brandi would say, "I was hoping it wouldn't come to this. But, such is real-life."
But this doesn't mean the end of all of Brandi's DJ sets. She still plays at Club Balance on Friday evenings from 7 to 9 PM SL time.
Club Squeaks was a small club high above Pacific Waters in the Sunweaver community. Set in a skybox, the official entrance was inside a man-sized live trap. It attracted a crowd of both American and Canadian early-risers and Europeans. There was a foam machine which resulted in occasional antics. Brandi was able to play music during her tech support job, so she was able to get online and do music for a crowd. But her promotion means that isn't an option, at least for now.
Hopefully the club will be back soon,
Bixyl Shuftan
*Addition* As it turns out, this wasn't a true closure. The club will still be playing on the few mornings Brandi doesn't have to work in real-life.
For fourteen years, the Second Life Veterans Tribute was a yearly event that honored American and other veterans, both living and deceased. But unfortunately, there will not be one this year.
Eesy Spyker (Meesoh Honi) would post the following in the Tribute's Discord group:
It is with a sad heart to report that this year's SLVT will not be able to be presented this year. Due to a number of contributors, that make it happen each year, that are going through RL health issues, some with dire family issues/responsibilities and other factors out of our control, we have been unable to work on the tribute and present it this year. We hope and pray for all involved and will strive to be able to once again provide a place honoring and remembering each and every one of our veterans.
We hope that you all find a place and a manner, in your own way, that you will still honor and remember our veterans. Each of us contributors from SLVT hope that we will see you out and around SL, in various ways, honoring our veterans.
From all of us here at SL Veterans Tribute we wish all of our veterans, near and far, past and present, a happy and wonderful Veteran's Day, and thank them for the dedication and the price they have paid for us.
Hopefully another event can be organized. But the Veterans Wall, with names contributed by many residents over the years, will be unavailable to see this year.
And so, it's truly over. Yesterday, Thursday July 24, was the last day the sims were up. After 9AM SL time, they were closed to everyone but the Lindens and Moles entering (exhibitors who logged off while in could still log in and walk around a little).
Missy Mole had one last message:
Thank you everyone for being a part of SL22B! The exhibits were amazing! Great job to all involved! We will be closing down general access to the regions by 9am SLT Monday, July 21. If you want to save anything from your exhibit, please pick it up by 9am SLT on Thursday, July 24. After that the regions will be going down for the season. Don't worry though, we will be celebrating SL23B before you know it! Time to start planning next year's exhibit <3
Have a great summer!
And so, the sun sets on another great SLB, with some great exhibits. We'll likely have at least one more article on the exhibits and scenes that we didn't have time to post earlier. As it's the end of our "busy season," we'll likely be doing articles on topics we didn't have time for earlier. But for now, a word of thanks to the exhibitors and assistants, as well as the Moles, for their great builds, and especially to Silvia Ametza for the Newser's (yes, ours didn't have a sign, we were in a bit of a hurry).
See you at next year's SLB, and the next big thing in SL,
Last night at about Midnight SL time, the Second Life Birthday event finally ended with the closing of the sims. Unless you're an exhibitor or a Linden or Mole, there's no getting on the sims now.
It's unclear if there were any last minute impromptu parties, but there were a number of people going about the exhibits on the final day for one last look.
The Newser will have a few more articles on the exhibits over the next several days. We also welcome pictures and articles from you the readers.
Some longtime residents recall Strawberry Singh, a noted blogger who did a number of fashion articles. In December 2017, she was on the spot when a Linden Lab employee demanded she take down a tutorial video because Second Life's "hand" symbol was trademarked, then the Lab issued a public apology. In April 2019, she was hired by Linden Lab and had a new account: Strawberry Linden. Although part of the Lab, she continued to make continued blog posts. But they could sometimes be months apart, only three in 2021, and the last one on July 1 2023.
On Bellisseria chat, someone pointed out that the blog had been taken down. Going to strawberrysingh.com, there were no links, only a blurry picture of a woman with the words, "Thank you all for the love and support." The blog is on the Wayback Machine, and was still up in early June.
In her last post about the SL20B, her final words included, "So thank you for being on this journey with me, especially to those of
you who have supported my work all these years and still read the words I
occasionally share on this blog. Here’s to 20 more years of virtual
adventures!"
Yesterday in the Second Life forums, Strawberry would post about her blog doing down, as well as her relative silence lately. She stated she had a death in the family, and closed her blog as she was trying to "reduce my digital footprint under my Strawberry Singh account." She did say, "I’m doing okay now and will be around more often."
Longtime readers may remember the University of Western Australia sims. They were the place yearly art competitions, which offered prizes that once exceeded a million Linden dollars. But sadly, the last of the sims is now gone. In the UWA in Second Life blog, it was announced the sim vanished last month, in March 22.
Sometime on Friday 22 March 2024 Pacific Time the University of Western Australia region left the Second Life grid for good.
Jayjay,
Freewee and quadrapop and the rest of the UWA in SL team thank you all
for your support and involvement, however big or small, over the years.
Without the SL residents interest (artists, videographers, bloggers,
gallery owners, performers, and visitors) this project would not have
been possible, nor as successful.
There is so much that could be written here about this seminal Second
Life project, but the time has come for the project to close.
It's been a long, slow, goodbye. For years, they held many art and machinima events, then in 2015 announced they would be having the last of their annual ones. Later that year, four of it's sister sims were slated to be taken down, but given a reprieve. Then in 2017 came their "Final Chapter." with half the sims closing soon after. In 2018 came the last machinima contest. I would last write about the place in September 2020, when it announced it was holding it's final art event ant would close soon after. But it seems the last sim. was given a reprieve, though nothing was mentioned about it in the blog, or anything else until the final announcement.
For art and machinima lovers, a final reminder of a time gone by has closed.
Last week, the owners of Magicland, a Disneyland tribute park, announced the place would soon be closing, the last day it would be open on Sunday April 14. Over the weekend, the park which often had just a few people, sometimes just one or two, swelled in numbers as people came by for one last look, to give the rides one more spin. Or perhaps they heard about the place and kept putting off making a trip over, and finally went when time was running out.
There were also a number of comments in the park group, "I've seeen Mouseworld close. I've seen Enchanted Adventures close. I've seen Wedcot close like three times. This is the park I hoped I'd never see close. I'm heartbroken." "I'm gonna cry when its closing time, I've been coming since the beginning"
On Monday, the sim was still up. But most of the sounds were off, and most of the rides were still.
[16:33] Greeter: Thank you for visiting Magicland Park. We have ceased operations. [16:33] Greeter: All of the attractions are no longer operational. [16:33] Greeter: Thank you, and we hope you have a great day.
Looking around, the rides were still, the scripts disabled. No longer would the monorail travel around. No more would the Carousel of Progress show how the family home had changed over the course of the 20th Century. Checking the castle, there was one sound clear, that of a ticking clock. Panning around, one could hear the sounds of the "It's A Small World" ride, faintly.
A number of people had gathered in the central area, talking about the park and how great it had been. A couple were in themed avatars. Among those there was Pixie Ella, one of the team behind Magicland was also there.
That day, there would be an announcement from Kriste Beck, one of the owners
For the past 15 years, it's been nice having our own personal Disneyland in Second Life that we got to share with everyone. It was kind of fun to be able to bring back certain attractions, such as Captain EO, the Peoplemover, the Carousel of Progress, and CircleVision. There were magical evenings of stories being told at the Golden Horseshoe by Caledonia Skytower. There were celebrations, achievements, happy moments, sad moments, and memories to be made for a lifetime.
I thank God for being able to share all of this with all of you. Every show has an opening and a closing date, and as we close the show, we thank you for sharing your time and your lives with us and being a part of our 15-year story.
Viltrigen came of with a few videos of Magicland attractions, including this one of Tomorrowland. There was also the It's A Small World ride, and the Jungle Cruise. Nance Clowes would also state in the group there would soon be a new Disney-themed park opening soon.
There are a few other Disney-themed parks still operational, Wedcot at Real Dreams (42/4/106), Sarah's Magic Kingdom at Toyah (203/161/51), and Enchanted Castle at Risian Flux (207/53/63).
Some sad news for Disney fans in Second Life. The WEDCOT Center Park, an inworld tribute to Disney World, Disneyland, and Epcot Center, has closed. In the sim's group, owner Trevor Sleydon would say the following yesterday, Sunday October 1.
Who would’have thought opening day that WEDCOT Center Park would welcome guests for 10 years? It’s our cast and guests who made the magic, through attendance and support. A park needs attention to keep it going. Unfortunately, I cannot do that at this time, so WEDCOT and it’s properties have closed. I hope you all have empathy and understanding and carry these 10 yrs of memories in your hearts, be kind to each other and celebrate the future, hand in hand.
Who knows what my future may be, WEDCOT came back once. We'll just have to see, but I hope that you all will join us, if we return.
While the Fantasy Faire officiallly ended on Sunday May 7, the sims remained open one more day, Monday May 8. Another day to shop. One more day to finish the Fairelands Quest and the smaller quests. And one more day to explore the sims. In the Sambeaubee sim however, there was a semi-official event, "The Final Ravedown."
No events today, just peaceful coexistence in harmony and happiness and hanging out in the Fairelands, perhaps a bit of yoga and some tea and- HOW DID THAT GET HERE, HIDE IT BEFORE SOMEONE SEES!
DJ Nancy (Madonna Milena) was among those playing music at the Ravedown, which had over 120 packing the sim when I dropped by. Supposedly it lasted for a total of ten hours before the crowd finally dispersed.
The Ravedown wasn't the only interesting thing that day. Charlee Amethyst and I would run across our share of interesting people and sights.
Sadly, this year there would be only one day after the official ending to enjoy the sims. Some time after Midnight SL time, the sims closed to the public, becoming inaccessible to most.
The
Fairelands are now closed and preparing for their return to the Mists.
Thank you all for being a part of the 15th Age of the Faire! We laughed,
cried, and loved. We shopped, adventured, and partied. We restored the
heart of Nova Nadiya and rejoiced as the Children of Stories defeated
the Witch and broke the Shadow Curse. We also raised our 15 year Faire total in support of the global programs of the American Cancer Society to over 750,000usd! Congratulations to you all!
And so, the Fantasy Faire of 2023 is truly over, having raised 29,884,100 Linden dollars or $119,536 USD. But there are the numerous pictures taken, such as those in the Faire's Flicker page (https://www.flickr.com/groups/fantasyfairesl/pool/). But there are also the happy memories of people.
But for the Relay fundraising season, this isn't the end. The three-day Relaystock music Festival starts tomorrow. There are other events this month. And of course there is the Relay Weekend next month.
Second Life has one less breedable pets company. Last weekend, the BioBreeds company apparently closed down due to a dispute between the co-owners.
I found a notecard in the BioBreeds Advertising group, and the Relay for Life Volunteers group, the latter where I found it first. It was signed "Oz," presumably meaning co-owner Ozzie Drucker, the Group Management and Marketing leader.
I have always been as transparent with you all as possible from the start, so let me explain what has happened.
Our provider last fall informed us that we needed to “migrate” our server to the cloud. And needed to do so by the end of the year. At that time they would no longer provide service if we failed to do so. Our coder, Bytecode Republic, who also is an owner, refused to do so. He also refused to move us to another provider. Since then I have attempted a variety of ways to convince him that it was necessary so that we could continue. Then, after I took some additional steps to force a migration, and without entangling you in technical jargon, he shut us down on Friday. And in a way that it cannot be undone. Up until late yesterday I was hopeful that somehow this could be resolved.
But he refuses to re-establish us.
The notecard was in the Relay group on Sunday January 29, but not in the BioBreeds Advertising group, the largest BioBreeds group I could find, until Tuesday January 31. I couldn't find an existing larger Biobreeds group. Trying to head to the Biobreeds sim, it was closed. Their Marketplace page was also closed. There was nothing about what happened on the blog (http://www.biobreeds.com/). Their Facebook and Twitter hadn't been updated in a while.
I was able to send an alt to a sim known as "The Farm," which came up when I did a search on Biobreeds-related places. I only saw one to two to three people around and most of the stalls were closed. Talking to someone, she told me the creators were making an effort to preserve the pets still out there. She copy-pasted from a group I wasn't able to find on Search.
[15:30] Ozzie Drucker: Group Notice Sent by: Ozzie Drucker Free Food Plus DO NOT BUT FOOD!
Around midnight tonight We will be rezzing vendors for you to be able to use to get free food and free medkits.
Hope this helps some.
I would go by later, and there were some food and medkit packages available for free at the main building. They were at The Farm (172/207/21).
The notice I saw in the Relay for Life Volunteers group was a bit panicky, saying the animals were in danger of dying. Checking with a friend, her Biobreeds permapet was just fine and her regular one was sleeping but otherwise okay. She told me it was a shame BioBreeds was closing as it was her impression they were one of the few companies that tried to keep prices reasonable.
Biobreeds was created on February 5, 2010, the company closing just days before it's thirteenth anniversary.
Following two stressful years of pandemic which I am sure we have all
been affected by in one way or the other, I suddenly lost my mother in
September of 2021, my grandmother in January of 2022 and my cat Cleo in
June. I have been unwell and enduring a lot of chronic pain. I have to
be very honest, my spark has dimmed a little and I no longer have the
energy to pour into this business like I once did.
I’ve done a lot of soul searching over the last 18 months and have
come to the very difficult decision that for my own physical and mental
wellbeing, I need to move on from Second Life. I am starting something
new, and can only hope it will be half as much fun and as fulfilling as
my time in Second Life has been.
She would thank her customers for years of loyal business, "I cannot express what your support has truly meant to me, and I know these words will never be enough...."as well as other content creators who made products for her avatar, "you made what I do so much better! Thank you so much for your fabulous,
innovative and gorgeous creations that made mine look so awesome." She announced she would no longer be answering messages made to her or her alts.
Checking her Marketplace page, it was cleared out, empty, one day before the announced closing. Same thing with her inworld store, at a sim also named "Slink." Entry was restricted to one tiny area with ban lines around it. There was a redelivery terminal, but the items for sale were out of reach.
Siddean had been creating items for sale since 2007. Her avatar shape has been around for some years, and has been described as "The Tesla for mesh bodies," applauded for it's low-lag design, which contrasted with some popular but complex and lag-inducing avatar shapes that multiplied two to three dozen times could make attending an event unreachable for those with older computers.
On the official forums, there was praise for her on a thread about her closing. "I was very surprised (and a little sad - Slink is still my favorite and
most worn body), but it sounds like a change will be good for her, and I
wish her the best in her new endeavors." ''I wish Siddean and her team all the best for the future. Slink has been an innovator in SL and Siddean is just a lovely person." "I'm wishing the creator all the goodness, it seems they need a whole lot
of happy thoughts from all of us. They were one of the amazing trend
setters in SL back in the day and I'm sure their contribution will
always be remembered!" "My heart goes out to Siddean, if I'd been in her shoes with all that RL
threw at her the last few years, I'd probably do the same
soul-searching. I hope she finds a new venture beyond Second Life where
she can put her talents to good use and get that spark back." "It seems they had an awful year, and I am not surprised to hear they are
stepping away. Lets hope one day they come back with an amazing
creation that knocks us all off our feet
" "So sad to hear this, Siddean was one of the pioneers of mesh bodies in
SL, I don't think we'd be where we are now without her. I wish her all
the best for the future." "Sad news ...15 years of visible accomplishments and a very nice goodbye with hope for the future. Rare in SL for creators it seems."
The other products around for Slink avatars will likely be around for around for a while. But with the avatar no longer for sale and the creator gone from Second Life, it is unclear if any more will be made.
On Friday night, Shockwave Yareach announced in the Sunweaver Group. The Sunweaver Eclipse sim was being closed to air traffic.
NOTICE TO AIRMEN
Airspace in (Sunweaver) Eclipse is closed due to rocket testing in the sea. Rockets will launch at random times. As this is testing new engines and new control systems, said rockets are unpredictable. It is not outside the realm of possibility that a rocket could impact a passing aircraft.
Avoid airspace if at all possible.
When questioned in group if he was testing missiles, Shock responded, "Prototype shuttle engines. Navigation is still wonky -- thinks passing planes are bonus points." He would tell me it was still open to boat and foot traffic, but watching out for falling objects was advised, "Travel at your own Risk. Insurance is available at the airport - pay in advance."
Sunweaver Eclipse is also known as Shockwave's Retreat, which has one railroad stop, a jetski rezzer, a memorial to departed Sunweavers, and the lair of the community's local rocket scientist.
After being open for almost a month, the sims of the Second Life Birthday are now closed to regular visitors (baring a last minute glitch). While the last night the area is open usually is the scene of some impromptu music and dance parties, this time that wasn't the case. There were plenty of people checking out the "Shop and Hop" sims, but no DJs playing music that I could see.
For today and tomorrow is the "Takedown" or teardown when the exhibitors take down their builds. And then on Wednesday, only the Lindens and Moles will be able to access the sims as they close down, at least until next spring for the SL20B.
On Sunday, I started a thread, about Putin, and the invasion of Ukraine. The thread got removed. So I filed a ticket. Here is the ticket, and the reply. ====================
On Sunday, I started a thread, and it was closed. I titled the thread "Is Putin insane?' I posted the thread in the general area. There was no trolling in the thread. It was about Putin, and about him calling up nuclear forces. I see lots of topics that are not about SL. Here are a couple. What makes you laugh? What music are you listening to? Does LL allow topics that are about current events. Like the war going on in Ukraine? I did ask in my post, if there was anybody in the Ukraine, that could still play SL. I know that they do have internet, but I don't know at what speed right now. It would be great if LL were to put in a mention, on the SL blog, about the war going on in Ukraine. One more point. Does LL still collect taxes from players that live in Russia? If so, I suggest that you hold those taxes, until the war is over. =========== Volo Linden said 1 day ago Hello Frankie Antonioni,
Thank you for contacting Second Life, and for your patience. We appreciate you reaching out to seek additional clarification regarding your forum post. While we often allow off-topic posts on the forums, we have the responsibility to ensure that the forums are a welcome place for all of our Residents in Second Life. In our experience, threads of a political matter often escalate in nature, and we made the decision to intervene before it got to that point. As the original post was closed, I would advise against posting another of a similar nature.
In regards to your feedback about a blog and taxes, this isn't something that Support decides, but we appreciate you taking the time to express your concerns. I'll be passing your feedback along to my supervisor as well.
If there's anything further we could do to assist you, please let us know.
Kind Regards,
Volo Linden Account Specialist Linden Lab ======= Yesterday LL made an announcement, regarding Russia invading Ukraine.This was just a few hours after Volo replied to me.
Dropping by, the place looked much like the display area showing the houses at the Second Life Birthday. the four types of houses were there. So were the trees, crystals, mushrooms, and other decorations, as were the bridges over the water. There was one notable difference. As the houses were now being claimed, some were being decorated for individual tastes with pets, statues, more lights, and other items. I had yet to hear about a community center of some kind. But this may change in the future.
On another note about news from the Linden Home continent, There's been a water park in the Bellisseria Fairgrounds, with pools, lounge chairs to enjoy the sun, and four tall slides that took close to a minute to go down into the water. Some wag also put a Bellisserian Slenderman doll in the water as a joke. But the fun didn't last forever, and last week it's closing was announced.
This week will be the final farewell to the water park. It's been an amazing summer and Vari and I would like to sincerely thank you all for your continued support of the Belli Animal Sanctuary and the Bellisseria Fairgrounds!
There were a few farewell events. But people continued to drop by afterwards to slide, or just to relax. But this isn't necessarily a permanent end. The water park may be back sometime in the future.
Since Thursday June 17, the sims of the Second Life 18th Birthday were open to the public. That is, until sometime in the morning of Friday July 9. Checking a little after Noon, I found the sims to be closed, and later on checking the map, they were shown to be offline.
Checking around the day before, many of the exhibits had been cleared out.
I came across one exhibitor, Pixels Sideways, in the middle of her takedown. She would post in group chat, "All tidied up. Thank you Moles for all your creative work and help. Ya did good! :-) Thank you to the exhibitors and performers for your creative visions and music. TY to the Shop n Hop merchants for all the fab swag, And TY Linden Lab for keeping the lights on and the plumbing intact. Raises a glass - to Ebbe. TY for guiding us here. We'll keep the engines running & the creative juices flowing and continue to create merry mayhem throughout Second Life. Ciao everyone. Stay safe out there. Hope to see you around the playground. xoxo"
And so, another Second Life Birthday is now history. For some, there is Burn2 Conception and Burning Man to look forward to. But for others, already people are looking forward to SL19B. Among them, Marianne McCann, "As one might say among Burning Man folks, 'Next Year Was Better!' You will always look fondly on SL18B... but next year, just *imagine* what may come! All the things you learned at 18B, and another year of exploration."
Yesterday, Tuesday July 6, was the last day the SLB sims were scheduled to be open for the Second Life Eighteenth Birthday. So the sims had a number of people going about for one last look at the exhibits. Group chat was full of people saying how much they enjoyed the event, and more than one commented they were going to have to leave some exhibits unseen as they didn't have enough time to see them all.
An alt of mine was able to get in the sims after Midnight. So it's possible the sims will be accessible for part of the day. But the schedule is for the sims to be closed and the exhibitors to take what they want picked up.
Yours truly was up late last night exploring around, so before writing more, it's time for some much-needed rest.
Addition: My alt was still able to get to the sims at 9AM SL time, but the main music stream was turned off and some exhibits were already gone.
Addition 2: At 1PM, my alt could no longer get into the SLB sim. So presumably they were closed to the general public at Noon.
Club Xanadu's co-owner RECoyote Mindes informed the Newser that the venue would be closing it's doors to events. There are no plans to reopen, at least for now.
Xanadu, occasionally called "The Vinyl Museum," is jointly owned by RECoyote and Perri Prinz. The building is a classic rock club named for the movie in which the Pan Pacific Auditorium
is restored to a nightclub. There have been several periods of hiatus
when real-life interfered with the management, but the building has
always stood there since it's construction.
Checking the Linden Lab website today, one will find Second Life and Tilia. But there's no sign of another product of theirs: Blocksworld. It made some news in 2013 when Linden Lab under Rod Humble bought the "mix of Lego and Minecraft" which was aimed at younger users on tablets. In a few months, it got some attention as it was doing very well. Since then, it mostly dropped out of sight, quietly remaining on Linden Lab's list of products as all others bought or developed by the Lab under Humble were sold or closed. But check today on Linden Lab's website, and one will notice it's no longer there. As it turns out, Linden Lab had closed it down in June 2020 with no announcement. So what happened to Blocksworld over time that got the Lab to pull the plug?
There's a lot going on, and only a little time to write about it. So here's a few things that have been going on, but we haven't had the time to write about it in-depth.
With the Pandemic and US Presidential Election in the news lately, something called the CASE Act was almost unnoticed. Tacked onto the Coronovirus relief bill, the act was to "a small claims court-type system within the United States Copyright Office for copyright owners to seek damages under US$30,000 for copyright violations." It got the attention of one SL DJ whom was concerned as it sounded like streaming for public performance would become a felony under the bill.
A residential area, Baja Cove, closed down, "it was a beautiful New Jersey like beach."
Flash is no longer operating for computers, and with it, a number of browser games, and animated files are no longer playing.
We still have yet to write about the Silent Hill "Otherworld" area, an interactive horror area where monsters attack people as they explore an area. For those who can't wait for the article, you can check it out at Chief (42/87/691).
A new kind of breedable pet was recommended to us to write about. We'll get to it soon.
Second Life's land area grew over the previous year according to Tyche Shepherd, from 24740 regions to 25555, with most of the increase being private sims.
