Tempura Island Closing

 

Some sad news. After fourteen years in operation, The Tempura Island sim is closing. The announcement was given in the sim's group.

After such a long journey of 14 years traveling together in Second life, we made hard decision to close TEMPURA sim.

When opening TEMPURA we could never imagined that will last for so long time.　TEMPURA touched so many hearts and bring amazing memories to everyone　and for that we are deeply glad.

With humbleness and huge grateful we Thank you, to each of you who ever admired, loved and healed,
at TEMPURA.

Tempura is a SIM of love! We say Bye to you, but it's a Welcoming of a new beginning.

May Buddha full your hearts with love and happiness!

Dropping by, I found the area quite picturesque. While it is Japanese-owned, not everything is Japanese-themed. Tempura's largest structure is the palace in the north, which has a large dance ballroom, and a number of places and private rooms for couples. The south had a wooded area, partially green and partially autumn red and orange. In between was a circle of meditation pillows and a tai-chi practice area, both of which were being used when I dropped by at close to midnight SL time. There's plenty to explore, including a few hidden areas.

The sim does have a blog, http://japan-tempura.blogspot.com/, which has a description at the beginning of how things got started in 2008. 

No date has been given for the sim's closing.

To drop by, head to http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/tempura%20island/128/39/33 .

Bixyl Shuftan
 

"All Things End" - Goodbye From The Fantasy Faire

It is time to let the Fairelands return to the Mysts. We send them off with love and with the knowledge they will return to us next April.

Each year they come, welcoming us home. For a brief window they are with us and we are rejuvenated. Our love makes them manifest and their magic prepares us to return to a world without them. The Fairelands may have their secret place, but they always live in our hearts, through our memories and the friendships we have made.

We are sad, as we always are, to see them go, yet even in that sadness there is the seed of hope, knowing that next April they will return to us once more.

For those of you that may be experiencing this passing for the first time, you may wonder when the feelings of sadness for what has passed will turn to feelings of anticipation for what is to come. The answer is different for everyone, but for myself knowing that even though the Fairelands themselves have faded, the Fairelands community remains is a great comfort. Sadness that is shared cannot last so long. The Fairelands are not only a place, they are a family, and we choose now whether we stay together or not.

Together, we raised an astonishing amount of money. Almost 24 Million Lindens, or over $95,000 US Dollars for Relay For Life. To me that is still unfathomable really. I find myself looking for some quantifiable answer as to how we did that. I realize that the answer is a single word. Fairelanders.

Together, we watched dance performances and we danced ourselves. We saw and heard wonderful stories, and we found ourselves playing parts in wonderful stories. We learned about heroic quests, and we answered the call to be heroes in an epic Quest. The Faire is what we see and do, and it is about what we find the chance to ourselves become.

The Faire is what you discover, and the Faire is what you bring to it. Both of these are essential to making it the magical experience that it is each year. Both are part of the magic that brings it back.

All things end; however, life is cyclical and even as things go, so they come back again. For now we say good bye to the Fairelands, but Junction will call them back again next April. they will be different, but they will still be home. Until then, keep the light of the Fairelands alive in your heart.

From the Fantasy Faire blog, by Elizabeth Tinsley
 

Second Life Mainland Pod Service Closing After Ten Years

The Newser was just tipped off to a sad announcement. After ten years of taking residents around the mainland, the Yavascript pods made by Yavanna Llanfair will be shut down after today. The reasons are a lack of communication with Linden Lab following a 24 hour ban, and her recovery from a Coronavirus infection that has had lingering effects on her body.

Dear pod riders,

Today is the 10th anniversary of the first road pod - "YavaScript Pod V5.0 (MCT)" - MCT standing for Monowai Constant Tour, which I put on the road in the morning of Saturday 21st August 2010. I have set that pod running again; it will run until it is swallowed by some random event (like a sim restart or a crash).

 However, I am sorry to report that it is also the last day of the pods as we know them today. I have made the decision to suspend all services as of later today. The reason is as follows:

For the entirety of the running of the pod service, I have said I will only run the service where I considered I had the approval of the Lindens and the community. Whilst there have always been a few who would criticise (sometimes quite vocally), they have been a very small minority. And I have always felt that the Lindens have tacitly approved of them, though they would never say so directly. Certainly a number of moles have expressed their approval, and to them I am very grateful.

On 27th July, my account was suspended for 24 hours because of a pod crash in Mieum (on the Wellington Road). At least, that is what I traced it to, because the Linden who suspended me would not tell me of the reason - merely that the object was returned to me. I explained that it is impossible to avoid crashes in all circumstances. I raised a ticket to the LDPW asking them to let me know if this meant my pods were no longer welcome on the roads. I said that I would take anything other than a positive to be a negative. My ticket was closed without comment.

It would have been a shame for the pods to have fallen short of their 10th anniversary, and so I have continued the service until today. And for now, I will merely suspend all operations by flicking a switch on my server. This means that the road pods will still rez, but de-rez shortly after (within 5 minutes). Pods will also still be available from the pod stations by clicking on the rezzer. But this is not a sustainable situation, as the vast majority of people come to know about the pods by seeing them pass on the road, so without that, the service is far less likely to be sustainable in the longer term.

I announced back in June that I was stepping back, due to a long Covid-19 recovery. That recovery is still not complete; whilst I have made progress, I still have some issues, mostly neurological. And stress is therefore something I have to avoid at all costs. Therefore I am not willing at present to fight anyone on this. Maybe one day I will. If the Lindens wish to get in contact to ensure me that the pods are welcome again, I will of course re-instate them. But I suspect that is not likely to happen.

I will continue to support pod owners who run their own systems.

Thankyou to each and every pod rider for coming along on the journey with me. It has been exciting and a lot of fun. It isn't necessarily over, but for now autonomous vehicles from the YavaScript stable will no longer be on the SecondLife mainland roads.

Thankyou,
Yavanna Llanfair

For those wishing to check out the pods one last time, head to the main station at Durango (154/188/118). You can also join the Pod riders group (link here) for a list of her other stations.


Yavanna would list the following as her reason for coming up with the rides.

Why do I make these tours? Well, I believe that mainland should be enjoyed and appreciated. Yet there is so little on mainland as a whole which attracts people, simply because they don't know about it. Most people don't travel around and look to see what is there; they go from landmark to landmark in their inventory, without taking the time to look around them. But mainland has so much going for it; beautiful areas, historic locations, educational establishments, rail and sea transport, which most people probably don't know exist. Mainland should be alive, it should be a community. We should all care about it, and then maybe we would take more pride in it and in our buildings. The road network is extensive (though not always as complete as it might be). It is there for using, and should be used as a way to help fulfil this need.

Going about, there was a lot to see while taking a ride. It was an effortless way to cover a lot of ground and see how much was on the mainland. It is a service that will be missed.

Remember, after today, the pods will probably no longer work.

Update: As of Sunday, the pod service as a whole is still working. 

Hat Tip: Sandie Loxingly

Bixyl Shuftan

Torley Linden Gone From Linden Lab

Some sad news for longtime Second Life users. Torley, the beloved Linden noted for his "Friendly Greetings" tutorial videos about Second Life and his fondness for watermelon, is no longer with Linden Lab.

In his LinkedIn account, Torley described his employment with Linden Lab as ending in February 2020, which was the time a number of Sansar's already severely cut staff was hit with layoffs. He had been working on Linden Lab's "next generation virtual world" for three years, and employed with Linden Lab for a few weeks shy of fifteen years.

A few weeks ago, a reader notified the Newser of signs something was wrong, the disappearance of Torley's sims such as "Here." But there wasn't anything else to go on at the time.

Considering Torley's devotion to Second Life, and the number of fans he had, as well as numerous residents whom never forgot him despite his Second Life tutorials eventually ending years ago, this is sad news not just for the users of the virtual world, but Linden Lab as well.

Hat Tip: Hamlet Au

Bixyl Shuftan

Fran Seranade Dies at 92

Some sad news for Second Life. One of it's oldest and inspirational residents, Fran Seranade, has passed away. She had celebrated her 92nd birthday just a few days before. She was the inspiration for the Creations for Parkinsons sims and group, run by her real-life daughter Barbie Alchemi.

*  *  *  *  *

Our family is so sorry to share the sad news that our mom, Fran, passed away on Sunday morning March 3rd.

As you know our dad died with Parkinson's 16 years ago. Much to our surprise, one year later mom was also diagnosed with the same disease. In spite of the challenges, Mom gallantly kept going, enjoying her life right up to her 92nd birthday. A few days later we shared an especially happy and precious day. She said "Today would be a good day to die." I asked if she would like to move into my home and have me call Hospice. Her face lit up with a smile and she told me it was the right time.

For 15 years Mom has been a Hospice volunteer. It was my honor to care for her as she had cared for so many others at the end of their lives. I spent the last 84 hours by her side, nursing her round the clock with the guidance of Hospice. I will be forever grateful for the precious opportunity to be with her for this time.  During her final hour as I held her hand, I could feel love and wisdom pouring from her heart and flowing into my own heart. As she exhaled for the last time, I knew her spirit was lifted into perfect peace and she was united again with our dad.

We will be planning a memorial service in SL in about a month. I will keep you informed as soon as we know the date. I will set up a special L donation Kiosk in her memory.

Please read more about her life of love and service at this link https://fundraise.michaeljfox.org/tf-2019/FranSwenson
If you wish, you may make a RL donation in her memory.

Here is the link, if you would like to watch the remarkable video made 6 years ago about the benefits of SL for our RL Mom. This will touch your heart! The Drax File: World Makers- Episode 13 Creations for Parkinsons
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyiiWxNguGo&feature=youtu.be

Please share this note card with your friends so we can reach as many people as possible.

We are so grateful for your caring and love,
Barbie Alchemi and AlmostThere Inventor

AOL Instant Messenger To Shut Down

Those of you whom have been around the days of browsing the Internet and the World Wide Web since the beginning will remember America On-Line's AOL Instant Messenger. Also known simply as AIM, it helped pioneer the days of social media, people using the Internet and being online to get in touch and chat with one another instead of simply looking up information and checking email. But like many other pioneers in technology, it became outclassed by later products. It was announced earlier this month by the VP of Communications of Oath, the company created by the merger of AOL and Yahoo, that AOL IM would be shutting down in December 2017 after 20 years of operation.

If you were a 90’s kid, chances are there was a point in time when AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) was a huge part of your life. You likely remember the CD, your first screenname, your carefully curated away messages, and how you organized your buddy lists. Right now you might be reminiscing about how you had to compete for time on the home computer in order to chat with friends outside of school. You might also remember how characters throughout pop culture from “You’ve Got Mail” to “Sex and the City” used AIM to help navigate their relationships. In the late 1990’s, the world had never seen anything like it. And it captivated all of us.

AIM tapped into new digital technologies and ignited a cultural shift, but the way in which we communicate with each other has profoundly changed. As a result we’ve made the decision that we will be discontinuing AIM effective December 15, 2017. ... Thank you to all of our AIM users.

The announcement was made on Twitter and Tumbler, two newer messengers that helped displace AIM into irrelevance, and ended by promising to "continue building the next generation of iconic brands" and "provide more products and experiences."

And so, a peice of life on the early Internet is fading away into the history books.

Source: CNN

Bixyl Shuftan

B&Bs Australian Club Closes

Longtime readers may recall B&Bs, the outdoor club of Australian resident Bundy Xue, which has taken part in the yearly Jamm for Genes fundraiser for genetic illnesses. Unfortunately, the club has seen it's last hurrah. Netera Landar recently wrote that the club has closed.

Bundy and her late real-life and Second Life parnter Benethar started the club about four and a half years ago. It held events twice a week on Sundays and Wednesdays until about a year ago when it became Sundays only.

“B&B’s started out as Benethar’s and my baby and over the last 4 ½ years it has grown up," Bundy was quoted as saying, "I’ll miss this place and it’s going to be heartbreaking to pack up the pieces.”

Bundy has plans to reduce her land area and build a new club with a Mayan/Aztec/Incan theme.

Source: Unforgettable Magazine

Cloud Party Shuts Down

On January 24, Cloud Party announced that they had been acquired by Yahoo, and would be closing down on February 21. Daniel Voyager was there, and took a few pictures that he posted on his Flickr and his Facebook page. Regular and infrequent users of the virtual world had gone online to say goodbye.

Earlier, Hamlet Au had commented that Yahoo's acquisition of Cloud Party's team was a strong hint that it would soon be going into the virtual world market (link), "given that Yahoo! is one of the very largest consumer-facing sites on the Web, we could soon see a massive growth in virtual worlds."

Someone posting in Daniel's Flickr comments suggested, "Hopefully, much like Glitch, it will find a way to be reborn! CP had too much promise to simply disappear." If not however, the image just above will be the last moment of "the Cloud" ever shown.

Image credit: Daniel Voyager

Cloud Party Bought By Yahoo, to Close

While Second Life residents delt with the surprise news of Rod Humble resigning as the CEO of Linden Lab, there was an announcement concerning another virtual world: Cloud Party. They announced on their blog that they had been acquired by Yahoo.

We’re excited to announce that the time has come for the Cloud Party team to start our next adventure. We are joining Yahoo! The last two years have been an incredible experience for everyone here. We’ve been continually amazed by your creativity and the worlds you’ve built and shared with us.

Cloud Party will close on February 21st.

The Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education (VWPBE) has annouced because of this, they will no longer be part of their conference. Daniel Voyager speculated this could mean another virtual world could be taking it's place there.

Sources: Daniel Voyager, Prim Perfect 

Bixyl Shuftan

Rocket City Mall to Close

Rocket City is a furry community in Second Life noted for two things. One is it's connection to the Rocket City Furmeet, a Fantasy con that meets every year in Alabama every Memorial Day Weekend. When I first came to the place in 2007, the place had a recreation of the hotel the conventioneers met at. But it was removed in 2009, and the land became much more forest and ground. The second thing is it's avatar mall (or dealer's den as they're sometimes called) named the Vendor Jungle. It is owned by Koterie Itoku, and is located on a large skybox. Before 2009, the shopping mall was accessible from the Rocket City motel lobby, and resembled a higher floor. It currently looks much like the title suggests, in the middle of a jungle. It offers a wide selection of avatars from a number of companies, in addition to accessories, and all products have to conform to the PG rating standards of the community.

However, the mall will not be around for much longer. There was an announcement that at the end of March, the mall and it's vendors will be taken down.

Hi everyone. The time has come to make a difficult decision that we've seen coming, but have been putting off for a few years now. Our Vendor Jungle will be closing at the end of March, 2014. Please, please, please do not get upset at Koterie. She has worked many long and hard hours for years to keep the Vendor Jungle going. The Vendor Jungle would have been closed several years ago if it wasn't for her efforts, and I owe her a lot of gratitude for all the hard work she put into it.

To answer the question you are most likely thinking right now, Rocket City itself (the region) is not going anywhere for now. There was a brief period of time around 2007 when the Vendor Jungle did fund 100% of the costs of our sim, but it didn't last long. The percentage of what its funded has decreased by a huge amount over the years. I'm not sure what the percentage it's at today, because, to be honest, I haven't looked in a few months. I just didn't want to know. (In essence, we have been paying almost the entire cost of the sim out of our pockets for a while anyhow.)

While there is another furry avatar shopping mall, Northstar, it has a number of adult-oriented products that may intimidate some shoppers. Whether another PG rated avatar mall will come to take Rocket City's place remains to be seen.

Bixyl Shuftan

Aria Clash Closes

Aria Clash, a combat system and game which allowed residents to take part in ranged and close combat, found itself without a home this weekend. On Friday October 4, the sim held it's last battle, and afterwards closed its doors.

Kamiko Fazuku, who developed the game, explained her reasons in a letter several paragraphs long. She described "The past few months of my life" as having gone through a number of problems, in addition to having "entered a new phase of my life."

With this in mind, I have decided to suspend Aria Clash indefinitely. Perhaps forever. Perhaps not. I do not know. Indeed I may even work on it from time to time. I will be closing the sim and perhaps locking the group down. I will keep the hud on the marketplace, perhaps I'll even add a few weapon and skill vendors, should you wish to continue to play AC, or even use AC in a sim – it'll be there for you. Coming to this decision has not been easy, but truth be told – Aria Clash could not exist forever. I could not possibly spend the rest of my life maintaining it.

  ... one of the reasons I kept AC up and running was for you. I wanted to give people something fun to do on SL. That was my long-term goal. Money was never an issue for me, I hardly made anything. Control was not an issue, I never ordered or bullied anyone around. I simply wanted a self-sustaining place of fun on SL. A place for me and my friends to relax, and others to enjoy themselves. But alas, it has come time for me to shed AC, and put on a new coat.

Thank you AC Development Team, Each and every one of you made an important difference. The reason that there are no other systems on SL like AC is because the developer teams get to infighting and backstabbing, power-grabbing and betrayal. In AC's lifetime, I've watched about 10 systems get destroyed for these reasons, usually before they were even born. But none of you did that to me, instead you remained strong and faithful, loyal and honorable.  You were the greatest development team I've ever worked with. Perhaps the greatest development team ever! Every one of you possessed the quality most important – Heart.

The final event was 5PM October 4. Residents began to gather at the main store, chat some about their favorite events, and engage in a little sparring. The final event, which the Newser was unable to witness due to technical difficulties, was a "Boss Fight" in which game developer Aasha "Inner Sight" Kohime controled a powerful NPC which the players battled until it was finally defeated.

Aria Clash was written about in SL Newser in Aug 2011. Described as a “feudal Japan/sci-fi crossover” the game offered both "player versus player" and "player versus enemy" combat. Their location allowed players to teleport to locations to battle NPCs for experience and game gold. Since then, the game moved to a new sim, but continued to offer combat, as well as additional weapons and powerups at a store.

Now, the community of players who have enjoyed the game find themselves without a home. As for Aasha, some time ago she started working at the pony-themed store "Clock Out," where she continues to develop and build new items for.



(Click Here if the video fails to load)

Bixyl Shuftan

Goodbye Relay For Life 2013

Friday July 19th was the last chance to see the exhibits at the Relay For Life Track. At 9PM SL time, builds still up would be taken down. And so people were going around to see places while they were still up. Already a few spots were bare from builders clearing out early.

Don't forget that you only have until 9pm slt tonight to clear your parcel in order to avoid having your build returned to your Lost and Found!  It's bittersweet to see it all go away and we are just in awe over the thought and talent that went into this event weekend this year.  Thank you so much for being so cooperative and creative!

While some builders just quietly removed their camps, others decided to go out with a bang. Teams held final dance parties at their plots, or held a "demolition party," making the end of the build an event of itself. This included the Relay Wizards for Spunky's exhibit in RFL Imagine.

I met up with DrFran Babcock and Catboy Qunhua at the plot, and we talked and joked for a while, launching a few fireworks and showing off a few items.

A few more showed up, and it was soon time to "crash" our own party. The exhibit was raised up into the air, the prims were unlinked ...

And then the build was dropped. The result was a shower of parts as the pieces went flying.

After some moments, the prims de-rezzed, and the plot was green once again.

Shortly afterwards, we went over to the New Babbage Exhibit where they were having a farewell party deep in the mine of their camp.

One could get there by navigating the twisty passages, lined with rails for mining carts. Or one could just port in.

We danced to a combination of pop music hits and sci-fi themes such as "Dr Who." 

By this time, just about everything was taken up. There were a few places left such as the sand islands in the RFL Reflections water sim. And by 9PM, just about everything was gone. Ub Yiffu's exhibit at RFL Imagine and Journey was still up, but that was all. I met up with one of the clean-up crew, and he gave me a 2013 shirt as a momento.

And so, the Relay For Life Track had come to an end, the sims due to soon vanish back to the virtual nether for another year. A few teams will have wrap-up parties, with the main Wrap-Up party in August with some awards give out. But for most Relayers, this was the de-facto end of the season, looking ahead to 2014.

"Go Relay!"

Bixyl Shuftan

Arton Tripsa’s Party at Book Island

Book Island recently bade farewell to it's manager, Arton Tripsa. For four years, she helped make the place run. She will be missed, and the people there threw her a party to say farewell. Grease Coakes was there, and got the story on what happened.

Read Grease's article in Events.

Second Life Blogger Lalo Telling Dies

Daniel Voyager reported today that Lalo Telling, a Second Life blogger, passed away. The information came from Ahuva's Blog, which stated he passed away Friday.

Lalo's blog was called appropriately enough "Telling: Like it is." Daniel commented he was a regular reader, and considered his SL History Page a good source of "historical SL locations." Lalo had gotten his start at Luskwood. His Nov. 10 post mentioned he had been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer, with his final post on Nov 22.

The gentleman known here as Lalo Telling departed this existence today at 2pm. He died as he lived – gracefully and peacefully. Emspar thanks you all for all the love and good wishes sent from the virtual world to her and Lalo. She asks that you observe her period of mourning by holding off on direct messages or tweeting to her. She is grateful for your kindness and support and caring but needs a time for grief and reflection.

Lalo – Your memory will be for a blessing.

Bob Komin (BK Linden) Leaves Linden Lab

Both Hamlet Au and Tateru Nino are confirming that Linden Lab's Chief Financial Officer/Chief Operations Officer Bob Komin, known in Second Life as BK Linden, has left the company. Spokesman Peter Gray was quoted as saying "Bob Komin has moved on to pursue a new opportunity," stating the Lab planned to employ a new CFO, "Linden Lab is thankful for his contributions to the company, and we wish him all the best in his next endeavor."

BK Linden's legacy is a mixed one to many. He's credited to making Second Life much more profitable to Linden Lab, but it was partially done by laying off about a third of the staff. He also made the corporate management of the company a more traditional hierarchy, which from the point of view of many, "diminished the democratic 'Tao of Linden' spirit Philip Rosedale instituted." He was the acting CEO between Philip Linden's departure as Interim and the hiring of Rod Humble.

Hamlet Au had a few things to say about BK's legacy. The way he say it, "Bob Komin has helped prepare Linden Lab for a post-Second Life era, in which SL is less and less central to the company's strategy and plans." He had helped create the "very large" cash reserve to finance projects, such as games. "much of Linden Lab's management … likely see Second Life as a legacy MMO which has run its course. With the launch of new development tools, followed soon by a steady withdrawal of company resources, the future of Second Life will soon be almost completely in the hands of it's users."

In another post, Hamlet had a few bits of advice on how Second Life residents could help save the Grid after such a departure, notably multiplayer games inside Second Life, and third party viewers that could be tailored to support such games. However, to those who keep asking the Lab to lower tier, he felt Linden Lab was unlikely to do so without "substantial growth of active users. Maybe several hundred thousand." Hamlet doesn't seem to be a fan of what economists call "dynamic analysis" or "dynamic scoring."

Not many Lindens have had as much impact as Bob Komin. It should be interesting to see whom replaces him.

Image source: Second Life Universe

Bixyl Shuftan

Update on "Wild Things"

A few days ago, Gemma Cleanslate did a report on a place in Second Life based on Maurice Sendak's children's book "Where the Wild Things Are." In the news yesterday, it was announced that Maurice Sendak had passed away.

First writing illustrations for children's books in the late 40's, Sendak was eventually writing his own, in addition to doing the pictures. "Where the Wild Things Are" was published in 1963, and gained a small amount of controversy due to the scary appearances of the monsters. The book was made into a movie a few years ago by Chuck Jones, "Sendak said he urged the director to remember his view that childhood isn't all sweetness and light. And he was happy with the result."

Sendak was 83. He had no problems with being called a children's story writer, "Kids don't know about best sellers. They go for what they enjoy. They aren't star chasers and they don't suck up. It's why I like them."

Sources: Yahoo News, Wikipedia

Bixyl Shuftan

Breaking News: Linden Lab Calls Off Official Second Life Birthday Event

Every year in Second Life, there has been an official anniversary event, known as the SLB, or "Second Life Birthday." This year however, there will be none, On their official blog, Linden Lab annouced they were going to "focus the spotlight on community events" instead.

SL9B is canceled.

Details are still coming in. Stay tuned for further news.

For the article on Daniel Voyager's blog, Click Here.

Firefly RP Sim Closes

There was some sad news for sci-fi fans in Second Life last weekend. It was announced that the "Firefly" roleplay community Washtown at Burnet would be closing down. The place had been running for over five years.

Sim owners Anastascia Christiansen and Jadi Goodliffe announced the decision on March 22, saying the reasons for the closing were financial, they could no longer afford to keep it running.

Sunday was the last day the sim was certain to still be around. I dropped by, and ran into a few people, among then Anastascia, " ...it does deserve to be remembered and it will always be remembered in my heart."

"This sim was started by me and Jadi, and a friend named Deiter. We use to play on a firefly mush together and then it closed. I found SL and dragged them in. At that time there was nothing for Firefly in one area, just a bunch of scattered fans. So we bought a little piece of ground and built a little club and called it the Hoban. Soon people started coming. We bought the big Firefly and more people came to see it."

"It grew from there to be a full sim. We got more people coming here and well we tried to add and add to bring the firefly community together. The RP evolved from that. But it was just a way to connect fans of the show in whatever way they wanted to enjoy the place."

Cobb Compton had this to say of the area, speaking somewhat 'in-character,' "I've only rented here several times Bixyl. I can tell ye, I scanned the map as a noob for days, lookin' for 'home' and that big Firefly down yonder at the spaceport - named the 'Raven' got me out of bein a help area hobo to a straighter line focus."

"I know what you're going through," Makiya Nightfire told one girl, "I haven't been here all that long, but I have had to leave behind a fond gaming area with many players I cared about. At least there's still other areas to play and life can go on if you wish."

Asking about eventful moments, some residents mention a spontaneous striptease show, and a hanging tree made into a gallows. Anastasia added, "We also had the producer of Eureka (a cable TV show) visit us once here in Washtown." Washtown was named after the pilot "Wash" whom died near the end of the movie based on the show, Serenity.

In the RP, residents had just a few days to wrap up plotlines. The final event was the nuclear reactor blowing, and the town having to evacuate. One of the residents passed me a screenshot of the radiation leak and the ship "Raven" taking off with the last evacuees.

Anastasia was sad to see the place go, but happy for the time put in, "Lots of memories and lots of friendships that I am sure we all will hold onto for a very long time."

Sources: New World Notes, The Verse Voice

Bixyl Shuftan

ISTE Island to Close, March 1st

Some sad news for Second Life's educational community.The International Society for Technology in Education will be losing it's ISTE sim in Second Life. February 28 is the last day the sim is due to be up.

Following the end of Linden Lab's discount for non-profit sims, a task force was formed to look into options. They met up on the island on Tuesday Jan 24 to make their decision, and because of the lack of finances, the organization wanting to spend no more than $500 a year, the decision was made to stop payments to the Island.

In his blog, Scott Merrick posted that at it's height, the ISTE held four separate sims in Second Life. It apparently has been very popular with educators on the Grid. The "In a Strange Land" blog read, "ISTE has long been a major player in the SL educational community, and it provided a popular orientation spot for new student and faculty avatars seeking to avoid the freakshows of the public welcome areas."

So what is the ISTE planning? There was talk of moving to a smaller area at the Eduislands 9 sim, as well as discussing moving to the Jokaydia Opensim-based grid. It appears they will be doing both. They are still listening to ideas.

Monday February 27 will be the last planned event on the island, a good-bye party for the island. To get to the island, go to ISTE Island (109, 66, 30).

"Thanks in retrospect for all you have shared with all of us at ISTE Island over the years. Thanks in advance for your sharing over this next month. Keep the Faith, whatever it is for you."- Scott Merrick

Sources: Daniel Voyager, OhVirtualLearning, In a Strange Land,

Bixyl Shuftan

Spaceport Alpha/ISM Sim Closes

Some sad news for space fans. According to Daniel Voyager, the Spaceport Alpha sim, the location of the noted International Space Museum has vanished from the Grid.

Details are still coming in, so stay tuned for more.