SL Video: "Bellisseria 7th Anniversary "

 

 (click here if the video does not play)

 

 From Sceneris on April 13, "Second Life Bellisseria 7th Anniversary"

 

RFL in SL Declared 7th Most Sucessful US Event in 2022

 

 

 A few days ago in the ACS Second Life channel on Discord, Stingray Raymaker posted the following:

queues the trumpet fanfare to announce that our Relayers have accomplished another amazing g feat....
Congratulations to everyone who participated in the 2022 Relay For Life of Second Life. Our event ranked 7th in fundraising among all Relay events in the United States!  This is now 3 years in a row that we are ranked in the top 10 among 2500+ other Relay events!!

 

Even with the Pandemic behind us, the Relay for Life in Second Life volunteers are still a top fundraising force compared to real-life fundraisers.  

The kickoff is on Saturday February 18.

RFL Announcement: Sunbeamer RFL 7th Annual Air Show And Fly-In

When: Sat, April 25, 8am – 4pm

Where: Farshore Field on Sunlight Bay 160/40/22

The Sunbeamers team welcomes you to the 7th Annual Sunbeamer RFL Air Show Fly-in on the 25th of April between the hours of 8AM to 4PM SLT. There will be planes on display with information about them. Some Pilots will be on hand to give rides and flight demonstrations or you can just BYOAP [Bring Your Own Air Plane] and stunt around yourself. During the show there will be a number of activities to participate in. Shot from a cannon to the moon with a parachute, a dunk tank with a German 88 instead of beanbags and more. 

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Sunlight%20Bay/160/40/22

Commentary: Ten Years of Writing About Second Life

It was ten years ago this month that I officially got started in virtual journalism with my joining the staff of JamesT Juno and Dana Vanmoer's Second Life Newspaper. With this milestone, yours truly has been looking back at what has happened, with my virtual career here, personally with my friends, and of course this virtual world.

Read the story in Extra.

Firestorm's Seventh Anniversary Gift Fire Mule

It was September 3, 2010 that Team Phoenix, later renamed Team Firestorm, was formed. They had come about as the result of the "Emeraldgate" controversy, which soon led to the removal of the Emerald Viewer. On Saturday September 9, Team Firestorm had their anniversary party. Besides two live music performers, there was also a gift available: a rideable pet mule, in Firestorm's colors.

As with nearly every major event we hold we try to arrange a gift for all Second Life residents and this year will be no exception! ABC – AWESOME BREED CREATIONS have very generously created an exclusive collectible pet mule with an amazing one of a kind coat and eye! I like to think the Mule represents our strength and perhaps our stubbornness! WOW it’s gorgeous! Thank you so much ABC!

I headed to Firestorm Dow Forest (224/232/3902), and found the avatar giver in the size and shape of the mule. I clicked on it to get the package, went to the Ivory Tower to rezz it, and got a box. Opening it, I got the mule and was able to rezz it on the ground and ride it. I was able to name it, and my friend with me was able to click to get saddle and reins.The mule was listed at 143 days old, and was perfectly rideable. It didn't need food or water, but it was not breedable,

Unfortunately, Chilly the firekitty at the Newser office has no mule companion. By accident, I tried rezzing him in a spot where only the landowner could, and not only did the horse fail to rezz, it failed to appear in my inventory. When going back to the mule rezzer, it wouldn't give me another. So be careful where you take the mule from you inventory.

It is unclear how long the anniversary gift will be available. So go get a mule while you can.

Update: I later found the mule in my inventory after logging back on.

Bixyl Shuftan

Seven Years Later

It was seven years ago on June 5, 2010 in which the old leading newsletter of Second Life closed down, and what would become today's was born. For two and a half years, I had been a part of JamesT Juno's and Dana Vanmoer's Second Life Newspaper which had reported the goings on of the virtual world from it's glory days when it was the darling of the tech media, touted as "Internet 2.0," to when the attention of outside media was fading as it turned to other things such as Facebook and Linden Lab was seen less as the technical wizards whom were happy to serve the residents and more like a Dilbertesque corporation making clumsy decisions. But real life events would catch up to James and Dana, and they announced they would be leaving the virtual world and closing the Second Life Newspaper. Four of us, Gemma Cleanslate, Grey Lupindo, Shellie Sands, and myself, Bixyl Shuftan, made the decision to keep writing under a new newsletter, the Second Life Newser.

I wasn't sure what lay ahead for us. Although we were experienced news reporters of the virtual world, as a publication we were brand new and without sponsors. As I feared, most of the thousands of readers per day James and Dana had been getting did not follow over to us, and in our first days we had only a handful people reading our stories. But the sponsors came. Ranchan Weidman generously provided us with land and an office for free and has continued to do so. Book Island also gave us a small shop area. Cash sponsors would eventually come, starting with Jacek Shuftan (who called himself my "Polish cousin") and his Podex Exchange who loyaly continued his support for years until changes in Linden Labs' terms of service forced him to close. And it didn't take long for serious news stories to show up. Just a week after our opening, Linden Lab announced they were laying off a third of their staff, including some popular Lindens. Soon after came other stories such as the resignation of Linden Lab's CEO, the "Emeraldgate" controversy that would be the end of the first popular third party viewer, the end of the Teen Grid, and more. And so the readers began coming back. While we never did get the numbers James and Dana once had, once again we were Second Life's leading news publication.

Over the years, we have reported much about the virtual world of Second Life, it's sims, it's events, it's owners at Linden Lab, and of course it's people. Many sims have vanished from the Grid, such as the Vietnam Wall, the dAliez September 11 Memorial, Greenies Home, and numerous others. But others have appeared, such as Townies which redecorates itself for every holiday, the 23 sims ot the Wild West Roleplay lands, Yosemite, Calas Galadhon Park, Creations Park, and others. Some experiences we found would last just a few years, such as the Aria-Class combat roleplay. We would say goodbye to shows such as "Tonight Live" and "The 1st Question." Many people would depart Second Life for other pastures over time. Sadly, some such as Ladyslipper Constantine, Shady Fox, Selene Spellhunter, Ever Dreamscape, Delinda Dyrssen would pass away, their deaths mourned by fellow residents.

Other changes included the introduction of mesh building, and more recently Bento for avatars. Mesh was somewhat slow to catch on as there were problems with clothing and older viewers had problems seeing it. But eventually it would get more and more use. Linden Lab would also release a tablet viewer, SL Go, that was developed  by another company. But later on the company would be acquired and the service would shut down. But others would step in and offer a similar tablet and browser viewer called "Bright Canopy." "Text viewers" for simple messaging but offering no visual scenery have also been developed. Some other resident-made developments included various inworld games, a new type of avatar: the MLP pony,

CEO Rod Humble would come and go, and CEO Ebbe Altberg would step in. Linden Lab would also make changes in what avatars were available for newcomers, as well as changes in the starting area for newcomers. Linden Lab would increase the number of groups residents could join, especially for Premium accounts. It would also lower the startup fee for getting a sim, and made a limited time offer to reduce tier, for a fee. But Linden Lab would make some controversial moves over time, such as ordering third-party currency exchangers to shut down, ending the discount for educational and nonprofit sims for a time, the Content Creator Terms of Service controversy, and others. The Lab would distance itself from the residents for a few years, ending events in which they interacted with them, and withdrawing support for the Second Life Birthday celebrations and ending the real-world Second Life Community Convention. In the case of "The Birthday," a group of volunteers would take over and sponsors would pay for the sims involved for the annual event. But more recently, the Lindens have been bringing back the events in which some of them interact with the residents. Linden Lab would also offer a few games to residents, such as "The Cornfield," "Horizons," and "Paleoquest."

For a time, Linden Lab would try a strategy of "diversification" by developing or buying other products, such as "Blocksworld" and "Patterns." But aside from Blocksworld, they didn't make much money, so the Lab gave them up. Soon after, Linden Lab announced it was developing a "next generation virtual world." Eventually given the name "Sansar," there has been much speculation about what the new world will be like and how successful it will be.

Although the mainstream media had largely left Second Life behind, there were a few occasions in which they took a look, two examples being Oprah Winfrey's "Life 2.0," and when it was featured on the Dr. Phil Show. There have been other examples of real life and Second Life interacting, such as educational lectures in the scilands, the "Arab Spring" in Egyptian sims, space shuttle launches watched at the International Space Museum and other places, the US Presidential Election, memorials for terrorist incidents in the Paris 1900 sims, and of course charities such as Homes For Our Troops, Feed a Smile, Team Fox, Diabetes UK, and of course the Relay for Life in Second Life.

The Newser has covered all this, and more. We've also taken on more writers in our team. Sadly, we've had to say goodbye to most over time, including Shellie Sands and Grey Lupindo as real lives needed more of their attention. We've also had to say goodbye to old friends such as Podex and for a time Steelhead, whom sponsored the paper for a time. But we are happy to have the support of Lorena Chung Estates and Cynthia Farshore's Farshore Radio whom have stepped in to sponsor the paper, and of course Ranchan Weidman whom has provided us with our office since almost the beginning.

So what does the future hold? Some more people have been talking to us about possible sponsorships. And we hope to have additional writers soon. While we hear the occasional "Second Life is doomed" comment, unless there's some economic calamity or major earthquake that takes out Linden Lab's servers, Second Life should be around for years to come. And we'll be around to cover it.

Many thanks to our sponsors, the Sunweaver Estates where we've made our home for the past seven years, and of course you the readers.

Bixyl Shuftan
Editor
Second Life Newser

Join The Second Life Newser For A Party! - Celebrating Seven Years

Our seventh anniversary is almost here. And it's time to celebrate with a party with our friends you the readers. On Saturday at 12:30PM, we'll be starting a party at the Happy Vixen beach club. So come on over and have fun with the Newser staff. We'd be happy to meet you. There will be a 1000L prize on the board for someone to win. So come on over.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Purrfection%20Estates/236/219/24

Announcement: 7th Annual Holidays Of Hope Ball

Travel Home For the Holidays to the 7th Annual Holidays Of Hope Ball

Sunday Dec 11, 2016  2 - 6 pm SLT

The Holidays Of Hope Gala marks the final event of the calendar year for Relay For Life.

This year the Gala will held in the SL Christmas Expo Train Station!
Sponsored  by T1Radio w/Madelyn Majestic and AviChoice Favorite DJ Trader Whiplash.

Please join us for the Holidays Of Hope Gala
Sunday December 11th, 2 - 4 pm

Holiday Formal Attire Requested

Ornament (35, 127, 4006)

Happy Rezzday Brandi

Among furred avatars, in a population full of foxes, wolves, felines, and bunnies, the small number of mice tend to stand out. But Brandi Streusel is more than just a cute face with round ears. She has a talent for designing clothes, and her warm personality has made her a welcome sight in the Sunweaver/Angels community. On Sunday, a rezzday party was held in her honor. And so a few pictures of the event were taken.

See the pictures in Events.

Bay City's Seventh Anniversary

Sunday May 17 was the day Bay City, Second Life's largest city area and the community behind it, held it's seventh anniversary celebration. The event was marked by several performers and the largest annual parade in the virtual world. Bixyl Shuftan was there, whom took a number of pictures.

See more in Events.

Press Release: Bay City Celebrates Its Seventh Anniversary

BAY CITY, SL (3 May, 2015) - Bay City, the first project of the "Linden Department of Public Works," is entering it's 7th year as part of Second Life. To Celebrate, Residents and friends of the popular mainland community will host their annual parade as well as a live music event.

Anniversary participants are asked to gather at noon SLT/PDT on Sunday, the 17th of May, to lineup for the parade at the bandshell in Bay City - Harwich. The parade will make its way down Route 66 beginning at 12:30 p.m. SLT/PDT, concluding at the Bay City Fairgrounds in the North Channel region.

A live concert will kick off at 1:30 p.m. SLT/PDT at the Bay City Fairgrounds, featuring a trio of live acts as well as DJ Marx Dudek providing music leading into the event.

All Residents of the Second Life grid are welcomed to participate. Celebration goods are available at the Bay City Community Center, in the Daley Bay region, for those who wish to be a part of the parade, and ample viewing area is provided. The music event is also open to all who desire to attend -- not only Residents of Bay City

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

For more information, contact: Marianne McCann

Note, talking to Marianne, she told the Newser, "I do hope folks come out and take part, especially in the parade. It's always great fun for the marchers and the viewers of the parade."

Commentary: Seven Years of Virtual Journalism

"Every resident in Second Life has a story." That's what I've remarked about the residents here. But some stories have a bit of a false start and the real tale begins a little later. That was the case with me, and it was seven years ago this month that the first part of my virtual journey ended as I became the man, or fox, most everyone in Second Life knows me to be.

Read more in People.

Grease Coakes Turns Seven

Birthdays can mean slightly different things. To some, they just want a low key celebration with a few friends. Others go all out. On his seventh Second Life birthday (or rezzday), Grease Coakes was determined to make to most of it, and took the day just to relax at a few parties with friends.

Read about Grease's adventures in Extra.