Fall Fishing Festival

It is that time of year. Everything happens on the same weekend and you wish you had bilocation. With everything else going on it is also time to sit and fish!

7Seas Fishing sponsors a wonderful three sim fishing event twice a year. Fishiversery in the spring and Fall Fishing Festival in November. All the builders of anything related to fishing, or not, created catches that draws fishers who just sit around and catch, filling up their inventories with goodies that may not get sorted by spring. It was great fun.

Many builders had little islands or shacks or quaint builds in the three sims and there was constant fishing going on. It was fun to park yourself in the middle of a group of servers and catch from many builders at the same time. There was comfortable lounging areas on their builds, or one could rezz a boat and move around the sims.

There were parties and contests going on. On Saturday from 4:00-10:00 PM SL time, 7Seas donated any money for purchase of bait to the “Child's Play“ charity. This charity supplies toys and games to children's hospitals. There was also an auction to benefit the Child's Play. At last look they had collected over $1000+ for the charity.

Seven Shikami and Meissa Thorne, the creators and owners of 7Seas Fishing are to be congratulated for hosting this event. They have the support of all the fishers in SL. Cudos also to the builders on the sims who created wonderful fishing places and really great catches. The last picture shows some of the booty I was able to catch. Thanks!! Can't wait til spring!

Gemma Cleanslate

Cartoon of the Day

By Bixyl Shuftan

Four Years of Reporting

It was four years ago this month that Bixyl Shuftan officially began writing about Second Life as an online reporter. Today, he shares a few thoughts about his experiences.

Read more in Extra.

Events this Week in Second Life from Nov 15th to Nov 21st.

The Grid offers a number of events this week. There are art exhibitions from Tyrehl Byk's LEA Art to the MetaLES. And of course there are the regularly featured club music events, book and poetry readings, and talk shows.

Read more in Events this Week.

Remembering Lohti Aeon/Specialist Jacob D. Borton

Among the names at the Memorial Wall at the Second Life Veterans Tribute last week, there was one of a Second Life resident Lothi Aeon, whom in real life was Army Specialist Jacob D. Borton.

Lothi was mentioned in Second Life Newspaper on Memorial Day Weekend 2009:

Lohti Aeon’s profile description didn’t have much. A few groups, a picture of his virtual self, a single location. A man of few words, his 1st life tab simply stated, “I'm a 19-year-old soldier who spends his spare time on his computer, after balancing out school, family crises, work, and other mumbo-jumbo.”


In real life, he was Specialist Jacob D. Borton of the US Army. Described as a “shy video gamer” in his high school years, he joined the Army and was sent to Iraq. He was described as reserved, but not afraid to come to the aid of someone he felt was being pushed around, “He wouldn’t say much unless there was some injustice being done, and then he would speak up.”

Borton met his end not at the hands of Islamofacist terrorists or their booby traps, but by one of his own comrades. He was one of the five soldiers killed at the combat stress clinic at Camp Liberty on May 11, 2009 by a sergeant sent there whom left the building and returned with a gun. Borton is described as putting himself between the shooter and another man, trying to talk the assailant into putting his gun down. He was 20 years old.

Then, he was placed on another Memorial Wall on the Grid. Later on, he would be placed here as well to be remembered.

Bixyl Shuftan

A Marine's Story

Behind the big story of the Second Life Veterans Tribute last week, there were smaller, more personal stories. Among them was that of Laken Titanium, a US Marine in real-life, whom a number of his platoon met their end in Iraq. Second Life Newser had the fortune to meet up with him, and he had a story to share.

Read Laken's story in People.

Podex Website Gets an Update

The Podex Exchange website has gotten itself an updated look. A display on the website's front page shows the exchange rate of Lindens to international currencies Podex deals in. Plus, it now has a blog for the latest news, such as any changes to the exchange rate or their restoring the option to pay for Lindens by credit card (or the advert stories written by SL Newser).

Here Be Pirates

Remember when Netera wrote on the Morgan Straits Community/RP sims? Well, this Saturday at 11 AM, representatives of the pirates repaid the visit by dropping in at her Coffee Lounge, talking about goings-on in the sim, and what events took place. Once in a while, things would get a little crazy when someone in a fifty foot King Kong avatar would drop in, occasionally tossing a few rocks at the sips.

And in the audience, there was a "pie rat."

Nettera's Coffee Lounge is at Terric (43, 137, 28)

Cartoon of the Day

By Bixyl Shuftan

Foxworth Reunion Party

A few days ago when logging on, I got a message from a longtime friend from my days when the Foxworth sim was my home on the Grid, whom I hadn't seen in-avatar in over a year. She and other friends were with Foxyfurman Kumaki, whom was acting as DJ, so I headed over.

It was a great reunion party with many of my onetime virtual neighbors of the old Foxworth sim, which sadly was closed about a year and a half ago. But we still keep in touch with each other, and a few have gotten in touch with some friends of mine at Sunweaver & Purfection.

It was like old times, and we made a promise to ourselves to get together like this more often.

Bixyl Shuftan

SL Machinima: "Soul Chambers"

Filmed by Chantal Harvey, Ultraviolet Alter's exhibition and music in Burn2

What Happened to "The Wall?"

"The Wall" is missing from the map, nor does landmarks and SURLs to it work. It's website at http://www.thewallsl.com/ is also gone, replaced by something in Japanese kanji.

A faithful reproduction of the Vietnam Veterans' Memorial, "The Wall" in Second Life was constructed by the Meme Science group (memescience.com doesn't work either) with Corwin Chevalier and Evian Argus designing the build, with Bleys Chevalier leading the building effort. It was opened to all residents on Veterans day 2007.

A moving tribute, The Wall listed all 58,000 names of US Veterans whom gave their lives in the Vietnam War, including a few that didn't quite make the list to the real-life one in time for it's construction. Each of the names could be looked up and found, allowing visitors to find them. Also at the wall was a virtual Three Servicemen Statue, by artist Melini Fairymeadow.


"The Wall" was one of the first places I wrote about in Second Life, and to me one of the best examples as to what one could create on the Grid. I last visited it in May, and there was no sign then there was a problem. It is unclear when the decision to take the place down was made, and SL Newser heard of no call for help to raise donations for upkeep.

It's vanishing would truly be a loss for the Grid.

Bixyl Shuftan

SL Machinima: "Monster Mesh"

Pooky Amsterdam and Draxtor Despress did another "Flufee" Mesh film for Halloween, "Monster Mesh." "It is Halloween season and we caught Flufee meshing around in a lab somewhere in the woods ... enough said! (features some heavy guitar-riffing, fiddling and key-pressing by the Simbangers)"

SL Machinima: "2AM" By Chantal Harvey

"Machinima by Chantal Harvey, made at Bryn Oh's Standby installation at IBM sims in SL.
The song "TWO AM" is by Grace McDunnough.
Machinima made by Chantal Harvey. http://mamachinima.eu

Grace McDunnough is an independent artist from Atlanta, GA. Grace began performing live music in the virtual world of Second Life in 2006 where she still performs regularly. An entertainer and modern bard with heart and soul to spare, Grace throws down a variety of acoustic sets with an old guitar, rich lyrics and powerfully raw vocals for a growing international fan base. http://phasinggrace.blogspot.com/

Bryn Oh is a metaverse artist who is meant to exist only online. She is a concept, a pixel character who inhabits the virtual world of Second Life. The idea is to see if a virtual identity can succeed within the real world of flesh and blood artists. http://brynoh.blogspot.com/

This machinima is filmed in Second Life tm - at IBM sims.
Since 2006, IBM has maintained a presence in Second Life which has included the venerable IBM 6 sandbox, a home and training ground for some of the grids most talented builders, both IBMers and non IBMers, and the IBM 2 and IBM 3 Exhibition Sims. Through the operation of these areas, IBM has recognized that community building and social content creation are a key part of the value of virtual worlds. http://exhibitionspace.org/about.cfm


The song TWO AM inspired me to create this machinima, it has been haunting me - till I was invited to the Standby Art installation by Bryn Oh. I want to thank Bryn for letting me film there, and thanks Grace for allowing me to use her song. I hope I did justice to it.
Lyrics of TWO AM were written by Salome Strangelove. "

Chantal Harvey

Veterans Day

To those who served to defend Democracy, thank you from Second Life Newser.

Veterans Day Themed Places and Events in Second Life

Veterans Day is here, and there are a number of places, and events, where one can take a moment to honor those who served, as well as celebrate their achievements. From the Second Life Veterans Tribute to the Fearless Festival, residents are invited to come by and visit, in addition to taking part in events.

Read more in Places.

Fashion Show at Meena

I watched Trill Zapatero as she prepared for her runway show at Meena, her new store. Trill , a well known artist in Second Life is very involved in the peace movement with a special emphasis on RAWA. Some of you have visited her Afghanistan Museum in SL. BoHo HoBo presents Meena, a new shop and a runway show as part of Peacefest 2011. The fashion show will be at 1pm on November the 13th. The shop will appear immediately after the show.

The shop’s name "Meena" is in honour of Meena the founding member of RAWA, the revolutionary association of the women of Afghanistan which has been fighting for human rights, democracy and social justice in Afghanistan since 1971. All proceeds from the sales of both Meena, and BoHo HoBo go to RAWA in order to help fund schools, orphanages, clinics and income generating projects for Afghan people.

Trill says, “The style of clothes is 'Afghanistan Bohemian'. It is a hybrid of traditional Afghan styles and western styles of clothes.” Her clothes are great for the winter in SL. I have several outfits I have bought from her BoHo HoBo store and already spotted several items I am going to buy after the new shop opens.

There will also be a tour of the Afghanistan Museum on Saturday at 8pm slt. You can find all the events for the Peace Festival listed on this web page: http://imaginefestival.wordpress.com/

Trill's show will take place on Sunday at 3pm SL time at this location:

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Four%20Bridges%20Exhibit/31/27/55

Gemma Cleanslate

Syzygy - A Cooperative Virtual Landscape Beckoning Adventure

Should you navigate the seven sim islands of Syzygy, you will be swept away by its creative expression. This virtual landscape was the brainchild of Samantha Glume and through a core group of founding members continues to prosper.

Syzygy's natural landscape and symbiotic structures were carefully considered and slowly created by a small group of founding members with the understanding that it would be a safe and fun haven for those seeking to explore its natural depths and heights. Within their comfortable abodes, the shareholders enjoy their unique perspectives. They are builders, scripters, artists and educators and this is their collective retreat.

"We are supportive, open-minded and fun-loving. We look for people who enjoy sharing this dream, so to speak, who wish to help shape and build this region," explains Elric Anatine, as he sits across from me garbed in dark Victorian. His interests lie in unusual Apothecary, while his darling partner, Lady Pipsqueak Fiddlesticks, dabbles in botany.

We are sitting high on a mountainside, flanked by towering autumn trees in an unoccupied rental. The environment is extremely quiet and fairly lag free. "We are seven sims, and most people own multiple parcels," he stated. "We have three parcel types available and about 16 residents. A few are very private and don't involve themselves much in the community while others volunteer a tremendous amount of time to its upkeep."

Price range is $30US for the smaller share and $100 for the larger share. Discounts are available if multiple owned. Everyone may own a share. Although, they've decided to provide the same shares as rentals, but the shareholders or owners, those willing to pay, have more benefits as they are more likely to participate. The sim has very little turnover and 54% of the land is devoted to protected or common land. They allow residents to terraform, to shape the land how they wish, as long as they don't flatten down the mountains. They're big on mountains there. The sim is both furry and non-human friendly.

"We can supply homes that we have in our repertoire, but most people generally enjoy creating their own space," said Anatine. "Curiously, we do not all live in 'homes' here. Kulta Hannu, our landscaper and groundskeeper, has no home, but shrines and teahouses. Most people's land here is open to the public. Pyxis, which is home to a neko shrine, is very popular." The region provides many types of gardens, everything from lighthearted, dark and some truly entrancing notes Anatine.

The Community Centre is a meeting place and hub. The upstairs is reserved for gallery use for any of the residents. There's also game tables and 7 Seas fishing close by. Monthly events bring and games, bring residents together. Other areas of interest include a Waterway Lookout, Mountain Hangar with a ship rezzer, Samantha's Crashed Ship, Stargate, a hillside meditation area, a lighthouse, and Japanese Garden.

"Oh, and, we provide 900 prims every 6 weeks to anyone who wishes to create an artistic or other type of installation," mentioned Anatine. "This allows people to get creative outside their own space." What's been created has been a steampunk display, an international auto show, and a human-sized hamster run. The community is their haven and escape from stress and real life. They are here to enjoy, be silly or serious and whatever moves them.

Onward we go to the communication tower that is currently being worked on. Sam's latest project will have the dish turning and much to interact with inside. At the lighthouse there are guest-rezzing vehicles, such as a jetskis. Elsewhere, there are helicopters and space ships. One of the hidden gems is the ship hanger nestled inside a mountain. Look for the mountain goat. Check out the photo planetoid, which is a group of photo studios anyone can use. Anatine maintains hundreds of poses, great for bloggers or fashionistas. Then hop on the turbo lift to be transported to the remnants of a crashed ship, which is a newer exhibit and on to the Japanese and neko-inspired lands of groundskeeper, Kulta Hannu.

Syzygy is not to be missed if you’re looking for a quiet established community, which is both artistic and unique.

Netera Landar

Cartoon of the Day

By Bixyl Shuftan

Occupy CNN iReport Island

With the "Occupy" movement still in real-life news, Any1 Gynoid went to CNN's iReoprt Island as an activist/reporter to talk to some of the people who brought the movement to Second Life. Last Thursday at a meeting, she talked to a CNN producer, in addition to a few activists.

Read more in Events.

Burn2: The Skin Burn

Ready for the Skin Burn? Saturday, the 12^th of November, the fun event that began in 2010 at Burn2 will be repeated.

All avatars are invited to don fancy skins or tattoos or what ever you like. The Avatar Render Count must be the lowest that is possible in your viewer. This means no scripts of any sort and no attached prims. You must be your glorious self to get into the burn. There will be Rangers to help you lower your count to the acceptable number and you will be invited to the Skinburn Group. Only then will you be able to get to Silver Seed where the burn will be held.

There will be music and partying beginning at 11:00 AM SL Time' that will go on until 3:00 PM SL time . The burn will take place at 12:30 . Plan to get there early so you can be checked out and get on the sim. If you dont have a skin you want to wear there will be free skins available at the check point. Those who attended last year had a great time so don't miss it.

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Sonyo/36/240/401

Gemma Cleanslate

Events this Week in Second Life from Nov 8th to Nov 14th.

It's a week full of events in Second Life. The Fearless Festival in Oak Ridge is rasing funds and awareness to Post-Tramatic Stress, there's a Jazz & Art Festival, and the Travel to Originilla art exhibition. Plus there's our reguarly scheduled club DJ & live music events, plus talk shows.

Read more in Events this Week

*Updated Nov 10th*

The News Party

A few of the Second Life Newser staff and their friends were at Cova's Cove the weekend for a small news party. That's Gracie Kendal at the end (who's 1000 Avatar Project just completed it's goal of 2000 pictures), joining us for a conga line dance. Gemma Cleanslate thankfully was able to get online after some days without Internet due to a freak snowstorm.

Covadonga Writer, shown here testing a rowboat for any guest who wanted it, was unable to stay for the party. Hopefully next time.

Reader Submitted: Ravenswood Theatre Company presents The Phantom of the Opera

Inspired by the 1910 gothic horror novel by Gaston Leroux, Andrew Lloyd Webber composed his most successful musical sensation to date, The Phantom of the Opera. With hauntingly beautiful music and an aesthetic visual design matching the regal splendor of the original Palais Garnier, Phantom has captivated audiences the world over. Celebrating its 25th anniversary, the talented members of the Ravenswood Theatre Company bring this extraordinary event to Second Life!

A History

The origins for this production can be traced back to two talented and passionate individuals: Sylent Phantom and Alexia de Ravenswood. As long time fans of the original novel and the Webber musical, they were moved to bring elements from both works into Second Life, and to seek the creations of others who had done similar.

One significant discovery was that of the Phantom Rose sim, owned and created by Lannorra Sion. It was here that they discovered the possibilities of theater and live performances in Second Life. After attending a performance at the sim's Opera House, the idea of recreating the musical production seemed quite within the realm of possibility.

In early 2010, Alexia became friends with Saros Eclipse, having met through a furry musicians group. As a gift, Saros purchased a re-creation of the Apollo Theater for Alexia. With this theater space in mind, Sylent and Alexia began to make sets based on the Webber stage production. After meeting Alessandra Eberlain in late 2010, she was invited, along with Jareth Clowes, to join in on the development of the show, helping to expand on existing sets, and creating some new additional set pieces with a new theater in mind, CASTLEWORLD's Grand Opera. Due to real life circumstances that arose, followed by the loss of Saros's sim in February 2011, the production soon came to a halt.

Alexia and Sylent soon found a new home in Jaguar Valley. Through the local community, they met Allen Harrington, who agreed to construct a new theater based on Alexia's designs, dubbing it Ravenswood Hall. With Andrew Lloyd Webber's recent adaptation coming out in the West End, Alexia decided to put together her own production of The Wizard of Oz for her company's debut. With sets built by Kelemvor Nostram, and acting and singing recorded by the cast, the preview performances at the end of March 2011 were met with much success. But Alexia felt a yearning to do more with her theater, and decided to return to the production of Phantom.

The Production

From the moment one enters the auditorium up until the final curtain, The Phantom of the Opera is an amazing spectacle to behold. With contributions to scripting by Marjan Tomba and Tursi Jackson, and calculated use of the HORIZONS Holodeck, the settings for the story transition fluidly from scene to scene. Excellent lighting and special effects complete the package. From the rise of the chandelier during the Overture, to the incredible fireworks display during the Entr’acte, the production offers many impressive and captivating illusions.

Allen Harrington, Kelemvor Nostram, and Kefir Lamont aided in upgrading many of the sets to fit the new Ravenswood Hall, drawing inspiration from the Palais Garnier itself, in addition to various productions of the Webber musical, such as the Las Vegas Spectacular, the original London production, the Polish and Hungarian productions, and even the recent 25th Anniversary concerts. Every scene is elegant and grand in design, luring the audience into its conjured world, from the rooftops of the opera to the Phantom's dark realm below.

Various forms of animation also help to bring the performance to life. Gestures, AOs, HUDs, and pose balls are all utilized to the fullest extent. Notable among these are Sylent Phantom's poses, newly redesigned and animated for the production, as well as two major animated sequences created by Electra Karsin. Combined with months of dedicated rehearsals, the cast are able to effectively express reactions and emotions with practiced movement.

The choice to have the characters portrayed with furry avatars was inspired by two sketches drawn by Sylent Phantom in the 1990's, which had been shared with Alexia in 2001. When asked about the furry cast, Alexia stated, "I find that furries are some of the most heartfelt and deepest people I have met, not to mention some of the wittiest and most talented critters. Doing it with furries adds a sort of tenderness to it that most people who are not animal lovers would not see. I think that animals are in some ways more sensitive than people."

The cast is made up of a collection of friends from the Phantom community and Second Life. Each member successfully conveys the thoughts and feelings of their characters to the audience with surprising ease. Through the cast's efforts, the audience is moved to laugh at their humor, cry for their sorrow, and feel warmth in their hearts for their love and tenderness.

Alexia had originally considered having the cast record their voices as with the Oz production, but felt that the recordings would not be completed by the initial deadline of August 2011. Thus, the current audio is a recording of the 2007 Australian cast, with edits by Alexia to improve quality and tone, and to fit some revisions to certain scenes. It is an excellent supplement to the production, blending well with the cast and sets to create a truly authentic theater experience.

The Phantom of the Opera is a truly unique production, redefining live theater with an experience that will amaze and astound you. Brought to you by the Ravenswood Theatre Company, Phantom is a musical masterpiece that should not be missed! Seating for the performance is limited, so please contact Alexia de Ravenswood (née Alexiel Czazckes) for reservations, or join the Ravenswood Theatricals Fans group for information on upcoming performances.

Performance Date: November 16th, 2011 at 6:30pm SL Time
Running Time: 2 hours 30 minutes with a 15 minute intermission

Alessandra Eberlain

Alessandra Eberlain is a live musician in Second Life, "with a repertoire consisting of pop ballads, works from Broadway and the West End, music from a variety of major motion pictures, including Disney and other animated feature films, as well as Japanese songs from various anime and video games."

Tamarillo Island Maze

Xymbers Slade recently found himself under assault by zombies ... in a maze game on the Grid. At the maze in Tamarillo Island, he found a challenge that pits the player against zombies, robots, and other emimies. How did he do? Read the story.

More on the maze in Design.

Guy Fawkes Day

In the Tardis sim, there was a Guy Fawkes party, one that presumably started in early evening in Britian. But it was continuing at 6 SL time, when I came across it. There was a small plushie Guy Fawkes in front of the bonfire, and fireworks going off over London Bridge.

To the south, there was a Guy Fawkes exhibit, with displays showing how the Gunpowder plot was discovered, and Guy Fawkes tortured and then hung, "no reason for gunpowder treason."


It wasn't just in Tardis that there was some fun that night. At Hyde Park in the London sims, there was a large celebration, filled with live music bands, and firework shows.

To those unfamiliar with the holiday, Guy Fawkes was in charge of guarding the gunpowder underneath the English Parliament in a plot to blow it up. The plot was discovered, and Guy Fawkes was caught, tortured, and later executed. Upon hearing of the foiled "Gunpowder Plot," people celebrated it's failure by lighting bonfires. Later on came further traditions, such as fireworks and Guy Fawkes in effugy (with or without fireworks). At one time children would go around collecting money to by materials for their Guy Fawkes dummy, asking for "A penny for the Guy."

Source: London Entertainment, Wikipedia

Bixyl Shuftan

Builders Brewery Recovering from Mass Ejection

Last month, the popular Builder's Brewery group found almost all of it's members ejected. On October 19th, their membership plummeted from almost 17,000 members, to just 400.

We're not exactly sure what exactly caused it, and we are not going to point fingers, as that would be useless. But it seemed to have started during Linden Lab's critical server software upgrade that day, along with rolling restarts that came with no warning countdown even. There was tremendous issues across the grid, including inability to log in, no teleporting, groups and friends not loading, overwhelming lag even in an empty full sim (causing us to cancel at least two classes that day). Our two sims were greatly affected during this time, which apparently and sadly, "may" have caused our group bot to get stuck in constant eject mode. We may never know the exact reason, but it was a combination that created the "perfect storm" where everything all comes together at the wrong time. Steps have been taken to prevent this tragedy from ever happening again.

A few weeks later, the group still hasn't recovered from the crash, still only a fraction of their onetime numbers, and has continued to get the word out for people to rejoin, "copy and paste the following link in your local chat window to pull up the group join window -
secondlife:///app/group/04f595b0-cdc8-97f0-e710-9564824c03b2/about/ ... We want to thank everyone for your incredible outpouring of support and love we have received during this time. We hope to recover from this loss swiftly with your help and patience."

Builder's Brewery is at Builders Brewery, (110, 157, 23)

The Builders Brewery Members are some of SL's finest creators, as well as new creators, who take great pride in their work, and strive for excellence in ALL they do. Our goals are to help improve the visual and structural quality of SL, by encouraging intelligent design, builds & innovations, through education, sharing & support. Events & classes held regularly. Learning & helping one another is key.

Other articles: Prim Perfect

Cartoon of the Day: Guy Fawkes Day

"Nothing like things that go Boom! for a holiday."

By Bixyl Shuftan

SL Machinima: "Peatonville's Smooth Criminal"

A funny Machinima of Madpea's Peatonville Mystery game, by Carton Bristol.

Vampire "Resident Hosted Event" on the Forums

It seems Halloween wasn't the last we've seen of vampires in Second Life. This week when logging in, the screen mentioned a vampire discussion thread, plus a resident-hosted event from November 7 to the 8th which offered a chance for others to learn a little more about these creatures of the night on the Grid.

Curious about vampires? You can learn more about Second Life’s vampire community in a special Resident-hosted event, held Monday, Nov. 7 and Tuesday, Nov. 8 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (Pacific) in the official Vampire Forums.

Your event hosts for this special event are Second Life Residents with experience in vampire or dark-themed communities and/or blogs. Plus, check the Forums starting Nov. 2 to read interviews with these hosts as they answer questions and share their real feelings on a variety of topics, including their struggle with stereotypes and the sources for their creative inspirations. You might even read a bit about what some of the hosts really think about the “Twilight” series and the current rise in popularity of vampires in popular culture.

As Lilah Munster's picture shows, they're certainly not without a sense of humor.

Protestors at Linden Meeting

I was told about an open meeting with Andrew and Simon Linden, at 4 SL time. The sign there read that it was about "physics and simulator issues, no whining."

But what got the attention of the person whom sent the aynominous tip were the protestors, "Oh, Em, Gee, it's like Occupy Wall Street." While the person's claim of close to a hundred was inflated, shown here in the sim next door, it was still sizeable.

Besides the "No whining" statement, there were also comments the Lindens were only interested in talking to sim owners. This left some others feeling irritable, feeling you didn't need to own a sim to have valid concerns.

*Update* One of those attending wrote a little on the meeting Here.

Meeroo Auctions

Xymbers Slade, having been doing some research on the popular Meeroos virtual pets, recently took a look at an auction house. Here, he describes his observations of the place. Plus, he interviewed an auctioneer, whom had a few things to say about what makes a Meeroo fetch a high price, and some of the benefits of dealing in the market.

Read the story in Design.

Avatar Games’ Season Ends This Sunday

For a few months each Monday at 4SL time on the LEA3 sim, the “Avatar Games” have been taking place, with it’s surreal obstacle course and lively play-by-play from commentators Honour McMillan and Crap Mariner. Next week, the games occur on Sunday, for their season finale.

Bryn Oh, the “Platform Bastard” and builder of the obstacle course, was unsure if the games would go on, “the LEA group has to decide if they want to use the sim for the games or to create something new. Also I would have to make a new course which is kind of time consuming.” Bryn thanked Galea Yates and Taralyn Gravois for helping to organize the contestants, Sasun Steinbeck for helping out with the scripts, and Crap Mariner and Honour McMillan “for very entertaining commentary which had the audience laughing much of the time. They were a funny combo.”

Bryn gave a list of the fastest runners, “Some of them were just fast, while others were fortunate enough to be shot in the air then shot in the arse propelling them almost to the finish line.” ZoZo Raven was listed as the fastest runner at one minute and six seconds. Of the worst runners, Bryn commented, “They were often the most outlandishly dressed and fun ones.” Accord Carling took the longest to complete the course at twelve minutes, fifty-nine seconds.

Bryn had yet to decide on a prize for this final game, open to any donations. She also suggested if it was okay with the contestants, there would likely be a private party to celebrate the end of a successful season.

The games will be on Sunday, Nov 6, 2PM SL time at LEA3 (238, 125, 30)

Source: Bryn Oh’s Blog

Bixyl Shuftan

Scenes of Halloween Weekend

Last weekend had a number of Halloween parties across the Grid. I couldn't attend them all, but I went to a few. Here's a few screenshots of the fun.

See the pictures in People.

Mankind Tracer to Perform at 60 Sim Concert

This Sunday, noted Second Life musician Mandkind Tracer will be making music across the Grid in what is billed as a sixty-sim concert.

"Acclaimed SL musician Mankind Tracer will be playing 60 sims simultaneously on Nov. 6 in what is billed as "the largest ever multi-sim live concert event in Second Life's history." Fifty percent of proceeds at the event, held noon-2 p.m. (Pacific), will be donated to help research for Lou Gehrig's Disease. More info: http://on.fb.me/ru7YM9 "

The Destination Guide lists the main venue at Good Day Sunshine (145, 57, 21)

Cartoon of the Day: The Occupy Movement

Linden Lab Responds to "Bring Back Last Name Options!" JIRA

For some time, there's been a JIRA aimed at amending Linden Labs' decision to change the way new accounts are created from first and last names to a name that on Viewer 1-based viewers appears to have the surname "Resident," with an option for a display name. The new system is disliked by many, and some see it as creating a division between newer and older denziens on the Grid.

Although there were stories of individual Lindens talking about this behind the scenes, there has been no official response, until now, when ProductTeam Linden finally made a post in the JIRA.

It's clear there is a lot of interest in SVC-7125. The intent was for users to specify their last name using the Display Names feature found inusers' profiles, which most Viewers now support. For those that haven't used Display Names yet, you can also set them on the web: https://my.secondlife.com/settings/profile.

Know that we hear you and value your passion and that we are currently reviewing some of the decisions that were made with the username /Display Names implementation.

While a canned response that was quickly answered, "We know that was the idea, but it DOESN'T WORK for the things about which we're complaining ... ," this shows it's finally gotten through to the Lab that they, or rather the "Resident"s, have a problem. Hamlet Au predicted Linden Lab would soon give those under the new naming system the option for a surname. No doubt they're hoping for this or something close to it.

Other articles: New World Notes, Daniel Voyager

Bixyl Shuftan.

Xymber Slade's Horoscopes for November

Our tarot reader Xymbers Slade has his November horoscopes up. What does the future fortell? Xymbers offers a few answers.

Read Xymbers Fortunes in Extra.

Reader Submitted: Goodbye Google-Plus

I have deleted my google plus profile. If you were following me there, I've just poofed.

Google sold it as a new Social Media setup. And the circles idea was really really good. And I had hoped that Google would actually do things right for once instead of falling flat on its billion dollar face, as they did with Buzz. And as they did with Lively. And Wave. Lather rinse repeat.

But it is NOT a social media center to compete with Facebook. That is not Google's aim at all. Google wants to become the world's only database for... reputation. They want to be able to sell people the knowledge that if a person says they are X, that they are X. They want to be able to tell advertisers that you make Y amount of money, own a home in Z, and are looking for a new BMW, just like Facebook does. But unlike facebook, they will allow any swinging d*** anywhere in the country to verify you are who you say you are, just by checking with them (and presumably paying a small fee).

Now what the f*** does this have to do with Social interaction? I don't need Google to verify a person's identity -- I already know who is who. I don't need google removing everyone's fandom name -- 80% of you I ONLY KNOW via your nethandles and fandom pseudonyms. So by throwing all my friends out and making it not a social network, what possible use do I have for the thing?

They said they would start allowing some screen names, so I stuck around. But they just canned a friend for having "a silly name" one time too many, especially after stating they would stop doing it. If my admission to the cool club of Google Plus depends on some teenager in California snickering at the name or not, then f*** them and f*** Google. I don't have any objection giving my RL name to Google to create the account. But there's no way they can prove I'm telling the truth to begin with. So what's the harm in allowing us to have different nicknames for the different circles?

Google, you have now done something I thought only one company in the world could accomplish -- you've pulled a Linden. I would say congrats, but it's truly not something to be proud of. And it's very difficult to recapture the old excitement and good will of the folks after they are gone. Once gone, they are gone, and they'll be very descriptive to everyone else on the web about how quickly you went from internet darling to Darth Vader so everyone they know can stay as far away from you as possible.

Linden -- (verb); netglish. From the Internet group called Second Life. To take an unbeatable winner of a product and manage it so badly that it fails.

Shockwave Yareach

Events this Week in Second Life from Nov 1st. to Nov 6th.

Halloween is behind us, but that doesn't mean the fun is gone until Thanksgiving. From Guy Fawkes Day events to the Jazz & Art Festival to the Season Finale of the Avatar Games, there is much to see and do. And of course our weekly events from live music & DJ events at clubs, to talk shows, and more.

Read more in our new section: Events this week.

Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead)

Today is the Mexican holiday Día de los Muertos, or "The Day of the Dead. At first glance this holiday, celebrated in the US by some Mexican-Americans, may seem like a continuation of Halloween. But it isn't about pranks and scariness, but about remembering late family and friends. Grey Lupindo takes a look at how the Instituto Espanol describes the celebrations.

Read more in Events.