Events This Week at the Sunweaver and Montecito Bay Clubs, Furry Fashion, and Club Scorn

 

Here's what's going on at the Sunweaver, Montecito Bay, and Scorn clubs.

Club Cutlass: 60's Night, TBA

Happy Vixen: DJ Malit, DJ Arooo, DJ Charlee, TBA, DJ Scratch, DJ Squeaks, DJ Khyra

Club Zero Gravity: TBA

Bouncing Bunny Beach Club: TBA

Xanadu: DJ Jesse 

Club Squeaks: DJ Squeaks

 

Montecito Bay:  CAYA, After Dark

Club Scorn: DJ Charlee, Morning Show, Breakfast Show, DJ Aldi, DJ Poison, DJ Charlee, DJ Malit, DJ Gwen

 

Furry Fashion:  Goth, Blue & Purple, Hybrids, Beach, Ferals

 

Read the schedules in SL Clubbin'

 

Alexa Linden Leaving Linden Lab

 

The Lindens don't usually announce when someone is leaving Linden Lab these days. But someone who's been a reliable source informed the Newser that Alexa Linden has been laid off by Linden Lab. She gave the news on her Twitter/X account on October 9.

 

Thank you all for the last 17 years! I guess I'm gone! I love you all! (broken heart picture)

Her post was followed by numerous well-wishers, expressing sadness, and some confusion. "What are LL thinking?" "WTF?" "This might legit be one of their worst moves yet." "That makes no sense." To add to the confusion, her message briefly disappeared, leaving new readers to see only responses. She would add that other Lindens had been dismissed, and say, "I guess I cared too much and was too vocal. I don't regret standing up for the product, or the residents."

Alexa Linden joined the Lab in 2009, and has been in a number of events, such as the old "Kiss A Linden," "Bid the Lindens Bald," a Madpea charity event to raise money for a school in Kenya, and others. She's also been credited as coming up with the idea of "Dog Food Day," which was to encourage Lindens to use Second Life more. 

A few days later, Alexa would leave this message:

Thank you all for your kind thoughts, comments, and well-wishes. Seventeen years is indeed a long time, and you're the reason I got up each day and logged in. Second Life was my world for twenty years, providing me with an incredible group of coworkers I now consider family. It introduced me to my husband and filled my days with laughter from your hilarious pumpkin JIRA jokes to the support in fixing my neckline or scripts. I have friends who have always been here for me. Every day was a new adventure.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you!

Bless you Whirly, Jess, & Kyle

Know a company looking for a project manager with my background & passion? I'd love to explore the opportunity.

Be excellent to each other.

You are Second Life

Wherever you go from here, Alexa, we wish you well. 

Bixyl Shuftan

Press Release: TEAM DIABETES OF SL TO RETURN FOR A NINTH SEASON

 

DATE: OCTOBER 10, 2024

WEBSITE: http://www.teamdiabetessl.org

SLURL:http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Plush%20Nonprofit%20Commons/79/78/23

We are pleased to announce the ninth season of Team Diabetes of Second Life! Team Diabetes of Second Life is an official and authorized team of The American Diabetes Association. The mission of Team Diabetes of Second Life is to raise awareness, tolerance, and funds for diabetes in the virtual world of Second Life. According to the World Health Organization (2016): 422 million adults in the world have diabetes and 1.5 million deaths are directly attributed to diabetes each year.

The official Team Diabetes of Second Life’s season will take place from October 2024 to December 2024 , with the following events scheduled to take place:

9th Annual Scare Me Silly Event – October 11 to 31, 2024

9th Annual Red Hunt – November 1 to 30, 2024
1st Annual Art Bazaar - November 14 to 21, 2024

World Diabetes Party – November 14, 2024

9th Annual Winter Showcase & Winter Art Show – December 6 to 13, 2020

About The American Diabetes Association:

The American Diabetes Association’s mission is to prevent and cure diabetes and to improve the lives of all people affected by diabetes. The American Diabetes Association leads the fight against the deadly consequences of diabetes and fights for those affected by diabetes by funding research to prevent, cure, and manage diabetes.

The American Diabetes Association delivers services to hundreds of communities and provides objective and credible information and resources about diabetes.

Free resources are available in English and Spanish at http://www.diabetes.org and 1-800-DIABETES (1-800-342-2382).

For More Information:

Team Diabetes of Second Life’s American Diabetes Association Page:

http://main.diabetes.org/site/TR?px=11304578&pg=personal&fr_id=13951

Team Diabetes of Second Life’s Website:

www.teamdiabetessl.org

 

 

Cartoon of The Day: Ghost Dog

 

 

 Taken at the Shop and Hop. One lady had a ghost pet with her, presumably a dog. While there is the scare factor with any burglars, there is one other advantage to having one that comes to mind.

By Bixyl Shuftan

 

Announcement: Second Friends for Life Party Tomorrow, Sunday October 13

 

Event: Friends Party by Second Friends for Life (SFFL)
Dress Code: Casual, G-rated attire
Audience: Open to all; newcomers encouraged to join  
Free gifts, prizes, and refreshments available. Join us for a fun day of music and friendship!
==================================
Schedule:  
10:00 AM: DJ Zach (80s/90s & Hip-Hop)  

11:00 AM: WINTER (Live Acoustic Rock)  

2:00 PM: DJ Trick Rembrandt (Indie Rock)  

3:00 PM: Maximillion Kleene (Live Acoustic ROCK/POP)  

6:00 PM: DJ Roijito Feliz  (Music Mix)

7:00 PM: Agatha Nowles (POP & Yacht Rock)

 

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Bellisseria%20Fairgrounds/170/238/24

Announcement: Pink Ribbon Ball Tomorrow, Sunday October 13

 

You are cordially invited to attend the Annual Pink Ribbon Ball for Strides!

Shopping begins Oct 11th
SL merchants have donated amazing items for some shopping pleasure!

Pink Ribbon Ball Oct 13th 2pm slt
Formal attire; any era

Upon arrival, please feel free to pick up resource information from ACS about breast cancer early detection and support.

 

Internet Archive "Wayback Machine" Hacked

 

For users of the Internet Archive, also called the "Wayback Machine," Thursday October 10 was an unpleasant surprise when users discovered the site was offline.  What happened was the website was hacked. When people logged on, instead of the normal page, they saw this message:

Have you ever felt like the Internet Archive runs on sticks and is constantly on the verge of suffering a catastrophic security breach? It just happened. See 31 million of you on HIBP!

 

Bleeping Computer would say, "The text 'HIBP' refers to the Have I Been Pwned data breach notification service created by Troy Hunt, with whom threat actors commonly share stolen data to be added to the service."

 

The nature of the hack seems to be in dispute. Some are calling it a Directed Denial of Service attack. Others are calling it a data breach that "stole a user authentication database containing 31 million unique records."

 

Forbes quoted a cybersecurity expert as saying, "“Hacking the past is usually technically impossible but this data breach is the closest we may ever come to it. ... The stolen dataset includes personal information but at least the stolen passwords are encrypted."

 

Forbes would also say "While the identity behind the data breach exposing 31 million users remains unclear, the pro-Palestinian hacktivist group Black Meta has claimed responsibility for the DDoS attacks that took down The Internet Archive." 

Sources: Forbes, Bleeping Computer.com, Cyber News  

Bixyl Shuftan

This Saturday at The Science Circle

 

 Saturday October 12

    ~*~

 

    At 10 AM PST   

    Nobel Prizes in Science 2024 Roundup

    Organized by Stephen Gasior

    https://www.sciencecircle.org/event/2024-nobel-prizes/

    At the Auditorium

      

    ~*~

 

    

    NOTE: Non-members required to register once

    IM Jes Cobalt or Nymf Hathaway

╚══════════════════════════════ The Science Circle (72,129,30) ═╝

Linden Lab Partially Reverses Gacha Ban, New Gachas Must Not Be Transferable

 

Linden Lab is changing it's policy on gachas. They're allowed again, but ...

Many residents will remember gachas, the popular items that were sold on machines dispensing one of a number of items at random and people buying them up, often to get rare items that could be traded or sold for quite a bit of cash. There were events based around them such as the twice a year Gacha Guild, and there were groups dedicated to trading and selling gachas. But as popular as they were, they also had plenty of critics, people complaining they had an addictive nature. And in August 2021, to the delight of their critics and to the shock and dismay of their fans, Linden Lab announced they were banning gachas "due to a changing regulatory climate."

On Tuesday October 10, Linden Lab announced they had updated their policy, saying they were lifting the "general prohibition" on them. But, there was a catch. People can set up gacha machines that gave out items like they did before the ban, BUT, unlike the goods before the ban, they can not be transferable. New gacha items can not be resold. 

In 2021, we implemented a general prohibition on gachas to align with global regulatory concerns. Starting October 7, 2024, we are lifting this prohibition. Residents can once again engage in gacha-based sales, but with a key new rule: gacha items, including the boxes or containers they come in, must not be transferable. This means that once you purchase a gacha item, it is yours and cannot be passed on to other users.

Linden Lab would go on to say breedables and games of skill were unaffected by this policy change, the latter as long as the prize was not transferable. They would also post an entry on the Second Life Wiki about the change (link). In the FAQ, they would state the reason they were doing a partial reversal was because "he latest changes in the legal climate related to gachas and loot boxes have given us an opportunity to lessen the formerly more restrictive policy."

In the forums, reaction was mixed.  Some were happy to have Gachas coming back. Others felt this was a disappointment, that allowing gachas back but not transferable was like allowing trading cards but banning the ability to trade them. And others felt any gacha was bad, transferable or not, as they were still addictive. One interesting comment was that this partial reversal of the ban "significantly harms the secondary resale economy."

So how does this affect the machines that resemble gachas but show what item is up for sale next, and the stores selling old gacha items. People in SL chat and the forums have been telling yours truly that this new policy doesn't affect them and they can continue as they have been, that the policies affect only gacha items created after the ban lift. 

To read the Lab's announcement in full, Click Here. 

Bixyl Shuftan

Reader Submitted: Mystery Flesh Pit

 

Welp... I just found the "Mystery Flesh Pit"... in Second Life. You can use the LM here to get to it. https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Vigdorova/101/152/83

 

Let's see... Oh yea! It's an SCP... SCP-6713...
Oh wait! That's outdated info...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mystery_Flesh_Pit_National_Park 

Shadowfell

 

Calas Galadhon has a special Halloween place to explore, Shadowfell. It is described as "beyond the dark forest, quarry and the beauty of its gardens and into the swamp." Gemma Cleanslate went there to explore for herself, and found quite a bit to see.

 

Read Gemma's article in Places. 

 

Reader Submitted: Backrooms

 

 

Welp! I found the.. 'Backrooms' in Secondlife at least.  You've got the typical yellow walled rooms. Then I found a bathroom. Then I found some TVs. Looks like it's also a WIP (Work In Progress) as more rooms will get added. The LM is here: maps.secondlife.com/Serena%20Cantari/99/224/1048

AND... to add, I found the 'Poolrooms' a level under there! But.. BE CAREFUL! The poolrooms area is very much a work in progress and has holes to the void! Again.. LM here: maps.secondlife.com/Serena%20Cantari/99/224/1048

 

DeniseUnicorn Toonie