Mystery Circle of Alts Near Bay City

 

Second Life can have no shortage of weirdness. While checking out the new construction on the Trans-Sansara Causway, looking around, I noticed a curious circle of avatars in the Hiltrude sim near Bay City. Heading over, they were underwater, and all had similar names, each with"Pitblado" as part of them, and created all on the same day, April 3, 2026. They all had blank profiles and were invisible, minus their tags.

 

And then suddenly vanished. Not one by one, but every single one teleported away, all at once. 

 

Checking the map, I saw they'd gone to Shannavay several sims away. So I headed there and got a better look.  What they were doing, no idea. It's possible they were bots trying to get information on nearby sims. But they don't need to be in groups for this purpose or stay very long. 

 

Oh, and no, you can't teleport into The Cornfield near Hiltrude.

 

Bixyl Shuftan 

 

Events This Week In SL Clubbin'

 

Here's what's going on at the Sunweaver-Angel, Montecito Bay, Furry Fashion, and Urban Furry clubs.

Club Cutlass: Temporarily Closed

Happy Vixen: DJ Charlee, DJ Scratch, DJ Mr. E, DJ Khyra

Club Zero Gravity: DJ Rose - School Outfits

Xanadu: DJ Jesse 

 

Montecito Bay:  DJ Moni, DJ Cookie, DJ Chucklepuppy, DJ Moff

 

Furry Fashion: TBA

 

Urban Furry :  DJ Charlee, DJ Emma, DJ Emma

 

Read the schedules in SL Clubbin'

Reader Submitted Picture: On A Bridge To, Somewhere

 

 From Mystery Mellon, a picture of her with Rezzdammit on the unfinished bridge at the southeast corner of the Swanton sim. 

 

Open Mike At Book Island

 

Book Island has several events a week, mostly oriented for those who like to read, write, and both, though there are occasional dance shows and other happenings. Soon after 1PM Sunday, dropped by for some of it's Open Mike event, hosted by Selina Green

 

1pm Open Mic on Book Island - come share your writing (fiction, non fiction, poetry, essays - anything!) or the writing of your favourite author. You can read yourself or have someone else read for you or just come to listen. Try your luck at winning our L300 doorprize too! 

 

By all means this isn't the only event to go to. Join the "Book Island Events And Discussions" to find out more (link). The location also has a small office for the Newser at (221/118/36). 

 

 https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Book%20Island/187/131/36

 

Bixyl Shuftan 

 

Trans-Sansara Causeway Update : Bridge Tunnel Island At Thetis

 

Work on the Trans-Sansara Causeway continues. Last Tuesday, we reported on a tunnel going from Luna down underwater and an unfinished end at Krios. Taking a look this weekend. there's a new island at the Thetis sim, at (115/88/21). And work on the tunnel has continued, extending it from Krios to this island. 

 

Presumably, this is going to be a bridge-tunnel island, not unlike those for the real-life Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel that connects Virginia's part of the Delmarva Peninsula to the rest of the state.  

 

The probable course of further construction is likely to be a bridge connecting it to the larger island to the east at Aptos and Tomales.  Where will it go from there? One possibility is  connecting it to the end of the highway in Noyo, of which the Yavascript pods going through travel off and go into the water nearby, changing into boats. 

 

But there's also an unfinished bridge, connecting from the highway near the sim border of Mavericks and Pomponio, at Pomponio (130/10/47). This is much more likely as it has a construction sign there. It was built in 2021, and extents to just past the sim border of Albion and Swanton before it comes to an abrupt end over the water. 

 

There is a bridge in Fortuna and Bethel not far from the tunnel. But it was built in 2009, and is unlikely to be involved in the Causeway construction.  

 

More information to come. 

 

https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Thetis/115/88/21 

 

Bixyl Shuftan (with help from Rezzdammit) 

Applications Open For Halloween Shop and Hop (Last Day Sunday)

 

It's not even September, and already Linden Lab is getting ready for the spooky season in shopping. Pm Friday August 14, the Lab announced they were accepting applications from merchants interested in taking part in the Halloween Shop and Hop. 

 

The Halloween season is creeping up on us once again, and so is one of Second Life’s biggest shopping events! If you’re a Content Creator, now’s your chance to conjure up your best items and reach thousands of shoppers across multiple regions.

 

Those interested need to fill out a Google doc form (here).  As with previous Shop and Hop events, participating sellers need to offer a 20% discount on all items on sale, plus offer a free gift to any shopper regardless if they're in the store group or not. It either must be a new product, or a gift card worth at least 300 Linden dollars. All products, and store decoration, must be rated moderate (No nude succubi or other clearly adult Halloween-themed monsters and items). Nothing political is permitted, and stores cannot be used to promote items at other events. 

 

As the poster above states, The event runs from Friday October 2 to Sunday November 1. The merchants have three days from September 25 to 28 to set up their shops. 

 

The deadline for store owners to apply is Sunday August 23.

 

To read the blog post in full, Click Here. 

 

Bixyl Shuftan 

 

Cartoon Of The Day: "HowYaBenn?"

 

 Taken at a party at Abnormality. How this guy really chose his name, who knows. But it doesn't take much to imagine it could have been something like this. 

 

By Bixyl Shuftan 

 

SL Video: "If I Tremble"

 

 (click here if the video does not play)

 

 From The Rhythms Of [SL]ife on June 2016, "This is my first work."

 

Linden Lab Updates Marketplace Policy In Regards To Inactive Merchants

 

 

On Wednesday August 12, Linden Lab announced on it's blog that it had updated it's Marketplace policies. This was in regards to inactive merchants and items that are not selling.

There is now a "Product Unlisting Policy"

If a Merchant has not logged in for one year AND a specific product has not generated a sale in one year, that individual product listing will be automatically unlisted from Marketplace.

This policy applies only when both conditions are met.

If a Merchant has not logged in for one year AND a specific product has not sold in one year, that product will be automatically unlisted.

The Lab would add unlisting by itself "does not delete the product, the listing data, or the merchant account. The product is simply disabled from appearing for sale on Marketplace unless reactivated later by the merchant."

 

 There is also a "Store Disabling Policy"

If a Merchant has not logged in for two years AND their store has not sold anything in one year, the entire store will be automatically disabled.

The Lab would add this disabling of a Marketplace store, "does not delete the merchant account, products, or store data. The store is simply removed from active Marketplace visibility unless later reactivated by the merchant."

The policy enforcement will be aided by "a new automated monthly review process that identifies inactive products and stores based on account activity and sales history."

To keep products actve, the Lab encouraged merchants to "Review older or lower-performing listings periodically," and "Refresh product listings, images, descriptions, or pricing to help improve visibility and sales activity." They added, "Active merchants and actively maintained products will not be affected by these changes. Accounts will not be affected by these changes."

To read the announcement in full, Click Here. 

Bixyl Shuftan

Trans-Sansara Causeway Update

 

Checking again around Aptos and Tomales, the two-sim island that's one end of the "Trans-Sansara Causeway" project, there was one small change. There was a barge with a crane, put there by Wendi Linden. Perhaps a sign of construction here very soon.

 

Stay tuned for more information.

 

Bixyl Shuftan 

 

Owner of JIAN Pets Closes Shop, Announces Leaving Second Life For Roblox

 

Sad news for fans of JIAN pets.  A few days ago, the owner, Kalia Pawtato (formerly Kalia Firelyte), announced on the store blog she was closing her store and departing Second Life. 

 

I also wanted to offer a fond, long time coming farewell as I step away from Second Life and Jian to take new chances, make new mistakes and make fun messes in new places.

Second Life has for the past 20+ years been a major part of my real life. Professionally, it's where I got my start all those years ago and continued to iterate in what I did ... I'm grateful for all the people I've met who also all carried lessons I'll take with me into the future. 

 

Her inworld store at Pounamu Island is mostly closed.  All that's left is an inworld redelivery terminal for resending any past purchases made. Although at (64/153/22), it seems trying to teleport anywhere near it will result in you appearing over a thousand meters above the sim, plummeting downward. Her Marketplace page is still up and running: https://marketplace.secondlife.com/stores/170150 . She would also have a blog page, Bearpuppy, at https://www.bearpuppy.gg/ .

 

Where she is going may surprise some residents, Roblox.

 

For the past four years I've been working on Roblox and a couple other platforms both for myself and others. My life has changed over the years and so have my interests. It is a natural evolution of my professional trajectory to move to new places where I hope to develop new, fun things.

 

A thread about her departure was started on the Linden Forums by Prokofy Neva, "this is sad news, for those of us in SL that bought and enjoyed these pets." One poster remarked, "Pets and breedables in SL are laggy and obnoxious! They don't belong here, because SL can't handle it. People who make them should go to another platform, where their creations will perform better, and annoy the rest of us less." Others expressed sadness, "Sad to hear another talented creator is departing."

 

One would say, "Jian is one of the contributors that has made my SL infinitely better. ... I will miss Jian. It has been a part of my many weekend jaunts inworld for so long, I cannot recall when it was not. I have the cutest worn pets that I have grown attached to. And I am incredibly grateful they are leaving a redelivery terminal available. And for all they have contributed here and to my inworld experience, I wish Jian great happiness and fun wherever they are!" 

 

Nobody on the Newser staff has a Roblox account, nor do I personally know much about it. While it has a much larger user base, as it's mainly children and teens, it hasn't been thought of as competition for Second Life like VRChat has. 

 

In any event, the Grid has one less longtime talented content creator. 

 

Hat Tip:  Linn Darkwatch

 

Image Credit:  Kyrie Deka

 

Bisyl Shuftan 

 

More News Later

 

 

Yours truly has been busy, and wasn't able to finish writing something before real-life or the need for sleep took over (or maybe was busy to the point he couldn't start). 

 

We'll have something up soon once we have a chance to pick up our pens and finish.