From DeniseUnicorn Toonie, "Visited the SecondLife 23 Birthday today. Noticed that they had movie backdrops you can take a picture on. So, I took this moody one over there. :)"
You are invited to attend Virtual Ability's 15th annual Mental Health Symposium on Thursday, June 25, 2026.
The theme of this year’s Symposium is “PAIN.” This theme applies to everyone, not just to persons with disabilities. The broad topic allows our presenters and panelists from China, Canada, the UK, Belgium and the US to explore a variety of intersections between pain and mental health. Presenters will also offer various strategies for addressing these common issues.
Every year in the spring, our community hosts an international professional conference on topics related to mental health. Not only is this an opportunity for our community members to learn more about important subjects from experts they probably would not have a chance to meet otherwise, it allows the general public to attend a professional conference at no cost.
It was quite the weekend here in Second Life this past weekend. Friday June 19 was Juneteenth, a holiday in honor of when slavery ended in the United States. From 12 to 8PM SL time, the Premier Business Center would hold a Junteenth celebration party. Hosted by Jarden Alexis, there was music. There was trivia. And much like a real-life Juneteenth there was food. Unfortunately in virtual reality, you can't taste a thing.
There were also DJs playing at the Second Life Birthday celebrations. At 2PM Friday June 19, DJ Minty was performing some tunes at The Salty Saloon, the one stage in the Birthday's Adult-rated areas. She commented she wanted to "sexbang the Lindens" with some Ninja Sex Party songs among her 80s hits.
On Saturday June 20, DJ Tantari would play at the Golden Palms at 3PM SL time. The "Mix Vix" had made a special track for the SL23B, and was playing it for the group of fans and SLB partiers.
Saturday would also see the main horse races of the RFL Royal Ascot. Sunday June 21 would have the closing party at 1PM SL time with music from Gabrielle Riel. Near the end, fireworks went off. This would be the end of the last major event of the Relay for Life. While a few teams may hold smaller events, for most the Relay is over until next year.
It was quite a weekend. But with the Second Life Birthday, and other events this week, the fun continues.
For those who can't get enough Second Life cartoons, a reminder that the SL Newser exhibit at the SL23B has some cartoon slide shows of some of the funniest, and groaniest, of our humor over the years.
One of the features of the Second Life Birthday for a number of years is you get a chance to listen to some of Linden Lab's finest, hear what's on their minds and what they've been up to and planning for the near future, and maybe get a chance to ask some questions. From Monday to Friday this week, there will be five Meet The Lindens events there.
The schedule is as follows:
Monday, June 22nd at 1pm PT – Meet the Founder of Second Life, Philip Rosedale (a.k.a. Philip Linden), live at SL23B
Tuesday, June 23rd at 1pm PT – Meet the Product team live at SL23B
Wednesday, June 24th at 1pm PT – Meet the Engineering team live at SL23B
Thursday, June 25th at 1pm PT – Meet the Marketing and Growth teams live at SL23B
Friday, June 26th at 1pm PT – Meet the Second Life Studios team live at SL23B
The event is at the Orpheum Theater, with the following SURL suggestions:
Do you have a question for the Lindens? Here's your chance to get it answered.
A few days ago, Linden Lab posted on their blog that they were accepting questions in advance for the Lindens at the "Meet the Lindens: events" from Monday June 22 to Friday June 26. People are asked to submit their questions a Google Doc (here) by Sunday June 21. You will be asked if there's a specific Linden you want the question directed at, and if you want your name mentioned.
During the celebrations, there will be a series of Q&A events where you can meet the Lindens live at SL23B! This is your chance to connect directly with the people behind Second Life and hear more about what’s happening across the platform.
The founder of Second Life, Philip Rosedale (a.k.a. Philip Linden), will be joining along with leads from our Product, Engineering, Marketing, Growth, and Second Life Studios teams.
Do you have questions you want to ask any team? Submit your questions at this link no later than June 21st to be considered for inclusion in the Q&A during these live events.
It should be noted that not all questions submitted will necessarily be answered (the announcement stating the questions will be considered).
From RacerX Gullwing on June 14, "Well it's been 10 years now since we lost our Shady Fox.
Wish he could still be here. Everyone that knew him loved him.
Rest in Piece my friend."
Earlier this month was the Newser anniversary and it's party. Grease Coakes would remind me of when he DJed for the Newser parties (a favorite DJ of Gemma). So here's his soundtrack of when he did the tunes one year.
The Second Life Birthday celebration officially began yesterday. There were some technical difficulties as some, including exhibitors who had been in earlier in the day, found themselves unable to teleport over. But eventually the glitch would be repaired,and the residents could all head over to the SLB grounds.
The first of the events was Philip Linden's opening speech at the Orpheum Theater. But relogging after a crash, I couldn't see his area of the stage. I ended up getting a picture through Vic Morningon's youtube. You can also see a replay on the Second Life Youtube.
Brett Linden spoke first saying a few words then introducing Philip Linden. Philip gave short speech, complementing the audience on their avatars, saying "one of the coolest things that I think signals change in Second Life is the changing avatars that I see." He would give thanks to the creators, as well as the Lindens and Moles involved in The Birthday. He would also give his thanks to Patch Linden, "who was the one who initially created this event and helped us grow it to where it is today." He gave a few statistics, "nineteen exhibit regions with 240 exhibits built by over 500 exhibitors ... over 480 creators participating in the Ship and Hop ... 600 scheduled music and dance performances held across five different event stages ... and there are about 125 volunteers helping as stage crew and greeters, thank you so much."
"As I look at you and all your avatars, I'm reminded of the early days of Second Life," He would talk about how he and Leviathan Linden first imagined Second Life as an "artificial life garden. We weren't even sure exactly what role people would play in the whole thing. ... We didn't know what avatars would look like. ... But ultimately look at us all here today. This room represents an evolution and an enormous amount of content production and changes that you created in the very nature of Second Life. ... we are very much driven by all our collective work." He would comment that he felt one of the reasons Second Life was still around was because it's residents "collectively exist in a place here that can be shaped by all of us."
He would also comment that when Second Life first started, the total number of sims was smaller than those dedicated to the Birthday event. He would talk about some of the first areas the Lindens made for the residents such as a kind of "Coney Island" amusement park and a "giant black pyramid disco" called AltZoom, SL's first nightclub. Very quickly, the people got control, demolished the first builds, and created things of their own. Philip would also comment Second Life was like an alternative history, noting the social media was often known for it's nastiness and SL was in some ways what could have been in terms of people on the whole treating each other better. "Thank you for being part of this."
Philip then went over to a kiosk on stage, the "Golden Ticket," saying people would soon be able to click on five of them around the SLB grounds for a chance at a million Linden dollar prize that they could enter every day (more on this later). He stated he would take no questions today, but would answer some at the Meet the Lindens event next week, his being at Monday at 1PM SL time. "Congratulations everyone, it's wonderful to see you. And I hope to see you around the Birthday celebrations. Thank you."
Following the eight minute speech was a period of quiet, then Merryjest Starchild performed the first of the SLB's music events.
Sometimes he would sing alone, other times he was joined by dancers. But there was one point in which things hit a snag. There was one tribute to the 80s in which the dancers appeared over the stage on giant cassette tapes, then they just vanished. I would later hear the way the dancers were arranged, one cassette touched the sim border, which then cased them to be "yeeted" halfway across the SLB grounds. Some had a soft landing in the water. Some didn't. The short time that was available for rehearsal didn't reveal this possibility. For those wanting to see the performance again, Merry will be repeating it later this weekend at a favorite venue.
And the shows are going on today, this weekend, and next week. Two DJs familiar to the Sunweaver community where the SL Newser office makes it's home will be spinning some tunes. Today at 2PM, DJ Minty, aka DJ MTV, will be performing at The Salty Saloon stage at SLB Smoldering (20/252/23). DJ Scratch will be spinning his style at the same venue on early Wednesday June 24 at 2 AM. Another friend of the Newser, DJ Tantari, will be performing at the Golden Palms at SLB Mesmerize (76/184/25) at 3 PM SL time.
Stay tuned for more about the Second Life Birthday.
The Horse Jump Competition is open to all until 1pm SLT June 20th! There is no sign-up needed the course will automatically time you and display the top times on a scoreboard. Use an attachable horse of your own such as a Teegle or choose a horse from the horse rezzer in the entrance fenced area. The course is self-starting just run through as many times as you like, have fun!
Best times will be recorded and trophies will be awarded during the Royal Ascot After Party at 3pm slt, June 20th. Winners need not be present to receive their trophy. Bring friends along to watch and all be sure to donate to the kiosk beside it! ALL donations go to the American Cancer Society.
Now is good time to try riding a horse if you haven’t before. You can ride around the entire ASCOT grounds as there is a huge amount to see and do. LOTS of shopping!
Normally Relayer camp builders have some time after the Flood Party to take down their builds, and people have a little time to see the camps. But not this year. Less than a day after the Flood Party, most were down. Aside from the three permanent American Cancer Society sims and RFL Screening & RFL Royal Ascot, which are up for the Royal Ascot event, they are offline and unreachable.
"Linden Labs were quick to the draw this year," Selene (selene Jashan)
remarked, "I think the lindens were bored (laughter)." For those who
wanted a copy of their campsite marker, "If you did not get your
campsite marker please reach out to Sass Piggins She can help you as
well as Kitty (Prettykitty Gumbo) to make sure you get your badges to put on it."
For those wanting to get a look at the campsites, Wildstar Beaumont took some pictures he would post on his Flickr (here).
But while most of the Relay Track sims are gone does not mean no more activity. As mentioned earlier, the Royal Ascot is going on in two sims. Also in ACS 3, The Relay Rainbow events are taking place at (153/170/21). Both are going on until Sunday June 21st. But for most of the teams, their events are over, congratulating one another for a job well done.
More on the Relay later,
*Addition* There have been a few comments in Relay Discord, Avariel Falcon saying, "They have been more snappy with region closures recently, the same thing happened with SciFi. Although in that case they re-opened them for a while so we could collect our stuff." Cynthia Farshore would comment this sudden development would mean no video of hers of the sims this year, "Well I thought I had the time after the sinking to fly my Wild for a Cure balloon around for the annual youtube video, nope. POOF! Oh well. Normally LL drags it's heels to do anything this time it went for the cheetah award." Fuzzball Ortega wondered, "Someone was on their toes at the Lab. They must be new."
After weeks of preparation, the Second Life Twenty Third Birthday Celebrations, also known as the SL23B, begins today. There's smaller events such as Meet The Lindens, music concerts, the Yapestry of Time, and of course the exhibits by regular residents, hundreds of them.
The main area has forty-one sims, with a separate area for Adult-themed exhibits and one stage for unfiltered music performances, totaling fourteen sims.
Among those with exhibits is the Second Life Newser, in the SLB Beguile sim. Sadly due to real-life, the talented Silvia Ametza whom has done most of our builds and all of them for the past several years was not able to do one this year. So as a backup plan, the office from the SL9B is back, with a few touches.
There's a lot going on, and just a little time to write about it.
I've thought of June as our Busy Time, and this year is no exception. First came the SL Newser anniversary, a time for me and the staff to look back at what we've done and celebrate a little. Then came the Relay Track and Relay Weekend. And while this was going on, getting ready for the Second Life Birthday. This meant more than just writing about it but also getting the exhibit ready of which the main builder Silvia had some bad luck that couldn't be helped. So time was spent getting the backup plan ready. Gemma still needs some time to recover before she can write. And of course there is real life and it's demands.
What this means is we're not gong to be able to cover things quite as much as we like. Some Relay exhibits we would have otherwise put the spotlight on will need to wait until a reader submission. Some things about the Second Life Birthday will need to wait, from a few days to over a week.
We'll keep doing the best we can. It's just that some things will have to wait, and a few things with a window will be missed. And you can still count on daily updates.
Netera Landar recently stopped by a women's fashion store called "Black Flowers," located in Four B District. Joining the store group allows you access to some gifts, Plus there was a sale in which some good outfits were available at a low price.
Celebrate Juneteenth at the Premier Business Center (PBC) on June 19th from 12pm to 8pm SLT, with a day of education, culture, and community. Explore interactive self-guided exhibits, test your knowledge with trivia games, enjoy live DJ entertainment, dancing, fireworks, and more while learning about the history, legacy, and significance of Juneteenth. PBC party with a purpose!
The Second Life Birthday is tomorrow. And recently on the official blog, Linden Lab announced the schedule of the music events and performances.
The countdown to SL23B is on, and the celebration begins on June 18th! From June 18th through June 28th, experience a full lineup of live music and performances across five SL23B stages. These performances bring together a wide range of talent from across the community. From DJs and live musicians to dance troupes and immersive acts, the SL23B stages will be filled with energy throughout the celebration. Mark your calendar and stay tuned to the Second Life Birthday Events Calendar so you don’t miss any performances.
As a reminder, the music events go on for ten days, to Sunday June 28. The Birthday goes on for a month, to July 19.
