Burn2: The Burning of the Man

A week ago, the Burn2 art and music festival, this year's theme being "Carnival of Mirrors," they held their "Burning of the Man" on Saturday October 24. Bixyl Shuftan was there to get pictures of the occasion. This year though, things didn't go quite they way they had in previous burns.

See the pictures in Events.

Firestorm and Madpea to Launch Community Gateway, Launch Party Today

Besides Welcome Island, over Second Life's history some locations have had their own welcome areas for newcomers to provide some basic information and maybe a gift or two. Indeed for the first several years of the Grid, this was encouraged by Linden Lab under a program "enabling them to steer incoming users directly to their own orientation / support environment, and thus provide them with assistance and hands-on support in getting started in SL." But it was discontinued in August 2010.

In September, Inara Pey reported that Linden Lab was planning to bring back the Community Gateway program. "The idea is that the new registrant would begin their time in SL in the experience that matches their interest," Patch Linden was quoted as saying. Among the groups involved with the testing was Firestorm. Recently it was announced that Madpea was joining up with them, " we’re delighted to be teaming up with Jessica Lyon and the Firestorm team on their project to produce a Community Gateway for new residents to Second Life. Community Gateways will provide a rich, learning environment for new residents. Showing them how to use their viewers, how to interact, how to develop as an avatar and, with MadPea’s help…how to play games and have an amazing SL experience."

To celebrate, Team Firestorm is combining their Halloween celebrations with a "Gateway Launch Party," "The biggest Firestorm Halloween celebration to date will be this Saturday Oct 31st with live performances from Seth Regan (Mankind Tracer) @ 1PM, Nance Brody @ 2PM and Changhigh Trinity Sisters Fireshow @ 3PM. Then at 4pm DJQuad spins tunes and we open the massive month-long Halloween hunt with amazing content from over 150 well-known Second Life merchants."

The event will also be the kickoff for their "Spooky Nights Hunt organized by the Huntress Spooky Mistwallow purposed to create awareness of the gateway regions and what they offer by encouraging existing users to explore."

The locations for the party are Firestorm Showcase (239/17/26), Firestorm SB (18/17/26), /Firestorm HS1 (240/242/26) and Firestorm HS2 (20/240/26).

Bixyl Shuftan

SL Video: " Second Life Fright Night - Halloween"

(Click here if the video fails to play)

From "liz4parisadored" on Oct 24, 2015

Eye on the Blog: "Friday's Inworld Creepy Crawl!"

With Halloween approaching, things are getting a little spooky in Second Life. And Linden Lab is helping to get into the act with it's "Creepy Crawl." Earlier this month, the Lab called for venues to help be a part of it. On Wednesday, they posted on their blog the list of places taking part on the event taking place tomorrow on Friday October 30.

This Friday, October 30th from 10:00am SLT until 3:00pm SLT - you are most cordially invited to join us inworld for the 2015 Second Life Creepy Crawl! “What is the Creepy Crawl?” you may ask. It’s a scary-good inworld event where Lindens and Residents get dressed up in their best Halloween costumes and roam from spooky spot to spooky spot for music, dancing, and celebrating! It’s going to be a bit like a ‘pub crawl’ without the need for taxi fare. 

Costumes are strongly encouraged for this event - so come out and show off your best. I am still deciding between 4 different costume choices I've put together and may have to wear all 4 at some point during the crawl. It’s a good thing we’ll have 5 hours to run amok and have fantastical fun. Just keep in mind that this event is for General and Moderate audiences when perfecting your look.

The times and locations are:

10 AM SL time: Bay City Hallowe'en Hay Maze: North Channel (128/128/24)

10:30 AM : Dance Island: Dance Island (34/219/22)

11 AM : Vampyr Empire: Transylvania (47/207/31)

11:30 AM : The Truth About Bats and Avies : Snow Crash (24/15/22)

12 Noon : Pumpkin Town : Canine Cove (10/240/27)

12:30 PM : Club End of Days : End of Days (233/245/503)

1 PM : American Cancer Society: American Cancer Society (131/128/52)

1:30 PM : AEG Haunted Beach : Florida (205/32/24)

2 PM : Haunted Halloween Tour: Portal Park 1 (111/125/23)

The 2015 Second Life Creepy Crawl is getting closer - don't blink or it could be upon with you little to no warning!

Madpea's Halloween/10,000 Members Party

The Madpea group recently announced they had a total of ten thousand members in their group. It's a fairly active one as one doesn't have to wait long usually for chatter and conversation. To mark the occasion, their Halloween Party is also being called the "Ten Thousand Pea Party," with 20,000 Lindens in prizes given out, and one lucky member of the group to receive 10,000 Lindens.

The epic Halloween party will start at 1pm slt at the Peatonville Asylum with music from our very own DJ Kess Crystal. All our vips will receive a special 10,000 PEA GROUP GIFT, plus we will randomly throw money at you! The amounts will be random as will the winners be and in total we’ll be giving away 20,000L$!!!!  Costumes aren’t necessary but it’s Halloween so if you can dress up and come party with the Peas and MadPea Crew. It’s our way of saying we LOVE you Peas! Thank you for making MadPea the number 1 game community in Second Life!

Video: "BBC News Whatever happened to Second Life "

(Click here if the video fails to play)

From June 2013, the BBC looks at Second Life ten years after it's founding, "Ten years ago, a social media website was launched which some corporations thought would change the face of business forever. It was called Second Life - a virtual world where users could live, meet, go shopping or make music and art. Multi-nationals like IBM rushed to be part of it and countries even opened embassies there. But what has become of Second Life?" The BBC concluded once the novelty wore off, many of the people the businesses were trying to appeal to moved on, and so did the businesses. But for some people, like the musicians featured, Second Life is still important for what they do.

Ghost Stories at Steelhead

On Monday October 26, a few of Steelhead's residents headed back to the old estate area for a little ghost storytelling. The place being abandoned seemed to add a little to the eerie feel from the darkness, Halloween being just around the corner, and the spooky specter that was circling nearby.

Riven Homewood entertained the small group which had gathered near the fire with a couple spooky tales,  "Connon Alberecht's Scrapbook," and "The Sandman."

With the Steelhead Estates facing deletion any day by Linden Lab since the beginning of the month, the community has largely moved on to Ravenwood Forest . Still, residents are still coming back to see their old home while it still stands. It's possible this may be one of the last events held there.

Press Release: The NSS's "Spooky Space Music Party"

Celebrate Halloween with the National Space Society in SL's Spooky Space Music Party this Saturday, October 31st, from 5 to 7pm SL time in our L5 space station BALLroom, masquerading as the Great Pumpkin.  Come as you are, or come as you aren't! And please feel free to pass this invite along to other potentially interested individuals or groups.

In the meantime you can enjoy the spooky space music in your browser at http://192.99.13.93:11032

L-5 Ballroom
National Space Society (128, 152, 1260)

Cartoon of the Day

By Bixyl Shuftan

Meshing Around in Second Life

Becky's back.

After months of hiatus from writing about Second Life, Becky "Sha" Shamen is back doing stories for the Newser team. Her first story, she looks at mesh avatars and outfits. A big deal when it first came to the Grid, people still talk about which is better: mesh or prim. In this article, she writes about her experiences while shopping for a mesh look.

Read Becky's article in Design.

Homes For Our Troops Charity Event Raises over 100,000 Lindens

Sunday October 25 was the monthly benefit concert at Veterans Isle. For four hours from 5PM to about 9PM SL time (Midnight EST), Frets Nirvana and three other musicians performed for the crowd as they listened and sometimes danced to the music.

Tonight, Sunday October 2015 is our monthly benefit concert for Homes For Our Troops. Scheduled for 5-9 Pm SLT, come join us and kick out the Halloween goblins by supporting our severely wounded veterans. They make the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom, let's support them!

Besides Frets Nirvana, Veronica Weksler, Shannon Oherlihy, and Tristen Homewood also performed. The musicians did not put out tip jars. Instead, all cash donated to the two house-shaped kiosks on either side of the stage went to the charity Homes For Our Troops. On occasion, Frets Nirvana would challenge the audience, saying he'd match the next high donation made by someone.

The total collected was 101,250 Linden Dollars.

To learn more about the Homes For Our Troops visit https://www.hfotusa.org

Bixyl Shuftan

Guild Wars 2's Numbers Raise Questions about World of Warcraft's Status

For more than twelve years, the genre of Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games was dominated by "World of Warcraft." But lately it's been crashing in numbers. And something happened recently that put it's status as the champion of MMOs in doubt.

Since shooting up from 6.8 million subscribers to 10 million in November 2014, World of Warcraft's numbers have plummeted, down to 5.6 million in August with no sign of slowing down. And while the MMO that once was *the* game in its genre has been shrinking in numbers, others have been growing. One, Guild Wars 2, recently announced it had reached 7 million accounts, up from 5 million in August. The growth is attributed in part to it's new expansion "Heart of Thorns."

So does this mean Guild Wars 2 is now the number one MORPG? Not necessarily. World of Warcraft's numbers are of active accounts while those of Guild Wars 2 are of all of it's accounts, active or not. Over time, World of Warcraft has had a total of over 100 million accounts.

So it looks like World Of Warcraft is still the Champion MMO, at least for now. That it was in doubt is a reminder with it's dropping numbers, the best known of MMOs just doesn't have the draw it used to. While this isn't the end of it's days as the champion, it seems just a matter of time.


Sources: Gamespot, IGN

Bixyl Shuftan

The "Happy Vixen" Beach Club Expands It's Hours

Good news for Europeans in the Sunweaver and Angel communities, and friends of. The Happy Vixen Beach club is expanding it's times to include two events during the week in the morning, as well as having it's Sunday party on a regular basis.

DJ Chemic was interested in DJing at the club, and talking to owner Nydia Tungsten, she explained she was available at certain times early in the day. Nydia had been thinking of expanding the club's hours, but needed a DJ for the job. DJ Chemic turned out to be that DJ.

The club will now be having events on Wednesdays and Fridays, from 10AM to Noon SL time. Also, the Sunday beach party from Noon to 2PM SL time, once an occasional event, will become a weekly one.

The Happy Vixen is at Purrfection Estates (236, 219, 24)  

Events This Week at the Sunweaver Clubs

It's a week full of events at the Sunweaver Clubs. The Happy Vixen is expanding it's hours to five days a week with the addition of Wednesday and Friday mornings. This week, the beach club has Halloween themes with Weird Science, Best in Black and Green, Best in Black, Villains, and of course the Halloween Party. But it still has it's beach party on Sundays. Cutlass is still going strong with it's Comedy Night, Best in Green, and it's own Halloween Party.

See the schedule in Events this Week.

Press Release: Art in Hats 2015

DATES: NOVEMBER 4 TO 14, 2015

LOCATION: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Crestwood%20Acres/135/129/21

WEBSITE: WWW.ARTINHATS.COM

ART in HATS and HATS in ART is back for another year of fun, whimsy, artistic expression and entertainment! There are contests open to the public with prizes, a variety of entertainment, more art and, of course, the most exciting display of hats in Second Life collectively in one spot! Art and fashion meet in hats. Good hats are art to wear and subsequently many artists love to create fantastic hats. Fashion designers often show an explosion of creativity in hats. Hats turn to fashion with the styling.

The coordinator of Art in Hats 2015 is Emma Portilo and this year ART in HATS - HATS in ART has selected Team Diabetes of Second Life (http://teamdiabetesofsl.org/), an official and authorized team of the American Diabetes Association, as a charitable beneficiary of the event. A portion of proceeds will go to the charity and we will be holding a unique hat auction at the end of the event with exclusive designs!

The highlights of our schedule includes:

-EXCLUSIVE PREVIEW HAT COSTUME PARTY November 1, 2015 at 12 PM SLT (This evet is a private event, however, a limited number of tickets may be purchased).

-OPEN TO THE PUBLIC November 4, 2015 at 6 AM SLT

-GRAND OPENING DAY November 7, 2015 - Featuring Fashion Hat Shows and a Grand Gala Event - Open to the public

-BRING IT ON Public Styling Contest November 8, 2016 at 3 PM SLT

-FINAL DAY LINE UP November 14, 2015 Including:
TOP FASHION STYLE SHOW 2 PM
PUBLIC HAT CONTEST WINNER ANNOUNCEMENT & CHARITY AUCTION 4 PM
FINAL CHANCE SHOPPING PARTY 8 PM

The following artists and creators have generously created unique and one of a kind hats for this event:  Couture Chapeau, Hatter 'n Hell, Stone's Works, Elysium Skins and Mesh Apparel, Miss Darcy Spyralle, Lyrical B!zarre Templates, {{BSD Design studio}}}}, Sonatta Morales, F I N ES M I T H, Sascha's Designs, Bohemian Gypsy Couture, Epic Chromatic, Betty Tureaud, Wicca's Wardrobe, Wicca's Wardrobe, Barry Richez, Macabre, E.V.E, Xen's Hats, Pink Ice Boutique, K E L I N I, Romance Couture, Zanze, Snowpaws, Ghee, Deche, Paris METRO Couture, Whimsical Happenings, Lilith's Den, The Happy Hat, Bliensen + MaiTai, Oddfish Studios, Chérie, BamPu Legacies, BlueMoon enterprise, Barbara Wardell, Cica Ghost, Sina Souza, Kynne Llewellyn, ApocketfullofButterflies, Brigittacoral, Paradox Messmer, ByrneDarkly Cazalet, Awesome Fallen, Johannes1977 Resident, Jamie86, Valsnia Resident, Amandamagik Resident, Cold Frog, Burk Bode and Wizardoz Chrome.

About Art in Hats:
ART in HATS - HATS in ART was founded by Quan Lavender in 2013. Quan is blogger, curator of the Art India Gallery (currently on hiatus) and member of the LEA (Linden Endowment for the Arts) committee. While she is unable to join the team this year due to real life commitments, she is doing well and supportive of the event. The team thanks Quan for her outstanding insight in creating this unique event that focuses on such a wonderful statement piece of fashion - the hat, while promoting the arts! (http://quanlavender.blogspot.de/)

About Team Diabetes of Second Life:
Founded by Jessi and Johannes1977 Resident, Team Diabetes is the official and authorized team of the American Diabetes Association in Second Life. Functioning as an advisory board, Team Diabetes of Second Life comprises members Jessii2009 Warrhol, Johannes1977 Resident, Emma Portilo, Veruca Tammas, Sandie Loxingly, Rob Fenwitch and Earth Nirvana, with Saiyge Lotus serving as special advisor to the board.

Some 387 million people globally live with diabetes, and the World Health Organization estimates that diabetes could be the 7th leading cause of death by 2030.

Team Diabetes of Second Life’s mission is to raise awareness of diabetes, promote greater understanding of the issues those suffering from diabetes face, and to raise funds to further research into cures for diabetes.

For more information:
www.artinhats.com
www.teamdiabetesofsl.org

Burn2 And Other Events In Review

This weekend saw the high points of the Burn2 art and music festival, the "Burning of The Man" and the Temple Burn. But these were not the only happenings going on. "How BraZaar" of the "Making Strides" Breast Cancer fundraiser had it's last two days. The Caledon steampunk community had it's Harvest Festival. Raglan Shire had musicians performing at their "Shocktober." The Roman community had its monthly festival with a Halloween twist. There was the "Homes For Our Troops" charity event at Veterans Isle. And other happenings we couldn't be there to see.

We'll have more details later. But for now is the time to rest up and real-life work. We'll have more on Burn2, and hopefully more, later.

Angel Eyes Club

By Wesley Regenbogen

Angel Eyes Club is the creation of Yllekas Resident and Drexxar (Millerx) Resident. They began building the place on Friday March 25th 2014. The idea to create the club started off really funny, actually. Both the owners of Angel Eyes once frequented another club, but they got banned there. There were other people that requested them to create another club and they did.

Of their schedule, first they started of with three evenings per week, but eventually they ended up with seven evenings a week. In the beginning, they called their venue the “Banned Club," (ha-ha!) but that name was later on changed to Angel Eyes club. Besides creating the club, Yllekas and Drexxar also did the decor (and in my opinion, did a nice job of it).

Angel Eyes club is an international club where people from anywhere can chill out with their friends and have fun. The music that is played varies from dance music to Top 40 to Trance to Vocal Trance, and more. But requests for specific songs are also welcome. The club has three shifts from 11 PM to 4 AM SLT. The language of the venue is English, but they get visitors from Belgium and the Netherlands. So expect some Dutch and Flemish. The club prides itself on being a "Drama Free Zone," so those whom are being dramatic and ignore requests to stop can find themselves ejected.

The club has a different theme every Friday. This week, the theme is Halloween, so the place  will be having some spooky decorations. People in the club's group are informed of events and other developments with group notices, and reciece group TP offers and Group IMs. They don’t have a Facebook page for the club, but both owners have personal Facebook pages where they post notices on.

In my personal opinion this is the best club that I encountered so far. They have great DJs and the music is always good. The decoration of the club is always nice to look at. What makes the club even more special is that in the dancefloor there’s an aquarium where you see the fish swim below your feet. This is something I have never seen in a club before.

So if you want to join the fun, head over tot his location : Luna Maria (41/214/23)

I hope to see you all there!

Wesley Regenbogen

The Kawaii Project

BloodyKitty recently found a rather "kawaii" place to shop recently. High above the Ploom sim, she found a small outlet mall called "The Kawaii Project." With it's design and lack of lag, she found it a location worth going to

Read BloodyKitty's article in Design.

Press Release: Homes For Our Troops Benefit Tonight

Tonight, Sunday October 2015 is our monthly benefit concert for Homes For Our Troops. Scheduled for 5-9 Pm SLT, come join us and kick out the Halloween goblins by supporting our severely wounded veterans. They make the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom, let's support them!

We have another great lineup of premier talent from the Second Life musician community.
5 PM - MsJAMZ Veronica Weksler
6 PM - Shannon Oherlihy
7 PM - Frets Nirvana
8 PM- Tristyn Homewood
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Veterans%20Isle/73/216/23

To learn more about the Homes For Our Troops visit https://www.hfotusa.org

Cartoon of the Day

Taken at Furry Fashion

By Bixyl Shuftan

Burn2: Schedule For The Burning of The Man And Temple Burn

Saturday: Burning of the Man

6AM, 12 Noon, 6PM

Sunday: Temple Burn

6AM, 12 Noon, 6PM

The sims where the burnings take place are often full. Go somewhere on the Burning Man sims where you can watch from a distance if so.

Announcement: Caledon Newcomers Ball

Have you joined Caledon this year?

Or do you know someone who did?

At this year's Harvest Festival, we'll have our first Newcomers' Ball, where we officially welcome new Caledonians to our fine sims!

Please send name and picture, and if you'd like anything special said about you to Stereo Nacht, Ms. Beth Ghostraven or Ms. Patty Poppy. The Ball will be on October 24th at 7pm; even if you can't be there, you can be celebrated.

SL Video: "Maia - The Little Mermaid "

(Click here if the video fails to load)

From Maia Athena, "Finally managed to complete my mermaid look!" *glee*

Eye on the Blog: "Second Life Improvements"

On October 20 on the official Second Life blog, Linden Lab announced some details about some upcoming planned changes to the grid, as well as one current change to it's website, "There’s a lot going on with Second Life these days, and we wanted to talk about a few of the projects that are either out or in the works!"

The first thing on their list was "Project Valhalla," which replaces the old Internet viewing framework with one that supports more recent technologies.

A new age of modern HTML5 content is upon us, and we're overhauling the way shared media (aka "media on a prim") works so that you can enjoy all kinds of modern web content within Second Life. Chromium Embedded Framework (CEF) is coming to replace the aging QTWebkit framework. What you can now see in a Project Viewer is the latest released version of Chrome - so it will render all modern web technologies - like HTML5, CSS3, WebGL; has the latest security patches; and will be easy to keep updated to a recent version. What does this mean for your Flash content? What about Quicktime? They may still work, but because both can only be viewed if the user has correctly installed a 3rd party plugin, we can't  promise support and you shouldn’t expect that it will work for everyone. Standard HTML5 is the way of the future and this Viewer will enable it for anyone. There are still bugs to squash, and we’re iterating quickly to bring you a smooth inworld media and browsing experience.

On the official forums, Linden Lab invited residents to leave comments on a thread on the topic. Among those posting was AI Austin, "An initial test of the Project Valhalla viewer on my Windows 10 setup did have the media texture screens showing a quicktime server .sdp stream and a looping MPEG-4 video on the screens (as shown in the image above), but I am not sure if that is because of other elements I already have installed or if its included by default in the Valhalla viewer."

One can read more about, and download, the Valhalla Viewer Here.

 Next was an "Avatar Rendering Complexity" feature.

A new *Avatar Maximum Complexity* control lets you prevent expensive-to-render avatars from lagging you; any avatar over the limit is displayed as a solid color rather than rendering in full detail. A default limit is set based on the rendering performance of your system. You'll also get a notice when your own rendering complexity changes, and an indication when you're over the limit of too many of the avatars around you. Bundled together in this Viewer is a change that allows you to create and quickly change presets of your graphics settings, so as you go from a club to an art gallery, to the beach, or to your home, you can quickly adjust your settings to fit the scene.

Apparently if an avatar goes over the limit you set, it's displayed as a simple, single color, mannequin-like shape.

On the Linden-created forum thread on the topic, one resident expressed concern, calling it "giving avatar makers just another migraine to now deal with." Another felt it would encourage them to be more efficient. In New World Notes, Hamlet Au commented, "If it's implemented well, this could be an important feature to improve overall performance. At the same time, the very fact that it's necessary makes me sadly smile, because it reflects a paradox with user creativity in Second Life that's existed from the beginning: By making Second Life as open a creative platform as possible, Linden Lab unleashed incredible amounts of inventiveness that continues to be impressive (if overwhelming). At the same time, because it is so open, there's also abundant opportunities for creativity which is overly complex and laggy."

For now, one can try out the feature on the Release Candidate Viewer.

A few other details were briefly mentioned. Sorting notifications into categories, removing Flash from the secondlife.com website due to security concerns, a change that "now prevents loss of no-copy items due to a failed rez," and continuing the HTTP Project for improved texture loading.

For the blog post in full: Click Here. Besides Hamlet Au, Inara Pey and Daniel Voyager also wrote on the topic.

Press Release: The Spoopy Steamlands Halloween Decorating Competition

A long-held Steelhead tradition is being brought to the Steamlands as a whole.  The Community of the City of Steelhead invites you to participate in:

The Spoopy Steamlands Halloween Decorating Competition!

ENTRANTS:  Submit a notecard to Bleue Lacroix (bluelacroix Resident) indicating your intent to enter.  This notecard needs to include:

1. Your name (and account name)
2. SLURL and landmark both of the decorated property
3. Optional: A description of your entry - any mention you wish to make of theme, Windlight or time-of-day settings, or sound settings which might optimise the experience.

PLEASE SUBMIT ALL ENTRIES BY FRIDAY, OCTOBER 23RD OCTOBER 27TH.  A list will be sent out with all the entries so interested parties may tour the locations to decide their favourites.  We request that decor be left intact until Tuesday, November 3rd, to give voters sufficient time to visit.

VOTERS:  After receiving the list of decorated participants, visit each one.  Create a notecard titled 'Spoopy Steamlands Vote' and indicate your first, second and third favourite decorated sites. 

Set your notecard to 'no modify' and send it to Baron Klaus Wulfenbach (KlausWulfenbach Outlander) promptly once you have made your decisions.  The votes will be totalled by a neutral party and winners announced after the 3rd.

This event brought to you by the Councillors of the City of Steelhead, the Consulate of Europa Wulfenbach, Fauve Aeon, and Bleue Lacroix.

*Addition: the deadline for entries has been moved forward to October 27*

Reader Submitted: Luskwood's Early Days

During Luskwood's anniversary celebrations on Saturday October 17, Michi Lumin shared this picture of the very earliest days of the Luskwood Community. Yes, there was a time before furred avatars in Lusk, and it was up to people like them to develop them and refine their techniques.

Little would they know of what would follow as they would essentially invent the process how furred avatars would be sold and be not only the first of many Furry communities, but the oldest active social spot in Second Life of any genre.

Image Credit: Michi Lumin

Eye on the Blog: "Fab-BOO-lous Snapshot Contest"

A few days ago, the Linden blog announced a Halloween-themed screenshot contest: the "Fab-BOO-lous Snapshot Contest," which offers Linden dollar prizes for the best pictures.

All over the grid, regions decorate, put together trick-or-treat style hunts, blast some chilling tunes for your move your avatar bones to, and generally run amok in the undeniable excitement of Halloween. We couldn’t be left out of the spooky shenanigans, so there’s a few official events you won’t want to miss out on.

Along with this year’s upcoming Creepy Crawl, there’s a chance you could win one of four amazing prizes for your Halloween-themed snapshots! That’s right, take pics - enter the contest, and potentially win Linden dollars! The 2015 Second Life Fa-BOO-lous Snapshot Contest starts today! Head over to the contest category of the forums to read the rules and start sharing your ghoulish, glam, gorgeous, and ghastly snaps.

The contest goes on from now to Thursday November 12. There are four cash prizes, 1000L for fourth place, 3000L for third, 5000L for second, and 10,000 Linden dollars (about $40 USD) for first place.

To read the rules, Click Here.

Image from Maia Athena.

Cartoon of the Day

Taken at Burn2. Who knows what the reason was for why this guy wearing such a girly outfit, but it's fun to guess why. ;-)

By Bixyl Shuftan

Luskwood's Twelfth Anniversary

Somewhat overshadowed by the opening of Burn2 and Making Strides' "How BraZaar," Saturday October 17 was also the official birthday celebration of the Luskwood community. It was twelve years ago that the group behind Second Life's oldest active social spot on the grid came to be, forming the first and most recognized of the many furry communities in Second Life. So they got together for a celebration, with a series of music events in three locations in their area.

Read more in Events.

Press Release: Darkwood Castle Turns Five

Editor's Note: Darkwood Castle is an adult-themed roleplay area, with graphic details such as torture and violent death. so prepare yourself for blood if you head here.

DC5B - Darkwood Castle is 5 Years Old

It all started with a small dungeon, which was initially set up as a skybox. Over the past five years, Darkwood Castle has expanded to cover a whole sim,  offering a home to enthusiasts of a special type of role play.

Using the maxim: "5 years of Darkwood Castle - 5 Days Party" we would love to celebrate with the whole SL community! We have rented an additional area on which the event will take place from 21st - 25th October inclusive. This will allow us to showcase some of the historical developments which have led to the Darkwood of today.

There is a varied program, including the following:

▷ Dream, be amazed and chill out at the Darkwood Stage when famous live musicians (including Cyberpiper, Clyde Barrow, Aminius Writer and others) will entertain you;

▷ Dance on the Bunker Stage to an eclectic mix of some of SLs best and most original DJs;

▷ Listen, question and be informed during gripping talks and lectures in the Auditorium;

▷ Watch and experience first hand the two-hour RP-show "The Darkwood Games":

▷ Discover new things in the exhibition, presenting the latest developments by developers of Adult-RP accessories;

▷ Reminisce on the History Walk, experiencing some essential stages in the development of Darkwood Castle;

▷ Enjoy art with in a exhibition of paintings;

▷ Enjoy the DC5B gifts.

Take a peek for yourself, the entire program for the five days is attached!

So!, October 21st - 25th, don't forget! We look forward to greeting you! Bring your friends!
There's more information in the Welcome Area of the DC5B Festival region, or just ask one of the DC5B staff, wearing their red T-shirts.

See you there!

Devils Cave (105, 131 23)

T1 Trader's "Time Machine" at "How BraZaar"

On Saturday October 17 the "How BraZaar" event, part of the "Making Strides" breast cancer fundraising season, began, offering music and shopping, the sales of the later and the kiosk donations of the former going to fund breast cancer research. On Sunday October 18 at 5PM, Trader Whiplash took to the stage at the Strides 2 sim with his "Time Machine."

Travel With T1Radio's Trader Whiplash back to The 60s! The Decade that changed the Face of Music.. Come On!  You Know The Words! Sing Along and Dance to the All The Hits! Don't Miss the *Time Machine Countdown* Spotlighting the TOP TEN Songs on this date in 1967

There were numerous pink gowns and a few pinkish tuxedos, as well as DJ Madonna's  pink rubber suit and one pink Gorean freewoman, out on the dance floor. But what brought the proverbial house down was when Fuzzball Ortega showed up, "Oh, pink. Hang on."

He was sporting his famous "The Hair." but with a twist, "Okay, pink." "It's 'The Hair!' " "Ohh noooooo! It is the PINK HAIR!" Trader Whiplash at the end of one tune, responded by putting on a certain song, of which the title escapes this reporter, but remembers the line "stranger and stranger." Fuzzball quipped, "Hey, you played that on purpose!" The response was laughter, "Anyone strange around?" "Is Fuzz wearing 'The Hair?'" "Yes, and it's PINK!" "The Hair is Hair-larious! (giggles)"

The event would go on past 7PM SL time, and raise more than 13,000 Lindens.

"How BraZaar" goes on to Sunday October 25th. Tomorrow, Stinna Celt plays at 1PM, DJ Awesum at 5PM, and at 7PM is "The Vinnie Show." Later in the week, Jaycat and Frogg will play at 1PM on Saturday October 24.

*Addition* After more web searching, I finally found the song: "People are Strange."

Bixyl Shuftan

A Busy Weekend

It was quite a weekend in Second Life, as well as the InWorldz grid. Saturday was the start of the yearly Burn2 festival. But that wasn't all that was going on. Luskwood, Second Life's oldest active community, would hold it's twelfth anniversary celebrations. The "Making Strides" breast cancer fundraiser would hold some events. The InWorldz grid would hold it's Relay for Life Weekend, raising much money for the American Cancer Society.

There will be more about these events later. But for now, it is time for rest and real-life work. We'll get to these events, and more, as soon as we can.

Press Release: Call For Merchants For The Fifth Annual SL Christmas Expo

Calling All Second Life Merchants..  The Fifth Annual SL Christmas Expo Is Waiting For You!
The Largest Holiday Shopping Event in Virtual Worlds Supports the American Cancer Society's Relay For Life of Second Life
_____
The Relay For Life of Second Life would like invite you to become part of the 5th Annual SL Christmas Expo, December 3 - 14, 2015.

The Expo is a holiday tradition, the largest Holiday Shopping Event in virtual worlds and supports  the American Cancer Society's Relay For Life of Second Life.

The theme for this year is " A Frozen Christmas".  Our four regions will be transformed into a Winter Wonderland with stores and entertainment venues carved from ice.  Snow crunching underfoot, Christmas Carols filling the air and Expo-goers wandering through the shops of Second Life's finest merchants.  Add Gachas, auctions, raffles, hunts, ice skating, snowman building and Christmas Tree Shopping to the mix and you have the recipe for the perfect Holiday Shopping Setting! Oh and let's not forget Santa Claus!   All that’s needed is YOU!

Merchants can choose from 5 different Shoppe Packages from 125m square (with 50 prims) to 1600m sq. and 700 prims. You can also select indoor or outdoor locations.  Some sizes and locations are limited so act quickly.

I'm In!  What's Required of Me?
The Christmas Expo Is a Fundraising Event and as such we do require all participants to support Relay For Life.  You will be required to
  •    Pay A Registration Fee
 •    Create One (1) New and Exclusive item for 100% Donation to Relay For Life
 •    Use ONLY Relay For Life shared revenue vendors* (provided with your Welcome Kit)

       You can mix the percentage donated from each item and can choose between 50%, 75% or 100% by selecting the  preset value of each vendor and the item(s) for sale. NO OTHER VENDORS OR SALES WILL BE PERMITTED

 •    Make a donation to at least one Special Event, i.e.:
     o    Hunt For The Bells (Gift Item)
     o    Raffles or Silent Auctions ( Valuable Gifts or Gift Certificates)
     o    Christmas Tree Lot ( Limited Edition or Designer Christmas Tree)
     o    Holiday Of Hope Ball Door Prize Raffle   (Gift Certificates strongly recommended)
     o    Gacha Gallery (Gift Item)
     o    Naughty or Nice  (Novelty Gift)

•    Read and Agree to Comply with All Expo and Relay For Life Guidelines https://slchristmasexpo.wordpress.com/guidelines-2/

 Please visit Expo Shop Registration  https://slchristmasexpo.wordpress.com/expo-shop-registration/   for more information and to register as an SL Christmas Expo Merchant

 BUT WAIT!   BREEDABLES!!!
In addition to all our shops, venues and entertainment we've got Breedables too! This year  Breedable Merchants will be integrated into our Expo shoppes and stores.  As with all merchants Breedable Packages must use Relay For Life shared revenue vendors.
For Special Breedable guidelines please visit: https://slchristmasexpo.wordpress.com/guidelines-2/breedables-merchant-guidelines/

 The Christmas Expo staff looks forward to seeing you this December, both old friends and new merchants.  Christmas Expo provides you with the perfect holiday sales opportunity combined with the means to support the largest annual virtual fundraising event.  Don't miss the chance to take part in a Second Life Tradition!  Act quickly as space is limited.

 Each person who shares the Relay For Life experience can take pride in knowing that they are working to create a world where the disease will no longer threaten our loved ones or rob anyone of another birthday. Thank you for sharing your skills, talent, creativity and just plain ol hard work with RFL of SL and jumping onboard this amazing, historical Fight Against Cancer!

For more information, contact Nula Maracas: nuala.maracas@gmail.com

Happy Holidays from the Christmas Expo Staff!
*****************************************************************************

ZZ Studios Moves and Reopens

For the second time in a little more than a year, ZZ Studios, whose owner Cindy "Zig Zag" Babii we interviewed in 2011, has once again moved. In October 2011, the adult media outlet and club moved to the Static Nightclub sim, which would soon be renamed after the venue. It would stay there for three years until moving in August 2014. And now once again, they've relocated to a city block in the Sheridan sim

Well, we had to move and rebuild...and are still rebuilding, but...Club is open and office is open and soon wifi cafe and other things!  So those of you wanting the new location...   HERE!  Now get down here and hang out, enjoy!

For October, the venue plans "Terror Tuesdays" and have plans for a car show around Halloween.

Sheridan (64, 145, 2500)

Cartoon of the Day

From Luskwood's Twelfth Birthday. Being dead isn't fun. You'd need magic just to think, let along stand, walk, feel the emotions that would otherwise be powered by glands, etc. But at least bad smells aren't really a worry.

By Bixyl Shuftan

SL Video: "Dido (Life For Rent)"

(Click here if the video fails to play)

From Fernando FM on April 2009, "I just wanted to have a video with this beautiful song so I took some Second Life videos and pictures that I already had on the computer and put them together. The video scenes are supposed to match the lyrics and the 'slide shows' are just some of the places that I've visited and some of the avatars that I've met during the time I spent on SL."

Press Day at Burn2 "Carnival of Mirrors"

Tomorrow is the official start of Burn2, the largest yearly art and music festival in Second Life. Today was Press Day there, and the media got an early peek at the show. Among them was Second Life Newser's Gemma Cleanslate.  She took a look around the six sims of this year's Burn, the theme being "Carnival of Mirrors." So what did she find?

Read Gemma's sneak peek in Events.

Halloween Haunts: "Rock and Shock" and "Deadman's Island"

This Halloween month, Second Life Newser will be taking a look at some spooky places set up for the residents to get a scare from. Today, we look at two: "Halloween Rock and Shock" at Rebel Yell Concerts and "Deadman's Island Haunted Sim" at Mystical Island. "Rock and Shock" had the more visitors, but both had their share of frights.

Read more in Places.

Announcement: Mail-Clockworks Sought for UCPS Steampunk Roleplay

Are you ready to do what it takes to give people faith in the mail?

Are you of a most steady and sure make and model?

Are you good with a side-arm (if you have them) or front arms (if you have no side-arms)?  Do you have arms?  If not, care’ying the mail may be hard.  You may want an other line of work.

If you are a fan of steampunk, role-play, and civil service, the UCPS now seeks workers to staff its post office branches in New Babbage and Mar’kesh.  Please send a note to the Post-Mistress of the UCPS showing you have an int’rest in playing a clockwork mail servant – or that you have questions about doing so.

You are welcome to discuss this further with Nika.  Working with her, you will create a clockwork mail-servant, complete with backstory, purpose – and your own clockwork key.  You will work with Nika to spearhead new and wondrous ways to serve the Steamlands of Second Life – and to improve roleplay for one and all.

To learn more about Nika and the UCPS, please visit http://werksfromtheironroad.com – or just drop her a note.  Thank you for your time – but it’s time to run.  After all, the mail never sleeps, and neither do we.

To inspect the three offices that are now being built are attached below -

The UCPS Head Office:
Ravenwood Forest (70, 246, 25)

The UCPS Branch Office - Mar'kesh:
Mondrago (191, 167, 24)

The UCPS Branch Office, New Babbage:􀀁
Academy of Industry (193, 145, 111)

Work on both branch office structures is slated to be complete on October 18, 2015.

Press Release: Making Strides "How BraZaar"

This year there will be a "How BraZaar?!" Extravaganza beginning on Saturday, Oct 17 and going through the 2015 Making Strides Walk on Sunday, Oct 25. This event will be held on ACS Island and 3 adjacent sims- Strides 1, Strides 2, and Strides 3. The sims will not be open to the public until Saturday, Oct 17, around 3 am SLT.

How BraZaar?! - One whole week of shopping goodness, Man Up, Bling Your Bra, awareness, and lots more! Currently accepting donations for Silent and Live auction items.

Here is a file showing the dates and times of the performances. Please check it frequently because the line-up could change due to circumstances beyond our control. I am also including all of the textures for the event entertainment as well. (as of right now)

Of note, there will be 2 special events- Oct 23 will be a ManUp! event from 5 - 8 pm and Oct 24 will be Bling My Bra. Please see the attached textures or the website for more information about either of these.

On Sunday, Oct 25, the Making Strides Walk will go from 12 - 8 pm SLT. People are invited to register to walk the special Strides track that will circle the 4 sims. Registration is now open here. Everyone is welcome!! One lap or as many as you can, Sign up!!!  Help us take Strides Against Breast Cancer in SL!

Also, In the same spirit of luminaria, there will be beautiful pink trees that can be yours for a L$300 donation at the Making Strides Across Second Life event. When you dedicate a tree, it becomes yours! You'll be able to take it after the event. Thank you to Kriss Lehman for donating these trees to our event! (see picture attached)

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions. I will be sending out updates as I receive them. I am also including the Sponsorship information. This is for shops at the How BraZaar events. There are still some available.

Thank you once again for all of your support of Making Strides Against Breast Cancer in Second Life.

Post-Relay Sunbeamer Meeting

On Saturday March 10, Rita Mariner, the leader of the Sunbeamer team, held a meeting to discuss what worked and what didn't this year, and things the team could do for the 2016 season. Another air show and concert were suggested. Other ideas included a Fantasy Ren-Faire, and a "Bid-Me" event or two.

Relay For Life in InWorldz

With "Making Strides" taking place in Second Life, it's easy to miss another Relay for Life event going on: the Relay for Life fundraising season in the InWorldz grid.  This year, their theme is, "Our Community of Hope."

This Saturday October 17 is the main event of the season. At 8AM is the "Warm-Up" party. At 9AM, the Opening Celebrations take place. The event goes on until 9PM Pacific time.

Wildstar Beaumont recently came up with a photo catalog of screenshots of the Relay track to give some hints of what will be around on the course this weekend.

"Go Relay!"

Press Release: "Making Strides" Think Pink Thursday

It is time again for Think Pink Thursday. This week, Oct 15, the clothing item highlighted is: HATS

To promote the awareness of breast cancer throughout Second Life, we are encouraging all users to proudly show a piece of pink clothing on their avatars, starting October 1st! Each week will have a different piece of clothing to be featured as pink. You can make your own pink clothing, or you can purchase from the Vendors at ACS Island!

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/American%20Cancer%20Society/192/51/25

**The Hat vendor will be available around midday (maybe earlier) at the Strides office. All of the past weeks items are available for purchase at the Strides office. Sizes available are- men's, women's, child and petites.

Keep sending to the pictures of you and your friends (full perm) in pink to  Rowena Dubrovna! At the end of the season, a photo album and slide show will be presented!! Join us today!!

This week's events are:

Committee event:

Thursday, October 15th- HATS

MSABC Committee Presents Rockin' Legends

hosted by  LEGENDS Classic Rock & T1Radio - Anultra Cay

Nuala Maracas from 5-7

BEST IN PINK CONTEST

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Arinultra%20Cay/204/18/28

*Hat vendors will be set up here to purchase the special Think Pink hat!

Non-Committee:

Wheelies-

10am-2pm

Contact Ned Heartsdale

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Treefoot/129/129/30

Cartoon of the Day

From Deadman's Island Haunted Sim

By Bixyl Shuftan

Press Release: Bay City Becomes "Hay City"

BAY CITY, SL (12th October, 2015) - Bay City is hosting its fifth annual Hallowe'en Hay Maze in the Bay City Fairgrounds in the North Channel Region. The space will welcome people from all over the grid to explore a traditional autumn hay maze filled with critters and spooky effects.

The Hay Maze was built by Marianne McCann, with landscaping by Pygar Bu and assistance from Kriss Lehmann of Botanical and the Linden Department of Public works, Enjoy a fun, spooky trek through the maze, and avoid the ghosts, rats, and giant spiders along the way!

After completing the maze, Bay City also welcome you to check out a couple of our permanent locations with a scary flair: the Channel Island Asylum and the Falmouth Hotel. You'll find signs pointing the way after you exit the maze.

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 group for Residents of Bay City.

For more information, or to participate in the event, please contact Marianne McCann.

Destination Guide Link:
http://secondlife.com/destination/bay-city-halloween-hay-maze-2015

North Channel (128, 124, 24)