Tuesday, February 28, 2023

Events This Week at the Sunweaver and Montecito Bay Clubs, The Fallout Shelter, and Furry Fashion Lounge

 
Here's what's going on at the Sunweaver and Montecito Bay clubs, The Fallout Shelter, and the Furry Fashion Lounge.

Club Cutlass: Trains, Wild Hair, Cute and Fluffy, Disco

Happy Vixen: Black and Gold, Cartoons and Anime, CAYA, Country, Madkatt, Game Characters, Dark, Cute and Sexy

Club Zero Gravity: TBA

Bouncing Bunny Beach Club: Classic TV Shows, TBA

Xanadu: DJ Jesse

Club Squeaks: DJ Squeaks (On vacation)
 
Montecito Bay:  CAYA, After Dark

Furry Fashion Lounge:  Video Games, Ferals, CAYA, Creepy Vs Cute, Fantasy, Late Night, Blue
 
Deathlands Fallout Shelter:  DJ Bonnie, DJ Wolfy

Read the schedules in SL Clubbin'
 

Press Release: HFOT March 2023 Benefit

 
 
 Frets Nirvana and US Military Veterans Group announce 2023’s March benefit for Homes For Our Troops in Second Life for March 1,2023!  

Frets Nirvana, longtime supporter and contact for Homes For Our Troops in Second Life in conjunction with the US Military Veterans Group, announces the March 2023 benefit for the Veterans Support Organization Home For Our Troops at Veteran’s Isle .

Frets Nirvana states:  “HFOT is a privately funded 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization building specially adapted, mortgage-free homes nationwide for the most severely injured Veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan. Most of these Veterans are multiple amputees, paraplegic, quadriplegic or suffered severe traumatic brain injury (TBI).  Since its inception in 2004, nearly 90 cents of every dollar spent by Homes for Our Troop has gone to directly support Veterans. DURING THAT TIME HFOT HAS BUILT 352 SPECIALLY ADAPTED HOMES NATIONWIDE FOR EXTREMELY INJURED VETERANS.”

Home for Our Troops benefit concerts feature premier Second Life talent monthly at Veteran’s Isle. The March 1 concert for 2023 is scheduled from 4-9 pm PST.  Featured artists will be DJ Zack221 Friller, Austin Moores, Marqs Desade, Mavenn and Hogan Baily..

Sponsored by Frets Nirvana and the U.S. Military Veteran’s Group of Second Life.  To learn more about Homes for Our Troops visit https://www.hfotusa.org
 

Monday, February 27, 2023

The "Love Train" And "Hug A Linden/Dunk A Linden/Spank A Linden"

 
Valentines Day in Second Life has a number of events, including the one that the Lab has had for several years: "Hug A Linden/Dunk A Linden." But this time was a little different. They also had the "Love Train" event on the tracks of western Bellisseria. And Hug & Dunk A Linden had a special, and unplanned, twist as well
 
Read more in Events.
 
 

"Monday With The Roos" And The "Moon Dance"

 
 
 Last week was the start of two weekly multiteam Relay for Life events by two noted teams. Monday February 20 had the first "Monday With The Roos" fundraiser, high above the Lilith sim

Come help us Float for Hope aboard the Roos' DreamBoat for our 5th season of Monday dance parties. We'll have tunes by DJ Kayla and Dancemaster Ren will be dancing us.

Dress for getting wet in case you fall overboard.

As usual we will put out a kiosk for every team represented.
 
 
The event raised quite an amount of Lindens for several teams. It takes place again today and every 
 Monday from 6:30-8pm slt at Lilith (221/210/705) .
 

Thursday February 23 would be the first of Team Sunbeamers weekly event, the "Moon Dance."

A benefit for the American Cancer Society! The dance starts at 6PM SLT goes to 8PM SLT every Thursday starting Feb 23th and runs through June 8th. You arrive at Sunweaver Space and grab a seat in the Columbiad Moon Cannon to be shot to the moon. There once you land on the lunar surface a kiosk in your team's name will be planted and dance a celebration of your moon landing with other teams. Tunes provided by a Live DJ who is not taking tips! Wants you to tip the kiosk instead.  Come rep your team.
 
 
 Cynthia Farshore would DJ for the event, which had people taking a cannon up to the Lunar surface, which had a few dancing aliens, an accident involving a rover and a hapless redshirt, and a moonshine still. Cynthia would later tell me 11 teams were represented at the event, with about 30 people present. A total of 21,206 Linden dollars had been raised.


The Moon Dance takes place again on Thursday March 2, and every Thursday thereafter until just before Relay Weekend, with the launch cannon at Sunweaver Space (108/113/50).
 
Go Roos! Go Sunbeamers! Go Relay!

Bixyl Shuftan

RFL Team Totals: TAP Makes Diamond

 
Less than ten days after the start of the Relay for Life in Second Life's fundraising season, already there's a Diamond-ranked team, one that's raised 1,750,000 Linden dollars, or $7000 USD. This would be TAP - The Adult Partnership, which has gotten over 1,770,000 as of yesterday.



There's one Sapphire-ranked team, Seekers of Hope, at over 904,000 Lindens. Third is Camping for a Cure, who is Jade-ranked at over 591,000 Lindens. Rounding out the top five are two Platinum-ranked teams, One More Light at over 463,000 Lindens and the Sunbeamers at almost 388,000 Linden dollars. 

Checking the team totals, there is one difference between this year and some previous years. Every single team has raised some cash, the lowest having gotten 100 L. But with the combined efforts of 122 teams, well, that's a lot of Lindens.

Go Relay!

Announcement: This Week at the Seanchai Libraries

 
THIS WEEK: We roll into March this week (where has Jan-Feb gone?) and stories are blossoming! Join us for a week of storied adventures, live!
 
Check out the stories and the storytellers! 

All events at Nowhereville (203/43/26) , unless otherwise noted.

Stories told in open voice unless otherwise noted. All times SL/PT
 
 --------->> COMING THIS WEEK
 
 **MONDAY, February 27th at 7pm: Phillip Pullman 's THE GOLDEN COMPASS continues with Gyro Muggins
    
**TUESDAY, February 28th:

   ~ at Noon: RUSSELL EPONYM, Live in The Glen! http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Nowhereville/194/131/21

   ~ at 7pm: Juneau Black's COLD CLAY Concludes with Faerie Maven-Pralou

                   
**WEDNESDAY, March 1st, 7-8:30 pm: SEANCHAI FLICKS - Join us in our cinema space as we share video adventures and throw popcorn at each other.. http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Nowhereville/211/111/654


**THURSDAY, March 2nd at 7pm: More Selections from Mary Stewart's THE CRYSTAL CAVE with Caledonia Skytower


***
 

Sunday, February 26, 2023

Cartoon of the Day: "Help, I've Fallen ..."

 
 
 Taken at Club Squeaks. Someone was doing the "Wheeeeeeeeeee!" gesture, sliding on the floor. I caught him on camera, and my imagination came up with the caption.

By Bixyl Shuftan

 

Saturday, February 25, 2023

Friday, February 24, 2023

Kaleidoscope

 
Insects often are disliked by people, but most like butterflies. There's a wilderness area with plenty of them: Kaleidoscope. Here, one can see plenty of Monarch butterflies and learn a little more about them. Gemma Cleanslate writes about this place by Spark and Raven Banrion Kray.
 
Read Gemma's article in Places.  

"Dreamer's Virtual World" Blog Taken Down

 
For those readers who check up occasionally on "Dreamer's Virtual Blog," written and owned by Dreamer Pixelmaid, they've noticed a problem. That blog is not currently up.
 
Dreamer didn't take it down. Nor has she left Second Life. She's still around and I had a few words with her the other day in Bellisseria chat. The problem it seems is with Google, who owns blogspot. They took it down.
 
 When I asked her when this happened, Dreamer answered, "February 15th. It's all in that post. I had my blog for 13+ years. I've always had my blogs with Blogger, since they started, and never had any problems. ... I got an email saying that my blog had been removed and blocked because it had been reported for SPAM, and if I didn't agree, I could click a link to ask for a review. I did that on the same day they sent me the email, (on) Feb. 15th. Still waiting." 
Dreamer would also explain the problem on her "notice board." 
 
On February 15th, Dreamer's Virtual World was locked by Blogger. My blog was reported for SPAM. No idea why as I didn't have any ads or anything "spammy" in my blog, but Blogger / Google removes first and checks later. The problem is everything is automated so you cannot talk to a human being. Also, I have a free account so they are in no hurry. There's nothing else I can do but wait.  
 
I don't have access to my blog so I cannot move it to another platform. I don't get money from blogging. I created and maintain my blog to share information and help as many people as I can. I spent so much time and energy, I'm not going to lie, the whole thing has been very upsetting and I'm heartbroken. 

For now, anyone wishing to access her blog can do so through the "Wayback Machine." She also has a Discord server, "Dreamer's SL," and an inworld group, Dreamer's Second Life (Tips&Gifts). As to when her blog will resume, for now all we can do is say it might be tomorrow, next week, next month, or possibly longer.

Stay tuned for further details

Bixyl Shuftan

Announcement: Mardi Gras in New Toulouse

 
 
 Mardi Gras 2023

with

DJ Tabasco "Tabs" Nootan
 
Saturday, 25 February
12 Noon - 2PM SL time
 

This Saturday at The Science Circle

 
 
Saturday, February 25
 
    ~*~
    
    At 10 AM PST   

    An Astrophysical and Geological Analysis of the Middlesboro, Kentucky, USA Asteroid Crater
    By Dr. William Schmachtenberg – Dae Miami
    https://www.sciencecircle.org/event/asteroid-crater/
    Auditorium
 
   The Science Circle (72,129,30)
      
    ~*~
 
    At 9 PM PST   

    Moonbase Brainstorm Session
    By Jes Stannard
    https://www.sciencecircle.org/event/moonbase-brainstorm/
 
   The Science Circle (72,129,30)
 
    ~*~
    
    NOTE: Non-members required to register once
    IM Jes Cobalt or Nymf Hathaway

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

Thursday, February 23, 2023

Fundraisers For Earthquake Relief

 
 
 The earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria on February 6 was a truly devastating one. Registering 7.8 on the Richter scale, over 50,000 have been confirmed dead, mostly in Turkey. Shoddy building construction appears to be the major factor in why the death count has been so high. But this is just part of the problem. Thousands remain homeless, and there are medical worries as cold temperatures and lack of housing and food often result in disease.
 
Doctors Without Borders set up a donation area in TONE2 in the Ever Ever Land sim. Head onto Ever Ever Land (101/216/22) and donate what you like.
 
 
A few days ago, Mia Wallace of Burners Without Borders pointed out a fundraising party. This was at Orginia at Happy Clam Island. It was at late Saturday night February 18. 

Awesome initiative!!....BWBSL supports this event!!>> Two hours of music from Turkish & Syrian producers & artists who create the music we dance to. All tips will be donated for earthquake relief to the Red Cross/Red Crescent & Doctors Without Borders. Bring your friends (& your lindens)

It was quite an enthusiastic event, and another example of helping out people around the world in real life through this virtual world.

Bixyl Shuftan

Announcement: "Stand With Ukraine" by Theatre on The Hill

 

We all know what happened on February 24, 2022. The Russian Federation invaded Ukraine and war has been raging in that country ever since. After 12 months of suffering, this country bravely stands up to the aggressor and defends the values that we understand as freedom and democracy. On this anniversary, "Theatre on the Hill" would like to present a special solidarity show with very beautiful Ukrainian and international songs in honor of the Ukrainian people.

There is also an opportunity to donate L$ to the benefit of suffering people during the show.

The show takes place on 02/24/2023 at 01:00pm SLT.

And here is the cab:

 

Wednesday, February 22, 2023

Rare Disease Day

 
Some illnesses such as Covid and cancer frequently make the news. But some others hardly ever do if ever as only a relatively small number of people, one in 1500 or less, have the malady and the people often suffer in silence. There's been an effort to raise awareness to them, Rare Disease Day. In this article, Serenity Kitty discusses the day and why it's held, noting a discussion at the Community Virtual Library.

Read Serenity's story in Events.
 

Crew Meeting

 
 
 On Saturday February 18, the SL Newser held a crew meeting at it's office in HV Community at Noon. Present from left to right were Serenity Kitty, Gemma Cleanslate, Bixyl Shuftan, and Dancerina Starlight. Serenity was an invited guest who recently did a reader submission and asked about possibly writing more.
 
We talked about a number of subjects from the Relay for Life, which had recently started it's official season, to the canceled One Billion Rising, to Virtual Ability, to Black History Month, and more.  

RFL Announcement: Sunbeamer Moon Dance - BYOK*

 

 A benefit for the American Cancer Society! The dance starts at 6PM SLT goes to 8PM SLT every Thursday starting Feb 23th and runs through June 8th. You arrive at Sunweaver Space and grab a seat in the Columbiad Moon Cannon to be shot to the moon. There once you land on the lunar surface a kiosk in your team's name will be planted and dance a celebration of your moon landing with other teams. Tunes provided by a Live DJ who is not taking tips! Wants you to tip the kiosk instead.  Come rep your team.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Sunweaver%20Space/108/113/50

*(Bring Your Own Kiosk) but don't worry we'll put it out for you
 

Tuesday, February 21, 2023

Reader Submitted: It's Only A Pixel Moon (My Time With Areal Loonie)

 
Some longtime readers may remember Areal Loonie, who stood out in his furry bat avatar, in various events such as Luskwood. Inworld since 2005, he was in a number of building and scripting groups. Sadly, Ariel has died. He passed away on February 2.
 
In this reader submission, DrFran Babcock looks at her time with this unique character, both in Second Life and other virtual worlds, which had some happy moments, and sad.

Read DrFran's story in People
 

Events This Week at the Sunweaver and Montecito Bay Clubs, The Fallout Shelter, and Furry Fashion Lounge

 
Here's what's going on at the Sunweaver and Montecito Bay clubs, The Fallout Shelter, and the Furry Fashion Lounge.

Club Cutlass: School Days, Fancy Dress, Wild and Domesticated, The Sky's The Limit

Happy Vixen: Black and Gold, Cartoons and Anime, CAYA, Country, Madkatt, Game Characters, Dark, Cute and Sexy

Club Zero Gravity: TBA

Bouncing Bunny Beach Club: Classic TV Shows, TBA

Xanadu: DJ Jesse "Hop to It"

Club Squeaks: DJ Squeaks (On vacation)
 
Montecito Bay:  CAYA, After Dark

Furry Fashion Lounge:  Wings, Purple, CAYA, Pink, Under the Sea, Late Night, Canines vs Felines
 
Deathlands Fallout Shelter:  DJ Bonnie, DJ Wolfy

Read the schedules in SL Clubbin'
 

Announcement: Pancake Race 2023

 
Tuesday February 21, 5 to 6 PM

Join us in New Babbage for Pancake days Pancake Tossing Race! For kids and adults to participate with the chance to win the coveted Pancake Race trophy!

Location to be confirmed!
 
 
 

Announcement: RFL Fashion Faie

 
 
When: Sat, February 18, 8:00am – Sun, February 26, 11:59pm

Where: SkyBeam Castaway
 
The third annual Fashion Fair event showcases Fashion & Beauty designers from across the grid. All are invited to join us for 9 days of shopping and entertainment.
There will be a Fashion Show on Saturday, Feb 25, highlighting some of the items for sale during the event.
There will also be special raffles for visitors to join.
All proceeds go directly to Relay For Life and the American Cancer Society.

Team: Seekers of Hope

SLURL:
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/SkyBeam%20Castaway/128/128/2
 

Monday, February 20, 2023

The Relay Season Begins

 
From Youtube
 
 On Saturday February 18, the official Relay in Life in Second Life's official fundraising season began. The "Kickoff" event officially started at 10 AM at the American Cancer Society 2 sim. But people had been arriving early to the point the 100 avatar capacity sim was filled up about an hour before. So yours truly had to wait a while before getting in.


There was a lot of excitement in the air. Unfortunately, there was a lot of lag. So my own screenshots of the crowd and some of the Committee were cloudy, and had to take these off the Youtube of the event



There were a few events after the Kickoff elsewhere, such as a fashion show. But some stuck around and had an impromptu party.


Within 24 hours of the event, five teams had raised a quarter million Linden dollars or more, Platinum level, thanks to some off-season fundraising or extra-generous donors. First was the "Free Spirit Hippie Brigade" with 375,000 L, or $1500 USD. Second were the Sunbeamers with 345,000 L. Third was TAP (The Adult Partnership) with over 312,000L. One More Light was fourth with 269,000. And fifth were the Steelhead Salmons with 250,000 Linden dollars.

One can keep track of the team fundraising levels here (link). By now, two more teams have risen up to Platinum, Team ES and Seekers of Hope. Team ACTS isn't too far behind at Gold status with 224,000 L. Two longtime teams, Relay Rockers and Purple Tears, are at Silver. And four more noted ones, the Cure Chasers, Burners Without Borders, Roos With a Dream, and the Second Life Cheerleading Squad, are at Bronze. But they should catch up fast.

Go Relay!

Bixyl Shuftan
 

Announcement: This Week at the Seanchai Libraries

 
THIS WEEK: a new Sci-Fi series, Cold Clay & Crystal Cave continue, and Seanchai Late NIght. Join us for a week of storied adventures, live!
 
Check out the stories and the storytellers! 

All events at Nowhereville (203/43/26) , unless otherwise noted.

Stories told in open voice unless otherwise noted. All times SL/PT
 
 --------->> COMING THIS WEEK
 
 **MONDAY, February 20th at 7pm: Phillip Pullman 's THE GOLDEN COMPASS with Gyro Muggins
    
**TUESDAY, February 21st:

   ~ at Noon: RUSSELL EPONYM, Live in The Glen! (There's a rumor that he's returned from his trip -- will he be back in The Glen? One way to find out) http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Nowhereville/194/131/21

   ~ at 7pm: Juneau Black's COLD CLAY Continues with Faerie Maven-Pralou

                   
**WEDNESDAY, February 22nd, 7-8:30 pm: SEANCHAI FLICKS - Join us in our cinema space as we share video adventures and throw popcorn at each other.. http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Nowhereville/211/111/654


**THURSDAY, February 23rd:

    ~ at 7pm: More Selections from Mary Stewart's THE CRYSTAL CAVE with Caledonia Skytower

   ~ at 9pm: SEANCHAI LATE NIGHT with Finn Zeddmore


***

Sunday, February 19, 2023

Cartoon of The Day: "Help, I've Fallen ..."

 
 
 Taken at Club Squeaks. I had another idea for a cartoon, but this time posted the picture on DJ Squeaks' Discord page. Brandi Streusel gave me the idea for the dialogue here.

By Bixyl Shuftan
 

Wedding Bells

 
 
 On Thursday February 16, Chuul.King (ChuulKing Resident) and Sophitia.Queen (SophitiaEqui Resident) exchanged vows at a virtual wedding. While the Newser has covered weddings before, it's uncommon that the groom is a human and the bride is a furry.
 
Before the event, the groomsmen and bridesmaids were in separate rooms, but still able to talk to one another through extended chat. At one point, one of the girls showed the others a picture of the five of them she had taken, then "Oops, Chuul don't open that! (I) forgot the guys would see it too," her thinking of the tradition of the groom not seeing the bride on the day of the wedding before the ceremony. There were jokes about having Sophita casting kobol magic to make him forget the image. But Chuul responded, "No magic could make me forget you, Love."

The ceremony was conducted by Lance Horsley, "We are here today as the result of the love that Sophi and Chuul have found with each other and this ceremony is the joining together of their two hearts and souls in marriage. ,,, Is there anyone present here that knows of any reason why  Sophi and Chuul may not be joined together in marriage? No? Excellent. Then we will proceed ..."

Lance Horsley: Sophi do you take Chuul to be your lawfully wedded husband? To have and to hold, in sickness and in health, in good times and not so good times, for richer or poorer, keeping yourself unto him for as long as you both shall live?
 
SophitiaEqui Resident: I do.
 
Lance Horsley: And Chuul do you take Sophi to be your lawfully wedded wife? To have and to hold, in sickness and in health, in good times and not so good times, for richer or poorer, keeping yourself unto him for as long as you both shall live?
 
Chuul.King (ChuulKing Resident): I do.

The pair then exchanged rings.

Lance Horsley: Before these witnesses, you have pledged your love and to be joined in marriage. You have now sealed this pledge with your wedding rings. By the authority vested in me, I now pronounce you Husband and Wife. ... Congratulations to you both. Chuul you may now kiss your bride! Ladies and Gentlemen, it is my great pleasure to present to you Mr King and Mrs Queen."

Following the ceremony was the reception, with dancing and dinner. And of course the throwing of the boquet, which was caught by Luna Sakurano (LunaSakurano Resident).

Chuul and Sophita can occasionally be found at Club Cutlass and the Happy Vixen. While Sophita has several avatars, she's best known for her kobold.

Bixyl Shuftan

Saturday, February 18, 2023

Baker Beach "Burn ONe" Event

 
 
 All week, the Burn ONe group has been partying at the New Baker Beach sim. Made up of various musicians and artists, some of whom left Burn2 last year, the sim was created for their events. Starting on Saturday night Feb 11, various Burners and friends were having parties on the beach.

 
 I dropped in on one via my alt Rezz, and the Burners were whooping it up and partying. There would be events most nights over the following week.

Bixyl Shuftan

 

VRChat Video: The Relay For Life Anthem

 
 
 
 Filmed by Wayne Griffiths on January 31, Werefox18 (Mattie Carlton in SL) lipsynics to the Relay for Life Anthem.

The RFL in SL Kickoff takes place today, on American Cancer Society 2

Friday, February 17, 2023

Yosemite's High Sierra


Gemma Cleanslate has an update on one of her favorite areas on the Grid: Yosemite. There's now an addition to the place: High Sierra. Jadin Emerald gave Gemma a preview, and the new region has plenty to offer those who love the outdoors, horseback riding, wilderness trails, cabins to stay in, and more.

Read Gemma's article in Places.

"BonnieBan" Security Device

 
When word about the "Bonniebots" started going around, the response by some was to seek ways to ban them. In the Genesis Viewer group, there was a notice by a Torric Rodas.

Hi chaps, forgive the misappropriation of the group notice...

Several of you have recently asked in group if there is a way to effectively remove BonnieBots the spy bots from your land.

We've designed a device that will do just that.



 The item in question is on Marketplace (here). The page claims, "This product will detect and ban BonnieBots from your land. Depending on how you set it, it will scan the entire region or just a parcel. For multiple parcels place a copy in each parcel. If you have Estate manager access it will scan the entire region." The page gives a number of details, including a land impact of 1 and able to be placed above or below ground. As of the writing of this article, there were no reviews. 

The item is one of fourteen in Torric's London Brand store, including flat cuttouts of Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders, and store and plot and store rentals in London City.
 
Hat tip: Cynthia Farshore
 
Bixyl Shuftan
 

Relay Season Starts Tomorrow

 
 
After months of planning, the Relay for Life in Second Life is about to start it's 2023 fundraising season. This year's theme is "Hope Floats." So expect a lot of boating, and perhaps swimming, underwater, and airship events.
 
 
It all starts tomorrow at the "Kickoff," Saturday February 18, at the American Cancer Society and American Cancer Society 2 sims. The event officially starts at 10 AM SL time (1PM EST), but as it will likely be crowded, it's advised you get there early.

"Go Relay!"

Bixyl Shuftan

This Saturday at The Science Circle

 
Saturday, February 18
 
    ~*~
    
    At 10 AM PST   

    Mathematics Club and Moon Base
    By Robert Hendrix (Tagline Resident),  Natalie Foster (Sumo Itano)
    https://www.sciencecircle.org/event/mc-mb/
    Auditorium
 
   The Science Circle (72,129,30)
      
    ~*~
 
    At 9 PM PST   

    Mathematics Club and Moon Base
    By Robert Hendrix (Tagline Resident), Karthik Prathaban
    https://www.sciencecircle.org/event/mathematics-moon-9/
 
   The Science Circle (72,129,30)
 
    ~*~
    
    NOTE: Non-members required to register once
    IM Jes Cobalt or Nymf Hathaway

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

Thursday, February 16, 2023

Content Creator Xzavia Yifu Has Passed Away

 
The Newser was notified yesterday of the passing of a content creator. Xzavia Yifu, the woman behind Timeless Textures, had passed away on Wednesday February 1. The news came from Mieville's Wyvvy (Wyvvern Dryke)

Xzavia's RL son sent me a message in Discord today.

I am so very sorry, everyone.

Xzavia Yifu passed away IRL on February 1, 2023

She became very ill over Christmas, due to Covid, and was not able to recover.

Wyvvy stated he had placed a donation jar at the Timeless Textures store, for the purpose of helping to build and maintain a memorial.

 Linn Darkwatch would pass the Newser a notecard sent by Xzavia a couple days before her passing. She stated she barely had enough energy to do anything due to Covid, and was seriously thinking of heading to the hospital, "Please keep your fingers crossed for me that this is just long covid making my life hell vs something more serious."
 
Rest in peace,
 
Image Credit: Wyvvy (Wyvvern Dryke)
 
Bixyl Shuftan

Announcement: Univ of Hawaii, Astronomy Presents: "Lunar Geology: The Moon in a Whole New Light"

 
 By Guy Jette
Friday, Feb 17th at 8:30pm PST
Institute for Astronomy - U. Hawaii Astronomy Amphitheater:

And on the web: http://tinyurl.com/ifamaui

Lunar Geology:  The Moon in a Whole New Light Join us as we visit our Moon and delve into its Geology or more accurately its Selenology.  We will look at the formation and mineral composition of our closest neighbor.  How are the Moon's rocks similar to the Earth's and how are they different?  We will examine the geological ages of the moon using time scales and fascinating topographical maps.  How are these ages related to various meteorite/asteroid craters?  What have past lunar missions taught us about our neighbor and what future missions are planned?

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/CUH%20Alliance/64/178/2
 

Wednesday, February 15, 2023

Cartoon of The Day: Cupid's Arrow

 
 
 Taken at Club Squeaks. Looks like Cupid was trying to help a guy, but things didn't go quite as planned.

By Bixyl Shuftan

 

Spank You Very Much, Patch Linden

 
 
Yours truly went to the Love Train and "Hug A Linden/Dunk A Linden" events yesterday, Valentine's Day, and saw a number of things. But what stood out was Patch Linden going a bit beyond the other Lindens and Moles. He got talked into wearing a "spanker." And the result was a number of residents, and a lady Mole giving him some swats that brought the Grid's most famous nezumi to his knees. 

Thanks Patch for giving us residents a few chuckles. 

Sunweaver Railroad Expansion

 
 
 The Sunweaver community's railroad is getting a little larger. When it initially opened, the line went from Pacific Waters, then went through four sims before ending at Sunweaver Bay. This left a few sims untouched by the line. Over time Cynthia Farshore has been working on expansions. Recently, a new station at Sunweaver Eclipse was finished, and then a  combination bridge and tunnel leading from it and the main line.
 

This means that two more sims, SunWaterThree and Sunweaver Eclipse are now part of the rail network in this new northern branch. Cynthia had been trying to finish work on the expansion this month, as with the upcoming Relay for Life season, she'll be quite busy with the fundraisers.

Bixyl Shuftan


Announcement: Important RFL in SL Kickoff Instructions

 
 
For the first time ever, we are going to attempt a live multi-media experience for the RFL of SL Kickoff.

We're excited to use Linden Lab's new feature that allows us to play a video in real-time so that everyone in attendance can watch together.

In order to pull this off with our traditional live radio broadcast, we need your help.

****Saturday, February 18, 2023****
on American Cancer Society 2 Island

KICKOFF CELEBRATION AGENDA
9am SLT: Relay For Life of Second Life Tailgate Party, presented by T1 Radio
9:30am SLT: SL Musican Panel Interview
10am SLT: The Kickoff Ceremony begins
After the Ceremony, stick around for the T1 Radio Kickoff Party that goes until the last person leaves!

What's the SL Musician Panel Interview?
Hear from the SL Musicians who recorded a new cover version of the Jon Christopher Davis Relay For Life theme song before the world premier of their music video. The video will kick start the Ceremony.

********HOW TO PREPARE!********

  1. Arrive early!!
  2. At 9:30am SLT, the YouTube Live stream will begin. This is your queue to:
  3. Activate MEDIA in SL
  4. De-activate Music in SL
  5. Tune in to youtube.com/@relayforlifeofsecondlife on your internet browser

Then, you'll be able to watch/listen on YouTube
OR you can watch in SL while YouTube provides your audio.
The key distinction is that your audio should be provided by the YouTube live stream for the entire ceremony.

If you have questions about how to set up, ask in the ACS SL Discord and someone will be able to help.
Join the Discord server at: https://discord.gg/fFQAyCcfvW

I'm excited to see you there! Let's Relay together!!

Stingray9798 Raymaker

Tuesday, February 14, 2023

Events This Week at the Sunweaver and Montecito Bay Clubs, The Fallout Shelter, and Furry Fashion Lounge

 
Here's what's going on at the Sunweaver and Montecito Bay clubs, The Fallout Shelter, and the Furry Fashion Lounge.

Club Cutlass: Outer Space, Sci-fi, Red White & Pink, Pirates

Happy Vixen: Valentine's Day, Sockhop, Lizards and Wizards, Tails, Madkatt, CAYA, Heaven and Hell, Sheer and Sexy, Party Animals

Club Zero Gravity: TBA

Bouncing Bunny Beach Club: Winter, Predator and Prey

Xanadu: DJ Christine, DJ Jesse

Club Squeaks: DJ Squeaks
 
Montecito Bay:  CAYA, After Dark

Furry Fashion Lounge:  Pajama Party, Bunnies, CAYA, Sexy, Rainbow, Late Night, Purple and Black
 
Deathlands Fallout Shelter:  DJ Bonnie, DJ Wolfy

Read the schedules in SL Clubbin'
 

Valentines Day

 
 
It's Valentine's Day, the day for couples to celebrate for love, and for the single but hopeful to look for a date (and for the permanently single to spent time in shooting game marathons). Be sure to be on the lookout for special events around the grid, such as the "Love Train" at Bellisseria, and the "Hug a Linden/Dunk a Linden" at the Isle of View. Clubs such as the Happy Vixen have themed events today, bu by all means be on the lookout for others.

And be wary of cupids who may want to shoot arrows in your behinds.

EOTB: "Love Made in Second Life - Thundr"

 
 
 Linden Lab, with the help of Draxtor Despress, has been doing a few doing a few "Love Made in Second Life" posts for Valentine's Day season. A few days ago, they had something about the Thundr virtual dating app.

Thundr is a community project created by two friends who have been a part of Second Life since 2007 and wanted to offer a fun, safe, and easy-going dating experience for its Residents.

Since its public launch on February 10th, 2022, Thundr has quickly become a popular choice for virtual daters with almost 7000 activated users and 63000 matches. 

The app is built from scratch, offering unique features such as the ability to chat with gifs and emojis. User privacy and security are top priorities, with filters such as gender and age to help find the right match. In addition to its dating features, Thundr users can also use the app to advertise their businesses and activities with modern video ads. ...

Read the post in it's entirety in the Linden blog.

Monday, February 13, 2023

Reader Submitted: A Replacement for Singularity, Linden Lab Bringing in Chat History

 
I have been using the Singularity Viewer for years as it has the kind of interface I like. However, over the last year or so, it began having problems getting functions to work, finally ending with constantly getting logged off while in the middle of building, causing lots of lost work, especially when it happened while making a new railroad rout. Unfortunately, Singularity is no longer recieving regular updates, and as a matter of fact hasn't in a very long time. So I started a search, and I found the Genisis Viewer (https://genesisviewer.org/).

It has the same interface and performs very well. I also find that it has regular updates, so updated that it is already testing in a Nightly Build, a new function being readied by Linden Lab, Group Chat History!

(https://community.secondlife.com/blogs/entry/12652-coming-soon-to-a-viewer-near-you-group-chat-history/)

What it does is that when you log on and you either open a group chat or it opens when someone types, you get to see the prior conversations up to an hour before you logged in. I'm sure we all have logged on numerous times to see someone say something, leaving you wondering "What in the world have they been talking about?" Well, you will soon have your answer, as all that was spoken before will be displaced in italics. I downloaded the Genisis Nightly Build, sperate from the regular viewer, and test drive it, and YES it works. I can't show you an example because that's busting privacy and Terms of Service, but I'll state that I was seeing all the conversation that took place before up to an hour in any group. This does not apply to your friends but not needed anyway. Right, you already know that.

I'm sure that other viewers will soon follow and have this very useful function included. As for Genesis, it is the perfect replacement for those of us who use Singularity.

Cynthia Farshore

Linden Lab Explains "February 1st Outage"

 
With the scale of the disruptions on Wednesday February 1st, it was likely Linden Lab would find themselves obligated to their customer base, the residents, to try and explain what happened. It turns out they made a statement about the "Recent February 1st Outage" the following day in the "Tools and Technology" section of the official blog. 

This Wednesday, February 1st, was a rocky one for Second Life, especially for regions on our Release Candidate (RC) channels. As with many large-scale services, we experience service interruptions from time to time, but yesterday's problems were unique and noteworthy enough that they deserve a sincere apology and more thorough explanation. 
 
The Lab stated the main cause was "a bug in object inventory behavior that was introduced by new code" saying the bug, "caused some objects' scripts to enter a non-running state."

RC rolls are regularly scheduled for 7AM Pacific (SLT) every Wednesday. While conducting one of these deployments, we received initial reports of issues relating to script behavior at 8:30AM. We immediately started investigating, and by 9AM it was clear that we needed to stop the roll, because the issue was pervasive and clearly related to the new changes. As we do in these situations, we declared an “Incident” and an Incident Commander took charge. 

By 9:30 we started a rollback, reverting the affected simulators to their previous version. We also evaluated what additional actions we would need to take, as it was unclear that a rollback alone would start the scripts which had stopped. This quickly proved to be the case, and we came up with a new plan - one that would ensure that scripts would perform as expected going forward, but possibly undo the changes our residents had been making since the time we had introduced the bug. Although this meant more downtime, it prevented further content loss, and proved to be the best way to put the grid back in order. The team came up with a quick, clean, and efficient way to achieve this and get everyone back on track. 

By 12PM the decision was made to take this direction. By 1:15PM the code was complete, by 1:40PM we confirmed that it worked. By 2:25PM all regions were brought back up.  

The report in full, signed by Grumpity Linden "and the Second Life team," can be found (here).

"I’m grateful to know that while we may make mistakes, we will not sweep them under the rug, nor look for someone to blame - we will come together and make it right."

Announcement: This Week at the Seanchai Libraries

 
THIS WEEK: more Sci-Fi short stories, Words and Music in The Glen, a new Seanchai Flicks series, and Shandon concludes Tristan & Isolde. Join us for a week of storied adventures, live!

Check out the stories and the storytellers! 

All events at Nowhereville (203/43/26) , unless otherwise noted.

Stories told in open voice unless otherwise noted. All times SL/PT
 
 --------->> COMING THIS WEEK

**MONDAY, February 13th at 7pm:  Robin Scott's THE BIG CONNECTION with Gyro Muggins
    
**TUESDAY, February 14th at 7pm: A UNIVERSE OF LOVE - Words & Music with Caledonia Skytower in The Glen.
                   
**WEDNESDAY, February 15th, 7-8:30 pm: SEANCHAI FLICKS - Join us in our cinema space as we share video adventures and throw popcorn at each other..http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Nowhereville/211/111/654

**THURSDAY, February 16th from 7-8:30pm: TRISTAN & ISEULT,  Part the Second with Shandon Loring

***