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Wednesday, January 31, 2024

It Came From Bellisseria Chat: When Stamp Collecting Gets Dangerous

 
 
From Tamarind Silverfall: "Can anyone tell me what this passport stamp from the Dannielles area looks like? I clicked the sign, and it says I got it, but I don't see it in my passport."
 
Maybe a little less attention to the passport until you're away from the shark.
 
"Just when you thought it was safe to go stamp collecting."

Tuesday, January 30, 2024

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

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

Club Cutlass: Cartoon Time, Red Pink and Purple, White

Happy Vixen: TBA, DJ Arooo, DJ Char, DJ Snowy, DJ Mattie, DJ Malit, DJ Khyra

Club Zero Gravity: Aquatic

Bouncing Bunny Beach Club: DJ Snowy

Xanadu: DJ Jesse 

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

Furry Fashion Lounge: Video Games, Disney, Creepy VS Cute, Katturday Nite CAYA, Felines
 
Read the schedules in SL Clubbin'

Announcement: BHM 2024 : You Are Invited: PBC BHM Kickoff 02/04/2024

 
 
Sunday, February 4, 2024
1:00-3:00 PM SLT
Dressy Attire
SLURL: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/PBC/168/83/3001

Entertainment will be provided by DJ LadySqueeze, and DJ Case along with a special dance performance by Dancerina Starlight!

Learn about Black HIstory Month, Black Leaders, The Civil Rights Movement, Inventions, and so much more!!

Black History Month is an annual celebration of achievements by African Americans and a time for recognizing their central role in U.S. history. It is also a time to reflect on the struggles and triumphs of the past and to recognize the ongoing fight for racial justice and equality.

It is celebrated every February in the United States and Canada, while in Ireland and the United Kingdom it is observed in October.

The event grew out of “Negro History Week,” the brainchild of noted historian Carter G. Woodson and other prominent African Americans.

Since 1976, every U.S. president has officially designated the month of February as Black History Month.

The theme for Black History Month 2024 is “African Americans and the Arts”.
The PBC theme for Black HIsotry Month 2024 is "Black History Is American History/ African Americans And The Arts"

Monday, January 29, 2024

SL Video: "Terrain Model of the Bellisseria Continent in Second Life (January 2024)"

 
 

From Eric Mondrain on January 20, "A terrain model I made showing Second Life’s Bellisseria continent in all its topographic glory, with a total of 2,541 regions as of January 20, 2024 (counting “Sandbox Bellisseria” and the Welcome Hub regions as well, just for good measure). [https://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Lind...] I gathered each region’s elevation data at half-meter X and Y intervals using an interconnected set of LSL scripts, feeding that data to my computer via a series of HTTP requests, then (re)constructed and textured the terrain model(s) in Blender using its incredibly powerful Python API [https://docs.blender.org/api/current/...]. The textures here can be downloaded individually from Second Life’s official map servers [https://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Lind...]. Note: It took my revised scripts a little over 18 hours to gather the elevation data for the entire continent (compared to the 190-ish hours that it probably would have taken when I first started this terrain modeling project, before I optimized the process). At the original level of detail, Bellisseria’s topography would be over 1.3 billion triangles; for the purposes of this video (and to prevent my laptop from exploding), I decimated each region’s mesh so that the model in Blender totaled only about 13 million triangles instead."

Sunday, January 28, 2024

Cartoon Of The Day

 
 
 Taken at Club Zero Gravity's "Cowboys and Aliens" event. One cowgirl had a flying saucer over her head. Just what would that beam be doing? Yours truly had one idea.

By Bixyl Shuftan

Saturday, January 27, 2024

Friday, January 26, 2024

Discontinued City of Heroes MMO Private Server Gets Official Status From NCsoft

 
Some gamers, especially fans of superhero comics, will remember the "City of Heroes" MMO. It got attention partially for it's genre, being a superhero game when most MMOs at the time were science-fiction or Medieval fantasy, and partially for being the subject of a lawsuit by Marvel Comics, saying players were creating characters that infringed on it's copyrights. In 2012, it was shut down despite pleas from it's fans that NCSoft keep the game running
 
So what were the players to do? Many went to private servers where the game was kept running for those who wanted to keep heroing. Among these was one called Homecoming. One thing that was different about it was instead of trying to avoid attention from the game's corporate owners, from the start it was making an effort to negotiate with them. Finally on January 4, Homecoming made the following announcement in it's forums:

We’d like to thank you all for your patience over the past few years, and we’re incredibly thrilled to announce that it’s paid off: NCSOFT® has officially granted Homecoming a license to host City of Heroes™.

They went on to say that this meant the player and character accounts were now officially safe, there will continue to be more game content, and the game will continue to be free to those who want to play, "We will continue to be funded entirely through donations."

At a time in which corporations are quick to go to their lawyers, this is certainly a welcome development in the gaming world.

Sources: Wikipedia, Homecoming, Massively, Kotaku, Videogames.SI.com   

Bixyl Shuftan

This Saturday at The Science Circle

 
 Saturday January 27

    ~*~
    
    At 10 AM PST   

    Is It Still Allowed To Stand Up For Your Own Culture?
    Organizer: Chantal Jager
    https://www.sciencecircle.org/event/cultures/
 
    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, January 25, 2024

Angels Beach Land Rentals

 

At the Angels Beach Land Rental Agency, you can find a great new home in Second Life. With many sims to choose from, in the Sunweaver Estates, Hidden Valley, and Purrfection, you can choose from a variety of environments.

We offer places with friendly and interesting neighbors. Some places have a tropical island look, others more temperate. Some of the sims have access to enough water to boat around in. And there are plans later on for an open water sim for even more water activities. The sims are home to a number of quality clubs, such as Cutlass, Zero Gravity, Xanadu, the BBBC, and the Happy Vixen Beach Club. In one sim alone there are two quality clubs that work together so there is no lag from them. There are also some small shopping areas available.

The sims range from Mature to Adult, but the purpose of the adult rating is for a relaxed atmosphere in which couples can relax. The places do not allow for harassment, and while there are vendors that cater to mature tastes they are discreet about it. Spaces available range from small plots to a full homestead that will rent out for only $30,000L's per month. Most of the sims break the parcels down into 512 Sqm parcels and and most have a sliding rent scale, so the more you rent the cheaper it gets. Our prices are VERY competitive here in Second Life.
 
And if you bring a friend to an Angels Beach area, you get more than just a good neighbor. Anyone that refers a renter to us and they rent land, they will receive 10% of the first months rent. And if someone you know needs help renting out land on his/her sim, bring them to us. Renters who bring in a sim owner needing administration, we will give 10% of our first check.

To learn more, please contact Nydia Tungsten, Brandi Streusel, Jasmine Dawn (Jasmine Knickers), or Matoazma Kazyanenko.

"We pride ourselves on on not just renting land but renting our customers the land you want. We listen to what you tell us on what you are looking for." 

 

Wednesday, January 24, 2024

HealthInfo Island

 
Second Life is a fun place to have music events and chatting with friends. But it can also be a source of information as there are a number of museums and other educational places. Gemma Cleanslate recently returned to one to write about it: HealthInfo Island. It is not static, but some displays are changed to inform about new topics, such as disease, mental health, and conditions. It's often to reflect occasions, such as World Neglected Tropical Diseases Day later this month. So what did Gemma have to say about the location today?
 
Read Gemma's story in Places
 

It Came From Bellisseria Chat: Paw Chairs

 
 
 From Margo Heartsong, posted in a conversation about chairs, "you sit in one of these comfy chairs, you'll go  back hone nice and relax" Considering the design, I think the maker was looking for "a-paws" from his fans.
 

Tuesday, January 23, 2024

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

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

Club Cutlass: TBA

Happy Vixen: DJ Maliit, DJ Arooo, DJ Char, DJ Snowy, DJ Mattie, DJ Malit, DJ Khyra

Club Zero Gravity: Cowboys and Aliens

Bouncing Bunny Beach Club: DJ Snowy

Xanadu: DJ Jesse 

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

Furry Fashion Lounge: All That Glitters, Purple, PJ Party , Katturday Nite CAYA, Scalres VS Fur
 
Read the schedules in SL Clubbin'

Press Release: Annual Mole Day Celebrations Coming Feb 4

 


Bay City Residents hold annual celebration of Linden Department of Public Works

BAY CITY, SL (21st January, 2024) -  Bay City will once again hold its annual “Mole Day” event to salute the The Linden Department of Public Works' Moles and their many contributions to Bay City and the rest of the Second Life® Grid.

Traditionally, the Mole Day event is held on or around Groundhog Day: for 2024, it will be held on Sunday, the 4th of February, beginning at 11:00 a.m. SLT. This year’s event will feature DJ GoSpeed of KONA stream followed by a live performance by Evee Blackstar (user name Harleen Jester) at 12:00 p.m. SLT.

The event will be held in the Bay City Fairgrounds in the North Channel region in Bay City. As in past years, Residents of all Second Life communities are encouraged to attend to share their appreciation of the LDPW’s many Moles. Of course, Moles and Lindens are also welcome to join in the festivities.

"Moles" are members of The Linden Department of Public Works (LDPW). The LDPW is a team of Resident builders, scriptwriters, and others to create new content on Linden Lab's behalf and to the benefit of all. These Residents  contractors all have Second Life accounts with the last name “Mole.”

Moles build the infrastructure of Second Life: the public roads and railways, items in our coastal waterways and protected lands, and even larger scale projects like the Linden Homes regions, premium content and experiences, and much more.

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.

Monday, January 22, 2024

2023 Year In Review

 
 2023 was a year in Second Life full of triumphs and tragedies, accomplishments and pitfalls, and a number of other noteworthy happenings. 
 
Probably the top news story of 2023 was Second Life's Twentieth Anniversary.  It was in June 2003 in which the virtual world officially went online, and there was plenty of talk about how much had changed over time, as well as defying expectations of critics. To celebrate, the Lab had a contests with a number of computers as prizes, and one lucky winner got a new car. Some real-life publications took a moment to write about the virtual world for the first time in a while, in some cases many years. There were numerous exhibits, some were encores that had appeared in past SLB events, while others reflected the theme "Our Fantastic Future." This included the Newser's exhibit by Silvia Ametza, who made a depiction of a near future astronaut base on a moon of Jupiter. As part of the celebration, Draxtor Despres had a movie-length documentary "Made in Second Life."

It didn't take very long for the year to come up with a burning issue. In January, the Bonniebots suddenly became an issue of controversy as they went from sim to sim gathering information. Some considered them harmless, some simply annoying, and others a threat to privacy, the latter group demanding the Lab do something about them. The owners of the bots were saying they were not trying to spy on people, but the calls for action persisted, notably on the official forums. Linden Lab's initial response was to close down a thread on the issue, but a second quickly popped up, followed by another. Eventually the Lindens stated they were looking into what they could do on the matter. In late March, the Lab would announce they were introducing new tools for residents to deal with unwanted bots, as well as a new policy about them. 

In March, Linden Lab would lower sim tiers, but raise Linden Dollar purchase and sell fees. This would be a continuation of the Lab relying less on money from sims and more on income from transaction fees. In June, they started offering Premium accounts for life with a onetime fee. They also started offering certain Linden Homes reserved for Premium Plus residents, first the Ranch style homes, then the Mediterranean. They would prove highly popular. The Lab would also create a new line of Mesh starter avatars: the Senra. It invited merchants to make products for them, and some did. In November, Linden Lab launched the PBR update to the Grid, which promised residents reflective surfaces in Second Life soon, including eventually working mirrors.

For years, many residents had asked Linden Lab to come up with a mobile viewer. While the Lab had partnered with others in the past to develop one, it had yet to come up with one that was truly it's own. In March, it finally released footage of it's own viewer. In December, it announced it was finally ready to offer a "private alpha" version to Premium Plus residents, but warned users to expect glitches.
 
Belliseria would see more additions, with the Ranch and then Mediterranean Linden Home areas for Premium Plus residents. The Fantasy Linden Homes would also get a treehouse option. The continent would also see the addition of the Bellihub from Linden Lab, a way to encourage residents to move to the continent. Bellisseria would also see it's Haunted Neighborhood and Trick or Treat event for Halloween. With Bellisseria in the news so much, eventually the Newser would open a satellite office there. 
 
Linden Lab would make a place consisting of several sims that would both show newcomers what Second Life had to offer but still appeal to longterm residents: The WelcomeHub. It would open in June with a party at the Motown sim, which was a partnership with two music groups. It would have a lasertag arena, the Cinema, and some shopping areas. It would be connected to Bellisseria by a rail line. Later in the year, Motown would hold another large event, a trivia party. In November, the WelcomeHub Cinema would show a short film by Saffia Widdershins inspired by the Fantasy Faire, "Harland Quinn and the Omega Hex." In December, the Cinema would show "Scrooge: A Second Life Christmas Carol," a faithful rendition of the Dickens classic made entirely in the virtual world done late last year by Caligula Aquila and AVTV.
 
One part of the WelcomeHub was a little controversial, the Social Casino. It had appeared on it's own a few months before. Offering blackjack tables and slot machines for which players could use Linden dollars to buy (nonrefundable) chips, there were charges of hypocrisy a couple years earlier the Lab had banned gachas as they resembled gambling.

While glitches have always been part of Second Life, there was an especially bad day in February with numerous sims offline and many people clouded for hours. In March, the Purfection sim had a major glitch which wrecked the Happy Vixen club, but thankfully a rollback fixed the damage. In August was some "Unscheduled Maintenance" that had people unable to rezz, log in, or put things on the ground for hours. 

Besides the Second Life Anniversary celebrations, there were many other events. Probably the biggest among them was the Relay for Life in Second Life, which officially went from February to June. Various teams big and small held events to raise money for cancer research and treatments and have fun doing so ("putting the fun in fundraising"). The high point would be the Relay Weekend in June in which hundreds walked along a track along American Cancer Society and almost 40 other sims, described as the most intense 24 hours in Second Life.

The Relay for Life would have a number of spinoff events. There was the SL Living Expo, which replaced the longtime running "Home and Garden Expo/" Sci-fi Con (which had Slime A Linden). In the spring was the Fantasy Faire that had many detailed sims to explore and many events such as the Childrens' Roleplay. In fall, there was "Making Strides Against Breast Cancer," which ran alongside events such as "Outshop Cancer" and the SL Renaissance Festival. The Lindens would appear at the later, in a bidding event in which the losing team got pilloried. And for December there was the Christmas Expo.
 
There was the VWBPE conference in the spring, which brought attention to how Second Life could be used for education. Burn2 would have it's "Animalia" event in October and several spinoff events across the year. The Seachai Library would hold the Bradbury event in October and the Dickens Project in December.

One annual event, One Billion Rising, was canceled for the first time since it started. The Sci-Fi Expo, a Relay event, would announce further seasons would be "indefinitely postponed."  Virtual Ability would have a number of conferences to educate and inform about the disabled. "Bid The Lindens Bald" at the Relaystock would raise almost three-quarters of a million Linden dollars. There was the Fandom Con, which took place in late July a few weeks after the SLB. Raglan Shire would have it's Artwalk and Wootstock. Team Firestorm would hold it's thirteenth anniversary bash. Halloween would see a number of events. Veterans Day would see the annual Veterans Tribute and "Tracks to Trenches."

Besides the Relay, there were numerous other Fundraisers. In February, there was a fundraiser for an earthquake that hit Turkey, and one for Ukraine in it's war against Russian invasion. In the summer, there was the "Forget ME Not" fundraiser for "research of ME (Myalgic Encephalomyelitis), Long Covid, Fibromyalgia and related chronic conditions." In August was a fundraiser to help the people left homeless by a devastating fire on the Hawaiian island of Maui. It would raise about two million Lindens. There was the Spoonful of Sugar event to raise money for Doctors Without Borders. Luna's Empire would hold a Ghost Hunt event for Halloween.
 
Veterans Isle would hold benefit concerts every month to raise money to keep roofs over the heads of vets. Creations for Parkinson's and Team Diabetes would have a number of events, such as "Scare Me Silly" for Halloween.

On April Fools Day the Lab pulled on on Bellisseria with UFOs all over the island. The April Fool the Newser would pull was a playful poke at Patch Linden. There were also shopping events such as Abnormality, and Linden Lab's "Shop and Hop" events.

Besides Linden Lab's new starter avatars, one other body made the news. The popular Maitreya mesh body would get it's first major update ever, the Laura X. For owners of virtual pets, there was one less company as Biobreeds shut down in February due to a dispute between the co-owners.
 
The Mieville community was facing an uncertain future following the confirmed death of it's founder Perryn Peterson in later 2022. Fortunately Linden Lab intervened, in February offering residents the chance to take over the sims. So the community went on, celebrating it's 15th year that summer.
 
Caledon would celebrate it's 17th anniversary in March. The next month it was announcing it was closing a few sims, though it had many more. It's founder, Desmond Shang, would step down as leader later in the year, with NeoBokrug Elytis taking his place.

The Newser would check numerous sims this year. Some were old favorites such as Calas with it's great scenery and Montecito Bay with it's stores and arcade. There were others we came across for the first time such as the New Genesis Bay sim with a riding track that was so long it took hours to finish. Echovets would create a gateway sim aimed at US Military veteran newcomers. Besides sims, we would check out groups, such as Drivers of SL.
 
Outside Second Life, one other world that was making mainstream headline news a couple years earlier, Facebook's Horizon, after months of being heavily promoted by it's owner was quietly "left behind" as it made little money compared to what had been invested in it, and Mark Zuckerburg turned his attention to other projects such as AI.

Among those lost, Palomma Cassanova, the owner of the Free Dove freebie store which had been helping newcomers for years. There were worries the place would be gone, but it was saved. Bree Himmel, noted for being one of Raglan Shire's "Basement Kitties of Doom" had passed in January as well. Xzavia Yifu of Timeless Textures passed in February. Ariel Loonie of Luskwood was gone. FrannyDJ, the lady who brought a tribute to Macy's Thanksgiving Parade to Second Life, and other parades, had died. Fans who enjoyed her parades would keep the Thanksgiving one alive. Allian Blackwell, a Commandant of the Second Life Coast Guard, was gone. New Citizens Incorporated lost Beverly Montgomery. 

Among the places that closed down was the WEDCOT Center Park, a tribute to Disneyland and Disney World. A couple years earlier, it got attention as Patch Linden held a Christmas music event there. But sadly the sim would close after ten years of operation. 

Live performer Keeba Tammas, the singer of the "Keeba Tammas and The Tiny Maniacs" band would retire from live performances, though the band would go on, renaming itself as just the Tiny Maniacs. Music video maker Furrex ended up banned from Second Life, and it seemed his days of making videos were over. But he was soon making them once more. 

For the Newser office's neighbors, the Sunweavers, it was an eventful year with a number of events. It was especially so during the Relay season in which there were events such as the annual Air Show and Ren-Faire, in which people dropping by had a chance to play games and courses set up by Cynthia Farshore and Shockwave Yareach. There were the Bid Me events in which team captain Rita Mariner went skunk, one team member became a clone of Luskwood's founder Michi, new team member Charlee Shuftan went panda for a few weeks. At the Relaystock, they would make over 100,000 Linden dollars at Cynthia's set alone. And there was Cynthia's weekly Moon Dance. The team would reach the one million Linden mark in May. Encouraged, the team reached further and hit Ruby Level (1,250,000 Lindens) for the first time ever. It was a record year. At other times of the year, "A Little Odd Place" at Sunweaver Bay would change for the holiday at the time. For Linden Lab's Halloween video contest, Nydia Tungsten would send in an entry. And one certain fox would find love and after a courtship they would be husband and wife.

For the Newser, it's been quite a year covering events here in Second Life. And we'll be continuing to cover it for 2024. Special thanks to our sponsors at Montecito Bay, Lorena Chung Estates, The Safe Waters Foundation, and Farshore Radio.

Bixyl Shuftan
Editor, SL Newser

Sunday, January 21, 2024

Classic SLN Cartoons: The New Cubicle

 
 
 Originally published in the Second Life Newspaper on July 21, 2009. I forget exactly where I took this picture, possibly at the Second Life Birthday. But it fit my Luskwood "Bunkies" mouse avatar just fine. 

We sometimes joke that Linden Lab servers run on hamster wheels. If they did, maybe they'd use energy drinks instead.

Bixyl Shuftan

 

Saturday, January 20, 2024

Friday, January 19, 2024

Reader Submitted: Paw Island

 

 From DeniseUnicorn Toonie, "Came across a paw shaped island over in the Fraid Knot sim over in Secondlife after I was cruising along in the waterways in my airboat.
 

This Saturday at The Science Circle

 
 
Saturday January 20

    ~*~
    
    At 10 AM PST   

    Guess Who's Talking? Non-Human Language
    Organizer: Dr. Phil Youngblood PHD
    https://www.sciencecircle.org/event/guess-who/
 
    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, January 18, 2024

"Have An Ice Day" At The Sunweaver Lands

 
 
Dropping by the Sunweaver Community, the winter season in real life was reflected at Sunweaver Eclipse with their water being frozen. One could walk about over most of the surface. There was a ramp conveniently placed for anyone who wanted to jump while skating. Most of the community is free of snow, though. Some residents have stated they see more than enough of it in real life and don't want it on their homes here. 
 
"Have an ice day."

Bixyl Shuftan

Caption This

 

 Yours truly has been running a little dry when it comes to cartoon ideas (for a change). So this is where you come in. What does this meeting between a German Shepard and an anthro fox make you think of?
 

Wednesday, January 17, 2024

Hippiestock

 
Gemma Cleanslate was recently at the Hippiestock. What is the Hippiestock? It's a music event by Hippie Bowman that's taken place every year since 2011. So what did she think?
 
 Read Gemma's story in Events.

Announcement: Join us at the SL Living Expo by being an Event Stage Sponsor!

 

 Clubs, Venues, Groups and Communities can sign up to be an Event Stage Sponsor, taking over 2 hours of our events for the day.

Visibility & Exposure: Your brand will be front and center on our stage, reaching a diverse audience during our events all day long and a radio ad played for 14 days during the event.
 
Networking Opportunities: Connect with residents that you may not normally have the chance to! 

Visit our website : https://sl-living-expo.org/

Tuesday, January 16, 2024

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

 
Club Cutlass: Red and Black, Movies, Cowboys and Indians

Happy Vixen: DJ Maliit, DJ Arooo, DJ Char, DJ Snowy, DJ Mattie, DJ Squeaks, DJ Khyra

Club Zero Gravity: TBA

Bouncing Bunny Beach Club: DJ Snowy

Xanadu: DJ Jesse 

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

Furry Fashion Lounge:Food, Gothic, Sheba's CAYA Birthday, Katturday Nite CAYA, Horns and Hooves

Read the schedules in SL Clubbin'

Monday, January 15, 2024

Classic SLN Cartoons: Linden Rat

 
 
 Originally printed Jan 17, 2010. Yes, if you look carefully, you can see the surname "Linden" over the furry with the guitar. Back then, they didn't appear in blue.

Bixyl Shuftan

EOTB: Second Life "Moving From Jira"

 

 Most Second Life users are probably aware if JIRA, even if they themselves don't use it. This system for technical support has been used for reporting bugs and requested features for most of the virtual world's history. But, this won't be the case for much longer. In the official blog on Friday January 12, Linden Lab announced that they are in the process of moving away from the system

Unfortunately, Jira Server, the software and license agreement we use to host Second Life's jira.secondlife.com site, is being discontinued and its official replacement cannot handle the number of users (over 300,000) that Second Life needs. Long story short: we need to move off of Jira before support ends in early February, 2024.
 
The Lab announced they were opening "a new community portal," https://feedback.secondlife.com/ saying, "This site will host feature requests, bug reports and ultimately replace the public BUG project on jira.secondlife.com ." But for now, https://support.secondlife.com/ is still the place to report support issues, "We will keep using Freshdesk for all personal and content-sensitive tickets."
 
The Lab did post a timetable, which stated the process had started in December, and will conclude next month in February with the shutdown of JIRA. 
 
The Lindens stated the new system has a new software called Canny, "Part of the rationale for moving to Canny, the software behind feedback.secondlife.com, as opposed to alternative issue tracking solutions is that it is a very focused product that is tailor made for responding to user feedback and prioritizing ideas."


The Lab also reminded there are a couple differences between the new system and JIRA, "which may require changes to behavior." There will be limited attachment support, and no private posts can be done, "If your report contains sensitive information then please redact/censor private information. If this is not possible, because it is material to the issue being filed, then please file a support ticket if it is personal in nature or security report if it represents a vulnerability."
 
The Lindens admitted these changes will be a big thing to some residents, "Making a significant change like this is no small task. Staff and residents alike have grown deeply familiar with jira.secondlife.com through countless hours spent using the site. We hope you will have patience as we migrate data, build documentation, develop new muscle memory and smooth out wrinkles in tools and processes."
 
As the post was named "Part One," it's a sure thing more information is forthcoming.
 
Source: Linden blog.
 
Bixyl Shuftan

Europa Wulfenback Still Going

 
 
On Friday, the Newser reported that Baron Klaus Wulfenbach had been missing from Second Life since the end of July. While he's still absent, his sim, Europa Wulfenbach, is still going. It's flags are still flying over town. The zeppelin is still flying over head. The clank (robot) is still in the office, and the "Devices of Doooooooooom" are still about. Talking to Cynthia Farshore, she mentioned that the local Concordant has still been having events, the last one being a few days ago. 

So how is the sim still going months after it's owner's last appearance? It certainly could have been paid for well in advance. But odds are someone, either the Baron or someone else involved with the sim, is keeping the place going.

Stay tuned for more information.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Europa%20Wulfenbach/53/55/55

Bixyl Shuftan

Sunday, January 14, 2024

It Came From Bellisseria Chat: Wendi's Butt

 
While the residents can sometimes have a love-hate relationship with Linden Lab, individual Lindens are usually seen more warmly. This can be especially so with Lindens and Moles involved with getting Linden Homes up and running. One day a few days ago, I happened to notice this line in Bellisseria chat

[09:34] N**** (N********* Resident): I am looking at the new region and the lands I have to say poor Wendi is working her butt off I just she her tping around.

The chatter went on for twenty minutes or so, then a certain Linden happened to comment

[09:52] Wendi Linden: @********* - I assure you that, while I do still have a butt, I am doign all I can to make sure everyone gets that Linden Home they want. :-D

That led to some cheers of "Hi Wendi!", and a couple laughs. One resident also quipped, "Yayyy! Wendy was the fae  who got me  into my log. Poor Wendi,  I was so anxious, I was about to pull her by her ears." Wendi's response was "Too kind! I will say that it's always very rewarding to be able to get all y'all your Linden Homes. Even if I've worn through two pairs of boots in the process, running from home to home. :-)"

So it seems the Lindens are never too far away in Bellisseria chat, "Quite okay :-)"

Bixyl Shuftan

Saturday, January 13, 2024

SL Video: "Artwalk Kite Parade 2023"

 
 
 From Nitwacket on June 2023, "Raglan Shire Artwalk - closing parade"

Friday, January 12, 2024

Baron Wulfenbach Missing

 
Among the personalities in the Steamlands, one was from online comics: Baron Klaus Wulfenbach (Klauswulfenbach Outlander). Baron Wulfenback, often simply known as "The Baron" based his persona on the character from the steampunk online comic/graphic novel "Girl Genius." A decade ago, he was a regular at events at the Steelhead community. He also had his own sim, of which a build of the floating fortress in the online comic flew over. He would also host Walpurgistnaucht parties every spring. In 2014, the Newser would interview him.
 
Sadly, it seems the Baron has dropped out of sight.  One of the residents of the CDS community messaged the Newser that Klaus hadn't been on for a while and his sim had closed. A look at one of the groups he was in showed he was last logged in on July 31, 2023. Messaging a couple steampunk groups on Discord, no one who responded knew why he hadn't logged on since then.

If Baron Wulfenback really has left, it would mean one of the more unique personalities from the steampunk communities is gone. Hopefully his absence is temporary.

Bixyl Shuftan

This Saturday at The Science Circle

 
Saturday January 12

    ~*~
    
    At 10 AM PST   

    University Response to Virtual Worlds
    Organizer: Dr. Stephen Van Hook
    https://www.sciencecircle.org/event/university-vws/
 
    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, January 11, 2024

Do YOU Have A Story?

 

On occasion, Second Life Newser will print an article or picture submitted to us by one of you, the readers.

Have you seen a particularly well-detailed sim? Went to a great event? Found yourself in a hilarious "only in SL" predicament? We're very interested in what you the readers have to say. Send us a story or funny picture, and if we like it, we'll post it as a Reader Submitted. For pictures, jpg format is preferred.
 
This is where you the readers come in.  On occasion, Second Life Newser will print an article or picture submitted to us by one of you. We're very interested in what you the readers have to say. Send us a story or funny picture, and if we like it, we'll post it as a Reader Submitted. For pictures, jpg format is preferred.

Mail submissions to bixylshuftan(at)gmail.com.

PLEASE include your SL user name and tell us if you wish it to appear with your story.

SL-Newser reserves the right to post in the appropriate section, edit,  and to investigate any names used in submitted stories (please ask permission before using anyone's name or picture that's clearly someone or use an alias for them).
 

Wednesday, January 10, 2024

Power Outage

 
Power went out for yours truly, and tens of thousands of others in my state, due to a storm with high winds. We'll have something in the paper soon.
 
Bixyl Shuftan
 

Tuesday, January 9, 2024

Jessica Lyon, Founder of Team Firestorm, Steps Down as Project Manager

 
 
Since she founded it in 2010 as Team Phoenix, Jessica Lyon has been in charge and in control of Team Firestorm, the people behind the Firestorm Viewer, the most popular viewer used by Second Life residents. Not only was she it's CEO, but Project Manager. But as of January 1, this has changed. The day before, Jessica had announced on the Firestorm blog that she would be stepping down as Project Manager at Midnight. 

What you may not know is that for the past year or so I have been taking a back seat to the management side of things as I deal with matters in my personal life. These matters are on going and demanding of my time. The members of this team, and all of you deserve and require an active and present Project Manager to keep this ship on an even keel.

As the sun sets for the last time in 2023, and rises for the first time welcoming in 2024… So too will an era change for Firestorm. The time has come for me to resign my position as Project Manager and hand the helm over to someone else. I will remain CEO and stay involved for life eternal, but will no longer steer the ship… though I may still influence the wind in our sails.

She also announced Beq Janus would be taking over the role as Project Manager, "Beq is not new to you or to us… in fact she has been performing this role for over a year in my absence. She has more than proven herself to be exceptional in all the aspects this demanding role requires and I have every confidence in her. Beq brings new hope to me for the future of the Firestorm Project."

And so the team behind Second Life's most popular viewer finds itself with a new leader for day to day matters. 

Hat tip: Daniel Voyager

Bixyl Shuftan

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

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


Club Cutlass: Monochrome, Wildlife, Scales and Fur

Happy Vixen: DJ Maliit, DJ Arooo, DJ Char, DJ Snowy, DJ Mattie, DJ Squeaks, DJ Khyra

Club Zero Gravity: TBA

Bouncing Bunny Beach Club: DJ Snowy

Xanadu: DJ Jesse 

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

Furry Fashion Lounge:Metal, Purple, Pastels, Katturday Nite CAYA, Sexy

Read the schedules in SL Clubbin'
 

Monday, January 8, 2024

More Winter Places: Astoria And Adagio Winterland

 
Christmas is over. But that doesn't mean the places to have some winter-themed fun are gone. Gemma Cleanslate went looking around for some, and found two. Astoria had skating and horseback riding. Adagio Winterland offered interactive rides and snowball fights. So what did Gemma think?
 
Read Gemma's story in Places

Some Upcoming Events in 2024

 
Some residents never seem to find anything to do in Second Life. But the virtual world is full of events, some bigger than others. Here's a few of the larger ones you can expect this year. 
 
RFL Registration Opens: Jan 15
 
Valentine Shop and Hop: Feb 1- 19
 
Hug A Linden : February 14

One Billion Rising: February 14

Relay for Life Kickoff: February 17

Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education: March 14-16
 
Burn2 Burnal Equinox: March 22-24
 
Bellisseria Anniversary: Mid April

Fantasy Faire: April 18 to May 5

Bay City Anniversary Parade and Party: Mid-May
 
Relay Weekend: June 8 to June 9
 
Second Life Birthday celebrations: later June 
 
RFL Renaissance Festival: Around late September or early October
 
Making Strides: Around October (and possibly late September and early November)

Halloween Shop and Hop: October

Burn2 "Octoburn": October 18 - 27

US Presidential Election (something resident run always happens): Nov 5
 
Christmas Shop and Hop: December 

RFL Christmas Expo: Early December 2024


Sunday, January 7, 2024

Cartoon of The Day: Resting Reindeer

 
 
 First cartoon for 2024. With Christmas over, looks like this reindeer is resting. But after lugging around Santa and his huge sack of toys around the world, one would probably be pretty tired too.

By Bixyl Shuftan

Announcement: Race For A Cure

 

--------------------------
Race For A Cure 2024
Ride Against Cancer
--------------------------

Presented by the Second Life Cycling Federation (SLCF).
All proceeds go to the American Cancer Society, Relay For Life of Second Life.

The event is open from 6th to 20th January 2024, at the SLCF Alpine road circuit.
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Breakaway/214/144/1999

Make your 2024 #RelayFirstLap on a virtual bike!

Entry to the event is by payment to the official RFL Kiosk at the Event Registration table.
The suggested donation for entry is L$ 100

Please feel free to make further donations to the cause, every L$ makes a difference :)
Many of us will encounter cancer in our lives or our loved ones, so help us to raise money for valuable research. Join in with us to Race For A Cure!
Also take a look at the Event Merchandise vendors to get special edition bikes, souvenirs and apparel.
100% of everything you donate or pay to an event vendor goes directly to the American Cancer Society charity.

How To Join In :
-------------------
To enter you must be using an official SLCF racing bike, which is FREE.
To get your own bike, go into the SLCF building opposite the Event Registration table and click the signs at the display bike on the plinth.
The 1st sign gives a link to join our Group (free), join it, then the 2nd sign will give the bike.
- OR -
Buy the custom Event bikes pack from the ACS vendor
- OR -
Click the Guest Bike Rezzer which will lend you a bike to do some laps :)

Timetable :
--------------
6th January -  1pm SLT - EVENT LAUNCH
Join us for your first lap of 2024!  We will have a  #RelayFirstLap  gathering.
We all do a few laps together to kick off the new Relay year!

6th to 20th January - Fastest Laps Challenge
After the Event Launch, the circuit opens for the Fastest Laps Challenge.
This is open 24 hours a day for the duration of the event until 20th January.
Make as many laps as you want, practice the route to try to improve your lap time!
The best 100 avatars times are recorded on the scoreboard near the start line.

20th January - Race Event - Starts at 1pm SLT
The event will culminate in a Race event.
Attendees will be divided into Qualifier races, then on to Finals for the top placed riders.
After the racing session will be the Podium awards ceremony.
Trophies will be awarded to the top 5 in the race Final, and the top 5 Fastest Laps.
After the podium, all entries can also collect a memento trophy of the event.

Contacts :
-------------
Should you have questions :
SLCF Directors :        Atomic Infinity (Claire)
                                Meiica Mermaid
                                Alistar Snook
ACS Representative : Sandie Loxingly (Sandie Slate)

Saturday, January 6, 2024

SL Video: "2024 Second Life First Lap "

 
 

From the Relay for Live in Second Life, Saturday January 6, as various Relay for Life in Second Life volunteers do Second Life's Relay First Lap event the day before, Friday January 5, "We the Relayers in Second Life join the Global Relay Family in taking our First Lap of 2024."
 

Friday, January 5, 2024

EOTB: New Last Names Available

 
It's no surprise that the limited edition Christmas/Winter last names for residents last month would be gone a few days into the new year. What would be a surprise to some is that Linden Lab chose to not just replace them, which would have been just ten names, but opted for a "refresh" by retiring twenty and replacing them with new ones

Today we are doing another big last name refresh by removing some of the older last name options and adding the following new ones from your suggestions ...

The twenty new names are: Eton, Harmony, Serenade, Ethereal, Celestia, Sable, Astral, Starling, Saccharin, Rizzler, Enthusiast, Pratchett, Elara, Cerulean, Onyx, Peridot, Winchester, Fluffington, Mainlander, and Wicken.

 
Of what yours truly thinks of the names, "Serenade" and "Harmony" sound like names musicians would like. "Mainlander" sounds like something for residents who prefer virtual life on the mainland. "Pratchet" sounds like something for a fan of the "Discworld" novels. "Winchester" sounds like something for Wild West, or firearm, fans. 

Still for those waiting for a better last time, there might be something among this new list of twenty considering. As a reminder, it costs a $49.99 USD fee for regular residents to change their surname, $34.99 for Premium residents, and $14.99 for Premium-Plus.

Source: Linden Blog

Bixyl Shuftan

This Saturday at The Science Circle

 
 Saturday January 6

    ~*~
    
    At 10 AM PST   

    Genome Editing Year in Review
    Organizer: Stephen L Gassior
    https://www.sciencecircle.org/event/crispr-4/
 
    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, January 4, 2024

The New Happy Vixen Beach Club

 
Among the longer-lasting clubs in Second Life is the Happy Vixen Beach Club. This mainstay of the Sunweaver/Angels community has been around for over ten years. But it's also been rebuilt several times for a fresh new look. This New Year's, regulars and staff alike came over to a newly rebuilt beach club, with a new look, a new ride, but the same friendly atmosphere.

Read the story in Places.