A Busy Weekend: Linden Motown Trivia, Firestorm Anniversary Party

 

 

 This past weekend was a busy one in Second Life. Saturday Sept 2 was the Motown Trivia Party, at 12 Noon SL time. Madori Linden would ask various trivia questions.

Madori Linden: 4. What is the address of the original Motown recording studio?
a. 2648 West Grand Boulevard
b. 7365 Woodrow Wilson St.
c. 7373 Churchill St.
d. 6245 Avery St.

 

The place was a bit crowded, and laggy, but people braved the slow rezzing to answer trivia, or just for the music and dance, or to be at a Linden event. Some would get Madori Linden bears.  The event was scheduled to last until 2PM SL time.

 

 Sunday Sept 3 would have another big event. It was the day of Team Firestorm's Thirteenth Anniversary Party, taking place on a stage at the intersection of four sims. It started at 10 AM with Maxamillian Kleene singing some tunes. At 11 AM, it was Bell Tabak's (PrettyBelle72) turn on stage. In the four sims, the number of people attending was over a hundred. 

Jessica Lyon, the head of Team Firestorm, had always made it to previous anniversary parties. But unfortunately it would not be the case this time as a close family member was in the hospital someone quoting her, "cousin and I are sharing 12 hour shifts, ... and no Internet." During the event, someone shouted, "Jess asked me to several times during the party send her Thanks and Love to our Firestorm User Community. You guys are the best!!! Without you we wouldn't be celebrating today!!!"

 

 While the event is over, people can continue to drop by and grab a couple free gifts. Head to Fiewstorm Dow Forest at (219/229/3901). "Happy Anniversary Firestorm!"

There were other events going on, such as the Spoonful of Sugar charity event which started over the weekend. There will be more on that later. For those interested in checking it out now, head to SOS Uber Island (173/92/25).

 Bixyl Shuftan

Firestorm's 13th Anniversary Party This Sunday

 

Second Life's most popular viewer, Firestorm, is officially turning thirteen years old this Sunday, September 3. And for the event, Team Firestorm is planning a party. 

Can you believe it!! 13 years!! Yes, that is right, Firestorm is finally a teenager. We turn 13 on Sep 3, 2023! Of course, we are going to celebrate! You are invited to join us. We will have a party and there will be gifts – two really nice ones. There will also be some great entertainment.

Two live musicians are scheduled to perform at the event. At 10 AM SL time, Maximillian Kleen will be doing music on stage. At 11 AM, Pretty Belle will be singing. The event should last until Noon SL time.

There will also be two gifts available for anyone to get. One is a pet tiger. The other is a pet baby dragon on a stump that wiggles when pressed.

In the blog, it was stated the location of the party would be posted on the blog a few hours before the event. But in the past, it's been held at the Firestorm Dow Forest at (219/229/3901).

Thirteen Years of The SL Newser

 

 In 2010, the leading newsletter in Second Life was the Second Life Newspaper, run by JamesT Juno and Dana Vanmoer. For over three years, it had been reporting the news around Second Life. It had grown from a small blog, to a well-staffed online publication bringing out the news from around the virtual world. From people who made Second Life more interesting, to noteworthy places one could see and go about in, to notable events one could go to, we reported on the news big and small.

 

But on June 5 2010, James and Dana announced it's closure. Sadly events in real-life had taken difficult turns and it was time for them to leave in order to focus on them. They had let the staff know ahead of time, and four of the reporters, Gemma Cleanslate, Grey Lupindo, Shellie Sands, and Bixyl Shuftan (myself) took it upon themselves to start a new newsletter: The Second Life Newser. 

Almost right away, we had some big stories to tell. Just a few days later came news of Linden Lab laying off almost a third of its staff. Later on came the closure of one of the more popular sims, a scandal that led to the shutting down of the most popular third-party viewer, the resignation of Linden Lab's CEO and Philip Linden (Philip Rosedale) temporarily taking over as intirem CEO, there was the decision to merge the Teen Grid with the main one, and of course the Relay for Life and the Second Life Birthday.

 

We had our work cut out for us, but we also had support. Just after our start, the Sunweaver community gave us a home, providing an office for us. We soon had a sponsor, the Podex Exchange, which was soon followed by others, as well as people paying us to advertise. More reporters would join the ranks of our team, which meant more stories we could cover. And of course readers came to see us as a reliable and useful source of news about this virtual world as we continued to bring news stories to them, big and small. And before long, the team once again were the number one source of news in Second Life. 

We've entertained as well as informed. There are the cartoons that appear twice a week, and there are the music videos that we show most Saturdays. But foremost on our minds is bringing you "news you can use" from what's going on with Linden Lab to interesting events and places. Unlike some other publications, the Newser has never gone out of it's way to create controversy for it's own sake. There has been occasional trouble, and troublemakers, that we felt needed a story. But we have sought to make the coverage of our virtual world an overall positive one, to report it not as full of griefers, but as an enjoyable place where one can find all kinds of interesting and fun sights, activities, and people. Over time, we would occasionally write about games and other virtual worlds. But Second Life has always been, and will remain, our main focus. 

Sadly, over time we've had to say goodbye to some teammates and old friends. Shellie Sands and Gray Lupindo would end up having to leave to take care of things in real life. Breezes Babii, our coworker from the old SLN would pass away. The Podex Exchange would shut down after Linden Lab changed it's terms of service and made it's continued operation no longer possible. But over time, we've had more talent come in to join the team. And more sponsors have stepped up to support the paper.

Thirteen years later, much in Second Life has changed. Sims have come and gone. Mesh has changed the way objects and avatars are made. Linden Lab would be purchased by investors. But Second Life goes on. It's safe to assume that unless there's some economic catastrophe of some kind, this virtual world will be around for many years to come. And as long as events in our real-lives remain smooth, we'll be around to cover it.

 

Special thanks to our sponsors, Farshore Radio, Lorena Chung Estates, Montecito Bay, the Safe Water Foundation, and the Sunweaver community which has been the home to our office all these years. Thanks to to Linden Lab which created this virtual world to begin with. Thanks to James and Dana to showing us the way in how to report the news here. And of course our thanks to you the readers.

 

"And that's the way it is." Good day from the Second Life Newser.

 

Bixyl Shuftan

Editor

Second Life Newser

 

Join The Newser Crew For A PARTY!

 

 

Thirteen years ago, on June 5 2010, the Second Life Newser was formed.  And so this Saturday June 3, we'll be throwing a party to celebrate. There will be a party at the Happy Vixen Beach club in the Purrfection Estates sim. It will start at Noon SL time, and go on to 2 PM. From 12 to 1 PM, DJ Snowy will be spinning the tunes. From 1 to 2 PM, DJ Grease will play the music.

Besides the fun music, there will be a couple contests with Linden dollar prizes. So come on over and celebrate with good music, meet some of the Newser crew, and maybe meet some new friends.

 

Purrfection Estates (236, 219, 24)   

Bay City's Anniversary Event

 

A week and a half ago, one of Second Life's notable areas celebrated it's anniversary, it's 13th: Bay City. One of the first creations of Linden Lab's Department of Public Works, this largest urban area in Second Life has seen much and hosted many events. Part of it's annual celebration is it's parade, which remains the largest annual one held inworld. And then came the music event that involved a noted DJ and a few live musicians, and of course the conga line. The Newser was there, and took a few pictures.

See more in Events.
 

Happy Friday The 13th

 

It's Friday the 13th. Be careful of black cats crossing your path.

Picture taken at Sunweaver Bay

Happy Friday the Thirteenth

Today is Friday the 13th, a day associated with bad luck. With this in mind, be careful of any black cats around.

Caledon's Thirteenth Anniversary

Last week, Caledon celebrated it's thirteenth anniversary. They did so not with one, but several events. The Newser couldn't be at every single one, but we were at several, and took a number of pictures, as well as hearing and seeing a few things.

Read more in Events.

Reader Submitted: Happy Anniversary Caledon

Pictures taken by Cynthia Farshore. The noted Victorian/Steampunk community of Caledon had it's thirteenth anniversary yesterday, Tuesday February 26. There were four events that day and evening. Two were at the Book and Tankard Pub in the Victoria City sim at 1 and 4PM. At 7PM was the Caledon 13th Anniversary Ball in the Dragon Ballroom hundreds of meters over the Caledon OnSea sim.

Among those there at the Ball was Caledonia Governor Desmond Shang. Nicknamed "The Guv" by other Caledonians, he was doing a rather unusual dance. At 10PM was the Late Night Caledon/CCB Birthday Bash.

Events will continue in Calendon this week, such as a party at the Goblin Cave on Thursday February 28 and a Mardi Gras parade on Saturday March 2. Stay tuned for details.