SL Video: "You are Here: A Tour of Torley's island!"

 

 

 (click here if the video does not play)

 From Torley Linden in August 2008, "Friendly greetings! You can learn Second Life in a fun and fast fashion! The enthusiastic Torley is your host, taking you on a tour through tips, tricks, and techniques that'll increase your confidence and make you smile. Whether you're a newcomer or longtime resident, your inworld experience will benefit from these video tutorials."

Looking Back at Dax Loon and Woodlin

 

Yours truly has met a number of people in Second Life over the years. A number have had an impact on me of some kind. Among those whom left an impression on me in my early years was Dax Loon. I met her and her Woodlin community about a year after I started coming to the virtual world on a regular basis. What followed was six months of happy times, in this place led by the vibrant skunkgirl and it would be first community I would put down money for a place to live on a sim. Sadly though, the good times did not last forever. I recently heard about Dax's passing, and it brought back a number of memories, some sad, but there were happy ones as well.

To read the story, check it out in People.

SL Video: "Flattlined Veteran's Day Celebration 2008"

(Click here if the video fails to play)

From Ashley Brassard on Nov 2008, at the 2008 Veterans Tribute

Looking Back: John McCain's Campaign in Second Life

Some sad news. John McCain, the Vietnam War veteran turned political leader, passed away yesterday on Saturday August 25. He had been suffering from cancer, and had just announced he was no longer continuing his treatment. He was 81.

Besides serving as US Senator for Arizona for six terms, he ran for President twice. In 2008, he succeeded in winning the nomination of the Republican Party for the Presidential Election that year. And like many other things in real life, the election would be reflected inworld with various offices of a number of candidates inworld during the primaries, such as Hillary Clinton's. Although a few politicians such as Newt Gingrich had made appearances in Second Life earlier, these efforts were not the work of the candidates, but their supporters. For supporters of McCain inworld, they would meet at the "Straight Talk Cafe," named for the "Straight Talk Express," an expression of McCain's meaning he would do his best to be straightforward with the voters. The Cafe also handed out McCain t-shirts, such as the one pictured here.

I would write about the election a few times for Second Life Newspaper, such as the watching the Presidential Debates from the Straight Talk Cafe, as well as Cafe Wellstone and Capitol Hill. And occasionally these locations would be mentioned in real life media, such as my local newspaper. I would also write about Election Night on November 4. But due to the stock market crash a few months earlier and resulting economic worries, McCain's campaign would lose much of it's steam, and Obama would win the election. After Second Life Newspaper closed, most of the election articles would vanish from the Internet. What I have left is the Election Night 2008 article, and the t-shirt.

In his concession speech on Election Night 2008, McCain called on Americans to come together. Maybe it's something we need to do a little more often.

Bixyl Shuftan

More SL Newspaper Archived Articles Up

Over time, the Newser has restored articles from the old SL Newspaper of JamesT Juno and Dana Vanmoer, which vanished from the net a few years ago. The ones we've restored more recently are in the SL Newspaper Archived. Among them, the two articles I wrote about the Second Life Fifth Birthday (first) (second). So enjoy this little blast from the past.

Click here to go to the SL Newspaper Archived.

Emilin Nakamori’s Physical Machines (2008)

Sansar has certainly put the spotlight on what's new from Linden Lab. But what about what people could do with Second Life in the past? In late summer 2008, I met up again with a girl I had met at the SL5B: Emilin Nakamori. She was a builder who made machines with moving parts geared to work with Second Life physics. Interested in how far she she could push the limits, she began to make really big machines.

Read the September 2008 article in the SL Newspaper Archives.

Political Satirist Responds Nine Years Later

In January 2008 I was part of a tour group that dropped by the Caricavatars sim, a place of biting political satire of American, French, and global politics owned and run by Christophe Hugo. At the time, I wasn't sure what to think of him as while he gave our group the codes to his mock-up of the White House, he booted a friend of mine for asking a question about an exhibit that had stirred up a little controversy. When his response to my article was to tell me he had banned the whole tour group. I came to the conclusion this was someone whom couldn't take criticism but had no trouble dishing it out.

Checking my articles, I found a comment made by him, calling himself Chris Zeil, in response to my reprint of my story, "It is interesting to read your article and reflect on my tenure in Second Life as a caricaturist, almost ten years after I ceased my activities..." He told me that he hadn't been thrown out by Linden Lab as I was told, but he had left on his own as "I eventually grew tired with untrained moderators taking down with no notice some of my 3D exhibits, every time there was a risk they may offend a community (most frequently the muslims', or the christians')." Of his booting people out for asking questions, he stated that he had been dealing with large numbers of visitors, many of whom came just to troll and grief, and basically stated it wasn't always easy telling apart the trollers and critics.

Zeil stated he had no regrets about his time in Second Life as "it allowed to develop my approach to 3D caricatures, which was useful in eventually developing a drawing style I am now using to publish comic books" in real life. However, he was expecting some trouble from the begining as he considered Linden Lab's "main priority is first and foremost to attract an increasing number of customers. Hence they want to be mainstream, and will avoid controversy at all costs and aim for political correctness, even if it means curtailing freedom of speech."

"In retrospect, I believe that satire is not a fit for for-profit companies like Linden Labs. ... the space of Second Life always remained what it was from the start, i.e., a for-profit corporate space, not a public place. This very much limited freedom of speech, hence artistic freedom. Let's hope that future virtual worlds will not follow the same path."

One wonders what Zeil/Christophe would think of JP Laszlo of the "Trump Organization" whom in 2016 was the center of even more political-related controversy. But Zeil would probably be the first to point out that JP had a very public throwing out and then coming out as a member of Woodbury.

Bixyl Shuftan

Looking Back: Sean Voss' Second Life Tours

Today, Second Life residents have many resources on which to find noteworthy places online. About a decade ago, that wasn't the case. There was the "Search" function, but it listed only popular places, whose numbers could be skewed by bots. There were blogs, though some were more reliable then others. Better were newsletters such as the Second Life Newspaper. From late 2007 to early 2008, one man decided to take it upon himself to find interesting places and then show them to a tour group: Sean Voss. Among those in the group was then SL Newspaper writer Bixyl Shuftan. Eight years after Sean gave his goodbye, Bixyl looks back at the time the tour group made rounds across various places in Second Life.

Read the story in Extra.

Press Release: Bay City History Pavilion -

An expended version of SL10B display finds a new home.

BAY CITY, SL (28th January, 2016) -  For Bay Citizens, one of the highlights of Second Life's® 10th Birthday Community Celebration in 2013 was a display highlighting the history of Bay City and the Bay City Alliance. It was long-hoped to bring the display back to Bay City after the event.

Thanks to landowner Sylvia Tamalyn and History Pavilion producer Marianne McCann, as well as additional donations by Uccello and Angela Poultry-Seale and Laetizia "Tish" Coronet, this display now graces Bay City, hosted just west of the Bay City Fairgrounds. It can be found at Bay City - Molesworth (235, 115, 25)

The build, which will officially open in conjunction with Mole Day festivities this Saturday, is already welcoming visitors from Bay City and beyond. It boasts a chronological history of the city as well as a Bay City poster display, a wall featuring past and present Ms Bay City winners, and a photo display of prominent places around the city.

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, please contact Sylvia Tamalyn or Marianne McCann.

Bay City History Pavilion, Bay City - Molesworth (235, 114, 25)

Real Life Businesses in Second Life (2008)

In our looking back at Second Life Newspaper today, we see how it took a look at a trend that many residents today would find odd: real life car companies trying to use Second Life to advertise their automobiles. This was a time when the virtual world was much more popular in real life media, and with the public's attention here, some felt there was money to be made. In March, Dana Vanmoer wrote about her and James taking a look at some of the cars being offered by real life automakers. So what did they think?

Read the 2008 article in Design.

Caricavatars Political Satire Sim (2007/2008)

In our looking back at Second Life Newspaper, we take a look at a sim whose purpose was political satire. Caricavatars was created by Christophe Hugo, who displayed examples of builds and avatars that were often caricatures of notable people in politics. However for all his satire, which was often particularly biting, he himself could be a little thin-skinned to anyone he saw as insulting or annoying, such as Second Life Newspaper reporters Brutha Voodoo and Bixyl Shuftan when they dropped by on two different occasions.

Read more in Extra.

Sci-fi Author Larry Niven & Artist Michael Whelan Appear in Second Life (2008)

Another article originally published in Second Life Newspaper. In 2008, Second Life was much better known by the public than it is now, and well known people such as published authors were more likely to come in for virtual appearances. Among them was science-fiction writer Larry Niven, known for novels such as "Ringworld" and the "Man-Kzin Wars" series. in late August 2008, he made an appearance at an Alzheimer's charity fundraiser, along with Michael Whelan whom illustrated many of his works. At one point, they took questions from the audience.

Read the 2008 article in Events.

SL Video: "Second Life Cruise Ship (SS Galaxy)"

(Click here if the video fails to play)

From "NikaDreamscape" on April 2008, "A series of video shorts spliced together as I toured the SS Galaxy in Second Life."

Classic SLN Cartoons: "Looking Naughty"

The cartoon originally appeared in the Second Life Newspaper in 2008, taken at Luskwood. It was extra funny as she actually spoke this line word for word.

She did have a point, sometimes it's better to leave things to the imagination. ;-)

Bixyl Shuftan

Election Night 2008 in Second Life

With the Democratic National Convention this week, the news in real life media turned to politics. So what happened four years ago in Second Life when in real life it was election night? Things were different as it was a different election, and in some ways a different Second Life.

Read what happened in Events.

SL Youtube: "2008 Relay for Life in Second Life (Pt. 1) "

From MarkTwain White - "This is part one of a three part video journal covering the 2008 Relay for Life Sims (Heroes Sims) in Second Life. For those who could not be there or who are not Second Life residents, please note that the majority of footage was shot before the RFL sims opened to the general public. That's the reason you don't see very many people in the scenes. You can get a better feel for the attendence by checking out the green dots on the map in the opening sequence which was the state of the Sims at a moment in time somewhere in the first hour of public viewing."