Annoucement: 18th Annual Second LIfe Veterans Tribute Now Open

 THE 18TH ANNUAL SLVT IS NOW OPEN FOR 2024

THIS YEAR THE SL VETERAN'S TRIBUTE IS FEATURED IN THE DESTINATIONS GUIDE UNDER EDITOR'S CHOICE.
PLEASE BE SURE TO BE ON THE LOOK OUT FOR EVENTS FROM TIME TO TIME THROUGH OUT THE TWO WEEKS IT IS OPEN.

WE WILL BE SENDING OUT NOTICES.
REACH OUT IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS
TRIBUTE STAFF 🙂

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Stillwater%20Cove/41/6/29

 

Waya Snowpaw, Veterans Isle DJ, Has Died

 

There was a sad announcement from Legacy Vets a couple days ago. US Army veteran Waya Snowpaw had passed away.

 

It is my unfortunate duty to inform our members the loss of a fellow vet and brother. Waya Snowpaw United States  Army Veteran has passed away and went on to a Higher Command. He left us on 27 September 2022 Services will be held and a notice will be sent out to where and when.

Waya was a longtime presence at Veterans Isle events, and at it's predecessor Patriot Island. He was the DJ opening up for Frets Nirvana's fundraisers, at first for Wounded Warriors, then Homes For Our Troops. Month after month, year after year, he took part in hundreds of fundraising concerts. Besides as the DJ among live performers, he stuck out in his furry avatar when most of the others were human. 

The services will be held at Veterans Isle on Saturday October 23.The event will be at the USMV Chapel at 3PM SL time. This will be followed by a reception behind the church. Dress code is formal, and it is requested people keep down on scripted items, "we want everyone to attend and not get lagged out."

Rest in peace,

Bixyl Shuftan

 

*Updated 3:30PM* 

Some Veterans Day Events

It was a hundred years ago last week, November 11, in which the first Veterans Day, or Armistice Day as it was called then, was held. In real life, there were parades, ceremonies, and other events. There were also some events held in Second Life to honor those who served in the Armed Forces.

Read more in Events.

Montecito Bay UFO: The Military Responds

Montecito Bay has seen no shortage of weirdness. But it was about six months ago since it's weirdest time, when one of the town's buildings was hit by what looked like a UFO. Following when the strange craft was removed from the building but before it was taken away, the Newser managed to get a closer look. It's being taken away and the weird building that appeared in the wrecked structure's place overnight might have been the last word on the story. But this week, the Newser finally got an explanation from the US Military about the incident. So did they give a reason other than "swamp gas?"

Read the story in Extra.

Veterans Day

Have an honored Veterans Day

(Taken at the Veterans Tribute in Silent Reverie)

Tales From Podex: War Effort

 It was a fairly typical day in late May at the Podex Exchange. People were talking less about spring and more about summer, and customers dropping in talked about getting swimwear and beach gear. Between clients stopping by, the tellers chatted amongst themselves.There was a little talk about the preparations for the Second Life birthday celebrations, but that was a month away. They talked more about Relay for Life events. One mentioned Mount St Helens blowing up on May 18th, as well as "Towel Day."

In the middle of their discussions, a visitor walked in. He was foxlike with red fur and a bushy tail. But what also got attention was that he was in an army uniform, green and with a helmet. At least there was no weapon on him, so this was unlikely anyone trying to imitate Clumsy Cooper.

"Um, can I help you?" One of the tellers asked the man.

"Yes," the figure spoke, "I'm with a combat roleplay area, and the place just approved some new mesh weapons. So I need a few Lindens to um, 'requisition' some of the new gear."

"Well, you've come to the right place," another teller told him, "We accept US Dollars, Euros, and several other currencies."

"Just plain 'ol US bucks," he spoke, glancing around, "What's this about a Visa card?"

"It's a pre-paid Visa card," the teller explained, "You can load it by Paypal or money transfer. Completely anonymous. We send it to your doorstep."

"Maybe another time. For now just the Lindens."

"Certainly, just fill out this paperwork ..."

It wasn't long before the necessary papers were filled out, and the exchange was done.

"Thanks, now I can get the better weapons."

"So how big is this combat roleplay area?" one teller asked.

"Well, each side has seven companies, ours labeled from A to G. I was with Easy Company for a while. But just after I got this avatar, I was transfered to," he paused, "Fox Company."

They had a good chuckle, and the client went about his way.

The Podex Exchange is located at the Coda sim at (45, 218, 61), with a website at http://www.podex.info/.  Jacek Shuftan is the CEO.

Note: the preceding is a fictional story written for the purposes of both advertising and entertainment.

Bixyl Shuftan

US Military Grid Experiment Taking Place Today

From 5 to 8PM EST (2 to 5 SL time), there will be an experiment running on the US military-backed MOSES Grid. Experiment DSG #5 (Distributed Service Graph) is to "stress-test" the Grid by populating it with a large number of avatars and observing the results. Public participation is encouraged (Click Here to register). Those registered are asigned roles as either soldiers or civilians in a village in the mythical country of Atrophia. There are viewers available for PC, Mac, and Linux computers.

On the experiment on July 20, the Grid was able to hold 163 avatars.  In theory, the DSG Grid could hold close to a thousand. More on DSG technology can be read in this 2011 Hypergrid Business article.

The MOSES Public Grid is an ongoing development of the Military Open Simulator Enterprise Strategy (MOSES) Project, supported by a coalition of Military, Industry, and Academic partners who share a common interest in the advancement of virtual world technology for simulation based training. The MOSES Public Grid offers a virtual world platform for individual and collaborative strategy development utilizing 3D immersive environments.  The MOSES Public Grid resident community is composed of professionals from many disciplines include military, technology, science, government, education, industry, and the arts.  They have created a strong network of support, meeting inworld weekly for MOSES Office Hours and sharing discussions using the MOSES Mail List.  Many residents have been awarded Estate Manger Strategy Development Land Grants and contribute to each others 3D content and virtual immersive strategy. development.

US Military Running High Capacity Grid Experiments on OpenSim

Grey Nacht informed Second Life Newser about some US Army experiments with Grid capacity, the MOSES (Military Open Simulator Enterprise Strategy) DSG (Distributed Scene Graph) prototype experiments. Grey told the Newser this is a Department of Defense project on an OpenSim Grid with the goal on Saturday to get 160 avatars going about on the world. She had seen 66 last time, and the DSG code testing suggested it could hold a thousand.

In Second Life, fifty avatars is the most event organizers will usually have in a sim for an event. One can squeeze more in, in the past I've observed 66, even 99 avatars on a sim. Nowdays however, high number events are generally on two or more sims. With this in mind, 160 avatars is certainly an impressive number. A thousand would be just staggering.

This experiment, a scenario in a fictional Middle Eastern place involving avatars taking the roles of "soldiers" and "civilians", takes place Saturday July 20. There are viewers available for PC, Mac, and Linux computers. Following the test, the MOSES DSG Grid will be closed to the public until the next experiments.

More images on Flickr (Here).

Bixyl Shuftan