Internet Trouble

 

For some reason, been having some trouble staying connected to the Internet, loosing my connection twice in two nights and having to spent time with technical support. Things seem fine for the moment as the connection is back once again (as I write this), but things can still go wrong.

Technical Difficulties

 

If you can read this, then somehow I lost my connection to the Internet (or was too sleepy to reset the "deadman's switch").

Hopefully it'll be fixed, soon.

Bixyl Shuftan 

Technical Difficulties

 

If you can read this, then somehow I lost my connection to the Internet (or was too sleepy to reset the "deadman's switch").

Hopefully it'll be fixed, soon.

Bixyl Shuftan
  

SL Newspaper's Editor Makes Real-Life News

 

 Since the closing of Second Life Newspaper, the predecessor paper of the SL Newser, not much has been heard of it's editor Dana Vanmoer. She has come back to Second Life once in a great while, but not often. But recently in real-life, she made a little news. 

In real life, Dana (Donna Wilby in real life) has taken up crochet. With the passing of Queen Elizabeth, she decided to do a tribute of her own, knitting a mailbox "topper." Well, it was one of several "Woolly Wonders" that were featured in the Daily Mail online newspage. 

She would write on Facebook, "I intended to stay anonymous but have been outed by the Daily Mail so you get to see work in progress and final photos"

 

 You can see more of Dana's creations at her "Donna's Designs" blog, which has it's own Facebook page. 

Best of luck Dana,

Bixyl Shuftan

Techinical Difficulties

I had some computer trouble this weekend. While it appears to be more or less fixed, it took some time. So some things I was working on may be a little delayed.

Bixyl Shuftan

RFL: My Mother's Caregiver

 

Today I'm deviating from my usual writing about something in Second Life, although it is about something that will affect my time here in the virtual world. Lately my real life has gotten less predictable as someone in real life close to me is now in need of help, and it's up to me to do so.

More in Extra.
 

DJ Matt Sets Up GoFundMe After Robbery

 
DJ Matt (Matt Carlton) raised plenty of dollars for the Relay for Life in Second Life, such as the DJ competition in April. Unfortunately, she herself right now is in need of money. Her luck recently took a turn for the worst. Her storage shed was broken into, and a number of items were stolen, notably lawn equipment and kitchen appliances.

We found my shed was broken into at my property on Monday, all my lawn equipment was stolen as was all my small kitchen appliances and cookware I was storing in there while redoing wiring and drywall at the house. They took some other miscellaneous stuff, like and old PC and some old radios, but not as bad as the other things. Anything easy to snatch was gone.  I been staying with my parents furring this remodel but now this has really screwed us over. I did not have insurance for this property either. I hate asking for help but I'm at a loss as to what to do. Anything is appreciated. I am even currently selling my old Pathfinder just to try and get extra cash to get a more efficient car just to make deliveries to try and dig out of this hole I am in, but it just seems to keep getting deeper. I'm not great at asking things like this so....I guess I'll leave it at this. Thankfully the house was not harmed and the shed door just needs new hinges....

Matt set up a GoFundMe for anyone wishing to donate. As of the writing of this article, $20 has been donated.

Other ways to get money to her include purchasing items from her small online store, or getting a copy of her cookbook.

Bixyl Shuftan

Busy Time

 
It's been a busy time in real life for the writers of the Newser. For yours truly, real-life has gotten busier then ever in the past few days. So not only am I prone to the occasional mistake, like the failsafe message that appeared earlier today that wasn't supposed to until if something happened that kept me from updating the computer for a month, for whatever reason. But some things I planned to write about soon will have to wait a little. But we'll keep updating. 

Bixyl Shuftan
 

Hurricane Update

Following it's turn to the north after heading to Florida, Hurricane Dorian has been battering the East Coast as it makes it's way north. Thursday it was hitting South Carolina, and by Thursday night it was North Carolina's turn. In South Carolina alone, more than a quarter million are without power. This number does not count those who lost it in other states.

Today the storm will be hitting southeast Virginia. After that, by Saturday morning Massachusetts' coastal areas will be getting high winds. then the storm will go through Nova Scotia and Labrador.


If someone whom is usually on Second Life on Friday's isn't, they might be in one of the areas affected by the hurricane. For those yet to be hit, be prepared.

ouruces: Greenvile News, wunderground.com, The Post and Courier
Image Source: NOAA

Bixyl Shuftan

Hurricane Update

For the Bahamas, Hurricane Dorian has been nothing short of devastating. The most powerful storm to hit the islands, seven deaths have been recorded, a total expected to go up after the departure of high winds allows for better searches. Having been heading slowly in the direction of Florida for the past several days, the storm has started to make it's turn northward while it's weakened to a Category Two. So while the Sunshine State is getting plenty of wind and rain, it looks like it's going to avoid a direct hit.

The bad news, the storm will be heading up the coast from Florida, to Georgia, to South Carolina, to North Carolina, to SE Virginia. Residents at or near the coastal areas of these states are urged to keep a close eye on weather reports for the next few days. At the very least, make plans for a day or so of lost power (including the local gas station and ATM). Closer to the path of the eyewall of the storm, homes could experience real damage.

Be prepared

Souruces: Associated Press, Reuters, wunnderground.com
Image Source: NOAA

Bixyl Shuftan

Hurricane Dorian Threatens East Coast

Real life is very likely to bring some unpleasant news to the East Coast of the United States soon. After coming through the eastern Caribbean, Hurricane Dorian has been gathering strength and heading to the Bahamas as a Category Four storm. Heading to Florida, there are signs the storm will turn northward and weaken somewhat. Unfortunately, this means that Georgia and North and South Carolina are threatened. Residents in the affected area are likely to experience power outages, and possibly worse in places where the storm makes a direct hit.

Those in the southeast, keep an eye on the weather.

Sources: wunderground.com, Associated Press, weather.com
Image Source: NOAA

Computer Down

There's a saying known as Murphy's Law, "If it can go wrong, it probably will." And this week, Murphy was in full force for the Newser.

A week ago, the computer of yours truly would not start. Taking it too the shop, a couple days later I was told the machine was busted, save for the hard drive. For the first time since 2007, I was without a machine, at all. The old Mac I used to have as backup had also given up the ghost years ago.

So I went about the process of getting a new computer. Second Life can't use just any machine as it prefers certain graphics cards. I recall one friend who got a new machine, only to find the virtual world's viewer actually ran slower than on her old computer that was several years old. And on some computers, the viewers just won't work at all.

As of now, the computer still has yet to arrive. I'm still able to get on Second Life itself through the computer of someone I know. But for some reason I can't update the Newser on it. So that meant I had to wait to get access to a machine that's harder to get to.

So until the new machine finally arrives and is all ready and set up, that means the updates will be a bit sporadic. But as you can see, updating we are. Hopefully by Monday things will be more or less back to normal

Bixyl Shuftan

Ooops!

If you can read this, then somehow I lost my connection to the Internet (or was too sleepy to reset the "deadman's switch").

Hopefully it'll be fixed, soon.

Bixyl Shuftan

Technical Difficulties

If you can read this, then somehow I lost my connection to the Internet (or was too sleepy to reset the "deadman's switch").

Hopefully it'll be fixed, soon.

Bixyl Shuftan

Oops

If you can read this, then somehow I lost my connection to the Internet (or was too sleepy to reset the "deadman's switch").

Hopefully it'll be fixed, soon.

Bixyl Shuftan

In Real Life News: Internet Activist Aaron Swartz Dies

By Bixyl Shuftan

In recent days, two men have made news about what they did on the Internet. One was a football player whom was apparently duped into falling for a made-up girl. The other was Aaron Swartz, programmer and Internet activist.

Swartz is described as having been "immersed" in computers and the Internet from a very young age, programing, and later founding the software company Infogami, which later merged with the social website Reddit. CNN described him as helping to develop RSS coding "which allows websites to send updates to subscribers." "Swartz made some of today's more expansive Internet possible."

But Swartz was better known for contributing and helping to shape the philosophy and culture of the Internet, that information should be free and easily available, "He was a technologist who was committed to open access to information, and committed to bringing about the changes he believed in." At his own expense, he downloaded and made available to the public a fifth of the US Federal court PACER database. Then he founded "Demand Progress," an Internet activist organization. He also helped in the fights against the Internet censorship bills SOPA and PIPA.

Unfortunetly, he was in trouble at this time. Federal prosecutors accused him of using an MIT computer to download over 4 million articles from a library of academic journals. The university refused to press charges, and "urged" the government to let him go. Instead, Swartz was accused of wire fraud, computer fraud, hacking, and other charged that could have resulted in a prison sentence of 35 years. He was indicted in July 2011. With depression possibly a factor, Swartz hanged himself on January 11th. Both family and fellow Internet activists were quick to blame the Federal prosecutors who had went after him, who continue to defend their actions.

Aaron Swartz was 26.

*Update* CNN reports that the "Anonymous" hacker group has threatened the US Department of Justice, saying they may release sensitive files, expressing anger over Swartz's death.

Sources: CNN, Huffington, CBS

Bixyl Shuftan

Hurricane Irene Stories from Second Life

Last weekend, Second Life residents on much of the East Coast faced hurricane Irene, which threatened to knock out power, and worse. Bixyl Shuftan gives his own experiences, plus those of five other Second Life residents from North Carolina to New England.

Read the story in People.

A Brief Outtage, but Made It

I managed to stay online longer than I expected. Ended up losing power, but only for a few hours.

So, still in business.

The hurricane didn't seem to do much to my own house, a few branches off the trees. But there was still some damage around the area, and still thousands without power on the east coast. But like with Isabelle a few years ago, it'll be fixed.

Bixyl Shuftan

The Storm

Well, as I type this, Hurricaine Irene is smashing it's way onto the East Coast. While it's expected to weaken somewhat, it's still a powerful storm, and it's still iffy about keeping electric power. I went ahead and uploaded a few stories ahead of time, so that will keep the paper updated for a while.

I've had a number of people wishing me well through this mess. To them, thank you for keeping me in your thoughts. Hopefully I'll manage without trouble.

And to my friend whom wished I could just sprout wings and fly away, well, I remembered this picture I took at the NOAA sim a while back. If the hurricane had been a Category 4 or 5, I would have gotten out like a bat out of ... heck. But it's not, so while things may be a little rough, I'll be fine.

Bixyl Shuftan

The Approaching Storm

Hurricaine Irene continues to bear down on the East Coast in real life, and it looks like much of the country, including my real life home, is in it's path.

While I'm hoping not to lose power, its more likely I'll be without Internet access for some time.

Yours truly is busy getting ready, but am uploading a few things ahead of time to keep things updating. Hopefully the down time will be short, or even better none.

Bixyl Shuftan