Saturday July 25th, 2026, some of the pioneers of machinima in Second Life will be on stage. Phaylen Fairchild, Toxic Menges, Saffia Widdershins and Chantal Harvey will be interviewed by Loz and Rizzo, about the early years. And boy - do we have some stories to tell. You won't want to miss this audience Q&A and panel!
Livestream will be available, for those that cannot come in - but be early as we will take questions - and you will want to tell your friends that you were there.
Last week on Thursday November 15 at Noon SL time, there was a premier film short screening at the Cinema in the WelcomeHub area. The featured show was the Episode One of "Harland Quinn and the Omega Hex." The machinima takes place in the Fairelands of the yearly Fantasy Faire event. and was directed by Saffia Widdershins. It was mentioned in the Fantasy Faire and Linden blogs.
Calling all Second Life film buffs and machinima mavens! Get ready to
be enthralled by the cinematic magic of "Harland Quinn and the Omega Hex
Ep 1," directed by the talented Saffia Widdershins.
Join us on Wednesday, November 15th, at 12pm PT at the Second Life Cinema
for this exciting movie screening. Immerse yourself in the world of
Harland Quinn, where fantasy and adventure intertwine, leaving you at
the edge of your seat. The screening concludes with an exclusive
promotional commentary on the Fantasy Faire in Second Life, offering a
glimpse into another spectacular event within our virtual world.
I dropped in a little late, but the video started from the start for those just walking in. Saffia was there, as well as Strawberry Linden. It started off with a reporter asking one of the Fairelands officials about a supposed major threat called the Omega Hex, and the official playing down the threat as overblown. The scene then changes to a man going about a town in a desert in native garb who "ended up here because of a good run of bad choices" as he says to himself in his narration, and instead of magic would rather rely on his pistol. While going about, he's approached by an old adversary who offers a certain proposal.
The audience applauded at the film's end, "Bravo!" "That was amazing!" "It was a wonderful episode, congratulations to the entire team!" "This is so well done." And there was thanks for the theater, "Huge thanks to Linden Lab for letting us open this spectacular venue." Saffia was appreciative, "Thank you so much for watching!" She would also announce, "and in a few minutes ... there a PARTY!"
The party itself was in a skybox high above in the Garden of Dreams sim. Over two dozen went there, and danced to the music.
Saffia would mention several people who helped with the film, "Terra Volitant created the special effects. Bain Finch did those fantastic tracking shots. Aisling Sinclair created the avatars. Ketsui was the assistant director. And Julala and Lil Cinnamon organized the fantastic market in the desert!"
Episode One, "With Friends Like These," is still showing at the WelcomeHub Cinema until the end of the month. Episodes Two and Three can be seen on the Fairelands media website.
For the past several years, there has been a "One Billion Rising" event here in Second Life, part of a worldwide demonstration in support of women's rights around the planet. This year however, the virtual world won't be part of it, at least not to the extent it's been. Checking the blog, Saffia Widdershins announced she was cancelling for 2023.
Although some of the team are very willing and able to stage the event this year, others of us have been overwhelmed by real life and other commitments. In view of this, it seemed best to cancel OBR 2023, and instead look ahead to a magnificent return in 2024.
I apologise to people who may have started preparations – the delay in informing people about this news is entirely my fault, and not anyone else’s.
For me personally, after ten years, the time has come to step back from an organisational role – although I do hope I will be able to attend and enjoy the event in 2024 and beyond.
It's possible someone is planning a much smaller event in support of OBR, but if so the Newser doesn't know about it yet. In the meantime,
Wednesday, June 22nd at 2pm PT - Meet the Lindens with
the Marketing Team. The Marketing team consists of Feuling, Brett,
Darcy, Maveric, Emika, and Strawberry Linden. Together they focus on
both the acquisition of new users and the retention of existing users
for Second Life. Watch it on the Second Life YouTube channel or at the SL19B Arboretum.
Tuesday, June 21st at 2pm PT - Meet the Lindens with
Executive Chairman, Oberwolf Linden and the Founder of Second Life,
Philip Linden. Oberwolf has spent his entire career in technology and
consumer focused companies as an entrepreneur and board member. Philip
rejoined Second Life in 2022, as Strategic Advisor, focused on helping
to shape and build a better metaverse. Watch it on the Second Life YouTube channel or at the SL19B Arboretum.
Monday, June 20th at 2pm PT - Meet the Lindens with VP
of Product Operations, Patch Linden. Patch works to bring the best of
product and support based decisions on a daily operational basis to the
virtual world platform for Second Life, while maintaining oversight on
how all of the various teams within Linden Lab can best work together
for the highest good of the Residents and the business. Watch it live on
the Second Life YouTube channel or live at the SL19B Arboretum.
On Friday March 12, Saffia Widdershins interviewed several of Linden Lab's Moles. The event took place at the Home and Garden Expo's theater at 2PM SL time. The Moles interviewed, left to right, were Maximus, Abnor, Chronos, Alotta, and Dion.
Abnor's roles have been fairly well known, having gone from mainland projects like roads to other things, "now building a continent." Maximus described himself as a "generalist." Chronos called himself a content creator, working with animesh and texturing, such as with Linden Homes and special projects. Alotta stated he was in the quality assurance department, and marketing. Dion joked his specialty was drinking lots of coffee, going on to say he was with a decoration team, and worked with Chronos with several projects.
The Moles talked about various subjects, such as favorite builds, and that the map glitch that was bugging everyone else was also inconveniencing them in their building of Bellisseria. When asked about any information on the SL18B, notably the theme, Patch would just answer "Stay tuned."
On Wednesday March 10 at 2 PM SL time, Saffia Widdershins interviewed Patch Linden at the theater in the Home and Garden Expo. Patch talked about a number of things. Among them were the Chalet Linden Homes, which will likely be open for residents to live in within two weeks of the interview (March 24). He would say the next theme would likely be announced at the SL18B, but would say little about it other than it would "blow you socks off" and had "unique capabilities unlike anything you've ever seen to date" (he wouldn't say what the SL18B theme was). As of now, Linden Lab plans to have all Linden Home themes announced by the end of 2021.
Patch would also talk some about Bellisseria, at one point saying Linden Lab was building on it's experiences with Bay City in regards to it's community. Linden Lab's reactions to the Pandemic were brought up as well, Patch saying because of the Coronavirus the Lab made the decision to delay the coming about of Premium-Plus accounts. He also admitted that the Lab was still cleaning up bugs that came about from the move to The Cloud, such as map areas
To watch the video of the interview, Click This Link. Alternatively, Inara Pey wrote this outline of what was discussed.
There's a lot going on at the RFL Home and Garden Festival. The Hope 01 sim is best known for it's Main Stage. But on the sides of the sims are various small buildings that have been handed out to various teams. This includes one for Team Sunbeamers.
Besides making a donation to the team, one can always walk in and purchase one of a few nick-knacks up for sale, all proceeds going to the team. There's also a little information on the weekly Moon Dance that happens ever Thursday (including today), and the Sunbeamer Air Show that's scheduled to take place on May 8.
One event that takes place every day is the Lantern Ceremony. This is the daily moment to reflect on those whom have passed away to cancer. At 4PM every afternoon, many dozens are rezzed, and float to the sky. Saffia Widderships announces it in Relay chat, "We have been doing this every year at the Expo since 2012, when Immortalis Cyannis first made these lanterns."
Dropping by, the people watching had a few comments, "So touching, so memorable, gives everyone a time to reflect and so well done." "This really is the highlight of the Expo day. thanks for doing this, Saffia." After half an hour, it came to a close, "But it will be happening again at 4pm tomorrow night, and every night bar one ..."
For more pictures, Wildstar Beaumont has a few more on his Flickr page.
Today, the last of the "Meet the Lindens" events takes place at the Second Life Birthday. This time, it's a number of Moles being interviewed in "Meet the Moles."
Meet the Moles on Friday, June 26th at 2 p.m. (Pacific). The Moles are
builders, scripters, and content creators employed by Linden Lab to work
in the Linden Department of Public Works.
The interview will be conducted by Saffia Widdershins, and starts at 2PM at the SL17B Auditorium.
The official events at "The Birthday" will soon be over. The last ones take place on Sunday June 28. The sims themselves will stay up until July 12.
Number three of of this week's "Meet the Lindens" will be at the Second Life
Birthday today. For Wednesday, the Linden being interviewed is Patch
Linden.
Meet Linden Lab VP of Engineering Oz Linden on June 24 at 2 p.m.
(Pacific). Oz is responsible for Second Life Engineering and is proud to
be working on a product that means so much to so many people.
The event will be hosted by Saffia Widdershins, and takes place at 2 PM SL time.
The second of this week's "Meet the Lindens" takes place at the Second Life Birthday today. For Tuesday, the Linden being interviewed is Patch Linden.
Meet Linden Lab VP of Product Operations Patch Linden on June 23 at 2
p.m. (Pacific). Patch works to bring the best of product and support
based decisions on a daily operational basis to the virtual world
platform for Second Life, while maintaining oversight on how all of the
various teams within Linden Lab can best work together for the highest
good of the Residents and the business.
The event will be hosted by Saffia Widdershins, and takes place at 2 PM SL time.
This week at the Second Life Birthday, there will be the "Meet the Lindens" event at the Auditorium area at the north end of the SLB grounds.
Learn more about the people behind Second Life at our annual series of Meet the Lindens
Town Hall events, held daily at 2 p.m. SLT on June 22-26. Participants
this year include Ebbe Linden (June 22), Patch Linden (June 23), Oz
Linden (June 24), and the Linden Lab Marketing Team (June 25). You also
get the chance to meet the Moles (June 26).
Today, the events start off at the top with Linden Lab's CEO, Ebbe Altberg, or as he's known here, Ebbe Linden.
Meet Linden Lab CEO Ebbe Linden on June 22 at 2 p.m. (Pacific).
Ebbe has more than 25 years of experience leading teams and creating
software used by hundreds of millions of users. Learn about his vision
for Second Life at this special event.
The event will be hosted by Saffia Widdershins, and takes place at 2 PM SL time.
June 5 was the day before Relay weekend, and a number of things happened. Among them was an episode of "Lab Gab" in which Strawberry Linden interviewed some of the Relay Committee, Stingray Raymaker, MamaP Beerbaum, Nikki Mathieson, and Trager Alter. Patch Linden was also there. To see the video, Click Here.
After that, there would be a round of "Family Feud" between some Relay personalities and some Lindens and Moles.
Afterwards, Saffia Widdershins would have a discussion between Patch and Constantine Linden, taking some questions from the audience about the Relay and the Second Life Birthday.
In the past few days, some teams have made some last-minute level gains. This includes Team Sunbeamers, which on Thursday finally achieved 750,000 Linden dollars raised, or Sapphire rank. Once again, "the little team that could" has been a big achiever by getting to the top ten of over 200 teams in fundraising levels.
Don't forget to check out the Relay Weekend, which starts today at 10AM SL time, the most intense 24 hours in Second Life.
For most of Second Life history, the Relay for Life's fundraising season has started in March. This year, it started a month early in mid-February. The big event was the Kickoff. After that, there were numerous other events from special club parties to fantasy roleplaying to DJing on stage to show and tell,and more.
Designing Worlds has it's second video .
of the Second Life Sixteenth Birthday up. At about 37:22 into the video, Saffia Widdershins and Elrik Merlin drop by the Second Life Newser SL16B exhibit. They also have a few words with yours truly (and you get to hear why I describe myself as having "a voice for newspapers."). Saffia called Silvia Ametza's creation, "A very clever build, using perspective," saying it looks much bigger than it is further away.
Of the "Meet the Lindens" events last week at the Second Life Birthday, perhaps the most anticipated aside from the one where Linden Lab's CEO spoke was the one featuring Oz and April Linden. As they cover the more technical aspects of how the virtual world works, they would know the most about certain issues such as the moving of Second Life's data to "The Cloud" and when might new last names once again be an option for those with the surname Resident. They had much to say about those issues, such as the plan being to allow residents to have the option to change first names as well, and more.
On Tuesday at 2PM, Saffia Widdershins interviewed Oz and April Linden, followed by a Q and A session with residents. Video was made available after the event.
Editor's Note: For those who want a summary, one will be provided later today
Today, two big events are taking place in Second Life. One is the One Billion Rising. Part of a worldwide demonstration in support of womens' rights, the event is taking place all day until Midnight SL time tonight. It is at four sims, OBR Dance, OBR Rise, OBR Resist, and OBR Unite.
"We're really excited to be supporting the world-wide event of One Billion Rising with our special 24 hour event in Second Life," Saffia Widdershins, whom is one of the women at the event, told me, "It's an event that men and women from around the world can attend, even if they can't attend a local event in the real world. One Billion Rising in Second LIfe has now been running since 2013 and this year we are once again occupying 4 regions, with amazing art works, a huge central stage, and separate theatres for poetry and dance events.
"This year, we are particularly celebrate the two Nobel Peace Prize winners for 2018, Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad, who were awarded the Prize “for their efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and armed conflict”. We're doing this with a special pavilion in their honour, with information about their inspiring work. And this year's Rose Challenge is also a celebration of their work.
"All around the four regions of One Billion Rising, our region designers have set out lovely white rose bushes (kindly donated by Lilith Heart of Heart Botanicals). You might find them spread across the corner parks, the landscaped spaces between the art installations and the central stage, and in the #MeToo Forest. We are asking you to travel around the regions and count the number of white rose bushes (not white roses) that you find. Then post that number by clicking on the mailbox that you will find at each of the landing areas at OBR Dance, OBR Unite, OBR Rise and OBR Resist. A box will open where you can post your number – your name will be automatically recorded."
Also today is the Linden Lab Valentines Day event, "Hug a Linden, Dunk a Linden." You can get there by heading to Isle of View 2 (84/79/107), or from it's entrance in Portal Park, which is now open.
The Lindens themselves will be there from 10am-12pm SL time, at both the hugging booths and dunking booths. But before and after regular residents can have some fun of their own their themselves. But people can ride the swan boats, walk around the sims, or buy a gift for a friend any time. See you at the events. Bixyl Shuftan
There are a number of things one can do at the Second Life Birthday celebration. Among of which is listen to the Lindens themselves talk about Second Life and answer questions about it. Yesterday on Tuesday June 19, it was Patch and Keira's turn to speak, in an interview done by Saffia Widdershins. Gemma was among those in the audience, and had a few things to say about how it went.
