Decorating the Newser Office

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With the Christmas season in full swing, some places are getting decorated. This includes the Newser office in HV Community, courtesy of Gemma Cleansate.

Gemma decorated the place both inside and out, including a couple Christmas trees.

This included a snowglobe, that played music when wound up.

Merry Christmas from the Newser building.
 

Urban Furry's Christmas Globe

 

Different clubs are doing different things for the Christmas season. Some just put up a few small decorations. But Urban Furry went all out. Whiskey (Thorrin Resident) made a huge snowglobe that people can dance in. To get there, go through the double doors between the candy canes near the main entry area. It opened on Friday November 27, and started having events that night.

It's not the first time the club did something big. In December 2018, they had a larger winter area.

 http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Empire%20State%20Island/76/103/3549

RFL: The Snowglobe

Looking back at the Relay, there were many builds. Some I didn't have much of a chance to look at, and most likely many escaped the attention they deserve. Among those that I did see was a particularly beautiful build in the winter region: the Snowglobe.

The Snowglobe viewed from above.

The entrance to the Snowglobe

One could walk up the levels of the snowglobe by way of it's ice walkways, or taking the snowflakes up.

The Longest Winter whispers: When I first heard that word I felt a chill.
Winter came in a monochrome storm…a flurry of black and white..X-rays and CT scans.
Endless pages of neatly typed pathology.
Hospital halls, sterile offices, and starched white coats.
All in stark display against a growing bleak grey horizon that seemed to be the future for me.

The Longest Winter whispers:
I wanted to live.

A chorus of consonants…malignant,metastatic, morbidity, chemo, CANCER!
Nights of nausea…a forever of fatigue…an infinity of infection…this vast sea of despair swallowed my senses.

I grew sick.

The world was stark and dark and hope guttered like a candle set against the wind.
The world was frozen and I grew cold.

I wanted to die.


The Longest Winter whispers: Somewhere the consonants turned to constants.
Compassion, concern, caring companionship, conquering fear, despair and denial.
I dreamed of the hundred hands that had held mine through everything, each holding out a shining crystal snowglobe.

Something died then.

But it wasn't me.

I woke to see the crocus pushing their way through the snow.
The winter was fading.
The fear was too.
The Longest Winter whispers: As a child I had a snowglobe.
Gazing into the silvery sparkling snow at the tiny-toy town I would imagine it to
be a crystal ball that could show me the future.
A hundred hands holding the little globe out to me.
I went out to walk in a fresh snowfall.

Someone had shaken the world and made it beautiful again.

The Longest Winter whispers: I was fighting the cancer while fear was the enemy all undiscovered about me.
I was never alone.

I cannot see the future but I know I have won. I live now.

The Longest Winter owned by Arioch Snowpaw gave you 'RFL 2011 Snow Globe'

Bixyl Shuftan

SL Groups Raised to 42, But Your Viewer May Not Show It

A bit more than a week ago, FJ Linden announced in the official blog that the group limit of 25 per account, long the source of complaints by residents, was finally raised to 42. There’s just one slight hitch ...

Linden Labs says you need to be using Viewer 2 to join more groups.


To add groups beyond the previous limit of 25, you must be using Viewer 2.4 (or a more recent version). And if you’re still using Viewer 1.23, or a third-party viewer based on Viewer 1.23 code, then you can add more groups in Viewer 2.4 and they will still be accessible when you switch back to Viewer 1.23.


Viewer 2 has always gotten mixed reviews from Second Life residents. With improvements, some people adopted it. But even after a year, the majority of residents still use other viewers most of the time. This includes yours truly whom relies on Snowglobe. The last few times I tried Viewer 2.0, the result was a cloud instead of an avatar, and finally the latest version would not work at all on my computer. And from what I’ve been hearing, some people trying to use it crash frequently.

So does this mean we have to use a buggy viewer to join more groups?

Not necessarily.

When I stumbled across a “click to join group” poster recently, I decided to give it a try, and went ahead and clicked to add myself. And it worked! So apparently, other viewers also get the new group limit, even though they still say you have a maximum of 25 groups.

Hamlet Au also did an article on the subject, and his readers commented on various viewers. It seems Viewer 1.23 and all third-party viewers based on it can also be used to join more groups. It’s just when *starting* a new group that you’ll need Viewer 2.

In the official blog, there were numerous replies of thanks for the group limit raised. There were some who did bring up the issue of Viewer 2.

On another note, the blog post mentioned improvements for teleporting and sim crossings, saying on average they’ve dropped 40%. Yours truly hasn’t noticed much of a difference.

For the Linden Blog post and comments, Click Here.

Bixyl Shuftan

The “Winter Wonderland Snowglobe” at the Fitzgeralnd

Some Nighclubs hold special Winter events. One decided to build a room-sized snowglobe. Drakken Calhoun of “The Fitzgerald” told me about the “Winter Wonderland” those visiting his club could walk into.

“When you come into the club, “Drakken told me, “you will see doors to your left. Open the door, touch the wall inside, and it will take you on a magical winter trip. Please stop by, and we hope you like it. Winter has arrived at the afterhours at the Fitzgerald, stop and have a look at our Winter Wonderland, and dance in our Giant Snowglobe.”

The Fitzgerald itself is, as Drakken describes it, “a 1940’s style ballroom and lounge” one can “bring your freinds and go back in time. ... It’s retro decor with deep reds and hints at jazz-age frivolity make it a welcoming and lighthearted date destination.” The ground floor has a ballroom for music and dancing, and for more laid back events and happenings, there’s a small coffee shop on the second floor, called the “Morning Coffee Lounge.”

Currently the crew of the club is on holiday break with no events after New Years, though Drakken would sometimes leave his avatar dressed at Santa Claus at the sim, often Away From Keyboard, “Would you believe how many people took pictures at the Fitzgerald thinking I was only just the traveling Santa (laughter). I spend from December 1st to December 26th as Santa every year.” Events will resume after the holidays are over, their “Martini Hour Venues” and Sunday morning poetry readings at 10 AM, “and coming soon is the Open Mike Comedy Night,” which is in the lounge upstairs.

The Fitzgerald is at Unsung Village at (54, 91, 22). The Snowglobe will remain until winter ends. Drakken plans to put something else in it's place, but isn't saying what it will be.

Bixyl Shuftan

SL Viewers: What's the Deal, What do I Use, and Why

There's no shortage of opinions on what Second Life Viewer is best. SammanthaS Nightfire has been busy looking at different ones, going past the claims and hype, and looking at what performs. Sometimes the best viewer depends on what you're doing on the grid, exploring or building.

Read her review of SL Viewers in Extra

Reader Submitted: Review of SL 3rd Party Viewers

Many residents have been looking for a new viewer for Second Life following the Emerald mess. One of our readers, SamanthaS Nightfire, recently took a look at various alternatives to it and the official Linden Lab client. She came up with a few conclusions.

Read the story in Extra.