Announcement: Furry Fashion Halloween Hunt 2025!

 

It's time to hunt! Furry's Halloween Area is now open with lots of goodies to be gotten from FF and various mall merchants who have generously took the time to hide a pumpkin with a prize! Full details can be seen on our blog and example pumpkins are set up at the enterance!

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Furry/125/229/700
 

 ~FF~ Halloween Info!: Welcome to Furry Halloween 2025! For best effect turn your viewer settings to midnight!  Your goal for Furry Halloween 2025 is to find Pumpkins in the Halloween area - This means the maze and Halloween shops! Example Pumpkins are located at the teleport point.  No linden is needed for this hunt just get close enough to touch a pumpkin to receive a prize - but please no cheating, staff are on hand to keep things fair. 

 

More info at https://furrysl.blogspot.com/2025/10/furry-halloween-pumpkin-hunt-2025.html

 

Return To VR Chat

 

 It's been a while since I was last on VR Chat, and several days ago, I finally went there and joined a couple friends who have come to spend more time there than Second Life. Some things haven't changed, such as avatars not able to be dressed like they can be in our virtual world and any attachments need to be constantly held in your hand, dropping if you take your finger off the button. But some things have such as the potential size of some regions. One was so huge, my friend told me over a hundred kilometers across, you needed a car to go across, and it took a while. 

 

So I may write more about VRChat in the months ahead. I say may as I have my hands on a few projects. Time will tell.

 

Bixyl Shuftan

 

Scenes From the Bellisseria Anniversary Grounds

 

Bellisseria, the Linden Home continent, turns five years old this month. And there's a month of celebrations planned. Much of them will be taking place at a special Fairgrounds created just for the occasion, one that's been in the works for some time. Gemma Cleanslate went and checked out the place.

 

Read Gemma's article in Design. 

 

Breaking News: SL20B Extended

 

For those who wanted a few more days to look around the SL20B area, good news. It was just announced in the Second Life Birthday group that the sims for the event will be staying up until Sunday July 16.

Patch has generously said that the SL20B regions and the Shop and Hop will stay open thru Sunday, July 16. that means there are still seven more days to enjoy SL20B experience! Have fun! And yes parties at the exhibits are allowed!

The news was delivered by Missy Mole (Mischievous Mole), who would add, "I know rumors were floating around since the Meet the Moles talk but I wanted to make sure it was confirmed before we made an announcement."

 

The news was greeted with cheers in the Birthday group, one person musing the "Shop and Hop" being extended would be bad news to her bank account.

 

Once again, the Second Life Birthday sims, including those for the Shop and Hop, will be up until Sunday July 16.

 

Bixyl Shuftan 

Burn ONe's Time Extended Another Month

 

When we wrote about the Burn ONe area in the Highup sim earlier this month, the land had been paid for until the end of July. Last night, it was announced that the time the area will be up was extended for another month.

Wisdom d'Avi (Wisdom Davi) announced the news in the group

Good News

Baker Beach to Remain OPEN through August!

Thanks to Nance who has added 2 weeks to the tier and Mia who will add an additional 2 weeks this coming Friday.

At this time please direguard the Break Camp & LNT notice sent earlier today.

Plans are being made for a celebration at the place this weekend, as of now either one three-day event or three smaller events.

Bixyl Shuftan

 

The SL19B Sims Close to The Public

After being open for almost a month, the sims of the Second Life Birthday are now closed to regular visitors (baring a last minute glitch). While the last night the area is open usually is the scene of some impromptu music and dance parties, this time that wasn't the case. There were plenty of people checking out the "Shop and Hop" sims, but no DJs playing music that I could see.

For today and tomorrow is the "Takedown" or teardown when the exhibitors take down their builds. And then on Wednesday, only the Lindens and Moles will be able to access the sims as they close down, at least until next spring for the SL20B. 

Bixyl Shuftan
 

SL19B Map Update

 

Checking the map, the sims for the Second Life Birthday celebration are in two groups. Nine sims, SLB Amaze, SLB Astonish, SLB Astound, SLB Breathtaking, SLB Captivate, SLB Electrify, SLB Enchant, SLB Fantasy, and SLB Imagination are presumably the exhibition build areas. The other fifteen, SLB Awesome, SLB Beguile, SLB Dazzle, SLB Exhilarate, SLB Fascinate, SLB Impressive, SLB Incredible, SLB Magnificent, SLB Mesmirize, SLB Pizzazz, SLB Sparkle, SLB Spectacular, SLB Spellbound, SLB Stunning, and SLB Wonderous are presumably for Linden builds such as the stages and Tower of Time. Presumably a few days before the event opens, the sims will be combined again.

At this time, exhibitors are getting their plots. Some get their replies later than others. For the latter, the Moles are asking for patience, and for applicants to stay calm.

The Second Life Nineteenth Birthday celebrations take place from Thursday June 16 to Tuesday July 5. The theme this year is Steampunk.

Bixyl Shuftan
 

SL17B Sims Offline

And so, it's finally over.

Originally scheduled to close on Monday July 13, the sims of the Second Life Seventeenth Birthday got an extension for another week. So they remained open to all until Midnight July 19. They were open a few more days for exhibitors to pick up their displays, or admire the works of others one more time. Mischievous Mole would post the following:

The Estate is open through Sunday, July 19th for people to come in and continue to explore. The practical side of this is DON'T take down your exhibits yet! You can clean up your parcels July 20-22. Thanks everyone for a great Birthday! I hope everyone had a good time. I would love to hear any feedback you have about how things worked and what you thought of the layout this year.

Wednesday July 22 was the last day, and the sun set on the SL17B grounds for the final time. Sometime after Midnight, the sims were taken offline, and anything left there was frozen in place.

It was a great SL17B, and here's looking forward to SL18B.

Bixyl Shuftan

Addition: I heard Friday night that the exhibitors had their objects returned. 

SL17B Sims Still Up

The Newser has a correction to make.

It seems "The Birthday" isn't quite over yet. Yesterday in the Second Life Birthday group chat, someone commented that the sims weren't quite closed to the public just yet. I later confirmed this by successfully sending an alt in. So it seems the exhibits are open for a few more days.

While this can't be confirmed, the person told me that the sims were open to all for another week, Sunday July 22. So here's another chance to see the exhibits before they vanish.

Sorry for the error. But have fun exploring.

Bixyl Shuftan

Last Day For The SL17B

It's been a lot of fun, but the Second Life Birthday event is about to come to a complete close. After Midnight SL time tonight, the SL17B sims will be closed to the public. So now's your last chance to see any exhibits you might have missed.

There have been no more official events since Sunday June 28. But there have been some impromptu ones, notably the several on Tuesday July 7. There might be a few DJs playing on stage sometime today, though no guarantees.

Enjoy this last day of the SL17B.

The Second Life 17th Birthday Celebration Begins

And finally, it's open. After weeks of reporting on it under a "no pictures" rule, we're finally able to show you what the Second Life 17th Birthday celebration grounds look like.

At 11 AM, Patch officially opened the event at the opening ceremony at the Main Stage (picture from Linden Lab's Youtube channel).

 There's a lot to see with 23 sims making up the SL17B grounds (the Linden Home Demo Area is still off-limits for now).

There are a number of builds, and several sims made up of resident-made exhibits.

Among them is the Newser's exhibit, a tropical vacation island courtesy of Silvia Ametza, the "Azure of Tonatiuh," located at SL17B Stunning (210/254/23).

Silvia did a great job in miniaturizing things for the build.

Yesterday was the "Soft Opening" for those already in the SL Birthday group, and there were a number in the gift area getting freebies.

Among the exhibits was a Bleriot monoplane flight simulator, recreating the flight of Lous Bleriot's crossing of the English Channel by air in 1909.

There's a lot more to see, but further descriptions will have to wait until another article.

Stay tuned for the Meet the Lindens schedule at the Auditorium.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/SL17B%20Awesome/238/111/53

Bixyl Shuftan

SL17B Starts Today

After weeks of waiting, "The Birthday" finally arrives today, Friday June 19. Things start officially at the auditorium at 11 AM SL time with the opening ceremony held by Patch Linden at the Main Stage. After that will be various music events at both there and the DJ stage. And of course there are the many dozens of exhibits to see.

Unfortunately, the Lab doesn't want the Newser to post pictures even a few hours before the sims open. But what I can post are a few goodies you can grab as part of the gift package: an SL17B flag, an SL17B visitor badge, a SL17B laynard, and a collection of SL17B visors (wearing the blue one).

 We'll have some pictures up later today. In the meantime, see you at The Birthday.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/SL17B%20Awesome/238/111/53

Bixyl Shuftan

SL17B Sims Combined

Yesterday on Tuesday June 16, the seven exhibitor SL17B sims were combined with most of the remaining ones. Only SL17B Enchant remains apart from the other twenty, with several SL17B Water sims added to the edges. As this is the sim where the Linden homes will be, presumably there is some last minute work done on them.

For the second year in a row, there is no Cake Stage, the tradition apparently having gone away with the resident-run SL Birthday events. Instead there is a Main stage at the corners of SL17B Wonderous, Dazzle, Exhilarate and Fascinate in the middle of the area. To the south end at where SL17B Spectacular and Spellbound meet is the DJ stage. At the north end where SL17B Imagination, Fantasy, Astound, and Awesome meet is the Auditorium for discussions. While we can't show any pictures yet, it will be different from the auditoriums for the past several years.

The exhibitor sims are SL17B Astonish and Captivate in the northwest In the northeast south of the entrance area is SL17B Electrify. To the southwest is SL17B Incredible and Sparkle. And to the southeast is SL17B Pizzazz and Stunning.

Besides the Welcome Area in SL17B Awesome and Beguile, other places include the Tapestry of Time, there's the Gift Area, the Pod Tour Area, and a couple spots to teleport to the Shop and Hop event sims.

The events start at 11 AM on Friday, and go on to Sunday June 28. The sims stay up until Sunday July 12.

Bixyl Shuftan

Linden Lab Still In Talks With Djehan Kidd Over Hangars Liquides

Last Friday, the Newser reported on the five region Hangars Liquides urban sci-fi sims in danger of being shut down at the end of the month. This weekend, I had a few words with the builder and owner Djehan Kidd about the area, and it's situation.

Djehan told me it's looking unlikely Linden Lab will allow Hangars to rent out apartments and still remain a nonprofit. She felt it's not because they don't want to, but in her opinion they're "monitored" by the US Government more today than in the past. She's also gotten numerous offers of help to keep the sims afloat. But she feels their best chance lies with the Lab's sim preservation program, "So far I didn't get a no or a yes. All I know is that a commitee will visit (the sims) and decide."

Meanwhile, others are spreading the word about the sims. A concerned resident created a thread on the official forums about Hangars Liquides, and it quickly grew to numerous pages, some people posting pictures of the area. There were numerous pleas for the sims to be given a break and allowed to stay on. One commented, "I don't think I have been there before or if I had I didn't spend long there because the scale of it whilst immersive is also bewildering. Spent 30 minutes exploring it again and it is undoubtedly a work of art. Despite all its complexity it is well optimised, I had none of my usual problems with textures and objects not bothering to load. It is a fine example of what is possible to do here."

There's also a Flickr page full of screenshots of the sims (caution, not all safe for work).

The full interview with Djehan will appear later this week in the Newser.

Image Credit: Lawrence Celestalis

Bixyl Shuftan

SL16B Opens Today

After months of anticipation and weeks of preparing, the Second Life Sixteenth Birthday celebrations start today. Beginning at 10AM today, the grounds of the SL16B will be open to the public. The official welcome areas are at SL16B Pizzazz (129/244/23) amd at SL16B Impressive (127/7/23), But one can drop in anywhere in the sims

Many of the exhibits are a fun look at the 1950s, the era Linden Lab takes a nod at with the "Sweet Sixteen" theme.

But the 50s weren't all fun and games. "The Forgotten War" exhibit by Prokofy Neva and Henry Hutchence looks at the Korean War, in which over thirty thousand Americans met their end, at SL16B Sparkle (175/112/23).

And among the exhibits there are those by the Second Life Newser. Once again, Silvia Ametza has volunteered her time and talent, and came up with this scale build of the United Nations Headquarters building in New York City. Completed in 1952, it's been the meeting place of the organization that makes up most every nation. Considering Second Life's international userbase, it's a fitting exhibit.
SL16B Sparkle (153/36/24).

To keep up with the goings-on, there is a Calendar of Events.

Have a happy Second Life Birthday.

Abnor Mole At Work

They're the occasionally celebrated but often overlooked workers of Linden Lab: the moles. Hired from Second Life's population of residents, they build Linden Lab's infrastructure, and sometimes help out with events. Recently, a tip from a friend of the Newser led to a chance encounter with Abnor Mole while he was working on Bellisseria's new Linden Home area. As there was a crowd watching, some questions were asked, and the mole with the small robot avatar took a little time to answer. He also volunteered some information as to the source of the Lab's pickle jokes in the area.

Read the story in Extra.

Relay Sims Appear on Map

With the Re;ay Weekend taking place earlier this year than usual, this means the area for the event goes up early. So checking the map, I noticed around the American Cancer Society were the sims for the Relay track. Numbering about a few dozen, they're mixed in with the sims of the recent Sci-fi Con, which just ended, and most are still just green fields.

Stay tuned for more updates.

Second Life Birthday Sims Update

With the Second Life Birthday less than a month away, the sims have appeared on the map and are taking shape. There are some interesting details such as the heart-shaped lake in the middle, and the piers in SL16B Stunning in the southeast corner.

When the sims will be open to exhibitors has yet to be announced, though people have been given until Friday May 31 to apply to be one. The SL16B is scheduled to last from June 20 to July 8.

SSP/Bellisseria Update

The new landmass, the SSP land, or Bellisseria as the name has been recently been revealed to be, is starting to be placed. South of the Sansara continent, part of it appeared.

Many of the sims on the new land have been renamed.

Some of the sims on the southern part have yet to be placed.

From the continent of Jeogeot, there's a string of water sims. Currently one can almost but not quite fly or sail to the new land mass. It is still closed to the public.

At the Home and Garden Expo, it was revealed that the new continent will be where the new Linden Homes are.

Hat Tip: Daniel Voyager

Bixyl Shuftan

SSP Region Update

The SSP sims, the new mystery continent, remain off-limits to regular residents. But there had been a few visible changes on the map in the past month. On the SSP2 QA Test sim to the northwest, there's an image of a mouse appearing. In the middle of the landmass, a build with orange rectangles has appeared. Then there's the whimsical message on the SSP124 sim. The land was sculpted to say when looked at from the map "OSSM takes time," with a smiley face in the corner.

Presumably, "OSSM" means "awesome," and the moles are saying it's going to be a while before the region is ready to go public.

No date has been given as to when the sims in the region will be ready and opened to the public. It is believed the sims are intended to be residential areas, though Linden Lab isn't saying what the "Super Secret Project," to use the name described what "SSP" stands for at one Town Hall meeting, are for.

Hat tip: Daniel Voyager.