Cartoon of The Day: Feeling Blue

 

 Taken at Club Scorn. This picture was used in a previous cartoon, but I thought of another punchline.

 

By Bixyl Shuftan

 

Cartoon of The Day: Feeling The Blues

 

 Taken at Club Scorn. Blue is an unusual skin color for human avatars. So why would someone be blue? I could think of a few reasons. 

 

By Bixyl Shuftan

 

Cartoon of The Day: Skeleton Blues

 

 

 Taken while shopping. Some shoppers were dressed for Halloween, including this guy in a skeleton, a blue skeleton. So why was he blue, I could think of one reason, and another some would think.

By Bixyl Shuftan

 

"Forget Me Not" Fundraiser and Location

 

 

 A few days ago, a fundraising event started in Second Life: "Forget Me Not."

 

 The Forget ME not Fair is an annual fundraiser shopping event to benefit Open Medicine Foundation – leading research of ME (Myalgic Encephalomyelitis), Long Covid, Fibromyalgia and related chronic conditions.

Exclusive items of this event are mainly BLUE (the color of ME awareness).

The event to raise money to help combat Myalgic Encephalomyelitis , or chronic fatigue syndrome, started on Tuesday August 8 "to mark the 'Severe ME Day' in honor of the most severely affected and in remembrance of those who have passed." Besides the items up for purchase, with some of the money going to the Open Medicine Foundation. 

 

There's also a raffle that people can enter for a chance at one of five 1000L gift cards. The first ticket is free. More can be purchased for 100L each, with all of the Lindens going to the charity.
 

The event lasts until Tuesday August 29, at is at:

https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Calidea/160/96/3502

 

You can also find out more on the items for sale at their Flickr page:

 https://www.flickr.com/photos/197813859@N04

"Forget Me Not" also has a permanent location in Second Life, at the Super Island sim at (160/49/22). It was recently shown in Second Life Destinations, and was built by Adelia Meli (QueenAdelia Resident) who has been combating the syndrome since 2010 and hopes to raise awareness for the condition. Dropping by, there were numerous short testimonials from various people with ME. 

 

 

 (click here if the video does not play)

 Bixyl Shuftan

 

People of The Year Runner-Up: Supporters of Ukraine

 

When Russian dictator Vladimir Putin ordered his country's forces to invade the Ukraine on February 23 2022, the result was an international outcry. Thousands across the world protested in various ways. 

 

In Second Life, there were protests against the invasion in the Moscow sim, plus calls to support Ukrainian merchants. People would also start raising or waving Ukrainian flags, and flagmakers would respond by making the blue and gold banners available for free.  

 

There would also be at least one fundraiser to raise money for the country. The fate of one Ukrainian content creator who ended up in occupied territory was also of concern. Linden Lab itself would come to make a statement in support of Ukraine. The Newser office itself would sport a blue and gold flag. And then there were the numerous people wearing blue and gold clothes, or sticking a blue and gold cloth in their belt or some other wearing of the colors of the Ukraine.  

 

Not as many wear or show the blue and gold today. But there are still some places that do, such as one venue yours truly stopped at last week. 

There are those who call this support of "Nazism," referring to Russian dictator Putin's claims that the invasion was carried out to "denazify" the country. The sources of their information are Russian news websites that have no choice but to state propaganda to support the invasion or the few in the West who for some reason have come to believe this misinformation. But most in America and Europe aren't buying it.

So the Newser collectively gives "Persons of The Year - Runner-Up" to those who in some way showed their support for the country of Ukraine as it continues to resist Putin's invasion.

 

Also nominated were Lisa Buttmonkey (Cottonheaded Ninnymuggins) and Ian Witt (Brian Ninnymuggins) of "The Dirty Grid" which recently closed after over a decade, the Relay for Life in Second Life volunteers, and the Moles. 

Bixyl Shuftan

Editor

SL Newser

Twitter Checkmark

 

 I got this little item from Marianne McCann, a Second Life version of the Twitter blue checkmark.

 

 To those not in the know, the blue checks were added as a verification feature to Twitter for $8 US dollars a month by orders of it's new owner Elon Musk. One of the motives for this was likely to help stop Twitter from losing millions every day. But things quickly went awry as some quickly began using the feature to troll and impersonate people. It wasn't long before the feature was finally suspended. This hasn't been the only problem with Twitter as recently as advertisers have been leaving and a number of it's security, privacy, and compliance heads have quit. Musk as admitted that Twitter going into bankruptcy is not out of the question. What happens next? Time will tell.

Sources: ArsTechnia, CNBC, BBC News, Forbes, Business Insider, Engadget   

Bixyl Shuftan

Announcement: Deep Blue Sea Gridwide Hunt

 *

Get ready to dive into the deep blue sea!  Take a trip into the oceans blue and find deviously magical mermaids, frightening krakens, and mysterious creatures.  Sail the high seas and discover some pirate treasure adventures with us on our free gridewide hunt and chill out with open:air's live event experiences. Adventure calls and Chronicles will open January 15th at noon SLT and end February 5th

To start the hunt use the SURL at the bottom of this announcement. Simply click the hunt prim example by the Deep Blue Sea HUNT sign to receive your landmark to your first destination. You’ll be looking for a Treasure Chest in each of the stores you visit! The landmark to the next location will be located in the folder along with your prize. Alternatively you can use the page on the website for hints. https://chroniclesandlegends.com/the-deep-blue-sea-hunt-guide/

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Nymphai/107/75/3378
 

Cartoon of the Day: Big Blue

 

Taken at the Happy Vixen, Skylark "Snowbuns" Lefavre demonstrates a huge blue fox avatar. 

By Bixyl Shuftan

 

Cartoon of the Day

 

 Picture by Luna Soledad in Facebook's Second Life Friends group. The avatar's skin had turned blue due to a glitch, which her posting about it resulted in a few comments.

By Bixyl Shuftan

Linden Lab Changes Second Life Logo Color

Over the weekend, Linden Lab announced it's symbol for the virtual world was getting a slight change. While the shape of the familiar eye in hand logo would remain, it would change from bluish-green to blue. Less noticeable was a change in the lettering.

The old logo has served us well but no longer projects our vision for SL as we move into this next decade. The new logo uses clearer, bolder type to communicate our optimism and confidence in what the future holds for SL. We retired the soft green color in favor of bright blue to reflect the boundless energy of our residents, who create amazing content and experiences. When it comes to what you can do with SL, the (blue) sky’s the limit! 

The Lab stated it might be some time before the original logo is completely taken down from all of it's many web pages, "We don’t want to distract our teams from the important projects our community knows we’re working hard on. So you will see a mix of new and old logos for a while as teams find time to make updates."

Not much of a change, though it is the first one made since Second Life's launch seventeen years ago in 2003. So what do the residents think? As of the writing of this article, there were eight pages of comments on the thread in the official forums, and a few on the Virtualverse thread. Some like the new look. Others preferred the old one. And still others felt Linden Lab should have spent the time and effort here on fixing the bugs and glitches the virtual world still has.

For more information, check the Linden blog.

Bixyl Shuftan

Cartoon of the Day

Taken at the CDS Inaugural Ball

By Bixyl Shuftan

Reader Submitted: Warcraft Elvis Souvenier

 Jasmine Dawn was going about Hyjal Summit when a demon she clobbered dropped a couple items, including a pair of Blue Suede Shoes. Maybe the demon was an Elvis fan, though no telling where he got them.

As a Worgen, the shoes look better in her human form (above) than her were (left).

Cartoon of the Day

With thanks to Kitacella

By Bixyl Shuftan

Independence Day Around Second Life

So what went on during America's Independence Day holiday? In real life, there were parades, barbecues, and fireworks. But what about Second Life? While one 4th of July event of past years wasn't taking place this year, there was still much going on.

See the scenes in Events.

The Memorial Day Dance at Cutlass

Taken last night at Club Cutlass' Memorial Day dance. Several of the attendees, mostly veterans, showed up in uniform. One however came decked all out in red, white, and blue.

Scenes From Second Life: The Jolly Blue Giantess

 With Lomgren Smalls as a neighbor, small avatars are not exactly a shocking sight. Giant avatars, however, are a different story.

At Furry Fashion last weekend, yours truly dropped by a "Best in Blue" event. And quite a number in theme showed up. In the words of one, "It's like Avatar (the movie) in here." Then someone named Arisu Starfall showed up. While also in a blue avatar, it was unlike the others due to her huge height, standing close to forty feet high. The sight of her drew cries along the lines of "Don't step on me!" Arisu didn't step on anyone, but tiptoed to the side and made some adjustments in her outfit. "Why so tall?" someone asked. The giantess promptly answered, "Why so short?"

Arisu would later share in the contest prize that night, proving "Size does matter."

Bixyl Shuftan

Kat2Kit (Matt "Cyanotype" Shapoff) Has Died

It was announced over Facebook on Thursday May 2 that Kat2 Kit, known there as Matt "Cyanotype" Shapoff, had passed away. He was 42. He is survived by his wife.

Stay tuned for details about Kat's history in Second Life. For now, one can stop by his store at Montauk New York (128/157/24).

Cartoon of the Day

Taken at "Lauren Live"

By Bixyl Shuftan

Cartoon of the Day

Taken at Club Gearz. Fuzzball was still in his purplish skin after the "Steelhead Salmons" had raised so much for the Relay for Life. 

By Bixyl Shuftan

SL Video: "The Boys in Blue"

(Click Here if the video fails to load)

By Pete Clements, Mudpuddle Digital Studios, "a girl who joins the Navy, and sets off on a South Sea adventure."