RFL Announcement: Royal Ascot

 

 Among the last events in the Relay Season is the Royal Ascot, a Victorian-themed horseracing event. 

This year is a bit different as it's taking place on the Relay track itself, on a couple sims in the southwest corner.

 

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/RFL%20Screening/130/117/24 

 

RFL Sunbeamers: The Bicycle Blimp Challenge

 

 Remember the Sunbeamers' Air Show? For the event, some activities for the residents were set up, which are still up for the moment. Among them is the Bicycle Blimp Challenge, a three-dimensional race course  at the edge of Farshore Field in Sunlight Bay.

 

A bike blimp giver is at the start and finish part of the course. Just touch the giver, and a package will appear in your inventory. Rezz the box and open it, and the blimp will appear in your inventory. Just click and select "add," and after waiting for 20 seconds for scripts to load, you're ready to race. 

 

To start, go to just behind the start position (don't forget to press fly), and press the panel in front of you.  After a few seconds, the panel turns transparent, and there's a starting horn sound. Rush forward immediately and follow the course, going through the rings. If you miss a ring, you'll be penalized a few seconds. Try to complete it as fast as you can, though some may go up again after the race just to admire the scenery. 

The best time is by Journey Texan at 56.34 seconds. How fast can you go?

 

SURL: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Sunlight%20Bay/165/193/23 

 

Bixyl Shuftan 

 

Emerald Crystal Golf Course In Trouble

 

 

The Emerald Crystal Golf Course is a good place to golf in Second Life. The Newser has written about it, twice (1) (2). Unfortunately, it's been having some trouble. 

On October 1, Laz Dresler, the owner, or greenskeeper, of Emerald, posted the following in the golf course's group.

I always promised I would communicate when the Situation at Emerald Crystal Golf  Course became Grim.
Its  officially Grim. This Summer i hoped  for change. I thought  maybe  everyone was on Vacation and things would turn around and we would make a come back financially. Our Traffic has been good. Sadly our donations  are no longer supporting the 25K we need by the first of each month. September  we were short by half.

If things don't change for October ...

 

 A week later, Laz stated people had been donating, for which she was grateful for, but they still needed more help.

 

You are all gems  - However, among  you we have individuals in our Group that are jewels who appreciate our history and what Emerald Crystal means to Second Life.  

FYI - We are not close to meeting our Goal for next month yet. 

Please don't forget Every Linden matters to our survival  Tiers never stop being collected,  Every month it takes  25,000 Linden to keep the sim. We are officially out of the little cushion that use to make up for our shortages.   

 

For those wishing to donate, there's a wishing well not from from the entrance at Dark Sun Island (31/59/23). Donate to that, and the Lindens will go to paying for the sim. Or you can send them to  CrystalZalari . You can also go to the weekly event at their "19th hole" every Sunday at 12:30 PM.

 

Hopefully for Emerald Crystal, soon the only scary things for Halloween will be the spooks, bats, and wolves.  

 

 http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Dark%20Sun%20Island/31/59/23

 

Hat tip: Charlee Harmony 

 

 Bixyl Shuftan

SL Video: "June Golf Tournament"

 

 

(click here if the video does not play)

 From MarkTwain White on Sept 2008, "Video covering the June golf tournament at the Holly Kai Golf Club in Second Life. For additional videos covering the other holes of the Holly Kai Golf Club see the Golf Playlist here at MarkTwain White's YouTube site."

 

Echovets Gateway For Veteran Newcomers Now Open

 

 

 Last month, the Newser reported that Echovets had been granted a gateway sim by Linden Lab, the first and so far the only one to be aimed at newcomers who are military veterans. But it had been an empty sim that needed to be built on. A few days ago, Echovets' leader, Stacy Lee (Stacy Maracas), informed me the gateway was now open for newcomers, the construction of it's buildings completed. 

"Here at Echo Group Band of Brothers Gateway, we know how overwhelming Second Life can be when you first rezz in.  We went out of our way to ensure our uniformed service residents, their families and supporters, not only receive the knowledge of being a new resident, but also interactive everything for hands on learning as well.  We feel that it will make new residents want to stay in Second Life and keep learning more."

Stacy described herself as exhausted, but proud of what the sim had become and now had to offer. There was a newcomer orientation area where one could learn the basics on how to get about Second Life. But there was more. There was a mall area. There was a golf course. There was a bumper boats pool. There was a sandbox. There was a picturesque garden. There was a firepit welcome area. And more. 

 

One place Stacy was particularly proud of was the Echovets Bike Track. Located over the sim, it offered a long track that would take some time for motorcycles, or perhaps cars or horses, to make their way up to the end. It offered occasional signs and other scenery along the track, sometimes funny, sometimes serious.

A valuable asset for military veterans new to Second Life.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Echo%20Group%20Welcome/15/239/25

Bixyl Shuftan

 

Emerald Crystal Golf Course

 

Second Life isn't a game, but you can play games in it. Among the games residents can play is golf. Gemma Cleanslate recently wrote about a golf course she and some friends shoot some holes at sometimes: Emerald Crystal Golf Course by Laz Dressler. So how does she rate it?

Read Gemma's article in Places. 

BVLA Driver Training Center

 

 

 The folks at the Bellisserian Bureau of Bureaucracy are at it again. It seems besides the passports they've been issuing, there appear to be plans in the words for a drivers license. In ta recent group announcement of theirs, they mentioned a driver's safety course.

You may know the BBB have now added the requirement of a Written Test for a BBB drivers license. We'll make Bellisseria safer! Did you know though that there's a small training center run by the Bellisseria Vehicle Licensing Agency? It's open for anyone to practice & you can rez any vehicle at the rez zone just outside the entrance (LM takes you there). The course is really tight like Bellisseria streets, but you can drive out into deepest Gaeta if you like.

More details are in the BBB Gazette. The person who suggested the drivers license was listed as Persephone Emerald. For now the talk of a license is just that, talk. But the course in Junapel, Gaeta is open for anyone wanting to practice. Or you could just use the rez zone next to the place and just drive on.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Junapel/7/90/29

 

Bixyl Shuftan 

SL Video: Giant Snail Race Through Rosehaven

By RacerX Gullwing on May 17, "In second life, the good players from various corners of the globe band together and run across the second life world to raise money for cancer. This week our RFL event was held in Rosehaven, Gullwing Shire wish to thank Order of the Twilight Rose for letting us in hosting their event! Our races are always 10:30AM SL. Next week we will be racing back at Gullwing Shire with the Giant Snails, So Enjoy! Thank you residents of Rosehaven.

"Finish order: Oodlemi Noodle 1, Alden Cortes 2, Dorie Bernstein 3, Cinders Vale 4, Soaphia Resident 5, whispy Darkstone 6, Nyree Rain 7, Mia Quinote 9. 

"Some of our music we use during the race is by my good friend ,Alazarin Mobius.

"Thank you for your donations." 
  

SL Video: "Giant Snail Races: Oktoberfest"

(Click here if the video fails to play)

From September 22, RacerX Gullwing and the Giant Snail Racers have their "Oktoberfest" race.

The first race was won by Fionafei, with BrianTopp second and Lobbie Riggles third. In the second race, BrianTopp won, with Fionafei second, and Aldin Cortes third.

Relay For Life Walk Sims Online

The sims for the Second Life Birthday may be coming down. But the ones for the next big event in Second Life have just come online. The American Cancer Society sim has been joined by about forty others which appear about once a year at this time for the 24 hour Relay Walk, also known as the Relay Weekend as it takes place over Saturday and Sunday. A few sims are for activities and major exhibits which take up a whole to a half sim. But most of the areas are divided up into quarters to accommodate four teams.

Among the camps will be that of Team Sunbeamers. Their camp is in RFL Support, the sim just to the left of the northeast corners. Rita Mariner (still in her "Bid Me Pink" avatar) places the team name marker on the campsite here in this picture.

Unfortunately. aside from the build teams and a few other Relayers, the sims are closed to the public. This includes a certain fox reporter of whom this was as far as he could go. The good news, Becky Shamen is on the Sunbeamer's build team, so we should be getting some sneak peaks over the next couple weeks, the Relay Weekend taking place on the 16th and 17th.

Bixyl Shuftan

The Aero Golf Club

Becky Shaman's journey's across Second Life recently took her to one of Second Life's many games: golf. Interested in giving the game a try, she headed to the Aero Golf Club at Lavender. So did Becky rate the course a "hole in one?" Or was it "under par?"

Read Becky's article in Places.

Eye on the Blog: Introduction to Second Life for Educators - a Course in Spanish Part 2

In the Linden Blog, what's being highlighed is a course inworld aimed at teachers from Spanish language areas to help them make use of Second Life to help teach.

Back in April we blogged about the University of San Martin de Porres Perú is offering a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) called "Introduction to Second Life for Educators" that was specifically designed to help Spanish speaking educators leverage Second Life for educational purposes. Since then the course has been improved and updated, and a new session is set to start on September 29th at Second Life Para Docentes.

About the course:

The Virtual Worlds Project of The University of San Martin de Porres from Perú starts this September 29th the second edition of the MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) entitled "Introduction to Second Life for Educators 2nd. Ed.". The course is free and is designed to train Spanish speaking educators on the use of the virtual world Second Life, and to provide knowledge that allows educators to benefit from its potential, especially in the education field.

 If you or someone you know might benefit from a course like this, you can watch an introductory video (in Spanish) and register at their website. Start Day: Sep 29th.

 The post, along with Spanish translation, can be found Here.

AERO Golf Club

Ever feel like going for a round of golf  but there's no course nearby or the fees are a bit steep? Well, as it turns out there's a golf course here in Second Life. Wesley Regenbogen takes a look at the Areo Golf club, which offers a course of eighteen holes. So did he feel the place was up to par?

Read Wesley's article in Places.

Cross-Country Giant Snail Race Takes Place

On Saturday April 27th, this month's Cross-Country Giant Snail Race was held on the Second Life Mainland. Taking place on the continent sometimes called Heterocera or Hererocera Atol, the race began in the Fillip sim in the north at a little after 11AM SL time, the course going west along the coast, and then south and east crossing a few dozen sims. It ended after about 40 minutes in Calleta, near the Hobo Railroad Infohub. Tindallia Soothsayer won, with Alden Cortes described as close behind.

The rankings of those finishing are as follows:

1     Tindallia Soothsaye
2     Alden Cortes
3     Gareth8 Albatros
4     Snurky Snoodle
5     RavenClaws Resident
6     Obvious Schism
7     Oodlemi Noodle
8     Cinders Vale
9     Mudbug Cooperstone
10   Crash Soulstar
 

The recording of the race will be shown on Treet.tv in about "a week or two." But the one of last year's Fillip-Calleta event can be seen.

The Cross-Country Snail Races are held every month during the Relay For Life fundraising season by RacerX Gullwing and his team, in addition to residents participating in the event. Donations go the Giant Snail Racing Team, which has raised over 48,000 Lindens this year.


*Update* The video of the race is now up: Click Here.

Bixyl Shuftan

The Cheeky Cow Golf Course

Gemma Cleanslate checks out a golf course in Second Life, The Cheeky Cow Golf Club. One can take the free golf lessons, or dive right in. There are eighteen holes of fun, plus a tavern and a horseback riding area.

Read about Cheeky Cow in Places.