Ryan Schultz to Stop Blogging

 

A few days ago, Ryan Schultz, a noted blogger about Second Life and other virtual worlds and VR technology, announced there would be no more posts on his blog. 

I’ve had a good run, but it’s time for me to close this blog after a little over seven years and three months. It’s time.

Please know that it has been an honour, a joy, and a privilege to write about a subject that I loved: virtual worlds, social VR, and the metaverse, plus virtual and augmented reality in general. This blog has opened many doors for me, and I am truly grateful for the experiences I have had.

Thank you for your comments, suggestions, encouragement, and feedback throughout the years. I have made many friends and acquaintances in many virtual worlds, and I hope that our paths cross again soon, either via the metaverse or in real life.

I will be offline for a while, but I hope to be back soon. I doubt it will be a blog, though. Perhaps something different; I don’t know what yet.

Be well. Keep each other warm in a cold world. I love you all.

In his post before, he stated was staking an indefinite break, saying he was too busy with the demands of real-life. In the post before that, he had stated his job at a university has undergone quite a bit in recent months. His last post about technology was on October 1, with two posts in August. On July 4, he announced there would be fewer posts "for the forseeable future" due to his job.  

Ryan Schultz was a blogger about Second Life, often posting about mesh avatar accessories and outfits. But he didn't limit himself to Second Life, starting off as a blogger about Sansar when it was owned by Linden Lab, calling it the "Sansar Newsblog" at the time. But in January 2018, he briefly suspended writing following a dispute with Linden Lab about a story he did on one of Sansar's locations, later renaming it the Ryan Schultz blog as part of Linden Lab's complaint was about the blog's name. He would also write about VRChat and other virtual worlds, as well as VR Gear. 

Ryan Schultz did hint he would be back in some form. But it looks like he won't be with the blog he made a name for himself in Second Life media.

To check out Ryan Schultz's blog: https://ryanschultz.com/

Bixyl Shuftan

SL20B Ends

 

 

Unless there's been a *very* last second reprieve by Linden Lab, then the Second Life Twentieth Birthday has come to a close, the sims closing to the general public at Midnight last night, both the exhibits and the "Shop and Hop." While exhibitors and Lindens and Moles can still travel the sims for the next few days, the rest of us can't. 

We'll have a few more SL20B related stories, but we will be focusing more on other stories, such as the upcoming "Burning Man: Conception" event.

*Addition* The Shop and Hop will still be open until later today, and while the sims were supposed to be closed, I was still able to get an alt over. 

The following was also posted by Squeaky Mole in the Second Life Birthday group:

SL20B Has Ended & Group Chat Closed

Hello everyone, I want to thank everyone for enjoying Second Life's 20th birthday with us. However the time has come, SL20B is officially over.

Group chat will be temporally muted until the next Shop & Hop. The remains will remain open a little longer but will be closing today.

Thanks again everyone, and happy birthday!

 

Drax Radio Hour Ends After Seven Years

 
Noted Second Life media personality Draxtor Despres is noted for many shows. Nowdays, he's known for hosting the Second Life Book Club, and the Second Life Destinations videos he does for Linden Lab. But there was one show he'd still been doing after over seven years and over 300 episodes: The Drax Files Radio Hour. But a few days ago on October 24, he aired a brief five minute episode announcing "This Is The End."

"I'd sad, but also relieved," he stated in the final show, saying his listenership for this particular show had dwindled to a tiny few, "It makes no sense to continue this podcast with this lack of interest. ... That's totally fine. ... It's a very saturated marketplace. And truth be told, I am extremely busy on other fronts that are very gratifying. People know that I come from radio. I love radio. I love the podcast medium. I love audio. But I also love making videos and profiling Second Life people. And I love making documentaries. ... We are very busy with an upcoming documentary about virtual cultures in Pandemic times ... I produce a minimum of about 140 videos per year for the official Second Life social. ... we're extremely productive. The podcast is just not catching on. I'm sorry, but there is enough media, enough stories, enough art, and reportage documentaries from yours truly. I think I'm overexposed as it is."

On the webpage, he would post the following:

My friends: I decided to end this podcast. we started way back in 2014, shortly before Ebbe Altberg came in. We had over 2000 listeners per week. We are down to 9!

I don’t mind. I am happy that i can cancel myself in fact because we churn out over 150 videos with second life stories per year, not counting the feature length work.

That should be enough should it not? listen to my short announcement and tell me what you think. Thank you for making my second life awesome every day!

The Drax Files Radio Hour first aired on Friday January 10, 2014. At first he did the show with Jo Yardley, best known for her "1920s Berlin Project." The first few episodes would go into topics like supposed NSA investigations of Second Life, other platforms such as High Fidelity and Cloud Party, and the resignation of then CEO of Linden Lab Rod Humble. More recent episodes were about subjects of Second Life Book Club airings. The second to last episode, Show 320, aired on August 16. So the Radio Hour had been on hold for a while.

For those wanting to keep in touch with Draxtor, "Befriend me inworld, join the book club, ... follow me on Twitter." One can also email him at draxtor@draxtor.com, or madeinsl@draxtor.com if there's a story about Second Life to tell

Bixyl Shuftan
 

RFL Season Concludes

 

While the Relay Weekend in early June was the high point of the 2021 Relay for Life fundraising season, the end didn't really come until yesterday, June 30. With the volunteers on the verge of beating a season fundraising record that had lasted for seven years, they came together to make one last push.

Read the story in Extra. 
 

Avatar Games’ Season Ends This Sunday

For a few months each Monday at 4SL time on the LEA3 sim, the “Avatar Games” have been taking place, with it’s surreal obstacle course and lively play-by-play from commentators Honour McMillan and Crap Mariner. Next week, the games occur on Sunday, for their season finale.

Bryn Oh, the “Platform Bastard” and builder of the obstacle course, was unsure if the games would go on, “the LEA group has to decide if they want to use the sim for the games or to create something new. Also I would have to make a new course which is kind of time consuming.” Bryn thanked Galea Yates and Taralyn Gravois for helping to organize the contestants, Sasun Steinbeck for helping out with the scripts, and Crap Mariner and Honour McMillan “for very entertaining commentary which had the audience laughing much of the time. They were a funny combo.”

Bryn gave a list of the fastest runners, “Some of them were just fast, while others were fortunate enough to be shot in the air then shot in the arse propelling them almost to the finish line.” ZoZo Raven was listed as the fastest runner at one minute and six seconds. Of the worst runners, Bryn commented, “They were often the most outlandishly dressed and fun ones.” Accord Carling took the longest to complete the course at twelve minutes, fifty-nine seconds.

Bryn had yet to decide on a prize for this final game, open to any donations. She also suggested if it was okay with the contestants, there would likely be a private party to celebrate the end of a successful season.

The games will be on Sunday, Nov 6, 2PM SL time at LEA3 (238, 125, 30)

Source: Bryn Oh’s Blog

Bixyl Shuftan

The Relay for Life 2011 Wrap-Up Party

Last Saturday, the "Seasons of Hope" fundraising season for the Relay for Life came to a close. The Relayers marked the day with a "Wrap-Up" party, giving out awards to those who distinguished themselves. Plus the theme for next year was announced.

Read more in People.