SL Video: "Sunweavers Say Good Bye"

 

 (click here if the video does not play)

 

From Nydia Tungsten on July 31, "We lost our Cheiftess, Our Friend, our Loving Friend Rita Mariner. Another Angel went home We Love You Rita."

 

Xavier Theibaud's Farewell Party

 

On Sunday August 11, there were two events at the Royal Opera Garnier.  One was the showing of "The Little Prince" at the theater. The other was a farewell party at one of Second Life's longtime residents: Xavier Theibaud. Gemma Cleanslate was there, and had a few things to write about.

 

 Read Gemma's story in Events.

 

Tempura Island Closing

 

Some sad news. After fourteen years in operation, The Tempura Island sim is closing. The announcement was given in the sim's group.

After such a long journey of 14 years traveling together in Second life, we made hard decision to close TEMPURA sim.

When opening TEMPURA we could never imagined that will last for so long time.　TEMPURA touched so many hearts and bring amazing memories to everyone　and for that we are deeply glad.

With humbleness and huge grateful we Thank you, to each of you who ever admired, loved and healed,
at TEMPURA.

Tempura is a SIM of love! We say Bye to you, but it's a Welcoming of a new beginning.

May Buddha full your hearts with love and happiness!

Dropping by, I found the area quite picturesque. While it is Japanese-owned, not everything is Japanese-themed. Tempura's largest structure is the palace in the north, which has a large dance ballroom, and a number of places and private rooms for couples. The south had a wooded area, partially green and partially autumn red and orange. In between was a circle of meditation pillows and a tai-chi practice area, both of which were being used when I dropped by at close to midnight SL time. There's plenty to explore, including a few hidden areas.

The sim does have a blog, http://japan-tempura.blogspot.com/, which has a description at the beginning of how things got started in 2008. 

No date has been given for the sim's closing.

To drop by, head to http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/tempura%20island/128/39/33 .

Bixyl Shuftan
 

April Linden Leaves the Lab

 
Fans of April Linden, the self-described "Gridbun" of Linden Lab, are getting some sad news. On Friday November 5, she announced she was leaving.

Hello Residents!

Today is my last day at Linden Lab. I am gonna let this account go dormant after today. Watching y'all use the things we build in ways we didn't expect (or even know was possible!) has been an amazing joy the last eight years, and I am going to miss it. (heart)

My personal Twitter account is @bunnyhalberd , but I'm not a very exciting person to follow. I live in a small town in rural Washington and mostly just post about the silly things I build in my workshop because I figured they needed to exist.

Thank you for making the last eight years be a wonderful experience! I am very muchly going to miss being on the inside of this wonderful and crazy world that we all build together. (heart)

April's announcement got dozens of replies, including some from noted residents. Prokofy Neva, "Dear April, you left the virtual world a better place than you found it with your devoted work on the cloud migration and all that followed. Good luck on your future projects!" Daniel Voyager, "Thanks for all of your hard work to make Second Life a better place and keeping everyone updated when the grid had downtimes. Good luck for the future." Inara Pey, "Nooooo!! Say it's not true! We need Lindeny Gridbun! Seriously, am saddened to hear you are leaving LL, but wishing you all the very best for the future. Shall add your other account to my Following list!" Will Burns, "You will be missed... teh cute shall go on!" Luca, "April noo! =c will miss April, but best of luck with whatever April's going to do next x3" Caitlin Tobias, "Dear April, I wish you all the best and hope you’ll have fun on your new adventures!" Pantera Polnocy, "Thank you for being the awesome gridbun for all this time. ~"

April Linden joined the Lab in 2013, and became instantly known by her purple Luskwood bunny avatar. She would appear at numerous Bay City events, and others such as the Happy Vixen's Luskwood Tribute Party and just walking down the road at Second Life Birthday events. She eventually rose to the position of operations manager, and would take it upon herself to apologize to the residents when something went very wrong. With the move to "the Cloud," she would occasionally update the residents on the Lab's progress, and about a year ago announced all data from the sims had been transfered over.

In July 2019, April was interviewed along with Oz Linden. April revealed she had originally a regular resident who signed up in 2006, whom still came on using the accound and had a couple regions. She considered Second Life important as she came from a family where certain issues "were not to be discussed," and one could listen and talk about them here. Of maintaining the Grid, she called it a complex job with one "generation" of Lindens building on top of one another year after year, and sometimes the only way to fix things was to take the Grid offline, which she disliked, partially because it kept happening to her so much in her days as a regular resident.

On a more personal note, April Linden was spoken of fondly by some friends and neighbors of mine. She will be missed. 

Image credit: Inara Pey

Bixyl Shuftan
 

Survivors of Suicide Closes, Impact Mental Health Opens

This weekend, the most well-known of mental health support groups, the Survivors of Suicide, had it's last meeting. Soon after, the sim was closed, and the group was closed to new messages. But while this group was closing, another was opening. Impact Mental Health was another mental health support group that was created in response to the closing of SoS, and had taken on many of it's members. Their grand opening event was also this weekend.

Read the story in People.
  

Shark's Bay Underwater Sim Closing This Friday

 

A well-done underwater sim will soon be closing. In the Safe Waters Foundation group, it was announced Shark's Bay would soon be shutting down. The sim belongs to Saer Genossee.

 The sim and the group for Sharks Bay will be closing on Friday, August 27th.

We know this happens a lot in SL but are so greatly saddened and send our condolences to Saer Genossee - she is an incredible builder and a huge contributor to SWF group and lands. Please go now if you want to see her work!

Dropping by the landmark provided at Sunshine Island (20/30/37), I appeared on a small island. There was a group joiner, and a free gift of a light ans a snorkel.  On the other side of the sim was a floating patio with a couple of lounge chairs made from shark jaws. But the real treat is underwater. There was an underwater gazebo, underwater kelp forests, an underwater lava flow of a small island building itself up and about to form, and numerous critters swimming about from whales, sea snakes, turtles, and of course sharks. 

The background music is relaxing, gentle tunes. If you're observant, you can hear whale calls as well. Be careful about approaching some of the fish. While panning around, a sea snake swam over and nipped me, and I had to leave the sim to get medical treatment. Later on, I would hear the "killers" had their instinct to bite turned off.

Once again, baring the owner getting enough money to keep it going longer, the sim will be closing down Friday August 27.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Sunshine%20Island/20/30/37

Bixyl Shuftan
 

Second Life Birthday Sims Closed

 

Since Thursday June 17, the sims of the Second Life 18th Birthday were open to the public. That is, until sometime in the morning of Friday July 9. Checking a little after Noon, I found the sims to be closed, and later on checking the map, they were shown to be offline. 

Checking around the day before, many of the exhibits had been cleared out.  

I came across one exhibitor, Pixels Sideways, in the middle of her takedown. She would post in group chat, "All tidied up.  Thank you Moles for all your creative work and help.  Ya did good! :-)  Thank you to the exhibitors and performers for your creative visions and music.   TY to the Shop n Hop merchants for all the fab swag,  And TY Linden Lab for keeping the lights on and the plumbing intact.  Raises a glass - to Ebbe.  TY for guiding us here.  We'll keep the engines running & the creative juices flowing and continue to create merry mayhem throughout Second Life.   Ciao everyone.  Stay safe out there. Hope to see you around the playground. xoxo"

And so, another Second Life Birthday is now history. For some, there is Burn2 Conception and Burning Man to look forward to. But for others, already people are looking forward to SL19B. Among them, Marianne McCann, "As one might say among Burning Man folks, 'Next Year Was Better!' You will always look fondly on SL18B... but next year, just *imagine* what may come! All the things you learned at 18B, and another year of exploration." 
 
Bixyl Shuftan
 

"All Things End" - Goodbye From The Fantasy Faire

It is time to let the Fairelands return to the Mysts. We send them off with love and with the knowledge they will return to us next April.

Each year they come, welcoming us home. For a brief window they are with us and we are rejuvenated. Our love makes them manifest and their magic prepares us to return to a world without them. The Fairelands may have their secret place, but they always live in our hearts, through our memories and the friendships we have made.

We are sad, as we always are, to see them go, yet even in that sadness there is the seed of hope, knowing that next April they will return to us once more.

For those of you that may be experiencing this passing for the first time, you may wonder when the feelings of sadness for what has passed will turn to feelings of anticipation for what is to come. The answer is different for everyone, but for myself knowing that even though the Fairelands themselves have faded, the Fairelands community remains is a great comfort. Sadness that is shared cannot last so long. The Fairelands are not only a place, they are a family, and we choose now whether we stay together or not.

Together, we raised an astonishing amount of money. Almost 24 Million Lindens, or over $95,000 US Dollars for Relay For Life. To me that is still unfathomable really. I find myself looking for some quantifiable answer as to how we did that. I realize that the answer is a single word. Fairelanders.

Together, we watched dance performances and we danced ourselves. We saw and heard wonderful stories, and we found ourselves playing parts in wonderful stories. We learned about heroic quests, and we answered the call to be heroes in an epic Quest. The Faire is what we see and do, and it is about what we find the chance to ourselves become.

The Faire is what you discover, and the Faire is what you bring to it. Both of these are essential to making it the magical experience that it is each year. Both are part of the magic that brings it back.

All things end; however, life is cyclical and even as things go, so they come back again. For now we say good bye to the Fairelands, but Junction will call them back again next April. they will be different, but they will still be home. Until then, keep the light of the Fairelands alive in your heart.

From the Fantasy Faire blog, by Elizabeth Tinsley
 

Fantasy Faire Ends Tonight

After twenty fun-filled days, the Fantasy Faire is coming to a close. Starting on April 22, the Faire offered 21 sims with well-crafted scenery to explore and see, and numerous events.  But nothing lasts forever, and like so many of the flowers on the sims, the Faire blooms for a short time, then fades away. After Midnight tonight, the sims will close to all but the volunteer staff, and soon after will once again fade back into the virtual nether from whence they came.

So if you haven't before, come by and explore the sims. While the event might not be as publicized as much as the Second Life Birthday and Relay weekend, the beauty and design of the areas make it a should-see event. And there are fun interactive events, such as the Fairelands Quest, and a couple sims have some quests of their own.

Yours truly has been exploring them, which means a little less time to write. For now. Later I should have something more about the Faire.

For Relayers, there are many other events later this season, such as the Relaystock this weekend, and the Relay weekend next month. But the Fantasy Faire has gotten many fans over the years. So with the closing of the sims, there will be a few tears that it couldn't be longer, thanking of the designers for what they made this year, and looking forward to what the next Faire will bring in April next year.

Feel free to see the pictures others have taken on the Fantasy Faire Flickr page (or add a few of your own): https://www.flickr.com/groups/fantasyfairesl/pool/

Bixyl Shuftan
   

Reader Submitted: Farewell Party For Oz

 

 From Panterapolnocy. On Feb 23, a party was held at Simon Linden Land in Denby in honor of Oz Linden, whom retires from the Lab tomorrow. His last public appearance will be at the Lab Gab that day.

"Thank you for everything good you've done for the platform of Second Life and the residents that use it - making their lives fun and more interesting. "

Oz Linden to Appear on Lab Gab Friday

 

On Thursday February 16, Oz Linden announced he would be soon be retiring, on Friday February 26. On Monday, it was announced he and Grumpity Linden would be on Lab Gab that day to be interviewed by Strawberry Linden.

Join our host, Strawberry Linden, as she speaks with our VP of Engineering, Oz Linden, and VP of Product, Grumpity Linden. Grumpity and Oz will give us an update on AWS! Oz will also speak about his years at Linden Lab.

Those with any questions for Oz or Grumpity were invited to send them via a Google form (here). 

The show, which will most likely be Oz's last public appearance (at least as a Linden) will air on Friday Feb 26 at 11 AM SL time. (link)

For more information, check the Linden blog.

Oz Linden to Retire

After over eleven years at Linden Lab, Oz Linden, the Lab's VP of Engineering, will soon be stepping down. He made his announcement in the Second Life forums earlier today. He would call his time with the Lab "one of the best career decisions I ever made," and he would not be taking another job but retiring.

About 11 years ago I was working for a big multinational that had acquired the startup where I'd been for several years, and decided I needed a job with more fun and more job satisfaction. I put out the word on my professional network and got a response from a colleague who was a Linden at the time. I interviewed with several people at the Lab (half my interviews were in-world using an account I'd had for some years), and after much thought I joined the Lab as the Director of Open Source. It turned out to be one of the best career decisions I ever made.

My job evolved over the years, but through it all I got to work with brilliant, passionate, and committed people and got to know many residents. I've never worked anywhere that was as much fun (a Linden who returned to SL after some time away said recently that he'd forgotten how often the SL team laughs in the course of a normal day). More importantly, I got to work on a product users really enjoy using and that makes a big difference in the lives of many of its users - for me there's no greater source of job satisfaction.

Some time ago, I reached the point that I could afford to think about retiring but decided to stay to finish moving SL to its new cloud platform. I can't imagine a better last act in my working life than ensuring that Second Life has this better platform for its future growth. Now that project is done (well, except for a few loose ends), and it's time for me to move on to the next phase of my life. 

I want to emphasize in the strongest possible terms: my decision has nothing at all to do with the change in ownership of the Lab; the timing really is a coincidence. If anything, I regret that I have overlapped with them for only a few weeks; in that time (and in the time leading up to the change) I have come to respect and appreciate the skills and energy they bring to the company.

There aren't many jobs that come with a new nickname; this got me one I'll always cherish, but it's time for me to set aside my Linden last name. I leave Second Life in great hands, and have every confidence that it has a great future. 

Oz would say his last day would be Friday February 26, 2021, the last weekday of the month.

There were a number of well wishes following his announcement,  "You'll be missed, Oz. Thank you for everything, and enjoy your retirement." "Thank you for everything you did for us." "He's done more than leave his mark on the grid. Oz has touched thousands of lives in ways he will never know. For that, we are all grateful. And for the ways he has touched my life that I am unaware of, I am grateful." "Just don't COMPLETELY leave us, okay?" "One expressed pessimism, "Not gonna sugarcoat it. This is 100% bad for SL. Oz is one of the good ones."

Jessica Lyon of Firestorm, "Oz! It has been a great honor and privilege to have worked with you the past 11 years. I remember you coming in as a liaison for third party viewers during a time of great chaos in the TPV space. You created order, structure and in doing so, kept the Open Source nature of Second Life alive. You will be missed by many! Enjoy your retirement! You have earned it."

Tonya Souther of Firestorm, "Thank you for being there, for advocating for open source, and for understanding even when we didn't agree. Best of luck wherever you go next, even if it's just a chair by your pond."

 Coyot Linden, "So long and thanks for the fish. It's been great working for you." 

Alexa Linden, "And now I'm crying again... Oz, I can't thank you enough for the mentorship, encouragement and friendship over the last 11 years.  I am so fortunate to consider you family and I am a better person for having worked with you.  I wish you all the best in your retirement!" 

Dakota Linden, "Thank you, Oz, for everything you brought to Second Life and everything you have contributed to the platform. Your experience has been an excellent asset to Linden Lab and Second Life and you will be missed by a great many people. May your next adventure bring you as much satisfaction as this one has and may you always look back on this time with fond memories as we will remember you with the same. Be well, friend."

Perhaps Oz Linden will stick around in Second Life as a regular resident. Wherever he goes, hopefully it will go well.

Hat tip: Panterapolnocy

Bixyl Shuftan

The Last Hurrah at Urban Furry

 

All good things must come to an end. For club Urban Furry, the end was last Saturday January 30. Both regulars and people wanting to see the club before it was taken down came by. The Newser was there, and documented the event.

See the pictures in Events.

SL Video: "Goodbye Wolf Mountain"

 

 From Wolfmountain Wolfie, "This was probably the hardest video I have ever had to make, it shows memories from 2008 to 2021. Special thanks to everyone who helped keep wolf mountain alive for so long.. Wolf Mountain Community 2008 - 2021"

 

Urban Furry Club to Close

 Sad news for fans of the Urban Furry club. The Newser was recently informed the city-themed venue will close at the end of the month. The final event will be on Saturday January 30.

It's a sad duty when it comes to having to announce the closing of a great club. Sadly, Urban Furry will be closing after Jan 30. DJane Maliit will be the closing DJ that night. Please, come out, show support and help Whiskey turn the lights out one final time in a great SL furry club that will surely be missed by all. I hope to see you all there.

DJ Maliit would say of this last event, "We want to shut this place down with the sim crashing there are so many people saying good bye."

The Newser first heard about the venue owned by Whiskey (Thorrin Resident) in Summer 2018. It made news that year for it's "Furry Prom" event, taking part in the FCA Halloween Club Crawl, and it's winter area. But the club would close it's doors in March 2019. About a year and a half later, it would reopen in July 2020. It would make some news in the winter for it's Christmas globe and taking part in the FCA New Year's Eve Club Crawl.

 http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Empire%20State%20Island/75/59/3544

Bixyl Shuftan

Palmwood City to Close

 

In May 2019, the Newser wrote about Palmwood City, "a thriving furry Second Life community themed around a 'retrowave' city aesthetic." Sadly, we were just informed Palmwood will soon be closing down. Jimmy Talon stated the following:

I know this may not be the most shocking thing to hear given how quiet things have been for a while now but still having to put it in writing officially does give it some weight.

To put it plainly I do not want to run this project any more. It requires a lot of time, effort, energy, and patience that I have not possessed for a few years now. Not only that but the fluctuating costs of adding expansions, updating buildings, and maintaining a strong presence in Second Life can sometimes be too much for a guy who doesn't have alot of spare money to begin with. Palmwood has always sustained on a break even business model which can only stay good for so long before things just add up and people lose interest.

I’m glad I’ve been able to make friends and meet cool people through this project over the years but I’ve been less and less active in Second Life as the years have gone by due to work, school, and also just simply not relying on it for a bulk of my social life as I did when I was younger.
Much of this is coming from personal reasons. It's not a project that excites me anymore and I’ve sadly just lost all passion and aspiration for it. But even then the technical issues have also begun to show their ugly head as years have gone by. Things I could have done better, things I just didn’t think were important at the time but definitely were, etc. Palmwood was always kind of a pretty sim first and everything else an afterthought. That only gets you so far.

I’m sure it would be possible to find help and get things running in a positive direction again before turning in my keys. Sadly that won’t happen overnight and would require me to stay invested in the project for an indefinite amount of time longer before turning it over to a person or group who may or may not stick with it and that just seems like it would be more borrowed time from my perspective.

So on January 16th, 2021, we will no longer accept money for the remaining rentals in Palmwood and let the sim be re-claimed by the covenant its hosted by.

I’m sorry to everyone this comes as sad news to. All good things come to an end sometime.

Jimmy did say he was "working on a smaller, more manageable and less involved project in the spirit of Palmwood" with the help of some fans, "Thank you for almost 5 long years of fun. It’s been a ride."

Hat Tip: Cyfir (Cyfiremmerich Resident)

"The Shelter" Leaders Speak On The Closing

Yesterday, the Newser reported on The Shelter, a newcomer hangout that assisted those new to Second Life, announcing that it was closing after sixteen years as an active place and group. Earlier today, we were given the following message.

* * * * *

As I'm sure you will have heard by now The Shelter will be closing it's doors as of Sunday 30th August 2020 8 PM SLT,

The reasons for this are numerous and too lengthy for this note, but it is not all bad news as The Shelter building will be Archived by the Lindens and will remain in world for as long as SecondLife is around.

I know a great many of you have considered The Shelter home and I am sorry to all of you, I hope you will continue to enjoy you SecondLife's

The main Shelter Group will remain in place but no new members will be admitted the Infra group will be closed down and all members removed

The final Events will be:

Saturday 29th 1 PM Theme Dance
7 PM Pool Party

Sunday 30th 1 PM Voice Sunday
7 PM Formal Dance



The theme Dances will both have Double Prize Money for their final outing and Wacoede will be DJ'ing the final Pool Party as he was the first DJ for the pool Party

To all the Vendors of the Shelter you have until the 30th to come pick up your items or they will be returned as a coalesced object

To all the Tier Donors feel free to remove your tier contributions but as I said above all members will be removed from the infra group on the 30th


Regards

Shelter Leadership

Wacoede Unplugged
Shadow Pidgeon

* * * * *

The Newser wishes the volunteers of "The Shelter," and the people they've been helping out, the best of luck.

Second Life Mainland Pod Service Closing After Ten Years

The Newser was just tipped off to a sad announcement. After ten years of taking residents around the mainland, the Yavascript pods made by Yavanna Llanfair will be shut down after today. The reasons are a lack of communication with Linden Lab following a 24 hour ban, and her recovery from a Coronavirus infection that has had lingering effects on her body.

Dear pod riders,

Today is the 10th anniversary of the first road pod - "YavaScript Pod V5.0 (MCT)" - MCT standing for Monowai Constant Tour, which I put on the road in the morning of Saturday 21st August 2010. I have set that pod running again; it will run until it is swallowed by some random event (like a sim restart or a crash).

 However, I am sorry to report that it is also the last day of the pods as we know them today. I have made the decision to suspend all services as of later today. The reason is as follows:

For the entirety of the running of the pod service, I have said I will only run the service where I considered I had the approval of the Lindens and the community. Whilst there have always been a few who would criticise (sometimes quite vocally), they have been a very small minority. And I have always felt that the Lindens have tacitly approved of them, though they would never say so directly. Certainly a number of moles have expressed their approval, and to them I am very grateful.

On 27th July, my account was suspended for 24 hours because of a pod crash in Mieum (on the Wellington Road). At least, that is what I traced it to, because the Linden who suspended me would not tell me of the reason - merely that the object was returned to me. I explained that it is impossible to avoid crashes in all circumstances. I raised a ticket to the LDPW asking them to let me know if this meant my pods were no longer welcome on the roads. I said that I would take anything other than a positive to be a negative. My ticket was closed without comment.

It would have been a shame for the pods to have fallen short of their 10th anniversary, and so I have continued the service until today. And for now, I will merely suspend all operations by flicking a switch on my server. This means that the road pods will still rez, but de-rez shortly after (within 5 minutes). Pods will also still be available from the pod stations by clicking on the rezzer. But this is not a sustainable situation, as the vast majority of people come to know about the pods by seeing them pass on the road, so without that, the service is far less likely to be sustainable in the longer term.

I announced back in June that I was stepping back, due to a long Covid-19 recovery. That recovery is still not complete; whilst I have made progress, I still have some issues, mostly neurological. And stress is therefore something I have to avoid at all costs. Therefore I am not willing at present to fight anyone on this. Maybe one day I will. If the Lindens wish to get in contact to ensure me that the pods are welcome again, I will of course re-instate them. But I suspect that is not likely to happen.

I will continue to support pod owners who run their own systems.

Thankyou to each and every pod rider for coming along on the journey with me. It has been exciting and a lot of fun. It isn't necessarily over, but for now autonomous vehicles from the YavaScript stable will no longer be on the SecondLife mainland roads.

Thankyou,
Yavanna Llanfair

For those wishing to check out the pods one last time, head to the main station at Durango (154/188/118). You can also join the Pod riders group (link here) for a list of her other stations.


Yavanna would list the following as her reason for coming up with the rides.

Why do I make these tours? Well, I believe that mainland should be enjoyed and appreciated. Yet there is so little on mainland as a whole which attracts people, simply because they don't know about it. Most people don't travel around and look to see what is there; they go from landmark to landmark in their inventory, without taking the time to look around them. But mainland has so much going for it; beautiful areas, historic locations, educational establishments, rail and sea transport, which most people probably don't know exist. Mainland should be alive, it should be a community. We should all care about it, and then maybe we would take more pride in it and in our buildings. The road network is extensive (though not always as complete as it might be). It is there for using, and should be used as a way to help fulfil this need.

Going about, there was a lot to see while taking a ride. It was an effortless way to cover a lot of ground and see how much was on the mainland. It is a service that will be missed.

Remember, after today, the pods will probably no longer work.

Update: As of Sunday, the pod service as a whole is still working. 

Hat Tip: Sandie Loxingly

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. 

Star Trek Museum, Curious Avatar Store Offline

Two locations that have been around for a while in Second Life have apparently gone offline. Taking a peek in the forums, I came across one thread that stated the Star Trek Museum had gone offline. Checking an LM I had, the place had closed down. Nor did it come up in search. The museum was located in the New Eridani sim.

In 2014, the Second Life Newser wrote an article about the location. It was owned and managed by Wabisabi Matahari before she turned it over to Asae Yuitza to run.

 Another location that has gone off the map is the Curious Avatar store. Located in the Curious sim, it offered a number of anthro avatar types, though was probably most noted for it's kani bunny avatar which remained popular for years. It also had a freebie feline avatar, the Felis, which anyone could pick up.

Chatting with someone in the group via an alt, I was told that the sim had been down for a month. He also pointed out that Uchi Desmoulins, the owner, wasn't even listed among the store group's members. Although Uchi's profile is still listed, the Curious Marketplace page is also down.

Stay tuned for more information as it becomes available.

Addition: A reader pointed out the Star Trek Museum's Facebook page, which stated it had been closed since 2018.

Bixyl Shuftan