Walk Around The Grid: Jason and the Argonauts

 

In her latest "Walk Around The Grid" article, Netera Landar checks out an event by Drama Libre. The club took on a Hellenistic look as the party theme was "Jason and The Argonauts." Things took on an interesting look with Ancient Greek hoplites mixing it up with mythical creatures. 

 

Read Netera's article in Design.  

Discussion on Tactics At Aether Salon

 

In Bixyl Shuftan's article for today, which was postponed due to reporting about the Second Life Birthday and the passing of Rita Mariner, he reports about last month's discussion at the Aether Salon in New Babbage. Over time, there have been many topics in these meet-ups that take place once a month most months, organized by Ceejay Writer. For July, it was "Tactics," with Jedburgh Dagger as the speaker, So how did it go?

Read more in Events. 

Rita Mariner and the History of the Sunweavers (2014)

 

With Rita Mariner's passing, the Newser has written about her about every day since. Some readers might be asking "So who is she and how did the Sunweaver community start?" I would interview her in 2014, asking her those questions. 

 

Since then, a number of things have changed. A few sims were added. A road network, then a railway, were laid out. Nydia Tungsten and Cynthia Farshore ended up swapping sims. And sadly, some people would pass away or their real lives took over and they were seen less and less until gone. 

 

Read the 2014 interview in People.  

 

Looking Back At The Newser: The First Years, 2010-2013 (2022)

 

The Second Life Newser is a publication with quite a history, fifteen years. That's quite a lot to look back over. In 2022, Bixyl took a look at the Newser's first few years. Starting from a team of four reporters fresh from the recently closed Second Life Newspaper, the Newser would win the confidence of readers and advertisers alike and soon become a force in journalism covering the people, places, and events in Second Life (with occasional nods to our sponsors). But much of what it covered was a Linden Lab that seemed increasingly unable or unwilling to understand it's virtual world's users.

Read the 2022 overview of 2010 to 2013 in Extra. 

Press Release: PBC Black History Month Exhibition Kickoff

 

February is Black History Month, and PBC kicks it off on Sunday, February 8, at 12 PM PT with a live celebration at the Cultural Arts Center and Black History Museum. The event includes live DJs and hosts throughout the afternoon, and invites residents to attend in traditional cultural or classy attire, marking the start of a month honoring Black leaders, innovators, and trailblazers from past to present. 

 

The Premier Business Center is a multicultural business center, virtual museum, and art space focused on education, history, and cultural impact. Its Cultural Arts Center and Black History Museum are open daily for self-guided exploration, featuring exhibits on Black history, civil rights, innovation, and creative achievement through rotating displays and art. 

 

PBC CAC/ Black History Museum! 

SLURL:  PBC (82,77,3001)

Sunday, February 8 at 12:00 PM SLT

 

Attire: Traditional African Attire or Classy

 

Colors: Red, Green, Black, Yellow (Optional)

Entertainers/PBC Crewsaders

*12-1 Caesar/ Jandora*  
*1-2 Geechie/LillyRose*  
*2-3 Daddy D/ LittleStream* 
*3-4 Case/Jandora*
*4-5 Neo/ LillyRose* 
*5-6  Melly Mel/Rhyme*
*6-7 Velvet/Rhyme*
** Honorary DJ: JaaJaaMarie Philly 

Hope to see you there!

https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/PBC/85/79/3001 

Two SL22B Exhibits

 

Sadly, time is running out for the SL22B , with just a few days left to explore. If you haven't been there, you're missing out some cool and interesting exhibits. Two at SLB Captivate are a Wild West Town.

There were a number of buildings, and a medicine show wagon.

 

 Each of them had a sign with some information. Reality was sometimes a bit different than what you see in the Westerns in these places in which the myths and legends of continue to shape America today.

 

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/SLB%20Captivate/75/140/21

 

Close by was  Erik Mondrian's Pyramid Map exhibit.

 

 Erik's three-dimensional topographical map provides a new look at Second Life's continents that the regular map doesn't provide. 

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/SLB%20Captivate/73/37/21

 

There's much more to see, so by all means see these places, but don't stop there. 

 

Bixyl Shuftan 

This Saturday at The Science Circle

 

 

Saturday April 12

 

    ~*~

 

    At 10 AM PST   

    The Height of The Roman Empire

    hhttps://www.sciencecircle.org/event/roman-empire/

    Presented by Chantal Jager

    Location TBA

 

    ~*~

 

    NOTE: Non-members required to register once

    IM Jes Cobalt or Nymf Hathaway

╚══════════════════════════════ The Science Circle (72,129,30) ═╝

 

 

Looking Back At The Newser: The First Years, 2010-2013 (2022)

 

In a few days, the Newser will have an anniversary party to celebrate 14 years of reporting the news across Second Life. But one might ask how did things go when it first started? Well, we hit the ground running. Within a week, we had some BIG stories to report on, and the news kept coming. In 2022, we wrote on how it was for our first few years. Quite a bit had happened.

 

Read the article from 2022 in Extra. 

This Saturday at The Science Circle

Saturday April 13

    ~*~

    

    At 10 AM PST   

    A History of Quantum Mechanics

    By Robert Lawson Brown

    https://www.sciencecircle.org/event/quantum-mechanics/

    The Science Circle (72,129,30)

      

    ~*~

 

    

    NOTE: Non-members required to register once

    IM Jes Cobalt or Nymf Hathaway

╚══════════════════════════════ The Science Circle (72,129,30) ═╝

 

Game Review: Rise of Cultures

 

Second Life may not be a game, but many if not most of it's residents like to play games. Among them is the history-based city-builder "Rise of Cultures." Starting off with a small stone-age tribe, you found a settlement and grow and develop it to become larger and slowly more advanced. So how does it play?

 

Read the game review in Other Grids, MMOs, and Games .

This Saturday at The Science Circle

 

  Saturday November 25

    ~*~

    

    At 10 AM PST   

    A Brief History of Genetic Modification in Agriculture

    By Stephen L. Gasior

    https://www.sciencecircle.org/event/genetic-modification/

 

    The Science Circle (72,129,30)

      

    ~*~

 

    At 9 PM PST   

    Do Not Try This At Home

    Dr. Michael J. Shaw

    https://www.sciencecircle.org/event/do-not-try-this-at-home/

    

    The Science Circle (72,129,30)

 

 

    ~*~

    

    NOTE: Non-members required to register once

    IM Jes Cobalt or Nymf Hathaway

╚══════════════════════════════ The Science Circle (72,129,30) ═╝

 

Looking Back: The ToS Content Creator Controversy

 

 There's no denying Linden Lab was pretty smart in creating Second Life and keeping it updated over the years. But unfortunately, they've also been known to make some blunders as well. Ten years ago was when they made one of their most memorable, a change in the Terms of Service that basically stated they could take the hard-made work of content creators, and sell it as their own. The result was an uproar of criticism, by both people accusing Linden Lab of plotting to rip off it's residents, and people criticizing them for refusing to own up to it's mistake of poorly written language and correct it.

Read the story in Extra.

 

The SL20B Tapestry of Time And Gift Area Building

 

 

At SLB Impressive at the SL20B grounds is one tall and interesting building worth checking out: The Tapestry of Time and Gift Area building.  The past few SL Birthday events have had a Tapestry in Time building, a huge circular structure of which the inner wall was divided into sections, describing each year in detail with a gift area in one place in the interior. But this year was a little different. To reflect the theme "Our Fantastic Future," the new building was a shiny, futuristic looking one.

Rather than walking around the wall to see the info and pictures of each year, one would teleport to various spots with them this time. They start at 2003, the year of Second Life's official opening, and end this year in 2023. As before, there is a gift area with numerous freebies. It is on the ground floor where people arrive at the building via teleporting.

 

Unless there's some last minute change, the final day the Second Life Birthday sims will be open is tomorrow, Tuesday July 11, so hurry up and head over. 

 

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/SLB%20Impressive/109/81/23

 

*Addition: The time of the SLB sims has been extended to Sunday July 16. *

Bixyl Shuftan

Commentary: Second Life Turns 20

 

It was twenty years go, June 2003, in which Linden Lab officially started Second Life. It had already been in development for a few years, and for months people had joined while it was in beta. Originally called "Linden World," it wasn't the first virtual place online, and few others also came out soon afterwards. It was also not an instant success. For it's first few years, it's userbase was small compared to that of today, and it was relatively unknown to the computer and tech world. But it did have a combination that other places didn't. Not only could people interact with the environment and own a piece of it, but they could build more or less anything they wanted to with prims and scripts, and with the inworld economy they could buy and sell with one another and be able to convert whatever made into real-world money. It was a place like no other online.

Then around 2006, it began to catch on, and it started to grow fast both in population and land area. It was also getting noticed, first by computer and tech circles. And soon it was getting attention in mainstream media. Eventually it would get mentioned on prime-time television, notably on an episode of CSI in which detectives went into the virtual world to catch a killer. And along with the attention came still more people coming in, as well as businesses. Numerous companies such as Circuit City and Honda would get places here, and IBM would sponsor many sims. That people could make money through virtual real-estate also got attention, millionaire Anshe Chung making the cover of one business magazine. Charities such as veterans groups and the Relay for Life would come here. Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and other politicians would come here for discussions. By 2008, people were calling Second Life the next stage of the Internet, and it's future. It seemed like in just a few years, everyone online would be in virtual reality.

But, this would not be the case. While millions would come for a peak, Second Life had a learning curve that confused many. For every ten people who logged on, only one or less would stick around after one or two days. People often had to figure out things like Instant Messaging, teleporting, joining groups, etc. on their own. With so many on the Internet having been used to games with clear winning conditions, the open-endedness of the virtual world confused many "How do you play this game, how do you win?" Where you have people, you eventually get troublemakers and people otherwise disagreeing. Some came here just to troll and/or bully, and others would end up causing drama. And of course there was the lag, which could be particularly bad on older computers. When social media such as Twitter and Facebook came around, the masses found them much easier to use, and they would get the millions Linden Lab thought awaited it in the future.

Then came the bad press. There came tales of virtual child abuse. And then came the tales of "cyber noogie." People were taking advantage of Second Life's freedom to not just make places of learning and socializing, but also to engage with others sexually. This creeped out some, and became fodder for more sensational stories that were soon pushing aside tales of veterans being aided by the virtual world. It even got to the point Gingrich's visit here was used to attack his opinions. One friend called it a sad fact of modern media, "It is so easier to sell to the public when there is controversy than when the story is constructive."

Linden Lab itself was also seemingly becoming detached from it's users. In the Second Life Fifth Birthday Celebrations, CEO Mark Kingdom made a speech that sounded like the Lab felt the virtual world's first residents would basically have to move aside for future users. There came incidents like the Openspace controversy in which huge price increases were announced. There was the new "Viewer 2" that older residents found awkward to use. Many established residents began feeling alienated, and some began dropping out.

The 2008 recession didn't help matters either. When people are unsure about their money, they cut back on expenses, and entertainment expenses are usually the first to go. So people were less able to pay for sims and virtual goods to begin with. But the bad press and many residents getting frustrated with Linden Lab encouraged people to cut back further, and the Lab began to feel it where it hurt: their bottom line. By 2009, it was becoming clear the virtual world had past it's peak. And in 2010, the Lab finally reacted with cutbacks, notably laying off a third of it's staff. There were other moves as well that hurt people's confidence such as the Teen Grid merger and ending educational sim discounts. It was a time when the virtual world's future was in doubt, some feeling it was doomed.

But Second Life didn't die. Many residents despite the difficulties such as Linden Lab's blunders continued to enjoy living here and interacting with one another virtually. The world despite it's flaws was still the creative and social space it had been. While some places online eventually closed, such as There, The Sims Online, Haboo Hotel, and others, Second Life endured. Indeed when the Pandemic hit in 2020, Second Life had a second wind as both former and new users flocked over here to enjoy virtually what they couldn't in real life. Facebook would try to get in on the action with it's own virtual world, but it only ended up mocked and loosing money while tech media once again began noticing our virtual world.

Second Life has also changed much over time. When it started, people couldn't teleport except at "hubs," and people were charged money for rezzing prims (which they got back when deleted). Both were soon corrected. The way people communicate has changed some with the introduction of Voice. The introduction of mesh and it's improvements has also changed the way things are made here. Some makers have adapted to the new methods. Others have dropped out. The way avatar appearances has also changed. While people can, and do, still get complete packages, more often people are getting heads, bodies, hands, and other body parts for avatars separately to make their own custom look. Shopping has also changed from only buying from people inworld to being able to get from Marketplace and have your items delivered within seconds (usually). In a sense, this reflects the ability of people in real-life to buy from Amazon and other places online in the past generation. But not unlike real-life, the result has been some stores and malls inworld closing down. The number of groups residents could belong to has grown over time, from ten in the early days to 42 for basic accounts, and more for Premium.

The way people are named has also changed over time. When Second Life first started, one could pick more or less whatever first name they wanted (that wasn't a profanity or slur) and pick from a list of last names that was slowly changed over time. The idea was that people with the same last name would have something in common, having came inworld around the same time and having the name would make them something of a "family." But when people didn't like any of the names when making a new account, their options were to either be stuck with a name they hated of not sign up, or were confused by not being able to use their real names. So eventually the Lab changed the system, new users choosing just one account name while having a "display name" that looked larger over their avatars. But with all new people having the default surname "Resident," they stood out and some felt like second-class citizens, and wondered why they couldn't have a last account name. After several years, Linden Lab would bring back last names for new residents, but only as an option that one had to pay a fee for.

Who could go to Second Life and where on it has also changed. It used to be a strict 18 and over only could come here while teenagers could only go to a separate Teen Grid. This would be changed in 2010-11 when the Teen Grid was closed and teenagers could go to General Audience, or be limited to certain General Audience sims where they had permission depending on their age. For a time, Adult sims were limited to only those who provided some real-life ID to the Lab such as a drivers license. But this would be dropped after a short time. But to buy Linden Dollars, one still needs their credit card, and some places such as Linden Realms require a transaction history to fully work well.

The way Linden Lab has interacted with the residents has changed over time. At first, there weren't many restrictions. As long as people didn't grief, cheat, or otherwise misbehave, no worries. But over time came more rules, such as the gambling ban, then the banking ban and other rules such as no buying Linden dollars from anyone but the Lab, no selling gachas, and others. In the early days of the virtual world, the Lindens interacted with the residents a lot, but this would slow down as the grid became larger. In the days of CEO Rod Humble in the early 2010s, events in which the Lindens interacted with the Lindens were closed and there seemed to be a policy of "no fraternization." But it didn't last very long, and after Ebbe Altberg assumed command of the Lab, Lindens slowly began to meet and talk to residents once more. Over time, the Lab would also become more involved with the homes of some of it's residents. In 2008, Linden Moles were involved in the construction of Bay CIty. Then came Linden Homes, a bonus for Premium account holders, which grew in popularity when the Lab began offering then on a new continent in the middle of the Second Life mainland in 2019: Bellisseria. Bellisseria would grow in size, and population, on land, and homes, made all by the Linden Moles, and in the Bellisseria group chat one can frequently talk to the Lindens and Moles. This doesn't mean the Lindens are so involved with all residents, most still live in either private sims and estates outside the mainland or mainland areas outside Bellisseria where the only thing made by the Lindens and Moles around is the occasional Linden bear souvenir, and hear from them only when there's a problem or glitch to fix. But Bellisseria demonstrates just how big a change there's been between the Lindens and residents over the past several years.

And then there are the alternatives to Second Life. This virtual world was soon leaving others in the dust, and in it's early days it seemed like the only real competition was the popular MMO "World of Warcraft," which not unlike Second Life was a ground-breaker in it's field. Eventually would come the OpenSim worlds, but most of these grids would remain very very small compared to Second Life, only a few such as InWorldz gaining somewhat large numbers. With new technology being developed over time, Linden Lab itself would eventually develop an alternative of it's own, Sansar. But it would gain only a small following. So would the virtual space created by Second Life's founder "High Fidelity." Eventually Sansar would be sold off and High Fidelity closing down. Eventually came a next-generation virtual world that did attract larger numbers, VRChat. But while more successful than Sansar it still attracts smaller numbers than Second Life, and has mostly younger users.

Finally, there's that twenty years later, there's that there's a literal new generation of Second Life users. There are people signing up who weren't even born when the Grid first came online. And with this new generation comes new attitudes and ideas. Early on, residents were mostly Boomers and Gen-X, and had certain attitudes about the Internet such as highly valuing privacy. But over time, they would slowly drop in number and there would be growing numbers of Millennials, and lately Gen-Z/Zoomers, who were more used to displaying their real-life identities online. 

 

How does Linden Lab perceive how new residents have changed? In his recent interview at the SL20B, Patch Linden would say that when Second Life was new, residents seemed mainly interested in building. Residents coming in around 2010, he felt were mainly interested in socializing. Residents entering in the past few years, Patch felt were interested in a combination of the two, thinking many had spent a few years in simpler virtual space like Roblox and now were wanting something more detailed.

I could go on and on with how much has changed from how real-life politics is handled, to some more of Linden Lab's questionable and downright boneheaded moves, to the move to the Cloud Servers a few years ago. But this would require more time, and pencil space. But Second Life and Linden Lab is enjoying an accomplishment that wasn't available to forms of entertainment such as Atari in my younger days, being very much alive and well and kicking twenty years later. As much as we oldbies sometimes call Linden Lab out for mistakes, we have to hand it to them for being able to last, and deliver, for so long.

So what does the future hold for Second Life? Right now, Second Life and Linden Lab are doing quite well. And while there have been a few moves by the Lab that raised some eyebrows lately, the residents are fairly content and happy. It's a safe bet that our virtual world will be around for at least the next several years. There is no reason to believe there won't be a SL25B, and little to believe there won't be a SL30B. Yes,  eventually somebody will make a virtual world that appeals to the masses better. And no company lasts forever. But unless there's a worldwide calamity far greater than the recent Pandemic, we'll still be going about the Mainland, Bellisseria, and the private estates for many years to come.

Twenty years later, it's still our Second Life, so let's make the most of it.

Bixyl Shuftan

 

Looking Back At The Newser: The First Years, 2010-2013 (2022)

 

The Second Life Newser is a publication with a long history, twelve years. That's quite a lot to look back on. In this article, Editor and head writer Bixyl Shuftan takes a look at the Newser's first few years. Starting from a team of four reporters fresh from the recently closed Second Life Newspaper, the Newser would win the confidence of readers and advertisers alike and soon become a force in journalism covering the people, places, and events in Second Life (with occasional nods to our sponsors). But much of what it covered was a Linden Lab that seemed increasingly unable or unwilling to understand it's virtual world's users.

Read the overview of 2010 to 2013 (written in 2022) in Extra.

Bellisseria's Fourth Anniversary

 

Last Saturday, the continent of Bellisseria had it's Fourth Anniversary party.  Gemma Cleanslate was there, seeing Patch Mole give a speech and the DJs play the tunes while the residents, Bellisserians and others, danced away. Gemma would also find out Abnor Mole would have a few things to say about how the land grow from a few hundred Linden Homes to a few thousand with several different varieties for Premium residents to choose from. Gemma would also mention something about the Nature Collective.

Read Gemma's story in Design.

SL Video: Second Life Destinations - Poland History House

 

 

 (click here if the video does not play)

 

 From Draxtor Despres (And Linden Lab) on Monday April 11, "The Poland History House in Second Life is a historical project created as part of the 100th anniversary of Poland’s Independence celebrations which started in 2018. Creator Dex Euromat shares his Second Life journey and why he started this project.

 

EOTB: Applications For SL20B Exhibitors And Volunteers Now Being Accepted, Adult-Rated and Multiple Exhibits An Option

 

 

 For those looking to have an exhibit in the upcoming Second Life Birthday, or want to be one of the volunteer staff, now's your chance. Yesterday on Monday April 3, Linden Lab announced they were accepting applications for exhibitors and volunteers for the SL20B.

This year’s Birthday theme is Our Fantastic Future. The cornerstone of this idea is what we would define as eco-futurism including sustainability, a focus on our environment, and the next generation of our world. Some might call this science fiction, but what is science fiction except a dream for a possible future? In Second Life we build worlds. Our worlds, our way. For SL20B, we invite you to show us your worlds of the future!

This year, exhibitors have several options that were not available before. For the first time ever, exhibitors will be able to have adult-rated themed displays. They can also have multiple exhibits, being able to bring one from a previous SLB back again. They can also have an exhibit whose theme is of something about Second Life's history. And there are now three categories of parcel sizes instead of two.

There are a few things to be aware of for this very special twentieth birthday celebration of Second Life. 

1. We will have Adult content exhibit regions for the first time this year!

2. We are offering LARGE parcels. They are 4096 plots with 1872LI allottments. 

3. You can have MULTIPLE exhibits! Have a favorite exhibit (or many) from the last nineteen Birthday celebrations? Bring it AND design a completely new exhibit for this year as well! Please fill out an application for each exhibit idea.

4. Birthday Reboots is an exhibit category focused on a second viewing of a favorite exhibit from a past SLB.

5. Second Life History is an exhibit category focused on sharing highlights of Second Life's past twenty years.

 

It should be noted that the adult-rated SL20B regions, or region, will be located separately away from the rest of the SLB sims (presumably to keep underage residents from panning around to see them).

 

To apply to be an SL20B exhibitor, one needs to fill out an application on Google doc (here). If you want a water parcel or a medium or large parcel, you will need to explain why. As before, applying does not guarantee a parcel, and there are a limited amount of spaces (and likely more people applying as this is a key anniversary). Commercial exhibits are prohibited (a store or merchant can have an exhibit built, but the commercial activities will be limited to the Shop and Hop that will be going on at the time), and political & hateful themes are prohibited. And once a parcel is set, do not expect to be able to have it moved on request. Any questions can be brought to a Mole coordinator, but the Moles have the final say on exhibits.

 

For those interested in being part of the volunteer staff, fill out this Google-doc (here). Volunteers are asked to post which times they are available to work, what type of body their avatar is (for custom-made volunteer shirts), and what positions they're interested it. It is to be understood that volunteers are expected to be helpful and courteous, and will not get paid (other than the shirt).

Like SL20B performers, exhibitors and volunteers have until May 14th to apply (those applying to be part of the Music Fest have until April 9, a few days from now). The SL20B lasts from June 22 to July 11. 

For more information, check the official blog.

Bixyl Shuftan

Reader Submitted: A Replacement for Singularity, Linden Lab Bringing in Chat History

 

I have been using the Singularity Viewer for years as it has the kind of interface I like. However, over the last year or so, it began having problems getting functions to work, finally ending with constantly getting logged off while in the middle of building, causing lots of lost work, especially when it happened while making a new railroad rout. Unfortunately, Singularity is no longer recieving regular updates, and as a matter of fact hasn't in a very long time. So I started a search, and I found the Genisis Viewer (https://genesisviewer.org/).

It has the same interface and performs very well. I also find that it has regular updates, so updated that it is already testing in a Nightly Build, a new function being readied by Linden Lab, Group Chat History!

(https://community.secondlife.com/blogs/entry/12652-coming-soon-to-a-viewer-near-you-group-chat-history/)

What it does is that when you log on and you either open a group chat or it opens when someone types, you get to see the prior conversations up to an hour before you logged in. I'm sure we all have logged on numerous times to see someone say something, leaving you wondering "What in the world have they been talking about?" Well, you will soon have your answer, as all that was spoken before will be displaced in italics. I downloaded the Genisis Nightly Build, sperate from the regular viewer, and test drive it, and YES it works. I can't show you an example because that's busting privacy and Terms of Service, but I'll state that I was seeing all the conversation that took place before up to an hour in any group. This does not apply to your friends but not needed anyway. Right, you already know that.

I'm sure that other viewers will soon follow and have this very useful function included. As for Genesis, it is the perfect replacement for those of us who use Singularity.

Cynthia Farshore

Looking Back At The Newser: The First Years, 2010-2013

 

The Second Life Newser is a publication with a long history, twelve years. That's quite a lot to look back on. In his article for today, Editor and head writer Bixyl Shuftan will take a look at the Newser's first few years. Starting from a team of four reporters fresh from the recently closed Second Life Newspaper, the Newser would win the confidence of readers and advertisers alike and soon become a force in journalism covering the people, places, and events in Second Life (with occasional nods to our sponsors). But much of what it covered was a Linden Lab that seemed increasingly unable or unwilling to understand it's virtual world's users.

Read the overview of 2010 to 2013 in Extra.