Owner of JIAN Pets Closes Shop, Announces Leaving Second Life For Roblox

 

Sad news for fans of JIAN pets.  A few days ago, the owner, Kalia Pawtato (formerly Kalia Firelyte), announced on the store blog she was closing her store and departing Second Life. 

 

I also wanted to offer a fond, long time coming farewell as I step away from Second Life and Jian to take new chances, make new mistakes and make fun messes in new places.

Second Life has for the past 20+ years been a major part of my real life. Professionally, it's where I got my start all those years ago and continued to iterate in what I did ... I'm grateful for all the people I've met who also all carried lessons I'll take with me into the future. 

 

Her inworld store at Pounamu Island is mostly closed.  All that's left is an inworld redelivery terminal for resending any past purchases made. Although at (64/153/22), it seems trying to teleport anywhere near it will result in you appearing over a thousand meters above the sim, plummeting downward. Her Marketplace page is still up and running: https://marketplace.secondlife.com/stores/170150 . She would also have a blog page, Bearpuppy, at https://www.bearpuppy.gg/ .

 

Where she is going may surprise some residents, Roblox.

 

For the past four years I've been working on Roblox and a couple other platforms both for myself and others. My life has changed over the years and so have my interests. It is a natural evolution of my professional trajectory to move to new places where I hope to develop new, fun things.

 

A thread about her departure was started on the Linden Forums by Prokofy Neva, "this is sad news, for those of us in SL that bought and enjoyed these pets." One poster remarked, "Pets and breedables in SL are laggy and obnoxious! They don't belong here, because SL can't handle it. People who make them should go to another platform, where their creations will perform better, and annoy the rest of us less." Others expressed sadness, "Sad to hear another talented creator is departing."

 

One would say, "Jian is one of the contributors that has made my SL infinitely better. ... I will miss Jian. It has been a part of my many weekend jaunts inworld for so long, I cannot recall when it was not. I have the cutest worn pets that I have grown attached to. And I am incredibly grateful they are leaving a redelivery terminal available. And for all they have contributed here and to my inworld experience, I wish Jian great happiness and fun wherever they are!" 

 

Nobody on the Newser staff has a Roblox account, nor do I personally know much about it. While it has a much larger user base, as it's mainly children and teens, it hasn't been thought of as competition for Second Life like VRChat has. 

 

In any event, the Grid has one less longtime talented content creator. 

 

Hat Tip:  Linn Darkwatch

 

Image Credit:  Kyrie Deka

 

Bisyl Shuftan 

 

Jenni Greenfield Stepping Down From Cutlass, Taking Break From SL

 

Jenni Greenfield has been a familiar sight at Club Cutlass, the main club of the Sunweaver community for many years. But she recently announced she will be taking a break, possibly a permanent one.

 

Had to make a hard decision, but decided to hang it up with SL. The reasons for this is my health is declining, and I have actually become bored with the internet. As you may know, I was recently in the hospital, and they misplaced the meds I took with me. they said they would set me up with new prescriptions, but they seem to be having a problem getting them through. Without them, I have medical issues and a near total lack of energy. Thank you all for putting up with me all these years. 

 

Talking with her, Jenni wasn't sure if this was a hiatus in which she would be back, eventually, but a lasting one, bringing up her lack of energy.

 

Hopefully her health problems will resolve soon and she'll soon be back.

 

Best wishes Jenni,

 

Bixyl Suftan 

Breaking News: Patch Linden Leaving Linden Lab

 

A few hours ago as of the writing of this article, Linden Lab announced it was  "reorganizing its Product Operations and Customer Success divisions." As part of this "reorganizing," a familiar face will be leaving Linden Lab: Patch Linden.

 

As part of that reorganization, Senior VP Product Operations, Customer Success, & Trust & Safety Eric Nix will be departing the company. Eric (known to the Second Life community as Patch Linden) has been a valued member of the Linden Lab team for almost 20 years, playing an important role in the ongoing evolution and growth of Second Life.

“Eric has made meaningful contributions to Second Life over the course of his tenure,” said Brad Oberwager, CEO and Executive Chairman of Linden Lab. “We thank him for his dedication, leadership, and the impact he’s had on both our product and our community, and we wish him the very best in his next chapter.”
 

More on the story later. 

 

Source: Linden Lab

 

Hat Tip: Eric Mondrain

 

Bixyl Shuftan

 

Signal Linden Leaving The Lab

 

 Linden Lab is saying goodbye to one of it's own. On Friday November 21, Signal Linden announced on his Twitter/X account he was leaving. 

 

Today is my last day at Linden Lab! It's been an awesome nearly 10 years.

In an increasingly channelized digital environment remains one of the few platforms where creativity, exhuberance and natural social connection is encouraged and supported. 

In a second post: 

Virtual worlds remain a places where people can carve out little niches and build out their own nest - the cozy web.

Second Life is growing, and I'm excited to see where it goes in the coming years. 

 

Signal Linden was hired by Linden Lab in January 2016. He worked as the Engineering Director on the server and viewer. On his profile, he stated he had a personal account since 2005. He would appear at some events such as Lab Gabs and Second Life Birthday Town Halls, as well as Bid Me Bald fundraisers. 

 

 "Thank you for everything <3"

 

Bixyl Shuftan

 

Runitai Linden Leaving The Lab

 

 A few days ago on Thursday January 16 at the Content Creation User Group Meeting, one Linden, Runitai Linden, announced he would soon be leaving Linden Lab. He would speak a few minutes after the event started.

"It's been almost twenty years, and it's been, I'll always be grateful for the time here, no doubt. And everything Second Life has done and (I'll) always be proud of what Linden Lab and the residents have accomplished here. But, I've been convicted recently to pursue a career in public service, and at the same time I felt that calling, things stopped coming together in my head for doing the work that needs to be done here.

"I really feel as though I've done all that I can do, and that it's time for me to go on to something else.

"I wouldn't be able to do that if it wasn't for all of you. The career I've chosen doesn't exactly pay a living wage so I'll definitely be living off my savings. But I feel this is what I have to do. I also feel that the Second Life team has never been stronger. Everybody at the Lab and the open source community does such great work. Such talented people, just world-class engineers all around. I have no doubt Second Life will thrive in my absence.

"But it's definitely time for someone to step up into this role. You have to be fully committed to Second Life. And that's something I could do. And I did it for as long as I could. But I have to make a change. I hope that makes sense (and) it isn't too cryptic. But I will definitely miss all of you. I'll miss this place. Well, it's been a rollercoaster, that's for sure.

"I won't claim to know what all the future holds. But it is definately something I need to step away from, at least for a time. But as a parting gift, I will place a copyable and transferable copy of my bear on the table for anybody who wants to take a copy. Spread that to all."

Runtai has Davep as his display name, and joined Linden Lab in August 23, 2005, making him one of the longest-lasting Lindens in the Lab. Inara Pay would state he "has been a core member of the graphics / rendering team" for most of his years before being moved over to work on Project Sansar but would be moved back to it before it's sale to Wookey. Coming back, he would be working on the viewer's visual details, and more recently working on some of the bugs coming out as a resilt of the PBR updates.

She would also say Runitai would be going to work as a paramedic and "his openness, honesty, and jovial nature will be very much missed."

Source: Modem World

Bixyl Shuftan

Interview With Xavier Thiebaud

 

The Newser recently had a chance to interview Xavier Thiebaud. Xavier has been many things. In another account, he was one of Second Life's first residents in the Beta Grid. He's also been a co-founder of the popular A-List group and been involved in arts and entertainment. But he recently announced he would soon be departing this virtual world. I would meet up with him not long after, and we would talk for a while.

 

Read the interview in People.  

Former Newser Reporter Grease Coakes Annouces He's Leaving Second Life

 

 For most residents who leave Second Life, their departure is a quiet affair, most not noticing until they've been gone for a while. But for Grease Coakes, he made his public, announcing it in DJ Tantari's Discord.

 

It's very unlikely I will come back to Second Life anymore. Crashing constantly is not fun. I could not stay online for my DJ set at 21SLB so I am tired of fighting a game that no longer lets me log on anymore.

So I uninstalled it and I am not coming back.
 

Talking to Grease, he was saying he had been having trouble for a while, "Trust me I have been struggling to stay on SL since May. And I am done fighting with it."  When asked if he would give another virtual world a try, he had no comment. 

Grease Coakes joined the Newser in 2012, writing articles to 2017. When not on SL, he would play Guild Wars 2. Besides writing for the Newser, he would publish some furry fiction, DJ at sets, such as a few SL Newser anniversary parties, and lead a tarrot card class.

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
 

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

Xiola Linden Stepping Down From Linden Lab

The Linden Snowball fight today from 10 to 11 SL time was lots of fun. But there was one sad moment. Near the end of the event, one of the Lindens taking part, Xiola Linden, told people she would soon be departing Linden Lab. Her last day will be January 3.

Xiola Linden was with Linden Lab's public relations, and one of the most familiar and popular Lindens, it not the most popular. She frequently appeared in many events with residents such as the Second Life Birthdays and the "Creepy Crawl" each Halloween. More recently, she started co-hosting the livestreamed show "Lab Gab" with Strawberry Linden. In the most recent episode on December 18, she also announced she was leaving (14:50).

"Just a little over eight years ago was when I showed up for my first day at 'The Lab,' and I basically walked into my dream job. It was a place that I had for a very long time been a resident of since 2006. ... It's been a job that's allowed me to grow, and it's been a job that's been challenging. ... The product has it's challenges in terms of ... how do you explain Second Life to someone who's never done it because it's to many things to so many people on it. ... It's giving me a ton of incredible stories of things that you can not only imagine but realize. And I learned from the community to see the way that they continuously adopt the features of the platform and do it in ways that we never expecter or would do. So ... here we are eight years later and it's still my dream job. I still can't even imagine who I would be or what I would be like without this community and without Second Life and without the Lab.

"That said, it's come time for me to work on some new dreams. ... So yes, my last day at Linden Lab will be January 3rd. ... That's not to say I'm no longer gonna be in Second Life, because, you bet your bottom dollar ... I'm still going to be in Second Life, maybe even more so since I won't have to be doing it as a full-time job as well. I'll have more time to just come in and run amok. It's been awesome. In my time here, I've gotten a chance to work on so many products, not just Second Life obviously. I've been here for Sansar, for some of the other products we've had in our portfolio in the past. It's been awesome of course. Second Life is the dearest and nearest, and the one I have the most experience with.

"So yeah, that's my announcment. I should shut up before I start crying again."

Whereever you go Xiola, we all wish you the best of luck.

Bixyl Shuftan

News and Commentary: More on Youtube And COPPA

Youtube has long been a staple on the Internet. It was a place that people could post videos, as long as they weren't porn or graphically violent, for friends and anyone else interested in watching. Over time, there were changes. There were the ads, there was monetization, there were the takedowns of videos that were seen as infringing of copyrights, and others. But one recent change has scared many video makers: the new rules concerning COPPA. Second Life music video maker Nydia Tungsten ended up removing most of her videos as a result, and many others are doing or considering doing the same. So why are they worried? The new rules in question are just too vague to trust.

Read the commentary in Extra.

One SL Music Video Maker's Reaction to COPPA

This week in a number of Second Life and Discord groups, there's been some discussion about a law called COPPA and what it means to Youtube. Called the Child Online Privacy and Protection Act, it recently imposed a huge fine on Youtube, which reacted by announcing a new plan that confused and scared a number of content creators. Among them is Nydia Tungsten, whom has made many music videos in Second Life over the past few years and put them on Youtube. But no more. This week, she announced that no more would be going up on Youtube. I would talk to her about what she thought was the big worry, and what she may do next.

Read the story in Extra.

Brandi Streusel Leaves Second Life, For Now

For several years, Brandi Streusel has been a presence in the Sunweaver community. Early on, she was painting motorcycles. But her work soon caught on for her line of clothing, notably her undergarments, which became known as "Brandi's Panties." She became a close friend to Nydia Tungsten, and eventually the two partnered. Brandi would help manage some of the Angel sims, and help with many of her videos.

Sadly, the Sunweavers will have to do without their beloved mousegirl. Yesterday, on July 4, Nydia announced Brandi had left Second Life.


Brandi Is Taking A Break

Due to certain circumstances, Brandi has left SL for an indefinite period, and I hope she can feel comfortable coming back soon. 

It is hoped that Brandi will soon be coming back to the virtual world, and the community where she has many friends and admirers.

Peter Gray/Peter Linden Leaving Linden Labs, To Join Facebook

One of the more familiar Lindens to Second Life residents, Peter Linden, will soon be departing Linden Labs. Known as Peter Gray in real life, he was known as the Lab's public relations spokesman, officialy their Senior Director of Communications. But no longer.On Tuesday January 2, Hamlet Au and Inara Pey had received emails from Gray that he was leaving Linden Lab. His new place of employment: Facebook. He will be working at the communications team of Facebook AI Research

"After about a dozen years doing marcom in the virtual worlds/VR space (starting way back in '06 as part of Linden's external PR team), it's time for a new adventure, and I'm excited to be moving on to join Facebook's comms team for AI."

"I'm not sure if anyone else has been doing marcom in the virtual worlds / VR space longer, but 12 years is a pretty long time (in the tech world, at least). What's helped to keep it interesting, exciting, and rewarding all these years is also a big part of what made becoming a Linden appealing in the first place: the enormous range of stories to tell. I'm grateful to all the SL and Sansar users who are doing such interesting and creative things with our platforms, and in particular to those who have gone out of their way to share their stories over the years. "

Peter Linden had spent over eight years at Linden Lab, joining in 2009 and serving under four different CEOs and went through a number of turning points in the company's history such as when 30% of it's staff was laid off. His avatar has been seen in a number of events such as the Second Life Birthday and Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education.  It is not clear who will replace him.

As for Peter Gray's new job. it's likely to be an eventful one as last year, Facebook had to squash rumors that they had pulled the plug on an AI that had gotten "dangerously smart."

Sources: New World Notes, Modem World, Gizmodo 

Bixyl Shuftan

Commentary: Suicide and Second Life

DrFran's latest article was brought on by another one. Earlier this month, Nydia Tunsten wrote an emotional commentary about dealing with Second Life friend threatening to do himself in. DrFran as it turns out has dealt with matters of mental health in real life. With her experience in mind, she wrote a response.

Read DrFran's article in People.

Commentary: Suicide

Late last week, Nydia Tungsten and a few others were shocked to get pictures from a mutual friend threatening to kill themself. Once the dust settled, Nydia put a few thoughts to pen, and didn't hold back very much. Here's what she had to say on the matter.

Read Nydia's words in People.

"Time To Move On" - Kylie Sabra Leaving the UCCSL

For months, Kylie Sabra tirelessly led the United Content Creators of Second Life group, a group created in response to Linden Lab's change of it's Terms of Service in reguards to the rights of content creators. She had urged level-headed dialouge with the Lab. In February, she concluded the Lab had no intention of changing the terms to ease the concerns of builders, saying the group had to pursue other options if it wanted the Lindens to change. In her latest post a few days ago, she announced she was moving on from the UCCSL.

LoveCat Thei and I had hoped to create  group that would benefit creators, but we had also hoped that others would join us in providing much-needed services. Alas, no one stepped forward to take on any of the tasks that would need to be accomplished in order to bring you those services. ... LoveCat and I both earn incomes from our work here and realize that as much as we want to contribute, we need to take care of our families first. I wish we had more impact on effecting change to the ToS. Failure does not sit well with me, but when it comes I know that I simply have to get up and move on with life.

Kylie mentioned a detail that she felt was a sign the ToS move was not a power grab, "I would like to point out something that has come to my intention, that cements for me that Linden Lab does not intend to steal our hard work. ... Linden Lab recently approached an in-world artist and entered into a written contract to use their photos to promote Second Life." Still, she felt the Lab could have handled the issue much better, and the consequences would be long lasting, "Whether the ToS sits well with us from a moral/ethical standpoint is moot. They are within their rights to do as they wish. I think it unfortunate that they chose such inflammatory wording. ... we will never again feel that we are partners in this endeavor with Linden Lab: We will never again trust so blindly as we once did."

For now, the UCCSL group is still open, though Kylie may close it if membership plummets. She also stated she would continue to speak out in the future about other issues.

"Wishing you all a pleasant goodnight–for now."

Bixyl Shuftan

Breaking News: Rodvik Linden Leaves Second Life

After more than three years as CEO of Second Life, Rod Humble, known inworld as Rodvik Linden, has announced he will be leaving his position and departing Second Life. The date in which he left was sometime last week.

On Facebook, Rodvik wrote, “Its been a great 3 years! All my thanks to my colleagues at Linden Lab and our wonderful customers I wish you the very best for the future and continued success! I am starting-up a company to make Art, Entertainment and unusual things! More on that in a few weeks!”


Rodvik Linden is gone from the Linden Lab's staff page at http://lindenlab.com/about . It is not yet clear who will replace him.

It was announced on Dec 2010 that Rod Humble would be assuming the role of CEO of Second Life. He took the position a month later. At the time, he was known for being a success in the gaming industry, such as "The Sims."

Details are still comming in on this stunning news.

Image Credit: Marianne McCann

Andrew Linden Anounces His Leaving Linden Lab

At the inworld Simulator Users group meeting on Tuesday December 17th, Andrew Linden announced he would be leaving Linden Lab in two days (today). He is quoted as saying, “This is going to be my last User Group meeting as a Linden: I’ve decided to leave LL and pursue other things. I’ve really enjoyed these User Group meetings, which is why I’ve been showing up all these years.”

Andrew's profile lists him as having been employed since April 2002, while Second Life was still in it's beta, for eleven years and six months (longer than Philip Linden, who hired him, served). He described himself as "a C++ developer at Linden Lab. I work mostly on the SL servers and backend architecture." He wasn't normally available for most support issues, but was a regular at the once a week meetin to "answer questions about server bugs, architecture, and the current state of development in LL."

After today, Andrew will be heading off for High Fidelity to once again work with Philip Rosedale (the former Philip Linden), ”I’m going to join Philip and his new project. Not because I don’t love SL or am not excited about what LL is working on, but because I’m ready for a change, and I really like working with Philip.”

Inara Pey described Andrew, whom consistently appeared as a balding man dressed in a purple t-shirt and shorts as well-mannered and polite, "In the time I’ve been attending the Simulator User Group meeting (formerly the Server/Sim/Scripting group), Andrew has always been polite, inquisitive and helpful to all, and demonstrated a willingness to readily delve into issues and see what he can find and / or put right. In response to the direct enquiries I’ve put to him in the past, he’s always been more than helpful in his replies, willing to provide concise explanations and offer additional information and guidance." He's also worked on the recent Project Sunshine server-side programs to improve viewer performance on newer computers. "Also of late, Andrew has worked on a number of anti-griefing measures within the platform," and has been working on projects that should appear in viewer updates early in 2014.

Sources: Daniel Voyager, Modem World, Natales' Things and Stuff  

Yoz Linden Leaving Linden Lab

On his Twitter page, Yoz Linden, Yoz Grahame in real life, wrote a message that stated he was leaving Linden Lab.



Thanks for everything, Linden Lab; it's been virtual. Always remember: YOU RUN A F***ING WORLD. This is Yoz Linden Signing out. ONWARDS!

Daniel Voyager listed Yoz's roles as "technical lead for Linden Lab, social applications," and "web infrastructure." A year and a half ago, The Economist printed an article about how as one of the developers of the computer game "Starship Titanic,"  Yoz started an "Employee Forum" on the website which turned into it's own online community. When the company that made the game went under, rather than let the forum simply die, Yoz took it under his wing, "I moved it to my own hosting." Hamlet Au mused at the time if Second Life ever went under, Yoz might come to the rescue once again by taking home some of the servers.

While he probably won't be coming to rescue the Grid should such a day come, it's likely we'll hear from him again on another computer-related project.

Sources: Daniel Voyager, Hamlet Au
Image Source: Twitter, Quora

Bixyl Shuftan