Mojo And Styfy Linden Have Left Linden Lab

 

Two of the Linden Lab team, Andrew Kertesz aka Mojo Linden and Steven Feuling, have recently departed. According to an article by Inara Pey, they were still on in late December, but by mid-January were no longer listed on the company website. There was no announcement by Linden Lab the Newser is aware of.

Mojo Linden was the VP of Engineering, having signed up in August 2021, some months after the departure of the popular Oz Linden. Styfy Linden was the Chief Marketing Officer.

Mojo Linden has been at several Lab Gab events over the past couple years, and has been part of the team working on the mobile viewer, currently in a limited release public alpha. Styfy didn't appear at public events as often, but was at a Second Life Birthday's "Meet The Lindens" event last year in June 2023.

Inara would comment, "I had wondered as to Mojo’s whereabouts a couple of times of late; his absence from the CCUG meetings had become sufficient enough for me to notice." She would "wish both gentlemen well in their respective futures, and also thank Mojo (should he ever read this!) for taking the time to engage with users and in responding to nagging enquiries from the likes of myself."

 

Source: Modem World

 

Bixyl Shuftan

 

Bree Himmel Has Died

 

There was some sad news late last week in Raglan Shire. Bree Himmel had passed away. She had gone to the hospital in late December and was held after being diagnosed with a blood clot. 

At 5:15 pm (Thursday January 5), our friend Bree was reunited with her beloved pug Charlie across the Rainbow Bridge. Her death was completely unnecessary and is a direct result of the spectacular failure .... to value ppl with disabilities by fully funding Home and Community Based Services so they can get support for activities of daily living-of which Bree was in desperate need. Many of our Tiny friends and others have disabilities and for some, like Bree, SL is the most contact they get with the outside world. That’s what makes Raglan Shire and the ppl in it so special-it is a safe and friendly virtual space for ppl with disabilities to make friends and receive desperately needed social support. I know The Shire gave Bree a lot of happiness in an otherwise bleak existence filled with the “benign neglect” that so many ppl with disabilities experience. Over the years, we’ve lost a lot of Tiny friends for whom The Shire has been a Real Life Sanctuary filled with emotional safety and happiness. Perhaps, one day, the RL world will catch up. Until then, thank you Tiny community, all your many kindnesses are never forgotten. Rest Easy Basement 🐈‍⬛—Lyra Snowpaw, BKOD

Besides at Raglan as one of the "Basement Kitties of Doom," Bree could also be seen at Caledon. In real life, she was Diane Hazel Delaney of Texas.

Source: Facebook, Discord

Bisyl Shuftan

Creator of Slink Avatar Announces Closing of Stores

 

In what can only be described as a surprise move, the creator of the Slink avatar, Siddean Munro, announced on Saturday December 31, 2022, she was closing her stores, taking her avatar and other products off the market.

Following two stressful years of pandemic which I am sure we have all been affected by in one way or the other, I suddenly lost my mother in September of 2021, my grandmother in January of 2022 and my cat Cleo in June. I have been unwell and enduring a lot of chronic pain. I have to be very honest, my spark has dimmed a little and I no longer have the energy to pour into this business like I once did.

I’ve done a lot of soul searching over the last 18 months and have come to the very difficult decision that for my own physical and mental wellbeing, I need to move on from Second Life. I am starting something new, and can only hope it will be half as much fun and as fulfilling as my time in Second Life has been.

She would thank her customers for years of loyal business, "I cannot express what your support has truly meant to me, and I know these words will never be enough...."as well as other content creators who made products for her avatar, "you made what I do so much better! Thank you so much for your fabulous, innovative and gorgeous creations that made mine look so awesome." She announced she would no longer be answering messages made to her or her alts.

 

Checking her Marketplace page, it was cleared out, empty, one day before the announced closing. Same thing with her inworld store, at a sim also named "Slink." Entry was restricted to one tiny area with ban lines around it. There was a redelivery terminal, but the items for sale were out of reach.

 

Siddean had been creating items for sale since 2007. Her avatar shape has been around for some years, and has been described as "The Tesla for mesh bodies," applauded for it's low-lag design, which contrasted with some popular but complex and lag-inducing avatar shapes that multiplied two to three dozen times could make attending an event unreachable for those with older computers. 

On the official forums, there was praise for her on a thread about her closing. "I was very surprised (and a little sad - Slink is still my favorite and most worn body), but it sounds like a change will be good for her, and I wish her the best in her new endeavors." ''I wish Siddean and her team all the best for the future. Slink has been an innovator in SL and Siddean is just a lovely person." "I'm wishing the creator all the goodness, it seems they need a whole lot of happy thoughts from all of us. They were one of the amazing trend setters in SL back in the day and I'm sure their contribution will always be remembered!" "My heart goes out to Siddean, if I'd been in her shoes with all that RL threw at her the last few years, I'd probably do the same soul-searching. I hope she finds a new venture beyond Second Life where she can put her talents to good use and get that spark back." "It seems they had an awful year, and I am not surprised to hear they are stepping away. Lets hope one day they come back with an amazing creation that knocks us all off our feet " "So sad to hear this, Siddean was one of the pioneers of mesh bodies in SL, I don't think we'd be where we are now without her.  I wish her all the best for the future." "Sad news ...15 years of visible accomplishments and a very nice goodbye with hope for the future. Rare in SL for creators it seems."

The other products around for Slink avatars will likely be around for around for a while. But with the avatar no longer for sale and the creator gone from Second Life, it is unclear if any more will be made.

Sources: Slink, New World Notes  

Bixyl Shuftan

Breezy Carver of New Babbage Has Died

 

Some days ago, word was passed to the Caledon group that Breezy Carver had passed away. 

We've received news that Breezy Carver has passed. If you would like to pay your respects, there is a place in the gardens she built. There will be a formal memorial organized at a later date. 

 

 Hello everyone, I have some bad news and I'm sure many of you know or know of Breezy Carver as she was a HUGE blogger of all things Fantasy and Streampunk and Lived for FF each year as she did this year! She passed on May 3. She was quite sick but it was unexpected. Her funeral was June 4th. She will be greatly missed 😦

 Talking to Oldesoul Eldemar, he would show a picture of the New Babbage camp at the Relay Weekend track of 2009, taken by Wildstar Beaumont, "she was a former captain of the New Babbage team. She was a wonderful blogger, a fantastic builder."

Olde would show an episode of Designing Worlds that featured Piermont Landings and Breezy Carver (https://vimeo.com/510126220), as well as a cartoon that was made of footage of the video (https://www.dropbox.com/s/2ibmqrl5w38s3z2/Purloined%20Diamonds.pdf).

Wheatstone Waterways (10,18,101)

Bixyl Shuftan
 

Linden Lab Lays Off Twelve, VP of Product Leaves

Linden Lab is a little smaller as a small number of employees have been dismissed. Also, one of the people higher up has left to accept a new position elsewhere.

Hamlet Au recently stated in New World Notes that, "A highly reliable source tells me Linden Lab recently made workforce staff reductions. ... this most recent layoff impacted about a dozen employees: 'It was like one person from each department, totaling 12 ... mostly shared staff ...' "

There were also two recent former employee reviews of the Lab on Glassdoor, which may or may not be two of the twelve. One who called himself a software engineer remarked, "Massive layoffs, but got rid of the wrong people." While he felt, "Some of the people I worked with were smart, passionate and really wanted to create something amazing." He had a mediocre view as a whole of the company, "Leadership has no vision and don't have the skills to run something as ambitious as Sansar. ... The same old people have been there for the longest time. (They) keep hiring the wrong people and putting the wrong people in positions of power."

The other review from an anonymous employee, "Make LL Great Again" was less critical. But he still had a negative outlook, "Company is too focused on its new product; those who work on the mainstay feel set aside and taken for granted. HR is nearly non-existent; most team members are remote or barely in the office. Too many org changes lately have left folks feeling insecure, morale is low and sinking. I hope they can turn it around." His advice to the Lab's leaders, "You have some really awesome people there; get out of their way."

In June 2010, Linden Lab had a massive layoff, or "restructuring" as they called it, in which about a third of their staff was given pink slips. Followed by the CEO then stepping down, it was a sign of a company in trouble. This news following the Lab's decision to raise fees for it's users a few months ago can be considered a sign the company is more pessimistic about it's long-term profitability. Part of the reason may be Sansar having a small base of regular users, despite Linden Lab's large investment in the next-generation virtual world.

One Linden whom left the company recently did so on his own. Bjørn Laurin, who was the "Vice President of Product, turned in his resignation. Joining Linden Lab in March 2015, Laurin was most associated with Sansar. Inara Pey described him as "one of the popular Lab reps (alongside Ebbe Altberg and Jason Gholston (Widely Linden) ) for his willingness to offer broad-ranging views and comments on Sansar’s direction, upcoming releases and ideas being discussed for the platform back at the Lab." Laurin left to pursue a job at HTC Vive.

Sources: New World Notes, Modem World, Glassdoor

Bixyl Shuftan

Michael Linden Has Left Linden Lab

Following some questions about Michael Linden, the Newser discovered through an article by Marianne McCann published though Modem World that he had left the Lab after ore than 13 years in service. He was noted with his direction of the Department of Public Works, which has created many projects from Bay City to the recent Horizons Residential area and game. The Newser got permission from Marianne to reprint the article. One might also want to check out Hotel Adriano, Michael Linden's home in Second Life, at Shamon (65/96/29).

*  *  *  *  *

Over the weekend of February 11th and 12th 2017, it was noted that Michael Linden’s profile was not showing up in Second Life search, nor was he showing as a member in several groups within his profile. Many began to question if he had left Linden Lab, and – given he was known as the head of the Linden Department of Public Works – if the LDPW was being shuttered.
At the Bay City Alliance meeting on the 14th of February, a trio of LDPW staff, Shaman Linden, Squishy Mole, and Sylvan Mole, attended in part to address these concerns.

Speaking at the meeting, Sylvan Mole confirmed that Michael has indeed left Linden Lab, but was unable to give many specifics. It is assumed that he left of his own accord.

Michael Linden started with Linden Lab in the autumn of 2003 as an in-world Liaison, moving briefly to Governance in 2007 before becoming one of the heads of the LDPW with the former Blue Linden. The LDPW has expanded to include several Linden staff members and a fair number of “Moles,” as the resident contractors working on content for Second Life are known.

One of the first projects released by the LDPW under Michael was the Bay City mainland regions. Last week, Michael added a rail and boat terminal to Bay City, in the Grub Beach region. It is believed that was his last project under his Linden name.

Michael has been heavily involved in the past with vehicles as a Resident, in particular with Second Life railway projects. It is expected that he will again do so, but no longer as a member of Linden Lab’s staff. Resident and Linden alike will miss his presence within the LDPW.

As to the question of the LDPW’s future, they are most certainly still an ongoing department under Patch Linden, with Shaman, Dee, Keira, Kona, and Vitae Linden as an active part. As we’ve seen, the LDPW has just recently completed the multiple-region residential and experience-laden Horizons project, and they have several current and future projects on their plates.

Those of us who know Michael will miss his presence and guiding hand as a Linden, as well as his sense of fun. We all hope he enjoys every success wherever his career and work take him, and offer three cheers as he sets sail to pastures new.

Many thanks, Michael for your years of work within Second Life!

Marianne McCann

"Occupy Wall Street" in Second Life

With the "Occupy Wall Street" movement so much in the news these days, it was inevitable the debate would move online, and eventually into Second Life.

On the Destinations Guide, there was a page for an "Occupy Wall Street." Porting over to the Flagg sim, the location was wall to wall political slogans from the leaning left to socialist and a few "V for Vendetta" masks. But there was also a link to a website, to Second Life Left Unity. The group calls itself "part of a world wide left unity movement in SL. ... united around social justice and anti-capitalism."

Hamlet Au made a few comments about the protest movement in SL. He felt virtual worlds had a viable role in protests, pointing out most people didn't live near the areas where the main events were taking place, "Should you drive to a protest against corporate power if that means buying a lot of gas from a major oil corporation to get there?" He added what protesters spoke at these inworld events would be more likely to spread than comments to one's small circle of friends in Twitter or Facebook.

Among those taking part in the SL protests, Any1 Gynoid. The self-described journalist & promoter has taken up her pen again, writing about the "Occupy" protests for CNN. One of her articles refers to goings on in Second Life.

The "Occupy Wall Street" build featured in the Destination Guide is at Flagg (213, 70, 95). Any1 wrote she found two more at Born East (113, 219, 27) and Four Bridges North (62, 19, 25).

Sources: New World Notes, CNN, Destination Guide

Bixyl Shuftan