Caspertech Vendor Collecting Donations For Victims of Pulse Massacre

On Sunday morning in Orlando Florida, the Pulse nightclub was attacked by a killer whom gunned down a number of people and took several hostages before finally being shot and killed by police. With 49 people dead (not counting the killer) and 53 injured, the event was one of the worst cases of mass-murder in the United States. The gunman, the son of immigrants from Afghanistan, pledged loyalty to the ISIS terrorist organization. As Pulse is a gay nightclub, the incident is being described as both a hate crime and an act of terrorism.

In Second Life, Casper Warden of Caspertech has made a kiosk to help residents donate to a fund to help the victims of the crime. The money collected goes to a GoFundMe page set up by Ida Vishkaee Eskamani of Equality Florida, a political activist and nonprofit organization. Linden Lab mentioned Caspertech's kiosk in the official Second Life blog.

The Second Life community comes together in incredible, compassionate ways that serve as a badge to show what amazing, diverse, and accepting communities we have all over the grid. ... In light of the tradegy that struck Orlando nightclub, Pulse this past weekend, Casper Warden of CasperVend has set up a kiosk in his mainstore to collect donations for the GoFundMe set up by Equality Florida to benefit and support the victims of this horrific event.

The vendor includes a disclaimer that the withdraw fees for converting Linden dollars to real-world currency will be applied to funds collected. All charities collecting money from Second Life wishing to avoid the fee need to contact Linden Lab and work out an exemption.

The Lab has also included the location of Caspertech in the Destination Guide, which is located at Izanagi (184/81/134).

Casper has also made his kiosk available on the Second Life Marketplace for free, which can be found (here). Already others have gotten copies of and making use of them, such as Furry Fashion.

In light of the tragedy that struck Orlando nightclub Pulse this past weekend, Casper Warden of CasperVend has set up a kiosk in his mainstore to collect donations for the GoFundMe set up by Equality Florida to benefit and support the victims of this horrific event. FF is also getting involved with donation kiosks set up across the sim ...

As of now, Furry Fashion has at least one kiosk set up at Furry (203, 197, 59). There will almost certainly be other locations publicized in various groups and websites. Hamlet Au and Strawberry Singh have also written about the kiosk. 

Bixyl Shuftan

Reflections on a Massacre

On Friday, the headlines of real life news were filled with reports of a massacre in a Connecticut school, in which 26 people, including 20 kids, were gunned down. And in real life as well as Second Life, people were asking "Why?" Numerous groups yours truly is a part of discussed the tragedy. How could some one just up and shoot down kids? How could such evil could have materialized on the most innocent of souls? Prayer vigils were held in some places on the Grid for the fallen, including the church pictured above.

Both Fox and CNN had people blaming violent video games, much to the irritation of some Second Life residents. Others blamed relatively easy access to firearms by the general public, which triggered some passionate debates in both group chats and out in the open. Liberals argued guns needed to be kept out of dangerous hands, and the average citizen had no business owning them. Conservatives countered people had the right to self defense, if not a duty, if for no other reason the cops might not get to someone's house in time if armed intruders attacked.

With friends on both sides of the issue, yours truly has been listening a lot more than speaking about it, and have heard some noteworthy comments on it over time. I could go on and on about what I've heard, but chances are you the readers have heard most. Best that this reporter can say is be careful about debating your friends about this issue. They believe just as passionately as you, and this is not worth wrecking friendships over.

Bixyl Shuftan