Linden Lab Answers Questions and Concerns About Gaeta 1, Other Issues, At Town Hall

 

On Monday at 11 AM SL time, there was a meeting at Linden Lab's Town Hall building. The main reason was for residents to get answers to questions and concerns about The Lab announcing that the smaller of two unfinished Mainland continents, Gaeta 1, will be closed down and it's residents relocated while the other unfinished continent, Zindra, will be completed. But other issues could be brought up as well. 

 

In short, the Lab is "beginning the process over the next 2-3 weeks," and "we are not deactivating any regions until the land owners there have been able to find new locations."

 

Read more in Events.

 

(Updated 4PM SL time) 

 

Picture from Zada Bury 

 

Reminder: Linden Town Hall Today

 

 Just a reminder, Linden Lab is hosting a Town Hall today, Monday April 20, "To answer questions and hear your feedback" concerning the planned closing of the Gaeta 1 Mainland continent, announced last week.  

 

The event is planned to go from 11 AM to 12 Noon SL time.  

https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Town%20Hall%20Island1/241/15/29

https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Town%20Hall%20Island2/8/23/29

https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Town%20Hall%20Island3/234/246/29 

 

(old picture as the area is currently off limits to residents) 

Writers' Meeting in Caledon

 

I was busy with things today, but last week, I was able to attend the Writer's Meeting, a weekly event that takes place in Caledon, every Thursday at 11 AM. 

 

 Join the Writers' Meeting in Caledon January 22nd 2026, 11:00 AM SLT. in Caledon Nights reading room in front of a huge fireplace. Talking in public chat about writing. Elfbiter and Silver Moon Unicorn. 

We talked about a few things, such as stories we've finished and stories we're currently writing on.

 

Once again the Writer's Meeting is every Thursday at 11 AM.  

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Caledon%20Oxbridge%20Village/223/189/4002

Bixyl Shuftan

 

Reader Submitted: Sunbeamers Prepare for Relay

 

With the 2026 RFL season fast approaching, the Sunbeamers team held a planning meeting on Sunday, Jan. 25.  Rita Mariner opened the meeting, attended by Cynthia Farshore, Shockwave Yareach, FluffyFoxy and Liska daLantros.  

 

Rita will be sponsoring our (Relay Weekend) region, where we will be joined by Cure Chasers and Roos With a Dream.  Cynthia will be in charge of campsite construction. We discussed tentative plans for the design, which will not be revealed yet, as we don't want to spoil the surprise. 

 

Cynthia will also be running the highly successful Air Show again.  Last year's event was well attended, with four aerobatic teams performing awesome maneuvers ovey rhe Roos.  This year's tentative date for the air show is April 18, but watch the Newser or the RFL of SL calendar for updates.  

 

Other topics discussed included the annual Relaystock concert, Shockwave's annual Easter Egg Hunt, and Bid-Mes.  With off-season fundraising already putting the team at "Jade" level, it looks like the Sunbeamers are on target for another successful Relay For Life season.

 

 LiskaDaLantros2

 

Crew Meeting

 

Picture from Gemma Cleanslate

Saturday January 10 was the first Newser crew meeting for the year, taking place in our office at HV Community. Those attending from right to left were Netera Landar, Gemma Cleanslate, Bixyl Shuftan (myself), Nydia Tungsten, and Klaus Bereznyak. We would discuss what we covered in December, and plans on what to write about this month. Falling between the holiday season and Valentines Day & the start of the Relay fundraising season, there's usually more time to cover things that we've put off for a while. 

Netera admitted to being a little overdressed due to a tribute that night. But the rest of us just complemented on her looks. 

 

Stay tuned for more articles of great people, places, and events by the SL Newser team.

 

Bixyl Shuftan

Editor 

Newser Crew Meeting

 

On Saturday December 13 at Noon SL time, the Newser staff would hold a meeting. It would be at its office in HV Community. From right to left were Gemma Cleanslate, Nydia Tungsten, Netera Landar, Penny Shuftan, and Bixyl Shuftan (myself). We would talk about subjects to write about, which December certainly provides plenty of,

And eventually came "meeting adjourned," which brought out a festive gesture.

 

Stay tuned for more stories from the Newser crew.

 

Bixyl Shuftan 

 

Are Townhouses In The Future of Linden Homes?

 

 Video from Pantera Północy. At the monthly Concierge & Land User Group meeting last week on 24 September 2025, as usual the Lindens present, in this case Izzy, Wendi, and Alpha, talked with issues and new features with the residents. 

Around 53:16, one resident asked if apartment buildings could ever be done. Izzy Linden respanded when he was first talking to people about it, he was told they weren't possible, "And in one way that's true. You can't have different ownership up a Z-axis right now. Second Life just doesn't do it. So we don't currently have the ability for vertical parcels. I don't know if that's ever going to not be a thing.

"However, one of the suggestions that I made, it is currently not in planning, so keep that in mind, but I have looked into the possibility of having Linden Home Brownstones." He would go on to say, "Brownstone is a multi-bedroom vertical building very ala New York or Washington DC or Boston. Think also kind of like the row homes in certain areas where it's very thin apartments, but they've got two to five floors to them." 

One resident gasped, another responded, "Oh, we call those townhouses." He went on to say one floor was often below street level, which was sometimes a shop. Wendi Linden commented that "As SLua is still in beta, we are not doing anything outside of beta with it at this time."

There was some more chatter following, notably how townhouses could work, such as one resident being the paying owner and working out details with other residents wanting to reside there. Duplex houses, a single building divided into two residential spaces, were also brought up.

So does this mean that brownstones/townhouses could be a Linden Home style in the future? Maybe. As Izzy stated, it was a suggestion made within Linden circles, and there's no current way for vertical parcels. But the Lab has offered the residents a chance to vote on new styles before. This just might be one, or more, of the options.

Bixyl Shuftan

 

Gathering of Lindens and Moles at The SL22B Welcome Area

 

 Yesterday on Tuesday July 8, I ported to the SLB Welcome Area in SLB Awesome to write about a game. And what I saw was a surprise. Several Moles, and a Linden were there. 

 

They were Abnor, Mini, Star, Violet, Bri, and Cara Mole, and Madori Linden. Madori stood out in her tainbow outfit. They were there in case people needed help with the Swaginator or Dragon Egg Hunt, though Abnor mused, "I've ask you all here today because every one of you had opportunity to kill Col Mustard in the Library with the Candlestick. but Col Mustard can only have one killer..." One resident responded by musing back, "I only have around 140 candlesticks in my inventory. I would not waste one on murder."

 

There were various comments about the exhibits, notably about one involving "The Cryptex," and about where to get stamps and have a stamp giver. There were also thanks to the Moles for what they do.

 

Eventually, the Moles had to depart, and the residents went about their ways.

 

More on the SLB later.

 

Bixyl Shuftan 

 

EOTB: Community Roundtable With Philip Linden Tomorrow

 

 

Tomorrow, on Friday March 13, there will be a Community Roundtable event hosted by Philip Linden, (Philip Rosedale in real-life). The main topics will be Linden Lab's Project Zero, and what they're planning for 2025.

 

People are invited to submit questions, through this Google doc (here). 

 

Town Hall 1: https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Town Hall Island1/252/5/26 
Town Hall 2: https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Town Hall Island2/6/7/26
Town Hall 3: https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Town Hall Island3/249/252/26 

 

For the blog post in full, Click Here. 

 

RFL Team Sunbeamer Meeting

 

 

 On Sunday February 9 at 12 Noon SL time, the Relay for Life in Second Life's Team Sunbeamers had their pre-season meeting. Led by team captain Rita Mariner, and with two of "Roos With A Dream" present, there was a discussion about what to do, what events to hold, and some events that would be temporarily shelved. 

Due to a viewer glitch, the table was invisible to me, so I remained standing.

 

 

Two weekly events came up, the Roos' one on Monday, and the Sunnies' Moon Dance for Thursdays at 6PM, once the Relay Season starts. One annual event that will definitely be held is the Sunbeamer Air Show, hosted by Cynthia Farshore on her Farshore Airfield in Sunlight Bay. The date has yet to be set as Cynthia is coordinating with an air squadron about when the best weekend will be. 

It was also brought up that one recent Relay Weekend campsite of the team's was an award winner, and there were hopes of repeating that performance. 

The Relay for Life's fundraising season for 2025, "The Magic of Hope," officially starts with the Kickoff on Saturday February 15.

 

For more information about Relay events, check the calendar Here.

 

Bixyl Shuftan

 

 

 

At The Office: Snack Time

 

 

 Taken at the December Newser crew meeting earlier this month. Dancerena Starlight enjoys a pretzel during the discussion.

 

The office is at  HV Community, (140, 85, 25).

 

RFL Team Sunbeamer Meeting

 

 

 On Sunday July 14, the Relay for Life's Sunbeamer team held a post-season meeting at the team's HQ in Sunweaver Bay. They talked about about how things went this year, what went well, and what didn't. There was discussion about possibly retiring one event, and adding in a new one.

 

Among the things discussed was that while previous years had souvenirs in the Sunbeamer HQ, the ones for this year seemed absent. It turned out they're at Club Cutlass, elsewhere in the sim.

Go Sunbeamers! Go Relay!

Bixyl Shuftan

Sunbeamer Meeting

 

 

 On Sunday May 5 at Noon SL time, the Relay for Life's Sunbeamer team had a meeting at their headquaters in Sunweaver Space. It came at a high point, as the team had just reached the one million Linden mark, during their air show the day before. Shockwave Yareach and Cynthia Farshore weren't there, though team captain Rita Mariner was. Also present were a few of Roos With a Dream.

There was discussion about upcoming events, notably the Relaystock (which starts tomorrow), of which the Sunnies would get a spot on stage, the DJ and some dancers. Roo's Alison joked, "I'll bring a firehose to wash the mud off of all the beamers." There were also the plans for a Ren-Faire later this month. And of course the Relay Weekend came up. As always, we would have a campsite. And there was the usual joking around between the 'beamers, such as with the globe in the middle of the table, we looked a little like a villain's lair.

Later on, Cynthia would say, "The air show brought in L$236,750 ... now the Roos share some of that, but for the event that's what it brought in."

Go Sunbeamers! Go Relay!

Bixyl Shuftan

Crew Meeting

 

 

 Last weekend on Saturday April 13, the Newser held a crew meeting at our main office in HV Community. Attending were Nydia Tungsten, Penny Shuftan (Deaflegacy), Gemma Cleanslate, Dancerina Starlight, and Bixyl Shuftan (me). 

We talked about things to write about in the weeks ahead, such as the Fantasy Faire, Sunbeamer Air Show, and other Relay events. We also talked about the Bellisseria anniversary. Gemma mentioned tablets one could hold for stamp hunters to touch to get one, and showed off an Away from Keyboard flag for when she was.

Bixyl Shuftan,

 

VWBPE - Virtual Worlds Education Roundtable

 

The Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education conference took place from Thursday March 14 to March 16. But not everyone could be there, and some who were could see only a little. But there were smaller events after the conference was officially over. One was a "roundtable" on Thursday March 21. Editor Bixyl Shuftan happened to be available, and dropped by.

Read Bixyl's story in Events.

RFL Team Sunbeamer Meeting

 

 

On Sunday, March, 24 at Noon SL time, members of the Relay for Life's Sunbeamer team held a meeting inworld. The meeting, headed by team captain Rita Mariner, was about reminding people of upcoming events, notably the annual Air Show, on Saturday May the 4rth (which got a couple 'May the Fourth be with you' jokes), and other events such as participating in the Relaystock and the Ren-Faire. We also talked about other possibilities for events.

The "Sunnies" have one weekly event, the Moon Dance, every Thursday at 6 SL time. Head to Sunweaver Space at  (108/113/50) and look for the Moon Cannon.

Bixyl Shuftan

Caption This

 

 Yours truly has been running a little dry when it comes to cartoon ideas (for a change). So this is where you come in. What does this meeting between a German Shepard and an anthro fox make you think of?

 

Safe Waters Foundation Weekly Meeting

 

 

 For those interested in Second Life's underwater areas, and the people who have events there, you might want to check out the Safe Waters Foundation's weekly meetup, which is Saturdays at 10 AM SL time.

 

Mers Helping Mers Be Mers - Safe Waters Foundation weekly gathering, 10am SLT Saturday.  This is a discussion about all things mermaid, merman, and aquatic.  Lots of things going on - it's always a fun gathering, and all are welcome.  Please arrive a little early if you can, dress low lag and request the talking stick if you have something to share. 

 

The meetings are at: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Union%20Passage/60/236/1 

Crew Meeting

 

 

 On Saturday November 4, the Newser crew had it's monthly meeting at its main office in HV Community. From left to right were Dancerina Starlight, Gemma Cleanslate, Penny Shuftan (Deaflegacy) who was on medical leave but expressed interest in possibly coming back, and  Bixyl Shuftan (myself).

We talked about what we did last month, notably the Halloween and Burn2 articles. Then we talked about plans for November. When I mentioned we *might* be getting an auxiliary office in Bellisseria, the response was pretty enthusiastic: "Yaaayyyyyy!"

 

Stay tuned for more stories from the Newser reporters.

 

Bixyl Shuftan

Writers' Meeting At Caledon

 

 

 Yesterday, I dropped in at the Writers' Meeting in the Caledon Night Readings Room. This is a place for people to talk about what they've been writing, listen in on others talking about what they've been writing, get a little help and inspiration on writing, and more.

 
Meeting for writers to talk about writing. Sit near the virtual fireplace and discuss about what one is writing, planning to write and maybe tell about their writing process. ... And somewhat random writings prompts are provided later, in case they might give inspiration. Use them whatever way you wish.  There is no demand to write anything based on the prompt for the next meeting. Come talk about writing or bring your questions about writing, editing, and publishing in a friendly atmosphere.

 

I dropped in a bit late on this particular meeting, which had one dracanic-looking avatar among the human ones. An earlier meeting I was at had a mix of humans, furries and tinies. One was talking about elves in his story universe, saying they had originally left the land the story takes place on, but were being forced to return, and most weren't able to use magic. One of those present commented that appealed to him, "more interesting when they have to use the grey matter between their ears."

The Writers' Meeting takes place every Thursday at 11 AM. The discussion is in chat and not voice.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Caledon%20Oxbridge%20Village/223/189/4002

 

Bixyl Shuftan