Featured News Back on The Dashboard

 

 

 It was a few weeks ago that I wrote about something missing on the Second Life website dashboard page, (https://secondlife.com/my/), the featured news was no longer on it. But a few days ago, it was back. It was labeled "Blog Posts," but still back.

So thankfully the latest from the Lab is a little easier to come across. 

Baron Wulfenbach Missing

 

Among the personalities in the Steamlands, one was from online comics: Baron Klaus Wulfenbach (Klauswulfenbach Outlander). Baron Wulfenback, often simply known as "The Baron" based his persona on the character from the steampunk online comic/graphic novel "Girl Genius." A decade ago, he was a regular at events at the Steelhead community. He also had his own sim, of which a build of the floating fortress in the online comic flew over. He would also host Walpurgistnaucht parties every spring. In 2014, the Newser would interview him.

 

Sadly, it seems the Baron has dropped out of sight.  One of the residents of the CDS community messaged the Newser that Klaus hadn't been on for a while and his sim had closed. A look at one of the groups he was in showed he was last logged in on July 31, 2023. Messaging a couple steampunk groups on Discord, no one who responded knew why he hadn't logged on since then.

If Baron Wulfenback really has left, it would mean one of the more unique personalities from the steampunk communities is gone. Hopefully his absence is temporary.

Bixyl Shuftan

Mieville Leader Perryn Peterson Missing, Presumed Gone

 

 

In a sad development for the Mieville community, it's leader and mayor, Perryn Peterson, has been declared missing and presumed dead. In a group bulletin last night, assistant mayor Wyvvy (Wyvern Dryke) had this to say:

I know many of you are still hoping Perryn returns, and to you I say, don't give up hope.

As for me, I have resigned myself to the fact that he is (almost certainly) not coming back.  The Tinies offered me a little, temporary Memorial spot for Dia de los Muertos, so I built Perryn a bitty memorial.

Please come see it, remember Perryn... smile... wish for his return or say goodbye.  Or both!

In the group chatter that followed, it was noted, "He's not even listed in the Mieville group," and "He's not in the search however." "I think we should assume the worst." Wyvvy, when asked how long Perryn was gone, told, "He went to the hospital in mid-March. (then) only logged in maybe five times, for a few minutes. Then disappeared completely June 16. ... We just kept on keepin' on."

This hasn't been the first time Perryn has vanished. In February 2020, his not having logged on since going to the hospital in December 2021 was causing some worry as there was the threat of the Mieville community sims closing due to lack of payment. But he soon returned. Afterwards, measures were put into place so the sims wouldn't be in danger if there was another time he couldn't log on. It would seem that time has arrived.

Perryn's memorial is at http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Cathedral/129/25/72

Bixyl Shuftan

Memorial Service for Jimmy Branagh Today, 1PM

 
From Edward Pearse:

In light of recent news, I am holding a memorial service for Jimmy Branagh, and others who we think have gone but have been unable to confirm. Those "Lost at Sea"

Please join me at the Babbage Town Hall on Saturday 12th of Feb at 1:00pm SLT.

If you'd like to share a story about Jimmy or someone please let me know and I will try and sort out an order.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Babbage%20Square/157/179/111
 

Jimmy Branagh of Steamlands Declared Missing

 
Seldom does the Newser report on unconfirmed stories. But in this case, there's enough evidence to say there's a solid chance a noted personality in the Steamlands is gone. 

Jimmy Branagh, while in a number of groups such as the Goonies and one Trek roleplay was usually seen around the Steamlands in his child avatar. In Steelhead, he managed to become the new sheriff. Sadly, his adventures are likely at an end. Fuzzball Ortega posted details in the Steelhead groups on Facebook and Discord.

Recently found out that the person behind Jimmy Branagh's avatar had been diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma last year. I sent out a group notice with a notecard from Tenk regarding it. He recently found an obituary from last month that fit with certain things Tenk was aware of. Jimmy's last log in was December 23rd. Jimmy was VERY careful in keeping his First Life and Second Life separate. It has yet to be confirmed, so New Babbage, and Steelhead, considers him "Lost At Sea".

Again, I must stress, it hasn't been confirmed. I'm going to be one of many that's hoping to see Jimmy log in, with a "Hoy, Boss" and rolling a bottle of his home brewed alcohol. For now, "Lost at sea". Edward Pearse is planning something for this weekend, I believe. Tenk has an area set up in New Babbage for people to place Messages in bottles, paper boats, and such. Tenk wants to stay away from the usual New Babbage ceremony when someone passes away. I think the candles I placed in Steelhead are enough for now. His lot will stay as is.

As Fuzzball stated, it can't be truly confirmed that Jimmy has passed on. But Tenk had little hope that he was still alive. It certainly looks like Steelhead and New Babbage have lost a good friend. 

Image credit: Fuzzball Ortega
 
Bixyl Shuftan
 

Update on Mieville

Some good news for the residents, and fans, of the Mieville steampunk community. For several weeks, the people there have been worried about their landowner, Perryn Peterson, after he checked into a hospital and not a word was heard from him since. That is, until earlier today, when a resident spotted him online. Miss Mattie Puss (MatildaRigby Resident) would describe the encounter.

[11:29] Perryn Peterson wabes to da Kitteh hoping not to frighten her half to death.
[11:32] Perryn Peterson: I is back.  Sort of.  Not in the best of health but back.  You won't believe all that happened.  I hope to see you soonly.

HE HAS RETURNED! HE LOGGED IN FOR A SHORT TIME AND LEFT MESSAGES. HOPEFULLY HE WILL COME BACK LATER BUT HE WAS HERE!

Mieville chat was promptly full of comments, "Linden Labs prob called him up and said you know you got these people panicing and they wont leave us alone." "It's a Valentine miracle.  I can't wait to hear what happened.  Soooooooo relieved.  Wonderful news." Miss Mattie would add, "He left me a message and I cussed him. I love him and wanna smack him for being gone. ... hope he comes back on tonight so I can hug hims and bite hims for being gone and hugs him again."

Talking to Assistant Mayor Wyvern Dryke (Wyvvy), he told me couldn't give me 100% confirmation the emergency was over, but "It's safe to assume he's paying his tier.  I don't think you would be going out on a limb for saying that."

So it would seem Mieville's crisis is coming to a close.

Bixyl Shuftan

Mieville in Trouble Due To Missing Landowner

The Mieville steampunk community is facing a crisis: the disappearance of the landowner, Perryn Peterson. After a tip, I joined the community group, and in a notice from February 3, read the following.

As many people know Mieville is facing a challenge. Our beloved Mayor went into hospital at the end of December and has not returned. There is a lot of uncertainty about how we should respond but some careful evaluation of where we are right now may help us plan what to do if the unthinkable has happened.

The rest of the notice talked about coming up with a plan about what to do. A later notice discussed about talking about the situation with a Linden.

I ended up contacting Wyvern Dryke, also known as Wyvvy. "Perryn is on extended medical leave," he told me, " Other than that, we have no news.  He left for the hospital on Dec. 28, 2019. He was sick with a severe flu for six weeks prior. We never heard anything after he went to hospital.  For all we know, he's in some rehab center on a drip tube. No one, including his partner, has any RL information to contact him."

So what are the people doing? Wyvern told me they were in the middle of making a backup plan. How much time did they have and how much slack would Linden Lab give them? "We have no idea how much time. LL won't tell us. But they said they'd be wiling to 'work with us' once the rent dries up. In the meantime I am keeping everything going forward like it was before: all events, Social Night, feeshing, etc." While some residents had left the estate grounds, others were staying. The local church was making plans for Ash Wednesday. Wyvern added, "We have Steam Hunt and Steam Expo 2020 opening on March 1. Lasts until March 31. Then in May we have Anxiety Awareness Art Festival." They were still accepting merchants for the Steam Expo, of which info can be found at Mieville Shelley (65/64/1035).

Overall, the mood was optmistic, "Everyone in Mieville is putting forth great effort.  Our meetings on Monday are crowded with concerned citizens willing to discuss Mieville's future.  We all miss Perryn and wish for him to return, but in case he doesn't, we are willing to figure out a new future."

Hat tip: Laraa Short

Bixyl Shuftan

Announcement: Where is Springstar Drinkwater?

Angel Scarborough is worried about Springstar Drinkwater as she has not been able to reach him inside or outside of Second Life in almost two years.  

Springstar is part of Angel and Akea's Second Life family.   As most of you know, Akea passed in October 2018 and Angel is becoming concerned that something has happened to Springstar also.  She would greatly appreciate it if anyone who is in contact with him could let her know his status.

Dusk Griswold

More on M and M's Sales Cancelation, Lindens Taken, by Linden Lab

A week ago, we wrote about Marcthur Goosson and his "M and M Creations" having two sales worth a toral of 42,000 Linden dollars being canceled by Linden Lab and the money taken. When he asked Linden Lab for an explanation, they didn't say very much other than the sales, made through M and M's Marketplace page were "done with Lindens acquired from another source." So he turned to us, and our readers, for answers.

Marxus Lefevre was the one person who answered through the Newser's article comment section, saying:

It does happen a lot actually... when I was working for an estate, which shall remain unnamed, LL would take regularly L$ from the estate owners account with above explanations. Due to close contacts with the support we eventually figured, that there were rental payments done with money acquired, i.e. from stolen credit cards etc., often from Russian or Arabian accounts. If the money was stolen from another account, which happens to often sadly too, LL would return the money to the person it was stolen from, independent of the purchases made through the offenders. I always thought it was the right thing to do though, but I understand, that it comes disturbing to Marcthur or anyone who's not aware of these things.

On the Friends of Second Life Facebook page, there were more comments. While there were accusations of "shady business practices," others confirmed Marxus' story. " This has been done for years and even on almost on daily basis. It relates to their procedure on how to handle stolen accounts. And perfectly legal. Credit card comp, banks etc all do the same by reverting payments when accounts stolen. ... This a normal buisness practice and nothing shady." "it's just a nice way of saying 'stolen lindens'."

So why didn't Linden Lab just up and say that they were returning stolen money to it's owner instead of giving vague and cryptic explanations? The only responses I got were from the Facebook chatter, "They just can't give more details than (they) did due to privacy right issues of account holder. ... by law they can't."

I don't know where to look to confirm this explanation. But if this is true, it seems this isn't simply Linden clumsiness at work, but also the law. Still, couldn't the Lab find some way to give a better explanation to a confused content creator trying to make a few dollars only to find his sales canceled and the money taken? There is also to consider that if dealing with stolen cash is a frequent problem, Linden Lab may be naturally reluctant to talk about it. In any event, this seems to be the best explanation there is for Marcthur's missing money.

Bixyl Shuftan

Merchant's Sales Canceled, Lindens Taken, by Linden Lab

Longtime readers may remember "M and M Creations," run by Marcthur Goosson. For years, he has been making quality items for sale, such as his cottages. But he recently came to the Newser after an incident that concerned the sale of some of his cottages.

Besides his inworld store at the Isle of Paradise, M and M also has a Marketplace page. Sales there were routine until December 30 when Marcthur discovered the Lindens had taken away 11,000 Linden dollars from his account, "without any warning or explanation." A few days later on January 4, he found 31,000 Linden dollars were gone. So he asked Linden Lab what was going on. They gave the following answer

Thank you for contacting support. We'll be happy to explain! We discovered the Marketplace purchase on your store was done with Lindens acquired from another source. The transaction was cancelled and the Lindens that were used were subsequently removed. We do apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. Let us know if you need any further assistance!

Marcthur messaged them again for more details, and his money back. He was given this answer.

Unfortunately we are not privy to the specifics on which Marketplace purchase was actioned against, you do have our apologies! Our Accounts Review team discovered the issue and made a determination which resulted in the removal of the Lindens spent. For security purposes we cannot reveal the source of the Lindens or who spent the Lindens through your store.

Exactly what Linden Lab meant by "acquired from another source" they never stated. Marcthur wondered if it might be "fraud or stolen Linden dollars." But with the Lab not saying more, he could only turn to the Newser. Of the items involved in the canceled transactions, "I do not know cause they do not tell me. But given the amounts ans transactions in my overview it must be mainly cottages. So my cottages are in the wild now, and who-knows-what other items (I mainly sell full-permissions only). ... I am still in conversation with Linden Lab so they might compensate me or tell me more (or give me the LL finger)."

So far, Marcthur has yet to tell me of any additional information Linden Lab might have given him, or any of the lost 42,000 Linden dollars. If anyone knows of any similar incidents, please contact the Newser about it. In the meantime, M and M Creations remains open for business.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Isle%20of%20Paradise/217/158/22

Bixyl Shuftan

News and Commentary: More Information on Team Diabetes' Question About Missing Money

"Where's the missing 100,000 Linden dollars that our supporters were told would be going to us?" That was a fairly simple question asked by Team Diabetes about a month ago. The issue has become one of the more controversial issues the Newser has written about after we first reported on it on January 8. Since our update on January 22, two more people came forward with statements, and I finally had a chance to talk to the man accused of swindling the donors and got his side of the story. Unfortunately for him, his alibi didn't quite match the evidence I had.

Read more in Extra.

Update on Team Diabetes' Question About Missing Money

On January 8, the Newser reported on Team Diabates in Second Life stating someone had spammed their group chat during a fundraiser event on December 30, saying he was doing an event of his own for charity and that the money would go to Team Diabetes. But none of this money, over 100,000 Lindens according to the man, never made it to the Team. The Newser had messaged the man in question, Oenneo Resident, but never got a response.

Shortly afterward, Oenneo's partner ϮŁσrίŁуηη ŞŧαrşíđєrϮ (LoriLynnGrimes Resident) sent the Newser an angry message, one  that I won't go in detail other than it was an outpouring of anger and a claim that the American Diabetes Association was investigating Team Diabetes in Second Life. But when I contacted the American Diabetes Association, they answered this was not true and there was no investigation. When I was online, she contacted me, being more cordial, but still upset with one of the groups she had mentioned, and insisted the money raised had gone directly to the American Diabetes Association rather than through Team Diabetes.

A few days ago, LoriLynnGrimes would sent a message of apology to Team Diabetes and OYO Breedables, saying Oenneo had confessed to lying about the money he raised from the chat spamming going to charity.

I want to first apologize to you all. I will explain. I had no reason to doubt neo. He was my heart and I loved him and ultimately trusted him. I sadly trusted the wrong person and it was not only you two whom were hurt in the process. He never paid a charity I am finding out now. I gave him the earnings from the raffle we had and he did not do as he said. But what he did do was pay for a massive building to be made called "The Ark."  He plans to open it up in March called "Galaxy Enterprises presents the Ark Experience."

I am so disgusted and ashamed and would somehow like to do what needs to be done to make it better. I am heart broken he took all that money. Even if I have to pay every week to square the promise donation I will. I am so very truly sorry. I am just so sick and so humilated in what he did. I will also do whatever needs to be done to make things right. I am so devasted and feel so used and exploited. I wanted so badly to help people and he took advantage of me and also my patrons. He disclosed to me this evening he did not give the money to the american diabetes. I felt my whole world crumbled just then. I was so so devasted. I broke up with him instantly and also closed the business I shared with him. I cannot be with such a vile heartless human being. I am so sad he did this and hurt so many people. I hope to hear from you soon in how to make things right.

My son ******* was killed this past October and I was not really complete when I began really trusting Neo. I was destroyed by my sons murder. I have no accuse for my mouth other then I truly felt Neo was being honest. I was at sucha weak point in my life and allowed him to control every aspect of my business and I did not see what he was doing.

Anyways I am truly sorry for everything and I will make this right. Just need to know how.

So it seems there's finally an answer on what happened to the money in question. How LoriLynnGrimes will "make things right" with Team Diabetes remains to be seen.

Bixyl Shuftan

"Dark, Mysterious" Man Spams About Raffle In Team Diabetes Group, Fate of Lindens Donated Unknown

By Bixyl Shuftan,

Team Diabetes has gotten a sterling reputation over the years for raising money for the American Diabetes Association and donating everything they raise. But there was an incident recently that appears like someone was taking advantage of the organization's good name and the generosity of it's donators.

On December 31, there was an announcement by John Brianna (johannes1977 Resident) on the Team Diabetes blog that on the day before, "the owners of the Land of the Rings Breedables Auction spammed our group (of) their event and stated that their raffle was in support of Team Diabetes of Second Life." The people in question would say they had raised over 100,000 Lindens, but Team Diabetes had yet to see any of it, "we strongly encourage you to inquire where your donations went."

I contacted Team Diabetes about the matter, and was answered by Vee Tammas Shocker (Veruca Tammas). She told me most of what she knew was explained in the blog post. She did go on to say she tried contacting the owner of Land of the Rings Breedables, ϮŁσrίŁуηη ŞŧαrşíđєrϮ (LoriLynnGrimes Resident), "but she muted and blocked me." Before that, she had been told to talk to Oenneo Resident, the co-owner, but "I haven't gotten one response at all." She told me that there was a breedables group that was raising funds for Team Diabetes, but it was a different one: OYO Breedables. Vee described them as, "the OYO Breedable people who have been lovely and nothing but open, honest and aboveboard."

"I tell you Bix it's all fishy to me, this other group," Vee told me, " ... it was wrong to advertise it as a Team Diabetes event. I feel horrible for the people who attended and, if as they claim, gave 100,100 lindens, cause they thought it went to Team Diabetes." She added, "Lori sent a screaming note to John saying they didn't know where to get kiosks and then stated blaming OYO Breedables etc. who had nothing to do with them. ... about the notice on our website, how dare we, etc." She clarified by "screaming" she meant the note was entirely in capital letters, "come on, we have an office at NonProfit Commons and anyone can get a kiosk. .. They could have even gone to our office and dumped the money in that kiosk there."

Oenneo Residen't display name is "ϮƝЄƠ ƬӇЄ0ƝЄ ԼƖƠƝӇЄƛƦƬ ƓƛԼƛҲƳϮ", and in his profile (in all caps), he describes himself as an "untamable, unchangeable, unforgetable, dark, mysterious, enterpeneur extrordinare," and besides being co-owner of Land of the Rings Breedables, he owns another line, Galaxy Breedables. I sent him a message asking him about the Land of the Rings Breedables Auction. There was no reply.

In the meantime, Team Diabetes has changed it's kiosks to off-season ones, so even though the holiday events are done, people can still donate to them. For more information on the group, check out their website at: https://teamdiabetessl.org/ .

Bixyl Shuftan

Missing Items, Missing Lindens

By: Alura Denver (Alura Messing)

For over a week now Second Life has been having an issue with Marketplace.  Today they posted a similar update to previous alerts, saying "we are still actively investigating".  They are however, only reporting that there "is an issue causing no-copy items to become unlisted".  What is not being shared however, is that the transaction will still be processed taking your lindens and not giving you any merchandise.  Additionally, Marketplace will have no record of the transaction ever happening.  You will only be able to find the transaction in your account transactions on the main Second Life Web page.  Residents have also reported that these transactions come out multiple times, taking money each time.

Should you find yourself the unlucky person that this happens to before it is resolved, you can submit a support ticket at https://lindenlab.freshdesk.com/support/tickets/new  be sure to include as much information as possible.  Remember it can take Linden Labs up to a week to process tickets.  If you want to know more about the status of this issue you can check the grid status and issues at https://status.secondlifegrid.net/ for any updates that have been posted. 

Notes:

Residents:
Jacob Cassady
Bill Smit

https://status.secondlifegrid.net/

Unscheduled Marketplace Maintenance Subscribe
Update - We are still actively investigating Marketplace issues. We appreciate your patience while we have this resolved
Nov 29, 14:07 PST
Update - We are continuing to actively investigate the issues surrounding Marketplace items becoming unlisted. We thank you for your patience as we continue to investigate. More information will be provided as the situation develops.
Nov 27, 13:00 PST
Investigating - We are currently investigating an issue with Marketplace that may be causing a variety of items to become unlisted.
Nov 22, 09:53 PST
Unscheduled Marketplace Maintenance Subscribe
Investigating - We are currently investigating an issue with Marketplace that may be causing no-copy items to become unlisted
Nov 22, 09:53 PST

Alura Denver

Santa Claus Is Missing: Part One

Mylie Foxclaw got such a positive reaction to her Thanksgiving story, she decided to write another. In this tale, she gets some disturbing news: Santa Claus is nowhere to be found. Urged on by an elf and reindeer, she travels to the North Pole to see if there might be some clues to what might have happened to the big guy.

Read Mylie's creative fiction story in Extra.

Review of Madpea's "Buried"

Second Life Newser is happy to introduce our newest writer, Kiirya Lii (account name Kiirya Huntress). In her first article, Kiirya took on a challenge: Madpea's latest game "Buried." This is an adventure game in which you take on the role of a geocacher, someone who uses a GPS device to track down the locations of hidden items, whom is searching for a missing writer. So what did Kiirya think of the game?

Read more in Design.

Cartoon of the Day: The SL11B

Taken somewhere at the SL11B. I'll have to credit Crap Mariner for this joke.

This is the first cartoon I've done without the benefit of the "Fototrix," which I used since Dana Vanmoer told me about it several years ago.

By Bixyl Shuftan