New World Notes Moves to Patreon

 

 Normally, The Newser doesn't write about other newsletters and newsblogs. And it's been a few months since yours truly last checked this one. But its just been found out that New World Notes, written by James Wagner (aka Hamlet Au), has moved to Patreon due to the platform it's based on shutting down. The move was made in September.

 

 

New World Notes is moving to my Patreon! I've been covering virtual world news and culture on my blog since 2006, but Typepad is shutting down on September 30. So New World Notes must move to another platform.

 

Patreon requires a subscription to not just post, but read articles there. Higher degrees of membership cost money. 

 

Hamlet Au was hired by Linden Lab as their "embedded reporter" in 2006 and remained there for a few years. He eventually left, but continued to write about Second Life and virtual worlds and tech in general. 

 

Bixyl Shuftan 

 

Store Owner Evicted, Landlord Upset Over "Gang of Homos"

 

Bella Epoque is a store some who were at the Fantasy Faire may remember as the one who supplied the outfit for the Fairlands Quest this year (and earlier). It's got a huge amount of items, over 5600 listed on it's Marketplace page. But the store's inworld location has recently changed after it's landlord suddenly demaned they leave. 

It's owner, Jani La Belle (Janire Coba), explained the situation on her Flickr.

BELLE EPOQUE MOVING!

Hello all. Due to homophobic reasons from Lighthouse (landland.ansar) the owner of the sim, I had to find a new home for belle Epoque. I already have one, i am just rezzing all my stuff again. Please be patient for a couple of days while it's under construction! Love you all!

She posted a picture of a message from the landlord, "Please do me a favor and I don't want even on my sim you rent from me as well dont want to see you face you and your f**ken s**t friends. gang of homo." 

 

I contacted Jani, and she stated the move was going well, "I got a new land and started rezzing everything, ans today store was open. And I got massive support from the SL community." She stated she hadn't had any trouble from the landlord before, "Not at all. My store has been there for 10 years. I asked him for a little land for a fundraising event, he said yes, and when he saw my friends are lesbians, went all sexist homophobic, disrespected them, banned them, asked me to move the charity event out of his land, and then banned me from my sim and returned my store. 

 

"Yes, he called us GANG OF HOMO, and yes we proudly are (smiles)."

 

I asked how long would it take for the store to be in full operation.  She answered, "I did my best and worked my a** off. In a couple of days the store will be ready 100% And the landscaper will go decorate when she has time, it'll look great."

 

Of the previous landlord, Landland Ansar, "His profile is, something. ... you can read his profile to have an idea of his, ideas." For years, there was no trouble with him at all, "I just paid regularly and never talked to him, and he never talked to me." Then last year, things started to change, "I had a little issue with him last year when he started asking me for items for his parties and complained they we're not clothing. Then (he) started giving me tips for my business, about making clothes for men etc. He was pesting me so i asked him not to tell me how to run my business." Of his profile, "10 years ago his profile was empty, only picks to his rental office."

 

She wasn't letting the incident get her down. In fact, she was taking the phrase and quite literally wearing it as a badge of honor, issuing tee shirts with the words "Gang of Homos."

Belle Epoque GIFT

So, as most of you probably know by now, I had to move Belle Epoque because of some good ol’ homophobia. But instead of letting it get me down, I’ve decided to flip the script and have some fun with it.

Introducing -  the GANG OF HOMO CHALLENGE!

Put on your Gang of Homo tee, snap a pic, send it to the one who dropped the oh-so-charming comment, and send me a screenshot so we can laugh our homo little a**es off together!  Let’s turn shade into sparkle, babes! 

 

Many have responded to Jani, offering her well wishes and expressing shock and surprise at the situation. "Wow! That is absolutely appalling behavior." "Oh, it's disgusting!" "...I'm very sorry for this unpleasant and disgusting situation and I'm glad you're working on a solution!" "So sorry Jani. You are a very talented artist, and will find a sim worth your creativity." Yours truly found out through a Fantasy Faire fan on a Discord channel. 

 

Of her work in the Fantasy Faire, "I am a world builder, region sponsor and sim designer, and I design the quest outfits too."

 

Jani would say, "I want to add that I won't tolerate any kind of intolerance, there'll ALWAYS be a response to any kind of violence against a vulnerable community. And we're a proud GANG OF HOMOS. And please thank the sl community and the support i've received inworld and in social media."

 

The Newser reached out to Landland for comment. But as of the writing of this article, there has been no response yet. 

 

Bixyl Shuftan

 

Club Furzona to Move Out of Second Life

 

A few years ago, the Newser would write a few stories about a club in Second Life, Furzona. Since our last article, Furzona would occasionally get our attention when one of it's DJs would send us a video about a noted event  But recently after hearing some chatter, we found out the club's owners plan to move the club outside Second Life, shown a video where they announced it. 

Exactly where outside Second Life the club is moving to hasn't been announced. While VRChat comes to mind, the lack of an inworld economy would make tipping DJs problematic. While Sansar has made a little news as being a good place to hold a virtual party, it has gotten close to shutting down, and isn't exactly the best virtual world to get a nonhuman look. 

More on the story later.

Bixyl Shuftan

Announcement: Grand Opening of New Home of Survivors of Suicide

Please join us in celebrating what will be an exciting weekend for SOS. The unveiling of our new Forever Home on a full 20k prim region kindly given to us by our friends at Linden Labs at a nonprofit rate and lovingly built and landscaped by non other than our Director himself, Sebastien Bouevier.

Mental Health has faced a particularly difficult time during the Covid pandemic and, as a result, worldwide lockdowns. However, we have continued to support our peers and members throughout this time and now that we are, hopefully, nearing an end to the crisis - what better way to celebrate?!

The Grand Opening Weekend will commence Saturday the 21st of August at noon SLT - Sunday 22nd August. There will be 2 hours of live music and, of course, free snacks! It will also be a great opportunity for visitors to explore the new sim and check out all of our new facilities.

We really hope to see as many of you as possible at this exciting event!

On behalf of the entire SOS team, we would like to thank you all for your valued and continuous support.

Sincerely

Sherridon Mercury
Director of Events
Survivors of Suicide

 http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Survivors%20of%20Suicide/75/122/25

 

Announcement: Deathlands is Moving

  

Ya know how  sim owners say ' the sim is finished and done?' No more moving and building stuff? They lie. Deathlands as of July 1st ( Happy Canada Day) will begin  moving, to another sim. It's a 20,000 prim sim! ( Deathlands gets half so 10,000. Double what we have now. So over the coming weeks you might see stuff gradually disappearing, and me swearing. Dances and Zombies will be the last to go, and Please still come and visit us as we are giving ourself a month for doing this! Kill me nowwwwwwww!
 
Rebel Wolf (HermitBlue Resident) 
  

Number of Sims Moved to The Cloud Passes 50%

 

Of the move of sim data to Cloud servers, a noteable milestone was achieved a few days ago, at least according to Daniel Voyager. In his blog, he reported that Stawberry Linden had told him that April Linden had told her that half the sims now had their data in The Cloud.

Hi Daniel, this is Strawberry. I have confirmed with our Sr. Engineering Manager, April Linden, that over half the regions in Second Life are now running in the cloud.

Since this was a few days ago, The Lab has no doubt continued it's work. How long will it take until the move is complete? Daniel Voyager himmself thought it would be "six weeks or so."

Source: Daniel Voyager's Blog
Image Source: Linden Lab

Club Furzona Moves

Earlier this year, Cyfir (Cyfiremmerich) wrote about Club Furzona. Recently, he found out about a new development with the venue: it's moving. There's a video to help celebrate the occasion, as well as special events today and tomorrow at the new location.

Read more in SL Clubbin'.

Commentary: Has the Collapse of InWorldz Stopped Many Second Life Residents From Considering Another Virtual World

"If Second Life shut down, where would you go?" That's a question we residents ponder time to time. But five years ago when many residents had strong doubts about Linden Lab's concern for their wants and needs, some were thinking maybe they should make plans to leave if their fears came to pass. Most often, these residents thought about the InWorldz grid to head to. But as the concerns faded, people didn't talk so much about heading to the second-largest virtual world. Five years later, it wasn't Second Life that shut down, but InWorldz. So with the "backup" virtual world gone, where would residents head if their home grid was shut down? The answer seems to be that they'd be scattered across a number of tiny grids, that is those whom were still interested in virtual worlds. Many it seems would give up on them.

Read the commentary in Extra.

Luxembourg "Pfaffenthal" Sims Moving to Sansar

The number of historic sims in Second Life is about to get slightly smaller. According to an article in Jo Yardley's blog, the "Pfaffenthal" sims, which are a reproduction of the central city of Luxembourg, will soon be closing down while their counterpart in the Sansar grid opens.

The moment has finally arrived, for the 1867 project to move on to SANSAR, were land is free, where we can have better graphics,VR headsets and real physical interactivity. Note that sansar works very well on a normal PC,for desktop mode you do NOT need a gamer PC.
IMPORTANT!
All the 1867 sims in second life will be shut down next monday, on the 26th of november. Please pack all your stuff by then.

Jo Jardley was disappointed by the news, "As a history addict I’m sad to see one of the few historically accurate sim in SL vanish. Personally I’m not sure Sansar is ready for a historical roleplaying community. Are there enough Victorian clothes, is there a rental system yet, could you buy enough period furniture to decorate the homes, can you even open doors in Sansar?"



Ryan Schultz called this development a first as he'd never before heard of a "wholesale move of virtual land directly from Second Life to Sansar." Will this be the first of a number of moves? While it might be the first, there may be few others, at least for now, as Sansar's numbers have been low. But for the people of Second Life, they'll soon only have screenshots, and this youtube, to remember the place.

Sources: Jo Yardley, Ryan Schutlz

Bixyl Shuftan

News and Commentary: More On InWorldz's Closing

The InWorldz grid is gone. On Friday afternoon, most of their residents found themselves no longer able to log in, and by Saturday morning the place had completely shut down. The closing has left many sad former users with a decision: where do I go now? From both InWorldz and Second Life residents, there have been a number of other questions such as "How could this happen?" "Will there be another InWorldz?" "Could this happen to Second Life?" Yours truly offers a few answers, or partial answers, based on my observations.

Read the article in Other Grids, MMOs, and Games.

A Double Sim Move in the Sunweaver Estates

Changes are coming to the Newser's neighborhood, the Sunweaver Estates. Two major landowners, Cynthia Farshore and Nydia Tungsten, will be swapping sims and moving their structures of Farshore Field Airport and Mouse Hole Manor. I had a few words with both Cynthia and Nydia about the move. While moving the properties is a lot of work, there are reasons for it. Plus, the moving and reconstruction allows for some new possibilities.

Read the story in Extra.

Second Life Website's Community Platform To Be Moved To New Server, Forums To Be "Read Only" During Move

A few days ago, Linden Lab announced there would be some changes to the Community Platform on the official Second Life website. The new looks comes live on Monday February 27. But before that, the Lab will be moving the data from the server the platform is now to the new one. And this will take several days. So starting Tuesday February 21, and going onto part of February 27, the official Second Life forums will be set to "Read Only." So no new entries can be made at this time, but existing ones should be available to be read as before.

Exports require that the forums be put into “read-only” mode during the export process.  What that means for you is that during that time you’ll be able to read the forums, but not publish new posts until the export job is complete. Our hope is that by doing this we will avoid any gaps in the content as we import it into its new home.
The current timeline is as follows:

February 21st through February 27th -  The forums will go into read-only mode. Our hope is to have the new site live sooner than the 27th, but we want to be sure things go smoothly.

February 27th - The new platform goes live and the forums are taken out of read-only and full posting functionality is brought back online.


To read the Linden blog post in full: Click Here.

SL Video: "Raglan Shire Moving Day"

(Click here if the video fails to play)

From Nitwacket on July2, a short film about one of Raglan's Tinies as she says goodbye to the old Shire and moves into the new, "Moving day scrapbook - Same sim. Trees got tall enough to move into."

ZZ Studios Moves and Reopens

For the second time in a little more than a year, ZZ Studios, whose owner Cindy "Zig Zag" Babii we interviewed in 2011, has once again moved. In October 2011, the adult media outlet and club moved to the Static Nightclub sim, which would soon be renamed after the venue. It would stay there for three years until moving in August 2014. And now once again, they've relocated to a city block in the Sheridan sim

Well, we had to move and rebuild...and are still rebuilding, but...Club is open and office is open and soon wifi cafe and other things!  So those of you wanting the new location...   HERE!  Now get down here and hang out, enjoy!

For October, the venue plans "Terror Tuesdays" and have plans for a car show around Halloween.

Sheridan (64, 145, 2500)

Second Life Enquirer to Move Inworld Location

The Second Life Enquirer recently announced they would be moving their building. The new location is described as being in Mont Fleuri Isle.

Second Life like the real world goes through many changes. Businesses and avatars come and go but some just relocate for better opportunities. We are proud to announce our move to the beautiful Seychelles Isle where traffic is booming and people work together to create a close knit community.

Mont Fleuri Isle is among a group of islands off the east coast of the Nautilus continent, north of the Blake Sea.

The Second Life Enquirer is owned and edited by Lanai Jarrico, and has a link exchange agreement with the Second Life Newser

ZZ Studios Moving

ZZ Studios, an adult media company owned by Cindy "Zig Zag" Babii, is moving out of it's sim of the same name. Most of the move was done on Friday. It is not yet known where they will be moving to.

ZZ Studios has been in Second Life for several years. They were at the sim since October 2011. 

Image credit: Brandi Streusel 

Meanwhile, Back in Rust ...

I didn't plan on writing about Rust again so soon, but my partner Jasmine's been extra busy with this game. Seems lately there's been some concerns about PvPers, so Nydia and the Angels had the idea of making a new main base in a new location. Jasmine was among those who scouted for the place, and then started building, and building, and building.When this picture was taken, it was six stories high. Since then, at least three more have been added, matching the height of the old base. Jasmine has done most of the work.

This stronghold has a few security features, such as the posts meant to prevent "siege ladders" from being built. So *if* it is found, it'll be too tough for saboteurs to crack.

As for the old base, we may not have a lot of time to empty it. The last update accelerated the "decay" feature, so lone wolves who are busy for a few days may find their base in Rust has, rusted, away.

Interview With Tuna Oddfellow and Shava Suntzu

Bixyl Shuftan traveled to Inworldz this week to interview Tuna Oddfellow and Shava Suntzu about their move there following the closing of their show the "Odd Ball" in Second Life. They talked about why they made the decision to move their performance, and why other residents should take heed about the content creator property rights in Second Life issue.

Read the article in People.

Designing Worlds Leaves Northpoint

After three years, the Second Life TV show "Designing Worlds" is leaving the Northpoint sim where filming had been done. A few days ago, the staff held a going-away party to celebrate the Treet TV show's success. Among those attending, Netera Landar whom had a chance to talk to the co-hosts about the program.

Read more in Design.

Revolving to Surreal

You all know that one of my most favorite places in Second Life is The Corner of Revolving Time. The Corner is group owned by over 1,200 members and is run by it's 33 Corner Creators. I have been telling you for a long time about all the wonderful freebies in the Geodome and the fishing contests. The Corner of Revolving Time will be 4 years old this year and has had over 120,000 individual visitors since it opened in 2007. The Corner of Revolving Time manager is Saucy Loire and the assistant manager is Sweetsister Silverstar. Erike Itano is the Corner Fishing Manager. For more information on how to become part of The Corner of Revolving Time please speak with one of the managers.

The Corner of Revolving Time is made up of group members who enjoy sharing creations and builds in Second Life. They focus also on providing free plants, trees and flowers as well as holiday items to all. Each of us has a special talent in this world, and this group is for both creators and for those that just 'dig in the dirt' and enjoy anothers' gifts that they give freely.

Vickijo Rivera said “The Corner of Revolving Time will be 4 years old this year and we are pleased that we are now part of the Surreal Community and continue to grow and expand.” Bamabelle Graves is the Surreal Community & Education Manager and Pilar Couturier is the Surreal Events Coordinator.

Surreal is a community of people working on a collection of projects within SL with an emphasis on artistic and personal freedom. Surreal is owned by Cerze Ophelia. The projects in Surreal are many, Including :

Surreal Estates - commercial & residential land rentals
Surreal Fashion - Fashion and shopping including the Traditum Brand and Fashion Boulevard
Surreal Sandbox - nonprofit community sandbox
Surreal Systems - technology development
Surreal Builders - custom builds and solutions
Surreal Entertainment - dance troupe, DJ's and hosts

It is an spectacular collection of sims. Even the entrance is amazing to see! The first time I saw it I was wowed! All this land , all these places to visit , buy rent , build, shop! It astonished and awed me. Fortunately Vickijo , who is the Surreal Estates CEO Executive Assistant/ General Manager, was able to explain it all to me. The entrance to view the properties available is found at http://slurl.com/secondlife/Surreal/117/127/301 I visited some places for sale or rent just to see the lay of the land. The new shopping district is filled with some of my favorite designers which made me happy, Fashion Boulevard Shopping District, http://slurl.com/secondlife/Fashion%20Boulevard/205/42/22 .In the fashion boulevard sim there is a pg office and those that prefer PG land will be able to come see the residential and commercial PG sims.

Now the new fishing area is and contests are already underway. We have and abundance of fishing customs and special bounty fish and rods. This week there will be special contests and other goodies for Grand Opening. It will include 20 1,000 linden customs exclusives and 1,000 linden starting pots all week long starting Monday the 28th. The usual schedule or contests follows:

Monday ~Tuesday~Wednesday 4:05 PM with Erike Itano (Corner Fishing Manager)
Thursday 9:15 AM with ScarlettX Demonia (Corner Hostess)
Thursday 4:05 PM with Gemma Cleanslate (Corner Hostess~Club Surreal Hostess)
Friday 9:15 AM with ScarlettX Demonia (Corner Hostess)
Friday 4:05 PM with Zolo Boyoma (Corner Hostess)
Saturday 6:05 AM with Gemma Cleanslate (Corner Hostess~Club Surreal Hostess)

Everyone is welcome at the fishing contests. http://slurl.com/secondlife/Tranquility%20Harbor/207/246/21

The Corner Cave Club has moved to the Community sim and is now known as Club Surreal. It ready for parties with St Patrick Day décor in place. Across from the Club the shop of freebies is already set up with terrific décor for St . Patty’s day that Saucy Loire , the manager has placed for the taking. Across from the Club the shop of freebies is already set up with the same décor free for the taking. COMMUNITY Events can be found at this link: http://www.my.calendars.net/surrealevents

Below the club there is a whole new underwater world created by Sweetsister Silverstar. The entrance is found at Neptune’s Gate. It is a wondrous sight with delightful shells , sea creatures , plants, and so much more to discover . Dive in and enjoy.
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Tranquility%20Harbor/21/85/2 Nestled in the waterway-interconnected sims, there is a beach that gives community members a chance to relax and enjoy water trikes, riding watercraft, sunbathing, a waterslide, a relaxation area — and a swim-up bar that serves cool drinks on hot days! An ideal Spring Break location to party and relax. Surreal Estates offers ocean-protected waterways or private beachfront properties — something for everyone! http://slurl.com/secondlife/Artaud/161/178/21
On the main office of the Surreal Estates Office up in the sky you will find the Hyperion Raceway that will meet your need for speed. I saw some wonderful cars for sale there! http://slurl.com/secondlife/Surreal/108/112/3402

Surreal will participate in the Relay for Life this year and will have a team named Surreal for Life. If you have an interest to contribute contact by notecard to Jake Nitely, Oceanna Sands, Bamabelle Graves or Ashlynn Enoch. The Surreal Estates 10,000 linden weekly tier raffle is held every Saturday evening at 11:00 PM. This raffle is open to all Surreal Estates land owners and their housemates or business partners. For your chance to win put the Surreal Estates office pick in your profile and touch the raffle ball located in the Surreal office sim or in the Rivera land office. Win the 10,000 linden tier raffle at Surreal Estates! All these sims and more will make a visit to Surreal a trip to remember. Though we will miss the old corner on Relaxation - Corner members are happy to be joining the new locale and becoming part of the Surreal Community.

Gemma Cleanslate