Remembering Breezes Babii

It was a year ago yesterday, September 9, 2017, in which Breezes Babii, a close friend of the Newser and a valued member of the Tombstone community, had passed away. She had been a reporter for the Newser's predecessor, the Second Life Newspaper, which was run by her SL daughter Dana Vanmoer. Her "Breezes Thoughts" were a remembered part of Dana's paper. When the old SLN folded, Breezes would send a number of articles and postcards to the Newser over time, many about her adventures in Tombstone. Several days after her death, she would be given a memorial service in Tombstone, the virtual community which had become her home here.

A year later, Gemma Cleanslate (and Chigadee London), and I would both visit her memorial site, taking a few minutes to recall the fun we had in the past. Gone perhaps, but not forgotten. No doubt she'll be remembered.

Bixyl Shuftan

Top picture from Gemma Cleanslate

News and Commentary: Sansar, One Year Later

With the attention on InWorldz's collapse, it went almost unnoticed that a week ago it was the one year anniversary of the official release of Linden Lab's newer virtual world, Sansar. Initially simply called "the next generation virtual world" for over a year of it's three year development, once most Second Life residents had a look at the place or talked to someone who had, interest in the place by the users of it's established world quickly plummeted. So a year later, is the place any better? In short, maybe a little, but ...

Read more in Other Grids, MMOs, and Games.

Five Years of Second Life Newser

By Bixyl Shuftan

Our first anniversary was an important milestone. We had gone through a whole year, sticking to what we do, gaining sponsors, and would be around for quite some time. Our second, it brought back memories of Dana making a big deal out of our predecessor paper's two year anniversary, her feeling that it was being seen as "all grown up." Three years, we had matched our predecessor in time on the grid, at least in the number of anniversaries. Four years, we had accomplished what the old SLN hadn't: a fourth anniversary.

Now ... difficult to say how it feels. I've certainly been doing a lot of looking back to the days of JamesT Juno and Dana Vanmoer. While we've been trying to preserve some of what was published then, perhaps it's important to look back to not just what you've done while in charge, but also looking back to how you got to where you are.

Five years ago, I wasn't quite sure what lay ahead as our former team leaders logged off for the last time (at least as newspaper owners). A couple months earlier when Dana told me and the other reporters of Second Life Newspaper that the paper would be shut down, it was stunning news. I'd been writing articles about Second Life almost since I began logging in here regularly, and I couldn't imagine going on here without it. I also was part of a team I didn't want split apart to the four winds.

But going from reporter to the head of a newsletter, that was a bit scary. I wasn't as talented as Dana when it comes to leading a team and marketing a business, (probably still not as I never could get the numbers she did). Would those who read Dana's paper follow one under a new editor? Would we get the support of advertisers? Indeed in our beginning the eight thousand readers per day Dana attracted had dwindled down to just two thousand for the whole month. For months, I would rely on the hosting job I had at Mystery to help pay the other writers.

But eventually, the sponsors came. Podex was the first of a number whom over time have helped keep the Newser running, the Safe Waters Foundation and our old friends M&M Creations being our latest ones. Also, the readers came back. The 2,000 readers a month increased to 25,000 by July 2013.

There were certainly plenty of reasons to read the paper over the years. The expression "Timing is everything" may have come into play as just barely a week after we were under a new name, Linden Lab dropped some breaking news with the layoffs of about a third of their staff. This included some popular Lindens whom were sorely missed. Events continued in rapid succession that year with the CEO resigning, Philip Rosedale coming back as interim CEO, the "Emeraldgate" scandal of the most popular third party viewer at the time which would eventually lead to what is now Team Firestorm, the decision to merge the Teen Grid with the main one, and more.

Over time, we have continued to deliver the news about major happenings from Redzone, to CEOs Rodvik Linden then Ebbe Linden coming aboard, the arrival of mesh, real life companies asking their copyrights be respected within Second Life, the arrival of the MLP avatars and pony community, when Linden Lab distanced itself from the residents such as their decision to no longer take part in the Second Life Birthday celebrations, and when it began to interact with them more such as bringing back the Linden Snowball fight, questionable moves such as their decision to ban all third-party Linden dollar exchange companies, then partially reversing the order, the fall of the SS Galaxy, and many more. We've also reported on occasion about other virtual worlds, such as InWorldz, and done a few game reviews.

But there's more to the news than the big out of the blue events on the Grid. We've put the spotlight on many places across the Grid that offer a nice place to relax, exciting things to do, or just simply look cool. We've highlighted events of all kinds, from sim and community anniversaries, to fundraising events such as those of the Relay for Life. And we've given attention from the various movers and shakers of Second Life from content creators to sim owners to community leaders, sometimes just the simple man on the street who wants to express his/her opinion on the soapbox.

While the statistics of our readership are nice to read, what truly encourages us are the messages of praise we've gotten over the years. People such as those from the Relay for Life have thanked us for our coverage of their events. Also are the complements of people whom have been looking for things to do and places to see and found both in the Newser.

Sadly we've had to say goodbye to some people over the years. Shellie Sands and Grey Lupindo have taken an indefinite leave of absence to deal with real life matters. But other talent such as Fritter Enzyme and Ozymandius have come aboard. We're happy to have you as part of the team.

So what does the future hold? Right now, there's been worry about Linden Lab's new virtual world under development, that they'll turn out the lights here to force people to a place with fancy bells and whistles but little convenience or freedom. Such fears are nothing new. In our first year, people wondered if Linden Lab was on the verge of selling Second Life, going bankrupt, or both. Unless there's some major economic or military calamity, Second Life will be around for a long time. Perhaps long enough for yours truly to turn over the Newser to a new editor years from now.

We'll keep on doing what we do best, informing you about the people, places, and events of Second Life, and provide a little chuckle along the way with an occasional cartoon or fun story.

Special thanks once again to the sponsors who fund our paychecks. Thanks to the Sunweaver and Angel Estates whom have given us a home inworld. And of course thank you the readers for keeping us going.

Bixyl Shuftan

Editor and head reporter, Second Life Newser

SL Youtube: Avination's Aniversary

Remember the A1B Aniversary at the Avination Grid? The A-Team later published a youtube of their event.



They also have some photos of the celebration on their Flickr account Here.

I noticed one of the A-Team, Zandzum, was going about in a clown suit. But no one "pittied the fool." ;-)

Avination Celebrates One Year Aniversary

From Thursday to today Saturday, the Avination Grid has been having it’s first official Anniversary celebrations. Conducted mostly in a sim appropriately named Avn1B, there were live concerts to attend, as well as a few freebies to pick up and a few amsements, such as an amusement park ride and a maze sim. There was also a raffle in one building on the northeast, the prize being getting an Avination sim rent-free for a year.

Dropping by on Friday afternoon, a Carah Nitely was singing. While the crowd at 26 residents would be considered great for a typical party in Second Life, it seemed small considering the magnitude of the event. Among the crowd were some of Avination’s “A-Team,” the equivalent of Second Life’s Lindens. Chatting with someone with customer relations, she admitted things were a bit smaller and simpler here, but the A-Team was far better at listening to the residents and dealing with problems.

Avination has had great success as well as challenges in it’s first year. It grew rapidly, then more recently began leveling off. There has also been a debate about Avination having a less strict gambling policy than Linden Labs, some saying it gives the residents more choice, others expressing worry about the gaming halls. It was partially because of their allowing gambling that Paypal and Avination almost parted ways but reconciled. There were also rumors floating around that Avination hired JCool/Fractured Crystal of Team Emerald to work on their viewer. Although the man in question was later booted from Avination for trying to access Second Life again after being banned, there has been no solid evidence to support the rumors.

For Saturday, from 10AM-2PM is the “Avination Networking Event “at the Avn1B region. From 3PM-5PM is the Avn1B Final Party with DJ Volkmar Taurog at Club Wastelands in the City Center region

For more information about the anniversary event, contact Micheleh Center at helen@avination.com.

Sources: Avination Forum, Avination Official Blog, Hypergrid Business

*Addition* The winner of the free sim for a year was Isis Ophelia. Also, the A-Team later published a youtube of their event.



They also have some photos on their Flickr account Here.

Bixyl Shuftan

One Year Later

It was a year ago that Dana Vanmoer and JamesT Juno announced their departure from Second Life, and with it, the newspaper they ran, Second Life Newspaper, came to a close. We the staff had been given some advance notice, and after some talk, the decision was made for one of us to start another paper. Second Life Newspaper’s manager: myself.

It wasn’t a decision I made lightly. We would be starting over again, and there’d have to be a number of decisions made. We would need revenue. We would need some kind of virtually physical presence on the Grid. Fortunately, we had help from the beginning. Sunweaver Air had some longtime friends of mine whom offered a land sponsorship and a building. And so we had our office. It wasn’t just prims. It was a symbol that we were a presence in Second Life. Eventually, we had a cash sponsor as well, the Podex Exchange.

Second Life Newser hit the ground running. It was barely a week old when the “Restructuring” hit Linden Lab, a third of the Lindens, including some popular ones such as Blue and Teagan were given pink slips. We would continue to report on events such as M Linden’s stepping down as CEO and Philip taking charge again for a little while, Second Life’s Seventh Birthday, “Emeraldgate” and the falling apart of what had once been the top third party viewer, Philip Linden stepping down and being replaces by Rod Humble/Rodvik Linden, the RedZone controversy followed by the removal of its controversial product and it’s creator from the Grid, the Relay for Life, and more.

We did more than just report the big news. We reported on smaller more local events from sim anniversaries, to sports events, to combat roleplays, to tributes, and more. We reported on various places, such as the Madpea gaming place, to Book Island, to China Tang, The Shelter, and many others. And of course various people in Second Life from comedian Lauren Weyland, to the kid avies of the SL Kids, the tinies of Raglan Shire, Tuna Oddfellow of his psychedelic “Odd Ball,” to the whimsical “bronies,” and more.

Reporting the news big and small.

We’ve had a few setbacks along the way. A few of our number had to stop writing for health reasons, personal reasons, or real life demanding full attention. But we’ve had another join our ranks.

But Second Life Newser has accomplished much. It has attracted and maintained a widespread following of readers. Much of our readership is outside the United States. Not just Europe and Australia, but we’ve found hits from Latin America, Asia, Russia and the Middle East as well. For instance, from May 9 to June 7 2011, we’ve had 121 hits from Luxembourg alone. Despite it’s government’s censorship, we’ve gotten seventy-three hits from Iran in the same time period.

So where do we go from here? Continue doing what we do best, report the news. Second Life’s Eighth Birthday is just a few weeks from now, and sometime soon comes the much-anticipated Mesh update to the Grid. Then there will be events completely unforeseen at this time. Perhaps another troublemaker along the lines of Team Emerald and zFire Xue. Whatever happens, we’ll be there.

And of course, we’ll continue to write about more local events, and the people and places.

For me personally, it’s been an interesting challenge. It’s been a lot of work keeping the newspaper up. But it’s also been fun. And the praises and complements we’ve received are truly touching.

Thank you for your continued support and well wishes.

Here’s to another year of bringing you the news of Second Life.

Bixyl Shuftan