Signal Linden Leaving The Lab

 

 Linden Lab is saying goodbye to one of it's own. On Friday November 21, Signal Linden announced on his Twitter/X account he was leaving. 

 

Today is my last day at Linden Lab! It's been an awesome nearly 10 years.

In an increasingly channelized digital environment remains one of the few platforms where creativity, exhuberance and natural social connection is encouraged and supported. 

In a second post: 

Virtual worlds remain a places where people can carve out little niches and build out their own nest - the cozy web.

Second Life is growing, and I'm excited to see where it goes in the coming years. 

 

Signal Linden was hired by Linden Lab in January 2016. He worked as the Engineering Director on the server and viewer. On his profile, he stated he had a personal account since 2005. He would appear at some events such as Lab Gabs and Second Life Birthday Town Halls, as well as Bid Me Bald fundraisers. 

 

 "Thank you for everything <3"

 

Bixyl Shuftan

 

Keeba Tammas To Retire From Performing

 

 

 Some sad news for fans of Keeba Tammas and the Tiny Maniacs. Keeba will soon be retiring from the music scene. Sunday October 15 was one of her last performances with the band, where the crowd gave them well wishes.

"Well, its just time," Keeba told me, "My health isnt that well, i need to relax and have less stress." She would say she had been with the band for 14 years. She had, "struggled with the Tinies for some time--some people dun like em. However, they will be going on."

 

Keeba's last concert will be in Raglan Shire on Saturday October 21st at 1PM.

April Linden Leaves the Lab

 
Fans of April Linden, the self-described "Gridbun" of Linden Lab, are getting some sad news. On Friday November 5, she announced she was leaving.

Hello Residents!

Today is my last day at Linden Lab. I am gonna let this account go dormant after today. Watching y'all use the things we build in ways we didn't expect (or even know was possible!) has been an amazing joy the last eight years, and I am going to miss it. (heart)

My personal Twitter account is @bunnyhalberd , but I'm not a very exciting person to follow. I live in a small town in rural Washington and mostly just post about the silly things I build in my workshop because I figured they needed to exist.

Thank you for making the last eight years be a wonderful experience! I am very muchly going to miss being on the inside of this wonderful and crazy world that we all build together. (heart)

April's announcement got dozens of replies, including some from noted residents. Prokofy Neva, "Dear April, you left the virtual world a better place than you found it with your devoted work on the cloud migration and all that followed. Good luck on your future projects!" Daniel Voyager, "Thanks for all of your hard work to make Second Life a better place and keeping everyone updated when the grid had downtimes. Good luck for the future." Inara Pey, "Nooooo!! Say it's not true! We need Lindeny Gridbun! Seriously, am saddened to hear you are leaving LL, but wishing you all the very best for the future. Shall add your other account to my Following list!" Will Burns, "You will be missed... teh cute shall go on!" Luca, "April noo! =c will miss April, but best of luck with whatever April's going to do next x3" Caitlin Tobias, "Dear April, I wish you all the best and hope you’ll have fun on your new adventures!" Pantera Polnocy, "Thank you for being the awesome gridbun for all this time. ~"

April Linden joined the Lab in 2013, and became instantly known by her purple Luskwood bunny avatar. She would appear at numerous Bay City events, and others such as the Happy Vixen's Luskwood Tribute Party and just walking down the road at Second Life Birthday events. She eventually rose to the position of operations manager, and would take it upon herself to apologize to the residents when something went very wrong. With the move to "the Cloud," she would occasionally update the residents on the Lab's progress, and about a year ago announced all data from the sims had been transfered over.

In July 2019, April was interviewed along with Oz Linden. April revealed she had originally a regular resident who signed up in 2006, whom still came on using the accound and had a couple regions. She considered Second Life important as she came from a family where certain issues "were not to be discussed," and one could listen and talk about them here. Of maintaining the Grid, she called it a complex job with one "generation" of Lindens building on top of one another year after year, and sometimes the only way to fix things was to take the Grid offline, which she disliked, partially because it kept happening to her so much in her days as a regular resident.

On a more personal note, April Linden was spoken of fondly by some friends and neighbors of mine. She will be missed. 

Image credit: Inara Pey

Bixyl Shuftan
 

News and Commentary: More on Blizzard's China Controversy

This month, the players of the game "World of Warcraft" are celebrating it's fifteenth anniversary, with in-game presents, events, and bonus experience. But there's been a dark cloud over the celebrations. It was last month that the company that owns Warcraft, Blizzard/Activision, banned a player from Hong Kong in another game, Hearthstone, after when given a chance to speak on a televised stream, he called for the freedom of the people of his city. Since the Newser's first article on the subject, the situation has continued to develop. And finally at Blizzard's annual convention, the company President addressed the issue.

Read more in Other Grids, MMOs, and Games.

News and Commentary: Blizzard's Removing Hong Kong Gamer From Tournament Sparks Calls for Boycott, Debate on Free Speech

For years, American companies have been trying to get into the Chinese market. With over a billion people, the potential number of customers for a large business is huge. However, the country is under the control of a dictatorship that does not react well to criticism or remarks in opposition to it's goals. It frequently makes demands to such companies, and penalizes those already in for perceived comments or actions against it. The debate flared up again this week thanks to three stories in the news. One of them was a tournament of players of the Hearthstone game, which is owned by the same company that owns the still noted MMO game World of Warcraft. When one winner was interviewed, he proclaimed his support for the protestors in the city of Hong Kong. Blizzard soon reacted with actions many of its customers have found troubling, including yours truly whom had recently just signed up for Warcraft again after an extended break.

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