Cartoon of The Day: "You'll Shoot Your Eye Out"

 

 Taken at the Warblood City Autumn Carnival. This game made me think of a reoccurring line in the movie, "A Christmas Story."

 

By Bixyl Shuftan

 

The Firecracker Arcade

 

For those looking for a little game time, one place you can head to in Second Life is the Firecracker Arcade. Located in Montecito Bay, the venue is owned and run by Mateo Firecaster. While some locations have just a few games, Firecracker has plenty.

The ground floor has some table games, pool, air hockey, and a couple others. There's also skeeball, hoop games, shooting games, and a dancing game. There's also a novelty game "Off With Their Head," and a mechanical bull. Getting on the bull will send you on a wild ride that will usually throw you off after a few seconds.

The bottom floor is the bowling alley, with several bowling lanes. You'll need to click on one to get a bowling ball and attach it to play. There's also a few other games, such as one in which you try to run over as many slimes as you can within a time limit.

The top floor will give those who grew up in the 1980s memories of the video arcade. There's dozens of arcade games there able to be played. Some are actual games that were in the arcade such as Punch Out and Elevator Action. There's also some games from home video systems such as Kid Icarus and Sonic the Hedgehog. And some computer games are represented, such as Wolfenstein 3D and Sim-City.

The Firecracker Arcade is in the north-central part of Montecito Bay, near the Roller Club Disco. Those dropping by the club on Wednesday nights can always go to the arcade for games before or after the tunes.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Montecito%20Bay/124/223/23

Bixyl Shuftan

Return to The Deathlands

 

Today, the Newser takes a look at the location of one of our sponsors, "The Deathlands." Run by Rebel Wolf, aka "The Baron," the place is "an isolated post-apocalyptic island community where a handful of hardy survivors desperately cling to what passes for life after the nuclear winter." I dropped by to check out it's shooting area, and ran into Rebel who showed me around. There was plenty to see.

Read the story in Places.

The Caledon Downs Halloween Ghost Hunt

It's Halloween, so time for this year's spooky attraction at Caledon Downs. In the past, they've had haunted trails and a spooky shooting gallery. This year combines a bit of both with a "Ghost Hunt." A notecard about the event had the following

We are fed up with the high population of ghost that appear all across our region. Therefore we are announcing a bounty on them. There are 4 levels to achieve. The levels are for who gets the most of these ghastly specters. The rewards are for the most L$1500, 2nd most L$1000, 3rd most L$500, 4th most L$250. You may use what projectile firing weapon you like. These ghost are popping up all over Downs but only appear for a few seconds before vanishing again so you will have to watch carefully and move around.

 The "hunting lodge" so speak is the Goblin Cave Community Center located in the center of Caledon Downs. In there is located the information panels and the totals counter. The hunt will last till the end of the Halloween Dance at the Goblin Cave at 8PM SLT on Oct 29th then the winner of the bounties will be announced. Course there is no bag limit and season ends on the morning of Nov 1st. giving more time to just enjoy hunting.  Have any questions contact Dame Cynthia Farshore or Duke Shockwave Yareach.

As the notice says, any projectile gun can be used in the hunt. I just used an old freebie popgun. Presumably those interested in taking part know how to go in and out of mouselook. Looking around the sim, I found ghosts in various places. A few places on the sim have more concentrations than others. When hit, the ghosts say one of several various comments, "Hey, I'm already deceased!" "Dead again!", then vanish. They won't be gone long, and will soon reappear, sometimes with the sound of spooky laughter, but only for a few seconds. They still count as additional kills for score

The kill counter as stated is in the Goblin Cave, located not far from the bar counter. It lists the best several scores. Also as stated, Linden cash prizes are being offered to the four best shooters, with 1500L going to the top scorer, 1000L to second place, 500L to 4rd, and 250L for fourth. It should be noted that just because you're on the scoreboard doesn't mean you'll stay there as new hunters enter the game and those already in get higher scores. Those whom want the top prize can't relax until the contest is declared done at 8PM Thursday October 29 at the end of the Goblin Cave Halloween Dance. But the game will go on until early November 1, the morning after Halloween, for those whom want to keep on hunting ghosts.

A very Halloweenish and fun shooting game.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Caledon%20Downs/123/102/31

Bixyl Shuftan

Shockwave and Cynthia's Bumper Cars

Tomorrow is the Carnival and Bumper Car Contest by Team Sunbeamers for Relay for Life. Taking place Saturday from 8AM to 4PM, the main feature will be the bumper cars. Not long ago, I had a few words with Shockwave Yareach and Cynthia Farshore about them.

"This event on the 18th will be epic!" Shockwave commented, "Bumpercars AND a full sized carnival. ... I've always thought that SL was the perfect place to make games of your own. I was playing with collisions.  And I figured out that making a shaped prim on the back of a car, the impacts from side and back would register.  But the front wouldn't. So bumper cars were born. I  bought the cars, and modified them for the job."

A sign near the course tells people how to play, touch the starter cube while green, then touch the coin slot inside the car. You're then all set to do some not-so-defensive driving. Shockwave explained, "You have to hit the sides or back with enough force.  Just tapping wont' do. You can take 10 hits.  First, you start smoking.  Then you burn, fire leaping out from the damage. And the fire and smoke, gets in the vision of the driver, makes it harder. So you have 5 minutes to inflict damage on the other cars.  10 points and that car is out. Five people can play at a time.  and I have bleachers so friends can watch. And coming up will be moving walls to give more of a challenge.  And cannons so the audience can try to take out cars too."

When asked how tricky was it to design, "Well, I took a shortcut by buying the cars from a existing builder.  Adding the code to make a working game out of it, was a bit complex. Since they are set physical, I had to turn off the physics to move them back to their pens, then back on again."

Shockwave and I would give the cars a try. Then Cynthia Farshore stopped by. She explained that the festival and contest's date in mid-April was to avoid bumping into too many Relay events, "We looked at the relay calendar and March is filled up." Shockwave added with a grin, "It gives us time add obstacles, cannons, explosives."

Prof. Grey's Arcadia Asylum freebie store and carnival came up, Shockwave saying, "Look at the carnival he added to the event." The place had some old time games, and a Moon Cannon, Cynthia commenting, "I told Prof. Grey I hope he gets attention since he helped in this."

Shockwave would add, "The ride is free.  But we ask for donations to our team.  Its at Sunlight Bay (15,157,26). It's running now if people are needing something to do while stuck at home, due to the virus, grab your friends, smash them up." Cynthia grinned, "Just know that when the event occurs it won't be so easy."

Later on, I would find barriers, and Cynthia had installed the cannons, "Muhahaha! ... Cannons to shoot at the contestants." There were a number there of various sizes and rates of fire, "Last night we were trying different cannons to see what worked best, might just use this mix instead of one type. Oh, and since last time you was here Shocky got the shifting barriers working. That rubber chicken like noise is a warning they are changing."

So it's official. The bumper cars are a real blast to play.

https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Sunlight%20Bay/15/157/26

Bixyl Shuftan

Halloween Attractions at Caledon

It's Halloween week, and time for lots of scary fun across Second Life. Caledon is getting into the act not just with themed parties, but also some spooky games and other attractions one can enjoy. Yours truly went there to have a look at some, including a small amusement park.

Read the story in Design.

Caledon Down's And Star Estates Halloween Haunts

The Newser's search for Halloween haunts takes it to Caledon where it was informed about two places there sure to give some spooky thrills for visitors. One is at Star Estates, which offers a haunted trail which offers a choice of going by foot or boat. The other is Caledon Downs Haunted Land, designed by Cynthia Farshore, which offers plenty of spooky tricks, but also some treats.

Read the story in Places.

The Sunbeamer Cancer Cell Train Shootout

Every year, Shockwave Yareach has a game for people to play at the Sunweaver Estates. This time, he's incorporated the train ride that was opened earlier this year. He's also made it a Relay fundraiser, a small fee required to play, all proceeds going to Team Sunbeamers.

Pay the kiosk 50L, wear the SalesBracelot it gives you, grab your favorite gun, and ride the train through SIX sims, shooting cancer cells as you go. Up to six players at one time can play, or just yourself. Wanna destroy cancer? Show it that you mean business! Train runs every hour at the top of the hour.

Have fun!! And thank you all for your support.

To play the game, when the time gets close to a few minutes before the next hour, head to the White Vixen Enterprises office at Pacific Waters (147, 58, 36).  Pay the kiosk that says "Train Shootout" 50 Lindens, then wear the item (it goes by the name "SalesBracelot" in your inventory). It then loads you into the game. When the train appears, board it. And make sure you have a working gun available.

As you go down the track, you'll see red cells floating in the air. Shoot them if you can. When hit, they explode in an orange cloud. You'll only be able to do so from the train. If you fall off, you'll no longer be able to see them. In a few spots, you won't be able to shoot as the bullets will not be able to rezz. Don't worry, the train will soon move to a spot where you can resume fire. The game only works when the train is going from Northeast to Southwest. Nothing will happen when the train goes the other way at half past the hour.

The train will travel through six sims. When the train reaches the end of the track in Sunweaver Bay, you're given a score on the number of cancer cells you blasted. How high can you get?

https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Pacific%20Waters/147/58/36

Bixyl Shuftan

Online "Swatting" Prank Leads to Death

by Bixyl Shuftan

It's fair to say most online gamers have heard of "Swatting." For those who haven't, this is when someone calls a police department and makes a phony claim of a serious crime, such as a hostage situation, at someone else's address. While hoax calls to the cops are nothing new, they've become more of a concern in recent years with angry video and computer gamers tracing down the address of a rival and calling the police to claim the person is either about to seriously harm someone or already has, with the intention of terrifying their target and possibly getting them arrested.

Not only is this a waste of taxpayer dollars and the policemen's time, and possibly diverting them from any real crimes at the moment, but there's the potential of the police shooting someone. And on Thursday December 28, it happened. Police in Wichita Kansas responded to a caller claiming he was holding people hostage at an address, and ended up shooting and killing a man whom had been doing nothing wrong.

As it turned out, the man wasn't even involved in the dispute that led to the crime. What had happened was two "Call of Duty" game players ended up arguing over a wager of just $1.50, and one whose Twitter handle happened to be "@SWAuTistic" made a call at the 911 center in the town of what he thought was his rival's address. But he had been given the wrong one. The caller claimed to have shot his father and holding the rest of the family hostage, and had poured gasoline around the house. The address police were given was that of Andrew Thomas Finch. Police shot Finch at his front door when his hand moved to his waist, and the unarmed man was killed. Finch was 28, and is survived by three children. The man's family has stated he wasn't a game player.

As news of the shooting spread, "@SWAuTistic" changed his Twitter address. But other gamers took pictures of and shared a tweet of his insisting he was blameless for what happened, "I DIDNT GET ANYONE KILLED BECAUSE I DIDNT DISCHARGE A WEAPON AND BEING A SWAT MEMBER ISNT MY PROFESSION". The call and tweets were traced to Tyler Barris, 25, of Los Angeles, whom was arrested. Barris has been in trouble before, charged and convited of making bomb threats to a TV station.

While there are no Federal laws about swatting, Barris faces a number of charges. On state level, he could be charged with reckless homicide, plus California has a law against swatting punishable by a year in prison and a $10,000 fine.

Sources: Wichita Eagle, Los Angeles Times, Click On Detroit,  PC Magazine, CNN,

Bixyl Shuftan

Announcement: Paint Ball for a Cure

Brought to you by Team Shadow and Team Live Wire.  Saturday April 15th 2:00-6:00 pm slt at Silver Creek Paint Ball Arena.

Play for a donation to The American Cancer Society.

Vendors, Raffles, and Kiosks welcome!

Come join the Melee.

For More Information contact Gem Sunkiller

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Silver%20Creek/227/185/2265

Press Release: Openings Available for One Billion Rising Video

Hot Off the Press…  Would you like to come and dance in our upcoming One Billion Rising video?

The One Billion Rising in Second Life team is reaching out to the SL Community for female avatars interested in participating in upcoming rehearsal on Friday, Feb 5th at 8pm SLT.

We have approximately 50 available openings.   We will provide everyone with OBR T-Shirts during the rehearsal.   To sign up send a notecard to Samantha Ohrberg or message on Facebook.

Landmark will be provided the day of rehearsal....

!DRUM! DANCE! RISE!

 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Friday, February 6, 2013
[ THEME ]                      [ TIME ]                 [Dress Attire]
 OBR Fun                        8:00pm SLT           OBR T-Shirt & blue jeans (no shorts or torn jeans)


Due to the scheduled allotted time per video shoot, we ask that you are dressed and ready prior to reaching your designated film location. For those in multiple shoots in one day, we recommend creating an outfit folder with everything you will need to  change.quickly.


Read the links provided  for additional information.

One Billion Rising in SL Blog : https://onebillionrisingsl.wordpress.com/
One Billion Rising Youtube: http://youtu.be/fL5N8rSy4CU
One  Billion Rising RL website: https://secure.onebillionrising.org/page/event/detail/wd8
=======================
For more information:

OBR SL Flickr Group http://www.flickr.com/groups/2169739@N23
One Billion Rising SL Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/One-Billion-Rising-in-Second-Life-493344827375934/
OBR Second Life Twitter:  https://twitter.com/OBRinSL
========================
For more information go to: http://www.vday.org/
For more information about One Billion Rising and the V-Day events around the world, visit www.onebillionrising.org and www.vday.org..

"Furry Gamers" Contest in "World of Tanks"

MAY 31st we are having a contest for the Furry Gamers. The prize will be your choice of game/s from steam up to $50.00 US Dollars.

The contest will be double elimination in one on one "World of Tanks" combat. The winner takes it at the end of the day. The tanks can be any nation you choose but no higher than tier 3 to give everyone a fighting chance, and maps will be picked at random by myself.

We will be starting at Noon SLT. so get as much practice in as you can and GOOD HUNTING!

PS: I will be streaming this as well, so make sure you smile as you pull that trigger

Nydia Tungsten

Sundreamers at New Bastogne

One's a community who's goals are having a fun place to virtually live and have a good party a few times a week. The other's a virtual Second World War battlefield where residents duke it out in virtual tanks, planes, and small arms in team efforts. One might not expect the two to have much in common. But last weekend, they came together for a Relay For Life event. The Sunweaver community's "Sundreamers" RFL team hosted a fundraising event at New Bastogne.

Read more in Events.

The Greyhaven and Pala Sims

Gemma Cleanslate recently wrote about two sims she found a joy to visit: Greyhaven and Pala. Built for fun with some effort to keep down the lag, they offer fun with fishing, target shooting, and other things. Or you could just explore around that nook and cranny you haven't been at yet.

Read Gemma's article in Places.

Press Release: Fundraiser Avatar for Conneticut School Shooting Tragedy

Athene Forder of "Goddess Apparel" informed Second Life Newser of an item at her store being sold for charity, to help with those affected by the recent school shooting in Conneticut.

This year, we have a lovely Avatar for you!

Holly has skin, eyes, shoes, hair, jewelry and a fab dress!  Each designed by some of my friends, and very festive!

Last year, we donated proceeds to the Red Cross. This year, we are raising money for the Sandy Hook Community. Personally, I can not think of anything worse than having to bury my baby, except having to bury my baby and figure out to pay for it.

We can't change anything, but maybe we can make it just a bit easier for them. In addition, if you wish to donate more, please send a notecard to me (I am keeping track of the donations for the designer group) and pay me directly.

We already have a number of clubs and games who have graciously allowed for our vendor to be placed in their place of business.  We will be collecting until new Years, and hope to post how much we were able to donate shortly after that.

So please, bring your friends,  pick up your copy, have them pick up a copy. If you are a business/club owner, and wouldn't mind our vendor in your place, please let me or Dryad Falls know. If you have friends who are business/club owners who you think would like to be involved, have them contact me, because I have to admit, I would really like to make this a worthy donation.

A personal note from Dryad Fall:  "Personally, many of you know until recently, I was a kindergarten teacher in CT...i'm several miles from Sandy Hook, but I promise you, this has hit me, and all my teacher friends with all the force of a bullet train.  So I readily admit, this would mean a lot to me!"

LM's:
Goddess Apparel Mainstore, Taupo (112, 200, 42)
Dryad Designs Apr 4/11, Wandering Spirits (32, 99, 21)

The vendors will be gone Jan 6