A Word From the RFL of SL Lead

 

Relay 2025....Wow,  I mean W O W!

This morning I sat drinking my coffee as it rained and thundered outside and just reflected on this year of Relay.  The Magic of Hope.

Registration opened and you guys were ready,  the registrations was amazing and we had more register within the first couple of weeks than in the past.  This told me one thing... "These guys are ready to Relay!"   And boy was I right!

I've been asked many times,  why do you take on so much with relay.  The answer is simple.  Its because of YOU.  My heart is full.   Watching teams raise donations for other teams other than their own.  Embracing someone going through a rough time.  Surrounding them with their thoughts, prayers and avatars so they "feel" it.   The Love, and HOPE was impalpable! Not one person that walked the track or stepped a foot inside a campsite can say they did not feel it.  Not one.

You have the ability to turn someone's hopeless feeling into a feeling of strong hope, and belief that they have INDEED Got This!

The personal stories that have been shared with me I will forever hold them close to my heart.  YOU have forever changed me.   Relay has forever changed me.  So Thank you!

Thank you for such a successful year!  Not just in donations...but in being you and giving sooo many people HOPE!   Sugar couldn't have said it better when she stated "when someone got Jade, we ALL got Jade,   When someone got Diamond, we ALL got diamond".   THATS Relay !!

Now,  as I wipe away the happy tears lol.  yes I do cry...but its good therapeutic crying filled with Hope ;-)    I want you guys to know, I will be leaving to head out of town to take care of my parents for a few weeks in Colorado.  So I will not be able to be at the sinking of the sims.  At least not in avatar form lol.   My heart is always with you guys!    But I will be back in a few weeks then we are all going to get together and reflect.   And talk about this season... how can a lead do more to help each team.   How can we possibly make Relay better .   Ideas on recruiting more teams.  Or just have time to share our stories with each other.   I'm sooo looking forward to that.   But for now,  sit back and look what you all did as ONE TEAM ONE DREAM...smile and say... WE did good!

I love you all !!

Selene Jashan
2025 Relay For Life of SL Lead 

"Nice Write-Up In The Newser" BBB Gazette Thanks Gemma

 

 

Last week, Gemma had an article about the Bellisseria Bureau of Bureaucracy, which included an interview with it's founder Boo Rojyo. The BBB's own newsletter, The Gazette, took notice, mentioning it among their stories on Saturday August 12. The writer welcomed her story, "For all our efforts at publicity it was clear to those of us who spent a lot of time talking to visitors at SL20B that there are still many SL residents who don't know who we are and what we do. An article like Gemma's in one of SL's most widely-read newspapers has to be a good thing. Thank you Gemma."

In Gemma's behalf, you're welcome BBB.

 

Thanks For The Support

 

 

 Some sad news about the Deathlands. Rebel Wolf (HermitBlue) announced that due to the troubled real-life economy and rising Linden dollar cashout fees, he can no longer continue the sponsorship of his post-apocalyptic sim. Those who wish to keep track of his events can join the community group.

Thanks for the support for all these years, Reb.

SL Video: "A Tribute to Paloma - The Free Dove"

 

 

 (Click here if the video does not play)

 

 From AVTV on January 20, "⭐ A SL STORY TO TELL ⭐ AVTV - A TRIBUTE TO PALOMMA - THE FREE DOVE A Tribute to the Soul of Palomma Casanova - Founder of The Free Dove inSL The Free Dove was a go to place for thousands of Avatars and SL New Comers in Second Life Virtual World. From All of us at AVTV team, Thank You Palomma Casanova for all what you did to our SL community during the last 18 years. Definitely you will be missed. May your Soul RIP. Palomma Casanova: 2004 - 2023"

 

Looking Back on Twelve Years

 
It was twelve years ago that one chapter in Second Life journalism ended with the close of JamesT Juno and Dana Vanmoer's Second Life Newspaper, and a new one began with the start of the Second Life Newser. The four of us, Gemma Cleanslate, Shellie Sands, Grey Lupindo, and myself had some big shoes to fill. The Newspaper had covered Second Life in it's golden age, as well as many of it's people, places, and events that helped define it. We arrived at a time when not only had the virtual world seen better days, but with the layoff of a third of Linden Labs, it was one in trouble.

Twelve years later, much has changed. Of the original four, just Gemma and I are left. Thankfully others such as Penny Shuftan and Marcel Mosswood have stepped in to help fill their void.  Sadly Gemma and I have also had real-life difficulties. She had some medical issues of which she is still recovering. And as I write this, someone dear to me in real life is very sick and will likely pass away very soon.

So what keeps us going? Why spend so much time writing about a "game" as some have dismissively called Second Life, one that gamers often dismiss as having inferior graphics, that some dismiss as too difficult and troll-ridden, and whose owners sometimes act like they don't care about it's users other than how to make money off them?

Because of the good it allows people to do.

Yes, there are a *few* punks here whose purpose in life seems solely to be to make others miserable. But the ill they do is outweighed by the positive others accomplish. Sometimes it's artistic, the ability to build here either with inworld or external tools allowing artists to make creations that others can admire. Sometimes it's therapeutic, those with mental problems or just mentally weary can get together with others in peer support groups, sometimes aimed at others like themselves.

It can allow those to meet others like themselves and form virtual communities. Not just a channel where they can chat, but a three-dimensional landscape they can interact with each other in, in avatars more or less whatever they want to look like, and in surroundings either made completely by other users, or in the case of Linden Home areas at least customizable by other users. In particular, it can allow the physically disabled to interact with others much easier than can be done in real life.

And one can raise money here to help combat real-world problems and illnesses. Homes For Our Troops for instance helps disabled veterans not just keep a roof over their heads but a house they can live independently in. And of course there is the Relay for Life. Ever year, it raises thousands of dollars to research treatments for cancer, as well as helping those stricken get such treatments.

With recent events, I personally have more reason to write about the Relay than before.

So what does the future hold? Predictions of Second Life's end have been made time and time again, and time to time they never came to pass. It's safe to assume baring some global catastrophe, the virtual world still has some years left. Yours truly has gotten a little older, and grayer. But I should be able to keep writing a few more years as well.

Special thanks to our sponsors, Lorena Chung Estates, the Montecito Bay communnity, the Deathlands roleplay sim, and the Safe Waters Foundation. To Farshore Radio to helping spread the word about the Newser. To the Sunweaver community to helping give our office a home. To the Lindens without which this virtual world would not be possible. And you the readers for giving us our purpose.

"And that's the way it is." Good day from the Second Life Newser.

Bixyl Shuftan
Editor
Second Life Newser
 

Remembrance

 

Yesterday, a family member close to me departed (some of you know who she is). She had cancer, and despite surgery it had come back and spread. She spent her last days at home, and passed peacefully. 

The idea of virtual worlds was a bit beyond her, but she was pleased I had a following online, and was putting the spotlight on the good people were doing, notably the Relay for Life in Second Life. And with her passing, I have more reason to cover it than ever.

Newser updates over the next few weeks are likely to be sporadic due to dealing with the details, as well as pondering. A number of Relay track sneak peek pictures have been uploaded ahead of time, as well as a few articles and press releases.

To those whom were there for me with words of support, or even just listening, thank you.

Bixyl Shuftan
 

A Second Life Musician Says "Thank You"

 *
The following was posted on the Second Life Forums on Sunday November 29 by a Da5id Weatherwax, titled, "A moment to say 'Thank you.'"

*  *  *  *  *

As my friends across the pond were preparing to celebrate a rather strange Thanksgiving I was doing what I normally do as part of preparation for any week, putting the finishing touches to, and rehearsing, the set list(s) I would be playing in the coming week. It struck me that I had something enormous to be truly thankful for in these troubled times. I haven't picked up a busking pitch or played a RL live gig or session since late February. All the RL venues here closed in early March, all bookings cancelled until further notice. Even when this lovely city, a true hotspot of the arts and performance, was not under the most severe public health restrictions nobody who could be out and about would gather to listen to a busker and the po-po would tell that busker to move smartly along if they did. It's almost impossible to sing through a mask anyway.

Like so many of my colleagues in performance I was instantly unemployed. My usual fallbacks when I wasn't getting bookings as a performer were also gone, because there was no work as a sound or lighting tech either. Hundreds of other performers were in the same position, having to take whatever they could get as a "day job" just to keep the lights on and the fridge full. In the music industry you're used to "living on your wits" somewhat but I know from personal chats with others that even after all this shakes down there will be some who will not be returning to the stage. I'm not talking about the real tragedies, of the voices we will no longer hear because the pandemic has taken them from us, but of the small-venue musicians who can no longer summon up the energy, the fire, to break free of the rat race a second time. They know, from sometimes bitter personal experience, how great a leap into the unknown launching a career in the arts is, how precarious it is and how numbing the fear can become. Deep in their hearts, way too many of us know that we don't have it within us to do that again.

I have something to sustain me that most of them don't. I have YOU.

It is you,the population of SL, who have continued to show up to my sets, continued to appreciate my performances and kept my sense of identity as a musician alive. I'm still putting a set list together every week because I'm bringing it to you and you're showing up to hear it. Even though that soul-crushing day job is blowing massive holes in my schedule, I'm still a performer because of you.

So, from the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU. You are what I have reason to be thankful for this season.

*  *  *  *  * 

Da5id Weatherwax's post didn't have many responses yet, but perhaps this will soon increase as word gets around.

Source: Second Life Forums 

Veterans Isle Thanks It's Friends

The benefit concert on Sunday March 29 at Veterans Isle for the Homes For Our Troops charity was a success with 186,350 Linden dollars raised. A week later on April 5 at Noon SL time, they asked various friends and supporters over the past year to come by. There were some questions such as how much of the money raised goes to overhead (less than ten percent, over 90% of the money raised by HFOT is used for homes). One question led to it being stated that Linden Lab occasionally demands documentation by the people representing Homes For Our Troops in Second Life.

But the main purpose of the meeting was for Frets Nirvana, the people at Veterans Isle, and two people from Homes For Our Troops, Mike and Jamie Crossman, to thank their friends and supporters for their help, "You are special to this effort and we value your support.  Thank you for all you do."

Reflections

It hasn't been an easy week for me. Someone I was close to in real life passed away a week ago, which left me pondering much how he meant to me over the years. While the subject of what I write about confused him sometimes, he did appreciate me (and others on the team) writing about the Relay for Life and veterans' charities, as well as 9/11 remembrances.

To those whom were there for me with words of support, or even just listening, thank you.

Bixyl Shuftan

Press Release: Thank You From Pixel to Pixel

I want to thank everyone who came to the Pixel To Pixel 9th Anniversary Party, or sent a donation, or messaged us with well-wishes. The donations will help keep us going for the next several months, and I so very much appreciate your support.

In the words of one of the P2P stipend recipients: "Altruism is a rare trait and everyone who gives anything to this program has made SL and the world a better place."

Stop by the P2P Foundation headquarters at Clairehaven if you'd like to see more of the heart-warming messages of appreciation we've received from the people who you are helping to support. They're posted up on the walls.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Clairehaven/130/136/24
I wish you all the best!

Jadyn Firehawk, a.k.a Pixel Falconer
Pixel To Pixel Foundation

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

SPECIAL THANKS to Mrs. Di Zuidde for all her help in planning the Anniversary Party, and to Clairehaven for generously donating the office space for our headquarters since 2012.

Firestorm Fundraiser Decleared a Success

It was late last month that Team Firestorm started a "Gacha" fundraiser to help pay for a new server and other expenses. A few days ago, team leader Jessica Lyon declared it a success.

Once again I find myself flabbergasted by the level of community support we receive from our users. In just over two weeks we have raised just over L$1.3 million lindens between Gacha sales and donations! This will be more than enough to keep us going for a few more years.

Our server admin, Mygoditsfullofstars, has already upgraded us to one new server and you should see faster download times as a result. He’s now very busy working to upgrade and migrate all our other things over to a better server too. There is even enough now to cover our Kakadu license renewal, possibly for two years!

The Firestorm team and I are forever grateful and appreciative for the support we receive from our community.

While there are a still a few more goods for sale in the fundraiser area, Team Firestorm is collecting no more.

Special thanks to all who gave donations, many were very generous! Special thanks to Kio Feila as well for all her hard work trying to keep the shelves stocked. Thank you also to all our Gateway volunteers and managers for enduring the additional traffic! Thank you all SO MUCH for your support!

Announcement: Thank You From Virtual Ability

The Virtual Ability Executive Team is sad to share with you that our dear friend and highly valued, long time volunteer, Ladyslipper Constantine, has passed away in real life. 

We are planning a memorial service for her soon, and will keep you updated on that process. 

As Ladyslipper’s long time real life friend, I’d like to personally thank those of you who made an effort to show your love for her, and be present during her illness, via her CaringBridge site that her real-life family set up.   And for those of you who could not, but loved her, all the same.

Thank you for the love; she felt it.  She sent me an email a couple weeks ago, the last one I got; she said she loved me.  That was all.  It was enough.  She also loved all of you, Virtual Ability, Second Life and all the other groups here that she was such a vital part of.   Thank you for loving her back. 

Treasure Ballinger
Virtual Ability,® Inc.  Executive Team

* * * * *

UPDATE: There was a message shared inworld, sent from Virtual Ability, inviting residents in SL who knew and loved LS.

There will be a Celebration of Life hosted by Virtual Ability for Ladyslipper Constantine on Saturday, Oct 1 at 11am SLT, on the northeast lawn of Virtual Ability island.

The celebration will begin with some of her friends offering memories in text+voice, because LS was part of the deaf community in SL.

A slideshow will display photos of the many events LS participated in. If you have SL images, please send them to iSkye Silverweb for inclusion. There will also be music and dancing. LS loved a good party!

Celebrate Ladyslipper’s life with us. For more information, please contact Gentle Heron, Eme Capalini, or Treasure Ballinger in world.

 Source: Daniel Voyager

Relay For Life: A Survivor's THANK YOU!

Words cannot describe how after I did my survivor lap last night and upon getting back to my campsite the most beautiful sight I ever witness and for me to just let go and cry at those who were there to greet me on my return.

I am still in quite a bit of shock at the outpouring of love that awaited me and with all the tears of joy that I had, it was well worth it.

As you know I was bound and determined to get my walk in one way or another and believe me, just like cancer TRIED to stop me, so was sim crashes and lag trying and failed to last night (except for one crash) again.

For me, it was not an option for me to forgo my walk, it just wasn't gonna get by me without me doing it. I was that determined that I could and would do my walk one way or  another.  The end results was needless to say another moment in the history of our relay, another moment in time that will be recorded on my site after I have some time to let it all sink in and to relish what's become a HUGE success in my over coming obstacles and AGAIN showing cancer who is BOSS around  HERE!!!

I guess in retrospect for me to say thank you to each and everyone who met me would take a much longer notecard LOL, but in all sincerity I do want to say thank you to;

Catalina Stalheli, who behind the scenes gathered friends and love ones together for what was so important to me. I had told Catalina I wanted to finally do my lap and told her I would be in to do it.

I was just totally unaware of what was to happen as we made our way around the track, Having Lom on my shoulder and Catalina and another relayer in tow, we walked, even members of the Second Life Cheerleading Squad and even a committee member joined as we got closer back to the campsite and as the transcript that was sent earlier, the rest they say is history!

In closing, again THANK YOU to Catalina Stalheli for doing this and bringing closure to a relay season I won't forget for a long time to be, and to the ENTIRE relay community a big BIG HEARTY HEALTHY THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart!

As my team motto says, we are "Strong! Together!"

Vickie Maidstone,
Friends Fighting Cancer RFL Team Captain 2015.

A Note of Thanks From "Land of the Giants"

Gemma Cleanslate recently got a note of thanks from Randy RanDom (Randy Burt) for her article about her writing about his build "Land of the Giants."

Your article along with Linden having The Land of the Giants on their destination guide has helped keep us going.  Generally I change the entire region every six months, but on April 15th it will be one year for the Giant's House.  Again thank you so much for your article.

Press Release: Happy Holidays From Creations For Parkinsons

Happy New Year to our Friends and Supporters. We thank you for another amazing year.

We are thrilled to let you know we have reached our donation goal of 2,500,000 Linden ($10,000 US Dollars) again this year. That brings our grand total to over 6,250,000 Linden ($25,000 US Dollars) in 2 1/2 years!!!! This would not be possible without your love and support of the wonderful work we are doing here in SL!

We want to assure you that our family continues to personally covers all tier and other expenses out of our own pockets so that 100% of ALL donations go to The Micheal J Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research through Team Fox. And we are so thrilled that Team Fox has a private donor who covers all their expenses also!

Press Release: Thank You to our Sponsors, Merchants, Performers & Volunteers!

The 2014 Christmas Expo & Winter Breedable Fair planning committee and the  Relay For Life community,  would like to thank each and everyone for your generous support, and for you memorable participation at this year's event!

May you all have a wonderful Holiday season!
 ~*Dawn

SL11B: "Thank You SL11B Community"

The following was posted on the SL11B blog By Doc Gascoigne:

We would like to thank everyone who  exhibited,  performed, visited or volunteered for this year’s SLB Community Celebration. This year we provided a smaller,  more intimate event.
We hoped that 11 sims for 11 years was not only symbolic, but provided an opportunity for us to slim down the size aspect and amp up the quality.

We  would like to thank the SL Community for supporting this event every year.  Without you whether it be in the form of volunteers, entertainment, art or visitors;  our birthday event would not be as collectively successful as it has been this year.

Every year we use this space to connect with you as you get ready to go back to your regularly scheduled SL.  We remind you to mark your calendars for next April.  This is when we start the process of preparing a city that rises from nothing,  a schedule of great entertainment,  an army of volunteers and an array of exhibits built by you.

If you enjoyed the event and want to be a part next year, please join our new group SLB Community Celebration (appears in the profiles of Doc Gascoigne or Diana Renoir)
or SLB Community Group for notification of next year’s festivities.

It was and always has been an honor and my pleasure to once again work with all of you.

Cya next time,
Doc

On another note, the exhibits will remain up until Saturday July 5th. And so will the hunt for the items hidden in them.



(click here if the video fails to load)

On a third note, the sixteenth of Saffia Widdershins' SL11B videos was filmed next to the SL Newser office exhibit. Guess the "Madman" figured out where his donuts went.

Four Years

It was four years ago this week, June 2010, in which the crew of Second Life Newspaper faced a transition. Second Life's leading newspaper, JamesT Juno and Dana Vanmoer's Second Life Newspaper was closing down. Although the paper had suffered a serious blow several months earlier with a sponsor going bankrupt, it was James and Dana's real life troubles that led them to make the decision to close the paper down a few months earlier. When the decision was revealed to us in a staff meeting, we couldn't believe it. Our first question was did they really have to leave Second Life, and the paper? The second was, why couldn't someone else be put in charge of Second Life Newspaper? But the decision was final. The paper would be put down.

So what to do? We talked among ourselves, and decided there was only one thing we could do. We'd have to start all over again under a new name. And so when Second Life Newspaper closed, Second Life Newser was born.

We didn't have time to relax. Almost soon as we started, it was one of Second Life's most eventful times. Linden Lab laid off a third of it's staff, and it's CEO resigned, with Philip Linden temporarily returning. Then came "Emeraldgate," with the downfall of it's first third-party viewer development team. Then came Linden Lab's decision to merge Second Life with it's Teen Grid, followed by them getting rid of their support for educational sims after years of promoting them as examples of what the Grid could be. It was one of Second Life's most difficult years, and the Newser was there to bring the news to it's readers.

Since then, Second Life has continued to prove itself as a reliable source of news for its residents. We have continued to update every single day, informing about the people, places, and events across the Grid. We've written about many different kinds of places from clubs to memorials to churches to playgrounds to builds of historic real-life places to whatever imagination can come up with. We've talked to many different people from media producers large and small to sim designers, content creators, charity organizers, musicians both popular and starting out, and regular Joe and Jane Residents. And we've covered many different events from weddings, funerals, battles, races, charity events, anniversaries from small clubs to Second Life's SLBs, and many more. And there's the twice a week cartoons which appeal to both residents and those who never step into the world. Over 3500 articles, press releases, cartoons, advertisements, and more have been posted in the past four years.

Some friends have been with us since the beginning. At the newsletter's start, the Sunweaver Estates (now the Sunweaver/Angel Estates) provided us with land and an office. And along the way, we've picked up some new ones as the Podex Exchange, and then the Steelhead community have offered to sponsor us. Without them, the paper would be spending less time covering the news and more scrounging for ad revenue. And we've had some new writers join the team over time. Writers like DrFran Babcock and Nydia Tungsten have proven themselves time and time again.

And readership has grown over time from just over 2000 readers for the month of June 2010 to over 25,000 three years later in June 2013 durring coverage of Second Life's tenth anniversary. Our readership includes places like Ukraine, Turkey, Indonesia, and China.

Sadly we've had to say goodbye to some faces as well. Some of the team have had to stop writing as real life caught up to them. We salute them for the time while they were here.

As time has gone by, we have covered a little more than just Second Life. As attention went to other virtual worlds, such asInWorldz, we covered them some. We've also reviewed some of the games residents like to play when not on Second Life, "World of Warcraft" being a longtime favorite. But most of our articles will continue to be about this virtual world.

On occasion, we've had to hold Linden Lab's feet to the fire. Yes, we're grateful for them for creating this virtual world. But over time they've made a number of questionable policies that have hurt this place by eroding the morale of builders and common residents alike. And when we see a blunder of theirs, we call them out on it. While this may mean getting the cold shoulder from the Lab, we're not here to kiss up to them. We "call it as we see it," and report the news as we, and you the readers, see fit.

So what has this meant to me personally? Well, in real life, this has been my best success as a writer. Friends and coworkers don't always understand what I write about, though still admire the effort (and enjoy the cartoons). My Father, whom thought I was wasting time on video games as a kid, "Are you going to put on your job application you shot down a million ships from the Planet Mongo?" has been more impressed with the stories of memorial events for Veterans here, in addition to one writer whom ended up using me as a real-life job reference.

Keeping up a daily newsletter has proved to be a challenge. Even if on the weekends all we put is a video we find or a screenshot cartoon, still, articles have to be written, news needs to be covered. We've burned our share of midnight oil. But this is what we do. It's our pleasure to cover the news, even if it means doubling down on the caffeine the next morning.

And the future? As long as the Newser team is around, we'll continue to report about the people, places, and events across Second Life.

Thank you to the Sunweaver Estates whom have given us a home inworld.

Thank you to our sponsors, Podex and Steelhead, for funding our coverage.

And of course a special thanks to you the readers, without whom there would be no newsletter.


Bixyl Shuftan and the Second Life Newser team

Press Release: The Freedom Project Thank You Ceremony and Exhibition Launch

Location: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/UWA/40/107/248

Date: 23rd March, Sunday
Time: 5PM SLT

The Freedom Project which had been receiving creations for the past many months, will see a THANK YOU Ceremony and Exhibition Launch at 5PM SLT Sunday, the 23rd of March.

The Freedom Project is a 2D/3D Art & Film Event organized jointly by the University of Western Australia, along with members of the Virtual Ability Group, and the Centre for ME/CFS and Other Invisible Illnesses Group in Second created an artwork or a film/machinima or in fact a personal story on the theme of ‘Freedom’, showing how virtual worlds have in some way helped them or those around them.

This event is to thank all the artists, filmmakers, and writers for contributing their works and of themselves, as well as to thank the many individuals, groups and organisations who made this possible, including Eliza Wierwight, who created the poster for this event,  David Doyle & Simone Flavelle of DADAA's stARTSPEAK Project, Tom Papas & Screen My Shorts Inc. (Sydney), West Australian artist, Len Zuks,  Beverley Hill of UWA's Equity & Diversity Office, Craig MacKenzie and Deborah Bolton of UniPrint,  TheDove Rhode of Peace is A Choice Gallery, Taralyn Gravois, AviewTV and LaPiscean Liberty, Eleanor Medeir and The Sim Street Journal as well as Kit Guardian and Guardian 11:11 for their multifaceted commitment towards the event as well, also iMoogi TV (imoogi.tv) and Nu Vibez Magazine (nuvibezmag.com) led by Filipa Thespian

Feel free to come visit and take in all the wonderful creations anytime at the UWA Virtual Gallery.

UWA (40, 107, 247)

"Thank You Vets"

To those who served to defend democracy, thank you from Second Life Newser

Picture from DrFran Babcock