Linden Endowment of the Arts Set to Close August 31

In what can only be described as a stunning development for artists and supporters of the arts in Second Life, the Linden Endowment for the Arts is set to close down on the last day of August.

The Committee of the Linden Endowment for the Arts regrets to inform residents of Second Life that the LEA regions will be closing at the end of August 2019.

In November 2018, the Committee decided that the best way forward was for the members to step down, and allow Linden Lab to revamp or re-organise the program, with new members if they wished. At that time, the bi-annual Land Grant (the AIR regions) were shuttered. A small number of the Committee stayed on to administer the Core regions until the remaining grant commitments ran their course.  Those grants are now coming to an end, and therefore the LEA will be closed at the end of August 2019

The Linden Endowment for the Arts (LEA) was established to help create a center of arts activity in Second Life. It was founded in 2010 and launched its first events in 2011. For the last eight years, it has been a collaborative venture between Linden Lab and the arts community. Guided initially by a board of renowned Second Life artists and more latterly also bringing in people with a strong interest in promoting the Arts in Second Life, the LEA has been committed to providing access to engaging experiences in the arts for the Second Life community. Over the last eight years, through its exhibitions, programs, and events, the LEA has fostered awareness of artists’ contributions to our virtual world and encouraged others to get involved and be inspired.

It has long been divided into two parts; The Core Regions and the Artists in Resident Regions.

The LEA Land Grant (the AIR Regions) was a program to distribute 20 regions (LEA10 - LEA29) generously donated by Linden Lab. These regions were used to promote art and artistic endeavors in Second Life. Full regions of virtual land were made available to in-world artists through an application process. The AiR Land Grant was a 6 month grant.

The LEA Land Grant was shuttered by Linden Lab in January 2019 at the request of the LEA Committee, pending decisions on the future of the LEA.

The Core regions  (LEA1- LEA9)  hosted a variety of artistic events and installations for a three month period. The Core regions included a Welcome Area, a four region theatre, a sandbox for artists, and partial and full regions that could be used for the three month period, with a great emphasis on community art events.

This program will be closing at the end of August when all the regions will be shuttered by Linden Lab at the request of the Committee.

The Committee wishes to express its gratitude and deep respect for the artists of Second Life, whose work they have been privileged to support over the last eight years. We hope that in time Linden Lab will be able to create a new program that will continue their support of the arts in Second Life.

Any questions concerning the Linden Endowment for the Arts should be addressed to PatriciaAnne Daviau or JMB Balogh.

The  Linden Endowment for the Arts Committee:
PatriciaAnne Daviau, JMB Balogh, LaPiscean Liberty, Jayjay Zifanwe
Advisors:  The Dove Rhode and Corcosman Voom


Until recently, there were many more LEA sims. But in November 2018, it was announced 19 of the 29 then were closing down as part of "restructuring" of the LEA.

Saffia Widdershins invited me to talk to her for a few minutes. She stated Linden Lab had nothing to do with the LEA closing down. If anything, they wanted it to keep going. But the LEA Committee "were pretty much burned out." After inviting a number of people to join the Committee, and being refused, they had decided to step down so a fresh start could take place.

Saffia told me this wasn't necessarily the end of the LEA. It could still be saved in some form, "But the initiative needs to come from the arts community. They need to pull together and create a workable proposal (or several proposals) for the Lab."

Inara Pey had a number of things to say on her blog, "As was pointed out to me after I wrote the article on the 2018 restructuring announcement, running any organisation like the LEA is going to be a thankless task; there is no remuneration for time given, there is always going to be hostility over actions taken and the grants awarded, and so on; it really can be a thankless task. ...

"However, there can be no doubting then when all is said and done, the LEA did a tremendous amount of good for the artists who participated in its programmes, offering many the means to express themselves and reach audiences in a manner that might never otherwise been able to achieve.

"While the LEA many have had its warts and at times had to face undue criticism, it has through its nine years of existence been a force for good for those arts who have been able to make use of its facilities and it has certainly helped enriched art within Second Life and allow many to appreciate work and installations they might otherwise never get to see. So, it’s not unfair to say its passing will be missed."

So will the LEA be saved, or will this chapter of the history of the arts in Second Life come to a close? Stay tuned for more details.

Bixyl Shuftan

Hangars Liquides Cyberpunk City Set To Close Soon

Some sad news for fans of sci-fi themed sims. According to New World Notes, the "Hangars Liquides" sims will be closing at the end of the month.



The area, now consisting of five sims of tall buildings high in the sky with a gritty, run-down theme, what owner and creator Djehan Kidd called "Cyberpunk City, Technopunk, Dystopian Noir," has been in Second Life since 2007. In 2014, it was featured in a video in The Guardian. But unfortunately, a change in the Terms of Service mean that as a nonprofit, the sim can't rent spaces to help pay for it's upkeep. “As a cultural nonprofit organization,” Djehan explained to Hamlet Au, “Second Life has become unsustainable for me. Several months ago, I was told that the new Terms of Service for nonprofits did not permit us to offer rentals anymore; as a result, the city couldn't pay for itself any more.”

According to Hamlet, Djehan has been in contact with Linden Lab, and there is talk about making Hangars Liquides an exception to their new rules. But as of now, there's nothing agreed upon. Unless something changes, the city will close at the end of the month.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Hangars%20Liquides/136/138/2226

Source: New World Notes

Bixyl Shuftan

SL Video: "Fantasy Faire 2017 - The Party That Did Not Happen"

(Click here if the video fails to play)

From Caitlin Tobias on May 5, 2017, "The end party of the Fantasy Faire, which did not happen, in Second Life"

Avination Virtual World Closes

Some sad news for virtual world fans, especially advocates of OpenSim. Avination, which used to be one of the largest alternative worlds to Second Life, has shut down after being offline for months. The company of the same name behind the world went bankrupt on March 7.

According to an article by in Hypergrid Business, Melanie Thielker, the owner of Avination, stated that there was hope that users of the grid could see their builds and inventories again. But since the company behind the grid was bankrupt, all the money was gone. In the comments following the article, Thielker stated, "The grid itself isn't dead. The grid is it's users and it's content, not a name or some servers. We have found a way to be able to offer the Avination experience, just not under that name and not with me as the top dog. Stay tuned, after the weekend there will be some info on the old Avination website address."

A look at the Avination website had no links to other pages. The blog and forum were apparently gone. Just a message stating, "The name Avination is going away. Your avatars and sims will soon be available again. A grid is more than a name. We have realized this and are working to restore what made this grid the fun place it used to be. We are currently in the process of negotiating a merger. Please stay tuned for more information as talks develop."

After Avination went online in 2010, it quickly gained a following of about 9,000 active users a month in April 2011, rising faster than InWorldz, which went online at about the same time, though never did come remotely close to Second Life's numbers. When I visited the world in it's first anniversary celebrations, things were looking well. Inara Pey of Modem World would also write about her experience there, feeling although the place wasn't as well known as InWorldz it showed promise.

But then the grid was hit with severe setbacks. Later in 2011, criminals used stolen credit card numbers to buy up $126,000 USD worth of virtual currency from Avination, which it had to pay back. This would happen again in 2015. Both instances wiped out the savings of the company behind the grid and left it in debt, or "gutted like a fish" as Thielker put it. The number of active accounts would plummet, and the number of sims would drop as well. Also in 2015, Linden Lab's lawyers ordered Avination to stop trading Linden dollars directly for it's own currency. By January 2016, it had only around 1000 active users a month.

Then disaster struck. In the summer of 2016, Avination suffered a "catastrophic data loss" that took the grid offline. Thielker would look for a new hosting provider to house the grid, but never found one. Finally it was decided Avination was just too far gone to save, "We allowed the company to lapse because of the damage to the name Avination."

And so, one of the better known alternatives to Second Life is no more, at least for now. Though even if it does come back, the tiny numbers of "There" are not a good sign for what future Avination might have.

Source: Hypergrid Business.

Bixyl Shuftan

Insilico Offline, Owner Skills Hak Banned

Some sad news for science-fiction roleplayers in Second Life. The popular Insilico region, mentioned in media such as the Drax Files and written about by the Newser last year, has been taken offline. The reason, it's owner and primary builder, Skills Hak, has been banned from the Grid by Linden Lab.

Skills, whom has been involved in controversies such as being among those Linden Lab asked to resign from the Emerald Viewer team just before it collapsed in 2010, has stated she feels this will probably be the end of her activities in Second Life, at least under her current identity.

I had a good run. 8 years on this account and the timing of my ban couldn’t have been better. In fact my boyfriend was really happy to hear about my final ban since i am spending too much time at the computer and i am going to be a mommy soon. It was a wild ride, thanks for everything.

Some good news for Skills, Linden Lab is compensating her for the ban.

... i’ve been emailing back and forth with Linden Lab for a bit and i just agreed to accept a one time payment that will recoup my losses (although, technically i didn’t lose any money). It was more than i expected, they showed good faith and i will leave them alone now, promise.

In New World Notes, where the story was also reported on, several readers reminded about another community that had been offlined, Steelhead, due to it's owner being suspended for completely unknown reasons despite not being involved in any controversy, and paying more in tier than Insilico.

As for Insilico, their blog stated negotiations were in progress for a transfer of ownership to keep the region of several years alive. But the last post made suggests they might not proceed and the area could be allowed to pass away. Regardless whether one considers Skills Hak a hero or villain, the Grid is facing the loss of another prized region and community.

Bixyl Shuftan

Prometheus Grid Offline, Future Uncertain

Earlier this month, Second Life Newser reported on the new "Prometheus" OpenSim Grid. Since then the virtual world has needed a reboot, wiping out it's contents. And one of it's staff recently informed the Newser that the main owner of the virtual world has pulled out of the team, throwing it's future in doubt.

The numbers of the world had been small, with four sims online, and a little less then two dozen active residents.

Aria Clash Closes

Aria Clash, a combat system and game which allowed residents to take part in ranged and close combat, found itself without a home this weekend. On Friday October 4, the sim held it's last battle, and afterwards closed its doors.

Kamiko Fazuku, who developed the game, explained her reasons in a letter several paragraphs long. She described "The past few months of my life" as having gone through a number of problems, in addition to having "entered a new phase of my life."

With this in mind, I have decided to suspend Aria Clash indefinitely. Perhaps forever. Perhaps not. I do not know. Indeed I may even work on it from time to time. I will be closing the sim and perhaps locking the group down. I will keep the hud on the marketplace, perhaps I'll even add a few weapon and skill vendors, should you wish to continue to play AC, or even use AC in a sim – it'll be there for you. Coming to this decision has not been easy, but truth be told – Aria Clash could not exist forever. I could not possibly spend the rest of my life maintaining it.

  ... one of the reasons I kept AC up and running was for you. I wanted to give people something fun to do on SL. That was my long-term goal. Money was never an issue for me, I hardly made anything. Control was not an issue, I never ordered or bullied anyone around. I simply wanted a self-sustaining place of fun on SL. A place for me and my friends to relax, and others to enjoy themselves. But alas, it has come time for me to shed AC, and put on a new coat.

Thank you AC Development Team, Each and every one of you made an important difference. The reason that there are no other systems on SL like AC is because the developer teams get to infighting and backstabbing, power-grabbing and betrayal. In AC's lifetime, I've watched about 10 systems get destroyed for these reasons, usually before they were even born. But none of you did that to me, instead you remained strong and faithful, loyal and honorable.  You were the greatest development team I've ever worked with. Perhaps the greatest development team ever! Every one of you possessed the quality most important – Heart.

The final event was 5PM October 4. Residents began to gather at the main store, chat some about their favorite events, and engage in a little sparring. The final event, which the Newser was unable to witness due to technical difficulties, was a "Boss Fight" in which game developer Aasha "Inner Sight" Kohime controled a powerful NPC which the players battled until it was finally defeated.

Aria Clash was written about in SL Newser in Aug 2011. Described as a “feudal Japan/sci-fi crossover” the game offered both "player versus player" and "player versus enemy" combat. Their location allowed players to teleport to locations to battle NPCs for experience and game gold. Since then, the game moved to a new sim, but continued to offer combat, as well as additional weapons and powerups at a store.

Now, the community of players who have enjoyed the game find themselves without a home. As for Aasha, some time ago she started working at the pony-themed store "Clock Out," where she continues to develop and build new items for.



(Click Here if the video fails to load)

Bixyl Shuftan

The End for "Flufee"

Since September 2011, the "Fluffee on a Meshion" video series from Pookymedia has been entertaining Second Life residents. But after a year and a half, it seems the videos are coming to an end. Episode 19, "Quo Vadis Fluffah," will be the last.



The videos took a brief hiatus in June 2012, but after the summer there were a few more.

Comments have been coming in on both the Youtube video and the "Superflufee" account, expressing sadness over the news. Producer Draxtor Despress stated in the video he and Pooky Amsterdam didn't own the rights to Flufee. In the comments below, he stated there were differences in opinion "about how to make someone popular in today's world."

And so, the final video shows Flufee driving off into real life. At the end are a few words from Torley Linden wishing Flufee well, "You truly are an iconic character."

Apocalypse Not: Scenes Across Second Life As The World Doesn't End

As most readers probably know, December 21st was the day some thought the Mayan "Long Count" calendar, written centuries ago, was predicting the end of the world. Very few people took it seriously. A few people headed to ancient Mayan temples to pray. But for most people, the reaction was to just laugh. At most, some called it a reminder to live their lives more productively as one day each of us has our own personal "end of the world."

At about Noon, I checked out the broadcast of Science Friday. Among other science subjects, the radio show talked about the facts behind the Mayan Calandar, as well as the people around discussing them. Science Friday takes place every Friday from 11AM to 1PM at Science School (23, 203, 28).

A number of clubs celebrated with parties. Near the SL Newser building, the Cutlass Club in Sunweaver Space (245, 88, 123) held it's "End of the World" party at 6PM with people asked to take an a look appropriate for the Apocalypse, many appearing as winged angelic beings. I never changed mine as in real life, the Press no doubt would be there to cover it. Someone had a nuke hanging overhead, but the club remained standing at party's end.

At 7PM, the Steelhead Ballroom in Steelhead (74, 155, 26) held it's own "World's End" party, with Fuzzball Ortega DJing the tunes. The place was packed with a number of residents dancing away. In one corner, someone had placed a half-rusted plane's fusalage made into a disaster survivor's home. There were also a few Christmas trees in the corner, under the larger one a few residents had left some presents under the tree for all, including a clockwork birdie.

Among the song lyrics I heard were, "party at the end of the worrrrld!" and "When the world ends, who will have the last dance?" There was also "Marvin the Martin" muttering "Where's the kaboom?" Eventually Fuzzball had to stop when his track did, "The world may not have ended, but my two hours has."

It wasn't technically an "End of the World" event, though it did symbolize renewal. Club Fur, one of the oldest clubs in Second Life, was open again, with manager YuliaV acting as DJ that night. Inviting people over, she was joined by a number of partiers, including some from South of the Border, so a few freebie translators were passed around. Among those showing up was one micro-bunny, whom got a few complements on her apperance. The unique bunny hopped onto the DJ's booth, and danced away.

Yulia was going to play for only two hours, but more people kept coming, so she kept going. 

Club Fur at Kitsuhana (136, 84, 2007) will be playing every Saturday at 8PM SL time.

It was a fun Friday night in Second Life, one in which the world, and the Grid, would keep on going.

Bixyl Shuftan

Steelhead Apocalypse Dance Tonight

If one believes the wild rumors about the Ancient Mayan "Long Count" Calendar, then the world may be coming to an end. The Steampunk community in Steelhead are a bit skeptical of such rumors of the planet going "bewm." But just in case, they're throwing one big party, their "Apocalypse" dance party, "Tensai is in charge... so you know it will be good."

Kid avatars, or "scamps" as they're known here, are welcome. There is also supposed to be "a very special guest appearance by a very special guest."

The event is scheduled to be at 7PM at Steelhead (74, 155, 26) , though is subject to change. DJ Fuzz will provide the tunes.

Longtime Country Westen Sim of Salt Creek Due to Close

What may be the oldest sim in Second Life with a country western theme, after seven years Salt Creek, home to the Coyote Country Saloon, is up for sale. Jorie Teichmann is the current owner, "I have run it for the past four years. It was up and running for three years before that. … It is the passing of an era unless I get a country western fan to run it."

Jorie gave me a brief tour of the place, on a mule-pulled wagon, "The design was unique and classic, copied by many … Fiddlers was the main competitor. The people who started it were originally co-owners here. We outlasted them by two years." We went in the Coyote Country Saloon, "Very classic design. This was a one of a kid build by one of the original owners, Jewel. Very talented lady. She got sick in real life. She sold it to me four and a half years ago. I lost contact with her too." He pointed upstairs, which had a number of cuddle spots and a dance area, "Always find lovers up there late at night."

Not far away was the Black Bart bull ride. Another popular spot, Jorie pointed out, was the chapel, complete with pews and altar, "Lots of folks come here." And another spot people went to was the beach. Jorie also mentioned special events, such as a memorial service to the 10th anniversary of 9-11, "twenty four hours continuous music, all life. All the performers donated their services. We donated proceeds to the 9-11 First Responders Fund."

Another event they held was "Dancing with the AvaStars," in which eight couples competed over four weeks. Every Christmas, they would have decorations up, as well as visits from Santa. And at Halloween, the Headless Horseman would ride through.

We came across one other regular, Dearstluv Writer, "A lot of devotion here. It's been quality, not quantity. If you were to move your dreams from real life to SL, it was here. It's just tat the pocketbook wasn't quite as generous." "I just can't afford it any more," Jorie explained, "I wish I could think of more, just a great place."

To get to the sim, head to Salt Creek (190, 148, 21). The tier date is Aug 24, so it maybe gone after that. For those interested in buying, contact Jorie Teichmann, whom is offering to sell the sim, build, and group for 1,300 dollars, or 400 for just the sim without the builds, tier being $295.00 a month

Among the regulars here was Any1 Gynoid, whom had come across the place on his first day, and ket coming over.

Bixyl Shuftan

Phoenix Development May Stop Soon

To Phoenix fans, Tonya Southern of the Firestorm/Phoenix team has some less than pleasant news, "Viewer 1 is officially on borrowed time." In the latest post on her blog, she talked about a recent third-party viewer meeting with Oz Linden about some upcoming changes with Second Life. Specifically, Project Shinning. While it should stop "bake fail" in newer viewers, "it is incompatible with current viewers. … The result of the server-sized bake is that viewers that don't handle it will simply see gray avatars, with no way to fix them."

It was Tonya's opinion that the old Linden Lab Viewer 1, when this happens, will no longer be useable, along with third-party viewers not actively maintained. Aside from Singularity and possibly Cool VL, she didn't expect any other third party viewers based on Viewer 1 technology to continue, "Nobody else is developing a V1 Viewer any more."

And the Phoenix Viewer, which continues to be the most popular of the third-party viewers? Team Phoenix has yet to make a decision, but in Tonya's opinion, "it's time to say that we are not going to put any more effort into Phoenix."

"As far as I'm concerned, it's time to put Phoenix to rest. The developers don't like working in the codebase, as in many ways it's an unmaintainable tissue of hacks, the support team barely remembers how to run it, and Firestorm now provides essentially all of the function Phoenix has, and much more besides."

Tonya recognized this would be an unpopular change, especially those who won't or can't run Viewer 2 and 3 Viewers, but "there comes a point when making an old program run in a new environment simply isn't feasible." Her advice, those who vowed not to run Viewer 2 better change their mind or make plans to depart Second Life. Same thing with those with older computers, "Me? I'll be happily running Firestorm 5."

Tonya's post got a mixed reaction. While some agreed, others did not. It was similar with the article New World Notes did, people saying there was no way Team Phoenix would give up on the most popular Second Life Viewer.

If the Phoenix Viewer is becoming harder and harder for its team to work with, it may not matter much to them if they stop the updates. From the very beginning, they've been a volunteer project. Success or failure, they don't make any money, only prestige.

Fortunately for Viewer 2 haters, or those whom have no personal problems with it but their computers can't run it, Singularity and Cool VL are still out there, though Singularity hasn't had a Mac update recently. And what if down the road all V1-based Viewers stop working? For some, it'll be time to get out the credit card (though Mac lovers will feel a bigger bite on the wallet). Though it isn't hard to imagine some die-hard V2 haters, and sadly a few on older machines with limited budgets (or whom get sold a newer machine that performs worse), whom say farewell to Second Life. It should be interesting to see how many head to Opensim worlds.

Sources: The Tigress's Second Den, New World Notes

Bixyl Shuftan

Goodbye Perri Prinz, Hopefully Only For Now

It's not usually news when someone makes the decision to leave the Grid. But this someone meant quite a bit to the community she lived at and the places she DJed at. Perri Prinz, a valued member of the Sunweaver/HV Community, recently announced she was departing Second Life for good.

Read the story in People.