The Land of Misfit Toys

 

Christmas is almost here, and we at the Newser have been busy. But, we have enough time to squeeze in one more Christmas article before Santa makes his rounds. At The River, there's a cute tribute to a classic made for TV Christmas special, "The Land of Misfit Toys." So our editor dropped by for a look.

 

Read the article in Places.  

Tex's Tree Farm

 

Gemma Cleanslate has been going around Second Life checking out winter and Christmas themed places. One she visited recently was Tex's Tree Farm. Here, you can pick your tree, chop it down, and take it home. But that's not the only thing you can do here.

 

Read Gemma's article in Places. 

Announcement: Toys For Tots Donation Drive Total

December 26, 2020

TOYS FOR TOTS 2020 FINAL COLLECTION NUMBERS !

Merry Christmas Happy Holidays To All !

Thanks to all of you, we have all pitched in and
help make this Christmas a better one for many
underprivileged children.

This year was a very successful Toys For Tots
Donation Drive For us here in Second Life. I want
to thank all of you for your efforts and support.

We have collected a Grant Total of: $2,022,318L
Which Equates to = $8,098.00 US
Process Credit Fee = $283.00 US
With Draw Fee From Second Life = $405.00 US
Which Gives Us A Total  Of = $7,410,00 US

Kickazz Audio Stream Rental Donated an
additional $1090.00 US to round out a donation
Total of $8500.00 US

Yea Us !  High 5's All Around.

TOP THREE DONATION COLLECTORS
517650    Chuck Clip 

207534    Yazhu Ichibara

170090    TheCowb0y Resident -

There is no way to put into words how thankful
and appreciative I am of all of you. Smile, and
feel proud of the smiles you helped create !

A special thank you goes out to two individuals,
that year after year work hard to help make
our drive successful. Thank you, Steffi Spires
and CherryBlossum Garnet !

REMEMBER:
“What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us;
what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal.”
― Albert Pike

Thank all of you again,
Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy New Year,

Jayson Marjeta

Toys For Tots Donation Kiosks

 

For Christmas, poor families often have a hard time getting presents to their kids. But there are charities that can help. Among them is Toys For Tots, an organization set up by the US Marine Reserves. Here in Second Life, Kickazz Shoutcast Stream Rental is doing a Toys For Tots drive. The company has pledged that all money donated will go to the charity, and is willing to match the first $1000 USD.

Those wanting to take part in the drive can head to Lorii Caproni Island and take copies of one or both of the kiosks there by "buying" it for zero Lindens. Set it where you want, then "when you set it out, you will be asked permission to take money from you. This is because of how the Kiosk works. A donation is made to the Kiosk, you are the Kiosk owner, the Donation goes to you, the amount donated is then transfered from you to ToysForTots Resident.  The exact amount donated, not a penny more or less."

The kiosk is copyable and transferable, so you can give friends copies of it to take part in the drive too. They are good until December 24, 6PM, when the charity drive comes to an end. Among the places taking part is the Happy Vixen beach club.

 http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Lorii%20Caproni%20Island/106/55/22

 

Examples of April Foolery Across the Internet

If you're reading this, chances are by now you've seen the April Fool's article from us, our yearly tradition. But we're far from being the only ones pulling an April Fool.

World of Warships announced a new "Jacuzzi Mode" for four toy "Tier Zero" ships, the "Bottlesheep," the "Bathyscrap," the "Pokeyboat," and the "Das Boot." Taking place in a bathtub, matches could be either two teams in PvP or one in PvE against bots, pooting toy cannons against one another in sounds that compared to the rest of the game are rather cutsie. While players couldn't earn experience points or credits, there were missions to be done for rewards. (Click here for a video).

War Thunder continues to get comments over it's putting "My Little Pony" fighters in the game for April 1 a few years ago. This year, they've brought pirate ships into the game. There's only one kind of ship of for play, and aiming the cannons can be tricky as the ocean waves are rolling. But it is possible to fire at one enemy on one side, then switch to the other immediety and give another a broadside. For all the laughs about "Yo-ho-ho!" and "15 Men on a Dead Man's Chest," it's believed this is an open test to see how the game and the players handle ocean action. So this April Foolery has some seriousness behind it. (Click here for a video).

And then there are webcomics. Many engage in April Fools pranks such as the artists of two doing a one-shot joke comic for one another's strip. "General Protection Fault" by Jeff Darlington did something different this year, an ode to old time text-based computer adventure games.

April Fool's Day pranks have a long tradition here at GPF. For 2016, I had the idea of replacing the front page with an old style computer screen, like and old DOS oe UNIX prompt, or, even better, something related to old home computers like the Commodore 64 or TRS-80 Color Computer. I wanted it to be able to play a game of some sort, something that would hearken back to the simple games I played as a kid.

The comic itself started in 1998, and after almost two decades has gone through a number of plots with characters going through a lot of changes. One can also find April Foolery in other comics, but Darlington's 1980's throwback is almost certainly the most unique.

That's all for now with the foolery. Happy April Fool's.

Bixyl Shuftan

Toys For Tots Raises $30,000 Dollars at Second Life Expo

Last month, Toys for Tots held it's sixth annual fundraiser in Second Life. "Last year's Expo was an outstanding success, adding over L$1,600,000 to the Toys For Tots coffers" their website stated. This year, they far exceeded it with over 7.646,000 Lindens raised, or a whopping Thirty Thousand US Dollars! The event lasted eight days.

http://www.sl-t4t.org/

Bixyl Shuftan

Scenes From the Toys 4 Tots Drive

The Toys 4 Tots Breedables Expo, mentioned ahead of time last week, is currently going on. This is the sixth year in a row the children's charity has run an event in Second Life.

The Christmas-themed event had a number of exhibits. The event started on November 15, and will be going on until November 30.

Toys For Tots mentioned they raised a total of 1,600,000 Lindens last year, and already they have exceeded that. As of the writing of this article, their total is about 1,732,000, or about $7,000 US dollars.

Check out the event for yourself at Ponie Wonderland I (128/218/21).

For more information, check the SL Toys For Tots blog: http://www.sl-t4t.org/ .

Press Release: "Hot Bay City Nights" Car Show

BAY CITY, SL - Celebrating Bay City's mid-century theme as well as its large network of roads, "Hot Bay City Nights" will showcase vehicle makers who create automobiles from the Bay City "era," stretching from 1940 to 1965. Hot Bay City Nights in a first of its kind event, borrowing a page or two from the city's successful "Bay City Fashion Week' last April.

Established vintage automobile designers will be found in the Bay City Fairgrounds, in the North Channel region, from August 18-25 to present the best in vintage and retro vehicles for all Second Life™ avatars.

Additional events will provide plenty for all to do, including DJ and live music events, a bikini contest, and a charity car wash. The event will raise funds for Child's Play, a charity that provides toys and games for children in hospitals around the world.

Bay City is a mainland community, developed by Linden Lab™ and home to the Bay City Alliance. The Bay City Alliance was founded in 2008 to promote the Bay City regions of Second Life™ and provide a venue for Bay City Residents and other interested parties to socialize and network. It is now the largest Bay city group, and home to most Residents of Bay City.

For more information, contact:
Marianne McCann
Bay City Alliance
marianne.mccann@gmail.com