SL Youtube: Horror Night 2011 - Negai -

Featured machinima on the Second Life website, the Japanese horror-themed Mindscape sim.

"Can you solve the mysteries in Horror Night, a limited-time puzzle game that will immerse you in spooky surroundings and unexpected twists? Danger lurks around every corner as you collect the items needed to complete the game. Grab a free HUD from the shrine to begin... and good luck! More info at: http://miniascape.me/horror (Japanese). "

Kristen’s Viewer Ending Further Developments

On the Kirstens Viewer blog, creator KirstenLee Cinquetti announced in a post marked “Sad Farewell” that all plans for upgrading the noted Third party viewer were being shelved, and installers would be removed.


Installers have been removed as they are now very outdated, the sourcecode will of course remain. The website and forums will stay up for as long is required. Also inworld groups will stay active. It is of course entirely your choice as to how long you continue to use the client, however I do stress that it will fall behind with features and it may be wise to seek alternatives in the near future.


The reason for KirstenLee’s decision? His partner was ill, and Kristen now had to work more to support her. So he could no longer work on the viewer.

I would like to wish everyone who has supported the project over the years, a huge hug and many thanks, Jabba, Altair and all the people who have put up with my ranting and raving ... Who knows what the future holds! But for now Kirstens Viewer goes into a deep sleep.


The Kirsten’s viewer became popular among a number of Second Life residents. It is sad to see it go, and it will be missed.

The full post can be read Here.

Special thanks to Jasmine Dawn.

Bixyl Shuftan

Burn2: "Round Two Land Rush"

This will be held on Saturday September 10th. This land rush will be open to all, without restriction. You may purchase as many plots as you like. The only condition is that we will not be adjusting plot locations to match with your possible existing plots. Think of it as a good way for an off site camp area or another playa presence location.

All plots left will be either 512 sq m or 1024 sq m sized plots. 14000L for 1024 plot .

After the completion of Two Land Rushes, any remaining plots will be sold on a case by case basis by members of the DPW authorized to sell plots and certain members of the Core Team of burn2. Please ask for assistance through the BURNING MAN 2.0 group with these sales.

Please note! Never pay anyone directly! All payments must go through the land terminal on the parcel. If you pay someone directly we will not be held liable for a refund of your land terminal fee ($4L). By participating in the Land Rush you agree to the rules and decisions made by the DPW in the execution of these rushes. You also agree to all Builder Guideline rules and policies and the Burning Man Ten Principles we follow.

Builders may have up to two assistants. The builder who owns the plot is responsible for their assistants' actions at all times, and insuring that all builders are knowledgeable of the Builder Guidelines, Policies of BURN2, Second Life Terms of Service and the Second Life Community Standards policy's.

Questions? Contact Kev Sweetwater or Diana Renoir in Second Life.

Noah's Ark

With the weather so prominent in the news lately, perhaps it was only fitting I came across a build of Noah's Ark. Filled with descriptions, ans numerous exhibits, the Ark is a detailed Biblical build.

Read more in Places.

Huricane Irene Benefit at Prim Economy Music Park

Debi Latte - the amazing Second Life singer (and my best friend) - lost her house in Real-Life. The hurricane hit Rodanthe, N.C. first and hardest. Debi is actually sleeping on a cot in the firehouse! AND We can help her entire community!


We are having a benefit for Rodanthe, next Sunday from 4:00 to 7:30 pm SLT at Prim Economy Music Park


4:00 = The Sensational CelticMaidenWarrior Lancaster!
4:30 = The Incredible Noma Falta!
5:30 = The Spectacular Savannah Coronet!
6:00 = The Talented Hogan Bailey!
6:30 = The Awesome Mamaa Saiz!
6:45 = The Inspiring
7:00 = The Outstanding
7:15 = The Outrageous Harry Frychester!
7:30 to 8:30 = The Fantastic JustinElias Anatra!

Free Concert - all tips go to Rodanthe!

Buy the Tee shirts designed by Fashionista and the ultimate designer Tayna Matahari! They say "I helped Rodanthe!" and "Irene can kiss my pixels!" All proceeds help the island!

Prim Economy Music Park, Alora Bay, (159, 147, 21)

Annie Melson also has a special dress made, all sales going to help Debi, on sale at Taupo (60, 180, 36).

Cartoon of the Day

The picture was taken a few years ago at "The 1st Question," with Explorer Dastardly in the audience with an, interesting title.

By Bixyl Shuftan

Railway Stopover at Jopsy's

Gemma Cleanslate has been continuing riding the railroad in Second Life, and seeing the sights. Today, she writes about her stopover at Jopsy Pendragon's places. Given a list of places, a hot air balloon will take you to which you choose, which range from a particle show to an underground maze.

Read more in Places.

Hat Party at Steelhead Ballroom.

Steelhead Sheriff Fuzzball Ortega told Second Life Newser there would be a special Hat Party at the Steelhead Ballroom this week.

"Back in the early to mid 1900s, hats were popularly worn by both men and women. It was stylish. At that time, felt was a common material for men's hats. With cooler Fall weather approaching, the guys went to the coat closet and dusted off their felt hats , and began to wear them once more.

We'll be hosting a 'best in show' Hat Award with cash prizes.
Categories... The Largest Hat in attendance. The hat with the most Feathers. And Tensai's 'Most Complex hat that doesn't crash the sim.'

Hosted in the Steelhead Ballroom, a big enough venue to wear a big hat and not hit the ceiling.

And unfortunately, "The Hair" does not count...........bummer."

Friday at 7:00 PM

Steelhead (74, 155, 26)

Eye on the Blog: “New Premium Membership Features”

Last month at the Second Life Community Convention, among the commitments Rod Humble made was that there would be improvements to Premium accounts. A few days ago, Linden Lab announced a couple ”new exclusive benefits.” They were offering gift items just for Premium members, and sandbox areas for the exclusive use of those with paid memberships.

For their gifts, Linden Labs offered what they called the first of their reguarly available items just for Premium players, a set of furniture.



Premium members will regularly receive exclusive virtual items that you won't find anywhere else. The very first gift is a stylish set of furniture crafted by Colleen Desmoulins of The Loft. The set features a sofa, tables, plants and lamps to enhance your home’s cozy factor. You can change the look of most of the furniture to fit your home’s unique style and decor — whether you live in a Linden Home or elsewhere. This customizable furniture collection is the first of many Resident-created gifts Premium Members will be receiving regularly. Premium Residents can visit a virtual inworld kiosk to claim their gift now.


The sandboxes they advertised as being quieter than those for the general public.


Explore your creative side or just get down to the business of creating without the distractions of a more public space in one of the many Premium-only Sandboxes in Second Life. There are four new, exclusive Premium-only Sandbox Islands you can access right now to give you more room than ever to bring your creations to life. Members can visit right now.



Comments by residents seemed to have a small majority feeling these new features were a good idea. Not many were interested in the furniture set, some saying there were already lots of freebie sofas on the market. The exclusive “griefer free” sandboxes were liked by many. A number however expressed disappointment, saying what would really increase Premium level memberships were things like teir discounts, not “baubles” as one member called the first Premium gifts.


Linden Lab stated this would be only the first of their added bonuses to Premium acounts, “keep an eye out for even more surprises in the future.”

The blog post can be read in it’s entirety Here.

Bixyl Shuftan

Events this Week in Second Life from Sept 6th to September 12th

August fades into September, and for those in college it's back to school. But there are plenty of events around from club parties to live music, to game shows, and more. This Sunday is special as it is the tenth aniversary of the 9-11 attack.

Read more in Events.

"The Lighttower" Closes it's Doors

One of DJ Quark Allen's favorite places to play his music was "The Lighttower." I forget exactly when he started, but it's before Second Life Newser started.

Sunday, we at SL Newser learned the club was closed, the area it was at up for sale. The owner, supposedly, has been offline for a while.

Although not as popular as many sims that have vanished, the place still was where we went to relax on occasion, and sometimes have a chuckle or two that later showed up again as a cartoon.

The place will be missed.

Club Graffiti Writers Workshop

Short Story Writers Workshop
A study in people/place watching.

Date: First Meeting - Sept 10, 2011 @ 2pm slt - 1-2 hours

Place: Club Graffiti - Good Day Sunshine (140. 72. 21)

Subject:

You will be given a random picture to write a short story about. There is no theme to these stories, just let your mind create whatever it wants.

Length:

A short story should be between 1,000 and 7,500 words. I will not be super strict about length. If you run shorter that is okay, however, try not to run over 7,500 words because then it becomes a novellette. All stories must be written in English.

How often:

We will meet every two weeks... same bat time... same bat location. Should this every change, you will be informed. The number of people participating will determine how often we will be writing.

Sharing:

Please be prepared to share and recieve feedback about your stories. Feedback from one's peers is how we grow. When giving feedback, please make sure your comments are constructive. You should be prepared to read your story in voice or find someone to read it and comments should be made in type so that people can record your comments about their stories to look at later.

If you have any questions please IM Kalli Birman

Grendel's "Grungeboardin"

The "Grungeboarding" track at the Grendle's Children area. Created by Nitwacket, "Grundgeboardin is Constantine Riel's 'fault' - according to Flea Bussy - who created the rest of the stuff in the machinima."

Hurricane Irene Stories from Second Life

Last weekend, Second Life residents on much of the East Coast faced hurricane Irene, which threatened to knock out power, and worse. Bixyl Shuftan gives his own experiences, plus those of five other Second Life residents from North Carolina to New England.

Read the story in People.

Burn2 Artists

Menubar Memorial informed us ,” The Art Committee is pleased to announce their list of Invited Artists to display in this year's Burn2 annual event. These artists were chosen through an intensive selection process which involved a vastly encompassing variety of criteria to determine through concensus those whom we feel best represent a wide sample of creativity, technique, artistic expression, and resourcefulness that best expresses the spirit and values of Burning Man and Burn2. “

It was exciting to see that this year there will be 6 invited artists, with a wide breadth of backgrounds.

Claudia222 Jewell is a sculptress , and makes her fantasy sculpties come alive by using rich vibrant organic tectures. Her first SL build entitled "Parallel Worlds" was exhibited on the sim FarStar in January of 2011. She also has shown at Pirats Art Network and has entered her work at the UWA Expositions.

Trill Zapatero calls herself “an artist , maybe”. I have seee her art and, yes, she IS an artist, and I am looking forward to her creation.

Rag Rand says his style translates concepts into humorous, thought provoking art which enables his client’s messages to be memorable and effective. It will be interesting to see what he presents to us on the playa.

Rebeca Bashly says of herself, “Serbian artist, almost 4 years in SL. Every single sculpt and texture I use in my work is created by me alone. My most significant work is “SnowCrash” sim on UTSA Artspace, which is a team work with Igor Ballyhoo.”

Starlash Sweetwater tells us to date she has had showings of her 2D work at several galleries and has recently started to bring her stories to life with machinima. Using second life as inspiration she is constantly trying new techniques and mediums to evolve her work.

Oberon Onmura has a unique approach to using opposing forces on physical objects that has attracted the attention of blog sites, SL and RL galleries and publications. He has recently become interested in the use of scripted agents (i.e. bots) as artmaking material.

It will be so interesting to see what each artist will place on the playa for all of us to enjoy. I can't wait! Remember if you wish to volunteer or contribute in any way visit Deep Hole: Burning Man- Deep Hole (230, 72, 24)

Gemma Cleanslate

SL Youtube: "The Netera Landar Chat - Corky Myrtle interview"

By Mary Wickentower, "Corky Myrtle interview on The Netera Landar Chat. Corkey speaks about Be My Guest, Schoolhouse Earth, The Actor's Sandbox, Machinima Mondays & 48 Hour Film Project." Done Saturday September 3rd

Cartoon of the Day

By Bixyl Shuftan

Come Join Us Today for the Party

Today, the staff of Second Life Newser will be headed to Cova's Cove to have one last summer bash this Labor Day weekend, the unofficial end of summer.

The party is 1 PM Sunday at Cova's Cove in the Bamboo sim.

Announcement from Laval Galleries

Dear friends,

Thanks to all your wonderful encouragement and support over the past 2 & half years, Laval Galleries is moving to a new Laval-designed architectural facility on a new sim (one of SL's oldests ever sims) - Tuvan.

Before doors open and we welcome you to the new Laval Gallery of Art on Tuvan, it's time to wish a fond farewell to the Laval Gallery on San Gabriele.

This Sunday at 11:30 am come on over for a gallery closing party. In conjunction with the "Wireframe Musician" Exhibition there is also the art from renown SL Musician "Juel Resistance".

Come soak up the atmosphere and spot your favourite musician stripped to their luminant musical essence. Share some memories with Bobbi and friends at the Laval Gallery that started it all.

Also come hear a little about the new gallery (opening next week) and the next step in Bobbi's evolution as an authentic artist photographer and supporter and patron of the arts in SL and beyond.

We look forward to seeing you all again.

This SUNDAY, SEPtember 4th starting at 12:00pm SL time

Laval Photo Art, San Gabriele (203, 54, 263)

Interview with Avination's Cindy Darkstone

While at the Avination grid's anniversary event, I ran into the head of the founder of the "From Second Life to AVN" group, Cindy Darkstone. We met up later, and I asked her a few questions about life in this different grid.

Read more in People.