Announcement: Caledon Oxbridge University Fundraiser

The October Halloween Party Fundraiser will be on October the 19th, starting at 7 PM. We are doing the fundraiser a little early in the month to avoid the end of the month crush of October events.  The fundraiser will run roughly 3 hours, finishing sometime close to 10 PM. SLT.  We want everyone to have a chance to pop in as they can.

DJ Cynthia Farshore will be our DJ for the evening at the spooky Halloween sky-box. There we will be dancing and listening to the tunes of Halloween from now and yesteryear. 

The theme is "A Classic Halloween," going back to the early days of Horror. Dracula, Frankenstein's monster, The Wolfman, The Mummy, etc.

The gifts-giver will be active, and there are props for taking selfies, and an attic to explore.

This year we have a two-sided poster provided by Cynthia Farshore and Carl Metropolitan, Thank you both. Click it to receive this note card on the event.  It is full perms so you can adjust the size as needed to place as a advertisement. Poster is 3 prims only! Feel free to share and if you want the texture separate, IM Andrea Jones (andreajonesms Resident).


Your location.for the event:

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Caledon%20Oxbridge%20Village/135/219/1889

On Tuesday October the 22nd, starting at 6 PM, we will have a follow-up dance at the Goblin cave in Downs with DJ Piper DJing and Cynthia Farshore hosting. This offers a second chance for those that might not be able to make it on the weekend.

Your  LM:
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Caledon%20Downs/104/89/32

The Caledon Oxbridge University is funded by the donations from resident users like yourself. The majority of the funds donated go to paying the Tier for the region we are in. Any donation is appreciated but donations are not required to be at the events. No cover charge as we want you to come and have a good time. I hope to see all of you there! Feel free to help get the word out about our event.

Announcement: Mu Sigma Nu Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign

We, the Men of (MΣN) Mu Sigma Nu SL Fraternity,  invite you to join us October 1st through October 31st, for our National Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign.

Throughout the month, our fraternity will be conducting events in Second Life and on Facebook for the purpose of raising funds for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.

Our event calendar is structured as follows:

October 1st                31 Day Photo Campaign begins
October 20th, 2019        Breast Cancer Awareness “DINNER and AUCTION”
October 27th, 2019         Breast Cancer Awareness “Celebration Party”
October 31, 2019             Final day of photo campaign.

Each event is designed and orchestrated to highlight the importance of Breast Cancer Awareness, Breast Cancer Education, and Breast Cancer Research. We selected the Susan G Komen because it is the largest and best funded breast cancer organization in the world and since 1989, their work has helped reduce deaths from breast cancer by 40% .

          100% of the proceeds go to the Susan G Komen Organization

Can't make an event?  We are also accepting donations.  Please feel free to give to this great cause.



Our Photo booths are every day  and tonight until 10:30 slt

Thanks in Advance,
Men of (MΣN) Mu Sigma Nu SL Fraternity

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Ageless/229/37/3002

Cartoon of the Day

Taken at Burn2. The event is known for it's decorated porto-potties, which can range from the artistic to the provocative to the whimsical. Prince may be known for some of his tunes being raunchy, but it's doubtful the builder thought his music should go down the toilet.

By Bixyl Shuftan

Video Game Collecting : Part One - Why I Collect Physical Games

Probably just about everyone in Second Life plays games of some kind, either on the computer or video console games, or both. Available in stores since the 1970s, many of the older residents of the virtual world have fond memories of spending hours as kids on games from Atari, Nintendo, Sega, Playstation, and others years before coming here. While some residents have left these games behind, to others there's just something about holding the actual game in your hand, or they want to collect older games. Among these video game collectors is Cyfir. In the first of two stories on the subject, he talks a little about why.

Read Cyfir's article in Other Grids MMOs and Games.

News in Brief

There's a lot going on, both in Second Life and online gaming. So while we're trying to find some time to write an in-depth article, here's a few topics in brief.

Burn2, the largest annual art and music festival is taking place on Second Life. There are numerous music events and art exhibits over the six sims. To get there, head to Burning Man- Deep Hole (174/32/25). The festival lasts to Sunday October 20, with the high points being the Burning of the Man on Saturday and the Temple Burn on Sunday.

Also going on is the Gacha Guild event. Taking place twice a year, people can purchase avatars and accessories. The hot item for this event is the Spirit Fennec avatar, of which people are selling for as low as ten Lindens on Marketplace. Starting up a few days ago was the event's "Hallows 2019 Silent Hill Hunt," which promises big scares and big prizes. The event ends on November 1, and is located at Dew Drop (189/180/1002).

The controversy over the game company Blizzard banning of a game tournament winner and stripping him of his prize money continues. A few days ago, they announced he would still get the prize money, but was still banned for six months. But this hasn't stopped the criticism from it's customers, human rights organizations, or US politicians. The company's largest annual event, Blizzcon, is just in a couple weeks and fans are planning a protest there.
Image from Vice

Stay tuned for more information.

Bixyl Shuftan

Events This Week at the Sunweaver and Montecito Bay Clubs and Furry Fashion Lounge

Here's what's going on at the Sunweaver, the Montecito Bay clubs, and the Furry Fashion Lounge

Cutlass: Best in 'T', Fire and Ice, Roller Skates

The Happy Vixen: Mad/Weird Science, Anime, TBA, Superheroes, Lizards and Wizards, Lingerie, Monsters, Good vs Evil, Burlesque, TBA

Club Zero Gravity: TBA

Montecito Bay: TBA

Furry Fashion Lounge: CAYA, Animation, Creepy vs Cute, Masquerade, Throwback Thursday, Elements, Omnipunk, Seven Daily Sins,  Late night, Pokemon

Read the schedules in SL Clubbin'.  

RFL Announcement: Ebbe Linden Bear To Debut At 2019 SL Christmas Expo

Linden Lab is doing its part to add to the Magic Of Christmas in Second Life, and help the American Cancer Society fight Childhood Cancer.   Already a partner in the fight against cancer, the Lab is joining in the Expo goal to provide at least $20,000 for VR Headsets for kids in treatment.

As already announced, Linden Lab will be revealing their 4th Edition of the coveted Linden Homes and taking part in the Lights Of Hope Holiday Home Decorating Contest.

And Now Even Bigger News!  Since becoming CEO in 2014 Ebbe Linden is the lone Linden without his own bear... until now!  A Very Special EBBE LINDEN BEAR will be available during the EXPO for a L$250 donation to the American Cancer Society.   Linden Bear collectors take note!  The design of the bear will be revealed on Dec 5th at the opening of the Expo so do not miss out on this opportunity!

More Than 150 Merchants! Breedables! Entertainment! Linden Home Reveal! Don't miss The All I Want For Christmas Kids Fashion Runway Show, Lights of Hope Christmas Decoration Show and HUGE Raffles, The 2019 SL Christmas Expo is the place to be!

Mark Your Calendars for Dec 5 - 15 and Believe in The Magic of Christmas!

The SL Christmas Expo is in support of the American Cancer Society and its Childhood Cancer programs.  For More Information visit http://slchristmasexpo.com or the ACS Campus in Second Life http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/American%20Cancer%20Society/128/96/22

Fortnite Game Down Following "Black Hole" Event

For fans of the popular Fortnite game, some were expecting something to happen on Sunday October 13. But what happened was a complete surprise to the players. The map was blown up, and everything sucked into a giant black hole. As of the writing of this article, the game has been unplayable since.

There were some early hints something big was about to happen. Paul Tassi of Forbes reported that all season long, Season 11, the game's owner, Epic Games, was teasing Fortnite's Battle Royale players about a final event, "The End." Tassi concluded whatever the event was, it would would be the end of the gaming map as they knew it. The event itself just lasted a few minutes, with rockets flying around, a "rift" opening, the players flying upward as a meteor comes crashing down, then everything gets sucked into the center, with only blackness and a black hole remaining.

RIP Fortnite: Battle Royale

FULL LIVE REACTION TO THE END! pic.twitter.com/ifX4CJcnEK

— Jack “CouRage” Dunlop (@CouRageJD) October 13, 2019

(Click here if the video does not play)

Since "The End," Fortnite Batttle Royale's game servers have been down. Reactions have varried from jokes that the gamers would have to step outside and see the sun for the first time in months to that Epic Games had pulled off one of the most epic trolls in gaming history. What happens next, no one really knows. It's also being speculated that the servers won't be back up until Thursday October 17, four days. All that is known is that Fortnite Chapter 2, as it's been dubbed by fans, will be quite different.

Sources: BBC, Forbes, Polygon, Twitter,

Bixyl Shuftan

Luskwood Update: Ice Cream and Obedience

As Luskwood moves closer to it's sixteenth anniversary, the place still has the dystopian look that it's had since August, including proclamations from a "Council" and declarations of rebellion. Since then, this Council has continued to issue proclamations calling for it's residents to "eat the ice cream" for "a bright and happy future. One issued in mid-September looked like it was taken from L. Ron Hubbard's Sea Organization.

More recently was another one of a furry in a factory worker's outfit with a red banner in one hand and an ice cream cone in another, "Secure Our Future: Only Through Obedience Will We Prevail." It seems that the Council is taking cues from Soviet propaganda posters.

As Luskwood heads to the second half of October, there are unconfirmed reports that there will be an anniversary event of some kind. Hopefully by then, people will be talking more about cake and less about Halo Top ice cream.

Bixyl Shuftan

Announcement: This Week at the Seanchai Libraries

THERE'S JUST SO MUCH TO SHARE!

Seasonal tales abound this week, and it's hard to know where to start: new series, old series, classic Gothic and Victorian, new spins on old adventures.  Check out this week's schedule and see. Then join us this week for stories LIVE in #secondlife, and on our properties in #kitely, live in voice.

Check out the stories and the storytellers at www.seanchailibrary.com

All stories told in open voice unless otherwise noted. All times SL/PT

*MONDAY,  October 14th, at 7pm: Spider Robinson and Robert Heinlein's VARIABLE STAR begins with Gyro Muggins.

*TUESDAY, October 15th, at 7pm:  THE SPOOKY CLASSICS: Edgar Allan Poe with Caledonia Skytower, live on stream.
5 Siddal Street - Ravenheart Museum
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Rosehaven%20Laudanum/137/159/22

*WEDNESDAY, October 16th, at 7pm: THE MYSTERIOUS WOODS OF WHISTLE ROOT begins with Fairie Maven-Pralou.

*THURSDAY, October 17th:

   ~ at 7pm: Stories from THE SEALED BOOK based on the 1945 radio plays of the same name, Shandon Loring presents live in stream (Also in Kitely!  Find teleport from the main Seanchai World grid.kitely.com:8002:SEANCHAI)

   ~ at 9pm: SEANCHAI LATE NIGHT - Contemporary Sci-Fi-Fantasy from online sources such as Lightspeed, Escape Pod, and Clarkesworld with Finn Zeddmore

All sessions held at the Seanchai Library in Second Life unless otherwise indicated. Schedule subject to change.   

*SOMETHING REALLY SPECIAL FOR AUTUMN* 

Seanchai Library is offering TWO (count'em, two) listening rooms featuring seasonal literature. Created by Shandon Loring, these are available for resident enjoyment 24/7.

Check the post for more info.
https://irelandslstory.blogspot.com/2019/10/autumn-special-listening-rooms.html
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Holly%20Kai%20Estates/215/44/27

Cartoon of the Day

Taken at the Happy Vixen. Yes there is a "Space Unicorn" song.

By Bixyl Shuftan

SL Video: Cetatea Poenari in Second Life

(Click here if the video fails to play)

From Erik Mondrian on October 11, "By request, a music video of Cetatea Poenari, the Second Life home of the Drakul family. Built by Vlad Drakul-Dragonash and Nazaire Dragonash and named after a ruined Romanian castle that was once occupied by the real-life Vlad III Dracula (also known as Vlad the Impaler), Cetatea Poenari defies description and seems to stretch far beyond the limits imposed by its virtual borders. From the Valley of Horses and Arefu Prison to The Slaughtered Lamb pub and Snagov Monastery—and with the magnificent castle itself keeping watch over all from above—this is a region with many different paths and hidden places for the curious traveler to find. Thanks again to Vlad, Nazaire, Rain, and the entire Drakul family for asking me to film here!"

The Blind Users Support Group

When it comes to using computers, it's pretty difficult for most of us to imagine using one's computer without their eyes. But that's what some residents do, either being legally blind or having total blindness. The Newser recently interviewed the head of the Blind Users Support Group, Mermaid Celene (CeleneHighwater Resident). So how would a blind person get about Second Life and how has the group been doing?

Read the interview in People.

Burn2 Starts Today

Just a reminder. The Burn2 event, the largest annual art and music festival in Second Life begins today. The sim should be open to all at 5PM SL time. This year's theme is Metamorphoses. The event goes on to Sunday October 20, and the sims should be up for a day or two afterwards.

SLURL:​ ​http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Burning%20Man-%20Deep%20Hole/174/32/25

Announcement: This Saturday in The Science Circle - "Evolutionary Theory Before Darwin"

"Evolutionary Theory Before Darwin"
Saturday October 12
10AM to 11AM
By Dr. Stephen L. Gasior 

The easy narrative of how people thought of evolution in Europe before On the Origin of Species was that God created everything. Then Darwin came along and showed how it really is. While Darwin was revolutionary, he did not create his evolutionary theory from whole cloth.

This talk will explore more the concepts in the scientific field that set the foundation for Darwin. Scientists like Buffon, Cuvier, Lamarck, Chambers, Unger, and Darwin (Erasmus) were instrumental in developing theories on the origins of species and how they interrelate. While some concepts like the scala naturae (ladder of being) were wrong, they nevertheless provided a foundation for criticism which helped Darwin conceptualize his objections to current thought. Thoughts on how Darwin’s contributions can be thought of as part of a continuity as compared to a foundation for evolution will be the goal of the talk.

Read the announcement in full here (link).

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/The%20Science%20Circle/67/129/32  

News and Commentary: Blizzard's Removing Hong Kong Gamer From Tournament Sparks Calls for Boycott, Debate on Free Speech

For years, American companies have been trying to get into the Chinese market. With over a billion people, the potential number of customers for a large business is huge. However, the country is under the control of a dictatorship that does not react well to criticism or remarks in opposition to it's goals. It frequently makes demands to such companies, and penalizes those already in for perceived comments or actions against it. The debate flared up again this week thanks to three stories in the news. One of them was a tournament of players of the Hearthstone game, which is owned by the same company that owns the still noted MMO game World of Warcraft. When one winner was interviewed, he proclaimed his support for the protestors in the city of Hong Kong. Blizzard soon reacted with actions many of its customers have found troubling, including yours truly whom had recently just signed up for Warcraft again after an extended break.

Read the story in Other Grids, MMOs, and Games.

The Last CDS Anniversary Events

For the past month, the Confederation of Democratic Simulators has thrown several events to celebrate their community's fifteenth anniversary. Last weekend were the last of their events. On Saturday October 5 at 12 Noon, Maggi696 sung for an audience of both local residents and friends. Shortly after 1PM, she was followed by DJ Patricio.

The Raglan Shire duo of singer, maggi696 and her partner, DJ Patricio will join us for OKTOBERFEST 2019 (They were kind enough to step up when our scheduled performer fell ill.)

Both the local residents and their friends, notably some tinies from Maggi and Patricio's home area of Raglan, enjoyed the show. There were also a few wisecracks. "Try to avoid stepping on anyone." While there was food and beer available to the side, the tinies asked, "How about wootberry juice? And waffles?" "Waffle, on a stick!" "If I don't get a waffle right now, I swear to God, I gonna start pulling someone's fur!" "Make waffles, not war."

On Sunday at 10 AM, a game of paintball, or "Get the Chancellor" as CDS Chancellor Kyoko Furse-Barzane (Samara Barzane) musingly called it, was scheduled. Rosie Gray was the winner of the match. "She is brutal," Kyoko would say. A few minutes after Noon was the "Party on the Platz." It turned out the original performer's computer wasn't working, so DJ Jonesy stepped to to provide the music.

Alas, but Calli's streaming computer has fallen ill. So she will not be able to DJ today for our OKTOBERFEST Party on the Platz. But never fear! Calli found us a replacement DJ who has confirmed. His name is Jonesy (bo130). He doesn't do "oompah", but we can provide our own with a yodel here and there. Please welcome him warmly!


The people there danced to the music, snacked on the food available, and chatted some, "One time my friend was talking about a sausage fest in real life.  I laughed.  She said no it's really a sausage festival. (laughter)." There were more tinies dropping by, "Oh my goodness, a hedgehog with beer." "It is funny to hear hedgies yodel." There was also a contest for "Best Dressed for Oktoberfest" with 1400 Lindens as the prize. A number went in traditional Bavarian outfits. One man just went as a droid, then changing to a "Mars Attacks" alien.

The Oktoberfest party went on to about 2:30PM, a happy moment for the CDS.

Bixyl Shuftan

Announcement: September 2019 Homes For Our Troops Donations

We have kicked off our fall campaign for Homes for Our Troops with a bang folks!    We were successful in sending just over $1400 to HFOT during the month September.  This now brings our total to right around $11250 for 2019.  If we can continue throughout the fall and winter we WILL exceed 2018’s $13000 in donations!

This is due to a lot of great folks hard work here in Second Life.  First of all let’s give that applause to the great performers at our monthly event at Veteran’s Isle as well as some other events that were held.  Thank you:

Waya Snowpaw DJ
Austin Moores
Cryptic Harmony
Chillee Hernandoz
Abby
Anek Fuchs
Taj Nishi, Laurie C and all the folks at Keys Management
Corina Canning, Djembe Dragonfire, Nina Setner, Anj Gustafason, and Bill Tigerpaw at  Jacksonville Barn

And of course Bri Mcmahon, Dahlea Milena and Gjackie Winkler!

Without your help we would have never achieved this. 

There was also a very special event sponsored by Victoreeria, Bee Itamae and all the folks with Phoenix Rising MC  …they made a fantastic effort for HFOT!

Then other special efforts were made by:

EastbayRay and the Legion of Vets MC
RGHangnLo and all the folks at RG’s hangout
JacksonTrig Resident and the Jacksonville Concert Series
And all the great folks at Country Mojo

Last but not least are those who support HFOT every month to help us reach our goals:

Cayleen Linette and everyone at Cay's at Woodland Lake
Joi Shepherd and all the folks at Runaround Sues
Dirk Danger and the All Breedable Market
Jaztone Resident and …..
Hayanah Resident and ….
Bixyl Shuftan and all the folks at Purrfection estates
Fire Bonfire and everyone at Boots and Lace Country Rock Club
Ashley Steele and everyone at Saddles Canyon Country Retrea
Grizzly Nightfire and all the folks at  Eternal Knights MC


Thank you all for helping and supporting.  Let’s make 2019 the year to beat for those who have sacrificed so much for our freedom

Frets Nirvana

Cartoon of the Day

Taken at the Happy Vixen. And yes, those extra arms move.

By Bixyl Shuftan

Salem Halloween Event and SL's Top Haunted Places Tour and Hunt

After a short break due to real-life matters, Gemma Cleanslate is back to writing articles. With October having arrived, this means some spook-tacular scary places for her to explore. The first place she wrote about was Salem, a Halloween-themed shopping event at the Prism Events sim with over a hundred vendors, "Designed to evoke the tenor of the 1692 witch trials." Her next stop was Quincentival, the place to get the notecard for the SL's Top Haunted Places Tour and Hunt.

Read Gemma's story in Extra. 

Eye On The Blog: Creepy Crawl Call For Venues, Lab Gab Today

October means the Halloween season in Second Life. And part of Halloween in the Grid in recent years has been the "Creepy Crawl." For those who don't know, it's a Halloween-themed venue crawl, the inworld equivalent of a bar crawl in which a group of people go to a number of bars and spend just a little time at each, organized by Linden Lab. A few days ago, the Lab posted on the official blog that they were looking for venues to take part.

If you’d like to host a stop along the Creepy Crawl, own a spot that will be decked out for the holiday, and don’t mind if a parade of Residents and Lindens come through, then you might be just what the witch doctor ordered. We’re looking for spots that have entertainment (we like to dance around in our costumes!), are appropriate for general and moderate audiences, and can handle a crowd.

To get in, first of all, venues wanting to be part of the Crawl have to be listed in the Destination Guide. They also have to fill out and submit this online form before October 25. The Lab will choose several venues and notify them by email after October 25.

The Creepy Crawl will take place Thursday October 31 from 10AM to 2PM.

To read the blog post in fill, Click here. 

*  *  *  *  *

There will be another episode of "Lab Gab," the live-stream show hosted by Xiola and Strawberry Linden.

Halloween is one of the most celebrated holidays in Second Life - when the veil between the other world and inworld is thinnest. Each year, we see events, parties, hunts, and costumes haunt even the farthest reaches of the Grid. It’s a great time of year to explore the elements of surprise and the unknown, and maybe even get a little scared. While dressing up is a year-round activity for many, there are some next-level looks that roam inworld.

This week, we’ll be talking about Halloween in Second Life as well as taking a field trip to venture into some Halloween-themed events. Join us as we wander the spooky, spoopy, and downright kooky side of Second Life! 

Those interested can watch the show on Linden Lab's Youtube channel,or their new Mixer channel. The show is today, Wednesday October 9, at 3PM SL time.

To read the blogpost in full, Click here.

Announcement: World Space Week Party Today

World Space Week is almost over. After a few other celebrations by the National Space Society, they're about to have their last one, courtesy of musician Cypress Rosewood.

The legendary SL space musician, Cypress Rosewood performs his musical magic with flutes, guitars and synthesizers. He is a metamedia treat to see live in concert.

World Space Week is an international celebration of science and technology, and their contribution to the betterment of the human condition. The United Nations General Assembly declared in 1999 that World Space Week will be held each year from October 4-10. These dates commemorate two events. The first is the launch of the first human-made Earth satellite, Sputnik 1, on October 4, 1957. The second is the signing of the "The Outer Space Treaty" on October 10, 1967.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/National%20Space%20Society/155/91/801

Events This Week at the Sunweaver and Montecito Bay Clubs and Furry Fashion Lounge

Here's what's going on at the Sunweaver, the Montecito Bay clubs, and the Furry Fashion Lounge

Cutlass: Best in 'S', Yellow and Orange, Good vs Bad

The Happy Vixen: K9s and Felines, Swimsuits, Stinkers, Blue vs Pink, Tinies and Ferals, Ghosts and Ghouls, Squirrels and Skunks. Foxes and Mice, TBA

Club Zero Gravity: TBA

Montecito Bay: TBA

Furry Fashion Lounge: CAYA, Fantasy, Disney, Monochrome, Throwback Thursday, Wings, Cyber, Leather and Lace,  Late night, Blue vs Red

Read the schedules in SL Clubbin'.  

Announcement: Writers Retreat Spooky Short Story Contest

Sponsored by RoxyLee Rayna.

On the runup to NaNoWriMo the Writers Retreat lodge is hosting it’s first themed writing contest. Entry is free, and the winner of the public vote will receive 1,000L prize.

Calendar:  All dates are midnight to 23:59, GMT (Not Pacific/SL time)

5 Oct 2019: Contest begins. Writers have 25 days to create their spooky-themed story!

29 Oct 2019: Submit entries on this date to Christy.Christos.

30 Oct 2019:  The stories will be displayed outside of the lodge and voting will be opened for the public.

4 Nov 2019: Voting closes. Access to the stories and voting will end at 23:59 SLT.

 5 Nov 2019: The winner will be announced in a Writers Retreat group notice before 23:59 GMT.

Submission info:
All entrants must be part of the Writers Retreat group.

The Writers Retreat sim allows adult content, and so does the contest.

You need to submit both your story and a cover texture. Both items should be named with your SL username and story title.

The story text must start with the story title and the author’s SL name. 

The cover texture will be displayed on the access/voting board.  The image must clearly show the story title and your SL name. If your story contains adult content, your picture must include “Adult content” or “18+” or some similar, clear label.

If you need help preparing the image, please contact Christy.Christos.

Voting!
Votes are free and limited to one vote per story.

About Writers Retreat.
The writer’s retreat is an area designed with writers and avid readers in mind. There are multiple writing areas within and around the lodge, with timers for writing sprints.  Writers are welcome any time and can take part in, or host writing events,  run classes and workshops.

 http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Requiem/131/207/26 (Click the big book when you Land to TP to writing area )

Game Review: GreedFall

There's a new game out that's gotten the attention of a few gamers: GreedFall. Set in a fantasy world that looks roughly like if 17th Century Europeans could use magic, the character plays the part of an explorer of a new land. Nydia Tungsten got the game and found the story an interesting one, with both sympathetic characters one wants to help and loathsome ones one wants to punch in the nose. Unfortunately, not everything about the game was so great.

Read Nydia's review in Other Grids, MMOs, and Games.

Firestorm Has Bakes On Mesh

It was a little over a month ago when Linden Lab announced the Bakes On Mesh feature was on the official Second Life viewer. As it's the Firestorm viewer which is the most popular, many residents were not as excited as they otherwise would be, feeling it's real impact would be felt only when it's team came out with a version with the feature. A few days ago, Team Firestorm announced their new version 6.3.2.58052, which has Bakes On Mesh, was live and available for download.

The Bakes on Mesh release from Firestorm has been long awaited; apologies for that. This should be considered by all in SL a MAJOR UPDATE, and it is important that all our SL users upgrade to it. This update contains a lot of rendering-related changes from Linden Lab, without which you WILL be running into avatars that look badly broken to you. Even if you don’t intend to use or purchase anything with BoM, you will still need to be able to see BoM items in your viewer. Please take the update. I can assure you we have put this through a rigorous QA process; it’s a great build!

On the whole, response has been positive. I have heard a couple people feel the viewer was bugged, and recommended people wait a few to several days for bug fixes until downloading for use. But others didn't seem to notice a problem. Some are already taking advantage of the features Bakes On Mesh has to offer. And using the previous version, I was starting to notice a few of them, identifiable as their textures appeared glitched. To stop seeing these glitches, one has to download the new viewer.

With the most popular viewer in Second Life now Bakes On Mesh compatible, hopefully residents will start seeing more of the benefits such as better designed avatars, and somewhat less lag.

Bixyl Shuftan

Announcement: This Week at the Seanchai Libraries

HAUNTS, SPOOKABLE CLASSICS, AND SHUTTERED DOORS
It's another week in the High Story Season, and there's no "just" about it! Join us this week for stories LIVE in #secondlife, and on our properties in #kitely, live in voice.

Check out the stories and the storytellers at www.seanchailibrary.com

All stories told in open voice unless otherwise noted. All times SL/PT

*MONDAY, October 7th, at 7pm: Charles de Lint's MOONHEART concludes (REALLY!) with Gyro Muggins.

*TUESDAY, October 8th, at 7pm:  THE SPOOKY CLASSICS: M.R. James with Caledonia Skytower, live on stream.

*WEDNESDAY, October 9th, at 7pm: THE MYSTERIOUS WOODS OF WHISTLE ROOT begins with Fairie Maven-Pralou.

*THURSDAY, October 10th, at 7pm: CLAY SHUTTERED DOORS “Love may be eternal, but Lovers are mortal… Aren’t they?” Shandon Loring presents live in stream (Also in Kitely!  Find teleport from the main Seanchai World grid.kitely.com:8002:SEANCHAI)

All sessions held at the Seanchai Library in Second Life unless otherwise indicated. Schedule subject to change. 

Happy Rezzday Shockwave and Cynthia.

In real life, people celebrate their birthdays. In Second Life, what's often celebrated instead is the anniversary of the day a resident first walked onto the Grid, or rezzday. A few days ago, Cynthia Farshore and Shockwave Yareach, members of the Sunweaver community in which the Newser office makes it's home, had theirs. As they were close together, they decided to have a combined rezzday party, holding it at Cynthia's Goblin Cave in Caledon Downs.

Read the story in Events.

Cartoon of the Day

Taken at the Happy Vixen. I don't know why he really fainted, but it was fun to imagine possible reasons.

By Bixyl Shuftan

SL Video: "Reach For The Finish"

(Click here if the video does not play)

From Davbarbosa on January 2008, "Reach for the finish by Keiko Takamura (Live in Keiko's Café). Captured, created and edited November 2007. First version - November 2007. Second version - January 2008. Keiko (pronounced Cake Oh!). Live Musician In SL and RL!"

The Halloween Swaginator Hunt

Linden Lab is promising "A Month of Haunted Surprises For Everyone" on their blog. There is the Halloween Haunted Tour. There is the "Creep Crawl" that will take place on October 31. But the main thing on the blog entry was about the Halloween Swaginator Hunt.

The start of this gift grab event is at Meauxle Bureaux (157/123/29). You click on the sign above, find the HUD in your inventory, and attach. It will then offer the clue, "Something spooky lurks near the Fairground Docks," and a SURL that takes you to Whiskey Bay in the Bellisseria Fairgrounds. There, you pick up your first prize and the second clue. To unpack your prize, find it in your inventory, attach, and click on the image that appears on your screen. After collecting it, the picture should detach on it's own.

The prizes are all in spots across places around Bellisseria. Most of the locations aren't too hard to find. But the last one was harder to find than the others, so expect to take some time with finding the last prize.

Happy Halloween hunting everyone.

Bixyl Shuftan

CDS Oktoberfest This Weekend

Let's end our 15th Anniversary Month with a rousing OKTOBERFEST.

^ + ^ + ^ + ^ + ^ + ^ + ^ + ^ + ^ + ^ + ^ + ^ + ^ + ^ + ^ + ^ +

Explore CDS by balloon (all weekend)

10/5: Maggi696 live! 12-1pm @Rhenus Docks

10/5: DJ Patricio 1-2 pm @Venus Cafe

10/6: Paintball with Lilith 10am - Meet @NFS Platz

10/6: Party on the Platz with DJ Calli 12:20-2:30pm

Note: Originally Jaynine Scarborough was performing Saturday, but canceled due to illness.

Announcement: This Week in The Science Circle - "Our Place in the Universe!" and "Whales, Dolphins, Porpoises and Us"

“Our Place in the Universe!”

A public presentation and continued educational journey.

Saturday October 5

10AM to 11AM

Facilitated by Phil Youngblood / SL: Vic Michalak

Last time we started our journey investigating the nature and practice of science over the years. This time we will celebrate World Space Week (4-10 October 2019) by examining our place in the universe.

In 1957, Kees Boeke wrote an essay entitled “Cosmic View: The Universe in 40 jumps”. In 1977, Charles and Ray Eames produced an award-winning short documentary entitled “Powers of Ten” that investigated the world of the very small (quarks) to the very large (the observable universe). “Cosmic Voyage” in 1996, presented at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum and in IMAX theaters worldwide, completed a similar journey.

In Part II of our continuing sequence to “Explore Science in Second Life!” we will jump ahead another 20 years or so and create our own unique version of this concept using examples in Second Life and other sources. It is appropriate that we will be meeting in the Planetarium building on Science Circle island.

Nikolai’s Planetarium 

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/The%20Science%20Circle/122/137/3002

Read the announcement in full here (link).

*  *  *  *  *

"Whales, Dolphins, Porpoises and Us"

Sunday October 6
7AM to 8AM

A number of years ago, I was boating in Cape Cod Bay (Massachusetts, USA) near Stellwagen Banks and watching for whales. I had been there watching for whales and dolphins other times too. This time was different though. As we waited, a small pod of fin whales passed us by at breakwater speed. Then nothing. Until a young humpback whale surfaced and waved to us. This whale performed a dance of dive and surface for 15 minutes, circling, breaching, submerging. When the whale was done, he or she lay there looking at me as I was looking back, eye to eye, intelligence to intelligence, only meters apart. Who was I? Who was he or she?

For me, the plight of cetaceans is not just ecological and worrisome, it’s poignant and personal as well.

Please join us at The Science Circle on Sunday, October 6 at 7 am SLT to talk about amazing and endangered cetaceans of the world.

Linda Morris Kelley (Delia Lake in SL)

Read the announcement in full here (link).

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/The%20Science%20Circle/67/129/32 

Fundraiser Concert at Veterans Isle Nets Over 250,000 Lindens

On Sunday, September 29, the monthly benefit concert for the Homes For Our Troops charity at Veterans Isle took place. From 4PM to 9PM SL time, several musicians performed for the crowd.

We are kicking off our fall schedule of benefits for Homes For Our Troops tonight …  and it is going to be a great night!  Here is our lineup:

Waya Snowpaw 4-5 PM
Austin Moores 5-6 PM
Cryptic Harmony 6-7 PM
Chillee Hernandoz 7-8 PM
Erika Ordinary 8-9 PM

Stopping by for a short time to catch Austin Moores, I heard hostess GJackie Winkler shouted, "We have so far 194,900 in the two little homes on each side of the stage!" This was a reference to the two house-shaped kiosks on either side of where the singers played for the audience.

At the end of the concert, a total of 258,870 Linden dollars had been raised for Homes For Our Troops. The events take place every month at Veterans Isle, usually on the last Sunday of every month. They are organized by musician Frets Nirvana.

Homes For Our Troops is an organization that helps disabled veterans by building and modifying homes for them. To learn more about them, check out https://www.hfotusa.org .

Bixyl Shuftan

Nuyu Modtacular Gacha Event Moved Up To December

A few days ago, the Newser reported on the upcoming Nuyu Modtacular Gacha Event in Montecito Bay. Originally to take place from the first of November to the 30th, it was announced the event has been moved up to December. The new dates are December 1 to December 31.

We have decided, after some careful consideration, that the NuYu event should be pushed back until DECEMBER! That way, we're not stepping on any toes from the Gacha Guild, and it gives our lovely creators some extra time to work! Your deadline to join is STILL October 15th! See you there!

For those wanting more information, contact Becky Nosferatu, or Braelynn Darkstone. For those interested in signing up, Click Here.

Cartoon of the Day

Taken at the Happy Vixen

By Bixyl Shuftan

Chouchou Sims To Be Preserved By Linden Lab

Good news for fans of the Chouchou sims. In May, the owners Juliet Heberle and Arabesque Choche had announced they would soon be closing down. Fans protested in the forums, and Patch Linden responded by asking the owners to contact him about preserving the sims in cooperation with Linden Lab. Recently in the sims' fan group, and their Facebook page, there was a post announcing that the sims would be preserved through the Second Life Region Preservation Society, joining already preserved areas such as Svarga and the SS Galaxy. A third sim of theirs, Chouchou XVI, also known as "The Babel," which was closed in 2013 would also be brought back.

Regarding the closure of the region Chouchou (Chouchou sim, Chouchou V sim) in Second Life, we'd like to report some progress. As a result of our discussion with Linden Lab, we made a decision to maintain our region by joining The Second Life Region Preservation Society provided by Linden Lab. And it is also decided that one of our sims, Chouchou XVI - The Babel - which was closed in 2013 will be back in Second Life thanks to Linden Lab's kind arrangements. 10223 Resident (Tofu), the staff of our team will continue to take charge of the management of all our sims. Please enjoy our region that will remain unchanged including the music and video effects.

Right now, we’re in the middle of exchanging contracts with Linden Lab, and it's taking time for the contract procedures. We’re very sorry for the late announcement.

At first, we were not going to change our plan for the closure of the region Chouchou because of a variety of issues that the region is encountering, but as we received many messages hoping for the survival of our sims, we came to a decision to maintain our region as it is and to continue to work to resolve these issues. However, there is a limit to what we can do. Please respect others with morals and help us to make the place better and comfortable for many people visiting there.



For a video of The Babel, Click Here.


That the owners would still be among those managing the sims would be something new for areas preserved under Linden Lab's preservation program. Areas such as the SS Galaxy essentially became static museum areas in which change had stopped. Talking to Hamlet Au, the owners stated

"We will manage our sims just like before we participated in [Linden Lab's preservation program] ... We will stream music and videos to the sims, do the maintenance if needed and handle troubles if there's a griefer or harassment. ... "[w]e always add new music some time after its release, but only if the songs match the atmosphere of the sims."

In real life, the two owners are a musical duo, vocalist Juliet Heberle and composer Arabesque Choche, who had met in Second Life, performed a number of events there, eventually met in real life, and got married. While they continued to expand their audience over the Internet, their performances in the virtual world declined. That led to their original decision to close the sim. But thankfully both they and Linden Lab listened to their fans, and these artistically well done sims will be preserved.

Source: New World Notes

Bixyl Shuftan

News In Brief

Quite a lot has been happening. Too much to go into detail about it all, so we're going to give the short version.

The HFOT Benefit in Veterans Isle was a success with 258,870 Linden dollars raised.

Montecito Bay has decided to postpone their Nuyu Modtacular Gacha Event until December.

In a Reddit "Ask Me Anything" thread, a Linden claimed adult content was "less than 5% of our revenues."

There are no plans to introduce adult content to Sansar, in part because Linden Lab is searching for corporate sponsors for the virtual world.

An agreement was reached with Linden Lab to save the Chouchou sim, which was in danger of closing in May.

The Gacha Guild event is taking place, with avatars such as the Spirit Fennec.

Firestorm has a new release out, with Bakes On Mesh compatibility. After earlier deciding to offer separate Second Life and Opensim viewers, Firestorm decided to combine them again. Jessica Lyon admitted they were struggling with Opensim "we do not have, and cannot find, a dedicated Opensim viewer developer with lots of time on their hands."

More on these stories when time permits.

Sources: New World Notes

Bixyl Shuftan

Events This Week at the Sunweaver and Montecito Bay Clubs and Furry Fashion Lounge

Here's what's going on at the Sunweaver, the Montecito Bay clubs, and the Furry Fashion Lounge

Cutlass: Best in 'Q' and 'R', Black and Tan, End of Summer

The Happy Vixen: Dog and Pony Show, Something Different, TBA, Silks, Barely There, Devils, Space, Foxes, Cowboys, TBA

Club Zero Gravity: TBA

Montecito Bay: TBA

Furry Fashion Lounge: CAYA, Wonderland, Formal, Magic, Throwback Thursday, Wings, Rave, Sexy,  Late night, Leather vs Feathers

Read the schedules in SL Clubbin'.  

Glitches in the Grid

If you're wondering if Second Life seems more buggy than usual, you're not alone. Over the weekend and on Monday, I've heard from a number of people about various things on the Grid going wrong. Yours truly has experienced occasional lag, and sudden viewer crashes, and I've heard a complaint or two about sim crossings. But friends have told me some of their items just haven't been working right. A contest board at a club I frequent had trouble working for the manager. One friends permapetted horse got sick from hunger, and it was supposed to be free of the need to eat the company's food. Another friend was sailing, and even away from the sim borders the boat could barely steer.

So what was going on? On Thursday September 26, Linden Lab would announce in the Grid Status Report that an attempt to allow scripts to run better ended up breaking the ability of some to work with others.

Investigating - We believe we have identified the source of the scripting problems that rolled to the main channel this week (and so are present on the entire grid now). That simulator build had improvements to script scheduling that reduced overhead, allowing more scripts to be run per frame. Unfortunately, it appears that those changes also exacerbated a previously undetected problem with scripts communicating with other scripts.

The most obvious example of the problem concerns the timing of the object_rez event delivered to a script that has requested the creation of a new object. When a script creates a new object, the script that requests the creation gets an object_rez event to indicate that the new object is ready. Normally, the scripts in the new object should be running before the parent script gets the object_rez event. Similarly, scripts get an on_rez event when the object they are in is rezzed; the order in which those on_rez events occur is not defined, but previously all scripts in the object would get those events roughly at the same time. What we've discovered is that in rare circumstances, the on_rez and object_rez events could be delivered before the all scripts in the new object had been started. When that happened, any communication between the scripts would not work as expected.

This out-of-order event delivery was previously so rare that it had never come to our attention, but the script scheduling changes had the side effect of making it more likely that some scripts would get the rez events more quickly, increasing the chance that the events are delivered before the other scripts they expect to communicate with are ready.

We are working now on a fix; we hope to have the fix deployed on a set of test regions on the beta (Aditi) grid for the weekend so that creators can test with it (watch this space). The rolls for next week will revert the main channel to a version prior to the scheduling changes, and the RC channels will get a version with the improved scheduler but modified so that the rez events are never delivered to any script until after all scripts in the rezzed object have been started.

We know that this bug has affected many of you and your enjoyment of Second Life, and are profoundly sorry that it was not found before it was so widely deployed.

 The following day, the Lab announced on the Grid Status Report that there would be rolling restarts on the Grid.

Update - We will be doing a roll to address this issue on Friday, September 27th, at approximately 10:00 PM PDT. We apologize for the disruptive weekend roll and will try to minimize impact. Thank you so much for your patience during this frustrating time.

Early Saturday morning, September 28, Linden Lab would do rolling restarts. In the forums, Mazidox Linden would say:

"Yep, we are rolling the grid right now to revert the most recent update to LSL script improvements. This should prevent further issues with objects communicating. (But if you continue seeing issues with scripts, whether it's communication or something else we want to know about them!)"

On Monday, yesterday, the Lab declared the problem over.

Resolved - The scripting errors which resulted in many scripts, huds, and other items to not function properly should now be resolved.

However, friends of mine are still complaining about problems that are mostly likely due to script errors, "There is something wrong with (Linden Script Language) and (Linden Lab) broke it," one told me. She also told me as far as she knows, the Lab is still working on further fixes. So it looks like there are still glitches on the Grid.

Bixyl Shuftan