Press Release: Steamlands Halloween Decorating Contest Winners

Tally ho - Steamlanders far and wide!

The 2015 Spoopy Steamlands Halloween Decorating contest was a resounding success, and the results are in - your votes have been tallied!

First, I want to acknowledge that without the generous donations of time and effort by Fauve Aeon who created the event poster, the event trophies, and extended the event - beyond prior years - out to encompass all of the Steamlands, this event would not have happened.  Secondly I want to heap accolades upon Herr Baron Klaus Wulfenbach, also without whom this event could not have transpired, through his dedication to provide Town and Shire announcements to send out the decree unto all the Steamlands, and procurement of the neutral vote tally~ment.

So without further ado Maestro, timpani roll, please!

First place goes to... pause for dramatic effect...
Softpaw's Indoor Tea Garden!
'I never knew tea could be this frightening!'

Second place goes to: Bleue Lacroix
'Loved how over the top this ended up being. Fun, scary, and treats!'

Third place goes to: Sneaky Sam
'Wonderful layout, amazing pieces and really great place to hang out with friends.'


But wait that's not all; there's a special award!  The Dauphine's Golden Key Award goes to...
Softpaw's Indoor Tea Garden for 'delightfully creepy atmosphere'!


And there you have it, a first in the annals of a united Steamlands Halloween decorating competition, where you, Steamland residents of hither and yon, contributed your building creativity and cast yer ballots to decide the outcome!

Stay tuned for future events, and we hope to see you all next year for a redux!

This event was brought to you by the Councillors of the City of Steelhead, the Consulate of Europa Wulfenbach, Fauve Aeon, and Bleue Lacroix.

Crew Meeting

A picture from last weekend's crew meeting on Saturday November 14. Attending were Gemma Cleanslate, Becky Shamen, Nydia Tungsten, Bixyl Shuftan (myself), Wesley Regenbogen, and a guest, my friend Shadowrenee Ivanova.

We discussed a few things, such as the terrorist attack on Paris which had taken place the night before. Also was the spaceship game which has been proving popular in the Sunweaver community. We talked things over a little pizza, which Becky stood up to nibble on.

Announcement: Raglan Shire Talent Show on Sunday

Zayn Till announced on Facebook yesterday that Raglan Shire, Second Life's most noted Tiny community, would be holding it's ninth annual talent show this Sunday, November 22.

SL Video : "Raglan Shire Talent Show - 2012 "

(Click Here if the video fails to play)

Posted on Dec 2012 by "Nitwacket"

Linden Lab's "Lab Chat" Launches

Yesterday, Thursday November 19, was the first session of "Lab Chat," the new Q an A show organized by Linden Lab. The show started at 10:30 AM, taking place at the LEA Theater, and went "well over an hour." Jo Yardley and Saffia Widdershins hosted the show with Ebbe Linden.

Due to real life, none of the Newser reporters could attend the show. But Ciaran Laval was there, and wrote some about the event on her blog. She described it as going "quite smoothly, which was quite impressive with a four region setup that attracted over 150 people. The show launched on time, without any technical issues ... The questions had been selected from a pool of 46 questions submitted via the official Second Life forum."

Ebbe was described as talking "about land, commerce, Marketplace, experiences," and other topics. Of the Grid's land, of which there was a drop in sim set-up fees earlier this week, Ebbe stated that the Lab was continuing to look at options, but there were limits that could be done. Ciaran wrote that "reading between the lines," Ebbe was essentially saying there would be no drop in sim prices.

Ciaran reported there were a number of other Lindens there, "some lurking backstage where they were also joined by some of the Lab Chat production team, bloggers and of course residents who found backstage a less taxing location for their graphics stage than the main theater." She stated the team was "taking unscheduled questions and even asking their own questions."

The official page of Lab Chat (https://labchatsl.wordpress.com/) stated they hope to have a transcript of the event soon, and hope to have a recording of the event available by Tuesday.

Source: Ciaran Laval

Image Credit: Torley Linden

Saving Prims

Becky "Sha" Shamen took a break from her exploring to reflect on an issue familiar to any of us whom have a home, office, or any other kind of space in Second Life: the prim count. Over time, she found ways to personalize her space better by looking for low-prim furniture, which doesn't always have to be expensive, and can sometimes be found for free.

Read Becky's article in Design.

Press Release: "Univ Hawaii Astro: Astronomy With A Small Telescope' "

By:  Dr. Mizuka Yoneda
Friday, Nov 20th at 8:30 PM PST

Io, one of the remarkable moons of Jupiter, is well-known as the most volcanically-active body in the solar system. Its volcanism has been observed using large telescopes and spacecraft. In contrast, we have been making observations of Io using a mere 10-cm telescope from Haleakala. In this talk, I will describe the scientific  output obtained from Haleakala using this tiny telescope.

CUH Alliance sim

Wildroses Pevensey On The Veterans' Tribute

Last week, the yearly Second Life Veterans' Tribute took place. After I first wrote about this year's tribute, I had a chance to talk to it's curator, Wildroses Pevensey. Wildroses had a few things to say about the event, saying it was a bit tiring, but had absolutely no regrets.

Read the interview in Events.

Game Review: World of Warships

Nydia Tungsten is back with her first gaming review in a while. Here, she looks at "World of Warships." The game is from Wargaming.net, the makers of the popular "World of Tanks." Gameplay is a little like the noted tank game as there are units of different strengths and one with long range fire. But "the other WoW" as it's sometimes called is not simply the tank game moved to the water.

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

Cartoon of the Day

Picture taken by Becky "Sha" Shamen. What could have happened to this bunnygirl as to require reanimation from Dr. Frankenstein's machine? An encounter with Elmer Fudd? Or perhaps some other misfortune?

By Bixyl Shuftan

"Watercolors In The Rain"

Following her trip to the Brooklyn Bridge, Gemma Cleanslate checked out another place at the Linden Endowment for the Arts sims. At LEA 29, she found "Watercolors in the Rain." This sim isn't so easily described. Based upon the novel the leader of the build team wrote in real life, besides telling a story, it also offers a hunt in which residents get a chance to get some prizes.

Read Gemma's article in Places.

Linden Lab Reduces Set-Up Fees For Getting Sims, Transfered Grandfathered Priced Regions Will Now Retain Status

Yesterday in the official Second Life blog, Linden Lab announced two changes in their sim fees that will be welcome news to the Grid's residents. "Effective immediately," the fees for setting up a private sim have been reduced up to forty percent.

• Full Private Island  - previously $1000, now $600
• Developed Full Private Island - previously $1029, now $629
• Homestead Private Island - previously $375, now $225
• Developed Homestead Private Island - previously $395, now $250
• Openspace Private Island - previously $250, now $150

The changes in the pricing plan do not affect monthly tiers ($295 a month for full private sims). But they can be combined with the fifty percent discount for nonprofit sims. So the price to set up a private sim for a nonprofit would drop from $500 US dollars to $300.

The other change regarding Linden fees is about the status of sims with grandfathered lower tier pricing ($195 US dollars a month for full private sims). Previously, when the ownership of such sims changed hands, they would lose their grandfathered status. Now, they keep their status when they have a new owner.

Inara Pey called the changes, "a step in the right direction," comparing it favorably to the one month "land sale" in October 2011 which failed to change the overall slow decline in the total number of privately held sims that year. Jo Yardley was glad to hear the news as well, though thought the set-up fees were still too high. Hamlet Au felt the changes were aimed not at the typical sim owner, but at land barons, calling it a move to encourage them to expand, and thus help maintain Linden Lab's revenue for enough time for the Sansar grid to gain a large following.

For the announcement in the Linden blog: Click Here.

Events This Week at the Sunweaver Clubs

It's a weekend of events at the Sunweaver and Angel clubs. At Club Cutlass, the Alphabet themes go to H... with "Best in H," then "Rock On," followed by things getting a little "Tacky." At the Happy Vixen, things get a little pixelated with "Videogames," then get a little groovy with "60s Night," followed by celebrating Thanksgiving a little early with "Pilgrims and Indians."

Read the schedule in Events this Week.

SL Enquirer: Interview with Rocky Hillburton of Toys For Tots

It's that time of year again when the giving spirit is in full swing. Right now in Second Life avatars are working hard to get ready for the Holidays. One particular place in Second Life is focused on making sure children in need gets toys for Christmas. Please meet Rocky Hillburton. For the past 6 years Rocky and his team have been dedicating their time and efforts to raise donations for Toys 4 Tots. In the past 6 years Toys 4 Tots in Second Life with the support of  residents raised over $110,000 USD with 100% of funds raised going to the Toys 4 Tots Foundation in Virginia.

Read the rest of Lanai Jarrico's interview in the SL Enquirer. 

The Mayflower Exhibit

While Gemma Cleanslate was checking out Christmas exhibits, Becky Shamen decided to take a look at something of a closer holiday: Thanksgiving. And in the Zundra sim, there's a seasonal exhibit about the ship and people behind the first Thanksgiving: the Mayflower and the Pilgrims. Becky noted what the small size of the ship suggested what the founders of Plymouth Colony had to go through, and as different as their beliefs were from Americans today, perhaps those from the Counterculture days of the late 1960s and 1970s had more in common with them than one might think.

Read Becky's article in Places.

The Brooklyn Bridge at LEA25

Gemma Cleanslate recently checked out a new exhibit at the Linden Endowment of the Arts areas, the Brooklyn Bridge. Located at LEA25, the exhibit is not just the work of one artist but many, much of it interactive. So what did Gemma think?

Read Gemma's review in Design.

The Paris Vigil Continues

Stopping by the Paris 1900 sims yesterday on Sunday, November 15, people were still gathering there to pay their respects to those killed on the attacks on the real life Paris on Friday the 13th. At one place, residents were leaving candles and other items from flowers to flags as part of a shrine for the dead.

But the tributes were not only at the Paris sims. At Creations Park, a small memorial, "We Pray for Paris and World Peace," was set up.

Barbie Alchemi, the owner of Creations Park, sent the Newser the above picture, "I built it as soon as I heard what happened. and as soon as I put it in place this women spontaneously knelt down to pray.  She told me her family lives in Paris. It really touched me. I love the way the whole world comes together in Second Life."

Several blogs and newsletters have commented on the reactions to the Paris attacks, including the SL Enquirer, Daniel Voyager, and  New World Notes.

As Second Life, and the world, mourns for the civilians who were killed, the retaliation has begun. Ten French military jets bombed the city the ISIS/DAESH group consider their capital. No doubt there will be more to report on about the attacks in their aftermath.

Bixyl Shuftan

More at Paris 1900

Saturday morning before I did anything else I stopped over at Paris 1900 at the Eiffel Tower which wore a sign that said “ Je suis Paris”. 

There were many avatars from all over the world gathered to express sympathy for the events of Friday night in Paris. We all took signs that echoed the sign on the tower,  Je Suis Paris and stood. Some prayed, some stood in silence, some expressed anger, but all were there. 

There were many languages spoken but the sentiments were the same. We stood in solidarity against radicals who can strike anywhere , anytime. http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Paris%20Eiffel/14/96/22

Gemma Cleanslate

Press Release: Grand Opening of the November and December 2015 Windlight Art Gallery Exhibition

DATE:  NOVEMBER 15, 2015

LOCATION: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Froien/172/111/23

The November and December 2015 Exhibition at The Windlight Art Gallery will open on November 15, 2015. A formal reception will be held from 4pm to 6pm slt and will feature live performer Donn Devore.
The November and December 2015 exhibition features the November and December Windlight Art Fellows: Kaijah Chrome, Bamboo Barnes, Honey Bender, Valium Lavendar, Dean Yao, Benivinudo Moskalev, Twotone Rhiano, Van Caerndow, Dawnbeam Dreamscape, and Inara Pey. The Windight Artist in Residence, Wicca Merlin, and past Windlight Art Fellows SaoiriseHeart Resident and Ilyra Chardin are also showing in this new exhibition.

About the Windlight Artist Fellowship Program:
The Artist Fellowship program will provide free gallery space to both new and established artists for a period of 30 days. This program is open to both new and established artists in Second Life. The goal of the program is to provide promotional and artistic resources to artists in Second Life.

About Windlight Magazine:
Windlight Magazine is a publication about the art and photography world of Second Life. The goal of Windlight Magazine is to support artists, photographers, galleries, and related events. John nee Johannes1977 Resident is the Owner, Publisher, and Editor in Chief of Windlight Magazine and Gallery. The magazine is published on a monthly basis.

For More Information:
www.windlightmagazine.com
http://windlightmagazine.com/fellowship-program/
https://www.facebook.com/windlightmagazine
https://plus.google.com/+Windlightmagazine/posts
http://windlightmagazine.tumblr.com/
https://twitter.com/windlightmag

"I Am Paris." Residents Gather at Paris 1900 Following News of Terrorist Attack in France

On the evening of Friday the 13th in Paris France, terrorists launched a series of attacks, murdering scores of people. The terrorist targeted bars, clubs, the Paris Stadium where a game was being played, and the Bataclan theater and concert hall where over 100 people were massacred. So far, the death toll is over 150. At least eight terrorists are accounted for, all dead, seven from detonating suicide vests. So for, no group has yet taken credit.

In Second Life, people headed over to the Paris 1900 sims to show their support of the people in the real Paris. "These terrorists aren't just enemies of single nations. They are enemies of the world." "My heart is heavy with sorrow for all who have suffered at the hands of violence." "Much love prayers from our country to yours. Our hearts are with you all." "My sympathies and love go to those families who have lost their loved ones. May they be at peace. May the lost rest in peace, may their families find peace in their hearts. Much love to Paris."

One French resident told everyone, "Thank you all for joining us in this difficult night full of panic and fear and excessive sadness. and I thank you for your prayers. (I) need to try to get some rest now. I am alone in my house and panic and uncertainty, I can not sleep, try to get some rest now. See  you, God willing and we'll see you tomorrow. thank you again. (takes leave giving a big hug to all, with tears in his eyes and heart, always wondering why such violence, many unjust situations)."

Michael Romani sent the Newser a picture (shown above) of earlier in the evening when a few more people were at the sims. 

In January, Paris was the scene of an earlier attack when terrorists stormed the office of the Charlie Hebdo magazine, murdering twelve. Residents also gathered at the Paris 1900 sims then in a show of support. 

Bixyl Shuftan