A Busy Weekend

 

Quite a bit happened this weekend. The Winter Burn took place (picture above). So did the last events of the Bellisserian Bureau of Bureaucracy's Second Anniversary celebration. There was also the monthly benefit concert at Veterans Isle for Homes For Our Troops. And more.

More on these stories later.
 

Cartoon of The Day: Jailbird DJ

 

Taken at Club Cutlass's "Cops and Robbers" event. So what would a DJ be in a prison uniform? Recalling that those wanting their own radio stations have had to deal with skyrocketing fee hikes, one possible reason came to mind. 

By Bixyl Shuftan

 

SL Video: "Bad Music Video"

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(Click here if the video does not play)

By Swann Productions on January 17
 

EOTB: Linden Lab To Email Survey About Second Life to Residents

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For those who feel, "Linden Lab needs to listen more to it's residents," some of you will get a chance to have your say. A few days ago on the official Second Life blog, the Lab announced they would be emailing "thousands" of users, "an invitation to complete a survey and give feedback."

As 2022 begins, we are looking to set new goals and make Second Life Residents happier! 

Later today and in the following weeks, research@secondlife.com will be emailing thousands of Residents with an invitation to complete a survey and give feedback. Please keep an eye out for it, and feel free to share your thoughts on how to make Second Life a more pleasant experience for all. We’ve also been conducting qualitative research with a smaller group over the past few weeks. If you participated in that research, you are still eligible to take part in this survey.

There was also a mention of Flickr and how it's team was also doing "its own independent research on the Second Life community." Second Life has it's own official group on Flickr. And there was a mention of the upcoming Lab Gab episode with both Philip and Oberwolf Linden.

To read the blog post in full, Click here.
 

Press Release: January 2022 Homes For Our Troops Benefit

 

Frets Nirvana and US Military Veterans Group announce 2022’s January benefit for Homes For Our Troops in Second Life for December 19, 2021!  

Frets Nirvana, longtime supporter and contact for Homes For Our Troops in Second Life in conjunction with the US Military Veterans Group, announces the 2022 January benefit for the Veterans Support Organization Home For Our Troops at Veteran’s Isle .  


Frets Nirvana states:  “HFOT is a privately funded 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization building specially adapted, mortgage-free homes nationwide for the most severely injured Veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan. Most of these Veterans are multiple amputees, paraplegic, quadriplegic or suffered severe traumatic brain injury (TBI).  Since its inception in 2004, nearly 90 cents of every dollar spent by Homes for Our Troop has gone to directly support Veterans. DURING THAT TIME HFOT HAS BUILT 324 SPECIALLY ADAPTED HOMES NATIONWIDE FOR EXTREMELY INJURED VETERANS.”

In 2021 the community in Second Life sent  over $21,000 to Homes For Our Troops, thanks to many kind hearts and great Second Life performers. That was a 40% increase over 2020’s donations of over $15,000.

15 Veterans and their families received the keys to their forever homes in 2021 and the donations received in Second Life were part of that effort.  Currently HFOT has 73 projects underway for extremely wounded veterans.  

Home for Our Troops benefit concerts feature premier Second Life talent monthly at Veteran’s Isle.  The January 30 concert for 2022 is scheduled from 4pm to 9 pm PST. Featured artists will be DJ Waya Snowpaw,Quartz, Chapman Zane, Hogan Baily and Reggie Sunset.

Sponsored by Frets Nirvana and the U.S. Military Veteran’s Group of Second Life.  To learn more about Homes for Our Troops visit https://www.hfotusa.org.
 

Announcement: This Saturday at The Science Circle - "CRISPR" and "Science Communication In A Pandemic"

 

"CRISPR Year in Review 2021"

Saturday January 29

10:00 AM - 11:00 AM SL time

Every year there are new advances in genome engineering enabled by CRISPR/Cas editing systems. In this talk, the most important and interesting news in CRISPR-based gene editing from 2021 will be presented. Come learn about Technology Advances, New Tools, Intellectual Property, and Target Genes and Modified Organisms from a practitioner in the field. This year’s emphasis will be on the wide range of uses and modifications in medicine and agriculture.

Presentation by Dr. Stephen Gasior (Xootfly)

Auditorium

For more information, Click Here.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/The%20Science%20Circle/72/129/30

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"Science Communication In, Or In Preparation For A Pandemic"

Saturday January 29

9:00 PM - 10:00 PM SL time

Mitigating the damage of the COVID-19 pandemic has been hugely dependent on society’s adoption of personal protective measures to curb the spread of the virus. Misinformation has also been cited as a threat to the employment of countermeasures like vaccines. To what extent is the public understanding of the mechanisms by which diseases spread or medical solutions function important in improving survival outcomes during a pandemic? Is it sufficient or perhaps better to be reliant on expert opinions and policies alone?

Fireside

For more information, Click Here.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/The%20Science%20Circle/161/99/25
 

The Bellisserian Bureau of Bureaucracy's Second Anniversary

 

The Bellisserian Bureau of Bureaucracy is celebrating it's second anniversary. They are best known for their passport system, which has proven popular among people in and outside the Linden Home continent. The celebration involved parties at the Belliseria Fairgrounds, and tours for both fun and to give residents a chance to get stamps for their passports.

Read Gemma's story in Events.
 

Technical Difficulties For The Grid on Tuesday

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Tuesday January was the day rolling restarts were done this week around the Grid. Usually they go routine. But this time something went wrong. Some residents would have trouble logging in, and others noted some sims looked offline. When I tried logging in on Sunweaver Bay, the login screen got stuck in the middle of the progress. In various Second Life Discord channels, people noted their difficulties.

Eventually, the Lab noticed there was a problem, and posted on the Grid Status Report.

We are aware rolling restarts are taking longer than normal, and we are working to bring these regions back online as quickly as possible. We thank you for your patience! Please follow this blog for further updates. - 08:06 PST

We apologize for the delay, and are continuing to work to bring these regions back online as quickly as possible. We thank you for your patience! Please follow this blog for further updates. - 09:10 PST 

 

We are continuing to work on restoring the regions still offline from this morning's Rolling Restarts, and are making progress. Please watch this blog for updates. - 09:45 PST

 

Getting online, there was chatter about it in several groups I was in, including the Bellisserian chat. At one point, Abnor Mole spoke up, "The restarts this week have been going... poorly. The region your home is in it probably one of those affected, but it is not alone. The Lindens are well aware of the problem and working on it."

Eventually, the Lab finally fixed whatever the problem was, but decided to restart some of the sims again to make sure.

We believe this issue has been resolved but will be restarting some regions as part of the final process. Thank you for your continued patience! - 12:45 PST

Eventually, all was back to normal, with the usual lag, and the residents went on.
 
Bixyl Shuftan
 

Happy Australia Day

 

Happy Australia Day

Picture taken at Club Cutlass

By Bixyl Shuftan

 

The Tenebris Falls Roleplay Community

 

The Newser recently heard about a promising new roleplay area and community: Tenebris Falls. The roleplay was organized by people who wanted both a place that would last, and a group that was open to a broad range of character types. In the story behind it, various supernatural beings try to live side by side with humans in a modern North American town. We met up with a few people behind it, who talked some about what it had to offer, as well as exploring the place.
 
Read the story in People.
 

"It All Starts With A Prim" - Oldest Known Prim Rezzed 20 Years Ago

 

So how old is the oldest known prim in Second Life? While the world officially went online on June 23 2003, 18 years ago, people were here when it was in beta, so some objects are known to be from early 2003 or even late 2002. But what about January 25, 2002, twenty years ago yesterday?

Yesterday I found out this oldest known prim (to be technical, a copy of, but it retains the creation date) was on display at the Ivory Tower of Prims sandbox, courtesy of SarahKB7 Koskinen. It was a safe that when clicked on, the door opened to show the prim. And when examined, it showed the date: Friday January 25, 2002, 8:46 PM. Twenty years old.

There was no creator listed, as it had been made before Second Life's tools could show who made objects. According to Inara Pey, it was an Avi Bar-Zeev who not only rezzed it, but was the creator of prims. Talking to Philip Rosedale in Second Life's early days, Philip was trying to figure out how to make them, and Zeev offered to, "wrote a couple of hundred lines of code to make all the primitives in the world, with various knobs and capabilities to stick them together."

The safe is no longer at the Ivory Tower sandbox, the item being returned at Midnight. But later, to commemorate the Prim's creation,  SarahKB7 headed to Da Boom, the oldest sim on the Grid, and exactly at 8:46PM rezzed the original prim, then a brand new one over it, "The 2 prims are exactly 20 years of age apart.  I will call my newer prim the +20 Prim!"

Happy anniversary to the Prim, and thank you Avi Bar-Zeev.

Addition: Sarah would later message me, saying I made a slight mistake with the phrase "It all starts with a prim," saying, "the actual correct phrase has always been 'It all starts with a cube' (smile)."

Source: Modem World  

Hat tip: Tantari Kim

Bixyl Shuftan
 

Events This Week at the Sunweaver and Montecito Bay Clubs, The Fallout Shelter, and Furry Fashion Lounge

 

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

Club Cutlass: TBA

Happy Vixen: Fairies and Wizards, Uniforms, Nearly Naked, Leather, Madkatt Mashup, TBA, Lace, Black and White

Club Zero Gravity: TBA

Bouncing Bunny Beach Club: Feathers and Fur

Xanadu: DJ Christine, DJ Jesse

Montecito Bay:  CAYA, Knuckler Release Party, After Dark

Furry Fashion Lounge:  Nature vs Tech, CAYA, Knuckler Release Party, Cartoons, Wasteland, Late Night, Retro

Deathlands Fallout Shelter:  DJ Wolfy, DJ Nafrini

Read the schedules in SL Clubbin'.
 

Announcement: CAF Knucker Avatar Release Party at Montecito Bay

 

Montecito Bay is proud to present the CAF Knucker avatar!

The Knucker comes as Bakes on Mesh, and the skins can be tinted to any color desired. Comes with many different markings in an included box. There will be more skins available in the future. For those wanting to dress it, it has a tophat, neckbow, t-shirt and headbow left/right. The creator includes a little over 40 accessories that aren't clothing items that come included with the avatar.

Currently the Knucker has six dances in its action HUD and one meme dance. You can click these dances independently or click the randomize dance to let it dance for you at random. It comes with a random sound maker, and walking sounds.

The party is Friday January 28 at 6 PM. There will be three raffles for a chance for a free avatar. The contest is "Best in Fantasy."

See you there.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Montecito%20Bay/44/154/902
 

Announcement: This Week at the Seanchai Libraries

 

THIS WEEK: Sci-fi, short stories, and feline warlords! Join us in Secondlife for fun and adventure, this week

Check out the stories and the storytellers! 

All events at Nowhereville (203/43/26) , unless otherwise noted.

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

--------->> COMING THIS WEEK

**TUESDAY, January 25th:

   ~  at Noon: RUSSELL EPONYM, Live in The Glen  http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Nowhereville/194/131/21
   
   ~  at 7pm: Emily Chenoweth and Johnny Marciano's KLAWDE: EVIL ALIEN WARLORD CAT begins with Caledonia Skytower.
 
**THURSDAY, January 27th, at 7pm: THURSDAY NIGHT SCI-FI, presented by Finn Zeddmore.

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Second Life Destinations: Hanging Gardens of Babylon

 A little more than a week ago, Linden Lab featured on Second Life Destinations a build inspired by one of the Seven Wonders of The Ancient World, The Hanging Gardens of Babylon.

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Creator Patch Thibaud is actually an architect in the physical world as well, and his years of experience inform every detail of this majestic locale. After observing some work on Patch’s Flickr, Resident Crista reached out to him to build a region for her. Of the request, Patch says, “I agreed to participate as long as I got to do The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, which was an ideal subject; an evocative and romantic concept, monumental in scale - and nobody has any idea what the original looked like, if in fact it existed at all.”

Patch’s affinity for building in the metaverse is strengthened by the fact that “there is no one in between me and the final result; I don't have to deal with contractors, estimators, building codes, etc.,” and yet there are limitless possibilities. Furthermore, Patch feels that “in all 3D modeling software I am familiar with, you are working in an abstract, gridded space. In SL I am used to working outdoors, with a beautiful sky and perhaps with beautiful water, and the context of an entire world.”

The concept of storytelling has been incorporated into many visual art forms, and as a trained designer, Patch adopted an episodic approach to the immense project. Patch created an extensive history for the estate: “This build imagines a structure originally built in mud brick by the Assyrians; later seized and rebuilt in stone by the Romans; {eventually} acquired by a cardinal during the military struggles of Renaissance Italy, who rebuilt the temple complex at the summit to include a villa for him and pleasure gardens and pavilions; subsequent alterations and additions by the cardinal’s family, including the ballroom and the Moroccan Garden; and finally the current owner, who restored the whole structure and its gardens, and inserted a gallery for art, built in the modern style.”

Crista is also a longtime Resident, having started her inworld adventures 14 years ago. For Crista, Second Life is “a part of myself… part of my life and {it has} taught me many things that made me what I am now, in RL and SL. I am one person living in two different worlds. A wonderful SL can make a better RL. The Gardens were my SL dream for years… A ton of thanks to Patch Thibaud, I am not sure if we have a better builder. Sharing the beauty he makes, {as well as the} sensations and feelings deriving from it, is the biggest pleasure and satisfaction in this world.”

(Click here if the video does not load)

https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Antiquorum/47/157/24/
 

Cartoon of The Day: Split Decision

 

Taken at the Happy Vixen. This avatar is of two colors, split down the middle of the head. Which brings new meaning to having a split decision.

By Bixyl Shuftan

 

SL Video: "Spanish Passion"

 

(Click here if the video does not play)

From Zipperwolf in August 2015
 

Opening of Sansara Embassy, and Tour

 

Gemma Cleanslate was recently at the opening of the Bellessarian Embassy in the mainland continent of Sansara (not Sansar the virtual world no longer owned by the Lab). But instead of a formal party, what followed were visitors being invited on a tour by bus. The result was an hour of thrills, and more than a few spills.

Read more in Places.
 

Various New Year's Happenings

 

New Year's Eve was a busy time in Second Life, with many places having parties. Yours truly went to several, and took a number of pictures. So many were taken, it took a while to get them all up. But here they are.

See the pictures in Events.
 

Eye On The Blog: Updating Script Performance

 
On the official blog yesterday, Linden Lab announced they had "released a change this week" with the aim of improving script performance in the Grid: Uplift.

Uplift has been an ongoing adventure for a number of engineering teams, but the goal of improving the SL experience for all residents has not changed.

Uplift brought in new hardware and the ability to reconfigure it quickly to react to changing circumstances. A few months ago, we quietly changed hardware configurations to provide better performance for the simulators, but our job was not done there.

After this upgrade our engineering teams dug deep into the simulator to modernize it and take better advantage of AWS capabilities. We referred to this as our “Tooling Update,”  which allows LSL scripts to run more efficiently. Regions with heavy script usage will likely see more scripts run and even some spare time returning to the simulator.  The release also includes a modernization of our compiler and supporting runtime.  Newer tools allows for better code generation and awareness of modern CPU designs.

But the Lab admits there have been unforseen problems that residents may experience.They stated, "with more scripts running, other areas of the simulation environment may be driven harder.  Scripts that were already approaching throttles or other limits may find a throttle engaged .... We do see the possibility of revisiting these throttling limits as a result of these improvements. They could see higher request rates as scripts perform more work."

For the blog post in full, Click Here.