Events This Week in Second Life Jan 15 to Jan 21

It's a week full of events in Second Life. Head on to Tribute City, where the "Ready for Love" brings the theme of romance in the month before Valentines Day. Check out the Astronomy Ampitheater on Friday night for an educational talk on the Kitt Peak Observatory. And of course read up on the reguarly scheduled live and DJ music events, races, book & Poetry readings, talk shows, and church services.

Read the list of happenings in "Events this Week"

Roadside Attractions: The Frootcake Diner/The Diners of Second Life, Part 3

Today we have the last of Dr Fran Babcock's "Diners of Second Life" articles. DrFran looks at "The Frootcake Diner." Besides the 50's feel of the place, it offers a game unique to the place: "Frootcake." Simple to play, its described as taking a few minutes to learn, but many days to master.

Read about the diner in Places.

Ask DrFran: It’s a Big Grid

In DrFran's column today, she gets a letter from someone who came back to Second Life after a long absence, and is amazed at how the place has grown. But with all the places around, just what's the best way to meet and make friends? DrFran had a few answers for her.

Read DrFran's column in People.

News and Commentary: "Graphics Card" Griefing Attacks on Club Show a Serious Problem

Griefers in Second Life are nothing new. Ranging from simple pranksters to good for nothings whose single purpose on the Grid seems to be to make others miserable, for most residents they've been little more than a pesky nusciance. But a recent series of attacks at the Junkyard Blues Club have demonstrated a double problem: a new griefer weapon that's gotten people worried about the safety of their computers, and Linden Lab seemingly not doing a single thing about those using it, or even its appearance on Marketplace.

Read the commentary in Extra.

"The Corner" Gets Ready for Valentines Day

By Gemma Cleanslate

Now that the Christmas season is done I took a trip over to the Corner of Revolving Time to see if there were new freebies. It was a pleasant surprise! There is a wonderful mixture of winter and Valentine decor waiting for you. Zain Darkworth and Pink Josephina have been busy cleaning up all the free Christmas decor and putting all new items out for you. 

While you shop you can skate in the cute little rink they put there. Of course there are free skates if you don’t have any yet. Around the rink are some wonderful winter trees you can pick up for home decor. Over on the other side of the lawn have placed a couple of the free houses they have available in the Corner on the upper floor. They are lovely homes. Inside the corner  building you can still pick up all the free furniture, paintings and other items to decorate the free homes. On the upper floor you will find other models in case those two are not to your taste. While you are up there check out the terrific birthday and rezz day decor in case you are planning a party for someone. 

Also note that right now there is a weekly raffle going on if you join the group and put the Corner in your picks. It is well worth it! Vickijo Rivera always has wonderful items donated by creators for each holiday. Some of the trees are from Indy Melody a new creator and  donor to the sim.  Don’t miss it! Before you leave take a tour of the sim. 

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Ophelia/193/192/22

Gemma Cleanslate

Cartoon of the Day

By Bixyl Shuftan

Green Meadows Club Reopens Tonight

On Sunday January 13th, the Green Meadows club in the HV Community sim will be reopening. The event is at 6PM, with DJ Cynthia providing the music.

Green Meadows, owned by Perri Prinz and ReCoyote Mindes has been around for a few years. It was originally named Club Xanadu in tribute to the movie of the same name about people chasing their dreams.  But it was later changed to avoid possible trouble with the makers with it's producers, renamed for a club in Perri's sci-fi/fantasy story "Spectral Shadows." But fans have continued to call it "Perri's Xanadu." The club itself was made as a tribute to the music of the 60s & 70's.  Perri herself is known for having a great collection of music from the time period.

When the FCA club alliance was formed, Green Meadows soon joined it. The FCA meets once a month at one of the club's auxillary buildings. But due to real-life difficulties, Perri closed the club to regular events for a time. Now the club is back, and ready to party. Between parties, one can play one of the video arcade games on the second floor.

Green Meadows is at HV Community (67, 207, 4051).

Bixyl Shuftan

SL Video: "Superhero Material"

"Short film shot entirely in Second Life, written and shot inspired by the Metrotopia machinima contest. Script, directing, camera & editing by Marx Catteneo , the music is royalty free from www.partnersinrhyme.com. Actors: drufury Ansome, Hank Acronym, Sam55 Dayafter & Morrena Sodwind. Shot on location in Second Life at Metrotopia, Liome & Ingvar"

Bain Finch's Fundraiser for Aryon Dagger

Last month, Relay for Life member Aryon Dagger's computer broke down at the worst possible time for her. She was facing surgery for cancer, and with a recovery of weeks ahead, with it went her contact with her online peer group. Fortunetly for her, her teammate and friend Bain Finch organized a fundraising event to help get her a new machine, an event that would involve four DJs, and a lot of her Relay friends and teammates.

So did Bain succeed in getting enough? Read more in People.

Reader Submitted: Tombstone, Roleplay in the Wild West

Deesue Parx recently sent Second Life Newser a reader submission about a roleplay area: Tombstone. Set in the Arizona Territory at the end of the 19th Century, this Wild West RP has gone on for a few years. There, one can take on a variety of roles from townsfolk, to outlaw, to Apache Indian, to your run of the mill cowboy.

For Deesue's story, go to Places.

Together for Sway

Grey Lupindo reports from Swayland, where the sim's owner fell ill, and would have to spend some time off Second Life recovering. But what would that mean for her sim? Her friends came together to organize a fundraiser to raise money for her place's upkeep.

So were they successful? Read Grey's story in Events.

Cartoon of the Day

By Bixyl Shuftan

Luminous Designs

The Steelhead Steampunk community is known for it's friendly folk and craziness. But some of these folk do more than just provide chuckles. Lumina Elvehjem, better known to her neighbors as Lumi, runs her Luminous Designs store there. She provides Steampunk era clothes to both neighbors and visitors, as well as some whimsical items that could only come from the mind of a Steelheader. Recently, Second Life Newser stopped by to see what she has to offer.

Read the story in Design.

Roadside Attractions: The Diners of Second Life, Part 2

Late last month, DrFran Babcock took a look at a few of Second Life's diners. Today, she's back with the second part of the record of her travels to see these tributes to these eateries of the 50s. Some are fairly new, others go back to the early days of the Grid. Some are just one of the attractions of their sim, others are the main attraction. But each has something to offer the sim-hopping traveller.

Read DrFran's story in Places.

Events This Week in Second Life Jan 8 to Jan 14

It's Janurary, but that doesn't mean there's nothing going on. Check out the "Winter Safety Game," where one can check up on what they know about a driving trip through the snow. Madpea's "Room 326" challenges those who dare enter to find all it's evil secrets. And of course there's the regularly scheduled church services, live and DJ music parties, talk shows, races, and book & poetry readings.

Read the list of happenings in "Events this Week."

Crew Meeting Picture

Taken at our staff meeting over the weekend, a snapshot of those who bring you the Grid's news: Grey Lupindo, Gemma Cleanslate, Grease Coakes (in a new gryphon av), DrFran Babcock, and of course Bixyl Shuftan. We didn't have a poseball set, but we got ourselves in order.

This picture is also in the "Meet the Crew" page. And we've added one more question those outside the Grid have asked about Second Life in the "What is Second Life?" page.

Eye on the Blog: Second Life on Amazon with Weekend Promotions

This weekend, it was announced on the Linden Blog that Second Life was doing promotions on Amazon.com.

It’s a new year, and we have news: Second Life is now available on Amazon! 

In addition to the standard Mac and PC versions, we’re offering several bundled packages for sale, which include vehicles to enjoy and L$ to spend inworld or on the Marketplace.

As a special promotion, this weekend only the Starter Vehicle Pack (usually $9.95), which includes a hoverboard and L$1000 will be available for FREE [limit one per customer].

If a friend of yours has been waiting to join Second Life, now is a great chance for them to head over to Amazon and get started with the free Starter Vehicle Pack. Spread the word!

Besides links to the Mac and PC official viewers, there were three offers listed. One was a Premium Vehicle Pack that consisted of a overboard, a sailboat, the dune buggy once available only to Premium members, and 4000 Lindens, for $25 US dollars. Then there was the Deluxe Vehicle Pack with the overboard and sailboat with 2000 Lindens for $15. Last was the Starter Vehicle Pack with the overboard and 1000 Lindens. The latter was not listed as free, but marked "Currently unavailable." Word was people were logging in with alts and when the Lab realized this they took it down. Later on, it was listed at ten dollars.

There have been a number of reactions from residents. There was a thread about it in the official forums, where most residents expressed skepticism. One called it "a fiasco that does further damage to SL's reputation."

Daniel Voyager thought it was a good idea overall, but noted in his comments after his post that those outside the United States couldn't benefit from the promotions. Someone commenting on his article thought it was a good idea, but not thought out very well.

Tateru Nino called the promotions "just plain embarrassing." She noted that Second Life was listed as a "game," a sticking point with her and other residents. The second part was because of the content bundles, which were of various vehicles, calling vehicles in general "the single, weakest, most unreliable aspect of Second Life," and likely to give newcomers a bad impression.

Inara Pey noted the items had been up on Amazon since December 10th, but only now being announced by Linden Lab to the residents. In a second post she felt Linden Lab should be let off about the "game" issue, considering public attitudes and Amazon's limited categories, but not about what she felt was the promotion being far short of it's potential, "the packages are indicative of thinking at the Lab, which is at worst simply lazy, or at best demonstrating an inability to think an idea through."

Probably the most enthusiastic about the promotion was Hamlet Au, who called it "a clever sales system" that could help make up for its declining land sales, "a pretty good idea for driving new revenue." He suggested that anyone who had an Amazon affiliate code add it in to a link to the promotions so they could get a small cut if someone makes a purchase. But many of those commenting on his article weren't so sure.

Adventures in Cadair

Grease Coakes decided to "go Medieval" for his latest story. Hearing about Cadair, a Fantasy adventure roleplay sim, he decided to get a look from the inside and joined up as a newcomer adventurer. Interacting with the others, he got a few tastes of what the roleplaying there is like, and how conflicts get resolved.

Read about Grease's adventures in People.

Contemplating Turing

Gemma Cleanslate this weekend attended to opening of the Turning Gallery in Extropia. An exhibition of works by Oberon Ommura, the artist made it a tribute to computer pionner Allen Turning. How does one describe the "infinite output" of the mix of science and art? Not easily.

Read about the gallery in Design.

News and Commentary: Real-Life News Article on Avatar Clothing Isn't News

By Bixyl Shuftan

This is news? At least that's what I was thinking when I first heard of the study, featured in an ABC article (and other sources). Canadian researchers "stalked through" Second Life observing over four hundred avatars "for several weeks." Their conclusion: females wear less clothing.

"Well DUH! Thank you Captain Obvious."

Researchers have a way of spending a lot of time and effort confirming what the rest of us already ready knew, or in this case the rest of us online. Though given how real-life media has reported on Second Life since it ceased to be the technical darling of it's eye a few years ago, tending to focus on porn and spouses caught having virtual flings, perhaps the study also shows something of the attitudes of the research team. The reference to "female forms used by 25-year old men living in their parents' basements" certainly gives a hint of media bias to this virtual journalist.

If any of the researchers are reading this, it's been long obvious to this working stiff that men tend to be more concerned with something functional, some protection from cold in winter, scrapes from twigs and other objects on more sensitive places while working or playing outdoors, etc. Women can, and often do, wear something meant to be mainly functional as well, but often the main reason is to look pretty. And the real life results often show more arm and leg skin. And considering some of their soap operas and Prime Time dramas, well, one would think ABC and other media outlets would be more aware of that.

Iris Ophelia, the fashion writer of New World Notes put it another way, When was the last time you saw an actor walk the red carpet showing his bare chest? "Fashion is practically designed around women baring skin to varying degrees, while for men it's much more binary, either clothed or unclothed. That's just the way things are, and it's not news."

A better question might be "are women less dressed in virtual reality than real life?" Probably. Avatars don't feel the cold in snowy areas. And since people often come here to do what they can't in real life, some women do take advantage to be a little more daring. They still might have to deal with overly amourous males attracted to the least dressed female, but they don't have to worry about being physically grabbed and held. And of course there are the Fantasy role-play areas, of which the stories and artwork they're based on often have women in skimpier outfits that would be impractical in real life combat. It's my impression though that some are making an effort to encourage the girls to do away with the infamous "chainmail bikinis." Nonhuman avatars have their own set of issues. Might lighter clothing be a reflection of someone with a coat of fur less likely to be chilled by a cool breeze?

An article by Ciaran Laval suggested the study wasn't completely without merit. While a case could be made for more study, given the track record of those outside the Grid imagining the girls as males living in their parents' basement, such research should be conducted more intelligently by those more familiar with Second Life.


Sources: ABC, New World Notes, Ciaran Laval

Bixyl Shuftan