"Premium Plus" Accounts Delayed

Last November, among an announcement on the upcoming option to change account names, Linden Lab also stated that there would soon be an option to upgrade their accounts to a level above Premium, called Premium Plus.

Changes are underway for Premium Membership. In 2020, you’ll see a new membership level, Premium Plus. This new option will join our classic Premium tier as an additional choice for Residents who want to get even more value from their Second Life.

According to an article written by Inara Pey, it seems the Linden Lab has delayed the rollout of Premium Plus. Grumpity Linden stated the two main reasons were wanting to focus more on the transition to the cloud servers, and with many residents hit hard financially by the Coronavirus crisis it was believed it wasn't a good time to roll out the feature.

We have made the decision to delay the deployment of Premium Plus based on two key factors:

1. We want to be focused on our Uplift project (move to the cloud) and to minimize distraction for our development, QA, and Ops teams. While we’ve laid a lot of groundwork, quite a bit more still remains to finish Premium Plus.
2. The pandemic has brought a lot of financial uncertainty to people all around the world and we know many of our Residents have been hit hard.

We are very happy that SL has provided an outlet for people where they can connect, escape, engage safely, and earn a living or supplement their income as well. But we also realise that introducing a higher-priced service level in this time would be really ham-handed.

It should be noted that a few days ago, Linden Lab stated earlier that there was a "Limited Availability" of new private sims due in part to their transitioning to cloud servers not complete yet. So that would be another reason to devote more time and resources to that effort. When the option of changing one's account surname was finally made available, one of the complaints was that due to the Coronavirus crisis, many wouldn't be able to afford it due to loss of income.

When asked when Premium Plus might be available, Grumpty answered that there were no guarantees, "but early 2021 is reasonable to expect."

Source: Modem World

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.
 
Club Cutlass: Best in "E", Rock On, Memorial Day

Happy Vixen: Hats, TBA, Military, Dystopian, Swing, Green, Wings, Lace, TBA

Club Zero Gravity: TBA,

Xanadu: TBA

Montecito Bay: TBA

Furry Fashion Lounge: Fantasy, Fur  vs Scales, CAYA, ,Videogames, Steampunk, Flower Power, Late Night, Disney

Read the schedules in SL Clubbin'.

Reader Submitted: Blast From The Past

From Kamida Delec, "A screenshot from 2006, using my old Luskwood avatar. The sim was under attack when I took the screenshot. ... That screenshot was taken on the Starfleet Second Life Quadrant sim(?), its now called Galaxy Fleet Command because of copyright claims."

RFL Sunbeamers: 600K Reached, "Bid Me" Results

Friday May 15 saw the Sunbeamer's "Under the Sea" event at the "Aquarium" venue made for special events such as this. A number of people showed up for the party, music played by DJ Snowbuns, including a number outside the team. As it was a multiteam event, two others showed up, Meli's Maniacs and Soul Sisters n Family, whom got over 5000 Lindens each at the fundraiser. The Sunbeamers got much more, getting the team total past 600,000 Linden dollars.

As of the writing of this article, the team has raised over 607,00 Linden dollars. The Sunbeamers will also be having their "Moon Dance" event tonight, and plan to take part in a multi-team club crawl this weekend.

Also, on Saturday May 16, the results of what will probably be the last of the "Bid Me" events were announced by Rita Mariner. The volunteer, Zorro Wuramunga, will be quiet for a while.

BID ME RESULTS - ZORRO GOES MUTE

ZORRO: Stays normal:  0L
                Goes MUTE:      11,151L
               
 Zorro goes MUTE for 4 WEEKS, till, JUNE 13th.  This MUTE apples to OPEN CHAT Only, He may still IM, if he wishes. Such as making a musical request. 

"What does the fox say?" In Zorro's case, nothing for a month.

Go Sunbeamers! Go Relay!

Bixyl Shuftan

Looking Back at ComCat Fenstalker

The Sunweaver community and the Meli's Maniacs Relay team got some sad news this weekend. ComCat Fenstalker, also known by her display name CC, had passed away. The Newser talked to a couple people who knew her, Dusk Griswold and Violet Solano, who both had a number of things to say about her.

Read more in People.

RFL Announcement: Sunbeamer Moon Dance - BYOK.

You arrive at Farshore Airfield and grab a seat in the Columbiad Moon Cannon to be shot to the moon. There you will be planted on the surface a kiosk in your teams name and dance a celebration of your moon landing with other teams. Tunes provided by ..a goat?  The dance starts at 6PM SLT goes to 8PM SLT on 19 May 2020. Come rep your team.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Sunlight%20Bay/172/85/22

A Busy Weekend

Quite a bit happened this weekend in Second Life. From Friday May 15 to Sunday May 17, the Relay for Life's Relaystock music festival took place. Friday was also when the Relay's Scifi Con started, and it's Team Sunbeamers passed the 600,000 Linden mark at it's "Under the Sea" party. On Sunday May 17, Bay City would hold it's 12th anniversary celebration, a combination parade and music n dance party (pictured above), and the Raglan Shire ArtWalk started.

We'll get to some of these stories, and others, in more detail later in the week.

Announcement: This Week at the Seanchai Libraries

THIS WEEK: Closings, Openings, Illusions, and Amateur Hauntings!
Join us this week for stories, presented LIVE in Second Life, and on Seanchai Library's properties in Kitely.

All events at Holly Kai Estates (215/44/27) , unless otherwise noted.

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

 * * * * *

*MONDAY, May 18th, at 7pm:  Richard Bach's ILLUSIONS continues with Gyro Muggins.

*TUESDAY, May 19th:

   ~ at Noon: RUSSELL EPONYM, Live in the Glen with music and poetry in Ceiluradh Glen as guest of Seanchai Library : Holly Kai Estates (220/60/2966)

 ~  a 7pm: STAYING OPEN with Ktadhn Vesuvino, a journey in poetry and images from sculpture, through rain and lockdowns, to a beach re-opening. Live on stream.

*WEDNESDAY, May 20th, at 7pm: Dorothy Gilman's A NUN IN THE CLOSET, continues with Caledonia Skytower, live on stream.

*THURSDAY, May 21st:
   ~ at 7pm: SOLO: A Star Wars Story continues with Shandon Loring & Caledonia Skytower. (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 including Light Speed, Escpade Pod, and Clarkesworld.

Cartoon of the Day

Taken at the Happy Vixen

By Bixyl Shuftan

Relaystock This Weekend, Scifi Con Begins

On Friday May 15, the Relaystock started in the Relaystock2020 sim, north of the American Cancer Society sim. Many teams, including the Sunbeamers, have camps there. There are also numerous DJs having events on stage, plus two live musicians.

Saturday May 16th

12:00 - 1:30pm slt  - DJ Angel Blossom - Seekers Of Hope
1:30 - 3:00pm slt   -  DJ Gem Sunkiller - Team Shadow
3:00 - 4:00pm slt   -  Max Kleene - Live Singer - Relay Rockers
4:00 - 5:00pm slt   -  Todd Rumsford - Life Singer - Cure Chasers
5:00 - 6:30pm slt   -   DJ Scott - Harmony Of Hope
6:30 - 8:00pm slt  -    The A Team - Friends For A Cure

Sunday May 17th

9:00 - 10:30am - Tommy James and The Shondells - Tribute Band - Rocking Sands
10:30am - 12:00pm - DJ Holocluck Henley - Aether Chrononauts Tiny Steps
12:00 - 1:00pm slt - Turner Harborough - Live Singer - Relay Rockers
1:00 - 2:00pm  slt - DJ Nuala Maracas - Relay Rockers
2:00 - 3:00pm  slt - CRFB Top DJ Finalist - DJ Baggie
3:00 - 4:00pm  slt - CRFB Top DJ Finalist - DJ Kayla
4:00 - 5:00pm  slt - DJ's Nikki, Sting, MamaP, Trader - Cancer Gets Stung
5:00 - 7:30pm  slt - DJ Trader Whiplash - The Time Machine Show - Relay Rockers
7:30 - 9:00pm  slt - DJ Kayla - Roos With A Dream

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/RelayStock2020/128/10/24

The Relaystock isn't the only Relay event going on right now. A few sims away is the 2020 Scifi Con.

With eight sims of science-fiction fun, from tributes to campy shows of the past, roleplay group exhibits, music events, and more, there's plenty to see.

To learn more, check the event website: https://scificonventionsl.wordpress.com/

https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/RelayStock2020/128/10/24

SL Video: "Almost Lover"

(Click here if the video fails to play)

From JennaSue Crosby in July 2011, "Song recorded from a live show at club KICKIN in SECONDLIFE 7/12/2011 JennaSue Crosby ( me lol ) performing "almost lover " by A fine Frenzy. Video edited by myself."

Linden Lab Announces "Limited Availability" of New Private Sims

With Second Life's userbase increasing in recent months, most certainly mainly due to the Coronavirus quarantines, it was probably expected that there would be an increased demand for sims by the residents. On May 10, someone posted in the Virtualverse forums that the number of private sims had increased by 361 since March 30. Tyche Shepherd seems to be on hiatus, so we don't have his reports to go by.

With numbers like this when the number of private sims usually goes up or down by less than a tenth that, perhaps it should be no surprise to hear the latest announcement by the Lab. Yesterday on Thursday May 14, Linden Lab announced that it could no longer guarantee a new full private sim to someone who wanted one.

Due to the ongoing public health crisis, we’ve experienced an unprecedented surge in demand for new Second Life regions. While we are thrilled by the heightened interest, the increased demand has consumed our available inventory of full regions (there are still many parcels available on existing regions, both on the mainland and from private estates).  

We are committed to maintaining (and improving) the stability and performance of Second Life. So while we are very gratified that we can be of help to people in these trying times, unfortunately, our current server systems cannot accommodate unlimited growth without adversely impacting that stability and performance. This means that region inventory in Second Life will be extremely limited and may not be readily available until early fall.

The Lab stated that one reason for the inability to handle the increased load was their transitioning from their current servers to cloud ones, which hasn't been finished yet, "As a result, we are in the unfortunate position of hitting the maximum capacity of our “old” servers until the “new” cloud servers are fully operational."

While the Lab stated new sims will be made available as old ones are closed, this limited availability will continue until the new cloud servers are fully operational, which they guess will be "early fall." In the meantime, Linden Lab suggested alternatives to full private sims, such as land on the mainland, or renting from an estate owner.

So far, as of the writing of this article, there have been just a few reactions in the official blog and Virtualverse. But they have been positive ones.

Will the demand for new sims continue to outpace supply, or as the US and other nations relax restrictions imposed due to the Coronavirus, will demand drop? Time will tell.

Sources: Linden blog, Virtualverse, BBC

Bixyl Shuftan

RFL Sunbeamers: Keeping Up Appearances

Lately, a few of Team Sunbeamers have had different looks than usual. It was last Friday May 8 that the team reached Jade level fundraising. Yours truly had been in a rabbit look for weeks after "Bid Me Bunny." But I'd promised to go green for a week if we reached the half million mark. So since the team did, I did.

Readers also remembered that for Shockwave Yareach's and Cynthia Farshore's recent "Bid Me" events, the results were a rare vote to keep them as before. To make sure those whom voted for a change weren't too disappointed, they went ahead and appeared as the most requested change for the Wednesday night dance at Club Cutlass, Shockwave being a buck goat and Cynthia as a vixen.

For the couple, it was just one day, and for yours truly, it's back to normal today.

Bixyl Shuftan

Press Release: Bay City Twelfth Anniversary Parade and Party

BAY CITY ANNOUNCES ANNUAL ANNIVERSARY FÊTE

Second Life® city marks twelve years

BAY CITY, SL  -

Bay City, the first major project undertaken by the “Moles” of the Linden Department of Public Works, announces it’s twelfth anniversary celebration, with their now traditional parade down “Route 66,” followed by a live music event in the Bay City fairgrounds.

Opening in May of 2008 to initial viewing, with parcels being auctions throughout the city soon after, Bay City has shown itself to be one of the highlights of Second Life: a blending of Linden infrastructure and a strong, friendly community of involved residents who, together, give the area its unique charm.

Parade participants are asked to gather at noon SLT/PDT on Sunday, the 17th of May, to lineup at the band shell in Bay City - Harwich. The parade will wend its way down Route 66 beginning at 12:30 p.m. SLT/PDT, and will conclude at the Bay City Fairgrounds in the North Channel region.

A live concert will kick off at 1:30 p.m. SLT/PDT at the Fairgrounds with DJ GoSpeed of KONA Stream providing music leading into the event until 1:30 p.m.SLT/PDT , followed by Parker Static from 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. SLT/PDT, Quartz from 2:30-3:30 p.m. SLT/PDT, and Wolfie Starfire from 3:30-4:30 p.m. SLT/PDT.

All Residents of the Second Life grid are welcomed to participate. Celebration goods, including parade float bases and ideas, are available at the Bay City Community Center, in the Daley Bay region for those who wish to be a part of the parade. Ample viewing areas are provided. The music event is also open to all who desire to attend -- not just Residents of Bay City

Bay City is a mainland community, developed by Linden Lab™ and home to the Bay City Alliance. The Bay City Alliance was founded in 2008 to promote the Bay City regions of Second Life® and provide a venue for Bay City Residents and other interested parties to socialize and network. It is now the largest Bay city group, and home to most Residents of Bay City.

For more information, contact: Marianne McCann

Announcement: This Saturday at The Science Circle - Genomic Parasites Nibbling Away at Us"

"Genomic Parasites Nibbling Away at Us: Why I should win the Nobel Prize"

Saturday, May 16 at 10 AM PDT
  
By Stephen Gasior, PhD





Aging, infertility, neural degeneration, cancer, genetic variability. What could they all have in common? An underappreciated source of their cause in little genomic parasites known as retrotransposons. Retrotransposon exist in our genomes and live a life of copying and pasting into new locations to reproduce themselves. Unfortunately, this involves making breaks in DNA to insert themselves. This DNA breaking is, well, bad for genomes to stay intact. While long thought to be dormant in most cells, they were found to actually be actively expressed. To be discussed will be the speaker’s seminal work on demonstrating the DNA breaking activity of retrotransposons in human cells and the potential impact they have on human health. The case will be made for this body of work to be in the running for Nobel Prize recognition.
  
To read more, Click Here. 

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

RFL Announcement: Team Sunbeamer Undersea Dance

Team Sunbeamers will be holding an "Undersea Dance" this Friday, May 15. The event will be at 6PM SL time (Cutlass, the team's usual location for Friday dances, will not have an event that particular day).

To get there, head to Sunweaver Bay (200/107/25), go down the transport tube, and follow the pirate bunny logo to get to the club area.

The event is BYOK, so someone can have a kiosk rezzed and set for their team for a few extra Lindens for them.

DJ Snowbuns will be playing the music. Instead of accepting tips, she asks donations be made to the Sunbeamers and other teams present. There will be a prize for best in theme, either swimwear or an underwater avatar.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Sunweaver%20Bay/200/107/25

Announcement: RFL Team Fundrasing Totals, Week Thirteen

Fundraising Club Levels Week 13

WOW you guys are ON FIRE!!!! We're 3 1/2 weeks from Relay Weekend, keep going!!

GAME ON CANCER!!!

Congrats to everyone who has hit a Fundraising Club Level!!!! We are definitely saying "Game On, Cancer!"

Bronze

The Krazy Korner Team, The Red Door, Bonanza Country RFL TEAM, RFL Ryukyu Warriors, Sail For Life, PawZ! For the Cause!, Too Tough To Die, Team Wishing Star, Spirit Walkers, Little Toes Dancing For Hope, Mini A Chuu, MC - Satans Warriors MC, Team OD, Twisted Hunts and Events For A Cure, Slatanic Mechanic, Infinite Possibilities RFL Crew, Feed Your Soul, Find A Cure, MC - SAVAGE FEW MC, We are Dragon's, RFL Evenstarr's, Rocking Sands, GridPlay, MC - Thunder Demons MC, SOUL SISTERS n FaMiLy, Midnight Renegade Country Club, Secret Desirez, Sweet Genesis, Team Live Wire, The Original Sinners, United Artists of SL, MC - RWA HELLS ANGELS, Sisters in SL, Purpose SL Homes, Omega Fleet, ROCKIN REBEL'S BEARS, UFS Metamorphosis, Quest for a Cure, Team Core Charities, One More Light, MC - Dark Disciples, MC - Cobras MC World, Ministry of Dance, Steelhead Salmons, MC - DARK ANGEL REBELS

Silver

Team Sol Existence, Circle of Life, Cruz4Life, B - Bellis Blues and Djs, Burners Without Borders in SL, MC - Blood Wolfs MC, MC - Legends MC, Secret Garden Productions, Foundation For Life, MC - Highway to Rock, Southern Nights Country Club, Giant Snail Races, Mieville Steampunks, Elves Of Hope, Harshlands, Supernaturals For A Cure, MC - Outlaws KY MC, Stay PAWsitive, MC - Heaven's Vixens, Bluzsters For Life, Sanctuary Rockers, MC - Relay Goes MC

Gold

Second Life Cheerleading Squad, The Purple Nurple Gang, Gor - Port Kar, Relay for Christ, Meli's Maniacs, Nightfall RFL, RGF Estates for RFL, SHB Gems, Team Bobbi Sue, Cancer Gets Stung, Attention on Cancer





 
 Platinum

MC - Voodoo Rebels MC, Stormy's Stars, MC - HAMC Renegades, MC - SISTERS OF MAYHEM, Spirit of the DragonRFL, LOW GEAR AUTO RACING, The Grove Country Club Estates RFL Team, Free Spirit Hippie Brigade, Roos With A Dream, Gull's Wing Sailing Club, Esalinus, Team Shadow, The Second Fiddle For RFL, BlueWaters Plaza, Aether Chrononauts Tiny Steps, Inspired Dreamwalkers

Jade

Friends For A Cure
MC - HeadHunters
Seekers of Hope
SUNBEAMERS
Heroes Helping Heroes

Sapphire

Goreans in Relay For Life

Emerald

Bellisseria for RFL


Topaz

Cure Chasers
Relay Rockers
Harmony of Hope

Diamond

MC - The River of Life
Camping for a Cure

Scenes From Fantasy Faire's Last Weekend

The Fantasy Faire is over. As always the Relay mega-event had much to see and do. There were DJs playing music. There were shops to find limited deals. There was the Fairelands Quest. And of course lots of well-designed sims to explore. Yours truly was there, and took a number of pictures.

See the pictures in Events.

Cartoon of the Day: Sci-fi Smashup

Taken at the Fantasy Faire on Star Wars Day. Why someone would appear with both a lightsaber from Star Wars and a "redshirt" Star Trek uniform, I never heard. But the imagination does come up with reasons.

By Bixyl Shuftan

Group Notices Date And Time Glitch

If there's something funny with your group notices, you're not alone. After a friend messaged me saying she couldn't find a post made the night before, taking a look I saw they were all of the same time down to the second. Other people were telling me the same. Checking an alt, the issue was on that account as well.

Taking a look at the Second Life Status Report, the Lab acknowledged something was wrong.

We are aware of an issue with Group Notice timestamps showing the wrong date on some viewers. We've identified the issue and are working on a fix. Ref: https://jira.secondlife.com/browse/BUG-228562

Posted  May 12, 2020 - 17:16 PDT

Taking a look at the JIRA, the person who filed was saying the issue wasn't on all server channels. As of the writing of this article, the issue is still unresolved.

Second image credit: Willow Wilder

Bixyl Shuftan