Thursday, November 30, 2017

More on Net Neutrality: Over 200 Businesses Sign Letter of Support, Philip Rosedale Predicts "Especially Negative" Consequences


By Bixyl Shuftan

Earlier, the Newser wrote about the plans of the FCC Chairman Ajit Pai to dismantle regulations protecting Net Neutrality. To the ordinary Internet user, it may seem like a David and Goliath style struggle of thousands of little guys like him versus huge corporations. As it turns out, the little guys have some big guys on their side. On November 27, also known as "Cyber Monday," one of the biggest days of shopping online in the year, over 200 online businesses and trade groups signed their names to a letter to the FCC asking them to scrap Pai's call to end Net Neutrality protections. Among those on the list were Pinterest, Reddit, Tumbir, Twitter, and Vimeo.

Because of the open internet, a web developer can launch a business out of their own apartment, an aspiring fashion designer in Wyoming can sell clothes in Los Angeles, or a caterer can find new customers in their town. Because of net neutrality, consumers and businesses have unfettered access to one another, increasing competition and consumer choice.

Without these rules, internet service providers will be able to favor certain websites and e-businesses, or the platforms they use to garner new customers, over others by putting the ones that can pay in fast lanes and slowing down or even blocking others. Businesses may have to pay a toll just to reach customers. This would put small and medium-sized businesses at a disadvantage and prevent innovative new ones from even getting off the ground. An internet without net neutrality protections would be the opposite of the open market, with a few powerful cable and phone companies picking winners and losers instead of consumers.


And what would the repeal of Net Neutrality mean for Second Life? According to Philip Rosedale, the founder of Linden Lab, it would be very bad. In a post on Twitter, Rosedale reminded everyone that for many users of the Internet, where they live there's only one Internet provider, especially for high-speed Internet.

Many Americans have only one internet provider. Removing the requirement for net neutrality would allow their opinions to be biased by the provider. Unbiased information will become a privilege of the rich. This is against everything we stand for as a country.

Talking to Hamlet Au of New World Notes, Rosedale explained more, "The end of net neutrality would be especially negative for high bandwidth services like SL and High Fidelity that are delivered by less powerful companies. I would not be surprised to see providers with no competition simply re-introduce by-the-megabyte billing for 'non-premium' services, taking us all the way back to the stone age of AOL and other early online services."

Second Life can be quite a "bandwith hog," to quote the starter of a 2007 thread from the SL Universe forums in which one person stated his Internet plan's bandwidth allowance for a month only covered slightly more than three days of use. With this in mind, it's fair to say the end of Net Neutrality would strongly affect a number of core residents. For users who spend a lot of time here whose Internet provider ends up putting a strict bandwidth limit with high charges for going over,  this would mean paying more, perhaps significantly more, for a higher level of use, or severely cutting their time here.

On another note, an article by the Washington Post reported that "hundreds of thousands" of emails to the FCC about Net Neutrality were likely fake. An article in Hackernoon stated that there were more than a million fake messages to them calling for the repeal of Net Neutrality, concluding that only three to four percent of the total of comments they had received were probably real.

Sources: The Verge, New World Notes, Twitter, Ars Technica, SL Universe, Washington Post, Hackernoon

Bixyl Shuftan

Table For Fifteen at Rocket City



Since the closing of it's noted mall a few years ago, I hadn't heard much from the Rocket City sim. But my neighbor Rua Whitepaw recently IMed me about something going on there. Sending my alt Rezzdammit over, I saw they were trying to get as many people as they could to sit on a single table. As getting more than one on a chair or more than a few on a couch usually can't be done, how they were able to get a dozen avatars on it was a surprise. Last I saw, they had gotten fifteen people on it.

Bixyl Shuftan

Wednesday, November 29, 2017

Reader Submitted: Mourning in Second Life


We enjoy being with friends and family. But unfortunately, accidents and illnesses can happen, and eventually there comes a day for each of us when we pass away. In real life, there are obituaries announcing the person's death, funerals to go to, and usually a lasting place for the deceased. Online however, often the only sign something is wrong is our friend suddenly stops coming on. And if we do get word, what is to be done? For those in Second Life in which people are free to build what they want to on their lands, there are those who chose to make places to honor those lost. Alura Messing recently sent a reader submission on the subject, describing her personal experience, and three places in Second Life where those whom have departed have a place where their names remain.

Read Alura's reader submission in Extra.

Press Release: Virtual Ability's International Disability Rights Affirmation Conference


The 6th annual International Disability Rights Affirmation Conference is a professional conference, free and open to the public, where we continue to celebrate progress in the disability rights movement and examine areas where we must continue to find ways to advance the rights of people with disabilities.

Below is the schedule for this year's conference, themed "Who Is Responsible?"

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FRIDAY December 1
8:00am
Mr. Louis Olander, Doctoral Candidate, Urban Education, CUNY Graduate Center
9:30am
Mr. John McArdle, Black Triangle, Scotland, UK
11:00am
Dr. David Wasserman, Department of Bioethics, National Institutes of Health
12:30pm
Dr. Margaret Nosek, Baylor College of Medicine
2:00pm
Dr. Amie O'Shea, Deakin University, Australia
3:00pm
Social/Networking After Party
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SATURDAY December 2
8:00am
Dr. Christopher McMaster, New Zealand high school educator
9:30am
Ms Katie Tastrom, MSW, Esq., blogger and author
11:00am
Dr. Sonya Freeman-Loftis, Morehouse College
12:30pm
Dr. Carol Moeller, Moravian College
2:00pm
D. Anjali Forber-Pratt, Vanderbilt University
3:00pm
Social/Networking After Party

For additional information, please see:

http://www.virtualability.org/conferences/idrac/idrac-2017/

http://blog.virtualability.org

Tuesday, November 28, 2017

Events This Week at the Sunweaver and Furry Fashion Clubs


November changes to December this week, and we have an exciting list of events at the Sunweaver and Angel clubs and the Furry Fashion Lounge.

Club Cutlass: Best in 'E,' Sports Night, Winter Wear

The Happy Vixen: Secret Agents, Cops and Robbers, Seven Deadly Sins, Birthday Suits, Red and White, Beach Party

Club Zero Gravity: TBA

Furry Fashion Lounge: Fantasy, Barely There, Fandoms, 80s, Anime, Winter, Leather and Lace, Memes

Read the schedules in SL Clubbin'.

SL Video: "New Babbage Burning Barrel Race 2017"




 From Loki Eliot on November 18, "Highlights from the 2017 New Babbage great burning barrel race held in the steampunk city of New Babbage in Second Life." More on the race can be read in Loki's blog.

Monday, November 27, 2017

Christmas Locations


Thanksgiving weekend is over, and time to look forward to December, and the Christmas season. At this time of year, Gemma Cleanslate often goes out in search of holiday and winter-themed locations. While there are some places that snow all year round, others are just for the season. Gemma recently went to a few of these events, a bazaar, a shopping fair, and more.

Read Gemma's story in Places.

News and Commentary: Net Neutrality at Risk


The issue of "Net Neutrality," the idea that Internet Service Providers treat all data the same and not intentionally restrict it for the purpose of making money, came into the news recently when Chairman Ajit Pai of the Federal Communications Commission released a plan that calls for the dismantling of laws protecting it. Pai called current laws "heavy-handed Internet regulations." But the response has been a number of protests from ordinary Americans to columnists and more. Among them is Mark Fischback, better known as "Markiplier." Usually, he does gaming review videos. But he did one asking people to move to protect Net Neutrality.



It's difficult to see how the end of Net Neutrality would help anyone but the big telecom industries, who would then be able to choke people's Internet access in order to make more money to themselves. They could deliberately slow access to all but designated "fast lanes" that they would charge more for. They could deny access to certain platforms, such as Skype and Discord, in order to steer people to using their own. They could slow down, or even deny access to certain games and websites.

Looking back, there is evidence they would do just that. In 2011, MetroPCS moved to charge different rates for Internet access. In 2012, AT&T moved to block Apple's application Facetime from it's users who didn't pay for an expensive plan. In 2013, Verizon went to court to repeal Net Neutrality regulations at the time, saying they had the right to treat traffic unevenly.

This is more than just slowing down movie and video downloads and making some online first person shooters unplayable to certain users. The free flow of data that Internet Neutrality provides allows for small online businesses and entrepreneurs to start up easier while a "throttled" Internet could choke off these new companies before they start.

What to do? One can write their Congressman and/or Senator. There are also petitions one can sign, sign as the one at petitions.whitehouse.gov/, and change.org.

Hopefully, the proposed dismantling will itself be dismantled.

Sources: Popular Mechanics, Wikipedia, New York Times, The Verge, Gigaom, 9to5Mac, change.org, whitehouse.gov

Bixyl Shuftan  

Meanwhile, Back in Rust



It's been almost a year since I last wrote anything about the survival MMO game Rust. There's been a few changes in the game since then. There are new locations like abandoned supermarkets and gas stations. Characters have hair now. Blueprints are back, and they're needed in order to be able to build certain items. There's a new weapon: the railgun. Binoculars have been introduced. How resources are gathered has changed a little, starting off small for the first few wacks, and getting plenty at the end.

And going about, I happened to notice this sign which I hadn't seen before, referencing a familiar enemy to anyone who's played the game. Guess one can't say the developers have no sense of humor.

Bixyl Shuftan

Sunday, November 26, 2017

Cartoon of the Day



Taken at the Happy Vixen. With some flooding at the club in recent news, something else that happened was one day when a bunch of bubbles appeared. An no, the DJ was not playing the theme to the "Lawrence Welk" show at the time.

Bixyl Shuftan

Saturday, November 25, 2017

Flooding At The Happy Vixen, Club Zero Gravity



On Sunday November 19, the Happy Vixen beach club in the Purrfection Estates sim experienced some flooding. One moment the water was normal. The next, waves were coming over the dance floor. And soon the dancers were waist-deep in churning surf. But a few minutes later, the waters receded, and all was as before.


The previous day at Club Zero Gravity, a malfunction resulted in similar flooding in the space station. But somehow the water turned a shade of orange, then green. Geerkil Ziskey, whom was the DJ at the time, got up on the ceiling's gravity platform. After a few jokes about where the water might have come from, eventually someone turned on the drainage. And minutes later, the deck was dry again.

Two rare times when the situation at these two clubs was all wet.

Bixyl Shuftan

SL Video: "Fracture"




(Click here if the video fails to load)

From Furry Alex on September 11

Friday, November 24, 2017

Resident from Puerto Rico Back Online Two Months After Hurricane


Everyone on the Internet has had to content with power outages. For most in the United States, they seldom last more than a few hours. After a hurricane or other major storm system, power can be out for up to a week or two if there's a lot of damage. But one American territory, the island of Puerto Rico, suffered a devastating hit by Hurricane Maria in September and almost the entire power grid went down, with predictions some places would be without electricity and Internet for many months. A few days ago, one Second Life resident from the island finally came back online after two months. She had quite a story to tell.

Read more in People.

Reader Submission: Proyecto Latino, New and Innovative.



Just opened three months ago and is already a point of reference for many Spanish speakers, Project Latino is innovative and willing for all those who come to enjoy the facilities and the variety of services that this place offers. It's a commercial area with a diversity of stores focused on kemono fashion, an area of ​​free items such as can not be missing today in most social areas.

Among other things this site has locker rooms, a site aimed at dictating classes, and a cinema where movies are designed daily in a very good quality and in a very familiar environment with the only requirement to be users of the Firestorm Viewer. A very pleasant experience.

And what makes this site different from other sites and Spanish-speaking places to socialize? Shiroe NignTяoad (f1729) stated, "Personally I like to create spaces that give the same experience as real life." That's what makes this place different, says one of the administrators of this great place.

An article of Seven (flchp)

Announcement: Black Friday Sale at Furry Fashion



Nov 24th - Nov 27th
FF Main Store 50% off!
Vendors owned by Amethyst, Skyler, Alexiel and Becky D!
Gachas & Giftcards included!
I hear Project Mayhem is having a Sale too! ;)
Furry (175,207,28)

Announcement: This Week at the Science Circle


 Sunday 26th 10 AM PST
                  
“Vision for Education in Virtual Worlds” by Enrique Cachafeiro.


Education in Virtual Worlds has seemed to stall as of late. The promise of virtual reality as a means of revolutionizing education has halted at novelty. What will it take to legitimize and penetrate the technology into the field of education? Here is one design, one roadmap for disrupting the paradigm using what is still the most powerful tool for education – virtual worlds.


More information about Enrique's presentation at : https://sciencecircle.org/nextpresentation/ 

The Science Circle (61/126/32

Thursday, November 23, 2017

Happy Thanksgiving



Gemma Cleanslate enjoys a Thanksgiving meal with her neighbors at Thorstar.

Happy Thanksgiving from the Second Life Newser.

Wednesday, November 22, 2017

Cartoon of the Day



Taken at Book Island

By Bixyl Shuftan


Aruba DeCuir: Fine Art and a Flavour of Paris


Aruba DeCuir is an artist in Second Life with a place in the 5th Avenue sim. She works on Second Life paintings, etchings, and other artworks, as well as furnishings and hats. But she's also recently finished a new project named   "Petit Paris," which is made to resemble a Parisian street. Klaus Bereznyak recently interviewed her, and she talked about what inspired her to build this little piece of Paris.

Read Klaus' article in Design.

Faces (That We See)


Gemma Cleanslate recently came across a noteworthy exhibit in the LEA area named "Faces." Located in LEA23, "Faces" is an exhibit that reminds us behind every avatar is a live human being. Created by Ilyra Chardin, besides encouraging people to imagine what it's like for other residents, those visiting are invited to take part in a writing contest with a prize.

Read Gemma's story in Extra.

Tuesday, November 21, 2017

Events This Week at the Sunweaver and Furry Fashion Clubs


It's another week of events at the Sunweaver and Angel clubs and the Furry Fashion Lounge.

Club Cutlass: Best in 'D," Thanksgiving, Blue and Purple

The Happy Vixen: Food Fight, Lions Tigers and Bears, No event, Winter is Nice, Pilgrims and Indians, CAYA

Club Zero Gravity: Magic, Turkey Day

Furry Fashion Lounge: Canines vs. Felines, Japan, Fandoms, Modders Monthly, Safari, Food, Tinies, Video Games

Read the schedules in SL Clubbin'.

Veterans Concert Raises Over 150,000 Lindens



On Sunday November 19, Veterans Isle held it's monthly fundraiser concert. The event was to raise money for the Homes For Our Troops charity. The event normally takes place on the last Sunday of each month. But due to Thanksgiving weekend was moved back this month. Unfortunately for the participants, this was the day the Grid had a number of technical glitches that kept a number of residents offline. Frets Nirvana, who organized the event, did not originally plan to play on stage, but stepped in due to one performer being offline.


Despite the glitches that caused residents to lag and/or crash, the benefit raised a total of 154,600 Lindens, over $600 US dollars.

Homes For Our Troops is a veterans charity that helps to build homes for veterans to prevent them from being homeless.

Bixyl Shuftan

Monday, November 20, 2017

Reader Submitted: How to Broadcast from Anything


Almost a year ago, Tantari Kim, also known as DJ Tantari, sent in a reader submission, "How To DJ The DJ Tantari Way." In the article, she used MIXXX software for her DJing. But what about other software? There are some free commercial ones, notably the free version of Virtual DJ and Traktor and Serato, but they aren't made for playing to Shoutcast. In a reader submission she recently sent in, she describes how to enable them so that they can.

Read Tantari's reader submission in Extra.

The Jerky Turkey Hunt


With Thanksgiving just around the corner, Shaza Denver stumbled across a shopping event that's sure to be gravy to fans of hunts: the Jerky Turkey Hunt. Taking place every November, this year's hunt offers over fifty prizes. Shaza shows off a few examples of what those taking part can find.

Read Shaza's story in Fashion.

Technical Glitches Keep Numbers of Residents Offline


On Sunday afternoon, November 19, just before 2PM SL time, a number of residents began saying they had trouble logging in, or relayed messages through Discord, Facebook, and other social media that they couldn't get on. In Second Life, people were being knocked offline. Various events described musicians and/or staff as having trouble coming on. Yours truly noticed other avatars seemed to take longer to rezz than usual. While this cannot be confirmed, one resident told me the number of people on the Grid had gone down from about 50,000 to about half that.

The Grid Status Report stated that Linden Lab was working on updating their Support Portal, which has been going on for a few days. At one point, Logins were described as having a "degraded performance," though nothing was mentioned about people having trouble staying online.

Sunday, November 19, 2017

Cartoon of the Day



Taken at the Happy Vixen's Halloween area

By Bixyl Shuftan

Saturday, November 18, 2017

SL Video: "Reggaetón Lento"




(Click here if the video fails to play)

From "The Rythims of (SL)ife" on Sept 21, "Hey all, this clip of the categories in haste.We decided to relax and made this light clip before more complex work."

Friday, November 17, 2017

Looking Back at Furry Desires


A couple days ago, the Newser published a commentary about running clubs. About then, Skylark Lefavre, a friend of the Newser, contacted us about what she considered the best club she ran: Furry Desires. The club lacked contests, so one might think the club did poorly. Actually, it was thriving for some time after it started in early 2010. Skye talked some about the club and what made it tick.

Read more in Places.

Press Release: Homes For Our Troops Concert in Veterans Isle


Frets Nirvana and US Military Veterans Group announce the 2017 November benefit for Homes For Our Troops in Second Life! 

Frets Nirvana, the premier guitar artist in the virtual world Second Life and the US Military Veterans Group announce the 2017 November benefit on November 19, 2017 in Second Life for the Veterans Support Organization  Home For Our Troops . 

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).  As of January 2017 they have built 229 homes for severly wounded Veterans and have another 85 projects underway.  Since its inception in 2004, over 90 cents of every dollar spent by Homes for Our Troop has gone to directly support Veterans. ”

Home for Our Troops benefit concerts feature premier Second Life talent monthly at Veteran’s Isle.  The concert on November 19, 2017 is scheduled from 4-9 PM PST.  Featured artists will be DJ Waya Snowpaw, Savannah Rain, Sjannon Oherlihy, Chillee Hernandoz, and Savannah Coronet .

ABOUT HOMES FOR OUR TROOPS  - HFOT builds homes as a departure point for Veterans to rebuild their lives, and once again become highly productive members of society. Despite their life-altering injuries, many Veterans have embarked on new careers, completed their college degrees, or started families. Empowered by the freedom a mortgage-free and specially adapted home brings, these Veterans can now focus on their recovery and return to their life’s work of serving others. Many have embraced their roles as motivational speakers, sharing their messages of persevering through tragedy with groups and classrooms around the country; others take to a national platform to promote awareness of veteran suicide, homelessness and PTSD. Their incredible stories are the driving force for the work for HFOT. To learn more about the Homes For Our Troops visit https://www.hfotusa.org

Sponsored by Frets Nirvana and the U.S. Military Veterans Group of Second Life.

Do You Have A Story?



On occasion, Second Life Newspaper will print an article or picture submitted to us by one of you, the readers.

Have you seen a particularly well-detailed sim? Went to a great event? Found yourself in a hilarious "only in SL" predicament? We're very interested in what you the readers have to say. Send us a story or funny picture, and if we like it, we'll post it as a Reader Submitted. For pictures, jpg format is preferred.

Mail submissions to bixylshuftan(at)gmail.com.

PLEASE include your SL user name and tell us if you wish it to appear with your story.

SL-Newser reserves the right to post in the appropriate section, edit,  and to investigate any names used in submitted stories (please ask permission before using anyones name or picture or use an alias for them).

Thursday, November 16, 2017

Linden Lab Calls For Merchants For Christmas Shopping Event


On Tuesday November 14, Linden Lab announced on the official Second Life blog that they were asking merchants to take part in a Christmas-themed shopping event next month. The dates given for the event were from December 15 to January 1st. Monday November 27 will be the last day to register.

We’re winding up for a winter inworld shopping event - and we’re now looking for Merchants who would like to participate! For SL14B we held a similar shopping event that was a great success for both customer and Merchants alike - and we are hoping to do the same this winter. This event, which runs from December 15th, 2017 through January 1st, 2018, is an opportunity to introduce new customers to  your brand. We are looking for merchants willing to offer a discount on some of their items (think Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals!) and possibly provide a little non-exclusive gift to holiday shoppers.

Last year, Linden Lab had a "Twelve Days of Marketplace" event. But they're comparing the shopping event to the Anniversary Shopping Event they organized to take place alongside the SL14B.

Image from Kathy Nikolaids

Crew Meeting Scene



Saturday November 11 was the monthly meeting for the Second Life Newser crew at its office in HV Community. Among those there was Gemma Cleanslate, who took her pet Firekitty over.

No mice were seen at that meeting.

Bixyl Shuftan

Wednesday, November 15, 2017

Cartoon of the Day



By Bixyl Shuftan

Commentary: So, You Want To Be A Club Owner


Maybe you've been in a shiny club with lots of bright lights and lots of people and thinking to yourself how nice it would be for you to have something like this. Or maybe the club your community has had for as long as you've known has suddenly closed down and the owner gone from Second Life, and you're the only one with the time and the money who's willing to try to make another. So just what lies before you? How hard can it be? Actually, it can be much harder than you think.

Read the article in People.

"The Atlantic" Writes About Second Life


By Bixyl Shuftan

Earlier it was revealed that "The Atlantic," a publication with both paper and online versions, would soon have an article about Second Life. A few days ago, it was revealed as part of the magazine's December 2017 edition. Written by Leslie Jamison, the title is less than flattering, "The Digital Ruins of a Forgotten Future." And at one point early on, the writer "found myself wanting to write 'Second Life makes me want to take a shower.'"

But on the whole, it was a thoughtfully written article. She writes about some people with disabilities who are able to go about Second Life the way they can't or no longer can in real life, "When I rode horses through the virtual Yosemite, I thought of how the woman leading me through the pines had spent years on disability, isolated from the world, before she found a place where she no longer felt sidelined." She also went some into the money people put into here, and talked with Philip Rosedale about Second Life's first days. At one point, she suggests the ridicule some have for the virtual world is "because it takes a recognizable impulse and carries it past the bounds of comfort ...  It crystallizes the simultaneous siren call and shame of wanting an alternate life."

There were some comments about the article on a thread on the SL Universe forums. Although there were a few snarky comments, others also thought the article was well written, "That is the best SL article I have ever read." Others had a more mixed opinion, "Although she faithfully repeated what people told her about the appeal of SL, it's too bad that she didn't experience its appeal herself." There were also a few comments under the article New World Notes wrote about The Atlantic's article, one saying the reason Second Life didn't do better was that Linden Lab didn't make accessibility a high priority, "Now Linden Lab is doing the same mistake again, with Sansar."

One can read the full article (here).

Bixyl Shuftan

Tuesday, November 14, 2017

Events This Week at the Sunweaver and Furry Fashion Clubs


It's a week full of events at the Sunweaver and Angel clubs, and the Furry Fashion Lounge.

Club Cutlass: Best in 'C,' Silver/Gold, Surf City

The Happy Vixen: Robots/Cybernetics, Military, Around the World, Captain Night, Demos, Bodysuits, CAYA

Club Zero Gravity: Cats and Dogs, Video Game

Furry Fashion Lounge: Wasteland, Japan, Mix and Match, Blue, Canines, Food, Fall, Pirates and Ninjas, Cartoons

Read the schedules in SL Clubbin'.

Updated 3:30PM

Reader Submitted: A Wolf's Xmas Wishes



Woof has his woofmas wishlist ready
..if anyone wishes to take care of it..

Ok.. woofs wishes from highest to lowest priority:
1: A girlfriend.. uniformed.. police or military, doesn't matter which (as long as she's a police officer).

2: A nom.

3: One gaming rig to rule them all, one gaming rig to find them, one gaming rig to bring them all and in the cuteness bind them!

4: A life.


...... Wait.. that last one is wrong.. it's supposed to be "another nom."

A Strange Wolf (Henning Lionheart)

Monday, November 13, 2017

Hairology


Shaza Denver is back after exploring an event she couldn't keep under her hat: Hairology. This is a popular monthly event high above the Waterton Way featuring some top hair designers. There are a number of gifts always available, and Shava shows off three from the latest event.

Read Shaza's article in Fashion.

Commentary: Ten Years of Writing About Second Life


It was ten years ago this month that I officially got started in virtual journalism with my joining the staff of JamesT Juno and Dana Vanmoer's Second Life Newspaper. With this milestone, yours truly has been looking back at what has happened, with my virtual career here, personally with my friends, and of course this virtual world.

Read the story in Extra.

Veterans Day at Club Cutlass



Saturday November 11 was Veterans Day, and that night, there was a special Veterans Day event at Club Cutlass. Cynthia Farshore played a list of military-themed or inspired tunes from the American Revolution to the first recorded songs of the Spanish-American War and WW1, to the classic military songs of WW2 to the protest songs of Vietnam to the music composed in the wake of 9/11 and the War on Terror.


At the end of the party, the four Sunweavers present at the part whom had served as veterans stood at attention: Rita Mariner, Cynthis Farshore, Shockwave Yareach, and Zorro Wuramunga (RECoyote Mindes, whom was also in the military, left the party early).

Thank you for your service.

Bixyl Shuftan

Sunday, November 12, 2017

Cartoon of the Day



Taken at Team Firestorm's area

By Bixyl Shuftan

Announcement: This Week at the Senchai Libraries


SOMETHINGS OLD, AND SOMETHINGS NEW!
Two new series this week, and a visit from some old favorites: Charles Dickens and Mark Twain. Plus, the two week count down to this year's Edition of THE DICKENS PROJECT has begun! Join us for stories all week in #secondlife, and on our properties in #kitely, live in voice.

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

All times SL time, stories in Voice.

Unless otherwise noted, at Holly Kai Estates (215/44/277)

* * * * *

**SUNDAY, November 12th at 6pm: MAGICLAND STORYTIME - "Pooh Bear Favorites" - What's your favorite?

Caledonia shares selected adventures from the Winnie-the-Pooh Canon of tales, with a little help from the audience.
The New Golden Horseshoe Magicland Frontierland, Bracket (181, 57, 30)

**MONDAY, November 13th, at 7 pm:  Diana Gallagher's ALIEN DARK begins  with Gyro Muggins
   
   
**TUESDAY, November 14th, at 7 pm: Selections from Mark Twain's  A CONNECTICUT YANKEE IN KING ARTHUR'S COURT with Caledonia Skytower


**WEDNESDAY, November 15th, at 7 pm: Robert Lynn Aspirin's MYTH ADVENTURES with Kayden Oconnell (also presented in Kitely hop://grid.kitely.com:8002/Seanchai/144/129/29)


** THURSDAY, November 16th:

~ at 7pm: Charles Dicken's GREAT EXPECTATIONS ~ Part 2 with Shandon Loring (also presented in Kitely hop://grid.kitely.com:8002/Seanchai/108/609/1528)

~ at 9pm: SEANCHAI LATE NIGHT  - contemporary Sc-Fi Fantasy with Finn Zeddmore

Saturday, November 11, 2017

Veterans Day



Have an honored Veterans Day

(Taken at the Veterans Tribute in Silent Reverie)

SL Video: "Riot Call"




(Click here if the video fails to play)

From Kraven Foxy on Oct 4, "Finally a new vid after so many months- feat some good friends betta and zaber. added a lot more effects in this vid to give a more tech/tv/comptuer sort theme, I hope its not too much or distracting."

Friday, November 10, 2017

The Gacha Garden


Our newest writer, Shaza Denver, was recently at a shopping event that got her attention: the "Gacha Garden." Going on to November 30, this event is organized by Meeka Sihtu, Ex0dus Montagne, and Slate Hax. There are many kinds of items are available from outfits, to outdoor furnishings, to hairpieces, and more. Shaza shows a few of the items available for gacha fans.

Read Shaza's article in Fashion.

New Toulouse Ghost Hunt


Gemma Cleanslate went back to New Toulouse for their recent game. Officially, it's called the "Spectral Activity Survey," but in layman's terms, it's a ghost hunt. This isn't "Ghostbusters" as you're not hunting down ghosts to get rid of them, but to listen to their stories. Those who complete hunts are rewarded with gifts.

Read Gemma's story in Events.

"The Well: Ultimum" By Loki Eliot


If you haven't had enough of Halloween, or just appreciate a good scary adventure, there's something waiting for you in the Escapades sim. Noted builder Loki Eliot has come up with a horror-themed game, "The Well: Ultimum." The fourth and final installment of his "The Well" series, players follow the clues left behind by a frightened boy, piecing together what's going on  So does this experience compare to Loki's previous work?

Read the article in Design.

Announcement: This Week at the Science Circle


Saturday 11th 10AM PST

“Voyager and Cassini - Where No One Has Gone Before!”
          
By Phil Youngblood Ph.D


Reality begins with a vision. Over 50 years ago, a NASA JPL scientist realized that a rare alignment of planets to take place years in the future could be exploited by a spacecraft using Jupiter’s gravity to slingshot itself to the outer planets and beyond. That vision led to the Pioneer, Voyager, Cassini, and New Horizons missions that left us spellbound with wonder as these craft gave us a closeup view of the worlds that are our neighbors. Join me this Saturday for a personal journey from our ‘pale blue dot’ to the outer reaches of our solar system, a journey that continues to go where no one has gone before!

More information about Phil's presentation: https://sciencecircle.org/nextpresentation/ 

The Science Circle (61/126/32)  

Thursday, November 9, 2017

Transaction History For Premium Members Extended To 90 Days


Linden Lab is offering another small perk for those with paying accounts. Earlier this week, they announced that they were extending the Transaction history of Premium accounts to ninety days. This is three times that of regular accounts.

The change is aimed at merchants in the virtual world, Linden Lab giving some statistics.

There’s a ton of activity in Second Life’s L$ economy: every day, the Marketplace alone sees more than 20,000 unique buyers purchasing more than L$16,000,000 worth of goods from more than 15,000 unique sellers. That’s a whole lotta Lindens changing hands! And that’s not even including inworld transactions. With all that activity, transaction history can be a handy reference for shoppers and merchants alike for bookkeeping, providing customer support, or just keeping track of your own purchases and L$ spending.

These figures give some idea of how much Linden Lab makes from its cut on Marketplace sales. Inara Pey estimated with a five percent fee, the Lab was taking in over $1,123,000 from Marketplace commerce.

It's notable this perk aimed at Second Life's merchants comes about a week after Linden Lab announced it was raising fees to buy, and later sell, Linden dollars, which was criticized as an attack on "those who work to create the SL economy." So the move could be seen as an attempt to ease any ill feelings among the virtual world's businessmen and women.

To any merchants reading the article, what do you think? Will this extension in the transaction history be useful?

Bixyl Shuftan

Veterans Tribute 2017



Veterans Day, or Remembrance Day as it's known in some countries, is in a couple days on Saturday November 11. And as it has every year for the past 11 years, the Veterans Tribute has appeared in Second Life. The place is mainly a memorial wall in which each of the stones have a name or names of many veterans, American, Canadian, and others, of wars current and in the past. While a few of the names are among the living, most on the wall either died in action or passed away in peacetime. The center of the tribute is a memorial flame surrounded by a ring of flowers, a ring of water, and the five flags of the five branches of the US military.

The Second Life Veterans Tribute Group is a non-profit organization made up of volunteers (both civilians and ex-military) who have come together to build a Veteran’s Tribute in Second Life. The goal of the Tribute is to provide a non-political, content filled, educational, interactive SIM inside Second Life where men and women of all walks of life can visit and provide remembrance and honor to those who have served in the Armed Services.

Visitors can request a new stone be carved in honor of someone by putting the name and some information on a notecard, and putting it in one of the mailboxes  There are also roses and flags near the start that people can get and place inside the memorial. There are also planes up for display, and a small POW memorial.


The Newser has reported on the Tribute for the past several years, including that of onetime Second Life resident Lothi Aeon/Jacob D. Borton, and when one Marine told the story of his fallen comrades.

The Tribute will be up until November 13th.

Silent Reverie (162/186/36)

Bixyl Shuftan

Wednesday, November 8, 2017

Reader Submitted: Hello From Shaza Denver


Hello!

I hope everyone is having a fun and interesting day.  I would like to introduce myself to you.  I am Shaza Denver. I have been a resident of Second Life for many a year.  Its been quite a journey I started on a fateful day some eight years ago.  I have done many things in this wonderful world of Second Life,  but I think for the most part my love of fashion has always been a constant here.  That and a good day of shopping!

There are many things I enjoy here in SL. I have a love of the blues and all sorts of good music,  I have a family,  and lots of good friends,  I enjoy fishing,  and I enjoy exploring this beautiful world.  You pick a country or city you would like to see,  I can bet you will find a place in SL that mimics the original.   It is a place that never ceases to amaze me even after all these years.  It will be my pleasure in the coming months to bring you our faithful readers,  events,  sales,  and all manner of interesting things.  For the most part, since I enjoy fashion so very much,  it will be fashion articles.  I will however on occasion find something I think might be of interest other than fashion.  I hope you find my articles informative and entertaining.   I hope my articles lead you down paths you have not ever explored here on SL. 

I might cover  a flash sale,  a hunt, or perhaps a gatcha event,  You never know what I will come up with.  I will bring you groups that have fantastic gifts for  the members,  I will find quick sales and  month long events.  It is my plan to bring you all the goings on that I can find that will amuse and interest you. 

So sit back get buckled  in and enjoy the ride.  I hope you all have fun reading  my postings as much as I will have fun on my  journey of bringing them to you.  Its a good time of the year to be enjoying SL faithful readers,  so lets get started!

Sincerely
Shaza Denver