Feel free to IM me with any events you would like added or add them in the comments on this post. Dana
9/11 memorial event start time; 12AM
An all day event to remember those who died on September 11th, 2001.With music, drawings, paintings, statues and much more.Great artists prefoming, such as Hugh Dench, Fable Sinatra, Ictus Belford, ezcape Hax, Grateful Stryker and Edward Lowell.Stop by and say: 'I remember!'
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9/11 memorial and twin towers rebuilt in SL start time; 3AM, 9AM, 12PM, 6PM
Today come to spend a bit of your time to the 9-11 Memorial.Visit the twin towers rebuilt and the observation deck where you can find a very impressive gallery of 9-11 photos.
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9/11 memorial event start time; 5.46AM
At the World Trade Center sim, there will be a memorial time from 5:46 till 10:28 am Linden time. It corresponds to the RL time events from when the towers started collasping...until they collapsed.For all those interested, please join us at the World Trade Center sim.
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9/11 memorial monument and exhibit start time; 10AM, 4PM, 5PM, 7PM
"In memory of all those whose lives were cut short on September 11th 2001..."
View the 9/11 Memorial Monument and adjacent photography exhibit, "A Tribute in Lights," dedicated to the 2,974 victims of the attacks on 9/11.
Xzavier Taov Photography is SL's premiere gallery dedicated to "the world's city" and exhibits the RL images of New York photographer, Xzavier Taov. Whether you're a New Yorker yourself, his photos of New York City will captivate you and rekindle the awe you felt the 1st time you experienced the magic of NYC. As a spectator, you'll get a sense of the New York Xzavier sees as a resident of the world's most diverse city. So that you can in some way see yourself as a New Yorker, too.
Current photo series - "9/11: A Tribute in Lights" and "Along the Brooklyn Bridge."
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9/11 Tribute at club Josephina start time; 1.30PM
Music: Modern Club/PopLocation: Club Josephina
No contest - Just an evening (or day depending on your time zone) in tribute of not just the lives lost but the survivors too.
IM Josephina Bonetto for LM/TP/Further Info and/or join Group "Club Josephina"
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9/11 Tribute with DJ Kyz Richez start time; 2PM
Playing 1 hour of music relating to the world we live in ex: war, peace, government and related issues
also accepting requests/dedications
Need a taxi? IM: Kyz Richez
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9/11 memorial event start time; 7PM
This event will have NO CASH CONTEST. Come join us as we remember the fallen. Every participant receives a free "Never Forget" t-shirt. Light a candle in memory of those who died. Moment of silence to be held at midpoint. Event starts at 7 p.m. SL time. Host will be Abigayle Flanagan, with DJ Jynxx playing the tunes. Come and join us, and enjoy the experience that IS Jesse's Cowboy Club.
FREE 9/11 Rembrance Unisex Shirts are available for a limited time at *Bubblefish* HQ to show our support and unity on the anniversary of this somber day. Shirt is located on the counter at the main entrance. Please join us in showing the world "we will never forget".
*Bubblefish*
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Monday, September 10, 2007
9/11 - a day to remember
A day to remember those who died on September 11th, 2001. Feel free to drop us an email on jamestjuno (at) gmail.com and we will post your event for free in our events section.
SLN now on Secondpages too !
After our smashing topscore on SL-Topsites Votingsystem we searched the web for more and found out we are already on Secondpages. If you are interested in giving us a FLIP, please find it here and click FLIP IT.
LL made a pact with Google ???
Very recently we now see that when we use the SL-URL function on the web. You get a nice map that really works again.
And at the bottom you see powered by Google ! - Glad we have the sl-url map back... again thanx to :
And at the bottom you see powered by Google ! - Glad we have the sl-url map back... again thanx to :
SLN Reaches the dizzy heights of number 1
Today sl-newspaper, your very own loved site, reached number 1 on the second life topsites directory!!! Please click the link on the left hand side for SL Topsites to vote for us and keep us in there!!!
Sunday, September 9, 2007
Weekly Business Review - 9 Sept 07
September 9, 2007
With the revelation by Linden Lab of its new strategy to broaden the appeal of it’s “rock solid” virtual world technology, this intrepid columnist has a “V8 Moment” in which all of the things they have done over the last few weeks begin to make a twisted sort of sense.
Counter hits 50.000 !
Is it just me, or is this the first time the counter hits 50K and above ? - Your comments please.
Trin & Voo Take A Walk On The Wild Side
This week Trin & Voo go in search of some drama, either by creating it ourselves or seeing what others get up too, check it out now in EXPLORE.
Letters from Beyond
Last night saw me at the event to be seen at 'Letters from beyond' A Celebration of Fashion and the Gothic Novel Presented by: The Writers’ Block Café and Bar.read more about it in the Design section
Saturday, September 8, 2007
Hot Ride!
Unleash your wildest Free-wheelin Fantasys, with SL's first Sex Motorcycle!
Read all about it in our Red Light Section!
Read all about it in our Red Light Section!
Down The Rabbit Hole
Who is Trin, and what is she on about? Well the abridged version of me is simple! I am Scottish, this therefore gives me the right to complain about many things and if feeling the battle is being lost I have the right to shout "They will never take our freedom" from the very top of my blue and white coloured lungs.
Let me explain my reason for this 'down the rabbit hole'. Firstly I assume that most people with a pulse have seen the matrix and understand the concept of Alice tumbling down the rabbit hole? Hopefully my assumptions are true.
This is my soapbox, my podium for ranting. I do not just rant however, I will set a scene and then explain MY views on it and ways to get round it. Now you may agree with me, you may disagree, but please be aware of what was said above and be prepared for your ear plugs and Mel Gibson style shouting.
I love second life, but I also love to hate it at times. It is a wonderful, multi-coloured beauty and when they call it "your world, your imagination" really they hit the nail on the head. Of course "they" are our affectionately named and appointed Lindens. You know who I mean when I say Lindens, these are the people we ALL blame for everything wrong on the grid, but very VERY rarely ever see. I have been playing SL for a year now and I have seen a total of 3 Lindens during this time. I wonder where they all are. I think they must hide somewhere (in Gor perhaps?). Being a Linden in sl must be a nightmare, constant abuse and shouting.
Why do we want to shout at Lindens? Its a game, surely its to be treated as a game? Well personally I say no. It is a game, it is a game I pay for using those hard earned coins from RL. More importantly, and I shall stand out and say this without fear, it is a game I am addicted too. So are you, shock horror!
In theory if the grid is experiencing troubles then we should log off and continue on our rl journey. In practice, we fight with it, we shout at it and we sometimes even swear at it. Failing all those find some people and moan about Lindens and how useless they are, that usually helps.
I had a day like that today. I logged on this morning, in a good mood, all happy and calm. I checked my friends list to see who was online.... ah yes my good friend ‘waiting’ was online again. Waiting is a great guy, he never spams me, he never asks me to do anything, and I can shout at him and he won’t get flustered.
After the standard, clear cache and re-log (does this actually work? Waiting certainly couldn’t tell me) I returned to the grid. I went off to shop (god alone knows why).
Don’t worry I shall return, but right now I feel the need to go and break somethings and swear at Lindens.
Oh btw, I was going to give you advice to avoid this stress filled world of sl, but personally I haven’t found something. So work your stress out by making protest boards. That is of course if the texture library isn’t flickering all over the place :|
Money Matters!
The latest SL stock market info, now up in our Financial Section, courtesy of Connie Mac!
Friday, September 7, 2007
An Adult Playing A Ten Year Old
AN ADULT who plays a ten year old boy in Second Life has written to Bella about the problems he faces here.
Click here to read the full story.
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Tanglewood Gay Rodeo
Find out what all the cowpokes will be getting up to this weekend, over in the EVENTS section.
SL Capital Exchange (SLCX) promotes Bogart Beck to Chief Executive Officer
Beck acquires 12 million shares (approximately 15%) stake in exchangeArbitrage Wise, SL Capital Exchange Chairman, announced this evening that Bogart Beck has accepted the position of Chief Executive Officer for the SL Capital Exchange, to take effect immediately.
Find out more in Finance.
Virtual Worlds Conference and Expo Fall
Virtual Worlds Conference and Expo Fall takes place October 10-11, 2007 at the San Jose Convention Center. Virtual Worlds Fall is dedicated to helping businesses harness the power of virtual worlds to engage with their customers, partners and employees. The event follows the highly successful Virtual Worlds Spring Conference which took place in New York in March.Conference Keynotes
Anthony E. Zuiker Creator CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, CSI: Miami, CSI: NY
Christian Renaud Chief Architect, Networked Virtual Environments Cisco Technology Center
Anthony Zuiker, announced that there will be a specially written episode of CSI:NY which will include a search for a killer in the online virtual world Second Life (SL). However, beyond featuring SL in the TV plot, audiences will be able to help solve the crime by going into SL and visiting a specially created CSI lab!
“Nina Tassler, the CBS executive has been talking about this for a while… [Episode five] is basically a forensic investigation into Second Life, an online social network, a metaverse where you go on, you create an avatar and cruise different worlds. Part of our investigation is going in there. Mac Taylor has to create an avatar and go and hunt down a killer who is using somebody's avatar to commit a murder. It's a little bit of a CSI: New York sci-fi internet pursuit with a big action sequence at the end of the episode. It's fun; it actually has a big moment for Mac and Adam because Adam sort of becomes this big expert in the world of Second Life. He's done it before, so he sort of guides Mac into the how or the where of it all. I think it's going to be a fun episode. It's very different,” source
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
WTC Memorial - Second Life Live Event
On September 11, 2007, a virtual reality World Trade Center Memorial will be presented to the people of the world. The location is in Second Life, on the island we have named after the original design: Celestial Requiem NYC.Read more about it in our EVENTS section.
Introducing the Second Life Grid....
Yesterday, Linden Lab launched the SecondLifeGrid.net website, a resource for businesses, organizations and educators for creating a successful virtual presence on the Second Life Grid platform. Since the launch of Second Life, Linden Lab has been working to further open and expand the virtual world. The SecondLifeGrid.net website recognizes the opportunities virtual worlds provide to organizations,To date ‘the Grid’ has been used synonymously with Second Life. However, with launch of SecondLifeGrid.net, Linden Lab is separating Second Life the virtual world (the product) from the Second Life Grid (the technology platform).
“Pink for life” to fight against breast cancer
Operation « Pink for life » (Du Rose pour la Vie)
The cancer research Institute, Gustave Roussy, first European research center in cancer research is
launching in October 2007 : "Pink For Life". This operation is organized to raise awareness about
breast cancer, during Pink October, international month for the fight against breast cancer.
October 9 and 10, 2007 on the Champs Elysees (Paris), will be organized an exhibition followed by an
auction of exposed items. Items are donated by famous fashion designers and luxury brands. All Items
and artistic creations will share a common point: they have to be pink!
ConceptSL, the interactive communication agency, organizes the Second Life side of this event:
The Second Life operation will be in two phases : a Second Life exhibition of items/creations from SL
designers and an EBay auction of these items. To allow a maximum of people to see the exhibition and bid
in the auction, the exhibition will take place from October 1st to October 10 on Second Life. Auctions will
be opened on EBay in the same period. They will be closed October 10; and items will then be given to
their new owners.
Second Life Designers
We are looking for items and artistic creations to prepare the exhibition in 4 categories: Furniture, Clothes,
Accessories, Misc.
A maximum of 20 objects will be exposed and sold for each category. Only one design constraint: the items
must be pink (a pink painting, pink jewelry, pink dress, etc.).
The event will be hosted on Elyseum, in the exhibitions hall. All the sales profit will be donated to breast
cancer research.
If you want to contribute, read out the details on http://www.ConceptSL.com
Submissions will be closed on September 20.
Recruiting SL mentors
We are looking for mentors and guides to assist Elyseum visitors during the exhibitions. If you are
interested, read out the details on http://www.ConceptSL.com.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Krystal Epics newest addition................
KE Shopping Center is the official shopping center of Krystal Epic, raved by many as one of the most innovative creations in Second Life.
Find out more in our DESIGN section
Who Needs Real Life?
Another addict joins the ranks of Second Life's devotees. Click here to see if you display this behaviour.
Monday, September 3, 2007
Identity Verification Comes to Second Life...
Well its been Morphed from 'Age verification' to the now 'Identity verification' WHY? Good question!
Lindens answer:
The IDV system aims to deliver two things. First, for Residents, it gives them the chance to independently verify certain aspects of their identity (their name, age, location and sex for instance) if they choose to. This will help establish trust by removing a layer of anonymity for those they interact with. It’s much easier to trust someone who puts their name behind their words and actions.
The second benefit of the IDV system is to help land owners and content publishers be sure that minors do not get access to inappropriate material. Again this is voluntary, but we wanted to provide the tools for estate owners to restrict access to content of a sexual or violent nature to those they are sure are over 18. They’ll do this by flagging the content as ‘Restricted’ which will only allow avatars verified as over 18 to access the land. Visitors to Restricted areas can also be reassured that all other visitors are over 18 as well.
Read the full statement here
Even with a half hearted attempt at clearing up some of the questions their statement raises more questions than it answers:
1, What has a persons sex got to do with AGE or whether they can access mature areas? Why would you need to know this?
2, LL have stated “ID verification will only be required at this time for access to restricted content”. Does this mean all areas will eventually be labelled depending on content?
3, LL have stated "ID verification provides an additional layer of trust" Does that mean I am untrustworthy if I chose NOT to verify?
4, LL have stated "Information provided during the identification process, such as a driver’s license, passport or national ID card number, will simply be used to cross-check against public records. Linden Lab will not be storing this data and nor will the third party verification specialist, Aristotle."
Linden Lab does not share Resident data for marketing or other purposes, but does of course comply with requests from all governmental and regulatory authorities and with court orders including subpoenas.
Notice the word 'store' no-where does it state that this information will NOT be passed on.
In answer to two of the questions raised on the blog Robin Linden answered:
The mention of gender was an example, and should that option become available it would be purely voluntary.
Integrity is contractually obligated to perform the matching service and that’s it. They will not store any personally identifying information, nor will we.
Linden Labs are at pains to point out that this is all completely voluntary at the moment, just when exactly does it stop becoming voluntary and become compulsory? Will we still be able to download updates and bug fixes if we do not verify?
I hope I have covered some of the questions raised by this issue here, but there are many more.
Feel free to leave your questions or answers in the comments.
Dana XxX
Sunday, September 2, 2007
SL-Newspaper.com opens 10th location in Secondlife.
One of the best read newspapers in Secondlife® has opened their 10th location on Publishing Island.
The new publishing Sim is next to the already famous Book Island. In an old Tudor-style building
you will find a relaxing atmosphere to read your newspaper and have a chat with many of the other
publishers who own shops on publishing island.
On the second floor a meeting room can be found where press-clubs and other social meetings find a place.
The complete location is open to the public and has a wonderfull bar and sitting area completely in style.
Above the bar you will find a Landmark-giver which can supply all of the other 9 SL-Newspaper-locations.
Location SL-URL : http://slurl.com/secondlife
Location news : http://www.sl-newspaper.com
Hits informattion : SL-Newspaper.com has an avarage of 10.000 non-unique hits daily
Sanctuary!
It's one of the most impressive builds I've seen in SL. A faithful reproduction of the Kolner Cathedral, and is the first part of Virtuelles Koeln, a project to recreate the city of Koln within SL, using technology from Google Earth to make the whole project. The mission statement for the project states that this will become a place for German citizens to call their own, and to operate as a platform for German companies and government to operate from, considering that Germany produces one of the largest proportions of SL residents.
However, at the door of the Cathedral, which is opening at 11am today, is a sign, stating that no one wearing a headpiece (ie furries), wings, weapons, cigarettes or any other such unsavoury attachment will be allowed within the building. When I arrived at the site, Darkwolf Cale, a German resident, was distraught at the fact that, simply because he is a furry in SL, he is being excluded from entering this reproduction of one of his country's most famous landmarks.
The explanation for this bizarre ruling, is that they take the holiness of even this virtual church very seriously, however they also state that their sponsors will have billboards posted around the area.
So, I guess in this virtual church, money lenders are welcome, and due to the no wings rule, angels will be turned away.
(Thanks to Dixie Barbosa for his help as my German to English translator)
New screenshot on SL web
After a long time, LL finally put up a new screen on their mainpage www.secondlife.com.
Friday, August 31, 2007
Playing Underage Children In SL
There has been a lot of controvesy about children in SL and age playhere we like to look at all sides of the situation.
So to that end I would like to introduce our new writer Zaclegend Usher,
a child av in SL who will show us secondlife from his point of view.
Read his first article in our People section now.
DanaXxX
Machinima - Bourne Ultimatum
Remember last week I introducted TV Poker's entry into the Machinima contest? Well below is the video, please take your time to watch it
Watch it here!
Please remember to view and cast your votes - voting ends soon!!!
Watch it here!
Please remember to view and cast your votes - voting ends soon!!!
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Age Verification Takes Some Hits
(Photo above: Tee-shirt designed by Mirah McGuire).
THE RECENT ANNOUNCEMENT by Linden Labs that Age Verification has come to Second Life has attracted outrage among residents.
While there are some SL'ers who believe they have nothing to hide and have no reservations with providing personal information to verify their age, location etc., others feel Age Verification will do nothing to prevent Under 18's from getting into Restricted areas.
Mirah McGuire, who says she has four children, stated there is nothing stopping kids from getting hold of their parent's credit cards, social security information etc., and "verifying" false information. She also feels it is Linden Lab's responsibility to prevent under age users from accessing areas in Second Life, not residents.
"Since minors are NOT ALLOWED on the adult grid, why do we have to guard against minors seeing 'restricted content'? It isn't OUR job to keep 'em out Linden Labs, it's yours. Why punish us? This is the most amazingly ass-backwards way of doing ANYTHING that I have ever heard of."
Another critic of the decision, Harald Nomad, a Second Lifer since 2003 said that Linden Lab had chosen the path of free, un-verified accounts and that made it their responsibility to deal with the consequences, not residents.
"Don't confuse verification with trustworthiness," he pointed out, "one has nothing to do with the other."
"The first who needs to earn our trust is Linden Lab itself. By taking its responsibilities seriously."
Mr. Nomad said his comments were not about 'Linden-bashing', but more about making sure that residents were heard on this issue.
"Many have warned Linden Lab when they first introduced the free access," he advised. "Based on the seven-day trial that was in use before then, residents had a pretty good idea what that would lead to."
"Linden Lab didn't want to hear, and now they get to deal with situations they were warned for. It's really nice that they can show off a nine million plus "user" base, but at what price?
"It's wrong to put this (Age Verification) on the shoulders of residents, rather than dealing with the issue where they originate - free accounts," continued Mr. Nomad. "A new one every 20 minutes if need be."
According to Mr. Nomad the way to go is separate ratings into PG, Mature and R-Rated with identity only being required to be proven on R-rated sims, rather than a blanket policy all over Second Life.
Another critic of the scheme, Agapanthus Voom, who has an adult sim exclaimed, "The whole thing is a bunch of bull crap... I will not be partipating... It's SL responsibility to keep teens off the grid... not the SL players... What a bunch of weasles!!!
Mr. Voom said he believed the real reason Linden Labs is taking these steps to "clean up" Second Life was to appeal to the huge Chinese market.
Earlier this year, Second Life finance reporter, Connie McMahon said the Age Verification issue had evoked eight-to-one negative responses when it was first mooted back in May.
At this time, and now in August, a lot of resident's concerns and objections relate to the submission of detailed personal information such as Social Security and Passport numbers to Integrity Services via the internet. Since 2005 there have been numerous high profile instances of supposedly highly secure US companies and government agencies losing detailed data on customer account and personal information.
The parent company of Integrity, the third-party responsible for the Age Verification process, is Aristotle International, a company which compiles and sells voter lists and demographic information to political parties, PACs, fund raising operations, etc.
The requirement of SSN and Date of Birth, while not unusual, is no longer industry best practice. Verification companies such as IDology and ChoicePoint have dispensed with the SSN requirement entirely in favor of logic routines that will assume, for example, that if you hold a mortgage, own a business or work in certain professions (Doctor, Attorney, etc) that you are over 18 years old. The focus of these organizations is simply to reliably establish whether an individual is an adult or a minor. Linden Lab refers to the program alternatively as "age" verification and "identity" verification. The blog in May stated that only "a match code" will be returned but they declined to respond to questions regarding exactly what the code would signify.
Robin Linden has been approached for comment and we hope to bring that to you shortly.
(This article was co-written with material supplied by Connie McMahon).
Can you handle the truth?
The latest installment of "Times of your (Second) Life" is up in the People Section.In this installment, I meet SL P.I. Mercury Madsen to discuss the deceit and suspicions he investigates inworld.
It's Doubtfulphilia
click image to enlarge
Ah machine translators... you just can't beat them for humor. What the gentleman is really trying to say: [He] likes the unusual. However, I'll take 'doubtfulphilia' anyday. It just BEGS to be a word.
from JunkDNA
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Deceived!
ONE OF OUR READERS has been deceived by a very good friend as to their gender.
Click here for letter to Bella.
SL starts to invade my RL
I bought some cheap sunglasses in real life today.
Imagine my disappointment when I clicked on them and nothing happened!
No HUD menu, no poseballs, nothing!
Imagine my disappointment when I clicked on them and nothing happened!
No HUD menu, no poseballs, nothing!
Art Sanctuary isle
Art Sanctuary isle is a whole new site based on Raspirit Heron's artwork; After initially being started in the skies above Hardangerfjord, Art Sanctuary rapidly evolved into a shared vision between the artist and SL content creator and scripter WieBenIk Beaumont.
Find out about the grand opening in the Events section