SL5B double standards? What constitutes PG?

Apparently there have been instances of nipples being either removed or a request has been put in for them to be covered so when i saw this I was quite shocked!This being, The David (Michelangelo Statue) by Timmi Allen, normally a naked statue would not shock me or for that matter anyone in SL but this I am trying to figure out - he has full genitalia minus his nipples?????Is Timmi trying to make a point here?How does Artfox Daviau's wooden sculpture of a lady get censored and the nipples removed yet Timmi Allens statue with everything male on show get through????I guess he hasn't shown nipples so its ok for a PG area?I have nothing against nakedness in Art or otherwise and Timmis' statue is a wonderful work in sculpties made with just 14 prims. I have nothing but admiration for someone who can make a sculptie to this high standard but what about Artfox'x lady? Why did she have to be censored? She was even less lifelike being created from wood?I wish a Linden would come forward and explain their seeming double standards here - but I very much doubt it will happen! As always feel free to make up your own minds as to the reasoning behind this because sure as he is fully endowed no logical explanation will be forthcoming from LL.Dana

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PHOTO CONTEST

Wow its been a while since we did this! We are going to give away 6000 Lindens!

Take a photograph on a beach, this is a Best in beachwear photo competition

The winners, one female image one male, will each receive L$3000

rules:

The winning photographs must contain an avatar

Be taken in SecondLifeSome post production is allowed

Be submitted by email to:

jamestjuno@gmail.com

in jpeg format before the 11th of July

Submitting a photograph gives us full rights to publish it and use it in future publications and advertising.

please ensure you have the permission of any models you use.Winners will be announced on the 19th of July in SL-newspaper group

I forgot to say please include your AVATAR name with the email

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Cartoon of the day

By Bixyl Shuftan

(click for full size)

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SL5B exhibits to note:

You could be forgiven for thinking you were in some transport museum with this incredible display!

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SL Connection goes without a hitch

Although only given a few minutes notice skippers from all over the grid rushed to get their boats rezzed on both sides, ready to be the first to race across the newly created sim that after days of waiting would connect the two sailing communities of USS-SL and Sailors cove.The new sim creates one large sailing community of 125 sims, which after some time Linden Lab are planning to move to a new area of the grid to give room for expansion.ZATZAi Asturias shouts: "I've always been fond of Sailors Cove and the rest of the USS. I remember when both the USS and Sailors Cove where in their infancy, just a couple sims, or even one sim. I would think, as I sailed or flew around the areas how great it would be if it could be connected to my own home and a few months ago part of that dream became reality when I was asked to join with the USS. now today the second part of that dream finally comes true as well. So welcome, Patrick, Fanci, and everyone else to the United Sailing Sims. I can't wait to launch my invasion force! ;-)"

Patrick Leavitt shouts: "The future for us looks bright in this ever changing environment and we will weather those storms together as a family. It is a glorious day today that Sailors Cove is now a part of the USS-SL"The Ribbons were cut and everyone raced for their boats to pass each other in the straight, an amazing feat considering the amount of people present - it took me 3 tries to get onto the newly created sim there were so many people there!Congratulations to all involved and i hope for great news in the near future when all the sims are moved and we can sail in peace (when i learn how to handle our ships of course).Dana

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SL5B exhibits to note:

See if you can discover this fantastic exhibit by the Red Rock community

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Bixyl has been a busy fox

Find out just what he has been up to in both EXPLORE and EVENTS

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Linden Lab backs down on forcing Dazzle on our eyes:

In an announcement about the new release candidate
Linden states:'Many of you asked for the Dazzle theme to be optional, and we are glad to tell you we have rearranged our plans and resources to now work on just that. We had wanted to do theme switching originally, but had been focused on stability. We realize now we don’t want Residents to opt for the older viewer just to keep the classic look– where you would continue to suffer from bugs that have been fixed in the newer viewer.'This new iteration (the 39th) does NOT have the optional User Interface hopefully in the next few releases there will be progress on it:'We would now like to direct more development on the first stages of the Skinning project (this is the
flexibility that brought a new Dazzle look to the viewer). To start, we are now developing a solution to VWR-5059 - “Ability to switch between the new/old theme” - and will ship that before finalizing the official Second Life Viewer 1.20.'My first reaction and that of friends has been WOW a Linden actually listened to the widespread concerns about Dazzle and the general discontent over the way it works, even for those with perfect 20/20 vision its been a huge cause of dismay. Sometimes LL gets it right.Also to be noted is the length of time taken to roll out this iteration; some may complain but I would much rather it actually worked the way it's intended before it is forced on the multitudes and drives more people away.One comment I noted was that working on Dazzle is just 'prettying up the UI' instead of fixing the problems of stability etc, well i suppose if driving half of the userbase away because of dazzle reduces the strain on the asset servers then leaving dazzle as it is could be a good idea and would reduce the workload at LL, but it should be noted:'The themes themselves are minor effects for sure; but getting to a place of having them means real hard work to get the User Interface abstracted will be under the hood. It’s something that Dazzle Project started and the Skinning Project would ultimately take much farther. Imagine that the UI code is general enough that you can replace the colors on the fly… Then imagine it is general enough that you can take out buttons that you don’t want (or put buttons where you want them.) Someday (still far away) the UI is abstracted enough to run windows outside the 3D view of the world. This is the intent of Skinning, and starts with a tiny step.We’re committed to improving the User Interface of Second Life– part of that is getting the code to catch up!'There also seems to be some people who think the complaints are about DAZZLE as a whole; Dazzle is a lot more than just a change of colours and I love a lot of the new features of Dazzle, but I, like many, find the colour the main problem with it. Other issues pointed out are the IM tabs not blinking so you don't actually realise someone is talking to you and removal of the tools button from the main UI until you edit something - those are just minor gripes compared with the colour issue. Overall DAZZLE is a change for the better ONCE the colour and contrast issues are sorted out.The main point here is that Linden Lab actually LISTENED to a majority of Residents, our shouts for a CHOICE were heard, most iterations of the main viewer are COMPULSORYso for once LL have taken notice and I say well done!

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SL5B how to find out what's going on:

This years birthday celebrations are huge with so much going on how can anyone find out?One way is to drop onto one of the sims and search the map for all the little green dots :)Another way is the using search, although this could take some time.This year the committee have also come up with several calenders the best I have seen is this one:http://creator.zoho.com/showViewLinkAlone.do?viewlinkId=7&link=true&sharedBy=dustylindenthis is another one:http://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=sl5b.events%40googlemail.com&ctz=America/DenverPanels and speeches/keynotes can be found listed HEREThe Wiki is a good central source as well as the official events listing on the SL blog.Don't forget to come and find your favourite newspaper and maybe learn a little more about us while have fun! Click HERE

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The Wedding and the Thank you's

The Happiest day of our Secondlife but it wouldn't have been the same if it wasn't for those friends and family that went out of their way to make the day as special as it was.

Find out more in the PEOPLE section

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SL5B opens with speeches from Phillip Linden and M

Philip Linden opened the birthday celebrations with a speech that reflected on his amazement at how much secondlife has grown:"I feel I have lived a lifetime in that 5 years, it feels almost like 50 years"He also surprisingly addressed the problems surrounding the celebration itself:"I know there has been tension, protest and stress around this event and I think its great, its emblematic of what secondlife is all about and why it's special. To attempt to make a celebration of what secondlife is about is bound to fail"I wonder if those excluded think its 'great'?He goes on to talk about the progress that has been made on the grid itself and notes that Linden Lab are 'working hard on stability' thats it is a 'big focus' for LL to work towards.M(ark) Linden also touched on a tender subject that of IP rights:"One of the fundamental elements is on IP rights. Its really really important that people who create great content are able to enjoy it and protect it, its one of the things philip put in place and which has underpinned the economy today."But although he did mention the topic and admit that creative content is the backbone of the economy there were no answers as to how this was to be achieved or even if Linden Lab were doing anything about content theft.There was a lot of corporate bolstering and obviously the speeches were tailored to boost that image but on the whole I felt the speeches were aimed at the residents without actually solving any of the present resident concerns, both speeches taken together did acknowledge those issues exist and let everyone know that Lindenn Lab have been listening and they are aware of the problems facing ordinary residents.I can't say there was any reassurance that these issues would be fixed, just that the Lab is aware. To me that was a reassurance in itself an acknowledgement of the work they still need to do.The speeches felt to me like a placification for those that have issues and concentrated on the creative content to be seen over the 20 sim exhibition.There is some incredible content to be seen over there and I urge everyone to take the time to 'wade through the honey', as the lag has been labled, and have a look at what is now possible in Secondlife.I hope there are some hair displays around too as M pointed out to Philip 'its been 4 years since his avatar was updated and although his hair is the best in SL it is also the oldest' showing perhaps the human side of the Lab. I wonder if some of the hair creators out there could send him some prim hair based on the newbie style he is wont to use.M Linden himself has obviously been shopping and looks a good deal better than his newbie CEO pictures :)Happy Birthday SecondlifeIf you want to watch the entire speech see the blog HERE

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Cartoon of the Day

By Bixyl Shuftan

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Virtual Watchdog

Sometimes I ask myself what am I doing here in this “Game”.Real life is so much more important .There are things going on that I should attend to but don’t. I should forget all about this.But beyond it all there is real life always spilling over into this world of fantasy.For months now here in the virtual world many have been planning, holding, and attending events to raise money for something that affects us all at some way in real life, and as we have seen with the trials of our second life friends ,whom we have never met in real life.Somehow we feel it keenly touch our hearts and minds.There is a an article in the SL iReports that brought that home to me when my friend Dione Kohime sent a link asking us to read and ponder.Dione has been working tirelessly as leader of the Eternal Beacon team since day 1 to raise money for cancer research as have many other teams in sl.The article in its title asks the question "Are Virtual Gamers Mocking the American Cancer Society?"It starts out making you wonder if we are. The frivolous nature of our second lives in may ways could cause one to think this but further on you realize this article catches the essence of what is going on is second life and the fact that it is very real in raising real money for research.How about 110,000 real American dollars last year.I hope you will all take some time to read the touching essay by CaSimone on the CNN bloggers website.Each of us has a story similar to this to remind us why we are involved in the work of fund raising in the midst of our song and dance.Gemma Cleanslate

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Introducing Redd OConnell....................

Redd is well known within the financial and business community of SL and has accepted the challenge of the weekly business roundup while Connie is on sabatical.As well as running Verve Financial Services, the first truly full service investment management and business consulting firm in Second Life,

you will be able to keep up to date with Redd in our FINANCE section ..........

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CEO's of SLN got married today!

Today, on this sunny Friday at 2pm SLT sharp, the CEO's of this newspaper, JamesT Juno and Dana Vanmoer, got married! The ceremony took place on a private sim and their closest friends and family were there of course. Fire Island owner Carter Giacobini was in charge of the ceremony and it was he who spoke the words: "As the appointed spokesperson here today I pronounce you husband and wife and on behalf of all of those in attendance, wish you the very best for your future. James, you may now kiss your wife." And they did!Alltogether, it was a very beautiful ceremony and the words of Mr. Giacobini and of course the personal vows of both Dana and James were very moving.At the time of writing, the reception is still going on and people are gradually getting more drunk. Since I am concentrating on getting a chance to dance with the gorgeous bride, I will keep this short, but please enjoy those photos, taken during and after the ceremony.Please join me in congratulating the happy couple !! Congratulations James & Dana !!

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Eye on the blog - Lindens roll out new default Avs

We have seen these for the last week or so appearing in our inventory library and the designers have done a wonderful job, most of these are eminantly wearable and instant.Most of us would not object to looking like this on a regular basis. Of course some will cause eyebrows to raise and can you imagine a newbie - someone without any experience of 'wearing' prims - trying to change from the box-bot to a human?Saying that its great fun to see even if its hard to imagine LL with a sense of humour these days.I would guess that some, like the Adam n Eve designs, are aimed at the corporate market - instant business man or woman, a good idea? I would say no as a huge part of having a secondlife is learning to be an individual, these ready to wear avatars are great but i can just imagine a corporate business meeting with a room full of newbies looking like this LOLGreat designs a lot of work has gone into the avatars, congratulations to all those chosen. I won't take anything from them they have come up with some really good designs - but maybe some of the selection is not newbie friendly, we shall see.

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What is all the fuss about SL5B?

SL5B has been surrounded by controversy almost from the start, lack of time to prepare, lack of organisation, Lindens stepping in, are just a few of the things you can hear about or read in other blogs.But to be honest I just think 'what is all the fuss about?'With any big event 'someone' has to organise it and make the rules.I can actually understand Linden Labs' point about keeping the celebrations PG (to an extent) the problems have arisen more because, as usual, LL have handled it very badly - lack of understanding has caused uproar.Lack of communication and honesty has caused anger, we all know how well LL communicates their wishes and, be honest, did anyone really expect better over this?Having a communications officer that no-one trusts is worse than useless LL needs to have someone in the position who can actually turn around and say "Look our back's against the wall, we have no choice" instead of someone who backtracks and denies what everyone has seen and read:'All exhibits are PG, because we want to make the SL5B as inclusive as possible'This one sentence is the mainstay of the Lindens point of view but it is a total contradiction!Every event has to have a 'bad guy' someone has to protect those most vulnerable and as parents most, underneath, probably understand LL's wish to protect the innocent BUT there are ways to go about this without a 'blanket ban' and without everyone rising up and shouting!As I joined the exhibitors I heard rumours of bad organisation and lack of support for those setting up - this is not my experience - in the 2 days it has taken us to set up at the SL5b, I have had no reason to complain, there is always someone on hand who can fix the terrain or set the media streams or even add someone to the group, those helping have been quick to respond and polite in the extreme.I wish I could say the same for those setting up their exhibits. I have felt acutely sorry for the VOLUNTEERS here, the rudeness and impatience of people astounds me. These people have freely given up their own time to set up this event for everyone and what do they get? Hounded and spoken to like SH**To be on hand to sort out 30 or 40 people at the same time, to set media, edit terrain, fix errors, add to group, answer questions, these organisers are doing a fantastic job and they are doing it because they want to, they don't have to, if they don't like the Lindens stepping in its understandable they have put a lot into this event and want to make everyone happy.So please tell me why would people be rude to the volunteers? Why blame them for LL rules?Who knows I guess human nature is the same everywhere *sigh*I think the event will be a huge success, the problem is that for many the controversy surrounding it will be remembered more than the event itself which is a shame as all the hard work of those organising it and those exhibiting will get lost in the blog posts about the controversy instead.This newspaper wishes SecondLife a happy 5th Birthday and hopes there will be some good points to even out the bad (Oh and a new communications officer that has some idea of what's going on and knows what honesty means).DanaVisit us at the exhibition HERE on the 23rd

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Cartoon of the day

By Bixyl Shuftan

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Relay Raiders Art Auction

The Relay Raiders would like to present their first annual RFL of SL Art Auction, featuring a variety of visual artists from across the grid. Over twenty of Second Life's finest artists will display original photography, fine art and sculpture featuring a variety of medium: watercolor, acrylic, oil, pastel, and mixed media... Art will be available for viewing starting June 20, 2008 on Haute Couture and auctioned Saturday, June 28 at 1 PM SLT.FULL DETAILS........

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Eye on the blog - Lindens admit mistake over DMCA:

Responding to Questions about the DMCA ProcessLinden Lab inadvertently disabled some inworld content this past weekend.The problem should be fixed now, and we apologize for the inconvenience it caused. If you believe your content was inadvertently disabled, please try re-rezzing it.If that doesn’t work, please contact Support at http://secondlife.com/support.Linden Lab has not changed its DMCA policy. For privacy reasons, we don’t discuss the specifics of DMCA notifications with third parties. However, when we receive a valid DMCA notification, we send affected Residents email notice so they aren’t surprised when we remove content from their inventory and inworld locations.The email notice explains how to submit a DMCA counter-notification to seek restoration of the removed content. Be sure to keep your email address current and make lindenlab.com an exception in your spam filter so you receive notices from Linden Lab.We’ve received questions about removing infringing items from Residents’ inventory when an inworld location (a region name and coordinates) can’t be provided.Inventory items may be subject to DMCA claims when the items are sufficiently identified. For example, if you can’t provide an inworld location, provide the names of the allegedly infringing items and avatars.Linden Lab will conduct a reasonable search for the identified items.Also be aware that persons who materially misrepresent copyright infringement in DMCA claims may be liable for damages, including attorneys’ fees and costs.In one case, a company that sought removal of content protected by the fair use doctrine paid over $100,000 USD.For more on this, see here.If you’re unsure whether certain content infringes your copyright, we suggest speaking to an attorney before submitting a DMCA claim.More information about Linden Lab’s DMCA process can be found on our DMCA policy page and in our recent blog post on Protecting Your Copyrighted Content.Linden Lab’s DMCA policy has not changed, and this information is up-to-date.

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Cartoon of the day

Click for full size

Photo by JamesT Juno

Text from Chat Logs

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Content theft is the banking screwup all over again

It worries me to see that Linden Lab seems to treat intellectual property and content theft just as it treated finance earlier this year.The recent removal of other people's inventory items because they were originally stolen, as this newspaper has reported on Sunday, does qualifies for the same pattern. Do nothing, stay out because you do not want to "play government", realize that it snowballs and then intervene with what seems to be a high level of improvisation. This is only too familiar, my beloved readers!The problem with this kind of erratic behavior is exactly the opposite of what should be done to give Second Life users a sense of stability around this world.Coherent policy means the ability to define what should be allowed and what should not very early on. If I am a content creator, I need to know from the beginning whether this SL thing is the Wild West where I have to enforce my intellectuel property rights or whether Linden Lab will do it for me. Before I start investing, uploading and building, I want to know what I am getting into. The same goes for consumers, who need information about what goes on, so they can detect stolen products. So that their purchases are not wasted money.Clearly, I cannot see coherent policy on the part of Linden Lab. I wish I did. I have been around the grid for more than a year. I made friends. I found a virtual partner. I built businesses. I consumed virtual goods. In short, I got involved.On the other hand, I keep finding reasons that can drive people away from SL. A steep learning curve for newbies, incoherent problem-handling policies and grid instability are major reasons why someone would get pissed off and stop caring.Is someone listening at Linden Lab?

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Griefing at Woodbury

'The particle spam you see is from objects owned by Furnation owner Corsi Mouseholdshe has been attacking these sims for the past three dayscrashing themlagging them up with particle spamHarry Linden, head of the g-team has been ignoring abuse reports filed against her'So our informant told us as we TP'd in to the loudest noise you ever wish to hear honestly I had to remove my headset!We asked about to try to find out what was happening :[14:39] zomg Babii: its a mario moshpit, a old PN particle spammer [14:40] JamesT Juno: who - why - what[14:40] zomg Babii: corsi mousehold, i spoke with her 2 days ago and he threatened the simthen i found this stash of modules[14:40] JamesT Juno: and what was going on[14:41] zomg Babii: it seems that a troll attacked the ark a few days ago, this appears to be a retaliation, pointed in the wrong direction, yes you can quote me[14:42] zomg Babii: a number of furnation members and furries have also been caught griefing the woodbury sims[14:42] JamesT Juno: okay - anything you want to add to this ?[14:43] zomg Babii: the animosity between our two groups is unwanted by woodbury univeristy, as said by our leader[14:43] zomg Babii: but it seems the furries wish to start fights[14:44] JamesT Juno: thankyou_______________________________[14:34] **** (anonymous): Harry Linden of the g-team wants a grid war and the furries miss the attention[14:44] JamesT Juno: proof ?[14:44] ****: Harry Linden and Plexus linden falsely accused me of copybotting a megaprim owned by michael linden[14:44] ****: michael has never used a megaprim in his life, is opposed to them, harry has been banning the accounts of reformed former griefers trying to harass them into rejoining the PNHarry needs to impress the new CEO of LL showing his dept needs resources with griefing dying out, his job is less necessary he may have to do real work for a change______________________________[14:46] Madelena Rossini: Basically the first I heard of all this was when I got back from dinner in San Francisco on Saturday to be told that the sims had been attacked and that the folks from Furnation were responsible.Never being one to jump to conclusions I contacted the leader of Furnation, Corsi Mousehold to try and peacefully resolve it.What I got in response was a torrent of abuse and a promise that our sims would be taken down permanently. He also made death threats against others. I have just come online now to this, so am not fully in the loop.Madelena Rossini: He also told me to kill myself__________________________________Not long after this Corsi Mousehold showed up and and deleted the spamming objects (a huge relief to my ears)Unfortunately she refused to answer any questions directed towards her and seemed surprised the objects had her name on them as owner :Corsi Mousehold: I'll be damned. It is listing me as the owner.[2008/06/16 15:11] Corsi Mousehold: Scout ... Madelena ... I will speak with you alone. Everyone else in this area is now muted._______________________________UPDATEI just recieved this in my IM:[15:35] Corsi Mousehold: I Did not build thoise. I did not rez them.[15:35] Corsi Mousehold: I have been shit on all weekend from Woodbury.[15:35] Corsi Mousehold: My stress level is through the roof and my blood pressure is likely to put me in the F****** HOSPITAL at this point.[15:36] Corsi Mousehold: Woodbury is known .. WELLL known to harbor the B-tards ... Where the Patriotic Nigras got their founding in Second Life.[15:37] Corsi Mousehold: All a Patriotic Nigra is, is a B-Tard that wants to take shit personally.[15:38] Corsi Mousehold: Did you get all that?[15:38] Corsi Mousehold: [15:35] Corsi Mousehold: I Did not build thoise. I did not rez them.[15:35] Corsi Mousehold: I have been shit on all weekend from Woodbury.[15:35] Corsi Mousehold: My stress level is through the roof and my blood pressure is likely to put me in the FUCKING HOSPITAL at this point.[15:36] Corsi Mousehold: Woodbury is known .. WELLL known to harbor the B-tards ... Where the Patriotic Nigras got their founding in Second Life.[15:37] Corsi Mousehold: All a Patriotic Nigra is, is a B-Tard that wants to take shit personally.[15:38] Corsi Mousehold: Repost just in case.

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Alienbear Limited Edition 1 of 1 Prom Crowns for RFL Prom!

DiS RFL Prom Gym, Second Life: Alienbear Gupte, one of the most famous and prolific designer of the finest jewelry in Second Life, has created a pair of limited edition one-of-a-kind crowns for prom king and prom queen to be auctioned off at 4 PM SL time (GMT-7) on Sunday June 22 to complete the DiS Relay for Life “RFL” prom event to benefit the American Cancer Society.Continued in the RFL section

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Introducing Covadonga Writer........

Today we launch a new people column with Covadonga WriterHer column SLoop will always be found in the PEOPLE section usually on a Monday and will keep you in the SL loop - how the ordinary avatar see's and reacts to Secondlife.Stories of friendship and love, plus frustration at LL and praise when deserved.Todays first column is titled "Mythxels" and can be read now in PEOPLE.Dana

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It is time to double group slots!

Dear Lindens,This is a bit of an open letter to request a no-nonsense change that should have been made years ago in Second Life. How about doubling the number of groups we can subscribe to, and make it 50?Is it that much of a challenge to give people enough freedom to have more than 25 groups?This limit is among the reasons why people create alt avatars and why lots of groups do not have the membership levels they deserve. When you absolutely want to join a group or create one, you often have to leave another. Or, simply, you do as I do. You join some on a temporary basis and keep the most important ones permanently.Some content creators have done a nifty job to create alternatives such as a group joiner that sends updates directly to avatars without, taking a membership slot. But then again, if your notices and chat are capped, you may not see your group update on the screen when logging on. This also prevents you from using group settings to manage objects and land.Such limitations only dilute the SL experience. How about having the obvious fix for it?

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Linden Lab moves on Content theft

Its the move many have been calling for and when LL finally move they move mountains!Content has suddenly disappeared from inventories all over the grid, many had no idea it was stolen content and woke to find half their shop stock just gone (most seem to be unable to rezz or missing from database).It seems LL have decided to act on certain DMCA issues that have been pending for some time the affected objects include objects that contain certain scripts or anything that says it was created by a couple of avatars, namely Eva Capalini and Loni Arado.Clarification has been requested from Linden Lab for their apparently unannounced change in DMCA policy.Rumours abound that LL will make a statement in the next few days (although we all know how these rumours usually end).So is it a good move that Linden Lab have finally stepped in?We will let you decide.I know many have asked for it and on the face of it that is a good thing to ask for if your content has been stolen, however the other side of that is the people who have bought items in good faith and then based their own business on them. Arado created sculpties and sold them full perms many have used these sculpt textures to base their own creations on - all in good faith - those are now useless and not only does the business owner lose their business but every customer who ever bought from them.Think on how many people just removing these 2 avatars content has affected.

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