M&M Target of Copybot Attack, Threats

M&M Creations informed SL Newspaper that they were the target of A Copybot attack that ripped off many of their content creations, and then someone threatening to distribute copies of the pirated goods around. “Isn’t this outrageous,” 10 Goosson commented, “This is bizarre, but so open. We traced the thief, and his account was deleted. Then we were approached by a new av who says he is a friend of the thief. So openly?!” Porting reporters to the scene, a sandbox in the sky in the Mythos sim, 10 told, “the more things will rez, the more you recognize our main-stores complete content.” And indeed as shapes and colors formed, familiar goods appeared, “Behind you Bixyl, 2 other plateaus, all rezzed permanent ready to be taken, stolen ... This is still a bit shocking, the way the Hamarack Krovac and Swiss Ryada did this.”

10 handed over a notecard of the conversation she had with Hamarack Krovac, “im gonna give your scultie to every peopla.” “I'll report this, small effort.” “its too late. its on my computer ... LOL, i got your shop in my invent, come see ... adresse renew, its easy. i can come every time, second life cant banned  me. ...  FREE SCULTIE COME HERE, ALL IN THE BOX FOR ) LINDEN, 0 linden*, alll its free.” At times, the griefer claimed he was trying to “help,” but his threats and boasts spoke otherwise.

The incidents confused the Goossons and others. Marcthur Goosson remarked, “the craziest thing is that the copybotter told me he copybotted.” A woman responded, “He TOLD you?  Do include that in your AR , and near the time he said that to you.” “I know, I am struggling with word scanner pictures...  just to relief myself, this matter pisses me off. I am standing in a sandbox with half my shop copybotted. I talk to live chat and they tell me to send DMCA. I have to work my a** out with documents, pictures, notecards, faxes and PDF etc etc. And I am still standing in that sandbox with all proof in front of me.(it is an exact replica of my shop) Where is LL ??? They are hidden behind the papers, crawling in a stupid system. ... Sorry to drop this out of the blue.”

10 claimed the items had been in the sandbox for some time, “We're so sick of these little children! And LL is not showing up while we're standing here, no we need papers, forms, proof, (how much do you want to have) digital signatures ... It's still standing here, for hours!!! ... We both filed abuse-reports but it is bizarre. LL asks us to make such a long wait while all things are here, proof enough even the names and notecards, and still LL responds this bureaucratic paperwork-way, I can't imagine!! For a virtual world that moves this fast, being so so so bureaucratic, is this normal??? Can we as hard creative workers expect this?? Even the event tree, what a cynical thing to see. Pathetic if you ask me.”

10 went on, “I just want to express what happened to us and show all in-world some stupids are playing against LL-Terms Of Service and OURS, and nothing has been done. Marcthur (has been) standing here for hours!! Tell the proof is still here ... I've no idea how many 'friends' this idiot has.”

More people dropped in, and the discussion went on. One visitor after looking the scene over commented, “... Makes me wonder what the hell was the point ... We know: 1)He did this without any monetary benefit, 2)Informed the creator he copied. So this is probably a troll.” 10 told a little more about the incident, saying they had found the first guy at M&M Creations a few days ago, “Swiss Ryada, we approached him friendly, but he just went through with rezzing before using his copybot right under our noses!! So after several requests, we banned him. And now, a few days later this Hamarack is 'back' for helping his friend Swiss.”

Eventually, Marcthur announced, “I talked to the landowner, he banned the guy and waits for my signal to wipe this.” When someone asked why they didn’t go ahead and get rid of it, “I want LL over here, better proof is not be found. ... So we residents have to solve our own business and all LL does is read reports. I cannot file a DMCA in a few minutes. It is good newspapers are here.” Someone commented, “I remember back in 2004 and 5 when Lindens (were) in-game with us, and you could look one up and they (would) just fly right over and issues like this were addressed right away. It’s sad really. ... This makes me feel very uneasy as a designer where Second Life is headed.”

Eventually, everyone left the scene. Hours later when the sandbox was checked again, the copy of the stolen goods was gone. Question is, is this the end of M&M’s problems?

By Bixyl Shuftan

Cartoon of the Day

It Is On!!!!

Oh My Gosh!!! What a great time again!! The snowball fights with the Lindens are on !
The attacks were ferocious. Snowballs fly everywhere! Everyone had been practicing so the hits were often. I began to feel sorry for Blue Linden when he was the only one there for a time but he took it like a man (even though I think he is a dragon). Well, Robert Linden was there but he was hiding under a HUGE snowball so no one could see him for a while. I put on my skates and moved fast to avoid the snowballs hitting me but it did not help much. I spent most of my time at Zermatt because it was so much fun but did visit some of the other vistas At one place I was outnumbered by a host of Lindens all aiming at me because there were few there. Finally I went back to Zermatt and found the same fun continuing with some of the same avatars who had been there for most of the time!!!! There was some furniture throwing going on for a while, lol. I think I saw a few cows go by too. Some lindens came armed for bear, like Patsy. Several , like Rothman and Nathan Linden were there for the first time , but had lots of hits!! I will try to get to another session because it is great joy to throw snowballs at the Lindens!!! They are really nice to do this, lol! 

 

 Gemma Cleanslate

Virtual World “Metaplace” to Close

On December 21, 2009, there was an announcement on the forum of the virtual world “Metaplace,” stating that at 11:59 PM on January 1, 2010, the place would be shutting down.

Raph Koster, the designer of Metaplace, had a shorter statement on his own website (raphkoster.com):

Today we announced that the consumer-facing Metaplace service, the one you all know as the user-generated worlds website at Metaplace.com, is closing on January 1st. There’s a FAQ and an official letter on the site.

The reason? Well, it just hasn’t gotten traction. I have many thoughts on why, but I hope you’ll forgive me if I don’t go into all of them right now. It is a sad day for us here, and I know many users are going to be very disappointed by this turn of events.

Metaplace Inc isn’t going away – in fact, we have some pretty exciting plans. But those plans are best shared on a future day.

If we have to sunset the service, we want to do it right. So for the next two weeks – come visit, and enjoy and celebrate all of the amazing creativity and work users put into their worlds. We’re providing a way for users to grab the data that makes up their worlds. We’ll be opening a website for the community so that you don’t lose touch with your Metaplace friends. And we’ll have a big party on the last day – because Metaplace.com will not go quietly, but with the sound of meeps and music and laughter.

It was a wonderful world full of wonderful people, and I will miss it more than I can say.

Raph Koster worked at Ultima Online, and later Star Wars Galaxies before creating Metaplace.

Metaplace was released in 2007. Unlike Second Life, Metaplace did not need the user to download any sofware. Using Flash for display, it was entirely “web based.” Graphics and controls were simple compared to Second Life. It was similar to Gaia Online in some ways, the avatars appearing a bit cartoonish. But unlike Gaia, Metaverse failed to break into the teen and young adults markets.

Somewhat like Second Life, one could modify one’s own space, provided for free, into either a game area, personal home, or wilderness area. But compared to SL, one was quite limited in options. Characters could level and receive gold as they went about, Level 101 being the top rank. First available as a Beta, a “final version” was supposed to be available later, but it never came.

The post on the Metaplace forum was filled with users expressing shock, and wondering what they would do. Hopefully some will head over here to Second Life.

Bixyl Shuftan

Walking in Art

Wonderful artists abound in SL.  I was invited to attend an interactive art exhibit by the group Heart2Art. The group presenting  describes itself as “A  transposition of  real  in SL. Movie, events  and art transposed into 3D new ,second, life.” Eros Boa and Giovanna Delphin , Sicily Zapatero with the help of many other avatars who “acted “ in the tableaus created a Walk In Art. The project is amazing. Wonderful world famous paintings are displayed through out the Sodom Sim .Eros Boa created avatars, postures , backgrounds , to represent the painting in 3D in sl. As we walked along  MrSigmund Fride, a renowned art critic, guided  us through  the art, artist and the representation we were seeing. At almost every site there was the “original” art piece with a link leading to a youtube video about the artist so it was a real learning experience. There will be a show on 28 December. If you would like to attend contact Eros Boas or Sicily Zapatero for an invitation.

Gemma Cleanslate

Mystery's "Evil Christmas"

With most everywhere else enjoying a cheerful little Christmas, the normally romantic Mystery sim decided to give those whom find all the cuteness a bit sickingly sweet a break. Check out Mystery's "Evil Christmas" party in Community.

Today in SL Newspaper

In Community, we look at "The Shelter," a place where newcomers in Second Life can come to find help and friends. In Fashion, Breezes goes shopping at Lemania's. And in Community, "Christmas to be Forgotten, and Remembered."

Cartoon of the Day

Get Ready!!

It is early but I want you to be prepared! The sites are ready and the dates are set. One of the most fun things in sl, in line after dunking the Lindens at Dreams/Shockproof sim, is the Linden snowball fight! 

This event goes on for days. Lots of Lindens appear at sites to take part. There are several sims locations to visit and find them. They even provide the snowballs. You will have so many laughs and an all around good time. 

I do not want you to miss it if you have never been before. If you visit one of the sites listed ahead of time you can pick up a free snowball dispenser. Practice your throw and I will see you there.  

You can read about the snow ball fights and other winter activity dates at The Winterfest Calender of events

Gemma Cleanslate

[Emerald] Meetings with Linden Lab

 Over the course of the last year or so, more and more people have chosen to use the Emerald Viewer; so many in fact, that it is now the most used third party viewer in Second Life. As a result, it is undeniable that even the most incidental of changes in Emerald, when multiplied by the sheer amount of users, can cause drastic effects on the grid. We thus felt it was necessary to work more closely with Linden Lab to prevent any serious issues from occurring.

As some of you may already know, for the past several weeks we have been meeting with representatives from Linden Lab for the purpose of discussing issues that impact the Second Life service and the Emerald Viewer. By initiating and maintaining direct and frequent contact with Linden Lab, we have access to the information necessary to ensure that our improvements and features do not disrupt the service. This allows us to make certain that the changes we implement, when scaled up to the tens of thousands of people using Emerald, will not cause anything to explode. ;P

What this means is that in the future, if we feel that a potential improvement to Emerald could harm the service, we can communicate with Linden Lab to avoid the possibility of releasing a feature with undesired effects. Conversely, if Linden Lab were to discover a problem caused by Emerald, they can contact us in real time in order to get the issue resolved as quickly as possible.

As a result, this cooperation should help ensure the overall stability of the grid, and of the features you've come to depend on, whether they are features of Second Life, or just our particular additions to it.
 
EDIT: FYI, nobody is buying/taking over Emerald kthx
 Source: [Emerald] Meetings with Linden Lab

Merry Christmas

Happy Holidays from all the crew at Second Life Newspaper.

SL Poertry - Achristmas Tale

Submitted by Dorian Blazer

Cartoon of the Day

A Former SL Mentor Speaks Out

With the official Second Life Mentor Volunteer group no more, where can a newbie go for help and whom can older residents recommend? Is good help hard to find? Former Mentor Xymbers Slade has a few thoughts in Community.

Today in SL Newspaper

Below in Main News, we look at a sim of Christmas past at Renaissance Island, and the Lindens announce they intend to do something about script lag. In Fashion, M&M announce new releases. In Extra Extra, a poetic look "Inside the Minds' Eye." And in Community, Breezes ponders during a "Snowy Night All Alone."

Renaissance Island

By Shellie Sands

Browsing through music events, I saw  a concert of period yuletide renaissance music.  I thought this would be enjoyable and different.  A lover of the renaissance period, I tp'd to partake in the concert.  Upon arrival, I was given a note which provided a very interesting history of the origins of Christmas from ancient times.  Excerpts of that note are as follows:

"In medieval England Christmas lasted for twelve days, from December 25 to January 6, the date of the celebration of the Epiphany. Originally Christmas was celebrated on January 6 when presents were given in honour of St.Nicholas. Some Eastern Europeans still celebrate Christmas on this date."

"It was a time of merriment, feasting and general festivity, but still primarily a 'holy' day.  The 16th century didn’t participate in Christmas celebration as we know it now. Until the 4th century, Christmas could be celebrated throughout Europe anywhere between early January through to late September. It was Pope Julius I who happened upon the bright idea of adopting 25th December as the actual date of the Nativity. The choice appears both logical and shrewd - blurring religion with existing feast days and celebrations. Any merrymaking could now be attributed to the birth of Christ rather than any ancient pagan ritual. "

"One form or merry making may involve the Feast of Fools, presided over by the Lord of Misrule. The feast was an unruly event, involving much drinking, revelry and role reversal. The Lord of Misrule, normally a commoner with a reputation of knowing how to enjoy himself, was selected to direct the entertainment. The Lord of Misrule sometimes led revelers on wild nighttime processions through town, which of course angered the resident church leaders. However, churchmen had their own form of this custom--the appointment as a young boy as bishop for the holiday season. Lords usually chose this time to bestow gifts upon their servants; a common present was a new suit of clothes. The festival is thought to have originated from the benevolent Roman masters who allowed their servants to be the boss for a while. "

While I didn't get much satisfaction from the concert due to streaming issues, I decided to walk around. I arrived at the clock tower, and touched a sign that read "Pray touch for notes regarding said place."   Note in hand, I strolled on and came upon a horse and carriage offering  a free carriage ride to the docks.  I hopped on and went for a short  gait to the docks where the carriage deposited me and vanished, presumably returning to its station.  Having passed several quaint looking shops down the path by which the carriage took me, I strolled back up the path, stopping first at Madison Creations, a shop selling medieval clothing.  Loving all things medieval, and having a natural footwear fetish, I was compelled to purchase a pair of shoes.  The shoes come in a variety of colors and are crafted to match the gowns, all made by Isolde, one of my favorite designers.  Across the way was a shop called, appropriately enough, Medieval Attire.  In addition to the clothing, Tudor style homes and farmhouse are available for purchase there.  Up the path a bit is the Roble House, boasting art and antiquities. 

Other points of interest on the island include St. David's Society Hall, where you can learn of traditions involving Yule logs,  free Renaissance period clothing, the Parish of St. Minutia's, a lovely church that was one of the monestaries that escaped The King's ransacking, Lagswell Hall, The Wharf on the Thames,  Market Square, Globe (a replica of the London Globe originally built in 1599), the Jousting Arena,  and Bulwark, the arena where men at arms train. Individual landmarks are included in the note given at the Clock Tower. 

"Renaissance Island was created in Feb 2007 by a group of dedicated historians that envisioned what life during tudor times would be.  They collaborated to form a group that would take on roles of parish members that in this era would have lived such as what you will see. They created objects  to allow visitors to  interact and feel how life would have been in tudor times.   Don't be surprised if you see King Henry VIII,  or Queen Bess, herself,  as our sim covers the entire 16th period .  Of course you shouldn't see them at the same time, but depending on our events,  one or the other shall bestow their graces and blessings to their parish. "

Visit Renaissance Island and take the LMs to the various places.  Although I was disappointed that I could not hear the concert, what I got instead was a tour through a quaint village and many  interesting historical facts. 

Eye on the Blog: Script Limits

Second Life is a rich and engaging interactive world due to scripts. Every time you open a door, fly a plane, sail a boat, use a vending machine or dance in a night club a Resident authored script is interpreting your interactions to make things happen.

Unfortunately the current scripting system does not include any mechanism to limit the number of scripts that can be added to the world or attachments on avatars. This allows both malicious Residents to cripple simulators by running huge numbers of scripts and well meaning Residents to accidentally run more scripts than a simulator can cope with.

When too many scripts are running in a region the server simulating that region runs out of memory, dramatically increasing the lag experienced in all regions running on the same server. This is especially noticeable in homestead regions as more homesteads run on a single server. In addition, when an avatar with many scripted attachments enters a region the simulator has a lot of work to do setting up the scripts to run in the new process, causing a lag spike that can be noticed by all Residents using that region.

At Linden Lab we are working with Mono developers to reduce the lag spikes experienced when scripts enter a region, adding scripting functions that allow more efficient scripts to be authored and building a system for limiting the resources used by scripts on a per m^2 and per avatar basis.

We're also working very hard to analyse the current memory usage by scripts across the grid to determine the best values for script limits that minimise the lag caused by simulators running out of memory while affecting as few Residents as possible.

We're planning to make script memory usage along with our proposed script limits visible to all Residents for an extended period before enforcing any limits. This will give us time to gather feedback on the proposed limits and identify any situations where we're going to be imposing unreasonable restrictions and give will give you time to compare your usage against the proposed limits, give us feedback and have plenty of time to prepare.

I'm looking forward to working with you all towards a lag free and more efficient Second Life in 2010.

Posted by Babbage Linden in the Second Life Blog.

Read comments under the blog post Here.

Climate Change and Hopenhagen in SL

With 20,000 RL people meeting in Copenhagen, Second Life is buzzing with chat about climate change at numerous events and ecology exhibits. I found some incredible rays of hope here in Second Life beyond the gloom and doom of global warming.

Lately it's fashionable to be a climate change skeptic; I re-examined the science, starting with SL resources at NASA, NOAA, and EPA sims, and what I found is quite shocking. For brevity, I wrote a companion blog with all my notes and citations at: http://tiny.cc/T0p9f

I'll summarize what I discovered. The Earth is heating up steadily for the past century. A dramatic change happened to Earth around 1979; we broke the planet; 57% of human-caused carbon emissions persist in the atmosphere; Earth can't absorb it. Earth heating and greenhouse gases are accelerating, and mean temperatures are expected to rise 2 to 3 more Celsius degrees this century. Since seas rise as land ice melts at the exponential rate of temperature cubed, this is equivalent to a sea level rise of 21 to 41 meters (i.e. about 100 feet).

That would be bad. A 100 foot sea rise and concurrent storms would put under water 13 of the world's 15 largest cities, virtually all coastal settlements, and several nations (Holland, Bangladesh, Pacific Islands) would be mostly submerged. It is painfully obvious that this is not an option for humankind.

Now the hope. I met an amazing SL gentlemen, an exhibitor at OneClimate sim, who has wonderful hopeful ideas and SL freebies to share! Meme Autopoiesis is an environmental researcher at the RL Institute for Sustainable Communication. Meme says energy efficiency is a killer app; he told me examples and case studies about how computers, data centers, and electric power can be redesigned for great efficiency. Meme is most excited about Organic Light Emitting Diodes (OLED). OLEDs are a new fangled light source, made from organic compounds, in particular melanin, the biochemical that colors our RL skin. Melanin can be made from renewable plant resources. Cool to the touch because they are highly efficient, OLEDs can replace most of our energy hog plasma TVs, light bulbs, computer displays, and even printouts and newspapers.

Meme invites you down to OneClimate to pick up many colors of free Hopenhagen T-Shirts. Hopenhagen is an SL/RL campaign to give people a sense of hope and empowerment about climate change. RL Hopenhagen shirts are 100% recycled PET from plastic water and soda bottles. Most importantly, Meme wants you to sign the Hopenhagen Petition online at http://www.hopenhagen.org/ Over 1,700,000 people have signed it, "voicing support" for a successful Copenhagen conference.

But what can you really do to repair the Earth? Going Green campaigns are not enough; it's high time for political action. Get involved in Second Life, get informed, and become RL climate change activist. Meet inspiring eco-activists in SL at Better World, OneClimate, Africa Live, Ecologia, Etopia, and World Wildlife Fund. If US citizen, call, email, or write your Senator at http://senate.gov (SENATORS link). One letter to Congress counts as much as 1000 emails. In a nutshell, that's what I'd do. Every voice matters alot!

By Any1 Gynoid

Twitter Hacked by “Iranian Cyber Army”

Twitter was hacked for a short time on early Friday morning, December 18. The attackers called themselves the “Iranian Cyber Army.” Despite the disruption, service was soon restored.

People whom tried accessing Twitter durring the time it was hacked, around 10 PM SL time. were redirected to a website displaying a green flag with Arabic script reading “Ya Hussein,” probably meaning a grandson of the prophet Mohammed, and a suggestion that the hackers were most likely Shiite Muslims, whom are mostly in Iran. Blue script near the flag read “Hezbollah is victorious.” There was also a poem with further words of defiance.

By 11:30 AM, users were able to access Twitter again, and on the official page a message was posted, "Twitter's DNS (domain name system) records were temporarily compromised but have now been fixed."

Last summer, Twitter found itself involved in Iranian politics when those protesting the disputed election used it and other social networking sites to both make reports and broadcast pictures. As the authorites had been trying to shut off media access to the dissidents, Twitter proved to be a thorn in their side.

Some speculate the attackers targeted Twitter in retaliation. But this is just the latest of a number of similar troubles. In August, Twitter was knocked offline for two hourrs due to an attack on a Russian hacker. The service has also been the target of scam artists.


Source: BBC, CNN

Cartoon of the Day

SL Ice Hotel

The 2009 SL Ice Hotel is now open. Located at Lapplandia (231, 154, 21) the Ice Hotel sits high on the Artic Circle, with beautiful views of snowy mountains and glacial blue ice. Like its real life counterpart, the SL Ice Hotel will melt when the warm weather returns. In the meantime, you and your mate can enjoy all the best that winter offers: ice skating, snow sports, dancing, and of course, cuddling.

     Ice skates are provided free, and there are benches and booths for resting and putting on skates. Sleds can be rezzed for fun times, too.

     The hotel is managed by Ewa Aska and Jesper Prinz.  Ewa gave me a tour of the hotel and its surroundings. The lobby is decorated with hanging furs, a concierge desk, and even has a register for guests to sign. Standard rooms, which rent for $700L per week, come with furs, table and chairs, dance balls, and a great view. Or you can splurge on a larger deluxe room for $900 per week that has furs on the wall but a real bed.  A deluxe room is perfect for a honeymoon, anniversary, or holiday treat.

     There are bars, ballrooms for dancing, and even a wedding chapel. The chapel is elegantly simple and seats around 30 on tiers of ice. Furs are provided here, too, for everyone´s comfort. Bridal consultant services are also available. 

 

By Grey Lupindo

Trans Siberian Orchestra Rocks SL

On December 13, SL rocked with sounds of the Trans Siberian Orchestra. The group played a rare concert at Dreamcastland, complete with laser lights, and a full stage of guitarists, singers, strings, and drums. The group played all of the holiday music that they are famous for: "Wizard in Winter", "Nutrocker", "Christmas Canon Rock", "Christmas Eve Sarajevo", "A Mad Russiańs Christmas", and more.
     The musicians who performed  were: Lead guitarist Dagoth Graves, Drummer Vyper DeSantis, Lyorick Flux on Keyboard, Guitarists Chuck Morgridge, Toaster Ragu, and Kenny Moreland, Singers Giggsy DeViana, Blaize Rockett, and Tarn Haalan, Violinists Nikolaos Frog, Morningstar Braveheart, and Redangel Paine, Celloist Ruth Sandalwood, and Sarena Penucca on Bass.
     A huge crowd cheered and applauded during the hour long concert. The sim quickly filled, and many residents were unable to get in. This concert was the second of three held in SL. The last one will be December 23 at the Sands of Freedom.

By Grey Lupindo
(pictures also by Bixyl Shuftan)

Cartoon of the Day

“Copenhagen” Green Expo in Second Life

With environmental activists meeting in Copenhagen for the Global Warming Summit, a number of Second Life residents have been organizing to bring attention to environmental issues. In several sims, exhibits have been put up, and events have been held.

In the OneWorld Meetings sim, there is a pavilion with numerous displays up for people to read, calling for action to cut down carbon dioxide emissions by industry, and encouraging residents to take steps to “go green.” Some exhibits had links to websites.

Again and again, there were the numbers “350.” The number is what some environmental activists believe is the “safe upper limit for carbon dioxide” in parts per million. Anything more they feel puts the world at risk of rising global temperatures and disruptions in the climate. The number has been exceeded, and activists have demanded that the countries of the world take steps to reverse it.

Nearby sims continued the theme. To the west in Plush Nonprofit Commons was an European village, with an occasional display. To the north in Health Commons was a rocky shore with a few animals. It also had a “house of horrors” describing how common activities as simple as using make-up had a detrimental effect on the environment. There was no sign, at least near OneWorld Meetings, of an exhibit describing the criticism of the Theory of Global Warming.

SL Newspaper met up with two of the organizers of the event, Paolo Rousselot and Marian Sapphire. “She deserves her due,” Paolo described Marian. Paolo says the idea for the event, “came about shortly after I opened an office on Vio. The owner there kept asking me to host a green expo. Delays kept pushing it back to where eventually I suggested an Expo be held in conjunction with the Copenhagen Conference.” Unfortunately, Vio had to back off from hosting due to problems. So Paolo looked elsewhere, “I met the management team for Beta Business park, and we were off!”

Of the others behind the event, Paolo told, “The Beta folks have been indispensable, Gayle Cabaret from Beta, Coughdrop Littlething from OneClimate. Coughdrop is actually in Copenhagen now with the London staff. We've had a wonderful response from a great many people and groups in Second Life. Many of which have displays on both OneWorld Meeting and Beta.”

Paolo mentioned there had been a number of topics discussed, “Energy from Biomass, EcoVillages ... Meshed Gears ... had a wonderful class on Integral Farming.” Paolo described integral farming as managing the water and waste output of a farm. “We've presented topics that are both directly related to climate change, as well as subjects that don't appear to be. Last week, Bev Landar gave a wonderful presentation on the complexity of human interaction. On the surface it wouldn't appear to be a fit, until you consider everything that we will have to address in the coming years. In that light it is extremely pertinent. ... we'll have a presentation on Negotiations. Not exactly ‘green’ - but then what is going on right now in Copenhagen? Won't the pressures of 21st century challenges require us to know ‘negotiations’ quite thoroughly?”

Paolo brought up the Open Panel Discussion on Friday December 18th from 2:30 PM to about 4 PM, “Pooky (Amsterdam) has committed, as has Hacks from NOAA. Also Delia from Better Earth. Then I'll close things out.” Of the problems the real-life conference in Copenhagen has had, Paolo couldn’t think of any impact on the expo, “not that I know of.” He listed the expo’s real setback as technical difficulties canceling a live Q&A session.

When the “Climategate” scandal was mentioned, Paolo had this to say, “That isn’t a simple ‘either/or’ question. It’s not whether you believe in climate change or you don't. We clearly cannot continue to treat our planet and each other the way we have in the past. The challenges the 21st Century will bring simply won't allow it. Air pollution from Los Angeles and Phoenix mixes over the desert. Pine trees at the tree line in the Swiss alps are dying, and guess what from? The pollutants can be traced directly back to LA & Phoenix. But clearly it illustrates how we have to recognize out behavior in one corner of the planet affects life in another.”

The real-life meeting in Copenhagen has been hit with a number of problems, such as hundreds of protesters arrested, the timing of the “Climategate” scandal, and the conference itself being deadlocked between rising economic powers and established ones, China and India stating they will not be held to any global warming treaty. Another issue was VIPs creating their own sizable “carbon footprint” by taking private jets to the talks.

With people at the Green Expo using only the amount of energy needed to power their computers, some in Second Life might argue the real greens were here.

Bixyl Shuftan

Your christmas wonderlands!

Send me a picture of your fantasy winter wonderland and i will publish it in our community section!

Jpeg format 520 x 380 pixels preferred email to me at dana.vanmoer (at) gmail.com

(the picture above is my home at skybeam vistare)

Dana

Today in SL Newspaper

In Main News below, we look at the Xanadu disco club, a good place to dance to the music of the 1970s and '80s. The Community section shows the "Corner of Relaxation," where one can find a number of freebie Christmas decorations. And in Extra Extra, writer Dana Paxson not only brought his novel onto the web, but into Second Life as well.

Perri's Xanadu

In the movie “Xanadu,” two men turn an empty auditorium into a successful nightclub with the help of a muse. In Rainbow Wood, it might not have been a muse behind the club Xanadu, but there are certainly a number of creative people behind it.

Club Xanadu is owned by Perri Prinz (Perri Rhoades in real-life) and RECoyote Mindes. “There was another Club Xanadu when I first joined Second Life,” Perri explained, “It was my favorite hang out, but the owner never advertised it, so it soon disappeared. Later I found the building on SLX and bought it. I carried it around in my inventory for about a year, having no place to put it. Then we got a place, and REC wanted to (open it) too, since he liked the movie. So we set it up. But we soon saw it was beyond us to do a real Xanadu sim based on the movie. So we developed it into a classic rock club for people who enjoy both popular and obscure rock music from the 70's and 80's.” Club Xanadu opened in May 1, 2009.

RECoyote, “When we couldn't do a exact copy of the disco, we went for a 70s feel and music. But even getting DJ that stick to a 70 and 80 easy pop listing music is not easy.” Still, they found some who would, such as Nydia Tungsten, Lsai Aeon, Dusk Griswold, Timber Wolfenhaut, and Asuna Kaligawa. “Timber is one of the best for era music,” RECoyote felt. “Well, I'm the main DJ,” Perri told, “My music plays there round the clock, 24/7, when another DJ is not hosting an event. I play eclectic 70's and 80's album music, hit tracks interspeced with non-hit tracks. Disco, Classic Rock, Soft Rock, Progressive Rock, Jazz, Swing, Rock & Roll and Novelty tunes. We have other DJ's that specialize in things like Anime tunes, Euro-disco and other things for special events.” RECoyote described their special events as including, “Hippie, Groovy, Cartoons, Movies, Sci Fi, and a mix of general events.” Spoke Perri, “Whatever theme we can imagine, we do it.”

Club Xanadu is on a wide sky platform high in the air over Rainbow Wood. The exterior, like it’s movie counterpart, is based on the real life Pan Pacific Auditorium. The interior is dominated by a huge colorful disco dance floor, with a DJ stand in the back decorated with a row of vinyl records. One clicks on either the black singles danceball or the rainbow-colored couples’ danceball. The ring around the dance floor can be used as a roller rink, and residents can sometimes be seen skating around. On the walls are a small number of artworks and posters, including the poster of the Xanadu movie. There are a few seats further away from the dance floor one can rest one’s avatar, as well as a bar. The club also has a balcony, with a few cuddle couches and more displays of art. Just outside the club, there are a few cuddle spots for couples.

In one corner of Club Xanadu is a tribute to the Pan Pacific Auditorium, several photographs of the structure. The Auditorium was built in Los Angeles in 1934, and became an iconic structure. It hosted a number of events (including wrestling, which was mentioned of the auditorium in the movie). The place was closed in 1972 after the opening of the L.A. Convention Center. For the movie Xanadu, the exterior was made to look covered in neon lights through special effects. It was hoped among some that the movie would bring attention to the building and it being refurbished and saved. But no effort was made to preserve the building, and it continued to deteriorate. Just six days after it’s 54th anniversary in 1989, the building was destroyed in a spectacular fire.

A friend of RECoyote and Perri, Aurora Avilla, had the idea for a “Chocolate Lounge” as part of the club. But that idea was shelved and instead was set up elsewhere in Rainbow Wood separately. “Was created for the chocolate bunny craze that was going around a few weeks ago,” Perri explained, “We were thinking of adding a chocolate bunny lounge to the club, hosted by chocolate bunny dancers.” Aurora leads a group called the “Chocolate Nosebobbly Collective.”

Perri talked about a mall being planed to match the club, but for now there are a couple art shops outside the club. The larger one is especially important to Perri, “This is the art done for Perri's story,” RECoyote told, art for Perri’s thirty year old work of writing: Spectral Shadows (http://www.perrirhoades.furtopia.org/). Perri’s website describes Spectral Shadows as “a novelized serial in format of Doctor Who.” It’s origins go back to the 1960’s when a “makeshift demo” was made for a series of rock operas. But instead Perri began writing it down in the late 1970’s. She rates it “PG-16.” The store contains artwork for the stories.

“The saga concerns the exploits of intelligent animals with time travel capabilities. It is very much inspired by the traditions of Doctor Who and Star Wars, with a good bit of Watership Down and Jonathan Livingston Seagull thrown in for contrast, and a bit of Spellsinger and Xanth to provide balance. Whereas George Lucas used old-time movie serials for the formatting of Star Wars, we use the formatting of old-time radio serials. This works well, as it is a very dialogue driven series, containing many cerebral oddities and conundrums. What you might call a thinking person’s adventure serial. It’s something that, by all logic, should not work. But it most often does work, if just through the sheer tenacity of the creators to make something ridiculously impossible seem like a logical course of events.”

So for a walk back in time to the music of the 70’s and 80’s, come to Club Xanadu. The club is at Rainbow Wood (128, 72, 2501)

Whether it’s music, art, or fiction, “Find your muse at Xanadu.”


Bixyl Shuftan

Cartoon of the Day

Outerland: A Different Kind of Estate

The Outerland Estate is comprised of 130 carefully landscaped and designed islands across 90 regions on 111 sims.  The Estate was founded in April 2006 by Dana Bergson, who remained the owner until June of 2009.

Originally called the "Otherland,"  Dana had to sell it in June 2009 due to personal reasons.  The Estate was purchased by the ACS group owned by Anshe Chung. 

Although the name was changed, and a few internal changes came with the sale,  the "base and philosophy of the Estate remains unchanged."   The motto for the estate, coined by Dana Bergson, was "Make Otherland a different kind of land."  The idea was to create something special, beautiful and an estate viewed as a whole and not by the individual components/sims  which it encompasses.  Rivers run through almost the entire estate and there are oceans to sail on.  This provides the residents the opportunity  to explore the estate beginning at their own doorstep. 

What a wonderful thought:  to walk out of your front door, hop into a boat and sail around the Estate...although I imagine in a place that massive, it would be quite easy to become lost.

An important project for the Outerland staff has been the Outerland Archipelago, a unique concept.  Consisting of a group of private sims, it is a beautifully landscaped area, free of griefers and excessive lag.  You will not see large, flat areas without structure there, no typical "tropical islands in the sun.  The result is certainly some of the most beautiful land in SL. Think of islands large and small. Think of lakes, rivers, waterfalls. Think of softly rounded hills and some steep cliffs. "

I had a chat with Julienne Caudron recently, one of the  Estate Managers for Outerland, who was able to provide me with a wealth of information.  Julienne joined the Estate Team in March of 2008.  

Julienne, together with Natasha ACS, are the main players in keeping the residents happy, resolving any issues and answering questions.  

Their different times zones allow them to be available during most of the time zones around the globe. 

Combined with customer support, bookkeeping, and language skills, the two managers have enough skills to keep residents informed, as well as satisfied, and tend to the various administrative tasks associated with the Estate. 

The staff at Outerland place emphasis on quality rather than quantity.  Hiring staff consisting of "poorly paid real estate agents whose main aim is a sale" is just not an option. Ban lines are not allowed so residents will not be booted during their exploration around the estate.  The residents contribute to the Estate's outstanding status.  Friendships have grown between neighbors who share a common love of regions such as New England.

Mother Nature recently showed up at Outerland in the form of snow and an "All-Around-Christmas-Party" is being planned  by the residents.  There is a great sense of community.   "When the lake in Xabbu Park froze over, Sylvia Sonoda opened her famous ice skating course for everybody. She put some awesome ramps with some special surprises for the real skating pros. Hot Chocolate, basic skates, and snowball fighting fun are on the house until January, when the snow is going to melt."

The Outerland Estate has recently welcomed Wandering Star to the Estate.  This group is in the Verdant Homewood, a long established community of music lovers, holding regular music events in a pub on the Khao sim.

A visit to one of the New England themed parcels revealed what one might expect to see in New England in the winter...landscape and trees all covered with snow.  There are some tropical themed parcels as well, including Ellaidhu and Antibes.  The two boardwalks at Dulcie and Anwin are charming indeed, with a rustic seaside appeal.  Eschach Castle is a part of Outerland, a small, cozy looking castle nestled up against a snow covered peak.  There are just so many beautiful sims and islands to see. 

The entire Estate is beautifully and carefully landscaped and it is obvious that great care went into every design.  This Estate sounds to me like an awesome home for those who want a sense of community spirit in a place that has a covenent for ensuring beauty and not commerciality.  

By Shellie Sands

http://www.otherland-group.com/real_estate/