Today in SL Newspaper

In Community, 10 Gooson has announced a rennovation of DoubleMM Island has been completed, giving the place a new look. In Extra Extra, As Relay For Life gets ready to launch next month, "A new event board makes it easier than ever to list, promote, and discover events during the 16 weeks of fundraising." And in Main News, we have our Cartoon of the Day.

Cartoon of the Day

New Third Party Viewer Policy Runs Into Backlash

At the same time as the Beta of it’s new viewer, Linden Labs also announced a new policy concerning the use of “third-party viewers in general,” such as the Emerald viewer. The Lindens say they are willing to accept the use of these viewers, though a number are raising questions about the wording of the policy.

The policy was a long list of legalese that this blue collar worker in real-life found hard to understand. Going through the Linden blog, readers expressed similar confusion. Some thought things looked fishy.

Well, not one single instance or version of the 3rd-party clients that I have ever seen or used can meet a strict interpretation of the new rules for an "approved" client, So you have, despite all your noise to the contrary, effectively banned ALL 3rd party clients, as they exist today. At least, banned their use by anyone that plays by the rules. The thieves will still use fake tags and pretend to be an LL-approved copy of Snowglobe and have a field day.

And you know what? LL's OWN CLIENTS can't pass those restrictions!

One of my friends came to me. He thought that the Lindens were making the use of a third party viewer punishable by suspension or ban, and pointed out an entry in the “Boy Lane” blog. Boy Lane called herself one of the people behind one of the 3rd party viewers, and had this to say:

What happened now however is going way too far beyond a reasonable policy. Besides making some clear statements about content "backup" LL also introduced some funny terms they could not legally enforce previously. Such as not using the generic term "life" which one has to explicitly agree upon by signing LL's new policy.

But unfortunately not all can be labeled "funny". To come to the (at least in my opinion) main point. LL introduced one killer clause:

7. Your Responsibility for Third-Party Viewers
If you are a user or Developer of Third-Party Viewers:

a. You are responsible for all uses you make of Third-Party Viewers, and if you are a Developer, you are also responsible for all Third-Party Viewers that you develop or distribute.


What this means is that a viewer developer has to take (legal) responsibility for any action of any viewer user. That's something GPL specifically allows to exclude, now LL forces such responsibility back to software developers. It is pretty much impossible for anyone to take such a responsibility. Besides many other questionable points this clause renders the whole 3rd party viewer policy unacceptable.

Boy Lane stated she refused to comply with the new policy, and recommended others stop using third party viewers, saying they were risking being banned from Second Life.

Tateru Nino in “Massively” called the new policy, “the worst day's work that we've seen come out of the Lab to-date. TPV policies have a number of glaring flaws, chief among which are multiple incompatibilities with the existing source licenses, so that you can't actually build and distribute a viewer from the open source code-base while simultaneously being in compliance with the TPV policies. That's quite an astonishing oversight. In fact, not a single release of the source-code made by Linden Lab to date complies with the TPV policies. An unmodified build from the trunk code-base would be violate the policies as they presently stand.”

Why were the new policies so poorly written? The question was summed up between comments between Tateru and one of her readers. He thought the Lindens were too proud to admit that their viewer was inferior to that others could build. Tateru thought this wasn’t the case, but rather a blunder, wondering if, “someone on the legal team just phoned this in half-asleep.”

Word is, Soft Linden is writing up a more clear policy. Hopefully this will clear up a good deal of confusion and suspicion, and quiet fears the Lindens are trying to ban third-party viewers without saying so.

To go to the Linden Blog post, Click Here

To go to the comments, Click Here.

Other sources: Massively, Boy Lane

Today in SL Newspaper

In Main News, Gray does some virtual tourism as she takes a trip to London in the Knightsbridge sim, finding both great places to see, and a few free souvenirs. In Community, we take a look at a "50's cheesecake" art exhibit in Palais Orleans.

Virtual London

One of the great things about Second Life is that you can travel anywhere in the world without suffering jet lag or having to eat airline peanuts. I decided to take advantage of this and visit London last week. I started at the London Freebie Store. (Knightsbridge, 108, 114, 22)

They have some great clothes at a great price–free! The selection for gals is awesome. Dresses, pants, shoes--even British hair. For the guys there are business suits, a tux, and some cool shoes. There are so many T´s they are boxed in Collections and found at two locations, London Freebies and the Knightsbridge Club. I picked up all 5 Collections. You can never have too many T́s!


The t-shirt collections have something for everyone, especially music fans. Elvis, The Beatles, Kiss, Led Zepplin, Bob Marley, Grateful Dead, and more. There is a T for every taste. There are lots of free jeans to go with them, too. As soon as I put on a new outfit, I was ready to tour London.

My first stop was the Knightsbridge Department Store (231, 126, 22). There were no freebies here, but beautiful evening gowns, Bridal gowns, and some boots to die for.


Just down the street is the Underground Club (Knightsbridge, London 175, 135, 22). With brightly colored lights and lots of dance balls, it looked like a great place to party. I was there at an off-time for the Brits so I had the dance floor to myself. But even at an off hour, the lights and music were great.


Further down the street was a SL Sister Cities display. A variety of sites were listed: Moscow, New England, Munich, Luxembourg, Swiss City, and others. The teleport looked like a convenient way to try out some other sims, but I didn´́t check it out on this trip. I still had a lot left to see in London.

At the edge of the town I found a replica of the UK Military Memorial Park (London England UK 99, 26, 25). It was small, but very interesting and moving. There were rows of crosses listing the name and service branch of many of their fallen heros. At the base of the memorial, some SL residents had left crosses for their loved ones.

No visit to London is complete without a visit to Hyde Park. (Hyde, London England UK 159,228, 21) At SL Hyde Park there was a Memorial Garden and a Tribute to Princess Diana. A Royal Parks Donation Box was there to collect Lindens and help maintain the RL memorial to Diana, Princess of Wales. Nearby is an Orientation Hub for new residents and a sand box, too.

 

Grey Lupindo

Clothing Designer Needed for RFL

Once again it is time to start thinking about the Relay For Life. For those who don't know, this is an annual fundraiser for the American Cancer Society. The Sunweavers have been big supporters of the Passionate Redheads team the last couple of years, and we are gearing up for another great season of helping to fight cancer.

The kickoff event this year will be a clothing fair, and I am looking for a clothing designer to make an outfit to be donated to the fair. Contact me if interested and all the details.

Dusk Griswold

Memories of Woodlin: Part One

Many residents in Second Life have memories of a special place where they made good friends and had great fun. For one reporter in SL Newspaper, one place stands out: Woodlin.

For the story, go to Community.

Cartoon of the Day

Second Life Viewer 2.0 Beta Released

There’s been some talk about it in recent weeks, wondering what it might bring. Well, it’s finally arrived. The Beta for Second Life’s Viewer 2.0.

“Today, we're excited to announce the launch of Viewer 2 Beta, the next generation of Second Life viewers -- combining an easy browser-like experience with shared media capabilities -- providing what we believe is the best experience yet for accessing Second Life, and a new option to choose from among Viewer 1.23 and other Third Party Viewers. We looked carefully at the experience design of other successful social media and technology platforms--such as the web browser, Facebook, the iPhone, Twitter, etc.--and the key elements that enabled them to reach mass adoption. You'll see much of that thinking baked into new Viewer 2 experience design. Our primary goal was to create a more consumer-friendly viewer--an imperative to bring in a new wave of Second Life Residents. After all, more people in Second Life means that there will be more amazing content, more customers to purchase virtual goods, a thriving economy, more friends and communities, and we can do even more to improve the experience. All very good things for all of us.”

Taking a look, I saw they remembered Mac users, and downloaded the beta viewer. It was notable that the icon had a yellow bar with black stripes on the side, as if to signal “under construction.” It took a minute for the viewer to initially appear after double-clicking on the icon, though later on it came on normally. One friend when downloading it only got a string of binary code.

I managed to log on okay, but my friends list was a bit quirky, people listed as “waiting,” and I was cloudy. Eventually, the list appeared, though some were listed as offline whom later turned out were on. When I logged on later, there was no “waiting” period. My avatar remained a cloud, even on the second time I used the beta. So it looks like the beta needs improvement there.

Using the new viewer took some getting used to, and the side-to-side movement and crouch & jump buttons were missing from the movement toolbar. But there are interesting features. On the right of the screen are tabs, which can be clicked to open a window with information. Bringing up someone’s profile will reveal both their Second Life and real-life pictures (or what’s used in place of them), which can be useful for those who wish to better mix their virtual lives with their real ones. One’s teleport history is stored, so if you forgot to make a landmark at a place you visited the previous day, you can check the history to return.

One feature should be of great interest to non-human avatars, such as furries and tinies: Alpha Masks. Meant to be used in place of invisiprims, they can render parts of your avatar invisible. For digitgrade avatars, this means no “force field” effect around their shins.

Being cloudy the whole time, my impression the beta still needs a good deal of work. But it does have some cool features that show good potential for it.

For the complete Linden blog entry, Click Here. To go to continued comments, Click Here. To go to a Second Life Youtube about the Beta viewer, narrated by Epsy Linden, Click Here.

Bixyl Shuftan

Tyrehl Byk’s Event Horizon Particle Show

Recently, a friend invited me to see a well-done particle show. It was done by a Tyrehl Byk At Event Horizon in the Disturbed Fear sim. In his profile, he called it the “Particle Phantasmagoria.” By either that name or the Event Horizon Particle Show, it’’s worth a look.

After teleporting over, I found myself on a small platform about 4000 in the air. It was night, and the platform was a circle of chairs around what looked like a large bonsai tree. A computerized voice would occasionally speak up, asking the audience for patience until Tyrehl showed up, the seats slowly filling. Panning around, I didn’t see anything else but stars, and one small green dot some distance away below the platform. Of the audience, some of the people were well-known in SL media such as Cypress Rosewood and Delinda Dyrssen. Having seen more, they might be a little harder to impress.

Finally, Tyrehl arrived. The computerized voice then apologized to the audience for his tardiness, and began to insult him. After some moments of this, there was a “click” noise followed by a shotgun blast. “Enough of that,” Tyrehl remarked. He then explained that during the course of the show, he would temporarily be taking control of the residents’ view, recommending we go into mouselook before he did. He then told us we should soon see a green light. And it soon appeared in front of us in the middle of the platform. Then our viewpoint’s changed to empty dark sky. But not for long.

It began with a couple blue dots floating into the screen. Then came silver flares and fiery orange-red explosions of color, “Ooooh!” “Pretty!” “Awesome music!” “Beautiful!” A multitude of colored lights appeared, filling the sky. They were soon followed by colorful swirls. Then came a number of smiley faces, soon followed by some agressive-looking ones, the screen suddenly full of spinning pictures of disasters and troubled images, the music blaring, “It’s the end of the world, as we know it.”

The show continued on, with more special effects, such as the rumbling clouds that looked like a heard was trampling our way, “Stampede.” The audience continued to cheer, and express their approval. Finally, the show ended. Tyrehl thanked everyone for coming.

Tyrehl and I shared a few words after the event. “This is kind of new to me,” he told me, “I only started this performance last week. It's taking on a life of its own. ... Last Friday was the first time I posted a schedule and started inviting people to come.” Crowds came in “slowly at first. I had a lot of empty shows during the first week. Last night things really started to happen. It's difficult to really get a handle on SL promotion, what works and what doesn't.”

Of setting up the show, “The big challenge is creating the effects and coordinating them with music. I had to mix the sound track and then create effects to interpret the music. That took well over a month. There are over 80 different particle effects that had to be designed and tweaked.”

Of how he got the idea for the show, “I've always been a very visual person and when I saw my first particle effects in Second Life, it was love at first sight. I've also been very passionate about music, and combining them seemed like something that would be fun to try. As with so many things in my art, I don't always know where something is headed, but I usually know when it has arrived!”

Tyrehl has also worked on a place called “Not-A-Knot,” which he explained took eight months to build, “It would be interesting to see more people have the opportunity to view ~(Not-A-Knot) it is not very well known and it can be a source of very interesting dialog.”

Of future plans, “At the moment, my sights are set on further development of the particle shows. I've only really scratched the surface of what is possible, and it really seems to bring a lot of people joy.”

So for a great particle show, head to Tyrehl Byk’s after checking his schedule.

Bixyl Shuftan

Cartoon of the Day

Introducing M Fashion

Welcome to M Fashion

M Fashion is not a regular Fashion Shop nor a shop for buying the average outfit. M Fashion is a co-operation with high skilled designers, a Fashion Photographer & M&M Creations to offer complete information and fashion related goods.
M Fashion is set up for all requests for Full Permissions outfits next to M&M's Creations Full Permissions Fashion Sculpts.

What's so special about M Fashion?
- The sets of Clothes and Outfits sold at M Fashion on DoubleMM Island will be for sale Full Permissions.
 - For resell or as complete sets to change textures and combinations that can be made with the contents of the sets.
- The contents of the boxes can be sold seperatly. (mind the TOS-form, there are some restrictions)
- The Boxes contain all materials used for the outfit displayed. (EXCEPT Templates)
- With the full permissions sculpt maps, shade-maps, shaded textures and average textures, clothes and accesoires a lot more can be created and sold at your own shop with your brand and your name as the
creator!
- M Fashion will be giving advice and will help you create your own clothes in SecondLife.
- M Fashion even gives classes and tutorials how to create SL-Fashion and using Fashion Sculpts in your designs or creating textures and templates.
- Once a month an exclusive set of fashion sculpts will be composed and sold for 1 week. These starter-sets are a great help for your creations. No need to walk around for hours and teleports to several
places to compose sets yourself and spend too much lindens. No need to buy a box with 17 skirt-shapes, if you only need 1.
These sets will contain the full permissions sculpt maps of all parts and their shade-textures besides a complete rez to work with.

M Fashion can give out landmarks, links or places you might need to improve your skills or find materials you are looking for to create smashing Designs!
For questions and requests, please send 10 Goosson a NOTECARD.

Please read our TOS-Form, it containts the do's and dont's for our Items!!

See this month's release in our FASHION SECTION

Angels’ Beach and Perri’s Xanadu Clubs Closed

It's been a rough time for clubs in the Sunweaver region in Second Life. Within less than a week of one another, two of the smaller clubs closed their doors, Angels Beach and Perri's Xanadu.

For more, go to Community.

Wanted: Relay for Life 2010 Video

This Years Relay for Life Video here in Second Life, is going to reflect on the community spirit and passion, of SL Residents, towards such causes as this!

Relay for Life has become such a big deal, and worthy event in Second Life over the last couple years, that this year is going to be bigger, and better than ever before.

Editorial Clarity and a team of people, are working on the Video, that is set to be shown at the RFL Kick off Party, on March 13th 2010. And as it is aiming to show community get together, we need you!

All we need from you, is a picture, of you and your friends, SL family or business, standing with the Relay For Life Logo or something that clearly represents Relay for Life Second Life, and include each persons name in the picture, when it is sent to Editorial Clarity (editorialclarity@yahoo.com). We will try and put as many of the pictures sent to us, if not all of them, in the video, along with other features included. Every person in each picture and clip, will be credited in the video.

This picture must in some way reflect your support towards Relay For Life in Second Life this year. Be creative, be imaginative, and let’s show the world, what kind of spirit the SL community has got!!

The Logos can either be the Relay For Life official Logo, or the 'Wishing On a Cure' image, which can be found here: http://rflofsl.blogspot.com/.

For more info, IM Editorial Clarity in-world, and dont forget to email the pictures!

Thanks and Appreciation

Cartoon of the Day

Newborn!

The selling and mating of  chickens of Sl seem to be more quiet lately. I know there are some still around for sure and aficionados can not give them up ( there are some across the way in our sim) . There are still breeding turtles hanging around but now there is a new enticement. It has been quiet lately for those looking for a new list of fish available for catching from the 7seas servers. All of a sudden there was a message sent to all fishers a few weeks ago about breeding fish. It has caused some major excitement , especially among those who absolutely hoard all the new fish appearing in the sl waters. Mamas and Papas! Catch them and then go catch some food , luv-n-flake . Wear the mama , the papa , some food, touch the food  and they seem to love each other so quickly and behold! The next thing you know you have a baby coming into your inventory.. A combination of mama and papa and with toys, some come with rattles , some with blocks , some with other fun things. Some are Special  I have yet to see a Special in my mating mama and papas but have hopes. I am a 7seas Hall of  Famer  but never will be a Breeding Hall of Famer, lol . Too many babies!! Visit 7seas on the internet to find out more about it all http://www.7seasfishing.com/
Or you can visit the sl center of 7seas : search Flotsam  Beach  and have fun!! 

Gemma Cleanslate

A Few Valentines’ Day Happenings in Second Life

Valentine’s Day hasn’t gotten as much attention this year as previous, at least from my point of view. Maybe more people were knocked off SL by bad weather than before. Maybe people are just feeling blah. A few of my friends openly disliked the holiday, saying with the trouble they had finding someone, the holiday seemed like a cruel joke. One flower shop owner told me while bouquet sales weren’t too bad, she expected much more. Maybe this is why some places never bothered with this theme on Friday, Saturday, or at all

Still, there were a few events. The Mystery riverboat club had some Valentine-themed events last week, such as the red, white and pink party on Friday. Saturday had no party. But on Sunday Valentines Day, the Mystery sim had things all set for a heart-filled good time. At 12 Noon SL time, DJ Bentham began broadcasting the romantic tunes. The wolf Silverwolf Sweetwater was the hostess of the party, as always lifting a friendly paw to all visitors. People danced to music like “Love Game” by Lady GaGa, “I Don’t Wanna Miss a Thing” by Areosmith (“Armageddon” theme), “All I Ask if You” (The Phantom), “White Wedding” by Billy Idol, and others. Jetta even put up a recording of her singing “My Guy.”

Unfortunately, there were a few technical difficulties that messed with the party a miss. Yours truly ran into a glitch when trying to tip the DJ, which sent his account down to -1 L. Someone looked up the details, “[Posted 12:55pm PST] There are current issues that are preventing some logins, as well as affecting in-world transactions, teleports and related actions. Our engineers are working to resolve the issue as soon as possible. In the meantime, please refrain from any sensitive transactions or rezzing any no-copy items.” This naturally got a few in group chats rolling their eyes, “Ah yes were would SL be without problems? (laughter).” Because of this, tips were lighter than usual.

Despite the glitches, the people at Mystery were determined to have a good time. People wisecracked and joked, “Plumbers are red, Hedgehogs are blue. Would you press start and be my player two?” Corky Darkstone added to the humor by going next to SilverWolf and changing into another feral wolf avatar. People began cracking jokes as to whether Silver now had a boyfriend, “Hi-ho Silver, awaaaayyy!” Silver herself joked, “Oh look, a twin brother.”

There was a bit of confusion when some people found themselves knocked to the corner. Confused, they walked back, only to find themselves slammed against the wall again, or thrown out of the building. Then one of the staff noticed a dancer had on a forcefield, and he was then asked to remove it or leave. The man did so, profusely apologizing.

There was a 300 Linden prize for the man and woman for best in theme. Asemia Avedor won for the ladies. Jedrek Leodhais won the male contest. For Mystery, it was a glitchy, but happy, Valentines Day.

Other clubs had their parties. At 1 PM SL time, Cutlass had it’s Sunday Euro-party, the theme naturally being Valentines Day. DJ Tamara Peart played the tunes for a small party, “Another Day in Paradise,” “I Want to Step Right With You on the Mountain,” “Love is in the Air,” “Unbreak my Heart,” and others. It was not a large party, possibly due to SL glitches limiting teleports, and Tammy’s tip jar was empty. But the party went on.

On Friday February 12 and on Valentines Day, the Lindens had their “Kiss a Linden” event on Isle of View and Isle of ViewToo, from 7-9 AM and 5-7 PM SL time. As their blog stated, “Never met a Linden before, or interested in celebrating Resident Volunteers? Come on over and enjoy the lovin’! And there’ll be even more love: look out for Cupid Linden on February 12th & February 14th, she will be flying around and looking forward to meeting you! “ Besides the Lindens, there would also be volunteers to kiss.

Reporter Gemma Cleanslate had the fortune to see people, Lindens and residents alike, having an ideal, romantic, time. Yours truly stumbled across what the poor volunteers had to go through sometimes. There were no Lindens around, just a couple volunteers. And they had to deal with a few characters from Woodbury, a sim with a reputation for harboring griefers. They included a guy wearing a lampshade and a self-described “kissable griefer,” taunting the volunteers. Not exactly Valentine’s Day greatest moment.

Some moments were more important than others. There was meeting up with friends whom were feeling dispirited over not having found someone. Time spent together, reminding each other they were not alone. They still had their friends.

So to those who found their special someone, and those whom need cheer from being unable to find love, may your Valentine wishes come true.

Bixyl Shuftan

Lovin Lindens

Lindens are really being nice to us! As they do every Valentine Day they made several kissing places. 

I consider it apology time for all the things I have said about the lindens all year LOL!
Lindens and volunteers gathered on the Isle of View and the Isle of View Too. 

Hearts were everywhere. 

Cupid Linden was the first to arrive but disappeared to the teens realm. Katrin arrived and began and stand in the Kissing booth. 

People gathered immediately to join the lines waiting for that kiss! Perhaps they hoped it would improve their future SL life. 

One cute little tiny looked on longingly but could not make the animation so Katrin came out to pick the tiny up in a long hug. 

It was great fun as usual. 

Now I cannot wait to dunk them again! 

Gemma Cleanslate

Happy Valentines Day

Never give up looking for love,
even if critics think everything you try stinks.

Bunny Love...The Latest Craze!

By Shellie Sands

 

Ozimals has produced the latest in pets with their bunnies.   Beta testing began earlier in the year and the bunnies went "live" on 9 January 2010.  The "bunnies are adorably realistic, professionally sculpted, and full of variety. The six breeds that the bunnies are launching with are actual real life breeds and each one has custom textures that reflect the look and colorings of that breed.  The Ozimals bunnies use a true dominant/recessive genetics system modified for SL that will enable you to breed for recessive traits to create the bunnies you want. Each bunny carries a specific percentage of recessive qualities, and you selectively breed those to achieve new colors and even special mutations!

When you breed an Ozimal bunny, you are producing true characteristics like fur, eye color, ear type, and more!  Each variation is a separate, hand drawn texture. Those traits will show up as new features on your bunny – unlike other breedable animals where RGB colors (plus sometimes glow and shiny) are the only ways to tell your animals apart.  Ozimals are truly the Next Generation of AI breeding animals!"

Complete bunny starter kits are available at the Ozimals Main Store. Each kit contains two nests, one male and one female.  The owner has complete control over when the bunnies are born.  Clicking the nest enables you to birth the bunnies.   Once the bunnies are born, you must follow a series of steps to set their preferences.  This is all explained in the information provided in the starter kits.  They require food and water.  The bunnies hop around like mad when they are born and their energy levels are high.  Over time, their energy level decreases, ultimately to level 0%, at which time they sleep for 8 hours, renewing their energy.  When they sleep, they dream....of sunny meadows, rainbows, bunny love and, of course, carrots.  These images appear in dream clouds above their heads. 

Ozimals bunnies are born in a nest made of hay and the mother’s fur.  They are very tiny when born but grow quickly.  Owners may hold their bunnies and pet them, and this increases the bunny's level of happiness.  Bunnies cannot be bred until they are 4 days old.  Once they reach that age, their level of love will gradually increase, as they are preparing for breeding.  In order to breed, each bunny must have more than 25% energy, be fed and watered, as well as happy.  When the bunnies reach 100% love, they are ready.  Breeding happens quickly and not in the way one would expect.  They don't even need to touch, they simply need to be within 10m of each other.  Very quickly the mother produces a nest.  Each nest contains one bunny.

For the latest price list:  http://blog.ozimals.com/2010/01/ozimals-price-list.html and for a price breakdown, go to  http://www.wyrmwoodonline.com/ozimals-overview/bunny-costs Bunny Love...The Latest Craze!

Vampire Succubus Club Closes

On Friday, February 12th, the Vampire Succubus Club held it’s last party. At 10 AM, DJ Antarias Gothly started the event, with a 500 Linden prize up for grabs. Antarias invited all who could, “Make sure you come, and say your goodbyes, and share your memories.”

The Vampire Succubus Club, or the VSC as it was called for short, was built in the Giorna Kel sim. The sim was the setting for a vampire RP, the Caprionian vampires, but the club was a “fun area,” a “gothic burlesque club” where the vampires, friends of the vamps, friends of friends, or the simply curious could drop by and have fun. People were invited to stop by to “drink, dance, or get bitten.” But aside from vamp couples nibbling on one another, nobody was being a pain in the neck.

The music was generally goth, punk, techno, metal, and alternative, but other tunes were also played. Smogg Valois was the owner of the club, with Mistressbubbles Bondar as manager. Besides Antarias, DJs at the club included TessaFae and Sakura.

Talking with Mistressbubbles, of the club closing, “It was coming on for a while. Closing it gives us more time and energy for a new and better project. ... But it is a ways down the line still. ... The club is still standing for now. It's part of the RP of this place. But it has been modded to look abandoned. We plan to keep it up for a while at least. Have the occasional party or clan function. ... Closing the club will give us the time to focus on the lands and to invest in role-play. Also, I am working on building up the Faelands a bit more and adding some shops and hopefully soon 7Seas fishing.”

And so, the candlelight in the club went out for the last time, the creatures of the night slinking away to other things.

Bixyl Shuftan

Elderglen

Recently I went to Elderglen Infohub (127, 127, 29) to check out some of the new Linden houses that will be offered to Premium members. The houses are cute and interesting, but I was more excited when I found the site loaded with whimsical fun and freebies that everyone can have.

     The arrival spot drops you in front of the bridge that leads to the Weary Travelleŕs Inn. Inside the Inn you can watch tutorials while you have a bite to eat. There are a few musical instruments that you and your friends can play, too. In the side room there is more food as well as bread you can knead. You can even scrub the floor. It́s a fun intro into what scripts can do. But since I come to SL to skip such chores, I didńt do any of that.

     I did stock up on a few apples and oranges. They have bat juice and fish juice, too. And when you are finished dining, check out the outhouse on the side porch. I had never seen anything quite like it in SL. 

     Even more interesting shops are located along the stone path. The Curiosity Shop was my favorite. It is filled with fun freebies that will charm anyone who likes the whimsical side of SL. I picked up a magic wand, a spell book, a lucky crystal, fairy wings, and a crystal staff. No home would be complete without these essentials. But if whimsy isńt for you, there are candles, available in 7 colors, that would look great with any decor.

     As soon as I saw Fairy Jars, I called my friend Muse Nishi. It is always more fun to catch fairies with a friend. We each grabbed a jar and ran outside. The fairies hide in the flowers, and you have to get close to catch them. When you do, the fairy automatically gets trapped in your jar. Be sure you have your sound on–fairies are very funny when they get mad.

    The next shop was the Iron Forge, a metal working shop where you can try out the tools. There are free swords here, too. At the back of the shop is a smaller room where you can enjoy a piece of Elderglen Pie. Yummy.

     Further along the path is the Elder Cottage where you can sample Honey Nectar and pick up a few more free items. The last shop I visited was the sorcereŕs shop. It has a purple spinning door, wizard hats for the taking, and more crystal staffs. You will also find a wishing well near the center of the shops. Crystal flowers and magical mushrooms abound, too!

     Behind these buildings are the model homes. Some of the houses feature stone facades while others look like moss-covered cottages. A few are springing out of tree trunks or carved out of the hillside. At any moment you expect to encounter an elf and a wizard. Even if you dońt want this type of home, Elderglen is a fun site to visit. 

Grey Lupindo

Cartoon of the Day

The ALM Cyber Church

I recently came across a church in Second Life, the ALM Cyber Church. The church is in the appropriately named Truth sim. Porting there automatically takes one to the sim entry circle at (124, 118, 26). In front of t he newly arrived visitor will be a structure full of stained-glass windows, with a steeple on top. Near the church is a three-cross structure. There are some nearby places. Behind the sim entrance is a community center. Further away is a garden area, and some residential quarters.

The church holds two regular events a week. One is the Ladies’ Bible Study on Tuesdays at 1:30 PM SL time. And of course there is the Sunday Service at 11:00 AM SL time. Services are conducted by pastors Rev. Benjamin and Mariposa Psaltery. The chapel is constructed much like that of a real church, with ample seating in the pews and a second floor available. Behind the pulpit are a piano and an electronic organ. Near the doors is a collections plate for Lindens.

The Sunday I showed up, attendance was small at first, but gradually grew. At one point there were 36 people around, both furred and normal human, and a tiny. Above Benjamin was a tag showing a proverb from the Bible. At a couple times, the pastors would sing, some of the congregation getting up with their arms up in the air, swinging:

Bless the Lord O my soul
and all that is within me
bless His holy name

For He has done great things
He has done great things
He has done great things
He's so good to me

He saved my soul
He saved my soul
He saved my soul
He's so good to me

He is coming soon
He is coming soon
He is coming soon
Bless His holy name

The sermon was around the passage Romans 13: 1-4 in the Bible, concerning submission to earthy authority, “It’s too easy to speak evil of others ... of our leaders. But we will not be blessed unless we speak good ... He who rebels against authority rebels against what God has established. ... It’s best to examine our own lives. ... Spreading gossip? Stop it! Speaking evil of our leaders? Stop it.”

There were some signs that a few in the audience seemed to be missing the point, one typing, “unrealistic RP.” Then he floated in the air, joking that he had been healed. Following the service, when some went up to the altar to pray, a few began being disruptive. After plenty of fair warning, the owners reluctantly banned them from the sim. Talking with the pastors and some who regularly attend, it seems the griefing was a rare event, though hardly the first time it happened.

A look at one example of church coming to Second Life.

Bixyl Shuftan

A Laggy Problem in Foxworth Part 2: “It’s Your Fault”

Recently, Foxyfurman Kunami had some trouble with lag on his sim, lag that turned out to be from a sim that was basically a Shoutcast server farm. Although Linden Lab eventually took care of the problem, it was after a friend of his found it and alerted them. In the meantime, it appears some in LL kept pointing the finger back at Foxyfurman, as this note sent by him suggests.

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Bix thought you would find this entertaining, the "it's your fault" response by LL. I do want to add as a side note when I called LL I got Gareth Ontyne on the line, by moving my ticket someone took care of this the next day, so the problem was fixed and everyone knows what happened, it is obvious that the shoutcast server was basically locking up all the performance, but the "canned response" in words is just stupid. I commend the actions but the BS that "blame the sim owner" is just so stupid it is funny.

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Foxyfurman:

Re: Huge Lagg issues on my sim

Spontaneously about a week ago we have had HUGE lagg spikes, we have tried shutting down scripts section by section, with zero help, your service desk told me to re compile all my top scripts into LSL, this is NOT the problem, and it will break many items. We have shut down section by section we still have huge problems, basically my sim is un-useable at this time. Again I have tried shutting scripts off section by section and the only way it even works OK is when ALL scripts are off, even a few scripts will over tax the sim. I have NEVER in a year had this issue and have added nothing new, yes I have restarted, many times including a LL initiated re start. I was informed by my manager that this could have started mid Jan.(ish)but just not as bad, not sure who is new sharing our server but this is a huge mess, thanks for taking care of this ASAP.

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Gareth
Linden Lab Support:

Hi Foxyfurman,

Thanks for contacting us in regards to this issue.

I am going to escalate this ticket to the appropriate department and they will contact you shortly via email regarding your request. In the meantime, if you need to contact us again about this issue, please add a comment to this ticket rather than creating a new ticket.

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Spike Linden
Linden Lab Support

Hello Foxyfurman,

Thank you for your ticket regarding your region and the performance issues.
I'm sorry to say that if there are lag spikes in the way you have described and they continue after restarts, then the source of the problem is within your region. As you have scripted spikes, then it will be scripted items within your region causing this.

Every time you restart a region, it will change server, so other regions can not keep causing issues if you move from host to host.

How were you disabling scripts section by section? This can't actually be done completely.
Unchecking the Run Scripts option in About Land will only disable scripts for non-parcel owner. You can't actually disable scripts for items that are owned by the parcel owner. So if a parcel is deeded to a group, all deeded items will still be running. If a parcel is owned by an avatar, then all items belonging to that avatar will still be running, with both 'All Residents' and 'Group' unchecked for Run Scripts.

This can help you narrow down the problem though, as you can eliminate most parcel/objects through this method.

I've had a look at the region today and script time is high (18-20ms). The chances are high that as avatars go to the region you will be running low on available resources and start to have issues. In this case your 'only' option is to look at your content. You will have to either re-script more efficiently or remove items completely from the region. There is no other choice for this type of issue.

Please make sure to look at our wiki page for 'Improving Region Performance'. This page can help you greatly in managing your region better. Key thing to remember is that you can't just fill a region with anything you want and expect it to work. You 'must' manage your regions content effectively.
TICKET CLOSED

* * * * * * * * * *

Ticket RE OPENED

Foxyfurman:

This was fixed prior to your investigation :)

Someone from LL moved the shout cast server sim that was running on the same CPU and like magic everything is totally fine. We are crazy careful about what we put down and paranoid about Time Dilation and our total script time. With a shout cast sim as a "virtual neighbor" our time dilation was 70 now it is 99. In addition for fun we ported to these shout cast sims and all of them were horrific with lag/with time dilation in the 80-50 range and all of their virtual neighbors were a train wrecks as well regardless of ANY avatars.

We had shut down all scripts in the estate manager panel and still had lag this is how we know to look OUTSIDE our sim. It is not always the sim owners fault as you say.

Sorry I re open this ticket but this caused my sim to basically stop in its tracks, it will never happen to me again because I will know what to look for, but I know others will not be so creative in looking outside their sim for the problem.

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It seems persistence is in order when dealing with the Lindens. Fortunately, Foxyfurman has plenty of it.

Bixyl Shuftan

Cartoon of the Day

Discussing Second Life in Real Life 2

Some time ago, I discussed some of the more interesting moments when talking about Second Life in real life (link). A few more things have happened since then.

Friends of mine have mentioned a few stories. One college student moaned that during high school, his classmates then considered him a “freak” for hanging out here. Others described showing it to friends and family, who didn’t always get it. One of the more inspiring stories was about one friend. In real life, she’s bound to a wheelchair. She once talked to some online friends about her wheelchair getting a little worn. Some time later, she received a check in the mail, enough to get her the new wheelchair she wanted.

From me, a few more stories. One neighbor of mine asked about the people I meet on Second Life. I mentioned some, but what got her attention were the people with disabilities, such as being unable to walk in real life, but getting about with ease here. Another was one former friend whom in real life had lost her voice due to cancer, but was able to converse normally here. My neighbor told me it sounded interesting, and would go there if she had a computer.

And some of my discussions end up with comical twists. Word had spread at my workplace during the last election that I write for an online newspaper. They still ask me about it a little, though are usually more interested in “Facebook” and “Farmville” than Second Life. One lady and I talked a little about how you could modify your character to look more or less like you want it to, whether to something like the user, a science-fiction exotic, or a glamour girl. The lady happened to be noticeably thin, and later on while talking, commented aloud she wouldn’t mind having a larger backside. I grinned, “You realize this is the first time outside of Second Life anyone’s talked to me about getting a bigger behind?” We both had a good laugh out of it.

Another day, another coworker asked about the online paper, then hearing it was about goings on in Second Life asked about that. I described it some. Then he asked, “Could you have sex with the girls there?” I was a little surprised that he’d bring that up, though this coworker did like to talk about the seedy side of life. I answered, “Well, you could engage in, virtual intimacy with a girl there if you wanted, and there are a few places that cater to that sort of thing. But just a few. Most people are there for other things.” He then grinned, “Have you ever done that?” My answer, “Um, I did tell you I go about there as a humanoid fox in a reporter's outfit. Do you imagine me going about with the ladies there as that?” Apparently either he could or he wasn’t listening, as his next few comments were that what I needed was a little “noogie,” even if just online.

I could have mentioned a few places I got brought to by friends or by accident, but it was probably best I didn’t.

Bixyl Shuftan

Today in SL Newspaper

In Main News, M&M Creations will be offering sculpt tutorials at Book Island on Friday and Saturday. Also, we had a chance to talk to Cypress Rosewood about the recent burglary in his real-life home, and updates in the case. In Community, we take a look at a childrens' store in Second Life. And in Extra Extra, a tribute poem: "Setting Suns."

M&M sculpt tutorial 3

This tutorial is a big step forwards and still easy to follow for all who would like to create advanced textures with
shade for the more complex sculpted prims in-world.
It is based on Fashion-Sculpties, but all knowledge can be used for all sculpted prims and even for regular prims.
Much more tools of the Grapic Program are used and to use your textures in-world you need some building skills and experience!!
Friday February 5th at Book-Island 12 PM SLT
Sunday February 7th at Moolto-Island 12 PM SLT

Update on Cypress Rosewood

Last week, Second Life Musician Cypress Rosewood was the target of a robbery in real life when a burglar broke into his home (link). Cypress posted on his blog, “our Macintoshes were stolen, my wife's jewelry, two very special guitars including a 1935 Kay Kraft that I received after my grandfather passed, and my main microphone was trashed.“ Fortunately, he had some instruments with him as he was out of town, and having recently upgraded his computer had backed up the hard drive, “you can never have enough backups.”

Of the help he was given, “The outpouring from SL fans and friends the past few days has been overwhelming. It has brightened our mood and spirits here in RL immensely. ... I would like to thank a few people who have been instrumental in helping out with benefits and support. In no particular order, a big thanks to Woode Wood, Jana Kyomoon Hamlet Au, Delinda Dyrssen, Cellandra Zon, Pooky Amsterdam, Von Johin, Crap Mariner, Truelie Telling, Troy McCluhan, Torben Asp, Jess Oranos, Fricker Fracker, Hathead Rickenbacker, Escape Unplugged, Leanna Luftig, Frets Nirvana and Heath Elvejhem and so many more. All people who have helped this past week and fostered publicity making people aware of the situation, please know that it has just helped out immensely.” Cypress stated through donations he was able to get a new computer.

Recently, Second Life Newspaper had a chance to talk with Cypress about the incident, saying there was now a suspect in the case and a warrant for his arrest issued, “he has not been caught yet. I got the heirloom guitar back though.” The burglar had listed the two guitars on Craigslist, “he is not very bright, lucky for me. The detective told me to go buy a lottery ticket.” Cypress, “posted a counter ad, saying they were stolen. The guy that bought them contacted me, as he scours the guitars several times a day on craigslist.” Cypress was soon contacted by a guitar shop, and they had a photocopy of the seller’s drivers license.

On his blog, Cypress stated he had both guitars back, “I have no idea if the jewelry or the computers will ever be found. Will have to see what develops, and if this person is the actual person who broke into our home or not. The guy does have a record and the detective says they will arrest him on burglary charges.”

Cypress soon had to leave, as he was already back at work doing more music videos, “We are working a couple. This one we are working on is Europa Under Ice.” He also had another available, “Color my Dream.”

“I was able to perform live music into Second Life this past weekend again with the grand generosity of the SL community and it makes my heart sing. Thanks so much for the support. My family and I sincerely appreciate it. It has seemed like a team effort with all the positive energy. Sincerely, Cypress Rosewood“

(Picture from Delinda Dyrssen)

Bixyl Shuftan

Dragon Sighting and Dress the Lady Competition at Mystery

The Mystery sim continues to be the place for surprises when at a huge red dragon makes an appearance. Also, the staff feels it's time for a new look for the club greeter, and wants YOU to help out in the "Dress the Lady" contest.

For more, go to Community