In Main News, we introduce Shackle Simsider as he explains a newcomer’s point of view of Second Life’s money trees in "Well, It's News to Me." Also, we take a look at game show star Kat2 Kit’s other project, his unique cyanotype artwork both sold online and here into the Metaverse. In Community, Skybeam is holding it’s Ice Sculpture contest. And in Extra Extra, musician Zak Claxton hold’s his album debut party.Monday, January 4, 2010
Today in SL Newspaper
In Main News, we introduce Shackle Simsider as he explains a newcomer’s point of view of Second Life’s money trees in "Well, It's News to Me." Also, we take a look at game show star Kat2 Kit’s other project, his unique cyanotype artwork both sold online and here into the Metaverse. In Community, Skybeam is holding it’s Ice Sculpture contest. And in Extra Extra, musician Zak Claxton hold’s his album debut party.
New column for SL residents
A day of a newbie's life
Hi all first of all I want to introduce myself,
I'm Shackle Simsider, and as it will say above I'm a newbie.
And I want to share my experiences with other people.
So here I ended up writing an article in the newspaperOne of the first things I stumbled on was money:
If you are new to this game and don't know what to expect i can imagine people don't want to spend real money,so I tried to find ways to make money in game
And there it is a Money tree:-
You can pick dollars off it by left clicking them (don't fill in any forms or login in a browser window if it opens, it might be a trick to get your password)
a linden dollar looks like this:- There can also be fruit in it, bannana's oranges or apples depending on the owner of the tree they will be worth more than 1 linden.
There are a few useful things around the tree; the signs will tell you if the 'balance' of the tree is more than 0 linden so in other words "if it is able to spawn dollars on it"
another is 'money in tree', this indicates that there is or isn't any money in the tree (occasionally this will say there is when in fact the tree is empty this can be due to sim lag) the best way to find the money is to go to world than envoirment options and put it on midnight this is becouse the notes are full bright and easier to spot another cool tool is the alt look;
if you want to use this press and hold left alt then left click and hold your mouse now move the mouse forward and left and right
it makes looking in trees and shops a lot easier
I think this is one of the best things to know of as a newbie, not only becouse it gets you your first few linden dollars but its a good way to explore the world, I saw loads of nice places when I was picking money off tree's and lots of freebies near the trees
This is a nice place to start your quest on finding money tree's
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Kat2 Kit’s Commercial Cyanotype Art
Residents in Second Life whom have been to Pooky Amsterdam’s “The 1st Question” game show, or seen the episodes online (http://www.the1stquestion.com/) have seen a tiny panda named Kat2Kit, doing the opening acts. Kat (as his friends call him) is also among the "tinies" in Pooky’s Second Life Machinima “I’m Too Busy to Date Your Avatar.”
As it turns out, not only is Kat a talented virtual actor and game show star, he is also a skilled and inventive artist in real life.
Outside Second Life, Kat2Kit is Matt Shapoff of New York City. He creates one of a kind artwork using a 19th century non-silver photographic technique called “cyanotype.” His unique work has been described as “combining 19th Century printmaking techniques with 21st Century digital photography and design.”
Kat has been doing artwork, “Officially after dropping out of collage for aerospace. " When asked how Matt got started, he stated "I got into NYU photography as an undergrad after discovering a love for photography and art. Using a a portfolio I made in high school under the basement stairs in my house. (I) took one class in "non-silver" where I learned several processes, but cyanotype soon became my favorite. In the early 1990's I began doing this more extensively. Because the process is a "contact" process, it requires a negative the size of the final print. Most often this is done with BIG cameras, but I prefer to use a laserwriter and overhead slides. The department chair will now admit I was the first to do digital art in the department.”
Kat also commented that the initial response wasn't enthusiastic, "I heard alot of 'why blue?' " But over time their attitude changed, “Now the department is called Photo and *Imaging*!"
The idea of selling artwork never really came until about fifteen years later. “A dozen or so,” pictures were sold on his first try, Kat described, “It was a jewelry sale for my wife, and we put a few out to see.” What surprised Kat the most was, “I offhandedly set a price, and they paid it! Well, it was what I guess I would part with them at. Pretty high I thought, $75 for an unframed one of a kind 6" wide by 30" long print of local botanicals.” Kat used the plants themselves in the pictures, saying they worked, “but they somewhat expensive in commercial terms. My cards are created in much larger, more repeatable, volume via offset or inkjet. I have cyanotype cards, but they are a bit pricer.”
Kat first began advertising his commercial art online in 2005, “First with etsy ( http://www.etsy.com/shop/handmadeonpeconicbay ) and then with supermarket ( http://hmpb.us). He got the idea of selling them in Second Life, “pretty quickly, as I started making film again, but this time using SL as the camera.” Kat had been a part of Pooky Amsterdam’s “The 1st Question” from the beginning, “I was doing my bike tricks at ‘Brooklyn is Watching’ and she asked me if I would be the opening act for her show.” He also did the filming, “If SL years are like dog or cat’s years, it feels like 10 years.
Kat went on to say he and Pooky would be on real-life television on December the 31st 3 PM in New York City, “I made the tape. (For) over year I have trying to get the files. I have worked in broadcast media both at Showtime networks, and BBDO. Finally we got enough short together for 1 hour special. Pooky submitted it, and we feel honored to have been chosen for December 31st. We will stream it in-world, and have a part in-sync with real-life. We are considering a weekly show for the Dating Casino ... a real-life slot on MNN TV ... public access.” Pooky later told me the episode was broadcasted as planned, and was very pleased with Kat’s work.
Kat’s personal blog is at - http://handmadeonpeconicbay.com. He pointed out a short webfilm on cyanotypes at (http://blip.tv/file/341745?filename=Mattlabs-DigitalCyanotype664.flv). Kat is sometimes seen in Second Life operating a printing press with the tiny panda. He pointed out another short webfilm “Using the Pearl” at - (http://mattlabs.blip.tv/file/1884211/)
Matt Shaphoff's work can be viewed and purchased online at http://hmpb.us . His digital art can be purchased in Second life at his store in the LlSound New York sim (http://slurl.com/secondlife/LISound%20New%20York/134/163/24). Commissioned work can be created or brought into Second Life on request.
Bixyl Shuftan
As it turns out, not only is Kat a talented virtual actor and game show star, he is also a skilled and inventive artist in real life.Outside Second Life, Kat2Kit is Matt Shapoff of New York City. He creates one of a kind artwork using a 19th century non-silver photographic technique called “cyanotype.” His unique work has been described as “combining 19th Century printmaking techniques with 21st Century digital photography and design.”
Kat has been doing artwork, “Officially after dropping out of collage for aerospace. " When asked how Matt got started, he stated "I got into NYU photography as an undergrad after discovering a love for photography and art. Using a a portfolio I made in high school under the basement stairs in my house. (I) took one class in "non-silver" where I learned several processes, but cyanotype soon became my favorite. In the early 1990's I began doing this more extensively. Because the process is a "contact" process, it requires a negative the size of the final print. Most often this is done with BIG cameras, but I prefer to use a laserwriter and overhead slides. The department chair will now admit I was the first to do digital art in the department.”
Kat also commented that the initial response wasn't enthusiastic, "I heard alot of 'why blue?' " But over time their attitude changed, “Now the department is called Photo and *Imaging*!"
The idea of selling artwork never really came until about fifteen years later. “A dozen or so,” pictures were sold on his first try, Kat described, “It was a jewelry sale for my wife, and we put a few out to see.” What surprised Kat the most was, “I offhandedly set a price, and they paid it! Well, it was what I guess I would part with them at. Pretty high I thought, $75 for an unframed one of a kind 6" wide by 30" long print of local botanicals.” Kat used the plants themselves in the pictures, saying they worked, “but they somewhat expensive in commercial terms. My cards are created in much larger, more repeatable, volume via offset or inkjet. I have cyanotype cards, but they are a bit pricer.”Kat first began advertising his commercial art online in 2005, “First with etsy ( http://www.etsy.com/shop/handmadeonpeconicbay ) and then with supermarket ( http://hmpb.us). He got the idea of selling them in Second Life, “pretty quickly, as I started making film again, but this time using SL as the camera.” Kat had been a part of Pooky Amsterdam’s “The 1st Question” from the beginning, “I was doing my bike tricks at ‘Brooklyn is Watching’ and she asked me if I would be the opening act for her show.” He also did the filming, “If SL years are like dog or cat’s years, it feels like 10 years.
Kat went on to say he and Pooky would be on real-life television on December the 31st 3 PM in New York City, “I made the tape. (For) over year I have trying to get the files. I have worked in broadcast media both at Showtime networks, and BBDO. Finally we got enough short together for 1 hour special. Pooky submitted it, and we feel honored to have been chosen for December 31st. We will stream it in-world, and have a part in-sync with real-life. We are considering a weekly show for the Dating Casino ... a real-life slot on MNN TV ... public access.” Pooky later told me the episode was broadcasted as planned, and was very pleased with Kat’s work.Kat’s personal blog is at - http://handmadeonpeconicbay.com. He pointed out a short webfilm on cyanotypes at (http://blip.tv/file/341745?filename=Mattlabs-DigitalCyanotype664.flv). Kat is sometimes seen in Second Life operating a printing press with the tiny panda. He pointed out another short webfilm “Using the Pearl” at - (http://mattlabs.blip.tv/file/1884211/)
Matt Shaphoff's work can be viewed and purchased online at http://hmpb.us . His digital art can be purchased in Second life at his store in the LlSound New York sim (http://slurl.com/secondlife/LISound%20New%20York/134/163/24). Commissioned work can be created or brought into Second Life on request.
Bixyl Shuftan
Opinion: Second Life’s Numbers Going Downhill
A recent article in “Massively” spelled out what many residents have kept saying would happen if the Lindens didn’t get their act together. More people are moving on from Second Life than moving in.
Second Life’s “User Concurrency” reached 88,000 in Spring 2009, and then began to slowly fall. Officially, the reason is Linden Labs new policies against bots used in camping and gaming. It’s also been thought that after several years, most computer users inclined to give Second Life a try already have. However, this decline comes after a number of questionable decisions by Linden Labs, the Openspace/Homestead controversy, “Age Verification” rules, the end of the Mentor Volunteer group, and others.
Of these decisions, the Openspace debacle may have been the most damaging to Second Life’s numbers. One former SL resident explained that with the new rules and prices, a number of his favorite places closed down, “if the really cool areas with your friends go, then you have little reason to go back.”
By all means, it’s not too late to turn back, but given the Lindens’ past history, people can be forgiven for looking to see what else is out there.
It’s interesting that Massively compared Second Life to Everquest, saying the Metaverse had just about reached the same number of users at the MORPG’s peak. Everquest had been the top game for a few years, then it declined. The arrival of a better game, World of Warcraft is recognized as the big reason, but one gamer pointed out another. The makers of Everquest kept making changes to the game that gradually robbed the game of it’s social aspect, the shrinking number of players finding it harder to meet up to trade or team up. A one-two punch that sent Everquest into a shadow of what it once was.
So far, there is no “Second Life killer” on the horizon that would do it what WoW did to Everquest. But already the actions of the Lindens are driving people to look for new pastures, even if it means abandoning open-ended virtual landscapes and going back to games.
Bixyl Shuftan
Source: Massively
Second Life’s “User Concurrency” reached 88,000 in Spring 2009, and then began to slowly fall. Officially, the reason is Linden Labs new policies against bots used in camping and gaming. It’s also been thought that after several years, most computer users inclined to give Second Life a try already have. However, this decline comes after a number of questionable decisions by Linden Labs, the Openspace/Homestead controversy, “Age Verification” rules, the end of the Mentor Volunteer group, and others.
Of these decisions, the Openspace debacle may have been the most damaging to Second Life’s numbers. One former SL resident explained that with the new rules and prices, a number of his favorite places closed down, “if the really cool areas with your friends go, then you have little reason to go back.”
By all means, it’s not too late to turn back, but given the Lindens’ past history, people can be forgiven for looking to see what else is out there.
It’s interesting that Massively compared Second Life to Everquest, saying the Metaverse had just about reached the same number of users at the MORPG’s peak. Everquest had been the top game for a few years, then it declined. The arrival of a better game, World of Warcraft is recognized as the big reason, but one gamer pointed out another. The makers of Everquest kept making changes to the game that gradually robbed the game of it’s social aspect, the shrinking number of players finding it harder to meet up to trade or team up. A one-two punch that sent Everquest into a shadow of what it once was.
So far, there is no “Second Life killer” on the horizon that would do it what WoW did to Everquest. But already the actions of the Lindens are driving people to look for new pastures, even if it means abandoning open-ended virtual landscapes and going back to games.
Bixyl Shuftan
Source: Massively
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Ringing in the New Year
Some in Second Life were at the official New Years Eve party in the Voss sim, watching the ball drop. But many other places in the Metaverse rang in 2010. From Skybeam to Mystery to Luskwood, each did so in their own special way.To read more, go to Community.
Friday, January 1, 2010
A Look Back at 2009
Well, another year behind us. 2009 is gone. From the Homestead mess to Adult Verification to XStreet, Second Life has gone through it’s share of complications. But there have been plenty of happier developments that make the Metaverse a better place.
2009 began with the new Homestead/Openspace policies put into effect. Residents feeling like they were “bait and switched” with the price increases, combined with a declining real-life economy, some residents were already letting some sims go. The result was the number of sims owned by private individuals declined. Also in January, Linden Labs bought up the main virtual marketplaces for SL Onrez and Xstreet. Naturally, people wondered how the Lindens would handle their near-monopoly, given their past history. Before January was up, Philip Rosedale, formerly Philip Linden, remarked Linden Labs was considering merging the teen grid with the rest of SL, which sent a feeling of dread to many residents on where the Lindens wanted to take them.
In Spring came word of the Lindens’ plans to supposedly move all adult content to it’s own continent. As this was not long after Philip’s Linden’s teen grid merger comments, some began to fear mass censorship ahead. And so opposition began to organize. Despite the protests, Linden Labs proceeded with the creation of the “Adult” continent Zindra, termed Second Life’s “Red Light District” or “Amsterdam” by some. They also required those going there to be “adult verified” by giving their names and addresses in addition to a driver’s license number, the last 4 numbers of one’s social security card, or one of a few other forms of ID. There were protests, saying this would put people at risk of identity theft. Others could see Linden Labs’ point of view, wary of the mass media seemingly mentioning only Second Life as a place for virtual sex and bondage, though most felt they could have handled it better. Despite the protests, Linden Labs maintained their new policies.
Late in the year, Linden Labs confirmed the fears among those predicting abuse of their near-monopoly of online sales of SL products by announcing new limits and fees for free items on Xstreet. The result was a flood of items removed, as well as designers vowing to sell their items elsewhere. Alternatives such as Slapt.me suddenly found themselves much more in demand as more people began buying and selling from them. It was about this time that the “Emerald” viewer not made by Linden Labs became popular. When LL began talking about banning not just third-party viewers but people using them, saying they might be used to scam people, people felt the Lab was once again overreacting to people wanting a better deal and bypassing them to get it. The makers of Emerald soon announced they would be cooperating with the Lindens to make sure there was no misunderstanding.
Two more decisions by the Lindens raised questions. In November, they did away with their Mentor Volunteer group, which some called leaving newcomers to muddle about until they either quit or found help by accident. December brought their announcement that they were working on a system to bring script limits. While people appreciated that Linden Labs was finally doing something about the “lag” that plagues the experience of all users to some extent, there were also worries that given their history, the Lindens could all to easily foul things up.
Not all of the new Linden policies brought near-universal scorn. The announcement in April that camping ‘bots would be banned brought cheers, people saying it was long overdue. In August, Linden Labs announced Xstreet would be enforcing copyrights: no more items with copyrighted names could be sold unless they obtained permission from the owners. A few worried that in the future, roleplays such as Star Trek could be wrecked by additional rules. But most everyone agreed the rule was best. Some did wonder if the only reason the Lindens enacted the rule was to avoid lawsuits, such as the one by Taser Inc. in April, that was dropped the following month. The new Nascera continent was opened for “Linden Homes,” a place where Premium members could get a little help in getting a place of their own.
Linden Labs has usually given exaggerated numbers of how many use it, “over nine million users.” This year, things changed not only with their ban of camping bots, but also their decision in February to delete almost a million accounts that apparently had never even been logged into. Probably as a result of their bot-ban, Second Life’s number of regular users ceased to climb and stagnated.
Second Life 2009 was of course more than just Linden directives, much more.
Not all of Second Life’s problems came from Linden mismanagement. Attention from big media continued to get spottier, and seemingly less positive. In March, Reuters announced they would be closing their location in SL. CNN, however, continued to take iRepots articles from the Metaverse. Besides, the Taser lawsuit, the Estate of “Dune” author Frank Herbert skipped Linden Labs and went directly to the roleplayers on a sim based on the writer’s work, ordering them to remove all copyrighted names and items within two days or else. Rezzable, noted for it’s builds such as the Greenie House, announced they would be leaving Second Life for Opensim.Then there was the rumor that Second Life would be banned in Australia due to their anti-pornography laws. It wasn’t true, but it probably got both Linden Labs and residents worried: the Lindens over being blocked from markets and residents over access and censorship.
Closer to home was the BNT collapse. Without warning, over fifty sims were suddenly gone, including the one containing the office of SL Newspaper at the time. Besides a sour real-life economy, Intilibber put the blame on “sabotage” by others. But Intilibber had little sympathy from residents whom were suddenly out of house and home.
Second Life’s weeklong Sixth Anniversary celebration, SLB6, wasn’t quite as popular as last year. Perhaps because “the big five” was seen as more of a milestone by the masses, but some felt they were bugged more by technical glitches. But as always, Burning Life got good reviews and attendance. For those interested in beauty contest, there was the “Miss Virtual World” pageant. Second Life also hosted a virtual science fiction convention which was attended by Star Trek founder Gene Rodenberry’s son.
Political expression continued to find it’s way into Second Life. In January, SL was the scene of inaugural balls to celebrate the new US President. During the time of the Tea Party protests, one was held in SL as well. The Netroots continued to hold part of their yearly convention within the Metaverse. During the pro-democracy protests in Iran this summer, a rally supporting their cause was held here. John Lennon’s widow Yoko Ono appeared in Second Life to exhibit an in-world version of her Imagine Peace Tower. And late in the year, the Green Expo was held in SL to coincide with the Copenhagen summit.
Throughout the year, there were numerous fundraisers for charity. The biggest one was Relay for Life, which raised a Linden amount equal to many thousands of dollars. It’s yearly “walk” consists of a track going through a few dozen sims, and had dozens of builders putting in many hours each building exhibits in honor of those behind the effort and those whom passed away. People did more than just raise money to fight illness. The Veterans Day Tribute raised cash so average soldiers could get phone cards to call families.
Second Life top fad during 2009 would have to be the Sion Chicken. At first glance, it didn’t seem to have much appeal as a pet. Feed could be expensive, all coming from one single source, Sion Zaius. And if they ended up back in your inventory without precautions, they died. Somehow, they caught on as the “must-have” pet, people breeding the chickens and buying and selling rare eggs for hundreds of Lindens. But eventually, the fad began to fade, people frustrated with dying chickens and the cost of feeding them.
A number of Lindens announced their retirement this year, such as Zee Linden and Robin Linden. The former Zee Linden later moved on to Blue Mars. Second Life’s founder, the once Philip Linden, created a new project, Lovemachine.
For those Second Life residents who died, there was an effort made to get people to put their creations in their will. Early in the year, a memorial service was held for Majel Barrett, the wife of Star Trek Creator Gene Roddenberry, by Second Life Trek group members. Following the passing of Michael Jackson and Farrah Faucet, a number of residents set up memorials in their memory. A few residents were also given memorials, such as Tiny Empires Queen Julie Apocalypse and Lothi Aeon, whom in real life was Specialist Jacob D. Borton, killed trying to save a comrade in Iraq when a soldier opened fire on his own men.
And in September 11, a number of places held memorials for those killed eight years earlier in the infamous attack by Islamofacist terrorism, the one in the NYC sim getting a mention by real-life news.
One thing that has changed is the talk about “What is Second Life's biggest competition?” At the years’ beginning, people were chattering about Opensim and how it looked so promising. It certainly got Rezzables’ attention, moving many of their places to it’s cheaper regions. But as time went on, the focus was less on Opensim, and instead on social networking sites such as Facebook, and games & simple virtual worlds connected to them, such as Farmvile and Yovile. The question was raised that instead of a better virtual world than Second Life, developers were instead aiming for much simpler, less immersive, places online. For those used to their online experiences becoming more detailed and sophisticated over time, a less than welcome development for virtual reality alternatives to MORPGs. But the development of Blue Mars was a reminder others were still trying.
For Second Life Newspaper, we too have gone through blessings and troubles. The BNT/Intilibber mess left us without our office, but we soon found a new home thanks to the folks at Skybeam. A few reporters have left the paper, including Pennance Sauterearu whom sadly has had to leave the paper and SL due to medical issues. But we’ve also gotten some promising new talent, whom we are very happy to have aboard.
2009 saw it’s share of ups and downs for Second Life. And as it enters a new year and a new decade, we at Second Life Newspaper will do our best to report to you the readers the latest developments.
Bixyl Shuftan
2009 began with the new Homestead/Openspace policies put into effect. Residents feeling like they were “bait and switched” with the price increases, combined with a declining real-life economy, some residents were already letting some sims go. The result was the number of sims owned by private individuals declined. Also in January, Linden Labs bought up the main virtual marketplaces for SL Onrez and Xstreet. Naturally, people wondered how the Lindens would handle their near-monopoly, given their past history. Before January was up, Philip Rosedale, formerly Philip Linden, remarked Linden Labs was considering merging the teen grid with the rest of SL, which sent a feeling of dread to many residents on where the Lindens wanted to take them.
In Spring came word of the Lindens’ plans to supposedly move all adult content to it’s own continent. As this was not long after Philip’s Linden’s teen grid merger comments, some began to fear mass censorship ahead. And so opposition began to organize. Despite the protests, Linden Labs proceeded with the creation of the “Adult” continent Zindra, termed Second Life’s “Red Light District” or “Amsterdam” by some. They also required those going there to be “adult verified” by giving their names and addresses in addition to a driver’s license number, the last 4 numbers of one’s social security card, or one of a few other forms of ID. There were protests, saying this would put people at risk of identity theft. Others could see Linden Labs’ point of view, wary of the mass media seemingly mentioning only Second Life as a place for virtual sex and bondage, though most felt they could have handled it better. Despite the protests, Linden Labs maintained their new policies.
Late in the year, Linden Labs confirmed the fears among those predicting abuse of their near-monopoly of online sales of SL products by announcing new limits and fees for free items on Xstreet. The result was a flood of items removed, as well as designers vowing to sell their items elsewhere. Alternatives such as Slapt.me suddenly found themselves much more in demand as more people began buying and selling from them. It was about this time that the “Emerald” viewer not made by Linden Labs became popular. When LL began talking about banning not just third-party viewers but people using them, saying they might be used to scam people, people felt the Lab was once again overreacting to people wanting a better deal and bypassing them to get it. The makers of Emerald soon announced they would be cooperating with the Lindens to make sure there was no misunderstanding.
Two more decisions by the Lindens raised questions. In November, they did away with their Mentor Volunteer group, which some called leaving newcomers to muddle about until they either quit or found help by accident. December brought their announcement that they were working on a system to bring script limits. While people appreciated that Linden Labs was finally doing something about the “lag” that plagues the experience of all users to some extent, there were also worries that given their history, the Lindens could all to easily foul things up.
Not all of the new Linden policies brought near-universal scorn. The announcement in April that camping ‘bots would be banned brought cheers, people saying it was long overdue. In August, Linden Labs announced Xstreet would be enforcing copyrights: no more items with copyrighted names could be sold unless they obtained permission from the owners. A few worried that in the future, roleplays such as Star Trek could be wrecked by additional rules. But most everyone agreed the rule was best. Some did wonder if the only reason the Lindens enacted the rule was to avoid lawsuits, such as the one by Taser Inc. in April, that was dropped the following month. The new Nascera continent was opened for “Linden Homes,” a place where Premium members could get a little help in getting a place of their own.
Linden Labs has usually given exaggerated numbers of how many use it, “over nine million users.” This year, things changed not only with their ban of camping bots, but also their decision in February to delete almost a million accounts that apparently had never even been logged into. Probably as a result of their bot-ban, Second Life’s number of regular users ceased to climb and stagnated.
Second Life 2009 was of course more than just Linden directives, much more.
Not all of Second Life’s problems came from Linden mismanagement. Attention from big media continued to get spottier, and seemingly less positive. In March, Reuters announced they would be closing their location in SL. CNN, however, continued to take iRepots articles from the Metaverse. Besides, the Taser lawsuit, the Estate of “Dune” author Frank Herbert skipped Linden Labs and went directly to the roleplayers on a sim based on the writer’s work, ordering them to remove all copyrighted names and items within two days or else. Rezzable, noted for it’s builds such as the Greenie House, announced they would be leaving Second Life for Opensim.Then there was the rumor that Second Life would be banned in Australia due to their anti-pornography laws. It wasn’t true, but it probably got both Linden Labs and residents worried: the Lindens over being blocked from markets and residents over access and censorship.
Closer to home was the BNT collapse. Without warning, over fifty sims were suddenly gone, including the one containing the office of SL Newspaper at the time. Besides a sour real-life economy, Intilibber put the blame on “sabotage” by others. But Intilibber had little sympathy from residents whom were suddenly out of house and home.
Second Life’s weeklong Sixth Anniversary celebration, SLB6, wasn’t quite as popular as last year. Perhaps because “the big five” was seen as more of a milestone by the masses, but some felt they were bugged more by technical glitches. But as always, Burning Life got good reviews and attendance. For those interested in beauty contest, there was the “Miss Virtual World” pageant. Second Life also hosted a virtual science fiction convention which was attended by Star Trek founder Gene Rodenberry’s son.
Political expression continued to find it’s way into Second Life. In January, SL was the scene of inaugural balls to celebrate the new US President. During the time of the Tea Party protests, one was held in SL as well. The Netroots continued to hold part of their yearly convention within the Metaverse. During the pro-democracy protests in Iran this summer, a rally supporting their cause was held here. John Lennon’s widow Yoko Ono appeared in Second Life to exhibit an in-world version of her Imagine Peace Tower. And late in the year, the Green Expo was held in SL to coincide with the Copenhagen summit.
Throughout the year, there were numerous fundraisers for charity. The biggest one was Relay for Life, which raised a Linden amount equal to many thousands of dollars. It’s yearly “walk” consists of a track going through a few dozen sims, and had dozens of builders putting in many hours each building exhibits in honor of those behind the effort and those whom passed away. People did more than just raise money to fight illness. The Veterans Day Tribute raised cash so average soldiers could get phone cards to call families.
Second Life top fad during 2009 would have to be the Sion Chicken. At first glance, it didn’t seem to have much appeal as a pet. Feed could be expensive, all coming from one single source, Sion Zaius. And if they ended up back in your inventory without precautions, they died. Somehow, they caught on as the “must-have” pet, people breeding the chickens and buying and selling rare eggs for hundreds of Lindens. But eventually, the fad began to fade, people frustrated with dying chickens and the cost of feeding them.
A number of Lindens announced their retirement this year, such as Zee Linden and Robin Linden. The former Zee Linden later moved on to Blue Mars. Second Life’s founder, the once Philip Linden, created a new project, Lovemachine.
For those Second Life residents who died, there was an effort made to get people to put their creations in their will. Early in the year, a memorial service was held for Majel Barrett, the wife of Star Trek Creator Gene Roddenberry, by Second Life Trek group members. Following the passing of Michael Jackson and Farrah Faucet, a number of residents set up memorials in their memory. A few residents were also given memorials, such as Tiny Empires Queen Julie Apocalypse and Lothi Aeon, whom in real life was Specialist Jacob D. Borton, killed trying to save a comrade in Iraq when a soldier opened fire on his own men.
And in September 11, a number of places held memorials for those killed eight years earlier in the infamous attack by Islamofacist terrorism, the one in the NYC sim getting a mention by real-life news.
One thing that has changed is the talk about “What is Second Life's biggest competition?” At the years’ beginning, people were chattering about Opensim and how it looked so promising. It certainly got Rezzables’ attention, moving many of their places to it’s cheaper regions. But as time went on, the focus was less on Opensim, and instead on social networking sites such as Facebook, and games & simple virtual worlds connected to them, such as Farmvile and Yovile. The question was raised that instead of a better virtual world than Second Life, developers were instead aiming for much simpler, less immersive, places online. For those used to their online experiences becoming more detailed and sophisticated over time, a less than welcome development for virtual reality alternatives to MORPGs. But the development of Blue Mars was a reminder others were still trying.
For Second Life Newspaper, we too have gone through blessings and troubles. The BNT/Intilibber mess left us without our office, but we soon found a new home thanks to the folks at Skybeam. A few reporters have left the paper, including Pennance Sauterearu whom sadly has had to leave the paper and SL due to medical issues. But we’ve also gotten some promising new talent, whom we are very happy to have aboard.
2009 saw it’s share of ups and downs for Second Life. And as it enters a new year and a new decade, we at Second Life Newspaper will do our best to report to you the readers the latest developments.
Bixyl Shuftan
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