Friday, December 25, 2009
Merry Christmas
Posted by Bixyl Shuftan at 8:44 AM 0 comments
Labels: Bixyl Shuftan, christmas, holiday, holidays, second life, secondlife, sl christmas, xmas
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Cartoon of the Day
Posted by Bixyl Shuftan at 12:54 AM 0 comments
Labels: Bixyl Shuftan, cartoon, cartoon of the day, christmas, claus, Fall, Fun, funny, santa, second life, secondlife, winter, xmas
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
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.
Posted by Bixyl Shuftan at 6:57 AM 0 comments
Labels: Bixyl Shuftan, help, helper, learning, Linden, lindens, mentor, mentors, New, newbie, second life, secondlife, sl newbie
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
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."
Posted by Bixyl Shuftan at 9:50 PM 0 comments
Renaissance Island
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:
"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. Posted by DV at 8:45 PM 0 comments
Labels: Art, explore, live music, shellie sands
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.
Read comments under the blog post Here.
Posted by Bixyl Shuftan at 8:31 PM 0 comments
Labels: Babbage Linden, EOTB, eye on the blog, limits, Linden, lindens, scripting, scripts, second life, secondlife
Monday, December 21, 2009
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
Posted by DV at 9:01 PM 1 comments
Labels: climate change, copenhagen, environment, freebie, SL/RL activism
Sunday, December 20, 2009
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
Posted by Bixyl Shuftan at 7:05 AM 1 comments
Labels: cartoon, cartoon of the day, christmas, Fun, funny, gift, gifts, second life, secondlife, xmas
Saturday, December 19, 2009
SL Ice Hotel
Posted by DV at 12:18 PM 1 comments
Labels: explore places, grey lupindo, sl places
Friday, December 18, 2009
Trans Siberian Orchestra Rocks SL
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)
Posted by DV at 11:06 PM 0 comments
Labels: Concerts, event, events, grey lupindo, live music, second life event
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Cartoon of the Day
Posted by Bixyl Shuftan at 10:28 PM 1 comments
Labels: bear, cartoon, cartoon of the day, environmental, Fun, funny, global warming, polar, second life, secondlife
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
“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
Posted by Bixyl Shuftan at 11:34 PM 0 comments
Labels: 350, Bixyl Shuftan, climate, copenhagen, environment, environmental, Expo, global, global warming, green, political, politics, pollution, second life, secondlife
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Your christmas wonderlands!
Posted by DV at 4:25 PM 0 comments
Labels: christmas, photo, photography, sl christmas, snow, winter wonderland
Monday, December 14, 2009
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.
Posted by Bixyl Shuftan at 11:18 PM 0 comments
Perri's Xanadu
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.
Perri and RECoyote told of another club Xanadu, but with a much different atmosphere than theirs. “Some of our old employees were also with a group called Peach Fuzz that makes SL videos” Perri explained, “They liked the idea of building a more close to the movie Xanadu as a set for their films. We helped them find the building on SLX, and they built a true replica of the movie disco.” RECoyote explained this other Xanadu was more detailed, “but they are thinking of the free yiff of the 70s, not the love of music that the movie did.” Perri explained, “Peach Fuzz is pretty much an X-rated business, and strictly Furry. Our Xanadu is PG and created with the general Second Life population in mind.”
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.
“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
Posted by DV at 12:04 PM 0 comments
Labels: Advertisement, advertorial, Bixyl Shuftan, club, events, explore, venue
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Cartoon of the Day
Posted by Bixyl Shuftan at 7:36 AM 1 comments
Labels: cartoon, cartoon of the day, crashes, Fun, funny, second life, secondlife, winter
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Outerland: A Different Kind of Estate
Posted by DV at 12:01 AM 0 comments
Labels: explore places, explore SL, Outerland, Outerland estates, shellie sands, sponsor, top sponsor
Friday, December 11, 2009
Opinion: A Few Thoughts on Mass-Marketing Second Life

Earlier this fall, another online newspaper wrote a few articles on the subject of mass-marketing Second Life, starting with “Only Mass Adoption of Second Life will Best Address All SL’s Major Challenges.” According to the writer, Second Life had around a quarter million unique users every month. Hardly a bad number, but compared to the millions across the planet visiting virtual words, pretty small.
Among my friends and family in real life who use computers, none of them use Second Life, although a few have given it a try. Among those I’ve met on the Internet, a few have come here and still come by. I myself came here because an online friend kept talking about it. But only a fraction of my ‘net friends I met elsewhere moved on to here. Talking to my friends in World of Warcraft for instance, only a couple ever heard of Second Life. So the writer of “Mass Adoption”s claim that most looking for virtual worlds were passing SL and going onto it’s competitors were quite believable.
So why isn’t Second Life a bigger presence online? My friends gave me a couple reasons. One described a very frustrating first impression, crashing right after first logging in. She decided it just wasn’t worth the trouble. One of SL’s drawbacks is that it needs a fairly new computer to go about, especially in popular places. If one’s on a budget, it may mean Second Life becomes a taxing experience full of lag and crashes, or perhaps out of reach altogether. Such people may turn to places such as Gaia or Runescape.
Another friend was more of an avid gamer, “Sorry, but I miss the chance to go and kill something.” Core gamers may not find much appeal outside the combat areas in SL. And indeed those accessing the ‘net from Internet cafes, which in some places in the world is how the majority of computer users go online, tend to be limited in how much time they can spend, and more inclined to a virtual world that reliably gives faster gratification, such as WoW.
There are other problems. Second Life is often difficult for newcomers to operate at first, having a “high learning curve.” People do not always know how to get money. People may feel out of place in areas full of avatars unlike their own. There are the bugs, that have a habit of coming up at the most inconvenient times. There is the tech support, which can be what one radio talk show called “technical no-support.” There are the Linden policies, which occasionally seem to be designed to shoot themselves in the foot.
And of course, the ever-present lag.
I’ve heard numerous suggestions on how to make Second Life more appealing to the masses. Get a less laggy platform. Allow the option of point-and-click movement. Connect SL to a social network such as Myspace or Facebook. And of course, better customer service and Linden Labs listening to it’s residents better before making a policy change, and numerous others.
Of those mentioned, I’m not sure how feasible the first is (although I'd be singing haleuha if it happened), and the last seems wishful thinking given past history. The option of point-and-click I can see happening. Connecting to a social network I’m a little skeptical of. Some have policies against pages for “fake identities,” and rely a lot on teenagers for traffic whom are too young to use Second Life. One improvement they have made is their website, which has better allowed for residents to find things to do and places to see.
There is one factor I’ve heard mentioned very little. There is one thing being done by much of Second Life’s competition that it doesn’t do.
Advertising.
World of Warcraft advertises. I’ve seen their banners pop up on the Internet somewhere almost every day, even on Second Life’s Wiki. I’ve also seen their TV commercials. And it’s not just games that advertise. IMVU, a social networking place that gets some comparisons to Second Life, also advertises. But Second Life, to my knowledge, has never done any advertising.
In the business world, spending nothing on advertising is usually a sure way to keep your product virtually unknown. So why hasn’t Second Life done so? Possibly because when it was new, there was quite a bit of publicity about it. Science and gaming magazines wrote stories on it. The news did stories on it. It even made mentions on prime time television, notably the CSI “Venus” episode.
With all the free publicity, there was no need to advertise. So much like “Hershey” chocolate for years, Second Life hasn’t bothered with an advertising budget.
While Second Life still gets mentioned on the news, it’s not nearly as often as before. With Second Life no longer new, the mentions it gets in the media are smaller and less often. And it’s not always good publicity, such as the story of a couple whom met on there who broke up after the wife caught the husband with another girl on SL.
Ads needn’t be expensive to make. I’ve seen a mini-movie on SL’s website in the past that would be a good 60-second ad on the Internet, or possibly television, showing the things people can do to have fun in the Metaverse. Ad campaigns can also be done on a budget as well. Internet advertising would be an inexpensive way to get the word out to computer users.
On the other hand, being a longtime SL resident, the question comes to mind of “how badly can the Lindens goof this up?” Some ads can be rather annoying. WoW’s “Mohawk” ad makes me want to send a few Bloodelf arrows at Mr. T to shave it off. Some ads just make no sense, such as the “Hardees” ads with scantily-clad women eating burgers Then there are those that end up backfiring, such as the "Burger King" commercial with a cowboy and a midget, “Texas with a little Mexican,” that brought howls of protest that got the company taking down the ad and apologizing.
So when doing an ad campaign, the Lindens will have to use a little more sense than they’ve shown at times.
On the other hand, what if it works? Suppose a marketing campaign by the Lindens succeeds, and brings in thousands of visitors? We long-term residents will be having to deal with masses of newbie avs moving about. Hopefully Linden Labs will be able to direct them to places like Help Island and The Shelter, and encourage people to make a few more. Residents like myself will have to be prepared to take a little more time to help a newbie out.
But if that means that a few people I know in real life every day will know what I’m talking about when I mention Second Life because they go there too, it will be worth it.
Bixyl Shuftan
So readers, what are your thoughts about how to mass-market Second Life, or why it shouldn't be? Please comment below.
Posted by Bixyl Shuftan at 11:09 PM 1 comments
Labels: Bixyl Shuftan, comment, comments, market, marketing, opinion, second life, secondlife
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Winter Fun
http://slurl.com/secondlife/
Posted by DV at 8:18 AM 0 comments
Labels: explore, explore places, gemma cleanslate, skating, snow, winter
Wednesday, December 09, 2009
Today in SL Newspaper
In Main News below, the Second Life grid seems to be troubled by bugs that can make old IMs reappear in chat days, weeks, or months later. In Fashion, M&M is having a winter wear design contest, with the winner getting a 10,000 Linden voucher and three months advertisement space in SL Newspaper. And in Extra Extra, Bree runs into the clown prince of crime, but help isn't far away.
Posted by Bixyl Shuftan at 10:49 PM 0 comments
Grid Issues: Old IMs Reappearing in Chat
We have had reports of old IMs, some as old as 2 months, reappearing in chat as if they were just resent. We want to assure residents we believe this is a technical problem and not associated with anything intentional or malicious. We are investigating the cause and if you wish to send in a support ticket with your experience we will pass that information on to the investigative team.
Posted on Wednesday, December 9th, 2009 at 6:11 AM on Grid Status Report.
This bit of news was already known to some, judging by the chatter in some groups, "You mean they just noticed that?" One lady claimed to have gotten someone's reply to a question a little late, five months late.
Posted by Bixyl Shuftan at 9:33 PM 0 comments
Labels: bug, bugs, grid, grid problems, grid status, second life, secondlife, secondlife grid
Tuesday, December 08, 2009
Holiday Happenings at M&M Creations
I had heard some interesting events were planned at M&M Creations for the holiday season. A visit there recently revealed a unique shopping experience. They offer a variety of items for landscaping, as well as sculpties and items ranging from lanterns, furniture, gazebos and animals. The creative people behind M&M Creations are 10 and Marcthur Goosson.
At the M&M Highlands, 10 and Marc have created a spectacular Mystic Winterland.
I recently met with 10 and Marcthur at their main store in a cozy wintery sitting area.
SS: So I understand you have big plans for the holidays, including treasure hunts. Tell me about some of the other things you are planning.
10G: Well, full of plans, hopefully they (will) all be worked out and become a success. First we wanted to do something like we did last year, discounts on the boxes with sculpties, but to focus only on the sculpts while we have much more to offer is a pity.
SS: Yes, I agree.
MG: Yes , soo much more (to) us.
SS: What kinds of goodies can be had at the treasure hunts?
10G: In the hope our visitors will take their time to see the island, I planned to have a kind of treasure-hunt by making 2 items each day for sale for 1 linden.. only they will stay on their original place and people have to start walking.
SS: Yes, that's what I heard...it sounds like a good plan.
10G: Trees, lights or lanterns....gazebos, maybe even animals, flowers, shrubs...particles, (cacti)...do i need to go on?
SS: It sounds like a lot.
10G Oh, books not to forget those.
SS: And this is kicking off on the 11th?
MG: Yes together with my birthday which (is) also the 11th:-)
10G: Next to that we fill the gift box at the X-mas plateau every day with another gift, an item from our shops around the main store.
MG: LOL never coincidences.
10G: That's no treasure or discounted, but just a gift like gifts should be, for free...and to see what can be created with (fashion) sculpties, not only fashion!!
SS: And hopefully come back with their friends. It's a great opportunity for people to get a sample of what is available here.
MG: We are working hard, but SL has grown soo huge that it is difficult to get the right attention.
SS: I can understand that Marcthur.
MG: Marc is ok ;-)
SS: Good, thanks, Marc, easier to type lol.
SS: SL is almost overwhelming in what is available here.
10G: Of course,, we focus mainly on fashion-designers, but it would be boring for us, we simply do not fashion-design, we have the resources for the designers, and the rest is 'having fun with sculpties'.
MG: What 10 says is that we supply sculpties for fashion designers, but our inspiration let us make many more be.
SS: Did you begin with that idea when you started out? I mean, the fashion end of it? I know nothing about fashion design here, but I imagine the sculpies help to make the various pieces of an outfit?
MG: Yes, indeed. We started out with scenery screens.
SS: Yes, sculpties would be helpful in landscape too
MG: And then sculpties arrived which finally gave me an opportunity in RL to make designs in 3D.
SS: That must have been exciting for you :)
10G: (and so it grew and grew and grew)
MG: Exciting YES, and many many hours experimenting :-)
10G: Out of making, building with and selling sculpties grew the questions for explanation or workshops, so tutorials have become a part of my sl-fun. Hopefully I will do some more next year.
SS: I'm sure it could not have grown without your creative input and ideas
10G: I'm happy the pc's are still indoors and the windows aren't broken hahaha.
MG: And of course with the help of so many creative minds here in SL,
SS: Yes, there is a lot of creativity in SL.
10G: That's why we would like to thank all our friends, costumers, designers , they made this all happen and possible as well.
SS: What sets M&M Creations apart from other shops in SL?
MG: Quality for sure, and we offer FULL PERM sculpties...and variety, originality.
10G: Quality.
SS: Full perm, a very nice feature.
MG: And shapes that put other creative minds into work. Others are inspired by us, to make stuff with our shapes they never thought of, and customers are free to inspire us with their ideas.
10G: And we're helpfull, but that's a common thing I noticed last year.
SS: Do you feel that others are in a sense taking your ideas?
MG: Sure we are copied.
S S: I guess there is a lot of that in SL.
MG: But it is ok when others are inspired.
SS: It seems like you manage to remain unique, however.
MG: We are unique in our kind of way, we have our own identity.
SS: The trick is keeping it Marc :)
MG: Hahaha, well, so far so good.
10G: That's why we don't explore entire SL like most do. We never go out looking for others or our competition, so we will stay that way I guess.
MG: I hardly ever explore SL. I visit my customers .
SS: I do not do a lot of exploring either, unless I have a purpose to go somewhere.
MG: Well as a jouralist you should :-)
SS: Things tend to fall into my lap.
MG: That is a good phrase.
SS: Hahaha, I am lucky I suppose.
10G: If we would explore sl we (would) find too much realistic places and it will 'kill' our creativity and own identity in what we do.
10 and Marcthur are a RL couple also affectionately referred to as M&M. Their work in SL is their daily RL work. I found them both to be very creative, interesting and intelligent. Their combined talent is amazing. I would encourage all to participate in their scheduled hunts beginning on the 11th. Further details are provided below.
Every day another FREE gift-in-a-box with an M&M Creation can be found on the X-mas tree-plateau in the middle of the Main Store and TP point in a special M&M GiftBox. Also every day, another SCULPTY BOX created by Marcthur Goosson with a discount from 10%-50%!!! These can be found underneath the tiny X-mas tree standing on the box itself at the Main Store!!
Additional promotions include 2 creations of M&M Trees & Landscaping for sale for 1 linden . Those landscaping-items can be found outside the mainstore at the Natural Park, they will change EVERY DAY!
You need to walk around and click items (such as trees, flowers, lanterns, entrees, shrubs, furniture, gazebos, animals, et.) to find the ' Treasures of the Day'. MAYBE look out for a tiny X-mas tree which could be found near the Treasures.
I had heard some interesting events were planned at M&M Creations for the holiday season. A visit there recently revealed a unique shopping experience. They offer a variety of items for landscaping, as well as sculpties and items ranging from lanterns, furniture, gazebos and animals. The creative people behind M&M Creations are 10 and Marcthur Goosson.
At the M&M Highlands, 10 and Marc have created a spectacular Mystic Winterland.
I recently met with 10 and Marcthur at their main store in a cozy wintery sitting area.
SS: So I understand you have big plans for the holidays, including treasure hunts. Tell me about some of the other things you are planning.
10G: Well, full of plans, hopefully they (will) all be worked out and become a success. First we wanted to do something like we did last year, discounts on the boxes with sculpties, but to focus only on the sculpts while we have much more to offer is a pity.
SS: Yes, I agree.
MG: Yes , soo much more (to) us.
SS: What kinds of goodies can be had at the treasure hunts?
10G: In the hope our visitors will take their time to see the island, I planned to have a kind of treasure-hunt by making 2 items each day for sale for 1 linden.. only they will stay on their original place and people have to start walking.
SS: Yes, that's what I heard...it sounds like a good plan.
10G: Trees, lights or lanterns....gazebos, maybe even animals, flowers, shrubs...particles, (cacti)...do i need to go on?
SS: It sounds like a lot.
10G Oh, books not to forget those.
SS: And this is kicking off on the 11th?
MG: Yes together with my birthday which (is) also the 11th:-)
10G: Next to that we fill the gift box at the X-mas plateau every day with another gift, an item from our shops around the main store.
MG: LOL never coincidences.
10G: That's no treasure or discounted, but just a gift like gifts should be, for free...and to see what can be created with (fashion) sculpties, not only fashion!!
SS: And hopefully come back with their friends. It's a great opportunity for people to get a sample of what is available here.
MG: We are working hard, but SL has grown soo huge that it is difficult to get the right attention.
SS: I can understand that Marcthur.
MG: Marc is ok ;-)
SS: Good, thanks, Marc, easier to type lol.
SS: SL is almost overwhelming in what is available here.
10G: Of course,, we focus mainly on fashion-designers, but it would be boring for us, we simply do not fashion-design, we have the resources for the designers, and the rest is 'having fun with sculpties'.
MG: What 10 says is that we supply sculpties for fashion designers, but our inspiration let us make many more be.
SS: Did you begin with that idea when you started out? I mean, the fashion end of it? I know nothing about fashion design here, but I imagine the sculpies help to make the various pieces of an outfit?
MG: Yes, indeed. We started out with scenery screens.
SS: Yes, sculpties would be helpful in landscape too
MG: And then sculpties arrived which finally gave me an opportunity in RL to make designs in 3D.
SS: That must have been exciting for you :)
10G: (and so it grew and grew and grew)
MG: Exciting YES, and many many hours experimenting :-)
10G: Out of making, building with and selling sculpties grew the questions for explanation or workshops, so tutorials have become a part of my sl-fun. Hopefully I will do some more next year.
SS: I'm sure it could not have grown without your creative input and ideas
10G: I'm happy the pc's are still indoors and the windows aren't broken hahaha.
MG: And of course with the help of so many creative minds here in SL,
SS: Yes, there is a lot of creativity in SL.
10G: That's why we would like to thank all our friends, costumers, designers , they made this all happen and possible as well.
SS: What sets M&M Creations apart from other shops in SL?
MG: Quality for sure, and we offer FULL PERM sculpties...and variety, originality.
10G: Quality.
SS: Full perm, a very nice feature.
MG: And shapes that put other creative minds into work. Others are inspired by us, to make stuff with our shapes they never thought of, and customers are free to inspire us with their ideas.
10G: And we're helpfull, but that's a common thing I noticed last year.
SS: Do you feel that others are in a sense taking your ideas?
MG: Sure we are copied.
S S: I guess there is a lot of that in SL.
MG: But it is ok when others are inspired.
SS: It seems like you manage to remain unique, however.
MG: We are unique in our kind of way, we have our own identity.
SS: The trick is keeping it Marc :)
MG: Hahaha, well, so far so good.
10G: That's why we don't explore entire SL like most do. We never go out looking for others or our competition, so we will stay that way I guess.
MG: I hardly ever explore SL. I visit my customers .
SS: I do not do a lot of exploring either, unless I have a purpose to go somewhere.
MG: Well as a jouralist you should :-)
SS: Things tend to fall into my lap.
MG: That is a good phrase.
SS: Hahaha, I am lucky I suppose.
10G: If we would explore sl we (would) find too much realistic places and it will 'kill' our creativity and own identity in what we do.
10 and Marcthur are a RL couple also affectionately referred to as M&M. Their work in SL is their daily RL work. I found them both to be very creative, interesting and intelligent. Their combined talent is amazing. I would encourage all to participate in their scheduled hunts beginning on the 11th. Further details are provided below.
Every day another FREE gift-in-a-box with an M&M Creation can be found on the X-mas tree-plateau in the middle of the Main Store and TP point in a special M&M GiftBox. Also every day, another SCULPTY BOX created by Marcthur Goosson with a discount from 10%-50%!!! These can be found underneath the tiny X-mas tree standing on the box itself at the Main Store!!
Additional promotions include 2 creations of M&M Trees & Landscaping for sale for 1 linden . Those landscaping-items can be found outside the mainstore at the Natural Park, they will change EVERY DAY!
You need to walk around and click items (such as trees, flowers, lanterns, entrees, shrubs, furniture, gazebos, animals, et.) to find the ' Treasures of the Day'. MAYBE look out for a tiny X-mas tree which could be found near the Treasures.
Posted by DV at 2:38 PM 1 comments
Labels: content creators, contest, Designers, interview, M and M, M and M sculpts, shellie sands, sl fashion
Remembering Pearl Harbor
In the Oahu sim lies a virtual replica of the USS Arizona Memorial, built in honor of the servicemen who fell at Pearl Harbor. On December 7th at 2 PM, a ceremony was held in remembrance.
Read the full story in Community.
Posted by Bixyl Shuftan at 6:40 AM 0 comments
Labels: Bixyl Shuftan, December 7, event, Hawaii, memorial, memorial service, Oahu, Pearl Harbor, second life, secondlife, service, USS Arizona, war
Monday, December 07, 2009
Angels Beach
At Cape Suzette in the Sunweaver region is a small but growing beach club, Angels Beach. The club had some small beginnings, starting off as just big enough for several patrons. “We opened in April, and we have expanded three times,” club owner Nydia Tungsten explained. She credited Kim7 Avril for the idea, “she helped me when I was down and helped me create Nydia's Angels (Nydia’s group). About the same time we were working on the club and it just fell into place.” Nydia credits Treminari Huet with building the club, “this club is her design.” Treminari has been happy with the club’s progress, “I’m glad to see Nydia doing something successful with it. :) “
Of the club’s small and cozy beginnings, Nydia commented, “I like to still think of it that way, compared to the size of most clubs. Angels Beach is a good size. No wasted space to get lost in. No fancy ‘themes’ like space or playing cowboy and Indians or pirates. What we wanted was someplace to come and be themselves and relax just hang out and maybe even meet someone special, kinda like I did at Zero. ... We made the club a beach club because, people go to the beach to have fun. And that is my number one goal, to help people have a good time.”
Nydia herself is an experienced DJ in Second Life, having played at a number of other clubs, including (but far from limited to) Club Zero Gravity, Xanadu, and Cutlass, “We will be playing what people want to hear music-wise. Our DJ's will be taking requests from all genres, except crap ... I mean rap ... wait, I had it right the first time.“ She also has other DJs on her team. There is Lsai Aeon, coined the “Purple Puppy” by her fans, noted for her Saturday night antics when DJing. And there is whom Nydia calls her lead DJ, “the mistress of the tunes if you will,” Alexandra Tymets, “I was impressed with her wide selection and general knowledge of music.”
Alexandra, or “Sexy Lexi” as she’s sometimes called, plays a variety of music, “I can do 80s, Trance/Techno, and Eurometal. A little bit of Angry Grrrl Rock too, Pink, Liz Phair, etc. And, umm, of course a selection of silliness. Technically I could even do Classic Rock if it came down to it. I have a little Corsi and Bob Rivers, and of course a ton of Weird Al. Oh and some Lemon Demon and Mc Chris. And if I don't have it, I have a talent for finding it.” During the conversation, Lexi’s neko mousegirl avie, or “Nezumi” as she calls it, had her ears rubbed a few times by a friend, resulting in a surprised squeaky expression, “They keep me around to DJ and make me squeak.” Her friend grinned, “She's our little squeaker toy.”
Scheduled parties are not the only time people gather at Angels Beach. Sometimes a few friends show up just to hang out, or dance to whatever the stream is playing. With the recent expansion, there are cuddle chairs available for couples, plus a fun inner tube ride on the new underdeck underneath the main deck that allows the swimmer to take a leisurely drift on the river around some of the surrounding land, and back to the club. Just be careful of that patch of green ...
Although the club’s general theme is always a beach one, there are themed parties. One was a Wild West party in which most of the people showed up as not cowboys, outlaws, or Indians, but the horses. “Had plenty of horsepower that night,” Nydia joked. Nydia felt the party with the largest turnout was the “Hi-tech Redneck.” The winner, “I think she went for a cyborg rancher. It was pretty inventive ... had a neon coyote, a mech dog, robo horse, had a few good ones.”
Nydia reminded that although the majority of the club’s patrons are furs, all are welcome. There are some normal human avatars in her club group, “Human, neko, merfolk, who ever or what ever you are in Second Life, you will be welcomed. I will be looking for water scenery for the merfolk.” She is also looking for a “mermaid” dance animator for the club. Nydia mentioned one in her staff, Jian Alcot, lives in Europe, and plans to run events at times more convenient to Europeans when more join the group, “if she can get enough from across the pond we will start having Euro-parties as well.”
With Club Zero having to close it’s doors, Nydia made the decision to expand the club’s schedule to fill the hours the space club once held, “I have talked with Ranchan and she and I think Angels beach would do well as the Zero's replacement, so she is supporting me with this by allowing me to send notices in the Zero's groups and she will spend some time here as well as I hope DJ'ing every now and then.” There will be parties every Tuesday and Thursday from 6 to 8 PM Second Life time, and 8 to 10 PM on Saturday nights. For fans of Lsai Aeon, Nydia says she will be taking her act from Club Zero to Angels.
On Saturday night on December 5, the club held it’s Grand-Reopening party at 8 PM SL time, to celebrate it’s expansion in size and hours. The theme was “Angels & Demons,” with everyone enjoying the heavenly-looking dancers and having a devil of a time. It was a well-attended bash, with close to two dozen people at the club. There was a contest with a 2000L prize for the winner for best in theme. The result was a tie by Vania Arashi and Alpine Plessis.
The location of the club is at Cape Suzette (74/ 34/ 24), and has a small website and schedule here - http://sites.google.com/site/
So for a great day at the beach to play or unwind, and a great place to party at night, come to Angels Beach.
“A little piece of Heaven on the sandy shore.”
Bixyl Shuftan
Posted by DV at 8:18 AM 0 comments
Labels: Advertisement, advertorial, angels beach, Bixyl Shuftan, explore, explore places
Sunday, December 06, 2009
Cartoon of the Day
Posted by Bixyl Shuftan at 8:36 AM 2 comments
Labels: bald, Bixyl Shuftan, cartoon, cartoon of the day, Fun, funny, lag, second life, secondlife
Saturday, December 05, 2009
World AIDS Day - 1 December 2009
The musical portion began at 6 am . The lineup for the day included Russell Eponym, Avatar Quinzet, nadidi Aeon, Jon Bazar, Bones Writer, Skye Galaxy, Clairede Dirval, FaecelessAPe Mefusla, davecorbett Darwin, The Sue McCullough Bagpipe Band, EvaMoon Ember, Wren Hartunian, Arimo Teixerira, srv4u Conacher, Edward Kyomoon, Noma Falta, EricSteffenson Mistwalker, Cellandra and her light show, with readings occuring simultaneously beginning at noon, and ending with a candlelight vigil at midnight.Posted by DV at 2:11 PM 0 comments
Labels: Community Event, second life, second life community, shellie sands, world AIDS day
Friday, December 04, 2009
Today in SL Newspaper
Today in Main News below, we look at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Alajueala, with it's vibrant paintings. In Community, a glance at the political side of Second Life in Cafe Wellstone. And in Extra Extra, Breezes has more winter adventures.
Posted by Bixyl Shuftan at 10:48 PM 0 comments
Visions in Color
http://slurl.com/secondlife/
Posted by DV at 8:25 AM 0 comments
Labels: Art, Artists, gemma cleanslate, visions in color
Thursday, December 03, 2009
Calling All SL Poets
Posted by DV at 9:09 AM 0 comments
Labels: Da Vinci Isle, gemma cleanslate, second life, second life community, WarChild
Wednesday, December 02, 2009
What Happened to Book Island?
A visit to Book Island, adjacent to the now vanished Publishing Island, revealed a virtual ghost town, one that lent an eerie feeling of abandonment.
SS: "Thanks for your response...If you can tell me the evolution of things, that would be sufficient I think."Posted by DV at 8:40 AM 4 comments
Labels: book island, disappeared, explore places, shellie sands, Sim
Man Arrested for Plundering Runescape Online Game Accounts
Britian’s Police National e-crime unit announced in a statement, “A 23 year old man was arrested in Avon and Somerset on the morning of Tuesday 24 November ... on suspicion of a number of computer misuse offences.” The target of the crime: the accounts of Runescape players.
Jagex, the company that created and owns Runescape, stated that it was likely to be the first of several arrests, “We have pinned down and identified the handful of ringleaders.” It is believed they gained access to the accounts by “phishing” emails, then once they gained access sold off the items then plundered them. The virtual cash can be sold for real money. Two million in Runescape gold can sell for about ten US dollars in the Internet's "underground."
Jagex stated it was working with the British police and FBI to find and catch those stealing from peoples’ accounts. The arrest on the 24th “was one result of a long-term investigation “of those behind the attack that struck, “a few thousand Runescape players.”
Selling Runescape gold has been against the rules of the game, “and Jagex has made many changes to it’s underlying code to stamp out gold farming.” A Runescape official thought these efforts may have led to the thefts.
Before, the worst offenders could expect was a canceled account. Now, they face real time in a real jail for their theft of virtual cash and goods.
“Players invest years of time and effort into developing their Runescape character, so the theft of a Runescape account shouldn’t be treated differently to the theft of any other valuable possessions, such as a games console, television, or car.”
Sources: BBC News, Casual Gaming.
Tuesday, December 01, 2009
Giving in Second Life
Kiva, a group that works to end poverty by giving loans, has a large presence here. "Turning Lindens into Loans" is their motto, and their shop is filled with photos of the people they are helping. I didn´́t see any wreathes for sale at this shop, but they are selling them at Winterfest through Xstreet, and the money goes to support their cause. On the second floor, they had a donation barrel, too, where you can drop off items for re-sale.Posted by DV at 11:49 AM 1 comments
Labels: christmas, grey lupindo, shopping, sl shopping
More Trouble at Foxworth
Earlier, the Foxworthy sim was the scene of trouble when a number of accounts were permanently banned for reasons that made no sense to anyone familiar with the area. More recently, the region was the target of a griefer, whom went as far as to threaten someone. How the Lindens reacted was a surprise.
To read more, go to Community.
Posted by Bixyl Shuftan at 6:22 AM 0 comments
Labels: ban, banning, Bixyl Shuftan, complaint, Foxworth, Foxyfurman Kumaki, griefer, harrasment, Linden, linden lab, second life, secondlife
Monday, November 30, 2009
Club Zero Closes
Due to the Sunweaver region cutting back on it’s number of sims, Club Zero is having to close it’s doors. The final party was Saturday November 28th at 8 PM SL time, with Lsai Aeon as the DJ. The “Farewell Bash” had the announcement:
“Come one, come all. Come bid a fond farewell to our beloved Zero Gravity. Come as you are. Come to party. Come to blow this place out of space. DJ Purple Puppy (Lsai) spinning the tunes. Who knows what she will do... Party starts at 8. Get up here. “
The party lasted late into the night, with people determined to have fun while they still could at the space club. Among the highlights, 2000 Lindens were up for grabs in the “Come as You Are” contest. Tippers were also generous, one poledancer getting 2000L. Club Manager Ranchan Weidman will be asking another club in the area not affected by the cutbacks to take up its time slot.
Club Zero has been in it’s current form since spring 2009 after it was placed under the management of Ranchan, and was created over a year ago, run by Spectra Ninetails. The space club has been known for it’s unique design and it’s lively Saturday night dance parties.
Although Club Zero's regulars have other clubs, notably Cutlass, the space station will clearly be missed.
Bixyl Shuftan
Posted by Bixyl Shuftan at 3:51 AM 0 comments
Labels: Bixyl Shuftan, close, closing, club, club zero gravity, clubs, Ranchan Weidman, second life, secondlife
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Today in SL Newspaper
Below in Main News, we take a look at the SS Galaxy, a massive cruise ship so big it takes up a few sims, as it moves to a new region. In Community, Second Life had it's own version of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, complete with balloons and floats. And in Extra Extra, one of our reporters goes on the halfshell a new kind of critter one can raise comes to Second Life: sea turtles.
Posted by Bixyl Shuftan at 6:11 PM 0 comments
Massive Move
Posted by DV at 2:16 PM 0 comments
Labels: cruise ship, explore places, gemma cleanslate, move, new home, ship, ss galaxy
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Steal of the Day: Curious Kitties Gift Boxes
Anyone who has shopped around the grid for quality gift boxes will notice that they are precisely hard to find. Then, they might cost L$200 or more. Since I found one heck of a bargain today, I thought I would share it with you guys.
The Curious Kitties shop is making its 1-prim sculptie boxes available for the Christmas shopping season at only L$10. In several color schemes, those boxes are made by a veteran designer, Ameshin Yossarian, who sells a variety of gothic/punk/Japanese styled clothing.
Be careful. If you also check out the clothing, you may find it highly addictive, as I do since I first bought a pair of boots at that store a couple of years ago.
You can find the boxes by going to Curious Kitties with this link. The boxes are at coordinates 186, 221, 21.
Alesia Schumann
Posted by Alesia Schumann at 4:26 PM 0 comments
Friday, November 27, 2009
To Call Second Life a “Game,” or Not?

In Community, a little tale of some friends and I talking about what exactly to call Second Life, one of whom had a rather interesting way of describing it to a friend and getting him interested in joining.
To read what happened, click HERE.
Posted by Bixyl Shuftan at 4:18 PM 0 comments
Labels: Bixyl Shuftan, chat, club, club zero gravity, game, games, second life, secondlife, SL Life
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Happy Thanksgiving
Posted by Bixyl Shuftan at 7:35 AM 1 comments
Labels: cartoon, cartoon of the day, dance, Fun, funny, second life, secondlife, thanksgiving, turkey
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Today in SL Newspaper
In Community, a music event was held at the Crystal Gardens to raise money for prostrate cancer research. In Fashion, M&M has a number of new releases, including the complete Tutorial-box. And in Extra-Extra, a few of Breezes' Thoughts.
Posted by Bixyl Shuftan at 9:26 PM 1 comments
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Literary & Artists’ Villiage
In the Astrid sim is a place where people with a love for writing have small shops and boutiques to display their craft, as well as getting together occasionally to listen to each others works, the Literary and Artist Village. Since it’s official opening on November 7, it and it’s group have been ways promising writers can meet and find an audience.A poetry reading on it’s official opening had some readings to offer, done in voice. Kalli Birman read some romantic poems. Persephone Phoenix read a “disturbing” poem of a woman who committed suicide from mental stress from her time in Iraq. Corwyn Allen recited poetry one reader commented he liked for his touch of “dry humor,” including “Spanish Dancer” one he had written that morning, and “Saturday Morning” about a lawn mower covered with the first frost of fall, near a lawn that won’t need it until spring. Stosh Quartz had a grandmotherish voice, and read what one called a “pot poem,” one about her cat and an encounter with the dog that left the canine running, and “EEP!! There’s a Spider on My Computer Screen!” Kalli Birman finished the reading, “I’m kind of in a ‘I hate men’ mood” and recited “Social Nos,” which had lines like, “You are a little man, living in his father & mother’s basement, being what he dreams ... lover of many, but provider to none.” A few hung around after the poetry reading to chat about various subjects.
DaSaved Eros passed around a notecard with another poem:
I'm friend with all I love all
I make God a pocket universe to joy for the making of being just to re-build the devil wings was it seen ?
I love all Plus you
Would not God love the devil God best that was once lost
missed
lost
but whole and once again love all
friends with love
Besides poetry readings, there are other events, such as live music, and informal “Night Cap” discussions in which people come by to talk about things such as love and relationships.
SL-Newspaper had a chance to talk to one of the women behind the Literary and Artists’ Village, Cath Munro. “We service well-known authors and just starting authors as well and are involved with many international authors who are trying to break into US market,” Cath explained, “I allow for authors to feature their work on Second Life and we also advertise the community in real-life and in the publishing world. Readings, meetings, networking are basically the goal here, except in more real-life targeted environment than is customary for other literary outfits on SL. The sole goal is to help authors to get published in real-life, and the Second Life events are just a ‘workshop’ to do that.”
Cath informed there was more planned than just readings, “We also plan on having live music regularly, and other events that will be organized by Kalli Birman.”
The group interested writers would join is the ALA, which announcements are made, “ALA announcements include real-life calls for writers, and other real-life opportunities as well as just promotions of the events and readings of our residents and writers anywhere on Second Life.” Cath also showed a mailbox in the village, “a real-life literary agency mailbox here where the authors can place their samples and potentially be contacted and get a contract of representation. This is the drop box for anybody to leave a sample. It is forwarded onto the real-life literary agency. “
Cath says so far, they have been getting, “about 500 queries per week” total. “Well, this is exactly why this village was opened, to find new talent without having to run around the whole (of) Second Life. ... the poetry reading at the Grand Opening opened my eyes to how many talented people are really around here. It's just that it is time consuming having to find them (laughter). So having them read here helps. Anyone can do events here.”
Cath Munro mentioned a few of the more talented writers by name. One was H3 Turbo, a self-described “rouge scientist” with a place called the “Clockwork Orange H2onE2 University” whose writings discuss politics and science. Chaos Priestman “writes scifi and we had a few readings for him. He took a short brake to get married to a wonderful lady that he's met on Second Life.” She also mentioned Paul Levinson, “whom I've met on Second Life and who actually was the person who kept asking me to open this village. He recently wrote a book, New New Media.”
As it turns out, this is not the villiage’s initial opening, but it existed before. “It was up last year,” Cath explained, “but then the agency got really busy with real-life inquiries and there was simply no time to manage it. We have since hired more people both in real life and on Second Life, and Kalli will be helping to manage the Literary village now. We are trying to read all the queries that come via email and sometimes it means reading 1000 pages a day. So we have two additional people helping out.”
“On Second Life, we have asked Kalli Birman to help managing the events for writers. Hopefully that will help but we still aim for quality not quantity and want to remain a boutique environment with a personalized assistance to writers. For example, I am currently working on a PR story for a writer that will be publicised to promote his book. That is a bit different from other agency services. The writer and I communicate both via SL and real-life email, but Second Life is truly helpful to be able to communicate faster and more vividly, as well as being able to "test" some visual promo ideas.”
Cath says all are invited to the “make up” Grand Opening party, which came about as the one on Saturday November 7 was marred by the major glitch in Second Life then, “I hope to have this event in mid December as the upcoming holidays might cause busy schedules. After that we will have regular readings, networking, live music and literary competitions.”
Bixyl Shuftan
Posted by DV at 12:19 PM 3 comments
Labels: Advertisement, advertorial, Artists, Bixyl Shuftan, explore, explore places, literary, village
Monday, November 23, 2009
The Joy of SL Belly Dancing
Anyways, I hope you get a chance to try SL belly dancing soon. Most Mondays at 4pm and Thursdays at 8pm, you will find me slinking round the club Parvana Ayre in Angel Shark Shallows sim, wearing practically nothing and "working it"! You know what I mean! IM me if you dare! Only the brave and truly fun loving need apply. Peace!Posted by DV at 7:07 PM 3 comments
Labels: any1 gynoid, belly dancing, explore, Fun, things to do
Cartoon of the Day
Posted by Bixyl Shuftan at 5:49 AM 1 comments
Labels: babysit, bunny, cartoon, cartoon of the day, Fun, funny, horse, humour, second life, secondlife
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Banned for Looking???
Posted by DV at 11:31 AM 1 comments
Labels: 3rd party viewers, gemma cleanslate, linden lab, sl wiki, wiki
Saturday, November 21, 2009
SL Enterprise Sounds Very Promising

It has been great news for Second Life when, on November 4, Linden Lab announced that they would bring a SL Enterprise product. This product that will replicate the virtual world behind a firewall will be comparable, for corporations, to having an internal Internet system without granting access to the outside world.
This is great news and an inevitable step that LL had to take to build its credibility in the business world. A 3D environment such as SL brings incredible potential for companies to organize meetings and other collaboration activities between people who work in different countries or even continents, at a fraction of the cost.
Let's make a quick comparison: you pay the $55,000 entry price to set up 8 regions with the possibility of having 800 users, 700 of them online at the same time. Add some costs to maintain the system available and you have a pretty decent "live meeting" solution. To this you can add the possibility of storing documentation and scripted learning tools that allow employees to learn and perfect their skills, without having to organize classes.
The price may be hefty for small and medium-sized businesses. The product that LL offers in beta clearly is targeting larger corporations.
The comparison with live videoconferencing systems is still funny to make. A telepresence solution from Cisco to hold meetings for 18 people will cost… $340,000. For companies, such telepresence solutions have already been cost cutters.
Although different in nature, you can compare both products and see that what you would sacrifice in real-life visual experience by using SL Enterprise, you would save. That's without even considering the potential for interaction other than plain conferencing.
This also makes me think that SL may do with virtual worlds what the Internet did with online activity. If businesses adopt SL Enterprise quickly, it will be hard for a competitor to displace SL as a "virtual world with a firewall" solution.
This Enterprise product is promising because using it with the security of a firewall will make 3D more tempting to organizations. Let's hope LL customizes it for other needs, too.
Posted by Alesia Schumann at 1:37 PM 0 comments
Labels: Business, rl business, second life, secondlife, SL Enterprise
Second Life Veterans Tribute
Veterans Day/Remembrance Day may have come to a close, but the money one group of volunteers raised will be helping soldiers for some time to come. They also built a sim full of detailed memorials in tribute for the week-long event in honor of US Veterans, and those from other countries.
Read the article in Community.
Posted by Bixyl Shuftan at 7:21 AM 0 comments
Labels: Community Event, second life, second life community, secondlife, tribute, veteran, veterans, veterans day
Friday, November 20, 2009
SNOWY MOUNTAIN RESORT
Posted by DV at 8:31 AM 0 comments
Labels: Advertisement, advertorial, explore, explore places, explore SL, Kim Trefusis
Eye on the Blog: Lindens "to Retire the Current Mentor Volunteer Program"
Upcoming changes
The company has decided the time to evolve and grow as a volunteer community has come. While the official Mentor Volunteer Program has been an extremely valuable endeavor, its sheer size has made it increasingly difficult to support, and we need to reallocate our resources at the Lab for other Resident-focused programs. We've decided to retire the current Mentor Volunteer program—launching new opportunities for expanded volunteerism within Second Life.
For more information about the close of the Mentor Volunteer Program, please take a look at our FAQ.
We're sad to see the Mentor Volunteer Program go, but we're also excited about new opportunities! Now is the time participate in new offered programs, create your own programs or groups, or simply volunteer on an individual level. On our end, Linden Lab will work even harder to create the framework that highlights your efforts and supports the efforts of even more volunteers—heralding in a more sustainable and more creative phase of volunteerism. Rest assured that we will always want and appreciate volunteers in Second Life!
Announcing two new programs!
Linden Lab is focused on building robust volunteer programs in collaboration with the Residents of Second Life. Not only do we plan to help support their amazing work, but we also want to increase the visibility of their contributions for other Residents to enjoy.
1. Second Life Answers. Residents submit questions and other Residents answer them—it's both simple and awesome at the same time. With over 200,000 page views, the Second Life Answers Beta has been a huge success, thanks to our Residents who participated by sharing knowledge, guidance, and friendly support on a wide range of topics in multiple languages. As Second Life Answers continues to grow, it will become even more effective as it attracts even more questions from Residents and more knowledge from our volunteers.
2. Coming Soon: The Resident Help Network (RHN) Beta! This program, which is expected to launch in about a week, will highlight the “best of the best” Resident-run help groups. There's a lot of great information out there among different help groups, and this network is designed to help our Residents find what they need. To apply to be part of the network, help groups must meet a high standard for helping new Residents, maintain over 50 active members, have an established history, produce documentation on how they help, and submit three Resident testimonials. There are more criteria for applicants, which you will be able to read when the blog and wiki information is available at launch. The accepted RHN groups will be listed on the website, featured inworld, and help shape future new Resident experience. We also hope to have an inworld Resident Help Network Fair early next year, so you and other Residents can learn more about the first groups accepted into the network.
Read more in the complete blog post by Lexie Linden Here.
Posted by Bixyl Shuftan at 5:32 AM 0 comments
Labels: eye on the blog, Lexie Linden, Linden, lindens, mentor, second life, secondlife, volunteer, volunteers
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Eye on the Blog: Good-Bye Xstreet Freebies
The Xstreet SL Experience:
The Xstreet SL Marketplace is not meant to provide a replacement or even identical experience to that of shopping in-world. Instead, it serves as a specialized shopping experience which makes shopping & selling easier and different in many ways. All of our research and your feedback demonstrates that. Since it is clear that the increasing quantities of free, cheap and stale goods are hindering that experience for shoppers and merchants alike, we will take action to counteract and balance them within the marketplace, for the benefit of all. To be clear: we believe in a free marketplace and will not implement price controls on what merchants can charge for their goods.
The Roadmap:
We will enact the following new controls for the Xstreet SL Marketplace within 90 days, with at least two weeks' notice, in order to improve the shopping experience:
- Listings for free items will now be treated as a marketing/promotional tool and thus will have a price.
- L$99 is the price of our least expensive listing enhancement and so we will start there.
- Depending upon desire for this marketing opportunity and perceived value given such demand, we will adjust the price as necessary to maximize this value and keep the freebie listings from becoming bloated again.
- Expected Delivery: 30 - 60 days
- We will enact a minimum commission of L$3 on all sales of non-freebie listings.
- Since Freebie listings are now considered marketing and are charged as such, they will not incur this fee.
- A L$3 commission will raise the commission on all listings under L$50. This was a range suggested by residents, but it turns out that this is the price range where there is a very high transaction volume and low commission income which combine to cover the costs of those transactions.
- We may adjust this minimum commission as we see its effects on the marketplace. L$3 does not cover the full cost of a transaction, but the goal here is first to manage freebie growth first.
- Expected Delivery: 30 - 60 days
- All non-freebie listings will now be charged L$10 per month to remain listed in the Xstreet SL Marketplace
- Currently, less than 20% of Xstreet SL listings make at least one sale per month. This displays just how much clutter of unsold items exists on Xstreet SL.
- Doing this will provide an incentive for merchants to remove listings which are not selling, while keeping this fee low enough to have a minimal effect on listings which are selling and are desired by shoppers.
- By reducing the overall number of listings on Xstreet SL, the shopping experience will drastically improve which will please our shoppers and be a boon to the business of all of our merchants.
- Expected Delivery: 60 - 90 days
- There is already a freebie section on Xstreet SL. This section will become the place to browse for new freebies.
- We will remove free listings from the browsable categories and keyword search results on Xstreet SL.
- Expected Delivery: 60 - 90 days
- We will provide at least 2 weeks notice before releasing any of these changes.
- We expect to enact these controls within the time window 30 - 90 days following this roadmap announcement.
Posted by Bixyl Shuftan at 5:45 PM 3 comments
Labels: Colossus Linden, eye on the blog, Linden, lindens, second life, secondlife, Xstreet, Xstreet SL
















































