Venture Magazine launches Tomorrow!

Inspired by being able to help some of his store owners and hearing of how other successful business people have mentored young businesses, Giacobini set out to bring that help to the masses.
"I saw how some of my closest friends were lending their knowledge to some people and that made me realize that we could bring all of this knowledge to everyone that wanted it. Maybe we can even help establish accepted business models in a world where they don't exist, yet," says Giacobini.

Launching on August 1, 2008, Venture Magazine is entering an arena that filled with many other great magazines. However, Venture Magazine does not have any direct competition. As of this press release, there are no other montly magazines that feature business leaders and offer advice on how to grow small businesses into big businesses. This new tool for business owners will surely positively impact how business is done in SL, forever.
For further information regarding advertising, kiosks or magazine copies, please contact Carter Giacobini. To join the group for the magazine, simply do a search for "Venture Magazine"

Well Its news to me - Making your SL better

Its come to my notice especially since the new iteration that most people do not know how to get the best of their SL experience and in fact, until recently, I had avoided using the later versions because I absolutely hated certain aspects, things like the tools button not being visible and certain other problems which I won't go into now.
What I can do is share a couple of tips to improve your own viewing experience and hopefully solve a couple of the common problems and niggles which are spoiling SL for a lot of people. The solutions are fairly simple and I hope with the screenshots you too can benefit.

One of the main issues I hear time and again is that with windlight your skin looks awful, the white is too bright, the colours just don't look right (I even spoke to one person who didn't realise she had been using windlight).
Go ahead and click the screenshot below it will open in a separate window so you can refer to it.
6 clicks to improve windlight settings to allow you to see colours better and without that awful glare on everything:
Click 'World' go to the very bottom and click on Environment settings another window will pop out click on environmental editor, this will pop up the environmental editor; Click on the center blue button which will open advanced sky settings; there are a lot of scary sliders and things here and these can be fun to play around with once you feel more confident, but for now look near the top you will see a pull down menu it will say 'DEFAULT' when you click it a long list will drop down.
NOW this is fun to play with - lots of presets for your environment from sunny day on the beach to funky green clouds - but for now we will concentrate on getting your avatar to look the way it should - look down and click 'MIDDAY 1' then close all the windows.
Thats it; 6 steps to getting the right colours and lighting, you may think "hey hang on I don't want it to be midday all the time" but with 'midday 1' set you can change it to sunset or midnight or sunrise you will keep the correct lighting levels and will immediately see a huge improvement.
The disadvantage at the moment is that you will need to do this everytime you log into SL.

Step 2 to a better experience, this one is also new to me and solved one of the biggest problems I have had with the newer clients and its just 4 little steps that do not have to be done again once you have set it. I am talking about the camera movement - you know that awful dizzying effect that seems to be new, you move your camera but it doesn't stop when you do - focusing on an object is very difficult and for those of us that build it is a nightmare quite apart from the nauseating feeling it gives you.
Again its a fairly simple problem to fix which, since I have found it, has made a huge difference and again apart from the tools button being gone has actually made me like the new client.
Click the screenshot below, its easier to see what I am talking about if you are not familiar with the functions:
Click the edit button on the top of your screen and go to preferences at the bottom to open the preferences main window. On this menu locate the 'input and camera' tab on the left - second one down and click it. Here look for 'CAMERA SMOOTHING' you don't need to worry about the other sliders they do not affect us for now but this little slider is the one responsible for the camera continuing to move even when you don't - simply slide it to 0.0 and that annoying, dizzying effect will stop once you click 'APPLY' and 'OK'

I know a lot of people will know about these fixes but I also know there are many that don't so I hope this will help.
Feel free to leave comments if you know a better way to do these fixes without actually avoiding the newer versions of Secondlife!
Dana

Cartoon of the Day

By Bixyl Shuftan

Click to see full size

Orange host SL media week

From Monday 28th of July to Friday 1st of August, meet us on Orange Island for Media Week, a series of events dedicated to the many ways of broadcasting your voice to the world.

In addition to giving you an overview of SL media, we will be hosting conferences about blogging, video blogging, podcasting, wikis, and traditional media in SL.
You’ll also be able to attend workshops to learn how to use a blog as part of a media strategy, among other subjects.
At the end of the week, we’ll be exploring the future of media inside SL with a talk about Web on a prim and the promises of a seamless web integration in SL.
Make sure you also visit the many media booths set up on Orange Island’s main plaza during the week.
Monday
11.00AM SLT: SL Media fair
* Come discuss SL Media with our selected exhibitors
12.00PM SLT: Wikis
* Theme: The most advanced form of collaborative knowledge management.
Tuesday
12.00PM SLT: Blogging Panel
* Theme: From BLOG to WRITTEN PRESS
1.30PM SLT: Workshop
* Theme: Using a blog as part of a media strategy
Wednesday
12.00PM SLT: Podcasting Panel
* Theme: From BLOG to RADIO (Panel done in VOICE)
Thursday
12.00PM SLT: Mainstream Media
* Theme: RL media into SL + How mass media see SL
2.00PM SLT: Video Blogging (secured)
* Theme: From BLOG to TV

Friday

12.00PM SLT: Augmented Reality
* Theme: The future of Augmented Reality

2.00PM SLT: Web on a Prim
* Theme: How does the web integrates into SL?

* Contacts: Samuel Linden

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Orange%20Island/195/134/31

The Audacious Explorer - Like Chichen Itza, Dude? Totally!

Introducing Song Bremer. This is one girl who seems to get into trouble no matter where she goes, but at least she gets to see a lot of the grid:

I’ve been in Second Life (SL) a bit over two months. I confess, it has been quite an experience. I should very much, dear reader, to share some of those experiences with you. Perhaps some find SL a quiet, tranquil place…I’ve had friends complain that nothing much happens here. Nothing could be further from the truth! ..............

Find out what happens to Song in the EXPLORE section every Monday

ATM Exploit issues being dealt with

As of July 25th, a security flaw was uncovered in regards to the operation of ATM's in-world, with all of the exchanges as well as a few other ATM operators working to address these issues.
View details here: http://jira.secondlife.com/browse/SVC-2693
Cocky Dagger of ISE took down all of his ATM's and is getting set up to handle all transactions directly using a new avatar. So anyone desiring to make any type of deposit or withdraw with ISE needs to contact him directly. Meanwhile IntLibber Brautigan of ACE is working with their IT VP Hamncheese Omlet to deal with these issues by setting up server side systems to double check the validity of all ATM transactions. Apez and SLX's ATM's apparently already have these checking systems in place and thus should be safe. VSTEX has posted in their forums that they have implemented increased security measures but have not revealed what those are and have not reactivated their ATM's yet.
No word has been heard as of yet regarding how SLCAPEX is handling this situation (or at least not that I've seen). However when trying to visit the SLCAPEX ATM at their headquarters, it appears that they are no longer there, as a club now sits at their landmark for the SL Capital Exchange??? If anyone knows what happened to SLCAPEX, please let me know so that we can make such information publicly available.

Great news for M&M shops

M&M shops are moving!
This means Mysteryland and Mysticland have vanished and will be rebuild in the future.
M&M Shops and M&M Trees are still intact, accessable like you're used to.
The good news is M&M Shops and M&M Trees will also move to a new island, location is unknown for now.
No extreme lag and slow downs, easy walking and rezzing of all sculpted shapes and a smooth connection between the 2 shops without sim-borders.
M&M will keep you informed and SL-Newspaper will have all updated landmarks available, you can't miss it!

Before the great move; Great plots (all 1024 m2) for sale on Montsoreau and Seyanforth
Contact Marcthur and 10 Goosson for more information.

GLITZ & GLAMOUR FASHION SHOW

Enjoy the "Glitz & Glamour" of fashion with Premiere Modeling Management's fantastic fashion show dedicated to all the fashionistas in SL!

Premiere Modeling Management presents
========================
GLITZ & GLAMOUR FASHION SHOW
========================
Hosted by Aeschylus Shepherd
Date: July 26 (Sat), 2008
Place: Pavilion Events Center, Antero Shores 235.45.28
Featured designers:
- MB-DESIGNS
- Mami Jewell of "Styles of edo"
- Sparkle Skye Designs
- ABL Dream Fashions
- Alienbear Design
- S@SS Shoes

LDPW Progress Report

The Department of Public Works is busy building highway Route 2, and will begin Route 7 very soon.

The route will include some sections above the water, and some coastal waterway sections.

Also we (LDPW) have taken some sneaky snaps of whole-island-size builds we’ve constructed to add around the Mainland. One is a Space Base:

Space Base recon image

and the other is a lofty Castle:

Once placed, these locations will be available to rent for events, similarly to existing areas such as Platinum.

If you haven’t visited the Ichelus volcano, the playground in Da Boom, or the Juice Bar in Brownlee, give then a peek, too! source : linden blog

VENTURE MAGAZINE WILL LAUNCH ON AUGUST 1, 2008 WITH THE MOST IMPORTANT COLLECTION OF COVER SUBJECTS IN SL HISTORY

Venture Magazine (SL's newest magazine) will be the most important publication for any business owner in the virtual world. Welcoming to its first cover will be Frolic Mills (owner of The Best of SL Magazine, Miss SL Universe, The Best of SL BLVD, etc), Charlotte Bartlett (owner of Scarlet Creative), Intlibber Brautigan (Owner of BNT, ACE stock exchange and founder of SLEC) and Alliez Mysterio (owner of over 100 sims). This landmark cover is just an introduction to a magazine that will surely become one of the most useful tools for business owners across the grid.
Using the slogan, "The Reality of Virtual Business", Venture Magazine will have sections each month for each of the major industries in SL - finance, sim development, fashion, media and public relations, prefabs and home furnishings. Also, there will be a section devoted to covering all of the changes that Linden Labs has made over the past month that effect how business is done in this virtual world. There will also be monthly forums with the cover subject taking questions from the readers that were not answered in the magazine. With an expected readership in the first month of over 3000 residents, it is anticipated that Venture Magazine will have one of the most successful magazine launches in SL history.
Carter Giacobini created this magazine after being in the business of sim development for over a year. He saw how so many new businesses that rented store space at his mall on Fire Island struggled with questions regarding business in the virtual world and, sometimes, were taken advantage of by other unscrupulous mall owners.
"It was so unnerving for me to see some of the nicest and best intentioned people getting so frustrated that they give up or get scammed by someone that some just wanted to throw in the towel even before they got started," explains Giacobini. "That's why I started this magazine. I want entrepeneurs to be able to educate themselves about how things work in here."
Inspired by being able to help some of his store owners and hearing of how other successful business people have mentored young businesses, Giacobini set out to bring that help to the masses.
"I saw how some of my closest friends were lending their knowledge to some people and that made me realize that we could bring all of this knowledge to everyone that wanted it. Maybe we can even help establish accepted business models in a world where they don't exist, yet," says Giacobini.
Launching on August 1, 2008, Venture Magazine is entering an arena that filled with many other great magazines. However, Venture Magazine does not have any direct competition. As of this press release, there are no other montly magazines that feature business leaders and offer advice on how to grow small businesses into big businesses. This new tool for business owners will surely positively impact how business is done in SL, forever.
For further information regarding advertising, kiosks or magazine copies, please contact Carter Giacobini. To join the group for the magazine, simply do a search for "Venture Magazine".

Introducing Burning Ember

I would like to introduce a new column in SL-newspaper. FoxM Ember has joined us with a new spin on secondlife, that of speculative fiction. You will find his column in the EXTRA EXTRA section it is called fiction but it could so easily be true that we have given it the title of speculative fiction........

Singular-City
Stepping into the teleport beam, you’re immediately struck by the speed at which you are swept into this simulation; the word truly inadequate in describing this environment. Rezzing into the proverbial heart of New York City’s Times Square, you’re taken aback by your inability to distinguish between real and virtual life............... (MORE)

RFLinSL raises 200,000.00 USD

Thank you
On behalf of the Teams, Team Captains, Mentors, and Planning Committee, of Relay For Life of Second Life 2008, I extend a heartfelt and soul shaking thank you to the residents of Second Life for your support and participation.
Thank you so very much for making our cause your cause.
Thank you for reaching out to us with arms of support and friendship.
Thank you for your understanding and sense of humor as we bumped our way down the fundraising path.
Thank you for your tolerance of our growing pains.

Thanks to you, Relay For Life of Second Life 2008, has ended an outstanding season.
You were the punch in our swing at cancer so - please join us in our shout of joy – TAKE THAT CANCER!

See you next year, July 18 and 19; we’ll be looking for you,

Fayandria Foley
-McDunnough event chair
Relay For Life of Second Life 2008

Complete and utter shock...

Family and friends have spoken of their grief and devastation at the news of the death of Baron DeSantis. "It's a huge shock to us all and completely unexpected...everyone is just devastated," "There's just complete and utter shock. This is an unbelievable blow," We at SL-Newspaper wish his familie and friends strength and will keep Baron in our prayers. Baron you will be missed...

JamesT Juno & Crew

Baron DeSantis Found On Beach

The lifeless body of Baron DeSantis was today found on the beach of his private island, following a bitter dispute at Ghul Federal Prison. This follows his harrowing divorce by Mattt.

His estate is being handled by a close friend and Baron's last wish is that all have a party to celebrate , not to mourn.

Baron's email address is being kept open, out of respect for what he tried to achieve in improving the penal system in SL.

This note was found by a friend, wrapped in a plastic bag, and has been posted to the newspaper.

He will be missed.

Time to speak out for one Furry

Dear Second Life,
What did you think when you started this game? Did you think it was gonna be better? Did you think the world wasn't as easy to deal with on the outside as it should be in here?
Did you think that Second Life was all about sitting back and enjoying yourselves and waving any sort of concern for common decency or culture or sense of dignity out of your lives.
You can complain about the sex, the lewdness of it, too many people running around trying to make themselves the ideal image of what everybody else in the world thinks is perfect.
Then you have a group, a group of people who has their focus on what they wish, what they really wish they could be, because most times it makes you feel like you are little bit closer to normal.
You have all the traits of the cat or dog laying right next to you now, but you add some and make it just a little closer to humanity. It's not a hard concept really, we're like hippies with fur and not as dirty...most times.
Our concern isn't so much our hair or shoes, it's just the general idea that humans could be better if they took some tips from our animal counterparts.
I was going to write about the issue of the pageant, my anger, insecurity, outrage, but that isn't me, I am a happy kitty and I don't need to publicly bash anyone to make a statement.
That's what words are for, you know the ones you use to actually say something?
It isn't so much an issue of not liking to be told what to do, I could be stubborn and bullheaded until the end and you still probably wouldn't listen.
It's the issue that some of you are still treating your fellow man, wolf, cat, bunny, like the things you don't like to see in the world outside your computer.
I really couldn't care less about how much sex you have or the eighteen times you've been partnered. And I am not saying that your 'I don't give a ****' attitude isn't understandable, but if millions of people can march for a cause in a country and it's totally degrading to holler out certain words in public, why is it ok in a world that you think is supposed to be an escape?
I have heard people say furries are sissies, they don't fight back, I have also heard furries are aggressive (shame on you for that). 'Furries' is a word, you like it? It's just a word, but if you start to pick out traits, flaws, pieces of people and tell them to hide those away to fit your image of what the world is supposed to be like, then you start taking away equal rights. That is the issue here.
You can call me whatever you feel like, but I am NOT crawling under the table and letting you tell me that just because I won't remove my attachments I can't be like you.
I know I will still be furry inside and that is all well and good, but maybe I want to be furry outside too. I was furry when I wasn't in this game, I went to conventions, I have done things that make me seem weird to you. I am fine with being weird, being comfortable with myself it is half the reason I am who I am and it's about **** time you become a bit more comfortable with who we are as well.
Speak out people, this is a whole new world, huge, new possibilities, things you haven't even had the time to center your minds around.
Grab it, make a difference be someone. Peace and equality should be available to everyone, no matter what side of the grid you're on.
Cheetah X

Unbelievable response to RFL race for a cure

This was my first time walking the caregivers and survivors lap although last year i had stood and watched offering my support.
The tears streamed down my face as I walked, the amazing support being shown for those of us on that long walk was incredible. Sim after sim people lined the walk cheering us on and calling out support and everywhere the sound of applause for those who needed it most.
The music specially written and performed for the walk was almost as moving some amazingly talented singers and songwriters out there supporting this worthy cause and giving hope to the survivors and comfort to the ones who were grieving.
All shouted 'You are not alone'
it's what most cancer survivors and relatives need to know.
So many don't know how to talk to a cancer survivor, don't know what to say. Most fall back on phrases like "I am so sorry, I didn't know" All they need to know is that you care, a hug, a pat on the back for fighting another day and when they are at their lowest a shoulder to cry on or someone to shout at and let out the frustrations. The caregivers have a great responsibility and you could see them walking around the track today heads held high for the support they were being offered.

Today showed what SL residents can really do, no Lindens to interfere with planning. The individual builds are far too numerous to mention but there are 35 sims to explore and events organised throughout. See yesterdays schedule for more information or the calender of events HERE

The Relay for Life main event will go on until 9am SLT so if you haven't been yet don't miss your chance. Show your support, every single Linden counts, make yours count in the fight against this insidious disease.

Dana

Lets race for a CURE!

CEREMONY SIMS
STAGE #1 = HEROES 1 - Greek Theatre Hosts = Tequila / Hamish
STAGE #2 = HEROES 23 - Shae Stadium Hosts = Catt / Woody
STAGE #3 = HEROES 15 - New Orleans Hosts = David, Poppy, Marissa
STAGE #4 = HEROES 25 - Athletic Heros Hosts = Tria / Chase

**** OPENING CEREMONIES ***
9:30am - People Gathering - Music By T1
10am - Opening Ceremony start
- Intro by T1 to the start of the ceremonies and intro of Relay Chair - Trader (Stage 1)
Opening Remarks - Fayandria Foley ( stage #1)
ACS Rep Comments - RC Marrs (Sim / stage #1)
Poetry Reading - Some Day I Will Find A Cure For Cancer ( Stage #2)
TBA Intro to Relay Events / Activities = Nuala & Belle (Stage #3)
SLCN = Tria & David (Stage #4)
Lead into the First Lap = Survivors/ Caregivers. = T1 (Stage #1)

Survivors leave from various sims around the Relay (10 leaving points...Poppy has coordinated)
*** SURVIVOR / CAREGIVER LAP ***
11am - Intro of the lap / music by T1 - Nuala DJ
11am - 12pm Survivor Caregiver Lap & Music Written By SL Musicians
*** PARADE OF TEAMS ***
12 pm - 1pm -Intro of All Teams on the track to take their lap.. carry signs..etc - T1Radio
*** LUMINARIA CEREMONYS **
9pm - 10pm - Introduction and step off Track.. silence - T1Radio
Introduction of Luminaria Ceremony - Poppy (Stage #2)
List Of Names To Be Read - Marissa (Stage #2)
Completion Of Lap / Closing Words - Poppy and Mari (Stage #2)
**** FIGHT BACK CEREMONY ****
3am - 4am Introduction of Fight Back Ceremony - David (Stage #4)
Speaking On Fight Back - RC Mars (Stage # 4)
Speaking on Fight Back - Flash Alcott (Stage #4)
Planning Committee Members to be in each sim handing out
Flags and encouraging people to "shout out" their Fight Back Pledge (sim assignment below)
****Relay 's Live Auction*****
6:00am Hero sim 2 - Tria and Planning Committee
*** CLOSING CEREMONY * FORMAL DRESS ******
8:30am People Gathering in Sims - Music by T1
9:00am Preliminary Opening of Ceremonies (Trader = Stage # 1)
Intro of Tay /Catt/Seaway (T1)
Opening Remarks = Tay / Catt/ Seaway (Stage 4)
Poetry Reading & Remarks By Sabine McGettigan - Caregiver (Stage 1)
Survivor Thank You = Poppy (Stage #1)
Presentation of Awards = (Pathfinder Linden, Garth Fairchang, Pituca Fairchang, Stingray9798 Raymaker, they may choose not to speak) Fay and RC (Stage #2)
Wrap Up Party Announcement = David & Nuala (Sim #3)
Intro of Stingray= Fay, RC, Stingray = (Stage #2)
Closing Remarks = Fay (Stage #3)

10:00am LAST OFFICIAL LAP OF RELAY 2008 -
EVERYONE ON THE TRACK
RacerX wil do fireworks over all sims
Starting at 10am...and will go for 15 min as we do the last lap---------------------
***For the past few months many SL musicians have played benefits at various inworld live music venues. The SL music community ... musicians, venue owners, and audiences ... have passionately supported the RFL fundraising efforts, performing at and attending gigs across the grid. On July 19 and 20, SL musicians will perform over a period of 24 hours, on four sims built especially for this RFL finale. The schedule, which can be seen here
http://www.rflofsl.org/?page_id=256 is filled with artists from many countries (Germany, Canada, Denmark, U.S., Italy, Mexico, Australia, ) playing music in a variety of genres ... rock, folk, country, electronic, swing, blues. You will find the SLURLS on the webpage that will take you to Shea Stadium, New Orleans, Sci Fi, or the Robinson Crusoe music sims. Additionally you can find the RFL gigs by using your SEARCH button at the bottom of your SL screen, then EVENTS, and then the Live Music category, they will all be listed by time and sim, and you can TP directly to the gig from that Events page.
IM Belle Loll (Live Entertainment Chairman) or Bourque Rau (Live Artist Coordinator) for more info

Some key places to be sure and visit-
***Shea Stadium http://slurl.com/secondlife/Heroes%2023/242/112/25
Shea stadium is a tribute to the Beatles and their first appearance in America.
The Build was made from observing photos from the web and from personal snapshots from friends who have been there.
It's about a 2/3 scale model, stands 62 meters tall and has a diameter of 128 meters, and is over 3000 prims including seating.
It was intended to be a music Venue and so far has been a very popular request by SL Artists. Nad Gough will kick of the party at Noon with a total Beatles set and some VERY special effects!!
WoodStock Burleigh built Shea Stadium for the Relay and dedicated it to Trader1 Whiplash, a great Mets fan for all he's done for the Relay For Life of SL over the three years it's existed.
He is one of the three Co-Chairs for the Design Commitee along with Tequlia Tapioca and Hamish Stuart and it has been the most wonderful experience of his Second Life!!
He has met the most dedicated and talented builders and stand in awe at their abilities and seen teams of 15 work 12 hours a day for 6 long months to create some of these builds! They can't be thanked enough!

***New Orleanshttp://slurl.com/secondlife/Heroes%2015/48/44/25
Set loosely with the idea of it being set at approximately circa 1900, the elements of the region are disparate. Since the theme of Relay this year is heroes, the region includeds nods to Marie Laveau, the voodoo queen of New Orleans, and Jean Laffitte, the gentleman pirate of New Orleans. Other elements incorporated are Mardi Gras, the Cajun and Creole cuisines of the region and reproductions of the French Opera House that burned in 1919 (Thank you, Khashai Steinbeck for this wonderful build) and the Popp Bandstand from New Orleans City Park, which still stands today, having weathered Hurricane Katrina. The Live event stage is down in the Bayou, with the audience finding themselves on rafts and boats to listen to the artists. Don't miss a chance to leave a wish at the tomb of the voodoo queen to wish all your loved ones well... especially those whose lives have been touched by cancer

***Inspiration Park is a place to dare to dream and reflect on our future without cancer as you float amongst the planets, stars, nebulae and asteroids!Friends Fighting Cancer for the 2008 Relay for Life of Second Life.

"Let's build a place where people can dream of a future without cancer……”Built by a prosperous, space-faring humanity in the year 3017, Inspiration Park is a celebration of the spirit of exploration. In commemorative displays, they have looked back to the dawn of the space age to pay tribute to the heroes who have made possible their exciting and idyllic lives among the stars.

DESIGN TEAM: Project Coordinator:Ember Farina Design Co-Chairs: Zander Greene & Grafx Newbold

Builders: Museum displays & models: Zander Greene, Ozz Seattle & Lauren Thibaud Space Park: Earth Primbee, Graphx Newbold & Raphael Cremorne

2008 Relay TIMETABLE
July 19th & 20th:
10am Opening ceremony
11am Survivors / Caregivers
12pm Parade of Teams
1pm Track open to all
3pm 60's music theme & outfit
4pm Furries, fairies, dragons, and mythical
5pm Meet a new friend lap
7pm International Nations
8pm Bald is Beautiful
9pm Luminere Lap
10pm Grab your buddy
11pm Toga lap
12am Midnight madness
1am Crazy shoes
2am Heros (Police, Fire, Rescue, your own, etc)
3am Fight back ceremony / lap
4am Wheelies (wheelchairs, roller skates, skateboards
5am 80s music theme & outfit
6am Coffee, curlers, slippers & PJs
7am RFL of SL volunteers/mentors
8am Team Spirit - all are welcome to join us walking in spacesuits!
9am Closing ceremonies

Photo Contest Winners!

Click to view the 8 best entries

Click images to see full size

Well done to all our entrants there were some amazing photos in this competition but I am sure you will agree with our choice of winners:

For best male swimwear Noelyci ingmann
Best Female swimwear Anessa Stine

Each wins L$3000

An unmistakably amazing experience in Second Life needs YOUR help

The SL Shakespeare Company announced in June it's 'Fourteen PIllars Fundraising Campaign" to raise funds for the companies future, including the full length production of Hamlet along with the bards other works.
Act 1 of the fourteen Pillars campaign opens on July 18th where seven actors will be jailed and made to "woo the audience with only improv acting and their wits" explains producer and director Enniv Zarf. Each actor will need to reach L$100,000 to be freed from their cell. A further $L300,000 will be raised by holding the beautifully crafted SL Globe Theatre to ransom. The building will be turned into a black box theatre during the first even building ransom to take place in SL. Artistic director and executive producer Ina Centaur states "We are truly what we say we are—a group of thespians and other professionals dedicated to our craft, bound together by Shakespeare, and way-too-excited to wait for outside funding".
The funds are needed for this revolutionary Second Life experience to help with actors time and running costs. Following the mini-production of Hamlet in March Sabina Stenvaag, managing director, explains “Scheduling was chaos, and we’ve even had to deal with some last minute re-casting before a show opened.” Co-executive producer and director Enniv Zarf agreed that, “The only way a full-length full-everything production would work is if we had everyone taking Second Life seriously, take their roles as a full time first life job for a month.”
The company provides a very unique experience for those in attendance. Shakespeare classics can be brought to life and witnessed from the comfort of your home computer but for this to continue the company needs your help.
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Primtings/9/211/121

By Trinity Dechou of REZ magazine

No more mainland ADD for next few weeks

For the last 3 weeks the previous decline in average Mainland price per meter has halted and the price is now holding steady at an average of L$7.25 (averaged over the last seven days).

After review, we (linden labs) have decided to remain as we have been, so we are not going to add any more Mainland whole regions for the next two weeks. We will review again on the 1st August and blog then to let you know if there is a change.

Source : Linden Blog

SL-newspaper opens Superior Office

Visit us at our new mainland branch by clicking the image.

Next time you are driving along the Linden highway stop off put your feet up and read todays news.

Cartoon of the Day

By Bixyl Shuftan

Click for full size

Daden Navigator Web Browser

This may just be the first proper web browser in Second Life. Through simple chat commands it let you view almost any web site on the web, surfing from web page to web page following links just like a real web browser.

Whilst Daden Navigator is a great step forward it is still not a 100% capable web browser.

Its limitations come from two areas:- Second Life Web Page on a Prim: We use this feature of SL in order to display each web page. This means we cannot control how each individual web page will be rendered. For instance at the moment (July 08, V1.19) SL does not render Flash, YouTube or play media and cannot scroll up and down on a page, or fill out forms - so we can't do these with Daden Navigator.- To follow links we use our proxy to retrieve the web page you are looking at and parse the HTML to identity the links on the page. However if the links are embedded in Flash, or use complex Javascript, or are images without ALT tags then we cannot find them.

In fact Daden Navigator behaves very similarly to the talking browsers and screenreaders used by visually impaired users - so sites with good accessibility (eg WAI AAA) should work well, whereas those with poor accessibility will not (just note how many sites have lots of links called "more" or "click here" - they are a real pain for screenreader users - and now for you). We've always said that accessibility was important!

The simplest work-around to both of these is to use the "popout" command to put the displayed page into your SL client or desktop web browser.

Watch the movie and decide for yourself, seems like an improvement on the current inworld option. We can but dream of the day people can read sl-newspaper.com inworld!

Dana

Dance into Relay

Date: July 18th 2008Time: 10am - 10pm
Info:Relay Raiders present a 12 hour music event that will take place just before the opening of the relay weekend. There are 2 stages. A red stage that will be played by musicians and a purple stage that will be played by DJ's.
At 7pm DJ Dakota Christensen will take over both streams as we will remember Stori Knopfli.

stori Knopfli - Oct. 8, 1964 - July 16, 2007
stori was many things in her RL and SL. She was my best friend, and a dear friend to many. She was a mother to kat Roy and Emily Fosse who both still miss her today as much as ever. She was a fighter, she fought the fight to beat cancer (and she won her fight) as well as she fought against Juvenile Diabetes as well, working to raise funds to get rid of both of these monsters so many of us fight today. The one thing she was proudest of was her victory over Cancer and being 2 yrs Cancer Free. What an awesome feat as many of you know.
Those of us who truly knew stori, knew her as a kind, caring, giving, loving soul who would do anything for anyone and give anything she had if someone needed it. In short, stori Knopfli was an awesome woman and I personally have never met anyone more awesome than she.
Sadly, in the early morning hours of July 16, 2007 stori lost her battle to Diabetes and died from Ketoacidosis Onset Diabetic Coma.
stori was a very strong supporter of SL RFL, and loved everyone on her Relay Raiders team. Ya'll were more than friends to her, you were family as well. If stori were here today, her words would be simple..... GO RELAY!!! And I can still hear her voice today when someone would donate to her kiosk and maybe it wasnt much, and they would appologize to her for it being so little, and stori would smile and tell them, even 1 linden is 1 linden closer to a cure.
kat, Emily and myself would like to that all of you for allowing us to be a part of your team in stori's memory, it means alot to all of us.
That said.... on behalf of my best friend in the entire world I say to all of you..... live life like it is your last day, keep your chin up.... and...... GO RELAYYYYYYY!!!!!!!
Dion Dannunzio

This will end at 10pm and will be followed by fireworks.
This all will take place at the Wishfest Sim(Financial Isle). That kindly has been donated for use by The Wishfarmers.
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Financial%20Isle/118/107/34

DJ SCHEDULE(PURPLE STAGE):
10am - 12pm: DJ Ionic (Techno/Minitech)
12pm - 2pm: DJ Jenns (Electro)
2pm - 4pm: DJ Miss Cyberpink (Electro)
4pm - 7pm: DJ Nexeus Fatale (a Variation of audio pleasure)
7pm - 10pm: DJ Dakota Christensen will take over both streams as we will remember Stori Knopfli. 7.16/07
MUSICIAN SCHEDULE(RED STAGE):
10am - Cylindrian Rutabaga
11am - Freestar Tammas
12pm - Soundcircel Flanagan
1pm - DJ Bono (Progressive House)
2pm - Relaycast by Maximillion Kleene, Mimi Carpenter and Dolmere Talamasca
3pm - Dewran Wopat
4pm - Charles Coleman
5pm - Dolmere Talamasca
6pm - JueL Resistance
7pm - 10pm: DJ Dakota Christensen will take over both streams as we will remember Stori Knopfli. 7.16/07

As RFL in SL gears up for the final weekend keep an eye on the RFL section for upcoming events, there will be a lot going on in the next few days, I will bring you as many of these events as I can. Go Relay - but have fun while you are doing
Celebrate, Remember, Fightback!
Dana

Styles of Edo and Azul Merge

Styles of Edo owner Edo Tone has proposed to merge with Mami Jewell of Azul.
Edo is well known for his beautifully tailored suits and Tuxedo's so his sponsorship of Azul is no surprise.
Edo demands the best quality of himself, as anyone can see by examining any of his designs. The same can be said of Mami's spectacular gowns.
Although new to SL she has an amazing design flair and attention to detail that astounded me.

In combination these two work wonders, I have personally decried most of SL's ladies suits, they tend to be boring or manish. When I do business I want to look like a business woman but I don't want to lose the sassy side of me in doing it. Most of the suits I have call for a compromise which I personally hate or because of my short hair I end up looking butch. This was a conversation I had with Edo a while ago, the result of his first collaboration with Mami can be seen here in the 'Dana' Leather suit. Retaining the sassy feel this suit can be worn for work or play, remove the jacket and be ready for anything :) It can be bought with different blouse colours and I am hopeful soon in other colour suits too.
Mami Jewell has had a lot to contend with in her short term in SL, feeling a certain restraint since her designs are so good for someone so new to SL, but I am sure with Edo's partnership they will both go from strength to strength.
A great partnership I am happy to endorse with the 'Dana' suit.
Dana

Settlement Announcement and Public Statement

July 14, 2008: Sailor’s Cove, Second Life.
Patrick Leavitt (Leavitt), Izabella Bentham (Bentham), and Tasha Kostolany (Kostolany) are pleased to announce that they have amicably settled all matters and disputes concerning the Second Life regions known as and making up Sailor’s Cove.
Leavitt, Bentham, and Kostolany each regret the recent discord between them, the public displays that transpired, and the effect this may have caused to the residents of Sailor’s Cove.
Despite any previous statements, publications or references of any kind by any of the parties, any inferences, allegations or other suggestions that any of the parties engaged in any misconduct whatsoever with respect to the proper care and disposition of Sailor’s Cove funds, or conducted themselves in such a way as to imply, infer, suggest or otherwise allege that Leavitt, Bentham or Kostolany engaged in any wrong doing with respect to the management of Sailor’s Cove, let it be known that all parties retract, withdraw and otherwise disclaim any and all such statements. Further, all of the parties recognize that any disparaging remarks that may have been made were solely borne of the frustrations of the moment and apologize to each other for any suggestion that may have cast doubt on the other’s integrity.
Leavitt, Bentham and Kostolany also sincerely apologize to all of the good residents and users of Sailor’s Cove for any imposition this now settled controversy may have caused.
Bentham and Kostolany have spent thousands of hours over the past year and half to make Sailor’s Cove the best sailing region in Second Life. In recognition of their hard work, Leavitt has compensated Bentham and Kostolany for their contributions to Sailor’s Cove, and Bentham and Kostolany have decided to pursue other opportunities within Second Life. Effective immediately, Bentham and Kostolany are no longer associated with Sailor’s Cove Management, and Leavitt wishes them well in their future endeavors.

Official statement from the Sailors cove blog

L$460,000 Virtual Dress Makes Real Life History in Rare Finds RFL Charity Auction

Luxury, Second Life: Within the heart of a virtual metropolitan warehouse, a six hour charity fashion show and auction stocked with limited edition, rare-to-find, and also one-of-a-kind virtual fashions comes to fruition raising some significant dollars to benefit American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life (RFL) endeavor.
During this event, virtual history was made when a bidding war ended at L$460,000 for a virtual dress.
This is the final RFL event sponsored by the Designers in Seclusion (DiS) group in conjunction with Metro Models. The team raised nearly L$700,000 today, bringing the DiS RFL team to third place with a total of L$2,274,334 raised.
The auction began with a virtual fashion history course in 3d with apparel from the late Ginny Talamasca’s no-longer-on-the-market Last Call line. Models emerged magically from the depths of a wardrobe in the wall, stepping into the brick warehouse. They paused momentarily at midpoint, before advancing down to the pinnacle at the end of the warehouse’s clearing softened by Persian carpets. Several other no-longer-on-the-market items were shown including apparel from Catharsis, Dazzle, GHOST, and Sand Shack Surf Co. Three one of a kind and “very limited” items graced the runway, created by Eshi Otawara’s Chambre du Chocolat, Sioxie Legend’s SWA, and Ina Centaur’s IC-Skins _AR Another Realism.
The six hour event climaxed when Eshi Otawara’s Fish-hook dress caught fire in a bidding war between several RFL patrons and fashionistas, ultimately skyrocketing the bid to L$460,000 in mere minutes. This final amount made virtual history as the highest winning bid on a virtual dress. This single virtual dress sold for close to USD$2000, making also first life history as a formidable price even for a real dress. Eshi Otawara, the notable first life artist and the creator of this dress recovers from fainting to say to the mic, “This dress is my first one I ever made.
I am thrilled beyond words that something I have created had made such a great contribution to American Cancer Society and I am very greatful to Miss Kay Fairey and MIss Clarabelle Cazlet for their generosity.”

Alaska Metropolitan, founder of Metro Models, choreographed and designed the event.
After delivering a score of auction items to their owners, Alaska took a moment to breathe and say to the press, “I'm still kind of stunned at the total from today's event.
What the audience sees is a (hopefully) seamless fashion show with choreographed models... what happens backstage is a lot of work and chaos. Today made it all worth it. People's generosity and love of virtual fashion makes things like this possible. I'm insanely proud of the models, and Tigerlily Koi. And I'm so grateful to the Designers in Seclusion who contributed stuff for the auction. Thank you... let's keep working towards a way to beat cancer.”

After a period of speechlessness, Tigerlily Koi, the auction host and founder-captain of the DiS and DiS RFL groups, gives her testimonial, “I think it's amazing to see so many people come together, for such an important cause. As a first-time team captain, I'm SO proud of my team, and so grateful for their support of me and most especially of Relay for Life. I'm humbled to be a part of such an amazing effort.”

At the end of the auction, Team DiS, in conjunction with all of the Second Life supporters of RFL, broke the USD$160,000 mark, making this the most financially successful year for RFL yet.

About DiS: The Designers in Seclusion, aka DiS, is a content-creator’s group with over 150 designers. Although each designer is often too busy “secluded in Photoshop” or other creation, the group provides both support and remote socialization for these busy creators of Second Life. Earlier this summer, the group launched the historic RFL Prom event, debuting in “Memory Lane Memorial” high school, an extremely detailed nostalgic high school build, now used in several major machinima’s. Notably, the group has also been the epicenter of several content creator right’s movements, famous grid-wide scavenger hunts, and other coordinated fashion and virtual business events.
About Metro Models: Founded in Fall 2007 by Alaska Metropolitan, a first life graphic designer and fashion model, Metro Models is a fashion agency that aims to be different through innovation and interesting show themes, and a dedication to quality events, photography, and advertising services. Shows of note include the New Shoots series for new designers, and the Shine charity fundraiser of Winter 2007 for MSF/Doctors Without Borders. Metro Models also publishes a quarterly virtual fashion magazine called, appropriately, Metro Virtual Fashion.

More information and RFL related articles can be found in our RFL section plus the latest challenge from Fayandria Foley.

Cartoon of the day

By Bixyl Shuftan

Click for full size

Is there room for art in SL?

I waited for a while before talking about whether there is room for art in Second Life because of my previous personal involvement in a photo gallery. But having taken a step back, I want to raise the issue.

Is there room for art in Second Life? Can someone sell genuine art, whether it is photography, sculptures, music, or just any creative work?

Having run the Ally's Scenic Views photo gallery for almost a year before, I was highly disappointed with the lack of interest of most people towards art here. Sure, customers who purchased showed their appreciation for the photos, but there are other "industries" in SL that pay more. It is much easier to sell a gadget that took half an hour to script for L$500 than a stunning photo which required a high level of taste and skill to shoot for L$300.

I stopped counting the number of artists who told me that their works in SL do not cover tier for their land. Some lose money. Some have to heavily promote their art for no profit. Some rather provide services for those who want their wedding pictures or custom builds to generate money with their creativity.

The people who are ready to shell out a few cents for a decent piece of art seem few and far between. I even heard some naysayers say that selling a picture L$300 means making L$290 profit for something that can be found on Google Images and uploaded anyway. Such dishonest words.

Is there room for art in SL? Or should content creators focus on clothing, club supplies, skins and sexbeds because it is all that really works? I am afraid of the answer.

ART expo opens TODAY

The special detail, the X-factor of this SL-expo is the fact the paintings shown can be seen and bought in RealLife as well.Contact info can be found at the Expo itself.
Jolanda Gerrmann studied at the 'Rietveld Art Academy' in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, and 'Minerva Art Academy' in Groningen, where she graduated in 1994 mastering in Autonomous Art and Lithography.

Jolanda Gerrmann expresses divergence of poetry on the canvas.
She succeeds in subtely expressing the most important themes in life such as love, decay, alienation and death. Her compositions and modest use of colours invite you to broaden your vision. Gerrmanns' work has been shown on several art exhibitions all over the world and has been bought to expand very prominent collections.
In 1997, she received a grant from the Dutch Foundation of Artsas a encouragement for this very promising painter.

Location http://slurl.com/secondlife/Seyanforth/216/233/84

Society Gears Up for Fourth Annual Virtual Relay For Life,Focuses Upon Celebrating Its “Heroes”

Avatars representing survivors, caregivers, their families and the millions of passionate supporters engaged in fighting cancer worldwide will take center stage virtually, July 19-20, when the American Cancer Society conducts its fourth annual Relay For Life® event in the Second Life virtual world.

Read on in the RFL section

Eye on the Blog - Help Kill the Duckwalk!

Tired of seeing new Residents waddle their way through their first hours in-world? Ever been able to spot a newbie simply by their unmistakably waterfowl-esque sauntering? If so, we need you! Linden Lab is seeking bids for contract work to create an improved default male and female walk animation for new Residents. We are well aware of the wealth of talent in Second Life so we turn to you, dear Residents, to put your best avatar foot forward to help us give new Residents the start they deserve.
So if you live, eat, and sleep Poser, Maya, or 3D Max, we may have a job for you. If you would like to be considered, please drop a notecard with your name, preferred method of contact, and any links to your work on Bucket Linden. You must be experienced with animation in Second Life and able to submit files of your work with samples of realistic human walks or dances in Second Life. Linden Lab will work closely with any contractor to make sure all animations work with our system and won’t disrupt existing content. If you meet the submissions criteria, we’ll be in touch!
Thanks for your continued support and together we can fight the unsightly gait afflicting so many of our underprivileged Residents every day.
Source: Secondlife.com

Cartoon of the Day

Click for full size

Letter to Second Life Residents by M Linden.......

In a letter to residents posted on the Secondlife blog M(ark) Linden tells us about the advancements he has seen and we have felt.
These things are important to residents and without looking any deeper or reading meanings into the timing of the letter it certainly reads as a pacification for residents:

'Our growth has come at a cost which you felt, and still feel - platform stability, viewer performance, lag, inventory management, etc. It’s important for you to know that we are ALL OVER these problems and that we’re making progress.'

With the longest RC cycle still ongoing it seems that at least they are internally working on the stability issues before forcing an unstable client on the users:
'Our next viewer, when it comes in full release, will offer a much better inworld experience. With more than 50 crash fixes, you’ll have fewer viewer failures and we’ve fixed some irritating elements in the interface. '

Also attempts to make usability a bigger priority, at present a massive majority of new users never last past their first hour due mainly to the complexity of the secondlife platform and the huge learning curve.
One of the problems with this is of course the more residents who stay the more lag and stability issues we all face. I would think that making the platform stable should be the ONLY priority for Linden labs right now. Without stability we are losing great content creators and replacing them with newbies without a clue. This will also have a huge impact on the inworld economy in the long term.

Further in the comments M responds to a lot of questions on the land issues:
'M here. Thank you for your kind words and comments and also for sharing your concerns. One topic mentioned several times in your comments was Land. Land is an integral part of the inworld economy and one we are taking active steps now to improve. We are putting new processes in place to allow for more thoughtful product planning, management and support specifically focused on Land.'

On the whole though the stability issues are getting better for the majority (fingers crossed) and communication seems to be on the up too, so the letter is positively received. Of course you will always get the jaded everyone needs to read between the lines.

So now we know M can talk the talk only time will tell if he can also walk the walk.
Dana

Source: Secondlife.com

Last day to enter TOMORROW

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

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

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

rules:

The winning photographs must contain an avatar

Be taken in SecondLife
Some post production is allowed

Be submitted by email to:

jamestjuno@gmail.com

in jpeg format before the 11th of July

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

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

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

SL5B is finally over

WOW what a great group of people there were this year and before everything gets returned a good way to say goodbye for another year.

Who knows what will happen next year another Linden PR fiasco or a resident run event?

But whatever it holds in store for us all we will be there to bring you the highs and lows along with the many others who made such a great effort.

A huge Thank you should go out to all those willing volunteers who must have shed pounds running all over 20 sims trying to keep everyone happy - I wouldn't want that job for all the Ls in SL!

See you all next year!

Dana

SLCC 2008

Hello everyone! I hope you’ve all had a great 4^th of July! With two months left until the SLCC, everything is becoming very exciting! The Marriot Hotel is near capacity in room rentals, which means that if you have not registered and gotten your room readied, go right on ahead! I have some other great news to share with you. Information regarding the SLEDcc workshops that will occur throughout the convention will be sent via e-mail to those whom have expressed an interest in them, and will be posted on the slcc blog as well.

More info on : http://www.slconvention.org/

Second Life Virtual World Expands 44% in Q2 and this is a good thing?

'Linden Lab is pleased to announce results for Second Life the second Quarter.
Land mass grew over 44%. The total number of regions owned by residents increased 44.2% over Q1 to just over 1.5 billion square meters. Our growth was due to the popularity of our newly launched “Openspace” land product along with a change in pricing to make the purchase of land more accessible to first time buyers. “Openspace” regions are full 65,000 square meter regions with an upfront fee of $250 and a recurring monthly fee of $75. We decreased the price for full regions by 40% to $1000 upfront (the recurring monthly fee remains $295). '

Ok, so Linden Lab have the right to be happy over this increase their Land plan worked and everything on paper looks rosy.
At least from a business point of view, Land sales are up, premium accounts flatlined, user hours were up as were user to user transactions.

'If a tree falls in a forest with no-one there to hear it, does it make a sound?'

With just over just over 1.5 billion square meters of land in SL is it getting just too big? Or is this only my opinion?
An old friend recently returned to SL after a long absence and after chatting he said to me well where does everyone go? Where does everyone meet up and the answer of course is that they don't unless there is a specific event, Residents no longer seem to just hang out, the world has grown so much that huge tracts just sit empty the majority of the time. You know those fabulous builds we have all seen, take a visit when there is not a prize to be won, its empty.
Your favourite club, shop, mall, beauty spot all will be the same one or two avatars wandering about and that will be it.
See all those wonderful green dots congregated on the map? TP in and see if you can actually get anyone to answer you? The chances are 95% of the time you either cannot find anyone as the 'dots' are 'bots' hidden on platforms in the sky or sitting on camping chairs.
A huge empty world to explore!
So a big pat on the back for Linden Lab for a great looking business review.
A desert for the residents to wander aimlessly in.
Yes its great to be a Landowner in SL, and I won't take away from that, BUT think carefully why you want to own land or you could find yourself isolated and alone in the most beautiful place in SL.
'Is it still beautiful if no-one ever sees it?'

Dana

Cartoon of the Day

By Bixyl Shuftan

Click for full size image

SL5B: Rounding up the wagons ...

On it’s 5th anniversary SL is way passed the pioneer era. But then again ... It’s not.

"It is always an uneasy transition for the pioneers, and I think we’re going to go trough that again." (Mitch Kapor)

Under the flawless pixel summer sky, a crowd that was way passed the limit of safe occupancy of sims, struggled with lag and gathered to attend Mr. Mitch Kapor’s closure speech of SL 5th birthday celebrations.

People there where anxious, and hoping to hear announcements of change. Maybe we have this feeling about the Linden Lab being a kind of a nice Big Brother, but a Big Brother after all, that is supposed to provide us with tools for enhancing the experience and help make our virtual existence richer, more comfortable, more successful.

He encouraged residents to stop whining and start acting like the grown ups that the platform has become.

I sensed I bit of disappointment (Especially from residents who pay money to be here). I think both points of view are partly right. To people "in the know", the showing of clips from the video previewing his 3D camera (www.handsfree3D.com) was no news.

There was, instead, a 'political speech'. Sounding a bit like President Kennedy ("We stand at the edge of a New Frontier ..."), Mitch talked about the Internet, and about how a new technology always starts out in a frontier condition. In the beginning, SL residents have been pioneers, and he compared their spirit to those who settled the West.

The first pioneer era is ending now. We are at the gates of a transition. It's like we have reached the moon… and now we have to figure out how to move on from there.
It's not have been easy for pioneers. It's still not easy for newcomers. Only the strong stay.

He spoke about the 'high attrition rate' of the early years (many believe it's still high). "There are some things that Linden Lab has to do, to allow the potential of the platform to unfold, to improve ease of use, ease of learning", is a phrase that seems to point in the right direction.

Please see the video of Mitch Kapor's video, or just hear the audio, by going to the Linden Lab official blog. He spoke about the SL5B week, about the stage of development that Second Life is now in, and about new upcoming developments including real photo-realistic avatars, controlling your avatar by moving in front of a webcam. He also talked about other things, but please see the video on the LL blog for that.

Mitch Kapor is member of the Linden Lab board of directors. He has been involved with Second Life long before it was opened up to the public as an investor. Besides this, he has made a name for him self in the IT and internet world for various accomplishments. Please see the Wikipedia page about him for more detailed information.

Written by: Covadonga Writer

PHOTO CONTEST

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

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

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

rules:

The winning photographs must contain an avatar

Be taken in SecondLife
Some post production is allowed

Be submitted by email to:

jamestjuno@gmail.com

in jpeg format before the 11th of July

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

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

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

Introducing a new column.......

We know there is a huge writing community in Secondlife and, being a poet myself, I know the huge amount of very real talent there is to be found in this virtual world of ours.
We like to showcase what we can to show you, our readers, what can be found if you are inclined.
We already have many stories and articles and, of course, pictures that show the diversity of SL now we would like to share the poetic talents that can be found in our new column that can be found in M.A.C.E.
If you have poetry you would like others to share contact info is at the bottom of the first poem from Dorian Blazer in MACE.
This first poem is based on the Samarkand roleplay sims:

The ringing sounds of flashing steel
the beauty of their dance.
Their courage and their skill ensures
that naught is left to chance.

Read on in MACE

Is this a SL midlife crisis?

You have just logged in and you wonder what to do. Cannot get yourself to go to a club. Don't feel like working on a project. Looking at your friends list and not sure who to get in touch with, but mostly, what to tell them. Exploring gardens? You have done that soooo many times before. Shopping? You have a huge wardrobe already.

Is this a "SL midlife crisis" that you are going through? This is the question that goes in my mind right now. Since creating my avatar in April 2007, I always had the impression that there was a project awaiting me or someone I needed to catch up with. A sim to explore or a store to shop in.

These days, I cannot say that. I have the impression of wandering around, leaving plenty of potential untapped. I only find something great when someone else suggests it. I can't seem to find anything interesting myself. The SL5B sims bored me. I always visit the same locations, hang out at the same club, and I am not impressed by my favorite creators anymore.

What's up with that? Do we get bored easily? I had so much fun in Second Life since I ever entered it. I must be alone in this condition. The latest data released by the Lindens shows that less people create premium accounts but those who stay around seem to reach a higher level of involvement than before.

There must be something that escapes me here.

SL5B griefer attack?

It's not that long ago that I personally learned from a Linden (at his office hours) that griefing has been dramatically reduced in the past months. Well, SL5B (the Second Life 5th birthday celebration mini-continent) seems like a perfect target.

Enus Linden, who has a nice dock in the SL5B Prim region, has become victim of this. His little place really has been set aflame with colored particles.


However, what's strange about this, is that a certain person who is in all the right groups for the SL5B events and sims and even Burning Life, seems to be the owner of these rezzing objects. So is this just a joke, or a real griefer attack?

Both Enus Linden and the owner of the particle rezzers were unavailable for comments.

PHOTO CONTEST

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

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

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

rules:

The winning photographs must contain an avatar

Be taken in SecondLife
Some post production is allowed

Be submitted by email to:

jamestjuno@gmail.com

in jpeg format before the 11th of July

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

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

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

Cartoon of the Day

By Bixyl Shuftan

Premium accounts down but user hours up:

Linden Labs recently released stats for the past 12 months unsurprisingly show that premium accounts are in decline, whilst hours spent inworld increased dramatically.
Some have attributed the decline to lack of any particular benefit to being a premium account holder, most can own land on private estates which are usually preferable to mainland anyway. A L$300 a week stipend, hmmm a reason to pay each month? Access to better support? What support? LOL.
As to why user hours are up, some have said this is due to those already spending a lot of time inworld are engaging more, basically enjoying being inworld. My opinion is that the user hours are up simply because with the huge amount of stability issues the grid faces it actually takes twice as long to get anything done! Call it perseverance by the majority rather than enjoyment or engagement.
What the Stats do show is a flattening out of new signups, which also shows that more and more are exploring other options - I would love to look at Open Sims stats after the advent of the banking ban for instance, I am willing to bet their signups got a huge boost!
Look out Linden Lab you are turning the population away from you.
Feel free to comment if you disagree with me, this is just one persons opinion on the trends shown.

Reporter Arrested after fellow reporters article......

Bad Boy Baron Back Behind Bars, but is he guilty?
I can't say I was surprised this morning when my IMs stated Baron DeSantis has been arrested and charged with the murder of Mattt Guyot:

It was dawn when they came. 3 figures stormed the island and started zapping with tasers, my kid brother crumpled to a heap on the floor - there was no need for that - half asleep I was unsure what was happening and started defending myself and my family against the intruders, my shots were aimed at the TP point, I had to stop more from coming - who was invading? why??

They had gained the house and I realised they were officers I dropped my guns and immediately raised my hands, but it was no good the damage had been done, the Guards were making it personal now. They forced my hands behind my back and I felt a hand sliding up my leg, well that was too much I reacted by sneezing my head connected with a guards nose, I sneezed again OOOPPPPs blood gushed from another guard.
They finally overcame me and I was bundled to the blackened TP point. Not surprisingly I found myself back in Ghul Federal prison charged with Murder. I had been expecting it, especially after firehorse wrote about Mattts' disappearance, I just wish I could get in touch with him so I could prove my innocence.

Right now Baron has been placed in a secure padded cell since the guards are convinced he will try to harm himself, the cell is barely big enough to sit in, but it's for his own safety. He continues to state that Mattt is merely on holiday and for the rest he was just defending his family.
We will have to await further developments.
Dana

SL5B exhibit to note:

Dominating the skyline in a corner of SL5B you may see this huge structure and wonder what it's all about. On closer inspection it is awesome. When you get close enough (if you ever manage to rezz) the sign explains what this exhibit is all about:

The monument is the brainchild of Maxx Monde and all the textures and the monument itself is available free at the base of the structure so if you have an odd spare 756 prim parcel then you could have your very own bug tower! Or if not you can also just have the finely crafted bug that tops the monument.

But all that being said its well worth a visit at the SL5B and taking your time to rezz to read the textures on each level - believe me its an enlightenment!

Cartoon of the Day

By Bixyl Shuftan

(Click for full size)

Who works for sl-newspaper?

There have been a few instances recently of avatars passing themselves off as sl-newspaper.com employees and then causing trouble or griefing.
This has caused us some concern as of course we cannot be held responsible for what people say.
With the SL5B in full swing this happened last night and of course we were informed and asked to explain our employees behaviour.
We state here for all how to tell a genuine employee:
1, They will be in the 'sl-newspaper employees' group
if they are NOT in this group then they DO NOT work for us.
2, We do not hire ALTs; if someone says they work for us under another name and are not in the sl-newspaper employee group then they DO NOT work for us. Even alts are added to the employee group.
3, The slnewspaper group is a public group, ie ANYONE can join even those previously ejected, we do not take responsibility for the actions of anyone in a public group. The employee group is by INVITATION only and this is revoked once an employee leaves.
4, Check the employee group - members names are visible so people can confirm that someone is an employee.
5, The only action we can take when this happens is this: Teeg Palmer has been ejected from 'SL Newspaper' by dana Vanmoer. Which is not permanent until LL brings in permanent bans within groups. Abuse reports have been sent and will continue to be sent.
Please do not hesitate to AR anyone griefing or causing trouble even if they are an employee, if that is the case then we would also take action as required.

Suspicious absence.

Just a few weeks after marrying Baron DeSantis, it seems that Mattt Guyot has disappeared. Some of us were concerned over Mattts touching belief that there is good in everyone and all Baron needed to change his ways was the love of a good man, but love is blind and, it has to be said Mattt and Baron seemed extremely happy making plans for their future. During their honeymoon, the devoted couple bought a private island ( although how an ex con, poorly paid reporter could afford a private island was not questioned), the location of which is known only to a few. They started work building their retreat, during which a great deal of activity occurred. Foundations dug and filled, helipad constructed for pair’s private helicopter, even a lighthouse placed on a purpose built offshore island.
The couple were often seen visiting the mainland, obviously in love, shopping and finding items for their new life together. Occasionally they could be spotted in private sex clubs, enjoying each other. This may be due to the fact that the house was incomplete, who knows but it was commented that it has never been Matts habit to visit such clubs.
Construction continued until a large, artificial, waterfall was completed. Since then Mattt has not been heard from.
Mattt’s dad InsyX Piranha, concerned about his son’s lack of contact with the family, contacted Baron and enquired as to how his son was. Baron, after a slight pause, explained that Mattt had left to go on holiday but he had stayed behind to supervise the final construction and furnishing of the various buildings on the island. He quickly severed communication after saying that a matter required his personal attention, (Baron was heard to shout at someone unknown “Don’t dig near the f’ing waterfall you damn moron, the cement has not fully cured”), before the line was cut.
Since then, Baron appears to be living the ‘High Life’. He has been seen is some dubious establishments, and also appears to have changed his appearance somewhat. He has attended parties held at pole dancing clubs and, according to a source, was seen to be giving one dancer a large tip, on more than one occasion.
The lighthouse keeper, Neslave Laville, whom Baron DeSantis has employed as part of Neslave’s parole agreement, stated that he had not seen Mr Guyot since taking on the position. As part of his daily duties is to check on the main island for security reasons, he is a regular visitor to the area. He did mention that several weeks ago he had noticed a large gathering of crows near the base of the mountaintop retreat of his employers, but as he had duties to perform at the parole (HWH) camp, did not have time for further investigation. The following day, all appeared normal on his checks.
Due to the past history of Baron DeSantis, though it pains me as a fellow reporter to say it, could there be something more to this? Is Mattt Guyot really on holiday or has DeSantis returned to his previous bloody ways?
On contacting both Ghul and Bay City Police Stations, this reporter was informed that no official “Missing Person’s Report” had been filed. Contacting other Police stations resulted in the same response.
I tried to contact Baron to ask how Mattt was and he shouted down the line at me … “Mattt is on ******* holiday ok?”
Hmmm... interesting response. Am I alone in thinking that it's odd that a newly wed, much in love with their new spouse, should choose to go on holiday alone, in the middle of building the couples much cherished love nest?
Should anyone see or successfully contact Matt Guyot, please inform this reporter so that I may put his family at ease.



thanks to InsyX Paranha for the wedding photo.