Events This Week at the Sunweaver and Furry Fashion Clubs

It's the final week of September, and a week full of events at the Sunweaver and Angel clubs and the Furry Fashion Lounge.

Club Cutlass: Best in 'S,' TBA, TBA

The Happy Vixen: Golden, Truth and Lies, Videogames and MMOs, Bunnies, Bones and Skulls, Silks, CAYA

Club Zero Gravity: Best in Wolves, Sharks, Best in White, TBA, TBA

Furry Fashion Lounge: Cartoons, Movies, Musicals, Pokemon, Modder's Monthly, Goth, Pop vs Metal, Fantasy, Videogames

Read the schedules in SL Clubbin'.

Press Release: Scarlet Creative's "Going To The Max" Fundraiser for Maxwell Graf

You may or may not be aware, but our fellow creator Maxwell Graf has had a very upsetting situation in RL, causing him and his partner to have to leave their home. He has to find for his family urgent accommodation and move in very quick order.

He is a proud guy and put a message out asking people to buy his items, but I think we as a creator/blogger/event community we could also help him. We have rallied before from One Voice to the benefit for Sway Dench and our lovely

Eku Zhong, and so I am calling on you to help Max.

Our idea is to host a small event, where creators can donate a new or historical item with a percent of the proceeds for Max.

The adorable Callie Cline has agreed to offer us sim space.
We already have a handful of amazing designers signed up ready to donate!!

Early thoughts are we need to move quickly so we are suggesting the dates before for the event.

Set up on 30 September through to 8pm SLT on 2 October
Event Open 3 October
Event Close 10 October

Note I am checking these with Callie to ensure ok, so a rough guideline for now.

If you feel you can help please can you pop me an IM / notecard inworld or hit up Sophia Harlow to confirm if you can help with any of:

Creators
Raffle Contributors
We have a full set of bloggers now (thank you all!)




Designers so far signed up are:
alaskametro
Apple Fall
Azuchi
Besom
Big Bully
Boom
Bueno
Bunyi
Cheeky Pea
Click Poses
Culprit Fine Furniture
Dahlia
Double Take - Poses
Dust Bunny
Dysfunctional Designs
E-Marie
Fri.Day
HIVE
Ingenue
ISON
Jian
Just Because
Little Llama
Llorisen
Mad Pea
Maxi Gossamer Jewellery
Milk Motion
Mossu
O.M.E.N.
Rebel Hope
Reign
Robin Sojourner
Scarlet Creative
Second Spaces
Thistle Homes
Valentina E
Veechi Cosmetics
Vinyl
{le fil casse}

Our target is 50 designers! We can do this!!

Thank you for taking the time to read 
Scarlet Creative

My Tribute to Breezes

Since Breezes Babii passed away on September 9, there have been many people expressing their sympathy for her, including friends talking about memories of her. Among those friends was Chigadee London  Chigadee recently sent in a reader submission describing her friendship with Breezes and how it went from Second Life to real life, including the final days when she had some conversations with her daughter-in-law.

Read Chigadee's reader submission in People.

Maxwell Graf of Rustica Asks For Help Due to Real Life Eviction

by Bixyl Shuftan

Maxwell Graf, best known for being a content creator and his well-designed sim Rustica is in trouble. A few days ago, he sent a plea for help, saying the house he and his wife were supposed to spend their retirement in will soon be lost due to a falling out with the wife's family, "We have to vacate ... This is terrifying. We have no savings, we have to credit cards to run up. Even in a best case scenario, we can only afford a small two-bedroom apartment ... What I want is a safe place for Cheryl and my dogs to sleep at night. Nothing else matters. I am not the kind of person who wants a handout ... What I am asking is that you take a visit to my sim (Rustica) and purchase an item or two, or visit my admittedly small marketplace store and find something there. If you want something but it costs too much, IM me and I will send it to you for whatever you do have. ... Every single item will make a very real difference in this crazy transition, and I honestly have never needed your help and support more in my life."

I got in contact with Maxwell, and we talked about his situation. He didn't have anything to add about his real-life situation other than "my schedule is absolutely messed up crazy right now, and going to go dark here at any time due to the move." But not everything was going bad, "I can say this.I have never before experienced the kind of love and caring and support that I have seen from so many people for Cheryl and I. In the middle of those closest to us, the siblings who are doing this to us, we have had an army of people we only know through 'virtual reality' do the most amazing things for us.  It's such a strange dichotomy. I mean, people I have never even heard of sending me five or ten dollars to my Paypal somehow (I did not give it out), and randomly sending me lindens. People offering to let us stay with them, people offering to come help us pack. It's just amazing and I've been crying a lot.(smile).

"There IS love and kindness in the world, beyond what I have ever known. I have always had a hard time asking for help, so I am just a pile of mush lately with the outpouring we have had from the SL community. ... amazing people. Never believe that this place is just a bunch of sex addicts or trolls or fashionistas, like they would have us believe. I know you never felt that way and I have not either, but this goes beyond what I have ever experienced. So much love from people."

For anyone wishing to help out, head over to the Rustica sim, Rustica (130/116/58), to purchase an item, or do so at Rustica's Marketplace page.

Source: Prim Perfect

Bixyl Shuftan

Cartoon of the Day: 3.16 Rate

Taken at the Exploratorium.

By Bixyl Shuftan

Eye on the Blog: "An Important Reminder About Account Security"

The following was posted by Linden Lab yesterday.

It has come to our attention that some Residents are sending messages - which may appear as popup windows in some viewers - informing other Residents that their accounts have been compromised and encouraging them to contact Support, using a phone number that is not associated with Linden Lab.

 

These messages are phishing attempts to gain access to your Second Life account. Neither Linden Lab, nor Second Life Customer Support, would attempt to contact you in this manner. You can always find Linden Lab’s official customer support contact methods within the following links:

 

https://support.secondlife.com/billing-support/

https://support.secondlife.com/contact-support/

 

As always, please be wary of suspicious messages and contact from other users. If you believe your account has been compromised, please contact us via support case at https://support.secondlife.com/

Hat Tip: Fuzzball Ortega 

SL Video: "Nightwish - Bye Bye Beautiful"

(Click here if the music fails to play)

By Calaval on April 2015

Perri Prinz Talks About Her Livejournal Troubles, Facebook Suspension

Times have not been easy lately for Perri Prinz, one of the members of the Sunweaver community where the Newser makes it's home. She is best known as a writer, and one of the things a writer fears is having access to one's audience cut off. First Livejournal, the hosting service of her Spectral Shadows serialized science-fiction novel, demanded a huge amount of money from her to keep the illustrations on. Her response was to put her fiction writing on hold, and instead use her pen to non-fiction, writing commentaries about the Furry Fandom and society at large. But a few people didn't like what she had to say, and one day she found Facebook, where most of her audience was getting her stories, had shut down her account. The Newser recently met up with Perri, to talk about this de-facto censorship, and she had a few things to say about it. As it turns out, she may be writing soon again.

Read the story in People.

Is Second Life Experiencing an "Oldbie" Resurgence?

On the Second Life section of Reddit, a "Neuromancer72" posted on Wednesday September 20 that after dropping out from the Grid around 2010, he had returned last year, and come across "many people" who had done the same. Which left him wondering, how many residents who had dropped out were coming back?

Mine is a familiar story - very active in SL from 2006 to maybe 2009-10, then dropped off for years only to return in the last year or so. I've met many people since my return who followed a similar route - left years ago and have now come back. Posts to this sub show others doing the same. I can't help but wonder if this is really a widespread thing, or if I've just been more aware of it because of similarities to my own history. If it is a thing, any ideas what might be driving people to give SL another go?

There were several responses, including one by "Jadziyah":

I think a majority of residents take long 'breaks' at one point. Why we all come back is harder to nail down. Linden Labs has actually had several positive changes lately such as land prim increases and the addition of bento bones, so those generated a lot of excitement. And there will always be the social aspect.

Hamlet Au thought that this very well could be the case, suggesting "if a few thousand oldbies are jumping onto the grid more regularly, it might not show up in the data, but still be significant." He felt there were two reasons for such a probable resurgence, One was social media, as many Second Life residents use Facebook and former residents would continue to keep their former virtual neighbors and friends on their friend list and continue to communicate with them, and hear about new content and goings on. He also felt the talk about Sansar would get former residents wondering "Whatever happened with Second Life" and come back to see what's been going on here.

So what do you the readers think? Have you seen numbers of former residents returning? Or perhaps you are someone who left and returned? What's getting people to come back?

Bixyl Shuftan

Press Release: "Homes Four Our Troops" Bennefit at Veterans Isle This Sunday

Frets Nirvana and US Military Veterans Group announce the 2017 September benefit for Homes For Our Troops in Second Life! 

Frets Nirvana, the premier guitar artist in the virtual world Second Life and the US Military Veterans Group announce the 2017 September benefit on September 24, 2017 in Second Life for the Veterans Support Organization  Home For Our Troops . 

Frets Nirvana states:  “HFOT is a privately funded 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization building specially adapted, mortgage-free homes nationwide for the most severely injured Veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan. Most of these Veterans are multiple amputees, paraplegic, quadriplegic or suffered severe traumatic brain injury (TBI).  As of January 2017 they have built 229 homes for severly wounded Veterans and have another 85 projects underway.  Since its inception in 2004, over 90 cents of every dollar spent by Homes for Our Troop has gone to directly support Veterans. ”

Home for Our Troops benefit concerts feature premier Second Life talent monthly at Veteran’s Isle.  The concert onSeptember 24, 2017 is scheduled from 4-9 PM PST.  Featured artists will be DJ Waya Snowpaw, Senjata Witt, suzen joel, Soulvision, and hogan Baily .

ABOUT HOMES FOR OUR TROOPS  - HFOT builds homes as a departure point for Veterans to rebuild their lives, and once again become highly productive members of society. Despite their life-altering injuries, many Veterans have embarked on new careers, completed their college degrees, or started families. Empowered by the freedom a mortgage-free and specially adapted home brings, these Veterans can now focus on their recovery and return to their life’s work of serving others. Many have embraced their roles as motivational speakers, sharing their messages of persevering through tragedy with groups and classrooms around the country; others take to a national platform to promote awareness of veteran suicide, homelessness and PTSD. Their incredible stories are the driving force for the work for HFOT. To learn more about the Homes For Our Troops visit https://www.hfotusa.org

Announcement: This Week at the Science Circle

Saturday 23th 10 AM PDT

“Virtual Reality in Science!” by William Schmachtenberg, Ph. D (Dae Miami in SL)

Abstract: VR in Education. There has been a lot of hype about Virtual Reality in the Media, but what is actually involved in using VR in education? How much does it cost, what hardware do you need, how do you set it up, and how good is the software that is available? For the most part, VR in schools has meant Google Cardboard, but other forms of VR are getting cheaper such as Gear VR and even Oculus Rift.

I have been conducting hands-on research with Google Cardboard,  Gear VR and Oculus Rift setups and will be sharing those results in this presentation, but I hope you will come and share your information on VR as well. I will also include reviews of current VR software.
         
More information about Dae's presentation at https://sciencecircle.org/upcoming-saturday/

The Science Circle (61/126/32)

*  *  *  *  *

Sunday 24th 10 AM PDT

“Horse-hunting Crocodiles and Tiny Alligators: Crocodilian Evolution after the Age of the Dinosaurs” by Alex Hastings, Ph. D                                       

Crocodiles have had an impressively long evolutionary history. During the Age of the Dinosaurs they reached massive size and diversified into a wide array of forms, but their lineage did not die with the mass extinction that ended that era. After the massive ecological shifts that occurred, crocodilians adapted to new circumstances and have been enormously successful.

Dr. Hastings will present some of his research on this fascinating group of animals in the millions of years that have followed since the extinction including running crocodiles and dwarf alligators.


More information about Hasting's presentation at https://sciencecircle.org/upcoming-sunday/

The Science Circle (61/126/32)

Firestorm's Seventh Anniversary Gift Fire Mule

It was September 3, 2010 that Team Phoenix, later renamed Team Firestorm, was formed. They had come about as the result of the "Emeraldgate" controversy, which soon led to the removal of the Emerald Viewer. On Saturday September 9, Team Firestorm had their anniversary party. Besides two live music performers, there was also a gift available: a rideable pet mule, in Firestorm's colors.

As with nearly every major event we hold we try to arrange a gift for all Second Life residents and this year will be no exception! ABC – AWESOME BREED CREATIONS have very generously created an exclusive collectible pet mule with an amazing one of a kind coat and eye! I like to think the Mule represents our strength and perhaps our stubbornness! WOW it’s gorgeous! Thank you so much ABC!

I headed to Firestorm Dow Forest (224/232/3902), and found the avatar giver in the size and shape of the mule. I clicked on it to get the package, went to the Ivory Tower to rezz it, and got a box. Opening it, I got the mule and was able to rezz it on the ground and ride it. I was able to name it, and my friend with me was able to click to get saddle and reins.The mule was listed at 143 days old, and was perfectly rideable. It didn't need food or water, but it was not breedable,

Unfortunately, Chilly the firekitty at the Newser office has no mule companion. By accident, I tried rezzing him in a spot where only the landowner could, and not only did the horse fail to rezz, it failed to appear in my inventory. When going back to the mule rezzer, it wouldn't give me another. So be careful where you take the mule from you inventory.

It is unclear how long the anniversary gift will be available. So go get a mule while you can.

Update: I later found the mule in my inventory after logging back on.

Bixyl Shuftan

Cartoon of the Day: Happy "Talk Like a Pirate Day"

ShadowRene Ivanova and me in my "Pie rat" look at Luskwood. The mouse may soon be in for quite a hug.

By Bixyl Shuftan

Ari's Park in Cape Heron

Ari (Arisia Vita) is one of Deaflegacy's favorite people to write about. She didn't expect to be writing about him again so soon, but he was recently honored in Cape Heron with a park for him by an anonymous donor where he can play music. So once again, she picked up her pen to get the story.

Read Deaflegacy's article in Places.

Edited 12:20PM

Linden Lab Announces New Game in Second Life: "Tyrah and the Curse of the Magical Glytches"

In late June, and more recently in late August, Linden Lab was talking about a "grid-wide gaming experience" coming "soon." On Monday September 18, they announced it had arrived: "Tyrah and the Curse of the Magical Glytches."

The plot of the game is that Tyrah, the girl in danger in the Horizons game, has been rescued. But somehow Magellan Linden has apparently died. While Tyrah and the Moles are still talking about who will help protect the Grid, a new threat emerges: Ruth. Furious at being all but forgotten, she takes advantage of Magellan's departure to unleash magical creatures called "Glytches" on the Grid to wreck havoc. Not sure what to do, Magellan's robot sidekick Punkee decides on using the tactic of his former boss: get the residents to help out.






(Click here if the video fails to play)

To play the game, head to Portal Park and head to the portal to the new area, called Hartyshire, and pick up the HUD and beginning weapon at the Gem Apothecary. The HUD will take you to the places you need to go to catch the Glytches. For those who got the SL14B avatar and it's egg this summer, there's a place at the Apothecary you can hatch it.

We'll have some more details soon on how to play the game and the prizes you can get. But if you're in a hurry to start, head to Portal Park at (175/118/52).

Read the announcement in full here. You can read more information about it here.

Bixyl Shuftan

"Talk Like A Pirate Day" Celebrated at the Happy Vixen

Yesterday, September 19, was "Talk Like a Pirate Day." Usually on the day the Newser celebrates with a chuckle. But we delayed making a deal out of it for a day out of respect to Breezes Babii. The Sunweaver community celebrated it at the Happy Vixen with a pirate party, with the high-energy DJ Tantari spinning the tunes. The 250 Linden prize was split between Tantari Kim, Amaya Hotshot, and Gnawtooth Greymoon.

Feel free to check our Pirate Speak and pirate-themed locations articles from earlier.

Bixyl Shuftan