Monday, March 18, 2024

Reader Submitted Picture: "Don't Pinch Me!"

 
 
 From Zada Bury. On St. Patrick's Day, some feel those not wearing green, you get to pinch them for not celebrating the holiday. While Zada's shirt does have a little green in it, she's making double sure nobody pinches.
 

RFL Announcement: Team River Of Life Egg Decorating Contest

 
 Come Join The Fight To Knock Out Cancer!

As as part of The River of Live's, Relay For Life Team we are putting on an egg decorating contest.
100L into the kiosks. Hand it back to secondlife:///app/agent/055ab3b2-9ecd-4e70-ad6f-501f02c661b1/about , and it will be put out to be voted on.

Rules Below!
I can't wait to see what you come up with for this great cause. 

* * * * * *
We have given you a full perm egg to be able to explore your mind and creativity! We want to see you create a unique egg to raise money for the fight against cancer! And have fun while doing it!

When you have completed it please return it to Kenashae Bikergrrl and she will place it on our decorated tables with an official RFL kiosk. If you are with another team and wish to split the funds between your team and The River of Life, please let WyldChild Raven know....

This Contest runs from March 10th, 2024 - March 30, 2024


Happy Coloring you silly wabbits!!
 
 http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/The%20River/44/131/27
 
  Thank you,
  Kena
  River Of Life Team Member.
  We are Relay!

Sunday, March 17, 2024

Classic Cartoon: St. Patrick's Day Fun

 
 
Originally posted March 16, 2016. St. Patrick's Day is associated with not only with wearing green, but also drinking. For some, falling into enough beer to swim wouldn't be a nuisance, but a dream come true.

By Bixyl Shuftan
 

Happy St. Patrick's Day

 
 
 It's St. Patrick's Day. And for those who want to see a themed location, there are a couple longtime ones that have been on the Grid for years. 

There is a Dublin sim, and in the middle is the Blarney Stone pub. It's active year round, with live musicians. 
 
WELCOME TO DUBLIN IN SL, GATHERING PLACE FOR THE WORLD ! Dublin in Second Life recreates the look and feel of the city of Dublin, Ireland. Events are scheduled daily. Irish Pub, club, bar, live, blarney, gogartys, shamrock, st paddys, st patricks
 
But St. Patrick's Day is special, with DJs and live music, late into the night. 
 
Don't forget to check the rest of the sim as there's much to see.

Dublin (83/82/25)


Another place to explore is Castle Blarney, in the Wilde sim.
 
Scale replica of the real Blarney Castle main tower in Ireland, with Blarney Stone kissing animation certificate outside the castle entryway Irish village, Malones Irish Pub, Blarney Castle, Blarney Stone faerie wishing well

Here, you can travel up and kiss the Blarney stone, which is a lot quicker here in SL (and more sanitary). 

The castle is part of O'Hare's Gap, with a nearby Irish village. Don't forget to check it out if you have a little time.

Wilde (160/109/33)

 

Cartoon Of The Day: Pink Elephant

 
 
 Taken at Freedom Rock. There's an old joke that if you see pink elephants, you've been drinking too much. So maybe if you have an elephant that's really pink next to you, nobody would bug you about it.

By Bixyl Shuftan
 

Saturday, March 16, 2024

Gem Sunkiller at Freedom Rock: Bid My Hair Purple

 

 Hello Friends!

On Saturday, March 16th from 5-6pm I will be participating in Freedom Rock's DJ/Fundraising Contest.  I'd love to see you all there, whether you can give or not.  You all spur me to be my best version of myself, and I welcome your support.

For every 1000L raised my hair will be purple for a day, up to be beginning of Relay Weekend!  For a single  donation of 10,000L I will transform into a purple people eater for the rest of the weekend.  ( I know, I am shameless)


Gem Sunkiller

Saturday, March 16th
5-6pm SLT
@ Freedom Rock 6
 
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/American%20Cancer%20Society3/137/126/3001

 
 

Draxtor Livestreaming Today, "Thank You Linden Lab For A Good Run"

 
 
 After about ten years, Draxtor Despres's work for Linden Lab is coming to a close. Today at 10 AM SL time, he will be livestreaming, "10 years of LL sponsored work is coming to an end today and I want to thank Brett, Strawberry & Ebbe (RIP) for embracing my very subjective way of storytelling ... Tune in to watch the BEST of 2014 - 2024 & learn more about NEXT STEPS in my attempt to get an honorary doctorate in amateur SL ethnography by the end of this stream, from any university who will take my Linden$ !"
 
 
 

SL Video: "Spy vs Spy - Misfit Dance & Performance Art in Second Life"

 
 

From Misfit_Dance SL in June 2017
 

Friday, March 15, 2024

VWBPE Is Underway, "What's Up At The Lab" Takes Place

 
 
 Yesterday was the first day of the Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education conference. Three days of discussions and lectures, as well as a parade and party. Probably the best attended event was "What's Up With The Lab", hosted by Phelan Corrimal. The Lindens on stage were Grumpity, Kali, and Signal. More were in the audience with a couple on guard for any possible griefers.


The Lindens talked about a number of developments. These included the mobile viewer in development, currently in a "private alpha" version Premium Plus residents can get on a waiting list for, and PBR Materials, which allow for the promise of working mirrors. They would also take some questions from the audience, one asking if people unable to keep paying for Premium could just automatically be downgraded to a free account instead of being booted. 



It is notable who wasn't there. Patch Linden has been a part of "What's Up At The Lab" events at the VWPBE for a while, but he wasn't on the stage this year. 

The VWBPE goes on until tomorrow, with the closing ceremonies at 6PM SL time and a dance party at 7PM.

Bixyl Shuftan




 

SLife And Times: Dealing With Begging

 
 Probably every resident is familiar with them. All of a sudden, one of their groups opens up, and someone goes "Hey, can someone give me a hundred Lindens?" Sometimes they offer to pay it back. But of course they never to. It's a low-level con to try and get someone to send them a little money. Sadly it's often a hacked account, which at the very least means a lot of inconvenience as the target will be thrown out of most of his groups. At worst it means the hackee ends up permanently banned. But it's always an annoyance to everyone else in the group, the chat being filled with grumbles. This includes Bellisseria chat, which has seen it's share of begging.

But someone in Bellisseria chat found a creative way to respond, and make everyone else grin. 

Just after Midnight one evening, the following appeared on Bellisseria chat
 
[00:01] (Hacked Resident): Hey. Can someone lend me 100L me please? I promise pay it back tomorrow.

There were a couple growls. But an Ina (Jantina McGregor) had a creative response.
 
[00:01] Ina (Jantina McGregor): I have told you this before   We sincerely apologize but your loan application of L100 is rejected by Linden Bank Of SL due to your bad credit history. We request you consult one of our Financial Specialists to improve your credit score. Consultation fees are L500. Please don't hesitate to contact us. Thank you for banking with us :)
 
The result was a number of laughs and "LOL"s as the hacked account was ARed and booted. 
 
Soon after, there was an announcement in the Relay for Live Volounteers group by Selene Jashan

New Challenge!!

How many of you have seen  the bots in groups begging for 100L?   Lets make lemonade out of lemons and when you see that,  where ever you are,  toss that 100L into a kiosk because I'm SURE that is what the bot was intending!   Who will join me in this???

 
 Lets DO THIS!!

Selene would add in chat, "We just got over 500L from doing that just now !!   They hit the I Pink I can Group (laughter)" That got chuckles and praise, Trader Whiplash saying, "I LOVE LOVE LOVE this idea! And be sure to type in the chat  'I sent your 100 to the Amerian Cancer Society for you.'"

So the next time you get hit with a beggar, here's two things you can do.

Bixyl Shuftan

This Saturday at The Science Circle

 
 Saturday March 16

    ~*~
    
    At 10 AM PST   

    Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education
    Essential Skills For Living And Learning In An Age of Fake News And Unfettered Speech
    Presenter: Linda Sautereau/Peggy Daniels-Lee (Assisting: Wisdomseeker)
    https://www.sciencecircle.org/event/vwbpe/
 
    VWBPE Tundra Expanse (113/9/25)
      
    ~*~
 
    
    NOTE: Non-members required to register once
    IM Jes Cobalt or Nymf Hathaway

╚══════════════════════════════ The Science Circle (72,129,30) ═╝
 
 

Thursday, March 14, 2024

VWBPE Conference Starts Today

 
 
 Today officially marks the start of the Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education conference. This three day event will have numerous discussions and lectures on the event sims. 

The kickoff takes place at 8AM SL time at:
 

At 12 Noon SL time is "What's Up With The Lab," with Lindens (and maybe Moles) joining the host to discuss what Linden Lab has been doing lately. Almost certainly, the mobile viewer will be discussed, as well as PBR Materials,
 
https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/VWBPE%20Rainbow%20Basin/232/247/21
 
Backup locations
https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/VWBPE%20Canopy%20Point/27/243/21
https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/VWBPE%20Floating%20Meadows/237/28/22
 

Reader Submitted: "The Hair" At RFL Freedom Rock

 
 

Pictures from Fuzzball Ortega and Selene Jashan, respectively. At American Cancer Society 3 on Daturday March 9, there was a certain event, "Going on now, its BIG HAIR TIME! ....Grab your limo, spandex, and hair spray and COME ON DOWN to Freedom Rock!" Well, Fuzzball Ortega was around, and Relay regulars can guess what happened. 

Fuzz would tell me, "So at Freedom Rock, there was mention of "Big Hair". Well, NATURALLY, The Hair and I couldn't turn down THAT invite."
 
 
Selene would remark, "Fuzzball at his finest... I think.   They did say big hair (laughter)!"
 

SL Video: "Zada's Adventures - Valentines Day 2024 ... Love-Train Tide & Isle of View"

 
 
 
From Zada Bury on March 9, "Annual event happening Second Life ™ ... the "Hug and Dunk a Linden" event at the Valentines Day (Hint: That is the 14th February). Read more about the this years event here ... at "show more". As like last year, this one was start with a "Love Train" ride and also the other activities was following the 'classic" (but good!) plot from the last year. In this year, the starting point was at the "Bellisseria Welcome Hub" and all trains was follow the same lane. I was this time not that early there, but I wasn't have problems to enter the Sim. I am not sure, if the Lindens was change the Sim to an 'Event Sim', which could carry 170 people ... or just turned up a regular Sim up to 100 people, as like an island-Sim. The way, how smooth it was running for me, I would guess on an event-Sim. At the begin there was surely some known faces, but less contacts. From the Lindens, I was foremost recognize Wendi ... she was look perfect fitting in and seems to rezzing the trains. Beside was also a larger number of Moles. The trolleys was appear to run this year on an automatic mode, while last year the Mole was operate them. The one, I jumped on was have at least no operator. The half of the ride, the 'Drivers of SL'-group was done at the last weekends Grid Drive. The full ride was take around 40 minutes for me and there was not really unexpected happenings. About the automatic operation ... and the more or less people on a trolley ... the speed was for some a bit different (more people causes a more lag on Sim-crossings and on the Sim, so the individual Trolley was been more slow). At some point it was come to a "clashing" of out trolley with an other one and we was continue "merged", but as the trains was phantom, nothing bad happening. At the end of the train-ride was a TP to the "Isla of View" set up. Sadly that was end in a crash about a disconnect for me. The "Isle of View" was also unchanged ... and still good. There was a lot know and unknown faces ... err ... avatars ... to see. I was feel, this year, more Lindens was there, than the last year. This year was no spanking of Patch Linden ... but I was hugging with some of the Lindens, I seen for a while now - and even if I am not such fan of the "hugging" stuff. Oatmeal was this year also fun to pose with ... surely beside others, too."

Wednesday, March 13, 2024

RFL Event: Freedom Rock

 
 
 High above the American Cancer Society3 sim, there's an outdoors-themed Relay event: Freedom Rock. Among the activities are fishing, biking, cooking, some music and dance parties, and more.

Freedom Rock was put on by Camping for a Cure and runs from March 1st to March 17th
Come rock it out as we fight cancer together. 

 
 

It Came From Bellisseria Chat: Dancing Burgerheads

 
 
Taken by Xia Xevious at the Bellisseria Fairgrounds. In Bellisseria chat, they were talking about hamsters wearing burgers on their heads, someone saying of a picture, "I saved that on my compy as beezechurger hammies." Then Xia showed this picture of a scene at Bellisseria for Life, of two avatars with hamburgers as heads. 

Their looks certainly cut the mustard. Our puns could never ketchup.

Tuesday, March 12, 2024

Events This Week at the Sunweaver and Montecito Bay Clubs, and Furry Fashion Lounge

 
Here's what's going on at the Sunweaver and Montecito Bay clubs, and the Furry Fashion Lounge.

Club Cutlass: Just Too Sexy, Under the Sea, St. Patrick's Day

Happy Vixen: TBA, DJ Arooo, DJ Snowy, DJ Mattie, DJ Malit, DJ Khyra

Club Zero Gravity: St. Patrick's

Bouncing Bunny Beach Club: DJ Snowy

Xanadu: DJ Jesse 

Club Squeaks: DJ Squeaks

Moon Dance: DJ Cynthia
 
Montecito Bay:  CAYA, After Dark

Furry Fashion Lounge: Goth, Purple and Blue, Tails, Katturday Nite CAYA, Canines VS Felines
 
Read the schedules in SL Clubbin'
 
 
 

Press Release: VWBPW Conference 2024 - Mythic Orgins

 

 The 17th annual Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education Conference, beginning on Thursday, March 14th, 2024, will be an online distributed conference happening in multiple virtual spaces. This conference focuses on the use of immersive virtual environments for educational purposes including virtual and augmented reality.

This year we are returning to our Earth build. Each region represents a different terrestrial biome, including wetlands, desert, badlands, grasslands, and forests. Conference attendees will be among the first to be able to explore!

To the best ability possible, VWBPE provides educational and networking opportunities that are relevant to educational curriculum development utilizing virtual environments and “best practices”. These include

helping to build community through extension of learning best practices to practical application of those ideas and techniques;
providing networking opportunities for educators and the communities that help support education; and
providing access to current innovations, trends, ideas, case studies, and other best practices for educators and the communities that help support education

One of the key challenges faced by the educational community is how to make the best use of new immersive technologies in a way that is sustainable and accessible based on limited budgets available to both instructors and students. Platforms that are free or open source, or that can be shared across a broad audience are showcased, including methods and research around best practices in their use and applicability.

Our theme for this year is Mythic Origins.

Mythic stories can provide a way to engage students in critical thinking and analysis, as well as developing their creativity and imagination. Mythic origins can provide students with a deeper understanding of their own cultural heritage and how it has evolved over time. It allows us to explore the origins of our socially constructed myths and legends that have inspired educators and their various works.

Join us as we all share experiences and successes in how virtual technologies used in the classroom have helped shape education for the better.

This year's keynote speakers are Wagner James Au and Dr. Nellie Deutsch. Invited speakers include representatives from Linden Lab, and the 2020 Thinkerer - Renne Emiko Brock.

The VWBPE conference keynote speakers and their respective presentations are featured on the conference website (http://vwbpe.org), along with a program of exciting presentations, social activities, and networking events that will set extraordinary discussions in motion.  

The VWBPE Immersive Experiences showcase unique and interesting work being conducted across the metaverse. We invite you to join us as we explore eleven interactive and engaging locations across five virtual environments. The Immersive Experiences are scheduled from March 9th through 31st (exclusive of the conference dates). Details and access instructions for the experiences are found at https://www.vwbpe.org/conference/vwbpe24-program.   

Additionally, this open and free conference would not be possible without the generous contributions of our VWBPE sponsors. https://www.vwbpe.org/vwbpe-2024-sponsors  

The Rockcliffe Registration Portal is open for people to register new Second Life® avatars and find out more about the VWBPE conference in-world. Go to https://www.enroll.onl/secondlife.php . The instructions are there to get you and your friends started at this educator-friendly newcomers’ region in Second Life®.

The full conference program is online here: https://www.vwbpe.org/conference/vwbpe24-program.

You can also view presentations live on YouTube at http://vwbpe.org/watch.

All of the conference events will be in Second Life® this year, and the locations are included in the listings. When you click on a conference event and click Add to Calendar, you can add the event to your own calendar (Google and more).

NOTE: Daylight Savings Time
In most of the United States and Canada, Daylight Savings Time is in effect as of 10 March 2024. In Europe, Great Britain, and many other locations, DST is in effect as of 31 March, 2024, after the conference ends. Check this page to find out when (and if) a time change is in effect for you: https://www.timeanddate.com/time/dst/2024.html.

=================================================
**VWBPE 2024 GATEWAY**
SLurl:
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/VWBPE%20Grasslands%20Gateway/128/123/23

**VWBPE 2024 SOCIAL VISITOR CENTER** http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/VWBPE%20Wetlands%20Marsh/175/158/21