New Snow Caps And Winter Lights For Linden Homes

New snow caps & winter lights now live

New Linden Home Seasonal Decorations 

Great news to hear this week is that Linden Lab have now included a new special feature (see today’s updated post) for the Linden Home content packs for Traditional, Houseboat and Trailer homes on the Bellisseria continent in Second Life which now includes new snow caps and new Winter lights. The content packs are now available via your house controllers. Make sure you agree to the Seasonal Content and Decoration Guidelines though.

Snow Caps Pack

Winter Lights Pack

Update To The Release Schedule 

The new normal release schedule is roughly one region per day Monday to Friday.

For seasonal holidays there may be shorter longer delays in the release schedule.

Last Names could be available by the end of January 2020

On Thursday 21st November Linden Lab posted a blog post on the return of last names. Last Names is now the most requested feature apparently on the lab to do list. The lab are now “furiously” going to make Last Names available by the end of January 2020. Last Names will be picked from a list and users can help Linden Lab curate the list.

Name Changes will be exclusively for Premium members at an additional fee (to be confirmed). Changing either First or Last Name will be available as a single transaction (US dollars TBC). For anyone signing up to Second Life in 2020 they will continue to have “resident” attached to their name unless they opt to Premium.

Linden Lab are holding a Last Names competition starting 16th December 2019 for all Second Life users (Basic and Premium users) to suggest suitable last names to the pool of last name options. The lab will pick five lucky residents will be able to change their names free of charge. The contest ends on 15th January 2020.

• Participation details will be announced shortly!

There is now a big demand for Last Names in Second Life and it’s good to see the lab finally pushing ahead with a possible release sometime in the first few months or so of 2020. It’s more likely to happen in 2020 from the sounds of things.

Other announcement updates this week…

• The Marketplace product listing enhancement fees will be reduced by 10% – effective 2nd December 2019
• Improvements to the Events pages are now going ahead for 2020
• A new membership level Premium Plus will be introduced in 2020
• New exclusive first peek at the newest Linden Homes – follow the SL Christmas Expo 2019 (5th-25th)

The 2019 Strides Campaigns In Second Life Raise $13,633 USD In Total

Great news to share this week is that The American Caner Society have announced that the 2019 Strides Campaign raised a very impressive grand total of $13,633 USD (a $5,000 increase over 2018). The Strides Campaign helps all those dealing with breast cancer and helps them to search for a cure.

Congratulations to all those that participated this year who have made a positive difference in this world. There were many communities in Second Life who organised their own campaigns and who participated in the general Strides campaign. All funds raised through the 2019 Strides Campaigns in Second Life are used by the American Cancer Society to contribute to breast cancer research and breast cancer patient services.

• Top Strides Campaigns that raised over $2,500 include Camping for A Cure & Bikers for BOObies.
• The BCA ROCKFEST & Out Shop Cancer raised more than $1,000 each.
• Strides Campaigns that raised between $500 – $1,000 include Rockin’ for the Knockers, Pink Power Fest/Strides Walk, and the Tuesday Night Dance Party.
• Notable campaigns who raised between $100 – $500 include Winter Is Coming, Kaiila Mahoney & the Gorean community, FABGlibber Women’s Club, Fight Like A Girl Photo Contest, Club Cathedral Dark Desires, Sanctuary Rockers, and Roos With A Dream.

If you would like to become a volunteer for the American Cancer Society in Second Life, please contact Stingray9798 Raymaker or email jeffrey.montegut@cancer.org.

Press Release: The Dickens Project Returns To Second Life On 1st December 2019

The Dickens Project is returning to Second Life on 1st December 2019 and this year’s edition includes a whole month full of storytelling, music, dancing and great experiences. It’s become a winter holiday tradition for the Second Life community over recent years. 

PRESS RELEASE
Issue: Immediate Release
Kill Date: November 26, 2019

Media Contact:
Caledonia Skytower, Seanchai Library
caledoniaskytower@gmail.com

The Dickens Project Returns
to Second Life December 1, 2019

Second Life – The Dickens Project has become a winter holiday tradition for a growing number of Second Life residents since it began as a special seasonal presentation by Seanchai Library in 2008. It transformed into an interactive environment in 2012, then to a full region experience for 2017 and 2018. Seanchai Library is proud to announce that they will be opening the doors of The Dickens Project 2019 Edition beginning December 1.

The Dickens Project celebrates the work of English author Charles Dickens (1812-1870) featuring his seminal work “A Christmas Carol.” This year’s edition presents a full month of exploration, storytelling, music, dance, roleplay opportunities, and the return of the “Urchins in Dickens’ London” experience.

“The Dickens Project is not one single thing,” said Caledonia Skytower of Seanchai Library. “It began as purely a story event, but has evolved to be much more. Our goal is to bring residents together around this important literary work and its themes. Whether their interest is historical, educational, artistic, social, recreational, active, reflective – we work to provide opportunities to engage that are fun and meaningful.” It is the scope of the project and the breadth of its reach into the Second Life community that recommended it to Patch Linden and Linden Labs, the region sponsor of the 2019 Edition.

In a nutshell, The Dickens Project includes:
~ A full region themed around Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, and the world of the story.
~ Over 40 hours of live music, spoken word, dance events and performances.
~ Self-selectable interactive elements, including the “Urchins in Dickens’ London” roleplay/game/experience, and opportunities for both RP and Non-RP guests.
~ Dozens of performers, presenters, and special guests including Patch Linden himself.
~ Educational and interpretive content to encourage questions like “What was Tiny Tim suffering from anyway?”

More information on performances, events, schedules, and features will be released later in November through the Seanchai Library website, and to interested media. There will be special Press/Blogger Previews on November 29th and 30th for the virtual media to get a closer look at The Project before it officially opens.

About the Seanchai Library
Seanchai Library (pronounced Shawn-a-kee, which means “Storyteller” in Irish Gaelic.) was founded in March of 2008 in Second Life. The program remains dedicated to promoting the power of stories to transform and inspire through live voice presentations: “We bring stories of all kinds to life, in Second Life and other virtual worlds.” http://irelandslstory.blogspot.com/

Please spread the word 🙂

Linden Lab laid off over 20 staffers working on Sansar

According to various sources this week it looks like over 20 staff members working on Sansar have been laid off. The latest numbers estimates is anywhere between 20 and 30. It’s always sad for anyone that have lost their jobs in real life. I hope they can all find a way forward somehow. 

This week a Linden Lab spokesperson said this…

We have no comment at this time, but we’re continuing to develop both Second Life and Sansar, and we’re excited about the many new partnerships and features on tap for 2020!

On NWN Gindipple said this…

“That’s the spin they going with now,” as longtime third party Sansar developer “Gindipple” tells me. “They’ve changed direction so many times now. They are winging this and hoping. I gave up on them a while ago, so don’t care as much now. They lost a lot of good people in this cut back, some went to SL but many [are] just out.

“And the thing is, when a company does this,” he adds with irony, “the remaining people come to work so highly motivated now.”

It’s unclear at this stage what this means for the Sansar development going forward. Apparently some of the layoffs include longtime Lindens who worked on Second Life. 

• New partnerships joining with Sansar in 2020 ?

The Future of Sansar 

The focus has now changed from the Sansar Team to a move towards “live” events. It does look like for the moment Sansar will be operating a “skeleton crew”. 

Sansar will not be closed down or sold however it could eventually be a spinoff company which may be a separate product from Linden Lab sometime in the 2020s. 

The Future of Second Life

The good news is that Linden Lab is still improving Second Life and they are still hiring for Second Life development. 

Reaching My 13th Rez Day

Mr Bunny Turns 13

On 31st October 2019 marked my 13th Rez Day in Second Life. I still can’t believe I’ve been active for 13 years now inworld. I still believe Second Life is one of the best virtual worlds out there today and that it won’t be going away anytime soon. I will be here for many more years to come. 

During the past year I’ve enjoyed Second Life even more from following the new developments on the Bellisseria continent / SSP continent, flying more around the grid (planes), greeting at BURN2 2019, attending Bay City events, watching the latest Lab Gab episodes and much more. 

My blog followers count has increased during the past year from 722 to 789 which is great. As of today my blog has 686, 507 hits. I hope more will continue to follow my blog in the weeks and months ahead. Since 2006 I have uploaded 27, 995 photos (280 pages) on my Flickr stream and there are now 1.5k followers now. Thanks so much! 🙂 

Here is myy first snapshot of my avatar back in early November 2006. Wow so much has changed since then right ?. 

First snapshot I took back in 2006 (pre-windlight)

Thanks to all of you who have been part of my Second Life for the past 13 years. Here’s to many more years in Second Life. Woooot!