Good Luck Oz Linden

On Friday 26th February Oz Linden and Grumpity Linden appeared on Lab Gab episode 44 hosted by Strawberry Linden to chat about Second Life and the latest news on AWS. The live streamed episode ran for 58 minutes and 20 seconds. If you have not watched the show then its a must watch as its very informative and most interesting for sure. In the final part of the show Oz was teleported to one final gathering where the Second Life community celebrated his years at the lab.

Here are some of newer updates that were mentioned during the show below…

• Map tiles are being worked on. There is some work going on with stitching tile images together when zooming out on the map.
• The Second Life Mobile app has taken longer than expected and its not yet known when the app will be available
• The Land Store was turned on again as of 25th February
• Linden Lab is working on the migration process improving performance and glitches on AWS
• Brad Oberwager has been added to the Linden Lab management page

Check out this lovely tribute to Oz Linden from Second Life staff this week.

Such a lovely (and moving) tribute to Oz Linden from @SecondLife staff as he prepares to retire from Linden Lab. We need a collective noun for Lindens in a moment like this. Any suggestions? https://t.co/zZguj50zzo pic.twitter.com/3miluvyTlI

— Huckleberry Hax (@huckleberryhax) February 26, 2021

Farewell Oz and good luck.

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New SSPE Extension Created Linking Log Regions To The Stilt Regions

New Stilt regions have arrived

During the past week or so the Moles have created a whole bunch of new SSPE regions linking the log homes continent with the new Stilt homes sub land areas. The new regions range from SSPE1739 to SSPE1747. It’s important to note that the Moles are still building on them and are not finished yet. It will be interesting to see these new regions develop in the days and weeks ahead.

See at the bottom for the latest SSP news relating to whats ahead.

SSPE1740 – check out these new regions

SSPE1743 – view looking north

SSPE1742 – view looking north east

SSPE1745 – new Stilt homes coming soon

SSPE1747 – new homes coming soon

SSP News – (26th February 2021)

The Moles have added five new SSP regions just east of the purple SSP regions which are closed for public access. These new regions could be apart of the next upcoming Linden Home theme or maybe for another project they are working on. We will have to wait and see.

The big batch of pink SSP regions are no longer on the grid. 

New Regions – SSP2532 to SSP2500

Purple Regions – SSP2001 to SSP2040 plus SSP2005

Lab Gab Preview: Oz Linden & Grumpity Linden Go Live At 11am PDT – Friday 26th February

New Lab Gab Episode This Friday Live

At 11am PDT on Friday 26th February Oz Linden and Grumpity Linden will be live on Lab Gab talking about the latest news on AWS. Oz will be talking about his years at the lab as he has officially announced his retirement.

Strawberry Linden will be asking them questions from the Second Life community. You can fill out this Google Form and submit your questions. The lab will review them and pick out a selection of questions for Oz and Grumpity to answer.

Lab Gab will be live streamed on YouTube, Facebook, and Periscope. Please spread the word.

Oz Linden Leaving Linden Lab On 26th February

On Tuesday 16th February Oz Linden who is the Vice President of Engineering at Linden Lab announced on the Second Life Forums that he would be leaving Linden Lab on Friday 26th February 2021. Oz joined Linden Lab back in 2010 and Oz has done so much to make Second Life better over the years.

Oz has been thinking about retirement for some time and now that Second Life has moved into the cloud Oz has decided it’s the right time to move on. Oz mentions that in strong possible terms that his decision has nothing at all to do with the change of ownership of the lab.

See below for Oz Linden farewell thread post via the Second Life Forums…

Posted 22 hours ago
About 11 years ago I was working for a big multinational that had acquired the startup where I’d been for several years, and decided I needed a job with more fun and more job satisfaction. I put out the word on my professional network and got a response from a colleague who was a Linden at the time. I interviewed with several people at the Lab (half my interviews were in-world using an account I’d had for some years), and after much thought I joined the Lab as the Director of Open Source. It turned out to be one of the best career decisions I ever made.

My job evolved over the years, but through it all I got to work with brilliant, passionate, and committed people and got to know many residents. I’ve never worked anywhere that was as much fun (a Linden who returned to SL after some time away said recently that he’d forgotten how often the SL team laughs in the course of a normal day). More importantly, I got to work on a product users really enjoy using and that makes a big difference in the lives of many of its users – for me there’s no greater source of job satisfaction.

Some time ago, I reached the point that I could afford to think about retiring but decided to stay to finish moving SL to its new cloud platform. I can’t imagine a better last act in my working life than ensuring that Second Life has this better platform for its future growth. Now that project is done (well, except for a few loose ends), and it’s time for me to move on to the next phase of my life. 

I want to emphasize in the strongest possible terms: my decision has nothing at all to do with the change in ownership of the Lab; the timing really is a coincidence. If anything, I regret that I have overlapped with them for only a few weeks; in that time (and in the time leading up to the change) I have come to respect and appreciate the skills and energy they bring to the company.

There aren’t many jobs that come with a new nickname; this got me one I’ll always cherish, but it’s time for me to set aside my Linden last name. I leave Second Life in great hands, and have every confidence that it has a great future. 
 
– Oz
PS. My official last day is Feb 26th.

Oz Linden will be deeply be missed for sure and personally I wish him the very best for the future.

Press Release: Relay Rockers Announce 2021 Event Dates

Check out the press release for Relay Rockers that have announced it’s 17th season event schedule dates for 2021. There is loads to look forward to this year from DJ competitions, the Bid The Lindens Bald challenge, fair events and much more.

Everyone is welcome to participate and have fun.

PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release

February 10, 2021
Contact: Trader Whiplash  relayrockers@relayrockers.org

Relay Rockers Announce 2021 Event Dates

The Relay Rockers, RFL of SL’s oldest team, kicks off its 17th season by announcing the schedule for its signature fundraising events in support of the American Cancer Society. 

The team will once again host the Celebrate, Remember, Fight Back (CRFB) Top DJ Competition, Bid Me Bald Team Challenge, Bid The Lindens Bald and the popular multi-team RelayStock.  The Rockers are also planning their Blues for Life, Hard Cure for the Cure and Country fair events.

The CRFB DJ Competition begins March 27 with preliminary rounds through April 24th. The competition is open to Club DJ and Radio Presenters who are challenged to raise funds for the Relay For Life during one hour sets.  The Top 4 competitors move on to the May 1st & 2nd semifinals rounds with the 2 remaining DJs performing in the Finals at RelayStock May 14, 15 & 16. The event, which has been held since 2012, has raised nearly L$10 million in support of the ACS. Entry forms will be available at the team website: https://relayrockers.org/ beginning on Feb 20th and is limited to the first 20 DJs to sign up.

The Bid Me Bald Team Challenge will be held April 9th through the 17th and is open to all Registered RFL of SL Teams.  Teams fund raise to “Keep Their Hair” with the last place team pledging to go bald until RFL 2021 Weekend, June 13 & 14. Teams share kiosks with the Relay Rockers during the event.

Bid The Linden Bald will be held during the Rockers annual multi-team RelayStock weekend, May 14 -16.  Teams of Lindens and Moles compete to outraise each other and again the last place group pledges to ‘shave’ their heads until Relay weekend 2021.

Anyone interested in participating can visit https://relayrockers.org/ for more information, sign ups and landmarks, when available.

Please spread the word about the 17th season of Relay Rockers 2021.

Patch Linden Says The Next Linden Homes Theme #8 May Be Unveiled At SL18B In June 2021

During the recent Dunk & Hug a Linden event on Friday 12th February 2021 Patch Linden says they may reveal the next Linden Home theme #8 at this year’s SL18B event. Check out this video of the event and skip to approximately 5 minutes / 30 seconds to hear what Patch had to say.

Second Life 18th official birthday starts 23rd June 2021. The lab are now planning for the birthday and more will be announced in the months ahead. Expected to return is the birthday music event, the shopping birthday event, the free gift area and a cool avatar of some form.

The Stilt Linden Home release #6 happened back in mid-late December 2020 and there has been a large demand for that so far in terms of residents moving into their Stilt homes. The Moles are working on the release of the new upcoming Chalet Linden Homes #7 and now with a brand new Linden theme #8. The east side of the Log Homes continent is still being worked on.

I hope the lab will release the Chalet Linden Homes #7 before Easter and the brand new Linden theme #8 before the end of 2021. Can’t wait until SL18B officially gets underway.

New Last Names Announced

Last Names available selection

On Wednesday 10th February Linden Lab announced the latest new round of Last Names to choose from. The lab does now anticipate the rotation of available options will happen more often going forward now due to the fact that the Uplift is complete.

Here are the new Last Names that have been added to the available selection…

Orlando
Incognito
Nebula
Knickers
Aviator
Bunny
Blackwood
Darkheart
Amore
Suki
Venus
Evergarden
Caboose
Dakota
Absinthe

I actually love these new ones like Aviator, Knickers, Venus and Bunny. The lab plans to roll out more last names very soon.

Which last names from the list above do you love the most ?

FAQ on changing your username in Second Life.

Second Life User Concurrency Levels During 2020

During 2020 the Second Life user concurrency has been pretty steady considering the real world is still in a pandemic. It would be good to see the lab release Second Life metrics in the near future at least once or twice a year.

The top photo below it shows the minimum, average and maximum of users online in Second Lite during the past 60 days. The bottom photo shows the past year whichs shows a clearer picture from February 2020 to February 2021.

Daily Second Life concurreny statistics for 2020

Between March 2020 and May 2020 the daily average maximum Second Life user concurrency stayed around the 60, 000 mark. Since late May 2020 until January 2021 the daily maximum figure has been around 52, 000 to 55, 000 at peak times.

It does appear the daily maximum user concurrency is showing postive growth again in terms of active logged in users on the grid. Yay.

The average daily figure has stayed above the 40, 000 mark for many months now. The minimum daily figure has mostly stayed above the 30, 000 mark.

I think the daily maximum number of the active users in Second Life will steadily increase over the months ahead then drop slightly during the summer months. Then another steady increase in the autumn and winter months.

Log Homes Railway Stations – Randelsham Forest To SSPE1110 Train Station

Here is a preview of all the new train stations from Randelsham Forest going all the way to the end of the line at SSPE1110. It’s important to remember the Moles are still working on the east side of the log homes continent building new log homes and new interesting areas. The SSPE region names will change at some point in the months ahead.

Log Homes Railway Map – Version 2.0 – February 2021

Key Areas

• Hawkesblood train station is the nearest station if you continue heading west from Randelsham Forest
• The new SSPE1110 Train Station is located above the red line on the right side
• The new SSPE1217 Tunnel is located above the red line on the left side
• The SSPE1130 Switch is located where the red and blue line meets

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Most of the railway line shown below is still not ready for public train use.

+ Train Update – as of 8th February 2021

Randelsham Forest – http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Randelsham%20Forest/122/56/70

Randelsham Forest Train Station

SSPE1188 Railway Bridge – http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Randelsham%20Forest/149/96/70

SSPE1188 Railway Bridge

SSPE1130 Switch – (train tracks go west & east here) – Go East! http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/SSPE1130/172/215/52

SSPE1130 Switch – Go East!

SSPE1125 Train Station – http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/SSPE1125/34/253/51

SSPE1125 Train Station

SSPE1110 Train Station – http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/SSPE1110/15/100/52

SSPE1110 Train Station

This is the newly built railway loop which marks the end of the log homes railway line on the east side.

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Here is what you will find if you go west at the SSPE1130 Switch – Go West!

SSPE1194 Bridge – http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/SSPE1194/251/246/57

SSPE1194 Bridge

SSPE1217 Tunnel – http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/SSPE1217/96/237/68

SSPE1217 Tunnel – expansion railway line expected soon here going up north

I will post more railway blog posts very soon!

Latest SSP Developments – February 2021 Update

New area built in SSPE1109

A lovely new area has been built in SSPE1109 with new Stilt Linden homes along the coastline including a new tall bridge in SSPE1108 connecting the log homes with the Stilt homes. The Moles have added a whole bunch of new Stilt Linden homes in SSPE1734 which is still under going development currently.

The Moles have been making more progress down the east coast of the log homes continent where new Linden homes have been added. There are plenty of new areas to discover and enjoy in the weeks ahead.

New tall bridge in SSPE1108

New Stilt homes in SSPE1734

Four New SSPE Regions

New land has arrived

The Moles have added four new SSPE regions this week located west of Awash, Faraway Breeze and Red Palms regions on the grid. It’s not known at the moment what the plans are for these new regions but it’s going to be interesting thats for sure. I will blog more about this development very soon.

View from the mini-map

View from the air

New Changes In SSP Area

The Moles have been doing house cleaning recently over at the SSP area where the purple and pink regions are on the grid. The entire block of pink regions SSP1501-1551 are now gone offline.

Pink regions now appear offline

The block of purple regions SSP2001-2040 is still showing up on the map however a new region has appeared in the east SSP2501. The Moles have taken down SSP1501x, SSPGlamBuild, SSP Conspiracy II and SSPMBC.

New single region added in the east

I think the Moles are still doing a great job at building new interesting areas, adding hundred’s of new Linden Homes, adding new roadways and much more. During the past few months a lot of people have moved into their new Stilt Linden homes. There is still big demand for Linden homes and more are on it’s way.

It’s going to be exciting to see the development of the Chalet continent be created soon. The Moles have not yet released any timeframe for this at the moment. I’m sure there will be further new Linden home theme announcements later in 2021/2022.