Stories from Second Life

Happy Valentines Day from SL!!

VickieMaid — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 23:18:48 GMT

From Fisher Island Yacht Club in Clipper Bay, Vickie Maidstone reporting
==============================================
And good evening everyone form the home of Fisher Island Yacht Club where at this hour a beautiful Valentines Day dance is in progress. Members of the yacht club and members from the SLCG were dressed in formal attire making for a beautiful evening under the stars and dancing to the music provided by DJ Loriiii Shepherd, and is hosted by Fanci Beebe-Leavitt. As I said that members of the yacht club and of the SLCG (Second Life Coast Guard) looked stunning in beautiful dresses and dress uniforms making for a very lovely evening. Drinks and finger foods were provided by the yacht club and contests were being held as well providing quite an evening filled with music, dancing and over all a wonderful evening.

The club was decorated with lovely bouquets of flowers and the tables were set lending to the over all formal atmoshpere. The refreshment table was also set with drinks and as I said delicious finger foods.

Certainly a beautiful night on the dance floor under the stars and a gentle breeze coming in from the ocean and with the couples dancing together for a night of memories made for an unforgettable evening.

I'm Vickie Maidstone reporting, Happy Valentines Day 2012

Pooky Mania The 1st Question

any1gynoid — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 12:18:46 GMT

An exceedingly intellectual game show is the foreground for this story about fame and fortune in Second Life. Low brow it is decidedly naught. What happened? Well. Well. I promised myself I’m not begging to get into the gig. I’ll report this straight up.

Twas naught the night before Xmas, but about 1 hour before show time Pooky Amsterdam sent out an all hands announcement… Hey Mates! She’s doing a special, unheard-of, “Friday” show! Wow! Say what?

The guest stars in this show… simply amazing. First, my longtime Second Life friend, a world treasure, Widget Whiteberry (Picture 2). She is the producer of Virtually Speaking, a wildly popular live podcast show in Second Life, that covers all things political. Widget has expanded the show from the usual 6pm SLT Thursdays to include novel events throughout the week, most any evening in SL.

This explains a lot. Guest #2 is Will Wright (SL name StupidFunWill, Picture 3), one of the rock star gods of electronic game design. The original architect of The Sims and Sim City, Will’s favorite element is Titanium, and his invented word is “perplexinated”.

Guest #3 is Grady Booch (SL name Alem Theas, Picture 4); Grady is hands-down, the all-time greatest rock star god of software engineering. Currently an IBMer with a business card that says “Free Radical”, the Hermit of Lakewood’s favorite element is Oxygen, and invented word is “politigusted,” which apparently is how you feel after watching Fox News all day at work. As if! Hmmmm.

But what is this story really about? I’ll sketch an outline, and let you draw the conclusions. Reminder: There are no coincidences.

Will’s getting paid. Grady’s getting paid. Will is the new king’s wizard, SL CEO Rod Humble’s go-to guy for all things game design. The moral hegemony of VS. Surprise show on a Friday. IBM’s god-man. Linden Lab's god-man. I'm just saying. Command performance. Hydra Shaftoe returns to Second Life, out of deep SL retirement. Never say never. There is something that could make all these coincidences happen. One dollar one vote! Eeeeep!

Surprising find: Treet TV’s Overflow Room at http://slurl.com/secondlife/Garden%20of%20dreams/18/233/24
A great place to catch all things Treet TV, including The 1st Question. No Lag. It’s where hard working iReporters do their thang, just like our RL counterparts on the campaign trail. The Overflow Room. Go Figure!

Special thanks and photo credits to Petlove Petshop for the pictures. Huggles! I still can’t get into the gig! Eeeeep!

The 1st Question website: http://www.the1stquestion.com/

The Story in Pictures

Picture 1: Pooky Amsterdam and Hydra Shaftoe… The classic dream team: superstar emcee and her beloved sidekick of The 1st Question! A Second Life Game Show. Great to have you back Hydra! Woot! Or as Widgy might say "Pookilicious!" One aspect of Pookiphilia. lol

Picture 2: Widget Whiteberry

Virtually Speaking (VS) events are at http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Virtually%20Speaking/43/54/29
Podcasts on this site: http://virtually-speaking.com/

Linked VS program updates available via Google Groups and Facebook.
http://www.facebook.com/groups/6626186145/
and http://groups.google.com/group/virtuallyspeaking

Picture 3: Will Wright

Will’s GameTech briefing is at: http://www.slideshare.net/guesta79ddf9/orando2010-5

Picture 4: Grady Booch

Grady’s blog is at: http://www.handbookofsoftwarearchitecture.com/index.jsp?page=Blog

Picture 5: Superflufee and the rabble rousing audience. Three Cheers to All You Lot! Razzy! See my previous iReport viciously spoofed by Superflufee in this amazingly funny video! Eeeep! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tiPqFfHdtwQ

Five Years of SL!!

VickieMaid — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 20:43:46 GMT

Well, October 26th 2006 I rezzed into the virtual community of Second Life, and not knowing what or how I literally stumbled into this strange and wondrous community. Over time I made friends, learned how to communicate, how to teleport to many places and lots of other interesting stuff.
As I have told some friends recently the real reason why I haven't quit Second Life is because of the up coming Relay For Life of SL, of which I support whole heartily.

I guess its an addiction you get accustomed to even like other online communities as well, I am still on World of Warcraft yet so my time there is a long ways from being over. In closing going on my 6th year in Second Life has already brought a lot of wonder and amazement.

The two screenshots are before and after pictures of me.

“State of Being in a virtual world” - Lecture in Second Life

SLMarjorie — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 09:24:21 GMT

The Virtual University in Second Life held a new conference.

When: 2012, 5th February

10 am slt (1pm EST, 6pm GMT, 19h CET)

Speaker: Pamala Clift

Title: “State of Being in a virtual world”.

Where: in Second Life

Biomedicine Research Sim

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Biomedicine%20Research%20Lab2/201/174/2532

Abstract:

The realities of multiple perceptions by those populating our virtual environment.

This lecture will examine how it is to BE in world. Divided in three categories... Dissassociative, Immersive, and Augmentative. How all three are valid methods of Being, but how the interactions played out can be major drama fest. Lets exam how to tell where the avatar your talking to is on the sliding scale of being... A lecture for those who wish to understand the mental framework of their students, target markets for business, and the psychology of virtual being. And an interesting lecture as a basis for understanding virtual relationships.

A man from Bangladesh granted the US Citizenship with fraudulent documents. His ex wife from Venezuela claims that he has another identification and has proofs

Sorangel — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 01:04:23 GMT

A man from Bangladesh with the name of Nurul Mostakim who is currently living in Atlantic City New Jersey granted the US Citizezship with another name Afjal Hussein. This person lied to the United State inmmigration so easy and now is US citizen. Nurul Mostakim came to US in 1994 and applied for a politica asylum and got an employment authorization issued by innmigration from (Newark) in 1996 until 1997. His application for the political asylum was denied in 1997 but Nurul Mostakim Stayed in The United States illegaly. Now Nurul Mostakim granted The US Citizenship under other name with a different passport and impersonating his brother identification. This person is involved in fraudulent singnatures given to the Family Court in Atlantic City in order to obtain the temporal guardianship of his child as his uncle in 2003. His ex wife Sorangel Marron figured out all this issues whe she came to US to make a report to the Police and went to the to the Family Court in Atlantic City. The family Court said that she gave the temporal guardianship to the uncle of her child. Sorangel wasn´t in US in 2003 and claims that the uncle of his child is the father using another identification.

Her son who born in Atlanta GA was taken by his father Nurul Mostakim when he came to visit him from Caracas Venezuela to Atlanta GA in 2000. The father disspeared with her son without a trace. After ten years thanks to facebook her son found a profile under his name with a picture that she created with the hope to find him. She hired a privated detective and identified her ex husband with a new name. The FBI said that this person is an US Citizen under the name of Afjal Hussein . She claims that this person is impersonating his brother identity and carrying a temporal guardianship given with fake signatures under her name. Now she is requesting to the Family Court in Atlantic City a paternity test and an expert in forensic caligraphy to compare the signatures. Afjal Hussein told her in front the police that to proof her story. Sorangel Marron went to The Inmigration Office in New Jersey to report the case. Now she is waiting for any actions against him. Sorangel Marron is from Venezuela but currently living in Spain. She crossed the ocean with her ten months old baby to solve this problem and tell to the media about this situation.

Cartoonimals Sim Closing in SL - Last Chance to See the Cutest Virtual Animals!

JaneyBracken — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 18:12:06 GMT

I have quite a few virtual birds and animals at my SL home, they add a bit of life as they wander and fly around the sim, just like the real thing, only without the care and attention you have to give to real pets! So when I heard that Cartoonimals, a business that sells SL creatures, owned and designed by Duggy Bing was closing, I decided to take a look. Duggy has a notice displayed at the sim saying it will close on February 14, so you still have a chance to see all his wonderful work on display until that time. All is not lost, however, as his creations will still be available on Second Life MarketPlace.

I had guessed by the name Cartoonimals that perhaps the animals were more of a comical nature than true representations of their real life counterparts, and I wasn’t wrong! I simply fell in love with the SL beasts as soon as I saw them! They just raise a smile with their cuteness!!

I hadn’t really intended to make it a shopping trip, but ended up coming away with some gophers, an owl and a playful skunk who walks around omitting a green cloud every now and again! No wonder his name is Stinky!

Duggy has designed some of the best tip jars I’ve seen, all little creatures in their various poses, a cat playing a violin, a disc jocky dog with his record deck, even a little hoola hoola cat with her grass skirt! Not to mention a cartoon Elvis with his white rhinestone suit.

The jungle animals are so funny, the Elephants and Hippos with their big eyes blinking in the SL sunlight. The flamingos are busy watching one of their eggs hatch as a baby flamingo’s head pops out from the cracked shell! As you walk around you notice a chimpanzee overhead on a swing; there is an invitation by way of a pose ball to join him in the air, clicking on the pose I was suddenly holding hands with the chimp as if on a trapeze, great fun!

For anyone with a pond on their land or access to some SL ocean, there are plenty of little creatures to choose from. Sharks raising their heads out of the water, various little cats and other animals swimming in colourful rubber tyres, most of them sporting sunglasses as they relax and drift along. Beware of the crocodiles though, big green monsters wandering around at the water’s edge! A frozen Island of cartoon penguins is a comical sight as one of their friends floats near to them on his own lump of ice. Just further along there are some dinosaurs, huge scaly and green, one of them taking a run at you as you walk along the footpath, whilst a pterodactyl swoops about in the sky.

Duggy has some human cartoon figures too, a hilarious assortment of characters to wear as accessories with your own avatar. You can buy two burly bare-chested bodyguards who walk with you when you rez them, or for the men a cartoon lady who grabs your ankle as you try to walk away, like an adoring fan who just won’t let go!

I’m sad that the sim is closing, it’s enjoyable just going there to see, in person, all the brilliant creations that Duggy has made, so be sure to go and take a look before it finally close down in February. Meanwhile wishing Duggy every success with his business on the ever popular MarketPlace! No doubt I’ll be shopping for some more creatures soon!

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Cartoonimals/167/158/24

LOST DOG HAVE YOU SEEN HIM?

jamurray1 — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 13:52:05 GMT

Sunday January 22, 2012 Gyeongju, Gyeongsang-buk-do South Korea. Express Bus terminal. Traveling from Suwon to Gyeongju City at 10:19 am departing Suwon arriving at Gyeongju at 2;50 pm. Janet Murray USA residing in South Korea on a Tourist Visa retired Postal Worker and teacher.
Prince is about 1 year and 10 months old and he is my friend and companion. Today when we were on the bus in South Korea he came up missing and no one seems to know where he is. If you have seen him please contact me. He was in the black case under my seat when he was last seen by me. The bus company has lied to me about it as well they seem to not understand me this is their excuse for telling me they would look for him they had me sit in the bus depo for over two hours saying that he was on the way and the bus would be back with him or that was my understanding and when another bus showed up that was not the bus he was on with me they tried to tell me it was the bus. I had taken a picture of the bus and the bus they were trying to make me believe was the bus did not even have the same tag let alone driver. I am totally flapper gasted to say the least. I have a tracking chip in him but that too is all in the Korean language and there is no one available to ask to help me read it to find him any help will be greatly apperciated and even rewarded with funds as well. Please help me find my dog. Contact me at 82 1087872041 you can text me or call if your in Korea dial 010878720041 if outside dial as above.

Brilliant News About Friend Pixi

JaneyBracken — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 19:53:53 GMT

Well my Christmas dreams did come true! I wrote recently that I’d lost contact with a dear friend in Second Life and I dedicated my Christmas Story to her this year, just as I had done before, as I hadn’t heard from Pixi for an awfully long time; I was worried sick knowing she had been ill. Pixi, who is one of the bravest people I know, hadn’t been able to use her computer because of her illness. However, thank goodness! I have finally heard from her, and she is now making a good recovery. Pixi, whom I met in Second Life in 2008 was just finding out that she had a real talent for writing, her humour and warmth showed in her articles and I quickly asked her to join our little SL News Team and write for ‘Virtually London (lite)’ and ‘Our Virtual Trilogy’. Have a look at her story about the ice rink in SL Hyde Park in 2008 http://sllondon.blogspot.com/2008/12/new-ice-skating-rink-in-hyde-park.html
reading it still makes me smile when I think of her, she is such good company and so much fun to be with.

So never give up on people if you don’t hear from them! I sent Pixi emails to let her know she was still one of our team and was badly missed. Hopefully, very soon, she will be well enough to join us again and I will watch this budding writer’s career blossom, as I’m sure it will!

Welcome back Pixi, hearing from you was the best Christmas present anyone could ever give me!!!

http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-722381 (Christmas Story for Pixi 2011)

http://ourvirtualtrilogy.blogspot.com/2009/12/christmas-story-for-pixi.html

http://sllondon.blogspot.com/2010/12/gemma-and-angel-christmas-story-for.html

MICHAEL JACKSON TRIBUTE IN SECOND LIFE

Lorriefla12 — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 09:35:24 GMT

NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT INTENDED

PURELY A TRIBUTE WITH ME & MY FRIEND SINGING THE
VOCALS

Twenty-four Hours in Second Life – Looking Back

webspelunker — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 04:30:33 GMT

Well, I did it! I spent twenty-four hours in Second Life (SL) and am still among the living (both SL and Real Life (RL)).

I don’t have enough space to describe everything but it was a wonderful experience and please read my blog where I’ve posted four stories recounting the trip.

SL is a fantastic place with great people. I encourage all to visit some of the sites I write about and when inworld look for a few of their own to visit.

Before I go, I want to thank those who came out in the last couple of hours to encourage me to keep going. Spec Belfire, Hibiscus Hastings, and World Undercroft, I really appreciate your being there for me in the wee hours of the morning. Janey Bracken, thanks for coming out to be with me as I finished my journey and witnessing its end! I look forward to our next game of Greedy, Greedy with Hibiscus.

Happy New Year to all and please visit and support the sites mentioned in these stories!

I want to thank all the others for coming out to meet and travel with me during my twenty-four hours in SL. I also am grateful to all of them for helping me along the way!

I welcome feedback from readers, please either comment on my blog or e-mail me at webspelunker@gmail.com .

If you would like to read about my other adventures in Second Life please click here.

Photo No. 1: Flying Crane Tour

Photo No. 2: Kevin the Bird Behind web

Photo No. 3: Topographic Map of Phaze Demesnes

Photo No. 4: Linden Realms Portal Area

Photo No. 5: North Pole Sleigh Ride Adventure Off Season Arrival Area

Photo No. 6: web on a snowmobile

Photo No. 7: Muddy’s Music Café Dance Floor

Photo No. 8: Ankh-Morpork Winter Scene

Photo No. 9: Snowmen Auto Accident

Photo No. 10: Fashionably Dead

CNN Island Goes Out In Style In SL

JaneyBracken — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 01:00:32 GMT

CNN island had a fitting send off tonight as some of the big names in SL media turned out to join the party for the final CNN gathering before the sim closes forever this weekend. Nicole, Henry and Rhonda from CNN.com joined in the fun and the lively group took to the dance floor with Nicole doing some nifty dance moves as her final role as Nicole ireport! Grace McDunnough kindly supplied the music for the event. I could see Henry tonight and he could see me, we had been a cloud and a grey figure to each other last time we met, so I managed to get some pictures of him tonight for his final SL log-in as Henry ireport.

It’s been great working with the CNN team and I went over earlier today to get some photos of CNN Island before they take it down. Nicole and Henry had held meetings on different parts of the sim for a change of scenery, so we would often end up at the little café, the car lot or even the rickety old bridge for our weekly get-togethers. I’d like to say Hi to CNN’s Tyson Wheatley and Lila ireport who I met in the first few weeks of CNN's presence in SL, if they are reading this! It was nice to see some of my fellow writers, Ed Follet (who kindly supplied some early pictures of CNN meetings), Hibiscus Hastings, webspelunker Ghostraven, Vickie Maidstone and AlexHayden Junibalya who were there tonight.

Sad days for us all, but not the end, I’ll still be writing as no doubt the others will too, so there will be many more SL stories to share on the CNN ireport pages. Good wishes to the team at CNN and all at the party tonight, I hope everyone has a brilliant 2012. Happy New Year and new beginnings!

Farewell To CNN In Second Life

JaneyBracken — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 20:00:32 GMT

It was with a little sadness that I heard the news from CNN producers Nicole ireport and Henry ireport (their avatar names! but CNN producers in real life none the less), that CNN Island will be closing in Second Life. It has come as no big surprise to be honest, as the hectic politics of today’s real world leaves CNN people with little time to cover everything, let alone a fun thing like Second Life.

It’s been great, I owe both Nicole and Henry a lot, as I started to write seriously by using the CNN ireport pages back in 2008 when they started the SL project. Today at a meeting at CNN Island Nicole said “We set up shop here in 2008 because we wanted to see what it was like to participate in a real-time community, in a virtual world no less. We didn't know what to expect. The prospect was a little scary, to be completely honest.”

“We've realized that there's a whole culture in-world, and we met so many people and acquired amazing threads and dance moves. Our comfort level grew, and we really feel like we've come to know you. It's been a few years now and we're thoroughly appreciative of this community we've had a privilege to be a part of. We are all proud of what we accomplished here and excited about the future. Just wanted you to know that.”

She added “We wanted to let you know that we'll never forget our meetings, amazing hair and of course the incredible figures on our avatars. (lol!) We wish we looked like this in real life. It's truly been one of my favourite projects at CNN, and I think others will agree.” It’s been fun for us too Nicole and I think I can speak for a lot of other ireporters too!

Nicole and Henry told us that there will still be Second Life Assignments, so nothing has really changed except their visits in-world. There are still some of the finer points to work out, but CNN will let us know very soon what else is happening. There will be a farewell party on CNN Island on Thursday at 2pm SLT and it would be nice if as many of the SL ireporter group could come along and show Nicole and Henry our appreciation for all the time they shared with us in SL.

http://slurl.com/secondlife/CNN%20iReport%20Island/128/128/24

Twenty-four Hours in Second Life

webspelunker — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 18:55:31 GMT

Greetings all! I haven’t been here for a while but I’m dropping in to let everyone know about my next endeavor.

On Friday, December 30th, I’ll be in Second Life (SL) for a full twenty-four hours. That’ll be from 12:01AM to midnight on that day.

I’ll be visiting with old friends and going to some of earlier haunts. I also hope to meet friends, see new places, and have new experiences. I’ll be posting a new story every hour on my blog. So, if you can’t join me on the grid, hopefully, you’ll follow my travels!

In case, anyone is worried that I’m having difficulty separating SL from Real Life (RL), don’t fret. RL requires that I stay home that day and I thought this would be a good time to do this. I’ve been looking for an excuse to do this and now I have one.

I hope that you’ll look me up on Friday if you happen to find yourself inworld. Or, if you have a location or someone whom I should me, send me the particulars and I’ll check them out. (Assuming they’ll have me!)

Below, please find some pictures of a few places that I’ll be visiting during my twenty-four hours in SL.

As the Old Year winds down and the New Year approaches, I want to thank everyone who met with and helped this wanderer and I hope to meet you again soon in SL. Happy New Year!

I welcome feedback from readers, please either comment on my blog or e-mail me at webspelunker@gmail.com .

If you would like to read about my other adventures in Second Life please click here.

Photo No. 1: Flashmans - Esoterica

Photo No. 2: 1920’s Berlin

Photo No. 3: Renaissance Faire

A Story For Pixi - Christmas Dreams Come True

JaneyBracken — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 07:45:29 GMT

I write a fictional Christmas Story each year for the virtual world of Second Life and all my friends on-line from all around the world. This story is dedicated to Pixi Piers, a lovely vibrant girl and good friend, who we all loved in SL. We haven’t heard from Pixi in a long time. Pixi was very unwell and we can only hope that one day she will contact us. Janey Bracken

CHRISTMAS DREAMS COMES TRUE

Suzy was worrying about getting enough food in for the Christmas holidays. She was going to her Mum and Dad’s house Christmas Day, but she wanted to make sure she could give her friends something nice to eat and a drink, just in case they dropped in to wish her a happy Christmas.

She was on her way home to her bedsit in Streatham from her office job in Marylebone Road, central London; it was Friday at last! the day before Christmas Eve, and she knew the shops would be very busy with everyone panicking to get their food and present shopping done in time for Christmas Day. Suzy was pleased that she didn’t have to go to work until after the New Year, she loved being at home and it gave her time to meet all her friends in Second Life, oh the joys of staying up late and not worrying about getting up early for work the next day. It also meant she could spend more time with her SL partner who lived in Scotland. Peter was her SL love and he also worked during the day, so they met each evening and spent their time chatting and meeting their on-line friends in the virtual clubs and SL hot spots. Although Suzy and Peter had married in SL, they had never actually met face to face in real life, although it was always the plan to meet eventually, taking their romance a step further, but they just never seemed to get the chance to visit each other and had to make do with talking via SL, on Skype, or on the phone.

Leaving Streatham train station she made her way along the road towards the local supermarket, the shops were very pretty with their windows decked out with Christmas lights which reflected off the wet pavements where the first batch of winter snow had partially melted. Suzy’s head was full of what she would buy as she hurried to the pelican crossing to catch the ‘cross now’ sign before the traffic lights changed; but it was too late, as she stepped into the road she suddenly saw a speeding car, the driver, who was chatting on his mobile phone, just didn’t see her and next thing she was knocked into the air landing heavily in the kerb. She lay prone in the road as people gathered round to help her and someone quickly called an ambulance from their mobile.

Suzy had sustained a slight head injury and a great deal of bruising, she awoke in a hospital ward to see anxious nurses monitoring her as she drifted in and out of consciousness. She was lucky; when she finally woke right up, the doctor told her that apart from slight concussion she had no broken bones and should be able to recover at home. They said they would keep her in hospital for another couple of hours just to make sure her head was ok. The hospital staff had wanted to contact Suzy’s next of kin, but she didn’t want to bother her parents, as she knew they would be busy getting ready for Christmas; they’d panic and come over, so she told the doctor to leave it. She thanked the doctor and decided to try to sleep for a while. Very soon the nurse came to call her to tell her she could go home. They called a taxi and Suzy set off thinking how much worse things might have been and how lucky she was that she hadn’t been badly injured.

She got home to her little flat and switched the kettle on to make a cup of coffee, strangely her aches and pains seem to have gone, although she put this down to the medication that the nurses had given her. She wanted to talk to someone and she knew all her friends would be out shopping or getting ready to go out for the evening, so she decided to log into Second Life to see if Peter was around. Suzy’s avatar name in SL was SuzyQcute Brimstone, known as Suz to her mates in the virtual world and Peter had picked MattyMat Swordfighter for his avatar, Mat to his friends!

Sure enough Mat was on line and Suz teleported over to his location to see him. Mat was pleased to see her and they hugged and kissed as she told him that she had been knocked down by a car, but was fine! Mat was worried and wanted her to rest, but she insisted that they go dancing, she just wanted to be with him and everything would be ok. Suzy had always wanted to marry Mat in real life, but he never seemed to think about settling down, the fact that they lived so many miles apart didn’t help, and as they danced Suz talked about how lovely it would be to finally get together in the real world. Mat didn’t say much, but he did say he loved her very much and that one day he would make the journey down from Scotland to stay with her, so they could really be together. In fact Mat thought of nothing else but Suz, but he was always broke, and he wanted to search for a job down in London before he proposed to Suzy in real life, he thought she deserved someone who would look after her.

They had gone to Phat Cat’s Nightclub and the romantic mood really cheered Suz up, she loved these SL Jazz clubs and it gave her an excuse to dance close to Peter’s avatar. She could actually visualise being in his arms and it filled her with a warm glow. Suz saw another couple of her friends log on and she suggested to Mat that that they go over and see them for a game of ‘Greedy Greedy’, the popular SL dice game. She sent a message to Bethhanie and Johnjon and they all met up at one of the gaming sims. Suz chatted away to her friends, talking about Christmas and what Bethhanie and Johnjon would be doing in real life. Suz’s luck was in and she won a couple of games of Greedy, getting the highest score, her name proudly written on the top of the score counter showing how many points she had achieved. Her internet connection kept fading though, and she finally had to admit defeat and tell her friends she had to log off, she was reluctant to leave her Peter, but she felt strangely light-headed. Mat and Suz stood up and joined in a close hug, saying their goodbyes and agreeing to meet the next morning as Suzy hit the ‘quit’ button and logged off.

Suddenly Suzy felt the room begin to sway, gripping the table in front of her, she got frightened as she felt as if she was losing her sight, blackness appearing in her outer vision moving swiftly inwards leaving just a pinprick of light in the middle. She had the sensation of flying, a rushing, spinning feeling, as if she was being drawn into the bright light, travelling very fast down the dark tunnel. Then she heard voices: “go back!” they demanded “go back, it’s not your time” they whispered harshly and she knew she must listen to them. She finally made a huge effort into resisting the lure of the light and the tunnel spun even more, the light disappearing into blackness as she felt a hard thud, as if her soul had dropped back violently into her lifeless body.

Suzy slowly opened her eyes, blinking against the morning light shining through the window. It took a few seconds for her to realise that she was in bed and there were people sitting next to her. She was in the hospital, with her mother and father at her bedside. Her Mum and Dad quickly called for the nurse and fussed over her as she woke up, telling her she’d been unconscious since the accident and it was now Christmas Morning. Suzy blinked again, but…. She wanted to tell them that this can’t be so, as she had left the hospital and gone home on Friday; then she realised she must have been dreaming and decided to say nothing about it.

The nurse drew the curtains around her bed, ushering her parents out of the ward for a few minutes, as the doctor arrived and examined her. The doctor told her they had been worried about her condition as she had been unconscious since her admittance to the hospital. He said that they would run some tests tomorrow and if all was well she would be discharged in the next few days.

The doctor left and Suzy’s parents came back in. Her Mum told her that there was someone else waiting to see her and they would come back later, telling the person to come in as they left. Kissing Suzy goodbye for now, her parents went off to the hospital café for a cup of tea.

Suzy suddenly saw someone framed in the doorway, a tall dark good-looking man who she had never seen in real life before, except over the internet and as his avatar Mat! Peter approached the bed and stood there smiling down at her. “Peter” she gasped in amazement, suddenly aware of what a mess she must look. Peter sat down next to her, taking her hand and putting it to his lips as he gently kissed it. “My beautiful Suz” he said “I was so worried and I wanted to tell you just how much I love you.” Peter explained that Suzy’s parents had phoned him on Christmas Eve after they had found his telephone number next to her computer in her flat; they had gone there to get Suzy’s nightclothes and toiletries to take back to the hospital. Luckily the hospital had been able to trace Suzy’s parents from her mobile phone which had been left undamaged by the accident. Suzy’s Mum and Dad knew all about her love for Peter in Second Life, so they knew he would be wondering where she was if they didn’t contact him.

Peter had been puzzled however, in spite of being worried out of his life about the news of Suzy’s accident and the fact she was unconscious, he thought he must have been dreaming, as he and Suzy had met in SL, when all the time she had been in hospital, which made it impossible. Peter had set off straight away to get a train down to London, not an easy task on Christmas Eve, but he had thankfully made it ok.

Suzy had tears in her eyes as she gazed at Peter, her Peter who she was now finally meeting; her heart skipped a beat for this real person, just as it had seeing his avatar in SL every time she met the virtual him. “It’s strange Peter” she told him, “I must have been dreaming while I was unconscious, because I thought I had gone home and logged into SL where we met and went dancing” It was Peter’s turn to look astonished, as he told her that he had the same experience and was beginning to think he was losing his mind. He said they had met their friends Bethhanie and Johnjon and they even played Greedy Greedy together. Suzy was equally astounded, and agreed that they had done this, they were puzzled; how could they both have had the same dream?

Peter looked into Suzy’s eyes, he felt such love for this girl and he realised that he had nearly lost her when he heard about the accident. He put his hand in his coat pocket and took out a tiny box. He told Suzy how deeply he felt about her and as he opened the little box, Suzy spotted an antique diamond ring inside it. “Will you marry me SuzyQcute?” he asked Suzy. Suz beamed a smile, her eyes filling with tears again as she said “Yes please”. Peter had tears in his eyes too and he felt so happy that this lovely girl would be his wife. “This was my grandmother’s engagement ring” he explained. He had brought it along as he hadn’t had time to buy another ring. He told Suzy she could choose her own engagement ring if she didn’t like this one. Peter took the ring from the box and slipped it onto Suzy’s finger, it fitted perfectly. Suzy said she loved it and would cherish the ring as they kissed, both filled with such joy and happiness.

Peter stayed at Suzy’s bedsit until she was allowed out of hospital. When she got home they decided to log into Second Life on Suzy’s computer. Suzy’s avatar was logged into her last location, the Greedy, Greedy table, where they’d had a game before she’d logged off. To their amazement, they looked at the scoreboard and there was Suzy’s score! The score she’d achieved when she was actually in hospital in real life! Friends Bethhanie and Johnjon were on line and Suzy sent a message to say ‘Hi’ She asked them about the game and they said yes it was good, and they would have to meet up for another soon. Wishing them a Happy Christmas, Suzy kept quiet about being in hospital and SL at the same time, she thought they might not believe her as she could hardly believe it herself. She was so happy, she had her Peter sitting by her side, the world was a wonderful place; SL had spun its magic for them both and it was their secret.

As it turned out, it was the best Christmas Suzy had ever had, she had her whole life ahead of her with the man she adored and loved so deeply. A few months later, to Suzy and Peter's joy, their virtual wedding turned into the real thing!

Happy Christmas to everyone and a peaceful and prosperous New Year for 2012.

Janey Bracken

Christmas Story 2011 - Part 4 - Christmas Dreams Come True

JaneyBracken — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 21:35:24 GMT

Part 4

Peter looked into Suzy’s eyes, he felt such love for this girl and he realised that he had nearly lost her when he heard about the accident. He put his hand in his coat pocket and took out a tiny box. He told Suzy how deeply he felt about her and as he opened the little box, Suzy spotted an antique diamond ring inside it. “Will you marry me SuzyQcute?” he asked Suzy. Suz beamed a smile, her eyes filling with tears again as she said “Yes please”. Peter had tears in his eyes too and he felt so happy that this lovely girl would be his wife. “This was my grandmother’s engagement ring” he explained. He had brought it along as he hadn’t had time to buy another ring. He told Suzy she could choose her own engagement ring if she didn’t like this one. Peter took the ring from the box and slipped it onto Suzy’s finger, it fitted perfectly. Suzy said she loved it and would cherish the ring as they kissed, both filled with such joy and happiness.

Peter stayed at Suzy’s bedsit until she was allowed out of hospital. When she got home they decided to log into Second Life on Suzy’s computer. Suzy’s avatar was logged into her last location, the Greedy, Greedy table, where they’d had a game before she’d logged off. To their amazement, they looked at the scoreboard and there was Suzy’s score! The score she’d achieved when she was actually in hospital in real life! Friends Bethhanie and Johnjon were on line and Suzy sent a message to say ‘Hi’ She asked them about the game and they said yes it was good, and they would have to meet up for another soon. Wishing them a Happy Christmas, Suzy kept quiet about being in hospital and SL at the same time, she thought they might not believe her as she could hardly believe it herself. She was so happy, she had her Peter sitting by her side, the world was a wonderful place; SL had spun its magic for them both and it was their secret.

As it turned out, it was the best Christmas Suzy had ever had, she had her whole life ahead of her with the man she adored and loved so deeply. A few months later, to Suzy and Peter's joy, their virtual wedding turned into the real thing!

Happy Christmas to everyone and a peaceful and prosperous New Year for 2012. Janey Bracken

Christmas Story 2011 - Part 2 - Christmas Dreams Come True

JaneyBracken — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 21:30:30 GMT

Part 2

Suzy got home to her little flat and switched the kettle on to make a cup of coffee, strangely her aches and pains seem to have gone, although she put this down to the medication that the nurses had given her. She wanted to talk to someone and she knew all her friends would be out shopping or getting ready to go out for the evening, so she decided to log into Second Life to see if Peter was around. Suzy’s avatar name in SL was SuzyQcute Brimstone, known as Suz to her mates in the virtual world and Peter had picked MattyMat Swordfighter for his avatar, Mat to his friends!

Sure enough Mat was on line and Suz teleported over to his location to see him. Mat was pleased to see her and they hugged and kissed as she told him that she had been knocked down by a car, but was fine! Mat was worried and wanted her to rest, but she insisted that they go dancing, she just wanted to be with him and everything would be ok. Suzy had always wanted to marry Mat in real life, but he never seemed to think about settling down, the fact that they lived so many miles apart didn’t help, and as they danced Suz talked about how lovely it would be to finally get together in the real world. Mat didn’t say much, but he did say he loved her very much and that one day he would make the journey down from Scotland to stay with her, so they could really be together. In fact Mat thought of nothing else but Suz, but he was always broke, and he wanted to search for a job down in London before he proposed to Suzy in real life, he thought she deserved someone who would look after her.

They had gone to Phat Cat’s Nightclub and the romantic mood really cheered Suz up, she loved these SL Jazz clubs and it gave her an excuse to dance close to Peter’s avatar. She could actually visualise being in his arms and it filled her with a warm glow. Suz saw another couple of her friends log on and she suggested to Mat that that they go over and see them for a game of ‘Greedy Greedy’, the popular SL dice game. She sent a message to Bethhanie and Johnjon and they all met up at one of the gaming sims. Suz chatted away to her friends, talking about Christmas and what Bethhanie and Johnjon would be doing in real life. Suz’s luck was in and she won a couple of games of Greedy, getting the highest score, her name proudly written on the top of the score counter showing how many points she had achieved. Her internet connection kept fading though, and she finally had to admit defeat and tell her friends she had to log off, she was reluctant to leave her Peter, but she felt strangely light-headed. Mat and Suz stood up and joined in a close hug, saying their goodbyes and agreeing to meet the next morning as Suzy hit the ‘quit’ button and logged off.

Suddenly Suzy felt the room begin to sway, gripping the table in front of her, she got frightened as she felt as if she was losing her sight, blackness appearing in her outer vision moving swiftly inwards leaving just a pinprick of light in the middle. She had the sensation of flying, a rushing, spinning feeling, as if she was being drawn into the bright light, travelling very fast down the dark tunnel. Then she heard voices: “go back!” they demanded “go back, it’s not your time” they whispered harshly and she knew she must listen to them. She finally made a huge effort into resisting the lure of the light and the tunnel spun even more, the light disappearing into blackness as she felt a hard thud, as if her soul had dropped back violently into her lifeless body……continued.

Christmas Story 2011 - Part 3 - Christmas Dreams Come True

JaneyBracken — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 21:30:19 GMT

Part 3

Suzy slowly opened her eyes, blinking against the morning light shining through the window. It took a few seconds for her to realise that she was in bed and there were people sitting next to her. She was in the hospital, with her mother and father at her bedside. Her Mum and Dad quickly called for the nurse and fussed over her as she woke up, telling her she’d been unconscious since the accident and it was now Christmas Morning. Suzy blinked again, but…. She wanted to tell them that this can’t be so, as she had left the hospital and gone home on Friday; then she realised she must have been dreaming and decided to say nothing about it.

The nurse drew the curtains around her bed, ushering her parents out of the ward for a few minutes, as the doctor arrived and examined her. The doctor told her they had been worried about her condition as she had been unconscious since her admittance to the hospital. He said that they would run some tests tomorrow and if all was well she would be discharged in the next few days.

The doctor left and Suzy’s parents came back in. Her Mum told her that there was someone else waiting to see her and they would come back later, telling the person to come in as they left. Kissing Suzy goodbye for now, her parents went off to the hospital café for a cup of tea.

Suzy suddenly saw someone framed in the doorway, a tall dark good-looking man who she had never seen in real life before, except over the internet and as his avatar Mat! Peter approached the bed and stood there smiling down at her. “Peter” she gasped in amazement, suddenly aware of what a mess she must look. Peter sat down next to her, taking her hand and putting it to his lips as he gently kissed it. “My beautiful Suz” he said “I was so worried and I wanted to tell you just how much I love you.” Peter explained that Suzy’s parents had phoned him on Christmas Eve after they had found his telephone number next to her computer in her flat; they had gone there to get Suzy’s nightclothes and toiletries to take back to the hospital. Luckily the hospital had been able to trace Suzy’s parents from her mobile phone which had been left undamaged by the accident. Suzy’s Mum and Dad knew all about her love for Peter in Second Life, so they knew he would be wondering where she was if they didn’t contact him.

Peter had been puzzled however, in spite of being worried out of his life about the news of Suzy’s accident and the fact she was unconscious, he thought he must have been dreaming, as he and Suzy had met in SL, when all the time she had been in hospital, which made it impossible. Peter had set off straight away to get a train down to London, not an easy task on Christmas Eve, but he had thankfully made it ok.

Suzy had tears in her eyes as she gazed at Peter, her Peter who she was now finally meeting; her heart skipped a beat for this real person, just as it had seeing his avatar in SL every time she met the virtual him. “It’s strange Peter” she told him, “I must have been dreaming while I was unconscious, because I thought I had gone home and logged into SL where we met and went dancing” It was Peter’s turn to look astonished, as he told her that he had the same experience and was beginning to think he was losing his mind. He said they had met their friends Bethhanie and Johnjon and they even played Greedy Greedy together. Suzy was equally astounded, and agreed that they had done this, they were puzzled; how could they both have had the same dream?…….continued

Christmas Story 2011 - Part 1 - Christmas Dreams Come True

JaneyBracken — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 21:25:31 GMT

Part 1

Suzy was worrying about getting enough food in for the Christmas holidays. She was going to her Mum and Dad’s house Christmas Day, but she wanted to make sure she could give her friends something nice to eat and a drink, just in case they dropped in to wish her a happy Christmas.

She was on her way home to her bedsit in Streatham from her office job in Marylebone Road, Central London; it was Friday at last! the day before Christmas Eve, and she knew the shops would be very busy with everyone panicking to get their food and present shopping done in time for Christmas Day. Suzy was pleased that she didn’t have to go to work until after the New Year, she loved being at home and it gave her time to meet all her friends in Second Life, oh the joys of staying up late and not worrying about getting up early for work the next day. It also meant she could spend more time with her SL partner who lived in Scotland. Peter was her SL love and he also worked during the day, so they met each evening and spent their time chatting and meeting their on-line friends in the virtual clubs and SL hot spots. Although Suzy and Peter had married in SL, they had never actually met face to face in real life, although it was always the plan to meet eventually, taking their romance a step further, but they just never seemed to get the chance to visit each other and had to make do with talking via SL, on Skype, or on the phone.

Leaving Streatham train station she made her way along the road towards the local supermarket, the shops were very pretty with their windows decked out with Christmas lights which reflected off the wet pavements where the first batch of winter snow had partially melted. Suzy’s head was full of what she would buy as she hurried to the pelican crossing to catch the ‘cross now’ sign before the traffic lights changed; but it was too late, as she stepped into the road she suddenly saw a speeding car, the driver, who was chatting on his mobile phone, just didn’t see her and next thing she was knocked into the air landing heavily in the kerb. She lay prone in the road as people gathered round to help her and someone quickly called an ambulance from their mobile.

Suzy had sustained a slight head injury and a great deal of bruising, she awoke in a hospital ward to see anxious nurses monitoring her as she drifted in and out of consciousness. She was lucky; when she finally woke right up, the doctor told her that apart from slight concussion she had no broken bones and should be able to recover at home. They said they would keep her in hospital for another couple of hours just to make sure her head was ok. The hospital staff had wanted to contact Suzy’s next of kin, but she didn’t want to bother her parents, as she knew they would be busy getting ready for Christmas; they’d panic and come over, so she told the doctor to leave it. She thanked the doctor and decided to try to sleep for a while. Very soon the nurse came to call her to tell her she could go home. They called a taxi and Suzy set off thinking how much worse things might have been and how lucky she was that she hadn’t been badly injured…….continued

The End of Second Life is Nigh

any1gynoid — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 14:50:29 GMT

This week, Linden Labs lost its focus on Second Life. According to New World Notes, Lindens would rather invent new online games from scratch rather than invest in its sole product to date, Second Life (SL). SL is profitable today, but not forever. A proverbial cash cow, SL will be drained of cash as land prices fall and people and businesses abandon ship.

When did Second Life lose its mojo? The signs are all around us. Within 2 months, Viewer 1 and Phoenix will be eliminated. Metanomics and Dresden Gallery are history. Language translators stopped working! Mass layoffs at Linden Labs (LL); a whole new “gamer” team runs the show. Big business ditched Second Life. Out of the Fortune 100, only 2 remain: Dell Computer and a few embarrassing prims on IBM Events region. CNN/Time-Warner quit SL today 27Dec2011! See Janey's story! Dedicated SL reporters from Reuters, New York Times, and Wired? Gone!

When early rumors surfaced about SL’s decline in 2008, Lindens promoted Second Life as The Educational Platform. But 1 year ago, Lindens closed down the teen education grid, a big flop, and cancelled all educational discounts on SL land. Abandoning yet another promising dream. Now, New Caerleon, SL’s premiere arts community shuts down, because nonprofits lost their discounts too. SL Shakespeare fell prey to that price increase! Makes one wonder.

SL Land prices are tumbling. People who bought into SL land at peak prices are screwed. Says Poison Toocool: “Linden Labs is totally trashing people's investment now... people who bought land for $10Ls a square meter [sqm] now find LL selling mainland for $1L a sqm... People are losing out. I have a friend who bought mainland for $400 US and sold it 3 or 4 years later for like $90... criminal.” US $1 is about 260 Linden Dollars ($260L).

Last year the buzz was Voice Morphing and this year Mesh graphics. Technologies with so little impact, that most of us easily ignore them. Mesh is trendy with machinima makers. But since mesh clothing has to be custom fit to each avatar; it’s completely unworkable commercially. And, Kristens Viewer, the darling of many SL creatives, has ceased development because very few of us would pay for the 1 programmer needed to maintain that feature-rich SL Viewer.

SL’s technology is what it is. Fantastic for artists, builders, DeeJays, and musicians. A dream come true. But business friendly it is not. Notoriously unreliable, especially SL voice. But there are alternatives: FreeSwitch is a industrial-grade voice system which readily integrates with OpenSim, based on voice technology proven to work for a hundred years, ye olde telephone. Duh!

OpenSim ah OpenSim… proliferating roll-your-own versions of SL. Numerous and inexpensive new worlds. And the technology is free! There you find oodles of free prims for your inexhaustible creativity.

Major SL institutions are planning their SL escape. I can't find one who doesn't have a post SL plan! You should too. OpenSim is calling. Cheap or free land, if you provide your own hardware. Friendly communities. Lots of activities. http://tiny.cc/i0rjl And no threat from Linden Labs running your life. Same technology as SL. Loads of content is transferrable: all your clothing designs, image textures, animation files, LSL scripts, and sculpty textures are easily transferred. Free uploads! Find your OpenSim community! Enjoy your Third Life!

THE GOOD NEWS! There is a virtual world coming... A whole new technology... I know not from where or how... but it seems obvious... todays technology is open source, easy.. and desparately needs a from-scratch redesign... Scalability! This Time Sillies! Eeeeep!

In pictures 1 and 2, I shake my OpenSim bootay on 3rd Rock Grid! I feel totally comfortable here, in a world owned by benevolent SL friends! Sign up free! http://3rdrockgrid.com/ and Community Calendar http://tiny.cc/i0rjl

Bibliography for this Story

Introduction to OpenSim and HyperGrid Adventurer’s Club http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-555219

Another OpenSim community http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-573733
And http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-558830

New Caerleon arts community closing in SL http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-703241

NWN article predicts declining land revenues…end to SL profitability
http://nwn.blogs.com/nwn/2011/12/2012-linden-lab-pivots-from-second-life.html

SL Newser Editor-in-Chief Bixyl Shuftan weighs in on this important topic, the future of SL

http://slnewser.blogspot.com/2011/12/rod-humbles-2012-outlook-better-npcs.html

Ener Hax weighs in... and very interesting commentary follows

http://iliveisl.com/second-life-is-almost-dead-again/

Kristens abandons viewer development
http://slnewser.blogspot.com/2011/12/and-finally-kristen-viewers-crowdfunder.html

Metanomics shut down and Secondlife Business and Economy group abandoned http://secondlifebae.wordpress.com/

When CNN nearly abandons SL; iReporters intervened. http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-579160

End of Educational Sim discounts

http://thejournal.com/articles/2010/11/03/linden-lab-to-end-second-life-educational-discounts.aspx

http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/second-life-to-drop-educational-discount/27458

Closing of Teen Grid http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-500618

Yoko Ono quits SL after bad press story by Janey Bracken http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-501203

As early as 2007, people were predicting the end of SL http://www.i-boy.com/weblog/2007/07/second-life-closed-for-business.html

and

http://techcrunch.com/2007/07/14/will-the-last-corporation-leaving-second-life-please-turn-off-the-light/

Technology flops in Second Life: Mesh

http://dwellonit.taterunino.net/2011/09/19/the-effects-of-the-mesh-content-type-on-second-life/

Teleplace goes bust December 23, 2011 - This is opportunity for Lindens to re-enter the virtual collaboration market - all the IP is open sourced as OpenQwaq

http://www.hypergridbusiness.com/2011/12/teleplace-gone-3d-icc-steps-in-to-help-customers/

On December 17, 2011... Annoucement: Lindens will soon eliminate Viewer 1 and Phoenix. In other words, most current SL users are in LL's way, impeding their perogative to make money faster. Phoenix developers say "LL must kill Viewer 1; but they can't afford to kill it yet." Video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4eIB-BGYCU&feature=youtu.be

Have an SL language translator for text chat? Good luck with that! You have to migrate to Viewer 2 or Firestorm and PAY for Google API Key or apparently sign up for one from Bing http://wiki.phoenixviewer.com/doku.php?id=translation_settings_floater

Occupy EARTH: REAL IMPACT

any1gynoid — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 16:25:32 GMT

Easily 400 people attended OCCUPY EARTH worldwide, a 24 hour online music and poetry festival; Occupiers raised enough funding to keep over 200 hands warm this winter at Occupy Wall Streets all over America and the World. Literally ALL DAY December 17, 2011, this truly global event featured 5 hours of Live Poetry Readings, 7 hours of Live Music Concerts, and 10 hours of Incredibly Fun DeeJay Parties. See the timeline: http://tiny.cc/vcw9t

My Occupy Earth Rant! Hey! Ratigan Has One! My Turn! http://tiny.cc/q893n

Billy Bob Neck (billybob.finesmith) graced Occupy Earth with his sermonizing about G-d and home-spun winger ideologies (Picture 7)... Laying it on thick about us Occupy Wierdos, (like Why don’t we just get jobs? Really!)… Billy really got our blood boiling… we were thinking “Is this guy for real???”

Then it struck me! OMG… I’m ranting like crazy while this guy talks… He’s clearly got our creative juices flowing… His approach is gentle and kind… Kinda like Stephen Colbert on heavy medication! LOL And Billy is the perfect foil to hone your ideas, sharpen your rhetoric. We all need that kind of training… while swimming in the intellectual propaganda storm… that characterizes our times. Guard Your Gourd! Big Time!

My Rant: So called “pepper spray” is really a dangerous CHEMICAL WEAPON… So dangerous and evil that it’s a WAR CRIME. http://nopepperspray.org/ In 2006, use of Chemical Weapons in the United States was condemned by a Federal court, the victimized peaceful protesters won their case overwhelmingly. So why are our civil rights, as peaceful Occupy protesters, being violently attacked via Chemical Weapons War Crimes??? Clearly, the 1st and 8th Amendments to the US Constitution are breached.

Just to remind all of us, (because so many have forgotten!), The First Amendment of the US Constitution States: “Congress shall make no law … abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble…”

The 8th Amendment, in the Bill of Rights, in the US Constitution states: “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.” Don’t you think that spraying extremely painful Chemical Weapons in the eyes, nose, and throats of peaceful protesters might be CRUEL?

ALL US OFFICIALS, Police, Military, Civil Servants, and Politicians, have a sworn duty to protect and defend the US Constitution... Priority #1... WTF! When are you going to start doing your JOB??? I am reminding you of your Oaths of Allegiance.. START DEFENDING FREE SPEECH and never cruelty http://tiny.cc/vdhb3

In a nutshell, here is what I learned at Occupy Earth Music Festival:
YOU MUST FIGHT for your RIGHTS or LOSE THEM!
Your Right To VOTE!
Your Right to SANE FOOD!
Your RIght to HEALTH CARE!
Your Right to Educational Opportunity!
Your Right to FAIR PAID WORK!
Or LOSE YOUR RIGHTS... Forever Amen Brother Billy! ;-)
ONLY YOU CAN SAVE THE WORLD!
Start Here: http://tiny.cc/qlazx

The Whole Occupy Earth Story!

In Picture 2, I warmed up the stage with a few guitar licks, long before dawn, helping get our 24 hour LiveStream set up properly. I realized about 6 hours before showtime that DOH! We forgot to decorate the showplace! I put out an Emergency Call for Artists and Builders! OMG!

And Thank G-d!!! Velazquez Bonito came to the rescue! The best stage-show designer in SL, among his numerous awesome talents! In way less than an hour, he had it all sorted. An amazingly beautiful original stage set design donated for Occupy Earth, adapted from his build for the long anticipated new SL Rock Opera: The Change! SNAPS for VELA! Woooooot!

Serene Bechir, our poetic heroine, kicked off Occupy Earth Music & Poetry Festival with a standalone recitation of original and classic poetry (Pictures 5 and 6). We started Occupy Earth with over 10 avatar-users; the crowd grew and grew all day, so that over 400 unique users attended various events… the 24 hours ended with 31 avatars in the region, which is a huge crowd for any event by Second Life standards. An Outstanding Success! Well done one and all!!!

Fun Happened! Imagine a Kangaroo Stampede crashing through an “off the rails” dance party… then see it for real in Pictures 3 and 4. In Picture 4 on my left and right are two of the most famous music personalities in Second Life, Eifachfilm Vacirca and ZenBeatz ( http://tiny.cc/531en ). ZenBeatz is an accomplished music promoter and the inspiration for making Occupy Earth “24 Hours”… Her and her extremely fun Larrikin Aussie Mates… made it possible to fill the Occupy Earth schedule without stop! SNAPS for ZENBEATZ!!! But wait there’s more… you can hear DeeJay Eifachfilm’s entire Occupy Earth deejay tracks set for free at: http://tiny.cc/yi30s

A few (who deserve very special mention) among the numerous other organizers of Occupy Earth Music Festival include: Graine MacBain, Merry Arun, and Merriam Galaxy. Graine's proper THANK YOU is posted here: http://grainemac.blog.com/ SNAPS TO YOU ALL!

Do the Math! 104,495 Linden Dollars donated by Occupy Earth to Occupy Supply, a benefit cause of Fire Dog Lake supporting the physical needs of Occupy Wall Street. http://tiny.cc/zjkmx C’mon DONATE! Give it up! With over 400 visitors at Occupy Earth, that means the “average” contribution was more than 1 real dollar per user. That means every 4 users donated enough for a pair of US Made Mil-Spec Woolen Gloves! The Best Kind! http://tiny.cc/fpynp Those 100 pairs of winter gloves is enough to outfit any one of the largest Occupy Wall Street General Assemblies in the world! SNAPS for OCCUPY EARTH!

And that’s my story and our Occupy Earth story! It’s a Very Important Piece of 3-D Internet Herstory! I wrote it up for posterity and for you to savor! Our legacy to you… Now don’t delay! Fight for your rights! Get yer ya yas out! And OCCUPY!!! http://www.occupytogether.org/ There is an Occupy Near You! And We in Occupy SL are always within reach! Everywhere!

The Making of Christmas at Jamaica Inn - Part 2

JaneyBracken — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 15:25:32 GMT

(continued from part 1)

Both Whisper and Hibiscus have galleries in the sim and it’s nice that people can pick a picture as a gift if they want to do a bit of Christmas shopping while they visit. The hunt was on for us then to get some seasonal music streamed into Jamaica Inn. We had found some music steams on the internet, but most of it was either lots of carols, which are nice, but not for all the time, or an odd assortment of festive or not so festive tunes, which didn’t really appeal. Up4 sent me a message saying he was searching for some lively music and I said I was looking too. He finally found a channel to suit us both and it’s a good selection of Christmas tunes!

Both Hib and I have a couple of small dance areas all year round in Jamaica Inn and Hib has a Greedy Greedy table, the very popular dice game where up to eight people can join the game. Hib, Drax, and I are all hooked on Greedy and friend Ed Follet comes over to play too, so we thought the table was a good idea in the Christmas sim, as people need something to do when they visit. I also have a ‘Truthball’ in the main building of my parcel. People can sit by the log fire and click on the Truthball, which asks them questions, so visitors can get to know each other and guess if their fellow avatars are telling the truth or having a laugh and making up their answers! It’s a great way of breaking the ice and making friends!

Hib has a Santa in her gallery and he’s very friendly, visitors can sit on his knee and tell him what they want for Christmas, they might not get it, but it’s nice to wish! I guess I’m wishing for a better world, where ordinary, hard working people and their families are treated with respect by those who are supposed to take the responsibility of being in charge of our lives. With the peoples of the world uniting to take back control, I think I might just get my wish!

I was delighted to see Lexie Linden from Linden Labs stop by Jamaica Inn and she said she had been ice skating and thought it was a fun sim; so nice of her to comment, thanks Lexie!

So come on over and share our Christmas in Jamaica Inn and have a great time with your virtual friends!

P.S. You might see ‘Santa Drax Claus’ wandering around the sim, the beard really suits him! say Hi and tell him not to forget your present this year!

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Jamaica%20Inn/95/207/23 Hibiscus Hastings Gallery

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Jamaica%20Inn/222/230/23 Whisper Fearne’s Gallery

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Jamaica%20Inn/170/55/23 Drax Ember’s land

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Jamaica%20Inn/52/34/23 Jamaica Inn

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Heart%203/57/223/21 Heart’s Garden Centre

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Old%20Europe/5/207/23 Old Europe

http://slurl.com/secondlife/TARDIS/188/61/23 New London Village

The Making of Christmas at Jamaica Inn - Part 1

JaneyBracken — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 15:10:33 GMT

I started building my Christmas sim a couple of months ago, I thought I would need plenty of time to get it ready, and with only 937 prims (Second Life building blocks, out of which everything is made) available on my quarter of the homestead, it was going to take some planning to get all my stuff out with prims to spare; luckily I have made a lot of my Christmas decs with just one or two prims, which I guess other people would appreciate too if they bought my items, as prim laden objects are a problem if you live somewhere where prims are restricted. I share the homestead with fellow writer and friend Hibiscus Hastings, good friends Drax Ember, Whisper Fearne and Cliff Chesnokov. Hib had started to decorate her part of the sim just after me and we asked the others if they minded having snow on the ground early in December. Cliff kindly changed the texture for us to a crisp white landscape and magically it felt just like Christmas was really here!

I’d greatly admired the Old Europe sim over the years and loved the street lighting Up4 Daws and Rux Anatra had there, so I went over to Hearts Garden Centre and bought some similar lights to put in our Jamaica Inn sim. The yellow glow of the stringed lights really adds to the Christmas feel. Our friends in the New London Village sim, which also looks astounding, use the lights too, well done to Lilith and Dolly Heart for their beautiful designs of lighting and plants all year round! By the way, Up4 has a novelty in one of his shops in Old Europe, a wonderful pottery wheel where your avatar can sit and make pots. Not only that, but you can give the pots to your friends as presents, a wow of an idea! He and Rux have also invented a Christmas tree that has a box of baubles with it. You pick a bauble and then you can dress the tree, a clever bit of scripting if ever I saw one! My Christmas trees aren’t so exciting, but hopefully they are pretty enough for people to want to take them home!

I got my little Christmas shop organised in Jamaica Inn, with my own designs and some freebies too to pick up in other parts of the sim. Hib busily set up a wonderland in her own parcel, including a tall snowy hill where you can rez a bobsleigh and ride all around the sim at great speed, either alone or with a partner, it’s such fun! I crashed the bobsleigh the same as I do driving a car in SL, I’m definitely not a good virtual driver! I did hop on board with Drax and he managed the sleigh a lot better than me! Hib also put a nice slow ride out with a horse-drawn sleigh where couples can explore at a gentler pace. Hibiscus has enjoyed this all as much as me, we were like a couple of kids looking for things to put out that we hoped would delight our visitors.

Drax, whose land backs onto mine, kindly let me decorate his parcel as well. I couldn’t rez Linden trees on his land, maybe it can be done and maybe we needed to set something, but I couldn’t manage it, so I asked him to rez some trees for me so I could copy them and move them to where I wanted them. I stayed up late with lots of tree moving and I was really pleased with the effect when I’d finished, a virtual snowy pine forest to make the area look natural. Unfortunately, when I logged in the next day, the trees had vanished! Oh well, I’ll never understand the science of SL! I took myself over to Botanicals, a wow of a place for trees and plants, and bought some bare winter trees as well as a couple of their magnificent Christmas pines with sparkling fairy lights which I just love! Coming back I replanted Drax’s parcel with the trees and sectioned his house off with a giant Mega-prim to make a hill, turning it on its side and texturing it with snow, just to give his house a little privacy from the callers. (continued in part 2….thanks to CNN’s new limit on 4000 characters)

Dec 17 OCCUPY EARTH 24hr Music Fest in Second Life

any1gynoid — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 12:02:28 GMT

Finally, we OCCUPY EARTH! From our perch at SL’s International Space Station, we see beyond horizons (Picture 1 and 4). We wake up from the American Dream, never to fall asleep again. An untamed optimism beats in our hearts. Indeed, wildly optimistic souls envisioned a perfect day, 24 hours of peace, love, truth, and joy.

And so it came to be… The Occupy Earth Music Festival… available to all people of all nations in all time zones from anywhere on Earth on December 17, 2011. Free.

Online Schedule for Occupy Earth Music Festival http://tiny.cc/x6t46 All times are US Pacific (SL Time).

Click this SL URL on December 17, 2011 to visit Occupy Earth Music Festival at Ground Zero in Second Life: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Atlantizz/23/225/21

In the organizers’ own words, from Occupy Earth Music Festival:

Occupy Earth Music Festival: a 24-hour musical benefit supporting 1st Life Occupiers

Join us for Occupy SL's Occupy Earth Music Festival, a 24 hour benefit for the on-the-ground Occupiers in real life. To be held for the 24hrs of Saturday, Dec.17, from midnight to midnight. Featuring DJ's: Baxter Aubin, Solange Simondsen, Eifachfilm Vacirca, NTropy Sellers, ZenBeatz, Allison Widdershins, Kookie Hax, Lolotehe Menoptra, and many more! Live musicians: POL Arida, Luvvie Starsider, Thunderfoot Lorefield, Virtual Live Band, Strum Diesel. And an hour of arousing, revolutionary poetry.

December 17th (2011) is the three month anniversary of Occupy Wall Street. We will be passing donations on to OccupySupply, a project of Firedoglake.com. OccupySupply works directly with Occupy demonstrators and organizers to meet their needs for warm clothes, camping gear, and winter supplies while they hold the ground... until the corporations start paying what they owe!

Occupy SL is the largest Occupy Wall Street solidarity group in SL. We have been organizing and educating around the issues that the 1st life Occupy movement is in the streets about. Occupy SL is democratically organized, non-violent, and here in SL to educate and promote for change in the economic injustices of our time.

Join Occupy SL group:

secondlife:///app/group/4ede932b-e53d-3c49-712b-99b3c59b2294/about

(Copy and paste into SL chat and then click it)

SL URL to our in-world location at SLLU:

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Flagg/221/64/94

Check out the Occupy SL facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/OccupySL
and on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/#%21/search?q=%23OccupySL

Occupy United Nations in SL

any1gynoid — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 12:56:58 GMT

Occupy United Nations took place on UN Human Rights Day, the final day of the 16 Days Against Gender Violence campaign in Real Life and Second Life. We marched to the UN in solidarity with Stand4Freedom.org, an NAACP movement supporting voter rights for US Citizens. Say What?

Voting Rights are being systematically stripped away by State Legislatures passing racist laws, a new form of Poll Taxes. See http://www.ALECExposed.org/ In fact, half of people of color have already lost their voting rights in Wisconsin USA, and before long ALEC bills will disenfranchise one quarter of people of color of voting age in the United States. This is a moral and racist crime.

Why? Because these are some of the people who overwhelmingly elected Barak Obama in 2008. The union busting state legislatures want the 2012 electorate to look like 2010, when corporate-bought politicians were swept in legislative majorities through false advertising and propaganda. Union busting slavery is not what we the people wanted, and we soundly defeated their evil law in Ohio with a whole lot of 99% Occupy power. http://tiny.cc/c20sd Soon, the Governor of Wisconsin will be recalled in similar fashion. For good reason.

What the heck is going on in these United States? Two words: Citizens United. http://tiny.cc/g01ad A coup-de-tat. Regulatory capture gone wild. Are we going to let those super-greedy criminals get away with this? Where is justice?

You can learn a lot of interesting things on http://whoarethe1percent.com/ Such as: Jamie Dimon is an organized crime kingpin who runs JP Morgan Chase. Lloyd Blankfein is a compulsive fraudster, head of the Goldman Sachs crime empire who have thrown millions of people out of their homes. Joseph Cassano at AIG led the team that systematically destroyed the world economy in 2008. Charles and David Koch are some of the top 10 polluters in the US. We know the Koch brothers and their ilk are behind ALEC, as revealed in Wisconsin politics. Why aren’t these people in jail? Instead of Gestapo Police Riots in Los Angeles against peaceful protesters?

Wonderful Charles Dickens' 'A Christmas Carol' Exhibition in SL

JaneyBracken — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 14:36:57 GMT

It’s going to be a ‘Dickens’ of a Christmas! Just imagine it, a small row of London shops and houses with leaded-lite windows, the brick buildings a little bit grimy and care-worn as was the London of Charles Dickens in the 19th Century’s poorer areas of the city. The snow is falling softly and covering the pavements and roofs as the people hurry by, hastily shopping for that last minute present on Christmas Eve. The aroma of chestnuts cooking on a brazier at the side of the road adding to the holiday atmosphere and anticipation of a hearty feast to be had the very next day - Christmas Day! If you listen carefully, you may hear the rattle of chains coming from one of the shops, above the door in bold print is the name of the business ‘Scrooge and Marley’. Marley is long gone, his life of greed and selfishness finally taking its toll, however, if you time it right, you may catch a glimpse of the ghost of Marley through the candlelit window of the upper floor, the chains of avarice he accumulated throughout his life bearing heavily upon him in death.

‘A Christmas Carol’ by Charles Dickens, with its famous character Scrooge, has been recreated in Second Life by the very talented Laredo Lowtide in Kat Kassner’s New London Village sim. Laredo has picked out the main areas from the favourite Christmas story; there’s even a little graveyard with headstones bearing the names of some of the real life actors who played the part of the infamous Scrooge in the legendary movies.

Laredo has converted the inside of the Tower of London, in the New London Village, into the Dickens Street, a very clever idea. He told me “The Tower of London seemed a unique space, a world within a world” The New London Village is not only about London, but also themed on the popular cult television series ‘Doctor Who’. The space ship/time machine in Doctor Who is a ‘Tardis’, looking like a small police phone booth on the outside, but, mysteriously, it’s much larger on the inside, once you pass through the time machine’s door. Well Laredo has done wonders with the interior of the Tower of London, it’s like the Tardis, once you step through the door you get the impression that you are in a bigger area portraying the London street, as he says it’s a world within a world.

There are a couple of freebies to be found and some startling apparitions to be seen. You will also get some information in text about Scrooge and his friends as you travel through the area and go into the shops. It’s a real part of the Festive Season and a ‘must see’, plus ‘A Christmas Carol’ exhibition has probably never been shown in Second Life before, so congratulations to Laredo on such a superb site. The Cratchit’s house is there too and Tiny Tim’s little crutch is seen on the table. As Tiny Tim would have said to us all “God bless us, every one”.

http://slurl.com/secondlife/TARDIS/221/39/26

International Day of Persons with Disabilities December 3, 2011 Islamabad

STEP2011 — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 17:52:37 GMT

International Day of Persons with Disabilities
December 3, 2011 Islamabad
To mark the International Day of Persons with Disabilities 2011, a symbolic solidarity walk is being
organized by Special Talent Exchange Program (STEP) and United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on December 3, 2011 (11.30 am) at Iqra University Islamabad.
Disability and poverty are intertwined. In fact, the qualitative evident suggests that disabled people are
significantly poor in developing countries, and more so than non-disabled counterpart. Many people
with disabilities are denied education or jobs, the disorder may require chronic health care and these in
turn drain the scarce household resources. "Unless disabled people are brought into the development
mainstream, it will be impossible to cut poverty in half by 2015 or to give every girl and boy the chance
to achieve a primary education by the same date which are key among the Millennium Development
Goals agreed to by more than 180 world leaders at the UN Millennium Summit in September 2000."
Observance of the Day globally provides opportunities for participation by all stakeholders –
Governments, the UN system, civil society and organizations of persons with disabilities – to focus on
issues related to the inclusion of persons with disabilities in development, both as beneficiaries and
agents.
600 persons with disabilities, people from all spheres of society, representatives of Government,
International development organizations, representatives of UN agencies are expected to join the event.
A memorandum from the participants urging the representation of disabled persons at policy making
level and requesting the reforms for inclusive education will be handed over to Mr. Mustafa Nawaz
Khokhar, Minister for Human Rights followed by the launching of a nationwide ‘Ramp Campaign’.
For further information:
Website: www.step.org.pk
E-mail: muneeb.ahmed@step.org.pk
Phone: 051-2111331
Mobile: 0321-9053545

JOWHAR SOMALIA

VanCity — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 16:31:35 GMT

JOWHAR SOMALIA

Roleplaying an explosion in City of Concord in Second Life

rynprov — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 22:50:29 GMT

On 2011.11.20-Su at around 00:00nn PST, around 03:00pm E3K-ST (EST), there was a massive roleplay played out at City of Concord Downtown area roleplaying a massive explosion with the Concord Fire Dept, Police Dept and EMS. Roleplayers involved pretended to be dead/injured and was IC (IN CHARACTER)-ly rushed to the hospitial. I took pics of the aftermath and was first posted to the ELITE 3000 Facebook fan page. I decided to submit to iReport along with pics from others.

Here is the roleplay plot and story:

//BEGIN QUOTE
Press Release 20/11/2011 - TO BE RELEASED IMMEDIATELY (CITY OF CONCORD [SECOND LIFE] TO ELITE 3000)

SENT TO ELITE 3000 SECOND LIFE UNIT ON 2011.11.20-Su

(21 LAMBDA E12011 EE/4387.6.14 EMD [E/EY12011 EE ED323 ZL45 EW32 ZG6 EG3 CG4])

TO BE RELEASED IMMEDIATELY

City of Concord, Today at approximately 11:45 AM local time (02:45pmE3K-ST/82.3 EMT) a truck bomb was detonated in what appears to be a terrorist attack by a group of radicals.

The bomb was detonated at Faye and Jesperson in Downtown Concord during an event held by Mayor Aaps59 Aeon to announce the opening of the convention center.

There was a large crowd gathered to hear the mayor speak and they were caught in the blast. An estimated 100 people were in attendance at the event when the bomb went off; the death count so far is reaching 30 people, with injuries to about 50 more ranging from minor to life threatening.

Mayor Aeon was present at the time of the attack and is among the deceased having been struck by a large object throw during the explosion.

There will be a memorial service at the stadium later this week to remember those who have perished in the first successful terrorist attack on American soil since 9/11.

A group who calls themselves "1% of the 99%" has come forward and claimed responsibility for the attacks, vowing that there will be more. It is believed that among the injured was one of those involved in the attack, he is currently in police custody. The Concord Police Department has released no further information at this time about the incident.
//END QUOTE

NOTE: THE FOUR IMAGES WAS FROM ME, THE REST WERE FROM THE COMMUNITY FORUM.

I've Moved!

webspelunker — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 02:07:07 GMT

After six months of posting my stories here at CNN iReports, I’m moving to my own blog to post my new stories about Second Life (SL). Unfortunately, the recent upgrade at CNN iReports prevents me from servicing my readers as they would like.
My new blog is http://webspelunker.blogspot.com/
Please copy and paste this link to your browser if you wish to see my new stories about SL as hyper links are no longer supported within iReports.
I’d like to thank CNN iReports for the opportunity they gave me to get started.
I will be back from time to time in iReports when I have stories that suit the new format.
Thanks to all for reading my stories.
I can be reached at webspelunker@gmail.com .
Open roads!

Occupy Artists in Second Life

any1gynoid — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 12:51:06 GMT

Second Life Artists display amazing creativity as they Occupy Fine Arts in this marvelous group show at the Occupy Wall Street Exhibit hosted by artist/curator Ro Gastel. This show is actually a competition (Picture 2); come on down to vote for your favorite works! In this story, I’ll art critique a few of my favorites, and share why I like these pieces and this show so very much!

Picture 1 is a fantastic cartoon called “Open Wall Street and Let Us In” by Miguel Villova Sanchez. Miguel draws a perfect analogy from the fairy tale of the Three Little Pigs. But this time, the tables are turned!

Pictures 3 and 4 are artist/curator Ro Gastel’s Occupy Festival, a party event celebrating the Occupy Movement. DeeJay Moruith Drezelan spins many amazing Occupy and protest tunes. The party was a welcome relief from direct actions and Occupy confrontations. The Occupy Festival continues on 11 December 2011 at 1 PM US Pacific time with Deejay Trash Deluxe (Picture 4) spinning; followed by poetry at 2 PM and oodles of live music at 3 PM. Free! Join us in Second Life at: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Dreamworld%20Emerald/206/79/39

In Picture 5, artist Brittany Jackson treats us to a stunning image called “Greed”. A wall street pencil neck is literally eating the world! The highlights and saturation of the molten lava and Earth’s inner core make this great piece, as the 1% ravage our planet!

Picture 6 is a powerful merger of human form, light, and darkness. Money burns in a column of light, balancing the utilitarian ugliness of a telephone pole, contrasted with the beauty of the American native. Second Life artist m.junghans’ work “American Way of Life” is a masterpiece.

In Picture 7, “Wall Street Protester” by ~HedZillion features the heroism of today’s Occupy Wall Street protesters. A faceless 1% may incarcerate him temporarily but his spirit will always be free.

And I’ve only shown a small sampling; Occupy Wall Street Exhibit is a terrific, must-see art show!