A Message from Ebbe Linden re. SecondLife & Covid-19

Ebbe Altberg, a.k.a. Ebbe Linden, the CEO of Linden Lab, today published a message regarding the novel coronavirus and SecondLife operations on the SecondLife community blog (URL).

"Second Life will continue to be available without interruption as we get through this tough time together. Due to our previous crisis contingency planning and the flexible nature of our distributed workforce, we are not expecting any changes to response times for support inquiries and payment processing. 

We know that Second Life serves a great purpose for our community as people seek ways to stay in touch with their friends and co-workers, as they grapple with new social distancing protocols, mandated remote work requirements, and other precautionary measures. 

With the closure of many universities and displaced conferences and events, Second Life also continues to be an option for disrupted organizations looking for new remote work, classroom or event solutions. To help, we recently implemented a reduction in pricing to a flat $99/month per region for qualified education and nonprofit organizations."

Read the full message at the link posted above!

Covid-19; Yet Another Reason For Using SecondLife

In these, the latter days, with all the panic caused by the pandemic of the Covid-19 virus, and the calls for social distancing to inhibit the spread of the disease virtual realities like SecondLife can fill the void with our needs as humans for safe social interaction.

Although Sweden as yet has only 775 (8 per 100,000 inhabitants) confirmed cases and no deaths so far, signs of the ongoing panic are emerging. When I visited the pharmacy today, I was informed that they were rationing paracetamol to only 2 items per person as people had been stockpiling the medication. I am sure there are other things being rationed also, but I haven't encountered them.

My elderly mother lives in an assisted living facility where relatives have been asked to completely avoid or severely limit visits until further notice, especially if they have upper respiratory symptoms.

Neighbouring Denmark is closing its borders from 12 PM (noon) tomorrow Saturday, March 14^th until April 13^th. Travelers will be rejected at the border if they cannot show that they work in the country or have an exceptional reason for entry.

Ars in Memoriam 2020

Joseph Douglas Wilson Jr., in SecondLife known as Ars Northmead.

★ April 21, 1953 (First life)
★ October 25, 2006 (SecondLife)

† March 12, 2010

Ars Forever, Forever Ars!

Thirteen - I Cannot Believe It

Today I celebrate my thirteenth rezday in SecondLife, it's almost impossible to fathom all the joy, sorrow, loving, shopping, flying, playing, teleporting, friending and un-friending (not so many, but still some) that have occurred during those many years.

I first joined just to check it out, who knew I would still be here and having fun. Many times before I have said that I'll probably be here when Linden Lab pulls the plug in San Francisco, now I actually believe it.

At Cape Dejerrity

Today, while I was waiting for my husband to log into SecondLife, I went for a walk around the home region and ended up at "Cape Dejerrity", which is what I call the hook of land where my late brother's parcel used to be.

The wind was howling and I felt alone while I reminisced about my obstinate, cantankerous, sentimental, loving and lovely brother. I miss him a lot and feel sad about his untimely death, especially the fact that he was all alone and probably frightened when he passed. 

The Laird's Lament

Commoners don't always fully appreciate what a burdensome undertaking it is to be a Prince of the Realm. 

Not only have I inherited two castles, three manors, 15 villas, and uncountable other domiciles, all over the world, but the upkeep and maintenance alone also takes a sizeable portion of my income. However, it falls on me as the head of clan McMillan to keep the lazy princes and princess, the staff and all the other greedy buggers who hang around with roof over their heads.

Bock with Tiara, by JJ Goodman
(The lower part of this wonderful picture has been edited out for Facebook's,
Blogger's & Twitter's modesty's sake. You can see the full-sized photo here)

In this beautiful picture of when I am taking my morning bath, by my beloved brother Prince George (aka JJ), I seem to be alone and in a pensive mood. Not true!

Truth be told we were surrounded by at least twenty courtiers and even more servants. There was The Sergeant at Arms, The Carrier of The Royal Chamberpot, The Royal Fluffer, The Royal Towel Maiden, etc. etc. Although I am only wearing the simple and unassuming Brandenburg Tiara in platinum with gigantic drop-shaped pearls, the crown is an essential attribute.

Sometimes being a laird is simply no fun at all.

Brexit Day

At 12 AM (midnight) CET tonight, January 31^st, 2020, the United Kingdom leaves the European Union.

In commemoration of this solemn occasion Bock MacMillan, the Much Honored Laird of Southern Charm, prince of Cascade Falls, etc, etc, has issued the following statement.

"A slim majority of Britons voted to leave the European Union in a referendum in 2016 (51,89%) and again in the general election 2019, which was to a great extent focused on the Brexit issue. The Conservative party (who supported Brexit), won 365 of the 650 seats in the Parliament, thus a very comfortable majority. 

In my opinion, it is a sad occasion which I believe the Brits will come to regret. To me, the EU has always mainly stood for a peace project. An effort to bring together "the usual suspects" (i.e. Germany, France United Kingdom, and Italy) and the smaller European countries to work on joint projects and solutions of common issues with the goal of peaceful coexistence in the longterm. 

It is unfortunate that the UK now leaves the community due to a resurgence of nationalism, populism, and isolationism. The question of whether the Brits have been misinformed or lead astray is now moot. We must accept the results of their will as it has been clearly expressed. 

I wish the Brits all the best for the future."