In Memoriam Ebbe Altberg

Yesterday we got the sad news that Ebbe Altberg, a.k.a. Ebbe Linden, had passed away the day before. 

My thoughts and condolences first go to Ebbe's family, friends, and coworkers at Linden Lab in their loss, but also to all residents of SecondLife. 

Ebbe was a game-changer for Secondlife when he came to us as the new CEO of Linden Lab in 2014, especially when it concerns the relationship between the Lindens and us residents. 

Inara Pey has expressed my feelings eloquently and much better than anything I can achieve so I refer you to her blogpost; Living in a Modem World, In Memorian: Ebbe Altberg.

Linden Lab Releases EEP

Linden Lab yesterday released a new SecondLife viewer with uses an entirely new way to create and use environment settings for the appearance of the sky, day cycles and, Linden Water, within the viewer. This is called the Environment Enhancement Project (or in short EEP).

Photo by Inara Pey (as used in her blogpost)

But instead of me trying to explain this wonderful feature for you, please head on over to the infinitely more technologically savvy Inara Pey on her blog "Inara Pey: Living in a Modem World" (URL).

As I understand it Firestorm will release a compatible viewer in the near future.

Thank you, Linden Lab!

Linden Lab Keeps Promise

I love Linden Lab, they always keep their promises, at least since Ebbe Linden has been at the helm!

Yesterday Linden Lab announced on the SecondLife Community blog (url) that last names, by popular demand, are now back again after being gone since 2010.

Those Premium Members who wish to change any part of their names, both first and last, can do so for a fee of $39,99. Residents will be able to choose from a rotating list of available last names, which will be on display on your SecondLife account page under "Change Name".

Social Distancing In SecondLife

So what do four gay men, from different corners of the world, do when they are together in SecondLife, in these the end times when world events will reach a climax and we will either meet our makers to attain redemption or be sent straight to hell or perhaps just peter out into gaseous steam into the all-consuming universe?

Well, these four men listened to music, danced and played with the "It's Not All Mine"-Cum HUD for Men (link to SL-Marketplace).

The creator of this HUD must have had a lot of fun when they got this brilliant idea. The user can disperse their cum at a selected body part in or on someone else nearby. The cum only comes off with Linden water (i.e. stepping into it or taking a shower) or if someone licks or sucks it (choice also available in the HUD).

Photos courtesy of JJ GoodmaNZ.

Wookey Project Corp. Buys Sansar

Linden Lab announced today that the virtual world of Sansar has been sold to The Wookey Project Corporation.

In their online statement about themselves Wookey says:

PUTTING ONLINE POWER BACK INTO YOUR HANDS 

Wookey started from our own experience. Just like you, we saw the limitations of flat, one-dimensional internet interaction. With each experience, the frustration grew. It’s evident that algorithms are telling me what it wants, not hearing what I need.

What if we could create online experiences that were unbiased and arranged by relevance to us, not by advertisers or bias of company? We realized, with the right team and the right investors, we can.

Wookey was born. We endeavor to create a new generation of online AR/VR experiences that allows users the power of collaborative interaction through knowledge immersion.

That sounds rather exciting, doesn't it? Perhaps I should not give up my Sansar account yet.

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P.S. This might be a good time to rebut all the many rumors that The BMcM Corporation had any interest in acquiring Sansar. (The fact that it was the only shareholder of the company who was disseminating the rumors did not help either, but how does one tell a laird to STFU?)

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!

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.

Laird In Cameo Appearance

The SL Destination Guide has published a short video on YouTube depicting the Second Pride Region and the ongoing Pride festival.

In this beautiful short video, made by famous director Draxtor Despres on commission from Linden Lab, The Much Honored Bock McMillan, laird of Southern Charm and prince of Cascade Falls etc. etc., makes a cameo appearance as himself purchasing donuts together with friend Wee William Wylie, owner of Dim Sum Garden.

That the laird chooses to make this surprising appearance in a movie, after publicly declaring he had left the movie industry for good, shows his strong support for Second Pride and trust in the director, however lacking the man's fashion sense may be.



Please remember to like, comment and share!

The Chair's Opening Speech at Second Pride Festival

Lee McKay's, the Chair of Second Pride, speech at the opening of the Second Pride Festival yesterday.

The Second Pride board, Lee McKay, Bock McMillan & Tootsie Nootan
(missing in the picture is i0n, who is currently on sick-leave.)
Photo by JJ Goodman

"I promise I won’t interrupt the party for long! I want to thank everyone for coming out today for the opening of Second Pride 2019, and the debut of our newly redesigned Second Pride region. We hope you’re ready to have some fun and celebrate Pride!

We’re doing something different this year in that we now consider our region to be a permanent build that will remain in place for the foreseeable future. We are also a Second Life Gateway region and will soon have new people entering Second Life right through our own Gateway in the northeast corner of the region. I hope you’ll go check out the progress on that. It will be opening in the near future. 

If you’re curious about how this build came to be, I was watching a video of Diana Ross performing in Central Park in 1983, and the shots of the park and the buildings in the background just looked and felt inspiring. I showed a really simple mockup of the idea to Bock and to his husband, Tomais, and within days, the building started, spurred on by a very generous donation of all these buildings in the Old NYC collection from Schultz Bros. We thank them for their generosity! This is a build that we want you to explore and enjoy. There are all sort of places to wander, stroll, sit, watch, meditate, reminisce, play, and just be. It’s a walking space, a place to take photos, bring friends, hang out, play games, and more. We will no longer be one or two events per year. We expect to have parties on a regular basis, starting soon.

This year, we are celebrating the 50-year anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, considered to be the catalyzing moment in the push for Gay Rights. With the current political climate and with our rights being slowly but methodically eroded from us once again, there is no better time for us to reflect on the events of that night and the nights that followed, and to consider the battles fought then, and the battles that are to come, because they are coming. We need to draw from the strength of the heroes of that night…Marsha P. Johnson, Sylvia Rivera, Storme DeLarverie (Stormy Delahveay), Danny Garvin, and so many others. We honor them for the stand they took that night, and we pledge to continue their fight.

SP Board Meeting 02/16/2019 - Minutes Posted

To assist my dear sexy friend Cay (cayson.triellis) and my adorable husband Tomais, the minutes from the board meeting they attended and found bewildering, confusing or downright objectionable are now posted at the Second Pride website (url) under "Documents". This (url) is the direct link to the aforementioned document for the lazy buggers.

The minutes contain a lot of great news, here I will only mention a few select ones.

• Second Pride is applying to become an LGBT+ Gateway to SecondLife. If approved by Linden Lab the organization would save USD249 per month in tier and can reduce its costs - thereby being able to donate more to charitable LGBT+ causes in first life.
• Changes in the mission statement of the Bylaws accepted by the board, to be voted on by the Membership.
• Members are - as has been mentioned in a previous post - invited to contribute with their ideas on an updated logo for Second Pride, a theme for the Festival in June, and additional services they would like from Second Pride.
• The 15^th annual Second Pride Festival will take place between June 14^th and 23^rd, 2019.
• New and improved donation kiosks are now available.

Read all about it and more at greater length in the minutes!

P.S. The Build Director also promised Cay to consider reintroducing floats parade in the festival.

Second Pride, Board Meeting, Today 2 PM-3.30 PM, SLT

This is an open meeting and all members are welcome.

The tentative agenda of today's meeting can be found on the Second Pride website here (url).

Among other things, there will be a presentation of the ongoing discussions with Linden Lab about becoming an LGBT Gateway for SecondLife, a proposal for a new logo and much more.

Welcome, all!

Tinies Shouted, Lindens Fixed It

Multiple sources have reported that the hover-height issue has been resolved.

The Linden's "floated a new update to help [us] get back on the ground" *snicker* soon afterward.

Yet again, I reaffirm my love for the Lindens and Linden Lab, for coming to the tinies aid in their time of need!

Image by co-blogger Daniel Voyager, Daniel Voyager's blog (url)

A Holiday Gift from Linden Lab

"The latest Premium Gift is a Winter Cabin - available now to Premium members at any Premium Gift Kiosk. Sit by the fire and get cozy in this exclusive Winter Cabin. Fill it with furniture and invite your friends for some hot cocoa and good times."

LL Lowers Land Prices For Some and Reduces Fees

Linden Lab has announced it will, effective immediately, lower land prices for those who do not already have lower rates, either because they have grandfathered rates or they "bought down" their rates last year.

Land Prices will be reduced by 15% and fees by 41%.

TERMS & CONDITIONS: Private Estate price reductions do not apply to Skilled Gaming Regions. While new Openspace Regions are no longer available for purchase, existing Openspace Region landowners will receive the newly-reduced monthly pricing. In addition, these changes will not impact any grandfathered or “bought down” land prices since those are still below the newly-reduced rates. Lastly, Education/Nonprofit (EDU/NP) discounted full islands have also been re-priced to maintain their 50% discount off the regularly priced full islands. The new price of $124.50 will go into effect at the start of that island's next invoiced billing term.

An Exceptionally Wonderful Man

Butch Diavolo has been a good friend of mine for many years now.

Butch is also a squatter on my homesim and is appointed as the Royal Gardener of the sim. (Although truthfully he hasn't been building or beautifying much (except his own plot) the last year, but he has been busy having a love life and taking care of himself.)

I know Butch as a kind, intelligent, warm hearted, level headed, everso faithful, amusing and highly sarcastic man, who always tries to help out if he is able. The only thing I have found lacking is his lovelife and his - sometimes - worrying choices where men and partners are concerned.

Yesterday I decided to adopt him as a son, and he agreed (Let's see how long that will last...) to defer to me before entering into any future partnerships. Any prospective partner will first be vetted by me - and my swarms of spies all over the Internet and in SecondLife - before being partnered. Linden Lab has been notified of this requirement and have agreed to assist in any way possible.

Fun thing though, through other familial ties of both my sons Butch and Pook, Butch will now be both Pook's brother and his grandmother. SecondLife families are a seriously messed up thing. However, as Pook's "pappa" I shall now be humming this tune to myself:

"For your brother is your grandma,
but your daddy don't know.
Woe, is me, shame and scandal in the family
Woe, is me, shame and scandal in the family"

(For clues to this musical reference please listen to Shawn Elliott in "Shame and Scandal in the Family")

SecondLife Turns 15, Let's Celebrate!

SecondLife was launched on June 23rd, 2003 when the adorable Philip Linden, our divine creator, first set foot in this world where Kahvy Smith only existed as an atom that would develop into the first dinosaur. Apmel Goosson wasn't far behind (just a fem nanoseconds) but still came in as first runner-up.

So this year it is celebrating its fifteenth anniversary. Wouldya believe it? It looks so old and mature...

Our darling Ebbe Linden and the Linden Lab har promised that there will be a yearlong celebration. Read all about the improvements at the SecondLife Community blog (url), which include lower mainland costs, the return of last names, improved performance and migration to the Cloud and much much more.

Happy 15th birthday SecondLife!

"He's Older Than SecondLife Dinosaur Dung"

Today we celebrate an avatar who - if the suspicions of SecondLife archeologists are correct - is older than the dinosaur coprolite found on The Land of Rainbows sim.

Fossilized Kahvy-poop, exhibit 1

Fossilized Kahvy-poop, exhibit 2

According to emerging theories among the archeologists there was life in SecondLife even before our beloved Philip Linden set his dainty little feet in-world. Excavations at The Land of Rainbows sim have shown that there were indeed dinosaurs wandering that sim long before that day.

DNA-analysis of the dinosaur dung found has proven without any doubt that the coprolites have been deposited by none other than the avatar today known as Kahvy Smith (nee Sands). The theory is that Kahvy Smith shapeshifted from dino to human avatar on this day eleven years ago in order to survive the changing climates that were threatening the existence of the dinosaurs.

Happy eleventh human avatar rezday, Kahvy!

(Inquisitive minds may wonder how I know this much about Kahvy's background in SecondLife. Well, to be quite honest, I was there already when he emerged.)

"Of A Certain Age"

You may not have noticed yet, but the laird has recently been published by Amazon. "The Book of Bock. Collected wisdoms and guidelines for life and social media presence for an avatar in postindustrial society. Part 1." Available in Kindle and hardcover for $6.24 (includes VAT).

"When an avatar if ´of a certain age' it is always best to photograph them in a harsh and brilliant lighting to obliterate and cover up any and all imperfections and blemishes that may have developed during their evolution. If nothing else helps take them to Chouchou." (BoB 2018, p 234)

To think that I would have to follow my own gentle guidelines when I was thinking about what picture to post for my eleventh rezday.

Oh my, can it really be true? I am older that dirt in SecondLife and Philip Linden must certainly have used me to rub the shit of his shoes after his first rezzing in-world.

My Ebbe Loved My Tweet

This is big enough to temporarily break the "no more blogging"-rule. Ebbe Altberg, a.k.a. Ebbe Linden, CEO of Linden Lab, the creators of our beloved SecondLife, today absolutely loved my tweet below. I am ecstatic!

@ebbealtberg (of @LindenLab) called to say that I was PROBABLY going to be named “#SecondLife Avatar of the Year,”, but I would have to agree to an interview and a major photo shoot. I said probably is no good and took a pass. Thanks anyway!

— Bock McMillan™ (@BockMcMillan) November 25, 2017

A Message From Our Dear Ebbe

I hope you all got this wonderful email from our darling Ebbe Linden.

Ebbe Altberg, aka Ebbe Linden, sexy as hell in scruff

Dear Second Life Residents,

It’s been an exciting summer at Linden Lab. Second Life celebrated its 14th anniversary, and shortly thereafter we also opened Sansar's creator beta to the world. In addition, we are 

thrilled to announce a set of investments into Second Life and its communities that will include enhancements to our engineering support, customer support, billing systems and upgrades, and customer acquisition outreach. In all, we’ve budgeted many millions (USD, not L$...) in the coming year to make SL even better, and we’ll keep everyone up to date on improvements as they roll out (or sooner).

This summer’s milestones have given us all another opportunity to reflect on just how strong the Second Life community is, what an incredible history SL has had so far, and what an amazing future lies ahead for the virtual world and its Residents.

For more than 14 years, you’ve created memorable experiences, diverse communities, close relationships, thriving economies, engaging art, exciting events, and amazing creations of all kinds. You’ve made the world, and we’re proud to provide the platform and tools that help you to do so. We at Linden continue to be impressed by what we witness from Residents every day, and we want you to know that we share that commitment to and love for Second Life.

Here are a few of the things you can look forward to soon:

• We are hard at work upgrading all of the SL infrastructure and moving it to the cloud, which will bring a wealth of opportunities to Residents near and far, and allow us, among many other things, to make SL more performant for Residents across the world from us. It may also allow us to introduce new products with more flexible pricing. 
• We’re working on several features to increase the value of Premium subscriptions. Most recently we gave Premium members priority access to near-full events, and shortly, we’ll be ready to unveil another bit of exciting news for subscribers. 
• We're building out a series of great extensions to Windlight (code name: EEP!), which will give value, flexibility, and new marketability to land, and will make Windlight settings tradeable assets. 
• We have an extension to the animation system in the works (code name: Animesh) that will allow non-avatar objects to use more powerful and efficient skeletal animations the way avatars can today, and even more changes planned for creators and merchants later in the year. 
• We’ve also got new experiences and events coming. An exciting new grid-wide gaming experience is coming soon! The team can’t wait to share the details with you in just a few days. Also in the works for this fall is an updated Halloween Haunted Tour, with new spooktacular events to celebrate. Not to mention, we’re turning 15 next year - SL15B, baby! That’s an incredible milestone and we are looking forward to collaborating with you to produce an amazing celebration. 

Long live Second Life and long live the creative process in the amazing worlds that you've trail-blazed! Thank you for filling SL with your creations and communities all of these past 14+ years, and here’s to many, many more together.

Best,

Ebbe Linden, CEO & the Second Life Team

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Well, what can one say after that breathtaking declaration of love, other than "We love you right back, Ebbe baby, and the SecondLife Team too!💗💗💗"

I hope you all noticed the remark about "amazing creations of all kinds", which we all know must certainly include my fashion-forward and spectacular "The Jester's Hat"! Nothing else comes to mind really so it must be Linden-lingo for Bock's creation.

It is also good to know that the Lab is going to keep on investing in, working with and improving SecondLife despite the doomsday prophets who for a long time have been crowing about how the Lab will lose all interest in SecondLife once Sansar is launched.