Community News

"Many of the Lindens' recent initiatives fall into the category of "onboarding"; helping new arrivals find their way and increasing the chance they decide to stick around. The latest idea is a new part of the Welcome Hub called The Second Life Community Exhibition." Read more on the blog

"Sansara’s Sea of Fables is one of SL’s first and oldest community builds. It is a large protected ocean that people can sail on. It has several Linden Lab-owned islands with fun places to explore. This was pre-mesh, so they are all prim builds, but they are mostly very well done and interesting." Read more on the blog.

"Bellisseria has become Merchant Friendly. No, people are still NOT allowed to sell things there. But Bellisseria has introduced a sandbox, open to all residents, that contains house rezzers. Creators can come to the sandbox, rez a house and create products for Bellisseria homes --- shells, addons, custom sized-to-fit kitchens, furnishings, etc." Read more on the blog.

"Version 3.00 of our Bellisserian and CDS passports has been a tremendous success. 466 copies have been issued so far and 44,000 examples collected of the 655 unique passport stamps we've created." Read more on the blog.

"Feedback on last Saturday's stamp-collecting tour was universally positive. Take this report, for example, by our old friend BJoyful on the Community Forums. We are all very grateful to our colleague Teresa Firelight who put in many hours of work to make sure it went well." Read more on the blog.

"There is now a post office at our headquarters in Swordfish. Viewed from the road as you approach the front door, you'll see it to the left of our main building." Read more on the blog.

"We were delighted to welcome Patch Linden to our new HQ last Wednesday for his first visit. We reported on our regular activities, including the Post Offices and the Mainland Passports, and then discussed other ways we might be able to contribute in future." Read more on the blog.

"If you have a house featured in the Parade of Homes or a Bellisserian faux-business (e.g. an art gallery or cafe) featured as a Resident-Owned Place of Interest, you can now obtain the appropriate sign to display at your property from the Bellisserian Bureau of Bureaucracy Headquarters at Swordfish." Read more on the blog.

"One of your editor's oldest and best friends in SL is the prolific and highly-creative builder Raven Frostwych (ravenstarr). She recently scaled down her SL involvement for personal reasons. We respect her choices and wish her well but there's no denying that's a loss to all who enjoy her creations' glimpses into her rich imagination. In good news the Monarch Education Project is staying open, as is one of our favourite builds, the Mystic Moon Café – for which she's found a new owner. So the stamps are still collectable there. 

We were also delighted that she found time to make a special seasonal build called Toymaker's Isle."

Read more on the blog.

"We begin at the Artsville Café but this edition will take you much further afield. In fact, you could end up anywhere in SL!" Read more on the blog

"We tip our hat to New World Notes, where we first heard about this location. It's not unusual to have impressive and complex Japanese builds in Second Life® but this one is different, in that it is sponsored by the Japanese Government via the national tourist agency. It's built by professionals to a high standard and is as much a showcase for what SL can be as it is a tourist promotion for Japan." Read more on the blog

"Much of our bureaucratic work is about promoting awareness of Second Life® geography. The Mainland Continents and Bellisseria are locations in a (mostly) connected virtual world with terrain, oceans and airspace through which our avatars can travel. Many residents love to traverse it in vehicles, trains, boats, planes or space craft. Why, when we can teleport instantly to anywhere we want to be? Because we want to get to know it; to experience the shape of it rather than just tp'ing thoughtlessly from place to place." Read more on the blog.

"In 2007 (the year I arrived in Second Life®) in an interview in The Guardian, Philip Linden made an interesting comment about where technology was heading. The interviewer observed that – to that point in history – most media had been passive, delivered to people as a finished product. Philip responded; " Read more on the blog

"While some locations housing private art collections offer passport stamps, most places where you can acquire art in SL are commercial and so can't have our terminals. Artists have to finance their SL after all and the many excellent commercial galleries do a great job of helping them do so." Read more on the blog.

"Following a notice in the Bellisseria Citizens group of a dance performance at the Sakura 🌸 Community Region in Bellisseria (or Sakurasseria as some people now call the Japan-themed part of the Linden Continent) your editor tp'ed in to take a look. If I could take an SL-sceptic to just one event to show the potential of our virtual world, this could be it." Read more on the blog.

"Your editor has had an Asian-themed week. Drawn by the promise of a new installation by one of his favourite SL artists, Fiona Fei, he visited The Asian Pacific Heritage Festival 2023 in Satori Bay. Fiona's work did not disappoint. It alone would have justified the energy expended in the teleport! If your visit inspires you to see more of her work, Fiona also has an exhibition at Firestorm Art Gallery this month." Read more on the blog.

"We have made great progress with our new website. Check it out here – we think you'll find it useful. It offers a web map, which you can browse directly and a searchable illustrated database of available stamps. Each entry in your search has a View on Map button to show you exactly where to find it. If your viewer supports it, you can then go to the location directly from the teleport link on the map! Failing that you can just copy and paste the SLURL." Read more on the blog.

"This week we issued the 500th unique stamp for our passports. This is a significant milestone on the BBB/CPCB journey and we are happy and proud to have reached it." Read more on the blog.

"There have been changes at our HQ since the masthead to The Gazette was made, so we thought it was time for an update. Most noticeable is the addition of a Post Office on site, with all the facilities you need to use our unique postal service. Yes, we know you could just use IMs to mail your stuff, but – trust us – our way is more fun. Come over and get yourself set up in time for Holiday gifting!" Read more on the blog.

"The New Year 2023 will start with an expansion of our transport licensing services and a full facelift for the already existing driving licence. The new vehicle licence plates for 2023 have already been available to you (on application) since October." Read more on the blog.

"We are pleased to announce the appointment of Her Excellency Jezebel Bailey (known to all as Bel) as Honorary Ambassador to the Second Life® Continent of Jeogeot. She takes office immediately." Read more on the blog.

"We have fantastic passport news, which many of you will have been hoping for. We are pleased to announce a huge improvement in our Bellisseria Passport HUDs. We've listened to what you like, and don't like, and addressed your concerns." Read more on the blog.

"The group is staffed by ten moles and (at the moment) fifty-seven trained Bellisseria Mentors. They are from all time zones, and the hope is that no matter what time it is for you, there should be someone online who can assist you. In addition to the help staff, some of the group members are also very knowledgeable about everything related to Linden Homes; and can also answer questions." Read more on the blog.

"The great, the good and the the rest of us assembled at the Bellisserian Embassy in Jeogeot last Tuesday at noon SLT. Overcoming a technical hitch which required her to find another computer to log in, the new ambassador finally arrived. BBB CEO and founder, Boo Rojyo welcomed us all and introduced Abnor Mole, who had the enormous key to the embassy to present to the new ambassador. He must have been happy he had an inventory, rather than just pockets, in which to carry such a big object to the event." Read more on the blog.

"We welcome our new Honorary Ambassador for Heterocera, Dariah Raynier. Dariah has been in Second Life for more than a decade during which she has been involved in numerous communities and projects." Read more on the blog.