Linden Lab

Check out the Second Life Pic of the Day, "Winter at Frisland" by Tamarind Silverfall. Don't forget to check out Second Life on Tumblr, Facebook and Google Plus

Do you hear those sleigh bells ringing? That’s the sound of the season of giving approaching, and it’s arrived with the Christmas Expo & Winter Breedables Fair. Returning for a 4th year - the expo kicks off today - December 4th- and runs through December 15th, 2014. Coordinated and sponsored by residents who wish to help fund a charitable organization with a festive event, this event intends to make the gift of giving memorable and fun. This joyful happening helps raise funds for Relay for Life of Second Life - with 100% of registration fees, sponsorship feeds, kiosk donations, hunt, raffle, auction, and vendor donation items going to Relay for Life of Second Life - part of the American Cancer Society. There will plenty of activities for you to participate in; from two tree lots filled with beautifully decorated trees from some of the best designers, auctions, live performances and DJs, to pictures with the man himself - Santa! 2014 Christmas Expo & Winter Breedables Fair The 2014 Second Life Christmas Expo & Winter Breedables Fair offers 12 days of shopping, hunts, live performances, and winter fun! This returning eight-sim event is in support of Relay For Life of Second Life. For more information, be sure to visit https://slchristmasexpo.wordpress.com/. Visit in Second Life

Check out the Second Life Pic of the Day, "Acrobatics" by Twerk Caboodle. Don't forget to check out Second Life on Tumblr, Facebook and Google Plus

Check out the Second Life Pic of the Day, "cold air" by Nayra31 Collas. Don't forget to check out Second Life on Tumblr, Facebook and Google Plus

Check out the Second Life Pic of the Day, "Untitled" by SongjatShariff Violet. Don't forget to check out Second Life on Tumblr, Facebook and Google Plus

Check out the Second Life Pic of the Day, "@mong friends" by RikkeBa. Don't forget to check out Second Life on Tumblr, Facebook and Google Plus

Check out the Second Life Pic of the Day, "Time to Get Ready, Christmas is Coming" by Pretty Parkin. Don't forget to check out Second Life on Tumblr, Facebook and Google Plus

What are your plans for the weekend? Holiday recuperation for some parts of the world? General weekend fun and relaxation? Why not make some of what’s going on in the Second Life Destination Guide part of your plan? it’s an exciting place full of something for everyone - so take a look at a few of these something below! How does your body language come across in Second Life? Flirty and playful, or more mysterious and brooding? !Bang offers a great selection of poses for just about every need. Boasting a freshly-remodeled store, maybe it’s time to find a new favorite silhouette. !bang !bang poses offers a high quality pose selection for couples and friends, as well as a wide variety of poses for models and photographers. Visit in Second Life Done Wiv’ a Twist is a seasonal garden that gets a fresh redesign with every change of the weather. If you’re looking for a soothing and well-designed place to wander through, Done Wiv’ a Twist is the place to visit. Done Wiv' a Twist Done Wiv a Twist is a photogenic place that changes every season. They welcome newcomers, photographers, bloggers, and people who just enjoy great scenery. Visit in Second Life Set in a futuristic build so smooth you can smell the burning chrome, Geeks n’ Nerds is a shopping event that celebrates anything and everything, well, geeky and nerdy. With over 100 designers showing off mesh creations, you’re sure to find something to make that nerd flag fly. Geeks n' Nerds Geeks n' Nerds is an annual fair that showcases some of the most popular things in the geek and nerd world. Some of the best original mesh designers are chosen to partake in this event, so there's guaranteed to be something for everyone. Geeks n' Nerds opens November 24th and runs until December 10th! Visit in Second Life What do you know about Queen Elizabeth and 16th century England? The House of Tudor is a recreation of the Oatlands Palace, just off the Thames river. Come here to learn about the history of this time of changes, or just enjoy the free period dress. House of Tudor In the dramatic background of the 16th century England, one woman holds the key to England’s most glorious empire: Elizabeth Tudor. The year is 1560. In a village north of the English county of Surrey lies Oatlands Palace. Overlooking the Thames River, Oatlands was built around the south western periphery of London by Henry VIII. Free period clothing is available for visitors at the main landing. Visit in Second Life The Fantasy Collective is a monthly shopping event with quite a few contributors. This intimate boutique is perfect for a quick peek and wander, whatever you’re looking for. The Fantasy Collective The Fantasy Collective is a premier monthly shopping event that opens every 20th at noon. Come enjoy this quaint boutique. Visit in Second Life Second Life wouldn’t be nearly as awesome without amazing user creations. So make something and share it on the Destination Guide! And don’t forget to take a look at what other’s are up to on the official Second Life Flickr page

Check out the Second Life Pic of the Day, "Untitled" by . Don't forget to check out Second Life on Tumblr, Facebook and Google Plus

Check out the Second Life Pic of the Day, "always save room for pie" by Marianne McCann. Don't forget to check out Second Life on Tumblr, Facebook and Google Plus

Check out the Second Life Pic of the Day, "Autumn on Pigeon Creek Island" by Finn Lawksley. Don't forget to check out Second Life on Tumblr, Facebook and Google Plus

Check out the Second Life Pic of the Day, "Falling into Autumn" by Angie Mornington. Don't forget to check out Second Life on Tumblr, Facebook and Google Plus

Check out the Second Life Pic of the Day, "Dirty Turkey Hunt" by Pink Sky. Don't forget to check out Second Life on Tumblr, Facebook and Google Plus

Check out the Second Life Pic of the Day, "Impact in 3..." by Voidar. Don't forget to check out Second Life on Tumblr, Facebook and Google Plus

Check out the Second Life Pic of the Day, "All art is but imitation of nature (Seneca)" by Leonorah Beverly. Don't forget to check out Second Life on Tumblr, Facebook and Google Plus

Check out the Second Life Pic of the Day, "How to stay dry in style" by Roman Godde. Don't forget to check out Second Life on Tumblr, Facebook and Google Plus

The latest episode of the Drax Files: World Makers focuses on actress MadameThespain Underhill, who directs the virtual reality theater troupe - Avatar Repertory Theater in Second Life. A.R.T has been performing live theatre in Second Life since 2008, with a cast of actors from multiple generations that span several locations all over the world. MadameThespian - a seasoned Chicago-based actor who also performs and directs for her local Shakespeare company - feels that the virtual theater affords opportunities to those who could otherwise “age out” of many roles in live theater. "Second Life levels the playing field when we interact with each other," she says. This leads to the unique combination of professional TV and stage actors working with dedicated hobbyists and community theater buffs to perform drama, comedy, musical and improvisational theatre to the global audience of Second Life. jkm9mQlejCw In addition to the creative possibilities that a digital universe such as Second Life holds, MadameThespian is enthusiastic about its social aspects as well. "The value for older people is wonderful because of the ability to interact with other people from all over the world of other ages,” she says. “You are being judged by what you say - the pure essence of who you are!" Be sure to watch for the latest shows and performances from the Avatar Repertory Theater who are performing scenes from some of Shakespeare’s plays tonight at 5 PM SLT/PT - details are available on their Facebook page. Want to see more personal Second Life stories? Find all the previous episodes at Draxtor’s Website or below: The Drax Files: World Makers - Episode 1: Kriss Lehmann The Drax Files: World Makers - Episode 2: Jo Yardley The Drax Files: World Makers - Episode 3: Eshi Otawara The Drax Files: World Makers - Episode 4: Fantasy Faire / RFL The Drax Files: World Makers - Episode 5: Engrama The Drax Files: World Makers - Episode 7: Rod Humble The Drax Files: World Makers - Episode 8: MadPea Games The Drax Files: World Makers - Episode 9: Elie Spot The Drax Files: World Makers - Episode 10: Robin Sojourner The Drax Files: World Makers - Episode11: Dwarfins The Drax Files: World Makers - Episode 12: Ole Etzel The Drax Files: World Makers - Episode 13: Creations for Parkinson's The Drax Files: World Makers - Episode 14: Rose Borchovski The Drax Files: World Makers - Episode 15: Scottius Polke The Drax Files: World Makers - Episode 16: Feed a Smile The Drax Files: World Makers - Episode 17: Zachh Barkley The Drax Files: World Makers - Episode 18: Paradise Lost The Drax Files: World Makers - Episode 19: Virtual Chemistry at Texas A&M The Drax Files: World Makers - Episode 20: Flockers The Drax Files: World Makers - Episode 21: Editorial Clarity The Drax Files: World Makers - Episode 22: Virtual Health Adventures

Check out the Second Life Pic of the Day, "Deep in the Woods" by Daisy Kwon. Don't forget to check out Second Life on Tumblr, Facebook and Google Plus!

UPDATE 2.13.2015 An updated Viewer-Managed Marketplace project viewer is now available. Please see this forum post for a summary of changes. *********************************************** The new Viewer-Managed Marketplace (VMM), now available* on Aditi, allows you to easily manage your inventory on the Second Life Marketplace using the Second Life Viewer. Items no longer need to be loaded into the Merchant Outbox or a Magic Box, and are instead sold directly from your inventory. VMM will allow all Merchants to get off of Magic Boxes in addition to supporting modification of listing inventory directly from the Viewer. While Merchants will still need to go to the Marketplace web site in order to edit listings, they will be able to create listings and list or unlist them from the Viewer. If you’d like to learn more about the new VMM feature and try it out, please view the FAQ on the wiki. We look forward to hearing your feedback and have created a VMM JIRA project to capture bugs and feature suggestions. For more information on how VMM works, see our Beta Knowledge Base article. *NOTE: Currently, purchases will fail on Aditi. Since the bulk of the functionality for VMM is related to creating and modifying listings, we have made VMM available while we resolve the purchase problems. We will update this blog post when the issue is cleared.

Keeping the systems running the Second Life infrastructure operating smoothly is no mean feat. Our monitoring infrastructure keeps an eye on our machines every second, and a team of people work around the clock to ensure that Second Life runs smoothly. We do our best to replace failing systems proactively and invisibly to Residents. Unfortunately, sometimes unexpected problems arise. In late July, a hardware failure took down four of our latest-generation of simulator hosts. Initially, this was attributed to be a random failure, and the machine was sent off to our vendor for repair. In early October, a second failure took down another four machines. Two weeks later, another failure on another four hosts. Each host lives inside a chassis along with three other hosts. These four hosts all share a common backplane that provides the hosts with power, networking and storage. The failures were traced to an overheating and subsequent failure of a component on these backplanes. After exhaustive investigation with our vendor, the root cause of the failures turned out to be a hardware defect in a backplane component. We arranged an on-site visit by our vendor to locate, identify, and replace the affected backplanes. Members of our operations team have been working this week with our vendor in our datacentre to inspect every potentially affected system and replace the defective component to prevent any more failures. The region restarts that some of you have experienced this week were an unfortunate side-effect of this critical maintenance work. We have done our best to keep these restarts to a minimum as we understand just how disruptive a region restart can be. The affected machines have been repaired, and returned to service and we are confident that no more failures of this type will occur in the future. Thank you all for your patience and understanding as we have proceeded through the extended maintenance window this week.

Check out the Second Life Pic of the Day, "Despair" by Sunnygeorge. Don't forget to check out Second Life on Tumblr, Facebook and Google Plus!

Check out the Second Life Pic of the Day, "deathrocker bettie crocker" by dizzydelirium. Don't forget to check out Second Life on Tumblr, Facebook and Google Plus!

Check out the Second Life Pic of the Day, "aground" by Baroness Rivera. Don't forget to check out Second Life on Tumblr, Facebook and Google Plus!

Running short of fun ideas for the weekend? Check out what’s new at the Second Life Destination Guide. You’re sure to find something interesting to enjoy. The Linden Department of Public Works are an amazing group of creators constantly working to make the grid a more vibrant, amazing place. Their home, Meauxle Bureaux, is an amazingly whimsical place where the LDPW hang their collective hat. Meauxle Bureaux Meauxle Bureaux is the home of the Linden Department of Public Works, a program focused on improvements related to the experience of living in and visiting the Linden Mainland. This intricate build was lovingly crafted by resident experts for all to enjoy, so come see the ultimate in shared creative spaces! Visit in Second Life A Second Life institution for more than five years, everyone should visit the freshly-remodeled Pixel Bean Coffeehouse. In addition to the enormous attention to detail, the wonderful design choices and incredibly realistic decor, it’s an almost perfectly relaxing place to spend an afternoon. The Pixel Bean Coffeehouse Established in 2009, this cafe has been a well known part of the Second Life community for many years. Come stop by a charming old island home transformed into a unique cafe and bar. A great sense of community, wonderful people, and casual conversation await you, as well as countless events involving music, poetry, discussion, art, and more. Anyone and everyone welcome! Visit in Second Life No matter what level of nerditude you embrace, the Freaks and Dorks Rock Club welcomes you with open arms. With a great staff, multiple rooms, and a huge dance floor, everyone will find something they enjoy here. Freaks & Dorks Rock Club Feeling a bit dorky or freaky? Freaks & Dorks Rock Club is a place for you! Join all sorts of outsiders as they come together to enjoy great music. They play anything under the genres rock, metal, alternative, indie and trip hop. Come to relax or get crazy, you won't constantly be bugged for tips! Visit in Second Life If you’re looking to add some magic (or just a little more oomph) to avatars or creations, be sure to visit M2D Magic Land. Few stores offer the interactive depth and variety of particle effects you’ll find here. M2D Magic Land M2D Magic Land is an interactive particle store. Visit the platforms to use huds and create beautiful scenes for photos, or just play around. One of the best store designs around, every particle can be rezzed and looked at. There's even a group-member party area and freebie store. Embrace creativity at M2D Magic Land! Visit in Second Life Lastly, do you seek the rush of combat? Separating the quick from the dead, the wolves from the jackals? The 2142nd Regiment’s looking for a few good recruits, if you think you’ve got what it takes. 2142nd Regiment The 2142nd is a British-themed military group founded in February of 2007 that participates within the Second Life Military Community. SLMC is a collection of groups who use the Linden Lab Combat System or LLCS. Visit http://2142sl.info and join the 2142nd today. Weapons and uniform provided free of charge. Meet lots of new people and experience combat in Second Life like never before! Visit in Second Life Interested in how your fellow residents enjoy their grid-based adventures? Take a peek at the official Second Life Flickr Page. Have you created something cool you’d like to share? Share it with the grid and show it off on the Second Life Destination guide!

Check out the Second Life Pic of the Day, "rising sun delicates" by adriana pinklady. Don't forget to check out Second Life on Tumblr, Facebook and Google Plus!