Linden Lab

Find inspiration at Artsville, a thriving community of both emerging and established artists in Second Life. The Artsville Galleries are co-owned by Frank Atisso and Jerzzie Reece Redstar. Apart from three traditional gallery spaces on the ground, Artsville also has platforms in the sky, where artists are able to create their own immersive art installations. The half region of Artsville has been completely designed by Megan Prumier. Frank shares how they’ve built an art-loving community: “Second Life is a rich medium for creativity of all forms and our objective at Artsville is just to encourage that. Both newer as well as well-established artists in Second Life are welcomed here. We encourage artists to come to us with ideas about any exhibits and installations they may have and our mission is to always support them in bringing their ideas to life as well as making the larger Second Life world aware of their creativity. Apart from 2D and 3D art, we also support music, dance, and poetry. Every Tuesday at 1 pm SLT the International Poetic Friends organize an Open Mic Poetry session at Artsville which all are welcome to attend. We have also had three performances of Milena Carbone's ballet - PARALLELS. Community building has been our focus since we started. Through photo contests and themed events, we attempt to make Artsville a bustling place for people to meet other like-minded individuals and encourage collaborations between artists, photographers, and galleries while also having fun at the same time.” Current Exhibitions at Artsville are: Gallery 1 - SOLITUDE by Banagher Crisp Gallery 2 - THE ART OF MADNESS by Shane Spero Gallery 3 - BOLD ABSTRACTS by Pagan Lane Current Installations - which can be accessed through TP boards opposite the cafe - are as follows: 1. CAGES by Ava Darkheart 2. THE BOOK OF CALIGULA by Chuck Clip And a brand new installation is coming on Feb 24th: "The Magical Forest - A Cautionary Tale" by Harry Cover and Jaz If you’re looking for like-minded art lovers, teleport over to the Artsville community today! Video Production by Draxtor Despres Artsville Galleries & Community Artsville is a place for all art lovers to enjoy outstanding artwork by some of the most talented artists, both emerging and established. One can also rent a beautiful home and experience what the luxury life feels like. Designed by Megan Prumier, this incredible destination for art is sure to leave you amazed. Visit in Second Life

Today we are shining a spotlight on BadUnicorn, also known as Bhad Craven. This creative innovator brings fun and interactive content to the Second Life grid! Artwork of BadUnicorn’s Second Life avatar by artist Nylon Pinkney How long have you been in Second Life and how did you first hear about it? In 2012, as a young art student, I was captivated by a funny YouTube video that showed a large group of avatars talking and having fun in Second Life. Intrigued, I showed it to some friends, and we gave it a try, roaming around causing mischief and talking with players from different backgrounds and countries. When I discovered that Second Life was pre-installed on the work computers at college, I took the opportunity to log in alone and was struck by the immersive experience and sense of community within the virtual world. Since then, I have been a dedicated player of Second Life, actively creating and contributing content to the platform. You’ve been making immersive content in Second Life for many years, how did you get into content creation and what are some of your favorite items that you have created? Upon my arrival in Second Life, the community was buzzing with excitement over the transition from prims to mesh. I had a background in 3D art and design, knowing the basics of mesh and texture creation. I saw this as an opportunity to improve my skills and used Second Life as a platform for self-teaching and experimentation. Some of my favorite creations are: - My product unboxer/unpacker. I love branding and packaging design, and I had a blast turning a boring cardboard box into something fun and practical. I also incorporated it into my new logo. - Penalty Game, a 2-player football/soccer shootout game. I really enjoy making animated and interactive products. - Chonky Corn, a thick huggable plushie. I love creating cute and silly characters, especially since Animesh arrived. It has opened up so many creative possibilities! Your content is very fun, creative, and interactive - how do you come up with your ideas, and do you do all of the animations, scripting, and creating yourself? Thanks! I'm not really sure where my ideas come from. I visit a lot of art exhibitions and galleries, so I think that could play a big role in my inspiration. I run the store by myself, and I also create all the meshes and textures. The animations and scripts I use are usually custom orders, but I'm lucky because Second Life has a lot of talented animators and scripters who help bring my creations to life. Cravone City recently celebrated its 2nd anniversary in Second Life, can you tell us more about your involvement with this region and what can Residents expect when visiting there? I have co-owned Cravone for many years with my friend Capone Macamorgh, way before it became Cravone City. Initially, it was just a place to house our Mainstore buildings. However, In 2021 we wanted to do something a little different for the community. That's when we found Paradox Ivory, the talented sim designer behind 'The Apartments & Tokyo Street'. We shared our ideas with her and she brought them to life, creating a stunning and functional space that exceeded our expectations. Cravone is made up of popular brands such as Animosity, Bad Unicorn, Baka, Hevo, and Scotch. Overall the sim offers an immersive experience with various beautifully crafted urban locations. The sim is made up of custom-made meshes and prefabs, creating a unique space we are all proud to call home. Words cannot do justice to the level of detail and craftsmanship that has gone into creating Cravone. To truly appreciate its beauty, you must see it inworld. We are constantly updating the space. You’ve also expanded your content creation to OpenSea, can you tell us how and why you decided to venture out to the NFT world? As a 3D artist in Second Life, I ventured into the NFT world to showcase my work and reach a wider audience. I am deeply intrigued by the concept of NFTs and believe that verifying ownership of digital creations is crucial to the future of art. In my opinion, Second Life was the origin of NFTs, as it allows the creation no-copy permission items that can be kept, displayed, or resold. I started my journey by creating collectibles called "Boops" and listing them on OpenSea, an NFT marketplace. This was a great experiment to gain an understanding of the NFT process. I have plans to create new collections of one-of-a-kind pieces and take my art to the next level. Exciting things are in store, so stay tuned! Tell us about some of the other Residents and Creators in SL that inspire you and whose work you admire. Over the years, I've met some pretty amazing people, but two that stand out to me are Mikel Monk and Capone Macmoragh. Mikel is a jack-of-all-trades, owning The Men's Department, Anthem Event, and the store Bueno. He inspires me with his hustle and determination, not to mention his thriving art career on the side. He's a true inspiration. Capone, who owns Scotch and co-owns Cravone, was a mentor to me when I was starting out. He gave me tips and tricks when creating meshes for the platform. He even teaches classes on mesh and texture creation, that's something I'd love to do someday too. Where can people see your work? Please share links to your sites and social media accounts. All my links can be found on my linktree: linktree.com/badunicorn Watch this creative video submitted by BadUnicorn Video production by Kelie Ladys Thank you Bhad for all the innovative content you bring to the grid! Each of our Spotlight posts features a different Resident to showcase the spectrum of experiences and personalities found in our virtual world. If you have created something inworld that you’re proud of, or have had a deeply meaningful experience that could brighten someone else’s day, please sign up! More info here: https://second.life/spotlight-signup

Learn how you can make a difference at What the Buzz, an interactive bee and pollinator reserve in Second Life, and the catalyst for The Nature Collective by Emmalee Evergarden. Emmalee shares her inspiration behind What the Buzz and The Nature Collective: “I've always been a nature lover. I'm usually the one stopping to look at a plant or flower, insects, birds, or trees while everyone else is hurrying along, and saving the bees has always been a passion of mine. When I joined SL a couple of years ago, I felt it was the perfect way to create a way for people to become immersed in nature and learn about what they can do to help save the bees and other pollinators. I hope they visit What the Buzz and walk away with some ideas on small changes they can implement in their day-to-day lives to help make a difference. I got sick a couple of years ago and it affected my ability to do a lot of the things I was once physically able to do. Creating What the Buzz has helped me heal and given me a way to get out into nature, even if in the virtual world. In a way the bees saved me, so it only seems right that I do what I can to help save them right back. What the Buzz has also been the catalyst for my other project, The Nature Collective which has grown in leaps and bounds over the past year. I founded the group with the idea of creating a community of like minded nature loving people. TNC now has over 130 member locations and over 1100 group members. We have organized events with the Mainland Community Alliance. We have group SLRR rides, horseback rides, and group sails. We also have our own book club where we read and meet up to discuss nature-themed and related books. All of this is because of the bees and because Second Life has given me the platform to build and create. It truly is a magical place!” Video Production by Draxtor Despres What the Buzz Bee & Pollinator Reserve What the Buzz is an interactive bee and pollinator reserve where you can embark on a quest to find lost scientific journal pages and learn about different ways you can help save the bees. Stop by the farmers market and gift shop, and visit the Field Research Station where you can learn more about bees and what is causing their decline. There are even beehives you can help tend to! Visit in Second Life

Class is back in session! Second Life University returns today at 12pm PT with Second Life’s Senior Software Engineer Runitai Linden (also known as Davep), and Second Life’s Product Manager, Kyle Linden. Davep and Kyle will be giving us an update on the status of PBR Materials in Second Life! These are some of the topics they are planning to cover during the show: Physically Based Rendering Wiki [Work in Progress] How to create a Metalic-Roughness! by Medhue Animations Download the latest GLTF PBR Materials Project Viewer Interested in checking out the upcoming materials features? Visit our Support site’s Accessing Aditi page to get started by requesting access to our Beta testing grid, Aditi. One you are logged in to the beta grid using the Project Viewer, go to the Rumpus Room regions Have more questions about PBR? Attend the Content Creator User Group Meetings Watch it live today at 12pm PT on the Second Life YouTube channel. We will be monitoring the YouTube chat and answering your questions. Stay tuned for future updates about Second Life University. Happy learning!

Today we are shining a spotlight on Gianni Broda, the talent behind David Heather, a high-fashion luxury brand in Second Life. How long have you been in Second Life and how did you first hear about it? I have been in Second Life since 2006. I first heard about it while playing There and I became curious enough to check it out for myself. How did you get into Second Life content creation? I got into content creation because of my love for fashion. I had done research on Second Life before I joined, so I had already decided I wanted to be a designer inworld. You make incredibly gorgeous high fashion designs, do you have a background in fashion or 3D creation in the physical world? I don't have a background in fashion. Being a designer has just always been a dream. I am actually a Graphic Designer who specializes in publication designs for the fashion industry. That's as far as my connection goes, unfortunately. How has Second Life impacted your creativity within the fashion industry and are there any RL fashion influences that affect your work in Second Life? Fashion is a big part of how I became good at magazine design in RL. I have studied magazines so much that it comes naturally to me when I'm doing publication designs. I have always been inspired by creations from Mugler and Korean and Japanese couture in general. Tell us about some of the other Residents and Creators in SL that inspire you and whose work you admire. I am a really big fan of Deadwool. His quality is amazing and his eye for detail is really impressive. I admire his work and hope to get to that level one day. Where can people see your work? Please share links to your sites and social media accounts. Flickr Instagram Facebook David Heather Mainstore Thank you Gianni for all your years of stylish contribution to the Second Life fashion community. Each of our Spotlight posts features a different Resident to showcase the spectrum of experiences and personalities found in our virtual world. If you have created something inworld that you’re proud of, or have had a deeply meaningful experience that could brighten someone else’s day, please sign up! More info here: https://second.life/spotlight-signup

Hello Residents! The Second Life viewer and servers have added a feature for group chat, providing recent message history. Have you ever logged into Second Life and your group chat opens with the punchline of a joke? Now you’ll be able to read back and see what it was. The chat servers save messages from the last hour, so you won’t miss what’s happening. A viewer update is required to use this new feature, and will be part of a future release (headed to Maintenance-R soon - watch release notes here). The viewer code is available now in our public repo - explore here: https://github.com/secondlife/viewer/tree/DRTVWR-573-maint-R We look forward to your feedback or any issues with this new feature.

Are you looking to make a connection? Thundr is a virtual dating app that makes it easy and fun to meet like-minded people in Second Life! Thundr is a community project created by two friends who have been a part of Second Life since 2007 and wanted to offer a fun, safe, and easy-going dating experience for its Residents. Since its public launch on February 10th, 2022, Thundr has quickly become a popular choice for virtual daters with almost 7000 activated users and 63000 matches. The app is built from scratch, offering unique features such as the ability to chat with gifs and emojis. User privacy and security are top priorities, with filters such as gender and age to help find the right match. In addition to its dating features, Thundr users can also use the app to advertise their businesses and activities with modern video ads. Check their inworld store for more information! Thundr offers a user-friendly interface and is gridwide, connecting residents from all over Second Life. Signing up is easy, with a free-to-use HUD that's simple to install and use. Residents can choose a unique Thundr username while keeping their Second Life name private if they wish. Thundr is the perfect choice for Second Life residents looking to connect, chat, and find love in the virtual world. With its quick matching, modern features, monthly events, and thousands of users, Thundr makes virtual dating fun and accessible. Join the Thundr community today and start your virtual dating journey! Video Production by Draxtor Despres Logo by Marianne McCann Thundr Thundr is the premier dating app for Second Life users, making it easy and fun to connect with like-minded individuals in Second Life. You can create a profile, browse other users, and start chatting with potential matches. The intuitive interface and user-friendly features make it easy to connect with others, whether you're looking for friendship, romance, or something in between. More info at thundr.info/faqs Visit in Second Life

We know there has been quite a bit of discussion about Scripted Agents/NPCs lately. Linden Lab is committed to continuing its excellent track record of keeping your personally identifiable information safe and secure. We understand that there is a certain amount of information a “bot” service has been collecting and displaying on their third party website that is causing unease in our community, and we’re working on the best way to address these concerns. Linden Lab is having conversations with the parties involved, however this should not be taken as an endorsement of any sort. We have spoken several times in an attempt to get a full picture of the situation. These discussions have been mutually beneficial, and will help us as we look to update our policy on Scripted Agent/NPC operation in Second Life. We recognize the need for improvements in specific areas, so in the near future we will be making adjustments to policies where needed. We have seen many requests from the community with a wide array of suggestions, and we appreciate all earnest and civil engagement. Internal discussions will continue beyond the Scripted Agent/NPC Policy, and any programmatic changes will be communicated as those roll out. Thank you to everyone who engaged in this topic and added your voice. While we have had to shut down several discussions that became unproductive, we have welcomed feedback through support contacts and have been using this feedback to inform our decision-making. We are listening, and are working to make sure that Second Life is a welcoming and engaging world for all our Residents (and their automata).

Hello! This Wednesday, February 1st, was a rocky one for Second Life, especially for regions on our Release Candidate (RC) channels. As with many large-scale services, we experience service interruptions from time to time, but yesterday's problems were unique and noteworthy enough that they deserve a sincere apology and more thorough explanation. Summary The incident lasted 6 hours 7029 regions were reverted to a previous stable version The root cause was a bug in object inventory behavior that was introduced by new code. This bug caused some objects' scripts to enter a non-running state. We are making changes to our deploy and testing processes to make events like this less likely to happen in the future. Timeline Second Life deploys simulator changes in two major phases: first, to Release Candidate (RC) channels which comprise roughly one-third of all production regions, then to the remainder on a main Second Life Server (SLS) channel. Before changes are deployed to RC, they go through several develop-test cycles, including deployments and testing on staging environments. RC rolls are regularly scheduled for 7AM Pacific (SLT) every Wednesday. While conducting one of these deployments, we received initial reports of issues relating to script behavior at 8:30AM. We immediately started investigating, and by 9AM it was clear that we needed to stop the roll, because the issue was pervasive and clearly related to the new changes. As we do in these situations, we declared an “Incident” and an Incident Commander took charge. By 9:30 we started a rollback, reverting the affected simulators to their previous version. We also evaluated what additional actions we would need to take, as it was unclear that a rollback alone would start the scripts which had stopped. This quickly proved to be the case, and we came up with a new plan - one that would ensure that scripts would perform as expected going forward, but possibly undo the changes our residents had been making since the time we had introduced the bug. Although this meant more downtime, it prevented further content loss, and proved to be the best way to put the grid back in order. The team came up with a quick, clean, and efficient way to achieve this and get everyone back on track. By 12PM the decision was made to take this direction. By 1:15PM the code was complete, by 1:40PM we confirmed that it worked. By 2:25PM all regions were brought back up. Of course after an event like this there’s cleanup to be done, and we had quite a few Lindens reviewing the fallout and taking care of our Residents. Our amazing support team was working with creators whose operations were affected. Trouble doesn’t come alone: we had to deal with another outage at the same time - this one on the web side of things. Some of our services were getting overwhelmed. We added a few hamsters to those wheels, and they seem to be turning just fine again. Technical Details What happened? To quote part of our internal discussion, “scripts are weird”: Conclusion What remains after an outage? We write up an internal “postmortem” report: what happened, what lessons we learned, and what future measures we’re going to put in place. We share it widely, so that we can all learn from it. On days like this, we also write a blog post to let you all know what happened as well. Of all the reasons to write a blog, a postmortem ranks pretty low for me, because it means something went seriously wrong. But of all the reasons I love working here, watching everyone come together during an outage ranks pretty high. I’m grateful to know that while we may make mistakes, we will not sweep them under the rug, nor look for someone to blame - we will come together and make it right. Thank you for your patience and understanding. This is your world, and we hope to take better care of it. Grumpity and the Second Life team

The 2023 Valentine Shop & Hop is almost here with 280 participating merchants across 14 shopping regions. All are offering their best to inspire your Valentine fantasies from a romantic evening with your bae, to a party with your friends, and everything in between. You will definitely find something to suit you! Every store will have at least a 20% discount on all items and a free (non-group) gift for shoppers or a gift certificate valued at L$300 or above! The event formally opens to the public on Friday, February 3rd at 9am PT - but who wants to wait when you can get early access?! If you can’t contain your excitement, join the official Second Life Birthday group inworld to be granted immediate access. Before you jump inworld, you can get a sneak peek at many of the items that will be available in the official Second Life Shop & Hop Flickr pool. And don’t forget to share photos of your haul after your shopping excursion! Scroll to the end of this post for a complete list of all 280 participating Shop & Hop Merchants in alphabetical order, and their direct slurls! To visit the 2023 Valentine Shop & Hop - start at any one of the Regions - but be sure to visit them all to see everything that's available. Happy shopping! ISLE OF VIEW AND MORE VALENTINE’S EVENTS The Isle of View is our annual tribute to all things romantic via four regions filled with forested walks, cozy nooks for cuddling, and romantic swan boat rides. Visit one of the Love Pavilion gift kiosks to browse through a variety of gift selections that you can send to your friends and loved ones on Valentine’s Day. This year’s selection includes heart lollipops and balloons, an adorable teddy bear, a chocolate box with rings, cutesy cupcakes, love lanterns, and, of course, romantic roses. To select and send your free gifts, follow the directions on the sign adjacent to the kiosk. Looking for more romantic destinations to explore this season? Grab a loved one and go on a date at one of the many beautiful places listed in the Romantic Spots category on the Destination Guide. VALENTINE'S LOVE TRAIN Our special Bellisseria Valentine's Event returns this year. This time it’s a Love Train with the primary departure point being Muehlenbach Station, but residents can hop on from any station as the trolleys go by! Learn more about it from Patch Linden's forum post. DUNK & HUG A LINDEN & MOLE EVENT Are you feeling “some kind of way” about the Lindens or Moles? Show your love (or friendly aggression) for the makers of Second Life at our annual Dunk & Hug a Linden & Mole Event, held this year on February 14th from 1pm to 3pm PT at the Isle of View. Come early for some fun conversations and plenty of soaked Lindens! Roses are red, Violets are blue, Hug and dunk some Lindens & Moles, At the Isle of View! NEW LAST NAMES Additionally, we have just released new last names for the season! The following valentine-themed names are only available for a limited time: Snugglepuff Allure Passion Heartstrings Aphrodite Adonis Waifu Husbando These names for Valentine’s Day are seasonal and may come back around this time next year, for a limited time. The following is a screenshot of the full list of current last names available: We will continue to make additional updates to the available last name pool, so if these options aren’t for you, stay tuned for future updates. You can also suggest your favorite name on our suggestion form, the new names were chosen from there! For more information about the costs and how-tos involved in name changes, read the Changing your username FAQ. Click to change your name now! A complete list of all 280 participating Shop & Hop Merchants in alphabetical order, and their direct slurls: .tg {border-collapse:collapse;border-spacing:0;} .tg td{border-color:black;border-style:solid;border-width:1px;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:14px; overflow:hidden;padding:10px 5px;word-break:normal;} .tg th{border-color:black;border-style:solid;border-width:1px;font-family:Arial, sans-serif;font-size:14px; font-weight:normal;overflow:hidden;padding:10px 5px;word-break:normal;} .tg .tg-0pky{border-color:inherit;text-align:left;vertical-align:top} Store SLurl - Scafall - http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Halcyon/161/233/53 :::boyberry::: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Tinseled/99/23/53 ::ANGELICUS:: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Golden/228/158/53 ::C'est la vie !:: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Gilded/88/164/53 ::PTj:: *pour toujours* http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Jubilant/228/158/53 :studiOneiro: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Hollyhock/228/158/53 ! Crisp Bear ! http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Gleaming/158/26/53 !!Firelight!! http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Jubilant/28/99/53 !dM deviousMind http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Hollyhock/167/168/53 . elemenopee . http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Gleaming/99/51/53 . Hanzel . http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Lavendar/202/101/53 .: Runic :. http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Chickory/202/101/53 .:Tm:.Creation http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Snapdragon/158/26/53 .lovelysweet. http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Snapdragon/54/161/53 [ Aleutia ] http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Jubilant/92/89/53 [CIRCA] Living http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Golden/158/26/53 [Krescendo] http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Zinnia/165/93/53 [lf design] http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Jubilant/158/26/53 [LiZzYay] Party & home deco and gifts http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Zinnia/60/100/53 [SuXue] Design http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Chickory/100/200/53 [WellMade] http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Sugarplum/54/161/53 { wren's nest } Shapes http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Lavendar/99/51/53 {:: The Moonstone Studio ::} http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Gleaming/99/23/53 {Lil Big Me} http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Gleaming/28/99/53 {RP} Reina Photofraphy http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Golden/202/101/53 {ViSion} http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Sugarplum/99/51/53 {Why Not?} Home & Garden Furniture http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Zinnia/100/200/53 * SK * http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Forsythia/54/161/53 ***Ambrosia*** http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Sugarplum/28/99/53 *>Kiu<* http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Golden/99/228/53 *~*HopScotch*~* http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Chickory/99/51/53 *katat0nik* http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Chickory/88/164/53 *Salesita's Creations**SC* http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Sugarplum/155/60/53 *Thus Magic* http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Halcyon/165/93/53 *TRB* - A Woman's Touch http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Tinseled/228/158/53 = Lil Britches = http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Gleaming/158/203/53 =ED= Eagle Designs http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Gleaming/229/102/53 ~EccentriciXi~ http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Gilded/99/23/53 ~Lantian/Flox~ http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Forsythia/158/26/53 777 MOTORS http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Lupine/229/102/53 A*S http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Lavendar/155/60/53 Aardvark http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Chickory/92/89/53 ABC - Awesome Breed Creations http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Halcyon/92/89/53 Accent (....previously A&D Clothing) http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Tinseled/60/100/53 adorsy http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Hollyhock/92/89/53 Afterparty http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Tinseled/54/161/53 ALANTORI http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Tinseled/88/164/53 alaskametro<3 http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Sugarplum/197/158/53 ALTGARD http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Tinseled/197/158/53 Ananas http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Tinseled/202/101/53 Anastyle http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Gilded/202/101/53 ART & FASHION http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Gilded/99/228/53 Artisan Antiques http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Zinnia/155/60/53 Artisan Eden http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Forsythia/197/158/53 Artisan Fantasy http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Lavendar/165/93/53 AtaMe http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Golden/28/99/53 Atelier Burgundy http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Lupine/167/168/53 Attractive Store http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Tinseled/158/26/53 AURORA http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Snapdragon/28/99/53 AXE http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Snapdragon/60/100/53 Baiastice http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Gilded/197/158/53 Banana Banshee http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Lavendar/197/158/53 BananaN http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Chickory/155/60/53 BBX Yachts & Buildings http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Zinnia/158/203/53 BE BOLD http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Lavendar/99/23/53 Beauty Factory http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Jubilant/60/100/53 Beauty Unleashed http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Lupine/228/158/53 Belle Epoque http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Chickory/197/158/53 Bloom! furniture & Decor http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Lupine/54/161/53 Blueberry http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Sugarplum/88/164/53 BMe & The Silas Gallery http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Forsythia/161/233/53 Boscato http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Hollyhock/158/26/53 Boutique #187 http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Chickory/54/161/53 Bricolage http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Halcyon/28/99/53 BRON http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Tinseled/165/93/53 byCrash Home http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Halcyon/99/228/53 BYRNE http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Forsythia/99/23/53 Candy Bell http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Chickory/99/228/53 Candydoll http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Sugarplum/165/93/53 Capsule by DaD http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Jubilant/155/60/53 Caverna Obscura http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Forsythia/229/102/53 Celestinas Weddings http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Sugarplum/202/101/53 Cerridwen's Cauldron http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Golden/155/60/53 CH Skins http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Lavendar/28/99/53 CHEZ MOI FURNITURES http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Halcyon/54/161/53 CHIMAERA http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Forsythia/155/60/53 Chris Two Designs http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Gleaming/228/158/53 Cole's Corner http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Jubilant/165/93/53 Culprit http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Gleaming/92/89/53 Curious Kitties http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Lavendar/229/102/53 Dahlia http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Lupine/99/51/53 Deep Static http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Gilded/229/102/53 DFS - Digital 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http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Forsythia/228/158/53 Faida http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Forsythia/99/228/53 Fancy Decor http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Snapdragon/92/89/53 Fantasy Illumination (Fantasy China) http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Forsythia/158/203/53 Fantavatar & Moonstruck http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Lavendar/88/164/53 FashionNatic http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Hollyhock/100/200/53 Flaminko! http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Gleaming/88/164/53 Flecha Creations http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Zinnia/202/101/53 FlowerDreams http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Sugarplum/100/200/53 Forest Fantasy Store http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Lavendar/23/159/53 Frangipani Garden http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Gleaming/202/101/53 GA.EG & Gaeline Creations http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Sugarplum/228/158/53 Garbaggio http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Zinnia/229/102/53 GGVG fashion 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http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Zinnia/161/233/53 HORL http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Snapdragon/161/233/53 IMPACTS STORE http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Tinseled/23/159/53 Jack Spoon http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Jubilant/158/203/53 JIAN Pets http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Halcyon/88/164/53 Jinx http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Halcyon/167/168/53 Kaerri http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Zinnia/92/89/53 kaos tattoo http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Tinseled/229/102/53 Katharine Littlepaws Welsh Art gallery http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Lavendar/161/233/53 KiB Designs http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Golden/158/203/53 Killer's Production http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Zinnia/54/161/53 kiyori http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Lupine/28/99/53 KorpokkurHpuse http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Golden/99/23/53 Kringle & Co http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Gleaming/155/60/53 KUNGLERS http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Gilded/165/93/53 KYMILE http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Hollyhock/23/159/53 La Plume http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Lupine/155/60/53 Lacrime dell'anima http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Zinnia/28/99/53 Lapointe & Bastchild Swear http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Tinseled/92/89/53 Les Sucreries de Fairy http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Chickory/158/203/53 Libertine http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Forsythia/92/89/53 LifeStorii http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Gleaming/197/158/53 Lil Val's Clothing & More! http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Gleaming/100/200/53 Lilithé http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Snapdragon/99/23/53 Lilleth Mills http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Hollyhock/60/100/53 Limited Addiction http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Golden/54/161/53 LION STYLE http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Snapdragon/228/158/53 Little Dreamers Boutique http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Gleaming/99/228/53 Littlep http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Zinnia/99/228/53 LIVIA http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Hollyhock/99/23/53 Llamaby http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Gleaming/60/100/53 LOVE Superstore http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Halcyon/228/158/53 Luas http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Forsythia/100/200/53 LuLu http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Sugarplum/99/228/53 Luna Chelsea http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Gilded/100/200/53 Luna Rose http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Halcyon/158/26/53 Lyrical B!zarre Templates http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Zinnia/197/158/53 Mad Rat Industries http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Lavendar/158/26/53 MadPea http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Zinnia/99/51/53 MADRAS http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Lupine/99/228/53 Magic Party http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Lupine/100/200/53 Magnetic http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Halcyon/100/200/53 MAke a MArk http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Halcyon/197/158/53 MaleDiction http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Tinseled/155/60/53 Maven Homes http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Lupine/23/159/53 Medieval Fantasy http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Zinnia/88/164/53 Mesh Entity http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Halcyon/158/203/53 Meva http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Gilded/161/233/53 Mirage Treasure Co. http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Snapdragon/155/60/53 MOoH! http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Gilded/155/60/53 Moon amore http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Chickory/167/168/53 Mossu http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Snapdragon/158/203/53 MRCOIN http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Snapdragon/88/164/53 Mudlarks http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Gleaming/54/161/53 Multifarious http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Halcyon/60/100/53 Myrrine http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Halcyon/23/159/53 NaaNaa's http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Snapdragon/23/159/53 ND/MD http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Hollyhock/155/60/53 Nerenzo http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Lupine/99/23/53 Neve http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Golden/88/164/53 Never Totally Dead... http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Zinnia/99/23/53 NiFty ShapeS http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Hollyhock/202/101/53 no.match_ http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Snapdragon/167/168/53 Noveny http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Lupine/92/89/53 Oh Deer http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Golden/197/158/53 OLD TREASURES http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Forsythia/60/100/53 Olympus Motors http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Lupine/161/233/53 Omnia Originals http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Jubilant/99/51/53 OPOPOP ! http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Tinseled/28/99/53 Peeps Dinkies http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Gleaming/165/93/53 Petit Chat http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Lavendar/99/228/53 Pixel Doll http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Hollyhock/28/99/53 pixicat http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Golden/167/168/53 Polenth's Mushporium http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Forsythia/99/51/53 PUMEC http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Sugarplum/167/168/53 PurpleMoon Creations http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Gilded/167/168/53 QUEENZ http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Jubilant/54/161/53 Rainnn http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Chickory/229/102/53 Rebel Poses http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Hollyhock/197/158/53 redangel http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Tinseled/99/228/53 RNK http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Sugarplum/158/203/53 rnR http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Chickory/99/23/53 Roawenwood http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Lavendar/92/89/53 roslyn. http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Gilded/23/159/53 ROZOREGALIA http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Jubilant/167/168/53 SA-Items http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Lupine/158/203/53 Sass http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Jubilant/100/200/53 Sassy Sweet Poses http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Golden/229/102/53 Schadenfreude http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Chickory/165/93/53 Second Nature Jewellery http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Zinnia/228/158/53 SEKA http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Sugarplum/161/233/53 SEmotion & Libellune http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Gilded/92/89/53 Shining http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Golden/100/200/53 Short Leash http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Chickory/23/159/53 Simply Shelby http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Zinnia/158/26/53 Sintiklia http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Hollyhock/165/93/53 small http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Gilded/228/158/53 smesh http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Sugarplum/158/26/53 Snuggles http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Lavendar/100/200/53 SOFIA http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Hollyhock/99/228/53 Son!a-Edge http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Jubilant/202/101/53 SPARROWS NEST http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Halcyon/99/51/53 Spells & Charms http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Gilded/28/99/53 spoiled http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Hollyhock/158/203/53 STATUS http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Snapdragon/229/102/53 Stiff Store http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Golden/161/233/53 Supernatural http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Snapdragon/99/51/53 SURPLUS MOTORS http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Lupine/158/26/53 Sweet Potatoes http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Gleaming/23/159/53 Synnergy.Tavis http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Lupine/202/101/53 tarte. http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Snapdragon/165/93/53 Tastic http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Jubilant/23/159/53 Tayren's Fantasy Fashions (TFF) http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Forsythia/202/101/53 Tchelo's http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Snapdragon/100/200/53 Teegle http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Golden/92/89/53 Tenacio http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Sugarplum/92/89/53 the annex http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Jubilant/229/102/53 The Little Bat http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Gilded/158/26/53 The Looking Glass http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Forsythia/165/93/53 The Olde Attic http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Lavendar/158/203/53 The Reckless Angel http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Zinnia/23/159/53 The Wino Mino http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Golden/99/51/53 THS - The Home Store http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Lupine/60/100/53 Thundr http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Gleaming/167/168/53 Tilted Halo http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Gleaming/161/233/53 TO.kiski http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Hollyhock/54/161/53 Totally Wicked http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Tinseled/99/51/53 Trompe Loeil 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Today we are shining a spotlight on Aurora Mercury, a community-building YouTuber that creates high-quality diverse content in Second Life! How long have you been in Second Life and how did you first hear about it? I have been in Second Life since 2008 on an old account. I heard about Second Life through an episode of CSI where they were trying to find a killer who was playing Second Life. I was so intrigued as I had always played slightly similar games like Sims and wanted to know what it was. I googled it and saw it was a real virtual platform. I created an account and was instantly addicted. In my previous account I was mainly doing fashion modeling, I joined modeling schools and even became a tutor for a short while. Real life took over and I didn’t login for 10 years. The short story of it, I couldn't remember my login details and had no choice but to create a new avatar and that's where Aurora was born, who is now nearly 6 years old. Second Life allows you to have that escapism from your day-to-day in real life. It is also a platform that you can use to manifest your dreams. I have seen so many people who have used their talents from real life to create businesses in Second Life and vice versa. It is not just any old game; it is the original metaverse platform that has the potential to achieve a lot in the future. How and when did you get started with your blog and youtube channel, and what sorts of topics do you like to cover? I used to film for events and performances back in 2018 and upload them to my YouTube channel (I have removed them now due to copyright). I then started to take a different angle and began filming my experiences and journey in Second Life in 2021. I was inspired by SL youtubers like Quincy Robin and Meela Vanderbuilt who are women of color like me and share their experiences, skills, and vlogs in Second Life. Being that I own a women's community called Sisters in SL, I saw that I had a skill of communicating with people of all cultures by just being me. I create a mixture of videos exploring Second Life, interviews with residents, tutorials, and lifestyle topics. I really enjoy filming and sharing my journey in SL. You have a wonderful avatar! Who are some of your favorite content creators that really blow you away in terms of offering diverse choices, and what would you like to see more of? Thank you so much. There are so many amazing creators here and what I love is that new creators are continuing to grow, especially within the black community. I can now buy a lot more items that are relatable to me and my culture and I am truly thankful to the creators for bringing diversity into Second Life. I love creators such as Lelutka, Rowne, ISON, Studio Exposure, Rosary, Movement and that's just to name a few. I can't wait to see how our avatars will evolve. I am excited to see how our avatars will look in the next year or so. I have a feeling we will look even more realistic. Can you tell us more about Sisters in SL and some of their activities and projects? Sisters in SL is a women's networking community created in 2019 where we hold events, explore, do photoshoots and also have a lifestyle magazine. Sisters in SL is a diverse community that has members from all over the world. I did take a break last year as real life did get busy again after the pandemic but I have tons of plans for this year. I will be focusing more on filming and touching on interesting topics, so make sure you stay tuned! Are there any current or future projects that you are working on that you can tell us about? Currently, I am working on a film project for Valentine's day where I am having discussions with residents both who are single or married in SL and they will be sharing their experiences which will be very interesting! I will also be hosting the SL Video Awards Show, so look out for me there! I have lots of plans to work on more projects and I can’t wait to share. Where can people see your work? Please share links to your sites and social media accounts. The main platform for me is Youtube: Aurora Mercury - YouTube Instagram: @aurora.mercury Tiktok: @aurora_mercury Linktree: @aurora.mercury Thank you Aurora for all the engaging and diverse content you’ve been sharing about Second Life, we look forward to your future projects! Each of our Spotlight posts features a different Resident to showcase the spectrum of experiences and personalities found in our virtual world. If you have created something inworld that you’re proud of, or have had a deeply meaningful experience that could brighten someone else’s day, please sign up! More info here: https://second.life/spotlight-signup

Happy Wednesday! We’re writing to remind everyone that we’ll be holding our monthly Web User Group meeting today at 14:00 SLT in our usual meeting place, where we’ll be discussing our status with ongoing projects and our near future plans for our web properties. As always, we’ll leave plenty of time for Q&A from the community. We look forward to seeing you there! Keep up to date with all of our user group meetings on our wiki and public calendar.

Can real people find true love in a virtual world? It’s happening every day in Second Life and our “Love Made in Second Life” series explores how romance and long-distance relationships can thrive in the metaverse! Ajay McDowwll and Synapse Zabelin met in Second Life, fell in love, moved together in the physical realm - he from Mississippi, she from Florida where they still are today- got married and, spoiler alert: Ajay and Syn are still together today, after almost 16 years! The story begins on the original Help Island, where Syn volunteered when newbie Ajay dropped in. They struck up a friendship and the rest, as they say, is Second Life history! We asked them more about the history of their relationship. How long have you been together? We met in 2007 and have been married since August of 2009. What was the initial spark where you kind of knew that you were possibly “meant for each other”? Ajay: Honestly, I can’t remember some sort of “Aha!” moment. I’ve been divorced twice, and I was very straightforward with him that I was never getting married again because picking an appropriate spouse was clearly not in my skill set. Syn was okay with that; he said he’d still be right here. And he was… and he is. Syn: I knew when I would log in and felt disappointed if she wasn't inworld. What does Second Life mean to you? Ajay: SL’s influence on my life is wide-ranging, from social activities to music, to creativity… I can actually build things inworld! I loathe Blender with the fire of a thousand suns and still, rage quit it regularly, but using the built-in tools SL provides, I’m able to create any number of things. Shoot, I finally actually put something up on Marketplace (there is one entire item in my store), and someone who doesn’t even know me purchased a copy! For the arts scene, the diversity of both visual artists and musicians in SL who perform live is phenomenal. Many of these people have become acquaintances and friends in the physical world also, thanks to random meet-ups and organized events like the SL Live Music Jams. Syn: SL is a creative outlet, a place to meet new people with varied interests. What advice would you give others who meet someone in SL and are not sure if they should pursue a relationship? Ajay: What I would say is it’s totally reasonable to give an SL relationship the same chance as you would a relationship that started in the physical world. You already have one thing in common, and SL is a stronger tie than just bumping into someone in the produce section at your local grocery store. Syn: Go slow. Friends first, then the rest will happen if it's in the cards for you. You guys left SL at one point. Why? And why come back now? Ajay + Syn: We left SL primarily because we were newly married, I had young kids, and we just had a lot to concentrate on in the physical world, both with our relationship with each other as well as our respective jobs and the children’s schedules and academic needs. But we maintained our premium membership so we always had a home to pop back into and it was that home that brought us back into SL. I checked my email one day to find a note from Quianna Greymist of Angels asking about the 1024 we had, and if we were interested in selling. It turned out that all of the land surrounding our plot (512 for each of us) had been purchased by Angels, and we were literally on an island in the middle of a runway. We came back inworld to complete the land sale in October of 2019, looked around, and asked each other, “Why did we ever leave?” 😃 Nearly a decade’s worth of stipend being saved up made it very easy to update ourselves to mesh! Video Production by Draxtor Despres Logo by Marianne McCann

Today we are shining a spotlight on Ethan Evergarden, co-owner of the Highlands of Scotland in Second Life. He’s a virtual builder with fifteen years of historical builds under his belt. How long have you been in Second Life and how did you first hear about it? I was an avid fan of the television show “The Office” when it was still in first-run production and on October 25, 2007, an episode called “Local Ad” came on which featured a segment in which Dwight Schrute was exploring Second Life. He had created an avatar, Dwight Shelford, and was flying around in-world and talking about what his character was doing. As soon as the episode was over, I went online and found out that Second Life was real, and I immediately created an account. Once I had passed Orientation Island, I was sent to the region of Violet, a telehub, where I began meeting people. There were teleport boards to different places in SL and I found one that took me to the Cetus Galleries Art District where I discovered a single-region city filled with beautiful architecture, art galleries, and a thriving community of gallery owners, residents, and event facilitators. I quickly felt a bond with the community in Cetus and it soon became my new home. I have been in Second Life for fifteen years now and during that time, three communities have been my home, including Cetus for two years, Avalon Town Art District for five years, and the Highlands of Scotland in SL for the past eight. The common thread in all these places has been community, which is very important to me because even in Second Life, we all feel like we need to belong, to find our place among others. Second Life has given me that in abundance. You are the Co-owner of Highlands of Scotland in Second Life, can you tell us more about that? I found the Highlands of Scotland in Second Life in 2014 after hearing about it on a musical stream hosted by one of the owners, Magnus Brody, that was broadcasting on a land parcel I was on. As an American descended from deep Scottish roots, I was fascinated with the Highlands, which consisted then of two regions, Inverness City and Urquhart. Avalon Town was changing, and I was looking for a change, so I began hanging out there and going to events. Eventually, they adopted me into their community. The Scottish Highlands, within reason, attempts to recreate the real-life Scottish experience, including geography, landmark buildings, and places of interest. We have events each night at Nessie’s, the main pub, which brings together both the “locals” who are regular daily participants, as well as many visitors who come to get a taste of Highland life. After two years of living there, I approached the owners of the Highlands, Elizbeth Beaumont and Magnus Brody, both natives of real-life Scotland, about my desire to add a third region to the Highlands, and I became a co-owner that year with the addition of Beauly. Since then, our team has expanded to include Axaria Evergarden, also from Scotland, and that team has added four more regions to the Highlands. This allowed us to expand our waterways into Loch Ness and Greater Loch Ness, as well as having one region devoted to nature in Glen Coe, a residential shopping village in Dornoch, and much more. Inverness City, the oldest of the regions and the central city of the Highlands is our hub, which has been the heart of the Highlands of Scotland in Second Life since 2008, when it first came into existence. Elizbeth (Liz) Beaumont keeps us all on our toes and we have a lot of fun there. We care about each other, and many of the locals have annual meetups in RL Scotland, coming from all over the UK, as well as Germany, Denmark, and other places. They gather at the Loch Ness Inn, which is recreated in our virtual Scotland, to spend a weekend in the real Scottish Highlands. This community has endured a long time and this year we look forward to celebrating the 15th anniversary of the Second Life Highlands. I hope someday I can join them for a meetup. Tell us how you created your two most complex builds, the Cathedral and Castle at the Scotland destination. One of the reasons I stayed in Second Life was building. I have a passion for architecture and had designed and built a number of small churches in Second Life over the years. What eventually became the Cathedral of Dornoch was originally intended to be a small chapel, and as I like to tell people, it quickly got way out of hand. The footprint or shape of the building is known as a cruciform, as in the shape of a cross, and the architectural style is gothic revival. I originally built it in 2014, but over the years, as my skills improved or as I found new elements I wanted to try, it has literally been rebuilt a few times over. I’ve enlarged the bell tower, added spires, flying buttresses, newer and better textures, had custom stained glass windows created, and much more. It has “resided” in three different regions during its long life and like a person, it has evolved and changed over time. For me, the Cathedral has been a labour of love, because I have been so intimately involved with every prim that went into it. It's proportional and symmetrical, which I usually prefer in buildings, yet many people who might find that form uninteresting have told me how inspiring they find it. Axaria and I spend a lot of time in there listening to music and our community holds church services there occasionally, as well as musical concerts and of course, weddings (which is why we opened a wedding shop across the street!) One of my proudest moments was when it was featured a couple of years ago in a Linden Lab produced video about spiritual places. I find it a peaceful and contemplative place to just sit and look at the details, wondering sometimes how I built it and knowing I could probably never do it again. If the Cathedral has been a labour of love, Beaufort Castle, my Second Life home, has been an exercise in both frustration and rewards. Modeled after the real-life castle in Beauly, Scotland, I have had to conform to it, and architecturally it goes against my natural instincts for orderly design. It rambles and makes no sense in its layout, yet it manages to be both grand and fun. It has hidden passages in several places and it’s interesting sometimes to watch visitors find them and get lost in the walls. Over the years, I’ve become quite proud of it, even though it has grown to enormous proportions and is far bigger than any one avatar would ever need. I didn’t set out to build it but when I decided on Beauly for the region, Magnus Brody told me that I had to build Beaufort Castle if I was going to live on Beauly. I took one look at the real one and decided I would be crazy to attempt it. A few months later I gave in to crazy and started on it and six years later, I’m still tweaking it, changing it, adding things, and taking things away. Like the cathedral, it evolves as I do and I’m just its caretaker. We get a lot of drop-ins from time to time and the nice thing about a large house is you can just go to another side of it and let them enjoy it. I’m always happy to answer questions about it and feel like if I ever get to see the real one in person, I’ll feel right at home in it. While I don’t sell my builds in SL, I do enjoy creating miniatures of them and selling them in my Second Life store, Kringle & Co. You also created the Frank Lloyd Wright virtual museum in SL, which is no longer open. Tell us more about that build, how long it was open for, and do you have plans to bring it back? I was one of the co-founders of the museum, but I must share credit with a lot of talented people who made that happen. I had created an SL group for architects and fans of the American architect, Frank Lloyd Wright, called the Taliesin Society. The group grew quite quickly and on June 5, 2009, I hosted a Society event, with Debe Wise, an in-world expert on Wright, giving a lecture on Frank Lloyd Wright Architecture. The event, which was held in voice, drew a surprising 62 people, including many of SL's best architects. Following the gathering, some of us held a discussion about creating a virtual museum of architecture. This meeting was the genesis of the Frank Lloyd Wright Virtual Museum of Architecture. The late Frey Bravin mapped out how it would be accomplished, and we created a group for the museum. I was the 2nd one to join and later was elected as Chairman of the museum board. We obtained a licensing agreement with the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation and we also set up a RL corporation to function as a 501C3 charitable foundation so that we could accept donations. Along with Frey and I were Troy Vogel, Miltone Marquette, the late Rosalie Oldrich, Supremius and Sensuous Maximus of Builder’s Brewery, Terra Tepper, Ethos Erlanger, and others. We opened in July 2009 and ran through December 2010. Our most talented builders meticulously recreated several of Wright’s most notable builds and put them out for display on the region, and we also held many events, fundraisers, and a series of lectures on Wright architecture. The most fun though was holding build-offs, where both amateur and master builders would compete by building a complete, Wright-inspired building based on a given theme. Unfortunately, when the Foundation realized that the museum could not be monetized in a beneficial way to their needs, they elected not to renew the licensing agreement, and we had to close the museum. It was a sad day for all of us, but I think that it really showed the full potential of Second Life as an educational medium beyond just lectures and presentations, by drawing people from all over the world to learn, appreciate and discover Wright’s works in a virtual environment that they otherwise might not ever get to see. Tell us about some of the other Residents in SL that inspire you and whose work you admire. Saffia Widdershins comes to mind. A true media mogul in Second Life who I have had the fortune to be friends with for probably a dozen years. I used to write for her publication, Prim Perfect Magazine, and I have never seen a harder worker in SL. I honestly don’t know how she has time for a First Life, given her many irons in the fire. Miltone Marquette and Terra Tepper are two very talented builders. Miltone works to this day on refining his individual Wright builds, creating stunning replicas of his incredible buildings. Terra is one of my best friends in SL and was my building mentor for many years. She pushed me to make continuous improvement in everything I built and when I think something is good enough, I’ll ask myself “would Terra leave it like this?” and keep plugging away. Scottius Polke, a loveable Otter with a razor-sharp wit and a successful Real Life art practice which he has shared through his in-world galleries for more than a dozen years. Chigadee London, the noted hatter of SL, and her partner Balthazar Fouroux, two longtime friends. Chigadee owns one of Second Life’s most successful hat businesses, “Couture Chapeau” and Bal owns “The Prop Shop”, making lovely items of all kinds, whatever strikes his fancy. Chigadee and Bal are probably the longest-running SL couple I know of, and I admire how they support and love each other in everything they do. Magnus Brody is one of the best DJs and musicologists in Second Life. His delivery is as smooth as Scotch whisky and his knowledge of music is formidable. That voice brought me to Scotland in SL. Elizbeth Beaumont, who works tirelessly to keep the Highlands interesting and relevant and whose witticisms keep me in stitches. Taro Firanelli, a prolific master of Second Life and a longtime regular of the Highlands. He knows more about SL than most people I know and what is amazing is that he is over 80 years old in Real Life. Last, but not least, Axaria Evergarden, my best friend, confidant, partner in crime, window and texture maker, enabler, and guide to all things Scottish. Every building I make has something of her talent in it, from stained glass windows, doors, textures, and more. She won’t hesitate to tell me something isn’t right in a building, and we share a common love of many different genres of music. She is a notable clothing and wedding dress designer in her own right, yet she manages to find time to make anything I need and last year, we opened our own store, Kringle & Company, selling all kinds of stuff for Christmas, and now we have expanded to other things relevant to the different times of the year. We might not sell a lot yet, but we’ve had loads of fun doing it. We even have store alts, Kriss Kringle and Jessica Claus! Where can people see your work? Please share links to your sites and social media accounts. The Cathedral of Dornoch (slurl) Beaufort Castle (slurl) Kringle & Co (slurl) Dornoch (slurl - region I built) Glen Coe (slurl - region I built) Facebook Personal Facebook Kringle & Co Twitter Thank you, Ethan, for fifteen years of historic contributions to Second Life! Each of our Spotlight posts features a different Resident to showcase the spectrum of experiences and personalities found in our virtual world. If you have created something inworld that you’re proud of, or have had a deeply meaningful experience that could brighten someone else’s day, please sign up! More info here: https://second.life/spotlight-signup

The Concierge and Land User Group meeting is a monthly, public meeting for discussion and education on Second Life, useful to both Mainland Residents and Estate owners. Topics include any issues relating to Customer Relations/Support or concerning Land in general (mainland, islands, Linden Homes, estates, auctions, etc.). Join Wendi, Vix, and members of the Land team, on Wednesday at 12pm PT at Linden Estate Services. All are welcome. Keep up to date with all of our user group meetings on our wiki and public calendar.

Take a trip to Kawaii City, a cyberpunk metropolis where you can gaze at skyscrapers while relaxing at the cafe. Builder and owner of Kawaii City, Naru Darkwatch, shares her inspiration for this photogenic destination: “Somebody asked me what inspired me to build Kawaii City. To answer that question, I must explain some of the background I have had in my Second Life journey. I joined this fantastic world because of the roleplaying environment and the freedom it gave you to create a character almost 100%, just as you want it to be. But as Real Life took more and more of my time, I came to SL more for the friends, music, and to relax with a little building; it started with Kawaii Café so we could all have coffee in the mornings before work and not get yelled at by a GM because we were not all in character. Little by little, a city began to take form as more land became available to buy. The cafe and city have always been open to the public as I wanted to make a home for those who did not have a place to go, where you could be who you wanted to be but still be in a cyberpunk environment and not be forced to roleplay all the time. Eventually, it took some convincing from friends to list it in the destination guide as I’m quite critical of my creations, but many said I should, so now it’s there. Many have asked if I will open it up for RP, but my goal for the city is to keep on building it, improving it, and not to set up rules on who can visit and what to do there.” If you’re looking for a cyberpunk destination to explore without roleplay requirements and other restrictions, teleport over to Kawaii City now. Video Production by Draxtor Despres Kawaii City A photogenic cyberpunk/dystopic city to walk around, eat some Asian food, have some delicious coffee, explore the bars and clubs or find a place with that special somebody and snuggle a little. Visit in Second Life

Embark on a spiritual journey and visit Elephant Island, a wildlife adventure park in Second Life! Builder and owner of Elephant Island, Syx Toshi, shares his vision for this stress-relieving destination: “I’ve been in SL a long time and seen the amazing amount of progress with the influx of mesh. It has opened a new world of more realistic builds. In my more recent builds, I have tried to provide people with destinations that provide multiple options to enjoy the environment, whether it is hiking, climbing, scuba diving, kayaking, or just sitting and listening to nature. I want people to really have a sense of exploring. You may have noticed that Elephant Island not only has elephants, but we also have a completely immersive environment down to flies and ants. If you stand in one place long enough, you will see just about everything you would see in RL. My partner Bryn Toshi and I have a few rules for these builds: first and foremost is that there is no music on the region unless it’s coming from an old radio in one of the shacks. Once you pass that shack you will only hear nature. This is important to me because there is so much noise in SL. Even at nature destinations they are streaming music. I think that takes away from the experience. I have been building since day one in SL, but only after I met my partner did I want to build as a team. Bryn’s input is the finishing touch to every build. She has an excellent eye for design. We are a great team and have been for over 10 years. We both love SL for its creative outlet and the opportunity to stay connected in a unique way. We both love creating for people’s enjoyment that’s why you will never see a tip jar on any of our builds. Our hope is that our builds provide an escape for people from the stress of RL. Not everyone has the budget in RL to visit the places we try to duplicate in our builds.” Take some time to escape from the daily grind and enjoy the breathtaking colors of nature at Elephant Island. Video Production by Draxtor Despres Elephant Island Elephant Island is an adventurous destination and wildlife above and under the water is abundant. Come prepared to explore and have fun! Visit in Second Life

The Puppetry User Group meeting is a bi-weekly meeting discussing an experimental new feature that allows hardware and other software to connect to Second Life and provide animation data for an avatar. The purpose of these meetings is to connect with developers and coders who might want to experiment with it. Learn more about Puppetry in our blog post. Join the team every other Thursday at 13:00 PT on the Aditi beta grid, Castelet region. Keep up to date with all of our user group meetings on our wiki and public calendar.

Today we are shining a spotlight on Andee Tophat, a lifelong songwriter and musician that has written over 150 songs - including his latest single which is all about falling in love through Second Life! How long have you been in Second Life and how did you first hear about it? I first discovered Second Life when I was shopping and saw a computer magazine with a CDROM on the front advertising a 3D World. I have always been interested in computers since my school days when my first computer was a Sinclair ZX81 with 1K memory. So seeing a magazine with a program on it that offered a 3D world to build and explore caught my attention. So on 5th January 2007, I installed the software, signed up and logged in, and was instantly hooked! My first avatar was nothing like today, as you can imagine. Clothing was just a texture you applied to your body, there were no voice features at that time that I remember, so there I stood in a world that was immeasurable in size wanting to find out how to build my first house! 16 years later and I look a lot different, and enjoy live music, building, and making friends. How did music come into your life? I come from a family of music lovers! From a very young age, I would play on the family upright piano that sat in our dining room. It was never properly tuned but that doesn’t matter when you’re little. My mum told me later in life that she remembered me running into the kitchen to tell her that I had written a tune. She didn’t believe me but followed dutifully to listen and actually smiled when she heard that I had actually composed a little melody with a chorus. I must have been around 7 or 8 at the time. My father used to play his records of Big Band or Classical, and would often call me into the living room to “listen to this one” or “isn’t this good?” and I used to enjoy his love and excitement for his favourite songs. Out of my four older sisters, two of them would listen to artists like ABBA, Carpenters, Neil Diamond, and Neil Sedaka and the other two would listen to Lionel Richie, Alexander O'Neal, Luther Vandross, and Motown-type tracks. I would then be listening and picking up on the latest 80’s music, so you can imagine I have an Eclectic music taste! My first “written” song was in 1986 when I wrote a song for one of my sister's weddings. Looking back it’s awful and very tacky but, like any musician, that becomes the start of your musical future! Since then I’ve written over 150 songs with lyrics and about a dozen other instrumental songs. I can’t read music and play by ear, so I can often pick up a song quickly if I wanted to create my own cover version of a track. I would say that over 85% of my music is based on some emotion or experience I was going through at the time. I remember years ago having dinner with a friend and letting him go through my ring binder containing all my lyrics. They were alphabetically in order of title and I left him to wash the dishes, only to return to see he had taken them all out of the folder and was organizing them by date! Reading them like that was almost like reading a personal diary! I have also written some songs based on an idea or story that I felt would make for a good song. My sister once challenged me to stop writing songs about love and to write a song about boats. So armed with that snippet of an idea, I wrote “Sea Breeze”. Another time I allowed an encyclopedia to fall open and closed my eyes and pointed to a page and said I would write a song about whatever topic my finger landed on. It landed on “Klondike” so I wrote a song called “Gold Rush”. A few years ago, I formed a band called “Balladeer” with my brother who played guitar, my brother-in-law who played drums, and some other friends that could sing. We enjoyed getting together regularly and performing my music. I’ve performed a few times in front of Wedding Guests and we also held two small shows. The first one was in 2001 and was a tester mainly with friends and family and we filled a small community hall with about 120 people. Then in 2003 we hired a small theatre, and managed to fill it with 350 people. It was a risky move as we were not performing any cover songs, only original music. But after a 2-hour session of almost 20 songs we had so many people come up to us after to congratulate us, that it was a heart-warming result. My mum even told me that she heard somebody whistling one of my songs as he walked back to his car after only ever hearing that song the first time at the show! Sadly, because my family moved away to different parts of the UK, the band closed and I decided to go solo, creating a new name for myself “Never Ending Fire.” The thought behind the name was that each of us has inner emotions that resonate with the music we hear throughout life. And they can either quietly burn like a candle flame or are ignited when we hear a song that means something to us. It never goes out, it is just waiting for that moment. Our Never Ending Fire. When did you start performing live in Second Life, and what venues can people visit to hear you play? I think the Covid pandemic changed a lot of things for a lot of people around the world. Being restricted from traveling meant that a lot of people stayed at home and discovered new hobbies. For me, it gave me the opportunity to explore my music again and create some YouTube videos. I started getting some positive comments, which was encouraging, and then a discussion with a friend of mine in Second Life pushed me into performing live at the beginning of 2022. After visiting a lot of live singers, I found that quite a few were using the same commercially available backing tracks which then made me start comparing one singer's voice to the next. In some instances, the backing tracks were so close to the original artist, that it made me compare that live singer to the original artists and that’s something I’ve never wanted to do personally. I’ve always been keen to perform my own music. It’s nice to hear original songs, so I’ve ensured that about 70% of the show I perform is original and the other 30% are covers. I like to compose my own backing tracks when I perform and play piano live too as it allows me to keep control of the quality of the music and sound for the listeners. I currently perform regularly at Café Musique on Wednesdays, bi-weekly at Cornerstone and The Night Owl on Mondays, at Pantheon Temple on Tuesdays, and at Riptide7 on Wednesdays. I’m also going to perform weekly at my own place, NEF Live Music Venue on Thursdays, along with other singers. Tell us more about the NEF Live Music Venue in Second Life. When I first started performing, it was really hard to find places that would accept an “unknown” artist. A lot of venues had a reputation to maintain, or regulars they didn’t want to upset. I can understand this, but it made me realize how hard it would be to get that opportunity to start singing and build a fan base. Thankfully it was the likes of Café Musique and The Night Owl that gave me the chance to start getting heard. Looking at the Destination Guide, it lists over 650 venues for music, but less than 60 for live musicians. I’ve always enjoyed building in Second Life and so having an opportunity to own some land and build a small place to perform and invite others to perform appealed to me. Apple and I partnered up and the idea of NEF Live was born. We wanted a place with additional features to encourage people to visit even if there were no artists, so we provided a games area, beach sitting areas with cozy places to chill, and a few shops too. It wasn’t long until we were approached by another Manager, JR, who looks after the amazing singer Tay and he asked if we would be interested in expanding a little and allowing Tay to have her own purpose built venue in which she could also host performances, etc. This gave us the excuse we wanted to expand into a quarter region and create additional performing areas on the ground, while JR built a beautiful venue up in the sky for Tay and her followers to enjoy her performances. Since then, we’ve been busy looking out for artists that have recently started singing in Second Life and need a place they can regularly perform and supporting them with additional artists that can bookend their performances so that listeners can hear their favourite singer and also get introduced to a new act at the same time. After all, if it wasn’t for my dad and sisters all playing different types of songs to me, I wouldn’t have grown up with such a rich interest in a variety of music! You recently wrote and released a single, “Digital Love” which is about falling in love through Second Life. Can you tell us more about the story behind this song and where Residents can listen to it? Back in 1993, I wrote a song called “Digital Love” but the words were very geeky and specific to the technology available at the time. I loved the idea of the song, but it started becoming a mental block on how to update it. So I decided to start from scratch, clearing the music and the lyrics and only keeping the title. I was thinking about how Second Life allows so many people to connect and live a life they can’t always live in the physical world. It allows us to embrace people, dance with people, and fall in love with people. That inspired me to write a new song reflecting how we can fall in love and even meet our future partners from Second Life. Some people in Second Life suffer from an illness that impairs their ability to get out of their homes or live as others do. One person told me recently that Second Life “gives her a working body, a home to enjoy and a job she can do, which she cannot do in Real Life” which meant so much to me. So in April 2022, I wrote the new version of “Digital Love”. I hope the lyrics resonate with most of the Residents of Second Life. I used a “Vocoder” sound in the chorus to give it that digital feel and have been receiving so many messages saying how they love the tune and how it sounds like an “anthem” of Second Life. After performing it in Second Life a few times and getting such positive feedback, I decided to take a big step in signing up with a Music Distribution site to release “Digital Love” as my first publicly available song. You can download or stream it from most Music Sites, including iTunes, Spotify, Amazon music, YouTube, TikTok, Snapchat, etc. I’ve also created merchandise that features the two robots from the artwork of the song, which is also available through my website – neverendingfire.com. Where can people follow you to know more about your next live shows and releases? Please share links to your sites, calendars, and social media accounts. In Second Life you can visit NEF Live on the Blue Island region. When you arrive at NEF Live you’ll see a large calendar that shows events occurring at the venue as well as a smaller calendar showing a list of venues where I am performing at. You can also visit my little shop which has a subscriber and free gifts, as well as a bookcase containing notecards that have all the lyrics to my songs. You can join the Never Ending Fire inworld group to follow my performances in Second Life. You can also join the NEF Live venue inworld group, to get an update on what artists are performing and when. Outside of Second Life you can still follow my music and find out where I’m performing. All this information is available on my website: neverendingfire.com On the website are links to my music on my Soundcloud account, as well as a live calendar showing where I’m performing. There is also a tab for merchandise where you can get t-shirts or mugs with various Never Ending Fire designs. I have a Linktree Account which has all of my links in it. In conclusion, I would like to thank Linden Lab for providing such an amazing social platform. It’s allowed me and others the ability to connect with people all around the world from the comfort of their homes and share common interests. It’s a unique platform that continues to grow by the power of its users and allows people to showcase their creative abilities in all avenues. I’d also like to thank those that have followed and enjoyed my music so far. It’s inspired me to continue sharing my songs for others to enjoy and even if just one song touches your heart and stirs your soul then I feel warmed to have been honoured to do that. And lastly, to my fellow performers, whether new or established artists, I encourage you to continue following your dream and bringing your gift to the world. People that are at your venue have chosen to be there over everything else they could be doing with their time. Spending an hour or two listening to your music might connect with somebody that cannot physically get out of their home to a real live show. So make sure you enjoy your time with them and make it count. I look forward to seeing and meeting you inworld some time! Thank you, Andee, for sharing so much of your talent and passion for music with the Second Life community! Each of our Spotlight posts features a different Resident to showcase the spectrum of experiences and personalities found in our virtual world. If you have created something inworld that you’re proud of, or have had a deeply meaningful experience that could brighten someone else’s day, please sign up! More info here: https://second.life/spotlight-signup

Love knows no boundaries, and neither does Second Life! Your dream virtual wedding awaits at Costa Bella Weddings. Costa Bella Weddings is a full-service wedding provider with four beautiful and very different venues to choose from: Country, Winter, The Beach, and Black Tie Affair. You also get a choice of three full-region honeymoon locations: Brampton Island, Las Brisas Island, and Isola Dell Amore. With a capacity of 100 guests and an average of 30, celebrate big or small. At the bigger end of the spectrum, the wedding of Kacee and Fang featured at the start of the video had 75 people attending. Longtime resident JenJen Sommerfleck, a photographer for 14 years, has been working at Costa Bella for the last 2 years. She and her team provide all planning services, including rehearsal, ceremony, photography, officiant service, DJ, and more. Jen shares her personal story in the video with us - as someone who can not have children in real life, she adopted kids in SL over the years and even had a pregnancy and is now caring for a Zooby baby. In regards to her job and the history of the wedding business in SL, Jen adds: “In my 14 years of experience, I have seen the industry grow and evolve in many ways. From simplistic, rudimentary setups of yesteryear to the complex, gorgeous productions of today. While still enjoying the hands-on of the wedding process in many aspects, my most enjoyable role is as manager here at Costa Bella. I have the great privilege of working closely with our amazing owners, Robin and Ian Moonkill. They operate Costa Bella on the premise of seeing people happy and in love, not as a money-making venture. That is something that is rare in the wedding industry. I love what I do here and I love how it ties into the most important part of my SL: family.” Celebrate now, with loved ones near and far. There are no post-party regrets in the virtual world! Video Production by Draxtor Despres Costa Bella Weddings Costa Bella Weddings is a full-service wedding provider. They walk you through the wedding process from beginning to end. They provide planning services, pre-ceremony coordination, rehearsal, in-ceremony coordination, photography, officiant service, DJ, and Venue choice of one of their beautifully decorated locations along with a choice of three full region honeymoon locations. Their services are provided from the heart because weddings are their passion. They look forward to creating the wedding of your dreams! Visit in Second Life

While many of us are still recovering from the winter holidays, Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, and our shopping itch just won’t go away! Linden Lab is winding up for a Valentine’s Day inworld shopping event - and we’re now looking for Merchants who would like to participate. The 2023 Valentine’s Day edition of Shop & Hop will open on Friday, February 3rd, and will run through Sunday, February 19th. We are looking for Merchants willing to offer a discount on their items (at least 20% off) and provide a new non-exclusive gift to shoppers. If this sounds like something you would be interested in, please fill out this form as soon as possible and no later than Monday, January 9th, 2023. We will contact you soon after that date if your application is accepted. Love is in the air!

Happy Wednesday! We’re writing to remind everyone that we’ll be holding our monthly Web User Group meeting today at 14:00 SLT in our usual meeting place, where we’ll be discussing our status with ongoing projects and our near future plans for our web properties. As always, we’ll leave plenty of time for Q&A from the community. We look forward to seeing you there! Keep up to date with all of our user group meetings on our wiki and public calendar.

Start your 2023 by enjoying the sea breeze at Butter in Second Life, a rustic little seaside town where you can relax on the beach or add some adventure to the new year by going camping, hiking, or more! Owner of Butter, Mona Molinaxil, shares her motivation for creating it: “My motivation for Butter is watching other people's creations and then feeling an urge to actually create something myself. I started adding all the things I like in the region first: Food, puppies, coffee, good music, dances, clutter, and rustic buildings. All with a bit of quirk to it. Butter is by no means a finished project. Things are always changing. New items are added, and areas that I get tired of or don’t like are changed. Being limited by LI limits forces some choices to be made. And that is not a bad thing, really. If you want something new, you might have to remove something old. Currently, a part of the region is closed off for construction. One day it will be and it will be open to the public again. I did not want private homes or rentals on Butter, because one of the most annoying things I know when exploring SL is to run into ban lines and being kicked out by security systems. I wanted furnished and decorated houses where people could hang out and explore without feeling like they are trespassing. And by the way: visitors can change the music stream and group members can rez their photo props. Basically, Butter is made to be a place where I would like to hang out myself. I just hope other people like it too.” When asked what Second Life means to her, Mona says: “I have been in SL for many many years. I did leave at some point but came back (Who was I kidding? I have made great friends and I have always been creating something.) I want my SL to be relaxing and fun, not a chore. SL is where I can escape, relax and do some low-key socializing when I have free time, like going to live concerts or special events around the grid. With a full-time job, I have never had the time and energy to learn how to make my own mesh but creativity is one of the big perks in SL for me. And I can still be very creative by designing regions like Butter. Both the opportunity to create something of my own and watching other people create things, and getting inspired by them, that is what SL means to me. There is something for everyone out there.” The start of a new year is a time of new beginnings, so why not take some time to check out Butter in Second Life? Video Production by Draxtor Despres Butter Butter is a rustic, little seaside town. Relax on the beach, go camping, hiking, or dancing. Visit the docks or the farm to meet the locals. There are plenty of places to eat, drink, and hang out. Refresh your pixels at the spa and don't forget to bring your camera! If you look a bit closer there are also several cozy hideaways. Visit in Second Life

A Return to Our Roots…and a New Vision for the Future As 2022 comes to a close, it is time for our annual look back at some of the year’s most notable developments and accomplishments in Second Life. The year 2022 began with a bang as original founder Philip Rosedale returned to Second Life as a strategic advisor. Philip’s pioneering vision for the now-mainstream concepts of virtual economies, cultures, and communities played a crucial role in the launch and subsequent success of Second Life since its inception almost two decades ago - and we are excited to work closely with him once again to shape our future direction. One of the newest Second Life initiatives championed by Philip has been the long-awaited Preview Grid availability of "Puppetry", which adds avatar “expressiveness” either via camera-based movement or connecting the viewer to motion-based capture hardware for a whole new level of interaction and connectedness. Our announcement of this work was among the most-shared posts on our social channels for the year, and we’ve opened up the development of this feature to community contributions. The introduction of Event Regions makes it easier to hold large-scale events with expanded capacity for more concurrent visitors - owners and renters of Event Regions can host up to 175 avatars and get a 20% script performance boost along with other benefits. Second Life membership got a power-up too, with the introduction of Premium Plus, which rolled out to a steaming hot reception this summer. The introduction of the Plus membership tier later in the year has allowed residents to dip their toes into the waters of SL membership and mainland ownership. Everyone can find a level that fits their Second Life needs at the moment, and we hope the expanded offerings will continue to serve you well. This year, Residents spent nearly 320 million hours inworld, and we hope that you were having a blast the whole time! 2023 Roadmap Want a sneak peek at the shape of things to come in 2023? Here’s a look at what’s already in the works for the new year and beyond: In 2022 we started working on a number of graphical improvements including physical based rendering (PBR), GLTF adoption, and reflection probes - with the intent of shipping our first iteration of these features early in the coming year. Creators will be able to use tools like Substance Painter to generate GLTF materials to import into Second Life. PBR will leverage the new material types and sample from reflection probes for environment reflections and lighting. Second Life is about to get a lot more shiny. All the reflection probes work set us up nicely for a much requested feature. Yes, Planar mirrors are also on our roadmap for 2023! Also in the works for 2023: Avatar customization improvements to simplify creating your virtual identity, including inventory thumbnails to give a preview of what’s sitting in those boxes New user experience upgrades to better fuel retention, engagement, and growth across key parts of the new user journey New centralized "hubs" to better connect residents to the communities that match their passions and interests First peek at a world and avatar centered mobile-first Second Life experience New LSL functions that improve the quality of life for scripters Even more performance improvements to increase the quality and visual fidelity of the Second Life experience …and much more! 2022 Highlights In addition to the Second Life innovations noted above, there were several other key accomplishments in 2022 worth spotlighting. Bringing Second Life Back into the Conversation In 2022, the renewed general interest in the Metaverse translated into significant media opportunities for Second Life. Over 21,000 articles and other stories included Second Life in 2022 – nearly 5 times greater than the amount of media coverage we received in 2021. We are especially proud of the range and scale of the media coverage – everything from community forums to more specialized technology press as well as some of the world’s largest media properties including the BBC, CNN and The Wall Street Journal. The four part Wall Street Journal podcast, How to Build a Metaverse, was particularly excellent coverage. New Options, New Opportunities In response to community feedback for more Premium account options, we debuted two all-new membership opportunities (Plus and Premium Plus) - each with added features and extras to match any budget. Check out our Premium overview page for a comparison of all benefits. In addition to land, groups, stipends, priority entry and multitude others, we’ve also partnered with a third party viewer - Speedlight - to give Premium Plus members unlimited online time and priority support access on "Speedlight" - a mobile and browser- based viewer which allows you to stay connected to Second Life while on the go. Premium Plus members are now also able to purchase a Homestead region with their membership with no additional requirements for a full region. We’ve seen a lot of interest here, and are happy to be able to offer this valuable benefit. By far, the most popular perks of both the Premium and Premium Plus membership are Linden Homes, which give Residents the opportunity to move into a ready-made home crafted in a variety of styles - including the new-for-2022 Newbrooke and Sakura themes. Could another new theme be around the corner? Saddle up and stay tuned…and expect even more new extras and enhancements to the various Premium offerings in the coming year. Additionally, we continued to rotate in new “Last Name” options for community members seeking to better craft their identity and personas, including limited-time availability of several in-demand and specialized last names. Demonpaws, anyone? Improved Performance & Viewer Enhancements Our engineering team continues to make general performance updates to increase the quality of the Second Life experience. For example, there was improved support for complex scripting capabilities, often doubling the number of scripts that can run in regions! We also migrated our code to GitHub to help improve and modernize our tooling and better support the open source community. There were also several backend improvements made to logins, including a fix to new device email notifications for newly created accounts, performance improvements for the viewer login handshake, and improvements to metrics and diagnostics for our internal tools. We also added the long-requested Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) to help community members better protect their accounts. Other modifications to the Official Viewer were made based on community feedback, including improvements to Viewer profiles for a more responsive experience (including streamlined availability to Groups, which is now more accessible on the main Viewer profile tab). Linkset Structured Data In November, we introduced Linkset Structured Data (LSD), a new way for LSL to store data. The feature has been covered by external blogposts, and has been touted as a game changer for scripters who need persistent storage of data. New Partnerships & Possibilities One of the biggest community developments of 2022 was Second Life’s acquisition of several SL-related assets of CasperTech, which will help ensure that its popular merchant and vendor services will continue to operate smoothly with even more enhancements in the future. Our parent company Linden Lab also announced that Tilia LLC, the all-in-one payments platform that powers the Second Life economy. secured a strategic investment from J.P. Morgan Payments. The investment will help enhance its current capabilities throughout its processing platform including providing increased payment and payout methods, expanded pay-out currencies and support services. There were several exciting entertainment and media industry partnerships in Second Life over the past year, too. The year started strong with the Metaverse Fashion Week event, held inworld in February. The event, which was covered in major outlets including Vogue and Glamour, included an elaborate inworld runway show that debuted an all-new virtual fashion collection from designer Jonathan Simkhai (who debuted the physical collection of the same fashions the next day in NYC). Acclaimed DJ and musician Eli Brown launched a unique interactive music experience and nightclub in Second Life in partnership with London Records. Our partnership with Film Threat also continued with several virtual cinema screenings, including the premieres of Draxtor Despres’ documentary “Virtual Cultures in Pandemic Times” and Huckleberry Hax’s full-length shot-in-SL machinima “WAARHEID.” Community Celebrations, Marketing Milestones All of the media attention throughout the first half of the year helped to heighten interest in our SL19B Celebration, which was the most successful birthday event ever with an all-time record for attendance and participation! The 24-region event housed 225 community exhibits and the related music events featured a total of 346 performers! We also saw record engagement at the SL19B Shop & Hop 20-region shopping event, which racked up all-time record sales for the 400 participating merchants. So, who is ready for SL20B?!! In 2022, we opened the all-new Second Life University to help better educate both new and existing community members on how to get the most out of our virtual world. This initiative includes a series of both live and produced community videos educating participants on a variety of topics including Viewer Basics, dressing your avatar, and much more. In addition, the community team debuted a new weekly email newsletter for those who want to stay connected with regular updates on the latest news and events each week. Happy Holidays from Second Life Thank you to the entire Second City community for your ongoing loyalty and support. While we will continue to work hard at Linden Lab to improve Second Life, we know that it is the Residents and your many creative contributions that form the heart and soul of our shared virtual world. Our Metaverse, if we may. Have a great holiday, The Second Life team

Today we are shining a spotlight on Caligula Aquila, a talented Resident that has been creating content in Second Life for 15 years, and just in time for the holidays, he’s released a new machinima series! How long have you been in Second Life and how did you first hear about it? I have been in Second Life since 2008. It all started when I was on a business trip, and while watching the news in my hotel room, they mentioned in their highlights, a real estate lady who made the highest revenue in Second Life. When I traveled back to my office, out of curiosity I typed “secondlife.com”. That day, I didn’t realize that it was a beginning of a new era in my life. You have been creating content in Second Life for many years, do you have a background in fashion or 3D creation? Not at all, I worked for many international companies, and I used to travel all around the globe to open new properties. A year before entering Second Life, I participated in a graphic design competition, organized by a well-known international tv station. I won the first prize, and it was a hint that my passion is somewhere else. Can you tell us more about the various brands you have in Second Life? I have five brands in Second Life: CA WEAR carries men's casuals, smart chic, and street fashion styles. CHIC carries women’s fashions. HATSWORLD carries a wide range of hats, caps, headdresses, helmets, and more. AZALEA is a premium furniture store. CALIGULA is our oldest brand, specializing in uniforms. You also have an interest in machinima, when did you start creating videos in Second Life? I made machinima in my early days in Second Life. Back then we used to use Fraps to capture our scenes. Unfortunately, it was only a tiny experience before I started focusing on retail for the next 15 years. Until this last October, when we filmed Scrooge – A Second Life Christmas Carol, as a tribute to Second Life in its 20th Anniversary year, and it was a great comeback! You have now started AVTV, can you tell us more about that and your future plans? AVTV is our newest project with a unique new concept of delivering a quality, realistic, and decent image to all our viewers in Second Life or even outside the grid. Besides AVTV’s newscast and the special reports, we will be presenting many programs and interesting shows, like “Garry inSL Show”, “Live the Adventure”, “Fashionista” and many more. Our aim is to reach a wide audience in SL, highlight Residents' success stories, talk about new SL trends, recommend quality products and great offers in the market, visit popular events, and many more SL activities. How has Second Life impacted your life? I strongly believe that SL changes RL. And this is my case on a personal level. I don't know if the fathers of Second Life predicted back in 2003 the positive impact of their motivational project on thousands of people. How many times have we seen RL disabled people running and flying in SL? How many times have we seen RL veterans proudly wearing again their uniform in SL? How many times have we seen couples who met in SL and got married in RL? And there are plenty of similar great stories. Where can people follow you to know more about your work? Please share links to your sites and social media accounts. Our inworld Stores are located on the “Shores of Joy” region and on the Marketplace. Regarding AVTV, I encourage every SL resident to subscribe to our channel! YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@AVTVinSL Facebook: Avtv Insl We hope you enjoyed learning more about Caligula and his exciting new project! Watch his new six-part machinima series on the AVTV channel this holiday season. AVTV - SCROOGE - A SECOND LIFE CHRISTMAS CAROL PART 1 AVTV - SCROOGE - A SECOND LIFE CHRISTMAS CAROL PART 2 AVTV - SCROOGE - A SECOND LIFE CHRISTMAS CAROL PART 3 The rest of the three episodes will be released over the next few days before Christmas! Each of our Spotlight posts features a different Resident to showcase the spectrum of experiences and personalities found in our virtual world. If you have created something inworld that you’re proud of, or have had a deeply meaningful experience that could brighten someone else’s day, please sign up! More info here: https://second.life/spotlight-signup