Free ROBO?

Jack Lindens office hour was as usual a mess of topics and questions, one of the most disruptive - "Why was ROBO Marx banned?"
It seems he has been abuse reported for ad farming - according to some he had spinning cubes on his land advertising, according to others he had, in total, just two plots which had a poster for his own website with the land NOT set for sale.
So when is it ad farming - we here at SLN have 4 sites if we put on there a vendor or poster is it advertising? Is it ad farming?
Jack, as always, refused to discuss individual cases and did his best to ignore the subject throughout concentrating instead on questions over the other mess - Zindra.
It seems everyone wants waterfront plots - Hmmm i can almost see the land being terraformed in stripes so everyone gets their bit of water!
So much for adult continent it seems to be turning into a children's playground squabble over who will get the best plots!
An adult continent with no sex or violence, it becomes more laughable by the day but those forced to relocate are not laughing.

Copy or not? YOU be the judge

The USS Defiant

Recently, I was informed by the Trek Museum about a ship that was recently built, getting a Landmark to the location, and an invitation to look around. The ship in question, the USS Defiant. For those less familiar with Star Trek, the Defiant was the starship frequently used on missions in the “Deep Space Nine” series. It was smaller than the Enterprise, but was heavily armed. In Second Life, this Defiant will be the location of a Trek Roleplay.

Getting aboard and looking around, I was soon met by one lady in a gold Trek uniform and a silver collar: Donnaj Firehawk. She greeted me, and offered me a tour of the ship, starting with the transporter room, and going to the ready room, and then the room most think of with Trek ships, “This is our main Bridge. It has a changeable screen behind you, and in the front, and also an alert system.” And just after taking a picture, the ship began flashing Red Alert, “Ooops, are cameras considered a security hazard?” I asked in jest. Donnaj giggled, “We are still in the finishing touches. The Captain is anyway.” She explained the ship hadn’t been up for very long.

Donnaj showed me the Captain’s Office. The desk being neat and tidy, there wasn’t much to distinguish it, except for a small fishtank with a half-globe display set in the wall with a lionfish swimming inside. “This is Trigger,” she explained. She then showed me the brig, with a room with not much more than a bunk at one end, “Our holding cell.” With a weak field up, moving into and out was no problem. But after Donnaj strengthened it, “Now try to walk through the force field.” And indeed there was no simply walking in or out.

Going along, I noticed several pictures of avatars on the wall, some in uniform some not. I asked about them, and Donnaj told me those were of the upcoming crew, which was still incomplete. The trip went past the upper cargo room with a few containers, and led to a place familiar to Trekkers, “This is the top view of Engineering,” she pointed to a group of four columns lit up in pulsating blue light, ”with working warpcore.” When she turned it off, the ship announced in the loudspeaker, “Warp Core is offline, Condition Yellow.” Donnja explained, “Also, it’s connected to the alert system.” She turned it back on, the computer then announced, “Warp Core is online, Condition Green.”

The trip then went to the rear Crew Quarters. The ship being smaller than the Enterprise, most of the crew were assigned not individual rooms, but bunks, “There are four bunks here.” The trip then went past the datacore, the heart of the ship’s computer. We then came to the front Crew Quarters, “There are six bunks here.” We then headed to a room with some tables with chairs and control panels with shelves underneath on one side, and a larger than normal door with another panel on the other. “This is the Mess Hall andHolodeck,” Donnaj explained, “Click the replicators. Those meals are copyable; three different meals.” Turning to the other side of the room, “Of theHolodeck , the Captain is currently working on making it workable.” This would probably be the last part of the ship that would be finished.

Heading out of there, we went to Sick Bay, which stood out from it’s several beds with panels with X-rays and graphs behind each one, “This is our Medical Facility. If you’re have a lay on a bed, I’ll activate it.” I did, and an arch went over my avatar, the computer going, “BioBed closing, please stand clear.” After a few seconds, “BioBed opening, please stand clear.” Donnaj remarked, “Scan complete, you’re in good health.” Unlike McCoy with Spock, there were no jokes about the differences between human and non-human physiology.

We then went to another large room, “This is our Main Cargo Bay.” She then pointed to something not normally seen on a Federation ship, “Also Borg Regeneration Chambers.” Asked if there was this kind of character in the RP, “We do have a Borg on board, yes.” The cargo bay door was open, but a force field was up for keeping in the air. We walked on, and came to the last large room, with a two-man ship sitting inside, “This is the Shuttle Bay. The shuttle does fly. If you like, I can take you down.” I agreed, and we both walked inside, “Have a seat.” After we did, the computer announced, “Pilot Donnaj Firehawk. Say ‘start’ to begin flying.” She did, and the ship floated up a few inches, and she slowly backed the ship out of the shuttle bay and the Defiant.

Donnaj took the shuttle towards the ground, telling me that another ship was being worked on, “The Captain is currently working on a Borg Cube.” Which for someone familiar with Trek suggests a few rough and tumble adventures ahead. Getting closer to the buildings of the Trek Museum grounds, Donnaj pointed out a few places, though she was soon having some trouble steering as the ship was closer to more and more prims, “Our shuttle seems to be having a mind of it’s own. It’s not letting me turn the direction I want to go.” She eventually decided to land it a little short of where she wanted, “I will have to have my Captain take a look at it.”

The USS Defiant is at the Saint Clara Island sim, at (72, 201, ***)

Bixyl Shuftan

Miamai NEW MAINSTORE OPENING PHOTOCONTEST

I am really glad to announce to you the grand opening of the New Mainstore on july 4, 2009
in the new location:
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Pegasos/48/162/24

I am holding a photocontest that will start on Saturday 4th and will last for 2 weeks.
Theme of the contest: "Reflections"
You are expected to participate with a portrait having "reflections" as the theme, and wearing a Miamai creation of your choice (clothes, skins, accessories, shoes).
The texture should be 512x512, full permission, and named "MiamaiContest_YourName".
You have time from july 4 to july 17 to send your entry to monica Outlander.
Just one entry per participant.

The entries will be exposed in the New Miamai Mainstore during the contest, and the jury will proclaim a winner that will be announced on july 19.

To the winner goes:
- a 3000 L$ Miamai Gift card
- an outfit named after her/him, that will become part of the Miamai Collection.
The winner will also appear in the advertising picture of the outfit.

The winner entry will be also featured in Miamai Blog.

Jury:
Chrissy Ambrose, owner of Virtual Impression
Aura Falta, owner of Tacky Star
Kay Fairey, Evane Models Agency CEO
ashianthy Shepherd, owner of Shapemania
SamR Miles, owner of Malice Music Club

Good luck to all the participants!

Our Blog:
http://miamaifashioncreations.blogspot.com/

Happy 4th of July

The first lap of Relay for Life of Second Life (July 18-19)

The first lap of Relay for Life of Second Life (July 18-19) honors cancer survivors and caregivers from around the world.

Spotlight On...OnlyHalfCrazy Gumbo

OnlyHalfCrazy Gumbo (OHC) played recently at the Falling Waters venue, together with her side kick, Heckova Hampster (yes, you read it right...Hampster, I can't make this stuff up!).
Shellie Sands

Cisco Live 2009

Knowledge is power.
This familiar adage has never been truer than it is today: in difficult economic times, it is knowledge that sets individuals and organizations apart. Knowledge is the differentiator that enables survival during the economic downturn and positions you for success when the economy rebounds.
Late Tuesday afternoon/evening I had the pleasure from a dear friend to be invited an event a first of its kind I had the pleasure of coming across in Second Life. The event was held at the Cisco Live Sim.
The name 'Cisco' is a company is real life company ( California based) one of the leaders in the information tech fields worldwide.
Cisco Live 2009 is a real life event that current runs from 6/27-7/2 this year being held in San Francisco Califonia. In addition to the real life events ongoing at the conference this year alongside the conference a virtual world aspect was introduced and brought into Second Life. After speaking with Tawni Ciscosystem, who works in the marketing department, here are some key points that have been introduced this year to the Cisco Live 2009 event.
The keynote speeches during the day are currently being streamed into Second Life to the Cisco Live Sim, there are various tech sessions held within Second Life with for various programmers and engineers and system admin specialists during the business day with various events to relax at the end of the work day.
If you work in the IT field you have the option to attend the conference in person In San Fran or the option to take part via Second Life Cisco Live 2009.
This event gives an employee a chance to make friends and enhance their skills, share and exchange information addressing problems that may arise in a real world setting.
For a major fortune 100 company to embrace Second Life as a business platform is a very creative move on their part, dont be surprised when you see more and business start to take roots and grow within Second Life.
If you have any knowledge of computers and networking and various equipment the name Cisco should ring a bell to you.

Taryn Gartner reporting from CISCO live in secondife

Cartoon of the day

Facts not 'smoke' about Australian 'Ban'

Poppy Zabelin, Chair of the International Relations Committee of Relay for Life of Second Life, writes:

Like many others we’ve been concerned about the rumors out there that Second Life is being banned in Australia.
Relay for Life of Second Life is INTERNATIONAL and we would have grave concerns about Second Lifers in any country being excluded from Relay, not to mention the wider ramifications.
The source of the confusion appears to be a story published in the Sydney Morning Herald.
Basically, selected ISP's are trialling a scheme to block access to adult content games.
An internet critic is quoted as saying 'the move to extend the filtering to computer games would place a cloud over online-only games such as World of Warcraft and Second Life, which aren't classified in Australia due to their online nature.
' Now, a ‘cloud’ is NOT the same as an outright ban, although some sources are now saying it IS. The Metaverse Journal responded on June 25 in an open letter to Senator Conroy objecting to the ban, and the Australian Christian Today wrote on Monday June 29 that ‘It was confirmed by Australian Minister for Censorship that online games such as Second Life is banned in the country.
These have been picked up by hundreds of blogs and forums around the world.
There is nothing like checking the facts first.
So Ember Farina, Australian ‘Ambassador’ for RFL of SL and Team Captain of the Friends Fighting Cancer RFL of SL team, who in real life is an Australian firefighter, contacted the office of the Senator in question and spoke with an associate there, and says:
‘It appears to be something related to GAME ratings. SL is not classified as a game at this stage. IF there was a complaint received in the future to the Gaming Commission then it would be addressed but his associate seemed fairly comfortable that it's not an issue in this circumstance.’
Ember went on to say:
‘I asked the Senator's associate if there was anything in writing to support this but there wasn't. As far as the Senator's associate was concerned this only came to light because a newspaper article jumped on it - SL was never mentioned nor targetted by the Senator.’

Linden Labs have yet to comment officially, but the whole thing seems to be a misinterpretation of the Australian government’s ongoing censorship/filtering scheme trying to block extreme violence games and child pornography.

Editors note: Since writing this and sending to us Ms Zabelin has heard from Linden Lab;

From:Peter Gray (Pete Linden)
Hi Poppy,

As far as an official Linden Lab statement on the issue, we can currently confirm that: We have received no indication from the Australian government that it intends to block Second Life.

I hope this is useful.

Best,
Peter

Talking it over with an Australian friend this morning she expressed surprise at the idea since she did not consider secondlife a 'game' and also told me that the government is considered fairly progressive.
To me it comes across as chinese whispers that have got way out of hand without due cause and of course without all the facts.
Irresponsible reporting can cause a lot of damage and this story could actually cause the senator to look more closely at secondlife now the media storm has started.
Many thanks to Poppy Zabelin for getting the facts on this story and allowing us to publish it here.

Dana Vanmoer

Sources:

Poppy's Blog: http://poppyzabelin.blogspot.com/2009/06/lots-of-smoke-but-no-fire.html

Sydney Morning Herald

http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/games/web-filters-to-censor-video-games-20090625-cxrx.html

http://au.christiantoday.com/article/second-life-banned-in-australia/6526.htm

http://www.metaversejournal.com/2009/06/25/an-open-letter-on-virtual-worlds-for-senator-conroy/